I'm a WINNER!

I won, I won, I won! Kathy at True Creations is sending me a Terry Atkinson book, Big Bags Little Bags.


Hmmm, can you foresee what my sisters and mother might be getting for their birthdays this year?

Getting it done

1. Bright Ideas quilt - I sewed on the borders, sandwiched it with this bright, fun, large-scale print as a backing (I have been wondering what to do with this fabric for years)

then got a significant start on the handquilting while watching the Bourne Identity on TV last night.

2. Quilting Studio - It took me FIVE hours, but I primed the entire room, including the ceiling. My shoulders and arms are so sore that I can barely lift the fork to my mouth as I type this while eating lunch at my desk. And for a color, I decided to approach the room the way I approach my fabric acquisition - I shopped in the "mis-tinted" paint section. Yup, it appears that I am not just a scrap quilter, but a scrap painter, too. There is surprisingly quite a bit of paint available for half price just because it isn't the color someone thought they were getting. I appreciated not only the price, but having a smaller selection to choose from - as a Libra, I'm as indecisive as they come. I chose a (hopefully) soft yellow - I was leaning towards yellow anyway. I want my quilting space to be bright and cheerful. Now, I just have to convince my aching body that it wants to go back down there and paint...

3. New Year's Eve UFO Challenge/Buzzsaw quilt - I cut out the last flannel pieces for the blocks for my flannel buzzsaw quilt and even sewed two blocks together. Of course, I sewed them together in the mirror image of what I actually need, so those two blocks are useless for this project, but there will undoubtably be an orphan flannel block quilt coming out of my studio at some point in the future, so it isn't a complete loss.

4. Christmas decorating - I promised my little guys that we would decorate this past weekend. Luckily, we went out to pick a tree BEFORE the freezing rain settled over the valley. The boys are old enough now that they truly do most of the tree trimming, and they take the job VERY seriously. Our tree is always very simple - white lights, red bows, red and white candy canes, strings of popcorn and cranberries, a couple ornaments that have been given to us, and whatever ornaments they have made and brought home over the years. It is so funny to listen to them, "Oh, I remember when I made this old thing." (OLD!?! You are SEVEN. I have underwear older than you!)


And while they did most of the work, I drank most of the eggnog and nearly polished off a whole container of chocolate covered peanut brittle (if you've never tried it, it is heavenly and decadent and completely addictive) while crooning along with Nat King Cole.

Tonight is the last Cub Scout outing of 2009 - we are going Christmas Caroling at a nursing home. I'm thrilled - I haven't been caroling in decades, literally. Gotta warm up the old pipes - fa la la la la!

Counting the days until vacation

My wonderful weekend seems like a distant memory. This week at work has been BRUTAL! How long until winter vacation?

I didn't bring work home last night for a change. I probably should have, but I just needed a break. Instead, I worked on my Bright Idea quilt a bit (that's a working title - does it fit, do you think?) I finished the last prairie point border, and then played around with ideas for the corners. I made the corner diamonds two different ways using strips like the rest of the quilt to see which I liked best,


and I couldn't decide, so I did two one way and two the other. It's my quilt - I can do what I want, right? That's the beauty of not working with a pattern!

Anyway, this working on the dining room table business is getting old. I need to get my butt in gear and paint my quilting studio and move down there. Perhaps I should add that to my New Years UFO Challenge - my new quilting studio is my biggest UFO yet!

Anyway, no time to chat. First karate, then cub scouts, then back to karate for my leadership class. Hey, did I tell you that I got a plaque last weekend at the karate banquet? Each of the three instructors selected a student to recognize, and I was recognized for my "Inspirational Example and Aspiration to Excellence".

I was so surprised, and quite choked up. The instructor spoke of how I find balance between a demanding career, a family and a commitment to karate. Balance, huh? I feel sometimes like I am teetering on the edge of a precipice, or feebly attempting to keep too many balls in the air at the same time, so being recognized made me feel hopeful that I'm doing better at it than I thought I was.

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!

Being irresponsible

I'm supposed to be reading applications for admission to our university. Instead, I've been checking out all the blogs on the SEWMAMASEW giveaway list. I go to see what they are giving away, but get sucked into all their creativity and scroll through post after post after post (which is the point, right?). Where has the time gone? Why can't I focus on what I'm supposed to be doing? Why does this darned job have to get in the way of what I'd much rather be doing - quilting and reading about quilting and talking about quilting. Grrrr.

Anyway, if you have more time than I do, and you haven't yet gotten on board with Giveaway Day at SewMamaSew, be sure to get there by Saturday.

Never again!

I've been quilting during lunch this week, and I am happy to announce that I have finished quilting my flannel juvenile quilt, #2 of the 3 projects I committed to do with the New Year's Eve UFO Challenge. Once I get the binding on, hopefully this week, I can cross this one off the list.

Here's what else I'm going to cross off the list - hand quilting with super high loft batting. NEVER AGAIN! While I like the LOOK, the process was miserable! What was I thinking? The batting is taller than my needle. Now I know. And I think this will be a great quilt to put on the floor for a baby to roll around on - it certainly provides the necessary softness and insulation from the cold floor. I'll post a photo once the binding is on.

I leave you with this - a letter to Santa that my 7-year-old wrote this year that I found while cleaning the kitchen. At least now I have something to work with. (I've corrected his misspellings to make it easier to read - any misspellings you find are mine, not his.)

Dear Santa,

How have you been? I've been fine. Will you give my mom and dad earplugs please so they don't have to hear us (him and his brother) argue? Can you give my grandpa a coffee maker cause he likes coffee? Can my brother have a Tony Hawk Skateboard cause he likes to play? Willl you give my dog bones? Can my brother have a pocket rocket? (what the heck is that!?!) Can the factories have lids so the air is not polluted anymore? Can you stop people from driving animals off cliffs and not eating them, or killing the endangered ones and killing them for no reason? Can you get people to stop smoking? Will you get people to recycle and stop landfills? Can you get people to stop murdering each other and make love and peace through all civilizations and not war? And make little stuff appreciated? (uh, I think he actually knows what appreciate means... AND he spelled it correctly!) Let people who are poor have food and shelter and water for life, and clothes?

(finally he gets to what HE wants - and what a list it is! Two full pages of stuff! I won't wear my fingers out typing it all, but he closes with...)

Books about history, science, social studies and nature. Quilting book cause my mom likes quilting. (That's right, kiddo, you've got your priorities straight!) Can I have an Amherst College Basketball cause my dad lost his?

Santa, I'd like everybody to get what they'd like for Christmas. I love second grade even when it is easy. (OK, quite the nonsequitor)

Love, Jason

Five heavenly days

It is over entirely too quickly, but it sure was fun while it lasted. Five whole consecutive days off for Thanksgiving!

Wednesday was pretty low-key - some housecleaning because I hosted the meal (for 15 people) this year, some time hanging out with the kids, a bit of quilting done on my flannel juvenile quilt.

Thursday was great from start to finish. The kids helped me prep for the meal,

while the food was cooking, there was a raucous game of Taboo going on.

(the thinker is my brother, with his girlfriend on the right and my mom on the left)

(the beauty facing the camera is my younger sister who is pregnant for the first time - yay! She is high fiving my cousin's wife - their team kicked my team's butt! Twice!!)

The food was great - after all that work you'd think I'd take a photo, but I forgot. All but 4 people spent the night; I'm so glad we finished our basement - with all this room, you couldn't even tell there were 11 people engaged in synchronized snoring here that night.

On Friday, we moved the party over to my mom's house where we played dominos and bid whist (we LIKE games in my family - and we are VERY competitive). On the way out the driveway, I checked the mail, and I had packages from both Victoria AND Becky. I brought them with me to open at my mom's - I wasn't about to wait until I got home to see what goodies they had sent me. And when I got to my mom's there was yet ANOTHER package for me - a box of ties from my sister's boyfriend.

Victoria and I swapped some 4" squares. I asked for some of her bold, modern prints - the kind of stuff I feel you can't find around here, and even if you could, I'm not sure I'm brave enough to buy it. Boy, did she deliver! I can't wait to use these in something. Thanks, Victoria!

Then Becky had a whole mess of scraps she was looking to unload. Of course I sent her my address. Here's 22 pounds of scraps, sorted - first, some Christmas fabric, some patriotic fabric, some black & whites which I've pulled aside for a project I need to finish up, some orphan blocks, a piece of flannel that will make its way directly into my buzzsaw quilt, and some small scraps waiting to be cut to size.

Then, strips, lots and lots of strips!

Finally, some yardage, a pile of juvenile and a pile of non-juvenile.

Here are some of my absolute favorites. Thanks for sharing, Becky!

Saturday and Sunday, I vowed to not leave home. My husband's team had an away game on Saturday afternoon, so I listened online while I finished up my Gail Pan blocks and put them in a frame from Angela's Country Scrap Quilts. Another Christmas present done. (Oh, and they won the game - yay!)

Then, today I just couldn't resist those strips from Becky. I pulled out some of the brighter ones, tossed in a couple strips of my own, and started my version of that quilt I found online while in the hotel in Cleveland last weekend. I'm not sure about a border yet, but I love it so far - any suggestions?

One benefit of working with those new scraps is that I was able to get some cut into my scrap sizes (1.5" to 5") as I sewed.

Then tonight I sat down with my kids and watched the last two episodes of Gilmore Girls. We began watching over the summer, and we made it through all seven seasons. Well, Jason and I did. Donald is usually asleep halfway through any episode. Jason, however, is riveted. At the end, I was starting to feel a little weepy, and I glanced over at my son and he was wiping his eyes. That is MY son, Mr. Sentimental. I sure do love my kids.

I am so thankful for time spent with family and friends and time to pursue my passions. And also thankful that there are only 3 weeks until I get some more time off to enjoy them all again!