Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates…You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get

As October is fast approaching, I wonder what happened to September?  It’s been a hectic and emotional month.

Moving our son back to college was both exciting and a little sad. He’s in a new apartment rather than a dorm room, so he was quite happy about that. He took a lot more stuff, and our visit with him was a whirlwind of unpacking, shopping, unpacking some more, and back on the road for home. I’ve been cleaning out his bedroom so that I could get it painted, and it looks mighty lonely to walk by his door. I’m going to make it into a sewing haven for myself, but I’m leaving the bed up so that he has a place to sleep when he visits.

After the weekend of moving, excitement, frustrations, and some tears, I got some great news on the quilting front! I was asked to quilt two quilts for the Superior Threads booth at the Houston Quilt Festival, which is coming up in a few weeks. What an honor to be asked!  I have great respect for Bob and Heather Purcell, owners of the company, and I’ve seen the work that is on display in their booths. No small shoes to fill!  I received the quilts last night, and I’ll be working on them over the next few days. I get to play with some gorgeous King Tut and Rainbows threads!  I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend!

The day after I received the request from Heather, I got a note from Bruce and Diane of Sew Batik.  They asked me to be a featured longarm quilter for their Tiki Times Newsletter.  Bruce and Diane are lovely people, and they do a lot to support the longarming community. I’m a Longarm Associate with their company. If you’re interested in their awesome batik wide backing fabrics, I have swatches in my studio for you to look through! I’d be happy to help you place an order for one, or several!  The quality of their fabrics is top quality!  The little blurb about me will be in their October newsletter.

I also had some heartbreaking news a couple of weeks ago.  A treasured friend, Kathy O’Daniel, was killed by a drunk driver in a head on collision in Rohnert Park, CA. I’ve known Kathy since our grown children were toddlers, and I loved her dearly. I can say with all honesty, she was one of the very best people I have ever known.  With a warm heart and courageous spirit, she was always available to anyone who needed her. That included her awesome husband, Chuck, and their 5 children. She seemed to be tireless in her ability to always be there when you needed her. An easy laugh, a bright smile, and encouraging word, a heartfelt prayer, were all traits of Kathy.  She taught me so much by her example, and I am a better person because she was my friend. She touched more lives than anyone will ever know, and she is missed dearly.  I have shed a lot of tears for the loss of my treasured friend, and I’m sure there will be more.

Yes, this has been a rough month.  Lots of highs and lots of lows.  Another heat wave kicked up the rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes it’s hard to push through and work when you need a box of tissues, a hot bath, and a warm hug.  That’s life.  It’s a mixed bag.  My friend would tell me to pull myself up by my boot straps and snap out of it!  I can’t make it to Northern California today for Kathy’s memorial service, so I will have a private one. In honor of Kathy, I will work this weekend to help someone else, and I’ll thank God for the gifts that make what I do possible.  I am truly blessed.

Maria Elkins Technique Portrait Quilt

I was pooped yesterday, but I didn’t want to just sit all day and do nothing. I pulled out some fabrics, popped in the fabric portraits DVD by Maria Elkins, and this is what I’d finished by the end of the day:

I still have to quilt it and put a little light in his eyes.  I learned quite a bit through the process. This handsome young man is one of my nephews, and it’s the first of several portrait quilts that I plan to do.  Gayle is the one who finally gave me the nerve to try this technique, after she posted a portrait quilt of our friend, Kay.  Jean Shute is also teaching a class on doing fabric portraits. The class will be hosted on MQResource.

I also got a beautiful surprise in my mail on Saturday!

Carie Shields is a dear friend and a gifted longarm quilter. Look at the feathers that she stitched onto this fabric postcard! She rocks! She also happens to know that lime green is one of my favorite colors. Thank you, my friend!

Autumn Houses BOM by Bunny Hill Designs

This is another BOM quilt done by one of my customers, Virginia. Again, beautiful applique work, and lots of fun to work on!  Some of the quilting is the same as the one I did a couple of weeks ago, but I also worked at adding a few different design elements to the quilt.  I hope you enjoy looking through the pictures!

New Block of the Month!

Nancy Rink has just posted directions for the first block of her newest block of the month quilt!. She’s posted two different colorways, and they are both gorgeous!  I think I may have to do both of them. You can print the free patterns and order the fabric kits from http://www.nancyrinkdesigns.com

The Beauty of a Library

Until recently, I hadn’t visited a library in a very long time.  I  don’t have much personal down time to read, so there was no point in going to a library.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I was going to give myself the gift of more free time.  It was a particularly hot day, and I was in the mood to read.  I headed off to the local library with a child-like sense of excitement. As I stepped into the building, I had a sudden memory from childhood that wrapped around me like a comfortable favored quilt.

I grew up in the desert. My little hometown had all of 800 people, and my parents had been part of the community since long before I was born. I delivered the newspaper to half of the town, and my sister delievered to the other half. We either rode our bikes, or we walked everywhere we went. One of my favorite places was the historic building that housed our county library.

Back then, the library was a sacred place. Once you walked through those doors, everything was hushed. You didn’t dare speak above a whisper, for fear of having the librarian scold you, or worse yet, ask you to leave the building. The doors were huge, and they were heavy. The architecture of the building was, at least to me, beautiful. The floors were made of stone.  I don’t remember what type, but I think they were made of marble. I clearly remember going to the back of the building, out of site of the librarian, and slipping off my summer sandles to stand in my bare feet.  When it was 115 outside, the feeling of the cold stone beneath my toes was heavenly! The shelves of books gave me a sense of promise, adventure, romance, and knowledge. I loved flipping through the library index files and choosing a random card, then setting off to find that particular book.  It was a game of exploration and a wonderful way to spend a long, hot summer day.

As I looked through the books on the library shelf a couple of weeks ago, I was filled with those same, familiar, comfortable feelings. As I flipped open a book, the crackling sound of the plastic library cover made me smile. I’d forgotten how much I love that sound. That’s the sound of a new beginning, full of hope and promise, exploration and adventure, pondering and soul searching, romance and love.

Candy’s Sampler Quilt

Candy is a friend that I got to know at a retreat in Tahoe last year. We hit it off instantly and had a blast while sewing, singing, and dancing the weekend away! Candy does beautiful work, and it was a pleasure to get to work on one of her quilts!

Fabric Bowl and Pillow Cases

After a very busy quilting week, I decided to putter around the house and do some sewing of my own today. I’ve had the cording wrapped for the fabric bowl forever, so I decided to sew it up. The technique is from the book, It’s a Wrap. It was fun to make!

I also pulled a piece of fabric from my stash and made some pillow cases. Vicki Welsh has a great tutorial on her blog for these!

A Surprise In My Mail!

I’d been told that I’d be receiving a package, and I was NOT to open it without having Suzanne on the phone with me.  I did as I was told, and imagine my surprise when I opened the box to find these!

Aren’t they fabulous! I’ve always been more than a little jealous, because Suzanne’s mom, Mary Ann, knits socks for her. I’d wanted to ask for a pair, but I thought that would be a bit rude.  Rather than be rude, I simply suffered in silence.  Well, I probably mentioned my jealousy just a FEW times to Suzanne. The yarn is warm, soft, and is something new that Suzanne is carrying in her store, Knots and Bolts.  The bit of funky pattern and bright color suits me perfectly! Thank you, Mary Ann and Suzanne, for sending me such a lovely gift!  Hugs and smooches to you both!

Perfectly tickled;  it’s a good thing!

Bunny Hill Applique Quilt

This quilt was pure joy to work on! The pattern is by Bunny Hill, and the block of the month project was hosted by Strawberry Patches, one of my local quilt shops. The customer is an excellent piecer, and her hand applique is awesome! She gave me complete artistic freedom, so I had a blast!  Seeing her joy in the finished product reminded me why I love to do what I do. I’m so blessed to be able to do something I love, while helping to provide for my family.

I’d forgotten to take pictures of the quilt before I left the house, so I took these at the shop, with Collin’s camera.  I’d never used his camera before, so I didn’t do the quilt justice with the pictures. I did tweak the color and shadows on the photos so that the quilting shows. Sorry about the poor picture quality.

Fun Quilt for a Baby Shower

Today, I am attending a baby shower for my niece, Jenny. She and her husband, Brady, are expecting their first child in October. They have been told that it’s a boy, and they plan to name him Jackson. She is decorating the nursery in monkeys and the colors brown, blue, and sage green.  I picked up the kit to make this adorable and easy, snuggly quilt at Strawberry Patches. The kit contained the theme fabrics, fabric for the binding, chenille for the sashing, and the Minkee for the backing. How easy is that?!  Jenny took a look at the fabrics on the website, and she was thrilled with them all! I finished the quilt around 1:00 this morning. Now that pictures are taken, it’s being washed. I know that some quilters like to give a quilt to the recipient unwashed, so that the fabrics still look crisp.  I prefer to wash them, so that they are snuggly looking when the recipient gets them. If you are looking for chenille or Minkee, Strawberry Patches is the place to shop!

On the customer quilting front, I’ve completed all the stitch in the ditch around some beautiful applique, and I’ll be spending the next few days on the fill work. I’ll show pictures when it’s done. Next up, is a star sampler quilt which should be done by the end of next week, then on to another hand appliqued quilt. Busy, busy!