Hearts Wild...

These are the two quilts that we made for our shop hop. It isn't really a shop hop, just a game during the month of February, involving 6 quilt shops, including the Quilter's Toy Box. This is a Kwik Scrappy Hearts pattern. They have stars, also. It's really just a stack the deck - with a little more structure. Tanya likes the colors bright. Could you have guessed that? First, she says, "Nina pick out 6 reds and 6 whites." Sillily, I did. Not exactly her preference. So she aims for the stripes in hot pinks, orange, and yellow. It's a very hot valentine and reminded me of Tonya R.'s hugs and kisses quilt. She added the reds and so I pieced the top, but stopped after 12 blocks, because I wasn't thrilled with the lack of contrast. I did some dense qulting in an attempt to define the light from the dark. It helped, but still... Now Tanya's quilt top is... bright with plenty of contrast. I brought it home, today, to try and get it quilted over the weekend. Hers is a double- what was she thinking??? kinda big for a shop sample, but it is very pretty and definitely... hearts wild. I'll get to keep the red one, when she's done with it. I have a friend that is a child psychologist- she's the one I sent the Purrrfect Christmas Cats quilt to. She said the kids loved it, so I thought they might like this bright quilt- and trying to find the hearts.

I have been busy busing folks back and forth to Dr. appointments. Even the Dr. said he was seeing a little too much of me, lately. I couldn't agree more. Eva had an MRI, today and she did great- didn't move an inch. They let Bill and I go in with her and hold her hand. Shew... I got so nauseated. But I don't think I let on. Felt fine as soon as they turned that thing off. They were very sweet to Eva and managed to find the country music she wanted to listen to- but she said they really needed to get some Shania Twain- everybody would like that.

It's Thursday, and I am hard-pressed to find anything I have actually accomplished, this week. That stinks. Hey, I finished a client quilt. That's something, right? But I think I need to get myself down to the sewing room and see what I can get into. I need to pick up the mess I made with the hearts. I could start quilting Tanya's quilt... maybe that'll wait til morning. I think I need some time on the Featherweight. I started a memorial quilt for the coal miner's who were lost in the Sago Mine. A log cabin. It is black(coal) on one side and white with black(coal dust gets on everything) on the other side. The center block I made extra large in a pretty blue(sky.) I'd like to work some on that. Or maybe the blue and yellow one. Or Sarah's quilt challenge. Or the YBR- I have the rows sewn together, already...See? The possibilities are endless when you are the queen of "projects started!"

Meet the Folks...

Every weekend I get an email from my parents- just the news of their week- usually involving a bit of health issues, but always including lots of naturalist stuff. My dad will describe, in detail, how this snake swallowed a frog, whole and alive, not once but twice. Or how he shot the snake for getting into his birdhouses- don't mess with his birds and you do alright for a snake. He tells funny stories about foxes and deer and even mountain lions. (Or was that a bobcat?) Or how he fed mice to the fish in his creek. He'll talk about pawpaws(that's a weird hillbilly, banana-type fruit) or disease-resistant white chestnuts. A real Daniel Boone. He is interested in everything and anything. How many people could describe to an 8 year-old how a combustion engine works? Well, he can and I remember it clearly. My mom is more inclined to relate about Aunt Margaret's health or the apple pie she made for Brother Virgil and Marie. Dad always spends some time on the state of the weather and how the bureaucrats are sticking it to us. Mom tells everybody how Dad is giving her advice on boiling water, but how he is so cute she doesn't mind. They live in a one-room house, together, 24-7. Now that has to say something about their character. She's a morning person and he's a night owl- in one room. Wouldn't that be a deal-breaker in most relationships? But, by my reckoning, they have been married somewhere in the vicinity of 42 years. They are both of an artistic bent. My mom paints and quilts, beautifully. She used to decorate wedding cakes and make floral arrangements. She plays the piano and used to sing at weddings. She's very good. My dad used to draw, but now he expresses himself in building things- like bridges and barns(they live in a large one.) And he makes stellar caramel popcorn. He loves to ride motorcycles and skiing- he once saved two people from drowning- shortly after he had major surgery. He's very strong. He reads voraciously- he has no less than three books by his chair that he reads every night before bed. A few chapters of each. I'd get the stories mixed up in my mind. My mom is getting him hooked on Sudoku puzzles. She makes tons of quilts- which I am painfully behind on quilting them for her. She makes my girls sweet little nightgowns and aprons. Everytime we get together, Dad has to have a talk with us and the children about how we need to be diligent in keeping our faith. He reads to my children, just like he did for me. My mom always gives the children at least 9 kisses, each, on their cheeks- that's what they call a "Grandmother kiss." They're just the best.

Questions in Quadruple...

• 4 Jobs I've had....Lawyer's aid, Cookbook reader on tape for Books for the Blind, Respiratory Therapist, Longarm quilter
• 4 Movies I could watch over and over.... Open Range, Much Ado About Nothing, Return to Me, Knight's Tale
• 4 Places you've lived....Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida, Tennessee
• 4 TV shows you love to watch... don't you just hate those loud obnoxious commercials?
• 4 Places you have been on vacation.... Niagra Falls, New Hampshire, Georgia, and my favorite, West Virginia
• 4 Websites I visit everyday.... Sarah, Darcie, Lucy, and Darilyn
• 4 Favorite foods... Seafood, chinese, chocolate, tea
• 4 Places I'd rather be.... Snowed in with kids and sweetheart
• 4 Albums you can't live without... My new Little Big Town cd, Sarah Brightman's Time To Say Goodbye, my Randy Travis collection- love his deep voice, Andrea Bocelli's Romance cd
• 4 people I'd like to pass this on to... Sarah, Darcie, Bonnie, Tonya R.

Another Monochromatic Quilt...

This is another quilt I made for DH. I got the pattern from 101 Rotary-Cut Quilts. Puss in a Corner. I apoligize about the poor quality of the picture, but we have had few sunny days, this winter, so all the pictures tend to be dark- unless I brighten them on the photo software. Then they just look ...flat.

The problem with this quilt? Well, the background fabric is really too busy, but but but... I did get it on clearance, so...(I feel like Phil on Groundhog Day. "So , Mr Connors, have you ever played the piano?" "No, but my dad was a piano mover, so..." ) Any rate, like I always say, an ugly quilt will keep you as warm as a pretty quilt- just turn off the light and see. I had the 2 oldest, and therefore tallest, boys stand in the back of their dad's pickup truck to get a picture of this one. It is also a king-sized quilt. I am done with those. They just seem to go on and on and on...The backing is flannel- in yet another busy, brown print. I must have been needing some mental stimulation while working on this one.

Pouring the rain out, today. The winds are so loud it sounds like we are neighbors to Niagra Falls. A good day for making some cookies and maybe getting a quilt loaded onto the quilting machine. It has been a couple of weeks since I've quilted and I have several stacked up and ready to go. I've had to postpone a trip to my parents' because of health problems- others', not mine, and so I find I have this empty window of time where nothing was planned. Hmm... not a bad trade off, really. I have been playing with the hand-peicing of my Grandmother's Flower Garden- figure if I aim for a baby-sized one I might get it done for the first grandchild. I have about 10 years, I figure. Rather slow going, there, but I am at a place where slow is good. I have three blocks, done, and four more cut out. The cutting out takes a good bit of time, but I just sit and work on it as we are watching a movie. I have been concentrating on slowing down my normally hurried pace. Just trying to enjoy each thing I am doing instead of rushing onto the next. It's not so easy, but I am enjoying myself, immensely.

Monochromatic Quilts....

This is my blue quilt. You might have noticed that there isn't any blue in this quilt. Well, I wanted to do this pattern, which I found in an Australian Quilts magazine, in blue. A bunch of us girls made a run to a quilt shop, that was being sold, to buy some clearance fabric. I had my heart set on blue, but I couldn't find more than two blues that I liked, and they had about six greens- all asian-inspired.... so that's how the blue quilt turned green. I collected some more of the green and started this quilt. It is a king-size. It took me quite a while to finish the peicing. It was a very fun method where you sew three triangles together, cut it into strips and then flip them over, sew them back together, and that makes one half of the 9"x12" block... oh, ok, you'll have to take my word for it. It was a lot of fun. It is an extremely heavy quilt, with cotton batting. And you know it's name? "Whited Sepulchres" No kidding. There's a funny story about that and I thought some of you quilters might enjoy it. You know the Bible story where Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for being like whited sepulchres- nice and pretty on the outside but inside- full of dead men's bones. This quilt is kinda like that. You see, each year, I promise myself I will not put a king-size quilt on the quilting machine during the month of December. (I made an exception this year and did Sarah's, but that was only because, well, I love her to peices, but also it made a nice excuse for all those lovely ladies out there who decide on Thanksgiving to make quilts for all 20 of their grandchildren, "No, I'm afraid I can't fit it in. I have a king-size quilt on the machine." See? That'll work.) They just take me too long to quilt and it gets me in a jam, every time. This is the quilt where I learned that lesson. I got all the client quilts done, so I figured it was safe to start this one- it would make a nice Xmas gift for DH- and myself. I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly, 'cause I put this on the wrong way. You can kinda tell in the first close-up picture that the quilting goes down the length of the quilt, so I should have loaded it on sideways- so I could make long runs instead of lots of short runs- which require a whole lot more time and work. I realized my mistake after doing the first bit of border, so I figured I was stuck and that I'd just perservere. I got about half way done and I ran out of December. So I finished the borders and took it off the machine. I got my January quilts done for the clients and put the quilt back on the machine.... sideways, this time. Well, they never stretch the same and now the backing on the bottom half has lots of little pleats in it- the kind you get with a regular sewing machine. So... you see, looks nice on the front, the back, well, dead men's bones.

Yo-yo's. and I'm not referring to dieting...
I'm sure Darcie could come up with some adorable pun using the word, yo-yo. Lucy, do they make yo-yo "quilts" in Holland? They are really more of a coverlet- not at all practical- but very pretty all the same. Of course, they could be considered practical if you are trying to use up a stash. I first ran into a yo-yo coverlet about 10 years ago. A friend of mine had bought one in Texas- 1940 era one. I believe her DH paid $3,000 for it. They were real collectors. It was lovely, with on-point "blocks" and "sashing" in that funky medicine green that was so popular back then. She had used it on her bed for several years and it needed some attention, so she asked me to mend it. It was a very pleasant task, sitting there repairing something to it's former beauty. But I did suggest that she relegate it to the guest room after this- or at least, remove it from the bed before story time with DD. They can be rather fragile. The one in the above picture is one I made for one of my babies and I am in the process- an on-again off-again project, of making a queen-size one. I have lots of old-fashioned calicos that an Aunt gave me- it's more of the color that you see- not the pattern on the fabric. I'll use muslin yo-yo's for the sashing. I have about three gallons of yo-yo's already made. A healthy start but still a long way to go.

Feelin' a little bummed, today, that I let life get in the way of my planned nervous breakdown. Or rather, I let a little thing like house guests prevent me from taking my well-deserved break. see? Break. Breakdown. Not so very different from each other, I'm thinking. Only, one is voluntary and the other... well, maybe even house guests couldn't have kept me from it. sigh. Do you girls ever get over to the Island Screamer, Island Dreamer blog? I tell you, Darilyn always gets me to relax- she is a very serene person- never heard a whisper of a scream from her. It's like a little aromatherapy session- without the aroma. You can hear the birds in the palm trees, see the sun shining on the walls, the cat's purring and the air-conditioning is humming along. Ahhh. If you haven't visited over there, you should. Her quilts are way cool, too.

DD Eva had an EEG, yesterday. I know what EEG stands for now. Wonder if I can spell it? Electroencephalogram. Something doesn't look right there. Oh well, it went extremely well. She has been experiencing what she calls "trances." The neurologist smiled when he heard her call it that. She just checks out sometimes. The lights are on but you can tell no one is home. Lately, she has been adding some movement to her little "vacations" so we thought we had better see what's up. But you know how when you finally take the car to the garage because it is making this strange noise and you pull into the parking lot and, mysteriously and maddeningly (how many siffixes can you add to a word?) the noise stops. So you pull out of the garage and it starts again. The mechanic looks at you like you're some kind of engine hypochondriac... So, I was afraid that if we went into this test to see what's going on with Eva that she wouldn't have a seizure and the doctor would be looking at me like I was some kind of... well, you get the picture. But she did so great- not that I'm happy she's having seizures, mind you, but I'd like them to see what we are up against. She had one before they could get her up on to the bed. She must have had 20 while the test was being done. And they found out that she is having 2 different kinds, which explains the newer movements. They were so sweet to Eva and very sympathetic. They explained everything- instead of making me wait until her Dr. appt in 2 weeks. But I can tell you, it was very unsettling to see the fireworks going off in her sweet little head. I knew she was having these spells, but seeing it in hard, cold evidence... They called the neurologist while we were still in there and he prescribed an anti- seizure medication. I googled and decided I'd give it to her, but I'll be insisting he do some more tests to rule out what it might not be.

All in all, I'm a wee bit on the tired of thinking plane of existence. So.. I"ve decided to do some laundry and pack up some boxes and maybe, if I can manage not to nag, gently nudge my sweet, darling, Dear Husband to carry out the shedding Xmas tree that has stood nude in the living room for an entirely inappropriate length of time. And yes, I'm packing, but I'm not moving. It occurred to me last night- while I should have been sleeping- that if each person in this house brings just one object into it a week, that's about 40 things a month or 480 things a year!!! And I even multiplied that in my aching head. What's the chances we only bring in 1 item per week? Slim. So we are accumulating a lot of junk!!!! And then it gets difficult to live around all that stuff. Picking up takes so much longer than it should, so... time to pack it up and move it out. Slowly. In a very relaxed and calm manner. I can almost hear the birds singing in the palms...

One for Joanne...
Joanne was wishing her DD a Happy Birthday- the big 3-0. She said there had been a terrible ice storm and that she nearly gave birth on a slippery slope outside the hospital doors! Fond memories, she said, but I have a feeling she wasn't being sincere. We had a big ice storm of our own, at exactly this time last year...hmmm...might be the commemoration of Joanne's DD's last year in her 20's! I don't recall anything like this ever happening around here- we're generally too far north and only have the snow part of winter. Last year was different and as it is pouring the rain out there, tonight, I suppose this year is different, also. We were out of power for nearly a week. It was rather exciting for the kids- dinner by candlelight and all. But, living out in the boonies, we have a well, and with no power, there is no water. That was the worst part. Kids make big messes and it's rather hard to keep dishes washed by melting ice. We do have natural gas and we brought in the kerosene heaters from the barn, so we stayed very warm. All told, it was a pioneer-ish experience- one we could skip for the next 30 years, eh, Joanne? It was awfully pretty, though.