UNDER THE DOME: It took me over a month to read this finely woven novel, but I finally have all the answers to what and who (but not why). I literally could not put it down for the last 400 pages. I gave it 5 stars on the survey! This is definitely a page turner if you have the time to devote to it. Synopsis: A small town is inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world. As the "dome" comes down, family members are separated from one another, planes crash, children are orphaned, cars explode on impact with the dome. No one understands what happened, but a few of the Chester's Mill citizens and one itinerant former Iraq vet try to band together to find out. Corrupt politicians, inept police, plus a cast of likeable characters make for a very interesting tale of life inside the dome. Stephen King is very good at making the readers intensely hate the villains and cheer for the good guys. Another great read by the master of supernatural storytelling. You won't put it down until you know what or who is behind the dome!

Tah Dah!

Here's my center block from the P2 Modern Solids Quilt-Along! This week, Ryan and Charlie challenged us to make the center block our own by finding inspiration from vintage quilts, websites, or books. I used Mary Ellen Hopkins' "The It's Okay To Sit on Your Quilt Book." I chose a 6-patch "Album" block, but modified it a little bit by making the center my cardinal focal color instead of a background color.

Thanks to Rhonda Hughes at Corner Square Quilts in Cedar Hill, Tx, I was fortunate enough to have purchased Brenda Henning's "Triangulations 2.0 Half Square and Quarter Square" software which made sewing the half-square triangles a breeze! I just chose the size of finished square I needed (2" finished in this instance), printed out that page of half-square triangles on vellum, placed the two fabrics (red and white) right sides together under the printed paper, added a couple of pins for stability, and followed the dotted lines for sewing. In just minutes, I was able to cut the triangles apart on the solid lines using my rotary cutter. The software is one of the best quilting purchases I've ever made.

Patchwork Squared Quilt-Along

I've joined the Flickr group for Ryan Walsh & Charlie Scott of Patchwork Squared Modern Quilt-Along starting March 28th using Kona solids! I've posted my photo of the Cardinal Banana kit I received in the mail and am anxiously awaiting the start of the quilt along. Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop, for the 20% coupon for the kit. This will be my first solid-colored quilt!

A quilting we will go!

I recently returned home from a quilting retreat at the Sunset Ranch in Godley, Texas. I finished a king-size batik quilt top (with help from other quilters on issues I was having with the pattern). The quilt is called Vertical Visions from Batik Gems by Laurie Shifrin and that's a picture of it on the cover. I've made mine out of greens and navy blue batiks. Mine has turned into a horizontal vision because the measurement is too long vertically for the length of the bed. Ah..trial and error. Now I'm waiting for the 108" batik backing to arrive so I can take it to a long-arm quilter. There's no way I could maneuver a king-size quilt on my sewing machine.

One of the fun events at the retreat is fat-quarter lotto every night where we each contribute a fat quarter. I won the batch the 2nd night! We brought our own breakfast, lunch was catered, and some of the quilters volunteered to cook our dinners. The last night we had a luscious pot-roast and vegetables and then celebrated the cook’s 60th birthday! None of this would be at all possible without the fun and fabulous "FiFi" LaFleur, our retreat coordinator .

The last night we also had an "incident" that can probably never be topped in the history of retreats, but for now my lips are sealed!!! We all certainly had a great time, well..except for maybe one person.

Hello and welcome!

Hi! My name is Mary Margaret. My oldest granddaughter is in a technology class in the 5th grade, and she helped me get started writing my first blog post. While trying to edit it, I somehow deleted it. I wish she was here to tell me what I did wrong, but she's not, so I'm on my own today. I hope I don't bore you.

My passion is quilting and heirloom sewing, so that's mostly what this blog will be about. I'm married to Steve who works tirelessly for the defense of our country and helps fund my sewing addiction. We have a grown son and daughter and have been given 8 adorable (soon to be 9) grandkids, ages 4 months, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11.

Our household also includes 3 goldfish and 2 dwarf African frogs, bought for my grandchildren but living under our roof for now. Our family wouldn't be complete without a canine, either. Our newest addition is Daphne, an adopted rescue basset hound who we think is 8 or 9 years old. She apparently was raised in a barn, but we love her anyway! She's the sweetest basset we've ever laid eyes on and she worships Steve.

Well that's our clan.