About Me

South Louisiana
I have been married for 20 years to a great husband and we have 8 children ranging in age from 1 to 18 years. I am a homeschooling mom, which can be very challenging. I love sewing, knitting, reading, gardening and have recently started oil painting. I love to create. I really want to have a blog to show off some of the stuff I create, but I also want to share about my life and family. email me at ctrich8@bellsouth.net

Friday, September 19, 2008

Marie, my quilt and still hating AT&T

Ok, I am still hating AT&T! My email is STILL not working!!!! I called this morning and they informed me that it is supposed to be up and working today, but there are no guarantees. WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!! If it weren't so much trouble to change internet providers, I so would! I pay for this service and now because of their stupid mistake, I havn't received any email in almost a week. I think I deserve a free month of service, but I doubt I will get it. : ( So, again, if anyone has emailed me and I havn't responded, I am so sorry but I didn't receive the email.

I just found out about my friend Marie and the damage her family suffered during Hurricane Ike. I find it very ironic that we met only 2 weeks ago while I was in Houston, evacuating from Hurricane Gustav. I feel so bad, she suffered exactly what I feared happening, a tree falling on my house : ( I talked to her this morning, and she sounded like she was doing as well as could be expected. She said the Lord was getting her through this, but it is still very difficult to have your brand new house with a hole in the roof and water damage. They are still without electricity, but thank God the weather has been fairly cool in the South this past week. I wish I could do something to help, I feel so helpless : ( This hurricane was really bad, I have extended family on my mother's side that suffered complete loss during Hurricane Rita, only to rebuild and have it destroyed again during Ike. It seems like these storms are worse than they used to be, or maybe I just don't remember, but the destruction they cause has been horrible the last several years.

1974 fabric from Urban Chiks


This is the quilt I am making from Quilts and More. With different fabric, of course.


On a happier note, I started my very first quilt!!! I love the new Urban Chiks 1974 fabric, so I bought a layer cake, which consists of 10" squares of all the fabrics in the line. I really liked this quilt on the cover of Quilts and More and figured it looked like an easy first quilt. Also, the layer cake was perfect for this. I had enough fabric with the layer cake for all of the squares and just had to buy my backing fabric, binding fabric and the solid white and red for the sashing and borders. I am really enjoying the process of laying out the fabrics and piecing them together. I like repetition, I find it very calming and stress relieving. I am nervous about the actual quilting, but am not worrying about it until I have to lol I am going to use this quilt in my room, on the bed. It will be big enough to cover the bottom 3/4 of my comforter. I was going to try and make a king size quilt, but realized that probaby wouldn't be very wise since this IS my first quilt lol
So far, I think it is coming out pretty good. My seams are a little off in some places, but I think I am getting the hang of it.




This is really the first sewing I have done in weeks. We were gone for the hurricane and then we started school the day we got back. The first few weeks of homeschooling are always hectic, plus ballet started and we still have football games and cheerleading practice. Life is just very busy right now. I did finish Sydney's ballet bag (I need to take some pictures) but other than that, nada. I had to dust off my sewing table before I started sewing yesterday lol I have so many projects I want to do. Hopefully things are falling into a routine, and the sewing will have it's place. I am also hoping to do a better job of keeping up with the blog. I have missed all of you : )

17 comments:

Tine said...

Your quilt is beautiful! And the corners are perfect...
Those fabrics are great too, what a great idea to get a layer cake!

What happened to Marie during Ike is so horrible, I feel like doing something too, and am feeling a little bit useless sitting here being able to do nothing to help out a friend :-( Hopefully they will get through it okay!

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Sorry to hear about Marie - you are right the storms seem to be getting worse each year! Hope you ongoing internet issues are resolved soon.

I have been admiring the new urban chicks range. The project you are using it for is perfect!! I can't believe that it is your first ever quilt - it looks so good. I am sure it will be the first of many. Hope you manage to get back into the sewing and blogging routine!!

Colleen formerly of South Africa said...

Your quilt is lovely... in fact...after seeing it...I may use up some of my scraps to make one very similar!Thanks for sharing.

John said...

Your quilt looks GREAT! I am really digging that 1974 fabric (the year I was born!) and recently bought two charm packs, but I'm not sure what to do with them yet. Your pictures are totally inspiring me to pick up a layer cake, too ... ... ... :)

Home's Jewels said...

The quilt is gorgeous. I've never heard of that line of fabrics - off to check it out. Really great colors/styles!

I'm glad your family is safe and sound after the hurricane. Puts things in their proper perspective, huh?

ladydi said...

I love your quilt! Like you, I find repetition relaxing sometimes. I've never bought a charm pack because I can't see how you could pre-shrink it, but what a lovely selection of fabric it gives you. 1974 is special to me, too, because it is the year I graduated from high school. (I know, I'm OLD!)

Jana Nielson said...

Phew!! I am so glad that you are alright!

I am in love with 1974! I'm getting ready to make some purses out of it!

I love that quilt too!

Kelci said...

That quilt is going to be FABULOUS! I've been admiring those fabrics too, thinking they would make a really cute quilt, but I'll just live vicariously through you:)

Jessica said...

I've had my eye on that fabric for a while now...your quilt looks great!

Anonymous said...

It is sad about all of the destruction from the hurricane, but I must say that i am glad that it wasn't as bad as predicted. i hope that Marie gets her house situated soon and that the insurance company pays for damages. I have heard that some companies are not paying for damages down there!

Cute quilt! And I love the fabrics. The colors are great!

Butterflygirl said...

I am very happy you are ok and didn't suffer much damage but very sorry to hear about your friends home. Do they have some place to stay?
Oh wow, your quilt is gorgeous. I would like to try quilting too, you've just inspired me! I love love love the fabrics.

Marie said...

Hi Tonya-Thanks for calling to check up on me-we have power now! Your quilt is so cute. I haven't been brave enough to try quilting yet. I'll just live vicariously through you and now that I know about your internet issues, I forgive you for not replying to my e-mail. :)

Unknown said...

love the fabrics on the quilt! You sound like one busy Mama!

Vanessa said...

I have just been able to go through and visit your blog. You are incredibly talented!! Your quilt is awesome and I love the colorway you chose! You rock!

Vanessa

mommyholly said...

I LOVE that quilt!!! This totally inspires me- yesterday, I dragged all of my unfinished quilts from the closet and decided to get them done- lots of work, but they are so much fun to have once they are DONE! :) (Think two years in a closet is long enough haha???!!! Geez!)

Anonymous said...

The beginning of a new school year is crazy, isn't it? It always takes at least a month for things to fall into a cadence around here.

I love, love, love the fabric combinations in your quilt. I'm going to have to give 1974 a closer look!

Cassie

CJ said...

Okay, now WHICH issue of Quilts and More was that from??? :D Probably the only one I don't have. That pattern picture does not look familiar.