Construction zone

I didn't sew at all on Monday. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I was determined to make up for it on Tuesday. And when I got to my mailbox and received my teeny, tiny house fabric from Beth, I knew just what I was going to work on!




I couldn't just put this little piece of fabric away for another day; it is too small - it would be lost. But what to do with it? I had 9 little 1.5" HST units that I found when straightening up on Sunday, maybe I could start by surrounding it with those.

Duh, Erin, you need 16 to go all the way around, not 9! OK, maybe just on 2 sides? Nah. Sides and bottom and then a sky with a fussy cut sun and moon up top and flowers in the lower corners?

Nah, I like the flowers in the corners, but I want those HST units on all sides. And then maybe I can set it in a golden field like this one that reminds me of the golden hills outside my window beyond my immediate yard. Perhaps with a little border first.

But I'm out of energy to go digging through all my scraps looking for more of those two particular fabrics used in those HST however many years ago when I cut them off as bonus triangles from another project. That's a project for another day.

Meanwhile, my scrappy log cabin continues to grow.


And BONUS! While looking for scraps to use with my teeny tiny house, I found more of the yellow that I used for the centers of my log cabins. I was afraid that I didn't have any more and thought my log cabin quilt would be limited in size because of it, but now, I have enough of that yellow to make it as big as I want. Big enough for a twin bed, at least, is what I'm thinking now. I just love feeling like I am using up my scraps, although you wouldn't notice when looking at my scrap bags.

And I want to get back to my color words at some point. And figure out what I'm going to do next with the chicks and coffee. And finish piecing my Virginia Bound quilt before Bonnie Hunter gets here next month. Why, oh why, couldn't we have had a snow day like most of the rest of the country (at least that's how it seems!).

By the way, we did have a 2-hour delay this morning, which makes me happy because I get to sleep in until it is light out AND take my time eating breakfast, but they make both of my children sad. When I told them, Donald slumped over and moaned, "We still have to go to school!?!" Jason slumped over and said, "We have to miss part of the school day!?!" Why did I think having one kid prepared me for having two? They are as different as crocodiles and porcupines!

I made coffee!

It's been cold around here lately, so yesterday, I made coffee!

Hot coffee!

No real plan yet, we'll see where I go from here. I sure am having fun making something with no recipient or end result in mind - how liberating! Although, I'll be honest - I was a bit dismayed at how NOT wonky my letters were. I didn't measure, so they arent' the same size, but they aren't wonky either. I guess I really need Tonya's new Word Play Quilts book.

Speaking of liberating, on Saturday, we had a trunk show by Judy Loope at our guild meeting. The woman used to be an art teacher, and I think it shows in her creative quilts.

Most are wallhangings, and she incorporates lots of techniques into her quilts. Her work was AMAZING! Unfortunately, I don't think photos can do justice to the detail and texture and depth to her work, but in case you want to check it out, her website is http://www.judyloope.com/.

And then we get to this morning. I had a doctor's appointment, and on my way back from the doctor's office, I passed the new location of a quilt shop near me that had re-located. I HAD to stop in, right? It turns out, this was opening day, and I was her first official customer. Well, then, I HAD to buy something, right? I mean, this is a woman in my quilt guild that I just MUST support! In case Mrs. P is laughing so hard that her coffee is going up her nose, please know that I was VERY good. I limited myself to the $20 bill I had in my purse. I bought 1.5 yards of Kona white muslin for a cub scout project, and then 2 spring-y fabrics (2/3 yd and 5/8 yd) to remind me that it won't be cold and gray forever.

The shop is delightful, in a big old house set back from the road, surrounded by a shaded yard, with two porches and a deck. There are plantation shutters on the windows (I love plantation shutters!), a cozy, bright sunroom for her longarm, a little classroom, and lots of wonderful fabrics artfully arranged on neat old pieces of furniture. If you are ever zipping down I-81 in Virginia, I encourage you to stop to stretch your legs (and lighten your purse) at exit 200 at the Quiltery. Tell them Erin sent ya!

Books, books, books!!!

As expected, yesterday was exhausting, so when I got home yesterday evening, I climbed into bed with my Earlene Fowler Love Mercy book; the sewing room would have to wait. Alas, no more pieced letters. But while sitting on the bleachers during the morning's basketball games, I did finish sewing the center circles onto my plaid Dresden Plates.


Quick question: why did none of you mention that I hadn't yet sewn those circles on PRIOR to my sewing the top together? It would have been SOOOO much easier if I had sewn those on first, the way it is supposed to be done! Oh well, done is done.

So, since I don't have new sewing to show you, how about new books? Bernie emailed me to see how I got my list of Quilt Fiction on my sidebar, which made me realize that I'd not updated my list with my most recent acquisitions, which made me wonder if some of the other books I wanted might be available yet, which led me to discover that there are some new books that have come out that I hadn't realized, and some others coming out soon. Yay!

I picked up the following titles (used) to add to my quilt fiction collection:

• Cat's Cradle, Jacob's Ladder and Double Wedding Room, all from Lizbie Brown - these are from a series of 6 books. I have the first two, Broken Star and Turkey Tracks, and once these arrive, I'll just be missing the third, Shoo Fly. I've been trying to find these books for years - they are hard to come by here in the US. In summary, "Elizabeth, a widowed American, left Virginia to run a quilt shop in Bath. There, she finds herself unofficially teaming up with Max, a PI whose office is above her shop." (from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/lizbie-brown/broken-star.htm) I've not read these three yet.

• Sister's Choice, Endless Chain, Touching Stars and Wedding Ring from Emilie Richards' Shenandoah Album series. Oops, looks like I missed one - Lover's Knot. Oh well, I'll get it later. No rush, as I've read all of these (and LOVE them!). By the way, I also love her Ministry is Murder series, although I have one of those left to read. And in it, the protagonist's mom is a quilter, so there are quilts in these books, too.

• Murder by Serpents: The Mystery Quilt by Barbara Graham. I know nothing about this book or this author, but I like quilts and I like mysteries. The editorial review from Amazon reads, "Spring in East Tennessee is normally the most beautiful of seasons, a time of growth and renewal. Residents of tiny Park County are shocked when it is also a time for murder. When a snake-handling preacher is murdered with his own snakes, Sheriff Tony Abernathy and his wife, Theo, a quilt shop owner are thrown into the search for a killer. From the beginning of the investigation, it seems like an unlikely choice of weapons. Why kill a man few people even knew existed? The trouble has just begun. Soon the entire sheriff's department is fighting rising water, more deaths and illegal drugs. Theo aides Tony's search as she runs her shop, designs a mystery quilt (pattern included) and is mom to their two young sons." We'll see. If I like it, she has another book in the series. I've not bought it yet, though, since all I can find online is a $26 hardcover, and that is a bit out of my price range for my quilt fiction library purchases.

• The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich. Again, I know nothing about the book or the author, but one of the reviews on Amazon reads, "Carly McKay, a 29-year-old TV producer in Tucson, Ariz., comes from a loving Catholic family—a great dad and two sisters—all of whom have been scarred by the wife and mom who abandoned them 17 years earlier. On assignment from Tucson Today, Carly travels to Bilby, a small town revitalized by a thriving artist community, to interview Brandywine Seaver, a hip psychic quilt maker. Brandy gives skeptical Carly a quilt and a reading, telling her that her mother's not dead and that "[e]verything's about to change." When her mother's shocking return confirms Brandy's reading and she also loses her job, an angry Carly returns to Bilby to give back the "Quilt of Evil." She ends up staying in order to reimagine her life, and in the process discovers new love and the courage to take charge of her destiny."
  Again, we'll see.

And I am waiting on pins and needles (hee hee hee) for the following books to be released:

• Earlene Fowler's next Benni Harper book, Spider Web, is due out in late May. Woo hoo! this may be my favorite series of all time!
• Marie Bostwick's fourth Cobbled Court Quilts books, Threading the Needle, which is due out at the end of May, plenty of time for you to read the first 3 if you've not read them yet!

• Clare O'Donohue's third in her Someday Quilts Mystery Series, The Double Cross, actually came out in September. How did I miss that!?! Next order, that will be on it!

• Arlene Sachitano's fourth Loose Threads Mystery, Quilt by Association, was released in late December. I guess that will be on my next book order, too!

• Jennifer Chiaverini's The Union Quilters will be out in late February. Perhaps I should plan my next book order for then. I like all of her books, but I particularly like the ones with a historical slant/theme.

Also, does anybody know the answer to this: I have Bonnie Hunter's Scraps and Shirttails 2 and Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts on my TO BUY list. But I am wondering, are they (the authors) better off if we buy the book from a "bricks and mortar" bookstore, from Amazon, or directly from them? Does it make a difference? I want to do whatever I can to support these artists/authors in the fullest way possible (within my limited means). Does anyone know?

It's getting HOT in here!

What wonderful ideas you all had for the chicks! And can we all agree that Cheryl is hilarious? I want to put all those ideas in the quilt, but I don't think I have that many pieced letters in me. If I can figure out how to quilt words, I think all those suggestions may make it into the quilt after all. But the word HOT has only 3 simple letters in it, so that's where I started.

And I LOVE IT!

I felt like I was simultaneously channeling Em and Tonya!

I wish I could go piece some more letters RIGHT NOW, but first I've got 2 basketball games, a quilt guild meeting, and a rollerskating date with my boys. After that, who knows if I'll even have energy left to piece?

Who am I kidding!?!

Now I'm just being silly!

There's a new chick in the henhouse! And lots of clucking going on as these two birds catch up with each other over a huge cup of joe!

So, where am I going with this? Who knows? My gut reaction is that I need to make some wonky letters. But what do I say?

Cluck, cluck, sip?

Two chicks, one cuppa joe?

Chicks dig coffee?

Anyone have any ideas? I think two or three words would be best, but I don't really know what to say. I'd love to hear what you think.

Meanwhile, my log cabin quilt continues to grow.

How long did it take to build a log cabin back in the day? Certainly not as long as it takes me to complete one measley quilt!

Skittering with the little chicks!

There's a children's book I love to read(sing) to my kids - Barnyard Dance, by Sandra Boynton. They are probably getting too old for it, but I love it still. In it, you are encouraged to "skitter with the little chicks", and that is exactly what I felt like I was doing yesterday, skittering about, doing a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

While the kids were bathing in my tub, I stitched a bit more on my mom's GGG quilt. Yeah, I gave it to her for Christmas, but I took it back because I wanted to add some more stitches. Do you ever do that? Seems like I'm always doing it with HER gifts! Oh well, I'll likely be done this weekend, and can give it to her for real then.

After bathtime was bedtime. Over Christmas, I found some Stories From Grandma's Attic books at my mom's house. Growing up, I adored those stories! I read them over and over again. So I brought them home with me to share with my boys. The stories are about growing up on a farm in Michigan in the mid-1800s, and just like I do/did, my boys love learning about how people lived in the past. After reading one of the stories to them last night, both of them wanted to read more on their own, so I had to go get another one of the books for Donald. Mind you, Donald is in Kindergarten, and can sound out a couple of words, but certainly isn't up to the challenge of a chapter book, but that didn't deter him. When I went up for lights out (they are allowed to read in bed every night), there he was, telling himself stories from this chapter book with very few pictures.

(ignore the fact that his walls have flowery wallpaper and his curtains are pink - he is a real boy, not afraid of pink! Actually, I'm afraid of redecorating - ugh! The room is exactly as it was when we moved in 7 years ago. Do you hear that bed crying out for his Boys Will Be Boys quilt? That will be my next quilting project as soon as I finish this other one off for my mom!)

Next, I wandered down to the sewing room to make a chicken. Yup, you read that correctly - make a chicken. I took some scrap quilt books with me to the gym on Monday while Jason had basketball practice, and in one of my favorites, Quick Quilts from your Scrap Bag, there was a quilt with pieced chickens in the border. For some reason, I've been thinking about pieced chickens ever since. Measure, measure, cut, cut, stitch, stich, VOILA!

He/she is going to have at least one buddy because I don't think I can stop at just one. What will I do with him/her, you ask? Beats me! Ideas, anyone?

As my leader/ender project for the chicken, I finished a couple more log cabin blocks. I think I'm gonna really like this when it's done!

Finally, it was approaching midnight, and I needed to go to bed. Did I go right to sleep like I should? Of course not! Instead, I picked up Earlene Fowler's Love Mercy, which I had just brought home from the library. I've been fiending for another Benni Harper mystery from her, but, of course, she needs time to write them. Imagine my delight when I discovered that Benni and Gabe and Dove all have bit parts in this book! I'm only on chapter 3, but I can tell already that I'm really going to like it.

Speaking of books I liked, I received The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan for Christmas, and read it very quickly. Memoir of a young woman with breast cancer. Horrifying, but also delightful - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The irony is that I was reading it on the trip to Atlanta with the basketball team. On the team (and on the bus) was a young man who lost his mother to breast cancer this Christmas holiday. He's on his way back from his mom's funeral today. I'm so saddened that my throat closes up every time I see him. I've lost a parent, so I know how hard it is, but I was also a grown woman with a spouse and children of my own when it happened. I just want to cuddle the poor kid up to my bosom and rock him to sleep, never mind that he is twice my size. Have you clicked the Breast Cancer Site to give free mammograms today?

The new year brings...

...my first block in my first online quilting bee! It isn't perfect, but I hope she likes it. We were sent fabric and told to make whatever 12.5" block we wanted. I wanted to do something hip and new and different, and even went so far as to print out paper piecing templates, but then chickened out and fell back to a favorite Ohio Star block. Oh well, I have 11 more months to be creative.

...another win for my husband's team! Their record is now 8-2, and let me tell you, I love winning much more than losing. There's been a completely different vibe in my house these last few years, and this year, with this talented and young team, our house is just humming with excitement! The boys and I rode the team bus to Atlanta with the team last week to go play Emory University. I've never been on a sleeper bus before - what fun! I read, watched movies, slept, sewed - how nice to not be in charge but just along for the ride. And of course our hotel had a pool (it is a prerequisite when I travel with my boys) so we spent lots of time in the pool and I felt all virtuous for swimming 30 laps 2 days in a row (no matter that it was a midget pool about half the size of a normal one - in my book, if I am moving, it is exercise). And I got to see some old friends (including Nancy, my quilting buddy who moved away in June) and some cousins that I haven't seen in over five years. It was hard to believe that these two 5-year-old cousins had never met. Once they were introduced, Donald said, "So, what do you want to play?" and they were inseparable after that.

Me with my cousins

Me with a good friend from college

Jason helped his daddy on the bench during the game

... a slightly cleaner house! I know you are supposed to start the new year with a clean house, but gosh, I hate cleaning!!! I'm proud of myself for picking a few projects to complete and actually getting them done. I certainly won't pass a white glove test around here, but there are a couple floors that we could eat off of if necessary (not necessary since I also washed dishes) and the Christmas tree and other decorations are back in the closet for another year.

... something new on the design wall! My focus for the next few months needs to be quilting and finishing projects, not starting new ones, but I need something for those times when I just want some time with my machine, right? I have a couple of scrappy log cabin blocks done, and the rest are all in various stages of completion, a wonderful project to pick up and put down whenever, as there's not much thought involved except light and dark.

(not sure yet what layout I'll go with - so many options with log cabin blocks! I'll wait until I have more blocks done to decide, but in the meantime, fun to play around!)

Back to work in the AM. I sure am going to miss sleeping in!