Baby Quilt Done and Done

Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until Saturday morning to make a quick baby quilt for my cousin's shower. Here's a picture of it, with the corner turned up to show the backing fabric. It was just two pieces of coordinating fabric that I pillowcased and then did some quick quilting on the machine. I'm assuming she will know it was homemade. She didn't open her gifts at the shower, at least not in the first two hours of it, anyway!

Still making yo yo's. We are going camping in a couple days and I'm really looking forward to relaxing and sewing if I want to. I'm going to pay a visit to a longarm representative who has a shop close to where we camp. I've got in the back of my mind some vague plans of becoming a rep. The plan is only half formed, but who knows what might happen?

Daughter's car is ready to be picked up from the mechanic. Don't know if we will get it tonight or not because she was sick today and might not be feeling good enough to go get it.

Gram was released from the hospital and is spending a week at my mother's recouperating. Glad she is there, and not alone.

We have had terrible storms here the last few days. Sunday night and last night the tornado sirens went off in town. No touchdowns or damage, but enough to set your nerves on edge, that's for sure!

Went to that interview yesterday. I wasn't really impressed with the place. Maybe I'm getting picky, but the office looked really shabby and disorganized. Peeling paint on the walls. If they can't afford to keep the office looking decent, my thought was can they pay a decent wage? I'm very fortunate to have a job, and for that I'm grateful.

Pics of Yo Yo's

Here are a couple pictures of the yo yo's I have been making. The green ones are sewn together, 7 rows of 7. The pattern called for 9 rows of 7, but that seems to be too big for the bottle of wine I plan to put in the bag. I'm thinking these will be nice Christmas gifts. The pile of blue yo yo's are for another bag. All of them have come from the material I picked up at the yard sale last week.

I stopped at Wal Mart this morning and purchased (gasp!) material to make a quick baby quilt for my cousin. She is going to be 43 this year and is expecting her first child! She's been married 17 years and I didn't think they could have children. He has children from a first marriage and my cousin is actually a grandma already! I think my grandma who passed away in 2004 may have arranged this little event... Kinda worried what she has in mind for me... :)

Worked on the backing for darling daughter's graduation quilt this week. I have three more rows to sew together and the backing will be finished. Maybe I can get it done soon and go pin it together over the weekend. I usually go to one of the church halls and push some tables together to pin or thread baste my quilts. We have two Catholic churches in our town. My family belongs to one, and my father's family belongs to the other. The churches share the same priest, so he's pretty easygoing about letting me into one of the halls to baste a quilt or two. I still have to sign her quilt.

Her car is still on the fritz. The mechanic was on vacation for two weeks, so I'm hoping Monday he will come pick it up. We are going on vacation in a week, so maybe he can get it fixed by then. She needs it for work and school will be starting pretty soon.

I have a job interview next week. I have been sending out resume's here and there, when I see something interesting. I'm fortunate that I have a job and can be selective. This will be the third place I have interviewd at. Maybe third time is a charm? Could this be Gram's surprise?

My other grandma, in St. Louis, is still in the hospital rehabing from the broken hip. She may be released tomorrow.

Our dogs were both due for their shots last week. The one dog is 12. She's starting to show her age. She has cataracs, arthritis, and is showing some signs of senility. I sure love that dog and will really be tore up when she is gone. Hopefully she will be around for a while yet.

Yo Yo's

Yesterday I got it in my head to make a wine bag out of yo yo's. It's a free pattern from JoAnn's and Clover. I do not own a yo yo maker from Clover and I'm not inclined to make all kinds of perfect circles for this project. Donna, however, does have a yo yo maker. She is in Florida for the next couple days on vacation, but has someone housesitting. I called her and asked if I could borrow her yo yo maker and was able to pick it up on my way home from work last night.

I was at a garage sale yesterday and picked up four bags of material for $6.50 total. I sorted through it, and actually threw out some material! Usually I save everything, but I'm at the point that I can throw stuff out if I don't think I'll ever use it. I did get a nice pile of usable scraps and some nice pieces of yardage. In sorting through my new finds, I pulled several pieces of green material. Two were solids, and the rest were prints.

I started making yo yo's with the greens. Those things are addicting! Once I got over the fact that I had to waste a small amount of fabric and thread when using the yo yo maker, I really went to town. It is a no brainer to sit in front of the t.v. and whip those puppies out! I made 16 last night. This morning I got up and rough cut some material so I can sit down tonight and go right to work. The Cubs are playing at 7 tonight on WGN, so I think I should be able to get quite a few made while watching the game.

Tomorrow morning I plan to go to St. Louis to visit my grandmother. She is in the rehab part of the hospital since breaking her hip last weekend. Maybe she would like to make some yo yo's? Hee Hee.

Backing in Progress

Here's a picture of some of the pieces I'm using for the pieced back for the graduation quilt. I was able to chain piece about half of together. I'll just keep chain piecing until I have enough in a row, then sew the rows together.

I think the colors will work well with the front of the quilt. Even if they aren't in the front, they are close in color and value.

In working with the quilt, I realized that my Dear Hubby and I haven't signed her quilt yet. I don't think Dear Son did, either. Don't want to forget to do that! Some family members were unable to sign it, also. I sent them pieces of paper the same size as the squares on the front to sign, then I will trace their messages and signatures on to the quilt.