Happy Birthday to me!

Last weekend we finally got to New Jersey to see our dear, dear friends. We usually see them 5 or 6 times over the summer but this past summer things got bumped around a bit and it has been SEVEN months since we have been together. As it turned out, we were all available this weekend which happened to be my Birthday weekend!! So we headed south to celebrate Christmas and my birthdday Jersey style.

Robbin made this lovely cake for me. I love the ? mark. Might as well keep everyone guessing! They overwhelmed us with presents and goodies. We went out to dinner Friday night and drank lots of wine. Saturday we got together to devour Susie's homemade sauce and stuffed shells and exchange gifts.

We stayed at Susie and Ronnie's house. She is the ultimate hostess with the mostest! Our room had a birthday banner and a lovely little basket with nice smelly soaps and lotions. She is also an unbelieveable cook.
Here I am with my gals, Susie, Robbin and of course, Miss Ellie-the bestest dog in the world!

And here are the hubbies- Susie's Ronnie, my DH, Bob, and Robbin's Vinnie. They basically sat there all afternoon drinking beer and watching music videos.
The weekend passed too quickly !

When I got back home on Sunday, a box had been delivered. I have to say I have THE BEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! My sister, Kathy, who lives in Florida, sent me this gorgeous Coach bag and wallet for the summer. It is the perfect size, perfect handles and perfect color. I would never spend $$$ on a bag like this (cause I gots to buy quilty stuff) but I've lusted over hers for years. So enuf of this SNOW, bring on summer!!!

Snowing again today. But my new saying is

A SNOW DAY IS A SEW DAY!!!

Rhode Island Quilt Retreat

I am back to report about my quilting retreat in Rhode Island which was two weeks ago. Time does fly! We left on Thursday evening because snow was predicted which gave us an extra evening to sew. Nothing wrong with that! This group has been going on retreat for almost 1o years now. It is lots of laughs, wine, food, fun and of course, sewing.

As I posted last time, I had high aspirations of working on three projects. But the reality is I only got to one project. However, it has been a UFO for -count 'em - SEVEN YEARS. The Underground RR top is done! This dates back to 2004. In fact, the teacher of the class was on retreat with us. Good thing cause I needed help with the pieced border!!

Oh, and I did work on my scarf with the self striping yarn. This is half done and I am in love with it! Right now it looks like a reallly loooonnng sock or a pretty striped snake. I have another skein to make a matching hat.

We also made this cute little snapbag as a fun class taught by Sara. She is one of the founding members of our guild and 82 years young. You may have seen this bag around blogland. It has cut pieces of a measuring tape in the top to open and close it.

Of course, we did some shopping. I spent under $100 for the weekend which compared to most was frugal. Here is a picture of a darling pattern I had to have. This is going to be a great spring project. I have to order the black and white fabric for the handles which really makes this pop!

Quilt til you wilt!!!

January update

We had an icy mix today so I chose to stay home rather than ice skate to work. I spent the day productively. After vacuuming and starting laundry, I spent the day in the sewing room. The mojo is still here!
This week, I finished two scarves that I started in December. They were supposed to be gifts for the gals at work but never got finished. Instead of just tucking them away, I plodded on and finished them. They will be put away for gifts for next winter!

I also made three sets of Mastectomy pillows which is my guild's community project for this year. I still have a half a bag of fiberfill so I will be cutting more sets to use that up. We hope to make at least 200 sets to donate to Hartford Hospital which happens to be where I go for treatment. Last year, they gave away 700 sets. Breast cancer touches far too many lives.
The set in front was made from a 20x 20 pieced square I bought at a tag sale probably 10 years ago! Why was I holding onto it?? It made perfect pillows.

Finally, I finished piecing the pillow shams that match my rectangle quilt. I just need to get a copy of the ginko panto from my longarmer friend so I can echo quilt it on the shams. This is one of the fronts.

I am headed to our annual Rhode Island quilt retreat on Friday. I have packed three projects:

1. my underground RR quilt. I hoped to finish this as part of Finn's New Years challenge. I looked at it today and don't know what has taken soo long to finish it! The top and the back will be pieced this weekend.

2. A wool pillow kit that I bought last year.

3. Snowman wall hanging. I bought the pattern back in November when I met with Libby at the Quilted Crow. I have pulled all the pieces together and if all goes smoothly, I may get to this project as well.

Hope your January resolutions to do more quilting (whatever that may be) are still holding true!
Check back next week for my retreat pictures!

Til then, Quilt til you Wilt!!!

RESOLUTIONS REVISITED

Well, only 9 days into the New Year and I am doing some re-examining of my goals. I was so impressed by Jeanne at Spiral and her B-a-D project that I thought I could do the same. Sadly, just 3 blocks into the project I am baling out! Here are my three blocks which will be added to the Orphan Box. My DH finally made me see the light ( Are you crazy??? were his exact words) and I realized that with working, going to the gym and radiation treatments, I was not going to be able to keep up with this project.



But I have joined Jeanne and lots of others over at Barbara Brackman's new project, Civil War Quilts, where she is providing a block a week as well as interesting history from that era. Now a block a week I know I can do! And here are my first two blocks, Catch me if you can and North Star. I'm really using this project to keep me motivated to get into my sewing room. After finishing these two blocks, I started piecing my pillow shams to go with my recently finished quilt. Sewww, you see it's working!


Finally, here is the snow we received Friday night into Saturday. We got about 10 inches, though the totals varied dramatically over the area. And after shoveling out on Saturday, we got another 2 inches overnight. I guess winter is really here. I love how it makes the garden look. Time to hibernate in my sewing room!

Good Riddance 2010, Welcome 2011

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, it's a day or two late but I finished my rectangles king size quilt ( I think there are about 600+ rectangles) which was my promised project for Finn's New Years' Challenge. I got it back from my long arm quilter last week and had the binding all ready to go. I'm going to make pillow shams to match and my goal is to have them done by the end of January.

Here is a detail of the quilting. I picked the ginko leaf which looks pretty nice with the taupes and japanese fabrics.

As far as quilting goes, 2010 was pretty pathetic with only 3 quilts finished. I, for one, am glad that 2010 is finished. The last half was tough but as my dad always said "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I'm feeling pretty strong and I'm ready for 2011!

We had a quiet but lovely Christmas. Here is my favorite quilty present from my hubby. He even wrapped it in a patchwork of paper.

It's the Shape Cut Pro which cuts fabric strips the width of fabric.

We also had a very quiet New Year's Eve. We didn't kid ourselves. Knowing we wouldn't make it to midnight, Bob popped the champagne at 9 and we pushed 2010 out the door and welcomed in 2011.

I'm pretty excited about quilting in 2011 and got my quilting mojo going early. I have already made some blocks for 2011. this year, I have been watching Jeanne of Spiral complete the Block a Day project. She did an amazing job! Go check out her blog for the tally of quilt tops. As I was watching her work her way through the 366 blocks, I decided to buy the calendar and this year I am going to try to repeat Jeanne's phenomal achievement!

I started making the blocks using what was on hand and with no real plan (i.e., my usual way of doing things!). January 1st block was the snowball. So I pulled from my precut stash and made two blocks. And like Melanie talked about this week, I hate to waste the little triangles, so I sewed them together and made another block.

I was going to just add the blocks to my box of orphans until I came up with a plan but looking ahead on the calendar, I quickly realized that I would probably end up with a mish mash of blocks. So I went back and pulled fabric for the first few blocks which relate to snow. I've got January 1 and January 2 blocks finished and have cut the pieces for January 3rd. I'll share these at the end of the week.

I also pulled out my orphan block box to see what was in there. What a mess!!

Not only were there lots of errant blocks but lots of parts, 1/2 square triangles, bits and pieces, leftover sashing. So I sorted everything, grouped some things together that actually might make up a quilt or two, and went through the parts. I had enough 1/2 square triangles to make these blocks.

My quilting resolutions this year (I must have one or two!) are to do more handwork while I sit in front of the TV, try to clean up some of the Pigs in the Poke that have been there forever, but also work on some new things which I think will keep my mojo going .I also want to post to my blog on a more regular basis and the B-a-D project will help me do that.

I want to wish a Happy New Year to my blogger friends. I really appreciate those of you who have checked in on me over the last few months. It really lifted my spirits. I'm through with chemo and start radiation treatment on Monday. By mid-February, I will be done with that and then will be put on a daily medication. I"ll know more about the paticulars of that when I meet with my doc at the end of the week.

Until then, Quilt til you wilt!

What's in the bag???

See this bag! It is this top on its way to the longarmer. It's king size so my frame won't hold it. I finished it at a retreat in the spring and I finally got the back pieced and it soon will be a real live quilt!!! I even have the binding ready so when it gets home it might actually get really and truly finished!

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Oh, and I've also done some work on my Folk Art Gals quilt. I couldn't have Freddy Moran without a little Gwen Marston sprinkled in so when Cheri's quilt called for template pieced basket blocks- what are templates again??!- I knew it was time to get "liberated" and made my baskets ala Gwen. Super easy and addicting!

I've also decided to be a part of Finn's New Year's Challenge. This mess is an underground railroad quilt. The blocks were made monthly through a class eons ago and when the sashing class was held I couldn't attend so you know what happened. It became a UFO. I pulled it out a year or so ago and tried to make some sense of it but found that the sashings were too long. Well, when I pulled it out today I figured out why! I was trying to fit the sashings to the wrong set of blocks!! Now, that I have the right set it may go together a lot easier.

Just had my third treatment on Friday which sort of kicked me in the butt. I've been home from work for two days just too tired and achy to get out of bed but hope to be back on track in a few days. Good news is the last one is the day after Thanksgiving and then I get a little break before radiation which won't start til after Christmas. and I've got nubbies growing on the cranium. Woo hoo! I probably won't have proper hair til spring but it's sprouting.

Think Pink

I know, I know, long time no blog~In fact, I haven't even been lurking.

But here is some quiltiness from the Wilted Quilter.

As you know, Libby has started the Folk Art Gathering Gals which I am a proud member. I must say that I like prim for its quirkiness and most of all forgiveness when quilting but I'm not always a big fan of the brown, brown, browns. When I started to pull fabric for this project I kept pulling brights. I felt that I was channeling Freddy Moran! So, I decided to go with it and bought several pairs of sunglasses for the gals in the group, in case, the bright got out of hand. LOL! As you know, this is a Cheri Payne quilt. I love the quirkiness of the blocks and applique, the ability to "do my own thing" yet stay true to the pattern and I hope that this "Cheri & Freddy" collaboration will meet their awesome standards.

As you can see, I'm in the pink on this one and there is a good reason for that. Just after joining the Folk Art Gals, I received some life changing news. I have gone back and forth with posting this info but since it is such a HUGE part of my life now, I've decided to put it out there. I was diagnosed with breast cancer right before my vacation in July. I found the lump myself. (Yes, you will know when you find something so start squeezing the melons!!) Thankfully, it was small but the cancer cells had spread to some of the surrounding tissue which meant not only surgery but chemo and radiation. With my doctor's blessing, we went on vacation so that we could process everything before I started down this unknown highway. We had a wonderful time, got to see that Alex was ok and when I got back I was ready to face this lump in the road head on. I had a lumpectomy in August. I have done two rounds of chemo with two to go which will be followed with 4 weeks of radiation.

Cancer and cancer treatment is a personal journey. I believe 90% of it is mental. Positive thinking is key. My oncology doctor and I believe that this is curable but the treatment has to be heavy duty to achieve the goal. I am taking one day at a time and dealing with WHAT IS and not thinking about WHAT IF. I have a huge support system, including some of you out there in blogland who I have shared this and that makes a huge difference. I am also one of the few lucky ones that has a stomach of iron so that chemo has been easier. Oh, there are days when I feel like total crap and want to curl up in a ball and cry but for the most part, I get up every day, put on my big girl panties, plop my new friend "Beth" on my cranium and head to work like everyone else.

I am still working with my super duper trainer, Kyle, three days a week. He is absolutely in the top three of my supporters. If he wasn't waiting at the gym for me at 7 AM, I would not be there or feeling as good as I do on most days. Surprisingly, the workouts help tremendously. It makes me feel strong and I feel I can conquer the world and cancer. I still do laundry and food shopping and cleaning, just like all of you, though DH has picked up a HUGE portion of the work load leaving me time to rest and quilt when I feel up to it.

Sewww, that's that. In closing, here's a recent pic of my gorgeous son before he drove back to Colorado last week, me, and my new friend "Beth"!

QUILT TIL YOU WILT!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

We are back from our vacation which went by far too fast! Laundry has been done, house has been defurred yet again and we are back to work.


The trip was absolutely fabulous. We had never been out west other than California and have a true appreciation for how enormous this country really is. We landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and spent two days hiking and exploring Grand Teton National Park. Then we spent 3 days in Yellowstone. We got to see all of the main attractions like Old Faithful and did a good amount of hiking as well.

From there we drove to Moab, Utah and spent four days in the Arches National Park. This is a must see for everyone. It is just an amazing place. We hiked every day early in the morning before the temps got out of control. We also took a Hummer ride out on one of the many 4 X 4 trails which was really fun and exciting. I took lots of pictures. The landscape was really inspiring and I have a couple of quilt ideas...

Lastly we drove to Government Camp, OR and picked up Alex for a long overdue family weekend. He lives at the base of Mount Hood and works above the clouds on most days in the terrain park for a snowboarding summer camp. He has perputal "goggle" tan. He really likes this job and is planning on returning next summer. We had him for the weekend and treated him to a nice hotel and lots of good food. He showed us around Portland which included a couple of brewery tours. My boy knows wayyyy too much about beer! The weekend was over too quickly but it was good to see that he is safe and happy.

On our last day in Oregon, Bob and I traveled through the Columbia Gorge and stopped at 6 of the most fabulous waterfalls in the area.



And now we are back to reality, lots of yard work is calling since we have been MIA for two weeks. sooo off I go. Hope to be in quilt mode soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as I am!

hey everybody, it's me! Annie!

I know it's been months but I'm still here! Not much quilting going on but I have finished a couple of things. This is a hand quilted piece I started about 5 years ago. It's a whole cloth piece about 16 x16. The reason I finally decided to finish it was I pulled it out and the design had started to fade! I was afraid if I didn't get a move on, I wouldn't know what to do!



I used a varigated thread which I really like! I need to add a border to it and it will be another one finished! Oh, and I did finish the quilt that Libby and I started on our quilting play date back in May.

Oh, and let me introduce you to my new gal pal, Sunny! She's a stripped down 16" midarm that I bought from Pennywinkle Ranch out of Tennessee. We are still getting to know each other but I know that she and I will finish up a bunch of quilts come this fall.

Part of the reason quilting is not being done is that baseball and beer have been on the agenda. Here we are in one of our favorite cities, Baltimore. We've also been to several concerts- Michael Buble and Peter Wolf and of course, we've been down to the Ocean Grove, NJ to visit our friends.

And the big finish is this king size quilt top I started las fall. What a monster! I need to piece the back and then I will be handing it over to my friend to quilt it. I want it finished so I can use it this fall on our bed.

And just when I have returned, I am off again! We are headed on a two week vacation out West. First, we will fly into Jackson Hole, WY and see Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for 5 days, then we are driving to Moab, Utah, to visit the Arches National Park, do some white water rafting and finally we will be driving out to Portland, OR. My son is working at Mt. Hood Snowboard Summer Camp this summer and we will pick him up and spend a few daysith him. We haven't seen him in over a year!

Sewww, see you in two weeks with lots of pictures.