Tuesday, October 30, 2007

I'll Admit It

Confession, after all, is good for the soul.

I've been watching like crazy to see the new lines coming out. Kimberly has a few of them up on the "Coming Soon" section of her site at http://www.fatquartershop.com/.

Just when we think there's nothing new or exciting, wham! Stash busting is a lost cause with me!

What's your favorite of what's posted so far? Don't be shy! You can say it out loud! After all, it's time to make our Christmas lists! Santa told me last year that "I want one of everything" doesn't cut it with him; I have to be more specific! LOL

I am really in love with Prairie Paisley, but I about lost it when I saw Simplicity! And Sweet Escape! Jane said she saw the Maypole line at Market. I love it (even though it has purple in it LOL)! And the new lines aren't even all up yet! I have a feeling it's going to be hard to stash bust with all this new stuff hitting the shelves soon!

Maybe Kimberly or someone else can answer this: I know the FQ towers come out first. Do the rolls and charms also come out before the yardage? I can't remember, but I have new inspiration for my rolls and charms with the new Design Original books. I think Kimberly has them in the Patterns section of her site. I went ahead and ordered them a couple of weeks ago, and I can tell you there are tons of great new patterns in them. And the fat 16th books are awesome!! I see a lot more of those fat 16th Jolly Patches in my future!

Monday, October 29, 2007

All Things Christmas, Block 5


One more block and the scalloped borders to go! I'm still so proud of myself for keeping up with this BOM. I can't wait to get it quilted, so I can get the embellishments on the blocks and bring them to life!

The air was a bit more clear today. I just hope the Santa Ana winds won't kick back up like they're predicting. That wouldn't be good for the fires. Will keep my fingers crossed!

Seven more work days until Retreat. But who's counting? :)

I went to the market on Sunday. When I was unpacking the groceries, I noticed several things missing. So I called the store and they told me to come back by at my convenience to get those items. I stopped over tonight, gave my receipt to the customer service person, and he went out into the store and gathered up everything for me. No questions. I'm real pleased with this store. It's brand-new. My first trip there wasn't a pleasant one - the only time I've ever written a complaint letter. I was immediately contacted and told that the problem had been corrected. They're real pleasant to do business with now, and I'm glad I gave them another chance. And when someone does a good job, I like to let everyone know. It's Albertson's. I give them an A+!

Had a nice chat with my quilting neighbor tonight. It's been a while since we've talked.

Today is the CEO's birthday. I picked up a carrot cake, and then thought I'd better get a small chocolate cake, too. I was real surprised when only one person wanted the chocolate, and the carrot cake was gone! Anyway, the little gathering in the office was nice, and I think he appreciated the gift certificate we gave him.

What else? Oh, Jane flew back home from Market today. I'm not going to call her tonight. I'm not going to call her tonight. I'm not going to call her tonight...........

Gratitudes:

~ The fires are contained. Prayers being said that they stay that way.
~ Not running out of gas this morning. :)
~ Not getting sick like everyone else at the office - yet!
~ Making someone smile!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Mele Kalikimaka!!!


That's Hawaiian for Merry Christmas! And it feels like Christmas morning here at my house!

The box arrived from Sharon at http://www.redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/
What a fun fun fun box!!! Everything was wrapped up in colorful tissue paper and raffia!

The cutest note pads, coffee (yum!), chocolate covered macadamias, Kona coffee glaxed macadamias, dry roasted macadamias in the cutest wooden pineapple bowl, Hawaiian salt, Hula Mints, an adorable keychain, a stitchery bag, and two drink umbrellas!! Sharon, we're going to have to have a meet-up where we can put those umbrellas to good use! Oh, and the nicest little drawstring bag with embroidery, and a seashell necklace!!

Yep, definitely Christmas Hawaiian style at my house today. I need to get a copy of that old Bing Crosby song cuz this is from memory:

"Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day.
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway.
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night.
Mele Kalikimaka is the wise way to say Merry Christmas to you."

Sharon, thank you!!!! You definitely injected some sunshine and smiles on this gloomy, smoke-filled day!!



Friday, October 26, 2007

Jane just called from Houston Market!

I am SO JEALOUS!!!

Judy's Schoolhouse class had just ended, and Jane got to meet Judy and her mom!

She was really tired, but having a ball.

Yep, I'm officially jealous!!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I've Been Tagged!

Yvonne tagged me!!! She chased me until she caught me!!! Held me down until I cried "Uncle"!! ROFLOL. Here goes:

4 Jobs I’ve had:

Band-Aid (Candy Striper) volunteer at the hospital in high school
Court Reporter
Adminstrative Manager
I hope the fourth job is retirement!!

4 films I could watch over and over:

Steel Magnolias
The Perfect Storm
Seven Years in Tibet
Pearl Harbor

4 TV shows I watch:

Hmmmm….none really

4 Places I've lived:

Opelousas, LA
Sulphur, LA
Baton Rouge, LA
Los Angeles County area

4 Favorite foods:

Grits
Homemade bread
Gumbo
Boiled crawfish and crabs

4 Favorite colors:

Dark blues
burgandy/reds
Tans
Turquoise

4 Places I would love to be right now:

Quilt Market!!
Louisiana
Anywhere with pine trees and snow
In bed!

4 Names I love but would/could not use on my children:

Blanche
Eugenie
Mathilda
Amelia

4 People I'd love to Tag:

Mar at Pincushion Diaries
Nan at Quilting in Doxie-Land
Beth at Beth Knits and Quilts
Teresa at Fabric Alchemy

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Thank you

Thank you to all who have emailed me wondering about the fires here.

I'm fine. I am not near any of the fires, but they are burning all around. The smoke is brutal, at work especially. The town where I work is the lowest point of our valley, and the "bowl" is filled with smoke. Yesterday when I walked out at the end of the day, it looked like it was snowing. Big white/gray flakes were coming down, and the cars in the parking lot were covered in ash.

My eyes have been watering like crazy for a couple of days, and last night I was officially all stuffed up. I think I'm having a reaction to the bad air here.

The Santa Ana winds were supposed to have died down last night, which will help those poor folks in harm's way and the brave firefighters who are fighting the beastly flames. That means cooler temps, too. It was 91 at lunchtime yesterday. We need this break.

Many thanks for your concern. Please keep our state in your prayers.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Weekend Applique




Finished two applique blocks this weekend.

The first Piece & Plenty applique block. I have to do the pieced blocks yet. I'll do those this week.
The center block for Strawberry Hill. This one needs some 'remedial' work on it. The dormer window is a bit wonky. LOL. I'll get that unstitched and restitched tomorrow night.

Next up is the fifth block on All Things Christmas. I've also worked on another applique block, but it's not ready to show yet.

All in all, I've had a relaxing weekend just stitching away. Daisy curled up at my feet almost the whole weekend. Lazy days! Wish I could take a couple of more of them!
Jane is off this week to Market. Hope she gets to meet Judy! I can't wait to hear about all the new stuff that will be soon be hitting the shops!






Friday, October 19, 2007

Check out Jolly Jabber!

http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com/

My review on the new Thimbleberries products! I love that stuff! I'm going to figure out how much I need to order for Christmas and get that order off before she sells out! I'm hoping The Fat Quarter Shop will carry it on a permanent basis because I'm already addicted to the hand lotion!

Daisy always gets nervous when I take away her quilt to wash it. She lays in front of the dryer the whole time it's in there! And then when I put it up on the breakfast table to take the picture, she was sitting up and begging for it! Silly dog!

This is good stuff, folks! Thimbleberries hit a home run with these products! Even Daisy approves!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

It's a Small World After All!

I stopped by the quilt shop tonight to visit with Jane -- okay, and to buy stuff!

Anyway, Jane was talking to a lady at the counter. This blew me away!

The lady asked Jane if she had a friend named Vicky who was a blogger. She had seen Jane's picture on my blog. Wow!

It was fun meeting her!

Pictures tomorrow, I promise. I put aside my first Piece & Plenty block to work on something else, but I got back on it last night. I'm already in love with this quilt!

Time for bed. Warm apple and cinnamon oatmeal has made me sleepy!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I'm here!

I've been swamped at work, and then appliqueing up a storm at night. Not much to blog about yet. But I've got to say - I'm having a ball with all these applique projects!

The giterdun is awaiting my stitching the binding down. I'll get started on it this weekend.

Daisy had a manicure Monday night. At least I didn't draw blood on her this time. But she got herself so worked up that she threw up on me when I was done. Great!

And I don't know why I'm so surprised ... but Christmas is approaching fast. I'm not making any quilty presents this year, but I've got to do some shopping. Might as well get started on that. No, I don't do malls. But I do poke buttons! LOL

Oh, shucks, I've still got to do the binding on the retreat project from last year. Alex's retreat is Nov. 8-11. I guess that's next up.

The weather has been just gorgeous here. I think we're having our 10 minutes of autumn. Of course, other things have been happening .... a 4.2 earthquake shook me awake a couple of nights ago. Then sandstorms yesterday caused a bad freeway accident north of me. The wind was really howling here, but no sand blowing around. That happened once since I moved here, and it was awful.

And, finally, I guess it's time to go to the market again. I just checked and there's nothing here to eat but potato chips and peanut butter. I'll pass!

That's it from my little corner of the earth. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some quilty pictures to share!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Binding and Applique


The binding is machined on the giterdun. Now just to get it hand sewn on the back, and it's outta here! It's going to take forever!
I did a lot of applique this weekend, but nothing I can show yet. I did work on Piece & Plenty, and also a little bit on Strawberry Hill. I'll be prepping the next All Things Christmas block this week, as well as a pumpkin block.
It is so beautiful here. I just turned the A/C on just to cool it down a tad. Didn't get much done on the house cleaning front, but it was more important at this point to get the machined part of that binding done, and also to just relax after a long and stressful week. I went over to the quilt shop this afternoon so I could use their tables to support the quilt while sewing on the binding, and had a chance to visit with one or two ladies I haven't seen for a while, so that was fun.
And flight reservations are made for Alex's retreat next month! I'm so excited to get to see Mar and Deb and Cheryl and Holly and Carol and Sylvia and all of my other friends. Jane and I will be flying out on 11/8 and home on 11/11. I can't wait to see all the new applique patterns that will be out then. In Between Stitches and Thimblecreek, here we come!
Gratitudes:
~ Chatting with Mar today
~ Cantaloupe. Daisy gets nibbles and she loves it!
~ Giggles and laughter with Jane. She cracks me up!
~ Falling leaves

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Fabric Alchemy's Hand Dyes


This doesn't happen very often. In fact, it almost never happens. But I was totally speechless when I opened a package that was on my doorstep last night. This package of hand dyes is from sweet Teresa at http://fabricalchemy.blogspot.com/. I mean, I just stood there with my mouth hanging open!
She's been blogging about her experiments with dying fabric. These fabrics are gorgeous! I have purchased hand dyes from time to time, and none I've ever bought from the pros are as gorgeous as these. I think I see a new career in the making here! Oh, my!!
Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to search for the perfect pattern for them. I hate to even think about cutting into them, but perhaps the biggest compliment we can give a fabric designer/dyer is to actually use them! It's going to be hard to do, though!!
Teresa, thank you so much!! I'm still speechless!
I hope everyone bookmarks her site and visits often. You'll never meet a sweeter, more upbeat lady!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Will Be Fall Decorating Soon

I've been digging things out and collecting little pumpkins. So this weekend I plan to get some fall decorations up around the place. I bought the cutest wreath yesterday that has, you guessed it, pumpkins on it. Might put it over the mantle. I'm getting in the mood for fall. And judging from the amount of leaves on my patio, it's very near! I'll get some 'after' pictures up this weekend.

I'm up to my eyeballs in alligators closing out the quarter and getting the reports done. One more day without the boss in town, so I hope to get a huge portion of it finished up tomorrow. My shoulder is really aching. I've been on the calculator too much today.

Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop has another new BOM up called Raspberry Truffle. I really wish she'd just stop it! LOL! This one uses Judie Rothermel Civil War fabrics in yummy pinks and browns. http://tinyurl.com/yonsab Is it just me, or are quilts even more tempting when they have a food name? (sigh) I'm deciding whether to poke the button or not....... of course, I know I will. It just makes me feel better when I pretend to ponder it a bit! :)

I know I'm supposed to be busting stash, and I've done a fair amount of that this year. But I had a couple of years of obligation quilts and helping out friends with things, so it feels really good to work on whatever I want! I've almost finished the first applique block of the Piece and Plenty BOM. I have fallen totally in love with Moda's Madreira line of fabric, so that makes working on the block such a joy. I'm waiting for the next block of All Things Christmas to arrive, and I'm going to prep another pumpkin block this week. I think I've got another BOM 'fixing' to start -- I need to start writing all these things down! LOL

I'm really jealous because Jane is going to market! But it's probably a good thing I don't get to go. Heck, I'd be like a kid in a candy store! (There we go with that food thing again!) I keep watching for teasers about new fabrics and patterns. I just love oohing and aahing over the new stuff when it hits the stores and online shops. This one has me just drooling all over my keyboard ... http://tinyurl.com/2zo597 My all-time favorite colors! (another big sigh)

The car is doing great. I'm getting used to driving it, and it doesn't feel quite so gigantic to me now. But I sure wish I had my camera with me when Jane and I went to a quilt shop this weekend. I put that one teeny tiny bag in the back of that BIG vehicle, and it looked so pitiful back there! ROFLOL. That's a LOT of space to fill up with quilt shop bags!!

Gratitudes:

~ Cooler weather
~ Pumpkins
~ Autumn scented candles
~ Changing leaves
~ A surprisingly delightful skateboarder in the parking lot of the market tonight, and his sweet offer to help me with my basket.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Beth is Having a Give-Away!

My friend, Beth, is having a give-away on her blog of a beautiful quilt kit! Wait a minute! Why am I telling everyone about it?!!! LOL

http://bethknits.blogspot.com/

Beth and I live VERY near one another but have not yet met in person. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up at the local quilt shop really soon!! Hear that, Beth? :)

Thanks for having a super give-away!! Good luck to everyone! (But not too much luck, okay?)

Saturday, October 06, 2007

I See the Light!


The light at the end of the tunnel, that is! How does the saying go, "There's the tunnel, the light at the end of the tunnel, and another tunnel"? Well, the binding on this big puppy is all that's left to get it out of my life forever! One more tunnel, and the light is getting brighter!

Get your dancing shoes ready, because there's going to be a happy dancing fais-do-do when this thing is done!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

The Boo Banner


This is the gorgeous Halloween Boo banner I won at http://the-latebloomer.blogspot.com/ Pardon all the nicknacks on the mantle. I'm planning to do a fall mantle, but just haven't done it yet. Look closely and you'll see a beautiful star ornament that Elizabeth also included in the package, as well as a Late Bloomer bookmark!

Thank you so much, Elizabeth! The banner is beautiful! And thank you again to Jack!!

Today was just one of those days. I'll blog about it in a couple of days. I'm just trying to erase that memory tonight. Ewww....... Besides, this blog is about quilting!!

Also today a box came from Judy. And in that box is the GOTITDONE formerly known as the giterdun! I haven't opened the box yet. I'm going to take it upstairs and lay it out on the bed, and have plenty of Kleenex handy when I open it. Almost exactly one year ago is when I decided on the pattern and started digging in the stash for fabric. The quilt that I hated so much will now be the quilt that I love the most - and won't want to give away. I'm going to be making miles of binding. This thing is 120" square, so I'll be binding it for the next few weekends.

Judy, you came to my rescue and finished this thing up for me, and for that I will be forever grateful. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow when I'm not so tired. Tonight I just want to cry a bit over it. I don't even know what to say except thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Also, I was able to bust five yards out of my stash tonight for the backing on a group quilt. That won't make a dent, but I'm happy that I was able to help out! Gee, I wonder how they knew I could probably find something that would work up in my stash room!
Gratudes:
~ Elizabeth Scott and Jack! Thank you!
~ Judy Laquidara! Thank you!
~ The police department in the town where I work! Thank you!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

New BOM and New Car!


It's been an interesting couple of days. I've been car shopping. My seven year-old BMW has been a wonderful car, but there comes a point where you wonder if it's worth it to keep spending a couple of grand on it a year. I really wanted to get something that would last me a long time. My CEO has been pushing the Toyota Highlander for a while, so I decided to go look at them on Sunday. His final argument was how much room I'd have in it for my quilting stuff. LOL. Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop made a bet with me - and I was sure I'd win. I was just going to look. She said one would follow me home. One did. I owe her a dollar!

Anyway, this huge SUV is parked in my garage. I didn't get home with it until late on Sunday, so my first real driving test was Monday morning freeway traffic. Jane's husband told me to be careful until I learned where the four corners were on it. I was scared to change lanes on the freeway. LOL. Coming home Monday was better, and I was an old pro at driving this hunking thing today.

Yesterday the long-awaited Piece and Plenty BOM finally arrived. I'll probably make it next weekend. If the first block is any indication, it's going to be a beauty! This one I'm really excited about!
I started the quarter-end stuff today. Not a fun task, but someone has to do it. I guess I've been annointed the lucky one! LOL.
And last but not least, I was the winner of the drawing at http://the-latebloomer.blogspot.com/. I absolutely adore that Halloween banner! Thank you, Elizabeth - and Jack! If you've never looked at Elizabeth's patterns and fabric, you must check them out! Gorgeous stuff! I buy a ton of her patterns every year at Thimblecreek and In Between Stitches when we go up for Alex's retreat in November. I can't wait to see all the new ones that will be out then!
Gratitudes:
~ New car smell
~ Fun packages
~ My new assistant is working out nicely
~ Remembering to stop at the market last night
~ Daisy hugs