Trucker Quilters in Wall Street Journal

For all of you quilt lovers out there, check out this great Wall Street Journal article featuring truck drivers who quilt in their spare time. It's a great testament to the soothing, creative head-spinning nature of our hobby!

Link:
http://tinyurl.com/yd5z9be

Thanks to my dad for sending it to me this morning.

FYI, my machine is still in for service. It's actually ready but I haven't made the 30 minute trip to pick it up yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

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Sick machine.

I have a Viking Sapphire 870 sewing machine. I've had it for a year and it's time for a service. Not to mention that it's breaking needles and skipping stitches while I'm trying to free-motion quilt. Frustrating! So being without my sewing machine is a complete drag. I feel like I'm in time-out.

For those of you who also have a Sapphire machine, check out the Yahoo Group for Sapphire users. I've gotten wonderful advice and ideas from that group!

Just to keep you entertained on this fair Tuesday, here is a pic:


This is my mom with her grandkids. It was taken last summer at the beach and is one of my favorite pictures. I wanted to add it to the blog to give it a permanent home.

Also, in case you haven't heard me brag about my sister enough, her NEW BOOK The Dead-Tossed Waves hits the bookstores today!!!

Carrie's first book hit the NY Times bestseller list (March 14th edition) and we are SO PROUD of her!!!

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Jenny's Quilt

One of the first quilts I made (2001 or 2002) was this Snowball Quilt for my older sister Jenny. This is machine pieced but entirely HAND QUILTED. That's right, I'm proud. Can you see me strutting my stuff? Ahhh, those were the days before children...

I LOVE this quilt. I love the colors, the design, and the fact that it was lovingly stitched for someone so important to me. I love knowing that this quilt has been on her children's beds, thrown over the sofa, and smushed under toys. I love that this quilt is being used the way it was meant to be.

When Jenny moved from our South Carolina hometown to blustery Minnesota, we thought she would surely freeze to death. I love that this quilt is symbolic of keeping her warm while she's so far away from me.

The snowball blocks are quilted with a snowflake design:


Jenny's three boys (Alex 6, Corey 5 TODAY!, and Robbie 3) are the ones posing with the quilt. On this Valentine's Day I hope that they know just how much I love them!

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I am a dummie.

Several bloggers have mentioned recently their inability to contact some of their followers. They have thoughtfully instructed their readers on how to correct this in their Blogger settings by selecting "show email address". I kept thinking "ah, there must be a bunch of newbie dummies out there who haven't caught on to this whole internet thing". Hahahaha.

And then I realized that I'm one of them.

...palm to forehead...

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Friday

Talking to a two-and-a-half year old never gets boring.

Audrey: it’s snowy.
Me: yeah, it’s pretty isn’t it?
Audrey: where’s James?
Me: he’s at school.
Audrey: where’s Rhine?
Me: he’s at school too.
Audrey: oh.
Me: who do you like better?
Audrey: uhhhhhhhh… me.

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Quilt Top Finishes!

Yes, I am one of those slow bloggers with lots of excuses. The main one is intimidation. I spend time everyday savoring all of the wonderful blogs out there about parenting, quilting, etc and am amazed at people's creativity and prolific productivity! I can't keep that pace so I feel like I rarely have new things to share.

In November and December I added a part-time retail job to my full-time mom-of-three job so the quilting projects went on major hold. Now that I'm done with the job, my machine is seeing action again. I've finished two quilt tops and several blocks for others.

First of all, here is a quilt I am making for MYSELF:


A closer look at a block:


This is a basic log-cabin using Moda Glace' by Three Sisters. I LOVE this fabric. The colors are lovely but the feel or "hand" is scrumptious!

Next we have a quilt kit I ordered after seeing in the Summer 2009 "Quilts and More" magazine:


You'll have to excuse the bad pics and wrinkles! Here is a close-up:


Finally, some pinwheel blocks because I LOVE the Moda Rouenneries line by French General:


So there you have some updates to my progress finally. I have to admit, I spend way more time admiring quilt bloggers' projects than working on my own but it provides wonderful inspiration as well as delicious eye candy!

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Seven.

You are SEVEN. My brandnewbaby. The One. The First One. I cannot believe how quickly time flies between forceps and first grade. You have always been the sassy one. The BackTalker. The opinionated one who doesn't go quietly. When you moved into your Big Boy Bed you threw The Tantrum That Lasted Three Months. We're still talking about it.

Today you are bright, curious, more respectful of yourself and others. You are constantly thinking, asking addition questions and history details, and creating new ways to play. You take chess lessons (even though you are already an expert according to yourself). You love your soccer team and particularly excel in the goalie position.

You are the bravest food-tryer I've ever met. When the school cafeteria serves every kids' favorites, you choose salad. The big salad that the teachers get. You crack us up! Your favorite restaurant is Benihana and you eat it All.

You love bossing your little brother around at anything you play. The Wii, Club Penguin, Playmobil, Nerf wars, etc. You set up elaborate battalions of soldiers to recreate scenarios from your knowledge of World War II and the Civil War. When other kids are playing Bakugan, you are asking for books about wars, ancient Egypt, and the next Magic Treehouse.

You astonish us with your courage to try new things and your joy at learning. Your vocabulary has always been huge but you still pronounce animal like "aminal" and hamburger like "hang-a-ber". Sometimes I forget you are still so young. Sometimes you seem like my partner in crime.

You are always negotiating, trying to explain, or "helping" your siblings understand better. You will make a great diplomat. You will make a great anything!

You never balk at having to wear the patch on your eye. You haven't complained about your glasses since the day we got them two years ago.

Without you, our family would be an awful shade of gray and so, way, too much quiet. Thank God for you! I thank my lucky stars every day I look at you. You are a miracle and add joy to my life in ways you won't know until you become a parent. I wish you all the joy and fulfilment that life can offer you. I wish you peace and exploration. I wish you all the learning your heart desires. I love you!

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