Jolly...

...because it is now

and I'm done with 2010.

I'm still drinking my coffee out of this mug...

because the color combination is awesome (red and aqua) and the sentiment is too.

I just finished hanging up my Sudoku Snowmen quilt in the hallway (which accounts for the odd camera angle...)

We (and by "we" I really mean my daughter-in-law, Christa, who has done a huge amount of work on this quilt for Levi--I'm merely outsourced help) are seemingly nearer to completion of this quilt (a gazillion l" strips, people!)

These strips of color

are slowing becoming units that look like this.

I may have mentioned to some of you machine quilters that I hope to hone my skills in the area of machine quilting in 2011.

In a totally "out of body" experience, the other day I heard myself saying to Christa, "If you want me to, I'll quilt it."

We'll wait and see what she decides...

One in Every Color--The Twilight Zone Edition

A few months ago (quite a few months ago), I posted this picture of these great cord organizers that I had purchased.

And then time kind of slipped away. Until yesterday when I looked at the Twilight Zone on top of and below my desk. In my "real" life, I do medical transcription. This means that on my desk, in order from left to right, I have a TV (there are actually some shows I can watch at the same time I'm hearing voices in my head from my earphones. That in itself is a little scary). Okay, so TV, all-in-one printer (because I need the fax), cordless phone with answering machine, computer monitor and keyboard, desk lamp, transcribing machine, cable modem, hard drive, router, laser printer, photo printer. And of course none of this stuff is wireless. Which means this is what it looks like under my desk. So have you ever called the cable company  when you're having problems and they say, "Please disconnect the modem." Uh huh. Like I would have a clue what that cord looks like...

For some reason, yesterday I decided it was time to label all the cords. Baby, it's a jungle out there!  And it's still scary,but they are all nicely identified.

This is the jumble behind my hard drive. Wow, I wish I would figure out something creative that could hide that mess.

And the jumble below my desk.

And because I promised I would get back to our regularly scheduled (quilting) programming, here is something I worked on last night. I can only give you a peak because this part will go back to Christa and she will do the final unveiling. I have to admit a few moments of misgiving when I initially looked at the pattern. All those 1 1/2" strips, all those little pieces. Which Christa spent hours cutting and sorting into sets so all I had to do was just sit there and sew them together. Just let me say that when I got it this far and had it laid out on the floor, 20 by 77 inches, I had to stand and admire how awesome the pattern and fabric color choices were.

It's going to be a bedspread for the cutie on the left.

I seemingly can't get away from technology. What would we do without it? And how would we be able to be inspired by all the creativity out there? (And yes they are both playing with iPhones.) But all the technology frustration I have felt at times this week just went by the wayside when I had a chance to be surrounded by strips of color and then get warm hugs from these two. What else really matters?

My week in color

I'm taking an online course:

 

and I have been thinking about color a lot. Not unusual. I'm always thinking about fabric, playing with different color schemes. And I'm a little behind on my homework (sorry, Brandi--you're a great instructor, I'm just a procrastinator as a student...) but some of the assignments made me want to visually explore this a little more:

Ever since I was little, in my mind I have always associated the days of the week with certain colors. Monday is always yellow, Thursday is always kind of a raspberry color. Not red. And I really like red. But Thursday isn't red, it is raspberry. And I really like green. But there is no day that is green.

Today I decided to see what my week looks like. In fabric.

Now that it is all laid out, it looks kind of weird to me. And I wonder how I came to associate brown with Friday and gray with Saturday.

Not a clue...

Do you associate a certain color with a certain event? Do tell...

Pssssst....I'm over here

I just completely stole that title from Amy, but it's really because of her  and Blogger's Quilt Festival that I'm over here. Heather and Megan have a great blog called Quilt Story where they feature the story behind the quilts, and today my One in Every Color quilt is being featured. I hope you will hop on over and take a look.

And every once in a while, it is possible to find yourself mentioned somewhere and you didn't even realize you were mentioned until you decided to take a break from being bored to tears working so hard, and catch up on your blog reading (about halfway through the post).

One in Every Color--The Paint Chip Edition

I saw this on TV last night. Loved it!






Whatever you are doing this Memorial Day weekend, I hope it is relaxing and colorful.

One in Every Color--The Wedding Edition

Do you remember this adorable couple--Jessie and Luke?

And the quilt a lot of us worked on? From the many special people in Jessie's life who made a block to the friends and family who spent a weekend sewing the top together? It had a place of honor in Moscow, Idaho, this past Saturday as the backdrop for Jessie and Luke's wedding. In the meeting room at the LaQuinta Hotel.

The original plans were to get married on the golf course. Then there was a change of venue to the arboretum closeby. But then weather threatened to interfere as the forecast was for nonstop rain all weekend. Indoors or outdoors? Jessie made the decision to not worry about the weather and just plan to have the wedding indoors instead.

The quilt binding still needed to be completed.  I worked on Friday morning and afternoon (it is a big quilt) and finished the last side after the wedding rehearsal Friday night.

Decorating started in earnest early Saturday morning. The tables were in a U-shape and there was a color progression of colored water in different interesting containers, crayons that Jessie had made earlier, wedding-related quotes matted on matching paper. I wish I had taken a good picture of the tables. You'll have to use your imagine. It was really frugal, creative and beautiful.

Lots of twinkly lights. And these hung from the ceiling:

Pictures of Jessie and Luke's life on the wall:

(my favorite...)

We got a lunch break and went to Moscow Bagels. It was threatening to rain and I never turn down a chance to wear my awesome raincoat--Anna Maria Horner laminated cotton--I highly recommend it. But I digress.

Yummy. (I didn't take a picture of my bagel either so you will have to imagine that too!)

The weather cooperated in the afternoon enough for pictures. If you call freezing cold and gale-force wind cooperating. Okay, maybe gale-force is a little exaggerated. But it was really windy. It was a beautiful setting (and we all had lots of hairspray).

And then it was back to the hotel for the ceremony. I didn't take pictures during the ceremony as I was busy being a surrogate mother of the bride, which was such a special honor. Thank you , Jessie.

Instead of a unity candle, Jessie and Luke had a celtic handfasting ceremony (this is where the term "tying the knot" originated). Close family and friends each had a ribbon that we tied around their wrists, binding them together. It was an amazing part of the ceremony and really beautiful.

Jessie had made all the flowers for the ceremony, along with help of friends/family along the way. They were unique and beautiful  (I seem to be using the word "beautiful" a lot). Beautiful colors and lots of embroidery detail and vintage buttons, inspired by Princess Lasertron.

Aren't they AMAZING? Jessie's bridal bouquet is the silver and white one. The others were bridesmaids' bouquets. The three surrogate mothers each had a wrist corsage and the guys had matching boutonnieres.

It was a wonderful weekend. Jessie's mother, Sue, would have loved it.

As you start your new life together, Jessie and Luke, remember all the love that surrounds you, not just from those at the ceremony but from all the other people in your life.

One in Every Color--Mother's Day Edition

All I wanted for Mother's Day this year was a family picture.I happened to mention this to Jessie last Monday, and the next thing I knew the whole family had been contacted and the photo shoot was scheduled for Friday night, along with a barbecue. The weather was perfect. The evening was perfect.

Good food. Fun games. Precious time together--and that's what money can't buy.

Our family consists of both biological and chosen members. Each one of them is deeply loved.

Back row: Jason and Jill, Sam and Matt.
Front row: Mark, me, Levi, Valerie, Jessie, Christa, Aaron and Charlotte.

And on Saturday, some more color.Jessie, Valerie, Christa and I had pedicures.

And then we stopped at Starbucks. The girls found these hats while I was paying for the coffee. Silly girls...

This was the best Mother's Day. Thanks everyone. I love you all so much.

AMMC

Do you have a clue what I'm talking about?  It means Acronyms Make Me Crazy (or Confused--take your pick). Don't look for it in the acronym dictionary. I just made it up.

Okay, so this whole acronym thing will tie into the post topic. Eventually. I promise.

I keep having to go to the acronym dictionary. I guess I'm just behind the times or something. To me, DH means Designated Hitter (yes, because my husband and son are both sports fans). Apparently in quilting blogs it means Darling Husband.

SAHM. I always thought it meant Single Adult Heterosexual Male. Really? On a quilting blog? Oh, you mean Stay At Home Mom. Ooooh........

HST. Half square triangle. We have now arrived at our DT. Designated Topic.

Some quilters love half square triangles, and Rita, who makes phenomenal quilts, highly recommends them for their "therapeutic benefits."

Unlike Crystal, who not only dislikes piecing HSTs, she also dislikes making HSTs. And that's okay, because there are lots of other things she really likes making and her quilts are equally amazing.

I think I fall halfway between the Rita and Crystal. Making this many HSTs can have a tendency to make me really crabby tired, preventing me from calling them therapeutic. In fact, I have occasionally sought temporary solace with a glass of wine. Which in turn makes it really difficult to sew HSTs. So maybe there are other issues to be explored...

Anyway...when they were all done, I was in love with this quilt.

Over a year ago, at quilt camp in 2009, I started making this quilt. It was originally destined to be a baby quilt. Until I realized that each block took nearly a day to make. There are LOTS of HSTs in this quilt.  I decided that a baby quilt should be simpler, something the mommy wouldn't hesitate to throw in the wash. So I used the same fabric line, made it a little smaller in size and backed it in Minkee. Cute. And so much fun to make.

Jessie was at that quilt camp and threw in her bid as recipient of the HST quilt. Then she added her little happy dance. What else could I do? Her happy dance makes it impossible to say no to her. (Note to Luke: You ARE aware of this, right?)

I changed my mind at the last minute about the binding, and ended up using Pez from the Peas and Carrots line, and doing bias binding. Also not a fan of making bias binding. But in this case it had to be done. And it was worth it.

Saturday was Jessie's bridal shower. I think she is pretty happy with the quilt. It's nearly One in Every Color.

And that made me happy as well. So now all I can say is KISS. No, I mean that literally, Jessie and Luke. Just kiss. 

Dumb Dot

One of my best friend's name is Dotty. She is the one who walked me through every step of making my first quilt. But this post is not about her. And she is definitely not dumb!

This is about Michael Miller. As in the fabric manufacturer, Michael Miller. He is the one responsible for my obsession fascination with selvages. I think I had always glanced at the words on the selvage. Sometimes they just had the name of the manufacturer. Sometimes they were interesting. Sometimes they made me chuckle. But I never cut them off and saved them.

And then there was Dumb Dot, by Michael Miller. I remember I was working at the local quilt store when that line first came out. And for some reason, it just cracked me up. At the same time, I was doing a block-of-the-month quilt which used all polka dot fabrics. Going Dotty. That was the name of the quilt. By then I had noticed several other fabrics with the word "dot" in them.  A group of us went on a shop hop and for some reason it was at that point that I became obsessed fascinated with any fabric that had "dot" in the selvage. Michael Miller and Alexander Henry became my new BFFs, because not only do they give all their fabric interesting names, they nearly always give their polka dots a "dotty" name.

On that shop hop I bought every fabric I could get my hands on that said "dot." Sometimes I got by with 1/8 yard. Sometimes I had to buy as much as 5/8 yard. Sometimes I didn't even like the fabric. But as I said, I was obsessed fascinated. Now what to do with all those selvages?

Brainstorm. I would piece them into the sashing cornerstones when I put the quilt together.

It's a really fun quilt. Bright and cheery.

Fun all the way to the edge.

Now I'm soooo beyond collecting just "dotty" selvages. But Mike and Alex are still my BFFs.

Cover Girl

Oh, Martha. With a cover like this, you knew I couldn't resist, right? All those glorious paint chips turned into wall art?

These beautiful colored pencils?

These little jars of paint?

You don't know me at all, and yet you know me so well. I was powerless to resist. You had me at the cover.

And I have been haunting the bookstore nearly daily just waiting for this to arrive, and I didn't even know for sure what would be in it.

A blogger I follow regularly made it to the cover with that great purse. Congrats, Beki!

As did another favorite blogger who had an article on virtual quilting bees. Way to go, Jacquie!

Picture by Jacquie Gering

Yep, I'm a sucker for a pretty cover.

Community: The "one in every color" edition

This is Jessie and Luke. Aren't they adorable? They are getting married on May 22.

You may remember her from French Kiss fame.

Nothing means more to Jessie than her friends and family. Having a quilt made by people who are part of her life, her community, even some she has never met but who touch her life in a meaningful way, was a priority. She came up with a plan. Everyone would get some black and white fabric and then color would be added to the block. For those who were quilters, or were at least familiar with sewing, they could add whatever color they wanted, choose whatever block pattern they wanted, as long as it was 12 1/2 inches unfinished. For those who were not quilters/sewers, or if she wasn't sure, she would make a little kit with the pieces already cut. It just needed to be sewn together. In addition, each person was to take a picture with their quilt block and write something, a piece of advice, a memory, a verse, whatever, on an enclosed card that later will be made into a scrapbook.

Lots of people were included. Because Jessie is loved by a lot of people. The blocks started coming back. Lots of blocks. She had a big design wall at home and the blocks started going up. In a gorgeous array of color.

Finally it was time to put the quilt together. So on Saturday, we had a quilting bee at my house. We thought Jessie would just lay out all the quilt squares in a color arrangement that made her happy. But then we discovered that some of the blocks needed a little adjustment. Not unusual. That happens any time you are working with different people, different machines, different skill levels.

So we spent all day Saturday sewing, un-sewing, re-sewing, arranging, rearranging. We had a great time. Her father, George, an avid fisherman, even sewed a block.  Jessie's mother, Sue, is still in the hospital, but she would have loved sharing this weekend with her daughter. We all missed her.

(click to enlarge)

By Saturday night, the blocks were all arranged on the floor in my family room, all 72 of them! This quilt is visually spectacular. But the best part, in my opinion, is the little stories behind some of the blocks. I know there is a lot more here that Jessie could tell you, but here are some of them.

The orange corner was conspicuously sparse. Go figure. My original contribution was the block on the left. Since we needed a few more blocks to make the quilt eight blocks across and nine blocks down, we actually sewed a few extra blocks on Saturday. Since that time, more have arrived in the mail, but Jessie has a good plan for those as well. Since she is planning on being a teacher, the fabric with the cursive alphabet seemed like a sure winner.

Jennifer, who is the paper piecing queen in our group, grabbed some orange fabric and had this cute little house sewed together in no time. So the orange corner is now well represented. Whew!

Our daughter-in-law, Christa, searched block patterns and found one called Wedding Bouquet. How appropriate.

 

Jessie's Aunt Maggie, and cousins, Tanya and Kim (who were part of the "sewing staff" all weekend), each made an Ohio Star block, but in different colors.

Another of Jessie's aunts, Cynthia, along with two more cousins, Jennie and Katie, did the same thing:

A few weeks ago, Jessie flew up to Idaho and helped her former roommates from the year she went to the University of Idaho sew some Card Trick blocks. Luke ended up doing the sewing on one of the blocks instead of Jessie's roommate, and so he intentionally turned part of the block around.

Through a series of events, two people who have never even met Jessica ended up sewing blocks for her quilt. One is our niece, Becky, whose mother is also battling cancer. Another is Grandma G. Mark always calls her my email penpal, although we finally got to meet in person last August. But she has found her life woven into the lives of several people here in Fresno, including Jessica. Notice how their blocks are the same, only in different colors? Notice how the pattern forms kind of a circle? Intentional. Jessie told me that they are part of a circular connection that connects each of them through the internet. I think I might have teared up a little when she told me that, since that connection also runs through Mark and me, the two people who actually know Becky and Grandma G.

The block on the left was made by Valerie, Jessie's sister whose idea of sewing involves some fabric and a glue gun. Yet she pieced this fabulous block with all the pink paw prints. And Val's boyfriend, Matt, did the block on the right side. Awesome!

Curious to know what the entire quilt top looked like when it was finally sewn together?

(click to enlarge--definitely worth it!)

Isn't it amazing? It goes to the machine quilter today.

I read this quote today: "Friendship is the golden ribbon that ties all hearts together."  Jessie, it has been an honor to work on this quilt with you. Our hearts will be forever bound together.