My Favorite Holiday

Everyone has a favorite holiday.  Mine is Thanksgiving.  Because I like turkey?  No.  Because it's the only time we have cranberries?  No.  Because I was born on Thanksgiving Day.  My dad always made a big deal out of it and I was the center of attention.   All of my dad's very large family was there.  I suppose they came for Thanksgiving, but secretly I thought they must have come for my birthday.  I still love Thanksgiving to this day and really wish they would not have Christmas lights and Christmas music until my birthday is over!

I wanted to share this gorgeous picture.  It is taken from the window of my hotel when I was recently in Tulsa.  I had time to take it quickly before catching the taxi to the quilt store!!

Is this too cute??  Shelly donated some sock monkey fabric.  Normally, I have to admit I am not a sock monkey fan but this quilt has won me over.

Shannon's red pin dot backing really shows off her quilting skills.

You may think you've seen this quilt before.  No, no.  It is similar, but not the same.  Judith took a panel and added side blocks.

Karen added a blue and yellow backing with a splash of pink.  Notice the quilting.  I love the swirls.

This little charmer was donated by someone in the local guild.

The farm scene with coordinating colors make a great quilt for our little ones.

Along with sock monkeys, churn dash blocks have not been at the top of my list.  They are now!!  Someone mailed us this top.  I had no idea churn dash blocks could be so fun.

One thing I really like about this quilt is the back.  Sandy took the top, added a neutral backing but threw in an "orphan block" to spice it up.  It totally gives it a different look.  What a fun way to use up those blocks!

I love these colors!  Janean pieced this for us.

Shannon added the vibrant turquoise backing.  This is a great girl or boy quilt!

Continuing the lime green theme....

Thanks to Teresa for piecing the top.  Shannon added basketball and her signature quilting.

Deb took stacks of blue fabric from our donated fabric and came up with this disappearing 9 patch.

Sandy used a bright cowboy fabric and quilted the circle swirls.  I am sure that is not the technical name for it!!

This gorgeous quilt is exciting.  First of all look at all the different fabrics the piecer used.  I do not know the name of the person who donated this, but she is a member of the local guild.  Look at the small inner border.  It makes the quilt pop!

The back of the quilt would please any dog lover.

Here's a closer look at the dogs and the quilting.

Today is a day to remember all we are thankful for.  I am thankful for all those who have chosen to help me in this mission I am on.  I hope each of you have had a good day. Be grateful for all the good things in your life but also be grateful for all the not so good things too.  It makes us who we are.  It gives us a chance to take a path we would not have chosen but may be the best path of all.

The Ants Go Marching.....

This past week has found me in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Austin, Texas.  Two very different places but both nice to visit.  Austin brought a chance for Greg to visit the campus of the University of Texas much to his delight and also an evening with our friends Michael, Lisa and Baby Oliver.  We enjoyed eating, laughing and a lot of fun.  Of course, I enjoyed Oliver and became all the more anxious for our grandson's arrival in January.  As a result of the visit, I have the Ant song marching through my head.  Thanks Lisa.

This was the most interesting thing I think I saw in Austin.  I have no idea what it is but I thought it was interesting.

And now to Block Two of Civil War Love Letters.

Susan's Batik version

My Fig Tree Version

Quilts!!!!

Nothing but fun in this one.  It started as a panel and Judith added blocks on the side.  Who wouldn't want this bright quilt with bugs and flowers?

Karen added the backing and quilting.  Great!

This is one of the Guild Member's quilts.  I love the contrast between the red and the focus fabric. It really brings out the star design.

A closer look at the focus fabric.

The striped backing is a perfect choice.

We are finishing some bindings on some awesome quilts.  Check back for those.

And finally, a big congratulations to Shannon, one of our longarm quilters.  She became Grandma to Boy #2 yesterday.  Liam Robert is a beautiful bundle to bring home.  I am so happy for Shannon and her family.

Days of Giving

I recently read a book called "29 Gifts".  It is a true story of a woman who was diagnosed with MS one month after her wedding.  She understandably had  difficulty adjusting to her new life and the struggles she has with MS.  A spiritual mentor recommended she give 29 gifts in 29 days.  It could be something simple such a giving a kleenex to a stranger, giving a homeless person some change, or calling a friend who was having a bad day.  She has since doing that started a worldwide effort to do the same thing.  It is a great concept and an interesting book.  After giving it some thought, I realized we have been doing the same thing, only in a different fashion.  Our "gifts" go to the hospital and although some people after 29 days start the project all over again, we have without fail continued our project for 525 days now.

My sister and I have started a new project for ourselves.  We always try to throw in some personal sewing between sewing the quilts for the hospital and sewing shop models for a quilt store.  I had been looking at some block of the month programs when I had the thought, "Why not do our own?"  I have the book "Civil War Love Letter Quilt."  It is a collection of traditional quilt blocks with each one having am authentic letter from a soldier to his family during the Civil War.  Our original intent was to sew two blocks a month.  Well, after getting started, that idea went out the window!  The blocks are quick and so much fun to make that we are now just sandwiching them in whenever we have time.  The first decision was to choose fabrics.  Susan chose to do hers in batiks.  I chose Fig Tree fabrics.  I thought it might be fun to share these with you as we go along.

This first block we did is called "Enthusiasm"

Here is Susan's version in the batiks.

Here is mine in the Fig Tree fabrics.

Aren't those fun?  I'll post future blocks.  It is going to be a lot of fun to see the blocks and what we come up with.  Each block takes little fabric and it may be a chance for us to use our scraps!  And as an added bonus, you get to see the corners of our dining room tables!!

Here's a quick look at some of our new quilts.

Deb pieced this blue and white Disappearing 9-patch.  Simple, basic, and great for a boy.

Sandy used a colorful cowboy print for the backing when she quilted it.

Janean pieced this beauty from leftovers from another quilt she had made. I think it is so pretty--the simplicity adds to it.

Sandy added the backing that matched and quilted beautiful yellow flowers and vines.  Hopefully, you can enlarge the pictures to see this quilting.

Judith took some cute cat fabric, fussy cut it to single out those cool cats and came up with this fun quilt.

Here's a closer look at those cats.

Karen used Olivia for the backing when she quilted this for us.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at the quilts, the blocks and finding out about our amazing 525 days of giving.

Fall Is Here

Fall has arrived in Kansas!!!  It was in the 20's this morning.  Snuggling with a quilt is not just a nice thought but a necessity now.  That being said, let's look at some of our latest.

This quilt was made with a few star blocks and some leftovers from other quilts.  A good use of odds and ends made a nice quilt for a girl.

This is a gorgeous fabric for the backing and beautiful quilting.

This quilt is originally a panel that just didn't quite work.  I gave it to Deb, she cut it up and came up with a quilt that works!

The backing carries out the school theme.  I like the quilting on this one too.  It is simple but very striking.

This is a new idea that Deb put together.  She has a baby looney tunes character in the middle of each block.

Around the center character she has pieced the block much like a crazy quilt block would be done.

A dog-themed backing is one any child will like.

Judith put together winter-themed blocks and sashed them.  Perfect for when the snow and wind are blowing!

The blue with gold stars for the backing really makes it sparkle.

This quilt came to us through the local quilt guild.  I don't know who made it, but it is made with soft flannels and chenille thrown in.  It is a quilt you just want to crawl under because it is so soft.

The backing is a darling pink flannel.  A big thank you to whoever made it and donated it to us.  We love this one!

Greg and I spent a couple days in New Jersey last week.  We had a wonderful time and were able to see some good friends.  As nice as that is, it is always comforting to get back home.  My goofy cat and quilt room are always calling my name.  I hope your day contains a piece of joy--whatever that may be for you.

Pushing Buttons

There are lots of ways to design a blog.  There are colors to chose, layouts to decide, things to add.  Those of you who know me, know that I like to try new things.  This morning (when I should be doing other things), I decide to take time to blog.  Rather than simply adding a new post, I started pushing buttons.  Well, hopefully, I have gotten the blog back to how it looked before but I did add one new thing.  If you look to the right, notice the addition on top of my picture.  There is a space you can subscribe to the blog by email.  Now you don't have to look every day to see when there is a new post.  You can just have me show up in you inbox!

We have some new quilters that are now helping us.  Jenean is a delightful lady who pieced us some tops and left them at one of our local quilt shops for me.  A big thank you, Jenean!  I also was contacted by Deb who contributed some quilts that her quilt guild made. That is very exciting for us.  We are very grateful for all the contributions with the flu season right around the corner.  When the season hits us, we are sewing and quilting as fast as we can.  This will help us tremendously.

This is a quilt from the guild. Pinks and greens with Winnie the Pooh is a great combination for a little girl.

I love the pastel plaid on the backing.

Susan made this one.  It has great leftover squares from other projects.  She added fun sashing to give it a totally different look.

This bright backing is actually puzzle pieces that link together.

This fun quilt is also from the guild.  It can work for a boy or girl which is always a bonus for us.  I haven't used this layout for a quilt before and will certainly try it.

You can't see in the pictures but the quilter quilted words into the quilt.  I added our label and this one was a quick finish!

I am very excited with the way this quilt turned out.  It was actually one I put together some time ago for myself.  I had intended to add borders and finish it.   Recently I made the decision it was one I didn't really need to keep and instead could use it for a teenager perhaps.  Shannon took it and quilted it.

Shannon added the burgundy backing with gold thread and I think the quilting is gorgeous.  I almost had second thoughts about keeping it!

This last quilt is also from the guild.  What a fun quilt with great blocks.

Obviously the guild has some very talented members.

Balloon animals!!  I love it!

Thanks to all the quilters who contributed to these great quilts.  And thank you for looking!  As always, I love getting your comments.  Feel free to leave me one!

Tomorrow brings Greg and I traveling to New Jersey for a couple of days.  I am itching to get into the quilt room so I can play with fabric before I go. 

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