Family time in Virginia Beach

Summer has come and gone without a stitch. Yes, I mean truly without a stitch. "How is this possible," You may ask? Well for one thing, we were lucky enough to have company visiting on a few occasions. I guess it is considered kind of rude to lock yourself in the sewing room when you have guests to visit with. 

Over the 4th of July our family from Arizona came to visit. We decided to re-pose granddaughter Danielle in front of the little quilt where her picture was taken so many years ago.

Danielle and her mom, Anna Marie at the beach

My granddaughter Mary and her husband Mike enjoying the water. Everyone enjoyed the beach night and day!

Food and family, nothing better!

In October my daughter Polly and granddaughter Katie came to visit. Katie is home-schooled so they manage to get their schooling in wherever they are. Plus, they are able to visit interesting and even historical places off-season.

Jamestown Settlement is a great place to visit!
The museum there is fabulous! (No photos allowed)
They also have guides in clothes typical of the era who explain how the people lived in that very primitive time. There are replicas of the huts that the Indians lived in, including animal skins and utensils on the walls and cots. The above shows Katie standing next to a skunk skin!

This ship is a replica of the Susan Constant, one of the three ships that sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and up the Jamestown River to settle. The ships actually landed about a mile from where we live in Virginia Beach, VA.
You would not believe how small these ships actually are! I can't even imagine crossing the ocean in this! A two month journey! I love all this historical stuff and love reading about how they lived, etc. And I am very thankful for my soft life in current times!

The Virginia Beach Aquarium is always on the list of things to do here. Katie really loved the turtles and felt that one was especially fond of her as well.

It has been a wonderful summer here in Virginia Beach! Possibly my last. More on that in the future.

Thanks for checking in on me and my very irregular writing schedule!

Itchin' and Stitchin'

I thought it was a spider bite, but I was wrong. My husband was afraid it was a flesh eating disease. Thankfully he was wrong too! It seems that I just tangled with plain old poison ivy or oak. It happened a week ago and I am still quite miserable. We have never had it in our yard before that I know of, so it blindsided me. I just reached for it and pulled as I was pulling up other little trees that regularly sprout in our yard. This one, however, fought back!  When it began to spread it took a violent turn. Both arms are covered, some on both legs and on my waist. I went to the doctor on Monday and she gave me some prednisone, which may be helping. I bought something called Ivarest, which has been helpful in controlling the itch somewhat, and it's helping the welts dry out. The skin that is healing looks burned and dried.

Now for the happy stuff! I began making the Cheri Payne Everyday Patchwork blocks and finished them all before I came back to Virginia. I love them! The directions are still on her blog. Scroll back to May 2015. She also has a darling little patriotic quilt on her blog now with the directions. 

The other project I was pushing to finish is a Jan Patek design called Homespun Hearth. Altho the book is on Jan's website, it is still out of stock. Finally Karen- Log Cabin Quilter, offered me her book and so I got busy. 

I have a tendency to change things and so my version is quite different from Jan's. I am pretty happy with it! 

 I like to fill spaces and decided that mine needed a dragonfly and a bird on the chimney, etc.

Another little project that I really got excited about was another Cheri Payne design. Again, mine got changed a bit. That seems to happen as I work and use different techniques, don't follow directions, or whatever. 

So you can see that I have been keeping busy the past few months. You can just think of me stichin' and itchin'!!

Life in the Slow Lane

Have you noticed that I have changed gears? My life is now very much in the slow lane. I would like to be doing more, but just don't have it in me anymore. My husband retired and I guess I did too. But no worries because now I am still doing what I love to do, just not under pressure. To coin a phrase: Life is good!

 My son, Renn is a woodworker and has become fascinated in wood turning on a lathe. He is making all kinds of delicate little items. We were in Utah at his house over Easter and he gave me this wonderful little bowl that he made, and the darling spoon which is about 5 inches in length. They are beautiful!

 I figured that since he was spinning away maybe he would like to try making me wooden spools, so he did! The first one turned out beautiful! The second one was looking great when all of a sudden the top blew off. Whoops! Of course I wanted it anyway. I can stick a little flag in the hole, right? He has made lots of other things as well, but currently it is wood turning that is holding his interest.

 My interest still revolves around stitching in any form. I have been playing with Buttermilk Basin's free BOM. They are so cute!

I also have several of the other Buttermilk Basin designs by Stacy West. They are fun and easy!

Along with that I got caught up in the four-patch frenzy that is going on and have a really pretty double four-patch quilt in the works. Who knows, maybe I will blog again and share it with you! 

Meanwhile Hubby and I were doing a little furniture shopping this weekend and look at the darling pillows I spotted at Crate and Barrel! They are pretty pricey, $60 to $80. But good inspiration!

Spring Morning

Spring Morning isn't quite happening for us yet as January storms prevail in many parts of the USA. However, McCall's Quick Quilts has a way of giving us a nice boost into spring in their February/March 2015 issue.

This magazine is full of lovely quilts that will get you in the mood to decorate for spring! I am happy to say that one of my little quilts was chosen to be in this cheerful magazine! It is called Spring Morning! I made this as a baby quilt for my son's third baby, Olivia Patch. McCall's graciously published the quilts I made for his first two children as well, so I was pleased that they accepted this one also. How can a grandmother explain to a grandchild that their quilt didn't make the cut? Haha! My friend and quilter, Marae Harris quilted this for me. She always knows just what my quilts need!

I have always loved the pink and yellow combination and I was looking for something sweet and girlie. And this is why-

Isn't she sweet?

Be sure and look for this issue of McCall's Quick Quilts!

And on a similar note, this quilt design is almost the same. Can you spot the differences? Well, obviously the colors make a huge difference! The blocks are the same size, I just changed out the four-patch in the block for whatever that little triangle block is called. You can see in both quilts that the Monkey Wrench block was altered so the seams lined up with the corner squares of the other block. See what options you have when you design quilts? You are in charge of the decision making! I am particularly proud of the border in this one. It is the first time I ever made a zig-zag border and I love it! The lovely blue-grey fabric in this quilt is by Olde Green Cupboard, for Marcus Fabrics. It's called Londonderry. You might still find it on whittlesfabrics.com. It is an old release at this point. Most everything is by the time a quilt gets published.

It pleases me so much to be working with McCall's Magazines and the great people there. I thank them for the recognition they give me as a quilter and for the opportunity to share my work with others.

            Piecefully Stitching,

PATCHALOT PATTERNS JANUARY DEAL!

January 2015!

We have left 2014 behind and are into another new year! January brings optimism and a fresh start. To many of us that means 'what can I start off the year making?' To others it means 'what quilt can I get back to and finish!'  Either way it is exciting to think of the projects we love to work on, and the opportunity of progress in 2015. If 2015 means digging into your scraps be sure to take a look at my website for scrappy patterns. You know I LOVE scrap quilts!

My birthday also falls in the first week of January and so to celebrate both my birthday and the New Year, I am offering a SPECIAL DEAL on my patterns. I am including a free pattern with your purchase. Just place an order on my website and I will send you a pattern of your choice for free. Email me to say which free pattern to include. If I don't hear from you I will just pick one for you myself. (Please note that the Cotillion pattern is no longer available, sorry) 

Happy New Year from Patchalot Patterns and me!