HALLOWEEN IN ALIVE AND WELL

in our community they celebrate trick or treat the thursday closest to halloween. when i first heard this i thought...what a sham... where is the spirit of spookiness and fun? well, i changed my mind. it is planned citywide from 6-8pm. let me back up a bit. i moved from a very large city and my hometown, tulsa, ok, to the capitol of w.v., charleston, within the last year. i have not had "real" trick or treaters in maybe......ten years. last night was what i remembered it to be when i was a child. we had loads of children. they began promptly at six, the streets filled and we had a steady stream through the next two hours then like magic at eight.....poof! no more. it is a wonderful idea. no errant rings of the doorbell at 10pm.

i thought the costumes this year were really good. it looks like parents dug into the pocketbook. my faves were the giant skull with the eyeballs that bounced around on springs....couldn't stop laughing at him....and the winter princess...who was cloaked in white fur and gold brocade...really beautiful. you can view some of these on my flickr page by clicking here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tulsagirl/sets/72157622569695095/detail/ or the flickr badge on the sidebar.

i hope everyone had a wonderful halloween,

BABY, BABY, BABY

i know it isn't as exciting as a full size improv quilt with out of print or hand drawn fabric BUT this is what i have been working on the past couple of days. come on, give me a break....i DO have larger quilts in the works and several works in progress....unfortunately most of them are gifts and i may be discovered. i may end up posting them anyway so be warned.

anyway....fast easy rag quilts. the first being for my sweet jackson with the star of the quilt posed on top. i backed it with soft minky and satin for his little hands to explore....

and i had to buy him a new bobo (sock monkey)....bobo is his mothers. he is a little loveworn. it is time for him to retire.

one rag quilt for boy....one rag quilt requested by a friend for a baby shower. joanns had a ginormous sale on flannel and fleece.

i got into my "sewing for babies" book and very quickly whipped up this cute little snuggly and a warm hat to match. do not be alarmed at the child in the snuggly. it was the best i could do so you would know what the heck it was...

okay.....back to the big quilts...

love, me.

i forgot the camera again

this last thursday i branched out and took a bus trip into virginia and tennessee. it was a trip organized by quilts by phyllis to check out fabric and quilting stores. this was the cats pajamas....i had so much fun and i could have spent the night in those stores.

i want to give a shoutout to phyllis first though. if you live close to west virginia you need to visit phyllis and her store. not only will you find a large selection of top quality fabric and classes..her fabric pricing is also well below other stores you will visit. you will receive the friendliest and best service you can imagine. they quickly took me under their wing. quilts by phyllis is located in hurricane, WV just off I64. http://quiltsbyphyllis.blogspot.com/.

i will also say i will be traveling back to kingsport TN to go to tennessee quilts again. what a selection. the prices are high without a discount (which we received) but well worth it if you need something of high quality. i bought adorable fabric and cannot wait to get going on some new quilt ideas...

some of them i can post and although i would dearly love to show you what i am working on most of them are gifts so i cannot.

let's just say i have almost completed two quilts the last two weeks and have three more started. i have a sore back and knees from crawling around on the floor stretching quilts but they sure are pretty.

OH!!!! one more thing. in searching for " just the right color of pink" kona cotton i thought i would go crazy. i searched on hancock's of paducah's website and found this.....a huge fold out color chart with actual fabric! OMG i love this thing! i would highly recommend if you use solid color. the day after i received it i saw another quilter blog about it....so...grab yours wherever you can for a mere 15 bucks....very worth it.

saying goodbye to summer through food

as i was planning dinner the other night i realized it was time for a change of menu. we can all say goodbye to all the fresh fruits and veggies we have enjoyed all summer. just another one of those little things i dislike about winter. winter food can be fun but it lacks the color and vibrance of freshness.

with a recipe to share for you this was probably my last summer meal. a light dinner of tilapia with a reduced balsamic sauce....very yummy.

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (i buy one bottle that is very expensive for sauces and dressings

1 clove minced garlic. cook on medium until it reduces...approx 5-7 minutes while whisking. remove from heat. saute your tilapia in olive oil salt and pepper until done....just a few minutes. reheat the sauce and slowly add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of butter (i know, i know) butt it is good.

drizzle sauce over fish. it is also very good over sugar snap peas. NOT snow peas. big difference. a little wild rice, fresh ground coffee and the very last of fresh peaches plucked from the freezer to make the seasons last cobbler. YUM!!!

cobbler is much better cooked. in addition, you know it is the last summer cobbler when it is resting on a halloween hotpad.

love to all, me.

OMG i'm 50

i am going to date this post 10-4-09.

i apologize. there have been no posts for a bit. i can now move forward with my life without continual self reflection that the last two weeks have brought. 50!!!! i cannot believe it. i received a AARP card on my birthday. good grief. i had a lovely day on my birthday. i am going to post as if it is october 4th as that is when i thought i would post this.

i spent the day opening gifts, speaking to loved ones then we headed to kanawha state forest for a little hike. it was gorgeous and i have vowed to hike more often. especially now, the leaves are changing and although i abhore cold weather it is impossible to deny the beauty of fall. it is as if nature shows off trying to fill our brains with images to suffice for the colorless bitter cold that the next few weeks will slowly bring. in addition to that zoe thought the hike was the best thing since chicken.

we snapped a few pics. unfortunately on a cell phone as i forgot my camera.

what an unusual grouping of mushrooms. probably very poisonous but very pretty.

the leaves are just beginning.

a beaver dam. quite beautiful

half a century old.

have a great day!

WIP

okay i know. be creative leslie. quit using free download patterns from moda. but you know what? i have so many plans for so many quilts. if you are a quilter you will know what i am talking about. you have all this very cute fabric. a lot of it you have hoarded along with patterns, pictures, dog eared books and bookmarked sites for ALL these quilts that you are going to make with that "just perfect" fabric. this is only my second quilt. i didn't want to mess up perfectly good nest material on something i wasn't sure was going to highlight the fabric and i am just not experienced enough yet to pull that in. THAT SAID......i have almost completed my nest quilt. it is sandwiched with about three blocks quilted.

i am having a hard time trying to decide to quilt blocks differently or all the same. i better make up my mind pretty quick because i have three different blocks done three different ways so....that would be a lot of ripping.

thanks for looking. if you know me this could be for you. i am working on christmas right now. maybe not though.

love....me

FINALLY!!!!!!!

i have endured most every hurdle i can think of while constructing this quilt. i have had this quilt hanging around for the better part of 5 months. finally....3 sewing macines later and the proper techniques FINALLY working it is finished. layered, stippled, bound, washed, dried and ready to go to its owner...oh darn....will have to make the label. surely that cannot be that difficult.





so jackson honey. this was my first quilt and you sure taught saaa a lot of lessons. i just hope the ones waiting in the wings will go a little more smoothly. there are a lot waiting in the wings. too much. unfinished. staring at me.


if i do not start moving this fabric i could be in trouble. i am signed up for some interesting classes. hopefully i will learn not to make too many mistakes and quilts will be pulled from my dryer on a weekly...not every six month basis.





















can you say STASH!!!! i have a stash and i don't want to see it go down but it has to. oh whoa is me.














okay......you cannot create very large blankets without a very large amount of fabric. several of them are gifts and a girl has to express her creativity.

they make you happy just looking at them don't they?

i hope everyone finds there niche in life or in tomorrow. everyone needs a niche. it helps stress levels.

time to sew a few more items.....pack a box with a little boy's name on it and send it on to oklahoma.

his name is jackson and he started my love of quilting. thank you jackson.