Thanks Nicole!

Nicole at Sister's Choice Quilts sent me a prize for being one of her winners in the messiest sewing table contest, an award I richly deserved. Still, I was completely amazed by what she sent!

A wonderful Jelly Roll of Moda's Folkloric line and the book "Pairing Up--2 Block Quilts" by Nancy Mahoney. Very cool! Thanks so much Nicole, you made my day.

Also pictured (at the upper left) is one of the dinner napkins I'm making from the eight one-dollar fat quarters I picked up at PIQF. At the lower right is the center medallion from the Nancy Brenan Daniel workshop at guild.

Finally, I was able to move my design wall into the actual room where I sew and that is going to be totally cool. The sewing table is pretty danged clean now, too.

Pictures tomorrow.

I'm A Winner!

Of a bit of a dubious award. See previous post. My hubby says that all I need is a horizontal surface and five minutes and I can fill it up. I guess he's right.

We just got back from a couple of nights at the Roman Spa in Calistoga where we celebrated our anniversary. Winter in Wine Country is usually pretty rainy and cool, and always beautiful. We love the grapevines at rest with the mustard blooming between the rows. This picture has just a bit of it, but many rows were just full of the yellow blossoms. Later in the season, the plants will be plowed under to add nutrients to the soil.

It was particularly rainy and chilly this week, with snow falling on peaks of 1000-1200 feet. We had a great time in the geothermally heated pool and spa every night, just hanging out with a glass of Napa's finest vino rosso. Good times with my adorable hubby.

We have been married 12 years and look forward to many, many more. It took us a while to find each other, and we couldn't be a better match.

Thanks to my sweetie for a great couple of days and a dozen fabulous years!

Mrs. Goodneedle is right--Life is Good!

Fifteen Things

Nicole at Sister's Choice started it all started it all with her post Mess, Mess Who's Got the Biggest Mess and I just know I'm the winner!

Nicole posted a photo of her so-called messy sewing table and challenged us to show ours and list fifteen things "I Spy" style, so here goes:

1. 1. Rowenta iron
2. 2. Stack of CD's to get rid of
3. 3. Magic sizing
4. 4. Holly Jolly fabric for Christmas quilts for Benj and Alex
5. Manual for the laptop I gave Kate last month.
6. Birthday present for my stepmother Irene pink "Golfing Girl" cosmetic bag
7. Jellyroll of 1930's fabrics
8. My new EZ Dresden ruler
9. Ziploc of more Holly Jolly lattice and blocks for boys quilts
10. Cutting mat--duh, this is my cutting table
11. Stack of blue/green/brown Amy Butler type half yards from Road to CA last year
12. Water bottle to fill iron
13. Embroidery hoops
14. Square in a Square (tm) ruler
15. Ironing pad

The area is just a bit tidier today because I'm trying to get some of my wayward fabrics filed away in their proper places. Since I sort my FQs and small pieces by color (except for batiks and reproductions), it is just that--filing.

My dear hubby has to close his eyes when he walks by the area, which is daily as we share a loft/family room area upstairs and his computer is here too. We call it the Center of the Known Universe because this is where we have fun quilting, blogging, keeping up on politics and whatnot.

The guild had a workshop with Nancy Brenan Daniel yesterday. Nancy is the creator of the famous Disappearing Nine Patch and boy did we learn a lot from her. More on that, with pictures tomorrow.

Winter Quilt Swap finished.

Here it is, my submission for the Winter edition of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap, currently winging its way to ????? in ???????

I chose the oranges as my motif because I grew up in a part of California well known for its delicious citrus--the Central San Joaquin Valley. The pattern is straight out of EQ6.

I have three citrus trees in pots on my deck here in Santa Rosa, a lemon, a Meyer lemon and a navel orange. My Meyer lemon needs to harvested big time since it has more fruit than branches right now.

I enjoyed doing this one and it is made entirely from stash (I know, big whoopee) including the use of batting scraps pieced together.

After another very long train trip, I got back to Oakland close to midnight last night. I had a wonderful time with my friends Kathy and Becky at Becky's home in Lompoc.

As predicted, we chatted endlessly and did a bit of shopping and a whole lot of sewing. I got one flimsy finished using the kit I bought in Maine lost October, and 40 blocks done for the boys' Christmas quilts. Pictures tomorrow.

Even though I'm sort-of fabric dieting, we went to a place called Shelbi Ranch in Solvang, a discount (I'll say!) store that sells fabrics for 99 cents a yard. I found a 1930's style star fabric and bought 10 yards to donate to the Community Quilt project of our guild. I found another '30s print and bought 7 yards to donate as well. I picked up a couple of pieces of amazing psychedelic Peter Max style prints that look straight out of the late 1960s and I'm planning to make a couple of aprons from them. In all, I bought 21 yards there and I'll be sending 17 of them straight out the door, so that's not so bad, is it? Note: the photo above is not the actual Shelbi Ranch which is a warren of small shops in the ground floor of a small complex. This is very tidy compared to S.R.

We also stopped at The Creation Station in Buellton. We usually shop the Creation Station at Pacific International Quilt Festival where they are famous for their $5/yard fabric. The store is even more fun as the owners are very creative folks and have something for everyone. I got a few pieces of basics/blenders as did the other girls.

On the way home, we stopped at quilt shops in Orcutt and Nipomo, both named "Old Towne Quilt Shop," but they weren't related. In Orcutt, I found 4 yards of Kona cotton in Snow, a color that is fabulous for combining with the 1930's prints I love so much and it was only $5 per yard so I snapped it up too. I found a copy of Liz Aneloski's Simple Fabric Folding for Halloween on sale, and since I've borrowed it from our guild library at least 5 times, I thought it was time to get a copy.

After a dental appointment and lunch and a huge nap, I'm feeling pretty good. As wonderful as it is to travel and see and do, it is very good to be back at home with my sweet hubby and the mutts.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

We are in the middle of a series of storms that have dumped considerable rain in the North Bay area and caused many power outages. My friend Kathy B. and I were scheduled to get on the Coast Starlight Amtrak and head down to Lompoc to see Becky at 0-Dark:30 this morning, but the train is now 7 hours late and I'm taking the bus connection to meet it in Martinez this afternoon.

On the sewing front, I prepped the last few blocks of my wool applique BOM only to discover that I'm missing 3 of them! I'm going to contact the designer as I've not heard back from the shop owner yet and since I bought the darned finishing kit, I need the last 3 blocks. Hopefully that will work out.

We are scheduled for 3 days of fun, chatting, sewing, shopping and all that good stuff, so see you next week.