Small Business Saturday

I just had to go out today and support my local favorite small business.  I got some real bargains!  Guess where I went?

You got it ... right to my local quilt shop, Crafty Threads Quilt Shop.  The people there are great - stop by if you're in the area!

Happy Thanksgiving

Too Many UFOs?

Can there be such a thing as too many unfinished objects?  Can there be too many works-in-progress?  We have a mini guild, maybe more like a quilt club, that has begun meeting at my LQS.  They decided that we should all bring one of our UFOs to the January meeting and vow to complete it in 2014.  So I took a look at what I had piling up … NEVER do that ... you really don't want to know!  I do know what I want to take in January – more on that later.

But I did find out I have a few simultaneous projects being made into tops:

        The Dr. Seuss baby quilt

        The Mystery Quilt for Military going on now

        A Celtic Knot for Quilts of Valor

        A 5-Yard Quilt kit for a child

So I decided to finish a few quickly so they don’t qualify as UFOs in January!  This was the 5-Yard Quilt that was begun, but was turned into a strippie to get it done today:

 

Swimming with the Fishies

detail

This is the Celtic Twist that I will be getting done this week:

 

those boys like their Army green and cammo

It is from a free block offered by McCall’s Quilting.  Here’s the link.

It's all gray and raining here today and my camera is taking yellow pictures, so no more of the projects, but here’s a photo from my walk the other day - just for a change of pace:

Isn’t that little vignette cute?  It’s in front of a townhouse and they made excellent use of a small space.  Now, let me get back upstairs to get those projects done …

Organizing Workspace

My sewing room has been in somewhat of a disarray since I got my new-to-me longarm and frame.  I had to remove a 10-drawer dresser and a daybed to make room for the frame in the room and my fabric and supplies have been all over and disappearing into mysterious places ever since.  It’s been very hard to get motivated to make something if you can’t find the makings, so to speak:

 

Was that kiddie fabric in this box?

Or was it in that blue basket?!

A friend and I decided to go over by the airport to this giant store to see what they had:

And my word!  They had EVERYTHING … containers for whatever you can think of;  everything big and small in the kitchen, in the closet, in the home office, in the kid’s rooms, in garages, on patios and every place in between – except for what I was really looking for … so sad.

I’ve had a small, plastic unit of drawers on wheels for years – and it was just the right height to fit under my frame and out of the way.  But, I wanted something with wider drawers to put my fabric in.  So I trotted over to Joann’s to see if they had something wider … and they did.  After using my 40% off coupons and taking the two home that they had in stock (just to make sure they fit), I went to another Joann’s store and used 2 more coupons and bought the two that they had.  Then, since I had to wait for more coupons to come - and Joann's to get more stock (apparently each store only keeps two in inventory at a time), I got to work putting stuff away.

 

The fabric went here

And the small notions went into these

I love my new organizing system and I’m back in business being inspired to make tops now that I can find stuff!  Today’s WIP:

 

child's Dr Seuss in process

mystery quilt for Quilts of Valor

Of course, I still have these to cut into fat quarters (or strips or squares) and put away, but I have some empty drawers just waiting to receive them!  It was a good weekend.

ShelterBoxes

One of the groups that I make children’s quilts for is called Rotoplast.  They have a medical mission to surgically repair cleft palates/cleft lips of needy children, as invited and aided by Rotary Clubs around the world – and we send the quilts for the recovering children to take home.

Another group affiliated with Rotary International is the ShelterBox organization.  I have firsthand knowledge that some of the ShelterBox tents included in their disaster relief boxes were still used and useful a year after the devastating earthquake and subsequent hurricane in Haiti, when other tents had fallen apart or were otherwise rendered unusable.  In poorer nations, it can seem to take forever for cities/towns/urban areas to recover from major disasters, and the destruction of the recent Typhoon in the Philippines was unprecedented.

If you have wondered how you can help the people in the Philippines, please consider ShelterBoxes.

ShelterBox Response Teams delivering aid in the Philippines following major typhoon November 13, 2013

With your help, we hope to immediately assist more than 4,000 families affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan. This typhoon was the biggest storm to ever reach landfall, destroying buildings, wiping out villages, and has reportedly caused thousands of fatalities. Our response teams were on the ground during the storm and began conducting assessments immediately following its passing. Thankfully, we had emergency supplies prepositioned in the Philippines that were utilized immediately. But now, more are needed. Yesterday, warehouse volunteers rallied to our international headquarters to pack ShelterBoxes and prepare other supplies that will be sent immediately to help families displaced by the storm. Learn more about the aid we are providing as explained on CNN.  "Every day that goes past, we realize more and more the real significance of this disaster and the areas of devastation are becoming more and more apparent," said ShelterBox Response Team volunteer, Mark Curnow. ShelterBox could not carry out this important work around the globe without the support of its donors. Our teams are working around the clock to ensure we are doing all that we can to help those affected by this terrible tragedy. Watch this video to learn more about our response. We need your help now. Please make a donation online now, call 941-907-6036, or send your donation to ShelterBox USA, 8374 Market St. #203, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202.   For the latest updates, please visit www.shelterboxusa.org/typhoon or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. ShelterBox is also currently responding to the Syrian crisis and an earthquake in Pakistan. Thank you for your support and making our response possible. Sincerely,  Emily S. Sperling President, ShelterBox USA

Salute to All Veterans

Thank you for choosing to serve our Nation.

Fall in Florida

We don’t have the distinct seasons and the dramatic changing of the leaves like many parts of the US, but we do have subtle signs that let us know that Fall is in the air!  For example, we have some vines that die off:

And some pine needles that fall:

And some lovely wildflowers:

And, of course, the seasonal wearing of the Halloween costume by the dog:

What?!  You didn’t recognize Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?  See the two different bandanas?  Look again … LOL.

We were fortunate to get some rain – we needed it.  This view was taken from the Bayside bridge looking at the rain coming across Tampa Bay:

So I have been inside quilting children’s quilts for Wrap-a-Smile.  I’ve been testing digital pantographs.  This panel got the fish (there's some large and some small):

And this one got the paw prints (you can see some toes to the right of the lion’s head):

But I’m still having tension problems, so I’ve ordered a Towa bobbin tensioner.  Hope it gets here soon!

Happy Halloween!

New Guild Meeting

A new *guild* is starting up in my area, so I went last month to see what it was all about.  They have elected to be more of a chat and learn group then a guild, and that works for me right now.  Sometimes guilds can get bogged down with rules and cliques.  This month the guild (that I’ll start calling a Bee) was featuring gadgets – as in bring in your favorite gadget – and Show and Tells.

I took in a specialty ruler – the Lazy Angle – by Joan Hawley from Lazy Girl Designs.  I had made this quilt for a teen girl using one of the featured star block designs and fabric leftovers.

and I am in the process of making another star block design for a Quilt of Valor.

I have the book that has a bazillion blocks:

and I plan to make lots more of the various stars from it since they are quick and easy and will add a little interest to my mostly geometric children’s quilts.

One of the Show and Tells from the meeting was this modern quilt – an original pattern by a Bee member named Ellen. 

Modern quilts are a hot item now in the quilting community and Ellen’s quilt was juried into the Paducah Quilt Show this past April - a great honor!  Congratulations, Ellen.  I can't see me jumping on the Modern movement, since I'm more of a Traditional person, but I liked the colors in this one.  To learn more about the AQS shows, check out this link:  http://aqsshows.com/

But, speaking of current fashions, here’s what’s happening in the neighborhood:

Yep, spiders are popping up everywhere - they must be "in" this year!  The one above is a big one, but don't worry - that is an adult that it is wrapping up - no children were harmed in setting up this spider - LOL!  And this is a little one hanging from a tree:

And we even have purple ones with eyes that glow!

Spooky!!

Road Trip!

Well, the truth is – it was only a little trip for me.  I moseyed on over to the Zephyrhills area (northeast of me) to the Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa, FL.

I’ve read about the great trails they have there, but I’ve never been.  I met up with my friends that are traveling around in their brand new R-Pod at their campsite, and boy! is that camper cute.

It has everything – from a nice fridge to a microwave, a bed that stays down (doesn’t have to be converted) to indoor plumbing and a shower.

 

Indoor is better than this!

They have come down the east coast, visiting family and friends and checking out viable locations to return someday.   Their next stops will be in the FL Panhandle with its white sand beaches, then heading north again.  As my friend, Tom, put it, “this is the camping sampler trip”.  Think maybe he’s a closet quilter? Get it?  *Sampler* trip?!!  LOL

We went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Z-Hills, only to find it was karaoke night … what a hoot! 

Most all of them were very good though, albeit loud.  It was fun and a great story to tell (no, we did not participate – we served as the audience – it was not crowded …).

It was so good to see my friend, Sarah, again, and once my eyes that are green from envy, turn back to blue, I’ll tell her so.  And I’ll tell them thanks for swinging by this way – hope to see you again soon.

 

Sunset over the Hillsborough River last night

Then this morning when I was at the grocery, I saw this 1930 Model A (I know that because it said so on the Horseless Carriage license plate):

Now that’s a touring car!

So, back to quilting, this is the latest child’s quilt top for Wrap-a-Smile:

 

the border is a check that doesn't show well in the photo

close-up of the zebra

Gotta get that quilted today … always something to get done – especially if you stay home!

Catching Up the Blog - Final

This is Installment 3 of playing catch-up going backwards.  We had a wonderful vacation in North Carolina.  It was at least 95 degrees and humid when we left FL, so the mornings in the 50s and 60s were very welcome and the balmy 70s and maybe low 80s by mid-day to play golf in were great!

We started off at an easier muni course near Forest City.  It is not as challenging as the mountain courses we would play later, so a good intro for me since I don't play that often:

 

Par 3 over water - really?! - why is it always over water??

It is a really pretty course and enough to wear me out!

 

It's all fun until they turn the sprinklers on you - LOL!

Then we played at the two courses at Lake Lure:

 

Dogleg right with a creek, no less!

Split fairway with another creek - love this hole ...

Many creeks were swollen from recent rains ... good golfball traps

One day I was playing with 2 guys so I got to see the views from the white tees and this duffer was in a nearby year, hidden by the trees lining the tee box - almost scared me to death, so I snuck in between the trees and took his picture!

And I loved seeing what was blooming:

 

Japanese Maples were lovely

Lots of sneeze-inducing goldenrod

And one day mid-week, the ladies went shopping at nearby Hendersonville – the decorated bears were on display (they get sold for fundraisers later):

the bear above was in front of this ice cream shop

This guy was in front of a Sports Bar

And a local bank had a display of antique quilts - hard to get good photos because of the plexiglass but they were nice:

Then more golf, and home to FL – this was at the FL/GA border Welcome Center - no bears for us.  It was a good vacation!