BOUND AND BEAUTIFUL

Both of my new quilt designs are bound and beautiful, (she humbly admits). The top photo shows the design I am calling Wintergreen. You would not believe how much I tweaked this design, over and over and over, and this is the final result! Thanks EQ6!!! I was going to call it Fiddlesticks, because I spent so much time fiddling with it, but then I saw a new pattern out with that name! The competition is brutal! The main fabrics for both these quilts comes from Judie Rothermel's Spirit of the Season II fabric line, by Marcus Brothers. This fabric is so rich and luscious! I will be teaching this class at What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff in November.

The applique design I named Cotillion. I made this twice. The first one I made by hand applique. I enjoy doing that, and will keep it on display at my house! The second time I used machine blanket stitch. I am teaching this one at A Different Touch, which happens to be the local Bernina dealer, so I figured I would promote machine work. My wonderful friend, Marae, in Arizona, machine quilted both these quilts for me. She did such a nice job. I don't know it you can tell, but she cross-hatched the background and did a nice big cable in the border. I requested an old fashioned look, and that is what she did!

I should have patterns ready for these by the middle of October--as fast as I can get them published! Wish me luck!

Just a note: For those of you who like to visit my Dad's blog, he has a couple of new entries.

WEIGHING IN

So that's my problem! I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years!

My friend sent me this recently--if only! Yes, I am back from my trip and ate way too much! You didn't hear me saying, "no thanks", though. My son came in one night at 10:00 with an ice cream and brownie concoction from Cold Stone Ice Cream. That had to cost me 5 pounds right there! So now it's time to stop eating and bite the bullet. Hmmm, I wonder if there are flavored bullets? Chocolate, for example.

I had a lovely time visiting family and two weeks went quickly. I did visit The Quilted Apple, a nice shop in Phoenix. The owner of the shop, Judith Vegso, is a real sweetheart. I picked up my two newest quilts from my quilter and took them to show her. She bought a dozen patterns, so I left happy! I will get photos up soon. The Quilted Apple has a wonderful supply of hand dyed wool. Of course I had to purchase some of that. They had several shades of every color, and in plaids and checks! So if you are in the Phoenix area and wonder where to go for wool, check out The Quilted Apple! More on that later. I just wanted to pop in and say hello. Now I really need to get the binding on a quilt I just got back so I can get photos!

SURROUNDED

I left home on September 11 to travel to Mesa, Arizona, where I am visiting family. The first leg of my trip took me to Atlanta, where I arranged to have a long layover so I could have lunch with my daughter who lives there. I have to admit to having a small bit of anxiety about flying on September 11. Of course there was no problem. I met my daughter in the atrium at the airport where they have a food court. We had a nice lunch at Atlanta Bread, lower corner in photo. While there we saw two different groups of servicemen and women paraded through the airport. We all stood and applauded them. They were on their way to Iraq. They looked rather embarrassed to be the center of attention. My heart was in my throat as we cheered them. They are so young. Here I am feeling anxiety about flying on 9-11 and they are on their way to face the enemy! Imagine the anxiety they are feeling! As you can see in the photo, they surrounded the atrium on the balcony. I wanted to blow kisses to them all, but alas, I restrained myself. Why embarrass them further? Instead I whispered prayers of gratitude and asked God's blessing on them all. What a day to be reminded that our freedom, that we take so much for granted, comes at a price.

OFF TO THE DESERT

I borrowed this photo from someone on line. It is in Virginia Beach, where I live. The birds are pelicans, if you didn't know. We see them often around here. One day my husband and I watched as they flew into the water and swooped up fish. So fun to watch nature being natural. Unless, like my friend Pat, you have elk in your garden! She lives in Washington State though, not here. If you want to see a picture of an elk laughing at her, go to her blog. She is doing some wonderful photography now, but she is the one who got me quilting and taught me everything I know. Or tried to! She is an amazing quilter and has been asked to speak and teach at the quilt guild in Bremerton next June. If you live around there you should go! Tell her I sent you.

Tomorrow, Sept. 11, I am going to Arizona for two weeks. I stop in Atlanta and have a three hour layover, so I am hoping to spend a little time with my daughter who lives there. Then on to Mesa, AZ to see my Dad and other family. My son lives there also. I know I will have stories to tell about my grandchildren there. My 11 year old granddaughter called me yesterday to ask a question. She said, "I got out your sewing machine to work on a few things." I can hear the machine going in the background, and asked if she had on headphones. "No, the phone is tucked under my chin" she says! I asked what she was working on and she said she was sewing all her dad's boxer shorts closed in the front. OK.

Aside from visiting my loved ones, I will be feasting on Mexican food every chance I get! Tia Rosa, I am coming!

STRING DOLL QUILTS

I had to jump on the band wagon with these little string doll quilts. Lucy's method is on my sidebar with her tutorial. I didn't realize quite how small hers really is. Mine is probably twice the size of Lucy's and Dawn's. Of course, now I want to make a smaller one! Love that cheddar!

Dawn made the two little quilts pictured below. I swiped her photo. I tried to find it on her blog and link to it, but I couldn't find her blog entry for it. She is off to Quilt Camp, so she will never find out. (Cause blogs are so private-Ha!) Dawn used cheddar in hers, as did Lucy. Suddenly my CW fabrics are starting to look a little blah. I am in trouble if that happens because that is all I ever buy. But just look at how that cheddar color perks up a quilt! When I first started quilting I only bought mauve and blue. I guess we do change, thankfully!

Addendum: Because I never found Dawn's post on this, I forgot that Lucy actually made the little 4-patch quilt and she and Dawn traded! Guess they were the original doll quilt traders!

I added a new tutorial to my sidebar list. Wendy did a really nice one on applique using starch. It is a great method! I have actually used it myself with great results. Check out her blog, Snippets of a Quilter!

If you have read about my family on my blog you remember that I mentioned that we are a nutty group. Not just one of us, but pretty much all of us. I was talking to my Dad the other day and he mentioned going out to eat with my aunt and uncle. He said they were talking about his funeral again. My Dad is never shy about bringing it up. He has made it very clear to all of us that he wants to be cremated and then have his ashes buried with my Mom. My aunt was questioning him about what would become of his ashes. She didn't know the plan. Her husband said that they put the ashes in trays. She was still puzzled by this, and my uncle said, "you've heard of ash trays?"

And with that, I will wrap it up for today!

WINTERGREEN, ETC.

The local quilt shop, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff , is having their Open House on Saturday to introduce new classes. They do this a couple times a year so people can come in and see what classes are being offered, talk to the teachers and ask questions, etc. I have a new design that I already sent off to the quilters, so I made up a sample version to display until I get the larger one back. Except for the green and white 4-patch blocks, the fabrics are from Judie Rothermel's Christmas line, Spirit of the Season II, by Marcus Brothers. At the suggestion of my good friend I am calling the quilt Wintergreen.
By the way, Tazzie has a photo of her newest class project on her blog. It is really darling. You should go take a look! She also used Judie Rothermel's fabric, but from a different fabric line. She used Charm Squares and gives big hints on how to make it.

I am going to cut this short and get some work done around the house today. I am not happy about it, but my maid hasn't shown up here since, well, ever. So here I am, quilt designer turned house cleaner. I read recently someones opinion that quilt teachers are nothing more than glorified housewives. I think it was supposed to be an insult, but really I wonder if that person thinks that housewives and homemakers should never do anything else? Why do people feel the need to denigrate housewives and mothers? I say YOU TRY AND DO IT! I always loved being a housewife and mother. I like to use the term "homemaker" because it sounds like it describes someone who creates a special place--home! But you can't hurt my feelings calling me a housewife. It's a good working description. Although of late I am more of a retired housewife! But I did my time with the kids and the canning and the cleaning, and the laughing and the loving and the laundry. Not always pleasant, sometimes annoying, but very rewarding, and I wouldn't trade it for the world! And guess what? I can do other stuff too!

TUTORIALS

Recently there have been some very nice tutorials on some of the quilt blogs that I visit. I started to bookmark them, and then it occurred to me that I could add links to some of them on my sidebar, and so, after asking permission from the author/blogger, I did add a few. Each one teaches a method or project that you may find helpful. These ladies have gone to a lot of trouble to photograph and detail each step in their tutorial. If you want to see the rest of their blog simply go to their address at the top of the screen and delete everything after .com, and hit enter. In the case of Tonya's blog, she has so many tutorials that she has a whole list of them on her sidebar, so I just linked her whole blog and you can go look at her sidebar for great stuff to try! I do think that is an excellent idea to put links on your blog to the tutorials that you have written. Sometimes we might miss them or want to find them again and that makes it easy. Just a thought.

I am constantly amazed at all the talent out there in blogland and so grateful that I found you all and can benefit from what you share. Really, there is way too much for any one person to keep up with, but I do what I can.

There are at least three blogs or websites that I still would like to put on my sidebar. Most everyone knows these sites. Be sure to check their sidebars also for other links.

1. Judy Laquidara's blog, with her wonderful creative designs that she offers in the form of free monthly stash busting patterns. Plus, she has a new book out!!!

2. Mary Johnson's blog will direct you to her website with her instructions for Heartstring Quilts for charity, and more!

3. Bonnie Hunter's website which is filled with tons of patterns and instructions for scrap quilts, plus lots of other information and inspiration. Bonnie is actually the original Quilt Goddess and the rest of us are mere mortals. If you haven't been to her site, prepare to be amazed!

I am sure I missed some tutorials, and will continue to add links as I find them. In the meantime, go to my sidebar and look for links to Tonya's blog, Tracey's blog, Judy's blog, Lucy's blog and Patti's blog. Good thing it's a long weekend!

Oh, I also added a link at Patchalot Patterns for two small projects. Enjoy!

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH THE GOLDEN RULE

Remember that first day back to school when you were a kid? My Mom always took a picture. Here we are all lined up waiting for the school bus. I am the one right in the middle. Look at all those cute little skirts and white socks and strapped shoes. We were required to wear skirts all the years that I went to school, through college! I remember that when the weather was cold I was able to wear leggings or corduroy pants under my skirt. I was supposed to take them off in the cloak room before school started. Often I left them on during school, and my teacher never said anything. My Mom always did though. She was always after me to behave like a lady. I must have been a real challenge for her.

School lunches were a quarter back then, but we always packed a lunch. We couldn't afford to buy lunch every day! We couldn't afford Wonder Bread either, and that was what they advertised on TV all the time. On those rare occasions when we got to have Wonder Bread it was so soft and squishy and it seemed to melt in our mouths. That was a real treat, and we loved it!

We had a brand new school to go to when I started first grade. I suppose that was to accommodate all the Baby Boomers that were just beginning to impact our country. (Now I believe we will see a huge increase in nursing homes and assisted living facilities rising up!) Our elementary school had it all! We had a beautiful auditorium, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, music, art, the works! We had wonderful teachers and received a good education. In short, we were very blessed. We were also taught by parents who grew up during the Depression, to be grateful for what we had.

Every classroom had an American Flag displayed in it. With our hand over our heart, we said the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. No one taught us about saying things that were "politically correct", but we were taught to be polite. We were taught to respect those who were different from us in race, religion or culture. We were taught that the Golden Rule was applicable in every situation. I believe that these principles will never grow old. Obviously there were problems in the world then, just as there are now. We may not be able to change the world, but each of us has a sphere of influence. As parents and grandparents we need to take this responsibility in hand and make sure to teach our children and grandchildren that kindness matters. The beginning of a new school year is a good time to reinforce this. There is nothing political about this. It is just good sense!

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! Pass it on...

EVOLUTION

Children of this young generation travel differently than those that preceded them. They are securely belted in. They wear head phones and a glazed over look, with mouth dropped open as they stare at the screen on the seat back in front of them.

When I was a child, we counted cows when traveling. We counted cars on a train as it passed. We counted licence plates from how many different states. We sang about bottles of beer on a wall. Logically, I should excel in math as a result of this. Unfortunately not.

When I was a child there were no seat belt laws. In fact, there were no seat belts! I remember my little brother's head shattering the windshield of the car once, after the slamming of brakes. My parents exclaimed, "Oh, you really have a hard head!" Now I see that it was their way of diffusing the situation. At the time though, I thought "I bet I coulda done that!" It was so cool! Yes, things have changed. Some things are better, some not so much. For example, cars back then had fenders actually made of steel, as compared to the styrofoam bumpers of today. We may not have been belted in, but we were in vehicles that were quite substantial, and I think offered more protection.

Ah well. Things change, that is life. Recently the little Plumpkin, above, was sitting at the computer tapping away. Her brother told her to get away from the computer. She replied, "I can't, I'm checking my email!" And so it begins: one granddaughter goes off to college and the youngest moves into her place at the computer. The evolution of life. Ya gotta love it!

TIME TO UNWIND

Thanks everybody for your nice comments on my applique design. It is always good to know that there are a few people out there who like what I am doing. Usually I spend so much time admiring what everyone else is doing that I have "failure to launch." (Did you see that movie? It was cute!) In other words, I don't get my own projects off the ground. Today I actually got the instructions written! Woohoo! I still need to perfect the illustrations, but it is coming along.

The photo here on the left is of my son and a quilt I made him a couple years ago. It is from Open A Can of Worms, by Debbie Caffrey. That might be my all time favorite book. I have made more quilts out of that book than any other. They are good basic scrap quilts. Great directions, etc.

The reason it came to mind is all the talk about orphan blocks made me think of the back of the quilt. I got a number of uglier than sin blocks in an exchange, and rather than make them into a quilt I used them on the back of the quilt. After I sewed them together with alternating plain squares I started to like them. Fabric is funny that way. You can't look at it too closely, you just have to look at what it does. Well, it was too late for those blocks to become anything but a quilt back. I was anxious to get the quilt done so I did not alter my plan. However, since that time I have had the urge to make those blocks again into a real quilt of its own. Some day maybe I will even do it!

I also got several comments on the books I recommended in my last entry. Wow, I never knew there were so many sicko grandmothers out there in the quilt world! Somehow I feel so much more at home amongst you. I was thinking it was only Kim. (Watch the comment box to see me get slapped upside the head!) Kim cracks me up, but she isn't a grandmother so she is still wound a little tight. Do I think grandmothers are wound less tight? Yes, I do. I think when your kids are gone you can take a deep breath, relax, and unwind. This is really not a reflection on Kim's son, or anyone else's. More a reflection on my own! Look at the young man in that picture. He looks so sweet and innocent, doesn't he? He almost single handedly took the whole family down. I am happy to report that he came to his senses just in time. Happily, that is all in the past, and I never want to wind up like that again. Matter of fact, maybe that is why my life proceeds at such a leisurely pace. Remember that song "Up a Lazy River"? Just the pace of that song says it all!

I started to recommend another book and got a bit side tracked. I just finished Jeffery Deaver's The Sleeping Doll. Another thriller with some great twists in the story. Sickos rejoice-there are always more crime novels than we could ever read!

CHRISTMAS APPLIQUE

Here is my latest project! Remember I mentioned scheduling a class when I had not made the quilt yet? Well, this is it. The center design is from a vintage quilt that caught my fancy, then I added a sawtooth border. I really loved the cheddar in the original and was excited to have the perfect color, thanks to Judie Rothermel's wonderful reproduction lines. The outer border is from Judie's latest Christmas line. There is no cheddar in the fabric, but it looks as though there is a hint and it brings the whole thing together. Next time you are in your LQS take a look at this fabric and see if you agree. This piece is hand appliqued. I kind of got hooked on that after the Home Sweet Home quilt. I am doing another by machine applique because the class I am teaching is at the Bernina shop, A Different Touch, here in town. By the way, the background isn't as white as it appears here. More the color of muslin.

I am still sewing in the DR because I am still without AC in my sewing room and office. I can sit here in the office for short periods of time, but sewing is another story. At this point my repairman is probably afraid to face me. He claims he went to California (3 weeks ago!) and forgot his cell phone. What are the chances?

Meanwhile, I finished a couple of good murder mysteries, An Unquiet Grave, and A Thousand Bones, written by two women who collaborate and write under the name P. J. Parrish. My husband enjoyed them also.

A NEW HOUSE

I have been a bad blogger. I can't keep up with the posting and the reading of other blogs. I want to, I just seem to be swamped. So if I haven't visited you for a while, it is not from lack of interest, it is lack of time. That and the heat. Our AC went out in this zone of the house, the zone where I sew and where my computer is. It is 100 degrees outside and about 90 degrees in here. I took my sewing machine upstairs to the dining room. We have coolness up there! I have been getting some sewing done, so I am pleased about that! OK, OK, pictures to come!


This is what a starter home looked like in 1950.
I posted this picture on my Dad's blog to go along with a story he was telling. It is a snapshot of our first house in a suburb of Buffalo, New York. I grew up in this house. NOBODY had air conditioning back then!

When I was 4 years old, back in 1950, my family moved from a one bedroom apartment to this newly constructed house in a newly constructed neighborhood. America was rebounding after WWII and my Dad got a GI loan to buy a new house. The house had two small bedrooms on the main floor, along with a bathroom, kitchen, and living room. There was a full basement with a washing machine. Mom hung all our clothes outside on a clothesline. The second floor was unfinished. My Dad finished the upstairs and made two big bedrooms with a small bathroom in the center. He had to raise the roof in the back of the house to do that. He also added a garage on the side, and a vestibule on the front. This was done over several years. My Mom always had ideas and my Dad fulfilled her every dream. She had him knock a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the living room so there was a big window pass-through. Then bar stools were added to the LR side. This really helped open up those two small rooms. See where the front door is in the photo? Mom had Dad knock a hole in the wall next to that door that went into the bedroom. That gave two entries into the room that became the dining room. Our little house changed dramatically over the years.

My Mom was quite a gardener. She and my Dad created a wonderful yard for us to play in. The picture is of my sister and me playing dolls. I was quite a tom boy, so this didn't happen too often. I would have rather been playing baseball in the street with the boys. I would like the photo better if we were sitting on a quilt, but I am pretty sure that it was an army blanket. Everyone had spare army blankets in those days. Sturdy wool things they were too.
That little willow tree started out as a branch from a tree in my grandmother's yard. It grew to be enormous. I went back there to visit a few years ago and one of our neighbors still lived in the house next door. He was cursing that tree for all the branches it lost in every rain storm. We loved it though, as kids. We could climb it and hide in the low hanging branches. Back in those days, when it was hot, people spent as much time outside as they could. Inside was not cooler. Dad put in a patio and got a grill and he cooked outside almost every night. (I wonder if he remembers it that way?) My Dad made the best hamburgers!

BRIGHT IDEAS

Have you ever scheduled a class to teach and you haven't made the quilt yet? Well that is what I did yesterday. I fiddled around with a new design last week and got all excited and went and scheduled it. I sure hope it looks as good in fabric as it does in my mind. Luckily my mind is assisted greatly by EQ6. I never was one to color in squares on graph paper, so EQ saves my life. While I was dreaming up projects, I went back into my EQ5 program to see what wonderful things I had left behind. I spent most of Monday clicking and clacking at the computer, changing the design a little here and then a little there. I made some blocks and then went back to the drawing board. I have an overall idea of what I am doing, I just keep fiddling to get it where I want it. Yesterday I went to buy fabric for these two projects. They are both going to use Judie Rothermel's new Christmas fabric. At least that will be the base, with a bunch of stash thrown in. I have a difficult time buying all my fabric for a quilt in one stop. I really am a stash quilter at heart. I can audition fabric all day to find the right look, but I go into a shop and am overwhelmed with the bigness of the bolts. I buy a little of this and a little of that, then take it home and throw it in the stash and it might be years before it comes out in just the right place. At the same time, some of the purchases never do surface and find their perfect place. I know, I should be doing string quilts, etc. And really, I want to. But I might need one of those pieces in the future when that color or texture can't be found anywhere but in the bottom of the box.

My daughter was here last week and we ran around and hit a few quilt shops. She likes the really cute brights with boats and bugs and bumblebees. There is a shop a few blocks from where I live that is strictly brights. It is a great little shop, if you are into the bright fabric. She is, I am not. The shop that I frequent the most specializes in CW repros and folk art and is on the other side of town. Figures, doesn't it?
This photo is my daughter and a quilt she made with my help a couple years ago. I was totally lost working in these wild colors, but in the end, it turned out really cute. Isn't funny how awkward we feel when we are out of our element? She left me with another wild one to finish up and get quilted for her. My kids still think that my life revolves around them. OK, OK it does. I just really need my own time and space on occasion. I intend to spend the rest of the day in my sewing room working on my own new ideas. Here's hoping...

For those of you who are interested in my Dad's stories, he posted a couple more. Click on his blog on the side bar. He thinks it is funny that anyone is interested. Leave a comment, or just say hi. He enjoys that.

MY HAPPY PLACE

Remember those 9-patches I was making a while back? Well they finally turned into something! Look, a quilt top! I have been planning to make this quilt for the longest time. I saw it in a Quilt It magazine that featured Nine-Patch Favorites. There is no date on the magazine, but I found an ad in it for a 2003 quilt show. So there you go--it takes me a while to do things! I am very pleased to finally have this UFO done to the point where it can be quilted. There are actually several other 9-patch quilts in that book that I would love to make. But not quite yet. I have patterns to create and instructions to write that I have put off for far too long. One thing at a time...at least I am seeing some progress.

I happened to see My Happy Place quilt while cruising through photos the other day, so I popped it onto my sidebar. I thought it would brighten up the place. It is a pattern I designed about a year ago that incorporated a few orphan blocks that I had. Finn has everyone all psyched on orphan block quilts, and it is so much fun to see what people are creating. You have probably seen her new blog, http://orphantrainsfromfinn.blogspot.com/ but if you haven't been there, you need to check it out. Fun stuff!

Last week I mentioned that my Dad was coming to visit, but that is not going to happen now. He became ill a week ago and went into the hospital in Minnesota and ended up with three stints going into his heart. He feels much better now. They have him on oxygen, and he decided that it was too much of a pain to try and come here and have to transfer planes, etc. I agree, especially in light of the problems that can develop while trying to catch a plane, etc. It seems like everyone is having trouble with the airlines these days. So hopefully he will be able to come here in the fall. I am just glad he is feeling better! In the meantime, my daughter, who lives in Atlanta, is coming for a week! She arrives tomorrow, and I am excited about that. I know she hopes to make a baby quilt for her friend while she is here. Lets see what we come up with! For now, I am headed to bed to read for a while. I am half way through Harvesting the Heart, by Jody Picault. She writes good stuff!

BASKET CASE

You may have noticed that I changed my blog layout and photo. It still isn't exactly what I would like, but the new format is so much easier to manipulate that I have to fight the temptation to go in and play around. I want to put a quilt background and header on it. It is too far advanced for me at this point. If you happened to stop by last night while I was messing around, you may have noticed that my dad's picture showed up in my profile shot. That was weird. I was attempting to set up another blog for him to use for drafting, since he sometimes gets behind the wheel and loses everything he has written. Google asked if I had an account and I answered "yes". So then our two blogs became intermingled. Apparently I need to answer NO and start from scratch. Yes, I am a basket case--but I keep trying! Anyway folks, it is still me! Have a great weekend!

PILLOWS AND PROJECTILES

My little group of three decided to make this cute little wool pillow. It is from the Blackbird Design's book, Birds of a Feather, and they call it Berry Hill Pillow. We all like to have something to do with our hands in the evening. When I finished that, I went looking for another project and came up with this embroidery project. It is also BB Designs, from their new book, Simply Vintage. It is a pattern for rug hooking, but I adapted it into a stitchery project. I love those hooked rugs, but haven't tried that yet. I am afraid of getting into yet another thing I will love to do and then have to spend lots of money to do. So for now, floss is cheap, and I have lots of fabric I need to use, so I will stick with quilts. Yeah, I am doing a little wool applique also, but so far I haven't gotten into the deep end with that.

I thought I might give a word of warning to anyone out there that is thinking about getting their child or grandchild a water balloon launcher. It sounds like such innocent fun, doesn't it? Well, on the 4th of July my daughter-in-law took the kids to a celebration at the church and got hit in the face with a water balloon that was launched from across the parking lot. She thought, at first, that her nose was broken. Luckily, that was not the case. However, her face puffed up and she got two big black eyes. She was hurting! We were so worried about her because she has had eye surgery a couple of times to correct other problems. Fortunately, her doctor said her eyes look fine (after a 2 hour exam). She is a good sport about it all, and recognizes that it was an accident. Really though, do water balloons need to become weapons?

AN ORPHAN FOR CHRISTMAS

Sounds like Little Orphan Annie, doesn't it? Actually, as you can see, I put a little pieced border around my Christmas orphans that I showed in an earlier post. (Enough with the Christmas orphans already).

These little blocks all paired up so cute together. Isn't it amazing what you can do with stuff that has just been kicking around for ages. Finn mentioned a couple of quilts that the ladies at Country Threads did several years ago. They were fabulous. They had lots of orphan blocks and created full size beauties. I have been looking for my book, but it is buried somewhere.

If you haven't been to Finn's Orphan Train Blog, you must check it out. She was kind enough to feature a couple of my quilts in her recent post. Go see what other bloggers, including Finn, have come up with. As for me, I gonna keep digging---I know I have more orphan blocks that need a home.

PATRIOTIC MONTH

July is really Patriotic Month, isn't it? So I just thought I would post this funny photo of my dad. It is an old and damaged photo, but still worth keeping. This was in about 1944 and my dad was a Navy pilot, and goofing around as usual. He may not have been instrumental in winning the war, but you could count on him for keeping up the morale of the troops. My dad really hasn't changed a bit. Oh he is older, but he still behaves the same way. Where ever my dad is, there is a party going on, and he is the entertainment! Everyone loves my dad, including me!

Aside from his sense of humor and his ability to entertain, he also is the man to turn to if you are looking for advice and need someone to talk to that has a common sense outlook. You wouldn't think the two qualities would go hand in hand, but in my dad they do.

My dad is full of stories and jokes. He likes to make people laugh, and he is the biggest softy in the world. He tears up over sweet stories, and fond farewells. In fact, if he is reading this now he has probably got tears running down his face.

Dad moved to Arizona last fall and at 84 he has adjusted amazingly well. This summer he is visiting in Minnesota for a few weeks, then he will be coming to stay here for a couple weeks. While he is here I will not be at the computer as much as I am now. I know he will be using it to e-mail old friends and write on his blog. He loves to write about the experiences he has had in his lifetime and so I convinced him that a blog was the perfect place to share those things with his family and friends. He writes his story and then I try to find a picture to post with it.
This second photo was taken last Christmas. I am sure you recognize my granddaughter by now, also in the picture. That was her Christmas morning outfit. Kids are nuts. Oh well, enough jabbering. I just wanted to share that cute picture of my dear dad!



***Addendum: If you want to visit my dad's blog he is at http://theazpenguin.blogspot.com

COWBOY QUILT

Finally I can say I have taken charge of a project and completed it! Well, I still need to get it quilted, but my work is done! I keep saying I should learn how to machine quilt, but my hands are full with the piecing, and frankly, I would rather pay someone to do it. Only problem is that my quilter friend has taken the summer off! Hopefully I can get in line for when she gets going again.
This is a baby quilt for my niece's new baby boy that she, in fact, named after my husband! I'd say that deserves a quilt, wouldn't you? The funny thing is, he even looks kind of like my husband. That Swedish blood runs strong, judging from the looks of many family members.
The baby room is being decorated in a cowboy theme, so I went on line looking for cowboy fabric. Oh my goodness! There is a shop in Montana that has all the cowboy fabric one could ever desire! I has so many choices. I ended up buying a yard and a half of two different fabrics. Both darling! The rest of the fabrics I could pull from my stash-which is what it is for, after all! The blocks are 5" finished, and the quilt measures about 37" x 43".



Take a look at how cute this fabric is!
I decided to create a back for the quilt where I could use up every little piece of the fabric that was left.
Well, I feel good having completed that, and now I can move onto some of my other projects that lie incompleted or in progress around the house.

FAMILY 4TH AND FUN QUILTS

My husband asked me yesterday, "Wouldn't you like to adopt a little girl?" He misses having children around. He forgets how crazy they make him sometimes. He only remembers the good times and the joy and happiness that children bring. That's nice, isn't it? We live so far from our grandchildren. But no, I don't want to adopt. Now I just like to visit!

When we lived in Minnesota we lived on a lake and everyone has wonderful memories of the lake and all the fun they had. The 4th of July was always a big event, with all our family coming. Lots of food, and fun. Just being together and relaxing and watching the kids play. When the kids were little I always dressed them up in red white and blue outfits for the 4th. We always had Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Bars, the kind with chocolate on top. One year my sister-in-law formed the mixture into a huge map of the U.S. and stuck little American flags into the places where family lived all over the country. It was really neat! (I have a pictures somewhere!) What I really need is a hologram of kids splashing and jumping off the dock. Somebody needs to invent that!

These pictures are both of my oldest granddaughter and fun quilts we did together a couple years ago. She is the one who just graduated and is going off to college next fall. The first picture shows a long quilt that she wanted for a certain location in her room. If you can believe it, these were all 5 inch orphan blocks, including the chain blocks from a discontinued project.

The second quilt is also orphan blocks. I never actually finished this one. Maybe this one needs to resurface and get quilted. Kind of fun, don't you think?