28 year old UFO is FINISHED

I probably have the oldest UFO of anyone out there. This is the very first quilt that I ever made. 28 years ago I took a quilting class at Lee Wards, now Michaels on quilting. I had no idea what I was getting into but my Mom and I were going to take this together. We met for twelve weeks once a week and made our blocks. These were made back in the day when you made templates for cutting out your pieces. Then each block was layered and I hand quilted each one as I went along. This is where my dislike for hand quilting came from. The way it was constructed was odd since we put borders on some of the sides and not the others. They were to be added later. OK so advance 28 years and enough was enough. I was never going to add the other borders so I decided to cut off the borders that were on the quilt and simply bind it and call it done. I tossed it in the wash first and it came out great with the exception of the quilting thread on the back of some of the blocks where the color bled. Some of the blocks were done in a burgondy quilting thread and on the back since it's all white there is a little discoloration along the quilting. Who cares it's finally finished and for a while it's going to take the place of honor on one of my quilting racks.

Christmas is over

The Christmas season is over and again we all survived it. I had a great Christmas Eve spent with my two best friends. We started this tradition the first year that I was alone and have done it most of the years since. We get together and have dinner, exchange gifts and in general have a great time together. This year was no different. I had made my two friends each what is called a Stitch N Chicks bag. Both were loved and that always makes me feel good. We even sat for a couple of hours and played Yahtzee which I hadn't done in probably 30 years.

Christmas Day was spent with my daughter, Jen. My girl is so good to me. For Christmas this year she took some of my quilt tops I had made and quilted them for me. Then all I had to do was put the binding on them. I had decided to give my Mom the BOM quilt that I had been working on and Jen kindly quilted that one for me too. She brought it along on Christmas and I put the binding on so I could give it to my Mom. Needless to say Mom loved her new quilt. Jen had made Grandma a wallhanging and a table runner that she also loved. We ended up tracking her down at my sisters and spent an enjoyable afternoon with her family. I just love Christmas's that aren't stressful and this was one of them.

Mad rush is over with for now

I just wanted to take a minute or two to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanaka, Happy Kwanza or whatever it is that you celebrate oh and I can't forget Happy Festivus.

Things here aren't done but that's OK I'm not stressing over them. I'll just finish the gifts after Christmas.

10 year old UFO is finally done

Ten years ago I went to my first quilt retreat. This was with a great bunch of ladies that I had met on line and they were getting together for one week to sew. I could only take a long weekend but I went. We were told there would be a mystery quilt if we wanted to make it and how much fabric to buy. I'd never done one before so didn't know what to expect. We were also only to buy 4 fabrics that went together. I gathered up everything and off I went. I had a great time. We laughed and talked more than we actually sewed. In the end this is what my mystery quilt turned out to be. I hated it. I have no idea what the pattern was called and if I had known what it was going to look like I would have chosen different fabrics.
All of these years it sat as a finished top in my sewing cabinet. Every now and then I'd pull it out and look at it and say to Jen how much I hated it. I think a couple of times I tried to toss it out and she kept putting it back. So, this year for Christmas she is quilting a bunch of my UFO's for me. Three things came back to me last night and this is the first one. After 10 years I still had one of the fabrics so I could use it for a binding. Today I put on the binding and I absolutely love it now. When I first gave it to her to quilt I told her dog Holly that it would be her quilt. Now, no way I'll make Holly a different quilt. Would I do a mystery quilt again, NO. If I'm going to put the time and money into a quilt I want to know what it's going to look like before I start it. I think it is going to be used as a table quilt for my dining room table.

So far I think I'm the winner ! ! ! ! ! !

In my family we have a yearly Amarillis growing competition this time of year. This started a few years back and it was a ton of fun. You've all probably seen the bulbs in the stores at this time of year. Around here you can usually pick up a bulb, dirt and a pot for around $4.99. So on a set date whoever wants to enter plants their bulbs and then we wait to see whose flowers open first, how many flowers you get and how tall your plant is. This year the set date to plant was Nov.22. I picked up my bulb at our Target and spent a little more this year because I wanted the heavy ceramic pot. I spent $9.99 instead of the $4.99 thinking then next year I can buy the cheaper one because I'll have the better pot. I waited for the day to come and planted my bulb. I watered my plant only to see that my pot was cracked in a couple of places and it leaked like a sieve. So much for the ceramic pot.

It grew like wild. Last night I took it's picture and posted it for the family to see. Mine is 23.5 inches tall and I have 4 big flowers on it. It's white with pink running through it. This is much better than last years that had great greenery but not a single flower. I haven't seen pictures of anyone elses yet. It's a fun thing to do with family and friends, think about giving it a try next year.

The weather outside is frightful

I don't understand how we could go from warm breezes and melting snow yesterday to barley above 0 today. It is so cold out there it hurts to be out. When I went to bed lastnight it had to be near 40. Sure it had rained most of the day but the snow was melting. I saw patches of grass again. Then it happened, I went to sleep and everything changed. I got up at 5 to let Murphy out and what a shock when I opened the door, Cold and wind hit me. The only good thing was we didn't get any snow out of it. First my apartment was so warm over the weekend and tonight no matter what I do I can't warm it up any.

After work tonight I had a haircut appointment and the woman who cuts my hair told me to bring Murphy along. I wasn't going to take him because it was so cold oute but I really think dogs remember what you tell them because before I left for work this morning I told him after I got home and he ate his dinner we were going for a hair cut. There was no getting out of the house without him. The car heated up quick and I had a blanket on the back seat for him. So off the two of us went. He usually knows where he is going but this really confused him. Then when we got out of the car and went inside he was so excited. He was so good while we were there. Of course he laid right on the mat by the chair and Kathy kept having to step over him but a good time was had by all. There were two little children there and all he wanted to do was be pet by them. He even got hugs when it was time for them to leave. Fun was had by all and it helped lift up his spirits.

I've done a little sewing tonight and now I discovered I did some things wrong so it's rip rip rip. To be continued tomorrow night. Once my project is done I can show a picture or two. Time to go and curl up with a few good quilts and drift off to sleep.

Asthma, Bah Humbug

Well I've been down and out due to my asthma since Tuesday. I had two unreal attacks between Tuesday and Wednesday. I've been doing nothing but sleeping moving from my bed to the couch trying to build my strength back up again. In the process of the second attack I pulled some muscles in my lower back from all the hard coughing. A while back I had gone to the DR for a back problem and got some muscle relaxers and pain killers and didn't use that many of them. Today or actually last night I started taking them faithfully Since I'm taking them that means I'm not doing much and still not back to work. This is a bummer because I hate to let others down. I thought I'd try a little sewing today but enough is enough. Besides I don't think it's such a great idea to sew with those drugs in me who knows what I'll produce. Christmas is getting closer and I'm so far behind I don't know if I'll make it or not.

Someone I know is having a birthday

Someone very special to me is having a birthday today. If you guessed Jen my daughter you're right. Why not hop on over to her blog and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. www.cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com

Christmas is close

I had one of those moments tonight when all of a sudden I was in a panick because Christmas is really really close. The moment passed and I got down to business. First off it was time to rearrange the furniture in the livingroom. That's done and Idug out a few more Christmas decorations. Tomorrow night I think I'll see about adding another string of lights to my little tree and then maybe some ornaments and of course my yo yo garland if it's easy to find.

Now it's time to clean up the mess that I made trying to straighten up things. That always seems to happen.

Hopefully sewing can be next on my agenda. My thought to myself is what gets done gets done and I'm not going to go crazy over undone projects.

Murphy Update

Most of you who have read my blog on a regular basis know that my fur child is Murphy. Murphy was diagnosed as a diabetic almost two years ago and this has been quite a learning experience. Once we got him initially stabalized things have gone along smoothly. OK until this past Sunday. All was well early in the morning and then all of a sudden he wobbled and down he went. I reacted very quickly and called the ER clinic. I told them his history and they told me to bring him in ASAP. Next call was to Jen and Mike for help. They came a running and we got him up and in the car thanks to Mike and then Jen and I took him to the ER. Let me just talk a little about the pet ER. What a fantastic place. There are times when I wish I had doctors who were as nice as the ones for our pets. The girls came out with the guerney and got him out of the car for us and in he went. Jen and I had to wait in the waiting room for a little while but they kept us updated. His glucose level was down to 38. That is dangerously low. I'm just greatful that I was home and able to take him in right away or I don't think I'd still have my fur child with me. They decided that they needed to keep him to monitor him and they would keep me informed. They did everything they said they would and then more. I got a phone call from the vet every couple of hours with his updates. It was then decided that they would keep him overnight to monitor him more. Everyone knows that Murphy suffers from severe seperation anxiety so this wasn't going to be an easy thing. Later we found out they sedated him so he wouldn't hurt himself and so that he'd be able to get some rest. I sure wish I was sedated I was worried sick about him and didn't sleep at all that night. By 5 the next morning I was on the phone with them for an update. He was doing much better and they had removed the glucose IV around midnight and he has slept. Oh sure he got some sleep. Later while I was getting ready for work the vet called me with her update. He was stable and ready to be discharged. Being that it was the first day back to work after the holiday I had to go to work or loose two days holiday pay. I hate that it always comes down to money in this world. It was a very long day at work until I could leave and pick up Jen so she could go with me. He was so happy to be home but was really mad at me. He has since forgiven me and we've made up. My next problem was he didn't want to eat and that for a diabetic isn't good. So today I took off of work early and took him to his own vet. I'm happy to anounce that this is just a little glitch in life and all is well. His glucose is now at 58 and we're going to experiment with food and insulin. This dog already can't make a move without me knowing it and now I'll have him under a microscope.

I just want to thank my daughter Jen and my son in law Mike for all of their help and support. They were going to host a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday for friends and they called it off because of him. I spent most of the day with them cuddling with my granddogter Holly. It didn't dawn on me until the next day that Sunday was the anniversary of the day we had to put our special Sherman down. No wonder my daughter was so weepy. I think Sherman was definetly watching over Murphy, Thanks Sherman.

Murphy and I want to send out our thanks to all of you who care.