Thursday, March 29, 2012

I have a word addiction

Pardon my absence.  My son has gotten me addicted to Words with Friends.  I will resume my quilting blog in the very near future as my eyeballs feel rather strained from looking at all those scrabble tiles....

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Walk this way

Did a lot of walking today for exercise.  Walked on both my breaks then again when I got home with the dog.  I figure it was a total of three and a half miles at least.  That's not too shabby.  Ivy loved the walk and it certainly mellows her out for a few hours!

Made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce right when I got home.  That won't make Ev mad.

Uncle Ray called and wants to go out to eat tomorrow.  Will do that right after work.

Hoping to get a good night's sleep after all that fresh air.  I didn't sleep well last night.

Monday, March 26, 2012

My 15 minutes of fame

Or to be more accurate, my 15 minutes of pressing block pieces...  That's all I did tonight when I got home.  At least all I did regarding sewing. 

The chicken and rice dishes turned out yummy.

I got almost half of the pieces pressed.  Just wasn't in the mood.  And that's okay.  Hey, 15 minutes for a Monday is pretty good, especially after the day I had at work!

Monday workday really a doosie...

Today at work was quite a trial.  I've worked at my present job for 11 years.  In that time, and in working with the public all day long, sometimes as many as 220 people in person in one day and who knows how many phone calls in a day, I have only once hung up the phone on a customer.  Today was the second time.  Before I had been at work for an hour this morning, a customer proceeded to cuss at me.  That set the tone for it all.  It just went downhill from there, no matter how much I kept telling myself "Okay, I've gotten through the worst of it, it's got to get better".  I'm just glad it's behind me now.

I sat and watched Frozen Planet and trimmed the blocks for Star Struck.  Tonight I would like to put the pieces together into blocks.  They need to be pressed first, so if that's all I get finished, that will be okay, too.

My dinner is just about finished.  In the crock pot this morning, I put 2 1/2 lbs frozen chicken breasts, 1 block lo fat cream cheese, 1 can drained and rinsed black beans, 1 can drained corn, one can Rotel tomatoes, and half a package of dry taco seasoning.  This is not my original recipe, my friend Barb got it off Pinterest.  Put crock pot on low and cook for 6-7 hours.  I set my crock pot for 6 hours because it will stay on warm for a few hours before I get home to tend to it.  Going to serve it over rice.  Yum!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Chain piecing

Been working on the Star Struck pieces a little bit at a time all day.  I have the corner squares all sewn on the two patch pieces.  Now I am going to sit here and trim them up while watching Frozen Planet!

What makes people think...

What makes the repair people think it's okay to put their stickers on my property?  I've noticed it before with computers (years ago, before Nick could fix them!), on the furnace, and with our piano.  The piano was inside and the computer was on the back.  Those didn't bother me.  A while back I took my Kenmore sewing machine to a repair person (who didn't really repair it, if you all remember correctly).  I may have crabbed about this issue then, but it just burns me up.  I brought that machine down to the kitchen yesterday and noticed, again, where the repair people had put a sticker right in the front of the machine, by the light switch.  I had taken the sticker off when I got the machine home, thoroughly disgusted at the time, but there was some residual writing on my machine from it.  Now, I'm not going to tell you that machine is in pristine condition, but the wear and tear on it was from me, not some stranger who thought they could fix sewing machines.  I've tried to get the markings off, but it was like they wrote on the sticker while it was on my machine and they are etched into the bed.

I won't be going back to this repair person, mainly because at the time I was disappointed in them, and I did  tell them that.  But I just didn't need a reminded every time I use the machine about their shoddy work.  I am going to get one of those 'Magic Eraser's" from the store today and see if I can gently get rid of the marks.

Did a lot of cutting and pressing yesterday.  I cut the pieces for Bonnie Hunter's Star Struck pattern.  I'm changing it up a bit, so I hope it turns out okay.  I am making a small top from scraps from the 36 patch quilt.  I'm trying to use all blues to make it a quilt for a baby boy.  Didn't have quite enough blue scraps left, so I threw a few zingers in there.  I think it will turn out okay.

Friday, March 23, 2012

I took the plunge and the check is in the mail!

I have been wanting a Singer Featherweight machine for some time now.  Not quite as long as I have been wanting a Nolting 24" Pro Longarm, but for a while anyway.  For a few months I have bid on different machines on Ebay without much enthusiasm, as the prices get driven pretty high, or I run into shady sellers, etc.

There is a Yahoo group called SewItsForSale that I belong to.  A gal on there had a Featherweight for sale, and after viewing the pictures she sent, I agreed to purchase the machine.  I have mailed my check to her, and now I (not so) patiently await the arrival of the machine.

So, while it sets me back a few bucks, money that I should be putting away toward the purchase of the Nolting, I think it will be money well spent.  And considering the difference in cost between the two machines is quite significant, I don't think this purchase will put me back too far!

I looked up the serial number on the Singer website, and my new baby-to-be was new in 1939.  So. Cool.  And it has the scroll plate on it with the ornate etchings, which is one of the features I wanted.  I would have settled for one with the other plate, but this is what I really wanted.  The seller has agreed to send along some of the feet for the machine, including the seam guide, which I desperately wanted.

My main purpose for this machine will be piecing.  I'm also going to try to free motion quilt on it, as I saw on another group.  Oh, I can't wait to get it!  Woohoo!

T.G.I.F.

I am so ready for this weekend to begin!  Don't really have much in the way of plans.  The guys may be going out of town for a day.  If so, I plan to sew as much as I can.  I was considering going over to Arthur, but my favorite shop has not reopened in it's new location yet, so I'll hold off on my trip until they do.  Yeah, like I need to go there and get more material...I migh run out, you know!  haha.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Plodding along

I'm so ready for Friday afternoon.  This week at work has seemed really long.  I didn't sew again tonight.  My friend came over and we watched a couple episodes I had taped of Sons of Anarchy's most recent season.  It is so strange that I like that show.

Made chicken tacos for Ev for supper.  I just nibbled and had a bowl of cereal.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sleep is good

Last night I slept for 10 hours...  I am not sick or depressed.  I was just tired.  My body just needed to recharge.  So I slept 10 hours and woke up feeling great.

Didn't do any sewing last night or tonight. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Chicken, chicken, who's got the chicken?

I do, I do!  This morning before I left for work I put a bag of frozen chickn breasts in the crock pot with just some season salt and garlic on them.  When I get home I will either make chicken tacos or chicken alfredo for dinner.  Probably keep enough out for one other meal and freeze the rest of the cooked meat.

Been thinking about that star struck block and how I'd like to make a baby quilt out of that pattern, maybe.  If I could just use one color scheme, I think it would be pretty.  I am a little stumped on what to use for the corner pieces.  If it were going to be a scrappy version I was considering black and white (it needs one light and one dark).  Now, if it turns out I make one in all pinks or all blues, what should the corner pieces be?  I can always go with white for the light color but do I just choose the darkest blue or pink for the other one?  Decisions, decisions....

Monday, March 19, 2012

Star Struck Block

I really like Bonnie Hunter's Star Struck quilt pattern, so tonight I was messing around in the sewing room and put together one of the blocks.  I like the way it came together.  Thinking this might be my next project.  Not committing to anything yet, though.

My two friends that are going to be grandma's soon should know if the babies are boys are girls in the beginning of April.  Both the mama's are having ultrasound's then.  After I know what the gal's are having, I can plan a couple baby quilts.  August is when both girls are due and it will be here before we know it!

Grilled some thin pork chops tonight for Ev.  Nick had a couple veggie burgers.  He loves that new grill as much as I do!  If I get to Wal Mart tomorrow I'll pick up some more veggie burgers and hot dogs for him.

Joshua James | Coal War

Joshua James | Coal War

Has anyone heard this artist?  I heard Coal War on Son's of Anarchy's first episode last season and really liked the song.  I'm trying to find more of his music like this song.  Some of the music seems dark and rather depressed and the pictures of the artist make me want to sit him down and feed him.  Looks like he needs a month of home cooked meals.  Of course, anyone that knows what my hubby looks like will know that I'm rather biased toward thin fellows!  I always said that if Mammy would have met Everett she would have set her mind to putting some meat on his bones.

Anyway, I'd be real curious to know what prompted the song lyrics and what the song means to him.

Nick, being the musician in the family, finally enlightened me to what an 'indie' band is.  I feel pretty foolish, because it's really rather simple - it means independent, and not a reference to a country or culture...  duh.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Pictures!

As promised, here are the pictures of the tee shirt quilt I put together and quilted for a coworker.  There are 16 shirt fronts, each measuring 16" square.  Two of the shirts needed a little extra and, as you can see, I added spacers.  The shirts are backed with a lightweight interfacing.

 This is the back of the quilt.  It was a grey material from my stash.  The piece I had was not quite long enough, so I had to add about 5" at the bottom.  It blended nicely.  In the bottom corner is a label, and the quilt is bound with bright orange.
 Here is a close up of the quilting on the front.  I used grey thread, quite a bit of it, actually, and did a loopy meander.  The grey blended well with most of the pieces and didn't interfere with the logos or designs on the shirt fronts.
 Not the best picture, but the label says "To Shane Love Mom".  My coworker is the mom in this case.  Nice gal.
 There was one extra shirt front.  I turned it into a pillow case for a throw pillow.  I made an enclosed seam for it so there were no raw edges to unravel.
The back was two pieces sewn together on three sides, forming a pocket where the pillow form can be inserted.  The pocket overlaps a few inches.  I never realized how fat my hands are.  Ugh.

Anyway, it's done and will be delivered this week.  On to the next project!

Quilting is done on tee shirt quilt

I finished the quilting last night on the tee shirt quilt.  It was around 9:30 when I got done, and I didn't trust myself to trim it up because I was tired!  So, today I will trim it and hopefully get it bound and labelled.  Even if I don't, I feel like I'm in the home stretch now and should be able to have it completed very soon.  I talked to my coworker about the binding and she agreed on the orange.  I will take a picture of it when it's done.

Last night, late, we had more thunderstorms move through.  It was around 1 in the morning and was raining really hard and thundering and lightening again.  It even hailed again.  This has been one stormy March so far!

The reward for enduring that thunderstorm is that this morning is absolutely gorgeous!  The sun is out, the birds are singing, and there is a cool and comfortable breeze blowing fresh Spring air through the windows!  I love it.  So do the cat and dog!  Shadow cat just rotates from sitting in one window to the next!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Making progress

I have the tee shirt quilt just about all the way quilted.  I have 13 of the 16 blocks quilted in and it will be a short job to finish up the last 3.  Then I can label it and bind it and be DONE! 

I had to try out the new gas grill tonight.  It's small, but it got the job done.  I grilled zucchini and veggie burgers for Nick, then put garlic bread and chicken wings on the grill.  We also had corn on the cob in the microwave and some baked beans (just from a can).  It was a pretty good meal.

It has been raining most of the afternoon, but I was bound and determined we were going to have grilled food, so I pulled the grill close to the back door and put a folding stool there for me to sit on!  The eaves and awning kept me reasonably dry.  I was, however, pretty smoky smelling by the time I was done.  I just now got out of the shower, and intend to do some more quilting before the night is out.  I just couldn't stand the smoky smell for too long and didn't want to get any bbq on the quilt!  haha.

The thunderstorm we had wasn't the worse of the bunch, seeing as we have had storms for a few days in a row now.  However, there was this one strike of lightening that was just amazing.  I was sitting in the front room with the door open and saw this long strike of lightening, but rather than just immediately disappear, it disintegrated, like a Fourth of July firework.  It was really pretty, actually. 

Happy National Quilting Day!

I'm actually quilting today, too!  I started quilting the tee shirt quilt and it's coming along nicely.  I'm pleased.  I hope my coworker will be pleased with it as well.  Haven't decided on what I'll use to bind it, but I'm actually considering orange, if you can believe that!  There are a few shirts in it that are orange and I thought it would give it some pop.  Have to check the stash to see what I have.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Pin basting and bobbin winding

I pin basted the tee shirt quilt tonight.  Also wound several bobbins with grey thread to quilt it with.  It's all ready to be machine quilted.  I'm going to do a wide meandering loop, I think.  It should be enough to hold it together, but not so much that it will distract from the shirts.

Cleaned my stove tonight.  It was really grubby.  I can't get the burners perfectly clean, but it's a hundred times better than it was!  I am not a very good housekeeper...  sigh.

Day three of stormy weather

It started Wednesday night with the hail, then last night with more rain, and this morning thunderstorms.  Now we have blue skies and sunshine!  I'll take it!

I took Miss Ivy for a walk last night and might just do that again tonight.

What I want to get accomplished is pin basting that tee shirt quilt.  I am a bit apprehensive about the actual quilting on it.  I'm not sure how that knit material is going to react to being quilted.  I guess we shall see!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Simple

I consider myself a fairly simple person.  I enjoy simple things.  The fresh smell of the air after a Spring rain is one of them.  Tonight I took Ivy for a walk and just made it home before it started to rain, again.  There was a thunderstorm warning (thanks to my new weather radio, I was up to speed on this) that was issued right when I walked in the door.  Glad to be home.

I sewed the backing for the tee shirt quilt together tonight.  My coworker informed me she is going to visit her son, who this quilt is for, over Easter.  I'm shooting to have it completed before then. 

Saturday is National Quilt Day.  I was thinking of heading to my favorite shop in Arthur, but when I called their place today I found out they were in the middle of changing locations.  Will have to keep up to speed on that and go out there when they get in their new place.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Hail!

We had a thunderstorm with large hail tonight.  And yes, that is a dressmaker's tape measure I used to measure the hail.  Will have to wait until morning to see if there's much damage or not to my car.  I don't think so.  At least, I hope not!  Dings wouldn't really bother me, but cracked glass would.  Should be okay, though from what I could see yet tonight.

I said DUCKS

Oh, I can't stop laughing... 

I am planning a trip with my husband in May.  One of the places we are considering staying at is a famous hotel.  This hotel has a unique little thing about it where these ducks parade through the lobby each day to get to a fountain.  It's an expensive hotel, at least in my little world, and I wanted to get a low rate if possible. 

I got online with one of these services that finds lower rates.  It would not tell me the name of the hotel, so I got on their chat forum.  Here is what I said:  "I know you can't tell me the name of the hotel, but if you can see the name of the hotel, do you know if it has anything to do with ducks?"

Now, I understand that the letter "S" and the letter "D" are close to each other on the keyboard.  What the representative typed back about made me fall out of my chair.  She typed:  Once you book, you will be able to call the hotel and ask about the availability of (okay, you fill in the blank with what she typed - rhymes with ducks, but different first letter!  thankfully it was an S and not what is on the other side of the D on the keyboard!).

I could not type fast enough!  I typed back, "I said DUCKS!  There is a hotel that is famous for its DUCKS.  They walk through the lobby.  It's very clean and family oriented.  I am not a pervert!"

Now, I'm laughing so hard, because the gal didn't type anything back, and I just ended the chat session shaking my head. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Back on track

Took until late morning, but I finally got to feeling back to my old self.  It's such a beautiful day outside today.  77 degrees - in March!  Took a walk on break and enjoyed the sunshine at lunchtime.

Want to get more done on that tee shirt quilt tonight.  Now I'm getting antsy to get it done and out of there.  I have other projects I want to work on!  And I have been in the mood to get rid of stuff.  I emailed a friend to see if she wanted some of my cast off fabrics.  If she doesn't, it's all going to the thrift shop.  I just have to stay out of there, so I don't end up buying the fabric I donated!  haha.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Ivy's new spot

Ivy, all 58 pounds of her, found her new favorite spot today.  It was such a beautiful day, I had the window open (sorry for the back light in the pic, but it was just a sunny day!).  Ivy took advantage of the position of the love seat and sat there looking at the world beyond the front porch.  I'm guessing she was thinking "How can I get out to all those birds and squirrels and will Mom notice?"  haha.

I was upstairs working on that tee shirt quilt for a while today.  I have the top all put together and pressed.  I found a piece of material for the back that I cut into sections to make big enough for the back.  I need to sew them together, then pin baste and quilt!

Just didn't feel like doing much today, though.  My head hurt this morning and I just haven't felt much like myself.  Maybe it's being back on this diet, I don't know.  Maybe I'm just hitting that magic age...scary...  sigh.  Time will tell.

Last week I set the goal of getting the top together, and even though it was not finished until today, I'm going to set the goal this week to get the tee shirt quilt pin basted.  Step by step, that's how it goes.

Playing Hooky

I stayed home from work today.  Woke up with a splitting headache and really thought it was a good idea not to be around a lot of people! 

Started putting the squares together for the tee shirt quilt yesterday.  It's slow going because of the material and the thickness.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Wash day

Oh I have sooo much laundry.  Started early this morning and will be doing it all day from the looks of the laundry room floor.  Sigh.  Glad those days of running to the laundromat are long behind me!

Johanna came last night and spent the night.  She is going to spend the day here today.  We will probably go to breakfast when everyone decides to get up.  Hopefully I will get some time to go upstairs.  Didn't sew much this week.

Starting to plan our anniversary vacation.  We are thinking about Nashville and Memphis, TN.  Any suggestions?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Organization

Sigh.  Well, I didn't sew but I did spend forty minutes in the sewing room doing some organizing.  I put all my scraps into their new home.  Then I took those old milk crates and used four of them to organize some books and games that were overflowing on one surface.  The others are in the process of being filled with other miscellaneous stuff and will be tucked away in a corner.  The room is looking neater.

m.o.t.i.v.a.t.i.o.n.

Kinda been lacking in that department the last couple of nights.  After work, all I have wanted to do is plop on the couch and then go to bed early.  I did start back on my diet, so that has been stressful, even though it shouldn't be. 

Ev called me before he left for work and said they were having a dinner at work so I could have the night off from cooking!  He's so thoughtful...haha.  Hey, works for me!  So, since I don't have to cook tonight for him, there really isn't any excuse not to get upstairs and at least sew for a few minutes.  What I plan on cooking for myself isn't going to require much effort.

I purchased two - three drawer units at Wal Mart today.  The three drawer units I use upstairs for my fabric storage have the drawers in them that pull out with the long side.  These units I bought today are probably not as large, and have the drawer pull out on the short side.  I don't know if that makes any sense, but I'll put a picture up soon.  Anyway, the reason I bought them was to organize my scraps better.  Right now I have been sorting my scraps by color into old milk crate containers.  They worked okay, but weren't the greatest.  Small scraps escaped, plus they were so clunky to move around.  And I always seemed to snag my toe on them, which was not pleasant.  If nothing else gets done tonight in the sewing room, at least I will try to get those drawers filled and the milk crates out of there.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Completed baby quilt



Here are a few pics of the baby quilt I gave my friend's new grandbaby at the shower Sunday.  I thought that pink material with the little ducks was really cute.  I used it on the back and on the front.  This was a mystery on one of the groups I belong to.  The pale color is actually a mottled very light green.  I like to think that those little ducks are walking in the green grass, eating flowers from the purple area, and enjoying the bright yellow sunshine!  hee hee hee.

The quilting was just a meandering loopy loop, pretty close together.  It made the quilt a little stiffer than if I had quilted it farther apart, but it will soften up after a couple washes.

It was a good thing that she had the shower last Sunday because yesterday she had the baby!  Little baby girl, weighing 5 lbs, 14 oz!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Trying another tactic

I'm going to try and lose weight again on the old Weight Watcher's points system.  I never could get the hang of the new system.  I think it gave me too much freedom!  I ate my weight in fruit...  haha.  Wish me luck.  I have to lose weight for my health.  I know I'll feel better when I do.

Didn't do any sewing tonight.  Just came home and did some cooking for tonight and tomorrow.  Got on the bike for 20 minutes.  That was about it.  Monday's are my 'come home and flop on the couch' nights anyway.  Will get upstairs soon, no doubt about that!

The snow was all melted by 9 a.m. today.  And, if you can believe this, tomorrow it's supposed to get to 70!  But it's going to be pretty windy, they are predicting.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

It snowed!

This is the strangest weather we have had in so long.  Today it snowed!  The ground is covered (the grass, anyway) and it looks so pretty!  It's just so odd that we had tornado watches a few days ago and snow today.  Weird weather for sure.

And I know I'm beating it into the ground, but I sure do feel better having that weather radio!  I got it programmed for our area to alert us when there is a tornado warning and severe storm warning.  I also have the alarm set for the clock radio part and put my old clock radio away for a much needed rest.

To help those in blogland to understand my fear of storms, I probably should mention that when our daughter was less than a year old and I was pregnant with my son we experienced a tornado.  We had a basement, but you had to go outside to get into it.  My husband wasn't home from work yet, so it was just me and the kids.  I remember saying a LOT of Hail Mary's, and watching the rain blowing sideways in circles.  We weathered the storm but there were dozens of people killed and the apartment complex where we had lived when we were first married was severely damaged.  So that's why I have a fear/respect for storms. 

I went to the baby shower today and gave the mom to be the quilt.  I have pics of it, just haven't uploaded them from the camera yet.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

A good day

Had a good day despite the change in plans.  I finished up the binding on the baby quilt for the shower tomorrow.  That didn't take too long.

I started cutting the pieces of the tee shirts for the quilt into uniform squares.  There are 16 pieces, so the quilt will be four by four.  14 of the pieces were large enough to cut into 17" squares, but two were about an inch and a half shy on the sides.  I talked to the gal who the quilt is being made for, and she agreed with me that I would just piece some extra material on those two squares.  I didn't intend to get them all squared up today, but I did!  I just need to add the extra pieces to those two squares, then arrange them in a nice way.  I may be able to get that top put together tomorrow if I'm lucky!

There was quite a bit of yardage of this black material from that bunch of material I just got.  I'll be using it to back this quilt, I think.  Now all I need to do is figure out how to machine quilt it...  I am a little concerned about doing it because it's knit material, but I will just do my best and go slow until I get a feel for it.

Went to my friend's party tonight.  Had a good time.  Would have been more fun if Ev could have gone, but work is work.  It was funny because I left there at 9 p.m. and drove past the plant on my way home.  There were quite a few cars and trucks (mostly trucks - almost all the guys that work there seem to drive trucks) leaving the parking lot.  I thought to myself that they must have been let go early, since they usually work until eleven.  When I got home, I went in the front door and Ivy comes bounding to meet me and Ev was walking in the back door!  He just got home and parked in back.

My weather radio came today.  I have it all programmed and set up on my nightstand.  It's also a clock radio, so I've got that working too.  I feel safer having it, especially after all the terrible storms that have been hitting lately.

Point to ponder

Does it mean anything that when I read the 'goal' of someone on a chat board is to use up two 2000 yard cones of thread I think "Oh, no problem...I could finish those up easily!"  Just thinking aloud this morning.

Our plans to go to Missouri have been delayed.  Everett came home from work last night and said they have to go in today.  Usually, they post that by Thursday (actually a union rule, they are supposed to post it by Thursday if they have to work on Saturday), but this was a surprise.  That's okay because we can go another time.  I'm sorry he will miss my friend's birthday party tonight at the bowling alley.  She turned 50 yesterday.

Friday, March 2, 2012

So close

I am very close to having the baby quilt done.  I have the quilting all finished and sewed the binding to the back of the quilt.  I have stitched down on top one side of the binding.  I just was too tired to keep going to finish up those other three sides!  They won't take me long and I'll get them done first thing in the morning tomorrow.  I just wanted to have it finished tonight so I could feel like it was done a little tiny bit in advance, rather than the day before!  haha.

I've got all those tee shirt pieces to cut and sew together for my coworker.  She wants that quilt for her son.  I think it will be a nice gift.  Want to at least get started cutting them tomorrow.  Won't have a lot of time to work on it, but at least want to start.  Ev and I are thinking of going out to Fenton, MO to a place that sells nothing but boots.  He has to get a pair for riding and should really look at some work boots, although he has his mind set that he's going to get them from the boot truck that comes to work.

There was more horrible weather today in our part of the country.  Luckily we were spared again.  There have been something like 80 tornadoes in the last couple days.  That's just awful.  I hope that weather radio I ordered gets here really quick.

Ivy had to go to the vet today for her yearly rabies and other shots.  The vet just made up all over her about how good she looked.  She has a beautiful coat, which I attribute to her daily dose of fish oil, and she isn't overweight like a lot of lab and lab mix dogs are.  He said her teeth looked good too and commented that with those legs she must run like a gazelle!  I told him and his crew about our adventure in the Shawnee National Forest and almost losing her when she got to running!  I picked up flea meds for her and for the cat and also heartworm meds for the dog.  I don't want to get behind the 8 ball with those stinking fleas this year!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Doubts dispelled

I was having some doubts that I would be able to complete the baby quilt in time for the shower on Sunday.  When I started the quilting on it, I started a rather tight meandering loop pattern with a fairly small stitch.  It's what the quilt needed (I would say it's what the quilt told me it wanted, but people are starting to look at me funny...).  Since I had quilted a decent size section of it with this tight pattern, I had to continue it throughout the quilt.  I was starting to doubt that I was going to finish it on time.  Well, tonight I went up and did some more quilting on it, and it is close to halfway quilted now.  I think I will have plenty of time to get it finished.  I'm shooting for tomorrow, Friday, to have the quilting completed and possibly even bound and finished.  Not sure what the little baby's name will be, so the label may just be the year and my initials.  We will see.

The gal brought me more fabric today at work.  I gave her a few bucks for it, but I really can't use half of what I bought.  Rather than bring it all home, sort through it, then haul it all the way back to the thrift store to drop off, I decided to go straight to the thrift store drop box after work.  I did a quick sort through it and left about half of it at the drop box.  What she brought the first time was right up my alley, cotton prints, bright colors, stuff like that.  Then today she brought stuff I really wasn't that interested in.  Big chunks of drapery fabric, some denim, stretchy material, stuff like that.  There was a bit of good stuff in it, so I took it, but I'm glad that's it now.  I went to the grocery store after work and when I got home and got all the groceries in the house and put away, I was not in a mood to sort through that stuff, so I didn't even bring it in from the trunk.  It will be there tomorrow. 

Monday, a coworker is bringing me more quilting material that a friend of hers has had in storage.  She doesn't want any money for it.  I hope it's some good stuff.