Two Months Later

Oh my goodness, yes it has been two months since my last post to this blog. Well, you know what happened don't you! School started! I'm back to work and the kids are back to school and sewing has become a luxury that I get very very seldom. So there hasn't been much to post about in terms of sewing.

But.....this weekend was the Houston Quilt Festival and it would take a major catastrophe to keep me away from that! Auntie came to Mum's house on Thursday night and then I took off a day of work on Friday, picked Auntie up and away we went for a full day of quilts galore!!! We started on the end of the show where the display quilts are located. These are a few of the quilts that caught my eye. I didn't get any shots of the big award-winning quilts because the crowds around them never got small enough to get a good shot.



My opinion, this year, was that there were less quilts to ooh and aaah over but it was a much easier number to work with. We leisurely walked through the quilts in about 2 1/2 hours. This was just in time for lunch which we shared with quilting friends who met us at the food court. Pictured in the last pic of the slideshow above are me, Auntie, Sue/MI, Betty/VA, Cyd and Judy. We met them again at about 3:00 for a Starbucks pick-me-up and talked about how we planned or have already spent our money in the vendors section of the show.

I bought a Kaleidoscope that has feathers in it and moves with puffs of air from an atomizer. I also bought some necessities like rotary cutter blades. But my eyes were drawn back to nonquilting stuff when we got to the embellishments. I bought a pretty silver/amethyst ring and a heart-shaped necklace pendant from a new vendor. The shape is made of shell or something to look like shell and then etched with a floral design. I could have spent the entire day at the booth picking out Christmas presents! And last I bought a kit with beautiful green fabrics in it to do another quilt for Doug. He loved his first quilt but keeps asking for a larger one and in green. That is a hard color to find, so when I ran across this collection I didn't pass it up.

This quilt show always inspires me to get in my sewing room and get to work! So I'm going to leave you now and go work on a binding for a special quilt a special someone doesn't know about yet! ;-)

One Week Down, How many left?

The first week of school is behind us. My goal was to have a breakfast each morning and sack lunches upon request. I managed to accomplish this so I am a little proud right now. I couldn't have done it this first week without Mum & PawPaw. Mum brought dinner over Tuesday night and resumed her usual Wednesday babysitting. PoPo took over the golf lesson duty on Tuesday so I didn't have to sit at Eagle Pointe for an hour. That helped a lot! Greg and the boys all tried hard to keep the house relatively clean so maybe I won't have to spend this long Labor Day weekend cleaning. That helped too. The people in charge at school are asking more out of me this year than I want to give so I'm pouting on the inside but being a team player on the outside. All in all, I rate this week a 7 out of 10. And look at my Angels in their first day of school picture! It is all worth it if I can just keep up the pace.

Ok, surely sometime this long weekend I can touch my sewing machine! I bought the new McKena Ryan Sea Breeze kits and I'm anxious to take them out and begin. However, I do have her Christmas Quilt kits to finish and her On The Farm kits to finish! My Thimbleberries 2006 BOM is due at the quilter by Sept. 12th. Still have 2 blocks to do and put it together. I love deadlines, they help me get things done so I guess I better start with that project and finish it. So much fun....too little time!

School Starts in 3 Days

School starts in 3 days and I'm not ready. I never am, or I never feel like I am so this is a normal feeling for this time of year. The last 7 days have been spent in meetings with very little time to actually prepare for the 5 preparations I'm responsible for. I'm not whining, I'm not complaining, just stating facts and venting a little frustration.

And then there are the 3 students in my household that need to be ready for Monday. We have all the supplies, all the clothes. I'm just trying to spend a little time getting them prepared for early mornings, using their manners, and reminding them of the purpose of going to school.

I haven't touched my sewing machine in over a week. I really miss being able to wake up and sit down with my coffee to work on a current sewing project. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine and working in some sewing time. Quilt Festival is only 2 months away and I'm making a list of stuff I want to find.

Ok, there was one teacher workshop this week that I got something out of. This video was shown and I felt it was worth sharing. Kind of scary and makes you feel like you might drown in this information age, but it really makes me feel my job is important.

If you are a teacher reading my blog I wish you a peaceful year and thank you for your time and concerns for our kids. Remember that even if you only reach one soul this year it is exponential.

Bummer

Well, my summer vacation is officially over in a few hours. Teachers at my school have to report tomorrow and I am officially bummed. Yes, it happens every year......instead of appreciating the time I've had off and counting my blessings and fun times I just feel a real sense of gloom and doom.

Ok, I'll give it a try...let's see....I have completed 5 quilts either quilted or at the quilters waiting their turn. I've got to sew almost every single day except our awesome vacation. Santa Fe and Las Vegas were wonderful. Boys got to play baseball all of June. Quilting Retreat was fabulous. I finished reading the new Harry Potter book. I read 3 other really good novels. I learned a lot about machine quilting. I got my embroidery machine fixed and I got a new sewing machine.

See, it was a great summer! Hope our school year is worry free. Hope the boys enjoy their new teachers and make more friends. Hope Greg continues to have a great year in his business. He'll probably get a lot more done without us around all the time.

Well, the blog posts will slow down, but I'll keep in touch!

My list of Favorites is Growing

Yippee! Another blogging friend to add to my list! Look at my favorites down there on the right and you will see a new listing for The Fat Quarter Shop which is an absolutely wonderful online shop owned by my Scattered Piercer friend, Kimberly Jolly. It has been a blast watching The Fat Quarter Shop grow and become the phenomenal quilt shop that it is. You aren't going to get a better selection, faster service and friendlier people all wrapped up at one spot than here. I know, it sounds like I'm a paid advertiser, but I'm not. I'm just really proud of Kim and Kevin and am thankful that I have a great shopping resource at my fingertips. And now we can keep up with what is going on even better with this blog!!! Welcome to blogger Kim!!!!

See Rain Quilt.......

That is exactly what it says on the yellow border of my Dick and Jane Quilt!!!! Just before vacation I got my Dick and Jane quilt back from Judy and I didn't get a chance to show you guys the special quilting so here are some photos. This quilt has so many of my favorite things in it.

I told Judy I liked the circles she put in Nancy's quilt so I got circles too! She also put one of my favorite motifs, the Orange Peel and my special message is in the yellow border. The yellow border says things like "See Dick and Jane" "See Spot Run" and then there on one side is "See Rain Quilt"!!!!! How fun is that!!! Thank you Judy!

Today I made the pillow shams out of leftover blocks. I still need to finish the binding but I'm enjoying the quilt on my bed too much to take the time to take it off and finish. I've decided this is going to be my "Back To School" quilt and look forward to enjoying it every year about the time we dread going back to school.

I was hoping you could see my special message in these three pictures. See if you can make out the special message!

A Day at the Beach

We spent today at the very far West side of Galveston Beach today with a friend of Christian's and his family. The Harrison's showed us a great time on the beach with boogie boards, horse shoes and of course digging holes in the sand. Can you believe that the people fishing not too far off the sand were actually catching little sharks? We got to see 2 of them up close and way to personal!

Then we took a dip in the pool to feel a little less grimy. Next was a great lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers. We took a ride over to the pavilion on the bay side of the beach and caught a couple of Hermit Crabs. No, I didn't allow these stinky things to come home with us!!! After 7 hours in the sun it was a quiet ride home while everyone crashed in the car. Thanks to the Harrison's for inviting us to share the day and the beach with them!!!!

National Night Out 2007

We are so lucky that Cris and Walter Davis have moved into the house on the corner. They've been there about 3 years and ever since they have volunteered to be the hosts for National Night Out. They set up tables of food and goodies and really create an inviting corner for us to come together and visit and catch up with our neighbors.

Cris also took the time to call the fire department and let them know where we would be so they could bring the firetruck and ambulance around. The boys climbed all over it, touched all the buttons, honked the blairng horn more than they were supposed to, wore the gear, talked on the headsets and had a blast. Maybe there is a future for city service in one of my boys? I would be proud to have a firefighter in the family!

Thanks to Heidi Hegman for grabbing her camera and taking these priceless shots!

What Happens in Vegas.....Stays in Vegas....

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas unless you post it on your blog on the internet!!! Just had to share this last Vegas story with you.

On our last night in Vegas we took the kids to see magician, David Copperfield. During his show he threw 3 frisbees out in the audience and Greg caught one. Boom, he immediately had the spotlight on him and Mr. Copperfield asked him to stand up and name two numbers between 1 and 50 and he wrote the numbers on a big chalk board on the stage. Then to make sure Greg's numbers were identified as his he asked him to tell him when was the last time he 'got busy'!!!! Yes, the kids were sitting right there, Greg's big grinning face was on the big screen on the stage. He told David Copperfield 'recently' but that wasn't good enough. He had to narrow it down to hours. So Greg said in the past 12 hours.........Well, we've been a hotel room with 3 kids for 2 days already so I'm hoping he just made this up!!!!

Ok, this didn't end here. Mr. Copperfield asked 2 more people for their numbers and embarrassing identifying questions and then told them all to COME UP TO THE STAGE!!!! Do you know my husband? He can't stand to be in front of friends at a party, much less on front of thousands of people on a stage!! David Copperfield kept referring to Greg as "Mr. 12 Hours" and he ended up a major part of the magic act coming up and was on stage for about 10 minutes. I felt so sorry for him but when he got back to his seat he said it wasn't that bad! After the show a ton of people came up to him in the casino and asked if he was a part of the act....but the magic was real!

Mr. 12 Hours.....in his dreams!!!!!

Ouch....my feet hurt!

The last two days of our Las Vegas vacation have been really full! Mostly of walking and riding trams and monorails from casino to casino to give the boys a little taste of everything in this town. We started at the new Wyn hotel. You have to pay $500 for 18 holes of golf at this resort. So we got a peak at that and the grass didn't look any greener than where we play! But the Hotel was beautiful with lots of waterfalls and flowers. This is a picture of the boys in the Lobby. The mosaic tile floor would make a really pretty quilt!!!

Then we walked over to The Venetian and had a little geography lesson. The Gondolas were fascinating but too long a line to wait so we walked the plaza and watched the living statues. This guy pictured here was really good! Amazing how we can be entertained watching people stand still!

We tried to see the Pirate show at Treasure Island but the weather didn't cooperate so we came back to MGM and pigged out on a buffet. We ended the day at Mirage watching the Man of a Million Voices, Danny Ganz. I'm telling you, you've got to see this show! It is my 3rd time and each time I'm amazed. The boys loved the show and recognized almost all of the people he was impersonating.

Yesterday I got to start the day with a trip to the spa. I had a sugar rub (never tried that before), a massage and a facial. The boys enjoyed the pool with dad. It stayed sunny for the first half of the day then it was perfectly overcast for the last part.

We got out on our sore feet again and ventured over to New York New York. The boys were going to ride the rollercoaster that goes all around the top of the casino but the chickened out.

Our next stop was Mandalay Bay. This is one of my favorite hotels and casinos. It smells like coconuts and pineapples! And this hotel has The Shark Reef!!! This is an amazing aquarium that features lots of sharks and other unusual fish. You walk through about 45 minutes of audio tour, get to pet the sting rays and see sharks swimming over your head and under your feet. The boys LOVEd this! Dad played a little on the craps tables while we did Shark Reef and we met him later for another buffet.

Ok, a couple of miscellaneous pictures of us yesterday. The boys got a kick out of this artistic wall that you pass on the way to sharks at Mandalay Bay. It is covered in marble body parts. This body part just happens to be at eye level!!! Then the other two pictures are of Christian devouring Alaskan King Crab Legs at the buffet. He was in heaven and ate a ton of shrimp and crab!

Shop 'til you Drop

What do you do with 3 boys in Vegas? Well, we filled the evenings with shows. Then of course there is the pool. We are staying at MGM which has a lazy river pool and we enjoyed it the very first day. But the rest of the time it has been overcast or raining. So we decided to go shopping! Greg found the best outlet mall, one of the best I've ever been to and we shopped for clothes to wear to the evening shows and stuff for school. The boys all got new shoes, Craig got a backpack. I got some cute shoes and a nice shirt to wear out. I couldn't believe how long Greg hung in there and shopped. We hit 2 malls and came back with lots of goodies. Then we made a quick trip to Albertson's for some groceries. Our suite has a kitchen and we decided to do breakfast in for the rest of the trip.

After a quick nap we got cleaned up and pretty and ready for out night out. We started to eat at Rainforest Cafe' but the wait was too long so we headed straight over to the show. Last night we saw KA, a Cirque du Soleil production. It was FANTASTIC and perfect for kids since this version was a story about a brother and sister. Christian was a little bothered that there wasn't any talking but the stunts and acrobatics were unbelievable. One of the performers almost fell off of this big spinning wheel thing and the entire audience lost their breath for a moment. Of course this was the coolest part according to the kids!

The pictures I've attached are of the Lion Habitat that is located in the MGM. The lions were really up close and personal in this glass habitat. The picture of Craig is at the Rainforest Cafe'. Doesn't he look handsome? All the boys looked so nice. I was a proud momma!!!

Brrrrrr.........

I forgot to mention one of our traveling marvels.......it is COLD!!! In Santa Fe it got down in the 60's the first night we were there and the next day it didn't get above 80. We ate breakfast at a sidewalk cafe at about 10:30 am and it was really nice. When we went on our tram ride that part up in the north part of SF was almost uncomfortably cold. Then when we got to Flagstaff it was cold again. The car temperature when we left this morning at 9:30ish said 64 degrees. By the time we got to the Hoover Dam it was 106!!!! So we enjoyed the cool weather here late in the summer for a few days.

Now, our trip to Hoover Dam was a real treat for me and the boys. It was special to me because it took me 44 years to see it. It was special to them because they recently saw Transformers and the main villian in the movie, Megatron, was hidden under the dam! My youngest, Craig, had some really wild tales about where he could be now! We didn't get to stay long, it was very very crowded and it was too hot to enjoy anyway. Here are a few shots. I got the boys at the Dam on my video camera but these pictures were taken by Clayton and we forgot to include anybody in the family!

On The Road.......

Well we finally left on our family vacation this past Friday. DH worked so hard for a few days to be able to take a week off from his business and we hit the road as soon as we could.

Day 1 we left in the evening and drove through the night and made it to Wichita Falls. This is North Texas.

Day 2 we drove all the way to Santa Fe, NM. Not a bad drive and the views were spectacular. For some reason the boys are fascinated by the different shapes and sizes and kinds of water towers in each little town. Weird, I know but they are having fun pointing them out. We also LOVE seeing the trains racing along beside us. So many beautiful colors in the mountains and plateaus and plains.

Santa Fe was great! We stayed at the Eldorado Hotel which is right in the heart of the Plaza. We got lucky and were there on the weekend of Santa Fe Market where the area Indian Tribes and area artists bring thier wares down to sell. Tons of people! Lots of great food but not the kind of place the boys were looking for. DH and I had fun shopping. I got a beautiful silver and turquoise ring, necklace and earrings. The boys got cool necklaces and Clayton got a real Indian spear. We took a tram tour around the city and learned a lot about the history and culture. The oldest church in the US got our attention built in 1600's sometime. The trip down Canyon Road looking at all the beautiful artist's studios, sculptures and just stuff was fascinating. Our guide was great pointing out architecture and foliage and even Dandy Don Merridith's place!

We thought we were going to stay another day in Santa Fe but decided to hit the road that evening and we made it to Flagstaff about 10:30. Today we up, have had breakfast and are looking at a trip to Grand Canyon on the way to Las Vegas.

Ok, on the road again!!!!!

PS I didn't leave all my quilting behind.....I brought the yellow/blue jelly roll quilt and have half the binding done!!!!

I've Been Practicing.....in my favorite colors!!!

The sun came out in Texas for a while last week. Yes, I'm talking literately, which means I didn't get to quilt as much as I wanted because the boys and I were at the pool or having some other kind of summer fun. But I'm also talking figuratively, because I worked on two projects using Sunshine fabric in two of my favorite colors, yellow & blue.

I used these two projects to practice my machine quilting skills. I am using the dvds produced by Patsy Thompson for help and inspiration (there is a link for her website on the bottom of this page)and practicing some things I saw on Fons & Porter last Saturday. This blue and yellow table topper and table runner were made from leftovers from my Sunshine jelly roll quilt and the charm packs I had. I think I've used almost all this fabric now!

Here are some closeups. The Table topper has 49 5" squares in the center and I used each one to try each example on the quilting dvds. It is sort of a sampler and I can even use it later to refer to when I'm trying to decide on what to quilt on future projects. I'm not great at this new skill by any means, but I think I can quilt respectively enough to finish my own projects and complete small gifts. The variegated thread helps hide mistakes. I learned a lot about tension and the importance of a good needle. I learned to not be afraid to stop and evaluate where I've quilted and look ahead a little to where I want to quilt.

These were two small scale projects and this week I hope to complete a larger top. I think it is a twin size. I hope I can choose a motif that looks good on my Sunshine jelly roll quilt top. And I hope I can enlarge the scale of my designs to fit this larger canvas. I'll let you know how it goes!

Auntie's Garden is complete.....

There is a long story that goes with this quilt. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible, but with as much as we've been through, I owe it a full story.

First of all this quilt began as an exchange of applique blocks. There were 9 of us involved so we each used the Auntie's Garden pattern and selected 2 blocks each. We decided to do them in 30's reproduction patterns and a common white-on-white background fabric. Applique methods were only limited to no open edges. So some of these were hand appliqued, some machine, some a little of both (like mine).

I initiated the exchange and I think I was the most excited. There were lots of moans and groans. Applique is tedious and when you have to repeat the block 9 times.....whew!!! But we all completed our blocks on time and they turned out spectacular! This block is my bluebonnet block, and yes I hand appliqued all those tiny little circles on each block!!!!

Now after the exchange there was still the task of putting the blocks together and then appliqueing the trumpet flowers and vine and leaves around the border. Oh my goodness it took forever to get that vine to curve the way I wanted it to!!! And it still wasn't perfect, but good enough. Then I machine appliqued all the flowers in place. Next came the leaves...but at this point....I was sick of applique. That is when a great idea came to mind....I'll just have my quilter quilt in some leaves!!! Oh I am a genius!!! You know what they say about necessity!

Ok, it had been about two years since this quilt was started and I had almost finished machine appliqueing the vine and trumpet flowers on. We were scheduled for a Retreat and I had planned to finish the quilt and hand it over to my quilter. For some reason, I didn't get to make it to retreat so the quilt sat unfinished in a pizza box awaiting completion.

I completely forgot about my great love, this applique quilt, for quite a long time. In fact, when we started talking about the next retreat which was about 6 months since the last, I began looking for my quilt to finish. It was no where to be found!!!!! I turned my sewing room upside down, I ransacked my closet where I hide stash and quilting magazines. I opened every clear plastic container in my quilting closet looking for this project. I even accused my husband of throwing away the quilt by mistake not knowing what treasures that particular pizza box held.

Finally after months of searching I was resigned to the fact that this quilt was gone. It made me sick at my stomach each time I thought of the hard work the other 8 ladies had put into their blocks, and me too. How much I anguished over the border and and how I would never get to use my clever plan to get out of appliqueing leaves. It was so sad........

Then, one day early this summer, right after I got my new sewing machine I decided to completely redo my sewing room. I totally moved furniture and boxes and....wait....what is in this pizza box turned on its side hiding over here in the corner? Oh the jubilation my heart felt when I opened it and there was my beloved quilt!!! And just in time to take it to this year's retreat to complete and turn it over to my quilter.

I love the meandering stitch all over that allows these beautiful flowers to bloom. And look at my leaves and tendrils!!! Aren't they adorable and the perfect solution when I was not going to applique any more! Thanks to Judy Wilson, my quilter, for seeing my vision.

There are 8 more sets of blocks out there just waiting to bloom. I think I am the only one that completed the top so far and it has been at least 4 years since this began. I told you I was the most excited!!!!

Summer Half Gone.........

Well, officially about half of my summer vacation has passed me by. But boy have I gotten a lot done! Dh hasn't been able to break away from his business to take us on vacation yet and we had 45 days of rain on and off so I have had some quality quilting time. I love to wake up early in the moring and check my mail, have my coffee and then quilt.

So far this summer I have:

• Found a long, lost applique quilt and finished it, ready for the quilter
• Finished a Dick & Jane king size quilt top, that one goes to the quilter too
• Completed a UFO that I named Butterfly Quilt, it is huge, going to the quilter (thanks Peggy & Mary Beth)
• Finished a Christmas quilt top, I'll quilt this one (thanks Auntie)
• Finished my first jelly roll quilt top, I'll quilt this one too
• Finished a table topper using a new scallped border method, quilting it now myself (thanks Judy)
• Learned how to Free-Motion quilt with Patsy Thompson's dvd's (thanks Jaime)
• Learned how to make cord fabric bowls (thanks Sherry)
• Bought a new Brother sewing machine for quilting (thanks Cindy)
• Spent 2 glorious days at Quilt Retreat (thanks Red Barn Retreat & all the Scattered Piecers and friends)
• Watched 6 movies (thanks Netflix)
• Read 3 books
  

And all of that in between taking the boys to the pool, baseball, basketball, tennis camp and golfing. Whew......I've been pretty busy and life is good!!!!

Attached are pictures of some of my tops I completed. I'll show them again when they are quilted and have bindings.