Slow-going

This is how I feel right now. Seems like the days are so short that I don't have time to get any sewing/quilting done.

I have a deadline for a church banner that I'm working on but by the time I get home, supper on the table, some laundry done --you all know the routine--there's no time to get any stitching done. I'll get there, but it's just slow-going.

Hopefully pretty soon, I'll have a finished project to post. I have to have it done by Nov. 30th when Advent starts and that'll be here before we know it.

HOPE-LOVE-JOY-PEACE The four words that I've got plastered in my head! Pictures soon......

Houston Haul

Cindy reminded me that I hadn't showed what I bought at Houston last week. Sorry..it's been a hectic week, but today (the slowest day for internet dialup) I decided to set down and take pictures of my new stash. I don't think I bought anything that I wish I wouldn't of, and I don't think I remember anything that I wish I would've bought...so I think I did alright.



yellow/red front of pkg. Yellow/red fabric pkg-back --lots of fabric in this combination.

Plaid and floral flannel--Each fold is a 1 yard cut. I think this is my favorite of what I bought. Gonna be a warm quilt.

Old McDonald's Farm Paperpiece

Two paperpiece patterns.

A new hook to make rugs and a template to cut scraps with.

Star pattern to use my batik collection.

Pre-Stamped cross-stitch kit.

Citrus 1/2 yard cuts for my DIL. Think these will go into an apron.

Just Picked by Lisa Paparazzo for General Fabrics Co.

--since I was asked--and yes, I'm going to make the apron for DIL...sometime between now and Christmas morning...sometime.

A big bundle of one yard cuts in brights.

The is a pamphlet and yes it would be so simple to make, but I thought about the scraps that I could use for it. And yes..I'm very visual and need it in front of me.

A package of one cut yardage to make a small quilt.

Two books that really caught my eye. The flowers are machine appliqued to the top of the blocks. The kaliedoscope blocks are another thing that I liked.

Pamphlet from the Greek restaurant we ate. WONDERFUL place!

Four days is a long time to be away from home when you have family who rely on you for EVERYTHING, but they did alright and I really enjoyed going.

Houston

I've gone to quilt shows before, but nothing will ever compare to the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

We left on Wednesday November 1st and drove 9 hours to get there. The motel was about 5 miles from the convention center and having curb-service to deliver us right to the door was worth a lot. No parking lots, no fighting traffic, just hop out of the bus and walk right into the door.

The first day we arrived about an hour before the doors opened, but it gave us time to get our entry tickets purchased (for both days) and get up-close and personal with about 300 other people crowded into the front doors waiting for the main doors to open. It also gave us a chance to purchase a show-book and it told us the layout of the show. At least we knew which direction to turn once we got inside the building.

When they did open, it was like everybody scrambling to go to the best place first. Karen(my roommate) and I headed over to the trade show first.

I have never seen so many ideas, fabric combinations, fat quarters, books, PEOPLE, launguages, in one place before!

Everybody was so nice. One group of gals selling their patterns was from London. I looked at Karen and said "..and they think WE have an accent!"

Sometimes the crowds were horrible, and other times the walking was real easy. We got thru the entire trade show in one day. We were also warned that if we saw something we liked, to buy it immediately or make notes where it was. This was probably the best advice we received. The second day, we definitely went back to places where we wanted a second look.

Yes, I left some cash in Houston. I have yet to take pictures of all my heavy-load, but I will. I bought a flannel group for a quilt top and a red/yellow grouping of half-yard pieces. Baby fabric, some new books,a few fat quarters, a template and a new rug making hook that I can't wait to try. I'd never seen a crochet hook with a needle eye in the end of it. Probably an old technique, but something we'd never seen.

I saw Freddy Moran --asked her about her dot com pattern and she only teaches it in a workshop. Saw John Flynn, Eleanor Burns, Marti Mitchele, Debby Caffey (she a sweet gal), Alex Anderson (her booth was swamped and you couldn't get close). And probably more that I don't remember.

The actual quilt show was spectacular. I have lots of pictures, but I think the online pictures are more detailed than mine. I also don't have the credit of each quilt and that wouldn't be fair to the maker--I will post a few. The quilts that were amazing were the ones from Japan. One had 53,000 pieces in it and they were less than 1/2". The hand work was outstanding on these.

This quilt was amazing. The details were unbelievable.

There were quilts deplicting people, even a CALF(we really liked that one), sunflowers, farm scenes and even some abstract art. There were quilts for every taste and interest.

The bus ride home went fast and we arrived back to Oklahoma on saturday afternoon. A 9 hour bus ride and only two pit-stops and a 30-minute lunch break, puts you back home pretty fast! I'm still trying to catch up on my house, laundry and still need to go buy groceries. It was four days of getting to know the 29 gals on the bus even more--Karen and I were the only two who weren't Grandma's. Different tastes, levels of talent and abilities really made the trip interesting. Mama always said that you can always learn something new....you just gotta pay attention! Mama was right.

Definitely a RED RIVER where we crossed back into our state.

Next year? Where's the paper to sign up?

Almost time....

Tomorrow at this time, I'll be on a chartered bus and headed south to Houston. Since I've never had this opportunity and don't know quite what to expect I'm going with high expectations and my credit card!

My roommate has never gone either, and after she called me last night I told DH it was going to be like two country-girls hitting the big town!

It's going to be a 8 to 9 hour drive so my bag is going to have some embroidery work, a book, and some headache medicine. I can visualize needing all three but not for sure of the order.

I'm hoping to come home with inspiration. Have a feeling it might be overwhelming, but I'm willing for that to happen.

Comfortable shoes, digital camera, cell phone, credit card, and a change of underwear. What else does a gal need?!

Travis' T-Shirt quilt

Linda talked about making t-shirt quilts and thought I'd show the one I made. It was made about a year ago, but it's still a favorite of mine.

Having closets full of t-shirts, I now wish I would've even saved more of the favorite ones worn over the years.

This was made for our oldest son Travis. The oldest shirt was worn when he was just a toddler, thru soccer, baseball, you-name-it interests that he absorbed thru the years. The backing is a strip from a set of sheets I saved (yes, I save LOTS of things--just wait....) and it worked perfect to match the collection on the front. I honestly wished I would've bought stock in NIKE because we had a collection before MichaelJordon made the apparrel popular.

It's hard to see in the pictures, but I even saved the tags off of the t-shirts. On the Nike block, there's a small white label that I included in the top upper-left seam. Left it flopping, just like a regular label would stick out of the back of your shirt. There are several of these all over the t-shirt.

I have to include pictures of the night I gave it to him. We were at a stock show in OKCity in a motel room and he couldn't imagine me not giving him his present at the restaurant. A big quilt wasn't something I wanted him to rake over dinner plates.

And last but not least is the label. I always have trouble with what to say on the labels, but this one was easy. At first I thought it might embarass him, but DIL tells me that he gets the quilt out and has to show off the label too. ...and yes those were his. Probably something only a Mom could get away with.

I even got a "you did good Mom" from him after this. He had never seen a t-shirt quilt, but I bet 20 of his closest friends have now!

Life on the Farm

I was asked several questions in the last post and will try to answer them.

No, the cows are not dairy cows. We don't produce milk, we produce meat. Please don't stand (or set) there and say "yuck". Most of Americans eat meat products on a daily basis. Whether it's beef, chicken, pork or turkey please be aware of where your meat is coming from! I won't use this as a soap-box ....but, YOU asked!

Since I'm a fourth generation farmer, it's natural that we promote what we raise. I'm not going to stand here and say only eat American-raised beef and grains, but I am going to say to make sure what you put in your mouth comes from a known source. If it's imported, is it up to the standards that you're familiar with? Be PICKY!

Okay...to make this a positive post, I dug out some children friendly pictures. We raised three boys on the farm. I've given the oldest boy his photo album already, so I'm short on pictures of him. You'll see more of the other two.
When we first bought our current house, I was pregnant with Troy. I wanted to stay home (DH worked in town), so we got the bright idea to raise bottle calves. We even had two milk cows at one time.....when did I ever have time to sleep? One summer the boys and I raised close to 100 bottle calves. Lots of bottles and lots of mixing milk. The most ever at one time was 35 calves.

When the vet started calling me and asking ME about how to doctor calves.....needless to say, we had a pretty good record of success with baby calves. Like I said, I was raised on the farm and I didn't want the opportunity of having all of this in front of the boys and them being in town at a babysitter.

This small farm has raised it all: rabbits (no, we didn't eat them), chickens, turkeys,sheep, pigs and calves. My kids have witness life, death, sickness and loads of dirt and fun. No, this life isn't for everybody but it's all I know....it's the way I was raised. Raising our own food and canning for winter was something they witnessed firsthand. It's not always the most economical, but I wanted them to learn where their food came from. I wanted them to appreciate what being a "Steward of God's Earth" really meant. I wanted them to know what a strawberry was really suppose to taste like--what smut on fresh corn looked like--how an animal relies on them to live--what it's like to get up in the middle of the night and witness birthing baby pigs. I wanted them to know what the saying "dancing like a chicken with his head cut off"...well, you get my point. We do have windmill here on the farm. It's not pumping water, but it makes a good decoration and conversation piece. I don't know how many more years it will stand up, but I'm protecting it for right now. The old barn needs to come down. It was built in the '20's and is in horrible shape. The materials used weren't the best and the years haven't been kind.

So, I hope I answered your questions. Yes, we eat what we raise and if you come to supper I'll cook you a hamburger. It probably is from a cow from our farm or if it's a sausage-burger it may of been pampered at a stock-show. May sound cruel, but it's a part of farm life. Our phiosophy is that we can either eat what we raise or go buy it at the grocery story. I'm just picky enough that I want to know that what I'm eating was raised with the quality of care we give.

Hoping that this week brings you some quilty-time because I'm sure as heck not getting any!

Hallelujah Chorus in the Backyard

Once a year we get to listen to a choir. No, it's not the usual beautiful choir you think of at church but it's an unending hymn of Mooooooooooomama. We bring our weaning calves to a pen/lot very close to the house to wean them away from their Mamas.

If you are even in eyeshot of them, they start the singing. If you go out there to visit with them, they're right beside you. Yes, such wild-beasts

we have!...

not. The mamas (who are in a field several miles away of ear-shot) aren't even the least bit worried that their calves are gone. They're actually all bred and will have another calf next spring.

I also included a picture of Troy with one of his bottle babies. There are two of these spoiled-rotton creatures who can always find their way to the front of the crowd for a head-rubbin'.

Quiet-farm life?

Not during weaning season for sure! I call it 73 chances to get your jeans licked on.

AND....your boots better be clean 'fore you come back into the house....

Fifteen years my friend

This is Trudi and a young version of Troy.

She came into our lives as a present for our boyz and was a member of our household for almost 15 years.

She could bark and keep all of the cats cleared off of the back porch or keep a steady beat while the kids played outside.

I could fill lots of photo albums with all the pictures I have of her. She always had to be in the middle of whatever you were doing and for sure kept the kitchen floor spotless!

I know pets aren't in our lives forever, but this one has been around a long time.

She loved it when I sewed because she always claimed it as a new sleeping blanket. It was a big joke with the boys that Trudi always went with us because everything we wore had Trudi-hair on it.

I had to tell Trudi goodbye last week. When a pet like her is a part of your life, it's really hard.

Her beautiful hair was embedded with strings from my last homespun project as I wrapped her fraile thin body up for the last time. She left my heart heavy but my sewing buddy will always be remembered.

Goodbye Trudi

Ribbons Won

Had a good time at the fair. Troy took three pigs and won two ribbons. Overall the school won more places (ribbons) than last year, so we have to say the show was a success. It would be great to say we got one in the premium sale (where the big money is), but we (the whole school) didn't get there. That's alright...the kids had fun and enjoy going so it's worth it.

There was also some nice quilts at the fair. It's always fun to go to be inspired. Last year it was a bullseye quilt that I saw that made me finally decide to make mine. Who knows what I'll start next because of what was seen. There are still three unfinished projects laying in my living room that are going to be finished first!

Visited three fabric shops while in Tulsa and found the backing fabric I needed for my bricks and stepping stones fabric. Surprised myself and bought something totally different than what I went in looking for. Also went looking for some fabric for another project but gave up on that idea. Proves that you should buy enough fabric for the WHOLE project.

Got to visit my niece whom I hadn't seen in several months. I'm gonna be a Great-Aunt! Don't I look great?

AND...bought myself a new pair of NewBalance shoes...NOW..I'm ready for HOUSTON!

Probably the most important purchase was a new cell phone...so nice to have one that works! Middle son said that if I wouldn't cuss so much, I wouldn't need to wash the dirty words outta it. Yeah, right.....

The washer is calling....why is it that when you're only gone for a couple of days you're always behind.

BTW---somebody asked me about my windmill. Yes, we have a working one here on the farm and have several on other places. They're a pain to maintain, but they still remind me of old-times.

Going to the Fair!

Every year 'bout this time, we head north-east on the turnpike to the Tulsa State Fair. Since we have a very-active ag-student in our presence, we'll spend a few days up there.

I usually get a few inspiring pictures of the quilt display and sometimes get to visit Material Girls. This year my traveling companion (aka husband) is going to be itching to get back home to swath and bale hay before the freeze visits, so my quilting visits may be cut short.

I am packing my embroidery work so hopefully I'll get a lot of it done. Good idea, but we'll see how it flies. I've already printed out a map of the stops I'm going to request, so there may not be too many minutes setting. I've got swatches of some fabric that I'm going on a hunt for too. That's what I get for not buying enough when I was shopping the first time. Three Hancock's in one town!....how do those Tulsa girls survive?!

Last year it rained and rained, but this year we're having record hot temps. Guess that's Oklahoma for ya! Everybody have a good week.

I've made some changes to the scene...anybody notice?!

Getting along...

I've had a boy home sick with strep-throat and he really doesn't need me holding his hand so I'm sewing. He sleeps just fine in the recliner and loves watching old movies or music videos. I can multi-task so I sew as I listen to him snore.

Here's my accomplishment :

I started this as I was trying to use up scraps from my bullseye (homespun) quilt. Guess I didn't realize just how many scraps I had accumulated! AND...it's grown since this picture was taken. The picture looks purply and it has a lot of blue in it, so that's maybe why.

BTW--it's a BONNIE design!

When I get the border on I'll post another picture. This has been one of those quilts that grew f-a-s-t . ..but when you're making it for a boy who also grew f-a-s-t...a small lapquilt just won't do.

Gratitude for this week: antibiotics that we're not allergic to!

The Color Red

You Are Crimson Red

Down to earth and warm-hearted, you instantly make everyone feel at ease around you. And while you have an understated passion - you lack the uncontrolled passion of most other reds. You prefer to sit back and enjoy every situation life has to offer. You put an optimistic spin on everything. And even when things are going well, you don't get too amped up. You prefer to keep your emotions as steady as possible.

What Color Red Are You?

She's B-A-C-K

Cindy and I go back way. Well...not forever, but we've been friends for a long time. I don't know if I started my blog first or if she did....but anyway.....blogger zapped hers and she had to start over.
If you have a chance, change your link for her blog:

No Puppy Dog Tails

Very talented, wonderful cook, sweet Mom to her daughters, granddaughter and niece. Go visit..you'll go back!

Welcome back among cyberspace..and next time DUCK so you won't get zapped!

Pincushions

Evelyn showed us her pin collectors, and then I noticed Gail's (and the hedgehog is very cute) so I thought I'd show you mine. The house is very dark today, so I sat these on the porch for a quick picture.

The needlepoint strawberry one is a pincushion that my Mom made me back in the early 80's. She liked to do counted crossstitch and little needlepoint kits and I was the recipient of this one. I typically use it for my glass-top pins and needles (with thread left in them). I also use it to catch different types of machine needles that I want to save.

Several months ago CindyB (who's blog got zapped by blogger) talked me into buying these yellow flower-head pins. Never had used them, and the other pincushion collects them. This pincushion is a crochet doiley that I made for my Grandmother one year for Christmas. When I inherited all of her sewing stuff, it was tucked away in with the rest of her things. There had probably been 15 years pass by and I had forgotten about the homemade pincushion. I cherish both of these as they represent the two women who really encouraged me to keep my hands busy!