Tis the Season

The holiday season has begun. And with it all the family traditions. Thanksgiving was done a little different this year. After having a turkey at my husbands parents house I headed over to my cousins house. It was wonderful. Everyone brought something(I made two desserts) We had two different kinds of turkey and all just relaxed. Trust me we needed that. The night ended over my uncles house for my Grandmothers Birthday. It really was a nice relaxing Thanksgiving.

A new tradition for ther last three years had been that on Saturday we load up the kids and Jim's best friend and his wife. We drive to NH and get a hotel room then the next morning we spend the day at Santa's Village. Everyone had a blast but I froze my bottom off and caught a nice cold which I am now nursing and constantly giving my husband dirty looks for. He is trying to tell me you can't catch a cold from being outside all day in the cold shivering.

The good news to this is my shopping is all done and so is most of my wrapping. I am getting so good at shopping I even bought some people the same present twice.Opps At least I still had the receipt and can return them.

Hope everyone is well and happy!

Zippers Part 2

Once all of the layers are zippered on add your batting and basted. Then stretch your top over and bast. You are now loaded and ready to quilt.
And then every quilters favorite saying quilt as desired.

And now you have a quilted top. The best part if you run out of thread or want to work on something else all you have to do is unzip.

Happy Quilting

Dawn-Marie

Zippers Part 1

As the saying goes"There is more than one way to skin a cat" Okay that is kind of a gross saying but the point is this is the way that I have done my zippers. I know there are probably others ways but this is the way that works for me.

You will need three sets of zippers. Then separate the zippers. At this point you will only be using the section that hast the metal pull tab. This part of the zipper will be sewed directly on to the leaders. I just pinned them on and then used the machine that is attached to sew them. Make sure that the zippers going on the leaders for the backing fabric have the tabs in opposite ends. This way if you have a directional border you can up zip and turn the quilt around and rezipp. If the two zippers are going in the same direction you will not be able to do this.



After the zippers are sewn on re zip the other end. Mark the middle. Go by the markings that should already be on your leader strip. DO NOT fold the zippers in half and assume that is your halfway point because it will not be. Also on the backing fabrics mark a and b to coincide with the zippers on the frame. This will ensure that your top is centered. If you do not do this you might think something is wrong when everything is all zipped and does not line up. I also not if fabric is right side up or wrong side up.
Now pin your quilt top to the correct zippers. this is the best part. You can be sing this in your favorite chair. Watching your favorite movie or just hanging out with family. You will only pin one side of your top and both sides of your backing. Make sure to find your center of your fabric first then line up the center of the fabric to the center mark of the zipper. Start pinning from the center out. So this for all three zippers.

Now zipper to the leaders in the same order as you would have pinned them.

Back from Nashua

I am back. Well okay I have been back since Monday afternoon but this is my first chance to write. As you can see above I behaved myself. Well I almost behaved myself. Okay I had tons of fun NOT behaving myself but I can tell you my friend Melissa pile is twice as big as mine.

My sides are still hurting from all of the laughter and fun that was had. I got even more sewing done than I thought and show and tell with the gang was even better than looking at the quilts at the show.

I have to say out of all the quilting trips that I go on this is my favorite. Not because of the quilts but because of the friends that show up!

I can't wait to start playing with these fabrics. The orientals are going to be the first ones I work on as soon as I finish the challenge quilt. I might have a change of plans on that quilt though. I pulled out a UFO that was designed by my friend Howdy and am thinking that this should be the quilt that I enter or maybe I will enter two. Hmmm time will tell.

Dawn-Marie

A little of this a little of that

We have a rule in our family. No buying anything in the couple of months before Christmas. Well it seems my husband doesn't quite like this rule because he came home with this little four wheeler for the kids. With two more on order! Now the kids can all go four wheeling with him. I am thinking this would have made great Christmas gifts. Heck we wouldn't have had to buy them anything else if they had these under the tree. Hmmm I better have one good gift under the tree for me for me.

My dear, dear friend Neen came over the other night to finish up her guild quilt. Here she is hard at work on the "Queen Neener" Yup I named it after her. She wouldn't let me get to close with the camera cause she didn't do her hair. Look at the concentration in her eyes. That quilt is going to keep some cancer patients nice and warm during their chemo appointments.

And this is what I got accomplished while she was here. It doesn't look like much but trust me that is good for me. On the right is a scrappy binding. this is my new passions to use the left over fabric for scrappy bindings instead of finding one big piece of fabric. It is now attached to the quilt and ready to stitch down which I will do in Nashua. The rest is the start of the Challenge quilt(see Teri I started it)

I have to get packed to go to Nashua tomorrow but first I get to go over to Neens house tonight for dinner then I get to go to her guild meeting. I am very VERY excited. I have never been to a guild meeting before! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!

But (sigh) before I get to do any of this I need to pick the kids up early for school to take them to get our flu shots. I am glad my kids are good at getting these. They actually reminded me that they needed them.

Have a great weekend!

Dawn-Marie

A Shiver Went down my Spine

Today while cooking my kids breakfast my gabber asked me if Annabelle Lee was a real person. Of course I had no clue as to what she was talking about. They often spring these types of questions on me without giving me the background information. They just let the question hang like I should have been reading their minds to know where the questions come from. She informed me it was a poem and then started reading.

When she started reading I think I stopped breathing for a second and slightly burnt the eggs.Opps. The poem was an Edger Allen Poe poem. It was a poem that I loved so much as a young girl that I used to have it memorized. To hear my darling daughter reading this very same poem to me just filled me with such joy and at the same time just a touch of sadness. I watched years just slip away as I watched myself reading this poem. In a second she brought me back to my youth and the simple joys that just reading a poem could bring to me.

My daughter looked a little shocked as I started saying the poem with her. She could not believe that I knew the words without looking. and I could not believe with all the books and poems out there she would pick my favorite poem to read to me. I do believe there is a little of me in her. These are the moments that are meant to be cherished.

Tagged again

Okay Giz I can be a good sport again so here goes.

4 Jobs: Making beds and working in a kitchen at a nursing home, Working in the accounting dept at a bank, cutting hair, managing a construction insp company.

4 Films I could watch over and over: Emma, My Fair Lady, Pride & Prejudice, Gigi

4 TV Shows I watch: CSI; The Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars

4 Places I've Lived: Portland,Maine Westbrook, Maine

4 Favorite Foods: Italian Bread, Spaghetti Pie, Stuffed Artichokes,Fresh Maine Crabs

4 Favorite Colors: Purple, Blue, Red

4 Places I would like to be right now: Retreat with friends; Home Sewing; Someplace warm; Home reading to the kids

4 Names I love, but could not use on my children: Sasha(already used it on my cat when I was younger), Emily Victoria, Andrew John

4 People I would love to tag: I don't know enough bloggers they have already been tagged by Howdy.