Happy New Year

Can you believe it?  Where did the year go?  I am doing a NYE Mystery with QT Mystery Quilts but first I have to donate platelettes this am.

And I'm going to work on Monday, as in working for Hancock Fabrics.  Yep, just kinda happened, and I will still be doing my longarm business.  The Hancock job is part time so I should be okay after I get into a routine.

I will try and post my mystery quilt when I have a top. 

The flannel quilt...

A picture of the scrappy flannel quilt in wilderness prints.  Nice and big at 78" by 90".  Credit for the pattern goes to Prairie Designs called Stacked. 



Yes I'm still alive

The Holiday just sort of gobbled up the time, good as it was.  I'm back to swimming in the wee hours of the morning and trying to get projects done.  Currently I'm working on a dachshund dog quilt and that has been tedious with applique. 

I did get my flannel quilt finished and I will post a picture shortly.  It's very manly looking, and cuddly warm too.  I'm not sure where it will wind up.  The backing is actually a flannel sheet that I purchased at Goodwill, and of course it was used.  But it just seemed to be the perfect backing for it.  I will give it to one of my family members due to the fact that the backing isn't brand new. 

But for now, it's off to do more dog quilty stuff.

Coming down the home stretch

Christmas gifts have been bought, mailed and received.  Christmas letters were mailed last week, the major components of Christmas dinner have been bought.  Decorations, minimal but acceptable (less to put away later).  One guest for Christmas dinner besides us so no stress there.  Baking, I think not, we are both watching our weight.

So?  Time to sew and not feel all stressed out about taking the time to do so.  I am still working on the flannel quilt UFO that I've been trying to finish for so very long now.  I have two more borders to do and then I can work on the backing.  The backing is a flannel sheet that I got at a thrift shop a couple of years ago.  It isn't the best match with the front, but at this point I don't care...remember this quilt is for the dogs.  No really it IS for the dog's couch.   Maybe I can get it on the longarm today. 

Biting off more than I can chew

Been working on a commission quilt with very slow progress.  After doing myself in yesterday cutting out tiny applique pieces I think I deserve a day to myself to finish my flannel quilt (which is a UFO, the last to finish before my year end challenge with Stashbuster ).   It just has to be a day for me.  My body tells me when I've had enough, and it's screaming at me right now.  Also, I need to finish some Linus quilts before our next meeting/sew-in.  I also have a bunch of Heartstrings quilt tops that have been entrusted to me to quilt, and I have not had much time to get to.  I think there is a theme here, which is: don't bite off more than you can chew. 

The good thing is that it's just hubby and I for a quiet Christmas this year, no fuss with tons of company or big dinners...a prime rib roast in the smoker and a couple of sides and done. 

Stitch-outs are finished

I ended up doing 14 stitch-outs, here are some of them.  A couple are variations off of a simple design.  I finished putting the grommets on them this morning.  I am working on a commission quilt today, I decided to wash some of the fabrics as they were reds, just never know about those and I'd hate to get them in a quilt and have them run.  Next I have to iron all of them, yuck...but they are small pieces.

Beef stew is in the crock pot for tonight.

This & That & dreaming of snow

I can't believe it's only a week until Christmas Eve.  Being a northern girl living in the deep south, it just doesn't feel quite like Christmas unless there is snow on the ground, or the hope of snow.  Putting aside all of the perils of the white stuff,  I have to admit I just love it.  There is nothing better to me than watching the snow fall, or to see fresh snow glittering in the sunlight...a pot of soup or stew on the stove or in the crock pot, and yes, of course, colorful fabric scraps to sew & sew & sew....munching on cookies and sipping hot chocolate, ahhhh yes.

No snow, no hot chocolate or cookies, but a stir-fry for dinner and some sewing on the longarm...how does that sound?  Well that's going to be today's plan.  Remember I mentioned yesterday that I'd like to do some stitch outs of the Circle Lord templates?  I looked over what I need and there will be quite a few, so with that in mind I decided to go with muslin.  I know, not nearly as exciting, but will still serve the purpose.  I have the muslin in the wash now.  I have a customer picking up a quilt mid morning so while I'm waiting I hope to have the muslin on the machine and a few done before she comes.  This should use up some batting scraps as well, so I'll be digging in the tubs shortly.

I've put aside my flannel quilt so that I can get the stitch outs done.  I have some commission work to start on but I will get serious about that between Christmas and New Years. 

A huge job done!

It has taken me almost a week of working on and off, but I have finally re-organized all of my pantographs (patterns I use with my longarm machine).  I'd already had a sample of each design in binders and then had alphabetized all the pantos into cubbies.  But there were 6 to 7 in each cubbie and hard to keep straight, so...

I got some mailing tubes, put all of the pantos in numbered tubes which correspond to the number of the pattern in the binder.  The binders are arranged by subject matter such as flowers, feathers etc.  So that is done. 

In addition I did a master sheet/spread sheet that lists the pantograph name, the number assigned and the theme.  I sorted one alphabetically and one by theme.  So I can quick look up the information on pantographs that are used often until I become familiar with the new system.

I also have giant templates from Circle Lord which are not in the binders.  I have 8 of those so I'm thinking of doing a stitch-out for a sample of those.  Maybe black fabric with a colorful thread. 

I'm dragging today...

Yesterday's guild meeting was nice and the luncheon was good.  In the afternoon I tried out my new software for the quilt labels.  They are from http://www.compuquilt.com/ and you use it in conjunction with word.  It took me a while to get going with it, but I can say it's better than the old software I had.  Never did get the wheels on my gammill, will have to save that for another day.  I could use a nap, but today I've got laundry, and I've been working on some quilt labels.  I like to print mine on muslin with the Bubble Jet stuff.

I am going to continue to work on the flannel quilt I am trying to finish called Stacked.  It's ready for the design wall.  I think that will do it for today. 

Busy Tuesday

Hit the pool at my usual time 5:45am.  Got that workout in and headed home to get ready for our Guild's Christmas meeting and luncheon.  Then this afternoon I am going to have hubbie help put on some new wheels for my Gammill, and I also got some software for making labels.  I'll let you know how it all works out.  I  had an old HP label maker which I have fought with from day 1.  In fairness to HP I am a computer dummy, but I had my husband try to navigate in the program and even he said it was not user friendly, oh and he used to work for HP hee hee.  Anyway I will see how this new one works and I may have to eat my words and tell you that it's operator error. 

Ready for the design wall

Yesterday I completed 30 blocks which will go into the center of this quilt called Stacked by Prairie Designs.  These blocks are going to finish at 12".  I'm using flannel.  There is going to be a solid brown flannel border and then a pieced outer border.  It will be a nice twin size.  The fabrics are from several older projects and very scrappy, no surprise there.  Believe it or not this will be a covering for our couch.  We have 3 dogs who use our couch, or should I say "their" couch!!

And a finish!

Called Morning Frost by Sherri K Falls, published by This & That in the pattern booklet, Woodroses in Winter.  What makes this one special to me is that the fabric was purchased in Fairbanks several years ago while visiting my son and his wife.  Though the fabric could have been purchased anywhere, because it was purchased in Fairbanks makes it special to me.

I'm nearing the end of my customer comittments for this year and looking forward to some more quilting of my own, maybe even starting something new instead of trying to work on just UFO's.

Working on Linus Quilts

Yesterday was another diversion but a nice one.  I met with a group of ladies to work on Linus projects, shared a nice luncheon and fellowship, and came home refreshed.

Today it's back to work at the longarm.  Since I am no longer accepting quilts for the remainder of the year, my load is getting lighter and I may have a chance at working on some of my own here soon.  Never did get the Morning Frost top of mine done.  Maybe this weekend???

I'm thinking of ordering new wheels for my longarm.  Not that they are worn out, but things are ever-changing and being updated, and I'm all for making my life easier...so if the new and improved wheels can same me time and effort they are worth it.

And another bag

Since I had leftovers from the first bag I made another smaller one.  This one is from Crafty Bags by Cindy Taylor Oates. 

This one is stuffed with 1/2 yard cuts for another gifty occasion coming up.

I'm still playing with the 4" squares and finding uses for them.  Since I also have a good accumulation of 2.5" strips I was looking for a pattern that would use both.  I remembered Bonnie Hunter's Crayon Box pattern on quiltville.com.  Only thing was it uses 4.5" center squares in the block and mine are only 4".  So yesterday I took some time to adjust the pattern.  I decided to make a couple of practice blocks to be sure my calculations were right, and this is one of the blocks.  It will finish at 11.5", still a decent size. 

Done! Pinafore Bag

Well I'm pleased with the way it turned out but it took me 8 hours from start to finish.  I hope that if I were to make another it would go a little faster.  That was a big chunk of time with everything else going on.



Pinafore Bag by Me and My Sister Designs



Diversions

Shhh!  It's for a gift coming up, kind of a last minute thing

So now you know what I'll be doing today.  This pattern is called The Pinafore Bag by Me and My Sister Designs.  It looks pretty straight forward, but I've made some bags that turn into trouble, so wish me luck.

Platelettes donation was a go

Yep, was able to donate today, but no Zumba tomorrow, as per post donation instructions...well they didn't specifically say zumba, but they did say strenuous activity.  I don't know about you but Zumba is pretty strenuous to me.  It does give me some extra time to work on a quilt that I 'm not getting too much done on this afternoon.

got my nose to the grindstone

I'm still here, just got really involved customer quilting the last few days.  Today I've already been to water aerobics.  I have an appointment with Life South to donate platelettes...at least I hope so.  Last time I tried to donate my count was low and I gave whole blood instead.  Yesterday I ran in so they could draw some blood to see if I my platelette count was up so I can donate today.  Haven't heard back from them yet, I was told that the test takes a day to come back.  So I can't really plan on much this morning.  This afternoon I have another quilt to do, and then I hope that after Zumba tomorrow I can get my Morning Frost top quilted.  It would be nice to sit and bind it on Sunday while watching football.  We'll see how things actually go.

Morning Frost top completed

Remember this quilt when it was just a pile of subunits?  Finally it is a top.  I hope to get it worked in with my quilting schedule soon.  Pattern is from This & That, Sherri K Falls Woodroses in Winter. 

A plan for those 4" squares?

I was reading the Heartstrings Quilt Project blog a few moments ago.  One of the ladies mentioned making and giving placemats to the people who deliver for Meals on Wheels.  She went on to say that one of the men who delivered Meals gave the placemats to people whom he noticed did not have many visitors or family. 

I got to thinking about those 4" squares that are sitting idle waiting to be called up for a purpose, and I do believe that I have found a mission for them in placemats for the home-bound. 

I'm not sure how many I can whip up in time for distribution, but I am going to look into it.

Today however, I have customer needs to attend to, appointments and quilting to get done, and yes, a sewing room to put back together after cleaning the carpet.

Awhh! Look...

BEFORE



AFTER



Progress!

1. I was able to get the rest of the sewing room de-cluttered to the point that I decided to clean the carpet. 
2. While it was drying I went to work on my Morning Frost quilt that has been sitting idle for oh so long!  At this point the top is half finished.

3. Remember the silliness half square triangles that were leftover from my ohio star exchange blocks??...well I put those together and have decided it will be a mug rug.  Maybe I can get it quilted and bound tomorrow.  It's cute...

Not quite done yet..

I really thought I'd have my sewing room all done and spanky clean by now, but it turned out to be more than I could handle yesterday.  I got into the closets and those were a bigger challenge that I'd anticipated.  Needless to say, I want to spend some time today finishing up.  But I've got to say, I ache from head to toe.  Note to self;, don't wait so long to tidy up, the more it goes unattended the worse it is to declutter.  Maybe my new years resolution will be to spend 10 minutes at the end of each day to put away and tidy up.

I'm also going to list my UFO's on Stashbuster and send in my fat quarters for the upcoming year.  That and the No buy challenge are what kept me out of big trouble this year, and I must do it all again for 2011. 

Micro-organizing: newly found 4" squares, hummm?

A while back I tried to organize my sewing room.  A year or so ago it was ship-shape.  My longarm machine is in my little longarm studio in another area of the house, but my personal sewing room is in a bedroom.  Truth be told, it mainly holds fabric, but has work areas for cutting and sewing.  I'm trying to get there once again.  I spent most of yesterday putting items back where they belong.

My fabric is on shelving arranged by color.  When I pull fabric out to audition it for a project, I can't seem to train my brain to put it back, nope it piles up until my workspace is covered.  Then there is scrap control.  You all know my passion is scrappy quilts, but it can be a time consuming task taming the scrap bin.  When I'm cutting fabric for a quilt I usually am on the lookout for an opportunity to cut 2.5" strips, and if a leftover piece of fabric isn't that wide I'll cut a 2", but most of the time it goes in the string bin.  I have more strings than I know what to do with, as a result I've have to bin them according to color families.  Beyond the strips, I have what I call chunks, which are pieces of fabric that can be trimmed to 5" charms.  If I can get a 10" square out of it, that's really a plus.  I try to work with 2.5" squares, strips, 5" charms, 10" squares and I like to cut bricks which are 3.5" by 6.5".  Have you seen Bonnie Hunter's Bricks and Stepping Stones pattern?  At times if I'm in a hurry, I'll just leave it at a 3.5" strip and trim it later.  I also use 4.5" strips for her Streak of Sunshine pattern.  The only time that I will cut 1.5" strips is if I absolutely HAVE to for a quilt project.  But I'll try and avoid those at all cost, I'm just not into anything that small.  It's this chunk bin that usually begins to overflow while waiting to be attended to, so I've switched to a smaller one which means I have to deal with it sooner more than later.

Some of my yardage

I find that over the years I don't use other size squares, but at one time I did cut scraps into whatever size the piece could yield.  So I have a bunch of 4", 4.5", 6.5" and some 8.5" squares.  Unfortunately they were all swimming together in a large drawer.  Last night, I was fighting the sleepies, I knew I couldn't go to bed at 7:30pm, so I pulled out the drawer of mixed squares and sorted them, micro-organizing!!!  I was surprised at how many 4" squares I had, and scratched my head wondering what on earth I was planning to do with them?  So they finish at 3.5", which doesn't go with much of anything other than just sewing blocks together row upon row until they get to a nice quilt size, maybe throw on a border and done? 

My other problem area is batting scraps.  The small pieces I use for cleaning my longarm tracks.  The more respectable pieces I zig zag together for donation quilts or my personal quilts.  Just as long as I keep same batting with same batting, ie, I don't sew a blend together with 100% cotton.  I try not to have more than 1 or 2 seams in my pieced batting.  When I've got a size that I like sewn together I'll mark the measurements on a small piece of paper and pin it on before I put it in a big plastic tub.  On the outside of the tub I keep a list of the sizes I have available in the tub.  That way when I need a batting, I just check the label on the outside of the tub and i can see at a glance what sizes I have.  Whenever I have batting pieces I try to get those taken care of ASAP because it can get out of hand.




List of pieced batting


Then there's the book scene, one of these days I will have to get some software to document what I all have, but for now the books are on shelves and off the floor, that's a good thing, right? 



The binders on the upper right hand shelf contain patterns I've printed off the computer, or patterns that could otherwise get lost





The red and green containers at the very top are magazines, I try not to keep more than what these can hold.  The rest is more books

 Today I hope to tackle the work area and other half of the room.

A finish!!

It's a lazy day today, I'm actually taking a day for just me.  I finished this quilt last week, but never got around to posting it.  This quilt was made in the spirit of the Heartstrings Quilt Project and uses the standard 9" finished block with a red center (the other is a blue center).  This one will be donated.

I'm a fan of just about any quilt, but my favorites are scrappy quilts, the more scrappy the better.

Yummy Thanksgiving

It was just hubby and I for dinner, since we just recently bought an electric smoker we were anxious to try it out.  No we didn't do turkey, we actually bought a small prime rib roast and smoked it.  I was not real sure about whether I'd like it, but I have to say it was absolutely delicious.  2 hours in the smoker and 20 minutes in the regular oven to get a nice crust.  Yum, Yum! 

Lizzards everywhere

I just finished a quilt for a customer and I thought I'd share the back of the quilt with you.  It's black and the flash makes it look gray, but check out the geckos.

My placemats are finished!

These started out as a leader/ender project for piecing on the machine.  I then decided to hand quilt these, just because I wanted the practice.  They are 2" finished squares and each placemat measures 12" by 18".

New cookware

I'm not the gourmet chef by any means, so I never really had a gourmet set of cookware, but mine have always gotten a good workout.  I've gone through several sets, mainly because I've always chosen the non-stick type.  It doesn't seem to matter how expensive the set has been, after a time the coating starts to break down.  So I decided to try the stainless.  So starts another exciting adventure!

This and that

Friday was kind of a playing hookey day.  My goal was to get a customer quilt on the longarm machine, but the backing needed to be de-wrinkled.  Rather than ironing the backing which is huge, I layed it across my machine rollers and spritz it with water.  It releases the wrinkles but the drawback is that I have to wait for it to dry before I proceed.  So what to do?

I played with those silly triangle units from the quilt block exchange and found a layout for this teeney tiny "quilt"

Each of these squares measures 1.25" so .75" finished, but this is what I've come up with so far.  I guess I might have to add more red to create anything of usable size and at this point the only thing that comes to mind is a potholder. 

Next I worked on some hand quilting.  I am quilting my last placemat, there is an end in sight.  I am not a great hand quilter by any means, but done sounds good to me.  And it's been great practice on a very humble project.

I also went to one of our local churches for an alternative gift show.  The products featured are from SERRV where artists from impoverished countries are able to sell their crafts to better their futures.

I got 2 lovely baskets, this first one is a basket from Ghana

And the next one is a basket from Vietnam, near Ho Chi Minh City and this one is made from PAPER!

Silliness

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day finishing up a customer's quilt.  Today I got back from water aerobics and got to work on blocks for our December block exchange at our Guild meeting.  The Ohio Star block is always a winner, and those flying geese units...that triangle part that gets trimmed, well I couldn't just throw those away.  Now I really don't have time for messing with those, but I did anyway, so that is just silliness!  And besides what am I going to do with these little guys?  I only have 24 of these and they are little.

The last time I did something crazy like this I made a tablerunner, but those blocks were much bigger to trim from and there were many of them. 

Time to load another quilt on the machine.  I guess while I'm doing that I can ponder on my teeny weeny blocks.

My evenings have been spent trying to finish the set of 4 placemats that I am in the process of hand quilting...still.  

Back Home

Our trip was wonderful and now it's back to the routine again.  I finished two of the 4 placemats (hand quilting) that I took with me, but that's about all that got done.  We had lots of time to visit so that's what matters.

Pineapple tablerunner



It's finished!  All labeled and ready to go.  The colors are that of the USMA Black Knights of West Point.  The tablerunner is a hostess gift for a couple who's husband attended the military academy and was commissioned there.  Hence the black, gold and gray.  In the spirit of the approaching football game in early december between the Army Cadets and the Navy Midshipmen...Go Army!!!  Beat Navy!!!

I did the design in EQ6, found a pineapple block that I liked and set them on point.  EQ6 filled in the side blocks very nicely for me.  I decided to paper piece this one, though it had options for rotary cutting and templates. 

I did get my daughter's t-shirt quilt finished...but she may read this blog, so I'd best show it to her first.  I get to see her Thursday, I can't wait.

Time change wreaks havoc

Every time we do the Daylight Savings I am messed up for about 2 weeks.  As I write this it is 3:01 AM and I've already been up, taken the dogs out, made coffee and checked all of my Yahoo and AOL mail.  Don't know why it does me in, but it does!

Goals today:

1. Mail 2 quilts back to Minnesota.  These are donations that came from Heartstrings Quilt Project, the quilts were pieced by some fantastic ladies, I quilted them and they are going back to be finished and donated for a very special project there.
2. I finished the table runner top that I was working on.  It needs to be quilted today.  This one I"m going to do on the domestic machine because I want to stitch in the ditch, did you know that quilting stitch in the ditch on the longarm is one of the most difficult things to do?  Since this project is small my domestic machine will be just fine.  Besides I need to load a customer quilt on the machine to do.
3. I'm still working on kitting up the rest of the hand sewing work that we are taking on our trip.

There should be a 4 & 5 but I may need a nap after 1, 2 and 3.

Getting ready for a trip

DH and I are heading up to Missouri soon for a yearly fall family gathering.  I don't know about you, but when I hear Road Trip I think of what sewing project to take.  Never mind about the clothes, I just throw a few things together...but I do put some thought into what quilty things I can take along to work on.

So the first item/s I am packing is a set of 4 scrappy placemats that I decided to hand quilt some time ago.  This is definitely a UFO, all 4 placemats are on one backing because that's how I basted it on my longarm.  I have one placemat almost done, only 3 more to go.

The next item is another UFO, an orphan block which I also decided to hand quilt back in 2001-2002? 

And to mix things up a bit I decided to kit up some hand piecing from a book called 101 Patchwork Potholders by Linda Causee. 



The blocks in this book are made from templates and the block finishes at 8".  I think a few of these will be fun and different to work on, nice and small and quick to stitch.  First thought was to really make some potholders, but a quilt made from all kinds of different blocks would be fun.  The blocks are either a 4 patch or a 9 patch base so all of the blocks based on a 4 patch would go together and the same with the 9 patch.

Now then, we are only going away for a long weekend, but it would be awful to run out of things to do, so I always pack more than I need, especially if I keep the projects small. 

Coming up for air...

I've been trying to get some customer quilts finished up so that I could clear a block of time to work on some charity quilts, I've got several from Heartstrings, and a couple from our own Linus Project with the Azalea City Quilt Guild in Mobile, AL. 

Yesterday I did a binding marathon to prepare bindings for 4 quilts.  I hope to get those sewn on today and get one of the Heartstring quilts on the longarm.  I love to work on donation quilts, my mind always drifts away, imagining who might get the quilt...

But at this very moment, I need to get ready for water aerobics.  Off I go...

Productive weekend

The dogs got me up at 4am, thank you very much...just as well, I have plenty to do.  But I got a bunch done as well. 

1. I got the customer quilt finished on Friday, just a stipple as she wanted.
2. I worked until I got all of the t-shirt blocks finished for my daughter

Now I'm ready to put it all together!


3.  I started working on a tablerunner for a hostess gift.  I did the design on EQ 6 ( I haven't bought 7 yet)  This tablerunner is the colors of the United States Military Academy Black Knights GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!! 

This pineapple pattern could have been done with templates, rotary cutting, or my choice on this one, foundation piecing.  This is a good start.  I have one more main block to finish which would be the third center block on point, and then I have to fill in with 3 more side halves.  I need to have it finished by mid Nov, we will be headed up to Northern Missouri for a family reunion.

I was a bad girl yesterday and pigged out on pizza, not that pizza is bad, it isn't in moderation, but I wasn't moderate...so my tummy is a bit off today, serves me right.

Working on a t-shirt quilt for DD

It's early Sunday morning and I don't know where the weekend went!  I've been pedal to the metal working on Nikki's t-shirt quilt so that I can give it to her when I see her in mid Nov.  Nikki wears an XXS (extra extra small) most of the time, sometimes and XS.  That said, you can imagine how little her shirts are.  Try and make a quilt out of that.  So I had to get creative.  Thank goodness she gave me a nice full sack of shirts.  The pictures show how I had to back the neckline to get anything out of the shirt.

Later on today I will try to get the shirts into some sort of layout.  She also gave me some of her old jeans, they are teeny too, but I was hoping to get the border out of strips of jeans.  I'm hoping.....I really haven't taken a good look at them.  I was going to put the seat/pocket part of the jeans in the quilt, but it makes it too bulky in my opinion, I'd rather keep the entire quilt as soft and squishy as possible.

Friday checklist

1. water aerobics Done!
2. customer quilt
3. work on daughter's t-shirt quilt

And the usual household stuff.  On Fridays, I usually change sheets and clean some for the weekend.

I remember my Mom had a strict schedule, Monday was washday no matter what, tuesday was ironing and baking, etc   These days I don't think that holds true as much, we try to fit things in wherever there is a sliver of time. 

The picture above is a group of quilt tops and blocks for Heartstrings Quilt Project.  I need to do the quilting on these and then they can be donated.  The blocks are for me to put together in a setting of my choice.  If you don't know about Heartstrings Quilt Project here is the link.  You might also find some wonderful patterns to make lovely quilts for any occasion, but especially charity quilts at MaryQuilts.com link here. 

And here is a peek at the customer quilt for today by Pat T.

Buried in customer quilts!

You know that is a very good thing.  But by the time Friday rolls around I'm tired, and I really don't want to go to water aerobics, which is unusual for me.  I also have some personal projects to finish by mid november, one of them is my daughter's t-shirt quilt.  So I'm in a quandry, should I go to water aerobics or not?  I think it would be a good stress reliever for sure.  hummm....

Have you had your mammogram?

It is October, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I had my mammogram today. Since October is my birthday month, I usually have my yearly tests done during this month.  Good to have all that finished for another year. 

You know it's 84 degrees out while I am writing this, can you believe it?  And it is still hurricane season.  While other parts of the country are getting ready for cooler weather, we are still dealing with warmth, however much less humidity, yippee!

Early post today

I'm up early as usual, the dogs get me up early.  It is stormy out, thunder and lightning, which the dogs hate.  I have fasting blood work today, so I'm trying not to think about breakfast which I usually eat early too.  Test isn't until 8:30am so it seems like such a long time to wait.

I worked on the t-shirt quilt for my daughter yesterday while watching football, and made more progress than I thought I would.

 I have also been researching  how to wash feather/down pillows.  I inherited all of the feather pillows in our family when my grandmother, and then mom passed away.  Some of them are looking pretty bad, and not smelling too good either.  Many places recommend washing them in a front loader, which means I'd have to go to the laundromat.  My home washer is a top loader.  Even though I'd check for weak spots in the pillow ticking and put on a pillow cover, I'd be so afraid to lose all the feathers in someone's commercial washer if something were to happen.  I'm going to do more research while I wait for some good weather again.  I know that drying them thoroughly is important, and I'd like to hang them outside when we have few good dry days. 

Company has gone, back to the old routine

Our company left Saturday morning, sheets are washed and back on the bed, towels are washed and hanging back up in the bathroom.  Back to the normal routine but with good memories to look back on.  I'm currently working on a T-shirt quilt for my daughter.  Hamburger Vegetable soup is in the crock pot.  It's raining here today, after a long spell without. 

Bellingrath Gardens

My sister-in-law and I went to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, AL.  The weather was perfect.  There was still plenty in bloom, and workers were busy stringing Christmas lights about the gardens in preparation for their Christmas lights show which begins the day after Thanksgiving.

Monday Blues

My daughter has gone home, the weekend went by way too fast.  And oh do I miss her.  With a lump in my throat I am going about the day's activities.  The good thing is that my sister-in-law & her hubby are coming in from San Diego for a visit, so I'm keeping myself busy.  They will arrive this evening. 

Owie Owie & Goodie Goodie

As luck would have it I did something to my lower back on Wednesday.  I've been flinging things to drop off at Goodwill, so it's no wonder.  I really thought that water aerobics would help me on Thursday, and while I was in the water I was feeling rather good.  Got out and it was another story...By Friday morning I was in the hurt locker.  Couldn't stand, couldn't sit.  I got in to see the chiropractor yesterday morning and found relief for about 8-9 hours before it all started to flare up again.  (owie)

My daughter Nikki came in last night from Missouri!!  (goodie) She is in town for a wedding today.  I thought we could go to Zumba together this morning, but that's out of the question, still having back issues and just don't want to take any chances as more company is coming in on Monday.  Of course the nursing school decided to give a test next week, so Nikki is going to be studying during her free time anyway, so best laid plans....it will be a quick weekend with her anyway as she has to fly back to MO tomorrow. 

Where did the week go?

I've been busy with customers, getting some cleaning done, and no personal quilting at all.  My plan this weekend is to finish straightening the sewing room.  I have so many projects that I want to finish before the end of the year, which when I think about it, will be here before I know it.  Yikes!!  My hubby did help me hang some quilts in the bedroom that I just painted. 

Bed quilt, I think this was one of the Turning Twenty patterns





Original wallhanging using some of the fabrics from the bed quilt in the room

This quilt reminds me of the mountains of Colorado where we once lived.
Quilt is called Garden Gate by Rosemary Walker from the book called Bright Quilts From Downunder, 13 color-charged projects



This quilt was purchased at a store in Estes Park Colorado.  It is handquilted and made by an Amish woman



Table runner called Spicy Spiral Table Runner from School House Quilts
This was made with bridal fabrics, just for fun because I thought it would make a nice dresser scarf.