TA-DA!

Remember that iced latte in yesterday's post? I sure could use that now! I've just finished organizing the home office and I'm tired! I'd invite you all over to see it, but it's an awfully small house and I haven't baked a cake or anything, so I'll share a few photos instead.

A year or two ago, I was able to get two office chairs from my office. The upholstery was pretty tattered, but they were in otherwise great condition. I made reversible covers for one and have been using it in the Sweat Shop; the other lived in the garage until now. The other night, I cut up Hubby's old denim jeans and made a seat cover and a cover for the back rest. Boy were they tough! Just sewing the casing for the seat cover and running the elastic through it took three or four hours--no joke! I'm just glad I didn't know how hard it was going to be before I started! It turned out well, though, and I think it will be awhile before Hubby can wear through these covers.

Here's a view of where the computer and printer will go. I've opted to move those in the morning, because I really didn't want to try to take it down and put it up in iffy lighting conditions. As it is, I'm not sure I can promise I'll be back online tomorrow night! (Check out the pockets on the back of the chair cover.)

This photo looks kind of wonky. I was trying to get back far enough to take the photo and it's distorted the dimensions, but I think you get the idea. This is the other end of the desk, which runs the length of the room. The cutting mat isn't necessarily there for cutting although I'll use it for cutting kits for sale. Mostly, though, it's a nice surface to work on--soft but not too soft for writing.

This is the ugly corner of the room. That corner there ends up getting stuff stuck in it that doesn't belong anywhere else. The desk that spans the length of the room would be to the left of this photo, then there's the dresser and another small desk to the right--I think it makes a fairly decent work area with everything just about in reach.

And I took this last photo mostly for Gran--I wanted to show her that I have a bunch of stitchery and embroidery reference books. On a related subject, when I was cleaning everything out and reorganizing, I found a BUNCH of skeins of perle cotton. I had bought them for a non-stitchery project and forgot I had them!

Okay, now the name of the new pattern and the announcement of the winner. It really was hard to pick and I changed my mind a couple times. In the end, though, I decided to go with Quilting Fitzy's suggestion, "Fireworks!" I loved Nancy's suggestion of Betsy Gets Bold!--it was really the most clever and original suggestion, but I didn't know if everyone would "get" it. Cathy T's "Liberty Star" kept floating through my mind too. But in the end, I thought it looked most like a big burst of fireworks. I'd like to send each of you three ladies a copy of the pattern when it's published--please email me your mailing address, and I should get it in the mail in the next week or so. Thank you ALL for your suggestions--you really helped me to chose a name.

If Thelma and Louise Were Quilters . . . .

When I arrived at Bearpaws and Hollyhocks for Jo's Club Wednesday night, I ran into Gran, who was just leaving the shop. "Would you like to have lunch on Thursday?," she asked. "I'll email you," I replied. Yes, I know my response didn't seem overly enthusiastic, but you see, one of my major goals while I was on vacation this week was to get our home office all set up, and a HUGE part of that was cleaning out a closet and various drawers and finding places for some of the things that needed to be moved, reorganizing things that would be allowed to remain, and bringing in things from other parts of the house that belonged in the office. And, as of Wednesday night, I had dilly-dallied and procrastinated to the point where I had to sit myself down and say, "Kim, on Thursday you're going to spend the day working on the office!" So my hesitation at accepting Gran's invitation wasn't because I didn't WANT to have lunch with her but rather because Jimminy Cricket was sitting on my shoulder, telling me I really needed to do some WORK.

After a little thought, though, I decided it WAS my vacation after all, and I really OUGHT to do something fun, and besides, I could work on the office for an hour or two before I met Gran for lunch, and then I'd have the rest of the afternoon to work on the office some more. HA! As it turned out, Gran had other ideas. Yep, she had a little adventure in mind! And you know what? I'm pretty good at justifying to myself exactly why I should do what I want to do, so off we went!

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that every good adventure begins at Starbucks, and this was no exception!

So after a java stop, I arrived at Gran's house and we hit the road. Something you should know about Gran: She doesn't get out much. Seriously, I don't think I could live anywhere and not have been in every quilt shop in a 100-mile radius within the first few months, but not Gran. As I learned, there were actually quilt shops in the area she'd never visited, and two of them were in Cameron Park, so that's where we headed--up into the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.

Our first stop was High Sierra Quilters which is located in a shopping center right off Highway 50. I'd been in this store a few times in the past, and sometimes I've found things I really needed and sometimes I haven't. Since I'd last visited, they'd moved the shop across to the other side of the shopping center and downsized a bit. And this was one of the times I found things I really needed to bring home.

Since I'm now taking an embroidery class (taught by Gran!), I was on the hunt for suitable background fabrics and I found several. I won't show you my purchases tonight, but I have a few photos of the shop I'll share.

Isn't it funny how quilters always run into other quilters we know? At High Sierra we ran into Mary, one of quilters in my Hey Ghoul Friend class, and her friend. (And I think they must have been listening in to our conversations or stalking us or something, because sure enough, they were at our NEXT quilt shop stop when we arrived!)

Since the whole premise and initial motivation behind Gran and I getting together today was LUNCH, and since we'd worked up quite an appetite fabric shopping, we asked at the shop for a restaurant recommendation and were promptly sent across the way to Taqueria Tepa. Seriously delicious stuff! Gran had a ginormous burrito and I had a carnitas super taco. Sitting here writing this and reminiscing about the day, I'm wishing I had another one NOW! Maybe I'll go back tomorrow. Maybe I'll work on the office. Decisions, decisions!

Before leaving the restaurant, we struck up a conversation with two older women who were both in motorized wheelchairs--sweet little ladies who were out on their own adventure! Both had house plants hanging from the backs of their wheelchairs and shopping bags containing knick knack treasures to decorate their apartments in a nearby senior community. One of the ladies, Holly, told us she has cancer, but her attitude is extraordinarily upbeat. As she explained, her doctor told her the cancer was terminal, but then isn't everyone terminal? We just don't know when our time will come. She told us her sister, who also has cancer, has been "terminal" for 11 years now, and Holly doesn't intend to dwell on it as long as she feels well enough to get around and enjoy herself. And she and her friend were doing just that!

Back at Gran's car, we loaded up and headed down the road to the next quilt shop, Shared Stitches. Shared Stitches is a fairly new shop and this was the first time I'd visited--but it certainly WON'T be the last! Everyone in the shop was extremely friendly and helpful and the shop was wonderful! I also have a few photos of this shop to share--the first two photos will probably give you a general idea of what the shop is like, although they show just a small part--the shop was surprisingly large.

Cute idea for pattern display, don't you think? We learned the owner had found it on eBay--a gal after my own heart! I can't imagine what shipping cost though!

I love these hangers--they had different ones all over the shop displaying aprons and other items.

While we were there, a man came in looking for quilting pins--his wife had sent him. Shouldn't every quilter have a spouse like him? He said he's good at running and getting things and paying for them too! Thelma and Louise may have found Brad Pitt on their travels, but I'm thinking I'd rather have this guy! (Okay, maybe not--there ARE a few other considerations, after all! Still this man had some VERY admirable qualities!)

The shopping day ended much as it began: While Gran was checking out, I walked a few doors down to a coffee shop for an iced mocha with whipped cream to go--a real treat as well as a late afternoon pick-me-up!

I'm so glad Gran invited me on this adventure! What could be better than a day spent with a friend, having fun, petting fabric, and running into interesting people? We already have some tentative ideas about our next adventure--but first I have things to do. Like getting the home office whipped into shape. And--are you wondering which name I've picked for the new quilt pattern? Well, so am I! You've given me so many great choices, I haven't been able to settle on just one. So tomorrow, while I'm cleaning and organizing, I'll and also ponder the names you've given me, and hopefully I'll be able to make up my mind. Or it might just explode from thinking too hard. Stop back by tomorrow to find out, okay?!

Betta Late Than Nevva

Tonight was our monthly meeting of the Bearpaws & Hollyhocks Jo's Little Women Club. I'm seriously behind on this project. How behind? Well, tonight we talked about part four--the final part of the quilt--and I hadn't even started. Yep, pretty far behind! And it's funny because this is a quilt I really like! Want to see what it looks like?

So when I got home tonight from club, I finally started it.

I didn't get very far, but then again, I figure it's not too bad for just a couple hours of hand applique.

My friend Pam joined Jo's Club this year, and when I heard she was joining, I told her the new members had to bring cookies to the meeting. And she DID! Well, that was some months ago, and sadly, she no longer believes me when I tell her she has to bring cookies. Nevertheless, I tried again today and she brought a bag of store-bought cookies. Do you think that counts? Yeah, I suppose we'll give her credit--she's a sweetie!

I was also behind in another monthly class I'm taking, Clues in the Calico. I got caught up on that one, though, last week. This project is a mystery of sorts--we find out month by month what we're supposed to add to the quilt.

The first month, we were supposed to make the broderie perse center star block (broderie perse is a method of cutting a printed motif from fabric and appliqueing it to a background). This month we were to add the half-square triangle blocks. I guess it probably wouldn't surprise anyone that I changed mine a bit. The original had the half-square triangles all going in the same direction around the quilt, but I liked them split in the middle and going toward the corners. I also had so much fun adding the broderie perse center that I added four more to the corners. For this quilt, I pulled some old Robyn Pandolph fabric from my stash and threw in a few other fabrics just to make it look a little more scrappy. It's fun to finally be using some of the fabrics I've been holding onto--I think this line is one of the first I "collected" in my first couple years of quilting!

Also something I finally got to--blog reading. This morning I went through my blog list and visited many of you. I guess I tend to be something of a lurker, though--I love to see what everyone's been up to, but unless I really have something to say, I don't always comment. It was a lot of fun visiting, though! There's so much going on out there! I still have a few more visits to make and I hope to stop by and "see" those bloggers in the next few days.

Finally tonight I wanted to thank you all for the name suggestions for the quilt. I can see it's going to be very hard to pick one as you're all so very good at naming quilts! I sure appreciate the help because my brain wasn't cooperating.

Until tomorrow . . . happy quilting!

I Need a Name

I need a name for this quilt. This is the one I'm teaching at my next class at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks at the beginning of June, and I have to publish the pattern in the next week or two. Apparently my brain thinks it's on vacation too, because I just haven't thought of anything I like. Can you help? If I decide to use your suggestion (and you're the first to suggest it), I'll send you a free pattern just as soon as it comes off the press. I'll take suggestions through Thursday night and announce a winner on my Friday post.

Although the class is called Patriotic Patchwork, you needn't use "patriotic" or "patchwork" in the name--that was just something I came up with on the spur of the moment when I had to commit to teaching a class and had no idea what I wanted to teach.

Oh, and if you're anywhere around Sacramento on June 6th and want to spend the afternoon sewing, chatting, and eating (yes, I'll be feeding my students again), I'd love to see you in class!

THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW COMMENTS AS THERE ARE JUST SO MANY GOOD NAME SUGGESTIONS, MY BRAIN MAY EXPLODE, AND IT WILL LOOK JUST LIKE THAT QUILT!

Lady of Leisure

Well, sort of. You see, I'm on vacation this week. And technically, today (Monday) was the first vacation day. So what did I do?

Remember the new refrigerator? It was delivered on Friday just as I was leaving for work. Hubby arranged the shelves.

Today I fixed them. It was driving me nuts!

It's so nice having a new refrigerator. Although it's a little smaller than our old one, I'm really liking it so far. Oh! I also wanted to show you that the freezer's stocked with all the essentials.

Speaking of food, since it's my vacation and almost Cinco de Mayo, Hubby and I went to our local Mexican restaurant for dinner--Felipe's. Hubby got a cheese enchillada and some kind of taco--can't remember if it was chicken or beef. Beef would be my guess, but there's so much cheese crammed in there, it's hard to tell.

And my dinner--beef flautas, rice, and beans. I don't usually get flautas, but it kind of sounded good. (Actually, the guacamole and sour cream sounded pretty good!) Hubby pointed out to our waitress that I was being all weird, taking photos of our food. Yep, family support--it's what every blogger needs!

And guess what arrived today from the Fat Quater Shop? A little red fat quarter bundle of joy! And why did I get the red fat quarter bundle?

Ah! Because it contained this! Remember this? This is the panel you all made me buy. I can't recall my justification for blaming you at the time, but I know it wasn't my fault--not at all! So, not only did you make me buy a panel, but I had to buy the fat quarter bundle in order to get it!

I also took a little time today to clean off this sewing case I found at Goodwill last week. It will hold all my embroidery stuff--just so long as Gran's supply list doesn't get any longer! Oh, and, of course, I have that fancy-schmancy binder to hold stuff too!

Here's the inside. The plastic tray was cracked a little, but I applied about 27 layers of scotch tape to it--I figure that will hold it for now. (Until Gran's supply list grows longer.)

And then here's what I spent much of the day working on--the hats and shoes quilt top. I think I'm liking it! Since it was a bit wider than it was long, I added that black floral panel at the bottom. I'm planning to add some applique there. Want to know what I'm going to add?

Here I have the letters cut out--I'm in the middle of prepping them for applique.

So that was pretty much my first day of vacation, except for the grocery shopping--no photos of that, but after I rearranged the refrigerator, I figured we needed a couple things. (Like more ice cream.)

The original plan for this vacation was that Hubby and I would drive down to Salinas to visit my mom while I was off. Remember my mom and her broken hip? Well, she's doing okay and is in a nursing home, where she'll stay for the next week or two and then be released back home. After talking with my brother about our planned trip, I found out that he'll be out of town the days we'd planned to visit and my sister-in-law will be working and getting her son ready for his prom. On top of that, Hubby's been suffering from nearly daily bouts of Meniere's disease, which makes him dizzy and nauseous. The bouts seem to be triggered by the changing weather and allergies. So, all in all, we've decided to postpone the visit for a couple weeks and drive down on a weekend. By then my mom will be back home, and the weather will have stabilized, so hopefully Hubby will be feeling better.

And you know what? That's fine with me--I have so many things to do around here, I wasn't really looking forward to spending so much time on the road, although it would have been nice to spend a little time with my family. Still, I'll have that to look forward to in a couple weeks.

Well, it's time now for me to go lay around and do nothing--after all, I'm on vacation!

Hat Party--The Aftermath

I was so tired after class that I was asleep by 11:30 and didn't wake up Sunday until 9 a.m. Apparently that still wasn't enough sleep, though, because I took a nap Sunday afternoon for about two hours. I think I'm pretty well rested up now!

Spike took a nap with me.

She sure makes me laugh! Isn't she funny the way she gets under the quilt with her head sticking out? She's such a silly cat!

A couple people asked about the hat pincushions, so I thought I'd tell you how they're made. If you'd like to make some, you'll need a 3" diameter styrofoam ball, cardboard for the hat brim, fabric, ribbon, buttons, wool or fabric for leaves, and a glue gun.

Cut the styrofoam ball in half. Cut a 6" circle of fabric to cover the styrofoam ball. Wrap the fabric over the ball and using the glue gun, secure the fabric to the bottom (cut side) of the ball, being careful to only put glue on the fabric and let it cool just a bit before pressing it against the styrofoam--if the glue is too hot, it will simply melt the styrofoam.

Cut a 5" circle of cardboard. Cut an 8" circle of fabric. Lay the fabric "good" side down and place the cardboard in the center of the circle. Wrap the fabric over the cardboard and glue it to the cardboard, gathering and gluing as you go around the circle.

After covering the styrofoam ball and cardboard circle with fabric, glue the two sections together, centering the ball on the cardboard. Glue ribbon around the hat to cover the small gap between the two sections.

I used green wool for the leaves of the "flower" on the hat. I was given a similar pincushion sometime ago, and the person who made it used fabric folded like prairie points and gathered at the wider end to form a leaf. You could also use silk leaves.

For the flower, I made a yo-yo with a button in the center and glued it to the hat brim. Again, small silk flowers would also work, and I saw a Clover yo-yo maker at the quilt shop that makes "yo-yos" that look more like flowers.

I've been working on my hat and shoe quilt top today--I may have something to show you tomorrow, so come on back and see!

Hat Party Class

Today was the Hat Party class, and I think everyone had a good time! It was a dreary, rainy day in Sacramento, so what could be better than getting together with friends to sew?

Since I always like to make my classes as party-like as possible, today's class included a tea party.

Earl Gray and English Breakfast tea was served, as well as crustless sandwiches--tomato and avocado with cream cheese, cucumber with cream cheese and lemon pepper seasoning, egg salad with bacon crumbles, and pesto chicken salad with parmesan cheese and sliced almonds. Yum! We also had fresh strawberries, lemon cake, raspberry filled mini donuts, and almond cookies. One thing we didn't lack was food! Of course, with all the sewing going on, we needed to keep up our energy, right?!

Have you ever had clotted cream with jam on buns? Hubby and I had it at a B&B in West Vancouver several years ago and it's a wonderful treat! Well, I tried to make some for our tea, but it was a bust. First of all, I tried Alton Brown's clotted cream recipe, and 15 hours later I still had cream with very little clots. Of course, I didn't read the reviews ahead of time, but now that I have, I see that half the people loved it and half the people ended up with cream and few clots. Yep, I'm definitely in that second half! Then there were the buns. I have a little book of tea recipes and I followed the recipe to make the buns, but the dough was WAAAAAY dry. I had to add some additional milk to get it moist enough to where I could kneed it at all. Well, those didn't turn out too bad, but I don't think they were quite right. Needless to say, the clotted cream, jam, and buns failed to make a party appearance. Still, we hardly lacked for food! We even invited Bearpaws & Hollyhocks owner Lindy and her assistant, Carol, in for a little snack.

Our two new bloggers, Gran and Pam, were among my students. Victoria, Imelda, and Susie also made time in their busy weekends to come. One of the things I enjoy doing is having students bring show and tell--whether from a past class or just something they've made and want to share. Imelda brought her Spring! wallhanging from the last class and it turned out sooooo cute! My photography doesn't do it justice--I should have changed the camera setting to back lit but didn't. Imelda added a bow to her bunny and it was just darling.

Oh, and what's a party without party favors?

Here's what was in the bags--

Some paper and a pencil, so everyone could take notes, a seed packet, a ladybug eraser, a hat pincushion, and two shades of green wool (so my gals could get a start on making leaves for their hat quilts).

By the end of class everyone had made at least three hat blocks. Each of the gals used such different fabrics, the blocks were fun to see as they came together. Each time someone would finish a block, she'd hold it up so the rest of us could see and marvel at. And, of course, the great fun with these stack and slice patterns is sewing one block and revealing what the next combination of fabrics will look like.

The only drawback to the Hat Party? I'm really, really pooped tonight! Time to go to bed with a good book and get a restful night's sleep. I hope you're enjoying your weekend too!

Because The Weekend Has Arrived . . .

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Happy Dos de Mayo--or something like that!

Objects of Desire

I think a few of you liked the shoe blocks I posted, so I thought I'd clarify. This is another stack and slice pattern from Sandy Gervais/Pieces From My Heart called If The Shoe Fits. This pattern is kind of neat because the blocks can be made from a layer cake. The fabric line I used, which pretty much goes along with the pattern, is called Objects of Desire. Yummy saturated colors in the line!

I found the layer cakes on sale HERE, but they don't seem to carry the pattern. Of course, if you click on over to the Fat Quarter Shop, you can find the layer cake, the pattern, and much more--that Kimberly has EVERYTHING--just like Barbie! There's a preprinted shoe panel if you like the shoes but don't want to fuss with cutting and sewing, and there's a large stripe that will make a great border.

And why am I'm making the shoes? Well, in the Hat Party class on Saturday, I'll use some of the fabric to demonstrate how to cut and sew the hat blocks. Ideally, I'd like to end up with 6 hat blocks and 12 shoe blocks and set them together in one quilt. Fun, huh?! I think so!

I'm deeply immersed in plans for the class on Saturday, and to that end, I visited a couple Goodwill stores today. I'll show you after the class what I was looking for--and found--but for now, I'll just show you a couple other things.

Goodwill can be counted on as a source for interesting books, and I'm really a book junkie! Oh, and I think you know that I'm a textile junkie too, right? So when I came across the linen and lace book, I was in heaven! And soap making? It's something I've always been interested in. I don't know if I'll ever actually DO it, but at least I have a book now!

I also found this fabric. It looks like a vintage textile to me, and the weave reminds me of linen, but I'm guessing it's more likely to be cotton, albeit a coarser weave. Do any of you have any insight as to what it is and when it may have been made? For $1 I just couldn't pass it up!

Finally, I wanted to welcome another friend to Blogland. Pam has been reading and commenting on blogs for a bit now, and she's finally decided to start a blog of her own. Pam's job takes her all over Northern California, so she gets to visit every quilt shop around--I'm envious! Still, I think one of her favorites is Bearpaws & Hollyhocks--that's where I first met her. I've added both Pam and Gran to the Friends section of my sidebar, so you can click on over to visit them any time!

And, as always, thanks for stopping in to visit--it's a pleasure to "see" you!

* * * * *

P.S.: Now see what you made me do? Yep, if Hubby asks, it's all your fault. After all, I was looking for sources of the Sandy Gervais fabric for YOU when I stumbled across this--I really NEED this panel. ARGH! I think I'm channeling Vicky, poking buttons in the middle of the night!