Fun news!

A friend and client loves Asian fabric and is always making Asian inspired quilts. Then she submits them to Asian Fabrics Magazine. If they feature a quilt you've made with their Kona Bay fabrics, you receive 3 yards of free fabric.

This is the second time she has had a quilt included in the magazine. And she very kindly gave me credit as her quilter in the write up. She is very excited to have 2 quilts featured and now she is once again 3 yards of beautiful fabric richer! Wonder what she'll make with it this time?

A very useful gift

Well blogger won't let me post pictures tonight, so we'll just use our imagination, OK? I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas an got everything you wanted.

I had a wonderful holiday...Hanukkah/Christmas season. Spent time with most of the people who are important in my life. Also got lots of gifts. Of course the best things are family and friends and I am blessed in that area.

But on the material side; my husband did get me 2 things that I will use allot. First, accu-drive handles for my longarm. And he installed them. Tried them out today...wonderful!! For those of you not familiar, they are handles down near the needle bar that provide good control with less fatigue for all that tiny background work, and they swing up out of the way when not in use.

Secondly, he is having a full table length light bar made for me. And that is huge! light fixtures spanning the entire length of my table set 3 feet above the work area, all with ott light tubes! Finally, I'll have perfect lighting! No more straining to see where I've been when working with black thread on black fabric!

I have to wait about a week for it to be fabricated and installed, then I'm good to go!

Hope your week was wonderful too!

Christmas Eve mail

What a nice thing to get on Christmas Eve....3 postcards! Even one from Mary! Love the crystals on the tree too!

And this one is from Lyn. A pretty little package just for me!

And this one from Janet, with beautiful stitching!

I love them all! Thank you all so much! It is so much fun to see all the different ideas that everyone comes up with.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

More postcards & other interesting mail

I got these 2 postcards last week. The first from Beth.And this one from Lynn with her interpretation of Florida Christmas trees. Aren't they great? Thank you both, I just love them!

And then this also came in the mail yesterday to "felines Harry & Chloe"

Inside were 2 catnip pillows! Below is Chloe holding and sniffing hers.

And Harry with his.

This is Chloe when she was done.

And Harry post catnip.

They certainly enjoyed their present and it as very thoughtful of my friend Jacqueline to remember them.

I hope you all enjoy your presents as much as Chloe & Harry!

The Raffle Quilt

OK, as promised here it is...the raffle quilt finally done! Remember though, I told you the photos aren't great. It was late and the light was not good. And I didn't even get the whole thing in the photo. Oh well, it'll give you an idea what it looks like. I'll post better photos after I get the professional ones back.
It is an original design: a collaborative effort. The center medallion and border applique is mine. Susan's idea was to surround the medallion with 9 patch blocks, and Donna's idea was for the pieced blocks on either side of the applique border. So I worked out the details in EQ, drew the applique patterns and Viola! a quilt pattern is born.

The pieced blocks were made by various members of our guild. The applique is all needle turn and again was done by various guild members. Donna put the top together and I quilted it. Now, Susan and Gert have it for blocking and binding.

For those of you who like the particulars: The fabrics are batiks; front and back, all donated by guild members. The batting is Hobbs Tuscany wool. The threads used were: Superior "monopoly" for all the SID and couching; 19 colors of Superior "SO Fine"; and 6 colors of Superior "King Tut". The hibiscus stamens, I needle felted by hand from hand-dyed wool roving and stitched them in place with the longarm. I couched Lion brand "fun fur" for the egret feathers. And Moda brand specialty yarn around the edge of the floral centerpiece. And finally hot fix crystals were added. All couching was done on the longarm too.

The numbers on the day markers are done with Krenik fusible ribbon (which I also stitched down).

And here are some pictures of the back. Again, not good light but.....

Sure feels good to have this behind me! Hopefully it'll be juried in to AQS and then to NQA. And most of all, hope it makes the guild lots of money!

And just in case anyone is interested....tickets will be available after the first of the year $1 each or 6 for $5. You can let me know and I'll send them to you :)

As I read that last post....

I feel very ashamed. Here at this time of year, when I have everything and so many have nothing, or are dealing with life threatening health issues, I go on and on about a stupid virus. Not much for the holiday spirit.

I am so blessed; with a loving family...Mother, siblings and extended family who are all close. A wonderful husband who doesn't mind the dust bunnies and mile high stack of laundry waiting to be done and who supports my passion for this craft; the financial freedom to indulge this passion; wonderful children and 3 beautiful granddaughters. A generous, supportive circle of friends; including the longarm community and my blogger friends. 2 beautiful, loving fur babies . And the list goes on and on.

Oh, and lest I forget...beautiful, tropical weather :)

So, forgive the previous rant. And to all of you have a wonderful holiday time.

A small whine

Actually, a big whine! I thought I felt better yesterday. I was able to finish the raffle quilt. About 9 pm last night I was talking to Mary on the phone, commenting on how I thought I'd finally turned the corner...Well around 10pm I hit the wall. Chills and fever, plus all the other symptoms I've had since DEC. 9th back with a vengeance. Up all night, finally got back in bed about 5 am this morning and fell asleep. Don got up and went to the marina...I never heard him. Finally the phone woke me at 9:30. Crap! I'm supposed to deliver this raffle quilt at 10!!

Back home, laid down...no sleep. About 3pm start with the chills and fever again. This is truly the virus from HELL!

I got a postcard from Beth today...really cute, but couldn't muster the energy to take a picture...maybe tomorrow :)

Also, I did take a couple pics of the raffle quilt, but they didn't turn out to well...blurry and dark (just like I feel) But we are having it professionally photographed next Wed...so I'll have some good photos after that.

Right now, I think I'd give my right leg to be able to sleep tonight! (can't give an arm...wouldn't be able to quilt)

OK, I'm done whining for now. Thanks for listening.

Postcards

I am loving these postcards! I got another one today from Suzanne. They are all so neat! I have enjoyed making them as well. It is great fun to try out new things on this smaller format.

I know it seems like forever that I posted any finished quilts, but I am working and am nearing the end of the latest project. This illness has really slowed me down a lot more than I thought it would. But onward and upward, as they say.

Still sick, but working anyway

I can't believe it, but I'm still sick as a dog! 8 days now, yuck! I am so tired of this. And to make things worse I had a very severe allergic reaction to one of the meds I'm taking. After a long night, I have recovered from the allergic reaction, but not the original disease. Hopefully soon.

But as time waits for no man (or woman) I'm still trying to work....a little at a time. And to top it all off, I had some minor but annoying machine issues, but as luck would have it my dealers were in the state and came by this morning and took care of things.

Other good news is this post card I received from Karen today...how cool is this! Love the tux!

The other thing I accomplished this weekend is getting my registration done for MQS and my hotel reservations. So I feel good about that. Now I just need to get a quilt done for the show!


And speaking of shows, I sent my entry form in today for the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show. It is a juried show, so we'll see if I get in again this year.

And the other interesting news this week...I was contacted by the editor of "On Track" Magazine (IMQA's magazine) They are starting a new feature called "Creative Lines" and want to feature my quilt from MQS last year in the next issue! What an honor! I of course agreed and did the interview.

So in spite of feeling just awful for the last week, a lot of good things have happened, and I have gotten some work done.

And in closing tonight, I leave you with some kitty pictures. My SIL keeps asking for pictures with a reference so she can see how big the kittens have gotten. So today, Don took pictures of me holding each of the kitties to send her. Her response was "They're BIG" lol.

The first is Harry...he's 9 months old.

And this is Chloe...she's 14 months old.

Hope you have a great night...stay warm!

Distributing quilts

Today I went to a local nursing home to distribute quilts made by my guild members. Below are a couple pictures I took of the 2 ladies that assisted me today..Susie on the left, and Carol (AKA Grandma Claus, as she called herself today).
The residents were most appreciative of the quilts, and it is such a joy to be able to do this for them.

So this was the highlight of my day.

The rest was spent cleaning and catching up on the laundry from my trip. I caught a terrible cold...on the plane most likely, so I'm feeling a little slow. I think I'll take some meds and turn in early. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like being productive. And maybe catch up on my blog reading! Thanks to all of you that welcomed me home...I missed you all.

Postcards

I got this postcard from Mary this week. She was using bias to make letters...pretty neat, huh!
And then waiting for me when I got home, was this very elegant postcard from Margie. The MQR exchange theme was black, white and 1 color.

And here are mine for this theme. If you are part of this exchange and want to be surprised you need to leave now.

I just finished them before I left for Virginia and got them in the mail today ...What lies behind the green door????????

Kind of a Florida thing....

Home Again

I'm home again! Exhausted and sick (you know how it is with air travel this time of year). But I had a great time! It was so good to see so much of the family. The reunion on Mother's birthday went great and she had a grand time.

I'm still going thru the photos, but here are a few to get you started. This is my 1 year old granddaughter Fiona and her daddy (my son Stephen) Can you tell daddy is wrapped around her little finger already?!

And this is my daughter Kelly with her daughters....Samantha (5 years old) on the left of Kelly and Kara(12 years old) to the right of Kelly. ( The drama queen with her hand to her head) Though in all fairness, Kara's day didn't start out too well. She is prone to awful migraines and had one that morning when she woke up. As the day progressed she felt better, fortunately. I sure hope she out grows those terrible things. And another one of Sam and Kara

And her is Mary (in the center) with our sister Ann to the right and Ann's son Ben to the left (with his back to us) and her husband Jamie behind on the steps.

And then on Sunday, between all the family stuff, Mary and I went to lunch with Vicki. I won't post a picture...you can see one on Vicki's blog if you are interested. She is just as she seems on her blog. I guess who we are comes thru in our writing. It was great fun to meet and talk with her. And she gave me this beautiful fabric that she dyed along with beads to match!

I had a mostly uneventful trip home. And I must say, that it is nice to come home to warm, tropical weather. And even with the bad cold I caught from the plane ride....somehow, I don't feel quite as miserable as I would if I were cold.

I spent my day, catching up on laundry, and my husband. And snuggling with the kitties. I did get my MQR postcards in the mail too.

Tomorrow, I will deliver quilts to the local nursing home on behalf on my guild, and get back to work....got to finish the background fill on that raffle quilt!

Hope you all had a good week too.

I'm ready!

Well Mary thought I needed to update my header with more recent photos of the babies. So she took the latest photo I had taken and cropped it. All I had to do was insert it into the layout. How's that for great sisterly help!

I'm all packed and ready to go! I leave at 7 am in the morning. Mary and I will both go to Atlanta, where she'll meet up with Adam (her youngest) and we'll go to Virginia (on separate planes, but at the same time) And we'll arrive at the same time (hopefully) and My son, Stephen ( Fiona's dad) is picking us all up at the airport.

I am so excited, I probably won't sleep a wink tonight! I will miss my hubby who is staying home with my babies. But it will be so great to see all the kids, Mother ,all my siblings, nieces and nephews and even some aunts and uncles and cousins!

And Vicki!

Next post will be from Virginia! I'm packed for cold weather.(well as well as a Florida girl can).
And I'm off at first light!

Getting excited!

Only 2 more days until I leave for Virginia! I can't wait! I'll get to see my kids and granddaughters, and all my brothers and sisters, Mother, and some extended family. I also will have time with Mary. And Mary and I will be going to meet Vicki in person. Almost too much excitement!

And then today I received a gift certificate to Lakeside Quilting from my MQR secret quilter! How great is that?

And this photo op happened this morning and I was able to capture it before they moved. (actually, they went to sleep and were there like that for 3 hours! LOL)
Aren't they so sweet? And, Gina, course they wouldn't eat Rudy...look at those faces! Now lizards and frogs...well that's a different story!

The raffle quilt is coming along nicely...down to finishing the background fill in the borders. But that final bit will have to wait till I get home from my trip.

And another great thing...it cooled off...upper 70's during the day low 50's at night!! No air conditioning. I have my sliders open in the studio and it's like I'm working outside! I love it! Won't last too long, but I'll enjoy it while it does. At any rate, even the heat beats snow and ice in my book! But I do enjoy these cooler days. Guess this is what you Southern California gals have all the time! Nice!

Pictures as promised

I got allot accomplished on the raffle quilt today: I'm in the final stages...background fill. I got about 1/3 of it done today.

This evening, just as it was getting dark, I got these pictures. It is a favorite time of the day for the kitties. Here is Chloe in the typical ragdoll flop and roll pose.

And then here's Harry watching for lizards! By the way, he caught 2 lizards and 1 frog before he came in from the lanai for the night. He is my hunter.

And yesterday Bonnie mentioned to Mary she should do a family book. Well she did, about 10 years ago. This is the cover.

In this photo from the book..notice the matching outfits for all the girls! My Mother made those; down to the hats! LOL I am the tall one beside Mother, Mary is the next tallest, standing between Mother and I. You may notice there is a SLIGHT age difference. The babies are our 2 youngest sisters. As for the boys, looks like Patrick might have pilfered the hymnal from church!

This is the last page from that book. The center is Mother, with all the most of the grandchildren around...my children are missing. But the baby in her lap is my oldest granddaughter, her great-granddaughter Kara, who is now 12 years old. there are since, 2 more great- granddaughters; Samantha, 5 and Fiona 1.

And this , also from that book is a photo of Mary and I. It was taken at my home in rural Virginia, probably close to 8 years ago.

Memories are wonderful! I hope you all enjoy yours.