Love is the true means by which the world is enjoyed: our love to others, and others' love to us.
-Thomas Traherne

AND SEW WE BEGIN THIS GLORIOUS MONTH..well tomorrow we begin....Here is what I'll be doing!

COOKING (It is endless)
CLEANING (It is my life, I live to clean, and you thought it was quilting?) (I'm lying you know)
DECKING THE HALLS (We must have every inch of this house decorated. It looks like the elves went berzerk!)
DOCTORS APPT.(good grief why did I make this appointment in the middle of all this...)
TAKE THE DOG TO BE GROOMED (she needs to feel good about herself during the holidays too)
STRIP ALL THE BEDS...EVERYBODY IS GONE...TIME FOR CLEAN SHEETS (They are coming back!)
MORE DECKING THE HALLS (what can I say? it's over kill)
WORK ON SEWING ROOM (note to self..do not over turn the sewing room right before Thanksgiving...)
WRITE THREE NEW PATTERNS (that IS what I do..oh my brain hurts)
MORE CLEANING AND DUSTING (Why id decking the halls so messy?)
PICK UP DRY CLEANING (I'm keepin that place in business)
DROP OFF MORE DRY CLEANING (well duh!)
PICK UP PRESCRIPTIONS AND VITAMINS...( I'm gonna have to bulk up on the vitamins this month. Christmas holiday preparation is NOT for sissy's)
SEND OFF SPRING MARKET INFO (YIKEES... I just peed in my pants)
BOOK CLUB MEETING (who has time for reading?)
QUILT GUILD CHRISTMAS LUNCH (maybe I could just drive by and they could put my lunch in a bag, they do it at McDonalds!)
HAIR CUT AND COLOR..(I need an overhaul Santa would throw me off his sled if he got one look at me now)
FINISH 4 PROJECTS FOR GIFTIES..(Why didn't I do this in July???)
PREPARE 700 CHRISTMAS CARDS (Well maybe I could send a Little Valentine greeting this year instead)
GET READY TO START DAH BAKING (OH...this is nuthin but trouble. I'll wearing those cookies soon.They will be right BEHIND ME!)
GET A PEDICURE (then I'll be forced to sit down for an hour)
PACK FOR EXPLORATORY TRIP TO PADUCAH WITH MELISA (more trouble AND whos idea was it to go check out PADUCAH IN DECEMBER.)
GET TEETH CLEANED (GOTTA Look good in those holiday photos)
IRON 10,000 LINEN NAPKINS IN PREPARATION FOR HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING (why did my mother leave me so many linen napkins and table cloths? I'm going to have to speak to her about this when I get to heaven)
ANSWER 1,000 EMAILS NEGLECTED TO ANSWER WHILE PLAYING WITH FAMILY DURING THANKSGIVING (my apologies if you are one of them..and you probably are)
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING (I'm going for the mac daddy shopping experience today on Cyber Monday...I got till mid night right?)
CHURCH...(its IS the reason for the season..right!) (and it is peaceful there...I love that part)
PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS TRIP TO ASHEVILLE. (lets just see how they fix up the old Biltmore..bet my house is better!)
MAKE DOCTORS APPTS FOR COLLEGE GIRL HOME DURING THE HOLIDAYS (she's 21 why am I doing this?..I gotta get a grip!)
ATTEND AND OR HOST 178 CHRISTMAS PARTIES, COOKIE SWAPS, LUNCHEONS, DINNER PARTIES.. (and be perfectly groomed and full of good holiday cheer....it's hell being a Southern Bell)
QUILT/SEW DAILY (you gotta be kiddin)
BLOG DAILY with photos no less.... (don't hold your breath on that one)(i got nuthin to show or say they are coming to take me away tomorrow)

Love,

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy-they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

-Marcel Proust

Oh Happy Thanksgiving my blogging friends. I'm so grateful for YOU. My blog has become a complete joy for me, I sooo look forward to reading and posting! I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful meal and relaxing with friends and family! I'm so looking forward to 2010 and all the blogs that are sure to come!

Decking the Halls on Friday! falalalala! OH BOY!

I awake this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friends another reason to be grateful and a wonderful thankful week to reflect on friendship. For the friends I have made while teaching children, for the friends I have made while living in a wonderful community and raising my family, for the friends I have made while quilting, for the the friends I have made through this blog, and for the friends I will meet and love in the future.....THANKSGIVING..... The more friends we have, the more flowers we have in our garden!

As for today. I have two ovens, a five burner gas stove, a warming drawer, a grill, a Cuisinart, a Kitchen Aid mixer and every pot, pan and pie plate in FULL SERVICE TODAY. Oh pray the dishwasher doesn't fail me today!

No sewing again today. Just a bit of handwork when I sit down (collapse) at night. I'll be using my new favorite toy. I got this floor magnifier and light at the Knoxville Quilt Show and I really love it. Lookie! Does this mean my eyes are going bad? ya think!!! stupid question don't answer that.


Oh well, another sign of aging eyes...when you get excited that the book you want to read from the library comes in large print so you can read in bed without your glasses!!!!

Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind.

-Daphne Du Maurier (the author of perhaps my all time fav book "Rebecca")

Tuesday of Gratitude week..aka Thanksgiving! Let the cooking begin. I'm off with Debbie to Sweet Home Quilt Co. to deliver some new undies for Melisa's "Panty Raid" for the battered womens shelter. Then it is lunch with the birthday girl (Deb), and home for a trip to the grocery store with my DD and then afternoon cooking! Hopefully I can settle down this evening for some hand sewing. I have three quilts to bind!

I want to show you the loves of my life.The love and gratitude I feel for these four people God has blessed me with cannot not be put into simple words. They are my world, my universe, my support and every good thing I can imagine. There is NO Thanksgiving without thanking God for them.

Mr Quilt Boy! I am so lucky! 37 YEARS OF WONDERFULNESS!

Precious daughter..my youngest. She is such a wonderful person and so unique! She cracks me up and has a heart of gold. She is going to be an OUTSTANDING NURSE!

My oldest daughter and my new SON! What a beautiful couple and what a wedding we had one year ago...They are so happy and such a fabulous couple. ps. aren't I gonna have some cute grandbabbies one day? teehee

THANKSGIVING!

For today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude.

-Clarence E. Hodges

It is GRATITUDE week aka Thanksgiving week. I soooo love Thanksgiving! I think it is my favorite holiday. Family, friends, cooking, counting each and every blessing in our lives and just being together it is the BESTEST day. Don't you agree?

So with that being said, I will focus each blog this week on blessings in my life. In no particular order and because it is the Monday after "Silver Thimble Club" meeting I have some great eye candy to show you. With comments...of course.

Here is Laura with her little tiny stars. She worked like a maniac and finished it during class. Why is it that tiny squares are the most time consuming of all? She emailed me and told me the good thing is that they don't take long if you have to rip them out! hahaha

Judy made this stunning table runner from E.Burns book Day and Night! or maybe the book is named Night and Day.

And then she went and made another one in class...I think she has that pattern now pat. Get it PAT.

Aqua and Brown made by my very own SIL. She is some kind of speedy quilter and she works about a BAZILLION hours every week! She said she made it in one afternoon. dang!

Karin made this Jelly Roll Diamond quilt from a Thimbles kit we did a few months ago. She substituted the Cream sashing with red...I love it.. I love it a lot...There was whining involved in the putting the thing together..partial seams...even with the whining I think it was worth it.

Gretch brought this TREASURE.. a antique quilt top that is simply wonderful. She asked opinions on how it should be finished. The consensus was to hand quilt it. She took the news gracefully. She had two other quilt I dare not post....you know secret.

HEAVENLY BURST OF COLOR. This Bloomin Nine Patch was sensational. Julie made this baby.

Here is Julie's Strawberry Pie quilt. My pattern...awe shucks, I'm so proud! The reality is that I have seen this quilt pattern made in a zillion different fabbie and color ways and every time it is different and wonderful.

Mercedine made this purple and bright yellow quilt. She was so happy to finish it..I love her! She has a personality as bright and happy as her quilt. Just look at that smile.

Here is Claudia with her first Tee Shirt quilt. She is new to our club...me thinks she will fit in just fine!

Oh and check out the Kaleidoscope quilt in soft blue and yellow..Yup she is a KEEPER!


Karmen brought her killer tote with special fabrics honoring her grandparents farm. You can't see it but she had french knots on fabric for the rows of veggies and crops and all kinds of other fun details. The inside of the tote was pockets from blue jeans and the handles of the tote were her sons karate belt, the circles were moda coasters...this tote was sooooo special...but no as special as the lady what done it! She is real purrrrty too.

Time out for an interuption of some typical shenanigans. I think this is an excellent use of scraps. That Barb! Wouldn't you crack up if she was your dental hygenist?

And here is Tricia my SIL again with a pineapple Christmas quilt. This was another kit we put together a couple of years ago. I can't wait to get mine out when we deck the halls...FRIDAY!


Tricia again, did I tell you she works a TRILLION HOURS every day?



Here is Ginny with her table runner from last months project! Nicely done! in record time too!

Linda made this kicked up Christmas panel. LOVE THOSE BORDERS!


A Snowball killer quilt from Vicki. She fussy cut the borders too! So warm and cozy.

BJ and her spectacular quilt, almost done. Needled turned...and see those chubby angels on each side of the eagle? They are proof positive that I will be a chubby angel just like those when I get to heaven! They make me so happy!

Remember Beth from last month...the one with the TAH TAHS. She wore her VAH VAH VOOM TAH TAH'S this month and then whipped out these two quilts. I'm telling you...I'm speechless.

I should have had on DEPENDS for this quilt. In fact I may never recover from this quilt. I may perish from the earth if I don't see this quilt again. I may have to stop and get off the quilt bus and go make this quilt. The photo does not do it justice..I"m telling you..I'm just telling you..oh my!


For some more show and tell from "Thimbles" meeting to to Brenda's blog! I love her!

OK I've been uploading photos for hours..I'm exhausted, and I think I used the word LOVE , way to many times. Can that be possible? NOPE, NOPE HECK NO. and I'm not sorry either!

LOVE,
p

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I'm so ashamed I went here.

I wanted to get this.


I saw this.



I got my camera out of my purse.I took this picture.The beauty of what I saw caused me to I pass out.

Way, way, way to much pride. I'm over it now. I think I'll go clean out the garage fridge.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -Einstein

Getting a big pot of vegetable soup in the crock pot and then it is off to the studio for a day of work! I'm also contemplating moving furniture in my studio around AGAIN. I need to open up the big table I use to draw and plan quilts. It is too boxed in. Hard to describe because I have a dream of a room but this work space needs some tweeking. Maybe I'll wait until DD gets home for the Thanksgiving break and get her to help me..yeah thats it! I'll have to reward her with some yummy cookies for helping me AGAIN... I'll take pictures when I move everything around.


The camellias are in full BLOOM.Sure sign of Thanksgiving here in the South. This bush is bursting with blooms. These are blooming right outside my front door. It makes you smile when you are on the way OUT or IN.

"Barn's Burnt Down....Now I can see the MOON."

-Omi Provance

Well if today didn't start out with me cracking my self up...I got dressed and fluffed up..."shiny" as I like to say, off to quilt guild. On the way out the door I grabbed a "Diet Rite" to stick in my purse cuz I thought I might enjoy a sip while sitting and listening to the speaker. Plus I tend to misbehave if I don't keep my hands busy. When I got there I looked down into my purse for my diet rite...turns out I had grabbed a "Bud Light" out of the fridge. Both had blue cans...but honestly I think I would have set the guild back a hundred years if I had popped the top and sipped that beer at 10a.m. on Tuesday morning. I just crack myself up all the time....

I made this tree skirt, all the talk of my tree skirt pattern last week plus I'm teaching a class on this skirt at A Scarlett Thread...I thought I would make a new one. Osama Bin doggie (terrorist dog that has me well trained and who has been digging and eating dirt!) decided to jump in the picture. Sooo solley.

I have this baby on my design wall and I'm going to the studio to rearrange the blocks a bit and finish it as soon as I get this blog post off to you. Isn't is purrty?? Get your self the Rapid Fire Ruler and you can make one too! It is so much fun and easy. Just step by step with the ruler and PRESTO...magic! I want to make another one with larger stars from Blues and Reds and Tans...oooh yumm yumm.

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand;gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.
- Eileen Caddy

This morning the minute I opened my peepers my first thought was GRATITUDE...I get to announce the winners on my blog tour posting and then I get to go teach a class at Sweet Home Quilt Co. I'm so excited to begin this fabulous day! But first DRUMROLL PAHLEZZEEE! The winner of a copy of the magazine izzzzzz....

NANCY....NUMBER 57
There were a couple of Nancy's so if you are a Nancy please count until you reach your number because Nancy #57 is the winner! Nancy if you would email me your postal address I will get that address to the Quiltmaker folks and they will send you a copy of this very wonderful magazine! I especially like page 20! (shameless promo I know)


And the winner of my table runner ... more drumrollin please....izzzzzz

Judy Wentz.....NUMBER 22 Judy if you will also contact me privately I will finish the runner and send it off to you next week.

Congratulations to both winners. And to all who commented , well there are no words to describe how grateful I am for your readership in my blog. I hope we will get to know each other through cyberspace and meet in person FOR SURE...

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do

-Jal ad Din Rumi

And so the quote is so perfect for this post. Design, quilt, teach that is what I have chosen to do since I left public school teaching Kindergarten and First graders....but me thinks quilting chose me even before I knew it. Today is the day Quiltmaker
magazine has assigned as my day for the blog tour. Use this link to find out the other designers that are featured today.

If you are new to my blog a big ol' Southern Hey Ya'll (that means Hi and Welcome in the deep south!). If you are a regular reader I love you more than my self cleaning oven...AND THAT IS A LOT...welcome home.

Here is my block which is on page 20 and is block number 18! To allow my block to be in this particular issue of Quiltmaker is an honor I cannot begin to describe (you don't suppose there is another Pat/Silver Thimble Quilt Co. do you?)

I have taken the motif from this design and made a little table runner as an extra project idea for the motif.. Here is how it was made. Keep reading cuz there are some surprises coming.. I'll try to keep it short and sweet but that is not my strong suit!

First cut 8: 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" background squares. and sew them together like so.

I like to pop those intersecting seams don't you??? Splay the fabric ya know. Why? Makes the fabric behave and lay reeely flat and it makes the cutest little four patch on the back. (I'm easily entertained).

Next lets add sum borders. How about 3 1/2" wide. Is that okay with you? You can add bigger or smaller to yours OF COURSE!

Now we are going to make the applique' motif's. Make some bias stems by using a bias tape maker..this one is 3/8". If you don't have any of these little babies..get in the car and go get them they come in lots of sizes. You won't regret it. Or ask Santa to park some in your stocking this year. What's up with this photo looks like I have a fungus on my ironing board. sorry.


I used different 9 different reds, two greens and four golds as the fabrics for the motifs.

Now we are going to put the fusible on the back of the motifs. I like Heat n' Bond Lite. I like to Window Pane or as Pat Sloan calls it...Donut method, my applique's . You trace the motifs onto the paper side of the fusible, cut a scant amount around the outside edges of the fusible and cut the middle out, then fuse it to the back side of the fabric...

Then you cut the motifs out on the drawn line, leaving a tiny bit of fusible along the backside edges. Now you are ready to set up and fuse the motifs to the base/background table runner.

Lets just have fun with the design and throw those Southern Blooms in the air and let them land on the background...Lets not over plan the placement of each little piece ok?

OK I didn't mean that crazy.

How about this?
Alas, our little runner must be "deflowered" (ouch) so that we can button hole/blanket stitch the stems..so remove the flower heads..and stitch all the stems down. I used a variegated green thread.

Add those flower heads back..fuse and applique'.I used a barn red variegated for the flower heads and a gold variegated for the middles.DONE...

The whole process took me 4 hours start to finish.

Now for the finale. I will offer two prizes in honor of this posting. If you comment on this post by 12 am (thad be midnight PST...and I personally will be nite nite) I will put your name in the random number generator thingy and the first winner will win a copy of the magazine! WOOO HOOOO. The second winner will win this very runner..The one I made. It is not quilted yet but it will be quilted just for you...holey moley it could be YOU

I will post the winners on Saturday morning at 9 a.m (thad be EST) READY SET GO...good luck sweet people somebody in Atlanta LUVS YA!!!!

PS. I'm trying to decide if I would like to add ric rack as a finishing for the edges or regular bias binding...hmm what do you think?