And away they go

out of bed, on their own, before 7 am

breakfast eaten, lunches packed, shoes on

time to go, turn off the games

out the door, on their bikes.

without mom.

bittersweet

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Pattern Giveaway

I am in the midst of cleaning my office. And not just a swipe over the top — I’m actually opening up the cabinets and clearing those out, too. It’s interesting the treasures you find when you do something like this.

What I found this morning were copies of 3 patterns designed by the owner of the former quilt shop in town. These are awesome, awesome, awesome scrappy quilts.

I have other copies of these, so you, my lucky blog readers, are going to get the opportunity to own one of these patterns. Just comment on this post between now and Sunday, and I’ll have my assistants draw 3 lucky winners from the names.

First up is Zigzag 9 —

This quilt uses 2.5 inch strips, so it’s great for jelly rolls or strip clubs. The pattern has instructions for 3 different sizes (baby, lap, and queen). I’ve made several of these and back in the day when I was busy with customer quilts, I quilted several.

Next we have Galaxy:

This one uses 2 inch strips. Again, I’ve made and/or quilted a bunch of these. This one is very versatile, and different fabric choices can make it look completely different. Several years ago, the designer made one out of Cherrywood fabrics, using a dark purple as the background (instead of the light) and it was gorgeous. Instructions are for lap or queen/king (depending on border choices).

Last, but not least:

Red Hot Leftovers

I actually quilted this one. You can’t see it from the photo, but the background is full of feathers. I’ll try to dig up a closeup….

I’ve made this one completely scrappy, but I prefer the look of the scrappy reds and neutrals. I also quilted one that used red for the large stars and black for the small stars and it was gorgeous. Instructions for 2 sizes are included.

So, comment away, we’ll draw for winners on Sunday and patterns will be on their way next week.

Time to go run some errands, then back to the couch with my binding project. Why did I think it was a good idea to make this quilt so darned big???

Suzanne

edited later to add: I can’t believe I forgot to include the name of the designer! The patterns are designed by Iowa Star Designs. I believe you can still order them from http://www.iowastarquilts.com

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Do as I say

I’m forever living my motto “If you can’t be a good example, be a horrible warning”

Yesterday at lunch, we were eating leftover goulash.  Joe was examining the Parmesan cheese and asked if he could shake it up to try to break up some of the clumps.

Mark and I both made noises to the effect of sure, but make sure the lid is closed tightly.  He checked it and then started shaking it gently side to side.  Of course, this was doing nothing, so I decided to show him how to really do it.

So I grabbed the container and started shaking it up and down as hard as I can.  ( I can barely type this, I’m laughing so hard.)

The stunned silence was priceless.

The Parmesan Cheese was EVERYWHERE.  I even had it in my hair.

I tried to tell the boys that this was a good lesson for them about WHY you needed to make sure the lid was on tight.  The response was basically “Well, Mom, we didn’t learn anything other than you are certifiable.  Maybe YOU need to learn to make sure the lid is on tight.”

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Quilting assistants

Of course there is Katie, who generally sleeps through any quilting I do (she climbs up on the back of the couch in my sewing room and you should see how misshapen that couch cushion is). I think she started going up there because Toby would sit on the couch itself, and she was trying to get away from him…)

This picture is from a year ago, but I’m almost ashamed to admit how many pictures of her in this position we’ve actually taken.

Yesterday, I was trying to take some in progress pics of the quilt that I just finished quilting and unfortunately those pictures didn’t turn out that great, but I did get a really good shot of another quilting assistant:

This little guy rides along on the handles of my A-1 Quilting Machine.  He has magnets in his paws.  Mark and the boys got him for me somewhere, but I can’t remember where now.  Isn’t he cute?

I’ll try to take better pictures of the quilt I was working on tomorrow when the sun is shining.  At least, I hope the sun will be shining.  It looked beautiful today, but looks are deceiving:  it was cold and extremely windy.

TTFN-

Suzanne

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Go visit my Mom

And give her brand-new blog some love (be sure to tell her I sent you…)

http://middyjane.wordpress.com/

(Middy Jane was her mother’s pet name for her when she was growing up and it still occasionally slips out. Short for Midget.)

She’ll probably have some knitting and some quilting and I don’t know what else. Poetry maybe?

Anyway, you have to go visit and see the picture of the hat and shrug she made for her newest grandbaby. Totally cute. I think she needs to post a picture of the grandbaby *wearing* the shrug, though.

(edited later to add:  well, it would help if I made the link clickable….and also if I said  “go visit my Mom, PLEASE”  sheesh, who taught me my manners???)

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Rain, rain go away

The weather fun continues here in Eastern Iowa.

Remember all that snow and ice we had all winter long?  Well, apparently we are going to have rain and rain all spring long.  Last weekend was a total of 4 inches worth.

This weekend?  It rained yesterday and it is raining (and going to continue to rain) today.  Basements full of water, sewers backing up.  Mud everywhere.  The creek is out again, and I’m sure there will be flooding issues around the state.

On a bright note, the temps are nice and when it isn’t raining, it’s been beautiful out, plus, the grass is a gorgeous shade of green.

The thunder and rain woke Joe up before 6 and he came to join me in bed.  The first thing he said was “School will probably be canceled.”

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Another blooming nine patch

This one is not mine: it was made by a customer that has brought me something like 4 or 5 Blooming Nine Patches over the years.

She is donating it to an auction to benefit a young mother that has cancer. The young woman is in the midst of a divorce and has 3 children under the age of about 5 or 6.

The quilting was done freehand on my longarm.  The thread is So Fine and Bottom Line.

I know that most of my quilting friends that read this either (a) quilt for themselves or (b) already have a relationship with a quilter of their own, but, if anyone out there is looking for a machine quilter, and likes the style of my quilting, I’m accepting new customers for machine quilting.  Drop me an e-mail if you  would like to discuss!

And now — I’m off to get the boys weighed in for football and then to the church for choir rehearsal.

TTFN-

Suzanne

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MQX report

Because I taught so many classes, I didn’t have a lot of time to shop.  Spent a fair amount of money at the SewBatik booth.  Bought a few of cones of thread from Superior Threads.  (And truly, by a couple, I mean a very few:  3, I think?  Plus So Fine thread cards…so I can place a bigger order here shortly once I figure out what I really need color-wise…)

Some rulers from Off the Edge Quilting Supplies — their acrylic rulers are hot pink.  Very snazzy looking.  They have some interesting shapes, and I’m looking forward to doing some experimenting.  I’m not typically a ruler girl, but sitting and watching the demos, got some wheels turning…

And that was pretty much it.  Everything else I spent my money on was food related.  Oh, and Boston Red Sox hats for the 3 boys.

I had a really nice time with a bunch of different people.  The best part about the show is getting spend time with people you only know from online.  I think it deepens the bonds.  At least, I know it does for me, I guess I can’t speak for anyone else.

I tried to visit the quilts as much as I could.  There was some really beautiful work.  As I’ve mentioned, I did not take my camera.  I believe that pictures of the winners will be posted on the MQX website sometime in the next week or so.  Their pictures will be much nicer than anything I could have taken….

I’ve spent the morning chained to my desk trying to do some paperwork and find that I’m needing to take a break to stretch…get some lunch…maybe take a nap….

TTFN-

Suzanne

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Home and wiped out

I actually had a nice leisurely day of traveling (did not have to get up at the crack of dawn and had almost an hour to make the connection in Detroit).  Was home before 6 and had a nice evening with the family.  When I got here, the boys were filthy.  And that was after they’d been hosed off.  Apparently they’d been enjoying themselves in the mud.  A lot.

Now, though, I’m finding myself starting to nod off, so I think it’s a sign that it’s time to go to bed.

I had great intentions of blogging at MQX (like Vicki did), but I didn’t have a camera, and in the evenings I didn’t have the energy.

I’ll report tomorrow.  Or maybe the next day.  Depends on how many naps I have to take tomorrow!

Suzanne

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Greetings from New Hampshire

Where it is warmer than it was at home.

Well, it was yesterday when I arrived, don’t know how the rest of the week will turn out.

Not much to report:  my first class starts in about an hour, I still need to go get some batting.  I’ll be demoing on the longarm during today’s classes.

I did not bring my camera (love the camera but it’s sure too big to haul around to something like this.)  Vendors are getting their booths together and the quilts are starting to show up on display.   The sheer volume of everything that has to happen at a show like this — what an undertaking.

I hope you are all having a fabulous day!

TTFN-

Suzanne

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