Snow Dyeing

I think we got about 8 inches of snow on Friday. I mentioned in the last post that I had tried to do some "snow dyeing". Here's Part II:
After we (meaning Tim) brought the tub of fabrics in out of the snow I left them out in the garage overnight and this is what it looked like the next morning. I've done some fabric dyeing before so I knew that the exciting part (and the most time consuming part) was ahead of me: the rinsing. It's so exciting to see what you've got. But it takes ALOT of time to rinse and rinse and rinse....(now you know why hand dyed fabric is so expensive)

I love the results! And for some reason it seemed like I didn't have to rinse as much. Maybe it was because all the pieces were in the same family of colors and after I got the water running semi-clear I threw them all in the washer together to rinse some more. Normally, I separate them by colors to go in the washer.

There are 8 pieces in all. But for some reason I couldn't get them to all download on this post.

I've used all the dye that I got with the class Leslie and I took in Sept. at Quilters' Pow Wow. The question now will be whether I (we) decide to get into dyeing enough to start buying and mixing our own dyes. Stay tuned....

January in Oklahoma

Yesterday was my son Aaron's 25th birthday (he's my baby and boy does that make me feel old) He grew up on Beatles music and we went to see Paul McCartney in concert in 2009 so I made him this little quilt for his couch or maybe for his wall.

Here's the label on the back.

Because of the threat of a huge ice storm we didn't get to have his traditional birthday dinner last night so he hasn't seen his present yet. (Please don't tell him and ruin the surprise).

We all know that quilters like ice and snow storms because it means we can stay inside and sew guilt-free. I did that today. Also, I decided to try "snow-dyeing" some fabric.

I didn't take the time to get really good instructions, so I just "did my own thing"--which is usually how I operate.

Here I am squirting the dye on the fabric that is covered with snow. I packed more snow on top, then left it outside where it got REALLY covered with snow. I think we got 6-8 inches before it was all over. Well, actually it hasn't totally stopped yet. Tonight I brought the fabric box inside the garage where it is thawing and the snow is melting. Tomorrow I'll rinse. So stay tuned. It will be a surprise what I end up with. I used up all the old dyes I had kept from my first dyeing experience last fall.

Cindy's quilt

Recently, my friend Cindy visited from Reno on her way through to Florida. She's close to finshing this quilt. It's her version of Gee's Bend quiltsThe hand will hide behind a block that will have the label info on the back of it.

Here it is with Cindy in the foreground with her husbands fingers (and Tim's) at the top. (Husbands make good quilt holders.)

Quilt and Cat

Remember I got this kitty on New Year's Day. Remember she only has 3 working legs?
My daughter warned me that she likes to steal food from her kids' plates and I foolishly said that there was no way a cat with 3 legs could jump up on my counter-height table. She made herself at home very quickly. She seems to like quilts (don't all cats?). So much for the higher table. I'm keeping all the chairs pushed in now and hoping she stays on the floor. By the way, we've changed her name again. Our son-in-law, Patrick always greets her with, "Hi there, Skippy". It just seems to fit. So from now on she's Skippy.

Exchange blocks

A few of us in my stitch group are exchanging blocks for monthly pillow covers. You can find the pattern for the pillow cover in the November 2009 issue of Green Country Quilters Guild newsletter at: www.greencountryquiltersguild.com
I made five of these 8 inch blocks and gave 4 of them away. Next month I hope to receive an 8 inch block for the month of March.

Not being one to follow directions, I made up my own pillow cover. I think it had something to do with the fact that I couldn't find a travel pillow the dimensions of the one on the pattern.

Timothy's letter

Over the Christmas Holidays, Timothy wrote me this letter. He's 4 years old.

It reads: Mama T, You are a genius, and nice and beatiful and a parents.

I asked him why he said parents and he said it was because I am his mom and dad's parents.

Makes sense to me. I love being a grandma.

Oklahoma City Quilt Show

Five of us from my stitch group enjoyed what has become known as the "Oklahoma City Quilt-less Show". No kidding. There were very few quilts displayed. But that didn't stop us from having fun. There's always shopping...right? And we did plenty of that. We visited 3 quilt shops the day before the show started. Then we shopped like crazay AT the show. There were tons of vendors.

Me with a few of my purchases.

Leslie, Donna and me.
What's this? Oh, it's a quilt! Leslie, Colleen, me and Emma.

Another quilt! So there must have been at least two!

Make that three!

Thread Organization

Yippeee!!!! My friend Keith made this wonderful thread cabinet for me. It has a glass door (as you can probably see from the reflection) with lots of room for my threads. He made it so that the inner shelf section comes out in case I want to carry all those threads somewhere with me. No more jumbled mess in drawers! Thanks Keith.

Zoey's Quilt

My daughter Andrea's friend (and fellow photographer) April had a baby last Monday. Her name is Zoey. I figured she probably needed a quilt. Andrea agreed.

Here's the back.

And here's the front.
Congratulations April. (Oh yeah, and Justin--I suppose he had something to do with it)

And Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa David--who just happen to be really good friends of ours.

Quilt Show

Whoppeeee!!!! The OK City Quilt Show starts Thursday. Guess where I'll be????

giveaway

My friend Ranette at Ranette's daily stitch (see sidebar) is having a giveaway. You might want to check it out.

More projects

I made a few more blocks for my Civil War Reproductions Birthday club. I'm keeping them simpler this year. Just a couple more and I'll be done for the year. Yeah!
I made just a couple more of the little makeup/project bags. I found this cool button to put on the one I made for myself.

Peace! (or maybe it should be Piece!)

And I made this one for my friend Deryl in New Orleans. Her birthday is today. (Diane..what color do you want? )

A quilter's Christmas

I got this Tumbler Shape to try with my "cutting machine" from Andrea. The bobbins were in my stocking. And look at this beautiful Ginger rotary cutter and seam ripper I got from Tim (with help from Leslie)

These fat quarters were in my stocking. Santa always knows to throw in a few fats.

And last but not least. LOOK!!! This came from my wonderful husband. (Please disregard the old, wrinkled hand).

And here is the poem he wrote that goes with the ring:

Christmas 2009

The artificial and its deceit are apparent in the shadows of night.

Where light blazes forth from the Ultimate Wellspring of Grace,

Hope shines as a standard, a lamp that lights the path to the dawn.

Beyond the sad, slow waning of years, the Ever Living One

...stands, smiling...

A smile, THE smile that banishes fear and heartache.

No artificial device, it was wrought by God without our understanding...

...without our assistance.

Blood, the blood of Jesus the Savior, born that magic morn,

Brings forth the glitter of glory.

His promise...Joy will not be denied.

New Year's Day

I spent the afternoon of Jan. 1 sewing with my friend Leslie while our husbands watched some cowboy movies. I got these blocks made for my birthday group at the Cotton Patch. I'll keep a couple of them and give the rest which catches me up through February. We have 2 birthdays in January.

Leslie got this block done. She also baked an awesome blueberry pie. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas (for luck, of course).

Here's Leslie cutting out another block. The appliqued block to the right is one I finished right after Christmas.

Here we are enjoying our favorite sport.

And lastly, I got this on New Year's Day. After 4 years of being petless (and enjoying it) I got talked into adopting this little kitty. My oldest daughter rescues cats and simply didn't have room for one more. "Markie" is handicapped. She has only 3 working legs. Her left, back leg doesn't function but she can run anyway. She's made herself at home but doesn't come sit on my lap yet. My son saw a mouse in our garage this evening so she may be spending a bit of time out there "exploring".

A White Christmas

Thankfully, all our family arrived safely at our house before noon on Christmas day. We had a heck of a blizzard the night before. It was beautiful, but dangerous and caused a lot of inconvenience here in Oklahoma.

The drifts were 2-3 feet deep in some areas because of high winds. The snowmen in front of our house felt right at home. The snow angel on my front lawn felt right at home, too...but only for a few seconds.

We still have huge piles of snow that haven't melted (mostly on parking lots), but we're expecting more tonight and more in the middle of this coming week. It's really cold so there won't be much more melting going on this week. Thankfully, my little Dodge Nitro 4 WD is doing a great job and we're getting around just fine.

Happy New Year to everyone!