Quilt Therapy

The note I received from the teacher was that the homeroom mom had decided it would be best to offer the kids a HEALTHY Halloween party, so they asked for heatlthy foods to go with that theme.  Fine, I whipped up a lovely display of fruits:

And then I get to the classroom to help set up and enjoy the party with the kids – and am met with a table of food that I can only describe as a redneck’s definition of HEALTHY….

Yup, got this bug in the zapper, and it was still alive and kickin’ enough that I frosted it and served it.

Nuts and raisins are certainly healthy – but, ummm, what about those little chocolate pieces of candy in there?  No worries, chocolate comes from a BEAN doesn’t it?

Road kill cats – Git ‘r Done!

There are many names used for tomorrow – traditionally a holiday to celebrate the eve of a holy day, that of All Saint’s Day on November 1st.  The kids learned in their Sacred Arts class this week that the word Halloween is derived from holy evening. 

Of course, we have all sorts of various groups who claim Halloween as their own – Day of the Dead is celebrated in the Hispanic culture, pagans claim it as their special day to rise above the religious, fall festivals by some denominations who claim the holiday itself is satanic…and then the old-world Irish and Celts mark it as the difference between the “light” months (spring & summer) and the “dark” months (fall & winter).

In our house, Halloween is first celebrated as being Reformation Day, and my hubster was very pleased to see that our praise team (during the second, blended service) held up the traditional hymn last Sunday that is known throughout the Lutheran world as the one sung for the reformation – A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  It’s always funny when one of “his” traditional hymns comes up on the screen at church, because the kids think he somehow had something to do with it.  hehe

In light of all of that, we’ll be celebrating a lot this weekend.  Today, I’ll go help DD#3’s third-grade class with their party by bringing a healthy fruit tray (filled with RED fruit) and assisting in their craft project.  Tomorrow, we’ll say special prayers of thanks as we mark Reformation day.  Tomorrow night, we’ll take the kids to town for a trunk-or-treat at a local church, and then on to some houses for some serious trick-or-treating.  Then on Sunday, we’ll celebrate All Saint’s Day in church, with recognition to those who have passed on to their just reward this past year.

And I’ll enjoy every bit of it – because the joy that will be found on my children’s faces makes it all worthwhile.

I designed this quilt a few months ago but just couldn’t find the time to make more than two blocks.  When I invited Meloney to go with me to quilt market, she asked what she could do to help me – and I JUMPED on that!  hehe  So, between Meloney and I, we completed this fun lap-quilt – made with Mark Lipinski’s “Krakow” fabrics in the blue colorway.  The FREE pattern should be available from www.BOMquilts.com very soon!

Our local school enjoyed homecoming this past week, with the high school having fun activities each day, and the week ending with a blackout pep rally (glow sticks were used) and then the football game on Friday night.  I had to work, but the hubster took a video of DD#3 and her cheer squad, the Bob Kittens – doing all the fun stuff little cheerleaders do. 

Saturday began with the annual parade down Main Street.  Main Street, Medina is about five blocks long.  It’s so short, most of those who were participating actually went down the parade route twice, once while we all waited for candy to be thrown at us and the second time (to get back to the starting point and their vehicles) to make sure those on the opposite side of the street saw you!

Son-man was IMpatiently waiting for the parade to begin:

We had the lead mule and horse riders, showing the true Texas colors:

Then we had the elementary floats, each based on a children’s book that they’d read.  I couldn’t ignore the cow jumping over the moon – especially at 10 in the morning!

DD#3’s float was based on a Dr. Seuss book, and our lovely daughter got to be the nurse character:

DD#2 was a really cute M&M from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

Then the parade had the usual alumni-filled cars, with students clear back to the 1930’s.  Next came the homecoming royalty, which includes a male and female student, chosen by their peers, in each class. Then, the volunteer fire department had a couple of trucks go thru the route.

And finally, the epitome of Podunk, Texas – this was one of the entries in the parade — and one we’ll not soon forget!

(it’s a honey-wagon, for those of you not familiar with life in the country)

Moda Fabrics are huge in the quilt fabric world.  They have wonderful fabrics, glorious thread counts and a huge number of designers who make quilted life so fun!  Here’s a number of photos of quilts that were hanging in the Moda booth at market.   Usually, once the fabric lines are released to the vendors to sell, Moda will include a free pattern to go with them.  You can find some of those here.

Ms. Donna at www.SoCalMom.net has tagged me for a meme.  She says we’ve known each other virtually for TEN years.  WOW, I didn’t even realize that!  I started working online in 1999, so that’s probably correct.  Darn, does time fly when you’re having fun!

Here’s the meme info: Donna has challenged me to come clean about myself – to be completely honest and spill ten secrets that I’ve never confessed before. Gee, is anything in my life a secret?!  I’ll give it a shot:

1. I sleep with a honey (body) pillow.  I can’t perspire because of my skin allergies, so my husband and I can’t touch while sleeping (he’s a hot-body).  So, I snuggle with my honey pillow.
2. I sleep about six hours a day, in a split-shift – about four hours at night and my two-hour nap (if I can get it) in the afternoons.
3. I prefer to blow my nose with a paper towel than a tissue.  ewwww, just like the thickness of paper towels better.
4. I work in my jammies until lunch.  Every workday.
5. I eat once a day.  Sometimes less.
6. I have blonde eyebrows – so blonde, you hardly even notice that I have eyebrows.
7. I can’t eat broccoli, eggs or fresh button mushrooms.  Ever since I was pregnant with my last daughter.
8. I LOVE making quilts, but can’t STAND to make or mend clothes.  Go figure!
9. Have had skin allergies since I was 19 years old, but never had sinus allergies until we moved to the area of Texas where we live now.  Cedar fever hits nearly everyone who lives in this region.
10. I’m obsessed with finishing projects.  If I start something, I *must* finish it.

Ooooh, now the fun begins!  I am to tag some friends and see if they’ll answer!  Naw, I’m not going to do that.  If you want to participate in this meme (HINT:  MRS. MAC), please feel free to do so – and let us know in the comments that you’ve responded!

I recently told my aunt that I never felt a part of their family, even though I lived with them for three years (when I was 15) and consider them to be the folks who finished raising me.  I don’t think it surprised her, but it made me pause for a minute to think back on my personal growth over the years – and mainly, my willingness to fit into their lives and visa versa.  The moment I finally felt like I was thought of as one of their children was when my aunt was very sick in the hospital, in 2007.  Not only did my cousin (their oldest daughter) contact me about the issues and keep me informed, but my uncle called me, too.  He’s never called me since I left their state when I was 19, that I can remember – Ever.

And to me, that was extremely sad.  He was my mother’s brother – he was not only closest to her in age, if any of her siblings were really close to her, he was the one.  Yet, it’s always been my aunt (his wife) who has been the one to keep in contact with me over the years.  I needed that connection to my mother, and he was/is unable to provide it.

After my aunt got out of the hospital and was on the mend, we took a long weekend and drove up to Nebraska to see them.  While sitting on the porch with my uncle, he asked me why we would make such a long trek for such a short visit.  My answer was simple then, we were all worried about Grandma L (they ARE my children’s grandparents, and do a wonderful job at that role) and I wanted to make sure my kids got as much Grandma and Grandpa time as was possible, because there is love there, and my kids need to see that, feel that and hear that.   As little of my extended family as we allow the kids to be around, Grandma and Grandpa are good ones that we would give unlimited access to, if we were closer in miles to them.

My cousin, Robin, calls me her sister.  She was nine when I moved in with them, and although she has a younger sister (who came along a few months after I moved to their house), Robin and I basically grew up together – even though it was for just a few short years.  Of course, I’m a nut and think of her as my cousin, but that doesn’t mean anything BAD in my book, because I have siblings and my relationship with them is much less close than with Rob. 

After living in Utah for seven years, I think I’ll change my way to relate to Robin and call her my sister-cousin.  hehe

Anyway, Robin and I really grew together when she was pregnant with her first child, Madison.  Miss Maddie was born a year after our youngest daughter was, so I was in the throws of nursing and diapers when Rob needed to hear an “all knowing” voice to help her through her pregnancy and new motherhood time.  It was special to me, that she looked to me for assistance during that time.

And I consider her children to be my nieces and nephew. 

Which leads me to this letter we received in the mail earlier this week — addressed to “The Harrison Cousins”:

Ain’t love GRAND!  And FAMILY, too!  I’ve done everything I can to not tear up over the all-encompassing HUG that this little girl has shown my kids.  And me.  But, I just can’t help it — I *finally* feel like I’m a part of a family!

Out of the hundreds (thousands?) of quilt patterns that I saw at market, I have to say that KariePatch Designs really struck me as the “best of the best.”  Their quilt designs were fun, fanciful and they had tutorials set up to show exactly how to put together one of their creations.  I like that in a design!  Although traditional quilting is my style, I have been known to make my own “far out” creations, just to add a little creativity to my quilts.  When I saw the KariePatch Designs booth, it immediately reminded me of a quilt that I designed and made a few years ago – with 3D prairie points in the blocks:

But, alas, that was then and this is now – KariePatch Designs:

There are some people who just make you feel like you’ve known them your whole life.  Barbara and Mary, the dynamic quilting duo who comprise Me and My Sister Designs are just that type of people.   Here they are, such fine specimens of quilting loveliness during a wee vacation

I introduced myself and said I represented Linda and AbbiMays.com, and they both shouted “We Love AbbiMays!”  Well shucks, if they loved AbbiMays then I loved them!  Here are the photos from their booth – fabulous new line of fabrics designed with Moda, super-fun and super-easy patterns, too!  All quilters should be enjoying the simplicity and quilted thrill of Me and My Sister Designs‘ patterns!

I have used Electric Quilt software, to design my quilts, for a good number of years, and have enjoyed the heck out of it.  There are things I would change, of course, but once you get used to the software and how it helps you design patterns, it’s quite a nifty tool to use.  While at market, I was stunned at the beautiful paper-pieced quilts they had designed and made using EQ6.  I don’t paper-piece, but I do love a beautiful quilt design!  See for yourself: