Monday, December 31, 2012

A Last Minute Finish for 2012

Final quilt finish for 2012: 
Ocean Waves - front
Name: Ocean Waves 
For: younger son
Pattern:  Varsity by Jaybird Quilts 
Size: XL Twin 
Fabrics: Various Kona blues & Kona Steel
Quilting: Echo on each wave and in each diamond
Label:  pieced in of my own design

Ocean Waves - back
He loves the ocean, hence the name.  Wanted him to have a bit of "sand" so I used Kona Khaki for the label.  
Staged on his bed and fully aware this is the last time it will look this nice.  
Happy New Year's Eve everyone! 
Susan

Friday, December 28, 2012

My December Garden

Congratulations are in order to my Boxing Day 2012 Sew-In giveaway winner: Chiska! 

My favorite Christmas morning quote: "I got my very own [scotch] tape!"
I enjoyed everyone's comments and instead of picking my favorite, I attempted the Random Number Generator for like the 100th time and it worked.  Explanation: I was able to use the Snipping Tool in Windows 7 to capture the image and paste into the blog.  Yay!  (Another perk of a new computer.)

My December Garden: 

In my small garden plot in the back corner of my yard I have two tomato plants and herbs growing. What a huge treat to have red tomatoes in December.   

Stupice, Genovese and Roma Tomatoes
This is my larger garden plot which now has Cabbage, Cheddar Cauliflower, Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, two different kinds of Kale, Red and Yellow Onions, Scallions and a couple of different tomatoes.  The tallest tomato - a Roma is the tomato plant that just keeps on giving.  I planted it in July and as you can see from the photo above, it is still giving me red tomatoes.  Yea it looks a bit haggard but I'm not pulling it out until it stops producing.
Every few days I go "leaf picking" and spend a good 15 minutes or so hand picking all of the leaves out of the garden.  Probably only one more week of this left before the trees are done dropping their leaves.

Do you have anything growing in your December garden?  Please share as I would love to know.  
Enjoy your Friday~
Susan

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Boxing Day 2012 Sew-In Giveaway

December 26th has a number of different meanings depending upon where you live on our planet and what you believe. It could be the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, the Feast of St. Stephen, Independence Day (Slovenia), Day of Goodwill (South Africa), a day of shopping deals or just a day off from work.  If you're a quilter and a listener of Sandy's Quilting...for the Rest of Us podcast, today is the Boxing Day Sew-In: a day of sewing/quilting, tweeting while you sew (I'll be tweeting) and entering quilting giveaways.  


Today my focus is finishing the quilting on Ocean Waves.  I am about 40% done and with the chunks of time I have today, I think I can power through and finish. 

I'm making the giveaway easy today - a $30.00 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.  Leave a comment below with something interesting that you ate, heard, or experienced over Christmas.  The giveaway will be open until approximately 6:00am Pacific Time December 27, 2012 when I will select a winner.  



Don't forget to go visit Sandy's giveaway at Quilting... for the Rest of Us . She's hosting a giveaway link-up so check out what other's are giving away today.  

Happy December 26th wherever you are! 
Susan

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Easing Into Christmas

With school out I've been focusing most of my attention on getting ready for Christmas but I'll admit to not being all that excited about it.  A great motivator though is the excitement of my children on Christmas morning so I continue on...as I like to call my "easing into Christmas" phase.  I'm not done with shopping and last night I ran out of wrapping paper but as I'm taking it slow - I'm not worried.  The mall will be crowded but I'll just go with the flow as I know things will get done.  Some of what I traditionally do and enjoy will come after Christmas this year - I'll send out New Year's cards and make New Year's cookies to give to friends and family.  

Crafty wise, here is what I've been working on: 

I began quilting Ocean Waves yesterday.  This is the quilt for my younger son.  


My one handmade gift this year was a request from the MIL.  A Practical Bag by Grand Revival Designs.  
Made the older son a draft sock with camouflage fabric.  Funny - he knew I was making him one but didn't realize that it would be in his favorite fabric till I laid it down and pulled his gaze away from his computer screen.  He was pleased.  

 My Lego train I set up every year somewhere near the tree.  This year it is underneath.  It has this lovely clicking sound when running which reminds me of slower European trains.  Love it.  
Found Weck canning jars at Cost Plus World Market and made Salted Caramel Sauce for the first time.  Thanks to Debbie for her inspiration! I'll have more on this in another post. 

Enjoy your Saturday~
Susan

Saturday, December 8, 2012

An Unexpected Quilt Delivery

Yesterday at about 5pm my next door neighbor brought over a package they had signed for in the morning. It was large and not very heavy but when I saw it was from Jaye, the Artquiltmaker,(you should be reading her blog) I was intrigued.  I opened up the box and noticed two envelopes inside.  One was from Jaye which instructed me to read her envelope after I had uncovered what was inside, so I proceeded to open the second envelope.  Being a historian I quickly went to whom the card was from before I read the sentiment and was shocked to see it was from Melissa, Shanna and Jenna. They are:   
Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts
Jenna of Sew Happy Geek 

It's so interesting the connections that are made online via twitter, blogs,and facebook, etc.  I could go into the myriad of connections I have with these ladies but that would take awhile.  Primarily they are twitter buddies whom have been very supportive over the past ten months.  
So what was in the box?  
Those lovely ladies made me a quilt in honor of my father with a modified Navy Star block pattern.  
(I burst into tears at the words "Navy Star" on the card...my father was a very proud Navy man.)
They made ME a quilt!  

Modeled in front of the Pyramid at CSULB by a sleepy older son at 9am.
I love how each of the blocks is four blocks brought together.  There is a lot going on in each block.  I'm guessing that Melissa or Shanna did the echo-quilting.  At 57" x 57" it is the perfect size.

Tickertape binding - a personal favorite!  

I did open Jaye's envelope and she explained how she became the intermediary postage fairy.  Melissa was visiting family in Northern California and went to a recent Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild meeting that Jaye attends.  Melissa knew Jaye and I had a connection and the two of them facilitated the quilt delivery to me.  Thanks Jaye!

I'm humbled and feel so fortunate to have this connection with these ladies.
I've named it the Navy Quilt and will cherish it always.


Six more days of the semester and I'm home free - sewing, quilting, reading, researching, podcasting, blogging, Christmas shopping, etc., here I come...
Have a wonderful and safe Saturday,
Susan