Crazy Horse Quilting

I will be sane, tomorrow!!

2012-01-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

Yep...the studio is done!!! Of course, there are some minor things that still require attention (like moving all the boxes in and unpacking), but the main "work" is finished. Tomorrow I can quilt; tomorrow, I will be sane!!!

What do you think??

This photo is from the southeast corner by the window in the next picture:

This door leads into our house and will be replaced by a full light door, when I can find one. They're hard to come by in this size, but I'm not giving up. Dennis thinks I'll have to settle for a half-light, but I don't think so!

This photo is from the opposite corner looking back toward the house. The half-light door looks into the teeny-tiny work space that Dennis has in the garage. His side is really cold; mine is insulated and warm and clean!!!

This is looking toward the door that will be the customer entrance to my studio. This door opens onto our back porch. Customers entering this way will have a lovely view of our pond and yard before they come in. I found a full light door for this spot; it will be in as soon as I paint it and will allow for tons more light.

And now for your test...can you find the Border Collie???

Dash just has to supervise everything!! <snicker>

Dory...sane again...<sigh>

Going, Going, GONE

2012-01-17T16:36:00.000-08:00

CRAZY!!!

Upon arriving in Washington, I had one quilt that had to be finished and sent back immediately. The good thing about that: It made us focus on getting the boxes out of the garage and into the house. We set up my Millie in the garage and I got busy!

But since then...many options have been discussed and a decision finally made. My studio will be in our garage and will be 13 x 20.5 -- not a bad size at all. That is approximately 270 square feet of space that will be ALL MINE!!! We discussed putting up the yurt and even buying one of those Park Model RVs and having them leave out all the interior stuff, but finally decided on the garage. At first, Dennis was going to have his screen printing darkroom in one corner, but he kept remembering more and more stuff that needed to be in that darkroom and I kept seeing my studio getting smaller and smaller. Once I reminded him how important it was to keep his wife happy, he came to his senses and agreed that the space should be all mine! Smart man I married!!

Our friends have been great. We've been working on the studio almost every day, but its taking forever! Shelving and an inside dog kennel had to be torn out; a non-bearing wall had to be added, everything had to be insulated, sheetrock bought and hung, taping and texturing, painting, etc., etc. We are at the sheetrock stage now and I have a ceiling. Its starting to look like a real room.

Unfortunately, since all this has happened, my longarm has been under wraps! She's protected by plastic and even if that weren't so, quilting in a garage with no heat really doesn't sound like much fun.

Wish me luck that within a week or two, I'll be in business and posting pictures of quilts once again!

Dory

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas holiday with friends and family. And, if you're lucky, you'll also have a viewing of the best Christmas movie ever made!!

Merry Christmas!!

Dory

Cooking

2011-12-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

Another thing I enjoy doing, especially when I find a new recipe or a cookbook with interesting recipes. I'm also discovering that the groceries in Sequim have lots of really fresh food; something that Quincy didn't have a lot of.

My new cookbook is "The Pioneer Woman Cooks," by Ree Drummond. The cookbook itself is fun to read, as is her blog, which I also look at on occasion. My friend and neighbor here, Annie, just had knee surgery. I wanted to take her something for dinner, so I found the perfect recipe: Homemade Tomato Soup in my new cookbook. I did something I never do...I followed the recipe exactly. It was outstanding.

Tonight, I picked up some fresh shrimp (it actually came deveined and shelled!!) and made Penne a la Betsy. I added a bit to this one, but it was still quite good even before my addition of cayenne pepper.

A warning, however, this cookbook is not for anyone on a diet! I will be making more recipes out of this book, but only if I continue to workout so that I can burn off the heavy cream and oodles of butter!!!

Dory

Slow Trip, eh??

2011-12-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you that have been wondering if we were actually taking a slow boat to Sequim rather than a car, the answer is ... "NO." However, once we arrived, we faced many challenges. Being connected to the Internet was a huge one. Finally though, as of yesterday, we have contact!! I'm back in blogging business; I'm sure you're all relieved <snort>!!

But, for the good stuff:

My step-daughters were in Quincy the Friday before we headed out. They were great as we enlisted their husband/significant other to help load. In fact, on Sunday, Rachel and Mike even came by to help us finish loading. They are great kids (I use that term relatively as they are all in their 30s!).

We arrived on that Monday to a house decorated with Christmas lights and our friends waiting for us with dinner. It was lovely! The next day more friends arrived to help us unload. Since then we've been unpacking and trying to organize. The kitchen here is so big that I have too much room, I keep losing things!!

A few days after our arrival, we joined SARC (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center). Its incredible. They have TWO swimming pools (which would be even more fantastic if I swam), three rooms full of aerobic and weight equipment, a gym for large classes and a smaller classroom for other classes. Today is the second week of our new "get healthy" program.

Today another friend gave me a bike to use for when we ride the Discovery Trail. Equines are only allowed on portions, but bikes can do the whole thing. We're going to check it out by bike first, pony later.

The horses are doing great and we can see them from the house, which I love. We plan to start riding when we have our lives a bit more in order...hopefully not too long from now.

And today my longarm was set up in its temporary quarters...wait til I show you the new digs!! They'll be awesome!!

Thanks for hanging in there...pics of quilts coming soon.

Dory

Driving, driving, driving

2011-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Only 760 miles to go.............

Another Big One

2011-12-02T10:52:00.001-08:00

Virginia pieced this really huge Bear Paw quilt for her son and daughter-in-law. Its a wedding gift; their wedding was ten years ago!!

To keep costs down since this quilt was so large (103 x 103), she opted for a simple fill in the blocks.

Dory

The Problem with Moving...

2011-11-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

...is being in between two places at once! Most of our stuff is in Washington, except the business equipment. We came back to catch up on our projects prior to moving everything north and to attend our town's Christmas "Sparkle" parade. Its a really fun activity held on the first Friday of December. This year's Sparkle is made even more fun because Dennis' oldest daughter will be having an artists opening reception at our local Plumas Arts Gallery.

Back to the matter at hand: in Quincy is my camera that I use to take pictures of customer quilts for my posts; in Washington is the cord used for transferring said pictures to my computer. Thank goodness for the iPhone. The photos may not be as sharp, but at least there are photos!!

These quilts were made by Diane using scraps given to her by another quilter that didn't like the colors any longer. She put them to good use for her grandkids. This one is for her granddaughter

And this one was for her grandson. Wondering where the pic is of the whole quilt? Me too!!! <snicker>

The design in the 9-patch and large blocks was a new one for me. It came from "Line Dancing" and was really fun to quilt.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Dory

Before & After

2011-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

When I picked up Jennifer's quilt last month, she had this adorable quilt on her wall. I commented on how cute it was and she told me that her sister had made this shortly before she was taken ill. Jennifer finished it and had it quilted before she passed, so it has a special place in her heart and on her wall.

But then Jennifer posed the dreaded question. She told me she'd taken the quilt to a longarmer with a computer and she asked whether I felt that quilter had done enough quilting. In my opinion, she hadn't, but I wasn't willing to criticize another quilter who had obviously taken a lot of time on this quilt. As you can see, she quilted in the border and in the center sashing. She then went on to stitch in the ditch everywhere and around the birds as well.

My response to Jennifer was that had it been me, I would have done more quilting in the background around the birds and something in the red sashing as well as the pinwheel and 9-patch blocks; and I wouldn't have done any SID. Jennifer brought the quilt to me when she picked up her last one.

This is a close-up of how it originally looked (click on the pic for a true "close-up"):

And this is how it looked when it left my studio:

I really felt the quilt needed these whimsical touches. What do you think??

Dory

HEAL Africa

2011-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, Barbara told me a story about a friend who had spent some time with her and was now in the Congo in Africa helping women. Lyn Lusi co-founded HEAL Africa, an organization that partners with communities to transform the status of women. Barbara was asked to make these two quilts to hang in the hospital there using the fabric that Lyn acquired for her in the Congo. I was very pleased that she trusted me to quilt them for her.

This is the first quilt Barbara finished for them.

My goal was to keep the quilting subtle. I quilted circles in the outer border and also around the fussy-cut circle in the main "arrow" piece. The background and sashing are both done in a heatwave pattern, with continuous curve in the arrow, itself.

This shot of the back shows more of the quilting.

And this was the second quilt; I really had fun with this one.

The outside border was quite busy so I just did a meander (no matter what I did, I couldn't get the lighting right...its a wonder I didn't go blind stitching this border!!) and carried the meander into the background of the blocks. Barbara wanted a simple continuous curve in the baskets and in the flowers with a "stem" connecting them. I also did a cc in the sashing.

A pic of the back to show the detail:

Another of the back showing the basket detail.

It was an honor to do these quilts for Barbara.

Dory

Change is Good, Right??

2011-11-10T21:52:00.001-08:00

Things are changing and hopefully, they will be good changes.

Dennis and I have been coming to Sequim, Washington, for the last three years visiting friends and hanging out in the cabin on Sequim Bay. During our last trip, we decided to try something more permanent.

This will be the new home for Crazy Horse Quilting...what do you think???

It won't exactly be the new home. Initially, I'll be quilting in the garage; but then another yurt will be set up that will be all mine. Dennis will have the upstairs office and one of the guest rooms for his business...at least the bits that aren't messy. He will NOT be screen-printing in the house!

I will even be providing my customers with mailers that are both tear- and water-proof for sending their tops and backings to me. Return mail will be on me in an insured Priority box. Seems fair, yes??

We will be up here for the winter beginning in December and then head back to Q-town in late March. At some point, we will have to make a permanent decision about residence, but for now we're a two-home family.

Dory

Tic-Tac-Toe

2011-10-31T20:52:00.000-07:00

Nope, not the game, the quilt!

Marei sent this quilt for me to work on after showing the flimsy (un-quilted top) at our guild meeting. Everyone loved it so much that she's now scheduled to make a presentation at next month's meeting on how to put it together. Apparently, it goes together quickly so is a great one for when you need a last minute quilt.

The bright fabrics in this one are beautiful and are really set off nicely with the black and cream. I wanted to push the black and cream to the background to make the other fabrics shine, so I did some pretty dense quilting.

Marei's only request on this one was to do "something special" in the top. This quilt is going to her grandson, Jakob, for his bed and the top will be over the pillows. I outlined the designs on the top with matching thread, so while nothing much shows here...

It does on the back! (click on the picture to really see the detail)

Thanks for looking!

Dory

The Big Difference

2011-10-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today I discovered the difference between quilting for yourself and quilting as an occupation. Are you dying to know?? Well, you have to read through this whole thing to find out the answer (or just skip to the bottom).

When I first started quilting (my good friend Lucy introduced me to it after our house had burned down), I had a really bad day. I had purchased a "box" Brother machine from Costco and I could not get the bobbin to load correctly. After trying for quite some time and still not getting it to work correctly, I gave up and got my horse, Elly, and we went for a nice, relaxing ride in the forest.

Today, I could not, no matter what I did, get the tension adjusted correctly on my longarm when using Bottom Line thread in both the top and bobbin. No matter what I did (changed bobbins, needles, adjusted the tension), the top thread kept breaking. Then when I finally go the top thread to behave, the bobbin thread started breaking! It wasn't making any sense, since the stitching was turning out beautifully. Finally, when working on the last two blocks, things were adjusted correctly and I made it through both blocks without having any broken threads!! Go figure. *sigh*

The difference: If I were quilting for myself, I would have thrown my arms up in the air, changed my clothes, grabbed Kate and gone for a ride. However, since I have a business and this quilt has a deadline, I kept working until the end.

She needs to be ridden!!!

I Know...It's Not Monday

2011-10-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

But, it is Tuesday morning and I didn't get back until last night so I haven't been ignoring my blog.

MQX was terrific! The venue was great and I got to catch up with my good friend, Lisa, from Canada. We only had one class together, but we stayed together so we made up for lost time.

More about MQX in general later, but here are a few pics of the beautiful quilts I took while there. Please note, these aren't pictures of the entire quilts as I don't think that would be appropriate; these are just some of the bits that I really loved. Perhaps it has to do with the subject matter??

Look at the background quilting on these quilts; as a quilter, I find it so interesting to see what quilters do.

Dory

Where's Waldo??

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

This doesn't mean you can call me "Waldo." However, guess where I am???

Click here to find out!!

I'm so excited to be here and will be posting lots of pictures when I get home on Monday!

And because blog posts without pics are "blah" posts...here are some cute pups for your viewing pleasure.

The gorgeous Border Collie, Chloe:

The Border-Mutt, Dasher:

And, the Labra-Collie, Cash (when he was a little, bitty puppy; before he turned into the moose he is now).

Such a cute family!!

Dory

On The Road Again...

2011-10-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Heading up to Washington again....hoping for more beautiful views like this one:

However, we probably won't be quite so lucky. Knowing Washington the way we do, I doubt we'll have the lovely sunshine that we had on our last trip up.

Dory

Ahhhhh...Look at the Puppies

2011-10-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Nope, not my puppies. These ones are in a quilt and a pillow top that Jennifer made.

Aren't they cute? I quilted the two pups in the quilt with the same tight swirl stitches to make them look like they were the same dog. The nine-patch blocks have a terry-twist and I swirled inside the dark purple circles to give a tufted effect in the light blue blocks. I used Quilters Dream Puff, so the effect worked quite well.

In the pillow top, I used a thinner batting and bigger swirls in the dog's body this time.

And a photo of the back. The quilting actually shows up a tad better if you click on the picture to make it larger.

Thanks for looking!

Dory

HELP!!! What's wrong with my plant???

2011-09-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is a hydrangea that Dennis bought for me when I retired. I've kept it alive for over a year--a record for me! But look at it now...the leaves have white on them. What does this mean? What do I do??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Dory

A Double-Duty Bed Runner

2011-09-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

This bed runner was made by a a new customer, Donna. She's taking a class and this was one of their projects. The double-duty part comes from the fabrics use.

The top is Christmassy (yes, that is a word!)

And the back fits in with her Americana decorating scheme the rest of the year. (If you want to see the quilting on the back, click on the picture. When you're done, just click the back button to come back here)

And this is a photo of the whole thing. When its finished, there will be prairie points on each end.

Dory

Sneak Peak

2011-09-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

This is a sneak peak of my beautiful step-daughter's wedding quilt. She hasn't seen it, but she does know its coming. In fact, if I could only read and follow directions, it would be done. However, twice now, I've put the four-patch units that go in the outer border together backwards! Okay, well not backwards, exactly. The first time I used the wrong fabric, the second time it was backwards.

I'm excited to finish this one!!

Dory

I got a present!!

2011-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Remember the Machinations quilt I did for Marei? Remember the backing fabric she used and how I was trying to figure out if she'd notice if I switched it? I love red and I loved that red fabric so much!!!

Our Guild meeting was just the other night and guess what Marei brought me???? My very own bit of that fabric!! She went back to the store and bought what was left on the bolt for me...I have almost 2 yards now to call my own.

Its all pre-washed now and proudly added to my stash. I'm thinking of making a log cabin in blues and reds...this will be in there! Isn't it pretty??

Thanks, Marei!!!!

Dory

Too Much Fun...

2011-09-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

I think someone has been having way too much fun!!

...Dory

Musings...

2011-09-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

This was on a fence board at the Dungeness Spit in Washington. Quilt designs can be found anywhere!!

And this was a most frustrating discovery when I looked at the back of a quilt recently. The bad thing: all those stitches had to come out, probably a bobbin's worth; the good thing: these are the easiest type of stitches to pull and I'm pretty sure I know what caused it. Mostly operator error...as usual.

And a short trip down memory lane. This was my first paying quilt that was done for a charity. It was so scary putting the first stitch in. Turned out fine though.

Today is Dennis' daughter's wedding day...pics of that tomorrow, hopefully.

Dory

And More Vacation

2011-09-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Yep...still on vacation and loving it. We won't head for home until oh-dark-thirty on Monday. So's you don't think I fell off the face of the earth, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. This is my view every morning just before sunrise. We enjoy it on the porch with our coffee.

And while we drink coffee, the boys are enjoying their vacation, too.

I think these birds are Cormorants, but I'm really not sure. This was just a cool picture of them on the dock in front of the house next door.

This one is of a house by our friends, Don and Annie. I love this house!!

Another view shot. Often these mountains aren't in view because of the clouds. When they are, they're gorgeous.

This was a photo I took while we were up at Hurricane Ridge. On a clear day up there, you can see across the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and into Canada.

I've been working on Rachel's wedding quilt while we've been here. I'm almost ready to put it together; she may actually have a wedding gift on time!!

Dory

Vacation!!!

2011-09-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is my little sewing corner in the most adorable cabin overlooking Sequim Bay in Washington State. We're out on the peninsula staying at a friend's cabin, since we still haven't erected the yurt on ours. And now we may not...but that's for another post.

I'm working on Rachel's wedding quilt and admiring the view. It's so lovely here!!

I have no idea what the Coast Guard was doing with the buoy, but it was fun watching them work

Bye from Washington!!

Dory

Log Cabin Wedding Quilt

2011-08-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here it is...the "Big One." This quilt is from a new customer, Diane. She and her daughter made this quilt for a wedding gift for another family member. Bad news: The wedding was five years ago; good news: They're still married and now they'll have a beautiful quilt for their bed. It's a big quilt (103 x 103)--thus the less than stellar photo of the whole thing.

I quilted the dark areas with a "heatwave" fill and used a larger version of the fill for the sashing.

The outside corners in the light areas got feathers...

A close-up of the heatwave fill and the leaf meander done in the majority of the light areas.

This photo of the back shows the feathers and the fill.

Dory

It's a Big One!

2011-08-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Took up almost my whole table!

Machinations

2011-08-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Our guild had a "mini-class" several months ago on an easy way to make circles. Marei took it to heart; named her quilt "Machinations" and sent it to me for quilting. She likes to challenge me and make me think (she's such a brat!)

We met and talked about this quilt several times. I wanted to be sure to give her back something that she would like. This quilt was so different, I really had to put on my thinking cap--there was actually smoke coming out my ears by the time we were done!

I used the Quiltazoid in the small and middle sized circles. In the smallest ones, I just repeated the shape and then did a spiky "leaf" treatment around them. In the larger circles, I used one of the many designs that come with the QZ.

The medium and large squares got a maze fill in white and the red parts of the quilt were quilted with a variation of a water meander in red...

And to tie it all together, I used white thread in the corner blocks and treated the border piecing as one unit, using a bamboo fill.

The pictures don't do it justice, but the fabric Marei used on the back was gorgeous! I kept trying to figure out how to replace it with some random red from my stash and wondering if she'd notice. *grin*

Thanks for looking!

Dory

Ribbons!!!

2011-08-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

This year, for the first time since I've been quilting, our County Fair had a real quilt judge. I entered two wall-hangings and was really curious to see how they'd fared. Look what I found when I arrived:

This quilt greeted me at the entrance. It's my retreat quilt from last year's Quincy Crazy Quilters retreat. I earned first place and first in division...very exciting.

More looking and I found my second wall hanging. This was from a class taught by Linda Ballard called "Fractured Crystals." Second place!!! I was walking on air by that time.

Then, the finale: This quilt that I quilted for one of my customers, Carolyn, won First Place, Best in Division and Best in Show....

I'm still floating!!!! (Wow, do you think this means I can say I'm an "award winning" quilter??? <snicker>)

Dory

It's not all Quilting and Playing with Ponies around here!

2011-08-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

Some days, we have to go get hay. This year has been especially painful; the price of hay has skyrocketed from last year. Dennis came home with the first load of four tons of grass/alfalfa for a whopping $1,000; then this load of four and a half tons of grass hay for $900. One more load and we'll have enough to feed the four hay burners for the year!

We picked up this load of hay on our way back from Reno. It was a quick trip over to get Dennis fitted for a tux for his daughter's wedding and then back to get the hay. Have you priced weddings?? Yikes!! I'm so glad his daughter is old enough to pay for her own. We're helping, but we're not responsible for the whole thing!

We get our hay from Sierra Valley, its about 90 minutes from home. We weighed our truck before it was loaded and again after so that we knew exactly how much hay we were getting. The scale is sensitive enough, that we each took turns walking on it to weigh ourselves (no, I'm not about to tell you how much I weigh!)

Dave got the squeeze and proceeded to load our truck. I always like watching the squeeze work; I have no idea why. It's just sort of fun...makes me wish it were that easy to unload!

Dash, of course, felt it was his job to supervise the entire operation! Little did he know that his life would be changing dramatically the next day. We took him to get "tutored."

Thanks for stopping by!!

Dory

A Great Sampler

2011-08-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

This top came to me by way of the quilter's daughter. This was the quilter's first attempt at quilt-making and she did a most excellent job...and she's 80! She had started out quilting it herself with ditch quilting, but then her daughter saw some of my quilts at the show and asked whether I'd take it. Of course I said yes! I love samplers, especially when the blocks are not all the same size.

This quilt had these four house "blocks," which I fell in love with. It was such fun trying to come up with different ways to quilt them. This one had "blocks" on one side with wood on the other.

This one had really skinny wood and rounded "tiles."

This one had reverse tiles with wood and a rock roof.

This one had uneven rock, really skinny wood and curtains in the window...can you tell I was having fun??

Houses are such fun to quilt!!!

Dory

QFH Completed

2011-08-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Remember the post "Every Quilter has a Bad Day"? Well the quilt is done and was returned today.

The stars in this quilt were gorgeous...the fabrics were beautiful hand-dyes with such vibrant color.Although Marei may have considered it the Quilt from Hell while she was working on it, the final outcome has been raised a notch or two. I tried to focus the quilting and, therefore, your eye on the stars.

Next up from Marei is this quilt. She's always challenging me...always!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Dory

From Beginning to End

2011-08-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Remember my post last year about our 2010 Guild Retreat? Fair starts on Wednesday, so I actually finished it and one other small wall hanging to enter. I have pics of this one, but then the camera battery died (it actually says "battery exhausted"--like I wore it out!!) before I could get pics of both.

So...the beginning:

Remember, this was a "double mystery." We called the shop with colors we liked and they sent us fabric. When the ladies putting on the retreat saw the fabrics their employee had sent me, they cringed. I thought it was just me, but it wasn't. These fabrics really do not go together well, so some were left out...

This is what I had finished when I left the retreat. The next band of color didn't work, so I was sent some additional peach fabric.

When finished, this is what I had...not too bad.

A couple of close-ups. I quilted feathers in the center peach are with pebbles in the middle; then feathers in the triangular areas around the center as well.

Oh...did I mention??? Feathers in the border, too.

And finally, a picture of the back before I "exhausted" my camera battery.

Dory

Poor Me

2011-08-09T16:44:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Emma's eye trauma, I had a "trauma" of my own. The yurt is only about 10 feet from our back door, but between the yurt and our house is our hot tub. We had drained it for the summer and in anticipation of someday using it again, I decided to lift the lid to see if it was all icky inside. Bad idea...exceptionally bad since it was incredibly hot out.

I got a not-so-lovely surprise. These guys had taken up residence and were not impressed that I was messing with their home. Did you know that angry bees actually chase you the same way they do in the movies?? I got away, but not without three lovely stings on my arm in almost the same place. OUCH!!

Within a few hours, my arm was swollen from about three inches above my elbow almost to my wrist! I think I'm either allergic or it was too many bites at once. Remind me never to move anything outside when it's hot!!!

Dory

Poor Emma

2011-08-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

We went out to feed just the other night and discovered that some bully had punched Emma in the eye. Well, okay, so it wasn't really a punch or a hit of any kind. She just all of a sudden had a really swollen eye. A call to the vet to determine whether we should just dose her with penicillin resulted in a trip to the vet and a lovely $125 bill! He thought she might have a fox tail in her eye, but we knew better: first, she's not in a pasture that even has fox tails (it's too wet), and second, her eye wasn't tearing, so it wasn't trying to get rid of any foreign object.

Unfortunately, this is our only trailer. Small, eh??? It's great for endurance rides, but really a pain when you're only transporting one horse. However, I was quite proud of my girl. she'd only been in a trailer once, last summer, for trailer loading practice. She'd never actually gone for a ride and she'd certainly never gone in by herself. She was such a trooper, she loaded right up and off we went. Of course, when the vet came out to see her, he asked how many horses we'd brought...such a smart aleck.

He gave Emma a cortisone shot and gave us drops to put in her eye three times a day. I was amazed at how good she was about the whole ordeal, but I think she knew we were helping her. Hardly any head tossing as I held one eye lid up and the other down so Dennis could put the drops in. This is how it looked after a few days.

Finally, she's back to normal and as beautiful as ever. The only cause we've come up with is some sort of bug bite. Consequently, her fly mask goes on early and comes off late. (Ignore her stupid brother in the picture below...he likes to toss his head)

Dory

Busy, Busy!!!

2011-07-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

This has been such a busy summer; it's been almost impossible to keep up. To that end, I'm going to be giving notice with regard to one of my four jobs and that will get me down to a nice, tidy, doable three! Much better!!

I've been quilting and several quilts have gone back to their owners this week. These first two are from Barbara. She's a new customer and does really nice work. Of course, what did I do?? I missed this one teensy, tiny, spot. Best part, I told her about it and she couldn't find it! (She's binding them now and will return it to me for a quick fix.) Below are both of her quilts, with close-ups of the front and back. She used muslin on the back of both of these.

This quilt was just returned as well and since my customer lives in Reno, I just had to go to the Reno Quilt Show while I was there. She made this quilt for her daughter and asked me to quilt it after seeing the many quilts I had quilted on display at our quilt show this last May. That was a real honor for me.

Don't you love the "pretend applique"? I thought that was such a clever idea!!

More quilts coming up...

Dory

Sixteen Very Long Days

2011-07-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Its been 16 days since I last posted. Granted, 16 days is really not very long for some things, but in "blogland," it can be a lifetime. It can be the end of anyone taking the time to check to even see if I did finally post.

I'm back now and perhaps even a bit more consistent. During that time, my netbook crashed. Who knew you couldn't treat a netbook like a real computer? Not me. I had it loaded with many programs and it was so slow--go figure.

But, for your patience, you shall be rewarded with pictures of quilts recently finished.

First up: Stars on Parade. As you can see, it had a human holder whose main objective was to keep it from touching the floor.

I took this photo with my iPhone, so its not super clear; however, with the computer crash, it was the best I could do.

Then there was this Underground Railroad quilt. My customer wanted the blocks to stand out and be "puffy." I used Quilters Dream Puff batting and did a tight fill around the main part of the design. I have no idea what the pattern of the fill is called as I just started stitching and it's what happened. Luckily, she loved it!

And the back with another happy "accident." For some reason, my brain and hands disconnected and this is how the sashing turned out. Piano keys are in the outer two borders with my new fill design (that I probably won't ever be able to repeat) in every other "key."

Thanks for not giving up on me!!!

My Granddaughter Comes for a Visit

2011-07-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th, our granddaughter was here for a visit. My step-daughter, Hannah, and her boyfriend were up to enjoy the music festival, so Violet stayed with us. She's such a joy to have around and is absolutely no trouble. She plays with the boys, avoids Chloe, and they all have a grand time.

We go for a 2-4 mile hike every morning (depends on which route we take); Violet loved the hikes and even taught the boys to swim! These ponds are up behind our property and are usually dry by now, but with the heavy snowfall in the mountains, they're still quite full. She went in just to swim around and again after a stick. Dash watched, but he was none too sure about the whole process.

Later, on the last day of her visit, we took her out for a ride with the pones. What a site we must have been...three Border Collies running around and a Pitt Bull following along. She had a great time and seemed to enjoy meeting Andy!

All in all, it was a perfect weekend!!

My First One Block Wonder

2011-07-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Every year my guild has a retreat. This year, I won't be able to attend, but since it's being taught by one of our members, I was given the sample quilt to quilt (does that makes sense?) Anyway, Donna will be teaching the One Block Wonder and this is the sample that she made. I used Dream Puff batting and tried to isolate a few of the more unique designs that the piecing created to give it sort of a trapunto effect. It worked in person...not sure about the photo.

I also tried to give the blocks definition. Funny thing was, when I had the quilt on the frame, I had a hard time seeing the blocks. They had no dimension. Luckily, when the quilt was off the frame and I stood back to look, the individual blocks took shape nicely.

The quilt itself was so busy that I did an allover swirl in the border and the main body, just adding some interest with the continuous curve in the sashing.

Happy 4th!!

2011-07-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

I Spy....

2011-07-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, admit it. Isn't this the best kids "I Spy" quilt you've seen? Marei put out a call to all her quilty friends to send her blocks that could be added to her granddaughter's "I Spy" quilt and then she designed this.

I love the fact that the blocks aren't all uniform and that the designs are so fun! Her granddaughter will be busy for hours with this one!

Bet you can't guess who sent her the Mythical Horse piece ...........

And look at the back! Remember the 1600 Quilt? Marei did her own version using the fabrics that she owned that were in the quilt to make her strips with. I thought it might be difficult to quilt with, but my Millennium had no issues at all!

Finally, my very own iPhone!!

2011-07-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've been coveting the iPhone for quite some time. However, I had to wait for Verizon to be able to sell them and then I had to wait for my contract to be up. I think I showed great restraint, after all, my contract was up on June 28 and I waited until today--a full THREE DAYS--before ordering. And I was pleasantly surprised with my new contract price. I was expecting over $100 a month, instead, it will be around $85. Much better!!

Okay, so no great photo of an I-phone to add here, but how about this one? Do you think Cash was trying to tell us something with his head in the bag of puppy chow???

Got me some learnin'

2011-07-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

I tried to post this the day before I "got the learnin'," but Blogger was down (can you imagine??). Anyway, I went to Reno on Thursday last to the Quilt/Sew Expo held at the Grand Sierra. It's a great venue if you don't actually want to be in a casino; if you enter through the back doors, you never have to go upstairs!

I went to take a class I'd taken before from Pam Clark. She's an excellent teacher and offers a great class on background designs. I seem to get in a rut with my designs and just needed something to make the juices flow again. I took several classes from Pam and many other instructors at Innovations only a few weeks after purchasing my longarm. I went a little crazy that year and took so many classes, I'm not sure I retained anything!

While I didn't learn a lot of new things, I did come away with some ideas and the class sample...not bad, eh??

Stay tuned for new and exciting backgrounds on my quilts...

A New Customer's Quilt

2011-06-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

I was contacted a few weeks ago by Barbara who had found me via APQS. She has a friend going through a difficult time and asked if I could quilt this small quilt for her. Of course, I said yes.

She had this pieced and ready to go very quickly for her friend; it's not elegant, but it's heartfelt and her friend will love it.

A close up...

Thanks for looking....

Dr. Seuss is back...

2011-06-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

My customer, Lyn, has a new grandbaby and you know what that means??? Yep, new baby equals new baby quilt. She did this cute little quilt:

And then she made this adorable wall hanging to match.

And look at the fabrics she used on the back of these. Perfect!

That's a lucky baby!!

Can you say "Ahhhhhhhhhh"?

2011-06-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here's pictures of Cash and Dash when we brought them home. Cash is almost 8 weeks old and Dash is almost 6 months:

Here's more...Cash is growing:

And here's the most recent. Its so amazing to watch him grow in photos! They really enjoyed their first trip to the ocean.

This one is my favorite...I love the tails.

A Disappearing Nine-Patch

2011-06-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Can you spot the pattern. Marei really made this a wild one!!

My plan had been to use a panto on this one, but I really, really get bored quilting them. Instead, I did a leaf meander with a leaf border to tie it all together.

I love how the back turned out. She used her leftover blocks and then just some plain green for a totally toned-down (i.e., un-Marei) look.

I have a couple more of Marei's quilts waiting to be quilted, but the next one of hers that I'll be doing is really cute. She designed an "I Spy" quilt for her granddaughter that is just outstanding. I can hardly wait to get my paws on it!! Stay tuned.........

Enough Wildlife...Back to Business

2011-06-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't this quilt cute? Kim did this for her granddaughter, Ruby. It's going to match her room perfectly.

When Kim brought me the quilt, she wasn't thrilled with her fabric choices. On quilts like this that don't really have a lot of design details in common, having a quilting "theme" ties them together. Quilting the blocks in all the same pattern really seemed to unified the quilt.

I just did a simple leaf meander in the border. I love quilting on flannel; everything shows!

Thanks for looking!!!

Snake 1; Lizard 0

2011-06-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

Dennis was in the office today talking on the phone. As he stood looking outside, along comes a lizard out for a leisurely stroll. Then--SNAP!! No more lizard. (Of course, we had to run outside so I could get pictures)

Relay for Life

2011-06-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Each year, a Relay for Life is held in Quincy. This year a participant came to our guild meeting asking for help with making a quilt to raffle. I told her that if she got the quilt put together, I'd donate the batting and the quilting to the cause. She delivered the quilt to me right before our quilt show, so it had to wait for my return from Arizona to be quilted. Its a darn cute quilt...I hope they make a lot of money with it!

The Last Quilt Show Quilts

2011-06-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

These are the last two quilts I finished in time for our quilt show. This first one was for Carolyn; she called it "Regal."

A close up:

This one was for Stephanie, another member of our guild. She bought the kit at Pacific International Quilt Show and then as she was putting it all together, she realized that the blocks were not the right sizes. She added the skinny sashing though and liked it just as well.

This quilt had so much going on, that I only needed to add some thread to hold it together. Anything else would have been overkill. I used my Quiltazoid and did a large spiral design in the big squares and some smaller designs in the setting triangles and even smaller ones in the four corners. I hadn't had an opportunity to use the QZ in such a long time; it was really a fun quilt to work on.

One of the best parts about this quilt was the back. Steph didn't have backing so asked that I just use my muslin. Look at how cool this looks from the back...

(Click on the picture above and you can really see the detail!)

Rumors of my demise....

2011-06-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Have been greatly exaggerated! But yes, in case you haven't noticed, I've been away for a bit.

After the quilt show, I was off to Phoenix to watch my "grand" niece graduate. Is that what you call your niece's daughter?? Christy, the niece, was born when I was 12 and people used to always mistake her for my daughter. Our baby pictures are very similar, too--except hers are all in color. Breanna is the grand-niece that graduated from a school with 600 students. Boy was that exciting--not. However, getting to see everyone was fun and it was so warm there. The day I flew home in the early morning it was in the 80s; I landed in Reno in the afternoon and it was 39!

From Reno, we headed to Walnut Creek to help my oldest step-daughter move to a very cute place just outside of Sebastopol and only about 5 minutes from where one of my brother's lives. Hannah found a very cute little place on 20 acres. There is a main house; then both the rentals are below the main house and actually share the same deck. At one point, they were a house and garage, now they're both houses. Hannah is in what used to be the garage. Its a lovely location and exactly what she wanted. Now she can be a "country mouse" again and have a garden.

More posts and quilts to follow....

A Real Quilt Show

2011-05-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

I've been AWOL for the past week getting ready for a real quilt show. My guild, Quincy Crazy Quilters, usually has a show every other year; however, due to some unforeseen scheduling conflicts, we skipped 2009. The 2011 Crazy About Quilts show was this past weekend. This is the first time I've been an active committee member; in fact, I was drafted into Committee Chair of Quilt Intake. What a job!! Everything turned out well, though, and people seemed to enjoy the show. We had 140 quilts, several demonstrations, vendors, Hoffman challenge quilts and dolls, and a featured quilter, Carolyn.

A couple of set-up photos... This is the first room that folks walked into. It housed our Country Store, quilts around the outside walls and the Hoffman Challenge in the middle:

This is the main quilt display room with the vendors being around the outside perimeter.

Quilts going up...the mostly white quilt on the right took Viewer's Choice First Place in the Large Category.

An example of a Hoffman quilt.

This year, our challenge project was to create a Mojo Doll. These are the ones made by our guild.

And, best of all: This is a photo of Carolyn, our Featured Quilter, with her Mocha Stars quilt on display behind her. It won Viewer's Choice First Place in the Small Quilt Category. I was very proud, as was she!!

Quilt Show: Day 5

2011-05-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

This is Day 5 and, potentially, the last day of the show...depending on how fast I get the next quilt finished! This quilt is from Carolyn and is the Mocha Stars pattern by Kim Diehl. Kim's appliqué techniques were different from what Carolyn was used to, but she did a beautiful job. Have a look:

This quilt took forever! There were a million (okay, slight exaggeration) stops and starts, and I always tie-off and bury my threads, which takes even longer. Each circle, stem, leaf and diamond had to be done individually.

And after all those stops and starts, there were the pebbles. Lots and lots of pebbles!!

I love how this quilt turned out. This was one of the first times I'd done pebbling and while it takes a long time to do, it looks awesome!

No pictures of the back, since nothing really showed except the cream pebbles on the brown background. Carolyn was disappointed that she hadn't chosen a different backer after seeing how it turned out. Top thread was Rainbows Brass Band, Lava Fern Grotto, and So Fine! in a cream and chocolate. I used chocolate in the bobbin for everything except the green and cream areas.

Quilt Show: Day 4

2011-05-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

The next one up is called Spring Garden...appropriate, don't you think? Connie pieced this one and did an excellent job; every corner matched perfectly.

Here's a closer view of the quilting pattern:

I've always loved these flowers, but never tried them mainly because I couldn't figure out how to do them and make them continuous. I kept thinking you had to start in the middle. Then I got smart and got my doodle pad out and started drawing. If you start in the upper left corner and go around to the upper right corner, you can go all the way across the row and then finish them up on the way back. Sometimes I just amaze myself *smirk*

And finally a picture of the back...

Quilt Show: Day 3

2011-05-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

This one is from a new customer, Donna. She's a member of my Guild and is an excellent piecer. She wasn't happy with this quilt when she finished it, so my goal was to make it so pretty when she got it back that she'd change her mind.

When I first looked at this quilt, I immediately thought it needed something more than an allover, but not anything so busy as to take away from the stars. I got out my mylar sheets and started drawing and then sent her this idea to see what she thought.

She's still not in love with it, but she likes it better than before. This is how it turned out...

A close up:

The back; if you click on it to make it larger, you can see the fun pattern of the star on the back.

Quilt Show: Day 2

2011-05-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

The next one up was this really fun Log Cabin from Buggy Barn that Marei sent me. I love Buggy Barn quilts and Marei used these terrific batiks. I had fun with this quilt!

Marei had seen the Log Cabin block in the Underground Railroad Quilt that I'd done some time ago and asked that I do something similar. This is what I came up with:

I used bright yellow Metro EMB thread on top and Bottom Line Lace White in the bobbin.

No pictures of the back on this one. It was a beautiful lime green with white, small, dots. The quilting really didn't show in photos, but it did look fun in person.

More quilts to follow...

Quilt Show!! Quilt Show!!!

2011-05-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Since I've been quilting and not posting, I decided to have my very own quilt show! Stay tuned...

This is the first one up. Remember these quilts? Well, this one ws in there. It is from our retreat last year where they chose the fabric for our double mystery. This one belongs to Billie and although she wanted black/white/red fabrics, she wasn't thrilled with these. She gave it to me to quilt and just wanted an allover pattern.

I started out following Billie's instructions, just doing a large meander. I knew she didn't want to pay a fortune and this is a big quilt. But then, I remembered the solid black backing...so I did some continuous curve and line dancing to throw in a little interest.

I just couldn't meander the whole thing. Seriously?? Look at this back! It was calling to me. *sigh* How to get your longarmer to give you a good deal on quilting? Tell them you want the least expensive possible, then give them a plain back to go with your quilt. It gets me every time! (For a detailed look at the back, click on the picture below)

Thanks for stopping by...the quilt show will continue!

Forum Mini-Quilt Swap

2011-04-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

For the second time, Shannon put together a Mini-Quilt Swap with members of our APQS forum. It is a mystery swap in that you know who you're make for but you don't know who is making one for you!

This was my first time participating and, as usual, being the procrastinator that I am, I made this little mini at the last minute. Its totally my style, and I hoped my swap partner would like it.

Then, in the mail, I received this one! Can you believe how beautiful it is and how much time and work Tracey put into it?? Its stunning! Her appliqué is so perfect; I love it!!!

A picture of the back:

And look at the goodies she included. I made out like a bandit and my poor swap partner got only the quilt.

If Shannon does this again, I will do better next time. Plus, my swap partner will be receiving a few late goodies in the mail to make up for my lack of planning!

Our Family is Growing by Leaps and Bounds!

2011-04-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

When we lost Hank, I really didn't think another dog would be able to steal my heart so completely. Dennis talked about wanting to get a puppy that was born after Hank died because he felt that dog would have Hank's spirit, so he started looking. A call to some recommended breeders in Fallon turned up a woman with a litter of eleven Border Collies born two days after we put Hank down.

We made a trip to Fallon when they were five weeks old and this little guy chose us.

On the left is Cash as at 6 weeks; above he's 8 weeks old.

In the meantime, I had been checking rescue sites wanting to give a "disadvantaged" BC a good home. I saw this little one, Dash, filled out the adoption application and sent it in. I received a return e-mail that Dash had already been adopted. Then, three days before we were to pick up the puppy, Dash was back on the available list. Several e-mails later, we decided we were meant to have him and drove to Gilroy to pick him up. His foster mom brought him into PetSmart in a shopping cart--it was just too cute. He has a bit of Airedale in him. Notice the beard?

He was so insecure when we got him, it just tugged at my heartstrings. I sat in the back with him the first leg of our trip home with him sitting as close to me as he could get; then he sat in the back with Chloe for about an hour until he just couldn't stand being away from me and came up and sat on my lap the rest of the drive. Since then, he's made it very clear that he's going to be my dog.

We picked up the puppy the day after picking up Dash. Those two are inseparable now and play constantly...its really cute. Although the puppy is quite a bit smaller, he really holds his own. Dash is slowly learning to trust and next week he starts obedience training. That will be interesting!

It's a Big One!!

2011-04-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

I got a call from a quilter in another town close by that had seen my quilting. She wanted me to quilt this really big quilt for her for her niece's wedding gift. The quilt was 104" square and had 14" borders so that it would fit their bed and have a nice drop over the side. Large borders are very scary for a longarm quilter--they often don't fit well and have a bit of a wave. Not these, Sue pieced and attached them perfectly.

Its almost impossible to tell from this photo, but the stars are literally 24" across. They are pieced from many red batiks. In the diamond-shapes of the stars, I did a feather fill. The background triangles and four corners got curved cross-hatching. The borders were scalloped, then a bead-board to finish out the rest of the border.

She had pieced the back. This is a photo of a corner of it showing the quilting in a bit more detail.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look! (Remember, you can click on the picture to make it easier to view)

Is it really April??

2011-04-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

As I sit inside the office by the fire typing this, it's snowing outside. Snowing...isn't this supposed to be April? Seriously, it would almost be funny if I weren't so sick of cold weather!

It does give me lots of time to quilt though. Since we're still not riding, I haven't had to rearrange my schedule much. Marei has given me four beautiful quilts to do for her. Two have hearts on them...this is one. This one, I thought, was the one she wanted back quickly. I finished it on time, put it in the mail and she called me to tell me that she loved the quilting, but....yep, wrong heart quilt. *sheesh* Good thing she loved it!!

A close-up so you can actually see the quilting!

And the back. I always love Marei's backs. They are usually such that the quilting shows up nicely. Its like two quilts in one.

Empty Spools Seminar with Sally Collins

2011-04-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Empty Spools is an expensive vacation, but if you're spending it with Sally Collins and a good friend, its priceless! Sally is such a fantastic teacher and so nice...hard to believe that anyone could honestly be that nice, but she is. Classes start at 9 a.m., you get a break for lunch and they're over at 4. Last year, my teacher strictly adhered to those times. Not Sally. She was in class before breakfast and stayed every night until way past 9 p.m.

This was the quilt that our class was based on. However, before we even started, we had a basic drafting lesson and then we all changed her block to whatever interpretation we wanted.

We made mock-ups of our block, created templates, auditioned fabric and then finally pieced it together. Sally gave lots of instruction about accurate piecing, pressing and the perfect 1/4" seam. Due to my lack of planning, it didn't take long before I realized that the fabrics I'd brought were all wrong. This quilt needed "serious" fabrics and I had grabbed brights.

First "draft":

Second:

See what I mean? It needs serious fabrics, like maybe some beautiful greens, grays, whites and a little blue like the colors of our meadow after a snow storm. One of the best parts about all of this was the experience. I will redraft my block, lose the star in the middle, and start over again. Another terrific benefit: the new friends I made there.

This was the view from our classroom. We were in the back of the main hall with this lovely view of the ocean. Our room was close by and had a fireplace! Every day the cleaning staff put in one of those bags you just light and watch burn, and every night we did just that.

This is one of Sally's quilts. Looks like your normal lonestar, right? Wrong!! The diamonds in this lonestar are only 1/2 inch (yes, inch!) in size.

Have you noticed??

2011-04-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since my last post. My lack of planning, Empty Spools and Uncle Sam are to blame. I, of course, accept no responsibility!!

Get More at PIMPOO.com

With a little luck, taxes will be mailed off tomorrow and life will start to return to normal. Thanks for not giving up on me!

Does this mean my studio isn't "pet free"?

2011-03-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Of course not!! Chloe is a Border Collie, she's not a pet...just ask her! And she's very good; she always lies right by the door on her rug. What a good girl!

Beautiful Black BOM

2011-03-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

This quilt was pieced by Diane, a member of my guild. She put this quilt together as a BOM and then decided that it was a bit too large for her domestic sewing machine to quilt. It was 93 x 97 when finished...big!

Below are a couple of close-ups that show the quilting. This was a first for me in many ways, the most important being such obvious feathers. I used King Tut Jacob's Coat thread for the multi-colored quilting on the black and in the blocks...those feathers show!! I took a deep breath and went for...Diane was very happy with the result.

I stippled the background with So Fine's black to push it back and highlight the great colors in the blocks.

This is a picture of the middle. I love how it turned out! (Yes, I'm tooting my own horn!)

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.

Empty Spools Seminar 2011

2011-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, my friend, Cindy, and I head for Asilomar and another wonderful (if wet) week of training at Asilomar. This year, we're taking Sally Collins' class. Our main reason for choosing this class is Sally's reputation of a perfect 1/4" seam. No matter how many time I test my seam, its never the same...never. I hope to remedy that situation.

Cindy and I drove down on Thursday to Santa Cruz where she has inherited a lovely home built by her grandparents in 1948. The house sits right on the bay and I'm listening to waves crash and wind blow...its incredible. My room has the most beautiful bay view...I'm already day-dreaming about how lovely it would be to have my longarm in that room!!

National Quilting Day

2011-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that today is National Quilting Day? It is...so go make a quilt, then send it to me for quilting!! Just kidding, but only about the "send it to me" part.

I received an e-mail from fabshophop.com with a beautiful log cabin quilt pattern. I love these kinds of patterns, the ones that are not symmetrical. Since they linked the pattern in their e-mail, I thought I'd do the same. Who knows, I may even make one myself!

Have a look...click here

Spring Romance

2011-03-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

I knew Spring was in the air. Lyn just gave me this pretty little table runner called Spring Romance to quilt for her. She belongs to a guild in a nearby town and it was their challenge project.

Doesn't it just look like Spring? She's going to do some embellishing on the blocks and then it will hang in their local quilt show next month.

Another of the back...

Adding to my Repertoir

2011-03-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

I'm expanding my business to include making T-shirt quilts for those of you that have way too many. The idea to actually make them came when a friend of mine heard I was purchasing a longarm, so she sent me a box of her t-shirts. I think she just heard the word "quilt," and decided that I was going into the "quilt making" business.

It took me awhile before I actually made her quilt. I don't like the traditional t-shirt quilts where all the shirts are cut to the same size. That style often leaves too much empty t-shirt space and/or causes some of the design to be cut off. I did some research and discovered "Too Cool T-shirt Quilts." I liked their concept, but the quilter in me didn't like the "messiness." So I came up with this...

I made this quilt for a good friend of mine that competes in Endurance Rides. The border and sashing fabric are both from Laurel Burch's Mythical Horses line.

This one was made for a friend that does Ride & Tie and is small enough to be a nice-sized lap quilt.

So if you're one of those people who competes in any type of event and has too many t-shirts, send them to me and I'll send you a quilt!!

After it snows...

2011-03-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

The sun comes out and makes you realize that even the freezing cold snow is beautiful!

...and then the snow melts and you're left with mud :0(

Cascading Stars by Karen Combs

2011-03-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

On occasion, I do quilting for a local quilty/gift shop in Portola called Blue Petunia. This is a quilt Susan wanted for her next few shows. This design presented many questions...allover since its so busy? something to set the stars off? What to do????

It took some consultation with other longarmers to determine a good plan for quilting this one. A fellow quilter suggested quilting it by color rather than trying to highlight each star with quilting or doing an allover pattern. That made the lightbulb go off and this is what happened.

I quilted each area by color, using feathers and loops, along with some meandering to fill in. Here are some closeups that show the quilting:

On the outside, I did a "ray" pattern to give the impressing of an exploding star. The green showing here that continues to the center, was filled with feathers and a loop design at the top to "match" the design done in the center block.

Same with the blue that extended out from the center.

A different feather style in the gold rectangle and a directional feather in the red rectangle to add some interest.

The center. I used several designs from within the quilt in an attempt to tie everything together.

Thanks for looking!

A New Toy

2011-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it really isn't a "toy," it's more of a useful tool...

My original iron died and left us with my old one. We got this one at Costco just last week. Isn't it pretty? Well, it was...

Now it looks like this:

Because of this...

I knocked it off the board when I was laying out a t-shirt quilt. Now the carpet has a tattoo and the iron has carpet fibers baked on. Please, if you have any idea on how to save it, let me know. Otherwise, it will be the most expensive iron I've ever purchased!!!

Might Snow...

2011-02-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

The house and yurt from the barn

Probably not taking the Toter or the horse trailer anywhere anytime soon...

Front porch has a few feet of snow piling up from the roof and coming up past the deck...

Just getting to the yurt was a challenge.

I took this from inside the yurt. The snow is about 2-3 feet above the windows.

Snow never bothers Chloe when the horses are around.

Bailey's tail has snowballs!

Emma making her way into the barn through the snow tunnel--she practically has to duck to keep from hitting her head on the barn roof!

I think Emma may have been hanging around outside.

Farewell, My Friend

2011-02-22T12:58:00.001-08:00

We lost our beloved Hank to lung cancer early Friday morning. Our house is empty and our hearts are heavy. We'll miss you, Bug, more than you'll ever know.

Every Quilter has a Bad Day

2011-02-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

With my customer's permission, I'm posting her e-mail message to me:

I have a quilt top (small ~ 40x40) that I'd like to get to you at the guild mtg. It's my quilt from hell and I'm not sure if you want to quilt it.

First off....I love the material -- Katherine's [another guild member] hand-dyed fabrics, and I love the pattern -- Roxanne Carter's "Stars on Parade" but absolutely EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong DID.

I got my first 2 blocks made in the class then put everything away. When I was moving to Susanville, I was going through fabric and cleaning out (throwing out) stuff. Ran across the blocks and pieces (all in individual baggies) and said, "I think I'll keep this and complete it." Didn't happen in Susanville so I moved it to Sac. A couple months ago I was rummaging through my stuff and pulled out the "parts" and said, "I'm going to finish this!"

Well, I start working to complete block #3 and think it's looking a little different than the first two. Of course, the first two were sewn on my old machine and I had the wrong 1/4" marking. So I said, "no problem, I'll just use those two blocks for pillows or something," and continued sewing with the CORRECT seam allowance on the next blocks.

As I'm into block #5, I start thinking I'm missing some pieces. Originally I had pulled out the pieces for the first four blocks and pinned them altogether, but apparently I had thrown out a baggie full of an entire set of cut pieces when I was clearing stuff out in Quincy. In fact I can remember seeing the baggie and thinking, "what's this?" and I must have chucked it. But, I had some larger pieces (triangles) that I could cut down so I figured I'd do that and just end up with fewer blocks. No problem.

Then I get to block #7 and the dyes in the fabric start to bleed. NO problem. I'll just wash it with Retayne or whatever once it's all done.

I get the center of the blocks (only nine now due to my having to recut other pieces) done and start to work on the strips around the centers only to find I cut them incorrectly. NO Problem. I can make this happen. A little stretching [eek] here and there and life will be fine.

Then it's time to think about sashing but WAIT, I didn't cut enough sashing when I was cutting the pieces originally and now I have used all the fabric up in other projects! NO PROBLEM! I'll only sash in a couple places. It'll change the design, but this is my quilt, so I like it. Of course, I need to square everything up first and I CAN'T GET ANYTHING SQUARED!!!!

My blocks look like some wild axman has attacked them, but NO PROBLEM!!!! I'll just put the damn thing together, try to make it as square and flat as possible. Match seams? Are you f****** crazy? The HELL with matching seams, or points, or anything else!

And then I say to myself, maybe Dorothy can quilt it so it looks "ok". Maybe???????

...pretty please with fudgy brownies

If she actually shows up with the fudgy brownies, I think I'll give it a go!!!

After asking whether I could post this, she not only agreed but says she's named the quilt "Humility"--no explanation needed.

Winter Returns for a Day

2011-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

The weather here has been amazing...its so springlike, I'm loving it. I am hoping for a few more good storms though to stave off fires.

This morning, however, we woke up to snow! Emma was not thrilled with the fact that she'd been left out in the pasture to suffer such a horrendous winter storm. All the ponies were happy when we showed up early with their breakfast.

A picture of Chloe doing her usual fence run and then jumping around with her feet just barely inside the pasture watching us feed. She loves her horses!

And Hank...have you ever seen a cuter dog???

Another Quilt from Jan

2011-02-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Jan, the creator of the beautiful quilt in my last post, also sent along this little quilt that she made for a friend. It was so simple and sweet, that I decided to quilt it that way as well.

I followed the lines in the fabric to create a plaid effect in the background, accented the sunflower and created feathers on the bird. Simple quilting, but anything else would have overpowered the quilt, making it so you noticed the quilting and not the quilt.

My favorite part...the back. Here you can see the feathers in the bird's wing as well as the "seeds" in the sunflower.

A Quilt from Asilomar

2011-02-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, the quilt isn't exactly from Asilomar. Last year when I attended Janet Fogg's class at Empty Spools, I met Jan who was also taking the class. Jan actually finished her class project, unlike others who shall remain nameless, and sent it to me for quilting.

This is what I received:

After much consultation, this is the finished product. Personally, I thought feathers would have looked good, but since the picture is of her son-in-law and since the quilt is for her son-in-law, she actually thought that feathers would be too girly. Go figure!

I quilted every other yellow and blue pieced ray with a maze design to give the rays definition. Then I quilted the entire mountain with the same maze pattern. On the fabric photo, I used Madeira's monofilament (love that stuff) to quilt around her son-in-law, outlining him and filling in where there were clothing changes and anyplace that would add definition to his photo. The backgrounds were stitched with Rainbows Waikiki in the sky and Bottom Line Lace White in the clouds and snow.

It was a really fun quilt to work on; hope her son-in-law likes it!

Shannon asked for an "S"

2011-01-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

January is birthday month around here and for several of my friends. One in particular, is Shannon, who is not only my friend, but someone whose blog I read regularly and whose quilting I admire.

Her birthday was on the 23d, the day after Dennis, and she asked that her blog readers send her an "S" in bright colors. So I did...

More Chickens

2011-01-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

Just finished this one...isn't it cute? I love Buggy Barn patterns. I did an allover loop meander with a variegated thread--the chicks didn't ask for anything more.

Underground Railroad

2011-01-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

I have always been fascinated with the Civil War and the stories and history surrounding it. When Jennifer Chiaverini came out with her book, The Runaway Quilt, I couldn't wait to read it. In fact, I read it aloud to Dennis as we drove across the lower 48 to Texas to pick up our horse trailer a few years ago. He even liked it.

In keeping with the book, Eleanor Burns came out with her Underground Railroad quilt pattern, which I immediately bought and then allowed to languish on the shelf with the zillion other quilt books I own. *shrug* However, this year, my Wednesday night class is doing the UGRR quilt; I quilted this one for our instructor.

Carolyn chose traditional colors, as did most everyone in class...except me. I'm doing mine in super bright batiks. I have no idea how it will turn out....

A few close-ups:

Impossible to tell without clicking on the photo to make it bigger, but I did a wishbone in the sashing with a gold thread. I really liked the simplicity.

Are you ready for my colors????

I love how each batik color carries into the next. Originally, I had planned to use the black for the sashing, but I'm thinking that its way too much contrast now. Oh well...guess that means I'll have to find something different and add this to my stash...darn!

This is the first block...I'm not loving the brights yet, but I hope that after the next few blocks, that will change. Otherwise, this is going to be a long semester.

One of Mine

2011-01-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

I finally finished something...can you believe it??? Do you remember when I was asking if anyone had or knew where I could find this fabric? It was finally located and this is what I did with it. Nothing major, but it will hang in my kitchen and look great with my terracotta wall color.

Have a look:

Did you notice the prairie points? They're both easier and harder than they look, IMO.

A close-up:

And the best for last...the back. Since this was for me and going to hang, I used a good quality muslin on the back. However, even though it was pre-washed, it still puffed out where I didn't quilt the pinwheels. Oh well...live an learn.

Quincy Crazy Quilters Opportunity Quilt 2011

2011-01-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

This year, I once again had the privilege of quilting my Guild's Opportunity Quilt. I love the colors in this quilt and the way it turned out...have a look:

I piano-keyed the borders, outlined the applique and did an allover leaf meander in the body with a light green thread. Its hard to see here, but if you get out the magnifying glass and look at the bottom left corner, you can see how I allowed the corners to become a crosshatch to finish each row.

Some close-ups:

If you're interested in tickets, let me know. The drawing will be in September; tickets are $1 each or six for $5.

Yesterday was my Birthday

2011-01-14T22:42:00.000-08:00

And my wonderful husband bought me this:

I know, on the surface, it doesn't look like much. But...dig a little deeper. This watch (with all its accompanying stuff) can not only tell time, it has a GPS feature that can tell me where I am (important when riding and I get lost), it can tell me how fast I'm going, how far I've gone, my heart rate, and it can upload my path to the computer and overlay it onto Google Earth. And that's just the beginning!!! I've wanted one of these forever...now I just have to figure out how to use it.

But, the best gift of all were the phone calls. Both of my step-daughters called to wish me a Happy Birthday, as did my sister in Oklahoma. Made my heart warm *sigh*

On the quilting front, I have two new quilts to show you. I'll be posting them in the next couple of days, but here's a teaser to keep your interest.

BOM Update

2011-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to show off my recent BOM completions.

First, the one from my guild...

And this is from Shannon's blog, I think I'm becoming a "brights" convert!

In just a couple of weeks, I'll have another BOM to show you! Tonga Rhapsody starts on January 15.

Notice the Similarities?

2011-01-03T08:03:00.000-08:00

Last October, my Guild put on a Retreat at Grizzly Creek Ranch, just outside of Portola. It is a great location, not far at all of the highway, yet totally secluded. The weird thing is that I used to ride horses in those hills; now the horses are gone and this facility is there instead. Progress??? I'm not so sure.

Anyway, we had these two amazing ladies from The Sewing Room in Redding that taught the retreat and brought almost their entire store with them. It was fun to sew and shop and never have to drive anywhere! The quilt was a mystery and could be made a double mystery by telling them what fabric combinations or line of fabric you liked and they would then bring the appropriate yardage for the quilt. Almost everyone opted to let them pick the fabrics...double mystery.

This week, I quilted two of them. This is the first one; it belongs to Mona. I love the colors and although she wasn't sure about the outside border, I do think it pulled everything together. I did an allover swirl on it.

Here are a couple of close-ups so you can see the quilting.

And the back..

.

This is the second one and belongs to Katherine. Katherine is a hand quilter and hadn't pieced a quilt on a machine, nor had one quilted, in a long time. She loves oriental fabrics and also participated in the double mystery aspect.

Here are a few closeups...

Down one side...

Here's a pick of the middle of the back. The fabric was actually a nice peach to match the front--not sure why it looks so white.

And this is mine.

Notice the size difference? Unfortunately, when I called and we talked about color, the employee of the shop that put mine together just tried to pick all the colors I mentioned. When I received the fabrics, I wasn't too sure about them, but hoped they would work. Luckily, the first round came together nicely; the second round of fabrics did not work at all, so I have a wall hanging instead of a quilt. I do think the end product turned out well... I think it will look great hanging on my wall, when its quilted of course!

Blocks of the Month

2010-12-31T21:27:00.000-08:00

As a longarm quilter, I don't have a lot of time to work on my own projects. I have several "flimsies" (unquilted tops) that need quilting. I have tons of UFOs and several zillion works in progress. None of this stops me from wanting to do more. For this year, though, I've decided to try something different. Instead of working on entire quilts (excluding the one I'm making for my step-daughter who is getting married in September, and my other step-daughter just because), I'm going to work on these three blocks of the month.

The first is the one I've been posting copies of here. Its our guild BOM.

The second will be Shannon's BOM. She's already posted the fabric requirements and the blocks begin posting in January. Join in...Shannon always has great ideas; it will be fun!

Finally, I'm seriously considering the Tonga Rhapsody BOM that Windy Moon Quilts is starting in January also. It's batiks and gorgeous and I'm a sucker for gorgeous batiks! Plus, it gives me an excuse to go to Reno monthly, if I want, or they'll send my block to me. The class will be lecture only, so my attendance isn't mandatory since we can always go over things on the phone when I have my block.

Of course, I'm still working on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery as well, but that one is going to take some time. Perhaps my New Year's Resolution should be, "No New Projects."

Nah....what fun would that be????

Happy New Year!!!

2010-12-31T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year...any resolutions? My resolution is to not make a resolution, then, when I break it, I won't feel bad!! Pretty smart, eh???

Many Happy Returns

2010-12-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

So what, exactly, does that mean? If it means being happy while you return things, its ridiculous! I won't be returning any of our Christmas purchases, that's for sure. We decided to buy a big gift for each other this year, rather than little things. What could be bigger than this???

Okay, I know it's silly looking, but it's perfect for us. We currently have, among other vehicles, a Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell and a Subaru Impreza 2-door sedan that belonged to my mother-in-law. We really don't need two run around vehicles, especially after January 23, when Dennis retires. So we combined the two. There are many advantages and no, the fact that it's turbo and goes really fast has nothing to do with it! *smirk*

Then, although not really for Christmas, Dennis traded in one of his PR600's for a PR1000. We got a great deal on it from Windy Moon Quilts in Reno, so good that we just couldn't refuse. So this machine has come to live in our yurt. It has some really great features, the best of which for Dennis is the ability for the cap frame to turn 270 degrees. He embroiders a lot of baseball caps, so this will save him tons of time.

Since Dennis got a brand new PR, I just had to give Mike Sullivan, the owner, a hard time. I've been sewing on a ball chair, but instead of helping my back, I think it was making things worse. He had these chairs there and sold us one of them for less than half the asking price. I love it! The back support is perfect.

And check this out...reminds me of a piano bench. I have no idea what I'll put in it.

How was your holiday? Anything special planned for New Year's? We'll be lucky to stay up that late!

Butterfly Round Robin

2010-12-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Back in July when Kristina and Shannon were here, we started a butterfly appliqué. The idea was to teach me needle-turn appliqué; I've since decided if it can't be fused, I don't need to do it!!

This was us from our summer adventures. (Hard for me to imagine, since I'm looking out the office window at SNOW!)

Shannon decided that we needed something to remind us of our adventures, so she designed this pattern. We then went "shopping" in my scraps/stash/piles of fabric and chose fabrics for our projects. After finishing the first "fried egg flower," I realized that needle-turn appliqué is not my forte. However, by then, those two had already decided that we'd finish our appliqué, send it off (mine to Kristina, Shannon's to me) for the first border of a round robin by the end of August. Knowing myself well, I knew that if left to my own devices, my round robin would never leave my house because it would never be finished!! Luckily, Shannon realized that too, so she finished the appliqué for me (THANK YOU!!) A close look will easily reveal which flower I did--just look for the pointy petals!!

I sent mine off to Kristina and received Shannon's to add the first border along with her colorful fabrics. She'd even picked which fabrics she wanted for the outer border. I was to use the one on the right; Kristina, the one on the left.

Shannon loves brights, can you tell?? Luckily I have The Border Workbook by Janet Kime. Armed with it and the bright fabrics Shannon sent, this is what I added to her RR. Then off it went to Kristina to finish up.

A few days later, Kristina's came to me from Shannon.

Deciding on the first border was easy; deciding on a border to compliment Shanon's was more challenging. After some thought, I decided on a more geometric border.

Then...the great reveal. Mine came back!

Don't you love it? Kristina's colorful border gave my center the perfect frame--I love all the color. She even added some of her own fabric; my stash isn't quite that colorful. Shannon did the outer border, the one with the rattlesnake fabric. That girl was thrilled when the snake was right outside our door and loved helping Dennis kill the darn thing. We let a lot of the wildlife live around here, but not rattlers. Too much chance of them biting a dog for me.

This RR was fun and I'd love to do it again...only not with an appliquéd center!

Shannon posted about her adventures here; when Kristina posts, you'll find it here.

Two More Quilts

2010-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

This quilt was finished some time ago, but because my customer lives in Sac and wasn't able to pick it up until last week (she doesn't trust the post...do you blame her??), I couldn't post pictures. This is our guild's BOM from last year. Marei always chooses bright colors...always. She's also the customer that did all those bunny quilts--please note: nary a bunny to be found on this one!!

The most fun part of this quilt for me was the back. She used a piece of very plain terracotta fabric, so she has a whole-cloth on the back! I did "e"s and "l"s in the sashing and a loopy thing in the outside border. I'm really having fun with samplers...does it show???

This one was a bit more challenging. The fabric used was beautiful and very stretchy; I had to be very careful while quilting to not distort anything. On top of that, it is such a unique pattern, that it really took some thought and advice from my friends to complete. The quilt is the Day & Night pattern by Eleanor Burns. This is the second quilt of this type that Carolyn has made, but this one is more stunning due to her fabric choices. The hunter green and creamy white make it striking.

Carolyn wanted the star points emphasized. I attempted to do that with the feathers using a style I learned from watching Jamie Wallen's Mystical Cottontracks DVD. I've never been able to take a class from him personally, but this DVD is almost as good as being there.

The "wheel" part had to be quilted and needed something to keep it in the background. After talking it over with my friend Shannon, I came up with a sort of "line-dancing" technique.

Crosshatching in the inner border with a "line-dancing" cornerstone and feathers in the border finished it off.

Here's a pic of the back...the quilting showed up nicely, even though it's a busy fabric.

I feel so lucky to finally have a "happy job." This is so much better than my previous occupations!!

Winter Special

2010-12-16T08:32:00.000-08:00

This year, I did a winter special for my guild and current customers. If any of you out there would like to take advantage, I'll honor the special until January 31. What is it? you ask. I'll quilt your quilt for $.01 psi, no matter the design. However, I do have the final right of design approval; i.e, no heirloom feathers for that price *wink* Call or e-mail if you're interested.

This was one of the sale quilts completed. The owner of this top has a HandiQuilter, but for some reason, she wanted me to quilt it. She asked for wonky/whimsical feathers and since I'd never done them before, I said sure. This is how it turned out. I love the chicken fabric she used.

This is a close up of the wonky feathers. I did a six-inch border of them surrounding the quilt and then filled the entire quilt with them. Open spaces had some stippling for fill.

And a partial pic of the back showing the "border" area.

This is another customer sale quilt. Its a pattern by Linda Ballard called "Fractured Crystals." Carolyn made this in these earthy tones as a gift for her son's girlfriend. Then she couldn't decide whether to give her this quilt or the one that will be posted tomorrow.

I was able to try out a "new for me" sashing treatment on this one...the "c" loops. I really like how they turned out, but they do take some serious concentration (for me, anyway). It's very easy to get turned around and end up with two going in the same direction. In the leaf print and the main design elements, I did a continuous curve with stippling to travel in the background. I didn't quilt the chocolate brown areas at all, which really accentuated the quilt's pattern. As a longarm quilter, one of the challenges is to quilt with as few starts/stops as possible. With this quilt, I was able to find a path that allowed me to do each row with only one start/stop...success!

This is the center medallion of the quilt. Our guild took this class from Linda and we all had such differing variations of fabric in our quilts. Carolyn's was very subtle...

Mine is just a bit brighter...just a bit, and a tad smaller, and unquilted :0(

I'm doing it...

2010-12-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

I know I have a million other things I should be doing...but I pulled out all the fabric and then I couldn't stand to just put it back. So, I'm doing it!! What am I talking about?? Bonnie Hunter's "Roll, Roll Cotton Boll" Mystery, of course. And I'm doing it the way its meant to be done--no new fabric. I'm pulling from my stash and from my scraps. Bonnie's colors are green, pink and brown with a cream background; I found blue/purple, green and pink as I dug through looking for three colors that would work well together and hopefully provide enough variety to be interesting.

First step was strip piecing and cutting into segments...172 segments!!! (I was counting my toes, puppy toes and horse hooves to get that high!)

Second step...half-square triangles.

Third step...I've just barely begun, so I'll save that for another post.

QCQ Block of the Month #2

2010-12-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

Here it is...my 2d block in the series is finished!

If all goes well, I'll end up with 12 b/w blocks, each one having a bright color within. The first had red, this one orange...I'm thinking bright yellow for the next one.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying today...

Pioneer Sampler

2010-11-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

These are photos of a new quilter's Pioneer Sampler Quilt. Its an Eleanor Burns quilt that was started in a class that several of us took from a local quilter. I take it just to have a night free to piece some of my own projects and to visit with friends. Coleen did a great job on her quilt; this is only her second one.

Her border was so busy that I just did a big meander in red, after talking her out of cross-hatching (no point in paying for something that won't show). A "CC" in the red Seminole border finished off the outside. Each block had a different fill and the sashing had a new treatment for me. I love how it turned out (she says modestly), take a look.

A close-up of one of the blocks. Do you think the sashing looks like wishbones? I have no idea what the actual name of it is.

And a close-up of the back...I always love the back.

Thanks for looking!!

Vacation Finale

2010-11-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

While I'm glad to be home, I had a terrific time in Oklahoma! As promised, here are some pictures and the story of my vacation. My sister, Donna (who refused to pose properly!)

turned 60 in September of this year and threw herself a party in July...in Phoenix (her daughter lives there). I had planned on attending the party, but circumstances with Dennis' mom caused a last minute change. I had a free SW ticket, so I called and change my travel plans to fly to OK in November. I love SW; it only cost me $2 for the change! Turns out, it was way more fun hanging out for three days than having to share her at a party would have been.

This is my sister's house. It is probably the cutest house I've seen in a long time and reminds me of the cabin we stay at in WA. She's painted every room a different color and its just so open. I love it. Outside, right off the deck, is a river; her neighbors are set farther back, so you'd never know they were there.

This is the view from inside; the plants in the window are usually out on the deck, but since its winter, they're inside now. Its a veritable jungle in her house this time of year!!

Its such a relaxing and comfortable house filled with quilts I've made for her over the years. She has more of my quilts than I do!! Here are a couple (okay, so they are small and pre-longarm, but still.....) There are two others, although one of them is small like these. The other is her birthday quilt...pictures are here.

And this is Lucy. She's a Cairn Terrier and she's so cute!! She helped with my puppy withdrawal and even slept with me two of the four nights I was there. She has a routine of going to the neighbors to visit; they love her too.

Friday morning, first thing, my sis was going to make coffee--or the brown water she usually makes that passes for coffee. She asked how many scoops for a 12-pot coffeepot...two?? No, no, no...six scoops later she was panicking that her pot would clog; then she tasted the coffee. I think she may become a coffee convert!

I already told you about visiting the Beauty College for a pedicure...lovely shade of green, eh??

Then the movies on Friday night...you really do have to see Unstoppable! Its so exciting!

Saturday we went to War Eagle Mills and Eureka Springs in Arkansas. War Eagle Mills is an old mill site where they ground flour, etc. They have a really cute restaurant on the third floor, a gift shop on the second and food items to buy on the first. We ate there on our way to Eureka Springs (beans and cornbread, yum!) and then headed to Eureka Springs. Here is a photo of the town. The streets are narrow and steep and the buildings are so unique. I loved it...no quilt shop though. Weird!! They did have one of those stores that sells pre-made quilts with quilting that is very suspect. Then I found one that sold Amish quilts; those were beautiful...and expensive.

Sunday we relaxed after our 2 mile walk on this dam. Its a mile from end-to-end, so we parked, walked across and back. Lucy came with us; but about 3/4s of the way across, her little 3" legs were tired, so we carried her the rest of the way. On the way back, instead of carrying her, we stopped frequently so she could rest those little legs and I could take photos.

Donna cooked breakfast when we got back and then that evening, we went to the small town of Wagner, where Kenny, my nephew lives with his wife and step-kids. We traveled in style in this car; it's a 1939 (I think) Ford something. Very cute and very much fun--weird though because it has no seatbelts; apparently seatbelts were invented after that year.

Kenny and Rachel live in a really nice house; Kenny loves critters, so they have four dogs (three of which were rescues). This is Penelope...she's part Great Dane and adorable. Penelope is the largest, Molly is some sort of cow dog (Aussie/Heeler cross), then there's Snowball who is basically a white, fluffy small mop-type dog and Clyde, the Weaner dog. Its quite the menagerie!!

I made it home Monday evening after a long day of flying, planes breaking down, etc. I'm glad to be back, but I miss hanging out with my sister...weird, eh??

Unstoppable!

2010-11-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

I can't post pics from OK...sorry; that will have to wait until I'm home again. Tonight we went to the movies and saw Unstoppable...and let me tell you, it was a rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. Definitely a movie worth seeing. Do not wait for the DVD; you need the full surround sound for the effects. It was amazing!!

Run, don't walk, to your nearest movie theater. You won't be sorry!

Do I Sound Funny???

2010-11-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

I'm in Oklahoma visiting my sister, so I might be talking (typing?) with a southern drawl.

Long day to get here, but its nice to be able to spend some time with her. I don't get to see her that often and I missed her 60th birthday celebration, so this works our great. We're going to hike and go to the movies and I bet I can even talk her into a quilt shop or two.

Tomorrow I'll take pictures of all the quilts/quilted objects I've made for her over the years. I think I've practically decorated her house!! I had forgotten about a couple of them. Plus, for her birthday, both my other sister and I made her a quilt and so did another friend. She's got more quilts in her house than I do...what's wrong with that picture?????