Nine Patch Quilt on e-Bay.

Nine Patch for "Love Without Boundaries"

Today, I am posting an e-Bay page for the quilt that Victoria (aka Bumble Beans) made from nine patches that we donated. The bidding could get you a great, very colorful, quilt. The money will go to a great organization called "Love Without Boundaries"-really worthwhile cause.

Here's the direct link to the page to bid if you can.

If you haven't been over to visit Victoria, don't miss her wonderful, very artistic, work on her blog. She's very generous with ideas and challenges. A very innovative artist-don't miss the fun. Right now there is a challenge to quiltify a work by Matisse. Great eye candy.

I've spent too much time these past few days checking out blogs that are new to me from the amazing list on Amy's blog. This Quilt Festival idea was a touch of brilliance. Last time I checked there were over 500 people linked there. Fun!! The only problem is getting something done and peeling yourself off the computer. I set the timer and walk away when it rings. Otherwise the family would find me here still in my pjs when they come home.

Getting dressed and sewing now....really!

Silk purse from Sow's Ear

I've been watching, with amazement, the line up of links on Amy's blog for the First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival. What a great idea this was and how much fun it is to see everyone come up with their stories and posts about their favorite quilts. It's inspiring and fun.

I've thrown my little blog into the mix with my favorite quilt. Many years ago I made a quilt with fabric I really loved in a sort of scrappy mix. It was long before the quarter inch foot and more precise methods of cutting. In short, I kind of winged it. The resulting top looked every bit the experiment it was. No two seams lined up and even though I loved those fabrics, it was a mathematical mess. Tic Toc Tic ...time marched on.....the quilt lay folded and forgotten in the Closet of Shame. One day, I was reading my friend Debra's Blog and she called for any quilters who cared to join in making Quilts of Valor for injured returning veterans. I sent her an e-mail explaining all about the pretty mess that was folded in the Closet. She asked for a picture to see just how bad it was. I didn't even have enough fabric to finish the top and bottom borders. Nothing I said discouraged Debra. She told me to send it on to her to see what could be done. At some point she sent it to Deb Geyer, a great long-arm quilter who had volunteered to quilt it. I really hoped that Deb wouldn't hate me forever after seeing the mismatched seams and blocks of different sizes. When It came back from Deb to me for a binding I nearly cried. It was so beautiful. The quilting made a silk purse out a real sows ear. It was quilted with feathered wreaths and feathers in the borders. I momentarily regretted giving it up. As it turned out, the quilt went to a re-hab hospital to a young soldier who had lost an eye in Iraq. I took a number of pictures before sending it on and it makes me smile eveytime I see them. I hope it gave as much comfort to the young soldier as it gave me. You really never know how much the quilting makes the quilt until you see what an expert can do.

The pictures are clickable and I urge you to do so to see what a professional job is like.

After this experience I had another similar top in the Closet and donated it as well. Again, Deb made magic with the quilting but that's a story for another day. Hope you enjoyed this one.

Thanks to Amy for making this possible. After seeing the links-it must have been a full time job these past days.

Springy Happiness

While I was out and about this morning I noticed that pale yellow and green hazy shade that comes right before everything breaks into a riot of color. The forsythia are blooming everywhere and when the warmer weather they are promising comes this weekend, every little green shoot is poised to blow up into pretty green leaves. I had a morning full of errands with Library returns and dvds that were overdue and trips to the Pantry to pick up mail. I found a couple of possible good reads. The first is a book containing the Kimono collection of a Japanese woman. Each page is an explanation of the fabric and a close up of the pattern and fabric and general information on the Kimono. It's very beautiful to look at. Also, for a little dish, I picked up a new biography of Fred Astaire called "Puttin' on the Ritz" I found a copy of the sequel to "The Witches of Eastwick "called "The Widows of Eastwick" that could be fun since that was always one of my favorite novels by John Updike and I loved Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Devil in the movie. Who could ever forget the fabulous Veronica Cartwright in the cherry spewing scene. Even though the movie took great liberties-I still watch it when it's on just to see Veronica in that moment of complete lunacy. She was recently a Judge on a Law & Order. I love seeing her pop up. Last, but not least, I got the last disc in "The Tudors" and can't wait to see more of that. We watched "Doubt" and thought it was very well done. James saw "Seven Pounds" and loved it. I haven't had a chance to see that yet.

We had Leg of Lamb for Easter dinner and for dessert we had Lemon Blueberry Cake from Copenhagen Bakery. It was very hard to wait for dinner to be over so I could get my hot little hands on all that lemony lusciousness. Other than that it was a quiet and peaceful day.

On the sewing front....not so much. As I've mentioned to some blog friends, in order to get any sewing done I have to get my act together early in the day because I use the kitchen table to work on. I have to clear the decks for family dinner-so I just don't get that much done. If I would ever clear the decks upstairs, there would be room under all the crap for me to work uninterrupted. Yeah, any day now. We are looking at some major overhauling of the old place so I may have to face the horror very soon. We need to rip out carpeting and put down hardwood upstairs and the whole house needs painting. Downstairs the kitchen floor needs replacing and the parquet flooring needs either re-dressing or replacing-that's an unknown as yet. We need a flooring guy to come and tell us what can be done. Our house suffers from CHAOS Can't have anyone over syndrome. So that's where we are right now. I believe it's called LIMBO.

I hope you're getting out to enjoy the season. Talk to you soon.

There's no such thing as normal...

One of these days life will resume something resembling normal. Right? A therapist once told me there's no such thing as normal. She was Indian and sounded like Apu Nahasapimapetalon. I can still hear that lilting voice. Normal for me is not having to see another Dr. for a long while. That's what makes me happiest. I will strive for a Dr.-free month ahead.

I forgot to mention the other day I got a yard of the ruler fabric and a layer cake of American Jane. I've been away from sewing for a few days again since I had to go and have a redo of my mammogram. Whenever I get it done the left side always reads problematic. They tell me I am dense...well at least there...on the left side...quiet down back there. Anyway, I get it taken care of this morning and we can all take a deep cleansing breath now. All is well with the girls.

My nose is healing V e r y slowly and I have broken out in adolescent acne and a cold sore on my lip. Worry usually leads to both these things for me. It just looks ridiculous at 60. I would like to ask the powers that be if if we could come to some sort of truce. ENOUGH NOW???

When I left the radiation and sonogram I thought I would have a quiet day sewing. James came home from work with a pain that turned out to be acid reflux. He's medicated and sleeping now and I wish I had followed my first instinct and gone shopping a few towns over rather than going home. That'll teach me. Always go with your first instinct. Natures alarm bell.

I'm hoping the weather stays just cold and not snow. We have had a few left over days of winter creep in. The only good thing about April snow is it's gone in the blink of an eye and next week it will be 80 so I'm not going to complain.

Hope things are good in your neighborhood. Back soon and ready to greet the Easter Bunny.

More little Blocks

Let me just say that if you are unfortunate enough to hear the words electro-cauterization and nose in the same sentence spoken by a Dr.....run...run...run like the wind. I took a pain-killer last night after said surgery and still woke up with pain at around 4 am.

Today it's starting to hurt less and so I put in a couple of loads of wash and then got back to the American Jane mini. I'm enjoying these blocks so much. Everyone is different and cheerful. The photos are not doing justice to how bright and happy this design is. Makes everything(except my nose) feel better.

The second picture is a pile of fabric that came in a Keepsake medley. It's much prettier than it appears in this picture. Not sure what the plan is for them yet but I'm percolating and idea for a simple throw our of charm squares. I'm going to blame my bad picture taking on my diminished capabilities-painwise. I think I'll get a cup of tea to soothe my throat since I'm breathing through my mouth and my lips and mouth feel like the Sahara. Then I'm going to make a couple of more blocks and chill out in front of the tube. The 4 am wake-up is getting to me.

Before I go, I just want to thank Kay, of Out of the Basement, for the nice award that she gave me. Kay does beautiful work and reads great books. Those are two things that mean a lot to me. I wish we lived closer but in lieu of that I always look forward to what she's up to because it's always well-done and thoughtful. Plus she has fabulously adorable twin grandchildren. She recently finished a red and cream star quilt that if to die for. Kay, I think, is one of those people who make you look better by just hanging around with them. Thanks, again, Kay.

I'm hoping to feel a lot better tomorrow. I'll be back soon.

The Fun Continues

Really, these American Jane fabrics are so much fun. Especially on a bright spring day. It's gorgeous outside. Made a little side trip to get my hair cut and mail a package and drop off some Rxs at the pharmacy. Then I hurried home and sat myself back down and made a few more blocks. I just love Sandy Klopp. She must be a bundle of fun. How could you not be a happy person and design like this. It brings back memories of playing with paper dolls.

I have a nice piece of brisket BBQ-ing in a slow oven for the better part of the day. It's sort of like pulled pork..but beef. On buns with shredded lettuce, onions and such. Yummy!

I've kind of ladeedahd the day away today so I better get a few things done. On Thursday I have to go back to have additional cauterization on my nose. It just started bleeding again-like Niagara Falls. I'm beginning to think that maybe that's the reason I'm so darn tired all the time. I don't want to give you TMI but with these kinds of nosebleeds maybe I could use some iron or something. I 'm really afraid of having to have my nose packed this time. It was a suggestion of the Drs last time and I really don't want to go there. Wish me luck. I must have the mega blood vessels in my nose because when they try to take it from my arms I have NO veins...none. Just call me paleface.

Onward to dinner prep. I'll check in as soon as I can. Hope your having this kind of weather. It could stay this way forever.

The Badness of Dee

Here's part of what I've been up to these past days. This was a Quiltathon weekend so I dug into the goody box I received and challenged myself to use nothing but color. No background beige or white. Where I would have run into a problem is that the fabrics I received are all in pieces and, perfect for a relatively small paper pieced project, but not enough for a border or any plain blocks. So...I did the only thing left to me to solve the problem...snif snif...I had to call the Fat Quarter Shop and order a jelly roll of American Jane fabric....soooobbbbbb. I reconciled my badness by telling myself that I was helping to boost the economy...yep, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Anyway. I printed the pattern off my Carol Doak cd and in it's original form it's a square block. I removed the "keep proportions" option and made it into a diamond in a square. Fun.

Aside from that, I made the mistake of getting the second season of "The Tudors" so pfffft, there goes the week. No, seriously, I had to go for my mammogram and some other stuff got added in there as well. Maybe it's spring, I don't know, but I'm in a very Scarlett O'Hara mode right now that has me unable to focus much. I was glad I started the paper piecing since it made me focus on that at least. With spring, comes the sunshine and suddenly everything in the house looks shabby and in desperate need of painting and fixing. That's probably where Scarlett snuck in. It's just too big to contemplate-I'll think about that tomorrow. I wonder if I could get Melody & Dave to come up for a visit and bring paint, ladders and tools?? Hmmmm...only if I could convince them here's a meeting of the Botanical Society at my house. Now that's funny!

Enjoy the day. Back soon.

Great Mail and Good Reading

Interesting story. About a year and a half ago, I did an exchange with another blogger. I sent her a bunch of quilting books I was no longer using and in return she was going to send me a bag of left over scraps from a Kaffe Fassett quilt she was working on. She asked me to have patience because she was finding it hard to finish with family obligations etc. No problem says I. Send it when you can, I'll be happy with whatever you send. Time goes by. Her blog never gets up-dated and the mystery fanatic in me wonders what ever could have happened to this woman. Not for a minute did I feel angry that she didn't follow through because I was going to donate these books to our library anyway. I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened to her. It's funny what this blogging thing does to you. You really form an attachment to people even if you never meet. We find out things, sometimes personal, about each other and form these friendships that are very close in some ways...but not close in other important ways. I really couldn't imagine what happened to her. If she had up-dated her blog or closed it, I would have just put it out of my head but that didn't happen. The abrupt stoppage seemed to hang there like something profound had perhaps happened.

Yesterday, I was cleaning up my in-box of the hundreds of messages that I allow to hang around much too long and I came across an e-mail from her. Even though I deleted about a hundred other messages, I just couldn't delete hers. It still was a mystery unsolved. Last night my husband came home with the mail and he had a good sized box under his arm that he said was for me. Last week, I won a pin cushion from a fellow blogger but this was a pretty big, and heavy box for a pin cushion. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was a box from the lady of the Kaffe fabric. It was loaded, as you can see, with scraps and even fat quarters of Kaffe fabrics. There are also a huge pile of American Jane fabrics and, my hand to God, yesterday I had the Hancocks catalog in my hand to order American Jane in a jelly roll since I love the fabric and adore the lady who designs it. Cue the Twilight Zone music. I was so excited I couldn't wait till dinner was finished so I could get my hands into the box and play. What a great box of goodies. She included a pattern for a quilt and a nice note. I was so delighted, and a little freaked by the coincidences, that it was a very exciting evening for me. I'm still twirling with delight at my good fortune and so appreciative. I will send her a note of thanks because I'm un-sure if she reads my blog and I want to express my happiness at this lovely box full of goodies. I honestly can't wait to get my machine out and play with these pretty things.

For those of you who are mystery readers I may have mentioned that I'm a big fan of Jonathan Kellerman and his Wife Faye Kellerman. I just finished reading "Bones" by him and picked up this new one(above) by her the other day. She gets better all the time. I'm just getting into it because I have a number of distractions so I can't just sit down and read cover to cover, which is what I usually do with these books.

I hope you have as fascinating a day as I had yesterday in your world. It was really a WOW. Talk to you soon.

If Stacey is reading, I tried to send you an e-mail but it came back un-deliverable. You can e-mail me on my bio page but I can't seem to contact you. Sorry. Let me know if you have a blog. Your page is not open to comments or contact.

Some Good News

I thought it would be nice to share some very good news. James got his biopsy results and he doesn't have Crohn's Disease. That's the best news in a while around here. He has to be more focused on his diet and that can only be a good thing. Our visitors are in Manhattan until tomorrow. They went in for the St. Paddy's Parade and a show on Broadway. Peace is restored for the moment. I'm working on some business for the Pantry and catching up with the laundry and such.

Our weather has gotten really nice for these past few days. Spring is on the way. Love it!

Why is it that when you can't get to the sewing machine you come up with a fountain of ideas that you would love to try immediately. Oh well, I'm taking a few moments to click around and see what you all are up to. I saw a BOM on someones blog that looked like fun

I saw it in the original form as you see in green on the left. Then I saw someone else had made it in different springy shades and I like both ideas. I should probably think of this as a Christmas project to work on now....you know, before
Christmas(heh). Here's the candy colored one. Isn't it adorable? It's paper-pieced and I can't remember where I saw this so I apologize to the very talented person who came up with this great idea. If anyone knows who is offering this would you let me know so I can send my mea culpa and an apology...and lots of praise. If I do make this I'm thinking I would start with the fabulous hand dyed gradations that I bought from Darcie last year. I would need to add something additional but the colors I got from her are luscious. So that's what's on my agenda right now.
I know I said I wouldn't blog till next week but I wanted to share the good news about James and say that my nose is healing nicely. Thanks to all of you who left nice messages. I'll talk to you soon.

Stuff Continues to Happen

O.K. I'm being polite and not using the phrase I would like to but nevertheless it's all too much stuff lately.

I miss my sewing machine, which has been covered, relegated to the basement, and left in the dark...much like me.

We have family visiting for a few more days and so there is just too much going on that is of no interest blog-wise. Cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, dinner out, etc. My son had his colonoscopy last week-he has ulcerative colitis and is taking meds for that-he is otherwise doing well. BIL Bob will have treatments for his illness begining next week. Multiple weeks of radiation. We love him and will do our best to help him keep his chin up during this. As for me, I had to have the cauterization to my nose again last week-bad nosebleeds, blood vessel that will not heal. Too much information???Just shoot me! We will all survive and spring is on the way. Tralalala.....la.

I'll be back with better chat next week when I attempt to resume normal activity around here. Miss you all and I haven't even had a chance to read around and see what's up. Talk to you soon...don't forget me!!!

Stuff happens

You know how life goes along smoothly for a long time and then one thing happens and then another and then something else and then you put your hands up and say Whoa Nelly? We are in the Whoa Nelly phase for the time being. Several health issues have popped up for us. My son has to have a colonoscopy next week-he's been having some stomach issues. My BIL Bob has had some health problems that require more than a band aid-actually they require some prayer and hopeful thought. My other BIL Richard is coming next week for a visit(don't even get me started on that subject) and it just seems like we need some serious attention to things around here that are not blog-worthy. I seriously doubt that I'll have much time for any form of sewing in the next week or so. That said, I hope to have time to read around the blog world and see what everyone is up to even though I just can't seem to find anything worth writing about at the moment that isn't about these health problems and who wants to hear about that stuff anyway. How's that for a run-on sentence?

I would ask you to say a little prayer for my BIL Bob, who means an awful lot to us here. I'll try to get back with news when I have some. Meanwhile, sew something fun for me. Back soon with good news I hope.

I blatantly stole these snowdrops from the Internet. There are some in my yard just like them but I haven't had a moment to get out and take any pictures. Monday we had a snowstorm and it was 20-today nearly all the snow is gone and it was nearly 70 yesterday. Same today. I even have to fan on upstairs in our bedroom it was so warm. Mother Nature-Whoa Nelly!

Brrrrrr

Baby, it's cold outside! We got the worst of it yesterday. More than a foot and now the temps are really down and it's windy.

We really haven't had a major snowfall in a couple of years so I guess we had this coming. That's James trying to find a place to throw some more snow so he can get to his car and un-cover it. We got there eventually. Not until it was almost dark out. Memo to snowblower users...the snowblower doesn't like bluestone.It just wouldn't quit snowing. Bah! Last week I had on a light shirt and the windows open. This will take forever to go away. Well, at least the sun is out.

All the "boys" finally went off to work and I'm doing some cleaning before I tackle some sewing things.

I made a quick little table topper for a friend that needs some light quilting and a border. As soon as I finish the border on another little piece that needs mailing out.

Blogger was very bad yesterday-in fact, the whole Internet experience was pretty bad yesterday. It's somewhat better this morning but not great.

I need to get going so I'll talk to you soon.

Lost & Found and manners

That describes both this small piece and the state of things around here for the last couple of days. We had some health issues for my BIL Bob. He's alright now but the past few days have been no fun for him. He's home and happy to be here and resting up so things are getting back to normal again. While I was wading through various piles of fabric and assorted stuff I found this little quilt that is all ready to be machine quilted and bound. I made it from a package of pre-cut 5 inch squares I got a long time ago. It's been hanging around forever under some other stuff. so I'll give it a quick bit of work and a place around here somewhere to hang out.

I am, once again, behind in my work for the Pantry so I really need to catch up. I was reading JudyL's blog these past few days and it struck me again how mean people can be about things on blogs. As I said to her in a comment today, I will paraphrase my Grandma and just say" if you can't say something nice, click away to another blog" These posts are supposed to be about the things we have going on in our lives and want to share. There are some who apparently see it as boastful to express our delight in achieving a life-long goal or getting something we have wanted or even being financially sound. If that offends someone, I'm not sure what that says about them. Read something else. JudyL is one of the hardest workers and most helpful people it's been my pleasure to read about. She really enjoys life and I guess there is a certain kind of person who sees enjoying life as being uppity(is that a word?) Lord knows, life is uncertain and harsh in so many ways. It's a treat for me to read her positive outlook on life and those who have been reading her blog for a while know that she got to this point in life the hard way. Keep the posts coming Judy. It's just sad that there are people who would be so nasty but I guess when you take on writing this way you have to expect to come across a few witches to stir the pot.

I have to get dinner going now. The guys are on the way home and no doubt hungry.

See you!

Baby News & Wonky Stars

I can't decide what I like more-the wonky stars or the polka dots. I really love polka dots. I see a larger polka dot quilt in my future.

We had a really quiet weekend. Seriously, it was like a lost weekend-without the booze. Everyone here was in a sleepy-nap-taking mood and we all went with the flow. I did make a nice dinner for BIL Bob Saturday. I made a pork butt into pulled pork and it was very good. Carrot cake for the birthday boy and, sadly for him, we sang to him. I'm sure his ears are still ringing.

On the what's new front...our great neice made her first appearance on Saturday. Welcome to the world Katie Ray. Well over 8 lbs and Mommy Kristy is a very small woman so an 8lb baby probably took a lot out of her. She and Dad Adam are doing fine though. Wish I could show you pictures but I'm not sure how thay feel about that so I'll wait till I'm sure. Really cute baby though. Pudgy cheeks and adorable face. Everyone is very excited.

Anyway. I spent the day working on the binding for the quilt which I hope to mail out to Katie Ray in a day or so. Now I can put a label with her name and the date on the back.

I also played with the wonky blocks and I'm so in love with this type of block. It's a snap to make and always looks like a party.

Not much else going on around here. We are getting ready for a visit from our nephew David and new Grandpa Richard, my BIL who lives in Washington State. They are coming around the St Patty's Day holiday for a few days. Haven't seen David since he was a little boy. He's around 20 now so it will be interesting to see what has become of him.

This and the fact that the dust bunnies are taking over the house will keep me busy for the next while.

Hope to talk to you soon.

By the way, on the followers list there is a Sandra listed. I have no way of contacting Sandra but "Hi!" anyway. Let me know how to contact you. I love a good mystery and you've got my attention. Does your last name begin with a C ....? Are you a local.

Fess up!

I forgot to mention-I got an e-mail from a very nice person with a new quilting site that lists quilters blogs and has lots of other good info and ideas-check it out!

http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/

Wonky piecing

I made these wonky blocks for Stacey in Australia. They are making quilts for the people who have lost their homes from the bushfires. I hope to get them into the mail tomorrow.

I found an interesting thing happened while making these blocks. It's hard to do wonky blocks. Whoda thunk? You just sew random pieces to make the star points and it never looks right. That's because it's supposed to look wrong. I'm far from perfect in the matchy-match points area but it was equally hard to be randomly wrong. Anyway, the blocks are a snap otherwise and I enjoyed the journey to liberated quiltmaking. I hope to go there again soon. I think I'm becoming a convert. I put an additional packet of fabric pieces into the envelope in case someone wants to make more blocks with the leftovers. I've got too much to do right now to make any more myself . I hope it helps someone.

On the home front, yesterday it was BIL Bob's birthday. On Monday, since the guys were off for President's Day, we took a ride to the south shore and had lunch on the Nautical Mile in Freeport. For those who live far from me, its a place you can go to take a chartered fishing excursion for a few hours. They have a gambling boat as well. Anyway, there are a hundred restaurants on the water and even though few were open this time of year, we did manage to find one and have a lunch together. We had planned to take him to somewhere a bit nicer but that will have to wait a few weeks. Bob had the test for sleep apnea and it turns out the reason he can't sleep for more than a couple of hours is that he has a major case of it. I hope the mask will help him get some rest.

Other than that-I've got nothing. This seems to be a very down time here. Nothing really interesting....Except...the baby for whom I made the Delectable Mountains quilt is due any minute-that's pretty exciting. Can't wait to see the little darling.

Talk to you soon.

Bright & Random Happiness

I pulled out those blocks I showed the other day and determined that I need to find more of the whirly gig fabrics before I can do much with more blocks of that pattern. After a morning of communing with the vacuum cleaner and dusting, I decided to revel in the sunshine and open windows. Our temps today are nearly 60 and even though I know that it will most likely be 20 next week, I'm so perky today. Well, maybe it's the temps and maybe it's the new treadmill or a combo of both. Just standing at the window in the sun was fabulous.

So, I am putting another random round on the blocks and making them a bit larger. I had the presence of mind to throw the matching fabrics into the baggie before I tossed it into the pile so there are plenty of pieces to make up another couple of rounds of these blocks. I wish I'd had the same presence of mind for the Whirly gig blocks. I think I need to dig in the closet of shame for those fabrics and that may require a cocktail and an exorcist. After the softness of the baby quilt colors and some other things lately-this riot of color feels so...happy! Off to enjoy the probably all too brief taste of spring. Hope you have something fun to do today. If not....find something. Escape from home for an hour or two(hello??? Diane & Erika????)

More tomorrow.

Signs of Spring

The weather here has turned sort of springy and so maybe that's why I had thoughts of spring cleaning today. In my journey to the center of the pile I found these forgotten items and was a little giggly. I like both ideas but in particular, I was looking forward to making a whirly gig mini quilt. I really like this pattern so much and several people around the blog world have lately come up with their own versions. It's always fun and bright. That's the password for the week-fun and bright. I will move them to the front of the line with only two items before them. Besides, I need to leave the safety of the muted palette a little. I like the bolder colors and patterns so much. A bit of spice is nice!

We had quiet weekend with not much going on. It was pretty and warm. I opened the windows to air out the winter staleness. Very nice. By Wednesday we are to be in the high 50s. Time to get out and take a stroll. Maybe I'll hit the beach.

Hope your day is a peaceful one.

The Beast in the Basement

No-it's not me.

First, let me thank all you dear people who were kind enough to send us good wishes. It meant a lot to us both. Merci!

The treadmill finally got delivered yesterday...Yippee.

Tomorrow I'm going to bring the camera with me to the basement because this picture doesn't do it justice. This treadmill has enough displays and buttons to rival the cockpit of most airplanes. It took me over 5 minutes to program it and make it start. Thankfully I have discovered a shortcut for those who are not training for the Olympics. It also has connections for I-pods and such. I need to be entertained or it just won't be happening. Sad...but true. Here's the really bad news. I'm back to square one since it took two months to get it. I huffed and puffed and huffed some more and then I sat down and fell into a coma...just kidding.

For anyone who remembers my little "thread thing" this past year with Hancocks of Paducah, I know you won't believe it but I ordered some fabric from them and you further won't believe-it came in less than a month.....I know, I can hardly contain myself. I figured I'd give them another shot and frankly, I wanted it to work out well because they have awfully good prices on things like Kona cottons. With the stores now selling fabric for 9+ bucks a yard and the personal finances a bit tight, I'd like to help the local shop but to be honest, I know where she lives and it's a 2 million dollar house and her husband gave her the store to play with. I'll wish her good luck and pay Hancocks 4 and 5 dollars less and feel bad quietly. I like to go there occasionally for a treat or two but I have to conserve somewhere and buying less expensive background, backing fabric, and thread is one place I can do it.

So I got the fabric to finish the baby quilt and to use as backing for another piece. I really should buy it by the bolt.

Anyway, that's what's going on around here. The weather has been so cold. I was about 12 degrees out last night when I went out to dinner with a friend of mine. Afterwards we walked into Michael's. What a dump. When I can walk all the way around any craft store and not even be tempted it's really bad. The only thing available that wasn't crappy looking was the Martha Stewart stuff an really...who does Martha think she's kidding? I know...everyone! I picked up one of those multi-rolls of ribbon that she sells cause it was pretty, on sale, and I felt like I might use polka dot ribbon for something nice. When I opened a roll it was a 6 inch piece of ribbon-no kidding. Well, except for Martha-she's kidding....all the way to the bank.

Well, I'm of to enjoy a cuppa and maybe a movie. Roger is home today and he twisted his back-driving my car. He took my 4-wheel drive monster to work in the bad snow and ice the other day and he's not used to climbing in and out of the larger vehicle. His back didn't like the change at all.

Hope your day is a peaceful one.

Gratitude

It's been twenty five years since this picture was taken and I treasure every day since then. I was a different person then, not better or worse, just very different. The thing that remains the same is my love for Roger and our life together. It really doesn't get better than this. So, while I remember those fun filled moments cruising around the islands of Hawaii, the scents and the sounds, I am thankful that I made that long-ago decision to walk away from that old life and begin anew with this one. Roger is my touchstone for all that makes me happy. When I am afraid, he makes it better. He cuts me more slack than the rope will allow and his main mission for the past twenty five years has been to make my life a happy one. I have not always appreciated that gift as much as I should have. For that I'm sorry. Now, when I have a clear vision of both the past and the present, I have grown to appreciate all that has been given to me. One of my favorite quotes from the bible is "to whom much is given, much is also expected". Not sure if those are the exact words but the meaning is spot on. I think it is what drives me to help, to nurture, to give to others, and to care for what is important in this life.
I know I don't say it often enough but I really love this quiet man who took the first wild chance in his life and bet on me. I hope we have many more years together to appreciate each other and enjoy the life you've worked so hard to give us. Happy Anniversary to us.

Anniversary Quilt

Here is the perennial Anniversary quilt I once joked would be for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Whoops...we're there on Wednesday. Up until yesterday it was just blocks in bags waiting for attention. Many of the fabrics came from getting those monthly historical repros from Keepsake. Anyway, I pulled them out and sewed them into rows in the afternoon and showed them to the Thursday Night quilt group last night. I need at least as many more blocks than you see before you to make a good sized bed topper(and new quilt for R and his cold toes). I won't get it done by Wednesday, but it was really good to get it out and let it breathe again. I have a baggie full of finished block quarters and some that haven't been squared up and sewn together yet. I also kept aside a whole grocery bag full of the scraps of these fabrics so there are plenty more. This one will be big so I think I may send my first quilt out to be quilted professionally. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I really hate football but I so enjoy the party and goodies that go with it. On that note, I have a tray of enchiladas to donate to that effort on Sunday. If you beat the truth out of me(like you would need to) I would tell you I'm only there for the dessert. Someone always brings those mini cream puffs(Hi Terry) and they are my serious downfall. If I were an enemy spy, the other side would only have to put a plate of cream puffs in front of me, just out of reach, to get the truth. So that's where we will be on Sunday afternoon-pretending to be football fans.....go.... whoever!!!

Have a yummy weekend all.