memory quilt

This is a memory quilt made for a lady from New York.  She contacted me in November and sent me some clothing from her mom and I was finally able to finish up this quilt and it will go in the mail today.  Memory quilts are a great way to hold onto a few treasured items from a loved one who has passed on.  I had better start on memory quilts for my kids since I have over 500 t shirts and they don't quilt!

Binky Day

 We skipped our Binky meeting in March because the weather was really bad.  That hasn't happened in a few years, but this year we've had some pretty good storms come through.  Carla was nice enough to host us at her house today since the kids are off for Spring break.  No school means I'm off too!  Yipee.

 We had a nice turnout of ladies and got a lot done, from sorting fabric scraps to sewing some things together.  There were some ladies who came from Lodi (about an hour away) who brought lots of finished rag quilts.  We had given them quite a bit of flannel fabric and they cut it and sewed it back together and brought us back the finished quilts.  It's so nice to have friends from far away who have the same mindset and enjoy working on projects like this.  I went home and dug out 5 buckets of flannel fabric and gave them more to work on.

 I'm sure I have more flannel in my garage, but didn't have the time to go through all of it today.  I'm motivated to sort through it this week though since our next meeting is April 10 and they will be back.  If I can give away another 5 buckets of fabric and have finished quilts returned to me, it's like I'm working at super human speed.

 There were only three teens who showed up today but they sorted baskets of scraps and cut a whole basket full of the smaller scraps into tumbler blocks.  Many of us sewed them together and almost had a whole quilt top finished in about an hour.  It always amazes me how so little can become something beautiful when we all work together.

The local newspaper came out to do a story on our group.  I always enjoy talking to them and sharing how we can take some donated fabric and turn it into hugs for kids.

Around 3pm a lady showed up at the door asking for Brooke.  She said she had come to buy something.  Turns out she was at the wrong house, but when she saw that we were all busy sewing, she asked if we could help her fix her sewing machine.  She found the right house and came back about 30 minutes later with her sewing machine.  Carla helped her fix it and she was happy to have found us.  She said she had been struggling with her machine for a while and was going to come back in April to help us make quilts.  It was a little like dialing the wrong number and winning the lottery.  Or maybe accidentally getting hooked on a drug that you will never recover from, depending on your perspective!  She has no idea what she just got herself into :)  We are a crazy bunch of ladies who do love cutting up perfectly good fabric and sewing it back together.  I sure hope there is no cure for what we have going.

Show some love

 Who do you love in this election?  You certainly have your choice of interesting candidates.

 If anything, there's lots to talk about and more people are interested in the election than ever before.

 I've decided to jump into the election hoopla and made some candidate key fobs.  I purchased the embroidery designs and stitched them out on vinyl.  I've got them all attached to my keys, which makes for an interesting conversation starter!  Just who am I supporting anyways?

I'm hoping to raise some money to fund my quilting (50% of the money raised will purchase batting) and to support my daughter's high school, Miami Arts Charter School.  As many of you know, teachers use a lot of our own money to purchase school supplies.  I've been teaching a long time, but she is in her first year of teaching and doesn't have as much money to spend.

Plus, I'm having fun.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthHillsQuilter?ref=hdr_shop_menu

If you want to show your support, head on over to my Etsy shop and check out the key fobs.  You might find something else you need while you are there.

final February quilt and flooding

This quilt was finished in February, but with another long, crazy week, today is the first chance I've had to post a picture of it.  I don't understand how a whole week can get away from me like that.  Between school things life in general, time is gone and the day is done.

We have had a long drought here in Northern California for the past 4 years and I've forgotten what a pain this house can be when it really does rain.  The weathermen forcasted El Nino this winter and we had a bit of rain in December, but nothing really to write home about.  February was dry and sunny and felt more like May.  Then, yesterday came.  60 mile an hour winds and 1 1/2 inches of rain in a couple of hours.

Oh, yeah, this house leaks.  Big time!

My son came home for the weekend.  He's still having troubles from his concussion from the bike accident and I think just needed a couple good nights' sleep in his bed.  Well, last night that wasn't going to happen because his window leaks when the rain blows on it from the South.  It was pouring in the window and filling bowls every couple of hours.

We know we need to get the windows replaced and that whole wall torn out, but when it is sunny and dry, the urgency just isn't there.

This morning I got to thinking that maybe I could fix the leak.  My dad always made us kids feel like there wasn't anything we couldn't fix with a bit of duct tape, some wire and a bit of thinking.  So, thanks to my dad and Youtube, I figured out the best way to tackle the problem, headed out to Lowe's at 7 when they opened and got some caulk and a putty knife.  I dug out a couple of weak spots in the seal around the window, especially the spot that had the biggest leak and applied plenty of caulk.  I don't think I would get the award for the prettiest job.  After about 2 hours (stuff says needs 30 minutes to dry) my son suggested I test it with the hose.  Sure enough, spraying water on it and nothing came through.  Looks like I may just have fixed the leak.  Fingers crossed that when the next storm rolls through, the rain won't be rolling in through the cracks around the window!