Angels We Have Heard On High

I hope you enjoy this beautiful performance as much as I did! 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Splendor in the Scraps

I am excited to finally be able to reveal one of my very favorite quilts! Splendor in the Scraps! It is featured in McCalls America Loves Scrap Quilts, due out December 23. I'm giving you a heads up so you can keep an eye out for it. Here is the cover:

Look for this magazine where you normally pick up your magazines, or you can follow this LINK if you want to order online. This is a news stand issue, so it won't come with your subscription.

This is a quilt I kept coming back to because as it grew I loved it more and more and every time I worked on it I wanted it to be bigger. Finally McCall's asked if I would please finish it so they could publish it, so it got finished at 76.5" x 84.5". With a design like this you can make it as big or as little as you choose. If you are a scrapper like I am, you love working with as many fabrics as you can. There is just something about all your fabrics playing together that gives such a great look. To further enhance the beauty of the scraps I used one tan fabric with scrappy corners for the square in a square block that is consistent throughout the quilt. I also used the same light fabric for the corners of the colored square in a square block. For me, this brings a calming influence.

Thanks so much to the folks at McCall's Quilting for publishing another of my quilts. They always do such a great job! 

Photo Flood

Since this is such a busy time of year I am going to flood you with photos rather than lots of chatter. These are the little wool ornaments that I made for my grandchildren this year. Little penguins. If you read my post from a few weeks ago you will notice that they go with the penguin gift theme. I am pleased to say that my grandkids look forward to their ornaments each year and love looking back through their collections from over the years. That is what makes it worth it to me!

Below is a photo from Thanksgiving of me with three of the little darlings. August and Katie on top and Grey on the bottom getting a little tickle of encouragement to smile.

 And the tree! We all love our own tree, filled with love and memories from years gone by and usually something new as well. My Williamsburg Medallion Quilt is the backdrop.

 I found the perfect spot for my little red hexagon table topper. My little rocking horses and reindeer are playing merry-go-round on the pedestal plate. That is my Wintergreen pattern in the background--still available on my website!

 If you have been reading my blog for a long while you may remember this little cute tree quilt. I designed the pattern and have the instructions for FREE on my website. This version is smaller than the directions specify. I made so many of these for gifts! And so did many of you! If this design is new to you be sure and see the gallery.

Lastly, I want to share my Tone it Down quilt from last winter's American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. If you are on Instagram, go to #apqquiltalong and you can see lots of variations, including the original by Lissa Alexander, commonly know as the very talented ModaLissa. Right-she designs for Moda Fabrics!  Anyway, I love mine! The pattern is actually called Burgoyne Surrounded, a very old pattern after a Revolutionary War general. Lissa updated the pattern in a beautiful way! (I know--if you follow all these links you will be here all night!)

 I hope you are enjoying this wonderful season of hope and love!

Turkey Treats

 First, a little turkey talk! I saw this darling pillow on 

Anne's blog, Cottons 'n Wool. If you are ever looking 

for inspiration, you can always find it on Anne's blog! 

I immediately went to Buttermilkbasin.com to find the pattern for this sweet pillow. Check out Anne's version 

by following the link above. Mine still needs work. 

Better hurry, Thanksgiving is very close!

I saw this cute and easy idea on Pinterest for making little turkeys with these funny flat pretzels. I thought it would be fun to do with our little ones who are here visiting.

My daughter Polly and her family are here from Carson City, and granddaughter Becky and her family are here from Salt Lake City.  We love this little family of noisemakers so much! They dove right into this project with glee! And they did a great job! Katie, our nine year old granddaughter, supervised and assisted while the twins, 3-1/2 years old, created these cute little turkeys. It was really a perfect project for their age.

We melted white chips, but maybe they were too old. 

A can of frosting would have been better. 

Check out the cute blog, Worth Pinning, for directions. 

And remember, we are just amateurs having fun!

We are also enjoying a chance to cuddle with little August James. He is the happiest baby! Here he is at the park enjoying the tunnel! 

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends, pumpkin pie, and happy memories.

Published! Yay!

Hi everyone!  I wonder how many of you have seen my quilt published in American Patchwork and Quilting Super Star Quilts magazine? I picked the magazine up in the grocery store the other day and saw that they republished my quilt Pick from the Past! I am delighted! I never tire of this! Ha ha! The magazine contains beautiful star quilts of all types and sizes. Thanks AP&Q!

 I have been busy sewing little hexagons together, as you can see. I used cheddar for the centers and went for the scrappy look. I plan to trim down the edges on this little quilty. So my fingers have been busy, but they also get numb! The price we pay for our art, right?

 Our darling little August, my 3rd great-grandson, is now six months old and he is a charmer! His mom, Becky, took this photo and I thought the carrot was a nice touch, in case you know the book, Guess How Much I Love You. Check out Becky's blog if you want a laugh, or her point of view on just about anything! She is a really good writer!

 

SPEED-not all it's cracked up to be

Another week, month, year has sped by and leaves me in it's wake wondering what I can say I have accomplished. Whatever it is, it is not enough, I can tell you that. 
I have been working on a little hexagon treat that I shamefully copied from Jo Morton. Well, I did change mine a bit. Jo made the most darling little tree skirt! I hope she won't mind if I share her photo. She is amazing! Follow Jo's blog!

 I added another round of hexagons to mine and made a table topper. I think it will look darling with some greenery on my round kitchen table. The hexies are 5/8 inch. I learned that you measure hexagons by the length of the side. I was able to purchase a couple packs of them at a quilt shop over the summer. It is enjoyable stitching in the evening while watching TV. But let me tell you, these babies take forever! This project has been every evening for a month! In this case speed is not involved. Just consistent stitching!

 Somewhere on line I saw where someone finished the edge of their project by adding hexagons all around the underside of the quilt. Again, tedious, but what a nice edge you get. I should have stopped there because I am not at all happy with my hand quilting on this project. Maybe it doesn't need to be quilted. Can I get a hands up for that?

 I happened upon this project in the December 2012 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine while sorting through my magazines. The design came from a vintage project that Ann Hermes adapted. This is one I wanted to make when I first saw it. I always have scraps, and they prompted me to get to work. I enjoyed this scrappy, wonky project so much that I just kept making blocks, and now I have a much larger quilt like this that I adore! Plus it feels so good to find yourself at the bottom of the scrap box!

 On another note, I have been having a terrible time posting to my Facebook for Patchalot Patterns. Things just don't seem to show up. It is very frustrating. And you know I don't post to my blog like I used to. But I am on Instagram and also on Pinterest. In fact I just noticed that I have 91 boards on Pinterest. Someone please save me from myself! I do think it is a great way to catalog photos of quilts and things that you like. I would prefer to fine tune it a bit, but so far making more boards is my only option. I have so many boards now that sometimes I am not sure where to pin an item. So I make another board.

In reference to my last post, I am now into season 12 of Midsomer Murders and they have become a little spicier and perhaps a bit more graphic. I hope I didn't recommend something that you find offensive down the road. Oddly, it didn't seem as provocative to me as American TV. Then again, my head is down stitching for a good part of the program!

Midsomer Murders

Somewhere in the past few years I have really become hooked on British TV. I love most of the programs on Masterpiece, especially Sherlock, and of course Downton Abby. I watch these and many others, but my primary watching is focused on Midsomer Murders. It has become my "go to" TV show. One reason is that I can never run out of episodes! If I can find nothing else of interest to watch I can always go to Netflix and settle in for a nice Midsomer Murder. Maybe it's my age, but I am really sick of the pulse racing shows and the vulgarity. The networks have allowed too much vulgarity into their programs. I think that when people, especially children, see it on TV they think it is acceptable. Yup, I've become a prude and proud of it! Where I come from they call it standards of morality. It's not that I never watch programs containing some of that stuff, but why immerse myself in something that I find distasteful. Consequently I find myself tagging along with DCI Tom Barnaby investigating the latest murders in the fictitious county of Midsomer in England. 

I heard that Netflix has recently added seasons 15 and 16 to this ever popular program. I am only in season 5! This program is also available on Amazon Prime. The program began showing in Great Britain in 1997. And the series is apparently still filming! It is amazing that they can create so many diverse murders in this beautiful rural county. 

I think part of what I enjoy in the program is the beautiful small villages  and the lovely old homes and the ever blooming gardens. Come to think of it I have never seen an episode filmed in winter! Or in the rain! It's like Camelot!

The main characters are, I guess you could say rather vanilla. Not in a bad way, just nice, normal folk who have a job to do and do it in a nice way. The stories are very creative. Last night I watched an episode about orchid fanatics and three deaths that occurred over a rare orchid worth one hundred-fifty thousand pounds (being American I have no idea how the Brits write that). I also learned that the word orchid actually means testicles because of the way the bulbs hang when removed from the soil. Hmmm. 

Another episode I remember an older couple raised marijuana in their greenhouse and made brownies, which they shared with DCI Barnaby, whose disposition improved considerably for the rest of the day! 

Yes, it must be my age, at least in part. I can sit and stitch while I enjoy this program as I relax at the end of the day. Once upon a time I was young and danced wildly in the rain for as long as the music played. Now I watch with pleasure as my grandchildren enjoy that stage of their life. Meanwhile, I am quite content to be a rather vanilla grandmother doing what I enjoy now. Just give me a Diet Coke and, um, pass me one of those brownies with the little green flecks will you?  (Ha ha. yes, just kidding!)

The Good Old Summertime!

What a great summer this has been! We have had fun and it has gone fast. Doesn't it always? Below is this really cool horse I found at an antique shop in Minnesota. It is heavy rusted iron. I love it!

I flew from Arizona to Virginia the end of June with a layover in Minneapolis. I was home for a week and my husband and I packed up and drove to Minneapolis! Well, I didn't want him to drive alone. And... we drove through Wisconsin and stopped in Menasha to visit Primitive Gatherings! I was delighted to get to see Lisa Bongeon's shop, tho Lisa was not there. She was off teaching somewhere, of course. Sorry to have missed her, but I did get a couple photos. And you can visit her at her blog by clicking her name. Lisa always has the best stuff!

This is my quilt pattern, Prairie Fire, that was hanging in the shop. It was quilted by Linda Hrcka at The Quilted Pineapple. Check out her blog, she is amazing!

I have to share this cute display. It is an old ladder with little nails on the rungs and primitive designer Cheri Payne's patterns are hanging there. How appropriate! 

We left Menasha and drove a short distance to Appleton, Wisconsin. I went to high school there and haven't been back since. 

We drove by the old house, which I still love. It looked happy and well cared for! I could move right back in! We loved Appleton so much!

From there we drove on to Minnesota and up to the Brainerd Lakes area. We spent about two weeks with family there and loved it.

Here is our darling Katie with the twins.

Here is the darling August James with me! 

My great-grandson!

I will end with a cute little wool pumpkin that I worked on while traveling. I was a fun design to work on and is free from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. You can find it on their website, All People Quilt.

Change, or not so much?

After my last post and the funny photo of my grandchildren, their mother produced some recent photos that I really need to share. 

 These kids are so funny! Well, to me at least. They are my blood, make no mistake! Some people develop humor as they grow, and some are just naturals! These kids are just goofy!

The first photo is reminiscent of this one from two years ago. Seriously, they make me laugh. (My life is an oxymoron)

Next we have our darling Kathryn, who just turned nine years old. Her mom just got a used freezer and painted it. Kathryn, or Katie as she now prefers, is modeling beside it. Love the color coordination!

Saturday I visited Olde World Quilt Shoppe. It is located in Cave Creek, AZ. I first visited the shop in February when Lisa Bonjean was there teaching. This is a wonderful shop! Perhaps one of the loveliest I have been in, and that is saying something! A bed laden with beautiful quilts is in one corner and in another is a big comfy couch, with old looking chandeliers adding a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The owner, Dee Grantham, above, is responsible for the beauty and style of this shop. I am very impressed with Dee. Not only is she talented, she is really a sweetheart!  

Now my friends, do you see anything familiar in the photo? Yes! my Button Bandits quilt with the crows is hanging in the back. The shop has been making kits for this and also Medallion Doll Quilt, on left, and they must keep selling out because they keep ordering patterns! If you want a kit for either of these call the shop (480-473-2171), I bet they will ship!

As you can see I am still in Arizona, where the temp is around 108 degrees and the grass is crunchy; the A/C struggles to keep the house cool and I struggle to not adjust the thermostat lower. Things change. Kids change, temperatures change and we try and keep up!

Favorite Things

Maybe I should write on my blog today. I have fallen into the habit of stalking around on Instagram these days. If you find yourself short of time but still want to stay in the loop, Instagram is the place for you. It's just photos with a brief note attached. You can find me there under "Patchalot". 

I have actually been sewing! I am back in the swing of it now and feeling really good about it. I have done a few wool projects. 

This is Warm Winter Blessings, from Primitive Gatherings. I chose to make the mini version. Those blocks are 4 x 5.5". The 9-patches are 1-1/2 inches. I altered the borders to make mine smaller than the pattern shows. That's what we do right? Adjust according to our own needs. 

The above is a free pattern that I have wanted to make for several years. Again I adapted mine for my own use. I used wool for the appliqué and made mine scrappy. I love it! Thanks to Joanne the Threadhead blogger. Follow the link to her pattern! I pinned mine on PINTEREST for quick reference!

This one I am working on right now. It is a Cheri Payne design. I just love Cheri's primitive style. Especially the wool appliqué, which is so forgiving for someone like me who doesn't really do hand appliqué. Cheri calls her patterns Wednesday's Best Quilt Patterns. The link will take you to her site and you can browse around to your hearts content!

While I am at it I need to post a photo from my trip to San Diego and my visit to Temecula Quilt Company. A very tiny quilt shop with a very big presence! The owner, Sheryl Johnson, is full of clever ideas and projects. Look at that cute display of Valdani thread in canning jars!

Sheryl and me!
The quilt behind us is a beauty and from the book History Repeated by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle

This cute iron bed is front and center when you enter the shop. Loved the shop and Sheryl is delightful! 

Previously I showed a perfectly staged photo of the twins. At my son's house the staging is not quite so perfect. This is the best I could do for a group shot of these three grandchildren of mine. There are not many sit still moments at the Patch house! They are hilarious and I am nuts about them!

We did get a cute one of Olivia on her quilt. And another of her hoping to get a swig of Grandma's Diet Coke! (didn't happen)

This week Danielle was center stage as she graduated from high school here in Mesa, AZ. We are so proud of this girl! She has grown into a lovely young woman. She is charming and entertaining along with being kind and thoughtful. 

Well there is a little sample of my life in recent days. I always say my favorite things are grandchildren and quilts; chocolate and Diet Coke. 

Have a great Memorial weekend!