Two Blues & Two Finishes

Two of the gals from the shop I quilt for, Stitch & Craft, entered their quilts & both won blue ribbons! As I understand it, there wasn't a longarm quilting category, so my name isn't on them, but I did quilt them & so I was pretty excited to be a part of the process :)

Ladybugs pieced by Erika. Other pics can been seen here: Ladybugs & Hearts

Bright Rectangles pieced by Joanna.

And I had a couple that I finished this week too:

Geese & Pink Blocks Top; QUILTED custom (freehand)

Autumn 10-Patch on Point Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Nothing too exciting going on here this week. Lots of quilting, schooling & some visiting with friends. My older daughter had a friend visit from Georgia a couple times, and I hosted a Creative Caper in my home for some of my favorite peeps on Friday. 

Hope to catch up with y'all soon. Piece-out! 

(get it... piece... as in sewing/piecing... yeah, I know, I'm a dork!)

Tea Mat Gift

Sewing has actually... FINALLY... occurred! 

I had to wait to show it, though, since this was for a tea-drinking friend who reads the blog now & then...

 I even managed to quilt a steaming teacup in the center...

Three of us hadn't gathered for some time & we exchanged belated birthday gifts. I cannot wait to play my gift:

STITCHOPOLY!! 

I'm going to make someone play this with me this weekend... mwahahahaha!!!

Finishes, Friends & Fly-Fishing

This is the 2nd grid-work quilt for the same woman this week. It went well, but it was a little hard on my back! I know I'm close to needing bi-focals, and I'm not sure if they'd help with something like this, but I was bent over a bunch checking out the SID & other lines!!

The best way to describe this quilt would be "tapestry". The fabric was heavy & felt a bit like furniture fabric. I was sooo worried it'd break needles & whatnot, but instead it quilted up beautifully & gave me no troubles whatsoever.

TODAY: 

I attended a "sew-in" @ Stitch & Craft and had a fabulous time getting away from the household duties for a bit. This is just a tiny sampling of the delicious foods that showed up as part of our pot luck:

I always enjoy seeing the different projects all the ladies (and one teenager!) are working on, different ideas about mixing/matching colors, and brain-storming projects & techniques together.

As always, it went fast & I got less done than expected ~ lots of talking, laughing & eating were done though...

My hubby made these, not I... He's become interested in fly-fishing in the last couple years & has begun making his own flies~ I just thought they were cute & wanted to include them :)

Tonight I'm enjoying a night in with my kiddos & a friend watching Blades of Glory. I can't help but love this movie & laugh hilariously~ we have the entire Grublets On Ice dialogue memorized!

Birthday Burning, Birthday Blessing

Life has been busy, and I realize I'm letting some of my basic personal goals fall by the wayside a bit. I guess this happens to us moms now & then though, eh?

I haven't blogged for over a week, haven't sewed much, & haven't outlined my yearly goals (remember I base them on my birthday year which started as of April 10!)

But I HAVE managed to almost set my mom's house on fire! For my birthday, a group of us gathered at her house to hang out (AKA Stitch & Bitch.) We were admiring an anal retentive spreadsheet of her garden-- yes, that's right, I said her GARDEN!! She unfurled this magnificent diagram with all it's colored plots, we passed it around to admire, and since I was the last to look at it, I curled it back up & set it on the table next to me. 

My SIL, "Is something in the oven? I smell something burning."

My BFF, "Why do I see flames?!?!?" she was looking my way.

Unbeknownst to me, I'd set this impressive spreadsheet on a burning candle!! Ah yes, this one will go down in family history. 

I grabbed the roll & hurriedly went to pile napkins on it thinking I'd smother the small flames. But in the meantime a long, slow expletive exploded from my mouth & rendered part of the room speechless. Not my typical style of transferring information...

All turned out well & fine. Even after my mom blew on the flames causing them to fly toward me, we were able to contain it & not catch the lamp, the couch or my clothes on fire. 

 (My younger daughter is trying to shield us from her beauty, while my older looks at her in wonder.)

(Had to show a closer view just so you could appreciate the magnificence of this spreadsheet!!)

At least it was a second copy, so no real harm done :)

We've all got warped senses of humor & laughed uproariously over it all. We went on to gorge ourselves on lots of good food (still need some recipes ladies!!) & even got some stitching done.

Other news to stay tuned for: a finished table runner for a friend, a birthday placemat, and a Gratitude Journal idea borrowed from another blog...

p/s And for those who wondered... Yes, I did get an ice cream cake for dessert!! 

Dirty Details on Denise

I'm not sure if any of these will end up actually being "dirty" in any way whatsoever, but since I'm keen on alliteration, I'm keeping that title!! 

Both V.V. Denman & Leah Singer, writers/bloggers with whom I've recently become acquainted, did this kind of list on their blogs, and I found it to be so much fun. I hope it is for you, too, and that you'll do your own list of facts, because it's an interesting way to get to know one another better!

So here goes... the interesting, the obvious & the drivel:

Was a total tomboy who preferred having dirt bomb battles to playing Barbies

Hated History as a subject 

Chemistry & English are my favorites

I love to type after I've cut my nails (hate the click click of nails on a keyboard!)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read more than just about anything else

I got married when I was 17 & not yet graduated from high school, and I WAS NOT pregnant!!

Finished high school in a continuation school in the CA desert while married

(they didn't know what to do w/me when they looked at my transcripts -- they weren't capable of helping me finish many of my credits: Physics, French 4, British Lit... it was a weird experience)

AND I've been married to that high school sweetheart for 23 years now

I have three angel babies waiting in Heaven for me

(little Marshall lost at 20 weeks due to a knot in the umbilical cord, another at 9 weeks whom I always think in my mind as Maddie, and Montie @ 10yr)

I've lived in NJ, PA, CA, MD, and MI, but now we're back in PA 

I've gone to three colleges over the last 23 years, amassed 90+ credits & but STILL haven't earned a degree

My favorite place to be is at home, but if you'd force me to leave, I'd want to be at the beach

Rainy days give me creative urges

I read every night before bed (I would say 8 times out of 10 I read fiction)

I've homeschooled all three of my kiddos, graduated my oldest daughter, and am down to one either grader who's probably going to public school next year 

Longarm quilting is way more fun than piecing... just saying

My heart skipped a beat when I saw The Writer had come in the mail today :)

My favorite place to eat lately is Isaac's (The Club Canary-YUM)

For my birthday tomorrow I've requested an ice cream cake for dessert

I'm mostly introverted & love my alone time (NEED my alone time)

Half a dozen years ago I flew to London w/my hubby & saw Depeche Mode perform 

at Wembly Stadium

My first car was a Honda Civic -really old & blew a lot of exhaust into the air daily (clouds of it that rendered me thoroughly embarrassed in the high school parking lot)

My first job was as a Pharmacy Technician. Between PA & CA I worked a few years in pharmacy & so I'm able to decipher doctor's prescriptions

Before we had kids, we lived in Baltimore City, and I walked to & from work every day

My younger daughter & I have "seen" the same images in our 222 year old home during the same night in different bedrooms

Our old house has been a blacksmith shop, a working tavern where people also paid to sleep,  a bed & breakfast, and now it's just our home

In 9th grade I won first place at both our school & then our regional science fairs for my Physics project on friction

 

My all-time favorite movie is The Sound of Music

I was so proud of myself when at around 16/17 years old I could play the entire Rogers & Hammersteins music from The Sound of Music!

I took 10+ years of piano lessons

We have a very out of tune baby grand piano

I love coffee & most sweets

Am running out of things to say

But I still have room until I get to the bottom of this Sound of Music pic

Almost there...

Okay all, now it's your turn. Let me know when you've posted your own list of little-known-facts!

Just the latest...

Thought I'd pop in & say hello! Has everyone got the TGIF feeling??

Me too! I got all my grading caught up, which means I can work on the report card Monday (imagine evil music & tittering in the background here.) 

And other than looking forward to having lunch with my BFF tomorrow, there's nothing on my calendar. I'm hoping this means I'll have some serious sewing time, but time will tell.

How often as Moms do we set out with one plan in mind, only to have our kids stomp them into the ground?? I really don't mean that to sound harsh. After all, I love it when my kids & their friends hang out here.

BUT they can shake things up a bit :) 

(Just this past week, in fact, we've unexpectedly made red velvet cupcakes, played 500 Rummy, watched Sixteen Candles, and taught a teen how to cross stitch-- How cool is that?!?!?!?)

Anyway, this is a client quilt I finished up & delivered this week. It's a memory quilt (for a daughter whose Dad passed away) made of t-shirt blocks & denim sashing.

I thought it turned out well. The client picked out this meandering heart pattern. My only trouble was some smooshing going on with the shirt fabric here & there. I had to pick a couple areas to avoid wrinkles in the quilting. Not sure why because they had interfacing? It's the first one I've quilted... I wonder if this is typical?

And I always like to show the backs. Sometimes it's easier to see the actual quilting this way.

Sew my agenda for the next couple days is: 

write

sew

work on a client table runner (which is code for SEW)

have lunch with BFF

and enjoy a slow Sunday with my peeps (my Day of Rest) eh hem.... MORE SEWING

Happy Weekend!

Quite Possibly THE Most Touching Gift Ever

Yesterday marked the 23rd month anniversary of my 10 year old son's passing. 

Montie had Marfan Syndrome & on March 19, 2009 his heart stopped beating while he slept on the couch.... a fire was going & I was sleeping on the floor next to him. He'd just had his 7th back surgery to adjust his titanium rods, and we weren't able to make it up to his bed.

Montie was the happiest child I've ever known! His vulnerability met with a smile seemed to draw in both adults & other kids. 

But he never met one of his best friends in person. Mont met T during an online PS3 game. I want to guess it was one of the Call of Duty versions, because they (a gaggle of kids, including my younger daughter, Morgan, and my hubby) played it constantly. Not only did they play the actual game, but the kids over the years created their own games within the games. 

It was all fascinating to watch... how these deep relationships were created virtually & carried over later to phone conversations & plans being made to meet up with a few of these friends and their parents.

Unfortunately, we never got to carry out these plans to meet before Montie passed away. And later when we did meet T & his parents, it was all so bittersweet. We laughed, set off fireworks, and  carried on with T & his parents for two days. Throughout thoroughly enjoying hanging out in person with someone whom Montie had treasured as a friend. Oh but it was sad knowing he wasn't here physically to experience it with us.

Morgan & T have kept in touch, part of each other's virtual world of friends that span the country. 

And yesterday T & his parents surprised us with a gift we will treasure forever. Below is a drawing T commissioned his aunt to do as a gift to us... 

The personal additions are reminders of how much fun T & Montie had playing Little Big Planet & Call of Duty. And Turkeylip was Montie's call-sign online...

This was drawn from one of the last pictures taken of Montie. 

Thank you T <3

Friends are a blessing!

Being blessed with great friends is awesome!

Just having someone to connect with on an emotional level deeper than "What are we having for dinner?", "Where are my shin guards?", "Can you take me to ______ ?", etc., is a wonderful gift from God.

It's made all the sweeter if you share interests, hobbies, viewpoints...

My two sewing buddies & I finally got together after a several month hiatus to sew (duh) & exchange Christmas goodies! See the show & tell below...

Look closely at this clock K gave to see what's in place of what is usually numbers...

so cute!

 Also from K, she knows I've become more interested in canning/freezing in the last few years as we keep expanding our gardens. I have no natural ability whatsoever in the kitchen, so having clear, concise instructions to tell me what the heck I'm doing will be most helpful.

These goodies were actually for Valentine's Day but just had to show off the little bag my friend, S, made that held the rest of the items. (those are little heart pins to the left there)

... and a subscription to this magazine! 

K, S & I share several obsessions: sewing, quilting, and FOOD. We laugh because as we're sitting at one sewing get-together & beginning to look ahead to our next gathering, most often we talk about what "food theme" to have BEFORE we figure out where/when!! hahaha

For example, when we sewed this past weekend we had a breakfast food theme. S made these delicious egg/bacon in toast cups, K made a very yummy baked oatmeal, and I'd brought a totally unhealthy but sinfully tasty Monkey Bread.

And though we haven't yet set a date for our next sew-in, we've already decided we're making finger foods for next time... 

Friends make my grown-up days more tolerable & help me stay sane! I'm so thankful for my girlfriends :-)

p/s I'm blessed many times over because in addition to S & K whom I share those obsessions already mentioned, I also happen to consider a handful of family members some of my best friends as well. But I'll save that for another day....