Snowmaggedon 2014: Day 2

This great photo making its way around social media says it all:

Top photo is January 28, 2014 / Bottom photo: AMC's "The Walking Dead"

 I stayed snug inside my house with copious amounts of coffee.

I decided to take advantage of a snow day, my front parlor with no furniture, and no kitty helpers to baste Mr. SBQ's modernist quilt.

I spent the day happily quilting away, while chaos reigned in metro Atlanta.  Some poor souls were stuck in their cars for 21+ hours.  Unbelievable!

Guest Blogger: Edgar Poe Talks Process

Hello everyone!  Edgar Poe here and it's come to my attention (thanks to the always fabulous and wonderful *karendianne) that Mom forgot to include my contribution to her recent quilt finish. 
That's OK. She's a busy lady and I'll make sure to jump on the dresser and knock things off a couple of extra times this month to make up for it.


The other day I helped Mom Swifter sweep the floor (I may have hindered this process a little bit because you know it's shedding season...) then I helped her spread big fabric on the floor. If you do this, make sure to run and slide on the fabric a few times.  Trust me; it's fun.

image from realsimple.com

Then Mom used this blue stuff that looked like fun paper to chew on but when I touched it; it attached itself to my paw and wouldn't let go.  Not fun!  I don't like this paper.  And Mom laughed at me.  She better not tell Stella about this.

The next step is to spread out fluffy stuff on top of the fabric. Mom was being unhelpful at this point because (1) she wouldn't let me roll on it  (2) she wouldn't let me help spread it out and (3) she wouldn't let me roll on it. 

I kind of lost track at this point because Mom kept picking me up and moving me so I'm not sure what happened next.



This next step is very important.  You have to hold everything down and don't let it move. 

See.  No one is moving me from this spot.  










This next step involved some mysterious objects that Mom kept saying were Not For Kittens.  There sure are a lot of things in the world that are Not For Kittens. 

Even though I was careful and not moving and I just wanted to see what these new objects were, Mom said Not For Kittens and kept picking me up and moving me.


This sure gets tiresome after awhile and I don't like that part of the process.

In fact, I decided that repeatedly getting picked up and moved was just not something I wanted to do anymore.   I left Mom to finish up by herself since she didn't want my help and went to my favorite spot to watch the birds and squirrels in the yard. Mom calls this "Poe TV."  Oh please Mom, you are so lame. 

You Know You Are a Dedicated Quilter When...

The electricity goes out and since you don't have a treadle sewing machine...

 You cut out two quilts by candlelight.

Quilt #1:  The UFO challenge for April.

The score is currently UFOs 3     Me Nil
Wonder if I'll get on the scoreboard this month???

Quilt #2:  Schnibble using the most fabulous Central Park fabric by Kate Spain.


I'm seriously considering a treadle machine now....


NOTE:  I obeyed all safety practices and did not leave candles, fabric, rotary cutter, pins, matches, etc. unattended.  Be safe, quilt safe, cats stay safe.

Transition Team

It took me until Friday (!) to recover from the excitement of Tuesday night and the election in general. Whew! I was exhausted and cannot imagine how President-elect Obama, the campaign staff and his family just keep going and working. An aside: I tried very hard to keep politics out of this blog (which was extremely difficult because I love politics like others love college football). I kinda fell off the wagon for a couple of posts but now that the election is over we are TRANSITIONING back to quilting, cats, etc. etc.

I can't remember the last time I actually sewed--sometime in October???? On Saturday, I set up sewing camp in the living room so I could catch up on Tivo'ed Marthas and sew at the same time (no TV in the sewing room).
Here is my set up with my travel sewing machine (for that long distance from the next room), coffee, remote, and project in process (E's flannel quilt--I better hurry, it's getting chilly here in GA).
Here is my "transition team" enjoying sunshine and camaraderie on a fabulous November day just perfect for quilting and napping.

Frazzled and Fried

What is up with the weather? It was in the mid- to upper 90s today in the ATL. Excuse me but this is June and it is not supposed to be this hot yet. Al Gore was right--this is inconvenient.

I had my sewing group (Stitch n' sisters) today. On the way there this AM, I stopped by the vet to visit Gomez again. He is grumpy today--sick of being at the vet and sick of wearing a lampshade on his head and sick of being poked and prodded. You could tell just by the look in his eyes. Poor little guy. The vet is supposed to take the catheter out today and hopefully Gomez will be doing better tomorrow. I stayed about a hour again and fought back bursting into tears all the way to the quilt shop. It was so great seeing my quilting buddies and they all cheered me up, commiserated with me and generally made me feel a lot better. THANKS Y'ALL!! LOVE YA! I needed you today!!!! I worked a little on the OC Mystery quilt and left early 'cause I had somewhere between one and 20 million things to do this afternoon.

Quilting on the Brain

It's been a long week this week, which always makes me really want to be quilting rather than doing anything else. The good news is that next week I'll have nothing but sewing, sewing, sewing for four days at a quilt retreat!! Yes woo hoo a retreat set up by my good friend Pat of Silver Thimble Quilt Co. So I've been thinking of all the projects I'm going to take with me and all those UFOs I'll get done.



Of course since my fav quilt shop is on the way (Sweet Home), I'll have to stop and see what's new. Let's see, if I buy fabric, then go to retreat and use it, and it never really gets to my house until after it's made into something, does it still count as buying new fabric? Hmmmm I may be on to something here.



Along those same lines of "Quilter's Logic", I have a question for quilters out there. Do you think of your works in progress/fabric/UFOs in boxes/bags as stash or is stash the fabric you have that's not set aside for something? I think of my stash as all the fabric that's not already in a bag as a project or project-to-be. In which case, I am not doing too well with stashbusting, except for the OC mystery quilt, which is not using up nearly enough fabric.



I picked up this magazine the other day:
which has some really great patterns for using up stash so sometime in the future, I will be digging into the armoire to use up some fabric. Just as soon as I get caught up on everything else I've started.......

I'll Take Obscure Holidays for $300

Well tomorrow is a state holiday for state employees. Don't check your calendar, it's only a state holiday for a couple of states--Georgia being one of them--Confederate Memorial Day. I cannot believe we still have this day as a day off in the 21st century; it's so un-PC I don't know where to start. But don't look a gift holiday in the un-PC-ness. I'll be spending the day (not celebrating the Confederacy) but celebrating oh I don't know...National Cats and Quilting day. That's a better holiday.

Did get some quilting in yesterday. I sewed the backing together for my Morris Garden quilt. I think it ended up the size of Rhode Island (which is 84"X 98" for the top--add 6" all around for the back). I have no business sewing quilts the size of states, even small states, in my small house. If my house were a geo-political entity--it would be a hamlet. I couldn't even spread the whole thing out. This is why sewing backings is my least favorite quilty thing to do (my friend Becky dislikes borders). This is also why I will never sew drapes, very large pieces of fabric make me crazy.

I also happened to err in my logic for making the backing (actually I don't think there was any logic involved whatsoever). Since I dislike large pieces of fabric, I thought sewing a back out of 10 1/2" squares would be easier. Ummmm it's like making another queen-size quilt....takes a lot of cutting and piecing and ironing.....what was I (not) thinking????? chalk up one life lesson learned.... So now I have this quilt ready for the quilter. Hooray!

Here's a gratuitous cute cat photo. Stella was hanging out in the sewing space with me yesterday. Now this doesn't look very comfortable to me, but she loves to hang out here in front of the window.

Sunday Scrambling

Whew! It's been a busy and exhausting week. I am glad it is over. Worked a lot at SBux (busy and exhausting). Too much stuff going on at day job (exhausting mentally).

I got the biopsy results back for Morticia (my kitty) and as suspected she has soft tissue cancer. Poor baby. We had a couple of really bad days this week and one bad night Wednesday when I was up til 3:45 am. But she is doing OK this weekend so that is good. Spent a lot of time with her and we took a couple of really good naps, which we both needed so that was time well spent this weekend. So we are taking it by the day now.

I did get some sewing time in. I finished the borders on my Morris Garden quilt and cut of the backing for it (I'm doing pieced 10" square from the leftover FQs, some yardage, and some leftover bits and pieces. I also pieced the back for "Sleep Deprivation". So I have 2 quilts ready and one nearly ready to go to the long-arm quilter. I have another back to piece and that will make 4 to take to her next weekend. I'm giving her my own economic stimulus package LOL!!!!Did not get started on the second clue to the OC mystery quilt but will work on that this week.

Read two great books which I highly recommend: Dream When You Are Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg and Pug Hill by Allison Pace. Dream takes place during WWII on the homefront and is about a family dealing with food shortages, fiances overseas, dances at the USOs, etc. Really good book. I think a lot of kids would be surprised at how people lived during the 1940s. For instance, the 3 teenage sisters sleep in the same bed and have to share all their clothes. Can you imagine teenage girls doing that today???? Pug Hill is a delightful book about a 31 y.o. single woman living in NYC. The title comes from her favorite thing to do when life is stressful--go to Central Park and watch pugs playing. The author does a great job of creating believable characters and creating a wonderful, realistic first-person narrative voice.

OK must run. Going to visit my friend Pat, then coming home and cooking and doing laundry and feeding cats, and ....and...and the usual Sunday scrambling to get ready for another week.

Saturday ramblings

It is a beautiful, warm, sunny Spring day in Atlanta but you won't find me outside because of the POLLEN! I am highly allergic to Atlanta in the Spring (and in the Fall) and it seems to get worse every year (why I still live here, I don't know). I even had allergy shots for about 18 months until I started having really bad allergic reactions to the allergy shots, which my allergy Dr. said was very rare, and had to stop with the shots. What can I say? Someone has to be rare and unique so it might as well be me. I am really not sure what I am supposed to do now to survive pollen season so I think I will stay inside as much as possible. I am determined to avoid yet another trip to the ER because of stupid allergies.

I went to my sewing group (Stitch n' Sisters) last night at the LQS and turned in the completed shop sample (but forgot to get a photo...). I usually attend the Saturday group but since I was in NC that Sat. I went to the 3rd Friday group. It was great to see fellow Sisters I don't get to see much. I worked on a UFO from last year and just have to finish the borders YEA!!! Since I am in "pollen exile" I may get the borders done this weekend. Karin is still cranking out the quilts and making us all look bad. Well off to enjoy the rest of this Saturday.

Hooray it's National Quilting Day and surviving storms in the ATL

Well I was not able to get as much sewing in as I wanted to (I had a rather ambitious agenda anyway). If you haven't heard, downtown Atlanta was hit by a tornado last night . Horrible storms were all over the metro area and the lights even flickered at SBux. Well after finally getting to bed around 2:30 AM after watching CNN to find out what was hit by tornado, another big storm came around 3-ish and kept me up with window-rattling wind. Got up late after a fitful night's sleep and had a ton of the usual daily life stuff to do also. I have been checking in on quilty blogs, catching up on 50-zillion emails, and finding out what everyone is working on during Pat Sloan's weekend retreat.

Found out this afternoon from my boss that the tornado skipped over the office building I work in for my Day Job and hit the SunTrust across the park. Some windows in our building were blown out (hopefully not mine because I have stacks of paperwork on my desk...). I guess I'll see the damage on Monday. I was just sick seeing great historic places a little east of downtown that were hit bad--Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill Lofts, Cabbagetown, and Oakland Cemetery--all of which I have either worked on for preservation projects or visited numerous times.

On a lighter note: I must confess that I was bad this week and placed an order with Fat Quarter Shop (one of my fav on-line quilt shops)---one jelly roll and a couple of patterns. Moda really needs to start making some ugly fabric because I am having a hard time resisting the new lines. Come to find out that the line I couldn't resist is the same my friend Karin couldn't resist--"ZaZa". How weird is that? Must find out what she bought and what she is going to do with it. Anyway I already have a big stack o' jelly rolls but HAD to have this one too.

I did get some quilting in and almost have the top done for the LQS shop sample and binding hand sewn on a UFO. Will post photos tomorrow. Off to get some more sewing in before bed.

Book Reviews

I am always reading at least one if not two or three books at a time so I thought I would mention a couple of ones I really enjoyed. Over my long, leisurely weekend, I read a really great quilting book recommended by Mark Lipinski in a recent edition of Quilter's Home. It's called The Quilter's Catalog by Meg Cox. The best way I can think of to describe the book is it is like a really great survey course in college that covers the breadth of a subject and gives you resources to learn more of what you are interested in (I'm thinking of a great art history class I took in undergrad). For one thing, the book is huge--600 pages and covers everything in quilting--history, techniques, styles, fabric, notions, books, Internet sources, bios of famous quilters, and so on. I wish I had this book was available when I first started quilting and couldn't wait to find out everything about my new hobby/passion/obsession. It would be the perfect gift for a new quilter, one of your quilt buddies, or yourself! The book is well written also and I found myself reading it cover-to-cover over the weekend.

Another great book I recently finished is Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead. I picked this up after reading a review in The New York Times. If you liked Cold Mountain or books by Cormac McCarthy, you will like this book. The author pulls you into the story of a boy on a journey to find his father during the Civil War with poetic and at times heartwrenching prose. One of the reasons why I liked this book is how the author portrays the Civil War very narrowly through the eyes of the main character, Robey. The reader doesn't get the sense of all the battles, destruction, loss of life, and politics--the big wide picture--but only knows what's going on by the people Robey encounters and the landscape he sees. You are not really sure even where he is going geographically and there is a lot of ambiguity in the book, particularly the ending, which would make it a great book for book clubs as it would lead to lots of discussion and interpretation. I really enjoyed this book and really got wrapped up in reading it.

OK that's my 2 cents on 2 books for now. Up next is the new Stephen King book. Happy reading!

National Quilting Day and more photos

Is everyone getting ready for National Quilting Day this Saturday, March 15th? Don't forget to hug your favorite quilter! Pat Sloan, who is the busiest person on the planet--check out her blog post for today on her "typical" day if you don't believe me--is having an online quilting retreat all weekend. She designed some fabulous fun projects that are available on her website. I plan on working on a few projects on Saturday. I have a shop sample to work on for the LQS and really need to finish Morris Garden. We'll see what else I can get to in my one day off. Can you tell I want it to be the weekend already and it's only Monday????

As promised, here are more photos of my trip. See the snow! And a mountain stream. WIsh I was still there!

Atlanta Shop Hop

Well it's Atlanta Shop Hop weekend and for the first time since I started quilting, I am not going to a bunch of the shops. Too many UFOs, too much stuff in my sewing space, and gas is getting way too expensive. I will go to Melisa's (Sweet Home Quilt Co.) on Saturday though and probably stop by Intown Quilters on my way home from Starbucks on Sunday. Karin is feeling the same way.

My goal is to finish the borders on my Morris Garden quilt and get the back pieced so I can get it off to the long-arm quilter. Also, I need to hand stitch the binding on a quilt, which I'll probably do watching movies this weekend. So if all goes as planned (which it rarely does...) I'll have a couple of new photos by the end of the weekend.

PS #1: Can someone return spring to Atlanta since it was in the 20s! the past couple of mornings AND there were snow flurries this past Tuesday morning.

PS#2: Where exactly did February go?

Area 51

Roswell! Roswell! (any X-Files fans out there will know this is a quote from a really great episode...) Everyone is talking about UFOs...my friend Becky is finishing up UFOs, so is my friend Karin, and Debbie is AWOL she so busy sewing, so is Pat Sloan, and today I was listening to Annie Smith's podcast and she was talking about finishing up UFOs too. Now I'm stressed...I want to finish up UFOs!!!!!! But I am working too much these next couple of weeks (sigh). I need a patron! I need a sponsor! So I can stay home and quilt all day to get some of these UFOs done.

In all it's shame and no glory whatsoever, here is my stack of UFOs on note cards (these are works in progress and quilts I have fabric for) and an example of how I keep track of projects. Of course, there is no scale (haha) so really *truly* there's only 10 cards in that stack...

This stack is the tops that are done and need quilting (only 5 here I am sure....)

Not to mention I thought of two really fabulous ideas for quilts while I was stuck in traffic. Stop the madness!! Well I probably won't get anything done tonight because I am curl-up-and-cry-tired.

More Crazy Weather in the ATL

What is up with the weather this year? Yesterday it felt like spring. My daffodils are even blooming. Today it is freezing with a windchill of 20 degrees and we may have snow flurries/freezing drizzle. And by Friday it's going to be 65. Enough already! I'm tired of changing coats.

On a quilting note: I received block 8 of a BOM in the mail today (this is a BOM from last year). Block 8!!???!! I have block 2 done and most of block 1 done. Better get busy...

Morticia update: Morticia went back to the vet yesterday for two blood tests. She is very congested and sneezing still. The vet prescribed another antibiotic for her and asked if she would like tuna, salmon, or chicken flavored medicine. Ack! a dilemma--I picked salmon but maybe she would like tuna better....

A Productive Weekend!

This was my first weekend off of SBux in I don't know how long so I did the two things I don't get enough of lately--sleeping and quilting. On Saturday, I went to Sweet Home Quilt Co. to see Melisa (who I haven't seen in forever) and get some backing fabric for my "Morris Garden" quilt. If you want some of this fabric--run down there because it is flying off the bolts! I bought this to make a scrappy backing:


You need to see this fabric in person because the photos don't do it justice. I was good and didn't buy anything else (well except for a 1/2 yd of a really great red because I might just need this particular really great red someday and a 1/2 yd of a great black for black & white quilt that Becky and I are going to make someday just as soon as our dot quilt is done...). I picked up my BOM also. I try to only do one BOM per year because most of the time I have BOMs from other years I haven't finished. I signed up for this one at Melisa's for 3 reasons: 1. it's a itty bitty quilt only 40" square or something and it will hardly be noticable among my UFOs, 2. I met Kathy Schmitz in Houston and she was really nice,
& 3. it will give me an excuse to go to Melisa's.

When I got home, I continued to behave and finished one quilt before I started a new one.(aren't y'all proud of me). This is the one I finished last Sat. except for the borders. To answer the inevidable questions: I don't know why I made this quilt or what I am going to do with it but I liked the fabric (Moda's Oak Leaves & Reel) and it only took one jelly roll & a little yardage.


Here is the other one I finished last weekend (and this one was also a quick jelly roll project) It was supposed to be a fall quilt and now it is an early fall quilt!
The rest of the weekend I worked on the "Morris Garden" quilt using this pattern:
I just need to do the borders on three sides of the quilt and it is done! It's queen size and took 20 fat quarters plus yardage for the borders. Here's a sneak peek:
and here's a peek with the borders:
Hopefully I will finish the rest of the borders next weekend and piece the backing together. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Mardi Gras!

(photo courtesy of The Times-Picayune)

Some year, I will spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Yes, it's probably crazy and crowded but I really want to experience it. Instead of catching beads, bar hopping on Bourbon Street, and Cafe du Monde, I will be at Cafe du Starbucks.

E. and I did devour most of a King Cake over the weekend however in celebration.

Om a quilting note: My friends Karin (who frequently disparages machine applique as the "A-word"), has finished her "Peace in the Valley" quilt top (designed by Pat) and appliqued the rick-rack and leaves. Hooray Karin!

On another quilting note: Unable to sleep last night, I finally figured out which pattern to use for my "Morris Garden" bundle. I wonder if this is considered a "new project", which I said I would not start until I finished some old projects. Or is it classified as a UFO since I already have the fabric and now the pattern? I guess I'll spend the rest of the week trying to rationalize starting it this weekend.....

Word of the day is...

Quiltress!

What a great word, why didn't I think of it???!!!??? Found it when I was reading the latest issue of Mark Lapinski's irreverent magazine Quilter's Home. I love that "quiltress" sounds young and hip and sexy--something to tell non-quilters who look at you funny when you tell them you make quilts. You know, the people who think all quilters are boring, grandmotherly, spinster, cat-ladies. Here's some characteristics of a Quiltress I came up with.

A Quiltress...

...*would* wear these boots or her Doc Martins

but prefers to quilt barefoot (to better show off her toe rings).

....loves her featherweight not only because it's a great little machine but because it's black.

....free-motion quilts to raucous music.

...uses the word kickass to describe something quilt-related.

...still wants to be a pirate when she grows up.

...has this fabric in her stash

...likes to whack off borders instead of measuring (Suzanne!)

....thinks the best quilt retreats have equal parts laughter and quilting (and an occasional bottle of wine or perhaps a margarita).

...is annoyed when people (usually spouses or S.O.'s) ask "what are you going to do with that quilt?"

...is more annoyed when people say "don't you have enough quilts/fabric/books/sewing stuff?"

...has quilting friends who are bad influences (hey Debbie--how's your patriotic quilt? hee hee)

Any Quiltress out there have more ideas? Send me some suggestions.