hello again

I have not fallen off a cliff hiking.

I did not sustain a grievous wound whilst sewing.

I did not run away with a strikingly handsome millionaire.

(too bad).

I have been reading.

Yup.

Reading.

Winter break afforded me the glorious opportunity to read non-work stuff.

You know, fiction that was always meant to be fiction.

Because we all know some stuff we read at work

really isn't real.

So, you ask, what has so raptly held my attention?

Has she been reading the classics?

Reading the top 100 books of all time?

Nope.

I have been sucked in by modern western murder thrillers.

I KNOW!

In December I blew through all 8 of Craig Johnson's Longmire books.

SOOOOOOOO good.

They even made a TV series from the books, on A&E in the summer.

Now that its January I'm quickly burning through the pages of

C.J. Box's novels. Also in the modern western murder thriller genre.

Both authors set their stories in northern Wyoming, one with a Sheriff and one with a Game Warden as the chief antagonists.

So really not my usual fare, I like novels about strong women and quilting.

I enjoy writers like Sandra Dallas (Prayers for Sale and Whiter Than Snow), Lisa See (Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan), Lorna Landvik (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons), and Jennifer Chiaverini (The Quilter's Apprentice, and the other Elm Creek novels), and many, many others.

But these modern western thrillers have me HOOKED!

But.
I have not abandoned sewing.
I made a few baskets over the past month.
You know, the kind where you wrap clothesline with strips of fabric and then coil them as you sew?
This...

 Gets sewn like this....

 To make this, my new egg basket. So much prettier to see in the fridge than a styrofoam carton.

Hmmm, I think I need to run to the farm to get more eggs.

 Here's another basket that works great for holding one of my favorite fruits (or is it vegetables?)
How can you not love avocados?

I also took some winter hikes.
This is along the Missouri River just before the confluence with the mighty Mississippi.

The water was a bit low.

And here is a lovely trail in Greensfelder Park.

Check out the brilliant green moss on this boulder. I took this photo in LATE December.

I did get involved in another challenge with my St Louis Modern Quilt Guild and

with the The Modern Quilt Guild using Madrona Road fabrics.

About 20 of us jumped at the chance to turn seven fat eights of fabric from the

Madrona Road line into something quilted, using the vast majority of the fabric given to us.

We (the quilt guild) were gifted the blue colorway to work with.

Needless to say, the orangey-pink colorway is more my speed.

Sooooo.

I compromised and made a two sided quilt.

Huh?

Well, I can't decide which side is the top and which is the back.

I like them both.

So here is the warm side which I'm calling "Side Roads"

 And here is the cool side with the fabrics we were given.
I'm calling this side "Gravel Road".

I quilted them with my version of my friend's Wyoming Winds freehand pattern.
If the sun comes out, I'll take more photos with better lighting.
I can't help that the lighting in my classroom is not the best.
I'll let the president of the school board know.
Really.
He's an old friend of mine.
Somehow I don't think it will do any good.
Sigh.

I'll try not to disappear so much again.
But I do have several books to read.
There's nothing like the printed word.
Nothing.



Tuesday's Truth

Change is good, unless it's only something you keep in your pocket or in a jar on a shelf.

Tuesday's Truth

Sometimes you just have to sit down, shut up, and enjoy whats right in front of your face.



Friday Winners

Phewwwww.

Swim season is finally over.

You have no ideas how nice it was to take my time

leaving my meeting,

getting to visit with collegues

and wrap up loose ends for the week without the rush of

meeting the practice bus of having to plan on coming

back into work after hours.

Ahhhhhh.

So.

A winner is needed.

Someone has to win this fabulous pattern of Kristy's.

With the handy-dandy help of Mr. Random Number generator

The winner of either a PDF or paper version of

Kristy's INDEX quilt pattern is.....

Miss Nancy!!

I'll pass on your email to Kristy and she will be contacting you soon

to let you know how to collect your prize.

Be sure to share your version of INDEX with all of us!

Tuesday's Truth

Sometimes when you think you need everything to fall just exactly in place to be perfect,

you are wrong.

Sometimes it's perfect when things don't happen like they are supposed to.

Index quilt Blog hop and Giveaway

So, as you have been able to tell from the lack of posting

the past few months, I've been a bit busy.

And not necessarily in a having fun, doing what I love, relaxing way.

Swim season and IEP's and lesson planning and other detritus of life

really put a dent in doing things I enjoy.

Until last weekend, it had been MONTHS since I read a book for pleasure.

In the midst of all this stress, I jumped at the opportunity to

test a quilt pattern for my friend Kristy.

I figured, technically, it was work, not pleasure,

so I could squeeze out some time for it.

GAWD, I'm glad I did!!

 It turned out to be just the stress relief I needed.

Kristy sent me a copy of her pattern to test,

 saying "just do one or two blocks".

So I dutifully did.

And then made a few more because I liked the way it looked

and thought, here's a great baby quilt!

And then made a few more, thinking, here's a great picnic quilt.

And then made a few more,

because, really, I wanted a big 'ol lap quilt

(seriously, who's taking a picnic now that it's almost winter?).

So here's what mine ended up looking like

I love Kristy's quilt in that wonderful jelly roll assortment of colors,
but I really like the simplicity of my two tone.
Just so's ya know,
this ain't no Ohio State University quilt.
It just so happens that red Painter's Canvas and Kona Coal
look really good together.

So, how do you get your hot little hands on this fabulous pattern you ask?
Simple!
Head on over to Kristy's etsy shop and purchase either the PDF or the paper copy.
OR,
leave a comment for me about your favorite stress reliever.
Cuz' I'm giving away to one lucky person a PDF copy of the
Index quilt pattern!!
How awesome is that!

Hop along on the blog hop and check out how the other pattern testers
did with this great pattern (they're also giving away a copy of the pattern)
Here's the schedule:

Sunday 10/28 -- Kristy

Monday 10/29   -- Annie ,  Andi

Tuesday 10/30 -- Shelly,  Nancy

Wednesday 10/31 -- Halloween (BOO!)

Thursday 11/1 -- Beth,  Jess

Friday 11/2 -- Sara ,  Jacey

Remember, all you have to do is leave me a comment
and you are entered to win.
I will pick a random winner Friday 11/2.
I can't wait to see what the other gals in the hop post!

Index Quilt Hop and Giveaway

Holy cow, you know you've made it in the blogging world

when you are invited to participate

in a blog hop!

And it gets even sweeter when there's something

to give away!

My super talented friend Kristy has published another awesome quilt pattern

and is releasing it TODAY!

I was lucky enough to be one of her pattern testers

and let me just tell you, I {LOVE}this pattern.

You can check out more great pics of this fabulous quilt and

see what Kristy has to say about her pattern here

and then go to her etsy shop to purchase the pattern in PDF or paper form.

OR

you can follow the blog hop and enter to win a free PDF of the pattern.

Here's the hop schedule:

Sunday 10/28 -- Kristy (That's today!)

Monday 10/29   -- Annie (wahoo, that's me!) ,  Andi

Tuesday 10/30 -- Shelly,  Nancy

Wednesday 10/31 -- Halloween (trick or treat, don't smell my feet!)

Thursday 11/1 -- Beth,  Jess

Friday 11/2 -- Sara ,  Jacey

Come on back here tomorrow,

I'm lucky hop spot number one!

I can't wait to show you the results of my first pattern testing.



A bit of Autumn randomness

Hey there.

Remember me?

I've been a bit busy since August.

So busy that I haven't had much time to do the things I enjoy the most.

That included reading and quilting and updating this blog.

But now I'm back with concerted effort.

I'm in the habit of taking my little point and shoot camera everywhere.

Here's a bit of what I've seen recently:

This is the maple tree in my front yard.

I came home one Sunday after running errands

and there were people taking pictures of it.

Random People.

Weird.

But if you got up close to the tree, you could see that it glowed.

Yep, this tree is so beautiful in its color it actually

glows.

Hands down my favorite tree in the fall.

Anywhere.

This is a cat.

A fat cat.

A morbidly obese cat. See its tiny head?

This is NOT my cat.

This is the pasta aisle at my favorite Italian grocery in Ohio.

Yes, it really is as long as a standard grocery aisle.

And yes, it really only has pasta in it.

Pasta made in the USA, pasta made in Italy.

Every pasta shape man could ever dream up making.

One aisle over is olive oils and vinagers.

Yep, another whole aisle dedicated to wonderful ingredients you can only dream about.

Sigh. 

This is my beacon for Ohio. I love this barn.

Closer to home, the city was being optimistic.

Not a man (working or not) around.

I love the sign maker with a sense of humor.

Went to the farm to get fresh eggs this morning and I was greeted by

a couple of does taking a nap in the sun.

Seems like a great idea.



Tuesday's Truth

Sometimes, when you least expect it and when you need it most, people come through. Have faith that it will happen.

Five things I love about Autumn

1. I love the smell of Autumn. There's something about the autumn air; its crisper, with the hint of wood smoke and frost, and give it time, a tease of snow to come. The only seasonal smell that is as pungent is blooming lilacs in the spring, and that's only when you are near them. Autumn can be smelled EVERYWHERE!

2. I love the taste of Autumn. Its when we start baking apple pies, and maccaroni and cheese from scratch, and tomato soup and grilled grilled cheese. And bread, yeasty warm bread. Fresh out of the oven (or in this case, rising). After a long hot summer when you didn't want to even look at an oven, all we want to do now is have something baking or simmering or roasting.

3. I love the feel of Autumn. Sweaters and jeans in the day, piles of quilts in the evenings. 'Nuff said.
(pictures of new quilt to come soon)

4. I love the sound of Autumn. Rustling leaves, honking migrating geese, childern jumping into piles of leaves. Neighbors chatting over the fence while tidying up the yard.

5. I love the sights of Autumn. All those fall festivals (how many Octoberfests can one metropolitan city have??), blue skies, fog on the river in the morning, clearer skies at night to see the stars. And those leaves, those beautiful changing leaves.

Just gotta love Autumn.