Sisters Day 1

day 1 is under our belts here at Sisters. this was the 1st year that i have taken a class at Sisters. they have classes going the whole week prior to the Outdoor Quilt Show. my friend Shelly took the class with me. we did Tula Pink's Cartwheel pattern with Tula.

here is a pic of Tula's Cartwheel quilt. the quilting on it is amazing. it was done by Angela Walters.
of course i had to get a pic with Tula. she is so much fun to take a class from. we learned a lot & met a lot of wonderful people.
then a pic of my partner in crime Shelly & me. we don't often get to spend a whole day together & it was great catching up, sewing & goofing off.

last night we went shopping at The Stitchin Post which was great. i will post more pics about the class when i get a chance. for now we are off to more quilt shops for some retail therapy.

Sara's Baby Quilt

i have a great friend Sara who is expecting her 2nd child which is a girl. i told her that i wanted to make her a quilt & i asked her what her colors were going to be. orange, brown & pink. i had never worked with those colors together before. Sara was specific "not a lot of pink".

so this is what i came up with. a main fabric with all 3 colors in it set with simple 4 patches done mostly in brown and oranges with a few pinks mixed in.

i love how it turned out. it is so Sara. funky with a little edge to it.
the backing was fun as well.
i picked up this print on a trip to Seattle thinking i would use it to make a bag. but when i went looking for a back for the quilt this was a perfect fit.
colors were smack on & the touch of whimsy fit right in as well.
i am looking forward to giving it to Sara this week & seeing the look on her face. i hope that she is as pleased with it as i am.

What Is Worth $100

$100

what is worth $100 to you?

each of us would answer that differently because we each place a different value on things. something that is important to me might not be as important to others.

i was with a group of people awhile back & heard a story about someone paying $100 for something that i thought was ridiculous to pay that much for. i decided that item must have been really wanted/needed by its purchaser however i still thought it was crazy.

so crazy that i have shared the story a few times. one of the times being with my friends at my mini quilt camp that i had at my house. they too thought the person overpaid for what they got. us being us & being a little off center that weekend we ended up turning it into a joke.

'hey can i borrow your scissors for sec?' response 'sure for $100'

'will you refill my glass of water when you go upstairs' response 'sure for $100'
'would you mind if i used some of your spray baste?' response 'no problem for $100'

'do you have a thread in this color that i could borrow?' response 'yep, for $100'




'would you mind stopping & getting us a coffee' response 'sure for $100'


everything was $100 that weekend. let me tell you it was hard to keep track of who owed who what by the time the weekend was over.





so back to the question that started it all. what is worth $100 to you?
fabric, groceries, a new outfit, books, music, etc....


i personally think that the person who paid $100 for that stuff they got - got taken advantage of but that's my opinion & maybe it was worth the $100 to them.


so from that quilt camp forward we will have the catch phrase 'sure for $100' anytime someone asks to use, borrow or get something for them.


so with this post the buck stops here. sorry couldn't resist.


the story never to be told again but to be referred to often with our new catch phrase.




'sure for $100'

The List

i am always cutting stuff out of magazines. quotes, exercises, quilt patterns, recipes, etc. back what seems like a bazillion years ago i cut this out of a Glamour magazine. i think i was either in junior high or high school. i must have really liked it at the time because i paid to have it laminated. it has traveled with me since through the various stages of my life.

i dug it out of my file of magazine clippings last week. it came to mind during an email conversation i was having with a good friend. at various points in my life either some or all of this list has applied & after looking at it again i still think its worth keeping. i also think its worth sharing. like me maybe not everything on this list applies to you at this moment but i bet that you can find at least one thing that does.

i got to thinking about what that means. how something from a magazine that is 20 or so years old can still have meaning. for me it comes down to being honest with ourselves and being happy with who we are. that is why this list still has some value for me today.

the conversation with my friend has continued via email & just the other day my friend sent me the following.... "You are responsible for your own happiness. No one, even the most dedicated friend, the most devoted love, the most attentive parent, can provide that for you. People close to you want you to be happy, they would help create the environment for that, but ultimately it will be you that decides it, chooses it, makes it happen."

i hope that this finds each of you happy in whatever it is that you are doing.

Showing My Cards

i am showing my cards in this post.

my blog sub-title says ' from fabric to finish and everything in between'. this is the in between part with a little fabric thrown in. although sewing, fabric & quilting is usually fun & happy stuff truth be told we all have a life. a life in the real world that gets yucky sometimes. i am just like the rest of you. i don't live in a land of rainbows & cotton candy i live in reality & i don't want my readers to think otherwise.

this past week has been one of the roughest weeks i have had in a long time. work has been crazy. we have been short handed. customer's want stuff 2 days ago & somehow their poor planning is our fault. battling suppliers over stuff that shouldn't be an issue. it seems like it has been a constant struggle all week. in dealing with this stuff my normal work is not getting done which adds to the problem. not to mention that my health has taken a downward turn during this process as well.

my health + stress = bad things

on top of that you throw in some disappointment whether it be in myself or others & you have the makings of a rough week.

its times like these that i have those conversations with myself in my head. you know the ones. "come on you can make it through this" "you are stronger then you think" "its just a bad day tomorrow will be better" "you are never dealt more then you can handle" yep. i have had them all. did they help? who knows. all that i know is that its FRIDAY & this week is about over which i am very grateful for.

when things are not going the right direction for me i do my best to find the silver lining that is always there. yesterday i got an email that brought tears to my eyes & a smile to my face. my SIL sent a pic of my nieces which was priceless. totally made me realize that even though there is crap going on i still have a wonderful family that is full of love. i will share the pic at some point in the future for now i just want to treasure it.

another great silver lining from this week was this.

my friend Sharon gave me this fabric. yes i said gave. her husband dropped it off at my work & it was during a time that i was elbow deep in something & didn't get to thank him. Sharon was going through some fabric, came across this & realized she didn't have a need for it anymore. i told her i would be interested because i know someone who likes that sort of thing & i could make them a quilt. so, thank you to Sharon for being a silver lining in my week.

when things get crazy for me & i get off of center i turn to things i know to bring me back. my two of my favorite things are music & sewing. so, yes itunes is playing as i am typing this & DMB is assisting in the re-centering process.

this is some of the sewing that has taken place this past week. block #11 from the Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery BOM. i also put together a bee block as well. i don't want to show that until she has gotten it.

another thing i have been working on is organizing my scraps. yes you read that right. crazy as it sounds my scraps have been driving me nuts. they have been residing in this large tote for sometime now. when i go looking for something you can imagine the mess it makes. that is what brought about this organization project. i have began by sorting them into piles of color range. if i come across something that is 5" or wider & the full WOF then that goes into a separate pile. fat quarters into a separate pile as well. this is my progress so far. i am surprised at my stack of reds. i am planning on getting through it this weekend. i have a couple ideas on storage so check back to see how that goes.

last but not least this morning i received another silver lining. i told you about the challenge that my friend Sarah over at Confessions of A Fabric Addict issued to all of us quilters. Sarah posted this morning that she had 48 people sign up. that means 48 quilts will be made & taken to Romania. me being me signed up to do 2. my 1st partner is local. my friend Barb is joining in the fun & we will be exchanging our fabric on Monday. huge Thank You to Barb for taking on the challenge. my 2nd partner is Larissa from Australia. yep, Sarah went international with this challenge. the response to this challenge puts a HUGE smile on my face.

i hope that you all had a survivable week & that an amazing weekend is ahead for each one of you.

remember "make the best of what's around"

WIP Wednesday

a few things got worked on in my sewing world this past week.

my friend Denise came over & we sewed on Sunday. we both were working on projects for the new baby that will be coming into our lives soon. i am the baby's aunt & she is its grandma. so not only is Denise a great friend but a relative as well - through marriage.

Denise's quilt for the baby has her name appliqued on it so that is what she is working on here.

remember this pile of fabric from last week?
well, i hacked it up & i have been sewing it back together.

putting some circles on.

putting some rick rack on.

its not done yet but i am hoping in the next couple days it will be done & i can start quilting it.

i have also started hand sewing the binding on 1 of my French General quilts this past week. i needed a little variety - hey its the spice of life..... right???

i hope you all have a wonderful week & a successful one no matter what you are doing.

WIP Wednesday

about a year ago at a quilt camp i met this great group of quilters who have a quilt shop about 45 minutes from me. sad to say, but it has taken me almost a year to get there. its called Material Girls Quilting & its a great shop with fabric, supplies, patterns, a big classroom & an accuquilt Studio Fabric Cutter. they rent out the cutter so people like me can come & chop up their fabric. so this past Saturday my friend Sharon & i had a road trip to Material Girls Quilting to use their cutter.

i got this fat quarter bundle sometime ago & really didn't know what i was going to do with it - shocking i know. it caught my eye, i liked the colors & it was on sale. so while i was thinking about what i wanted to cut on the machine this bundle came to mind & the tumbler dye came to mind as well.

so, in about 10 minutes i had my 20 fat quarters cut up into tumblers. the Studio Fabric Cutter is amazing. you can cut between 8 & 10 layers at a time.

my next fabric that i picked to hack up on the machine was my Poppy fat quarters & i knew i wanted to do drunkards path with them.

they were a little more time consuming getting them on the dye. the way i folded the fat quarter on the dye i was able to get 2 blocks out of 1 fat quarter with very little waste.

i think that these will be fun to put together & see how they look. i have no idea when they will get put together but they are cut & this is something that i would never take the time to do by hand so it was well worth the trip there.

this is Sharon getting her fabric ready for the machine.

this past week i was able to finish up my postage stamp quilt & i love it. all the fabric came from my stash so i think that is a double bonus.

this is the fabric for my next project. a quilt for my niece who is going to be joining the world in about 7 weeks - that's if she doesn't come early like her big sister did.

********

i am headed to the big city for a couple doctor appointments & i have a gift card to one of my favorite quilt shops that i got for Christmas. check back to see what i get with that gift card.

a few Christmas gifts

i got a few Christmas gifts that i wanted to share with you all.

if you have been reading my blog for awhile then you know that i have a group of friends & we call ourselves the Renegade Quilters. it all started a couple of years ago on a trip to Sister's & it has evolved from there. there are just 4 of us & we are always together at the various quilt camps, quilt shows & whatever else may strike our fancy.

this year for Christmas Lynette made us all these AWESOME notebook covers.

she personalized them with our initial of our 1st name. i totally love the embroidery on the A. below is some additional initials that have meaning to the 4 of us which she embroidered the full words on the back of the cover. next our year we were established & then on mine she put 'founder' because i named our group.
here is a shot of the inside of mine. Lynette personalized them for each of us based on our favorite colors as well as the additional initials that are specific to each of us.
we all acted like little girls on Christmas morning when we opened these.
thanks Lynette - great idea!
********
the next gift i want to share with you came from my friend Debbie. Debbie told me that when she saw this she thought of me right away.

it is going to be hung in the quilting cave.
********
last but not least comes the gift i got from Steph. i knew that she was making aprons this year for Christmas presents but i had no idea what mine would look like.
here it is....

sorry about the pic - hard to take one when you have no model.
i LOVE the fabric. all retro & fun.

my favorite is the girl reading in the chair which must have been Steph's as well because that is what she used for the pocket on the apron.

now for the funny part.
i called Steph to thank her for it & to tell her how much i LOVE the fabric & that i want to get some of it. Steph says to me, "you should love it because you picked it out." i was confused, no big surprise there. Steph explained that when we were in Sister's this year i found said fabric & Steph told me that she would make my apron out of it for me. i still don't remember that convo but i believe her & i am so happy because i really do LOVE this fabric & she even has some left over to share with me.
my apron arrived in this simple brown bag with the following tag on it.

its the same bag that i gave Steph her gift in last year. if you look close enough you can see where she whited out the 'to' & 'from' & swapped the names. so i guess we have a new tradition going on now. i will have to make sure that her gift next Christmas fits in this bag & get out my white out.

********

check back tomorrow because i am FINALLY posting the giveaway - it involves 'jelly' and a 'roll'. & yes i know i am a total dork.

A year of travels

it has been a year of travel for me.

January 2010 took me to Washington DC

there i got to see Colin Powell speak.
do a little sight seeing.

& see Natalie Cole perform.

then the end of January was a trip to McCall for sewing & a mini trip to Boise to see my niece.

in March i went to a quilt camp at Palouse Divide Lodge - no pic of that.

in April i went back to Boise for more time with my niece.

also in April I went to St. Louis for work - no pic of that either.

in May it was the trip of a lifetime - all expenses paid - to the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands.

on that trip we also sailed to Jost Van Dyke which is a British Virgin Island.

June was a month filled with doctors apts & several trips to Spokane.

in July a group of us headed to Sisters, OR for the Outdoor Quilt show.

i also went to Houston in July for work - no pics.

i was home the whole month of August except for the last few days when i made a quick trip to Boise to see DMB with my brother & SIL.

September kicked off with spending Labor Day weekend at the Gorge seeing DMB with Steph.

mid September i took a quick trip to Chicago to see DMB at Wrigley.

the end of September brought another quilt camp at Palouse Divide Lodge.

in October i went back to McCall with the Renegade's for another quilt camp.

in November it was back to Palouse Divide Lodge for yet another quilt camp.
December was a trip to Seattle to see Dave & Tim as well as a quick weekend trip to Boise to see my family there - no pics of that trip.

********

looking back over 2010 i realize just how much i got to see & do & i am so grateful for the opportunities that my life brought me this past year.

i don't expect to be traveling as much in 2011 however right out of the gate in January i am headed to Dallas for work. March will bring a trip to Boise to welcome my new niece. July we will head to Sister's again. August to California for work. & i am hoping for some quilt camps scattered in there somewhere through out the year.

********

up next

'A year of projects'