Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving is over, and it was nice but busy and chaotic. This picture is one of mostly the third generation who were at my house, one is second generation. First generation was DH and I, and his sister and her husband, who also live in Central Florida, and my brother who lives in Georgia. Second generation was my daughter and son and DIL, and my DH sister's daughter and SIL, and my brother's 12 year old son (the one in the tree). We had a total of 28, including my daughter's fiance, who had to work and came late. It's a good thing that we had a wonderful cool and comfortable sunny day, as we had tables set up all over. There were 2 tables and 9 children on the back porch, and eight adults at the dining room table, three children at a card table in the living room, a drop leaf table in the family room with five young men, and a parson's table in the kitchen for DH and I. We all had a place to sit and there was plenty of food for everyone. I did the main meal, but every family brought something, so everyone helped. It was a happy day, although my DIL wasn't feeling well and I didn't know, or I could have given her something to help. She went to the emergency room that night and is feeling better now, after some antibiotics. Also, the next day a friend of my grandson's and his wife and SIL were hit by a drunk driver going the wrong way and his wife was killed, she wasn't even out of her teens yet. He and his SIL are hurt badly and the driver of the other car was killed. Such a waste, and so sad for the families. I'm so thankful that even though my grandchildren have been in accidents and been hurt that we haven't lost anyone, it is a true blessing to be thankful for, and I am.

State Flowers and Shirts

I am up to date again on my State Flower blocks, at least until the next ones are posted which could be as early as tomorrow. I am doing 2 sets, one for DH and myself, and one for DD, and now have a total of 14 blocks done for each of us. I'm thinking maybe I will do sashing between the blocks to make them a bit bigger, but at this point have no idea what color sashing. By the time that I have all 56 blocks done, I'm sure there will be every color in the quilts. The blocks are 12 1/2 x 12 1/2.

My brother in Georgia called this morning, he had been to a thrift store and gotten 3 nice shirts for .75 cents and remembered that I had asked him to keep an eye out for me. He went back in and got 23 shirts for me for $5.75, which is just .25 cents each. He got some that were flannel, and some cotton, but he knew to get all 100% cotton. One of the ladies there had told him that they needed to clear them out as they had more coming in, but when he got mine and told the other lady what they were for I guess she got kind of an attitude about them being cut up. The other lady was there and she stuck up for him and said they were just glad to be selling them. He had the right idea though, he told them that shirts would be worn out and done with, and my quilt might be still around in 100 years, and be an heirloom. He hasn't seen my quilts, lol, but I think it was great that he knew the right thing to say. He is a woodworker, and knows the value of crafting whether with wood or fabric. There are some pictures of tables he has made on my blog. I'm afraid that he is better at his craft than I am at mine, but we both get satisfaction, and that is very important.

Giveaway Prize

Today was a great mail day! Marie of Mariequilts had a very generous giveaway, and I received my prize, which is especially touching as she has not been feeling well lately, and I know that getting it ready and mailed was hard for her. There is a quilt magazine, which I can't wait to read, some fat quarters, some really cute buttons, really cute rainbow colored rick rack, and last but not least chocolate. Thank you so much Marie, you made my day with your wonderful prize.

Three Quilt Giveaway

Dana at Old Red Barn Co. is giving away "Three" quilts here. I know that it is hard to believe, but it is true. You can go to her blog and read about them, and add a comment to sign up.

Donna's "Twisting Turning Twenty" Quilt PARTY!

Donna has started her "Twisting Turning Twenty" Quilt PARTY!" and if you are interested, and you win, you will have yours quilted by her on her longarm. She does beautiful work. There are lots of chances to win, take a look here. This is a picture of her quilt, and we will get to follow along every step as she completes it.

Custom Quilt and Bag Pattern Giveaways

This beautiful quilt and the story behind it are here on The Handmade Quilt-er. The custom part is if you win, you can pick your favorite color.

Also, visit Hanne's Quilt Corner to sign up for her bag pattern giveaway. It's a beauty.

Turning Twenty (12) 4 X 4 and Giveaway

This is the result of my leftover 8 blocks to Turning Twisting Twenty (12). I added 4 more blocks which were mostly pink and brown, and used another variation, the Turning Twenty 4 X 4. It is like a Disappearing Nine Patch, but with the Turning Twenty block. The colors aren't real true, the border is a pink paisley with a lot of green. Next on the agenda is basting and quilting the 4 tops that I have finished. I'm hoping by the end I'll be an ok if not accomplished free motion quilter. We can all dream. Of course, I am really good at procrastinating and I also have Thanksgiving dinner to worry about, so I may be a little slow in the doing.
My DH is getting a new computer for his Christmas present, and don't you know that it was due to get here the day we left on our little mini vacation. It all worked out though, as my daughter, who we were taking with us, got sick and the trip got cancelled for now. She just has a cold, but DH has a low immune system, and we didn't want to take the chance of him catching it. He keeps them forever and gets sicker than most people. Maybe next year. After all the stress of what are we to do, the computer came today, a day early. I hope that he likes it, it is Vista and neither of us are familiar with it. We did get a book yesterday, and hopefully all will be well.



P.S. Christine of Once upon a Quilt.... is having a one year giveaway check out her blog.

Twisting Turning Twenty (Twelve)

One more top done. I never thought I would have any surplus of tops, but now that I am planning to quilt them myself, I have three. This is my Twisting Turning Twelve, and since I have 8 blocks left, I've decided to do another one from the same book, but different than I had decided on before. I wanted a different look, so I am adding 4 blocks that are predominantly pink and brown based, and then am going to do the pattern where the blocks are cut into fours and put 'artfully' (I hope) back together. Sort of like a Disappearing 9 patch, but with the Turning Twenty block instead. Then I will have 4 tops and my plan is to baste them using the Sharon Schamber method using the boards, and quilt them on my Juki. So far I have quilted one small quilt, and maybe when I finish these 4, I will be more confident and proud of my results. I've pretty much given up on the thought of doing any quilts for Christmas gifts, instead I will finish the ones I had planned and just give them as I finish them. Not ideal, but less pressure.
This quilt is about half oriental fabrics, and I was trying to think of a name for it that would reflect that, but so far no light bulbs. It may just have to keep it's generic name of Twisting Turning Twelve.
The weather here is beautiful. We are having unseasonably cool weather, and it is sunny and mild and such a nice change from hot. It will be ideal for any trick or treaters who make it out. Last year we only had about a handful, and had lots of candy left so this year we just bought one big bag. Hope we don't get a surprise and have lots of them this year and not enough candy.
Happy Halloween, everyone!

I Won a Giveaway

Recently, I won second place in Lyn's (Welcome to Bluebird Quilts, My Quilting Journey) "Fall into Fall Quilter's Blog Giveaway". It was so exciting to receive mail all the way from Australia, and as you can see she made it even more exciting by having everything wrapped individually in really nice heavy crinkly cellophane paper. The orange that the gifts are sitting on is more of the same cellophane that was on the bottom and top of the box.

Opening each gift was really fun, and as you can see there is quite a variety of quilty, crafty things. The pumpkin is so charming and seasonal, and will of course have a place of honor from now on in my fall and Thanksgiving decor. There was also DMC floss, fabric, buttons, a wonderful book with colorful pictures on creating stars, and a little cinnamon bunch and birdhouse which will be displayed, and then will end up on my Christmas tree. I love the homey folksy decorations.

Twisting Turning Twelve

My Twisting Turning Twenty is now going to be a Twisting Turning Twelve. I decided that I'd rather a lap sized, and so I only used 12 of my 20 blocks. As you can see, I only had enough room on my design board for 9 of the 12 blocks. I think I'm going to like it when it's finished and I think that I'll add another 4 blocks and do a version of the Turning Twenty into Diamonds. Here's a picture in the left hand top corner.

They are both from the same book by Tricia Cribbs, Turning Twenty just got better. I'm working up my courage for Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road.