Switching gears

Yesterday, a good friend learned that she has inoperable pancreatic cancer.  I moved away two years ago, so I can't be there with her in person.  My mind and heart are reeling.  So, I'm doing what I always do when I need to re-center myself - I'm making her a quilt.

I'm starting with the little pixelated heart I made several years ago from 2" squares.

I wanted to echo that heart to make the quilt lap-sized.

It will be full speed ahead for the next couple of weeks as I rush to finish this and get it to her.  Everything else is on hold.  Including my breath.  I'm so scared for her that I am finding it hard to breathe.

Fuck cancer.

Too much going on!

I'm making progress on my hubby's quilt, piecing the center together and adding setting triangles, but not as much as I would like.  There's just too much going on!

This Saturday, I made an admissions presentation to my husband's Elite Basketball Camp, went to the quilt guild meeting, then spent several hours at Family Safety Day sponsored by our karate studio.  The smoke house that the firefighters brought was a big hit - I've never been in one before, but it was cool!  I think Donald thought it was his clubhouse - they couldn't even smoke him out of there with the fake smoke!

That evening, I invited my friend's 3 kids over for a sleepover.  They played basketball, and cooled off with popsicles.

They caught firelies, then took a break to bake sugar cookies for their mom/my friend

(her birthday was Sunday - maybe this is a new tradition, I had her kids for a sleepover the night before her birthday last year, too!), and then went back out to play kick the can under cover of darkness.  Luckily, they all slept in until 9 AM the next day after staying outside playing until 10:30.  That's what summer vacation is supposed to be like, right?

The next afternoon, we had a get-together out at her cabin, a combination birthday party for her/graduation party for all the scouts moving up to the middle school next year.  We ate, and the kids played in the creek while the adults talked and I stitched down one edge of binding for a Hurricane Sandy Relief quilt.

When we got home Sunday evening, I though, "OK, I'll prepare dinner, then go sew for a few hours."  Nope.  Donald was out in the woods building a fort, and look what followed him home.

The kids are calling her Jumpy.  I see why, since she is always jumping on people, but I imagine they might come to regret it 8 years from now when they are introducing her to their friends.

I will say, she wasn't nearly this cute when she followed him home - she was FILTHY!  Her hair was matted with burrs and twigs and who knows what else.  We gave her food and water, then after we ate, took her down to the creek at 9 PM to give her a bath with flea and tick shampoo, at which point, I discovered she was COVERED in ticks.  Ugh!  We set up the crate for her with a clean sheet for bedding, and it was after 10 PM before she and the kids were settled - no sewing that night.

Yesterday, I took her to the vet in the morning to find out if someone had reported her missing, what she is, how old she is, if they would do the tick removal for me, and if she's healthy.  When I picked her up in the evening, I learned that:

1) the vet put her photo on their website, and notified the SPCA and other area vets, but so far, no one has claimed her.  I'll be putting flyers in mailboxes in our area this afternoon.
2) She is likely an Australian Shepherd and is somewhere between 3 and 4 months old
3) She appears healthy, but they did remove a ton of ticks, one of which had the telltale bulls-eye mark around it, indicating Lyme exposure.  We started her on antibiotics - at this stage, it can be caught and cured, is my understanding.
4) We also started her on some vaccines, since we don't know if she's had any yet.

They were really good about doing some of the work for free since she isn't really my dog, although if no one claims her, she will be.  She's a sweetie!

And the best ting is, she's a GIRL!  She came right when I needed her, too.  My husband has a basketball camp all this week, and his 27 year old nephew and a college friend who now coaches basketball in Ohio are both here for the week working his camp and staying with us.  I'm surrounded by testosterone!  She is my ally in my male dominated world!

A first and a second

Riel over at the Q and the U continuously inspires me with all her selvage creations, so I finally bit the bullet and tried a selvage block.  I didn't use her tutorial, but rather Jodi's at Pleasant Home, using some fusible interfacing as a foundation.

The only reason there is only one block here is that I had to come back to town for a Cub Scout committee meeting and a karate class.  Otherwise, I'd have made block after block after block.  It was much easier than I had anticipated, and so gratifying to use the parts that are usually thrown away.  I was momentarily skeptical about having a foundation in there - as a hand quilter, I'm not sure how that would work - but I came up with a strategy that I think will nullify that concern.  Nothing more on that until I give it a try.

While sewing the selvage block, I also sewed my second Split Star for Block Lotto.  I love how crisp and clean these blocks appear in solids and white.  I think I have enough solid white for 2 more blocks.

Lastly, I want to share an experience my children and I had on Monday night.  Several months ago, I met a woman at the Community Festival in my quilting booth.  We talked about quilting and flower pressing (which is her craft and home business), and eventually talked about the Community Table.  The Community Table is a weekly restaurant style meal (complete with 4 courses, waiters in red aprons, white tablecloths and cloth napkins and live music), served free of charge to anyone in the community.  Those who can afford to make a donation at the end of the meal are able to do so as they walk out the door, but anyone can attend these meals and eat a healthy, home-cooked style meal in a collegial, non-judgmental atmosphere.

We went for the first time this Monday, and picked up my new friend from the Community Festival (she is 83 and unable to drive) to bring her along, too.  There were professors there.  There were families there.  There were people from local nursing homes there, out for a meal in town.  My kids saw friends from school.  I saw some quilting friends.  It was AWESOME!  I am so proud of my community.  To me, this is a really ingenious way to feed people in need without segregating them or taking away their dignity.  My family and I will definitely be going back.

When we took my new friend back home, she invited us in to see some things:

• her flower pressing, but also how she has incorporated real snake skins and real cicada wings into some of her creations (she is super talented!) 
• her antiques - including a Victrola hand crank phonograph from over 100 years ago with the THICK records (my kids danced and danced and danced to the scratchy tunes)
• her many motorized chairs (she said she gives driving lessons to young people)
• her chair lift to take her down into her basement (I've always wanted to try one of those!)
• her play rooms that she set up in her basement for her grandchildren where they create fantasy worlds behind the fabric and beads that she has hung as walls

Can I just tell you, my kids were MESMERIZED!  She invited them to come back and play anytime, and they have asked to go several times just in the two days since!  I'm so glad that my kids 1) have active imaginations and 2) don't share the sentiment that so many young people have these days that older people have nothing to contribute.  They recognized my new friend for what she is - a vibrant, interesting, exciting person who is really cool to hang out with!

Biased

Bias.  The thought of working with it scares me.  I have visions of unintentionally wonky blocks that won't lay flat no matter what you do to them.  So when I saw that we were making Lone Star blocks in Let's Bee Together, I was scared.  Bias AND Y-seams - yikes!  But it turns out, the method she has us using to make the blocks doesn't include any Y-seams (yay!), and the fabric behaved, bias and all.  I love the fabric she sent, Kate Spain's Central Park, and enjoyed playing with it.  There was even enough scrap for me to add a 1.5" square of each of the 4 fabrics to my scrap tins.  :)

My two blocks - they aren't squared up per her instructions.  I could perhaps see me making this block for myself one day...perhaps.  Maybe as the center of a medallion quilt.

While sewing those, I worked on getting my Scrappy Strips Star quilt sewn together, as she sent the two blocks she made for me at the same time she sent her fabrics.  My goal is to have the top assembled before Saturday so I can take it with me to quilt on my first recruiting trip.  I think it is a perfect candidate for big stitch quilting with colorful embroidery floss.

Now, to completely change the subject - last Thursday and Friday was my office retreat.  As we have for the last 4 years, we spent the night at Fort Lewis Lodge - I love that place!  Not only is it beautiful, but there are quilts on every bed!  This was my room this year.  I have made a point of sleeping in a different room every year so I can enjoy ALL the quilts.

Then, this weekend, a friend visited from Atlanta, and I had a great time showing her around south western Virginia.  I know I am biased, but it is breathtakingly beautiful here.  Seeing it through someone else's eyes helped remind me of how blessed I am to live here.  We went places I've never been, and did things I've never done.  For one thing, we bought an enormous whole trout and cooked it on the grill.  My kids were quite impressed that the head was still attached to the fish (ick!), and Jason declared that he wanted the head.  My friend's husband is from Cameroon, and she explained how the head is actually the "honor piece".  I was skeptical, but she showed him how to remove the meat from the head, and the fool even ate an EYEBALL!  If you are squeamish, look away NOW!

A new friend!

Not a lot of quilting news to share.  I received a squishy package from a Christmas fabric swap partner.  Not only did she send fabric, but also CHOCOLATE (can you tell that half the bag is missing already?) and a wonderful pair of scissors with a holder.  Thanks, Leslie!!

But I didn't sew at all this weekend.  Instead, I went on a 23-hour date with my husband!  He somehow got a free night at a hotel in a town about 30 minutes from here, so we invited another family to come kid/pet/housesit for us, and the two of us went to dinner and a movie, spent the night in a fabulous hotel, slept in, and then went to brunch.  I think it's so important to spend time as a couple and remember what it is we love about each other when the kids are out of the equation.  Contrary to my boys' belief (they cry if we even suggest that one day they will have to move out!), one day, it will just be the two of us in the house, and we certainly don't want to be strangers.

Speaking of strangers, a couple months ago I met a woman at the library and her three boys.  She had recently moved here from New Hampshire (another Yankee!) and her boys were looking for a cub scout pack (I was wearing my Den Leader uniform after our meeting).  We chatted and I gave her my number, but I never heard from her again. 

Fast forward to today:  I met her at the library again today (both of our oldest sons are in the local Guys Read bookclub), and we talked a bit.  She noticed that I had some quilting magazines in front of me, and she's a quilter, too!!!  Add to that the fact that we are (practically) the same age, and that she has/had a crafty blog (http://earthycraftymommy.blogspot.com/ although she hasn't posted in a while), and I am SO EXCITED to be making a new friend with so much in common with me!!  (are you reading this Michelle?  Hi!!  We'll have to invite you and the boys over so they can play and we can play with FABRIC!)

Bright sunshine-y day!

I had a bright sunshine-y day DESPITE the rain that poured down in West Virginia today. First of all, West Virginia is so beautiful that even the rain can't spoil the awe I feel when driving around the state. Secondly, I was quite popular at all of my school visits today; I hate going to a school and having no one to talk to, but that hasn't been an issue anywhere this year (knock on wood). And thirdly, and most importantly, this was the day that I finally got to meet a 4-year blogging buddy in person!!!

After my last school visit, I drove over to Clarksburg, WV to meet Becky at Classic Quilt Shop. I've gotta explore new quilt shops whenever possible when traveling. This cute little shop was bright and tidy and the owner was a sweetheart; I encourage you to visit if you are ever driving down 79 in West Virginia. I did my small part to help the economy and keep this LQS open - I picked up a few more goodies to add to my Embroidery Floss giveaway (on my last post if you missed it and would like to enter): some embroidery needles, some DMC floss holders (which I've never even heard of before, but I hate it when my floss gets tangled!!!), and 2 fat eighths of black and white butterfly fabrics - I bought fat quarters because I wanted some for myself, but I'm willing to share!


When we were done there, we headed over to Panera Bread to eat and get to know each other. It turns out, she's just as cool as I thought she would be, and hilarious to boot! We had some good laughs, talked about some books we've both read, travel, politics, family, etc. The time flew - I wish I had more time to get to know her!

And being quilters, OF COURSE we each had a little something for the other one. I gave her that snap shut coin purse I made earlier this week (I didn't mention on the blog that it was for her, just in case she read my blog before I saw her!) and the Independence Table Runner that I finished this year. It was originally made for her for PayItForward on Facebook, but I never got around to sending it to her. This meeting was perfect so I could give it to her.

Look what she gave me! She made this wonderful winter wallhanging, so I can FINALLY do some seasonal decorating - and it is embroidered (embroidery is definitely on my brain these days!). She did a beautiful job hand quilting it, and even added sparkley beads. I can't wait to hang it up!


Plus she gave me a bag of scraps (otherwise known as TREASURE in my sewing room). Look at all those Black and Whites for me to add to my Red/White/Black quilt! I'm tempted to rush home now and start sewing, never mind the day of school visits I have planned for tomorrow!


Thanks, Becky! I look forward to meeting you again, and let's not wait 4 years next time!

Sitting and stitching

Last weekend when I was in Atlanta, I visited my friend, Nancy/Mamanance. (thank goodness I was able to visit her because she rarely gets a chance to update her blog in her super busy retirement! - hint, hint, Nancy!) I have photos because she and her husband are quick to document life through the lens of their cameras. We spent most of the evening after dinner in her sewing room - I love it! Lots of space, great stash, floor to ceiling bookshelves with quite a few quilt fiction titles, and then, of course, Nancy!


How fun to sit and stitch with Nancy while we caught up!


I'll be sitting and stitching for most of this weekend, too, if I have anything to say about it. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, and the weather is a bit cool, so I can think of nothing better than curling up under a quilt that I am working on. And EAT, PRAY, LOVE came in the mail from Netflix. I thought I'd watch it a couple of nights ago until I saw on the cover that the running time is 4 AND A HALF HOURS LONG!!! Are you KIDDING me? Who has that kind of time? That has to be a typo, right? Anyway, I'm tackling it this weekend no matter how long it is.

Have a good one, y'all!

Who has time to sew?

All my good intentions have gone down the tubes! First, we brought Rosabelle home on Thursday. She is a sweetheart, but will definitely need some time to acclimate to living in a house with people. Adam calls her my fourth shadow - between the two dogs and the two kids, I can't turn around without bumping into something or someone. But it is understandable; she's been through a lot lately. I'm just glad she seems to like and trust me.

Thursday night, after spending a couple of hours with Rosabelle, the kids and I went to the county fair. The boys' Cub Scout quilt won 2nd place in the Youth category:


This year's quilt show had a lot of variety, from a crazy quilt to a scrappy Double Wedding Ring to baby quilts to a whole cloth quilt to a quilt made with watercolored baby wipes (no joke! it was pretty incredible!) and everything in between. I took very few photos because my kiddos were anxious to get to the rides on the midway, but I was duly impressed by this paper-pieced quilt by Judy Glick:


And my vote for Viewer's Choice went to this quilt called Count Your Blessings by Marcia Vehrs.

I just love the concept, the sentiment, and I love the use of applique plus embroidery.

Doesn't that family look cute? And I adore the sign with the name on it!

In addition to the usual midway rides, there was a "ride" that looked like a human sized hamster ball that you get inside and then you can walk on water. Well, if you can walk, that is. I let my kids do it and they were falling every which way and had a ball! (while I had funnel cake - YUM!)


On Friday, I headed up to Washington DC after work to spend the weekend with my two college roommates. This September, we'll have been friends for 22 years and we all turn 40 this year.(how is that possible? I don't feel a day over 27!?!) We ate (Vietnamese, Middle Eastern and Ethiopian), we swam in the hotel pool, we went to a yoga class (pure hilarity! I'm surprised we weren't ejected - our instructor was a nutcase and some of our contortions were not very well executed, but we managed to do the silent, tears-streaming-down-the-face, pinch-your-lips-together-so-no-sound-escapes laughs), did a bit of shopping, and spent a lot of time talking about the things that matter (being a wife, mother, career woman; getting older; reminiscing about being younger; plans for retirement; book recommendations; losing parents and mortality; old friends; staying -or not staying- fit; should we go out for ice cream for a second day in a row? - YES!). Some friends are just meant to be friends for life. My college roommates are that kind of friends.

(there are 3 of us, but only 2 in this photo, obviously)

So, while I got a little bit of hand quilting done during some of the talks, I've not made nearly the progress I should have at this point. I foresee lots of quilting in the next few weeks. I must go to the library to get a playaway to listen to while I stitch and stitch and stitch.

Georgia on my mind

Here I sit in Charlotte Douglas Airport again, Gate E6 this time, awaiting my flight home. My trip to Georgia was quite the rolleroaster ride, and I am anxious to return to the familiar chaos that is my own life. I’m glad that my first trip of travel season is a short one, it helps me ease back into being apart from my family.

I spent Saturday night with my quilting buddy, Nancy, who moved away from Virginia in June and whose absence I feel acutely. She has a lovely home, and I’m sure you can understand my delight to sleep under a not one, but two scrappy Sunbonnet Sue quilts that her mother and grandmother made.

My visit with her was much too short, but this was a work trip after all, so Sunday afternoon found me on my way to my first college fair of the trip. Unfortunately, my materials weren’t on their way to the fair with me – the parcel delivery service (which will remain nameless) ignored the extra money I paid for Saturday delivery, and did not deliver my package. In fact, they LOST my package, and when they finally found it on Monday, they wanted me to pay an additional fee to ship it to another address. You know those cartoon characters with steam coming out of their ears? That was me.

But Sunday's fair went fine anyway, and that night I spent catching up with some of my best girlfriends, Celisa and Nikki. True and enduring friendships are such a blessing. We may not see each other for months or even years at a time, but we always just pick up right where we left off when we are together again.

Monday consisted of two more fairs, followed by dinner with a colleague – a long day that began when I left Celisa's house at 7:30 AM and ended when I returned at 9:30 PM. Today, there was another college fair, and then two high school visits. After that, what did I have but a couple of hours to spare before my 8 PM flight out of Atlanta to Charlotte. You know what that means…time to visit a quilt shop!

The closest shop to me was Little Quilts in Marietta, GA. I loved the entry,

and everything I saw inside. True to their name, there were lots of small quilts. I loved this little cutie

One thing that really impressed me was that many of the shop samples were hand quilted – I find that most often shop samples are either just quilt tops or are machine quilted. It was a treat to see so much hand stitching. Check out this little scrappy beauty, not just hand quilted but hand embroidery stitches as well.

But my favorite part of this shop was this treasure chest tucked away in the corner – scraps, beautiful scraps!!!

I plopped right down on the floor and got to digging through my version of “treasure”. They had a “fill a baggie for $5” deal, so I got a bag and had a ball.

In addition to scraps, I got lots of ideas - name quilts

Picnic quilts

And different style hats for Sunbonnet Sue.

If you are ever in Marietta, I encourage you to stop by Little Quilts – there is something for everyone, not just quilters, but those who work in wool, embroidery, hooking, etc. In fact, when I walked in the door, I overheard one woman joke to another, "I'm a hooker AND a stripper!" My kind of shop!

Out of the blue

This weekend was wonderful! My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece (in-law?) came for the weekend, and we just hung out. We ate, we played dominoes and cards, I gave them a quilt show, we watched movies, we listened to my husband's basketball team win a game - it was a perfect homebody weekend. Jason and I were supposed to march in the Christmas Parade on Saturday night, but it snowed all day on Saturday so the parade was cancelled. This is one person who was not upset.

Then, today, as they were preparing to leave, the phone rang. Called ID said "Wyoming Caller". We get wrong numbers all the time, so I figured that this was a wrong number, too, since I have only even known one person from Wyoming, and I haven't spoken to her in over 15 years, but I answered anyway. Guess who it was? My friend from Wyoming from 15 years ago!! I've moved about 12 times since then, so I have no idea how she tracked me down, but somehow she did. What a wonderful surprise to top off a perfect weekend! If you are reading this, Janna, thanks for taking the time to track me down and call!

This afternoon, I've been working on some prairie point borders for the latest quilt I've been working on. I thought they'd compliment the diamond blocks well. I've never done them before - they are pretty easy and fun, although I'm not convinced I am doing them 100% correctly. And I ran out of the sashing fabric in the blocks, so each of my borders is made using a different white-on-white; it doesn't bother me - it is a scrap quilt after all! None of these white scraps has enough to extend into the corners, though. I'm going to have to think up something to put in those. Perhaps another diamond string block like those in the quilt? Perhaps white squares with some colorful applique? Perhaps some embroidery since I've learned how to do that now? Any suggestions?

And, as usual, I managed to cut down some more scraps as I went along. Here's a close-up of my 1.5" pile from today - they are so cute!