Houston report!

The road trip wasn't just "all quilts":


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It's time to Vist the Big Armadillo!

It's time to head to Houston for the International Quilt Festival. Mrs. D and I are heading south and this time we're taking passengers. Our DDs are in tow and heading to the quilt show with us. Sweet!

And of course, we'll have to introduce them to the Giant Armadillo.

Happy Halloween!

We have several pumpkins to carve and some candy to get ready to hand out.





What will you be doing this Halloween?


Image from Bon Secours Orphanage Foundation.

Buttercup says "Hey"

Silly girl.

Blue, blue, blue

Morning glories have taken over my garden. They have re-seeded and gone crazy, growing and twisting around any other plant in the garden.

But, they are pretty. I love the blue variations that pop up.













So pretty! Too bad that they are not a flower that you can cut and bring inside. I enjoy walking out to visit them each morning.

And these are just a few of the too-many pics that I take. Blue, blue flowers. Click on the pics to get a bigger view of blue.

The little red, star flower is Cardinal Climber. It re-seeds also. And hummingbirds love it.

Happy belated birthday Easy E. Aw, you're now 17. I hope you had a fun weekend traveling and visiting family. Love you lots, sweet kid.

Happy 15th Birthday

Happy Birthday baby girl.

Wearer of cowboy boots. Artist. Awesome helper. Sweet. Nice. Doer of-your-own-thing.

Fifteen.

Fall-O-Ween

Fall-O-Ween looks to be a fun event! Lots of Designers! Free projects! It will be fun to check out all the postings!

I'm mainly posting here so I'll be able to remember who is posting what day. How easy for me to visit my own blog to catch on up the last.

But here it is for you that are dropping by:

Sept. 27 Gudrun from GE Designs: http://www.gudrun.typepad.com/
Sept. 28 Sandy from Pieces from my Heart : http://www.piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot.com/
Sept. 29 Roseann from Rosebud's Cottage. http://www.rosebudscottage.typepad.com/
Sept. 30 Kari from New Leaf Stitches : www.newleafstitches.com/blog
Oct. 1 Terry from Atkinson Designs : http://www.terryatkinson.typepad.com/
Oct. 2 Heather from Anka's Treasures : http://www.ankastreasures.wordpress.com/
Oct. 3 Terri from Whimsicals : http://www.whimsicals.typepad.com/
Oct. 4 Carrie from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co: http://www.lavieenrosie.typepad.com/
Oct. 5 Linda from Linda Lum DeBono: http://www.lindalumdebono.blogspot.com/
Oct. 6 Pat from Pat Sloan & Co.: http://www.patsloan.typepad.com/

Topics
Day 1: color
Day 2: scents
Day 3: taste
Day 4: texture
Day 5: clothes
Day 6: decorations
Day 7: gatherings
Day 8: traditions
Day 9: haunts
Day 10: quilts

See you on the blogs!

Blocks #8 and #9

Let's get straight to pics of Block #8:



Wow, that's a lot of pieces. It did go together easily with all the strip piecing. Hubby put in his 2 cents and asked, "Why did you make THAT?" Ah! He does not have the complete vision. And while it is busy, I know it will be lovely in the final quilt.

And now Block #9:



I think this was the the quickest block to put together--cutting and sewing. We're getting down to the nitty scraps of the jelly roll. It will be interesting to see how the final blocks transpire due to the smaller realm of choices.

I have a lot of neutrals and a small amount of mediums and darks. I really like the pinks and aqua in this jelly roll. And of course, that's the least amount of any colors in this jelly roll! But it is fun to see them as accents in some of the blocks.

My absense is caused by summer time travel and then a lovely cold I picked up toward the end of our family vacation. An upper respiratory infection sent me to the Doctor's office. And in viewing my records, I haven't been to the Dr. since 2004. I felt horrible if I actually went to see the Dr.!

I'm a Lucky Girl

Don't you love it when UPS or USPS visits?

In the past week I've received these from Delta Patchwork out of Tennessee. They were super quick in shipping and check out the lovely wrapping. One is still wrapped nicely. The other one was ripped into before thinking of taking pictutes

A present? For me?! Of course (I ordered it). But it's wrapped so prettily!



I was able to find some fabulous LakeHouse fabrics by Holly Holderman. The dots are "frosted" in this line. Have you seen them? They are shiny and shimmer in the fabric. So cool! Click on the pics for an upclose look.




And some Flower Sugar by Lucien and some Robert Kaufman Elephant Parade and Animals.



I'm tickled to find the Flower Sugar. It's bright but soft. Fresh but vintage. It just really appeals to me. And I haven't found in the LQS or online stores in Texas that I peruse. I'm really pleased to find them. The florals are so pretty and polka dots are colorful and sweet.

And the elephants are for my youngest daughter, who is 12. She had (and still has) an elephant lovey as a toddler. We might be on replacement Ellie #3 (thank goodness for eBay) but she's still a treasured item. So when I see elephant fabric, I pick up a little bit for my daugher. She does like sewing and has pieced her own quilt. This will, perhaps, give her a summer project.

But wait, I ordered more (I was on a roll)

From the Quilted B I received a few more pieces of Lakehouse and some Lucien. Their shop is out of Washington, so their package had a little further to travel, but I received it very quickly.




Wrapped nicely in cellophane and wrapped with a "Quilted B" ribbon, this package included a present for me! See the little four-patch cushion? It is made with a brown button, a little piece of the "Quilted B" ribbon and stuffed with walnut hulls. It is also sweetly scented and so adorable. Even the little, attached tag with the Bee and hand-written "Thank You" is a really, lovely touch. Thanks Quilted B! Handwritten? Unbelieveable! When was the last time you received something written out? Me? It's been awhile and I do appreciate the personal touch.

I was still shopping and was looking some Moda for the Farmer's Wife Sampler (FWS) I'm working on. I ordered a Moda StashBag and an American Jane Snippets Layer Cake from the Quilt Shoppe (they're the hosts of the Spring Bingo). This package traveled from California and made it here speedy quick!



Included was a free, pretty floral fat quarter. The Moda pack is a lovely assortment that I'll definitely use for the FWS qult. Love the William Morris print on top. It also has pieces of fabric from Fig Tree line. There was one bright juvenile print-a pretty blue with bright butterflies. A good StashBag!

In ordering from all three shops, I found their online shops easy to browse and shop in. If some shops are confusing, I usually give up. As you can see by the bundles I received, that wasn't the case here. All were easy to look and search for fabrics and the check out carts were easy to maneuver and understand.

So there are my endorsements for The Quilt Shoppe, The Quilted B, and Delta Patchwork. Thank you for the lovely customer service. It is greatly appreciated.

Quilt block(s) update

I've finished Block #7 on the Jelly Roll Quilt Along



And I've started the Farmer's Wife Sampler. Have you seen the book?

Mother's Dream #58



and Farmer's Daughter #32.



I've joined the Yahoo group and I've been scouring the wonderful hints they have there. I'm not a great piecer. But I'm practicing. And you know what they say about practice....


Today's the kids' last day of school. They are sooo excited! Me--all that extra cooking and cleaning will take away from any little sewing time I might have. But the company is good! I enjoy having them around. But two out of the three are teenagers, so their mood and mine can change at any moment!

Are you ready for some Bingo?

The Quilt Shoppe is hosting a fun giveaway on their In Stiches blog.



But hurry! The deadline is midnight tonight! Good luck!

Block # 6

Jelly Roll Quilt Along

What a fun block! It was quite the mission to scrounge through the fabric stash and come up with a fabric for the fussy cut in the center. Mr. Snowman fits perfectly! I'm very pleased with the results.

The end of school is fast approaching. It seems like they are twenty thousand activities scheduled between now and the end of school. Concerts, recitals, assemblies...just lots of events to attend.

But I found time to work on my block today with my neighbor, Designing Diva. Our fabric choices are very different. I enjoy seeing the results from both of us. We have decided this a great way to experiment with color and is excellent practice for our sewing and piecing.

Here are all 6 blocks:



You can see the blue tape in the corner of this picture.

I have a type of flannel that I was taping to the wall to make my design board. I bought it for 2.99 a yard (it's 54") from the decorator fabric store. It's an prep type of flannel that is used to cover furniture before the quality fabric is used.

I taped this cloth to the wall and it was interesting to see the blocks all together and at eye level (as opposed to being spread on the carpeted floor). The tape held the fabric for less than 30 minutes. It's a flannel puddle on the floor; blocks still attached!

I've just got to come up with a better way of attaching it to the wall. It's been a bit too humid, I guess, for the tape to stick well.

A Rose Bouquet

It is starting to get hot here in North Texas. I'm sure we will see a bit more stress on the plants as summer starts to roll in.

I did go out and gather a few roses to make a bouquet. Husband was very proud of the bouquet--after all, they are HIS roses.




And another view of the same bouquet...



This vase worked well with the short-stemmed roses. It's from Southern LIving at Home collection and has a sort of "frog" that sits on the top of the vase. I haven't looked at the items they currently have available but I also have a couple of different versions of this vase--just longer, shorter and differnt colors. They really help if you're not comfortable in your flower arranging skills.

Wait! After a little more research, it appears that that vase is still available. Check out the Southern Living at Home website, click on catalog, and go to page 26. It is a lovely, simple vase that will compliment your arrangements.

Jelly Roll Quilt-A-Long Block #5

Oh the mistakes that were made when putting this block together! I cut the 5 1/2 inch strips into the 1 1/2" widths. And then I didn't have enough of the same fabric to recut the same fabrics. Did that make sense?

I was suppose to cut the 3 1/2 inch strips into the 1 1/2 inch widths. Doh!

This is my explanation of why there are so many different fabrics in this block. It didn't start that way. But due to my goofy mistakes, the finished result is this:



But, since we're using a jelly roll, I didn't have to worry about the colors matching. It still matches!

And here are all five of the blocks together.



We've been doing some work on the side yard, putting in some flower beds. Husband has picked several roses to put in this area.







These was a couple of weeks ago. I need to post some "now" pictures to show the flowers in bloom. I'll try to do that soon!

Another block done...

It's been done for over a week--but I'm just now posting the results.



I did a lazy cut and did the block the same from either end. And I think I like it. I wasn't sure what to do with this block and made my fabric choices last minute.

What do you think?

R.I.P. Favorite Spatula

R.I.P. small, defenseless, Pampered Chef spatula. Some may have called you a scraper but I always called you "dependable" You were my favorite and you were there for me.

I should never have let husband misuse you.

The first time husband grabbed you and then walked towards the slush in the blender, I was able to intercept your fate by running ahead and turning off the blender.

But hubby would not be deterred.

The second attempt was your downfall. The motor on the blender was running. I could not get there in time. In one quick movement, hubby placed you in the running blender and you met your end.

And heartbreaken does not begin to described how I felt. How I still feel. I still feel a flash of white-hot anger in what he had done to you. You were gone. You were gone.

We had 12 good years together. Longer than some marriages last, actually.

But you are gone. He remains.

Now where is pampered chef online?

The tulips and Block #3

The tulips are stretching and growing wonderfully. They're an annual here in North Texas--they will not come back next year. So I carefully selected my pink tulip bulbs, chilled them in the fridege for 6 week and placed them in the ground.

So here's the pink tulips--




Yes, a few are pink but the predominant color seems to be red.

Earlier this spinrg I made a couple of flower pot arrangements as gifts. The pots had lovely purple pansies and violas. I planted some tulips as a "surprise" for later. I'll have to find out if their surprise is pink. Purple and red wasn't what I was going for.

Speaking of pink, there is no pink in my Jelly Roll Quilt-A-Long Block #3.



I like this block. It was simple and easy to put together. And has interest even thought it seems simple.

Here's all three so far:




It's interesting to think that we don't know what the finished product will look like. But we keep pluggin' along! I'm definitely enjoying the process.

I really like the light blue and the pink fabrics in this fabric line. But there isn't much pink or light blue. Maybe they will end up being accent colors. I really do like them in the first block.