Look What I Did Today!

Today I had a day at home, with five blissful hours to myself while everyone was away at school! Here is how I spent my day:

First, I helped Bailey get into her Cowgirl gear. This week is homecoming week, and today was "Western Day." Since Bailey lacks all of the self-consciousness I had in high school, I am taking full advantage of having a little fun and living vicariously through her. I didn't think far enough ahead to procure a horse for her to ride to school, so I drove her instead. Apparently Grandpa's Chaps weren't very comfortable for walking!

When everyone was gone, I vacuumed and did some other miscellaneous housework. But...since the kids had popcorn tonight while they watched Ghostbusters it's a little late for a picture of that.

Next, I finished putting the borders on my Night Owl table topper, which I have kits of in the store. I have been carrying the cut pieces of this quilt back and forth from store to home for about 6 weeks now, so this is a major victory!


Then, I did some quilting on the long arm.


After that, I felt like baking, so I made some rosemary bread to go with dinner. I wish I had a picture of how pretty it looked before I cut it up. Here is all that is left, safely sealed away so that Charlie actually gets to have some before I.....I mean the kids....eat it all.

Since I had baking on the brain, I decided to tackle the baked potato/tortilla steamer pattern that just came last week. It was super fast and easy, so in less than an hour I had it done!

After dinner, it was almost time for Bailey's volleyball game. I had just enough time to prepare some fusible shapes for her costume tomorrow, which Kylee and I cut out at the game. Tomorrow is "Super Hero Day." Can you guess what Bailey's going to be?
They don't allow guns in school. Even super cheesy guns that only shoot ghost-sucking plasma rays. So, I had to think of a different prop.
After the game, and after I finished the costume, watched Ghostbusters with the kids, and tucked them into bed, I whipped up another Easy Striped Tablerunner. This time I used fabric from the Tangled Threads fabric line by Whimsicals.


Wow, I sure wish every day could be like today. Now I can relax with a glass of wine, because I sure earned it!

Shoplifters Beware!

To all of my honest customers, who are happy to pay for the products you take home with you. I regretfully inform you that you will now be shopping on camera. Due to your dishonest, lying, cheating, good for nothing (except putting products in their bags/pockets/etc. and leaving without paying) counterparts, I have installed security cameras throughout the store. I can now find out, if necessary, everything you touched while you were here.

Do I really want to? No.

Has it become necessary due to incessant stealing of everything from charm packs to finished samples? Yes.

Will I be watching the cameras constantly? Only if I find something missing and want to know without a shadow of a doubt where it went.

If you are honest, you have nothing to worry about.

If you have previously walked out of my store with stolen merchandise, be afraid. Be very afraid. I will prosecute shoplifters. If not for the immorality of stealing, than for the simple reason that my daughter should not have to worry at the thought that someone might swipe her Sneaker Sack and keep it as their own. (Seriously people, the things I make are often for my kids. They have sentimental value. Make your own!)

My kids don't need that stress. Neither do I. And now, thanks to Costco and my dad, I no longer have to stress about who took my Zippy Strippy Bag, or which sample will go missing next. All I have to do is replay the camera and call the cops.

Or maybe not. Hopefully the camera is enough to make you think twice. Better yet, hopefully you're an honest shopper to begin with. Either way, I will sleep better.

(And no, it appears I haven't quite exhausted all of the favors my dad doesn't owe me!)

Oregon Trip Picture Time!

It's picture sharing time! Warning: This is purely me bragging up my family and our great week long trek up the Oregon Coast. Skip this post if you are looking only for quilting related news. Otherwise, enjoy pictures of our vacation last month along the Oregon Coast!

New Samples

After spending last weekend at the St. Maries Quilt Show, I took some time to rearrange and reorganize the store this week. It's a great time to do it, since everything I took to the show had to be put away anyways. It also gave me an opportunity to hang some of the new samples that have been completed recently.

Hanging samples is not my favorite thing to do. It is difficult to do alone, since holding a quilt, hanging pins, getting everything straight and the right heighth, while standing on a ladder does not come easily to me. In fact, standing on anything tends to be a hazard when I'm involved. Take, for example, the time I decided to clean out the cabinets above my kitchen counter while standing on the bar stools. There are four stools, which I thought would be perfect since it meant I could step from one to the other while not having to get down in between. Cabinets would be neat and tidy in no time, right?

Turns out me on bar stools looks a lot like a contestant on Wipe Out crossing the "big balls." Only bar stools aren't bouncy and soft, there isn't a swimming pool in my house, and I wasn't one of the lucky ones who made it across.

Luckily Wipe Out is one of my kids' favorite shows. After making sure I was still breathing and there had not in fact been an avalanche in our dining room, they had a good laugh at my expense.

Thankfully, I am done hanging samples for now. Plus, I still have all of my bones in tact although my ladder is an old one of my dad's. The fact that he hasn't come looking for it in several years should tell you something about it's condition!

Here are some pictures to enjoy, albeit not the best quality since I'm using my phone. The first is the new sample of Flight North using Moda's Snowy Eve fabric line.

Next up is my wild and crazy holiday version of Spotlight featuring sock monkeys in Moda's Santa's Helpers fabric line.


And last for now, the new Shenandoah pattern featuring Bliss by Moda. This is the crib size, but the pattern includes sizes up to King.

Fall Classes

After taking a long hiatus from offering a class schedule, I have decided to offer new classes this Fall and Winter! The classes through September are listed on the "News and Classes" page now, you can view them here. Questions, requests? Send me an email through my home page!

Who's going to be the first one to touch the ocean?!

Last week, I took a much needed break to visit the Oregon Coast with my husband and our three youngest kids. (The three that I get to share my very own DNA with. Some day they will thank me for this, I'm sure)

Charlie especially wanted to see Crater Lake, and since this was to be nothing if not a sight seeing trip, we hit the lake first thing. We drove from 12:30am Monday morning until about 9:30am to see this:

After looking around a bit, we excitedly headed for the coast. Well, at least we thought we did. See, Kylee and I had done some preliminary research the week before, and decided to pick Gold Beach as our first coastal stop. (OK, so I picked it and Kylee just wrote it down. I admit it, it was my fault already!)
Little did we know that there isn't exactly a main highway from Crater Lake straight to Gold Beach. In fact, my Garmin GPS didn't know this either. It deceivingly gave us directions, turn by turn, as if it were no big deal. By 2:30pm, we were headed up a winding, one lane, mountain road that looked alarmingly similar to the set of Deliverance.

The GPS said we'd be hitting the sandy beaches by 4:00pm. But, after several "keep lefts" and "turn rights" we were still in the mountains at 4:30pm. In fact, the only things keeping my from insisting we turn around were the road markers every few miles that said "Coastal Route" and the nearly full tank of gas in the car.

At one point, Charlie said that he needed to take a potty break, but thought twice about getting too far from the road in fear of ending up squealing like a pig.

About an hour into it, my car actually started to smell hot. My brand new, still on manufacturer warranty, car, started to smell hot!

The entire way we kept meeting large econoline vans, pulling trailers full of river rafts. We even saw a sign warning vehicles to use a CB radio if possible. I'm pretty sure every one of those vans was using their radio, to warn the vans behind them about the stupid ****'s from Idaho in the red car headed their way!

At what might have been the top of the mountain, we pulled into an overlook area and met a couple from Holland who were headed the opposite direction. They were on a 4 week vacation, and didn't seem alarmed at all about the road they were traveling. They must have some fierce traffic in Holland!

Finally, delirious from hours on a winding, narrow road that seemed to go nowhere, we emerged on some highway where there was road construction, complete with flaggers, and deep, unmarked trenches that tried to rip my car apart and swallow it. I'm pretty sure it will never be the same. The moose was no match for backwoods Oregon!

And then, just when I was about ready to turn around and go home, we finally found Highway 101, and Gold Beach. Actually, it was all worth it, because Kylee and Will have never seen the ocean, and I got to watch as Charlie called out, "Who's going to be the first one to touch the ocean?"

It's finally here!! The fabric I ordered at Spring Market, and then had to re-order when my order got mixed up in the supplier's computer, finally came! Now, I can finally begin offering this beautiful new block of the month from The Quilt Company.
This time it features barns! This quilt is gorgeous in person, and will make a fantastic addition to any one's quilt collection. These quilts are also fun to make, and are much less daunting than they appear when you take it one block at a time. (Months 5 and 6 include the setting blocks and borders.) Last year I vividly remember sewing up the last BOM in a round of 3am sewing sessions in late July. Maybe this year I will create my shop sample in the same fashion a month later? I will be sure to let you all know when it is complete. Regardless, if you are already in love with this quilt as much as I am, you can start yours anytime by ordering here!