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I mean, what boy wouldn’t love this?  Frogs, Lizards, Monkeys — what more could a kid want?

I quilted water, lilly pads, and bugs! Perfect!

Who knew BUGS could be this cute?

Even the back is darling!

What fun.  I loved it!

Look at these fun 30’s fabrics that Mary Jane used on her quilt –

And it just HAD to be quilted with cute flowers, don’t you agree?

I love this pattern!

So that makes 3 completed quilts out of the 7 that Mary Jane brought me.  I’m gettin’ there!

Better go get busy . . .

Ok, I’ll tell you. I don’t really want to do it but I know you’ll all agree with me anyway.

Unpicking STINKS!!!

AND it STINKS even WORSE when you’re unpicking stitches made on the long-arm quilter.  Seriously, can life GET any worse than THAT?  I submit that it cannot!!!!!

I actually had to buy new seam rippers. (Well, Theresa and Judy bought them and delivered them to me, bless their hearts.)

Did you all know that you need a new seam ripper from time to time?  They get dull just like scissors and become very hard to use. They only cost about a dollar and well worth it I say. Throw that old one away that your grandma passed down to you and GET A NEW ONE!!!  Your life will totally change for the better — believe me!

The best part of all this, though, was that my dad (who came to visit this weekend) was the best unpicker of all time!  Who knew!?!  He was such a trooper and unpicked for many hours. He thought it was fun.

Now I have threads all over my house and have learned a great lesson ONCE AGAIN on what NOT to do!!!  I will never forget it!!! I promise.  Really.  Maybe.  Hopefully. . . . .

Good question. I know I’ve been working hard but don’t have many pictures to show for it.  Two quilts I finished for Mary Jane I did not photograph. How dumb. One I started and then had to take off and unpick (more on that trauma later.)

Then I started AND finished AND photographed this one for Kristie –

Gorgeous quilting, right?

I love the blue thread.  Kaitlin told me to use the blue and I have to admit I was hesitant . . . but it worked out great and looks absolutely gorgeous!  Plus it was fun to quilt because there were many different elements.  Thanks again Kristie, for bringing me these beautiful canvases to play on.

I see that I have not written a new post for two weeks!  That’s terrible.  I am simply too busy working, quilting, appliqueing, UNPICKING, cleaning, washing, ironing etc etc etc to be able to blog!  There are so many good stories to tell, though, and I’ll try to send some your way this weekend. But I have company again so now I’m busy shopping, playing, cooking, and having fun…. and breathing. . . . oh, and dyeing my hair before it turns completely gray.  Better get going. More later, I promise!

I am quilting this wonderful old quilt for Carol. Isn’t it lovely?

It was given to Carol by her husband’s family. She had to sew the sections together and needed it quilted by this week so she could show it to her in-laws who are coming to visit, which I was glad to do. Here’s the story:

“Paul’s great-grandmother Beatrice was raised in southern Utah by her childless aunt and uncle because her parents were too poor to raise her.  Because of that, Beatrice was able to have nice dresses and shoes and live in nicer circumstances than her parents could have provided.  She always remained devoted to both sets of parents and when her father died she bought some of the belongings of the house to help the family have money for her father’s funeral.  This quilt top was in a trunk Beatrice bought at the time.  The quilt top was supposedly not made by her real mother, but acquired by the mother as a trade for some service.  The quilt top was not perfectly or completely made but symbolizes sacrifice and service on many levels.  Paul’s grandmother Helen gave us the quilt top once when we were staying with her because she knows I love to sew and quilt and she wanted me to have something sentimental.  I completed the quilt top and fixed the problems as best as I could.  Thank you, Tori, for finishing this heirloom for my family!”

How great to have something sentimental from long ago. I’m so glad I got to help Carol finish her heirloom. She’s my great friend!

Well, it’s Saturday, and Theresa now knows about her red schoolhouse quilt.  So it took her about 9 days — that’s a pretty long time to keep anything from Theresa!  Glad you love it!

Look what I finished this week. The Little Red Schoolhouses that Theresa has been waiting so long for…hmmm… wonder why she doesn’t seem to know about it yet. Is Judy keeping it a secret? If so, sorry. Theresa’s too busy to see it here so we’ll just wait and see how long it takes for her to catch on somehow. I finished it a week ago, I’ll let you know when she finally hears about it.  In the meantime, enjoy…

Cute, ha? But I have got to learn how to take better photos, right? I’ve worked too hard on the quilting to not have better pictures.

When Melissa was here last weekend she was going to try to do the long-arm quilting on her own quilt. It would be her first try. So we chose a cute and easy swirly pattern, had her practice and draw it for a while… okay, possibly not long enough… then let her use the machine on a practice piece, which was turning out okay but not exactly how she would like it. Take a look.

I wrote her name for her and tried to get her going but — let’s just say that making circles NOT look like squares is harder than you think.

Maybe a design with square circles could be cool, though. Anyway, she then gave up and made me do it for her, which was for the better in the long run. She’ll try again when she has a scrap quilt that will become her picnic blanket instead of one she really wanted to be fabulous — which, of course, it is now!

Cute and funky fabrics, ha? They look like Melissa. With grey binding it will be wonderful!

And the back is just as cute because of that DARLING bird fabric.

Speaking of fabric, darling and gray, Melissa found this one at A Quilter’s Oasis and HAD TO HAVE IT.  Don’t tell her hubbie.

P.S. To all you fabric designers and fabric buyers out there, give us more gray fabrics!  ANY time we walk in to a store and see one we LOVE it!  We think Jill should put a gray fabric in her new fabric line. Fabulous!

More soon on the old but wonderful quilt I’ve been working on for Carol F and will finish tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone for the calls and quilts. I am backed up — but in a good way. ha ha

Judy is so patient waiting for me to quilt for her. She gives me all the time and space (and electricity!) a quilter could ask for. (I’m over there 3 times a week at least.) And then she just waits so patiently for me to get around to doing some for her. But I’m committed and determined to get some of her quilts done now!  I finished two last week and have plans for the third.  The problem is that other people keep bringing me so many quilts too!  (Thank you!) Mary Jane brought me 7 on Monday!  Yes, 7 quilts — how amazing.  She brought in three bags so I thought there would be three quilts, but no! Those quilts just kept coming and coming out of the bags and there were seven!  Wow! I’m excited, can you tell?

Anyway, here are the two I did for Judy……

First, the Christmas batiks with gorgeous golden thread poinsettias.  Can a Christmas batik BE any prettier than this?

Then the “Licorice” quilt.  Mmmm….Black licorice…my favorite

Can you see the awesome 30’s prints she used in this one?  I love it!

I wish you could see the quilting on this better but it’s hard with black thread on the black fabric. It’s such a fun design to quilt. I love doing it.

After we took these pictures Judy said, “Are you going to blog about these?”  Blogging accomplished.

“Friendship is the golden thread that ties the hearts of all the world.”

Today I spent $80 on thread!  Is that a lot? Good question.  I guess it’s all relative. I use a lot of thread, I need many many colors because I never know what color I’ll need next. Let’s just say for me, it’s better to buy in bulk. I wish there was a Costco for thread. I’m sure if you took every brand and type and color of thread that’s available it would fill a Costco warehouse easily. Sometimes I feel like I have a thread warehouse in my sewing room. I have at least 3 full drawers of thread, plus the giant spools, yet I still run out at the worst times. Kathy at Quilters Oasis just laughs when she sees me come in the door (again!) for more thread. It’s inevitable, I guess.

I’m debating whether to mention actual name brands.  Hmmm…. I might as well.  The ones I like are: Signature, Superior, Mettler, Auriful, King Tut, and  Presencia — I think that’s all of them. Once again, NOT the brand from the discount fabric chain store. Worthless.

I was always taught to use 100% cotton thread for piecing. Then when I started quilting on the long-arm I naturally used cotton for that too and have ever since. Lots of long-armers use polyester thread for various reasons, mostly because the long arm machine sews so fast that the thread needs to be pretty strong so that it won’t break. We went through lots of brands of thread trying to find the ones that worked best. A very interesting / educational / expensive / at times aggravating process. All the brands and types definitely have different characteristics.  I can usually tell now what brand a thread is even when it’s not on the spool from the weight of it, the smoothness, etc. so I guess I’ve learned something useful.

On to Salt Lake to give Mary and Lisa their quilts.  They loved them, of course!

They were a hit!

Then down to St. George for a little family skating and New Year’s party.

Cousins are fun!

Now we’re home and it’s back to work.  Unpacking all the stuff from the cars (1 hour), finding a place for everything Andrea brought back (DAYS!!),  taking down the Christmas tree (5 minutes), doing all the laundry (never-ending)! I guess that’s life.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas week / vacation!

We are having a great time at Nanny and Papa’s house in Utah.

Christmas morning…

…so many surprises!  Here’s Kaitlin showing off her fabulous new purple shoes…  and holiday pajamas.

Everyone had a great day.

"I'm not worthy!"

All things "Utah" makes Peter happy.

Ever made Honey Cookies?  Fun!

The stuff...

The frying...

The finished product. Yum!

Then the kids came up to the farm to ride tractors…

and horses…

some slippin’ and slidin’…

"Don't make me go home!"

Can they BE any cuter!!

Just being together is the best part of all! Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!  And so are the rest of us. Oh well … ’tis the season.

It’s also the season for beautiful gifts. And what could be a more beautiful Christmas gift than a handmade quilt!

I hope the people these are meant for don’t look at this blog in the next few days. I think I’m pretty safe.

Andrea designed and made this one all by herself! She’s a quilting marvel.  It’s for her friends who need some extra love and comfort this year.

Oh! Cute quilting too!

This is a memory quilt for a cousin.  What a great way to use those t-shirts that hang around and cover their bedroom floors — I mean fill their dresser drawers so neatly.  ha ha

This one is for Kristie’s friend who likes ships.

Another fast and easy “Turning Twenty” pattern.

See? It IS possible to make a quilt at Christmas time.  Good job, everybody. Merry Christmas!

Man! This last weekend at Quilt Retreat (Jr.) was the second hardest trip to Salt Lake this year. Sounds weird, doesn’t it?

But it was super fun and semi-refreshing and great to spend time with good friends and family. Here’s a play-by-play.

First, Jill and her photographer were taking pics of her quilts for the book. Here’s one of the 9-patch I quilted. It looks great on the bed!

Here’s the third one I quilted for the book.

Here’s our cute photographer, Aaron. He was so nice and fun! He joined in on our silliness and had as good a time as any of the women. He even pitched in with garbage duty.

Now on to the most amazing part, the “cabin” we stayed in in Deer Valley. Holy cow! It’s the biggest place I’ve ever seen. Check out the master bath’s gigantic shower. We got all 14 of us in there Friday night. It was hilarious, especially when Talia accidentally (?) turned on the water.

Did I mention how big the place was? The bedrooms — all with their own bathrooms, of course.

The living room with it’s gorgeous view…

The kitchen…

The sauna…

Even the pepper grinder was huge!

We had SUCH a great time playing with fabric…

…and applauding everyone’s new levels of completion…

…that we didn’t notice what was happening outside!

Beautiful but treacherous!

Good for the skiers, though. But we did make it down the mountain after long debate, prayer, and white knuckle driving.

I heart Quilt Retreat!

You’re SEW awesome!

Since I finished Jane’s quilt I have done 3 more. Let’s take a look back, shall we?

Here’s Jane’s, it’s quilting design is called “Sweet and Spikey”. I think it turned out so beautifully! She will love it!

Then I finished Jill’s first quilt…  it’s darling too, of course. I’m on a roll!

Then I quilted the second one for Jill. These two will both go in the book. So exciting!

P.S. To those of you who care, this is what wool batting will look like in your quilt. See how it make it all poofy and you can really see the quilting? Great for wall hangings! AND it doesn’t cost any more than cotton or cotton/poly blend. I’m going to do a whole post on types of batting, but in the meantime, stop buying your batting at the local discount fabric shop! Should I be naming names? It’s nasty and I FORBID it! Get yourself acquainted with Quilter’s Dream brand. I usually have plenty on hand so when you send me your quilt I’ll sell it to you at a bargain.

Jane gave me a bamboo batting, which is the newest thing. It was soft as butter, I must say. It is more expensive but worth it (?)

No full size picture of course because I had to take these in a hurry and get home to bed. By then I had been quilting for 10 hours straight and I was tired! The only thing that kept me going was that Judy fed me some homemade chili that afternoon.  Bless her heart.

Cute from the back as well! Fun design to quilt too.

Then yesterday I finished one for Diane. Cute little Noah’s Ark quilt. I love how the design looks like the clouds in the sky. Her grandson will love it, I’m sure.

I know I said that I don’t turn down anyone who asks me to quilt for them because I don’t want to get bad karma, so please (!) don’t call me and ask for one before the end of the year.  I’ll have to say no and then my bad karma will be all your fault!

Still love you, though!

I’m off to Quilt Retreat Jr. tomorrow so have a great weekend. I’ll post some pictures.

Yes, next weekend we are going to have a one day retreat in SLC with our quilt group Family Pieces.  We usually have the retreat in April but Jill needs some help with a fabulous new book she’s working on that will be all about group projects.  Family Pieces has had 13 group projects so far and Jill has pretty much been the chief master mind of them all so it’s only right that she should write the book about it. Anyway, the photographers want pictures of us  having more fun than you can imagine to put in the book and we are happy to oblige.

So I’ve got my quilts divided into the ones that must be finished before I go and the ones that must be finished after I get home but before Christmas.  It’s daunting!

I got one finished yesterday morning (Kristie’s)

Hot Peppers!

With a fun Southwest design

The back side.

and will finish another one tomorrow morning (Jane’s).

Then I’ll load the next one (Jill’s) and hopefully stay on my feet until that one’s finished tomorrow night. Anyway, that’s the plan.

Susan is piecing another one today (I hope) that will need to be quilted before we leave too. (These last two also have to be bound and ready for the photographer by Saturday as they are going into the book. That’s three that I quilted that will be in the book. How exciting!)

Plus I have to shop for more fabric, wrap and pack tons of gifts, hopefully buy more gifts that I can also wrap and pack, and live regular life in between.  No wonder I don’t sleep. I’m way too wound up.

But the biggest thing I’m worried about is some how getting my hair to have a good day so that my ugly self won’t have to be cropped out of the book photos.  If not, I’ll just have to hold a quilt block up in front of my face. Ya, good plan.

Oh, and one more thing — my Round Robin that was due a month ago has to be ready to bring too. It’s that dang applique that’s hanging me up. Thanks to Judy for pitching in and helping me … and helping me… and finally just doing it for me.  It was the only solution.

I just have to send a huge CONGRATS to Donny Osmond who won “Dancing With the Stars’ tonight!  I LOVE Donny Osmond!  He’s been my greatest crush for many years.  I was jumping around and screaming last night when he won — I’m! so happy for him!  What a cutie.

David said he’s going to start crushing on Marie but I know his heart’s not in it. He’s just jealous!

The fourth quilt of the week — Baby Hearts by Kristie G.  So cute!

Quilted with baby hearts, of course.

This week I completed 3 quilts.  This brown and pink one from Kristie you have already seen.  It’s the third one she has given me with the same fabrics so I had to think hard about a different design but it turned out pretty good.

Then Paula needed me to finish one for her. She did the center but needed the borders re-done.  It was a wolf quilt for her nephew. How do you quilt wolves? Well, I used these cool leaves that looked all forest-y.  I forgot to take pictures of it though, shame on me.  Maybe I’ll get the drawings posted here.

Then I hurried and finished one for Sue so she could take it to Ohio for Thanksgiving.  Somebody is going to love their fabulous pinwheels!

Now I have two more from Kristie, one gigantor quilt from Jane, two very important ones from Jill, and many more that Judy waits patiently for.  The quilts and customers keep coming and that makes me very grateful. I’m very glad to have them. That’s why I can get a little over-promised sometimes — it’s my policy to never ever say no to any quilt that comes my way. Don’t want the bad karma, you know?  I feel like I should accept the quilts the universe brings me. If I refuse, they will stop coming.  The over-promising always works out and I get to keep my happy karma.

Horray! I’m back from my sojourn in the sad sad wilderness.  I quilted all day yesterday and got this beautiful quilt of Kristie’s all done.

The only problem now is that I’ve promised three people that I’d do theirs next (hopefully by the end of the week) and I still have to go to work during the day and go with Peter to his two his events tonight and tomorrow night.  Hmmm…..  Anyone got a time machine?  Maybe with a lot of back and forth I can succeed.  Then I have more to do before Thanksgiving, as well as prepare for the company that will be coming for the weekend.  (Can’t wait!) Then more before December 10th when we go to our mock Quilt Retreat in Utah. (More about that later.)

Well, whatever happens, I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s why I like quilting:

It gets me out of the house
It helps me be more creative
It make beautiful things even more beautiful
It gives me someone to talk to
Everyone appreciates my work
It makes people happy
It gives me something to blog about (I’ve come to love blogs)
This week it made me feel like I was back to life. That’s a real blessing.