Stolen Moments

Last week my house was full.  My family including

this new little guy.

Sanford, 5 weeks

Despite the fact that all of us were prepared to

take care of him...

I occasionally stole away to my sewing room for

a bit of fabric respite.

I have been slowly working on gathering, cutting,

and refolding fabrics for a scrappy red and white

Ocean Wave. 

This pattern is from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com

I decided to use only reds and white fabrics

so I have been rooting in my reds

cutting 2 inch strips

matching them up with white strips

topping it off with a Thangles strip,

and sewing them into half square triangles.

I'm going to use Bonnie Hunter's idea of  "Leaders and Enders" and

stitch these units together during the year as I work on 

other projects.

Did you notice back under the picture of Bonnie's quilt the number

of half square triangles required to make the 91"x 104" quilt?

2124 stitched pieces!

I probably wont' make it that big.  I'll just have to see

how far I get.  You never know.

So even though the family was here and there were lots of meals

to make and a baby to hold and Christmas to enjoy

I stole a few moments for me.

Happy New Year, friends!

May all your new projects bring you joy.

Until Next Time-

Running Man Gets the Geese

If you know my Running Man, you might

know he has a daily conflict with the geese.

Our house is next to a small lake in town.

And the geese love our yard.

Geese can look idyllic from afar and are full of

country charm.

  Close-up they are mega lawn destroyers and

are super poopers.

If you read my last blog post, I told how I have

made a quilt for each of our newly integrated family members.

As I worked on the last one I realized I had 

never made my Running Man a quilt of his own.

How could I have neglected that fact for 38 years!

It was definitely past due.

I saw the perfect pattern idea in the book

Urban Country Quilts by Jeanne Large and Shelley Wicks.

"Ed's Geese"

56"x72"

It made me smile every time I worked on it.

I used flannel scraps in warm colors and

had it machine quilted in an overall fall leaf pattern.

It really looks like a guy kind of quilt.

Needless to say, he was totally surprised.

He did grimace a bit at the pattern and name.

But he figures the geese can do at least one nice thing for him.

This winter as the nights are cold, 

and an extra quilt is need for warmth,

Ed will be thanking me as he snuggles with his geese,

despite his dubious relationship with these feathered friends.

Until Next Time-

You're In the Family Now

I suppose there are several ways

to know if a person is officially recognized 

as a "new family member".

With only daughters, Running Man,

has always been outnumbered.

As each daughter has married, the number of males increases

and it's begun to balance the scales.

Kate and Bobby are to be married in May.

They live in Florida and

arrived in Colorado to a "White Christmas".

So with the impending nuptials,

I needed to make Bobby the official 

"You're Part of the Family" quilt for Christmas.

For each of the guys I've made a simple

Flannel Random Patch.

But....

Do you see the paradox here?

Florida-Flannel?

He reassured me there are some cooler nights there

and he enjoyed using it while he was here.

I have made probably 10 or more quilts using this pattern.

Sometimes I've embroidered in the squares,

added some applique, done the quilting with

a big stitch using Perle cotton,

quilted in the ditch, quilted an overall pattern or

added some other pieced 4 patches here or there.

Whatever your approach happens to be, there's

no right or wrong.

This time I used a line of fabric from Moda

designed by Holly Taylor.

 These flannels are exceptionally soft.

 The designs were perfect.   

Bobby is a Colorado guy

born and raised in the mountains outside of Aspen.

Now that Bobby has "his" quilt, the wedding

might be considered a mere technicality.

He's in the family now.

Until Next Time-

Seasons Eating-Cookies

Every family has a 

favorite and traditional Christmas cookie

that must be made each year no matter whatever else

doesn't get done.

Our family is no exception.

Each holiday season we make Italian Pizzelles.

They get their name from the Italian word "pizze" meaning

round or flat.

I received my first pizzelle iron as a wedding gift a long time ago.

It was a hand held, make one at a time, press with a long

wooden handle that you held over the burner.

We made lots of cookies using this method.

1991

Then as we got smarter? and the electric version became

available so we modernized our production.

Although it is faster, everyone swears they're not as good.

If you're not familiar with Pizzelles they are generally a light,

crisp anise flavored cookie.  They get their

delicate ornate pattern from the imprinted design

in the iron.

We use Italian Running Man's mom's recipe which has been

passed down.  

It's just one activity that is a "must".

And a yummy one everyone enjoys.

Enjoy a Christmas cookie or two!

Merry Christmas!

Until Next Time-

A Bridal Shower

Even though Christmas is right around the corner,

my dear friends, Anne and Jill,

hosted a bridal shower for my Florida daughter, Kate,

this past weekend.

We all had a wonderful time, of course,

thinking of wedding bells, beach weddings,

and true love!

Because Kate lives in Florida she had requested a 

gift card shower so she could easily get things back home.

Well, being the mother of the bride, I can 

do whatever I want.

So instead of a gift card I had to make a quilt.

Kate at the shower

"Beach Folly"

This is a pattern from Kim Brackett's book,

Scrap-Basket Surprises.

I had collected teals, blue greens and peach batiks.

They seemed the perfect beach colors.

I had it machine quilted by one of the fantastic

machine quilters in my area, Kathy H.

and we went with an overall palm leave pattern.

It really fit the style and mood of the quilt.

I included at picnic basket with the appropriate glasses and

plates so they are set for some special outings.

I think she enjoyed the back as much as the top.

The colors are a tropical sunset.

I also gave her "something old" and "something blue
.

I collected hankies for awhile off of Ebay and 

choose one with an elegant "K" monogram.

On the opposite corner I had embroidered this poem.

So if upon your wedding day

You shed a happy tear,

Just save it in this handkerchief

And know I hold you dear.

Love Mom

We all had tears after she read it aloud.

It was a wonderful party put on by

wonderful friends,

for a wonderful daughter.

Until Next Time-

The Stockings Were Hung

Over the past couple of weeks,

my quilting buddies have been sharing via emails

many of their holiday traditions.

Each person filled out a questionnaire and each

day a different friend shared their Christmas memories.

We learned of Christmas trees being lite with candles on the beach on Padre Island

that turned into the campfire for the night,

siblings sleeping under the tree with the lights glowing through the night,

and trains being set up and chugging around the tree,

It's been a wonderful way to get to know my friends even better.

A tradition that my family has enjoyed for a long time is 

our Christmas stockings.

I have used the same design as we continue to add to our family.

My mom made the first one for me in 1953.

It's made out of felt and is 

actually a puppet.  I'm sure she got it as a kit.

So as our family has grown everyone has gotten a 

stocking with their name and date on the back.

This year I made one more.

Sanford, 2011

Will I need to make more next year?

The holidays are rich with family traditions and memories.

It is a wonderful time of the year.

Hold your memories close to your heart.

Until Next Time

Push Pause

Swoosh!

Did you hear that?

Another day before Christmas just flew by.

It's time to push pause...

and enjoy the present.

How would I do that?

Have fun with friends.

Yesterday I headed off to one of the large malls

in the area with 2 girl friends.

We spent the whole day.

Did I have a lot to do at home? Yes, but,

it was a lovely present in the present.

Today new grandbaby, Sanford, is 

requesting his nana and grampa to come and play.

Do I still have a lot to do at home? Yes, but,

it's the best gift in the present.

I love to bake,

but sometimes the process can overwhelm the joy.

Push pause and enjoy only the present moment.

Santa Hat Brownies

I made these for a party.

Use brownie bites, pipe a circle of buttercream

frosting around the top, cut off the bottom of a strawberry,

and add a dot of buttercream on the top.

Do I still have other baking to do?  Yes, but,

this was fun, fast, easy in the present and

looked very cute at the party.

I can list all the things I still need to do before

the family shows up and the holiday officially begins.

But each day I'm going to remember to

"PUSH PAUSE"

and enjoy only the presence of the present.

Until Next Time-

Frosty Snowmen

We've had snow on the ground for a long time.

Usually around here it snows and then

melts.  It's just been too cold to have it go away.

The snow and cold weather have been a good

motivator for me to finish up my snowman quilt.

"Frosty Snowmen"

56" x 56"

Designer: Ann Sutton, Bunny Hill

My quilting group, The Quilting Buddies,

used this free pattern from 2009 as a block of the month

challenge this past year.

It was fun to do as a group and is always a delight to 

see how each person interprets the personalities of the snowmen.

I used white wool for the snowmen and a limited palete

for the the rest of the design.

Some buttons and embroidery added the finishing touches.

On the back, I used the leftovers of the three main fabrics that I 

used in every block.

Always a good way to use up what's left.

I machine quilted it myself and used The Bottom Line

thread by Libby Lehman.

It's as thin as a hair and worked great.

I could do a lot of quilting and it didn't

make the quilt stiff.

It's a 60 wt.

thread and being polyester, no lint.

I would definitely  use it again.

It's good to try new things once in a while.

I love doing a project in month to month segments,but

then I always reach a point where I'm ready to get this

thing done and move on.

It's done and I'm already on to something new.

I'm thinking maybe my Florida daughter might need

a reminder of snow and snowmen so I'll see if

she has a place for it under her beach umbrella.

Until Next Time-