Christmas in July

I'll admit it - I got caught up in the Christmas in July hype! First of all, I picked up a Cleo Coyle book, Holiday Grind, that our library just got in.


I've enjoyed the other 7 Coffeehouse Mysteries by this author, so I jumped right into this one. (It is no surprise that my coffee consumption skyrockets when I read these books!)

And then, to see Mrs. Quilting in my Pyjamas working up that Flurry pattern, which looked so quick and easy and cute, well, I couldn't help myself. I spent some time in my sewing room this weekend with my bag of Christmas fabrics. Although the Flurry pattern is awesome, it doesn't make up for UGLY Christmas fabrics!!! I have inherited most of my Christmas fabrics from others, and of course, I am grateful to have them, but they aren't the gorgeous fabrics you see out there today. I'm less than impressed with what I have so far, and in true Erin fashion, I have had to modify the pattern to fit my limited fabric supply.

Maybe once it is sewn together I will like it better. Maybe once it is quilted. Or (gulp) maybe, I will never like it.

At least my machine and iron and rotary cutter got a little workout.

On a more satisfied note, my husband and I got the over-the-range microwave installed last night - yippee! I've banished my little countertop microwave to the basement and reclaimed my counter!!! (It's the little things that make me so happy!)

Delay, delay, delay

This weekend was going to be a weekend of sewing, remember? Well, I did get some sewing done, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. And while I'd love to show a photo of my progress, I forgot to bring the cord to my camera to work with me. We'll have to delay the quilt in progress photos. Which kinda goes along with the whole theme for my weekend - DELAY!

First of all, my husband finally came home after a month of being on the road recruiting. I'm so thrilled to have him home, I was a bit distracted from my sewing... (can ya blame me?)





Secondly, I also had some "fix it around the house" goals for myself.

• I needed to buy a replacement shutter for one that came off in a storm and install it. Unfortunately, it is a custom size, so that needs to be ordered.



• I needed to buy and install a new bottom heating element for my oven. Unfortunately, after dismantling my oven, I was informed that those need to be ordered online, not bought at the store. I put the oven back together again so we can still use the stovetop and the broiler.



• I needed a new over-the-range microwave, as mine has been on the fritz for months now and we've been making do with a little countertop spare. I want to reclaim that countertop space! We bought the new one, but installation was thwarted because our tile backsplash interferes with the mounting plate.

Aarrgghhh!



Finally, we are planning to adopt another dog into our family. Poor Biscuit gets so lonely when we are gone during the day, and we think he needs a canine companion. We went to the SPCA Shelter 3 times this weekend to audition dogs, and I've fallen in love with Rosabelle, this year-and-a-half year old hound who is as sweet and calm as Biscuit is rambunctious. They seemed to hit it off when we introduced them, and I think they would complement each other well.

Plus, she gave us "the look". When I heard that she's been in the shelter since JANUARY, I knew I'd be bringing her home with me, the poor thing! But first we need to have our adoption application approved, and then she needs to have her girlie operation done, so she hasn't come home with us yet.


I feel like everything I tried to do this weekend was delayed in one way or another. Here's hoping that this week will be a model of productivity!!

Inertia

I have not put in a stitch in 2 days. Why? Mostly, because we've been sparring in karate which WIPES ME OUT!! So, after work, then karate, a trip to the pool to cool off, a short stint of blackberry picking in the yard for dessert, and then dinner and bedtime with the kids, I've got nothing left. This weekend, however, I am determined to not only finish the top of the baby quilt, but also finish hand quilting a third block in the Pick and Choose quilt and fire up the sewing machine to piece at least 1 block of something, anything!

I'm going to KICK my inertia to the curb!

(this is me kicking during Kama Kata at my Advanced pre-Black Belt test last month. I didn't know I could kick that high...)

Dear Jane comes to town

Saturday morning was our monthly quilt guild meeting. This month, a group of 4 women in the guild shared with us their Dear Jane quilt journeys. It was a wonderful presentation - part history lesson, part technique workshop, part getting to know each other better. Two of the presenters "just" have some of the blocks done, two of the presenters have completed their quilts.

This is Kerry. Her top is done, and she is currently working on hand quilting it. For some reason, the whole photo turned out a bit orange-ish, but take my word for it - her quilt is stunning and her hand quilting is a marvel!


This is Marcia. Her quilt is completely finished. She shared with us her FIVE YEAR JOURNEY as she completed this entire quilt BY HAND, piecing and quilting. It is amazing! And like the original 1863 Jane Stickle quilt, each block is made from a different fabric.

Here is her signature block in the corner. Do you see those stitches??? Just BEAUTIFUL!


I could have admired these quilts for hours!



You would think that this eye candy would have inspired me to come home and quilt, but no, I spent most of the weekend reading. But finally, on Sunday, Jason got me down into the sewing room because HE wanted to sew something. He wanted to make a shirt, but I let him know that I had no idea how to begin making something with sleeves, so we settled on a vest. His school has a Western Wear day every year, so he used the cowboy fabric that he picked out for himself last time that we went to a quilt store together, and lined it with a plaid fabric that he picked out for himself from his grandmom's stash while we were visiting last week because, "Mom, cowboys wear plaid!" We had no pattern, and the only clothing I've ever made was that pleated skirt and that pillowcase nightdress for my niece, but his vest actually turned out pretty darned well!
(no buttons, though, because I have no idea how to make button holes. Gotta do some research on that. Besides, a cowboy vest deserves some cool buttons, don't you think? Or better yet, maybe some pearl snaps like so many western shirts! Hmmmm.....)

I'm particularly impressed with his control over his speed with the foot pedal - I remember when he first started how he couldn't help but go from a standstill to 60 mph and then to a stop again. He's becoming quite the sew-er. Now, of course, I have to help Donald make a vest, too - he wants to use that pirate fabric that I picked up for the boys when I was in California in May.

While I was down there helping Jason out, I finally got the lead out and started piecing together the baby quilt for my co-worker's newborn. I added a pieced wonky star to eliminate some of the plain-ness, and am now working on appliqueing down the initials using needle-turn.

What I really need to be doing is hand quilting the Pick and Choose quilt. I should go do that now...

Hanging on with both hands

I don't want this vacation to end. I am so relaxed, so happy. I've been getting done what needs doing, but not stressing about the rest, and I am so proud of myself! Plus, I've been getting some wonderful sewing time in.


First up, the binding is on my Ella Quilt, and it is in the wash. (please come out of the wash unscathed and wonderfully crinkly!! Do any of you worry about your colors running or stitches not holding or some other catastrophic event taking place between the time you put your quilt in the wash and the time you take it out?) I will be ready to send it off to my friend on Monday.

Secondly, I finished the Birdie Stitches BOM for May (yes, I know it is July - just smile and nod and be happy for me).

As usual, I modified the block a little - there were too many flowers in there for my liking, so I took some out.

And finally, I've been trying to come up with a quick and easy baby quilt for a co-worker who became a father for the second time this past week. I have been seeing lots of quilts with panels of a focus fabric, so I wanted to do that. Plus, I wanted her initials (we weren't clued in on the name until she was actually born). But it turns out that I don't have much fabric that I feel coordinates with the fabric I want as the focus panel. Be honest - is this too plain?

Do you have any suggestions for me? I haven't sewn anything yet, just played with things on the floor. Unfortunately, being the scrap quilter that I am, I only have limited quantities of the fabrics I want to use, so the quilt will be quite small, but then, so are babies, right? In all the time I've been agonizing over making something simple, I could have pieced a top!

Other than sewing, I've been alternately hanging out on my bed watching Brothers and Sisters (I'm on Season 2 now and still ridiculously addicted to that show!) and hanging out on my porch, reading, drinking iced tea and eating these beauties that I picked in our yard before breakfast.

Oh, how I don't want this vacation to end! I am hanging on to each second of it with both hands!

I'm HOME!

The kids and I pulled in at about 5 PM yesterday after picking Biscuit up from the farm where he boards when we go out of town. After spending the last 14 nights in 9 different homes and hotels, it felt GREAT to be home!

My own bed - aaahhhh!

Getting clothes out of a dresser or closet instead of a suitcase - aaahhhh!

My own well water - aaahhhh!

I was so excited to be home that I didn't know what to do first. Some of my mail looked promising so I started there. I was thinking that I'd received my fabric and instructions for Let's Bee Together for July, but nope. Instead, I was surprised with these two packages:

A sweet little notebook with my name on it from Mrs. P of Quilting in My Pyjamas - thanks, Shay!!!

And I won this book from a Sew4Home giveaway - I'm hitting the thrift store TODAY to find a wool garment that I can felt and make one (or more) of these little cuties!

Next, I went down to visit my sewing studio. I kid you not, a walked through a cobweb going in the door - BAD SIGN!!! I swept the room out, lit a candle, and fired up the machine to finish up my sample Let's Bee Together block for August when I get to send out the fabrics and the instructions. I hemmed and hawed about what I wanted (I was pretty sure I wanted a basket quilt but I wasn't sure which fabrics to use), but just before leaving for vacation, I realized I wanted something made with those cute little quilt sayings that I got from the Traveling Stash. I pulled out my black and white fabrics, added a touch of red, and voila!

(It reads, "A quilt on the the bed is worth two in the head.)

I have all my kits ready to go

and I'm going to ask Bee members to make whatever block they'd like - modern, traditional, pieced, appliqued, whatever. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Then, I started unpacking, and came across some of the fabric that my mother-in-law (who first introduced me to quilting 8 years ago) gave me while we were visiting her earlier in the week. I'm most excited about that neutral on top - I go through neutrals faster than I can keep them in my stash!

While at her house, I snapped a few photos of quilts she had around. The kids slept under this quilt, the first quilt she ever made.

Her 90-year-old mother sleeps under this quilt.

And here is a quilt her mother made.

She amazes me - all of her quilts are not only hand quilted, but also hand PIECED! Wow!

Anyway, the kids and I are taking it pretty easy today. We slept in, had brunch on the porch, and now I need to go hang some laundry on the line to take advantage of this gorgeous day. It is so nice to visit with others, but it is even nicer to come home again!

Sure sign of a GREAT vacation

(note: I started this post on June 29, but didn't publish until July 4 - hence the discrepancy between dates - sorry if you find my post to be confusing!)

We've been on the road since Wednesday, June 22nd. We've been to New York state visiting colleges while my husband recruits. We've been to Pennsylvania visiting my husband's family. We spent a week in Massachusetts staying with my twin sister and her family while my husband and the boys worked/attended basketball camp. We spent a day and night visiting a college roommate on her farm in Vermont. For the last two days, we've been in New Hampshire at my younger sister's and mom's new house, celebrating not only their move, but also my sister's 34th birthday.

We have ridden bikes, gone swimming in ponds, exercised (ick!), eaten VERY well, played basketball and baseball and every board game ever made. We've gone to the movies. We've read books. We've driven seemingly every back road in New England with the music blaring and the windows rolled down. What we HAVEN'T done is get on the computer. Having too much fun to stop what I'm doing and write a blog post is a sure sign that I'm having a great vacation. And to top it off, I still have a week of fun left!

I have gotten some stitching done. I finished hand quilting my ELLA quilt for the daughter of a high school friend. I can't trim and bind it until I get home.

I've also about half completed the May Birdie Stitches BOM. but I don't have photos yet.

And now some photos from the week at my twin sister's house:

The kids wanted to wish their Grandpa a happy birthday, so they made signs and we posted this on his Facebook Wall (the new generation and all, you understand)

My knitting sister showed me some lovelies she has made for her daughter (hopefully just miniature versions of stuff she has in the works for me (hint, hint, hint):

a tank top

a lovely dress

and here is the said niece wearing that nightie I made her

Ericka also took me to the high school to see a community quilt that a class had produced.

Check out the clever 3-dimensional doorknobs:

And some of my favorite pictorial blocks - do you see the clever use of that red toile(?) fabric?

I think this is Emily Dickinson

Farms are perfect to render in patchwork

Anyway, I can smell bacon, a siren call to get me off the computer and back with the family. Today, we head back to Pennsylvania for a few days before making our way back to Virginia to see if my pets still recognize me. Happy 4th of July, fellow Americans! And happy belated Canada Day to my northern neighbors! And if you are reading from some other part of the world where you haven't been graced with a holiday weekend, happy Monday!