Cathedral Window

While bloghopping this morning I came across this
neat start of a Cathedral Window at and sew it is and really liked it. It reminded me of a couple of CW pincushions I had made. The one on the left (note the telltale 70s calico center) I made in the early 70s. I always loved that little pinny and saved it for all these years. A few months back I decided I wanted to make some for our guild's boutique. Couldn't for the life of me remember HOW!! Did a little research, came up with the instructions for a CW, and voila, the one on the right was born. Love adding beads to the four points. Another thing I had forgotten was how blasted long it took to make one! Great handsewing for TV time though. Today being Fathers Day, I will take my husband on a picnic to either Smithville Lake or Watkins Mill State Park--two local spots of beauty. My own father passed away nine years ago and I still miss his practical advice, preparedness, and unconditional love.

Consider the Wildflower

Nobody plants it, nobody waters it, nobody mulches it, nobody weeds it, nobody deadheads it, nobody fertilizes it. And yet....

Odds and Ends

It was a great mini group meeting today. Six women came to agreement on the quilt we will make for the guild's opportunity (raffle) quilt for the March quilt show. Isn't that truly amazing? Then we went to a quilt shop and AGREED on the fabric purchases. No blood was shed, no tears were wept, no voices were raised. Now--to get it sewn, quilted, and bound! Our guild is celebrating its 25th anniversary this coming year. Our symbol has always been the friendship star and members are encouraged to send a 3" friendship star to any member who may be needing an extra hug or bit of comfort. With that in mind, we decided to make 25 blocks of friendship stars in batiks, marbles, tone on tones, etc, and entitle it 25 Years of Friendship. So excited about this quilt! My mini group has been exchanging 5" nickel swaps for 9 months now. Each month we use a different color and provide ten blocks for each other, which means you are accumulating 80 each month (see, you do use your math you learned in school! 8 members X 10 fabric pieces=80--ta dah) I should have 720 nickel squares--but I'm not going to count them!!! I have also picked up some Moda 5" sampler packs along the way to add to the mix. Each gal will then do what she wants with them. We will continue to swap till September. Most are thinking of charm quilts they'd like to use the squares for. I'm leaning towards 1000 Pyramids. Also pictured, my progress on the Jo Morton Scrappy Stars blocks. I am caught up to date. Good thing, new Birds of a Feather block will be in the KC Star this Sunday. In the words of Roseann Roseannadanna, "It's always a-somethin'!"

Fun With Dick & Jane

I've been blogging for almost two months now and must say, I REALLY REALLY enjoy it! I especially like reading the blogs of quilters. I am beginning to feel as though several of these ladies are dear friends!! I'm still not quite sure of blogging etiquette. I am feeling my way. I am not a member of a blog ring (and am not really sure what a blog ring is LOL) and don't know if it is proper to jump in on the list (meme) things. I am going to respond to the ABCs meme and hope that this is okay!

Accent - Good ole midwestern drawl
Booze - Margaritas, on the rocks, no salt.
Chore I hate-Scrubbing toilets
Dog/cat - 2 cats, Rocky and Natasha
Essential electronics - Highspeed internet, dig cam, Bernina sewing machine, cable TV, cell phone
Favorite perfume - Can't wear it anymore
Gold/silver - yes, please!
Hometown - Kansas City, Missouri
Insomnia - often
Job title - retired teacher, current homemaker
Kid(s)- 2 grown sons
Living arrangements - a home in the suburbs
Most admirable traits - Patience and upbeat attitude
Number of countries visited - USA, Canada, and--in the fall, Italy
Overnight hospital stays - about 5
Phobias- Mice, deep water, and big boats
Quote - The only reason I have a kitchen is that it came with the house
Religion - Methodist
Siblings - Two sisters--one younger, one older
Time you usually wake - 5:00 Am (that's if I am sleeping in!!!)
Unusual talent - I can do a Farsi yell
Vegetable I refuse to eat - Brussels sprouts
Worst habit - Eating chocolate
X-rays - Dental
Yummy foods I make -Brisket of beef and baked beans
Zodiac - Sagittarius

Memory Lane

Boy, did Laura ever bring back memories with her photo of her early Quilt As You Go. I made a similar quilt. It was not my very first quilt. That one--a red and blue biscuit quilt that was made for my older son when he went into his "big boy bed" some 32 years ago. Would love to see it again, but who knows where it ended up? Probably in some garage where somebody lies upon it to change oil in a car!! My Quilt As You Go was made in the mid-70s. The memories of the process are much sweeter than the memory of the quilt itself. My dear friend, who lost her battle to breast cancer some 16 years ago, convinced me that we needed to go to a lady's house once a month and take quilting lessons. We were to do a sampler. We purchased the required amount of light, medium, and dark fabrics (part cotton, part polyester, for Pete's sake) and plain white for backings, and a super lofty batting. These fabs are actually prints but they seem to read solid. (Need a new dig cam! But I digress.) At each month's lesson we were handed a pattern for the sampler which we traced. Somewhere in my vast pile of "stuff" I still have those handmade patterns in a notebook. We would later transfer them to cardboard (probably from the Cheerios box) and glue a bit of sandpaper on the backs. We were expected to have the previous month's block handpieced and handquilted to be joined with the other blocks later. This handquilting through the thick batting turned me off handquilting for a long time. My fondest memory of those classes is the time spent with my wonderful friend and the Constant Comment tea we sipped at the end of each class. The thing I disliked about the quilt was how it looked on the back when the blocks were joined. NOT COOL. We paid $3 a lesson! As a stay-at-home-mom, that seemed like a lot of money--but so worth it for the friendship and quilting camaraderie!
Oddly, my DH and I slept under that quilt for many years. It was laundered a lot and the fabric eventually pulled a bit away at the seams. The color scheme is so--so, uh, 70s. Continuing down Memory Lane...have you looked at this beauty made by Karen at sewprimitive? I love, love, love it. The paperdolls around the border evoke such fun childhood nostalgia. When I was a kid (no TV, no video games, etc. Altogether now, "awwww") I was way into paperdolls. Played with them for hours on end. Designed clothes for them on typing paper. Created whole scenarios for them to act out. Just loved paperdolls. Side story: my younger sister is 11 years younger than I. When she was just a toddler, she got into my "stash" of paperdolls and their clothes. Hmmm..I have always loved stashes, it would seem. Anyway, she destroyed them. I know, you're thinking, "weren't you a little old to still be playing with paperdolls at that time?" And you would be right! When I got home from school that day, I went into a snit! I never let her live that down--as any good sister would not. Well, a few years ago she surprised me with two books of paperdolls she had purchased off eBay!!! Now we're even---or so she thinks.