Ideas for finishing up the year are swimming in my mind....

Do you ever find yourself consumed with ideas for quilts but short on time and then when you have a moment, you cannot decide what to focus on? A seascape beginning to take shape.....I may just be creating snapshot parts of quilts for next while, but at least the craving to created is satiated.

May we have playful moments in 2012 as the dolphin is dancing in the sunset in this photo!

Love, Em

Did you see the marriage of my sister's delightful quilt and Green Fairy's quilting?

Last week I had fun celebrating mom and Green Fairy and this week my sis, Sharon and Green Fairy. A delightful combo you will find when you visit Green Fairy's blog. I will never forget the first time I heard of Judi the Green Fairy....quilting has never been the same since!

Mary......CELEBRATING her. Giving her bright colors in honor of my own mother

A work in progress......

A little curiousity....BIG fun!

Today I marvelled at imagining the amount of energy that went into creating elementary room Christmas parties this past week....and all I had to do today was place a table near the dodgeball arena, bring out a jelly roll from Green Fairy and then, POOF!!!!! 2 small boys approached me inquiring what I was doing....I am beginning a Valentine Mary of Guadalupe and they recognized her. All I had to do was ask if they would like to join me and they were all over it!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you spy the sweet Christmas tree with the orange lights, large yellow gifts under the tree and a broderie perse star at the top. The tiny boy loved the teeny scraps and would call them mouths and loved gluing them on the backgrounds. My favorite was when the tiniest boy would roll up strips and quietly whispher, "Can I carry these in my pockets?"

I sat there watching and thought, "This is Christmas." I thanked God and then their father for sharing them with me. I am unsure if he could speak english but his smile from ear to ear spoke volumes.

I imagine the little boy and his folded fabric as he talked to him mom when they arrived home.

The gifts that come our way and we never dreamt of their arrival.

Love, Em

Merry Christmas Eve!

I wonder what Jefferson was thinking in the top photo. I call the photo, "A prayer" and this man is a wonder...wonderFULL! He played for our Christmas party and a night I will never forget. Jefferson lives in Vegas and had done a mass text asking if anyone wanted to commission a song for Christmas. I wrote a letter to Harley and sent it to him...the rest is all a song....The memorable moment was when Sean and I were listening to Jefferson begin a song and Sean look up to me when he realized he was singing of our memories and love of Harley....Merry Christmas, baby! The gift of personalized creativity....and all of our quilts.....Personalized Creativity!

Northwest Christmas is done and was a very simple and fun quilt to create and quilt. My feathers are free hand and a couple of my curves are less than curvy but all in all...I enjoy this piece.

Merry Christmas eve. Em

Do you know how much you enrich my heart, blog friends?....A little tear in my eye as I type

If I could hug you in person, I would! I have had so many giggles and smiles and sighs of care as many of you have visited my blog today and CELEBRATED mom and Green Fairy's gifts! I devoted a full day to a wall quilt and was like a little girl giddy that I was reading blog comments and piecing all at the same time. I feel loved and I thank you!

It was our family goal to be in Seattle for Christmas and while things are still in motion, we are basking in Southern Utah sun once again for the holidays. And so in my heart today, I created a piece that I title a Northwest Christmas Tree....Nifty and Miki, I will be there sooner than later so keep my spot at Rebels!

A spin off of the Piece O'Cake Leaves and Scrap branches and trunk in honor of Victoria at BumbleBeans....

I will be honest, it is a psychological challenge for me to play with Roxy when I have oohed and aahed over Green Fairy's quilting on mom's beauty, but...I am who I am, Sam I am....and so this is the back of the quilting so far, kinda fun in a simplistic way, isn't it?

Are you giggling as you see this pic of Porsche and the quilt....How do they do it everytime?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter the kittens or the pup...They are so predictable and I laugh each time.

Thank you, Santa, for early gift of a day to quilt! I hope he shared with you too!!!!

Love, Em

Stop, Do NOT pass go, Visit Green Fairy's blog- AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Above is one of mom's blocks that she amazingly appliqued. It is a Piece O'Cake designed quilt. It is the current showcased quilt on Green Fairy blog. You are going to swoon, sigh and sway all at the same time with the amazing job Judi has done with the quilting. Amazing doesn't cover it!!!! What a combination of gifted women, my mom and her piecing and applique and Judi's quilting vision! And guess what? I get to hold it in my hot little hands this Tuesday when I pick it up and have girlfriend time with Ms. Fairy....

Popsicles for Christmas Dinner?

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Thank you, Mary Lou Weidman, for this popsicle pattern, what a fun quickie to adorn my mom's Christmas puzzle! We call my mom, Gritz, and she has loved this popsicle since she saw Mary Lou's lastest book. Are you working on a last minute gift?

I miss you all and work continues to be crazy but I think of you often!!!!!

I have "more time" at the to of my Santa List. Love you to all!! Em

Merry! Mari......Thank you, Mary!

A Mary Lou Weidman pattern and oh so much fun to create for my Mom! A sweet treat that was much needed last night! Roxy is ready to play when I have a moment to breathe.....

Love, Em

Thank you, friends!

Thank you so much for your kind loving words about Harley. I wanted to create a small quilt to convey my gratitude but such little spare time right now...so...A wonderful text in this little pic...

Love and much gratitude, Em

Celebrating my Harley!.....

My dear Harley.....14+ years ago we were a duo, I told him one day he would have to share me with a man who love me as he did....said "I do!", raised a son and loved him today with an older gentleman vet and his assistant and we laughed at the "old son of gun that won't let go"....dear love of my life was spicy until the end. Just like his mom. Reviewing boxes of photos the past days as I was grieving and awaiting the scheduled hour, what a gift he was and what a life he lived. HE SURFED...surfed the wave of love and life!



Love, Em

Mom's color is whirling your way!!!!

Woke up to a fun text! Victoria, were your ears burning?

My mom is a very fun and spicy woman as you know and always playing with color! It was fun to receive this photo this morning and be surprised that it is a style outside of her usual and I LOVE it as I do all of hers!!!!

And this was the text with the picture...."FIred up making a top for Victorias crusade, not malingering" with a smile face at the end. Mom teasingly says she is "malingering" when she is chatting when us girls are piecing up a storm. She can malinger whenever she wants with me!!!!

May this splash of color be a bonus to your Saturday! Em

enJOY! I am hooked on this word this week. Do you have a WORD for your week?

Back to the RIDE.....ENJOY is my newest addition. So much fun to be creating a Christmas quilt collection of word quilts, THANK YOU, Unruly Quilter!!!!

Happy Friday! Em

Ever find your JOY cannot be contained because there is just too much of it!?

oops!!! Just like my old days when making my AAQI projects, just a hair too big! Well, when in doubt, throw out the store- bought and get crazy with "making fabric"! as V at Bumblebeans has taught me to do!

Voila! This was such a fun project to create this morning and Roxy and I were delighted to try a new decorative stitch that seems so perfect for this patchy border. Happy Thursday and Cheers to JOY that is just too big for an allotted border!

Love, Em

Do you have a favorite go-to pattern?

I have been wanting to reproduce this quilt and could not remember the details....then out of the blue found a file titled, Quilt Pictures, and to my delight, Pic found! Happy Monday!!!!!

Love, Em

What moves you? Brings a halt to your step? Reminds you of a story.......

The point where our worlds connect....

Fanning up.......Flare of a sort!

Sean recanted memories of swimming in his pool as a child and surfacing through fall leaves....

I hope these photos inspire a story....a moment of reverie.....a CELEBRATION of fabric and its beauty and possibilities.

Thank you for sharing a moment with me! Em

Soft hues for a tranquil Friday....

Serenity, Simplicity....May these be your gifts from me today. Not sure where this is going but for now....Love, Em

Gobble OOH LA LA style! Ms. Flare is strutting her stuff as my headliner

Look who made the headliner! Ms. Flare is the welcoming gal on my office door this morning and boy is she adding some pizazz! Hope you enjoy her funny self. I give credit to the quilt designer who created the different clothed chickens but I cannot remember her name. If you do, please let me know.

While perusing Pottery Barn magazine or Crate and Barrel, look twice when you see the classic turkey on the platter to make sure that the decorative white boots are just those, WHITE. If pink, may you enjoy a moment of silence. CELEBRATING a week of gratitude and reflection and the general mayhem of my home that I love so much!

Thank you, Char at Clothstitched, for the outer border fabric. Thinking of her as I quilted and once again feel blessed with the friendships I have formed with this blog. THANK YOU!!!!!!

With a giggle, Em and Roxy

FLARE!!

N. A fire or ligh to signal...illuminate...draw attention

v. A spreading outward

N. A sudden outburst of excitement

CELEBRATING! the original inspiration....beautiful quilt by Tonye Belinda Phillips in her book, Hand-Appliqued Quilts. Stay tuned for some sassy gobbling good fun with a FLARE!

he he he! Em

A cyber sew-in...of sorts. Thank you, Unruly Quilter, for joining me!

It was fun to be creating more words today and referencing an alphabet book about the Fair and POOF! Tonya, the Unruly Quilter, visited me on my blog. Her timing could not have been more fun for me. I look forward to a move in the next year where I will be near ladies that share my love for wonky and liberated and to sew in person! Getting excited as things are in motion. Keep ya posted!

Love, Em

Along for the RIDE.....RIDE of your life.....JOY ride....Giddyup!

What did you think of as you saw the header? Harley, bicycle, jeep, first car.....I smile as I write this thinking about the RIDEs that warm my heart and ones that I care to not travel again......

Round 2 for this Chris Ledoux Christmas quilt for my brother. Much more happy with it and playiing in my bag of brown scraps is so much FUN!!!!

Speaking of RIDES....a quiet moment when I stopped at the river to catch the serenity on my camera. The stream was so pretty and a reminder that I am blessed with a breathtaking office on Wednesdays.

And when not playing in the woods.....my new office! Double the space and do you see what makes me so excited to go to work now?...YEP! Keurig and sewing corner. When I walked in yesterday and saw the desk, I squealed!!!! My office manager was excited to let me know it was a spot for my assistant and I looked at her and said with hands on hips, "Gail....You know me too well. This is not for Justine, this is for the second love of my life, Ms. Sew."

And as you can see in the photo, stacks of browns so that I can play with THE RIDE and make more distance!

Love, Em

CELEBRATING Magic.......

Magic is defined as the mysterious quality of enchantment.....

I have been craving the design/ piecing step of quilting. Tonight I played for a few minutes with a landscape idea and added Laurel Burch beauty as the cherry on top. Tomorrow I will glue/ fuse and add some Roxy details. Voila...soon to be a Christmas card.

I included this up close photo in hopes that you get the feel that the foliage are popping off the surface. A favorite detail of my snow shoe hikes in Salt Lake was finding the ferns in humid canyons....Wanted to include memories in this piece.


Love, Em

Roxy is rockin' it!!!! and I am howling with delight!!

Hello friends! Great news, I have a new assistant that starts next month and I am already delirious at the thought of more time with you all in Blogland and time with Roxy! I hope that you enjoy these photos of my current projects that are complete and near complete. Off to play in the woods but just HAD to share before going. Love, Em