Too Long!

The last month has been a whirlwind of activity for us.  My husband and I took a 3 week vacation to visit family and friends in CA.  When traveling I always think I am going to get so much more done than I ever do with the "extra time" I will have.  This trip was really no different-I did not get any posts done for the blog, I did not do any of the hand work I took along to accomplish and now I feel very far behind.

We spent our first week or so with Steve's Sisters in Sacramento.  What fun to be together.  It has been a while since all of his family has been together.  Next we visited friends in Mission Viejo that feel more like family than friends.  Barb and I found a few quilt shops to peruse and we got some much needed quilting done for her.  To finish our trip we spent time in San Diego with our daughter, LeAnna.  It was a joy and privelege to be in her kindergarten classroom, help her with lessons and some planning, reading stories and just watching the children.  She has a wonderful staff to work with  and a great bunch of kids.  We miss LeAnna and Brett very much but it is good to be home and back to routine.

My CA quilt retreat is fast approaching and am working diligently to get everything completed for that. Plans are also underway for the MI retreat in April.  I love putting together the retreats and being with everyone.

Block #8 is coming tomorrow!

Blessings to all!

Dee

Saying Yes

It is hard for me to say no when asked to do something for someone and those rare times I do say no I feel so guilty for awhile.  I was asked some time ago to finish a quilt top for a guy whose mother started it but did not get the chance to finish it.  She passed away before completing it.

It was daunting at first, not because it was a difficult pattern but because I felt that I was treading on sacred ground, or fabric as it were.  This was to be a gift of love from a mother to her son and as I looked, studied and tried to understand what I was to do to complete it I felt that mother's love and determination to finish.  The top was in varying degrees of completion and she had left a few drawings and templates so I had a general idea of what to do.  Staying true to what she was doing and keeping it as close to original as I could I finished the top this week.  What an awesome honor!  It will be packaged and passed on to her son for Christmas!  This is one time I am glad that I answered "yes".

Working on the quilt made me think of my own children and was certainly missing them this week.  I will soon be a mother-in-law and trying to contemplate what that will be like.  For all you mothers of sons with wives what advice would you give to help me be a good, affirming and loving mother-in-law?

The snow is falling, it is terribly cold and I think I'll make some hot chocolate!

Blessings to you all,

Dee

Send those sew-a-long pictures to me!  Would love to see your progress.

Many gifts come swathed 

In paper,

A work of art.

The best gifts come sheathed

In skin,

A work of the heart.

Sampler Sew-Along Block #7

Step 1:  Choose 3 colors for this block or make it more scrappy than I have.  You will need 1 light, 1 medium and 1 dark.

Step 2:
Cut one 4 7/8" block from both the light and the dark fabric.

Cut four 2 7/8" squares from the light fabric

Cut three 2 7/8" squares from the medium fabric and 

Cut one 2 7/8" square from the dark fabric

Step 3:  Mark two of the light 2 7/8" and the light 4 7/8" squares to make half square triangles.

Step 4:  Putting right sides together make the HST's as shown above.

Step 5:  Cut the medium 2 7/8" squares in half diagonally and the remaining two light squares in half diagonally.

Step 6:  Lay the blocks out for piecing as shown above.  You will need two of each.

Step 7:  Piece the four quadrants and lay out as shown below.

Step 8:  Sew the four quadrants together as shown above.

Enjoy!