Back from holidays

I wish I can say that I have been disconnected due to vacations or the holidays or any other fun activity. Unfortunately, end of the year means a truck load of work and so I have been putting in some insane hours at work. But there is a ray of hope in the horizon since new years bring the deadlines we work to meet and then life settles into a normal pace once again.

I did have a chance to travel to NH to visit my daughter and son-in-law last week.

I love the holidays but there is very little appreciation of it when I'm thinking of all the work that needs to be done. 

Regardless, I still had time to see my sister and nephew and to meet the newest member of my daughter's household.

This is Oreo. He is so darn cute!

This puppy is a handful! When he wasn't chasing squirrels from one window to the next he  was jumping on you to give you some lovin'

I just got home last night and I still have tons to do, but I wanted to drop by to let you know I'm alive and kicking. No Quilting at all in this house but that just allows all my ideas to simmer a good while.

I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays and I wish you all a Happy New Year...

From our house to yours!! 

Revisitng the BOM for some Rehab...

I had a chance to work on two more blocks for the BOM I pulled out from the UFO pile last month.

I find that the more I tackle these the smoother they go.

When I first started this project the lack of proper instructions really threw me for a loop but I think I'm getting the hang of things.

At least they are not causing me to pull my hair out!

With these two, I have finished the blocks for the month of March. At this rate, I'll be done in 2014.
At least I can now call it a WORK IN PROGRESS and not a UFO.

A big thank you to Sinta for hosting the BOM rehab!

Playing Catchup

A few weekends ago I went to retreat with the gals from the Modern Quilt Guild. They are always good company and inspiring.

While there I did make a dent on my Kim Diehl project. I actually finished all the applique! Yeah me!

I glued all the big pieces down

Then stitched with the tiny zig zag and some monofilament thread.

Then I added the darn berries... all 60 of them...

And I was able to call the applique done and start on my borders.

The first one is sewn on and I'm happy with it, but this second one is definitely not convincing me so I put it aside until I could get my hands on the new Diehl line for Henry Glass. I just got it a few days ago, so I'll be able to get back to this soon.

I drew a name via the random generator for the giveaway of the Laundry Basket goodies.

The goodies go to "one line lane"...

I hoping to hear from you soon to get this prize on it's way... Check your email.

Last but not least.
A big thank you to everyone that made a donation to Bands for Brad. The event itself was a great success. It's not too late to make a donation, the link to the donation page will remain up until the end of the month.

Stay tuned for a glimpse of what I did over the weekend!

Rocking for a Cause

Tomorrow is not just special because it's my birthday but because my girls will be hosting an event truly dear to us all.

Meet the Marauders...

This was the standard fair at my house as my daughter grew up. 

Do you see a theme here? Besides Lindsey's favorite T-shirt? 

Holidays, Birthdays, every new Harry Potter release...

For years...

These kids just seemed to gravitate to each other. They found a common thread in their lives and stitched a true friendship out of it. They walked different paths but were all committed to this friendship...

In 2009, we lost Brad.

 

I don't talk about it because I try to forget it happened. It's easier for me to think he is out there doing his thing and just not keeping in touch... But sometimes it sneaks up on me.

Like the day this was taken...

As the girls piled up in the photo booth to take some cutesy photo, I fell apart a bit. One of the bridesmaid that was trying to console me didn't understand when I turned to her and said, one is missing. She just thought I was having a mom moment and in a sense, I was. After 3 years, that wound is still very raw.

Brad died in his sleep. He had epilepsy. While everyone slept, Brad slipped away from us. The Epilepsy foundation calls it SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy).

November is National Epilepsy Awareness month and the girls wanted to do something in remembrance.

 Lindsey is part of a rock band called Melt and has reached out to other local bands to put on a benefit concert to raise funds and awareness of this disease.  The girls have worked hard to make this a success and I could do no less to support them.  Which is why I am finally talking about it.

I promised them that I would bring the message to you all. I have put a widget on the sidebar of my blog that links to a page I created to raise funds for the cause. Even though the event takes place tomorrow I setup the event to last through out the month. All donations go directly to the epilepsy foundation to promote awareness of the disease and we hope that with awareness will come the knowledge needed to help those that suffer seizures.

If you can make a donation to the cause, words will never express my appreciation.

Please, feel free to spread the word!!!

Fun at Quilt Market

I was lucky enough to go to Quilt Market a couple of weekends ago. My sister, Brenda has a quilt shop that specializes in primitives and going to Market has become a nice thing we get to do together even though she lives across Country.

This year, as I mentioned last week, we dragged our younger sister who is a non-quilter. That was interesting. She will definitely not be doing that again. Her feedback was "I saw some nice things, but not anything I really cared for". Funny thing was... I felt the same way!

I was excited about seeing the sample of some of the patterns I really love. 

Like this one from Sue Daley.

And this one from Leonie & Deirdre, The Quilted Crow Girls

I loved catching up with Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison from Red Crinoline Quilts. We had a chance to chat a bit about the slow market and about what they have been up to. They had some really beautiful patterns out, like the one behind them in the picture (River Road) and the mini next to Paula (Red Crinoline's Favorites Collection No. 1). I just love their work.

I also got to catch up with Gail Pan. She is such a sweetheart! I first met Gail a couple of years ago at Spring market. We had dinner together back then and discovered she is a hoot!

On top of that she does the most adorable embroidery patterns.

Love her trademark elves. They are my favorite!

I love seeing quilts I recognize. This one is from the mystery series Monique Dillard designed for American Patchwork and Quilting. She has a new line coming out called Royal Gardens from Maywood Studios. Really beautiful pieces, so keep an eye out for it at your local quilt shop.

I love being surprised at Market. I picked up this quilt pattern a year ago and it has been languishing in my 'to be made' pile. I was loving it back when I first saw it but I think the color threw me off after I got home with it. Jump forward a year and the BOM has been re-written into a book and offered in a different colorway. I soooo love this new look! Yes. That folksy looking quilt is in that book that is sitting by the headboard (The Spirit of Sacagawea by Minick & Simpson)

One of my FAVORITES at market was this booth...

Do you see that quilt in back of the bed? On the wall? I brought that pattern home with me. I want to make that. I need to make that. I saw it recently on Laundry Basket Quilt's blog and I knew I had to get my hands on it. It is just as beautiful in person.

Remember how I mentioned I fell in front of a booth at Market? Yup. Right in front of this booth. I had just asked permission to take a picture of the booth for the blog and Edyta (who is the nicest person you could ever meet) had happily agreed when I turned around and got tangled in one of those Tutto sewing machine carriers. Everyone carries those wheeled things around at market and they also leave them in the middle of the aisle. Yup. I got all tangled up in one as I turned to get a better position for my picture. It was not pretty. It was awkward.. Definitely not one of my finest moments.

I did recover and poor Edyta, she felt horrible. I felt horrible that she felt horrible. But we got over it and got chatting about the blogging and her work and she was so gracious to give me a little something for my readers.

Edyta has a new line coming out next spring from Moda called Paint Box and she gave me her last Charm pack as a giveaway for you all. She also gave me a copy of her new 2013 Journal which is chuck full of gorgeous pictures of her quilts.

This weekend is my birthday and I thought it is a great time to give to you all who give me so much support throughout the year.

Leave me a comment and I'll randomly select a winner Sunday night. I only ask that you make sure your email is accessible so I can reach you if you win. Thanks!
Hope you enjoyed the recap!




11/17: Update! A Winner has been selected! Thanks for leaving a comment.

Let your voice be heard.

Election day is here and I'm concerned. Actually, I'm always concerned when election days roll around. I'm concerned that women will throw away a right that was fought for so passionately.
I'm always concerned that less than 100 years after earning the right to vote, we, as women, will take it for granted and decide we are too busy to stop at the voting booth.

I believe it is my duty to show that I appreciate what the women that fought for these rights did for us. That I respect their sacrifice. These women that were chastised, humiliated and at times incarcerated for seeking a voice in their future. For fighting to give me a voice in mine. Something that was given without thought to men. Something that in many countries women still go without. I vote because so many stood up and said, no more. I owe them the time to go and vote.

Today we, as women, still fight for equal rights. We are still shut out of many opportunities. Let's not lose ground by staying home and letting others decide our future.
I don't care who you vote for. I don't care what your ideology is. What I do care is that you go out there today (if you have not done so already) and cast your ballot. Be part of the process. Let your voice be heard.

I voted two weeks ago.

Quilt Market - Arriving is an adventure.

Did I mention how much blogging on the go is a failure? Tried to post this on Friday night and that was a bust after I had typed out a great post and then hit "New Post" instead of "Publish" from my Blogsy app... I had some words to say but I think I'll save your ears.

This was on the day I arrived at Market (Friday Night Sample Spree) with my sisters (Brenda on the left, Jessica in the center and Me on the right). I was just happy to have arrived.

 I typically drive to Houston since it's a great ride and it removes any TSA restrictions on what I take and, especially, what I bring back. But this year I could not take the full day off on Friday and would have had to leave early on Sunday (I hate driving at night), so my sisters convinced me to fly... Not doing that again! LOL!

Flight was delayed 40 minutes, the pilot we had must have been a retired New York City cabbie (based on the smoothness of his landing) and then the shuttle bus driver took us on a tour of the Houston International Airport before deciding it was time to start the 25 minute ride to the hotel... My sister Jessica, who flew with me, commented that I kept looking at my watch. What I was thinking was, I would have already been at the hotel if I drove...

Caught up with friends, spent more than I should and fell prostrated on my knees in front of a booth... overall, the arrival was just the start of a memorable Market.

More to come.

Off to Market!

Headed off to Quilt Market this weekend.

Hopefully will come back with great pictures and fun things to chat about!

A few days with Kim Diehl (pt 3)

If you have been following along, I have been chatting about my invisible machine applique class with Kim Diehl last week.

On the second day of class I greeted Kim with an evil eye and proclaimed her not my friend. I was tired and felt a bit defeated because the leaves from the night before looked horrid (my points were not really points). She had a good laugh on my behalf.

I was to leave it all behind me and start with a fresh attitude on this beauty.

Again, the pictures don't do this quilt justice..

Kim has a fantastic eye for color

And she incorporates the patchwork into her quilts like very few can do.

Lovely, Lovely, Lovely...

After breakfast and a pep talk from Kim, I cracked open the book (pattern is Gathering Gardens from her new book Simple Charms) and saw that the patern called for 60 berries!!! 60! I let out a squeak in class that incorporated everyone's feeling on the subject. At the end of the next two days we were making berry puns left and right...

We did some pre-sewing at home for this one. 

Funny thing is, that even though there were so many berries. There were not as many leaves. 

And the color really gave you something more to think about besides the little darn circles.

By the end of the second day, I had the basic structure of this one in place. 

Enough laid out that I could actually start the sewing process.

Kim showed us how to see the layers in the piece and build up the applique. 

Can you see the stitches? I think I'm getting it! 

I had soo much fun. The others in the class were a great group of gals. They could laugh and tease as experts. Kim was such a good teacher, she squeezed in some tips on quilting using Big Stitch method as well as her unique wool applique method. I say unique because I had never seen it before. She gave us a run down of her thought process when choosing colors and, above all, that hands on help that allowed us all to walk away thinking we know what we are doing. So worth the wait!