This Just In... From Norway!

A while back Anne Heidi posted a photo of the cutest patchwork purse on her blog, Piece by Piece. I was in love with the bag but found it impossible to order the pattern. Anne Heidi is a shop owner in Norway, she suggested trading patterns when I prevailed upon her for help. Oh, yes... what fun; I'm up for that! She requested a specific McKenna Ryan pattern in exchange for the Rosalie Quinlan bag pattern. Done. This is what she sent; it arrived in today's mail!! Much more than a pattern; she has a kind and extremely generous heart. Four precious (blue!) fat quarters bundled with her shop name and logo- Lappemor, a dear little Mary Englebreit needle card and a sweet note on a Quiltscapes card...('hole in the barn door') with adorable farm animals. Thank you, Anne Heidi! I'm deeply grateful. I will make up the bag as soon as possible, I know just the fabrics to sew it up from, it will be perfect to carry this Fall.

Life is Good!
...and some days the mail brings the best surprises
from faraway places...

A Bee-hive Of Activity!

It's me-- Hannes! I'm posting for my Mom today. She hosted her Bee last evening in "our" room (the studio). There was lots of chatter and quilts and tote bags and baskets with interesting smells, I had a really good time sniffing every little thing! Naturally, everyone wanted to pet me and tell me how handsome I was. Mom bragged about how smart I am, I was a little embarrassed by that (but not too much!). Quiltkeemosabe wowed the group with her string quilt, it was nice but she never even put it down on the floor so that I could pose, or better yet, nap on it; that was too bad.

One of my Mom's friends brought a quilt that she had just received back from a long-arm quilter. I don't know what that means but I guess that quilter must be a baboon, or ape, or something like that... that would have been fun, I wish she would have brought her long-arm quilter with her to play with me! Everyone ooohed and aaahed over the stitches, I didn't even know primates could quilt until last night! I have a lot to learn; Mom quilts her own quilts, I never knew what I was missing.

My Mom and another lady worked on cutting out their blocks of the month. I do know what that is, I know that they have LOTS of pieces!I like it when Mom has her friends come to my house. She serves snacks and I put on my most pitiful begging look just in case someone might want to reward me. Mom never feeds me people food, but I don't think she really knows how much I like it! I always hope that her friends might be smarter than she is about things like that. Hey, you can't blame a boy for trying!! Right?I hope you all enjoyed my report. That's it for now... oh, yeah-- I'm supposed to end with this:

Life is Good!
(It would be even better with a little piece of cheese...)

Healing Hands

Things are looking better, there's sunshine on the other side of the dense clouds of responsibility that were obscuring my vision at the end of last week. The Gospel message yesterday centered on the woman with the crippled spirit from the 13th chapter of Luke, Jesus healed her from her ailment of eighteen years by laying his hands on her. She stood up straight and began praising God! The accompanying text reminded us that the same healing help is available regardless of what it is that cripples us... we only need to decide how we choose to receive that help.

Message received, loud and clear... or so I thought!

After church we ate downtown; my husband and son planned to stop, following our meal, at a local big-box home improvement store before we left the city and headed home. My mother-in-law chose not to go into the store, I stayed back in the car to wait with her while they ran in for the item they needed. It was a lovely afternoon, but warm, I lowered the car window in hopes of catching a passing breeze. I rested my arm on the open sill while she and I chatted about our plans for the week to come, I was turned toward her when someone suddenly grabbed my hand through the open car window! Huh? I was face to face now with a man, a stranger, who was mumbling something about how he couldn't help himself, he was just too tempted to grab a hold of my hand! Without saying a word, I firmly jerked my hand free from his grasp! He wandered off to his own car, laughing, and drove away. I was beyond furious and at the same time I was highly aware that my elderly mother-in-law is easily frightened; I looked to her to gauge her reaction and managed to remain steady and calm following this creepy "assault". She said she thought that must have been someone I knew, at first. When I explained to her that it wasn't, she dug down in her purse and quietly offered me her hand-sanitizer. About that time my husband and son reappeared from the store. It was over that quick, the guy was gone. Today I am left reeling by this 'personal space' invasion, a residual feeling of anger and confusion remains. Yet, I'm reminded again of yesterday's text. Jesus comes among us with words, and hands, to set us free; whether we're bowed down by responsibilities, or fear. I'm listening, I'm accepting... but, I'm also clearly aware of how important it is to be careful out there in the world. There are dangers, to be sure, and we can choose to let them hold us down or to swiftly pull away and rise up above the clouds, the burdens, the fears. I want to respond, in faith, like the healed woman; or like my mother-in-law, who praises God by offering her 'healing hands' to me in the form of an anti-bacterial gel named Purell.

Life is Good!

Where's My Help?

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth.
-Psalm 121: 1-2

Life is hectic lately, really busy to the point of being overwhelming. Too much to do, way too much! The demands come from every and all directions. It's not that I don't know how to say "no", I do. Right now the load is just heavier than normal. I have many responsibilities, I've asked for some relief and yet, none comes. I've been trying to step down as my church women's Circle Group leader for months now, no one volunteers to step forward. The congregational Personnel issues continue to simmer... a new hire is on the horizon and a vital committee member has decided to leave the fold! When I commit to something I want to give it all of my energy... and, naturally, everything can't get all of my energy simultaneously! Much of this burden is self-imposed. In a conversation with my Pastor he said: "You will continue to do the fine work in the kingdom God has chosen and empowered you to do. Remember when you were installed as a council member and officer your response to the question, "Are you ready to accept and faithfully carry out the duties of the offices to which you have been elected?" was "Yes, by the help of God." And God does help us all." It's true, He does; but He also expects that I come to Him when I need something! If I believed in tattoos I might have this one applied to my own forehead (in reverse, so that I could read it whenever I see myself in a mirror):
DON'T GET SO BUSY THAT YOU FORGET TO ASK FOR THE HELP YOU NEED!

~lesson learned~
Life is Good!

Inventory Control, Or Lack Thereof...

I was cruising around the blogs I like to read the other day when I happened by Wendy's, she had posted a photo of the loveliest pin cushion that she had hand embroidered; it depicted a basket of strawberries and I was smitten with the design! I commented on her blog that I'd love to know the name of the designer and where I could find the pattern, she promptly E-mailed me a response and even suggested a likely place to check to find the book. I was on a mission to find this now, my head was swimming with ideas of where and how I could use such a pattern. I did an online search and found the book, "The Red Book" by Diane Arthurs. Hmmm... it looked suspiciously familiar. Did I already HAVE the book, was it possible? Yep, you guessed it! It was in a bin with my embroidery supplies and patterns, a long-ago gift from none other than Quiltkeemosabe! Is she just the bestest friend or what? She knows what I need even before I do! The pattern was quickly located within the book, it's so sweet, there are lots of others I can use, too; even more strawberries! This whole episode got me to thinking... what else do I have in inventory that I might not even remember? Well, let's not even go there, I'm happy with what I did find and I'm trying not to over-analyze my lack of control over inventory! I'm thankful to have enough projects to keep me busy for a lifetime and friends to point me in the right direction... what more could I possibly need?

Floss, that's it, I need embroidery floss...
...no, wait, I might already have some!
Life is Good!☺

Birds In A Red Sky

I have the blocks all pieced. You may remember this as the "Red Sky At Night" cover quilt from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, July/August. This was a fun quilt to piece, all the small triangles pulled from my stash. I'm entitling my version "Birds In A Red Sky" when I realized that it is totally comprised of "Birds in the Air" blocks, not "Ocean Waves" as I mistakenly called them in an earlier post. Yes, indeed, it was fun to piece. I think that was due, in part, to two things: 1. I have switched to Aurifil 50 wt. thread for piecing and I absolutely LOVE it! It is smooth, virtually lint free, and buries itself into the fabric; it's nice. 2. I have spritzed the pieced blocks with Mary Ellen's Best Press and they lay flat, true and stable. I have been completely blown away by this product. It's called a "clear starch alternative", whatever that means. I used the Citrus Grove scent, the studio smelled like a Florida grove all afternoon! (The scent is pleasant, subtle, and doesn't remain on the item once the iron heats and dries it.) The construction method for this quilt is bias-cut triangles; slashed squares to form the half-square triangles. I used the Best Press when I had the small sections done, a spritz followed by a quick press of the iron and then I let them cool in place and didn't over-handle them. They lined up perfectly with the larger, red triangles, when it was time. Another spritz, press, and off to the design wall where they are currently pinned. I let them 'steep' all weekend and after much intense scrutiny, I'm satisfied enough with the arrangement and will join them today. It's 60" square, I have located the perfect fabric for the backing, just happened to locate that in my stash, too! Oh, yeah!

Life is Good!

It's A Raffle Quilt!

I belong to a small group, a Bee. We meet once a month at one another's homes and "in-between" times should the occasion warrant. Last Saturday was one of those "in-between" times. We met at the office space of one of our members, in a spacious, well-equipped conference room. We set up our machines and were well on the way to having this quilt pieced by lunch time. It's the next Raffle Quilt for our Guild's June show in '08! There will be three borders: mustard, red and finally a wide, dark blue outer border. Isn't this a pretty quilt top? I love my Bee! There was a need and the wonderful ladies in this group didn't bat an eye-- "we can do that" is what I heard. No time to waste, either. A trip was planned to "Fabric Paradise" (no sacrifice is too great!) and the quilt was underway. I don't know if it's been named yet. I wanted to post these photos of our work day, the quilt will soon be off to the quilter and the tickets printed for distribution. It's a beauty, I'd love to be the lucky winner! And yet, I feel like I already am, simply by being part of this group... bee-longing. These ladies will drop anything to sew quilts for charitable causes: Victory Junction Gang Camp, to raise money for The American Cancer Society, for the babies in the NICU at our local hospital; wherever there's a need. It's not all work, though-- we celebrate together, socialize as often as possible and support each other through life's shadowy moments. Are you part of a small group? If you are, you understand; if you're not, consider starting one. The benefits are bee-utiful!

Life is Good!

They Came, They Saw...

Yes, they came and visited my sewing space; the Home Extension Club of a neighboring county. They were completely delightful... so interested in, and complimentary of, my quilts-- it was enough to make one blush! Let me tell you about one of these ladies, she was remarkable! She's in the front row, holding her purse; 95 years young! She sat on the sofa with the sweetest smile on her face the entire time. The others in her group asked questions and talked about their own quilts and their quilting ancestors. They told historical tales about the settling of their community and all the while she sat, smiling and nodding. When it was time for the group to depart they left one by one, but she held back. She took my arm and whispered to me that she was blind and deaf, both of these ailments brought on by advancing age, but that she'd had a wonderful time. She loved getting out and she was so very thankful that she'd been able to attend. She hoped to come back again! I was amazed. Imagine this... blind and deaf, every reason in the world NOT to go out anymore. Staying home has to be easier... but no, she gets up every day, gets dressed, and gets on with the business of living; she is celebrating life! I'm so glad she came last week, and I do hope that she does come back!

I need to thank her,
thank her for reminding me...

Life is Good!

Imprints

We are who we are because of the people and experiences that have left imprints on our lives. I've had many life-teachers, one stands out as a bright and shining example of honesty and integrity; I don't even remember her name. When I was twenty-one years old I worked for The Singer Company at Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette, IN; I was the bookkeeper. The store was open from 1 PM until 5 PM on Sundays, every once in a while I had to take my turn on a Sunday shift. One such Sunday I was working along with a fellow employee, John. He didn't much like working Sundays, either; he was a service technician and was as eager to close out that afternoon in March as I was. It had been a slow day and as we we approached closing time, I was cutting fabric for a lone customer. John slid one of the front doors closed at five o'clock and closed out one of our two cash registers, he waited for me to finish up so that we could lock up and each go home. The customer needed some notions to go along with her fabric purchase; finally, I carried her accumulated items to the register and rang up the sale. John had readied a bag for me, it was waiting on the counter, I slid her items inside and he locked the door behind her. I totaled out the register and looked for the receipts, checks and cash from the other cash drawer while John locked up the office. We only needed to drop these into the bank deposit as we exited the mall and we were free to leave for the day! I asked John where the contents of the other cash register were and he gave me the strangest look... "In the bag..." he responded, in what I remember as sort of a strangled whisper. "Bag?" I questioned; but we both already knew what had happened. He'd placed the money in the very same bag that I had sent home with our last customer. She was now carrying fabric and matching thread along with most of our day's receipts! I can recall, even now, the cold, sinking feeling of absolute panic that was overwhelming me as John ran in circles around the store before bolting to the parking lot in an attempt to find her. It was too late, the parking lot was empty. We didn't know the customer, she'd paid by cash, we had no way to contact her. We didn't have a choice, we had to call our manager. At first he couldn't believe that we would do anything that absent-minded, but when he figured out that we were serious he asked that we each come in the next morning before opening. We were both certain that we were losing our jobs. He sat us down and closed the office door, I'm sure we must have looked absolutely pitiful. He didn't fire us but rather gave us a pep-talk and then told us about all the times he'd screwed up and how people had given him second chances when he felt he hadn't deserved them. We both were relieved, able to breathe again, and yet still felt like we'd let people down; we had much to prove now that we'd been let off the hook. Less than fifteen minutes later our boss came strolling out of the office wearing a huge smile. The customer had phoned, she'd found the money and was returning it right away! I was amazed, I hadn't even dreamed that might happen! Somehow The Journal and Courier got wind of the story and printed a small article in the next day's paper entitled: "Singer Co. Pads Lady's Purchase". (I still have a copy of that article in a scrapbook somewhere.) We took some good-natured ribbing for awhile from customers and fellow mall employees who'd stop by and ask if we were giving away any money that day, things like that. But, as long as I live, I'll never forget the look on that dear lady's face when she returned that bag of money thirty three years ago, she was so exceedingly joyful. (So was I!) She was the human face of honesty and integrity; she taught me so much... simply through the way she lived her life. I am who I am today because of the scores of people and myriad of experiences that have left imprints on me; joyful, indelible imprints!

...I am deeply appreciative...
Life is Good!

Hey, That's For Me!

Hannes' birthday was last week. I stopped at PetsMart while out doing my normal weekly errands and purchased the toy pictured. (He loves this red 'knot', or at least he loves trying to wrestle a similar knot away from my mother-in-law's little dog when we go to play there!) His birthday was the perfect opportunity to get Hannes a knot of his very own! I unloaded the car and piled the bags on the kitchen counter, there were bags from three different stores, lots of purchases. Somehow he knew that there was a bag with a dog toy in one of them. How did he know? He stood on his back legs politely, at first, and pawed the air all the while giving me pleading, plaintive looks. This eventually progressed to whining, and finally, to barking: "Hey, that's for me!" He thinks I'm pathetically slow to understand. "Mom, that bag up there... the one with "PetsMart" printed on the outside..." He received his gift the next morning, on HIS day; practically wore us down in the meantime.

It's hard to raise parents, some days it takes a LOT of patience!

Life is Good!

Fabric Hideaways

I found this piece of fabric while vacationing this summer. I had to buy a piece for myself and a piece for a friend... it's a challenge to see what she'll do with it! (I don't have any idea what I'll do with mine... yet!) You may know that I have a strong affection for novelties anyway, but a novelty that displays all the creative places to hide one's stash just had to come home with me! Don't ya just love it? Any ideas on how it might best be showcased? Now that my Studio is clean and tidy enough for a group tour and my closet is completely organized I'm ready to start planning the next project! The motif squares each measure 4", I was thinking they'd make darling block centers surrounded by bright logs; possibly quilted for a journal cover or even cut apart and fused to the fronts of note cards. How would you use this piece?

Life is Good!

Framed And Finished

I've had a matted print propped up against the back wall at my desk here in the Studio for a few years, I'd become accustomed to it's unframed state. I love the print, it's a Story People print by Brian Andreas, the text: "Whenever I go on a trip, I think about all the homes I've had and I remember how little has changed about what comforts me." A few weeks ago I happened to notice a 50% off coupon for framing at A.C. Moore in Sunday's paper. Oh, yeah; it was now or never! I knew what I wanted, a simple, red frame. Like a perfectly finished quilt, the binding is that last place to add a lively shot of color and finish the edge with style and panache; it's the same with framing a picture. It's done. Why did this take so long? Again, like finishing a quilt... never mind, all things in their own time!

Life is Good!

Scraps And Leftovers

I was asked by a friend if she could bring her Home Extension Club here to see my sewing room. "Sure", I answered, I was flattered to think of becoming a destination and am always happy to fling open the door to like-minded ladies. I began to think about the bags and boxes lurking in the dark corners of my stash closet. They should be pulled out and the closet could definitely use some tidying, I reasoned. They're coming this Thursday. Saturday was deemed cleaning day. I had convinced myself it wasn't too cluttered, it was quickly apparent that I'd been operating under serious delusion. The only truth was that all those scraps and leftovers stuffed away were cleverly out of sight. They only grew in magnitude when exposed to the light of day! I easily filled a big, black trash bag with junk. The jagged fabric scraps were piled high onto the cutting table for trimming, the pile grew into two and eventually spilled over onto an auxiliary table! I spent the better part of yesterday cutting these pieces into usable bricks and squares. I've assigned bins for this purpose, employing Bonnie's Scrap User's System, I've been filling up these bins all year. It's taking me a long time to convert to storing my leftovers in this orderly, pre-cut fashion, but I've been quilting (and hoarding) using the alternate 'cramming and hiding' method for twenty four years now. Anything worthwhile takes time. I'll be pressing and trimming more today, I've worked my way through the cutting table piles and I'm onto the secondary batches. Progress! Nothing is wasted, nothing. The wastebasket's empty. The smallest scraps that fail to measure up get cut in to slivers and strips for String Quilts and the crumbs and morsels go into a box destined for a kindergarten art center to be pasted onto construction paper by aspiring fiber artists! The closet is clean. I'm ready for company, and I feel more organized than ever. It's a good feeling, one that's going to take some getting used to!

Life is Good!

Breaking Through The Surface

Whatever this upper respiratory infection is, or was, that has befallen me, I feel as though I've finally broken through. The only thing I can liken it to is being under water; I feel as though I've broken through the surface, at long last, and am left exhausted by the effort. What a week (weak)! Sorry, that was too obvious to pass up. Time for a quilty post. Rarely, if ever, do I jump RIGHT ON a magazine cover quilt pattern and rush out immediately to find the components for construction. This month's Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting is the exception! "Red Sky at Night" drew me in with a magnetic force. When vacationing in New England last month I found the required eight red fat quarters while on that infamous Five Shop Hop! Suffice it to say I have enough "go withs" in my existing stash to flesh out the rest of this beauty! I can feel my energy level rising just thinking about getting started. Did I mention that red is my favorite color and Ocean Waves is one of my favorite patterns? I think this might be just what the doctor ordered. My head's above the surface now and I'm good to go. Stay tuned...

Life is Good!

Got Furniture?

My daughter and her husband are looking to re-furnish their master bedroom. We're lucky enough to live close to a mega furniture display center, ONE MILLION square feet, all under one roof; 500 furniture manufacturers represented! She and I met up and spent the day looking there yesterday. I think we covered every inch of the place, I'm dragging today! The greatest part of traveling to this furniture mecca are not only the deep discounts, but the way that each grouping is beautifully staged in spacious room settings. At least now she's seen all of the choices! When you are spending money it's good to look at all the options, and those easily border on overwhelming!

It was a great day.
Life is Good!

Who's Three Years Old Today?

It seems like only yesterday that we were driving to the western-most part of Kentucky, through Hurricane Ivan,
to get him and bring him home.

He's three years old today!

Happy Birthday, Hannes!

"...he is more faithful even than the most boasted among men; he is constant
in his affection, friendly without interest, and grateful for the slightest favours; much more mindful of benefits received..." -Oliver Goldsmith, 1774

Life is Good!
...and immensely better for the love of this dog...