Another bag

I've probably made close to a million of these now (well maybe that's a bit of an exageration).  But they're so much fun to make and take very little time.  Almost forgot to take a picture of this one, so here it is in my car right before I went into the post office to mail it to Tim's step mom.  And she loved it. 

Blocks

I went at least 10 days without even touching the sewing machine.  But I'm back at it.
I made some more of these:

And I finished a couple of these:

This red work is a long term project--one of those things that sits in a project bag all ready to go in case I don't have anything else to work on.  Which explains why it has taken me 2 years to finish 2 of these. 

Blocks

Last week our second grandson, Timothy celebrated his 6th birthday.  He wanted a small quilt that he could take from room to room.  Calista and I decided on the Dr. Suess fabric for his birthday quilt.  And guess what?  We got it done in time for his birthday.  Quilted by Kat LeFevre.

The back.

Making life easier

I'm all for making my life easier and a little bit more organized around the house.
I have a huge design wall in my sewing room, but it's covered with stuff--a lot of unfinished projects and whatever I so randomly pin up there.  Also, it's mostly blocked by my cutting table.  So....I bought the "Disappearing Design Wall" when I was at the Houston Quilt Show in November.  I finally got my guys to hang it up for me. 

Here they are pretending to be happy about this "Honey-Do"

They installed it in the (large) hallway that I have right outside my sewing room.  I keep the ironing board there (because there's no room for it in the sewing room).  So, now as I press blocks, I can put them directly on the design wall.

Here it is installed.  Looks great!  I'll put some framed pictures on top of the shelf someday.

Here it is pulled down.  It works like a window shade.  And the great thing about it is--I can roll it up without taking the blocks down.  It doesn't completely block the sewing room (on the right) or the bathroom (on the left) so I don't have to roll it up to go in and out of those doors.  I love it!  And I love my guys for installing it for me.  (Of course, they had to have a special treat afterwards and I was glad to make them both and Italian Creme Soda.  One for me too!)

My "loot" from Houston

I LOVE this fabric.  It has 4 huge flower panels and coordinating pieces.  I'll make it into a quilt...someday.

I think I must have been in a brown mood, 'cause I sure bought a lot of brown fabric. 

...and blues, and giant buttons...

...and a few tools and a few fat quarters...

...and patterns

A line of Phillp Jacob's fabric.  Irresistible.

Some lovely wool and a bright fat quarter.

Now how did this get in here?  I didn't buy him in Houston.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show another grandbaby picture.  I'm sure you won't mind.

Famous People at the Houston Show

This is Frieda Anderson and Laura Wasilowski of
The Chicago School of Fusing
I love their bright colors and hand dyed fabrics.  They autographed the pattern I bought from them.

These next two are Janice and Marcea from "Abbey Lane Quilts"  Leslie and I have several of their patterns...
...and now ONE MORE!

None other than Elanor Burns of "Quilt in a Day"  I've been watching her on PBS since I was a very young quilter.





Lynn Roddy Brown.  She had all the quilts from her latest book in the show.  She was very sweet and friendly and of course autographed the books we bought from her.

Alex Anderson of "Simply Quilts" and now she and Ricky Tims have an internet show. 

Victoria of "15 Minute Play". http://www.15minutesplay.com/ I'm part of that blog.  She's from New York City and this is the first time we've met.

And the most famous of all...Our hostess, Rindy Howard.  We stayed at her house 4 nights.  She worked at the show so she even drove us downtown.  Leslie and I made her this quilt to thank her for the "hotel" room.  Rindy LOVES pink and black.

Last, but not least, Rindy's husband Gene and their dog Diamond (with tennis ball in mouth).  I've known Gene and Rindy since 1988 and they've been wonderful friends.  Thank you Gene and Rindy for your hospitality (and the Blue Bell ice cream!)

What's been goin' on

It seems like the month of September is flying by.  And even though it's still very much summer here in Oklahoma, there are a few signs of fall.  And I'm ready for it after the extreme heat we've had this year.

Over Labor Day weekend my sister Greta and her daughter Lora Beth came to visit so that my (extremely lovely and talented) daughter Andrea http://www.amurphyphoto.com/  could  take Lora Beth's senior pictures.
Even though my husband tried to spoil the weekend with a bad case of infectous colonitis (2 trips to the E.R.) we managed to sneak away and have some fun shopping and doing the photo shoot.  (He tells the story a little bit differently--I DID after all, get him a babysitter).

That's Greta and Lora Beth in the top pic with me; and Lora Beth and (extremely lovely and talented) daughter Andrea in the middle of the bottom pic.

Last post, I forgot to show you what my friend Leslie has been up to.  She's been VERY busy making quilt tops.

She and I took a hand applique class from Jane Green at the Cotton Patch.  Here's Jane.  She does absolutely beautiful hand work.  It's hard to see from this picture, but trust me,  it's really good.

Here are some of the other class members with the block we did our first week.

This is mine.  I've decided to add some brown to it.  Working on that now.

Well, Tim did get over his illness and for the first time in ages he had to dress up for work.  It was such a rare occasion, I thought I should document it.

Many of his co-workers thought he was a stranger trying to break into Tim Marler's office.  His boss hasn't gotten over it yet.  I think he "cleans up real good".    Off to find some oil and gas.

Last week I made these name tags for a challenge from Green Country Quilters' Guild (http://www.greencountryquiltersguild.com/) .  The tags had to be mostly green and had to be readable from 4 feet away.

I finished my quilt!  It's quilted by Kat LeFevre.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  I got the binding on just in time to take it to the fairgrounds on Saturday to be entered (along with 3 others) in the Tulsa State Fair.  You can see them there starting Sept. 30 through Oct. 10.

You all know I have ANOTHER (extreemly talented, lovely) daughter.  She's been busy getting her knitted items and pickles ready for the fair.  And oh yes, she raises boys (3 of them) so you know she's got her hands full.  We all think the last one looks like her.  What do you think?

1979 (although I'm sure she wouldn't want you to know that) and 2010.    Same pouty lips.

Since I've mentioned everyone else in my family, I'll conclude with the fact that I'm very proud of my son.  He's going through some major changes in his life.  We pray for God's leading.

Until next time...

9/11

Today is the 9th anniversary of a huge tragedy in the history of our country.  I'm sure all of you remember exactly what you were doing on that day.  It was such a sad and scary time.  I was sitting in front of the tv sewing the binding on a quilt that had been in the works since I was 14 years old.  I finished it that day and included details about the day on the label.  Let us never forget what happened that day.

On a lighter note....also on that day some ????years ago, my good friend Coleen was born.  She's been a really bright spot in the life of our little stitch group.  She keeps us laughing and encourages us all to keep going.  So...on Thursday we celebrated her birthday at my house.

My friend Kat Davis made the beautiful and delicious chocolate cheesecake for the occasion (if you want to order one from her let me know and I'll give you her number).  Isn't it just TOO cute!   The little needle on the cake was even threaded!

Having company makes me get up out of the sewing room to clean my house (which is a good thing when it's done!).  It also causes me to set a pretty table--something I don't usually do for just Tim and me.

We had a great lunch, opened presents and then worked on some projects.

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This is what the birthday girl is working on:

June was working on table runners and..

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Leslie and I are working on a disappearing 9 patch.

Donna was cutting strips for a future project.