Fireworks Class!

It was a long and tiring day, but in a very GOOD way! I had a lot of fun, and I think my "students" did too, judging by the chatting, laughter, and the headway made on the quilts.

The class was full with 12 quilters--13 including me, but that doesn't seem to have been an unlucky number. Several of the "regulars" came as well as a few new faces. In particular, I was quite tickled that Ruby, one of my blog readers, drove 1-1/2 hours from home to attend!

Here's a basket stuffed full of the little "gifties" I made and couldn't show you before:

I think I mentioned in a previous blog post the Studio e Classmates pattern I'd bought and made. Well, I modified the size a bit, making it a little larger so it would hold the pattern. I also tucked a pencil and a half sheet of paper inside for class notes, and I added an extra copy of the block layout sheet. A few people are making the quilt using different colored fabrics--I brought crayons so they could color the extra layout sheet to match the fabrics they were using.

A couple hours into the class, we took a lunch break. I didn't get too elaborate with the table decorations this time, because I knew we wouldn't have very much space. You can't see them in the photo, but I had hot dogs heating in a crockpot. I took this photo an hour or so before lunch, so not everything was laid out, but I knew we'd get busy and I'd forget to get a picture. Colleen was thoughtful enough to bring a cake to add to our feast!

By the end of class, just about all the food was gone!

This is where I sat. (Notice the nearly empty Starbucks iced latte? Yep! You just knew it was MY spot, didn't you?! Oh, and those were my sunglasses--it's always important to make a fashion statement, even when attending a quilt class!) You can see I had a good view of all of my students, and I kept them hard at work! I was sitting next to Gran, my embroidery teacher, so what did I do? I embroidered, of course!

We took another little break later in the afternoon for some show and tell.

Imelda had brought her Hat Party quilt top--it's not done yet, but she had it pieced. Pretty, isn't it?! And much prettier in person--my photo doesn't do it justice!

Bev brought her tulip quilt from the Spring! class--she opted to leave off the bunny and added garden bugs. I think it turned out great!

Imelda was the first to finish her center. Ooooooh! Aaaaaaah!

Followed soon after by Julia! Oooooooh! Aaaaaaaah! Julia marked her rows with Post-It notes--given the limited room we had, we weren't able to lay our blocks out, so marking the rows helped.

By the end of the day, we were all starting to get tired, and a few of us made errors in positioning blocks or sewing the correct row on. But just about everyone either finished their center or came pretty close. One of my friends, Jackie, wasn't able to get to class until we were a little way into it and so she didn't get quite as far, but since we work together, I'll be able to help her if she thinks she needs any more help.

And I finished my "M." But not in class--I brought it home and finished it here.

Thank you all for the comments saying you wished you could be in class--I wish you could too! I asked Hubby to pick a number and he picked--gosh, I can't remember what it was! I guess I'm tired too! I think it was 26. No matter, though. I counted up and figured out the winner of my "honorary student" giveaway before my mind went numb. The winner is Melissa from Cornbread and Beans who said, "I sure wish I could see you in action in one of your classes, I bet you would be a hoot! Thanks for hosting this give-away JUST FOR ME!! hehehe =)melissa." Congrats, Melissa! Please email me your address and I'll get your "student packet" in the mail to you!

Wish You Were Here!

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'll be teaching the Fireworks! pattern at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks, and I'm sure it will be another day of fun! I wish you all could attend, but since you can't, I thought I'd have a little giveaway for those of you who are too far away.

If you would like to be an "honorary student" of my class, leave me a comment, and I'll draw a winner on Saturday night, to be posted on the next blog post (Saturday night/Sunday).

Oh, were you wondering what you'd win if your name is drawn? Well, I can't tell you! You see, I always like to surprise my students! I WILL tell you, though, that you'll receive the same "giftie packet" that I'm giving the students. Unfortunately, I won't be able to send you the lunch I'm serving them because hot dogs and macaroni salad don't travel well through the mail, and the postal service tends to get a little annoyed by soggy packages.

Along with announcing the winner tomorrow night, I hope to post a few class photos, including a photo of the prize. See you then!

UFOs

We all know what UFOs are, right? A quilt-related novel I recently read described UFOs, for the benefit of non-quilters, as--and I'm paraphrasing here--quilt projects that a quilter has set aside because she's (or he's) lost interest in it for some reason. That description didn't ring true with me. For me, UFOs are projects that have reached a certain natural stopping point--either completed blocks or a completed (but unquilted) quilt top--and then been set aside out of necessity because some other quilt project has had to take priority.

So let me ask you this: What causes YOU to have UFOs?

Rock 'N Roll Quilt Show

Have you ever looked at quilts while listening to rock 'n roll music? That's what I'm doing tonight and here's why. Remember my daughter, the Wild Child? Remember when I posted photos of her band at one of their outdoor performances in the snow?

Well, tonight she emailed me a link to a My Space page where I could listen to their music. Since I haven't heard her sing since she was a teen, I think it's pretty cool! So, I opened two windows on my computer; I have her music playing in one while I'm looking at and posting photos of quilts I took at Jo's Little Women Club tonight in the other window.

If you'd like to check out the band, HERE's a link. Please keep in mind that these are amateur recordings; of the four, I think my favorite is the third one down called Walk On--probably because you can her her vocals best. She kind of reminds me of Janis Joplin or Pat Benatar. Boy, wouldn't I just love to go hear the band?! I hope I'll get the chance someday.

Now for the quilt show. The first four are Jo's Club quilts--this is a club pattern called Holiday Inn. The first three have appliqued centers, but the fourth has a pieced center--an option we were given in case we just didn't want to applique!

Here's Pam's Hat Party quilt--she took my class and I just love how hers has turned out, don't you?!

Thanks for stopping in!

My Ramblings

So, what the heck do I think I'm doing? Seriously, I planned to work on the Halloween quilt top tonight. In fact, I planned to get the center pieced and add the inner borders so I could take it to Jo's Club tomorrow night for show and tell. But here it is, nearly 11:30 p.m. and have I done that? No! And why not? Well, because I worked on it for about 45 minutes and my attention seemed to be wandering, so I thought I'd take a little break and see if there were any emails I could read and answer. Well, yeah, there were a couple, but that didn't take long, so then I started reading just a blog or two.

Okay, so now it's something like two hours later, and I'm still sitting here at the computer and only half of the center of my quilt top is pieced. And, since I don't have anything more to show you as far as the quilt top goes, nor can I dazzle you with the speed at which I've sewn the center together, I'll just talk about my internet blog surfing. Which is kind of weird because that's what you're doing right now if you're reading this.

And that reminds me--let me digress just a minute. When I was down in Salinas, looking at old family photos with my brother, we laughed and laughed at my mom's photos of pictures--mostly her paintings. We thought that taking pictures of pictures was pretty funny. Then we found photos of photos. And photos of people LOOKING at photos. So, yeah, me telling you about reading blogs while you're reading blogs reminds me of that.

So I won't exactly tell you about reading blogs. Instead, I'll tell you about my favorites list, where I keep my blog list. And other stuff. It's the other stuff that sometimes puzzles me. Here's a sampling of the "other stuff" to be found in my favorites file:

The "Frenzy" of San Jose Girls' Slayer. I wanted to mark a 1969 newspaper article about two girls who went to the same high school I went to who were murdered about a year before I started high school. Reason? I wandered onto Classmates dot com a few weeks ago and there was an ongoing discussion board spanning several years about the case--a professor is writing a book about it. I was curious and wanted to refresh my memory.

Mini Stuffed Pumpkins. I thought I might want to make some but didn't. Yet.

Woman with Beer Can in Hand Starts Brawl at Wake. No, it wasn't about me . . . or my relatives. But doesn't she sounds like she might be fun to hang with?

Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime Lyrics. Doesn't everyone have this one marked?

Six Reasons We Have Bad Dreams. I don't remember why I marked this one, but it reminds me: I had a nightmare last night that I was being attacked by a giant lobster that I thought we'd left for dead in the living room the night before. Maybe I should go back and read the article about bad dreams.

The Phantom Tollbooth--Wikipedia entry. One of the best kids' films ever. I'm guessing it would also be a good movie for adults on recreational drugs. I still love Milo and Tock, his watch dog.

Newspaper article--Dressing Alike Everyday Habit for This Couple. Maybe I was thinking about driving my husband nuts by getting matching outfits for us to wear. I dunno.

How-to craft article: Tampon angels. Just in case I run out of Christmas craft ideas. Or complete menopause and end up with a lot of leftover tampons. TMI?!

Tiny Long-Lost Primate Rediscovered in Indonesia. Really? Did I really save that one? Maybe there's still hope for Jimmy Hoffa.

Yahoo Survey: For Elderly, Sex Doesn't Have to Get Old. What can I say? It holds about the same weird attraction as watching a train wreck.

Study: Marijuana Potency Increases in 2007. When's the next study and where can I sign up?

Yahoo News: Men Create More Housework for Women. No! Really?! Where can I apply for a job where someone will pay me to reach these kinds of brilliant conclusions?

Time for bed, where I hope no more lobsters are waiting to attack me once I fall asleep. Luckily, the classroom at Bearpaws and Hollyhocks has an entire mirrored wall. Maybe if I take my half quilt center and hold it up to the mirror, I can fool people into thinking I've actually gotten the center sewn together!

Oh, and a P.S. for Mam, whose comment asking where she could get the pattern came through as no-reply. Mam, the pattern is listed in my Etsy shop--just click on the photo in my sidebar or click on the link in the sidebar to my Etsy shop. And thanks for asking!

Will We Finish The Quilt in Class?

As a teacher, I hear this question more often than I would expect. Most of my classes have been four hours long, although the "Hat Party" class and the class this Saturday for the "Fireworks!" pattern are six hours long. Still . . . we have to have time to eat and chat and have some fun, so no, the chances of finishing a quilt top in class are pretty slim. Besides, my philosophy has always been that quilting is not a race. Sure, quick piecing methods are great--I love them and use them whenever I can! But it seems to me that quilting just isn't a hobby for those who require instant gratification.

My main goal in any quilt class is to show my students the steps they'll need to know to complete the quilt once they go home, offer any tips and suggestions that occur to me, and make sure to demonstrate anything that may be a little "tricky" or not quite common. And, as I tell the students, they're always welcome to email me or call me if they run into trouble or have a question--in fact, one of my Hat Party gals called me at home yesterday to ask a question about the sashing, and I'm always happy to help.

So why am I telling you this? Because my students on Saturday just might come reasonably close to completing the Fireworks! quilt top in class, and I'm pretty tickled about that! Realistically, I don't think we'll get the borders finished, because piecing them will take about as long as piecing the center, but still, they should go home with a quilt top that won't take too much longer to complete.

Remember I had cut my blocks for the center last night? I gave my students the information they need to precut their fabric up to that point as well. Tonight I sewed the half-square triangle blocks and trimmed them up. Then I put everything up on my design wall--

I tried to time myself, and I think it took about 3 hours tonight to get to this point with a few interruptions. I figure I'll be able to sew the blocks together and add the inner border in about two hours, so that still leaves an hour of class time to work on the pieced borders. Or maybe we'll just eat, and chat, and have fun! Yep, it's not a race. But I think this is about as close to instant gratification as it gets!

Seeing Spiders

I'm afraid I'm a little boring tonight since all I've done all day was to get the Fireworks! pattern ready and work on making a few things for my class students--which I'd really LOVE to show you . . . but I can't right now because they're a surprise. So what can I show you?

Well, can you stand to look at a few more spiders?

I think I mentioned that I was going to use the Fireworks! pattern to make a Halloween quilt, didn't I? I'll be using this as a demonstration for the class, so I thought that tonight I'd get the cutting done for the blocks that will make up the center of the quilt. Here are the fabrics I'll be using--

I think most of the fabrics for this quilt are Alexander Henry fabrics except for the orangy-yellow, which is from Sandy Gervais. I also have a great Alexander Henry black border fabric and a good stripe for the inner border--no idea who makes that one. I came across it at the quilt shop in Hollister last weekend. I'll have to show you the border fabrics another time since I didn't think to take a photo of them.

Cutting the spider fabric kind of gave me the creeps! A couple times I'd catch sight of the spiders showing through the back of the fabric and I'd get that little burst of adrenaline before my mind made sense of what I was seeing! Oh, sometimes I make myself laugh!

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

A Quiet but Productive Saturday . . .

I've spent much of the day today working on writing the Fireworks! pattern and making little "gifties" for my students.

For some reason, I'm always a bit surprised at how long it takes to write a pattern. I had notes. I had a nice diagram already prepared. I'd calculated the fabric requirements and written them all out in connection with the class. All this was already done. So why does it take so long to write the pattern?! Sheesh! Hours and hours!

Tomorrow I'll copy and package it up and get it on Etsy. Tomorrow I'll make more little "gifties" for my students. (I thought I might do a little house cleaning, but I don't think I'll have time. Tsk, Tsk! Isn't that a shame?! NOT!)

The pressure's on, though, because I'm teaching the Fireworks! class at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks next Saturday and I still have a lot to do. It really doesn't seem like it's been a month since the last class I taught, but it has! If you're in the area, haven't signed up yet, and would like to attend, give the shop a call. I haven't checked to see how many students were signed up, but I suspect there may be a spot or two available. (By the way, the class is called Patriotic Patchwork in case you want to enroll.) And if you're already signed up? Well, I wanted to let you know that I'll be bringing some all-American food for a late lunch, so don't worry about fainting during class from too much excitement and an empty stomach! Not gonna happen!

Oh, and were you wondering about last night's poker game, by any chance? Hubby lost his shirt, figuratively speaking. The big winner? The YOUNG guy! And really, if you knew these guys, you'd be dying laughing because they all think they're pretty hot poker players, and the young guy tends to be fairly quiet and unassuming--I think he kind of flies under the radar most of the time. Everyone left by around 12:30 a.m., and Hubby did a pretty good job of cleaning up after himself and his friends.

Next time there's a poker game, though, I think Pam and Gran have some ideas about getting together so I won't have to hang around the house and watch old guys going back and forth from the patio to the bathroom. Hanging out with the hot quilter chicks sounds like a lot more fun, don't you think?!

Well, it's time for this hot quilter chick to get to bed--the resident old guy is already there, snoring away. Thanks for visiting!

Friday Night Fun

It's Friday night and I'm sitting in the "office" in front of the computer while a bunch of old guys are sitting on my patio, playing poker. (Well, actually there are FOUR old guys and ONE young guy, but the young guy came with one of the old guys, and I think he's just letting the old guy think they're buddies because he might marry his daughter some day.)

I don't help Hubby with his poker parties: I don't fix the food; I don't serve the food; and I don't even shop for food. In fact, most of the time, I go out with my friends, but tonight my gal pals are busy. Lisa's in SoCal doing something for work and I think my sister-in-law, Kathy, is playing bunko. So it's just me with some old guys drinking beer. (No, I'M not drinking the beer, but maybe I should be!)

I tried to delay coming home from work. First I stopped and wandered around Goodwill until they were getting ready to close. I found a couple cool things. Besides two more books on tape, I brought home an oval embroidery hoop,

a splatter blue trivet,

and some silver plated serving utensils.

They obviously need some polishing, but the shapes and decorations interested me. I don't know if I'll use them for the purpose they were intended for or incorporate them into some altered art projects, but I'm sure they'll be fun.

See that short little spoon? You probably can't really tell it's short because the photo cuts off where the handle ends. Anyway, it reminds me of the time I'd gotten a couple teeny, tiny silver spoons along with something I purchased on eBay--much, much smaller than this spoon. I used them at Thanksgiving as a joke to serve jam, and my son's friend, Jim, tried for the longest time to spoon jam onto his croissant using a spoon no larger than your little fingernail. Ah, memories!

After Goodwill, I did some grocery shopping. I finally got home around 9 p.m., and by that time, the poker game was in full swing.

Want to see the old-guy poker game on the patio? Here's the food table.

Notice the fine ice tub there on the left? It's holding beer, hot links, and potato salad. What more could a man ask for? More beer, maybe? Well, that's there too! I also see a glass canister of oatmeal cookies--those'll keep them "regular"! Unfortunately, though, I see my "good" vintage glass salt and pepper shakers. Someone will have to pay for that transgression, and here I have photographic proof! At this point, I don't think any of these guys will notice if I sneak out there and bring them in before someone knocks them down and breaks them on the brick patio, do you?

When I came out with the camera, Hubby said, "Uh oh, I think we're going to be on the blog!," and a couple of the guys ducked under the tablecloth. (By the way, where did Hubby get that tablecloth, anyway? I'm sure it's not one of my "good" ones because I doubt he knows where I keep them, but still . . . .) I told them all to relax; that I would only photograph the table, and no identities would be disclosed. My brother-in-law said, "I don't care! You can plaster photos of me all over the Internet if you want!" (I think maybe he's looking for a wife. Well, maybe not a real wife--just a temporary, one-night wife, if you know what I mean!)

See the large sums of cash being played? These guys are nothing but high stakes gamblers! What really makes me laugh is the cardboard nut cannister with the writing on the top that says, "Don't Eat Dad's Poker." That's our friend Terry's quarter stash. How hungry would you have to be to accidentally eat quarters but for the warning on the top?! And the Budweiser playing cards? Well, what can I say except that knowing these guys, the cards were probably given away free with each case of beer purchased.

Well, I gotta go snag those salt and pepper shakers and put them safely away. The fun never ends here, I'm tellin' ya! Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

Because I'm Feeling Fairly Lazy . . .

There are nights lately when I haven't been sleeping especially well. Sometimes I can't get to sleep, but more often than not, it's just that I keep waking up and don't get into that deep, refreshing sleep. I think it's probably menopause. So every now and then, I try to get to bed early with a good book and a bottle of Tylenol PM. I think tonight's one of those nights.

And the other thing? Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy and not all into writing an entertaining blog post, and I don't have anything I've made to show you, I'll have a giveaway. That way, you won't feel like you wasted a mouse click to get here. But not tonight. Tonight I'm going to give you something that's easier for me and better for you--blog giveaway INFORMATION. Information on oodles and oodles of giveaways!

Yes, some of you may already know about this, and I apologize for needlessly making you click that mouse button--and, of course, I always appreciate your visit!--but for those of you who don't know, this is a real BONANZA! Sew, Mama, Sew has organized about a gazillion blogs into doing giveaways with most drawings on the 31st. She's even categorized the giveaway blogs into three different "types" and noted whether the blogger will ship internationally or not. All you have to do is click on the links, read what each blogger is offering, and enter or not, as you like.

But, before you click away from here, since I'm thinking about giveaways and all, I wanted to let you know--especially the three winners of the Fireworks! pattern--that I most definitely plan to have the pattern published this weekend and up for sale on my Etsy site before the weekend ends. By Monday, I'll get the patterns in the mail to my winners. Oh, and if you're not interested in making a Fourth of July quilt but think you might like the way the pattern looks? Stay tuned because I'm going to make my class sample using Halloween fabric.

So anyway, enough about me--I know you're anxious to click over to some potential prize winnings and, along the way, expand your blog reading list. So go ahead--click HERE!