Just the knowledge that a good book is waiting for one at the end of a long day makes that day happier. -Kathleen Norris

Well Thanksgiving could not have been better. We enjoyed family and a wonderful meal at my SIL's house. The food was fabulous and we all ate O' Plenty! I'll be having the Christmas celebration so I better start planning the menu! Can't wait! The newlyweds left yesterday to return to TN. I guess that mean the wedding is officially over. I loved every minute of the planning and the festivities... I'm sad it is over. But it is time to reclaim my life and get to the business of Silver Thimble Quilt Co.

This is my after wedding, after market, after Thanksgiving treat!
I have NOT made much time in the past few months for reading! So this book, which was chosen by my book club is my...return to self and read more! I'm enjoying it very much! I have talked to several people who have read it, as with most books, there are mixed reviews. I'll let you know what I think LATER!

While the kids were here my youngest daughter
asked me to make "Confetti Squares". These are wonderful and the kids always love them but they are kind of a pain to mix and stir and get pressed into a pan! Think of them as Rice Krispie treats on STERIODS........It is a "Mar

tha" recipe so I must give the Queen her due! I certainly don't need her coming after me. Here is the recipe......work fast cuz they cool quickly!

Makes 9

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 cups (2 1/2 bags) miniature marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 6 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal
• 6 cups Froot Loops cereal
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Lightly spray a 9-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with vegetable-oil cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add salt and marshmallows; stir with a wooden spoon until melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies, Cap'n Crunch, and Froot Loops, and stir until combined.
2. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. To prevent sticking, coat your hands with vegetable spray, and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
3. Cut into 3-by-3-inch bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Working on the BOM which ships to quilt shops this WEEK....YIPPPEEEE!!!!

Have a quilty...and Reading day,
P

Laughter is the best preservative!
-unknown

I went to Little Quilts on Saturday to visit their Silver Thimble Club. I had so much fun. They were making my newest pattern "Slice of Life". In the process we dreamed up some great ideas for tweeking the pattern and adding some extra trims and stuff! I love it when we get together as quilters and think up all kinds of ways to add and change things. As a designer people ask me if I mind if they change my patterns......HECK NO....it is the highest compliment to see other people make things with their own twists and perspectives........YOU SEW GIRLS!!!

Also, Mary Ellen (Little Quilts Queen Mother!) sent me this picture of the Slice of Christmas tree skirt Pam Wright made in my class ...she made it in BLUES very cool. Just makes me want to light a fire in the fireplace and drink a cup of Hot Chocolate!! Nicely done Pam!!!

Also, last week I said I wanted to show you some of these pictures. Well the story of these quilts is typical in the "Adventures of Pat" side of life. We were packing up my booth in Houston and Kathy said Mary Ellen had asked if we could transport some of the Blackbird Design quilts back to Atlanta. (Blackbird Designs won best single booth in Houston) Well! I had not gotten out of my booth much in Houston. I did zoom past the booth but never really got to stand at the shrine and worship.....I'm a fan of these designers to say the least!! Little did I know I was actually about to have custody of the quilts. DANG... I drove the 600+ miles knowing they were in the back of the vehicle. Well, we get to Kathys late at night and I got to see them in the dark on the driveway......FOILED AGAIN............ So I'm telling Debbie about all this and WHAT DO YOU THINK WE DID??? Me with wedding looming and ten thousand other things more important to do. We jump in the car and drive to Little Quilts to worship the quilts properly. I HAVE MY PRIORITIES.. This Christmas basket quilt makes me crazy I love it so much. and check out those borders. In the other picture there was a quilt with jumbo rick rac. I love the way they tea dyed the ric rac and then put the binding on the back...very smart. Ok so this quilt and others are in the book When Cold Wind Blows by Blackbird Designs (aka Barb and Alma). Get it and if you make the Christmas quilt could you just make an extra one for me?????

Have a Quilty Day
Pat

PS. I'm thankful for my quilting life, job and friends!

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.
-Abraham Lincoln

I love Lincoln...what a wise man! The honeymooners are back and happy as can be, and our youngest daughter is home from college as well. So it's going to be a fun family filled week. Thank goodness my SIL is cookin the bird this year. I'm trying to wrap my mind around the thought that we are now into holiday mode! I haven't even recovered from Market mode and Wedding mode. I know I work well under pressure but ZOWIEEEE THIS IS OVER THE TOP! Wedding photos are beginning to come in so I'll include a few each posting for awhile...don't want to over kill but it was pretty neat!

Now this was quite a wedding cake... It was pound cake with butter cream icing. YUM YUM. Our baker used 27 pounds
of butter in the cake...yes sir....it was delissshhhh. And the grooms cupcakes were equally yummbo. Don't cha wish you had a piece of that cake right now?

I love the pictures of Emily and Russ dancing to I Can't Help Falling in Love/Elvis and then the picture of Emily and her Dad..(I Loved Her First, Heartland) well THAT just makes me have waterfalls in my eyes.....

I am working on final writing for our BOM program which will ship to quilt shops next week. So trying to find some quiet time to write this week will be a challenge to say the least! Maybe I'll take a nap and write during the middle of the night. The committee that lives in my brain will probably call a meeting anyway so I might as well make use of the time! Sleep is very over rated or so says my friend Melissa and she should know!

I love Thanksgiving, I think it is my favorite holiday. No gifts....just gratitude. We have so much to be Thankful for. How about posting in the comment section 3 things you are most thankful for this week............ Here is my first one: I'm Thankful for the family and life God has blessed me with!

Will post tomorrow...
P

We are each angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.

-Luciano de Cresenzo

I went with friends to visit another friend in the hospital last night. We laughed with our girlfriend and hopefully spread some cheer around her hospital room. We are all quilters stitched together with strong threads of friendship. I'm so glad we went and thrilled she will be on the mend soon!

Now here are two more Silver Thimble goodies from market. I love the body pillow so much. It is a fast and fun project with a lot of visual appeal. The name of this pattern is Wrapped in Comfort. Both my daughter want one for their beds HMMM. I love it in the neutrals and I think it would be great in all shirting fabrics..hmmmmmm. Maybe I'll just go sew this afternoon.

Then there is Pinwheel Parade. Now this quilt it fun! Again after I design a quilt I want to see it in other color ways. I'm thinkin Civil War Repro.. I can't make every quilt I design over and over ... but I sure like to see the designs with everyone else putting their own spin on them. Send me your photos and I will put them on my web site and blog.

Ok so here is the funny story of wedding week. The night before we were to begin the wedding festivities I flushed my cell phone down the toilet. YES the same phone that went bouncing down Web Gin House Road. My daughter and I raced to get me a new phone (right after our manicures and pedicures...we have our priorities). I was telling the Verizon guy about my cell phone HITTING the road thing and now I was having the toilet incident. He looked at me and aked if I wanted insurance on the phone and I looked at him and said "NO, I don't really need that". Well, you can imagine the look he shot ME!! Got the new phone drove home...and the DH had the toilet sitting in the front yard. Mr. home repair impaired was trying to fish the thing out of the toilet...it was stuck to say the least. Got the phone out and I am happily reporting that the throne is back in business! I love my life...it's always an adventure!

Pat

If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.
-author unknown

Wedding over...what an event! Everything went off so well. The bride and groom were beyond radiant, so in love! The service was wonderful and the reception was a total blast. EVERYONE was dancing primarily because the band rocked the house. I'm hoping NO ONE HAD A CAMERA in their hand when they put the mother of the bride and groom on the stage and we "shook our tail feathers" at the audience.......oh please let there be no evidence of this!! I'll post a few pictures of the wedding as they come in....but now it is back to quilting!

Rolled right from Market into wedding so I may back track a bit. Our (Debbie's and mine) Block of the Month attracted a lot of attention during market. I think primarily because we are offering 3 different setting options. (one, two and three thimbles for levels of difficulty!) Here are the 3 options. Same block...but oh are they different huh?
Which one do you like the best? Tell your local quilt shop about us!

Another of my new patterns that people went nuts over is Slice of Christmas this Christmas Tree skirt has been extremely popular in the Atlanta area so now the whole world can find the pattern right here! Or at least that is the plan anyway. The pattern includes directions for two different styles of skirts. Straight seams and slant seams. With the straight seams you end up with one skirt. With the slant seams...you end up with two. Very fun!!

Ok so now I'm back in the swing (well kinda). I'm going to improve my posting and get to sewing. I have not sewn since before Market. I think if I don't put a needle and thread in my hand soon I may IMPLODE!

Have a quilty day
Pat
ps no tellin how these pictures will upload to blogger!

The best romance is inside the marriage: the finest love stories come after the wedding not before.
-Irving Stone

Boy this quote is so true. How do you tell a young couple so much in love that you will love your mate even more in 20 or 30 years than you do on the day of your wedding??
We are in full wedding swing. I can't believe I'm even checking in on the blog! So much is going on I think my head is going to spin right off my shoulders. It's all good but WOW! I took some pictures of the wedding program we work so hard on!
And then there is the packing of all the stuff to be taken down town to the hotel, church, reception site etc etc. Sophie just had to get in the picture. I think she is worried that she won't make it for the wedding. (and she would be correct.
During all the pre wedding festivities I gave Emily some family heirlooms. This week I took a hankerchief of her fathers that had his initial on it "A" . I embroidered here intial E on it, and cut some of the lace from my wedding dress and added it tot he outside edge of the hankie. It is so lovely this picture does not do it justice. The florist is going to wrap it on the handle of her bouquet and also put her first communion rosary on the handle as well. She will be holding in her hand when she walks down the aisle both her mother and father who love her so much....
OK now I'm melting down.........gotta go!
oh after the wedding I want to tell you about this little baby!

Quilt something today because I won't be!
Pat

In the present every day is a miracle. -James Gould Cozzens

The house is quiet. Everyone is sleeping and I'm taking a few minutes to update my blog. Our wedding is 2 weeks away and we are in full swing. Programs are being formatted and prepared..what a time consuming job! Dress fittings, and a hundred other details are swirling around. Finding the wisdom to enjoy the present and not get bogged down in what needs to be done. Emphasis on wisdom not the easiest thing to do! I have so enjoyed these months of planning with Emily.

I wanted to show some pictures of the Quilts at Market. This is my fourth trip to Houston Market and I think the Quilts on exhibit were the best I have ever seen. There was a KILLER exhibit of Daughters of the American Revolution quilts that was amazing (no photography allowed). I just looked at each one with my mouth open. Here are a few of the other quilts....Some eye candy for ya'll.