Daniel's feast...
This is Daniel. He's 14 and this is how a 14 year-old reacts when there is a camera around. They scoff...they frown... then they give in and look really, really cute! Couldn't we just skip the frowning and scoffing and get straight to the cute? Nah, that wouldn't be cool. His feast consisted of all fesh fruit- nearly amputated the tip of a finger on one of Darilyn's pineapples. See? Ya live in Hawaii and you get blamed for my being a klutz! Note to self, and you know this one, but it never hurts to reiterate, NEVER rush with a knife in your hand. It'll never amount to any good. Well, it was only the index finger on my left hand- have 9 other digits and the throbbing only kept me up one night. I'm a "glass is half full" kinda gal. The kids were enchanted by the pomegranate. I don't think they'd ever had one, and having the genes they do, had to pick the thing apart, seed by seed. And it was quite tasty. We had clementines from Spain. Then, it was build your own grinders. Followed by candy bar cake. Oh, and he even made punch. I offered to add chips, but he said that he didn't want it to be all about junk food. The blessings they were thankful for were predictably wide-ranged and covered the gammit from chocolate to dirt. It was a very nice evening.

With all the talk, lately, about what Xmas is and isn't, I thought I'd share just a little amusing antecdote. DH Will picked up a Xmas CD at the Speedway station- you know the shpeel- only $1.99 with a fill-up. He figured, what's 2 bucks? Plus, he knows I love the stuff. Sorry Bonnie, but I love Xmas music and I listen to it, on and off, all year 'round. (When I was a kid, my sister and I would hall the Xmas decorations out of the closet and decorate our bedroom- in July! We'd listen to Xmas records- remember records? The first record I ever bought was Bing Crosby's White Xmas. Of course, the fantasy got off the ground better if we cranked the air-conditioner- sorry, Dad.) Oh, at any rate, back to the bargain Xmas CD. Contemporary Xmas Classics. I've come to the conclusion that there are songs that have no business being contemporized. Take, for instance, Hark The Herald Angels Sing. "Offspring of the virgin womb..." with the snare drum chinging and the trumpets doing a jazzy little number... Now that's just beyond silly. I don't think the word "womb" belongs in any song remotely jazz-like. When I am quilting, I listen to music very, very, loud, and even then, I only hear about 1/3 of what is being played. I had to take a quick break for a sip of Diet Sunkiss(it has caffeine, Darcy!) and then that line comes blaring out of the speakers, "Offspring of the virgin womb." she bop dubee bop! Nearly sprayed bright orange pop all over Sarah's quilt- wouldn't she have loved that? Cough, cough, splutter, splutter. I mean, what are people thinking? I don't guess they are. I don't have anything against contemporary Xmas music. Like it, even. Things like Deck the Halls, and Silver Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and Jingle Bells. But, please oh puh-lease leave the hymns alone. It's bad enough that they get relegated to the Xmas Department of songs when they were never intended to be stuck there for all eternity, but man, show a little respect!

Recipe For Candy bar cake:

• Make one Devil's Food Cake mix, according to directons, in a 9x13 pan. Leave in the pan.
• While still hot, poke holes in the cake with a butter knife and pour 1 cup of caramel sundae topping over the cake. Some will soak in, some won't. Cool.
• Top with one large tub of Cool Whip.
• Scatter about 6 candy bars, of your choice, coarsely chopped, on top of the Cool Whip. My kids love Butterfinger candy bars. I like an assortment. Keep refrigerated.

I won "best dessert" in a cook-off with this silly little cake, but figured it was kinda rigged, 'cause with the eight kids, the voting was bound to be in my favor. But it is yummy!

Jacob's feast...
We are getting ready to celebrate our 3rd feast when I realized I haven't had the chance to post- for Grandmother- the happenings from our second feast. This is DS #3, Jacob, and he is 12. He's the artsy type and makes really cool earrings. And tables and just about anything involving his two hands. His feast was Monday night- definitely a nice way to spend a Monday evening. He had an Italian-themed feast with Garlic bread and cheese dip and calzones stuffed with all kinds of good things- there were no leftovers, and that's saying something. For dessert he had chocolate fondue with pound cake, strawberries, bananas, and pineapple. Yummy stuff, that. His gift to the other kids was lip balm. Hey, when you've a set of kissers like that, chapped lips could be more than average-ly painful!

Just thought I'd mention a couple things that happened during the evening. We moved to this area to be near DH's family. He only has one sister and his mom was living with her. Now, his sister has 6 children and we were able to find a house only one mile down the road from them. My children affectionately call her children, "The Cousins." We spent the last 6 years, here, together. Celebrating holidays and seeing each other nearly daily. The kids were in heaven. Well, The Cousins moved this past school year to Florida. Talk about trauma and heartbreak! So, my kids have been a "bit" blue. I say all this to preface the conversation at the dinner table, Monday night. DH decides that, really, enough is enough and it is high time we all move on. Easier said than done, but still he thought he'd give it a try. So he begins by saying that his DBIL made the decision to move and that we need to accept that and be happy for them. All of a sudden, and out of the blue, DS Paul, who is 10, stands up with his fist in the air, and says, "I can't accept it because I don't understand why they moved, and his decision is ruining my life!" Thump! His fist bangs down, firmly, on the table. We all sit up a bit straighter, blink, and then burst out laughing! Not that what he said was funny, but you have to know Paul. He is ever so reserved. He is the strong silent type. Not much to say, but apparently, a lot going on in that quiet head of his. Poor baby. Well, then DH tries to make things better by saying that, yes, we have all suffered a loss, here, but don't we all still have so many blessings in our lives? We have our health. None of us are worried that one of us is going to drop dead at any moment... eight little sets of eyes all shift down the length of the table... "OK, guys, stop looking at Grandma that way!" Honestly, you're a day over 25 and you've one foot in the grave! Reminded me of circling vultures. And only Bill would have worded it so...directly. Ok, maybe I would have. So now the kids have the assignment of listing the things in their lives that are good and that they are thankful for- and they have to be specific.

Recipe for Chocolate Fondue

• 2 12oz bags of semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 3 Tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 Cup of whipping cream (milk would do)

Melt these in the microwave, cooking one minute at a time and then stirring. Let cool and add:

• 1 Cup sour cream

Pour into a fondue pot and serve with fresh fruit, cake, shortbread, whatever- anything tastes good with chocolate! If you don't have a fondue pot, just warm it back up in the microwave and serve in a warm bowl. That works fine, too.

Kaleidoscope City...

I just taught a class on the Stack and Whack method of peicing, Saturday. It is a method taught by Bethany S. Reynolds, in her books The Magic of Stack and Whack and Stack and Whackier. I had six students in the class, which is a full class for me. It was six hours long, and that might explain the barkin' of my doggies- that's a slang term for aching feet, Lucy. We really did have a good time. The top quilt that is set in black is my Xmas quilt and the first Stack and Whack I had ever done. Sarah saw it on Simply Quilts and showed it to me. Way cool, I thought. I named it, "Oh Holy Night," because they kinda reminded me of stars. The original fabric- and all the blocks are from the same peice- was of these very nice kimonos. The two blocks that are sitting by themselves are the ones I made in class to demonstrate how to choose the fabric, how to cut and then sew. This fabric didn't look too interesting on the bolt, but it was a Stack and Whack fabric, so figured I'd give it a go. It's turning out prettier than I thought it would. Yes, there are only two blocks done, because the teacher doesn't get a whole lot of sewing-machine time in. The bright orange and pink blocks are leftovers- the ones I liked the least- from a baby quilt I made for a friend. The tropical print quilt is leftovers from a baby quilt I made for a cousin's son. Seems a bit girly, but then, I set his in royal blue. His daddy is a surfer dude, so it seemed appropriate.

There are several things I like about this quilt peicing method. First, it uses those larger scale fabrics that we rarely get to play with- other than borders and backing. The hunt is always fun when I visit my favorite quilt shops- I grab them whenever I find them, because a good one is a rare find. Second, one slice is all it takes to cut out a whole block. Each block consists of only 6 peices- even a 9-patch has 9 peices! But it still looks more interesting than just 6 peices. It goes together very quickly. Third, you never how each block will look, when it's been stacked and whacked! It keeps the process interesting. All in all, I like the variation in the looks of these.

My Friend Sarah...
This is my friend, Sarah. She is the best friend in the world and if she ever comes into your life, you'll be blessed. You'll have to indulge me, today, as I am feeling sentimental and just a bit weepy. I met Sarah six years ago. Have you seen the movie, White Christmas? Sarah looks and talks just like Rosemary Clooney. Only Sarah actually sings better than Rosemary Clooney! No kidding. And can't we all use a little bit of George Clooney genes in our lives? She is very nurturing and mothering, without being smothering. And she knows everybody. We actually dated the same guy! How weird is that? She had just moved to Indiana from Seattle, Washington and I had just moved here from the Chicagoland area. We had 5-month old daughters who were only one week apart in age. Both our first- her first child and my first daughter. Now, I had 5 sons and so you might think that we wouldn't have a lot in common- and really, I probably thought that, also. Let's face it, with six children and having bought the king of all fixer-upper houses, I was afraid I wouldn't have much to offer someone, in terms of time, energy. But Sarah was irresistable.


I think it was our first winter here when some of us ladies from church decided we would have a quilting day, once a week. Several of them had never made a quilt and a couple of us had made many, so it seemed a good combination. I decided not to make anything and just help out those who needed some extra attention. The first sewing session was at Sarah's house and she was sitting in the dining room wrestling with an irish chain for her daughter, Madeleine. She couldn't get the points to match up- it was her first quilt. Her mom quilts, but does/did most of it by hand, I think. So I take a peak. She was doing a lovely job, but she didn't know about opposing seams. Wow, it was like a light going off and she was outta there! She was so thrilled with the results and just a bit miffed that she hadn't known about that earlier! One of our friends would constantly suggest that you just rip out seams if they weren't perfect, but I am a quilter, not a ripper and I coaxed Sarah into easing things into place. I wonder if Sarah could post a picture of her first quilt? If she'll still talk to me after this! Quilting, as well as a lot of things, is all about knowing the tricks. Yeah, you can do it the hard way, but when you know the tricks, it makes things so much more enjoyable. That's how Sarah started quilting like a maniac- and I'd like to think I had something to do with it 'cause she really is a natural.

A couple years later and many more quilt tops done, we went together and bought a longarm quilting machine. For our birthdays- both in June. She had a huge house- mine is pretty big, too, but by now I had 7 kids and so the rooms were filled. I would come, faithfully, and quilt every Thursday. We'd have lunch together and she'd help me pin quilts on. I'd help her pin quilts on. Some days we'd quilt together. We'd drive an hour to the nearest quilt shop and make a day of it, lugging babies along. Having chicken salad croissants on the porch of the victorian tea house. Can I express how much those times meant to me? I don't think I can.

The following is really for Sarah, and I don't mind you reading, but it gets emotional and I'd hate to drag anyone, unwittingly, through that.


The summer that I was pregnant with our 8th child, we made several trips to those quilt shops and I bought this freakily bright batik to make a baby quilt. Sarah says, "Are you sure? Might keep the baby awake!" It was rainbow colored with jungle animals on it and I loved how bright it was. I made a nifty orange peel quilt from it with some bright yellow. Then the next time I bought citrus colored fossil ferns and the next time it was berry colored fossil ferns. How many quilts would one baby need, but it was like I knew he'd need them... Our baby Abel passed away when I was 5 months pregnant and it was the worst thing ever for me, but Sarah was so steady. That's when you really need a friend. She'd let me talk when I wanted to, but mostly, she just treated me like ME, instead of a sad story. She didn't make demands and she didn't ask questions. She just stayed the same Sarah that I loved. She's a great person and a great friend.

Batik blanks...

Yes, the blank spots in this quilt are my doing- or lack of doing. Sigh. Sarah, of course, got all of her blocks done. I intended to... I had the best of intentions. You know what that means. (This is a follow-up to Sarah's post where she showed her Batik blocks. The scrappy blocks are all hers. Her mom thought the batik was too feminine, so it is just as well that it didn't go to my nephew, Michael. He just proposed to his sweetheart, so I guess I need to start thinking of a wedding quilt to make.) There are 57 peices in each of those star blocks and I have to ask myself, "What was I thinking?" They are pretty, aren't they? I can usually whip up a few blocks of whatever I am working on in an afternoon. But with this block, I found myself taking about an hour per block. I couldn't figure out why, until I counted peices. 57 is quite a few- even though the block looks very simple. I have all of the other blocks assembled, except for the different colored stars. So, really, it shouldn't take too long, to finish it. Sarah has threatened to sell it off so that the funds raised could help pay for a little retreat for us. I couldn't bear to part with it- our first quilt, done together. I haven't settled on a setting for it, yet. Maybe narrow black sashing with small batik cornerstones- all on point. We'll see. But I'm letting her know now, that it ain't going anywhere. It's mine, MINE, MINE!!!

Abraham... The snaggle-tooth
wonder.

Somebody is playing in the quilting room...
And it's me, it's me!! Weeee! I am making a wallhanging for DD Eva. She drew me the most amazing picture and I'm attempting to replicate it in fabric. So far, so good. I'll show when I finish. But what a mess! I have projects exploding all over the room and I have decided that is how I like it!Sarah's quilt is coming along nicely- I only spent one hour removing stitches, today. Hey, that's progress. I came to the conclusion that the reason I didn't like the feather meander I started with was because the scale was all wrong. Her pieces are only 1 1/2" wide so I needed to small it down. Now I like. But then, I tried a little something different in the darker areas- thought Bonnie had a good idea there, but what I tried was a little too casual... so picked it all out and will try again, tomorrow. Once I decide what I am doing, really, it's all fun. I am still fiddling with the jacket fabric that I am making. And then there is the quilt I am still trying to finish for my cousin. I have all the blocks together and all the rows together- just need to join the rows. How hard is that? Yet, I'm not inspired to do that just now. I am wanting to spell a word via Tonya. Rejoice. Thought that would be nice for the season. And then, Jenny had a piece of artwork posted a few weeks ago and I wanted to try to make a quilt like it. It was huge blocks of color, different sizes, set very randomly. It was in autumn colors. Do you remember that one? Well, it was cool. Then the feasts began, today.

A few years ago, we started a new tradition where each child prepares a feast for the family. I was aiming for the season to mean more than just Xmas day and presents. Because the really valuable things in life aren't things. What matters are people and experiences. They can't remember what they got for Xmas last year, but they will always remember the wonderful times we had, together. I borrowed the idea, loosely, from Esther and her feasts. At the end of November we draw names for the order that they will go in and then for the month of December, we have about two feasts a week. That's eight kids. The menus are secret. No one else is allowed into the kitchen while the preparations are being made. They pick out simple gifts to give their "guests" and decorate the table- or the room. It sounds like a lot of work, but we try to keep it simple and according to each kids' skills. When all things are ready, they call for their guests to come into the feast. The kids ooo and ahh over the pretty table and all the good smells. Bill reads a short scripture and talks with the kids about it. Then the "host" serves everybody. We have the best time doing this. Tonight was Abraham's feast. He's two. Grandmother always asks what they fixed. He had chicken nuggets, french fries. He made Jello jigglers and sliced some cheese to go with crackers and grapes. I fixed a Texas sheet cake for dessert. He gave the kids each their own Xmas pencil and eraser. You should have seen the look on his face when he invited them in. He was so proud of himself. When it came time to serve the other kids, he'd give them a grape and then, take one for himself. He was stuffed before he ever got his chicken! I helped him cut out the pictures from some of last years Xmas cards to use as place markers. We look forward to this all year. The older kids plan what they are going to do, months in advance. It is amazing what some of them come up with. Bill is always trying to top the kids- he gets Xmas Eve and I get Xmas day. Last year, he strung huge pine boughs from the kitchen ceiling- I have beams, so he could do that. Then he strung little lights in them. He covered all the counters with boughs so that it felt like you were having a midnight picnic in the woods on a starry night. I can't imagine how he'll top that one.

The pitter-patter of soles, the little feet of tadpoles...
Movin' right along, footloose and fancy- free. Darcie mentioned that she likes my floors. Well, funny thing about those floors... My DH is always looking for a bargain. Now, he didn't used to be that way, but he's pretty smart and figured, hey, he'd rather save a buck than throw it away. So he haunts all those bargain papers where people are selling just about everything. A regular hunter/gatherer. (We just purchased our second Ebay vehicle. A 1999, 15 passenger Dodge van for $2800. Runs beautiful.) But back to the floors. Bill decided to bargain shop for building supplies, because they were so expensive due the the "rebuilding of Iraq." He found these cool boards and bought them for the subfloor to our addition. (The addition consists of my quilting room, a spare bedroom and handicap bathroom, and a laundryroom.) When we were finishing up the quilting room, which of course, had to be done first as the 5'x15' quilting machine was in my bedroom and he was getting tired of having to go around through the bathroom to get to his side of the bed... I tried to decide what kind of flooring I wanted and could afford. There are two layers of those boards down on the floor, so they were sufficient but Bill wasn't so sure they were good enough for a "finished" floor. Well, I already had a couple gallons of polyurethane and figured it couldn't hurt to try. They turned out so much better than I could have imagined. We put 5 coats on it and it cleans up very nice. I like the primitive, rustic look, so they suit me fine. I always get compliments on them and to think Bill just bought them for a dollar a board! (Oh, and the quilt a friend made and I quilted.)
This is the inside of my shelves in my quilting room. When DH and I were putting the varnish on my quillting room floor, we noticed that someone had wandered into the room while the varnish was still tacky. It wasn't a big deal as we still had 2 more coats to apply, but it gave me the idea to preserve their little foot prints in the closet. The older boys felt a little foolish putting paint on their feet, and the baby cried, but everybody in between had a good time. Notice I have a flat footer in the mix. If you're having trouble counting, ask Sarah how many there are- I'd hate to deprive her of the tickle she gets from telling folks. She rolls her eyes as if to say, "My friend is insane." But she loves me anyway!