Snow Snow Snow what I look at

This is the latest snowfall that we got yesterday. This is what I see when I look out my livingroom window. We probably got about 8 new inches yesterday. On my way home from work I took all the parkways so I could have fun with my 4 wheel drive and be able to drive where they hadn't plowed yet. I think we're in for more snow tomorrow.

After Christmas

Well Christmas came and went and I can honestly say I'm tired and I'm glad it's over with. So, for the last couple of nights I've been really restless and I couldn't figure out why until last night. I wasn't sewing at night like I had been. I've been trying to keep everything nice and neat since my Mom will be coming back again this weekend. Well, tonight the heck with it. It's snowing like crazy out. The tree lights are on and I'm watching a movie. That does it I'm busting out the sewing machine and getting back to business. I had a few things that need to be finished and this is just as good a time as any to start up again.

Is everyone else getting back into the swing of sewing?

YAHOOOO I did it again

I know that to most of you this is an every day occurance but to me this wasn't easy. I finally have it figured out on my own how to add pictures to my blog. Bear with me if they aren't centered but I'm working on it. I just reached one of my goals for 2008, I'm ahead of the game.

Anyway I got this very pretty packet of charm squares from Jen and it's called " Through the Seasons" by Eleanor Burns. The colors didn't come out all that great but there are a total of 54 blocks in the package. Jen has the book so now I can look to see what I can make out of this. I guess I'd better add this to my to do list for 2008.

Hot digity I got a picture in my blog

I'm not really sure how I did it but it worked. Here is a stack of fat quarters, flannel from Moda called Holly Jolly that I got for Christmas from Jen. I think what I'm going to do is make a quilt using the pattern Yellow Brick Road. I just love these colors and the flannel is so soft. I've made two table runners for Christmas using the same Holly Jolly but in cottons.

Sorry I can't figure out how to turn the picture but atleast I got it in the blog.........YIPPEEEEE

Let the festivities begin

The tree is up, decorated.
The house is clean
The gifts are wrapped
The sewing is done
The decorating is finished

LET THE FESTIVIES BEGIN

Merry Christmas

Cleaning, shopping, wrapping, sewing

The Christmas cleaning is finished with the exception of the vacuuming that will be tomorrow. Everything has it's place and I must say it looks good in here even my spare room that I use for storage. The laundry is done and I'm ready for my overnight guest. It will be nice to have my Mom here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm really getting excited about that.

The grocery shopping is done with the exception of tomorrow morning I have to run out for rolls since the store didn't have any this afternoon. I finished my Christmas shopping tonight at the book store so that's done. The paper is bought but I do need to wrap but it won't take me long.

With all of this done I'm going back to my sewing. I won't get a few small projects done but atleast I can finish one of the larger ones tonight. Everything is layered and I'm ready to FMQ. Even my binding is already made.
The Chex Mix is in the oven doing it's thing and the turkey is thawed. All in all I think I'm in pretty good shape for Christmas. I really didn't tink that I'd make it but I did. Right down to the wire. Back to my machine I go.

I hope everyone is finishing up their projects and feels as good as I do. MERRY CHIRSTMAS.

Christmas Cleaning, Mom, Decorating

Here it is Saturday well actually it's early Sunday AM and Christmas is quickly approaching. I've spent a better part of this evening cleaning my apartment and decorating for Christmas. See I went from having Jen, Mike and Holly over to having my Mom coming to stay for two days and my sister and her husband coming for Christmas dinner. The turkey is in the fridge thawing and I've been cleaning. Do you ever notice that while you're cleaning you actually start out making a bigger mess than you started with? That's what I have right now and if I can just take a few more minutes it will be looking really good.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping and then maybe a little sewing. OK I'm off to bed, night all.

What a scare from my Mom

As most of you know from reading my daughter Jen's blog we had quite a scare today where my Mom was concerned. I'm happy to report that she is resting comfortably at my sisters house. She slept most of the afternoon which she really needed. Mom is 88 and this past year has been pretty hard on her health wise. With the great support of Jen and my sister Kitty we've been blessed with another year with Mom. She has high blood pressure which caused 3 heart attacks this past February. When I got the call this morning at work that she wasn't feeling well and then another call that she was being taken to the hospital so many things run through your mind. I left work and headed to the hospital. When I got there I realized how really bad she actually did look. Her pressure was high and they had run tests and put a nitro patch on her and were monitoring her vitals. I was ever so glad to see Jen when she came into the ER. It means so much to me that she came to sit with us. I think in all the confusion this morning I didn't get the chance to tell her so. We've been blessed and Mom pulled through this one but I just know that one of these times we're not going to be so lucky. I'm constantly telling her I'm not done with her yet so she's not going anywhere. We lost my Dad back in 1999 and I'm still not over that.
So I just wanted to say to all of our quilty friends, THANK YOU for all of the extra prayers you offered up today for my MOM. They worked.
With all of that said I admit defeat and I'm not going to get the rest of my Christmas presents sewn. I think today's scare took the last bit out of me. Since I've been home from work all I've done is sleep. Fabric will get wrapped up and any other presents I was going out to get will be delivered when I get them. The tree has lights and that's good enough too. What is important to me is the love of my family and friends.
If I don't get a chance again I wish all of you and your families a very MERRY CHRISTMAS

T'was the night before Christmas, and the quilts were not made. The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed. The stockings weren't hung, the pantry was bare,the poor weary quilter was tearing her hair.Stacks of fat quarters tipped over in streams.Visions of Log Cabins had turned into dreams. With what to her wondering eyes should appearthan a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.They went straight to work with just a few mutters,sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.The patterns emerged from all of the clutterlike magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter. Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese and Bear Tracks, each quilt was a beauty--even the backs. Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed. The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.Their work was all done, so they folded their frames they packed up their needles, without giving their names. They boarded the bus and checked the next address,more quilts to be made, another quilter in crisis. She heard one voice echo as they drove out of sight, Happy Quilting to all, and to all a good night.

I wish I could take credit for this but I can't. I found this on one of my other groups and just had to share it with all of you.

No sewing done here tonight as I laid down on the couch and slept for the last 3 hours. I'm going to admit defeat and wrap fabric and then take it back to finish projects. I just don't have it in me anymore this holiday season.

Christmas Coasters

For the last couple of nights I've been in Christmas coaster mode. I've finished a total of 23. Yeah I know it's an odd number but I still have a few more to make. Once I was done with that I wanted to start on the Kennel hanging that I was going to make for my grand-dog Holly. I had the panel and just couldn't find it. So now that my sewing area is straightened up I found the panel and all that I still have to find is something to use as a border and a binding. It's like the one I made for Murphy's eating area with cartoon type dogs on it. It's going to be hung probably inside her kennel for her to look at. Then it's on to putting together a quilt top for Murphy and a few other assorted Christmas presents. I have high hopes for the weekend where sewing is concerned. I hope the rest of you are winding down too. Of course then I have to decorate the tree, clean my apartment, grocery shop and do a little shopping and then of course wrap a few things and Christmas can happen. This year I decided to make a few of my gifts and keep things simple. I feel much better about that. I haven't been in any big stores and not a single mall and I'm a happy camper. I have however spent quite a bit of time in quilt shops picking out the right fabrics for my gifts. While I was straightening up my sewing area I came across a few things that I will finish after the holidays and put aside for next year.

Next Christmas

Last year Jen and I decided that we'd start in January and make one thing a month for the year so we'd ahead of the game for Christmas. Well, Christmas is coming again and I have nothing that I made ahead of time. So, as I sit here I'm going to raise my right hand and swear that this year I'm sticking to the plan. I'll need all of you to keep me in line but I need to do this. I've gotton so many great ideas from this group and I've kept them all. I figure if I just make things randomly I'll not only be ahead of the game but I'll have things ready when birthdays and Christmas come up. Is anyone else up to the challenge?????????

Work Christmas Party

Today was our Christmas luncheon at work. We always have a great time and really good food. We were all in the festive holiday mood which made it alot of fun. I was at Walgreens the other night and picked up a holiday hat. If you're familiar at all with the Grinch there is a character, Cindy Lou Hoooo. She wears this little hat with what looks like a pipecleaner coming out of the top like a spring. Well now I own one of those hats. On the tip of the hat is a white ball with two jingle bells. That was my head gear for the day. One of the other ladies in the office brought in an assortment of other things to wear. She had an elf hat on and I know that for next year Jen and I are going to make those. One of our other ladies had on a headband with a small Christmas Tree on it and another was a reindeer with antlers and ears. The reactions from everyone who was us was priceless. For the first time I saw my boss laugh and all she kept saying was she wished she had a camera. OK let me back up a bit on my hat. People everywhere always call me Cindy Lou so of course the Cindy Lou Hoooooo fit perfectly. After the lunch our boss gave all of us a popcorn tin, you know the ones with the different popcorn flavors in it. He had picked out two special ones. Mine had puppies on it and another ladies had kitties on it. His wife is such a sweet heart and she always makes each of us a box which of course she decorates and then inside are all kinds of goodies. She makes a great hot cocoa mix complete with the marshmellows and cinnamon hearts, always an ornament of some kind and candies. She's got to start these way in advance because she makes usually around 47 of them for our company plus she makes them for all kinds of people. Needless to say she's a stay at home wife with no kids. But we all look forward to her Christmas boxes. I hope to be able to take a picture and post it. This year she baked a few things for the box too. A little bread of some sort, cookies and a cup with nuts. Sometimes it's too pretty and you don't want to open it but we all do and of course we dive right in. For the next couple of days all we do at work is eat. Alot of the companies that I deal with and our buyer deals with send us all kinds of goodies. We're very big on tins of cookies, different candies, nuts and of course cheese and sausage boxes. We just put out a few goodies each day and it disappears.
For the first time since I've worked there they are going to have an after the holidays holiday party. On January 26th whoever wants to go will get together and we'll have dinner, a DJ and of course a gift exchange. It sounds like fun and since I get to take someone with me I think Jen is going to go with me.
I'd better get back to my sewing. I'm doing assembly line sewing of coasters for gifts. They aren't hard to make but they do take sometime. One of our ladies is off for the next two days so she got hers today and she was thrilled. So here's my question for all of you. When you give a gift of coasters, how many do you give?

Christmas gift and yo yo's

Tonight was every productive. I finished one Christmas present and then I got out my Christmas trees. I say trees because this year again I'm putting up these three little stick trees you know the kind you see everywhere. Anyway I have this corner where I put the coffee table and the three trees fit perfectly on it. It took me a while to "fluff" up the branches and I ended up taking off the lights I had left on last year so those will have to be redone this year. I was never the one to put the lights on the tree so this has been a learning thing for me for the past 8 years. Then I was restless so I started to sew my yo yo garland together. It's about 9 feet long for now since I still have more to sew on but that's for tomorrow night. Once the tree is all decorated I'll take a picture and post it. Hopefully all the rest of you will do the same so we can see how everyone else celebrates Christmas.

Christmas 4 Patch Flip

This is a picture of the 4 patch flip that I made some time ago but Jen quilted it for me for Christmas. Then all I had to do was add the binding and it's finished. She's now layered and quilted three of my quilt tops for me for my Christmas present. I love making the tops but when they get huge there is no way I can machine quilt them myself. Thanks to her Little Gracie and lots of Jen's hard work my tops are now finished and Murphy and I are happily using them. He is definetly a quilt worthy fur child. With each new one that comes in the house he seems to adopt it and thinks it's his own. He's been snuggled under quilts for days now.

PJ DaY

Today was my last vacation day for the year so I wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I declared it my PJ Day. I slept late, ate and then started sewing. I"m working on a Christmas present for Jen. She knows all about it so I can tell. I'm making her a raggy flannel quilt for Christmas. I started out with two blues from the Moda Christmas collection WinterWonderland and then I added two more to it. I now have a total of 12 yards of flannel cut into 8 inch squares and all sewn. My next step is to start sewing the finished blocks together and see how large this thing gets. I've been trying to think if I want to sew it together in some type of a pattern or just stick to two types of flannel on one side and two on the other. Whatever way it goes together I think it's going to be beautiful.

So I was going along nicely on my PJ day until around 3PM when I couldn't stand it anymore and had to take a shower and get dressed. Later on I had a great little nap and since then I've been watching senseless TV and now I'll go back to sewing a little more before I go to bed. I think all in all it's been a very successful day. I can't wait until January 1 when my vacation days start again and I'm back to having three weeks to use...........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN

Today is a special day in our world, it's my daughter Jen's birthday. I can't believe that today she is 31. Seems like only yesterday she was this tiny little person and now look at the fantastic woman she's grown into.

Yesterday we sewed together until I was so tired I finally went home around 11:30. The plan for today is for me to either bake or buy the traditional lemon meringue pie that we have and then to spend the rest of the day sewing. Anyway I just wanted to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN.............

Cold and 3 Days OFF

It's cold outside and we're going to have more snow tomorrow. I'm already tired of the snow and winter just started. I'm not an outdoors person and I've never liked winter. I'm cold and tired already of tromping through the snow. It's going to be one long winter. If I was a squirrel I'd have a big bushy tail.

So, I have the next 3 days off. I had one vacation day left that I needed to use and there's lots happening at work so it was hard to set a date. I decided I wanted to add it on to either add it to a weekend or day after Christmas. My new boss decided she needs me at work the day after Christmas because she might be out of town, This is getting to be rediculous and I should be able to take my time off when I want it. Anyway on a happy note I added it to this weekend. I have grand sewing plans so I hope all goes as planned.

I started out the weekend at Jen and Mike's for dinner. Mike made so great shredded chicken and we had it on really big rolls. Then I proceeded to take a lovely nap on their couch. When I woke up the two of them and Holly were all in Jen's sewing studio because apparently I was snoring really loud. I'm home now and it's time to cut out a quilt that I want to work on tomorrow. I have a few things that I want to make yet for Christmas and since I sew with Jen I had to break down tonight and tell her what I wanted to make her because I need to work on it tomorrow and I'm sewing with her. We've had to cancel our trip to Iowa to see Michelle and the quilting ladies due to the weather. So instead tomorrow we'll go to the Patched Works for a fun time and then sew at Jen's. I also had a reminder that tomorrow Murphy goes in for a glucose test so we'll see how that is coming along.

Everyone stay in touch with what you're sewing this weekend. Christmas is getting closer.

How I spent November

I've been sitting here for the last couple of days trying to remember all of the things that I made during the month of November. Now the problem is I have a really bad memory but I'm going to give it a try.

1. Made the binding and put it on my blue and yellow quilt.
2. Made the binding and put it on my HUGE pink and green quilt.
3. Made the Holly Jolly table runner
4. Made another table runner, the name of which I can't remember.
5. Made two pillows for Christmas presents
6. Made one BOM block from our Friday group and I have one more to go so I can put together that quilt top.
7. Made the first two blocks for our new BOM.

Plus I've been making a few Christmas presents but I can't reveal at this time what they are or who they are for.

So that about sums up my November sewing. Next to most of you I've been a slacker.

Snow, Snow and more snow

Today is our first significant snow fall of the season. Our weathermen were predicting snow to start here around noon today. Well, since I don't trust them at all I didn't believe them. Over to my sisters I went to pick up my Mom to take her for her haircut. After that was done we stopped at Big Lots. I don't know if any of you have those in your area but what a different store that is. You name it and they have it and really reasonable. We must have looked around for two hours. We each bought a few things and when we were checking out I looked out the windows and the snow was just starting. Wow our crazy weathermen were on target for once because they said noon and it was 12:20. Off we went and our next stop was to have lunch and then to run a few more errands. By the time we were finally on the way to my house alot of snow had fallen, the streets were slippery and I was using my 4 wheel drive. It;s now 9:30 and it's not snowing anymore but now it's sleeting. I'm so glad tomorrow is Sunday and I'm home. Mom is spending the night and her and Murphy just went to bed. He likes to sle ep with her for a while and it's good because he listens to make sure that she is OK. I haven't written about her lately but we're having trouble with her blood pressure again. They've added a couple of more pills to try to bring it down. It likes to spike at night. Did I also mention that I want to make sure she's warm enough here so I have the livingroom heater on and the bedroom heater. It's cold out, it's snowing and sleeting and I"m sitting here quietly typing and I"m swetting. Oh well back to my chores I've been working on. Everyone have a safe evening whereever you are.

Kick off to the Christmas Season

I was sitting in the livingroom deciding what it was I was going to do tonight when the lightbulb over my head went off. For me I officially declared today the start of the Christmas Season. Christmas music will play, decorations will go up and of course Christmas sewing will be finished. So this Christmas and to celebrate the season I made myself a nice little cocktail. My idea of a nice drink is simple. First you have to start off with a really pretty glass. I have a couple of what I call special drink glasses. I only use them for drinks, not soda, never milk. In goes a few ice cubes. OK so I need to refill the ice cube trays because it's been so long since I wanted ice that it's all evaporated. I did have a tray in the freezer that is from Tupperware and it has a top on it so I still have some ice. Next in goes my spirts which in my case is whiskey. Not just any old whiskey it has to be Jack Daniels, black label. Next in goes some diet squirt, atleast 3 cherries on a stick and tonight I topped it all off with a slice of orange on the rim of the glass. How very festive it looks. So I sat in my livingroom and toasted the start of the holiday season. Now it's time to get off my butt, vacuum the living room and then start my sewing again. HAPPY HOLIDAYS ONE AND ALL.

I'm FREE, I'm FREE!!

Tonight I went to Jen and Mike and Holly's for dinner. Murphy came along and to my surprise Jen had made me a pair of fleece pants. They are so comfortable all I want now are more of them. I'd wear them to work if I could. Of course for any of you who are into Harry Potter now that she's given "Peony" an article of clothing I've been freed as a HouseElf. I'm going to keep the name though since I've grown to like it. I guess that every now and then Peony could still go to their house and do her magic.


I made a door hanging the other day and brought it along to put on the quilting frame. This is the first time that I've used her quilting frame. It takes a little getting used to but it sure was alot faster than if I would have basted the top and then machine quilted it on my machine. It didn't take long at all and once I got the rhythme down and slowed down it went well. At the end she put on some Christmas music so that I could keep time with the music. That really did help me. Now I can't wait to do another something on the Gracie.

Here's the door hanging once it's been quilted. I have a red and white candy cane fabric that I'm going to use for the binding. Once I get home I'll sit down and get the binding on and then it's ready for the inside of my door. My first Christmas decoration that I'm putting up.

My goal for the week is every night to make a list of atleast one thing that I want to accomplish in my apartment and then get it done as soon as I get home from work. Once I sit down lately I'm history. So for tonight I'm ahead because tomorrow is garbage day so I gathered up everything and it's already outside in the garage waiting for tomorrow morning. Let's wait and see how many days I really do what I want to do. By this weekend I want to be putting up my tree. Next up are a few more table runners. Stay tuned to see how much progress I make.

A long but productive weekend

Well our long holiday weekend is coming to a close. I already feel like a little kid who just doesn't want to go back to school tomorrow. I accomplished alot but still have more to go. I was able to get the binding on the first quilt that Jen quilted for me as a Christmas present. I just love it the quilting really does set it off and as soon as I can figure out putting pictures on my blog by myself I'll post a picture. I also finished a door hanging for Christmas and had it layered up and before I could pick it up off the floor the dog got sick on it. I was mad but couldn't yell at him. All I could do is try to wash it and hope for the best. So, in the wash went the top and the batting. Then I held my breath until it went into the dryer. Wow was I amazed when it came out of the dryer. The batting held together great, it was warm and natural and the top just needs to be pressed. Tomorrow night hopefully I'll layer it up and quilt it. The binding is already made and ready to go.

I didn't get the tree up or the house straightened up but I still feel good about my weekend. Now the press is on until it's Christmas. No more slacking and taking naps on the couch. There is serious sewing to be done.

I also went out and bought my Amarillus bulb and planted it today. For those of you who read Jen's blog you know about our family competition and she also posted a challenge to anyone out there who would like to join in. It's always fun. Now we just keep our fingers crossed and wait for the bulb to start growing. Mine is going to be pink.

Turkey, sewing and shopping

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a great day. Mine was a bit different but that's OK. So now what is everyone going to be doing for the rest of the weekend? I plan on doing Christmas sewing. I have a list in my head of the things that I want to do but I was just curious about what everyone else is going to be sewing. I think we all need to stick together so that this Christmas sewing gets done and doesn't become a panic situation.

I know that Jen and Jill are well on their way with their sewing. Now it's up to the rest of us. I need some quick and easy ideas for the ladies in the office so if anyone has any I'd appreciate them. I have my Mother figured out and of course I have a couple of ideas for my daughter then that leaves the dogs and that's always easy.

I have found to that I think I'm stuck on making table runners. It's like all of a sudden all I want to do is create them so I see lots in my future.

OK let's hear from the rest of you.

Thanksgiving Eve

In my family it was always a tradition to get together and do Thanksgiving Eve. The older grandkids would go to my parents house and spend the night so they would be there bright and early to help Grandpa with the stuffing and the turkey. This went on for many many years and the tradition died along with my Dad. Last night the tradition was started up again at my brother Bob's house. He now has two young granddaughters and it was time to start again. There weren't as many of us there but a good time was had by all.

We make what they refer to as "cannon balls". What they are is a potatoe dumpling about the size of a hard ball with a piece of dried toasted bread in the middle and then they are boiled until they are done. Let me just say that in my 55 years I have never eaten more than a bite of those things they just aren't for me. Last night I helped mix and make them and then I was in charge of the boiling of them. I did this while others worked on the stuffing which is what we refer to as a secret family recipe. In all we made 45 CANNON BALLS and a huge roasting pan full of stuffing. We all sat around the kitchen table reminissing and I actually ate a cannon ball. OK it doesn't have much taste to it. A little gravy would help it out alot. If I was to make those I'd be adding a little onion maybe a little garlic just something to give them flavor other than just potatoe. Alot of fun was had and we all went home with a dish of stuffing and of course a couple of cannon balls.
While we were in the house it snowed last night. Jen and I came out and of course I had to clean off the car for the first of many times for this winter. There's something about that first snow fall when that huge snow flake goes right in your ear that makes me remember why I hate snow.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of my quilting family. Is anyone going out to shopping tomorrow??????

9 vacation days, no shaving and sex

OK now that I have your attention what do all of you think that 9 days of vacation, not shaving and sex all have in common? OK a little back ground first. My daughter and son in law and I"m not naming them to protect the innocent but you all know who they are made a deal the other day. Each year they take the week of Thanksgiving off for vacation. One usually quilts and the other does whatever. The one that does whatever has a habit of not shaving during those 9 days. It drives the quilter crazy. So, this morning on our way to our BOM she tells me how she signed a contract with the non shaving non quilter. OK so she had my interest. She said she asked what it would take for the non quilter to shave every day during the vacation. It's not like he's a hunter because around here it's very common for hunters to grow beards during hunting time. So they draw up a contract where he'll shave every day during the vacation and she'll give him sex every day. OMG I can't believe she signed that. I just had to share it with all of you because the non quilter reads the quilters blog and didn't want it out on the blog. I don't think he reads mine so there I've told all of you. Let me know what you think.

Pillows for Christmas

Last weekend I finished these pillows during our retreat. This is the simpliest pattern and it only takes 5 fat quarters and about 20 minutes. Now that they are made I'll watch for pillow forms to put in them. Then you take a long doll needle and go right through the middle and pull it in. Sew a button on the front and they are done. Quick and easy gift idea. I just might make some for myself only using brighter fabrics.

Wall Hanging from Jen

This is the wallhanging that Jen gave us each at the retreat. Of course since I'm her Mom mine has a paperpieced center and strips inbetween the blocks. All I need to do now is put some borders around it and finish it off. I totally forgot to have everyone sign it as a rememberance.

Charm Pack Table Runner

As promised here is the table runner that I made during our quilting retreat last weekend. It wasn't hard to make just time consuming. Also the pattern had me using the entire charm pack plus 4 squares from another pack and in the end I didn't even use half of the squares made. Now I'll put together another one for someone else. I even got brave and machine quilted it.

Quilt Retreat 2007

Well as all of you know from reading Jen's blog quilt retreat 2007 was a huge success. I had a blast sewing with everyone. It always seems that if you don't sew at home where there are distractions you get so much more done.

I was the first to arrive at Jen's on Saturday morning and her and I waited until Michelle and her husband got there then off to breakfast we went. Once breakfast was over back to Jen's we went to start sewing. I had a successful day. I worked on a table runner and the prep work for it is what took the longest. In the end the actual putting the runner together took no time at all. I'll post pictures later because Jen has them all in her camera. Anyway the only problem I had was the pattern is off in what it tells you to make. I have tons of half square triangles left over. Now I'll have to figure out how to put them together to make another runner. Yesterday I machine quilted it and finished off with the binding. Then I finished off one more pillow that I was making and now once I buy two pillow forms both of my good friends Christmas presents are done. I had Jen drop off my machine tonight so that I can sew during the week. Then again next weekend we'll sew with my niece and my sister Kitty again.

So a HUGE thank you to Jen for having us all over and letting us sew with her. Tons of fun was had and lots more memories were made.

I have a huge mess

Tonight I decided that it was time to rearrange my livingroom. My couch normally sits in front of the living room window during the summer. Well now it's getting cold here and it's time to move furniture around. You see my heating vent is under the livingroom window and with the couch there my heat would be blocked. Ive moved things around, vacuumed and right now I have a bigger mess than when I started. Am I the only one who that happens to? Now of course I'm tired and it's time for bed but I can't stand to see my livingroom look like this. OK 20 more minutes and then I'm off to bed. Guess I'll start again tomorrow after work.

I did it

Last night Jen and I went to our local quilt store Patched Works and took a completer class. You could bring anything you wanted and they had people there to help you out. I've always had trouble joining my binding. It has always turned out lumpy and I don't like the looks of it. So last night I took along some project linus quilts that I had the binding partially spiewn on so I could learn the right way.

I now finally got it and I can't even tell where it is I joined the two pieces together. It was also costume night there. I went as a tomato pincushion. I took a red swet shirt and put on all kinds of safety pins all over it. Then I put some thread on some of them because I aways have needles on mine with thread on them. I had a red head band and I took a piece of solid green fabric and tied it around with a bow on the top and stuck some pins in that too. Jen was a runner for breast cancer and her theme was runs with scissors. She was adorable. The shop owner Julie had the best costume of all. She made a sock monkey suit. It was fantastic. I'm just sorry I forgot to take my camera. I think Jen took pictures so I hope she posts some. Julie's Mom was the queen of pillowcases. She took Moda fabric and made herself a giant pillowcase. Now atleast I have a great idea for next year. Lots of fun was had and we got to pick a goodie bag for wearing a costume and I got 20% off of a purchase.

It's Tuesday night so that means it's movie night

Well, it's Tuesday night so again it's movie night in my world. One of my friends and I like to go to the budget movies on Tuesdays because it's only $1.00. You have to wait usually three months and then the first runs make it there which is no big deal. Tonight we saw the movie called " No Reservations" with Katherine Zetz Jones. She plays a chef in a New York restaurant. Here sister is killed on her way to visit her leaving her niece in her care. It's got great tender moments and lots of fun moments too. It's a definite must see movie either with renting it or pay per view.

Our weather here has been fantastic. It's warm and breezy out and it's the end of October. What more could a person ask for unless I could ask for the rest of the week off and be able to just sit and sew. Oh well, I can dream can't I?

Happy Halloween to all of you. Enjoy the candy while you can. OK surveya question. What is everyone's favorite Halloween candy and what is your favorite memory of Halloween?

I got to sew in Jen's new Sewing Studio

Tonight I went to Jen's house to sew and we got to set up in her new Sewing Studio. The room isn't completely done yet but it's almost there. It was really fun being in that room. Jen has her Little Gracie all set up and she put a baby quilt on it. She took her Janome table and put it in the room and my " Maggie " got to sit down in a table. Wow was that a great way to sew. Now I know for sure that I'm going to start saving and someday I'll have a table like that. I was even able to use the knee lift since for once the machine was at the right height for me. We had a great night of sewing.

I got two of my BOM's done tonight. This first one is from the new Friday night BOM that just started. It turned out really nice but now I wish I hadn't followed the layout and put it in the color order that I wanted to.

This second one is the block for August from our original BOM at Franks. It was alot of fun to make and I changed some of the colors around.
I have one more block and then I can start assembling the quilt top. Anyway getting back to quilting with Jen. She had trouble at first getting her stitching down right and there were a few choice words that I learned tonight. I also learned not to comment on anything that she says and when she comments don't answer or ask anything. In the end the quilt turned out really nice but she's glad it's done.

I left my machine over there for the night and I know that by now it's getting a good work out.

What time of day am I

I decided to take the quiz that Nancy Rose did about what time of day I am. It was only a few short questions and I'm not really sure if I totally agree with what it says I am. For those of you who know me let me know if it's close or not. OK so the main one I don't agree with is that I enjoy cooking for friends. But then again I really do enjoy that but I never get a chance to.

You Are Sunrise
You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary.You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts.All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

Murphy's Wall Hanging

As promised here is the wall hanging that I made to hang on the wall behind Murphy's food dish. It turned out really cute and I swear he eats slower because he's busy looking at it. Every now and then he just stops and wags his tail and looks at it.

Here are the Four's

Jobs I've had
1. Order Expeditor
2. Health and Safety Facilitator
3. Receptionist
4. Joann Fabrics

Movies I watch over and over
1. An American President
2. Pretty Woman
3. Father of the Bride
4. Father of the Bride 2

TV shows I watch
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. ER
4. Dancing with the Stars

Places I've Lived
1. West Allis, WI
2. Brookfield, WI
3. Bay View, WI
4. Yuma, Arizona

Favorite Foods
1. Medium rare steak
2. Mashed potatoes
3. Triple Berry Pie
4. Watermellon

Favorite Colors
1. Light blue
2. Yellow
3. Red
4. Pink

Places I'd love to be Now
1. On a cruise ship in the Carribbean
2. New Mexico
3. In a fully outfitted sewing room of my own
4. Sound asleep in my bed

Names I like but wouldn't use for my children
1. Sarah
2. Zoe
3. Sam
4. Laura

Now here are the 4 that I'm tagging

1. Kristie
2. Bethany
3. Gina
4. Hazel

PJ Day

Yesterday when I was reading the blogs I read Nancy Rose's blog and was very jealous because she declared today PJ Day. All I could think of was gee I wanted to be home too and spend the day in my jammies. But, no, I had to get up today and go to work. Well let me tell you what happened.

I got to work as usual today and there was hardly anyones cars in the parking lot. OK so maybe that wasn't too strange then I noticed that the building was completely dark. We've been on a huge money saving kick lately so this didn't seem strange to me. I mean the street lights were all on. I got up to the door and my electronic key didn't work. Hmmmmmm and my boss Bill opened the door for me with a flashlight in his hands. We had lost all power to our building. It wasn't an Electric company problem it was our problem the main feed to our building had burned up. Now for a food manufacturing facility any time without power isn't good. I knew right away this meant big trouble. We'd have all of our tanks in the plant with product in them. Some need to be kept at certain temperatures for heating and others need to be drummed off once they reach a certain temperature for cooling. I had trucks coming and going all day. So here we were and no power. The electricians were already there and maintenance had been there all night. 3rd shift had been sent home and first shift had been called and told not to come. I was given a flashlight so I could see and off to my desk I went. Manned with phone numbers and what I had going on today I spent time on my cell phone calling and cancelling things. By then it was finally getting light out so we all gathered in the cafeteria to figure out what to do next. Two 1st shifters for production came in because they weren't able to reach them. We held a meeting and all departments went over where they stood and figured out what was critical. After that it was determined the office could go home. I had a reefer truck on it's way to back into the dock and wait for product to be drummed and stored in it. We have a huge freezer but without power they didn't want to open and close that door all day. One really huge generator was already on it's way so that we'd be able to bring up part of the plant so the two guys who came in could drum off product. I felt sorry for them because they were it for the plant. Home I came and I had all intentions of either studying or sewing. Didn't happen that way. In a way I got my Jammies day. OK so I was dressed for work but I did end up on the couch and I just woke up from a lovely 5 hour nap. Thank you Nancy Rose for the great PJ day.
Tomorrow I'll do it all over again and go in and see if we have power. This could be a 24 to 48 hour venture. The good news is it's Tuesday and that means it's "movie night" at the budget theatre.

Sewing sewing sewing

I've gotton quite a few things done in the last two days. Yesterday I made Murphy's wallhanging for about his food dishes. I honestly think the little guy enjoys his new "happy wall". Then when that. was finished I made him two doggie kerchiefs. He just loves to always have one on his collar.

Tonight I've been sitting and sewing together a table runner using the "Holly Jolly" charm pack I picked up a while ago. It's going together so easy I might just stay up and put the final border on it before I go to bed. When that is finished I'll take a picture and post it. It feels good to be making smaller projects that I can get done in a day

Fun with my Iowa friends

Today was just the best of all possible days. I was up early and doing little things in my house because Michelle, her husband Louie and the Quilting Ladies from Iowa were all coming for a visit. They are just the nicest group of ladies and I feel very fortunate that they have come into my life. I was like a little kid waiting for Christmas to come. Jen came over to my house to wait and finally the phone rang and they were almost here. Jen gave them the last directions to get to my apartment and Iwent outside to stand and wait for them. Finally there they were, their HUGE van they rented was coming up my hill. After a quick pit stop and a few hugs Jen and I climbed in the "Big Bus" and off we were for lunch. We took them to our favorite spot Hawg City. It's a really nice little place and it has great food. Once we were all fed off we went for our first quilt shop stop.

This is a present Michelle gave Jen and I and it's a great cook book. I love to collect cook books even though I don't cook much. I guess everyone has their hobbies and mine is looking at cook books. I did already find a few recipies that sound yummy that I might have to give a try.


This is a picture of all of us that we had taken at our last stop. Jen and I are in the back row next to Michelle and Louie. We had Julie from Patched Works take a picture with all of us. Julie is such a sweetheart. She always makes you feel so welcome to her shop and they really went out of their way to make the shopping trip for the whole group so much fun. I would say from the smiles on everyones faces their were many soon to be new projects that went back to Iowa. Julie was sweet enough to have refreshments set up downstairs for all of us and we each received a goodie bag from the shop. In there was a piece of fabric and a pattern for a challenge square. I can't wait to get mine done and a great little quilting pin. Sorry I didn't take a picture of that but if you check out Jen's blog I know she took a picture of me with my pin on. Oh our hostess Julie is the one in the front row far right. Ever since she became the owner of the Patched Works and made it such a friendly place to shop it seems Jen and I are always there. It's so very nice to walk into a shop where everyone who works there is so super friendly. Everyone needs a place where they can go and just feel comfortable and this is our place. We do our Strip Poker Wednesday nights there too.



I know these pictures are a little out of order but forgive me I'm new to putting the pictures on my blog site.

The first shop we went to after lunch is called Bits N Pieces. It's also a great shop where we're made to feel very much at home and very welcome. Last night while sitting with Jen, Murphy and Holly I decided that Murphy needs a small wall hanging of his own. I picked up this great dog print panel to make him one. I think it's going to be ever so cute. I'm going to use the small blue dot as a border and then use the small orange dot for the binding. I'm going to hang this infront of his feeding dishes so he doesn't have to look at a plain white wall when he eats. I told him about my plans last night and for some reason I think he totally understood what I was telling him because his little tail was just wagging away. I think small seasonal wallhangings are in his future.



While at the Patched Works in the seasonal area I came upon this great little panel that instantly caught my eye. It has 6 different blocks to the panel and the gingerbread people just called out to me. This is going to be my year of small wallhanging for holidays. I bought the red that goes with it for some sashing and the green for a small border and then for the binding I got the last piece and it's candy cane fabric. The picture just doesn't do this fabric justice so I'll be sure to post a picture when I'm done. I can't wait to start this but there are a few projects ahead of it so I'd better get sewing.



While we were out I picked up this pattern for a table runner. I've had my eyes on it for a while and then I remembered that I have a jelly roll of the fabric that is uses so it's high on the project list.



Last but not least is the challenge fabric from Patched Works that I mentioned before. It's just the cutest fabric with all kinds of different shoes on it. Once we make our block we need to make sure we take a picture and send it to Julie.


I guess that about wraps up my day. I've already had a little nap. Playing with your friends sure does wear a person out. I'd like to thank all my new friends for a great Saturday. Special thanks to Mike and Kelly at Hawg City for being such gracious hosts and serving us a fantastic lunch. Next thanks go out to Marla and Karen for letting us ramble around at Bit's N Pieces. And last but definetly not least to Julie at Patched Works and all her "quilty ladies" for making us feel so welcome. I know I had a great day and I'm sure everyone else did too. It was sad to see the big blue bus leave. I hope they all had a safe trip home and that they will come back again soon for another shopping trip. Special thanks go out to Michelle and Louie for putting this all together. Love to all and happy sewing ladies with all your purchases. Please send pictures.

A new day

Today is a big day in Cindy world. Michelle and her quilty ladies are as we speak driving up here to spend the day with Jen and I. I am so excited I got up extra early to start my Saturday jobs. Last night Jen was laughing at me because I was making a list of all the things that I want to get done this weekend. My apartment needs a big straightening and cleaning for fall. There is stuff everywhere and it's driving me crazy. When you live in a small place it doesn't take much to make it look like a bomb has gone off. I started on the kitchen this morning and made great progress. Now I'm waiting until 8 so that I can start the washer and do my vacuuming. My upstairs neighbors probably can't hear the vacuum but they are such nice people that I don't want to take the chance of waking them up. Then it's time to straighten my sewing area. I figure if I come up with a master plan and take a certain amount of time each day by the end of the week I'll be finished and happier. I have to also work in some time for sewing.

Last night we started our new BOM for Fridays. This is going to be so much fun because one of my sisters who just started quilting has joined along with one of my nieces and a dear friend of Jens so it's a good group. We did a little shopping after the meeting and then a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant close to the shop for some food and of course a margaritta.

Back to my cleaning. I"m so excited because I can't wait for the group from Iowa to get here. More later after our company has to go home.

Not a good day

Everything was going along just fine last night until I woke up around 12:30 and I wasn't breathing well. Yep, my asthma had gotton to me again. With all these wild changes of weather we've had this year I've had a really rough time breathing. I do everything I'm subposed to and it still doesn't help any. By around 5 everything was getting better but I was so tired I knew I needed to sleep so I called into work that I wasn't coming in. Then I finally fell asleep and what a good sleep it was. It seems I didn't hear the phone either and Jen was looking for me. Finally around noon I woke up because I could hear someone calling my name. Jen had sent Mike over to check on me. Yep, I was alive and sleeping. Spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping too. TOnight I kept looking at my sewing machine and thinking if I had an ounce of energy I should get up and go sit and do some sewing. I have a project sitting there just waiting for me to sew it. Another nap was in order. I didn't even take a shower and get dressed today and for anyone who knows me that is unusual. I finally did sew for about half an hour and now I think it's time for bed. Darn tomorrow I have to go to work and figure out how to fix all the messes that will be on my desk waiting for me. The terrible thing is if I'm not there it all goes down hill. I'm subposed to have back ups but it just doesn't happen.
Here's to a better tomorrow for everyone. Tomorrow night starts our new BOM at Franks Sewing Center. I can't wait to get the first block to make.

Fall Table Runners

Taaa Dahhhhhh here are two more projects I completed today. I had gotton a fall charm pack a few weeks back. It was the first one that I had purchased and I wasn't really sure what to make out of it. Then I decided that it would make a great runner for on top of my entertainment center. The one for the entertainment center is 3X10 squares. Today I did the free motion quilting of it and then put the binding on it. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Once that one was together I still had 16 blocks left so I went ahead and put them together and made a small runner for the center of my kitchen table. Today I free motion quilted that and then put the binding on. In all I had a really productive day sewing. It feels so good to finish up a couple of projects.

Now it's time to get serious about Christmas sewing. I need to go through my patterns and decide what I'm making and for who. Luckily I don't have that many people in my world so it should go pretty good. What is everyone else going to be working on for the Holidays?

First Machine Quilted Quilt

Well as promised here it is. This is my first quilt that I machine quilted. This is the one that I took along last weekend to Michelle's and did on her quilting frame. I'm not great at free motion quilting as you can see if you closely but it's finished and that's what counts. Today we had a get together at one of our sewing centers, Frank's in Waukesha. Quite a few of us go there for the Friday BOM and they let us come today to sew. I really needed that after all my studying. It was just so relaxing to be able to just sit and sew with no interruptions like you have when you're home. I put the binding on this quilt first since I wanted it to be done. Back about three months ago we did a block exchange during our Friday BOM and these were the blocks that I got. Our teacher Wendy gave us a really quick and easy pattern on how to put them together with the sashing and the corner stones. It went together so quickly and I've had it sitting here waiting to be quilted. It's only a lap size quilt but it's pretty fun looking. This is the first time I've ever used pink in a quilt and I really do love it.

Boo

It's Happy Halloween month and here's a little door decoration that I made. Lots of fun to do and I got to use the button hole stitch on my machine. I should have thought and used some glow in the dark thread but there's always next year.

I need a kick in the head

I just want the world to know that if I ever say again that I'm taking a computer class that I want all of you to bring me to my senses and for those of you who live close enough to me I want a good hard kick in the head.
I have spent the last 9 hours last night until after 3AM and another 4 hours two other nights and I'm still not done with my assignments for this week. I am almost done and I'm still having problems with one area where you have a formula for a discount and now you have to take that formula that is in the IF function and turn it into a formula that uses an absolute function. Now this is all greek to me and I'm so frustrated I could scream. Well, actually I did leave out a nice little scream last night to help clear the cob webs out of my head and it didn't help.
So far this weekend it's mainly about this stupid work and I really want and need some Cindy time. OK I needed to vent and now back to work. I'm subposed to be going to Franks today to sew and I need to get this done before I go. I really think the statement that says " you can't teach and old dog new tricks" is ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

Our day in Iowa

Jen and I left my apartment around 7:20 Saturday morning headed for Michelle's in Iowa. We were headed for a fun day of sewing with our new dear friend. The internet has made such a difference in my life. A little history first so bear with me. Back in about the late 90's I was first introduced to the internet one Christmas break from my work. Jen showed me how to get on and I went right for a quilting chat room. I spent the next week late into the night chatting with ladies who had the same interest that I did. Soon we started to bond. Little did I know then that all these years later we would still be the best of friends. Little by little we started having get togethes and soon we were sharing so many events in our lives. Weddings, funerals, divorces, graduations and mile stone birthdays were just a few of the things we shared along with our love of quilting. Now fast forward many years and there's a whole new group of you out there who have become part of my family. Back to our travels. The trip went really quick and it didn't seem like it took us that long at all to get to Michelle's. OK I have to admit that in the end Jen fired me as the map reader. Down to her quilting room we went. Let me just tell all of you that Michelle has the coolest room for quilting. Well actually throughout their house you see all of her quilting touches so beautifully displayed. Jen's quilt was the first one on the frame and soon she was quilting away. I had taken a table runner along to work on but I was just fascinated watching and learning as she quilted. Once hers was done off we went for some lunch and a tour of the town. We saw all the sights and even where Michelle and her husband Louie work. We stopped off at the car show and found out they had taken a second place in the Harley that Louie had rebuilt. Back home we went and on the quilter went my quilt. Let's start out by saying that this was a dream come true to me. I've wanted to quilt on a quilter for so many years and here I was doing it. Well, I'm not that talented after all. I just don't have a rhythme. I can't stay on one "pattern" so I was all over the place trying all kinds of things and in the end, yes, I had quilted a quilt on the frame but it looked like I was on an acid trip. Oh she's done alright but I have a long way to go. If I could just get the rhythme of a pattern then look out world a new quilting monster will be born. Before long it was getting late and we had to leave. This made me sad because we had so much fun at Michelle's house. She is such a gracious hostess and our time just flew by.
We loaded everything up and out we headed. It was around 9:30 when we left and we had a long drive ahead of us but since we're both used to being up late on the weekends it wasn't bad at all. I got to be in control of the MP3 player so we sang our way home. We made a couple of quick pit stops. Once we pulled into a McDonalds for something to drink and then across the street for some gas. Gas is so much cheaper in Iowa so we took advantage of that. Then one more stop down the road because now Jen had drinken the big soda from McDonalds. I was waiting in the car and I see this young man come out and pass infront of the car and well he was dressed rather strange. He had on these old fashioned pants with suspenders, an odd shirt and he was carrying what appeared to be a small pouch like we used to keep marbles in. He got in a car and I didn't think another thing of it with the exception that I thought maybe he was part of some musical group. Jen comes out and gets in the car and before we back out we see an older man pass us and he's got these same odd pants on and these long things that go from below his knees to his shoes and she says "hey he's dressed in civil war pants". I look over and he gets in the car with the younger man and they had a large trailer behind them and it's a civil war enactment group from Wisconsin. Well for some reason at that time of night I guess you had to be there because we laughed like crazy. All rest of the way home all of a sudden she'd just say to me " he had civil war pants on:. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we were home in no time at all. We unloaded my stuff and played with the dogs a big and then Jen made me sit at the kitchen table and start drawing patterns to go over and over again so I get a rhythme for quilting. I'm hoping that someday this comes to me easier because I honestly can't wait to try another quilt.
Today I've done nothing but watch TV. Now it's time to forge for food and I have a vacation day tomorrow and some appointments tomorrow but then I can do whatever it is I want to do.
Don't forget to check out Jen and Michelle's blogs they have pictures of our day and watch Jen's movie about me.

I'm ready

I have everything packed up and I'm ready to go. I'm not taking all that much just a table runner to work on while Jen is quilting and of course my quilt. I talked to her a little while ago and they are still at the Brewers game. I'm so excited I can harly stand it. I've been talking a mile a minute and usually Murphy pays attention but I think now he's tired of hearing me talk about my upcoming trip. I already apologized to my neighbors so if he cries tomorrow they know why. Oh well, T minus 10.5 hours and we're outta here.

Iowa will never be the same again.............

Tomorrows the Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day that Jen and I go to Iowa to see Michelle and her husband Louie. I"m so excited. All I have to do tonight is make the backing for the quilt that I'm taking along to quilt and pack up my sewing things. I"m not sure what time we're leaving because Jen and Mike are at the ball game tonight. Then it's one trip to Walgreens to pick up some more insulin for Murphy and I'm ready.
I'm not sure what time we'll be home tomorrow night so if it's late I'll post how our big adventure went on Sunday. I'm definetly taking my camera along. Oh I need to buy munchies for the road too.

So, until next time all of you have a great day tomorrow and think about us........


Look out Michelle HERE WE COME...........

Nomination

I've been nominated for a MeMe award and for the life of me I can't figure out how to get the picture of it on the blog but all of you know what it looks like anyway. So I need to figure out the letters to my name. This is not going to be easy to do.

C curious

I instantaneous

N nice

D dopey

Y youthful

Then I started to think about a nickname I've gotton here so here goes that one.
P pleasant

E energetic

O ornery (at times)

N naughty

Y yappy

Now what I'm going to do is send this on to 6 people I know who are not quilters to see what they come up with.

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK

Hi ladies, I realized on my way home from work tonight it's been forever since I last posted. So here I am. It's been one very busy week. Let's see where do I start? OK so last Saturday was Murphy's 6th birthday and a fun day was had by all. Took the pups to the wag fest but no psychic because she was all booked up. That really bummed me out because I wanted to ask Murphy about his health really bad. Sometimes I look into those big brown eyes and he looks so sad it just about breaks my heart. I was on my own Saturday night and all I did was sleep so I guess I needed it. Sunday was a sewing day but darned if I can think of what I did. Monday was the beginning of Dancing with the Stars. I don't care what anyone thinks I really enjoy that show. It's a show that isn't trying to teach me anything, no one is yelling at anyone, there are no shootings and no one is using drugs. I started last season watching it with my Mom so she ended up coming by me. I have Tuesday and Wednesday shows recorded so I need to watch. Tuesday night was batik club and let me tell you the fabric and the pattern we got is so not me but I can't wait to make the wall hanging. It's very artsey and I just love it. Now all I need is time which lately I don't seem to have any of. Last night was we did some work on project linus quilts and Jen I found two of Grandma's quilt tops at my house but I need borders. Guess I'd better look around and see if I have them or if you do.
So that brings me up to tonight. Wash is already going and I want to straighten up some and if I'm lucky I'll sew something. I have to get my quilt backing made so I have a quilt to take to Michelle's house on Saturday. I'm so exciting about going for our visit. Not only do I get to spend the day with Michelle and Jen but I'm actually leaving the state of Wisconsin. I haven't been outside our state in so long, I need a vacation so I'll consider Saturday a great fall vacation. Time to run.

Back pack, lunch box and fun

So what do lunch boxes, a new back pack and a quilt show all have in common? They were all so much fun. Here I am with all of my new goodies from the quilt show.

Grandmothers Flower Garden

Tonight was a sewing night for Jen and me. We've decided to do the Eleanor Burns "Egg Money" quilt with a bunch of other bloggers as a block of the month. Here is my first block the "Grandmothers Flower Garden". This block was so much fun to do and so incredibly easy. We added batting to each piece so it gave it a really great look and then did the button hole stitch around all the pieces. Now I can't wait to do the next block.

Eleanor Burns at the quilt Expo

One of the things that I took along was a signature block for Eleanor to sign. When I turned 50 Jen made all of these blocks and we had a huge birthday party. Everyone who was there signed a block for me to remember the day. I still have blocks that I'm having people sign little by little and Jen suggested I take one along. Little did I think that she would sign it but she did.

As promised here is a picture of Eleanor Burns and me after her lecture. She talked about her newest book " The Magic Vine Quilt". Now normally I would never attempt to do something like this quilt but knowing her quick methods I bought a kit that has the book, the special ruler,and the non woven interfacing to use to make the flowers and the vine and leaves border. That was such a great day I'll never forget it.

Homework and Murphy don't mix

I've put it off long enough I needed to start my homework tonight. Finally I sat down at the computer and of course had to rearrange a few things so I had the room to put my book and still have room to type. This isn't an easy thing considering I use a lap top and I have a very small desk. Anyway, I opened the book. Talk about some dull reading. For those of you who don't know I'm taking an Excel class for work. I use Excel all day but there are four of us who decided that we'd take the class together to learn the finer points of using Excel. You have to follow the assignments step by step so you can show all of your work. Well, Murphy can't stand to see me sitting in here and he's in the livingroom. All he has done tonight is whine and whine and get in trouble. My dog loves to open kitchen cabinets and help himself to things. It got a little to quiet tonight and when I went to look he had a bottle of pancake syrup out and had gotton the top almost off. Ok that was the first scolding of the night. On to taking my purse and flinging it around the livingroom. For that he got a time out. Then he brought in a tennis shoe and threw it at me. That's when I put him outside for a little while. Now I'm giving up for tonight. I can't take the whining anymore. I mean I have an assignment due and what do I say, can't do it my dog whines??????????

What a Monday

Today was a really odd Monday. Of course as usual I didn't want to get up and go to work. I had done so much on the weekend I felt like I needed a day to relax but off I went. I wasn't at work for 15 minutes when one of the guys from the plant ran into the office yelling for me to call 911 we'd had an accident. I'm on our first response team so once I got out of him what had happened I called 911 and grabbed the first aid kit and went running. We have a large what they call "scale" room where the tankers back in and unload the yeast. There is this ladder system about 15 to 20 feet in the air that when extended it goes out over the tanker so the operator can use it as a platform for hooking up the hoses that empty the truck. Apparently water was leaking so one of our men, Ed, went up the ladder and pushed the extension part out and the next thing they knew one of the other men watched him fall to the floor below. Let me tell you when I came running through that door I had no idea what I was going to find but I was very gr eatful that two other responders were already there helping him. What I saw really shook me up. My job then was to stand outside the in the driveway to flag down the fire department. It seemed like it took forever for them to get there but in reality it was under 5 minutes. Within about 20 minutes of him falling they had him on the back board, huge neck brace on him and were transporting him to Froedert Hospitals Trauma Center. We got word a couple of hours later that he was in ICU but he was stable. Apparently when he fell he landed on his side and instantly rolled smashing the back of his head on the concrete and breaking his arm. I dont' mean to be graphic but a head wound is an awfully bloody affair. He'll be hospitalized for about 3 days but so far he's doing good.
So, my thought for the day is for everyone if you go to work please be careful and if you stay at home please be careful. Accidents occur all the time and we always think it won't happen to us.
Hugs to all

What a great day

My day is finally finished and I can say it was one fantastic day. I had such a great time at the quilt show that Jen, Maureen and I went to in Madison. It was HUGE. I've never seen so much fabric under one roof. The vendors were awesome. There was actually so much to see that at times I was overwhelmed. The highlight of my day of course was seeing Eleanor Burns from Quilt in A Day. Her 1 hour lecture was so much fun. I ended up buying her newest book. She is such a great and fun lady. Friendlier she couldn't have been. After her lecture you could go to her huge booth and she would sign autographs and take pictures. When I turned 50 Jen made a huge batch of signature quilt squares and I've been getting signatures of my friends ever since. Anyway she suggested that I take along a block today to have Eleanor sign. I was hesitatant but did it and I'm so glad that I did. I had my picture taken with her and she signed my book. More tomorrow with pictures but I just had to stop in and say that I got to meet her.
Happy quilt dreams.

Todays the big day

I'm so excited. Today is a big day for me. Jen, Maureen and I are going to the big QUILT EXPO in Madison. I've never been to a big quilt show before only the smaller local ones. And the highlight of my day is I"m going to a lecture by ELEANOR BURNS. I'm so excited, she is my favorite and she's the one I learned to quilt by. I have my digital camera, a book of Eleanors I'm hoping to get her to sign and some signature blocks just incase. I'll be back tonight once we're back home. Time to run to the magic money machine before we leave. Talk to all of you later.

My old posts are moved

Last night Jen helped me out and moved the last of my old posts. I don't have the old pictures but I can always transfer those later on. I'm going to just go ahead and make this a fresh start in my new home.

Let me tell you why we went ahead and transferred everything right away. There was a response from my other blog where I said why I was moving. It was of course posted by . "anonymous" and that person didn't like the idea that I wasn't happy at the other blog site. She proceeded to tell me all about how the owner of the blog pays for it out of her own pocket and has never asked for anything from anyone for the blog. I still don't feel that gives anyone the right to without our knowledge change our personal blogs. So, here on Google is where I'm going to stay. I'll go ahead and continuously read thte other blog sites since I've made many friends there but this is now " Blog Home" for me.

Now on to sewing since that is now said. I haven't been doing any lately. All I've been doing since last weekend is working on my yo yo garland. I have a Lazy Girl purse cut out and started the Veronica but I haven't gotton past the first step where you quilt the fabric. I have so many projects running through my head it isn't funny so I'm having a hard time focusing on anything. Do the rest of you get like that? I want to finish my purse, work on my 2 BOM squares and I need to start on Christmas and soon since it's already September. I guess I need to kick myself in the butt and get going. Keep your fingers crossed that I do some sewing soon.

Moving posts

Well, I just finished moving about 25 of my old posts with almost a hundred more to go. This takes much longer than I thought it would. I still have to learn how to move posts that already have pictures in them. This will be a long process but hopefully this new site will be the last one that I'll move to.

No sewing at all tonight but I did give it some thought if that counts at all?

Last night I started a new computer class at MATC south campus near where I work. There are 4 of us that are going to do this course. We went for orientation last night and it's a class that's called "doing it my way." What this means is we downloaded everything onto a jump drive last night and now we can work on everything at home and just print out our assignments and then drop them off for the instructor. If we have questions we can stop in on Monday nights and ask her or just email her. Grades are a whole other thing. We won't actually get grades just our work back if it needs correction and if it's OK we'll get a smiley face on it. This seems strange since in the end we do earn 1 credit for the class. Oh well we'll see how it goes. My first assignment is on September 24. Guess I'd better open the book one of these nights and get started. I'm taking beginning Excel. Now I use Excel all day at work but I'm sure there are things that I'm not sure how to do but just don't know it yet so hopefully I'll learn something.

It was time to move

I have done some thinking about where to keep my blog. I had moved to the serial quilters blog and to be honest I didn't like it there. I guess I don't like the fact that someone other than me can just go ahead and add things to my layout. Well that and the fact that it seems to be down all the time. So, here I am in my new home. I hope you'll follow me and continue on the journey that I started with Snippy Sews Sometimes.
I'll be moving all my posts over once I get a feel for how to do it. That translates down to when I can have the time for Jen to help show me what to do. Be patient and I'll be up and running soon.

Saturday's sewing

Today was the big sewing day at my Mom's apartment complex. We all had fun and there were several of us there. My Mom, Jen, Me, Maureen and my sister Kitty and her daughter Keri stopped in to watch. There were only a few ladies who stopped by to see what was going on and they were friendly. We shared the big community room with a group who comes in to play cards, they were friendly at all.

Alot got finished today. A couple of Project Linus quilt tops that my Mom did. I think her number is up to something like 10+. I finished another flannel raggy quilt for Project Linus. Kitty finished her baby quilt she's making and started to quilt it. Maureen worked on her mother in laws quilt and her and Jen worked on our BOM getting them put together. Since there was no real turn out I think next time we'll either sew here or at my sisters.

After we were finished Jen, Maureen and I grabbed a quick dinner and called it a day. Jen came over and brought Holly with her. We sewed quite a bit tonight. We made coasters, she worked on her BOM and has most of it put together and it's FANTASTIC and I finished my Halloween door hanging and made coasters. Then I started cleaning out my sewing drawers. I want to organize better and label the drawers so when I"m looking for something I can actually find it without searching. Now it's time for bed and I'm tired. Tomorrow is another sewing day and I think I"m going to do my BOM and make a Lazy Girl purse, the Veronica. Stay tuned for the next episode of Snippy Sews.

Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

COMMENTS
Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by luv2quilt
Ok, didn't any of you take a camera? Let's see some pictures!!! Glad you had a good day. Sorry your efforts didn't turn out the way you wanted, but you tried. Have a great day sewing on Sunday! Love, Michelle

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I hope to see a picture of Veronica when she is done! What fabric are you using? I hope your sewing day goes well and think of me here cleaning. :-( I could use my own Peony the House Elf but until then I guess I am my own house elf again :-( I don't like cleaning. Have fun today and know that I am wishing I could be sewing with you. Maureen http://www.myquiltblog.com/MaureenQuilts/

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Cre8tiveQuilter
HOw come you didn't mention the raggedy edged coasters? LOL

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Raggedy Edge Coasters ?? Those I would love to see ,please post a picture ,come to think of it why not raggedy edge placemats ?????

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by lori
Ok I'm not taking the blame this time ,I did sign in for the last post Honest LOL

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by cowgirl4ever
I am really looking forward to not having to play military anymore.. I love my job but the last couple weeks have been pretty frustrating.. I read about all the fun that you have sewing and want to be doing it myself.. frown... Soon though.. soon I'll have a normal job Heather

Mom and Murphy

I'm still on Mom watch and I'm getting pretty tired. So far I've been with her every day this week at some point. I don't really mind but I'm getting tired and I'm not able to do anything at home that I want to do. Tonight was picking up pills, grocery shopping and then filling her pill box for the week. Finally I left around eight and said I was tired and was going home. She's doing really good with her Project Linus quilt tops so that's good. I'm glad that it's giving her something to do but it seems as though she's obsessed with finishing them. No matter what I tell her she sews from morning till night. Now she could do that thirty years ago but she was also thirty years younger and had good eyes. I noticed tonight that she had alot of shortness of breath and that was bothering me some. Well I busted her. I found that she isn't using her inhaler like she is subposed to. After a lecture on why she needs to use it I hope that I got through to her. I really hope that when I get her age I'm not as stubborn as she is or Jen will have me put away.
Saturday is the day that Jen and I have organized at my Mom's apartment complex as a crafting day. It started because we thought using the community room for the family to sew in would be great. Well the woman who is the manager of the building wanted to charge us a $250 deposit to use the room. That's insane. So, we came up with the idea to offer a sewing or craft day for anyone who lives there. We're not sure who will come but it's worth a try. Part of the reason too is so we can get my Mom to meet more of the people in her building. We're hoping she can make some friends. One lady stopped by Mom's today to drop off a box of odds and ends for crafts that she had and hoped that someone would be able to use. I thought that was very nice of her. Keep your fingers crossed that this works out on Saturday.
Now Murphy is a totally different story. He's been feeling neglected since I've been gone so much at night lately. Everytime I tried to sew tonight he needed something. He hates to see me at my sewing machine. I've been working on a Halloween wall hanging and as soon as I sew a few embelishments on it I can take a picture and post it. This was my first attempt at machine button hole stitching.


-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

COMMENTS

Thursday, September 6, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Trina
I can't wait to see the Halloween wall hanging........that is my favorite holiday.

Friday, September 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by CountryQuilter
I hope all works out well for your mom this weekend. It sounds like so much fun. Poor little Murphy!!! You need to have a Murphy day, well maybe not if you did that he would expect it all of the time. Kristie

Friday, September 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Cre8tiveQuilter
What are we going to do about her? She needs constant entertainment latley. =( I love her dearly but like the other night, she could have called me and I could have fixed that machine on my way home from work!

Strip poker and pie

Last night was our monthly game of strip poker at our local quilt shop. It's always a great time and last night was again lots of fun. It was my Mom, Jen, Maureen, Terry, she's the owners Mom, Sherry from our monthly block of the month group, Lauralie and her granddaughter Ashley. What fun we had. I'm down a few strips but that's ok I can cut more. We started out as usual with dinner at Bakers Square and then off to the shop we went. Maureen was a sweetie and brought me a birthday present of great fabric. I have two really pretty pieces that I can make a purse with. Promise to post pictures of the fabric. Terry gave me a special roll of fabric that says happy birthday all over it., Once poker was over it was back to Bakers Square for pie. This has now become a tradition with us. I'm always in for the triple berry alamode warmed up. Ohhhh I'd love to have a piece of that right now.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

COMMENTS

Friday, September 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by luv2quilt
Gee, if it wasn't so far to commute, I would have joined you! Darn! I'm really jealous, as around here, I don't usually shop quilt shops. I would have to drive at least 35 miles to the nearest one. Julie is just so awesome and sweet. I feel so blessed to have met her, and I will be back! Michelle

Friday, September 7, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by cowgirl4ever
I wish I was closer to you ladies. It would be so much fun. But I think we'd have to also have a night where we worked on projects made from the strips.. Smiles Heather

Sunday, September 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Cre8tiveQuilter
I love strip poker!!

Quilts and other things

Tonight started out OK I had good intentions. Came home from work, tossed a load of wash in, ran the dishwasher, downloaded and printed some patterns. Jen and I were going to go to dinner and we did at I Hop and then off to WalMart. We decided to do the quilt that Kristie is doing, the Migraine one. We bought our fabrics and then home we went. All I wanted to do tonight was start on a purse that I want to make. So out came the pattern and I looked that over and was just ready to start to cut it out when I got a call from my Mom. Her machine wasn't working right. Ok back in the car and over to her house Jen and I went. After sewing a little while on it I realized thread was wrapped twice around one of the upper thread catchers and that was the problem. Fixed that and then started sewing some of her blocks to gether for her. She had gotton herself so worked up over her machine I thought it best to do a little sewing for her until she calmed herself down a little. She told us she has plans to sew until midnight tonight. Why that late I didn't ask. So, now we're home. Jen went home and I can't wait to go to bed and try all of this again tomorrow. To all of you who got to sew today, way to go.
-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)
COMMENTS


Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
You even sound tired , hope you get some rest tonight ,the sewing will wait till tomorrow .Your very good at helping your mom out but you also have to look after yourself .Don't forget to show us the purse you are making .

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by lori
Gee guess who LOL

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by CountryQuilter
I am so glad that you and Jen are going to do the Celestial Migraine. So far it has been so easy. I won't take you very long to catch up since the blocks are simple. This is great. What fabric did you guys get? Is it like mine? Kristie

Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - What a day!
Posted by born2quilt
You sound like you did alot. Way to go with the sewing. I did some hand work today but am work tonight. I wont get to touch more sewing till my next day off on Thurdsay. Stephanie
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by 51050
Lori, you make me laugh!! I did get to sew yesterday, but today I was called in to work, and after that I have corn to pick up to freeze - only a bushel this year, thankfully, and then get ready for an early start to Wis. for another aunt's funeral. She was 93 and my father's last sibling. I'll wave as we go by, Cindy. Rhoda

Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Cre8tiveQuilter
Mom, what are we going to do with her? Seriously. I mean I have no problem going over there but when she first calls at 8pm when she's sat on this problem all day. I could have stopped on my way home from work.

Thursday, September 6, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by MaureenQuilts
Cindy (aka Peony) Did you make any clothing with the strips Jen gave you? Then you would be a free house elf! LOL. Okay you are so nice to your mom to go over there so late at night. It is also nice of you to sew so that she calms down. I am also glad she was feeling better at the end of last night. She is so funny...sorry she was out of breath from the heat. Maureen