Sweet Home Quilt Co.

Last week was the Batty Babes’ annual Christmas party, and as usual we shared many laughs and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. This is the one time of the year where we have a potluck meal (usually the host provides the meal for our gatherings), and we all have our specialties that show up on the menu year after year along with new favorites, too. We draw names for a gift exchange, and have a white elephant gift exchange that is always a hoot (more on that in a sec)!  A couple of years ago we decided that rather than give each person individual gifts, we would instead do a community service project. This year we each made kids’ pillowcases that will be donated to ConKerr Cancer through SHQC.  As luck would have it I had made arrangements to meet Lisa Rowell, our ConKerr Coordinator, the following morning to drop off the 171 pillowcases we collected during our Thanksgiving pillowcase drive at the shop, and I was able to add another 173 pillowcases made by the Batty Babes!  WOW! 334 pillowcases!  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — quilters have the most giving spirits and this group in particular!

Our Christmas gathering was hosted by Ardis this year, and her home was beautifully decorated for our party. Every nook and cranny held little Christmas surprises that made me smile. The table and buffet were beautifully set with china, candles and live greenery. We were ‘warned’ to watch out for little unwanted guests from the live greenery, which she had cut from her yard earlier in the day. Fortunately, none made an appearance during dinner!

I mentioned our white elephant gift exchange earlier, and it is absolutely one of the most fun things we do at Christmas.  There are a number of white elephant gifts that are truly dreaded — we’re talking hideous things, ya’ll — and we go to great lengths to disguise the packaging so the recipient won’t be able to “avoid” certain gifts. The rule is that whatever white elephant gift you get, it must be prominently displayed throughout the year whenever you host the Babes at your home.  Occasionally someone gets a white elephant gift that they actually like and in those cases they are allowed to introduce a “new” white elephant to the mix the following year.  Here are some of the highlights of this year’s white elephant gift exchange.

Jo Beth got the dreaded “head” this year. This is a ceramic Victorian Lady bust that has made the rounds of the Babes for years! No one wants to end up with this!

Liz was the proud recipient of the hideous felt Christmas card table runner this year. I had it last year, and in an attempt to disguise it I put it into a (new) pizza box tied up with a big red ribbon knowing that someone would be curious enough to have to see what was in the pizza box! It proved irresistible to Liz! This thing is hard to describe. It was made by Ardis’ mother years and years ago as a Garden Club project, I think. The backing is green felt and it has cut outs from Christmas cards glued onto it with some bling here and there, topped by white tulle netting and bound with gold braid and tassels. And it is BIG! It stretches down my dining room table end to end … ugh!

Everyone thought they were safe after Liz picked the dreaded felt table runner, but Ardis threw us a curve ball by introducing a matching bell pull!!! Lucky Deanna was the recipient as you can see. Oh Joy! Can’t wait to have my turn with this monstrosity!

Robin was the lucky one when it came to the Elvis Liquor Decantor! Remember these??? I’m a HUGE Elvis fan, but I draw the line at these – no way do I want this thing at my house! Robin actually seems quite pleased, doesn’t she? Maybe because that thing is still filled with liquor???

How many Babes does it take to untie a bow???

There are a few Babes who should have been politicians – they are masters at “appropriating” gifts for themselves! Here Deanna attempts to steal Ardis’ gift by hiding it under her sweater! And it actually took Ardis a minute to notice the “square” tummy – all she knew was that her gift was missing!

Shared laughter, good food, good friends and the sights and sounds of the season – Christmas memories in the making!

Ordinarily, this is me – I am a world-class procrastinator, and I often say that I work best under pressure. That is because it is a survival skill! I have always been one to wait until the last minute – it used to drive my parents crazy when I’d wait until the night before a project was due to get started, but I always got the job done and done well, too!  How weird is it that on National Fight Procrastination Day I hit the ground running this morning and have been hard at work all day long?!? (I didn’t know it was National Fight Procrastination Day until tonite!) Maybe it was because I had planned the day in advance, and knew exactly what I wanted to get done and in what sequence. I stuck pretty much to plan except that I added an unexpected project to the list, and had to suspend one project until I can run to JoAnn’s tomorrow for a doll needle – not something I’ve got in stock at the shop!

I thought I’d share a few glimpses of what I’ve been working on. Only one project was completely finished today, but I made good progress on several others, all of which I plan to finish tomorrow along with a couple of other WIPs.

I managed to get a few blocks done for the mystery quilt I’m doing with the Batty Babes. My version will be done in civil war reproduction prints and there are several dozen more blocks to be done – this is just the very tip of the iceberg! Considering that I’m the one who initiated the challenge to the Babes to do this mystery, I’m glad to at least have a start on getting it done!

BTW, this mystery quilt was designed by my friend, Candace Hassen. The first part of the series was published in the June 2009 issue of McCall’s Quilting – I think Part 3 is already out so I’m really, really behind!

This is the project that got stalled today for lack of a doll needle! Looks like a pumpkin, doesn’t it? It will be, sort of … I’ll share the finished project tomorrow. (not sure what’s up with this weird picture???)

I finally finished the Petit Fours pincushion and it is BIG! About six inches across and four inches tall BIG!  This is the project I began a couple of weeks ago that got me hooked on English Paper Piecing – the pattern is included in Moda’s new Petite Fours Bake Shop box, which we have in the shop. The pattern calls for the hexagons to be pieced by machine, but I chose to do it by hand, thus the reason it has taken me so long to finish!  I really like how this turned out, especially the prairie points around the top. I filled it with crushed walnut shells about 3/4 full and then finished stuffing it with 100% cotton stuffing from Quilter’s Dream – love that stuff! I used it to stuff the pumpkin form, too. Anyway, the Petite Fours Bake Shop box has enough 2 1/2 inch squares to make three of these pincushions, but since I only needed one, I used some of the other 2 1/2 inch squares to make the “unplanned” project on today’s agenda:

Maybe I’ll get to finish this tomorrow, and if I do I’ll share a picture.

I hope you’re doing some quilty “labor” over this holiday weekend. I’ll be back in the sweat shop tomorrow (except for a little housecleaning, laundry and grocery shopping that has to be done – now that’s LABOR!)

I am waaayyyy behind on sharing our customers’ show and tell projects, so this is going to be a long post with lots of pictures, each one as enjoyable as the last! One of my most favorite things about owning a quilt shop is being able to see finished projects from our customers! I often say that I have to live vicariously through you all because I don’t get much finished myself (for me personally, that is, since I’m usually sewing on shop samples.) I love it when you bring a finished project to share, it inspires me and usually results in a sleepless night (!) since it sets my wheels to turning and I have to act on the impulse to create! That’s a good thing, though, so keep bringing in your show and tell – I can sleep when I’m dead!

This is Gail with her rendition of Just Can’t Cut It. Gail was visiting Peggy from out of state and had to stay an extra week just so she could finish the projects she started. She said she knew they would never get finished at home – smart girl!

Here’s Gretchen showing off her shirtings quilt (sorry, I don’t remember the pattern name.) I love the secondary stars formed by the darker blue fabrics!

JeNel finished up her Jelly Bargelly from our class earlier this summer. These are MY colors! Each quilt from this class has been spectacular, and all so different because of each individuals fabric choices.

Annette (who is hiding behind the quilt!!) made this for her granddaughter, Kaitlyn, to take to college this fall. Actually, she and Kaitlyn both worked on it together. I think the pattern is Graham Crackers. We had this fabric collection, Sorbet from Moda, featured in our foyer display earlier in the summer, and Kaitlyn fell in love with it the moment she walked in the front door. Annette documented the making of the quilt from start to finish and made a photo memory book for Kaitlyn to go with the quilt.  What memories!

Here’s Karin with her Union Square quilt, started at retreat last year. (Karin is hiding behind the quilt, too, this is a HUGE quilt!) I have only ever seen this quilt made in “traditional” fabrics, but Karin used Nancy Halvorsen’s 12 Days of Christmas fabric line and it is fabulous! Just proves the point – don’t be afraid to step outside the box with your fabric selections, especially with the more traditional style quilt patterns. The results can be wonderful as in this case!

Here’s Liz with her little appliqued wallhanging. Each of the squares is individually hand appliqued – I think they’re like one inch squares! Liz is one of the Batty Babes, and I told her she was NUTS when she started this project, but she needed handwork for long car trips with her hubby. The result is a strikingly beautiful collage of garden florals – I’m envious! The pattern is from a past issue of McCall’s magazine (I think!)

Peggy finished a couple of projects, too, while Gail was visiting from out of town. Here she is with her Christmas table topper and her floral Turning 12 (a smaller version of Turning 20!). Peggy does such a great job picking out colors – she lets herself fall in love with a fabric and then she builds around it; the perfect way to build a quilt you know you’ll be happy with!

Here’s Shelia, pulling a Wilson – remember that TV show?, with her Batik Strip Stars quilt. This was a Silver Thimble Quilt Club project that we kitted earlier this year. I’m not a huge fan of batiks, but I absolutely adore this quilt!

Here’s Sarah with a magazine project using Moda’s Aviary fabric collection. This is the yummiest, most feminine quilt – love it, love it, love it! Sarah churns out quilts like I change underwear – every single day it seems!

Hope you’ve enjoyed Show and Tell. Bring in your next finished project so I can share it here – everyone loves to see – especially me!

I have been so wicked busy these last few weeks, barely any time left for breathing much less blogging! So this is going to be a “ketchup” post!

We’ve spent loads of time getting ready to celebrate the shop’s 4th birthday this weekend with our annual Midnight Madness Sale (aka Party on the Porch!!!) Friday night and our once-a-year Buy More, Save More Sale on Saturday.  We’re gearing up for fun on the porch Friday night (and yes, I notified the local police dept. that we’d be getting a little rowdy!!!) while the staff gets everything set up for Midnight Madness.  We only do these two back-to-back events on the shop’s birthday each year, so they are much anticipated by everyone. Sarah even emailed me this morning and said thoughts of the “party on the porch” are what’s getting her through the week! If you’re not signed up to get the shop’s email newsletters, head over to the website and sign up so you won’t miss anything!

We’re also busy preparing to vend at the East Cobb Quilters Guild show in Marietta, GA next month. This bi-annual event is not to be missed! The quilt show is first rate and the vendors top-notch, too. Sweet Home Quilt Co. will be in Booth #13 so be sure to stop by and say hello. We’ll have new samples to show, along with kits and other goodies we’ve been putting together just for this event.  Be the first to see the new stuff!

I spent a long weekend earlier in the month in the mountains of North Georgia with the Batty Babes, my closest quilting friends.  We don’t get to all be together at the same time very often because we all lead such busy lives, but every so often we manage. The Babes have been together eleven years, with just a few changes in membership. We’ve been together through happy and sad times; we’ve watched each other’s kids (and grandkids!) grow into adults;  and we’ve shared a lot in that time,  as close friends do.

Amelia was our gracious hostess, opening her wonderful cabin to us for the long weekend. It is so quiet and peaceful there!

The first morning, as is my habit, I got up at the butt-crack of dawn. While the others slept, I grabbed a quilt off the sofa (it was COOL!!) and headed down to the creek to sit on the swing and watch the sun come up. I sooooo need to take more time to slow down and reflect on the good things in my life! It was so rejuvenating. Funny, though, no one mentioned to me that the neighborhood BEAR was prone to sleeping in the wild ferns right next to the creek near where I was! Lucky for me, the bear apparently chose to sleep elsewhere that night! I guess a bear encounter would have opened up a spot in the Batty Babes group pretty quickly, huh?!?!?!

The weekend was filled with lots of back porch sittin’ (thanks JB for the pic!), Phase 10 and Rummukub games, movie watching (I highly recommend Taken!), great food and many, many adult beverages! The girls serenaded me with their rendition of “Dancing Queen” as part of my birthday celebration (I’ll never listen to that song in the same way ever again … enough said!), yummy cake and ice cream, and lots of wonderful gifts.  It is soooo worth having a birthday with the Babes! We often say “nobody does birthdays like the Babes!” Thanks, girls!

On my way home, I stopped in to see my friends, Laura and Rita, at Log Cabin Patchworks. It was great visiting with them and seeing their wonderful shop again. I so rarely get up that way, and it is always such a treat.  I made a little detour to have lunch with a friend, too. It was a terrific weekend all the way around!

This past weekend was Silver Thimble Quilt Club, and I was able to visit with Pat and the Thimbles a bit.  They had a birthday cookie for me and sang Happy Birthday. Pat has said I’ve celebrated my birthday FOREVER, but hey, who wouldn’t when you have great friends who do such thoughtful things to help you celebrate???

This month’s Thimbles project was a pattern by Fig Tree Quilts called Jelly Roll Diamonds, and we kitted it using Moda’s Glace collection from 3 Sisters. (I swiped the pic from Pat’s blog – the quilt was hanging over a piano, thus the weird looking size!)   We’ll have limited kits available for this quilt in the shop soon.

I’m out of time, but still have loads more to share (we’ve seen some great show and tell from customers over the last few weeks!) I’ll be back soon!

Last week was a total whirlwind of holiday festivities, plus preparations for our family Christmas this past Sunday. I’ve just now slowed down long enough to remember to post about my holiday fun.

Last Tuesday night was Christmas with the Batty Babes, and as is our custom, we all went overboard! Let me back up a minute, the Batty Babes are my quilting group – 8 of my closest friends – and we meet every other week at each other’s homes to quilt, gab and eat. The original Batty Babes group was formed in 1997, and I joined in 2000. This year was Liz’s turn to host our annual Christmas party at her home, and I’m kicking myself for not getting pictures of her MANY fabulous Christmas decorations. Liz is a December baby and loves everything Christmas so she goes all out with her decorating. I was so busy having fun that I totally forgot to take pictures of her home – sorry Liz!

We enjoyed surprise guests, Santa & Mrs. Claus (in reverse!) Liz’s daughter and grandson entertained us royally – her daughter was Santa and her grandson was Mrs. Claus! He was such a hoot and we had such fun teasing him – you can tell in the picture that he was not exactly happy with this role reversal, but he was a great sport.

One of the fun traditions we have is a White Elephant exchange, and we’ve got a couple of White Elephants that keep making the rounds year after year. The only rule is that you must display the item in some manner when it is your turn throughout the year to host The Babes at your home. Here’s a picture of Liz with “The Head!”  This is a hideous mauve pink ceramic Victorian bust, complete with fake pearls around her neck. Everyone dreads getting “The Head” in the White Elephant exchange, and Liz was the lucky recipient this year! Can’t you just see how thrilled she is?!?!?

I have BIG plans for the White Elephant I drew so I’m not going to share it now. You’ll be hearing more about it later, I promise!

Several of The Babes have retired in the last couple of years, and 2008 was Deanna’s turn. She took it a step further, though, and also relocated out of state to be near her grandchildren. She’s close enough to make it back once in a while, but not every other week. The rest of The Babes decided to make her a quilt to go in her newly redecorated bedroom in her new home. We gave it to her at our Christmas party and she was thrilled. The quilt turned out beautifully, thanks to the efforts of Ardis who put all the blocks together and did the longarm quilting. The stars in the quilt are aqua and brown and the background is a white-on-white that really makes the stars sparkle. It is a gorgeous quilt. I just wish the reason for us making it was different – we miss Deanna already!

So another Batty Babes year draws to a close, and I am thankful every day that I have this close group of friends who share my interests. We always have the best time together!

I’ll share Christmas with the Grandies in the next post.

Melisa

My plans for today were pretty simple - go to church with the grandies and spend some time planning for the Batty Babes gathering on Tuesday. (More on the Batty Babes in another post – they are good friends with whom I’ve been quilting every other week since 2000 and you’ll hear a lot about them on this blog.) It is my turn to host, which means it is time to clean house! I confess, housework is one of my least favorite things to do and I only do it when I absolutely have to!

Next on my list of least favorite things to do is yardwork or anything that has to be done outside. I much prefer to be inside pursuing my favorite hobbies! Sometime, though, it just has to be done. I had planned to do a little shrub trimming and sweep the front porch in preparation for the Babes on Tuesday evening. Forget that the grass needs cutting and the leaves need raking! Luckily the Babes know me very well so their expectations aren’t very high! But what I anticipated to be a quick spruce up outside turned into an ordeal that lasted all afternoon.

Sometime last Spring DH noticed a couple of birds starting to build a nest on the front porch. He knocked the nest down several times, but the birds just kept coming back and starting over. I guess he either gave up or forgot about it because one day I noticed the nest was complete, eggs and all! I didn’t feel right about destroying the nest at that point so I just left it alone.

Looks pretty harmless, doesn’t it? Keep in mind that we rarely go in or out the front door of our home – we always use the garage entrance. So today, after not having even opened the front door in months, I very nearly had a stroke when I stepped out onto the front porch! What a mess! The bird’s nest had disintegrated and bird poop was everywhere! I should have taken a photo but it would have been too gross to share. My first thought was to call a friend who owns a pressure washing business and have him come deal with it. No luck – he couldn’t fit us in for at least a week – too late to do me any good. So I bit the bullet and spent several hours trying to clean up the front porch so it would at least be presentable. When I’d nearly finished sweeping I realized that I’d probably been breathing all sorts of toxic particles – ick! My attempts to clean the marks off the porch railings and floor were unsuccessful. I scrubbed with bleach water, floor cleaner, vinegar water and NOTHING would remove those disgusting marks. After about 4 hours I finally called it quits and decided a nap was in order. Thank goodness tomorrow is Monday and I can get back to doing something fun and quilty! Hope you had a better Sunday. And if you have any suggestions for finishing this job, please leave me a comment.