Wednesday evening

Well, I know I said no more posts for a couple of days, but am feeling glad to have finished a lap quilt that I was making for a gal I know through my RV group. This was kind of a 'duty' quilt, so will be pleased to put it in the mail to her and get it off my mind (and to do list). I must say it is truly georgous Moda flannel [I'd cook while working on it! or was that a hot flash?]

And I also managed to get the other 8 log cabin with stars block done. I must confess to some of my blocks being less than perfectly flat (what did I pull?) but I'm hoping that we can make it all work with the border. Hmmmmm. Keep at it!

Doin' my stuff

I've been struggling with a bad knee and physical therapy twice a week, but. . . . I have also made some progress with my little projects and thought you'd like to see.

So, here we are with the log cabin blocks. This will, assuming a finish on time, become a birthday gift for DD:




I have 8 more of these to make to get to the finished size. As I recall it finishes to a lap size.



And then (because I don't think she looks as this blog) here is what I have been working on for my Winter Exchange:




Pretty cute, huh? Not so difficult but time consuming cutting out the snowflake, then tiny zigzag with invisible thread. Will have a small border and voila!

3 new books, several UFO's, a strip set and some charm squares - all calling my name. Hmmm.

Church women's retreat this week-end - so updates here in a few days.

Exchanges are so much fun

I have received my Winter Exchange through my Crazy Exchange Group. Vania in Florence, Italy, sent me a stitched pinkeep as well as Panforte, a holiday treat. She also included a couple of postcards of Florence - considered by some as one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Now who feels guilty that they do not have their winter exchange item ready to go in the mail? That would be yours truly.

But if I might wax poetic (or at least blab on) for a moment - joining this exchange group has been one of the most delightful things I have ever done in my lifetime. Not only have I received truly marvelous hand-crafted, love-filled creations, but I have met some superb people. I have visited some of them and some have come here and visited with me. One could hardly ask for more in this crazy life we all live. So for any of my Crazy Exchange friends who are reading this, thanks for all the joy you have and continue to bring to me. And should you have a chance to join a group of exchangers - in whatever arena - take the plunge! I very much doubt you will regret it.

Things that make me happy

Oh, I was so pleased today to find a box on the front porch with the new books I had ordered. I am always so impressed with the folks who seem to be able to whip up this marvelous, small items that are just so doggone cute. And they really often only use what is otherwise a scrap of fabric - so you see I really am still busting my stash. Nancy Halvorson's latest from Art to Heart, Pretty Little Presents from Lark Books and my big excitement is the latest Tilda book. I learned of Tilda from Carolina, in the Netherlands. As they are originally from Norway by Tone Finnanger, English versions have been very hard to find. Sew Sunny Homestyle is 2009.

Oh, oh - get that log cabin finished and then I can play with these. And yes, Carolina I'm sure that I'm a real quilter -even in Fons and Porter's eyes. :-)

This week's doings

On Wednesday my quilt guild featured speaker was Raynola Pakusich. Very interesting lady. She is particularly knowledgeable about various ethnic fabrics, how they are made and how they can be used -sometimes together (regardless of country of origin). So she might pair up Asian fabrics with African fabrics and they look fabulous together. My photos were all too dark. I have asked another quilter for permission to use her photos - I will post them if she gives me the 'go ahead'. Meanwhile, this is the quilt that the guild will raffle off during our annual quilt show. Wouldn't it just be terrific if my number is drawn?









You probably know what I'm still working on at home. Log cabin strips. I think the pattern calls for 2 more light rounds and 2 dark. One of these days. . . . . . .











On January 4, Paula posed the question, 'What is the discipline of quilting?'. I have been thinking about that over these past 10 days, and I would have to answer that for me the discipline of quilting is sticking with it and finishing up what I have started - Particularly if something is not turning out quite like I had envisioned it ahead of time. So how about for you?

Useless trivia

As my mother used to say, some trivia is really useless but occasionally interesting, anyway. So for today, as many of you know the whole Twilight stuff is supposed to occur in a little Washington town by the name of Forks. In fact, there is a 'convention' of Twilight-ees in town this week-end. Well you remember I said it was raining? Forks has had over 15 inches of rain in the past 7 days. You sure don't want to go there! Yikes!

Just Checkin' In

The Pacific Northwest seems to be working to single-handedly replentish the world's oceans. Gracious it has been raining. Now I know, I don't have to shovel any of this and my more eastern friends do have my sympathies - but we struggle along with all that winter brings us.

I'm still working on the Log Cabin for my daughter. All the stars are complete (36 - 4 1/2" centers for the log cabin blocks.)


Each of the dark strips require that you add a 1 1/2" square to one end. [That's 336 of those little guys.] I don't usually do my log cabins this way: where you cut all the strips first, to the specified length. If I ever finish all this prep work sewing it together should be fairly fast.

In the Sewing Room, I must, if being totally honest, admit that not all the Christmas fabrics have been put away. I'm sure your sewing space is all tidy and there are no holiday bits laying around. But I do need to spend more time getting mine under control. Meanwhile, we are season ticket holders for the University of Washington Women's Basketball. We are about the bottom of the Pac-10 conference, but its fun, nonetheless. There's always the next match-up, right?












Easy way to stay warm and dry. Go Huskies!

Learning Geocaching

Some photos of our geocaching adventures. You aren't supposed to "give away" the site, so hopefully these don't mean anything to you - as far as finding them goes.

20 photos from the parade

Photos of the parade

Rainy, rainy Tuesday

I always think of song titles when I sit down to post one of these blogs - so for today it would be "The Day that the Rains Came Down" (how is that for a moldy-oldy, or aren't you old enough to even remember it?)

It is, as the Dutch would say, typische winter weer [typical winter weather] - I think the humidity must be close to 100% as the clouds are sitting right on the ground. I'm reminded of a poem my kids I used to recite: "One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather" - this is it!

A very Happy New Year to one and all. I can report that we enjoyed New Year's Eve and Day (Jan. 1st) in warm California. Oh it was great fun and such a wonderful break. So, the highlight, of course, was the Rose Bowl Parade - my fist time. This parade was the 121st Rose Parade (that's a long time) and quite amazing if you have never been. The rules are basically that EVERYTHING on a float must be covered in some sort of natural material. Everything from leaves, petals, grasses, bark, etc. An incredibly tedious process. I kept wondering how would one know if they were on the right timeline or not. Should I be doing the birds and butterflies now or is it OK to still be working on the magician - for example. Obviously the many, many years of experience pay off. It is very much like quilting - you take small pieces and put them together to make an incredible 'whole'. So on to some photos: [courtesy of my friend Susan. Thanks]

Camping out along the street is allowed starting at noon on New Year's Eve.









We bit the bullet and bought seats in the bleachers. Not only was it a more comfortable place to sit, but gave us a great view for photos.


The trumpeter is over 50' high and has to be able to 'lay-down' to go under an overpass along the route (just to add to the complications)





The Marines paraded with their mule team.

The Ohio State School for the Blind marched with a guide (in red) Incredible!

I will try to upload photos to a Picasa album (for those who are gluttons for punishment). Needless to say, it was quite an experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our other big adventure over the holiday - for another post - was learning about and doing some geocaching. Who could possibly be bored in this amazing world we have! Life is good!