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!

See? Sarah was jesting about orange mumus...

and I just have to show what I was working on last week. I decided to let Sarah's quilt simmer in my "stewdio"- I think that's Dawn's saying, and I love it. I dug out some fabric from my stash and started Bargelloing. You see, I had a dream about a quilted jacket, and I had to see it through. "I just don't remember it being this orange." That's a line from "While You Were Sleeping," since Tonya just watched it. Well, it's not as bad as it looks- at least that's what I keep telling myself. It was just dark in my livingroom, tonight, and the camara is notorious for underexposing and it makes the colors look darker than they are. Most of what looks black here is, actually, burgundy and green. really. I am planning on making the shearling jacket pattern.

I made two panels like the one on the couch for the sleeves. The panel with several waves in it will be the back and the one with the dip in the middle, I am planning to use for the front (It's upside-down in the picture, as I think it'll definitely be more slimming the other way!) I am going to quilt the panels before I cut them out. I made them plenty big so that I can wash and shrink it - several times. I want it to be soft and wrinkled. Like an old quilt. (Isn't there a Dolly Parton song about that?) I do plan to use tailer's chalk and outline the basic pattern on the panels before I quilt them- I don't want to spend hours quilting in Darcie's little stones only to find out that I put them in the armpit! The weird "cross-section of cells" fabric is for the lining and the collar. (Judy- I used 5 1/2 yards of fabric in the bargello, alone.) I mentioned to DH that maybe this is just a phase I am going through. When he asked for clarification on what "this" was, I said, "quilting." He about fell over, laughing. I have been thinking that I am unsure about how quilting fits into my life. I'm not sure if it is an escape- when I feel overwhelmed, a comfort- to help me through rough patches, or an embellishment- a way of expressing myself. But you know, I think it is different things at different times. And all of those things at the same time. The last quilted jacket I made was three years ago- seems hard to believe. And ok, I made 14 jackets that winter. They were those Just Jennifer jackets. Mindlessly slapping on patches of fabric. Around and around. No pressure and you really couldn't mess one up. And I loved them. I kept three and gave the rest away. But they don't "fit" anymore. Literally or figuratively. Those jackets expressed who I was then, but I'm ready to move on.. but man oh man.. I can't imagine what I'll be thinkin' about this one in three years!

I'm in Batik Heaven...
Can you see me dancing a jig? Actually, it's more like that little boogie dance you see football players doing in the endzone. Oh, yeah, oh yeah, Nina's a happy, happy camper. I have been eyeing this panel for some time- let's not bring ugly words into it like "covet" and "lust." I've been eyeing. That is all to which I'm confessin'. This is a hand-painted batik. Ain't it just lovely, lovely? Cost the earth, but so worth it. The top pic is of the front, but I had to show the back, 'cause that is gorgeous, too. It is about 45" long and 18" wide, and you know I'm gonna piece around it. With more batiks. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Of course, those of you in warmer climes may not appreciate how wonderful a warm afternoon in Polynesia sounds. I'm sitting in my chair with two quilts over my lap, looking at my fake fire, dreaming of being warm. I can just about get there, looking at my newest acquisition. Can I say what a shameless hu...human-being I am? It's true. I feel not the least bit of guilt over my stash. A niggle? Nope, nada. I have loved textiles all my life. I can't figure out why I should feel bad about that. Of course, it helps when you are, let's say, fiscally-challenged. Getting too much stuff is not so much a problem. On the other side, you can become a charity case and recieve everybody else's guilt-ridden stuff. And that's all good, because I don't feel compelled to keep it just 'cause dear old great aunt Ethel didn't have the time, inclination or good taste to deal with it. I pick the very best and send the rest to a better home than mine. Hey, it's like that French woman diet. Ever hear about that one? French women aren't fat because they know how to pick only the very best for themselves. They don't pig out on mediocrity, they dine fine on gourmet cuisine. Yep, that's what I'm doing with my newest batik. Yum-yum.

As you can see...
It is a very pretty quilt. Sarah's thought was that I could put feather wreaths in the plain blocks, but they seem to kinda... dangle out there... all alone... it's just sad. Any thoughts from the professionals? And it's gotta be simple 'cause this is me you're talking to, here. I tried a feather meander in the other blocks. Blech! That's what I spent all evening removing. The fabrics are plenty busy, but I don't know what could enhance it without distracting from the cool overall pattern that the log cabin blocks make, together. I could really use some input. Thanks!

Camoflage doesn't seem to work in the livingroom...
I can still see them, can you? These are just a few of the men in my life. DS Joe, DH Bill, DS Dan, and DS Jacob. For some reason, which they have tried to explain to me, but have somehow failed to convey, they love getting up at 2:30am and standing in the bitter cold all day. Sometimes they bring home some meat. DS Dan(14y) is one of those naturals who always brings home something to put in the freezer. On his first hunt when he was 12, he got a 10 point buck. Joe(15y) is laid back and just loves getting out in nature and I never hear him complain that he hasn't bagged anything, yet. He is always game to go, so he is still hopeful. This was DS Jake's(12y) first year, and he was just thrilled somebody got something. He loves smoked venison. Dan got a small buck, this year and glory, glory, they skinned it and processed all the meat themselves!! I can't tell you what a milestone this is!! And they loved it. I don't know who is more thrilled- them or me. They got to "play" with sharp knives and I got to sleep in. It was good all around. (It started as a rough day and just kinda kept rolling in that direction. First, it was very cold the night before, and that brings in the critters. Mouse chewed through the electric cord to the fridge/freezer. A simple solution with a handyman husband, but when water started spewing out all over the kitchen from the dishwasher-new- even he was stumped. Turns out the mouse was hungry and chewed through the drain hose. Can you believe that? When you live in the middle of nowhere, I guess you look like an easy target to the little furry creatures. I'll share my skunk in the house! story some time. Well, DH was sick, so it would have to wait until he got to the hardware store. Not a big problem. DS Joe cleaned up the mess- did I mention what an angel he is? Unfortunately, some one accidently closed the door to the dishwasher, which starts it automatically. Another big mess.... And I started work on quilting a quilt of Sarah's and messed up. It wasn't so much a mess up as I just wasn't feelin it. I don't care for darker thread than fabric. It looks like someone drew on the quilt. But I was running low on the color I preferred... Should have just skipped it, ordered the new thread and waited. Instead I got to spend three hours picking stitching out. Not my favorite pastime. But I love Sarah, so it was worth it. I just don't know how to quilt her quilt. I'll post a picture of it and get your opinion. Thus ended my...difficult... day. )

Xmas quilt #1, done.



I finished the quilt for my friend- who has three cats. Judy would be pleased as it is all fabric from my stash with a few contributions from someone else's. I haven't been out of the house in four days, so I decided to just make do with what I had. The backing was a bit shy so I just filled in with some of the wonky house leftovers. Funny thing about the wonky houses... took me a couple tries to get it right as I was trying to figure out how to elongate them to be the same size as the cat blocks. Finally got it right, I think. The houses were made from little leftover bits from my friend Tanya's stash. Even the binding is made from three different fabrics. Gives a whole different meaning to scrap quilt. The batting was even leftovers. Reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner! Lots of leftovers. The quilt is flannel front and back, so I hope it isn't too warm for the Pacific Northwest. Can't wait until Sarah gets back from her travels so that she can tease me about it being way too traditional for me. But it isn't for me, it's for my friend Kelli. I can be traditional if I want to be. Ok, I am sooooo over it. Where's my batiks?