Mom’s got the Hexie Bug!

When I arrived yesterday, mom had already left to go to the airport to pick up my aunt Joy and cousin Andrew.

We settled in to visit and relax while waiting for the call to go meet them in Crouch for the fireworks and festivities ----

I look over to mom’s chair side table – and what do I spy??

A gazillion pre-basted hexies just waiting to be assembled into the project she is working on !

Like Daughter, Like Mother!

Of course I had to spread it out and see how far she’d gotten on it. She is doing scrappy reds, blacks and neutrals.

She is telling me about a hexagon group on facebook she has become involved in --- the woman is hooked hooked hooked!

**Note to self** I do NOT have time to join a hexie group on facebook!!

And to think that her hexie love started just last August on a trip to Minnesota while we were sitting in the dentist’s office waiting for my Aunt to have her tooth fixed!

Like Daughter --- Like Mother!

Independence Day–Idaho Style!

This little mountain community where my mom and step-dad live is like no other. The Garden Valley/Crouch area is nestled in the mountains about an hour’s drive north of Boise.

After arriving in Boise, we went to visit with my brother, Scott and his family, we met up with my brother Mike and his friend and all grabbed lunch at a local Chinese place--- we were starving and chatting up a storm.

From there we stopped by the home of one of my highschool friends who had moved up here from California years ago --- they caught the update on my face book that I had landed and the message came through that “You BETTER include a visit to say hello while you are in town!” – so we bee-bopped over there because I don’t plan on spending time down in Boise at all—the next time I am down there will be Monday to catch my flight to Oregon!

From there we went to Mike’s where I got to meet my niece Elizabeth for the first time. What a doll baby! She is 14 months old now, walking everywhere –she says “hi!” and waves..and loves running away with everyone’s cell phones and car keys. My sis-in-law has been teaching her sign language ((teach them young to be bi-lingual!)) and she will sign when she is hungry, and she will sign “thank you!” It is the cutest thing!

And then --- up the mountain we went.

That’s where we stopped to take yesterday’s photos along the Payette River. THis is the most beautiful country up here. I’m not a fan of high desert, brown hills and no trees and stark naked rock where the only thing growing is sage brush --- but get into the mountains and you discover paradise!

My Aunt’s flight arrived into Boise at 7:30pm – so the instructions were for Jason, Rick and myself to meet Mom, Joy and my cousin Andrew in “town” just before fireworks time.

They do fireworks REALLY BIG up here! Honestly! I have never seen anything like it.

You KNOW you are in Idaho when you pass a pick up truck with a wooden camper on the back – adorned with a cattle skull complete with bling and mardi gras beads! Mom had to have her pic taken! LOL!

Let’s just say that in this little mountain town --- there is NO SUCH THING as illegal fireworks! This is the center of town ---and instead of everyone doing their own thing at their own homes, they bring their fireworks into town and everyone lights them off in the street!

The smell of smoke is heavy in the air – it’s a big family time and everyone gets involved.

As darkness descended, the band started up ---music filling the air. Everyone rushed out to dance! Grab your mom, your brother, your friend ---you don’t even need a partner! Just let the music take you and make you move!

At 10pm we all gathered on the bridge ---the MAIN ATTRACTION was about to start --

((Can I tell you how much I love the summer nights up here? Cool temps, fresh air – even if it was 90 during the day, by now I was grateful for an extra denim shirt!))

The fireworks went on and on and on --- over this lovely mountain setting.

What a lovely way to end a long travel day!

Once the “Big Ones” were over – the grand finale exploding to cheers and applause all around us --- the “renegade” fire works display took over, back in town. As I said – NOTHING is illegal as far as fireworks go ---the party got a bit louder, a bit more rowdy ---we decided we’d had enough – we were tired, and it was time to return home.

Today starts the onslaught of the rest of my siblings driving in from all directions --- 3 siblings and their families are driving up from Utah – one brother and his family are coming up from Arizona – two brothers and their families live in Boise – they have to work today, but will be up by weekend.

As expected, wifi is pretty iffy up here ---I have to laugh at the fact that my parents are from the generation that the wifi is turned off at night. I’m writing this offline and trying to find a way to ask that it be turned on so I can post this – it reminds me of being 14 and having the shower hot water turned off after 3 minutes in an effort to teach us to be responsible and frugal. Funny how being in a family situation takes you instantly back to your growing up years!

Soooo – I’ll post as I can, and if I don’t post as regularly – just know that I’m busy and surrounded by family and unwinding in fresh mountain air ----and that the wifi is turned off. LOL!

iPhone-o-gram! Hello from Idaho!

We are sitting around chatting and enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery!

We stopped along the south fork of the Payette River.

The guys have white water rafting and later in the week---but I think as close as I'll get is to pull over to take pics!

I haven't seen my mom yet because she is now off to the airport to pick up my aunt and cousin who are flying in from Minnesota.

Other brothers and sisters and their families will start arriving tomorrow.

I live being up here---relaxation is happening in full force!

These pics are of Jason, me, Andy brother Rick.

PS---I bought the pink shirt!

iPhone-o-Gram! Chicago to Boise!

I met Jason's plane and the first thing he said was "what?!!! Enough with the camera already!"

What's a mom supposed to do when she sees her son ready to join her on an Idaho Adventure??

I also brought my purple "sit upon"--- plane seats are just terrible and the flight to Boise is 4.5 hours. Something has to give with the burning leg pain. I think I'm in for an MRI when I land at home long enough to get one.

Next stop---Boise!!

Happy 4th!

Or as my Star Wars loving friends are apt to say:

“May The 4th Be With You!”

I’m pecking this out on my laptop at the Greensboro, NC airport. Dang, 3:45am came early this morning --- and it hit me as I was drifting off to sleep last night that I didn’t put anything in the blog queue for this morning!

No worries….I have an hour until my flight so I can sit here, go through some show photos from last week’s Vermont Quilt Festival and occupy myself until it is time to board.

As often happens with really early morning posts – my mind starts to wander and ponder about many things.

I have come to realize that I would never make a great quilt judge. Some of the judging I just do NOT understand.

I know it is all about the numbers, and how things add up on "paper". But some things I just have to go with my heart on.

And what I say isn’t “against” any one’s quilt or the judges themselves ---it’s just how I feel.

There was a quilt that won “best reproduction quilt” or something like that. Big award. Lots of applause at the awards ceremony. I hadn’t seen the quilt yet, but when we were allowed into the show and I saw the quilt….all I could see was that yes, it was a beautiful “civil war” array of fabrics, but that the quilting itself was so over the top and the quilt itself so stiff that it in no way represented to me what a civil war era made quilt would look like.

It was “just this short” of having crystals glued to it. And there was a lot of discussion about how many quilts had crystals glued to them, and I hope it is a fad that will go away ----but that’s a subject for another time.

((See, I told you, I would make a BAD quilt judge!))

Too much is too much is too much. I’m a quilter who makes quilts to cover the people I love. Crystals are not part of the equation, and neither is over-the top machine quilting –especially when it comes to a reproduction quilt. How would that Quiltmkaer have quilted her quilt in 1865? That’s what I want to see if it is a true reproduction.

I want to share with you my favorite quilt of the whole show ----it is named “Oh My Stars” by Sue Freeland of Hanesport, NJ. It's perfect to share for 4th of July!

I loved this quilt in its complicated simplicity!

All of this close quilting is done by hand. The quilt has a softness that an overly machine quilted quilt is just not going to have. To me --- this is more in keeping with the time period of a civil war era quilt than any amount of machine micro-stippling and over-feathering can give.

I adore the close diagonal quilting! And the curved design quilted over the star blocks to add another dimension to them. what a labor of love!

((Look Ma! No Crystals!))

The quilting found its way into the border to enhance the flying geese.

My favorite element! The zig zag lines in the open areas of the border.

What great texture!

Here is another shot showing that great border cable with 5 lines ((FIVE LINES!)) of hand quilting!

While I was standing there photographing the quilt, the maker happened to come by and I was privileged to talk to her, to tell her my feelings. It was wonderful that her quilt was recognized as worthy enough for a second place ribbon.

If I were a judge, I probably would have pushed it higher than that. In my book, this IS a blue ribbon quilt ---it got my viewers choice vote! It was quilted to match the era and style that the maker was wanting to capture.

Have a great 4th of July everyone! I’m off to Chicago to go meet my son at his gate – and then we are off for our Idaho adventure.

Two Kindle Freebies!

One a cookbook and one a drama!

Since tomorrow is Independence Day here in the states --- how many of you have been invited to BBQs and potlucks and haven’t decided WHAT to bring yet?

I love recipes – and flipping through them always gets me inspired to try something new.

What Can I Bring? Cookbook by Anne Byrn is free in the Amazon Kindle Store.

Genre: Cookbooks

Potlucks and picnics, dinner parties and church socials, fundraisers, toasts to the teacher, reunions, cookouts—it’s the busy age of shared meals, which means with every invitation comes the question: “What can I bring?”

Anne Byrn, an inspired cook, problem solver, and bestselling author of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and other books with over 2.6 million copies in print, knows exactly how to answer the question. Cutting through menu block—a condition familiar to everyone who cooks—here are over 200 delicious suggestions for crowd-pleasing food that’s designed to travel.

And while you’ve got something good cooking up ----head on over and download this one:

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook is also free tonight in the Amazon Kindle Store!

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

As a professional home stager, Sandy Sullivan is an expert at transforming cluttered rooms into attractive houses ready for sale.

If only reinventing her life were as easy as choosing the perfect paint color. She’s eager to put her family’s suburban Boston home on the market, to downsize, and to simplify her own life.

But she must first deal with her foot-dragging husband and her grown son, who has moved back home after college to inhabit the basement “bat cave.”

After reading them the riot act, Sandy takes a job staging a boutique hotel in Atlanta recently acquired by her best friend’s boyfriend. The good news is that she can spend time with her recently married daughter, Shannon, in Atlanta.

The bad news is that Shannon finds herself heading to Boston for job training, leaving Sandy and her southern son-in-law, Chance, as reluctant roommates. If that’s not complicated enough, Sandy begins to suspect that her best friend’s boyfriend may be seeing another woman on the side.

Filled with characters who are fresh and original, yet recognizable enough to live in your neighborhood—plus plenty of great tips and tricks for fixing up houses, and lives—this is a wise and witty story of letting go and moving on. Best Staged Plans is Claire Cook at her most humorous and heartfelt.

Be sure to double check that they are still free when you go to purchase!

And since we are talking about books --- here's MY status update:

I started out with 20 cases of books on my doorstep the day the UPS guy dropped them off. I’ve gone through 11 of them, and am digging into the 12th. I just placed an order for 20 cases more which will be waiting for me when I get back from Oregon.

I’m still packing orders like crazy ----I have a feeling it’s going to be pizza delivery for dinner tonight because this girl has command of the dining room table and I am not stepping away from it to cook anything!

My alarm is set for 4:45am --- need to get up and get a shower and get to the airport by 5:15 am for my 6:20 flight ---

That means a forced bedtime for me at 10pm --- I’ll keep filling orders until curfew time!

Have a good evening, everyone!

iPhone-o-Gram! Mail Order Central!

I can't find my dining room table!! Lol!

My bags are packed for Idaho and Oregon. The only things left to do today are post office runs, a trip to the bank and a visit to the chiro at 4pm.

I love the quiet of my house as I fill orders. I do enjoy reading the labels and seeing where they are going and dreaming of what it's like there!

So many places I've never heard of, or have never been!

I hope you are enjoying your day---this one is going too fast!

Shelley's Show and Tell Goodies!

I had several students bring show and tell to class, and oh I love to see what other people have made!

Shelley brought some really special antique beauties ---all family quilts, and we had her share them with everyone. The girl knows just what I would love to see, and I loved the stories behind her quilts.

This pink “hatchet” block quilt was made by her grandmother or aunt ---out of 1960s fabrics, as Shelly was born in 1969 if I remember right! The pink is so sweet, and as I look at those fabrics I can remember some of them so vividly from my own growing up --- I am a 1962 baby myself.

Love the stripes, checks, florals and other funky little prints! It’s hand quilted and has been slept under many a night.

Another close up of a different area --- do you recall these fabrics?

Another fun family quilt ---there is NO rhyme or reason for the way these basket blocks turn other than there are 4 in each row that go one direction, with the 5th one on the right side going the OTHER way. Study it and you will see!

I'm wondering if that last row just got ONE block out of order...in other worse, if you took the top right hand block off of that "top to bottom" column/row --and put it at the bottom, they'd all be the same in the across rows..

But you know what? It would NOT have been as fun a quilt to look at and study. There would be no surprises. I just love this one oops column!

I also bet when she got finished sewing that row on ---- she flipped that row out, looked at her handiwork, and said "Oh crap -- I am SO not taking this out!" :cD

My favorite block? the one in the center with the way spaced out polka dots! Don’t your eyes just fall upon those?

Here it is! I love how the gingham check is cut any way the template would fit the fabric….several of those triangles DEFINITELY had bias on the outside edge…..

I love how some of the blocks have dark backgrounds with light baskets!

And stripes that go every which direcion?! I’m all with that! I think I see one at the basket base that has bias on all three sides of that triangle…LOL! LOVE IT!!

This quilt was simply quilted with a diagonal cross hatching ----such a cozy quilt with many nights of keeping someone warm in its history too.

How about THIS Corn & Beans Variation:

That would be purple beans and yellow corn! Doesn’t this have SO much motion?

I love triangles! And look at all the fun fabrics in this one!

Closer yet!

Love how some of the block quarters use a darker purple and some light --- it isn’t consistent from block to block, so I think she ran out of one, and replaced it with another and just kept going --- but this is what makes the quilt have so much more to look at!

Thanks, Shelley for bringing these three great family quilts to share with our class! I wish these fabrics could talk and tell us what they were left over from!

SO here we are Tuesday. And I leave for Idaho tomorrow morning. I’m packing everything I need this morning – and every spare moment left until it’s time to go to bed will be spent packing up as many orders as I can get out.

I’ll make a post office run around 4pm – they close at 4:30.

I’ll spend the evening filling more book orders, and try to get some sleep before heading off for my 6:20am ((urrrghh!!)) flight on Wednesday morning.

I am so excited to be meeting up with Jason in Chicago! We fly to Boise together from Chicago --- landing in Boise about 12:30pm. Let the 4th of July festivities begin! I can’t wait to be surrounded by all of my siblings, their spouses, their children and spend a few days in the mountains above Boise ---

I don’t remember if there is even wifi at my mom’s house. Last time I was there I didn’t have cell service on the mountain.

Posts may be sparce if connectivity is limited, but I have a feeling I’ll mostly be busy with family so you may have to deal without me for a few days --

And with that --- I’m off to get that packing going!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

iPhone-o-Gram! Pink or Blue?!

I'm hanging at the Burlington airport with 3 hours to kill before my flight boards.

Of course that means it's souvie time!! ((nick name for souvenirs))

Do I want the pink tshirt with the cow that says Vermont---or the blue one?!

There will be lots if hexies sewn today---lots of airport waiting time!

Scrappy, Trippy, and Wonderful!

Our last class day went by so fast that I felt like I only blinked twice, checked my watch, and it was already 10:30am with only an hour left to go of class --- how could that possibly be?

We were just getting started and having such a great time with the fabrics!

I enjoyed seeing Shelley again – last time I saw her was over a year ago on a trip through Connecticut ----She got to be my room assistant today, how fun is that? Thank you Shelley!

I met 3 crazy sisters who said they are 3 of 5 sisters total---I enjoyed their antics so much.

Family dynamics are so fun to watch ---and what a great way for sisters to bond and stay involved in each others lives ---with QUILTING!

This is a very fast class, and blocks were being turned out in no time at all…and pretty soon, Scrappy blocks were covering walls and tables, and ladies were pooling their blocks together to play with design layouts….

I got a huge hoot when I walked up to one block and started to examine the fabric up close and personal…Thank you, Alexander Henry!

Wowza! This adds new definition to the term “Novelty Fabric!”

I also love the eye glasses fabric in this block too --- don’t they just make you smile?

Oh, and funny of funnies – I found myself face to face with not ONE --- but THREE diet dr peppers from students coming to my rescue. There are still two left in the fridge --- I will probably have one with breakfast ((Can’t leave it behind?!)) and gift the other to my roomie before we head off to the airport, because it can’t go through security ---

If you haven’t tried this pattern – do! It’s SO fun, and you just can’t go wrong with it.

Take a peek! Catch the excitement!

		Scrappy Trips, VQF 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And YES --- there was evidence of Leader/Ender bow-ties in production!

These are Shelley’s! And they are going to look so fabulous with the layout she has chosen!

Mine are still plugging along.

I’m looking forward to hitting the Sister’s Oregon show and seeing if we can find some inspiration on what to work on next --- even though mine is not even close to being done yet. I am planning on taking what I have and working with a layout plan while in Oregon this year – just to see how far we’ve come in a year’s time just doing these as leaders and enders in between the lines of chain piecing other things ----

I’m on my way home. Right now there is no other place on earth I want to be!