It's that time again

Where did the weekend go? I'd honestly planned to do this on Saturday, but was so busy basking in the quiet of an (almost) empty house that the time just slid by. Youngest son Jeff and my husband were in Texas visiting his family, so it was just Nick and me, but there wasn't a lot of together time since Nick is 18 and all.
So what did I do?
I cleaned the house.

But you didn't come here to read about my weekend, you came to see who won the book!
It would be much faster to just tell you who won, but it took a lot of effort to get this drawing to happen, so prepare for lots of piggy pics.



So I plop Melvin down on this adorable Lecien fabric (dash on over to the Fat Quarter Shop so you can get some, too)
and what do I get? Nothing.

Time to shift his position and plop him again. Like so.



Nothing.



But wait! Something has captured his interest!



This is obviously going to take ALL DAY.



So time to bring out the Big Guns. Remember Jack? He's really not good for much, but the dude loves his paper.



And he goes right to work.



Know why the paper is so blurry? It's because he's gnawing away on it. He loves a good, fresh Xerox offering.


So congratulations to "weet Cottage Dreams"! I do believe that's "Sweet" Cottage Dreams, but Jack got a bit carried away.

OK, who is next? There were too many wonderful comments to pick just one name, you know. So back to Jack, who dives right in.





It's Annie from San Diego!

Congratulations to both winners. Just send your address to me at latebloomerquilts@yahoo.com and I'll get the books off to you right away!

Tending my

It was so much fun to take the time to plant my pretties...and that has given me the excuse to spend a little more time in the yard. Our beautiful days are cooling off a bit, but that's fine. Things are definitely waking up and starting to bloom, so even if it's still cold where you are...trust me--Spring really is coming!

I adore these little double impatiens...




It'll be interesting to see how long this hydrangea lasts by the front door. You know, before some huge-footed teenager comes barging into the house some evening. It WILL happen.

Aren't you glad your name isn't "Scabiosa"? Poor little dears!



Why must I continue to plant things that make me sneeze? Why ask why?



Well, I can't help any of you with your springtime planting, but maybe you'd like to make a "Nest" pillow of your own? It's my very favorite project from my book, and though I've given away books before, seems like the right time to send one off again! If you'd like a copy, leave a comment and I'll see if I can find a guinea pig to draw a name this weekend.

Spring Fever!

So today I met Pam closer to her side of town--we had quilt tops to drop off for Quilter Extraordinaire Diana to work her magic on. I'd never actually been to Diana's and Pam knows the way. (Pam actually knows the way pretty much anywhere, but that's another story.)
Turns out Diana lives in one of those older neighborhoods where every house is totally charming. Like to DIE FOR charming. So we drove around a bit drooling over all the homes and yards.
It's a tricky balancing act--to sightsee just enough--so that we're having fun and not feeling too discouraged over what our own tract houses look like.

Got home and it was so stinkin' BEAUTIFUL out...and that combined with the intense relief over dropping the quilt tops off...I just couldn't settle down. So I called my dad and uncle and we went to our local nursery.



You know, Alden Lane...home of the annual quilt show.



It's pretty much impossible to not come home with something. The fact that I have a smallish car is about the only thing that kept me in check!

This viburnum that's just coming into bloom, doesn't look like much right now but the flowers smell heavenly.



And here's my little box full of Possibility...it'll be such fun to pot these all up this weekend.



I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet and sunny Easter...I hope you all have a wonderful weekend as well!

Keeping Entertained

It's been crazy around here--12 and 13 hour days--which will continue for some time. I don't know about you, but I've learned that it's generally best not to be left alone with my own thoughts for an extended period. Hence the need for entertainment while stitching.

A couple of years ago my husband got me a very nice radio/CD/ipod system. Somehow I've managed to become tired of all 200+ songs on my ipod and we really don't have any good music stations. Said husband enjoys talk radio, and I've tried both liberal and conservative shows and within 5 minutes of either I feel compelled to start throwing things. Like rotary cutters.



I know plenty of people who have neat little tvs in their studios. Well, my space is quite small and the only way to make room for a tv would be to find a new location for Melvin and that's just not gonna happen.

So yesterday while listening to the podcast of the one radio show I do really enjoy, I learned about a super cool website--maybe you all know about this, but it was terrific news to me. Tons of tv shows! Old ones, current ones...all with limited commercials.

So last night I stuck my ibook on my table and stitched up triangles in the company of Gomez Addams! It was awesome.

Yawn!

Between the time change and the Benadryl, I'm feeling a lot of Melvin-envy this morning. The little guy has the right idea.



Gotta keep going though; I'm still way behind! I think it was 2 weeks ago that Pam and I went back up to Quilter's Inn--had to see the shop sample Kathy made of Flight of Fancy. As is often the case, I like her version way more than mine. She used wool for the pears and cherries, which I really love. How's this for embarrassing...I asked where she got her letters, as they seemed vaguely familiar...ummm...she used my book!
And yes, they do have kits!



Meanwhile, back in the studio, it's beginning to look a bit like Christmas--unlike outside, which looks (insert sneeze here) a lot like Spring!

Show & Tell (part 2)

Can you believe this? Two posts in a row, people!

Recently I received an email from Lynn, who is a very talented local quilter. Here's the quilt she made for her sister--the body of the design, and the lettering, is from my book, but Lynn made the quilt extra special by getting really creative with her applique.
She created the bouquet by using extra flowers from a Horsefeathers design, and the bow is from a Laurene Sinema pattern. I think the quilt is so beautiful--and what a lucky sister Lynn has!

Show & Tell (part 1)

I know, I know, I have been terrible with the blogging stuff. Time has really gotten away from me lately. Market prep is going full swing and family obligations, of both worrisome and fun varieties have taken up every second of the day. And then some.
Meanwhile I've been accumulating photos of things that really need to be shown off. And so show them off I will!
Now here's what's really embarrassing. I taught a class A MONTH AGO and am just now getting around to discussing it. It was an awesome True Love class and I had wonderful, talented students. Who get stuff done.




Just like last time, Kathleen finished first. Cute heart, huh?



Well she didn't stop there--she ended up turning the pillow motif into a wallhanging for her garage. It's my understanding that anyone going past her house gets to gaze upon it--how clever is that? (Just tip your head to the side for the proper effect, please!)



The thing I remember most about Nikki was the vintage lace she brought to class. Miles of it! And all gorgeous. She owns so much vintage lace that when it starts to fall on the floor, which it did, multiple times (gasp!) she doesn't even care. You'd better believe she was keeping an eye on me, though.



Jean, who has a darling blog, btw, loves all things Scottie (and who wouldn't?) so she was working on a very appropriate cone. It isn't finished in this pic, but you get the idea.



Last but certainly not least, Sara was putting together a lovely assortment of fabrics and she sent me a pic of her finished runner. It's so stinkin' pretty! She used lots of Verna's pretty fabrics.



We had a special guest arrive while we were toiling away...Carol wanted to show me how she'd enlarged the runner to make a bigger quilt. Carol's specialty is taking a Late Bloomer pattern and then messing with it...and as usual, the end result is so pretty!

OK, that's enough for part one...I'll be showing off some more projects later in the week and we'll soon be having another giveaway, so stay tuned.