My Golf Quilt

     Oh I am thinking of Spring.... and wishing for Spring to get here. Can you blame me?----I am sitting here looking out my window and there is snow to the right of me, and snow to the left of me. Snow, snow and more snow. With it being the first day of February, I am getting excited. I always feel better when January has passed. For some reason, I feel that we have made it through the roughness of Winter and the hope of Spring is that much closer.

   With thoughts of Spring running through my head- I want to share with you a quilt that I hold near and dear to my heart. It is truly a one of a kind. I designed this quilt totally on a whim. My husband planted the seed of this concept into my brain--add a little sunshine, and water... Wha-la, a quilt is born! My husband and his father are big time Golfers. They have been since I can remember. One day, my husband came to me and said:" You know what would be a neat quilt?" I respond sarcastically : " I can think of a few, but what do you have in mind?" My husband: " I think a Golf type of quilt would be great- I bet you don't see that around." Me: " Hhhhmmmm... you are right, I have not seen one before, let me think on it." My husband: " That would make a great Christmas gift for my Dad." So you see how the seed was planted?! 

     I thought about this idea for awhile. I wrote down little notes to myself. I looked for different type of fabric on line. I was debating on going with  traditional blocks--or just free spirit it. I decided to free spirit the whole thing. I also brought my younger brother into the fold on this concept. My younger brother- Mike, is an Artist. When I need a really good drawing for what ever reason---I go to my brother. He is the best. I called him on the phone and presented my idea to him. Now---he is a serious artist, so what I was asking of him would sort of be out of the box for him. I needed him to help me with applique designs.

     Next, came the other design concept. I wanted not only Golf theme fabric in it, I wanted true Golf items in it. That led me on an Internet search that lasted a couple of weeks. I decided that I wanted certain Golf Flags to be in the quilt. There is one that I am so excited about getting- it cost me more to ship it then to buy it. It is from the golf course in Scotland- St Andrew's Golf course.

     I brought out scraps of fabric from my stash for the appliques, I bought background, sashing and boarder fabric. Away I went---I literally worked on it day and night. I have to tell you, cutting into the Golf flags made me a bit nervous and edgy. I kept thinking- If I screw up--I am screwed, I will have to buy more. I would like to say that I had an ultimate design plan. I didn't- after I cut down the flags, I laid them out on the floor on how I wanted them. Then I put in my applique blocks. Next came figuring out the sashings and fillers- that was totally by the seat of my pants. After all that--it was stitch- iron, stitch-iron, etc.... for some time. 

     After about a month ( I was working full time as a Nurse during all of this ), I finally had it all pieced together! I loved it! It was so cool looking to me. I had already bought the backing and batting so I put it on the longarm. To be honest, I was stumped for a bit. I kept asking myself--" how do you quilt on Golf Flags?" What design should I do so that it is "manly" and won't take away from the whole quilt top. I kept it simple. I did straight lines, meander, ribbon and golf tee's and balls on it. Finally--after what seemed like forever--it was done!!!! I just needed to wait for Christmas to come. That year, we planned on spending the holidays with his family, so I was looking forward to watching him open his gift. 

     Here it is! I love it! It is totally unique and one of a kind. I can't thank my brother enough for all of his artistic talent and assisting me in this. Love you Mike!

My first one of kind Golf Quilt!!😊

This is the most expensive flag on the whole quilt! I am so happy that I did buy it and put it in. I think it adds more meaning to it. The other flags are from other Golf courses that he did play at. In the picture below is a flag with the large initials of TC on it. That is for Tri-county Golf Course near my home that they play at often.

The appliqued words are from a quote from Pastor Billy Graham. The "Net Zero"is my Father in law's nick name.

Isn't the golf clubs so darn cute?

I love the golf bag in here

I think that my brother did such a great job on this project. His drawings were what helped to make the quilt so special. His attention to detail was so appreciated.

This is the back to show off the quilting

I decided to design and embroider out the label with my embroidery machine to give it that something extra special touch.


I have to tell you, my Father in law was so surprised and shocked when he opened his gift. The look on his face was priceless!!! He was totally speechless. It was worth every stitch!!!

"Peaceful Quilting"

     Hhhhmmmmm........this is just what I need. I need some "Peaceful Quilting" in my life right now. I need to be able to go into my studio, shut the door and just grab fabric and stitch it together. I need to sew without a plan, without a thought, without an issue running crazy like in my head. I need my passion to heal my soul, my nerves, my emotions and my thoughts right now. Quilting does that for me--it is my therapy, it is my muse, it is my happy place, and it is my passion. I am sure many of you can relate to this and feel the same way.

     Life is so darn crazy right now, the world is moving so fast...... Thoughts and opinions from everyone are everywhere. I have the joy and blessing of knowing many people and being able to call them my friends. I am even blessed to say that my family members are like my friends also. I love my brothers and their wives. They are a true blessing and without them-my life would not be good. On the flip side-most of my friends and family members are so similar to me. We are strong willed people, we stand up for ourselves and others, we are free to offer our opinion. Isn't that one of the rights and privilege as an American citizen?! Yep-it sure is: Freedom of Speech. I love this privilege and bask in it often. It is wonderful that many people are taking advantage of this freedom also. But..... I feel like I am being bombarded by so many thoughts and opinions from every direction. I have family and friends (that were loving before to each other) fighting and arguing constantly. So sad, so stressful. I feel like I am stuck between them. Not a fun place to be. Know that I love you all.

     That is why I am going to go in my studio and shut the door. I am going to turn on my music and go to my over flowing scrap bins and just do piecing. I love 4 patch blocks. There is just something about them. They are cute-they are versatile. You can make them in any size and they will fit in and complement many quilts. I do two different types of 4 patch blocks. I like to make them with an obvious dark paired with a very light or white fabric..or... I like to do a dark tone paired with a lighter tone. Both choices feed my soul. Both choices play nice together. Ha---what am I going to do with all of these scrappy 4 patch blocks you ask?? I have to just grin and say--" I am not sure yet". I know, I know---I seem to say that a lot lately with all of my scrappy blocks. I assure you- I have a plan, I just don't know it yet! 😏

   

     These are just some of the many blocks I have pieced together. They are still in their raw stage. These 4 patch blocks are made with 2 1/2 squares. I just cut them and throw them into a bin. I then randomly reach in and pair them up together. then I press them and sew them to another random pair to create the 4 patch.

     I have been doing this for some time now. I have even taken my bins to Quilt Retreat and sat down for hours sewing them. For me, it is very therapeutic....It helps to calm me and raise my vibration in many wonderful ways.

     So while the outside world is bumping horns and expressing their freedom...... I am going to go into my comforting studio and do some "Peaceful Quilting" to express my freedom. Thank You  Creator for this gift. I wish peace and love to all of my family and friends-- and yes---to the whole world. God bless America💓
     

Treadle Talk And Itsy Bitsy Gems

    Today I wanted to show a WIP that I have been doing since this past summer. This past summer was so darn hot for me. On top of that- we had the Amish at my home doing repair work on roofs, ceilings and doors. They were here for a good couple of weeks. If you have ever had work done in your home-you know that dust and dirt come out of know where and go everywhere. There is no fighting it and no getting angry over it because it doesn't help. You just have to wait till it is all over and then bust your hind end cleaning it up. And need I say that my Sewing Studio was greatly effected during this whole ordeal. Well.....at one point during all of the work, I became anxious and fidgety because I could not get to my machines. I didn't sew because I did not want all of that yucky stuff to find it's way into the inside of my machines and ruin them. As I was walking around my studio picking up chunks of plaster and wood, and other untidy things- I saw....... no, I heard my one treadle calling out to me! Ha---I know, you think I have lost it- as I am grinning while typing this out. I have 5 treadles and there was one that was only partially covered--that was the one calling to me. I swear she said: " Nadine--come play with me today, this messy boy stuff will not bother or hurt me". I don't know about you- but when my treadle talks to me-- I LISTEN!!!!👂👂👂

    The treadle that was calling out to me is my beautiful Franklin. She is so darn pretty. She sews like a dream. Her art work is of the Egyptian style. Her cabinet is different from all of my others. From what I have read on it-it is a cabinet that was for apartments. The iron treadle wheel and foot pedal are all housed on the inside of the cabinet, so when the front door is closed---nothing is visible. Simply beautiful. Who ever owned it previously to me must have loved it a great deal. You can clearly see that she was used a great deal, but she is in great condition. Back to my story- I saw her and the bright idea of moving her out of the studio and onto my deck outside with some scraps of material, my iron and ironing board was larger then life in my head. So, without paying attention to the questioning looks on all of the hard working Amish men---I wheeled everything past them and out to my deck.  I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I love Bonnie Hunter and she has mentioned a few times how she has taken her treadle out on her deck and sewed the day away. That day I did just that and let me tell you---it was FABULOUS!

    I did not bring a current project out with me, mainly because they were all packed away safely. What I did was..... I grabbed a bunch of scraps, my cutting mat, blade, scissors, ironing board and iron. I decided to do something that I have wanting to do for awhile. I wanted to make " Crumb Blocks". I so love Bonnie Hunter's quilt that was made out of crumb blocks. I thought I would give it a try. I decided to make mine 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 square. I just grabbed what ever little piece of scrap that I saw in the heap. It didn't matter the size, color, shape or width. I just grabbed it and started sewing them all together. When I thought it was big enough---I squared it up. I used spray starch on it before I trimmed. They are so beautiful! This type of sewing is so relaxing and mindless. Literally hours went by in a snap of a finger. When I had about a dozen, I laid them out on a table and admired them. So darn pretty.
 

Here are a few of the Crumb Blocks that I have made so far.

   I have a bag filled with more. I am not sure as of now what I will do with them. I know that they will be put into a quilt top. I just have not come out with a clear plan for the design of the top. For now, I will continue to work on making more. To me, this is a project that I will do here and there between other projects. I will slowly let my bag fill with more blocks. I will keep you up to date as I move along with these. These are small crumb blocks- in my minds eye, I see bigger ones in the future!

    Have you made any crumb blocks? If not---let loose and give it a try. I promise you that you won't regret it!😉

Rain-Snowmen-Buttons

   Ahhhhh..... it is so nice to be able to sit and blog this morning. I have to apologize for the lack of consistency with this blog. I am having some big time issues with my computer and being able to connect to the Internet and stay on. This has all been happening since my bank account and my computer were hacked into a month ago. Very frustrating to say the least. OK,enough of that- on the the good stuff!

   Well, the weather here has been very rainy and chilly. It has washed away all of the snow we had a few weeks back. I am not so much a snow lover, and I would rather it rain then snow. I especially would rather drive in rain then snow. That is what actually happened the other morning. I was signed up for a class at Creekside Quilting in Arcade. That is a very long drive for me. Most of it is all back roads through the country side. It is a very pretty drive when the weather is sunny and warm. I had prepared for the class the night before and even spoke to Rochelle ( our grand leader ) about the weather the next day. There were warnings of an ice storm that was to hit us. The only thing I could do was say my prayers and wait to see what the morning was. Thank you Creator, it was just a very rainy and gloomy looking day. I can handle that. My husband packed up the car for me and away I went.

    I love taking classes. I love learning new things and playing around with fabric and notions. I love sharing the time with like minded people. I love going to Creekside. I arrived an hour later and greeted by many smiley faces. All good! My spot was clear and waiting for me to set up. Some of the faces of the other ladies I knew--and the others are now familiar to me. That is another upside to going to class---you meet new people. I had to smile when I looked around at everyone's machines. We all brought a Viking Sewing machine to work on. They were all different models. Kinda cool.

   The class was from a project from Kim Diehl in her "Simple Christmas Tidings" book. I love this book. This is the second project that I have made from her. Love, love, love it! We made the "Button Blizzard Pillow". It is a pillow with an applique of a Snowman made from different wool pieces and surrounded by buttons acting as snow against a background of your choice. The picture is of black material-that is also what I choose to do. Let me tell you- this class was so much fun. I enjoyed myself so much. We broke for lunch and then continued on. The time flew. We talked, laughed, shared ideas and supplies and gave each other encouragement. It was awesome! To know me is to know that I love snowmen. Not the real ones---the crafty ones. I also love buttons! I have such a collection of them! This project was perfect for me. I was able to go through my assortment of buttons and just grab and use. Thank you Rochelle for showing my how my machine will sew on a button for me. It makes putting on buttons a breeze!

Here is our Fearless Leader to help with every step along the way- Thanks Rochelle!

This is Rochelle's pillow. She is showing it off during our lunch break.

Focused and hard at work

Everyone is working hard. We all learned new tricks. Look at these Viking machines hard at work!

The day really was such a treat for all of us. It was such a good feeling knowing that we were all going home with a finished project. And would you believe it----when we were all done, the sun decided to come out and grace us all.😎

Here they are!!!! Aren't they so darn adorable!!! Can you guess which one is mine? Mine is the only one with a bunch of buttons and red rick rack around the outside. I love how they are all different and unique.

I was so motivated after class that when I went home---I just had to make up this table runner from scraps. It was another convenient moment for me to use up more buttons.  I just love them!!!

A Sewing Winter Wonderland!

   Wow- oh- wow!! Those were the first words out of mouth this morning. I had such a view waiting for me when I opened my door to let the dogs out. Behold--- A Winter Wonderland! I went to bed last night with the snow coming down yet again. I knew that it was snowing pretty hard at that time---but I did not expect this. I have to admit-it is very pretty. There is something mystical about a fresh snow covered landscape. Don't get me wrong--- I would much prefer a beautiful warm spring/summer day. But that is not the case. It is January and I live in upper western New York state. So for now, this is my scenery--it is my winter wonderland.

   I have been making plans these past couple of days to meet up with some friends that I have not visited with in a while. Life can get crazy busy for all of us, especially around the holidays. Now that all of the madness is over and we can get back to our normal lives, I want to see some of my favorite people that have been missing. I have some of the best people as my friends. They are all different, smart, intelligent, kind, powerful, loving, confident woman. They add so much to my life for just being themselves and being my friend. I guess you can easily say that they enrich my life. It feeds my soul on all levels when I am able to spend time with them. That is what I was hoping to do yesterday and the next couple of days. I just need mother nature to work with me on this. I had to cancel a lunch date yesterday--very disappointing. Now, after looking out the door and watching more snow fall, I am loosing hope of meeting up with anyone today. I live out in what my mother would call " the country". Houses are not close together, there are no street lights, I live on a road-not a street, there are no sidewalks. There are many farms around me, along with wooded private property. It is beautiful and peaceful. That being said, I also have to admit that as far as snow plows from the village coming through---it is very infrequent. So, that makes travel adventurous at times.

   I had hopes of driving out to Forestville and visiting with one of my dear friends- Margaret. In fact, she is the friend who has helped put this website together for me. I would not be here if it were not for her and her daughter's support. I was looking forward to talking, sharing, coffee, and laughing for a couple of hours with her. Well.......I think I will have to go with plan B for today and make plans another day with my friend. I have been working hard in my studio on my customers quilts. I have not returned them yet to their rightful owners, so I can not show any pictures yet. No worries----it will be soon that I can share them. With it being the weekend, I think that I will give myself permission to go have play time in my studio and sew some creative pretties for me. I have a few projects that I work on a little at a time. They have been pretty ignored lately, so it is time to dust them off and work on them. It makes me excited to think about a day of just play in the studio. I will play some good music, have coffee and fondle fabric all day. Time to get the crock pot out and fill it--this way, I will have a wonderful dinner cooking with no stress on my play day.

   I wonder.....what is everyone's plan "B" for today???

My poor fur baby -Bongi is trying to find his way through the snow. What remains of my garden is hidden under all of the whiteness

The backyard is so beautiful with all of the trees covered. 

OK---I am not looking forward to shoveling off the deck.

Why Do I Sew? Why Do You Sew?

   As I was going through my email this morning, I came across a post asking : "Why do you sew?". I found that interesting. It made me sit and think while I was sipping on my morning cup of coffee. I asked myself--why do I sew? Where did this desire come from? Why do I like it so much???? Before I knew it, one cup of coffee turned into 3 cups of coffee. I was doing a lot of thinking on this one.

   I think that I have always been around sewing to some extent. When I was younger, my mother had a beautiful sewing machine. She was always sewing skirts and dresses for herself. She would often make dresses for me with matching ones for my dolls. I always loved that she did that. My mother did many other crafts also. From her, I learned a few of them. As I grew older and then on my own, I would keep on with those crafts or eventually come across some new ones and try my hand at it. For a long time in my teenage years and early adult hood, I loved to Crochet and to do Cross Stitch Embroidery. These kept my hands busy while I was raising my children. I never really felt a desire during those years to sit and learn sewing. I wish I had, my mother would have been a great teacher.

   It wasn't until after the death of my mother, that I turned to the sewing machine. I truly believe that in all of my grief and sorrow that I was led to my first grown up machine of my own. Maybe my mom was helping to sooth my grief from heaven. I remember weeks after the funeral- my husband wanted to take the kids and go see his parents in Long Island. I was very depressed and lost in my own thoughts and feelings. I just could not bring myself to driving over 8 hours and then spend a week with happy people. It just was not something I could wrap my head around. I had been surrounded by people who were so heart broken for me and my family. I had so many people stopping over to help in any way. There was a constant flow of people in and out of my house for weeks. So, when my husband decided to travel, I thought--OK, I need this quiet time. I need this time to just be.

   So I did. For the first few days, I just sat outside in my yard and looked out at the woods. Silently thinking. Going through all of my emotions. Talking to all of nature and venting my grief. Eventually, I had decided to go in the car and go towards the mall. For what ever reason, I found myself walking into a Joann Fabric Store. I felt like I was on auto pilot. I went straight back to where all of their sewing machines for sale where. At that time- the Viking Dealer was there. I walked up to the dealer and spoke with her at length. She showed me all of the different machines and what they could do. I was amazed!!!! Well....... an hour or so later, I walked out with a new purchased sewing/embroidery machine. I remember sort of being in shock all the way home with this new machine in the back seat of my car.  I could not believe that I bought it. I did not know how to sew--I could not even sew a straight line. I also could not believe how much I spent on this machine. It was seven thousand dollars. I never discussed this with my husband. I figured he would find out about it once he came home.

   The next few days that followed, I poured myself into the machine. I read the directions. I put thread in it, did the bobbin, put fabric under the needle and then pressed on the foot petal. Away it went! I fell deeply in love with the sound of the machine. I started to frequent the Joann Fabric store and buy all sorts of fabric and different color threads and stabilizers. I found out that I loved the embroider aspect of my machine, but....that I loved to quilt. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I soon discovered Quilt shops, Quilting magazines, On line sites, You Tube videos, etc.....

   Flash forward to the present. I am now the "Black Hat Quilter". I have 14 different sewing machines-many are vintage. I own a wonderful Serger Machine. Best of all--I own my Long Arm Machine. I have been retired for a year now from Nursing. I have loved every moment of stepping into my studio to create. I would never have thought this would be the path that I would follow. Who would of thought that in the deepest despair of sorrow and grief for the loss of my mother--that I would find sewing and sewing would find me and together- I would heal. It has been wonderful and beautiful every step of the way. I feel totally blessed. I know in my heart that my mother is aware of my sewing and that I am feeling better-though I still miss her greatly. I believe she is with me and watching me sew and she is happy with that.


   So with that being said...... I wonder about everyone else. How did you come to sewing? How did you acquire your sewing machine? Who influenced you??

Welcome 2017!!!!!

Wow----can you believe it-----it is 2017! I don't know about everyone else, but for me-2016 went by very fast. What a heck of a year. I am not going to say it was bad----I had many wonderful things happen for me, but it was not what I had envisioned it to be. I spent my New Years Eve with family and friends. It was wonderful. I did a great deal of thinking of past celebrations. I took stock in what I had accomplished in 2016. I said many prayers of gratitude for all of the blessings that I had. I am grateful. My family and I were blessed with many wonderful gifts this past year. The Black Hat Quilter was blessed in so many ways. I am so thrilled for all of the upgrades I was able to do. It is not to say that there were not any sad moments--because life is life and there were some. BUT---and I mean a big BUT- I am not going to focus on those moments. I am not ready to decide on any New Years resolutions yet. I do know that I want to truly welcome 2017 in with open arms and hope in my heart and spirit for not only myself but to all of my family, friends, and customers.

 Is it possible to have a one day resolution???? I hope so---because I am going to state this " one day resolution"! For today----I will only concentrate on good vibrational thoughts and actions. I want to start a ball rolling down the proverbial hill for me. I hope this ball gathers speed and weight through out the year. If you think good things--you will become a magnet and draw good things towards you.

I have people to visit with today and a wonderful dinner to make before I send people back on the road to their homes. Not sure if I will be able to sew at all today. It has been many days since I was able to get to my machines and create joy. The holidays have been all too consuming. I am sure many people can relate to that.

So---- for today. Let us all just be: be happy, content, joyful, hopeful---and together!

My family---the most important people to me. Without them---I simply would just not be. The Black Hat Quilter would not be.  I love my family. I love my customers. Happy New Year to everyone!

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! I hope the reason for the season is in all of your hearts. I wish love, health and happiness to all of you as my Christmas gift. I will not be posting for a couple of days. I am taking time off to spend with my children. As you know, I do not get to see them often, so I soak up all of their goodness when I can. I will be having much family time. I will not be sewing until after Christmas---all of my gifts are made and on their way to their new owners.  Smile, be happy and enjoy each other!

From Me to You

Burrrrrr......rub arms up and down each other.....run for coffee.....stand by heater. Yep, that is what my first minutes of my day were like. If you haven't guessed by now---let me tell you then,  Babe-it is cold outside!!!! I know, it is December and I do live in upper Western New York---but, for me, it never gets any easier. The sad thing is that we just started our cold weather. Winter is not officially here for 7 days. Not going to complain though-----this past summer was so painfully hot to me. We are now getting the cold weather that I remember begging for. Be careful for what you ask for people.
I am posting a picture of this gentleman. I have never met him, I can't even tell you his name. I do know that he is a nice man---how can he not be, he is the father to one of my friends from the Center. I love this picture for a few reasons. One---he asked her to show it to me. Two----he is loving on this afghan that was made just for him. Three----It touches my heart.

The gift of warmth and love

In the middle of this past summer, my whole house was torn upside down. We had the Amish come and do some major work on roofs, ceilings, walls and doors. It was greatly needed, but much chaos and mess. During this time, my poor little Gia (yorkiepoo), hurt her back and couldn't walk or stand. It was so stressful and terrible. Well, life is life and we never know what will happen from one day to the next. I received a text from a friend of mine-Rochelle. Her mom just passed away suddenly. I remember standing in my kitchen just starring at my phone. So sad. So hard to think about. It took me back to when my mother was suddenly and tragically taken from me. There are those moments in life that you will always know where you were and what you were doing when it strikes. Needless to say---I felt so bad for her and her family.  Immediately placed them into my prayers.  I can't remember the sequence of events or the exact time space of everything because of what was happening on my home front, but I did receive a call from Rochelle some time later. She told me about finding an afghan that her mom was in the middle of making for her dad. She asked me if I could finish it. I was so shocked and moved that she would think of asking me this. What an honor. This afghan clearly meant something to all of them. This clearly needed to be finished and gifted to her dad. Rochelle only had the partially completed afghan and a couple more skeins of the yarn her mom was using. I would have to figure out what hook she used and figure out the stitch pattern.

Rochelle and her husband dropped off the package to me on a very hot sunny day. They were gracious enough to look past all of the crazy chaos happening at my home. When you have people come to your home the first time---there is always an urge and a need for it to be clean and orderly. Well, not in this case. God bless them. I remember peering into the bag and thinking to myself- sure, no problem-easy peasy--but what the heck kind of stitch is this???? I knew it was some sort of a shell stitch. That was it. I tried pulling back the yarn to unravel a few stitches---but it did not make sense. Some of the stitches were done differently then the others. I took it to another friend of mine who crochets a great deal. She too, had a similar problem figuring it out. She even brought out all of her hooks to help figure out what size I needed.  After a few hours, we came up with a stitch that we thought worked well, and I was on my way to the store to buy the hook that I needed.

I worked on the afghan at night when things were calmer and cooler in the house. I would think of Rochelle and her family. I prayed to her mom and asked her to help me finish this in a good way. I prayed to Creator to help bless my stitching, help me re-create what this woman had done. I kept thinking about how important this afghan was and what it meant to the family. I felt so honored and humbled every time I sat and worked on it.

The day finally came when I was finished. I was so happy that it was done and looked good. I honestly could not tell where her mom ended and where I picked up. Mission accomplished. I made the call to Rochelle and happy to tell her the news. She picked it up and away she went. I have thought many times about that afghan and the meaning of it. I have thought many a time of her mom in heaven watching me work on her gift to her husband. I have crocheted many items in the past---but I am a Quilter to the bone. Working on this afghan made me use muscles I have not used in a long time. It made me reflect on the meaning of creating something, of gifting, of our family and loved ones, on extending ourselves to help others, the joys and pains of life.

So----needless to say, I was very happy when her father had this picture taken of him and asked her to forward it to me. He loves it and he said it is so warm. Way awesome!!! Way good!!! Today was so cold to me when I got out of bed----I couldn't help thinking of cuddling under quilts and afghans. This picture is picture perfect for today. 

Country road take me home....

Well--we did it. My family and I flew to California for Thanksgiving, and we made it back safe. We wanted to go and see our daughter and my son who are there. It has been over a year and a half since I have seen Doug, and it has been since this August that I haven't seen my daughter. Hate it, hate that I don't get to see my kids often. Hate that I have to fly out and take a vacation to see them. But.... feel very blessed that I am able to do this. We flew into California on Tuesday and stayed at a hotel in Burbank. Burbank was a great place to stay. Very interesting there. The weather was very nice-perfect for us. Not to hot and not to cool. Total flip flop weather for me. We were able to walk around and take in the sites. We ate at a few local places. One of the restaurants we ate breakfast in was all decked out in the 50's- so cool. There was a small juke box at every table. You could play 3 songs for 25 cents. My kids thought that was the neatest thing---of course we played song after song. One of the things we decided to do was actually on my Husbands birthday---it was the day after Thanksgiving. We went on a tour at Warner Bros Studio in Hollywood. That was so way cool! We saw props from shows like Superman, Batman, Big Bang Theory, Friends,Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls. Pretty little liars, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne movies and more. We love this kind of stuff! It was neat to go into the studios were they film current live shows. It is amazing to see how little the areas are that they film in--not really how it looks on TV. The men in our group went crazy over all of the Batman mobiles and motorcycles---yep, they were all there and all running! My daughter was thrilled with the Gilmore Girls homes and scenes--and yes----Friends. Me---loved the Friends scenes and props--but I really loved the stuff for Harry Potter.

Marissa and I sitting on the couch from "Friends" TV show

We were just goofing off here and staging a laugh scene

Marissa behind the counter at the "Central Perks" scene for Friends TV show.

Thanksgiving day was spent at a friends home in Calabasas. Cheryl--great host, beautiful home, wonderful dinner. Her mother and brother joined us. It was a very nice day. How many people will open up their doors on a holiday and invite a group of people in-some that they are meeting for the first time and host a holiday meal??? Not many that is for sure--but this lovely lady did. Thank You Cheryl!! If you haven't guessed yet---that is who I made the blue and grey fabric coil basket for. She liked it and it matched her living room.

Getting ready to film me on a broom from Harry Potter movie

It is pretty neat to walk around an area that is not your home and see how they prepare for the Holiday season. So weird though to see Christmas lights, trees and wreaths out and about right next to palm trees. Had to take this picture of this Christmas tree. It was huge and you could walk right through it to get to the other shops. At night, this tree was all lite up and pretty.

had to show this- a Christmas tree in California that you can walk through. That is Joe Man standing there.

The days went by quickly. Before we knew it, we were flying back home. We flew out of Canada, so coming back was the same. It felt so long of a flight and then the 2 hour drive home felt endless. Back to the cold, back to our fur babies. Our home was waiting safe and sound for us---all thanks to my friend Colleen. She took care of our home and fur babies. She is a true gem. Thank you Colleen!! It was really good to see the kids and spend time with them. In a blink of an eye our trip was over and time to say goodbye again. I really hate saying goodbye. Hello is so much better. It is always nice to be back home though, no place like home. I missed my fur babies and of course...... being the quilter that I am...... I missed all of my machines and fabric. I do have a story that I will share with everyone later about fabric and California. For now,,I am sitting here in my home enjoying a nice cup of coffee and thinking about our next visit with our kids.

Sister's Choice

What a beautiful day it is today!! Again- I am in awe of the beauty I see in my back yard with all the fall leaves on the grass. I just love the fall colors. I am also so impressed on how nice and warm it is outside. Love it. Well, I have been working hard on some of my projects that are just gimping along. The old saying: works in progress. Well, I have a bunch of work in progress going on in my studio.  I had planed on working on some of them at my Quilt retreat, but I was hung up on working mostly on one of them. I will show pictures of that at a later date. This one: Sister's Choice is a Bonnie Hunter pattern. I took a class from her well over a year ago. I have slowly been plugging away at this quilt.I brought the tote that has all of the fabric and directions in it to retreat, but realized I did not bring all of the fabric that I needed. I had to put to lid back on and say to myself, not meant to be, I will have to wait and do this at home. I find that there are many steps to making one 10 inch block. For me, the progress is slow. That is OK. I am using all of my scraps and it is so much fun playing with all of my fabric. I keep trying to in vision what it will look like on my bed when it is completed. Anticipation is killing me. I am attracted to this pattern because it has such a homey, comforting, loving feel to it. I was so thrilled to take the class with Bonnie. She is one of my favorite teachers. Just love her. She really is as nice in person as she is on the videos I watch of her. I would so much like to take another class from her. Until then, I will keep plugging away at my quilt top. The good news is that I am close to being half way there!!! How is that for positive thinking?!! . I plan on running a few errands today- and then hide myself in my studio and sew until my eyes cross.

Bonnie Hunter and Me

Bonnies Sister Choice she brought to display

A few of my blocks. Just love how they are turning out

Hahahahaha

Quilt Retreat!!!

Today is a day that I love. I am packing up all of my sewing projects, machine and notions. I am loading them into my car-set the direction, and off I go!!! I love Quilt retreat. It is always so much fun. Very relaxing. I enjoy being with all the ladies. Listening to the sound of their machines. Because as we all know- they all have their own voices. I love to see what everyone is making. See their fabric. Talk, Laugh, be silly. There is usually the same core people that come. Not all are quilters. We have ladies that make garments, hand sew wool, make jewelry, machine embroider, and scrapbook their photos. Mary Elfman is the woman in charge. It is all due to her hard work and efforts that this retreat occurs twice a year. Once in the fall and then again in the spring. We have been meeting at the Chautauqua Institute. Times are changing, this time, we will be meeting at the Clarion Hotel in Dunkirk NY. I have never been there before. It is on Lake Erie. Currently it is raining-I am hoping it will clear up so that we can go outside and view the lake. I will be there from today until Sunday afternoon. Oh- I have been getting ready for a couple of weeks for this. I ordered T shirts that are not only Halloween like but have to deal with sewing. I even have new pj"s. I have a few stops to make along the way for supplies- and then on to my destination. My thoughts are to not only talk and catch up with everyone but to  try to get at least one quilt top done. I have this silly desire to fulfill. I remember my Mom talking about when she was younger and growing up in Buffalo. It was so different back then. She often said that her and her girlfriends would go to the corner stores at night to get penny candy while they were wearing their pj"s. There were times she said that they would go in the local bar to find their Dad's, Uncles etc..... to ask them for some pennies first. I have always laughed about that....... so in honor of my mom, I am going to wear my pj's and slippers and sit at the bar in the hotel and order a drink. I will lift it up and toast my Mom in heaven. I am sure she will get a kick of it.  Not sure if I will be able to post my blog while I am gone. If not--- I will play catch up when I get back. I wish everyone a great sewing weekend!!

Simple Christmas Tidings

I know, I know, I know...... Christmas stuff already???!!!! Yep, and so it begins. I bet there are a few people surprised that I am going to sew something that doesn't have to do with Halloween. Ha---in a way, me too! Don't get me wrong-I do love Christmas. I love the reason for the season. I just do not like all of the commercialism. Christmas is a joyful time and also a difficult time for me. Christmas is all about family. Unfortunately for me, my parents have dropped their earthly cloaks and have gone back to Creator. My children are all scattered around the USA and it is difficult for them to come home with their work schedules. So....... I never really feel like decorating or doing much because it just is not the same without family. But---this cute book caught my eye one day when I was at Creekside Quilting. I just had to buy it. It not only has wonderful quilty items in it to make, but it also has delicious recipes in it. I could not resist. I also love the fabric line that is show cased in the book. Wonderful-simply wonderful!!!!!  All of my warm fall/winter colors. I don't care to much for bright colored fabric, so these were perfect for me. As luck would have it, I am told that there will be a class on one of the projects in this book. It will be on the "Twinkle Trees Table Topper". I know that I can make this on my own, but sitting with other like minded people with machines humming all around me, does sound very inviting. Why not I ask myself?! I was with a friend of mine that day, we both decided to sign up. So glad that we did. Because of the distance, I had Creekside mail me the kit. They are really sweet about doing that. I spent a good couple of hours ironing, and cutting all the fabric up per the directions. It was not difficult-just time consuming. I have the stripology ruler from Creative Grids. It was such a help. I would recommend this ruler to anyone. Yes- I do have the Accuquilt cutter system. They do not currently have a 1 1/2 square inch die cut, that is why I love my stripology ruler. Now I am already for my class this Saturday. I am excited and looking forward to making this project. It will make me smile when I see it all completed and on my dining room table. It will be a bright spot for a not to happy time for me. Quilting does help heal the heart.

All of the cut pieces and left overs

The so delicious book!

Halloween sewing- Cats and Witches

I just have to say- these are just so darn cute!!! I love them. I really like how they turned out. These are not my original patterns. I did get them from the Internet.The Cat is from the Therm-o-web website by Jedi Craft girl and the Witch is from Polkadotchair.com I like to check out other blogs and see what is new and exciting for other people in the sewing world. I did alter these patterns just a bit. The Cat pillow was to have a zipper on the outside, I didn't want to do that. The Witch pillow was to have a large white oval circle underneath the silhouette, but I did not want to do that either. This was the first time that I sewed with large rick rack and pom poms for trim. It was a bit tricky in places. I love to try different things and to keep learning-so this was a good experience. I definitely know what to do and not to do for the next time inserting these embellishments. Hint: fabric glue and wonder clips are a must. These pillows are  16 x 16. I used a pre-made pillow form. Fabrics are from what I had on hand. I honestly think these are so cute- I am not quite sure where I will put these. I do want to see them easily and frequently-probably in my sewing room. For the rest of this beautiful fall day- I think I will spend it in my sewing studio working on the quilt that is currently on the long arm frame. I will be posting pictures of that quilt once it is done.

New addition to my Halloween madness

Quilt Love and my Joe Man

I have to say-these are some of my favorite pictures!! This is my youngest of 5, Joseph. He just came home last night for the Holiday weekend. So good to have him home for a couple of days. It made me go down memory lane. Though we refer to him as Joey or Joe Man- it is mainly Joe Man. Why Joe Man? I am not sure- I think it is because he is the youngest of 5 and that all his brothers are older then him. I think I just woke up one day and started calling him that--it must have caught on because I hear many people using this nick name for him. Love it. My son is now in College. He is currently in his second year at Niagara University. This picture is a year old now. Amazing how time flies! One day he is a baby in my arms-the next minute he is graduating from high school, the next blink of an eye- he is in his second year of college. I made him this quilt that he is pictured with. I designed it myself with a bit of input from him. He wanted a hockey quilt with the Buffalo Sabre's colors. So with that in mind----I got busy at it. I searched the web for hockey material. When I was narrowing down my choices-I had him come in and give me his opinion. With a click of a button it was ordered and on it's way to me. Once it came, more designing motors came into gear. I started to plan the layout. I decided to cut figures out of the one border material and applique them on the panel as if they were playing hockey. Then, I had to come up with a block. I named this block-Joey's block.The rest all seemed to fall into place. He did ask if I could quilt a few Hockey team names into it. I said of course-sure. Well, I decided to put all the teams in it. Oh my---I never knew until that moment exactly how many teams are in the NHL!!!! I am not a sports person and I don't ever think I will be. Boy was I shocked. No matter- I did my best and rest assured, they are all in there. This picture is when I presented the finished product to him. He loved it and still does. It is currently on his dorm bed. I am so pleased with how this quilt turned out. I am tickled pink that he loves it and uses it daily. It makes my heart warm that even though he is away from me-he is wrapped up in all my motherly love. Now that is what a quilt is for!!!!

Joe Man holding up his quilt and being his usual fun self.

wrapping himself up in all that quilty goodness

Blessings! Help from all of my loved ones!

I have been sitting here and thinking about all the wonderful people in my life. I made a decision about several months ago to retire from Nursing and pursue my creative avenue full time. I have to admit-it was a bit nerve racking and scary at the same time. But---Creator is so wonderful- I am surrounded by my wonderful family and friends. If it was not for them and all of the love and help that they have given me.......I truly don't think this all would be happening. To them I am forever grateful and words alone can not express my gratitude to you all. Thank you Creator. So as the next couple of months roll around, I plan on working a great deal on my business:" Black Hat Quilter". I am going to become one with this computer and work hard on this website, I will be creating a business facebook site, I will be printing off brochures for the Longarm aspect of my business. And of course-continuing to doodle on fabric and experiment with all kinds of yummy designs. I have so many pictures that I want to upload here for all to see. I have an awesome camera that is so much fun to play with, it is even capable of doing short videos-now that would be cool to post! I have so many things that I am going to be sharing--it is all so exciting.So for now-I will continue to smile and be filled with gratitude for all that has been given to me. My plans for today is to work on the longarm and play with one of my customers quilts and smile the hours away.

Welcome to the Black Hat Quilter!