Quiltin' Jenny

Folding Fabric

2012-01-27T06:07:00.000-05:00

Since I have to pack up my studio, I decided that this is as good a time as any to change my fabric storage method. I've been looking through my favorite blogs and searching Pinterest for ideas, and decided to try out the comic book board method.

Allison wrote about this, but I was reluctant to spend the money on boards. I was looking at the number of boards Allison needed and assuming my stash was similar to hers. Once I actually counted, though, it looks like my overwhelming stash is only about one tenth of Allison's! (confidential to the Pit Boss: Looking pretty good now, huh?)

I also had no idea that there was a comic book store nearby. I have never heard of or seen one around, and couldn't believe it when google told me that there was one practically within walking distance, one I drive past at least once daily. And they had the boards! I ran over there and picked up a hundred to get started.

Let me tell you, it's addictive. I've wrapped fifty of the boards so far, and I'm probably about a third of the way through my yardage. I love how the fabric looks and how little space it takes up. This is just a start, but here's how it's going so far:

Pretty! Right?

Also, just because the words "comic book store" make me think of The Big Bang Theory:

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Stonehenge

2012-01-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

Today's Modern Block is Stonehenge by Amy Ellis.

This is another simple yet striking block. It would make a fantastic two-color quilt, and Amy suggests strip piecing if you were going to make a bunch of identical blocks. It went together in a snap, and (I think) would offer an interesting secondary design.

Wordless Wedneday - Be the Change

2012-01-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Escalator

2012-01-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

Today's Modern Block is Escalator by Ann Haley.

This block looked harder than it actually turned out to be, and could be laid out in a whole quilt a bunch of different ways. I used all the 1930's prints left over from Boxed In, and it went together easily.

My only suggestion is that you lay it out on your sewing table with the directions in front of you and take your time. It would be very easy to get a piece out of place, and those bias edges could get wonky quick if you had to rip out.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Boxed In

2012-01-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Today's Modern Block is Boxed In by Faith Jones.

This is a fun simple block that gives you a chance to experiment with value and scale. It reminds me a little bit of a wonky bento box, and I think you could assemble it the same way I did the one for Deuce.

I played a little bit with the fabric and used one 1930's print and one "modern" print in each color. I think this would make a very cute and fast baby or kid quilt in all kinds of bright colors, and I'd love to see it all done in batiks.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - April Showers

2012-01-18T08:01:00.000-05:00

Today's Modern Block is April Showers by Kirsti Underwood.

I haven't done embroidery since I was a teenager, but have been wanting to give it another shot ever since Bari J. was on the podcast. This was a perfect way to jump back in - no complicated stitches and a very cute design.

If you've been thinking about embroidery, try April Showers.

Studi-O-rganization - This Time It's Serious!

2012-01-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

So it's January and you know I'm going to be yammering on about how "I'm going to get organized once and for all this year," right? Right.

I got all excited about Allison's Studi-O-rganization challenge, which she issued and then promptly went on vacation. But now she's back and inviting guest bloggers to write about fabric storage. You mean it isn't supposed to be piled ~~neatly~~ on the floor?

I know, I know, I say this every year. And every year I mean it. Every year I'm hopeful.

But this time it's serious! You know why? Because this time it's not up to me.

I didn't share this before because it was still grossing me out at the time, but on New Year's Eve we had a plumbing emergency. The bad kind. The kind you call in professionals to clean up. That's all I'm going to say about that. We had plumbers and "mitigation experts" at our house until 6:30 pm on New Year's Eve. You know what's more expensive than a plumber on a weekend? A plumber on a holiday weekend!

Luckily only a small area of the house was damaged, and luckily very little of our stuff was damaged. Luckily we didn't have to move out of the house, and we were only without water for a few hours. Luckily we have insurance. However, it seems that a small amount of damage can be a lot of work to fix. There is drywall to patch and paint, and a whole lot of carpet to replace.

To make a long story short(er), we are going to do some other work while we have the contractors here and the house is torn up anyway. That means packing up all my studio. Everything. And if I'm going to go to that kind of trouble, I might as well sort it all out and figure how to store it beautifully and neatly when I unpack.

So I'm spending a little too much time on Pinterest ~~fantasizing about my perfect sewing space~~ doing research about the most efficient way to store my fabric and tools.

I'm so open to suggestions and cannot wait to see the posts over at Within a Quarter Inch.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Alleyways

2012-01-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

Today's block on the Quilt Along is Alleyways by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle.

This is another awesome stashbuster, but my sample shows exactly why I never use sashing without cornerstones. I tried to pin and carefully piece this so that the sashing would line up, and it is still off. I'd love to know how you get it straight!

A Happy Ending

2012-01-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

Remember back when I finished Deuce's 8th Grade Graduation quilt and told you about one of my favorite quilts for a teenage boy, like, ever? That quilt turns out to have a happy ending after being lost for TEN YEARS!

It's also a cautionary tale about the importance of putting a label on a quilt. Jaye has a great explanation of how she makes her back with the label pieced in so that it can't be taken off without ripping out quilting.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Just Passing Through

2012-01-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

Today's block on the Quilt Along is Just Passing Through block by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr . This is another fun block that really allows you to play with color. I didn't put the darker fabrics together like the one in the book, but I think the effect still works.

Just like with the last block, Blue Lagoon, this one makes me think about how the colors might run together or graduate from block to block. I'm definitely doodling with colored pencils for this one.

Going to Guild

2012-01-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

Last night was guild night. We have been having some unbelievable fog and rain, so it took all I had to make myself go. It didn't help that there was no fabulous speaker or project to lure me in! I'm so glad I went, though.

For one thing, I got to see Lene's President's Quilt finished. Isn't it gorgeous?

In the past we have done a top only, but this year they decided to present a finished quilt. Lene wrote to us all that she went home and hung it in her front hallway within five minutes of arriving home. This has only made me more determined to finish mine in time for our guild show this September.

It was also the meeting where we showed off completed UFOs and made our list for next year. You can put six on your list and have to finish four of them to get the cool UFO/alien head bead for your name tag. Let's see if I can actually earn one this year!

Looks like we are going to have some awesome programs and classes this year. I cannot wait!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Blue Lagoon

2012-01-10T07:29:00.000-05:00

Today's Modern Block is Blue Lagoon by Pat Sloan.

I adore this block, and not just because it has three of my favorite fabrics in it. It went together quickly and easily. I love the slight contrast of the blues. I think if you put a bunch of them together, there would be a cool secondary design with those half-square triangle blocks and the cornerstones.

I'm picturing a quilt where each block features a different color. Maybe where the color runs from one block to the next. It would also be a great leader-ender project.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Polaroid

2012-01-08T11:11:00.000-05:00

Today on the Modern Blocks Quilt Along I made the Polaroid block by the book's editor, Susanne Woods.

This block spoke to me from the moment I saw it. I love using photographs in quilts. I decided to use my mom's favorite picture from when my brother and I were little and make it into a Valentine's Day pillow. It's hard to see, but those corner squares are really a pale, mottled pink. I have a pink, white, and red fabric all picked out for the backing.

This has me thinking about a whole quilt design of these blocks in various sizes and scattered across the page like in an old scrapbook. I would love it even more if I could find a silver pen to write captions like The Pit Boss's Papa used to use. He kept incredibly beautiful, detailed photo albums with dates and milestones recorded in his gorgeous calligraphy.

What picture would you put in the middle of this block?

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Riverbank

2012-01-06T06:33:00.000-05:00

Today's block on the Quilt Along is an interesting study in line. It's called Riverbank, and it was designed by Tiffany Stephens (can't find a link).

I love the one in the book. I thought it looked like a fantastic way to use scraps in a similar way to a Chinese Coins quilt.

Riverbank by Tiffany Stephens

When I made mine, I didn't like it nearly as much. It was immediately obvious that using a diagonal print in between the rows of horizontal scraps was critical to the design. When I chose a fabric that read as a stripe, I thought that would be enough. In fact, using a horizontal stripe might have been worse than using a solid or a vertical stripe.

Frequent readers will be shocked at what happened next: I ripped it out. We all know how I feel about that! But it was only two seams and I needed to fix it. Luckily I had another piece of the "stripe" that was big enough to cut it again on the diagonal. I wanted to use the exact same placement instead of remaking the block with different scraps so that it would be a fair comparison.

I like the resulting block so much better, don't you?

If you'd like to learn more about line and other design elements, try reading Artquiltmaker's blog or listening to her podcasts with Sandy from Quilting for the Rest of Us.

Mail Time!

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

I have been remiss in sharing this sweet little packet that arrived in the mail back in early November from Kim of Kim's Big Quilting Adventure. Kim was one of the stops on Madame Samm's "The Ghastlies" blog hop, and I was the winner of one of Kim's patterns, Eye of the Beast.

I completely forgot that I won, and must confess that the envelope sat ~~buried under the crap~~ unopened on my desk for a few weeks. So sorry! Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and saw this awesome pattern made with 5" squares! I wonder where I'll get some of those...hmmm...let me think...

I have two charm packs of Moda's Adoring by Sandy Gervais, and I think this quilt - it finishes out at 54" square - might make a beautiful Christmas tree skirt! What do you think?

Thanks so much, Kim! I hope to report back soon!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Pinball Machine

2012-01-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

Allison is on vacation so Brye and I are alternating every other day this week. I hope these posts aren't boring you, but I guess something quilty is better than my normal rambling or nothing at all, right?

Right. ~nod nod nod~

Today's block is called Pinball Machine by Jessica Brown. I LOVE this block. It would make such a cute quilt with lots of motion and places for awesome quilting. I originally picked it in honor of The Pit Boss, but I would definitely make this quilt.

Cutting all the different sized pieces out for one was a little bit tedious and time consuming because they are all slightly different, but I think if you were cutting a bunch of them it would get much easier. Once cut, though, it went together in a snap!

This is one of the blocks where I love mine as much as the one in the book.

Queen of the UFOs - AGAIN!

2012-01-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

Remember last year how I was crowned queen of the UFOs over at Stashbusters? Well, believe it or not, I got an email from Ellen on December 18 saying that I was the newly crowned queen and that I had to have a finish by Christmas Day! What is up with that?

Last year I was fine because I had finished my mom's quilt in time for Christmas, but this year? Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I was bemoaning the fact that I was going to owe another fat quarter penalty (which I wouldn't mind so much except for the going to the post office part) and criticizing myself for not finishing one more project. I decided to go ahead and make my list for this year when - Hallelujah! - I realized that I had never sent her my Green Guild Challenge. The one I never took pictures of? Yeah, that one. It's also called Pam's Gift on my UFO list, and I had never checked it off. I took a quick phone picture and sent it off to avoid the penalty. Phew!

Anyway, it's time once again to face the music and list my UFOs and projects for the year. Sadly, many are still on the list from last year ~~and the year before that~~.

What I got completed: (YAY!)

Charity Strip Quilt
Gracie's Minkee Quilt
Twin Engine (I and II)
See Greer Grow
The Bear's Graduation Quilt
Blokjoyelle
2011 Guild Challenge aka Pam's Gift
Patchwork Santa
Assorted fabric gift bags, blocks for the Modern Blocks Quilt Along, and the bag tags for the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk

UFOs that never made it off the list: (Boooo!)

2010 Guild Home Challenge
Cut Ups 4" Block Swap
Halloween Round Robin
Christmas Round Robin
Jewel Box Jacket
Breast Cancer Ribbon Quilt
Purple Medallion
Winnie the Pooh/Lazy Crazy
President's Quilt
Purple Block Swap

And - the list I'm most proud of - new projects that need to be finished:

NONE! Nada! Zip!

While I still have ten lingering UFOs to finish, the list didn't grow at all. That's progress no matter how you slice it.

I also have no new projects that have to be done this year. No babies on the way, no graduations, and no big birthdays. Every bed in my house (and in my mom's house) has a quilt or two. I can focus on my UFOs and projects I want to do. If I can even get that UFO list cut in half by December I will be happy.

So 'fess up. What does your UFO list look like?

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Higgledy-Piggledy

2012-01-02T18:30:00.000-05:00

My next block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called Higgledy-Piggledy by Kate Henderson.

This block reminds me of bargello and went together very simply. I'm having trouble picturing how I would use it in a whole quilt and would love to see the EQ version of it as multiple blocks. A series of them would make an interesting table runner or wrap.

December Book List

2012-01-02T05:22:00.000-05:00

I've just wrapped up my New Year's resolution to read fifty-two books in 2011. December was busy as usual, and I got bogged down in a Sherlock Holmes collection, but I finally squeezed in the last two during my post-Christmas relaxation.

This month I read The Affair by Lee Child. This is the prequel to the other Reacher books, which I love. Normally we buy these the minute they come out, read them at a gluttonous pace, and then move on. This time The Pit Boss decided to download it onto his iPad, so I couldn't get my hands on it for awhile. Luckily he moved on to a "real" book this week and gave me a chance to read this one. It was excellent and answered a lot of questions from the series.

I also read The Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz and John Linder. In my political discussions with my crazy liberal California brother (that's a term of endearment, by the way) we have discussed The Fair Tax at length. He had questions I couldn't answer - good questions. I sent him the book for his birthday and sat down to read it myself in the interest of furthering our discussions. I think it's a must read.

That puts me at exactly fifty-two books in fifty-two weeks! YIPPEE!!

How are your 2011 resolutions going?

Happy New Year!

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

Thanks to Madame Samm for the cute graphic!

After yesterday's Top Ten list for 2011, here are my Top Ten hopes, dreams, and wishes for 2012.

For wisdom, for myself, our country, and all the world's leaders.
For focus and balance as I begin to figure out what I want to do "when I grow up."
For peace, in our hearts and in our world.
For clarity, as Deuce applies for college, and strength, for me as I begin to imagine our household without him in it every day. I hope I can hold onto the excitement of his new adventure without being selfish about how much I'm going to miss my boy!
For joy, and remembering to appreciate the little moments.
For patience, for all of us, as The Bear learns to drive. Especially for him to be patient with himself, since he seems to think he should be an expert the first time he tries something new!
For healing, for all of those who are suffering physically and emotionally.
For understanding, as Grace enters the thirteenth year of her life and begins middle school in the fall. I've been bracing myself for this roller coaster ride!
For continued love and laughter as The Pit Boss and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Where have the years gone?
For another happy, healthy year. 2011 was pretty good to us in this department, and that's the most I can wish for!

Top Ten of 2011

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Isn't it my obligation as a blogger to do a retrospective of 2011? Here are my top ten favorite things that I blogged about this year:

Snowmageddon And reading all four books in The Twilight Saga in a week!
The See Greer Grow Quilt
Really getting the hang of FMQing on my machine
Welcoming George to our family. This little dog has his moments when he makes me crazy, but I forgive him every time he snuggles up on the couch and buries his head behind me to keep his nose warm!
The Bear's graduation and starting high school. Also, I finally finished his quilt.
Achieving the goal of having a quilt I worked on in a show other than our own guild. A technicality but still a highlight.
A Day with an Angel
The Modern Blocks Quilt Along. You can click on the tag "quilt along" to see all of them.
The Chill Out Party What a great way to celebrate without stress!
Joining the SeamedUP team! Especially the part about getting to be on the podcast.

What were the highlights of your year?

Studi-O-rganization Challenge

2011-12-30T15:13:00.001-05:00

Yeah, you know I'm a total sucker for anything with the word "organization" in it. Then why am I not organized? It's a mystery!

Allison from Within A Quarter Inch shares my addiction. She's thrown down the gauntlet, issued a challenge, said "It's ON!" to messy, disorganized studios.

Check it out, grab a button, and join us!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Four Acres

2011-12-29T11:51:00.001-05:00

Now that the site is back up, the Modern Blocks are back!

My next block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called Four Acres by Solidia Hubbard.

Let me tell you, this block went together in no time flat! (Perfect for the week before Christmas.) I think it would be a real stunner in a big bed quilt and would be such a fast quilt with a big impact. It reminds me of a Bento Box, which I love. Same visual appeal, same quick assembly. This one's a keeper.

All Wound UP

2011-12-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

I'm practically bursting at the seams to tell you a secret I've been keeping since September!

Should I spill it or just give you a hint?

Okay, okay! Remember when I interviewed Allison Rosen of SeamedUP back in June? They had been talking about needing some help with social media around that time, and I was secretly hoping she was calling to ask me. She wasn't, but the possibility was in the back of my mind as we chatted happily for far longer than either of us planned.

Then in September Allison called again. This time, she really was asking for my help. ME! Helping with the awesome new website for quilters! And not doing the hard coding part (Brye) or the spreadsheets and content part (Allison) - I get to do the fun, chatty part like writing blog posts, surfing the web to find the latest and greatest content for our What's UP? page, choosing featured projects for our facebook page, and tweeting. And now that we've spilled the beans, I get to be on the podcast too!

If you haven't joined us already, now is a great time! We are thisclose to moving the site to our new, faster server with plenty of elbow room for all the projects and fabric stash we want.

Check out Episode 9 where Brye, Allison and I talk about what I'll be doing, the site move, the Modern Blocks Quilt Along, and the prank Allison and I already pulled on Brye.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 18 - Looks Like We Made It!

2011-12-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

It's Week 18 of the Holiday Grand Plan! We made it!

This week is for the looking back, the reveling in what worked and the learning for next year what didn't work so well. Write yourself a note and put it in your calendar for next September 1.

This year I found a few things to be true. First, we cut way back on the amount of shopping, baking, and decorating. I left the Dickens Village in the boxes and only made three kinds of cookies; there were a few big gifts under the tree instead of a lot of little things. I found myself less stressed and calm, right up through the last minute. Best of all, I had a great time! And I think my family enjoyed themselves as well.

Second, we entertained slightly more. Not the grownups, because they are high maintenance, but we had more kids here. I love that my son's friends like to hang out at our house. I love that they feel comfortable here. The boys were surprised when I mentioned this, but the truth is that I'd rather feed them breakfast than have to wait up, worrying, for my own child or someone else's to get home safely. I'd rather buy Dr. Pepper by the case and bagels by the dozen than wonder if my son was at a home where the parents are friends instead of parents. I had a great time listening to Grace and her friends starting to whisper about boys and what they really wanted for Christmas.

Third, I made a concerted effort to appreciate what we have. Unfortunately we have a few friends who had a less than stellar holiday season. One is in the hospital with her son after a bone marrow transplant. One friend lost her dad suddenly the week before Thanksgiving. There are more stories like this all around us. Despite the economic hard times or the people who didn't make it home for the big dinner, I felt like it would be a horrible insult to those friends to complain that the kids left a mess or that The Pit Boss had to work late again. Life is good. Treasure every minute.

In order to get the family in on this, I asked them to write a letter to each of the four grandparents thanking them for the huge part they play in our lives. Shopping for them is a challenge, and no matter what I buy each year it never seems enough to express how grateful I am for their presence, support, time, and love. We are so blessed to have all four of them healthy, busy, and living within a 7 mile radius. I took a quick peek and welled up at the things they remember and love. Everyone likes to be thanked, and I know my parents and in-laws will appreciate it.

On the topic of thank yous, write your notes this week while everything is fresh in your mind, and have your kids write them too. Don't let them hang over your head into 2012.

Last, take down the tree and swap out your decorations for New Year's Eve. We don't decorate for New Year's because we typically go to a friend's house for a bit. However, the tree will be down before midnight on the 31st, in honor of The Pit Boss's ~~superstition~~ tradition.

I hope the last week of 2011 brings you peace and reflection on the past year and the next one.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

May the breath of heaven pour holiness down on you today and every day.

Chill Out

2011-12-23T08:12:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Kelle Hampton over at Enjoying the Small Things, I caved when Grace asked if she could have a few friends over to celebrate school being out for Christmas.

Grace originally wanted to decorate individual gingerbread houses, but realized that she could invite more girls if she switched to gingerbread men. Publix graciously obliged with very cute ones!

When the girls first arrived, literally minutes after school got out for Christmas, they were wound up. Grace just wanted to "chill out", so they immediately changed into pajamas that we had asked them to bring. Note: we didn't ask them to bring one other thing. We could have done an ornament exchange or Dirty Santa, but the point of this day was to relax. Nothing required.

Grace and her friends are big into the crazy mismatched socks thing. I found these fuzzy socks with grippers on the bottom at WalMart super cheap. I hung them by the chimney ~ with care ~ and asked each girl to pick a solid and a stripe.

After lunch they watched Elf, one of our holiday favorites. We had inflated the air mattress and scattered pillows and sleeping bags all around. At first I was afraid that they were too wound up to watch it, but they quickly settled in as they recited the lines and nudged one another to say, "This is my favorite part."

By now they were hungry again, so we selected a dessert and fixed hot cocoa.

Last, we decorated our gingerbread men. I couldn't think of any other way to keep them working at the same time than to give them each their own bag of icing. I bought a pack of the disposable piping bags, set them up in cups, and made a huge batch of icing. I also put little bowls of small candies around for decorating.

As a memento of the relaxing day, each girl brought home a jar of our "Calming Cocoa" mix and a bottle of "Sweet Dreams Pillow Spray." I hope this the beginning of a very relaxing break for the girls and their parents!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Follow the Leader

2011-12-22T09:11:00.000-05:00

My next block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called Follow the Leader, by Sherri McConnell.

This is a great block to use all kinds of scraps. You could make a really funky quilt with this. I was having so much fun that I made it twice with the same fabrics in different positions. Just kidding. I really cut twice as many pieces as I needed by accident!

I chose to use a different technique for making the flying geese than the one in the book. I like this one a lot - no wonky bias edges and it makes them super quick!

Are you participating in the quilt along? Download the e-book and join us!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Night and Day

2011-12-19T05:30:00.000-05:00

Night and Day by Kimberly Walus

My next block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called Night and Day, by Kimberly Walus.

I love this block and think it would look fantastic as a whole quilt. Before I do that, though, I need to work on my quarter square triangle accuracy. Whoops!

This was just made with plain black muslin and some of the gorgeous fat eighths I got on my visit to A Scarlet Thread back in July. They are from the "Never Enough Romance" line that Alex Anderson designed for P&B Textiles.

Are you participating in the quilt along? Download the e-book and join us!

Holiday Grand Plan Week 17 - Celebrate!

2011-12-18T08:19:00.002-05:00

It's Week 17 of the Holiday Grand Plan. Let's celebrate!

Just do the Magic Minimum. Finish any last minute details, use some freezer meals, and take a few minutes to appreciate this special season.

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Checkers

2011-12-16T06:33:00.000-05:00

Today's block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called "Checkers" and it was designed by Monika Wintermantel.

As any regular readers know, I do NOT do applique. I just don't. I chose this block because I love my pups and thought this was adorable. I felt it would force me out of my comfort zone, but not too far out. Plus, how hard could it be? It's just fused, raw-edge applique on the machine. Easy peasy.

And it was. Monika has another similar block in the book called "House on the Hill." In that pattern she mentions how cute this would be for a block swap. Can you imagine? I would love for everyone in our bee group to make this with their house or dog or favorite quilting notion. The possibilities are endless!

This is also a great block for using up scraps.

Are you participating in the quilt along? Download the e-book and join us!

Eighteen Years

2011-12-16T06:29:00.000-05:00

Eighteen years ago today, I was still a fairly new first-grade teacher. Our class was getting ready for Christmas, and we had big plans to build our own gingerbread houses with milk cartons, graham crackers, frosting, and plenty of candy. It was going to be a wonderful day.

Eighteen years ago, I knew something wasn't right. I was secretly pregnant, but had suddenly stopped feeling the symptoms. I know when I called my doctor she thought I was just worrying because of a previous miscarriage, but that morning, my worst fears were confirmed. Just nine days later was the most difficult Christmas dinner I've ever known.

One of the most permanent, striking memories from that day is of our ride to the hospital. I spent the entire drive on our first cell phone calling my teaching assistant and parent volunteers, telling them where the milk cartons were stored and who was signed up for each station. I didn't want to think about what was happening. I didn't want the kids to miss a thing.

Eighteen years ago, we lost our first baby girl. After two deliveries with the NICU Crash team on board and another miscarriage, I thought she would be our only one. And then we got Grace.

You know, these special dates start to come and go without a mention after a few years. I doubt anyone but me remembers. And honestly? Sometimes I don't even remember until something startles me and I realize she is with me.

That's how it is today. I have been busy planning a little Christmas party for Grace and her friends. She asked for gingerbread houses, and I didn't even realize. I have been having crazy dreams about elaborate decorations and candy that I don't think anyone even makes. I've had ideas that made me sit up in bed and come write at 3:00 in the morning. She is here, looking at me through her sister's eyes, and reminding me of the beauty and magic in every single day.

So happy birthday, baby girl. I hope the gingerbread houses where you are have the best candy and never get stale. Thank you for your presence and for the mother you made me. I love you!

Reusable Gift Bags

2011-12-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

One of the "gifts from the studio" projects I did way back in October but never blogged about are my reusable gift bags. I saw this on a bunch of blogs, but the one that made an impression was from Amanda Soule last Christmas.

I made my bags even less complicated than hers! I found some leftover upholstery fabric when I cleaned out the linen closet. I think if the piece has already been recovered again, it's safe to use the fabric for something else, don't you?

All I did was take a long piece (sorry, no precise measurements. I used what I had) and hemmed the short ends. Then I stitched up the sides - no fancy French seams for this project! - and stuck a gift inside. I can't tell you what it is because The Pit Boss has recently started reading my blog (everyone say hi!) and it's for him.

I tied a bow around it and called it done. Quite possibly, it took less time than finding scissors and tape and wrapping the gift. For sure next year when I can just pull them out, I will be so thankful!

Also, this is a great procrastination project when you really should be folding laundry or making your next Modern Block.

Did I say that out loud? Just kidding, Hon! The laundry is completely caught up! ~nod nod nod ~

Wordless Wednesday - That Darned Elf

2011-12-14T05:48:00.000-05:00

Modern Blocks Quilt Along - Sea Glass Steps

2011-12-13T07:26:00.000-05:00

My next block in the Modern Blocks Quilt Along over at SeamedUP is called Sea Glass Steps, by Louise Papas.

I did mine in pink and lavender from my stash, and immediately fell in love! I believe this will be the design for my next baby girl quilt.

Are you participating in the quilt along? Download the e-book and join us!

Christmas with the WannaBees

2011-12-12T06:53:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year when the WannaBees get together for our annual holiday lunch at P.F. Chang's. This year we each brought three fat quarters from our stash - one each in red, green, and blue - and passed them around the table so that no one got two fabrics from the same person.

I picked up these fantastic additions to my stash and shared some of my favorites.

It was a wonderful way to spend a strees-free couple of hours in the middle of this busy season. I hope you can find some of those yourself.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 16 - Keep Calm and Carry On

2011-12-11T08:18:00.002-05:00

It's Week 16 of the Holiday Grand Plan! Your preparations should be pretty much completed and minimum maintenance required to keep the house read for Christmas.

What's left? Decorate your tree, make plans for New Year's Eve, and use some freezer meals!

Modern Blocks Quilt Along

2011-12-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Is anyone else participating in the Modern Blocks quilt along over at SeamedUP?

I am having lots of fun making these blocks. A whole project right now seems more than I can face, but sitting down each day to make one block seems entirely reasonable. I've even found that I'm in a better mood since I'm getting some crafting time in without the stress of a deadline.

Best Friend, designed by Angela Pingel

Slot Machine, designed by Angela Pingel

So far I've made these two blocks. Download the e-book now and quilt along with us!

Going to Guild - Let's Get Our Party On!

2011-12-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

Monday night was the guild holiday party, and it was a hoot as usual. The only abnormal thing that happened is that I did not take one single picture despite carrying my camera around all night! Guess I was having too much fun.

It's a shame, too, because Ben and Suzanne went all out and did a fantastic job. To go along with our Green challenge, Ben created a small garden scene and decorated with many of Jackie's treasures from Goodwill. We read Stone Soup and made our own, with everyone bringing something to add to the bubbling crockpots or vast salad bar. It was delicious and, even better, we weren't left with an obscene amount of leftover food at the end of the night.

Suzanne's year-long collection of auction items and raffle prizes did not disappoint. I was able to bring home this darling little Chinese food container grab bag that included several packages of hand quilting needles (all but one passed along to Mom, thank you very much!), a box of basting pins, a charm pack of Lumiere de Noel, and a triangle ruler that I don't already own. Amazing!

We also played our annual holiday trivia game, which is enlightening as well as hilarious. I learned about the tradition of the glass pickle on a Christmas tree - never heard of that one before! - and earned sixteen more quilt dollars for being able to retrieve from the dusty corners of my brain such gems as Max (the Grinch's dog), all three reindeer whose names start with a C D,, and Yukon Cornelius (Rudolph's friend).

The new board was voted in (I'm still on Challenges) and Lene put a lid on what has been a wonderful presidency. Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers, and to all the guild leaders out there who help build this incredible community.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 15 - It's a Wrap!

2011-12-04T05:30:00.000-05:00

It's Week 15 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

This is it. Any packages that need to be mailed MUST GO. Do the minimum maintenance to keep the house looking fresh and use a few of those freezer meals. Try not to let the class party/Secret Santa/cat climbing the Christmas tree make you crazy.

It's a busy time of year, but one full of messages and blessings if you take a minute to breathe and recognize them.

November Book List

2011-12-01T05:21:00.002-05:00

This month was better than last month - good thing since I'm closing in on the end of the year!

You had to know that at least one of the books I read was Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony by Jeff Ashton. Yes, I bought it the day it came out and read it in about 48 hours. There weren't a lot of huge revelations for me, since I followed the case from the very beginning and watched the trial live. I read depositions and watched interviews with the FBI for three years. If you didn't follow the case that closely, this will give you a lot of information that you didn't see in the mainstream media. If you were ever on the fence about Casey's guilt, this one will push you off once and for all. If you are a junkie like me, you will appreciate having some lingering questions answered and Jeff Ashton's dry wit in the face of a devastating loss. I highly recommend it.

After that, I needed something light and airy. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I read The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato. This is an easy read, romantic with a minor mystery. I enjoyed it mostly because of the setting in Venice, Italy. I visited there, along with a trip to Murano, for a few days a long, long time ago and loved it.

Last, our Bible Study group read Gift of the Red Bird: The Story of a Divine Encounter by Paula D'Arcy. This little book is a quick read that generates big questions. Our group is made up exclusively of mothers. Not to get too religious on you, but we all struggled with the idea that God wants us to surrender everything for him. If we are better off spending all day in prayer, who is going to pick up carpool and make dinner? Aren't the children God gave us our most important obligation? Like I said, BIG conversations. This story will take just a few hours to read but days, weeks, or even longer to contemplate and absorb.

That puts me at fifty books in forty-seven weeks. Only two to go!

Storybook Quilts

2011-11-30T06:41:00.000-05:00

One more bit of news from our November guild meeting. Remember our challenge from 2009? The Storybook Quilts? Well, they are now famous!

During the meeting, Janie and her team shared two exciting things.

1. The Storybook Quilts are going to be featured on Sewing With Nancy sometime in 2012.
2. The Storybook Quilts are going to be displayed at the 43rd Annual NQA Show in Columbus, Ohio on June 14-16, 2012.

It's so cool to watch this dream come true.

You can read all about how the storybook quilts got their start in this article and on their website, StorybookQuilts.org.

PS...we've already decided that next year's challenge is Round 2 of The Storybook Quilts.

More Green Quilts

2011-11-29T05:30:00.001-05:00

In addition to our winners, we also had another twenty-two quilters participate in this year's challenge. Here are just some of the memorable and unique:

Ben made a second challenge quilt as a joke. This dog bed might not be very cozy, but it sure is green! Made completely of dog treat wrappers, each section is stuffed with plastic grocery sacks.

Rena shared these gorgeous rag rugs that she crochets with a giant hook. They are made completely of old sheets cut into strips.

Laurie made this quilt called Global Warming. She made this quilt entirely from her stash after being inspired by a visit to several national parks. On the back she included a poem she found in one of the parks.

Julie made the panels for this quilt of memories from a trip to Egypt completely out of recycled tea bags! Her instructions read: "Rinse them, let them dry, and oh yes...empty them before you use them." The back, batting and binding all came from her stash.

Doris wrote: "Throughout the years, my mother-in-law has been giving me all of her leftovers from her quilting years...I came across these drunkard's path blocks. The bubblegum color really caught my eye...As I placed them together I noticed that they were not squared, so I undid all the blocks to the simple units. I trimmed them, sewed them together by machine, and hand quilted them...I hope the person who made them is happy with the job I did!" A pretty sure bet, Doris, since I can't think of any quilter who wouldn't love one more posthumous finish...and such a treasure!

Once again we had a bumper crop of challenge quilts and so much fun hearing all the stories.

Going to Guild - Green Challenge Winners

2011-11-28T05:30:00.000-05:00

It's time for the annual guild challenge show!

In case you ~~haven't been paying attention~~ are a new reader, this year's guild challenge was a green challenge. There were no size or fabric requirements; the only rule is that there had to be some element of the quilt that you could defend as being "green."

Throughout the year I brought in several examples of entries to get the creative juices flowing. One month I brought in Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps & Shirttails. One month I brought in my denim quilt. One month I brought in an item made with bamboo batting, and another time I brought a UFO that had pieced batting scraps and a pieced back from my stash.

Here are the winners:

Third place went to Lene. This beauty is made out of her late father's silk ties. She used red and white silk for the centers and the opposite sides of the log cabins, and silk batting. She said her machine has never sounded so happy! Isn't it a beauty?

Second place went to Ben. When his wife Jackie was alive, one of her favorite things to do was to go thrift shopping. She was the green queen, and loved to come up with new uses for old clothes. Aprons from skirts, tote bags from drapes or upholstery samples...and quilts. This pastoral scene reflects a time when everything was used and reused, before it was cheaper to replace than to repair. I believe he said all of the pieces in this wool quilt were from Jackie's adventures in thrifting.

First place went to Vicki. For her artist's statement she wrote: "This quilt has 2330 pieces of more than 250 men's ties and 30 yards of fabric. It has over 200,000 hand stitches and has taken more than three years to complete. I wish to thank my husband for accompanying me to all of the Goodwill stores during our travels to buy men's ties, and also for his contribution of his and all of his relatives' and friends' ties."

Isn't it amazing? I wish I had taken more pictures close up. This whole thing is made up of Cathedral Stars. I've watched Vicki work on it for what seems like forever. In person, it almost glows with the gorgeous fabrics and textures. It is truly a work of art.

And, no, you aren't imagining it. The WannaBees rocked the house for this year's challenge! I'm so proud to be able to work and learn alongside these incredibly talented quilters.

Tomorrow I'll share some honorable mentions.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 14 - Deck the Halls

2011-11-27T08:15:00.002-05:00

It's Week 14 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

I have been such a bad blogger. I haven't shared half the recipes or tutorials I promised. I haven't even given you the challenge update from last month's guild meeting!

BUT...the main floor of my house is pretty darned clean. I had a little fit right before my cousin and my brother arrived for Thanksgiving and had a major cleaning binge to make up for all the weeks before when I gave it a lick and a promise.

Thanksgiving was lovely, with all the cousins camped out in my family room, far too much delicious food, and a birthday celebration for The Pit Boss.

And now we're down to crunch time. This is the week to pull out your holiday decorations and tidy that area. Give away any decorations that you no longer use or care for NOW when someone else might like them. Pitch the stuff that's falling apart or doesn't work or smells funny.

We're going to mail any overseas cards and get our packages ready for the post office.

Find a Christmas tree and spend a quiet afternoon or cozy evening decorating it.

Are you making homemade gifts? FINISH THEM, for Pete's sake! You don't want to be whipping down binding on Christmas Eve.

And I'm going to try to download the 27,000 pictures from my camera so I can get at least partially caught up with all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

...from my home to yours. May you be surrounded by people you love, plenty to eat...

and squeeze in a nap!

Holiday Grand Plan Week 12 - Upstairs/Downstairs

2011-11-13T08:12:00.002-05:00

It's Week 12 of the Holiday Grand Plan! I totally blew off last week, which supposed to be the garage. Oh well...that's the least of my worries!

This week is the week we're supposed to deep clean our attic and/or storage areas. I don't know about you, but we don't store anything in our attic except the furnace and as much insulation as we can squeeze up there. It just gets too hot in the summer for anything to survive intact. My other main storage area is where I keep my holiday decor, an area we'll get to in two more weeks when we pull out the Christmas decorations.

Instead, I use this week to ~~have a full blown panic attack~~ prepare for Thanksgiving company (my brother and his kids arrive in seven days!) and try to catch up on all the other weeks I've done a half-assed job on or, more likely, skipped completely.

In other news, let's get going on any last minute goodies to share that we need for Thanksgiving. I'll try to get the recipes up by tomorrow for Gram's stuffing and our old favorite, Calypso Pie.

In addition to the usual tasks, this week we're going to:

Make place cards and centerpiece.
Assign each food item a serving dish. I have these out on my dining room table with a note and utensil in each one.
Put any disposable foil bakeware needed on your grocery list.
Make sure the linens you plan to use are clean and pressed. I go ahead and put these on the dining room table as well.

Are you playing along? Just joining in? Link up!

With Gratitude, on 11-11-11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Presenting the Quilts of Valor Foundation from Catherine Roberts on Vimeo.

A Day with an Angel

2011-11-03T05:30:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned a few times before, I wasn't one of those people who planned out the most convenient time to have children and then had everything go according to my plan. One of the things that helped me survive that time was a mutual help support group called SHARE Atlanta. The families I got to know as I grieved became some of my most trusted and beloved friends.

Ten years ago, I helped get one of the Christmas Box Angels installed here in Georgia. SHARE Atlanta had already collaborated with Arlington Memorial Park to beautify their Babyland section of the cemetery; a generous donor made it possible for the angel to be our centerpiece.

Last Sunday we celebrated the memories of our children, and came together once again in love and support. I was proud to bring Gracie to meet so many other children who came along after the heartbreak, and to introduce her once again to friends who hadn't seen her since she was a toddler. She participated with several siblings in lighting the candles, and I read a poem written just for the occasion.

Holding on While Letting Go

Ten years later
I've learned to let go
in a hundred different ways.

My living children look back and wave

goodbye

as they go
to kindergarten
spend the night
off in the car
on a date.

I know it's coming:
college
apartment
marriage.

I've learned to hang on
a hundred different ways.

Some things never fade.
Memories
friendship
love of every shade
hope.

My fingers brush the wings of an angel
eternally hopeful
face forever tipped up to heaven
arms open, wings wide
holding on while letting go.

And I know
no matter how long I live
even when I'm a hundred
the love will stay
the memories will remain
the hope will blaze in my heart.

I've made two quilts for SHARE Atlanta. One was a simple applique of the double heart logo and tagline, "The love stays...forever in our hearts." The other I made with Pam; yes, that Pam. Families designed quilt squares which I pieced and Pam machine quilted...back when we were both new at it and terrified, but sure we did not have time to hand quilt! Why can I not find the picture?

Although life goes on and is so good, I love to take time to remember how precious it truly is. In the day to day rushing around and minor frustrations, it is easy to forget how beautiful and miraculous each one of us is. I hope you have a moment today to sit and be calm and grateful for all the people who have touched your life, whether they are here with you still or gone long ago.

Gifts From the Kitchen - Hot Cocoa Mix

2011-11-02T05:30:00.000-04:00

I know this is a repeat from last year, but the holiday season isn't complete without Mom's Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix.

Holiday Treat of the Week - Mom's "Homemade" Hot Cocoa Mix

Remember those jars you saved when you cleaned out the fridge? Let the kids decorate the outside of the lids and stir up some hot cocoa mix. Mix up in the biggest bowl you have and get the popcorn ready for movie night.

2 lb box (actually 40 oz) Nesquick
1 lb powdered sugar
11 oz jar CoffeeMate
8 qts powdered milk

Stir together. To make cocoa, add 2 heaping Tbsps to a cup of hot (not boiling) water.

If you didn't save any jars, it's also quite cute to put the mix in a disposable icing piping bag, top with mini marshmallows, and tie with a pretty ribbon.

October Book List

2011-11-01T05:20:00.002-04:00

I only read one book this whole month. Depressing. I honestly don't remember the last time I read at this pace. Second grade? No, I had far more free time then.

Truthfully, I'm reading a lot. I'm reading blogs and book reviews and the news. But while I normally love to lie in bed and read a novel for an hour or more before I fall asleep, lately I've been drifting off before I turn the page. I blame the weather...and Daylight Savings Time. Thank goodness we're going to get our hour back this weekend!

After all those excuses, the one book I read is John Sandford's Shock Wave. I love this man. Seriously, LOVE him. I love the way he writes and his heroes and the little funny bits in his stories that make them seem real. I can't remember which book it was when Lucas Davenport got an iPod and a $100 iTunes gift card. Lucas decided to buy the hundred greatest rock songs ever; this minor subplot throughout the rest of the book made such an impression on The Pit Boss and I that it has become a running family joke. Once I even wrote to Mr. Sandford about it; his son wrote back the nicest note explaining that the story was based on a real event in their lives and was a family joke for them too. LOVE.

So I can tell you that, yes, we bought this book practically the moment it came out in hardback, both read it cover to cover in less than 72 hours, and I'm holding my breath for this:

Mark Harmon is Lucas Davenport? ~Swoon~

Mark your calendars. November 6.

That puts me at forty-seven books in forty-three weeks.

Hope Your Halloween Totally Rocks!

2011-10-31T12:26:00.000-04:00

Holiday Grand Plan Week 10 - We Are Family!

2011-10-30T08:10:00.001-04:00

It's Week 10 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

I know, I know, I totally blew this off last week. It's a trade off. I have been substitute teaching a lot lately, and it's derailed my grand planning. The upside is that it's helping pay for Christmas. So, there's that.

The last two weeks I have barely crossed anything off my list. I'm not stressed, though, because I know that whatever I get done is a bonus. Whatever I don't get done is just the same as it would have been if I had never started. Whatever.

Back on the horse, and trying desperately to get ready for Thanksgiving company, we're on to week 10, which is a deep clean of the family room. This room stays fairly picked up because it is in the center of the house and is used so frequently. The carpet does need a shampoo where some little girl, who shall remain nameless, spilled red juice that she wasn't supposed to have out of the kitchen. Why we had red juice in the house at all is a whole different mystery. I know, it says not to shampoo carpets this week, but really? A red juice stain? I gotta do it.

Of course we're still freezing dinners and buying gifts and working on our homemade gifts. Yada yada yada. Speaking of which, I started a forum topic on SeamedUP about how many people really try to get homemade gifts done for the holidays. I do not have a good track record in this area.

This is also the week when we are going to polish the silver and clean the glass. I used to roll my eyes at this one. One year, when some miracle happened and I got a lot of stuff crossed off these lists, I did it. Can I just tell you how festive and sparkly it makes your house look when these things are shiny? Even if you just do the stuff people will see, it makes the holidays feel a little more magical. If you have time, do it. It feels great. If you don't, don't worry. Only your mother-in-law will notice. And if she's like mine, she won't even mention it. Mine is awesome like that.

Go through the coat closet and donate any coats you no longer wear to a coat drive or local charity. It's getting cold and someone can use them. Not to mention, you could use an empty hanger and a spot for your guests' coats.

Last, put away the Halloween specific decorations sometime after Monday and bring out anything that screams Thanksgiving. We're rolling, rolling, rolling towards Turkey Day, full speed ahead. Don't let it run you over!

Are you playing along? Link up!

Bloggers Quilt Festival

2011-10-28T19:44:00.000-04:00

I've been sooooo AWOL but I couldn't miss out on Bloggers' Quilt Festival.

I love this, not only because I'm sad not to be in Houston, but also because I try to visit every single entry and always find new and creative blogs that I had never heard of before.

For my entry, I thought I'd share this quilt that I made in 2003. It is called Bright Hopes, and was a donation to my children's elementary school.

First, I asked each child in The Bear's kindergarten year what they wanted to be when they grow up. The answers ranged from the hilarious to the ambitious to the tear jerker. I printed the answers in fabric pen on 4 1/2" squares of white muslin.

I bought four batiks in each of four colors. Then I made this block, called Bright Hopes. This was a true sacrificial gift for me because it involved Y-seams! But Marcia over at Quilter's Cache has simplified it for you so you don't have to deal with that.

I cut 1 1/2" strips of each fabric, and added them to the muslin squares. Then I arranged the blocks so that the colors moved in a diagonal wave through the quilt.

I added a muslin border and hand quilted the name of the school, the year, and a poem I wrote with a jewel toned, variegated thread. The poem reads:

What will you be when you grow tall?

Will you be famous? Admired by all?

What will you look like? What will you do?

Who will you love? Who will love you?

Just keep in mind when you're put to the test...

You're a hero to me if you give it your best!

I also hand quilted intersecting circles between each block, but not overlapping any of the muslin.

I printed the poem on the label so it could be read, and bound it in the brightly colored scraps. I was thrilled that the quilt raised over $2000 for the school!

I hope you like it. Be sure to visit all of the other quilters in the festival!

Gifts From the Studio - Think Pink!

2011-10-22T13:15:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...my days are all off. I meant to post this Thursday but it's been crazy here!

This isn't really a holiday gift, unless you count "watching a friend blossom into an amazing person and advocate through a challenging time" as a holiday...which I guess I do!

This weekend my walking buddy of days gone by is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For the Cure Breast Cancer Walk. She is walking with several of our mutual friends, plus her mom and sister who came to town for the event. If you remember, we whipped up a little something for her mom last summer. I'm glad to report that her mom is doing great and they should be about half way through the 60 miles right about...NOW!

My foot issues prevented me from walking with them, although I did hop on some of the training walks for a few miles at a time when I could. It has been an amazing thing to watch my friend get to this point. When we met and started walking together several years ago, we high fived on the day we bumped it up from two to three miles. Now she's walking sixty in one weekend, and logged literally hundreds during her training.

I wanted them to know that I was with them in spirit and cheering them every step of the way. I decided to make some mementos. The first was this little "scrap tail" that they can write on. This was easy to do with scraps of pink and white fabric and some fat pink rick-rack. I used a pinking blade on my rotary cutter, but you could use pinking shears too.

I put the fabric slices back to back with the rick rack in between. I used a 23" strip of rick rack. The strips were varying sizes, but on average they were 2" wide and 7" long.

Then I just stitched down the center of the rick rack.

And voila! I thought this would be cute to make even longer like a feather boa, but my buddy wanted something a little shorter to attach to her backpack. I gave them each a Pigma pen to carry and add names along their journey.

I wanted something extra special for my buddy and her sister to wear in honor of their mom's fight last summer. I printed a picture of her mom on a fabric sheet, along with "I walk in gratitude for " her name, and "Survivor" on it. I couldn't leave out mom, so I made one for her with a picture of the three of them and the text "I'm walking with my daughters" and "I'm a survivor!" I also made one more for my buddy with the picture of a friend who is a survivor AND walking her 5th walk this year! Yes, I am friends with some amazing women.

Anyway, back to the tut:

I cut 1" strips of pink ribbon fabric and stitched them around the edge of my photo. Then I made a little quilt sandwich with a piece of pink ribbon fabric and batting cut to the same size. Make sure your fabrics are right sides together with the batting at the back.

I cut a 4" piece of pink rick rack to tuck in the corner to hang it by. Make sure to pin the raw edges in your seam allowance, and be sure the middle doesn't get into your stitch line.

Stitch around the edges and leave a small opening for turning.

My buddy said this was a really special way to let everyone know who she was walking for!

To find out about a 3-Day event in your area or to make a donation, visit the3day.org.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 8 - The Heart of the Home

2011-10-16T08:07:00.032-04:00

It's Week 8 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

How does your guest room and bath look? Mine is not bad. I just need to spend a day at the mall taking back some returns from The Bear's birthday that have been stashed in there. That might sound fun to you, but I'd rather go to the dentist than the mall! If I'm going to shop, I want it to be for fabric. Clothes don't count.

Moving on to Week 8 in the kitchen. This is one of the most labor intensive but important weeks, in my opinion. We spend a lot of time in our kitchen; it truly is the heart of the home. Since it gets used a lot, it can always stand a deep cleaning. Luckily, the other side of that coin is that I keep it pretty organized.

Of course this week we will continue with our ongoing tasks of:

making a meal to freeze
making a batch of goodies to share
working an hour a day on homemade gifts
buying 1/8 of your gift list (don't forget to wrap and tag!)

The big things to remember this week are:

Make sure you are ready for Halloween. Is everyone's costume made/purchased/assembled? You might want to do a quick test run to see if there's an accessory missing, a hem that needs to be raised or lowered, or an area that could stand some reflective tape. Safety first!
It's also crunch time on those holiday gifts. If you are truly stumped, this would be a good time to contact the spouse/sister/best friend of that person to brainstorm some ideas.
Be honest. If a homemade gift is not going well, take the pressure off and see if you can come up with something else. That gift can wait until next year's birthday/Mother's Day/anniversary.
Buy your pumpkin!

I hope you have a great, productive week and that the weather where you are is as perfect and beautiful as it has been here the last few days.

If you're playing along, link up and share.

Gifts From the Kitchen - Even Better Snickerdoodles!

2011-10-11T14:30:00.025-04:00

I know I shared my snickerdoodle recipe with you all last year, but I've learned of a way to make these simple cookies even better!

The Pit Boss called on a client at a local movie theater where they bake their own brownies and cookies every day. It was while we were on the crazy cleanse, so they were off limits. He said it was the most difficult day he faced the whole four weeks!

On top of the heavenly bakery smell, he realized that the baker had combined two of his favorite things to make an even more perfect thing - snickerdoodle sandwiches with cream cheese frosting filling. He's been talking about them for weeks, so I decided to test them out for our Homecoming tailgate party.

I made regular snickerdoodles, but flattened them a little bit before I baked them. Not too much!

Then whipped up some cream cheese frosting, tinted it green for our home team, and smeared a little bit between two cookies.

Heaven!

And, just for you, my peeps, I threw a few in the freezer to see how they would hold up. I thawed them out today to taste (purely in the interest of science!) and they were just as fantastic as when they were fresh.

Enjoy!

Holiday Grand Plan Week 7 - Be Our Guest!

2011-10-09T08:05:00.018-04:00

It's Week 7 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

How do the kids' rooms look? Mine are in various states of organization. Gracie is probably my child who willingly cleans the most, but often gets off track when she decides to rearrange furniture or reorganize her hair accessories. This frequently ends with a bigger mess than we started with! The boys are reluctant helpers but tend to get in and out and finish quickly.

This week we are deep cleaning the guest room and bath. Mine is usually in pretty good shape since it is on the main level and visible to company, but lately I've been storing stuff in there and keeping the doors closed. Since we don't have frequent guests, it isn't a big deal. But this Thanksgiving my cousin and her daughter will stay with us, so I want the room to look fresh and clean. Looks like I have a busy week ahead of me!

Of course this week we will continue with our ongoing tasks of:

making a meal to freeze
making a batch of goodies to share
working an hour a day on homemade gifts
buying 1/8 of your gift list (don't forget to wrap and tag!)

If you decorate for Halloween, make sure to put those items out this week so you get to enjoy them.

Are you playing along? Link up and join in!

Gifts From the Kitchen - Homemade Pet Treats

2011-10-04T05:29:00.002-04:00

In honor of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, today we are cooking up some special treats for the pets in your life.

Daisy and George's favorites are the liver treats from Bullwrinkle. These freeze nicely, so you can keep some in your fridge and freeze the rest of a big batch. They are quick and easy to make, so you won't mind giving them away to your pet's friends. Or your friend's pets.

I don't normally cut these into little heart shapes, but for gift giving I decided to go all out. My poor doggies get the cut up outlines, but they don't seem to mind.

George is hilarious with these. Daisy can catch just about anything, even while laying down. She is very nonchalant about it, like a major league player catching with the kid from the rec team. George, however, is so food motivated and impulsive that he often snaps at the treat too soon and it bounces off his snout. Every catch lifts him out of his sit as he scrambles for the treat. I just had to show you:

Another easy favorite of theirs is sweet potato chips. I just slice a sweet potato with my mandolin, lay out the slices on a cookie sheet, and place them in the oven on the lowest possible temperature for several hours. Flip them when you think of it. These can be saved in an airtight container or frozen.

For your favorite felines, check out some of the recipes here. Gracie and I decided to make a batch of Sardine Surprise Treats for Maggie, Tiger, and Snicker.

The internet is an amazing thing. It turns out there are also recipes for hamster treats, homemade fish treats and treats for reptiles. We aren't making those, but knock yourself out.

Are you playing along? Link up!

Do U Uberfest?

2011-10-03T19:16:00.000-04:00

There are so many blog hops and quilt alongs going on right now, it's hard to rein yourself in. I was going to restrict myself to one at a time and focus on the Bloggers Block of the Month, but then I saw Scott Hanson's Quilt-Uberfest over at Blue Nickel Studios. Let's face it - this will be over before the next Bloggers BOM comes out, so that's not bad, is it?

I'm still on a stash diet, so I couldn't indulge in the gorgeous Sleeping Beauty line that the designers are using. I decided to use this adorable snowman fabric and a white with a hint of glitter. I have no idea why I have fabric with glitter. Don't judge.

Above is my block one, published October 1. It was designed by John Adams aka Quilt Dad. It's a cute little block, isn't it? I wonder what a whole quilt of these would look like?

This is my block 2, Flying North, designed by Miss Print aka Kaye Prince. It think you could do a lot with this block, swapping around the fabrics where the flying geese are or even putting a different patchwork there.

I can't wait to check out the next 14 days of blocks! If you decide to join in, come show off your blocks at SeamedUP! This quilt along has been added to the pattern library so we can all see each other's blocks as we quilt along.

Don't forget to add me as a friend. I'm QuiltinJenny over there and would love to see you.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 6 - Babes in Toyland

2011-10-02T06:55:00.020-04:00

It's Week 6 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

How's your bathroom look? True confession: I did nothing on this all week. I didn't get any gifts bought, I didn't get any meals in the freezer, I didn't even get any goodies made to share. Ugh! But, like I always say, it doesn't have to be perfect to be progress. Anything I do get done is one less thing to worry about in December.

So, fresh start for week 6. No looking back or swearing I'll get to it. The bathroom will be fine like it is. (Okay, maybe I should give the toilet a quick swish.)

This week's deep clean is the kids' rooms and play areas. It's the week that always feels like too much to me. Seriously, the attic and garage each get their own week, but all three kids' rooms AND the basement have to be done this week? Not a chance. The only good thing is that my kids are finally old enough to do a lot of this themselves.

Of course this week we will continue with our ongoing tasks of:

making a meal to freeze
making a batch of goodies to share
working an hour a day on homemade gifts
buying 1/8 of your gift list (don't forget to wrap and tag!)

In addition, it's time to check your smoke detectors and batteries!

Last, make up a basket to keep in the guest room/bath with some travel size items most likely to be forgotten. It will make your guests feel welcome, and you won't spend the first few hours of their visit running them to the store or looking all over for your own extras.

Are you playing along? Link up and share!

Stock the Freezer Saturday - Marinated Chicken and Veggies

2011-10-01T03:56:00.045-04:00

It's Stock the Freezer Saturday, and time to prepare for those unexpected warm days that pop up throughout the fall. Do you have those? Here in Georgia, it's not unusual to have a random sunny day where temps hit the high 60s or even low 70s. In fact, I remember one year when we decorated the Christmas tree in shorts!

The Pit Boss, 1995

Those are the days when I love to hit the outdoor mall nearby for some holiday shopping and inspiration. The one I like has a wandering Santa and Mrs. Claus, horse and carriage rides, and decorations galore. These are not the days I want to spend slaving over a stove or worrying about what's for dinner.

With a few quick preparations, you can have a delicious dinner that will cook low and slow in less than an hour on your grill.

First, buy some bone in, skin on chicken. Some people prefer breasts, some only want leg quarters, some want lots of drumsticks. It doesn't matter what you choose.

I buy lots when it's on sale. Now - and here's where it gets complicated - take it out of the package and put it in a large freezer bag. Pour in about a half a bottle of zesty Italian dressing. Freeze.

Did I lose you? LOL!

If you want to get fancy, you can also chop up some fresh veggies that would grill well. Think bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, eggplant, and zucchini. Blanch them and then put them in their own freezer bag with the rest of the dressing.

Where did that little girl go?

The morning of your blissfully beautiful fall day, the kind that reminds you that you can survive the rain and fog and chill, take this out to thaw. Then, about an hour before you want to eat, heat the grill. Turn it down to low, put the chicken on, and let cook for about 45 minutes. Turn occasionally to get that crisp outside, but be careful so the juice stays in to keep it moist.

When you take the chicken off, you can turn the grill back up to medium-high and put the veggies on while the chicken rests. They don't take long, and are the perfect side to this delicious dinner.

What's in your freezer? Link up and share!

September Book List

2011-09-30T05:19:00.001-04:00

I knew once the sports got into full swing my reading time would be cut. Lucky I got ahead over the blissfully relaxing summer!

Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott. This was another Harlan Coben recommendation for summer reads. I like thrillers as much as the next girl, but this was an over-the-top, stretch your willing suspension of disbelief to the limit, jump the shark thriller. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon. This was an incredibly touching book about how people with disabilities were once treated. It broke my heart thinking of how far we've come in a few generations, but how many stories just like this one took place to get here.

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. I had seen the movie - and loved it - but had never read the book. While they were slightly different, I really enjoyed both equally. This is a book I can imagine reading over again, because it made me want to try new things in the kitchen. I remember feeling the same way after watching the movie, and thinking it would be a good one to own so you could watch it when you just can't face dinner one more night.

That puts me at forty-six books in thirty-eight weeks. Six more in three months to hit my goal will be a breeze!

What are you reading?

Gifts From the Studio - Tag It!

2011-09-29T07:49:00.000-04:00

This week's gift from the studio is a mini fabric postcard that can be used as a gift tag. In your family circle, these could be returned to you and reused every year, or they can be used by the recipient as an ornament.

While stashbusting, I found that I have an abundance of Christmas fabric. I'm not sure why, especially since several of them are not high quality material. I suspect that I had big crafty plans for them when I made my purchases. Either that, or fabric really is reproducing on my shelves!

While writing this post, I realized my link to the basic instructions for fabric postcards has been taken down. I guess Deb really did give up blogging.

You will need:

Cute fabric for the front
Any embellishments you'd like to add
Something for the middle. You can use batting. I like Timtex Fast2Fuse Heavyweight or Peltex 72 - double sided fusible is best so you don't have to fuse your own, but it is sometimes hard to find. I got mine on my visit to A Scarlet Thread.
Fusible web if you couldn't find the double sided fusible.
Pressing sheet so your iron and ironing board don't get gunked up (yes, that's the technical term)
White muslin or other neutral backing fabric that you can write on
Pigma pen or other fabric safe pen
Sewing machine, coordinating thread, etc.

I roughly cut out my designs and fused them to the Timtex or Peltex.

Then I cut them out more precisely and fused them down to the white muslin. Cut them out and stitch a narrow, tight zig-zag stitch around the edges. I chain pieced these and just left them in my machine for whenever I had a spare 5 minutes to whip out a few.

Now you can add your message to the back. For those I don't expect to get back, like the ones I will put on cookies or pet treats, I just wrote a general "Happy Holidays from Quiltin' Jenny" type message. For our immediate family, I wrote to and from messages so I can reuse them each year.

The very last thing is to add any embellishments that are dimensional. I chose not to spend the time on that for this project, but for a birthday postcard they really add a lot of pizzazz.

What gifts are you making in your studio this week? Please link up for show and tell!

Blogger's Block of the Month

2011-09-28T06:43:00.000-04:00

There are all kinds of new blocks of the month and quiltalongs going on or getting ready to start right now, and I'm jumping in. I've never done one online - only through my guild - but I thought this might be a fun way to bust some stash, learn some new techniques, break out of my routine, and get some charity quilts put together.

My personal rule is that I'm only shopping from my stash. That might not last forever, since I always have lots of medium to dark prints and never enough neutrals, but right now I'm working to use up this length of WOW check that I've added to lots of quilts. It has more than paid for itself, and deserves a good life.

I also found a pansy print whose colors I like, but I'm no longer crazy about the print. I'm going to try to include this in each block somehow, preferably in the piece cut the smallest. I try to follow Bonnie Hunter's rule that states: "If a fabric is still ugly, you haven't cut it small enough."

Today's block is from the Blogger's Block of the Month, organized by Jackie and Canton Village Quilt Works. The first block is by Sherri at A Quilting Life. It's a simple 16 Patch, nothing to get stressed out about.

I pulled four 2 1/2" squares from my scrap box and mixed them up with the WOW and the pansy print. For my HST blocks, I used a method I saw on Jaye's blog just a few days ago. What a quick and easy way to make my pieces! Thanks, Jaye!

What are you working on?

Gifts From the Kitchen - Lemon Curd

2011-09-27T09:02:00.039-04:00

This week's gift from the kitchen is a recipe for lemon curd passed along to me by my childhood friend and her mother. They are English and exposed me to many things in the kitchen I had never tasted or cooked. Most were delicious - with the exception of the liver and onions they ate for dinner every Thursday. That was the night K and I usually convinced Mom to let her eat at our house!

Anyway, here is Ann's recipe. If you are not already familiar with canning, please find a reliable resource for directions. That would not be me. I am always nervous about killing some people, so even after I can this, I still keep it in the fridge.

Lemon Curd

This is a lovely little treat, beautiful and sweet, that I love to give as gifts. It's delicious on toast, scones, ice cream, or as a filling.

* 3/4 stick of butter
* 9 oz sugar
* 3 lemons, grated and juiced
* 3 eggs, beaten

Mix all ingredients into top of double boiler - stir constantly until thick. Strain into sterilized pots and cover immediately. Be patient! It takes a bit. This is a good time to listen to a podcast.

All ingredients when you start

After 5 minutes

After about 25 minutes. It should be thick and shiny.

Makes two 8oz jelly jars. I double or triple this - why not while I'm at it? - to give as gifts. It also trades well. We have a friend who uses it to fill her meringue cookies but hates to make the lemon curd. I can't get the meringue cookies to work, so we swap.

If you're playing along, why don't you link up?

Holiday Grand Plan Week 5 - The Master Bath

2011-09-25T07:54:00.032-04:00

It's Week 5 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

How does your master bedroom look? Mine is not immaculate, but I did wash everything on my bed (pillows, mattress cover, dust ruffle, etc) and vacuum under the bed before reassembling. It feels cleaner in there even if it is not perfect.

This week we move onto the master bath. Last year I did a pretty thorough reorganization of this, and I'm glad to say I've done a better job of keeping this area neat. This year should just be some cleaning and pitching some stuff that's a little too old.

Of course this week we are also continuing on with the freezer meal, batch of goodies, and working an hour a day on handmade gifts. We are also going to buy and wrap another 1/8 of our gift list. I'm finding some great bargains by liking a few key facebook pages and getting alerts of some terrific sales. Yesterday, for example, The Gap had all their sale items marked down an additional 50% off - including jeans! Always a bonus with boys who are growing like weeds.

This is the week where we go through the kids' toys to donate. While you're doing this, it's a great time to make lists of anything they might like for the holidays. You know the grandparents are going to ask.

Also, check to see that everyone has appropriate attire for all of your holiday functions. What are they going to wear for the family photo (if you take one)? Keep an eye out for sales to fill in any missing components. Make sure you have a list of their sizes for any family members who ask or in case you stumble across the bargain of the century.

If you're HGP-ing along with me, link up below!

Stock the Freezer Saturday - Quiche Lorraine

2011-09-24T03:55:00.023-04:00

It's Stock the Freezer Saturday, and time to make a meal to freeze for those crazy December days when dinner just might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

I'm laughing because I'm writing this post listening to Pam at Hip to Be a Square. What is she talking about? Quiche!

My family, like Pam's, all love quiche for dinner. It's comfort food on a rainy, chilly night and pretty easy to throw together. What's even easier? Moving it from the freezer to the fridge in the morning (to thaw) and then finishing off the baking process while you toss a salad.

As Pam says, you can put just about anything into a quiche, but our hands down favorite is Quiche Lorraine.

8 slices bacon cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 C chopped onion (the recipe calls for green, but I like sweet onions better)
2 C shredded Swiss cheese, divided
6 eggs, beaten
1 C heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
dash of red pepper and white pepper
ground nutmeg
9" pie crust (I buy pre-made)

Line a 9" quiche pan with pie crust. Poke holes in bottom and side with a fork. Bake at 400 for 3 minutes, gently poke again, and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes OR follow instructions for pre-baking on the package.
Saute bacon and onion in a skillet until brown; drain well and spread evenly in your baked pie shell.
Top with 1 C of cheese.
Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Pour into pastry shell and top with remaining cheese.
Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
If you want to freeze the quiche, bake at 350 for 20 minutes instead, or just until slightly set. Cool and wrap well before freezing. To reheat, thaw completely and bake at 350 for another 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

My pictures of this didn't come out, and now the boys have already eaten most of the second quiche that I made to freeze!

Please share your freezer meals and link up!

Gifts From the Studio - Patchwork Santa

2011-09-22T04:43:00.001-04:00

Last year for the quilt show, Lene made these adorable patchwork Santas for the Star Wares table. Of course, that led to a plea for a class, so earlier this month we all got together to learn how to make an adorable Santa.

The pattern, from the Quilt in a Day Series, was written by LuAnn Stout. I love the directions for making Santa out of crazy patch. For my first attempt I decided to use up one of my Moda Adoring charm packs. I cut 5" strips of a white on white check and quick pieced them with the charm pieces. If you leave out the two most neutral cuts, you end up with an 80 square quilt top that measures 36" x 45", the exact amount you need of a cutter quilt for this pattern. Perfect!

Other options include using an old "cutter quilt." Some folks were appalled by the idea of cutting up a quilt, but the ones to use are those that are damaged beyond repair in a few places or whose back is so threadbare that it can't be saved. In those cases, you are giving the quilt a second chance at life instead of hiding it in a closet or even throwing it out.

Lene's collection of cutter quilts

Suzanne got lucky in the clearance aisle at Kohl's! She found this beauty for a steal, and expects to get several Santas out of the queen/full size quilt.

Lene says it makes a great assembly line project if you want to make a bunch - she made TEN one year! It did go together fairly simply and easily, with the only tricky step being when you gather the beard and stitch it to the face. It took me three tries. To be fair, I'd only had one cup of coffee.

Face/beard sandwich

In fact, they went together so quickly, that we brought them to our guild meeting just over 48 hours later!

What gifts are you making this year? Link up and share!

East Cobb Quilt Guild Show - Georgia Celebrates Quilts - Last One!

2011-09-21T06:53:00.000-04:00

One last post about the East Cobb show. There were some amazing vendors there! It was interesting to watch the ebb and flow of each booth while we rounded up the WannaBees for lunch.

Here you can see just one of the three sections of vendors. With 26 different booths, there was something for everyone. You could barely even get into the All That Thread booth. They had a great selection of Aurifil threads, and the quilters were swarming!

Of course I had to stop by and say hi to my friends Jan and Kristin at Fiber on a Whim. I bought a set of Shiva Paint Sticks in the autumn colors. I've always wanted to try these out, and Kristin says this is one of the most common color sets. Have you used these? Do you put them on before or after quilting? I'll be experimenting.

Last, we fell in love with the hats from Cast-On Cottage. I didn't catch Lene with her gorgeous blue one, but Lynn (as always) and Laura (the newest WannaBee) were willing models.

Lynn wants this to be the new uniform, but I don't wear hats well. Ben said he had to put his foot down on this one issue!

Gifts From the Kitchen - Limoncello

2011-09-20T02:29:00.000-04:00

I remembered! Today's gift from the kitchen is homemade limoncello. You have just enough time to get this ready for Christmas giving.

There are a bajillion tutorials for this online, but I liked the one at Sonnet of the Moon by Heather. It is so simple and beautiful, and well appreciated by those we gave it to.

Here's Step 1:

Here's Step 2:

And Step 3:

One last thing: don't just pitch all those perfectly good lemons after step 1! I want you to juice them and freeze the juice in 3 lemon increments for next week's gift from the kitchen.

Want to share your gift from the kitchen? Link up now!

East Cobb Quilt Guild Show - Georgia Celebrates Quilts Part II

2011-09-19T06:01:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the East Cobb show had a great mix of traditional, modern, and art quilts. This little beauty, Sweet Tweets by Taffy McLaughlin, was one of my favorite modern quilts. I love the colors on the white background (how do you keep that clean while you're working?), the whimsy...

...and the clever quilting!

Laurie Stoner, from our guild, made this amazing art piece, Barklesque Hillside:

Another Star, Jan Kramer, won a blue ribbon for this unbelievable miniature traditional sampler quilt she calls Mini Me:

Quilts can be modern or arty or complicated, but I always come back to some simple certainties. Blue and yellow, nine patches, playing with value - these will always have a comforting place in my heart. I just adore Mary Goodner's Blooming Nine Patch, and hope to make one of my own some day (even if Jodi says it's a pain.)

Holiday Grand Plan Week 4 - Master Your Surroundings

2011-09-18T04:46:00.034-04:00

It's Week 4 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

How did Week 3 go for you? I'm so sorry I didn't get either of my freezer recipes posted. My week got a little crazy, and yesterday I realized that I hadn't updated or published any of those posts. Let's call it brain freeze and move along.

This week we are going to deep clean the Master Bedroom. This is my pit of despair. (bonus points to anyone who gets the movie reference.) I'm curious about other people - I have a friend who always cleans her room first, because she feels more in control and well rested when the master bedroom is serene and clean. I think that's probably a really good plan. I, however, am of the mindset that my room is the last place guests will possibly see, and so it can be saved for last when I'm cleaning. Which means that it doesn't always get done, and it's the dumping ground for a lot of stuff I haven't decided what to do with. What do you do? Is your bedroom a sanctuary?

In addition to our freezer meal and our batch of holiday goodies to share, this week we are also going to start buying 1/8 of our gift list and wrapping. Holy cow! That's when you know it's time to get serious. Remember that list you made back in Week 1 of all the people you shop for? Let's divide that list by 8 and take care of that many people this week. Hint: it's probably simplest to shop for the ones who get gift cards or who have a wish list on Amazon. Ease your way into this like dipping your toes in the swimming pool.

Also: spend an hour a day working on any handmade gifts you are planning.

Last, take a look at your table and bath linens and see what needs replacing. You don't have to buy them all this week, but have a list of what you'd like for when the really good Kohl's coupon comes out.

There are less than 100 days until Christmas.

East Cobb Quilt Guild Show - Georgia Celebrates Quilts

2011-09-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

I spent the day with the WannaBees at the East Cobb Quilt Show. If you can get there, go. It is so worth it. It's a very forward, bright, happy show with so many unbelievable quilts that I completely gave up on the Viewer's Choice. I couldn't pick.

It was great to see some WannaBees projects hanging, especially the one with a ribbon! Lene's quilt, Cosmic Creation, won 3rd place in the Pieced, Medium category.

There were also several quilts from our guild members, many of whom have "dual citizenship" with East Cobb. Fran won the Best Hand Quilted ribbon for her gorgeous Mom's Log Cabin in the Woods.

Some of my other favorites included this gorgeous chuppa called Branches of the Same Tree by Luci Sunshine, Betty Gay White, and quilted by Regina Carter. According to Laura, the newest WannaBee, the Hebrew letters say "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Swoon.

I must be in a romantic mood, because one of my other favorites was Megan and Cree's Wedding Quilt. This is a simple pattern with marriage advice written on some of the blocks.

They got some great advice!

This post is getting picture heavy, so I'll share one more in keeping with the theme and save the rest for another post. Celebrating 60 Years of Family by Valerie J. McCarley was a 60th anniversary quilt that made me say, "Aha!" I have been dying to do a family tree quilt with photo transfer, but haven't been able to figure out the design I want. Using the images in the border is a stroke of brilliance!

I like how she did the family tree part:

Interspersed with the family photos were some special sayings.

Okay, I'll save the rest for another post so this one doesn't take forever to load. Hope you can get there if you're nearby.

Going to Guild - Fundraising

2011-09-13T14:19:00.033-04:00

We didn't have our normal guild meeting this month because of Labor Day, but we did have a special "business only" meeting to discuss fundraising.

In the past, our guild has kept dues extremely low (when I joined it was $15 a year with no commitments) and made a raffle quilt every other year to support the programs budget. As time went on and our guild grew, the programs moved from members who shared a skill to locals who charged a small fee to hiring regional and national speakers who bring professional classes, lectures, and trunk shows. Dues have gone up a smidge, but the raffle quilt is making about the same amount or less, and fewer people are taking steps to make the quilt and sell the tickets.

This meeting was to discuss the direction the guild should move for fundraising, and I would love to hear how your guild does it.

Some of the options discussed include:

Variations of raising dues, making a raffle quilt (with and without mandatory ticket sales), and making homemade items to sell at our show (Star Wares)
The "cash only" option of raising dues a lot ($62/year) and having no other obligations
Keep dues the same and go back to having a couple of local speakers with members filling in the rest of the programs

I've made up a short poll. Please click through and share what your guild does. Even if you do not currently belong to a guild, the last few questions focus on what you would like to do or what you think would work best.

Does your guild require anything else of you besides dues. Volunteer hours? Quilts or other small items to be sold or auctioned? This is the only guild I've ever joined, so I really would love to know how it works in your neck of the woods.

I'll share the results of the poll and how our guild voted next week.

Ten Years Later - Remembering 9/11

2011-09-11T00:01:00.004-04:00

Never Forget...

Make today a day of service and remembrance, in honor of all who lost their lives and those who were left behind to grieve.

What will you do? Need ideas? Visit 911DayofService.org.

To all of the survivors out there, my prayers; to the members of our armed services and the families who support them, you have my gratitude for your sacrifice and prayers for a safe return home.

God bless America.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 3 - Come On In!

2011-09-10T14:45:00.021-04:00

It's Week 3 of the Holiday Grand Plan! Coming to you one day early in honor of the National Day of Service tomorrow.

Last week was moderately successful. My office is not deep cleaned. I know. You're stunned.

The good news is that I got a batch of chicken broth into the freezer and purchased my extra baking supplies.

Moving on, let's look at our to-do list for this week:

Deep clean entry/foyer. This is not a major issue at our house, but I do use this week every year to go through the coats, hats, gloves, and scarves to determine what needs cleaning, mending, or replacing, and what can be handed down or given away. I also de-clutter the hall closet for those few days a year when guests actually have to wear coats.
This is the week we start making a holiday treat to share in addition to our freezer friendly meal. Those recipes will (fingers crossed) appear on Tuesdays for the next ten weeks. I would love for you to share your own favorite gifts from the kitchen.
There is also the instruction this week about buying double canned goods each week and storing them for a donation and your holiday menus. I used to do this, but realized that 1) I use very few canned items in my menus and 2) food banks are most in need at other times of the year (like now). Since all three of my kids' schools have food drives at times NOT near the holidays, I just buy a few extra when I find a good sale and donate then.

Are you working along with me? Link up and let us know what you're up to!

Stock the Freezer Saturday - The Basics

2011-09-10T00:22:00.001-04:00

This is our first week to stock the freezer with one extra meal for those crazy nights in early December. Honestly, I try to do this a little bit all year around. There is nothing that makes you feel quite so smug as having a jam-packed day and being able to pull something out of the freezer, drop it in the crock pot, and go on with life.

Not everything I freeze is a whole meal, and most of it isn't that double dip of perfection to also go in the crock pot, but here are a few of my basics that I try to keep on hand at all times:

Chicken Broth

Why on earth anyone pays for chicken broth is beyond me. When I roast a whole chicken, I dump the carcass and a bunch of water in my crockpot, cook it all night, and strain it in the morning. I pour it into one cup containers and freeze it. The frozen chunks go right into a giant Ziploc freezer bag. So many of my recipes call for chicken broth, and this way I know exactly what's in it.

Shredded Chicken

Another way to stay stocked up on broth is to make shredded chicken in the crock pot. My favorite way is to put a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock with lots of water, an onion, some garlic, a few carrots, a stalk of celery, a dash of salt and pepper, and maybe a bay leaf. Again, strain the broth out and follow the steps above. The chicken will be shreddable (is that a word? it should be!) and moist. Pop it in a freezer bag and pull it out whenever your recipe calls for cooked chicken. I love it in chicken pot pie and a few different chicken casserole dishes.

If you prefer a Mexican flavor, season it instead with a jar of your favorite salsa, a can of black beans, and some frozen corn (skip the water). You won't get broth, but you'll get chicken that's perfect over yellow rice or salad, or wrapped in a tortilla.

Chicken or Beef for Stir Fry and Stew

When chicken or flank steak are on sale, I love to cut them up into thin strips and freeze them with some Teriyaki sauce. It's a super quick dinner to stir fry the meat and a bag of frozen vegetables while the rice cooks.

Ground Beef, Turkey, Chicken or Pork

Ground meat is another great item to buy when it's on sale or in bulk and brown ahead of time. A few scoops from the freezer adds a hearty flavor to spaghetti sauce, soup, or casseroles. Add some taco seasoning for Tex-Mex nights!

A little planning and a well-stocked freezer can save your sanity during those dark, busy days before Christmas (or during the Spring Musical...or State Championships!). Take some time this week to look through your recipes and see which ones might freeze well, even if it's only one component. If you have a good one, please link up and share!

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T11:18:00.000-04:00

I hope you are all having a relaxing Labor Day. We had our barbecue and celebration last night since Tropical Storm Lee is raining on our parade today.

Maybe I'll get some sewing done and start on this messy office!

Holiday Grand Plan Week 2 - Answer Me This

2011-09-04T04:43:00.001-04:00

It's Week 2 of the Holiday Grand Plan!

Last week I made my list and checked it twice. I know which gifts have to be mailed by when and how many teacher thank yous I need to pick up. I have lists of meals for the freezer, goodies to share, and gifts from my studio to try - all of which I hope to share with you. We're still working on getting the front door area looking great after having some overgrown bushes removed, but it's tidy and spiderweb free.

This week is Question Week, when we sit down with our families and decide what holiday traditions are truly important to us, which ones just stress us out, and what new ones we might like to add in. I gave up sending paper Christmas cards several years ago because of the stress, cost, and paper waste. I'm connected to everyone on my list electronically now and, although I love to receive them, had to move cards off my list of priorities. One tradition I will never give up is making the Italian cookies with my mom and kids. Something I hope to add is a small gathering of Gracie's friends to make cookies or mini gingerbread houses. We'll have a family meeting tonight over dinner to see what everyone else thinks.

It's also the week when we deep clean the living room. I no longer have a living room since we added built-in bookshelves and a desk. It's my office, and the second worst room to deep clean besides our bedroom/my studio space. Every year I vow to get it organized; every year I make a little more headway. Organized is just a dream.

Add extra flour, sugar, vanilla, and other baking supplies to your grocery list this week and stash them in the pantry. Nothing ruins a Norman Rockwell-esque cookie baking session like realizing you are out of baking soda.

Last, this week we will start making an extra meal to put away in the freezer for those crazy early-December days when menu planning can send you over the edge. I hope to share a recipe or idea each Saturday to help get you going. Please link up if you are Grand Planning along with me or if you have a recipe to share.

Creative Prompt - Willow

2011-09-03T06:02:00.006-04:00

Does anyone participate in Jaye's Creative Prompt over at ArtQuiltMaker.com? I have always admired them, and when she posted the topic "Willow" I had an image pop into my head.

I have also recently become fascinated with Zentangles. They remind me of free motion quilting and the beauty of a heavily quilted piece.

Here's my submission. Hope to see one of yours in the flickr group soon!

Hosting the WannaBees

2011-09-02T08:19:00.015-04:00

It was my turn to welcome the WannaBees, and I was glad to see everyone again so soon.

No one brought their own projects this time because we had some serious work to do. Our group quilt, WannaBee at the Ocean, was accepted into the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show. The dropoff deadline is Sunday, but ever since we saw it hanging at our guild's show Lene has wanted to fix the binding.

It looks fine to me, but I'm a "galloping horse" kind of girl.

The other thing that has been bugging Lene is that there is one ribbon. No one knows what to do with it. For Ben and Lene, it might just be one more to hang in the collection; however, this is probably my only chance to have a blue ribbon from a quilt show. So Lene and Jodi, who were on the committee that made the ribbons, generously offered to help all of us make our own duplicate ribbons. We finally got around to that today, so now I can proudly show off my awards!

It's a green thang! Recycled CDs give the ribbons a little backbone. I couldn't believe how many we all had lying around!

Also recycled: cardboard from cereal boxes for the foundation.

No, that red isn't for us. Lene and Jodi are so generous, they felt we should make some for the second place group winners as well.

And here we are, the WannaBees, each with our own blue ribbon at last!

August Book List

2011-09-01T05:17:00.053-04:00

Even with the start of school and football, I managed to finish five books this month - mostly because I could not put down The Hunger Games trilogy and devoured them all in less than a week!

First I read A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano. You know how some books are recommended to you by so many different people that you just KNOW you have to read it? That's how this was. Joshilyn wrote a 3Q with Ann, and then someone else mentioned it, and then my mom passed along her copy and high praise. I was a little wary of this book. It's a novel with Flannery O'Connor as a central character. Yeah, but it totally works. Read it. It's excellent.

Disobedience by Jane Hamilton. I picked this up at the library because I loved A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth. Disobedience is about a seventeen year old son, Henry, who stumbles across his mother's emailed documentation of her affair. I'm not sure if it was just too serious of a book for August or if it was really that bad, but it took forever to get into this and finish it. Maybe it hit a little close to home because my son is about the same age, and Henry spends most of the book counting the minutes until he leaves for college, hoping never to look back or be a part of his family again. Whatever it was, this one isn't on my list of favorites.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was required reading for The Bear. When I picked it up at Barnes & Noble, the clerk assumed it was for me. Apparently this trilogy is a written-for-kids-but-loved-by-adults in a Harry Potter kind of way. Everyone in the family but Gracie and I have read them, and I finally got around to it. Just like Harry Potter, I couldn't wait for the next one and went straight from the last page of one to the first page of the next! Add Catching Fire and Mockingjay to my list.

That puts me at forty-three books in thirty-four weeks. Only nine to go to keep my New Year's resolution. It leaves me wondering if I've ever kept one for a whole year before? Have you?

Kicking off the Grand Plan!

2011-08-28T05:30:00.032-04:00

Can you believe it's time already to kick off the Holiday Grand Plan?

Those of you who can't stand the C word before Halloween might want to plug your ears and sing "la la la" for the next several Sundays, because this is how I roll. It is the only way to save my sanity and guarantee that I don't finish up football season with a full blown panic attack over how much there is left on my to-do list.

This week we are making our lists. Some people prefer to make cute binders, but I put all mine on a Numbers/Excel sheet. If you would like a copy of the template, please feel free to email me at quiltinjenny AT gmail DOT com.

It's also the week the clean up your front door/porch area. Normally this one doesn't take too long because we don't have much of a porch, but we just cut down several large hollies near the door and had the outside of the house painted, so it could use a little TLC.

In addition to a recipe for a meal that you can freeze to pull out on a crazy night, I'm also planning to post a weekly recipe for a treat and a DIY gift to share. If you are doing the plan with me, please link up.

Here we go!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

2011-08-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

Not much quilting going on these days because we've been doing a lot of this:

Last night was a late night after a nail-biter that went into overtime. Hoping to get back to my machine this week.

Also, I have a surprise for you tomorrow!

Podcast Roundup 2011

2011-08-20T05:45:00.001-04:00

It's football season and you know what that means - MORE PODCASTS! Although my driving to and from football practice has virtually ground to a halt now that The Bear is in high school and stays after instead of being driven across town in rush hour traffic, I still find myself with lots of time in the car.

The two podcasts I've recently added to my subscriptions are The Off Kilter Quilt with Frances, and Hip to be a Square with Pam.

Frances is a sort of newish quilter, professional author of young adult novels, knitter, fiddler, and gardener. She records quilt diaries that frequently veer off the subject of quilting and into her interests and life with two tween boys and The Man. She has a gorgeous South Carolina accent that is soothing when there's construction or a wreck or a long grocery list, so that I wouldn't even care if she wasn't talking about quilting. But she is. I love listening to her progress and laugh at some of her conversational tangents because they sound so darn familiar! The pins holding up the curtains in her son's room made me glance around for hidden cameras. Frances's podcast and blog have a conversational feel to them, which often pulls in other quilters I love through the comments and posts. Now if we could get her on twitter!

Speaking of twitter, that's where I most often "see" Pam. She, Sandy from Quilting for the Rest of Us, Brye Lynne, Allison, and so many more feel like friends I've known a long time instead of disembodied voices. As it turns out, she's also local, so probably my best bet for one day meeting in real life. Pam claims to be podcasting about "all things quilty and geeky" but there's not a lot of geek. There is a lot of Zapper, the helper cat, who is drawn to the microphone like toddlers to their mother when the phone rings. Pam is active in the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild, which is where I'd like to belong when I grow up.

Who are you listening to these days?

A Day With the WannaBees - Back to School

2011-08-19T09:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the WannaBees got together for the first time in a long time. Summer is a real challenge, so we are pretty sporadic in June and July. But the kiddos are back in school so it's time to quilt!

It was a very back-to-school episode of the WannaBees. It's amazing how different we all are and yet have so much in common. The conversation covered new preschoolers, home schooling, charter schools, and one sweet girl who is leaving for college today. Good luck C!

We also welcomed our newest member, Laura. She is a former art teacher like Ben, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Somehow I forgot my camera, but you can check out a few pics of what Ben has been working on over at Jodi's blog, On Forward Motion. I love the one block wonder that Ben made. Can you see the fish?

Jodi was doing some wool applique, Vicki showed off a gorgeous Block of the Month top she just finished, and I was doing some piecing for a project I'm going to show you soon. But mostly it was just good to get together and catch up.

I hope you have time this weekend to sit and sew with friends. It is truly a blessing!

Wordless Wednesday - First Blush

2011-08-17T00:29:00.000-04:00

A Fresh Coat

2011-08-16T12:29:00.000-04:00

I've been reading Kate of Centsational Girl's blog for about a year and getting those yearnings you begin to feel when a young man and a young woman...oh, wait, that's a different story. THIS story is about the yearnings you feel when you see a great pattern or beautiful fabric or clever craft idea. The yearning to make and create and plant and redo. Yes, those.

Centsational Girl, in case you don't follow her (which you should), does some pretty awesome things with spray paint. She uses other paints and different tools as well, but those things go ~ whoosh ~ right past me. The spray paint projects are the ones that get my trigger finger itchy.

I decided to test out my shootin' skills with a project that could not possibly matter less, just in case I totally screwed it up. These metal planters have been sitting under our deck rusting for...um...11 years since we moved in.

I started off with my handy dandy Dremel tool. Actually, I had to call The Pit Boss and ask him to bring it home from work since I've never even used it. Then I went to continue my entertainment of the guys at my local Ace Hardware and find the right attachment. But THEN I used it. A Dremel is a wonderful thing. I sanded the rust and flaky paint off, probably causing some deadly lung disease before I remembered to put on a mask.

I would have loved to test out some of the awesome new colors available in spray paint, but I already had a can of flat black I had bought for this very purpose a long time ago. Plus, I thought black would look very classy against the freshly painted white trim on the outside of the house.

I think it does, don't you?

Thanks so much, Kate, for the inspiration to fix something up. I can't wait for my next project!

Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes

2011-08-15T07:23:00.019-04:00

First, let me say this is NOT a sponsored post. No one has offered me anything to write this. Not saying I wouldn't accept if offered.

You have heard my tale of woe about my feet. You have seen a few of my desperate attempts to avoid going back to the orthopedist (he said he would put me in a boot or consider surgery if I came back and wasn't better, so I didn't.).

OT: funniest conversation about this topic with my crazy liberal California brother.

B: So, how's the working out going?

Me: What working out? I can't even walk one mile without my foot killing me! I hate the gym and the exercise bike, and I can't afford a gym with a pool.

B: Did you get a recommendation for an acupuncturist?

Me: Yes, I'm going to see him next week.

B: Great! What else have you tried?

Me: Well, the orthopedist said he'd try a boot or surgery if I came back and wasn't better.

B: Orthopedists! All they want to do is immobilize or operate! I can't believe they're still allowed to be called doctors!*

Anyway, back to my commercial. I finally realized that the advice (by the orthopedist) that was most valuable was to wear good shoes. He did not approve of the really cute flip flops I wore to his office. He specifically mentioned Merrell, but noted that there are other good brands out there.

I know it's obvious, but I noticed that when I wore cute shoes, my feet were killing me. A day in flip flops could leave me practically crippled. Wearing my running shoes made the pain all but disappear. For our Grand Canyon trip last year, my mother-in-law generously insisted on buying me a pair of these ~~hideously ugly~~ incredibly comfortable Keens. I could live in these shoes. My feet do not hurt if I wear them faithfully, including in the house while I'm on my feet cooking for hours.

But. They aren't cute. Not even a little bit. They're not appropriate for work or Mass or lunch with the girls. It was a choice between fashion and function.

Once again, my mother-in-law came to the rescue. For my birthday this year she bought me not one but TWO pairs of these cute Merrell sandals. Honestly, I love her. She is so practical. I protested that they cost too much, but she asked me to calculate how much I had already spent trying (unsuccessfully) to be not crippled.

Orthopedist Visit, complete with x-rays: $40 copay, lots more for the insurance company
New running shoes with orthotic inserts and special cushioned socks: $145
Acupuncturist, 3 visits: $275
Advil, Aleve, Tylenol: $25
Time lost icing my foot, elevating my foot, and generally laying around: priceless

In other words, the shoes are worth it. And cute!

Toes: Dutch Tulips by OPI

After one month of wearing ONLY these shoes, my running shoes, or my Keens, I am happy to report that the pain is, if not gone, under control. I have been able to walk for exercise short distances and hope to work up to more.

*The opinions of my crazy liberal brother do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this blogger. Please do not write to me if you are an orthopedist. Or an acupuncturist.

Or a crazy liberal. It's a term of endearment.