I signed up for a new quilt swap Spring Blooms Mini Quilt, it should be fun. I can't wait to get started. It's just what I need to get back at quilting! I also have 3 more quilted bags to make and have ready for Graduation gifts.

My new job is going well, I made it though two days now of taking calls. Hopefully, I won't be as afraid this next week when I get calls. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Boy with spring here it's very hard to want to sew. I need to do something to feel inspired. I cleaned out 2 cabinets in my sewing room and reorganized my fabrics for when I do feel like quilting again. It's been a tough winter with no jobs and no prospects here Michigan, where the politicians believe in taxing big business right out of our jobs. Hopefully, they will wise up and we'll get back to work here. Maybe then I'll feel like starting something new, but right now it's finishing the old and not starting anything new. Fortunately I have a lot to finish from teaching so many quilt classes in the past. Although I am down to 22 quilt tops to quilt, 9 quilt tops to finish piecing. That's way down from 4 years ago when I first joined stashbusters I have 70 quilts to quilt and 12 tops to finish piecing. I started making myself finish a quilt before I could start a new quilt. and It really helped. I also haven't been teaching very much. I signed up at the local quilt shop here in Michigan but unfortunately I picked a shop that really didn't want me to teach there. They did nothing to advertise the classes, so I won't try to teach there again.

I wanted to post my favorite quilt that I have made so far this year.
It isn't even a quilt but I have loved making these bags.

These are some of the patterns that I am currently selling via Quilters Flea Market a yahoo group. This has been a wonderful place for me to reduce my stash as well as purchase things that I am looking for. Although since Dave has been laid off since November 2008 I haven't been purchasing anything and have been using the proceeds from selling off my stash to pay my car payment. I sold 2 of my wonderful Ikea cabinets which I used to house my stash this weekend so I need to sell more things. Hopefully these will sell quickly as my next car payment is due. How grateful I am to other crafters who have been so kind as to purchase these things from my stash. Craigs list has also been a big help in selling off items. Don't we live in an amazing age??!

Next Blocks in the Sunshine Quilt Sampler are here:
The first block is Mrs Kellers 9 patch. http://thegoldenthimble.com/mrskellers9ptch.pdf I really like how this block turned out the golden thimble is a nice site. She takes her time writing good instructions.

The second block is also found on her site. The tudor rose block. I really enjoyed this block and plan on making more some day.

http://thegoldenthimble.com/mrskellers9ptch.pdf. I have already finished the Sampler top. It turned out beautifully. I look forward to seeing how each person on Stashbusters make their Samplers after seeing hou mine turned out!

Finished! My Hedgerow socks KAL for February are finished! Wow, I really did not like knitting these. They seemed tedious to knit and I am so glad they are finished! Now to see what this month's knit along is!

Market Bags - These are quick and easy to make. So far I have made two of them and have plans to make several more. I think these will be great gifts this graduation season. I used the pattern found in Bags, Pillows and Pincushions. http://tinyurl.com/akzhrm. I'll be teaching these bags at the local quilt shop this April.

I have been working on a Not So Ugly Sunshine Sampler for a wonderful group of ladies on the yahoo group Stashbusters. I have the whole 9 months of blocks laid out in eq6 but will only be posting the ones here as they are posted on the groups site. It started in February and will finish up just before Christmas so my blocks are using a Christmas fabric as it main fabric. The guidelines for the Block of the Month are simple. You need 2 yards of an ugly fabric or one you have had a hard time using. Then you need some yellow or gold in every block. Not to difficult for most of us with a stash! The only other stipulation is that you can't buy fabric for this block of the month. It must come from your stash! The blocks will all come from various sites on the internet. Februray's blocks were:

http://delawarequilts.com/BOMs/OldMaidsPuzzle/index.html which was available in two sizes. A 12" block and a 6" block. I did both. 4 of each size, and I sewed the 6" blocks together to make a 12" block.
Here is the block in the 12" size I am considering sewing 4 of these blocks together as well. I really liked how the 4 blocks look sewn
together.

I finished Elizabeth's quilt tonight. The pictures are the back (left) and the top (right) I found these really cute daisy's with smiles on them at a quilt shop in Indiana 2 years ago. Elizabeth's room is every color so this is the perfect quilt for her room. I really like to piece backs (uses more of my stash that way and it used up the left over daisies). The flying geese are made up of batiks. The the four patches incorporate her favorite color of orange. It feels really good to be finishing up this quilt. It has the added benefit of being free hand quilted by her dad! So it will be something she can treasure from both of her parents. KC is modeling the quilt of the pictures. We will be giving it to Liz on her half birthday of February 20Th!

When my daughter came home for our family Christmas she wanted a pair of red
mittens so I knitted her a pair this week and am now putting them in the mail to
her in Utah! I used a red with grey flecks silk/ wool blend. I think that she will love them! With the completion of these mittens I can now start to do the socks for the knit along that is for January. Hedgerow socks, I will be knitting them in a solid color. The pattern can be found here. http://www.knittersreview.com/hedgerow_socks.pdf

Merry Christmas Stephanie! Stephanie's City Purse is done. Only one more purse to make
before our family Christmas this Friday. I still have 3 quilts to bind as well. This will definely
be a week of hand sewing.

Merry Christmas Tricia! Our family will be celebrating Christmas this Friday. It will be the first time we are all together in over 2 years. My oldest son will be coming home on Thursday from a 2 year mission for our church. It will be great to have our entire family together again. Below is one of the Christmas presents I finished today to give this week. The nice thing about a delayed Christmas is having extra time to finish the gifts. This is my first UFO for 2009. I hope to have 3 more before the week is out! The pattern is a Lazy Girl design, City Bag. http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/products/item/City_Bag/232/c50 Totally made from my stash, including buttons although I did need to purchase batting and a zipper. I have another one I am hoping to finish on Monday. This one is for my daughter Tricia, who will need a brief case this year as she graduates from BYU this next semester and will be teaching for Teach for America! A program providing teaches for under serviced areas. She will be working on her masters in education while she works for them. Hopefully the bag will help her off to a good start!

My latest completion! A simple pair of socks for my son David. I cast on 70 stitches and than k2p2 for 3 inches. After that I just kept knitting in the round and put in a traditional heal and kitchner stitched the toes shut. He is 6'4" with a size 13 shoe so it took on full skein of Fortissima Socka Mexiko Color #13 and part of another (gee there's enough left for me to make a regular pair of socks!) These are 100 gram skeins.

"For my part, I have concluded that the quality which set one man apart from another-the factor which lifts one man to every achievement to which he reasonably aspires while the other is caught in the slough of mediocrity for all the years of his life-is not talent, nor formal education, nor luck, nor intellectual brilliance, but is rather the successful man's greater capacity for self-discipline. All you need to do is this: Beginning this very day, stop doing some one thing you know you should not do." Benjamin N Woodson

This quote was taken for "The Message Go For it" by Elder M. Russell Ballard, New Era, Mar 2004.

This is something I am going to strive to do in 2009. Also, I am going to each day my best to add something I know I should be doing even if only for that day. Things like not eating sugar. Maybe it could be not starting anything new in my sewing room, even if just for a day. Concentrate on finishing up all the things I started over the years and then I was interrupted with a move or life and put it aside. It's great fun to finish projects so I need to concentrate on that. This year my goal for sewing is to be a frugal quilter. Work on finishing projects, work on creating patterns and marketing them in the local quilt shop so I can once again earn money by teaching the patterns. Not spending on fabric unless it is something I need to complete something I am working on.

For knitting I plan on trying to do new things with the socks I knit, try new patterns and new techniques and keep working on it until I can accomplish whatever it is. To this end I will be participating in a couple of knit-alongs via Yahoo groups. That way I can work with others and ask questions if I need to.

I am getting a new nephew soon (any day in fact) and I made him a "Boys will be boys quilt" . My sweet husband Dave is holding the quilt. He also was kind enough to quilt the quilt for me so that we could get the quilt to his sister sooner. I had taken the quilt along with 2 others to Everlasting Stitches in Holt Michigan to be quilted. When on left the quilt on 3 September I was told it would be less than 8 weeks. I called at 8 weeks to see when it would be done and was told she would be getting to it the next week. I was in Holt the Saturday before Thanksgiving and went to the quilt shop. Now in excess of 12 weeks of when I dropped off the quilts and was told that she could do one the following week if I wanted. I brought all the quilts home and have decided to quilt them myself. I do realize that life happens with quilters as with anyone but if you can't make the commitment don't you think she could have called and let me know?? Fortunately it only put me behind in my Christmas presents just a bit because I have a quilting machine that I can use, I feel sorry for those who have to depend on outsiders to finish their quilt! Our family is celebrating Christmas on January 16th because my oldest son is in Germany and won't be returning home until the 15th of January so that gives me lots of time to make Christmas which is good because my husband is unemployed and there is no money for Christmas. We are having a homemade Christmas. It is so good that I have such a stash of fabric with which to work with!

Dave's First Quilting Project!

Dave decided to help me get some quilts finished up this Christmas season. He spent one day getting my grace quilting machine running smoothly and then quilted this quilt that I made up for one of the Sisters I visit teach whose baby is due in January. He is now loading a quilt to quilt for his sister's baby which is also due in January! What a great way to get caught up on my Christmas projects. I guess his being laid off is truly a blessing. At least it will be until our money runs out! It's a scary time to live in Michigan with the highest unemployment in the country. He is a very talented man but that is not relevant at this time.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

http://www.joytoeveryone.com/

Check out the above link for a wonderful Christmas video. It's a beautiful song and it will make your Christmas! Have a great Christmas

Our New Snow Fall December 1st 2008

My children's prayers were answered this morning, "NO SCHOOL" What a beautiful morning to wake up to! Snow covered trees, all a glistening white. Today will be the perfect day for a no school party which my daughter has planned for noon, coco, cookies and lots of games!

I just finished this quilt top. It is from the Marcus Brothers Website for the Love and Harmony Collection. When I started the quilt I was afraid that the pinks were too pink but I think that it turned out great and will end up being the perfect gift for a 2 year old I know. She hasn't gotten a quilt yet from her Aunt Mary Jane but this Christmas she will. I love the cats on this quilt. For the x block, the quilt store didn't carry the stripe fabric so I made my own with scraps of pink I had in my stash. I am going to experiment more with this block, I think its a great block for using up scraps and very easy to use. Following is a link to the free pattern on the Marcus Brothers site.



http://marcusbrothers.com/makeit/projects/love_and_harmony/index.html

We've moved! Yet again the Saylor's are on the move. This time back to Michigan. We are living in a delightful home built in 1910. It has been quite the adventure moving ourselves up here. We couldn't have done it without the help of our Church. We had 12 men show up to load the truck and 8 to unload. What a blessing they were.
The house has a lot of potential and Liz has been having a grand time working on getting the gardens back in shape. Our furniture is perfect for the house but then a lot of it came from my parents and grandparents so what do you expect!

We have been sharing the house this week with mice and flying things in the basement. So far 2 mice have gone to live in the great beyond and I am giving thanks for Tricia's cat Lucy! Dave has put the basement off limits until a professional can see just what exactly it is that drive bombs him when he goes down there.

The kitchen is coming together slowly I hope to have it done this weekend! So much to do and just not enough hours in the day. We are also learning to adjust to life post air conditioning (86 degrees and no air) I bought out Meijers in floor fans and it helps alot. It would really help if the windows weren't painted shut. Dave has gotten a few to open upstairs but hasn't had time to get the downstairs ones open (due to assembling furntiure and chasing furry rodents and flying who knows what they are!

.
These are pictures of butterfly blocks that I made for a lotto exchange on the group lovetitchen4charity, a yahoo group. I donated 30 blocks to the group to make up into quilts for Quilts of Kids. Normally you make 3 blocks and one goes in a drawing for some lucky quilter to win the rest are made up for charity. But since I already have more than enough quilts in progress thanks to 20 years of teaching I opted out of the drawing but am looking forward to seeing the finished quilts. The pattern came from Quilters Cache a member of group simplified it for the group.
http://www.quilterscache.com/E/EasyPiecedButterflyBlock.html
I love associating with quilters and seeing all the good that they do each day to brighten the world of those that they come into contact with. It brings a smile in an otherwise hectic life.