The name game

While I am so exhausted and don't feel like looking for the camera cord to show the photos from the quilt show I will play the name game Natalie sent to me.

I hope this looks like fun for you...

SCATTERGORIES…It's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into a new e-mail. When you are done, send it on to everyone who likes games, including to the person who sent it to you. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question

Name... Pamela

4 Letter Word…pink

Vehicle...Porshe

City…Paris

Boy Name…Percy

Girl Name...Petunia

Occupation...Pilot

Celebrity... Posh Spice

Food...Pancake

Something found in a bathroom...Powder

Reason for being late... Procrastination

Cartoon Character... Pepe le Pew

Something you shout...POW

Animal... Platypus

Body Part... Patella

Now with that said, the quilt show was wonderful! It was fun to hang out near my quilts and hear what folks had to say about them. Everyone had only nice things to say (or maybe that's what I heard when I was there) I took lots of pictures and I promise I will share them later (I think the cord might be at work!) I saw lots of people I know including Jeanne from Luv2stitch and her sister Connie, that was a treat! There are not really any awards only a Viewer's Choice. Funny story, DS thinks it will be his Texas quilt! There were so many beautiful quilts I doubt that will be the case but he is so proud of his quilt!

I behaved myself and bought a panel of pumpkins gone wild and 1 charm pack to put around the panel. Then 2 on sale, fat quarters, one for the red and white quilt and one that is really odd fabric but I really liked it. I saw a BOM for Halloween that I loved but I just couldnt justify spending $60 for the patterns when I have so many already here to do so I just walked away. Have you seen the pattern with the 12 days of Christmas panel where the panel is cut up and centered in some pears in...you guessed it, a pear tree? That's just the cutest thing I have ever seen!!

I beat, so more tomorrow!!

Scrap Swap

I found, from Kim's blog, a scrap swap hosted by Nancy.  It looks like fun.  You need to go to the link to see what you need to do to participate.  I am all signed up!  Let me know if you sign up too.  Sign up closes today so HURRY on over to sign up now!!!

Free Quilting Magazine

Just a quick post to tell you about an online free quilting magazine.  You really should go and check it out!

More later!!

It's Mama Spark

Ok, apparently I have been VERY unclear about the name of my blog. I am

****************MAMA SPARK*********************

Therefore this it Mama Spark's World. I am the mama of Sparkle aka DD1.(you should be able to see where the name came from) If I was going by what DD2's friends call me it would be Mama Link"s World but first born and all...

Obviously you all thought it was mamas parks...WRONG people. Mama Spark, that's me.

I'm not mad, just wanted to make sure people stop thinking I am a park!! I even changed the header to reflect this fact.

This has been a public service announcement!

Now for more funner news!

I met up with Pat today from Bell Creek Quilts. I will post about it all later, probably tomorrow as I have the window guy coming by to have us sign papers and then quilting withe the CL's (church ladies). More later!!

Quilter's Show and Tell

My good friend and LAQ, Liz the Quiltin' Whiz just sent me to a blog that is all about quilty show and tell.  This is the link

www.quiltersshowandtell.com

Anyone, and I mean anyone, can submit photos and stories about quilts that you have made.  You *need* to go and check it out!!  She wants to make the site a place where we will all get to see more of everyone's quilts daily.

Why are you still here reading???  Get going and check it out.  In addition, submit some of your quilts to the site!! = )

Orphan Blocks Have a Home

Yep...these babies are orphan blocks from the BIG M quilt.  I am showing you 2 photos of this.  The first one was one I took yesterday before I put the borders on.  I took the photo outside and the color is much closer to how the quilt actually looks.
Here it is inside with the borders on it.  I think they finish it off very nicely, don't you?
As is true with all orphans, with the right care they become beautiful!  Have a bright and beautiful day!

One More Thing

Hey, I forgot to tell you about the great new Australian designer I found. Her name is Lynette Anderson and her quilt patterns and stitchery patterns are so cute and fun! Go check her stuff out. I mean like right now. Why are you still reading this?? GO!!

More of My Life

Just a quick minute to jot a few things down. I finished the 4 patch units and found some beautiful white to use for the other parts of the quilt. I will make an Irish chain from the 4 patch units alternating with white. I probably won't get much done until I get back from Paducah.

I had to take the DS to the otrhopod today for the reading of his MRI. (It's about time) If you remember he hurt his knee in the first scrimages of lacrosse on March 29th and hasn't been able to play since then. This is a problem! He is driving me nuttier that usual!! So back to the doctor. There is nothing requiring surgery. He dislocated his knee cap and stretched out some ligaments and has some deep bone bruising. The knee cap is back in place but the doctor still thinks it is possible to re-injure it if he plays. I asked for a note anyway. (Worst case he tells me no, right?) Well, he was less than thrilled, but he gave us the note with the admonishment that if he re-injures it it is not his (the dr) fault. Well, duh!!! I don't think he will be able to play tonight but he should be able to play on Sat. The team really needs him! So far we are 0-5, which really sucks. On the other side of it though is that DS learned how to support his teammates without being a player and someone that would not have been able to play got to play while he was out. We have a very young and inexperienced team so more people playing is a good thing, even if we are losing. We played much better in our last game and didn't have a running clock in the second half! (Mercy rule, ya know?)

So it is a beautiful day here in MI and I went to the LQS with my friend, Charlotte. She doesn't like this particular shop (nor do a lot of quilters) as she feels they are very unfriendly there. I have never had that problem, but then I could make friends with anyone or anything if I needed to, lol. So she won't go there without me as when we are together they are very nice to her, isn't that funny? The CL's are making a quilt for one of our priests and she needed a few additional colors so we found a few there. It didn't take that long and I found the cutest fat quarter and a great fish print to add to the "fish quilt" I hope to make for DH someday! I will take some photos and post when I get a chance.

Have any of you heard about the book, "A World Without Complaint"? Mrs. Goodneedle is reading it and I am considering joining her. I just wondered if any of you knew about it and what your thoughts are about it? I really think I could use this in my life too.

I also want to tell you about the wedding shower for Karen (the one I made the garter for) but that will have to wait until later! Enjoy your day!

M Go Blue

Because I *know* you are all dying to see another page in my design book, here is the U of M raffle donation quilt the church ladies and I are working on right now.  It is a string quilt using only blues and yellows.  Each square represents a 7" block.  

One of my friends suggested that I write a "String Quilts of the Big Ten" book and see if I could publish it.  I don't know how you would ever do the Iowa Hawkeye, the Northwestern logo with the cat or the Nittney Lion of Penn State.  I might be able to do the others though.  I suppose there would be some licensing issues also, right?  Anyway, just a thought.  Being in Michigan I *know* could do U of M and MSU!  The ladies are already turning in their blocks.  This will be a pretty big quilt so will take a LOT of blocks.

On the more traumatic side of my life, I had to buy some new bras last night.  The last one I liked actually broke yesterday.  You know how you finally find the right one for you and you can only buy one because all the rest seem to be in size 32A which is not going to work, and you take it home and then you have to keep looking for another one and then you finally find one and if you're lucky maybe 2?  Well of course those dirty dogs that design them then change the styles so you have to start all over again!  So I was on the hunt last night.  I ended up taking 3 styles home with me.  I want to see which one I like the best and then I will go back and buy some more (as soon as they re-stock my size, because of course, I bought the only ONE in my size they had!)  Those things are pretty expensive too!  I had an additional 15% off coupon but still...more than I wanted to spend, but what are you gonna do?  

In a completely different aside, one of my friends at work is getting married (the one I made the U of M quilt for, remember?) well, some other friends are throwing her a bridal shower and one of them asked me if I would make the garter for the bride!!  I am really honored that they want me to do it.  Now I just have to figure out what to do.  I can't just say, "Here, let me measure your thigh", as they want it to be a surprise.  So I used a stand in thigh.  Now I have to decide what to do.  It needs something blue on it and I was thinking to look through my mom's jewelry and see if I can find a vintage pin to put on it for something old.  ( A smallish one, of course) or maybe a vintage rhinestone button.  Any suggestions??

I have a lacrosse game tonight and, of course, I will be getting things ready but DS will NOT be playing.  Our treasurer's son broke his hand in practice this week so her son will not be playing for awhile either.  Maybe being an officer is bad luck for our boys?  What do you think??  Anyway, I hope you all have a good weekend!!

Life at My House

This image of Mosen under our Christmas tree is so artsy and it makes me happy.  Let me tell you, I could use a little "happy" right now!  

Things at Chez Lincoln are not all that fun and happy at the moment!  DH took DS to the orthopedic surgeon today as DS injured his knee at the lacrosse scrimmage on Sat.  Well, things are not looking good for DS.  The knee doc said there is a lot of fluid on the knee but he needs to have an MRI in order to determine exactly what is going on.  None of the choices are conducive to getting back on the lacrosse field quickly.  Poor DS.  He has been looking forward to lacrosse season since last season ended!  He is one of the teams best players and they really missed him on the field on Tuesday when we had our first game.  Needless to say DS is less than thrilled by the prospect that this season may be over before it even begins!  There will be NO living with him if he is not able to play for the season.  YIKES, I may need to get out of the house until season is over!  Please keep him (and us) in your prayers that this will just be minor and that he will be able to play soon!  There are several things it could be and some are better than others.  Please pray!

So here is another photo that I thought was kind of artsy too of Hallie on the cat quilt.  It is on a rocker that used to be my grandmothers so kind of an old one.  I used to rock all the babies in this chair when I nursed them and would put them to sleep or when they woke up in the night.  It was always in the baby's room.  Now the cats have claimed it!  Especially if there is a quilt on it!
My friend, Faith, had asked me for some cat photos as she is painting and wanted to try some cats.  These are 2 of the photos I sent her.  She is VERY creative and her work is amazing.  You all need to see the butterfly wings she is working on for an art quilt she is doing, truly amazing and inspiring!!

There is a give away of an ipod over at cooking by the seat of my pants.  Go and check it out and enter to win one!!

I tried to upload a pic of the U of M string quilt pattern I designed but no luck.  I will have to check with Liz the Whiz and see what format she sent me.  I am just thankful she scans stuff for me, thank you Lizzy!!  Once I figure it out I will post it along with some interesting ideas I would like some feedback for.  It is a sunny day here and is supposed to warm up into the 50's so woot, woot!!  Hope you all have sunshine in your lives today too and remember this by Ralph Waldo Emerson...

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing on one's own sunshine".

Ever had one of those decades?

I'm sorry this will not be very quilty. Although I did finish the top for the University of Michigan wedding quilt I had to have done for the June 14th wedding and I even made the label and the binding and gave the top and back to Liz today. It is like the one I did for the U of M art auction last year. This is the third time I have made this quilt. ENOUGH!! I am not a U of M fan! But it is now finished. I am so happy. Now I need to decide which quilt to begin on, a good place to be!

I guess that is the good news. Oh, no...wait, I did have a dentist appt today and have been flossing every day since the last visit as they told me I might have bone loss and they needed me to floss daily. Well, that scared me and so I did what they told me to and I got RAVE reviews at the dentist! My gums look perfect! *VBG*, WHEW!

So I was minding my own business this am (which just in case you didn't know is when I happen to get into the most trouble for some reason) when the school called me about my son. He has been in a lot of trouble this year, all of his own making I might add. It just seems like it is one thing after another and I am so beat down over this. I really don't want to elaborate but I just needed to vent. Please just keep me in your prayers, I need more help than I can get anywhere else!

I hope you had a good weekend. My week ahead looks pretty busy so we will see if I get back here by the end of the week. Take care!

Assistance needed please!

Alright, I admit it...I need some help. Here are some of the green 6" squares I have cut for DD2's quilt. I am in desperate need of more! I think I need like 45 and I really would like to do it without repeating a color. You can see it is MSU green but I would take greens like in the photos above too.
If it is not too much to ask I need the same blues as in the orphan block quilt I posted about a few posts ago too. If anyone can spare a few 6" squares in either color I would be most appreciative. In fact I would be happy to send you some of my blues and greens in return to replace yours! If you would like to help me out please email me at
mamaspark@gmail.com and I will send you my snail mail address. I think this is going to turn out so well, and Thanks in advance for any squares you can spare.

BTW...the blue orphan will be going to it's new home tomorrow. Well, I am mailing it tomorrow anyway. I hope the recipient will let us all know when it arrives. I sent a letter documenting the story of the quilt too. I can't wait for it to make it's way *home*.

Thanks again for any assistance, you guys are the BEST!!

Seriously YUMMY

I know I don't usually post about someone else's post but you really *need* to check out Saska's seriously yummy cinnamon rolls!!  I mean it, really, go right now.  Why are you even finishing reading this?  Come back and finish this later = )

So I still can't show you the blue quilt but Liz the whiz got it back to me today and it is just stunning!!  Again, I can't say a lot but she did exactly what I asked, including putting some words on the top and bottom border along with embroidering the year on it.  In addition, she totally freehanded the entire thing!  The center is all freehand feathers and swirls.  I will try to get a photo of that when I get home as that will not give anything away. (Wait, I have my camera and the cord here with me at work...hmmmm). This is part of the center (all free-handed, remember?)  Liz is truly amazing!!
This was her first time free-handing the entire middle of a quilt!  She has done little inside border free-hand work like this before.

This is the back.  The thread kind of blends in with the water doesn't it?  It looks really cool in person!!

 Can't show you the borders or tell the story...yet.  I finished the binding last night so will sew it on with the machine tonight and hopefully turn it tomorrow.  Then all I need to do is label it and send it to my friend.  She is going to be so surprised!!  I just love surprising people, don't you??  I am rarely surprised so maybe that explains why I love to do it to others?  Who knows, I just know that I love doing it.

Let me know what you think.

Also, my dear friend, Karen, who is from Brazil, is getting married to one of my bosses!!  They are planning a June wedding.  I was reading Mrs. Goodneedle's blog (Feb 12th) and she is doing a thing where she is leaving squares on the tables in place of a guest book for people to sign and then making them into a quilt.  She will make them into a quilt.  I borrowed her idea to use for Karen.  Karen loves flowers (her nickname if Flor, meaning flower in Portugese).  So I chose some suitable blocks and she chose the one she wanted.  You can see it at the Quilter's cache.  It is called "Morning Star 2"  I think it will make a beautiful quilt.  We will just leave the center squares out for signing or writing well wishes.  Have any of you done this before??

Surprise!!

Ohhh, I can't wait to reveal the story behind the blue orphan quilt!!  It has another name now that it is with Liz the whiz but I can't even tell you that or the person it is intended for will know it is for her!!  This is so hard!!  Just know and BELIEVE that the hand of the Holy Spirit is at work in your life.  Once you know the story it will just confirm it for you.  

Stay Tuned!!

Are You a Viking?

Have you ever heard of Dupuytren's Contracture?  It is a "fixed flexion contracture of the hand where the fingers bend towards the palm and cannot be fully extended" (Wikipedia)

My grandfather and my dad both have this.  My DH was watching a TV show on the Science Channel yesterday and learned that it is particularly prevalent in people of Viking descent, Northern Europeans and Scandinavians.  The show said it probably originated with the Vikings and spread as they settled.  It is most common in men (thank you, God). So if you or anyone in your family has this you are probably of Viking descent! My grandfather could not open his last 2 fingers on either hand.  So my dad went looking for a way other than surgery to treat it.  He did some research and found that taking a certain dose of Natural vitamin E has stopped its progress.  He has the knots in his palm but his fingers are not curling.  If anyone needs the dose let me know and I will ask him.

I just thought you might like to know that you could be a Viking like me!!

8 things Meme

Natalie of Chicken Blog fame, has tagged me with an 8 Things Meme.  For those of you who don't know her, we met when I sent her a doll quilt when I was in the doll quilt exchange.  Who knew we would become friends?  Thanks, Natalie for the tag and here goes:

8 Things I am passionate about:

1-My family

2-How to treat others

3-How to treat animals

4-Respect and kindness

5-Laughter

6-Quilting

7-My friends

8-Love

8 Things to do before I die

1-Make sure everyone knows I love them

2-Visit Australia, Ireland, Scotland and Sweden

3-Learn to scuba dive

4-Go on a cruise 

5-Go Fossil hunting

6-Make a masterpiece quilt

7-Make a quilt for everyone I love

8-Take a long road trip with my husband

8 Things I say often

1-I love you

2-What goes around comes around.

3-What?

4-Good Godfry

5-ShKelsey or KaShelby

6-What are you thinking?

7-Really?

8-Amazing

8 Books I have Recently Read

1-Wicked

2-Harry Potter, the last one

3-One Block Wonder

4-Driven to Distraction

5-Who has time to read?  I am getting books on tape soon so I can read and quilt at the same time.  I love to read but do it to exclusion of everything else when I do.

8 Songs I could listen to over and over

1-O Holy Night

2-The Fisherman's Song-Carly Simon

3-Amazing Grace

4-Photograph-Nickelback

5-That song by five For Fighting about time passing

6-Pretty much all Celtic Music

7-Pretty much most Christmas music

8-Can't think of an eighth song.  I love lots of different music

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

1-Common Interests

2-Sense of Humor

3-Intelligence

4-Listening skills

5-Compassion

6-Kindness

7-Honesty

8-Loyalty

8 People who should absolutely do this game.

I hate to single anyone out so if you want to do this consider yourself tagged!  I hope you enjoy what you learned.

Last year for my birthday, my friend, Ellen, gave me a quilt, all cut out and the pattern to make it with.  I loved it but it has been put aside.  I got it out on Sunday and made the top.  I then pulled from the stash and made a back.  I had enough of the red inner border (from my stash) to make the binding so I have that all ready too.  I will put up a picture when I get it back from Liz, unless she will hold it up for me before she takes it today.  It was much too dark to take a picture last night.  I have decided that I will work my way through the projects I have in the baskets and bags upstairs before anything else new.  I have lots of things I bought to make a certain quilt with and this year will be that year.  I want to get as many of those done as possible.  Most of them are for family so that will be a good thing.  Photo to follow soon, I hope!

Edit:  I finally got someone to hold the top so here is a photo of it and a close up.  It is from the Take 5 pattern.  I think it turned out quite well.

Quilt Addiction

I was just over at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure (I still don't know how to link a name* so when you click on it it takes you to that place, anyone? anyone?) She was posting about being a quilt addict and it got me to thinking. I really did used to have a life. Since I have been addicted it has sort of taken over my life. It's what I talk about to all my friends, most of whom also quilt, it's what I think about in spare moments of time, when I have such a think, it's what I day dream about and it is how I choose to spend much if not all of my free time. I suppose there are worse habits. I taught my boss' wife to quilt. We work together so we talk quilting A LOT. We got another co-worker started quilting, although she is not quite as addicted as the 2 of us. We have a Japanese medical fellow in the lab and I taught his wife to quilt...total addict! Then there is the fact that Liz the quiltin whiz, aka my LAQ works one building over and comes to see us almost daily and has at least daily (if not more than once a day) quilt related email. Which, as a total addict, I love. We affectionately call it "morning (s)pam "... since my name is Pam. Yes, it's true, we crack ourselves up!

So my friend Ellen called me tonight and told me she and her DH were going out to dinner at a local place Bar Louie, for $1 hamburgers and $2 beer and I just spur of the moment invited myself and my DH to join them (both DH's are friends too). Now I must say here that Ellen is a quilt addict too. In fact it is really her fault that I became an addict. We met because our DD's swam together from the time they were 8 until they left for separate universities. Well Ellen used to bring her quilts to practice and sew binding on. One thing led to another and now I need the 12 step quilt program! At dinner tonight we were talking about, what else, quilting. I was telling her about Liz's parents and all the quilts they have done for the MBH and how much her dad has done with these quilts, when her DH piped up and said to my Dh, "Hey, if we ever get like that we need to be killed!" It was pretty funny. They are both good sports and support our addiction. When Ellen gave me my Christmas gifts tonight, some of them were fabric and both of the DH's just rolled their eyes.

I guess I can live with this sort of addiction. I do need to get out and exercise more this year and that is difficult because as soon as I get home and get the "have to's" done I want to quilt, not go back out and exercise. I'm working on it. I am toying with doing it in the am but I would have to get up at 5am and with the new addition of hourly hot flashing going on ALL night, my sleep is not great so we will see. I would appreciate any tips you all have for fitting exercising in. I just love to do my cutting when there is natural light coming in, which pushes the "have to's" back further and pretty soon I'm looking at 9pm and who wants to go and exercise at that time? Not me. I did take the dog out for a 30 minute walk tonight, it rained half way home, but darn it I got some exercise. Oh Gosh, when is that Bernina coming home??

Are you addicted??

Snowy Day!

Wow, who would have thought that we would be totally snowed in today! I had my Christmas party for my work on Friday afternoon. We do a secret Santa exchange type of thing. I guessed the person that had me. His mom is a big quilter so some of my gifts were quilt related, which was very nice. We had the party at my boss's house and it was a lot of fun. I had to leave early to get home to go to DH's work Christmas party. He is a pilot and it was at the hanger with the other pilots and their wives. It was fun too. Then yesterday it was time for the church ladies Christmas party. I got over to the church about noon and set up. Several of the CL's were there to help me too. We had so much good food. I invited Liz the quiltin' whiz to attend and she was able to make it too. This is when all the snow began. Not too bad but they expected 10-12 inches. We did a small gift exchange too where everyone draws numbers and then the first person picks from all the gifts and the second person can take person #1's gift or one from the table and so on. It was really a lot of fun.

Oh...but the snow...just kept on coming. Woke up this am with a LOT of snow. I didn't have big plans for today and it is a good thing! DD2 helped me decorate the tree and then put all the boxes away. We baked some cookies together today too. She threw in some laundry while DH took the snowblower to the driveway and sidewalks. DD helped me with all the Christmas cards, stuffing in the Christmas letter and putting on all the return address labels. I just have a few more to look up addresses from my email and then I need to go and buy stamps. I am grateful for the help! She wants to start wrapping, but I think I need to be done for today.

Speaking of Christmas letters...what are your opinions on them? I love receiving them as otherwise most cards would just have signatures on them. So...love em' or hate em'? I will try to take some pictures of the snow tomorrow and maybe even the tree and all the Christmas decorations. Sleep tight!

This and That

I know that I have not posted for awhile but a lot has been going on around here and not much of it quilty! I trust that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. It was small but nice here. My DD1 had to work so it was a little strange without her. Last year we had some friends from Japan and from Brazil for dinner but this year just the fam and my dad and sister. My DD and DS wanted to know where all the other people were? That made me laugh. I told them that my boss and his wife had invited them first so I was told I had to call my friends that night and invite them for next year, which I did. Kids are funny aren't they?

I gave 3 kits to my LAQ friend, Liz and her parents made 3 crazy rail quilt tops for donation to the Methodist Boys Home (MBH). They have embraced the project (which is what I have the CL working on too) and have finished 25 tops to date. Go folks!

I had quilting with the CL this past Wed and we had a very big turn out. We have attracted several new quilters which has been great. Interestingly enough one of them told me that she was from Indiana. When I asked where...you'll never guess...Madison!! That's where DD1 lives!! How odd, huh? Well, I had to go to the church office and found out that one of my CL's had passed away the day before! It was so sad. I had just seen her 2 weeks ago. She has been unwell for some time but I had no idea she was so ill. I collected money for flowers and ordered a beautiful basket of white roses, larkspur and carnations. We all went to our quilt room and selected a quilt to give her family too. It is the first CL to pass on since I have taken over the group. I had a really hard time with that. Sorry to be so sad, but it is good to talk.

On a better note. Laxy, the dog, is adjusting to life in cat central. She was spayed on Tuesday and seems to be pretty much back to normal already. I wish I could bounce back so quickly.

Well, I GTG as DH and I are off to Shipshewana to shop and spend the day together. More later...

Goin on a Trip

How many of you remember playing "I'm goin on a trip"? Well, I leave tomorrow for San Francisco! My DH is a corporate pilot and he had a trip going out to Nappa Valley. I can't ride with him but I booked a flight and I will be meeting him in SF tomorrow! I have not been to SF before so I am very excited! He goes all over the world but I only get to experience his travels vicariously. I'm not complaining mind you, I love being the one home with the fam and I can't leave my job either but sometimes it is nice to be able to travel with him. I am taking the quilter's travel companion so I will try to visit some quilt shops while we are gone. We plan to go to Moneray and to Nappa Valley too. I promise I will take lots of pictures and post some once I return.

Thank you to those of you that take the time to post a comment. It just makes my day when someone leaves a comment! I try to visit your blogs and leave comments too. Well, have a great week and email me if you have any suggestions on places to visit while in SF!