GATHERED OVER TIME

Remember this darling quilt that was in McCall's Quilting, June 2009 issue? I love it, in all its simplicity! Julie Hendrickson is the designer, and she also has a new line of fabric out of those darling little shirtings and small prints called Gathered Over Time, from Windham Fabrics. They are right down my alley. I ordered some the other day to add to my large stash of shirtings, also gathered over time!

And I bought a red stripe that was just the perfect thing for the baby quilt I am working on for my new grandson that is coming in December. I sewed all the blocks together yesterday. Those shirtings and stripes go perfect with the Prairie Paisley blues!

For those who enjoy looking at vintage quilts, check out this Youtube video of Julie Hendrickson showing some of her collection. Yummy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIu3TDdlIzo

SEW MUCH TO SHARE

This has been a month of fiddling with many projects. I began this little cutie last month while in Arizona so I would have some handwork with me. You may remember when I talked about it HERE. I love showing off all the cute little fabrics in both the appliqued segments and the background pieces. A perfect little project for a fabric junkie. You can handle and fondle to your heart's content. This project is from Remembering Adelia, one of Kathleen Tracy's doll quilt books. Check out her cute books on her website! Kathleen doesn't know it, but we are kindred spirits.
I am doing a different border fabric than she used, as I rarely copy anyone's design exactly. More on that later when it is completed.

Also this week I was delighted to get this quilt back from my quilter. I showed the details of this quilt in an earlier blog HERE. I added a border (Kansas Troubles fabric) to this to make it big enough for a queen bed for my newly married son and his wife. The quilting is very nice! I hope they love it! And I am saying "YAY! Another quilt finished!"

Now finally, I was determined to spend some time cleaning my sewing room yesterday, and as I cleared things from my over flowing cutting table, I found this quilt that I made months ago. I even had it spray basted and ready to quilt. It needed a little smoothing and pinning after waiting so long, but I quilted it up in a jiffy. As you can see, I am a straight line quilter. If only I was a straight line worker! Instead I seem to take so many side trips down a windy little Quilter's Lane! :)

A SCRAPPER IS A SCRAPPER

Yesterday I had to go to the Post Office to mail out a pattern order to England. (I mention that just to impress you). This Post Office is in a little shopping strip, and next door was a small thrift store. I had a few minutes to spare, so I decided to go in and browse. I am always drawn to the dishes and they had a big wall of shelves full of dishes. I picked up a little pie dish and held on to it. Then I saw a little silver tray by Oneida and thought of all the silver I received as wedding gifts and never used. I spotted a silver casserole just like one I once had, all tarnished and unattractive. How sad. Where did mine go?

"Oh look!" I say to myself, "I had dishes just like these that I tried to sell at a garage sale last summer!" Funny how one's mind races from "I should buy this" to "wait a minute, I got rid of this"! Further searching of the shelves found many of the same dish pattern scattered around in no particular order. "Well for heaven's sake, they aren't even arranged together. This is a terrible sales approach!" By this time I am having quite a conversation with myself. "Why are these dishes not selling? These are cute dishes! I only got rid of them because my daughter has some Fly Lady approach to streamlining, and my dishes fell into her path. And then, the ultimate realization: "These are my dishes"!

The thing is, they didn't sell at my garage sale, and now I found them cast off by Goodwill, and still sitting on the shelf at a thrift store that isn't even a major name thrift store. A little part of me is feeling rejected.

After the garage sale last summer my daughter boxed up all the leftovers (after I fled the scene) and she immediately drove them to Goodwill. Sometimes it is difficult parting with things, even though it is the logical thing to do. "I might need that later on", I think.

I do the same thing with all those fabric scraps. "I know I can use that", so it gets saved in a box with others of its kind. I think if you are a scrapper, that logic prevails in other aspects of your life.

But how many remnants does one need, whether they be dishes or fabric or something else? This question remains unanswered. But one thing I do know. Sometimes we have trouble letting go, even when it makes perfect sense to do so.

CAT AND GRANDMA MOUSIE

My computer has been giving me fits and I feel like I have been ousted from the game of blogging! Oh, I know, we all have our woes when it comes to our computer. So this may be boring for you, but just picture me trying to post on my blog from a black screen. OK, it is not quite that bad at the moment, but because that is what it has been doing of late, I hurried and edited and posted my photos just in case it tries to outwit me at my own game. The thing is, my screen does not want to cooperate, so editing is my own personal joke. Does it, or does it not look better? I have to publish, and then look at my blog on my husband's computer to see for sure. He doesn't like me using his laptop for fear that I will wreck it. Who me? So I must innocently wait until he takes a little nap and then snag it. So who am I playing cat and mouse with, my computer, or my husband? Both, actually!

So let's get to the good stuff! I no longer have to contain myself, the secret is out! My son and his wife are expecting a baby boy! This news has had me spending hours at the computer, when it allows me, working on quilt designs in EQ6 for my new grandson, who is due to make his appearance in December. I have come up with many ideas, and then settled on one that I really like. I felt the need to design a quilt just for this welcome little child! And I still have some Prairie Paisley fabric that I managed to reserve in my stash, waiting for just the right project. Yay! This is it!

Here are a couple pictures to make you curious. I think it will be cute! More a little boy quilt than a baby quilt, actually. I may have to get Goldilock's approval on this quilt for Little Boy Blue. I like the way she thinks!
My dad was here to visit this past week. He lives in Arizona, but he came here from Minnesota. He spent a month there with each of my two brothers and their families, and had fun visiting friends, etc. This time he decided that he needed a cell phone, so my brother helped him get one. He hasn't quite figured out how to work it. A lady friend of his asked him to attend a wedding with her at this big basilica in Minneapolis. In the middle of the ceremony -- you guessed it! His cell phone went off. Well, he didn't know how to turn it off, so he just opened it and closed it and put it back in his pocket. Then it rang again! I know he was totally embarrassed. Some lady sitting behind him was able to turn it off for him. He is 86 years old, so we cut him some slack.

We enjoyed having him spend some time here. We walked down to the beach a couple times, and ate fish at several different restaurants. But mostly he sat on the deck and read books. He knows we always have tons to choose from and I think he finished the last three Harlan Coben books, our favorite author. He is now back in Arizona. We encouraged him to stay longer, but he said, "I don't want to miss Arizona in August"! What a crack up! His outlook and attitude is something we all need to aspire to!

Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying August as well!

GOLDILOCKS AND HER QUILT

Once upon a time Grandma Mousie made a little quilt. And actually, the center was created using a Little Quilts pattern for the Sunbonnet Sue. This little quilt went to live with Granddaughter Danielle, to hang on her bedroom wall. Years passed and Danielle grew up to the age of 13. Little girl quilts were no longer of interest to her. Recently this little quilt surfaced again while packing up the closet in Danielle's bedroom. Grandma Mousie thought that it would look cute in Goldilocks' bedroom, with her 1930's repro quilt that she just finished for her bed. So she mailed it off to Goldilocks' house.  Above is Goldilocks, pretending to sleep.
Goldilocks likes her new little quilt, and wraps up in it while watching TV, reading a book, or riding in the car! She even took it camping!
"Oh no!" Says Goldilocks! "Don't hang it on the wall, I want to snuggle with it. I love it!" This makes Grandma Mousie very happy! 
Above, the photo shows the little quilt sitting on top of the 1930's repro quilt on Goldilocks' bed.  When asked how she likes her big quilt, she says she likes it, but not as much as the little one! She hardly lets that one out of her sight. Someday Goldilocks will grow up and prefer a bigger quilt. Grandma Mousie will happily make her another one, because Goldilocks knows how to show appreciation for a quilt! No doubt she will live happily ever after!

Oral B Quiet!

No doubt you have all heard of The Mouse That Roared. Well, granted, some of you may be too young. But let me just play off the title a bit and tell you about the Toothbrush That Roared. Peter Sellars was in the movie version of The Mouse that Roared back in the 50's. I can actually see him playing this roll as well.

Yesterday my husband heard a drilling noise and wondered what it was. It stopped, but then when I went to bed last night I heard what sounded like a drilling noise also. It seemed to be coming from the ceiling fan in the bathroom. Again, it stopped, so I went to bed. Early this morning the noise resumed. It was 5:00 am when my husband and I both jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom where that drilling noise had begun again with a vengeance! What on earth is that noise? It sounded like a motor of some sort, as every now and then it made a revving sound. Since we couldn't locate where the noise was coming from, I suggested that my husband go to the fuse box and start flipping switches. From his cell phone he called to see if the noise had abated. It had not! He even flipped the master switch to the whole house in an effort to make it stop, to no avail! Our house was now totally devoid of any electrical power, but the drilling noise continued in the dark.

We were stumped. Where in the heck was that noise coming from? It kind of sounded like a dentist's drill, oddly enough. It was almost like a smoke alarm, but not as shrill. An alarm clock buried in the wall? A non-stop woodpecker? A bunch of riled up bees? Aliens in the attic?

My husband was thinking that it might cause an electrical fire, though with no electricity, that seemed implausible. It seemed that our only recourse was to pull the cabinet off the wall in the bathroom and cut a hole in the wall. We needed to get to the bottom of this, as the noise continued on for 40 minutes now.

I began unloading the cabinet seen above of all the normal bathroom accoutrements; all the bottles and basics found in most bathrooms. In one jar I store extra toothbrushes. As I picked it up it vibrated in my hand! I almost dropped it! What the heck?
Well, here is the guilty party. A battery operated toothbrush that I haven't used for quite a while. Somehow it turned on and was rattling away in that jar! The noise that innocent little thing made was incredible!

I can't help but try and think up slogans for this toothbrush. How about, "A Real Self-Starter"! Or "Beware of operating while under the influence". "Start without me", is a good one. My favorite however, is "Oral B Quiet"!

Seriously folks, out of the jar this toothbrush purrs like a kitten. You may have one in your home. If you do, let me offer a word of advice. Don't keep it in a jar. Let it roam free!

DON'T FORGET!

Today is the only day you can enter to win this book, Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again. on Michele's blog! Don't Forget!

Go to her blog for more details.
With Heart and Hands.

Recently I was visiting blogs and saw the cutest apron made from blue jeans. I was out of town and didn't mark the blog. Does anyone know who that blogger is? I wanted to share it with my cousin.

Have a happy day!

Two nice bloggers took the time to look for that apron for me! They both found cute aprons,but different from what I had seen. However, they reminded me that there are search engines to do the work of finding things, so I looked and found the blog myself. Pat on my back. It was Karen's blog at Quiltsalot!  Take a look for yourself!

And thank you to Nancy at With Thread in Hand, and Carol at Carol's Crafty Creations, for generously offering their help. Check out the blogs of two very nice ladies who happen to be quilters as well! 

Freddy, Gwen and Michele

While visiting blogs this morning I stopped in to see what Michele has been up to. She has several wonderful posts about her trip to Sisters, Oregon for the big quilt show. She met lots of cool people, including Freddy Moran and her husband Neal, pictured above, with Michele in the middle. Michele is a prolific writer and an excellent researcher. And she has received the new book written by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston which she is offering in a drawing tomorrow! I know from your blogs that there are lots of fans out there who would love to have this new book! Check out Michele's blog and maybe you will win it! I love basket quilts, and that quilt in the photo above just blows my thongs off (oh wait, they call them flip-flops now). 

Now go check out all the wonderful photos and items of interest on Michele's blog-With Heart and Hands. She should be on everyone's "must read" list!
Guess what I found while in Arizona? This quilt top that I made a few years ago! I have been looking for it for at least two years and couldn't remember where I put it, but while moving at my son's house it came to light again. It was found hanging in my granddaughter's closet, where I had carefully hung it on a hanger and covered it with something to protect it. If only I could retrieve my lost brain cells that were apparently buried in there as well. Yes, I should be content with the quilt for now, and I am. I always have projects going at my son's house, and this was a fun one that I found on Bonnie Hunter's website. I brought it home to add a border and prepare a backing. Yay! Another UFO will be completed this summer! I feel good!
Well, I feel good except for my gardening skills, which have suffered this summer. To all my blogging friends out there who are showing their beautiful flowers and veggies, let me just say: You win! I cannot compete! Kind of a cute pot though, huh? But please, no "pot shots"! haha!

More details from Michele:

 Michele's Quilting Journey said...

You, sweetheart, you! I remember the very first time you commented on my being a 'prolific' writer and that you could hardly keep up with me...I just howled!! I still think about it and laugh with delight ;) My big drawing for the free book from Freddy and Gwen's production company is technically tomorrow...so everyone come on Friday after 7 am Pacific time and add a comment to the post and then a link to it on your blog and you'll not only be in the drawing but have your comments read by the authors! I'm supposed to show the power of blogs and blogging. HELP! I need comments on Friday and entries in the give-away, please..ha ha. Hugs to you, Miss Marvelous Marcie!

HOME AGAIN!

Greetings to all my friends out there, and especially to anyONE who has missed me. I arrived home last night after a very nice, though long, flight from Arizona. I was on a United flight on my return trip and miraculously had no one sitting next to me! Trust me, flying is so much easier without being jammed next to someone in the next seat. I did get patted down by security at the airport, however. I guess they thought those grandmotherly bulges I possess looked suspicious.

I have not had much access to the Internet while gone. I will try to catch on on all my bloggy friends a few each day.

It is good to be home with my own bathroom. Sunday, at my son's house, they discovered that the water from the showers was filling up the master bath tub. The toilets were not flushing. OH NO! You forget what a luxury it is to flush! We kept going back to the other house to use the bathroom! They spent almost $400 yesterday on a plumber who wasn't able to fix the problem. They may need to lay a new pipe from the house to the street. You never know what problems develop in a house that has been vacant for a while.

My fridge is filled with a Costco rotisserie chicken and Chinese (food, not people). It is what the man lives on when I am gone. In his mind it is so much better when I am here to feed him. I think, however, that it is just my wonderful company that makes his food taste better. Believe me, it is not my excellent cooking!

Today was kind of a loungy day of catching up on mail, and checking in with my kids, etc. Tomorrow I must put some of my new found energy to work on getting my own house in order. I will be back with more pictures and news!

Greetings from Arizona!

Thanks to you all for your comments on my blog! I am having trouble getting back to everyone while here in Arizona, so do not think I am avoiding you. And getting time to read blogs is even more difficult. Plus, I made the mistake of buying my granddaughter a computer game for her birthday, and the girl is now on the computer 24/7. What was I thinking?

Pictured above is my favorite restaurant here. It is not just the decor, which is totally charming, but the food is good too. Mexican food, did you already guess that? I had a flying saucer while there, which I thought was amusing after my last post. I love Mexican food and there are lots of good places here to eat. I want to eat as much of it as I can while here before I go back to Virginia Beach, where the Mexican food is just not that good.  My aunt and I had sweet pork burritos the other day. Oh wow, let me tell you! 
When I arrived at the Phoenix airport I had some time to kill before my son showed up to get me. So, being the good little blogger that I am, I took a couple of pictures. Above is a big plane that is hanging from the ceiling above the escalator. It is pretty cool.  There may be a story there, but I don't know it.  

These big cacti were also attractive. There are three terminals at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. I came in on Delta/Northwest, which has now merged. Somehow they managed to charge our credit card $1200 for my ticket, which I assure you, is not the price I agreed to. But maybe that was the price for my luggage. If you haven't flown for a while, be aware that they now charge for each bag that you check. In fact they charge for food, and blankets as well. So far most airlines still give you a drink of juice or pop.
My DIL volunteered me to make aprons for my granddaughter, Danielle, and her young women's group at church. They are going to girls camp the end of July and have a Wizard of Oz theme around which everything is being planned. They were easy to make and Danielle loves it!

Meanwhile, the main activity around here is packing and moving to their new house. It is less than two miles from here, so we are going slowly, taking a truckload at a time. Kyle, who is almost 18, and his friends, take over the heavy stuff each evening after work. My son, who has a really bad back, has managed to get some painting done over there, so that is helpful. All is going well, and yes, I am exhausted! But all is well, and I am glad to be here. Not loving the 115 degrees, however!  

UFOs, Roswell and Area 51

I brought this cute little project to work on while I am in Arizona. It is the cover project from the book, Remembering Adelia, by Kathleen Tracy.  Such darling projects in this book! I wanted a project to work on by hand, so this one fit the bill. I haven't done any applique for a while so began the preparation by tracing the leaf shape onto freezer paper. I cut out about 10 leaves and pressed them onto the wrong side of the fabric. So far so good. I cut out each shape, leaving a seam allowance. Then I glued the edges over the paper using a glue stick. Whoops. Did I say I glued the edges down? Why yes I did. Wasn't I supposed to starch the edges over? Well, yes I was. Oh no! 

Well, by the time I realized my error I had already sewn several little leaf shapes down. I admit, I wondered why I was having so much trouble forcing the needle through the fabric. Duh!  I soaked each little block in water and gently managed to pull the paper from the slit in the back, and all is well. This does not count as a UFO as I am still working on it!

Now I am backtracking to my Atlanta trip because I haven't mentioned going to one of my very favorite quilt shops:  LITTLE QUILTS!  I have been a Little Quilts fan for years and years, long before they opened the shop. Since my daughter moved to Atlanta I have had the opportunity to visit the shop a few times (actually three). My daughter is unacquainted with the Marietta area, where the shop is located, so we called for directions. Mary Ellen VonHolt, the shop owner, answered and gave Jennie directions. "Look for the Big Chicken on the corner of Roswell Road", she said. We drove back and forth down Marietta Road and somehow we missed seeing the big chicken! I think I was not looking high enough in the air! Seriously, with Roswell on my mind, I felt like we were searching for the illusive Area 51, of UFO fame, which I thought was rather humorous considering how many UFOs I have. Are you getting all this? 

Finally, the Big Chicken hovered over us, so to speak. We turned down Roswell and clapped our hands at the sight of Little Quilts!

So we made it! Of course the shop is wonderful. We arranged to go on a day that Karen was working, so we met again and went to eat together when she was done with work. It was fun to see Karen's own little quilts displayed at the shop along with her patterns! Also, my Williamsburg Medallion pattern that Karen made was displayed right by the front door! 

So that is my final adventure in Atlanta!  Come back again for news from the burning sands of Arizona!

TWO FOR THE ROAD

I have to share this darling bottle I found at Pier 1 the other day. Look at the cute birds! Remember when I showed the vintage photos of birds that I copied and framed? This pretty gold bottle is perfect in my bedroom and the birds are perfect too!
I have been stash busting like crazy with this quilt for my son! I finished thirty-six 12" blocks, and when I get home from Arizona I will make the pieced border that I have planned. This design makes a great utility quilt.
Also for my son (who was recently married) I have completed this Buggy Barn quilt. I started it for him quite a while ago and it has been staring me in the face ever since. The original pattern was not big enough for a queen size bed so I wanted to add borders. I had the perfect fabric and everything. Why do these things take so long? Finally I got the borders on! Today I photographed it on my bed. Tomorrow I take it with me to Arizona to be quilted. I prepared the backing and binding, so I am all set. With any luck at all, maybe it will get quilted before I leave and I can bind it and mail it to my son Renn.
This is the book that the quilt pattern is in. Those Buggy Barn gals sure come up with cute ideas. There is at least one other pattern in this book that I plan to make for the Plumpkin--those darling flowers!

So tomorrow, on the 4th of July, I board a plane due to take off at 6:15 AM. Believe me, this is a huge effort of love on my part. I am not a morning person. I am always surprised to see people out on the road when I am forced to go that early. What are they doing? They can't all be hunting for night-crawlers!

Today Karen Diane told me she would miss me while I am gone. Remember she lives in Florida and I don't! "How can you miss me? I am as close as the internet, just like always!" You know she is a very cosmic person and she will know that I am not home. Me and my cosmic vibes are off to Arizona. I will try and pick up some energy as we fly over Sedona.

Later my friends,