Poinsettia

I am on my way! After dinner last night I went up to my studio and made these log cabin blocks. It is my start to the poinsettia quilt. When these blocks are sewn together it will be 20 inch finished. I only need to make 11 more of the 20 inch blocks. I have 9 different reds and about the same in greens. They are all batiks. I think the book is out of print but it is called Log Cabin in the Round.
Song of the day: "Speed" by Montgomery Gentry

Fused Flowers

I am so excited that I finally finished this piece. It has just been hanging on my design wall. The only thing left I had to do was the satin stitch binding. I just could not bring myself to do it. It wasn't something exciting to sit down and do. I knew it would be something good to bring to my sewing group today. We had limited time and I did not want to bring a big project. I did this piece at Art Quilt Tahoe in 2006. It was Sue Benner's fused flowers class. She is so talented. I am amazed when someone explains something I can't seem to figure out on my own. It's like DUH! The class was great and the fact that I was there with friends made it even better. I am looking forward to going back to Tahoe some day.
We were very productive today in the group. This was the second time we have gotten together. The first time we just discussed what we wanted out of the group. For this year we have decided to do a christmas quilt and a quilt we picked today. We will see how creative we all can be on the same quilt. We laughed, did some sewing, ate, and heard about one ladies mission trip to Guatamala. It was very sad and inspiring. Even though I complain and whine I am very thankful for the blessings God has given me!
Song of the day: "If You Ever Have Forever In Mind" by Vince Gill

Inside Outside

The kids and I got to sleep in a little today. It would have been longer if my dog had not started barking. That meant that someone was walking by my house. Drake acts like he wants to chew everyone's legs off. When I buy new front doors I will make a point to block his view! Then I hear my son whimpering in his room. He just got his braces back on so I knew he was really sore. Needless to say this snow day was not as relaxing as usual. We had sushi for lunch then went and picked up my chocolate covered pretzels. That made things much better.
The Predators played awful against Buffalo tonight. It was a hard one to watch. There were some good fights. The goalie for Buffalo got hit straight in the face mask with the puck. He fell right over. I didn't really understand how he got a bloody nose. There mask is metal and it is far from there face. That had to hurt. One of our guys got hit in the back of the neck with the puck. No protection there.
My show finally came back on, "Men in Trees". It is a corny show but I like it.
It snowed on and off all day. It was beautiful! We stayed nice and warm by the fire. It looks like the kids will go back to school tomorrow. This is good because I will be meeting my quilting friends tomorrow for a day of sewing.
Song of the day: "Smile" by Lily Allen

Goodies In The Mail

I went back to my Cook Without a Book class tonight. I missed last weeks class because I was sick. That's ok because I can make it up. It was souffles. At this time in my life I really don't see myself cooking those. Tonight she cooked hazelnut crusted chicken, wine reduction sauce, veggie stir fry, pommes frites, roasted red pepper aioli, basic mayo, pan fried fish with cornmeal crust, and tartar sauce. It was alot of food. We actually dipped the pommes frites in the red pepper aioli. That was awesome. I think my kids would even eat that. My stomach was sticking out. I will have to wear elastic waisted pants from now on. It kinda reminded me of the meat and fish classes I took. We had 4 huge pieces of both to eat with no veggies. After I left class I got so lethargic. I came home and could not get off of the couch. It was not a good feeling. Oh well, food is still my friend!!!
I received some goodies in the mail today. I ordered "me" some fabric for a bag. I need one to carry my quilts to the guild. Of course it has a little purple in it. See, I am not going to make it to Italy if I don't stop. I have an idea in my head for a felted piece so I got a few items for that and the Quilting Arts Tv dvd. I might watch that tomorrow. I just heard on the news the kids are out of school tomorrow so we will hang out at home. We will definitely be sleeping in.
One of my most favorite songs just came on. "Brick House" How can you listen to that song and not want to get up and dance. I think I might have to get up and bust a move before I go to bed!
Song of the day: "Brick House" by The Commodores

What To Do?

I made this piece soon after I learned the fusing technique from Melody. I think it was a magazine article by Melody, Laura, or Frieda. I am sorry I can't remember who. It was fun and only took a couple of hours. Of course I told everyone how much I slaved over it! The binding is fused also and that is absolutely wonderful, 5 minutes and done. The reason I am bringing this up is because I usually make my son's teacher a lap quilt at the end of the year. He has really liked his teachers and this should be the last year I do this. I did skip last year because of something, can't remember what. I definitely do not want to do a lap quilt. I was thinking of using my fused scraps (I have a ton) and sending a bag home for each kid in the class. Give them and their parents instructions and samples of flowers they could do. Get all the flowers back, fuse them to a background, quilt and bind it. Also have the kids sign each flower. How does that sound? It sounds alot easier than a lap quilt! I only have a couple weeks to decide. Any thoughts I am not thinking of?
Song of the day: "Sunday Mornings" by Maroon 5

Italian

I am getting my Rosetta Stone hooked up this evening. I am very excited about learning Italian. A foreign language is something I think I am mentally prepared for now. I just hope I can do it on my own. It wasn't too exciting in high school taking Spanish and I really did not care. Little did I know how important it would be. My goal is to spend one month in Italy. I have no idea when this will take place, 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years from now. If I would quit buying all this quilting stuff I could probably go now!
Song of the day: "Via Con Me" by Paolo Conte

Loaded and Ready To Go

I have had painters here the last couple of days. They painted a bathroom and bedroom. It feels good to be getting rid of my offwhite walls. Everyone seems to think because I am a quilter I automatically know how to decorate. Not so, but I am learning. Now that I have things back in order I did get one of my tops loaded on my longarm. My goal is to have it quilted no later than wednesday. I pretty much just use it for my large quilts. Most everything else I quilt on my Viking Megaquilter. I think the throat plate is about 9 inches. It sits down in a cabinet. George is on my wishlist. I have played around with it at the shows. I prefer to move the quilt and not the machine head.
Song of the day: "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall

Tile and Grout

I feel like you can get inspiration from anywhere, even your childs artwork. I really like all the little artsy projects that my kids have done over the years. My son made me this 6 inch tile for Mothers Day last year. I put it up on the mantle so I could see it everyday. That was a mistake. The sun faded it and I don't think the markers they used were permanent. But while it was up there I mainly looked at the part that said I love u. One day I paid attention to the background and really liked the large blocks of color he had put together. So I started thinking about tile and grout. That would be a series for me to start on. I asked him if it was ok if I made a quilt from his tile. Of course he said yes. After he saw it I explained my series to him and told him the difference between tile and grout. He seemed to like the idea so I asked him if he wanted to sit out on the deck and draw with me. I told him I might make another one of his drawings into a quilt. He even colored in some of his drawings. I told him I would try to match what he had done. Pretty cool!
This is actually the first quilt that I like the photo better than the actual quilt. The fabrics are more subdued in the quilt. I enhanced the color on the photo. It almost looks like an oil painting. The quilting did not show up that well because each color has matching thread.
"The Tile" 32 x 42
Song of the day: "Me And Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul

For All You Knitters

Well I have been laid out for 2 days with that crud my husband had for over a week. I got on an antibiotic quicker than he did so hopefully my recovery will be faster. I've got too much to do to be sick. I was rockin and rollin over this past weekend and then wham! I thought my daughter was getting it. She came home from school yesterday and wanted to lie down on the couch which is totally unlike her. That wasn't the problem but the blanket she was carrying was. She had pulled out this knitted blanket that my Granny had made for me.
I think I have said it before that my Granny can make or do anything. All I have to do is ask her to make me something and she will. She made this for me back in the 90's. It is reversible and mirror imaged. I forget how many of these she made. She never could make one of anything. We were all a bunch of vultures just waiting to pounce on what she made.
I talked to my mom today and she said Granny was telling her that she was worn out. For my Granny to admit that she must be. She is a trooper. I hope to do half the things in my life that she did in hers. I thought she was going to be 85 but she will be 88 on her next b-day. These days she is just quilting. We used to quilt together when I lived in Fla. I felt guilty for leaving. She and I have always been close. Her favorite part of the sewing machine is the embroidery unit. Last time I spoke with her she was working on an embroidery quilt. I can't wait to see it finished.
Song of the day: "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson

Hoffman Challenge "Kelp Bed"

This is my Hoffman Challenge quilt that I submitted in 2006. It did not get anything but it toured the galaxy for a year. It is paper pieced with 63 5 inch blocks. You don't get any extra points for the PIA factor. I only had to redo 2 blocks because I used the wrong color towards the center. I tried so hard to figure out a way to fix them but I couldn't. So those were the 2 blocks I practiced quilting on. The fish and the kelp are quilted. Everytime I attempted to quilt the background my thread would break so it didn't get quilted. There were way too many seams!
I hope to enter again when I like the challenge fabric.
Song of the day: "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green

One More Down

I am so excited about everything I accomplished this weekend. I pieced that other Turning 20 top. This one is for my daughters best friend Heather. Her favorite color is green. This will be her high school graduation gift. I had started one of these quilts for my bedroom to hang over the back of a chair. It is brown and blue, with a little red just to spice it up. It is very earth tone. I will finish getting it together tomorrow. I hope during this week I can get all the backs for these tops pieced and start quilting on one of them. I need to order a couple cones of thread from Superior Threads. They have some variegated thread that will match those 2 tops.
I also quilted the squares for a new bag. This one will go to my friend in Paducah. It will match the quilt I am giving her. I had fat quarters left over from her quilt so I used them.
Song of the day: "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" by John Mayer

Thankful For The Weekend

It has been a good day today. I really feel like I got some things accomplished. Mixed in with going to the grocery, doing laundry, and fixing dinner I pieced a top together. I have to get busy on some quilts or I will not get them done in time. I have so much more energy on the weekends. Just that little extra sleep in the morning helps. I am not a morning person so during the week I struggle. My perfect day would be sleep till about 10am and go to bed about 2am. Most of my friends are morning people. Mornings suck!
Back to the quilt top. This quilt is for my daughters best friend who is a boy. He is into Kung Fu and likes red. I think he will like this asian fabric and the quilt looks masculine. I should be able to quilt it this week. It will be his high school graduation gift.
I put flannel on the back of all of my lap and bed quilts. So I have been collecting it for a while. I usually buy 6-10 yards at a time. I never match the back to the front. The flannel makes the quilt a little heavier but it is really warm. The quilt stitches sink into the flannel and look great. I have a black paisley that will look good with his top.
Tomorrow I hope to get another top pieced and a bag started.
Song of the day: "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" by Def Leppard

Cheese Cloth

I didn't get into my studio today but I did get some hand dyed cheese cloth washed out. It has been out in my garage for a while. A little longer than I would like but it seemed to come out ok.
Song of the day: "Pickin' Wildflowers" by Keith Anderson

Happy Valentines Day!

I thought I was safe by going to a hockey game tonight. No surprises or anything. Well I was wrong. During the first period I heard someone yell my name. I looked over in the aisle and there was Gnash our Nashville Predators mascot dressed up with wings on and a bow and arrow. Next to him was a guy with a bag full of goodies and a dozen roses. I was oogled at for about 5 minutes. My husband said that was the first time he ever saw me look surprised. I didn't know whether to kiss or punch him! My son even knew what was going to happen. I can't believe he didn't let it slip. I will have to up his allowance or give him cash on the side so that doesn't happen again.
I dedicate this video to my husband Jim. Love Ya!
It is a shame the girl messed up the name of the singer.
Song of the day: "At Last" by Etta James

Bullseye

Today has been kinda crazy. The kids got to stay home from school because of a little snow and ice. My husband has been home the last 3 days with the flu. My daughter's first day at her new job was this evening. I have been feeling weird on and off so I am sure it is a matter of time before I get sick.
Bullseye 26 1/2 x 35 1/2.
Song of the day: "These Boots Are Made For Walkin" by Nancy Sinatra

Math, Fractals, Spatial, Pathagorean, What?

I just returned from week 6 of Cook Without a Book. She cooked classic roasted chicken with herb pan gravy, roasted vegetables, and eggplant gratin. It was the most food we have been fed so far. We also had 2 appetizers, cheese crostini and turkey sausage, pizza sauce, and cheese melted in a phyllo cups. It was like a little party in my mouth!
Now to the serious side of quilting. We had our guild meeting today and a new member did the presentation. She is a math teacher and also taught english. I continue to be astounded by the level of intelligence in quilters. I have been in workshops with authors, physicians, engineers, teachers, and even a rocket scientist. The list goes on but I don't want to type any more. So back on track, she discussed alot of terminology that I apparently had forgotten from my days in geometry. Probably because we made fun of my geometry teachers clothes. He was a young guy trying to be cool and one day he wore pieced pants. They were plaid squares sewn together, yellow, brown, green, and white and a brown polyester shirt. I called him mr. hot pants out loud. I don't know why I didn't get sent to the office but I didn't. You can see why I don't remember my math. Ok, her name is Diana Venters and she talked about polygonal fractal quilts, linear fractal quilts, spatial quilts, fibonacci and golden numbers. Her book is an actual school teaching book for grades 6-12, "More Mathematical Quilts" (no sewing required) by Key Curriculum Press. This would definitely be a cool way to learn math in school!
I actually looked up the Fibonacci numbers on line and found it fascinating that they occur in nature especially flower petals. Now there always seems to be an exception to the rule but I will keep looking into it.
Song of the day: "Walking On the Moon" by The Police

Caribbean Colors

My friend Julie stopped by today. She was so excited. She had just been to the quilt store and bought some beautiful batiks. There aren't any ugly batiks that I know of. Some lucky person is going to be the recipient of a very colorful quilt. So far everything I have seen Julie make she gives away. I will have to talk to her about that! She is going to do the Turning 20 pattern. This quilt is going to be awesome. The colors remind me of the islands. So with that in mind here is my,
Song of the day: "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins

Kaleidoscope Daises

These are 2 pieces I did last year. The one that is not finished I did first. It wasn't supposed to be squared up. I got too excited at the end. I had left extra on the borders so I could wrap it around in the facing. Well, I had not done but 3 facings before so I am not in that habit. I am all about sguaring it up and slapping that binding on. I just put it to the side and did not finish it because I was so mad. I did the same thing to the second one, squared it up! It got finished even though I wanted to throw both of them in the trash. I really want to go ahead and finish the first one. Any suggestions on the finishing edge? How can I finish it and make the flowers still look good at the edges?
Song of the day: "Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi

Pretty Girls in Pretty Dresses

What better way to spend a saturday than going prom dress shopping then out to lunch. My friend Julie and I took our daughters to look for prom dresses. We went to a shop about 30 minutes away. It was small but packed with dresses. There were beautiful, elegant, and scary dresses. Of course my daughter, Sydni picked a few scary ones. They ended up looking pretty cool once she had them on. Heather, Julie's daughter was a little more on the conservative side. Sydni has made fun of my prom dress for years. It was big, full and red. Well guess what is back in style now, big and full! The dresses now definitely are sporting more bling than when I went to school. We really only thought today was going to be a "just look" day but it turned into a "buy" day. The good thing is we are done now except for the alterations.
Sydni picked the purple one and Heather picked the burgundy one.
I did go to prom but I have never been a girly girl. Give me jeans and a t-shirt any day. Well today was my first encounter with the clamps. I thought we would only be able to pick dresses in her size so we would be really limited. Oh no, you just put the dress on no matter what size and clamp the back. Am I the only person in the world that didn't know this? No one ever clamped my t-shirts!
Despite my mental short comings we had a great day. Also I was the only one who cleaned her plate at lunch so I better stay away from the clamps!
Song of the day: "One More Night" by Phil Collins this was my prom song in 1985

Bath Time

Well my day did not go as planned. The repair guy ended up coming this morning to start on the ceiling that the heat and air guy fell through. I was just expecting him to look at it and return next week. He was ready to go. Ok. I never can get anything done when there is someone in my house. I just putz around trying to look busy, when I am actually watching his every move! My dogs act goofy too when someone is in the house. So I am staring at them thinking you guys are filthy. It has been rainy and wet for a couple weeks and that doesn't help. After lunch when it had warmed up I took Pal out first and cleaned him up with the shears and cut his nails. He is an English Toy Spaniel who thinks he is a prince. I went all the way to Boston to get him. I love that breed. They are overly loving. He hates his bath though and I know he wants to bite me because I see it in his eyes. Then I go and get Drake who is the mix breed we adopted. I went about 5 miles down the road to get him. He is just happy to have a home and shows it by ruining my house! Actually he should have been a carnival dog because I could see him wearing a hat and riding a bike. He does do some pretty funny things. My back always hurts from bending over and bathing them so a laid down on the couch to stretch my back and magically fell asleep. What a day!
Song of the day: "There is No Arizona" by Jamie O,Neal

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait - like chocolate

I was scheduled to meet my friend Vanessa for lunch today. It was about 3 weeks overdue. We found a new restuarant and wanted to try it out. I left a little early so I could swing by Starbucks and have plenty of time to find the place. Also, I do not like to be late. I verge on being a little anal. OK alot! We were supposed to meet at 11:30. My cell phone rings at about 10:45. It's Vanessa and she is sorry but she needs to meet at around 12 or 12:30. I'm starving because I didn't eat a big breakfast. It was either start chewing on my arm or go get something. I knew I was going to go to the chocolate shop, SCHAKOLAD, after lunch but now it looked like I was going before. One day I am going to sneak behind the counter and stick my face under that stream of chocolate! My favorite thing there is the white chocolate covered pretzels. They know exactly what I want when I come in, the only question is how much, anywhere from 1-3 bags. As hungry as I was 3 bags sounded good. I got in the truck opened the bag and within seconds inhaled 4 pretzels and suddenly all was right with the world! I still hadn't heard from Vanessa. What to do? I started to drive down a road that I had not been down before. I went for a beautiful drive in the country. I found where I want to live when I win the lottery. I am going back to take pictures this weekend. I hope it looks just as good when I return but I won't be high on chocolate.
We did meet at the restuarant and had a great time talking. The food was ok. Vanessa gave me my b-day present. A pair of silver earrings, very nice. She was probably tired of seeing me wear the same pair everyday!
Song of the day: "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Makes a Great Gift

Turning 20.I love this pattern because it is so easy and only requires 20 fat quarters. That also includes the border. It will never be a boring quilt with 20 different colors. My favorite place to get fat quarters is the Fat Quarter Shop. I could shop there all day.
The blue and gold quilt I made for my neice's highschool graduation present. I would much rather sit in my studio and quilt than go shopping. She loved it. The fabric is Lonni Rossi.
The next one is for my friend that lives in Paducah. We have known each other since 7th grade. I figured I better make her something since she lets me stay with her during the AQS show and she knows all of my secrets! She saw the bag in an earlier post and wants one of them too. I better get busy the show is almost here. The fabric is Moda Chez Moi.
I have 2 more cut out for graduation gifts in May.
I know I need to hang my quilts to photgraph, maybe one day.
Song of the day: "Go Insane" by Lindsey Buckingham

Sittin in the Basement

I made it all the way through my Cook Without A Book class tonight. We did portobello mushroom burgers, roasted garlic aioli, basic mayonnaise, broiled rosemary chicken, and grilled strip steak with green peppercorn butter. Everyone bolted out of there because we became under a tornado warning. I made it home safe and now we are all in the basement. The first one just went through and it looks like we have a couple more on the way throughout the night. We will probably be sleeping down here tonight. No pictures because they are all on my main computer so I will wrap up a few things. I meant to leave some links yesterday but I forgot.
Here are 2 of the photographers that were at the workshop in New Orleans.
J.D. Hayward and Darrell Gulin
I found a New Orleans based artist whose work is awesome.
James Michalopoulos
Song of the day: "To The Moon and Back" by Savage Garden

Traveling Music

My first trip to New Orleans was in 1995. My husband and I went to see Florida play Florida State. GO GATORS!!! This was about a 10 hour road trip. Long! Seeing New Orleans kinda took precedence over the game. I thought it was just the coolest place I had ever visited. While we were wondering around the French Quarter I found someone doing pastel portraits. I watched him for a minute then decided I wanted one. Well my husband was less than thrilled but he sat for it. That portrait of us is absolutely one of my favorites.
Now skipping forward to 1999 we returned to New Orleans because I signed up for a photography workshop through Outdoor Photographer. By then my husband was into Marty Stuart bigtime. So he persuaded me to listen to his new cd, "The Pilgrim". I had not listened to country music in forever. The whole cd tells a story of love, betrayal, wandering, and redemption. Needless to say I was very glad I listened to it, over and over. Then we sang every song over and over. When we arrived in New Orleans my husband just chilled out while I attended the workshop. The group I was in worked with 3 photographers and toured around the French Quarter, the swamps, and the Metairie Cemetery. Metairie was the best. They even brought in models for us to photograph around the graves. After the workshop was over my husband and I went back to the French Quarter looking for our pastel guy and could not find him. So we went into a local frame shop and asked about him and they said he had passed away. Very sad news. We really wanted to get another portrait done. We saw a few other artists around but were not impressed with their work. Lesson learned, sign your work! We never would have known who to ask for if his last name was not on the portrait.
Back again in 2001 for a conference. Get the Marty Stuart cd we need traveling music! I was quilting then so I had to locate every quilt shop I could find. We had to drive to one that was located outside New Orleans somewhere but I cannot remember where. I got my Mardi Gras fabric there. The shop in the French Quarter is where I bought some gorgeous crushed velvet for my crazy quilt that I will be doing in the future.
So what does all this mean? Well my husband had been obsessed with moving to Nashville since the whole Marty Stuart thing. He more or less fell in love with country music and wanted to be in the middle of it, so here we are. Then guess who he gets to meet? Marty! Marty invited us backstage at the Ryman Auditorium to hear him play. He is one talented individual. It's crazy how the world turns!
Song of the day: "Red, Red Wine and Cheatin' Songs" by Marty Stuart

Hillbilly Lobster

Traditional lobster, caught off the coast of scenic Maine in the beautiful Atlantic ocean. One big tail, one big piece of meat that you can usually get someone to get out for you. Dipped in butter the lobster is considered a delicacy for many Americans.
Hillbilly lobster (crawfish), caught in the muddy waters in the ditches along I-10 in Louisiana. They are definitely a culture unto themselves. Boiled with cajun seasoning, corn, potatoes, and sausage, dumped on a plate and ready to devour. Now the real task begins. Split it in half, suck the juice out of the head, and go get that little piece of meat out of the tail, exhaustion! Is it worth it? You bet it is!
My brother and I had a great time. The boudin sausage balls did not even make it out of the parking lot before I inhaled them. That was just a teaser until we got back to his house. My sister in law looked at us in disgust and their son just played with the crawfish. He used to have a hermit crab so maybe there was a little sympathy on his part.
Song of the day: "Born on the Bayou" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Roadtrip

What do Evansville, In. and Mardi Gras have in common? Nothing that I know of but that is where I am going tomorrow. There is a restuarant that gets crawfish shipped up from New Orleans for Mardi Gras. So my brother calls me, I go up, and we pig out. They also have boudin sausage balls. They are fried sausage and rice balls. I have only seen one recipe for them and that is from Emeril on Foodnetwork. He puts alot of ingredients in his. The ones at the restuarant are very simple but GOOD! So you guys take care and I will see you on sunday!
Song of the day: "Jambalaya" by Harry Connick Jr.