Let The Celebrating Begin

All the preparations for the mother of all Holidays is complete.  My wish for you and yours is a very happy Holiday, however you choose to celebrate.  May you also have a prosperous and healthy 2012.

Jelly Roll Race !!!

Have you got a few Jelly Rolls laying around and don't know what to do with them?  Well, start your engines and bring your favorite Jelly Roll to the race for a fun way to make a quilt top really quick.  Every racer will have a finished quilt top (48x64) at the end of the race.  AND if you are the first one across the finish line you will go home with a PRIZE!  The race will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 35th Ave Sew & Vac in Chandler.  The green flag will drop at 9:30 am and you will have a finished quilt top in time for lunch!  You can drop by the store (or call 480-961-7363) between now and race day to get registered for the race(there is a $15 registration fee).

This promises to be the most fun you'll ever have with a Jelly Roll! 

A Trunk Show

Today I had the pleasure of presenting a collection of my quilts to a lovely group of ladies at the Apache Wells community in Mesa.  When they initially invited me to come and do a trunk show for them I wasn't sure I had enough stuff to keep anyone entertained for more than 15 minutes OR that anyone would be interested in seeing what I've made (I mean, REALLY?).  But I put on my BIG girl panties and went for it!  Turns out I was able to keep them entertained for about an hour and it was a fun thing to do, I just hope the ladies also thought it was fun.  They have invited back to teach them my Flanged Binding technique.  I'm looking forward to that being another FUN day!  :o)

Bedrunners Are a Decorating Must Have

Here's my latest finished project.  It is a bedrunner (like you can't tell that from the picture).  I used an Island Batik jelly roll of their Wisteria collection.  The pattern is Braided Batik Bed Runner by cheri good quilt design.  The finished size is 28 x 90 (the picture shows it on a king size bed). The pattern also has a bonus accent pillow cover that is made from the left over scraps. 

When I first started seeing this latest craze in the quilting world I was pretty skeptical.  But as the Christmas season started to creep up on me I admitted to myself that this was going to be ANOTHER Christmas that I was NOT going to have a Christmas quilt on my bed.  So I warmed up to the idea of a bedrunner.  I mean... to get ready for the Holidays I don't even have to change my current bed quilt!  All I have to do is throw on a bedrunner.  Now, I do realize this one is NOT going to work for my Christmas decorating but I do have one in progress using Christmas fabrics (another jelly roll).  Of course, considering today's date and the fact that I haven't really started my gift buying, having a Christmas one in progress does not necessarily mean my bed will be decorated for Christmas THIS year.

I'll be teaching this as a class (for a mere $25) at 35th Ave Sew and Vac in Chandler on January 23, 2012. It's a great way to use a jelly roll that is just sitting on the shelf in your stash closet waiting for you to make it into something beautiful.  If you are interested in spending the day with me making this bedrunner call the store (480-961-7363) to reserve a seat.

Great People Doing Great Things

Now, here's a group of fabulous ladies.  They are a couple dozen ladies who came together this past week to make comfort quilts for seriously ill and traumatized children in our community.  And this is not the first time they have done this, nope, they do it every month.  And some of them have been doing this for the past seven years.  Like I said "THEY ARE FABULOUS!"  They are known as the Peace by Piece Quilters.

This time of year we tend to reflect on the past year (and sometimes our lives).  We Americans are taught to think about the things we are thankful for and our ancestors even created a holiday that gives us permission to stop and just be thankful for a day.  I recently read a quote (but for the life of me can't remember where) that has got me thinking.  We always think about what we are thankful for at this time of year, but here's the question: What have you done that has made other people thankful?

I think the ladies in the picture have an answer to this question.  What they do every month does better the lives of children.  In some cases the comfort of a handmade quilt may even change the life of the child receiving it.

Let The Cooking Begin

It seemed that today was shopping day for a LOT of people.  Grocery shopping that is.  I headed out with my well thought out list thinking, "This won't be too bad."  Then I entered the parking lot, the FULL parking lot.  My shopping trip suddenly became more time consuming than anticipated.  But I emerged triumphant with everything marked off my list AND my sanity still intact.  Those two bags in the picture that carried everything were so heavy curiousity got the best of my husband so he weighed the heaviest one... 26 pounds!  That's a real stress test.

Now I'm ready to start the baking process.  The really important stuff will be first in the oven. That would be the DESSERTS, iced pumpkin cookies, pumpkin and peach pies.  Then the stuffing, an old family recipe.  You know the kind of recipe I'm talking about... one from back in the days when everything was made from scratch and all the chopping and cutting is done by hand.  We still do it that way, no food processor here!

Hope you enjoy your Turkey and all the family that comes with the day.

An Evening with KATZ

My last post shared with you my latest fabric purchase.  And this is the finished project.  A little quilt that is just the perfect size for a cat or two to curl up on.  The cats in this print are all watching a movie that appears to be frightening to the group as they all have on their scared cat faces. They are so scared some have their paws covering their eyes while another is hiding her face behind her knitting. And the Kitty Corn is flying everywhere.

And then there's the backside...

Making labels is really FUN.  It's the only way I can remember WHEN I made it!