Feeling thankful...

For the opportunity to interact with, be inspired by, and learn from 

an amazing group of local quilters:

Last night was the first official (non-meeting) event of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.  We shopped at Bolt Neighborhood Fabric Boutique and then met at Modern Domestic for the rest of the evening. The staff at each business could not have treated us better, and in between accomplishing a lot of cutting, sewing, quilting, and binding, we got to know each other as Portland Modern Quilters just a little better.

I sat in the chair in the lower right corner of the picture to bind a quilt.  Hmmmm.  What is the one thing missing from this picture?

Oh, never mind.

I got an impromptu private lesson in English paper piecing from Tania (who made these little cuties).

I discussed binding techniques with Elizabeth  (this is the quilt she was working on) 

and Jen (attaching her binding by machine before finishing it by hand).

Lots of hard work and creativity going on....

For wonderful online friends who support and encourage me:

I am still amazed by the friendliness and generosity of spirit of so many online quilters.  Just two examples from this past week include Jackie, who wrote me a congratulatory email (as so many others did soon after) to tell me that my blog had been mentioned in Quilter's Home Magazine (I am still amazed and surprised by this)

and Jennifer (whose blog is also mentioned in the above magazine), who sent me this gorgeous fabric from her new So St. Croix line.

Thank you so much, Jennifer!  I'm just thrilled with it!

For finally finishing a fairly old UFO:

My daughter picked out the shoe and handbag fabric back when she was probably in middle school (she's a junior in college now), and I call it "Molly's Closet" because of that very fabric.  It's not the prettiest quilt I've ever made, and Molly and I both agree that we would never pick out many of these fabrics today, but there is something so special about it to me.  Ever since she was in preschool, I would let Molly pick out a fat quarter or two (or three or four or...) whenever I was buying fabric.  She loved them, admired and petted them, and occasionally used them in her many art projects.  We raided some of those FQs for this quilt, so it reminds me of tiny Molly as well as preteen Molly.  

Long arm quilting by Karen Walker.

This pink block in the corner is my favorite.  It may not photograph well, but the pink fabric that reads as a solid has little flecks of silver in it.  I usually have zero tolerance for any sort of glitter, glitz, or sparkles in fabric, but little Molly loved it!  I was mentioning to some of the Portland Modern Quilters last night that when she was quite small, Molly thought that children had different names when they grew up, and she frequently played around with ideas for her grown-up name.  The one that I remember most fondly is Sparkle Rose (and, yes, I know that sounds like a stripper name, but the girl is excelling at Bible College, so I think we're okay).  At any rate, I look at that sparkling pink fabric and I think of Sparkle Rose.  I have other UFOs that I will never finish because I just don't like them at all any more (which would be fun to poll quilters about, and perhaps I will in a future post), but this one is a keeper.  I'm glad it's finished.

For the love and appreciation of my sweet family:

A husband who tried to hunt down a copy of Quilter's Home magazine for me when we were out of town and was so happy for me that I got to spend last evening sewing with other quilters.

A daughter who shared my glee at opening the package and finding the beautiful Sis Boom fabric.

A son who gave me that patented quiet grin from ear to ear when he heard that I was mentioned in the magazine.  You'd think I'd cured cancer.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan