Wrapping gifts

Wrapping gifts is something that I absolutely do not like to do. When my DH worked in the oil patch most times he didn't get home until December 23 or 24. That meant that no gifts were wrapped until the last day, ie 10 hours of gift wrapping. After a few years I got smart and only left the gifts that were given to the family that we did not see at Christmas unwrapped - only 5 hours of wrapping. But he had to pay attention when opening gifts at the family we spent Christmas with.
Then along came the gift bags made of fabric with a glittery cord to pull the top closed and a big bow placed on top. Woo Hoo only 2 hours of stuffing.
Next came the paper gift bags. Thanks to the $1 stores all were affordable. More Woo Hoo and 1 hour of stuffing.

I've always loved the shows where the gift receivers opened a beautiful box, no wrapping, no stuffing of tissue paper. Today, a friend sent this video for making fabric boxes. Yes, at this time of the year it is too late ... well, okay, maybe not, as some of you will attempt to make one for each person, but for me, too late. What a great gift for a quilting or sewing friend or anyone!

Winter Sharing

The greatest reason to live in a winter country is that you have lots of time to finish quilts, that go back 10 years, because it is so darn cold outside and then share your love with others. First group is ready to give to those that need love and warmth. Second group is ready for quilting.

 

 

Winter is back in all it's bluster snow and cold.

Only a lone rabbit ventured outside

Hoarding: Keeping things that are memories and just things. Since May, my sister and I have been dealing with our mother's hoarding issues. Mom has downsized from 1800 sq ft to 900 sq ft. An eye opening Whoa!
It takes a lot of time and energy to understand what hoarding is. At one time we called it pack rat. The scary thing about it is this is a genetic disease. Apparently my great grandfather was like this and I have those tendencies and this could be me at her age - 30 years from now. I'm only grateful that I am learning this lesson now and able to pay attention to it. I've been telling all my friends and acquaintances to not leave your memories to your kids or even your grand kids because this is not their memories - this is your memories. Recycle, or sell or donate useful things now because 10 - 2 years from now the things will probably not be useful. As my sister says, give it to someone that will be able to use it more than you, give your things another chance to be useful.

Gratitude

The last couple weeks were surreal. Quilt market in Houston was tremendous. So much to see and so much was learned. So much was serious and so much spent laughing.
A new program will begin in 2015 for Block of the Month and Free, yes Free patterns.

This morning a good friend of mine sent this video
Gratitude HD - Moving Art by Louie Schwartzberg. You will be in AWE!


Happy Quilting!

Twirl Leaves

New quilt pattern TWIRL coming. Stay tuned. Created using Timeless Treasures' new Tonga Bluegrass collection. I love the Background!

Twirl in Bluegrass

Shipped the Bed Scarf quilts to Quilt Market this morning. Can hardly wait to see you there.

Hectic Snowtember

First day of Autumn. Whoa, Quilt Market and Festival are just around the corner. The fabric companies are in a panic for designs for upcoming collections. I'm getting ready for Quilt Market.

Remember the hydrangea looking crab apple tree. Now loaded with crab apples.



According to my farmer dad, snow between September 5-10 is a normal occurrence in years gone bye. Then we get a beautiful Indian Summer and the harvest gets done.


First morning
 

Second day and both days had to shake wet snow off all trees

The kids knew what to do. First snowman of the season.

Since the snow 10 days or so ago, when everything went into shock, it's now summer again. Nature goes on doing their thing, looking beautiful and enjoying the sun.

Late afternoon

Morning Sunrise

Multitask Bed Scarves

Happy New Year! No it's not January. It's September. Everyone gets back into the routine of the grind err, everyday living. Back to school, back to work, back to exercise, back to extra curricular activities AND back to quilting.

 from Business Insider

As a younger person I always thought I was a great multitasker. Now is a different story. The brain is so full that it takes longer to reference what I need at the time. Not only that, I find that I really can only properly do one thing at a time. Thanks to Morna McEver Golletz, from ICAP - International Association of Creative Arts Professionals, who wrote on her blog about multitasking, I can proudly say I cannot multitask and multitasking is a waste of time.

This summer wasn't a waste of time. The focus was on getting Bed Scarves ready for photos and Quilt Market in Houston. These are the pillow shams that go with the Bed Scarves.

Links

TicTac

Bling

Sixty

Fractal

Dots & Stripes

The one thing about quilting there is never a mistake. There are pleasant surprises and new designs.
This dot and stripe pillow cover is a delightful surprise. Initially the stripes were suppose to all match up. I didn't realize that some of the striped pieces had to be cut differently until laying out the second row. Then, I was too lazy to re-cut. Voila, the Sheriff Badge!

 

Hexagon Camping

It was finally a cooler weekend, so being torn between sewing or outside enjoying the sun was no problem. I finally broke down and made hexagons. Now, I'm in love with them. Especially in love with the stripes. So many patterns can be created using stripes. The more I did the more the ideas snowballed.

Isn't that interesting, how the camera does weird things to stripes.

Saturday night, the community had a camping night on the beach for about 20 tents. The next morning it rained.
Do you see something that is not like the other ones?
Do you remember camping in the 70's?
There was always a VW van at the campground. Well people, the 70's are still alive! They even tried to fake it by staking tent ropes around the van.

 

It's Hot

This summer the temperature is already 30 Celsius. This does not happen until August. One thing good about the heat is that during the hottest time you can spend time quilting. These are three of the latest Bed Runners.

The other good thing about the heat is that the roses love it and they just keep blooming. Having two different kinds works well because when one is finished and rejuvenating the other blooms.

 

First Family Spring

A break from quilting. The weather went from winter to spring-summer.
The first family of the lake. 8 ducklings. And while mom and dad came for lunch the kids were kids. Speedboat. Twirl 'n Circle. Stop on a dime. Great fun.

Have never seen the crabapple tree in such bloom in 15 years as this year.

 

Every single branch and twig is amass with blossoms.



Pattern - Quilt Market

Whew, another quilt market has come and gone. We've got it so figured out now that actual set up is down to 4 hours even though we spend 8 on the floor.

 It was very exciting to see my Bluebird pattern hanging in Timeless Treasure's booth on the front wall.

 

My other quilt for them made it on the back wall of the booth. They were seen coming and going.