Sentimental Quilts

New address

2011-12-29T09:01:00.001-08:00

My blog has a new address. Please follow me at www.sentimentalquilts.com/blog.

Thanks!

Too long, again!

2011-11-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well,once again it has been too long between posts.

We just returned from a nice week in central Tennessee. We spent the week with my mom, my siblings and their spouses, celebrating my mom's 80th birthday. We had such a good time that we are planning another trip somewhere -- maybe overseas -- in a couple years.

My sister and I did manage to visit a few quilt and fabric stores while there!

Before I left I worked hard to finish three memorial quilts for a customer. They are made from the pants and shirts of a gentleman.

His wife is giving these quilts to his mother and brother. I previously made a quilt for her from his clothing also.

Chi Omega T-Shirt Quilt

2011-08-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest t-shirt quilt made for a Chi-Omega sorority member:

I sure hope she likes it!

Tunics anyone?

2011-06-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have been on a kick making the Schoolhouse Tunic. It is easy to make and I like the how comfortable it is and the way it looks. Here are the two I have made for myself.

We are headed out of town tomorrow to Laughlin, NV and I plan to wear the red and black one on the plane!

Latest Memorial Quilt

2011-04-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a Memorial Quilt for a client using a man's shirts and pants. Here is a sneak peak at how it is turning out! (I still have to sew all the blocks together).

More in Shreveport....

2011-03-14T08:06:00.001-07:00

While in Shreveport, my cousin decided to get some new "art." We watched part of it. Looked pretty painful!

Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Weekend in Shreveport

2011-03-14T08:03:00.001-07:00

We had a fun weekend in Shreveport, Louisiana. We drove over on Saturday with my mom. My Uncle Ray treated us to a really nice dinner at a fancy Asian restaurant. There was way too much food on that table!!!

We gambled a little, spent the night, met my uncle for breakfast and headed home.

This is IT

2011-03-10T12:26:00.001-08:00

I am determined to become a REAL blogger -- not just an occasional blogger. So this is it -- the beginning of a new era.

More to come.........

Living Happily Ever After

2010-07-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sending a new quilt to my sweet granddaughter, Madison in Ohio. Hope she likes it!

I wish I knew how to rotate photos in this software! Oh well, you get the idea.

The center panel says something about "I dream of castles, ... a Handsome Prince & living happily ever after." Unfortunately I packed it up and shipped it before I wrote this post and I can't remember all of the saying. It was very cute though! I also made her two pillowcases to match.

We just had a fun four day weekend at the Frio River with most of the grandkids. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

Some recent projects

2010-05-27T19:02:00.001-07:00

This is a quilt I made using antique blocks provided by a customer. I put the blocks together into a quilt and finished it. The blocks were a family heirloom.

This is a cape I made for my grandson. It is Batman on one side and Superman on the other.

SIX MONTHS??? How did that happen?

2010-03-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

It has been six months since I posted anything on my blog. How the heck did that happen? I keep thinking "soon, I'll do it soon" and it just hasn't happened! I'll try to catch up now.

Here are some pictures of the latest Memory quilt I just mailed off:

A Productive Weekend!

2009-10-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Had a great weekend and I was finally very productive! I have several client projects going on right now, all of which need to be finished for Christmas. Plus I wanted to get a baby gift done, among other things. So this weekend I started with a 10 mile walk on Saturday (gotta get that 3-Day training in!), got a movie in (Zombieland for my husband) and did a whole bunch of machine applique. Also finished the baby gift -- other than the hand part of the binding. Here is a picture of my accomplishments. Doesn't look like a lot but it sure feels good!

My latest Memorial Quilt

2009-09-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is the latest Memorial Quilt I finished. It is made from a man's clothing. It will be loved by his widow and daughter.

We have had a busy summer. Tommy and I have taken several weekend trips and done a lot of day trips. I'll try to post some pictures of our adventures.

Fun Giveaway!

2009-08-18T08:27:00.001-07:00

Check it out! HeatherBakes is giving away a jackpot of healthy snacks! Sign up to win at http://heatherbakes.com/2009/08/18/give-it-away/.

To make this a little quilty... I had a fun phone call yesterday. A lady called me wanting a t-shirt quilt made for her daughter for Christmas. She had gotten my name in an interesting way! She was at Central Market in Dallas and saw someone showing off a quilt I had made. This lady went up to the strangers and asked who made it, got my contact information and called me! I was sad to tell her that I just couldn't promise it for Christmas this year. Why not? Because I already have too many quilts lined up! Business is booming again. That's my excuse for no blog updates!

Hope you are having a great summer! It's almost over! How did that happen???

Christmas in July

2009-07-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

A group of friends decided last year to have a quilting retreat and to "make" a Christmas in July gift to exchange. This is the table runner I made and gave away as a gift last weekend on retreat.

I'm so lame

2009-07-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

Boy, once again it has been too long between posts. My only excuse is that I have been very busy!

The week of July 4, we drove to Toledo to see my youngest son and his family. Haven't seen them in about a year and a half and my granddaughter is growing up too fast! We drove up and had a really nice trip. My mom came along with us.

Last weekend we went to Fredericksburg, TX. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. The really fun part was that I surprised my husband and didn't tell him where we were going. I left work at noon, picked him up and I drove. He didn't have a clue until we were about 20 miles from our destination. Fun, fun.

On a quilting note, I just finished a quilt made from baby clothes for a customer. The picture isn't great, but you can get the idea.....

Weekend fun

2009-06-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

Had a good weekend. Yesterday Janie and I sat outside Suzy's Quilts in Garland selling raffle tickets for the 3-Day quilt. We did so-so. I think we sold about (or got donations) to the tune of about $75. But every dollar helps!

Today Tommy and I drove out to Waxahachie. I got him to walk a little over 3 miles with me. Waxahachie has a wonderful walking trail. Then we went to a craft show in the park and had lunch on the square. They had quilts hanging all over the square so it was a lot of fun!

Memorial Day Tradition

2009-05-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

We spent an enjoyable LONG Memorial Day Weekend at the Frio River in southwest Texas. We go every year with the local kids and grandkids. This year Tommy and I drove down on Thursday and were able to spend most of Friday at a very quiet river. The kids arrived late Friday afternoon and the rest of the weekend was spent playing in the water, playing with the kids, staying up late drinking and talking and TUBING!! I was the only one that made two tube trips. We have to take turns because of the little kids, but I went both Saturday and Sunday. We drove home on Monday and headed back to work on Tuesday. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Time for catch up

2009-05-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. I had good intentions on keeping up with this blog, but time gets in my way!

I just finished a quilt for a friend of Meredith's. The friend had bought fabric, planning on doing her own quilt, but never got around to it. So I did!

We are starting to have some pretty flowers around the yard. I just love this hanging basket -- I believe the plant is called a Fuschia. So bright and colorful! I think it likes our back yard.

Weekend with relatives

2009-04-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we met my uncle Ray and cousin Karen in Shreveport for a weekend of fun. My mom came along with us. My uncle and cousin live in Austin. I had not seen my cousin for close to 40 years until just last year. My uncle moved to Austin last year to be closer to his daughter. So we are now back in touch with that leg of the family!

I recently took some old reel movies to be transferred to DVD. These were movies taken by my grandfather and we really didn't know what was on them. I was able to pick the DVDs up on our way out of town so we enjoyed watching them with my mom and uncle who were able to identify a lot of the people in the videos. Among them are my great-grandparents! There is even footage of me as a newborn. So the movies are REALLY old! Actually, the oldest portion was probably of my dad when he was about 13 which would make that reel more than 60 years old.

The only downside of the trip was the flat tire we had on our way to Shreveport. Of course we were in the middle of nowhere on a busy interstate and it was raining. It took 2 hours for roadside assistance to arrive. The tire was ruined and we were not able to find replacements in Shreveport so we drove home without a spare. I got to spend this morning at the tire shop getting a new set.

Here we are at breakfast on Sunday morning:

Crystal anyone?

2009-04-14T20:00:00.001-07:00

While we were in Ireland, we visited the Dingle Penninsula and went to Dingle Crystal where I was able to purchase a beautiful handmade crystal vase. Every piece is designed, cut, signed and sold by the master craftsman, Sean Daly. Sean was trained for 12 years at the Waterford Crystal Company and then started his own shop in Dingle Town. All the crystal is absolutely beautiful! It was very hard to do, but I managed to pick out my very own piece. We had it shipped here because it is VERY heavy. It finally arrived today and is gracing my dining room table! I absolutely love it!

I'm wiped out!

2009-04-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

Holidays at our house are fun and lively. So fun and lively that I get a little exhausted! But it is a good exhaustion. Here are some pictures of Easter at the McBroom house.....

Lily eating her cupcake..

Thomas's is almost gone!

We lucked out and the weatherman was wrong, so we were able to have the Easter egg hunt outside. Here are my grandkids lined up and ready to go hunt eggs. My granddaughter, Madison, is the only one missing. She lives in Ohio and didn't get to join us.

And they're off!

Gotta stop and check out the loot!

Easter Eve

2009-04-11T12:27:00.001-07:00

I got up early this morning and my dear husband fixed me a yummy breakfast before I headed off for a walk with my friend, Janie. We went to Grand Prairie and walked down the Fish Creek trail. It is a really nice paved trail along a creek. It stretches for 7 miles through Grand Prairie and Arlington. We walked a total of 7 miles. Training is going good for THE walk!

It is the day before Easter and I'm busy preparing for all the kiddos to come over and hunt eggs and eat. Problem is, the weather man is predicting RAIN!!! Hopefully they will be wrong or it will be all over before the festivities begin. We are having ham, potato salad, green beans, baked beans (Tommy and I couldn't agree on which one to serve), deviled eggs, rolls and banana pudding for dessert. I'm not telling everyone, but the banana pudding will be sugar-free :)

I just finished baking some cupcakes for the kids. They look yummy!!!

I'm a speaker!

2009-04-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was asked to speak at a meeting of Delta Kappa Gamma of Ellis County. This is a sorority of women educators. I have never really been a public speaker, but I felt like it went pretty well. The subject was "Memory Quilts" so I spoke a little bit about how I started quilting. Then I talked about my business. I took some of my quilts to show, including my photo quilt and a couple of applique quilts I have done (Christmas and Texas Our Texas). I took two additional quilts, one was the one that I did for my dad when he was going through his chemo treatments. I had my brother, sister and nieces and nephews write something to my dad on a block and I assembled them into a quilt. I also took the quilt that Janie made for me with blocks written by friends and family. People seemed to be interested and enjoyed the program. Thanks to Delta Kappa Gamma for inviting me!

Our last days in Ireland

2009-04-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ireland, con't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday night we went to the pub in Creegh and enjoyed traditional Irish music. Three musicians, a conchatina (sp??) player, a guitar player and a tin whistle/flute player. They were really good and we enjoyed them for a couple hours. Things here always start later than we expect. This was no exception. The music started at "half ten" (10:30 p.m.).

Friday we got up and did a little laundry and then headed for the Burren. It is a rocky, desolate area, but beautiful in its own way. We had another beautiful sunny day, although a little windy. We were able to tour a 1,000 year old ring fort and saw some more castles. It is getting to the point where we say "look, another castle". It is amazing.

Saturday we packed up and left Sean and Allyson. They feel like old friends! we drove to Dublin, stopping at Bunratty Folk Park on our way. It is kind of like Old City Park in Dallas, but the main attraction is a castle from about 1400. It has been restored. There are a lot of period farm houses and other restored buildings around it.
We finally made it to Dublin about 5:00 and turned in the rental car. We took a cab to our hotel, walked around the area a little, had dinner and relaxed in our room. The computer here in the hotel was down all weekend so this is my first chance to be online.

Sunday we got up and caught a tour bus. It is a bus for one fare you can get on and off as much as you want. We got a three day pass which will include our transportation to the airport. On Sunday we toured the Guinness Brewery. We also toured Kilmainham Gaol which is a jail from the 1700s.

Today we caught the tour bus again and went through Trinity College (founded in 1500s) and saw The Book of Kells, an amazing collection of the Gospels transcribed in 800 AD. We then walked through Grafton Street, the shopping district of town and headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral. From there we went to Dublin Castle and toured that. It was built in the 1600s and is where some of the government offices are still housed. It is also where the Presidential Inauguration takes place. From there we went to the train station (Tommy wanted to see it!) and then on to the Jameson Whiskey museum where Tommy got to be an official whiskey taster!

We have had an amazing time. Our flight leaves at 11:00 tomorrow. We will leave the hotel around 7:30, have some breakfast and catch the bus to the airport. We have a layover in DC and then it is on to home. Tomorrow is a long day of travel so we are staying in again tonight.

We saw our first rain of the trip today. I think it sprinkled on us for 10 minutes!

Ireland, con't.

2009-03-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Our Ireland journey continues.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Monday, we toured around the peninsula that we are staying on. Beautiful countryside and cliffs looking out at the Atlantic.

Our "landlord" Allyson, told us that the local village pub was having a "quiz" that night and it should be fun, so off we went. We got there at 7:30 or so, thinking that would be the starting time, being a Monday night -- there were only a couple people at the bar and we were surprised to learn that the quiz didn't start until 9:30! So we had a good time talking to the locals at the bar before the quiz started. Around 9:00, people started filing in and by the time the quiz started there were over 100 people there! There were 22 tables of 4 people and the bar was full. I got drafted to play on Allyson's team. It was a type of trivia game and I wasn't a lot of help as most of the questions were Irish. The quiz lasted until close to 12:30 and we ended up staying at the pub until about 2:30 talking to people and having a good time. We had walked down there and some of our new friends gave us a ride back home.

On Tuesday we had planned to get up and drive to Galway for the St. Paddy's Day Parade, but after our late night, we didn't get up early enough to make the 2 hour drive (the parade started at 12). And what seems like a 2 hour drive here may end up to be a 3 hour drive because you can often get caught behind a tractor. I have learned how to pass on the right though! Instead of Galway, we headed up the coast to the Cliffs of Moher. I can't understand why that is not one of the "wonders of the world." Absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with a beautiful sunshiny day also. We headed a little further to the small town of Doolin for a delicious dinner of fish and chips. The village was packed with celebraters -- we apparently just missed the parade, but the pub was very full. We headed back around 5 and every village we went through had people spilling out of the pubs into the street. We have noticed that every village, no matter how small, has at LEAST one pub!

On Tuesday evening we were told that there would be music in the local village pub. We poked our heads into one and it must have been a room 10x15 feet. We decided it was too small for music and headed back to the one we were at the night before. It was quiet as well. We stayed an hour or so (it was 10 by then) and headed back to our car. I heard music coming out of the small pub so in we went. There was a guitar player, a squeeze box player and some singers. We went in and were serenaded by Irish tenors until about 1:30 am. They sang Happy Birthday to me. People would just start singing from all sides of us and for some songs the whole pub was singing. There were probably 15 or so people there and when they found out we were from Texas, they enjoyed singing all the cowboy songs they know also!

Yesterday we took the ferry to the next peninsula and drove to the tip of it to Dingle -- the western most city in Europe. It is buried between mountains and the sea. It was absolutely beautiful also. The drive was incredible with steep drops down the side of the mountain and sheep grazing in the fields. We actually did something we would never do in America -- we picked up a hitchhiker! There was a man standing in the middle of the road at a turn we made and he flagged us down. We thought he had car trouble so we stopped and he asked if he could have a ride into Dingle. He seemed harmless and Tommy said yes, so he rode with us the last 20 miles or so. Dingle is much more "touristy" and we saw a lot of Americans. We enjoy our area where we are the "oddity". I did buy a piece of beautiful locally made crystal there. The artist autographed it while we watched!

We got back to town around 7:00 and stopped at the store for more breakfast food (we have been cooking all our own breakfasts). Then we decided to get some chinese take out. The Irish apparently love chinese food! We saw a video store and they let us rent a movie so we had a night in last night.

Today we are doing a little more local sightseeing and then there is music in another nearby village --Creegh ("Cree") -- tonight so we will head down there at "half nine" or so. Tomorrow we will pack and do laundry before heading to Dublin on Saturday.

It is sunny again today and Allyson says this is the first sunny week they have had since September, so we are really blessed. Yesterday we were in shirt sleeves and very comfortable -- must have been close to 70 and sunny. Today is a little windy, but still quite warm and sunny. This is the third day in a row with sun which apparently is an oddity here. We have not seen a drop of rain although it often looks like it might rain.

Our first Days in Ireland

2009-03-26T14:39:00.001-07:00

Tommy and I took a dream trip to Ireland March 13-24, 2009. We were supposed to share the trip with our dear friends, Kirk and Denice, but because of some health issues, they had to cancel.

While on the trip, I did a "trip journal" that I emailed back home to friends. Here is the journal (in three parts)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We arrived in Ireland without a hitch. We supposedly had a two hour layover in Boston, but by the time we found our terminal and ate a quick bite, it was time to board our next flight. We arrived in Dublin at 4:45 a.m. on Saturday. Got through customs and got our baggage by 5:30. The car rental did not open until 6:00 so it was close to 7:00 before we got on the road. Neither of us felt sleepy at all. We were able to sleep a couple hours on the plane.

Driving on the opposite side of the road is quite an experience. I am already a nervous passenger and it was multiplied about 100 times. While we were on the divided "interstates" it wasn't a problem. But the last 70km or so was narrow roads. Very well traveled narrow roads. Very well traveled roads with a speed limit of 100kph (about 70 mph). The whole time I felt like Tommy was headed off into the ditch. I was so tense by the time we reached our destination that my body almost hurt.

We saw lots of ruins of castles, beautiful countryside and yes, Denice, even sheep in the meadows. Everything here is green, leaves are budding on the trees, and daffodils are blooming wild everywhere. We got to the cottages about 10:00, got settled, took a shower and a nap.

Our cottage is very nice. We have a living room/dining room, kitchen and bathroom downstairs. Upstairs is the bedroom. The downstairs has stone floors and upstairs is wood floors. We have a lovely fireplace in the LR/DR. The resident dog has adopted us and Tommy is happy to have a dog to talk to.

After a nap, we got up and went into "town" which is Kilrush. It is about 10km away from our cottage. Our cottage is in Cooraclare which is a "village" that has three pubs, but no grocery store. We walked around a little, and went to the grocery store for some snacks and breakfast foods. (you have to buy plastic grocery bags here for about a quarter each) Stopped at a fish and chips store for dinner to go and headed back to the cottage. Apparently the clerk didn't understand Tommy because when we opened our bag at the cottage, we only had "chips" so we had a dinner of chips. We watched a little TV. Our TV gets two channels -- RTE1 and RTE2. We chose the All Ireland Talent Show over rugby. We were in bed by about 8:00 and slept until 10:00 the next morning.

Yesterday we got up and Tommy fixed scrambled eggs, "rashers" (which is Irish bacon -- a little different than ours!) and toast. We relaxed a little while and headed back to Kilrush for a St. Patrick's Day parade. There was a band playing on the town square and lots and lots of people lining the streets. It was a lot of fun. The final entry in the parade was the "Hell on Leather" dance school. There were hundreds of kids aged about 5-16 surrounding the town hall. They all did a traditional "set dance". It was also very fun.

After that we headed to a pub and had some "real" fish and chips. We learned that we could order one meal here and split it! After dinner we headed to another pub where we saw they were having music from 6:00-8:00. We were a little disappointed when they started playing "American" music but they were quite good. We listened to them for a while and then headed down the street to another pub. There was no music there, but we were surprised to see the All Ireland Talent Show on the big screen TVs! Everyone was watching it and cheering on their favorite act. It was actually the final night so we watched and saw the "winner" of the entire show. It was fun to watch the people so excited about it!

Everyone here recognizes right away that we are foreigners and they are quite nice. I don't think they get a whole lot of Americans in this part of the country.

Today we stopped at the library here in Kilrush to send this email and we are off to do some sightseeing. Tonight we plan to visit the pubs in Cooraclare. I became the official driver yesterday. I am much more comfortable in this position. Tomorrow we plan on heading to Galway (about a 2 hour drive) for a bigger St. Patrick's Day parade.

2009-03-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess 2+ months is a little long to wait for an entry, isn't it? Guess you can tell that not a lot has been going on around here.

We are getting ready to go on a really big trip with some friends. We are going to IRELAND! I can't wait. We leave on March 13 -- just 12 days away! We will be spending 11 days there.

In preparation for the trip, I got a video camera. So now I am playing with it and trying to learn how to use it. I'm not so good yet.

This is a video I took of the grandkids just to play around. Let's see if this works. I tried to edit it to make it shorter but I haven't mastered that yet.......

I'm all caught up!

2008-12-15T19:45:00.001-08:00

I shipped off the last custom order I had for this year. It consisted of two memory quilts and three pillows. I think they turned out pretty nice and the customer seemed pleased.

After getting that order shipped off, I was able to work on a Christmas Shopping Bag! I used it as a gift bag for a Christmas Party/gift exchange I went to. It seemed to be a hit!

You can find the pattern here: http://www.anotherpat.com/fabricbagXmas.htm

Where does the time go?

2008-12-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

I often think about a new blog entry, and then time gets away from me and I don't get it done.

A lot has happened in the past three weeks! First of all, I completed another t-shirt quilt for a customer. It is a very basic design, but it is what the customer requested. Here are a couple pictures:

The other "big" thing that happened is just a little bit crazy. A couple years ago I went on a diet. I opened my mouth and told my daughters-in-law that if I got to my goal weight I would get my belly button pierced. My husband told me I was totally crazy to make such a bet. Of course, the girls held me to my word. I have lost about 35 pounds and the deed is done.

There, my secret is out. It really didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, however I have learned that where your waistline hits is a VERY important detail!

The Finish Line

2008-11-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

I did it! I walked 60 miles in 3 days and raised $2300 in the fight against Breast Cancer! WHAT an experience! You can see me above, looking over my shoulder, right in front of the lady with her arms up in the air (that's my best friend, Janie). This was during closing ceremonies when we were marching in -- over 3000 walkers. It was way more than I ever imagined. In fact, I'm planning on doing it again next year!

Count down is on

2008-10-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Only a couple more weeks until the walk! This weekend was a busy one with an 18 mile walk on Saturday and 9 on Sunday.

Saturday's walk was through Ennis, Texas. It was a really well planned, fun walk. We started at Ennis Regional Medical Center adn walked 10 miles before stopping for lunch. The training walk leader had lots of pit stops lined up. It was very well organized. We stopped at a local doctor's office for refreshments adn teh hospital served us lunch. The group of girls was really a lot of fun also.

Sunday was a 9 mile walk through Arlington. I was dragging a little near the end but made it through. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Walking and walking and walking some more!

2008-10-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend the QUACers (Quilters United Against Cancer) trained hard for the 3-Day. On Saturday we met in Arlington at 7:00 a.m. to head out. We walked 9 miles, came back to our cars for a break and walked another 8 miles before ending the day with 17 miles under our belt. We "camped" out in a hotel for the night and enjoyed some teambuilding fellowship.

The picture above was taken on Sunday morning when we met to start out again. We headed out and walked 8.5 miles before taking a break for the three R's (refresh, relax and refuel). Peggy had some pretty bad blistered feet so Laura took her home. Janie and I headed out again, tired but committed. We walked 6 more miles and ended up just over 14 miles for day 2.

Negligent

2008-10-14T20:10:00.001-07:00

WOW -- has it really been over a month since I posted anything? I have been very busy training for the 3-Day. I did recently complete another t-shirt quilt for a customer. It is made from fire department t-shirts. I am very pleased with the way it turned out:

Back from retreat

2008-09-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Every Labor Day weekend, I go on a quilting retreat with my stitch group, Quilters on the Edge (or "Edgers" for short). There are 12 of us in the group. Janie and I got up on Friday (we took the day off work) and started the day by walking 3 miles. We loaded up my car and headed to Collinsville, TX (about 90 miles from home). We stopped at Quilt Country in Lewisville, TX on the way up. We arrived at retreat around 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Saturday morning we walked about 5.5 miles. Then we went into Whitesboro and Gainesville to visit the quilt shops and do some grocery shopping. We got up on Sunday and walked about 3.5 miles and on Sunday evening we fixed dinner for the group. Monday was spent finishing projects, loading up and driving home.

I was able to finish a quilt top for my niece (who is expecting a baby in November)

I also completed a cute Halloween wall hanging for my grandkids to enjoy:I made some blocks for the 30s block swap I am in:The Edgers compleded a 15 month exchange we did of 3" 9-patch blocks. I should have close to 200 blocks here: I also cut about a million strips for a blooming 9-patch quilt I plan to make:All in all, a pretty productive weekend!

Completed & gone!

2008-08-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

The quilt I worked on at retreat a couple weeks ago is finished and gone! The customer seemed to like it. It was a lot of fun and I am satisfied with the way it turned out.

Another good day

2008-08-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

The bake sale was a success, again. This week I netted $60 for my 3-Day account. Here is a picture of what the bake sale looks like:

After work, I went to my friend Janie's house. We put together some gifts to give to our stitch group this weekend at retreat. They are pop-top cans that Janie opened from the bottom, using one of those can openers that leaves clean edges. She cleaned out the cans and we filled them with some quilting goodies -- a fat quarter, some pins, a tube to hold pins and some chocolate! Then we decorated the cans and glued the bottoms back on. Our friends will have to pop the top of the can to open it and see what is inside! we thought they turned out pretty cute.

75 days and counting..

2008-08-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was "Expo" day for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It is kind of the "opening kick-off" for the event. They had vendors there selling clothing and other items. They also had demonstrations on tent set-up and packing. That was pretty interesting. You are limited to 35 pounds and that includes your sleeping bag and duffle bag. You really don't want to take anything "extra" along. But, there are a lot of "extras" that you need, like plastic tarps for over and under the tent in case of rain, two pairs of shoes, lots of socks, blister care, etc. So packing is kind of an art form.

Before the Expo they had a 12 mile training walk. I was not able to do that because I had to go directly from Expo to teach a hand quilting class. I didn't think my students would appreciate me coming to teach them after walking 12 miles in the heat! I really need to step up my training. I have not been walking as much as I should. This past week I only walked one day. I am planning on hiring a personal trainer starting in September. I plan on training with her two times a month and have her write me up a training schedule for the rest of the time.

Today is baking day. For the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been taking baked goods to work on Monday for a bake sale to benefit the 3-Day. So far today I have baked brownies, chocolate cup cakes, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. I still need to bake yellow cupcakes and oatmeal cookies, but that requires a trip to the grocery store for more eggs and butter. I have been making about $50 per week to go into my 3-Day account. I only "have" to have about $350 to meet my minimum amount to walk. But to reach my personal goal I still need about $1000.

"QUAC"ers all together!

2008-08-20T20:32:00.001-07:00

I am a member of the team Q.U.A.C. (Quilters United Against Cancer). We decided a little less than a year ago to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. One of our team members, Peggy, is a breast cancer survivor. Another team member, Janie, is an oncology nurse who treats cancer patients daily. Laura and I are just offering our support. We met through quilting.

Last weekend we all were on a quilting retreat together. We had a lot of fun. We walked for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. I haven't tried to calculate the mileage yet! I'm guessing it was about 6 miles or so.

I did get a quilt top finished on retreat and now I am busy quilting it so I can deliver it to a customer by the end of the month.

10 Miles

2008-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

I did it! I walked 10 miles last Saturday morning! The really amazing thing is that the temperature here reached 111 on Saturday! Luckily we started at 6:00 a.m and finished at 9:30 a.m. Still, it was right at 100 when we finished.

Sunday I baked all afternoon. I made chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, brownies and chocolate and yellow cupcakes. I took all of it to work today and had a bake sale fund raiser. I was able to raise $48 on the bake sale to benefit the Breast Cancer 3-Day! Not a bad little fund raiser! I hope to be able to bake every weekend and take goodies to work until I reach my fundraising goal. I am halfway there!

Home again, Home again

2008-07-25T20:11:00.001-07:00

I just returned from a week-long trip to my sister's house in Baltimore. I was scheduled to be there for 5 days, but weather in Baltimore delayed my departure. I went to help my sister make a wedding quilt for her daughter. It took quite a bit of sewing, but we were able to complete a queen-sized double wedding ring quilt.

We took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. We let "Jason" the GPS guide our way. We were a little leery when he took us down this country road:

After a scenic drive, we ended up at Obie's Country Store. THAT was an experience I will never forget! I have never seen so much fabric in one place in my entire life!

I thought this was really cute. Snacks and fabric. Is there a better combination?

Another one leaves home.....

2008-07-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

I just finished another t-shirt quilt for a customer. She picked it up today. I think she was happy with it. It was a gift for her daughter for high school graduation. Her daughter was with her when they picked it up. Here is a picture of it:

She requested an embroidered tribute:

Tommy and I spent the July 4th weekend in Laughlin, NV. We had a good time, although we didn't win any money :) Here are a couple of pictures of downtown Laughlin from the river boat ride we took:

I'm leaving this Friday to go to Baltimore, MD to stay with my sister for a few days and help her make a double wedding ring quilt for her daughter. It will be a fun, mini quilt retreat. We also plan on making a day trip to Lancaster, PA to do some fabric shopping.

The beginning

2008-07-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

OK, so I decided to create a blog. I will mostly be blogging about quilting projects and my progress in training for the 60-mile 3-Day walk that I am participating in this November. I currently have raised $640 of my $3000 goal. If you are interested in contributing to help me reach my goal, just click on the 3-Day Logo on this page.

For this first post I will just include some pictures of recent projects. I just completed the embroidery on some t-shirts for some of my grandkids to wear on the 4th of July.

My daughter in law likes to have her kids match for the 4th. She tie-dyed the shirts and I embroidered the names on them.

Next is a picture of a t-shirt quilt that I mailed off last week to a customer in Virginia.

This is a Memorial Quilt I created and shipped at the end of May to a young lady in Virginia. It is made from the clothing of her deceased mother.

She also ordered 4 pillows made from the same clothing.