Happy Monday Morning

Good Morning Folks,

I sure hope you all had a very nice weekend. We sure did. Thank you all so much for all the well wishes for Sam and his surgery. It went so very well. He now has almost an entire new set of chompers. I tired to upload a picture of him, but Blogger won't upload it. His teeth are still quite sensitive, but he is doing very well.

My Internet has been so spotty lately, I have many many emails to return, so please don't feel like I have left you high and dry, I just have not been able to work online. We have a wifi Internet thing and the signal is weak often. These are very old quarters and maybe the thickness of the walls and ceilings has something to do with it. Heck I have to go out on my fire escape to talk on the phone so maybe I should drag my laptop out there too? Little chilly yet, but maybe this afternoon.


Speaking of old quarters, Stu and I did a date night Saturday. We walked around post on the "Haunted Ft Leavenworth Tour". Oh it was very fun. I had been joking with my husband about what we would think if the tour stopped in front of our house. Well, what do you know? It did. I have been complaining about someone knocking me down when I unload the dryer or put groceries in the fridge and Ethan Hates sleeping in his freezing cold bedroom. But I just thought I am a klutz and Ethan just wants to stay up late with us. Well, lots of little boys in Infantry Barracks over the years have been haunted in their bedrooms, so we have asked the spook to leave Ethan alone since he needs his rest and If the spook wants to do the laundry so bad, she is more than welcome to it. But seriously it was a very neat tour. They are going again next weekend for anyone in the area. I was hoping we would get to prowl through the old prison, but nope....we just got to look at the elevator shaft where they hung prisoners. That is a super creepy building I think.


Our house on Bailey Street in Ft Hood was haunted, not with a real ghost or anything, just a really angry male "presence" who would glare (making the hair stand up on the back of my neck) from the end of the hallway. I never told my husband about it until he was repainting the dining room by himself one night (we had to move to a different house since housing wanted to remodel the one we were living in) and came home about 2 hours before I thought he would. My husband is as big and brave as they come, so when he walked in kinda pale and angry I asked what was wrong. And he said that someone was watching him in the Bailey street house and he couldn't find them. I told him it was probably the ghost.



OK, Enough of ghost stories. Here is some of the quilt top I worked on this weekend since I didn't really have Internet. I think I am going to add some 60 degree triangles just to see if it will make it better. Something about it just seems unfinished. I started this one back when I was still in Australia.


Oh and the cat story....OK, so Ellie had 5 kittens right? Well, now she only has 4 since (we think) the male ate one. We came home and only 4 kitties were in the box. We looked all over the house and couldn't find the 5th. The kids got home from school and Emma and her little gang of girlfriends decided to assist. The little Pakistani girl began chirping that she found the kitty, "there under the cloth, I see it's paw!" Well....that is all that was left. The paw. Shocked silence and then the screaming of 5 little girls. Wow. We had a big multi cultural - multi religion memorial service for the kitten out under a Maple tree. We now keep Ike the Terrible out of the bedroom and Ellie has quite the set up going on. The 4 remaining kittens are doing great, 2 have their eyes opened but they still don't do much except nurse. Ike follows me around and naps in whatever room I am working in. He is a sweet fellow, so maybe he didn't do it....but someone did and it wasn't me. Just be glad your husband does not eat your children when he confuses them for mice.


Have a great day everyone!

Tia

Dreary Thursday

Happy Thursday to you all,

It is damp and dreary here. I like it, but it is grey. I got a rather rude email this morning ...but I won't go into it here. Just suffice it to say it ticked me off.

So there....I am taking my ball and going home. But not really.

OK, let's look at my latest quilt.

The Willow and White Gum Leaf quilt is all finished and up on the wall. Can you see that blue stain over on the side? Well...it is ink form some damn thing, I don't know what. I was clipping the very very very last thread from the binding, getting ready to stand back and admire it and what do you know? there was a little blue mark, so I rubbed it (thinking it was a tad of lint) and it spread to this. Oh well....the quilt is for me and I love it anyway.

Here is what it looks like a little further away. Not bad, blue mark and all.

I think this guy is the real reason I am freaking out a bit. He goes in for surgery tomorrow. Last time one of my boys had dental surgery he almost died in recovery, so I am a bit of a basket case. I had nightmares last night that I was having my teeth drilled all night. My jaws are still sore.

Yes I do brush my children's teeth. And we rarely eat candy and almost NEVER juice. I loath soda, so they don't get that either, unless we are at a restaurant.

I am learning quite a bit from the cats. Thank goodness the male is fixed, the female will have her uterus removed as soon as she weans her kitties. We had her appointment at the same time as the male, but she was already so obviously pregnant, that I held off. Isn't that stupid? Just because I am anti-abortion for myself I decided that surely my cat would have the same feelings. I have a pretty horrible story that I kinda want to share just to get it off my chest, but I am afraid some of you will be ill all over your computers. I would hate for that to happen.

Let me wrap this post up with a big THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to everyone who ordered a bag this last go round. I figure these orders will keep me busy for a good bit. Normally it takes a while for the uniforms, order forms, and fabric to all come together here in my sewing room but when they do! Woo hoo!!! It is going to be great. I will have a little list over on the side so you can all see where you are on the list and where I am on your bag. Please don't be a stranger!

xo,

Tia

Custome Bag Slots

So, I have listed some bags in my little Etsy.com shop. That took forever! Holy cow. There must be a better way to do this. Any way, I put up 4 Stu totes, 2 Molly Purses, 2 Cathy Bags and some Hero bags. Does anyone want a Becky Messenger? I can add that or a different one if you have your heart set on a different style.

Thanks so much for your business!!!!!!!!

xo,
Tia

Custom Bag Orders

Happy Tuesday Morning!

OK, I am ready for a couple bag orders. The slots will be available in my Etsy.com shop. I will have slots for;

• 2 Simple Stus
• 2 total package Stus (stu, pocket panel and a diaper changing pad)
• 2 Molly Purses
• 2 Cathy Bags
• 2 Hero Bags (these are for family members of service men and women who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no charge for these bags, just shipping)
• 1 Hero Quilt (this is for a family of a service member who has been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. There is no charge for the quilt, just shipping)

If you get one of the slots you can add a bag/ wallet or two. You will buy the slot and then I will send the questionnaire for you to fill out. If there are any additions to the order form I will send you an additional paypal invoice. Too easy. I am not sewing for anyone else at the moment so the turn around should be pretty quick. I can't wait to get back to bags!

I am giving you blog readers a heads up on this store stocking. I will also be sending a little message out to those of you on the wait list. I will put these slots in the Etsy.com shop tomorrow (Wednesday).

Have a great day!

Something on my mind...

Good Morning all,

Do you ever see something and it lingers with you....pulls on your mind, swelling and undulating , a gentle throb on you creativity, until you act? Well, I read the little article about Ingrid Press over on Sewn and I was so impressed by her minimal quilting style that I found myself sorting through my more solid greens in between Ellie's contractions Sunday evening. While I was waiting for her to get settled with her kittens and make sure she was finished with her labor I was cutting little leaves in the shapes of White Gum and Willow. Monday morning I woke early, checked on the new babies and weary mama then cut into my creamy linen and proceeded to layout my own leaf quilt. It is all pinned up now and ready to quilt, but I am hesitant.

I needed to practice a bit first. So I made a very tiny quilt sandwich and tried out the quilting pattern I wanted to use, but when I was finished I had a lovely little tiny quilt. What to do with such a lovely little lonely thing?

I decided it would make a nice pocket for a bag. I sliced into one of my leather hides and made a simple bag. I love this bag. The leather smells so good and the heavy solid weight of the bag feels so substantial . Leather and linen....great combination.

I also made a wee wallet with a lost leaf from the sewing room floor. The leather I selected for this wallet is from a soft chocolate hide. I decided to take it along to my son's dentist appointment yesterday afternoon and worked on stitching it up while waiting. What is so soothing about puncturing the flesh and drawing the thread through? Hand sewing with thick leather is a bit different than the glide through linen or cotton. I use my SOG tool to pull the needle and I had to make my slices for the magnetic snap with my handy little SEAL pup . I love a good knife. Good thing I am not searched often...I am typically armed, but not for harm, just handy craft tools. I am sure I got some odd looks sitting by myself with my purse filled with weapons, but no one seemed to be openly staring at me whenever I would look up.

This is the purse I made. It is in the wrong order. It will be going in my shop when I can think of a fair way to price it.

This is a close up of the wallet. I love the little beach stone button and the creases in the leather. I wonder where I am going to find more leather when my current supply runs out?

I have another little wallet ready to work on some more after this posting is finished. I don't have anything planned on the calender today, just me, Sam, the cats and the sewing machine. Maybe a trip out to the commissary when I get my list together.

So have a great day. And have you seen the new collection "Love" by Amy Butler? I just ordered a tiny bit from Quilt Home ( free shipping and a coupon so how could I resist?). I have so much from all her other collections that I don't know if I can use it all in this lifetime. I guess I better start taking some bag orders, huh?

Cheers!

Tia

Happy News

Good Morning and Happy Columbus Day!

Some little adventurers joined our family last night. And Ike oversaw his handiwork from the High Ground.

Ellie had 5 kittens (3 females and 2 males) last night after we got back from taking a drive to Kansas City. As soon as we got home she insisted on hanging out with us during Movie night (Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith. The Boys selected that one). She was sitting on Emma's lap and began to make funny mewing noises. My husband dashed off to get the birthing box from our bedroom and we set her up in the living room since she seemed to prefer having the whole gang support her. There were no problems at all and Ellie is a fine little mama. We were surprised that there were 5. I thought there would be 3 at the most, but cats sure can squeeze alot of kittens into their Uterus.

Here she is this morning with her squeaky lot of babies. I will spare you all the bloody shots and dragging placentas. We will maintain some dignity around here.

Like the nurse I am I kept a bit of a log. No APGAR scores, but the basics are there.

And since this is a quilting blog, here is a pillow I am working on.

And despite kittens last night, I dreamed about this quilt so I decided to give it a go. It is totally inspired by Ingrid Press. What a humble and brilliant artist she is! Katy introduced me to her work through this quilt and I have been curious about her ever since. I have been saving the most amazing piece of creamy white linen for years and decided this was the piece I was going to cut into it for. The leaves are freehand cut from some of my more solid greens. I think it is going to be lovely.

Ok, I have work to do and about 7 different things on my mind. I want to stock my Etsy.com shop with some custom bag slots sometime this week, so I better get my act together.

Have a great day and I hope you are enjoying the fall!

XO,
Tia

Spending some time on my 9 Patch

My middle man lost some teeth yesterday at the dentist. Apparently his adult teeth are so crowded they have nowhere to go. The dentist says that this guy will be going through a great deal of dental work in the next 7 years. Thank goodness we have good dental insurance.

I ordered some fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop and it arrived yesterday.

You may know of my love for fabric with text on it, well I purchased two of Sweetwater's Authentic prints (they are on the bottom) with definitions of words (Authentic, real, simple...) and I got two Lecien prints with writing on them about roses. Then in I got a collection I have been most excited about. Rouenneries by French General. Very pretty. I think I am more excited about the other fabric that accompanies this line (the linens and ticking stripes).

I have also been dabbling on my 9 patch quilt. Part of me wanted to make it from my scrap fabric, but instead I have just made it from 2.5 x 12.5 inch strips from my favorite fabrics in my stash. I have lots of favorites, but this is going to be a bit more "classical" rather than the "contemporary" fabric I have in my stash.

These are the fabrics I cut from yesterday. I am going to sash the quilt with a dark red Lecien pindot, so it is going to be a pretty rowdy quilt. I can't wait to quilt it! I have quite the plan.

OK, I have to get in the shower before the hot water quits for the day.

XO,

Tia

Shade Garden quilt

Good Morning Everyone,

I think Fall is here for good. Outside my window most of the leaves have begun to change a bit of color, and there is a definite bite to the air. I cut my early morning walk short today because the mist was more like shards of ice against my face and I was not dressed warmly enough. I tried to jog to warm myself up, but I have lost enough weight that my pants are loose, so I was in danger of loosing my britches. No one seemed to be out, but with my luck I would have lost my pants right as a Battalion of MPs ran by. So I hustled back to warmth of my tree house home.

I have been busy this week. I finished and shipped out the Shade Garden Quilt for Michelle Becsko Engle. Hopefully it is safely at Quilt Market in Houston (It was supposed to be delivered yesterday before noon). This is the second quilt I have made for Michelle and I just adore sewing for her. We are going to have a surprise for you when she returns from Quilt Market, but more on that later. So if you are lucky enough to go to Quilt Market stop by her booth #1248 and say "Hi". I am not sure if this quilt will be at her booth or at the Henry Glass one.

I think it turned out great. It is a pattern designed by Michelle, and all the fabrics are from her Shade Garden line with the exception of the white. The white is my favorite Moda 200 TC Muslin. It has such a nice silky weight and makes the greatest "swoosh" sound. It is my muslin of choice to back and piece with. I really loved the binding....I went back and free hand quilted some loops and swirls all around the quilt. The pattern is echoed in 2 of the prints (it is a snail trail).

Have a great day!

Tia

Some random thoughts...

Ellie's Belly is swelling, she loves being flipped over on her back and cradled like an infant and she is searching for a spot to have her kittens. Last night she woke me up trying to scratch her way into my bottom dresser drawer (Stu's drawer really).

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE pumpkins. When we go to the grocery store I tell them they can select 1 item for themselves and the past couple trips we have left with pumpkins. Emma got greedy yesterday and chose the big one, but it was so cheap I let her have it, but she had to carry it up the stairs. Oh and they are really tricky to try the "self checkout lane" at the commissary with exotic squash. FYI. I got jumped on by the supervisor and the cash register itself for my stupidity. Nothing like being bellowed at by a computer.

We went to the Westen Apple Fest on Sunday afternoon. Other than the apple butter, apple cider and apple dumplings there really were no apples at the festival. It was fun, very fun, but where were the apples?

Another Ellie shot. I had just cleaned off the table from the breakfast chaos and found Ellie in the pumpkin basket.

The Shade Garden quilt is almost finished. I just have a tad left to quilt and the binding is cut and ready to go. I can't wait to see it all finished! I am going to send it straight to Michelle in Houston so she can have it at the Quilt Market. Yes, yes, I know I am cutting it close. It is awesome though!

Ok, one last thought before I return to my sewing room. Have any of you been watching the new shows on TV? Have you noticed all the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) characters? The hot blond nurse on Mercy has it, the red headed Doc on Greys Anatomy has it and so does the Chopper pilot on Trama. Her quote last night kinda cracked me up "Your idea of a Rush is my idea of Retirement" I didn't laugh because it was funny, I laughed because it was amusing to see this 14 year old looking girl try to act like a combat pilot. There is no way in Hell she can pull that off. There is something about people who have experienced the ugliness of war, they seem to take on some bits of the souls of the departed, it is hard to explain, but it is easy to sense. Who knew having PTSD would be so trendy?

Gave a great Tuesday folks!

Another busy week

Wonderful Sunday Morning to you all!

It sure has been a busy week here at Clan Curtis. I have been busy with this fantastic quilt for Michelle Engel Bencsko. This is not an accurate up to the minute picture of it since I am actually quilting it now (first big quilt quilted in my new sunny space). But my sunny space is a wreck so I am not showing it ;o)

My wonderful parents stopped in for 2 nights on their drive back to North Carolina from San Francisco (my little sister lives there - Hi Laura!). And it was another great visit. We even got a babysitter so just Stu, me and my parents could have a little date night. It was very nice. I have wonderful parents - I hope I can be at least half the mother mine was to me, and my father is such a Great man. Great as in Honorable, sincere, courageous, brilliant. He will always have a a patient ear when I have problems - he won't give me the answer, but he will assist me in finding the answer within myself.

Yesterday was the BIG FALL YARD SALE here on post. Stu and I have been sorting out our "STUFF" since we moved in and it has been put in our garage like parking space over the weeks. Friday my mother and I sorted all that stuff and set up for the big day on Saturday. I got up at 0500 to make some coffee and sell off our stuff. My mother was right there beside me (Thank you so much for helping me out, Mom. I could not have done it without you!) Happily raising prices and encouraging people that it was a great deal. I just wanted to get rid of all the baby clothing and toys that were in storage for the 3 years we were in Australia. My neighbors were wondering WHY I had so much....wellsir, we only had a couple weeks before moving to Australia when my husband got home from Iraq back in Dec of 2006, so I was busy running around getting passports with special stamps and trying to think ahead to what we would need to live 3 years in the remote center of Australia. When the packers came I just told them to put it all in storage and I would deal with it when we got back....well that is what I did yesterday. I dealt with it.

It was so cathartic- but so exhausting. Oh and I am NOT ready for the cold. It was so cold yesterday. I had one of my silly looking beanie hats on so my head and ears were nice and toasty, but I couldn't find any gloves. My fingers are still sore from being so cold yesterday, from being cold and having to work. I have gotten so thin-skinned after my stay in the Outback sun. I know I am going to have to toughen up, but I am going to whine a bit about it (to myself). The powers that be will not be turning on the heat until the first of November, so it may get chilly in here before then. Now, today is a beautiful day. Sunny and pleasant. A perfect fall day.

Last night after cleaning up from the yard sale I made myself a little pair of handwarmers. I searched around on Etsy.com first and saw the best little knitted ones like this pair and this pair. I sure wish I could knit, but I can't. I can sew a bit though. SO I made these by tracing my hand and wrist on an old T-shirt and whip stitching them together with a strong black thread. They look awful, but my hands are a bit warmer.

OK, I need to get back to my quilt before we venture out to the Apple Festival in Westen, MO.

xo,

Tia