Blooming Again

I did manage to finish one small thing this weekend...I quilted and bound Bloom #2. I wanted the quilting to look like wallpaper in the background. It's not bad. Beyond that I've been so sick...I'll spare you the gross details. I'm heading back under the covers. Maybe a good sleep and some tea will do the trick.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my redwork quilt. I haven't chosen a name yet, it's too hard to concentrate feeling like this. I'll be back with the winner when I feel better.

One thing that can't wait is the the list of blocks that have arrived this week for Project Improv. Here they are:
Anina - 2 blocks
Mary Smith - 2 blocks
Angela H - 1 block
Ronit - 3 blocks...thanks so much for the backing fabric...and the coasters...they're so perfect in my family room!
Sherri - 1 block
Becca - 3 blocks - Becca sent money for postage...how thoughtful is that. I so appreciate your offer to help...more on that later.
Amber - 2 blocks
Lynn - 1 block
Cheryl G - 2 blocks
Tia - 1 block
Tess - 1 block
Penny - 2 blocks and a chocolate fix. thanks!
Gail - 3 blocks and that cat fabric...what can I say...I love it!
Janis - 1 block
Emily - 2 blocks and a lovely journal with a cool cover!
Chen - 4 blocks and a bunch of goodies. I think I've used half of the notepad already. Thanks so much Chen!
Linda S - 3 blocks

Quilt tops will appear this week. I'm excited to show you. Thank you for all your kindness. We have 196 participants. I'm overwhelmed and thrilled! Thanks for taking this journey with me.

A Cheesy Valentine Poem

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Where ever you may be, I hope love is a part of your day. My present to you...a card from my blog friend, Penny (I'm not sharing the chocolate she sent)...and a poem that my boys wrote 8 years ago when they were ages 9 and 11.
cheesy and sentimental...my favorite kind of valentine. It's framed and hanging on the wall of my studio. Enjoy!

'this is to our parents who love us dearly,
who give us what we need and treat us fairly,
we want you to know we love you too,
so this is a poem from us to you.

we're going into our preteen years,
and starting to think of a lifetime career.
we know you will help us choose a good one
that's exciting, entertaining and a lot of fun!

sometimes we get into a lot of trouble,
you give us consequences...like cleaning up rubble.
sooner or later we're back to being friends,
giving each other a helping hand.

this is our valentine's present to you,
we wanted to get you jewelry,
but this was the best we could do,
we're small on time and low on cash.
this came from the heart,
we think you're a smash.'

ben and jon
2001


ps
i think you're pretty smashing too!
love,
mom

A Gift

Things are not what Christmas is all about, but gifts are. On Christmas Eve my 19 year old son told me he had a gift he wanted to give me that night. He proudly handed me one sheet of paper. On that paper was the receipt for the current payment on his credit card bill. He quietly said, "Look at the balance, Mom." Zero. Debt free.

Some of you may remember when we first found out about the financial mess he had created for himself. It was tough for us to know what to do, tougher for him to have to do it. Though we could support him, he had to do it on his own. He did. He gave me a gift, but gave himself the gifts of responsibility, accountability, hard work, persistence, delayed gratification and integrity. That's quite a pile of gifts for a young man. He has much more to learn, but he's well on his way.

He asked me not to bug him about money for a year.
Note to Ben: I'm a mother...this is an impossible request. You are starting to save, right?

Another gift...sunset from the porch of our country place.

Making Christmas Last

Christmas was magical here. Family gathered, good food, warm house, twinkling lights and a visit from Santa. We simply spent time together with our friends and family and enjoyed each other.

The magic of Christmas touched me from afar as well. I was touched by the wishes from many of you and special gifts from new friends.

Beth, of Modern Jax sent me a rotating light for my silver 50’s pom tree. She had an extra and sent it to me when she read I didn’t have one. We have enjoyed our tree so much more this year. Thank you, Beth. Your generosity brought us much joy and we will think of you each year when we set up this special tree.

Michele, of Calico Daisy sent me the most beautiful pieces of redwork embroidery simply because I said I liked them. I’m almost done with the project where I’m using them. They (and Michele) deserve a post of their own. This week you’ll see them and learn more about Michele and the collaboration that she offers for all us quilters.

Terri of Purple and Paisley emailed me one day letting me know that my blog was all out of wack…lots of weird spaces and pictures and text not in the right places. I’m a blog novice, so I didn’t have a clue. Isn’t it great when someone cares enough to let you know when things aren’t quite right. She did it so sweetly and offered to help me. With a few emails back and forth I was able to figure things out. (at least I think so). Thanks Terri. What a great gift you gave me.

I waited obediently to open my SSCS gift. It was worth the wait. My secret santa was Catherine, otherwise known as The Quilting Canuck. I had her blog on my reader and was merrily reading her blog not knowing that she was my partner. I received a gorgeous log cabin quilt. The picture simply doesn’t do it justice. The colors are spectacular! She also gave me a needle felting kit. I’ve wanted to learn, and now I can. And then there was chocolate, but not just any old chocolate…special for me from Canada. I’m savoring those little by little. Thanks so much Catherine. I’m glad we’re already connected through our blogs. I so appreciate the time you put into this quilt for me. It will hang in my studio where I can look at it every day.

I was given a Kreativ Blogger award by Lisa of Candlelite Quilter. Thanks Lisa. You give me a gift every time you come by to visit.

Emily from Em’s Scrapbag gave me The Spirit of Christmas Award. I was thrilled. I’m supposed to list five things I love about Christmas. I’m going to let the lyrics from one of my favorite Christmas songs say it for me.

Old City Bar by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra

“If you want to arrange it, this world you can change it.
If we could somehow… make this Christmas thing last.
By helping a neighbor, or even a stranger.
To know who needs help, you need only just ask.”

I’m not very good at the whole awards thing, but I would love to honor these ladies with the Spirit of Christmas award. These are the types of acts that will make Christmas last all year long, stay in our hearts and enter the hearts of others.

Beth of Modern Jax
Michele of Calico Daisy
Catherine of the Quilting Canuck
Lisa of Candlelite Quilter
Emily of Em’s Scrapbag
Terri of Purple and Paisley

Let's make this Christmas thing last.

Productive Mishaps

Friday night was a productive night and then the sewing genie stopping smiling on me. I had a tough weekend of sewing. I started on my colorwheel quilt on Friday night. I finished quilting it and I was so happy until I saw the center circle. The dense quilting there highlighted a problem I didn't notice earlier. The color wedges showed through the center circle in a VERY distracting way. I was going to live with it, but decided that I simply couldn't. I had to rip out all the quilting...take the whole thing apart to trim under the center circle. The center circle had to be remade, reappliqued...I have essentially made this quilt twice. I'm finished quilting again and have the binding left to do. I think I'll be glad I did it over. Pictures soon, I hope.

Then I started on the quilting and binding for these little Christmas quilts. In the middle of pressing I dumped my coffee and ruined all the binding(it was originally white with red polka dots). I did manage to finish them, though.












I turned this orphan block into a table topper. I thought it might turn out to be a pillow, but the last thing I need around here is another pillow. This will be fun on the kitchen table in the spring. Doesn't it say spring to you?

















I have some thank you's today. I won giveaways at Doris's blog, Threads of Conversation and Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life. Doris sent me that lovely stack of blue fabric. That's some fabric goodness! Thanks Doris! Sherri sent me this cute basket and two potholders. The potholders are in use in the kitchen (so much better than my nasty black ones) and I use the basket in my sewing room. Thanks Sherri, they are so great and I use them both every day! Lastly Lisa Boyer of Dorky Homemade quilts sent me this gorgeous Hawaiian fabric as a thank you. She won my little quilty neighborhood. Thanks Lisa, the fabric is fab!

A "fun alert" for all of you. Nanette, of Freda's Hive is celebrating her one year blogging anniversary. She's celebrating all week long. Be sure and check her out. She has the most gorgeous fabric collection and wonderful patterns to buy and her blog is such a happy, inspiration filled place. Head on over and say hi and congratulations.

Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day

Welcome! Merry Christmas and happy whatever holiday you celebrate. It's Christmas at my house so let's kick the season off with some giving.

Before I do the giveaway I want to say thanks to the over 50 quilters who responded to my call for help yesterday and no one, (a tribute to how nice you all are) said "what the heck were you thinking putting that layout together?" which was what I was saying to myself. What Regi said about all of us is so true, "I would almost guarantee that each of them would see something a bit different about the quilt and have a different favorite part or a different way to “fix” it."
I appreciate all of you who took the time out of your day to help. Michaela actually drew a plan, scanned it and sent it, Charlie sent a picture and is thinking about it at work today and I had loads of emails back and forth from several of you. Kinda shows how much we all love quilting.

I have tried many options and I'm still working on it, but now I have so many more ideas...many of your suggestions spurred other ideas of my own. I think I may have to put all your names on the label. So, for all of you I'm having our own little private giveaway. I put all your names in a hat and I'll draw a winner on Saturday for something just for you. I would draw right now, but I have to make something!

And now to the real purpose of this post, Giveaway Day! I'm giving away a little Santa's village quilt. The winner will receive their choice of one of these 3 quilts. I hope to have them finished by Saturday, so that's when the giveaway will end. I'll post the winner at noon, central time.

Here's the deal. I love Christmas and I love to decorate. I've gotten the boxes out of the basement and I've started. Your task is to guess how many Christmas trees will I use to decorate my house. The trees have to be 3 dimensional and ornaments don't count. Everything else is fair game. If more than one person guesses the correct number, the first commenter with the correct guess will win their choice. (Who knows, maybe we could have a few more winners, maybe some fabric? So, guess away! Have fun!
EDITED TO ADD: A few have emailed and asked do they have to be live trees...nope...only 3 dimensional and international folks...of course you are welcome! I've put together some (actually 6) 1 yard fabric bundles(2 prints from the Kansas City Star history prints and a coordinating solid) to give away too, so don't give up! Let's keep having holiday fun!!!!

A Thanksgiving Story

I love the Thanksgiving holiday. For me it‘s about remembering and making transparent the blessings in our life, and it is a time for family. Finding all four of us under the same roof for any length of time is becoming more and more rare as the kids get older and develop lives of their own outside the family. We had a lovely day and wonderful dinner with 15 of us around the table.

My story is one of love and devotion, of family, of going the extra mile, and of heart.

I finished the preparations for dinner about 11 and my sister-in-law called and asked if I still wanted to go for a walk around the property. I took off down the hill to my parent’s house to meet Cindi and her good friend Kim. Kim wanted a walking tour of the property, and I was happy to oblige. It was a beautiful day, sunny and unseasonably warm for this time of year.

We took off across the lower pasture and walked toward the far pond. The grass in the fields has that winter amber glow. Delicate, green, fern-like plants are hiding beneath the pasture grasses. We passed between the ponds and headed into the woods onto one of the many trails that we have cut through the deep woods for running and hiking. We wound our way through the woods along the stream that cuts through the property along sections of hand-built stacked limestone fence that marks the edge of my parent’s land. After about 30 minutes of hiking up, we emerged out of the woods to pasture land that we call “top of the world”. Top of the world is a section of open pasture, half brome grass and half native Kansas prairie grasses. It sits above the rest of the property and is ringed by woods. In a few minutes we walked to the highest point and surveyed the land and the surroundings. From top of the world you can see my parent’s house, the barn, and our house up on the opposite hill. It’s a beautiful vista. We continued our walk to the other side of the top of the world pasture and about a ¼ mile away I turned to look and I thought a saw a deer back on the crest. It was definitely an animal, brown. I assumed it was a deer. I walked closer to get a better view and past the woods that partially obstructed my view. Together we figured out that it wasn’t a deer, but a dog. We could clearly see the wagging tail. The 3 of us were walking with my mom’s lab, Rusty. I said, let’s get going so Rusty won’t follow that dog. I assumed it was a stray wandering the property. So we took off back into the woods, down the old, blackberry patch road to the other side of the property. We walked for a few minutes and Kim turned around and said, “what’s that?” She heard something crunching the leaves behind her. And there, right behind her, was the dog we had seen earlier.

It wasn’t a stray at all. It was my lab, Fudge. We were all shocked. You have to understand, Fudge is a 13 ½ year old lab. She has severe arthritis in her hips and she struggles with stairs and a walk around the block is a big day for her. Evidently, right after I took off down the hill, my hubby decided to go for a run. In her youth, Fudge ran with Steve for miles and miles. They were running partners for many years. If she wasn’t running with him, she was walking with me. These days when he takes off for a run he usually runs with her for about 100 feet or so and then she stops and watches him run. She knows her limitations. That morning, Steve did the same thing. He let her out and she ran with him for a bit and stopped. He assumed that she would go back to the house and wait for him to return. He was wrong.

Fudge had other ideas. She had seen me take off from the house for my walk and knew Steve was gone running and she was bound and determined not to be left behind. I don’t know what route she took or how she got to us, but she got there and considering she left some time after we did and caught up with us she didn’t dawdle. She put her nose to the ground and sniffed and located me on the 110 acre property. She approached us with her tail wagging and her head held high. She was where she belonged.

We were on the farthest point of the property away from the house and there was no short way, or for that matter, easy way home. She had no choice but to do the rest of the walk with us in order to get home. At that point I didn’t know if she would make it. I thought for a moment that this would be the way she would want to go. It was a fleeting thought. I really didn’t want to go there.

She plugged along like a trooper, through the woods, up and down ravines, over fields and back home. Her back legs gave out a couple of times and she stumbled, but she never stopped, she never gave up. She even led the way, tail wagging above the tall grass, each of us, cheering her on at the difficult points of the route.

We reached my parent's house and she made a beeline for Rusty’s water bowl, drank a few sips, then found his bed and gingerly and stiffly lay down. I called Steve and asked him to come down with the car so she didn’t have to hike up the 1/8 of a mile hill that is our driveway. He came and we lifted her into the back of the car for the ride up. She was relieved, but a bit insulted at the same time.

She spent the remainder of the day cuddled on her bed strategically located between the living room and kitchen so that she could keep an eye on the festivities. She received lots of attention throughout the day and evening as cousins and aunts and uncles sat by her bed stroking her ears and rubbing her tummy, marveling at the physical feat she had accomplished that morning.

Fudge is a member of our family. She lives to be with us. She had the desire, the need, and the heart to do what she did that morning despite her physical limitations.

She’s still hurting today. She had trouble getting up and down the steps to get outside this morning. She’s limping on one of her front legs. We are doing what we can to make her comfortable. Scooby snacks seem to help. I slept on the couch last night so she wouldn’t have to make the climb up to the bedroom. I’m sure it will take her a long time to recover. I have a feeling if you asked her, she’d say it was all worth it. My baby has heart and loves her family. We love her too.

Bring It On

Placecards are done. 15 for Thanksgiving dinner.


















Pfefferneusse are baked.





















The house smells like Thanksgiving.
Oldest son arrived a few minutes ago.
The band is trickling in...practice tonight...the house will be rocking.
Youngest son and hubby arrive later tonight.
It's beautiful in the country.

Handwork Ahead

Mom, STOP reading NOW. Turn off the computer if you want to be SURPRISED. You know you do!

The colorwheel quilt is progressing thanks to so many wonderful suggestions of how to proceed. Look at that nice smooth outside edge. Jackie and a couple of others suggested the method of sewing on fusible interfacing, turning it and there you go...a lovely edge to hand applique. The center circle is done with Cheryl's tutorial on her blog Naptime Quilter. It's not perfect but that's not due to Cheryl's method. I didn't have a compass so I traced the bottom of a vase, so my freezer paper circle wasn't perfect, but the method worked great. I'm so excited to quilt this one. It's bigger than I wanted, so it will be harder to find a place for it in my tiny studio...but it will find a place.
















Next, I forced myself (despite my painful neck and shoulders) to quilt and bind this table runner. I've been working on it for awhile. My mom's birthday is next week and it's for her, so I had to get it done. I still have the binding to hand stitch, but I can handle that in the next couple of days. She wanted a 20 x 20 square for the top of her round dining table and she wanted my houses. So here it is. I love that you can sit anywhere at the table and enjoy the houses right side up!

































And look what arrived (after an unintended stop at the neighbors)! This is a little quilt from Kris of Quilted Simple. I won this in her bloggy birthday celebration. It's taken its place on a hanger on my windows in the hall. Kris and I first got to know each other when she signed up for a pay it forward on my blog. She is a farm mom, cook, crafter, quilter, chicken raiser, and a million other things. If you think I get a lot done in a day, you should check her out! Thanks Kris!
















This little quilt is just one small example of the joy I get from having this blog and from having all of you visit and leave comments. With Thanksgiving around the corner I want to take a minute to say I'm thankful that I started blogging and that all of you have chosen to join me on my blog journey. I hope I have given you just a smidgen of the support and happiness you have given me. Thank you.

Edited to add: It would be so nice to respond to you, many of my new visitors have "no reply" comments. You might want to check and see if you are one of those folks.

I'm off to get a little more Bengay, some good drugs and pack for a trip to Chicago this weekend to see the hubby. Later!

Playing with Plates

I started a little experiment with some dresden plates. I started with this one. I've always wanted a color wheel for my studio, so what a better way to do it than in fabric. It was going so swimmingly until I sewed the last piece. This baby didn't want to lay flat...not even close. So, with Wanda's help I resewed a few of the seams taking a little bit off on each one. It finally was flat after a bunch of tweaking. These are a lot harder than they look.
















The dresden plate practice had a purpose. I had a quilt idea in my head using these little plates. So, I though maybe the second time would be the charm. So I made this little pink one. Nope, same problem. It wasn't flat either. More tweaking. I've got a third one cut out. What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm going to keep trying. I do love how they look.

I would like to applique the color wheel onto some white fabric, but with the trouble I had making that little circle for the center, I'm not sure I'm up to it. Any suggestions from the applique wizards out there. What would be the best way to tackle that so it actually looks like a circle?


















Last week I won a giveaway at Katie's blog, Sew Katie Sew. This is what arrived yesterday. She sent some great fabric, some vintage too, and look at those buttons, how cool are those? Thanks Katie. Can you see some of your fabric in the next picture?














I finished these for my mom's birthday. I'm posting about it cause she saw them yesterday. Way too much peeking going on around here. I'm torn...work of art or potholder? I'm really leaning towards the work of art. One might have to be because it only has one layer of batting...oops! I wouldn't let her take them home yesterday until I got a picture. And how about those grommets...they're my first ones. Not too hard and love the look.

In the Spirit

It was a good week. I feel refreshed and reinspired to sew.
I started with a few caps for Soulemama's new project Mama to Mama - Connecting families through the handmade. I love projects like this. Here are the caps I made. I wish I would have had some cuter t-shirts to use. I might drop by my local thrift and see if I can find some pretty stripes or printed children's shirts to use.
I finished my block for my Sew Connected group. This is Buffy's block. You can see all the blocks being made here.
















I've been a busy Christmas elf too. My gifts for my partner in Chookyblue's SSCS are completed, wrapped and on their way to my partner. My happy little elf lips are sealed. It's a secret, you know. Since I can't show you those gifts, here's a bit of early Christmas cheer, a finished Santa's workshop quilt and a couple of Annalee dolls that I picked up at my fav vintage store this weekend.















Let's stay with the Christmas theme...finished several packs of cards. Used one of these packs as a hostess gift on Saturday. They are a wonderful project to use up those scraps of vintage sheets.
















Lastly, it's been an exciting week for Tallgrass Prairie Studio. My Steely log cabin quilt was featured on Craftzine and my Music is Life mini quilts displayed on the vintage windows were featured on Craftgossip. I'm a happy camper.

He's An Amazing Man...

...and he's my dad. He recently found out about my blog and the first comment I received from him is that I've never written about him. He's right. So dad, this one is for you.

My dad is a man of deeds. He would do anything for me, but he expects much of me too. My dad builds things. Woodworking is his hobby and he's good at it. For my dad, building things didn't start as a hobby, but as a way of life. My dad grew up in a time where you made what you needed. He lives "do it yourself." I learned how to hammer, nail, drill, drywall, etc. etc. from my dad. He's proud that I never hire anyone to do what I can do myself.

His creations are in the homes of every family member and in many of the homes in his small town as well as in the church. If you can describe it, he can build it. He will build it his own way, but it will be beautiful. (Does this sound a bit like the owner of this blog?) We are much alike, he and I.

A few weeks ago he showed me a picture of a quilt rack in one of his woodworking magazines. He asked me if I might like something like that. We had a short conversation and I shared with him that I was considering taking my quilts to craft shows and displaying many quilts in a small space is a challenge. We discussed how this might be adapted, how wide it should be, that it needed to fold flat and display as many quilts as possible. A few days later for my birthday this is what I received. (actually he made TWO of them.) As you can see it works beautifully for displaying quilts at home too. Isn't it fabulous?





















This is what I've been working on...I've had these euro shams on the bed for months now with no covers on them. Long enough. I don't know if these are too much. I'm trying to decide if I like them. If so, I'll quilt them and make them into shams. Maybe they could be a quilt. A couple more blocks and I'd be done. These honey's are huge! 28 inches square...now that's a BIG log cabin block.





















Lastly, I've won a couple of giveaways. The first was Kajsa's at her blog Syko. I won this cute little house (can you tell she's my inspiration for all the little house things I've been making), and she sent me some more of her fabulous cards. I have a total of 5 now, so I framed them. If you haven't visited her, you really should. Her work is so happy and whimsical. I'm buying more of her cards from her etsy store for Christmas presents. She sent me candy and Marimekko napkins too. It was so sweet of her.
I won a bag at Stephanie's blog. You'll have to wait to see that...(imagine a non blurry picture here). I'm using it as a workout bag. It goes to the gym with me every day. It's amazing what a great bag will do for your attitude and your motivation. Thanks Stephanie! Drop in to Stephanie's to see her newest totally cute creation. You're gonna LOVE it.

Virtual Quilting Bee(s)

It's virtual quilting bee time again. These are my blocks for Carissa. It's her month in the Common Threads virtual quilting bee. Carissa is making a quilt for her car and she sent some wonderful fabrics. I added the green Flea Market Fancy. The first block was inspired by the handwriting fabric. It reminded me so much of the little slates that I used to use in my classroom. So, 4 little slates with perfect handwriting practice for Carissa.






















The second block was inspired by the "car quilt" idea. Jenny made this really cool "road" (you can see her block here) and I was thinking road too. Mine is more 8 lane interstate highway with a "veer" or maybe it could be an exit ramp? I hope Carissa likes them. You can read about her inspiration here.






















I'm having so much fun with Common Threads that when John asked me to join another group, I really didn't hesitate. Thanks John! "Sew Connected" is another group of really talented folks. Rita is first and she has sent fabulous fabrics and darling embroidery. Several in the group have finished their first block. Check out the flickr group and prepare to be impressed. Rita, I'm working on your block now. Can't wait to show it to you.

Oh, and John...thanks so much for your idea about using pant/skirt hangers to hang mini quilts. Didn't get a picture yet, but they look so cute! Inspired idea.

Lastly, you all are the best. My Radio Flyer quilt is no longer lonely. I'm overwhelmed and touched by your support. Thank you.

Reflections

on a great birthday...

a sparkly clean house
flowers on the table
dinner with my family and my parents
talking politics and world affairs with my teens and hubby till late in the evening
good wishes from so many of you...thanks!

on the day...

september 11th is a bit different for me. in the whirlwind of the attacks on the world trade center and the horror unfolding on the television life went on, work, school, driving kids here and there. on the way home from picking up my son at school i came upon an accident on our gravel road about a mile from home. i was the first on the scene and it is a scene that is burned in my memory, a flipped over car, two girls laying on the road, a twisted neck, the labored breathing, the wheels of the car spinning, the quiet of a country road, the roaring of the helicopter as it landed nearby. the oldest died on the scene while i was holding her hand, the second died later that week, the third daughter walked away without a scratch. she was the only one in the car wearing a seatbelt. a family was devastated that day along with so many other families.

every time i buckle my seatbelt i think of that day. buckle up, buckle up your children. talk to the teens in your life, your own, and others. that seatbelt could save their life.

i know i take for granted the blessings in my life, but on days like today i try to remember how blessed i am to live in a country where the founding fathers crafted a system which established order and embraced change all at the same time. Brilliant!

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

How cool is that!

Welcome to My World

Kajsa, Sarah, and Lisa live in the polka dot house with all the windows. They are quilty house mavens and provide inspiration for the rest of us with their fabulous work. Lynn and Joanna live next door. Everyone needs applique experts and all around good eggs on their block. Ellen and her "snarky seam ripper" live in that little blue house. Who wouldn't want an girl with a fabulous eye and a quick wit as a neighbor? She would probably be a good drinking partner too. See that cheerful little yellow house bathed in sunshine? I think Amy, Nettie, AmandaJean, Nanette, Tine and Nicolette might like to live there. Those ladies always have a kind and encouraging word. Of course, we might have to build an addition on the back to house all their fabric and all of their quilts. Wanda lives in the house on the end with the double doors. She needs some room for all that fabric, all those projects and 50 plus years of quilting experience which she doesn't hesitate to share with the rest of us. And then there's those high rise loft apartments on the end. Kris, Em, Melissa, Victoria, Audrey, Janis, Rebekah, Stephanie, Madge, Dawn...there's room for everyone. Every apartment is equipped with a sewing machine, large cutting table and housekeeping. Oh, I think I forgot to add the local quilt shop...maybe it could be just around the corner.
Emily of Ravenhill probably said it best, "quilting is such an adventure..."

This is just my funny way of saying thank you for all of you wonderful folks who visit this little blog and provide the knowledge and encouragement that is helping me become better at what I love to do. Check out the comments from my last post, you can find the links to all these wonderful folks and even more that I haven't mentioned. I appreciate every one of you.

Oh, and Wendy, maybe you'd like to live here too? Would you be interested in personal training? I think we'd be able to pay you in fabric.

There are more houses under construction. Want to move in?

High Flying Weekend

When five F 16s swoop directly over your house it makes your teeth chatter a bit, the windows rattle and for a moment you can't hear yourself think. That's our house on air show weekend in Kansas City. The park across the street becomes a neighborhood carnival, the streets are packed with cars and occasionally folks spread blankets on our front yard to join in the fun. The more the merrier! We had friends over both days and plopped the grill and the furniture from the back deck on the front yard and had a ball. (The pic was taken last year by my son. I forgot to take one picture.)
















I didn't get much sewing done, but got a start on new pillows for the family room. These pillows say "happy" to me.









































I received my bookmarks and book from my partner in Amy's Bookmark Swap. You all can be jealous cause I had a great partner. I received these three lovely bookmarks on Saturday along with the cutest Winnie the Pooh Teatime Recipe book. There are really great recipes in there! Thanks so much Rachel! If you have a minute, check out her blog...she's amazing!
















I also received this little quilt from the fabulous Betty Ninja. It's so darling. I think it might hang right in my studio. Thanks Betty! A couple of other belated thank you's too. I received the Brilliant Blog Award from Kris at Quilted Simple, Doris at Threads of Conversation and Melissa at Sweet Sewing Sew Sweetly. Thanks ladies. Right back at you! Lastly, Carissa at Happy Stuff I owe you one. I won a Lara Bar on her blog and this big box came in the mail. In the bottom of that box was a jar of her fabulous rhubarb sauce. I made some drooly comments on her blog about her rhubarb, I'm ashamed to say probably more than once. She felt my pain and sent me a jar of her sauce. Pictures? No, sorry. I guess I could take one of the empty jar. I can unabashedly say I licked the jar clean. Simply fabulous.