Aunt Evelyn's Table Runner

Paul's Aunt Evelyn asked if we could trade our trades last fall, and I'm so glad she did! I made her a quilt and she has made me probably the most beautiful heirloom we now own, a long table runner. Here are some of the pictures she sent during the very long and tedious process, and the finished product in our home for all to enjoy (except my kids, who are NOT ALLOWED to touch it ever). Evelyn has a really amazing talent and has a special personality to be able to stick to a project this involved. She lives in Colorado, and I wish I could have seen some of the steps in the process first hand. There was weaving to do before she even began weaving. We're so thankful for her!

Broadbents Modern Quilts Display

For the month of April, Broadbents is displaying some of the beautiful quilts made by members of our Modern Quilt Group. Feel free to come on in and be inspired! And remember, it's never too late to join us.

Quilt Retreat

My friend Pamela is having another quilting retreat and if it's anything like her last one, you won't want to miss it! This time she's renting a reunion house in Fairview for a weekend. Last time I met some GREAT local quilters who are making a name for themselves on the web and in the pattern world and my quilting has been better because of it! If you're interested, check out Pamela's blog.

Kindle Covers

One last thing, I made myself a Kindle cover and an iPad cover for my mother-in-law. I used a striped down version of Kim Walus' on Moda Bake Shop.  Didn't get a shot of Sherry's, but it was fun, too.

Fabric Chains

Don't freak out, I'm only doing this one other craft.  This one will also be demonstrated at the Modern Quilt Group on Saturday. It's fabric chains as a garland, or a wreath. I added some ribbon and trim, and if I was super at embroidery, I'd stitch what I'm grateful for on each one and do a Thanksgiving set as well.

One note about the pattern I used. It was very well written, and I noticed that  14 fat eighths + 2 yard of interfacing = 56 chains (I did 28).

Fabric Bowls

Linda Permann at Craftstylish has a great demo for fabric bowls. And since this month's Modern Quilt Group is about gifts using fabric, I tried it out. Look at me, all crafty and stuff! WARNING: these are addicting.

I used about 18, 3/4" fabric strips, and less than half of the $2.99 cording from Hobby Lobby. My bowl is about 4" tall. Pretty nifty gift for a budget.

doterra

The first and best thing we did for our family's health was to start using essential oils. My mother-in-law had given us some over the years, and we mostly used it to rub on Zoe's feet at night to help her RELAX!!! But then when Marshall couldn't breath at night and the mucus started taking over his lungs, my mother told me about doterra's Breathe blend. We put it right on his chest and back and within seconds his airway was opened. We diffuse it in his room on nights he's struggling and it's saved many trips to the ER.

Next I tried their Deep Blue blend, which also now comes in a lotion rub form, for my lower back, which has issues. I don't talk about them much because then they will be real. Anyway, I woke up one morning in Portland this summer with a very sore neck, far away from my beloved chiropractor, Mom rubbed some Deep Blue oil on my neck a few times during the day and my pains were gone. We also rub this on my dad's sore ol' knees at night and now he walks around asking where the rub has gotten to. My 73 year old, born in the '30's, old school I'm not trying anything new much less your weird oils, dad.

We were putting Mederma, a scar medication, on Rory's forehead scar from 8 stitches this summer, and he started getting these little, hard white bumps where the stitches had gone in and out. So I ditched that and started rubbing Frankinsense right on it and the bumps dried up and fell off, and his scar is going away!

I could go on and on about these oils and how they've changed our lives. Their immune system oil is so good for my kids who live in a petrie dish at school. I diffuse it while they're eating their afterschool snack and make them take a drop on their tongue each morning and I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but we haven't gotten sick once! I rub Serenity blend on our feet at night or on Paul's when he's stressed out from work and he melts and we sleep better.

There is so much more to these oils than I have gotten into: cooking, cleaning, etc, that my kinesiologist Stefanie is going to come over and give my family a mini-class about how we can use the oils in different ways and if you are interested in hearing more about them, or trying them yourself, please come! It will be the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. Very informal, just educational. And life changing.

Thank you Pinterest!

Erica pinned this cute idea online, and I totally copied it today. I needed some time to quilt and didn't want to added guilt of turning on Shawn the Sheep to get it done. The kids LOVED it, and added three more parking garages and a helicopter pad. Plus, any toy lasts longer when the Disney Children's Station is blaring from Pandora in the background.

Melting Crayons

Last month my niece posted about melting crayons on her blog. I loved the idea, plus, I've always wondered if there wasn't something better to do with the broken bits of crayon scattered around the house than tossing them. We easily rounded up enough for the project. I bought a rubber baking tray at Joanne's ($7 after the 40% off coupon) and everyone had a great time putting their favorite colors together in the cups. We cooked them for less than 10 minutes and the colors were so pretty! And once cooled off, they popped right out. We wrapped them in clear celophane and the kids took them around to their friends for a New Years gift.

Hint: the silver was my favorite and I'd put a piece in each one next time, but be careful, it took longer than the other colors to melt. And I'd fill them more next time, they melted pretty small.

Owl-ways Good To See You

At the Great Salt Lake Birding Festival, we ran into two couples that we had met at the St. George Bird Festival earlier this year. They're two sisters and their husbands, all retired of course. Just me and Paul and the geriatrics. Anyway, the one sister had this cute fabric owl pin on, and when I complimented it, she said her daughter had made it and she had an extra for me because she remembered I quilt. So sweet of her.

So with the help of my neighbor (of the ribbon drawer infamy) and her unending button supplies, I made two dozen of them, slightly larger, for the young women in our church group on their birthdays. We have a birthday basket, which was empty, and I thought it would be nice to have something handmade in there, instead of dollar store finds. I attached a note to each of them which reads, "Owl-ways Remember Whoo You Are!" This is a really fun project with minimal effort and cost, but feels like something special to give to someone you love.

Finch Friends

Rebecca came over last Friday and we sewed the Finch kit together. She hadn't sewn for several years, and she did so well! It just goes to show what a unifier quilting can be. She was planning on giving it to her mourning Great Aunt? in Turkey, but after seeing the work that goes into a quilt, I think she might just keep it herself. You can see more of our adventures on her blog. It felt so good to laught till you snort with a girlfriend on the weekend again. Note to self: GET OUT!

Rebalene, You Are So Keen

This for sure has nothing to do with quilting. But I'm going to put it out there anyway. Rebecca is a very, very good find as far as friends go. She has the unfortunate post of sitting in the next cubicle from my dear husband, Paul, which should get her sainthood for sure, and she's also been helping me enter the tech savy world of all things current. She's also very artistic herself, writes songs, plays the guitar, takes French lessons, finds cures for cancer, you get the idea.

Her own blog is really fun. Here's a few other tips she's shared with me over the last few months. Maybe they'll be something you need, too. Or maybe you just have a fantastic single brother just graduating from med school for her?

1. You can follow (stalk) blogs and subscribe to whichever ones you want. It will tell you when new posts have been added to your favorite blogs and you can read them right there, with pictures!

2. You can get on Picasa and make your own photo mosaic for a posting on your blog, or maybe something else, I haven't tried it yet. I like it as an alternative to putting 10 pictures in a row in one post.

3. Art Market seems to be a beautiful way to see the eclectic artists hunkering down in SLC, that remind me of my own faraway Portland Saturdays Market. Their next event is December 4-6 at the Sugarhouse Garden Center.

4. Flip video camcorder seems to be the newest gadget I haven't seen yet. It holds 60 minutes of video, plugs right into your USB drive, and apparently edits easily. She even has a tripod for it. I can't wait to borrow hers for some quilting tutorials.

Reba, you rock. You're wanted, dead or alive. Keep on.

Franny Frugal

Last night I met Franny Frugal and heard her share her money saving tips. Wow. She is hard core. She spends only $100 CASH each week to feed her family of 5 (no teenagers, she admitted). This includes any nongrocery items, clothing and doctor visits. Everything but gasoline. Which might have been $100 a week when prices were so high, depending on what you drive.

She is a big proponent of coupons online, signing up for freebees, Walgreens, and savvyshopper from the Daily Herald. I highly encourage you to check out the spreadsheet she keeps and updates on her blog often. She's got it down to a science, and while it would take little ol' me some time to get up to her speed, I think there must be something I can do.

I know this doesn't tie directly into quilting, but if we all had some extra money freed up, surely we could get a few more fat quarters for our starving stashes, right?

Disappearing 9-patch

Robin, from Stitch Studio in Cincinnati, asked me today about disappearing 9-patches. Have you heard of them? I hadn't, so she sent me a link to Helen in the UK's blog. How have I been quilting for these years and not seen this trick? I thought I'd share it with you. Be sure to check out the links to other variations at the side of Helen's blog. I'm definitely doing this one soon.

Birds of a Feather

One of the best things about quilting is the friends it brings. My great friend, Amy, just sent me information on Stitch Studio, another beautiful in-home studio for women who love to sew. This one is in Cincinnati, a shame we couldn't take advantage of them. I love seeing women reach out and succeed, and here's another one. This woman has taken her life long love of sewing, combined with the friendship from sewing costumes for stage productions, and made this studio of sewing any number of projects. Check them out!