Design wall Monday

It is a cold and rainy day here in Phoenix today.

Just a perfect day to stay inside and quilt away.

I've even hoping that perhaps I might be able to steal and

hour or so and curl up with a quilt and a book.

That's just what rainy days are for.

And since we don't get them too often in Phoenix

I really should take advantage of it!

This is what is on my design wall today.

I decided that instead of starting new projects

that I really needed to get some of my own tops

QUILTED!

After all.......that's what I DO!

So I will be using my design wall to

design the quilting that needs to be done!

This is a quilt for Sharon that I finished just last night.

This quilt for Liz will be a Christmas gift.

I put the finishing touches on this quilt this weekend.

This weekend was busy and productive!

I got up early on Saturday morning and started my day baking bread.

Banana bread that is.

I really like baking my banana bread in these little ceramic pans

that I bought at Michaels. They are the perfect size and don't

take forever in the oven.

Yummy!

While the bread was baking I started making my fudge.
I always make fudge for Christmas......Chocolate fudge and
Peanut Butter fudge (my fav)
I've been making this fudge for YEARS and I pretty much
know what it is suppossed to look like at each step of the way.
Well, this year it just didn't look right.....looked kinda greasy,
like maybe there was too much butter. Lo and behold, I checked
and I had misread the butter label......The recipe called for 3/4 cup
of butter and I measured 3/4 POUNDS of butter. Almost double what
the recipe called for. So I quickly doubled all of the other ingrediants and
crossed my fingers! I have never made a double batch before, and thankfully
it worked out just fine. So when I made the next batch I doubled it too!
Much faster, much easier.

I think I'll do it that way every Christmas when I made a ton of fudge!

Well, if you make fudge then you know that you always have

marshmellow creme jars leftover.

I always save them and usually have a ton of them.

This year I decided to make up a big batch of cookie dough mix

and put them in jars with a recipe for making Snickerdoodles!

All you need to do is add ONE EGG to this mix!

So that is just what I did. Each of these jars will get a small

bag of cinnamon mix and a recipe tucked under a square of

pretty fabric and tied up with a ribbon.

Another really amazing part of my weekend was when my

daughter and I went to Burlington Coat Factory.

I remember seeing before Halloween that they had the cutest little

Halloween costumes for babies.

I was in the same shopping mall for another reason so I figured

that I should stop in and see if maybe they had any leftovers marked down.

I bought these two outfits

and these two costumes.

Aren't they sweet?

Why did I buy so many?

Well for one reason we don't know if Jenny is having a boy or girl yet.

But the REAL reason is that these clothes were marked down to......

drum roll please...............

$.99

Yep, you read that right......Ninety Nine cents!

I just LOVE a bargain!

Just before Thanksgiving I received a package in the mail

from Bec, my Springtime swap partner.

I didn't open until just this last weekend.

I was planning on saviang it until Christmas

because, well, that is what you do with Christmas presents.

But I've had this crummy cold and my husband was travelling this

weekend so I figured that I really NEEDED to open this gift!

Would you look at what was inside?!?!?!!!!!

What a treat! Inside was this gorgeous stocking

filled with fabric and candy.

I'll just tell you that I was tickled pink!
And it sure did make me feel better and made my day a little brighter!
Thank you so much Bec!

You are a dear!

Well, I'm off to go and quilt that quilt that is on the design wall.

If Judy can make a whole quilt from start to finish in mere days

then I should be able to quilt and bind one.....right?

Judy........you are my hero!

Check out Judy's blog here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/

Finished quilts and things.......

It has been awhile since I have actually posted pictures

of some of my finished projects........

I made up these little bibs for the little ones who

were going to be at the Thanksgiving dinner that my

family attended.

I just loved the saying "My Family is THANKFUL for ME!"

Ain't it the truth!

This was a top that I quilted for a customer.

I believe that it started with a panel

and the name of it is "Glory"

When she dropped it off I told that I probably

wouldn't get it done before Christmas.......

that way I could hang it in MY house during the season!

LOLOLOL!

Yeah, she picked it up yesterday!

Another t-shirt quilt made by a first time quilter!

My friend Barbara who made her very first quilt

not too long ago is now teaching her friends!

This quilt was made by Joan for her 1st granddaughter Alison.

Each and every square of the quilt holds a special

memory for Joan and Alison.

This square was made from a VERY tattered baby blanket.

It was pieced together in four places to even get a 15" square!

Joan delighted in telling me the story of each block.

It appears that one of Alison's favorite phrases is that

"This is me.....and the world revolves around"

When Barbara found this shirt (at Savers!) she knew

that it would need to be included in Alison's quilt.

I quilted a princess crown in the middle along

with Alison's name and birthdate.

Alison became engaged while in Germany.

Her husband to be asked her to marry him in

front of a castle in Germany.

So I quilted a castle.

Alison was in Germany to do her student teaching

so on another Germany shirt I quilted children.

London Metro shirt.

See the train?

Eiffel Tower in Paris.........

See? I have been working.........I have been working!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)

I received an email today from my friend Dolly telling me that the new auction has started for Ami Simms Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

What is special (to me) about this particular auction is that Dolly's 11 year old daughter Kelly AND her mom Joanne

both have quilts that they have donated included in this auction.

This is Kelly's LadyBug quilt.

This is Joanne's Patchwork of Life quilt.

If you go to the site http://www.alzquilts.org/quiltauction.html

and click on the pictures of the quilts you will get to read the artist's statements

and on Kelly's......see her picture! She is the youngest quilter ever to donate a quilt!

I was fortunate enough to get to see Joanne's quilt up close and personal.

What is amazing about her quilt is that all of those tiny, little bitty, miniscule triangles

are all PIECED! This is not a printed piece of fabric you are looking at here folks!

I just hope that their gifts of love will bring lots of bidders and $$$ for this cause.

Kelly's grandpa recently passed away after suffering many years with

Alzheimer's disease.

What a lovely tribute Kelly and Joanne have offered him.

Sick, Sick, Sick

After a very busy holiday weekend of Thanksgiving dinner at Darcy's,
big bonfire at our house on Friday and then on Saturday Jenny and I fixed
the whole traditional thanksgiving meal at our house........and now I'm sick!

Don't know if it is from being outside on Friday night with the chillyness
of the evening.....or the smoke......or the wind blowing around allegens...
OR if someone else was sick and I picked it up.

AT any rate, I'm not feeling too hot.


These are some pictures from our bonfire. We especially
like to burn old Christmas trees. Those trees just light
up the night!

Had the kids over for dinner a couple of weekends ago and we

used our halloween costume shirts, added an elf hat and tried

to get some good shots for our Christmas picture.

I've got 2 more Christmas quilts to finish for customers and

then I am pretty much finished with quilts for now.

Guess I need to get off the computer and get quilting!

Very first picture of my grandbaby!

Well, here it is.........the very first picture of my new grandbaby!

Ain't she cute?

I am thrilled to announce that my daughter Jenny is expecting

and will bring forth my first grandbaby around July 3, 2010!

See that black area?

Well, the little scratchy white area inside the black area

is the baby.

Don't ya think she looks JUST LIKE JENNY?

Now I don't know if it is a boy or girl as of yet,

but I'm just calling it a girl til I really know,

which won't be for another month or so.

Actually I'm not really sure when they find out,

but I"ll probably be someone they will tell when they know!

Hello there........it's been awhile

I'm not really sure why I haven't posted lately, but it sure

has been awhile. I guess when I get on the computer I tend

to get distracted by soooooooooo many things.........I love

reading other people's blogs, and I enjoy facebook and I

like looking at quilting sites and maybe learning new things.

Before you know it I've spent ALOT of time on the computer!

AND not very much time WORKING!

Does anyone else have this problem?

I HAVE been busy lately. I"ve finished up QUITE a few projects.

Here are some of them:

This is Margaret's quilt.

I met Margaret about 8 years ago at Quilt Camp in the Pines.

She happened to be staying at the dorms at Northern Arizona University

(this is where the camp was being held) and my son was considering

attending NAU. So I asked Margaret if my son and his friend could

come in her room and have a look at what a real college dorm room

looked like. What a sweet lady. Then and now.

Margaret is 85 and when she came to pick up this quilt she brought

with her an 88 year old friend who was visiting from Colorado.

I can only hope to be in as good shape as these two ladies when I am

that age. Margaret's friend goes to the gym and has a trainer!

I'm pretty sure she is in better shape than I am NOW!

Guess it is something to aspire to!

This is a close-up of Margaret's quilt.

Finally a group shot of my Friday Night Quilters.

What a fine group of ladies!

I think that the last time we were all together was in January!

Everyone looks great in this picture..........except me.........

I have my eyes closed!

Guess I needed the rest.......?

Another finished quilt:

This quilt belongs to Liz and is called Lavender Fields.

The picture does not do this quilt justice.

It was a really sweet little quilt.....pastel and beautiful!

I included this picture of my quilting machine so I could

tell you my sad tale of woe.

Unfortunately during the last month I've started having

some problems with driving this machine! It would get hard

to push in some areas and then fly away in others. It

was REALLY hard to control and because I had to keep such

a tight reign on the handles my whole body would hurt after

only a short quilting session.

So I do what I do best when I have a problem............I avoid it!

Well, not really, but it is what I WANTED to do!

I tried getting out my manual and looking up the problem.

After identifying the problem I tried to make the adjustments

on my own, only making matters worse!

Fortunately APQS has a wonderful tech support and Christine

walked me thru all the adjustments I needed to make.

And after getting Mike's help with a few things that needed a stronger

arm than I have, my machine is working just like new!

PHEW!

What a relief!

Because my quilting machine was not working as well as I needed

it to I just couldn't bring myself to put a customer quilt on and work

on it. So I started pulling out some of MY projects that I could

have on the frames so I could work on the adjustments I needed.

This quilt is Jenny's shower quilt.

It was signed by many people who wished Jenny and Rafael

much happiness in thier marriage.

I gave it to them on their one year anniversary!

Close-up of the center square on which I embroidered their

names and wedding date:

Remember all those tablerunners that I made at camp?

Well.........it was quick to piece them, but then they have

to be finished! So while my quilting machine was being

squirrelly I quilted some of these runners.

Here a just a few.....I think I finished at least 2 or 3 more of these

during the last 2 weeks!

Guess that is it for now!

Jazzercise

I've recently joined a group of ladies who Jazzercise.

I must tell you that I went kicking and screaming

every inch of the way.

A few years back I tried to Jazzercise and found that I was zigging while everyone else was zagging!

I stopped just short of bumping into people,

but let me tell you..........It was pretty embarassing!

My long time friend Tana, shown here, LOVES Jazzercise.

Tana is lighting candles on some "special" brownies

to celebrate instructor Lynn's 50th birthday.

(the special brownies were made with a can of pumpkin

instead of oil and eggs! lol! Certainly you were not thinking

that they were THAT special!)

When my daughter Jenny was out of work

SHE started going to jazzercise and asked me

to join her. I resisted, but finally caved in.

Can you see me?

I'm actually in my usual spot..........as far to the

back as I can manage with NO ONE behind me!

I'm so glad that I've joined this group.

Yes, I still zig when others are zagging,

but at my age, WHO CARES?

I'm moving, and dancing and

feeling stronger

everyday!