2013 - Year in Review

This post wishes each of you a very Happy New Year and hopes that you, like us, are looking forward to another year of unexpected highs and lows.  Let us all hope there are more of the former than the latter.

It is time for a look back at 2013 --- Another year has flown by!  For us, it was a year of great changes and one surrounded by family.  I cannot ever share in words the joy I have felt with the memories we have made this year.  I can honestly say that I believe I KNOW each and every one of of my grandchildren.  With 12 of them (and another on the way), that is saying quite a bit.  We were also blessed to spend wonderful time with all of our children and our parents and siblings.  What more can one ask for in a year?  After looking at this, feel free to find the blog entries that match.

January:  We started out the year in spades.  I was able to reignite my love for quilting on New Years Day by taking a class the entire day.  It took me out of my comfort zone in colors and techniques and set the stage for the year to come.  Mister and I then were able to spend a wonderful week in the Caribbean visiting Puerto Rico, Saint Maarten, and Anguila.  It was absolute heaven and a wonderful way to start the year.

February:  The month began with us driving down to Temple for Jared's birthday and baptism.  We are so lucky to have been there for this major event.  The middle of the month found us in Hawaii for Mister's birthday.  We spent 9 days enjoying this beautiful state while visiting two different islands.  Mister accomplished his goal of visiting all 50 states with this trip - yay for him!

March:  Change came to us -- I was no longer employed and thus we put several travel plans on hold.  At the same time, Matt let us know that he would be leaving United in the fall and so some of our travel privileges would be lost.  We determined to devote the remaining travel this year to family so that we would have time with all in case finances prevented it in the future.  We also started to discover our own city again -- there is just so much to do here.  We ended the month down in Temple for Easter with Jen and her wonderful family.

April:  Art fairs, movies, and museums occupied our city excursions this month.  We were able to visit Austin to enjoy events with grandchildren.  I discovered my love for crafting again and worked on a ceramic project for Elena along with some sewing.  Mister, too, was busy creating and made me a beautiful quilt frame, allowing me to put a quilt on and start hand stitching it.

May:  The annual excursion to Montana for Elena, Malea, and Zyra's birthdays started out our month.  We were there for 8 days and upon our departure, we had two little charges with us.  Malea and Elena returned to Dallas with us for 8 days of pure joy.  I received my first vintage sewing machine as a birthday present this month and we were hooked.  I named her "Annie" in remembrance of the my aunt who instilled in me my love for sewing.  I started quilting in earnest and we ended the month at another major event for a grandchild -- Jon's ordination.

June:  I began this month traveling to Montana for Elena's dance recital.  What a grand time and oh my but it took me back so many years.  Mister and I then went to Wyoming for 5 days to help celebrate Ryan's birthday.  We returned home and made a trip down to Temple for Bekah's birthday.  Oh my but this time of year is full of grandchildren getting older.  We end the month by having Hyrum and Zyra at our house for 8 days.  Again --- we were overflowing with wonderful memories.

July:  The first of the month found us helping Scott and Cass move in with us for awhile so they could save some money and pay some bills.  We only had about 2 days and then had to hit the road for the family reunion in Wyoming.  We had 4 days filled with children and grandchildren.  Each time we are able to do this, I treasure the fact that I have all my "bairns" with me.  My heart is so full when this happens.  Upon our return, we explored Dallas a little more and discovered Cedar Ridge.  What a wonderful place.  Another trip down to Austin this month and we returned with Jon and Jake for 5 days followed by Bekah for 3 days.  We had such a good time with all 3 of them and I truly love the talks we have now that they are older.

August:  Where is this year going?  I made a quick trip up to Montana for Rhiana's birthday so that Elena and I could do a little surprise.  Our home was then blessed to have Jared come and stay for 6 days.  The rest of the month was spent sewing, sewing, sewing.  I discovered recycled shirt fabric and Mister bought me a featherweight sewing machine.  We ended the month down in Round Rock with Bekah and Jake's soccer tournament.

September:  Quilt classes started this month out in fine fashion.  I was able to take 2 of them and once again learned oh so much.  We made a quick trip up to Montana for some more time with family and then to Wyoming to help Amanda.  We had 5 wonderful days with the boys.  We spent the rest of the month discovering estate sales and Craigslist in detail.  We worked Grapefest for a friend and purchased a Wheeler and Wilson treadle.  Our collection is coming along nicely now.

October:  The first week we found a beautiful Memphis treadle at an estate sale and it made it's way home with us.  Rhiana was in need of some help, so we took the girls for several weeks.  We discovered full time parenthood again thoroughly enjoyed having them.  Our anniversary was spent in the town Mister proposed in and at the same spot for lunch.  Amazing that he could plan this and include two little ladies as well.  We took a trip down to Temple with Elena and Malea in tow for Jacob's birthday and finished the month returning the girls to Montana and spending Halloween and Hyrum's birthday with family.

November:   My passion for sewing took solid hold this month.  I could not seem to get enough and was out in the studio early each morning and well into the evenings.  We added another sewing machine - a Singer 306 and I finished several quilt tops.  I took a trip up to Mom's and while on my way found out that I get to be a grandmother again.  Cass and Scott are expecting next June.  Time to start looking at baby things again.  We hosted Thanksgiving at our home and it was filled to the brim for 3 days.  We cooked and shopped and sewed for hours.  I was in heaven.

December:  An ice storm hit Dallas the first of the month putting us in the house for 5 days straight.  It was even too cold to heat the studio so I worked in the office.  Celtic Solstice, the mystery quilt, started and I made 5,512 little pieces of fabric into units for it.  Bekah and Jen came up for 3 days of sewing and soccer --- something I will treasure forever.  Christmas was quiet this year with just us two as Scott and Cass spent the week in Utah.  I ended the year exactly as I started it --- in quilt classes.

Another great year is in the books.  It was a year filled with family and I will always be thankful for that.  It was a year of growth for Mister and I and we both found new or revived old interests to share together.  We eagerly look forward to 2014 and the ups and downs it will present to us.

Happy New Year all.

Mister and Lady

Happy New Year!

I have finished cutting my fabric and my sweetie has a wonderful cheese plate and a couple glasses of wine for us.  Happy New Year!

End of Year Quilt Classes - Bonnie Hunter - Roll Roll Cotton Boll

Tough decisions on color for this one.  I spent at least a couple of hours last night deciding on my color choices for today's Roll Roll Cotton Boll workshop.  I wound up still needing one fabric and so first thing this morning I stop at the fabric store to pick it up.  Fortunately, I left everything set up at Fabric Fanatics last night when I left, so I have a little time to play with this morning.

I arrive with enough time to get fabric out and the class begins.  Allison is here today and I am thrilled to see her.  It has been a few months since we have had a class together and I certainly do enjoy her experience and kindness.

First up today is 8 1/2" paper squares to string piece.  Lucky me, I already had strips galore to work with.  Let's get started.  Once the squares are finished, they are trimmed to fit the paper backing.  Don't they just look so fun?

Bonnie starts wandering through with her camera and I have gotten copies of the ones that included me.  What a sweetheart.


Next we take those beautiful squares and cut them into two triangles.  This makes me very nervous, but I managed to do it correctly.  I am having so much fun visiting with old acquaintances and new friends.  The morning absolutely flies by with tutorials on our rulers added in.  If you look at my fabrics below, you will see one in particular that has words all over it.  It was a treasure I discovered in a box of scraps that I picked up at an estate sale.  I have tried to put a few pieces of it in everything since then.  I LOVE it, but only had about 1/8 of a yard of it.  I think it was a sack of some sort in a previous life.

It is time to work on our second blocks.  Get those rulers girls and let's go.  We start with strips and check our seams to make sure we have that much sought after 1/4".  Yep -- moving on now.  Let's cut that strip up.

We put together some half square triangles in various sizes and are soon ready to play with colors and put a block together.  I hand Bonnie a handful of my units and cut squares and let her have fun creating my first block.  She did it yesterday and I wanted to continue the tradition.

I think she does a great job, but gets called away 3/4 of the way through it to help another student and I finish up.  Can you tell what I do wrong?

Fortunately for me, I catch the mistake and sew it together correctly.  Well, almost.  I flip one of the rectangles and have the green against the teal center.  Miss Allison spots it and I am sent back to my seat with seam ripper in hand.  Grrrr.  I get it fixed though and Miss Bonnie takes a pic again.  I feel like a star!

Here is Allison after she has shared her Lazy Sunday quilt with the class.  I have my Lazy Sunday top finished, but still need to quilt it.  I am motivated to do so though.  I have to run a few smaller quilts through this month first though both because I need them for gifts and more importantly I need them for the free motion quilting experience.  Once I have them finished, I will run Virginia Bound and then Lazy Sunday.  Hopefully I will have some idea of what I am doing when these are finished.  This is what happens when a hand quilter wants to let her domestic do some work --- AND when her sweetie gets her a machine to do it with.  Cross your fingers for my 306 and I.

What do you think of my block?  I am excited to put this one together as well.  I have a goal to do one large block a week and 6 of the string ones.  Perhaps in 6 months I will have this top together and ready to quilt.  I sure hope so.  2014 is the year of the quilt for me.  I AM going to finish soooo many UFO's.

What a fun day, but it always has to end.  Once again, I leave everything set up as I am back again tomorrow.  There is fabric back home waiting to be prepared for tomorrow -- time to hit the road.

Mister has been in the studio all day and when I arrive home, the first thing I see are the drawers to the Memphis treadle.  He has been working on them and they are beautiful.  I thought they were pretty before, but now they are absolutely glorious.  Look how those handles shine.

At home, Christmas boxes from Matt have arrived and Mister and I have a little fun opening them.  We have received a wonderful portable back massager (what quilter wouldn't want one of these sweet things?) and a foot massager.

Mister lets me try half of the foot massager before it is soon set up under his desk.  He is one happy camper.

I need to get to the studio and cut fabric.  Another class tomorrow.  No whining her though -- I am absolutely loving it.  Oh --- it is New Year's Eve --- I hope you all have a very Happy New Year and that all your wishes are met.  I have been told that the way you start the year will indicate how it is going to play out for you.  Me???  I will be quilting.

End of Year Quilt Classes - Bonnie Hunter - Mystery Quilt

On New Years Day, 1 year ago, I made a return to quilting by taking a class at Fabric Fanatics in Plano.  I had recently discovered Bonnie Hunter and was just starting to follow her posts on Facebook.  Little did I know just how powerful of an impact she would have on me.  It revived my passion for sewing and quilting and between Mister and I, we managed to certainly make the fabric and sewing machines a major part of our lives.  It is with deep sincerity that I say thank you to Bonne.

Today, I am back at Fabric Fanatics taking another mystery quilt class.  I know, I know -- don't I have enough going on with Celtic Solstice?  Perhaps, but I love learning new techniques and each time I attend a class, I walk away with more confidence and a brain that is about to explode with ideas.  Isn't that what this is all about?

That is half of our group -- with me sitting right next to the rainbow quilt.  So many of these ladies have been in previous classes with me that I feel as though I am getting to know them.  I recognize their voices when they speak and I have also come to know their color comfort zones.  Bonnie and I get to talk for a few minutes and at various times she comes by and helps me with color and fabric selections on my block.

Bonnie teaching techniques and answering questions -- never ending patience from her.

I have the first 5 units ready --- what's next?  I am loving my bright batiks mixed with little calico prints.

AND . . . the finished block.  This is ALL I managed to accomplish today and believe it or not -- I am happy.  Many did not get this far.  Others had several blocks finished.  I do have several more of all the units constructed, but not put together.

I would love to show you my picture of the finished quilt, but, alas we are forbidden.  It is still a "mystery" for the rest of you.  It will release in Quiltmaker magazine later this year.  Once again, Bonnie calls us her 'beta test'.  So much fun --- time to head home and cut fabric for tomorrow.

Celtic Solstice Clue #5 - Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt

It is Friday and the clue is released.  I am up at 6 to check it out and then back to bed for a couple more hours of sleep.  It feels so good to be caught up though.  I get to cut today and am hopeful to knock this clue out in no time.

We are making a "bird in the air" block.  At least that is what the ladies in the Facebook group are calling it.  I, however, have absolutely no idea.  I will just do as I am told.  The best thing about it is that we already have a start as we are using the half square triangles made in step 3 and just building on them.  Yay!  So glad I have that step finished.


Let's get cutting -- I need 244 pairs of neutral triangles.  I love the Easy Angle ruler and have these cut from 2" strips in absolutely no time.  I think it takes me longer to sort them by fabric than it does to cut them.  I separate into rights and lefts and also by pattern.  Yes, I am doing this quilt as scrappy, but I have to control it a certain amount or I will end up with squares that have the same fabric repeated in them.

Once this is finished it is time to sew!  I attach all of one side first and create my strings.  I am following the orange in this block.  All of my orange/yellow squares are sorted by the orange pattern and it is my guide as I sew.  I go through all of one pattern while rotating through the neutrals.

Now it is time to put the other "wing" on.  I repeat the same step as before, only watching so that I don't duplicate my neutrals on any one unit.  I am liking how these are turning out and they are surprisingly easy.  Woohoo.  I may even meet my goal of having these done this weekend.

I think they turn out WONDERFUL!  I am loving the cheery colors so very much.

A new day and a new color as it is time for the blue -- I grab my 3 1/2" strips and soon have triangles ready to attach.  They are once again sorted by pattern and I will again be following the orange and rotating through the blues.  It takes up a lot of space near my machine and looks like a mess, but it works for me.

As I am adding the blue triangles, I read about several people online that are having problems with their corners being eaten by the machine.  Here is what I do:  one the blue is place, I flip the piece over and sew on the neutral side (so that I can make sure not to chop off points on the yellow).  I butt the piece right up to where the blunt blue edge is (see picture above for shape of blue) and sew.  The overlaps the points with the previous unit, but as these are just disposable dog ears, it is not an issue.  I took this picture for you and Mister laughed and told me that I should have at least blown the fabric lint off first.  Always the photographer.

Everything goes so nice --- I have them done before noon on today (Sunday)!  Woot woot!  I cannot believe it.  Now I can let this mystery go for the next few days and focus on my classes.  I am taking Bonnie Hunter classes the next three days -- one each day.  I am not cut or ready for them at all.  The rest of today will be spent cutting for them.  First up tomorrow:  another mystery quilt and I LOVE the fabric we are using.  So very excited.  See you again for clue 6 next weekend.

Piece count so far:   Step 1:  1,140 required (although I made extra blocks)
                                Step 2:  1,464 required (again, I made extra blocks)
                                Step 3:     976 required (yep, you know it -- extra of both units)
                                Step 4:  1,200 required (")
                                Step 5:     732 required (obviously you know me by now)
Total:  5,512 at this point.

Click here to link back to Bonnie.

Mom H's Bday

The last birthday of the year is Mom H's and we went to share the day with her.  After a nice lunch at Mi Cocina,  we went back to the house with the rest of the family for time to visit, give gifts, and have a sweet treat.

Two get togethers less than a week apart --- could we be starting something?  I certainly hope so and don't these cupcakes look divine?  They tasted oh so yummy as well.

Block Swap - January's Mailing

I joined a block swap for the new year and am really excited about it.  We are doing a zig-zag quilt with bright white and a color.  I dug through my stash and found some really fun fabric for the first block and went about putting a dozen of these together.

Since I am working with a bold print and a solid white, I have to be extra picky about the center of the V.  If it doesn't line up just so -- it really stands out.  I put the first one together and ta da -- it looks so fun.  

As I am putting the finishing touches on these, I look behind me and Mister has grabbed the list and is addressing envelopes and stuffing the blocks in for me.  He is just so supportive and involved in my projects.  I am indeed one lucky lady.