Giving thanks...

I know it's Thanksgiving, and it's probably too cliché to offer up a post like this, but I'm going to do it anyway.

I am thankful. For many things.

For instance, all I had to do for today was make red cabbage from my grandmother's recipe. And some cranberry-walnut biscotti.

I'd take a picture, but as we all know from my attempted Swiss Oatmeal illustration, I'm not the best food photographer.

I'll take a couple bottles of wine, and sautée my wild mushroon mix in garlic and Madiera once I get out to my cousin's house in the suburbs, but in contrast to the throngs of you who are spending their pre-meal hours laboring in the kitchen, I get to spend mine blogging with a cat napping peacefully on my lap, then just show up to a bustling, warm house filled with laughter, incredible smells, and a branch of the family I only get to see once a year. I get to hang out with my cousins and their college-age kids and marvel at what cool people they've grown to be. And know that I'm related to all of them.

I've been looking forward to this day for months.

And I need to interject here that two horse-drawn carriages have just passed by my window, followed by a truckload of Christmas trees. Add a little snow and it'd be perfect!

But back to the thankful part.

Beyond the usual family (immediate and extended), friends (in person and in Blogdom), health and home to be thankful for, especially in these times, in an effort to not bore you I've narrowed it down.

On this day to reflect on all I've been given, this list is long...but one keeps bobbing to the top of the list:

I am incredibly grateful for the gift of creativity.

Not everyone gets this when talents are passed out (I'm very aware of what I didn't get as a tradeoff -- math skills, the ability to drive a stick...it's a long list), and some people receive lots more than others (several fellow bloggers come to mind -- see my links at left). But we -- and I mean all of us who have the ability to make things and share pieces of ourselves with others -- are a pretty lucky bunch.

As quilters, we take bits of fabric and turn them into a big cuddly hug for someone hundreds of miles away. We pluck colors and patterns from our imagination and make them into something tangible that warms and comforts. As artists, we channel our emotions into something for others to appreciate. As writers, our words come together to share experience and encourage others. As photographers (Swiss Oatmeal aside), we inspire.

It's really pretty amazing -- and magical -- when you think about it.

So as my house fills with the wonderful smell of almost-burnt biscotti, I wish all of you "creative types" out there an amazing and magical Thanksgiving. Eat well!

Decisions, decisions...

In my zeal to get the homespun plaid quilt started (and finished), I characteristically forged ahead with all the blue plaid units and -- doh! -- totally neglected to purchase any border fabric. Or binding.

Hey, I have backing, which means I should get a little credit for thinking ahead, but I guess not much.

Long story short, I've been buying (because there's absolutely NOTHING in my stash that will work here, believe me, I dove in and came up empty) and auditioning brushed cotton all weekend (note to all, Quilt Expressions has the fastest shipping ever, the stuff shows up almost before you order it, and my western Michigan quilt shop has the most delicious Debbie Field Riverwoods flannels, it took a lot of self control to get out of there with just what I thought would work...)

Hoping for some contrast, I went in a direction I probably shouldn't have taken in the first place, but in my defense, I'm a brights girl -- all this plaid understated stuff is new to me.

The denim shot cotton from Kaffe Fassett is it. I should have known better. I was hoping to find something that would make it all sing, and, well, turns out I didn't need to. This quilt doesn't want to sing; it just wants to keep a certain someone warm all winter and not draw too much attention to itself. Especially when it, say, goes off to college. It wants to be all guy-cool.

That decision made, I start laying out the nine-patches...

...and it's just getting way too busy. Even for me. Kinda makes my head spin (or maybe that was the wine?). I had thought it might come to this -- just when I thought I might make a quilt completely from a pattern...oh well.

I was born to tweak -- it is my destiny.

Plan B: just use the inside of the top -- it makes the quilt smaller than a twin but still big enough for a throw, and use my new favorite denim blue for the binding instead.

Which raises the following concern: this loose-weave shot cotton does not, to me, appear to be the best choice for a long-life, lotsa wear binding. Even doubled, it just isn't instilling me with any confidence that it will be on the quilt for very long with regular boy-wear. So now that I at least know the color's right, I still have to find some Kona or the equivalent...unless someone out there knows something about the durability of shot cotton that I don't.

Anybody have any experience using this as binding?

Monkeys in the works...

Two charm packs. Six fat quarters. And two yards for backing. Not sure exactly what I'm going with this yet, but there's a seed of an idea sprouting very slowly...

However, we haven't had a lot of sun lately, and we had snow flurries all weekend -- not exactly the best weather for successful germination (but ideal for huddling under a quilt on the couch watching college football and movies most of the day). Maybe I need a grow light?

There's a light at the end of the tunnel...

Well, it's a year and a half late, but the 60th Anniversary quilt for my parents is back from the longarmer's and ready for binding!


She did a great job, filling most of the off-white blocks with the names of the kids and grandchildren, and rose wreaths (Dad's been growing and breeding roses for almost 50 years) for the remaining ones.

I'm so looking forward to getting this one off my plate -- and onto their bed -- by Christmas!

Busy, busy, busy...

It's been a busy week. But not necessarily with quilting, sorry. Lots of work, and all those civic duties...

Chicago was a very proud city last week. And will be for a while.

We got ourselves a President -- is it too much to hope for the Olympics, too???

Here's to not having to move the kitchen table...

I hung the leftover fleece from my kitchen cupboards and (TA-DA!) I had a big ol' design wall that -- as an added bonus -- the cat couldn't get to. Hooray for high ceilings! It worked really well...except I didn't finish everything yesterday and couldn't make coffee this morning. Or eat breakfast. So If I don't finish everything before dinner, I'm eating out.

And another bonus for the weekend, my brother and his family came in from Ann Arbor to visit his in-laws this weekend, so I got to see these guys:

Luke, who'll be 2 in two weeks

Christopher, at 6, won't look at the camera any more

We spent yesterday afternoon at the children's museum in the northern suburbs, which is a really fascinating place, but also very busy. And loud. And total kid overload for someone who doesn't have any.

I survived all the shrieking and crying and the post-Halloween candy sugar buzz (zheesh, you'd think my brother'd be over that stage by now), and lived to tell about it. But I think I'm good on my kid fix until Christmas.