Teaching . . .

well I see I haven't posted since November !! . . . I can't believe it . . . but things have been really busy . . . between the holidays . . . yes I know they were 4 months ago !! . . . and all of Mom's stuff . . . including selling her house . . .

and then my granddaughters came from California to stay with us . . . we had a wonderful time with them . . . and . . . well anyway . . . the last few months have been nuts !!

but hopefully I can blog a little more regularly now that things are starting to fall into place . . .

I've been asked to teach some English Paper Piecing (EPP) classes at my favorite quilt shop . . . the class is for a table runner called "Boutonniere Garden" . . . it's done in some fabulous fabrics !!

here is the sample I made for the store . . . this is NOT the shape or the size of the finished runner . . . it's just a sampling of the blocks . . . and the fabrics . . .

I have the runner almost finished and will post photos soon . . .

Truro . . .

we finally got away for a vacation to Truro in September . . . we had such a good and relaxing time . . . it's like heaven there, I swear . . . we just vegged out . . . ate . . . ate . . . ate . . . and so relaxed . . .

listening to the water lapping the shore at night while you're sleeping . . . it just totally rejuvenates you . . .

Wellfleet was our view to the left . . . and Provincetown was the view to the right . . . the sunsets over Provincetown were incredible . . . 

I spent most of my time in the adirondack chairs . . . reading or just watching the water . . . especially the waves during high tide . . . Dick did the same . . .

those 2 folks in the kayaks . . . are NOT us !!

Sienna's "5th Birthday" Quilt . . .

well I've been away from blogland for quite a while . . . I'm going to attempt to get caught up with what's been happening the last several months . . . probably not in any particular order . . .

I did finish my granddaughter's 5th birthday quilt . . . using fabric from "Me and My Sister Favorites" . . . I like the way it came out . . . and she loved it because it was BRIGHT . . . just as she asked for . . .

most of the quilt fabrics were flowers . . . so I wanted something in the border with bees, butterflies, dragonflies . . . that kind of thing . . . the quilter had a terrific pattern of dragonflies buzzing all over so that's what I had her use for the quilting . . . the last photo shows a dragonfly buzzing around . . .

New Sashiko Book . . .

I stopped by the Quilted Crow today . . . just to pick up some Sashiko needles . . . NOPE . . . didn't work out that way . . . I got a charm pack of "Wrapped in Paisley" by Kansas Troubles Quilters . . . some border fabric for the charm pack so I can make a table runner using my new twister tool . . . a new Sashiko kit . . . some variegated thread for the new Sashiko kit . . . 1/2 yard of Sashiko fabric for another project . . .

and . . . this wonderful new book . . .

I had heard about this book in California . . . but the store there was out of it . . . I had meant to order it online and had forgotten . . . but there it was today with the Japanese fabrics . . . I have spent the evening just going through it over and over . . . it's wonderful !!

oh yes . . . I did get the needles !!

"Me & My Sister Favorites" . . .

when I went to California I took a charm pack of "Me and My Sister Favorites" from Moda with me to show my granddaughter . . . I wanted to see if she liked them . . . because her 5th birthday is coming . . . and she recently got her "big girl" bed . . . and as she recently reminded me . . . I promised a new quilt when these 2 events happened !!

so I had found these terrific bright fabrics . . . because she had also told me "make it bright, Gran" . . .

anyway . . . I think she is going to be a quilter . . . she spread them all out . . . looked them over really good . . . kept feeling them . . . over and over . . . and she LOVED them !!

so now I had to find them in a bigger size than charm packs . . . I really needed 2 layer cakes to use the new Twister Tool . . . because I wanted to make a pinwheel quilt using this tool . . . you can check it out here . . . http://www.country-schoolhouse.com/twister_tool.htm . . . there are 2 sizes . . . one for charm packs and one for layer cakes . . .

this is a quilt that they have hanging at The Quilted Crow http://www.thequiltedcrow.com/that was made using the Twister Tool . . . the Quilted Crow also has a great video on using this tool on Facebook . . .

so . . . I searched everywhere . . . called everywhere . . . and finally went to the Moda site and found out that this fabric line was NEVER made in layer cakes . . . grrrrrrrrrrrr . . . so now the search began all over again . . . looking for fat quarters . . . I finally found a bundle and it just arrived . . .

I love the colors . . . it's going to be a really fun quilt . . . think I will press the fabrics today and get my layer cakes cut out . . . !!

The Farmer's Wife . . .

I just signed up for a wonderful block of the month class at Candlelite Quilts . . . it's call "The Farmer's Wife" . . . we will make 2 blocks each month . . . here's the book with 111 blocks from the 1920's . . .

this is what Cathy says about the class . . . "you will be creating an heirloom quilt inspired by Farmers' Wives of the 1920's . . . we will also discuss the entries of these women to the question . . . would you want your daughter to be a farmer's wife . . . it is a wonderful look back almost 100 years to see what women thought about life and families" . . .

I can't wait to start this class in June . . . we're going to be learning how to use templates . . . it will be like a combined reading group and quilting group as we discuss the lives of these farmers' wives . . . and Cathy always does a terrific job with her classes . . . this is going to be great !!

Love This Fabric ! !

when we were in California we went to Gold Rush country . . . my husband wanted to go to the Gold Rush museum . . . when we drove through the little town of Auburn . . . I noticed a quilt shop . . . of course . . . it was called "Cabin Fever Quilts" . . . it was a lovely shop with a really nice lady owner . . . the only sad thing is . . . it is going out of business . . . she is retiring . . . BUT they were having a huge clearance sale . . .

I was lucky enough to find these fabrics . . . "Mocha Meringue by Michele D'Amore" for Marcus Fabrics . . . I found three 1/2 yard cuts of the brown and beige . . . 4 fat quarters of the same prints plus a tan small print and a gray small print . . . that was all she had . . . except she did have the gray small print in yardage . . . so I got a yard of that . . . I think I have enough to make something . . . not sure what yet . . . the brown and tan have really large flower prints and I would like to preserve those . . .

any ideas out there ??

Sashiko Information . . .

I am leaving for home tomorrow . . . and will have some things to post later this week . . .

while I was here in California I found a shop that had a lot of Sashiko materials . . . and books . . . and a really nice woman who talked with me for almost an hour about Sashiko . . . it was a wonderful find . . . of course I spent almost my entire quilt shopping budget from my trip here . . . and will definitely be going back to this shop on my next trip . . .

this is the book I bought . . . it is japanese applique and sashiko by machine .  . neither of which I am doing . . . but it has lots of great ideas in it !! . . . the woman at the quilt shop told me about 2 great books . . . neither of which she has been able to keep in stock . . . so I was not able to get them . . . but I will be ordering them as soon as I get home . . . more on these later . . .

a few people have asked for Sashiko information  . . . so here is what I have . . .

the woman who teaches Sashiko in my area is Miho Takeuchi . . . this is her website . . . http://www.designbyaika.com/

here you can find all kinds of great info . . . including reading her blog and signing up for her email newsletter and purchasing materials . . . I have not taken a class from her yet but I have met her and seen her work . . . it's beautiful . . . I will be taking a class from her soon . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8xbrUg6rZk --- here is a video Miho has on YouTube . . . the instruction is terrific . . . these instructions have been really helpful to me in trying to teach Sashiko to myself . . .

Getting Ready for California !!

I'm busy getting things ready for our trip to California . . . we'll be visiting my son and his family . . . and I will NOT have a sewing machine for almost 2 weeks . . . so I am taking my English Paper Piecing with me . . . I will be able to work on them on the flights . . . and they have a lovely back yard with comfy furniture on the patio . . . the perfect place to do hand sewing . . . when I'm not doing wonderful fun things with my granddaughters . . . !!

I have had these 2 quilts in the works for a long while . . . so decided these are the ones I'm taking with me . . . over the weekend I cut and basted over 600 pieces . . . so I wouldn't have to deal with that part . . . here are some of the pieces all bagged up . . . ready to go . . . doesn't look like 600 pieces . . . but it is !!

I'm planning to use 60 blocks in this quilt . . . I have 35 finished . . . only 25 to go . . . and then I will be sewing it together . . . I'm hoping to get it finished while I'm away . . . then off to the quilters when I get back . . . it will make a nice quilt to have out for Fall . . .

this is the layout with the brown star points . . . the blocks are just laid out on the brown fabric here . . . when I sew it together I will be putting the brown triangles in . . .

now here is the red and white quilt . . . same block but a different layout . . . no triangle star points in this one . . . the way it's put together it makes a secondary design of tumbling blocks . . . I have all the blocks made for this one . . . and have started to put it together . . . so I should be able to finish it while I'm away . . .

I'm not sure it will be the size I want it to be . . . if it isn't I'm planning to use this as a center medallion . . . I found a beautiful red fabric that has a white scallop design going through it . . . I can use this to border the center medallion . . . then I will do a row of star blocks as another border . . . and finish it off with a nice border print . . . we'll see how it goes . . .  

I can't wait to have these both finished . . . I really like them . . . and I have the quilter booked for the beginning of June !! . . . guess I have to finish them !! . . .

I'm Liking Sashiko . . .

so . . . I tried the Sashiko on my own . . . and I was doing pretty well . . . but then I found a video online and the instructions were so good . . . so I changed how I was holding the needle and feeding the fabric . . . and wow . . . what a difference . . .

I'm sure if I took a class I would learn a lot of new tricks . . . and that's my plan . . . just as soon as I have some free time . . . LOL . . .

here is the 1st one finished . . . well the Sashiko is finished . . . now I have to decide what to do with the piece . . .

I went back to the shop and bought a few more pieces to work on . . . we'll be going to California soon and I will need things to work on during the flights etc . . . here is the one I'm working on now . . . I fell in love with the lime green thread . . . unfortunately it doesn't show in this photo . . .

A Few New Things . . .

well I've been busy with a few new things . . . I can't seem to ever just do ONE THING at a time !!

I've been wanting to take a Sashiko class . . . over the weekend I was out with a friend at one of our favorite quilt shops . . . and they had a Sashiko class going on . . . that did it . . . I bought a kit and decided to try to teach myself . . . I'm sure there are probably some tricks I could learn in a class . . . but for now I think I'm doing ok with it . . . I love the look . . . and it's fun to do . . .

I also decided to start an English Paper Pieced Christmas quilt . . . so I got out my leftovers from the Xmas stockings and started to make some tumbling blocks . . . I think this quilt is going to be beautiful . . . and it's fun to work on too . . .

and then . . . of course . . . Easter is coming . . . so I had to start Easter placemats for my granddaughters . . . the tops are both pieced . . . now I just need to quilt them . . .

I will have "at least one" in 2010 !!

I will definitely have at least one Xmas quilt in 2010 . . . I finished the main portion of my Xmas Tree quilt . . . just need to decide on my border fabric and put it on . . . then it's ready for the quilter . . . I even have my backing ready . . .

once I get the borders on I will take a better photo and post it . . . thanks Nicole for the inspiration !!

Still Stuck on Christmas . . .

so I guess I'm still stuck on Christmas . . . LOL . . . and I plan to be for most of this coming year . . . with Mom being so sick these last 3 months . . . I never really did get into it in 2009 . . . but Christmas 2010 is going to be better . . .

just as an FYI . . . Mom is coming along . . . very slowly . . . but she is improving . . . medically she is pretty stable . . . but now it's all the rehab which will be ongoing for several months . . . she is walking about 35 feet a day using a walker . . . and her right hand has come back a little . . . although she does have severe tremors some days . . . luckily she is left handed so she is able to feed herself . . . her speech is still a really big problem . . . although some days she can get out the words she wants to say . . . other days not so much . . .

tomorrow she is going back to Boston to have her kidney tubes replaced . . . this will have to be done every 3 months until they decide if they can make them internal or not . . . and they will be removing her feeding tube tomorrow because she doesn't need it anymore . . . so that is a plus . . .

we have moved her into a really beautiful nursing home/rehab center . . . it is run by the Carmelite nuns . . . and the care is excellent . . . they are so caring and loving . . . and I am so relieved that she is there . . . in a homey atmosphere . . . being well cared for . . .

ok . . . now about my being stuck on Christmas . . .

every year I collect tons of Christmas fabrics . . . I just love them . . . then drive myself crazy trying to decide what I can make with them . . .

in December . . . Nicole from Sisters Choice . . . showcased several of her Christmas quilts . . . and I thought . . . now why do I NOT have any Christmas quilts . . . I love the fabrics . . . collect them every year . . . and never even thought to make a Christmas quilt . . . what is wrong with me !!

so . . . I dug out all my Christmas fabrics . . . and what a ton of them I have . . . found a pattern on the internet for a Christmas tree pattern sort of like the one Nicole had made . . . because I loved it . . . actually my sister-in-law found one for me . . . and I now have 17 of these blocks made . . . I am loving it !! . . . I need to decide on my sashing fabric pretty soon . . . I have some really nice green and white pin-striped that I'm thinking about . . .

Chrismas 2010 . . . I WILL HAVE Christmas quilts to put out around the house . . . thanks Nicole !!

Christmas Gifts . . .

I didn't get a lot of shopping done this Christmas . . . with all that's been happening with Mom . . . so I decided to give quilts to two of my sons and their wives . . .
this one is the "Patience Corner" pattern . . . I had made it a few years ago . . . and hadn't used it yet . . . so it was perfect to give away . . . I also knew it was colors one of my daughters-in-law really likes . . .
this quilt is from my first Sampler class . . . the theme of the sampler is called "Sweet Stuff" . . . and the colorway was named "Chocolate" . . . again I knew these colors were perfect for this couple's home . . . it was a UFO for a long while . . . and I managed to finish it in the last few weeks . . .
'
both couples really liked them . . . I think better than if I had bought gifts !!

3 More Finished !!

I just finished 3 more stockings . . . only 2 photos because I made 2 of the blue one . . . well that's it until after Christmas . . . I have 9 more in different stages . . . will work on those for next year . . . LOL . . .

'

guess I was more ambitious last summer when I first got this idea !!

Finished !!

well . . . 3 are finished . . . I needed these for gifts at work tomorrow . . . LOL . . . I'm still hoping to finish the others this week . . . but not sure I can get them done . . . oh well . . .

'

things have been hectic with Mom the last month . . . but she is coming along . . . she's working so hard in her therapies . . . saying a few words and phrases now . . . and walking about 15 feet each day using a walker . . . it's slow . . . but she is progressing . . .

'

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday . . .

Christmas Stockings - Step 2

First, let me say thank you to everyone who has been praying for my Mom . . . I am guardedly saying she is doing better . . . she has had 4 good days in a row . . . and we're hoping it will continue . . .

'

Some of the feeling on her right side has come back a little . . . and she is able to say a word here and there now . . . her mind seems to have cleared considerably . . . the doctors are saying they think she is on the right track now . . . but we're all still praying and keeping our fingers crossed that she will not have anymore setbacks . . .

'

we know we're looking at several months of rehab if she can just continue the way she has the last few days . . . so please keep praying . . . we need all the help we can get . . .

'

now the stockings . . . my nerves are finally not as bad as they have been the last 6 weeks . . . so I'm trying to get back to some sewing . . . this is the 2nd step for the stockings . . . I've traced the outline of the stocking onto the EPP piece . . . cut it out . . . and ironed it onto a piece of iron on batting . . . now I need to quilt them all before I sew them to the backings, make the linings, and add the cuffs . . .

'

so far I have 9 large ones to do . . . and 4 small ones . . . and I really want to make at least 3 more large ones . . .

'

stay tuned !

Sad News . . .

things have been nuts for the past 3 weeks . . . and they are not going well . . .

Mom had her surgery for the colostomy on Oct. 13 . . . on Oct. 15 she began to have kidney failure and they did a procedure to put in tubes . . . on Oct. 16 she had a small heart attack . . .

On Oct. 17 she began to slowly improve . . . very slowly . . . that Friday and Saturday she had 2 great days and they were beginning to think she was turning the corner . . . Sunday a.m. she was doing even better . . . I talked with her and the nurse . . . and then left home to head in to see her . . .

10 minutes into the trip I got a call from the hospital that she had just had a stroke . . . I called everyone and we all went in . . . they did a CAT scan and found a blood clot on her brain . . . also paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak . . . so they went in to try to remove it but they were unable to do so . . . the doctor said he was able to break it up somewhat and now they are hoping the body will take over and continue to break it up . . .

over the last few days she seems to be slowly improving . . . she has a little movement on her right side now . . . but still cannot talk . . . although she is trying very very hard . . .

it is just so so sad . . . she has always been so vibrant . . . nobody ever guessed her age to be 81 . . . she lived alone . . . took care of herself . . . drove wherever she wanted to go . . . just an amazing woman . . .

now to watch her trying to communicate . . . and being so frustrated . . . it just breaks my heart . . .

it seems it's just been one thing after another . . . the surgery for the colostomy went great . . . and there was no reason she shouldn't have recovered just fine . . . but I guess her 81 year old body thinks otherwise . . .

they are hoping to have her moved to a rehab facility within the next week . . . we're hopeful they will be able to help her to recover and regain what she has lost . . .

please keep praying for a good recovery . . . and thank you all so much . . .

Happy Halloween ! !

just a little trick or treat surprise for my granddaughters . . . little Hershey guys . . . with the cutest dangly legs . . . so so cute . . . we got these months ago when we went to Hershey, PA . . .

'

the 2nd photo is one of the Halloween placemats I made for each of them . . . luckily I finished these before Mom went into the hospital or I'm afraid they would have been for next year !!

'

my grandsons are getting a different surprise . . . but can't post it here . . . just in case they are watching . . . LOL . . . haha sorry guys !!

A Little Update . . .

thank you for all your prayers . . . I think they are working !!

she seems to be getting somewhat better . . . most days . . . the doctor says it will be up and down for another week or so . . . but we're hopeful she will get steadily better . . .

last night she was in a lot of abdominal pain . . . but the nurses said that means the bowel is beginning to work . . . which is good news . . .

they said she needs to walk and eat . . . both of which she is fighting them on !! . . . but the nurses said that even the fact that she has a fighting spirit right now is a good thing . . .

thank you all again . . .

PRAYERS !!

if you were praying before . . . please pray some more . . .

things took a bad turn on Wednesday for Mom . . . she began to have kidney failure . . . and they had to go back in and put tubes into her kidneys . . .

yesterday was a really bad day . . . they could not get her heart rate and blood pressure under control . . . and she was having extreme fluid retention and difficulty breathing . . .

they tried some other meds . . . and things began to improve last night . . . today they are saying she is somewhat better . . . but the next few days will be critical . . . if she continues to improve we will be headed in the right direction . . .

thanks for all your prayers . . . we really need them now !!

Thank You, ALL ! !

well yesterday was the big day . . . my Mom's surgery . . .

'

the doctor said she came through it pretty well . . . tolerated the anesthesia good . . . and they had no problems with her heart . . . they did have to do some extensive work though . . .

'

he says he expects her to make a full recovery . . . but she has a long road ahead of her . . . about a week in the hospital . . . then 2 to 3 weeks in a rehab center . . . and another 8 weeks of recuperation at home . . . after that he says she should be as good as ever . . .

'

I feel so bad for her . . . she is 81 years old . . . and has had a lot of hard times in her life . . . along with 3 other major surgeries . . . it's just so sad that she has to go through all of this now . . . but she is a strong person and a real fighter . . . so she will do it . . .

'

thank you all for your prayers and well wishes . . . I can't tell you how much I appreciate it . . . thank you again . . .

YEAH . . . a Kindle !!

I finally ordered a Kindle !! . . . YEAH . . . I'm so excited . . . I should have it in the next couple of days . . .

everyone I know that has one . . . lovesssssssssssss it . . . I sure hope I do too . . .

I do think I will really like it when I travel to California . . . no more carrying a pile of books to read . . . just download what I want onto my Kindle !!

now I'm in the process of going through all my books . . . I'm either going to have a big book sale . . . or just donate them . . . but I do know I finally don't want to be collecting books anymore . . . I am only going to keep my signed 1st editions . . . everything else MUST GO !!

I SURE DO HOPE I LIKE MY NEW KINDLE !!