Girls With Long-arms

No, no, no!  Not L- O- N- G-arms.  But Long-arms, as in the machine.  Several weeks ago I was at a party to celebrate the new year.  John and I were new to this crowd.  Everywhere we turned we were introduced to new people, which can be fun but for someone like me with no memory for names it can become stressful.  The hostess of the party introduced us to her neighbor.  I don't recall what her exact words were but I believe they were something to the effect of, "This is Teresa. She has really this really big sewing machine.  It takes up her entire room.  She has her own business sewing quilts."

I knew in an instant she was a long arm quilter.  How weird? and Fun?  at the same time.  It is rare to meet someone who knows what a long-arm machine is let alone meet someone who actually knows how to run one.  Throughout our conversation Teresa and I discussed quilting, our machines and our businesses.  We both were constantly struck by the fact that we had never run across one another in our dealings with quilts!  Crazy.

While at the party Teresa invited me to her Long-arm group meeting.  I decided to take her up on it.  It is not an official 'guild' but the bones of the meeting were about what I have experienced in past guild meetings.  I received many, many new dates for shop-hops, quilt retreats and classes happening around South Carolina.  I hope I actually get to attend a few!  There was show and tell with some really beautiful quilt work.  I took along my color wheel quilt to share.

(this was so difficult for me but it went really well.  Well, at least no one said, "you really suck at this.") The women have a speaker each meeting, this months was a sewing machine repairman who really knew his stuff.  He was a wealth of knowledge.

The group also issues a challenge to it's members to help them grow and 'challenge' themselves in their quilting.

This is the challenge quilt design.  The actual fabrics can be individual.  The idea is to challenge yourself to fill in the free space with quilting.  I think I am going to have to give this some serious thought. hmm.

Here is another take on the pattern.  I also received several new book titles that I am going to have to check out.  We broke for lunch about midway through and enjoyed our pot-luck lunch of soups and chili!  How delicious.  After lunch the ladies had what they call a "Throw down."  Brilliant idea!  You bring a quilt top that you are struggling to decide how to quilt and you.. throw it down.. onto the floor and everyone brainstorms ideas for the quilting.  I know! I said it was Brilliant!

I had a really fabulous time and met some very nice people.  I was so thankful that I stumbled upon Teresa and the girls with long-arms.

Inspired.

What wonderful weather we are having!  It has been in the high 70.  The breeze is warm and it is just cloudy enough to keep the hot sun at bay!  (Not to rub it in)  But it is Gorgeous!  The family took this weekend to explore some of the natural beauty around SC.  We gathered up the kiddo's,  forced them into the back seat of a small 4 door, and headed out.  We kept the drive short, for our sanity and found a very rustic trail in the Sumter National Forest.

Even though the weather was warm it was still very much winter in the forest.  We saw only a few squirrels and not much else.  Although that could be because of the 3 very loud children we had with us.

The trees were still barren, some still with withered brown leaves still hanging onto the branches.
There were a few signs of life such as lichen, mushrooms and moss.  That didn't stop us from having a wonderful hike.

With all of this wonderful color how can one not be inspired?!  You can't.  That is why I am entering my 9 color selections for Stitched in Color's and the Fat Quarter Shop's  Emerald Mosaic Contest.  These are my selections. If you would like to make your picks or just browse through the beautiful fabric selections of other's head over to Stitched in Color.

I love me some hedgehog.

A year ago, possibly longer, I started knitting up a Hedgehog for my nephew.  The knitting went well.  The felting, not so much.  The problem,  the fur.  The pattern called for Fun Fur from Lion Brand.  Since I was trying to use up the yarn I had in my stash I just used an eyelash yarn I had on hand.  Once felted, the yarn matted terribly.  It was quite possibly the ugliest hedgehog ever.  I put it in my, UFO pile and there it has stayed, until yesterday.

Yesterday, in a small effort to do some cleaning out I finally finished the Hedgehog.

And it makes the perfect doggie toy.  Not only does it smell like wool, yummy.  It also, so far, has been indestructible.  Add a dog safe squeakier and voila instant Doggie Toy.

And Ginger seems happy.  She love her some hedgehog.

*one of theses days I am going to have to make this with the correct yarn.  It is so Cute!*

Whew!  The last of the Holiday Decorations are finally put away.  The lights, the tree, the stockings and all of that accompanies Christmas is carefully tucked away.  Even the pine needles are vacuumed up of the floor, mostly.  I am not sure how they do it but a few of those seem to linger into February. :) The house always seems crowded with all of the Christmas things out but when they are all put away it appears a little less cheery around here.

Flipping though the Christmas photos I stumbled upon a kitchen towel and pot holder set I sewed up at the last minute.  I tend to get a bit worried as the holiday gets closer, so I wanted to have an extra gift whipped up just incase.  You'd be surprised how many times I have had to use them. They come in Handy!

I purchased the towels in a set of Three.  I only had enough fabric to make two christmas towels and pot holders in this print.  I used a tutorial I found online.  I love the internet! Just a quick search for Kitchen towel tutorials and WHAM!  100's of them at my disposal!

These towels have a holiday theme.  It is such a simple pattern, and there are simpler, and you have a great gift with a personal touch.  This is a project I am going to have to revisit!

A New Year

The family spent a week up north over the Holidays.  I am not sure why we end up going north in the winter but we do and boy is it COLD!  After living in the south for 7 years I am always surprised at how much colder it is!  I planned for cold weather, which was a good thing since we enjoyed a little snow while we were there.  The kids donned their ski pants, jackets, scarves and gloves to play what will probably be the only snow they will see this year.  The snow was beautiful.  It was even nicer to leave before the beautiful white snow turned icy and grey!

The nights here can still get chilly but the sun usually does a nice job warming up the days.  I wondered outside to enjoy the sunshine on New Year's Day, free from heavy coats, scarves and gloves.  Only a sweatshirt to keep the chill away.  I took time to enjoy the few animals that were out and about.  I drank my coffee and meandered around the yard taking in all of the signs that spring, yes SPRING!  is just around the corner.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered my Iris' are blooming!  WoW! 

All of the iris I have are gifts from another yard.  They were thinned out and replanted here.  The only problem,  they have never bloomed. Three years in the ground and nothing.  The green leaves peak out of the ground every year, teasing me.  Imagine my surprise when on New Years Day I should find one in full bloom!  Surprised as I was, I could not help thinking how appropriate it was.  A new year, a new bloom,  A flower opening to the sun.  Basking in the newness of the day, of the year and of endless possibilities.

Traditions

Traditions are great!  There is no time like the Christmas season to bring out the traditions.  Like many families we have our traditions.  Getting together with family, playing with cousins, and baking cookies are some of the traditions our family upholds over the holiday season.

Some of our traditions are long standing traditions that we enjoy year after year, while others are traditions that we have only just started, perhaps without even realizing it.  One such tradition is our annual Rocket Launch.  The boys and dad, although more recently Emma has been included, build a rocket and we launch it over Christmas Vacation.

We have our own make shift launch pad (C-B antenna and old license plate) and our ignitor (a rechargeable battery from one of the boy's remote control vehicles).  We head over to the soccer park on a day that has reasonably calm wind (or no wind) for the official launch.  The kids are always excited and this year was certainly no exception!  In fact, another tradition usually involves Emma becoming injured in one way or another.  Usually this is due to a rowdy brother. AH! Feel the love!

Once the rocket is set up the official countdown can begin. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF!!

This year we launched a two stage rocket, something we have never done before.  Boy did that go HIGH.  For several second the rocket was lost in the cloudy sky.  We followed the rocket for at least 10 seconds as it descended through the troposphere.  As it got closer Mark took off to see if he could, get this, Catch IT!  HELLO? it is falling to the earth without a parachute, please don't impale yourself on the nose cone.  As I screamed at Mark let it hit the ground, I noticed that the rocket, despite our best efforts to launch on a calm day, was being blown into a stand of trees. Uh-Oh.

Yep, another tradition, the annual search the woods for the rocket.  Sadly this never ends well.  While living in South Carolina we have yet to recover a single rocket!  Ah.. nothing like a good tradition.

How do you spell....

If you have kids, one thing you will get from time to time is the question, "Mom, How do you spell...?"   And for a while those questions are easy.  Words that are not spelled as they sound are common questions.  As time goes on the spelling becomes more difficult. One day you find yourself saying, "I'm not sure. Let's look it up."  If you are a really bad speller from the beginning, like me, this may come sooner for you than for others.  Thank goodness for spell check!

This week Emma came to me with just such a question.  "Mom," she said, "How do you spell Aposta?"  Well, my immediate response was, "What?"  After I considered this I said, "Could you say it again?"  And "Could you use it in a sentence?"  because for the life of me I could not figure out what she was asking.

The boys just happened to be hanging around, looking for trouble, or food.  Mark replied, "A posta isn't that what you hang on the wall."  Jack chimed in "Yea, Its gansta for poster!  Spelled 'a-p-o-s-t-a'  You know, 'Yo, dawg.  I got this new aposta'" A few giggles, and laughs and one irate 5th grader later.  I shooed them out of the kitchen.

It wasn't until she said, "You know.  Like, I was aposta unload the dishwasher but I got distracted."  OH.  "Do you mean 'Supposed To'?" I inquired.  She thought for a minuted and said, "say it again."  So I did, to which she replied, "Yes, I think that is right."  So I spelled it.  I could here her mumbling the word to herself all afternoon.  She came back and asked at least twice more how it was pronounced.  Finally that night as we were getting ready for bed she said, "It's your fault I cannot pronounce words correctly!  If you wouldn't have made me move all over the USA.  I might be able to talk correctly."

My fault of course.