Blogoversary Celebration and Giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED...SORRY TO HAVE MISSED YOU

Wow!  Who would have thought I'd be sitting here today writing this post?  Really, who?  Come on and 'fess up!  Certainly not me.  When I started Cat Patches, I thought it would be fun to participate in the linky parties I saw on other people's blogs.  I figured I'd only be writing when I wanted to link up.  Heck, I didn't even know if I would write anything at all!  But you all have been so kind and supportive and such wonderfully loyal readers, I couldn't help myself.  Now I'm hooked on blogging and chatting away pretty much on a daily basis.  

To be serious for a moment, I want to thank all of you who have followed along and left such witty, helpful, encouraging and supportive comments.  You all feel like old friends even though I have met only a few of you in person.  Let's see if I can remember all of the events we've shared over the past three years...

There was Fun Fact Friday Freebie:

Foto Finish (now playing at Commotion from the Ocean of Life):

Occupy Your Sewing Room (that was fun!):

The 2012 NewFO Challenge:

The 2013 NewFO Challenge currently running:

I can't leave out the Doll Quilter's Monthly doll quilt swap (Join in!):

And I wouldn't feel right if I left out Captain Cattastic's blog, Cattanooga Choo Choo:

Do you remember when my button looked like this?

Of course there have been blog hops and giveaways all along the way.  All in all, a busy and productive three years of blogging, quilting, gardening, cooking, photography and kitties!  Seems like an excellent reason for a party.  Smitty and Gracie have been celebrating all week!  Don't they look excited?

Those two.  What a couple of party animals!

As a thank you to all of you who have made blogging so much fun, I have a giveaway prize!  I'm giving away an 11-fat quarter bundle of Marea by Dear Stella Fabrics.  These should brighten your summer sewing!

And I'm going to make it super simple for you.  Just leave a comment.  Any comment will do, but if you need an idea, answer me this:  If you had an out-of-town guest coming to visit, what would you take them to see in your local area?  That's it!  No hoops to jump through...just plain fun.  I will ship internationally, and so this giveaway is open to all residents of Planet Earth.  I'll leave comments open until Monday, July 15 at midnight and announce the winner on Tuesday, July 16th.  Good luck!

Nearing a Routine

We had dinner with Erik and Mae (my son and daughter-in-law) last evening.  It was so good to see them again.  I do miss seeing my kids when we travel.  They were picking up our mail, which the post office will only hold for a month at a time.  They were also taking care of our one potted plant, a heart-leaf philodendron that we've had since we were first married.  Of course, it's not the original plant, but it's from starts off the original plant.  Despite the abuse and neglect it takes, it's still plugging along 36 years later.  It always comes back from the kids looking better than it did when we gave it to them.

They surprised us with the most delightful shrub:  a Daphne Odora, which blooms in winter and is billed at being hardy to minus 10 degrees.  It has a lovely delicate flower that is intensely and exotically fragrant.  I have the perfect place to plant it.  As soon as the rain stops (assuming it does stop eventually), we will plant it outside.  For now, it's sitting in my greenhouse window, and I'm enjoying it's fragrance.

We've been home for a week now.  Today feels as if the last thing I needed to do to feel back to normal was accomplished.  I finished my grocery shopping for the week.  Up to now, we were working from the food I'd unloaded from the trailer.  Tonight, I tested a new recipe, which I will share with you in a separate post.  I've always enjoyed cooking, and for me, that means testing new recipes.  I'm going to introduce a segment to my blog called "Test Recipe" and tell you about new ones I find that I like.  They will be along the lines of the "Traveling Gourmet" recipes that I gave you in that they will need to taste good, be quick and easy to prepare, and not make too big a mess.  I hope you enjoy them.

Tomorrow I will announce a giveaway for the restart of Fun Fact Friday Freebie.  There will be four winners announced a week from tomorrow, so I hope you'll stop by to enter.

Productive Day!

Yesterday was the first day that felt sort of routine.  I'm still putting things away and planning my new life post travel (I suppose that never ends), but I actually accomplished some things yesterday.  For one thing, I got started on a small wall-hanging project that a friend asked me to do for her.  I'll say more about that when I'm farther along.  For now I'll just say that the fabrics are very pretty.

Here's what I did finish.

A sweet little gift bag:

I found the tutorial for this bag at A Spoonful of Sugar.  I'll worn you that the tute asks you to cut a square 8 1/2 inches.  I cut mine 10 inches, and it was still just barely large enough to hold the small gift I put inside.  Cut the size of your square accordingly, but it doesn't really matter.  The instructions are so simple, you can make it any size.  Also, it calls for using crochet thread for the tie.  I think it would be prettier with ribbon, but I didn't have a piece long enough for the size of my bag.  Still, I think it turned out precious, and it only took less than an hour to make.  A nice way to dress up a gift and make it more personal.

Then I finished my "one star" for the "Just One Star" campaign.  If you haven't heard of this, United Notions, Moda Fabrics, and the Semper Fi Fund have teamed up with the goal of putting together 100 quilts for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  They need 1,800 stars to meet their goal, but I doubt they'd mind receiving more.  The star is easy to make.  I made mine in less than an hour.  My dad was a career Marine and a WWII and Vietnam vet.  There's a special place in my heart for soldiers.

This picture looks kind of dark.  The background is actually cream colored.  Finally, I finished up my Spring quilt.  I posted this on Design Wall Monday last week, but it wasn't quite finished then.  I wanted to show off the back and the quilting.  The quilting was done by my long arm quilter,Tammi, and I think she did a great job with her butterfly design.

Here's a close-up of the quilting:

And this one shows the back:

I purchased the back online, and when it arrived, I wasn't sure I would like it.  I think it turned out just fine.

Finally, I made my first stab at decluttering yesterday.  I'm going by the sneak peak posted each week at Fly Lady.  Mondays task was to clean out under the bed.  Ours is a platform bed, and so that didn't apply to me, but I took the opportunity to vacuum the bedroom instead.  Then Tuesday, I was supposed to go through my sock drawer and toss out worn out and mismatched socks.  I filled a whole shopping bag full of socks and old nylons that I no longer wear.  Now I have a whole drawer full of space!  It was so easy!  I feel five pounds lighter already.  And, so funny, as I was looking through the drawer, I found several unopened packages of L'eggs Sheer Energy, my favorites when I wear stockings.  Since I no longer work, I never wear them any more.  But it's good to know I have a few pair without runs or snags for emergencies.

Now pay attention!  After a three-month hiatus, Fun Fact Friday Freebie returns a week from Friday with a great giveaway!  This Friday, I'll be posting information about prizes.  You'll have some decision-making to do.  There will be four winners.  Each of the four winners will win 1) a quilting book, 2) a quilting pattern, 3) a fat quarter, and 4) a sewing machine seam guide (a pretty nifty little tool, if you ask me).  One of each!  It's a virtual smorgasbord of prizes.  But you'll have to take a look and choose your favorite fat quarter, book, and pattern.  Of course, I can't guarantee that you'll get your first choice, but you can give me some input anyway.  As usual, followers will have an extra chance to win.  If my Fun Fact Friday Freebie button is posted on your blog, you'll have another chance to win.  And if you blog about my giveaway, you'll have yet another chance to win.  You don't need to do anything yet.  I'll be giving you more information soon. 

The Racetrack at Death Valley

I'm a few days behind in my blog posts because we've been in Death Valley the last three days.  We stayed at a different part of the park this time around, and there was no cell phone or internet access.  I'm catching up with this blog post.  We kind of hung around in Death Valley, not doing much.  We wanted to enjoy the last of the sunshine and warmth we'll see for a while.  However, we did make the drive out to the Racetrack Playa, which is one of the more interesting and mysterious features in the entire park.

It is thirty miles over a rough gravel road to reach the Racetrack.  What makes it so interesting is that there are moving rocks on the playa.  No one has ever seen them move, but it is clear that they do.  (You'll see in a moment.)  The prevailing theory is that the movement happens when rain slicks the clay playa surface, and then wind moves them along.  It seems plausible to me.  This is what the surface looks like when it's dry.

 

The first thing you come to on the road is Teakettle Junction.  If you've ever seen a shoe tree (a tree with shoes on it), then you'll understand Teakettle Junction.  Other things have been found there too, like a broken laptop computer.  We saw only teakettles, and what a lot of teakettles there were!

Aren't these so funny?  I love it when our collective sense of humor shows.

Nine miles later, one begins to see the formation known as The Grandstand.  This is how it looks from a distance.

And this is what it looks as you walk up to it.  It's big!

It reminded me of a rocky outcropping in the ocean with waves washing up on the shore.

The rocks fall off of this outcropping.  The ones that are moving and leaving trails behind them are quite some distance away--driving distance--from the outcropping.  They've moved quite a distance just to be located where they are, and then they leave these long tracks as they skid along the playa's surface.

Cool, huh?  I sort of like this lightening bolt trail:

So that was pretty much all we did in our three days in Death Valley.  We saw very few flowers, but the creosote bushes were blooming.  We'd never seen that before that I can recall.

Everything growing seemed green and healthy, and so the bloom is still coming.  I think we were just too early for it. 

So tonight we're in Carson City, Nevada, and we are in one heck of a storm!  The wind is blowing a gale force and the rain is coming down.  (It's our welcome home!)  The drive north was absolutely beautiful.  We drove out of Death Valley through Panamint Springs, where we saw the highest fuel prices this trip.  (Fortunately, we didn't have to buy any.)  Diesel was a whopping $5.34 per gallon!  In Nevada, we found it for $3.89.  I'm glad we were able to wait. 

We drove along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range throughout the day and it was positively breath-taking.  If you've ever taken US Hwy 395 north along the mountain range, then you know what a spectacularly scenic drive it is.  We passed along the east side of Yosemite National Park and Mono Lake.  The weather was beautiful right up until we pulled into the RV park in Carson City.  Then it started.  We're informed that the wind should die down later on this evening, but it's impressive as I write this!

Tomorrow, we expect to be in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and we'll get a chance to visit our son, Matthew, while we're there.  That's the plan for now, but it's snowing in Klamath Falls over the next three days.  We'll have to contact Matthew and find out if there is actually snow on the roadways.  If there is, we'll have to choose a different route.  And then, the next day, HOME!!  I know George and I will both be glad to be there.  I love traveling, but three months away is a long time.  I love my home too. 

Many of you have followed along and commented all along the way, and I want you to know that you are so appreciated.  I hope it's been as enjoyable for you to read my posts as it has been enjoyable for me to read your comments.  Thank you.

I'll be reverting back to my day-to-day posts from here on--at least until the next trip.  And don't forget that Fun Fact Friday Freebie will resume on April 1st with a great giveaway.  I'll be saying more about that soon. 

Fun Fact Friday Freebie Final Friday Winners Announced!

AND it just so happens that this is my 200th post!  Cool! 

Thank you so much for playing.  There were 91 chances to win distributed among 26 participants.  Nice turnout!  I drew three numbers at random.  The first number (and grand prize winner) was:

61, which was the chance assigned to Kathleen!  The second number was:

76, which was the chance assigned to Kritta22, and the third number was:

54, which was the chance assigned to Deborah in Atlanta! 

Congratulations winners!  Your goodies will be off to you in next week's mail.

Foto Finish--Beginnings

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Wow!  The first Foto Finish of the New Year.  "Beginnings" seems like a good place to start.  Here's my entry:

I love seeing these baby ferns in our woods at the beginning of Spring.  These are from last year, but I'm hopeful they'll be growing when we get back from our trip.

If you follow along, then you know we're getting ready to leave on our snowbird trip any day now.  Our hope is to get out of here on the 2nd, but you never can tell.  It'll be close, even if we're not right on schedule.  I've suspended my other weekly, Fun Fact Friday Freebie, until April 1st.  I'll re-introduce it with a great giveaway, so don't miss out. 

As for Foto Finish, my plan is to keep it going while we're traveling.  I must warn you, however, that we are sometimes out of range and have no internet access.  This generally happens when we're staying in one of our inspiring national parks.  I'll be blogging about our trip and keeping you posted on where we are, and I'll try to warn you if I think I might not post for a few days.  If I think we're going to be out of range, I can schedule my posts ahead of time.  If we're out of range for too long (say, more than a week), then things will start falling behind.  I hope you'll be patient and keep checking.  I may be late, but I'll definitely be back.  And when I do get back in range, I'll more than likely have LOTS of pictures for you.  I hope you'll enjoy them.

So here's Mr. Linky.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for "Beginnings."  Our first stop on our trip is Death Valley National Park, and so there's a good likelihood that I'll be out of range next week.  Even so, I'll pick a topic, I'll try to post ahead, and I hope you'll be there with your images even if I have to wait a few days to see them.  That said, next week's topic will be:  Scenic

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

This is the last week before the Fun Fact Friday Freebie Final Friday Giveaway!  I hope you'll all join in next Friday, New Year's Eve.  And don't forget to spread the word for an extra chance to win!

Today is Christmas Eve.  My family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve, and so it's long been a day I look forward to.  We generally went to the Christmas Eve candle-lighting service later on in the evening.  Everyone in the congregation was given a candle, and when they were all lit, it was beautiful. 

This isn't exactly a quilting question, but for today, I wondered:   What will your family be doing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?  I know that some of you are from different parts of the world, and so I'm interested in knowing about your cultural and family traditions for these two days, if you don't mind sharing.

When I was a little girl and Santa still came to my house, we opened our gifts from one another--the ones under the tree--on Christmas Eve, and then Santa brought even more stuff on Christmas Day. I can remember waking up one morning, early, no doubt, and walking out into the living room. Before I turned on the light I could see silhouettes of things and the room seemed to sparkle even in the dark. It was a little toy-sized ironing board, as I recall, and my first Barbie doll! (That would have been 1962!) First and only, I should say. I had Ken and Midge eventually too, but only one Barbie. My mother used to make clothes for her.

When my husband and I got married, he thought opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve was blasphemous somehow, and so he insisted we stick with his family's tradition of doing everything on Christmas Day. I went along with it, but it only lasted one Christmas. He was too excited to wait, just like any kid, and so the 2nd Christmas we were together, we did it the way my family always had done it. We continued that tradition when our kids were born, but when Santa no longer stopped at our house, we turned Christmas Day into the day of the big Christmas feast. It's sort of like Thanksgiving second-time-around, only I always prepare a big prime rib roast for Christmas.

As I write this, I still don't know if Matthew will make it home from college for Christmas.  He's having car problems and so he doesn't want to leave until that's all resolved.  We'll see him before his winter break is up, but maybe not until after Christmas.  Erik and Mae will be with us for Christmas Eve, but they now spend Christmas Day with Mae's family about an hour south of where we live.  Since Mae joined us, we have our big meal on Christmas Eve too.  (It works out well for everybody that way.)  It may be just Mike and me on Christmas Day.  Sometimes, we spend Christmas Day taking down the tree!  It's lost its magic a little bit, but I'm hopeful that there will be grandchildren eventually, and it'll go back to being the exciting day it used to be.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday and that I'll see you right back here next Friday for the giveaway!

Update on our Trip

Mike has still been busy at work, and so we haven't been able to leave on our Snow/Rainbird trip as soon as we would have liked.  Right now we're planning on January 2nd, but that could still change.  Mike's been working like crazy to get the 5th Wheel ready to go, and it seems as if he solves one problem only to uncover another.  I'm just glad it's all happening now, before we take off, rather than waiting until we're on the road.

I'm kind of deciding only to take one project with me while we're gone, but I might end up taking a couple of things that I've fallen behind on.  I don't have enough room to work on large quilts, and so I'm thinking of just small projects or projects that allow me just to work on the blocks.  The one I've started, but haven't made much progress on is "WinterWonderland." 

I love this quilt, and every time I see it made up in a quilt shop, I fall in love with it all over again.  I'm doing mine in blue, however.  I'm almost finished with the embroidery on my first block, but that's as far as I've gotten with it.  It seems like a perfect project to work on while I'm traveling.  And as I write this, I'm sort of rededicating myself to just this one project again, instead of taking anything else.  It will certainly save on space.

I'm still up in the air about whether to continue Fun Fact Friday Freebie while we're gone.  It could end up being a big hassle because our internet access is never guaranteed.  And then there's the matter of finding a post office, which is not always easy to do.  On the positive side, it means going to quilt shops, and that is a definite benefit.  I'll have to keep my fat quarters stocked up, after all!  I'm definitely going to keep blogging and posting about our travels.  I'll also be posting lots of pictures, which means Foto Finish will continue in full swing.  For now I'm thinking I'll play it by ear with Fun Fact Friday Freebie.  If we have internet access, I'll do it, but if not, some weeks might get missed.  I'll keep you informed as we go.  And when we return and I can pick it up in regular full swing, I'll do a nice giveaway to reintroduce it.  How does that sound? 

So with all that said, our trip is about ten days off.  It's too soon to start packing just yet, but soon.  Right after Christmas!  Now I'm starting to get excited.  Our first destination?  Death Valley.  We just love it there.  It should take us about three days, weather permitting.

Thanksgiving

By now everyone's Thanksgiving is history, unless, of course, you still have guests.  Matthew is still here and will go back to school tomorrow.  We've thoroughly enjoyed having him here.  I hadn't seen Erik and Mae since Erik's birthday at the beginning of October, and so I really enjoyed seeing them too.  They are OSU Beavers fans, and most Saturday's are taken up watching football either at OSU or at home.  (Mae is an OSU graduate.)

My family insists on the exact same dinner every year.  If I even suggest changing anything, I get rounds of boos.  A few years ago, I started making everything the same, but trying one new recipe each time.  A few have stood the test of time (my roasted vegetables come to mind); but since I do the whole thing without help, there's only so much I'm willing to take on.  This year, for some reason, I forgot about trying a new recipe.  Mae was the only one who noticed. 

The regulars on the menu include turkey, mushroom and bacon stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes with a crunchy streusel topping, garlic mashed potatoes, and some form of vegetable.  The vegetables might be roasted vegies or the classic green bean casserole that most people make from cream of mushroom soup and French-fried onions.  Except for the French-fried onions (which cannot be improved upon), I make mine from scratch.  It is delicious:  fresh green beans, a mushroom "sauce," lots and lots of fresh mushrooms, and those great French-fried onions.  (I could eat them straight from the can.  And I do.)

I did, however, try a new method for roasting the turkey this year.  I usually stuff it and put it in the oven for about half an hour until it gets nice and warm.  Then I peel the end from a stick of butter and rub the butter all over the skin.  I continue to do this about every twenty minutes until the turkey is done.  It's very labor intensive. 

This year, I made a butter from a room-temperature stick, a tablespoon of fresh thyme, and a tablespoon of lemon zest.  I mashed that all together and then rubbed globs of it under the skin of the turkey.  Whatever butter was leftover was rubbed all over the outside of the turkey skin.  My goal was to avoid all that basting, and it WORKED!  I'll never do it any other way again.  Even after letting the turkey rest for half an hour after removing it from the oven, it was so moist it was literally dripping.  Before putting it into the oven, I poured chicken broth into the roasting pan so that the pan drippings didn't burn up.  I had to add more about halfway through.  The gravy was equally delicious.
 
The only other thing I do for Thanksgiving is to make a cranberry-cherry marmalade from fresh cranberries and dried cherries.  Erik and I both love the jellied canned ones too, and so the Thanksgiving joke in our family is the dish of jellied cranberries that still look like the inside of the can.  We don't care.  We must have both kinds.  I've taken to slicing them just to hide the ribs.  And for dessert, we have a bourbon pumpkin tart with a streusel topping.  (Do you get that I love streusel toppings?)

So that was our Thanksgiving meal.  I was trying to remember, but with a few exceptions, I've made the Thanksgiving feast every year of our 35 year marriage.  I think maybe twice we went to someone else's house; but after the second time, I said "never again."  I love cooking the Thanksgiving meal, and so I never want to give up that pleasure.  I suppose the day will come when I'll be ready for someone else to take over.  When grandchildren come along, I imagine the tradition will naturally pass to their parents.  Erik and Mae occasionally make a second meal on Friday, and we've joined them for that.  They are both good cooks, and so it's fun to see what they do with the meal too.

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving dinner as much as we did.  As I said in my earlier post, Fun Fact Friday Freebie will be back next week.  It's the time of year when I announce the year-end giveaway.  I'll be taking all the comments from previous FFFF posts and putting them together for one big drawing that will include a nice grand prize in addition to the regular fat quarter.  I'll be deciding on the prize this week and I'll announce it soon, so stay tuned.  The grand prize FFFF drawing will take place on the last Friday of the year, which happens to fall on December 31st!  New Year's Eve!  Doesn't that seem just perfect?

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

Good morning, and welcome!  I'm so glad you stopped by.

I think I may have asked you before whether someone taught you to quilt, or whether you were self-taught.  I'm mainly self-taught, although I did take one class at my local community college.  Still, I have plenty of books I still refer to.  So that got me thinking.  I started wondering what reference books you look to when you have a question about a technique, or if you have one "go-to" book that you like.  That's my question to you today:

When you have a question about quilting, where do you turn?  Do you have a favorite reference book?  Is it an online forum?  A person?  Do you have more than one that you like?

I think the book I refer to most often is:

I love the easy-to-follow photography in this book.  Whatever I'm confused about, I can always find it here, explained in a way that I can understand and follow.  I have probably used this book a thousand times by now.  But I also enjoyed making my second quilt from this book:

I wouldn't necessarily classify this book as a reference book, but it's a wonderful teaching book.  It goes through all the basics, teaching as it goes, but while you're learning, you're also making a quilt.  It's a nine-block sampler, and very pretty.  I always learn better by doing, and it's fun to have a finished product at the end.

So now I'd like to hear from you.  What quilt reference do you turn to?

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

Good morning!  Here we are into November.  I'm barely caught up after last Christmas and it's almost upon us again.  I've been thinking about what I'd like to ask you today, and it seems like a good time to ask:

Are you making homemade Christmas gifts this year?  If so, what are you making?

I read something about this recently, and I was surprised at how many people said that homemade gifts weren't much appreciated by the people on their gift lists.  It got me thinking.  (I do this approximately three times per year.  Too much thinking makes my head hurt.)

I can remember being a kid and being disappointed with the knitted slippers I got from my great aunt each year.  I didn't really wear slippers when I was that age, and the ones she made were always kind of itchy.  On the other hand, she made me a sock monkey that was my favorite toy growing up.  As an adult, I don't really know anyone who makes anything homemade.  That seems to be my role in my family/friend group.

I had a friend from college who always made homemade gifts.  She was especially fond of Holly Hobby (if anyone is old enough to remember her--she was popular during the 14th Century).  For my wedding, she made me a Holly Hobby bib-style apron with rick-rack trim.  I still have it and I still use it sometimes--especially if I'm trying to keep spaghetti sauce off a white shirt.  As for the knitted slippers, my grandmother made some for me as an adult.  I took them to the hospital when one of my babies was born.  I remember the nurse admiring them and noting that "Grandma slippers are the best."

No one in my family has ever complained about a homemade gift.  In fact, my sons occasionally ask for a new comforter or a new quilt.  I used to make comforters out of two flat sheets.  I think I made one for every member of the family at one time or another.  They are still going strong decades later, despite all the love they've received.  The quilts are a little more refined, but I don't think they are loved any more than those first comforters were.

For friends and co-workers, I like to make gifts of food most of the time.  Some of my favorites are Winter Bark (from a recipe I found in Martha Stewart Living--super simple), apple turnovers, caramels, fudge, cookies, biscotti, and Cranberry-Orange Bread with Grand Marnier Glaze (from the December, 2006, issue of Sunset).  I especially like the last one.  It is sooooo yummy and moist.  You can make six mini-loaves from this recipe and knock off several gifts in one baking session.  If you don't want to use alchohol, you can substitute orange juice in the glaze.  This year, I'm going to try a new one I found for Peppermint Bark.

For family, I still like gifts made from fabric.  I'm making Pocket Hand Warmers for every person in my family this Christmas.  I blogged about this earlier.  They need to be larger for adult hands, and so I made the squares 6 1/2-inches square, and for the rectangle, I made it 6 1/2-inches x 10-inches, and then added 3/4 cup of rice.  I'm still going to make a couple of iPhone pouches, but I haven't tested those out yet.  I'll blog about it when I do.  Since everyone got a quilt last year, I'm not making any quilt gifts this year.

So, now I'd like to hear from you.  Are you making homemade gifts this year?  And if so, what are you making?

I'm going to put up Mr. Linky again just in case you want to link to a recipe or a pattern.  If you do, simply blog about it and then link to your blog post (not your blog).  If you're not a blogger, feel free to include a link in your comment.  I'm always interested in seeing what you're up to, and I imagine others would like to see it too.

Please, you must leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for the fat quarter.  Followers get two chances, and if you have my Fun Fact Friday Freebie button on your blog, you'll get three chances to win.

Fun Fact Friday Freebie

For today's Fun Fact question, I would like to know:

Did any previous generations of your families quilt?  And, if so, what happened to those quilts?

My mother didn't quilt, but her mother (my grandmother) did.  She made beautiful quilts, including this double wedding ring that won her grand prize at the Malheur County (Oregon) fair one year. 

She was a member of the Bretheren church, which is an offshoot of the Mennonite faith, and so this quilt was made all in traditional solids.  It was completely hand-pieced and hand-quilted by her.  Here is a close-up of the quilting:

I had several of her quilts, but they spent decades sitting hidden in my cedar chest.  They were too precious to actually use.  I'm not sorry that I kept them pristine, however, because about a year ago, I donated most of them to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, Oregon.  I kept three of them for myself, including this one that she made especially for me:

and this one because she made two of them:

Those little squares are postage-stamp sized.  I keep these two quilts on my guestroom bed now to avoid folding them up.  I kept a flannel crazy quilt, but donated a silk crazy quilt and a doll quilt that was pieced from my grandfather's night shirt.  There were about half a dozen others as well.  Anyone can visit the museum and see her collection by calling ahead and asking to see the "Bertha Maust Collection."

I realize that some of you might have family quilts you'd like to show off, and so I'm going to put Mr. Linky up this time.  If you like, you can blog about them, and then link to your blog post (not your blog) so that others can see them.  And if not, just leave your usual comment.  Either way, you must leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.  Followers get two chances.  Post my Fun Fact Friday Freebie button on your blog for a third chance to win a fat quarter.

To show off your quilts, link up here:

Happy to say that I'm Back!!

That was a bad illness.  Day after day after day of nonstop nausea is no fun, let me tell you.  I started feeling better after our trip to the ER where they gave me some medicines to stop it.  They also gave me two liters of fluid IV, which also was helpful.  Unfortunately, being down in bed for such a long time means that my back is messed up now.  It's getting better all the time though, and so I think I can safely say that I'm on the mend. 
I'm going to see a specialist next week.  There is a laparoscopic surgery to take care of this problem, but I am loathe to spending any time in the hospital.  It's probably outpatient.  Still, I don't like subjecting myself to the risk of simply being there hanging out with their antibiotic resistant bacteria strains.  And then there's the risk of anesthesia, medication errors, etc., etc.  I think you know what I mean.  But this is my third episode of this, and so I'm getting close to thinking surgery might be the better option.  But enough about that.

I was finally able to get back to sewing for real today.  I'll post pictures in a few days, but I got all the topstitching done on my machine applique, I made another of the blocks for the Spring Sampler, and today I started on my next Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative quilt.  It too is machine applique.  I have all the pieces fused down and I've made the quilt sandwich.  (You need to remember that AAQI quilts are only 9 x 12, and so it's easy to finish one fairly quickly.)  Tomorrow I'll quilt and bind it and it will be ready to submit.  All in all, a pretty good day.

Thank goodness our deck is almost all finished.  If you've been reading along then you already know that we had to replace our deck.  The deck is built over our family room downstairs (daylight basement).  It's actually the roof of that room downstairs.  So it has a waterproof membrane on it since you can't really put shingles on a deck.  The membrane was supposedly a 30-year membrane.  We've been in the house eight years and it was already leaking. 

It did quite a bit of damage to the ceiling downstairs.  That's actually Mike's fault because he wouldn't believe me when I said there was a leak, even as the damage was obviously growing and changing.  When the paint started slipping down the wall I finally had him convinced.  So he walked upstairs to look at it and found the demon crack in about ten seconds.  (I wish we could have skipped the part where I have to convince him of something.  Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I told him I was having a heart attack.  Actually, that's not fair because he was very sweet to me while I was sick.)

This afternoon I put together the yummiest macaroni and cheese.  I use Ina Garten's recipe and it is so good.  She uses three kinds of cheese.  It makes a lot, and so we have leftovers for another night.  I've never been much of a mac and cheese fan, but this one is really good.  When we take our RV out, I make it ahead of time and put it in single serving dishes (think large ramekins) so that when we arrive at our destination, there's no cooking.  I just pop them in the oven and 30 minutes later, we have dinner.  We're both always very tired on the first day out on a trip.  I think it's the let down after the business getting everything ready to go.  So . . . all of that to say that I'm looking forward to dinner tonight.  Keep in mind that I only was able to start eating again yesterday, and so a comfort food pig fest is sounding very good to me right now.

I'm sure happy with how things are going in the greenhouse.  All my seedlings are up now and I've had to thin some of them.  Even the carrots I planted in a very deep pot (and then promptly forgot about them) are doing well.  It gets very warm in there too, which is good to know because our winters can get very cold.  As long as the sun shines (as it often does after a snow), it'll be warm.  I had it all opened up this morning, and it still got up to 105 degrees.

Okay, I'm off to do something else.  I just wanted to check in and let you know I'm still blogging.  Don't forget the Fall Into Fall Quilting Giveaway that starts tomorrow!  I'll be giving away my usual fat quarter, but I'm adding a pair of my favorite scissors, Galaxy Stitch N' Snip.  Who wouldn't want to win that?  So I hope I see you here tomorrow for two chances to win.  I'll tell you how when you click on the link I've given you in this paragraph.

Back Soon, I Hope

I notice I've picked up a few followers over the past couple of days.  Welcome all, and thanks for joining us.  Please be sure to tune in for Fun Fact Friday Freebie on Fridays for a chance to win a free fat quarter.  And on Saturday, we play Foto Finish.  I'm hoping for more participants, and then, there should be some really wonderful photography.  If you're a photographer, please link up.  This week's theme is "Autumn."

I spent today in the local ER trying to get my guts tamed down.  I am feeling a little better this evening, but it's going to take me a few days to catch up on my strength.  I didn't learn anything in the ER that I didn't already know.  I suppose that's good news.  I'm not having a heart attack.  Nor do I have pancreatitis, or any other illnesses that I'm aware of.  It's just my old friend, Gastric Ulcer, like I thought.  They gave me some fluids, which I needed, and also some medication to help me feel less nauseous.  I was able to eat more this evening than I've eaten in a week, and that has me perked up quite a bit.  I always feel better in the evening however, and so I won't really know until morning if I'm very much better.

I feel a little better every day, I guess.  It's just hard to feel very strong when I'm not able to eat or drink as much as a hummingbird might at any given sitting.  I feel a little more optimistic this evening though, and so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.  Maybe I'll actually be able to get back to sewing, which I have missed terribly.  And since I like to cook, I've missed that too.

Mike (my husband) is always a good nurse.  He's really picked up the slack this week making me chicken soup, watching the greenhouse, and looking out for George and Gracie.  George and Gracie, for their part, have been my constant companions, snuggling up next to me and barely leaving at all.  It's hard to feel bad with all that love and attention.

Sorry I Haven't Written Lately

You probably wouldn't know it because I wrote my posts for Foto Finish and Fun Fact Friday Freebie a few days in advance.  I've been sick all week, and so I've been flat on my back in bed until about five minutes ago.  And this will be short too because I'm sick enough that I can't be upright for any time at all.  I'm sad because I'll miss my Stash Report, Design Wall Monday, and I didn't finish my One Thing, One Week Challenge, even though I was off to a good start.  I'm cursed with a gastric ulcer that flared up big time as of last Friday.  I had one good morning on Wednesday, but then was down with it again by the afternoon.  It's like having a ten-day-long hangover, which is no fun at all, let me tell you.

I started a new medicine on Thursday, and as of this evening, Sunday, I'm feeling slightly better.  I was able to eat and drink a little more today, and that's a good sign.  My ribs, back, and neck are killing me from lying around all week, but what are you going to do?  I'm sincerely hoping I'll be back at it by tomorrow.

I'm saddest most of all about missing the Northwest Quilt Expo which was held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I was so looking forward to it, and I had even purchased my ticket in advance, which went begging, of course.  It wasn't expensive, but it was a waste of money, nonetheless.  That will teach me to plan ahead.

So with that, I'm back to bed.  It's time anyway, and I still can't be up for long.  Hope you're all doing better and that you had a good week.  You may not have missed me, but I missed you.

Design Wall Monday--September 13, 2010

I didn't get to do as much sewing as I like this week, but my wrist is thanking me for it.  I used one of my sewing days following Judy's  lead and putting up some apple pie filling:

I did mine in pints.  I'm not above making four little individual pies so that we can each have two (two evenings, of course).  Also, I used a different recipe out of this book.

As for sewing, I got my next Downy quilt put together.  I'm calling this one "Shell Game."

Still have to put the borders on it, but this is a pretty good start.  I want to use it to practice free motion quilting so that I can finish quilting my "Flip Flop" quilt.  Did you catch that?  I now have two quilts to be quilted.  I'm falling behind.

Also, I got the "Daffies" block done on my Checkerboard Flowers quilt.

This is what I have so far:

I'm really liking this quilt.  I thought that checkerboard border might be a pain in the neck, but it really hasn't been.  I'm chain piecing the strips, even though they're different lengths of fabric (made from the scraps they sent me and the ones I had).  Then it's not much of a problem to cut the two-patches and sew them into borders.  Takes maybe a couple of hours to finish the whole thing.  I got this BOM at an online store called Storyquilts.com and I have been so happy with them.  They send the blocks out regularly and they send me LOTS of fabric.  I always have plenty left over.  Here's what the whole quilt will look like:

Ask me when I've sewn the blocks together with those checkerboard strips how much I like making them.

I hope you'll join me Friday for another game of Fun Fact Friday Freebie. 
I've had this going for about a month now, and I'm not getting many takers on my weekly giveaway. I'm not sure why. But I keep hoping the word will get out. Really, there are no strings--just a free fat quarter!

Now I'm going to hope on over and see what you all have been doing.

Design Wall Monday, August 30, 2010

My son, Matthew, was visiting all week from Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  He was here with his new girlfriend, Lindsay.  I'm not sure how new she is to him, but she's new to us.  Nice young lady.  They seem very close at this point.  We certainly enjoyed having them.  It didn't cut into my sewing time too much though, as they were very easy house guests.

I challenged myself to the One Thing One Week Challenge on Amy's Creative Side.  My goal was to get the cutting

finished, which included constructing 15(!) borders

but also, to complete at least one of the 92 tulips blocks

that make up the quilt.  I'm happy to say that I was able to complete all 23 of the blue tulips.

So far, this quilt, "Dutch Treat," has been a very time intensive project.  It will be finished when it's completed:

I keep several projects going at once because I get bored doing the same thing all the time.  I was VERY happy to finish up those tulips so that I could feel ready to move on to something else.  There are still 23 tulips in each of three colors (total 92 tulips, counting the blue one), pink, purple, and yellow.  But when that's finished, I'll be able to start sewing all the many parts together. 

So, when I finished that, I was ready to do something that didn't require using a rotary cutter any more.  My hands were killing me, despite wearing splints on both right and left wrists.  I decided to move on to applique, and so got some work done on the second block of my "Home is Where the Heart Is" quilt.

I fused all the pieces for the February block, which is in the middle of the top row.  It's called "Honeymoon Cottage."

Cute, huh?  I still need to do the top-stitching, but all the pieces are fused down now, and that is at least half the battle 

I still have two more block of the month projects to work on and I'm starting a new Downy quilt too, in addition to my regular projects.  I've been doing quite a bit of sewing for the past couple of weeks though (actually, cutting), and I decided to take a few days off.  I'll be back at it next Tuesday, though.  Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you are working on.  Don't forget to play "Fun Fact Friday Freebie" this week for a chance at a free fat quarter.  Click on the link for details.

One Thing, One Week Challenge

I'm happy to say that I met my challenge.  I committed to getting the cutting and at least one tulip block finished for my newest quilt, "Dutch Treat."  I've decided to call mine "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."  There was a TON of cutting for this quilt because it has 15 fabrics and 15 borders!  The cutting was slowed down by the fact that I was constructing the borders as I went.  But here is all the cutting:

along with all the borders (and the binding, on the right):

And not only did I finish one tulip block,

I finished all 23 tulips in this color:

There are an additional 23 tulips in each of three more colors, pink, yellow, and purple.  That makes a total of 92 tulip blocks.  They lend themselves well to chain-piecing, which cuts down on the time involved significantly.  Once I have all the tulips done, I can start sewing the quilt together.  I feel as if I've gotten a good start on this one.  It's been sitting in a bin waiting on me for months, and so I'm glad to be finally under way.

I'm looking foward to seeing what the rest of you accomplished.  And don't forget to play "Fun Fact Friday Freebie" on my blog this week for a chance to win a free fat quarter.  Click on the link for all the details.