Travel is how I started my week--check out the treasures from my travels. And travel will wrap up my week--visiting my Mom and my Sister for Mother's Day. In between, I worked, took care of some personal business, had a date with my guy, and got my hair done. I also picked up my contacts and had a checkup for those, picked up my new glasses and sunglasses and got them fitted, and got my phone back from its repair shop and returned the loaner. As I look back, it really WAS a busy week! And not just for me. Check out what my blogging buddies have been up to.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Alexa shows you how to make Fontalicious Wall Art that is bold, graphic, and fun! And definitely cheap and easy to do!

About Family Crafts
Let's celebrate Half-Way to Halloween! Some people may think that it is too early to think about Halloween, but actually, Halloween seems to top the of list of people's favorite crafting holidays.

Cross Stitch at About.com
One of Connie's friends says the free When This You See pattern looks like a brain. Connie was inspired by the pocketbook plant. No matter what you see, the abstract design with traditional saying will be a fun stitch.

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Madge reviews Jean Campbell's gorgeous new book Steampunk Style Jewelry.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Paper Jewelry inspired by The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jewelry Making Techniques by Vannetta Seecharran

Craftside--A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside's got a great tutorial on how to paint on fusible web, a photo of a beautiful Roman Stripe quilt from the book-The Quilt, fun photos from a bee field trip with author Kim Flottum and a "Mean Girl" Logo from the book Letterhead & Logo Design 10.

The Crochet Dude
Drew has just released the names and addies of the Michaels test stores nationwide that will be carrying his new line of crochet tools and kits - starting THIS weekend!

The Artful Crafter
How to navigate the sea of digital file extensions.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy is celebrating about her summer vacation, but at the same time, she's trying to focus on the long "to do" list!

Mixed Media Artist
A wonderful quote by Dorothy Day inspired Cyndi to make a little canvas board assemblage.

The other night, I cut out a new quilt. WOO HOO! My cousin Lynette's second daughter, Violet, hasn't yet gotten her Grandma Paper Doll Quilt yet and she's got to be nearing a year old, or maybe a little older. Here's a photo of the pieces; I'll post updates of its progress, highlighting some of the fun tools and techniques I'll be using as I go.

I fussy-cut the border-strip fabric to use in the centers of the blocks so there were two of the dolls in each block and I have two of each doll pair. The sketches at the top are only the rough drafts--I changed the colors right before I started cutting, which is funny because I was shopping for a blue and yellow print at the Quilt Festival for the blocks and ended up swapping the greenish daisy print for the blue. So here are the fabrics cut for the quilt. I'm really excited to get working on it, but I think I'm going to cut the Storm at Sea quilt pieces first. I've found that if I have pieces cut, I'm more likely to work on a project but somehow making the decisions and getting them cut is the part that's been holding me up. So I thought I'd cut a few quilts out (the Storm at Sea and my sister's Stack n Whack) and then, over the summer, I'd sew and sew and get them all done. Then I can start working on the quilting part.

I was out of town this weekend--Quilt Festival in Chicago, time spent with my Mom and my best guy, and a quick trip up to Sheboygan for a fashion show including one of my favorite teenagers. The Jeep saw lots of miles and the weekend flew by. But even with all that busyness, I've got some links to share with you from this week.

Crafty Princess Diaries
While doing some spring cleaning, Tammy made some interesting jewelry discoveries. You just never know what you might find when you try to get organized.

The Artful Crafter
Do companies offer free craft products to the general public for testing?
 
Aileen's Musings
Are you in need of a royal crown? Aileen has an oldie but goodie tutorial she's sharing with you.

About.com Cross Stitch
Connie's sharing a free pattern that was inspired by a piece of artwork she saw in an episode of Monk. You never know what the source of inspiration will be.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make recycled thigh high socks inspired by the book Color Knitting The Easy Way.

About Family Crafts
Not knowing much about iris folding, Sherri rolled up her sleeves, gave it a try, and shares her step-by-step adventure and free templates with you.

Cathie Filian
Cathie is doing back flips over the release of her new book, 101 Snappy Fashions!

Craftside--A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to crochet a "no-chain" foundation row, 17 ways to crop a photo, draw flames with Drew Brophy, change the color in a free cherry blossom print download and a call for entries for 1000 Steampunk Inspirations.

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Mother's Day is coming soon and Madge has you covered. Check out her mom friendly card project, recipe and jewelry design!

Mixed Media Artist
There's a lot to be learned about texture when you work with a monochromatic palette!

I'll share my fabrics and finds from Festival in the coming days. And I hope to start cutting into some fabric very soon!

So you've seen cow quilt #1, dated 1997. Here's cow quilt #2. My sister's second son may have gotten the benefit of experience in his quilt. That and some fabulous fabric. I found this great print--the farm animals having a hoedown. I fell in love instantly. It was a striped print, with the barns in one row, the marching animals at the top in another row, and the dancing fowl in another row, from what I recall. The green print with the boogie-ing barnyard animals was a companion print. I included the same cow print and "moo" print from the other cow quilt in this one so they'd work in the same room, and grabbed a bunch of bright fabrics to make the paper-pieces stars. I still love the way this quilt came together!

As for the words embroidered in the golden box in the center, it was from the striped print and it reads, "Hey diddle diddle, the pig had a fiddle, the cow played a groovy new tune. The others joined in and had a fine time, as they jammed by the light of the moon." Love it!

My sister lives away from the farm she grew up on. But she always seems to want to have a touch of farm in her home. So when her first son was born (maybe not RIGHT away...), I made this cow quilt because she had found the perfect bandanna bedding for the nursery. It was from a magazine, though I can't remember which one because I just happened upon it on the newsstand. I made it in residence #3 in Arkansas, so probably sometime in 1997. The border fabric looks like a black and white print, but it's actually the word "moo" in black type on white fabric. The cows were machine appliqued and their tails are braided embroidery floss just attached at the rump. The cows are actually cut from a cow-print fabric, which kept the spots random. And the tabs that hold it on the rod are secured with buttons shaped like ears of corn. The backing is a farm print--that's also what I used to bind it, though you can't tell that from the picture. Alice painted the rod and brackets to match and did a fabulous job.

Coming soon, the second cow quilt. Stay tuned.

All of the sudden I've had a realization that A) I haven't made a single Christmas gift this year and B) I haven't hardly written a single post that has anything to do about Christmas. Yikes! What's going on? In my own defense, the tree is up and lit, but not decorated, so I haven't been lollygagging or anything. But it's just been a nutty fall and winter, so it's December 17 and I'm just now actually writing my list to see where I am in the gift-buying process.

So to show you that I haven't totally lost my Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share a picture of some of my decorations. And over the next few days up until Christmas, I'll share more photos of the decorations, homemade and otherwise, that make my home feel like Christmas-ville.

First, the mantel. It's the most decorated thing in the house. The gingerbread house is the centerpiece this year. Behind it is a wreath that contains some very special ornaments. They were from my great Aunt and Uncle's estate and I feel honored to have them displayed in my home. I didn't want them to get lost among the others on the tree, so I put them on this with netted gold ribbon, which seems appropriate for the vintage ornaments. The needlepoint stockings on the mantel are purchased, but the stockings on the wall were made for Michaels Create! magazine. Okay, actually, the stockings were purchased, but I made the cuffs by weaving ribbon and using fusible webbing to hold it all in place. I still love them. On that mantel are pieces from both of my grandmothers, my Mom, my former mother in law, my friends Janet, Lisa, Joyce, and so many more. There are so many great memories--memories of Christmases past, of friendship and families, and so much more.

So tell me about your decorations? What did you make this year? What pieces hold special memories for you? Let me live vicariously through your creativity!

My cousin Jill, the one I made the one-and-only wedding quilt for, has a gingerbread house party every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Some years, I get to attend. Other years, I miss it because I'm not in town. But she loves having this party, and it's a great arrangement, actually. A company called BBC Hollydays, based in the Chicagoland area, comes to the house, brings everything--the walls and roof, the bag of frosting, the base and box to take it home on, and a WHOLE BUNCH of candy and stuff to use to decorate. The whole package costs $30, but having made gingerbread houses from scratch and buying all the bags of stuff to decorate with, I know it's a bargain.

The son of the owners was our demonstrator and this guy works magic with a knife, gum drops, and Tootsie Rolls! My cousin's sons wanted to put dogs in the backyard of their house, and he made them three dogs, spots and all, out of two colors of Tootsie Rolls. Seriously, talk about talent! In fact, he made the tree in the backyard of my house out of jelly mint leaves.

(To view the image closer up, just click it and then click it again and it will enlarge in the new window.) To give you a tour, as you can see, flattened caramels were used for the windows, though I think I'm going to bring some of those gridded pretzels next year so I don't have to break pretzels to do panes. My reward for remembering to bring my box and base back from previous parties was the wreath on the door. I added pretzels as timbers for my Tyrolian-look house, though next time maybe I'll bring bigger pretzel logs.

Mints were used for the sidewalk and roof, with M&Ms filling in the gaps on the sidewalk. Since the gingerbread is dehydrated, you shouldn't really cover the whole surface with icing or it will rehydrate and get soggy and crumble, so there's gingerbread showing through on the roof, but that's okay.

And finally, I had to share my snowman. I thought I'd done pretty well with him, but my friend, coworker, and fellow Chicagoland native Cathy mentioned that he looked a bit like "Son of Svengoolie" circa 1980s 1990s from Chicago TV (and Milwaukee and South Bend, IN, according to wikipedia). And she's right. He does. It's the top hat and the quarter-M&M eyes. Next year, I'll remember the marshmallows.

I had the house at the office for a few days. The main prankster involved with last year's Santa Spud foolishness was eyeing it, so I got a little nervous and brought it home. As I took these pictures, he actually commented that he'd been brainstorming such a prank, so I think I rescued it just in time.

So there it is, a few hours spent being creative Thanksgiving weekend. My cousin and her friends are a lot of fun, so it's a good time even if your house collapses (which seldom happens, from what I hear). And I have the first of my Christmas decorations on display!

I just read an article on Oprah.com about what you could do if you weren't standing in your own way, basically. Martha Beck wrote it, and I keep saying I'm going to read or listen to one of her books--just haven't figured out which one I should start with yet, so suggestions are welcome if you've read any of hers. (Sadly, I might have one, or have had one, but I can't remember...) But that thought reminded me of my project from this weekend, so I thought I'd share.

As I've mentioned before, when I cleaned out the sewing room to put in the quilting machine, I created a pile of projects that I decided either got finished by Dec. 31, 2009 or left the house as supplies soon after. So the other day I realized I had a baby gift project that hadn't been given to said baby yet. I pulled it out, thinking that between the cake I needed to bake for the Father's day get-together at Mom and Dad's, and decorating that cake with my nephews, and going to Six Flags Great America on Sunday with my sister, her boys, and Rich, and dropping things off at my cousin's house, I might be able to complete this project and leave it with my Mom would surely wouldn't mind dropping it off to the baby in question for me. And as for my thoughts on how much time it would take, well, it was just a tied fleece blanket--how long could it take?

So after I didn't get it done Friday night or Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon, I pulled it out at 9:30pm (yes, 9:30pm, the PERFECT time to start a project, right?) at Mom's and got to work. My sweet, wonderful, and generous mother offered to help me with the tying once I got the fringe cut. My sister Alice offered to watch and cheer us on until she was too tired to keep her eyes open. So I cut the fringe and Mom and I sat at the kitchen table and got it tied. Getting that project finished took about 90 minutes on Saturday night. Yes, we were up until 11pm. But we talked and laughed and spent some time together, just us girls (or until Alice went to sleep, then it was Mom and I talking and laughing REALLY QUIETLY).

And why did Martha Beck's story on Oprah.com make me think of this project? Well, I think that that stack of boxes, bags, etc., has been daunting to me. So instead of spending some time working on a project in my spare time watching tv, I've been unsure of what to tackle, as few of these projects has a true deadline or a target date, aside from the 12/31/09 date that looms ahead. But now that I've finished the blanket, the relief of completing one project from my list and elimating one large bag from the stack of bags, boxes, and storage containers is really unmeasureable. And knowing that one new little farmer boy will have this blanket to roll around and nap on and curl up under when it's chilly and that my loving momma helped me work on it... well, that part is priceless. Now, it's on to the next project, whichever it may be. Maybe it's a good idea to get some of the quick ones done first, so that I can see real progress in the number of containers of supplies dropping and the number of containers of finished projects increasing or, in some cases, see those finished projects get delivered to their destination. What do you think: start on something that might not be completed for a week or more or knock out some done-in-a-night projects?

I took the time to bind Mom's quilt over the weekend for her so she could give it to Mrs. Grindle on Sunday. We trimmed the threads at her house--that's how "just in time" I work, right? Mom liked the quilting that I did on it. So I don't know for sure if it counts as me actually finishing a project, but it counts for something!

So I started at 8:15pm (or was it 9:15) last night and finished at 1:55am this morning, but I got my Mom's pink and brown quilt quilted on my quilting machine! I watched the DVD that came with my Hinterberg machine once on Tuesday and then popped it in last night and let their spokesperson and really good teacher, Anne, walk me through the steps. Gotta tell you, that was VERY helpful! I did take a class from Anne a few years ago, but I didn't have a machine back then, so it was nice to be able to see a friendly face and hear a friendly voice walk me through the steps of pinning the quilt to the frame, threading the machine, getting ready to quilt, and using the template boards.

I did a very basic quilting job on this project, just using the leaf template that came with my machine. Mom really wanted to get this quilt to its recipient, and I'd spent way too much time thinking about the quilting pattern I wanted to do on it, when I really just needed to get the first project under my belt and get some experience with my machine and the process. So since I'm heading down to Illinois this weekend, I thought I'd get it done and take it to Mom. She was ready to take it right away to its new owner, but I reminded her that it would still need to be bound. Maybe I should take some time this afternoon before I head down and get the binding sewn on. How good of a daughter AM I?

And what did Mom say when I called this morning to surprise her with the news it was quilted? Well, first, she guessed, which took the wind out of my sails a little bit. But then she said, "I've been checking your blog to see if you were working on it," (isn't that sweet) followed by "You've GOT to stop buying fabric!" (Told you she'd notice!)

My Mom's distressed because she keeps visiting my blog and her blocks are still the top post! Sorry, Mom, it's been a less-than-creative week for me...busy, but not creative. But that's no reason to ignore my blog. So I'll post this note, and later today I'll post a picture of the scarf I've been knitting. It's a take-along project that I've been working on for a while--nothing special but it's what I'm working on.

Okay, so it wasn't a creative day here, which means Sunday has to be. But meanwhile, I thought I'd share another project from the past. This quilt, which I don't think I've shared before, was a wedding gift for a family member YEARS ago.

Each block was a foundation pieced, off-center log cabin. There are 100 blocks (four blocks make up each green ball and four blocks make up each red diamond). I believe there are 26 pieces in each block--somewhere in this house I have extra foundations, so if I find them and I'm wrong, I'll correct this. It was a very slow project, given that it was foundation pieced.

When I was in the groove, I could do a block in an hour, but that's still slow when you think about it. I precut all the strips and threw them in paper bags and used whatever I pulled out to keep it random. When I told my cousin I was going to do this as their wedding gift, I asked her about colors and these are the ones she picked. I really love this project. I wish I had a closeup to show you, because the quilting on this was amazing! The quilter had great ideas and really did it right for me!

Well, I drove down to Illinois between snow storms on Christmas Eve, and the entire Chicagoland area seems to be covered with a layer of ice. Overnight, they had rain again, so today, as I helped Mom take down the decorations, we pondered whether I should head home tonight or wait until tomorrow morning. Since I have no deadlines across the state line, I think I'll probably hang out here and drive home tomorrow, since the fog is supposed to roll in any minute now.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring much with me in the way of projects to work on, though I think I might have a few ornaments in one of my bags that could occupy some time. My folks don't have cable, you see, and we've watched most of the Christmas classics I brought along--from Frosty the Snowman to White Christmas--but I think we might have a classic or two still unviewed to occupy our evening.

If I were really thinking ahead, I'd sit down and write my Christmas letter. I have the cards, the stationery, the labels, and the stamps, but haven't yet actually done the mailing. So that job was part of the "to do" list for Saturday and Sunday. Wouldn't it be great if I could accomplish that tonight?

So in closing, I just thought I'd share that it was a lovely Christmas filled with family and fun. We played Rummy (or 13 for those of you in the family--I've always wondered if those two names actually apply to the same game or if we misnamed them) and I won--an accomplishment for sure since I seldom win at cards. I received some lovely gifts! And I'll be setting up my quilting machine New Years weekend--Merry Christmas to me! Maybe I'll post photos here once I get the sewing room cleared out enough and the machine set up. As for the reflective part that always seems to come this time of year, let me say this. As I helped Mom put away her Christmas decorations, she'd comment on this one or that, and it seemed that many of them either had a special memory tied to them or were from someone who meant something to her. Of all of the quirks and traits that I got from her, all the things that make me my mother's daughter, I'm blessed to value things for the memories that come with them, not the price tag that was attached to them. It's the same reason that I read the Christmas letters that come to their house--friends of theirs who have touched their lives, and mine, for years. Though it's true that there are friends of theirs that I've never met, I've always known about them through their letters and cards, and they are still a part of my life in some distant way. We're all connected, family and friends and even strangers, and I treasure the people who been a part of my life each year in some way, whether in person, through e-mail or snail mail, or even as they flit through my memories or my dreams or across my path. May each of you have blessings abundant in the coming year.

I'm getting so much done in these days before Christmas. Of course, as I mentioned before, I'm very much deadline driven, and, let's be honest, there is a very real deadline here! Today, it's a second nativity wall hanging; this one's for my other sister, Deb. (Alice's is in this post.) I still have to wrap it, but otherwise, it's ready to go. I even have the 3M Command hooks to allow her to hang it without putting nail holes in the wall. (I love those things, but they don't work so well on the un-heated, un-airconditioned, plaster curved ceilings on my sun porch--probably the humidity affects the plaster in the summer or something, but I digress...again.)

In any case, this means I'm getting close to finished. I still want to make more cards to give as gifts and get my Christmas cards and letter written and out, but I have time after Christmas, I suppose. We'll see how tonight and tomorrow night go.

I guess I can blog about this, because the chance of my sister reading this blog before Christmas is pretty slim. I got her present done on Friday and shipped it off with a promise from the post office that it would arrive before Christmas. I had a bunch of gifts for her and her boys (Mom, if you're reading this, I got all of those gifts for Alice on good sales!) and no appropriately sized box, but everyone was very helpful and gracious in the post office on Friday afternoon. Believe it or not, I was able to get there once the snow subsided, but the post office is only eight blocks from here. Plus, her boys' birthdays are right around the corner, so I always send those in the same box.

Four years ago, I made her a tree skirt from a preprinted panel that was from this same line of fabric. So when I found this panel on vacation in Nova Scotia three summers ago, I bought it and a different one and let my two sisters choose which one they wanted. Alice's had to get done first because it was being shipped, but Deb's is almost there; it just needs to be pressed and then it will be ready to wrap. I also completed one more tree skirt that matches this wall hanging (the last one I had) for my cousin who just moved into a new place. I found some lovely Christmas stockings and ornaments and plan to give it to her today at Christmas with my Dad's family. I did most of the work on the wall hangings and tree skirt Thanksgiving weekend, so it's a little pitiful that it took me this long to get the hand sewing and the detail work done on them, but I'm very much a just-in-time creator during the holiday season.

It's a snow day here--my snowman ornament (right) looks pretty happy about it too! I couldn't be happier (since I don't have to go anywhere), because I have so much to do here. Presents to wrap, soup to make, scarves to sew, cards to stamp, boxes to ship, laundry to do.... I know everyone's lives get pretty crazy this time of year, and I'm no exception. But I always try to remember why it is I'm doing what I'm doing.

Dinner out with friends isn't just another holiday obligation--it's the chance to catch up and spend time in each other's company, hopefully alleviating some of the stress that we're all experiencing this time of year.

Spending time with family is the same--not an obligation but a wonderful opportunity to reminisce, build new memories, and reconnect with your roots.

Making things ties into that as well. I know that most of the people I make gifts for really appreciate them. And for those who don't, they make a good show of it. And some of the things I make get donated to those in need. In fact, the aforementioned "scarves to sew" will all go to a shelter. When I ran across fleece remnants at Joann's the other day, I couldn't pass up the colors or the price (hurray for remnant pricing!). So for a very small investment in fabric and time, I'll be able to whip up a bunch of scarves for the hat, scarf, and mitten tree at work. They were supposed to be due today and delivered today, but since we're closed due to snow, I have to believe that I can show up with them on Monday and I won't be too late. If I am, I'll just take them over to the shelter myself.

So much to do, so I'd better get at it. And oh, by the way, Mr. Potato Head spent Thursday safe and sound in the office.

Okay, so here's the story. First, a little family history, especially since the theme is Motherhood and, since I'm NOT a mother, I focused on MY mother. My Mom is one of four kids, and they all live pretty close to each other. My maternal grandfather died just after I turned 16, but my maternal grandmother passed away just nine years ago. (For those of you doing the math, she outlived him by 15 or 16 years.) At the time she passed away, Gramma had 11 great-grandchildren--one girl (the oldest) and the rest boys.

When we were going through Gramma's stuff, I spotted an apron that was a lovely pastel stripe with little embroidered-type flowers (bordering the label above--the name for this type of fabric escapes me.) My intention at the time was to work it into a quilt for any of the great-granddaughters born after Gramma passed away. (This did not seem like much of an undertaking, given the family's track record for delivering boys.) Turns out that baby my cousin was carrying at the time was the first of several baby girls. At last count, I think there have been nine new additions in that generation and five of them have been girls! I'd like to say that each baby got their quilt the day after they were born, but I'm just not that organized.


The first one, Lyda, got her quilt complete with yellow stars when she was 4—I made it in a quilt guild workshop. The second two, Kayleigh and Jenna, got theirs when they were 3—I had the first top pieced but not quilted, and couldn't give one without the other because the two girls were first cousins born within months of each other. And the latest arrivals were the luckiest—Adeline and Madison had theirs before their 6-month checkups! I was on a roll getting Kayleigh and Jenna's done, so I just kept going. Thank goodness for winter nights!

Each quilt is a different pattern, though they all use the same basic pastel palette—the colors from the apron. Many years ago, I found the paper doll print and bought a bunch of it, not sure what I might do with it. (I bought it with yellow background and off-white background—I liked it that much!) I also bought the border fabric that you see in the square pinwheel quilt—Adeline's—I couldn't resist those little dolls in the stripes. So the doll fabric ties them all together. The interesting part is that Gramma always had dolls with fancy dresses in the basement for her grandkids to play with, so the fabric seems a perfect memorial. Each quilt gets a label that includes a picture of Gramma and a message to each of the girls. Each label is surrounded by the apron fabric. Truth is, I was afraid to work the apron fabric into the quilt, as I don't really know how old it is and I didn't want to have to repair blocks if the fabric fell apart over time. Plus, the apron fabric is limited, and if my cousins keep creating little baby girls, I'm going to run out soon.

My family is big on memory items. This same grandmother had a red-and-white quilt that had holes and stains all over it from the years of use. We discovered it in her hope chest and my Mom and Aunt Janie turned the blocks into Christmas ornaments for the whole family. When my paternal grandmother passed away, my Mom took some of the clothes and aprons that were most familiar to all of us and turned them into Christmas ornaments as well. I've heard stories of families taking their dad's flannel shirts and turning them into a quilt or pillows. I've got several dresses from my Gramma that I wear on occasion. They're vintage 1950s and 60s, and I wear them when I'm in a retro mood. Whether you cut apart the clothes to salvage the fabric or just rework them to suit your style, the preservation of the memories is the same.

I was visiting family this weekend for big Christmas celebrations. My Mom had all of her siblings, their kids, and THEIR kids (and assorted others) over on Saturday for a party (53 of us in all). The next day,my Dad's brother had that side of the family at his house. I'm exhausted from the traveling and from being my Mom's "right-hand girl,"but it was a blast to catch up with family.

Have you ever noticed how crazy things happen sometimes, like when your past catches up with you? Whether it's going home for the holidays, visiting your old stompin' grounds, or just catching up with someone who used to be part of your life, nostalgia creeps in and sometimes catches you quite unaware. I guess it's just that time of year where memories are tied to things and events.