HOORAY FOR THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE

I love red, white and blue quilts! Over the years I have made a few. Recently I arranged three of them together on the deck railing for a photo shoot. How fun is that?!

I just added another member to the Prairie Paisley Club. Libby made an awesome quilt for her daughter who has just returned home from nine years in the Air Force. I am really surprised that I haven't heard from more of you out there making quilts from that beautiful line of fabric. Let me know If I can add you to the list, or if you come across another quilt blogger that has made something from Prairie Paisley, by Minick and Simpson, of Moda Fabrics. I know there are lots of gorgeous fabrics out there, but this one just struck a chord with me. I hope you have looked at the blogs that are listed. They are great!

My grandkids are still hamming it up, as you can see. The oldest one here loves to take pictures, so finally I will have a great selection to share. Here she is with with her little clone that I call Plumpkin.

On occasion we are treated to a rare performance of original dance, by Plumpkin, complete with costume. Let me tell you, this girl can dance and twirl to any music. But I must say that she prefers Barbie Musical CDs.

We are once again suffering from air conditioning woes in the zone that contains my sewing room, office and TV room. We had a mattress on the floor for two of the kids in the TV room, but it is so blasted hot that I took pity on them and moved the mattress to the foot of the bed in the master bedroom. I had to warn my husband not to step on anybody when he returned home last night from being out of town on business.

All in all, we are having a good time. They go down to the beach every day, and hopefully they will make memories for years to come. When I was a kid we went to Crystal Beach on Lake Erie (the Canadian side) every summer. It was such a treat!

I hope you are making some wonderful summer memories also, and tucking them away to bring out on a cold winter's day.

--Marcie

Addendum: Hooked commented about the RWB quilt quilts. All three are from Patchalot Patterns. (Stars & Garters, Christmas Kisses, Wintergreen-some color changes!) You can go there for ordering instructions if you wish. Thanks for asking!

THE GRANDCHILDREN HAVE ARRIVED

The reign of terror has begun!

After driving for two long days from Minnesota to Virginia, my daughter has arrived with three of her children. I wasn't sure when they were leaving, so when Plumpkin, age 3, called me on the phone I asked her if she was driving. "No", she says, "my mom is. I am sitting in the back in my carseat". Oh my gosh, she is so funny!

They haven't been to visit us for a couple of years, so we have been excited to have them come. Daughter and 16 year old granddaughter went shopping today for new swimming suits and came back with really cutes ones from Macy's. The 10 year old grandson sat glued to the TV all day. He doesn't get to watch much TV at home, so he is quite mesmerized with it. Three year old Plumpkin is another case entirely. She is so quick. Her little feet move as quickly as her little brain. We sat on the deck and read a couple books. That was very pleasant. The Poky Little Puppy nevers gets old! Have you noticed? I have been reading that story since I was a child, I am sure. Well, after that she decided it would be nice to have a tea party. We went to the garage and pulled out a box of little dishes and cups that haven't been used in many, many years. We went to the kitchen and she stood on the kitchen chair while we washed the dishes and dried them. I decided to take a quick bathroom break, and hear Plumpkin telling me through the door that she is going to break some eggs for our tea party. "No, No, No! Wait just a minute"! I hustled back to the kitchen and she is holding two large white eggs in her hands, telling me she is going to crack them now. I talked her into putting them back in the carton, and explained that they were very fragile. We took our little tea party out to the deck, complete with Diet Coke in our tea cups, and Rice Chexx on a tiny plate. She cautioned me to be careful because the little cups were "very fragile". I guess she decided that she liked that word, and has used it several times today. She also engaged me in a discussion of birds and eggs, and wondered if the bird families were sad that someone ate their eggs. "They sit on their eggs to keep them warm until they get patched". I keep trying to explain that the eggs get hatched and not patched, but so far she is sticking to her story.

I think it is safe to say that I will be quite busy for the next little while, and loving every minute of it!

--Marcie

THERE AIN'T NO CURE...

If you were a kid in the fifties or sixties you will remember "There Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues". You can read the lyrics to that song by clicking the link. For the rest of you babes, you may have heard it through the years. It's a really fun and catchy song! Well, here is my completed Prairie Paisley quilt that I named Summertime Blues. I just love it! Minick and Simpson did a great job with this line of fabric for Moda, and it seems that many of you have fallen in love with it along with me. I decided that it would be fun to link to other photos of quilts made from Prairie Paisley fabric. I have seen quilts at Kim's blog, and also Darlene's. So if you, or anyone you know, made a quilt with this fabric, please leave me a comment and I will link to you. I will put it on my side bar for a month or so. Can't wait to see what you have done! (Mar? Are you out there?)
By the way, my quilt has some stash fabric mixed in with the Priairie Paisley. The 4-patches and the reds are from my stash. They all play nice, don't you think?

You know how when you are on line and you see little promotional items? Well this one caught my eye and I had to go check it out. French Fry Spam Casserole Now doesn't that just sound too good to be true? I hope my granddaughter in college reads this. She is always looking for good recipes to make for guys. Reel him in with this one Honey!



P.S. On my sidebar I am linking to the blog pages that feature a Prairie Paisley Quilt. To view more of any blog listed click on "Search Blog" at the top of the blog and it will take you to the front page of each blog.

SWEET SAMPLER 'N STUFF

Well the heat has finally hit Virgina in a big way! I broke down and turned on the air conditioning, only to find out that one unit was totally devoid of freon. Luckily my repair man actually returned my call and came and fixed it. The problem was in my sewing room and office, so I would have had to call it something like, oh, "the sweat shop" or something original like that.

So I have been playing around and thought I would clean up my sewing space a bit, since it was nice and cool in there. What do I find but three little Tree quilts from last December. These were going to be gifts, but never got that far. (I did finish several of these!) Actually, one is for me because I ended up giving mine away. Darn cute, isn't it? I at least got all the loose ends sewn together and now they need a little quilting. This is smaller than the pattern on my website. I scaled it down so that the tree top is 3 inches. Many of you made one or more of these last year. If you are a new reader, this was my Christmas treat to everyone last year. The pattern is still available on my website for free, and Christmas fabric is flooding the shops-so what are you waiting for?

Cheryl at Polka Dots and Rick Rack has a photo of My Happy Place quilt at her site that her friend made. It is very cute and she made it for a good cause. Check out Cheryl's blog to read about it. I love that she used 30's prints in the quilt. They are always so cheerful!

I designed this quilt a couple years ago to hang above my sewing machine. So far that hasn't happened. It has been hanging at the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, since its creation, which, oddly enough, also happens to be my happy place! Plus, they sell all my patterns! That makes me very happy! The shop just recently started a blog called Heidi-Idy's Happenings 'N Stuff. I LOVE this shop! It is so in line with everything I do! Civil War, Primitive, plaids, wool, needle-punch--they have it all! And KITS, lots of KITS! Plus some kids fabric and brights, and minky for those who require it. If you come to visit Virginia Beach you need to check out this shop!

I mentioned last post that I was playing with wool. Well, here is the progress so far. I love wool applique and embroidery. This one is called Sweet Sampler, by Shawn Williams, and I got the pattern at the above mentioned shop! There is lots more to do on this, so come back again, but don't hold your breath. I am not known for my speed.

--Marcie