More proof that I'm crazy...

I joined another quilt along:



It starts this week. I'll start next week after I'm home from MQX!

Where's Debby?

At MQX, of course... it's where all the cool people will be this week. Come to Rhode Island!

Sunday Stash Report

Fabric in this week: 0 yards
Fabric in this year: 5.5 yards
Fabric used this week: 4.75 yards
Fabric used this year: 107.25 yards

STASH BUSTED: 101.75 yards

OK, I busted over 100 yards of fabric this year. I'm pretty excited, but why can't I see a difference in my sewing room? It's still full of fabric! Maybe the next 100 yards will make the difference?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Tickled pink!

And yellow. And red. And green. And purple.....

Last week I showed you pictures of a pinwheel quilt for a special little girl.

Lydia received her quilt and her grandma sent me a picture to share with all of you:



Celebrate with us! For details on Lydia's surgery and recovery, check out her grandma's blog.

Quilting is FUN!

I just had a great day with some quilters on Long Island. I hope they learned a lot; I surely learned a lot from them!



Fun fact: 18% of the women in this photo were named Debby/Debbie. I sense a trend....

Where's Debby?

On Long Island!

Spinning like crazy -- Lydia's quilt

A very special young lady is undergoing major surgery and this quilt is for her:



And the back:



The totals: 100 nickel squares, 25 10-inch squares, 1/2 yard binding

The quilt is a pinwheel quilt along from Old Red Barn Co.

I quilted some all-over cabbage roses and leaves, just to keep it fun.

... and I got to see an emu, too!

Earlier this week I mentioned that I did a little bird watching, but I never mentioned why I was headed to Connecticut.

For more Handi Quilter love, of course!



I spent two days with ladies from New York, Ohio, Maine, Vermont, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Indiana, South Carolina, and one gentleman from Louisiana.

Fun fact: 16% of us were named Debby/Debbie.

Spinning like crazy, part 3

So, the pinwheel quilt from Old Red Barn Co. is pieced.



It's 40x40. I have a special little girl in mind for this quilt.

Sightseeing

I was driving through Connecticut on my way to Sew Inspired quilt shop. I was enjoying the scenery and I noticed that some of the scenery was enjoying me:

I started screaming "An ostrich? Is that an ostrich? Maybe an emu? I should go back and take a picture." So I did.

Well dear reader, is this an ostrich? or maybe an emu?

Spinning like crazy, part 2

I couldn't stop making the pinwheels from the Old Red Barn Co. pinwheel quilt along:



Pinwheels are like potato chips... I bet you can't make just one!

I had enough white fabric to make 25 blocks so I used 25 different bright fabrics in these blocks.

Spinning like crazy

Old Red Barn Co. hosted a pinwheel quilt along. I quickly grabbed up my bucket of bright nickel squares and started piecing.



I pulled out all polka dots to start. I don't have enough spots to make this an exclusively dotty quilt, so I'm going to add some non-spotted fabrics to the quilt.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Sunday Stash Report

Fabric in this week: 0 yards
Fabric in this year: 5.5 yards
Fabric used this week: 3 yards
Fabric used this year: 102.5 yards

STASH BUSTED: 97 yards

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- potholders

I am blessed. I have many wonderful people in my life. People I love a lot. I love to give them gifts, and they love the gifts they receive. They love them so much in fact, that they beg for more.

If you give a mom* a set of Christmas potholders...

... she'll want a set of snowflake potholders for January.

If you give a mom a set of snowflake potholders...

... she'll want heart potholders for February.

If you give a mom a set of heart potholders ...

... she'll want shamrock potholders for March.

If you give a mom a set of shamrock potholders ...

... she'll want Easter potholders for April.

Well, it's April.

That's a whole lot of binding. Just sayin'.

_____

Since I was photographing my potholder drawer, here are some other homemade potholders:

Leftover watermelon fabric from another project.

BBQ fabric for June. Mom already has these.

Leftover orange/pink fabric from another project.

Zombie potholders!!!!!!! (If you aren't a Resident Evil fan, this won't make any sense.)
_______

*the same goes for "friend", "sister", "daughter", "daughter-in-love", "mother-in-love", etc. They all collect potholders.

Recovery quilting

I just returned from 13 days on the road ending with the first AQS show in Lancaster PA! It was such a rush to be there, and I spent weeks preparing so my classes would be "just right".

I've done a lot of teaching and a lot of travelling and I know to plan some down time when I return. I take the first day home and spend it in my sewing room engaging in 'quilt therapy' or 'recovery quilting'.

I grabbed my bucket of 1 1/2" strips and pieced them into blocks:

It was the perfect recovery quilting project since there was no thought involved, until...

... there were leftover pieces:

What am I going to do with the leftovers?

I pulled out a barely started scrap quilt that has 2 1/2" x 6" sashings. Should I continue with that project (I'm thinking no), or should I just toss those few strips and all my leftovers into a bag for my crumb-quilting friend?

Does anyone else get paralyzed by these enormous life-and-death decisions?

I hope this recovery takes, because I'm on my way back out the door for another 14 days of teaching!

Sunday Stash Report

fabric added this week: 1
fabric added this year: 5.5 yards
fabric used this week: 0 yards (it was all counted in other projects)
fabric used this year: 99.5 yards

STASH BUSTED: 94 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Mom's tablerunner

The last few quilts I've made have been for people with some serious medical issues. I needed to make a happy quilt. It's been a while since Mom got a new tablerunner, so:



Made with leftovers from a recent quilt.

Silver linings

In February I received the call that every mother wants to get from her college-aged daughter: "Mom, there are reports of a shooter on campus. We're in lockdown." I'll start at the end: no one was injured and they never confirmed the reports of a shooter. You can breathe now.

So, that was a Tuesday. On Wednesday, my full-time job was to not drive to Buffalo to pick up my daughter with a "Well, we've tried this college thing and it just didn't work out. I'm moving you home now." I knew that wasn't the right thing to do even though it was the only impulse in this mother's heart.

To pass the time and keep me from getting in my car and driving west, I grabbed a layer cake and designed and pieced a quilt.

The quilt worked so well that it's now available as a pattern:



It's called Sweet Dreams and is available in three sizes (crib, twin, queen/king).

I used the Boutique line from Chez Moi for Moda Fabrics. Yummy!

Check it out!

Sunday Stash Report

fabric added this week: 0
fabric added this year: 4.5 yards
fabric used this week: 9.75 yards
fabric used this year: 99.5 yards

STASH BUSTED: 95 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Kristen's quilt

A young mom in my church is enduring a really heart-breaking medical situation right now. I hope this brings a small amount of cheer to her and to her children:

Sunday Stash Report

fabric added this week: 0
fabric added this year: 4.5 yards
fabric used this week: 9.75 yards
fabric used this year: 89.75 yards

STASH BUSTED: 85.25 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

I'm changing my name....

... to Laura Ingalls. I was without power for a week, had it back for 11 days, and it's gone again. I'm learning to cook on the woodstove, hand wash laundry, and hand sew by candle light. Lest you worry about me too much, the generator does run the computer and sewing machine. A girl's got to have her priorities straight.

Friday finish -- Gina's quilt

A woman from my church is going through some heavy-duty medical treatments. I hope this quilt helps to brighten her day:

The numbers:

410 green and tan tumblers

1 yard for borders

2/3 yards for binding

56 10-inch squares for the backing

It's Showtime!

It's been 40 days -- 40 whole days that I've been home. I travel a lot for my job, but I've had 40 consecutive nights of sleeping in my own home. Since all things must end, in 6 more days it will be time to hit the road again. To tell the truth, I'm really looking forward to it.

In case you've ever wondered what goes into teaching at a quilt show, I thought I'd show you a glimpse of how I spend my days:

• 300 yards of batting
• 120 yards of fabric
• 150,000 yards of thread (85 1/4 miles)

And that's just what I picked up today!!!

I think I can convince a family member to carry this all into the house for me, but then it's up to me to make kits for my upcoming quilt shows. This should be enough to get me through the AQS show in Lancaster, PA and some of MQX in Providence, RI. I'll restock again in April -- my car is only so big!

I have so, so much more to do though. I'm making my lists and checking them twice, hoping to give my students the very best -- they deserve it!

If you are attending any quilty events in the Northeast United States in the near future, you will find me at:

• CTNY Quilt Shops Road Trip 2010
• Long Island Quilters Society -- "Asian Inspired" show
• Quilt Basket Long Island Longarm Quilting Retreat
• Machine Quilters Exposition

I'd love to meet you!

I'll stop in and update my blog when time and internet access allow. In case I can't find any WiFi, I've left a few surprises for you on my blog that will show up just so you don't forget me while I'm gone.

Can you help me?

I've apparently lost my mind and I cannot find it. I signed up for the ps i quilt pinwheel sampler quilt along. I need to start a new project like I need more snow but I went ahead and did it anyway. It was so cute; my power to resist dissolved.

Proof of the unmitigated cuteness of this quilt:

block 1:


block 2:


block 3:


my quilt so far:


Did I mention that I'm making this quilt entirely from scraps and stash? Wouldn't that make starting a new quilt a virtue rather than a vice?

By the power of Castle Grayskull......

I spent my son's early years tripping over picking up action figures and listening to all of the little noises he made when he made his "guys" fight a battle. We had the typical superheroes.... Superman, Batman, Spiderman. We had every single Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ever made, and duplicates of several. My son also went through a He-Man phase. He had a wonderful sense of balance; he had a "good guy" toy in one hand and a "bad guy" toy in the other at all times.

When he was three, we visited my sister for Thanksgiving. My son was in his grandfather's car playing with He-Man and Skeletor. The car hit a huge pothole and Skeletor went into my son's eye. He fussed as a 3-year-old would but soon calmed down. When we got to my sister's house in the evening and turned on the lights we realized what had actually happened: Skeletor had scratched my son's cornea. We found a nearby emergency room. My son was treated and given an antibiotic and an eye patch. We were told to take him to our eye doctor when we returned home.

We had only lived in our town a short while and had not yet found an eye doctor. I knew that there was an eye doctor next door to the post office and decided to check him out. This doctor was wonderful! He told us everything would be fine (this was our only child at the time and we were typical overwrought parents) and teased Kevin about how the "bad guy" had hurt him. The doctor then teased us about how life-altering it may have been for our son to have been injured by a "good guy"! My son recovered quickly and probably doesn't even remember this incident. I'll find out the answer to that soon, though, since he reads my blog.

We're grateful that this ended well, and we're grateful to have found a wonderful eye doctor. He's been our doctor for 20 years and our friend for nearly as long.

This doctor annoys me, though. He shines bright lights in my eyes, blows air into my eyes, and asks me hard questions. The hardest questions he asks are these: "Which looks better? One? or Two? ..... One?...... or Two?" I usually make something up because I can rarely see a difference.

I'm going to ask you, dear readers, the same question. Which looks better?

One:

I'm going to make all of the sashing out of 9-patches and the applique blocks will be featured in between.

or Two:

A simple every-other setting.

So, which looks better? One? or Two? Make something up if you can't see any difference

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Sunday Stash Report

I finally broke down and bought fabric this week:



I bought two yards of super-bright pinky/purple from the $5 sale rack and two $1-fat quarters. I didn't buy these for specific projects; they will just be added to my bright collection. I'm in the process of making several bright scrap quilts and the box of brights is emptying. Running out of brights is something to be feared, now isn't it?

fabric added this week: 2.5 yards
fabric added this year: 4.5 yards
fabric used this week: 8 yards
fabric used this year: 80 yards

STASH BUSTED: 75.5 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Gretchen's quilt?

I made a shop sample last fall using Birdie fabrics from Moda and Nesting pattern from Me and My Sister Designs. Birdie is likely the happiest fabric I've ever seen.

There was enough leftover fabric to make a smaller quilt:

Dilemma:

My daughter-in-love adores this quilt and I want to give it to her. Her husband (my son..... a man!) says she already has a million quilts (um, that would be two) and doesn't need more. I don't want to cause marital dis-harmony, but the quilt is really cute and I really want my daughter-in-love to have this quilt.

Solution:

I left the finished quilt folded on her kitchen table (in my house ... we live together). My thought was "if she takes it, it's not quite the same as my giving it to her." So, the quilt disappeared into their living room and my hands are clean. When I asked my son if he noticed the new quilt in their living room, he just smiled. Happy quilts = happy wives = happy husbands?

Design Wall Monday

Late, again. But I have a really, really good excuse.

Remember this from Thursday? Well, that 3-6 inches of snow was nearly 3 feet of snow. Trees and power lines were down everywhere. They opened my road on Saturday afternoon, but only to bring in an ambulance for a neighbor. More trees came down and the road closed again until Sunday. The power finally came back on Monday night. God bless whoever invented the woodstove, the generator, and the camp shower. We survived, but I like "on the grid" much better than "off the grid".

I have new projects on my design wall, but updating my blog wasn't my first priority last night (sorry!):

The pinwheel blocks are from p.s. i quilt's pinwheel sampler quilt along. Cute, right?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Judy's quilt

My daughter's friend's mother had surgery recently. I stitched together this quilt, using the Splash pattern.



I've been cleaning out the sewing room, and I found a bucket of 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch rectangles. I decided to add them to my backings.



I also have a bucket full of leftover binding strips, so the binding is all from scrap, too.

I really like this scrappy little quilt.

fabric added this week: 0 yards
fabric added this year: 2 yards
fabric used this week: 11 yards
fabric used this year: 72 yards

STASH BUSTED: 70 yards!

I want a new job!

I want a job where I can be wrong 99% of the time, maybe something in the weather-predicting field?

Today's forecast: morning rains may turn to slushy snow in the late afternoon. Total accumulation 3-6 inches.

Look at all of this rain:



Apparently at my house, rain is white and fluffy and stacked 2-inches high so far. It's gonna be a long day.

Design Wall Monday

I finally figured out what to do with those sweet posy applique blocks:



I added some super-bright nine-patches! (See, I don't only make brown quilts.) I have more applique and more piecing to do, but I also have some wonderful ideas for the border.

I give away probably 40-50 quilts each year. This one will be saved for a grandbaby. Of mine!When I showed this quilt to my son and daughter-in-love, she loved it. He, however, had a question:

"So, how does this work?"

I said, "Well, you see, you give me a grandbaby, and I give you this quilt." Simple, right?

He gave me that look that only adult sons can give their mothers and said slowly, "But the flower blocks are bigger than the other blocks. How do they fit together?"

Oh.

I proceeded to explain that when you applique, it's a good idea to make the background square a little larger and then trim it down when you are done. I just hadn't done that yet.

I ended the conversation with, "But I was serious about that grandbaby."

_____

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- shop sample apron

I made another darling apron, this time as a sample for my local shop.

It added my first yardage for the year, but I used it all, so I broke even.

fabric added this week: 2 yards
fabric added this year: 2 yards
fabric used this week: 2 yards
fabric used this year: 61 yards

STASH BUSTED: 59 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Irony

A dear friend of mine has eight children. Yes, I said eight. Laundry is a huge issue for her family of ten and this woman irons all of those clothes. I am every bit as shocked as you are! I did not know that irons worked on clothing; I thought they were only meant for use on quilts. I guess you learn something new every day, right?

It seems that every year or so my iron and I begin to have a disagreement. Usually the disagreement starts with my iron yelling, "My water reservoir has cracked because you dropped me on the hard floor one too many times so now I am going to squirt water everywhere." I'll usually shout back, "Dang! It's time to buy a new iron. Again." The current disagreement is somewhat different. For the past few weeks we've been playing the "If you want me to work, you have to jiggle the cord" game, progressing to the "You now have to jiggle the cord and wrap it around the handle twice and maybe I'll work" game, ending with the "I am going to pretend to work, but as soon as you pick me up I am going to flash an error message at you" game. Yes, really. An error message on my iron. C'mon Black & Decker, it's an iron for Pete's sake.

I was recently homebound for two weeks with whatever plague my teacher-son brought home this month and I could not get to the store. My husband tried to buy me an iron (I know, sweet, right? He must have been really tired of hearing me complain because trust me, I complained about this stupid iron), but he left the store in confusion. The first time I mustered enough energy to drive a car, I went to the WalMart* to look for an iron. I have spent well into four-figures on irons and the game is the same for me whether it's a $30 iron or a $200 iron. With a child in college I am choosing the $30 irons, hence the trip to the WalMart. I looked over each iron trying to make a decision, but my energy was quickly waning. In desperation I grabbed the cheapest iron that they had, under $7 I believe, and hoped that it would buy me a week or two until I was well enough to shop for a proper iron.

Today was new iron's maiden voyage and it's not bad! It is a little drippy, but the water is clear. I wonder how long it will be before this iron and I will start to have our disagreement. I will keep you posted.
______
*yes Kim, where I come from it's the WalMart

Yes, but can he dance?

Many of you know that I don't watch television. As in, "we finally have cable but I still don't now how to turn on the television set." I watch television series DVDs when I can get them from the library and I occasionally watch hulu.

Even though I, according to one family member, live under a rock, I've heard of the television show House, MD. Hugh Laurie is a well-known television actor. He was also the voice of Dr. Cockroach in Monsters vs Aliens.

What I did not know, and what you may not know either, is that Hugh Laurie is a novelist. I checked his book out of the library and absolutely fell. in. love. It is an incredibly witty spy novel; every minute I spent not finishing that book was pure torture. Over 95% of the books that I read are audiobooks. This book was actually made of paper. If I had my choice, this would have been available on audio book, with Hugh Laurie reading it himself. Even without getting my own way, I enjoyed my time immeasurably.


I've heard rumors that Mr. Laurie has a forthcoming book. Please, oh please, let them be true!

Design Wall Monday

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Sunday Stash Report

Stash used this week: 12.25 yards

Stash used this year: 59 yards!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Sarah's quilt

Our house, instead of emptying, seems to be getting fuller. Our youngest is away at college, but she comes home for breaks. Our son graduated from college and works as a teacher, but he and his wife live with us now. My daughter-in-love has a dear friend who has quickly become one of the family. She spends a great deal of time here and is quite the quilt admirer. She knows I give quilts away for high school graduations, weddings, and babies. Well, she graduated a few years ago, isn't getting married, and no babies are in the near future but she desperately wants a quilt. Conveniently, she turned 21 recently. Here's her quilt:



and the back:



I would tell you that the yellow was a design choice, but the truth is that I used every. single. inch. of the turquoise fabric and it still wasn't large enough for the quilt. Quilts that are 72x80 are difficult to back!!!!

Now, for the details:

72x80
used 90 10-inch squares (cut from scraps)
4 yards turquoise backing + 1/2 yard yellow

She loved it!

And we love having her at our house!

Snowbound

Last weekend my husband and I were supposed to be on vacation in Washington, DC. We cancelled a week before, just because the thought of going away was stressful. Then I got sick. We felt kind of smart for cancelling our trip, since I wouldn't have been able to go anyway. Then Washington, DC got hit with a paralyzing snowstorm and we felt positively brilliant for cancelling our plans!

The snow has caught up with us, however, and we are home today expecting 8-12 inches of snow. It's not a huge deal, and snow days are fun even for grownups!

I am still working, but not a full-speed today. If you have some spare time, like I do, check out Quilter blogs. It's a wealth of quilty information! Warning: only do this if you have spare time. You could spend hours and hours looking at all of the great blogs.

Design Wall Monday

Once again, I'm a bit late. Here's my design wall:





The brown blocks from last week were pieced into a quilt top during the Super Bowl. I added some applique flower blocks that I recently unearthed while excavating my sewing room. I think they are too cute to let lie and will probably make more.




Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Sunday Stash Report

used this week: 9 yards
used this year: 46.75

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- Ruth's quilt

My daughter-in-love's mother recently had surgery. I pulled out a partially-finished quilt top and made it hers:



The pattern is from Open a Can of Worms by Debbie Caffrey. I think I cut enough strips to make another quilt top, so you just might see another one of these sometime soon. Or next year. Maybe the year after that.

used this week: 9 yards

used this year: 46.75

I've decided.

For about a week now, I've been considering getting sick. My son is sick. My husband is sick -- I can't imagine why. It looks like fun.

Some days I thought about giving in, and other days I decided I was too busy to be sick just now.

This morning, however, I woke up and made a decision: I am sick.

Send tea and toast and Tylenol and tissues if you like.

I'll let you know when I decide to feel better.

Design Wall Monday

My design wall as of Monday:

Similar to last week, but I added a few strips of miniature Seminole piecing. There are more pieces in each of those strips than there were in my last 4 quilts! Please notice that although the strips are mostly brown, there is some green in there. I'm gradually working my way up to color.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.