Madison's Quilt

I finished the baby quilt today and sent it on its way to Little Miss Madison. A beautiful little blonde baby. She is the first grandchild of our long time friends Jerry and Tracy. Its a happy quilt and I hope Madison will enjoy it.

The best part is that I was able to make it from my stash! The only thing I had to buy was the backing. I'm trying to use up my stash and finish up UFOs this year. So far I've been (s true to my word (sorts). The only fabric I've purchased recently has been to help finish old projects.

One more baby quilt and then on to finishing up old projects

In the Good Old Summer Time

I've been very busy over the past few day finished a quilt top and am in the process of quilting it. Will post pictures when I'm done. Helped my mom go through some old pictures that belonged to my grandmother. We'll sort those out and get them to some of my cousins soon.

I also joined " In The Good old Summer Time Swap." I'm excited this is my first blog swap. If you're interested, head on over to quilting Gallery to register.

Pay It Forward

I just received an email from Eileen at Robin Hill Quilts telling me I won her Pay~It~Forward.

This is a really neat idea.

Here how it works :

I will make and send a hand-made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post requesting to join Pay~It~Forward exchange.

I will email each person for their mailing address and send a handmade gift when completed.

What you have to do in return is Pay~It~Forward by making the same promise on your blog to 3 different people.

The gift can be any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your items.

When you receive your gift feel free to blog about it.

This is only possible for only those who have a blog.

Bittersweet Goodbyes

Yesterday was the last day of school. It was full of many mixed emotions. Saying goodbye to our Seventh Graders, many of whom I had the pleasure of teaching for two years, they are great kids and I'm very proud of them. Our town, like so many others, is suffering from the economic down turn. This has unfortunately translated in loosing teachers, either to reassignment or to permanent layoffs . Programs have been cut. Art and Music has taken the biggest hit. I can't imagine our school without the Arts! Our poor kids. We also said good bye to Teresa Abbate a special education teacher who has taught in our town for 35 years. She is my colleague, mentor, and friend. She has a world of knowledge, a great sense of humor, and a passion for students. To honor her years of service I made Signature quilt. I was fortunate enough to get many of her colleagues, past and present and some students to sign it. Here are a couple of pictures. I apologize for the quality of the pictures but I'm proud the way the quilt came out. The pattern was in the winter edition of Quiltmaker magazine.

Counting down 'til the last day of school. The weather has been dreary to say the least...
Listening to my husband and his friend chopping up that big old pine. Perfect for cool summer night fires...
J's gone to summer soccer try outs...
Wondering if my colleagues will be here next year? ...scarry times for our school system...