A Perfect Ten

My TENTH finish for the year is for my friend's baby:



I had to finish it before that baby became a big sister. I have 3 months to finish another quilt before the new baby arrives.

The full force of the LIME fabric doesn't show well in the photo. You'll just have to trust me on it.

Grandma's Album

Finish number NINE!:

I belonged to a Moda club for a few years and have kits of each project, nicely labeled in a plastic box. That particular box contains one less kit, now that Grandma's Album is finished.

This is a very light quilt that will be probably be my summer-weight bedspread.

Eight is NOT enough!

My eighth finish for the year is mine all mine! It's so stinkin' cute I can't bear it!

The fabric features Snowmen. Made from marshmallow s'mores.





Cute overload!

I bought the fabric at Elaine's in Salt Lake City. The block was pieced at my winter quilt retreat in January. It's finally quilted and bound and on the sofa, ready for snuggling.

Here's the back:




For more photos of this quilt, see my other blog.

Blog silence...

...has been caused by silence in real life. Much to my chagrin and family's delight, I dislocated my jaw. My family doesn't like to see me in pain, but I think they like the "it hurts to talk" part of it just fine.

I'm on the mend. I'll be able to chew in another 3-4 weeks but will resume quilty posts tomorrow.

First, something near and dear to my heart: a recipe for soup. Soup is good. I can eat soup.

Lentil Soup

1 pound dried lentils
1 t minced garlic
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced carrots
1/2 cup minced celery
4 vegetable bouillon cubes
6-8 cups water.

Make sure the veggies are cut really, really small (so I can eat them without chewing). Then throw it all in the crock pot and cook all day. Serve with crusty bread (that I can't eat for about a month) and a nice salad (ditto).

Lucky Number Slevin

I love scrap quilts. I try and use every. last. piece. of fabric. And when it's too small for me, I have a quilt buddy that makes crumb blocks and miniatures from my leftovers. Bonnie Hunter has great information on managing and using your scraps. The bottom of her page has a great idea for making scrap backs for quilts. I use her technique all of the time:



I went through a phase where I cut all of my scraps into five-inch squares. Yet another quilt in the tossed/disappearing/divided nine-patch vein:



I have finished SEVEN of fifty quilts for the year. Hopefully I can keep this up, because the sewing room is still so full!

For more information on the quilting, see my other blog.

You've gotta play to win

Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home magazine recently mentioned the book Lottery by Patricia Wood. I finished reading it last weekend and loved it! There were shades of Forrest Gump, but it definitely had something original to say. Perry L. Crandall is my new hero.

Run and get this book. And while you are at it, pick up Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home, too.

Working on....

The scrap tumbler bin was overflowing and a lot of them were green. Since I need a lot of graduation quilts this year and was desperate for some mindless piecing......

With one child graduating from college and another graduating from high school, 'a lot' doesn't fully encompass the number of graduation quilts that I need this year.

Working on...

Even though the fabric line is "Taxi" from Timeless Treasures, I volunteered to make the shop sample simply because black and gold are Steelers' colors!



It's difficult being from Pittsburgh and living in New York. I get taunted by Giants fans on a regular basis. My answer is usually, "How is Plaxico working out for you guys?"

Did I mention that we now have SIX Superbowl rings? Take that, Giants fans.

Public Service Announcement

Time: the night before a Valentine's dinner party, 8:30-9:00 pm

Place: my kitchen

Helpful hint: When making a cheesecake from your favorite aunt's most scrumptious recipe and it's time to add several dashes of salt, make sure it's not pepper. Just sayin'. I've suddenly been struck with inspiration for tomorrow's dessert: We're going to have chocolate pudding cake with ice cream for dessert instead of cheesecake. Cheesecake is so boring.

How to add insult to injury: Offer to help your daughter clean up her Valentine's dinner for her sweetie. Take the most decadent chocolate cheesecake ever (my daughter is a baker of some reknown) and replace the springform pan's outer circle so the cake can be refrigerated until sweetie takes it home. While carrying the pan to the refrigerator, make sure to have the bottom literally fall out.

Now that I've helped you all have a more successful Valentine's Day dinner, I think it's cocktail hour. Gotta go.

Carbon dating

Does anyone remember when this fabric was out?



I bought it, planning to make my son's high school music teacher a quilt. My son is graduating from college this year. Whoops.

Working on...

This will likely be my next Quilt of Valor.

Running Strong

Mom will now have fourteen tablerunners:




It's Leaf Tapestry from Thimbleberries.

Finish number SIX!

Working on...

Gosh, I love Lonni Rossi fabrics.

Five boys

My son has four friends that he's been friend with since grade school. They've been in scouts and church groups together and spent a lot of time together. My son has been to the Outer Banks with one of them; to jazz camp in Kentucky with another. When all five are together, there is usually a bonfire in someone's yard. They are very responsible about it, but they do love their fires. School notebooks are burned to celebrate the end of the year. Scrap wood and brush are burned by necessity and the gang just happen to gather. When I think of these boys, I think 'fire'. When they neared high school graduation, I knew that their graduation quilts would be inspired by fire.

I gathered all my black, white, black & white, red, orange, and yellow fabrics and cut them into five-inch squares. Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Time passed. The boys graduated. Then finished their first year of college. And their second. Then their third. When I realized that they were graduating from college and I was planning quilts for their younger siblings, finishing the quilts became a priority. I pieced all four tops and backs and finally finished quilting and binding the first of the quilts:

I still have three more to finish, but at least I'm on a roll.

My son and his four friends started as five boys, but are now five men. Two are now working full-time. Three are graduating from college. One is getting married this summer.

Can anyone recommend a pattern for wedding quilts with a flame theme?

And for those counting, this is FIVE of fifty for the year.

Working on...

I am in the midst of excavating my sewing room. As I dig down...



... I am continually amazed by the fabric I find. When did I buy this? And why?

Desperate to catch up

I posted earlier that I've made my mom about twenty tablerunners. She actually counted for me, and I've only made her twelve. Here is tablerunner number thirteen and finish number FOUR:

I had a few extra blocks from my last quilt that just begged to be made into a runner for mom. I couldn't resist!

For more details on the quilting, see my other blog.

Working on...

The last of the projects from last weekend's quilting retreat:

It was a very fun and productive weekend. More photos and stories when the quilts are actually FINISHED!

A Quilt of Valor

THREE

For more information about this quilt:



see my other blog.

Working on...

The third project from last weekend's quilting retreat:

Working on...

Another project from my quilt retreat weekend:

Working on...

I had the joy of going on a quilting retreat last weekend with some incredible ladies. I also had the joy of making some progress on several quilts:

I'm blue.... again

TWO








This is another tossed nine-patch that I pieced and quilted last fall. I finished binding it during American Idol. I don't think I'd get much binding done if it weren't for that show.

The quilt was made from 270 5-inch squares of blue fabric scraps. It's 65x76 and will accompany one of my daughter's friends to college, I'm sure.