Timmy and New Patterns

First of all, I posted the two patterns I mentioned earlier on my website, namely Crazy (Doll) Quilt, that will be offered as a class this coming quarter:

and Cozy Home:

Also here are four Pocket Patterns that are part of another class I am teaching at Little Quilts beginning in January: Study in Amish. This class meets four times. Each session deals with stylistic regional differences in Amish quilts, in this case, Lancaster PA, Holmes County OH, Indiana, and Illinois. The patterns come with the classes. I am offering them as a set on my website as well. I'm very excited about this class, so if you are interested and live in the Atlanta area, I hope you will consider signing up :-):

Tuesday, 5am, note found by mother on clipboard (tandem snoring coming from vicinity of day bed and chair):

"Time Unknown

Hi, Mommy, I am here. So is Kyle. He is a Marine in my unit, so it is cool that he stays here. Wake me up before you go anywhere. Love you, Timy" [editor: note that he doesn't even know how to spell his own name anymore]."

next clipboard entry:

"8:30am Thursday

Hello my son, I love you. [editor: sensing there is more to the story] Does Kyle live in Atlanta? It is too early to wake you up. I am taking quilt class samples to LQ and will be back soon. Hope we can go eat when I get back. Love, Mom"

Got back at 11am. Timy was awake but had written the following on the clipboard:

"10:15 Thursday

MaMa, Kyle is from Boston. I do not know what the game plan is [editor: I knew I smelled a story]. Let's do lunch. Love, Timy"

At lunch:

Timothy: "So Kyle flew in from Boston to see this girl. They've been emailing."

Mom: "Had they met before?"

Timothy: "No. So she picked him up at the airport."

Mom: "How did that go?"

Timothy: "Well, she called me to ask where she could drop him off. I thought he was in Boston."

Mom: "How much time was there between picking him up at the airport and calling you?"

Timothy: "About half an hour."

Mom: "Where was Kyle planning to stay?"

Timothy: "With her."

Mom: "Where was she planning for him to stay?"

Timothy: "With me."

Mom: "I wonder what will happen next?"

Timothy: "Can't wait to find out."

And finally, as a fare-thee-well to Christmas 2010, here is Rembrandt treating the shepherd's flock like a catnip mouse:

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas to you and yours from Karen, Timmy, A Good Cat, and a Devil Cat.

Christmas Eve

Hope everybody has a lovely day today. Timmy came home last night, so all is well here. Cooking and shopping ahead.

This little book was published in Boston in 1854.

Busy Times

Are you all feeling as frantic as I am? It's like racing to the finish line time.

I have a remodeling plan for the main floor of the house, so I put a bit of it in motion these past few days by painting the DR, the wall shelf, and the table. One wall was dark paneling, so I'm loving the big change. Had a yen to get a white tree and spent two hours fluffing up those branches and assembling it. Oops the light strands are green so that looks awful. I have a lead that Big Lots has white strand lights so it's off to there at 8am, then must work again today at the LQS. Rembrandt is climbing on the tree, knocking down the branches, so I cannot put decorations on the tree. There's a squirt gun at Big Lots with Rembrandt's name on it:

I got several dropcloths at Home Depot, which I noticed all the best Shabby Chic decorators are doing, and turned them into day bed covers, bolster covers, tablecloth, and temporary curtains (I have a more permanent plan for the sliding glass doors).

Next to an old Christmas card that I drew many years ago is the Primitive Gatherings Primitive Muslin FQ giveaway I won from Tara of Sew Unique Creations! Tara even threw in some heavenly reproduction FQs that go beautifully with the Primitive Muslins. The Muslins are pure heaven and I can't wait to make something with them. Thank you, Tara!!

Gifts

Here is what Rembrandt (so close to Christmas when little housecats should be behaving; enlarge to see the carnage) did:

Here is what I am giving Rembrandt for Christmas:

Here is what Marcie gave me for Christmas!! I wouldn't have gotten this wonderful doll quilt and Long Live Vintage sign if I had run amuck through the house, tearing up valuable Good Ideas pages that belonged to somebody else:

Thank you, Marcie, this is such a wonderful Christmas gift and I LOVE it. Marcie has an incredible talent for making scrappy quilts and must have the most entrancing stash ever because there are loads of fabrics that I do not recognize at all and definitely would have purchased if I had seen them.

Bulletin Board, Day Job, and Show and Tell, November

Did this bulletin board yesterday for the December Principal's Book of the Month, which is "I Hate English!", an immigrant girl's struggle with learning to speak English. I have no supplies to speak of, except a color printer that still has ink in it (used for book cover), which explains the newspaper border and the girl that is painted on packing paper lol:

Show and Tell from Kathy Niemann's Repro Divas class:

that Christmas Maywood fabric, love it!

antique:

these are mine, on the left antique blocks and an old stained feedsack made into a doll quilt with pillowcase; on the right Dow patterns that I digitized and stitched out:

so darling!

Don't you love this block?

Ar, don't know whose this is; several of these are from Day Group - it's beautiful!

go to sleep, little bear!

Thanksgiving and Timmy

Timmy is far away doing training (and pretty much out of cellphone reception) and will not be home for Thanksgiving; perhaps they will hand out little cards like this to them at their Thanksgiving Dinner --? not lol!

But I am thinking thankful thoughts about my boy; here he is at a recent formal Marines Ball with his date:

A Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!

Crazy Doll Quilt

A new design, 12x16", soon to be a pattern and probably will be available as a class in the next quarter. This sample uses some of my favorite things, a little embroidery, a little applique, some French General fabrics, and a Moda Grunge fabric. I hope they continue to make those Grunges for a long time to come.

Okay, I'm trying to squeeze in several projects on this lovely Sunday. See you later!

Election Day!

Guild Speaker Trunk Show

Lots of pics to show from Mary Kerr's "Saving Our Treasures" show at the East Cobb Quilter's Guild today. I have been fighting bronchitis this week but realized if I hurried, I could get to the Guild meeting only an hour late. My first E. Cobb Guild meeting, albeit watched in a fog. Of course, beaucoup ladies were missing since they are in....Houston. Apologies now for the photos that came out fuzzy, guess I'm shaking from the bronch.

First a mini-trunk show from a friend in the audience. This woman reeks talent. You have seen her exquisite work before on this blog. Her color sense. I die. Here is what she had with her:

purse tag

set of blocks. Click to enlarge. Don't they look old and somewhat like barkcloth?? Perfection. She said something about needing to make 66 more and that they would have red sashing. I vote for orange. But this girl knows what she is doing color-wise.

my fave

her Guild name tag. She said I didn't need to obliterate her name :-). Barbara is the one who teaches the excellent Big Stitch class (after you hit the link, hit ctrl-f, type in "big" and it will take you right to her class description).

On to the other trunk show:

pillowcase!

oh, what a pretty old Seven Sisters

this one has a cute border, see elsewhere, there's no way I'm going to try to arrange these photos in my deteriorated condition lol

somebody began to replace the greenery but did not finish

ah, here's that cute border although the blue is a little harsh

Anybody who haunts antique shops has seen some unfortunate attempts at quilt "restoration" like this one

oo pretty orange

ah, nice!

do si do sunbonnet babies

back to the beautiful one

I think these are examples of old mends