Retreat Report

Victoria, Tasha and I had a great quilt retreat weekend. We sewed a lot, we talked a lot and ate chili, homemade cookies, Chinese food, and some munchies. All in all it was a lot of fun.

I finally finished the binding on my BIL’s quilt. Only there is one problem. The red fabric bled onto the rest of the quilt. What is the name of the cleaner I need to buy to see if I can get rid of the spots? I can’t give the quilt to my BIL the way it looks.


While showing Victoria how I plan my quilts in Excel we decided to make a bar topper for DH. When I was cleaning off the table yesterday I noticed that the part of the table where DH mixes his drinks was sticky. I thought it would be cool to make a little bar topper he could use to keep the table clean. I pulled out some Red Sox fabric, some Patriots fabric and some poker fabric and we designed the topper. Victoria did most of the cutting and trimming and I did the sewing. I was able to finish the topper tonight and it is sitting on the bar for DH to find when he gets home on Tuesday.


I also made quite a bit of progress on my Birthday Quilt. I have four of the seven rows sewn together. The rest of the rows are each done, I just need to attach them. I will have to make my piano key borders longer, but I knew I would have to do that.

Tasha had a very productive weekend too. She tied the quilt she made for her newest nephew. She finished a top for a quilt for Isaac’s big brother, Peter. And then, the backing she was making for Peter’s quilt turned way too big, made makes a great quilt all on it’s own. She started with a variegated green and yellow check fabric and a variegated red check fabric. Victoria gave her some black to use as sashing. She cut the check fabric into 14 inch squares and the black was cut into 5 inch strips. We jokingly called it a Tic Tac Toe quilt. Late this afternoon when Tasha was almost done with the back and we realized it was too big to be the backing we had planned on, I told her I loved it that way it was and she should keep it like it is. She agreed.




Between mine and Tasha’s quilts I now have two quilts ready for binding, one quilt waiting to be tied and I need batting for another six quilts.

Here’s another question . . . When you piece batt together is there a guideline for how many pieces you can safely use? I imagine you don’t want to use lots of little pieces. But I’m wondering is using three or four pieces for a baby sized quilt is OK? Does it make a difference if you tie a quilt versus quilting a quilt?

Well it's time to hit the shower and go to work. Monday mornings are always tough, aren't they?

One Block Done

I got an early start on my weekend quilting retreat. I left the office at 4 instead of 5:30 and made a stop at Wal-Mart for some munchies for the weekend and some greeting cards. One more quick stop at the corner grocery market and I was home and eating dinner at 5 PM.

I decided to start sewing at 6. I completed the third hour of my Gratitude quilt and started working on the 25 patch blocks. I got one 25 patch done and added the four sides to it. I love the colors together. The red is working well. I'm not happy with how wavy it is. The side pieces were longer than the completed patch so I think I'm going to have to do some trimming to them to make them work better.

Tomorrow Victoria will be here by 9:30 and Tasha will be here around noon. I don't know what project I'll work on first tomorrow. I like having several projects available to work on. I won't get bored when I change from one project to another.

Check back tomorrow to see what trouble we get into during our quilt retreat!

What? No Pictures?

I just looked through all the new entries on bloglines and not one of them was showing pictures. Oh, there were pretty blue boxes with question marks, but no pictures. I didn't want to leave comments until I can see pictures so if you have posted lately and I usually make comments to you, don't worry, I'll be there.

As for me, I spent Saturday buying fabric for members of a birthday club and I found some adorable Christmas fabric that I think I'm going to use in my Gratitude quilt. Sunday, DH and I went to the Patriots/Colts game. Unfortunately for me, the wrong team won and our quarterback had the worst game of his professional career.

I've been slowly working on my Gratitude quilt. I have the strips sewn and cut for the second hour. I haven't trimmed anymore of my HSTs since last week which means I still have half of them to trim. I was going to cut the red for the 25-patch blocks, but it's sitting in my hand piecing kit which is in my car. My car is not here tonight so I can't cut it.

Thanks for all the positive comments about my husband's choice of the red fabric. He kept asking me what everyone was saying and when I told him all of you liked the red he just smiled and said, "I knew it was a good choice." Got to love a man who is confident in his choices.

Tonight I sandwiched two baby quilts. One for my FDIL's sister who gave birth to her second child yesterday morning. The other one is for our friends who are expecting their first child in early December.

This weekend I'll be having my own in-house quilting retreat. DH is going out of town from Thursday until Tuesday. Saturday a friend is coming over and we are going to quilt the day away. I'm excited! Tomorrow night I need to straighten up my quilting room so there is room for us to work. I just need to decide what I want to work on . . . I have a few more inches of binding to do on one quilt, quilting the baby quilt for our friends, work on my birthday quilt or work on my Gratitude quilt. And just in case I want anything else to do I need to make and sew on the binding on my Magic Ribbons quilt. I wish I could sneak in a day off from the office either Friday or Monday, but I can't do that. I do have to take next Friday off because our big screen TV is not working and I have to work from home while waiting for the repairman. I hope he can fix it. I'm not ready to buy a new TV. Although I wouldn't mind buying a new TV for my quilt room, but that's for another day.

One More Time

I'm still trying to find a fabric for the 25-patch block in my Gratitude quilt. I have lots of purple fabric. I have lots of green fabric. I have NO green and purple fabric.

Tonight I called in my emergency fabric chooser - my DH. Bruce has a terrific sense of color and has never let me down when I've asked him for his suggestions. I showed him what I wanted to do and what my dilemma was. He dug through my FQ drawer (and yes he kept it somewhat neat) and chose a marbled red piece. "It makes it look like a Christmas quilt," he said. At first I didn't like it, but after looking at it for a few moments I think I like it. The red provides the spark I was looking for in the block. What do you think?

I sewed a few more inches of the binding on my Contrary Quarters quilt. I need to get it done before my BIL starts his new job next week. But no more for me tonight. I'm tired and I'm off to bed. The temps are going to be in the 20's tonight. Our coldest night this fall. Winter is on it's way and I can't wait!

Looking For Opinions

I started trimming my HSTs last night. I sat in bed using my breakfast tray as a small table and trimmed away while watching Jericho. I only got 40 of them trimmed.

Here's my question: I laid out the 25-patch block and the strips around it. I'm using green for the purple in the pattern and the purple for the lavendar in the pattern. I thought about using another color for the green patches in the middle, but not sure what color would be good. Anyone have any thoughts? Should I stick with the green, perhaps another solid color, or maybe even a novelty fabric that works well cut that small? Wow, now that I said it, I'm thinking I should check out my novelty FQs and see what I have. But I think I'll wait until I hear from you.

UPDATE: I woke up this morning thinking about this block. I looked through my novelty collection and found this heart and flower print. It looks OK, but I'm not sure it will work. Opinions?

Now that's it's November I need to review my October goals. I only had three: finish by Dad's Chiclet's quilt - DONE. Machine quilt my Autumn Table runner - I got one line of quilting sewn. Finish Contrary Quarters Gone Awry - I'm two-thirds of way around on hand sewing down the binding. Not too bad, especially when I take into account I got carried away on my Birthday Quilt. I'm pleased with my progress.

Now for November:
1. Finish Contrary Quarters Gone Awry
2. Machine Quilt Autumn Table Runner
3. Work on Birthday Quilt
4. Work on Hour-A-Day Gratitude quilt
5. Work on Chalkboard Mats

I have a stay at home weekend treat next weekend. A quilting friend is coming up for the day so I hope I don't get too distracted. This weekend I won't get much done as DH and I have a dinner date on Saturday night and on Sunday we have tickets to the New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts. Woohoo! The rest of the month I should have plenty of time to quilt.

Gratitude Quilt

Judy at Sunshine Quilts is offering a wonderful Hour an Day quilt for November - Gratitude. I love the quilt but wasn't too thrilled about starting another project from scratch.

But Lucy came to the rescue without even knowing it. She made a wonderful quilt from several of her UFOs. That got me to thinking about some of the UFOs I have and wondering if any of them could be converted to Judy's quilt.

Well, guess what? I have a green, purple and white quilt I started in January of 2005 that wasn't going anywhere. Tonight I pulled out the bin I have it in and dug through it. As luck would have it there are nearly 100 four-patches made from 2 inch squares and plenty of other 2 inch squares already cut - more than enough to put together the center blocks of the quilt. There are also 78 HSTs that can be trimmed to 2 inches. Plus there is plenty of yardage left for the rest of the quilt. I feel like I'm already a little ahead of the game, plus I'm using up a UFO (or at least most of one).

Good thought for the day: I made it through a dentist visit without having to take Xanax first. That means I'm not sleeping the entire afternoon and evening away.

Arty/Quilt Meme

I'm taking Amy up on her Arty/Quilt Meme. Want to join me?

If you are one of the first five people to ask me a quilt question, I will send you a quilted art piece from me. But, you have to agree to post the challenge on your blog and ask five people to participate?

Won't you join Amy and I in the fun?

Be sure to link to my blog so we can see who is participating.

Imagine getting a surprise in your mail! Won't that be fun?

I’m an early riser and it’s tough to get out of bed when it’s still dark. So I was very happy when I woke up this morning at 6:30 and the sun was already up. I love my weekend mornings when DH is still sleeping and I have an hour or two of me time and it’s even better when the sun is shining.

I took this picture of a leaf that visited us yesterday. Despite the heavy rain and roaring winds this little leaf stayed stuck on our living room window for most of the morning. We named him Junior. Today he and many of his buddies have been blown away by the still roaring winds. Most of the trees in town are bare and it is beginning to look like winter. Now all we need is some snow.

Cynthia showed her block keeper and asked us to share how we keep our blocks together. I don’t have a block keeper. I’ve thought about making one for my hand pieced blocks, but haven’t made one yet. I’ll have to add a block keeper to my list of To Do projects when I want a quick project to make.

Nancy asked us what we collect. My first quick answer is bells. I started collecting bells in high school and probably collected them for 10 years. They are packed away right now until I can figure how to display them. My first one was a Tinkerbell Bell we bought when we were on vacation in Disneyland. Most of them represent a location, some of them are special gifts. I have bits and pieces of collections from my grandma, a great aunt and me mom. My grandma collected thimbles and I have a couple of hers. My great aunt collected teapots and I have a couple of hers. Mom collected salt and pepper shakers and someday I will get some of hers. I would rather have a few special items than a large collection of items.

While working on my binding yesterday I realized I have started a new collection – sewing kits. I have a hand piecing kit. I have two marking pens, an eraser pen, needle threader, seam ripper, needles (in the wooden case), thread for my current project, Clover cutting pendant, scissors, a pincushion with a few flat head pins and the current block I’m working piecing. This kit tucks right into my briefcase. I don’t keep a ruler in it because it’s kind of tough to measure anything while in a moving car.


I have a “binding kit.” This isn’t a glamorous kit, but it works for me. The tin was originally filled with BBQ spice rub. A couple weeks ago I tried to get creative with it. I sprayed adhesive on it and tried to get some batting and fabric to stick on top of it and it didn’t work. I couldn’t get the spray adhesive off so I tried plastic wrap and it kind of stuck. At least when the cover is closed it’s hard to open so I don’t have to worry about the pins spilling. The wooden case holds needles. When I’m binding I take the scissors and needle threader from my hand piecing kit.


I have my travel sewing kit. I made this for myself last month and have only used it once. It can hold a lot of tools and I’m impatiently waiting for another opportunity to use it again.

My sewing machine kit is currently a plastic baggie that holds various feet and needles for my machine. I’ve been thinking about making a small bag to hold these items, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

I don’t have a hand quilting kit, although I have all the tools – marking pens, eraser pen, quilting needles, scissors and thread. I guess when I sit down to quilt all I need is a needle, thread and scissors and I just take from my other kits to get what I needed.

Do you have any sewing kits? Do you keep your tools with one kit or do you mix and match and needed?

Rainy Saturday

We are getting the rain and wind that has crossed the country this week. We could get 1 - 3 inches of rain and winds up to 60 MPH. Not a day to be out and about unless absolutely necessary. I was hoping to go to Marden's to buy sashing and fabric for a birthday club in one of my Yahoo groups. But, I'm stuck inside today.

Not a bad thing though. My quilts have come back from my LA and I am impatiently waiting for DH to wake up so I can start sewing the binding on one of them. Then I can spend the rest of the day hand sewing the binding. Tonight we do have to go out to meet some friends, but I think I'd rather stay in all day.

Here's my mom with her kitty quilt. She told me she loves it and so do her three real cats. Hooray.

Well, DH just woke up so it's time for breakfast and then time to sew! Yeah!

My Favorite Spot

Amy of Calico Cat tagged us to show our favorite spot. Here's mine. It's in my living room, on the left side of our reclining couch. You can see our love of sports with our Adam Vinatieri framed prints on the wall and the World Champions banner hanging on the frame. The picture that is backwards is Johnny Damon when he was still playing for the Red Sox. When he went to the Yankees I turned the picture around and left it that way. The pine cubes hold my quilting books and magazines. Down on the floor is my current hand quilting project and wayward thread. And, yes, those are purple knitted booties are on the floor. On the right you can see my husband's hand and his laptop under the table. I do spend a lot of time in this spot - both on my laptop and doing hand work.

I finished hand piecing the first red and white block I blogged about last night. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I have it proudly hanging on my design wall waiting for its 15 siblings. I've pulled a bag of blocks out of the basket and need to get them marked so I can keep working. The sun was at an awkward angle this morning and made it hard to see what I was doing while hand piecing. Even putting the sun visor down wasn't helping, but I perservered and I was able to finish the block. I'm learning there are certain days of the year when hand piecing on the way to work is going to be difficult. Thanks for the encouragement on moving forward on my hand piecing. I appreciate it.



I'm so excited because tomorrow my quilts are due back from the LA, at least that's what UPS says. I can't wait to get them. My BIL, who is getting one of the quilts, starts a new job with the Dept. of Homeland Security next month and I want to give him the quilt before he leaves. The binding is still not pressed so I guess that's a job for tomorrow night.

I've seen many people who list gratitudes or what they are thankful for that day. I think I'm going to start listing one good thing every time I blog. Today's good thing: I have a wonderful husband who knows how to make a great steak! Yummy!

The Fear is Gone

It's Wednesday night . . . how do you spend your mid-week day and evening? After spending my day at my desk I came home, started fixing dinner and then decided to do some quilting. First up was cutting and piecing the binding for one of the quilts I'm expecting back from my long armer on Friday. I just need to press it now.

After dinner I caught up on reading and commenting on blogs. Then I forced myself to get my hand piecing red and white quilt so I could work on it. I've haven't touched it for quite a few days. I was still a little afraid of matching up seams and getting them sewn together properly since I had so much trouble piecing my Tumbling Blocks last month. Finally I said to myself, "Just do it!" I pulled my Jinny Beyer book off the shelf, found the right page and followed the instructions. Voila! I did it! Now I have two rows sewn together in my first block and have started adding the third row.

Now I'm confident to bring the blocks with me in the car again. Wow! I feel I've overcome a big hurdle and I'm so relieved. I've been feeling guilty about not working on my hand piecing. How dare I stop working on a project from a little fear! Well, the fear is gone and I can't wait to start hand piecing on the way to work again.

It's late and I need some sleep. Two more days until the weekend! Hooray!

Busy Saturday

Last week I talked about using moleskin on my sewing machine to help get a good quarter-inch seam. Tracy asked me if I use a patchwork foot. I do use a patchwork foot, but using the moleskin helps to keep the fabric lined up before it goes under the sewing foot. The moleskin also helps to keep the end of the pieces from sliding in one direction or the other. Here is a picture of how it works.



My dad got his Chiclets quilt this week. My DB sent me this picture of him with his quilt. He was suprised to get a quilt and loves it.



Yesterday was a good quilting day for me. First up was cutting my WOW butterfly fabric for my birthday quilt. DH was still sleeping when I finished cutting so I moved on to finish cutting the pieces for my Streak of Lightening quilt. I was able to get all the pieces cut and I think I still have enough reds for another quilt! Here are the stacks for each block. I've put each stack in its own baggie so when I am ready to start a new block I can grab a baggie and go. Which leads to me this question for those who hand piece - how do you mark your pieces for sewing? Do you mark all of your sewing lines? No mark at all? Have you ever used Jinny Beyer's Perfect Piecer? I'm thinking of finding one, but need some input on it.



Shortly after he woke up DH reminded me that we friends who are expecting their first baby in a few weeks and we need to buy them a gift. Buy them a gift???? I told him I would make a baby quilt for them. So I dug through my stash and found some Winnie-the-Pooh fabric. I printed off the directions for the Super Nine Patch Quilt by Anita Grossman. I didn't need to make 3 quilts so I improvised the pattern with what I had and made this quick baby quilt. Today I need to buy batting so I can finish the quilt and have it ready for the new baby.



Late afternoon and early evening found me making the blocks for my birthday quilt. I'm so happy that was able to chain piece all the blocks without a mistake. Next step is trim the blocks to 8.75 inches. I might some of that done today.

I realized late last night I hadn't checked the mail box. So off I went to get the mail. I found a surprise in my mail. I received a birthday package from Cotton Spice magazine. I had forgotten that when I signed up for the magazine they asked for your birhday month. What a cool collection of FQs they sent me.



This week I'll be getting back two quilts from my LA so I'll soon have lots of hand work to keep me busy. Yeah! Well it's time to work on my football pools for the week and catch up on some blog reading. More later.

What I Did

I'm surprised by how many of you recommended a cup of tea! I generally don't drink hot beverages in the evening. But I'll have to give it a try sometime.

After I posted last night I wrote the note to my girlfriend and got another package ready for the mail. Then I took my pain meds and hot pad and curled up in bed. I finished reading my blogs, chatted a little with some other on-line quilt friends. I read Rachel Ray and got some good ideas for Thanksgiving Dinner. Then I started reading Fons & Porter, but was soon so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. So I never even got around to cutting my fabric.

Carolyn, I haven't washed any fabric for this quilt. It's something new I'm trying wih this quilt. So all I need to do is cut my WOW fabric and start sewing.

Tonight I'm planning on going to a movie with DS so it will probably be tomorrow morning before I can cut my fabric and work on the blocks for my quilt.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

What Would You Do?

After dealing with a minor back ache all day, I decided to leave work 30 minutes early and go to the new Target for some shopping. My plan was to shop, come home and do nothing . . . but . . .

The new Rachel Ray magazine was on the rack so I had to buy it. The latest issue of Fons & Porter was in my mailbox as was my WOW butterfly fabric for my birthday quilt.

So what would you do, after eating dinner, of course: read Rachel, read Fons & Porter or stand and start cutting my WOW fabric? Oh yeah, I also need to write a note to a friend.

I'm waiting for your answers. I'll tell you mine tomorrow.

Vertigo, Machine Quilting and Ready for Winter

I didn't get a cold, but I was sick yesterday and today. Yesterday I was calmly working on one of my piano borders when all of the sudden the room started to spin. I'm not talking dizzy, I'm talking vertigo. Out of nowhere, with no warning. I screamed for Bruce. I grabbed hold of my sewing table and started to panic. I've never had vertigo before and I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to move. The vertigo lasted about 30 seconds and went away, but I was on edge and somewhat disoriented the rest of the day. I still didn't feel right this morning so I stayed home from the office and worked from home.

I was able to get 4 piano border strips done yesterday. Now I am waiting on my butterfly WOW fabric to get here later this week. Tonight I pin basted and marked my Autumn Table Runner for machine quilting. I even got one grid line stitched before the football game started. This is my first real machine quilted project. I've played around some with scrap projects and on my quilted post card. I should be able to finish it tomorrow night so I can get the binding on before the end of the week.

Yesterday I spent some time browsing through some of my older magazines. In only one of them did I find any patterns that excited me and in that magazine there are four patterns that I want to try. The others have gone into the "pass it on" pile. This morning while waiting for some work files to download to my computer I cleaned out my quilting folder on my computer desktop. I got rid of a lot of files that no longer appealed to me and marked ones that still have potential for me to make.

I've signed up for the Stashbusters No Buy Program for at least the next 6 months. Doing the clean-up and re-reading of my magazines has given me enough ideas to work through my stash and, hopefully, not have to buy anything other than backing and binding fabric. I do need to buy some batting since I have many projects that are close to getting done. I still have some birthday money leftover and I'm thinking I will order several pacakges of batting from Fabric Depot since they offer 30% off an on-line order. Once I get the batting I will be all set to work my way through the winter!

Quilt on!

I Started My Birthday Quilt

I took my time with each birthday FQ. I carefully unfolded it, thought about the person who sent it to me and then gently ironed it. Then I took the FQ to the cutting table and cut the fabric into the pieces I needed. I have a stack of 6.5 inch squares, a stack of 11.5 inch squares and an even bigger stack of 2 inch strips.

Unfortunately I had encountered a problem with a bad credit card number and I haven't received my background fabric yet. I didn't want to wait for the fabric to get here to start sewing so I made a momentous decision - I started making the borders first. I planned on piano borders and am pleased with how they have turned out so far. Each FQ is represented at least once in the two borders I have done. What a liberating experience this quilt is already! Knowing I don't have to make the borders after the center is done has made me feel so excited about this quilt!

I've had problems with my quarter inch seams lately so I decided to go put moleskin on my sewing machine as a guide. It worked very well! I don't why I ever stopped using it. You can bet I'll keep it there forever now.

Last night we got to babysit our youngest nephew and niece while mom and dad went to a meeting about my niece's baptism tomorrow. Today we watched another nephew play soccer and spent some time with three other nieces and nephews. Tomorrow, since there is a baptism, we'll be seeing the whole family! Whew! That's a lot of family time for us.

I think I am coming down with a cold. I've had a sinus headache and a sore throat all day. Bruce is helping a friend move into a new place tonight so I think I'm going to take a hot bath and climb into bed. I can't get sick tonight! I get to see children tomorrow. Now, if I get sick for Monday, that would be OK!

Is It Snowing Yet?

Finn wrote a beautiful entry about the first snow fall. I can't wait for the first snow fall, or the second, or the third. You get the picture. So I thought I'd share some pictures of my corner of the world during a blizzard we had in March 2005. The first picture is looking out our front windows across the street. We live on the second floor of the building - notice the snow built up on the window ledge. This was the only storm where the snow had been blown up that high on the window ledge.

The second picture is what I saw when I opened our front door. We have to step down about six inches to the sidewalk so you can get an idea of how much snow had fallen (and it was still falling at this point). Luckily we don't have to shovel the snow. Living downtown has it advantages - like snow removal. Although when it snows on the weekend we will go out and clear the sidewalk around our front door so we can get around.

The last picture was taken while standing outside my front door looking towards downtown. The bench is a normal size bench and the orange cone lets the snow plow know where to stop. The snow pile was as tall as my six-foot husband and filled almost half the street! This storm was great because it started on a Saturday, lasted all day Sunday and still was hanging around on Monday. I don't remember what I did during the day, but I probably spent some time quilting.

On a quilty note, I cut 7 more FQs for my birthday quilt. That brings me up to 12 of 35 FQs cut. I have to call Fabric Depot about my background fabric. Apparently I transposed some numbers on my credit card and have to give them right number so I can get my fabric.

The other day I purchased the current issue of Quilter's Home and the book "Zen and the Art of Quilting". This is a cool little book. I've only read two chapters and I already like it. I'm beginning to think my birthday quilt is becoming my Zen quilt.

A friend recommended I find books by Georgia Bonesteel to learn about lap quilting (quilt-as-you-go). I found two of her books being sold together on E-Bay, Lap Quilting and New Ideas for Lap Quilting. I got them for $6 plus shipping. That's a good price for me. I still don't know if I'll lap quilt by birthday quilt. Now that I have books coming I'll wait until I get them and review them. Sounds like I'll have a busy weekend. New books to read. A new quilt to start. What else could I want? Oh, I know, a freak blizzard!

Five Wierd Things

I started cutting my birthday FQs tonight. Each FQ is being cut into one 11.5 inch square, one 6.5 inch square and four 2 inch by 19 inch strips. The leftover rectangle is going back into the baggie so I don’t forget who gave me each FQ. I have five FQs cut, only 30 more to go. My WOW fabric should be here by the end of the week so I'm hoping I'll be able to get all the fabric cut so I can start sewing together my quilt on Saturday. I'm not certain if I'm going to make the quilt using quilt-as-you-go or not. I probably won't decide on the quilting until I finish making the blocks.

The backing for my Magic Ribbons top came today. If you’ve never purchased your backing from Christian Lane Quilters, I’d highly recommend it. I purchased a piece of Moda Kansas Trouble fabric that is 110 inches by 116 inches for a sale price of $30. The package was shipped on Friday and arrived today. Magic Ribbons is a mystery quilt that I made over New Year's Weekend. It will be going to my long arm quilter and will eventually grace my bed.


It's my turn to let you in on five wierd things about me:

In my immediate family I am the baby, the only girl, the only one who is left-handed and the only one who chose to live 1,500 miles away from the family. My three older brothers all live within 10 minutes of my parents.

When I make a meal I have to have at least three items on my plate. Just a steak and a baked potato? Never! I have to have a vegetable too. Spaghetti? Only if I can have garlic bread, too. Pasta and sauce do count as two items. Although these days I tend to have steak or chicken, a hot vegetable and a salad. Oh yeah, beverages don’t count as an item.

I love snow. I don’t ski or skate or snowmobile, but I love a good snowstorm. Preferably a blizzard. I always feel so cozy and warm while watching the snow falling outside. I get so giddy at the first snow fall. I get as hyper as a child on Christmas morning!

I prefer to work in the morning. If I could set my own work hours I would be at my desk between 7 and 7:30 and home by 3:30 or 4. After 4 it’s very hard for me to focus on work. It’s time for me to rest by then, not try to make the numbers on the computer screen perfect.

I love football, baseball and golf. I haven’t met very many women who are sports fans like I am. During the fall I’ve been known to schedule events so I don’t have to miss my Sunday NFL games. This year I’m so excited that there will be games shown on Thursday nights as well as Sundays and Mondays. Every Labor Day weekend Bruce and I attend the Deutsche Bank Golf Tournament to watch Tiger Woods play golf for four days.

There you have it - what's wierd about me. If you haven't been tagged yet or if you're still trying to decide what's wierd about you, I'm waiting to see your answers.

Turning 45 Is Fun!

Today I became 45 years old. (Happy Birthday Finn and Nancy!) Not a bad age. Actually I've been feeling pretty good all day today. I got to open my birthday package of FQs from my Quilt Pocket buddies. 35 luscious FQs, all of them pretty. I spent the afternoon designing a "45th Birthday Quilt" for me using all the FQs plus some purchased WOW with butterflies. I'm going to make it using a quilt-as-you-go method. I didn't take any pictures of the FQs yet because I don't want to separate the fabric from who gave it to me. I also spent the day watching football and didn't have to do any cooking.

Finn wrote a beautiful post about falling leaves. Today while we were out walking I found this leaf. I'm always on the lookout for a single beautiful leaf. Notice the green imprint of a smaller leaf on this one. I have no idea how Mother Nature does something like that, but it is beautiful.

I finished my dad's Chiclet quilt today too. Tomorrow it will go in the washer and dryer and then it will be sent to him later this week along with my Mom's Kittie's quilt. This was my second quilt that I hand sewed the binding on and I am so thrilled I learned how to do the binding correctly. I think I'm hooked on binding now. I've decided to send two quilts to my LA quilter this week just so I can have some binding to do.


My FIL gave me money as birthday present and I bought this bookcase for my quilting studio. It will be a place for my printer, the internet router and airport station and probably some books or special quilty momentos. That would make sense, huh? Put books on a bookcase? It's unfinished just like my sewing and cutting tables so I'll be able to make all the furniture look alike when I get around to finishing them.

It's getting late and tomorrow is going to be long day. I have to get my boss on a plane to Rome, a trip to the doctor, a trip to Joann's for batting and Barnes & Noble for a magazine I've been looking for and then dinner with my MIL for my birthday - rib eyes and butternut squash - my two favorite foods! Yummy!

I'm Still Here!

I've been working long hours this week planning a trip to Russia and Europe for my boss, among my many other tasks. But, I have been diligent about working on the binding for my dad's quilt. I've been spending at least an hour every night working on it.

Tonight I am snuggled under the quilt while sipping a hot chocolate and watching Cast Away with Tom Hanks. What a nice way to spend an evening. Right now Tom is trying to figure out how to open a coconut.

Tomorrow I have to work from home for a few hours and then the rest of the weekend is mine! Tomorrow night Bruce is taking me on my birthday date. We are going to see The Departed with Jack Nicholson, Leo DiCaprio, Mark Walhberg and Matt Damon. Sunday is my birthday and all I've asked for is to not have to cook and be able to watch football all day. I'm easy to please. I also have a package from my Quilt Pocket birthday club stuffed FQs to open sometime during the day.

Well, I need to get back to the binding. I'll check in Sunday with a report on my birthday package.

I Always Knew I was a Winter Person

You Belong in Winter

Quiet, calm, and totally at peace... You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter.

What Season Are You?

Is there any other way to be when you want to quilt than snowed in?

Hand Work and October Goals

I've had a relaxing Saturday. This is the first weekend since the beginning of May that we have not had an event or trip on our weekend calendar. The only time I had to leave the house was grocery shopping this morning. Tomorrow I don't have to go out at all! So what did I do today? I've done laundry and a little house cleaning. I took a two hour nap. I made stuffed pork chops and butternut barley risotto for dinner.

On the quilting front I started tying my dad's quilt. I still have about a third of it left to do. I should be able to finish it in the morning and then it will be ready for the binding. I also straightened up my studio. I spent some time cutting and marking my reds and whites for my new hand piecing project. Tonight I am going to work on the first block of the quilt while watching college football with DH.

With the first of October coming tomorrow and Norma and Linda thinking about a challenge for getting projects to the flimsy stage, I took the time to list my projects. I have them posted on the side bar. They are sorted by the stage of the project they are in right now. The list isn't as long as I thought it would be, but there is still enough to keep me busy for a long time. I've also decided on my goals for October. I've kept the list to only 3 projects since I do hand work all day on Sundays.

I'm glad I did the list. DH and I are saving money for a down payment on a new car and have decided we need to cut back on discretionary spending. For us that means no more football or concert tickets. For me that means cutting back on fabric spending and for DH it means no trips to the casino. After writing up my list I realized that other than buying batting I really have no need to buy more fabric for awhile.

Judy has started a good discussion about when she does hand work. She does most of hers in the evening. So do most of the quilters who have responded. I do mine in the car in the morning when DH and I are going to work. I have about 15 - 20 minutes and I am always surprised at how much I can get done in the short amount of time. I also do a lot of hand quilting and hand work on Sundays while watching sports with DH, DS and DIL. Machine piecing is usually done on Saturdays. It's not very often I quilt in the evenings during the week. By the time I get home from work and cook dinner I'm too tired to focus on quilting.

So when do you do your hand work?

That's all the news for now. Time to watch some football and do some hand piecing.

Mom's Quilt, Dad's Quilt and a New Blogger

Here is my mom's quilt, Mom's Kitties. This is the one I did the binding on this past weekend. It's washed and ready to go. The picture is upside down because DH was holding it upside down and just flipped the picture rather than have it hold him again. Her quilt started it's life as a BOM in January 2005. I made a block or two, but wasn't thrilled with the pattern so I cut the fabric into 6 inch squares and created my own simple design. The WOW fabric does have cats on it as does the backing. Mom saw the quilt when she was visiting in July so she knows what it looks like and that she is getting it.



My dad was put into a nursing home a few weeks and I decided that he needed a quilt too. I made this Chiclets quilt earlier this spring and just tucked it away waiting for the right recipient to come along. Well, my dad is the lucky recipient. It's set up on my table, ready to be tied. I should be able to get that done quickly and then I can spend this coming Sunday putting on the binding.



I found a new blogger, Bingo Bonnie, in Texas. Why don't you stop by and say hello to her?

Retreat Wrap-Up and Sewing Tools At Home

Day #2 of my retreat went as good as day #1. I finished the binding on my mom’s quilt. I am so psyched. I spent nearly the whole day sewing on the binding while watching the Vikings and then the Patriots lose their football games. I truly enjoyed doing the binding and can’t wait until I get another quilt ready to bind! I couldn’t hang my mom’s quilt to get a picture of it tonight. DH comes home late tonight after a long road trip and I will get him to hold it up for me.

Some people have asked me about the Perfect Binding Miter tool and how it works. Glenna has a great slideshow on her website that shows how the tool works. For $5 I highly recommend it.

Linda shared pictures of her home and away sewing tools. What a timely entry. This past weekend was the first time I had gone away to sew and quilt. I thought I had everything I needed . . . yeah, right . . . I forgot to bring to bring pins, a ruler for trimming and squaring, filled bobbins and the only sewing machine foot I had with me was my quarter inch foot. Lucky for me Victoria had everything with her except the sewing machine foot. So I have learned my lesson for the next time I go retreating.

I stopped at Ikea the other night and purchased a glass vase for keeping my scraps in. I got the idea from Mary who displayed her trash one day. We talked about showing off our trash. Here is the vase with the scraps from the start of my red and white quilt. I also found these cute spice jars at Ikea, all of them for only $3. I thought they’d work well for holding buttons. They are now sitting on my windowsill.



The tray holds my sewing stuff. The bear was a gift for coordinating a quilt get together last fall. The blue basket came from Keepsake Quilting and holds all kinds of odds and ends. The basket peeking out holds four patches made from leaders and enders. My magnetic pin dish, iron and DVD player are also hanging out on the table for now.



In the living room I have this wonderful handmade sewing basket my DS bought me for Mother’s Day last year. Isn’t it adorable? He bought it from The Quilted Crow in Boxborough, MA. Right now it holds my hand quilting tools and some miscellaneous items. And yes, in case you’re wondering, that is Wally the Green Monster and a Tom Brady teddy bear sitting on the coffee table as well.



So there you have a tour of my quilting notions. Is anyone else going to share how the store their notions?

Look Ma, I'm Binding

Retreat day #1 was a blast! Victoria picked me up about 9:30 and off we went shopping. We started at Joann's where I found fabric to make curtains for my studio. The fabric was on clearance and instead of paying $13/yard I only paid $4 a yard! Our first quilt shop stop was The Quilt Center. A small shop run in the finished garage of the owner. I bought some fat-eighths in red and white for my quilt and two heart stencils, one is horizontal and one is vertical. I convinced Victoria to purchase both issues of Quilter's Home magazine as the owner had both of them. She started reading them this afternoon and loves the magazine.

Our next stop was Emma's Quilt Cupboard. Now this is a quilt shop worth shopping at! She has everything you could think of in terms of fabric choices, class choices and even special events. She has a Quilt Book Club, a Quilter's Tea and once a month does Quilter's Anonymous - this is a Friday night where you can come and work on any project you'd like and she makes dinner for you. Victoria and I are going to attend the one in December. I found a fun pattern for chalkboard mats called Just For Fun. I think this will be a great gift for my younger nieces and nephews and perhaps a few for my DIL's two-year-old class.

Our final stop was at the Quilter's Stash. This is small shop, but big on choices. I found some more white fabric and some fun polka dot fabric to add to my collection. We also walked through a furniture consignment store. I saw a small table that would have been great in my studio for my laptop, but it was a too wobbly.

After stopping for lunch we came back to my hotel room and started my binding. I forgot to mention the Victoria bought me the Perfect Binding Miter by Glenna. What a great little tool! You can see from my pictures below how well it works. The first one is me holding my first pinned mitered corner on my mom's quilt. The second one shows the start of my hand work on the back of the binding. I've done about 18 inches so far and I'm enjoying it. Victoria has been working on scrap quilt she is making for herself. It's made of floral fabric scraps using crumb blocks and green sashing.




Tonight we treated ourselves to dinner at Bugaboo Creek, yummy! Beef and chocolate, my perfect dinner. Tomorrow Victoria will be coming over after church in the morning and we will work on our projects and watch football all day. Well it's late andI'm off to bed. I've learned a lot today and my brain is tired.

Pincushions and Red Nickels

Evelyn asked to show our pin cushions and asked whether or not we use them. Here is a picture of pin cushions I got in a swap last year. I keep them on top of my scrap cabinet along with Miss Rose. This is a doll that is holding a quilt made of 1 inch squares. I bought her at the first quilt show I went to last summer. Her body contains pebbles or small marbles, something that is weighty so that she stands up very straight. I think of her as my quilt studio mistress.

I don't use my pincushions. I prefer to keep my pins in a magnetic needle dish. It's not the most attractive way to keep pins, but it works for me. I have spilled my pin dish a couple times and I keep a mganetic wand handy to pick them up. Maybe if I used a pincushion I wouldn't have pick up pins from the floor?

I suppose you're wondering what's up with the red fabric in the picture. Well in yesterday's blog I mentioned a red and white scrappy quilt I want to make. Believe it or not I do not have enough red and white scraps to make the quilt. This is my collection of reds so far. Even though the picture looks like bright reds, I'm aiming to use deep or dark red prints that read red. I'm also want to use bright WOWs. So here's my question - would anyone like to trade some red or white nickels or scraps for nickels or scraps of another color? If so, let me know.

Finally a Finished Postcard

I finally finished a postcard for my group swap. It is the third one I made. I ruined the first one trying to stitch on it. On the second one I screwed up the binding. This one is OK, but it will do for now. I haven't decided if making postcards is for me or not. Perhaps I need to make a few more before I decide on whether or not I like to make them. Now I can focus on whatever I want to do. I don't have any other deadlines looming so I'm back on my own quilting list.

I am so excited! This weekend I am going to Massachusetts to have a mini quilt retreat with a friend of mine. I am driving down on Friday night so I can stop at Ikea. I have to return a chair cover we bought last month and since the store is about a 2 hour drive away and it is close to my friend's house I get to back there. I doubt I will buy anything since I can't lift any packaged furniture on my own and the last time we were there I didn't see anything exciting. I'm checking into the hotel on Friday and coming home on Monday. That gives me 2 full days with Victoria.

On Saturday we are going on our own shop hop. Victoria says there are 6 quilt shops within a half hour of her house. I'm always to looking at and fondling fabric but I don't think I'll spend as much money as I did last month on fabric. I do need to buy background fabric so I can participate in Judy's Hour a Day Quilt.

I'm bringing along at least 2 projects to work on. I want to get the binding sewn on my mom's quilt and then have Victoria show me how to hand sew it in place on back. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to work on a hand piecing project that has squares and rectangles. I spent some time going through my pattern books and decided on a pattern from Pat Speth's More Nickel Quilts. It's called Streak of Lightning and I'm going to do it in red and white. I have a ton of red nickels and some red FQs I can cut. I don't have enough white nickels, but I do have some white yardage I can use. I may also bring my basket of scraps to cut up. It sounds like a lot, but I'd rather have more than enough to do than not enough and wonder why I didn't bring more.

Well, it's 8 PM and the new season of my Tuesday night shows are about to start so I'm off for now.

Sunday Night Report

I didn't get any quilting done this weekend. Bruce and I left town early yesterday to do some clothes shopping before going to The Who concert last night. We got back to the hotel at midnight and it was 1 AM before I got to sleep. Then I had to be up at 7:30 so I could in the office at 8:45. I worked until 2:30 PM and have been sitting on the couch watching football and trying to stay awake.

I don't remember who posted the following blogthings, I'm sorry. But here are my answers. I'm ambivilent about my color green. But I am definitely a right brained person.

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Tonya showed a beautiful scissors fob and talked about using things instead of saving them. A friend game me a scissors fob almost a year ago and I haven't used it yet. So I pulled it out of the box today thinking I would put it on my scissors. However, the circle is too small and too tight to get it on either pair of scissors I have. I'm thinking I need to go to buy a little larger circle to put it on the end. I do love all the small charms on the end of the fob.



I did some hand work on my Tumbling Blocks yesterday but I noticed that where six points are meeting I'm not getting the points all into the seam. I'm thinking I need to take a step back on the hand piecing and work on a project that is made of only squares and rectangles. So I think I'm going to pull some of my scraps and make some nine patches and see where they take me.

Buying Fabric and Blog Etiquette

Gail posted a survey about our fabric choices. Here are my answers:

What is your favorite color to use in your quilts?
Purple is my favorite color and I used it a lot when I started quilting. Lately I’ve been using a lot of green in my projects. I did go through a pink phase earlier this year. I guess I’m destined to go through different color phases. That’s fine with me.

Do you have a favorite style, ie. depression repros, 1800 repros, geometrics, florals, plaids, batiks, marbled, etc.?
I’m not a fan of batiks or orientals. Other than those I haven’t decided if I have a favorite style.

Do you have a favorite line of fabrics, ie. Kaffee Fasset, one of Moda's lines, Jo Morton, etc.
I like Moda marbles. They go with everything.

Do you tend to buy a particular subject , ie. butterflies, strawberries, cats?
Earlier this summer I visited a new quilt shop in town and a fun polka dot fabric found it’s way into my hands. Since then I’ve been on the lookout for fun polka dots.

Did I miss a category here?????
How about why we buy fabric? For fun, for a specific project or because it was on sale and you just “had to have it!?
Other than the polka dot fabric I still buy fabric with a project in mind or at least at a WHIM. I seldom buy fabric if it’s not on sale unless I absolutely need it. My dad taught me to be thrifty with my money and always look for a good deal.

One more question: if you are buying fabric that is not for a project how much do you buy?
I have given up buying FQs. I like to use fabric in a few projects not just one. Now when I’m buying fabric I buy at least one yard, sometimes two. That way I can also cut an FQ to send as a RAQ if I need to send one out.

Judy has posted her October Hour a Day quilt. I've wanted to try the maple leaf block and this is just the quilt to do that. I can't wait to get started.

I have a blog etiquette question. I certainly appreciate all the comments I get from everyone, but I'm wondering are you supposed to acknowledge every comment personally. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I don't want to offend anyone so if it's considered proper to reply to everyone I'm sorry if I haven't acknowledged your comment in the past. What do you usually do with the comment you receive?

I haven't had my Saturday class today. We are going to Boston today and attending The Who concert tonight. Tomorrow I have to work a few hours and then it is football time. That means I'll be hand quilting tomorrow afternoon. I'm off for the day. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

My 9/11 Story

Many people have shared the 9/11 story, so I will share mine. My day started about 4 AM. Bruce was picked up by the car service at 5 AM for a trip to Logan airport and across the country. By 8 AM I was in my office starting my work day. The phone rang at 8:15. It was Bruce, calling me from Cincinnati to let me know that he loved me and that he was OK so far. It was a very normal conversation for us. He always calls me when he changes planes.

At 8:45 I called a client in New York City. She wasn't in her office and I left a message. Two minutes later, my son, who was scheduled to fly from Minnesota to Massachusetts that coming Friday, called me and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. About that same time one of the researchers came through the office saying the same thing. I never popped onto the internet faster in my life. Geoffrey, my son, stayed on the phone for a while telling me what was happening.

My phone rang again. This time it was Bruce. His exact words were, "What the f**** is going on in the world?" By this time the FAA had grounded all the planes. His plane was stopped while heading for the runway. The pilot had come on and told the passengers that a plane had hit the World Trade Center and they wouldn't be going anywhere. So I told him what I knew and that his assistant and I would try to get him a hotel room in Cincinnati. Then I realized that my FIL and MIL were on their way to Logan as well and knew they would be turned around.

About that time we heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. I realized that a close friend of ours was headed out of Washington that day as well. (Everyone was heading to Phoenix for an industry conference). I called his office in Virginia to see if he was all right. He was supposed to have been on that plane that hit the Pentagon, but had a last minute cancellation for a business meeting the night before and had already changed his flight. Whew!

When the news started coming out that the planes had taken off from Logan airport I suddenly realized the Bruce could have been on one of those planes. He had left Logan when the hijackers were leaving Portland, ME. That is when I lost control. I couldn't concentrate and knew I couldn't stay in the office. A bunch of us went out to lunch and stared at the TV screens watching the horrible footage while trying to figure out what happened.

I was afraid to go home alone so I stopped by my in-laws house for a while. Then I stopped and visited with one of my BIL's for an hour. By the time I got home I was numb and all I could do was climb into bed and keep the TV on for fear I might miss something.

Bruce didn't get home from Cincinnati for two days and then he could fly as close as Hartford and we had a car service pick him up and bring him home. We had only been married for 2 months at the time and I don't think I have ever hugged him so hard that night.

Our company has lots of clients in New York City, but no one we knew was killed although some of them lost their offices. One of our friends who worked in Manhattan had to walk home to Brooklyn that day. Another friend's mother is a flight attendant and was supposed on one of the Boston flights that morning, but had changed her shift the night before because of a broken clothes dryer. One of my BILs knew one of the pilots as they went to the same church. My son didn’t make it to Massachusetts for another week. Another BIL who is in the Marines Reserve has had to serve 6 months in Washington, DC and two 6 month tours in Afghanistan since 9/11. All in all, we have been lucky.

My son loves history and is planning on becoming a history teacher. He had a discussion with my dad during that week about the difference between Dec 7, 1941 and the events of 9/11. The biggest difference, they concluded, was how immediate the news was carried around the world and whether or not having immediate news is a good thing or a bad thing. That is probably a question that many people have debated and will continue to debate.

I guess I’ve gone on long enough. Thanks for reading my story.

I added the borders to my mini quilt today. 68 HSTs that finished to 1 inch. Linda said I should put a coin on one of the blocks so you could a good perspective. I would do that, except the quilt isn't laying very flat so for now it's pinned on my design wall. This was the first pieced border I made and I'm not extremely pleased with it. It's OK, but I had to make some adjustments to make it fit. I had to add an extra HST to each side and had to take one HST away from the bottom. I guess I need more work on making all my seams a quarter inch, especially when working with small pieces. I will use this quilt as a table topper for the holiday season. I will make another mini quilt another day. There are 8 other patterns in the package and I want to try a few more of them.

I did my "plan" for today. I hand quilted during the New England Patriots/Buffalo Bills game. I finished the bottom border and have started up the third side. I usually thread 5 needles on the spool when I start a quilting session and I feel good if I use all of them. Today I did that. I may do some more hand quilting later, but not sure. BTW, in case you're wondering, the Patriots did win their first football game.

Will someone give some motivation to do the quilting on my post card? I can't seem to get myself to sit down and "just do it." Not sure why, maybe because I'm still not comfortable with my machine quilting skills. Why did I sign up for this swap???

Well it's time for birthday cheesecake. My DIL turned 22 on Friday and we are celebrating today. Oh, to be 22 again! No, wait, when I was 22 I had two young children and pregnant with #3. I'm glad where I am right now, soon to be 45!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Bruce came home with gift certificates for a weekend at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, OR. The weekend includes two nights lodging, a spa and facial treatment, a massage on the river's edge and a round of golf. It looks like we will be heading to Oregon again next summer. Woohoo! I can't wait!

I'm Going Mini Quilting

I got up this morning feeling so much better than the last 3 days. The muscle relaxants really helped. Thanks to everyone for sending positive thoughts my way.

I've had a full quilty day today. I finished tying my mom's quilt this morning. Then realized I didn't have of the fabric I wanted to use for the binding so I'm trying to decide what to do now. Then it was time for my hair cut and color job. After being pampered for a couple hours I came home and knew I just to start a project. I know, I know, I started my postcard last night and was supposed to finish it today, but when a project starts speaking to me I can't ignore it.

So, my quilt lesson for today was making a mini quilt. This is one of the patterns I bought a few weeks ago at the World Quilt Show in Manchester. At the moment the quilt is about 13.5 inches by 19 inches. The patches in the middle measure 1.5 inches. There is one more border to make that consists of 68 1.5 inch HSTs. I have them done I just need to press them.

Some of the blocks are a little out of proportion, but it has been a great exercise for the afternoon. To keep me company and to get ready for the Patriots game tomorrow I have watched the DVDs from each of the Patriots Super Bowl winning seasons. I will be soooooo ready for football tomorrow.

Sweet P's First Saturday Quilting Class

I started my first Saturday class an evening early. I've been home with back pain all day today and just couldn't tolerate being still any longer so I started on my first post card this evening. I scrounged through my scrap bin and found a 6 inch square of fall fabric. I ironed on some Wonder Under and carefully cut out two leaves. I definitely need to find a small pair of scissors with very sharp points (anyone have any recommendations for good scissors?). Then I poked around my FQ drawers and found some fabric with what I would call woodland nymphs. A little more Wonder Under and some trimming and I had a beautiful young lady for the my postcard. I found a dark brown print for my background. Some more ironing, a little adhesive and I have the back of the card attached to the stabilizer. This is the first project where I have used Wonder Under for applique and used stabilizer. So far I'm happy with my results. Tomorrow's lesson will include working on the machine quilting for the card and practice on the binding.

I have my mother's quilt spread out on my sewing table so my machine is put away for now. I'll finish tying her quilt tomorrow morning and then I will be able to put the machine back and I can finish my post card. I'll also put the binding on mom's quilt and finish that. Not sure if I will be able to do anymore quilting than that tomorrow. A lot will depend on how my back is feeling and if I feel the need to take any muscle relaxants or not. I hoping not since I will still be home alone all day and can do whatever I want to do.

DH comes home on Sunday and the New England Patriots have their first football game. I'll be working on my hand quilting for the afternoon.

Well, I am ready for bed. I'm pleased with the start of my first class and can't wait to finish it tomorrow.

Thoughts From The Golf Course

DH and I attend the Deutsche Bank Gold Championship every Labor Day Weekend. It’s our chance to catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods and to enjoy some great golf.

You have two options for watching a golf tournament in person. You can sit for hours watching group after group play through the hole you have chosen to watch while waiting for your favorite player to come along. Or you can try to keep up with your favorite player and follow him around the golf course. I prefer Option #1. DH usually picks a spot next to the Green with a good view of the hole for me. I plant my chair and sit and watch many groups come through while waiting for Tiger. It’s impossible to follow Tiger and be able to watch him. Too many people follow him and makes watching him difficult. DH and I refer to the group as the “Tiger Wave”. What people miss by doing that is seeing many other golfers who make great shots and enjoy the game too.

There is lots of time to reflect, contemplate and set goals while sitting by the green and that is what I do while waiting for group after group to reach the green. Labor Day Weekend has become the “New Years Eve” of my year. More importantly, because the anniversary of my quilting falls on Labor Day weekend, I spend many hours daydreaming about my quilt projects and where I want to go with my quilting. This weekend my thoughts centered around my September quilting goals and my idea to put together a “snowed in” kit. I realized I like working on several projects at a time (who doesn’t?), but I didn’t really have a plan for working on them in any particular order or time. So I’ve developed “Sweet P’s Junior Quilting Year” - this is my third year of quilting, therefore it’s my junior quilting year.

So what am I going to do this year? Well I am a somewhat organized person, I like the idea of working on projects at a particular time. So I have allotted certain projects to certain times. These guidelines are not written in stone, but will allow me to accomplish what I want to do without feeling like I am neglecting another project.

Here is Sweet P’s Junior Quilting Year:
New England Patriots football games (or any other football game) – Hand Quilting Time. I have a mini whole cloth quilt I want to finish and I want to start hand quilting my Pink Finity quilt.

Snowed In Project – Speed Pieced Triple Irish Chain - This is project I started in May 2005 using Jinny Beyer fabrics. I have the strips ready to sew into blocks and I’ve made a few blocks. This project will be easy to take out of its box and work on while snow is falling outside.

Car Time Project – This is my Tumbling Blocks wall hanging. Hand piecing for the car works well. When I finish that project I haven’t decided what I will do next.

Saturday Morning Class Time – I have some new quilting skills I want to learn so I’ve signed up for Sweet P’s Quilting Class. I will spend an hour or two learning a new skill or practicing a skill. This year I want to work on appliqué, machine quilting and binding.

So there you have it. My plan for my Junior year of quilting. I hope I can follow through with my plan. Now that I've outlined it I should be able to get plenty of quilting work accomplished this coming year.

Start of September

I have lots of quilting plans for this month. Just look at my September Goals list. But the biggest plan of all is that September 4 is my second anniversary of quilting. My gift to myself for this anniversary is to get my Singer Treadle machine up and running. I have had her for over a year and I decided it was time to be able to use her.

But first, a couple weeks ago Bruce and I had a photographer friend of ours take pictures of us to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Here is one of our favorite shots. We took the pictures late in the day at the beach. All of them turned out well, now we just have to decide what to do with them.

I suppose you're wondering why there is a picture of a snow blown street in my blog. It all started with Laura's post about going to a quilt camp and the theme of the camp is "snowed in." This is the street I live on in downtown Dover during a blizzard. I LOVE snow! Nothing is better than being snowed in for the day. I decided I am going to pick a project or two and kit them up for a snowed in day this winter. I will cut the fabrics and put the whole kit in a "snowed in" box in my studio and when we have a snow day I will work on that project. I can't wait!

Well, it's not snowing here today. The sun is shining and it's time to wake up Bruce. We are off to the golf course for the weekend to watch Tiger Woods even though it is going to rain on Sunday. Have a great weekend and I'll be catching up on reading blogs during the evenings.