Colors are off - but here's a new quilt/pic- Surf's Up!!

I took this picture with the cell phone in my office - which has limited light - so you can't see the beautiful turquoise and green frond border fabric or the great colors in the coins - but this is what I have - so imagine!!

This quilt started with the gift of a set of coins that are cut from the fabrics that hawaiian shirts are made of. The gift giver went on vacation to Hawaii last year and knows me so well, that when bringing back gifties instead of chocolate covered macadamia nuts I received quilt coins!! I purchased some additional hawaiian shirt print fabrics at a quilt shop in Woodstock, IL and the wonderful palm frond border fabric. It sat for a couple months while I decided on a layout and when I came up with this one I didn't have enough of the border fabric - so off to the internet I went to find more (of course I bought extra!! It's Turquoise!!!)

The back is an all over palm tree print (with coconuts!) on a turquoise background and the quilt is stitched all over in turquoise thread in a meandering pattern. The curves of the stitching bring a different texture to all the straight lines of the coins and borders.

I really loved this quilt, all the bright colors and prints kept me thinking of warm tropical beaches and luscious views but I decided to gift the quilt back to the friend who gave me the coins. She had a birthday coming up and it was perfect timing and I knew it would be a surprise. She was surprised and I was so glad she liked it. It's 72 x 72 finished so it's the perfect size for napping or snuggling on the couch with that wonderful man she went to Hawaii with!!

Taking the weekend off!!

It has been a really hectic two weeks. Busy at work, busy on the weekend in between, too much daily stress. So this weekend I have nothing planned other than relaxing and resting. I will fit in a little grocery shopping and a little house cleaning but mostly this is a weekend of self indulgence.

Last weekend was the Roselle Rose Fest - an annual event the Roselle Lions Club has been bring to the town for decades. It's a 4 day carnival with live music every night, a beer tent, a parade on Sunday and even a Rose Queen. I worked 5 shifts volunteering at the carnival and walked in the parade on Sunday for the American Legion throwing candy to the kids along the parade route. That was fun! I teared up a couple of times as we passed some old soldiers sitting in their lawn chairs beside the road and they solemnly saluted the uniformed soldiers we had riding the float. We had quite a Legion presence with the color guard leading the parade, the Legion Riders on their motorcycles, a truck for the Patriot Guard with candy throwers and the Legion float recognizing all of the Legion clubs. The Lion club float was right behind us and they also had a huge flag that about a dozen people carried stretched flat - it was neat in the aerial photos. I've posted one above of our float - I am the little candy thrower near the Southeast corner of the float!

Well - that's about it - I am ready for the weekend! Hope you all have a good one too!!

Last one is a graduate!!

This weekend Mark and I flew to Texas to see my son Thomas graduate from HS. That's him with his GF Sarah in the picture above! It was a quick trip but we spent some time together at a movie on Saturday afternoon, at birthday dinner saturday night (Mark's birthday) and then the graduation on Sunday.

This was our second trip to Texas in the past month - about 4 weeks ago we were there for a 4 day weekend and did lots of stuff together! Thomas will be heading off to Southwestern University in Georgetown Texas in the fall. (Go Pirates!!)

Sharon's Quilt

I finally unloaded my camera of pictures so have the shots of my SILs quilt to post. The colors are not very true - too much sunlight on my terrace I guess so am posting the second picture which is a closeup of the fabrics and really shows the swirly inspiration fabric. Hope you like it! It is a queen size and the colors all match her new paint scheme of warm gold walls and lilac and sage accents, mid tone brown furniture and a pop of color with one magenta wall behind the bookcases! I popped the magenta on the binding of the quilt also to give it great definition when it is on the bed. I sent along a couple of pillowcases with a matching border to use with the quilt.

This week has been busy - more in my next post!

New picture coming soon!

I am anxiously awaiting a quilt to be returned from my long arm quilter in Ohio. Yes I know it's far from home, but this quilter is so worth it! Her pricing is not to be believed and I have never been disappointed in her work - she finds just the right panto to bring my quilts to life. The quilt I am waiting for is a belated birthday gift to my SIL Sharon in Seattle. I cheated and sent her a few clips of just some of the fabrics I used in the quilt and she is excited to receive it! There's a little surprise she does not know about it that I know will make her even happier!

Also on the quilting front, I have decided to publish a quilt pattern I created recently for a wedding quilt for a friend. It is unique that the quilt block and layout has a story behind it that makes it perfect for newlyweds, anniversaries or anyone in a relationship. More news to come on that front after I find the time to file my business name, get copyrights, etc. Not sure yet what my marketing approach will be but I think "start small and grow" is the best plan right now, after all I do have a real job too!!

We've been deluged with rain the past few weeks. Even when we flew to Dallas for a long weekend with Thomas the rain came with us and we had it 3 of the 4 days! So that one day we got out and did as much as we could, including visiting a quilt shop, going to the stockyard in Fort Worth and running the stockyard maze. Too much fun!! Hopefully the swine flu gets under control and we are able to get back to Texas for Thomas' HS graduation in just 3 more weeks!

Well - That's about all the news I have today. I moved a credenza into the quilting room and it is providing some much needed additional storage and a handy place to keep my racks of my spools of thread.

I am so inspired by the quilts I am seeing on line at at the HGTV.com bb that I am itching to spend some time in the studio and create! More news soon!

Stimulate the Economy Today!

I just read about the most incredible offer to stimulate our economy. One of my fellow quilters is offering an opportunity to get your quilts quilted for a special reduced price. Limited time offer, and full instructions are on her blog go here http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/2009/03/update-on-stimulus-package.html

I read about this on another blog I follow - which is Bingo Bonnie's blog. She is a quilter from the HGTV quilt bbs. you can check it out here http://bingobonnie.blogspot.com/

Hoping I make the schedule I have a couple of quilts I would love to get done and am always interested in finding a new LA quilter!

Speaking of quilting, I finished the quilt for my SIL and it has been sent for quilting. I actually sent her clips of the fabrics so she could compare with her new wall colors and not an hour ago I got her email saying they are perfect!

Last night I started assembling my Flutterby blocks from a 2008 swap I was in on the hGTV bbs. My flutterby is very scrappy and full of bright colors. I don't know if it will stay at my house or go to live with my brother in Seattle, but I like it so far! Will post pictures when they are done done!!

No news is no news!!

Not much going on in the way of quilting lately. I have been struggling with the birthday quilt for my SIL. The colors are perfect, but the fabric was purchased over three years ago and now I find out I don't have enough to do what I want in the borders. I will have to improvise which means a lot of 'UN-sewing' but I am motivated to finish it and get it in the mail to her.

My brother sent us a lovely box of King salmon and Dungeness crab from the Pike Place Market fish market last weekend, I have really enjoyed it all week. The timing was perfect as we had a family birthday dinner last weekend, so I purchased a roasted garlic aioli marinade from our local grocer and marinated the salmon (filetted) for about an hour then wrapped in foil and roasted on the outdoor grill. Luckily it stopped raining long enough to cook! After it was almost done - I brought it in, sliced into servings then put on a baking sheet sprinkled with panko crumbs and slid it under the broiler to brown the crumbs. Scrumptious!! We used more of the marinade as a dipping sauce. As it was 7 1/4 pounds of salmon we had leftovers, and I have had it reheated, and cold over caesar salad this week and loved it each and every time. The dungeness I steamed briefly with a little Old Bay seasoning in the water and served with drawn butter for 'ripping and dipping' it was fun and different! Reminded me of fondue with everyone gathered around the pot!

Well - work is hectic as usual, I am still loving the new car - 3 weeks old tomorrow and I will have 1200 miles on it by then! It is good on gas, but it has a smaller tank than my van and I am not used to having to fill it up every week, but that's the only downside of the new car! I really wish I could plan a road trip somewhere!! More later - hugs - Toby