Share this and win - and answer the age old question of "What's For Dinner?"

It's not really my style - asking for likes on my EPQD Facebook page. I figure if you care to see that much of me, you'll find it. But this month I apparently need an ego boost, because in a month that saw record gains in hotties reading this blog, I've only added a handful of new fans to my EPQD community. Since that's where I really feel like I can get to know all of you, I'd love to change that, and I am not above bribery thrown in with a smidge of self-promotion, something I also kind of avoid when I can. So if you are not above being bribed, read on!

Remember my post in June about these fun placemats that were appearing at the time in Quilt Pattern Magazine's June issue? Well, as of Saturday October 1, the pattern AND a kit is mine to add to my inventory, and I'm giving you a chance to win a kit to create this one of a kind tablemat for the messy kid in your life. Don't have a messy kid in your life? Borrow one. Trust me, they are everywhere. I have a few I might be persuaded to lend out if you really can't find one.

My inspiration for these cute oilcloth and chalkboard cloth mats was the ruination of at least one placemat a week by my girls, and, truth be told, once in a while when red sauce was involved, myself. As a quilter, I'd seen a lot of quilted placemat patterns, and while I think they are all fantastic and way fun to dress up a table, I also know that they are insanely impractical for many families like mine who have kitchens that look like a tornado hit after every meal. It seemed to me there was a niche that needed filling, and I set about to fill it.

I combined some simple reverse applique shapes of table setting elements with the chalkboard cloth and oilcloth and created a mat that has several benefits to messy families:

1. The materials are completely wipeable. Just a few swipes of a wet washcloth and you are done. You can even run them under the water at the sink for huge nasty messes. Oh don't give me that. You know you've had them at your house too.

2. Fabulous teaching tool reason #1: No longer will your kids put the fork on the right and the spoon on top of the plate when you ask them to set the table. They will not have any excuse to say "But I didn't know where it went!" The shapes are full size, and because they are reverse appliqued (which really isn't hard, I promise!), there is a ridge around each to prevent the different elements from slipping around on the mat.

3. Fabulous teaching tool reason #2: The chalkboard cloth allows you to write the day's menu right on the mat, and young readers can practice both reading and writing while they are waiting for you to finish playing Emeril in the kitchen. If your family is like mine, and insists upon discussing what will be for dinner within 10 minutes of waking in the morning, you could even hang one up on the wall with the menu for the evening on it all day long.

So how do you go about attempting to win a kit (contains patterned oilcloth and chalkboard cloth for one mat) and pattern to make these fabulous mats? So glad you asked.

1. If you aren't already a fan of EvaPaige Quilt Designs on facebook, become a fan. All my new fans every month are entered into a drawing for a Giveaway Extravaganza gift, and this month the tablemat kit just happens to be it. www.facebook.com/EvaPaigeQuiltDesigns

2. If you ARE already a fan, I sincerely thank you for your support and I love having you there. To enter the "current fan" drawing, simply share this blog post on your FB page, and leave a comment under the post on the EPQD page telling me you did so.

There's only one catch. If I don't make it to 375 fans by Saturday am, I'll only be able to give it out to new fans, not current ones. I need your help, hotties! The world needs to be free of stained placemats! Like and share and be well. Thank you!

What I did with my September freedom

It's been three weeks since the kids went back to school, so I know you are thinking "Has she accomplished anything more beyond the daily dance of joy followed by lying on the couch eating bonbons in the pure, unadulterated silence?" Lucky for you, I have accomplished a few things and I will be so excited to share them with you. Thanks so much for asking.

1. Because my husband was threatening to shut down my basement studio on the grounds that it was a hazard to enter due to all the piles of paperwork on the stairs, my first job was to organize and file it all. Which, as you can imagine, was almost as joyous as a root canal. But it's done.

2. While on the husband-imposed organizing kick, I decided to organize my thread racks sort of by color, sort of by brand, sort of by which ones I use most frequently. There's nothing more satisfying than an organized thread rack. Or three.



3. Sent out my first ever Constant Contact newsletter in September. Yeah, I know. That's hardly exciting stuff for most people. But for me, it was absolutely huge when my personally assigned customer service representative Carson (not Kressley, although that would have been awesome) reviewed my template before I sent it and said "I've seen some hot messes from first time users, but this one is really good." So exciting to know I've got him fooled with my mad computer skilz. If you didn't get on my distribution list and would like to be among the first to know what is happening in EPQD land, please let me know and I can fix that pronto.

4. Managed not to kill myself while dragging a 200+ pound, 5 feet long and 2 feet wide cumbersome package of 7 rolls of oilcloth and chalkboard cloth up one step and over 4 feet from my front step to the front hallway. Trust me, this may have been my most major accomplishment of the month, and I'm almost sad there was no one filming it for youtube. Look at these patterns! Aren't they delish?

No, I am not planning to make raingear for 600,000 American Girl dolls, but good guess. My placemat pattern becomes mine October 1, and I'm busy cutting out kits so that quilters who want to try something kind of new and fun and great for kids gifts can have all they need right at their fingertips. And not have to drag 200 pounds of oilcloth off the front step to do it.

5. Acted as Chair and entire committee of the Silent Auction Committee for the Squanicook Colonial Quilt Guild show this weekend, Sept 24-25, at North Middlesex HS in Townsend MA. See the post following this one to check out some of the cool things you might win if you come by and place a bid. There's a lot more where those came from - and you guessed it, all 40+ items are sitting on the stairs down to my studio. I'm learning to just shut the basement door and avoid all the sideways glances and commentary from the peanut gallery.

7. Oh, and now and then I even got to sew! Some of it was sewing 729 Brownie badges onto vests, but still.

Onward to more glorious accomplishments.

How did a loudmouth like me end up in charge of a Silent Auction?

It's almost here - the biannual Squanicook Colonial Quilt Guild "Autumn Festival of Quilts", where myself and my fellow Squanicookies put on a show we'd challenge any other guild to better. Okay, maybe that's a bit over the top, but really, we do put on a pretty darn good show and if you are in the area of Townsend MA next weekend, September 24 and 25, follow the awesome signage all around northern Middlesex county and get yourself to the gym of North Middlesex Regional High School and see what I mean.

One thing we do as part of our show is a Silent Auction of small quilted items donated by our members so that we can raise some money for our guild (let's be honest, this show is our one and only money maker and it only happens every two years, so we do all we can to make it successful). The Silent Auction was added to the show several years ago and has been a popular event, both with visitors who don't quilt themselves and want the chance to win something they couldn't make, and with quilters who for sure COULD make these items, but want to take the easy way out and buy them instead. Either way, it's fun and another cool way to showcase the cookie talent.

This year I am in charge of the Silent Auction, which is a bit of an oxymoron if you know me, but they let me do it anyway. Probably because no one else was volunteering. As part of my duties as SA chair, I got to collect some of the items up for auction at our last meeting and I want to share a few with you to see if I entice anyone to come make a bid.

First up is a cute embroidered and quilted Christmas wallhanging made by Shirley Harrison. Shirley is well known in our guild for her stunning craftsmanship, and this piece is no exception. I love the diagonal striped border, and at risk of Shirley hating me for all time, I have to admit that one reason I love it is because the stripes do not line up with like stripes at the corners. They DO line up perfectly with other stripes, as I would expect no less of Shirley, but I love that there are different patterns lining up as it adds some scrappy interest. Isn't the whole thing just too cute?


Here we have a dancing pinwheels doll quilt made and quilted by Cathie Shoemaker. Cathie is one of our very own premier, award winning long arm quilters, and you can bet the quilting on this is no exception. Some doll will be very lucky to sleep under this creation.


I apologize to the maker of this quilt, but I don't remember who gave it to me. If you let me know I can edit this post and give you credit! To make up for my lack of remembering, I will announce that this is my favorite of all the items I received. I love the colors and the simple pattern and the craftsmanship is lovely. Another lucky doll or little girl will love this.


Again, I forget who gave me this absolutely awesome wool candle mat. The saddest part of my forgetting is that I had like a 10 minute conversation with this person wherein I exclaimed over its beauty and she wondered if I was for real with my gushing. I am for real. I love this thing, and I can't even touch wool without cringing. This does not mean I don't love the look of wool stuff, and I truly love the look of this. Doesn't your Yankee candle deserve a mat like this? Oh, you bet it does.


Last up is a gorgeous bow-tucks bag donated by Marie Anderson. You can't see them, but Marie sewed some buttons to the bottom to give the bag some "feet", and therefore it won't get as dirty on the bottom as it might when the winner sticks it on the floor of the car or under the pew at church. Isn't Marie brilliant?

September 24 and 25, North Middlesex Regional High School in Townsend MA. Be there and bid!

My former life ended 10 years ago today

I'm going to take a big risk and for the second time in two weeks write a blog that has little to nothing to do with quilting. Somehow today I just feel compelled to reflect.

Ten years ago this morning, I was in American Airlines operations at Logan airpost in Boston, signing in for a quick overnight trip to Dallas to complete my annual emergency training. There were about 11 of us heading down on an 8:15 flight, and many of us were chatting with other flight attendants who happened to be in operations that morning signing in for their flight - American Airlines flight 11 to Los Angeles. I remember saying Hi in passing to Amy Sweeney, a woman I had worked with many times and who was always very sweet and kind as well as very professional with the passengers. When I think of how she had to use that professionalism that morning I know there was no one better to be a calming presence...but that doesn't make it better.

I remember about 2 hours into our flight, a fellow training-bound crew member seated behind me came back from talking with some other flight attendants in the galley and told us "Something huge is going down. Planes are flying into buildings in NYC....we're landing as soon as the captain can." Surely he was kidding. Planes didn't fly into buildings. Within minutes, the captain told us our country was under attack, that no one was to think about getting out of their seat for the next 20 minutes, and we'd be on the ground in Memphis asap. I spent the rest of the flight praying to God we didn't have any terrorists on our plane.

By the time we hit the ground, we all knew the towers were down and as we sat on the runway all I could do was try to call someone, anyone to let them know I was okay. My husband wasn't picking up at home. My parents' line was busy. My sister wasn't home. (You have to remember, 10 years ago not everyone had cellphones.) Finally I got hold of my friend Heather, who as luck would have it was home sick from work. All I remember about the conversation was telling her I was alive, that I loved her, and could she please call everyone we knew to tell them the same? Because she was, and is, a fabulous friend, she didn't even tell me she was practically on her death bed from stomach flu - she just did it.

I remember finally getting ahold of Joe, who had been sent home from work because his boss knew I was flying out of Boston that day. All we could do was cry. I'd worked flight 11 more than 100 times in my 9 year career. There was no way that couldn't have been me.

I remember the relief my parents had when I finally got ahold of them, my mom in a battle for her own life against ovarian cancer. Sometimes I wonder if I was spared that day because God knew our family couldn't handle any more crap right then.

I remember standing in the lounge in Memphis with the rest of the passengers in stunned silence as we saw our first footage of what most of America had seen 20 times over by then. The pole I was leaning on was all that held me up.

I remember how eerie the sky was over the next 23 hours as all 11 of us on the way to training piled into a rented van and drove back home to New England. Perfectly blue, perfectly gorgeous, and perfectly empty of air traffic.

I remember reading the list Joe had written of everyone who had called wanting to make sure I was okay and crying my eyes out to think that so many people whom we hadn't seen in months or years cared enough to find our number and call.

I remember telling him I didn't care if we had to eat pasta every day for the rest of our lives, there was no way in hell I was going back to work as a flight attendant.

In truth, I did go back - once. I did manage to complete the training about a month later, and I did one trip in late October before I was awarded an overage leave for 6 months. I got pregnant with Paige and Eva on the last week of the leave, and that was that. I was given the best reason of all to quit, and I have never looked back.

But I will never forget.

"Night Owl" pattern and child, now available from EvaPaige Quilt Designs

It seems you can't visit Target, Homegoods, TJMaxx, Justice, or The Triple B (Bed Bath and Beyond) these days without running headlong into owl themed stuff. Probably other stores too, but those are the only ones with which we tightwad moms of preteen girls are allowed to be familiar. What is up with owls being all the rage right now, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. They saw my "Night Owl" pattern in Quilt Pattern Magazine last spring and said "THIS is someone we must emulate! Owls are it, people! Burn the peace signs and bring on the hoot!"

As if I could ever start a trend. This pattern name is truly just a happy accident as far as being in with the cool crowd.

"Night Owl" is a super easy, super cute pattern, if I do say so. I love that because it uses a nice size rectangle as the main blocks, it's quick and easy to put together but so much fun to use to play with lots of different fabrics. I also added a ruffled bias strip to give it just a little more visual and tactile interest - after all, let's face it, it's a pretty simple design and it needs a little OOOMPH, and that ruffle does wonders. I'm thinking of giving it a bonus at the end of the quarter.

The baby size, shown above in "Life's a Hoot" fabrics by Adorn-it fabrics (are you seeing those owls?), is 45" x 54" and therefore perfect for snuggling your infant during those lovely 3am feedings. Gotta be honest, I don't miss those too much. But if I'd had this cute quilt to snuggle in during them, they might have been more enjoyable.

On the baby size sample, I did the ruffled bias strip in scraps from the blocks. I love how it looks against the brown and white polka dot. And aren't those owls adorable? And so trendy?

The lap size sample (my cover girl) is also done in Adorn-it fabrics, this time the "Long Live Vintage" line. I love Adorn-it fabrics and they were so lovely to let me use their lines for these quilts, but I honestly believe this is a quilt that lends itself equally well to a fabric line or scrappy. For the lap size quilt, I used just one fabric for the bias strip rather than making it scrappy. I really like the look of it as well.

As it turns out, the lap size (57" x 66"), is perfect not only for snuggling with a book on a rainy night, but also for snuggling and rocking your 8 year old who is up at 1:00am for the second night in a row freaking out about the MCAS test she will be required to take in March. So many uses, so many sleepless nights to enjoy the quilt.

If you love it, let me know!