I Screwed Up

I've been doing a lot of that lately, and it has mainly involved forgetting (and misplacing) things and missing deadlines.  How did I let the month of April just slip by without my noticing?  

Somehow I neglected to realize that I had not submitted a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt for April as I have committed to do.  Shame on me...I apologize for not setting a better example ;-)

Thank goodness some of us are on the ball.  Kathy sent me a friendly email reminder which allowed me to finish my quilt in time and meet my goal.   Thank you, thank you, thank you Kathy....you're the best!!

If only Kathy could email me daily with reminders of other items on  my to do list ;-)

Sneak peek 

The idea for my April Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt had been floating around in my head for  a while, and I even started working on it early in the month, but it got pushed aside for other projects.  Of course, I pulled it out immediately after receiving Kathy's email and finished it rather quickly.  There is a story behind this little quilt which I will share at another time (probably tomorrow) along with pictures.  For now the above picture can serve as a tease ;-)

#6733 Rays of Hope made and donated by Cynthia Pierron Janney

I haven't added to my AAQI collection since purchasing this quilt, so I went shopping!!!!

Look at the beauty I acquired!  I can't wait to hang this Ray of Hope on my wall with the others.

Have an amazing day!!!!!

How Small

is too small when it comes to saving fabric scraps?

This was a question I kept asking myself two weeks ago when I cleaned and organized my studio....which stayed clean for about twenty minutes, I'll have you know!

When sorting through the way too many several piles of fabric leftover from previous projects, I made several stacks for certain planned projects such as a mug rug, string quilt, and needle book; a stack of solids; stacks of printed fabrics sorted by color, but I kept coming back to that question of how small is too small?

I don't like to throw anything away, especially fabric, but this doesn't help my attempt at decluttering ;-)

For those questionable sizes of fabric, I decided to place them in a ziploc bag, and I plan to ask Tonya her opinion....in person.  Yep, that's right, in person!

Tonya is honoring us with her presence this Saturday for an Unruly Workshop which will include free piecing letters and crumb quilting, and I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!!

 Wonder what she does about those small pieces of leftover batting?

Have an amazing day!!!

Gifts

I haven't talked about or showed pictures of a gift I received and a gift given this month.

This needle book was made for a friend as a gift that was long overdue.

As with the one I made for my sister, the tutorial can be found here.  This one I made a little bit smaller.  (The top picture was taken before I had a chance to center the black felt.)

 I have a feeling I'll be making more of these, as they are quick and fun to make.

For some reason I cannot fathom, fellow OMQG member Kathryn decided to give away her Robert Kaufman Solids Challenge creation to the first commenter on her blog post.

Her loss is my gain ;-) !!!  The quilting was done on her new Innova long arm machine.  It's hard to believe this is the first project she quilted using her new toy.  I really like the design she quilted and thinks it is perfect with her interpretation of our challenge.

Kathryn may not have liked the way the runner looked on her dining room table, but I sure like the way it looks on my coffee table!!!!!  Thank you so much Kathryn.  I am honored to display this in my home.

Gifts (given or received) are a wonderful thing, aren't they?!

Have an amazing day!!!

Holy Sewing

Quite a while back my Dad gave me a box of religious vestments that were no longer being used thinking I could use them in my quilting.  I was very excited, looked them through all, photographed them, and then became humbled and intimidated so back in the box they went...until last week.

I selected one particular vestment and went about coming up with an idea of making a table runner to be used at Easter.  As you can see, both sides has gorgeous embroidered designs, and I wanted those to be the focal point.

Taking a pair of scissors and cutting around the embroidery would have been much simpler, but somehow disrespectful I believed, so I went about using a seam ripper instead and separating the two sides.  Even then my daughter was outraged that I was taking apart something sacred ;-)

I guess I didn't take as many pictures as I thought of the process.  I only used one embroidered section for this table runner.  The other sections will be used for a future project.  I added a thin purple border around the center and a wider border of white using solids I had in my stash.  The pieced purple and green border is silk fabric...the purple from the back side of the vestment and the green from my stash.  The backing and binding is a lavender linen.  

This wasn't the project to practice my FMQ so I kept the quilting simple with straight stitching using a lavender thread.  The border was stitched with the machine using a feather stitching design.

My Dad just received this table runner in the mail and thinks it is beautiful!  Of course, he would say that no matter what, but I'd like to believe it's true ;-)  I do know it will be surrounded by gorgeous, yummy food enjoyed by family and friends celebrating together!!!

Have an amazing weekend!  Hope you get to spend it among family and friends!!

Dear Friends,

How are you?  How have you been?  I hope all is well with your world.  

I've missed you during this unplanned, self-imposed exile of mine.  For the most part, I have been "offline"for about two weeks now, and I really feel out of touch.  However, I felt the ban of the internet (and the tempting draw of Blogland) was necessary to focus on matters that I had let slide.

Occasionally someone gets a picture of me ;-)

This week I am on vacation with my family in Montana.  Originally, I was not excited about taking this trip as I have way too much to get caught up on plenty to keep me busy at home.  However, I think some R and R is just what I needed.  I put my foot down and informed my husband that I was not skiing at all this trip, and that instead, I planned to use the time to get organized and work on a few projects.  My husband pouted at first, but I think he realized I needed a few mental health days;-)  I brought a bunch of paperwork, lists of phone calls to make and emails to write, and quite a few quilting projects to work on.  However, I just discovered Netflix, and the first few days was spent watching old romantic comedies (and Law and Order Criminal Intent reruns).  I am hoping my mind and body just needed some down time, and now I can move on to more important tasks.  I still have three days of vacation....plenty of time, right? ;-)

What I am NOT doing this trip...or any trip

During this down time, I've also done some thinking about my blog.  I miss being able to write daily Monday through Friday blog posts.  I work better with a routine and a schedule. When I couldn't keep that pace, I got out of sync and didn't really bother posting regularly.  So, I've been pondering a solution.  Do I post less frequently?  Do I write shorter posts?  Is it even possible for me to write a short post? ;-)  I'm still contemplating.   No promises, but hope to come up with a plan I can live with and stick to ;-)

So what have I missed?  What have you been up to these past two weeks?

Have an amazing day!!!  I'm going to check a few things of my To Do list;-)

Domestic Diva

is not something I have ever been called....diva maybe...domestic....hmmm....no ;-)  However, lately I have been called a Goddess!!!

Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts made by Beth

Fellow OMQG member Beth made two more Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts.  I just love it when she does that, because every time she makes a quilt for AAQI, she'll say "here you go Goddess" ;-)

The "before" picture

Actually, this weekend I could have been called a Domestic Diva...I cooked, I cleaned, I sewed. 

I spent most of two days organizing and cleaning my quilt factory (as my daughter has taken to calling my studio) including (don't faint now) VACUUMING the carpet!

Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes

I also tried a new recipe for dinner.  I actually do cook, but lately if you came to my house (or talked to my kids) you would not have thought so ;-)  This mediterranean chicken dish was yummy!  

Shoofly Block

Monday night the OMQG is having a three hour Sew Evening, and instead of bringing my sewing machine, I think I'll bring my AccuQuilt Go. 

Wonky Star Block

Before going to town cutting up hundreds of HST's for two different graduation quilts, I made a few sample blocks to make sure I was on the right track.

I think my AccuQuilt Go! will earn its keep with these projects ;-)

Have an amazing day!!!

Random Musings on Food, Family and Quilts

When I got back home from visiting my parents, I put on my Facebook page something to the affect of "back to reality and being a mom rather than being a daughter" which I don't think anyone got based on the few number of Comments/Likes ;-)  

I was trying to point out how it was a nice change being taken care of (role of daughter) for a few days rather than being "in charge" (role of mother).  

Got Pink?

I spent more than a few hours on the couch reading, napping, chatting and watching TV under several cozy and comfy quilts.  I hadn't seen this quilt since I sent it to my mom (was it really a year ago) for Valentine's Day (only because I didn't finish it in time for Christmas).   It was like seeing an old friend ;-)  I spent most of my time under this quilt!

 It is a good feeling to know that the quilts you make for others are being used and appreciated.  I saw quite a few quilts on display (on a sideboard, over a couch {or two}, on a bed, on the wall) that had been made over the years by various family members....they tend to add up after a while ;-)  I also saw up close and personal at least two quilts my new-to-quilting sister had made, and I noticed her very straight and perfect quilting lines....how does she do that?!

Granny Harper's gumbo, Harper's Sauce of St. Lawrence, boiled jumbo shrimp and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Other than being lazy, the main event was what my sister termed the Harper Gumbo Throwdown!  which involved Dad teaching us how to make our grandmother's seafood gumbo.  After years of searching (and the help of St. Anthony, patron saint of lost items),  Granny Harper's original recipe was found.  Michelle did all the cooking while I took notes....you know all good cooks are kind of vague with their ingredients and instructions ;-) My dad had made up a batch of boiled shrimp to go with his yummy Harper's Sauce of St. Lawrence (closely guarded secret family recipe).  Talk about some good coastal Southern food!!!!  My sister did take some pictures of the cooking lesson (with people to prove that we did make it), but you'd have to go on Facebook to see them...think I need to introduce her to Flickr.

One of 8 Katrina Story Quilts

My camera and I seem to be estranged these days....thank goodness cell phones now have cameras....never leave home without one ;-)  I saw these two quilts on display in the Gulfport airport right after going through security (can you say full body scan?).  I snapped a few quick pictures with my phone, but I've had a hard time finding much information online about the original exhibit.  You can't really see the details of the quilts that well, but they are made with children's art work.  Each drawing was individually scanned onto fabric.

"Rebuilding Our Town" Katrina Story Quilt

The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (Mississippi's First Children's Museum) worked with Gulf Coast elementary students in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina giving them an outlet and opportunity to express their emotions about the hurricane and providing others with insight into their feelings.   The top left of this Katrina Story Quilt has the words "We are rebuilding our towns, our churches and our schools, our houses and our yards, our roads and our stores." Almost six years after the hurricane, even though most of the area has been rebuilt and strengthened, you can still see evidence of Katrina's destruction.

I'd like to find out more about the eight original Katrina Story Quilts.  The one link I found that seems to have the most information (http://www.quiltersbuzz.com/2007/02/the_katrina_story_quilts_displ_1.html)  fails to open.  I'll have to do some research on this.

Have an amazing day!!!!

Sorry for the long post....next one will be shorter ;-)

Still Traveling

I spent a wonderful weekend with family doing things we like to do....eating, visiting, eating some more...

...you know how it is with the eating...homemade cooking you can't get anywhere else....hometown eateries that haven't changed in thirty years.  At this rate, I will not be able to fit into the dress I bought for my son's graduation!

My sister brought her sewing machine and is quilting her son's quilt today.  She was nice enough to bring extra fabric for me to play with as well as her cutting mat and rotary cutter.

I made her a needle book from this tutorial I had seen on another blog.

It's rather large, but I like that it has pockets for scissors and other hand sewing supplies like this cute sewing kit my mom bought me....don't you love the saying on top!

That's what I plan to do today....rip and sew....and visit!

Have an amazing day!!!

Hope you get to sew and visit today too...

Safe Travels

I am trying to post this real quick before my husband drives me to the airport.  Our family has been traveling a lot lately...well, my oldest son has anyway.  He drove from the Pacific Northwest to Florida, visiting family and friends along the way, barely missing mudslides that took out roads in California and tornadoes that took out trees in Florida, to arrive safely in time to say goodbye to me ;-)

The next OMQG meeting is immediately after I get back, so I worked on some things for that meeting.

Here is our May Block of the Month...not sure what to call it....but wanted to go with red and white after seeing all these awesome red and white quilts online.

Mug Rug for a future swap.  This mug doesn't really match, but it is a favorite given to me by a friend.  Can you see it says "Excuse me?  Did you just try and talk to me before I've had my coffee?"

Love that!!!

This mug matches a little bit better, don't you think.

Here's the back.  I did a pillowcase type finish here so no binding required.

Have an amazing weekend!!!!!

I'm off to Mississippi!