Lakeside Quilting

Quilt Top Finish

2012-02-16T16:16:00.001-05:00

I've finally finished the quilt top for my Block of the Month Quilt that I did in 2010 through the Fat Quarter Shop and I can't believe I waited so long to finish. I love how it all came together! I've already made the binding...just need to load it on the machine and decide how to quilt it. Any suggestions?

Catching Up...

2012-01-09T17:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't been very good about keeping my blog updated lately. Looking through my past few posts, I realized that I never even mentioned a few things...

Mary

1. I was lucky enough to go to Houston for Festival this year! My dear friend Mary and I had a wonderful time. We took a full day class with Elly Sienkiewicz. One of my life goals was to go to her Applique Academy. Not anymore. I feel like it's almost sacrilegious to say this, but she was not a good teacher. She constantly got lost in what she was telling us and seemed very confused. If someone questioned how she did something, she changed her mind and tried to explain another way, but couldn't quite do that either. It was hugely disappointing and I felt that I wasted my time and money in taking the class. She didn't bring enough supplies for everyone in the class, all in all it was a complete disappointment. It's a good thing I had Mary with me...she's a great teacher and I learned a lot from her! We did have fun walking around the show and it was so relaxing, spending time with her and her wonderful DH.

2. We really enjoyed the holidays this year. We loved having the kids all home for opening gifts on Christmas Eve and for dinner on Christmas day.

Ellen, Andrew, Dayna & Grace

3. I did finish a few small gifts for Christmas. Grace and Dayna each got a crocheted, slouchy beret. Here is Dayna's beret...I don't think I took a picture of Grace's, but hers was the same pattern in burgundy.

Ellen was the recipient of this year's "Unfinished Project"...a slouchy hat in a different pattern. But hers didn't take nearly as long to finish as Dayna's quilt did last year! I finished it this past weekend, and here it is...

My sister also received a knitted gift this year...a scarf that I started in a class last spring and finished a few weeks before Christmas. This was my knitting project on the plane coming home from Houston. It appears I didn't take a picture of it...or if I did I can't find it. You'll just have to believe me, it was very pretty and so soft!

Since the "Unfinished Gift" has become a family joke, I'll have to figure out who will get it next year!

The boss and I were looking back over 2011 and decided it was a very challenging year. We learned a lot from some of the experiences we had (like not to take in our kids' stray friends), I have some ongoing health challenges which have followed me into 2012 (do any of you have experience with shingles? If so, please share your story with me. I've had them for about a month and a half and never anticipated how debilitating the pain would be. I'm at the point where I feel kind of stupid saying that I have shingles since it's been so long, but that's what it is.).

I'm looking forward to a very productive 2012, because heaven knows I wasn't very productive in 2011! More on what I'll be working on in the next post!

Cleaning Out...

2011-12-29T17:03:00.001-05:00

I'm cleaning up my sewing room and dug into the closet. Way, way back I found this tablecloth, which my parents bought me when I graduated high school in 1979. Yes, this is what I wanted as my graduation present!

I remember working on the napkins when I worked at a craft store in college, and working on the tablecloth here and there at night. I swore I would finish it before I got married and had my first house.

Well, it wasn't finished when I got married, but that was fine because the first house didn't have a dining room. Of course it became a joke, the Boss said he wouldn't buy me a house with a dining room until I finished the tablecloth. House #2 didn't have a dining room either. This house, #3, does have a dining room, but we only used it for a dining room briefly. Now that room is set up as a den, which is much more useful to us.

I wonder if this will ever be finished?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T17:15:00.002-05:00

Wishing you all the joys of the season!

New use...

2011-12-10T13:01:00.001-05:00

For the cup holder in the car...it makes a great yarn holder!

Daisy's New Digs

2011-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

Daisy has a new place to hang out...

Here she is in the Medford Lakes Penitentiary! :-)

Looking Back...

2011-11-29T18:51:00.000-05:00

Not too far back, just to Thanksgiving! It was just us this year. My parents, sister and nephew's wife were

supposed to join us for dinner, but I managed to put a crimp in their plans...2 days before Thanksgiving I was diagnosed with shingles. Since Bistra, my niece-in-law has never had chicken pox, we decided that it was best not to expose her to me, just in case!

Grace, Ellen, Dayna and Andrew
Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving was to be an experiment as well...a few months ago, Ellen was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and has adopted a gluten-free diet. I made gluten-free stuffing and rolls (from this King Arthur Recipe) for dinner, along with regular stuffing and all the usual dishes. I made an apple crumb pie and our new local bakery, The Patriot's Bakery has taken on the challenge of baking gluten-free for us and they made a gluten-free apple crumb pie for Ellen. It was all delicious and we enjoyed a quiet dinner.

Apple Pie and Gluten-free rolls

The rest of the weekend involved some Christmas shopping, although not in the wee hours of Black Friday, and a great deal of time in my sewing room, as well as some knitting and crocheting time too! I can't share the knitting or crochet as they are Christmas gifts, but will share the quilting soon...

Miley

2011-11-27T14:33:00.001-05:00

My quilting companion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T12:46:00.001-05:00

The table is set, the turkey roasting, so I have a quiet moment to wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Roses...

2011-11-11T17:01:00.002-05:00

The last rose of the season can be just as beautiful as the first.

Working

2011-10-30T13:53:00.001-04:00

I visited a job site on Friday. Wouldn't this be a great place to work?

Design Wall Monday and the Winner!

2011-10-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

Another week has gone by and I haven't gotten much time to sew. I'm still cutting the little, bitty pieces for my Fireweed applique. This was a kit that the Boss brought back for me from his trip to Alaska last November. I decided that it had waited long enough, now that he's just returned from THIS year's trip to Alaska. One of these years I'll get to go with him!

My big accomplishment was getting the center done and the last few petals, leaves and centers appliqued onto my Aunt Millie's Garden quilt block. I used Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles to make the centers and I highly recommend them!

Sadly, my Phillies lost on Friday night, which ended their playoff run. I've never seen such a quiet crowd leaving the stadium as I did Friday...it was a long walk back to the parking lot!

And now Daisy (who thinks she's a cat) and Ellen will pick the winner of the drawing for The Devil's Puzzle by Clare O'Donohue. I finished reading the book this weekend and really enjoyed it. I'll have a review some time this week...as soon as I get a chance to sit down and organize my thoughts! I asked Ellen to pick a number and the number is...3. So that means Jane from Imperfect Quilter is our winner! Jane, I'll be emailing you shortly to get your address!

Back to normal...

2011-10-05T09:14:00.001-04:00

My living room is back to normal...my machine is up!

Of course I immediately quilted a donation quilt!

And since we gave Andrew our kitchen set when he moved into his apartment, it was time for a new one, which just arrived...

After eating at at a wobbly card table for the last few weeks, I'm so happy to have a real table again!

We even have matching bar stools! Yeah, it's the little things that make me happy!

Design Wall Monday and a Giveaway!

2011-10-03T08:41:00.002-04:00

Not much happened in the sewing room this week because I was too busy watching baseball! So, I have a fusible applique quilt in the making, I need to cut out all of the little pieces...

And I've been working on my applique block...still need to make the pinwheel that goes in the middle...

So, I have a design table tonight (yes, I'm cheating and writing this on Sunday night) and I'm working on them while I watch the Phillies in game 2 of the NLDS...

And that giveaway? Last week I was contacted by the publicist for Clare O'Donohue's new book, The Devil's Puzzle, which just came out. She asked if I'd be interested in receiving a copy of the book to review and another to give away. Of course I said yes! I'm reading it and so far I'm enjoying it. Clare will also do a guest post or a Q and A for us, so to enter...just leave a comment telling me what YOU would like to ask Clare O'Donohue! I'll post the winner on our next Design Wall Monday!

Let's go Phillies!!!

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-26T07:42:00.000-04:00

Not too much change in my design wall this week. I did finish all of the sashing strips for my quilt, although when I turned on the ceiling fan, they all flew off! I've also gotten started on the pinwheel blocks for the cornerstones. The first row of sashing and blocks are sewn together...I couldn't wait to see how it would look!

This is a closeup of one of the pinwheels...

Over to the left on the design wall is a project I've picked up again...Aunt Millie's Garden by Piece o Cake Designs. The top block is one I've had done for ages. The bottom block is what I've been working on in the evenings. I had set it aside when I was hand quilting and I'm so happy I can work on it again...I just love how these blocks are turning out!

Now go check out what others are doing at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-12T20:37:00.000-04:00

I didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped, but I did get most of the sashing done for my block of the month quilt. I'm loving it so far! Check out what everyone else has on their design walls over at Judy's blog!

Christmas present...

2011-09-08T18:31:00.000-04:00

But not for this Christmas! Remember last Christmas when I was hand quilting a quilt for Dayna, Andrew's girlfriend? Well, it wasn't finished for Christmas and it wasn't finished for Easter...or the 4th of July, but, it WAS finished for Labor Day and Dayna finally got her Christmas present! Since I gave it to her in the parking lot at a Phillies game, I don't have a picture of her with the quilt, but here are a few of the quilt...

Close Up of Hand Quilting

The finished quilt.

I love how the quilt turned out...I think she does too!

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-05T14:11:00.000-04:00

For the first time in a very long time I can participate in Design Wall Monday! I haven't had a design wall in over a year and I've just recently gotten my sewing room back and together. My first project now that I'm back will be to finish up this quilt. It's the Heartland Heritage Sampler mystery block of the month that I finished the blocks for over a year ago.

Now I have the finishing kit out and ready to go...this will be my first project in a long time! We also cleared out the living room this weekend so my longarm can go back up...I can't wait! I already have a Christmas quilt ready to go...it's one that I didn't have time to quilt before the machine came down. Now that I'll only be quilting my own quilts, I expect to finish a few things!

Getting Paranoid!

2011-08-31T21:03:00.000-04:00

I've noticed a disturbing trend over the past few years...seems like I go places and they flood. I moved to Medford Lakes back in 1999 and a few years later we had a flood.

Two years ago, we went to Nashville and stayed at the Gaylord Opryland. It was raining when we left and it flooded.

Last week, Grace and I took a few days to head north and enjoy one of my favorite places...southern Vermont.

Here's Grace last Wednesday in front of one of our favorite breakfast spots...Dot's.

And sure enough, it was raining when we left Vermont on Thursday and over the weekend, Wilmington, VT had catastrophic flooding. (and I won't even mention that Ludlow, Londonderry, Bennington, Brattleboro and all my other favorite places in VT flooded too.)

At the end of July, Grace and I were in Wayne and Paterson, NJ so she could take a few classes at William Paterson University. And guess what? Wayne and Paterson also flooded this weekend.

Is it any wonder I'm becoming paranoid??? Just a heads up...I'll be heading to Houston for Quilt Festival in November. If Houston floods, I'm staying home and never going anywhere again!

If you would like to help the relief effort in Vermont, you can donate to the Vermont & The New Hampshire Valley Red Cross and earmark your donation for flood relief. For New Jersey you can donate to the Penn-Jersey Red Cross. There are many other organizations who are helping with flood relief up and down the east coast, check in your area if you are able to help.

Canoe Carnival...

2011-08-10T18:51:00.000-04:00

is over for another year, and it was a good one!

The lake was windy and rough, almost every float had to be pushed off the sand at the beach, then towed down the lake. This video came from an observer at the beach...shortly after we were pushed out, the wind took our pizza off the top of the float! Our theme this year was "A Night in Venice" and our music was Dean Martin singing "That's Amore". It was a wonderful evening...here are a few more pictures!

Ellen, Andrew and Grace

Almost ready to launch, just waiting for nightfall!

Off we go!

The boss...all ready to row this monstrosity around the lake!

Hello...

2011-07-31T21:07:00.000-04:00

is anyone still out there? It's kind of funny...when you have a quilting blog and you put your longarm into storage, and you do almost no quilting or knitting...there's not much to post about!

Things are changing around here once again. My full house is just a little emptier now. We're back down to just our children living at home and at the end of the month, Andrew will be moving out. So, it will be just us and the girls at home. Since our house never sold and I have a sewing room again, my longarm will be coming out of storage...I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this! I really hope to be quilting again soon!

Lee and Andrew working

In the meantime, it's Canoe Carnival time again and we've done a little building. Our float is very simple this year, but should be good! We've had some beautiful days to work, so here are a few pictures...

Beautiful day at the lake!

And we have a beautiful place to enjoy while we're working...

The Lake House

Hosta Garden

So anyway, I'm back and will be posting again...I've missed all of you!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T13:47:00.000-04:00

“Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.” ~Kahlil Gibran

Return to the Flood Zone

2011-05-11T15:58:00.000-04:00

Last year we were fortunate enough to visit the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. It poured while we were there and I talked about the flooding here.

The hotel reopened in November and we were invited back for a "Welcome Back" weekend this past weekend. We had a fabulous time! The staff welcomed us with open arms...they even applauded as we walked into the special reception that they held for the "survivors" on Friday night.

On Saturday morning we were invited to a hotel tour. Our tour guides, Brad and Rob, were exceptional. They showed us the hotel in all its restored beauty and pointed out the changes that were made during the restoration...new restaurants, new decor..they even renovated parts of the hotel that weren't damaged by the floodwaters. We had a beautiful view of the Delta Atrium from our balcony, as well as the "Dancing Waters" show that was right outside our door!

While there we decided to take a ride to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. If you ever have the chance, GO!!! It's a beautiful drive there from Nashville and the tour was so interesting...I just wish we could have taken pictures inside the buildings! There was no taste testing either...it's located in a dry county.

Even without the taste testing, it was a great place to visit. I found it interesting that Jack Daniels died after kicking a safe in anger when he couldn't get it open. An infection set in, eventually killing him.

There's a life sized statue of him near the spring that the whiskey is made from.

So the boss and I had to pose!

Many thanks go out to the Gaylord Opryland for having us back to the hotel for 2 nights at no charge, as well as providing us with the tour, the reception and even Grand Ole Opry tickets.

And did I mention the chocolates that they left in our rooms the first night? They were pretty amazing too!

Knit One...

2011-04-23T17:32:00.000-04:00

Or maybe two! In the last month I've finished one slouchy beret....

and made a second one....

I've made a scarf to match the first beret...

and started a second scarf in my Easy Lace class, just for fun...

But I have not sewn a single stitch....I'll need to remedy that soon!

Cupcakes!

2011-03-20T19:32:00.000-04:00

Not much to show lately, except for these cupcakes! I did finish the hat and am almost done a scarf to match (at least the colors match!) Pictures to follow soon. Grace talked me into buying yarn for 3 more hats, to be finished by next winter. Maybe. I think I'll probably need to find a different pattern so I don't get bored!

I've been so busy I haven't picked up my hand quilting in a few weeks. That might be done by next winter too!

What was I thinking?

2011-03-05T08:27:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago there was a Groupon offer that I couldn't pass up. Three knitting lessons at a yarn shop in Haddonfield, NJ called Woolplay, for only $40. Grace and I decided to go on a little adventure on Thursday and head to Haddonfield to sign up for classes. Of course, we couldn't leave without buying a little something! Grace saw a sample hat that she loved, so somehow I offered to make it for her. The pattern is the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Hanson and is a free Ravelry download. She picked out a gorgeous Malabrigo Twist yarn in the Damask Rose colorway.

Yesterday, in spite of having far too many projects started, I wound the yarn and figured I'd give it a whirl. This is where I am after an evening's knitting. I hope to finish it this weekend. I love the drape of the knitted fabric, it's so soft. Grace is already putting in orders for her next hats...she figures if I make her 365 of them, she'll have never have to wear the same one twice! I think I'll have to teach her how to knit!

And what classes did I sign up for? An "Easy Lace" class and a class on fixing your mistakes...I need that one badly! I'll have one more class, which will be in the fall. The surprising thing is, this delightful shop has been there for 6 YEARS and I didn't even know about it!

Spring?

2011-02-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

I took my Plan C quilt outside to take some long overdue pictures....

And look what I saw!

Crocuses definitely mean Spring must be on the way!

It's beautiful here in NJ...it's nice to have the windows open...

I'll enjoy it while I can, the weekend will be colder! I machine quilted this on my Pfaff. I'd forgotten how awkward it is to quilt on a domestic machine after having the longarm. I'm thinking about selling the longarm. I won't be able to set it up again for years and I don't want it to sit idle that long. So, do you think anyone would be interested?

Snow Day!

2011-01-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

Our little 2" to 4" of snow that we were getting last night turned into a foot of heavy, wet snow.

All the schools are closed, the Boss and Andrew's office is closed and I'm staying home all day!

We decided we're not putting the house back on the market since we now have all the kids plus one at home, so we bought a sofa for our living room. Now we have this cozy little space that we can relax in while they are in the family room watching TV.

On the table is my Plan C quilt top from Carrie Nelson's Schnibbles Times Two book ...I'm hoping to machine quilt it on my Pfaff today...with a day off I might as well play!

I hope you enjoy your day!

On the Side...

2011-01-16T09:09:00.001-05:00

Sherri at The Loopy Ewe is having a First Quarter 2011 Cable Challenge. The idea is to knit anything with a cable and finish it this quarter. Yeah, by the end of March. I decided to jump on in because Grace had asked me to make a scarf that matched the mitts I made her last year. Easy enough! I gave her a few options and she chose On the Side (Ravelry link) by Abby Tohline. So far it's knitting up pretty quickly and is a simple seed stitch with a reversible cable down one side. I'm hoping I can finish it before the winter is over...I'd like her to be able to use it!

I'm alternating working on this with hand quilting my nine patch quilt. It was a Christmas present for Andrew's girlfriend Dayna and she's waiting patiently for it. One of these days...

I also got back to my machine last weekend and hope to have a finished top by the end of this weekend...I'll post that when it's done! I'll quilt this one on my Pfaff since my longarm is still in storage, which is where it will remain for the foreseeable future. Someday it will see the light of day again...I hope!

Daisy Damage

2011-01-14T17:08:00.001-05:00

I love my puppy, but she's a chewer. She has her own quilt, which sits on the floor in the living room. She plays on it, sleeps on it and NEVER chews HER quilt. Mine, on the other hand, is fair game. So, over the holidays she did this...

I decided to fix it today. First I found similar fabrics and sewed them together. Then I appliqued the blue side into the nine patch.

Then I did the same with the white...

I tucked a small piece of batting into the hole, then appliqued an old Debbie Mumm Santa over the hole in the back.

I did a little bit of stippling to hold everything together...and I thought it turned out pretty good! Now I'll pack it away for next Christmas.

And now it's a quilt with a story! (And I do still love Daisy!)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T16:14:00.001-05:00

I wish you all the blessings that the new year can hold. I've been blessed with this group in the photo...they've brought so many wonderful things into our lives. Jake and Ellen are on the left, Grace is in the center and Andrew and Dayna are on the right. They're all remarkable young adults and I can't wait to see what wonderful things they do with their lives.

There are changes in the works here at Lakeside Quilting. We've invited Jake to live with us, after a rough patch in his life. He's been a welcome addition to our household and a tremendous help with Daisy! I've given him my sewing room as his bedroom, so there will be much less sewing by machine in the new year. I currently have 3 or 4 quilts to be handquilted, as well as enough yarn to keep me busy for several years, so I'll be content with whatever time I get in front of the sewing machine.

Andrew will be spending more time at home as well and I'm so happy about that too! Of course, with all these adults living in the house, I'm cooking a lot more, which is a good thing. I enjoyed focusing on home this holiday season and we loved staying in with the kids this year...there's something about having everyone under my roof for Christmas that makes me happy and at peace. It was fun when they were little, but even more fun now that they're adults...and adding Dayna and Jake to the mix this year was fabulous.

So, 2011 will be an adventure here at Lakeside...and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. Thanks to all of you who have continued to visit, in spite of the fact I don't post as regularly as I used to. Thanks to those who comment and let me know that you're still out there. Thanks to all of you who have become such a large part of my life!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from Daisy...

And from our "gingerbread" house to yours!

I wish you all the blessings of the Christmas Season!

December?

2010-12-13T18:03:00.000-05:00

Time just seems to be flying by, so much to do, so much to see and not much time at the computer to share what's been happening! There haven't been any "finishes" for me, I'm still working on hand quilting the quilt (which will never be done in time for Christmas!) and I've got a few knitting projects sitting untouched. I did get away for a few days. There was a real estate convention in Atlantic City last week and my boss and I went from Tuesday to Thursday. We stayed at Harrah's marina and this sand sculpture was in the lobby.

After a series of little mishaps and inconveniences, Harrah's upgraded us to a suite in their Waterfront Tower, which was pretty spectacular. I felt like royalty with our fancy bathrooom...

and our beautiful bedroom with an incredible view of the bay...

our lovely dining room, where we enjoyed our room service breakfast...

And even more beautiful views of the bay...

and our relaxing living room, where yes, I did sit and quilt for awhile!

We felt totally spoiled and enjoyed every minute of it. Once I came home, I decided I needed a little Christmas. The Boss had suggested we go into Philadelphia to see the 'Christmas Village' which was set up by City Hall. It was a collection of temporary shops which sold everything from mulled wine to German Christmas decorations. It was set up around the city Christmas tree...

I just love City Hall...it's such a beautiful building!

Grace also wanted to do some shopping at Tiffany. We did look at all the displays in the store, which was great fun!

Then we had dinner at Max Brenners...the food was incredible and the service was first rate. I was impressed that when they brought me the wrong food by mistake, they not only corrected it, but comped both my meal and my husband's. I'll definitely be going back.

Now I guess I should make some preparations for Christmas! Most of the shopping is done, the tree is up with lights and the packages to far off places are mailed. We're not sure that we're decorating the tree this year, Daisy likes to chew most everything...furniture, kitchen towels, and I'm guessing that Christmas ornaments would be a real treat!

Happy Thanksgiving...

2010-11-24T15:36:00.000-05:00

The rolls are baked

The apple pie is ready...

The stuffing is made, the green beans cleaned...all that I'll have to do tomorrow is bake some cranberry bread, make mashed potatoes and gravy, and, oh yeah...roast that turkey! We're staying home this year...the kids are looking forward to a quiet day filled with football and feasting. We have another reason to stay home this year...

Daisy was spayed on Monday and she needs rest and relaxation so she can heal. Poor puppy, she does NOT like that collar around her head! But every time I take it off, she starts licking her incision, so on it stays.

I wish for you, my friends, a blessed Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends and all good things. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

2010-11-12T14:11:00.000-05:00

Today is Andrew's 23rd birthday...I can't believe he's that old. Seems like yesterday that he was just a little guy, toddling around the house with his stuffed giraffe. As you can tell from the picture, he might have grown up, but he's still a little kid inside! He and his girlfriend Dayna dressed as Ash and Misty from Pokemon for Halloween. Andrew, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

It's the small things...

2010-11-09T17:57:00.000-05:00

That make me happy! Today a customer stopped by with a copy of a just published book for me...Vivacious Curvy Quilts by Dianne S. Hire.

Inside was her quilt "Life on the Technicolor Highway", which I had quilted for her. Here it is, on page 19...and not only mentions Jane as the creator, but me as the quilter! This is my first appearance in a book, although I did have a mention in McCall's quilting years ago, when I quilted a quilt for Michelle Scott.

But I guess it's always a thrill to see your name in print!!!

Saturday Stitching...

2010-11-06T12:12:00.000-04:00

Enjoying the process...but so much more left to stitch. Think it will be finished by Christmas? Only 48 more days...

Help?

2010-10-24T16:46:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday with this quilt. Her sister had gotten it years ago at an estate sale and gave it to her. She was cleaning her home office, found it and decided it was one of those projects she'd never get to...so she offered it to me. Sight unseen, I said I'd be happy to take it off her hands! It's in beautiful condition, the flowers are hand appliqued and it's machine pieced.

My question is, what is the name of this block? I thought it might be a dahlia of some sort, but haven't found anything but the giant dahlia quilt, which it definitely isn't. Any ideas? Here's a closeup of one of the blocks...

And just because she's cute, here's a picture of Daisy. She's growing up so fast!

Oddly Fascinated...

2010-10-07T16:19:00.000-04:00

I had two plans for my recovery...to quilt and to knit. Okay, I also planned to do some computer work for the real job (which I've done). I started my Lily Cardigan from Marie Grace Designs and have found myself doing more knitting than quilting. I find that I'm oddly fascinated with how this sweater is constructed and find it amazing that I can follow the pattern...I'm not so good at following knitting patterns. Or patterns in general.

But I'm in love with these raglan increases. They're just so much fun and I made them! They may not all line up perfectly, but then, neither do I, so I'm okay with that at this stage. Once the sweater is done I may not be quite as happy with them.

I'm having the boss take me to my favorite yarn store this weekend, as my 24" circular needle won't cut it for a sweater that will have over 300 stitches on the needles by the end. It's already getting a little hard to work with, so tonight I'll spend some time quilting. Unless those little raglan increases start calling to me again.

And how about that Phillies game last night? Awesome...

It's been a long time...

2010-09-29T20:21:00.000-04:00

since I basted a quilt by hand. I kind of miss having my longarm handy!

The road much travelled...

2010-09-28T16:53:00.000-04:00

We spent Friday and Saturday running up to Vermont so we could move Andrew back home. I have to admit, it was a little sad to move him out of his apartment. But, Vermont put on a show for us, so I felt much better about it! The color in the Ludlow area was beautiful, although not quite at peak. Here is the bridge, which gave Bridge Street its name.

Behind the apartment...

Saying goodbye to "The Hole"...

One last look at Okemo...

Back at home I've finished two of my September/October Projects. The banner for church is completed and just needs to be dropped off tomorrow.

I also finished my socks...finally!

On the drive to Vermont I also knitted a dishcloth and a half...finished them when we got home!

Next up will be basting and quilting the 9 patch quilt. I'll have some quiet time to quilt in the next week or so, since I'm headed to the hospital on Friday for a little surgery. Nothing major, it's an outpatient procedure, but there will still be a few weeks of recovery time. Now to get that quilt basted so I'm ready!!!

Michael's Wedding...

2010-09-20T19:09:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, my nephew Michael married a beautiful Bulgarian girl named Bistra. They make a wonderful couple and I wish them every happiness!

Michael and Bistra with my parents

Love this picture of my Dad!

My family...Grace, Me, The Boss, Andrew and Ellen

Andrew and his beautiful Dayna

Ellen and her handsome Jake...who really is smiling here!

My gorgeous girls

And the love of my life

Congratulations to Michael and Bistra! I'm so very happy for you!

September/October Goals

2010-09-10T08:29:00.000-04:00

Kelly has asked us Charming Girls to share our goals for September and October. Mine are pretty simple. Quilt the 9 patch quilt and finish the banner in the previous post, and finish these socks which have been languishing on the needles for close to a year. I do knit slowly.

Our topic this month is "Quilting the Quilt". Kelly's asked for ideas...as a longarm quilter, I'm often asked for my opinion on quilting. Although there is beautiful, elaborate machine quilting out there, I've always liked a simpler treatment for quilts. I try to let the quilt "speak to me" and design the quilting around what it says. If the quilt has a particular period, 30's for example, I usually use motifs you would have found on quilts of that time. I've never been one to quilt things to death, although I do admire quilts that are quilted this way. Kind of like art quilts...I admire them but wouldn't make one.

All in all, it really depends on the quilt. There are some that just call for more detailed quilting and others that the piecing is so beautiful that busy quilting would diminish the piecing. Just go with what your heart says...it will always be right!

September!

2010-09-07T16:41:00.000-04:00

I love September...it's like the start of a new year! I have a new planner, just waiting to be filled in. Grace will be going back to school tomorrow...she's looking forward to starting at her new high school. We've had a lot of good news lately...I think the best being that Andrew is moving home from Vermont. He interviewed on Friday at the company my husband works for in Philadelphia and they offered him the job. He will be the 3rd generation in our family to work for this company. In addition, he also stopped at a local snowboard shop and they hired him part time, so he'll be coming home with not one job, but two! The plan is to have him home by the end of September.

We spent our Labor Day weekend working on our shed. Every agent that has seen our house has commented that it's an eyesore...and they were all right! Here's the before picture....

After spending the weekend removing the old, rotten trim, replacing it, removing the doors and repairing them, priming and painting, it now looks like this. I think it's a bit of an improvement!

I've done a little sewing...I'm repairing and refinishing one of the old banners from our church. I've removed the old border fabric and replaced it, after washing the central counted cross stitch piece. There was a patch in the center which I will replace, then I'll put it all back together with a little bit of machine quilting before I return it to the church.

I also finally got the borders on my 9 patch challenge quilt. I'm planning to hand quilt this since my quilting machine is packed away in my garage, waiting to be moved to its new home, once its old home is sold. I really wish that would happen soon! I think it's time to bury St. Joseph. Our last house was on the market for a year and didn't sell until we buried St. Joseph...yeah, it's definitely time!

Daisy is growing bigger by the minute. She's mostly trained, as long as we remember to take her out! With all the dry weather we've had, the leaves are starting to fall. When we take her outside, she picks up a leaf and carries it around in her mouth until she finds a better leaf. Then she'll drop the first one and pick up the new one. She's quite amusing!

With Andrew moving back, Max will be moving home too. They met this weekend and after an uneasy start (Daisy did NOT like Max sniffing around her food!) they came to a truce and spent a great deal of time ignoring each other. I guess eventually they'll get used to each other!

So, that's what's been going on in my corner of the world, what's new in yours?

Wonderful Weekend...

2010-08-23T17:11:00.000-04:00

I was able to take a little vacation over the weekend. On Thursday morning, I headed to Vermont. It was a beautiful day for a drive. I headed north through NJ and NY, up the Merritt through CT, 91 through MA and then into Vermont where I went directly to King Arthur Flour in Norwich. Spent a little time and a few bucks there, then headed over to the Quechee Dam in Quechee, VT. I wandered through the Simon Pearce Glass Factory, then watched the water fall over the dam...fascinating.

Then I watched these crazy kids swimming at the base of the falls...couldn't figure out how they got down there!

Later in the weekend Andrew and I spent a few hours at the Long Trail Brewery, taking in the scenery (and the beer!)

We drove back through Quechee on our way home and found the Gorge...don't know how I missed it earlier! We took in the view from the top...

Which was fabulous...

Then somehow he convinced me to hike the half mile to the bottom of the gorge...in flip flops!

And I'm glad he did...it was worth it! (Although the walk back up was a bear!)

Not only was I in Vermont to visit my favorite son...

But I was there for a few events at the Waterwheel House Quilt Shop. On Friday we made pillowcases for charity. There were 5 of us and between us we made 25 pillowcases! It was great fun and I got to meet some wonderful people, especially Beverly from The Magic of Ordinary Days. What a kind and gentle person she is, it was a pleasure getting to know her!

Then on Saturday we had a potluck lunch for all of us who participated in the 9 patch challenge that Shelley had at her store. There were beautiful quilts, perfect weather, amazing food...

It was a great time!

The ride home wasn't nearly as fun as the ride up...lots of rain and horrendous traffic...but I'm so glad I went!

Here we go again...

2010-08-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

I can't believe we did this, but meet Daisy, our new puppy! Her mom is a Siberian Husky and Dad is an Australian Shepherd. She's gentle and sweet...but such a PUPPY! I haven't had a puppy in the house for 17 years, the last few dogs we had were adopted as adults. She has one blue eye and one brown eye. Can't wait to see what we're in for!!!

Please Vote!

2010-08-03T07:41:00.000-04:00

The voting has begun for the Schnibbles Times Two Contest! Please visit Kelly's blog and vote for your favorite...hopefully it will be mine, which is #13 - Seasons of Change! Thanks!

Schnibbles

2010-07-25T15:37:00.000-04:00

This week I got my Schnibbles quilt quilted, bound and ready for its photo shoot. I chose to do Open Season in the small size and used Moda's "Collection for a Cause - Charity" Charm Pack for the fabric, paired with a cream tone on tone that I had in my stash. The binding is a Jo Morton fabric, which went well with the collection. I have to admit, I loved making this quilt. It came together beautifully. This is the first Schnibble that I've made, and it won't be the last! So, here are my photos for the contest...

Schnibble in the Garden

A Little Closer

Close up with Quilting

July Goals

2010-07-12T18:59:00.000-04:00

The topic this month for the Charming Girls and Guys is self care. Have to admit, I'm not very good at that! I decided that my goal for the month would be to spend some time in my sewing room. With getting the house fixed up and on the market, I hadn't visited it, except to pile stuff on the tables. I got it so clean that I couldn't wait to go up and work. I finished my 9 patch blocks and my Schnibbles quilt this weekend, so that goal was accomplished. That brings me to my quilting goals, which we're also supposed to be setting! So, here are mine...

1. Take these 9 patches, which Miley is helping me organize, and turn them into a quilt. Last month I joined the 9 patch challenge at Waterwheelhouse House Quilt Shop in Londonderry, VT. They'll be having a luncheon for all those who participated in late August, so I'll be driving up to visit Andrew and have lunch.

2. My second goal is to quilt and finish my Schnibbles quilt. I'm up to date on the quilt along now and my top is finished. If I have time, once I finish my customer quilts, this little quilt will go on the machine.

I'd also like to get in a little knitting time, but that's not a huge priority. Of course my biggest goal will be to sell our house...I can't wait for that to happen! Keep your fingers crossed...

Changes

2010-07-07T15:29:00.000-04:00

Thinking about where we've been...

And what we'll leave behind...and miss....

So we've been fixing things up to get ready...

And painting...and reorganizing...

and dreaming of where we might someday be...

Our house is on the market...showings will start this weekend. It's been a flurry of craziness getting ready, decisions to make, too much to think about! The hardest decision is what to do with this...

Yes, I'm keeping it. But only to work on my own projects. Once my last two customer quilts are done, it will be taken down, packed away and Lakeside Quilting will close its doors. It is time to move on to new ventures.

Have I mentioned how excited I am?

My 15 seconds of fame...

2010-06-23T08:34:00.000-04:00

He really did it! Yesterday was my birthday and we happened to have tickets to the Phillies game as part of our season ticket plan. I harassed the boss about wanting to have my name in lights for my birthday and he actually did it! Along with your name in lights you get a few little gifts...including the opportunity to be totally humiliated when a cute guy comes to your section, announces it's your birthday and has your ENTIRE section sing "Happy Birthday" to you, complete with confetti sprinkled all over you!

To top it all off, it was a Phillies WIN and Raul Ibanez got a hit...just for me, I'm sure! :o)

What an incredible birthday!

A good week...

2010-06-02T07:55:00.000-04:00

Last week I finished this quilt which was sent to a little girl celebrating her 4th birthday. This is my second quilt for the Wrapped in Hope Program.

I finished this customer quilt...it was the second in the same pattern, but a smaller version. Very cute!

And I discovered who has been eating all of the plants out in front of my house! It was a good week...

Schnibbles Times Two Contest

2010-05-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

I wasn't going to enter, but my travels today took me past a little quilt shop and a few Moda Charm Packs followed me home. The book arrived in the mail last week. So here are my book and fabrics...the hard part is deciding which quilt to make!

Still here...

2010-05-16T20:29:00.000-04:00

Beautiful flowers from Andrew for Mother's Day...I had a fabulous Mother's Day this year. Each of my children brought me to tears with their thoughtfulness, I'm blessed to have such wonderful children!

I'm adjusting to the new job...it's going well and I love it. But there has been little to no fabric therapy going on here and I miss it! I finally sat down one night this week and made this quilt for a little girl who will be celebrating her fourth birthday in June. This is the second donation quilt that I'm doing for Margaret's Hope Chest. I have quilted a few customer quilts...but haven't taken pictures. I have a feeling that my posts are going to be short for awhile, at least until I figure out how to juggle all that I have going on...but I will be back!

Another Miracle...

2010-05-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

We were fortunate enough last week to head to Nashville, TN for a business meeting that the boss had to attend.

We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel from Wednesday until Sunday. If you've never been in a Gaylord Hotel, it's a real treat! They are just amazingly beautiful.

Lee had meetings through Friday, then we were on our own Saturday. We had planned to head to downtown Nashville, but as you might have heard, they had a little rain in Nashville over the weekend. We hung out at the hotel and enjoyed ourselves for the day.

On Sunday, everything was flooding, so we decided to head to the airport a little early, just in case later in the day we couldn't get there. It turned out to be a very smart move. When our car came to pick us up, the driver couldn't come to the main entrance because the water was knee deep out front. He picked us up elsewhere, and took back roads to the airport because all of the main roads were flooded.

We sat and watched the bands of rain come through the airport and it was just frightening. But, we were able to take off only a few minutes late and made it safely home.

Unfortunately, after we left, the flood waters poured into the hotel and it had to be evacuated. Now this beautiful hotel looks like this and will be closed for months while they clean up. The newspaper today estimated the damage to be close to $75 million.

Understatement...

2010-04-24T11:42:00.000-04:00

Got a call from Andrew last night. He says, "Mom? I may have some trouble getting home. I'm in my car and it's upside down. I'm fine, but you may need to come pick me up." He was on the NY Thruway, about 3 hours from home when someone cut him off. He slammed on the brakes and avoided the car, but the woman in the Suburban behind him slammed into him, spinning and flipping his car into a ditch. It's only by the grace of God that he is here today. He grabbed his dog and held him until the car stopped moving. They both walked away and Andrew only has a scratch on his ankle. Miracles DO happen!

I'm so behind...

2010-04-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

I'll never catch up! That's okay, I'm not even going to try. Instead of being home, getting things done on Saturday, the boss and I headed into Philadelphia. He had to scout out parking for the 15 passenger vans his company was using this week to transport guys around the city, so I offered to come along and suggested that we stop at a few places on South Street. Being the good guy he is, he didn't mind heading to Spool and Loop...two side by side stores that sell some of my favorite things...fabric and yarn!

I did manage to find a few things to take home from the stores...a few half yards of fabric for my AMG quilt and some beautiful sock yarn. Then we went to the other end of South Street and hit Jim's for cheesesteaks and the Fourth Street Deli for some chocolate chip cookies. But I have to admit, the highlight of the trip was standing in the yarn store watching them wind my yarn into pretty little cakes for me...I've been draping yarn over a chair and winding it into balls, which is no fun. I was so entertained, I decided it was time to invest in my very own yarn swift and ball winder. They arrived today...

Grace and I had more fun than anyone should have, winding a skein of sock yarn into a cake! I can see it now...whenever we're bored, instead of playing Scrabble or cards, we'll pull out our new toys and wind yarn! Oh yeah, we know how to have fun!

Congratulations Andrew!

2010-04-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

Andrew just found out he won a contest for a plaid snowboard, sponsored by Burton Snowboards, RideVermont and Cabot Cheese with this poem...enjoy! :o)

CG&GQC April Goals

2010-04-06T14:03:00.000-04:00

No pics today...just a very short list, since I'm not sure that I'll have much time to sew this month! Last week I was offered a job that I just couldn't turn down, so I'll be starting that next week. As most of you know, I got my real estate license back in December and have been working with Keller Williams since the beginning of the year. I'm going to be the Team Assistant for SJ Area Homes Team, which means that in addition to having my own clients and listings, I'll be working for the team preparing the paperwork, uploading listings to our websites, and whatever else I'll learn to do next week. As a result, I've resigned from Weight Watchers and will go back to being a Lifetime Member. So...I'm not sure how much time I'll have this month since I'll be training.

All that being said, my goals for this month are:

1. Finish my March AMG block,
2. Finish the sock I started last night,
3. Make an orange quilt for my next little girl from Wrapped in Hope, who has a June birthday.

I'm continuing to quilt for customers as well and have a few quilts lined up. It's going to be a great month!

March Finishes

2010-04-03T09:26:00.000-04:00

It didn't feel like I got much accomplished this month, but apparently I did get a few things done. The cake stand quilt block top was completed. I put it on the longarm to quilt it, but just couldn't do it...so I basted it and it will be hand quilted.

I finished the last block of my block of the month...now to make the sashings and cornerstones, which are also pieced.

This quilt was not on the list. I volunteered to make a quilt for a 14 year old girl through Margaret's Hope Chest. They had asked for volunteers for their Wrapped in Hope program, which makes quilts for the birthdays of children of inmates in different areas. This quilt will go to a young lady whose birthday is in May. It's all finished, just needs a label and I will post it at the end of the month so she has it in time for her big day.

I didn't get my tower of fabrics untied, let alone made into a quilt, nor did I finish my AMG block, although I did make substantial progress on it! One thing I did make that wasn't on the list was this loaf of Easter Bread. It was delicious with a cup of tea this morning! I wish all of you a happy and blessed Easter!

National Quilting Day

2010-03-27T16:37:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, the boss and I took a drive to Wheaton Village for the Garden Patch Quilters show. Here are a few pictures of quilts that I liked...I didn't take note of the quilters' names so if one of these is yours, please let me know so I can give you credit!

My husband is the best...

2010-03-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

The boss is in Toronto on business this week and had some free time this morning. So what did he do? He found Lettuce Knit and stopped in to pick up some Canadian yarn for me. I knew there was a reason I love him!

This and That...

2010-03-18T09:51:00.000-04:00

Thought I should see what pictures were on the camera...sadly none of them were quilting! We had a fun weekend...

Andrew and Max were here from Vermont...two of his college friends were married on Friday and he came down for the wedding. While he was here we went to the Library II to celebrate the boss's birthday...

along with Ellen and her friend Ryan...

And Grace and her friend Matt...

On Sunday Grace celebrated Pi Day...

with a chocolate cream pie...why did I give up chocolate for Lent?

Some sewing has been done...more on that later. Unfortunately for me, Miley has spent more time sitting in my sewing chair than I have!

March Goals

2010-03-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of goals for March, but will try to be realistic about what I have time to accomplish. So,

1. I'm going to try to do something with these blocks...just got in some fabric for the alternate blocks, I hope it works with them!

2. I'm going to make my second Aunt Millie's Garden block.

and

3. I'm going to try to come up with something to make with this...

I hope I get at least one thing finished!

February Goals...

2010-02-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

Here are the results from my February goals...

#1. Finish the 3 blocks I was behind for my Heartland Heritage BOM...turns out another came in after I posted and I was able to finish all 4 blocks this month!

#2. Finish the January block for my Aunt Millie's Garden Quilt...I've already posted a pic, but here it is again!

#3. Applique the AMG block for February. Yeah. This one didn't happen. So I'll just make March's block next!

In the next day or two I'll post my goals for March, once I decide what they are!

Spring Sewing Party!

2010-02-25T21:04:00.003-05:00

9:20 PM Update

Had dinner, watched Canada win the gold in curling and finished the first sleeve for my sweater! I haven't knit a sweater for over 20 years (and that was a baby sweater). It's obvious...apparently a few times during the lacy portion of the sleeve, I messed up and the pattern is off. Good thing I'm not a perfectionist...I don't think it will be a glaring error once the sweater is done. If it it, I'll reknit the sleeve. I'm going to check out all the blogs and see what everyone else has been up to. I'll leave the cutting of my second block for tomorrow...I'm a little too tired to use the rotary cutter! Can't wait to see what everyone has been creating all day!

6:00 PM - Second Update

Block #1 is finished! Dinner and curling, then hopefully I'll still be awake to do block 2. :o)

4:30 PM - First Check In...

The plan was to be ready to go, with dinner in the Crockpot by 10am. I was ready, dinner was set...but due to circumstances beyond my control, my plans were changed and I didn't set foot into my sewing room until 3:30 this afternoon. I was going to make the two blocks for my Heartland Heritage BOM as my first project...looks like I'll be lucky to get both of them done as my only project!

The first block is now cut and the sewing has begun...

And I"ll be taking a break to watch the Gold Medal Curling match at 6...it probably will be my last chance to see curling until the next Winter Olympics!

I haven't been near my sewing machine in over a week and it's time. Guess where I'll be this weekend? Yep, Kelly and Joan are the hostesses for the Charming Girls and Guys Spring Sewing Party. I'll be working on my February projects...see you on Saturday!

Aunt Millie's Garden Quilt

2010-02-15T17:50:00.000-05:00

My January block is finished...now on to February!

Surviving the Storm...

2010-02-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we had this storm...

So Grace decided to have a little treat...

Yesterday we had this storm...

And with this one we lost power...and heat. Miley had the right idea!!!

Now I hear that there will be another storm on Monday...we've already broken records for the snowiest winter ever. Any chance we can send this storm to Andrew? After all, we've had more snow than he has, and he lives in Vermont! Good thing I like winter...

Angels Needed!

2010-02-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Chemo Angels is a non profit organization,which supports those who are going through chemotherapy for cancer. I've been a volunteer for them for about a year, as a Card Angel. I was assigned a patient and until she "graduated" from the program (she completed her treatment and was declared cancer free!) I sent her a card of encouragement with a little note each week. For an investment of about $1.50 a week, I was able to support and encourage a person who needed that little boost in her time of need. I've since been assigned a new patient and have started sending her cards as well.

My point? I received this email last week...

Due to the tricky economic times as well as the recent holiday season, quite

a few Angels have had to resign during the past few months. We are in

serious need of new volunteers. Please help us spread the word! Tell your

friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers --- anyone you feel would make a

great volunteer. We need Chemo Angels, Card Angels and Senior Angels. Send

interested parties to our website, www.chemoangels.com or .net to apply.

Thank you so much!

Chemo Angels Administration

If you can find it in your heart to volunteer as a Chemo Angel, please visit their website at Chemo Angels. Also, if you know of someone who could use support during cancer treatment, visit their website and sign them up. It's a fabulous organization, check them out!

February Goals

2010-02-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

I think I'll take it easy on myself in February and only have a few goals!

#1. Complete the 3 Heartland Heritage blocks that I am behind on...

#2. Finish January's block for my Aunt Millie's Garden Quilt.

#3. And finish February's Aunt Millie's Garden block as well...which I can't post a picture of because I haven't started it! :o)

Also on my list of goals is to quilt 3 customer quilts and to sell a house. We'll see how I do with those!

January Finishes...

2010-01-31T21:12:00.000-05:00

January was a busy month...I started a new job, working with Keller Williams Realty and continued working both of my old jobs, Weight Watchers and my quilting business. I still found time to get a few things done, both things on my list and things that weren't. From my list, I finished Ellen's Maine Morning Mitts...

And I quilted and bound Andrew's quilt...

Things that weren't on my list include another pair of Mitts which I gave as a birthday gift to a friend...

I also quilted two customer quilts...

Another finish not on my list was the Rachel's Reel quilt in the last post. I've ordered backing fabric for that and hope to have it quilted soon.

The only thing on my list which wasn't completed was the first block for my Aunt Millie's Garden quilt, which is over half finished. I have to admit, I was afraid to cut into the fabric and if I'd started the block BEFORE last week, it would have been done. I don't know what it is about cutting into new fabric...something always holds me back. Once I start I'm fine, but that first snip is so hard! That one will be done in the next few days. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night...Meredith from Quilt Threads is coming over and we're going to do a little stitching.

So, that's January...now to figure out what I'll be working on in February!

Valentine Party Day 2 Update

2010-01-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

Please excuse the quality of this picture...it's night and my pictures and brain just aren't working too well! After a few unexpected, but very enjoyable interruptions (a visit from my sister, a nice long conversation with my son, and some hanging out time with my daughters) I was able to get back to work. I think this is the LAST time I will make a sawtooth border on a quilt, that was a lot of work! I love how this quilt turned out and look forward to getting it on the longarm. That will have to wait until I do a few customer quilts though! Thanks Kelly, for suggesting this sewing party...it was great fun!

Valentine's Party - Day 2

2010-01-24T12:34:00.000-05:00

The little block from last night has joined its friends and has become this quilt center...borders are next!

Valentine Party!

2010-01-23T13:45:00.002-05:00

Update # 2

I took a break after finishing the customer quilt to go to church and have dinner, then was back at it last night. I finished this little applique block, which is the last one for my Rachel's Reel quilt. Since I didn't have a lot of time yesterday, I've decided to extend the Valentine Party through today...is anyone else with me? I'll post today's progress in a new post!

Update # 1

Customer quilt is quilted!

Kelly over at Charming Chatter is having a Valentine Sewing Party today. Although I'm not sewing Valentine quilts, I AM working on a few things. I'm loading a customer quilt and plan to have that quilted today and will be spending time in my sewing room later. I'll post pictures as soon as I have some!

Haiti

2010-01-14T09:08:00.003-05:00

There are so many in need right now. Please click on the photo if you can find it in your heart to donate to this worthy cause.

Meet...

2010-01-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

our new family member. Yesterday her name was going to be Persephone, but today that may be changing...that's an awfully big name for a tiny little kitty! I've been calling her Boo...but since she's my daughter's kitten, I don't get to name her!

January Goals

2010-01-05T14:01:00.000-05:00

Project1...Finish Ellen's Maine Morning Mitts....

Project 2...get Andrew's quilt loaded, quilted and bound...

Project 3...make my first block for Aunt Millie's Garden along with the yahoo group I joined. I'm using a chocolate brown as a background. It's a Kona and is so soft...should needle beautifully!

It should be a productive month!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

Wishing you peace and happiness in the new year...

Home again...

2009-12-29T15:51:00.001-05:00

Arrived home safely on Sunday evening after spending a wonderful few days in Vermont with the kids. We had our Christmas tree...

which the Fox in Sox kept a close watch over. I remember how the kids used to open gifts and beg to have their pictures taken...not this year!

Max was happy to have HIS picture taken, with his new penguin!

We had more snow in NJ than we did in Vermont, but it was just so pretty up there. I was fascinated with the frost on the trees as we would drive through the higher elevations! I guess that's why Andrew calls me a "Flatlander".

When I arrived home there were some wonderful gifts waiting for me. First was this incredible pair of Evangeline mitts from Amy at abc creations. They're gorgeous and I absolutely love them!

And second was this beautiful package from my Charming Girls Secret Santa Swap partner, Kate. She sent a tissue box holder in a gorgeous Christmas fabric (I need to go buy tissues to fit it!), along with a little chicken pincushion, a 2" Omnigrid ruler with a ribbon on it (I hung it on my tree!) and a fat quarter of fabric. Thank you so much Kate, I love everything!

I got back to real life today...worked a Weight Watchers meeting, then ran to the quilt store to drop my Pfaff off for service. Tomorrow is my first day at the real estate agency where I'll be working...I can't wait! The new year holds a lot of promise and I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads me! I hope that the new year brings you wondrous journeys as well!

Christmas Memories

2009-12-23T09:16:00.000-05:00

Kelly has asked for our Christmas memories...the one that stands out from both my childhood and my children's childhoods is waiting at the top of the steps for permission to come downstairs to see if Santa came. You see, we'd be awake early and had to wait for my parents to get up. Then my mom had to go downstairs and start coffee and my dad had to set up those BIG lights (remember those?) so that they could take pictures of the festivities.

When we had children, it seemed like a fun thing to continue. I would get up and make coffee, tea and hot chocolate, my husband would take the dogs out and the kids would sit at the top of the steps and wait, not so patiently, for us to say they could come downstairs. This picture was from 2007. Last year was the first year where we don't have a step picture...because we opened gifts on Christmas Eve after mass. This year will be different too...not only will be open gifts on Christmas Eve, but we'll be at Andrew's where there are no steps!

I was so looking forward to having a white Christmas in Vermont...who would have thought that we'd get two feet of snow in New Jersey the week before Christmas? It was nice to be snowed in over the weekend. But then, I had all my Christmas shopping done and everything wrapped...I know that the storm was a major inconvenience for a lot of shoppers!

I've completed my December project...the center of Andrew's quilt is finally together! I'll be bringing it up to try out on his bed...it turned out pretty big, so I'm not sure if I'll be adding borders to it. I do love it the way it is...I hope he does!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Charming Christmas

2009-12-16T15:49:00.001-05:00

Joan asked us "Charming Girls" to post pictures of our favorite Christmas "corners" in our homes. I didn't do much decorating this year since we won't be celebrating Christmas at our house, so this is easy...I only put out my favorites!

Right now the treee is up, the red and white lights are on and it's waiting to be decorated. We'll do that tomorrow night when we're all home.

There is ONE ornament on it though...

Right now it's a Phillies kind of Christmas!

I do love my nativity set, which we got from Avon when we were first married in 1985...we keep talking about getting a new one, but haven't managed to...it just wouldn't seem like Christmas without this one!

In the foyer there's a little table with my snowmen...I think they may stay out all winter!

And above that table are two very special Santas...

That's a peek into my favorite Christmas corners...I hope you enjoyed it!

Dear Santa,

2009-12-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

Dear Santa,

The Fat Quarter Shop said I should post a letter to you, telling you what's in the shop that I'd like for Christmas. There are so many choices! I'd put down everything, but I like my friendly, neighborhood UPS man too much to make him work so hard! I think if I were to wish for anything, it would be this Winter Joy Fat Quarter Bundle. I love the fabrics and the colors...they would make such a sweet quilt for winter! Maybe with a nice flannel backing...so comforting. A cup of hot chocolate and a good book, wrapped in my Winter Joy quilt, snug by the fire...I may not move until Spring comes!

So, I think I've been a good girl...and if you bring me this little gift, I'm sure there will be some really good cookies waiting for you!

Love,
Carolyn

2009-12-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

Walking down the street we saw this...

I really wanted to run through the brick wall and see if the train was on the other side...

Distractions

2009-12-08T10:03:00.000-05:00

I've been watching these guys this morning...they seem to be having so much fun!

December Goals

2009-12-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

I hate having posts with no pictures, but that's what I've got today. My first December goal has been reached...I passed my NJ State Real Estate Licensing Exam! My only quilting goal for December is to finish Andrew's quilt, which you can see here. Anything beyond that will be a surprise! I do have 2 customer quilts to quilt, I plan to get started on those this weekend. And I still have to do EVERYTHING related to Christmas...the shopping (I've done a little!), cards, baking, decorating, etc. How many days until Christmas??? You know, this having to go to work thing really gets in the way! :o)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We left on Wednesday afternoon and headed north to Providence, RI to see Ellen. We took her to dinner and although the Chili's left a lot to be desired, it was great to see her and spend some time with her. Although she's done well at school, she's decided to come back home to go to school and live, so once Christmas comes, she'll be back home for good. I'm so excited to have her move back home!!!

After spending the night in Providence, we headed further north to Vermont to spend Thanksgiving with Andrew. We had a great time! The boss and I took a long walk on Thanksgiving afternoon, after watching Rutgers win. We had reservations at Sam's Steakhouse for dinner...this was the first time in my life I ate in a restaurant for Thanksgiving! After dinner there was a lot of game playing...

We stayed in Vermont until Saturday. We made a quick trip to Waterwheel House Quilts in Londonderry where I picked up a few things...

The bundle on the left are Kaffe Fassett's and the bundle on the right are from Lecien. Both are beautiful!

We had hoped for some snow while we were in Vermont, but according to all the papers, this is the first time in 15 years that the ski resorts didn't have snow to open on Thanksgiving. Fortunately, on Friday night they got a start on it...

and Okemo will be opening this coming weekend!

While I was there, I read a book, spent some time knitting and worked on these two applique blocks. One more block and I can start putting this one together!

And when I arrived home there were some beautiful Christmas paisleys waiting for me from the Fat Quarter Shop!

Once I take my state licensing test on Thursday I'll be ready to get started on decorating for Christmas and finishing up Andrew's quilt. So, what did you do for Thanksgiving?

What was I thinking?

2009-11-20T10:09:00.000-05:00

When Andrew moved to Vermont, I realized it was time to make him a new quilt. I looked through some magazines, found a block I liked, played with it in EQ for awhile and sent him the results. Then I moved on to making the blocks. This is the result...so far!

I didn't anticipate that it would take SO LONG to make each block! The nine patch centers were a breeze, and it really isn't a difficult block. But the trimming of the hourglass blocks for the star points...THAT is taking forever! I'm almost finished the blocks with the blue star points, which you see here. There are 48 of those. Then it will be on to making the 35 blocks where the nine patches willl be blue and the star points will be red. They'll be alternated with the blue. I had high hopes of having this done for Thanksgiving when we head up to visit him. Now I'm just hoping that I'll have it finished when we go up for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, do you use Pandora to listen to music? I decided to set up a station with all my favorite Christmas music, so I asked it for Andy Williams Christmas songs. I spent a few hours listening to some fabulous Christmas music...Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, The Ray Coniff singers, Josh Groban, Harry Connick, and Michael Buble to name a few. Give it a try...you get 40 free hours of music a month!

Almost there...

2009-11-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

I've got one more week left of Real Estate Licensing class and tonight is a big test. Our final is on Monday, then if I pass that I can go on to take the state licensing exam. I've been spending my time studying, taking practice tests and putting all of the vocabulary on index cards so I can study some more. At least 20 vocabulary words per chapter and 22 chapters = A LOT of index cards!

On Monday, Grace received the H1N1 nasal vaccine at school and had an immediate reaction to it. Dizziness, exhaustion, aching, a rash on her neck...the nurse called me pretty quickly to come pick her up! So, did you know that since the nasal vaccine contains a small amount of weakened, live virus, you can get a mild case of H1N1 from it? She's been home from school since. I'm hoping she can go back tomorrow, the doctor says she can return once she's been 48 hours without a fever. I guess a mild case is better than a regular case of swine flu!

Raindrops Keep Falling...

2009-11-03T15:54:00.003-05:00

on my head...at least they were this morning. Problem was, I was sitting at the kitchen table! Not the best way to start the day. Hopefully, the problem is solved now that I've pulled out all of the bathtub caulk upstairs, cleaned, scrubbed, bleached and recaulked. We'll see if I have raindrops in my bowl of Total tomorrow morning! Fortunately, something just arrived to make me feel a whole lot better...fabric!

I placed an order yesterday at 1:40pm for these Jo Morton fabrics. I ordered online from Old Country Store Fabrics. I received an email back at 4:54pm, telling me my fabrics had been cut, packed and shipped. I just went to my mailbox and there they were, with a nice note thanking me for my order! I'd highly recommend shopping here...they have beautiful fabrics (I've been to their store many times, it's one of my favorites!) and their service is incredible.

We went to the Phillies World Series Game 4 on Sunday...it was so much fun, although it would have been better if they'd won! They did win last night...here's hoping they can win Games 6 and 7 in the Bronx and bring home the championship for a second year in a row...Go Phils!

More October Finishes...

2009-11-01T14:03:00.002-05:00

The feathered tablerunner is bound...

The blue nine patch quilt is bound and ready to be sent off to charity...

My embroidered blocks are set...this one will go on the machine to be basted. I plan to hand quilt it for NEXT Christmas!

And the baby quilt is quilted and finished...right down to the striped binding! I love this quilt, it was based on Jo Morton's Cinnamon Stars quilt in her newest book, Vintage Journey.

Next on the list are the nine patches for the Charming Girls Half Pint Quilt Along and the quilt for Andrew. Those two will be my November goals!

Fall...

2009-10-29T09:35:00.003-04:00

Fall has been beautiful here in my world...

I've spent it finishing up my Stitcher's Angel Projects...they are off in the mail to places far away!

I've finished up a few customer quilts...a beautiful floral...

And an adorable Halloween quilt!

And I've finished the top for a special little baby to be...she should be arriving soon! This one is next on the machine...

And to top it all off, Cliff Lee pitched an amazing 6-1 win against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series. Un.be.LEE.vable!!!

Vermont..

2009-10-19T16:28:00.004-04:00

Grace had a half day this past Friday, so after school I picked her up and headed to Vermont to visit Andrew. I love having a reason to go to Vermont! On Saturday morning while the kids were sleeping, I went out and explored. I'd driven past a quilt shop on the way in and decided to head back there to see what it was like. Good choice...this store was amazing! Waterwheel House quilt shop is a beautiful shop...so full of wonderful projects and fabulous fabrics. And Gracie...the shop Golden Retriever, who is just a sweetheart.

This fall leaf quilt was hanging on display...see the little sign that says "Kit Available"? Not anymore, I bought the last one. :o) The sample was done with fusible applique, but I think I'll do needleturn. The fabrics in it were nothing like anything in my stash...lots of brights, Kaffe Fassetts...just a beautiful combination. I plan to prep blocks and work on it during my travels to Vermont and back...when the boss is driving, of course!

Shelley, the owner was very nice and the women in the shop were just having too much fun together...it seems like it would be a great place to hang out! If you find yourself in Londonderry, VT, be sure to stop by! You won't be disappointed.

The ladies did direct me to another shop, Country Treasures in Chester which carried Jo Morton fabrics. We stopped there in the afternoon and I have to admit...it had a ton of fabric and was very charming, but also very overwhelming. I found some Jo's that I wanted, but so many bolts of fabric were piled on top of the ones I wanted that I walked out with nothing...and decided that I'd order them online from Old Country Store Fabrics when I got home. This is a shop I've visited several times in Intercourse, PA and love. I didn't realize they'd started an online store!

I also stopped at the yarn shop, Six Loose Ladies in Proctorsville. Another fun place! One of the things I noticed in talking to the people I ran into...most of them were from New Jersey! When you're ready to slow down, the heat lovers from NJ all head to Florida and the cold lovers to Vermont. Guess which one I plan to go to? :o)

Making Progress...

2009-10-05T16:40:00.003-04:00

I took the pictures of my October projects on Saturday morning and since then I've had 3 productive days in my sewing room. Several of the projects are much closer to being finished! The Poochie bag is done, the blue quilt and applique quilt block are both now quilted and I've made and sewn the binding onto those two quilts as well as the feathered table runner. I've also put together my embroidered Christmas quilt top and have prepared the backing. That should be the next one on the longarm, but will have to wait because my days off are over.

I've also joined in the Quilt Along at Charming Chatter. I thought the little nine patch quilt would be perfect for my Jo Morton fabrics, so will be using my little stash of them for this project. I plan to use the whites/tans on the top of the pile for the background fabrics and the rest for the nine patches and sawtooth border.

I plan to work on binding during Wednesday's Phillies game. It's an afternoon game, so I'm going to park myself in front of the television and stitch away. I can't do that during Thursday's game because I'll be AT the game...can't wait!

October Projects...

2009-10-04T21:38:00.003-04:00

It's a good thing October has 31 days in it because I have lots to do by the end of the month! This block is going to be made into a small quilt for my Stitcher's Angel Swap partner...

And these fabrics are going to become a Poochie Bag for her as well...

This quilt top is going to be quilted, bound and shipped off to Margaret's Hope Chest whose blog I found through Crazy Mom Quilts.

This baby quilt is still in the works...I never got to it in September. At least I decided on a pattern this month! Baby is due around Thanksgiving...I need to get to work!

I'd like to make this practice piece from my longarm feather class into a table runner. All that needs done is trimming and binding...should I use muslin or a color?

I've finished my Gail Pan embroidery blocks, so making this into a quilt is on the agenda for October...

And this stack of fabrics needs to be made into a quilt for Andrew...I'll be happy if I get the top made by the end of the month. I'd like to have it ready to take to him at Thanksgiving.

So, those are my plans for October...as well as keeping up with my schoolwork, the house, the Phillies (we have tickets to one game in each series...we'll be at the Bank for Game 2 of the Division series on Thursday!) and hopefully a quick trip up to Vermont in 2 weeks. Looks like it's going to be a busy month!

September Finishes

2009-09-30T22:03:00.003-04:00

I had big plans for September, but with Andrew getting a job and moving so quickly, my plans were shot before I even began! The only thing I finished were the blocks for my swap. I'm formulating plans for October though! Now that the house is a little quieter and I've moved all of the extra furniture out of my sewing room into Andrew's empty room (He took his bedroom set), cleaned off my sewing table which had become a dumping ground and I'm ready to work. I'm expecting great things in October!

And Congratulations to the Phillies who just won the National League East!

Settled In...

2009-09-28T09:42:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Vermont, getting Andrew all settled into his new place. It's a perfect apartment for starting out...and we had it all set up by Friday night! We spent a little time at Christopher's, the bar down the street...and really enjoyed our breakfasts at Trappers.

Andrew's new home...

Doing dishes in the kitchen...by hand!

The Red Sox poster and Fenway sign were the only things that made it on the wall while we were there...he has his priorities!

The living room...

Getting everything done on Friday left us time Saturday to go looking for the Long Trail Brewery. A tour will be on the agenda when we have more time!

Okemo Mountain taken from in front of the apartment...

Good luck Andrew!

Moving Day

2009-09-24T21:25:00.003-04:00

The truck is loaded, the cars are packed and we'll be heading out in the morning. Next stop, Vermont!

I've heard the color is beautiful up there right about now...can't wait to see it.

A New Start...

2009-09-12T10:04:00.003-04:00

Back when we lived in NY and the kids were young, we had friends who had a little place in southern Vermont. We would borrow it a few times a year and head up for some rest and relaxation. It was heaven. As Andrew was beginning his job search when he graduated from college, he kept looking in the Philadelphia area. There was NOTHING available. Earlier this month he decided that, with snowboarding season coming, what he'd REALLY like to do would be to find a job in Vermont. He started looking on Craigslist and found a few positions to apply for. There was one in particular that just seemed to suit him.

He sent his resume, got a call back and it seemed like it might be a good fit, so I suggested he go up there to visit. He did that last week and things went well...he was invited back for an interview on Thursday. Another 6 hour drive found him back in Vermont on Wednesday, he interviewed on Thursday and they invited him back on Friday morning and offered him the job. Of course he accepted, then went to look for an apartment. He was worried he wouldn't find anything, but I told him that since he decided to look in Vermont, everything has fallen into place...if it was meant to be, he'd find an apartment too. An hour later, he had an apartment lined up! Talk about karma! So he'll be living in this little town...

With this lake down the road...

At the base of Okemo Mountain, right on the shuttle line to the mountain...perfect! I just love it when everything works out!

It will be Andrew and his dog Max, starting a new life in one of my favorite places. I'm so excited for him...and for me because now I have an excuse to go to Vermont!

September Projects...

2009-09-07T12:04:00.000-04:00

Project # 1...Make 5 sets of 5 basket blocks for a swap...

Project # 2...Make these into a baby quilt...

And of course, I want to stay caught up on my blocks of the month, but I'm not counting those as my September Projects! So, what are YOU planning for September?

Priceless...

2009-09-06T19:44:00.004-04:00

A few days away, with beautiful weather...

A wonderful dinner with new friends and a fabulous sunset...

Touring the most opulent mansion in Newport...

Spending time with the kids...

A cruise of the harbor...

Another spectacular sunset...

Grace with her own boat...

We had a wonderful time together in Newport, RI...a perfect way to end the summer!