Motorcycles, Barbed Wire and Candy Kisses

It's been just over 20 years since I left the Vegas valley to travel the world. At least, that was my intention. While world travel was never achieved, I have been able to see about 2/3 of the United States while bouncing from one duty station to another. Yeppers, this here is one proud member of the United States Navy doubling as the road weary wife to an Army Ranger. I've traded my Airedale days for diapers and deployments and Craftsman tools for cooking utensils and quilting paraphernalia. It's been an interesting and often hectic life moving around from one base to another every 2-3 years, but I wouldn't change it for the all the chocolate at the Ethel M factory.

The best part of military travel is being able to see and experience different parts of the country. Every set of PCS orders is another chance to taste new food, live in a new house, make new friends, and in some cases, to take a stab at a new language. (Deciphering Deep South and KY/TN/VA Hillbilly accents and terminology should earn us college credits!) There are some bases I wouldn't mind going back to (Fort Campbell, KY) and others that I'd give my left leg to never have to look at again (Fort Polk, La.). Thankfully, we are near every career soldiers' dream...retirement!, and we've pretty much decided that the North Country of Upstate NY is where it's at.

At first, we thought we had all four seasons here, but after 3 years we've learned that we have Chilly, Cold, Oh-My-Goodness-I'm-Gonna-Die Cold and Spring. For instance, today is 1 July. Today's high was 62. 62! I'd love to say that this is abnormal weather but last year on the 4th of July it was a whopping 55! Am I complaining? I know it sounds like it, but no, really I'm not. I've done my time in hell (temperature-wise) and even though I abhor snowmobiles, I do love snow.

Three seasons of chilly/cold/subzero temperatures is perfect quilting weather. My wonderful husband even let me talk him into heating the sunroom-turned-sewing room so that I could have year-round access to all of my toys. I kind of feel bad for confiscating his favorite room in the house for my hobby, but he has been compensated generously for his loss by means of his own personally designed hand stitched quilt that he takes on deployments.

His quilt is proof positive that hand-crafted goods can in fact be "manly". Motorcycles, skulls, flames and barbed wire just scream masculine and he incorporated every one of them into his fabric selections. I love this quilt simply because it is my first large hand-quilted project. When it was completed, I realized I had a new found respect for the Amish and ladies of today and yesterday who use this technique for every quilt they make.

Hand quilting is relaxing and almost meditative. Rocking the needle back and forth through the layers has the same calming quality as swaying on the front porch swing, at least for me. I loved it so much that even though I promised myself I'd take a break from the sewing room for a bit after the Motorcycle quilt's completion, I immediately started hand-quilting my very own favorite "Country Lane" throw.

Out of all of the crocheted, cross-stitched and quilted projects I've made, there has only been one that I completed for myself, until I came across RJR's Country Lane collection, that is.
Despite the nasty little case of carpal tunnel I gave myself with crocheting, I couldn't resist using up the Wal-Mart bag of pink baby soft yarn I found stashed away in one of my numerous craft totes. So low and behold, I created a pastel pink afghan for the back of my sewing room recliner to use during afternoon naps. Cozy!

Now, as for my Country Lane, I'll get back to that one again, maybe tomorrow...or the next day, or the next day... :-) No need to tell about all of the fun stuff in the first post, eh?

On to today...

Introducing "Candy Kisses". I'm making this quilt as a friendship/thank you quilt for an old high school friend in Nevada. Today I finished piecing the top and began designing the backing. Normally, like most quilters, I would simply use one type of fabric to cover the back and be done with it. This quilt is a bit more difficult when it comes to the backing because the colors are not what I would call "typical" colors, meaning I'm not able to find a darned thing to match one single color in the whole quilt top! So, I've decided on a pieced backing using the remaining fabric from the fat quarter bundle along with lots of antique cream muslin. Keeping my fingers crossed that my creative eye doesn't fail me on this one.