Lazy Gal Quilting

A variety of signs, old and new, from my trip to Amsterdam in December.

We're leaving on Tuesday for Florida. I'm feeling kinda sick and panicky. I've told you before I don't like moving, don't like changes. Doesn't help that my allergy meds have failed me. Massive headache - eeeek.

I've been asked how I'm getting it to say Lazy Gal Quilting on my photos. I've explained before how I use Picasa to get my photos ready for blogging. When you choose the Export Picture to Folder option it pops up a thingie and asks what folder to send the new pic to, what size to make it and at the bottom, Picasa3 now has an option to Add a Watermark. Just choose that and what words you want and it will do the rest.

To get my mind of all the things I should be doing right now, here are some links for you:

Lynne at The Patchery Menagerie is making a wonderful alphabet sampler. She's making rapid progress so I don't want to single out a post, but try her January archives. I love reading about her decision making process what to put in, how does it look?, try something else.

Holly posted a fun inspiration for making wordy quilts. Too bad my text messages are all so boring.

Amy a la Mode is posting some wonderful antique family quilts. I love the Double Wedding Ring with orange and the Wagon Wheels baby quilt but there are many more to see.

Jacquie of Tallgrass Prarie Studio is hosting Project Improv to encourage quilters to try exactly that: improvisational quilting. Whee, it's going to be fun to see what everyone comes up with. She also just finished piecing a wonderful top called Bloom.

And last but definitely not least I am so proud and thrilled to see the fabulous Home quilt that Tanya just completed. She started it in my first ever online class and it is just so wonderful.

Ooh, and speaking of finishing quilts, I put the last stitch on my Bed Quilt. woohoo. It's way too big (and too dark in this apartment) to get a good pic of it, but here's one from awhile ago. Eek, look at the date on that post - Bonnie finished her amazing machine quilting job and mailed it to me way back last March and it's taken me this long to get it bound. Bad quilter, bad.

I'm back to the salt mines now - getting prepped for my move. Ya'all take care.

More pics from my trip to Amsterdam last month. My friend Will and I had a lovely walk along the canals. It was beautiful but cold.


I love this house. Look at how it's leaning on its neighbor:

It's funny when I think about it. This house has the same things that I love in quilts. There are words on it - the house is named the Cape of Good Hope. And it's so wonky. Look at the shapes of the doors in particular - aren't they marvelous.

Happy 2009 to everyone. I'm not going to list resolutions or what I want to accomplish this next year because I am nearing freak out trying to decide what has to go back to the states with me on the plane, what should be mailed, what can wait until whenever it is that my husband gets moved out. eeeek.

On Friday evening I had a wonderful time with a fantastic bunch of Dutch quilters. I was so busy talking and quilting that I completely forgot about my camera. D’oh! Luckily Isabeau and Ellen were also visited by Quiltmania and their homes should appear in the September and December editions of the magazine.

The next morning we all headed up to Leeuwarden to see an exhibition of quilts at the Fries Museum. That’s Fries as in Friesland (a region of the Netherlands) not fries as in the potato treats.

The exhibition was okay. There weren’t as many antique quilts as I’d like to have seen and many were hung  high so you couldn’t see the details. No flash photography was allowed and my photos were terrible.

 An Moonen, an antique textile historian, was at the museum to give a lecture and to celebrate the publication of her latest book on antique Dutch quilts. By the way, if there is enough interest the book will be published in English. You can go here to let them know you’d be interested in buying one.

I skipped the lecture and instead walked around town. Here are some of my pics. An old pharmacy building with incredible details:

A close up of the sign:

I love this old building  and the way it leans into its neighbor:

The building has a date of 1697. I wonder if this cat was an original feature?

More “felines” decorating town:

And I couldn’t resist this little face:

I have a few links to share with you and then I have to go get cracking.

Dianne made this fabulous 10 Wishes top – such a sweet baby quilt and a great way to incorporate a personal touch into a quilt.

I love Joyce’s Winter Words quilt. I can’t believe how much snow I’ve seen in blogland – brrrrr.

Belinda has a great antidote to the winter cold: bright busy stars.

I love these household cleaning recipes that Bumble Beans featured – I’m going to have to try these out. I love that they’re great for people with allergies and chemical sensitivities.

Gotta run, things to do. Take care and stay safe.

Okay, I should be working on the tutorial for making wonky jars and bottles. I've at least gotten some made.

This is for the new Quilt Together House, Home, or Pantry. Thank you for your response, I love that so many of you have already joined up to play with me. There's still space, just send me an email if you want to participate. I've sent out all the invitations for everyone who's already asked so if you haven't heard back from me, uh oh, please email me again.

I spent yesterday with with some dear friends who were in town for just a short while. We climbed to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral and now I'm paying for it. Ow. I do love the gargoyles that live up there.


The weather was lousy most of the day and this break in the clouds was most welcome.
We also hit Montmartre for the Sacre Couer and Croque Monseiur sandwiches, the Louvre for the ever small Mona Lisa and a quick walkthrough of history, Angelina's for hot chocolate (I was even good and just had iced coffee - that hurt!), a walk down the Champs Elysees and a ride on a Bateau Mouche on the Seine. Whew, that was all tiring but wonderful.

I've got some links for you.

First, some funglies: Here are Cheri's and Brenda's.

True Blue Nancy is working on a wonderful HOPEful quilt. I love how it's got both Lazy Gal and Gwen Marston inspiration.

Speaking of HOPE, I hope you've been checking out the wonderful Priority Hope Challenge quilts folks are generously making for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Still plenty of time for you to participate too if you're interested.

This is a hoot. What happens when Jack O'Lanterns drink too much beer?

All of the following photos are from the Temple of Darius. I got it wrong in yesterday's post: The Temple of Darius is Persian, not Babylonian. Wrong empire, wrong era. D'oh. Definitely see a continuation of motifs though, such as tilework lions. These two have unfortunately lost a lot of their color.


I LOVE these four winged lions with the curved horns. So incredible: