Quilts … a look back at 2014

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Four entire quilts were cranked out in 2014! Pretty good year for me. Two were gifts … one donated to charity and I’m keeping one. Not sure what 2015 will hold!

The first quilt was for our first grandbaby, Jake. I finished it before he was born and named, so it doesn’t have his name on it. I bought the pattern and kit at the International Quilt Festival in 2013. It was so fun to make and with Kim Norton of A Busy Bobbin to quilt it, I loved how it turned out. The pattern also includes a quilt with a flamingo, monkey and, I think, a frog. A future grandbaby?

The next quilt was donated to the Village Learning Center for their annual gala. I like to make something totally different for them every year. It was the first time I’d worked with so much black fabric. Made me a little nervous. It was sold in the silent auction to a very nice lady who was so worried she didn’t get the high bid at the end of the night!


Santa Baby was the most challenging quilt I’ve made to date! I chalk it all up to not reading the directions carefully. A valuable lesson was learned … and still the quilt turned out great. This is the only quilt this year that was custom quilted and I love the feathers quilted by Kim Norton. I dub her the Queen of Quilted Feathers!


The last official quilt completed in 2014 was the contemporary one for my adorable daughter, Katie! We collaborated on design, size, fabric choices and quilt name. It was an awesome experience! She has the perfect spot in their house to hang it.


I started my 2014 Texas Row-By-Row quilt in 2014. During the summer, quilters were able to stop by participating quilt shops all over the United States and pick up a free row pattern, and purchase a fabric kit, designed by their shop. It takes 8 rows to make a quilt. My sister, Gretchen, picked up a row pattern and kit for me in Victoria, and my friend, Sally, picked up one or two from her Texas travels. The finished jar row is called “Harvest Time” and is from BJ’s Quilt Shop in Bay City, Texas. The quilt shop even had all fabric pieces cut so all I had to do was sew. Don’t you just love the bug jar?


I’m putting together the sailboats now. The block is called “Regatta!” from Quilter’s Emporium shop in Stafford. By the way … they have an awesome quilt shop! This row is a little challenging with the bias edges, but I’m making it work! Only six more rows to go!

Contemporary quilt for Katie

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When my oldest daughter mentioned she would love a quilt to hang on a particular wall in their new home, I jumped at the chance. The last quilt I made for her was for our little grandson, Jake. After I learned she wanted something contemporary, I went to Pinterest and created a board for her to peruse. This would be my first time to enter the scary world of contemporary quilts. I was a little worried. Me … piece a quilt with solid colored fabrics? That has never happened before.

Katie choose a quilt pattern on the Pinterest board called Midcentury from Vintage Modern Quilts Pattern Co. It was probably the most modern and geometric on the board. The quilt was designed for Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics. It was easy to go to their website, and for a reasonable fee, download the pattern. My engineering husband helped with downsizing the pattern from 63″ by 74″ to fit their wall.

As the pattern suggested, I used Kona cotton in White and Zen Gray and matched the color of the “window pane” center of the quilt with one of the pillows in Katie and Chad’s living room. I purchased several fat quarters, one solid and the others a pattern that read solid. Could I tempt my daughter to think outside-the-box? Of course Katie picked a true solid fabric for the center.


After the top was finished, I had the most fun collaborating with Kim Norton, the awesome long-arm lady of A Busy Bobbin. Laying the finished quilt top across one of her machines, Kim picked out a thread color and three quilting patterns she thought would complement the quilt top. I took photos of the three and let Katie choose her favorite design … Denise’s spirals.


Katie named her quilt Mid-Century Maze. It was the last quilt I finished in 2014!

Loretta’s goodbye quilt

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When someone in our “Bloom Where You Are Planted” quilt bee moves we make them a house quilt as a parting gift. It is an expression of our love for all the years we have been together. Friendship and quilting are a lot like Super Glue … a powerful bonding agent. Since I’ve been a member of the bee there have been four “house” quilts made. The last one was for Jan. I blogged about Jan’s quilt some time back. We had to mail her quilt as she sold her house so fast one day she was with us and the next … gone. We decided to use the same “house” pattern. If I remember correctly, the pattern came out of one of Loretta’s quilting books. We all loved it … and changed the colors up a bit for Loretta.


When we learned Loretta was moving. we immediately went into hyper-quilting mode. We were determined to get Loretta’s quilt finished before she left us. After assembling the top and basting the quilt, we turned it over to Tina who machine quilted it and made the awesome patch on the back. I don’t know who sewed the binding on. I was out of that loop but I have to say the quilt turned out awesome!


This week at our annual Christmas bee we presented Loretta with her quilt. I don’t think she saw the surprise coming as we also exchanged little gifts and celebrated Tina’s birthday. We are sneaky like that.

Santa Baby quilt

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I finally finished my “Santa Baby” quilt!!! I purchased the book and kit during the 2013 Quilt Festival from The Buggy Barn. Their book is entitled “Positively Crazy.” The kit made up 16 Santa blocks. When all was said and done, I choose nine for a smaller wall hanging. The original quilt with all 16 blocks is 84″ X 84″ and just too large for my purposes. I still have three finished blocks that will eventually be turned into a table runner. Three of the blocks turned out mediocre so you can imagine where they are now residing.

I have to say this was the most challenging quilt I ever made. I should have read the directions three times before starting instead of two. The basic premise is stacking 16 layers of fabric (lights and darks), ironing a template on top of the layers, and cutting the layers with a mega-large rotary cutter. It was a little challenging with so many layers and pieces. My biceps are a tad larger after the cutting process! The sewing was fun, but I had trouble with things like getting Santa’s boots to not be pointy, tree trunks a little too thin to my liking, etc.

After the top was finished, I headed over to consult with Kim Norton, owner of A Busy Bobbin. We talked about custom quilting and I totally let her take over with design and thread choices.

I love what Kim did with the quilt!


After sewing on the binding, the identifying patch on the back and the sleeve it was finally ready to hang! What do you think?

5 things to love about Bruges, Belgium

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There is a lot to love about Bruges so it was a little difficult to pick just five things … so here goes. It starts with chocolate! The medieval city is pretty much surrounded by water and, who knew, it has lots of lovely chocolate shops. You can smell the sweet aroma as it hits your nostrils from the street. The Chocolate Line is legendary and probably my favorite chocolate shop! For a small price you can sample anything in the store … usually means picking out a minimum of 3 pieces. You quickly get your chocolate buzz on just walking in a few shops! I think we bought a box in every store we entered. My only regret … not bringing two backpacks for the plane ride home; one to fill with cheese from Holland and the other for Belgian chocolate from Bruges.

Second on my list was Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child housed in the Church of Our Lady. The beautiful marble sculpture is said to be the only Michelangelo statute to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is the same sculpture depicted in the book and movie “The Monument Men,” stolen by the Nazi’s during World War II. It was eventually found and returned. There is a small fee to view the part of the church where the statute rests.

Then there were the lovely surprises like a delightful older gentlemen and his organ. We actually managed to get a video of our encounter but unfortunately we can only run it sideways. When I put a few coins in his cup, I was invited to turn the crank on his organ. The jolly guy put his derby on my head and before I turned over the crank to someone else kissed me on the cheek! We also admired things like an amazing old chest with intricate locking mechanism on the underside of the lid in the Church of Our Lady. Then there was the Caprese Salad that was out of this world! Coming across an old well that probably supplied water to the area for hundreds of years was another surprise.

We stayed at the Heritage Hotel which is located in the center of the city a block from the Markt. A 4-star hotel with fine dining restaurant made our stay complete. Our last evening we sprang for a three-course meal with wine pairings in the hotel’s restaurant Le Mystique. Between each course the chef prepared a “amuse bouche,” which is a little bite of food to amuse and invigorate the palate. The meal lasted for three hours and was the perfect way to end our vacation!

Last on my list of things to love about Bruges was the canal boat ride. Located in middle of the city, the reasonably priced canal ride lasts about 45 minutes. The motor boat holds about 20 people and the captain points out interesting sites. I can’t tell you how many times we got lost or turned around walking around Bruges. It was nice to get a different perspective.

World’s largest corn maze

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When my son, Ricky, told me about his adventure with his wife, Kate, in the world’s largest corn maze, I thought it would make a great blog post, especially for Halloween. We have corn mazes in Texas, but this one seems to have taken mazes to a whole different level. In honor of Halloween, I’m calling the following … Ricky’s “blob post.”

My wife, Kate, and I have been living out in the modest city of Dixon, California, for the past four years, largely due to its proximity to Travis Air Force Base, where I’m stationed, and where Kate works in Sacramento. The quiet, triangle-shaped city’s main claim-to-fame is the Dixon May Fair, held every year in, you guessed it, the month of May. Boasted as the longest-running fair in all of California, you can find fried anything, midway games, and celebrity acts ranging from Snoop Dog to Larry the Cable Guy–what a variety right? Sadly, even though the May Fair is a 20-minute walk from our door step, Kate and I have never made the trek to the famous fair; it seems we’re always spending time in Napa that time of year!

Aside from the annual May Fair, did you know Dixon hosts the Guinness Book of World Records largest corn maze? Who knew tiny Dixon, also known as “Sheep Town” or “Lamb Town,” had so many quirks? Well it took us three-and-one-half years, but recently we made the five-minute drive over to Cool Patch Pumpkins to conquer the maize maze. After parking, quite appropriately, in a field, we wandered on up to buy our tickets. At $12 per person, we thought the price was steep for a simple corn maze, but we quickly found our jaws dropping in disbelief after looking at the map of the maze!

“Please allow two hours to complete the Corn Maze,” said a posted sign. Probably meant to be a cautionary note, we took it as a challenge and glided to the maze entrance. The labyrinth of corn has you doing loops, following corridors in a large grid, and scratching your head at quadruple forks-in-the-road going in all directions. The map is absolutely necessary to keep you on track, because some of the fake paths are extensive. An alpha-numeric grid helps you match your position on the map with various markers along the maze paths, just in case you’re completely stumped, but watch out for pranksters that have moved the markers around the maze!

As we trekked through the corn rows, our strategies to tackle the maze evolved and refined. We began considering drawing a complete start-to-finish line on our map, then highlighting our position as we went—this proved difficult without writing utensils! Another consideration was using Google Maps on our phone, but, alas, no cell service! About a third of the way through, we started trailing a couple that looked confident in their route, which got us another third of the way through the maze before they took a wrong turn and got us lost as well! Finally, Kate surrendered, gave me the map, and I used my internal compass and sense of direction to calculate our path. Despite these obstacles, we finished in just under one hour! Not the case with everyone where every weekend someone calls 911 hopelessly lost in the corn maze. In case you were wondering, there is no cheese at the end of the maze, but we did take a celebratory photo, high-fived, and headed to nearby Woodland, California for Mexican food and margaritas, which, honestly, should be at the end of every maze.

So while you may not jump to book your next vacation in Dixon, California, remember the world record-setting corn maze at Cool Patch Pumpkins for your next visit out to Northern California. You may just need to walk off some of that wine and cheese from nearby Napa Valley!

Houston’s International Quilt Festival … We love you!

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This is the 40th anniversary of Houston’s International Quilt Festival. Who is counting but I’ve probably attended for at least the last 35 years. People from all over the world come to view what a lot of imagination and skill can produce with fabric and thread. I attended this year’s show with my quilt bee buddies. And yes … we even have a name for our little band of buddies … Bloom Where You Are Planted.

Our first mission was to seek out the Karen Nyberg’s Astronaut Quilt. We attended last night at Preview Night. The show runs until Sunday so there is still lots of time to visit. So I wrote about making a star-themed block in a previous post. My bee buddies and I participated and searched amongst the 28 panel quilts for their block. I think we found them all. The project announced last year at the quilt festival netted out with about 2,260 blocks from all over the world. What a lovely project and very humbling to be a participant.

Next we headed to the purchasing part of our reason to attend festival. Fat Quarter Queen is one of our favorite stops. I showed great restraint this year and only purchased a dozen fat quarters. Some of my favorite booths were Missouri Quilt Company. I even got my picture made with Jenny Doan who has some great quilt tutorials. She is as charming in person as she is in her tutorials. I loved Laundry Basket Quilts, Moda Bake Shop (everyone gets a free mini-charm pack for stopping by), The Teacher’s Pet (darling baby quilts) and B&T Studios (fiber artist … just had to have her stunning bluebonnet pattern).

There are also booths that have nothing to do with quilting. I loved The Bell Collection and purchased a “grandmother’s bell.” They also make lovely bell charms.

It is a wonderful event and one of the top-attended conventions in Houston with about 60,000 attendees. I’m already thinking about next year!

Amsterdam … and a visit with Anne Frank and Van Gogh

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The Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum were hands down … at the top of my Amsterdam bucket list when I was planning the trip! Even more important, as time is so fleeting when you travel, was to purchase our tickets online before leaving home. I hate to stand in long lines and the Anne Frank House in particular is notorious for VERY LONG LINES!

First, the Anne Frank Museum is located in the Joordan area of Amsterdam about a twenty-minute stroll from the Central Station. Before you leave home, make a commitment to the day and time you will be there. Museum tickets are 9.50 euros per adult. Decide if you want to participate in the 30 minute introduction lecture (add 5 euros to cost of an adult ticket) before you hit the “purchase” button. Even if you have read Anne’s entire diary the day before your visit, you will learn so much you didn’t know! Personally, I’ve read her diary twice and never knew the museum is actually located in the factory Anne’s father owned. Among other things, Mr. Frank was the inventor of pectin, an ingredient that canners will recognize that is so crucial to the whole canning process. Mr. Frank carefully planned the hiding place located in his factory. It was worked on little-by-little in one of the upper stories of the factory/warehouse as the war was raging around Holland.

As is the case in most museums, you can’t take photographs. Oh, and beware there are steep stairs. Walking through the “bookcase entrance” into the hidden rooms that was their hiding place is but a small part of the museum. The message of the museum … never forget.

The museum’s bookshop has Anne’s diary in many languages. Allow 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Van Gogh Musuem mural "The Bedroom"

As for the Van Gogh Museum, you can also purchase tickets via email for 15 euros per adult ticket. Your eticket lets you enter via the fast lane entrance. Again, no photographs are allowed. There is a huge poster-style mural on one of the floors of The Bedroom. You can snap a candid picture of that if you like! I totally didn’t recall that Van Gogh was such a tortured soul. The museum really shows the progression of his art through his career. Van Gogh produced lots of art, although I believe his brother was the only one to actually purchase one of his paintings during his lifetime. Some of my favorite Van Gogh art included Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, Irises, The Potato Eaters and several Van Gogh self-portraits. Also, don’t go looking for The Starry Night. It is at the MOMA in New York City. You can’t have everything.

The museum has a lovely and well-stocked café and … as with every art museum I have ever visited … a fantastic gift shop!

Mimi and her Van Gogh lunch boxes

Which brings me to the story of Mimi’s lunchbox. Several years ago our oldest daughter traveled to Amsterdam on business. Of course, Katie visited the Van Gogh Museum and brought back a Van Gogh Sunflowers lunch box for Mimi, her sister. For several years, Mimi has carried that lunch box back and forth every day to her day center. Several years’ use has seen a few dents and little rust on the inside. During our trip this year, I was able to replace Mimi’s lunch box with a new Van Gogh … this time Poppies and Butterflies!

Holland’s Haarlem

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I wanted to write several more posts about Holland before I wander on to other subjects. We visited Haarlem on the same day as Delft and the Kinderdijk. In retrospect, maybe we should have traveled to two places instead of three. I have a few regrets. I was reading Corrie ten Boom’s book “The Hiding Place” on the plane. Her family home/watch shop was right there in Haarlem. Corrie and her family hid Jews during World War II. Corrie also worked for the Dutch Resistance and survived a concentration camp. Several members of her family did not. But alas, we got to Haarlem too late to tour it. And the Grote Kerk, or Great Church, was also closed. The 15th century church filled the town square. On two of its sides were tiny little shops built onto the outside of the church. Most unusual but it totally worked! But we had a great dinner at a tapas restaurant celebrating hubby’s and Kate’s birthdays. We sat outside sharing eight little delightful tapas plates while the day turned to evening. After that … one last stop for gelato. It was another magical day.

One Lovely Blog Award

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I was recently nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award!! I love writing and having other like-minded people taking the time to read my thoughts on unraveling life’s loose threads is certainly a bonus. I would like to thank Left With Louie for the nomination.

The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer or up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and to also help the new blogger reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the fellow-blogger who chose them. This award acknowledges bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with their viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines.

The guidelines for the One Lovely Blog Award are:
•Thank the person who nominated you for the award
•Add the One Lovely Blog Award logo to your post and/or blog
•Share 7 facts/or things about yourself
•Nominate 15 bloggers you admire and inform nominees by commenting on their blog

7 Facts About Dixie

1. I LOVE to travel! I was bitten by a ferocious travel bug in 2000. I spent 10 glorious days with my oldest daughter, Katie, after she completed her college abroad program in Italy. We visited Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome! Need I say more?

2. I have written a humor column called “You Gotta Laugh” for my Texas hometown newspaper for the past 18 years, although do not feel that I am a particularly funny person. It’s my family that is hilarious!

3. I’ve had jobs as a switchboard operator, file clerk and legal secretary. And yes … I can type about 90 words per minute but can’t text worth a flip!

4. I am very patient and persistent. My mother, now age 81, lost her green card in 1948. It never became an issue until a few years ago when Texas state laws were changed. Mom couldn’t prove she was here legally … so no driver’s license renewal. It took me 3 years … but I got it for her!

5. Yes … my real name is Dixie! I was named after Bing Crosby’s first wife.

6. I have been quilting for the past 30 years and try to learn a new skill with each new quilt project. I also credit my lovely quilting friends, you know who you are, as my reason for becoming a better quilter!

7. I am a history nut … particularly World War II and Civil War!

15 Bloggers I’d like to nominate…

1. Joy Loves Travel

2. My French Heaven

3. Night Quilter

4. Quiltiferous

5. Picnic at the Cathedral

6. The Quilting Bird

7. Owls and Things

8. Jenna Brand

9. Mandy Munroe

10. Apple Pie Patchwork

11. Kate Goes Global

12. 2 Write 4 Health

13. Quilty as Sin

14. Logo Quilts

15. Irene Grimes blog

Wow, that was difficult! I follow a lot of blogs and love reading them all. I hope you click-through to these sites and enjoy them just as much as I do.

:: Dixie ::