Ta-da!!!

I sewed and sewed and last night, at an hour when I should have been sleeping, I finished my Scrappy Star quilt top! Here it is on my bed - it isn't big enough for my queen bed, but it may find its way onto one of the kids' twin beds when it finally gets quilted.

While I was admiring the corners (thanks, everyone, for your design ideas!),

it brought to mind my Crossing Paths quilt

where I did something similar with the corners.

And do you notice the border fabric? It is the same in both quilts! Who knew? It is a fabric that I had lots of but didn't really like, so I thought I would use it for a border - twice, I guess. I'm nothing if not consistent, apparently.

Those quilts looked so nice on my bed, I thought I'd pull out my other bed-sized tops to daydream about having a quilt on my own bed one day. Here's the one I started quilting 3 years ago, intended for my own bed. Lots of quilting still to go.

I think I am planning to one day gift this one to my father-in-law; the rich colors remind me of him, as he is quite the colorful character.

And then there's my last finish, still a favorite.

And who can forget the enormous 100" X 100" big block quilt - it is so big that you can't even really see the design on my queen bed.

Once I had all these quilt tops piled up on my bed, it took all my willpower not to snuggle down underneath the lot of them, but instead I put them away, determined to actually get them quilted someday.

But first, there is my New Year's Eve challenge. I managed a few more blocks on my buzzsaw quilt

plus I received squishy mail from Cheryl with four more flannels to add to the mix. Thanks, Cheryl! They are already washed, and will become blocks very soon!


Well, it appears that I have lots of quilting to do, so I suppose I should get to it!

Sunday morning ramblings

I woke up to find that my clock and my phone displayed different times - Daylight Saving Time, it is finally here! I feel like I have been handed a beautiful gift, one hour of time! I decided to use that time to try to catch up on blogs, since I have read very few in the last few weeks. I'm glad I did - do you know about the awesome giveaway at Canton Village Quilt Works? I want to win this:

Halloween was great! We have to drive into town to find a neighborhood to trick-or-treat in since we live in such a remote location. We tried a new neighborhood this year, one that was less crowded and more spread out than our usual route, but extremely friendly and fun. We also stopped by Mamanance/Nancy's house because she mentioned earlier that she probably wouldn't receive any trick-or-treaters. We can't have that now, can we?

Both of my children cracked me up last night. At one house, we arrived as one woman was running out of candy. She said, "Well, I guess you guys get the last of the candy." My 7-year-old, Jason, said, "Oh, would you like some of my candy so you can give it to the other kids who come later?" Needless to say, the woman was quite surprised and pleased with my little one. So was I. Compassion and generosity are good traits to have, in my book.

Later, about halfway around the neighborhood, my 4-year-old, Donald, got tired of walking and talking to strangers and he just wanted to get in the car and eat some candy. As people tried to give him more candy, he kept saying, "No thanks, I have enough candy." Meanwhile, I'm behind him thinking, "No! Get more so you can share with your Mommy!"

The Quilter's Kitchen

Tonight, there was no karate, no cub scouts, nothing! So I stopped at the library on the way home from work to let Jason pick out some more chapter books for himself, and to see if there was any quilting fiction at the library that I hadn't read yet. Lo and behold, there was! I picked up The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini

and The Healing Quilt by Lauraine Snelling.

I decided to start with The Quilter's Kitchen since it is such a short little story, really more recipes than stories. I sat down to read it while I drank a cup of tea (my version of heaven on earth!) while Jason sat down to do his homework.

One part of his homework was to read a story in his Reader, Hedgehog Bakes A Cake. At the end of the story, there is a recipe for Hedgehog's Yellow Cake. He brought it over to me and asked if he could make it. How funny that we were both reading stories with recipes in them! It looked pretty simple, so I told him to tie on an apron (don't you just LOVE wearing aprons? I think they are the best!) and we got to work. Or, I should say, he got to work, and I supervised and took pictures.

Less than an hour later...YUM!

My kids are so much fun! And now that I have finished the first book, I'm going to make another cup of tea and get started on the second. With another piece of that yummy cake, of course!

I've just gotta say...

I LOVE YOU, BLOGGERS!


I've been feeling a bit crummy lately as a couple things haven't quite gone according to plan. Sometimes I start to doubt myself and my abilities. For example, last night, I led the Cub Scout Den Meeting. I knew I was going to be doing it because my friend/co-den leader still needs some time after her loss. But, rather than prepare this weekend, I sewed. So, on Monday, after work, I was rushing around trying to make copies and pull everything together. In my haste, I left my bag at home. We were supposed to learn about flags, how to respect and display a flag, how to fold a flag, and then each scout would get a little flag to take home. Guess what was in the bag I left at home? You got it - the FLAGS!

So, since our meetings are at the gym at the university where I work, I went down to the trainer's office to get band-aids, and instead we did the Staying Healthy section - we talked about how to stay healthy, made a healthy habits chart to keep track of some of the healthy things we do before the next meeting, and practiced basic first aid - namely, what to do with a cut. I suppose it all worked out in the end, but I was so angry with myself for not being prepared and leading what I am sure seemed like a disorganized meeting.

I went home and got online. And there you all were! First, with all the positive encouragement, not only about my quilts, but about my life. And then, the way you guys go above and beyond for someone you've never even met. I mentioned someone had suggested building out the stars and adding an inner border on my Scrappy Stars quilt. At the time, I was too lazy to go back and see exactly WHO had made that recommendation. Well, it was Bonnie, who also not only made a suggestion about how to deal with my corners, but even sent me a diagram of how to do it. I'm one of those uber-emotional people who wears their feelings pinned to the front of their shirt for all to see, so this actually made me tear up. Thank you, Bonnie! And all the rest of you, too, for all the little things that you do that make my day everytime I log in.

Steady progress

My plan this weekend was to sew, sew, sew. I had wanted to finish piecing my Scrappy Stars top. I made quite a bit of progress, but I'm not done yet. I have yet to make two of the borders, and I still have to figure out how I want to do the corners. I took someone's suggestion and built out the stars, which is different from the picture of the quilt that I have been working from. Then, I felt it needed an inner border, again a deviation from the original. Which left me with the corner conundrum. Ideas, anyone? I made an extra of one of the interior blocks to try it out, but it isn't speaking to me.

My kids are feeling better. No fevers and mucous production is down, but they are still coughing so hard that it makes me cringe. However, they've been inside all week, and today was a gorgeous day in southwestern Virginia, so I let them go outside to play.

We also had a picnic lunch on the porch.

Most of the week, however, they've been inside reading and watching TV and alternately making a mess in their room and then having to clean it up again. They were thrilled when my mom gave them this little joystick/game thingie to play old school arcade games on the TV - Pacman, Rally X, Galaga.

I've gotta say, even all the grownups in the house have taken a turn or two. It brings back memories - of course my memory is that I stink at those types of games. Oh well, I'd rather be sewing anyway.

Friend and Foe

I had lunch at the home of one of my quilting buddies, Mamanance/Nancy, yesterday. What a treat! I went to collect a label for my comfort quilt (I got it sewn on today - plus, I got the bloodstain out, so it is ready to go join the ranks of other comfort quilts waiting to bring some warmth into someone's day) and some flannel for my buzzsaw quilt.

I not only got that but also a pattern that she had accidentally bought two of (caution: lousy photo alert!)

and she lent me her copy of Clare O'Donohue's The Lover's Knot, which I thought I had read until I read book two of the series and realized I hadn't. Great timing, as I leave for a quick trip to Atlanta tomorrow, and this gives me something to read on the plane. (by the way, I LOVE these Clare O'Donohue books!) She also lent me her copy of Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash movie, which I haven't seen yet. That will have to wait until I return, but I'm sure it will be GREAT in my new home theater.

So, that is the friend. The foe is THE FLU which has my children home for the week. You would never know they were sick by their energy level - they never seem to slow down - but they both have fevers and coughs and snotty noses. As a precaution, the entire family is being treated with Tamiflu. Hopefully, none of us will get terribly ill like the folks in the stories they have on TV daily.

No new sewing, other than the comfort quilt label. And for my trip, I am bringing karate uniforms that need patches sewn on - bleech! But it must be done; provided we are all well on Saturday, Jason and I will be testing for our PURPLE BELT!

Some progress and a special find!

Yesterday, I managed to squeeze in some very interrupted sewing as I went about my wifely and motherly duties. I pulled out my neglected "Virginia Bound" quilt (I mistakenly called it "Virginia Star" in my last entry) from my Bonnie Hunter book, Scraps and Shirttails, and finished a couple more blocks. This quilt is so much fun to make - so liberating! (I may have been a little too liberal in my interpretation of neutrals, but I'll make that determination when I get a bit more done.)

I have a couple more wedges that still need the neutrals attached, and, of course, I have gobs more blocks to make. I can't imagine why I put this quilt aside for so long - I love it!

In making some of the new wedges, I pulled out the scrab bag I got from Judi recently, since much of those scraps are strips and perfect for this project. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found two orphan blocks! I can't wait to find a use for them.

I also completed a few more Scrappy Star blocks. This quilt is sure to be one of my favorites.


It has been pretty cold here - perfect weather for staying inside and sewing.