Quilt Therapy

This weekend, in the Cowboy Capital of the World, we’ll be entertained and enlightened by the fun of a parade, music, crafts and a Pow-Wow – and the kids (young and old) can hardly wait!

We went last year, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my children’s eyes get so big as when those longhorns came sauntering down main street during the parade.  THAT was worth the drive and crowds all by itself!

Want to join us?  Visit www.celebratebandera.com for more information.

(the manly man didn’t want to be in the photo, since he figured homeschooling wasn’t really going to school - whatever)

What a difference public school makes — the clothes, oh the clothes — it’ll take me a while to get used to them being able to show their varied personalities through their choices of clothes!

I worked for attorneys for 4 years before I had kids, so I know that world (too well, sometimes).  Boring was the first thing that came to mind yesterday.  First, about 100 of us were seated in the courtroom, and the judge spent an hour listening to everyone’s excuses for wanting to be excused.  Then, it was time for a 30 minute break while the county clerk conducted her lottery of the remaining potential jurors – 42 were to be chosen in this lottery.  After I went out to the auto and had a nice phone conversation with my aunt, I went back in – only to find that I would have rather have won a completely different lottery – I was chosen and became potential juror #8.  First row.  Not good.

For two hours, we listened and fielded questions from the opposing attorneys – voir dire, it’s called in the legal world.  After that, we were excused for an hour and a half lunch break (and lo and behold, my favorite bbq joint was closed) and then back to our seats with our numbers in-hand.  This was it – the final cut.  The 12 jurors were chosen from this pool. 

During this time, I leisurely looked around the courtroom, envisioning architectural elements to be used in quilt designs.  Bad girl.

The only time I opened my mouth was when they asked if we knew someone or had someone in our extended family who had been convicted of a crime – of course, I honestly answered that my brother was currently in prison, but I didn’t know for what.

That must have been my saving grace, because three folks were chosen from the first row and I was *not* one of them.  I would have done it, don’t get me wrong, but as those of us who were excused were walking out of the building, I visited with a lady and we admonished the liklihood that either of us had time to give anyone three days of our week, as we didn’t even have time to give ourselves three days!

And then I came home and napped and once the kids were in bed, I came to work and spent five very intense hours working on a client’s projects.

I spent $3.50 on lunch, $20 on gas and lost 5 hours of billable time … and my lottery winnings?  $6  Which my husband will likely give right back to the county today when he hauls the trash to the dump.

But, to enlighten our (bored) spirits, let me show you the quilt that I finishing binding this past weekend!

Mary Had a Little Quilt Made with Mary Englebreit’s “Friends and Family” jelly roll fabric
Quilt Pattern to Come Soon!

Don’t have much time to yak today as I have been called to jury duty.  Oh joy.  Yes, it’s my civic duty, yada yada yada … but, when you’re a one-woman show who tries to support a family, it’s rather depressing to think that the $6/day they pay you IF you are chosen will put a bean on our table.   Doesn’t account for the gas to get to the county seat, or the time spent if you’re not chosen (and therefore, not paid).  But, I will show up and pray that I do what is expected/required and then get sent home.

Here’s the second quilt I completed this past weekend, another Shaggy Flannel, made from my Building Blocks Baby quilt pattern.

I might add that my dh has already claimed this quilt for himself – he loves the moose in sleeping bags, and wants it to cover his shoulders when he rests in his lazy boy. 

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I have outlived my dad by 8 years.

I have outlived my mother by 9 years.

I have outlived my older brother by 10 years.

I can’t imaging a life ending so soon, though I lived through their lives and deaths, it’s just not for me!  Yippee!

I requested one thing from my family on my birthday (which was Saturday) … and that was no screaming, no yelling, no fighting, no whining and no crying and some time to quilt.  We nearly made it — and the best part was that the youngest high-maintenance child only cried / whined when I wasn’t in the house!

But, oh the joy that I felt – as I sat in my sewing room, working on a quilt … while the kids played games and enjoyed each other’s company.  It doesn’t happen often, so I basked in the fullness that was my life.  And smiled, as I stitched away.

Here’s the first of three quilts that I completed this weekend – a flannel shaggy version of my Nine-Patch Star Baby Quilt:

The pattern will be available soon!

QuiltTags.com offers free, printable tags that you can use to label your quilts.  I love the tag-line we’re using, “for the sake of all kin to come, tag your quilts!”  And really, that says it all. 

Each week, we’ll add another free quilt tag for you to print off.  Some tags will be individual, some will have multiple tags on a page and some will have multiple tags in different colors on the page.

The tags are meant to be printed on either fusible ink jet fabric, or on iron-on transfer paper (and the pressed to the back of your quilt or to fabric for sewing to the back of your quilt).  We’ll even have guest designers, who will share their printable quilt tags with you!

Bookmark the website and join us weekly to see what we’ve come up with, so your kin will know just who shared their quilted heart with them!

Click Here to Visit QuiltTags.com!

I took a modified version of a recipe I learned from Ms. Carla in Utah, Funeral Potatoes, to quilt group last night.  Those ladies loved it so much, they asked me for the recipe.  And when I say they loved it so much, we had just about 10 show up in our meeting, and they devoured all but a tablespoon of the taters, that were in a 9 x 13 glass pan!  So, without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Funeral Potatoes

1 pkg. frozen hash browns (either the shredded kind or diced kind, though I prefer the shredded)
1 8 oz. pkg. sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom (or cream of chicken) soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 stick butter, melted
1 pkg. diced Hormel Ham
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste (because of the soup, I never salt it)
2 c. crushed Corn Flakes

Mix everything together except the Corn Flakes and place into a cake pan that has been sprayed.  Cover the top of the casserole with the Corn Flakes and bake at 350 for 45 min. if the hash browns have been thawed, and about 1 hr. 15 – 30 min. if they were frozen. 

Enjoy!

I did get nearly all of the quilting projects I had planned completed this weekend, with the exception of the binding on one baby quilt – but, hey, considering we (unexpectantly) spent all morning Saturday putting insulation in my office shed, I’d say I done good!

Completed “Builing Blocks Baby Quilt” designed by Quiltalicious, using “Colorful Camo” batiks

Two blocks completed for our Medina Quilt Group BOM project

Next up is seeing if I can find the time to get the girls registered for school today!

I make my children write thank you cards — for every little thing…such as gifts, kindness, etc.  When they were younger, I typed them out and then the kids wrote their names (sometimes, it was even just some lovely crayon scribbles).

It’s a MUST in my house.  Thankfullness that you are loved, thankfullness that someone cares about you to send you something, thankfullness that you are special to others.

I know I’m not everyone, and I certainly know that many folks think they’re too busy or it’s not important.  But, in our house, it’s not acceptable NOT to acknowledge something done special for you with a thank you note.

But when I spend 20 hours designing and making a quilt, $100 (at least) for the fabric and then spend $100+ to get it quilted (not counting the postage) and I give it to someone as a GIFT (more postage) — I cannot tell you how upset and disappointed I get when I receive no thanks in the mail. 

One person’s mother (of a high school graduate) sent me an email note, letting me know it arrived and it was beautiful.  But, the gift recipient didn’t send a thank you note.

And I made a beautiful quilt for my daughter’s Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers (married couple, she had the wife in K and the husband in 1st) as they had a baby in May – and we gave it to the teacher the last day of school — and I’ve heard absolutely NOTHING from them by way of thanks.

Even my own nephew, who got a beautiful quilt top for his graduation (and and aunt and cousin who drove 20 hours one way to be there for his special day) hasn’t thanked me properly.

Do you know how ungrateful that makes me feel?  If you’ve lived this quilting / thank you faux pas, I’m sure you do.

It’s WRONG – and it sure makes my desire to gift someone else with one of my quilted creations a whole lot harder to swallow.