What? The world keeps turning ... even when you are immobile and in pain! Time stops for no one ... not even for Mrs. DillyDally! 😊 The local quilt guild hosts an annual Tea and Auction fundraising event every fall ... and the 2019 date was swiftly approaching. I needed to stop whimpering and get busy!
Went through my patterns ... seeking ideas and possibilities! Came across one of my favorite table toppers that I hadn't done in several years ... Terry Atkinson's
Happy Holidays! Perfect! Found fabrics from my stash and got busy cutting and piecing! This design goes together quick!
Before long I had it layered and was machine quilting. The fabrics each have a bit of metallic gold ... sew I pulled out my metallic threads!
It was finished ... and ready for someone's Holiday table!
I was really happy with the results ... and confess that I thought long and hard about how it would look on my Holiday dinner table. I resisted ... it was auctioned off. I knew while making my auction items that I would be in Anchorage for surgery during that time ... and sew ... would miss the fun!
The event has both a live and silent auction, so I usually make something smaller for the silent auction. While going through my Holiday fabric stash, I came across a few blocks left over from a panel ... they became a set of potholders!
On the back side they have loops, for those who like to hang potholders! A very fun project! Pretty potholders make such a nice gift!
White Christmas ... my favorite Holiday movie. In 2016, while visiting family in northern Minnesota, the local quilt shop had a sample of this on display. It stole my heart! I came home with the pattern and kit ... and so it has sat patiently for three years.
You can find the pattern here. It is a wool appliqué wall quilt ... so yes, the kit was an investment. It is also very traditional in color. I truly want to keep this for myself ... but it would make a great auction item.
DillyDalliers always find a way! Use the design, but make it contemporary rather than traditional looking! Back to my stash I went ... blue is my favorite color ... I have an abundance of blue Holiday fabric ... the fabrics had a metallic silver accent ...
... and
The Net Loft here in town has a wonderful selection on wool! It was meant to be!
I found the embellishments I needed in my stash ... silver rick rack, beads, and embroidery threads!
Eventually the top was pieced ... the appliqué and wool pieces were ironed on ... it was layered and ready to be quilted!
Back to the stash of metallic thread ... honestly ... is it legal to have this much fun while in pain? Not sure about legality, but it was a great distraction from the pain ... plus it made the days pass by more quickly!
I machine quilted all of the wool pieces down. Many will have opinions about that ... but ... my project, my rules! I used an iridescent thread that I was unable to capture with my phone camera, but I really liked the results! You can barely see it in the above pic. The snowflakes I hand embroidered with floss, metallic thread and silver beads ... again, hard to capture with the camera.
Flicka was ever attentive and
not at all helpful! Shiny thread and beads are difficult for a kitty to ignore. When I use my firm voice ... she usually tucks those little paws away. I love how this picture captures her restraint! Such a good kitty!
Finally ... it was done. In this pic, I am trying to capture the details in the top half of the wall quilt.
Attempted to capture details in the bottom half. Honestly ... I was completely in love with this wall quilt when I finished it! 💙
It includes all my favorite things ...
... and I had so much fun making it! Yep ... I found out that one can have fun, even when in serious pain! Good to know!
My friend from Minnesota donated this adorable book bag that she made to our auction! So nice of her to contribute! She is a soul mate ... and a blessing!
I truly had a hard time letting this project go up for auction! And obviously, so did Flicka! But it has a new home ... and I hope it brings joy to the family it serves!
The auction was very successful ... our guild can cover their scholarship costs and begin planning our next Rock Star event! A friend took a few pics for me, it was so fun for me to see some of the other items guild members had made and donated!
Our quilting community is so vibrant and supportive ... every guild member is generous with their talent ... I am grateful for the quilters and their influence in my dillydally life!
Do what you love! Do dillydally!
Mrs. DillyDally
We held a small engagement party for them in 2017 ... Dmitri had surprised Elsa with his proposal ... so no thought of wedding plans had been discussed! Later that evening while the two of them were helping us clean up ... Dmitri offhandedly and jokingly suggested they might get married in France.
Early the next morning while Dmitri and I were enjoying a cup of coffee, Elsa came downstairs with her laptop. She had already found several possible wedding venues ... in France! The look on Dmitri's face was priceless! He quickly learned something very important about his lifetime partner ... she is proactive ... think twice before making suggestions in front of her! A few days later, while driving home after taking them to the airport, Mr and I knew we would soon be traveling to France. The last time we had traveled abroad was 1980! We were thrilled!
Fast forward 18 months and it is April 2019. All of our preparations had been made ... details and reservations for our 3 week adventure complete! I added up the amount of time we were going to be in the air ... fortunately, I am very good at finding ways to entertain myself! I decided I needed a knitting bag that would function well and fit easily in my travel backpack. I pulled out this vintage cotton print that had been gifted to me ... and with the bag features I wanted in my head ... I designed a bag! Of course ... this all happened the day before we left ... yep, I was happily and frantically working at the sewing machine! My husband just shook his head ... after 38 years of marriage, he was used to my habit of this behavior!
Next came choosing the knitting project that would travel with me. That was easy! This beautiful yarn was hand dyed by Donna Druchunas of Sheep to Shawl.
Donna is such a talent! She is an amazing knitting designer and teacher! I subscribed to her Natural History of Knitting program that included her hand dyed yarn, patterns, and original artwork! This Tulip hat was the perfect choice to travel with!
We took the polar route to Europe ... making a much shorter trip for us! We flew to Seattle the day before, had a pleasant hotel stay and arrived for our flight on Iceland Air! 
We settled in ... it was a very pleasant flight! We highly recommend Iceland Air ... terrific experience!
Always fun to track the flight progress! We got very excited while approaching Greenland! In 1980, Mr was part of the first Americans to ski across the Greenland Icecap! I was a member of the expedition's base camp team. But that is another story for another day!
We were thrilled that it was light and clear enough to take an actual picture of the icecap from our window!
We arrived in Iceland very early in the morning! We had made arrangements for transport to Reykjavik ... OMGOSH ... how this country had changed in the 39 years since our last visit! Our faces were glued to the window as we enjoyed the 45 minute drive!
Neither of us had slept on the overnight flight, so we were very tired. Our hotel room wasn't immediately available ... so we took a long walk around the city! Nothing was open that early, but the fresh air and walking felt great after our long flight! We planned to spend a couple of days in Reykjavik before traveling on to France. Giving us a chance to acclimate to life on the other side of the globe! We returned to our hotel for breakfast ... our room became available ... and we took a nice long nap! Our European adventure had begun!
