"Time Out"

I've been very anxious to post a picture of one of my latest projects but had to wait because it was a gift.  Well, it has been gifted so here it is:

My stitch group had our Christmas party this week.  We drew names for the gift exchange this year and I drew my BFF's name.  So I gave Leslie the "gift of time".  

Here's another clock I made.   I'll be teaching a class at The Cotton Patch in March.

Tribute to Dee

Today, a very dear friend of mine was released from her pain and suffering and passed on to the next life.

Dee Powell was my neighbor when I lived in a Texas.  My daughter Andrea met her daughter Lauren on the first day of school just a few days after we moved there in 1988.  Andrea came home super excited and told me she had a friend and that she lived within sight of our house.  Lauren and Dee were waiting on the corner so we walked over so I could meet them.  That was the beginning of a friendship that will never end.

Dee is the one who really got me fired up about quilting.  She had a great interest in it and had magazines in her possession that I had never heard of...."Quilters' Newsletter Magazine".  She gave me copies and they got me through several illnesses over the years.  I would get them out and pour over them over and over again.

We never did make quilts together but I made her a quilt one year out of Scotty dog fabric that she gave me.  We did however do some joint sewing projects.  Like these dolls......

There are 32 of them!  We bought the pattern when we saw one in a little boutique.  We just couldn't stop making them!  Our girls would run the doll parts across the street. She would sew the clothes, I would put the hair on.  She would stuff them, I would draw their faces. Everyone we know got dolls for gifts that year.

Yesterday, as Dee lay in a hospital bed, I thought of all the good times we had together.  I whispered to her how much I loved her, kissed her forehead and told her goodbye.  She probably didn't hear me.  It doesn't matter.  She knew.

I love you, Dee.  I will see you again!

Houston International Quilt Festival

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this!  I, along with three friends, got to go to the International Quilt Festival in Houston where my quilt, Red Dresden was part of the Ruby Jubilee display for the 40th anniversary of the show.  What an honor!  The red quilts were displayed beautifully!  In fact it was the most beautiful display I've ever seen at a quilt show.

The four of us drove to Houston in my mini van (so we had plenty of room for acquisitions!) last Wednesday and got there in time for the pre-view.  Excitement is building:

I borrowed this picture from Stitchin' Heaven Quilt Shop's FB page.  This was before the show started. My quilt is on the floor, lower left.

No trip to Texas is complete without a trip to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Pappasitos!  And a new one has been added to the hotel adjoining the convention center!

I would love to post pictures of all the quilts I took pictures of, but alas, it's not allowed without acknowledgement to the quilters.  Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful show with over 2000 quilts and 1100 vendors. We got to go two whole days in addition to the preview.

 My friend Cindy flew in from Reno to go to the show with us.  We ALL had a magnificent time!

Here's a reminder:  Last April I was in Houston with my husband for a geology convention at this same convention center. I was working on my quilt at the time and jokingly put it in the window of our hotel room and took a picture.  It was like my quilt was trying really hard to get in the show.  At the time, I had no idea there would even be a red category and never dreamed my quilt would be accepted.

So you just never know!  If you don't enter, you'll never be accepted.  So my word to you....if you want to get your quilt in a show....ENTER IT!  You could be just as surprised as I was!  I'll never get over it!

Veteran's quilt

My friend Donna T. quilted the veteran's quilt for me.  She had some help from Theresa C.  I got it bound and gave it to our friend Mike last week.  He was thrilled with it.  Many thanks to Mike for his service to our country in Viet Nam!

Embroidery Blocks

When my mom passed away in 2009 she was working on a set of 12 cross stitch embroidery blocks to make into a quilt for one of her great granddaughters.  She got three of them done before her passing.  I took them home with me and promised I would do something with them.

Here is what one looked like.

Since there were three great granddaughters I decided to make three quilts.  All three of these kids are my brother's granddaughters.  Five years later, I finally got them done and delivered to the kids.  My sister in law helped finish the bindings on the last two quilts.

This is Elliot with hers.  They were quilted by Ann Olson who did a beautiful job of repeating the Dresden pattern in the quilting.  Elliot and her sister Hadlee live in Missouri.

Here is Hadlee with hers.

Cassidy came all the way to MO from Indianapolis to get hers.

There's one more.  Cassidy has a brother, Liam.  Mom cross stitched a large "boat themed" quilt long ago for my grandson.  There was enough for me to cut off part of it and still have enough for my grandson.  So I made a quilt for Liam, too. 

I think Mom would have been pleased to see all the quilts made from her blocks.  I'm very happy to have them done and marked off my list of things to do.  I hope these 4 kids will cherish their great grandmothers work and keep her memory alive.

A couple of finishes at the retreat

I've been working on this for ......well let's just say I've been working on this a while.  But I finished the top at the recent retreat.  It's 108" x 96" and will be the bedspread for our king sized bed.  It's currently at the Long Arm Quilter.

This one was also finished at the retreat.  It will go to a veteran on Veteran's day in November.  Also currently being quilted.  My own design.

Another retreat!

It seems like I'm retreating a lot these days!  But I get SO MUCH done when I attend these 3 day retreats.  This one has become a bi-annual (that means twice a year, right?).  Or maybe that's semi-annual.  I can never remember which is which.  Anyway, the Bluebird Lane Retreat Center is not far from home.  They provide all the food.  It's set up so nicely with tables, comfy chairs and Ott lamps for each person!  The beds and bathrooms are wonderful!

My beautiful daughter got to join me this time and she finished this quilt she's been working on for quite a while.  It's a little hard for her to get time to work on quilts while she's raising 3 boys (on of them is a teenager!)

I helped her cut out this one with my AccuQuilt cutter and she pieced it quick as a bunny!

And here we are enjoying the beautiful sunset.  More later on what I got done.

Bahama Mama T

I finished this little wallhanging that I started at the Laura Wasilowski workshop sponsored by my guild in July. Laura was a great teacher/speaker and was very entertaining.

I don't always give my quilts names but I decided to name this one "Bahama Mama T".  (Mama T is what my grands call me).  Bahama comes from the trip I took to the Bahamas in January.  During that trip I made my first (and probably my last) attempt at snorkeling.  It ended rather badly with me having a panic attack as soon as I saw the reef.  So this quilt is my rendition of what I think it probably looked like.....more or less.

Everything in this quilt is fused and then hand embroidery stitches are added.  I quilted it with rayon thread.  I especially love my little dolphin.  I saw him in The Bahamas and he didn't cause me to have a panic attack!

Sad

I've been gone for a while. Twice.  My father-in-law was in the hospital in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago so Tim and I went to see what we could do to help.  We soon realized that the situation was not good.  We spent about four days there and came home a couple of weeks ago.  I think that's right,  I barely know what day it is. Two days later he passed away.  So the last week has been filled with funeral plans, funeral home visitation and a funeral.  Bud will be very much missed by all of us.  He was my husband's stepfather, but Tim has known him for nearly 50 years and I've known him for 40.  He was a wonderful "Paw Paw" to our kids and grand kids.  May he rest in peace.

Here we are in one of his boats back in the 90's.

And here are he and Carol at my son's high school graduation in 2003.

With my older daughter:

And with my younger daughter when she was about 13.

And here's the last picture I took of him when we were with him in July.

.....and then I made some more clothes....this time for Nola.

I made this little outfit for Nola. 

It's a little big, but she'll grow into it.  She turns the "Big 1" tomorrow.  Which means Tim and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary today.  Where have the years gone?  He's a great guy and I'm a lucky girl to have him!

Cake and ice cream tomorrow evening!  WhooHOOO!

Machine clothing

I've been sick all week with a chest cold and other things.  Most nights I lay awake coughing so it's been a very unproductive week.

But right before I got sick I made some "clothes" for some of my machines.  

This machine got this cover:

My featherweight Ebony got these two pieces:

And my Featherweight "Jade" got this:

That's all for now.  Back to making quilts next week.  I hope.