6th Wedding Anniversary

Today is mine and Hubby's 6th wedding anniversary! Yikes! I can't believe it's been that long already! It really doesn't seem like it's been 6 years!

Unlike this year's weather, the weather in December 2002 was beautiful! There was a gorgeous sunset as we were leaving for the reception.

Did I mention we got married in our house? Yep! We didn't have the whole $20,000-put-us-in-debt-for-years wedding. Our wedding cost $2000 total, including the reception that my parents paid for! My mother-in-law made my dress, and I did all the decorations. We had bought our house in June of 2002, and it just made sense to have it there! We only had family present, too. My parents and sister, my dad's parents, my mom's dad (who has since passed away), and my mom's aunt and uncle. Also Hubby's mom. Our friend Ray married us, and his wife was there too. Hubby's grandmother (who has also since passed away) was supposed to come too, but she got sick and decided that it would be best to stay home.

Here's me with my lovely black coat over my gown... it was cold, but that's to be expected on December 31!

I am making the lovely pasta dinner Paige gave me for my birthday as our anniversary dinner tonight! I wanted to save it for a special occasion, and here one is!

So, here's to us, and the start of another year of marriage!

Thanks, Total Stranger Lady!!

So, I have always been interested in knitting. I dabble in it now and again, but my 2 biggest frustrations with it have always been (1) I am left-handed, and no one seems to know how to teach someone to knit that way and (2) my knitting always turns out looking knobbly because my stitches are twisted. I had never been able to figure out why, and it was discouraging, because my work wasn't smooth.

At Joann's today, in the yarn section, I saw an older lady writing something on a notepad with her left hand. She was also wearing a beautiful scarf, that did NOT have knobbly, twisted stitches. So I complimented her scarf, and as I had hoped, she replied that she had made it. "Do you knit left-handed?", I asked her. She said she did. So I said that I was a beginner knitter, and a left-handed one at that, and I didn't understand why my stitches turned out twisted.

This lovely, lovely lady pulled a ball of yarn and some knitting needles out of her purse ( guess she's a really dedicated knitter!), and proceeded to show me a trick for lefties! In normal knitting and purling, you go into the stitch from underneath. But she said the method that worked best for her was to purl from beneath the stitch, but to go into the knit stitch from the top! She demonstrated, and I saw what she meant.

I really wish I'd gotten her name. A small girl (presumably a grand-daughter) ran up at this point to ask if she could get the 57 (or thereabouts) balls of yarn that were in her basket. In the ensuing argument (grandma said 4 balls, small girl was insisting on all 57 balls) I walked away. I bought my yarn, and came home to try out this new trick. And it works. Like a charm! I am so thrilled!

I also found a website that's great for learning how to knit- it has videos! It's http://www.knittinghelp.com/. Lots of great info, including the Continental method of casting on that had also eluded me for so long!

Look At All The Pretty Colors!

So, it's December 27 here in Northern Illinois. Which is what makes the following picture so very unusual:

Look at that~ the bright green is a flash flood warning, the yellow is severe thunderstorm warnings, the dark red is tornado watches, and the bright red is tornado warnings! The light blue is a flood warning, and the dark green is flash flood watches.

This is really more typical of May or June, possibly August. Not December. Here's the current radar picture:

Insane! The worst part is that it's so foggy, you can't watch the sky to see what's coming. This is the only place I have ever seen that can have 30mph winds, thunderstorms and tornadoes, and dense, dense fog. I can't see the house across the street at the moment! I've been doing hourly checks on the basement, but so far no water has made it's way in. Our basement doesn't usually have problems, but we are concerned because the ground is frozen, and water will be running differently than it would in the summer.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I am deathly afraid of thunderstorms. One of the few things I like about winter is the fact that there are no thunderstorms. So today is being a stressful day for me...

Oh, and it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow!

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed!

We had such a lovely Christmas! Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law's was very nice. She gave Hubby a much needed quilted outdoor vest, and some new gloves. She also gave him a gift card to Farm and Fleet! I received a bundle of fat quarters and a gift certificate to a local quilt shop. It's not one I go to often, so it will be nice to go there and see what they have! She really liked her monogrammed towels. YAY!

And we had a lovely time at Mom and Dad's yesterday! Getting there was a little dicey, though... in Illinois, the roads were beautiful! But I have to say our neighbors to the north could take some lessons in winter road maintainence... the roads in Wisconsin were terrible! Maybe all the salt truck drivers are depressed about the Packers losing to the Bears? But, seriously, would it hurt to throw a few chunks of salt down every few hundred yards or so?

I received a lovely lasagna pan, and some cash, from Mom and Dad, and some Godiva chocolate from my sister! And my mom and sister put together a delicious meal of ham, saurkraut and dumplings, green beans and cranberry sauce! And my sister made a pecan pie that was to die for, with homemade maple whipped cream to put on it!

I was also able to give mom and dad their gift of monogrammed towels:

We also gave them a gift card to Target.

And I delivered Amy's quilt to her! It's DONE!! Pieced, quilted, bound, labeled, and delivered!


Amy's Christmas gift had been bought and given to her in August- she and I were in Chicago and she saw a Cubs hoodie sweatshirt she really wanted, so I bought it for her as her Christmas gift. We also gave her a goofy little 3D anatomy puzzle that I found at a cute little shop in Crystal Lake. I thought she'd get a laugh out of it, since she's in graduate school to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

Not much else. Hubby's at work today, and I am going to work on pressing fabric. I am hoping those mini-bolts come today- they were shipped on Monday, so it's possible! I really would like to spend my time today and tomorrow finishing up the sewing room. I am anxious to get sewing- and to have the living room back. It's been piled with fabric for a few days now!

A Very White Christmas!

It's SNOWING!! Again. For the 5th measurable time this week! I think we are definitely, without a doubt, going to have a White Christmas!

I took a picture of the crabapple tree this morning... just for the comparison, here it is in the spring, in full bloom:

Isn't it hard to believe this area ever looks like this? I would give almost anything to have to mow the grass! And I would really love to be working in and eating from the garden. But, here's what it looks like now...

Like the mailbox? This is after it's been dug out! It's been completely buried by the plow time and time again. I feel fortunate it hasn't been taken out by the plow!

Well, have a Merry Christmas everyone!

A Gift I Can Blog About!!

Ahhh! I have so many things I want to show you, and I can't because they are all gifts, and the recipients are likely to read this blog! But, I do have one I can show you...

These are bathroom hand towels that I monogrammed for my mother-in-law. She is really into embroidered and monogrammed things, so I hope she likes them! I am happy with how they turned out. One thing she is not into is computers and the internet, which is why I don't have to worry about her reading this!

Thank goodness! I am getting ready to burst, waiting to blog about all these gift things! It's worse than waiting for Christmas itself, I think!

Here's the start I got on the fabric! I put up to 5 fabrics on one bolt, provided they were from the same collection, or would be used together. I put 71 pieces of fabric, or about 135.5 yards of fabric, on 27 bolts! I am out of cardboard, though. I searched the whole house and used all I could find! I'll wait until those other bolts come to finish. I may just be able to get it all on those... I tend to buy in collections, or in "projects", so I can put 4-5 fabrics on most of the bolts.

A Really Cool Thing

So I have been trying to find a great way to store all my fabric, and I got to thinking. How do quilt shops store it? On bolts! But I don't have enough room for real bolts, so I went searching on the internet and found these. Totally cool, and I ordered 100 of them. I am positive they will make a huge difference!

But, they are a little teeny tiny bit expensive. So I started looking around the house, wondering if I had anything on hand that I could use (Because let's face it, 100 is not going to be anywhere NEAR enough!). And then I saw it- the pile of boxes to go out in the recycle! I took out all the nice pieces and cut them to 7 1/2" by 12". Fold the fabric in half again lengthwise, so it's folded in fourths (about 11" wide) and voila! Mini-bolts of fabric!!

But then I got to thinking that the chances of those boxes being acid-free is pretty low. So, I pulled out all the cheap cardstock I bought from Joann's before I became a follower of the One True Cardstock (Stampin'Up cardstock. Blows all other cardstock out of the water).

The Joann's stuff is acid-free, and I have a lot of it, and it was really cheap on sale, so I don't mind using it for this. I covered the pieces with the cardstock, and now I have somewhat acid-free mini bolts, completely made from stuff I already had on hand! I don't think the fabric will be on them long enough that it will make a huge difference. Even cereal box cardboard is useable, once you get the 2 extra layers of the cardstock on it! I love getting something useful and recycling at the same time! How cool (and neat, and organized) does this look!

So now I can go from this massive pile of fabric that's currently in my living room (and this isn't all of it...):

To this: a neat, organized row of fabric on my sewing room shelves!

That's my helpful hint of the day! Oh, and also, if you are working with water-soluble stabilizer while embroidering towels with your embroidery machine, don't put the stabilizer in your mouth to carry it from one place to another. Because it's water-soluble. And mouths have water in them. Believe me when I say that while it does "melt in your mouth, not in your hand", it is far from being M&M's!

Binding Quilts

I am working on the binding of my sister's quilt. The quilt is 89" x 107"- in other words, HUGE! And I feel like I've been working on it for days, and I'm not getting anywhere! It seems that every time I think I'm getting close to a corner, I look again, and 12" has been added! Is it growing? Is an invisible quilting gnome taking the stitches out when I'm not looking? I am taking a break from it right now. I really, really wish there was a way to make binding by machine look decent, but as of right now, there is not. So, by hand it is!

We are getting snow. Again. Huge big flakes that look like they'd give you a bruise if they hit you! Hopefully we won't get too much, but they said we could get another 6", since we are so close to the Wisconsin border. This would be on top of the 12" we got yesterday! And then the bottom is supposed to drop out of the temperature. -5, with a wind chill of -20! Yikes! Good thing I am done Christmas shopping!

I plan to empty out and re-organize my sewing room this week. I can hardly get in there right now! I really need to stop buying fabric. Or I need to start actually making something out of what I buy! Sometimes I wonder if I am actually a quilter, or if I am really a fabric collector who uses quilting as an excuse to buy fabric!

Tranquility Bistro

In my post titled "Interlude", I wrote about the Split Nine-patch quilt I found on another blog (and in many tutorials and free places after that!). Well, here's the finished top of the Bistro quilt...

It's a little wrinkly because it's been folded up! I need to get it pressed and loaded onto the GrandQuilter so I can have my snuggly couch quiltie! Hubby calls the couch quilts "quilties", after I told him I didn't want him to call them "blankies"! I think a quilt is so much more than just a blanket, don't you? I have a wonderfully soft dark brown flannel for the back of it!

I liked the pattern so much I made another one, out of the new "Tranquility" collection by Sandy Gervais for Moda! Here's the center of that one- I don't have the borders on yet:

Again, wrinkly, because it's been folded! I am working on bindings this week- and probably next- for gift quilts. After the New Year I plan to hit the quilting hard-core! I am signed up for 3 lock-ins and a retreat at Tammy Tadd's, all in January!

We got nearly a foot of snow today, but thankfully, no ice! I cleared the driveway after Hubby left to fight his way to work. He claims the roads "weren't that bad". I think he's nuts! It was practically a blizzard when he left for work this morning- I couldn't even see the house across the street because of the snow! But he's the kind that must get in to work come hell or high water, so there you are.

On a seriously bummed note, we aren't going to my cousin's wedding, because of the weather. I have their quilt all finished, so I guess I have to mail it now! I was really looking forward to going, but the weather forecast for the weekend is calling for more snow, and we decided it was wiser to just stay put. I hope they have a lovely day!

My 30th Birthday!

I really think this was the best birthday ever! I really do! I had a great day, all day. I got my hair cut and highlighted, I went out to dinner and had a blast with friends, I just loved it! We went to Biaggi's for dinner. The food was outstanding! I had shrimp and crab cannelloni. It was so good!

Here we are at dinner (L-R: Paige, Hubby, Me, Vicki)

Vicki gave me 2 1/2 yards of this fabulously awesome batik fabric- she thought (and I agree!) that it would go with the bright batiks I bought a couple weeks ago at Quilt In Joy!

And Paige gave me an italian dinner kit! It was so awesome! Pasta, and sauce, and pesto, and cheese, and garlic sticks and everything, all packaged in a very nice stainless steel strainer! How she knew I needed and wanted a new strainer I'll never know (good guess there, Paige!).

My mother-in-law baked me a cake, and Hubby and I went there after dinner. She also gave me $50 to spend any way I want! And my parents had bought me that design wall, and Hubby gave me the quilting on my sister's quilt (I asked for that specifically, and believe me when I say it was a generous gift!). And my friend Camryn in England told me she sent me something, but that it might take a while to get here. So I get to prolong the birthday fun even further, waiting for that to arrive!

And the best part was, I had a lot of fun, and got to spend time with my friends! I even got to say hi to some old friends... the doctor's office I used to work at was having their Christmas party at Biaggi's, so I popped in to say hi to some of the people there, too!

So, it was a great day! 30-31 is going to be a good year- I can feel it!

Birthday Fun and Secret Sisters

Last night was the Christmas party at Tammy Tadd's. I was not able to go, unfortunately, because the weather was terrible! It was also the Secret Sister reveal. I was able to get there this morning after my hair appointment. I found that my Secret Sister was Sue... the same Sue that I have been Secret Sister for over the last month! TOO much fun!

As my final gift she got me a very pretty charm necklace, and an absolutely gorgeous, hand-painted (not by Sue) sunflower suncatcher! I love (LOVE!!) sunflowers. This suncatcher almost made me cry! I think I needed it's vibrance right now, with winter setting in. Here it is:


Isn't is gorgeous! The view behind it is out my kitchen window, and really emphasizes how bleak it is outside. Those sunflowers are going to see me through the winter, I am sure of it! I know I will be looking at them every chance I get, to bask in the colors and brightness. Thank you, Sue!

We all also got very nice gifts from Tammy. She is such a kind and generous woman. I am really glad I know her, and had the priviledge of working for her for a time!

Today is my birthday!! I am 30 today. YAY! Maybe now I can figure out what I want to be when I grow up...

Hubby is taking me out to dinner, along with my friends Vicki and Paige . I am so excited! I have their Christmas presents ready to take tonight, since I probably won't see them again until after the holiday... I feel a little like a Hobbit, giving gifts on my own birthday!

A New Record!!

Here's a first for me: I finished a quilt that had a deadline- FOUR DAYS before the deadline! One time, for a quilt I gave my sister for Christmas, I had to have Hubby pull over in a parking lot on the way to my parents' house- on Christmas Day- so I could finish the binding and get it into the gift bag before we got there! And that's pretty typical of me, I am afraid.

So this is an exciting new thing for me! 4 whole days before the wedding, and the quilt is done, photographed, boxed and wrapped! I'll post photos after the wedding, in case the bride or groom are reading!

Quilting With Friends!

This makes quilting 10x more fun, in my opinion! I was at lock-ins at Tammy Tadd's both Saturday night and today. We always have a blast! TOO much fun is had by all, and I personally get a lot done. I think I get more done at lock-ins than I do at home, to be honest.

Saturday night I got 2 quilts trimmed and squared, made the bindings for them, and sewed the bindings to the fronts. I also put the borders on another quilt, and finished getting the blocks put together on a second quilt.

Today I started the hand sewing part of the binding for the wedding gift quilt (since it's being given on Saturday, I thought I best get started!). I got a little more than halfway done!

I also picked up my sister's quilt from the quilter today. I am hoping I can bind that, too, before the wedding, so I can give it to her there.

Which means I should stop typing and start sewing. Later!

Almost As Much Fun As Quilting...

Is making a scrapbook of the quilts you've made! Tomorrow I am getting together with friends to learn how to scrapbook. I am so excited! I even braved the scary world of uploading things, and sent my pictures to be printed so I can pick them up tomorrow morning.

That's all. I have been busy with Christmas stuff and haven't been quilting the last 2 days!

My Birthday Came Early!!

My wonderful Mom and Dad got me a lovely, and very practical, quilting-related birthday present! My birthday is not until next Wednesday, but today, a box came via the *very* good-looking UPS man!

It was from Connecting Threads, and it contained a 72" x 72" Cheryl Ann's Portable, Free Standing Quilting Design Wall!!! How exciting! I have already put it together:


I am so happy! Not more crawling around on the living room floor to arrange my quilt blocks! I have wanted one of these for a while. It completely collapses, too, and has a carry case, so it's easy to take to lock-ins, retreats and the like! YAY!!

Thank you, Mom and Dad! I really, really like it. Thank you, thank you!!

Ugly Weather = Time To Quilt!

Once again we are having brutal and ugly weather. Ferocious winds, freezing rain, snow... it's really awful out there! Once again I am struck by how thankful I am to be able to work IN the home, and not have to leave it on a day like today!

So, I've been quilting! I have been looking at some stuff I have going on, and I think if I am diligent, I can post within the next 2 weeks pictures of SIX completed quilts!! 4 of them are gifts, so I can't post anything before I get them to their respective recipients. But how exciting! Six of them! I really want to make this goal now. What a boost it would be, going into the New Year having just finished so many projects!!

In other news, the esteemed governor of my state has been arrested and is in jail on Federal conspiracy and corruption charges. Lovely! He is alleged to have tried to "sell" the Senate seat he has to appoint a replacement for after it was left vacant by Barack Obama. I love Chicago and Illinois politics. The governor before him is actually in jail, convicted on... corruption charges! Such fine, upstanding men these are. A true example for future generations of Chicago politicians! Calls for resignations and impeachments are already flying fast and furious. It's going to be an interesting few days here in Illinois! I am curious to see what the future President-elect (he will not actually be the President-elect until after the January meeting of the Electoral College) has to say about all this!

Hi, Deanna!!

Here's a picture of that ribbon that Paige quilted in the inner border! Just click on it to make it bigger. Sorry it's a bit blurry... my camera is unhappy with me today, and I couldn't get the flash to work.

Hope this helps- call me if you need anything else!

Stuff

I have to say, that Bendable Bright Light is the nicest machine accessory I have gotten, aside from my 1/4" foot with a guide! It really provides a nice amount of light, and it's so nice to be able to "aim" it wherever I need it! And it's not in the way at all. It's very nice to not have to worry about knocking the Daylight portable lamp off the table (which I have done, many times!).

Not much sewing going on today. I am going to the Illinois Railway Museum this afternoon to sell tickets for their Happy Holiday Railway event. Hubby is a volunteer out there, so I sometimes end up suckered... er, I mean, volunteering as well!

Even though they are both now in heaven, I want to wish a Happy 62nd Anniversary to my Grandma and Grandpa! They are missed, even after all these years of being gone. My own wedding anniversary is on the 31st (our 6th!), and every year since I've been married I put a prayer up on their anniversary that I and my husband will be as happy together as they were, and will be together until death parts us, as they were. So far, it's worked!

What's Better Than Fabric? Fabric On Sale!!

YAY!! Quilt In Joy in Huntley, IL, is celebrating their one-year anniversary this weekend... with a great sale! It's really a lovely shop. And it's the closest quilt shop to my house! They have so much variety, and they are so nice and helpful and enthusiastic. They have a great selection of notions, too, which most of the quilt shops around here really don't have. They have the best selection of batik fabrics in this whole area. And that's what I bought! I did buy some other stuff, like that bendable light that attaches to your sewing machine and some other notions, and a little bit of other fabric... but batiks were my main objective- before this weekend I really didn't have any batiks at all. So it was stash-building time!

I am really happy with my new batik stash! I have a couple quilts in mind that need batiks, and I am quite confident that I now have the selection on hand to make them happen.

First I picked out earth tones.

I really love darker colors and earth toned fabrics. They just seem so cozy and natural to me!

I did pick out a selection of bright ones, too. Although as you can see, not as many!

I finished the top for the wedding gift quilt last night! It was giving me trouble for some reason, and I was getting pretty frustrated with it. But it's done now. I'll take it to the long-arm quilter on Monday. Pictures will be posted after the wedding... I don't think the bride or groom read this blog, but I am not certain. So just in case, I'll leave the pictures off until after the wedding!

I'm off to install that light on my machine, and then sew some more!

One Of Those Days

Yep, it's been one of those days. You know, the kind when it seems that everything is just a little bit harder than it should be? I am trying to finish a quilt I am making for my cousin and his wife-to-be (they get married the 20th of this month). It's a pretty easy quilt, and yet I keep making stupid mistakes! I have finally just walked away from it for a bit. Grr.

I did have one nice thing happen today. I got an order from Barnes and Noble in! I worked my membership, a sale, and a coupon to get the 7th Harry Potter audiobook for 50% off. So now I have 1, 2, 3, and 7! The 7th was the most expensive out of the remaining ones, so I got it. I'll get the other 3 eventually. I've been buying them about every other month.

I have fairly recently gotten into audiobooks, and I love them! I found a great website, too, where you can buy them, or you can become a member and get credits every month towards books. It's Audible.com. I can download them onto the computer and then into my i-Pod! They are great to listen to while sewing. I listen to them in the car, too, and even while I do housework!

I am listening to Pride and Prejudice right now. It's read (extremely well!) by Emilia Fox. If you've seen the 1995 BBC adaptation with Colin Firth, she played Georgianna Darcy. I plan to listen to Sense and Sensibility next. It's read by Susannah Harker. She played Jane Bennett in the above movie.

I used one of my credits to get a version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It's read by Jim Dale, the same man who reads the Harry Potter books. It's very good! And I am downloading my most recent purchase with my credits, the entire Civil War series by Shelby Foote. That is going to take a LONG time to listen to! I think I'll wait until January to start.

Well, I am off to cook dinner, and then get back to work on that quilt!

What I Like

I got a fabulous little book as a gift recently, and one of the lines in it really got me thinking about my quilting aspirations.


It's called "100 Tips from Award Winning Quilters" by Ann Hazelwood. All of the tips are fabulous! But one really struck me... it basically said to do what you like to do. If you like applique, then go with it. If you prefer to hand quilt, then don't feel like you should start machine quilting.

I got to thinking. Sometimes I feel like I am not "doing it right", or that the quilts I make are not good, because they are not splashy, or artsy, or intricately pieced or quilted. I am so glad I read this tip, because it really made me think. And I think that I like my quilts just the way they are!

I like to piece, I like foundation piecing, and I like fusible applique. I like to do my work by machine. I like my quilts to be symmetrical. I do like experimenting a bit, but I'm not very adventurous. I like simple, easy piecing that goes together nicely. I like simple overall quilting on quilts. I will likely not ever make a spectacular applique quilt, using a photo as a base and making my own templates and using my own hand-dyed fabrics. I don't like to do any of those things!

So from now on I am just going to do what I like, and let those people who are inspired to make spectacular applique quilts from photos, making their own templates and hand-dying their own fabric do their thing too! I certainly enjoy looking at those quilts, and I am in awe of the time it took and the creativity it takes to do such a quilt! But it's not for me. And that's OK.

Interlude

You know how sometimes when you are working on a large, complicated quilt you sometimes want to just make something fast that you can finish in a day? Well, I am working on one of those quilts. And last night I found the fast, finish in a day idea!

I was reading a blog called Doxies On My Quilt (found it at the Quilting Blogger's website!) and came across this entry: http://doxiesonmyquilt.blogspot.com/2008/11/sa-and-freshly-sliced.html. What a fabulous quilt! It is so cute! And that's when I knew exactly what I was going to do with some charm packs I had from the "Bistro" collection by Deb Strain for Moda.

Before I go on, I want to say that this is not my original idea. I got it from the above blog. I couldn't find a copyrighted pattern in an Internet search. I did find lots of places and blogs that offer free instructions on how to make it! It's a fantastic idea, so thanks to whoever came up with it! And thanks to Rhonda of the above blog for making this cool quilt, and sharing it!

This was super easy, and super fast! And it's super cool!

So first I (somewhat) randomly sewed the 5" squares into 9-patches:

Then, I cut them into quarters:

Then I laid it out!

The blocks are very easy to manipulate so you don't have to match any seams while sewing the rows together. That's a definite plus in my book! It took about 3 1/2 hours to get to this point. Not bad at all! I used 4 charm packs and made 16 9-patch blocks, for a total of 64 quarters. I used 63 of them for the top. The last one I'll use as a label.

It's *almost* as fast as the Yellow Brick Road pattern from Atkinson Designs, which is another standby favorite of mine when I need a quilt for babies, people in hospitals, or charities in a hurry!

Isn't that cool? I love those quilts that can be popped out in a day. They make a nice break from the ones that take weeks, and really help keep you motivated!

Snowed In!

We got snow last night! Heavy, sticky snow. About 5 inches of it. Couple that with 35mph winds... and you know the rest! The roads were certainly a mess this morning! I was supposed to go to a lock-in at Tammy Tadd Designs, but there was no way. The snow was blowing across the roads so badly, making it seem as though they hadn't even been plowed. I hope the weather is nicer tomorrow!

I didn't do much. I straightened up my sewing room a little, and did some work on my hand embroidery project as I watched a movie. I also got a couple quilt labels stitched out with my embroidery machine. I am still trying to recover from the cold I came down with over Thanksgiving, so I tried to take it easy! I hate doing it, but in the past when I had a cold I would be up and going the instant I felt a little bit better. Then I relapsed and got sicker than I was before! So I am trying to just rest and relax during a cold until it goes away completely.

Tomorrow I am going to start pulling out and looking through all my 2009 challenge projects, to see what needs to be done to finish them up! I am really looking forward to it! It's good to finish up, instead of always starting new. It's really a great feeling, to finish projects! Besides, with the economy the way it is, I really want to just work with what I have, rather than buy new stuff all the time.

This is a bit of a catch-22, because I really want to support some of my local quilt shops. I am afraid that some of them might not survive the current economy. But food, clothing, heat, savings... all of these have to come first. I thank God every day that we do not owe on a mortgage, car payments, or credit card companies. How wise Hubby has been all these years, to insist that everything be paid for with cash- even the house and our cars! I confess I was not like him when I first moved here. I was more of the spend today, because tomorrow you may die type. But I have learned my lessons in the wisdom of saving in these past years of living with him. And now, while we are cutting back and saving money in case of a job loss, we really don't worry about where money will come from to pay for things.

OK, that's my deep thought for the day. I was just thinking today of how fortunate I was, that I did not have to work outside the home, and that going out on a day like today was an option for me! I am so thankful. And grateful. And that led to the above musings...

Nor'Easter

I got one block of the Storm At Sea laid out... I didn't sew it all together, because it's best to sew the quilt together in rows. But you can get the general idea. I am very happy with it! It is exactly like I wanted it to be. The circular motion is very obvious, which is what I really, really
wanted!

YAY!! Now I can go ahead and cut all my pieces, and get all my foundations copied, and get it organized to go.

Speaking of Nor'Easters, we're supposed to get 6+ inches of snow today. It's our first major snowfall! Hubby is getting the snowblower ready to go. I guess with December starting tomorrow, I really can't complain that the snow is too early! I really don't mind snow, it's the bitter, bitter cold that I cannot stand. It didn't get all that cold in Upstate NY, where I'm from. Lots of snow, yes, but not the -20 temperatures, and -40 wind chills and crap like that. That's what I hate the most about Illinois winters!

Well, I am determined to finish the quilt that's on my GrandQuilter, and get the next one loaded onto it. Tootle-oo!

My Personal Challenge

Well, I have enough Christmas and wedding projects to keep me going until the end of the year. So, I have decided to start a "UFO" challenge in 2009! I have a partial list up already... more will definitely be added!

The quilts listed range from being a top that just needs to be quilted and bound to a box of fabric with a pattern stuck in with it! I will do them in no particular order, and I'll make sure to post a picture of the completed project once it's done!

Artistry

I got my Desden Plate quilt back from Paige on Tuesday... O.M.G. I am blown away! She took my simple top and turned it into something amazing! I really feel grateful that I know her, and that she quilts for others! She is really an artist. I cannot do what she does. When I brought it to her, she looked at it for about 2 minutes, and knew how it should be quilted! And she was right! This was the first quilt I had her do for me. I have a Pfaff GrandQuilter, and quilt most of my quilts myself, usually with pantographs. But sometimes I have a quilt I want something more for. So I will definitely be sending more her way!!

Here's one of the blocks:

Amazing! She really enhanced it! And her stippling is so even! Here's the view from the back. You can get a much clearer picture of the extensive quilting she did.

Here's a corner with her amazing feather border pattern in it. I love it!

And here's the feather from the back:

I am going to a lock-in at Tammy Tadd's on Monday, so I'll trim it and put the binding on there. I am going to get the label embroidered tomorrow, along with labels for a few other quilts.

Now that the holiday is over I am going to be sewing a lot more! It is amazing to me the effort that goes into having 4 people over for about 6 hours for a dinner! I do love cooking, though, and it was nice to see family. I received many compliments on the meal! And the very best part: there are leftovers! I don't have to cook the whole weekend! When Hubby wants food, I just send him to the fridge with a plate. THAT is what I am most thankful for- a break from my usual chores for a weekend. 48 hours of sewing time!

My Favorite Part Of Thanksgiving!

I know it's silly, but my absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving is setting the table! I love washing and polishing all the dishes and silverware, and setting the table just so. It's the only time of the year my table looks so pretty!

The table as a whole. Isn't it pretty? I just love blue and white together!


A place setting. My mother-in-law hand-embroidered the table cloth for us as a wedding gift! It looks so nice with my blue and white dishes. The napkins were bought at a store, but I embroidered the monogram with my Pfaff. It adds a little something!

Well, back to cooking. The cranberry sauce is done. I have a lot left to do! I am cooking most of the dinner today and heating everything back up tomorrow. It makes it so nice, and I can sit and enjoy family instead of being in the kitchen the whole time!

The Hardest Part Of Quilting...

Is giving the quilt away!! I started a Double Irish Chain quilt that I am making for my cousin and his bride-to-be last night. I got about 1/4 of the blocks made, and so I laid it out, to see what it would look like. And it's GORGEOUS!!! This is one of those quilts that is turning out better than I hoped it would! Now I don't want to give it away!! WAH! Of course, I will. But I did order more of the focus print fabric to make another one. For me!

I am hoping to sneak in some sewing time this week, but it's not likely, since I am hosting Thanksgiving. I do get to pick up a quilt that Paige (www.paigealaine.com) quilted for me. She showed me a few pictures of it last night at the lock-in... she's not quite done. It is turning out fantastic! She does beautiful work! I will post pictures when I get it on Tuesday.

Well, now I'm off to the store to buy the feast! I think I should have bought the turkey a few days ago. I am not sure I'll have enough time to thaw it in the refridgerator now... I might have to use the water method!

Not Much Quilting Goin' On

And I am really itching to get back to it! I think I might find some time tomorrow. I have been winterizing the house... we decided to put plastic over the windows, and I just couldn't bear to do it without washing the windows... inside and out... windows and storm windows... for all 14 windows in the house! I am so tired. I worked at it for 3 days! But it is all done now. And a good thing, too. The wind is howling and it's 30 degrees!

I have been working on my embroidery in the evenings. Just a little bit of time can be used to get a lot of stitching done! It's very relaxing, too.

I have a quilt on the GrandQuilter to finish up, hopefully tomorrow. Then I plan to load my sister's quilt. I hope to get it done before Thanksgiving, since she is coming to dinner. But I am not sure I will have time, since I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner, and have a LOT of cleaning and decorating and cooking to do in the next week!

I will definitely get to sew this weekend, though. I am hosting a lock-in at Tammy Tadd's on Friday night, and then going to the lock-in that Vicki is hosting Saturday night. Have I ever mentioned in this blog that Tammy Tadd Designs is the best quilt shop on earth? If not, I have been very bad! I love that place. It's so bright and cheerful! And everyone who works and teaches there is so happy and helpful all the time! I hope everyone gets a chance to go there sometime! Pop over to the website, too. It's so nicely done, and it's also bright and cheerful! A link is in my list of favorite places.

Hi!

I had a lovely weekend at my sister's place this past weekend! I brought my hand-embroidery project and actually got quite a bit of stitching done on it, while visiting with friends and family and watching movies. I was very happy to have to move the hoop twice!

I am making this: http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/items/316_over_the_river_and_through_the_woods.aspx

I am currently working on the top panel. I know there is no way I will ever finish this before Christmas of this year, but it is my goal to have it done and on the wall for next Christmas!

Not a whole lot else. Despite the temptation of passing 7 different quilt shops on the way to and from La Crosse, I did not stop at any of them! I have been washing, pressing and organizing my fabric, and I guess this has put me in the mood to not buy right now. Plus we are cutting back on our expenses a little due to the economy. I don't need any new fabric... I have enough projects lined up to last me at least 2-3 years! I was actually a little proud of myself for not stopping and shopping when I really didn't have any need to!

I delivered the top of the bedspread I was commissioned to make to the quilt shop I used to work at today. It is going to be quilted there, and then another lady who works there is going to bind it. The person I made it for liked it a lot! I am glad. It was very easy to make, and I didn't charge her to do it. I was glad to have the payment of her happiness with it!

Tonight I am going to finish binding a quilt for another lady, and then I think I will not take in any more work for others, at least for a while. I want to work on my own projects- and heaven knows I have enough of them!!

Not Much New

I almost have the first block of the Storm At Sea quilt done. I am very, very happy with how it's turning out! I have already figured out how many pieces I need to complete the quilt. Now I need to see if I have enough fabric... I think I do. It's only going to be a lap-size. I don't have enough fabric to make it any bigger!

I also planned out and figured the fabric to make my cousin's wedding gift, a queen size quilt. I need to get more of one of the fabrics, but that will be pretty easy, since it's a Moda Marble. Thank goodness for staple fabrics! Marbles and Kaufman Fusions are my favorite ones. And Kona solids. And RJR Handsprays! Oh, what the heck, I like them all!

I am driving to my sister's in La Crosse, WI tomorrow, with one detour- Mill House Quilts in Waunakee, WI is having a sale this weekend, and it's on my way, so I am going to stop! How kind of them to have a sale the very weekend I will be up that way! It really is a great quilt shop- it's among my favorites!

Well, I am off to an evening quilting bee now!

Paper Piecing Discoveries

I have been paper-piecing almost since I started quilting 5 years ago. I even teach others how to do it. One would think that I would be fairly adept at it, and seldom make mistakes, right? Wrong! I am working with a paper-piecing pattern that does not tell me the size piece I should cut for each section. No problem, right? I carefully measured, and measured again, and added extra fabric "just in case"....

Well, my "just in case" extra fabric made it "almost fit". I was a tad bit dismayed to find that my pieces for my test block were coming up short. I finally measured again, added 1 1/2" to each measurement, and cut again for the test block. This is now working!

So I guess my first lesson of the day is: if you think it's enough, it's not. if you think you added enough extra to cover in case it's not enough, add more! The block is turing out very nice- I am making a test block for the Storm At Sea quilt. I wanted to make sure all the measurements were right before I started cutting all the fabric... and boy, am I glad I did! My fabric is at least 3 years old, so I would have a pretty slim chance of finding any more of it.

And the second lesson of the day is: Make a test block!

This is the 3rd quilt I have made a "test" block for, and I think that will be my SOP from now on. In all three cases I have made changes to the block! The first two I made color changes, and now this last one I made all sorts of measurement changes. I highly recommend the test block! It's kinda nice to know before you piece all 63 blocks that the blue fabric in the center doesn't work, don't you think?

Vicki's Fabulous Shopping Bags

I want to share with you a fantastic shopping bag that my friend Vicki designed and made for me! Well, she didn't design it for me, but she made me 4 of them. They are completely awesome!! First, they fold up nice and small:

It's so nice! I can fit them right in my purse, or I can carry them on my wrist. It's pretty easy to get them back that way, too, once you get the hang of it.

That little thing folds out into this!

Fabulous! it's actually bigger than a regular paper grocery bag, and it carries so much stuff! I can get a week's worth of groceries into 3 of these bags. They are strong, too. Way, way stronger than those flimsy ones that most stores are selling for $1-$1.50 these days. Very strong! I used two of them at a quilt show recently. Believe me, they were STUFFED!!! Vicki says she has carried 2 gallons of milk in hers without a problem.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that it is WAY prettier than those "environmentally friendly" ones they sell in grocery stores. Those are so ugly!! I would rather be good to the environment AND use pretty bags!

A link to Vicki's blog (AccioFabric) is on this page. Go check it out!

I Wish There Was A Retreat Every Weekend!!

I cannot even begin to describe how much fun I had at the retreat this weekend! Great friends, great quilts, fantabulous food... I wish I could do one of these every weekend!

I finished (from start to finish, including the cutting out!) my sister's quilt top! YAY!! This quilt has only been promised to her for like 4 years. I am really pleased with it! It's a large Queen size... it ended up a tad bit bigger than I originally planned, because of the size of the blocks, but it was so much fun to make! Kudos go to Karen and Carol for helping me arrange the blocks!! And thanks also to Karen and Pat, who held it over the balcony railing so I could get this picture of it:

Isn't it huge? It's 89"x 107"! I'll take it with me when I go to La Crosse next weekend and try it out on her bed- I could trim the borders down a bit if I needed to. I am really pleased with it!

This was the only project I finished this weekend. I was hoping to finish another one as well, but it just wasn't going to happen! I'll finish it this week, though.

I am really tired! But so happy to have the quilt top done. And I am happy to have spent the weekend with such awesome, kind, and talented ladies! SO much thanks to Vicki (AccioFabric) for organizing it!

It's Retreat Time!!

Yay! I am awaiting the arrival of AccioFabric, who is going to pick up the tables I am bringing this weekend (she has a van, I have a little car), and then we will be off to the retreat! I am really looking forward to it!

I am (along with 2 others) responsible for dinner tomorrow night. I made 2 lasagnas yesterday... they look so good! I had to make another one, because Hubby thought they looked so good! I think he is Garfield reincarnated. The man LOVES lasagna!

I have my projects packed, my chair and all my accessories... thank heavens I am not staying at the camp overnight! I don't think I'd have room for clothes and toiletries... my car is full of all my quilting stuff! The retreat is so close that I am just going to sleep at home. Hubby leaves tomorrow morning for Canada, so I want to be there to send him off! And there was no point in packing bedding and stuff for one night. So I'll be "commuting"!

See you after the retreat!

Storm At Sea

I have found (FINALLY!) paper-piecing foundations for a Storm At Sea quilt! YAY!! All the patterns I had found previously wanted me to cut templates (yeah, right) and piece on bias edges (again: yeah, right). I have wanted to paper piece it, but couldn't find foundations. Well, this morning, while looking for quilting info to send to my friend in England, I found the perfect ones!! Here's the site, in case YOU have been looking for them too!

I have had the fabric to make this quilt for 3 years now- I've even had the name picked out for ages! The fabric is white with light blue snowflakes for the background, Dark blue with white snowflakes for the points, and a light blue with white flecks for the centers. It looks like a snowstorm, so I decided to name it "Nor'easter", after the storms that hit the East Coast of the US during the winter.

7/14/09 EDIT: The link previously listed above no longer works. Try http://www.quilterscache.com/S/StormAtSeaBlock.html instead- it's practically the same thing! Hugs, Jennie

My Quilting Blog

Here it is! In an effort to keep myself motivated about my quilting projects, I have decided to have a "Quilt Only" blog!

I will be at a retreat this weekend, and I am so looking forward to it!! I have just 2 projects I want to work on. The first is a quilt for my sister. The second is a bedspread that I am making on commission! I'll post pictures on Monday of the tops. Because I WILL have them done!