Some happy news.....

I am having mixed feelings just learning last night of the death of a blogging friend's husband (see previous post of mine).......and I had been so excited to receive my copy of the February/March McCall's Quick Quilts in the mail since this is the issue in which they published the two small wall-hangings designed and created by Kathy and me. I will post information about that here now...even though my heart is heavy for my friend at this sad time.

Here are photos I had taken (before submission AND before hand-quilting was completed) of our two designs. (McCall's did a much better job of photography, though...which isn't surprising... and I was happy with how they looked in the magazine!) What isn't obvious in any of the photos is that each of the pieces has an extensive amount of hand-quilting done in the large border...HOURS and HOURS of it, to be exact. We followed the lines in the print of the border fabric so it's not easy to see in pictures, but it gives a great texture when you see (and touch) the piece in person. We also had some 3-dimensional effects on the "greenery" in each piece (and that is depicted well in the magazine).

The first design is called Fishy Wishes.....a cute little hanging for a small bathroom or a child's room. Both pieces combine fabric types....wool and/or wool felt for the applique and its background and cotton quilting fabrics for the rest of the pieces.The second one is called Lazy Daisies. If you look carefully, you can see the leaf on the left is "3-dimensional"......gave it a cute little twist that the editors there liked.This is a first submission/publication for us, so you can imagine we are happy and excited. If you wish to see the magazine and can't find it locally at a store near you, then click HERE for a link that will show you the cover and give you a chance to order that issue online. EDITED TO ADD: This link seems not to be working today (thanks, Barbara, for that info)......so you can go to McCall's page and see if you can find info there.

Sad news....

I was shocked and saddened tonight to learn of the passing of the husband of another quilting / blogging friend. In less than a month, I have heard this sad news twice....once for Laurie and now for Linda of the Fiber Fabrication blog....who is a talented fiber artist and always shared with us her way of life on her alpaca ranch. If you know Linda and weren't aware of this news yet, maybe you can drop her a message of comfort and support.

Did some sewing for "Stevie Lee"....

Oh...so you are wondering WHO Stevie Lee is, aren't you? Remember I told you a few posts back that I got a Kindle? Well...I am still loving it. I gave it a name......Stevie Lee (named for the folks from whom I had earned a little bit of extra spending money which I then used to buy my Kindle). Anyway.....I am still loving the Kindle and spending a lot of time with it.

There are many types of covers available for the Kindle...some have lights and some don't. Since I have several clip-on lights here already, I decided I'd like, instead, a cover that allows me to prop the book up on its own for when I sit at the table with a cup of tea or a bite to eat and would like to read as "hands-free" as possible. If there had been a cover that did that AND incorporated a light, that would have been great. Since there wasn't, I opted for this one....not one of the cheaper ones, but it is wonderful. It is a nice durable leather and it can be propped at 3 different angles on a table (or I can have it not propped at all....and just hold it in my hands and read it the way I normally do).This shows that same cover when it is snapped closed. It is a very pretty green...and many of you know that is my favorite color! Stevie Lee is very happy in the new green cover and knows that the screen is now well-protected. However......when Stevie Lee travels inside the cover in my purse, there are sometimes little "things" in there....crumbs, bits of paper, pieces of dust....you know....the kinds of "things" that seem to appear in purses. Neither I nor Stevie Lee liked the idea of these little bits and pieces working their way inside the open areas of the leather cover, so...I decided to sew a nice, simple little quilted jacket for Stevie Lee. Stevie Lee can now snuggle down inside this cozy, quilted jacket and no bits and pieces can scratch him OR his green leather cover. Pretty cute, huh? (And Stevie Lee has suggested I need to make a few more of these jackets...maybe one for each season?? LOL)

Our group's Christmas luncheon....

A week or so back, our small, neighborhood quilting group (The Lakeside Ladies that I've mentioned here before), had our Christmas luncheon. We went to a different place than we usually go......Victoria's Restaurant in the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel in Rehoboth Beach, which is a very pretty restaurant with a lot of charm and elegance. Sadly, one of our gals, Sherry, was unable to be with us due to a family health emergency and we missed her a lot. (And speaking of her, please keep her daughter in your prayers as she faces some serious medical treatment over the next few months.) To make it worse, NONE of us remembered to take a camera so we could share photos with Sherry afterwards! I do have a couple of photos from when I had been to this restaurant in the summer, so here they are...and you will just have to imagine it decorated for Christmas....and their decorations were WONDERFUL.These next two photos are in the adjoining lobby of the hotel....there was a fire burning in this fireplace the day we were there last week.....
This is one of two beautiful caged birds there.....and this one mimics a ringing telephone......VERY realistic-sounding, too! It had us laughing.
One of the gals, Linda, and I went upstairs to see one of the hotel rooms as they are very nice and they run winter specials.....would be nice to stay in one of their oceanfront rooms for a night or two and enjoy the oceanfront indoor spa-pool. Okay...enough of that dreaming..... We do a gift exchange at our holiday party, and when I came home, I took a picture of the gift I got (which was provided by Joann). I really like it......fabric from Keepsake Quilting and she gave me a pattern to go with it....with which you can make little mitten ornaments that LOOK like they are knitted (because of the fabric looking like it's knitted). I know I won't get them done for this year, but maybe I'll get them done early for NEXT year. She also gave me a nicely-scented gingerbread candle. We all enjoyed our meal (especially our desserts!) and our time together and we look forward to many more such luncheons.And let me end this post by saying thank-you to all of you who have commented and also written me private emails saying you are keeping my daughter and her family in your thoughts and prayers. I am hoping their situation will improve soon. There are so many families hurting right now for a variety of reasons.....it breaks my heart....and I hope 2011 will be a better year for all.

Life can be complicated.....

I've not been able to post much lately since I've had a lot on my mind (very stressful situation within the family), but I did want to post a photo of the prize I won from Two Wacky Women when SewCalGal had her recent Christmas quilt show on her blog. I love these 20 fat quarters and they included one of those neat little value viewers........so I'll have that close at hand when trying to pick fabrics for projects. I really appreciate this prize a lot.

Now...if you are a praying person, please keep my daughter and her family in your prayers. There is a very serious employment situation going on in her household and it has put a huge stress on their household and on me (as the worrying mother/grandmother). They really deserve to get a break soon....so please join me in praying for them to have better days ahead....and SOON!

If I'm not very active in Blogland for awhile, I hope you will understand I am quite distracted.

A happy announcement.....

I am excited to announce that my quilting partner, Kathy, (click HERE for her blog) and I have two small quilted designs that will appear in the February/March issue of McCall's Quick Quilts. That magazine will be shipped to newsstands and subscribers between December 7 and December 28. If you get a chance, pick up a copy and look for our designs. The picture to the right is one of those designs.......simple and easy with an emphasis on cute for some springtime cheer around the house!

Not much sewing, but......SOMETHING done....

I broke away from my Kindle reader long enough to make 3 quick and simple pillowcases for gifts. The two for my granddaughters don't even have contrasting cuffs (which is fine for them and faster for me...LOL). One is a snowman fabric and the other is a Girl Scout cookie fabric (as that granddaughter just joined Scouts). The middle one with the contrasting cuff is Air Force fabric for the main fabric and is for hubby, who was in the Air Force some years back during the Vietnam era. I am trying to get my sewing "mojo" back but it's hard with this fun Kindle reader hogging my attention. :-) Yesterday we had a little Christmas luncheon with our Lakeside Ladies' quilt group (minus one) at a nice restaurant on the boardwalk which was beautifully decorated, but none of us remembered to bring our cameras! *sigh* Can you believe it?