Wednesday, November 30, 2005
New Family members
Please welcome the newest members of our family! A friend from church offered to bring us some little turtles from her parents' turtle farm. We are required to say they are for "Educational Purposes"! They are so tiny - about the size of a silver dollar. One is darker than the other. DD has named hers Barbie. Aren't you surprised? And DS has named his Stacy, after my DH! Oh the love of a 4 year old! I am not good with living things - plants, fish, flowers. We will see how long these will last. We had a beta fish when DS was a baby that refused to die. We didn't feed him, didn't clean his bowl and yet he refused to give up the fight!
I love the design on the bottom side of these little guys. Isn't it cool?
"We're Singing the Blues"
Now I can get quilting on the coffee pineapple quilt for DH. I am thinking about calling that one "Leftover Coffee". DH usually makes a pot of coffee a couple of days a week and drinks one cup hot. The rest he puts in the frig for iced coffee for the rest of the week. I think he actually prefers the iced coffee. He has been trying for 15 years to get me to drink coffee, mixing in chocolate and anything else sweet to make it more palatable. He is persistent!
Anyone else get to quilt today?
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Anyone want some more turkey and dressing?
While waiting on the turkey, I did get to sew a little. Or should I say cut out a little! I saw something at my MIL's house that is so cute and simple to make that I am making it for several women in my life, including myself. And all the fabric is coming from my stash. This should total about nine yards!! YEAH for me! To the women in my life, and you know who you are, how do you feel about orange and brown mumus? Just kidding! You know I don't have anything orange in my stash! Especially nine yards of it!
Hubby has gone off to a meeting so I may get going on that all blue YBR that needs quilting. I got it loaded on the machine the other night so all I need to do is cut the batting to length and get going! I think since the fabric is so busy I will probably just do a big meander. It needs to be finished by December 11th.
Hope everyone else got to sew a little bit today!
Monday, November 28, 2005
Monday's accomplishments...
Thought I would take a quick minute to show you what I got done today. I was able to sew all day because my house is in pristine condition, all the laundry is done, dinner is ready, and the children are sitting quietly reading the dictionary to each other. Oh yeah, and I took up lying as a new hobby! I did manage to pick up the living room and get it and the kitchen vacuumed. That's enough cleaning for one day, right? Better go help hubby with the taco salad for dinner.
Oh, Nines, I tried to call you three times today. Please tell me you were not out eating red pepper chicken and crab rangoon without me. Or worse yet that you had gone to the Cabbage Rose for a cashew chicken salad croissant and then hit the quilt stores.
Before I forget....
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Fabrics from Little Rock
Anyway - Here goes:
This brown print is going to be the backing on my coffee pineapple quilt. I am hoping to get it finished in time to give it as a x-mas gift to my hubby. SSSHHHH! Don't tell!
This will be the outer border on the pineapple quilt. I also bought a yard of the coffee bean on the black for a thin inner border.
This small remnant piece was too pretty to pass up. It is maybe 20 inches by 45 inches. It is for a friend that is crazy about batiks. No names please. Maybe she won't figure it out!
This is the one piece I bought for myself. Yes, it is blue. Yes, I am stuck in a deep, dark, blue rut. I tried several times to get a picture that didn't look blurry but was unsuccessful. Maybe its the fabric that is blurry - not the picture?
These pinks were purchased to make a baby quilt for a friend who is expecting their 2nd baby girl. The focus fabric will be the floral on the right. I have never made a pink quilt before. I have NO pink in my stash. The fabric on the left has tiny, soft little white polka dots. This will be the backing. Now I just have to pick a pattern. Any suggestions?
I bought these Christmas fabrics to make Christmas ornaments with. Anyone else make these folded fabric ornaments? You use a three inch (?) styrofoam ball in the center. I really like them because they look quilted when you are done. My mom learned the process from a friend several years ago and finally taught me last Christmas. It is kind of addictive. It is fun to do while watching a movie or riding in the car. I took it with me this past week and got a couple of ornaments made. Here is what the finished ornament looks like. Good way to use up some scraps!
Hey! I am done with Sunday Stash five hours early! Hope you all have a good Sunday.
I survived Thanksgiving 2005
Monday - We left Auburn after Maddie got home from school. We made it all the way to Tupelo Mississippi before we stopped for the night.
Tuesday - We made it to Little Rock by about noon. Since both of Stacy's parents were still working we had to amuse ourselves. After lunching on the hugest cheese sticks I have ever seen, we went back to the house to hang out. I dumped them off and headed to Blossom Quiltworks and Hobby Lobby. I needed some fabric reinforcement before spending 5 days with the in-laws! I got to have 2 pieceful (ha-ha) hours of shopping all by myself! When I got back, the in-laws were home. Since it was my MIL's b-day we decided to go ahead and give her her b-day/xmas present. And then we gave my FIL his quilt so I wouldn't have to hide it anymore. He liked it! Yeah! We sat around talking for a half an hour, when my FIL says "You know there is another blanket store in North Little Rock, right?" He says he thinks there is a quilt shop down in the not so nice part of town and he would be glad to take me! So we (me, him , and hubby) pile in his truck and head down town. Sure enough, there is a quilt store! I didn't want to take too long since hubby and FIL were standing there looking silly! I did manage to find some clearance fabric for the backing of my coffee pineapple quilt.
Wednesday - FIL and hubby go off looking at "Stuff". Not sure what that means. I leave the kids with MIL and head to JoAnn's. I found several different pinks to make a baby quilt out of. We went out to lunch at one of favorite pizza places - U.S. Pizza Company. Yummy! After church Wednesday night, we had Christmas! The kids were happy to finally get to open the presents which had been staring at them since our arrival. "Santa" brought the kids each a light saber. Just what they need! Daddy was excited too!
Thursday - MIL wants to be on the road by 6:30 am. We are supposed to be in Tyler Texas by noon. It is a five hour drive! UGH! So we got up around 5:30 to get ready and get the car packed. The highlight of the morning was meeting my new nephew, Denver! He is adorable and very kissable.
We got on the road around 7 am and made it to Tyler on time. Ian was very excited to finally be in TEXAS! He told us before we left home that he would need a cowboy hat from Texas. No, we could not buy one ahead of time. We tried to explain that we would only be in Texas on Thanksgiving and that all the stores would be closed. Uncle Chance came to the rescue by getting him a hat in Dallas and bringing it with him to Thanksgiving dinner! Doesn't Ian make a cute cowboy?
Most of my MIL's side of the family was there for dinner - about 29 people. After we finished eating, actually before I had even gotten up from the table, Aunt Judy was up, putting away all of the food. My family usually just leaves things out, so you can nibble all day long. Not Aunt Judy- everything was put away. No snacking on turkey and dressing! Sad! That's the bad thing about having Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house - no leftovers. We spent the afternoon visiting and watching the mandatory Dallas football game. We finally headed to Shreveport at about 7 pm to spend the night at Stacy's uncle's house.
Friday - I was hoping Stacy would want to hang around Shreveport long enough for me to visit a nice quilt store there, but we were on the road by about 9. It is a LONG way from Shreveport to Auburn - especially with two kids in the backseat asking "are we there yet?". But we made it home at 7:30 pm. We all got to sleep in our own beds - except for Ian who said he had a bad dream and needed to sleep on our floor!
I am so glad to be home! We have done enough traveling to last me a long time! OR at least until Christmas! Hope you all had wonderful turkey days!
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Another Sunday in Sarah's stash
Working with the brown coffee fabrics lately reminded me that I have a pile of pinks and browns waiting for me. I chose them to make a quilt for my son's little "girl friend" for her fourth birthday in April. You can see a picture of Taylor and Ian here. Her family is in the midst of trying to find land to build a new house and Taylor's new room will be pink. I haven't decided what to do with the fabrics yet but I love just taking them out and looking at them. Aren't they yummy? Kind of like chocolate covered strawberries!
Saturday, November 19, 2005
More blocks done!
I got the binding put on my FIL's quilt last night. Did the whole thing by machine. Nice and quick! I also made the label - so I just need to sit down and do that.
I am off in search of Christmas presents for my MIL and 2 nephews. We are doing xmas while we are in Arkansas at Thanksgiving. I have waited until the Auburn versus Alabama game started so hopefully all the stores will be deserted! Wish me luck!
What is everyone else up to this weekend?
Friday, November 18, 2005
Darcie thinks I am addicted!
I let myself make 6 more pineapple blocks this morning. Now I need to get this house cleaned up. We are leaving Monday afternoon to go to Little Rock to see my in-laws. I hate coming home to a messy house so I will try to get it into a livable state before we leave. We are hoping to spend Thanksgiving night with hubby's aunt and uncle in Shreveport, Louisiana and then will head on home Friday. I am hoping I can talk hubby into letting me go to a quilt store in Shreveport that I discovered two years ago when we were there. It was called Material Pleasures or Material Girls. Some with material in the name! And I know there is another quilt store in Vicksburg, Mississippi which we will go through too! And of course I will go to Blossom Quiltworks in Little Rock. This is a new store that opened about a year and a half ago - and its right around the corner from my in-laws house!! Yeah!!! And so is a big JoAnns store.
Maybe I will survive the 5 days with the in-laws! I may be a lot poorer but at least I will be sane!
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Pineapple Coffee, anyone?
In case Nines is getting a chance to read this at her parents, I miss being able to talk to you! I know your parents appreciate having you there to help! Give your dad a hug for me!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Update about Nina's dad
Please continue to keep Nina's dad and her whole family in your prayers.
Nina's hubby said he was reading her blog for the very first time this morning. He was amazed how she knew he would be feeding the kids pure sugar and then wondering why they were so hyper!
Our first challenge, gone awry!
A few months after we moved away from Indiana, me and hubby got to go back for a few days while he attended a conference. Me and Nines enjoyed our few days together with much eating and shopping for the un-needed additions to our stash. Since we could no longer physically sew together, we came up with brilliant idea to make something together. We would each make two blocks two times and then exchange them so we would each end up with a wall hanging that we both had worked on. We went to JoAnn's to pick out the focus fabric. We must have been feverish at the time. We chose the hideous yellow fabric in the picture below. We chose it because it had lots of other colors in it to choose from.
About a month after I got home, I got a desperate phone call from Nina. The first words out of her mouth were "I can not work with this fabric!" I am not sure she has ever uttered those words before - or since. This is the woman who can take the most obnoxious of fabrics and turn it into something of grace and beauty. After calming her down, I tell her to go choose something new and to mail me a yard of it. Ok, that sounds good. Talk to you later. She calls back in about twenty minutes and says no, she is going to come up with something with the nasty fabric.
Anyway, we finished our blocks and mailed them off. Mine are the two simple blocks - hers are the ones with all the tiny little half-square triangles. Show off! Mine is now a finished wallhanging. Hers is four lonely blocks sitting in a box somewhere!
Orange you glad I have something to share?
Because me and Nina don't have enough to do in our lives (that's not counting the 10 kids and two husbands involved) - I made up a quilting challenge for the two of us. I told her to pick out three yards of fabric she would like a quilt out of. She brought it with her to Florida, when we saw each other in September.
Here are the challenge rules:
1. The finished quilt is due next year on our birthdays (mid-June 2006).
2. The finished quilt should be lap size, about 60" x 60".
3. The supplied fabric must be the featured fabric. Not just used, but featured.
4. Other fabrics used should come mostly from our stash.
5. You can use any pattern or block you want.
6. Next year, Nina gets to make up the rules.
So of course, Nines knows I have a HUGE aversion to the color orange. I know the cause of the aversion - growing up with red hair. Orange is just not a color that looked good with red hair and freckles. Nina on the other hand LOVES orange and has made several beautiful quilts with it. One of them is orange and turquoise. I'll have to get her to post a picture of it. She also has made one of those quilted sweatshirts using the same orange and turquoise fabrics. Both were beautiful. The picture above is of the fabrics she gave me to work with. Now you know how mean she is! I have no idea what I am going to do yet but then again I have seven months to go!
Monday, November 14, 2005
Coffee Time anyone?
I forced myself to work on the coffee quilt this morning. I got the quilting done right before lunch. Got it trimmed and pictures taken. I was just sitting down to post them when DH called and said "What's for lunch?" So me and Ian quickly got dressed and rushed to meet him at the Mellow Mushroom. They have yummy pizza that they serve by the slice at lunch time. Perfect timing if you ask me!
So here are the pictures of the quilted top. I am going to use the left over backing to make the binding. It is all going on by machine. I do not have the time nor the patience to do the back by hand. I don't know if you can see the quilting or not in the second picture. It is just a big meandering.
Maybe its still Sunday in Hawaii!
Oh, saying the word "pillowcase" made me remember that I had bought some train fabric to make him another pillowcase. Let me take a picture of that fabric. Cue the Muzak, please!
I am working on quilting my FIL's quilt this morning. Just two more rows to go! I'll post a picture of that after I get it trimmed. Wish me luck!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
The tension gets to me - literally
So I got the backing pieced and the whole thing on the machine. Got one half a row quilted and ran out of bobbin. After I changed the bobbin, suddenly the tension was totally off. So after spending half an hour ripping out the bad stitches, I have to wrestle with the machine, trying to figure out what went wrong. Finally got things back on track. I got the first row quilted and I have called it quits for the evening. I can only handle so much aggravation today!
I decided to do a big meander on this quilt. I have not just meandered in a LONG time. It felt really weird and I had to pay close attention so I did not sew any loops into it.
Hope everyone else is getting some quilting of their own done. Have a great weekend!
Friday, November 11, 2005
Done!
Done, done, done!!! Another one off the machine. I will mail this one and the nine-patch memory quilt off to my mom tomorrow. Now I can get going on the coffee quilt. I need to figure out a backing and check to make sure I have enough batting. I was planning on going to Joann's in Nashville this weekend but we ended up not going.
I think this red and brown quilt turned out cute. Hopefully my mom will like the back as much as I do!
Yes, I am actually quilting!
YEAH!!! Today I am quilting! I got the pieced back put on the machine this morning and I've got one pass quilted. Don't you hate it when you run out of bobbin thread about 5 inches from the end of a row? Never fails to happen to me. There are maybe three more passes to do and this quilt will be DONE! I am doing little loopy-loops and leaves. I think it looks nice and delicate - to match the quilt top. (You can see the quilting better if you click on the pictures.)
What is everyone else up to today?
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Nothing quilty happening...
I am hoping to get the backing pinned onto the quilting machine this afternoon so I can get my mom's quilt done this weekend. Then it will be time for my FIL's coffee quilt. Less than two weeks until we head for Arkansas - so I'd better get cracking!
Here are some more useless facts about me you will wish you didn't know! You can thanks Julie and DebR for this. Its all their fault!
Three screen names that you've had:
maddiesmama, maddieandian, and fsnorman
Three things you like about yourself:
my smile, I am a good listener, and I think I am a good mom
Three things you don't like about yourself:
my hair color, my addiction to sweets, my frequent lack of patience
Three parts of your heritage:
English, Irish and German
Three things that scare you:
snakes, open stairs (the kind where you can see through the risers), big hairy spiders
Three of your everyday essentials:
hugs and kisses from my kids, caffeine, sleep
Three things you are wearing right now:
blue jean shorts, green t-shirt, a smile
Three of your favorite songs:
Pachabel's Canon in D
In your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
Every Breath You Take by Sting and the Police
Three things you want in a relationship:
Honesty, Love, and patience
Two truths and a lie:
I've been working hard all day.
I have accomplished a lot today.
My house is now perfectly clean!
Three things you can't live without:
kisses and hugs from my family
good friends
the love of my man
Three places you want to go on vacation:
New Zealand, Scotland, Hawaii
Three things you just can't do:
Keep my house clean
live without my diet Pepsi
get over how fast my kids are growing up
Three kids names:
Sophie Grace, Avery Jackson, Mathilda Elizabeth
Three things you want to do before you die:
Hold my grandchildren
Have a quilt win an award
travel more with my hubby
Three celeb crushes:
John Cusack, Mark Ruffalo, Sean Connery
Three of your favorite musicians:
Sting, George Winston, Rod Stewart
Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
honest eyes, a sweet smile, beautiful hands
Three of your favorite hobbies:
reading, quilting (duh!), cuddling with my kids
Three things you really want to do badly right now:
take a nap, have a snack, take a nap
Three careers you're considering/you've considered:
pharmacist, accountant, historian
Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
I like action movies like Steven Segal and Die Hard movies.
I like fast cars and big SUVs.
I like short hair.
Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
I love getting a pedicure.
I like to watch romantic comedies.
I need more hours in my day.
Three people that I would like to see post this meme:
Well, I would like to learn more about all my Quilt Maverick friends. Who's up for it? Yes, Finn, I am pointing my finger at you too!
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
World's Cutest Pirate
Back to the back -
Monday, November 7, 2005
Attack of the red poodle
The way Maddie's mind works has always fascinated me. One time she decided to use the sprayer from the kitchen sink to spray the kitchen floor until it had about half an inch of water all over it. Why you may ask? Because she wanted to go swimming. I came down stairs to find her playing in the water, naked of course. (Yes, this is a true story!)
She is safely off to school and DS is still asleep - so here's my chance to watch the news for a few seconds. See what's going on in the world.
Sunday, November 6, 2005
It is still Sunday - so here's my fabric!
I "found" this fabric last night when I was digging around my stash looking for creams and browns to make a "Bonnie" backing for my mom's red quilt. Why, you may ask, am I making the backing for her quilt? Well, when she brought the top to me a few weeks ago she told me to buy some muslin while I was in Savannah to use for the backing. So I did. Only I wasn't paying close enough attention. I started off looking at the extra wise muslin but some how got side tracked and ended up with the 45" wide. So I only got one length instead of two. So I am short two yards of fabric. So I am going to piece her a backing. SO I get to SEW! Anyway - this piece didn't make it into the backing, but I pulled it out to share with you!
Friday, November 4, 2005
One down - too many to go!
I managed to get this wallhanging/lap quilt of my mom's quilted today. I just did loopty-loops in the borders and the alternate squares. I couldn't do much in the signature blocks because some people's handwriting was tiny! So those blocks are kind of poofy! I decided to do mom's quilts first because I can save on postage and hand deliver them next weekend AND I don't have to bind them!!! Yeah!!!
I would like to quilt her other one tomorrow but me and Maddie are going to an all day Badge Day at the University. Brownies and Girl Scouts can earn two badges in one day. That also means that hubby and pirate boy will get to spend the day together. Maybe they will get the urge to clean house! It could happen! Maybe in some alternate universe? Or maybe just in my dreams!
My sweet sewing partner
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Second finish of the day!!!
Can you see me doing a happy dance all the way from Alabama? I got the borders put on my FIL's coffee quilt. Now to figure out a backing! The border fabric looks like a cross between an animal print and finger prints. I also did the borders kind of funky. I sewed the inner and outer borders together first and then applied them to the quilt. So the inner border goes all the way to the edge of the quilt on the top and bottom borders. Kind of reinforces the geometric shapes in the quilt.
Now I have got to get started on all the QUILTING that needs to get done. I have five quilts of my own waiting for me plus two from my mom. One of the ones from my mom will be a paying job. Should that push it to the top of the list? Hhhhmmmm! We will have to wait and see what calls to me the loudest!
Finished?
OK, I got the two halves sewn together. I really like it, but then I love anything blue. I found material for the backing yesterday, but they only had 5 yards. That is enough to do the quilt as it is but if I add borders it will be too small. Do you think it is ok without borders?
My little pirate boy started throwing up as we were leaving the church parking lot last night. Poor guy was up every two hours. Poor mommy - because I love my sleep! He is sitting on the couch now watching PBS. There has been a stomach virus going around town and I guess we found it! Hopefully the rest of us can avoid it.
Now that the blue quilt it done, I am going to force myself to get the borders on the coffee quilt. I decided there weren't enough brown leftovers to make the borders out of so I found some fabric at the sewing center the other day. I'll try and post a picture of the borders after I get them on.
Is anyone else sewing today?
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Little House on the Prairie
Speaking of the blue quilt - the rows are sewn together. Just have to sew the two halves together. So I will post a picture tomorrow when I get it together. I am liking it more and more. Nina said it looks "romantic" ! I agree!