Creative Homemaker

What fun! I took the girls out of school to drive all over the countryside getting free fabric! Now what could be more exciting than that! Miss Busy, Chels, my friend Amy, (not her real name) and Belinda, (not hers either, I'm all about anonymity.) started out on our little crafty jaunt. The deal is this, you get a Shop Hop "passport" and at each shop you visit you get a stamp, a fat eighth of fabric, and a pattern for a quilt block. Our first stop was in Ocean Shores. What a nice store! And fabric on sale! This is the Ocean Shore's Block. Pretty isn't it? The shop owner added her own touch and threw in a little green bug fabric. Isn't it cute? You can't go to Ocean Shores without driving on the beach, so we did, took some great pictures, (didn't get out, too cold in October!) And then drove past the Judith Ann Inn. I'd love to stay here some day. So picturesque. Can you imagine watching the sunset over the ocean from the window in your room. Ahhh....

...it lasted all of ten minutes; but it was a happy ten minutes.

I'm a big, ol' stupid, careless idiot and God saved my family from my carelessness last night. But I'm getting ahead of myself... It is dreary here, cloudy and starting to get into the rainy season which I hate. I burn candles so that the light and the fragrance stimulate my brain and I feel better about this weather. Yesterday I had some candles burning in various rooms and last evening I had a meeting to go to with a friend. I went around the house before I left and extinguished all the flames, or so I thought. We have a small powder room downstairs and we keep the door closed most of the time to keep Boo (who's 2) out of the cupboard and the TP roll. I left a 3-wick candle burning there on a plate on the bathroom counter. It was a short 3-wick only about an inch tall, and I am so dang frugal I couldn't possible just throw it away when it was that short, no, I have to go burn the life out of it, until there is just no wick left. (Please just ignore my personal ber...

I look out my window to this... It's a good day for staying inside with a cup of steaming cider and my lap quilt in front of the fire. So those errands I needed to do in town? They get put off another day. I really didn't want to run to the post office with a two year old anyway. Thanks for the rain, God!

This quilt was commissioned by a friend of my husband’s. We were in the army together at Fort Leavenworth, KS back in 1993. Ann and Paul, well, mostly Paul, wanted a red, white and blue bedroom and he asked me to make him a quilt for their bed. He and I picked out the design and shopped for fabric. I was very excited about this project because red white and blue is a favorite theme of mine. I can’t remember exactly how long it took me to make it, but I only had one child at the time and we had a small apartment off post and only one car. So what is a stay at home mom to do all day with only so many carpets to vacuum and nowhere to go? She would make a quilt. We discussed a price, but then, while we were visiting their home, we discovered that they had once owned an antique store, (very small, from their home) and were looking to get rid of a few pieces. I discovered, under a pile of boxes, a Singer treadle sewing machine with a gold leaf sphinx on the front. It was beautiful! I told...

Because I have nothing finished right now, and nothing new to post, I'm going to show off some of my older finished projects, in hopes that it will inspire me to complete some UFO's. This quilt was purchased by my sister many, many years ago to complete her trousseau. (That's an ancient thing now days isn't it?) I believe it was made by a great aunt or some female relative. It was only the quilt top, and sat in her cedar chest for a while until she met the man of her dreams. I offered to quilt it for her, (upcoming wedding-double wedding ring quilt, get it?) I don't recall how long it took me to quilt it, but I believe, true to family tradition, I think it was late, at least before her first anniversary anyway. It was wobbly, the football shapes inside the rings weren't flat at all and as I quilted it, it required pinning and flattening. It did turn out relatively flat, but the footballs are all a bit poofy. I'm pretty proud of the quilting, it was all hand ...

I've been quilting alot lately. It's getting colder and quilts keep me warm, inside and out. I love looking at patterns, curled up in my cozy brown wing back chair. I love browsing through fabric stores seeing new designs. I love the patterns as they emerge from behind the needle of my sewing machine. I've sort of neglected my blog during the past few weeks, but now that summer isn't keeping me so busy, I thought I'd pay a little more attention to my readers, if there are any of you left. Just for fun, check out my new Quilt-y name, I'm Her Grace Pincushion Collector. Oh, how true!! Fit's me to a T. I love making pincushions, (small project, easily finished) and they are so pretty. If you are crafty, check it out and tell me your quilt-y name .