Gifties of the Season!

The Santa Express has been busy this year! Look what came into my mailbox! I found a darling snowman card ((I am so in love with snowmen, more than any other Christmas Icon! In my book, Snowmen are appropriate from Thanksgiving all the way to Easter depending where you live!)) with a lovely note from Mona, and look! She sent me a “Birthday Girl” Block from the Quiltmaker Magazine’s 100 blocks vol 2!

I love this so much! Thanks Mona! I especially love how you colored the triangles around the center pinwheel…that adds so much motion!

I enjoyed a wonderful lunch yesterday with Karen and Lisa at a little Irish pub in Winston Salem called Finnigan’s Wake. The lunches there just can’t be beat – they had a chicken pot pie and salad special for only $7.00 And it was to DIE for. Just what I needed on a cold December afternoon. Of course, the cheese cakes served in shot glasses were the perfect finish…I had some caramel pecan thing that was so rich, a shot glass size was ENOUGH, no more! ((Or…..I would have eaten the whole thing regardless of the size, you know?))

Winston Salem has a thriving art community, and every year there are art events and sales, and in so totally KAREN-STYLE…..she surprised me with a lovely handmade piece of pottery. I love pottery!! And….Tada…she filled it with…

3/4” per side hexagons she cut with her creative memories punch from left over Christmas cards!! Isn’t this great?! They are just the size I am using and now I can look at the pictures as I grab each one from the bowl. You can read parts of messages, and get glimpses of what the card might have been before it was repurposed into hexie papers. Thanks Karen!

We are planning some girlfriend sewing time between Christmas and New Years…which means, on top of everything else, I need to spend some time re-shuffling stuff down here in the studio. Over the past few weeks it’s become a dumping ground for miscellaneous fall-out since the last time we sewed.

You know, it’s a good thing to have people over once in a while. It keeps us from letting things become CHAOS ((Cant. Have. Anyone. Over. Syndrome!!))

Last night I *DID* do just what I said I was going to do. I laid low and slow and sat on the couch with a fire going in the wood stove and worked on hexagons while watching a couple movies.

All of the short border sections are added! And I added one of the long star point sections so you can see that coming together! I only have FOUR MORE long star point border sections to finish and this round will be done! I’m thinking how I’m going to fill in the outside edges to make this quilt more square. Or…do I want to make it a rectangle by adding more piecing to just the top and bottom in another motif? I love that look, where they take a square quilt and just add something else to only the top and bottom.

Visions of hexagons are dancing in my head instead of sugar plums! ((What is a sugar plum anyway, and is it any good?)) And I’m semi-calculating - - It took more than my flights to Vegas and back to piece that one long star point. Which means…. 4 more long trips to and from to get the other ones done. I think I’m not as close as I think I am!

Are you tired of seeing this? It’s a SLOW process to do something like this by hand. Very much worth it..but I’m afraid I’m boring you with it! But I love how the 3 blossom units come together in that star point!

Which brings up another question….do you find yourself gravitating to mostly “quick fix” easy/small quilt-in-a-day kind of projects, or do you like things that you can mark the passing of time with? I talked to Lisa about this kind of thing when we were at the beach. She was working on applique sashings for a quilt, and they’ve been her “emergency” project for years. It sits in a basket, and when she goes somewhere and it fits the bill, they just come with her. It’s a no deadline project. And then there are the projects with deadlines ---and we all have those!

But if I were listing UFOs…these long term projects, that are worked on in small amounts of time here and there as a fill in, are they really UFOs? I don’t think so! For me, UFOs are things that have come to a complete standstill, like over a year has passed since the last time I worked on it.  To me it’s kind of like my airline miles. If I’ve used some of them in the past year, it keeps the others from expiring!

I better get going. I’m trying to get into a cleaning mood, but it isn’t working! However, I did wipe down the inside of the fridge the other night…does that count for brownie points at all??

Slowing Down….

Christmas is Saturday! How can that be? And New Years? How can that be a week from Saturday? Doesn’t it feel like it should be far away still? Like…..there is no way this year has passed this quickly?

I tackled a bunch of mundane stuff yesterday and it was nice just going through the motions..not thinking too hard, just doing the next thing on the list. Winding down to enjoy the holiday.

Jason and Kim are coming late Thursday night when they get off work. We’ll have three whole days! Not sure what we are going to do, but I asked Jason via facebook if he had any requests for special meals he’s missed. His reply? “Do NOT spend 8 hours cooking for a meal that takes 15 minutes to eat!” Thank you son!

We hit the grocery store last night…..picked up a spiral ham. The leftovers will be great for sandwiches or fried up for breakfast. Used in soups, casseroles…I just can’t do two TURKEY holidays close together, and Christmas means ham for me!

I want to do SOME easy baking…..so we wandered down the baking supplies aisle, and there was NOT A SINGLE package of BROWN SUGAR to be found in the store! The whole of High Point, NC must be baking at present! It’s okay…I’ll hit somewhere else today, there are a few other things I need.

Last Friday Dad and I rented a car and drove out to Hoover Dam! You can see by this pic that it was very overcast and a bit rainy. But here we are coming over the rise and seeing the beginnings of the lake! By this time on Friday I was READY to get out of the strip area, and we had a great time doing this….just driving and looking at scenery. It is so very very different than the surroundings I have here in NC. I think of pioneers and others that crossed this vast wasteland, and I just can’t imagine what it was like 100 years ago!

Dad on the path way up to the new bridge…

Me at the Welcome to Nevada Sign! At this point we had crossed into Arizona!

We were so SO SO high up on this bridge! And here I am..it’s raining, and my hands are cold, and I’m trying to get a picture…and I nearly NEARLY dropped my phone over the railing!! I felt it slip, and slammed my hand down on the railing, pinning my phone between my hand and the rail….it NEARLY took a nose dive over the edge. I could see it now…bye bye phone! My heart was pounding to think I saved it from such a fate…but from that point on..I let DAD take all the pics!

This is just the most amazing site!

It worked well to get the rental car on Friday, because we used it to return ourselves to the airport on Saturday morning, dropping off the car, and catching the shuttle to the terminal. Great planning, Dad!

I’ve got a lunch date today with two of my favorite quilters – Lisa and Karen! And I’d really like to snuggle in later this afternoon, a fire in the woodstove –and spend the rest of the time I have home through the holidays just hand quilting away on the Pink & Brown DJ. It’s been at a standstill for a while again, too many other irons in the fire…but I don’t fly out anywhere until something like Jan 9…..and I plan to lay low and slow til then!

Goodbye, Vegas–Hello, HOME!

I had a lovely lovely unbelievably fun time with my Dad! The weather was fair, we had a bit of rain, but it seemed to happen mostly in between what we were doing, and it didn’t affect us much!

I arrived on Tuesday, and found my dad waiting for me at the baggage claim….since my flight was delayed, he had been sitting there in a chair by my carousel for over two hours!

But this apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and the tree, being Dad, was busily engaged with his laptop, his phone, his e-reader and didn’t mind the wait!

We checked into our room at Treasure Island, dropped off our stuff, and went wandering to get our “lay of the land” and make plans on where we wanted to eat, etc. We also had to procure tickets for the two shows we decided on: Mystere, a Cirque du Soleil production, and Jersey Boys, a musical about Frankie Valli and the 4 seasons. Both turned out to be FABULOUS choices, and my favorite was Jersey Boys on Thursday night. I grew up to Frankie Valli music because my parents played it. It was just SO SO SO good! And since being home, I have to admit I added the Frankie Valli channel to my Pandora internet radio and am really enjoying these oldies! Especially when Christmas music 24/7 is getting a BIT MUCH for my brain to handle.

There is so much to see just walking the streets, and our favorite was the volcano erupting at the Mirage on the hour! We watched it twice, one night from the street level, and the other time from up above at the Mirage…..

These pics were taken with my phone, so pardon any night-time grainy-ness!

I think we walked MILES and MILES! You know, the hotels are SO HUGE, they are like little cities, with shops and restaurants all inside, and If the weather is really bad, you never ever have to go outside!

I am “NOT” a big shopper unless it is quilting related, or maybe bookstore type stuff, and the only thing I ended up buying was a pair of shorts and a top for the fitness center! I forgot to pack my own and I wasn’t going to pass up on the fitness center, it was awesome! That’s one area where Dad and I differ. I’m an early to bed, early to rise girl, and he pushes it past midnight and sleeps in til 8am, so I made good use of that time by getting up and going to the gym.

Dad found a great deal at the Sony store in the forum shops at Ceasar’s Palace—he turned in his old e-reader for a new one, and they gave him $75.00 off the price. He was as happy as a kid in a toy store!

Dad asked me where ideas for quilts come from….and I looked across the street and pointed to this building! Ideas for patchwork are everywhere! Look at this brick pattern. COOL!

Look at this tile floor! I see a quilt, don’t you?! After spending a few days pointing things out to Dad, I think he got the idea….

Look at this one!

And that triangle border! Weeeeeeeeeeee! I also like the cable as a quilting design..ideas are everywhere. I am very geometrically charged, so I tend to see things in squares, rectangles, triangles, etc…

We had a great time walking through the different hotels and their prospective malls just looking at things! ((More grainy pics, but you do what you can with what you’ve got! This couple offered to take our pic together and we obliged!))

The Venitian hotel had a canal going through it, and you could take a gondola ride!

However, the water was EXTREMELY blue, and it looked to me like there had been a tidy bowl accident to get it colored that way!

I’m still playing with pics and finding out how to get text to go where I want it.

The last time I was in Vegas was probably over 10 years ago, and it had changed SO MUCH. What I really liked is now they have pedestrian overpasses so you don’t have to cross on street level as much. This was great. It also provided a nice view as you crossed over the street, you could stop and take pics, etc.

However, food was much more expensive than I remember it ever being! The days of the $3.99 egg breakfast are LONG OVER, and I paid something like $12.00 for pancakes the first morning in the coffee shop in the hotel. From that point on we decided to be a bit more discriminating, and found ourselves at Outback for dinner that night, and avoided anything attached to any hotel. There was a Dennys for breakfast down the street the next day, our walking had showed us where things were that were more affordable.

Oh, and here is the other thing….though I got a great rate online for our room and pre-paid it…the hotel charges an additional $20 per day “resort fee” that you can’t get out of. That greatly increased our projected expenses. So plan on that if you go…And there is no coffee machine in the hotel room, you can order from room service ($$$) or go down to the starbucks in the lobby. I really missed having the availability of at least hot water for a cup of tea or cocoa in the morning!

I’ll write more later….this morning is already flying! Laundry needs to be started and errands need to be ran. Jason and Kim are coming for Christmas!

The Quilters of Morning Star!

It seems as if every day there is a quilt show in my inbox! I love each and every email that comes with a photo attached, and I just received one that I want to share with you!

Not just because it’s Christmastime, but just because I know there are countless others who are involved in this kind of service ALL the time, not thinking that their efforts add up to much, but when combined all together, we can accomplish great things!

Carol’s email came to me with the following story:

Bonnie, I took your Crumbs class when you were in Charlotte earlier this year (June?) for the NC Symposium.

The ladies at my church (Morning Star Lutheran Church) have been making basic tied quilts for 3 years for Lutheran World Relief. Each year, they have made more quilts and this year, over 150 were made.

The ladies decided last year that they wanted to make a "real" quilt for our youth minister who was donating fabric samples from the company she worked for. The samples are used in the quilts along with other donated fabric. We made her a kind of a wonky square in a square. It was an easy block to teach everyone -- very few are quilters -- and then I could square up all the blocks before putting them together.

Early this year, we made a string quilt for our minister of music. That was another easy block to teach that could be squared up.

The last two quilts to be made were for our 2 Pastors. After taking your class, I taught them how to make your stars. We probably had 20 women making stars. Then the stars were squared up to finish at 8". We also mixed in some words using Tonya's alphabet. (I made those blocks.)

Just thought you would like to see the quilts. I've attached pictures of the 2 quilts for the Pastors -- they were similar, but not exactly the same. I have also used both a star or a letter to make 4.5" coasters -- fusing the star or letter to timtex, fusing a backing, and then satin stitching around the outside. (Like the edges of fabric bowls were finished.) The coasters are pretty cute! I don't know how many stars I've made, but it's definitely a lot! Thank you so much for your techniques and your class. I enjoyed the class at the time, and have definitely put what I learned to good use!

Regards, Carol K.

P.S. I've also attached a picture of all the quilts from our church before we packed them up for shipping.

Thank you for sending the pics, Carol! The story is so inspiring, just look at all these quilts ready to be donated!

Chocolate Chip Blondies!

While I’m flying home from Vegas back to good old Winston Salem, NC, I thought I’d leave you with one of my favorite recipes….for the holidays or any time. Let’s face it, some of us who are on the go all the time, don’t even have time or the desire to roll out sugar cookies and decorate them. It was fun when the kids were little, but I’m so busy I need something I can dump in a bowl, stir, and dump in a pan and bake! And it needs to have easily readily available ingredients. ((No -- sorry, I’m not in the mood to grate or pulverize crystalized ginger for anything at this point in my life!))

However, these smell so good while baking, everyone will forgive you for being a slothful holiday party pooper in the kitchen!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients for a 13x9 inch pan

• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan.
3. Combine brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl just until blended.
4. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, and add to the brown sugar mixture.
5. Stir in chocolate chips and spread the batter into the greased pan.
6. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes.
7. Cut into bars.

The key is to not over bake them….slightly gooey is best! And of course, real butter is a MUST! Feel free to stick some walnuts in there as well….even better!

Enjoy!

Color Me Delighted!

We have a BOOK COVER!!

Scraps & Shirttails II!

Continuing the Art of Quilting Green!

Brian did such a fantastic job with this cover..I just love it! When you thumb through the book you will see how we tried not to do an "old fashioned scrap quilt draped over a wagon wheel" kind of reproduction feel, and even though the quilts can look very vintage, we showed them ALL in very modern, sleek surroundings. They are graphic and beautiful and colorful, and go so well with today's trendy retro decorating schemes!

I've always felt that quilts are a timeless accent, and it really comes across in this book! And I had the best time being there for my photo shoot too....I'd like to schedule more of that in the future!

We go to print NEXT WEEK. The 21st is the projected date, and I'm all a-flutter!

There are 13 LARGE quilts in this book to help you use up your scraps, stash, and collected recycled fabrics. ((You know I don't do place-mat sized quilts!!)) All of them have easy construction, and we’ve included information on using the easy angle/companion angle/tri-recs rulers for maximum ease of making your scraps work in useable sizes. Of course, regular rotary cutting sizes are given for those who prefer other methods.

Weeeeeeeeeeee! It’s coming so soon! I can’t wait!

And another great thing happened today….

You know, the CRUISE that I am doing with Pat Sloan and Sew Many Places sold out within something like 8 weeks or less from the time we announced it. That is for this coming November, 2011.

I just got off the phone with Denise at Sew Many Places, and we are doing ANOTHER CRUISE in AUGUST of 2011!! So if you are on the waiting list for the November cruise….you will probably be contacted about the availability to come with me in AUGUST instead! It also leaves out of Baltimore, and is going August 7-14. More info on that as we know more, but I’m so excited to be going TWICE in one year! We are also working on tours for 2012, and I’ll let you know more as I know more as well.

And for you RRCB’ers ((That’’s Roll Roll Cotton Boll for those who love abbreviations!)) Part FIVE is set to go live in the wee small hours of tomorrow morning. Are you READY??!!

And with that….I’m off to take a nap before Dad and I go see Jersey Boys tonight! It’s a great day all around!

Love from Vegas ---

Word Play Quilts Update!

I mentioned in an earlier post that Tonya has encouraged me to carry her book "Word Play Quilts" in my Quiltville Book Store!

I've sent in a rather LARGE order to Checker, and my invoice says that they are expecting delivery on Dec 30th, so it looks like it will be the 1st of the year before I have them in my hot little hands. I sure can't wait!

Tonya has mentioned to me something about signing book plates to go with the books, but I bet she would be happy to send you a personalized one if you send her a self addressed stamped envelope along with your request, but we are still working out details. I do know that it will be impossible for her to sign your book personally if it is coming from North Carolina from me....when SHE lives in Florida! ;cD But we will work it out one way or another.

It's going to be a great year for great new books!

Favorites of the Season!

 

I’m waiting for Dad to get ready so we can get out and go! I hear the sound of his electric shaver coming from the bathroom at our hotel, and it brings back SO many memories!  Remember those Norelco ads for the shaver that santa rode on? I loved those ads from way back when!

 

I’m also seeing ads for things like 24 hours of “Miracle on 34th Street” or the “Christmas Story” with “You’ll shoot your eye out!!” fun.

Christmas is a time for snuggling in and watching favorites!

These are a couple of ours!

Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and fred Astaire is SO CLASSIC!! It’s a black and white movie, and I’m really glad they never colored it.  The song “White Christmas” originally came from this movie, and there are lines that we find ourselves quoting all the time from it! 

I had to laugh just last week as I was waiting for a flight and someone over the loud speaker said “Linda Mason, Linda Mason, please see me at the podium”.  There is a whole  “I’m Linda Mason.” “OH, LINDA MASON” scene in this movie that is just so funny. If you haven’t made this one part of your yearly Christmas Video Ritual, please do!

White Christmas is another one…Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye! CLASSIC!

Others around our house include all the “Home Alone” movies, and other comedy silliness.

What are the standards at your house for holiday viewing?

Today we are looking at renting a car and doing out and about things..the bridge, the dam, and other things that are not within walking distance since today will be the warmest day! I love an adventure!

Seam Guide Gadget Questions!

Val asked after I posted Clue 4 of Roll Roll Cotton Boll last week just WHAT this gadget was next to the presser foot on my machine:

I believe that I’ve talked about this little guide before, but here’s a recap in case you haven’t seen me sewing!

This is my trusty old Bernina 1080. The older “metal” berninas have built in screw holes in the machine bed, and you can screw a seam guide in place thanks to these holes. Older machines used to come with these guides too, I have several old singers that had these guides in their attachment boxes, and holes for them drilled in the machine beds. The newer plastic machines? I don’t think they have holes, but I could be wrong. This kind of seam guide won’t work if you DON’T have a whole pre-drilled for this kind of attachment already in place.

If your machine has holes for screwing down a seam guide, check with your machine manufacturer to see if a part is available.

For the bernina, it comes as TWO separate parts and you’ll need both. One is the guide itself, and the other is the screw. ((You think they would package these together?? What’s the deal with having them separate??))

I’ve been using this for years and years, and actually like it BETTER than that #57 foot that has the built in guide on it. The thing I don’t like about the #57 foot is that the knife edge guide thingie doesn’t stick out in front of the foot FAR enough to really guide the fabric. You can see how far this guide rests in front of the foot..it works like a fence, yet I can still see where I am aiming. I use it with my regular #37 foot.

Here is a closer picture from my leaders & enders page on my website.

There are so many things that we have available to us to help us get that “right” 1/4”..and this is one that I really love.

Loving Vegas with my Dad!! He’s on his laptop on the other bed while I’m putzing on mine, and it is so nice to relax!

And OH!! I should have a book cover to post in the next day or so! I saw 3 different ones to choose from today…I can’t wait to show you! And did I mention my other big news? Scraps & Shirttails just went into  its 3rd printing! Wooooot! This means so much to me, and I hope the same for its sequel and for Adventures with Leaders & Enders too!

The Eagle Has Landed!

But not without a HUGE TO DO!

If you haven’t guessed, my last post had me at Chicago O’Hare International Airport! Yes, I know this airport like the back of my hand, and it is probably one of my favorite ones. I just find it very user friendly. I love the tunnel between the C & B terminals…I often go down there with my ipod on, and walk up one side of the moving walk way (Not on the walk way, but the corridor beside it) and down the other, just walking laps…..we call it the Terminal Treadmill! What else is a girl supposed to do on a 2 hour layover? You can burn off mega calories just walking!

I also love that it is not a CARPETED airport. If you’ve ever had to pull wheelie luggage over carpet in an airport, you know what a DRAG that is….literally

So, today I walked and walked and walked…..my flight was delayed due to the flight coming IN being delayed. But we finally board, and after we are all in our seats, we find out there is a problem with the galley door where the food service items come in. The “Locked” light wouldn’t illuminate or something…So…..wait for a part….and wait for paperwork.

After this was done, we get the notice that another light in the cockpit has gone bad, one of three….((don’t ask me the proper term for this, I was told what it was, but I can’t remember exactly!)) and we had to wait for a replacement part for that….and more paperwork….

And while this was going on, the pilot comes on and says ‘”Folks, there is another flight that has been cancelled and we are taking on their passengers too”….So that delayed us more…All in All..we left that gate and arrived at our destination 2 hours and 15 minutes late. But I’m not complaining! It was a heck of a lot faster than driving once we got in the air!

We finally landed, and this is what I saw!

Any Guesses yet?!

This is the view from my hotel window! The sun was caught just right in those reflective buildings! Do you know where I am??

I’m in LAS VEGAS!! I’m here with my dad who flew up from AZ to meet me and spend a few days together. We haven’t had a trip together just the two of us since the time I went to Washington DC 4 years ago! Last year I visited AZ and we were all together, my two brothers, my Dad and myself, but this year it’s a daddy/daughter year!

I had planned to go see him in AZ, but he had a problem with his motorhome flooding due to a broken pipe, and this came up as an alternative. Flights into Vegas were cheaper than Phoenix. Hotels are definitely cheaper than Phoenix….and we are planning on seeing some shows, and walking around and enjoying meals and spending time together.

We’ve got tickets for Mystere tonight, and Jersey Boys on thursday…the rest we are playing by ear!

PS...for now I've removed the "background image" from the blog, so it should just appear plain white on grey. Until I figure out what to do that is!

Where Is She Now?!?

It’s 9am where I am! That means 3 hours ago I was in Greensboro, NC!

But WHERE am I now?!? Any guesses? Does THIS help you??

How bout THIS!?

If you haven’t guessed by now…..maybe THIS will tell you:

I’m on my way to SOMEWHERE! And some of you THINK I might be going to a particular place, but you might be wrong because some plans have changed!

This is short…but was funny!

I sat next to a guy who was so rocking into his music that he actually played AIR GUITAR with both hands while reclining in his seat! I didn’t know how to catch him in full action, but I was listening to my ipod, and remembered that it has a camcorder in it. I think you can get 9 seconds of his hands moving, and a whole lot of oops..that’s hexagons! I was trying to be discreet! But it was SO funny. Is there such a thing as inappropriate public display of air guitar? Though come to think of it he seemed to go between drums and cymbals and guitar as well.

Maybe he thought the same thing of me. Is quilting an appropriate public display? PDQ! Public Displays of Quilting! Too fun….

So, I’m sitting here going through mail, listening to my own music on my own ipod, stitching more hexagons and waiting for the next leg of this trip! Any ideas yet? Are you curious?!

On another side note, I got an email from someone saying they read my blog in a reader, and it is too hard to read because of the background. I don't know what to say about that because the center column of my blog is white..where the text goes. The inner border is opaque and readable on the blog, the border, well it's a border..so it's how your reader is reading it as to why you have patchwork all over the place and can't read the text. I can suggest two things:

1. Click to the blog to come read it where it reads beautifully or
2. highlight the whole post and read it with white letters on a highlighted (highlit?) blue background.

That's all I can think of. I had to change my blog format a bit to comply with blogher, but at the same time I don't want a boring blog! LOL! I am curious to know what readers you are reading in if it is NOT working for you, so feel free to drop me a note if your reader has everything obscured..