Oh what fun!  I just love it when someone takes one of my classes or reads my book or an article, makes something, then shares it with me!  In this case, Janet from my Janome yahoo group shared with me a fantastic variation on the needlekeeper pattern in ThreadWork Unraveled.  In the pattern in the book, I use a couple pieces of fabric (flannel in one instance) and maybe some batting to make a “needle keeper”–one of those things to help you keep track of what needles have been used but not used up, and what needle is IN the machine:

My version of the needlekeeper, with sections labelled by type of needle

Well, Janet’s fantabuloso twist is to use her practice free-motion quilting samples to make a lovely roll-up needle-keeper! Janet cut her sample into suitable sizes, zigzagged the outside edge, then added muslin and batting to the center for the storage part of the needlekeeper.  This is the business side of Janet’s version:

Janet's needlekeeper using her practice Free-Motion-Quilting bits for the outside

And the lovely quilting on the back:

The back side showing the lovely quilting and how Janet attached a ribbon

And how it looks rolled up (perfect for travel!)–this would be a great variation to use for handwork needles, especially if you work in different parts of the house or on the road:

Janet's needlekeeper rolled up with a red ribbon (sewn to outside)

What a great gift!  Janet even typed up information for the recipient:

Information for the recipient

Now…do I have time to MAKE any before Christmas…what a great gift idea!  Thanks so much Janet for sharing with me and, in turn, letting me share with those of you who read my blog!  OK…everyone to their sewing machines!

A while back I learned something from Lisa W. (then at Curves, now at Quarry Hill where mom lives, first in assisted living and now in the memory loss unit…mom lives there that is, not Lisa…she works there!):  every day say what was a good thing or the best thing that happened to you that day.  And nothing backhanded (saying that the best thing was that the day wasn’t any worse than it was doesn’t quite cut it).  So I try (but don’t always remember) to give thanks daily.

At our local quilt chapter auction this past month I bought the adorable felted wool mat and --for the first time in memory-- remembered to bring out my Thanksgiving candles, which I have had since I was about 6! I believe these are now beyond "vintage" and headed towards "antique." And that is my October Angel (my birth month) in the background, a gift from gramma about 50 years ago!

But today is the annual U.S. feast and giving of thanks.  This year, I am so glad that despite our very small numbers, the four of us are here, happy, healthy and together.  As you can see from the photo, my pleas to “wait for the Thanksgiving photo” were this year greeted with “heck no I’m eating!” <grin!>

Wait for the photo? Apparently not this year LOL! PS--notice Joshua, on the right, wearing Elmo pants! Love 'em!

Here’s the repast in preparation….I try to clean as I go, otherwise it would be impossible in our no-counter-space kitchen!  After breakfast I started with the pie crust, then the cranberry sauce, then the pie filling, then the stuffing, then putting the hot pie filling into the just-baked crust (A recipe from The Cook’s Bible, where you bake the crust separately as if making a banana cream pie, cook the pumpkin pie filling on the stovetop, then combine and finish in the over for about 25 minutes.  Helps avoid soggy crust.) Anyway, once I get that done, I clear out and hubby does the turkey. I do NOT “do” raw birds or large meat…they need to be mostly cooked before I get near them!  Then I do the potatoes, veggies and gravy.

In progress...pie made, Turkey in the oven......

As far as I am concerned, the best reason for roasting a turkey is to make the gravy that goes on the potatoes.  Half the pan of potatoes is for me (ditto with the gravy, tho I usually get a fight on that one) and half for everyone else.  Can you tell I’m Irish?  Life is GOOD!

I hope whether you are in the United States celebrating also or elsewhere in the world that your lives are filled with goodness, love and light.  And thread and fabric and time to create!  Blessings be, Sarah

OK…no pictures today (sob, I’m sorry!).  It has been, as usual, chaos, and more chaos than usual!   I am happy to report, however, there are lots of pictures and things to share….I just need to find a few extra hours in the day to process and re-size the photos, then write and blog!

The biggest interrupted by life was going to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, where I demo’d, met friends, ate Mexican (HEAVENLY!), met new friends, had fun, spent some money on fabric and paints, tried a new product that I think is gonna be awesome, and generally got exhausted and happy.

Then there are the teenager and kid and aging mom things that tend to interrupt life.  And filling out insurance claims.  And selling our house (going like a dream) and buying our new house (not so much…I’ll dish AFTER the closing is done and we own the house, but it has been unnecessarily difficult because of one person…more in maybe February or March on that one).  It looks like, at long last, that all WILL come off without a hitch (I’m an optimist), and in late January we’ll be moving to a new house about 4 miles away (same school district).

Then, on the way home from Houston, I was too tired for the level of attention required by the book I had.  So while changing planes in Dallas (which by the way is like a big city shopping mall with airplane gates added!) I went into the Barnes and Noble (complete with Starbucks) and bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.   Ooops.  That means I have been DEVOURING that book and the two sequels.  I am halfway through the last book, and will surface when done LOL!
Thanks for checking in, and I promise good pictures and fun stuff SOON, Cheers, Sarah

Yes, I am a calendar girl!!!!! Can you believe it?  I STILL, even though the quilt is home, I have the ribbon (now a year old), and saw the quilt with the ribbon in Houston this time last year, cannot believe that *I* really won a ribbon, and then of the 110 or so winning quilts was one of 13 selected to be in this calendar:

Robbi Eklow's eye-cathing gears quilt is on the cover

The inside cover tells a bit about each quilt:

Inside the front cover, a bit about the 13 quilts

And, drum roll please, here is Fields of Gold, a.k.a. Miss September.  I like how they brought the quilt down over the staples onto the lower page, rather than reduce the size to fit on the top half:

Fields of Gold

I swear, if someone had told me when we left Friday Harbor 6 years ago that I’d have a book, be a Houston award winner, and be in this calendar, I wouldn’t have believed a word of it…absolutely astonishing!  It just goes to prove that if you work hard, are really passionate about something, and are willing to devote the time and effort it takes to do something, you CAN!

After the breathtaking walk that Paul and I took (see the pics here), the twelve middle school teams (at least I think it was 12 teams) began to arrive.   Each school was allowed to select its seven best boys and seven best girls for the “varsity” race of about 2.2 miles over the hilliest (and therefore slowest) course in the region; the rest of the teams were invited to be in the fun run, a bit more than a mile, after the main races.  Since not each team had enough students to field a full seven in the varsity race, the field for each (boys and girls) was in the upper 50 range.

Coach Morse (aka the 6th grade social studies teacher!) talks to our very large team

The girls ran first....about halfway down the photo you can see a long line of girls.....far in the lead, as usual, was Camden-Rockport's Jacquie

Each team lined up in the tent, then was announced and ran past the spectators, up a small hill to the starting line; that's Eli in the middle

And they're OFF and running! Talk about a thundering herd of boys!

And away they go!

The pack of about 56 boys soon draws out into a long line headed down the to lagoon, peninsula, up the hill, up another hill, around past the start for another loop and repeat on the hills....

Look at that sunlight! What a place to race! The gray line shows the boys spread out on the trail

Heading into the woods and out to the little peninsula

On the right, our fastest runner is Ben W. Tho small, he is unbelievably fast, and has won most of his races this season!

Eli is on the left, with hair spray painted red--go Schooners!, heading out for his second loop around the course

Ben sprints up the final hill (GASP!)

This photo shows how steep that hill is. Eli is the one in red, and he actually OVERTOOK the boy in burgundy and black (one of the fastest kids in the region) on this hill! Alas, in the last 30 yards, the boy ahead in this photo overtook Eli just at the finish line!

Headed to the finish line! Eli had his fastest race of the season, on the toughest course, had his his highest finish amongst his team for this year (second only to Ben--there have been other team members who have been faster than Eli up to this race) and actually outran one or two of the kids who were thought to be Ben's stiffest competition!

Eli and Ben after the race. Ben and his twin Kyle have been Eli's best friends since we arrived in first grade. It has been so heartwarming to see them grow, mature, come into themselves as 7th graders turning into young men. Ben finished second (a boy from Belfast I think won) and Eli finished 5th!!!!!

The Camden-Rockport Girls team wins the Championship!

Eli gets a ribbon for 5th place (out of a varsity field of about 56+ boys!)

Ben W. receives his second place trophy (and I think he set a personal best time too!)

The Camden-Rockport boys win! the championship

What an incredible season!  The C-R team had such depth that many of the kids who didn’t make it into the top 7 for the varsity race were actually faster than kids from other schools who led their teams!   Even the slowest of the kids finished all the races, with love and support and encouragement from their teammates!  Mr. Morse, one of the awesome-est teachers ever, was just as outstanding as a coach.  He researched on his own time issues the kids were having to figure out what they needed…in Eli’s case, his side cramps indicated he needed to hydrate in the mornings on the day of a race.  How amazing is that, for Mr. Morse to do that for ALL of the kids?  It goes to show why they dominated and what makes Mr. Morse so wonderful as both teacher and coach.  And it was a good race all around for the Great Salt Bay course, with the winning boy (from Belfast I think) and winning girl (Jacquie from Camden) setting course records…WOW!

BOTH the boys and the girls were not only the Champions, but they both had undefeated seasons–every meet they were in, they won! And in addition to being outstanding athletes, their sportsmanship and grace were tops.  Well done to everyone:  kids, coaches, bus drivers, parents…what a season–one that will definitely go down in the school record books!