Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!
The bread is baking in the oven. The Christmas tree is lit. The kids are outside raking leaves. What's up with that!!

My parents are visiting and decided to embark on clearing the front yard of leaves. So I kicked the kids out and told them to help their grandparents in this endeavor. There are a LOT of leaves out there. Mostly from the neighbors' trees!

We sack the leaves in brown paper bags that are for organic recycling. Our city has once-a-week pick up for organic materials.

Earlier this morning, I went through the package that Barbara from Ooodle and oodles had mailed me. I thought my parents would enjoy seeing the fun things that she shared. The shiny brites are items they are happy to remember from their childhood.



The book came in yesterday! All so awesome! Many, many thanks to Barbara for such a fun giveaway! I absolutely am thrilled.

I had scooted the red Macy's bag to the back of the pic for a red backdrop and to hide the patio furniture you can see thru the window. My husband, who had slept in, came to the kitchen and yelled "oh man!", grabbed the bag and went to hide it. Apparently it has one of my gifts inside, unwrapped. That's funny!

I'm not nosy at Christmas. I can wait. What is the fun in peeking?

I remember, once, as a child, my brother and I went peeking in the parents' closet and we saw the Star Wars toy that was there: An X-wing fighter.

Growing up, we only got one toy at Christmas so on Christmas morning, that one toy gift was opened, and that was that. Absolutely no fun! I never went peeking again!

So do you peek? Or do you wait?

December Bloom

It's December 15 and I have this bloom--not totally unharmed by the recent hard freeze, but still looking very lovely.



Austin, Golden Celebration. And there's two more buds behind this bloom. Maybe they'll come out before Christmas. If the weather turns colder, then those two buds might need to come indoors. It's very pretty to see at the front of the house.

Today I also won a lovely prize over at Oodles and oodles. I won a book that looks like an warm and interesting read and a goodie bag. Barbara has many lovely things in her shop and I enjoy perusing it at leisure. She has many lovely vintage items and she writes about her home and shopping adventures on her blog. Thank you, Barbara!

What Would You Drive?

...if you could "drive" your favorite fabric? Fab picture from The
Dallas Morning News.

Thank You Thelma!

Thelma sent a bright and beautiful mug rug to participants that completed the Eventide quilt top.

It's so pretty! And went well with some Easter goodies.



I love post-it notes. And these are really pretty.



Are you planning to watch the royal wedding? We have friends gathering, to eat (of course!) and watch the wedding on DVR. And it's an opportunity to wear a hat.

I have a couple of smaller, vintage options, but I'm wanting a fuller hat. I'm totally inspired by Louise Green and love to look at the hats available on her website. But I really don't want to shell out the $300+ for a hat. But a girl can dream.

So maybe with what I have on hand--I can create something passable.






The hat is from Marshall's. The ribbon was $5 at Canton Trade days. And the bottles are from here, there, and yonder.

I'd better get busy!

Wishing You a Blessed Easter

"I'm coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can't contain Him, let alone some man explain Him. You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off of your hands. You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him. That's my King. "

Dr. S. M. Lockeridge, 1976

Crazy Weather

We were up late last night, listening to a hail storm pound everything outside. The roar in the house was unbelieveable. The hail hitting the roof was so loud--and just when we thought the hail might have passed, it would come down harder.

I waited 15 minutes after it was done to go outside to check the damage.

There were piles of ice on the patio.



And some larger pieces that were still lying around.



I'll need to check the roof today (strictly a ground viewing) and see what other damage there might be (that I can see in the daylight).

Some of the flowers took a beating. Some were close enough to the house that they escaped unscathed.

Trying to Show True Colors

Here are some more pics of Eastertide. It's interesting how much lighter the colors look in photos.






These colors are fun but in photos, these pastel colors look, well...pastey.





I took these indoors with the windows wide-open and all the lights on.

I should have crawled around the floor and straightened the quilt top a bit more. But I wasn't really motivated to crawl any more than what I did! I'm tired today!

The quilt was ironed and pressed at one time but it's so big there's no place to really hang it to keep it straight.

So here it is, wrinkles and all. But are the colors truer? I think the blues show up better but the other colors don't look true. I still like it though!

All Done

Here is the finished quilt top--only one week past the deadline. Ha!

The pic looks kind of blurry in the blog pic. Please click on it for a bigger and clearer view.

Since we're a litle ways from Easter, I'm thinking about calling it Eastertide. It does have the colors we think of when decorating for Easter.

This thing is big! My "assistant" is my husband. He's 6'4" and standing on a stool to hold the quilt. I was wanting to get a pic this morning and he graciously headed outside to help me find "the spot" to hold it and take a picture. Thanks hubby!

Ready for a Glamour Shot

All finished! All I need now is some daylight.

Putting On The Rectangle Border

Two sides down...two more to go!

I might actually finish today!

Time spent outside

Yesterday I spent a bit of time outside. First a wind-blown soccer game and then some time in the yard at home.

The clematis is blooming.




And someone wanted me to throw the "ball".



That little blue lump of rubber is what's left of the ball. And Buttercup, on the left, loves to chase and retrieve it.

It does start out as a ball but eventually gets shredded. She's very happy to chase the bits that are left.

Brady, on the right, just sits and watches. He's very smart. But he'd prefer to watch Buttercup run and run out her energy.

Attaching The Red Strip

My red strips are not attaching to the main quilt that easily. The
red strip is too long. I have been re-sewing the red and white blocks
to make them a tad smaller.

Did your strip go on smoothly?

Still working on Eventide

Here's a "later" pic. I like the contrast of the vertical "sash".



I've been staying up past my bedtime, working on this Eventide pattern. I AM excited to see it come together.

Here's another "later" pic, the result of staying up too late.



Funny what you'll see when you're up late.

It's the Craig Ferguson nonexistent commerative plate. It's strange. It's funny. I find it really funny.

Are We There Yet?

The sewing machine is hot--I'm not. Give me an advil (and a few more hours!)




When's the EXACT deadline? ha!

I'll keep sewing so please check back soon as I try to finish putting everything together!

I plan on taking some daylight pics and hope that will make a difference in showing the colors.

I like them. But I'm still critical of the way it looks. I do not dislike it but hope the colors will show more true with natural light instead of "in the middle of the night" light in the living room.

I've under-estimated HOW long it takes to re-cut everything. I mean, trim the pieces to size after I've sewn the squares. Did you "square" everything before you pieced the quilt?

I swear my right arm and forearme have gained twice as much muscle from all the cutting, trimming, and trimming!

Must...keep...sewing...

Gotta keep on, keepin' on!

A looong way to before before I sleep....

And So April 1 is...

April's Fools Day! Did you play any pranks today? My kids complained that I didn't make them an April Fools Day breakfast. An fake egg. Marshmellow creme with a yellow pudding "yolk".

But that didn't happen this morning.

So I gave them sponge cake after dinner.

They liked the icing.



Yuck! I wouldn't of even eaten the icing after the fork hit the sponge.

But I did make Hot Water Sponges.




Forgive the picture. It really is Hot Water Sponges and not fried chicken. Hot Water Sponges are a sponge cake, covered with a thin icing and then rolled in chopped-up peanuts. I have seen these cakes called Blarney Stones also.



Hot Water Sponge

1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 C flour
3 t baking powder
4 eggs
3/4 C boiling water

Beat eggs well then add sugar. Beat well.
Add flour, baking powder and stir until mixed. Add hot water then vanilla. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

So there you have it--two kinds of sponges.

One More Week...

We have one more week until the deadline for tor the Eventide Quiltalong!

I've been cutting and cutting and organizing.










And I still have a long way to go!




I've been sewing in the evenings and darn if I don't get tired at my bedtime and have to go to bed! And there's the stops for dinner, for homework, for running kids to soccer and tutoring. The kitchen is piled high with dishes as I was sewing instead of doing dishes!

I have ONE more week! Are you almost done? Are you done?

There's nothing like a deadline to help you give a little extra push!

Cutting almost done...

I have the the small Ohio Stars cut out and I'm looking at what I want to use for the big stars on the Eventide quilt.

I'm trying to think of a mix of mostly warm, medium colors for the small stars with some cool colors in the mix. And then use medium-light cool colors for the large stars.

I love the light blue! And the green next to it is pretty. The green though, is still debatable. I'll audition it and see how it works!



Is it better further away? The fabric, NOT the room! The room is only good in close-ups, extreme close-ups!



And outside the azalea is making me very happy! What a trooper. I didn't think it would do well after all the cold, freezing weather we had in February. (Remember the Super Bowl? The ice? The snow?)



And I'm behind in yard work. I have these lovely plants just rearin' to get planted.



Oh,and I have company coming over today. Yikes! Gotta work on the house because they won't be looking at it in those better-looking close ups. It will be Wide Shots! Gotta boogie!

Hi There

Hi There.



Buttercup says "Hi".

This is an in-focus picture of Buttercup. The rest--pretty blurry. The back light from the window shows the pink in her ears. So sweet!

Buttercup doesn't like to get her picture taken. Especially close up. But she loves for the kids to hold her and she just is so relaxed when they pick her up. But you pull out the camera and she starts wiggling.

And here is more evidence of spring. There are more flowers in bloom in my yard and flowerbeds every day.

The azalea is ALMOST ready to burst! It is "the" azalea bush--I only have one.





I use to baby this azalea bush. I would feed it it's special diet of miracle grow azalea food in the fall. I would cover it any time the temperature dropped below freezing. And the result would be--no blooms. Maybe a dozen flowers at the bottom of the bush and that would be it!

But for the past five years I've ignored the silly thing and it's gone bloom crazy.

No complaints here. I love the purple-pink color and today, maybe today, the blooms will finish opening.

I planted Ajuga in the front flowerbed because I thought the leaves were an interesting dark purple contrast to the Lambs ear plant. I didn't know it bloomed! Duh! What a very pleasant surprise. My mom never planted Ajuga so I know nothing about it.





That's one of the fun things about gardening. There are so many different types of plants, that there is always something to learn. I think we tend to gravitate towards the plants we remember from our youth. The things that are familiar.

There are several plants that I love that do not grow here in North Texas especially peonies and lilacs. Those are some of my favorites. Some gardeners have had success with peonies but I haven't prepped a special bed for them yet. I'm still trying to decide where I could plant them and they might succeed.

What's blooming in your area?

What a Fabulous Spring Break!

What a fabulous spring break!

It started with a trip the Quilt Guild of Dallas Quilt show. My youngest daughter went with me (she loves fabric—smart girl!) and my neighbor Randi went also. We had a fun time and saw some lovely quilts.

"Celtic Nine-Patches" by Jaynette Huff. Paper foundation pieced and hand-appliqued and –beaded.




"Hugs and Kisses" by Jay Conrad. It was an fun and colorful use of plaid.





"Three-inch Ohio Star" by Annie Rosser who claims she enjoyed every block. Beautiful work.




A bunny quilt! "Bunnies Running Amok" by Sally Brown.





When we go to quilt shows we think of a “motif” or “traditional pattern” that we play I Spy and look for in the show. When we walked the Dallas show we decided to look for bunnies! As this was our bunny quilt. So pretty!
There are even bunnies in the quilting.



It has a very pretty border and a lovely scalloped edge.



"Amish Go to Hawaii" by Pebble Rehm.



"Bubblicious" by Concetta Boscardin






“Millefiori Revival” by Rebecca Yarbrough. I’m in love with this. I’m fascinated by these diamond star hexagons. Absolutely beautiful!



“Stars Over America” by Joelen Mershon


“Star Light, Star Bright” by Iva Grant. This quilt was pieced by Judith Earp and hand-quilted by Iva. Amazing!






“Dots” by Sharon Chambers. Lots and lots of polka dots-so fun!





“Shannon’s Eye of the Storm” by Vicki Conley. Look for the Storm at Sea pattern.


Even Ellie gave the eye “the eye”.





And the grand prize winner – the aptly named “Icing on the Cake” my Linda M. Roy.


If Randi had moved a little bit to the right, she could have been Best of Show.

But we had to check out the vendors too. Ellie enjoyed hanging out with some well-dressed girls…



and tried on a lovely hat.




Ellie came home with some fabric for an new outfit and I came home with a portable design wall. Sigh. I said I wasn’t going to buy anything. But that didn’t last.

So with the new design wall up, I put up my meager blocks and started ironing. I’ve gotta get busy!





I may currently be a slacker, but now, at least, I look like a professional slacker!