"Snug as a Bug"

It is always so interesting - weatherwise - to live in Missouri.  I think this is where all the weather patterns come and swirl and change.  This is what we awakened to yesterday morning.

This and no electricity.  It was Pep's night off so he awakened at 6:00 when his C-pap turned off.

I got to sew by candlelight - without my coffee.  The last big snowstorm we had it took Pep 3 hours (usually an hours drive) to get home. We were wondering if he might have to stay in town.  And the electricity kept going off and back on.

 

We do have a fireplace in the center of the house with a woodburning stove in the fireplace.  But we didn't have any wood.
This time we have wood.
And if the electricity hadn't come back on around 8:30 we could have had a toasty fire and made coffee the campfire way.

As it was I survived without the coffee and kept pretty toasty sitting under my 

3 Cabins quilt.

We've got it on special this week anyway in honor of President's Day next month but it sure came in handy this week.

It is still January now though and we're mailing out the first block of this year's Mystery Quilt, Sleigh Bells.

As usual each year some people need to drop out of the club.  (There are only so many projects we can do at once even if we are superquilters.)

The good news is that even if it saddens us to say goodbye to some customers for awhile, it leaves room for new ones.  

We did have a few slots open up so if you want to join the fun, email Tori at janpatekquilts@yahoo.com or call her at 816-632-7632.

Members - be sure to check your email each month for your invoice.  Unless we charge your credit card automatically, you'll need to go to Paypal and pay so we can ship your block.  You don't want to miss a single month.  

Now to finish up designing the Featured Fabric Quilt that starts in March.  The last one was a Christmas (Burgundy & green) quilt for my bed.  I think this one will be a Spring and Summer one.  Can you tell I'm in the mood for Spring? 

Summer always sounds best when it's cold

 I remember once reading in one of Martha Stewarts books that her favorite time for gardening was February.  That's when she sat by the fire and went through catalogs of flowers and planned.

I think I agree with her.  Especially since Missouri's summers are hot and humid and I hate very hot weather.

But this quilt "Summer Nights" reminds me of the first balmy nights of summer, when the skies are clear and you can see at least a million stars from our deck.

And the fragrance of the flowers wafts in with the gentle breeze.

I'm waxing poetic about it since the temperature just dropped significantly.  It was 59 yesterday but it's winter again today - definitely.

Summer Nights is on sale this week for 40% off.

Life continues......

With a big hole in it ..... but it does continue.  The grief ebbs and flows - I cry for awhile and then I'm kind of ok for awhile.  God bless quilting.  

We got home from Springfield at 1:00 am and finally to bed at 3:00 so I'm pretty slow at whatever I do.    Jake and Zoie went with us - Jake and Pep drove home after the service.  The kids did enjoy getting to see their cousins (Jim has 4 grandchildren) but would have preferred different circumstances.  

Tori and Falisha took care of the office today.  I ran errands, took Jake and Zoie to town and am going to sit and stitch when I finish blogging.

I got an email this morning from Moda Lissa today saying that the "Audra's Iris Garden" precuts were starting to ship today. Seems appropriate somehow.  Audra was Jim and my Grandma Laird.  :) 

This is "Charming Posies" - made from Audra's charm packs (3) and yardage.  

It seems really silly since it's only January and I am usually a winter person, but I am ready for spring.

James B. Laird - RIP

This is a photo of us getting ready to walk down the aisle on my wedding day 43 years ago.  I'm the one in the white.  :)

The very good looking gentleman beside me is my brother,  Dr. James Berkey Laird.   Our father died when I was 8 so Jim "gave me away".  

Like my father, Jim was a veterinarian - both graduated from K State.

Jim was 2 years younger than I was but he left us suddenly the night of January 9th.

He has journeyed on.

My animals will really miss  him and so will I.  

Here is last year's Mystery Quilt - the Collector Series revisited.  It was designed years ago by Linda Brannock and I.  One of the reasons I wanted to revisit it is that the original disappeared years ago.  We only made one and Linda thought I had it and I thought she had it.  Actually, neither of us had it.

It does hang straight but I didn't tell Tori and Falisha that when you take the picture you have to pin it at the bottom too or it won't look straight.  It is.

Isn't Lori's quilting awesome?  I just love the center of the zinnia.

One of the few changes I made was to replace the 3 pieced birds block with an angel block.  Linda's forte is piecing.  Mine is not.  Angels are.

And I love the fabrics for the basket and beeskeps.  I do so enjoy sewing on the binding and getting to look at all of the varied blocks and the quilting.

And we're on to a new year.  This is block #1 of Sleigh Bells, this year's Mystery Quilt.  We've had lots of people sign up for it - there's a waiting list.  If you belonged last year you are automatically signed up for the new one unless you tell us you want off.  Most people have asked for that so they don't have to worry about getting a place.  If you're too busy, have too much on  your plate or are just plain old tired of BOM's, please let us know asap so we can fill  your place.  

And it's time to be getting ready for Valentine's Day.  My how time flies.  This is Heartsong and it's on sale this week - for a whopping 40% off.  I just love the birds and the hearts and that border fabric - 

Keep quilting ladies.

Happy 2013!

Let's hope that 13 is a lucky number for all of us.

Last year we didn't have any snow.  This year we had a very white Christmas.  By Christmas all of the cars were out of drifts and the roads were mostly passable.  

My sister Nancy and I had to run Jake and Zoie down to meet their father halfway Christmas Day as rear wheel drive pickups still couldn't maneuver well on our hills so Jake couldn't drive but front wheel drive did fine. 

This is Spike and his new little sister Honey.  As you can see, he's not exactly thrilled.  The blurred picture due to perpetual motion is a pretty accurate description of Honey.

Spike's a well behaved dog and while he only tolerated Honey at first, he plays with her now if he thinks no one is looking.  And he does like the fact that he can "borrow" her chewies.  Of course, if you give him one, he doesn't eat it but hers are delicious.  I always keep an extra on hand to give her when he takes hers.  He tries to chew his really close to her so he can get hers too but I won't let him do that.  I'm head dog around here and that's pushing the limits.  :)

The snow is great for snowboarding down the hill.  If you want a snowman, however, you need to content yourself with Grandma's "Snow Guys".  Cullen and Quinn tried really hard to get the snow to pack for a snowman but no dice.

They had a great time trying though.  

Happy New Year's ladies.  Keep stitching.