Dancing in the Stars

My latest pattern for Moda Bake Shop was published on July 25th.



Made with "Nocturne" by Janet Claire, quilted in "Avocado" by Anne Bright

The quilt is made from 3 1/2" squares and half square triangles and finished at 82 1/2" square.

I used left over fat quarters to make the back more interesting.

I'd love to see your version of the quilt if you make it.

(and yes, I am still avoiding that big quilt waiting in the wings....)

July 2015 in my rear view mirror

Better late than never....sometimes....I'm sticking with that today.

I am only a month late posting about all the going ons of July 2015.  

In between getting new floors in our kitchen and dinning area (and all of the furniture moving, cleaning, painting, and general mess that entails) 

and retreating (twice) to the best retreat center in the whole of Texas (Greenbriar Retreat Center)

I quilted 15 quilts for customers.

And enjoyed my boys being home.

August 2015 in my Rearview

It has been a busy summer....thus the infrequency of my posting....which wasn't that frequent to begin with...but has ceased all together this summer.

I thought I would take a moment (read stall to avoid that really big quilt I need to do today.) and try and catch up.  Starting with the most recent happenings...

August was a very busy month for me.

I quilted 21 quilts for customers (that does not include the previously mentioned object of my avoidance).

Got my oldest son moved into his very first apartment.

Went to a quilt show...more on that to follow.

Saw all three of my boys safely back to school.

I now have a Sr in high school (red shirt who is standing on his toes to be taller than his brothers), a sophomore in college (the boy in the middle) and a super senior (5th year) in college (sleepy boy on the right). I am honestly just a little bit frightened of what my days will be like next year when they are all away and it is just me in the house all day.

Sigh, I no longer have three little boys....they have become men.

May in My Rearview Mirror

I would love to go back to the time when days seemed to stretch on forever in front of me.  Time used to creep along at a snails pace.  Not so any more.

May 2015 saw 15 quilts cross my leaders at Tops to Treasures.

That is roughly one every other day for the month. This is not the norm for this time of year, but then neither is the massive amount of rain we have had. If you haven't heard Texas has been deluged with a flood of biblical proportions...thankfully, not on my block. Perhaps my quilty friends have been using the time away from their gardens to sew.

My college boys are both home for the summer...last night we all went to a ball game!

A Night at the Ball Park
(John 19, Noah 22, Ben 17)

The oldest is in the middle - don't tell him, but his brothers have darn near caught up to him height-wise. I am beginning to come to grips with the fact that they are no longer little boys, but really grown men.  Sigh. I hope some girl appreciates them as much as I do.

That last picture was just to make you laugh.  As I was letting my Basset Hound in this morning I noticed the dew on the very green green grass, and the trail she left behind as she inspected the yard. Or puppy is 11 years old and had tumors removed from her hip and eye brow, thus the cone of shame. I don't think there is anything more pathetic looking than an old hound dog with a cone around its neck.

Texas Never Does Anything in Half Measures

The news is filled with images like the one above.  Texas is indeed over it's four year drought (it officially started in October of 2010)  The land is green again....well the land that isn't under water.

This spring we have had more cloudy, overcast, and rainy days than we have had sunny ones; and more bad storms than I can remember there ever being in one season.

The forecast for the next week or so promises more of the same.

I have to admit that I am getting a little weary of the weather. That drought is looking better and better, but there is no putting all of that water back in a bottle.

On the upside, I and my family are fine. Our yard is greener than it has been in years. Water restrictions have been lifted. And the sun is shining at the moment.  There is no need for worry; however, your prayers are coveted for our friends and neighbors in the rest of the state.   

April in My Rearview

There are so many thought that go through my head, so many things that I would like to sit and talk about with you....and yet my blog goes for weeks on end with no word from me.  I have to chalk it up to the season of life I am in.  You would think that I would have been more busy before, when my boys were little and underfoot, when there were ball games and concerts, and teacher conferences to take care of.  Of course, that was before I met arthritis and its lovely relationship to monsoon season. Ah well.  It has been a busy month.

Tops to Treasures is busier than it has ever been.  April 2015 saw 25 projects cross the bars.  Some of them are delightful secrets for up coming weddings and graduations.  I promised those people that I would help keep their secrets....as if those people read my blog.  LOL  Anyway, the ones I can share are pictured here.

I also got to spend a wonderful weekend with my college boys and their friends.  My house was filled to overflowing with young men and woman.  Yes, you read that correctly. One of my boys brought home a girl. No, not that kind of girl, at least not yet. Time will tell.

I celebrated my 52nd birthday.  It wasn't terribly exciting after having all of the kids home.  I got them to share a cake with me while they were home.  My mum sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

She had them make the bouguet "cat proof" as my fuzzy helpers like to eat the tiny flowers, and them spew them all over the floor and counters. It was a good thought. When they found the flowers inedible the cats tipped the vase over....left on our table over night the puddle created a mess of our kitchen table.  Granted the table was a mess to begin with.  We bought it 26 years ago and have many adventures on it.  However, it gave us an excuse to purchase a new one.  Our kitchen now looks grown up.

After the kids left we discovered that we had some other visitors.  It took one rainy weekend to extricate 5 scampering squirrels from our attic.  Oh my. They were cute little buggers, but I am glad they are gone now. (the squirrels not the kids)

 

And now it is May.  My quilting schedule is filling up again.  My college boys are in their last weeks, #2 has exam week this week. He should be home for the summer on Friday (SQueeeeeeee!) and #1 has exam week next week.  I can not wait to have my boys gathered around me.

March in My Rearview

I can not believe it is April already. I'd love to go where ever it is that time goes when it flies. Then I could sit and savor each moment all over again.

This year my boys all had spring break during a different week of the month.  I had three weeks in a row of spring break...each with a different son. As you can imagine, each week was as different as the boy! Each one was glorious!

I got to go to the Dallas Quilt Show. I really need to write a post about it.  For now I'll share a picture of my favorite quilt.

I spent many happy hours "playing" with my quilty friends.  Another post I should write...I've started a group of quilters at church. Oh my, it is a loaves and fishes sort of story.

And I quilted 12 quilts for customers and friends.

All of this pales when compared to the events that happened on the first Easter weekend. God made a way for all of the things that keep us separated from Him to be tossed aside. It no longer matters that we fall short of the mark.  We are too fat, too slow, work-a-holic, obsessed with ourselves, slow to help others, and quick to grab what we think we must have at the expense of those around us....and that doesn't matter one whit. He made a way. Our imperfect selves are welcome in his kingdom because of the work that Jesus did on the cross. All we have to do is accept his works on our behalf.

May this Easter be a time of blessing and remembrance for you....and if you haven't already accepted his free gift I pray that your heart will be open to it now. Easter would be a perfect time to become a believer.

February in My Rear View

It is always a sweet surprise to look back at a month and see all that I have accomplished, and recount all of the joyful moments. February 2015 does not disappoint.

I finally got my much awaited upgrades to my longarm.

It was a bit of a messy process, but the staff from Linda's Electric Quilters of McKinney Texas were wonderful. I love my upgrades - new computer, complete with the latest version of Creative Studio, new wheels and rails, and hanger for my hardware to keep my floor nice and tidy.

As messy as that upgrade was it had nothing on the upgrade to our wifi.  Oh my gosh what a circus. The wifi is faster and fairly awesome but it came at the cost of our land line phone.  For some reason the phone company thought that we didn't want it any more and turned it off. Then they told us they couldn't turn it back on and give us our number back. Then they could give it back, but it would cost us $100. Then they could wave the fee, and give us our number, but it would have to go through digitally and be added to our wifi...oh and they couldn't do it for a week. All of that to point out what a blessing the staff at Linda's Electric Quilters really is and to thank the people at ATT for the quiet week we had with no phone service. I should probably also thank ATT for the upgrade to our TV service....we now get even more channels with programming that we don't want to watch, but hey, we get all of them now.

My last baby is now a licensed driver.  No more car lines at school for me.  I seem to get a lot more work done, but I do miss my time with my boy. Even so, it is right that he should have the opportunity to learn and practice driving.

I played a lot in February.  There were 6 different occasions where I took the time to spend time with friends new and old. Why in the world I haven't been doing this all along I have no idea. This too has been a huge blessing. I'm now enjoying myself while I piece quilts - a phenomenon that hasn't occurred in a very very long time.

Women of the Bible BOM from Suzzette's Fabric

2013 Toes in the Sand BOM from The Fat Quarter Shop

(It was gifted to me for Christmas two years ago and I am just now playing with it.)

My oldest boy came home for a quick weekend. It was so fun to hug his big shoulders and stay up late (for me) talking with him.

We had a week of ice and snow - unusual for us, but it will bless the lakes and lawns when it melts eventually.....probably tomorrow....for today it is winter in Frisco.

All of that AND I quilted 13 quilts at Tops to Treasures. 

How I fit all of that into 28 days is a mystery.

January in my rear view....

January always seems so bleak after the warmth and fun of the holidays. The parties are over. The trimmings put away. Life goes back to normal....mostly.

My boys didn't have to go back to school until later in the month. (Hot dawg!) so the first weeks of the month were filled with them.  We learned a new game, and spent a lot of time hanging out by the fire watching movies.

Eventually, they all had to go back to school.  It is a good thing, for all of us.  I can't wait to have them all home again in June.

January is traditionally a very slow month for me work wise.  I only did 6 quilts at Tops to Treasures.

They were punctuated by my participation in the Schnitzle & Boo Instagram Swap.  What a hoot.  I love the little quilt that I received.

And was pleased with the package that I sent out, as was it's recipient.

The most exciting happenings all involved a new group of friends at church.

A couple of us thought it would be fun to have a sit-n-sew with our Sister's in Christ.  We hoped that two or three ladies would join us....we had 25! Most of those sweet ladies have never sewn before, at all.  I find myself helping to teach a new generation of quilters.  What a kick.  I'll keep you posted on our progress.

December 2014 in my rearview

I can't believe how busy life has been.  It is all good...I just don't have much time to sit and visit on the internet.

December was filled with lovely times.  Lots of family and friends gathered together to celebrate the season.  Lots of time with my boys!

I went on a retreat to Green Briar with my Mom and the awesome gang at Happiness is Quilting. I spent three and a half days eating and quilting and generally having a great time.  I didn't take many pictures.  I must have been having too much fun.  I did however work on  a few gifts, and this mini.

I am still trying to decide how to quilt it.  Any suggestions?  It is for my partner in the Schnitzel & Boo swap on Instagram.

All of this and I still managed to get 17 quilts quilted for my customers at Tops to Treasures.

All in all December was a wonderful month...the end to a wonderful year.

• A rough estimate of the quilts I quilted this year .... 171 .... those are just the ones I recorded.  I'm sure there could be a few more as I often don't write things down.  
• 5 patterns published for/by Moda Bake Shop
• 1 son graduated with an Associates Degree and on his way to a Bachelor's from Angelo State University
• 1 son graduated from high school and on his way to a Bachelor's from Ouachita Baptist University
• 1 son a Junior in highschool with an A average!  and he doesn't even break a sweat doing it.
• 3 quilt retreats with my Mom
• 1 week long visit with my brother in Kentucky
• A wonderful visit to San Francisco with my beloved

I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store.