Baby Shower for Baby Mac

My DIL sent pictures of the baby shower yesterday. I wish I could have been there but it's just to far for a quick trip. Looks like they had a great time.

The presents.
















Someone created a cake with baby items and a monkey. What a great idea.























Then showing the quilt I had done for Baby Mac.























The last pic is of a knitted outfit by Baby Mac's other grandmother.

Road to California Quilt Show

There is no picture to pique your interest in this post, you will have to click on the link provide to see some AWESOME quilted EYE CANDY. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and it is certainly true in this case. Words do not do them justice. This link will take you to The Road to California Quilt Show winners. I have been hearing about the progress of the Best in Show, Grape Harvest, (1st picture) and Best Group Quilt, Queen Mary (15th picture down) in one of my quilting groups. Marilyn and Lynn are certainly 2 very talented ladies. Congratulation to both of them. In addition Sharon Schamber took the Best Large Quilt category with Spirit of Mother Earth (9th picture down) She has a detailed view of part of this quilt as the header on her website. Congratulations to her as well. I hope you enjoy looking at all of this eye candy. Please let me know what quilts you like the best and why by adding a comment.

Cold Weather Quilting

As the north and even here in Western NC it is COLD. This morning, actually it was yesterday morning now, we had the coldest temp I can remember in our almost 8 yrs here in the sunny south. It was 4 degrees F. Apparently by the time I got up we were having a heat wave, it was up to 5! We moved south to get away from this kind of cold. We are blessed compared to those who are really up north. My nephew in WI was commenting on the snow they had been having. When I let him know we had snow as well he was amazed, didn't think we got the snow. All in all, I'm glad he is up there experiencing the cold and snow he is and I am only temporarily in the cold, arctic blast. My heart goes out to all enduring this brutal cold. Some of my ancestors come from MN. I was thinking about how they survived this type of cold in the 1800 and earlier 1900's without the conveniences we have today, central heating, running water, well insulated homes. I am grateful to be living in these times.

I have been so busy at work that I haven't had any time this week to quilt but the weekend is here and I plan on 2 days of quilting until I drop. The newest grandchild is due in 20 days. I have already made a quickie quilt and a bunch on fleece burp cloths, sent off earlier this week so they can be here for the baby shower this weekend. I wish I could be there but am saving my time off for when the baby gets here in Feb. I wish I didn't have to chose but we live 12 hrs away so it's not possible to pop in for a few minutes. I will be making several quilts with BABY GENIUS fabric for the new baby and the twins who turned 1 earlier this month. We will celebrate their birthday when we go north, hope it's warmer by then.

I added a new feature at the bottom of the blog. If you like puzzles, scroll down and enjoy. This is one of my mini landscape quilts titled Purple Mountains Majesty. I was created from the class Mini Landscapes taught at QuiltUniversity.com by Susan Brittingham. I just love Quilt University!

Quilt Art website and mailing list

For those interested in Quilt Art you can subscribe to a QuiltArt mailing list. Here is the link to the web site. This is not a blog, it is all via email. It is free but they do accept donations to help defray the costs to keep it up and running. It is a great group of talented, sharing artists. Here is the info if you are interested in joining.

*QUILTART INFO*
Visit http://lists103.his.com/mailman/listinfo/quiltart to subscribe
or unsubscribe from Quiltart.

In the short time I have been subscribed to this list (I am on digest because they are a prolific group) I have made new contacts, and more importantly learned so much from some of the best artists there are.

Flying Geese quilt blocks

I subscribe to The Quilt Show blog. The Quilt Show is an joint venture between Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. They are 2 giants in the world of quilting. They have great quilters as visitors/lecturers and the subscriptions are reasonably priced. Today Ricky Tims demonstrated how to create Flying Geese blocks with just 1 seam. I had to watch the video, it is so easy. I avoid flying geese because I never can get them to come out right. I am going to have to try this. I have been dreading my plan to use this block as a border on a baby blanket. Now I can go sew with no fear. Please let me know if you found this method as easy as I did.

Top Dog and Cat Names

Found a link on the login page for MSN regarding pet names. Check out the weird names people have for their pets. I thought some of our nicknames for the furry family were different. I guess our names are relatively normal. Here are pictures by my DH, Dan Houck, (see link to the right) of Nelson Rockefeller, aka Rocky, aka Full Nelson (of Nelson Rockefeller fame), on the quilt I made for DH several Christmases ago. For those who don't know The Rockefellers were big in politics and charities in NY. Our other kitty is Conway Twitty the Kitty, aka Half Nelson or Little Nelson. Little Nelson is no longer so little. Enjoy!

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Facebook

I am slowly moving into the 21st Century. I just joined Facebook.

Quilting and Sewing for Baby Mac

I received an email from my DIL today asking if I could make something warm and soft for the new baby. She must have been reading my mind. I have a Snuggle Up pattern, from Black Cat Creations, which is both a blanket and bunting in one. I'm going to make it up with flannels instead of Minke. If it turns out OK I may try it in Minke.

I had a meeting with a local shop owner Sherry Edwards of The Salt Box. I met Sherry this fall when I decided to check out her shop. one thing led to another, you know how it is when artists get together, and a new quilting class is being born. I will create a beginner quilting class that will start January 29th, 2009. We will have the class at The Salt Box. I am EXCITED to be working with Sherry to share one of my passions.

I also found a great podcast with Larkin Van Horn by Bonnie McCaffery. Larkin shows how she beads on her art quilts. Great Podcast Bonnie and Larkin! I have taken a class from Bonnie and found it quite fun and informative. I also got to eat lunch with her and she is as great in person as she comes across in her podcasts.

Stumble Upon link - Mama Bears

I am trying to beef up my blog. to make it more interesting and friendly. I have created a survey (through PollDaddy.com) in the sidebar to the right. Please take a few quick minutes to give me constructive feedback. I would like you to come back time and time again.

In this regard I have been doing some surfing today and came about or should I say stumbled on, StumbleUpon.com. In keeping with the post regarding the MOM song, In my next life I'm gonna be a Bear. I had never thought about it in these terms but she is absolutely right. I wanna be a bear in my next life too. Maybe not, I don't believe bears get to quilt.

On the quilting front, still no quilting today but I have started the planning for my next projects. While at Mary Jo's Cloth Store yesterday I bought several baby books to quilt. The fabric is washed, dried and ready to be worked on. As I formatted this post I realized that 2 of these panels are about a bear, Paddington Bear. A guess this is a Beary post day. Sorry, couldn't resist.









Paddington Bear Learning to Count, Vol 2















Paddingon Bear's ABC's Vol 3








Beatrix Potter ABC Vol II

Thanks for looking, reading and taking the survey in the sidebar on the right.

Mom Song

I want to thank Chris Daly for a wonderful laugh today. On her blog Greetings from Shady Grove she posted this great funny song, The Mom Song. I saw myself in this song when my son was younger as I suspect many Moms will. This woman has great breath control to get it sung so well. I hope you enjoy this entertainment.