TreeHouses and the Big Easy

Greetings from New Orleans!

I'm attending a conference here - are any of my quilting/blogging buddies who work in education here as well? If so, let me know - I turn 40 tomorrow, and while I am used to spending my birthdays on the road, alone, I'd rather do something fun here in this fun city like meet a blogging friend in person!

I had been having some fun in between the educational sessions. My hotel is on Canal Street, so I am very close to the French Quarter. I wandered down Bourbon Street yesterday morning to see what it looks like when there AREN'T drunken hordes in the streets - all very wet as they sprayed everything down, with delivery trucks lined up bumper to bumper. It amazes me that that street is like a party every night - how exhausting!

I made my way to the French Market, where I stopped at an artist's co-op called Dutch Alley Gallery. It is my dream to open an artists' co-op one day, so I had a great time perusing their wares and talking with the artists. Over near the quilted items, there was a painter named Dan Fuller who paints fanciful treehouses. As my children are OBSESSED with building a tree house (my fault for mentioning it in passing one day - it's funny, they forget that you asked them to take out the compost or clean their rooms, but that one comment lodged itself inextricably into their little brains...) I asked him if I could photograph him in front of his work.

I also bought one of his note cards to have him sign it. I wish I could have brought a whole painting home, but a) I am traveling with just a backpack and a laptop, and b) it isn't really in the budget this week/month/year.

After that, I strode purposefully to Cafe du Monde for beignets and frozen cafe au lait, black pants be damned. Just as good as I remember it from 5 or 6 years ago when I was last here, so I'll be going back again today (and tomorrow, and Sunday if they are open that early before I go to the airport). That delicious treat was followed by a stroll through Riverwalk, and then down to the Convention Center.

On my way back to the hotel yesterday, I passed this "treehouse", honoring the people and remembering the events of Hurricane Katrina.



Tree/house just seemed to be the theme for yesterday. One of the things I love about New Orleans is the architecture, from the amazing homes in the Garden District (where I had a wonderful dinner last night), to the historic gems in the French Quarter, to the great detail on the businesses down town. Check out this detail over a doorway of what is now a bank:


The other thing I love is the tropical-ness. There are palm trees outside my hotel. There are ferns hanging from nearly every balcony, and windowboxes every which way you look. There is a green square around every third corner - just foliage everywhere!

It inspires me to make a quilt with both houses and trees, both items I've been wanting to incorporate into a quilt sooner or later. What do you think, a Tree House quilt? Maybe for the kids to keep in THEIR treehouse, which one of these days, I'm going to have to get off my keister and help them build?

A day to play

Aaaahhhhh!

That's the sound of me sleeping in, the sound of me not leaving the house all day, the sound of me reading and finishing a movie and sewing and eating homemade Apple Crisp and building with Lincoln Logs with the kids and reading them a couple more chapters of HOLES at bedtime. That's the sound of me relaxing. What a wonderful day!


I spent some time today in the sewing room. I wanted to make a doll quilt, and was thinking that I wanted to make it from bowtie blocks. I pulled out a bag of solid scraps that I bought in WV last year (or was it the year before? Or perhaps 2 years ago? Where does the time go?) and pulled out all the pink and brown. When I was in Atlanta, my friend's daughter gave her room to me for my visit. Her room is decorated in pink and brown. Her birthday is coming up, and I thought I could make a quilt and pillow for her American Girl doll, Addy Rose Alston. Of course, with my quilter's ADD, I got bored making just bowties, so here's what I finally came up with:

Now to stuff the pillow and quilt the quilt. Of course, I just realized that I don't know what size her American Girl doll is. If it is one of those enormous ones, this quilt won't do. But you know what? When making the free-pieced letters, I realized that the doll has the same initials as my niece! If the quilt isn't big enough for the American Girl doll, I'll give it to my niece - I'm sure she'll have a doll or stuffed animal who will fit under it. Or I could make her a little rag doll to fit under there...


While I was playing in the sewing room, the rest of the family was playing, too. I walked by my husband and eldest playing Air Hockey...

to find my youngest playing deep sea diver in my tub.

I love it when everyone is happy and relaxed and having fun. And you know what, those bubbles look mighty good to me! I think I may just go banish Captain Jack Sparrow and his compadres from my bathroom, light the candles, and end my weekend with a book and a bath myself.

Have a great week, everyone!

Look, Ma! No pattern!

I've been wanting to make an iPad cover/carrier for a while now. We take our iPad with us EVERYWHERE!!! I did research online and found tutorials for how to make a cover. And I fully intended to use one of those patterns to make my cover. But then I didn't. I just started cutting and sewing, never mind the fact that I've never really made a bag before other than my drawstring backpacks.

The result is a bag that I love, that is big enough to fit the iPad plus a few other things that I may want to carry around with me including the wireless keyboard, but that won't win any awards for design or construction. For example, it didn't occur to me that I had no idea how to add straps until after the rest of the bag was done. Live and learn. Next time I'll use a pattern. But for now...

VOILA!




The yellow fabric is a durable canvas-type material and the inside is soft, cozy flannel. Everything, from the fabric to the button to the elastic loop for the button, was from my stash. It took less than an hour, and I will be using it regularly, I am sure. Well, at least until I make another one where I actually follow a pattern!

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!

One down, three to go

Travel season has begun, so my blogging is likely to be sporadic until mid-October. I just got back from my first trip - ATLANTA. I love going to Atlanta because I get to stay with friends, one night with Nancy (mamanance), where we talk and quilt and talk and quilt and eat her yummy food and talk and quilt. Then two nights with a girlfriend that I met when I lived in Atlanta 14 years ago, one of those friends where you can be apart for 9 months and when you see each other, the conversation picks up right where you left off.

Quilting-wise, I spent my spare moments working on the August Birdie BOM block, trying to meander quilt my Chicken Soup quilt by hand (confession - I am picking out the machine quilting; I am just not happy with the results), and a stop in a new-to-me quilt shop, Red Hen Fabrics in Marietta, GA where I picked up some chubby eighths for my Let's Bee Together quilt and some Heat Press Batting Together tape. Has anyone ever used this? I am curious to see how it works since I have so many batting scraps that aren't quite big enough for a quilt.

Speaking of my Let's Bee Together quilt, I received another block; isn't it cool?


But here's what is NOT cool: On Friday night, while my kids were enjoying Parents Night Out at karate, I went to a quilt guild meeting and trunk show and then hit the grocery store to pick up food so my family wouldn't go hungry during my absence. I picked the kids up at 10 PM, and had them in bed by 10:30 PM, me, a bit later. On Saturday, I got up, made breakfast, packed, showered, and was on my way to the airport by 9:30 AM. Fast forward to 10:30 PM yesterday (Tuesday), when my flight landed and I went back to my car for the drive home. Guess what I found?

Yup, the groceries from Friday night. 4 days in a closed car in the Virginia heat. I think I know what a corpse smells like. Did you know that packages of Jimmy Dean sausage will explode when left out in the sun? Or that frozen pot pies nearly liquify? I don't even want to know what was growing on the inside of the bread bag, and I am thankful that not ALL of the yogurt containers burst.

I drove to the nearest gas station and pumped gas as a cover for my dumping $98 worth of groceries in their trash recepticles and then scrubbing the back of my car with antibacterial wipes. At 11:00 at night. Before an hour and a half drive home. With all the windows down and the sunroof open in an attempt to get some breathable air.

PLEASE, make me feel like I am not the only bonehead on earth - leave me a comment telling me something boneheaded that you have done. I can't be the only one, right?

Tension Troubles

My mother-in-law came through surgery OK, and now they just have to figure out what to do next. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and positive thoughts. It certainly made ME feel better!

But still, I've been tense this week. I've been chewing up the inside of my mouth. My shoulders are sore from being held so stiffly. I'm not getting enough sleep, and not sleeping very well when I do.

I really want to get this quilt done so I can send it up to her. So after karate and dinner last night, I went down to the sewing room to see what I could do about quilting it. First, I started with some straight lines - BORING! I couldn't make myself do more than 2 lines, which I will be taking out. Time to put on my big girl pants (borrowing from Em) and try Free Motion Quilting. A meander can't be that hard, right? I thought I'd practice on one of my hot pads that I had made this spring, the one I messed up on and left the space between the O and the T, the one I am definitely keeping for myself anyway:

OK, not too bad, I can do this. Of course, the hot pad is only about 8" square...

I got started on the Chicken Soup Quilt and the thread kept breaking. I rethreaded 3 times before I pulled the quilt out and looked at the back. Not only was the thread breaking, but the back had ridiculous loops. Obviously my tension was wrong. Maybe I should read my notes from when I tried free motion quilting once before. Why don't I ever read the instructions FIRST?? I had in my notes what tension works for me, what stitch length, etc. I made the adjustments and switched to new thread (why not? maybe it was the wrong thread and THAT is why it kept breaking), and started again in another place.

It isn't perfect.

The shapes are funny looking and in some places, much more angular than smooth, sometimes crossing over other lines of stitching even though I was trying hard to avoid that.

I am finding it very difficult to maintain the same speed throughout so that I can have the same stitch length throughout.

But I'm doing it!

Unfortunately, I have a bunch of stitching to pull out from the first thread...UGH!

You know, I'm also tense because of the book I'm reading. Someone from work read my blog and offered me her copy of THE HELP so I wouldn't have to wait for the library copies to come available. I'm really enjoying the story, but it is also making me tense. I just KNOW something terrible is going to happen. Despite my knowledge of segregation and discrimination in the US, reading about it still exasperates and angers me. But it is a good story, so I keep reading.

You know what DIDN'T stress me out? On Monday evening, I watched the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables, all 3.25 hours worth. No wonder it was on TV as a miniseries when I was a kid - it is LONG! But so good! I never even considered not watching the whole thing from start to finish. (I spent the whole time wondering, though, who cast Megan Follows as Anne? She's perfect for the role in temperment, but in the book, Anne is supposedly not pretty, and in my eyes, Megan Follows is gorgeous!) And while watching, I was transported to that magical place (in my mind), Prince Edward Island, and felt myself relaxing. I finished my June Birdie BOM (leaving me just August and September left to do at this point, which I will take on my first work trip this weekend):

and I made some more progress hand quilting my Pick and Choose Quilt. Will I EVER finish that quilt? I am starting to wonder...

Quilting as prayer

My mother-in-law, Wilma, is an amazing woman. She is kind and generous, brave and fierce, gentle and loving, funny and intelligent. I love her dearly. Unfortunately, she has been battling cancer for years now - breast cancer, uterine cancer, colon cancer. But, like I said, she's brave and fierce, and she's been doing an amazing job at keeping cancer at bay and living her life. We found out this weekend that her current threat is not responding to treatment and she's going to have surgery. Today.

I'm thinking positive thoughts. After all, she's fierce and brave, remember? Last night, I just felt like I had to do something, so I went down to the sewing room. At first, I thought flannel, something cozy for her lap while she is convalescing. I started picking out fabrics, but they were all so bright and saccharine. When you are sick, you don't need candy, right? You need chicken soup. I made a pot of homemade chicken soup on Monday. My kids have had the sniffles and coughs for two weeks now, and it was raining, and it just seemed right. So I set out to make a chicken soup quilt for Wilma, nothing fancy, no measuring, made from basic ingredients plus leftovers from other projects, but made with love, made with prayer.

Out came the shirtings and the homespuns and a baggie of HSTs that I got from someone down the line. I put my heart into it and I put her heart into it. I made a ribbon to symbolize her fight against cancer. I left an opening in the border with some HST arrows to show the way for that cancer to get out, out of her body and out of her life.

With every stitch, I thought of all the memories we've made over the last 18 years - the family gatherings, the vacations, the births and birthday parties, the board games, the movies, the sitting up late into the night talking. With every stitch, I sent positive, healing, loving thoughts her way, willing those doctors to fix what is wrong with her once and for all, willing her to have the strength to fight and persevere and triumph. With every stitch, I prayed for 18 more years with her.