New Patterns April 2009

I realized when I was looking over some photos today that I never posted any pics of the new designs. So I will send some new pics of the quilts I debuted at the Quilter's Heritage Festival in Lancaster, PA this year.

Pattern: Grandma's in the Kitchen


Pattern: Fender Bender
Sized for an extra long twin bed


Pattern: Trellis Rose
This pattern is a reprint from 2006 made with different fabrics.

Hope you like the new designs. Soon I will post a pic of the new BOM patterns I have released this year.
Happy Quilting!

Guild Night

So Monday was a bit of a busy day and nothing really exciting to blog about unless you want to look at pics of my computer screen while I worked on the Guild Newsletter or the printing of Block 4 of the Civil War BOM I am doing for Millstone Quilts. I also made the election ballots for the quilt guild elections for the 2009-2010 board.
I didn't think you would find that very interesting. But, on the way out of my driveway I saw this little baby of the power lines. I say baby because I am quite convinced that all the redtail hawks in the area are all my babies. We do have a pair that lay in the same next next to our garage every year and raise their babies every spring. So... I am pretty that they are either one the pair or one of the babies. I see one almost every day but today I had my camera at the ready.

And then I went off to the Guild election meeting *yawn* because it was my duty to the Guild to go... but I did make a stop on the way.
This is the only way that I could make it through the meeting. Thank God for Iced Coffee.
Cheers!

McCafe

No matter what kind of day you are having I think just knowing there is stuff like this just waiting in the McDonald's drivethru makes everything soooo much better. I don't even care about the calories. It's like McDonald's is reading my mind. I love the beads of sweat on the cup. tehe


Enjoy!

Millstone Quilts Outdoor Show 2009

On May 2nd and 3rd I had the wonderful opportunity to host a Cabin In The Woods Trunk Show at Millstone Quilts in Old Church, VA during their annual outdoor quilt show, sale and BBQ. Each year Millstone hosts a customer quilt show on their grounds where customers can show off their quilting talents. They have a 25% off sale for anything in the store and they serve a free southern style BBQ lunch. It's a really wonderful event and I was asked to bring down the quilts and greet the customers.

Here is the trunk show set up on Saturday morning on the porch of my favorite shop down by the creek.

All the new designs were on display as were most of the old designs in the line. Isn't this the cutest little shop. Little is actually very deceiving. This "little" shop has three floors of fabric and is definately worth the trip.
The quilts were on display in the trees all day until about 2:30pm when the rains came.

Here is the trunk show rearranged on Sunday to accomodate the rain that lasted all day. I was nestled on the porch on Sunday (at one point wrapped up in one of my samples due to the draft) and greeted customers with Smoke the cat. Who, I should mention, is not friendly. He is a certified attack cat so if you ever get to Millstone... I would advise saying hi to the cat from a distance. However, Smoke and I became fast friends. Well he liked me anyone. We played a great game of cat and mouse (he was the cat) and he enjoyed torturing me by laying on top of all my business cards on the table and swatting at anyone who tried to take one.

The show turned out to be a wonderful success for me and the sale was a great success for the shop. We were even able to talk a couple of gals into signing up for the Civil War BOM that I designed for the shop this year. All the quilts looked great and I received many compliments. The crowd favorite at this show... Grammy's Thread Box which is the spool quilt in the middle of the above photo.
Happy Quilting!

Friday's Field Trip

Yesterday I kinda caught everyone up on all the work stuff but promised to catch up more with some backwards posts with pics. So I here is a little snippet of Friday that I will share with you over coffee. Little Brat took a Second Grade Field Trip to The Gari Melchers house in Belmont (Fredericksburg, VA). For those of you not familiar with Gari Melchers (and who would be unless you are REALLY into art) he was a very famous painter/artist. He was known primarily for his portraits. He studied in Germany as a boy and had studios all over the world, most noteably in New York and Paris. Won many awards... blah, blah, blah... and settled here in our home town. He bought a beautiful estate and filled it with his wife's enormous china collection (so big in fact that they cannot display all of it). Sounds like many of us with our fabric. I took a few shots with my point and shoot camera on the estate. I am always looking for interesting B&W pics to decorate our cabin. The grounds ar positively beautiful so if you ever get this way you should stop in and visit and then go down the hill and have lunch at Annie's Cafe.

This is a pic I took of Little Brat and me on the grounds. The kids had a great time learning about life cycles on the farm and art from the wonderful volunteers. They even had a little scavenger hunt and ran all over the grounds.

I was glad I had the opportunity to be picked as a chaperone and hang out with Little Brat for the day.

Happy Mother's Day

So a friend pointed out the other day that I have spent way too much time working and connecting on Facebook and haven't posted anything on my blog in 2 months. That's terrible. So today is the day that I rectify this travesty. I don't want anyone to miss out on the going's on around here. So here was the actual important happening from 4am this morning.

In a nutshell... the last two months have really been all about work. Yes... there has been some socializing and Facebooking and visiting family. But mostly I have been attached to the sewing maching and computer and working like a dog. I managed to put out two new applique patterns and one re-release of a quilt design this year. I will be sure to post the pics for you in the next Blog. They premiered at The Quilter's Heritage Celebration (an International Qult Show in Lancaster, PA). The designs were quite popular.

I picked up three new clients at the show and of course many, many new customers. I was able to stay at the booth throught out the four day show and meet lots of friendly quilters and sign many patterns. Immediately after getting back it was time to get to work on the Civil War BOM that I designed exclusively for Millstone Quilts. They began the project back in March and I am working on making sure they have everything they need each month. I also had a few more new clients not from the show. I had two trunk shows running through April and my first outdoor quilt show/trunk show with Millstone the first weekend in May.

All were very successful... I have had to reprint both new patterns twice already in the last two months. The company is crazy busy. I am crazy busy. Yesterday I found a new home for a dog and drove 4 hours to deliver it and visit with my Mom for Mother's Day. Today was my Mother's Day. I got home last night at Midnight and awoke at 4am so it was inevitable that I would nap today... and I did.

This morning I was presented with three red roses from my Mom (in honor of the three Grandsons I have given her). My boys gave me a new book, some iTunes gift cards and a wonderful iPod docking station to make a stereo for me in the house and studio. It was great. I also bought a couple of used digital point shoot cameras for my business. So I put on shoes and went out in my pajamas this morning to take a couple of pics.


I found this small Bleeding Heart blossom with this daddylonglegs on it. I was testing out the macro capabilities of the new camera. He looks like he found the perfect spot huh?

I love the way the buttercups poke up through the stones in my sidewalk. Some people would mind that but I don't. These are about the only flowers I have in my yard today.

I have been growing Clamatis on my porch for the last four years. I got three blossoms last year on this side of the railing and my old lab walked out one day and wagged her tail and knocked all the blossoms off. Today I was very excited to see all the new buds on the plants. I have high hopes for big beautiful blooms this year.
Well... it has been wonderful checking back in with everyone. I will post more this week.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day today and can't wait to get caught up on all the blogs posts I have been missing.

Congratulations Big Boy!

The past few weeks have been so incredibly busy. Work has been crazy and hubby and I have spent many hours working on Scouts for all the boys. Last night all the hard work was worth it. Our oldest son has been a scout for the five years. He began as a Tiger Cub in the first grade and has worked very hard over the last 5 years to earn all the ranks and last night at the Blue and Gold ceremony he graduated from Cub Scouts as a Super Achiever. He has earned every rank possible as a Webelo Scout and received his epaulets and kerchief for his new Troop. He is now my first Boy Scout. I am very proud of him. I wish him the best of luck in his journey to Eagle Scout.

Oh... and as a side note. Hubby made the wooden holder for the keepsake banner and Mom made all the banners for the boys. Now I can relax a little and blog about some of the wonderful things getting made around this house.

Dieters Challenge

OK ladies... I know everyone is wondering about me and how I am doing in the challenge. I have been home with boys in the house cause of snow and school closing so I have not made it to the gym for two days... UGH! I haven't been able to weigh myself at all.

I did manage to attend the gym 4 out of 5 days last week and I am pretty proud about that. Also the recovery from the trainer was much easier this week cause we did more circuit training and broke up the muscle groups... which for those of you who are interested is not only easier to recover but it BURNS MORE CALORIES!!!!!

I also wanted to update you on the fact that that I mentioned I have not been hungry... so I am the opposite of most people when trying to lose weight. I am not tempted by the cookies and such... I have a hard time putting fuel in my body. That is just as bad if not worse than eating the wrong things. Besides the obvious suggestions from the trainer to set a timer and eat every two to three hours in small bursts (which I have a terrible time doing cause I am so business with my pattern business) another suggestion was made to try meal replacement shakes. These are not diet shakes like Slimfast and such but protein shakes. I have been using Boost premade shakes. They are great for breakfast cause I can grab one on the way to the gym and I know that I am getting the nutrition that I need to workout.

The nutritionist made this suggestion to help until I figure out a regular eating schedule and I think it is helping a great deal. So I am hoping that the weight will begin coming off. The interesting thing is that although my actual weight hovers around 216-217 I have actually dropped about a size and a half in jeans. I can't explain it but it feels good so I'm not gonna knock it. Maybe things are just shifting around a bit.

I sure hope that all of you are having your own successes as well. Let me know if any of you have any questions that I can pose to my pros. Take care and good luck to everyone. I will try to post pic updates soon.

Dieters Challenge Update

Hello ladies... I know, I know.... I didn't post on Monday. I was at the YMCA working out though so that counts right. So here's the verdict. I am not dieting I am just exercising and I need to learn to eat more (if that makes sense to anyone cause my problem is that I never eat). But... I weighed myself on Monday on the scale at the gym... and I lost... dah dah dah... 1 pound. Which actually made the trainer and my friend the skinny little nutritionist very happy. And what made me happy... that the skinny little nutritionist gained a pound. hehe

Hope all of you are doing well and I will try to do better at posting on Monday cause it's not fair otherwise.

Dieters Challenge - Warning!

OK... I have done it. I have posted pictures of my body before I reached my diet goal. This is me how I usually am in the morning. Heading to the loft to work or getting the boys off to school in the morning. Always pretty casual but ready for anything. So Sharon at Red Geranium Cottage has set aside a fitness challenge or at least that's what I am calling it because I don't diet. And she has been calling for all of us to come clean and post photos of ourselves online. I finally got hubby to help. He took forever to take the photo which is why I am not my usual smiling self. I have been working out at the gym for the last month and am feeling much better but when 2009 started I have really been moving by increasing my cardio and moving to 5 days a week.

So here you go Sharon... just so you know that I didn't forget about you, I have come clean and posted my photos too. Hopefully this will motivate someone to get their photos up too. I will try to keep you posted about my progress and share some more photos soon.

Motivationally Challenged

OK here is the deal. I can't seem to get into the loft and get any work done. This Christmas was wicked stressful and I seemed to be completely overwhelmed. I couldn't fugure out what seemed to have been bothering me. So I sat back and took stock of the messy house, the messy boys that were now home with me everyday for two weeks, the new dog (giant horse Gracie), the new puppy and a completely obsession relationship with facebook (which I completely blame my friend Amy for). Now it seems that I have so much to keep me busy that I can't do what I really need to do which is get motivated to actually work in the studio on my designs for Lancaster this year.

So I was wondering if any of you have any ideas about how to go about getting my groove back. Today I managed to get more done in the house by leaving the headphones on and just ignoring everyone else. But I would prefer to get lost in the sewing right now and not the cleaning. Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Happy FESTIVUS!

I just wanted to take this oppotunity... in support of my boys at Fox and Friends, to wish everyone a Very Happy Festivus this holiday season. I have been watching faithfully every morning as they report about all the scrooges in the world trying to ruin Christmas by being polically correct. So today is Festivus.... and I want to wish everyone a very happy Festivus and encourage all of you to get into the holiday spirit by airing all your grievances on my comments page. I posted this on my facebook page as well this morning and I am hoping to help everyone make it through this holiday season with this smile.


I have been so stressed this holiday season and barely got up the tree so I wanted to let you know that if I can stay this happy with three children and a husband and four needy dogs at home with me every day for 2 1/2 weeks, you can too!
For those that don't understand my sick sense of humor, don't worry... I will be posting on Chrismas as well....
For those that don't know what FESTIVUS is (where were you when Seinfeld was on TV... living under a rock) it's a fictional holiday made up on a tv show that is making an appearance this holiday season as a slap in the face to all the Humanists who want everyone to know that they think their is no God. You can google it and laugh for yourself.
Hope all of you and yours are enjoying this joyous holiday season.... no matter what your religion and come back and see me.

'Tis the season

This week I had a cookie baking day with some friends. I think we baked around 12-15 dozen cookies. We had to keep trying the recipes over and over again. I am having the same problem my friend Kim is having with her Christmas baking. When all was said and done I sent most of the cookies home with my friend for her family. The story is that my mother baked a bunch of cookies for Thanksgiving and I gave some to my friend but her teenage kids kept eating them. I kept giving her cookies and they kept eating them. So we decided to have a cookie day and bake my mother's cookies... and other things as well.
The first batch were too crumbly and so on... and we finally got the recipe just right.
We also make these delectable peanut butter cup cookies that are straight from heaven. Of course I gave half of them to my personal trainer when she was here :0 (for her husband)


Then we made these chocolate chip beauties.

These were the first batch of peanut better cookies. At first I wanted to save them... they were a little over-baked. But the others tasted soooo good that I stored them here.

But since I have given away all the cookies... I will be baking again today. At least tonight. Right now I am heading out Christmas Shopping AAAAAgain with a girlfriend (cookie mama). After all that baking... here's me.

Actually, it should be called my shopping grin and the end of baking. It did make me feel really good to make the cookies for the kids and we sure did have a lot of fun making them... right girls.
Merry Christmas!

In Love with this face!

I have other things to write about today.... but I saw this sitting on my bed this morning. Hubby thinks that he has become entirely too attached to me already. He has bonded!... what can I say. I had to put this photo up and brag about this face. It's the cutest puppy face ever. Judging by the size of his legs and paws... I want to enjoy it now because he is going to be the size of a small country.

Enjoy!

There's Still Hope...?

Yesterday I wrote about my youngest son, Little Brat. One of the scout moms laughed and then sent a couple of photos that she took at the same Christmas pageant. Her son was in the angel choir but not in the play. She took this photo of my little wiseman (his character played a wiseman in the play within the play). He actually looks like he belongs in Bethlehem with the palm tree behind him.

The second photo is actually the one that matters. Right at the end of the play the assistant pastor of the church stood up and led the group in prayer. Here's Little Brat right in the middle of all the participants. I couldn't believe it. While all of the other children and adults were waiting for the prayer to begin, my son was in his own meditation. He looks absolutely angelic.

Maybe there is still hope for us all. Of course, I am kidding. I think he's the cutest and the sweetest little angel ever. I know exactly why everyone loves him. He's the best. He's also a little brat but cute all the same. I just want to scoop him up and eat him. It's the only thing that has kept me from killing him for the last eight years.
Just thought I would share this with you in the spirit of Christmas.
Come to think of it.... he was probably praying for toys... and that Santa has a sense of humor.

A difference of opinion

Here is what Big Boy thinks about Charley. He justs wants to snuggle him and love him and sleep with him. He's so tiny... awhhh.
Right up until the time that he poops on the floor because everyone was so busy playing with him that they forgot to let him out.

Little Brat thinks he's the greatest ever. Same thing... you don't really expect me to clean that up do you. Not really... I just expect them to take him outside. All they have to do is open the door and let him out into the yard. He loves to go out there and almost always wants to stay out there. So why is there mess in the house.

I'm exhausted. We haven't slept well in at least three days. The only ones in the house getting any sleep are the kids and the puppy. Hubby wrapped him in one of my quilts so he be warm while napping on my bed.

I just want to poke him. WAKE UP!!! If Momma doesn't sleep then nobody sleeps... Get It! It doesn't work. BABIES.... can't live with 'em and can't ditch 'em 'cause their too darn cute. I might have to visit some friends to take a nap. I hope all of you out there in blogland are getting some rest and gearing up for the holidays. After reading my blog the last few days you should have no excuses. I'm trying to wear you out so you'll get some rest... or at least appreciate it when you do.
Good Luck!

How Big IS the Dog?

Despite the fact that I am airing my laundry (my real laundry) for everyone to see... I really needed to give everyone perspective on the size of this dog. I sat on the floor to take this photo of Brandy, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. When she's excited she knocks the laundry off the table with her tail. Hubby thinks it's hysterical. Thankfully she won't get any bigger. I can't say the same for Chocolate Chip Charley who will probably eventually be the same size.

LOL... what were we thinking?

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Here is a photo of Little Brat in his theatrical debute playing Claude Herdman in the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. He's the one on the far end in the "prison stripes" and backwards baseball cap. If you don't know the story of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever you should. It's a really great little book. Basically he plays one of the 6 hoodlum kids in the neighborhood who come to be in the church Christmas pageant because the lady who normally runs it has broken her leg and the minister gives out free snacks.

My son plays one of the Herdmans, the poor kids in the neighborhood who beat up on everyone and set fire to the church. I found it to be a completely typecasted role for Little Brat and I don't see how he will ever get another part in his life. Actually I am kidding. Little Brat is actually a great friend he just a little stinker. Since we are so well known in the community (I was the PTA Treasurer for two years and we run the local cub scout pack, etc.) I get friendly calls from parents all the time. They are always laughing to tell me the latest thing that he did or said. Last week a mother called to tell me that my son bet her son that he should call 1-800-FART-POLICE on the phone when he got off the bus. You get an idea of who he is as a person. So playing a Herdman wasn't a stretch. Hubby says he takes after me.

He has been memorizing lines and attending rehearsals for about 6 weeks and Sunday morning was the final performance. He did great as expected. See... he is also smart as a whip which is what makes him so sly. Everyone loves him. My mother lovingly told me she thought he would be the one to make me a Grandma first (I shudder to think of that). I think he will be an evil genius. He will either be very wealthy or paroled early.

Of course me camera battery died about 1/2 way through the show but he looked really cute performing and did an excellent job (as expected by Mom) so I thought you would enjoy knowing what else we have been up to around here.
Enjoy!

Our Pack Expands by Two

Many of you do not know this but November of last year my husband and I (and the boys I suppose) lost a very beloved family member to old age. Hubby and I adopted a neglected 11 month old Chesapeake Bay Retriever from a bad situation and she was our first baby together. Well that little girl grew up to be a true "Man's Best Friend" (and woman's too). She mothered my young and protected our family until she passed away at the ripe old age of 14 1/2. Not a bad life. Before she passed I adopted a tiny West Highland White Terrier puppy that I named Duncan who is now my right hand. Duncan has a sister, a very eldery Black Lab mix named Kelly that came to us as a stray at 6 months old. She is now 13 years old and hardly getting around anymore.

My husband realized this month that it had been more than a year since our beloved Ally passed away and has been thinking of adopting (or purchasing rather) a Chesapeake Bay puppy for Christmas. I have to say I was against it. Another puppy in the house... yeesh! But I didn't want to lose another elderly dog and leave my poor terrier alone in the house. Not a good idea for terriers anyway even though my little guy is a social animal and loves visitors.

Last week hubby made a stop at the local animal shelter and didn't really connect with anyone there of the canine persuasion. He was searching on the internet at the local animal shelters. He finally found an ad for a 3-yr. old female Chesapeake Bay Retriever that needed a good home. She was not at the shelter but was a courtesy listing for a local couple about 30 minutes from us. He made the call to go and see her to see if she would fit in with our family. We actually prefer adoption anyway and like working with a slightly older dog. He left a message and waited to hear back.

Meanwhile, back at the Cabin, I was on my way to Big Boy's soccer game on Saturday and saw a man in a minivan by the side of the road with a sign that said "Lab Pups for Sale". I prefer my labs of the Chocolate persuasion (who wouldn't) and I decided to stop and see what he had. Of course it did occur to me that a single woman stopping to look into the back of a minivan at some guy's puppies might have been some sort of trap but being the naive idiot that I am I stopped anyway.

They did have one little chocolate lab puppy (male) of the litter and he had the most gorgeous yellow/green eyes that I had ever seen. I fell in love. I told the guy then and there that I would love to take him. I would call later and see if my husband would come with me to pick him up.

Of course, later that day just before we went to get the puppy, the lady with the Chesapeake Bay called to see if we would love to come out and see her. My husband, having not really known of my committment said we would love to come and see her and made an appointment. The couple was very glad because considering our story and our circumstances we sounded like the perfect family to adopt her.

OK... this story is getting long... I will get to the point. My husband drove us out to King George and took one look at "Brandy" and fell in love with her. He adopted her on the spot. Did I mention that she weighs about 100 pounds. She resembles a small pony with the same gallup. We drove all the way with this poor unsuspecting dog and set her up with a coming place to lay. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what I am going to do about this puppy. I came clean to hubby and he said we could adopt them both. It's just slightly insane but we just couldn't decide.

So by Monday afternoon we had TWO new dogs. One made her giant self at home by sleeping in the center of my bed. I think she very quickly adopted us too. The other one is a tiny ball of cuteness that cannot be denied. Not by the adults, the boys or the other dogs. My little Duncan has adopted him as him own particular playmate and Brandy has adopted everyone as her pups. So we may very well be completely and undeniably INSANE but our little pack has increased by two and we can't be happier.

Thought I would share the story and a couple of photos of the new KIDS and explain why blogging is taking so long these days. Right now we are all napping on the bed and the two new ones are dreaming so they are barking a little in their sleep. I hope they are dreaming good dreams of their new family.

Here is Brandy the big dog. She looks remarkable like our old girl and has much the same personality.

What a regal princess.

Here's the handsome Prince that I have named Chocolate Chip Charley. Hubby likes the name Chip but I think he looks like a Charley.

Could you have left this little face behind? I couldn't! I was sold. Hubby thinks he makes sounds like a baby Grissley Bear when he sleeps. What can I say... just like my own little boys.... He had me at HELLO!

Little Brat has a Birthday

So... part of the reason that I took a break from posting was Thanksgiving. My family was descending on me for the weekend. My Mom and Dad came into town on Wednesday evening. They were staying with me at my house with their 4 month old Cocker Spaniel puppies. They were very good at my house. I have a doggy door and a fenced yard but it was a little doggy crowded here at first.
My oldest brother (of the four older brothers) arrived on Wednesday night as well. He was visiting with my boys. He stayed the night in a hotel but hung out with them as late as he could. I woke Thursday morning and did what I suspect most of us did... started the Turkey and set up as much as I could.
As usual at my house, the turkey came early this year. I guess that's better than coming a little late but the bird flew the coop about 2 hours early. My second oldest brother arrived with his family on Thursday morning (most of the family came in from Maryland, my home state) so it wasn't too far to drive, but our traffic is legendary so it takes awhile. After dinner and the cleanup my sister-in-law and I start scanning the ads for the Black Friday shopping event the next day. Mom, brother, sis IL, and I went out shopping on Thanksgiving night to a couple of stores where I managed to find a birthday present for the same brother... talk about stress.
At the end of the night I began baking a sheet cake for the next day's events.
Friday morning began early again. I managed to complete baking and decorating this cake for Little Brat's birthday party which we planned to have at an indoor soccer stadium on Friday night. I had most RSVP's complete and needed to purchase and make gift bags for all the kids that night. Here is the cake I made from scratch. I blurred out the important info but you get the jist. I made the soccer ball from scratch from a cake in a bowl. I think it turned out pretty good.

We went out shopping at about 10am when the real craziness died down a bit. I picked everything needed for the party that night and got out all the leftovers for the adults. Did I mention that my cleaning lady came while we were home on Friday. So in the middle of the entire crowd we had someone dusting and mopping the floor. While it sounds great you should think about it for a minute. Lifting your feet while your trying to eat your lunch and the stress of watching someone work around you while you just sit there. I don't know about you guys but it was stressful for me. And the poor cleaning lady who was cleaning around 11 people, 2 dogs and 2 puppies.
We headed off to the stadium at about 6pm and had 22 kids + parents for a birthday party from 7pm-9pm.
It was incredibly fun but you can imagine I was pretty tired on Saturday morning. The good news was most everyone was gone by Friday night late. The only house guests I had were my parents and the puppies of course. The next day (Sat.) was soccer game day. We made breakfast, cleaned up and headed back to the soccer stadium for Big Boys game. We took everyone to lunch at Capital Ale House downtown and then headed home. Mom and I managed to make it out to Quilt and Sew in Fred before they headed home at 4pm.
I put on my pajamas at 5pm and climbed into bed where I started a reading marathon (Twilight) and watched about 20 episodes of Sex and The City on HBO On Demand. What an adventure eh? I am exhausted just telling you about it. How crazy was your holiday? The good news was that Little Brat had never had a big birthday party. He had a great time and despite the fact that I planned it one Black Friday he actually had kids show up. How did I make that happen? I put a little note in the invitation that went a little like this:
Dear Parents, I realize that I have planned this party on Thanksgiving weekend and that many of you will be out of town visiting relatives. But if you are in town and would like to come by the Field House I would love to provide you with an opportunity to drop off your kids for a great time and get some shopping done on your own or just relax and have a little dinner by yourselves. Of course, you are always welcome to stay and play dodgeball and soccer with your kids and join us in the good time. --- And then I invited 36 kids.
We had lots of Dads that hung out and had a great time. And we had lots of couples that took me up on the favor. I was glad to have them either way. All the kids had fun and Little Brat was indeed the star.

Millstone Quilts - Fat Quarter Sale

I can't believe I have to get caught up on a blog again. I seems that I have been so busy getting things done around here with Thanksgiving and all that I haven't had time to post. Remember my Tour de Quilt Shop Hop back in October for my birthday? Well during that tour they ladies pulled my name in one of the drawings and I won a MODA gift bag. I told them I would pick it up at Millstone Quilts (remember the little red mill by the creek?). I thought it would be nice to pick it up there. I knew I would enjoy seeing Ms. Regina and her crew again. Also, Millstone has a fantastic sale once a year. $1.00 FQ's cut from the fabrics all over the shop. This is an annual sale they have in November before Thanksgiving. My friend, CH, went with me and we had a great time at the store. I didn't get any photos of the actual sale this time. But here is a photo of what I won.

Doesn't it look like a fantastic bag. I actually took the bag out to my car and emptied it so I could use the bag to shop. I was looking to improve my collection of civil war and 30's repros for some upcoming projects this year. I was also looking for stash to create a couple of BOM's for Millstone. So I went a little wild. But heh!... who couldn't go a little wild on fabric during this sale? I found some gorgeous prints from the Louisa May Alcott fabrics. I was able to ring the cow bell at the store twice. They gave me two copies of the free pattern Soduko (I gave the 2nd one to CH) and I bought this Cynthia England pattern called Old Grist Mill. I just had to. Someday I will get around to making it too. Here is my haul from the day.

I know what you're thinking. This woman is madddd!!!! And then you wish you were me! It was fun looking at it afterwards. I came home with 200 FQ's and I thought about rolling around in them naked...... but I decided to fondle them instead.

Wednesday Hubby gets a pie in the eye

Yeah... you heard me right... a pie in the eye. OK. The story goes like this. Hubby is the cubmaster of the cub scout pack that our sons belong to. I am the Advancements and Awards Chairperson. Have any of you ever worked with your husband? Let's just say... we are both volunteers, we both do things our own way and we hardly ever agree which way that should be. We do have some very active parents in our Pack and some great volunteers but when it comes to attending administrative meetings.... well that's a whole other ball game. So it had come to our attention from the Pack Committee Chair on a Tuesday that the last day to attend Popcorn training (yes I know how stupid that sounds) was on Thursday and there was no way that any parent volunteer could be acquired in one day and made to attend a training meeting. So, as all mature, responsible adults do when faced with this situation... Hubby and I played rock, paper, scissors to see which one of the two of us would have to attend on behalf of the kids.
I LOST!
On a Thursday, on top of all my other work, I headed to a council meeting to attend a (what I assumed was) short sales presentation at 7:00pm on how to organize popcorn sales for the Pack. At 9pm... yes 2 hours later... I realized that what I was actually attending was a rather lengthy video presentation on how to improve the sales skills of your scouts to sell more stuff. They had an adorable boy on the screen who had sold $76,000 of popcorn by himself and was a super achiever (which none of our children will ever be). I was trapped. There was no way to extricate myself from the situation with my humor and dignity intact. I sat and took copius notes.
On the way home, after finding a bathroom ('cause I went there with a gallon cup of Starbucks iced coffee), I played the sales pitches over in my head many times. It was totally unfair that I had to sit through all that. After all, that was definately Hubby's job and he wanted the kids to be Eagle Scouts just like him. An interesting sales tactic emerged in my head (suggested of course by the wonderful Trail's End sales rep). His statement was this..."The BEST motivation that works for kids... the thing they want the most... the thing that gets them out there selling and making their goals... pie in the face. They all want to pie the cubmaster in the face". That's right. That's what he said.
I forgot all the rest. I had my sales strategy all mapped out by the time my car pulled into the driveway. My husband was on the sofa watching tv (looking all smug) when I came in. He asked, "How was it?", behind a Cheshire grin. I told him that I had the whole popcorn plan mapped out and I would share it with him. Any kid in the pack that sells 6 units of popcorn gets to pie you in the face. You should have seen how fast his jaw dropped. That'll teach you Mr. Smug.
So each boy was given his sales flyer and a quest.

1 unit = patch, 6 units = pie in the face.

You should have seen their adorable little faces. They were ready. We have 27 boys in our pack (not a big one at all). After all the sales were tabulated, 17 boys got to pie him in the face. Wednesday night was our big Pack Meeting. Here is a photo of Little Brat (he's the one reading the instructions out loud for the flag ceremony) participating in the opening ceremonies.

I have to admit that Hubby had other things planned as well. He stalled as long as he could until the boys started chanting PIE... PIE. One of our wonderful parents brought brownies and homemade whipped cream for all the boys and then they lined up to commence the tossing. After every one else had gone I made sure that I got him one more time in the hair and everything. Here is hubby after they were through. He smelled like "cream" all the way home. REALLY!

All the boys had a great time (after all it's all about them anyway) and Hubby wasn't harmed by any side-armed paper plates. In the end I WON! That rock, paper, scissors game was just the battle. I think I WON THE WAR. We are still laughing about it. And we are pretty proud of ourselves that the kids had so much fun! Enjoy!

Tuesday Madness

Not so often, when my Hubby gets up to go to work in the morning, does he wake me. Usually I wake up on my own about 15 minutes after he leaves for work to find a hot cup of coffee next to me on the dresser. (That's right ladies... I have it real rough). Tuesday morning did not start off like every other morning. I don't know why I rolled over and opened one eye. Those with kids know this... sometimes things just don't seem right. Through my one sleepy eye I see Hubby (who is color blind and fashion challenged) staring at himself in the mirror and checking out his shirt.
That morning he opened up his fresh dry clean bag and pulled out a shirt. He put it on and it just didn't feel right. Well for one thing it was about a size and a half too big. It also looked like this...

Now I, of course, do not mean to criticize anyone's sense of fashion. I do know this... my Hubby does not smoke and hates shirts with embroidery on the pocket. So I don't think I ever would have picked out a shirt with a smiley face in a cowboy hat, smoking a cigar and reading the paper. But being the good husband that he is... he just stared at it in the mirror. I think he was trying to imagine in what drunken state I had purchased this shirt... or why I had purchased this shirt... or (more importantly) did I purchase this shirt. But he couldn't quite bring himself to wake me up and ask me.
Even through one sleepy eye I said, "Where did you get that shirt?" Of course he indicated immediately that he was thinking of asking me the same question. After a few minutes of fumbling around looking through the dry cleaning plastic, we realize that somehow I came home with someone else's dry cleaning. I had also paid for 10 shirts but only received 8. The most interesting thing about it was that half of the shirts in the bag looked like his and were probably his size. Of course he was incensed... convinced that the dry cleaners had somehow made off with all his good Tommy Hilfiger's and Burberry's (not that he would have any clue what any of that means but he knows I don't buy him cheap clothes)... like some bizarro episode of Seinfeld... the dry cleaner had given him freebies in exchange for his french cuff suit shirts.
I am only sharing this story as an amusing warning for all wives who drop off and pick up shirts as though you were taking them to your own laundry room. You have to keep your receipt. I have never had to do battle with the dry cleaner. And I have to say, it wasn't really a battle at all. I called them and they had in fact given me the wrong bag by mistake. Hubby's shirts were still hanging neatly there when I arrived. They were very apologetic and embarrased. That being said... I have to say ladies... I do all of the shopping and dry cleaning and laundry and I think I am pretty sure I know my husband wardrobe... UNTIL... you have to pick out your own husband's shirts in the dry cleaning lineup. I felt like a completely useless witness on one of those crime dramas on TV. You know the one where the witness says, "That could be him but I don't quite remember... his hair looks a little different and it was really dark." That's what will happen. I have watched the racks turn at the drycleaners and I can tell you that ever third bag looked like ours. *Note to self*... don't buy Hubby's shirts at COSTCO. All of our laundry is now beginning to look alike... and no matter how good the drycleaners are... CHECK the bag. As Hubby always tells me "TRUST BUT VERIFY". If I had my receipt I would have realized right away that I was shorted two shirts. It's a good thing he put on "Mr. Happy cigar face first" or we might not have known at all.
Despite the stress of the day it was actually ended quite fantastically. When I arrived home and retrieved the mail I find a packeg for me. It was all the Charlaine Harris books that I had ordered. YEAH!

I finished the first book right away within the first day and thought I would buy the rest of the series to save myself the wait (through a used Amazon bookseller of course). The 2nd (Living Dead in Dallas) is here. I would love to tell you that I savored the book and took my time like I said I would but I didn't. I read it that afternoon and completed it the next morning before the kids got on the schoolbus.
So I picked up the third book and read that one too. I closed the cover on book 3 (Club Dead) on Wednesday morning... just in time to plan our CubScouts events on Wednesday night and turn in all popcorn orders.

Hope everyone is having a less stressful week. Hope they aren't getting too worked up over Thanksgiving. It's just a holiday. Thursday is the FQ sale at Millstone and I plan to tell you all about it. I have a surprise to report as well. Stay Tuned!

Anyone Else in love with the Vampires?

I have to confess. I have been a little obsessed with vampires lately. I got hooked on this new series on HBO called True Blood. It's about vampires living among us in society. I couldn't stand it anymore. As with all good shows (especially the riveting ones on cable) when the episode ends it leaves you wanting for more. I just had to know what happened next. So I starting researching on the internet and of course felt like a complete loser when I found out the show was based on a series of books by Charlaine Harris.

The first one is called Dead Until Dark. It arrived in the mail and I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book cover to cover within the first 24 hours. Of course, I had to go back on the internet and order the rest of the series. I have made a pact with myself that I would slow down a little and savor the suspense a little. It's kinda weird that I am interested in these books considering that I don't usually like the supernatural and hate scary books because they still give me nightmares. This series is more of a love story with creepiness and mindfreak. I couldn't wait until 9pm on Sunday night to see the next one and as usual HBO did not disappoint me. But the series has its finale next week so I had to find something to do until it starts again (or in case it doesn't like the last two series I really loved, Carnivale and Deadwood). So I am bringing this up to ask the rest of you if you have seen the series and are you enjoying it? Are you obsessed with it? Are you a little creeped out by your obsession? Just wondering if I was the only freak in the quilting world. I have to tell you that it was really nice to read a book that was quick to get through and not too awfully heavy. What are you obsessed with reading right now?

Little Projects for the simple life

A blog friend of mine mentioned today that she changes her sheets to match her quilts on her bed. I guess she brought up the subject because someone at work made fun of her for being detailed. I told her she was my hero. I wish my house was decorated like that. As I said to my friend Kim, the sheet color selections at COSTCO are limited or I would have matching sheets too. But sadly, since I have four "men" living in my house we have to make things easy. I do make matching/coordintating pillowcases for my bed quilts now. Really out of necessity because men make the bed and fluff the pillows differently that women do. It makes it easy on the men to fold the quilt up to the top and lay the pillows on it at the head board. Here is a photo omy newest creation. Using my embroidery sewing machine I monogram each one on both sides (before I fold the bands in half so the stitches are on the inside). I use a serger for construction, and sewing machine for topstitching and the embroidery machine for the monograms.

These pillowcases were made to go with a Christmas Quilt that believe it or not I have yet to finish. It was just on old BOM from Guild but my Guild friends are very talented so the blocks are beautiful. As luck would have it, they also match a rather pretty red and green bed quilt with our estate name on it (Hunter's Greene). These are easy patterns and I know that you have all seen them completed in theme colors and cute novelties but it's nice sometimes to have fancy too. Of course, somehow the boys manage to wiggle their pillows out of the cases and so now I will have to make enclosed cases for them (probably with an envelope back).
Here is another project that I worked on for a day.

Here is a new "inspiration" board for the loft. Hubby will eventually hang it (horizontal) on the peak ceiling over the sewing machines. It's anybody's guess when that will be but my part is complete at least. I needed a place to put some images that I have been using for inspiration for new designs. I found this old remant in the closet and picked up some ribbon at the craft store. It is almost too pretty to cover up with stuff. It was fun and easy to make in the loft.
I have noticed lately that many of you are looking for little "gifty" ideas for that holiday that I won't name 'cause I am afraid it will creep closer. I bought a couple of books the other day.


This one is Sew and Stow by Betty Oppenheimer

And this one is In Stitches by Amy Butler. I have been searching for little projects that I can complete quickly for gifts for friends and family. Now all I need is the time to complete them. That is in much shorter supply. Today I spent half of the day organizing all of the Popcorn sales for our CubScout pack. Not an easy feat. But I managed to make amazing progress for the day and so I thought I would spend a few minutes chatting with you before I pick up the kids from the bus. Then it's off to homework, cleaning, piano lessons and one scout den meeting and then I can come home and go to bed... and start the same day all over again... tomorrow.
UNLESS... I have heard rumors that we will have "snow showers" tomorrow. I am not exactly sure what that means. He specifically said showers and not flurries. My luck... now that the house it actually looking better... the boys will be home from school tomorrow and I will have to start all over again on Wednesday. Wish me luck... Right now I could use some of those Santa Anna winds.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you in the effected areas of California. Hubby and I lost our home to a fire in 1999 (many articles were written about our struggles, Smart Money magazine, Reader's Digest, etc.). It was the week of Big Boy's 1st birthday. It isn't any fun to watch your house burn to the ground and experience the year's of loss afterwards. You are in our prayers and it will all work out in the end. I know that doesn't helo much today... but it will. Keep the faith.

On the Farming Front...

I know that you have all been waiting with baited breath to know how the AeroGarden is coming. So, without further ado... here it is...

After 14 days of water farming, I have 6 beautiful sprouted plants. The only one that seems to be having trouble growing is the Oregano which is on the bottom right. I did mention that I was only growing herbs. You can grow anything: flowers, vegetables, herbs... But whatever you choose to grow they have to be all the same kinds of plants. These are all herbs. On the top of the photo I have Dill and Genovese Basil. On the front row I have Thyme, another shorter kind of Basil, Chives and Oregano. Today was time to add the nutrients. How do I know, you ask? Because the AeroGarden told me so. I did make one mistake which I found out about later after extensive reading of instructions (always helpful). I put well water in the thing. You're not supposed to do that and considering that our water is full of rust I should buy bottled water next time to fill it up. That could be why the Oregano is dwarfed. Or maybe it just feels like growing slowly. In any case... I hope you like my little indoor garden. It was the dumbest present ever that has turned out to be fun. While all the leaves are falling outside... I had little plants inside. If they weren't so expensive I would buy another one for the flowers. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little color inside in the dreary Winter.

Maybe I should ask Santa Clause for another one? Who knows.

How do you start a November?

First you sign all three boys up to play indoor soccer through both Holidays. Make sure that games fall on top of Christmas play practice so that instead of being a great fun activity it can be another reason why we should allow cloning. If we could clone ourselves we would always have a reasonable baby sitter, we would never have to worry about who taking who to what and we would have extra errand runners when we forget to bring things to scouts. If we could clone our kids think of all the activities they could be a part of.
I took a few photos of Little Brat and Eeyore after their first game. .

I didn't get one of Big Boy. He plays on Saturdays and I spent the day of his first game on a bus to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to go fabric shopping with friends. I had a great time despite having to leave the house at 5:30am to meet a 6:30am bus. I also left Hubby in town to not only make the first soccer game alone but also to get three boys moving on a Saturday morning at 8:00am to do Scouting for Food with the entire pack (I mentioned he's the CubMaster and I am Advancements Chair) and then organize scouting Flag Football after. He had to fly from the game across town to the soccer match at the indoor stadium. I was riding on a bus chatting and eating chocolate turtles.
The second week of the month was spent getting all the details together for the Fredericksburg Area Quilt Festival. That was mucho work but also loads of fun. I entered several quilts and then set up my first ever booth at a quilt show. I had never done that because I am a wholesale distributor but I thought it would be fun to "meet the public" so to speak and get some exposure in the local market. Here is a photo of me in my booth.

By the way, I have made a mental note to burn this shirt because it makes me look about 8 1/2 months pregnant. I have a very evil skinny mirror at home that needs to be destroyed. It was really fun to meet all the area quilters and have my own booth. I would love to try it again some time. At the conclusion of the show, the organizers brought over my quilt show entries. The house quilt (as mentioned before) took another ribbon which was exciting. I showed a beautiful batik sampler quilt that I made last year. It took a 3rd Place ribbon in last year's Guild Quilt show in the Traditional category (my first quilt award). This year it took a 3rd Place Traditional ribbon and a 2nd Place Best In Show (which my friend Mary Kerr, our local Quilt Appraisal, said she had never heard of before but who am I to argue). The best surprise of all was that I took a 2nd Place Traditional ribbon for the Quilt below.

This pattern is called Glorious Garden Lattice and this quilt is a second sample that I made for the local quilt shop to display these beautiful fabrics. I used a border print in the border as well as in the diagonal setting triangles. It was rather hard to do. Apparently everyone liked it and it is a pattern of my design. I am very proud of it. It may not be the prettiest quilt that you have ever seen but it is the best little pattern that I have designed and very popular. It was probably the best award I have received over the last year because it was on my own design. I know this isn't the best photo but I had to take one right away so that I could share my excitement.
I have officially caught you up on our lives over the last month and will blog more soon.
I have the entire family coming to my "pig sty" or, "guy sty" if you will, for Thanksgiving this year and I have lots of work to do to get us there. Not to mention that $1.00 FQ sale at Millstone Quilts this week. That's a day trip that I will not miss no matter how many are coming for Thanksgiving. See you soon.

Halloween Again

So a few days later... it was Halloween time again. I have to tell you that my mother Sue "the ace" Super Sewer usually makes all the Halloween costumes. She has shopped and made costumes (sometimes from photographs) from 300 miles away and then shipped them overnight to get to her beloved grandsons many a year. This year... she was too tired and frankly they are getting way to complicated. One year... she was asked by a toothless smiling grandson to make a Larry Boy costume (from the Veggie Tales). In case you don't know he is a Cucumber SuperHero with plungers coming from both sides of his head. It was the first time Mom had to by costume parts at Home Depot. The costume was a purple jumpsuit with a purple cape and handmade helmet. I painted the boys face green to make him look like a cucumber. The helmet was priceless. I took a photo. It was the one and only time I send out Halloween holiday cards to family. I couldn't pass up the oppotunity.
Here are the guys this year. I paid beaucoup bucks for these babies. The deluxe models with the PVC parts and two part helmets.

Boba Fett (on the left for the science fiction challenged) is Eeyore. Little Brat is in the middle wearing the Commander Cody costume (also from Star Wars) and true to form, Big Boy wears a "Master Chief" costume inspired by a video game character in a violent video game that his father lets him play. I am so proud.

Don't you love Eeyore's smiling face. Not even $60 for a costume will cause him to crack a smile. Now you know why we call him Eeyore.

As parents... we lucked out. The trick-or-treating was great. While we have no neighbors and live in the middle of the woods we do live down the street from a nice neighborhood. Many of the families in this neighborhood chose to leave their lights off too. It was great because they had to walk more which made them tired and they wanted to go home early. YEAH!
As you can see Little Brat had a good time. He danced with this nice lady who took the time to dress up. He'll do anything to show up in a photograph. I know I don't have to tell you but I will for laughs that the expensive helmets that we bought fogged up after the 1st house and Hubby and I carried them through the whole neighborhood but they are only kids once. I'm sure that it was memorable.

Another Birthday come and gone

That same day here is me at Basil's. I order a panini sandwich and a cup of soup. New England clam chowder. It was more like New England Clam glue. It was the thickest cup of soup I have ever had. But it was a beautiful sunny day. Only a slight bit cool and breezy.

It was nice that Hubby took me to lunch since we didn't manage to get to go out for dinner this year. So what did they get me for my birthday you ask? Well take a look below.

Hubby and the boys bought me an AeroGarden (as seen on TV) because they wanted me to be able to grow my herbs and flowers in the winter. It never ceases to amaze me what men will find interesting and only they can find an incredibly expensive appliance/tool that will take the place of nature. High tech all the way.
A friend of mine asked what other hydroponics was I gonna be trying this year. In case you were wondering it grows your herbs in water so you can start seeds in the house and then plant them outside in the spring. Unless of course you are transplanting them to a giant pond outside which automatically feeds and waters them. I will show you a picture of whats growing in it now. I planted the garden on Nov 2nd. Stay tuned. I know you are excited.

Window Shopping

I know this photo is very hard to see but all the boutiques along Caroline Street do these spectacular holiday window themes. These were all halloween themes. This one is in the window of a upscale "stuff" shop. I call it a stuff shop because it just has lots of stuff in it. Figurines, clocks, dishes... it is owned by the same people who own the upscale kitchen shop attached next door and the really expensive furniture boutique two shops up. There is so much detail in this window it would blow your mind.

This window belongs to the gourmet kitchen shop, which as I said, is connected to the "stuff" shop. This window was cool too. It was made to look like whoever was cooking just sort of spilled something and then died (which would be me... I would sooner drop dead than clean). I thought some of you would get some ideas for your decorations next year.

Hubby had never been in the kitchen shop... so we had to go and see. It's really quite spectacular. You can find all kinds of good stuff in here.

Here is Hubby waiting at Basil's for me to stop taking pictures and sit down and order something so he can get back to work. Basil's has a special on Tuesday nights from 5pm-8pm. After your meal they bring the check and a coin and the waitress flips the coin while you call heads or tails. If you win the toss your meal is free. We took the kids there on one Tuesday night and we won the toss. Big Boy called it and our meal was free.