Yum

As a change from the usual flowers and vines, this year, a patio tomato graces my front porch.



Is anything tastier than a tomato, ripened on the vine and eaten still warm from the sun?

I picked a couple of these last night, chopped them up and added them to some pasta, olive oil and fresh basil. Then, poured a glass of Pinot Grigio and enjoyed. Yum.

So Nice

Thank you, Rian, for this sweet award.

She likes it. She really likes it.

Here's the photo I received from my swap partner, Dawn, of her daughter Ela with her new doll quilt. I have her permission to share.

Who knew? I was making a quilt for a living doll.

Edited to add, I should have seen it coming (but didn't). A second quilt for twin brother Raif is in the works.

Doll Quilt for Ela

Today, I received the sweetest note from Dawn, my swap partner in DQS2. My quilt made the trip from middle America to Istanbul Turkey in 6 days and was well-received by her almost three year old, Ela.

It was killing me to NOT share a photo . . . but now I can :-)



I hoped the black cat would look like the black Moroccan cat that I'd been told was part of the family. Ela recognized Pasa immediately. Yay!

Jinxed?

Kate's Birthday Block swap has been interesting . . . and frustrating.

When I made the first block, I saw red when the red fabric bled. It had to be re-made.

This weekend, I made the second block and realized (just in time) that dyslexic me had screwed up the orientation of one of the units. Rip, rip, rip and resew and it's OK now . . . I think. Here's the before and after.



I made the third block today. I like the fabrics; it follows Amy's guidelines, but I hate it. It's back to the drawing board on that one.

I am feeling jinxed.

Making Lemonade and Birthday Blocks

The saying goes, When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

This would be the lemon in my life at the moment . . . a vehicle that has an intermittent won't start problem–always at an inconvenient place and time.

The mechnic didn't finish on Friday and so I am spending the weekend, carless, at home.

And here's the lemonade--two of three blocks made for Kate's Birthday Blocks Swap.



The Dresdan Star block on the left is for Robin who asked for a 10 inch block in Traditional Christmas Colors. The 9 inch Snowflake block in purples on white on the right is for Deb.

I also made a block for Amy . . . who said she wanted to be surprised. (Check out the cool blocks she's already received from Kathi and Kate on her blog).

Discovering Mudcloth

I made this virtual mudcloth at the Smithsonian's site, Discovering Mudcloth. Three interesting artists who create, work with, or are inspired by mudcloth are featured.

It's Leaving, on a Jet Plane . . .

I'm just back from the post office. My Doll Quilt for the swap is (finally) on its way. It's going to be hard not to share a photo for a few days.

If you haven't received your quilt yet, this could be it . . . as viewed from the back (one last tease).



Bye bye quilt!

Doll Quilt Swap Update

Earlier this week, I received this beautiful doll quilt from Deedan.



Here are some details–of the interesting fabrics, red ties and perfectly mitered binding.



I honestly didn't know what to expect from this experience, especially since I didn't provide any clues at all, specifying Quilter's Choice. I might have mentioned that I intended to hang it in my office . . . what a happy coincidence that it coordinates so well with the walls and my lamp.



One quilt received and one almost sent. I am finally putting the last stitches into my own very late Doll Quilt.



Today, at lunch, I sewed on the label. Tonight I'll finish sewing the binding down and then it will be ready for it's long, international trip. Here's another sneek peek.



Look for complete photos of my quilt in a few days. I'm very happy with it--I hope my swap partner will be, too.

Bed Turning

One of the hightlights of the Light House Quilters' show last weekend was a Bed Turning. An antique brass bed held 20 antique and vintage quilts, arranged in chronological order, one atop the other. Two guild members pulled each quilt off the top for a show and tell, with the historical information provided by a third member. If was fun to see the quilts and hear their histories.



This arrangement of New York Beauty blocks is known as Baby Bunting and is completely hand pieced and hand quilted. It's from the late 19th century.

All my photos from the event are tagged Bed Turning on Flickr; here are a couple more of my favorites.

A 1930's Double Wedding Ring.



A graphic pink and white quilt from the 40's.



A yo-yo coverlet with a very organized arrangment of yo-yos.



A classic red and white Chimney Sweep quilt–which one member of the quilt police in the audience insisted was an Album quilt (and wasn't happy with me when I suggested that both block names are correct).

At the Quilt Show, Thinking of You

On Saturday, I went to the Sew Charming Quilts show in Grand Haven with my friend Gayle. The Lighthouse Quilt Guild produced a very nice show. As I was walking around admiring their work, I couldn't help but think of some of the people I know only in cyberspace.

This pretty Delectable Mountains quilt by Sally Sundstrom reminded me of Micki's idea for a Scrappy Mountains Majesty swap being discussed on the Scrappy Quilts forum.



Flowers in the Night by Jean Stordahl uses many black on black squares–I thought Kate would appreciate this quilter's collection of black fabrics.



Spring Spectacular, by Jackie Bailey, is a Piece of Cake pattern with fried egg flowers in the border which reminded me of this month's lotto block, Purple Posy. I thought the lotto regulars would enjoy it.



I thought the Brown Bag Challenge was a neat idea and one that one of the swap hostesses on the Quilting forum or the Doll Quilt Swap Moms might take and run with it. (I took a photo of the guidelines, if you want to check it out).




Bobbie Vruggink's quilt, Whooters made me think of Krista and her hunt for owls in Waynesville during the Blue Ridge Quiltfest last March.



Pink Embroidered Twelve-patch is made from vintage embroidered squares purchased at an estate sale by Judy Schippers. I thought Debra would recognize a kindred creative spirit--rescuing old blocks and making a beautiful quilt from them.



Marchia Shoemaker's 3-D Bowtie Quilt, made from orphan blocks left over from making a larger quilt, brought to mind Finn's Orphan Train effort.



You can see all my photos of the quilt show in my Flickr set Sew Charming Quilts 2007.

WIPs for Priority: Alzheimers

JDO has issued a challenge to everyone on the Quilting forum to make quilts for Ami Sim'a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts Auction.

I plan to finish these two small quilts:



Ami want to take 1000 of these little auction quilts with her to Quilt Festival in Houston. Can you help?

Not My Best Look

So many friends have been curious about the sleep study, so when I went back for round 2 last week, I took a camera. I especially like the red marker on my face and the twist ties holding my hair out of the way, don't you? They use glue to attach sensors to my scalp.



If you're curious about why flannel pjs in July . . . it was all part of being as comfortable as I could be. I'd been a little cold during the first study. I brought a flannel quilt, my pillow and some wool footies to keep my toes warm, too.

How many sensors were there, you ask? Here they are, before they were attached to me. This box sat on the bed, next to me.

Of course my look wasn't complete until they added a mask with headgear . . . and then, a strap to prevent me from breathing through my mouth. The first mask proved to be too claustrophobic, the second one was a winner ;-)

But other than all that, the environment was quite comfortable and the observing tech was tucked away in the command center–out of sight, out of mind?



I came home with a CPAP unit and mask and can already tell that it's going to make a big difference in the quality of life for me.

233

233 is the number of times I stopped breathing during my sleep study last week.

I'm going back this week for round two, where I will learn to love the noisy, claustrophobia-inducing CPAP machine that I'm told will lead to the happy state of well-restedness. I didn't do so well last time. This time, I'll remember to bring my pillow, a quilt and . . . my camera so I can share a Frankenstein-like image of myself. I thought all those sensors (and glue and tape) would keep me awake, but it was the oxygen monitor clipped to my finger that was the most distracting.

As I learn more about sleep apnea, I wonder how much of the physical and lifestyle changes I've seen in myself the last few years and attributed to aging, menopause, allergies, extra pounds and Michigan winters may be cured by some real sleep.

Please Turn on your Feeds

I don't think a day passes that I don't discover a new blog and want to subscribe to it. I use a feed reader–its really the only way for me to keep track of all the wonderful, interesting blogs I find and want to follow. Today, it's Les Rèves Chaussures, written by Claire, a woman who dreams of shoes.

It's so disappointing when I find an interesting blog and can't add it because the author hasn't allowed blog feeds. (On blogger, it's under the Settings tab, the link at the top labeled Site Feed.)

So please turn on your feeds . . . and while I'm selfishly begging, would you be sure to allow a FULL feed, so people who use feed readers (like me) can see your whole blog post and not just a tease, a blurb with no pictures. I confess that with me, it's 50-50 whether or not your tease will compell me to click over to your blog to see the rest.

Quilt Retreat

Back in May–when life was too busy to blog–I ran away for a weekend with some local quilters for a retreat. I've added the photos to Flickr--check out the slide show or read on–warning: it's a very image-heavy post. Click any of the images for larger versions.

This was our home-away-from-home for the weekend–part of a conference center owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources. We had this dorm to ourselves. It contained sleeping rooms, a comfy big living room and a conference room which became our work room.



All meals were provided and were served a short walk away at the main lodge. Fresh coffee was always waiting for us in the lobby. Meals were served family style in the dining room.






We quilted in the conference room. The group had reconfigured it by the time I arrived, moving tables into a big circle with ironing boards and a cutting table in the center. The white board they'd shoved into the corner became a perfect design wall with the addition of the flannel tablecloth I brought. The room had big windows on two sides and lots of great light.




Everyone brought their own projects and did their own thing.

On Saturday afternoon, some of us took a break for a local shop hop of three quilt shops in a nearby town.




Back in the work room, my makeshift design wall saw a lot of action. Eventually, I used it, too--putting together a top from my purple buckeye blocks from Colene's Penny Pincher swap.



After dark, we went outside and hung out around the fire.



Sunday morning after breakfast, I went for a walk to the beach. It was chilly, but beautiful.




It was great to get away and make progress on some of my projects. In addition to the progress I made on my Penny Pincher swap blocks, I finished a quilt top and back for Quilts of Valor and completed the stretched star quilt (from a swap).



Just about everyone had a lot to show for themselves at the end of the weekend.



After more fun at Sunday breakfast, we packed up and headed home.



I couldn't resist stopping at one last quilt shop on the way home. Yes, there's quite a large quilt shop inside this nursery.