Get Well Kelly!

Our very dear friend and fellow blogger Kelly Jackson is having surgery on her hand today.  She was so excited at Quilt Market that she fell and the bone in her hand split apart.  We are all so sad to hear about this set back, because if you know Kelly, you know that she is always upbeat and positive.  So won't you please send her a message to encourage her to heal quickly.  You can leave a message on her blog - http://ihaveanotion.blogspot.com. 

My rotary cutter has been a busy little bee these last couple of days.  Here is what they are slicing and dicing.

Yep, a stack of cupcakes :-)

Happy Quilting!

Autumn quilt

A few years ago I made a quilt as a gift for my daughters friend who was married in October.  I loved the fabrics in that quilt so much, that I squirreled away any bits of the fabric for a later project.  We've had a week of cooler weather here in the deep south, which made me once again think of this fabric.

It's hard to see in the picture, but each fabric has rich tones, some with golden threads running through.  Yes, a simple pattern, but I think the fabrics add to the Fall flavor.

My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  It will take time to fully recover from Sandy's fury.  The weeks and months ahead will be grueling and back breaking.  Here in Florida we still see blue tarps on roofs from previous hurricane damage. Life goes on, but a disaster such as this brings us to the reality of what is really important in life.  Hug your family, friends and neighbors.  We can never be certain that we will have tomorrow.  I may not know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.

NewFO's

W.I.P.

Weekend project and Storm warnings

I've been fooling around with the Shop Hop leaf blocks.  I never had enough fabric to make the whole quilt, so I thought I would go with a different approach.  I made the two blocks and used some of the fabric from the other blocks to make up a table runner.

My first thought was to square up the block, but in the end decided that it made it too large, and I just didn't like where this was going.

The leaf blocks are large (12 1/2" square) so I cut 2 1/2" strips and made this block for the center.

And YAY it all fit!

I added a small border but it just was not working, so I ripped it out.

So the next step is the quilting.  Hopefully I can get it ready to use over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Storm warnings -

Because we live in the Central Florida area, I am on the email list from a friend who works for the NOAA.  Here is what Stanley sent out this morning -

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I am not going to cover all of the details here since media has
covered a lot. (Not always accurate, but much of the coverage is
good.)

Here are some of the basics --
1) We do not have very many of these "hybrid" systems -- a hurricane
merging with mid-latitude fronts, etc.
2) It is VERY strong for this type of system. No we are not talking
about Cat 5 winds (max sustained for Sandy is now about 85 mph vs.
over 160 mph for Andrew), but the wind energy is spread out over a
VERY large area. This means that a LOT of people are going to get
strong TS-sustained winds (50-70 mph but with gusts to hurricane
force). The storm is not moving fast so they will get those winds
for a LONG time. This means lots of trees down, some structural
damage, disruption of normal activities, lots of power outages, etc.,
etc.
3) This is the highest concentration of people in the US. There are
a LOT of people that will be affected.
4) Because the wind is spread over such a large area and the storm
has been out over the ocean for several days, it has been generating
lots of swells/waves/etc. These will all combine with the coastal
storm surge (which could be present during HIGH TIDE since since the
impact will last for a number of hours). The actual storm surge is
estimated to be at least about 11 ft in some areas, but the other
water action, coastal topography (i.e., inlets, areas that will focus
the flood waters, etc.) There are MANY areas that will be flooded and
there is a chance that the New York subway system will even be
flooded.
5) It is hard to predict how much rain (and some areas might get
snow) this will produce, but unlike S FL, that area has lots of hills
that can produce dangerous flooding with moderately heavy rains. The
slower the system moves the worse the flooding will be.
6) Although I do not put too much stock in the accuracy measurements
of historical landfalls, this pressure for this storm is certainly
one of the lowest for a landfall in that area. Note that the
"Perfect Storm" (1991 -- see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Perfect_Storm) was only about 972
mb and did not actually make landfall. For Hurricane Sandy the
current pressure is 946 mb -- though fluctuations (up or down) could
happen prior to landfall. This storm is MUCH strong than the 1991
storm.
7) The NYC/Long Island area is almost certain to receive a very major
impact. The shape of the coast and location of the storm can funnel
a lot of surge. By the way, some of the areas are already
experiencing TS-force sustained winds.
8) TIMING -- things are starting now, landfall is expected by tonight
or early Tues. morning, and then depending on how slowly storm moves,
some coastal impacts could continue through Wednesday. Inland impacts
(check
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/092341.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents
for the track) will evolve over the next several days.

So -- wind, rain flooding, coastal surge flooding, etc. affecting
10's of millions of people and numerous business, cities, and states.

Please excuse any typos or other errors. I am just trying to get
this out quickly.

PLEASE WARN ANYONE YOU KNOW IN THE PREDICTED IMPACT AREA TO TAKE THIS STORM SERIOUSLY.
Hope for the best; prepare for the worst!

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Praying everyone will be safe.  These storms are not something to fool around with.  Take care.

Fabric Tuesday

O Tannenbaum

 

Amy's Creative Side is once again hosting the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  You see so many beautiful quilts and meet the creative force behind their blogs.

My quilt for this years Bloggers Quilt Festival is "O Tannenbaum".

All ready for the upcoming Christmas season.

The "O Tannenbaum" Wall Hanging measures 24" x 44".  The machine quilting was done on my domestic sewing machine.

Finished quilt measures : 24" x 44"

Special techniques used : none

Quilted by : Me

Best Category :Wall Hanging

If you are visiting for the first time from the Blogger's Quilt Festival, Welcome!!  I love to meet new people.  Please leave a comment so I can visit you as well.  I hope you will come back again soon!

Happy Quilting!

A trip down south

My BFF came to visit for a few days last week.  We always have a great time together and usually share an adventure or two. 

As we drove down to Sarasota to meet up with her parents, we stopped in a Quilt shop that had moved close to the Interstate. 

It was kind of sad to see that this shop had about 1/3 less fabric then the last time I visited.  The fabric lines were very modern.  Being a mostly traditional quilter, I didn't find anything that peeked my interest. But still it's fun to stop and enjoy the samples.  Gleaning ideas is never a boring trip.

Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes........

....... you have to make your own seasons.

We don't have the change of seasons as most of you experience, so we make our own!!

This block is from a shop hop I did several years ago.  I never made the Fall blocks or the quilt, but the cooler temps persuaded me to dig them out. 

The block is 12 1/2 x 12 1/2.  There are two blocks this size, so I was thinking maybe a table runner, with the leaf at each end, would compliment these blocks.  Anyone have a pattern suggestion or a link to find something that would work?