quilt festival

Because my Mother is working on a Grandma's Flower garden quilt I took these pictures at Quilt Festival today to show her. And yes I can still walk. Barely. 

I tried out several long-arm quilting machines last night and today.  I THINK I like the A-1 best so far. It 'rode' very smoothly even with the stitch regulator on... Two more days to decide. 

It's nice when you can go to more than one day to Festival; I got there well after the lines and still saw about half of the show and enough vendors to be happy. Tomorrow I can check out some other long arms and see the rest of the show.  Of course it's more expensive and I shouldn't spend that much money but it is tax deductible if I make this a business... so one more reason to do this. At least it is cheaper than airfare from New Zealand and Hotel here for a week.

Last year 54,000 people attended the Festival; the largest convention Houston hosts. If you click on the link you can see some of last year and this year quilts.

quilt festival tonight!

My title says it. Tonight is the preview night for Quilt Festival. I'm going. My first experience with quilt festival was in 1979. I went with an almost 3 month old Reed in a tummy pack and was blown away. I have been every year except 4 since then. One year I had a sick daughter home from school; I took her. Another year I really thought I'd have to miss since I had a broken foot; I waited until Saturday and borrowed or rented (I can't remember) a wheel chair and took both daughters with me. Never went so fast through the exhibits before or since. They are still talking about the kamakaze wheelchairer... I didn't attend while we lived in Virginia and one year Roger and I went to a funeral in Utah and missed it. One year Brian was VERY sick and I missed it without even missing it if you know what I mean. 

I can certainly come up with enough projects without visiting a ton of booths to get me excited about a different technique. I actually rarely buy more than a few dollars worth of stuff. Last year I bought:

• a wood thingy for turning corners and pressing seams at the sewing machine. I actually use it. 
• I bought a needle felting tool...never used; I'm buying some black wool fleece tonight so I can finish the spider I started and then I'll use it.
• I bought a hook for making a rug, haven't used it yet but I'm gathering fabric so I can use it eventually ;p
• Oh, and 1 piece of fabric; a black and white toile that is draped over the back of my couch right now and will eventually be... something quilted.

Not bad, when I see the bags of stuff many quilters come home with. This year I'll break the bank though with my plans to purchase a long-arm. I'm going all 3 days to try out and decide on which long-arm I want. I believe my brain will be mush by the time I listen to a multiple of sales people all urging me to buy their machine. Roger is planning on going Saturday to see the final choice.

I'll miss my parents since they have gone with me the last couple of years. Dad gamely pushing Mom in her wheelchair and I'm sure having a whale of a good time! We usually spend practically all of our time looking at the quilts since we only go one day. Hey, I'll post a picture from one of those years. Hang on while I dig it out of my shoe box..JK (just kidding)

The house quilt was made by children in a class where they used dye and designed their own house. Lovely. 2005.

The children were 1/2" x 1/2" pieces of fabric over-layed with net. 2006.

The Jacket was from 2007. The picture with my parents 2005. The snow scene one I loved and was exhibited in 2005.

gingham quilt

My great-aunt made many quilts in her life and I have 2 of them, maybe 3. (Maybe 3 is a story for another day.) this is a hand-pieced top; she must have wanted to use up all her gingham scraps. It's pretty bright and cheerful and if I get a long-arm I actually plan on getting it quilted. I'm sure it will be one of those problem quilts since the edge will surely ripple...

400th post!

I promised a drawing for my 400th post. So, do we really need a photo of my child's hand choosing a number? No, I hope not since I didn't use my child and I didn't take a photo either. So my cover-up go to this blogger. I know she has at least 2 children so she gets both! So I need your address Leslie; I'm glad you won! Although I wish I had more to give to some of the other commenters. (I have fabric for 2 more I think somewhere; so when I find it I'll do this again...I'm not looking for it though and I might have given it away.)

the dominoe effect

I had the brillant idea to buy shelves. I felt like I could get more stuff in the sewing room if I put shelves to the ceiling and got rid of the assorted garage sale shelf unit and dresser currently on the wall. What a job; I found projects that I had forgotten exsisted hiding in the dim dark recesses of the drawers and the 2 big rubbermaid boxes stacked in the corner. I'd forgotten that I had:

• the collection of flour sacks from my Grandmother
  
• a large ziplock bag of nickel squares
• my stash of 1930 reproduction fabric
• cross-stitch stuff
• a few batiks to put with the batik butterfly blocks (that I hadn't forgotten about)
• the wood blanks to make tassels with
• and a collection of snowflakes to use when I dye fabric...to get snowflake fabric

Now to get it on the shelf in some kind of orderly, visible fashion so they can get finished. I may gift some of it to Goodwill- I don't think I will use Aida cloth anytime soon and the small amount of 1930's fabric will be put in with my other fabric.

The shelves are all built now but are not yet fastened to the wall or shelves put in since I lost the pegs for the CD tower's shelves. I think they are in the guest room but I can't get into the guest room since there is an extra dresser and shelf unit in the way.

thanksgiving review

Last year after Thanksgiving I wrote a blog listing the things I thought would be nice to have for the next Thanksgiving. Since my brain is mush I looked back and reread the entry and found that I wanted a casserole dish for the sweet potatoes. The one I used last year was gold; okay but my china is blue and white and silver.... so either buy new china or get a dish that coordinates. I hunted and found this;
the local Linen's and things is going out of business and I noticed it was 17.99 then went to Bed Bath and Beyond and found nothing I liked. Checked out Tuesday morning they had something that would work for $19.99; Target had nothing but I noticed a plain 81/2 X 11 glass pan was $19.99 so I went back to Linens and Things and bought 3 of them.

I can see sweet potatoes in one, mashed potatoes in another and dressing in the third; and they will stay hot(you can't see it but there is space for 2 little tea lights under the dish); I'm excited to have the matching coordinating dishes.

How did I serve 30 Thanksgivings without them?

Now I just need to find a couple more serving spoons and 1 more clear glass pie pan and we'll be ready to start getting ready for the big day.

long arm quilting

I'm trying to come up with a name for my quilting business. Let me know what you think.

• stone quilts
• the quilter upstairs
• finish that quilt
• quilting by laurie
• quality quilts
• fine-line quilting
• feathered quilting

If you have any suggestions please make a comment.

I need to get my business license soon.

scraps

Years ago I accumulated some scraps of fabric; Not only was I making a lot of quilts I had friends who were making a lot of quilts. Two of them; Rosie and Jan actually threw their scraps in the trash! Not around Liz and I; Jan started saving her scraps for Liz to go through when we visited the quilt shop and then she'd bring them home. We did this from the time Liz was 3 till she was about 8. Rosie also gave me lots of her 'trash'. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I have 3 of these bins of 'trash!'I've started making quilts out of them because they weigh on my mind. I can picture my kids going through my stuff after I'm gone saying,'WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?' 

Our congregation makes tied quilts for charity every year and I was trying to come up with an idea that non-sewers could do and get rid of some scraps too. So here are my 'color block' log cabin blocks on muslin and on black.  Which do you think we should set it with?

If you look on my side bar you can see the first quilt I made 5 years ago using these bins; my Texas Flag baby quilt that I made for my first grandson and then sold at the local quilt shop for 5 years. (Last week they quit carrying my pattern :(. But I got the quilt back!) I think I should make a twin size of it. Do you agree? How many of my blue scraps would it use? (I have more blue than any other color.)

I also used the scraps for the potholders that I blogged about here and here.

monday's quilt

This is Monday's quilt post. What can I say? I got distracted and did a recipe and then had no time to do the quilt post. Have I mentioned that I like Irish Chains? I did? Well if you don't want me to post pictures of Irish Chains you will have to complain. I organized a class and swap in about 1994. We all used the same black and exchanged rows of the block. It made making a scrap chain easy. Gathering all the brights was a struggle for me since I didn't have much money to spend and hardly any in my stash. I found a boutique in Galveston that was making and selling broomstick skirts and selling the scraps in bags. I bought. I pieced many of my strips and soon had my quota of brights.

It's almost worth it to get a long-arm to finish this quilt. (Okay, not really.)

Tomorrow I'll have to show you what I've been up to when I'm not putting together shelves, and sorting and washing fabric.

Remember all that fabric my friend gave me? She wanted to give it to someone who would use it before it dry rotted in her attic. I'm pretty sure it was a good idea; I found 1 piece of a solid black that HAD dry-rotted. The boys thought it was pretty cool to be able to rip many layers of fabric at once.

halloween vs christmas

I read a mother's blog today that said she was trying to get her Halloween decoration display as big as her Christmas one. It makes me wonder if she thought about it at all. As we are raising children we would like to have what we say be BIG when really what we do tells the kids what we value. 

• Do we really want Halloween to as big as Christmas?
• What is Halloween? a fun day where kids get to dress up and get candy. 
• What is Christmas? A religious holiday where we celebrate the most important birth of all time.  
  
• Could we possibly not blur the lines and celebrate the 2 days the same? Lets keep Halloween a simple fun day for kids without making it a month long spree of decorating and gifts.

Ah well, that's my soapbox but I have a hard time toeing the line too. 

ikea

This is where I went yesterday. I was thinking of all the people that have praised this store, friends and family, over the years; wishing you were with me. Ikea has a way of displaying things that make them look chic; the same thing in my house looks a bit ...well less than chic, actually it looks cheap. True, I only have 1 shelf up and it is empty but when I have it filled with fabric it will look chic too; right?

The joke around here is that I had to spend $400 to put the free fabric my friend gave me.  Actually I've been wanting to get rid of my hodge podge in the sewing room for awhile and this was the catalyst to get me going. 

You know how much work it is to clean an area so that you can move stuff to it so you can move the shelf, dresser and rubbermaids so that I can put the sleves up and reoganize all my fabric/sewing stuff. Yuk. And Roger and the boys are always busy so it's me doing it. And I'm slow.

These are the gorgeous play dishes that Ikea has. I loved them but didn't think Tyler would appreciate them as much.
If I was computer savvy I could post the pictures of the push toy I almost bought me the grandchildren. Since I'm not, you can click on the link and go there yourself. They have a train and a truck and stuffies and did I mention the dishes?

Aaack! I give up! I've been trying to arrange the pictures with text under them but it is beyond me this morning....

Hope you have a good day...I'm going to go move some STUFF.

tomato potato soup

Jessica over at Turkeycookies is having a soup swap and this is one of my favorties; My all-time favorite you can find if you click on soups in my sidebar. This is one of my comfort foods; serve with a toasted cheese sandwich to make a great meal. 

TOMATO POTATO SOUP

from Joy of Cooking

Sauté very gently until translucent 

2 cups sliced onion in

¼ cup butter 

Add the onions to:

2 cups sliced potatoes

6 cups boiling water

Simmer about 30 minutes. Add and simmer covered, about 20 minutes: 

5 cups seeded sliced tomatoes or 3 cups canned tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt 

1/8 teaspoon paprika

(A pinch of chervil)

Put the soup through a fine strainer or blender reheat and season to taste

Scald: 

(1 cup cream)

Stir the tomato mixture into the cream; serve at once.

Yield 12 cups

Tomato/potato soup ala mom: I use a small amount of olive oil instead of butter. I use a bag of frozen hash browns then not quite cover them with chicken broth, cook until done, then process with the tomatoes. Leave out the chervil and the cream. Add a dash of Tabasco or chili powder then salt and enough pepper to add a bite to it. Yummy!

Just typing this makes me hungry for this soup. Unfortunately due to my husbands allergy to ragweed we won't be eating this until the ragweed is finished around here. Strange as it may seem while he is having an allergic reaction to ragweed he also reacts to tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and sunflower seeds.

halloween entry

Before my surgery I pulled a couple of Halloween items out cause I didn't think I'd feel up to it later. I thought my first display looked a little lame so today I tweaked it a little.
aaah I think this is a little better. (Frankie is a doll I made for Reed when he was little ...for some reason I thought he'd think a Halloween decoration would be cool to have. I have one cut out for Brian; never have sewn it. The ceramic pumpkin I bought as greenware then cleaned and glazed it in 1981; after Halloween I turn it around so the face is unseen and display it until after Thanksgiving. The bat fabric I found this morning at WalMart; the orange was in the fabric my friend gave me this month.)
Ive caught a cold and have been miserable for 2 days now. Every time I have a coughing fit I pray; 'Thank-you for keeping me well until my stomach healed 'cause I would be in tears if I'd coughed like this right after the surgery.'

mom's cushion

Tuesday I made Mom a cover for her kitchen chair cushion. She changes her tablecloths to suit the season and her blue and white cushion didn't go very well with her orange, black, brown fall tablecloth I'd made her several years ago. So she gave me the measurements over the phone and I made this. I quickly stuffed some folded pieces of fabric in it so it wouldn't look bad; but it still does. She tells me it fits her cushion and looks great with her table. It ties in the front and back to keep it in place better. Do you suppose she'll want one for each tablecloth now? Oh, well it uses up a zipper!

Can anyone tell me how to paint that ugly chair? I think it is so dry that the paint will just chip off so I've neglected to pursue the project. 

buttons

How many of you love Mother of Pearl buttons? I bet all ya'll are raising your hands. Today I stopped at our local thrift store, the one I seldom go to cause they NEVER have sales, and they had ALL their summery clothes for .50 an item! I need to remember to check them out the middle of October every year. I found these beautiful, thick, large (the fish is about 1" across) buttons on a rayon dress; the dress was too small, but I forked over the .50 anyway so I could have these animals; a fish, bear and elephant.

So what would you do with them? 

irish chain quilt

This is the quilt that inspired me to make my first finished quilt. A magazine article in, I think,  Ladies' Circle Patchwork's yearly compilation of their favorite quilts from the previous year. I remember looking at the quilt picture every time I went to the store but I was to poor to buy the magazine. I mentioned the quilt to a friend and she bought me the magazine; my first quilting magazine.
This is an Irish chain that was made for my mother by her great grandmother; Lizzie Caughey in 1934. It was on my bed as a young girl. It also influenced my decision to start my first Irish chain. I also used the quilting design that Lizzie used.


This is the first quilt I ever finished. Well, that is not strictly true; I had made a few 'quilty' things; baby blankets, pillows, pot holders, and I'd made and tied a pieced trip around the world by the time this quilt was quilted soooo... it was the first pieced top I ever finished. (The first top I started is still not finished) Count those squares; over 1,000! Couldn't I have started with something smaller? This was made before I discovered rotary cutters;They were invented in 1979 butI'd never seen one until much later. Notice the applique squares in the alternate block; today the alternate block is often pieced instead of appliqued to make it faster.

The label says I started it in 1984 and finished it in 1994. I hired the quilting done at a local church and gave it to my husband for Christmas in 1994. 

I have other Irish chains to show you another day.

handbags

Liz posted again but what a disappointment; no pictures of Carter just this dumb web site that is giving away cool handbags. Go ahead and check them out I chose bag 19; it's black and big with none of those gazillion buckles and bling on it.

385

To celebrate my 385th posting I am giving away 2 of these cute paint cover-ups. What can I say; I'm cleaning out the sewing room and these were just sitting there begging to be made. So they are finished and now are begging to get out of my house....

(They are a pre-printed panel I found in bag of fabric a friend gave me about 6 months ago. I think they would fit a 2-5 year old.)

So leave a comment and when I get around to it I'll do a drawing. ( at least before my 400 th post)

this is the front and back of one of the 'aprons' the other is identical.

old bag

Last year at Christmas our dd wanted to make her own diaper bag; I spent a looong time at the fabric store helping her choose these red fabrics; then I bought them for her....then after her baby was born I sewed it for her. It uses a diaper bag pattern; she has had 6 months of use out of it. Later I made the wrist bag for her personal things to go inside or to be used without the big bag. (She does go out without the baby once in a while.) Although there is a zipper in the big bag I don't get to count it in 'my zipper' account since it was never my zipper. I used polar fleece inside to give the bag some shape.

lucky enough

 A t-shirt read on the beach; 'if you are lucky enough to be on the beach you are lucky enough'. Read this on Cindy's blog and thought it could be adapted to many situations.

• If you are lucky enough to have loving children; you are lucky enough.
  
• If you are lucky enough to have a good husband; you are luck enough.
• If you are lucky enough to have good friends; you are lucky enough.
• If you are lucky enough to have a home; you are lucky enough...

After helping those that have lost their homes to Ike I feel very lucky indeed. 

slipcover

I bought this chair at Salvation Army several months ago and the fabric was truly gross. I pulled it off and threw some muslin on it so it could be used. What want to do is make a matelasse slip cover but since that fabric is a bit dear I thought I'd try something cheaper. You are looking at $6. curtains from the closest thrift store and the piping was a $1 plaid dress from a different thrift store.  It took a long time 'cause I wasn't sure I wanted a red and white plaid slip-cover; but it looks fresh and will do for awhile...AND I used 2 zippers!

Now I can get rid of the pile of red and white fabric and the old covers that were on the floor of the sewing room.

I'm working on another project that will become my next give away. 

hernia vs gall bladder

I thought a hernia repair would be very simple... I certainly expected to have less pain with it than with the gall bladder removal that I experienced in May...  Today is day 6 and I wouldn't dream of going to the mall which I did on day 4 after the gall bladder. I went most of the day without pain medicine yesterday and was okay as long as I chose to do sitting things...computer, reading, sorting papers, knitting (I'm working on a spider)... I found folding clothes too hard since you end up turning side to side a great deal. 

So it is less painful to have an organ removed than to repair a muscle.

Dinner for me was a salad. at 4. I was starving by 9 which is when I went to bed...then up 10-2 but I managed to eat ...nothing.

I've been frustrated since I have so many started projects; the sewing room is packed so I'm working on the biggest one now... pictures soon.

monday archives

This is a 6 inch bow-tie quilt (66 X 96).  I organized the first of many exchanges with the Baytown Quilt Guild with this block; the blocks were due May 18, 1989 and then I put this together pretty quickly. We had just painted the trim in one of our bedrooms turquoise and I was trying to get a turquoise quilt.  I put one of the few turquoise fabrics I found on the back and bound it so that only the front has a visible binding since the calico didn't go very well with the turquoise. It is reversible;
although I never put it on the bed upside down. It has gotten well used in the last 19 years and has 2 fabrics that are falling apart so it needs to be mended BUT I haven't finished quilting it yet! Some of the blocks around the edge were not quilted...so When will it get FINISHED?...  I don't count it finished until it has a label.....

shoot yourself in the foot

If I had any drawing ability I would accompany this post with one but you can do a Google search and get lots of pictures of people shooting themselves in the foot. I'm hoping the visual will help me to stop shooting myself in the foot. 

Andrew laughed when I explained how he was shooting himself in the foot when he didn't turn in his homework...usually it's a argh! in a very high pitched voice and he seems to think it's someone else's fault. So when I explained that I'd shot myself in the foot last night he didn't get so irate.

I have some meds I'm supposed to take with food. So guess what the food was last night? Two large freshly baked cookies. Not even all that great cookies. At 11 p.m.. So I not only shot myself in the foot I watched as I bled all over the floor and would have to clean it up, eventually. 

So...Don't shoot yourself in the foot! I think I'll post one of the pictures on my fridge and one in the dining room in our homework spot and Andrew and I can work on defeating our self-defeating behaviors together.

healthy roads

As training goes I was trained right. We were served vegetables and fruit on a regular basis by my mother unfortunately I never really liked vegetables. When I became a mother I would take the smallest amount of green beans I thought I could get away with; often made sure I was the last one to get the bowl of vegetables and oh, so sad, there just weren't very many left for me to have. So I have made some changes I've been making some healthy goals and sticking with them for weeks at a time. Here they are

• Buy no candy- this one is a little sneaky; it's not 'eat no candy'; so if someone happens to give me candy I can eat it. Unfortunately...or fortunately... no one here is going to buy me any candy. Once in a while a teacher at church will pass out a tiny piece... So it's really going very well. I haven't lost much weight though.
• Drink more water; this one I manage pretty well until my schedule gets messed up then I forget to drink. Two glasses at each meal and water bottle near me most of the time.
• Eat more fruit. I cut up cantaloupe in the morning and then piece on it all day (when I have cantaloupe). I'm eating a grapefruit everyday and drinking a small V-8 for breakfast. 
• Serve more vegetables...that way I have to have small bits of more vegetables; which equals better nutrition. 
• Green salad 4 times a week...I'm still not loosing weight but I'm healthier and it'll come off sometime.

my name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 103 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

However if I type in my maiden name there is only 1 person with my name.

liz says....

I saw this yesterday; questions posed to a daughter and shared it with my kids. This is what I got;

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Is everything okay?

2. What makes mom happy?
Pretty Fabric.. currently free plaid fabric.

3. What makes mom sad?

When I forget to post comments on her blog. 

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

By wearing nightgowns from the 18th Century.(Remember when jumpers were in style? and some had lacy underdresses under them; mine is still in my closet and I put it on one day as a joke and she laughed and laughed...)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Naughty. She hid from her mother in the wall; dumped lots of cleaner on the floor; climbed on top of the fridge.(Hey those are the only 3 naughty things I ever did!)

6. What is her favorite thing to do?
Cook and mail me cookies.

7. What does your mom do when you're not around?
A lot. I am not around much.

8. What is your mom really good at?

Cooking, Sewing, Crafting, etc.

9. What is your mom not very good at?
umm I would rather not say.. 

10. What does your mom do for her job?
mail me cookies and other presents and take care of the younger kids.. (I think I've mailed her cookies...once; do you think this is a hint? Hey, I did my job; I taught her how to make cookies herself!)

11. What is your mom's favorite food?
Gringos something something chicken ( A restaraunt nearby I always order Chicken Tampico; Yum yum.)

12. What makes you proud of your mom?
I am impressed at my mom's excitement of getting a long arm and at her working out skills.

13. What do you and your mom do together?
talk on the phone. 

14. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have a curled baby toe.. I got my mom's feet- THANK GOODNESS!!!

15. How are you and your mom different?
Well in many ways- I live in Idaho and only have one child and she lives in Texas and has six. 

16. How do you know your mom loves you?

She sends me packages... sometimes with cookies in them. 

17. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
To Idaho and visit me!!

My grandson answered the questions about his mom here.

halloween costumes

I am posting this picture for my grandson (owner of the cape I made last week) of the cape I made his Dad for Halloween; modeled by his little brother (his dad's little brother). (It has some real issues; the lining peeks out longer than the back; the collar stays up due to layers of heavy duty wonder under and pipe cleaners added after construction. The ribbon hurt his throat so I rigged it to tie behind his back-I should have used white ribbon.) Regardless of it's issues it has been worn approximately 8 Halloweens! 

Check out Andrew in his banana spider costume; designed by Andrew at 5; worn until the pants became shorts...

the 'legs' are pipe insulation covered with painted cotton knit fabric and attached with clear fish line so they would move with his arms.) shsh I know it's ugly but it was LOVED by Andrew and EVERYONE made comments about how cool it was.

surgery

Can you tell my surgery went well? I had a hernia repair done this morning. I was home by noon and slept all afternoon so now I can't sleep. I did 2 scrapbook pages, cleaned up the scrapbook table; cleaned up the kitchen 'cept turning on the dishwasher since I don't bend over very well and got the living room ready to sweep... again not bending over. I was amazed at how much I got done;  Andrew helped by picking up the stuff off the floor :)

A friend brought over a fabulous meal; we'll be eating it for a couple of days.

• Cornish game hens served on a bed of
• stuffing
• asparagus with pine nuts
• baked sweet potatoes
• lettuce salad and
• fruit salad for dessert

Guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow? Leftovers, my favorite thing!

THANK-YOU BETH!