Cat Patches

Monthly Doll Quilt Swap: Anyone Interested??

2012-02-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

I've been making doll quilts for about a year now, and they are so much fun to make and to receive. You can put a top together in a day or two. They are a good way to use scraps and a good opportunity to practice quilting, whether by hand or by machine. Here are a few that I've made and a few I've received.

This one went to my partner in Alaska, who asked for something with cats. (A woman after my own heart, obviously.)

This one was made with the theme black and white and one other color in mind.

This one came to me from my partner in England!

And this one came to me from my partner in Bakersfield with the theme "Show Us Where You Live" in mind.

I've been thinking of starting a new monthly doll quilt swap, and I'm putting this out there to see if anyone is interested in participating. The idea is just now jelling in my mind, and so I'm open to suggestions. Here's what I've come up with.

1. Doll quilts would be defined as quilts that are 12 x 12 inches up to 36 x 36 inches in size and any dimensions in between. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you desire . . . even a simple quilt block with a binding would work!

2. There could be an optional monthly theme, which might include the theme "Quilter's Choice."

3. I would set up a separate blog for you to show quilts you make and quilts you receive, but you don't have to have a blog. If you don't have a blog, you could email the picture to me, and I could post it for you.

4. Partners would be assigned monthly. Once you sign up to participate, it would be assumed that you will continue to participate each month unless you notified me otherwise. (It would be fine to take a month off too if you needed to.) Partners would be assigned on the first day of the month with the expectation that quilts would be finished and shipped by the last day of the month.

5. Assuming there are participants from outside the United States, you would need to be willing to ship internationally.

I'm sure there are other things you'll want to know, but those are the bare bones "rules" for now. I'm just trying to see if there is enough interest before I go any further with this. Ideally, I'd like to have about a dozen participants to swap, and my hope is that the swap would grow over time.

Let me know if you're interested by leaving a comment. Also, if you wouldn't mind spreading the word on your own blog or Facebook page, that would be greatly appreciated.

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

2012-02-17T00:44:00.000-08:00

First, I'll announce the winner of last week's Fun Fact Friday Freebie. I generated a number at random, and came up with:

Kathleen!

Congratulations, Kathleen! I'll contact you via separate email, and I'll get your fat quarter off to you right away.

With June not so far off, I've had Ireland and travel on my mind. I love traveling, although I'm a bit of a fearful flyer. I especially like traveling to Europe. Warm climates aren't too shabby either, and I like the Caribbean for scuba diving. The image above was taken on the tiny island of Caye Caulker in Belize. My dream vacation, however, is Bora Bora.

Mike's brother was a navigator in the Coast Guard. After he left the Coast Guard, he got into yacht racing for wealthy folks who could afford yachts(!). Right after Mike graduated high school, he took off with his brother to sail around the world. Can you imagine having such an opportunity at age 18? Something happened along the way, and I'm a little hazy about the details; but they got only as far at the South Pacific before they had to turn around and head back to Hawaii. Nevertheless, it was a dream trip and the chance of a lifetime for him.

After hearing his description of Bora Bora (when I was 16 and he was 18), I put Bora Bora on my bucket list. I've been saving my pennies for this trip of a lifetime, and I'm hopeful we won't be too old and decrepit to scuba dive by that time. It just seems there's always something more pressing than Bora Bora . . . like painting the house, or a new roof.

So here's my question for you:

If the vacation fairy landed on your shoulder and granted you one trip anywhere in the world . . . anywhere at all . . . where would you go?

As always, you must leave a comment with your response to the FFFF question of the day to be eligible to win a fat quarter. Followers can leave an additional comment for an additional chance to win. And if you have my FFFF button posted on your blog, please leave an additional comment for a third chance to win. Winner will be announced next week

More Quilting

2012-02-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

Today I was able to finish all of the pebbling on the Pretty Little Ponies doll quilt.

That took me most of the day. If you've ever done pebbling, then you know it is very time consuming. After that I sat and stared at the quilt for a good 15 minutes. I couldn't decide what to do next. I had in mind to do straight line quilting in the sashing, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it that wasn't going to be totally boring. In the end, I decided to do a small stipple,

and to put a horseshoe in the four patch block.

Okay, so I'm not an artist. I tried doing it several different ways . . . on the quilt. You might think it would have made more sense to use a practice piece for practicing, but that would have been far too practical. It made a whole lot more sense to me to spend an hour picking out my rejects. I didn't say it would make sense to anyone else . . . only to me. And in hindsight, I'm thinking I'll try the practice piece next time.

In any case, I still have a ways to go on this, but I feel as if I'm coming down the home stretch. I'm going to do a larger meandering design in the outside border once I have all the sashings and horseshoes finished. And then I'll call it quits on this one.

My commitment to do the other doll quilt right away is waning. I might have to do something else first. Free motion quilting is challenging and interesting for me, but it is also tedious. Too much tedium, and I start getting careless. It might make sense to come back to the other quilt when I'm feeling fresh. The quilt sandwich is made, and that is three-fourths of the battle in my sewing room.

All Sewing, All the Time

2012-02-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today I sewed and sewed and sewed until I couldn't sew any more. Literally. My wrist started bothering me, and I had to stop. That's okay. I was getting worn out on it anyway. And these "all sewing, all the time" days do not make George happy at all.

He yips and yaps at me to do something for him. What he wants, I'm not sure. Just something other than sewing. If I sit down on the floor and let him sit on my lap for a few minutes, he'll be satisfied for a while. Then he comes back and starts pawing at my leg some more. I know he would love to go outside and go for a walk, but it's just not that warm outside.

So what did I do to ruin George's day? I started by repairing the embroidery on another of the Mother Goose blocks. This one needed her boots and her umbrella handle redone.

I keep looking at her eyes thinking I should do something there, but I can't tell what it is exactly. The threads appear to be intact when I pick at them gently, and I don't see any obvious needle holes that would indicate something is missing. I've kind of decided to leave them alone. I'm not sure how to fix them if indeed they need fixing. I'll probably set these blocks aside for a few days because I need to do the binding on the Checkerboard Flowers quilt.

Today I did the machine sewing so the binding is attached to the quilt and just needs the hand work now.

I foolishly gave away the extra backing fabric I had, and so I had to piece the binding together from some other scraps I had. There was just barely enough. Since this quilt is going to be entered in the International Quilt Festival in Ireland this June, it also needs a hanging sleeve. Fortunately, I was able to cut enough excess from around the edges of the quilt to make the sleeve.

I've submitted my show paperwork now; and so unless I back out, it's a done deal. (I'm not expecting to back out.) They are wanting me to email a picture of the quilt, and so I need to finish the binding before I take a picture of it. It should take me just a few days. This quit is 86 x 86 inches . . . not small, but not so big either.

After that, I turned my attention to the February Free Motion Quilting Challenge, which was feathers this month. I had a little trouble going up the right side of the spine, but it's not too bad.

That's my favorite description of my free motion quilting attempts: "It's not too bad." Once I had filled in my space with as much feathering as I could fit, I just filled in the rest with various echoes. It's very empowering to do these pieces. I find myself saying, "I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!" It isn't beautiful, but I am definitely doing it.

After that I made the two quilt sandwiches for the doll quilts that have been waiting so patiently. I started the quilting on the Pretty Little Ponies quilt for Kylee.

I started out by outlining one of the horses and then filling in the background with pebbling.

I'm thinking I'll probably do the same thing in all four of the horse blocks, then some straight line quilting in the sashing. I'm hoping I can quilt a horseshoe motif in the outer border. My horseshoe practice today didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but I'm still thinking I can pull it off.

And that's where I stopped. I'll do more tomorrow. It was a good day . . . unless you are a cat named George. Then the day sucked.

Sew and Sew Day

2012-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Just so you know. . . I wasn't kidding about our Valentine's Day dinner. I spent two days on it. Cooking is a lot of fun for me, although I know that not everyone enjoys it. It's fun to do a fancy dinner like this once in a while, but I wouldn't want to cook like that all the time. This was delicious. Shrimp and scallops can be tricky sometimes. It's easy to over cook them and then they turn rubbery. But in one's quest to keep them from being rubbery, they can be undercooked as well. These were like the baby bear likes them: just right.

Today I'm rewarding myself for my two days of cooking and for my two days of not sewing because I was cooking. Today I'm sewing and sewing and sewing. I want to get the binding on the Checkerboard Flowers quilt, and since this one is being entered in a show, it needs a hanging sleeve too. That won't take all day, however. The rest of the time I'm going to spend quilting my Free Motion Quilting Challenge for February, and then I want to get to work on quilting those doll quilts.

All day sewing days are the best days. I wonder how much I can get done.

Table for Two

2012-02-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Please permit me to put off doing housework just a few minutes longer. It seems that a romantic dinner for two requires a modicum of clean-up around the place, and so that's next on the agenda. (I knew I wouldn't have much time for sewing yesterday or today. Rats.) It's a small price to pay for a chance to prepare a nice dinner, restaurant style.

I'll confess right now that I haven't actually cooked the dinner today, although I have made this dinner previously. But since I don't have any pictures of my own cooking, I'll have to borrow from la internette (that's French for Google).

Yesterday, I hinted to you that I had already made the soup and the dessert. This Roasted Beet Soup with Creme Fraiche is such a perfect choice for Valentine's Day. The recipe is from the February, 2005, issue of Bon Appetit.

(Image credit: Bon Appetit)

Of course, I'll be making mine a lot snootier by using sour cream in place of the creme fraiche. Really. It works just fine. This is so easy to do. Just put a glob (that's a precise measuring term) of sour creme into a sandwich bag. Snip off a tiny bit of the corner of the bag, and pipe to your heart's content.

Also prepared yesterday was the dessert: Chocolate-Orange Pots de Creme with Candied Orange Peel.

(Image credit: Bon Appetit)

Despite it's fancy name, Sondra Bernstein's recipe which also appeared in the February, 2005, issue of Bon Appetit is not difficult to make. I like it because it can be prepared up to two days ahead of time.

So what's the main course, you ask? Sea Scallop Risotto. It's a combination of recipes I put together from different sources after seeing this picture on the cover of the May/June 2008 issue of Fresh Ideas, a magazine put out by one of our local high-end markets called Zupan's.

(Image credit: Fresh Ideas)

It's not the best picture, but the dish features seared scallops and risotto with a steamed vegie accompaniment all smothered in Newburg Sauce. Yum. I just love a good high-calorie sauce, don't you? The article was a promotion for a cookbook, and didn't give the recipes beyond how to do the vegetables and the scallops. Undeterred, I found my own recipes for the Newburg Sauce and the risotto and put together this dish for some other romantic occasion . . . an anniversary, maybe? So here is what I came up with.

Sea Scallop Risotto
Servings: 2

10 very large sea scallops
2 teaspoons seasoning salt
2 ounces vegetable oil
2 cups cooked risotto (recipe follows)
6 stalks asparagus, steamed, -- cut into thirds
1/4 medium red bell pepper -- finely julienned, and sauteed in olive oil until tender
1 tablespoon olive oil, more if needed
1 1/2 cups Newburg Sauce (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Prepare risotto according to recipe. While cooking risotto, prepare Newburg sauce. Prepare the vegetables by heating olive oil in a small saute pan. Saute asparagus and bell pepper until tender. Drizzle more olive oil if dish seems dry. When all are finished set aside to keep warm.

Finally, wash sea scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Season one side with seasoning salt. Warm vegetable oil in large skillet. Place scallops seasoned side down in hot oil and sear them for 2-3 minutes on the first side. Season second side and turn scallops and sear for 2-3 minutes on the second side.

Place the risotto in the middle of a large plate, using a biscuit cutter to form a disk with the risotto if it will stand up firmly. Otherwise, leave out that step and simply pile it up with a spoon. Next, ladle the Newburg sauce around the risotto. Place the scallops on the sauce and around the risotto. Scatter the asparagus and red pepper julienne on top of the risotto. Ladle a little more sauce over all, and garnish by sprinkling chopped chives decoratively over all. Serve immediately.

* * * * * * * * * *

I found the recipe for the Newburg Sauce on the Food Network website. Here's how you do it:

Newburg Sauce
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch cayenne
kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot -- minced
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry sherry

Combine the flour, paprika, curry powder, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt, to taste, in a small bowl, and set aside. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the shallot and cook for 3 minutes until it begins to brown. While the shallot is cooking, bring the milk and tomato paste to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; be careful not to let it boil over. Add the flour mixture to the browned shallot and stir until mixed well with the butter. Add the sherry and whisk until smooth. Add the hot milk mixture to the flour mixture slowly, whisking constantly until the mix is creamy and thick. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

* * * * * * * * * *

Finally, I found the recipe for this Basic Risotto on the back of the Arborio rice container. Here's how you do that:

Basic Risotto
Recipe By: Lundberg Family Recipe
1 cup Arborio white rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups hot chicken stock, more if needed
1 large onion -- chopped

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy, nonstick skillet . Saute onion in oil until translucent. Add rice and stir rice until grains are coated with oil. Add wine and stir constantly on medium heat until wine is absorbed. Add 1 cup hot stock, stirring until liquid is absorbed. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes, adding the remaining liquid, one cup at a time. This rice creates its own creamy sauce; add additional liquid if more sauce is desired. Remove from heat, stir in cheese and serve immediately, or keep warm until ready to serve.

* * * * * * * * * *

My notes about this collection of recipes: To make Sea Scallop Risotto with all the fixings requires the use of a lot of pans and it may seem complicated. However, it is easy to prepare everything separately and keep it all warm while the scallops are being seared, then bring all the parts of the dinner together just before serving. It all comes together for an elegant dish that would be perfect for any special occasion.

Sounds good, huh? Now I'm hungry.

I guess I've put off doing that housework long enough. Time to get going.

Powerful Needle

2012-02-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

My needle and floss have managed to accomplish what all the king's horses and all the king's men could not.

Humpty Dumpty is put back together again. Isn't he looking positively roguish in his feathered cap? When I started this, I thought I was just doing the feet and the cap, but then I ended up taking out the black thread around his eyes and his knees too.

I'm starting to think I need to give ALL the blocks a good looking over. Even when I think the thread is in good shape, I'm finding that a lot of it is frayed and broken. It's only a matter of time before it pulls out, even if it appears to be intact now. While I didn't set out to redo every block, I might as well while I have it apart. I'm not committing to anything, you understand, except to look at it and then decide. For now I have eight blocks set aside to repair. Four of them are finished.

Yesterday I showed you Margery Daw. Also finished are Hey Diddle Diddle, who only needed the black line under his feet redone.

Also, Barber Shave a Pig. There was quite a bit to do on this one.

And by the way. Were you familiar with Barber Shave a Pig? I wasn't. Here's how it goes:

BARBER
Barber, barber, shave a pig.
How many hairs will make a wig?
Four and twenty; that's enough.
Give the barber a pinch of snuff.

How did we ever live without Google? And how did I ever live without knowing Barber, barber shave a pig? My life has been richly enhanced today. Thank you Google.

Following in my Mother's Needle Holes

2012-02-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

It's a good thing I stole a few moments this morning to work on my embroidery because it's the only sewing I've been able to do all day. I had an appointment this morning, and then I went to the grocery store to pick up some items for the special dinner I'm making for Valentine's Day tomorrow. Mike and I don't like to eat out on Valentine's Day. The restaurants are too busy. The menu tends to be fixed. It's just not the way I want to spend a romantic evening.

Valentine's Day aside, I spent about an hour this morning working on the embroidery repair for the Mother Goose baby quilt. I'll admit that I've been fretting about this a little because I am so impressed with my mother's embroidery. Honestly, it is flawless. I never saw her embroider a single thing when I was growing up, except for the time she embroidered my name on my gym suit for school when I was in the 7th grade. I didn't have the good sense back then to notice what a great job she did, although I do remember thinking mine was so much neater than my classmates' gym suits. (Most of them had to do it themselves. I was very lucky that way.)

So all of that to say that as I removed all the old threads, I realized that I could just go right along in her needle holes, which are still clearly visible on the fabric.

My mother has been gone for nearly 15 years, but it was as if she was sitting right beside me this morning while I threaded the needle in and out following right along where she had sewn. It isn't perfect, but it isn't bad either.

Working on this project has made me feel close to my mother, but I wasn't prepared for how intimate it would feel this morning to be sewing along in the needle holes she made so many years ago.

And I imagine Margery Daw is happy to have her feet back too.

Before I went to the grocery store, I picked up the Checkerboard Flowers quilt from the quilters. This is the quilt I'm entering in the International Quilt Festival in Ireland this June. So exciting!

I asked my quilter to use a flower motif, but I also asked her to quilt it pretty densely. I don't want the pinked edges of the appliques curling up and dense quilting seemed to be the way to go. Here are a few close-up shots. I'll show you the whole thing once I have the binding on and the whole thing is finished.

Here's how it looks on the back:

I'm pretty happy with what she did. I like the contrast of the cream-colored thread on the green backing. Foolishly, I put the leftover backing fabric in with the Traveling Stash when I sent it on its way. I forgot that I would want some of that fabric for the binding. It was one of those "well-that-was-dumb" realizations. Oh well. I have another green that will work just as well.

I spent the afternoon cooking. I made the soup and the dessert for tomorrow's dinner. That will give me the whole day tomorrow to do some cleaning and to cook the rest of the dinner. I'll tell you what's on the menu tomorrow and pass along a few recipes. For now, you'll just have to wonder.

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

Design Wall Monday--February 13, 2012

2012-02-13T00:22:00.000-08:00

This week I finished up most of my incremental projects for February. Actually, I've turned pretty much all of my projects into incremental projects. I find that if I set monthly goals for myself, I can take on more projects and keep everything moving toward completion.

This week, I finished the February block for the Day in the Life of Mr. Bear quilt:

and yesterday, I added the sashing to the block and then sewed together the completed blocks. I still have the three bottom row blocks to work on, and I'll be ready to finish this one up.

I'm doing a block a month on the Mr. Bear quilt. Also, I'm doing a block design per month on this Plain and Simple Amish sampler. This month's block design was the nine patch. Next month it will be the nine patch set on point.

The Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt is completely finished now. This was Judy's Peaches & Dreams pattern, although my quilt turned out looking quite different from hers. Here it is front and back.

And I thought I needed another orange quilt to work on, so I started on this stadium quilt for Erik and Mae (my son and daughter-in-law). It's for them to take to Oregon State football games this fall. We had breakfast with them this morning, and I let them know I was making it for them. They told me I could set up a business making stadium quilts for all of their friends since it is very cold at the football games. I have this top about half done now.

I have all of the blocks taken apart for my Mother Goose baby quilt now. Next I'll be repairing the embroidery on some of the blocks and then squaring and trimming them. Then I'll be ready to start sewing it back together. I'm anxious to see how it's going to look when it's all put together.

Finally, I finished the February block for the Promises and Borders quilt along. This one turned out so delicate and pretty.

And darned if I didn't cut this one with the embroidery off center again! There must be something wrong with my rotary cutter . . . or my ruler . . . or my cutting mat. It couldn't possibly be my eyes could it? Or my glasses? Maybe it's my glasses. Or me??? Perish the thought. In any case, one of the suggestions about dealing with the first block, which is also cut off center, was to cut them all off center and consider it design license. Okay! That's what I've decided! How easy was that?

Speaking of the first block, so chic in its off-centeredness, I took it out and again considered redoing the lettering.

Taking a fresh look at it, I decided it was okay as it is. I'm going to leave it alone for now. I can always decide to add an embroidered flower on the right side later if it seems too far off-center. For now, I'm thinking it's okay. While I strive to do my best work, I don't ruin quilting for myself by insisting on perfection. I'm satisfied that this one is perfect in its imperfection . . . unless I change my mind. And I can do that too! In my sewing room, I am the boss. It is the one place in life where I am Queen of the World.

My goals for next week are to complete the February Free Motion Quilting Challenge, and then quilt the two doll quilts that I have waiting in the wings. After that I have some new projects up my sleeve. One of them required a specialty ruler and a book with a technique that's new to me called square within a square. I'm going to be interested to see how that works out. I've watched a few videos about it and it looks pretty easy and straightforward. I hate buying another ruler, but I haven't purchased any new notions for quite some time. I figure I can spring for one every now and again.

The other new project I'd like to start is the doll quilt for my friend's granddaughter, Irish. I'm planning to do a Double Irish Chain for her and I'll be using these fabrics.

I just love that I was able to find this "Irish" fabric for Irish's quilt. Now that I have the fabrics picked out, I'm excited to get started. First things first, however. I need to quilt the doll quilts I already have before starting a new one. Uncharacteristically disciplined of me, don't you think?

For more design wall inspiration, visit:

Macro Monday

2012-02-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Dandelion

For more Macro Monday visit: Lisa's Chaos.

Stash Report: Week 7

2012-02-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yardage in and yardage out. More out than in, and the in is already spoken for.

Fabric Used this Week: 5 1/4 yards
Fabric Used in 2012: 24 3/4 yards

Fabric Purchased: 2 yards
Total Fabric Purchased in 2012: 21 yards

Net Used in 2012: 3 3/4 yards

A pretty good week. As long as I stay in the "Used" column, I'm happy. To see how others are doing with their stash-busting efforts, visit:

Saturday's Sewing

2012-02-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank all of you for your lovely comments regarding my Holly post. I haven't dwelled on it today, but I still felt a need to acknowledge her and to share her story. I appreciate your sensitivity and your support.

I spent most of the day sewing today. The embroidery for the February "Promises" block is almost complete. I'll take a picture of it when I have all the borders sewn on. It's turning out so cute.

Also, I took apart the last of the blocks for my Mother Goose baby quilt today.

The embroidery for these last five blocks was in good shape, so I won't have to repair any of them. Of the 25 blocks, eight will need minor repair to some of the black embroidery thread. I should be able to do it fairly quickly.

Once that is done, I want to trim off the ragged edges and square them up. I have plenty of space to work with. It's probably a good idea I decided to redo this little quilt and to make the necessary repairs before passing it along to yet another baby. With my mother's embroidery contribution, this quilt will be the work of two grandmothers. I've been thinking of naming it "Two Grandmother Geese". What do you think? Anybody have any other ideas about how to honor the two grandmothers and Mother Goose? (Of course, I have a ways to go before I'm actually a grandmother, but I hope to be one someday in the not-too-distant future.)

Also today, I put the borders around the latest Mr. Bear block and then sewed together the top two rows of completed blocks.

There are still three blocks to go, and then I'll be able to start sewing the borders on. This is going to be so cute when it's finished. I'm hoping to have the quilt top complete by the end of May, and then I'll have to decide whether I'm going to quilt it or send it out.

After I finished that, I started looking at the fabrics for the fourth of the five doll quilts I'm making for my friend Lisa's granddaughters. This next quilt will be for her granddaughter Irish. (Isn't that a cute name?) Irish is still a toddler, and so she hasn't really communicated what her personal preferences might be for a quilt. With a name like Irish, however, the choice seemed obvious. I'm going to make a traditional Double Irish Chain using these fabrics:

The bottom fabric will be for the quilt back, and if I can make it measure out right, I might use it in a border too. The plain green in the upper left will be for the binding, and I might also make some applique shamrocks to put in the corners of the quilt. I love it when a plan starts coming together.

But not so fast on that doll quilt. I still need to finish quilting the two I already have finished, and so that will be my next project. Also, I need to do my February Free Motion Quilting Challenge project. It looks like next week will be set aside for quilting.

Oh, and I almost forgot. A few weeks ago I won a giveaway over at Buttonmad. The buttons came today . . . all the way from South Africa! Aren't these adorable?

Whenever I see chickens they make me think of my friend, Sue, who would dearly love to have chickens. I'll set these aside and think about what to do with them. I think there might be a project in Sue's future.

Foto Finish: Doors

2012-02-11T00:58:00.001-08:00

The optional theme for this week's Foto Finish is "Doors". Here's my entry:

These are the front doors of a family (or maybe more than one family) from the walled city of Montone in the Umbria region of Italy. I traveled there several years back and found myself continually impressed that people actually made their homes in these charming structures. It would be like living in Disneyland. It's one of the things that I love most about Europe . . . the architecture. I was especially smitten with Italy, and hope to return there some day to see more of this lovely and diverse country.

For next week's theme I'm thinking of something wide open to interpretation. I'll be interested to see what you come up with for the optional theme of : The Way I See It

Now I'm ready to see your images for today. Did you stick with the theme? Are you showing us something else from your life? You don't need to have a blog to participate. Many thanks to Dana over at Stormy Days for this tutorial on how to link up using a FlickR image. Here's Mr. Linky:

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

On Raising an Angel

2012-02-11T00:31:00.021-08:00

Since writing this, I've been trying to decide whether to post it. It's a personal recollection about a painful experience. I'm speaking about the birth and death of my daughter, Holly. Today would have been her 29th birthday. "Would have been," except that Holly lives only within the confines of my heart and the solitude of my memory. Holly's memory is a precious gift. We don't gaze all the time at something valuable; rather, we bring it out from time to time to admire and to touch. The rest of the time, we carefully pack it away, knowing it is there for us when we want to bring it out again. Today is one of those days. My blog is about my life, and for today, this is what's on my mind.

Holly was a full term baby. She was born with a rare and random chromosome anomaly known as trisomy 18. You can read more about trisomy 18 by clicking on the link I've provided. In short, it's similar to Down's Syndrome, in that she had an extra chromosome. Children with Down's Syndrome have an extra of the 21st chromosome. Holly had an extra of the 18th chromosome. Here is a picture of her genetic karyotype. Notice that the rows of chromosomes are lined up in pairs, except to the right of the third row, where there are three of the 18th chromosome.

You can also see her double X chromosome in the last row to the right, indicating that she is a girl. Contrast this with a normal karyotype. This child has two of each chromosome--one from dad and one from mom--and you can see the X and Y chromosome to the right in the last row, indicating that this child is a boy.

Holly gave every indication prior to her birth that she was completely healthy. My husband and I went to the hospital and gave birth as any parents would, waiting with excited anticipation for the announcement of her gender. We were stunned when we were told within five minutes of her birth that her condition was "incompatible with life," and thirty-six hours later, Holly died.

It was unlikely that such a thing would happen. These types of random anomalies ordinarily happen in cases of "advanced maternal age". I was just 28 when she was born. We had a perfectly normal son, Erik, and nothing like this had ever happened in either of our families. We were told that our chances of having a repeat event were minuscule, but Holly's death was so illogical that it was difficult to take much comfort in those reassurances, or much of anything else either. I descended into an abyss of sadness that I had never before experienced, and nothing has ever touched me as deeply since. She was the last thing I thought about when I fell asleep at night, and the first thing I thought of when I awakened in the morning. Her death drained the color from my life. I felt numbly detached from my day-to-day existence.

It's strange to say, but when one loses a child, the child only ceases to exist in the minds of others. To the grieving family, the child continues on, growing and changing in a might-have-been chronology. For example, on the day Holly would have graduated high school, I found myself strangely fascinated with the goings on at the high school graduation ceremony. We were out on our boat on the river when I looked at my watch and noted out loud that the graduating seniors would be receiving their diplomas soon. The others on the boat looked at me quizzically, obviously wondering at my interest in these kids who were no relationship to me. Even I thought it was strange.

We were in separate cars as I drove home that evening and as I passed the high school, I noticed the lights on and craned my neck trying to get a glimpse of the graduates and their families. It occurred to me later that even though Holly wasn't physically with us, I had raised her every day of her might-have-been life. Every step of the way, I had imagined what she might have been doing at a given age. In my mind on that evening, she was receiving her diploma right along with her would-have-been age mates.

Parents of living children take pictures and collect mementos of their child's life. The parent of a dead child does the same thing. The difference is that the parent of a dead child constructs those memories from anything and everything that comes along that might have been relevant to the child's life and death. Of course, I saved little mementos from the hospital, like the card on her bassinet:

and her hospital birth certificate with her little footprints stamped next to my own finger print.

When a person is shaken to the very core of their being by an event as devastating as the death of a child, these mementos can be very important. They provide tangible proof of their dead child's existence. The grieving mind is not easily convinced of the reality of the situation. Sometimes it's nearly impossible to believe that such a thing could happen . . . to me and my family.

A few months out I read a book entitled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, by Harold Kushner. It helped me to heal, and it changed my life. Kushner pointed out that the dead depend on the living for their immortality. The book helped me to see that Holly would be remembered by others based on how my family came through the experience; and so I made it my mission to make her life touch others in a meaningful and positive way. I wanted to teach others how profoundly these little lives touch families. I wanted others to know that their deaths are not easily put aside nor forgotten. I became an active spokesperson and teacher and helped to start a support group for parents who had experienced losses in pregnancy. I wasn't expecting it at the time, but working with grieving families would set me on a path to a career in social work.

When her 20th birthday came around, I began to feel as if I'd done as much as I could for her as a mother. My mission felt complete and I was moving toward scaling back my work with grieving families. After so many years of keeping her memory alive, it felt as if the time had come to let her little soul rest in peace. Children naturally grow up and leave home, and it was time for her to go too.

My husband and I decided to go to the beautiful and historic St. Johns Bridge which spans the Willamette River in Portland. We had in mind to say our good-byes to her by dropping flowers into the river with the idea that they would make their way to the Pacific Ocean where her ashes are buried along the Oregon Coast. In general, February is a cold, gray, rainy month in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, her birthday turned out to be bright, sunny, and warm that year.

We walked to the middle of the span and dropped our pink carnations into the water.

They floated right in the middle of the channel, and we watched until they drifted out of sight.

We talked about it for several days afterward, wondering if the flowers had reached the ocean by then. It was a lovely way to put her memory to rest.

I don't think or speak about Holly very often any more, but her birthday never goes by unnoticed. Some years I pay more attention to it than others. I've noticed that when she reaches an age that was significant in my own life, I think about her more and wonder what she might have been like had she been born healthy and whole. I thought about her more when she would have been 25 because that was my age when my first child was born. I imagine I'm thinking about her more just now because I turned 29 shortly after her birth. It is still easy to remember the sadness I felt on that day.

Holly's memory generates sweetness rather than sorrow now, but I don't imagine I'll ever stop wondering what she might have been like. If you've read this far, I appreciate your interest in her sweet little life. When I was gathering mementos for writing this entry, I took her picture out of its frame. Behind it I found one of the things I collected over the years. It was a clipping from an article that appeared in Time magazine some years ago. The article was written by a woman who had experienced five miscarriages and who had no living children. I wish I knew her name so that I could give her credit. She did such a beautiful job of writing about how it feels to be the mother of a child who dies young. In closing, I want to share it with you.

You have children--not in the world inhabited by other people, but in the private world of your heart--you have children you will never get to mother. They are secret children, like those children you read about, confined to an attic or a closet. No one but you recognizes their existence; you yourself don't even know their form, their genders, the shape of their noses, the color of their eyes, and yet the strength of their souls flutter inside your heart like a caged bird's wings. As a mother, it is your job to get them out into the world, but you have failed them hopelessly, and so they haunt you, inhabiting a hyperreality that in the middle of the night feels truer and more real than any reality you have ever known. They are your children, and you are their mother. And yet you do not stop your life for them. Instead, you go on.

Moving Along

2012-02-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day. I guess you know what that means. Cats hanging out by the fire . . . me hanging out at my sewing machine. What could be better than that? Unless it's sunshine, which is in short supply right now.

(Why yes, that is an orange thread on the floor next to George's paw. I wonder where that came from? I've never seen any threads on the floor around here!)

With the cats safely ensconced next to the fireplace, I turned my attention to my February NewFO project, the Oregon State stadium quilt, I'm making for Erik and Mae. I sewed together all of the blocks I have so far . . . that would be 60 blocks in all.

With that done, this quilt is half finished already. It's going to be a good size for its intended purpose. I've kind of decided to tie this quilt using black and orange knit crosheen crochet thread, which is what I always use to tie a quilt. I think if I tie it rather than quilting it, it will be softer and "drapier". (Did I just make up that word?) With the finished blocks at 6 inches, it would be a nice "rhythm" to tie it at the corner of each and put another tie in the center of each. I kind of like the look of a tied quilt sometimes, and I think it would enhance the look of this one. That will have to wait, however, because I'm setting this one aside for just a bit.

Then I moved onto my February set of blocks for my Plain and Simple Amish sampler quilt. This month's blocks were simple nine patches.

I like these colors. I added a sort of rust red to the mix and a grass green. I strayed a bit from the suggested colors in the quilt pattern just because I like a lot of contrast. Next month's block set will be another four nine patches, but set on point this time.

Having just finished the hand sewing on the binding of the Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt, I drew out the embroidery motif on the Promises BOM. Last night I started on the embroidery while we were watching the news.

Now, I absolutely love lavender. I love the color of it. I adore the fragrance of it. I love the way it looks when I see it blowing in the breeze in summer. And I have to say that I am loving the look of these little lavender sprigs. They are so precious and delicate. Altogether, this is turning out to be a very gratifying stitchery project. (And I'm all about self gratification, aren't you?)

That said, if I had tried a little harder, I suppose I could have done more things wrong with this first one.

First of all, I was supposed to do chain stitch with one strand of floss for the brown scroll work. I did back stitch with two strands. That doesn't bother me. Then, when I trimmed it in preparation for the borders, I cut it wrong and ended up with the embroidery off center. Even that doesn't bother me. Some of you made some excellent suggestions about how to fix it. I've decided to embroidery a couple of flowers on the right side to bring the design back to center. It will be an easy fix, and I think it will look nice. Finally, I was supposed to use one strand of floss for the scripture, and I used two. Now, that bothers me. It's difficult to read the way it is, and I know I'm not going to be happy with it. So I've decided that when I finish the one I'm working on, I'm going to take out the embroidery on the scripture and redo it. Some things I can live with and some I can't. This is going to be a gift, and I want it to be something I'm proud to give.

While I was sewing yesterday, the mailwoman brought my February swap block from Samantha. Isn't this sweet?

Up until now I've been asking for cat blocks, but last month I changed to this block. It became a favorite when I made for someone else recently. It's called "Along the Oregon Trail". It seems I have a bug up my rear for red and white lately. This will be so pretty in a quilt. Thank you, Samantha. I'm sad to say I didn't ever receive my January block. My January swap partner informed me quite some time ago that her sewing machine was in the shop. If my sewing machine had been in the shop this long, I'd be having a serious conversation with the shop. It could even result in someone getting arrested. (In fact, I'm considering writing a screenplay about this.) Oh well. I haven't given up on receiving it yet, but I'm getting close. In the grand scheme of things, it's small potatoes--tater tots, even.

Now I want to finish up by saying I received the nicest email this morning from Caitlin Hacker of the International Quilt Festival of Ireland. Caitlin said this:

I am contacting you because after doing some extensive research online for breathtaking and fabulous quilts having to do with gardens and flowers, I came across your quilts that I thought were extremely beautiful. I wanted to know if you would be interested in sending us your garden quilts so that we can display them at our festival this coming June.

It just so happens that I am attending the quilt festival in Ireland in June, and so I was flattered to be asked. I've asked Caitlin to send me more information, but I am seriously thinking about entering my Checkerboard Flowers quilt in the festival. Caitlin specifically suggested that I enter a quilt in their My Quilted Garden exhibit Wouldn't it be fun to attend the show and see my very own quilt there?

My quilter just called yesterday to tell me that this quilt is finished. That will give me plenty of time to finish up the binding before shipping it off to Ireland. And as I write this, I'm getting even more excited about it. It would be my first show! I don't expect to win anything, but it would feel like a big accomplishment just to enter.

Today is even drearier than yesterday, and rain is in the forecast for most of the day. I've promised Mike I'll make him some biscotti today, and I might break down and do some housework too. (Housework causes me to break down.) As for sewing, I'm hoping to get the border on my latest Mr. Bear block. Also, I just installed the newest version of the My Memories Suite software on my computer. I'd like to spend some time playing with that too, but I'll admit that I'm not fond of sitting at the computer.

I hope you have a productive Friday!

I'll be linking this post to:

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

2012-02-10T00:32:00.001-08:00

First, I'll announce the winner of last week's Fun Fact Friday Freebie. I generated a number at random and came up with:

Kathy Felstad Usher!

Congratulations, Kathy! Kathy blogs at Moving on to the Past. I started thinking it would be fun for you to visit the blogs of our weekly winners, and so I'll start linking up to them when I make the announcement. I've contacted Kathy via separate email, and I'll get her fat quarter off to her right away.

This is the time of year when people get a bug to be better organized. While I think my sewing room is fairly tidy, I'm always on the lookout for new and unique ways to store things. Keeping the clutter at bay is a never-ending challenge. A few things I've come up with are using drawer style bins to organize my stash. I like to do it by color. Also, I save paper towel and TP tubes to roll up leftover fusing medium and stabilizers. Cardboard tubes are very useful for storing all kind of items. You are all so smart, and I'm imagining our collective storage wisdom knows no bounds. So for this week's question, I want to know:

What's your favorite tip for storing/organizing sewing items?

A Finish and a Start

2012-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

Hooray! The Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt is finished! I've been working on this quilt for close to two years. I'm so happy to have it finished. Our weather is typical Oregon gloom today, but this quilt would brighten anyone's day.

I like how the binding contrasts with the orange in the border. I used this same fabric in other areas of the quilt. Binding this quilt was my goal for the One Thing One Week Challenge over at Amy's Creative Side.

I turned off the flash so that you could see the quilting. It's all Aztec suns and geometric shapes done in orange, red, and yellow variegated thread.

And here's the back, which was designed to look like a giant block from the front.

So that's that. It always feels so anti-climactic to finish up a long-term project. Now I'll just fold it up and put it somewhere. This one doesn't have any particular person or purpose in mind. I just liked the design. This is Judy Laquidara's Peaches & Dreams pattern. Mine looks quite different from hers. That's one of the things I love about quilting . . . how different fabrics can so completely change the look of a pattern.

With that finished, I can continue on with my February NewFO quilt. I have half the blocks made. Today I'll finish sewing these together and then I'll probably set it aside for a few weeks. I like lots of variety in my projects so that I don't get supremely sick of working on any one thing. (I've learned this strategy the hard way. Does the Home is Where the Heart is quilt come to mind?)

This one is going together so fast. I can highly recommend this pattern if you need a quilt in a hurry. I'm aiming to have it finished in September, and so I'm in no rush. But if you need a good sized quilt for a special occasion and don't have a lot of time to work on it, I could see finishing this quilt easily--from cutting to binding--in a week or less. It's an interesting pattern. I'm sticking with this pattern for the blocks, but I could see turning and rearranging them for other interesting shapes.

I'm also hoping to get the next embroidery motif traced out for the Promises quilt, and if I don't run out of time, I might do the next set of blocks for the Plain and Simple Amish sampler quilt. A busy day of sewing ahead, no? It's the only good thing about crummy weather. I have an excuse to stay inside and sew.

The Many Talents of George

2012-02-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

George's hand-sewing skills are impeccable.

He's also a world class snuggler. He's going to try for a spot on the US Olympic Snuggling Team.

Please don't interrupt his workout. He's a serious contender.

January NewFO Giveaway Winner

2012-02-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

If I had known so many of you were going to show up for the linky party, I'd have baked cookies! It's thrilling to have so many participants. Thank you one and all. Today is the day I said I would pick a winner of the quilt pin. With a bag full of these sweet little pins, I reached in and drew one out at random.

Cute, huh? These are about 2 x 2 inches. Then I generated a number at random from all of you who linked up. There were 45 of you in all! And the winner is:

Congratulations to Judee! I'll be contacting you via separate email, and I'll get your pin out to you right away.

Now, don't despair if you didn't win. I'll be giving away a quilt pin each month, so keep starting on those NewFO's and look for another link-up on February 29th--Leap Day! And speaking of February, have you started your February NewFO yet? I started mine today:

Hm. I just noticed that one of the blocks is turned the wrong way. Do you see it? In any case, it's a stadium quilt for my son and daughter-in-law to take with them when they go to the Oregon State football games. I've had this Oregon State fabric positively forEVER, and so I'm glad to finally be putting it to good use. This pattern is from the City Quilts book by Cherri House. The pattern is called City Tracks.

It's made up of 120 blocks, each 6 1/2 inches unfinished. I can get 6 blocks from each strip set, and so I've cut 20 strips from each fabric. Now, I'm busily sewing them together and cutting them to the right width. I'm about 25% there at this point. These should go together fast, and I'm hoping to have the quilt finished by September when football season starts.

Each strip set has a leftover 4-inch wide "block" that I'm setting aside. Maybe I'll have enough to make a bag or a doll quilt or something. We'll see. I'll do something with them so they won't go to waste.

Also today, I finished up Block 13 of the Just Takes 2 quilt along.

And with that I've finished the set for the first half of February. The next set is due out on February 15th.

Also, this seems a good time to tell you that I won a fat quarter with my name for a block from the last set. I came up with the name "Kissing Fish" for this block.

I just love that red batik. I'm hoping I'll have some left over when all of these blocks are finished so that I can use it in another project. So pretty.

How did your Tuesday go?

Versatile Blogger

2012-02-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Kathy Felstad Usher at Moving on to the Past for recognizing me with The Versatile Blogger award. (Insert your own visual of me blushing with embarrassment.) Honestly, I have gained so much from blogging. When I started I just wanted to join in some of the link-ups. Little did I know that my friends in the blogging community would become such an important part of my life. Thanks to Kathy and the rest of you for following me and my kitties as we go about our little lives. You are the best!

Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention seven random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven random things about me:

1. I'm very proud to say I grew up as a military brat. My dad was a career Marine.

2. I met my husband, Mike, when I was 16. We'll be married 37 years in May.

3. I've been known to drink vinegar straight from the bottle.

4. I'm a scuba diver.

5. I like to read historical fiction.

6. My ancestry is Amish; i.e., quilters!

7. I played the role of Sally in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

Now my difficult task is to choose another 15 bloggers to honor. My goal was to choose blogs that contribute something unique and interesting to the blogging community. I wanted to honor bloggers who don't already have an army of followers, but deserve to, nonetheless. My blog roll is lengthy and there are lots and lots and lots of worthy blogs. It was difficult to winnow the list to just 15, but here goes:

In no particular order:

1. What a Hoot! for her beautiful blocks and her BOMs Away linky party.

2. Zzyzx & Sue for her great sense of humor.

3. Sue Daurio's Quilting Adventures for her beautiful quilting.

4. Sand and Sunshine for her courage in tackling the Lone Star quilt.

5. Mrs. Pickles Garden for her attention to newbie quilters with her We Bee Learning block bee.

6. Morning Glory Designs for sharing her gorgeous and free BOM patterns.

7. Mareenz for her beautiful photography and for showing me her beautiful country, New Zealand.

8. Make.Share.Give for a deceptively simple, but always interesting format.

9. Lily Pad Quilting for her consistently good content.

10. Life in Pieces for reminding me what it's like to manage a very busy life with teenagers.

11. Count it all Joy for sharing tales of her lovely family and full-time RV living.

12. Sarah did it! for her beautiful quilts.

13. Stormy Days for showing us life in Florida and for her great blogging tutorials.

14. 501 Quilt Blocks for her interesting Zentangles.

15. Woolensails for her unique needlework and her patterns.

These are just a few of the many blogs I enjoy daily. You all enrich my life and stimulate my creativity. Thank you again, Kathy, for honoring the crew of one person and two cats here at Cat Patches.

Bear Resting Comfortably After Apparent Playground Mishap

2012-02-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

Dateline: Quiltville. "I'm lucky to be alive!" claims a local bear after nearly having the stuffing knocked out of him in an apparent playground accident.

Noted swinger, Mr. Bear, has a reputation for entertaining young women at his many wild and wooly tea parties. (Tea. Right.)

The swinger bear claims he'll turn over a new leaf after bearly surviving a fall from a playground structure. Doctors stated that a helmet, knee, and elbow pads could have prevented the worst of his injuries.

Mr. Bear received stitches and several spoonfuls of sugar to help the medicine go down.

The Mayor of Quiltville has pledged an awareness campaign to avoid future mayhem.

Recipe Test: Homey Chicken Stew

2012-02-06T05:21:00.000-08:00

Technically, I suppose this is as much a book review as it is a recipe test. I need another cookbook almost as much as I need more quilt patterns. Nevertheless, this one caught my eye.

While I have slow cooker recipes that I like, my experience is that most things end up tasting overcooked. Fresh vegetables end up tasting like those from a can and meat is cooked until it's mushy. There's no doubt that slow cookers are convenient, time-saving wonders, especially for home cooks and parents with full-time jobs (in addition to their other two full-time jobs of parenting and caring for their homes). No doubt that is why the slow cooker has stood the test of time.

In my family, we happen to like food that is appetizing to look at and that tastes good. So when I saw this slow cooker cookbook published by the folks at America's Test Kitchen, I had faith that the recipes would be good enough to satisfy our persnickety palates and maybe even good enough to serve guests. I'm happy to say that the book has not disappointed me. It is filled with page after page of delicious-looking recipes and beautiful color images. I like a cookbook with really good images of the food so that I can see what I'm going to end up with before I go to a lot of effort to cook it.

When America's Test Kitchens decided to tackle a slow cooker cookbook, they had s few goals in mind. They wanted the recipes to taste as good as something cooked on the stove top. Also, they wanted recipes that required a minimum commitment in up-front prep time and a minimum mess in the kitchen. The problem with the slow cooker, they note, is that the closed cooking environment doesn't allow for browning or reduction, and those are the elements that develop good flavor in foods.

When we decided to go for a drive yesterday, it seemed like a perfect time to try out one of the many recipes I had bookmarked in my page-by-page preview. I settled on Homey Chicken Stew.

As with anything I cook in my kitchen, the first step is to give Gracie some kitty treats or resolve to have her under my feet through the entire process.

Moving on, the recipe required browning the chicken ahead of time, but not cooking it through completely. Also, I browned some onions in the same pan to soften them and added flour to create a nice base for the soup. Finally, I par-cooked the potatoes and carrots in the microwave so that they would be tender when the rest of the stew was ready to eat. After that, everything was dumped into the slow cooker and it went to work on its part of the process. I'm happy to say that the stew was as flavorful and appetizing as the image in the book suggested.

One thing I have always loved about the slow cooker is how good the house smells when one returns home. This chicken stew looks as good as it tastes. It's made with a minimum of salt, and so it's a good choice for those watching their salt intake. I made just a slight change to the original with the addition of some frozen corn. Here's the recipe as originally written:

Homey Chicken Stew
Recipe By: America's Test Kitchen
Servings 6-8

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs -- trimmed
salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil -- divided
2 onions -- minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth -- plus extra as needed
12 ounces red potatoes (2-3 medium) -- scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 carrots -- peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Dry chicken with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of chicken lightly on both sides, 5-8 minutes; transfer to bowl. Repeat with 1 tablespoon more oil and remaining chicken; transfer to bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon more oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, and thyme and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in wine, scraping up any browned bits. Whisk in 1 cup broth, smoothing out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker.

Microwave potatoes and carrots with remaining tablespoon oil in covered bowl, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are nearly tender, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Stir remaining 3 cups broth and bay leaves into slow cooker. Nestle browned chicken with any accumulated juice into slow cooker. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4-6 hours on low.

Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-sized pieces. Let stew settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using a large spoon. Discard bay leaves.

Stir shredded chicken and peas into stew and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. (Adjust stew consistency with additional hot broth as needed.) Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

My notes about the recipe: I only used half the amount of oil stated. The chicken thighs produced plenty of fat on their own, and so I only used 1 tablespoon at the beginning. Also, I added 1 tablespoon of oil to the vegetables that went into the microwave. I think any frozen vegetable would be good added into the stew. It's a good way to rid your freezer of partially used packages. I had an open package of frozen peas, but it contained only 3/4 cup. I hated to open another package for such a small amount. Instead, I added another partially used package of frozen corn, about an additional 3/4 cup. I liked the color it added. I wouldn't hesitate to use pretty much any frozen or leftover vegetable you might have hanging around. Some drained canned diced tomatoes might add some nice color at the end as well.

This stew has everything it needs to be a meal in and of itself. I would even serve it to guests at a casual get-together. The broth was especially nice, and so some sort of bread for dunking is a good choice for a side dish. I used Texas Toast. Pop it into your toaster oven. When it dings, dinner is served!

Design Wall Monday--February 6, 2012

2012-02-06T00:41:00.000-08:00

My sewing machine is smoking after all the sewing I did this week. It's good to get a lot accomplished, and since there's nothing I'd rather do than sew, I'm a pretty happy camper this Monday morning.

The doll quilt top for my friend Lisa's granddaughter, Camlyn, is finished now. I'll still need to quilt and bind it, but I'm gearing up to start on the next one now. Three down, two to go.

I was going to use the striped fabric on the right for the binding, but now I'm thinking I'll go with a purple to match the two narrow inner borders. Also, I'm going to add some metallic top-stitching to emphasize parts of the castle, and I'll add some Swarovski hot fix crystals to the little corner crowns. Camlyn likes her bling!

Last week, I gave you just a sneak peek of the block I made for this month's Block Swap Adventure. Now that I know my swap partner has the block safely in her hands, I can show you the whole thing. This block is called Nosegay.

For this week's incremental projects, I completed the February block for the We Bee Learning block bee.

Also, I completed Block 12 for the Just Takes 2 quilt along:

I'll work on Block 13 today, and then I want to start my February NewFO project, which is from the City Tracks pattern.

I'm planning to use Oregon State University fabrics

and make a stadium blanket that Erik and Mae can take with them to their football games this fall. I even have an idea how to make a carrying handle for it.

Also, I'm making good progress on the 6th block for the Day in the Life of Mr. Bear quilt. I'm expecting to wrap that up this week, and that will give me some time to finish up the binding on the Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt. I need to finish that one soon because the Checkerboard Flowers quilt will be back from the quilter any day. I don't like having too many quilts needing binding all at the same time.

So that's probably enough to commit to in one week. If you haven't linked up your January NewFO Project, there's still one day left to get into the giveaway. Even if you aren't linking up, you can see what your fellow quilters started during the month of January. Check it out right here.

What's on your Design Wall? For more inspiration, visit:

Macro Monday

2012-02-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

Morning Dew

Sunday Driver

2012-02-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Our weather has been so beautiful for the past few days. It is supposed to stay nice all week. Here's our forecast:

Temperatures in the high 50's in February are almost unheard of. February is ordinarily one of our coldest months. Well. I'm not complaining. All of that to say that it was much too nice to spend the day sewing. We decided to go out for a drive. Before we left I put a new recipe for "Homey Chicken Stew" in my crockpot. I just bought a new slow cooker cookbook. If my recipe turns out to be a good one, I'll tell you about the recipe and the book in a separate post.

We drove out to Rickreall, Oregon. Now, there's nothing particularly special about Rickreall (pronounced RICK-ree-all), except that it takes one out on rural roads into rural Oregon. It's very pretty in these areas. Things tend to be relatively old, and so it's like taking a step back in time. There are lots of old barns and grain elevators. Also, it takes one into wine country, and the wineries are beautiful any time of year.

This image is taken from the parking lot of one of our favorite wineries--Sokol-Blossor. We stopped off there to pick up a case of our favorite varietal. Here's how it looks today:

Here's essentially the same shot last October:

Pretty amazing, huh? They have some wine barrels planted with various shrubs. If I remember right, these will bloom into clusters of little white flowers very soon.

As we headed out toward Rickreall, we started seeing some interesting barns. This one almost looks as if someone might be living in the upper part of it. And I love weather vanes on barns.

It looks here as if someone has planted some new nut trees on this slope. I liked the pattern the sawdust mounds made.

Since I didn't take very many pictures, I decided it was a good time to show you my Christmas amaryllis, loaded with blossoms. It's so heavy with blossoms that it has to be staked up to keep it from falling over.

So now I think I'll get to work sewing that binding onto the Sunshine on my Shoulders quilt. Mike is watching the Superbowl. He has the fire on, and so I'll just go down there and join him. I can smell that chicken stew. Mmmmmmmmm. I'm ready for dinner already, but it's still too early for that.

Are you having an easy Sunday?

Quilt Shop: The Cotton Patch

2012-02-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is the second of the two quilt shops I visited on the day I attended the Stitches in Bloom Quilt show. The Cotton Patch is located in Keizer, Oregon (pronounced Kaiser, like the health care company). It's just a few minutes away from Greenbaum's Quilted Forest in Salem. Since it's an hour's drive south for me to visit either, it's nice that I can visit both on the same day.

It would be easy to drive past The Cotton Patch. The building isn't well-marked, but there is a large sign on the street. If you're trying to find it, I suggest watching for the sign rather than the address on a building. The only signage on the building is a stained glass sign hanging inside the door. It's difficult to see it until you are just walking inside. Also, if you're more observant than I am, you'll notice a sign taped to the front door that request no photography inside. Oops. I didn't notice it until after I left.

So as long as I broke the rules and took pictures, I might as well post them. The store is neat and roomy inside.

The only other time I've been to this store, they were in the middle of a remodel and things were a little cluttered. They've certainly improved the look of the store since then. There is lots and lots and lots of fabric available . . . something for everyone's taste. They had beautiful batiks, reproduction fabrics, children's fabrics, really, something for everybody. They also have a nice sale rack in the corner of the store.

I like the special Backing Sale they have on the 30th of each month. You bring in one completed quilt top and you can purchase backing fabric for it at 25% off. That's a nice savings if you're having to purchase a large quantity of fabric, and it makes my long drive worth the price of the fuel as well.

They have a nice supply of fat quarters. See something you like, but don't want to purchase a lot of yardage? I imagine they'll have it cut into fat quarters for you. They also have a good supply of books, patterns, and some interesting looking classes. Check out the link I've provided you for more information about their fabrics and their store.

While I've only visited The Cotton Patch twice, I've had a favorable impression of it both times. I'm giving it my highest rating at five rotary cutters out of five. It's definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the Salem-Keizer area.

Stash Report: Week 6

2012-02-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

No new fabric for this week, so I think I'm back in the black again.

Fabric Used this Week: 2 3/4 yards
Fabric Used in 2012: 19 1/2 yards

Fabric Purchased: Zero
Total Fabric Purchased in 2012: 19 yards

Net Used in 2012: 1/2 yard

Barely in the black again, but that's all that matters. I'm getting ready to cut a large project, so I'll use a lot of yardage this week. How are your stashbusting efforts going? For more stash reports, visit:

Saturday's Blocks

2012-02-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Although I feel as if I sat around for most of the day, I actually accomplished quite a bit. First, there was my little baking project this morning. After that, I took apart another row of Mother Goose blocks. Except for the one on top, these will all need minor repair on the embroidery.

There are only five more of these to separate, and then I'll be able to start repairing the embroidery and trimming the blocks before setting them into a quilt.

After that, I turned my attention to the February We Bee Learning bee block. When I was a little girl, my sock monkey was my favorite toy. When I was looking for a small scrap to use for the center piece of this log cabin block, the choice was obvious.

Then I worked on Block 12 for the Just Takes 2 quilt. I like this block. It took forever to make, however, because it is paper pieced. I like the look of paper-piecing. It's the best way to get those nice sharp points. Nevertheless, I find it a slow and tedious way to work.

Did you know you can repair your foundation paper if you mess up? Not that I ever mess up, you understand. Use some of this Post-it Labeling and Cover-up tape. It's really just paper tape made by 3M. You use it like a post-it note, but the sticky is over the whole surface.

When you realize you've made a mistake, you can carefully remove the paper from the fabric prior to your frog sewing. Stick the tape over the lines where you've perforated the pattern with your sewing.

Because it's made of paper rather than plastic or cellophane, you'll be able to sew through it as if it weren't there. See?

Good as new.

The only place I've found this tape is at Staples. If you have a hard time finding it, I'm imagining that paper first-aid tape would work just as well. You can get that at any pharmacy. I haven't tried it, however, so I'm not making any promises about it. I know the Post-it tape works.

Tomorrow my plan is to finish up Block 13 for the Just Takes 2 quilt. It's just a row of flying geese . . . paper-pieced again. (Sigh.) After that I'm hoping to get started on my first official February NewFO project.

I'll be linking this post to:

How did your Saturday go?

Baking on Friday (Saturday Edition): I Love You to Pieces Shortbread

2012-02-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed the absence of Baking on Friday? It's all your fault, really. (I just love blaming others for my own shortcomings, don't you? Responsibility is highly overrated.) Some of you were writing comments about the size your bodies might be if you baked as often as I did. After reading that, I smacked myself on the forehead and exclaimed, "So THAT'S why my jeans are so tight!" Since having that sad epiphany, Baking on Friday has been on hiatus. It's only returning briefly because I couldn't resist showing you this little Valentine's Day baking project.

This idea isn't original to me. I found it in Sunset magazine back when Sunset was published on stone tablets. It was well before the internet made its debut. I looked for the project online, but I couldn't find it. You know you're old when you remember time before the internet . . . and before cell phones! In fact, I even remember when television was new, but just barely.

So would you like to make a huge shortbread cookie puzzle for your sweety? Here's how it's done:

I Love You to Pieces Shortbread
(adapted from Sunset magazine)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup butter (2 sticks) -- at room temperature
1/2 cup (app.) chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolates, red hots, or raisins (I used mini-chocolate chips)
Red glazing sugar -- optional

Preheat oven to 275°F.

In food processor or with a mixer, combine flour, sugar, and cornstarch. Add butter, in chunks. Whirl or mix until dough is well blended.

Scrape dough onto a lightly buttered 14 x 17-inch baking sheet. Using hands, pat dough out 1/4-inch thick, then shape into a heart that is about 12 inches tall and 14 inches wide.

With the top of a skewer, a toothpick, or a sharp knife, write a message on the heart, scoring lightly. If you don't like the results, pat smooth and try again. Press chocolate pieces into lines. Lightly sprinkle with red glazing sugar, if desired.

Bake cookie in a 275° oven until pale gold, about 1 hour. At once, cut cookie with a sharp knife by pressing straight down. Cut into 6-10 pieces of random shapes, but leave in place until cool.

With a wide spatula, gently transfer pieces to a large platter or board, disassembling the heart and message. Serve, or wrap airtight up until the next day; freeze to store longer. Invite your valentine to reassemble the puzzle and read the message. Eat it! Makes a 1 3/4 pound cookie, 12-16 servings.

My notes about the recipe: The batter will be a little crumbly. It helps to roll it flat with a rolling pin. Dust the surface of the flattened dough very lightly with flour and rub flour on the rolling pin. You can also use a rigid plastic spatula or a similar tool in putty knife fashion to smooth the surface of the cookie. Don't get too carried away, however. It will flatten out nicely in the oven.

Your Morning Mountain

2012-02-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

~ John Muir ~

Foto Finish: Through the Window

2012-02-04T00:34:00.002-08:00

This week's optional theme is "Through the Window". Here's my entry:

Gracie has always been a timid little kitty. She's much happier when everybody stays inside. When we go outside, she paces anxiously, and looks for all the world like a little old woman wringing her hands in worry. She likes to sit in the window and look out, however. Every morning, she spends hours sitting just in this spot. Birds often land on the bushes outside and she has a cat's eye view of them . . . close up! That makes her ears go completely flat against her head. She wouldn't want them to give away her hiding place.

For next week's optional theme let's go with Doors.

Now I'm ready for your images. Here's Mr. Linky:

Sisters you Choose

2012-02-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

This morning, I walked with my friend, Sue. Can you tell we do as much laughing as walking on our Friday morning treks?

Sue and I used to share a suite of offices when I was working. After I retired, she and I started walking on Friday mornings. We've been friends since around 1998, and we've been walking since 2005. Our youngest sons are both engineering students at Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. We are both social workers. We have many things in common. I don't have a sister, but if I did, I would want her to be as loving and supportive a friend as Sue has been to me.

We haven't walked together since before Christmas, and so we had a lot of catching up to do. The weather was wonderful today, as it usually is for our walks. As I've told you many times, it rains nearly every winter day in Portland. It keeps on raining throughout the spring. It starts early in the fall. Despite our wet climate, in all the years we've walked, we've only walked in the rain a couple of times. No matter how threatening or nasty the weather has been during the week, it seems to clear up for us. There have been times when it has rained all the way to our meeting place, stopped while we walked, and then started sprinkling just as we reached our cars to go home. I like to say, "The Universe is smiling on us today!" Clearly, we must be doing something right.

The very first quilt I finished was for Sue. It wasn't my first quilt . . . just the first one I actually finished. The pattern was called "Girlfriends." When I saw it, I knew I had to make it for her.

Poor little wonky quilt. I had never done applique before. In fact, there were a lot of things I did with this quilt that I'd never done before. A few months later, Sue brought her camera and a tripod on one of our Friday morning walks, and we took this picture of ourselves together.

Girlfriends: Sisters you choose.

Did you notice that my Winter Wonderland quilt is entered in this week's Quilting Gallery Contest?

Some of you did, and you told me you gave me your vote. Thank you! Check out the quilts here. If you like my quilt, your vote would be greatly appreciated.

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

2012-02-03T00:18:00.005-08:00

First, I'll announce last week's winner. I generated a number at random and came up with:

Jennifer Gail!

Congratulations, Jennifer Gail. I've contacted you via separate email, and I'll get your fat quarter off to you right away.

How is your winter going? Our weather here has been fairly ordinary. We've had about as much snow, rain, and cold temperatures as we usually get. I'm aware that some parts of the country are experiencing unusually warm or cold winters. In Alaska, I'm aware that they've had record snowfall. Do you suppose those greedy Alaskans are hoarding all the cold weather for themselves? And I'm aware that in the Northeast, some people are referring to January as "June-uary". So what about you?

Has your winter weather been what you expected, or is it completely outside the norm?

We Have a Winner!

2012-02-02T17:15:00.002-08:00

Who's the next winner of the Traveling Stash? I generated a number at random and came up with

#16--My Sister Made Me Do It

Congratulations! I've contacted you via separate email, and the Traveling Stash will move on in Monday's mail.

To those of you who didn't win, don't give up! You're chances of winning the Traveling Stash will be greatly enhanced if you keep on keeping on.

Camlyn's Doll Quilt Top Finished

2012-02-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

This is the third of five doll quilts I'm making for my friend Lisa's granddaughters. It's a little difficult to see in this image, but the outer border is a pink tone on tone fabric with castles on it. In fact, I think I have a picture of it.

There you go. I'm planning to use the same fabric for the back of the quilt. The striped fabric to the right of the top image will be used for the binding, although I haven't made up my mind for sure on that yet. I'm going to use some hot pink metallic thread to add some contrast to the windows on the castle, and I'll use it to add some bling in other areas too. Also, I'll add some hot pink Swarovski hot fix crystals to the corner crowns. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.

For the rest of the week, I'm hoping to finish my block for the We Bee Learning bee. Also, I'd like to finish the two paper-pieced blocks for the next installment of the Just Takes 2 quilt. And if I still have time, I'm going to start on my NewFO for February.

After our chilly walk this morning, George decided it was his turn to nap near the basement fireplace. He decided the flannel quilt that lives near by would make a nice comfy little bed.

Chilly Today, Hot Tamale

2012-02-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

The sun is out today, but the temperatures are still bone chilling. Still, it's good to get outside and breathe some fresh air. George and I headed out to see what was going on. The first thing we spied was this ladybug crawling on my sage plant. Surely, that must mean something.

I walked down into the woods to see if anything was growing there yet. This is the time of year when the first trilliums start to unfurl. There are no leaves on the trees yet, however, and the trilliums are shade lovers.

It will probably be another couple of weeks before they start showing themselves. The ferns, however, never disappoint.

I tried to get George to walk down into the woods with me, but he had just one thing to say: "Nah-ah".

So, we stayed topside to see what was going on in the rest of the field. It's fun when the weather warms up and these pine cones start to crack open. I can hear them snapping all around me, but not today. It's still too cold.

There's plenty of mole activity, as there always is.

We gave the blue jays some peanuts, and it took them all of about six seconds to find them. As I've been editing my images and writing this post, a span of about twenty minutes, they've nearly emptied the feeder.

Did you ever see a bird that's a pig? Maybe that's where that expression comes from, "When pigs fly".

Doll Quilt Progress

2012-02-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I got a good way into the doll quilt I'm making for my friend's granddaughter, Camlyn.

The quilt is now 21 inches square. It will have another border with pieced crowns in each corner. I expect it to end up about 27 inches square. Just now I was figuring out how big I would need the crowns to be, and I think I have the math right. It took me quite a bit of doodling and figuring to get the checked border right. As it was, I ended up with extra two patches and I'm not sure why. I'm sure it's something I don't know about constructing such a thing. But all's well that ends well, I always say. The dark and light patches matched up correctly, and so I'm feeling pretty smart for getting it right . . . even if I did end up with extras.

My sewing room is in the basement of our house. While it was a dry day today, it was pretty chilly, and the basement is always the coolest part of the house. I turned on our gas fireplace to warm it up. Gracie, the heat-seeking cat, took up residence directly in front of the vents. When I felt her, she was so toasty warm on her back that I'm surprised she hadn't yet reached her flashpoint and burst into flames.

My day started unpleasantly enough. Actually, it was more unpleasant for George. (Warning: high gack factor ahead.) Last night he horked up something that looked suspiciously like angel hair spaghetti. Yes, roundworms. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! (Supply your own visual of me wretching with disgust here.)

So he and I headed out to the vet at the first available opportunity. That was easy enough. She gave him some medicine and sent us home with an extra dose for George and two doses for Gracie. George is used to having medicine shoved down his throat because he has to take a steroid for his autoimmune skin problem. Gracie, on the other hand, has no idea what is in store for her. Mike and I will take on that little project when he gets home. Those of you who own cats know what a humbling experience it can be trying to dose a cat with necessary medicine.

Quilt Shop: Greenbaum's Quilted Forest

2012-02-01T05:24:00.000-08:00

Since I'm awake way before the crack of dawn, I decided to use the time tell you about one of the quilt shops I visited following the Stitches in Bloom quilt show I attended on Friday. The quilt show was in Silverton, Oregon, which is just a whoop and a holler from Salem.

And just as I wrote that I wondered about the origin of that expression, "a whoop and a holler," which I heard for the first time when I met my husband's family nearly forty years ago; you know, back in the 14th Century. So I had to look it up. This is what is says at Answers.com:

This is a mountain phrase that means "within hailing distance," which may be a mile or more away. It comes from the mountaineers' way of yodelling or whooping to each other from one height to another, once a common feature of the Swiss Alps and the Southern Appalachians. . .
[A]dditionally - the "holler" referred to is actually the common idiomatic pronunciation of the word "hollow," meaning 'shallow mountain valley.' Thus; "Only a shout and valley away."

I had a feeling you'd want to know. The pause that refreshes.

But to get back to the quilt shop, Greenbaum's Quilted Forest is one of my three favorite quilt shops within an hour's drive of where I live.

It is located in the older part of Salem, and so the street is lined with these kinds of store fronts that remind me of places my mother and I used to shop when I was a little girl. (If you look at the reflection in the door to the right, you might notice a photographer.)

There is heavy traffic on the street outside, but there is plenty of free parking if you don't mind walking a couple of blocks. My only complaint about the parking is that it is angled in, which is easier than parallel parking, but difficult to back out when one desires to leave. With so much traffic and with stoplights at each end of the block, you will be dependent on the kindness and good manners of other drivers . . . sometimes in short supply.

When I walked into the Quilted Forest the first time, I can recall feeling as if I'd just stepped into Dorothy's Land of Oz.

It is a small shop, but the owner has used the available space to thrill the heart of any quilter looking for some beautiful fabric. There is fabric everywhere one looks . . . lining the walls and on displays throughout the store. There are numerous beautiful quilts hanging from the walls and ceiling, giving the impression of having walked into a fabric woodland.

Having visited this store many times, I can tell you that the employees are friendly and helpful. The back wall contains bolt after bolt of good quality fabric on sale. Also, I like their punch card system. Fill a card, and one receives $25 in free fabric at a subsequent visit. I'm on their mailing list and they frequently send coupons offering triple punches or special sales. There is also a discount on one's entire purchase once during a birthday month. With such good deals, it's definitely worth the drive when I'm looking for something special.

There will be something for everyone's taste in their wide selection of patterns, books, and fabrics. They have the most beautiful batiks I've seen anywhere. The store has a comfortable atmosphere and is set up for enjoying an hour or more of browsing and touching.

It's been a while since I've visited and written about a quilt shop, but I'll dust off my rating system and give Greenbaum's Quilted Forest five rotary cutters out of five for it's good customer service, good parking, great inventory, and easy-going ambiance. This is, by the way, the shop that is hosting the group I'm traveling with when I attend the International Quilt Festival in Ireland in June.

If you find yourself in Salem, Oregon, at some point, don't miss an opportunity to visit this delightful shop. Since my first visit, it's become the yardstick by which I measure every other quilt shop I see.

Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show: Final Group

2012-01-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

This is the last group of pictures from the Stitches in Bloom Quilt show at the Oregon Garden. If you missed the first two batches, you can see them here and here.

This first quilt honors the "hobos" who ride the rails. One of my favorite books of all time was The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. Reading that book was one of the things that motivated me to become a social worker, and so I was taken by this quilt.

The train cars contained many quotations and warnings that these humble folks might have said to one another. Here is just one detailed image:

I was surprised by the number of Halloween quilts at the show. I'm assuming it's because the show is held annually in January, and so these were quilts recently finished by entrants for Halloween a few months earlier.

You know I love the cats.

I wish I had gotten better focus on this next detail. This quilt was a combination of applique and machine embroidery. One of these days I want to make a quilt that has spider webs quilted on it.

Here's one for you woofie lovers.

I love the fabrics she used in this quilt, and the prairie point borders.

This next one was very pretty and done with a fabric process I'm not familiar with.

Here's the accompanying tag so you can see what the quilter said about it.

There was a woman standing explaining to another woman about this process. After listening for quite a while, my eyes started to glaze over and I moved along. In any case, I thought this was very pretty. Maybe I would be interested in knowing more about it some time . . . although I really just like sewing. Painting . . . not so much.

This next quilt wasn't one of my favorites. I thought it was rather dull and lifeless . . . not enough color for me. But I was very impressed by the piecing and the quilting.

From here, I moved into a different, smaller building where the true art quilts were housed. You may recognize these mountains from some images I included on my blog recently. These are Oregon's Three Sisters mountains.

I loved the details and thread work in this.

This next one was unique and interesting to me. It's hard to tell from this two dimensional image, but the quilt was very three dimensional. I'm hoping the two detailed images that follow will give you a better idea.

I'm not a native Oregonian, but I've lived in Oregon more than half of my life. I only bring that up to say that I'm fond of anything having to do with the Oregon Trail. This quilt was called "Women of the Oregon Trail." I love their expressions. They all appear so stern, and if you've done any studying of what those travelers endured along the trail, then it only makes sense that these would be stern women. They have my admiration. I doubt I would have wanted to embark on such a journey.

This one reminded me of hikes Mike and I have taken in our travels.

And I loved the thread work detailing. Very effective.

This one was just too precious. It's called "Coop with a View."

Just look at the detail in these chickens!

And like I said . . . anything Oregon Trail, especially if it includes the Conestoga Wagons. This was a raffle quilt, and I bought two tickets. The woman assured me they were winning tickets. I'm just waiting for the phone to ring now.

Here is the detail of the wagon:

This quilt was made by the women of the Northwest Quilter's Guild. The woman explained to me that they always include a rose somewhere in their quilts. This time, it was included by way of these tiny ribbon roses. Very sweet.

The Northwest Quilters will be holding their annual quilt show at the end of March. I can't wait! It's a can't miss show (at least for me), and I'm excited to see the quilts they'll have on display. They always have a good group of venders too.

I hope you enjoyed the images I shared with you from the Stitches in Bloom quilt show.

January NewFO Link-up and Giveaway

2012-01-30T23:04:00.000-08:00

This being the last day of January, it's time to show off your NewFO projects. Remember, you don't have to finish your NewFO's this month, this year, or EVER, if you're feeling so bold. The idea with the NewFO Challenge is to have fun and to start something new. And honestly, who wrote the rule that every project has to be completed, no matter how ugly, boring, challenging, frightening, tedious, or distasteful? So shake off those old sewing projects that bind and be audacious!

As for me, I had the audacity to start several new projects this month. Maybe I'll finish them this year, and maybe I won't. The point of quilting is to have fun, and I definitely had a lot of fun in January. By the way, don't feel you have to start as many projects as I did. My attention span is approximately three nanoseconds long. For quilters with better judgment than I, one new project per month is a perfectly stunning accomplishment.

The one project I had planned to start this month was the Amish Sampler quilt.

Think of this project as my own personal block of the month. The January blocks are finished. These are called Amish Bars:

But I couldn't stop there. No, no, no. The Just Takes 2 quilt that many of you are working on grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. What choice did I have? I'm up-to-date with the first two sets of blocks, and the next set should be out today or tomorrow.

But I could never let two measly new projects hold me back from starting more. No way. So I took on the Promises & Borders BOM too, and I'm happy to say that I completed the first block for that one.

Finally, I started two doll quilts for my friend Lisa's granddaughters. The Pretty Little Ponies doll quilt still needs to be quilted, and then it will be finished. I just started on Castles in the Air, and so it has a ways to go.

Did you notice? All starts. No finishes. This challenge is about celebrating starts and having fun. You can always finish them later . . . much later. In my book instant gratification wins out over tedium and perseverance every time.

Now . . . about that giveaway. Each month of 2012, I'll be hosting a link-up party for you to show us your NewFO project of the month. When you link-up, you'll automatically be entered for a chance to win one of these sweet quilt pins. These little cuties are about two inches square, and they are actual tiny cloth quilt blocks, handmade by someone with a lot of patience (someone who isn't me).

If you have a blog, please write up a blog post and link to your post (not to your blog). If you don't have a blog, feel free to link to an image in your FlickR album, or some other photosharing site. Please link only to the one image you want us to see (not to your whole album).

I'll leave the linky party open for one week. Then, I'll draw a winner at random and notify you on this blog and via email. Make sure you leave a valid email address somewhere. If you are linking to your blog, make sure I can get your email that way. If you're linking from your FlickR or other photosharing account, make sure I'm able to contact you that way. And if neither of those are available, you can leave a comment with your name and email. If I cannot contact you, you cannot win.

Ready? Here we go:

Traveling Stash Ready Ready to Hit the Road

2012-01-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

With great thanks to Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts, the Traveling Stash arrived on my doorstep this afternoon, and what a treasure trove of goodies! Just look at all this stuff.

I only took a few things out.

and I added a few things back.

So would you like to have a visit from the Traveling Stash? Here are the rules:

1. You must be an active blogger.

2. When you receive it, write a blog post on its contents, what you removed, and what you are putting in.

3. Replace per diem - if you took 4 yards of fabric, replace it with 4 yards. of quilt quality fabric.

4. Due to postage and customs - open to the United States only.

If you're okay with all of that, leave a comment to let me know you're interested. I'll give you until this Friday, February 3, 2012, at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific). Then I'll draw a number at random and the Traveling Stash will hit the dusty trail. Good luck!

Design Wall Monday--January 30, 2012

2012-01-29T23:31:00.000-08:00

We are already to the end of January. That month flew by! I worked on a lot of miscellaneous projects this week, and I feel like I have a lot accomplished. I'm ready for February now.

The week started with my decision to re-make a baby comforter I made when Erik was a baby. There is a story behind this comforter that you can read right here if you like. In short, my mother embroidered the nursery rhyme characters, and I sewed the blocks into a tied comforter. Now I have a mind to make it into a proper quilt.

Right now I'm in the process of separating all the blocks, and I have 15 out of 25 taken apart. The embroidery will need some repair on a few of the blocks. Then I'm going to add a sashing between the blocks, a couple of borders, sandwich it and quilt it. I found some adorable Mother Goose fabric for the back.

The Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt is back from the quilter. This quilt was made from Judy's Peaches & Dreams pattern. I have the binding sewn on by machine, but I still need to do the hand work to complete this quilt. (I've been working on this for at least a year and a half.)

The October block for the Home is Where the Heart Is is completed now, including all the top-stitching.

This is my oldest (and only) true UFO. I've been working on this quilt for over two years. My goal is to have it finished in June. The top-stitching still needs to be done for the November and December blocks, and then I'll need to piece together the log cabin border. As I've said many times, I love the quilt, but I hate working on it. If I could figure out a way to finish it without finishing it (if that makes sense), I would do it. It feels like an albatross around my neck.

I completed a swap block and a block for the Blogger's BOM. The swap block is only a sneak peek until it can arrive safely with my swap partner.

Finally, yesterday I started on the Castles in the Air doll quilt I'm making for my friend's granddaughter, Camlyn. Lisa (my friend) said this about Camlyn:

Camlyn is all about being a pink princess and doesn't show much sign of changing that part of her personality. She loves shiny (certainly beads, buttons and crystals!), luminescent, and soft-feeling textures, along with PINK!

Originally, I had in mind to do one thing for Camlyn's quilt, and I had a pattern picked out. It was going to end up too large, however, and so I wasn't completely satisfied with my choices. Then I was flipping through some patterns I had and I came across this paper-pieced pattern from Kitten's Mitten:

The block works out to about 9 1/2 inches square, and I knew right away that I wanted to use it as the center square for Camlyn's doll quilt. So I spent yesterday afternoon coming up with my own version.

In my opinion, an Add-A-Quarter Ruler is essential for paper-piecing. It makes the process so much easier! With this pattern, the little turrets of the castle are only about 1/4-inch to begin with,

and so I was really glad to have the Add-An-Eighth Ruler as well.

I wish I had used a better contrasting fabric for the windows on the castle. It's too late now unless I want to start over--which I don't. My back-up plan is to quilt little window panes into the windows with a darker thread, and I think that will help them to stand out more.

What's on your design wall? For more inspiration, visit:

Macro Monday: Another White Flower

2012-01-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

For more Macro Monday, visit Lisa's Chaos.

Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show: Second Batch

2012-01-29T12:17:00.000-08:00

If you missed the first batch of the images from this quilt show, you can see them here.

The focus on this first quilt isn't the best. I had to hold the camera high over my head to get over the heads of people admiring the quilt from close-up. This quilt is called "Raven's Treasures".

I love the three dimensional detailing in this quilt, and the objects in the center are real.

This next one reminded me of hikes I've been on. It had a very peaceful quality to it.

The quilting was so effective, it made me want to touch it to see if it was real.

This next one is for the dog people among you. It was called "I Shed, Therefore I Am".

I love these paw prints in the border of the quilt. So precious.

This next one is for Linda over at Stray Stitches, who loves cross-stitch. I like it too.

I'm a fan of embroidered quilts, and so I like this one too. (Let's face it . . . I'm a fan of ALL quilts.) I especially like the use of pastels in this one. It could be a baby quilt if the embroidery motifs were baby motifs.

This next one was just too precious. I love the way the quilter used the designs on the fabric to add detail to the houses. I love the bright colors, polka dots, stripes, and checks too. Very eye-catching . . . at least to my eyes.

At first glance, I didn't think much of this last quilt, but then I saw all the three dimensional details, and I appreciated it so much more. Very clever.

Those of you making blocks for the Just Takes 2 quilt will recognize this house from the last group of blocks.

This little quilt was three dimensional.

This little lampshade was so perfect, I think it must have been paper-pieced, and the quilting on the little chair made it look like upholstery.

And just look at the hair on these little dollies. Some people are just too clever.

That's it for today. I'll have more in the next few days.

Stash Report: Week 5

2012-01-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Although I had a fairly productive week, it didn't require using much fabric. I had already counted the fabric for most of the projects I worked on. Plus, I've been very, very bad about buying fabric online. Now, I have to blame someone out there in Blogland . . . I can't remember who . . . for giving away these polka dots. Oh, I didn't win them. I just couldn't wait for the drawing, and went ahead and bought them anyway. Polka dots grab me every time. They are perfect in quilts.

Obviously, I could not have a proper stash that did not include a half-yard cut of each. And there were a few other little things as well, but most of them are already spoken for.

So here's the bad news (or good news, depending on your point of view):

Fabric Used this Week: 3/4 yards
Fabric Used in 2012: 17 1/2 yards

Fabric Purchased: 10 1/2 yards
Total Fabric Purchased in 2012: 19 yards

Net Purchased in 2012: 1 1/2 yards

Not so bad. I'll be back in the black in no time. To see how others are doing in their stash-busting efforts, visit:

January NewFO Projects

2012-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Have you started your NewFO for January yet? You still have a couple of days. I'll be hosting a linky party beginning January 31st, so be on the look out for that. Remember, you don't have to finish anything! All you need to do to link up is to write a blog post showing us your NewFO project. If you don't have a blog, you can post your image on FlickR and link up that way. If you're having trouble, email the image to me, and I'll link it for you.

I'll leave the linky party open for a week, and then I'll choose someone at random who will win one of these cute quilt pins.

There will be a new linky party and a new winner each month this year. I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Lotsa' Blocks

2012-01-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today I had in mind to start on Camlyn's doll quilt, but then decided I should first clear my sewing room of a lot of miscellaneous projects I had spread around.

I've learned that if I'm approaching a project with dread, the longer I put it off . . . well, the longer I put it off. I'm speaking about the binding on the huge Sunshine on my Shoulders quilt, of course. I don't mind hand sewing binding to a quilt, and ordinarily, I don't mind machine sewing it either. But on a quilt this large, it seems I sew and sew and sew for miles and never come to the end of it. For that reason, I decided to do that first and get it out of the way.

Take that!, dreaded project. Now it's ready to be hand-sewn, and this quilt will be finished! It's never as dreadful as I anticipate, but I'm glad to have that part finished, nonetheless. Gracie was a huge help on this project. Her job was to keep the quilt from flying off the table as I cut off the excess back and batting.

Then I turned my attention to two of my monthly block projects. I completed this swap block for my January swap partner in the Block Swap Adventure. (Wait here a moment while I check to see if she reads my blog.) Oops! She does. Okay, just a sneak peek for now. This block is for Samantha.

Once I know she has it in hand, I'll tell you more about it.

Then, I turned my attention to the next block for the Blogger's BOM.

This block was designed by Quilt Dad, who wrote a terrific tutorial.

Here are the rest of the blocks I've made for this quilt. I'm loving all these bright colors!

Aside from those, I've liberated another ten blocks from my Mother Goose baby comforter.

So far, I've separated 15 of the 25 blocks. They've been in good shape for the most part, but the bottom three in these images all had damage to the black thread (again).

Interestingly, Cheryl from Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting left a comment and said this:

I've read many times that blacks were overdyed and didn't last, both thread and cloth. They have just recently figured out how to make black cloth that lasts like other colors do. This is probably the problem with the black thread in your mother's blocks.

I think Cheryl is probably right about this because it is only the black thread that I'm having trouble with. Some of it is just fine, but not all of it. Thanks for the information Cheryl.

That's where I left off for today. I may or may not get started on Camlyn's little quilt tomorrow. Kylee's quilt hasn't been quilted yet, and I might decide to finish that one first. I never know until I get into my sewing room and see what calls out to me in the loudest voice. Yes, I do hear voices, but I'm used to it by now. I only worry when I start losing arguments with myself.

I'll be linking this post to:

Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show

2012-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I attended the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon. We were traveling last year, and so I missed the 2011 show. The 2010 show had featured so many delightful quilts, that I was excited to get to attend again this year.

With a different theme, the quilts were quite different from the ones I'd seen at the 2010 show; nevertheless, the quilts did not disappoint. They were beautiful, clever, interesting, and [fill in your favorite adjective]. It was well worth the one-hour drive south to see them.

When I wrote this post, I went on at some length about the aspects of the show that needed improvement, in my humble opinion. Some of you will thank me for moving my "suggestions" to the bottom of the post. Read it if you like. With that off my chest, I went on to tell you about the quilts.

Of course, I took lots of pictures, and I used my new camera on the "Museum" scene setting. The museum scene is intended to be for indoor shots when flash is not allowed. Indeed, there was a sign at the door requesting no flash photography. As I looked through the digital viewfinder, the images appeared at first to be too dark; but as I watched, the screen brightened up, and the images were plenty bright, and--bonus!--in focus. I just love my new camera! It is going to serve me well when I travel to the International Quilt Festival in Ireland in June, which (teeth chattering because I am a fearful flyer) is coming right up.

So without further commentary, here is the first batch of pictures. (I took too many for one post, and so I'll show them over a few days.) Here we go:

The first quilt reminded me of some fabric I picked up while we were traveling in New Mexico last winter. It was a painted quilt with quilting added for texture. I had the feeling that some of the stitching had been added to the fabric before it was sandwiched and quilted, to add texture to the fabric itself.

This next one is from an image of the McMinnville, Oregon, farmer's market. McMinnville is the town just a little to the west of where I live, and I'm a sucker for farmer's markets anyway.

There were several different versions of this next quilt. It was inspired by a Mystery Quilt that appeared in the January, 2011, issue of American Quilter magazine.

When I saw so many of these at the show I had one of those "I-could-have-entered-my-quilt-in-this-show!" moments that I often have when I go to a quilt show. So far, I haven't had the courage. Just to show you I'm not kidding, here's my own version of the same quilt. I donated mine to the tornado survivors in Joplin, MO, last year.

This next quilt was one of my favorites. It was so cleverly done.

Just look at the detail in the guitar rosette. I love the bead work. I am a classical guitarist, and this delighted me.

Here is the detail of the little three-dimensional leaf border in the center of the quilt.

This being an election year, I couldn't resist showing you this quilt of President Barak Obama. The little pieces that make up the design are only one-half inch squares of fabric. Someone has a lot of patience.

This next quilt was my favorite in this show. So cute and clever, and the details are just incredible. The name of this quilt was "Dressed to the Nines".

Just look at the clever detail in the little dresses!

The hangers were made with some sort of wire. I would say it is copper, but copper would tarnish. In any case, it looked like copper wire.

Can you see the little straps on this dress?

Finally, I can never resist a cat quilt.

Look at their precious rick-rack whiskers and button eyes.

So, I feel a need to opine that I thought the $10 admission price was too high, and the venue much too crowded. The quilt show could be much improved if the hall were larger, or else the vendors moved to a different building. For one thing, it was difficult to get up close to the quilts because so many people were packed into the building, and it was nearly impossible to take pictures of them. I wasn't alone in my desire to photograph them. The most popular quilts had the biggest crowds, of course, and it seemed to me that those closest to the quilts were grudging about giving up their desirable vantage point. Although there might be several people waiting for others to step aside, those closest to the quilts seemed to think that was a really good time to strike up a chit-chat about something that happened last weekend while they were doing such and so . . . a topic completely unrelated to the quilt they were looking at. While I don't think my desire to photograph the quilts should usurp their desire to eye them up close for as long as they like, it does seem that they could step aside at some point so that others could have a chance to admire them up close as well.

The crowded venue also meant that no matter which direction one walked (a more accurate description might be "elbowed"), one seemed to be heading upstream throughout the show. There were simply too many people and too little space to maneuver. Women being a social group, there really was no space to allow for standing and conversing without blocking others trying to move from quilt to quilt. Keep in mind that I was there on Friday when there would be fewer attendees. The show is continuing today, Saturday, and I can only imagine that it will be even worse for those visitors. It's too bad really because it makes the show less enjoyable, and it short-changes the quilters whose quilts are on display.

The rather steep $10 admission price includes admission to the beautiful Oregon Garden. However, the show is held annually in January, which means it is extremely unlikely that the weather will cooperate and allow visitors to enjoy the garden itself. If the show organizers are using that as an enticement, then they should rethink their strategy. While yesterday was a relatively nice day for weather, the fog didn't burn off until after I'd left the show at around 1:00 p.m., and in any case, the temperatures never made it into the 40's. It was simply too cold to linger outside for very long. This is a relatively small show and $10 for admission is not a good value.

After I left the show I visited two of my favorite quilt shops. An hour south of where I live, it was a good opportunity, and so I took advantage of it. I did not buy any fabric, however. I was the picture of restraint! I'll tell you about both shops in separate posts, and I'll be showing you more quilts as well.

Foto Finish: White (Optional Theme)

2012-01-28T00:35:00.000-08:00

Today's optional theme is "White". Here's my entry:

It's a trillium. I blogged about the trilliums last March. You can read why they are special to me right here. We are nearly at the end of January, which means it won't be long before the trilliums begin to bloom again. Along with the daffodils, they are the first harbingers of spring. George and I are ready.

For next week's Foto Finish optional theme, I'm going with: Through the Window. As always, you can interpret the theme any way you wish.

Now I'm ready for your images, white or not. Themes on Foto Finish are only a suggestion, not a requirement.

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

2012-01-27T00:48:00.000-08:00

First, I'll announce last week's winner. I generated a number at random and came up with:

Diane in ct!

Congratulations, Diane in ct! I've contacted you via separate email, and I'll get your fat quarter off to you right away.

Daffodils . . . does anything say Spring like daffodils? They are like little bursts of sunshine after a long, cold, wet winter. Our horrible weather over the past couple of weeks has left me with flowers on the brain. I suppose one could have worse things on one's brain . . . like mold . . . from so much rain . . . or old age. (Now, I'm getting worried.) It's a little early for daffodils just yet, but I keep watching for their little green shoots to peek above the soil's surface.

In any case, that got me wondering. Fun Fact Friday Freebie is where I dispense with wondering, and you are all so very helpful in easing my wondering mind. Thank you. Here is my question:

What in your world lets you know Spring is on the way?

Rain Break

2012-01-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

George and I took advantage of the particle of sunshine that arrived this morning and went for a walkabout outside. We dumped the old wet seed out of the bird feeders before it could go all poopy. Poopy: that's a scientific term meaning, "icky". We gave the birds some new seed and the jays got a new supply of peanuts. They were ever so grateful. George, for his part, was just happy to be outside with me. (I'm feeling the love.)

We surveyed the damage from the last snow. Several years back, we tried lining our driveway with flowering plum trees, which are just about my favorite spring time flowering tree. I took this picture of them a few years ago.

At substantial work and cost, we planted fourteen trees in all. A few died the first year, and so we replaced them. The following year, a few more died, and we replaced them as well. The following year, yet another died. We started wondering if we were fighting a losing battle, but we decided to replace that one too. That winter, we got a particularly wet snow, and two of the trees broke off. We thought one might survive, but then Mike backed over it with the tractor. (Sigh.) After that, we stopped replacing them.

Of the original fourteen, about three are missing. After this last snow, the two largest of the surviving trees got broken off. I imagine a few of the remaining trees will survive, but they won't line the driveway as we had envisioned. When you live at our elevation (and with our critters), you learn to adapt to what is possible, and give up on what isn't.

And all of that to say that yet another of our trees lost about half a dozen limbs in this last snow, which was wet and heavy. If it weren't for the tangle of branches lying on the sidewalk and the gaping holes in the trunk of the tree, you might not notice it's missing several of its branches. Perhaps it is adaptive for this particular tree to drop some of its limbs occasionally. It's almost as if the branches were constructed like pop beads, and the heavy snow just popped them out of their fittings.

There isn't a whole lot to take pictures of this time of year, sun or no sun, aside from lots and lots of water droplets,

and little pine cones. These are about the size of your thumb.

Anything that stands still has moss growing on it.

The catnip has seen better days, but that doesn't stop George from imbibing.

He's always on red alert for the bobcat.

The strawberries are continuing their quest to cover every surface of the patio area. They are amazingly hardy. They don't seem to require any soil . . . just a flat surface on which to grow.

And look at this! The tulips are coming up!

I can never remember the name of this plant, but it is probably the showiest shrub in the garden. In a few weeks, it will open into cascades of tiny white flowers, and its foliage will turn bright red.

By and by the clouds took over the sky and the sun disappeared. George and I decided to go in.

As I sat down to write this post, the rain returned. Our weather is supposed to improve tomorrow and through the weekend. One can only hope.

Tomorrow I am attending the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon.

There will be something around 190 quilts on display. I went to this show in 2010, and I saw the most amazing quilts. I'll be posting any pictures I take, so be on the lookout for those in the next few days.

Wednesday's Progress

2012-01-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

Today I finished all of the top-stitching on the October Home is Where the Heart is block.

I've been using the blanket stitch on my sewing machine to sew around all of the little applique shapes, and it is rather tedious work. It's good to be coming to the end of these blocks. There are still two more to go, but I'll tackle those next month and the month after.

It was a mistake to start three applique BOM's at the same time a couple of years ago. Two of them are finished, but I've really run out of steam on this one. I love the quilt, and it will be cute when it's completely finished, but I have grown to hate working on it. Have you ever had a project like that?

Also, I have all the binding off my Mother Goose baby quilt, and I've separated one row of the blocks. In case you missed the story of this quilt, you can read my previous blog post about it here.

The blocks themselves are in good shape, as is the embroidery. However, many washings and two babies have left the edges of the blocks rather frayed. The holes where the thread held the seams together also seem large to me, as if the fabric wore around the thread. I probably used something other than cotton thread when I sewed them together originally.

I'm thinking of trimming the edges of the blocks about half an inch all the way around. Previously, I did only garment sewing, and so I used a 5/8-inch seam allowance. I'll be able to cut half an inch and still have plenty of fabric for a quarter-inch seam allowance when I start sewing them back together.

This poor little Humpty Dumpty block was the exception in that the black embroidery thread has come apart at the top of his head and on his shoes.

It makes me wonder if she used some other kind of thread from what she used for the rest of the motifs. The rest all seem in good condition.

It's easy enough to see the embroidery design, and so I'm going to get some of the perle cotton thread she used and repair any embroidery that needs to be repaired. Oh yes, and I'm excited to have found some cute Mother Goose fabric for the back of this quilt. I was hoping to keep it neutral in color and everything I was finding was in pink or blue. Then I found this on Etsy.

I like all the colors in this fabric. When I have it in hand, I'll choose a coordinating color to use for the sashing. It made my mother happy when I made the original baby comforter from her embroidered blocks. I think it would make her happy to know that I'm redoing it now. Definitely, it helps me to feel close to her. It's hard to believe that she died nearly 15 years ago. The time seems to have passed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, I have the sashing finished on the first of the Promises and Borders BOM.

When I trimmed the block, I didn't have my head wrapped around the measurements quite right, and so the embroidery ended up off center. Did you notice? I don't think it's too bad, but I may end up redoing it nonetheless. I'll wait until all the blocks are finished and see how I feel about it then.

With February approaching, some of the swap blocks and new blocks of the month are starting to come out. I have a swap block to make for the Block Swap Adventure. Block 5 for the Blogger's BOM is out now too. I'm loving the blocks we've completed for this one so far, and so I'm excited to get started on the next one.

Also, I'm hoping to get quilting on Kylee's Pretty Little Ponies doll quilt and the Flying Colors quilt I made for the Quilts for Quilters swap on the Quilting Board.

I have lots to keep me busy while I wait for the weather to improve.

Sunshine on My Shoulders Back from the Quilter

2012-01-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

It's not fit for cat nor beast outside today. It's pouring rain, and it's very dark. It would be nice to have a little sunshine, but the only brightness I'll be seeing today is in this quilt fresh back from my new quilter, Nancy. Because of the colors and the name of this quilt, I asked Nancy to put some sort of Aztec sun design on it. She came up with a geometric design that incorporates the sun.

It was very difficult to photograph the colors and have the quilting show up at all. I requested a red/orange/yellow variegated thread, which I love, but it doesn't photograph well when I'm required to use flash. (If I were to wait for a sunny day to do this outside, I might wait literally for months.) I'm hoping you'll be able to see the quilting in these images, although I had to mess with the colors, brightness, and contrast quite a bit to make it visible.

The image above gives you a better view of the geometric shapes, which blend well with the many different fabrics.

This pattern is Judy Laquidara's Peaches & Dreams quilt, and the pattern is available on her website.

Many of the fabrics used in this quilt were purchased while we were traveling in the southwest last winter. It's amazing the difference a year can make. Last year at this time, we were basking in the warmth of southern California and Arizona. Today's weather is a far cry from that.

I still need to bind this quilt, and I'm using a yellow and orange stripe fabric that was used elsewhere on the top. I'll take a picture of the whole quilt once it's bound. Hopefully, the weather will improve by then so that I can take it outside and show off it's true colors.

The Past Becomes the Future

2012-01-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

When I was expecting my first child, Erik, my mother gave me a stack of embroidered muslin squares that she'd held onto for decades. She embroidered them when she was a teenager. She would have looked like this then. This is her high school graduation picture.

She was 17 when she graduated from high school. The family story is that when her older brother (my Uncle Willard) started school, she wanted to go too. At age 4, and without telling anyone, she got on her pony and rode to school to be with him. The school sent her home because she was too young to start. The next day, the same thing happened, and the school relented and let her stay. That's how she ended up graduating a year younger than her peers. But I digress . . . again. (If you could peer into my brain, each thought would have a spider web radiating out from the center, indicating how tangential I tend to be.)

In any case, the stack of embroidered squares she gave me were all different Mother Goose nursery rhyme characters. There were 27 in all, plus two blank muslin squares. I'll never know what she had in mind for them when she started what had to have been a long project. At some point, she put them away never to be seen again until she handed them to me shortly before Erik's birth. I was thrilled to get them.

It was an interesting glimpse into her past that I'd not known before. My mother was a wonderful seamstress. Her mother was a fabulous quilter. In fact, her mother did all sorts of needlework, but I'd never seen my mother do anything but garment-sewing. It's funny how these little things we don't know about our parents can be so fascinating.

So, while I hadn't started quilting yet (and wouldn't for a long, long time), I had made comforters out of flat sheets. Immediately, I got it into my head to make a little comforter out of these embroidered blocks. I sewed them together 5 blocks wide and 5 blocks long. I used the extra two embroidered blocks and the two blanks to make a pillow. I made a quilt sandwich using two layers of batting so that it was nice and warm, and a solid turquoise blue for the backing. It would be a long time before I would make my first quilt binding, and so I used double fold seam binding that I bought at JoAnn to bind my little comforter, and I tied it with blue variegated knit cro sheen crochet thread.

There was a time when newspapers published applique patterns, quilt patterns, and embroidery patterns. I tried to find some information about it on the internet, and the only thing I could find that was particularly relevant was this article about an exhibit currently under way at the LaConner Quilt & Textile Museum in LaConner, Washington. When I realized this exhibit was going on right now, I got excited until I realized it was a full day's drive away. Bummer. I have an idea that these designs were probably published in the newspaper that my mother's family read.

I'm somewhat in awe of her impeccable embroidery now that I've been doing so much embroidery myself. It looks as if these were done with perle cotton thread, which I've never used. (I might have to start.)

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, this little baby comforter has been stored away in a cedar chest for years. My two sons outgrew it long ago, and I put it away and forgot about it. Then recently when I was putting away some items I inherited from my aunt, I found it again. As I looked at it, I got the idea to take it apart and make a real quilt out of it. I'd like to put sashing between the blocks, give it some new, better quality batting, quilt it, and give it a proper binding. I've just been waiting for the right time to come along. The right time is defined as: when my first grandchild is conceived.

Well. I haven't received any word that my first grandchild has been conceived. But it's no secret to anyone that I keep hoping, hoping, hoping. If hoping can make it happen, then it will happen, because I've hoped really hard. Then last night I got the strongest urging to take it out and get started on it. This morning, I ripped out the first side of the binding.

I've been known to have a sixth sense about things like this. It would be wonderful if my sixth sense has kicked in just now. I'm marking the date on my calendar, just . . . in . . . case. And in the meantime, remaking this quilt will give me something to do while I'm hoping.

Design Wall Monday--January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that we are approaching the end of January already. Time sure does fly. The older I get, the faster it seems to go.

This week, I finished the quilt top for the second of five doll quilts I'm making for my friend Lisa's granddaughters. This one is for Miss Kylee, who likes horses and the color blue. I'm calling this one "Pretty Little Ponies". It still needs to be quilted, but I'm letting it ripen in my mind a little before I tackle that.

I'll be starting the next one for Camlyn pretty soon. I'm waiting on some fabric I ordered, but I've selected the pattern. This is what Lisa told me about Camlyn:

Camlyn is all about being a pink princess and doesn't show much sign of changing that part of her personality. She loves shiny (certainly beads, buttons and crystals!), luminescent, and soft-feeling textures, along with PINK!

I found this pattern online at Free Quilt Patterns. I'm planning to use the pattern from the grass on up, and leave off the "Daddy's Little Pricess" part. (I'm sure Camlyn is her daddy's little princess, but most of the time, I don't like words on quilts.) I found some very cute fabrics for this quilt at Fabric.com.

When they arrive, I'll be ready to start. I'll probably use metallic threads to quilt it, and I'll add some hot fix crystals to the crowns to "bling" it up for Camlyn. I might decide to use some flannel on the back too. It's still in the planning stage.

Also this week, I finished the next set of blocks for the Just Takes 2 quilt:

Also, I put the sashings on Block 5 of A Day in the Life of Mr. Bear,

and I finished the embroidery on Block 1 of the Promises and Borders BOM.

That brings me to the end of all the January blocks, swaps, and doll quilts. The next thing I want to work on is the Home is Where the Heart is quilt. This quilt has been in the works for so long it isn't even funny. All the blocks are finished, but I still need to top-stitch the fusible applique on the last three blocks. The next one I'm working on is this October block.

I've vowed to have this quilt finished no later than June, and preferably before. My goal is to finish top-stitching a block per month, and then start on the borders. One of the borders is a log cabin and that will take some time. Still, June is a generous time frame, and so I'm hoping to have it finished by then. If not . . . I might have to take drastic measures of some kind. (Still plotting what that might be.)

For more design walls and inspiration, visit:

Macro Monday: Sunny Day

2012-01-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

Our weather has been so dark and dreary, I needed a reminder that our beautiful spring is just around the corner.

One day a couple of years ago, I had to drop my car off for an all-day repair job. Being without a car for several hours, I decided to hop on our light rail train and head downtown with my camera. It was a perfect spring day . . . one of the first really nice days after a long cold winter. There were lots of flowers in bloom. These guys live close to the Keller Auditorium in downtown Portland.

For more Macro Monday visit Lisa's Chaos.

Stash Report: Week 4

2012-01-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

Geez. Are we four weeks into the month already? It's probably a good thing then, that I finished the embroidery for Block 1 of the Promises and Borders quilt this morning.

I'm not sure I like the variegated floss for the words. It makes them a little hard to read. I may decide to take that part out and use one color. It stitched up pretty quickly, so it wouldn't be too much of a setback. I still need to put the sashing on this block, and then I'll be ready to start on the next one.

But what about my stash report, you ask. Lots of yardage bit the dust this week since I made a back for a large quilt.

Fabric Used this Week: 11 yards
Fabric Used in 2012: 16 3/4 yards

Fabric Purchased: zero
Total Fabric Purchased in 2012: 8 1/2 yards

Net Used in 2012: 8 1/4 yards

It's slightly inaccurate to say that I didn't purchase any this week. Actually, I did purchase some online, but it hasn't arrived yet, and I can't remember how much there was. I'll have to wait until it arrives on my doorstep before I can count it. Still, I think I'm safely in the minus column even with the new stuff that's coming.

How'd you do this week? To see more stash reports, visit:

Saturday's Sewing

2012-01-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

Today I worked on projects that I didn't want to work on. I suppose that's why I'm knocking off early in the afternoon rather than continuing on until dinner time. It feels good to have these things finished, however, so I'm glad I stuck with it.

I sewed the pieced sashing onto the latest of the Mr. Bear blocks. This isn't difficult, but it isn't interesting either. That's why I didn't want to do it.

But now it's finished, and I can add it to the blocks I have finished so far. Also, I decided to forge ahead and trace out the next stitchery--another task I dislike immensely. Again, it isn't difficult, but it isn't interesting either.

Can you see what it is? She's dressed up like a nurse with a bottle of Rx in her hand. The bear has bandages on his tummy and on his left ear. This one is my favorite of the blocks in this quilt. Maybe because my mother was a nurse . . . I don't know. I just think it's cute.

Finally, I completed the back for the Checkerboard Flowers quilt that I finished months ago.

This quilt has so many colors in it that I had a hard time deciding what to do for the back. There was no way I was going to make any more of those checkerboard squares, and so I decided on a solid back. Then I decided that the one color common to all the blocks was an olive green. I found this nice Andover fabric for $2.99 per yard. I needed 8.5 yards, so that was a good buy.

My quilter, Tammi, broke my heart by selling her business and re-entering the work force. She did leave me a couple of names of quilters, however, and one of them has the Sunshine on my Shoulders quilt right now. She had some of her work hanging in her studio, and she did a nice job on everything I saw. I'm confident that she'll do a good job on my quilts. Just the same, I'm hanging onto this one until I see how she does with the one she has. Fortunately, she lives close by, and absolutely nothing is close to me. It's a treat not to have to drive a long ways into town to get to her studio. Hopefully, it'll be the start of a long relationship and many quilts quilted.

For some reason the Twelve Days of Christmas just popped into my head as I wrote that . . . Eleven quilts a' quilting. Don't pay any attention to me. I have music in my head from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed. Sometimes it drives me crazy when it's a song I really dislike . . . like today it's been "It Never Rains in California," that terrible song from the 14th Century. I happen to know that it does rain in California, but I would hate the song anyway.

Okay, so now I've told you about the sewing I didn't like doing, and about the songs in my head that I don't like hearing. What good is coming out of today? Well, right now I'm going to lie down and take a nap. It seems a luxury. It's a good thing.

Foto Finish: Optional Theme

2012-01-21T00:35:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay, okay . . . so those of you who post to Foto Finish regularly are sad that the themes have disappeared. I can take a hint, no matter how unsubtle. So here's what I've decided to do:

I'll bring back themes, but I'm making them optional. Anyone who wants to post an image on Foto Finish is welcome to do so. In addition, I'll post an optional weekly theme. And if I can't think of one, I'll make it Photographer's Choice. How does that sound? I'm always open to compromise.

So for those of you who requested that the themes come back, I assigned an optional theme this week of "Where I Live." In keeping with the theme, I decided to post this image:

This was actually taken in January five years ago. January is our biggest snow month around here. We had even more snow last night, but the temperatures have warmed up and the rain is falling now. It won't take long for our deep snow drifts to disappear at this point.

Don't feel that you need to follow the theme if you don't care to. And if you do, don't feel that you need to post a literal image of where you live. Show us your sewing room, your kitchen, your city, your county, your state . . . as always, you are free to interpret the theme however you like.

For next week's optional theme, I'm still stuck on the snow. But I'm not asking for snow. I'm asking for a color. Let's go with: White

Now I'm ready to see your images, theme or no theme. Here's Mr. Linky:

Just Takes 2 Blocks 7 - 11

2012-01-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

For the past three days, I've been working on the next set of blocks for the Just Takes 2 quilt. I've decided to call my quilt "Peppermint Patty," but that's neither here nor there. The first three of these blocks went together easily and quickly. Here's Block 7:

Here's Block 8:

And here's Block 9:

When I got to Block 10, I started having trouble. After three tries I still couldn't get this block to lie flat. Even with lots of pinning and using my stiletto, it was puckered around the outer curved seam. I've had success making this kind of block before, but this one simply wasn't meant to be.

Yeah, yeah. I know it looks okay in the picture, but trust me. It's not. Not to worry, however, because I invoked the Quilter's Baseball Rule, which I just now made up. The Quilter's Baseball Rule is recited thus:

Three strikes and the block is out!

Having invoked the Quilter's Baseball Rule, I felt comfortable moving on to Quilter's Cache and choosing a different block. I chose this one, identified on the website as Wedding Rings. This paper-pieced block went together much easier, and I'm satisfied that it's a good stand-in for the original block.

Finally, I had a little trouble with Block 11 as well. There are a couple of mistakes in the instructions, but I got it figured out eventually. I think this block would have gone together more easily if it had been paper-pieced. Using the templates provided required that I sew a couple of "Y" seams. I'm not really familiar with any technique for doing this, and so I winged it. (I could have stopped and looked it up online, but that would have meant climbing two flights of stairs to where the computer is. I just didn't feel like it.)

I sincerely hope the next set of blocks for this quilt go together more easily. If not, I may find myself losing interest in it. Here are all the blocks in the second set so that you can get an idea of their scale.

Next up is to sew the pieced sashing on my latest Mr. Bear block. However, I injured my back yesterday, and I'm not feeling up to par. I may just call it quits for today.

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

2012-01-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

As usual, I'll announce the winner of last week's Fun Fact Friday Freebie. I generated a number at random, and came up with:

#16--Aliene!

Congratulations, Aliene! I've contacted you via separate email and I'll get your fat quarter off to you right away.

Our snowy cold weather this week has me craving comfort foods. Generally, that means something that is made in my Dutch oven or my slow cooker. On tonight's menu is Ham Bone Soup, made with a ham bone from Honeybaked. So good, and so easy. And it makes the house smell so good, which is nice for Mike when he walks into the house after work.

So that got me wondering . . .

Do you have a favorite comfort food on a cold winter day? What is it? (Recipes gratefully accepted.)

Resolve to Sew in 2012

2012-01-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

There's a great giveaway going on over at Very Berry Handmade. If you've created a post showing us what you'd like to create for the 2012 NewFO Challenge, you're already halfway there on your entry! I wrote my 2012 sewing resolutions on this post, which includes the linky party for the NewFO Challenge. But don't take my word for it. Check it out at the link I've provided for you.

Pretty Little Ponies DQ Top Complete

2012-01-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

When I sat down to sew this afternoon, I didn't expect to finish this top, but there you have it. I started out by finishing the remaining two out of four "pony" blocks:

With those two now finished, I had this much accomplished:

When I started this quilt, I had a vision of what I thought the sashings and cornerstones would look like. Sadly, as I started cutting and figuring, I realized that it wasn't going to work the way I had envisioned it. It took quite a bit of thinking and trying to wrap my brain around the math, but eventually, I came up with this.

The quilt measured 24 x 24 inches by this time. I had in mind to add another two borders, but decided to settle for one. That brought the total size of the quilt to 29 x 29, a very respectable size for a doll quilt. And here's how I ended it.

The back will be made from the same Laurel Burch "Dancing Horses" fabric, and I'll use a deep blue batik for the binding.

I haven't given a lot of thought to the quilting yet. I think I might do some pebbling in the "pony" blocks and then some straight line quilting in the sashings and cornerstones. Then maybe I'll just do a meander or a swirl in the outer border. This is the variegated thread I plan to use to quilt it.

For his two cents, George would like to say that the day totally sucked! It was too cold to go outside, sewing is boring, and he really is not happy about this winter weather.

Nothing to do but sit by the window and sulk.

I'll be linking this post to:

Now We're Talking

2012-01-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

When I looked at the weather forecast last night, this is what I saw:

When I got up this morning, this is what I saw:

As you can see from this image that includes the glass-topped table on our patio, we have about eight inches, and the snow is still falling.

Living on the Pacific Flyway, we have birds year-round. Different species come and go, but we always have some feathered friends around. When we're here in the winter, we keep the bird feeders full just for that reason. We even have hummingbirds for a good part of the year. Despite a full bird feeder, these crows seem pretty well bummed out. Sadly for them, they are too big to eat from the tube feeder we have.

Maybe I'll take pity on them and go throw some seed on the ground later. It'll have to stop snowing first, however, or the seed will just get covered over again.

Our RV is used to heading south for the winter. If it could think and speak, I imagine it would be whining about this blanket of white. ("It hurts my fiberglass to be so cold.")

George and Gracie have staked out their territory for the day. They'll be building snow mice . . . in their dreams.

As for me . . . I'll be in my sewing room with the heater running. Hot chocolate, coming right up.

Two NewFO's

2012-01-16T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today I started two new projects. First, I started this month's stitchery on the Promises and Borders sew-along BOM.

Jenny of Elefantz suggests using variegated thread for the embroidery, and I found this "collector's edition" of DMC embroidery floss at JoAnn.

I like the variety of colors included in this 20-skein set, but I'm disappointed that there isn't more variegation in the floss. When I started the embroidery this morning, I found that I was using the same color for an entire section of the motif. Eventually, I will move further down the skein to more variation in the color, but for now, I'm working with one color on each part of the design.

I suppose I could cut multiple lengths from the same skein, but I'm afraid I'll end up with a mess of tangled floss. This is all done in back stitch, which seems simple and quick compared to the stem stitch I've been using throughout the Mr. Bear stitcheries.

Then I started on the next doll quilt for my friend, Lisa's granddaughters. This next one is for Kylee who likes horses and the color blue. I was able to complete two of the four horse applique blocks and to start the third.

I still need to do the top-stitching on this third one. I'll be using a contrasting red thread over the blue.

Initially, I was planning to use a contrasting solid for the manes and tails, but then decided to be even more whimsical by using contrasting polka dots.

I've decided to name this quilt "Pretty Little Ponies, taken from the lyrics of my favorite lullaby.

When my kids were babies, I used to sing this song to them in the dead of night when only the two of us were awake. One of these days, I hope to sing it to a grandchild.

Word Cloud

2012-01-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

I was intrigued by a recent post by Maree on Mareenz when she posted a word cloud she generated from her blog using a website called Tagxedo.com. Of course, I had to try it using my own blog. This is what I came up with:
Absolutely worthless and totally fun.