New things...

Good morning everyone! Stu is off doing a DB (Disciplinary Barracks) 10K this morning so the kids and I are having a nice slow start, and it is fantastic.

I think the kids have been going to school for 3 weeks now and I really love all that they are coming home with, they are bubbling over with all that they have learned. I adore it when I am standing at the bus stop with some of the other moms and the kids explode out of the bus with their little hands full of their art work and math sheets. It is total chaos for about 20 minutes while they skip home, tell me about their wonderful day, drop their little backpacks, grab a snack, give me a hug then dash outside to play with their friends.

It is not so much WHAT they are learning as the attitude in which learning is approached. Emma and Ethan have been leaving me little scribbled notes all over and they are so beautiful.

So let me get on to my week now that I have gushed a bit about my babies. Sam (my 4 year old) is on all the preschool wait lists in town. So for now he and I are buddies. He has been very helpful this week while I hunt down pairs of Munki Munki PJs. Rachel, my flicker friend, emailed me last week letting me know that Munki Munki PJs are at Marshall's! That was all it took to make me a crazy woman driving all over Kansas and Missouri pawing through racks of "Intimate Apparel". My search was fruitful and now I am the proud owner of Sushi, Ice cream trucks, Martians, and Yoga. I swapped some Yoga with Rachel for tennis. Yes, I know this probably sounds like a code or secret language or sick obsession...but without my lovely fabric collection to rearrange and set up in "color stories" I have to do something! I even called my mom in NC and asked her to go to her Marshall's and see if they had any PJs. All this driving has an upside. I am over my fear of driving in the US (I am still a little apprehensive at roundabouts - so I much prefer it when other cars are in them so I don't have to think about which direction to drive) also I now know where all the fancy shopping areas are in Missouri. I still need to hunt down brick and mortar quilt shops, but I will have heaps of time later.

I went to the guild meeting Thursday night and brought along my version of their challenge quilt. The challenge was "any sized quilt with a bear paw block, a house, and you had to use the colors red and orange" Wellsir...there are some wickedly skilled ladies at the guild here in Kansas. Holy Cow...I felt like a complete baby. It was funny looking at my quilt beside all the other challenges. Mine was the ONLY crazy irregular LOUD piece. The tune "One of things is doing their own thing" kept running through my mind. One of the ladies came up to me after the voting and wanted to buy my little quilt...but I was not sure if she was going to use it in some program about how NOT to quilt or maybe she just felt sorry for me. So I told her it was not finished. I quite like it, myself. Now I am very excited to learn from these ladies. And every other one seems to own a Gammill Long arm which is a dream for me in the future. Their show and tell segment was very humbling for me as well.

Speaking of quilting...I am going to be making another quilt for Michelle Engel Benscko. Hustle up OZ shipment and get here!

Happy Sunday Morning!

Good morning All! I am here with my cup of coffee and my pot of porridge is on the stove waiting for my husband's sausage to finish cooking. I decided to pop in the office and try to scribble out a blog post while the kids sing along to "Sound of Music".


So much happened this week...but when does nothing happen around Clan Curtis? There is always something. Despite the mild chaos I did work a bit on this quilt. I am calling it "Birds of a Feather Flock together" I plan on hand quilting this one too. The quilting will tack down the little wings of the geese. I have a couple already pressed down in anticipation of this event.

On Thursday I had a Doctor Appointment for my creepy face rash and was also diagnosed with Hypertension. While no one seems to know what the heck is growing on my face, the doc did know just which ACE inhibitor to put me on. Yes, yes I know I am young, but it runs in my family. So I am making diet changes...not that big of changes as I really don't use that much salt anyway. I am not real wild about salted breakfast meat...but I am cutting back on my morning cup of coffee. Just 2 cups now instead of however much I used to drink.


Also on Thursday I got the deal of the century! Well, maybe not the century, but a pretty good score nevertheless. Sam and I decided to stop by the PX and wonder around a bit and low and behold! There were all these shelves out front kinda off to the side. They looked worried and confused, if you can imagine that look on a bunch of wooden shelves. The PX (Post exchange for you non military souls) is being renovated so each time I go everything has been shoved around. Well, back to the shelves...I decided that my fabric sure would look pretty all folded and stacked up on them, so I marched Sam back to the manager's office and asked her if she would consider selling some of the shelves to me.

• "Sure, how many do you want?"
• "well 4 should be fine. How much for 4"
• " hummmm how about $20"
• "really? For all 4?"
• "Yes."
• "OK...do I pay you?"

How awesome is that? The only catch was I had to get them home myself. No worries! My new mini van is super awesome and can become a cargo van in a matter of moments.

I also finally finished the washing and folding and putting away of all the mildewy clothing and linens. SO in celebration of that special event here is a picture of our bedroom. Not too fancy and yes, we know the bed is very wee. But Stu is so rarely around to spend the night that a full size bed is fine with me. He should be around all this year with classes and all, but the next stationing will predict how often he is home. So if he is around frequently I would like to have one of these beds STICKS or A fancy French gilded bed like Katy's .

Here is a bigger shot of the bedroom. The two old quilts are the only ones we have in the house at the moment. Which is fine for now since it is not really cold at night, but I am going to need to crank up the quit production if our Australia shipment does not hurry up and get here. Everyone says it gets very cold here in the winter.

This is my little sewing tree house all set up with my new cheapo shelves.

Here they are again...just waiting for my fabric to arrive. As you can see they used to hold Lotions and creams, I was going to paint the shelves a rich French Blue, but changed my mind and decided to keep the natural wood. I can always paint them with my next move.

Ok, I need to go start my day!

Have a great rest of your weekend,

Tia

Where am I going and what am I going to do when I get there?

These last few weeks without my sewing machines has been a bit like being cast out to sea in a small boat without a rudder. I seem to be bobbing along but without any real direction. It is really plain to me how much of my days were spent behind one of the Berninas. I am still doing a bit of sewing (it would be like not breathing for me not to have some little project to be working on) on my lovely old Nellie. But what I make with her just seem to be little thoughts that pop into my mind.

I am getting a bit panicky about how I am going to go about starting up my bag gig again. I have such a long wait list (well over 500 ladies) and I know it will be impossible to sew for everyone, but I kinda do want to sew for some of you again....I just DO NOT want to get swamped again like I have been over the past 3 years. I love making the bags I just am not totally sure how I am going to kick it off again. I want to dabble in it, not be drowned in it. I have to keep up the quality and beauty you have come to expect from me. But I also need to have heaps of time for my 3 little children and husband who need me so much. I adore being a mother, my children are my Magnum opus...my life's work as Charlotte of the Web quoted.


My Berninas should be here along with 2 crates (yes, that is right people, 2 massive wooden moving crates) filled with all my lovely fabric in the middle of September.


Part of me kinda wants to take the entire year off...grow as an artist and all that, or maybe just stock my Etsy shop with bags I create instead of the custom ordering like I have always done in the past. I am at a junction and there are so many different paths to take from where I am standing.


Should I take a deep breath and dive in, or just continue swimming around for the joy of the activity? Too bad there is not an easy answer.

Iraqi Bundles of Love

Here is a new project for you all to get involved in! I will figure out the Button eventually and add it to my sideline over to the right, but until then use this link Iraqi Bundles of Love. This project is being kicked off by Kristin LaFlame's Husband. Strangely enough I think our husband's worked together at one point in Heidelberg, Germany...I think. Most of you know I am an Army wife and my husband has been over to Baghdad on 2 tours (I think 26 months total). So in a way Iraq is in my thoughts frequently. I think about the women over there and what fills their days. So many of the stories out of Iraq are focused on the Male role and the women are overlooked or just not seen. So here is a way for us to reach out to them on a very functional level. You can find the FAQs here. Now off you go...go bundle up some sewing and knitting things and get them in the mail speedy quick. We only have until the 7th of September!

xo,

Tia

Hope Valley

I have been Hoping for a new Denyse Schmidt line to pet for some time and it looks like that time is right around the corner! O happy day. Her third line of quilting fabric is due out later this year (I will go out an a limb here and say it will probably be after Market in October) but it is named Hope Valley and you can see more of it over on the Freespirit Fabric site. She said she was inspired by homesteading, fresh starts, and pioneering. Sounds Just perfect for quilting in Kansas.

Where did I get this amazing information??? Well, I checked Kim's Blog True Up one last time before going to be last night and there it was. I dreamed of quilts and missing my flight connections. Odd combination I know.

I also broke down and ordered some Laura Gunn Fabric (Lantern Bloom ) this week and I will probably make a sewing machine cover with it. Quilted of course. But I may make another leather bag as well...who knows what will happen.

Second Day of School

My house is so quiet and peaceful....I feel a bit at a loss of what to do. But not really. There is plenty to do.

I can work on more of my blocks for the quilt I am trying to make. Do you all really "PLAN" your quilts? I don't. I have a very loose mental image of what I want it to look like and try to do a tiny bit of math in my mind, but other than that I don't really plan. I like to stack up fabric and see how they interact together and I guess that is the most planning I do. I like to lay out the blocks on the floor as I go to see if I am heading in the right direction, I do that alot. Also now that I have not one but two fluffy gatos I do alot of floor dusting.

Ellie has the right idea this morning. The cats are really warming up to us. Ellie never had a moments discomfort settling in. She was a Curtis from the beginning, but Ike (Eisenhower) is coming around very nicely. I think he has selected my middle son to be his special friend. Which is good. Ethan will shower him with love.

This is the porch off the kitchen. I went to the best garden shop yesterday. The big window box planter things were on super sale and they are very easy plants to tend. I also got some kitchen herbs....all that was left and healthy was the chives, thyme and orange mint. I use them all in my cooking, so hot dog. I will re-pot them later today. After I get my sewing out of my system.

I may have to go back to the fabric shop (Quilters' Quarters) and acquire a bit more yardage for my project....we will see.

Here are the kids yesterday morning as they were getting ready to go catch the bus. They had a wonderful day and were bursting with stories about their day when they got home. Both (Sam is staying with me for another year) Emma and Ethan have made friends and are in love with their teachers. I am thrilled. The school they attend is probably the most beautiful school I have ever seen. There is a stream running through the ground floor with ikoi fish and a garden for the children to tend. I looks like a shopping mall. But what is the most wonderful? The teachers USE the FM system! Emma can hear them! What a blessing.

Next step is to get in to see a dermatologist so I can have the cancer cut off my face. But first I have to get in to see my GP, which I have had no luck with for the past 6 days. Grrrrrr. Yay, socialized medicine. I really do not know if it is cancer, but I have had these sores on my face for the past 6 months and I was on the derm wait list in Australia for months....but we moved before I could be seen so now I get to wait here. Yay me.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Quickie Post...

I have been getting lots of emails about the "curved Flying geese" So here may be a better picture and you can go to the Sandi's blog ( piecemeal quilts ) where I got the tutorial from and try your hand at it. It is so stunningly simple. I did mess up my first block because I placed the folded piece wrong between the 3" blocks. But it was easy enough to take the stitches out and redo it. That might not make a lick of sense to anyone, but I am trying to get a move on with my day.

Here is where I go the tutorial...great blog too by the way ;o)

http://piecemealquilts.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/one-seam-dimensional-flying-geese/

She has some basket tutorial up now so I need to look at them too since that is the next block I am going to try.


I am in the process of writing to the news channels and requesting the return to NORMAL news. I don't need all the noise and flashing lights, just a good old news broadcast about what is happening all over the world! Please! I am looking for BBC too, they are very nice at reporting the facts. We got what was supposed to be simple cable and it came with a remote and a color coded channel guide for both regular and HD. And that was the SIMPLE plan. I also tried to take my cell phone back yesterday to get a more simple model since the one I have keeps flashing up a calender and having spasms in my hand when I am talking on it. AHHHHH save me from technology!


Just kidding, I do like technology, I just need to take the time to read the manuals.

XO,

Tia

Quilting again

Now that we are halfway settled I have found a couple moments to make a couple things...

Start on a new quilt - it will be a fairly traditional quilt but with a twist. These blocks are flying geese, but they are 3D...so that is kinda cool. I love flying geese quilts right now.

I made some Strawberry Jam and it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Talk about the taste of Summer in a jar.

I have been working on Sam's quilt from time to time. Sometimes I have to hunt for it before I sit down to quilt because Sam knows it is his and he is already using it. It is all sticky in spots and he took the liberty to draw on it with a ballpoint pen. But after a trip through the wash it will be fine. Oh and I have to finish it some day too. I normally work on it after the kids go to bed and I try to watch the news. What the Heck is going on with the news? Do you all know? I have not been exposed to the TV for 3 years and I don't think I missed a thing during that time. Why do the news anchor people need to give their opinions? All I want is some staunch old man to give me the facts and ONLY the facts. Between all the flashing lights and heavy makeup and personal opinions and big bleached smiles there is only a tiny bit of real news. This is very hard stuff to watch. There is so much going on in the world, but all I got today was 2 tourist aircraft collided over the Hudson River. OK...that should take about 4 minutes TOPS to report. On CNN some fella with spiked up hair and eyeliner was going on about "How if he was a pilot he would be looking around for other aircraft" Come on! Who cares what you would do if you were a pilot! This went on for the 2 HOURS I spent working on my new quilt while my husband took the kids to town. I just kept getting more and more annoyed. OK, I am finished unloading on you...it is not your fault. Well it is not your fault as long as you are not Ted Turner. If you are Ted Turner I have quite a bean to pick with you.

I won some great fat quarters from the give away over on Fresh Modern Quilts They are by Lizzy Dish and the collection is named Red Ribbon Day. Pretty cute I think.

I also finished these 2 blocks for my 8to8 group over on Flickr. The guidance was for me to make a red block and an orange one. They are very big at 15.5 inches. Next I need to make some baskets....Those are giving me a bit of trouble, not because I think they will be hard, but because There are so many ways to make them! Maybe a sampler is in order.

Now besides these activities I have been leading kids around Vacation Bible school, Keeping My new cats separated due to the female being in heat and the male (her brother no less) being mighty turned on by her yowling, I have also washed about 9 thousand loads of laundry, unpacked, sorted and repacked about 200 boxes, met with Emma's teacher and entire teaching team, gone to a quilt guild meeting no one but me and my ride was at, visited JO ANNS fabric ( I have some issues with that shop too, but I will not go into it now- it deals with copyright though) tried to get to know my neighbors a bit, did school shopping, ate what might be the most wonderful thing on Earth (wedding cake mixed into frozen custard) oh and did a bit of hand sewing by the pool while the AC was broken.

OK, I need to go help with dinner. Take care everyone!

xo,

Tia

Yet another Bushfire Quilt Project Update

Look at this! We are in Quiltmania!!!! How awesome! My copy came yesterday and I brought it to the Vacation Bible School grand finale and BBQ, mostly I used it to fan myself as it is HOT HOT HOT here in Kansas, but my husband and I both read it while the kids were getting lined up in the hallway.


For those of you in Europe I think this magazine is pretty easy to come by and for everyone else it can be ordered fairly simply. I went to the website and it was here in about 2 days. I have never looked through this magazine but I was very impressed with it. Not only are there some patterns to try, but there are some really impressive articles. Just going by this issue it seems to be a more sophisticated periodical that some of those here in the US.

Here is the cover, very nice don't you think?

And the article itself. You can click on this image and I think the article will be large enough for you to read. It is not all about the Bushfire quilt project, but about 1/4 of it is! Woot to us! I wish Kathy Mexted (the wonderful lady who wrote the article) could have named all those involved in this amazing project, I wish you could all see your name in print as a big thank you for participating.

Here is a close up of one of the shots. I was cropped out of the picture...boo hoo, but Apples and Gwen are there looking lovely. What a great thing to be involved in. Thank you again for sending your hard work, your love and your compassion. Thank you for your time and thank you for reaching out. It is cold in Australia now and your quilts are keeping people warm. They are able to wrap up in your prayers and each stitch is going to be an heirloom for them to keep for generations to come.

Jan of OZ Comfort Quilts has passed all the quilts out that I sent her. Some I sent directly to people affected, but most went to Jan. She has a great blog where she has each and every quilt pictured and she talks about how she distributes them and who she gets the quilts from. Look through her site and see if you can find your blocks/ quilts.

XO,

Tia

I would like to introduce you to Nellie and some new bag styles

HI Everyone!

I want to introduce you to my "new to me" Necchi sewing machine. But first let me show you 2 bags I made with her.

This is a bag that I made based on one I saw in the Denver Airport. On my big trip I am pretty sure people may have thought I was some sort of bag snatcher, not that I actually snatched any one's bag, but I sure did scope all the bags out people were carrying. Lots of Vera Bradley bags....and lots of coach bags...lots of giant slouchy bags that must be impossible to find anything deep within their cavernous depths, but this one was based on a Prada bag I saw. It was a wonderful simple wide square made with pumpkin orange leather. That is really the only bag that stood out to me as amazing and wonderful. The rest were just - seen one seen them all.


I have been wanting to incorporate leather in my designs for some time, but lack of leather and an odd intimidation of leather held me back. But NO MORE, my friends!


See this bag is a fat leather tote with 2 small Improvisational pieced quilts for sides. I love this bag. The thick leather is wonderfully supple and the quilted sides give it great personality. I used Lots of BDU in the quilted bits and the straps are also BDU.

Pricing is going to be tricky on this bag. The leather is quite pricey....I will make a couple and pop them in my shop and we will see how they go. I will not be making these as custom bags....too many variables I think.

Here is another style leather bag I will be making for my little shop. My mom is testing out this style for me. There is a nice snap that keeps this wee clutch secure. There is room for some money, credit cards, ID, a lippy and a slim cell phone. Your mate will have to hold the keys.

So....without further ado let me introduce you to Nellie!!!!!!! Here she is. I won her on Ebay and had her sent to my mom and dad so we could collect her on our trip to Kansas. I didn't want to be without a sewing machine for months and months and have a fantastic fabric shop right down the road. Figuring out the tension on her was a bit tricky, but that is my fault since as soon as I got her out of her box I tightened everything down without knowing what all the knobs and dials were for. She is so very strong. My husband says she sounds like a well oiled 60 caliber machine gun. So she is a bit loud. Her bobbin case is almost exactly the same as the one on my Bernina 175...when she gets here (sometime in September we have found out) I will compare the two bobbins for your entertainment. But hey for the price you can't beat it! I paid $71 for her and shipping was another $25. Now that I have some of her secrets figured out we are getting on quite well. I have started back on some of my Block of the month things for my 8to8 swap and it feels good to be catching up. We are starting Vacation Bible School today - all 3 kiddos and I are participating. I get to be a tour guide (frankly I am not completely sure what that entails, but I am sure a bit of OJT will suit me fine).

An update on my new gatos....We took 2 home with us a delicate little female and an enormous male. We will need to get Ike's testicles removed as soon as possible since my husband and I are loosing sleep due to him singing his heart out all night to his own sister. The soonest that can happen is the 17th. Not soon enough...but it will have to do.

OK, off to rouse the kiddos so we can get our day in gear! I hope you have a great one.