Sharing the wealth! (giveaway)

Yesterday, I had to drive down to the airport to pick up 12 visitors to my university. On the way to the airport, there just happens to be a quilt shop that is going out of business and having an AWESOME sale. I had to stop, right?

Remember me lamenting the fact that I don't have enough yardage of anything to do borders? That was my goal - buy yardage. Since I didn't have much time, I didn't want to wait around for lots of cutting, so I looked for bolts that I could deadbolt - after all, the discount was 45% if you finished a bolt. And in my mind, I told myself to buy some bright fabrics; it seems I always gravitate towards darker, more somber/earthy colors, and I wanted to brighten my stash.

OK, don't laugh, but here's what I got:



Not a bright fabric in the bunch! Oh well, I guess you like what you like!

I also picked up 3 yards of this flannel to see if I'd like it better for my Get Well Checkerboard Quilt border - we'll see. (Sorry for the crappy photo)


So, I left with nearly 28 yards of fabric (27 and 7/8). Wow. I've never bought that much fabric at once in my life. It is truly more than I need. I should share, don't you think?

So, here's the deal - guess how much I spent on those (almost) 28 yards. Whoever comes closest to the actual amount spent (not including tax) wins, and I will send you a half-yard cut of any three of those fabrics - your choice. You can guess as many times as you'd like. I'll close the giveaway on Sunday morning, 9:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time). Be sure to tell me which three fabrics you'd like in your comment, because I plan to wash all the fabrics on Sunday, and I want to cut your winnings out first (since not all of us pre-wash).

Oh, and part of the reason I'm feeling so generous - I won a giveaway this week from Leona's Quilting Adventure! My boys both need new quilts, and I'm trying to picture what I can make with these - any ideas?


Happy Friday, everyone!

Tis the season...

...for hand quilting!

When I went down to my sewing room last night after putting the kids to bed, I realized that I'm not particularly motivated to piece late at night. My windows are black, the house is quiet, and I feel closed in and uninspired. I was lamenting the fact that I had already finished the appliqueing of the Dresden Plates, because what I really wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a good movie and some hand work.

My eye fell upon my GGG quilt top, the one made from fabric rescued from a deteriorating quilt made by my Great Great Grandmom.

My goal was to have it quilted by Christmas (but we all know how meaningless my goals are). But here was a hand project that I was excited about working on, the only obstacle being that it wasn't yet basted. Have I shared yet that basting is my ABSOLUTE LEAST FAVORITE part of quilting? I actually turned to go back upstairs and get into bed with a book. But I'm proud of myself for turning back around.

Basting actually went pretty quickly - after all, the quilt isn't all that big - and soon I was upstairs in my room, sitting under a pool of light, happy as can be. I started by outline quilting about 1/4" inside the blocks.

Before I knew it, it was midnight and hubby was back from his scrimmage (which they won - yay!) and it was time for bed.

I LOVE having hand quilting ready and waiting for me to pick it up whenever I get the urge. I foresee many hours of this peaceful activity as the brilliant colors of fall fade into winter. I'll save piecing for those rare days when I am home and I can sew when the sun is shining and the vista outside my window inspires me to create. But for now, tis the season for hand quilting!

I don't really have a good excuse

Remember my goal to have my Plaid Dresden Plate quilt all put together into a top by Sunday night? Not. And I don't even have a good excuse. Here's what I do have:

1. Sunday was just too glorious to not spend a good part of it outside. For me, that meant in the hammock swing with a book and a pocketful of candy corn. And then, of course, fresh air makes you sleepy, so I had to come in and take a nap. Hours of possible sewing gone in the blink of an eye.


2. When I did get down there to sew, my mind flashed back on a Checkerboard quilt that I had just seen online, and I thought, "Hey, that'd be fun to have so when you are sick, you can play checkers on the quilt you are snuggled up under! And it has to be quick to throw together!" And it was quick to throw together - I used flannels so the flannel checkers would stick to the board.
   

But here are the problems:

1. it is only 40" square, way too small to snuggle up under,


2. the problem with being a scrap quilter and never buying yardage is that there is never enough yardage to make solid borders when you want them. So, I made do with the fabric that I did have enough yardage of, and I don't really love it. I would have preferred something brighter and more whimsical, especially if it is a "get well" quilt. Oh well, hours of possible sewing on my Plaid Dresden Plate gone because of my wandering eye.

The good news is that all of the plates are appliqued down, now everything just needs to be sewn together. It shouldn't take long - I just need to find the time to do it. But life with active boys doesn't leave much time for sewing. Last night it was cub scouts and a meeting for the Hull's Drive-In Movies board (yup, I said yes to joining another Board - but I go so often, how could I say no?). Tonight is karate. Tomorrow will likely be karate, too, because I have to work late on Thursday and Friday plus put in a couple of hours on Saturday morning. Wah! I woke up feeling like this:




How is it that my boys wake up feeling all frisky and full of creative energy, greeting me like this?

Oh, and speaking of Cub Scouts, last night we visited the home of an 80-year-old scout who has his basement set up like a museum of scouting paraphernalia.

Did you know that Norman Rockwell (one of my favorite painters) worked for Boy Scouts for 60 years, starting at age 18? In this guy's basement were a whole wall of Norman Rockwell prints that had scouts in them. My favorite (of the ones hanging on the wall) also included a quilt - A Scout is Helpful.

It is always so neat to see your passions overlap! Happy (and productive) Tuesday!

Don't you want to play, too?

I've never met Em in person, but I can say without reservation that she is one of my favorite people ever. I just love her spirit and her creativity and her goofiness and her generosity. I'm hoping to have a chance to meet her next summer when we are hoping to take a family vacation out west. If you've never "met" her, I encourage you to visit her blog. And what a great time to be visiting as she is having a special giveaway - wrap yourself in a quilt, take a photo, send the photo to her and you are entered!

Jason is wrapped in the Spiderman quilt I made him several years ago. He is outgrowing it, and I need to make him a new quilt soon.


And here I am in the quilt that Em sent me last year. It lives on my recliner, and I love to wrap myself up in it and feel the warm embrace of a good friend.


Jason asked why we were taking these photos, what we could win. One of the quilts that Em makes, I told him. "Cool!" he said. "Her quilts are AWESOME!" I agree!

Second wind

I had been feeling a bit under the weather earlier this week, so not much sewing was taking place. Instead, I made homemade soup, slathered myself in Vicks Vapor Rub, and buried myself in blankets and sweatsuits before the sun even went down to read and rest and get well. I'm happy to report that it worked, and I feel fit as a fiddle now, but you know that inertia that sets in when you don't sew for a while? I seemed to have lost my drive to go downstairs into the sewing room and get back at it. My bed and my books had a siren call that I couldn't resist.


Well, there's nothing like getting fabric in the mail to catapault you back into the sewing room! Nancy, known on the blogosphere as Mamanance, sent me some homespuns from her collection for my Plaid Dresden Plate quilt (which needs a name, by the way; any ideas?), and that was all the impetus I needed. Thanks, Nancy! Every single fabric you sent is now in my quilt!

As soon as I made it back to the house from the mailblox yesterday, I finished piecing together the last two plates, which are now ready to be appliqued down during stolen moments this week - during lunch, waiting at the bus stop with the kids, in between karate classes this afternoon.

And I started piecing together the sashing strips and the 9-patch cornerstones.
To the unpracticed eye, it may seem like I haven't gotten much done, but believe me, I was a whirling dervish in the sewing room last night. And I feel so much more settled now that most of the quilt is off the floor and on the design wall - I hate building a quilt on the floor; I'm spoiled, I know.

So, goals are good, right? My goal is to have this entire top pieced together by the time I go to bed Sunday night. I'm really anxious to have these blocks be a top and this top be a quilt. When my sister and I spend our "twins retreat" up at her new vacation home in New Hampshire in April, I plan to sleep under this quilt!

And I'll leave you with an image that a colleague sent me - obviously the photographer is NOT a quilter - I would be THRILLED to see that many quilt magazines in one place!

Frightfully fun weekend!

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to fit any sewing in this weekend, but I did! It doesn't have a name or a purpose, but this 45"x48" lap/baby quilt can now come down off my design wall,

making room for the plaid Dresden Plate that is consuming my thoughts these days. Lots of scraps got completely used up in the making of this quilt, which makes me happy. And if I am counting correctly, 65 different fabrics appear in this quilt. Lots to look at.

While at a Halloween/birthday party this afternoon, I managed to start appliqueing down another Dresden Plate - just three of the nine plates left before I can start sewing it all together. I'd love to get all those plates done this week so I can start top assembly next weekend.

I fear my children and I should also do a sugar detox this week. They had Halloween parties at school on Friday. After I worked Saturday morning, we spent all afternoon and evening at a Halloween party. This afternoon we went to another party,

(the two Grim Reapers are mine) and then finished the night with some Trick-or-Treating. We've had so much sugar even my prodigious sweet tooth is screaming, "UNCLE!" I'm thinking fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast - we need something made by nature, not made by mixing corn syrup with artificial coloring. How was YOUR Halloween weekend?

Slowing down with some hand sewing and reading

This has been my first full week at home since Labor Day. Aaaahhhh! I thought I would spend lots of time in the sewing room with my machine and my fabric, but instead I have found myself hanging out with the boys, working on Halloween costumes and reading Halloween books and watching Halloween movies. Do you think they're excited about Halloween?

So, that means instead of a quilt top to show you, all I've managed to do this week is applique down two more scrappy plaid Dresden Plates.

It's going to be a busy Halloween weekend with pumpkin carving tonight, work tomorrow morning and a Halloween party tomorrow afternoon, plus a Halloween party and trick or treating on Sunday, but I really want to fire up the machine and do something that looks like progress. Check back on Sunday - I promise to have something to show!

I've also been doing a lot of reading lately. I love Emilie Richards' Shenandoah Album series of books, but I've read all of them and no new ones seem to be coming out anytime soon. Then I discovered her Ministry is Murder cozy mystery series - love it!!! I've finished the first two, and have the third at my bedside. And lucky me, she just published the 5th in the series, so I have a couple weeks of reading ahead of me. I also just read her book, Happiness Key, which I also enjoyed. I'm going to have to check out even more of her books!

I've completely run out of Beverly Connor's Lindsay Chamberlain mystery series. There were only 5 books, and I devoured them. I was an archaeology major in college, so these stories about a forensic anthropologist really appealed to me. The website says there's another book in the works, but I don't know how accurate that is. Beverly Connor has another longer series with another protagonist, Diane Fallon, also a forensic anthropologist, which I am going to try next.

And what have I been reading to my kids when I can distract them from Halloween? My two absolute favorite quilt books for kids, Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt

and The Quiltmaker's Gift.

If the young people in your life don't have these books, GET THEM! I love reading them, I love the artwork, I love the messages in both of them. They are wonderful!

And finally, I leave you with images of the two most special people in my life...

today is western wear day at school...

and who doesn't love hanging out in a wheelbarrow?