Home for the Holidays . . . .

Another quilt made its way home from the quilter, just in time . . .

I'm so happy my 2010 Fat Quarter Shop Kate Spain Mystery Block of the Month is all done and ready, just in time for Christmas!!

Someone sent me an email months ago asking about the width of my sashing around those blocks, but since the quilt was at the quilter's and I hadn't written it down anywhere, I wasn't much help. For the record, the green strips finish at 3/4" and the white strip at 1/2", creating a sashing that's 2 inches finished, which was called for in the finishing pattern. I'm guessing that's no help to the person who asked, but if the question comes up again, I have it documented, now all I have to remember is where I documented it!

But back to the quilting,

Dawn at the Sewing Basket went with a nice swirly design in the white background of each block and did a little custom quilting for the pieced section of the block. For this basket she did some nice cross hatching.

Here she did a cute little design in the mitten cuff and a nice design in and around the star.

I made this quilt for my daughter, here it is hanging in its new home in California.

(Have you ever noticed when you want a dog in a picture they just refuse to sit still, but when you're not looking, they sneak in!)

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 71, click here if you want to read more.

It's official, I'm finally done with my decorating. Some years I'm done when I get tired of decorating and just quit, but this year I kept decorating until I had everything out, I think it was worth the time and effort. I hope you're getting through the items on your Christmas To Do List too!!

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The Christmas Quilts Are Out!

I'm still decorating but all my Christmas quilts are out! Over my quilting career I've made 10 Christmas quilts, my folks have three, my daughter has three and I have four! By this time next year I'm hoping to have five, that Countdown to Christmas fabric by Sweetwater is calling my name.

So here's a little walking tour of Christmas quilts in my house.

Oh Christmas Tree (Lifetime Quilt Number 53 )

Red, White and Wonderful (Lifetime Quilt Number 64)

I've always thought of this quilt as being a Christmas Quilt, but really, none of the fabric used in this quilt is what I would call Christmas fabric. I just got this quilt up in the guest bedroom but think I'll keep it up for a few months after Christmas, I think it works for January and February too!

Toulouse (One of my most favorite Miss Rosie patterns, there should be more Toulouses in the world! Lifetime Quilt Number 54 )

And Thimbleberries Hometown Christmas (Lifetime Quilt Number 13 )

This is the only Thimbleberries pattern I've ever used, but I made 3 of these quilts. (that was back in the day when I knew I wanted to make quilts but didn't know how to go about picking out patterns and fabric, when I found something I liked I just made multiples of it. Those days sure have changed!)

I'm hoping by Monday I can say I'm done with my decorating, wish me luck!

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Its the most Wonderful-LY BUSY time of the year . . .

How are things going at your house, are you getting through your holiday to dos? One of my to dos should be organizing my To Do lists. Something pops in my head, I write it down so it doesn't get forgotten, then I stick it in my calendar. My calendar is fat with post it notes.

With all the hubbub of decorating, shopping, and errands my days are hectic and seem to just fly by. There are two things I make sure I'm not dropping from my daily routine, running and sewing. One keeps me in my jeans, the other keeps me sane. All it takes is 5 miles in my running shoes and 60 minutes in my sewing room, that's the perfect combination for me. Some days my 60 minutes of sewing starts at 4 am, which I know may sound alarmingly early to some of you, but my body has yet to adjust to the time change so I'm taking advantage of that hour by doing something I love instead of just laying in bed and staring at the walls. The only downside, I'm pretty much worthless after dinner, all tuckered out, I'm lucky if I get half way through a magazine before falling asleep.

All my Birdseye star blocks are now done.

They look better in person but you do get a nice feel for the color combinations in this picture. The stars went together fast, one reason, because I spent the time up front selecting my fabric combinations, and the other reason, I'm using my Fit to be Quarter ruler (by Open Gate Quilts) when squaring up those half-quarter triangle squares . Having the right tool for the right job is such a time saver and this time of year I'm all about saving time. If you don't have one of those rulers put it on your Christmas List, I bet Santa will bring you one!

I loved making each block, I think each one is perfect, not a stinker in the bunch. Next up, nine patches and more nine patches.

The other day, when I was in Home Depot picking up a $20 gift card for my mailman (what's up with the government allowing postal workers to accept gifts with a market value of $20 or less but not cash of $20 or less!) they had a rack of poinsettias that looked too good to be real.

But they were real, and really cheap, $4.99! I've had this one a week and a single leaf has yet to fall off. I think this is the direction I'm going with for new holiday decorations, fresh flowers. They look great and once the holidays are over, no storage issues! When I bought it, I figured if it only lasted a week, for that price, I could go back and buy another one and even another one, but I'm beginning to think this one is going to last until Christmas! I'll keep you posted.

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What a week . . . . .

So as if this week's not been exciting enough, between starting Birdseye and getting a look at my quilt on Judi's blog, look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday . . . .

the latest issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. I've been quilting for over 7 years and have subscribed to this magazine from the get go. I'm always happy to see this magazine arrive in my mailbox, but this issue is particularly special to me, there's a nice little write-up on page 51 about my Red and White Tribute quilt. Can you believe it, my quilt is in a magazine!!

It's been a real whirlwind getting the top quilted and off to Iowa for photographs before the deadline. A big thanks to Connie Lancaster at Quilts Plus in Indianapolis for taking the time to work this quilt into her busy schedule, do an amazing job of quilting the quilt, all within a narrow time frame.

This is how it all came to be, the day after I blogged about my finished top I got a note from Elizabeth Tisinger Beese, Senior Editor for the magazine. She said they were working on some red and white quilts for the next issue and that they would like to add a small article about my quilt. I was pretty much in shock, I'm a quilter, just like you, not a pattern designer, not someone who ever dreamed of having a quilt in a national magazine, just a someone who enjoys taking pieces of fabric, cutting them up, then sewing them together again, at home, alone, just for the pure joy of it. After the initial shock wore off, I wondered how Elizabeth had found my blog and read about my quilt, so I asked. She said someone who reads my blog had sent her a note about my quilt and she was so glad that they did. She also sent me the email that she received that started the whole thing, and here it is . .

"Greetings~

Fresh on the morning's blog(s) is a most amazing quilt that you just have to feature, aMUST in my opinion! Just wait 'til you see this quilt~! And HURRY, before another publication beats you to it~~ Trust me...this is unlike no other quilt you've EVER seen!!!! This is a huge, huge, huge story~~~~

You can go to Thelma's blog and read all about her creation and her tribute to the Red & White Quilt Show in NYC....It is truly an amazing journey~

Hoping to read Thelma's story in a future issue~ Heck, Thelma's story could be an entire (special?) issue in itself!! I'd love to have a follow up confirmation (should) when you feature this story if possible~~ that would be awesome!!

Thanks for listening...
Debbie"

Aren't quilters just the most amazing folks in the world! If Debbie hadn't taken the time to send the note to American Patchwork & Quilting my quilt would not be in that publication. And isn't her note hilarious, I think Debbie is quite a salesperson, and her enthusiasm for my quilt just warmed my heart. I've had the privilege of meeting Debbie in person at the Prairie Star Quilters Guild meeting where Carrie Nelson was presenting a trunk show the fall of 2010. Debbie is more of a lurker on my blog, I don't hear from her on a regular basis, which makes the fact that she took the time and effort to contact AP&Q on my behalf even more amazing. Debbie, thanks so much, I'll forever be in your debt.

If you've yet to receive your issue or don't subscribe, here's a link to Elizabeth's blog that talks about the Red and White quilt show and my quilt. click here

So that's the latest from here, next week I'll be back to my normal routine, decorating for the holidays, doing some shopping, and of course sewing!!

Thanks to everyone who has sent notes or left comments regarding my Red and White Tribute quilt. When I started that project I didn't even know what the finished quilt would look like, and here it is, in a magazine. I could not be happier or more grateful, it's really been a fun adventure, a once in a lifetime event, thanks for following along.

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Birdseye Update . . . .

I love covering my design wall with my Birdseye star blocks. (Birdseye is by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie's Quilt Co)

I couldn't stand it, I went back into my box of fat quarters and tried to find fabric "matches" for the nine patches that fit in the middle my star points. It probably took me 90 minutes to get what I think is the perfect combination of three colored fabrics and two background fabrics. I'm guessing that was 90 minutes I could have used making blocks, but I'm happier when things go together just right, and now I think things are, just right!

In the pattern Carrie suggests making the 124 nine patches first, to get that out of the way. As you can see, I started with the star blocks. But I am making a couple of nine patches from each fabric I'm using for the stars as I go, I figure by the time I have all my star blocks done I'll also have the majority of my nine patches done too!

I'm guessing I'll have an assortment of over 100 fabrics in the top when it's all done. I'm making star blocks as quick as I can, I'm so eager to see this quilt come together.

For those of you who haven't caught Judi's latest post over at the Green Fairy Quilts, go take a peek, she just finished quilting Nottingham Star, my Lifetime Quilt Number 62. I can't even find the words to describe how I feel about the time and effort Judi put into my quilt top and the finished quilt, saying it's amazing doesn't even come close.

The quilt is in the mail and I can hardly wait to see it in person, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it makes it home safe and sound!

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