Here's to Good Friends!

I really should go to bed, but what I want to do is watch TV and relax, but what I am gonna do is post something because it has been over ten days since I last posted. I know you must miss me, right? I feel like my butt is attached to the desk chair this week. I have been on the computer non-stop. So much to do! And more this week than others because I AM GOING TO MARKET IN HOUSTON AND I WILL HAVE A BOOTH! Yes! I finally got kicked good and hard (in the butt again) by Holly who owns the shop that I love here in Virginia Beach. She is going to work the booth with me, so how could I say no? My heart is aflutter, and I am hoping that is a good thing. Meanwhile, there are flyers to be made and patterns to be written. I spent yesterday printing oodles of patterns and today I stuffed envelopes. I am at a loss as to what to expect and how much to take. How do I display things when I am so far from home? Etc., etc. I am totally taking advantage of friends where ever I can. It is good to have friends!

 Now, on a totally unrelated subject, my cousin, also named Holly, just had her 50th birthday. To her it is a big deal, to me it is a walk down Memory Lane. Fifty was a great age, in retrospect, so enjoy it cuz, because it does not, or shall I say will not, get any better! Anyway, Holly has some wonderful friends that she has had since birth, I think, or at least since early childhood. They are all very talented stitchers and quilters. They made her the most amazing quilt for her birthday, and I want to share it with you. 

 I am seeing some really ugly fabrics that I adore!

Is there anything sweeter than sour colored fabric?

 True friends, indeed!

The detail in this quilt is wonderful!

 Beautifully designed--not sure by whom.

 Beautifully crafted by those named above.

Isn't it wonderful!

OK, now I guess I must go to bed with no TV. I feel like I am being sent to my room. But all is well!

Springville Quilt Show

OK, I finally added the Followers gadget to my blog. I resisted doing it for a long time, but so many of you were kind enough to sign up anyway (how'd you do that?) that I put it on. I guess with Bloglines closing down we will be needing additional resources to find our favorite blogs. I have really enjoyed Bloglines over the years and am sorry to see them go. Boo hoo, seriously!

While in Utah there was a quilt show taking place  at the Springville Museum. My son and daughter-in-law took me and my daughter Jennie to check it out. There were some lovely quilts, and I have a few to share.

 We fell in love with two family reunion quilts. Both were designed by design Lori Holt. Check out her blog--what darling things she makes! I hope you can get close-ups of these quilts because they have adorable details!

Here is another quilt that I was attracted to. Don't know for sure, but it looks like Blackbird Designs perhaps? I know someone will correct me if I am wrong. 

 Finally, here is my little buddy again, Isaac! He finally received the quilt that I made him! Isn't he adorable!  More to come!  (Did she mean quilts or babies???)

UPDATE: The flag quilt has been identified! It is from a book by Blackbird Designs called Women of Grace and Charm. An old book of theirs. They have so many great books and great designs!

Focus on Thirties

 

I am back home at long last! And I have quilts to share!  My friend and long arm quilter, Marae Harris, in Mesa, AZ has a log cabin quilt that her grandmother made, and she decided to reproduce it. They are so similar that I am not sure which one this is. I love them! All thirties prints, as you  can see. She has an enormous collection of thirties prints, plus she traded with friends. The only way! 

In this photo I placed the recent quilt on top of the old one. Aren't they remarkably alike? Grandmother's quilt is so finely hand stitched--absolutely beautiful! I am sure Marae will machine quilt hers, and it will be beautifully done as well. This makes me want to start collecting 30's prints!

 My Aunt Kathy is a quilter also, and she loves pastels! She began this string quilt several years ago and this year she finished it up. Tiny white rick rack separates each block, then on the border she used a wider rick rack on the seams. It is darling! She is making baby quilts to put away for great-grandchildren of the future.

 

This is another of Aunt Kathy's. She hand stitched the pinwheel arcs down and added the cute string border. Another adorable quilt! It is so fun to see what these ladies are working on when I visit in Arizona.

I was only in Arizona for two days while wending my way home from Montana. It was fun filled with family and a few quilts. You know I got some Mexican food in also! I feel like I am ready to move there, if only my husband would retire. He is getting closer every day!!

 

One more curiosity of which to make note. My darling granddaughter, Danielle, came home from a church youth activity the night I arrived. She was so excited and had so much fun. They split up into teams and went on a scorpion hunt. Yes, for real. Her team caught 20. They had black lights and leather gloves and went around in backyards of local residents searching for scorpions! You have to admit, not every church group could pull this off!

Adventures in Babysitting

What has become of my cooking skills? Last week I made Molasses Crinkles, a favorite cookie in our family. Turns out that I didn't add enough flour, and the first tray spread all over the pan into a burned mess.  I added more flour and the rest were fine. Kathryn, above, wasn't that enamored with them, however, and remarked to her mother the next day that maybe she should stay home from school and teach me how to make NORMAL cookies.

Next, I attempted home made pizza. I didn't grease the pan and it stuck so bad it was impossible to remove the pizza from the pan. Great. Now what's for dinner?

Today I decided to make brownies. Bad idea. The recipe called for two cups of flour and I only had 1-1/2. Well hey, there is some pancake mix in the cupboard. Maybe I should just substitute a half cup of pancake mix for the flour. How bad could that be? The batter tasted great, actually. But when the smoke alarms started going off I knew I had a problem.  The problem was that the brownie batter was overflowing the pan and burning. Great. So I pulled the brownies out of the oven and let them sit there until I figured out what came next. Images of scrubbing the heck out of another burned pan came to mind. Not a happy thought.

See the crusted edges of the pan? Not a good look. Oddly enough, after the brownies cooled, they actually tasted good! Even Kathryn and Jack approved! 

I think my cooking talents have slowly disintegrated. About  all I know how to do these days is cut squares and sew them together.

On another note, (remember that the parents went out of town and left me in charge) Jack was playing on his "rip stick" and fell and broke his arm on Sunday. We spent the afternoon in the hospital emergency room. Jack was very brave and I was proud of the way he handled himself. 

Does his shirt say "Wild, wild west"? Yes, that seems to sum it up! 

So my work here is done and tomorrow I leave for Arizona for a couple days. Another rotation as grandmother. Be warned little ones, Grandmother is going South! (In more ways than one!)

Too much of a good thing.

Oh my gosh, I think I had one too many Diet Cokes today. Here it is 1:30 am and the children are long gone to sleep and I am still tossing and turning and yawning and having caffeine spasms in my legs and I just can't get comfortable in bed, AND I'm sleeping on a Sleep Number bed on somebody else's number! It is just me and the hamster that are up. The hamster, I have discovered, is nocturnal and races around all night, which doesn't help when you are seeking sleep. He seems like a happy little guy tho, so I can't fault him. 

I would have been fine, except I decided to take the kids to McDonalds because I have no idea what to make for them that they will eat. They had their Happy Meal and I had mine, which included the one too many Diet Cokes.

My daughter and her husband are gone for a couple days while they take their daughter to college in Rexburg, Idaho. After that they are going to Jackson, Wyoming for some R and R. They never get away alone together unless I happen to be around. Chris, my SIL, has been singing that he's "going to Jackson" for a week now. I think he has been looking forward to this. They will be back Monday, no doubt smiling.

Meanwhile, I think and hope that Hurricane Earl skipped over my house in Virginia Beach, VA. I don't know how bad North Carolina got it, but apparently it calmed down a bit as it swept north up the coast line. A very good thing.

I will leave you with a photo of Kathryn and her hamster collection as I bid you goodnight, and go off to bed to try again to sleep, perchance to dream.

Touring Montana

Currently I am in Missoula, Montana at my daughter's home. My son-in-law wanted to take me to this quilt shop with a taxidermy shop in it. It was a nice drive with beautiful scenery and a river ran through it. (Hee hee). Well, when we arrived we found that there was no longer a taxidermy shop there. I really just wanted to find a good subject to blog about. The shop caters to those interested in western type fabrics and they also had a nice supply of batiks. I love the name of it: Blackfoot Trading Post. Definitely Indian country here. Lewis and Clark stopped here as well on their Journey of Discovery.


Now for your viewing pleasure I have included a video of my granddaughter Kathryn, formerly known as Plumpkin. Her father recently taped her at Glacier National Park giving a tour of park highlights. At age five, she is already developing a career path.  Enjoy!

Sorry about the sideways shot in the beginning. We seek further instruction. Also, in the beginning, Kathryn is saying that the little tree wants to get prettier. And in the end, she thinks that the "thingy" on the tree looks like a dragon's nose.

Williamsburg Medallion Revisited

Those of you who enjoy medallion quilts, as I do, will love seeing what Helen, from the UK, made using my Williamsburg Medallion pattern. She made some lovely changes from my original design.

Sue Watters sent me the photo. Sue taught the Williamsburg Medallion as a class in England, and has another class scheduled. Sue has a blog where she shows lots of her wonderful work, plus that of others. I know you will enjoy perusing her blog!

Also, if you go to THIS PAGE in my website, Patchalot Patterns, you can see  the many variations of this pattern that people have sent me. As you will see, my original design was simply a springboard to further creativity. Love it!

Family and Fabric

Here I sit at the home of my daughter in Missoula, Montana. The kids are watching kid's TV, which is so loud and obnoxious, it makes one wonder what it is doing to the impressionable young minds that will become the leaders of the future. In fact, it makes me wonder if the writers and producers of these programs have some sort of subversive master plan to destroy America through TV. All I can say is, "Stupid, stupid, stupid".

I have been gone from home for a week now and have covered a lot of ground. I flew to Salt Lake City and spent a few days with my son and wife and darling baby, Isaac. This little guy is a joy! I hated leaving him!

We had our family reunion last Saturday and I had a wonderful time seeing relatives that I have not seen for years, as well as cousins from the Salt Lake area that I always enjoy being around. My Ancestor Quilt was auctioned off for $650! I was thrilled! My cousins were bidding against each other, and sometimes against themselves. Connie and David Slaughter had the high bid. I guess I didn't need to worry that it might not be appreciated. Thanks family! 


Stopped at a few quilt shops, sold a few patterns, bought a little fabric. Now I am in Missoula, MT cutting scraps at my daughter's house for a new quilt project. Polly, my daughter, is downsizing and doesn't have room for her/my scraps any more. I forgot some of the cool stuff in her stash! So I am stocking up on HSTs while I am here. Fabric and family--my kinda fun!


Thanks to all my Alberta cousins for reading my blog! I loved seeing you all!

Saddle Tramp

 Does anyone remember when I said in January that this is my lucky year? I based that on the fact that my birthday read the same frontwards and backwards: 01022010  Remember? Well, for me, this has been a truly lucky year. I have had quilts published in FOUR magazines this year! To help you remember, they are listed on my side bar. Notice the full length photo of this one as well. This one, above, is the latest and is coming out in McCall's Quick Quilts October-November issue. I named this one Saddle Tramp. You must click on the name to see how they shot it. I mean with the camera. I was hoping they would shoot it with a horse or saddle or fence or something like that. And they did! Yay!! I am very happy!

Please take note of the way this quilt is quilted. My friend, Rose Skinner quilted it using the Baptist Fan. I wanted it done that way to give it the look and simplicity of a well used utility quilt. Like something from the bunkhouse. Great job Rose!

I hope you will all go out and buy this magazine. I want their sales to jump every time I am in a McCall's magazine. Maybe that way they will keep me on!

Bad blogger returns, momentarily

I have been a bad blogger. I have not been writing, nor have I been visiting. To my defense, I have had lots of company, and between that I have had other uninteresting things to do. And I have managed to do some sewing as well. So, let's get on with the sewing!

 

I have been making lots and lots of red stars and brown pinwheels, I got a hold of an FQ pack of Judie Rothermel's Twelve Oaks. Mmmmm, I fell in love. It has the most wonderful brown prints! It had a couple nice reds as well, but not enough for me, so I turned to my stash and pulled red fabrics like crazy. I have a lot of red! But of course we get choosy when we make a quilt and only want certain fabrics. So the hundreds of other reds are patiently waiting their turn. The quilt, it turns out, will be decidedly dark. I am not going to show it yet because you might hate it. As I sewed I tried to figure a name for the beast and nothing suited it. UNTIL..... I thought Rawhide! Remember that old song, "Rawhide"? The whip snapping and the cowboys shouting! Sigh. It is perfect! Of course the next song that popped into my head was "Ghostriders in the Sky", but I doubt that will inspire me to make a quilt. I just know that there are some of you out there who don't have a clue what these songs are. We had our own kind of funky music in the 50's!

 

 Here is another quilt that I started so long ago that I don't even want to talk about it. I have had a love-hate relationship with this one. I showed pieces of it on this blog in the past, and it has grown since then, but when I placed it on my bed I decided that I really LOVE it and it needs to be much bigger so I can use it on a queen size bed. It truly is a chore making that many geese and square in square blocks, but the end result will be really nice. It's totally scrappy and the soft tan squares that run through it give it a nice warm glow. I promised myself I would finish it before Christmas, but I am afraid another New Year will come and go before it is done. You know I am only human! And I am a one woman act. So it will happen when it happens. And now I am venting about myself!

 

I will try to post again next week...  Enjoy the remains of August!

 

My OCD

I have edited this post from its original form as I was trying to line up photos and that didn't go so well. I have been working on new pattern covers, and that has taken up some time. But they are coming along nicely. I have always loved this little log cabin design! Just a normal LC, but the border makes me happy. You may have noticed a trend with me and two ended borders. Don't ask, I have no answer. I just get a kick out of that.
I seem to have a touch of OCD when it comes to certain things. Quilting for sure, and then my second passion is family history, or genealogy. Like  sewing, I became involved in this at a young age and the interest has stayed with me. Since I was a child I began writing down names and dates and bits of stories. Over the years I have compiled quite a lot of family information. I have had the pleasure of interviewing people who were distantly related and ended up forming wonderful relationships. I think old people especially love to share family information and to know that someone cares. You reach an age where life spins around you and it is nice to know you still have something of value to share. I am not quite there yet, but I can see it approaching! (The old thing is chasing me down!)

Anyway, I have become reacquainted with my cousin, who became interested in family history, and she is driving down here from Buffalo, NY this week so that we can share family information. I am so excited. Thanks to the internet we re-united and have each been searching ancestry.com, etc. 

 Now to clean up my house so it is presentable for company. Too bad I am not a bit more OCD about that!

 

Dream Catcher

A nice surprise came in the mail today. McCall's Quilting magazine sent me their latest release. It is the September-October issue, and I have a quilt published in it. It is the quilt pictured above called Dream Catcher. Anyone remember when I was working on that one? See it here.

This quilt was so much fun to make because you can really have fun combining scraps. I love a quilt where I can use both old and current fabrics. Scrapdillyitious!
This one was quilted by my good friend in Arizona, Marae Harris, with lovely feathers running down the strips. 

It is such an honor for me to be in this lovely magazine with so many designers that I admire, including Pat Wys whose blog I read! Cool! Watch your mailbox or retail stores for this magazine. It will put a smile on your face!

The Season of Fun

These two cute girls have been with us for the past couple weeks, my granddaughter, Danielle, and her friend Mabry. It has been rather busy around here. Along with the girls, my son and his wife were here and also my dad. We had a great time together. Fun at the beach, riding bikes, reading, and food from the grill. After a week all the adults went home.

And then we took the girls to New York City for the weekend. Pictures of them are on my family blog, but this one is about ME! So we were walking down Broadway in the Fashion District and I had to have my picture taken with this guy at the sewing machine.

We took the girls to Soho shopping. There are some really great shops there for teens, young adults, and for those who need to be trendy (not me). The shop I loved the most was All Saints Clothing, and it was not because of the cloths. I loved the decor.

All Saints Clothing had walls of old Singer sewing machines! 

And huge spools!

I just basked in the environment that I love. And you know it is not trendy clothes!

A New Twist

Call this a new twist, if you will, on the ever popular "klosjes" that are spooling around blogland. I have had pinwheels on the brain and they seem compatible, don't you think? 

Also, newly hung on my wall is my ancestor quilt that I showed previously here  and here. I got it back from Rosie, my quilter, and it looks terrific. You really cannot see her efforts in the photo, as she straight-line stitched around each block, and then added feathers in the squares and borders. It all complements my quilt beautifully. I love this little quilt for many reasons. The simplicity of the blocks, the family names and the sentimental stitching around the border. It all makes me happy!

P.S. The Ancestor Quilt was designed by Leslie Ison and Norma Whaley of Salt Lake City, Utah. I bought the pattern at The Corn Wagon quilt shop, 801- 491-3551.

Happy Birthday America!

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

by Lee Greenwood 

 
I get chills when I hear this, or any other patriotic song! Back in the 1950's, when Ike was president, we were raised to be proud of our flag and our country and our history and we pledged our devotion to the flag, right along with our devotion to God and family. This day, July 4th, seems to bring that all back to me as we all join together and celebrate and wave our flags and feel thankful for the things that unite us. Happy Birthday America!

 I love to bring out the red, white and blue quilts this time of year. The colors always please me. I am happy to report that the quilt on the left, Homeport, will be shown in the American Quilter Magazine that is coming out this month. It is a pattern that I designed a few years ago and my friend, Kim McWherten, was asked by the magazine if they could publish the one that she made. I look forward to seeing the magazine and Kim's quilt!

This is another favorite that has adorned our deck each summer. Even in the summertime there are cool breezes and naps to be taken out in the fresh air, so we must have our quilts available.


Enjoy a wonderful weekend, whatever you are up to!

Love in Stitches

 

I adore samplers! Many years ago I did quite a bit of counted cross stitch. Recently I took it up again. I was hesitant because, let's face it, the old eyes aren't what they used to be. But the ladies at the cross stitch shop assured me that I could do it, and they showed me how. This time I am stitching on linen, which scared me, until they told me to count over two threads. Whew! So I decided to give it a try. Now I am focusing on samplers. The design above was a free design shown on Barb and Alma's blog. You may have to scroll way back to find it. They recommend that you stitch in the name of a loved one, and I thought that was a sweet idea, so this one has my grandmother's name and birth year on it.

 

 I showed this sampler in progress quite a while ago, and I finally finished it, and I love it! This one is in the Blackbird Design's book, You're Invited. I am feeling very proud of myself, and I haven't gone blind. Yet. I made this sampler in remembrance of my little baby, Mary, who died on the day she was born. The sampler gives the year, 1976, and a heart for love, as well as a butterfly, which is a symbol of eternal life, and "Forget Me Not". These items were all on the original design and all very appropriate. To me, this sampler is a reminder that she was here, though briefly.

I took my work to the cross stitch shop here in town called Dying to Stitch. They have a framing service and Patti did a beautiful job framing them for me! I am delighted! Browse around their website for a glimpse of some lovely samplers.

I know I promised my new wool pillow, etc., but that will have to wait until next time. I am way too excited to get my samplers back from the shop all framed up! I just had to share that today!