Wheee!!!

I love it when the Fed Ex truck stops at my house. Doesn't happen all that often, but GOOD THINGS tend to come in Fed Ex bags. A "Priority Overnight" label with MY name on it just makes me feel important. Don't tell me, I already know...I don't get out much.

ANYWAY, Fed Ex arrived today. With work for me to do. As in drop everything and Get To It. Which is fine, because as you can see, I have my very own Table of Contents. It's been a long time coming, this piece of paper. Many, many hours of work and self-doubt have led up to this--my very own Table of Contents.

The book will (hopefully!) be arriving in quilt shops this June. I absolutely LOVE the way the folks at C&T have taken my quilts and my total ignorance regarding becoming an author and have turned it all into something that gosh...looks like a REAL BOOK!!

What am I thinking...

It's cold and gray today. That shouldn't matter. I should be busy working on other quilts--quilts I've got all sketched and ready to go. Spring Quilt Market is not that far away and I need to be ready.
So what am I doing? I'm making something for Valentine's Day. Yup. A Valentine's quilt. With pretty red and pink fabrics. On January 29. This is just not smart. I should have done this MONTHS ago. But it's fun and all those lovely heart and flower prints are so bright and cheery.
Here's to a happy quilting day!

Everyone Needs Quilted Goodness

Maybe it's because I never had a little girl to make doll clothes for, I don't know. Perhaps I'm just nuts, which is the explanation you'd get from my family. But hey. Winters are cold. Even here in California. And guinea pigs get cold, right? Well, not on my watch they don't.




We have 3 guinea pigs living here. And I had NOTHING TO DO with their acquisition. Louie and Jack belong to my middle son and his girlfriend. They got them to "commemorate their love for each other" or some such thing. Hey, could have been worse. They were supposed to live here half the time and at her house half the time. Well, guess what? They live here.


Then eldest son had to go get a pig. Not sure why...but now we have Turbo as well.

And being a quilter, I have to take care of everyone. So that is why they have quilted fleece and flannel sleeping bags. A big blue one for Jack and Louie to share, and as you can see, Turbo is all ready for a nap in his "Cars" themed bag--I mean who DOESN'T love Cars?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Gotta be short and sweet since I work today. Well, I work EVERY day, but Thursdays belong to In Between Stitches. After everyone has left and the house is nice and quiet, I pull out my lunch bag and select just the right items for what has become known as my Preschool Lunch. String cheese, a banana, a few crackers (goldfish today!!) and maybe an applesauce cup. My Coke Zero kind of wrecks the theme, but nothing's perfect.

Except for my lunch bag which just SCREAMS Japanese Awesomeness.

Hope everyone out there has a terrific day!

The Cat Rule

It seems that many quilters have cats. So many, in fact, it seems to be almost a requirement to have one. Or more. And I am no exception.
Meet Presley. He's a 3 year old sort of Main Coon cat who is beloved by everyone in my family. Except me. Now don't get me wrong--cats are fine. I've known some wonderful cats over the years. I just love my dogs a whole lot more. Naturally, Presley senses this. So he spends most of his time with me. Under my feet at the ironing board (and yes, he loves to chew on my flip flops).


Wherever I look, there he is--in all his attitudinal glory.














If I get up from my sewing chair for even a MOMENT...

















And of course, the minute some fabric is laid out on the table--there he is. Even one half square triangle will attract his attention and he will sit down on the precise geographic center of it. The more fabric he has to choose from the better, of course. And a QUILT TOP is the best. Better still would be a WHITE quilt top, because that shows his magnificent shedding hair to its best advantage.
But hey, I never have to quilt alone.

Greetings from the Late Bloomer!

I thought it would be appropriate to begin with an actual "late bloom"...this little begonia was doing its thing underneath a pile of dead leaves and a vicious rose bush in my front yard.

As for me, I spend way more time than can possibly be healthy doing my thing under piles of fabric. And dust. And assorted household pet hair.

I'm not a photographer. While I wish I could stage wonderfully inspiring vignettes, that's just not me. Since all our lives have beautiful bits in them, hopefully there will be some pretty pictures every once in awhile.

Here's a photo of a tiny part of my work area. The polka dot mug is a shout out to my pal Pam No, it's not some rich, robust freshly brewed java--it's a cup of Coke Zero--whose caffeine and chemically charged goodness keeps me going.

Speaking of...there are piles of fabric waiting to be turned into squares, triangles, and posies and such, so until next time!