Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving is always a wonderful time to reflect on what we are thankful for and the many blessings in our lives. So here's my list:

Faith, Family and Friends are always first. My health, a wonderful home which is still new after two years, work I enjoy, and freedom come next. I'm thankful for the many blessings which we often take for granted including the joy of creating! I'm even thankful for my age, due to the contentment and peace at this stage of my life.

I've started a new scrapbook to capture our Thanksgiving memories and blessings, as the years rush by and all too often, we don't remember the details of that special day. I'll share pictures of it soon.

May your day be filled with lots of joy, family, friends, wonderful memories and of course turkey and football!

Hello from Fredericksberg, Texas. We had such a wonderful day that I forgot to publish this post! We've gone from 83 to 43 degrees over night...quite a change! We even went to a real Friday night Texas high school football playoff game! Hope you have had a wonderful holiday. Oh yes, I am bringing home fabric...2 yards that jumped off the bolt and into my suitcase. The large poinsettia on a dark background...perfect for a quick holiday 9 patch pizazz...watch for pictures soon!

Triple the fun with Triple Rail fence

This triple rail fence was created for a class sample, from an Alex Anderson book. It is truly flat, but due to the way it was hanging for this photo, it is a bit wavy. It has been done for some time...sitting in the pile of tops to be quilted!

Last Sunday afternoon, I sat in my sewing room, petting my fabrics...you know the motions....sorting and resorting, considering various combinations...ready to work on a new project. I really didn't have a specific focus, other than being limited to using my stash and wanting to do something a bit more challenging, maybe using some of my orientals or batiks. I was just stuck...I was not inspired ...After over an hour, I finally gave up, realizing I was just too tired!

We celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday here in Oregon, so that dad who lives with us would be able to enjoy the big dinner, before my son and I leave to celebrate the holiday in Texas. Spending the entire day cooking, starting with the turkey and dressing at 9:30a.m., then moving on to the sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (according to the boys in my life, it's not a holiday meal without it) baking two pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy and then of course some rolls was quite a bit of work! At 7:30 as I put the last dish in the dishwasher, I realized that this is a meal that is better cooked with friends or family! I was exhausted at the end of the day, as I am still recovering from pneumonia and just don't have my normal energy and stamina.

Today, I'm cleaning, organizing and of course trying to pack, as we fly to Texas on Tuesday. As I get older... I have this need to leave my home organized so that it is not a mess to come home to nor are there any smelly surprises in the fridge, etc! We are so looking forward to spending the week in Fredericksberg, which is a wonderful town in the hill country west of Austin and San Antonio. I'm sure we will be hitting the shops along main street for some Christmas shopping in this historic German tourist stop.

Well, I need to get back to my list...as soon as I cross off a few more tasks, it will be time to move into the sewing room! Hope to have good quilting news to share soon!

Santa's Got the Goods

Yes, the center is a pre-printed panel...oh my don't tell the quilt police or they will begin to twitch and write out a quilt rule violation. I must say they do make me crazy...sometimes a gal just wants an easy, quick, mindless project!

I came across this pre-packaged project just before vacation in August and thought it would be the perfect project to take along to Sunrvier. Well, it didn't get out of the bag on vacation, but was just the right project to work on while I was home sick for weeks. A few minutes here and a few more later in the day and a block came together. Little by little it grew on the design wall.

Below is an example of a technique I had read about, which was to press seams open rather than to one side when you have multiple sets of triangles coming together. It really did eliminate the lump where the all the points come together without clipping the seams

There was so much fabric that was left over, including an extra panel, that I will be making a second one with the addition of just the border fabric, and a few other small pieces from my stash. I'm sure the second one will end up either under someones Christmas tree or as donation for one of the organizations that have auctions each year that I'm involved with.

In case you also missed it...the Quilt 4 pleasure ring will be gone as of November 6th. A new ring Quilt 4 fun is starting in place of it. That's why there are so many missing links in the Quilt 4 pleasure ring...for all of you previously on Quilt 4 pleasure that were before and after my blog, I'm going to try to keep up with what you are up to! Happy Quilting!

Fall continues on

I so love the color of this tree...just one of the little joys of my day is looking at it each chance I get. This photo was taken two weeks after the previous post photo. Fall continues here in Oregon, cool crisp evenings and delightful sunny days. I so enjoyed sitting in the chair this weekend soaking up a few moments of sun, after our bulb planting marathon. We planted over 300 bulbs on Saturday and on Sunday, I could barely move!

In terms of quilting I'm working on placing binding on the two baby quilts, in preparation for our Thanksgiving trip to Texas. I've also been working on a Christmas quilt, which I'll share in a future posting. Today, I went into the quilt shop in Newport, at the coast, and managed to walk out with buying anything! A stash buster success story!

Tomorrow we celebrate Halloween and my birthday! Always a fun day watching all the kids coming to the door. Of course, as a child it was always a great day, as the party after trick or treating was at my house. For the past several years my son has had some type of "surprise" party each year...once it has become a tradition, it is no longer quite the same surprise. However, I don't have any hints or think there will be a party this year...but then again, it may be a true surprise!

Fall in Oregon

Welcome to my favorite spot in the back yard. My plan was to photograph the tree every day to capture the changes. That was two weeks ago...between the pneumonia and a trip to hospital for a kidney stone, my plan was set aside. The tree is now as bright red as the chairs. I'll try to take another picture soon!

Spent most of yesterday, outside planting over 300 bulbs (tulips, daffodils, etc.) Of course, I over did it, after being stuck in side for so long. Today, I pay the price with screaming muscles and aches in places that I never knew could ache! We've had wonderful warm, sunny days and crisp cool nights with a huge autumn moon!

The two quilts from the previous post are already back from the long arm quilter and ready for binding. Two more Christmas ones are now waiting for their turn on her machine. If all goes well, they will be done just after Thanksgiving.

Going to the Longarm Quilter

This evening two baby quilts are headed to a new machine quilter, so that they are ready to take with us to Texas at Thanksgiving. After being home with pneumonia for several weeks, I decided the only way to get these done was to send them out! It is also a good project for a new machine quilter, to see if I like her work, etc.

The first one features the monkey sock fabric, which makes me laugh every time I see it. It brings back fond memories of my little boy jumping on the bed singing "3 little monkeys jumping on the bed..." My little boy is now 19 and no longer could jump on the bed without hitting his 6 foot 4inches body on the ceiling!

The second one is left over minkee fabric from my Stash!! Yes, I am making a dent, ever so small in my stash!! Even after making both of these quilts, I still have leftover Minkee. I was hoping this quilt would be the end of it! It reminds me of sewing with polyester fabric, as it is so slippery...definitely not my favorite.

Tokyo in January!!

After several weeks of indecision, today I booked my plane ticket to Tokyo in January to see the Tokyo Great International Quilt Show!! Most of my dilemma was around the $1100. cost for the plane ticket. Knowing this is my sisters last year in Japan and that it would be my last chance to go for awhile, I was desperate to figure out a way to go, that wouldn't cost so much.

Last week, while home with pneumonia, I decided to check to see how many airline miles my son had. I discovered if I transferred a few thousand miles from my account to his, I would soon have enough miles for a reward ticket for under $200!! Thanks wonderful son for the plane ticket!!

I'll be meeting my sister that lives in Okinawa and my niece for the week in Tokyo! I'm so excited and looking forward to going back again this year. We had a wonderful trip last year...see earlier posts for many wonderful quilts from that show. Now it's time to plan some day trips for the days that we are not at the quilt show or in Nippori fabric shopping...ok bloggers...any ideas? Also, would love to meet for coffee any fellow bloggers that are going to the show.