Reflections of 2010 and Looking at 2011

Christmas is over, the decorations are packed away for another year. It is that time of the year when I look back at the year ending to see what changes I may need to make in my life. I did lots of sewing and accomplished a number of projects. One thing I know I did that I plan to correct in 2011 is overloading myself! I tend to get excited and 'caught up in the moment' and get myself into more 'stuff'. When I do this, I have to rush to complete things that I don't always do them to the best of my ability. Do you every do this??

Another area in my life that needs more attention is my spiritual life. I need to spend more time in the Word and becoming the woman that God wants me to be not the woman I want to be.

I am looking forward to completing some UFOs (I know, I know, that was a goal last year too!), working on my friend Molly's Boot Boogie BOM at her blog, getting some of those quilt tops quilted, learning new techniques, and making more memories with my family and my Wacky quilting buddies.

I pray God's wisdom and grace upon you in 2011. May you rest in His love.


2011 ~ Bring it on Baby 'cause I'm ready!!!!

Merry Christmas

A Mini Quilt Show

During the Thanksgiving holidays, we were visiting friends, Shelly and Jason, at Canyon Lake, Texas. Shelly and Jason were celebrating their first Thanksgiving in the brand new home! While being shown the home, I spotted a most beautiful crazy quilt draped across the recliner. Ya know how us quilters seem to just zone in on these things! Of course I had to check it out. Here is Shelly and her Mother-in-Law, Frances, showing the quilt. Shelly's grandmother made this crazy quilt -- ALL BY HAND. The picture does not do it justice -- absolutely BEAUTIFUL. There is handembroidery all over this quilt.

Here is a closer look of the quilt -- just stunning!

After I finished oooohhhhing, awwwwwing and drooling over her crazy quilt, Shelly showed me a few more quilts her grandmother made. The following quilt is a baby quilt for Shelly's baby. Shelly doesn't have any children YET. Her grandmother is no longer with us, but she had the foresight to leave a treasure behind for the great-grandchild she would not get to know.


The pic below shows the handstitched Bible verse. Shelly said that every quilt her grandmother made always included a verse stitched by hand.

Check out this double wedding ring quilt. It is basted together. Her grandmother had started the handquilting but didn't get it finished before she passed.
Here is a close-up of one of the quilted blocks.

Shelly showed me another quilt made by her grandmother -- one she made for Shelly.

.....and with further ado, MEET SHELLY -- the hostess with the mostess! Shelly is a school teacher in the New Braunfels Independent School District.

Thank you Shelly for sharing your wonderful quilts and treasures from your Grandmother!

A Wacky Christmas Outing

Every year, the Wacky 6-Pac quilters get together. It started out we met at a member's house, exchanged gifts, ate, and laughed till we wet our pants. After our dear Jerri became sick, we went to a restaurant so it would be easier on Jerri (and the rest of us). This year is our first Christmas without our dear friend. For those who may not know, Jerri went home to Jesus last March. There are only 5 of us Wackies now, but we continue to keep the name "Wacky 6-Pac" 'cause we will always be six -- Jerri is constantly with us in spirit.

This year we decided to take a road trip to our favorite quilt shop, Common Threads in Waxahachi, Texas. So, we meet in town and off we go............

Lo and behold, there were racks of fabric 50% off. Did I say 50% off???????? Oh, how we quilters love a good sale on fabric. Our member, Molly, (you know her from Molly's Place) was looking for fabric for her red/green quilt. Here she is so focused on all that sale fabric!!The girl just couldn't decided what she wanted....Here she is again trying to escape the camera!

As I walked around the shop.....talking about the PRECIOUS baskets that both Molly and I have (the others don't have one...hehehehehehehe.....), caught Rhonda redhanded looking at the books -- like she needs 'one more book'.
This is just ONE of the darlin' displays the shop has. Check it out. They reproduced an antique quilt and displayed the antique quilt in an old window frame. Now, just how cute is that?????

Looks like Rhonda hit that sale fabric too!!! Here she is getting all her beautiful fabrics cut.

As I continue my journey around the shop, I spy Kathleen (on the right) really concentrating on some fabrics....'should I get this?" And then there is Annie (on the left) -- she looks "perplexed" about something! I'm sure that we were NOT embarrassing her!! NO, NOT THE WACKIES!

We oogggleeed, awwwwweeeddd, and drooled at the mouth over this quilt and the quilting that was done on it! OMG, the picture does NOT do it justice. It was one of the many Block-of-the-Month's the shop offers.

Annie has made her selections and here she is getting fabrics cut. The lady to the left (sorry, but I didn't get her name) was not too sure about this "disturbed group of quilters" -- LOL!!!!

We all checked out with our purchases and decided there was not a better place to take our annual Christmas portrait than at our favorite quilt shop. So, here we are -- the Wacky 6-Pac Quilters ---- L-R: Annie, Me (Kathy), Rhonda, Molly, and Kathleen and the angel flying around is Jerri!

We took our purchases and loaded them in the back of Molly's car and we take off!

We head on over to the "Dove's Nest" for some lunch. This is a great place to eat and has lots of unique gift items. Check out there Christmas tree -- so different and full of sunflowers.

A view of the "Dove's Nest" --And here we are -- doing what we do best (with the exception of quilting of course) GETTING READY TO EAT!!!

After eating, we headed to the movie theater and watched "The Tourist" with Johnny Depp and Anglina JoLee (not sure I spelled that one right!). It was a cute move. We had an awesome time on our annual Christmas outing. Our next planned outing is in January when we will get together at the "deer camp" for some serious quilting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Deer Season Retreat!

Most of you know my quilting group -- Wacky 6-Pac Quilters -- frequently get together for retreats. One highlight of our year is our annual Deer Season Retreat! We normally have it on opening weekend when all the guys are in the woods. However, this year we changed it to the second weekend; it just seemed to fit everyone's schedule better.

We went to the Lakeview Methodist Conference Center, deep in the woods of East Texas. We stayed at the "staff house" which was a 5-bedroom house complete with kitchen, living area, and THREE bathrooms -- did I say THREE????? Sorry, but for some reason I didn't take pics of the house.......duh.....

Here are some pics from our fun weekend:

We will start with entering the conference compound. Here is the sign complete with a map of the facilities and look a sign welcoming the Wacky Pac Quilters!

We did not have any specific projects to work on -- everyone just did their own thing. We did do lots of laughing (till we almost peed our panties!), lots of eating and just making memories.

Annie had her embroidery machine singing to us the entire weekend. Below is a picture of a little towel she made for her granddaughter. Love those lil frogs!

The Wacky Pac usually always has some type of group project going on. Annie brought her finished project -- her Texas Quilt. Annie chose the theme and we all made her blocks. This is the last project that our dear, departed Jerri was able to participate, making this a very precious quilt for Annie. Annie had a local gal do the quilting and it was HORRIFIC!!!! Annie pulled every single stitch out of that quilt and took it to another lady over in Hubbard and Nelda worked her charm. Below is a pic of the final product (for the second time).

An ongoing group project the Wacky Pac is working on now is a row robin. We each chose our theme and we are making each other a row according to the person's guidelines. We finally got wise and did NOT set a deadline for this project 'cause we never meet them....hehehehehehehe.....ANYWAY, where was I??? Oh yeah, below are pics of rows made by Molly (top) and Annie (bottom) for MY row quilt. My theme is spring. Didn't they do GOOD?

Rhonda and Kathleen chose their rows to be vertical rather than horizontal and she wanted flowers. Below are some of her rows -- some completed and some not! The row on the left is Kathleens that she made to set the tone. The three rows to the right are Rhonda's.

Molly chose her theme to be ranch related. Sorry I don't have any pics of this one...maybe next time.

Our member, Molly, (you know her from Molly's Place), has been working on a beautiful red/green quilt. Molly used to be the curator for the Freestone County Historical Museum (and a wonderful job she did!). She used a quilt housed in the museum as inspiration for this little jewel. It is just beautiful -- the picture does not do it justice!

One of the projects I worked on was an apron for Shawnee's Winter Flirty Apron Swap. The requirements were that the apron had to have a snowflake somewhere on the apron. Also, we were to chose a word of the season. Using that word, we were to provide 'tuck ins' representing each letter of the world. The word I chose was TRADITIONS. Here is a pic of Molly so graciously modeling the apron I made. Note, it doesn't have the pockets put on yet! Is she the cutest model???? This is the beginning of a full-fledged career in modeling aprons....LOL! I think she may have been saying something to me like.....would you put that camera down?!!

And, lastly, but not least, a picture of the Wacky 6-Pac Quilters. We will always be the "6-Pac" because there were six of us. Our dear friend Jerri left us last March to join the great quilt guild at the feet of Jesus. She fought her cancer battle long and hard, but became too tired to fight any longer. She is always with us. We laugh and tell her jokes and stories and are always saying "well as our friend, Jerri, would say.........." So, before I start to cry thinking about my friend, without further 'adoo', here we are.................................................................

This picture was taken on Sunday morning before we left. Not all of us have on make-up and our hair done up real purty, but hey, it's US and we are HAPPY!

L-R: Rhonda, Annie, Kathleen, Kathy (that would be my big fat self) and Molly!

I hope you enjoyed this small sampling of retreating with the WACKY 6-PAC QUILTERS!

A Kindle and A Book Review!

I have been wanted a Kindle for a really long time but just wouldn't breakdown and spend the money. A Kindle is an electronic reader. It will hold up to 3,500 books and the books are downloaded from the internet. I was talking to my dear son the other day and he was telling me he had received a promotion and raise in salary in his job. He was very excited. I kiddingly said to him "since you are in such a good mood, would this be the time to tell you I would like a Kindle for Christmas?" LOL! He said "Mom, actually, that is what I am planning to get you as I knew you wanted one"! A few minutes later I received an email of an order confirmation from Amazon. He bought me a Kindle -- not just any Kindle -- the top of the line Kindle DX with a 9-inch screen!!!! I was in tears. I was so excited! I am already enjoying an early Christmas gift.

The first book that I downloaded was "Prayers for Sale" by Sandra Dallas. One of my internet swap buddies, Sharon, told me about the book. It is set in the 1800's. And, of course, typical of Sandra Dallas' books, it always references quilts!! The book was just as good as Sharon said. I really enjoyed it. My favorite part of the book is this passage...."A quilt circle's like a crazy quilt. You got all kinds in it. Some members are the big pieces of velvet or brocade, show-offish, while others are bitty scraps of used goods, hoping you don't notice them. But without each and every one, the quilt would fall apart." This really struck me as a very accurate description of a quilting group.

If you get a chance, I hope you will read Prayers for Sale.

School Fundraiser!

All three of my sweet grandchildren go to the same elementary school. They are in Kindergarten, 4th grade, and 6th grade. Their Mommy (my wonderful daughter-in-love) is also a 3rd grade teacher at their school. They are blessed with a really awesome Librarian named Ms. Shelly. Ms. Shelly always plans really fun things for them and especially really neat field trips for the top AR (accelerated readers) students. This year (as is everywhere), there were budget cuts and the funds for the field trips were cut. I agreed to help raise money for the school.

The following is a picture of a quilt that I have made for a raffle -- "Tiger Power". I tried to incorporate as many of the school activities as possible. I finished the quilting today and will sit and tack down the binding tonight as I watch TV. I hope they raise lots of money with this quilt. It is a 'one of a kind' quilt and would be a great keepsake for an alumni.

Another fundraiser is the sale of Koozies. Everyone wants a personalized koozie of their favorite school. We are making black koozies with tiger paws and "Centerville Tigers" on one side and their choice of wording on the reverse side. The girls get orange polka dot ribbon and the boys koozies do not have ribbon. Below is a group of koozies that were recently made:

Below is a picture of the koozies with names on the reverse side.

I am even taking orders for special requests. Ms. Nattalie wanted red lady bugs. I found this cute lady bug in my design stash and put it on the black koozie with red, yellow and green polka dot ribbon.

Here is the side of the koozie with Ms. Nattalie's name.

I have couple of more 'special request' koozies to make: "Grammar Guru" and "LuLu's Nails" I even have a request for "Woozies" -- a koozie for a wine glass. I haven't found a source to purchase unsewn blank 'woozies' yet. Even any of you know where I can purchase them, please leave me a comment.

Harvest Blessings

I participated in Shawnee's Flirty Apron Swap. I received my wonderful package from Sharon a few days back. I am just now getting around to posting the pictures. She really showered me with Harvest Blessings. Not only did I get a wonderful hand-stitched apron and lots of really neat tuck-ins, but I received a wonderful journal of her journey making the apron. It is set in the 1800's and was very fun to read. I absolutely love everything I received. THANK YOU SHARON!

Frosted Flurries

Hop on over th Shawnee's Christmas Flirty Apron Swap. This is her 13th apron swap and they are always bunches of fun! This one has a different twist -- go check it out!!!!!

Post Rated PG

I sure hope this doesn't offend anyone! I saw this and thought it was funny! But then, I can have a warped sense of humor.

Recipes

**Under Construction**

My Peeps!

Yep! I've got Peeps! Below is a picture of some of my peeps: l-r -- Me, Kathleen, Rhonda. Kathleen and Rhonda also had blocks chosen to be in the TDA quilt. We all belong to the same quilt group -- Wacky 6-Pac Quilters. Molly took our picture and Annie (our other member) was unable to be with us. You say "but it says '6-pac'?" Our sixth member, Jerri, left us in March to go quilt with Jesus. She was a TDA winner in 2008! She is always with us in spirit.

Here is a picture of the four of us in one of those lil photo booth thingies at the State Fair. Trust me -- it wasn't easy to get all four of us in the picture! l-r: Me, Kathleen, Molly, and Rhonda. You just never know what we may do!!!!

I just LOVE my Peeps!!! They are the sisters that I never had. We have so much fun together.

Texas Agriculture Department Quilt Contest

Every two years, the Texas Department of Agriculture has a quilt contest in the "Go Texan" program. The TDA chooses the theme and provides a packet of all-natural fabrics. The entrant designs his/her own block and must use these fabrics. The entrant can add up to 3 fabrics of their own in their block.

The theme for 2010 was "Texas Wildlife -- Adventure Awaits". There were approximately 100 entries and only 25 blocks were chosen. I was blessed to have my block chosen! On Friday, 9/25, opening day of the State Fair of Texas (Dallas, TX), the quilt was unveiled for the first time and winners were presented with a certificate and a goody bag.

The following is a partial diagram of where each person's block was placed in the quilt. My block was in the center -- I was so excited.

The first order of business was the presentation of awards. Here I am receiving my certificate and a personal letter from Todd Staples, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Next, we moved over to where the quilt was displayed for the unveiling. A representative from Hobbs Batting (one of the sponsors and I'm sorry I don't remember his name), Terri Vogds (she pieced the quilt together), and Maria Davis (the longarm quilter -- who did a fantastic job!) do the honors of unveiling the quilt.

And here is the completed quilt! It is beautiful. Terri did a fantastic job putting it together. All the pieced blocks have an animal name. She incorporated some embroidered blocks as well. Maria did a great job on the quilting.




Here I am -- pointing to my block.







Last, here is my block. I chose to use the outline of the State of Texas and then applique the various animals that inhabit each different region of Texas.