The Random Comical Experiences of Raising Sons

Growing up Renaissance

2011-10-25T11:13:00.001-07:00

The guys keep me insanely busy ... and part of that running to various scouting events. I do have to admit that I run a lot less than I used too because as of September they are all in the same scout troop. But ... quite a bit of free time is used up keeping them straight with the event dates, getting their clothes together for campouts, and processing paperwork ... and that's just for the scouting thing. There is a lot more to it as you all know.

This year I did something I haven't done in years ... let someone convince me to sew costumes for the other kids too. Fall Camporee this year had an interesting twist. The boys were supposed to participate in the creation of a trebuchet that would chuck a punkin. I won't go into the details of it all. I will just say that our troops was the biggest, threw the farthest and was the most accurate. To make the experience more authentic, the boys were encouraged to wear Renaissance period clothing.

The task started like this ... which is I am sure is a familiar experience and not unique to me.

1. Scout Dad asks if I will organize a sewing event for the Mom's to make costumes. (Ugh). 2. Once agreed ... I was then informed that the scouts would be expected to cut and sew their own costumes. (You have got to be kidding me!) 3. After planning the type of costume that would need to be made and determining that the fabric requirements would need to stay around 3 1/2 yards of fabric (yeah.. .that's right sewing Mom's ... think about that) it was then announced that no extra money would be available to pay for fabric. 4. It was suggested that a donation for the costume be collected from the parents and another mother (who I will point out made all these suggestions and then was no where around when the actual process was expected to start) suggested that costumes could be purchased for about $10 on the internet that would meet the requirements and that sewing would be a nightmare.

FAST FORWARD a couple of weeks ... THERE ARE NO COSTUMES FOR ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET AVAILABLE IN THE AMOUNT OF $10 that would serve this purpose ... so ... THANKS MRS. KNOW-IT-ALL. I found some awesome fabric in my stash I bought wholesale. Suggested to the Dad that the sewing would be a nightmare with kids and there wasn't enough time. Parents were not motivated so 6 random kids paid me $10 each to make something (cloak, shirt, kilt... etc).

I DID! I donated the time and fabric. A week early ... with one week left to make the costumes for my own kids. Of course, I spent a small fortune on my guys. I also, due to a business conflict, was unable to attend the event and see the kids in their costumes.

Of course I am unable to post pictures of the other kids ... but here is a shot that my lovely friend Donna took of my guys in their costumes. Which gives you an idea of just how much they have grown ... and how much they eat.

Some of the pieces were not worn (despite the expense and effort) because it was too cold but I am certain they will get used some time. They turned out pretty great and all the kids were happy.

A Blog Revisited

2011-10-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

Phew! A whole year has gone by since I blogged from here ... and what a year it's been. The boys and I have gone through some changes. They keep growing ... and growing ... and growing ... and EATING!

I have been insanely busy writing two books (which are both published and available on Amazon.com) and building a second business ... ironically also revisited from the past. So ... too many changes around here meant that something had to give. Unfortunately, that something was sharing the hilarity that accompanies raising my guys with all of you.

Hopefully, I will pick back up where I left off. My personal goal this year is to post something once a week. That way I will be sure to keep you laughing ... since I am pretty certain that they say at least one funny thing a week. Maybe more than that ... maybe less ... but enough.

It feels good to get back to it ... and not be chastised by my editor by using too many ellipses' in my writing ... which is a grammatical rule that I dearly love breaking.

If for some reason you subscribed to my blog solely for Quilting purposes then you will love checking out the Cabin In The Woods Quilters blog which is as named and also on Blogspot or you can click on my website:

www.cabininthewoodsquilters.com

and clicking on the Blogspot icon on the homepage. Their are too many patterns to list and 2 new books out with more coming all the time. You can find out about my workshops and my studio play and everything else about quilting that you might be interested in.

But for now ... I am going to continue enjoying what's left of Penni Appreciate Month (PAM - which for me is celebrated the entire month of October) and my time with my guys and the dogs (which are also mostly boys so they count too).

I hope to also get back to reading about my funny friends on the web.

PAM Day 25

2010-10-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed my morning brunch with Renee before she made her way back to home and family on Monday. Now time to enjoy my solitude. I caught up with a few friends... put a few ideas on paper... checked out a few more ideas that were already on paper... and caught up on some zzzzzzzzz's. Love hanging out with myself. I don't have any place to be... nothing that HAS to be done... no laundry... no dishes... no cooking... it's pretty awesome. I managed to knock of few things off the TO DO list and make some calls without the dogs barking in the afternoon.

This was pretty much my view all day long. It stormed in the afternoon and the only noise I heard all day were the jets flying back and forth out of Norfolk. They are quite loud. But that's only if you're on the balcony trying to hear the waves. It's a pretty awesome place to work take some me time.

Me time soon interrupted by calls from home from boys... a crisis that could apparently only be handled by Mom. It's always amazing to me how Dad could be right there... but when there is a problem or an argument of some sort... they suddenly feel the need to call Mom... and it really doesn't matter what Mom happens to be doing. I could be at the movies or out with friends... or in a business meeting... or a school conference... it doesn't really matter. I assume that I could be in a coma and I am pretty sure they would call me ... the phone by my bed would ring and ring... and they would probably be pissed that I didn't pick up... and they would leave a message... just in case I suddenly woke and decided I wanted to jump right back into parenting.

Best call of the trip so far... they little boys snuck the phone at 7:45 pm to inform me that I must return home immediately because there father was torturing them. Apparently he was making them pick up there own dinner dishes, put there clothes in the hamper and load and empty the dishwasher. J actually said... who would treat their little children this way. I quickly reminded them that if they were big enough to shoot each other with automatic air soft rifles... they were probably big enough to do chores. They hung up... a little disappointed... but none the worse for wear.

I don't know what happened after that... but I slept like a baby.

PAM Day 24

2010-10-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

The best part about a vacation on your own... you can do whatever you want. What more could a busy Mom want than peace and quiet... not worrying about anyone but herself... and peace and quiet... and sleeping in ... and peace and quiet.... You get my drift. I think Renee agreed. We had a little pajama party of sorts Friday night and then slept in on Sunday. I think by the time we left the condo on Sunday it was lunchtime and we were starved.

We took a walk up the street and grabbed some lunch. A little photo shopping on the way.

I was thinking of getting this shirt for Hubs.

Of course I am getting older... and I was thinking this shirt was more appropriate for me.

We stopped in a little candy shop for salt water taffy. I think this little penguin might have had a little too much. Just sayin...

On the search for a place for lunch. This place had all of hubs requirements. We passed.

We picked up a little friend at the candy shop. He was too excited about coming along... and clearly he loves the beach.

We picked lunch at a little pancake house. Renee laughed at me cause I complimented the cook on his potatoes and he ran outside to give me his phone number. Dude... the potatoes weren't that good. But whatever... I was nice.

Of course we stopped for yuppie mom crack... um... I mean Starbucks... you get the point. I saw this mini... mini red velvet whoopie pie. Yeah... that's right. Happy Birthday to me. Plankton... again... really excited about it.

He soooo totally wanted the first bite.

We shopped all afternoon... and very successfully I might add. This time we decided to actually eat dinner instead of just having a bagel in the condo. It was a classy place ... they had "fancy" tomato ketchup... thank god.

Sunday night ... pub... and a couple of beers.

... and yes... football. Too bad we had to share the moment with a couple of Steelers fans. Hrumph... but they stayed away.

It was lots of fun spending time with a good friend. We were beat... and we crashed.

Penni Appreciation Month

2010-10-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

So... to celebrate my birthday... I rented a condo for a week in Virginia Beach. My birthday actually falls on Wednesday so I thought the perfect “end” to my celebration of PAM (Penni Appreciation Month) would be utter relaxation.

Let me first explain PAM. Most of you know this already... but for those that don’t ... I am a very busy woman. I run two businesses and am also a full-time mother. I sometimes support my husband’s business... or at least do lots of extra work so that he can feel free to be a work-aholic and “crackberry” addict. I am a perpetual volunteer (although much less these days since last years PAM... a little birthday gift to myself)... I am always available to lend a hand or a good listening ear. While I seem to make time for everyone else... I rarely make time for me. I am also a fairly low-maintenance woman (if there is such a thing)... so I figured that I needed a break... so I decided my break would be the month of October, my birthday month. It was easy to remember. I would use this month to try to do all the things that I never do for myself... or at least one BIG thing. Whatever... just celebrate me.

I didn’t ask anyone to celebrate me... I am no where near that conceited or self-important... although clearly I do not lack in self esteem. I will say that celebrating your birthday for an entire month takes all the pressure off friends and family members to have to remember a specific day in the year. It take the pressure off my husband who now does not need to find the perfect gift... he only funds the celebration and enjoys the photo posts and tale telling that accompanies all my experiences... and of course he delights in pointing out to friends and co-workers how he is so wonderful as to “let me” celebrate my birthday for an entire month. I choose not to burst his bubble... he knows this... it’s all hush hush and it works for us.

PAM does not specifically mean spending lots of money... although some of my activities are considered luxuries... it’s just really about taking care of oneself. It was so successful last year that I will celebrate this way forever.

So back to my beach trip. I had a dilemna... to invite or not to invite. The condo was small. Everyone’s schedules are so busy and personalities differ. Should I have friends come down and visit or not. I like the idea of having friends around me... but I also like the idea of spending time with myself. Working if I feel like it... or not. Going off on some experience that I like but doesn’t appeal to anyone else. Of course, there is safety in numbers... but I am pretty savvy so...

I decided to let a few people know I was going and tell them if they wanted to visit and spend some time with me they could. My friend Renee jumped at the chance first and changed her schedule to come down for a couple of days. It’s really good... cause I don’t get to see Renee as often as some of my other friends cause she works during the day. I left everything with everyone else open cause I am easy like that.

So Saturday morning I packed my bags and headed to the beach with Renee following behind me. I think she was packed hours earlier and was literally waiting on me. We stopped at Starbucks and took off down the road... literally into the sunset.

Check-in was great... hotel/condo staff really pleasant (no doubt an off-season attitude) and room was completely adequate. Off to a good start. Someone brought all our bags out of the car and into the room for us. Gotta love it.

The two of us were so relaxed I think we just had no energy... and no opinions either. So we decided to hit the mall and go shopping without anyone sitting at home waiting for us. We stayed out way too late and forgot to get dinner... and ate a bagel and went to bed. Like a little pajama party with sleeping in.

I have attached some random pics for your amusement and certainly hope that you will enjoy the updates.

How can someone be nervous about coming down here alone when there is this huge fleet here protecting me. (Yeah I know it's a bad pic... but give me a break... I was driving)

The view from my balcony on Saturday... gotta love the crowds.

I know you can't really see the pod of dolphins but here is a pic of one fin coming up. They were nice to look at.

The busy sidewalks on a Saturday in October. I love that the weather was so nice that people were out... there just weren't that many people.

The one thing that is not allowed on this trip. Amen!

Unite Or Die

2010-08-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I am doing some research for an historical project and came across this Revolutionary War Flag. During the war each regiment of Minutemen would make their own flag representing their region and carry them proudly. This was one such flag. Similar to the "Don't Tread On Me" snake but divided in numbered segments. It got me wondering what exactly the flag stood for... what were the 9 Principles and the 12 Values.

I did a little research today on the flag and found out this... the Minutemen believed in a core set of values and principles which differed from those of the King of England. This base of core values helped shape our country and our Constitution. The following were the Principles and Values that the founders of our country practiced and believed in... and risked and gave their lives in the pursuit of...

9 Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of My Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

12 Values

1. Honesty

2. Reverence

3. Hope

4. Thrift

5. Humility

6. Charity

7. Sincerity

8. Moderation

9. Hard Work

10. Courage

11. Personal Responsibility

12. Gratitude

I do not speak for anyone but myself and my family... but I still abide by these core principles and values. I didn't know it... I didn't know that I was carrying on the tradition of my fore-fathers in my daily life... in the raising of my children... in the way I embrace the world... in the way I participate in my community... in the way I treat the people around me... my fellow Americans. Now that I know what they believed when they formed this country I feel honored to bless their memory by continuing this tradition. I will hang a copy of this flag in my home, my office and anywhere else I can as a daily reminder to honor not only their memory but the efforts of our current military in continuing to fight for our freedom and the freedom of others to follow the same core values and principle... even if they believe in another God... even if they honor another flag.

I cannot tell you how much this history project means to me. Since I have begun my research I have learned so much about our history and about myself. I take joy and pleasure every day in my work and cannot wait until the project is finished and I can share it.

New Patterns April 2009

2009-05-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

I realized when I was looking over some photos today that I never posted any pics of the new designs. So I will send some new pics of the quilts I debuted at the Quilter's Heritage Festival in Lancaster, PA this year.

Pattern: Grandma's in the Kitchen

Pattern: Fender Bender
Sized for an extra long twin bed

Pattern: Trellis Rose
This pattern is a reprint from 2006 made with different fabrics.

Hope you like the new designs. Soon I will post a pic of the new BOM patterns I have released this year.
Happy Quilting!

Guild Night

2009-05-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

So Monday was a bit of a busy day and nothing really exciting to blog about unless you want to look at pics of my computer screen while I worked on the Guild Newsletter or the printing of Block 4 of the Civil War BOM I am doing for Millstone Quilts. I also made the election ballots for the quilt guild elections for the 2009-2010 board.
I didn't think you would find that very interesting. But, on the way out of my driveway I saw this little baby of the power lines. I say baby because I am quite convinced that all the redtail hawks in the area are all my babies. We do have a pair that lay in the same next next to our garage every year and raise their babies every spring. So... I am pretty that they are either one the pair or one of the babies. I see one almost every day but today I had my camera at the ready.

And then I went off to the Guild election meeting *yawn* because it was my duty to the Guild to go... but I did make a stop on the way.
This is the only way that I could make it through the meeting. Thank God for Iced Coffee.
Cheers!

McCafe

2009-05-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

No matter what kind of day you are having I think just knowing there is stuff like this just waiting in the McDonald's drivethru makes everything soooo much better. I don't even care about the calories. It's like McDonald's is reading my mind. I love the beads of sweat on the cup. tehe

Enjoy!

Millstone Quilts Outdoor Show 2009

2009-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

On May 2nd and 3rd I had the wonderful opportunity to host a Cabin In The Woods Trunk Show at Millstone Quilts in Old Church, VA during their annual outdoor quilt show, sale and BBQ. Each year Millstone hosts a customer quilt show on their grounds where customers can show off their quilting talents. They have a 25% off sale for anything in the store and they serve a free southern style BBQ lunch. It's a really wonderful event and I was asked to bring down the quilts and greet the customers.

Here is the trunk show set up on Saturday morning on the porch of my favorite shop down by the creek.

All the new designs were on display as were most of the old designs in the line. Isn't this the cutest little shop. Little is actually very deceiving. This "little" shop has three floors of fabric and is definately worth the trip.
The quilts were on display in the trees all day until about 2:30pm when the rains came.

Here is the trunk show rearranged on Sunday to accomodate the rain that lasted all day. I was nestled on the porch on Sunday (at one point wrapped up in one of my samples due to the draft) and greeted customers with Smoke the cat. Who, I should mention, is not friendly. He is a certified attack cat so if you ever get to Millstone... I would advise saying hi to the cat from a distance. However, Smoke and I became fast friends. Well he liked me anyone. We played a great game of cat and mouse (he was the cat) and he enjoyed torturing me by laying on top of all my business cards on the table and swatting at anyone who tried to take one.

The show turned out to be a wonderful success for me and the sale was a great success for the shop. We were even able to talk a couple of gals into signing up for the Civil War BOM that I designed for the shop this year. All the quilts looked great and I received many compliments. The crowd favorite at this show... Grammy's Thread Box which is the spool quilt in the middle of the above photo.
Happy Quilting!

Friday's Field Trip

2009-05-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I kinda caught everyone up on all the work stuff but promised to catch up more with some backwards posts with pics. So I here is a little snippet of Friday that I will share with you over coffee. Little Brat took a Second Grade Field Trip to The Gari Melchers house in Belmont (Fredericksburg, VA). For those of you not familiar with Gari Melchers (and who would be unless you are REALLY into art) he was a very famous painter/artist. He was known primarily for his portraits. He studied in Germany as a boy and had studios all over the world, most noteably in New York and Paris. Won many awards... blah, blah, blah... and settled here in our home town. He bought a beautiful estate and filled it with his wife's enormous china collection (so big in fact that they cannot display all of it). Sounds like many of us with our fabric. I took a few shots with my point and shoot camera on the estate. I am always looking for interesting B&W pics to decorate our cabin. The grounds ar positively beautiful so if you ever get this way you should stop in and visit and then go down the hill and have lunch at Annie's Cafe.

This is a pic I took of Little Brat and me on the grounds. The kids had a great time learning about life cycles on the farm and art from the wonderful volunteers. They even had a little scavenger hunt and ran all over the grounds.

I was glad I had the opportunity to be picked as a chaperone and hang out with Little Brat for the day.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

So a friend pointed out the other day that I have spent way too much time working and connecting on Facebook and haven't posted anything on my blog in 2 months. That's terrible. So today is the day that I rectify this travesty. I don't want anyone to miss out on the going's on around here. So here was the actual important happening from 4am this morning.

In a nutshell... the last two months have really been all about work. Yes... there has been some socializing and Facebooking and visiting family. But mostly I have been attached to the sewing maching and computer and working like a dog. I managed to put out two new applique patterns and one re-release of a quilt design this year. I will be sure to post the pics for you in the next Blog. They premiered at The Quilter's Heritage Celebration (an International Qult Show in Lancaster, PA). The designs were quite popular.

I picked up three new clients at the show and of course many, many new customers. I was able to stay at the booth throught out the four day show and meet lots of friendly quilters and sign many patterns. Immediately after getting back it was time to get to work on the Civil War BOM that I designed exclusively for Millstone Quilts. They began the project back in March and I am working on making sure they have everything they need each month. I also had a few more new clients not from the show. I had two trunk shows running through April and my first outdoor quilt show/trunk show with Millstone the first weekend in May.

All were very successful... I have had to reprint both new patterns twice already in the last two months. The company is crazy busy. I am crazy busy. Yesterday I found a new home for a dog and drove 4 hours to deliver it and visit with my Mom for Mother's Day. Today was my Mother's Day. I got home last night at Midnight and awoke at 4am so it was inevitable that I would nap today... and I did.

This morning I was presented with three red roses from my Mom (in honor of the three Grandsons I have given her). My boys gave me a new book, some iTunes gift cards and a wonderful iPod docking station to make a stereo for me in the house and studio. It was great. I also bought a couple of used digital point shoot cameras for my business. So I put on shoes and went out in my pajamas this morning to take a couple of pics.

I found this small Bleeding Heart blossom with this daddylonglegs on it. I was testing out the macro capabilities of the new camera. He looks like he found the perfect spot huh?

I love the way the buttercups poke up through the stones in my sidewalk. Some people would mind that but I don't. These are about the only flowers I have in my yard today.

I have been growing Clamatis on my porch for the last four years. I got three blossoms last year on this side of the railing and my old lab walked out one day and wagged her tail and knocked all the blossoms off. Today I was very excited to see all the new buds on the plants. I have high hopes for big beautiful blooms this year.
Well... it has been wonderful checking back in with everyone. I will post more this week.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day today and can't wait to get caught up on all the blogs posts I have been missing.

Congratulations Big Boy!

2009-02-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been so incredibly busy. Work has been crazy and hubby and I have spent many hours working on Scouts for all the boys. Last night all the hard work was worth it. Our oldest son has been a scout for the five years. He began as a Tiger Cub in the first grade and has worked very hard over the last 5 years to earn all the ranks and last night at the Blue and Gold ceremony he graduated from Cub Scouts as a Super Achiever. He has earned every rank possible as a Webelo Scout and received his epaulets and kerchief for his new Troop. He is now my first Boy Scout. I am very proud of him. I wish him the best of luck in his journey to Eagle Scout.

Oh... and as a side note. Hubby made the wooden holder for the keepsake banner and Mom made all the banners for the boys. Now I can relax a little and blog about some of the wonderful things getting made around this house.

Dieters Challenge

2009-01-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

OK ladies... I know everyone is wondering about me and how I am doing in the challenge. I have been home with boys in the house cause of snow and school closing so I have not made it to the gym for two days... UGH! I haven't been able to weigh myself at all.

I did manage to attend the gym 4 out of 5 days last week and I am pretty proud about that. Also the recovery from the trainer was much easier this week cause we did more circuit training and broke up the muscle groups... which for those of you who are interested is not only easier to recover but it BURNS MORE CALORIES!!!!!

I also wanted to update you on the fact that that I mentioned I have not been hungry... so I am the opposite of most people when trying to lose weight. I am not tempted by the cookies and such... I have a hard time putting fuel in my body. That is just as bad if not worse than eating the wrong things. Besides the obvious suggestions from the trainer to set a timer and eat every two to three hours in small bursts (which I have a terrible time doing cause I am so business with my pattern business) another suggestion was made to try meal replacement shakes. These are not diet shakes like Slimfast and such but protein shakes. I have been using Boost premade shakes. They are great for breakfast cause I can grab one on the way to the gym and I know that I am getting the nutrition that I need to workout.

The nutritionist made this suggestion to help until I figure out a regular eating schedule and I think it is helping a great deal. So I am hoping that the weight will begin coming off. The interesting thing is that although my actual weight hovers around 216-217 I have actually dropped about a size and a half in jeans. I can't explain it but it feels good so I'm not gonna knock it. Maybe things are just shifting around a bit.

I sure hope that all of you are having your own successes as well. Let me know if any of you have any questions that I can pose to my pros. Take care and good luck to everyone. I will try to post pic updates soon.

Dieters Challenge Update

2009-01-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hello ladies... I know, I know.... I didn't post on Monday. I was at the YMCA working out though so that counts right. So here's the verdict. I am not dieting I am just exercising and I need to learn to eat more (if that makes sense to anyone cause my problem is that I never eat). But... I weighed myself on Monday on the scale at the gym... and I lost... dah dah dah... 1 pound. Which actually made the trainer and my friend the skinny little nutritionist very happy. And what made me happy... that the skinny little nutritionist gained a pound. hehe

Hope all of you are doing well and I will try to do better at posting on Monday cause it's not fair otherwise.

Dieters Challenge - Warning!

2009-01-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

OK... I have done it. I have posted pictures of my body before I reached my diet goal. This is me how I usually am in the morning. Heading to the loft to work or getting the boys off to school in the morning. Always pretty casual but ready for anything. So Sharon at Red Geranium Cottage has set aside a fitness challenge or at least that's what I am calling it because I don't diet. And she has been calling for all of us to come clean and post photos of ourselves online. I finally got hubby to help. He took forever to take the photo which is why I am not my usual smiling self. I have been working out at the gym for the last month and am feeling much better but when 2009 started I have really been moving by increasing my cardio and moving to 5 days a week.

So here you go Sharon... just so you know that I didn't forget about you, I have come clean and posted my photos too. Hopefully this will motivate someone to get their photos up too. I will try to keep you posted about my progress and share some more photos soon.

Motivationally Challenged

2009-01-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

OK here is the deal. I can't seem to get into the loft and get any work done. This Christmas was wicked stressful and I seemed to be completely overwhelmed. I couldn't fugure out what seemed to have been bothering me. So I sat back and took stock of the messy house, the messy boys that were now home with me everyday for two weeks, the new dog (giant horse Gracie), the new puppy and a completely obsession relationship with facebook (which I completely blame my friend Amy for). Now it seems that I have so much to keep me busy that I can't do what I really need to do which is get motivated to actually work in the studio on my designs for Lancaster this year.

So I was wondering if any of you have any ideas about how to go about getting my groove back. Today I managed to get more done in the house by leaving the headphones on and just ignoring everyone else. But I would prefer to get lost in the sewing right now and not the cleaning. Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Happy FESTIVUS!

2008-12-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take this oppotunity... in support of my boys at Fox and Friends, to wish everyone a Very Happy Festivus this holiday season. I have been watching faithfully every morning as they report about all the scrooges in the world trying to ruin Christmas by being polically correct. So today is Festivus.... and I want to wish everyone a very happy Festivus and encourage all of you to get into the holiday spirit by airing all your grievances on my comments page. I posted this on my facebook page as well this morning and I am hoping to help everyone make it through this holiday season with this smile.

I have been so stressed this holiday season and barely got up the tree so I wanted to let you know that if I can stay this happy with three children and a husband and four needy dogs at home with me every day for 2 1/2 weeks, you can too!
For those that don't understand my sick sense of humor, don't worry... I will be posting on Chrismas as well....
For those that don't know what FESTIVUS is (where were you when Seinfeld was on TV... living under a rock) it's a fictional holiday made up on a tv show that is making an appearance this holiday season as a slap in the face to all the Humanists who want everyone to know that they think their is no God. You can google it and laugh for yourself.
Hope all of you and yours are enjoying this joyous holiday season.... no matter what your religion and come back and see me.

'Tis the season

2008-12-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

This week I had a cookie baking day with some friends. I think we baked around 12-15 dozen cookies. We had to keep trying the recipes over and over again. I am having the same problem my friend Kim is having with her Christmas baking. When all was said and done I sent most of the cookies home with my friend for her family. The story is that my mother baked a bunch of cookies for Thanksgiving and I gave some to my friend but her teenage kids kept eating them. I kept giving her cookies and they kept eating them. So we decided to have a cookie day and bake my mother's cookies... and other things as well.
The first batch were too crumbly and so on... and we finally got the recipe just right.
We also make these delectable peanut butter cup cookies that are straight from heaven. Of course I gave half of them to my personal trainer when she was here :0 (for her husband)

Then we made these chocolate chip beauties.

These were the first batch of peanut better cookies. At first I wanted to save them... they were a little over-baked. But the others tasted soooo good that I stored them here.

But since I have given away all the cookies... I will be baking again today. At least tonight. Right now I am heading out Christmas Shopping AAAAAgain with a girlfriend (cookie mama). After all that baking... here's me.

Actually, it should be called my shopping grin and the end of baking. It did make me feel really good to make the cookies for the kids and we sure did have a lot of fun making them... right girls.
Merry Christmas!

In Love with this face!

2008-12-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

I have other things to write about today.... but I saw this sitting on my bed this morning. Hubby thinks that he has become entirely too attached to me already. He has bonded!... what can I say. I had to put this photo up and brag about this face. It's the cutest puppy face ever. Judging by the size of his legs and paws... I want to enjoy it now because he is going to be the size of a small country.

Enjoy!

There's Still Hope...?

2008-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I wrote about my youngest son, Little Brat. One of the scout moms laughed and then sent a couple of photos that she took at the same Christmas pageant. Her son was in the angel choir but not in the play. She took this photo of my little wiseman (his character played a wiseman in the play within the play). He actually looks like he belongs in Bethlehem with the palm tree behind him.

The second photo is actually the one that matters. Right at the end of the play the assistant pastor of the church stood up and led the group in prayer. Here's Little Brat right in the middle of all the participants. I couldn't believe it. While all of the other children and adults were waiting for the prayer to begin, my son was in his own meditation. He looks absolutely angelic.

Maybe there is still hope for us all. Of course, I am kidding. I think he's the cutest and the sweetest little angel ever. I know exactly why everyone loves him. He's the best. He's also a little brat but cute all the same. I just want to scoop him up and eat him. It's the only thing that has kept me from killing him for the last eight years.
Just thought I would share this with you in the spirit of Christmas.
Come to think of it.... he was probably praying for toys... and that Santa has a sense of humor.

A difference of opinion

2008-12-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

Here is what Big Boy thinks about Charley. He justs wants to snuggle him and love him and sleep with him. He's so tiny... awhhh.
Right up until the time that he poops on the floor because everyone was so busy playing with him that they forgot to let him out.

Little Brat thinks he's the greatest ever. Same thing... you don't really expect me to clean that up do you. Not really... I just expect them to take him outside. All they have to do is open the door and let him out into the yard. He loves to go out there and almost always wants to stay out there. So why is there mess in the house.

I'm exhausted. We haven't slept well in at least three days. The only ones in the house getting any sleep are the kids and the puppy. Hubby wrapped him in one of my quilts so he be warm while napping on my bed.

I just want to poke him. WAKE UP!!! If Momma doesn't sleep then nobody sleeps... Get It! It doesn't work. BABIES.... can't live with 'em and can't ditch 'em 'cause their too darn cute. I might have to visit some friends to take a nap. I hope all of you out there in blogland are getting some rest and gearing up for the holidays. After reading my blog the last few days you should have no excuses. I'm trying to wear you out so you'll get some rest... or at least appreciate it when you do.
Good Luck!

How Big IS the Dog?

2008-12-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I am airing my laundry (my real laundry) for everyone to see... I really needed to give everyone perspective on the size of this dog. I sat on the floor to take this photo of Brandy, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. When she's excited she knocks the laundry off the table with her tail. Hubby thinks it's hysterical. Thankfully she won't get any bigger. I can't say the same for Chocolate Chip Charley who will probably eventually be the same size.

LOL... what were we thinking?

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

2008-12-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of Little Brat in his theatrical debute playing Claude Herdman in the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. He's the one on the far end in the "prison stripes" and backwards baseball cap. If you don't know the story of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever you should. It's a really great little book. Basically he plays one of the 6 hoodlum kids in the neighborhood who come to be in the church Christmas pageant because the lady who normally runs it has broken her leg and the minister gives out free snacks.

My son plays one of the Herdmans, the poor kids in the neighborhood who beat up on everyone and set fire to the church. I found it to be a completely typecasted role for Little Brat and I don't see how he will ever get another part in his life. Actually I am kidding. Little Brat is actually a great friend he just a little stinker. Since we are so well known in the community (I was the PTA Treasurer for two years and we run the local cub scout pack, etc.) I get friendly calls from parents all the time. They are always laughing to tell me the latest thing that he did or said. Last week a mother called to tell me that my son bet her son that he should call 1-800-FART-POLICE on the phone when he got off the bus. You get an idea of who he is as a person. So playing a Herdman wasn't a stretch. Hubby says he takes after me.

He has been memorizing lines and attending rehearsals for about 6 weeks and Sunday morning was the final performance. He did great as expected. See... he is also smart as a whip which is what makes him so sly. Everyone loves him. My mother lovingly told me she thought he would be the one to make me a Grandma first (I shudder to think of that). I think he will be an evil genius. He will either be very wealthy or paroled early.

Of course me camera battery died about 1/2 way through the show but he looked really cute performing and did an excellent job (as expected by Mom) so I thought you would enjoy knowing what else we have been up to around here.
Enjoy!

Our Pack Expands by Two

2008-12-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Many of you do not know this but November of last year my husband and I (and the boys I suppose) lost a very beloved family member to old age. Hubby and I adopted a neglected 11 month old Chesapeake Bay Retriever from a bad situation and she was our first baby together. Well that little girl grew up to be a true "Man's Best Friend" (and woman's too). She mothered my young and protected our family until she passed away at the ripe old age of 14 1/2. Not a bad life. Before she passed I adopted a tiny West Highland White Terrier puppy that I named Duncan who is now my right hand. Duncan has a sister, a very eldery Black Lab mix named Kelly that came to us as a stray at 6 months old. She is now 13 years old and hardly getting around anymore.

My husband realized this month that it had been more than a year since our beloved Ally passed away and has been thinking of adopting (or purchasing rather) a Chesapeake Bay puppy for Christmas. I have to say I was against it. Another puppy in the house... yeesh! But I didn't want to lose another elderly dog and leave my poor terrier alone in the house. Not a good idea for terriers anyway even though my little guy is a social animal and loves visitors.

Last week hubby made a stop at the local animal shelter and didn't really connect with anyone there of the canine persuasion. He was searching on the internet at the local animal shelters. He finally found an ad for a 3-yr. old female Chesapeake Bay Retriever that needed a good home. She was not at the shelter but was a courtesy listing for a local couple about 30 minutes from us. He made the call to go and see her to see if she would fit in with our family. We actually prefer adoption anyway and like working with a slightly older dog. He left a message and waited to hear back.

Meanwhile, back at the Cabin, I was on my way to Big Boy's soccer game on Saturday and saw a man in a minivan by the side of the road with a sign that said "Lab Pups for Sale". I prefer my labs of the Chocolate persuasion (who wouldn't) and I decided to stop and see what he had. Of course it did occur to me that a single woman stopping to look into the back of a minivan at some guy's puppies might have been some sort of trap but being the naive idiot that I am I stopped anyway.

They did have one little chocolate lab puppy (male) of the litter and he had the most gorgeous yellow/green eyes that I had ever seen. I fell in love. I told the guy then and there that I would love to take him. I would call later and see if my husband would come with me to pick him up.

Of course, later that day just before we went to get the puppy, the lady with the Chesapeake Bay called to see if we would love to come out and see her. My husband, having not really known of my committment said we would love to come and see her and made an appointment. The couple was very glad because considering our story and our circumstances we sounded like the perfect family to adopt her.

OK... this story is getting long... I will get to the point. My husband drove us out to King George and took one look at "Brandy" and fell in love with her. He adopted her on the spot. Did I mention that she weighs about 100 pounds. She resembles a small pony with the same gallup. We drove all the way with this poor unsuspecting dog and set her up with a coming place to lay. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what I am going to do about this puppy. I came clean to hubby and he said we could adopt them both. It's just slightly insane but we just couldn't decide.

So by Monday afternoon we had TWO new dogs. One made her giant self at home by sleeping in the center of my bed. I think she very quickly adopted us too. The other one is a tiny ball of cuteness that cannot be denied. Not by the adults, the boys or the other dogs. My little Duncan has adopted him as him own particular playmate and Brandy has adopted everyone as her pups. So we may very well be completely and undeniably INSANE but our little pack has increased by two and we can't be happier.

Thought I would share the story and a couple of photos of the new KIDS and explain why blogging is taking so long these days. Right now we are all napping on the bed and the two new ones are dreaming so they are barking a little in their sleep. I hope they are dreaming good dreams of their new family.

Here is Brandy the big dog. She looks remarkable like our old girl and has much the same personality.

What a regal princess.

Here's the handsome Prince that I have named Chocolate Chip Charley. Hubby likes the name Chip but I think he looks like a Charley.

Could you have left this little face behind? I couldn't! I was sold. Hubby thinks he makes sounds like a baby Grissley Bear when he sleeps. What can I say... just like my own little boys.... He had me at HELLO!

Little Brat has a Birthday

2008-12-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

So... part of the reason that I took a break from posting was Thanksgiving. My family was descending on me for the weekend. My Mom and Dad came into town on Wednesday evening. They were staying with me at my house with their 4 month old Cocker Spaniel puppies. They were very good at my house. I have a doggy door and a fenced yard but it was a little doggy crowded here at first.
My oldest brother (of the four older brothers) arrived on Wednesday night as well. He was visiting with my boys. He stayed the night in a hotel but hung out with them as late as he could. I woke Thursday morning and did what I suspect most of us did... started the Turkey and set up as much as I could.
As usual at my house, the turkey came early this year. I guess that's better than coming a little late but the bird flew the coop about 2 hours early. My second oldest brother arrived with his family on Thursday morning (most of the family came in from Maryland, my home state) so it wasn't too far to drive, but our traffic is legendary so it takes awhile. After dinner and the cleanup my sister-in-law and I start scanning the ads for the Black Friday shopping event the next day. Mom, brother, sis IL, and I went out shopping on Thanksgiving night to a couple of stores where I managed to find a birthday present for the same brother... talk about stress.
At the end of the night I began baking a sheet cake for the next day's events.
Friday morning began early again. I managed to complete baking and decorating this cake for Little Brat's birthday party which we planned to have at an indoor soccer stadium on Friday night. I had most RSVP's complete and needed to purchase and make gift bags for all the kids that night. Here is the cake I made from scratch. I blurred out the important info but you get the jist. I made the soccer ball from scratch from a cake in a bowl. I think it turned out pretty good.

We went out shopping at about 10am when the real craziness died down a bit. I picked everything needed for the party that night and got out all the leftovers for the adults. Did I mention that my cleaning lady came while we were home on Friday. So in the middle of the entire crowd we had someone dusting and mopping the floor. While it sounds great you should think about it for a minute. Lifting your feet while your trying to eat your lunch and the stress of watching someone work around you while you just sit there. I don't know about you guys but it was stressful for me. And the poor cleaning lady who was cleaning around 11 people, 2 dogs and 2 puppies.
We headed off to the stadium at about 6pm and had 22 kids + parents for a birthday party from 7pm-9pm.
It was incredibly fun but you can imagine I was pretty tired on Saturday morning. The good news was most everyone was gone by Friday night late. The only house guests I had were my parents and the puppies of course. The next day (Sat.) was soccer game day. We made breakfast, cleaned up and headed back to the soccer stadium for Big Boys game. We took everyone to lunch at Capital Ale House downtown and then headed home. Mom and I managed to make it out to Quilt and Sew in Fred before they headed home at 4pm.
I put on my pajamas at 5pm and climbed into bed where I started a reading marathon (Twilight) and watched about 20 episodes of Sex and The City on HBO On Demand. What an adventure eh? I am exhausted just telling you about it. How crazy was your holiday? The good news was that Little Brat had never had a big birthday party. He had a great time and despite the fact that I planned it one Black Friday he actually had kids show up. How did I make that happen? I put a little note in the invitation that went a little like this:
Dear Parents, I realize that I have planned this party on Thanksgiving weekend and that many of you will be out of town visiting relatives. But if you are in town and would like to come by the Field House I would love to provide you with an opportunity to drop off your kids for a great time and get some shopping done on your own or just relax and have a little dinner by yourselves. Of course, you are always welcome to stay and play dodgeball and soccer with your kids and join us in the good time. --- And then I invited 36 kids.
We had lots of Dads that hung out and had a great time. And we had lots of couples that took me up on the favor. I was glad to have them either way. All the kids had fun and Little Brat was indeed the star.

Millstone Quilts - Fat Quarter Sale

2008-12-08T05:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have to get caught up on a blog again. I seems that I have been so busy getting things done around here with Thanksgiving and all that I haven't had time to post. Remember my Tour de Quilt Shop Hop back in October for my birthday? Well during that tour they ladies pulled my name in one of the drawings and I won a MODA gift bag. I told them I would pick it up at Millstone Quilts (remember the little red mill by the creek?). I thought it would be nice to pick it up there. I knew I would enjoy seeing Ms. Regina and her crew again. Also, Millstone has a fantastic sale once a year. $1.00 FQ's cut from the fabrics all over the shop. This is an annual sale they have in November before Thanksgiving. My friend, CH, went with me and we had a great time at the store. I didn't get any photos of the actual sale this time. But here is a photo of what I won.

Doesn't it look like a fantastic bag. I actually took the bag out to my car and emptied it so I could use the bag to shop. I was looking to improve my collection of civil war and 30's repros for some upcoming projects this year. I was also looking for stash to create a couple of BOM's for Millstone. So I went a little wild. But heh!... who couldn't go a little wild on fabric during this sale? I found some gorgeous prints from the Louisa May Alcott fabrics. I was able to ring the cow bell at the store twice. They gave me two copies of the free pattern Soduko (I gave the 2nd one to CH) and I bought this Cynthia England pattern called Old Grist Mill. I just had to. Someday I will get around to making it too. Here is my haul from the day.

I know what you're thinking. This woman is madddd!!!! And then you wish you were me! It was fun looking at it afterwards. I came home with 200 FQ's and I thought about rolling around in them naked...... but I decided to fondle them instead.

Wednesday Hubby gets a pie in the eye

2008-11-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

Yeah... you heard me right... a pie in the eye. OK. The story goes like this. Hubby is the cubmaster of the cub scout pack that our sons belong to. I am the Advancements and Awards Chairperson. Have any of you ever worked with your husband? Let's just say... we are both volunteers, we both do things our own way and we hardly ever agree which way that should be. We do have some very active parents in our Pack and some great volunteers but when it comes to attending administrative meetings.... well that's a whole other ball game. So it had come to our attention from the Pack Committee Chair on a Tuesday that the last day to attend Popcorn training (yes I know how stupid that sounds) was on Thursday and there was no way that any parent volunteer could be acquired in one day and made to attend a training meeting. So, as all mature, responsible adults do when faced with this situation... Hubby and I played rock, paper, scissors to see which one of the two of us would have to attend on behalf of the kids.
I LOST!
On a Thursday, on top of all my other work, I headed to a council meeting to attend a (what I assumed was) short sales presentation at 7:00pm on how to organize popcorn sales for the Pack. At 9pm... yes 2 hours later... I realized that what I was actually attending was a rather lengthy video presentation on how to improve the sales skills of your scouts to sell more stuff. They had an adorable boy on the screen who had sold $76,000 of popcorn by himself and was a super achiever (which none of our children will ever be). I was trapped. There was no way to extricate myself from the situation with my humor and dignity intact. I sat and took copius notes.
On the way home, after finding a bathroom ('cause I went there with a gallon cup of Starbucks iced coffee), I played the sales pitches over in my head many times. It was totally unfair that I had to sit through all that. After all, that was definately Hubby's job and he wanted the kids to be Eagle Scouts just like him. An interesting sales tactic emerged in my head (suggested of course by the wonderful Trail's End sales rep). His statement was this..."The BEST motivation that works for kids... the thing they want the most... the thing that gets them out there selling and making their goals... pie in the face. They all want to pie the cubmaster in the face". That's right. That's what he said.
I forgot all the rest. I had my sales strategy all mapped out by the time my car pulled into the driveway. My husband was on the sofa watching tv (looking all smug) when I came in. He asked, "How was it?", behind a Cheshire grin. I told him that I had the whole popcorn plan mapped out and I would share it with him. Any kid in the pack that sells 6 units of popcorn gets to pie you in the face. You should have seen how fast his jaw dropped. That'll teach you Mr. Smug.
So each boy was given his sales flyer and a quest.

1 unit = patch, 6 units = pie in the face.

You should have seen their adorable little faces. They were ready. We have 27 boys in our pack (not a big one at all). After all the sales were tabulated, 17 boys got to pie him in the face. Wednesday night was our big Pack Meeting. Here is a photo of Little Brat (he's the one reading the instructions out loud for the flag ceremony) participating in the opening ceremonies.

I have to admit that Hubby had other things planned as well. He stalled as long as he could until the boys started chanting PIE... PIE. One of our wonderful parents brought brownies and homemade whipped cream for all the boys and then they lined up to commence the tossing. After every one else had gone I made sure that I got him one more time in the hair and everything. Here is hubby after they were through. He smelled like "cream" all the way home. REALLY!

All the boys had a great time (after all it's all about them anyway) and Hubby wasn't harmed by any side-armed paper plates. In the end I WON! That rock, paper, scissors game was just the battle. I think I WON THE WAR. We are still laughing about it. And we are pretty proud of ourselves that the kids had so much fun! Enjoy!

Tuesday Madness

2008-11-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Not so often, when my Hubby gets up to go to work in the morning, does he wake me. Usually I wake up on my own about 15 minutes after he leaves for work to find a hot cup of coffee next to me on the dresser. (That's right ladies... I have it real rough). Tuesday morning did not start off like every other morning. I don't know why I rolled over and opened one eye. Those with kids know this... sometimes things just don't seem right. Through my one sleepy eye I see Hubby (who is color blind and fashion challenged) staring at himself in the mirror and checking out his shirt.
That morning he opened up his fresh dry clean bag and pulled out a shirt. He put it on and it just didn't feel right. Well for one thing it was about a size and a half too big. It also looked like this...

Now I, of course, do not mean to criticize anyone's sense of fashion. I do know this... my Hubby does not smoke and hates shirts with embroidery on the pocket. So I don't think I ever would have picked out a shirt with a smiley face in a cowboy hat, smoking a cigar and reading the paper. But being the good husband that he is... he just stared at it in the mirror. I think he was trying to imagine in what drunken state I had purchased this shirt... or why I had purchased this shirt... or (more importantly) did I purchase this shirt. But he couldn't quite bring himself to wake me up and ask me.
Even through one sleepy eye I said, "Where did you get that shirt?" Of course he indicated immediately that he was thinking of asking me the same question. After a few minutes of fumbling around looking through the dry cleaning plastic, we realize that somehow I came home with someone else's dry cleaning. I had also paid for 10 shirts but only received 8. The most interesting thing about it was that half of the shirts in the bag looked like his and were probably his size. Of course he was incensed... convinced that the dry cleaners had somehow made off with all his good Tommy Hilfiger's and Burberry's (not that he would have any clue what any of that means but he knows I don't buy him cheap clothes)... like some bizarro episode of Seinfeld... the dry cleaner had given him freebies in exchange for his french cuff suit shirts.
I am only sharing this story as an amusing warning for all wives who drop off and pick up shirts as though you were taking them to your own laundry room. You have to keep your receipt. I have never had to do battle with the dry cleaner. And I have to say, it wasn't really a battle at all. I called them and they had in fact given me the wrong bag by mistake. Hubby's shirts were still hanging neatly there when I arrived. They were very apologetic and embarrased. That being said... I have to say ladies... I do all of the shopping and dry cleaning and laundry and I think I am pretty sure I know my husband wardrobe... UNTIL... you have to pick out your own husband's shirts in the dry cleaning lineup. I felt like a completely useless witness on one of those crime dramas on TV. You know the one where the witness says, "That could be him but I don't quite remember... his hair looks a little different and it was really dark." That's what will happen. I have watched the racks turn at the drycleaners and I can tell you that ever third bag looked like ours. *Note to self*... don't buy Hubby's shirts at COSTCO. All of our laundry is now beginning to look alike... and no matter how good the drycleaners are... CHECK the bag. As Hubby always tells me "TRUST BUT VERIFY". If I had my receipt I would have realized right away that I was shorted two shirts. It's a good thing he put on "Mr. Happy cigar face first" or we might not have known at all.
Despite the stress of the day it was actually ended quite fantastically. When I arrived home and retrieved the mail I find a packeg for me. It was all the Charlaine Harris books that I had ordered. YEAH!

I finished the first book right away within the first day and thought I would buy the rest of the series to save myself the wait (through a used Amazon bookseller of course). The 2nd (Living Dead in Dallas) is here. I would love to tell you that I savored the book and took my time like I said I would but I didn't. I read it that afternoon and completed it the next morning before the kids got on the schoolbus.
So I picked up the third book and read that one too. I closed the cover on book 3 (Club Dead) on Wednesday morning... just in time to plan our CubScouts events on Wednesday night and turn in all popcorn orders.

Hope everyone is having a less stressful week. Hope they aren't getting too worked up over Thanksgiving. It's just a holiday. Thursday is the FQ sale at Millstone and I plan to tell you all about it. I have a surprise to report as well. Stay Tuned!

Anyone Else in love with the Vampires?

2008-11-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

I have to confess. I have been a little obsessed with vampires lately. I got hooked on this new series on HBO called True Blood. It's about vampires living among us in society. I couldn't stand it anymore. As with all good shows (especially the riveting ones on cable) when the episode ends it leaves you wanting for more. I just had to know what happened next. So I starting researching on the internet and of course felt like a complete loser when I found out the show was based on a series of books by Charlaine Harris.

The first one is called Dead Until Dark. It arrived in the mail and I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book cover to cover within the first 24 hours. Of course, I had to go back on the internet and order the rest of the series. I have made a pact with myself that I would slow down a little and savor the suspense a little. It's kinda weird that I am interested in these books considering that I don't usually like the supernatural and hate scary books because they still give me nightmares. This series is more of a love story with creepiness and mindfreak. I couldn't wait until 9pm on Sunday night to see the next one and as usual HBO did not disappoint me. But the series has its finale next week so I had to find something to do until it starts again (or in case it doesn't like the last two series I really loved, Carnivale and Deadwood). So I am bringing this up to ask the rest of you if you have seen the series and are you enjoying it? Are you obsessed with it? Are you a little creeped out by your obsession? Just wondering if I was the only freak in the quilting world. I have to tell you that it was really nice to read a book that was quick to get through and not too awfully heavy. What are you obsessed with reading right now?

Little Projects for the simple life

2008-11-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

A blog friend of mine mentioned today that she changes her sheets to match her quilts on her bed. I guess she brought up the subject because someone at work made fun of her for being detailed. I told her she was my hero. I wish my house was decorated like that. As I said to my friend Kim, the sheet color selections at COSTCO are limited or I would have matching sheets too. But sadly, since I have four "men" living in my house we have to make things easy. I do make matching/coordintating pillowcases for my bed quilts now. Really out of necessity because men make the bed and fluff the pillows differently that women do. It makes it easy on the men to fold the quilt up to the top and lay the pillows on it at the head board. Here is a photo omy newest creation. Using my embroidery sewing machine I monogram each one on both sides (before I fold the bands in half so the stitches are on the inside). I use a serger for construction, and sewing machine for topstitching and the embroidery machine for the monograms.

These pillowcases were made to go with a Christmas Quilt that believe it or not I have yet to finish. It was just on old BOM from Guild but my Guild friends are very talented so the blocks are beautiful. As luck would have it, they also match a rather pretty red and green bed quilt with our estate name on it (Hunter's Greene). These are easy patterns and I know that you have all seen them completed in theme colors and cute novelties but it's nice sometimes to have fancy too. Of course, somehow the boys manage to wiggle their pillows out of the cases and so now I will have to make enclosed cases for them (probably with an envelope back).
Here is another project that I worked on for a day.

Here is a new "inspiration" board for the loft. Hubby will eventually hang it (horizontal) on the peak ceiling over the sewing machines. It's anybody's guess when that will be but my part is complete at least. I needed a place to put some images that I have been using for inspiration for new designs. I found this old remant in the closet and picked up some ribbon at the craft store. It is almost too pretty to cover up with stuff. It was fun and easy to make in the loft.
I have noticed lately that many of you are looking for little "gifty" ideas for that holiday that I won't name 'cause I am afraid it will creep closer. I bought a couple of books the other day.

This one is Sew and Stow by Betty Oppenheimer

And this one is In Stitches by Amy Butler. I have been searching for little projects that I can complete quickly for gifts for friends and family. Now all I need is the time to complete them. That is in much shorter supply. Today I spent half of the day organizing all of the Popcorn sales for our CubScout pack. Not an easy feat. But I managed to make amazing progress for the day and so I thought I would spend a few minutes chatting with you before I pick up the kids from the bus. Then it's off to homework, cleaning, piano lessons and one scout den meeting and then I can come home and go to bed... and start the same day all over again... tomorrow.
UNLESS... I have heard rumors that we will have "snow showers" tomorrow. I am not exactly sure what that means. He specifically said showers and not flurries. My luck... now that the house it actually looking better... the boys will be home from school tomorrow and I will have to start all over again on Wednesday. Wish me luck... Right now I could use some of those Santa Anna winds.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you in the effected areas of California. Hubby and I lost our home to a fire in 1999 (many articles were written about our struggles, Smart Money magazine, Reader's Digest, etc.). It was the week of Big Boy's 1st birthday. It isn't any fun to watch your house burn to the ground and experience the year's of loss afterwards. You are in our prayers and it will all work out in the end. I know that doesn't helo much today... but it will. Keep the faith.

On the Farming Front...

2008-11-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

I know that you have all been waiting with baited breath to know how the AeroGarden is coming. So, without further ado... here it is...

After 14 days of water farming, I have 6 beautiful sprouted plants. The only one that seems to be having trouble growing is the Oregano which is on the bottom right. I did mention that I was only growing herbs. You can grow anything: flowers, vegetables, herbs... But whatever you choose to grow they have to be all the same kinds of plants. These are all herbs. On the top of the photo I have Dill and Genovese Basil. On the front row I have Thyme, another shorter kind of Basil, Chives and Oregano. Today was time to add the nutrients. How do I know, you ask? Because the AeroGarden told me so. I did make one mistake which I found out about later after extensive reading of instructions (always helpful). I put well water in the thing. You're not supposed to do that and considering that our water is full of rust I should buy bottled water next time to fill it up. That could be why the Oregano is dwarfed. Or maybe it just feels like growing slowly. In any case... I hope you like my little indoor garden. It was the dumbest present ever that has turned out to be fun. While all the leaves are falling outside... I had little plants inside. If they weren't so expensive I would buy another one for the flowers. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little color inside in the dreary Winter.

Maybe I should ask Santa Clause for another one? Who knows.

How do you start a November?

2008-11-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

First you sign all three boys up to play indoor soccer through both Holidays. Make sure that games fall on top of Christmas play practice so that instead of being a great fun activity it can be another reason why we should allow cloning. If we could clone ourselves we would always have a reasonable baby sitter, we would never have to worry about who taking who to what and we would have extra errand runners when we forget to bring things to scouts. If we could clone our kids think of all the activities they could be a part of.
I took a few photos of Little Brat and Eeyore after their first game. .

I didn't get one of Big Boy. He plays on Saturdays and I spent the day of his first game on a bus to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to go fabric shopping with friends. I had a great time despite having to leave the house at 5:30am to meet a 6:30am bus. I also left Hubby in town to not only make the first soccer game alone but also to get three boys moving on a Saturday morning at 8:00am to do Scouting for Food with the entire pack (I mentioned he's the CubMaster and I am Advancements Chair) and then organize scouting Flag Football after. He had to fly from the game across town to the soccer match at the indoor stadium. I was riding on a bus chatting and eating chocolate turtles.
The second week of the month was spent getting all the details together for the Fredericksburg Area Quilt Festival. That was mucho work but also loads of fun. I entered several quilts and then set up my first ever booth at a quilt show. I had never done that because I am a wholesale distributor but I thought it would be fun to "meet the public" so to speak and get some exposure in the local market. Here is a photo of me in my booth.

By the way, I have made a mental note to burn this shirt because it makes me look about 8 1/2 months pregnant. I have a very evil skinny mirror at home that needs to be destroyed. It was really fun to meet all the area quilters and have my own booth. I would love to try it again some time. At the conclusion of the show, the organizers brought over my quilt show entries. The house quilt (as mentioned before) took another ribbon which was exciting. I showed a beautiful batik sampler quilt that I made last year. It took a 3rd Place ribbon in last year's Guild Quilt show in the Traditional category (my first quilt award). This year it took a 3rd Place Traditional ribbon and a 2nd Place Best In Show (which my friend Mary Kerr, our local Quilt Appraisal, said she had never heard of before but who am I to argue). The best surprise of all was that I took a 2nd Place Traditional ribbon for the Quilt below.

This pattern is called Glorious Garden Lattice and this quilt is a second sample that I made for the local quilt shop to display these beautiful fabrics. I used a border print in the border as well as in the diagonal setting triangles. It was rather hard to do. Apparently everyone liked it and it is a pattern of my design. I am very proud of it. It may not be the prettiest quilt that you have ever seen but it is the best little pattern that I have designed and very popular. It was probably the best award I have received over the last year because it was on my own design. I know this isn't the best photo but I had to take one right away so that I could share my excitement.
I have officially caught you up on our lives over the last month and will blog more soon.
I have the entire family coming to my "pig sty" or, "guy sty" if you will, for Thanksgiving this year and I have lots of work to do to get us there. Not to mention that $1.00 FQ sale at Millstone Quilts this week. That's a day trip that I will not miss no matter how many are coming for Thanksgiving. See you soon.

Halloween Again

2008-11-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

So a few days later... it was Halloween time again. I have to tell you that my mother Sue "the ace" Super Sewer usually makes all the Halloween costumes. She has shopped and made costumes (sometimes from photographs) from 300 miles away and then shipped them overnight to get to her beloved grandsons many a year. This year... she was too tired and frankly they are getting way to complicated. One year... she was asked by a toothless smiling grandson to make a Larry Boy costume (from the Veggie Tales). In case you don't know he is a Cucumber SuperHero with plungers coming from both sides of his head. It was the first time Mom had to by costume parts at Home Depot. The costume was a purple jumpsuit with a purple cape and handmade helmet. I painted the boys face green to make him look like a cucumber. The helmet was priceless. I took a photo. It was the one and only time I send out Halloween holiday cards to family. I couldn't pass up the oppotunity.
Here are the guys this year. I paid beaucoup bucks for these babies. The deluxe models with the PVC parts and two part helmets.

Boba Fett (on the left for the science fiction challenged) is Eeyore. Little Brat is in the middle wearing the Commander Cody costume (also from Star Wars) and true to form, Big Boy wears a "Master Chief" costume inspired by a video game character in a violent video game that his father lets him play. I am so proud.

Don't you love Eeyore's smiling face. Not even $60 for a costume will cause him to crack a smile. Now you know why we call him Eeyore.

As parents... we lucked out. The trick-or-treating was great. While we have no neighbors and live in the middle of the woods we do live down the street from a nice neighborhood. Many of the families in this neighborhood chose to leave their lights off too. It was great because they had to walk more which made them tired and they wanted to go home early. YEAH!
As you can see Little Brat had a good time. He danced with this nice lady who took the time to dress up. He'll do anything to show up in a photograph. I know I don't have to tell you but I will for laughs that the expensive helmets that we bought fogged up after the 1st house and Hubby and I carried them through the whole neighborhood but they are only kids once. I'm sure that it was memorable.

Another Birthday come and gone

2008-11-16T12:32:00.000-08:00

That same day here is me at Basil's. I order a panini sandwich and a cup of soup. New England clam chowder. It was more like New England Clam glue. It was the thickest cup of soup I have ever had. But it was a beautiful sunny day. Only a slight bit cool and breezy.

It was nice that Hubby took me to lunch since we didn't manage to get to go out for dinner this year. So what did they get me for my birthday you ask? Well take a look below.

Hubby and the boys bought me an AeroGarden (as seen on TV) because they wanted me to be able to grow my herbs and flowers in the winter. It never ceases to amaze me what men will find interesting and only they can find an incredibly expensive appliance/tool that will take the place of nature. High tech all the way.
A friend of mine asked what other hydroponics was I gonna be trying this year. In case you were wondering it grows your herbs in water so you can start seeds in the house and then plant them outside in the spring. Unless of course you are transplanting them to a giant pond outside which automatically feeds and waters them. I will show you a picture of whats growing in it now. I planted the garden on Nov 2nd. Stay tuned. I know you are excited.

Window Shopping

2008-11-16T12:21:00.000-08:00

I know this photo is very hard to see but all the boutiques along Caroline Street do these spectacular holiday window themes. These were all halloween themes. This one is in the window of a upscale "stuff" shop. I call it a stuff shop because it just has lots of stuff in it. Figurines, clocks, dishes... it is owned by the same people who own the upscale kitchen shop attached next door and the really expensive furniture boutique two shops up. There is so much detail in this window it would blow your mind.

This window belongs to the gourmet kitchen shop, which as I said, is connected to the "stuff" shop. This window was cool too. It was made to look like whoever was cooking just sort of spilled something and then died (which would be me... I would sooner drop dead than clean). I thought some of you would get some ideas for your decorations next year.

Hubby had never been in the kitchen shop... so we had to go and see. It's really quite spectacular. You can find all kinds of good stuff in here.

Here is Hubby waiting at Basil's for me to stop taking pictures and sit down and order something so he can get back to work. Basil's has a special on Tuesday nights from 5pm-8pm. After your meal they bring the check and a coin and the waitress flips the coin while you call heads or tails. If you win the toss your meal is free. We took the kids there on one Tuesday night and we won the toss. Big Boy called it and our meal was free.

A few days before Halloween

2008-11-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

I told you today would be the day that I would get caught up with you on what you have been missing. My birthday was a few days before Halloween. Usually everyone makes little or no big deal on my birthday. That's what this year I decided to be proactive and plan my own events throughout the month of October. Here was another nice little outing that Hubby and I shared. He "worked from home" one day and we took a trip downtown (to historic Fredericksburg that is) for a little lunch. I don't know if any of you know anything about my Fredericksburg but it is the only town that boasts both Revolutionary War and Civil War history. The historic Civil War battlefields of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville are located here within a few miles of one another (our "Cabin in the Woods" is located on the Chancellorsville Battlefield site area). So we have a wonderful little downtown which is constantly evolving and being restored and changes are being made all the time. Here is one of the neatest little spots located here.

We were walking down the street when we saw this alley. Isn't it the prettiest little alley. All the way at the end of the Alley is a gardening shop. They have classes. There is also a little staircase going up on the right with a little shop for rent. Wonder what will go in there. Rumor has it that a stationary shop will be moving into that building.

Here is a photo of the street right outside the alley. It's a pretty little town is it not?

Right at the boutique end of Caroline Street is the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop. It's now a museum that you can tour. Check out the sign in the window. I kinda wish they still sold stuff in there like this 'cause I might have bought the leeches. They seem better than aspirin eh?

Stay tuned!

A few Nice Quilts

2008-11-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

This quilt did not get displayed very well but it is one of two Winding Ways quilts that my friend Liz Buchanan made. The other one is more scrappy but this one is more Liz. She loved purple and green. What a great quilt.

Here is a very interesting wool applique quilt. I love wool applique so I thought this one was great too.

This was one of the more striking of the Nickel Quilts that was made this year. It was a class at this years Guild Quilt-In. Mine is not finished (of course) along with the 30-40 other UFO's that I currently have. I can't wait to see mine complete now.

Last but not least... I thought I would show you our Guild's Raffle Quilt this year. I helped make some of the blocks. It's a really cute quilt made from all batiks. I think it turned out nice and it was very simple. Sometimes it's the simple ones that turn out the best.

Speaking of which I still have raffle tickets to sell. I am still getting over all the Sunday morning popcorn sales for Cub Scouts. Maybe I will be slick and sell them all to my husband. Hope you had fun on the Quilt Show journey.

Some of the good ones

2008-11-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a really pretty baby quilt that Debbie Noble made for her family. I love the pastel background fabric... although if one of my boys had this it would be covered in dog hair and spiddle.

I planned this quilt out as a BOM last year for the Guild members. Most of these were put into last year's show but this one made it this year. It is by Alicia Veil and I love that she used red, white and blue. I think this qiult now belongs to her husband.

I can't remember who made this one but I think it's a very pretty Tennessee Waltz quilt. Our Guild likes the traditional as well as the contemporary.

This one is a really cool Lonestar made by Ginger Cook. Being a machine quilter, she did some amazing quilting on it. I am hoping that some of it shows up in the photo if you click on it to enlarge it.

2008 Best Traditional Quilt

2008-11-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the 1st Place Quilt. I am afraid that the photo does not do it justice. It has some very beautiful details. I love the vines.

2nd Place and 3rd Place went to two friends who challenge each other to finish things. I think they planned these projects together. I guess 2nd was just for bragging rights. This pattern in called bloomin' nine patch. This one was made by friend Kay Abbott and took 2nd Place.

It's (almost) twin was made by my friend and machine quilter Ginger Cook. She does all of the quilting for all of my patterns so her name appears on my covers. This was her version of the same quilt.

Cut huh? I have plenty of fabric to make this pattern. I was going to make it for myself out of some pastel florals that I own because nothing in my house can be delicate and feminine so I thought I would make one just for me. Of course, that will be some time down the road after all of this year's designs are completed.

More Melanie Applique

2008-11-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

I like these quilts too. This one is completely Halloween. I am working on a design for a Halloween Baltimore Album quilt to commemorate our life here at the cabin. This was a great inspiration to me. Melanie is teaching a class in the new year and I plan to take it just to improve my skills and get a project done.

Here is another interesting one from Melanie. She showed this one at the Guild meeting one night. You should have heard the oooh's and aaaah's. She's putting us all to shame with this stuff.

Enjoy!

2008 Best Contemporary Quilts

2008-11-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

In the Contemporary Quilt category, the 1st Place winner was Melanie Rodriguez with this absolutely unbelievable hand applique project. I was really glad that my house quilt was in the other category because the competition in this one was waaay stiff.

2nd Place also went to Melanie for this gorgeous Valentine quilt. I actually told her on the first day of the show that if she took 1st, 2nd & 3rd that she wasn't allowed to enter next year. She laughed... I don't think she realized that I was serious... or that she would take 1st and 2nd this year. I think she shoul dhave also won 3rd. I will show you that quilt in the next post.

3rd Place went to another friend, Bev Hager. Hot Tamale Boxers... you just gotta love it. Bev has a relatively new longarm quilting machine and has been working on her business. What a cool quilt.

Again this is just a sampling of what my Guild can do. Traditional quilts was fun too.

UFO Challenge

2008-11-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well... here is my entry in the UFO Challenge. You probably recognize this quilt from my blog. I was really excited when I got this one completed. As you can see from the photo it was voted 2nd Place in this category. That was the first of two ribbons this quilt has won in the last month. The second ribbon it received was a 2nd Place Applique in the Fredericksburg Area Quilt Festival. I did some professional consulting for the show and helped organize the vendors and details for the show's First Annual year. I was not involved in the quilts part and was quite surprised at receiving another ribbon. My husband is beaming from ear to ear.

Here is the quilt that took first place in the challenge. This one was made by my friend Madeline Moonan. It is a Oriental fabric quilt.

3rd Place in the Challenge went to Trish Parris (our Quilt Show organizer) for her completed Santa Wallhanging.
Wait till you see some of the others from the show. They are quite spectacular.
Enjoy!

Out of Touch

2008-11-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Blog Friends! I have been out of touch for awhile. After all the excitement of the Tour de Quilt you would think I would have rested but instead had millions of other things happening. The first one was the Guild Quilt Show which was over the 3rd weekend in October. I didn't do much help setting up this year... I was way busy with all the other things at home with 3 boys. But I did work the show for a shift over two days and was able to take photos of the whole show. Our Guild entry limit was 5 quilts (we have a very prolific Guild) so I could only enter 5. I chose to enter three of the new quilts from my pattern designs, one miniature quilt for the Miniature Challenge, and one quilt in the UFO Challenge (my husband's "House" quilt which I have shown before).

My first entry was this mini. I realized after I quilted and bound it that I put the blocks together wrong so I guess I will have to make another one. It's a pretty little quilt though despite my obvious mistake. But heh... you have to laugh and show that you're not perfect sometimes. I know I can't share all 109 entries with you but here are the top three place finishers.

This was an absolute "beaut" Carolina Lily. She did a wonderful job didn't she?

Second place went to this quilt which was named "Tools of the Trade". Hand redwork.

Here was the final winner. My friend Lee (the developer of the challenge this year). Can you imagine all those little pieces? There are a few more that are definately worth showing and if I get a chance I will post those photos too? Guess I have to work harder next year to win this one.

Apple Hill Cookbook

2008-10-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to a blog friend. Kim posted a drawing on her blog (Kim's blog) for an Apple Hill cookbook and a scented mug mat. I won the drawing at the beginning of the month but hadn't had time to blog about it. Well Kim... here it is. I made the Apple Cake recipe on the first page. I have to tell you it was very hard to pick a recipe... they all looked so good... so I just started from the beginning of the book and made that one. When I took it out of the oven it looked a little brown and I thought I overcooked it a little. But then I tasted it and it really was great.

The boys were really excited to come to a fresh dessert (snack) which had come out of the oven about 20 minutes before they came home. It was still a little warm. Two of the boys took their slices outside to eat on the picnic table (it's like 50 degrees outside but they thought they would eat out anyway). They were really cute. They said to tell my friend Kim thank you for sending the book and making Mommy bake something really good.
Not much else was said. They are too preoccupied with Halloween on Friday night. I will post pictures of their costumes later. But I wanted to make that I posted this picture for Kim. Thanks for the recipes.

If you can't sew... then cook

2008-10-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Cleaning the house and getting all the laundry done is a hateful business. I know everyone knows that it is a never-ending process. But really... in this house... it never ends. Laundry piles up in the bathrooms, the bedrooms and the hallways. Every time I empty a hamper it seems to fill again. And the dishes... do I really need to talk about the dishes. I went so far as to purchase paper plates and paper bowls this week because I really need a break from all the dishes.

Since I can't seem to make it to the loft to work on the Amy Butler bag... I guess I will work on this little recipe in the kitchen... (which is closer to the laundry). I have all these wonderful Taste of Home cookbooks that I look at constantly. It seems I never have eactly everything I need to cook each recipe. But today... I lucked out. I decided to make this Casserole for a Crowd. Maybe I can get away with only cooking once this weekend... since we never seem to have leftovers anymore with three boys.

It actually turned out spectacular. You make this recipe with ground beef and chili powder so it takes a lot like chili mac. It was great and did make it in the fridge for about 2 days. Nice little break for me.

It doesn't look like it but that's a huge casserole dish. Don't you just want to take a bite and dig in. I tasted it for you and it's great. You'll have to trust me. If anyone has any great easy recipes to make for a family of boys please let me know. I actually like leftovers.

Getting back into the sewing room...

2008-10-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the hardest thing is getting back into the sewing room. I went up to the loft today and looked over the projects in progress.
Look at these awesome pinks and browns that I collected on the Tour de Quilt. These are the best. I am trying to decide what pattern to make out of these for the upcoming Lancaster Quilt Show.

Still working on designing a pattern to use these great Halloween fabrics that I bought. I thought something with Baltimore Album like applique commemorating some sort of significant life event. I think that would be very US. I will keep you posted on the design.

So I have been completely obsessed with making this cute little bag pattern from Amy Butler. I am purchasing some new books (with the ideas I got from the Tour de Quilt) of projects that you can give people as gifts. I thought I would get started on this pattern that I had purchased months ago. The problem is I absolutely stink at reading and following other people's pattern. (why do you think I got started writing and printing my own patterns) I get completely bogged down by patterns (especially complicated patterns) but I decided that I was just gonna have to get over it and try to make something great. I always admire these well made bags at the quilt shops so it was high time I tried it myself.

I thought it best to use some cheap fabric the first time... if I messed up it wouldn't be with $17/ yard decorator fabrics. I am making this bag with camouflage fabric from the decorator area of Walmart that I bought to make costumes for the boys. The weekender bag will work well for sleepovers. Like a little suitcase.
I have been working on it for three days off and on and haven't even cut out all the pieces yet. I will keep you posted on how it's going. Hope all is well with all of you.

My own little VISA ad!

2008-10-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

To summarize the weekend. Here are all the shop fabrics that I collected... 11 half yards in all. Who knows when I will get around to using all these great jewel tones... although something has come to mind.

So... what did I think of my trip around Central Virginia? It's an amazing way to spend a birthday. I guess I can only summarize it one way...

Hotel: $100

Meals: $70

More fabric to be buried with: $391

Lucy and Phyllis Bobbin's Excellent Quilting Adventure: Priceless

Hope you enjoyed this trip across Virginia. I know that we did.

Stay tuned for more adventures in quilting!

Finally...Shop #11: A visit with The Quilt Man (and his wife)

2008-10-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

Alright... last stop on the Tour... we headed out of town and north on I-95... back towards home and a quick stop off the interstate in Ashland. Here it is... our last stop on this Tour... The Quilt Man. Don't you just love their Tour quilt. The Quilt Man made the center squares out of the stripe fabric. That happened to be the Tour fabric for this store.
Check out the cool jacket they made from the same fabrics. I thought this was the free project on the tour so I photographed all the projects I saw but actually the free project was a small purse project that I didn't see until we were checking out. I think anyone would love to wear this jacket.

Here's a cute little tablerunner project with the Tour fabrics as well.

Here's a photo of Chris "The Quilt Man" in front of the first clue "the quilt with a dragon on it" The woman in the picture is not the Quilt Man's Quilt Queen (his wife Nancy) but a fellow quilter who works at the store. They were very sweet and help us a lot. You won't find nicer people anywhere (although we found lots of great people and wonderfully inviting stores on the whole trip). The Quilt Man has the best selection of Oriental prints anywhere around. He also has lovely batiks. I think we were just plain shopped out.

I thought I would show you his front window. My friend KD lives near here and shops at the Quilt Man a lot.

We did get some sage advice here. I can't help it... Confucious say... 3 yards if you like it... 6 yards if you love it... 10 yards if you absolutely, positively can't love without it. I think I might have to agree.

This was my only purchase at the quilt man besides the Tour store fabric. Would you believe it... after I got home I realized that I already had it. I don't usually do that but... oh well.

We found our last clue by the back of the store a "teddy bear wrapped in a quilt". The Tour is finally over. We turned in our passports and our scavenger hunts and decided to call it a day.

The Grand Total at The Quilt Man: $7.55

We were so tired from the trip that we decided to not even eat dinner. We headed home to unpack the car and get Lucy on her way home. We were exhausted from all the fun and looking forward to resting on Sunday so we could ready for the rest of the week.

Cool stuff at Millstone Quilts

2008-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

I took some extra photos of some of the cool things I found at the Mill. For all you thrifters and crafters out there this was a great little project that anyone can make. All of us have come across a cutter quilt or two. I have two here in the house. I like the fact that the knobs are all different. There was a bigger one as well that was much more square.

Here was another really cute idea. Little tiny strips in a jar. I thought this was the best little decoration. I have one of these great little jars in my house. Now I have a place to put everything instead of the trash.

I fell in love with this quilt too. Maybe because I have little boys and I think it is perfect for them. It was just perfect.

I also loved these little boats. This is such a traditional pattern. I was loving this one and had to photograph it. I know there were lots of others but I didn't want to bore you with everything.

I guess I should quit playing around and get driving to the next shop so you can get home and get to rest like I did. OK... so here goes.

Shop #10: Around the bend, across the creek... to Millstone Quilts!

2008-10-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Lucy and I were following the Tom Tom along a pretty decent highway... and then all of sudden he took us to the right and I couldn't believe it. We were on another winding road in the middle of nowhere. I was of course concerned... it reminded me of late last night trying to find a hotel in the dark. The Tom Tom said we were here... but I didn't see anything. We drove about a 1/4 mile down the road and ... there she was... the old grist mill, the next clue... "a bridge not over troubled water" and my favorite shop on the Tour... Millstone Quilts.Everything about this shop was quaint and perfect... including this sign. It directs you to the swimming hole and the picnic area and warns you of the attack cat on the premises.
The tone of this shop was set the minute I walked in the door and read all the signs. For instance, there is a warning to customers who lose their temper. The sign says, "Don't get your tinsel in a tangle." And there's another warning to the employees to "Measure twice and cut once". Here is one of the quilt projects they made from the Tour fabrics. Nine Patch Jewels was selling as a kit at the store.

At this shop there is an abundance of friendly conversation and smiling faces. Here is the store's Tour Quilt. I think this is my favorite of all the tour quilts. I don't think the photo does it justice. They added other fabrics into the quilt. I love the scrappy look.

The best part about being at the store was the chance to meet "the Wizard". Clearly the sign says that only employees are allowed behind this counter. The sign above is hard to read but states, "Nobody gets in to see the wizard, not nobody, not no how!" A voice says, "Pay no attention to the woman behind the curtain." Of course, that voice belonged to none other than Regina Simmons, the owner of this adorable place nestled by the creek. What a delight it was meeting Miss Regina.

Meeting this staff was really great. Southern hospitality abounds here at the Mill. There are three floors of delicious cotton delights. They specialize in Civil War Repros, Thimbleberries and 1930's fabrics... and I understand that they host an outdoor customer quilt show every spring. This photo is the middle floor and you can see the third floor loft above. As you can see there are surprises everywhere you turn.

Here is the stairwell between the first and second floors. I just couldn't get enough of this awesome place.

Here is Miss Regina helping a customer in the 1930's floor. All the ladies have these great aprons on that tell their names so you know who you're talking too. We found the 2nd clue "the johnny reb rifle" in the Civil War room.

Here is another great quilt that was made from the Tour fabrics. This one hangs behind the counter on the way to check out. I had so much fun with the ladies at this shop. We laughed and talked and I couldn't wait to come back. As a matter of fact, even though this shop is not the closest to my house, Lucy and I decided to make it our pick up shop for prizes should we win anything.

Miss Vicky made the free pattern from the shop which was a wine and cheese holder. Of course she made it out of the Tour fabrics. Below is the take home from Millstone. I think I was restrained considering I could have completely moved in to this store. It reminded me very much of home... since I live in a log cabin and the shop was almost the same. I found some really great civil war fabrics, a few cream, red and blue fabrics for the pillow shams and a couple fabrics for my Halloween collection.

Here is a nice little fat quarter bundle the girls at the shop gave me as my free Tour gift. Lucy got one too. It's almost like they read my mind and knew I loved homespuns.

I really had trouble containing myself at this shop. I know Lucy needed to be drug away as well. We both made promises that we would be back many times and pledged our allegiance to the cotton flags.

Grand Total at Millstone Quilts: $74.51

Only one more stop on the Tour... a little piece of Oriental heaven... and you'll have to wait and see. Come along north to Ashland and get the last stamp in the passport.

Shop #9: Read on for more... Quilting Adventures!

2008-10-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

What better place to have Quilting Adventures than the 9th stop on our Tour. The ad boasts, "The friendly shop for everyone who creates with fabric!" and they are not kidding. Quilting Adventures is a really bright shop with lots of light and embellishments. They have tons of fabric and books and jelly rolls and all kinds of stuff. Here is a fantastic selection of Amy Butler decorator fabrics. The girls set up the back of the shop as a "gift fair". They had dozens of projects made up from some of these great fabrics using patterns around the shop and some new books.

In Stitches by Amy Butler

Sew and Stow by Betty Oppenheimer

They had the most wonderful projects made from these books and patterns. I was so fascinated that I forgot to take a photo of the actual fair tables so you could see them set up. But I did remember to take a photo of the shop for you. We found the two clues rather easily. The rupplequiltskins "pink elephant" and the stuffed chair with the bird fabric was a little more difficult but was definately the "bird on a chair" clue.

Here are the Tour Quilts from the shop. I can't recall which one was the actual quilt but you get the idea. This shop gave away 6 free patterns.

One of the free patterns is sort of pictured here. Under the strings quilts you will find a giant pillowcase for a body pillow. It was done up in the Tour fabrics as well and we loved it.

Here is what I purchased at the store. I can't believe I bought more patterns. But let that be a lesson to you ladies. Samples sell. I bought these because the shop had the projects already made up. The little eyeglass cases in the shape of frog and turtle are for Eeyore. Maybe he will remember where his glasses are now. The middle pattern is for a lunch bag for a teacher that comes complete with cloth napkin. What a great idea.

Here are the other free things that we received from this shop. Nail file, pattern, fabric pack and customer appreciation coupon for 30% off. I will definately be back to this shop.

I think Lucy liked this shop as well. There is so much to see in this shop that it was almost overwhelming during the Tour. I know this sounds bad but actually its a compliment to the store. There is a little something for everyone here. They run great program demos and classes and the ladies are really friendly. The samples are also really well made. But it was about time to move on. Only two more stops to go in the tour... and then next one requires a trip over the river and through the woods.
Grand Total at Quilting Adventures: $32.81
And off we go to the little Civil War grist mill. I can't wait to step into the past. Come along with me...

Shop #8: Take a peek around the Quilter's Corner

2008-10-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Just around the corner on Midlothian Turnpike is a cute little shopping center where all the shops look like little houses. Quilters Corner is no different. They are a Brother Embroidery dealer but look much more quaint than the dealer shops usually look (must be the siding). Lucy and I liked this one too. Lucy found a great purse pattern that was perfect for her (or for the girls) and she couldn't leave without it. Check out the cute little clubhouse next door. The classroom is its own little house. Imagine taking classes over here without the usual customer interruptions. The girls at the shop were very hospitable. They served us flavored coffees, cookies and pumpkin bread.

Here is the Quilter's Corners Tour Quilt and the little quilt on the right of it is the shops free pattern.

Check out the awesome collection of Amy Butler fabric. I couldn't resist picking up one print. There are also purses made up all over the store.

Here are the purchases that I made at the shop. A little Amy Butler and a little pink.

Here is the free stuff that this little shop gave us. Another cute little green bag which I liked very much and a little chocolate which I liked very much.

After finding those little clues of the "purple dinosaur" and the "prince charming" (which by the way was a small frog statue with a crown at the register), we headed back to the car for another Quilting Adventure.
Grand Total at Quilter's Corner: $14.18

Shop #7: Jog over to Jo Jo's Quilt Shop

2008-10-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

A little south of Short Pump down the Powhite Parkway (in Chesterfield, VA) you will find this delightful little shop called Jo Jo's Quilt Shop. Jo Jo's ad claims to be a "warm and friendly shop where the members "piece it all together"". I would have to agree. They have the best selection of Thimbleberries that I have seen around. Their fabrics are right up my alley. They also have some Japanese fabrics in the tones that I like. I found some nice civil war repros and picked out some great pinks and browns.

Here is Jo Jo's Tour Quilt. It was shaped different from anyone else's. I like it when shops go out of the box.

Here's a look at the shop. It's small inside but there is no shortage of fabric. It's definately worth the trip south. I think it's actually about 1 hour from my house. Maybe an little more. The staff is really nice and I left some patterns for them to enjoy. They were quite sweet and very busy that day.

Here is their store's free pattern. I thought it was a great tablerunner pattern (even though I'm not much into them... usually because they are not long enough for any of my tables).

Look what I found! I couple of gals from the Quilt Guild. They were out on the tour too. They were just getting started and had only visited one other shop. I have to check on them and see if they made it around the bend. We found the two clues here pretty easily. Right up front on the wall behind the girls was a "sewing machine puzzle" and a memorial quilt for the shop's namesake".

Here is a great collection of pinks and browns that I found. Also, one small piece of Japanese fabric for my other collection. Don't tell anyone... but I collect really good fabrics. At the Chantilly Expo I bought an entire collection of Japanese silks for a crazy quilt. I think I will have to rewrite my will and ask to be buried with the really good fabrics.

Check out the really cool freebies that came from Jo Jo's. They gave us these really cool green bags, candy, pens and a 25% coupon for a future visit. They are also having a really great sale soon on all their backroom fabrics. I have seen the backroom fabrics and I think you would be really surprised at how fantastic they are.

The Verdict: Get yourself down to Jo Jo's. It great.

Grand Total at Jo Jo's: $56.68

Considering everything that I got I think this is pretty good. But enough about this... let's get back to the driving and get ourselves around the corner.

Our Overnight Adventure: No rooms at the Inn

2008-10-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Our "adventure" begins with a nice little restaurant around the corner from the Quilt Shop. Lucy and I decide that we will have a little dinner and then find a place to stay for the night. On the advice of the staff and local patrons of Quilt & Sew Studio we went to this inviting place on Friday night.

The wait was long so Lucy and I ate in the bar (which was non-smoking so it was fine). The food was great. Lucy treated me to dinner for my birthday. We sat around and people watched and yawned a lot and hardly said anything (which was also fine).

It was after dinner that the adventure begins. OK... so in an effort to be spontaneous and adventurous we traveled without reservations... no I mean really... we had no reservations... to stay that is. So we left the restaurant with our full bellies and droopy eyelids and headed to the nearest hotel. Unfortunately for us... after checking several hotels... we found out that it was Parent Weekend at Liberty University and all the hotels in town were booked (that may have been why the wait at the restaurant was sooooo long).

What to do next was a puzzle. You see we could head in our original direction and be on Route 460 in the middle of the mountains of nowhere with no place to stay and winding roads... or... we could head north in the direction we came from with better roads and more chance that there might be a place to stay between Lynchburg and Charlottesville (which according to GPS was about 1 1/2 hours north).

We ultimately decided to head north back on Route 29 and hope we found something on the way between here and Charlottesville. It was about 10:15 pm at the time. Here we go. Take a deep breath and wake up ladies.

So north we went, all the while watching every exit for signs of life and a neon vacancy. We drove for miles and miles. Occasionally we saw a sign that said "motel" but there were no street lights and no mileage info and we were a little afraid. Not chicken... just cautious.

Eventually we arrived all the way to Charlottesville. This is a BIG town and chances are there would be lots of rooms. Did I mention that Charlottesville is the home of the University of Virginia (go UVA Cavaliers). Well... imagine our surprise when we found out that not only was it also parent weekend at UVA but... there was a great big home football game the next day AND... wait for it... Elton John was in town giving a BIG concert.

Chances of getting a hotel in this town.... = ..... BIG FAT 0 !

So we get back in the car... by now it's at least 11:00pm (probably later) and we are about 50 minutes from the next quilt shop on the tour (the rest of the 5 shops on the tour were all in and around the Richmond area). OK we start to head East on I-64 again (remember the mountain pass) and head to Richmond. There must be a room in Richmond... it's a big city. We had to drive more than 35 miles before my GPS would start showing us hotels that were not in Charlottesville (backwards).

We kept seeing signs for motels but every time we would get near the exit it just wasn't clear how far off the beaten path they were or what they would be like. We just elected to stay safe and keep on going. Eventually we arrived in Short Pump (a very nice commercial area in the suburbs) sometime around midnight... YIKES! We sat in the car and used the GPS to get phone numbers and call all the area hotels to enquire about rooms. We found one and were lucky enough to get Lucy's husband's AARP discount. We both laughed about that and then I thought about how soon it would be until I would be using my husband's AARP discount.

We were too tired to argue. We were too tired for anything. I had driven probably 400 miles that day and was pretty tired. We went straight to bed and crashed hard. No wake up calls at all. We woke up the next morning at 9am (which I think is pretty good considering) and brought up breakfast and coffee to the room. The hotel was actually pretty great.

We showered and freshened and continued on with the day. The best thing was when we went outside this is what we found.

It was a beautiful sunny day, all the fog and misty rain was gone. The hotel was pretty (we didn't notice the night before). We were right in the same town as all the other quilt shops on the tour. Everything was 15 minutes away. How great was that? When life gives you lemons, right? So off we went to Jo Jo's.

Grand Total of Hotel: $100

Restaurant: $o (need to get that info from Lucy but I would guess about $50)

Shop #6: Great people and a fine show at the Quilt & Sew Studio

2008-10-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

Our southernmost tip of the trip landed us in Lynchburg, VA, home of Liberty University, of Jerry Fallwell fame. This little piece of information becomes very important later in our story so remember it my friends.Here's a great little project made from the Tour fabrics. This was our free quilt pattern and Miss Kay did a great job with it. I'm not sure if the pattern was designed by Miss Kay or someone else but it was packaged like a real pattern and I thought it was great.

This was their Tour Quilt. I thought the stack-and-whack dresden idea was really great for this fabric.

Here is another quilt they made from the same fabrics. I loved this one too. I liked the fact that their was no "white space" or light fabrics. Just the ones in the collection.

Here was one of the Scavenger Hunt clues. The "Florentine Sampler" has me concerned. I thought maybe there was some new technique or historical thing that I had not read about. Turns out it's just named for the line of fabrics that its created in. It was a really gorgeous quilt.

Here are the handmade hand-dyed fabrics made by one of the employees in the store. Mr. Kevin Womack loves to make his own hand-dyes and they are for sale in the shop. He even has a sample quilt made from some of his fabrics. If you look really close you can see Kevin in the background helping a customer with the sewing machines.

This shop was filled with beautiful quilts. One of the "shop girls" made the center quilt and also the Florentine from above. That orange and purple beauty was all hand quilted and was beautifully done.

Here was clue #2 in the Scavenger Hunt: An alien invasion. These blocks were so cute I just had to put them up. I think the one all the way on the right looks a lot like a Dr. Seuss Sneetch. Take a look and let me know if you agree.

I guess I was all worn out from all that shopping today. I found lots of things that I loved to death but I just couldn't see myself doing major purchasing at every store. I talked and laughed a lot with Miss Kay and the employees of the store and even a customer or two. We got advice on the best places to eat and petted Miss Kay's tiny teacup poodle who is pictured very small below. Here is the lone fabric that I bought. I found this one in the bargain bin and thought it would be a great red.

Below is the free pattern for the purse as well as the free pattern that I won. We also got a magnet calendar with a photo of the teacup and the poodle on it. She's a tiny one.

So with the tour fabric and my little find, my Grand Total at Quilt & Sew Studio was $11.71.

I am completely exhausted from all the driving and shopping. I know Lucy is too. So it's time for Lucy and Phyllis to grab a nice dinner and find a hotel for the night. Let's see how it goes.

Shop #5: Quilt "Stitches &" Wood "Shavings"

2008-10-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Stitches and Shavings! Talk about a small town. Lovingston is a street with some houses on it and a church. It looks old enough. It probably has lots of history. The sun was starting to set.What a cute little shop. The owners are a couple. The "Stitches" part of the title is easy to figure out. The "Shavings" part comes from the husband. He carves the coolest stuff out of wood. As a matter of fact he was one of the first Scaveger Hunt clues: "wooden thimbles". He also makes quilt racks and wine stoppers. They are really great and the quilt racks are made to order. Check out their website if your are interested.

Look at their great Shop Tour Quilt. The owner (the wife) made this one. She had a great idea to put a clock in the center of the quilt. Notice on the right the little flower vase which was also made of the Tour fabrics. Below is the free pattern that the shop was giving away. It's an over the door fan.

Here is the second clue: The talking parrot. He's hanging out with the owners of the shop. They had a great time chatting with us. The shop didn't happen to be very busy at that moment so we had time to visit with them. Lucy did more shopping that me. Not too much grabbed me in this shop. I mostly talked and laughed with the owners who were great people.

Of course, I did buy a little something at the store. I piece of fabric for my Halloween collection and a Boy Scouts of America fabric with merit badges on it. Don't know what I will do with it but Big Boy will be bridging into Boy Scouts in February and I thought it might come in handy. Of course I bought the shop tour fabric.

Both Lucy and I didn't win anything at that store (we didn't draw the right ticket) but we did have fun. You can tell the day is starting to wear on us. It's time to get back in the car for another ride south. I think we have to go another 30-45 minutes before the last shop of the day. So lets move on and get to the good stuff.

Grand Total at Stitches and Shavings: $23.63

Shop #4: Take a Walk in the Cottonwood

2008-10-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

If you ever get to Charlottesville you should stop in at Cottonwood.

The inside of the shop is pretty big. They have brights and Modas and wools and flannels. Lots and lots of fabric and Bernina machines as well.

Their Tour quilt was pretty. It had applique on it. Their Tour free pattern is in the bottom left corner of the picture. It is a quilt keeper bag and is hidden behind the big white sign.

The only things that I found at this shop were a couple of pinks and this great blue and red paisley (I love paisleys). I needed a really great fabric to make pillow shams for my new King bedquilt made from the Moda Fredericksburg line. Not sure this will work but I love it anyway.

Lucy and I found the clues: A "personalized clock face" (embroidered on one of their machines no doubt) and a "collection of miniature quilts". My free door prize at this shop was a nine patch pincushion kit (complete with tiny little bag of batting). Lucy got a little coin purse which came from Taiwan (but at least it was constructed).

I love the fabrics in this shop but this was not Lucy and Phyllis' favorite shop by any means. I think it was just the atmosphere. I can't say that I haven't experienced it before. It just wasn't as fun and friendly as the other stores. But enough of that.... we have driving to do. I think we are heading about 30 minutes south through the valley to another little tiny town called Lovingston. I wonder what it looks like... stayed tuned to find out.

Grand Total at Cottonwood: $24.80

Back Through the Mountain Pass

2008-10-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

It was my intention to stop at the mountain pass on I-64 and take some spectacular photos for you of the fall foliage. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The fog lights were on the whole time.

Here are a couple of photos of the valley. You can't see very far and the weather has been so warm lately that the trees have actually not changed as much as they should at this time of year. It was all those 80 degree days. I still had tomatoes on the vine this week. But the weather has just started dropping outside to the 60's and in another week or two the mountains will be painted in color.

At this time, this is the best I could do. That's OK... there are still plenty of fabric sites to behold.

Shop #3: All Aboard! Rachel's Quilt Patch

2008-10-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

Lucy is getting so frustrated with me taking her photo. She really hates it. Now she's just humoring me. That's alright... I'll take it. This is Rachel's Quilt Patch and it's the cutest little shop. Their logo is a woman in a rocking chair. I had the privilege of meeting the owner. Not only does she own a quilt shop but she has authored a quilting book and a children's book. Although I completely forgot to take a photo of the Shop Tour Quilt, I did remember to photograph the gals at the shop sporting their aprons out of the Tour fabric. The cute little gal in the center is wearing their Tour's free pattern. It's a sawtooth apron pattern.

Here is my photo of the shop. It's a really great shop. Lucy and I managed to find both scavenger clues. There was a "table set for company" in the front window and a "waltzing Mathilda" on the wire dress frame (I think it was a jacket pattern called Mathilda that they claimed was dancing... which might very well happen when everyone goes home).

Lucy is digging through the 30's fabrics here looking for the best bargain.

Here are the purchases from this shop. I bought some more pinks and browns, a little red, and a special Fall stripe that will be a surprise for the Fat Quarter Friends group that I dine with. Being a pattern designer myself, I don't usually buy patterns from other deisgners. But sometimes you just want to have something easy and cute. This was a great apron pattern. It had several different designs in it (we bought it for the four corners pattern which we like the best). This pattern got two thumbs up from Lucy and Phyllis.

The "free gift" bags at this store were all different. Lucy got a pattern and fabric piece I think. I got a FQ and two 15% off coupons. There is only one pictured here because I used one at the store. It was great.

The Grand Total at this shop: $49.69. I think it was my Fat Quarter Friends fabric that put me over. MUST SLOW DOWN.... MIGHT GO BROKE! Off across the mountain to the little, BIG town of Charlottesville. Stay tuned...

The quaint and historic part of Staunton

2008-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

A lot of Historic towns have modernized a bit. Parts of Staunton are very modern but this little corner still looks really quaint. Here is the modernized road leading up to the old train station.

You can see at the bottom of the photo that the blacktop is covering the cobblestone streets. They left the parking lot all cobblestone which was really nice.

Here is the side of the old train station. You can see the cobblestone better in this picture. I like the little awnings over all the stores. I had never been to Rachel's. It seems it was always closed when I was going by so this was a great place to stop for me. And really great inside.

A couple of engineers must be shopping too. Don't you hate it when people take up two parking spaces. Oh well...

I think the best part was all the antique stores across the street. We didn't go in because of time constraints but Lucy was quick to point out this sign. I took a photo of it for the boys. Pirates are right up their alley. They would probably haggle these guys to death.

Shop #2: Patchwork Plus... a whole lot more!

2008-10-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

South on I-81... exit towards Dayton... down the road to Kildeer Lane... drive up the hill from the Farmer's Market and you will find Patchwork Plus. Somewhere along the drive B came up with the nicknames for us for the story I will be writing for the Guild newsletter, Lucy (Loose-y) and Phyllis (Fill-us) Bobbins, the Tour sisters.It's a pretty big shop. Of course, my friend B (who for the rest of the trip will be known as Lucy as explained above) and I were preoccupied at the entry of every shop with figuring out and finding the scavenger hunt clues (so that we didn't forget). We needed a little hint on one (the teepees of fabric). Really they were just fabric racks that were kinda triangle shaped but only if you noticed them from the side. That's OK... we managed. I can't remember the other clue but I remember it was pretty easy.

This was the free pattern that the shop was giving out. It's a cool tablerunner. The sample was made from Shop Tour fabrics. Here is another cool little bag made from the fabrics as well.

I was so excited shopping that I needed a cart. Check out the new carts that Patchwork has in their store. I loved this idea soooo much that I think I will take my little fold up cart to the Lancaster Bus trip coming up Nov. 1st. They completely collapse and they are great for pulling your fabric bolts around while you are shopping. So don't forget to get yours next time.

Here is a little shot of the owner of the shop. I didn't win a door prize at this shop but Lucy did. She pulled a blue ticket out of the bag and won a pattern I think.

We liked this shop and love going out over the mountain to get there but this wasn't a shop we hung out in for long. We wanted badly to stop at the Farmer's Market down the hill but we were ready to keep on truckin' down the road....so.... we kept driving. I did notice this little diddy on the way out of town.

No it's not real. It's just a concrete buggy but we are so used to seeing them in Pennsylvania Dutch Country (the real ones) that it was a nice touch and it was pretty realistic looking so if you squint you can pretend they are real. After all, there are mennonites that work at Patchwork Plus.

Here is the shop's Tour Quilt. I like this quilt but it was a little light for me. It's the same block that they used in the tablerunner so... I guess we could expand the pattern and make this quilt if we wanted to.
Here are the fabrics that I purchased at Patchwork Plus. I found a couple of nice browns and a pink for my pink and brown quilt that I am collecting for, along with the shop fabric.
Patchwork's free gift is below. A tape measure and pins and we also got an apple. I think mine is still in the car.The grand total from Patchwork: $44.44 (I am not sure how that is since I think I only bought 1/2 yards.... I guess I will check that receipt again.) But time to get going a little bit south to the historic town of Staunton. I here the next shop is in the whole train station.

Our Lunch Adventures

2008-10-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

OK... we are off to a bit of a late start. It's lunchtime and we are only through one shop. Do we eat before or after the mountain? There really isn't anything in the middle. Oh... we needed to make a quick stop for gas. SHEETS!!! We stopped at Sheets to get gas and contemplated getting a sub and get right back on the road. Sheets has great subs and good coffee... and as the sign says...

But B remembered there was a Dairy Queen up the road before the mountain. She had burgers on the brain and I said OK. We finished pumping the gas and decided to head there. Here's B's big smile. Doesn't she look excited to get moving?

OK... Here's the thing. I didn't take any more pictures of lunch. I didn't have the heart to gross you out. Let's just say that we ate at a place that wasn't fancy (or even clean). We have renamed it the "Scarey Dairy" which is located in Standardsville, VA (and clearly they need to rethink that name and consider "Low Standardsville"). Luckily neither of us got sick ('cause you can't screw up a BLT).... and we were able to continue over the mountain.

Sometimes we drove past places where we would have loved to have stopped... but there was fabric waiting and so we drove on. But if you ever have the chance to stop at the little pottery place which is right in the valley between the two mountain peaks on Route 33 please send me an email and let me know how it is. It's just a tiny little shop and there is another shop next to it. I have never stopped but have always wanted to. At least I have made a mental note of where to go next year when we head on the Tour and have decided that I think we should make it a three day trip to accomodate all the places we didn't get to stop.

So over the mountains to Harrisonburg we went and then just a little south to a town called Dayton. See you at the next shop.

Our First "Little Quilt Shop"

2008-10-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Get ready because this first post begins the "11 Quilt Shops in 2 Days" journey of the Central Virginia Tour de Quilt. As promised I have immortalized the trip for all of you who were unable to attend. Let's celebrate my birthday month together... You, Me and my friend BP. My friend LS in Tennessee decided to call her quilting business "Loose Bobbins" (which is a completely appropriate name..yuk yuk...) So BP and I decided we should expand on that with nicknames during this trip. B said she wanted to be Lucy Bobbins and then I guess I should be Ethel. Hubby just called us Thelma and Louise (which after you hear about the whole trip you may agree).

So here are all the details of the fun stuff on the trip. At the first stop you can pick up your Passport. A completely filled passport gives you a chance to win a Grand Prize and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place prizes. There is also a Scavenger Hunt along the way. Each shop has 2 clues. You have to figure out which clues go with which shop. A completed Scavenger Hunt gives you a chance to win a different prize. Each shop on the tour had to make a quilt out of the "Tour Fabrics" which is the Jacobean Arbor line and they each had a store fabric which could be purchased. You would then have a chance to own all 11 fabrics in the line and create your own tour quilt. Each shop has door prizes, a shop prize contest, a buffet (of sorts) and shop freebies. One of the shop freebies is a store project pattern. Each shop makes a project and gives away the pattern to that project. Each shop can give away whatever freebies they want. So I will try to show you as much as I can. You can read about the Tour de Quilt here.

Alright... enough babbling... Let's get to the trip. B starts the trip off right by showing us the #1. Our first stop on the tour was That Little Quilt Shop in Madison, VA. Madison is a quaint little town off Route 29. It's West of Fredericksburg (where I live) and the first stop before you head over the mountains. Madison (which is owned by Noreen Smith, who also owns 145 Art and Design Studio in historic Culpeper, VA) is nestled inside an historic old church. Here is the front of the church.

Here is the Shop Quilt on the tour. I think the Little Quilt Shop did a great job with their design, don't you?

This little lady was a clue on the Scavenger Hunt and she was wearing the first free pattern that we received in the day, a little apron which looks like a little skirt. Clue #1 was the wire dress form and the second clue was a little bed on the second floor of the shop.

Here is the second floor balcony of the shop. The Little Quilt Shop has a nice collection of Civil War Repros and tons and tons of gorgeous Baiks. You can see some of them here.

Here are the lovely little purchases that I made at this shop. A few one yard cuts and a Tour de Quilt pin. This shop is really scary for me. I could spend all day here but of course we had 10 more shops to go to and we needed to get moving. Grand Total at Shop #1: $50.93 YIKES!

I should probably learn to pace myself.

That Little Quilt Shop gave me this lovely little pack of fabric as my free gift. What a great little store...but times a wastin'. Next, to eat or not to eat... that is the question. Come on Thelma... let's get a move on!

Over the mountains we go...

Back to the Fun Stuff

2008-10-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow bloggers. I have been away for awhile. The boys started school and cub scouts has been a nightmare (Hubby is CubMaster for the pack and I am "Advancements Chair"). Sounds like a very important title. It just means that I run everything behind the scenes and take orders from a demanding boss. But it's all for the boys. Hopefully someday they will show their appreciation because right now I feel a little like a rented mule. I did have a chance to visit the annual Sewing Expo in Chantilly, VA with some friends and had a nice day. Other than that not much on the sewing front.

The only sewing getting done in the loft in the past two weeks is a project that I am working on with a friend of mine. My friend C's husband, who works in Cardiovascular Surgery at the hospital wanted to make a quilt for the wife of his friend that just passed away from a terminal Cancer. They were friends and business partners for 20 years. His only caveat was that he wanted to make it himself. I thought it was a noble cause and so I have been teaching him how to quilt in the loft for the last two weeks. He has done a wonderful job and the quilt top is complete. Now we are working on a special surprise on the back (here is where I come in as a designer). I will have to post photos later. I have been so busy with scouts that it is draining my brain cells and I haven't been documenting his progress.

I did get out yesterday to the local quilt shop where I teach here in Fredericksburg, VA and where you can find my patterns for sale if you happen to be dropping by or traveling through.

I wanted to take a photo for a Blogland friend of this quilt that I made from Pieces From My Heart. It's called Trees Up, Lights On. It has been hanging in the store for months as a sample for the class. My friend Liz is teaching this class.

Here is a photo of Liz's sample as well. Her quilt was coming down today. She is entering her quilt in our Guild's Quilt Show (which is a spectacular show by the way). She said yesterday that her entry form said the quilt was embellished so she had to take it down and quickly embellish it before the show. Our friend Ledra, one of the shops owners said, "The only thing on that quilt that was embellished was the entry form." I think Liz is going to put these little beads on it that look like strings of lights. I can't wait to see it when she's finished. This quilt is pieced similar to the Buggy Barn patterns that my Blogland Friend Kim is making. (Kim's Big Quilting Adventure)

I did purchase a great new pattern at the shop called "Witches Brew" by Seams Like Home which has a painted face. I've never done that before. I thought maybe I should make some Halloween Quilts.

Isn't she cute? I am gonna start working on her as soon as I fold that giant pile of laundry behind her that she's leaning against. I will have to take some more photos of some of the other things that I have been working on the past few weeks. Not much but they are rather pretty. It feels good to be back in the swing of things. Tomorrow I leave for a nice girl trip away. I am traveling through the Annual Virginia Tour de Quilt with a friend for the weekend. We are celebrating October (which is my birthday month). I feel it takes a whole month to really celebrate a birthday in style. This month I have purchased a "new-to-me" sewing machine from a fellow stitcher (a Bernina 730 with machine embroidery). Don't get too jealous... she is buying a new Bernina 830 with embroidery. I also purchased some new embroidery designs at the Sewing and Quilting Expo. So... what better way to top off the birthday than a trip across Virginia with a girlfriend (or maybe two). It's gonna be so nice. I will have a Starbuck's card and a camera and I plan to document the trip as best as I can to post here so that you can go with me. It's my goal to completely fill my Tour de Quilt Passport and try to win lots of great prizes. I hear it's lots of fun. I will be back. Maybe we can chat about it over coffee. See you soon.

Cowabunga

2008-09-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Don't you wish you could still jump into a pool with this level of intensity. This kind of energy is pure K.I.D.

2008-09-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Island had some four or five pool sites. We chose to go to the Cabana. This site had three pools and a hot tub. An oval pool with varying depths, a 3 1/2' lagoon pool with islands in it, and a 1 1/2' childrens lagoon with slide and water elements. It also had a playground next to the pool. As you can see in the background, it's sits right along the ocean and you can here the way breaking from the pool.

Hubby and Little Brat play in the lagoon.

Little Brat was really into having his photo taken today. He wanted to sit on the frogs and play model. You should see the other shots. Here are the adorable ones.
Spittin' Frog

Slidin' frog

My Hero

2008-09-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

I knew that Hubby was brave but I had no idea that he would take on a great big agressive Fiddler crab the way that he did here. He could've been seriously injured. He braves these dangers every day in defense of my honor.

Exploring the Tidal Pools

2008-09-09T05:54:00.000-07:00

At low tide we decided to explore the tidal pools on the island. There are snail beds and mussel beds all throughout. Little Brat found the first perfect sand dollar. We did find three eventually to put on some frames at home for the boys.

Little Brat and Eeyore explore the shore.

Here I am with my boys. Hubby took our photo together.

Grandma D was kind enough to take a photo of the whole family together. I liked this one a lot. Even though no one seems to be interested in having their picture taken.

Enjoy!

The Golf Course Buck

2008-09-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

We came around the corner from the golf course path and found this boy. He looked a little standoffish.

He was a beautiful young guy. He posed for me and them came running towards us. He stopped right in front of the golf cart and clearly wanted something to eat. He kept nuzzling my hand and wouldn't let me take good photos.

Here he is enjoying a peanut. A nice smile while chewing.

Jacob had fun feeding and petting him. He was as friendly as our little "Peanut" at home.

Golf Cart Excursion Continues

2008-09-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

We found this big guy enjoying the shade under someone's porch. He's an eight point buck.

He came over without much coaxing at all. We stopped and said, "Hi Big Boy" and over he came.

Talk about a majestic fella. He looked a little older. But he wasn't any less friendly than the young boy at the beach house.

Here's Hubby feeding and petting this guy on his chin. He was much slower and no less hungry and willing than all the other ones. Actually the does seemed to be much more skiddish. We were afraid that this old man might be afraid of the boys so they stayed in the cart.

The Golf Cart Excursion

2008-09-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

This little guy was very nervous. He did come up to the cart to eat but only from the ground. He was a young buck. Very pretty and clean. He's pretty majestic standing here in the side of someone's yard.

We found a fishing and crabbing pier near the Cabana Club where we went swimming. We walked out and found a bedding area for thousands of Fiddler Crabs. You can see their little shells in the grass. This photo really doesn't do the numbers justice. It's funny when you start walking towards them they scatter in all directions.

Big Boy stands far out on the pier. When we got there a very nice man fishing decided to allow the boys to pull up his crab baskets. He really hadn't been catching anything all day and thought they might enjoy catching some shells.

The boys managed to pull in three hermit crabs. Two large and one small. This one is "Crabby" and belongs to Little Brat. Eeyore found one that was covered in moss and named him "Coconut". Big Boy's guy is "Spikey" because of his big spikes on his shell.

Little brat was so sad because his was the smallest and he almost named him "chicken" because when you turn him over he looks like a drumstick. I told him those are the best Hermit Crabs of all. They didn't come from a store. You caught them yourself in the ocean. You can tell all your friends how special they are. That helped.

The Deer Population

2008-09-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

There are tons and tons of deer on the island. They are protected and cannot be hunted. They walk all over the golf course and in the yards. Of course they will eat anything, including the landscaping. They will often walk right up to you to be fed, although you are not supposed to feed them.

Of course, we don't listen and feed them anyway. Peanuts are the best. Many of the deer are skiddish and of course it's much more rare to see a buck rather than a doe. The boys named this little guy peanut because he hung around the wedding all night. They boys took photos of him at dark as well.

This scene is really rare. A wild male animal allowing Little Brat to pet his back like a pet goat. He wasn't the least bit afraid of us and follows you all over the yard. We went on a lengthy golf cart ride around the island to see what we could see and he followed us all the way back to the cart.

It's very interesting to see nature up close.
Enjoy!

Best Sky Ever

2008-09-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of the sky after Hanna. Something straight out of the heavens. Hubby and Speed are heading down the beach on the way back to the house. I think this may be the best sky that I have ever photographed.

Still beachcombing. Uncle R and Aunt L's littlest one Cutie Pie decides he wants to come too. What a sweet photo.

Hubby and Mom walking back to the house after treasure hunting.

Big Boy and Little Brat standing on the deck stairs. Happy Brothers.... right now!

The Calm After the Storm

2008-09-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

When we awoke on Friday morning the storm cleared away and we saw the most beautiful sky that I have ever seen. Here are some of the kids from the Wedding House out beachcombing and treasure hunting. Mostly they caught Fiddler Crabs and had fun watching things in the surf.

Here's a great one of Little Brat standing in the surf with his treasure bag from Poppop. He was doing some major hunting. What a beautiful morning and the water was great.

Little Brat ane Eeyore are searching through the rocks for Fiddler Crabs. They have that great big claw and everyone was just a little afraid to pick them up.

Here is Uncle R's new stepson, Speed, hanging out and searching with everyone else.

The Grand Wedding House

2008-09-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of the bedroom that Hubby and I are staying in. It was closest to the bedrooms with the children. This was originally intended for Hubby's parents because they are twin beds but the room was too close to the children and too far from the tv.

The boys and girls have separate bunk rooms with multiple bunk beds. This is a small nook in the boys room where Big Boy and Little Brat are sleeping.
This is the rest of the boy's bunk room where Eeyore will be staying with two cousins and one other cousin of the cousins. Eeyore scoped out a top bunk. Aunt L bought all the guests in the house monogrammed beach towels as gifts for the wedding guests and the boys have their towels on their beds.

There is a full basement in the house which doubles as a three or four car garage with an elevator to all floors. Here is the pool room on the 1st livable floor. On the right there is a bedroom and a t.v. room which we have converted into a video game room for the kids. It has doors that close it off.

Here are the kids that are currently here. There are four boys that are not in the picture. Teenagers and little ones are getting along swimmingly.

This is the 2nd floor living room with t.v. as well. This is the room where Grandpa D stays to watch the news. Hubby is keeping a chair warm at the moment.

This is the 2nd floor kitchen with the subzero fridge and commercial ice maker. What a beautiful space. This is where the caterers will be tomorrow.

First floor foyer. See the view in front of you. Both floors have this spectacular view.

This is the 1st floor kitchen. It also has a great dining room with a great view.

All of the bedrooms have there own bathrooms so that part doesn't have to be shared. There is lots of room for lots of things. It looks like it will be a great weekend. We are trying to prepare for the storm to come just in case. It looks as though we will be fine. We are off this evening to a cocktail and seafood buffet to greet all of the out-of-town guests that are not staying at the house. I will try to get some pics and let you see all the fun.

Enjoy!

Friday afternoon surf

2008-09-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

So many of you knew that we were driving into a hurricane on Thursday night and Friday morning to attend Uncle R's wedding at Fripp Island, SC. Fripp Island is about 30 miles south of Charleston, SC and about 45 miles north of Savannah, GA. It's a beautiful place. Here is a photo of the "steps to nowhere" from the 1st story deck at the house where we are staying.

Big Boy decided he would stand on the outside of the deck and walk on the rocks looking at the crabs crawling around there. He neglected to tell anyone and Grandma D caught him out there. Scared her half to death. He received a severe tongue lashing from MOM for that one. Here he is tempting fate. As you can see the waves are rather high but everything still looks good. It's about 4pm when these photos were taken. Seems like "Ike" might land close to here tonight but it doesn't look to be too devastating. We are keeping an eye out. No worries yet.

Here is a photo of the view from the deck of the house on the right. The point sticking out there is actually the beach. We will not be going there for any reason other than treasure hunting. No one is going in the water. The surf is just too strong.

Here is the view from the left of the 2nd floor deck. There is a hole from the golf course right next to us.

I will send photos of the inside of the house next. It is about 10,000 sq. feet. There are supposedly 12 bedrooms here. I didn't count them all but there are too large kitchens (both gourmet). We took a tour of the house earlier and silly me wasn't able to take photos in all the rooms. I will try to get some when we check out.

In Other News

2008-09-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

I did attempt to make my Guild BOM (hard block) before I went away for Uncle R's wedding. Uncle R is getting married in South Carolina at the beach during a Hurricane or multiple hurricanes. I guess it's not his fault that he planned it for this time. Hopefully we make it. We will be driving into the hurricanes to get there. Here is the block so far.

Unfortunately the block is not complete because in the directions it said to cross cut many of the square twice to make the triangles. I wasn't really paying attention so I cross cut the given fabric twice as well to make the "feet" on the basket. You were only supposed to cut those once. So I had to call and request another piece of fabric and I am not sure that I will be able to get it before I leave to go out of town.
I did get to have a wonderful day out with my friend BP on Sunday. We went to downtown Fredericksburg, VA and shopped at the antique stores and boutiques downtown. Much of it was window shopping. But I did manage to find this framed picture made from a Molasses box.

I have lots of stuff like this hanging around the top of my kitchen and thought this would look cute up there. I really enjoyed spending the day hanging out with a girlfriend. These are the best kinds of days. I have been spending lots of time with the guys lately and need a little female companionship.
I will take lots of pics while I am gone and try to blog some fun stuff when I get back if there is no internet at the house. Hopefully you will have a great week without me.
Enjoy and Happy Quilting.

In Construction News

2008-09-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well... progress is being made. On Saturday we received a large delivery of wood from Home Depot down the street. These are all the structural boards for the under part of the deck. Hubby was very excited because it meant that he can pretend he is a construction worker again and build big guy stuff in the yard with big guy tools. Little Brat and Eeyore decided that each pile in the yard was a different space ship and have played battle outside almost every day. I guess that's what you would call little guy stuff with little guy tools. Here is little brat on one of the ships.

Here is the structure that Hubby was able to build on Saturday. Nothing is actually complete but it looks like something is happening. At least if an inspector dropped by it would look like everyone went to lunch. Actually was inside the house cooling off when this picture was taken. He's not as young as he used to be and doesn't take the heat as well. But he is very excited about the progress that has been made so I can't complain.

Hubby is working on pouring concrete around the posts today in this section. This is only about 1/4 or less of the actual deck. It's actually about 1500 sq. ft. and wraps around the dining room. Hubby says he will put some plywood down very soon on the structure so that I can carry groceries in the house again. While looking at the deck I found this big guy on the fence by the gate.

He is a very big spider who has built a rather impressive tunnel web angled into the whole in our split rail fence. Hubby thought it would be fun to leave him there and feed him. The boys left a small bag of cheetos near the fence that had gathered ants so Hubby put them in the web and let the boys watch as Mr. Spider came out and grabbed and wrapped each ant in his web. I guess he was saving them for later. Live science is always fun. As long as he stays in his house I am fine with it.

Enjoy!

Second Day of School

2008-08-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Don't ask what happened on the first day of school! Here's my Eeyore (without glasses because they have been lost in the house) ready to head off on the bus. At least he has a healthy lunch. He loves his teacher this year and seems to really be excited about getting off to school in the morning. Thank goodness.

Little Brat is ready too. He has Alex's teacher from last year and cannot be more excited about it. I think they will be an excellent match. He needs to be challenged and she is more challenging. What a great fit. I am hoping she keeps him quite busy this year. He needs the homework.

Big Boy has two teachers. His homeroom teacher is also Math and Science and he trades classes in the middle of the day for History and English. They are getting him all geared up for middle school. He seems to like his situation as well. He brought home his first A this week and I really hope it will be the first of many.

Speaking of Big Boy. Anyone noticed the fashion choices this boy has made this year. They all picked their own haircut and shoes. Little ones picked a regular haircut as opposed to a short summer cut. Big Boy chose to shave his head (see below). He likes it. He also chose skater shoes this year because they had pictures of skulls on them.

Has the world suddenly gone mad? He told me that when shopping for him to keep in mind that he likes skater tees and rocker tees. Preferably things with skulls on them. Little Brat is now completely into Guitar Hero and wants everything that has Guitar Hero on it. And true to form. Eeyore will "have what their having". Well, at least it's only shirts and hair.
Big Boy has recovered from the double ear infection he was suffering from after his first day at school. The house had recovered from the second night's transformer problem. The power company replaced the transformer within 45 minutes and we were back to spending millions on electricity. Night three was surprisingly calm and normal. Day four is rainy. I am hiding indoors. Perhaps I will get some sewing done today.
Happy Quilting.

At the Bus Stop

2008-08-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

While waiting on the bus... boys will be boys. No one likes to stand in line. Everyone wants to be in the front and they argue constantly. The only one it seems to bother though is me. What a smile from Big Boy because he's in the front (you should have seen the other shots). Eeyore is all smiles. He loves his teacher this year. She's really pretty. She gave him a star and a candy the first day for being a hard worker. Little Brat of course is pretending to moon me. He wouldn't smile unless he could show his butt in the picture. Ha Ha... little does he know that I won anyway.

Here Eeyore and Little Brat decide to be silly. Just noticed that Little Brat is wearing a ring with a skull on it. At least they are not crying and complaining.

Here is the evidence that they actually got on the school bus and traveled off to school. I had to blur out the bus number but you get the drift. They have reported every day that it is a great day. Guess we can't complain about that.

No quilting is getting done. Just filling out school forms and looking for things in the house. Did manage to sew up about 10 pillowcases into chair organizers for 5th grade. You know how I have to start the year with volunteer stuff. This is all for the teachers though and no PTA.

Happy Quilting and whatever else you do.

The Prodigal Son Returns

2008-08-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

My Big Boy has returned from the Beach. His hair and eyebrows are bleached and his face is peeling from an obvious sunburn. However, he claims he had a lovely time and didn't miss us a bit. He was thoughtful and brought presents home for his little brothers.

Of course he couldn't resist purchasing a hermit crab (this family and crazy pets). But he did keep three goldfish alive for about a year in a single fish bowl until someone set somthing on top of the bowl and cut off their oxygen. So... he is a responsible pet parent and so as long as he keeps it fed and cleaned I don't mind. He has already taken care of it on his own when he got back by wetting the sponge.

Apparently his name is "Cami" because of it cammo colored shell. The truth is he doesn't come out much. And of course my son thought of his mother on his trip. He purchased this pair of earrings for me. Not really sure what the box says but of course I am elated that he thought of me. He's a great kid.

Dad gets nothing... Hubby said, "As usual, Dad gets the short end of the stick!" Too funny. Hubby is home from Tampa too. Our family is back together and ready to get going on the last preps for school to start tomorrow. Big Boy needs a haircut and everyone needs shoes (including Hubby who had a final blowout with his shoes on the trip and came home with shoes that need to be thrown away). I will be taking all "4" of my "sons" out shopping today. And then it's back home where a few loads of laundry need to be done before bedtime.
I wish the boys lots of luck tomorrow starting their classes and me lots of luck on my first day back at work.

Raingutter Regatta

2008-08-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual raingutter regatta. Hubby didn't make it to this one to help make boats 'cause he was in Tampa with his Mom and Dad. Big Boy didn't make it 'cause he was still at the beach (on his way home). Soooo... Eeyore and Little Brat and I went to the race. Of course my car was filled with most of the stuff 'cause this family can't just attend an event, we have to run it.
I was able, with the help of the attending Dads to get the race tree and sign-up sheet complete as well as get the boys keels added to their boats and help prepare them for the race.

Unfortunately for Little Brat he was up against a much older boy and couldn't get the hang of where to blow on the sail. He had trouble making it to the end and ended our chances of a "medal sweep". He lost in the first round and ran crying from the race area. Not a pleasant scene but he does have to learn a little sportmanship. What a competitve mouse he is.

Eeyore, however, was in top form. He manged to speed through the first two rounds, including beating the boy that beat his brother. Look at that perfect form.

In the end, all the boys (and sister sibling) had a great time and Eeyore came away victorious with the First Place ribbon. He was really proud of himself. Every little victory strenghtens his confidence that with hard work and persistence comes success.

No quilting today as the PTA and other organizations sagas continue. I am completing up the last necessary details and then getting rid of everything. It will be a new year... I think there will be some very surprised people this year. Mom is done. No more working for free like a dog for the masses who completely don't appreciate it.
Wish me luck in turning over a new leaf.
Happy Quiltling!

Miniature Challenge

2008-08-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

UFO Progress Report
Today I was able to get one more block done on the Women's Voices Quilt. The mate to it is still on the sewing table. I got the half-square triangles pieced but just got too tired to complete the rest. I finished a small patriotic wallhanging top that I found in the UFO stash. I didn't take a photo of it. I will have to save that photo for tomorrow night but I was able to quilt and bind it and add a hanging sleeve on the back.

I decided that I would join the Guild's Miniature Quilt Challenge which is due at the Quilt Show in October. I have been looking for the right project to complete for the challenge. I have a small wool wallhanging that I still plan to complete for the show but I found this picture in a miniature book. It was the easiest paper-pieced thing that I could find.

So I decided to dump out a basket of scraps and start picking some fabrics to make it. I also decided that I would only use red scraps. Not because the picture was red but because when I started pulling out fabrics that I liked I had a giant pile of red fabrics. Why not. So I pieced all the blocks and then without looking at the pattern I pieced the whole quilt in about a day and a half. Then I layered and quilted it (somehow breaking four needles in the process from the thickness). And in an effort to finish it I put the binding on. Then I took this photo of the quilt for the blog. It was then that I realized that something didn't quite look right. SO.... Here is my miniature for the challenge. You can look at the photo and then look at the quilt and you tell me what you think.

Like it or not... this is it. I am not remaking it. It might not be perfect but neither am I. I like it anyway and it looks really nice on my wall. It brings the show-n-tell count for Monday night to five projects including two full-sized quilts which isn't bad if you ask me. Of course I will have to quit piecing to get ready for cleaning house tomorrow and "meet the teacher" day at school on Friday. The big Raingutter Regatta is Saturday and the littlest boys and I are going to be making boats together and swimming in the pool so it should be a good day. I may get to spend more time in the loft before the week is out and I might even finish something else. Just as long as I don't disturb Duncan's nap. He climbed onto the scraps almost the minute I dumped the basket on the floor. Somtimes he acts just like a cat.

Happy Quilting!

Finding Treasures

2008-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about all the treasures that I found when cleaning out the closet the other day. I have been cleaning and organizing so much that I thought maybe I should spend some time sewing. Monday night is Guild night show-n-tell and it's always nice to have something to show. I am planning on showing the house quilt but remember I found soooo many unfinished little projects that maybe it's time I get a few of those things done. So after some research on the laptop I prepared to get up to the loft to get busy. Here was the scene on the bed when I closed the laptop.

I don't think this dog has ever missed a nap. NOT EVER!
In one of the bags that I cleaned out of the closet I found a cut out fabric bowl that was never completed. I could never figure out how to get the satin stitch just right to finish it. Well I figured it out. Now I have this nice fabric bowl with vegetables on it. What do you think I should put in it?

In an effort to complete some of the many BOM's I have abandoned that are now considered UFO's I completed another two blocks from the Women's Voices Quilt. Apparently a long time ago I was trying to speed up the piecing process by cutting out all of the pieces for the remaining months. You would think that with all the cutting completed I would have finished it quicker but somehow I have overlooked it and so out it comes years later. How frustrating. Here are the two blocks completed from month #8.

They look nice but I started piecing this quilt soooo long ago and very early in my quilting career so not all the blocks are made that well. I think it will be quite a challenge to put the thing together but I am up for it.
Hubby leaves for a few days and now we are down to three in the house. It's getting quieter all the time.
I will keep you posted. School starts on Monday for the boys so we are just trying to get adjusted before D-day.
Happy Quilting!

Closet Chaos

2008-08-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered sometimes how some people just look a little too happy. They look so together and organized, they never forget anything and they always look like they can handle anything life throws at them with the perkiest smile. I always wonder whether their lives behind the scenes are that pleasant. If they really suffer from closet chaos.
I am not one of those people. I wear my chaos on my sleeve. Everyone knows when I am not happy. Everyone can see that I am behind most of the time, I get things done but only at the last minute and I have great intentions for organization but never quite seem to get it fully completed. Today I was suffering from closet chaos, only my chaos involved a real closet.
My sewing room is out of control. I know this is true for many of us. Even if you are not a quilter, sometimes it seems it’s your primary workspace that really takes the brunt of the chaos. I recently installed that new organizer unit. Hubby said he really wanted me to get the storage inside organized so that the plastic containers on the far wall could go away because they didn’t look good. I also wanted to set up new tables all the way around the room so my sewing areas could be up at once.
So… I cleaned all the plastic storage out and organized the center island. I also put labels on all the project boxes so I knew what was in them and could check my UFO inventory. I was able to complete those tasks but the one area that I have been avoiding was the side of clutter as you enter the room. Everything that didn’t have a place was piled there. Some of the things piled there were only there because the storage closet was in such a state of chaos that I was afraid anything important that got put in there would get lost. I have also been missing a few things that I have been thinking about lately.
So… since I am getting ready to sell my old Bernina and needed to find everything that went with it… and I really needed to clean up the clutter in my room… I will tackle the chaos and take everything out of the closet. I should probably purge it anyway. So I did. I have to tell you I had a lot of things in that closet that should not have been there. I also emptied out two more cabinets that I can put all kinds of things in. It took me all day. I was very proud of myself. I threw out two big black trash bags filled with junk. I thinned out some of my fabric that I was given (mostly flannels for pajamas). I cleaned out lots of old pieces of batting. I can’t believe I kept that much stuff.
The good news is while taking inventory of the small kits that I have and what projects they are for I found a few things that I forgot that I had and one thing that I had been looking for.
I found this wallhanging that is almost complete. It needs the outer border. I made this in a 3-D flying geese class about 6 years ago.

I also found these Chicken of the Month stitcheries that I have been looking for. I thought about them the other day when I was looking for some handwork to do. Aren’t they cute?

I also pulled out Hubby’s other quilt that I have half completed. It’s a difficult picture piecing quilt that I enlarged (thank God) to make a bigger wall hanging. I think it might be really fun to work on this one a little in the upcoming weeks.

Maybe I will even finish it for the quilt show in October. I don’t have anything really special for the quilt show this year except for Hubby’s house quilt which I am really hoping wins that UFO FQ basket for me. Keep your fingers crossed. I also managed to put the binding on the house quilt so that I can finish it by Monday night’s Guild Meeting. I think I have a whole week to put the binding down and put the label on the back before show-n-tell. Hubby worked outside for two days completing the concrete for the footers on the deck project. He has been working very hard lifting all that concrete by himself.

The boys even wanted to get into the act of hard work. For payment of course, but I suppose there is no time like the present to teach them that hard work gets rewarded. Hubby agreed to pay them to be water boys. At dinner last night the boys asked for jobs that they could do to earn money around the house. I offered to pay them to clean my car. They worked on that job today as well when there was no more concrete to do. They worked together and had a good time.
Duncan, however, was not into working today. For him it was a “dog day afternoon”. As you can see he was caught sleeping like this most of the day. You know the dog has taken over the house when he sleeps with all four paws in the air.

At the end of the day we are all tired and have decided to retire early. I am still awake but have been in bed for about an hour. Hubby is getting rested up for work tomorrow and I am preparing my list for tomorrow. It’s amazing how much energy it takes to clean out the sewing room. It’s like letting go of little pieces of you. But now I have a little less chaos in my house (if I only had the energy to keep going and clean out the rest of the house) and plenty of room to create something new.
Happy Quilting!

A Baby Bird Leaves the Nest (a little...)

2008-08-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today my oldest left me. Well… not like many of your children. He’s ten so he only left me for a week but it feels like empty nest syndrome. The mother of one of his friends called me about a week and a half ago and said she was going to Myrtle Beach with her two kids for a week and wanted to take BIG BOY with them on their family vacation to keep her son occupied.
I was floored. Immediately I thought NO WAY, JOSE! But then I thought about how long I had known their family, and how unfair that would be for my son. I spoke to hubby about it and he decided that we should give him permission to go. I WAS OVERRULED. OK fine. I will let him go.

I woke up this morning (a Saturday mind you) at 6am to begin packing his things because I could not bring myself to do it before then. I washed clothes all day the day before so that his laundry would be clean. He’s been on overnight’s before but never on vacation for a week without me. I made them promise to let him call me every night and he has to follow all my rules including wearing a life jacket if he goes in the ocean. Everyone agreed.
I decided to do the same thing I did the first day he got on the bus for kindergarten and just keep myself insanely busy all day so that I didn’t notice that he wasn’t there. I didn’t want to worry. I know that he’ll be fine. I know that if I took someone’s kid with us on vacation I would certainly make sure that I watched that kid better than my own. I didn’t think it would be fair to either of us to be one of those mother’s who worries so much that she makes herself sick or never lets her kids go anywhere.
So in an effort to stay busy I decided to work on the hexagon quilt all day. I was still struggling with the idea for making the additional blocks since I didn’t have enough fabric to do what the pattern called for. I still didn’t like the look of the alternating blocks. It just wasn’t the look I was going for. So… I spent the time moving the blocks around on the design wall until I found something that I liked. I figured out exactly how many more triangles that I need to cut out. Once all the pieces were cut and the hexagon pieces were together and laid out, I began to piece each row together.
After the rows were together I stopped to eat something because I had suddenly gotten hungry. No wonder. I had quilted until 4 o’clock. Hubby suggested that we take the other boys out to the Japanese Steak House for dinner. We had lovely time and then got back in time to watch more Olympics on the tele. I went straight up to the loft and finished piecing the entire quilt top. And then I laid out all the remaining triangles into an interesting pattern to put on the back (afterall, when will I ever use triangles of this fabric ever again). I am mixing them with muslin triangles and thought I would make a tumbling block for the back. It will look great. I will work on that tomorrow.

He called this evening as promised. They got there safely and they had already gone to the beach. He sounds like he’s having a blast. I am so glad that I let him go. We will all be just fine. And think of all the “I’m not worrying” work I will get done while he’s away. And… just in case everyone is wondering… I would call the Merry-Go-Round Quilt about a 2-3 day quilt depending on how fast you sew and how much determination you have to complete it. Today I was quite determined. Can’t wait to show it off next Monday.

And last but not least Little Brat wanted to get into the picture of my quilt. I am only sorry that I accidently cut his feet out the picture because he walked over in one shoe and one slipper. I saw a young teenager tonight (an otherwise nice looking kid) with these stretching disks stuck in his ears. I made a remark to hubby about how awful it looked and why his mother would let me him do that to himself. It's not like getting a piercing. We both agreed that Little Brat will definately the kid that's gonna do stuf like that just to piss us off. If he were a little girl he would've worn a feather boa to dinner. Guaranteed.
Happy Quilting!

Hexagons on Steroids

2008-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here's what I have done so far on the Hexagons. It goes together really fast. I have completely run out of fabric and will need to start using alternating blocks. I think it will be fine. All my antique flower garden quilts have places where the lady making it ran out of fabric and substituted so I am taking a page from history and working with what I have like my ancestors.

I asked Little Brat (my best little quilter) today what he thought. Hey buddy... what do you think? Is this quilt great or a little too bright. Little Brat says... looks beautiful Mom ... but... a little too much pink. I guess I will have to move the one pink block to the center or something. Too funny.

On the family front... I am getting the boys to bed earlier every day to being preparing for school to start. They go back on the 25th. I am starting to hear grumbling. I am just trying to get some time in the studio sewing a little so I am nimble when they go back to school. I can't wait to get back to designing and being creative. Lately I have been spending my days supervising Big Boy's cooking in the kitchen. I long to be back in the loft full time. Today my boys gave me a nice break. I spent the day sewing which felt really good even though I was working on making someone else's design. But it gives me another fun class to teach potentially and a fun sample to take to class.
Happy Quilting!

Hexagon Happiness

2008-08-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Found this pattern a couple of months ago. It's called Merry-Go-Round by American Jane. Uses a great method of sewing partial blocks so that there are no set-in seams. You can find a similar but smaller version of this quilt in the October 2008 issue of McCall's Quilting Magazine. It thought I would use my Pop Parade Jelly Rolls from P&B Textiles. They are really bright and in your face. You can't miss this quilt hanging on a clothesline.

Here are the triangles that I cut from my strips. Looking good already.

Here is the beginning of the layout from the triangles that I cut. You can see how the quilt goes together. You sew three triangles together and alternate the direction and sew togher in a straight line. Piece O' Cake and this quilt goes together like a dream.

Will try to post an update of the quilt as I get it together. I know that I will have to improvise a bit because I didn't have enough jelly rolls of that line. I might have to try something different with the pattern. Just Wait and see.
Happy Quilting!

Small Victories!

2008-08-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

I finally finished hubby's quilt. I mentioned earlier in the month about our Guild's UFO challange. I decided to enter with Hubby's House Quilt. I wanted to make something nice for hubby as a celebration of his efforts rebuilding our home after a catastrophic fire. I found the perfect pattern. Nice and primitive, hand done and interesting. It's a BOM called By Wisdom a House is Built. I started working on it in 2004. I don't know what happened. One day I just got bored with it and put it in a project box and didn't take it out again.

Recently I was harrassing hubby on the extensive list of unfinished projects around the house and he mentioned that he picked out one quilt and I picked out another that I was going to do for him and he hasn't seen either one in years so... pot calling the kettle black and all... touche monsieur pussycat.

I dug it out and spent the last week completing it at night while watching the Olympics. I just took it yesterday to the Quilter Extraordinare and hopefully it will come back to me before the Guild Quilt Show in October. I hope it wins. Can't wait.
Below is the best picture I could get of the top. The blocks are hand embroidered and hand-appliqued using the ragged edge applique method. It's supposed to rag up a bit and look primitive. (I guess I will wash it before I put it in the show.) The background blocks are hand-stitched to the sashing blocks using a perle cotton running stitch. I think QE will quilt it with a stipple stitch since there is so much that needs to be worked around. It's very heavy and will be very warm. Hubby loves it. SUCCESS!

I am very proud of this quilt and hope you enjoy looking at it.
Happy Quilting and thanks for stopping by.

Perfection is Overrated

2008-08-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

I dropped by the Guild BOM table last month and up picked my fabric and templates for the upcoming monthly block. This year the program offers two choices... an easier block and a more challenging block. Well... I guess I will choose the more challenging block since I am relatively confident in my piecing skills. After all I had been staring at the thing for weeks while working on the newsletter. I liked the design much better anyway. The instructions looked OK. Cut out the pieces using only two templates and some rotary cutting pieces too. The instructions indicated there were some partial seams but I think I can handle that. So on Sunday I decided to get everything out and complete the block because the Guild meeting was the next night and it would be nice to turn it in early.

I get out the cutting instructions and confidently begin cutting the pieces out the piece of fabric I was given by our BOM girls LB and BP. Whoops... what happened... I don't have anywhere near the amount of fabric that I need. (Of course, if I had bothered to lay out the pieces before hand to make sure before actually opening the rotary cutter I may have been OK) Oh well... tomorrow night is the Guild meeting and a quick call to LB I knew there would be another piece of fabric available to pick up on the next day.
On Tuesday (because Monday was a late night out with the ladies) I started again on the BOM. I got all the pieces cut out (of course because I now had twice as much fabric as everyone else) and started laying them out on the table.

With the layout complete, I begin reading the piecing instructions. Step one... check... step two... check... step three... check. Step 4... uh.. wait a minute... there is a step missing. I get it... that's what LB was talking about. She mentioned something about challenging everyone to figure out how to put it together. Ok... I take another look at the block. I start to get tickled with myself. I am figuring it out. I finally get to the last step and the seams are going together perfectly. This block is great. I am great...

Until I turn it over to press it. The good news is the block measures a perfect 12 1/2 inches square and has wonderful seam allowances. The Bad News... the center looks like someone stuffing a pillow. I have no idea what happened. Why won't the center lay flat. It's almost as if the center square is waaay tooo big. I tried to fix the thing but it got worse.

SOOOO.... I did what any self-respecting quilter would have done...

I IRONED IT! I didn't lightly press it. I IRONED IT WITH LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF STARCH! I showed that cotton who was boss and I made that block lay down. Afterwards I was a little embarrased. I mean it does mean that I simply gave up. Maybe I shouldn't turn it in. I will throw it in a drawer somewhere never to be seen again. Well... Ok I will turn it in but I won't put my name on it and admit to this shoddy workmanship. What a minute! Who said I was perfect. Afterall, I am only human. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes we do the best we can and live with it. I wrote my name on the back of that block and put it in my Guild basket for next Monday night. I will walk that block proudly up the BOM table and hand it over to my friends and colleagues with my head held high. I did my best. I gave it the old college try and it's good enough.

And then I will peek over and see what everyone else turned in (you know you would too). Who knows... maybe I will even cross my fingers and hope I win them. But... if I don't win enough blocks to make a whole quilt... that sucker's gonna be a wallhanging or a table runner 'cause I'm not making another one of those!

Happy Quilting!

2008-08-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hey bloglanders! In case you were not convinced about how much fun Eeyore had at Camp Motorsport... here are some photos of him with friends. The little one below pictured with him is the soon-to-be Stepson of Uncle R from NC. He is also middle child and I think you can see the boys got along great on this trip. Uncle R and B boy were able to make the Camp as well and they were on the same driving team during Camp. Great Fun.

What would camp be without sitting on the top bunk with your driving mates and sharing Pokemon guys on Nintendo DS. All the boys got along great and had fun bunking out.

A Team Photo. Here are all the driving mates with Dads from Camp. They are sitting on one of the Hammerheads. Eeyore was convinced that Daddy would buy one if he drove well so he concentrated really hard during all lessons and drove a 45 minute session all by himself taking only one pitstop to "scratch his nose". Hubby and Uncle R from NC are in the back.

During the trip to the Science Museum of Richmond look what my RACING BOYS just happened to see on the side of the road while we were driving. Here is one of the exact Hammerheads that he drove at VIR. What are the odds. It 's almost as if the TomTom navigation unit is conspiring against me. I was informed by the salesman that they come in three colors. And me without my checkbook. I am getting a new Bernina Sewing Machine and delivery is soon and it won't fit in my minivan so everyone get back in the car. QUICK!

2008-08-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

As promised I have finally put up the photos of Eeyore at Camp Motorsport at Virginia International Raceway. I have to say that if you are anywhere in the area you should send your kids to this Parent Weekend Camp. I am not much for sending kids away to Camp but hubby went and checked out this camp and it was really great. Eeyore is about 8 yrs. and it was perfect for him. Here he is running the racing simulator at the camp. He loved it so much (and so did Dad and Uncle R from NC) that we had to go online and see how much they cost just in case.

Here Eeyore is being strapped into a tandem formula car. You can see the professional driver in the back. He was driven around the track by Kevin York. You can google Kevin and read about his racing history. Check out the intense look of Eeyore's face. I think he thought he was actually going to drive it when they put the steering wheel in. Hubby says he thinks they didn't go really fast but it was fast enough to catch the "bug".

Look at Eeyore all dressed in his professional racing suit. He looks like a PRO doesn't he. You have gotta love it. Hubby didn't get a good shot of him in helmet and suit but I think the next shot was pretty good. I posted the one without the smile on purpose. I love it. This was Eeyore after his tandem ride. During the weekend he was able to drive Cup Cars as well as Hammerhead GoKarts which he has informed Daddy that he has to have at home. Daddy let him drive the whole time. I have some pictures of that as well but only through professional photographer so I have to wait to pose those. They had fun in the mud.

Here's Eeyore with the cup car he drove around the track. Doesn't he look like he stepped of the pages of Sports Illustrated. What a cutie! Clearly he had a great time at camp. And as our middle boy it was nice that he got to do something special with Daddy on his own. Enjoy!

Worst Haircut Ever

2008-08-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

So you tell me what you think. Here is a photo of me enjoyed a nice refreshing ice coffee. The question is.... could this be the worst haircut ever? I just recently had my haricut and after a reasonable amount of time fixing it this morning this is the best I could get it to look. I am convinced this is by far one of the worst haircuts I have ever gotten. I definately think the top of my hair is too long. It looks like bedhead ever day. Think it's time to go back and get her to fix it. It can't possibly get worse.

So if you see me walking down the street and you think to yourself.... did she just get up or what. Man that girl should brush her hair. Don't judge... I am sure that I did. I'll work on it.
Or maybe I just stayed up all night quilting and I needed a coffee. I have been known to do that but not during the Olympics. However, hubby was kind enough to hook up the cable in my loft so now I can sew and watch tv. YEAH!
Happy Quilting!