And away we go!

What a Thanksgiving blessing we have! Another year and another trip to the Caribbean. We usually leave the day after Christmas, but since the grandchildren are older, we'd like to be home during their winter break. SO! We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning! We'll be back on December 16th.

We ARE taking the laptop with us, but the internet service is never guaranteed. If I can, I will upload some pix as we go. Overall it will be a very relaxing 17 days with nothing to do, nothing to see, and no where to be.

Opinions please?

I am working on a commission piece of a Bonsai tree. The lady is quite delightful about letting me "do my artist thing", but it is somewhat frustrating that she won't give me much input on what she DOESN'T like/want. This piece has been commissioned as a gift for her husband, the Bonsai aficionado. I worry about the pink being too "feminine. The panels aren't cut to size yet - and the center panel is an antique plum blossom kimono panel.

Originally, I was going to cut the fabric lengthwise and put the darkest panel on the left, the silk in the center, and the lightest on the right. The Bonsai tree will "drip" across all three, and the Kanji script for Bonsai will be somewhere on the piece as well. I just can't get this arrangement out of my mind now that I see it.

Comments, please? Am I too concerned about this?

Quilt Giveaway from the Old Red Barn

NO! I am not going to give away quilts. Sure wish I could, though! Go to the Old Red Barn Co. for her giveaway. It's a lovely blog with some nice links and even better she's giving away three quilts on November 17th! How cool is that?

Big Bad Momma!

The Big Bad Momma of all quilts is finally done - or at least it's a flimsy, as my friend Nancy says:) It finished out at 106" X 117". I modified Bonnie's Patches and Pinwheels pattern to use 2.5" strips that made the blocks a bit bigger. I really like this quilt a lot, and I think I will probably make another one using smaller strips out of my bins.

We have a deep mattress king bed, and my quilts never seem to drop quite far enough. Well! I think this one will! I always put my big quilts sideways on the bed and make a matching pillow case to go along with it. Since I never make a pillow roll on my bed, this works just fine for me!

The first picture is of the backing folded on top of the quilt underneath on my sewing table. The second photo is the quilt on my design wall (without borders). I couldn't decide whether to make another row all around or to add plain borders. I guess you can see which one won, right? This quilt was originally started at the beginning of the summer for my birthday quilt by my stitch group, The Amazing Quilt Babes.



Now, it's off to the quilters for a true finish!

New friends, old friends

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I was so pleased to open this Sunday's newspaper to a special "Green" section and to find that our own Bonnie Hunter had a nice article in it...presented by the Kansas City Star books/Pickle Dish group, I'm sure. Have your ordered her book yet? Go see her here, for a signed copy!

A couple of days ago, I opened my email to find an invitation to a local guild that meets about 30 minutes away from my new house. When I found out it met during the day (I don't drive at night usually), it was a go! So this morning, off I trundled to the Lee's Summit Guild and I met some new friends! I also found out that a few of them (you know who!) have been following my blog, so while they were new to me, they pretty much already knew me. It sure wouldn't hurt to leave a comment once in a while, would it? LOL! No pictures this time, but for sure I'll take my camera to the guild meeting in January! Yes! I joined the guild-but I got so excited about being part of the group, I forgot that I won't be here in December for their Christmas party. And since I signed up to bring food, and to share a ride with one of the members, I'd better get an email out about not being there.

Where will I be? Well, we're going back to one of our favorite parts of the world: Anguilla. We'll be leaving the day after Thanksgiving, and be gone for 15 days. We're going earlier this year than usual so we can enjoy the grandchildren over their Christmas Holidays. You can check the weather in Anguilla on my sidebar labelled Vacation weather. There's quite a difference between here and there, I gotta tell ya!

Fall Harvest

It's been a busy time here in the Midwest. Did you ever wonder how your food gets from the field to your table? Here's a little taste.

This picture is not mine, but the fields around here look sort of like this...and they even work through the night.

The next two are the soybeans being loaded into the travel trucks from the "hopper" in the field. This was right in front of my house. Why they chose MY street is beyond me. Maybe it's because we're right across the street from their last fields, and that we are the only house on the cul-de-sac? They got a chuckle out of me taking pictures of them!



And as a reward for sticking with your "field to table" lesson, here's a picture of a twin size quilt top I just finished for my quilter. It's only about 9 months late! She is trading me long arm quilting for my making her a couple of tops. A really fair trade, I think!

Check it out!

This is the best reminder yet, and I LOVE the music! You MUST check it out!