I love this one

I love this quilt. I love the colors, the pattern, the quilting (baptist fans--freehand).  Everything.  Even the size of it.  Just perfect.  Now to find the perfect person to give it to... (oh, maybe it needs binding first)  minor technicality!

In a second...your life can change

When I read in the paper yesterday this tragic story, I once again realized how quickly life can change in an instant.  The person driving the car is the son of my friend.  He is about a month older than my oldest daughter.  I met him when he was just a baby and watched him grow up.  His mom, my friend, is the children's director at the church I first started attending when we moved to Vacaville.  My oldest daughter who is 21 now was 6 weeks old at the time.  That's a long time to know a person.  His life has been forever changed.  The family of the person who died in the accident has been forever changed.  I'm sure neither person involved in the accident thought for a moment how Sunday would be THE day their lives would be different. 

I've been given this moment in time to make a difference.  I pray that I don't waste it.

a journey begins

...with just one step, or so the saying goes.

Since my doctor can't figure out what is wrong with me, I figure I had better take things into my own hands.  All research points to better health through exercise, sleep, drinking more water and a better diet.  All things I have control over.

So, the journey begins today, with walking more, sleeping more and drinking more water.  Adding more fiber to the diet began a couple of days ago, both through fiber supliments and more fruits and we will see if all of the research pays off.  I think I read somewhere that more quilting makes you live longer too.  Oh, wait, maybe that was here on my blog :)  Well, if it doesn't kill you, it certainly makes you stronger.  Or gives you sore muscles to prove that quilting is exercise!

I know I said I need more boy quilts, but I just have so many girl quilt tops in the pile that have already been paired with backings that they are just so easy to grab.  The boy quilts need more effort to put together and with being sick again (teaching exposes you to many cooties) I just haven't had the energy to give it much effort this week.

back to the doctor

I'm not convinced my stomach troubles were caused by the appendix.  Since they took the appendix out, I've still had the pains.  What's up with that?  So, I'm going back in this afternoon to see if maybe they missed something on the CT scan, like maybe my gall bladder.  Every time I eat something, my stomach hurts.  Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the pains.  If this is what getting old is like, I'm not looking forward to getting any older.  If my stomach doesn't hurt, my shoulder or head does.  Seems like I am always in pain somewhere! Ugh.

doubly productive

one in the morning and one after school...really moving along now :)  Too bad I'm tired or I could get one more in tonight!  I have a Quilts of Honor meeting tonight and I'm not sure I'm going to make it.  I need to drop off these quilts to be bound and pick up the finished ones so I really should get over there just for that, but we will see :)

Productive day

Got this one quilted this morning before heading off to school.  I like being able to quilt something in the morning because it makes me feel productive.  If nothing else gets done all day, at least I got a quilt done :)

My son's quilt

Still plugging away at this one.  The blocks are all sewn together, now to add borders and get it quilted.  I love the graphic design on this one.  And, I love the backing fabric I found.  Nobody makes bass cleff notes on fabric, but I did find treble cleff notes that are black on black for the backing fabric and bought out all JoAnn's had.  Perfect for a music lover like my son. 

All that Jazz...

yesterday, my son played in two different jazz bands.  This kid loves his trombone!  The kids were incredible and I'm beginning to understand jazz music.  Another three years and I might just like it :)

quilting again, must be doing better

My assistant pastor is taking 40 boy quilts to an orphanage in Mexico on Tuesday and that clears out all of the boy quilts I have on hand.  With me being so tired from the appendix removal I haven't had the energy to take the quilts on had to the hospital.  That's a good thing, because when the need for them at the orphanage came up, here they are!

However, now that all of the boy quilts are gone and I'm starting to feel almost like myself again, I need to start replenishing the boy quilts again.  I'm putting the call out to all of my local Binky Patrol workers and will be hopefully working again to get these quilt tops quilted up.  What I find is that I have about 3 girl quilts for every boy quilt.  I wonder why that is?  Why do we love to make the girly quilts more than those for little boys?

Looks like I will have to dig through the fabric stash and pull some boy fabrics and get cutting :)

100 quilts for kids

need some inspiration?  Or a reason to sew a quilt for a child?  How about this contest?  Looks like lots of great prizes if you make and donate a quilt in the next month.  I think I can do that :)

for my older son

it is now pinned together and waiting its turn to be sewn together.  It will need some black borders.  My son designed it on paper before laying it out on the floor.  This one took 3 yards of white and 3/4 yards of 4 different black fabrics if you want to make one like it.  I have 20 squares leftover and it used the 7 1/2 inch drunkard's path die.  Looks like there will be another, smaller black and white quilt in the near future :)  Maybe with some purple thrown in.  I think I know someone who likes purple :)  Maybe a Christmas quilt?

Hope

My friend's grand-daughter is going to be named Hope.  A fitting name I believe.  I made this quilt today, a paerfect day to make such a perfect quilt.  I tell you, the more I make these drunkard's path quilts, the more I am in love with these blocks.  My friend Carla found this dove pattern and convinced me this was the block I should use.  She is so clever!  I'm so glad she is my friend.  OH, and she agreed that at my funeral, she would organize the quilting party.  Everyone who shows up to my funeral will leave with their very own handmade quilt, because everyone will sit and sew instead of cry.  My kids will not have to deal with all of the fabric I leave behind because everyone will be cutting and sewing and laughing and eating brownies and remembering how crazy I was.  It can't happen for a while, because I have a lot more drunkard's path quilts to make.  I hear there are 85 different designs you can make with this one block.  I think I have about 7 of them done.  That's a lot more to go!

for Joyce's daughter

This is for my friend Joyce's daughter.  I'm still working on the quilt for her grandbaby who is due in about a month, but when I saw this fabric, I just thought of my friend Joyce and knew I had to make this one for her daughter who probably could use a hug just as much as the baby.  Joyce loved her cat, miss kitty and would write some of her facebook posts from the cat's perspective.  Click on the picture to see the great cat print fabric!  Joyce would have worn pants out of this print if she could have!

The funeral is this evening at 5 and I wanted to have it finished up to bring with me.

Carla convinced me to make yet another drunkard's path quilt for the baby.  She found a pattern called Doves and gave me some lavendar fabrics.  I headed over to JoAnn's for some more and will start cutting them as soon as I get off the computer.  Should go together quickly now that I have the pattern.  I also found a really cute bird pattern where you make birds out of different scraps.  I ordered the book and may give it a try when the book gets here.  It is like my daughter's turtle quilt which took a zillion hours to do, but was oh, so cute when done.

Quilts for Texas fire victims

I hope that those of you who sent quilt tops to me for the Quilts for Japan don't mind, but I am planning on sending some of them to Judy for the people in Texas who have lost everything to the fires.  She is going to quilt them up and donate them.  Since the marathon quilting for Japan, my shoulder has been hurting and then with the appendix removal, I just haven't been able to do as much quilting as I have wanted.  I want these quilts to get into the hands of hurting children and I know that Judy will get them there faster than I can.

If you want to send completed quilts or tops of your own, she is taking them and will be driving them to a friend of hers in the coming weeks.  I hope she doesn't get overwhelmed with the outpouring of love from the quilting world.

love drunk

Are you tired of hearing me go on and on about the Drunkard's path dies from Accuquilt yet?  Well, I'm so much in love with these two dies for the Go! cutter that I tell you if you don't get any other dies for the cutter, you would have well spent your money on the contraption.  This die is so easy to cut and so fun to sew. 

Can you believe I still have a few of these blocks left?  Not enough for another quilt, but they will appear in one more quilt along the road somewhere.

Just finished this quilt this morning, I must be feeling better to be back to quilting.  That is the way to gauge my degree of wellness, by how much quilting gets done around here :)  This one goes to my oldest daughter's assistant tennis coach at college.  She is expecting her first baby in November.  I love how this quilt turned out.  Makes me want to have another baby :)  Or maybe just make another quilt.

My friend Joyce

I just got a phone call that my co-worker and friend Joyce died this morning.  She had gone on a rafting trip yesterday and was trapped under the boat for 20 minutes.  She was such a crazy lady.  She taught art at the school I work at and if you know anything about art teachers, you know they think differently than most of the world.  She always made me laugh!  She loved her cat and often wrote her facebook posts from her cat's perspective.

She will be missed.

You are not promised tomorrow.  What are you going to do with your today?

my buddies

As I sit this morning, 'resting' and grading papers, I am joined by my constant companion, Lily, who is always by my side.  I can't even go to the bathroom without her following me and by my little guy who came down about an hour ago and immediately fell back to sleep.  I just couldn't resist taking this picture.  Ignore the laundry that needs folding.  I know that I have been :)

Just Right

So, he didn't give up.  He wanted circles and I suggested he add some of the smaller blocks in the middle of the bigger ones.  Now it just needs to be sewn together and would you believe I still have some more of the pink/green blocks leftover?  I don't think I will ever get all of them sewn into a quilt!  I don't have enough to make any more, so the rest will have to find their way into another quilt somehow, but this is the last of the pink/green quilts :)  Yipee!

A Mother's Joy

My 7 year old came home from school today and found the drunkard's path blocks I had sewn laying on the floor.  I had them arranged with the 7 inch and 3 1/2 inch blocks together since they fit so nicely and he asks if he can arrange them.  Of course!  Please ignore the laundry that needs folding and the papers that need grading.  Those things can wait!  There is a quilt to be made :)

This might even be better than a video game.  You actually get something in the end.  Who knows, he might just end up a famous quilt designer one day.  Or, he might get tired of it and go back to playing video games, but I took a picture to show his future wife and to make me smile.

I thought I was doing really good today.  I didn't take any pain medication all day and I didn't take a nap and I went to the store and bought envelopes for my sub to use for class tomorrow (science fair--wee) and then I went to my daughter's tennis match.  I thought it started at 3 and they hadn't started at 3:45 and I was about to die.  I can't bend over very far just yet because I can still feel the stitches in there and things are poking me and my son comes out after school (the older one) and says he lost a bracelet on the football field, so I walked out to help him look (cuz there are big scary football players out there practicing, and we couldn't find it, and by this time I'm about to die!

I am so not ready to go back to work!  Good thing I have at least 4 more days off.  Another full week if I need it.  Whatever is poking me from the inside needs to go away so I can actually walk without feeling like I am dying would be nice :)  But, the kids miss me and I miss them too.  All in good time.