Merry Christmas 2009

From my family to yours:
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Left to right: (Back row) Aaron (son) Andrea (daughter and photographer), Patrick (her husband), Chris (husband of daughter Calista)

Center: Tim (the best husband in the world) and in front of him--me

Children: Gabriel (9 years old) and Timothy (4 years old) and their mother Calista (0ur daughter)

A few more finished projects

I made these potholders to put in my son's stocking. He cooks now that he lives on his own (and he's lucky enough to have a roommate who is a really good cook).

This is an embroidered tea towel and quilted potholder I did for my stitch group exchange. Leslie was the recipient (by chance) Here's another one of those really easy cosmetic bags. Another last minute gift.

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And a pillow I made a few years ago. It's out of one of Nancy Halverson's books.

I decided to make myself some new potholders. All of mine were old and greasy.

What would Christmas be without kids?

I helped Timothy decorate his gingerbread house one day at his pre-school. Here are the pictures (in reverse, of course) First...the finished product. I think he was proud of it. There was a lot of eating going on in between decorating. What kid doesn't love candy before 10 a.m.?

Here he is offering me candy before 10 a.m.

Timothy and Gabe posing in front of my fireplace.

That little bear at Timothy's elbow reads the entire "Night Before Christmas". He's my new addition to Christmas this year.

Marler Christmas 2009

The Marler Village...hand painted by my kids and friends during a certain VERY HOT summer in Houston when our air conditioning was not working (1994, I think). My Christmas Quilt.

My Jim Shore nativity and angel collection. Some of the pieces are signed by Jim (I met him at the Houston Quilt Show one year).

Our tree and mantle. That's a giant Jim Shore snowman at the left on the hearth.

Paper pieced block

I'm going to be teaching a class on English Paper Piecing at the Cotton Patch in March. This is my sample block. All the pieces are hexagons--but just a little different. They're called honeycomb, not to be mistaken for elongated hexagons (even though they are a little big elongated)

Catching up on my Blog

I haven't been doing much quilting lately except for these little quilted cosmetic bags. My daughter, Calista is making them for her kids' school teachers and I'm helping her. They were so much fun that I ended up doing some for gifts, too. They're from the book, "Fat Quarter Fonts".

They only require 2 fat quarters and a zipper which is very easy to install. The insides are lined with the same fabric that the monogram is made of.

Maybe I'll make one for myself soon...Tomorrow (in my sewing room) she makes Christmas pajama pants for the men in her life (which includes boys). And did I mention that she's going to have a baby? Oh yeah, I'm going to be a Mama T again...around the 7th of July. Yippeee! A girl would be nice.

Biggest Loser

Our very own Danny Cahill just won Biggest Loser tonight. He's from right here in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He lost 239 lbs!!! We're so proud of him.

Another UFO

Here's another one from my UFO list. It's a Sandy Gervais panel called "Tranquility". I used a charm pack around the panel and machine appliqued the flowers. I really like the way it turned out.

UFO's

I've been busy finishing up some UFO's (Unfinished Objects). Green Country Quilter's Guild had a contest and I just can't resist a contest. Starting in June we were to finish up as many projects as we could before the November meeting. I finished a total of 12 and came in 2nd at the night meeting. The winner had finished 13. This one just needed a binding, but it had sat unbound for several years.


I really didn't mean to post 3 pictures of this little quilt, but it happened and I don't know how to "unhappen" it, so you get to see it three times.

The middle part is colored with crayons. Then it's embellished with yarn (I may have gotten a little bit carried away with the yarn). I used the fancy stitches on my machine for the "crazy" part. Then the outer border is embellished with a lot of buttons. It was fun to make.

It will go into the auction at next year's quilt show. It's in June.

The one on the left started as just a few hexagons that I had left over from another project. Then it was going to be a bell pull. I still call it that, it's just a little bit wide for a bell pull.

The purse is just one of many I've started or have bought a pattern and intend to start.

Fall leaves

I'm sure I probably posted a picture of this quilt last year...but I really like it a lot, so I'll post it again. I made the table runner out of the leftover blocks from the quilt. I'm busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and company from Missouri, so for now I'll leave you with these. But after Thanksgiving I have lots of picturesof UFO's that I've finished lately. Happy Thanksgiving to all ! May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Quilting

Thought for the day:
The really good thing about invisible quilting thread is that you can't see it....
The really bad thing about invisible quilting thread is that you can't see it.

That's all.

Tim

Here I am with the man I love. He's made an amazing recovery from his total hip replacement he had done on Sept. 30. He's walking without his cane now (except for long hauls) and is exercising to gain back his upper body strength. He has one more week before he goes back to see the surgeon to be released to full activity (at least that's what he's hoping for--it's been loads of fun putting his socks on him, but all good things must come to an end!) The most amazing thing is how straight and tall he stands now and the fact that he no longer has pain on his face. I'm so thankful that he's doing well and just wanted to share it.

Pryor, OK Quilt Show

Last Friday, Leslie and I sneaked away for the day to go to a little quilt show in Pryor, Oklahoma. Here are some of the highlights: We do a self portrait at EVERY quilt show. Cute, uh?

We both love black and white quilts and have a huge collection to someday make one of our own.

This quilt was designed by the maker and done entirely by hand....even all those tiny little pointy things in the border. The middle of the blocks had New York themed fabric in them.

What's left of summer

Last weekend I cleaned out my flower beds and just couldn't bear to throw out these beautiful roses when I trimmed them all back. (Even if it did mean risking bringing more gnats into my house--they're driving me insane--HELP!) The little cream colored ones are from the miniature bushes I gave Mom for her last Mother's Day here on earth. I took them home with me and planted them in my garden.

Another one finished

I'm working on a pile of UFO's (unfinished objects) for a contest we're having at guild. This is a little quilt I started for Hearts and Hands over a year and a half ago. All I had to do was quilt and bind it. Hopefully, some little kid in need will love it. My good friend Rindy in Houston gave me the kid fabric years ago.

My Stitch Group

My birthday was stretched out over many days this year. Even tonight I received another very nice gift from a friend. Last Thursday I celebrated with my stitch group as we got together and sewed all day at Emma's house. Leslie made my favorite cake (Red Velvet). We decided to bring "orphan" blocks to see what we could put together for a benevolence quilt. I had 4 blocks like this left over from a quilt I made years ago.

June had several hexagon flowers and Leslie had this beautiful batik block that she didn't need.

Emma had lots of fabric in her stash to add.

Here's what we came up with:

Isn't it pretty? It will go to Hearts and Hands for someone who needs a quilt. (it's a group within our guild)

Here are 7 of us (Coleen and Louise were absent) Front row: Emma, Loretta and June.

Back Row: Leslie, Judy, Donna and Yours Truly.

Birthday blocks

I got my birthday blocks at the Cotton Patch last week. These are the ones that I made myself as I was making them for the other birthday girls throughout the year. With the exception of the middle one. There is a long story why these are all in a red and black color theme, but I won't bore you with the details. So the question now is...will I make these into one quilt or add them to the others. I COULD make two quilts out of them by adding a few more blocks to both. What do you think?

Doll Quilt

I made this little doll quilt for a little friend of mine who recently got an American Girl Doll. (This is the back) The label:

The front: