Steps to the Stars

I don't have a picture but I've started sewing 2 of the quilts I cut out this past weekend. Steps to the Stars is a favorite quilt of mine. This is the 2nd time I've made it. I won't be sewing much until I do Glad's Mystery next Thursday & Friday. Until then I'll be on an exotic getaway of my own. Some of my friends are on cruises and have been in Mexico. My family is going to Morton, MN to the casino for an overnight. I hope you are laughing. I believe you must have fun wherever you go.

Simply Fun

I knew that I would be able to cut out quilts this past weekend but really wanted to finish a top before I did that. The quilt I chose to finish was Glad Creations Simply Fun. The color inspiration was from a customer at Glads. She used some of these fabrics and I simply had to build on them and do a quilt myself. Choosing fabric is a bit of an addiction. It looks like Christmas and is gorgeous.
I was able to cut out 4 quilts. I used a tall table so my back wouldn't hurt. My arms were a bit sore but that was more because I shoveled the snow.
Just finished crunching my numbers for my tax appointment and now I'm rewarding myself with sewing.

Quilt Club

At quilt club tonight we learned about blogging. I brought the snack - dipped gingersnap cookies. Here's a picture and here's the link to the recipe.

I made these at Christmas and my girls loved them so much they said no more putting them on the cookie plates we shared. We're keeping them all for us.

My companion quilts are ready for the quilter

My mom always said don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today and I have to agree. When I get a bill I pay it, when clothes get dirty I wash them and so on. I usually deal with things right away. This month I found out it is possible to complete a quilt top in 9 days and then prepare backs for 2. I found this out because I waited until the last minute to do my companion quilts.
Now I can get ready for my dinner party tomorrow night for 10. I'll take the quilts to my quilter on Tuesday and hopefully have them back by Christmas. Then I've got some major stitching to do to get them ready for the quilt show at Glad Creations on January 1st. Oh and mitering borders is a little putsy but not that bad and it looks so great. So much better than if I had done a reqular border. That was the 1st time I've mitered borders.
You'll be able to see the quilts and many others from Glads staff and friends the 1st 10 days in January. Hope to see you there!

An update since Thanksgiving weekend sewing days

Update my blog or put on make up before I go out the door. I'll do this and put make up on while I drive. Just kidding, that is dangerous.
So last time I wrote I set a goal to finish Blooming 9 Patch and Glad Creations Diamond Dazzler and I'm happy to say they are together and I love them. What fun!
I had my friends Kim, Dimple, Jennifer and Susan over the 2 days after Thanksgiving. We sewed until after midnight both days. Boy have times changed since I was young when I would have been waitressing or partying on Friday and Saturday night. And then of course there were the years that I was up to my eyeballs in babies and diapers. Kim machine quilted 2 baby quilts, Dimple did a bunch of piecing including some really cute pillows, Jennifer finished 7 projects (one panel quilt and one T-shirt quilt that she started during our 2 days - she's really fast) and Susan is a State Fair Grand Champion ribbon winner who does the most amazing needlepoint that I've ever seen.
So now I'm inspired and yesterday I started my 3" 9 patch quilt that I have a quilting day for on December 16th. I intend to finish this for the January 1st staff and friends show at Glad Creations Quilt Shop. Crazy!
And then there are preparations for Christmas!
Thanks Georgia for the reminder and everyone have a day filled with peace and joy!

I made a blog, I'm in Iowa and I'm using a laptop mouse

This is way beyond my technical knowledge but I used to not know how to quilt and now I can and I'm getting better all the time. And so if I blog I'll get better at that. Eventually there'll be pictures.

In visiting my oldest daughter in Iowa we started talking about facebook and blogging and I said let's create my blog. She was a great help. The last time I used a laptop I couldn't figure out the mouse and now I'm getting the hang of it. She has a roommate with a dog and cat and my daughter has a cat, rabbit and 2 rats. They live in a mobile home and are going to vet school. Even with all the animals it really isn't crowded at all and they all get along marvelously. The 2 cats do dislike each other but they can live together.

My quilting friends and staff at Glad Creations have encouraged me to do this so I'll be talking about quilting. I love to quilt. After piecing many tops but not having anything to show for it, I finally found 2 long arm quilters to quilt my tops and last year completed over 20 quilts.

This year I had total knee replacement and that slowed me down but I'm back and quilting again. My biggest challenge will be to start doing my own machine quilting of my smaller projects.

I just finished piecing a Terry Atkinson Shoebox quilt in a baby quilt size. My next goal is to finish piecing Blooming 9-Patch (all the rows are together) and Glad Creations Diamond Dazzler.

The way I get a lot done is to cut out several quilts at one time and keep my machine set up (yes that leaves a messy area in my home) and work weekly on it. I also like to work fresh in the morning and get the hard things done so that I just have a pile to sew when I might be tired at night or just have a small amount of time here and there.

That's all I have to say for now. We are off to try out a new Mexican restaurant and then we are going to see"Secret Life of Bees." I'll head home tomorrow and will get to do a bit of sewing.