The Pioneer Woman!

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Barb

I considered titling today’s post “In the Presence of Blogging Greatness.”  But then decided that perhaps The Pioneer Woman might google herself occasionally to see what people are saying about her.  And I wanted google to lead her right here to my little ol’ blog.  Because she doesn’t know it yet (even though she met me and talked to me in person), but we are bonded.  Soul sisters.  BFF’s for sure.  Just as soon as she figures it out.

My palms were sweaty and my legs were shaking as we listened to her talk about her own issues with anti-perspirant.  And I barely remember what we talked about as we had our books signed.  But I need to start at the beginning, don’t I?

First of all, it was a special, special day.  It was Valentine’s Day for starters.  And it was also my friend, Suz’ Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Suz!  Isn’t she cute?  She’s standing in line at the Borders Bookstore about an hour before the store opened.  We got there early so we could be sure to get a good spot when it came time for the actual signing.  She was scheduled to pick me up at 8-ish.  I informed her when she got to my house at 7:55 that “ish” means after in my dictionary.    So Boo entertained her for a few minutes before we set off to sit in traffic.  Because we were headed to Big D where traffic is the norm.

But look!  We were only this far from the front of the line.  Number 15 and 16 in line to be exact.  I counted because I knew you’d want to know.  You like to have all the details, right?

Here I am, waiting in line.  And can I just say that we have turned into a smartphone world?

Suz emailed me this pic and I decided to use it.  Just because.

 

Suz is hiding behind the pillar.

See?  There she is.  Right behind that pillar.  And the line grew behind us as we waited for the Borders people to open the doors.

Which they did.  Ten minutes early, as a matter of fact.  Notice the line outside the window.  And then we waited to get our magic wristbands.  Color coded.

And purple was the magic color of the day.  And we had purple wristbands.  And we were very happy.  And later in the day, others were very envious.  “Oh.  You have purple wristbands.”  Like we were royalty or something.  Notice Suz’ pretty pink shirt too.  Pink for Valentine’s Day.  Apparently when your Birthday is on Valentine’s Day, you are all about Valentine’s Day.  At least Suz is.

She had a really cute Valentine’s card for Pioneer Woman.  And now I’m really sorry I didn’t take a pic of it!  Trust me.  It was really cute.  I hope PW enjoyed it.  Actually, I hope PW read it.  Wonder how many cards she got before the day was over?  It was cute enough to warrant featuring on her blog.  And believe you me, if I see it there?  You’re gonna hear about it.

After we got our coveted purple wristbands, we left!  Because we had hours and hours to kill before the actual signing.  So we decided to drive to Fort Worth!  After all, we had hours and hours to kill.  And a Quilt Show meeting to attend.

But not without a stop here.  We needed nourishment.  And caffeine.

Cute sign.  Just thought I’d share.  And it was a beautiful day as you can tell from the blue sky.

And even though we killed a few hours in the meeting in FW and at lunch with Sally & Peggy, we still got back to Borders about 2 hours before it was time for Pioneer Woman to show up.

See how empty the place was?  Not for long though.  But I had a project to complete.  So I was glad for the extra time.  You know how I am.  You know my reputation.  Remember?  Last Minute Lucy.  That’s me.  And I was sewing a pin to the back of a little fabric flower that I made for PW just a short time before she made an appearance.  It’s a good thing I work so well under pressure.

See?  Little pin on the back of my flower.  Looks kind of tacky when you view it this close.  But who sees the pin anyway when it’s pinned to your jacket or shirt?  Next time I’ll consider not so close a close-up.

Suz took advantage of the extra time to begin reading The Book.  And she was tearing up at the introduction.  Sheesh!  She’ll never make it through the whole book without a box of kleenex.  We were pretty emotional about getting to meet PW in person.  It’s just what crazy quilter stalker fans do.  And we decided it would be best to leave out the word “stalker” when we introduced ourselves to Ree.

I finished the flower with hours to spare.  Not.  But I did have time to stage a few fun pics for you.

Because I like staging fun pics.

And how about this one?  Cute flower, isn’t it?  And Suz brought that cool little heart. 

While we were waiting I got an email from my friend Susan saying she wished she’d had me buy books for her and Brooke to be signed and maybe it would mean extra time with Ree if we had extra books to be signed.  So I ran right over and bought 2 extra books.  Thus the tower you see in the picture.  And it did mean extra time talking with Ree!  I’m sure all the people behind us in line were thrilled too.

Did I mention we were second in line for the signing?  We had those coveted purple wristbands and we got there really early.  The stars were apparently aligned in our favor, it being Suz’ Birthday and all.

The crowd was gathering in all directions at the store.

More and more people all the time.

We made friends with everyone around us.

And by the way, these were not 11 hour boots I was wearing.  See those heels?  What was I thinking?!  The things we do for fashion….

This gal was dressed very appropriately for the occasion.  Cute boots.

This Mom would be getting lots of attention from PW.  She is over-the-top with cute babies.  This Mom wouldn’t even need extra books to be signed to get extra attention.  She had a cute little Valentine!

And finally there was Ree!  Did you feel like you waited at least two hours for her to appear?  I wanted to share all of the waiting.  And that’s her family to the left of the speaker.  Marlboro Man is wearing his signature cowboy hat.  And their youngest daughter, Paige, is in white.  And just to the left of her is oldest daughter, Alex.  The one with the camera at her face.  Hey, Suz!  Pioneer Woman has a picture of us!!!!!!!!!  Of course, in the picture I will look just like Alex.  A camera completely hiding my face.  But Suz will look great in her pretty pink Valentine Birthday shirt.

And Ree entertained us with stories as she answered questions from the crowd.  I even got up the nerve to ask a question!  And she looked me right in the eye as she answered.  Nice lady. 

My question, for those who are just dying to know, was “Do you ever get tired of the notoriety?”  And she basically said no.  That life on the ranch is just the same.  And that she doesn’t have to worry about paparazzi when she goes to her local IGA in Pawhuska, OK.

And when she finished speaking and was ready to start signing, she brought the family up so we could all get pics of them.

And Marlboro Man’s eyes are just as blue in real life as they are in all the pics she shows of him.

Soon it was time for the signing to begin.  Notice Alex with the camera again.  I didn’t see that camera at all while we were there and I wondered if that meant there would be no pics of Dallas on her blog.  But there are pictures!  I sure hope she shows them.

Did I mention we were second in line?

Here we are visiting with Ree.  The nice people at Borders took our cameras and took pics for us while she was signing our books.  Don’t ask me what we talked about.  I have no idea.  I couldn’t remember five minutes after we walked away.  I stammered something silly about us being quilters (I thankfully remembered to leave out the stalker word) as I handed her the fabric flower.  She said something about wanting to check out the flower.  I told her it was Suz’ birthday and Suz thanked her for sharing Valentine’s Day with us and hoped she got to do something fun with her family.  And I think she told us they went ice skating at The Galleria.

But I meant to tell her that we thought the punks really needed to learn how to quilt.  And that we were just the quilters to teach them.   And that we’d be happy to drive to the ranch any time for private instruction.  Ree, are you reading?  Did you google yourself today and get a link to my blog?  Just leave a comment and I’ll be in touch!  Yeah, right……

Here we are in our little posed shot.  Doesn’t Ree have the cutest dimples?

But I wanted to be this person.  The one who knows her well enough to be able to go behind the table and hug her neck.  But then I fear I’d have been the crazy stalker woman.  However, look just behind the cup and you’ll see my flower there.  We are bonded.  I’m just sure of it.

She just doesn’t quite know it yet.

I have video too.  And I promise I will upload it to YouTube later today.  And I’ll post a link so you can see it.  It’s very cute and I think you’ll enjoy it.  And it’s actually longer than the segments they give her on The Today Show!

It was a perfect day and one I’ll remember for a long time.  And a really fun way to celebrate Suz’ birthday too.

Happy Birthday, Suz!
Love,
The Crazy Stalker Pioneer Woman Fanatic
P.S.  Call me, Ree, and we’ll set up those quilting classes!  Your punks really need to learn how to quilt.

Posted in just stuff | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Quilting Around Town

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Barb

Last week was a busy quilting week.  The Rose of Sharon group met, I had a Bee stitchin’ day and I also visited a friend and had a mini show ‘n tell of all the things she has in the works.  Lots of photo opportunities to share with you.  And I know how much you love those photos of quilts.

At the Bee Day, I got out my trusty camera and made sure to get pics of each project.

These tiny Baltimore Album blocks belong to Peggy.  And they are fabulous!  They also remind me that I need to put the pinking blade on my rotary cutter for cutting the edges of my Rose of Sharon appliqué blocks.  Look how nice and neat her edges are.  Mine are all frayed and messy.  Wonder if I’ll remember this pic the next time I pull out my appliqué?  Don’t count on it.

UPDATE 2-15-11!!!  The tiny Baltimore Album blocks are SALLY’S, not Peggy’s!  Only I’m sure Peggy would claim them in a heartbeat.  I should have known by the pinked edges that Sally is famous for.  Bet Peggy will be “pinking” her edges from now on.  Great job, SALLY!

This is Peggy with a fabulous quilt top she made at a special retreat she went to last year.  She learned piping and fancy stuff.  But you need to see it up close to appreciate that fancy stuff.

See?  The little black and white fabric circle is piping and then outside that is a little thread couched in a tiny zigzag.  Wonderful work.  Can’t wait to see this one quilted.

Patt was working on this happy block.  By the way, you can hold Patt responsible for my lack of blogging lately.  She gave me permission to not post as often because she can’t keep up when I blog every day.  And if you remember, Patt was the one who got me into this blogging adventure anyway.  Or at least she was the last straw.  The one that broke the camel’s back and made me give in to the blogging world.  So blame Patt.  Or thank her.  Whichever works for you.

Lynn was working on this fun embroidery.  Look at all those floss colors!  I could add to Lynn’s pile of floss too.  Need more colors, Lynn?  I’m your girl.  Old cross-stitching days.  It’s impossible to throw any of that stuff away.  You never know when Lynn might need some more colors.

Sally was working on these wonderful hexagons.  If I’d have been thinkin’ I’d have opened the quilt so you could see it.  That’s only if I’d have been thinkin’.  Which I wasn’t.  Next time Sally pulls this one out I’ll be thinkin’.

Sally also showed us this vest that was made by her Mother.  And there were pieces of a jacket all ready to be stitched together with all this fancy crazy quilt stuff on it too.  Sally recently acquired all her Mother’s beads and baubles and apparently she has enough to share with the whole State of Texas.  So if you need any, just call Sally.  She’s your girl for baubles and beads.

Here are the parts of the jacket Sally had with her.  Amazing stuff!  Her Mother really loved that crazy quilt hand work.

Nancy brought her crutches along for show ‘n tell.  She was also working on her Rose of Sharon quilt, but I apparently thought the crutches were more important and didn’t get a picture of her quilting work.  Silly me!

The next day I went over to my friend Judy’s to help her with some computer questions.  And also to see what she was working on and to photograph some antique quilts that a friend of hers had left with her.  So that I could take pics of them for the whole world to see on my blog.  And here they are!

First there was this wonderful Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt.  One day I’m going to make one of these.  I love this quilt pattern.  And you have to see some of the blocks up close…..

Aren’t they pretty?  With fabulous little hand quilted stitches.

Here’s another pic.  Just because I like this one.

Then there was this fan quilt. 

And here’s an up-close shot.  I love these old hand quilted quilts.  Such character they have!

Last was this great basket quilt.  Beautiful hand quilting in the setting blocks.

And these cute little baskets.  Love this quilt too!

This quilt was made by Judy and hangs above the bed in her guest room.  It’s great, Judy!

Next we wandered into Judy’s sewing room to see what she was working on.  I should mention that Judy is the Queen of Getting Things Done.  I need to take lessons from her.  She is no Last Minute Lucy like me.  I know this won’t come as a shock to any of my friends who know her, but Judy has already finished her Brown Bag Challenge quilt!  Aackkkkk!  It’s people like Judy who make me look really bad. 

The first thing I saw when I walked into her sewing room was these basket blocks.  Oh, my.  And I bet she just whipped them up last week.  She’s a wonder.

You needed to see one up-close, didn’t you?  I knew you did.  Great embroidery stitches.

This is a little quilt that Judy whipped up yesterday and is now hand quilting.  At least I think she just whipped it up yesterday.  Right after she finished the last stitches on those basket blocks.  And the twenty seven blocks she did to exchange with another Bee group.  And don’t forget her Brown Bag quilt.  She’s a wonder.  Did I say that already?  I need to take lessons.  I think I said that too.

And finally, these are Judy’s Baltimore Album blocks from a class she’s taking.  She’d have the whole quilt finished if not for having to wait for a class each month.  That Judy.  She’s a….. well, you get the picture.

I have loads of pics from the Rose of Sharon group to show you, but they will have to wait for another day.  Because I have a big day tomorrow and I’m going to need my beauty sleep tonight.  (Actually as you read this, the big day is today!  I typed this last night before I headed to bed.  Don’t try to figure out why it says Feb 14 on it.  It’s too complicated to explain.  Just go with the flow.)

But I was telling you about my Big Day….

I’M GOING TO MEET THE PIONEER WOMAN! 

Yes, I know it’s not polite to shout, but I couldn’t help myself.  I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.  She’s doing a book signing and I’m going to be first in line.  At 9:00 a.m.  Even though the signing isn’t until 6:00 p.m.  I don’t want to take any chances of not getting in.  Me and my friend, Suz, are going to meet her.  I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.  Oh, maybe I do want to make a fool of myself so she’ll notice me.  I really think she needs to learn how to quilt.  Or her punks need to learn or something.  I must think of something witty to tell her when she signs my book.  Any ideas?

And believe you me, I’ll have my camera along.  And there will be pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.

Thinking of witty things to say to PW,
Barb
P.S.  Happy Valentine’s Day, NQIT!  I love you.  Does this count as a card?

Posted in quilts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Rain, Ice, Sleet, Snow and a Hermit

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barb

I’ve become a hermit.  Apparently a hermit without an internet connection if the amount of blogging that’s been happening is any indication.  I didn’t mean to become a hermit.  It just happened.  And now that it has happened, I kinda like it.  But I fear it won’t last.  Spring is on its way to Texas I’m sure.

But cocooning in my home with a fire blazing in the fireplace is nice.  I was forced into it while this was happening outside:

 

This is not your normal view out the window when you live in Texas.  Quite honestly, I love it.  We have plenty of hot in Texas.  So a little cold is just fine with me.  I like cold weather clothing…. turtlenecks and thick wool socks.  And being a hermit on days when it looks like this outside.

Boo and Miss Kitty were not so sure.  MK loves it outside.  And Boo never met an open door he didn’t want to run through.  Until this day.  “What’s all that white stuff, Mom?”  Miss Kitty finally got off the red chair and wandered over to the door to check it out.

And she actually ventured out the door.  While Boo just watched.

“Whoa!  This is really cold on my toes, Boo.  Boo?  Where’d you go, Boo?”

And Miss Kitty’s venturing outside lasted exactly 5.2 seconds.

3 days later it looked like this in the back yard.  And the snow was falling pretty hard.

Boo sat in the doorway for a long time with snowflakes falling on his head……

……… before he finally ventured his toes out into the snow.  And he was out there exactly 5.3 seconds.  Because after all, he had to outlast Miss Kitty.

And when he came back into the house, he was covered with snow.  And he spent the next 54.6 minutes licking his frostbitten toes.

And then he squared off with Miss Kitty for a game of “Don’t Cross This Line.”

“Mo-m-m-m, she touched me!  She got on my side!”  Kids.

“I didn’t do it, Mom.  Honest I didn’t.  I was minding my own business and I promise I didn’t cross the line.  Trust me.”  Who could not believe those big, blue, innocent eyes.

By this time, my fire was dying down and I needed more wood.  So I sent Dear Hubby out to the woodpile.  Miss Kitty decided to help.

“Dad, here’s some wood.  Over here!”

“Over here!  Come on.  My toes are frozen!”

Dear Hubby later decided that if he wanted any clean underwear to actually reside in the underwear drawer, he was going to have to fold them and put them away himself.  I was too busy being a hermit to actually do anything with the laundry that had been in a pile to be folded for about 6 days.  I believe a hermit’s most important job is to do nothing.

Notice that Miss Kitty was doing callisthenics to warm up her cold toes.

Boo was helping Dear Hubby while MK just exercised away……

“Come on, MK!  Git over here and help with the folding!”  But Miss Kitty just ignored Boo and refused to help with the laundry.

What a nice, neat folded pile.  Good job Dear Hubby!  And Boo too…..

“What’s that, Dad?  You want me to put these where?”

And the next thing we knew Miss Kitty was sound asleep.  Guess she wore herself out with all those crunches she did.

The birds in the back yard wished they could be hermits in the house too.  Even if there were cats involved.  Brrrrrrr!

But when the sun came out, the doves had a feeding frenzy under the bird feeder.

Later Miss Kitty decided to venture further into the deep snow in the yard, dragging her furry belly in the snow.

And she thought she could hide in the neighbor’s bushes for awhile, but my camera sees all!  She can’t hide from me.

Meanwhile, back in the house……

New Quilter in Town decided to make another quilt!  This time he decided to make a Magic 9 Patch.  Like the baby quilt I had made recently.  Only he wanted fabric that looked like snow.  Did I have any, he asked?  Ha!  I had a whole drawerful…..

He very meticulously pieced his blocks…….

And put together this lovely table topper for our dining room table.  I love it that NQIT is back!  That’s what 4 days of cabin fever does for a person.  Sends them right to the sewing room.

On into the night, he quilted his quilt.  Using the Pinmoors, of course.  He is very intense and determined in his sewing.  He does a fabulous job!  I’m quite proud of NQIT.

While I was at work on Saturday, he hand stitched all the binding to the back.

And here’s the finished product on our dining room table.  Just in time for our Super Bowl party.

And what do ya know…..it’s even Boo Approved!  That’s better than the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval at our house.

So apparently I’ve surfaced from my hermit status.  And I have loads more pics to share since resurfacing.  But look out if another winter storm comes our way.

I might just go right back into hibernation.

Staying warm by the fire,
Barb

Posted in Boo, Miss Kitty, quilts | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Showering Baby – In Style!

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Barb

Last weekend I was privileged to go to a baby shower.  It was a fabulous event.  With fabulous food and fabulous ladies and a fabulous Mom-to-Be.

 

It started with a beautifully set table and these fabulous flowers.  Everything was all blue and white.  Just right for anticipating a new little baby boy.

Susan scurried around making last minute adjustments so everything was just perfect.

She and Brooke put their heads together and added little gift bags to each person’s place.

See?  This seat was mine.  What fun to have a little gift bag!  With really cool things inside.  I bet you can’t wait to see, right?  Read on……

Meghan was the special Mom-to-Be.

And here she is!  Well, actually that’s the little guy whose arrival we’re all anticipating.  Hidden beneath a beautiful lace dress.

Aha!  Here’s the special Mom-to-Be….. with a diaper cake that was given to her by her dog.  Really.  The dog gave her this one.  His name is Harley.  The dog, I mean.

See?  He even signed the card his very own self.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  It’s important that you see everything.

We began with a toast.  From my dear friend Susan, who is looking forward to greeting her very first grandbaby.  And planned this special day for Meghan.

Family and friends came from far and wide……

Pat came all the way from Ohio!  I bet she was happy to be leaving snow behind to visit Texas.  Because it was 75° on this special day.  Good thing the shower wasn’t planned for Tuesday when the temp was more than 50° colder.

Dorothea and Maggie came from Susan’s neighborhood to be part of the special day.

Sophia, Natalie and Sarah……

Brenna chats with Meghan.

Great Grandmother visits with Auntie Brooke, who came all the way from San Francisco.  She gets the prize for coming the furthest.  Well, actually, we all got prizes.  And besides that we all got fed a fabulous lunch.  And I have the pics to prove it!

But first, here’s me with Susan and her cousin, Natalie.  It was such fun to get to know Susan’s family and friends!

I found my placecard where we each had a jar of blue & brown & white M&M’s.

The toughest decision of the day was deciding which entrée I wanted.  They all looked so good.  Seriously.  Here, I’ll show you:

Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon Braised Greens and Parmesan Cheese.  Yum.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Bourbon Reduction.  Double Yum.  Meghan said she was having a Thanksgiving Feast.

This was my plate.  Grilled Salmon with Corn and Crab Relish.  Triple dipple YUM.

But before all that we had:

Fried Green Tomatoes with Mozzarella Slices, Pesto, Roasted Peppers & Tupelo Honey.  Maybe you need to see the entire menu.  Because I’m sure you haven’t had breakfast yet today and you need to really get your taste buds hoppin’, right?

Wait until you see the Chocolate Lava Cake!  But first…….

Wedge Salad and Crab Bisque.  I think I might have to go have a snack before I can finish this blog today.  Wish I had some crab bisque in my fridge.

Soon we all opened our little brown bags.  Three of Susan’s favorite things for each of us!  Hair oil, lip gloss and lip balm – girlie things.  What fun!

Can you tell everyone was having a good time?

Such a pretty table surrounded with beautiful ladies!

Before we knew it, it was time for Meghan to open the gifts.

Daddy-to-Be, Christopher, showed up to help with the Opening of the Gifts.

And Susan’s Dear Hubby came too.  I mean somebody had to carry all those gifts to the car, right?

Fun baby things.  Including a warmer for baby wipes.  What happened to the days of fun diaper changing?  When you could watch the baby jump when you hit him with the cold wipe?  Kids are so spoiled these days.

From the look on Meghan’s face, I think the baby is going to have to talk Mom into sharing this cute bear duo.

This pic is for all their friends from Tulane.  Cute!

On the other side of the table there was a knitting lesson going on.  Thus Susan’s new addiction to knitting.  She got the knitting bug again while watching her Mom and her Sis with this fabulous scarf.

Mom & Dad read each card together.

And shared a laugh or two.  Meghan has the best laugh!  But we all had a laugh as Christopher told us the story of the breast feeding class he attended.  And Meghan was 20 minutes late.  He got some interesting looks before she got there.  Especially when the instructional videos started.

Brooke got very embarrassed.  But I think that was a whole other story……

There was a very helpful book.  That was 500 pages long and probably has already been read cover to cover.  Or not.

And some cute little boy clothes.

A quilt from me.  But if you read this blog, you already knew that.  I’m a quilter after all.  I wouldn’t know how to give anything else at a baby shower.

There were lots more special gifts.  And I’m afraid I didn’t get a picture of each and every one.  But the most special box of all was saved for last.  It was from Susan and filled with things from Christopher’s baby days……

A silver cup with Christopher’s name engraved on it.

A silver fork and spoon.

His christening gown.  Susan really had to tap dance around when Meghan asked about it the night before the shower!

Booties and a bonnet.  Meghan wondered how Christopher’s head could ever have been that small.

And a pretty white afghan.  All things that Susan saved from Christopher’s baby days.  Very cool.

Hugs all around!

And a nice picture for the scrapbook.

What a fabulous, fabulous day.  Great job, Susan!

Now if I just had some more of that crab bisque today.  Or salmon with crab & corn relish.  Ooops!  I almost forgot to show you the Chocolate Lava Cake……

…. with berries on the side.  And chocolate fudge tumbling out of the center of the cake.  Oh, my.  I have no leftovers of this either.  And my stomach is indeed growling after all those pics.  Is yours?

Maybe you can run over and we’ll share the little jar of M&M’s.

Prayers for a speedy delivery, Meghan and Christopher!

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in just stuff, quilts | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Bee Day – New Challenges!

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Barb

It was JSS Bee Day at my house this month.  And a new year brings new challenges to this fabulous group of ladies.  We’re continuing our tradition of a challenge using the same fabric again.  And you are seeing the fabric on the borders of this blog.  Isn’t it colorful?  I love the way it looks on the blog.  I will enjoy viewing it all year.  And it will be fun to see what all these gals come up with using that same fabric.

 

Our other challenge tradition is our Brown Bag Challenge.  Each lady participating put one yard of fabric in a brown paper bag and brought it to our January Bee Day.  They chose a bag as they left at the end of the day and will make a quilt top to be delivered to the recipient at our Christmas party in December.  Judy R probably already has hers finished.  I have barely looked in my bag, let alone done any sewing.  Ask me how I’m doing on it in November.  Better yet, ask me how much I have finished the night before the Christmas party.  I’m hopeless.  But I could surprise you!  This could be The Year Barb Finishes Her Brown Bag Early.  And if it is, I’ll be sure to let you know and you can call in the New York Times.  It will definitely be newsworthy.  But don’t hold your breath.  By the way, we don’t know who the fabric belongs to or who has ours.  And I never have figured out whose fabric I have.  Even if I try really hard.

Once again we had great food, great quilts for show ‘n tell and great friends.  It is always a fun day when JSSers get together!

They arrived with big bags of quilts to show.

Sandra and Betty share a smile moment together.

Breakfast was devoured so quickly we only got a picture of the aftermath.

By the way, I should point out that we had a part-time guest photographer on this day.  Since it was at my house I was very busy in the kitchen.  So Susan took over most of the camera duties.  Thanks, Susan!  Good job!

Speaking of Susan, here she is!  So I guess she didn’t take this picture, now did she?  This is Susan, banging the cast iron skillet with a potato masher to get everyone’s attention.  Everyone had been there… oh, about 30 seconds…. when she decided that we needed to get the show on the road and begin Show ‘n Tell.  OK, maybe they had been there closer to an hour, but I felt the need to give Susan a hard time.

Speaking of Susan, she and I went to a knitting store yesterday.  Yes, you heard me….. knitting.  I know, I know.  This is a quilting blog.  And a quilting Bee.  But we branch out into other crafts too once in awhile.  Like we don’t already have enough to do!

Do you suppose she could have been influenced by these gals?

Cindy had some fun knitting to tempt Susan back to knitting.

Nancy was knitting too!  What’s the world coming to?

Susan sat entirely too close to this last week.  And she was swayed.

This is really cool, Nancy.  I can see why Susan was tempted.  And she had to shop for yarn.

But wait!  This is a Quilting Bee!

And Cindy had this cool rag quilt to show too.

And how about this one?  Cindy quilted this one on the Handi-Quilter at The Quilting Depot!

See what a good job she did?  Very nice, Cindy!

These are two cute little baby quilts to be given to charity.  That were quilted by Cindy and Patti at The Quilting Depot with Pam’s help.  They are having fun at TQD!

These gals were enjoying the Show ‘n Tell from the other side of the room.  And probably trying to sneak a peak inside those brown bags behind Karen.

Karen pieced this cute quilt with fabric she bought in NYC with Lani.  And Pam helped her get it quilted since Karen was spending lots of time at the hospital with her Dad.  These JSS gals are all about pitching in when it’s needed!

Nice piecing on this one by Betty.  It’s fabulous!  (Are you getting inspired to quilt yet, Susan?  Put down that knitting!)

Boy, Sandra and Betty are seriously discussing this quilt.  What’s up, you two?

Dede had a cool kaleidoscope quilt to show.

And how about this cute one.  With bunnies!

Dede’s been busy!  Another fabulous quilt by her.

And while she showed this cool bag, I snuck her chair out from behind her.  Thinking she might try to sit down without looking.  I would have caught her, really I would have!

Karen snuck into the kitchen for a quick bowl of soup because she needed to leave early.  And got caught by my camera in the hands of Susan.  You can’t sneak anything by Susan!

Madelyn was working on embroidery.  For her apron quilt.  Can’t wait to see that one when it’s finished.


By the way, I think there must have been a sale on these lights to hang around your neck.  Davene had one…..

And so did Sue!

Madelyn too.  And they work really good to get the light right where you need it.  I know that because I have one too!

Suz and I put our heads together and smiled for Susan’s camera.  Oh, wait!  That’s my camera!  Suz and I are baseball buddies ever since I became a fanatic about baseball.  When is Opening Day, Suz?  I think we need to be there.

Sue H showed this cute wool bunny project.

Patti had this bright happy quilt to show.  I do believe that’s ugly fabric.  I don’t mean ugly as in ugly.  But it was for the Ugly Fabric Challenge.  Is any fabric truly ugly?  OK, don’t answer that.  I’m sure there are ugly ones somewhere.  Patti quilted this one at The Quilting Depot too.

And how about this one from our It’s OK Sampler class.  Good job, Patti!

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.  Karen was still eating soup and Susan was getting us to pose for her my camera.

Maggie is brand new to quilting and the JSS group, but look at this fabulous appliqué she’s doing!  That’s because she was taught by the best.  That would be Susan.

And this fabulous wall hanging belongs to Suz.  She had it quilted by Susan Corbett and brought it to show.  But it was pieced and appliquéd by Judy R.  That’s because Suz was the lucky recipient of this top in our Brown Bag Challenge 2010.  These gals do amazing work.

Sue G showed this cute quilt – with snowmen on the back.

Pam showed this quilt.  Her very first one quilted for a client who just walked in off the street at The Quilting Depot with an old quilt top made by a family member.  Very nice, Pam!

This Pretzel Party quilt is Pam’s too.  Love the colors!  And just in time for Valentine’s Day.  With cute hearts quilted all over it.  You can see them clearly in the upper corners.  Pam is having too much fun with those quilting machines.

My Show ‘n Tell was on my design wall.  Sometimes it’s good to have the Bee at your own house so you can show what you haven’t had time to finish because you’ve been too busy cleaning for the JSS gals to come over.  But if they hadn’t come over, you wouldn’t have had to clean and you could have had the quilt done.  Hmmmmm.  Doesn’t matter because this quilt is done and already given away.  As you saw on the blog a couple of days ago.  Try not to be confused by the out of order blog postings.

And finally the gals held my feet to the fire and demanded that I show them the 2011 Same Fabric Challenge fabric.  Well, they would have held my feet to the fire, if there had been a fire.  But it was 70° that day and there was no fire in my fireplace.  Today it’s supposed to be something like 10°, I think.  Welcome to Texas!  And there will be a fire in my fireplace tonight.

But I was telling you about the challenge fabric.  If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already seen this in the margins of the blog.  And I love it there!  Good thing, because you will probably get to look at it all year.  To remind me that I need to make something out of it.  Because I need all the reminders I can get these days.  Doesn’t mean I will work on anything until the night before the party.  I am the Last Minute, Lucy, after all.  But at least I can look at it and think about it every time I look at the blog.  And be reminded.

And now, a quick look at the food of the day and then we’re done.  I hear those big sighs of relief.  This might just be the longest blog yet.  I think I lost track of the number of pics at about 396.  Didn’t feel like a single pic above 395, now did it?

Suz and Nancy flew around in the kitchen while the gals were yelling, “Let’s eat!” from the other room.  They had last minute salad prep to do.

There was yummy cheese bread.  And some sourdough bread too.

And a big, make that HUGE, pot of vegetable soup.

Yummy chicken salad with crackers…….

Asian salad, spinach salad and another tossed salad behind.  We even found a salad in the fridge at dessert time and some had that one for dessert.  Along with apple crisp that we missed with the camera. 

Some sat (and stood) around the table where they could refill their plates multiple times.

And some balanced their plates in their laps and didn’t spill a thing.  Good job, gals!

And one gal balanced her new fabric on one knee and her plate in her lap.  NOTE:  This is definitely not me.  If I had sat like this to eat my salad, I’d still be trying to get the cramps out of my feet. 

The End.  Finally.

Hugs,
Barb

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