Thursday, April 30, 2015

Grill 'Em Up!


This was dinner last night.  Just some mini cheeseburgers I put on the gas grill.  It was quick and easy.

Tonight I have some chicken breasts that I think I'm going to grill and put some bbq sauce on.  Have some frozen broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce that I will make with it, along with some leftover mashed potatoes.  Should be a good dinner.

Ev cut grass yesterday.  Our yard looks so nice when it's freshly mowed.  He picked up all of Addy's outdoor toys and put them in a bucket before he cut inside the fence.  Addy went out, found the bucket, and promptly returned all the toys to their locations before he mowed!  Silly dog!

Sneak Peak


Here are a couple of blocks that I made, just to see if I like the way they look.  I do!

That was about all the sewing I did yesterday.  I cut several pieces for each side.  I like the background fabric.  I happen to have enough of it to make all the blocks have the same background this time around.  Can't guarantee that for the next set of blocks!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Scrappy Ideas


When I made my 16 patch blocks, I had leftover 4 patch strips.  A lot of leftover strips.  Like over 130.  They are going to go into tops for the nursing homes this year.  Since they are 12x3 finished strips, I think if I turn them into 12x12 finished blocks I would only need 25 strips per quilt.  That would make a 60x60 top before the border.  This is my idea for a block.  A 6x12 part on one side of the strip and a 3x12 strip on the other side to make the block.  I could alternate the orientation of the blocks to give it more variety.

And I would have enough strips to make 5 nursing home quilts!  That would be a great start on this years quilts.

2015 Top


Remember the block swap Mary and I did in Paducah?  Well, I actually completed the center portion of the quilt while in the hotel.  We ended up with a total of 56 different blocks.  They are 12" finished blocks and are 16 patches.  Love all the different colors.  It is a BIG quilt!  But, I have a king size bed, so I'm going to put a border or two on it to make it even larger.

The fun part of doing this swap is that there is no pressure to make a perfect quilt.  This quilt is for me.  If the corners don't always match, so what?  If I have two pink blocks next to each other, who cares?  When I quilt it, if it's not perfect, I'm not going to stress.

We are already looking forward to next years trip to Paducah and thining of what block(s) we may do for a swap!

The Ricky Tims Experience


Friday evening we attended the Ricky Tims concert in Paducah.  It was amazing, as usual.  Ricky did have a touch of laryngitis, plus his parents are unwell and he asked for prayers for them.

Here are the three of us waiting for the concert to begin.


Mary, Marla, and me!  The concert was at the Carson Arts Center, which is a beautiful facility

Friday afternoon we had a wonderful late lunch at JP's Bar and Grill in the arts district.  It's just a block from Finkle's.  The temperature was perfect for sitting on the patio and enjoying our lunch.  No bugs, thankfully!  I don't care to sit outside and eat when there are flying insects around.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Celebrity Sighting


Although it wasn't a big winner, this quilt was very beautiful.  Jamie Wallen did the quilting on it, and I'm sorry I don't remember who did the piecing.

While at the show, we usually park in a lot that is reserved and monitored.  A couple doors down from the lot was a shop where Jamie Wallen was selling his dvd's.  We went in but didn't see Jamie.  He was across the street at the show looking at the quilt!  I purchased one of his dvd's and decided to stop back later and get it autographed.

While walking over to the expo center, Marla spotted Jamie coming back to his booth!  We couldn't resist getting pics.  Here I am with the guy himself.


He is such a nice guy and real down to earth.  Easy to talk to and very knowledgeable.  Later in the day we went back to the shop and not only did I get the first dvd signed, but I ended up purchasing a second!  With the exception of the roll of batting, those dvd's were my major purchases at the show this year.

So Many Blocks

 So many blocks, so little time.  This was my in hotel room sewing station.  I had brought my little side table along and just sat on the bed and sewed.  It worked out quite well.  I just love that little featherweight machine.  Marla was looking for a featherweight painted red at the show.  She didn't get one, but I think it's in the works for later this year.

Instead, she ended up buying a die cutting machine.  I've been wanting one for a while, but just hadn't made up my mind which one to go with.  I think I'll wait and see how she likes hers before I make my final decision.

To continue with the trip narrative...  Thursday morning I had an early class, so I left by myself.  Marla and Mary slept in and had breakfast at the Huddle House across the street, then they headed for the show.  My class ended at 11:30, so I grabbed a bite to eat at the vendors in the parking lot, then met up with Mary and Marla.  We went through the exhibition hall and I picked up my parts I had ordered from Nolting.  They were so nice to bring them to the show for me so I wouldn't have to pay for shipping.  I just got an extra bobbin case, some bobbins, and a new throat plate.  Mine is fine, but you just never know when you will get a burr or something, so I wanted to have a spare!

We decided to have a late lunch at Olive Garden.  After that, Mary had a class from 5:30 to 8:30, so Marla and I just went back to the hotel (loved being so close that we could just go back and forth like that - nothing at all like when I had stayed an hour away!) and relaxed for a bit.  I did some sewing on our 2015 Paducah top.  More about that later.

After we picked Mary up from her class, we stopped at Dairy Queen.  Yum!  Then just went back to the room and sewed and talked.  It was a great day!

Three Amigos


This was Marla, Mary, and I in front of one of those goofy screened pictures at the show!  Oh did we ever have fun!

I'll start from the beginning...  haha.  Wednesday Mary arrived at my house about noon and we were on the road to Paducah very shortly after that.  I had made turkey and cheese sandwiches, and packed chips and grapes.  Oh, we also had some iced tea to go with them.  Mary made some chocolate chip cookies, so we were all set.  Road Trip!

We got to Metropolis about 3 p.m. and checked into the Super 8.  Room was acceptable.  About the only thing I might have changed would have been that we could only get a smoking room.  Super 8 did the best they could to get the smell out, but if you are a non smoker, you can still smell it.  Minor price to pay for being so close to Paducah!

Marla had gone ahead to the show straight from home and was heading back to the hotel about the time we checked in.  After we were all settled in, we set out for Hancock's of Paducah.  Look out world, here we come!  I bought my roll of batting and a couple of nice batiks.  I also picked up a jelly roll for Sandy.  My wallet was a little lighter after that trip!

We had dinner at Rafferty's Wednesday night.  Although there were a few errors made on our orders, all in all it was a very nice meal.

Monday, April 27, 2015

A Good Day

Tired but still feeling good from the trip!  Will get back in the groove on the blog in a day or two.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Times Six (or Seven)

Was just sitting here thinking about how many times I have been to the quilt show in Paducah.  I have been to six shows in the past eight years.  Started going in 2008.  Didn't go in 2010 or 2012.  In 2012 I took delivery of my longarm a few days after the show.  2011 was a very eventful year at the show because of the high water.  In 2007 I went to the show in Nashville in August.  I'm trying to remember if I had gone to Paducah before 2007.  I don't think so, but for some reason I don't think Nashville was the first quilt show I went to.  

Twice I stayed in Marion.  Twice in Golconda. Twice in Metropolis.  I think Metropolis is the best option of the three.  We have our reservation made for next year already.

Hotel Sewing

This was one of the best trips to Paducah I have ever had.  Some sewing was done in the hotel between the show, the shopping, and the eating.  I'm home now, feeling tired but refreshed at the same time.  Miss all the excitement but at the same time glad to be home.  Will write more about the trip in the next few day.s

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Counting Down

Tomorrow is the big day!  We will be heading to Paducah and the quilt show!  Seems like it took forever to get here.  I've got my list made of things I don't want to forget to take with me.

Still have a couple loads of laundry to do tonight before I pack my clothes.

I superglued my shoes where the stitching was coming out.  Since the shoes I ordered early last week have not arrived yet, I'm going to have to wear my old pair.  I hope they hold together.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Tire-d

Darling son had a blow out on the highway Monday morning on his way to work.  I swear, we should own stock in a tire company for as many as we have to buy all the time.  I'm loaning him my car while he gets his tire fixed, but I told him I have to have it back by Tuesday night because my Paducah trip is Wednesday!

New Place to Eat


A new place to eat opened up in town.  It's a bbq joint.  They have good pulled pork and also smoked brisket.  This was my meal.  It was way more than I could eat in one sitting.

The restaurant is attached to the bowling alley in town.  I'm hoping they stay in business.  We need to have a few choices close to home.

Another One Done


I did a little bit of quilting on Saturday.  This square was all I got done.  I really like the way it turned out.

The weather was very nice Saturday and Ev was working on the yard.  He asked me to help him clear some leaves and brush so he could take it to the compost pile.  It was a good day to get that all done.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Maybe I'll Wait In The Car...


After work yesterday I needed to stop at the local grocery store.  I pulled into a parking space and started to get out of the car when I looked up and saw this.

That's a big dog.  Real big dog.

In the front seat of the vehicle was a tiny dog.  And the driver, thankfully.

I did my shopping, which was just grabbing a few things for dinner, and carefully got back in my car with a shopping bag that had meat in it.  Was really hoping the pooch wasn't hungry....

When I got home I went to fry up the sausage I had just bought and it felt slimy when I was making the patties!  As it started to cook, the smell was off.  Well, you know what I did, right?  Threw it right in the trash.  I had also bought some bacon, so we had enough for dinner, but I hate to waste money like that.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Getting Closer Every Day

With the trip to Paducah less than a week away, I'm getting really excited about it.  So much to see!  So much to do!

At some point, we are going to take a quick side trip to the Harley Davidson dealer for our husbands.  Marla's husband, as well as mine, both drive Harley's.  I would like to get Ev a shirt and get our good friend a poker chip from the Paducah dealer.

Mary and I are like two little kids... I texted her today about what we would do for lunch on Wednesday!  She will get to my house about noon, then it's another three hour drive to Paducah.  I told her we had a few choices.  We could eat at my house, I could pack sandwiches and we could eat while we drive, or we could stop somewhere and get lunch.  Both of us agreed that eating a packed lunch while driving would be the best option.  I think we both would prefer to spend as much money on fabric and sewing stuff, rather than food!  Ha ha great minds think alike...  Plus Wednesday night we plan to have dinner at a nice place in Paducah, so we don't want to be too full from lunch.

So, Mary, if you read this, let me know what kind of sandwich you want!  Smoked turkey?  Baked ham?  American or swiss or muenster cheese?  Mustard or mayo?  The deli is now open for business...

And Marla, if you get to the hotel before we do, hold down the fort!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

It Mat-ters


Not a real pretty picture, but it is a picture of my basement floor.  The floor is concrete, and standing there in front of Gemma and quilting can get a little rough on the feet.  Over the weekend I bought these foam mat sections and I'm real pleased with them.  They are those puzzle piece type sections, each about two feet square.

I had looked at one piece mats before and they were pretty expensive.  These came in packages of 4 sections and were less than $8 per package.  I found them at our local farm store, Rural King.  What is pictured is two packages.  I think I need one more package and I will be set.  I think if there was a mat under the air compressor it wouldn't be so noisy.

Real pleased with this solution.  Once in a great while there is a little water in that part of the basement, and if these get wet, it's not going to be a big deal to just get new ones if needed.  They were in the automotive section of the store.  I think their original purpose was for in a workshop.  Just don't tell the manufacturer that they can be used in a quilting studio or they will jack the price up!

Smoke 'em Out


Because I wasn't feeling really good, I decided I needed some comfort food.  Tea and toast sounded really good to me.  I was sitting at the kitchen table, not four feet from the toaster, and didn't smell the toast burning until the room started filling with smoke!  That's how bad the cold had my head stuffed up!  And this picture was AFTER I opened the windows and turned on the fans!

One Done


Over the weekend I did a little bit of quilting.  I put the swirls in the sashing and quilted this one block.  It's hard to see the stitching, but what I did reminded me of seaweed.  Just ribbons going with the direction of the rectangles.  It looks nice.

Sorry I haven't been posting for a few days.  I have had one doosy of a head cold.  Today I'm actually starting to feel human again.  I really need to take it easy and get rid of the cold because Paducah is next week!

Friday, April 10, 2015

Ideas

Last night we had some severe weather move through.  For 40 minutes I was downstairs while it stormed.  Fortunately, we didn't have any real damage, other than a few limbs down in the yard.

While I was downstairs I kept looking at the next set of squares on the longarm and tried to come up with ideas on how to quilt them.  These are the squares in the next row to be quilted:





I really liked how the micro stippling looked in the previous row and will probably do some in one or more of these blocks.  Maybe some feathers in a few places, too.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Lots of Water!


This is the drainage ditch outside my office.  It's just filled with rainwater!  Sure wish I could send some of it out to California.  I guess we need the rain, too.  Had lots of storms last night and early this morning.

Not feeling 100% right now.  I don't know if it's allergies or if I have a bit of a cold.  Hoping it's just allergies.  Last night I went to bed at 7:30!  I was just going to lay down and watch t.v. in bed, but fell asleep before I got the t.v. turned on!  Slept for a good two hours until the thunderstorms woke me up.  Felt okay enough to stay up for a little longer then.

One of the small towns a few miles away from me is having a lot of trouble with "mine subsidence" again.  A few years ago, their brand new elementary school experienced so much structural damage from the old mines collapsing that they ended up closing the school.  What is happening, is the old "pillars" that are wooden and were used to hold up the mine shafts are now collapsing underground.  As that happens, everything aboveground is shifting.  Also, there is methane gas being released from below, which is dangerous.

In my part of the state a lot of homes are built over old coal mines, mine included.  We carry insurance for mine subsidence, but I sure hope we never need to use it!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Moo Cow Don't Bother Me

Yesterday I was out at my daughter's during my lunch hour.  When I left, there were a couple cows that had come up into the pasture near her house.  I just had to take a picture!

I just think where she lives is so relaxing and peaceful.  Woods all around and a lake not too far from them.

Enjoying What I'm Doing

I am really starting to enjoy what I'm doing on the quilting of this one!  It's all kind of free style.  I just do whatever I feel like doing in the blocks.  No pressure.
I did some feathers (not very good ones, but that's okay too) in the strips around the squares of this block.  The one on the right got a bit thread heavy.  Then in the squares I just did a meandering line with some echoing around it.
Same here.  Just some feathers and a goofy line with echoes.
I was really pleased with the way the micro stippling looked in this block.  I did it in the center and in the yellow corners.  Tossing around getting a different foot for Gemma and maybe some micro handles.  Just a thought.

I'm using up a bunch of miscellaneous bobbins on this quilt.  The pattern on the backing fabric is so busy, you really don't notice!  The only thing I have noticed is that one of the colors seems to just lay there, not really go into the fabric.  If this continues, I'll just avoid that one thread color.

Lazy Doggie


When it was time to go to bed, I needed to remake the bed because somebody had all the covers piled up on one side and was laying on the sheet...  I tried to get a certain somebody off the bed so I could make it, but she refused to move.  Sigh.  I just made the bed around her.  She didn't seem to mind!

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

A Start



I changed it up a little from my original plan of what type of quilting to do in the borders.  Mainly because I started the wrong design in one of the borders by accident!  No harm, no foul.  It's my quilt and I can do what I want with it.

I quilted the top borders and one of the blocks in the first row last night.  Still uncertain about what to put in the other 3 blocks in that row.

Monday, April 6, 2015

16 More Days!

Until Paducah!  Woohoo!  I am soooo ready.

This morning I am just dragging.  Can't seem to get motivated at work.  Monday-itis.  haha.

I did remember that I had this book:


A while ago I got this book off the internet.  A group of quilters put it together and it really has some good ideas in it.  It should help me figure out what to quilt in the squares...

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Loaded Up


I have the Paducah 2014 top loaded on Gemma!  I'm thinking each block will be quilted independently.  Here's what I have in mind for the quilting in the borders:


That's the tentative plan, anyway.

Happy Easter!





I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter Sunday today!  We had a nice dinner with the kids on Saturday.  Here's what was on the menu:

Ham
Cornish Hens
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Pea Casserole
Stuffing
Rolls
Salad
Deviled Eggs

I put the Cornish Hens on the rotisserie and made them outside on the gas grill.

Oh and for dessert, we had this:
Cheesecake!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Happy Cookies


Don't these cookies look like daisies or sunflowers?  I thought they looked like happy cookies!  These are the Amish Sugar Cookies.  I put the dough together over the weekend and it has been in the fridge.  Last night I decided to get them baked.

When I was at the thrift store last week I found two pieces of glassware that had cut designs on the bottoms.  They were less than a dollar, so I bought them specifically to use on these cookies.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Pork Patties Rock

Yeah, they really do!  One of the local organizations was having a fund raiser today.  They grilled pork patties and sold the sandwiches.  I got a couple of them and took them out to Johanna's for lunch.  Also got a couple extra and Ev will have them for dinner tonight!  I don't have to cook!  Yeah!  haha.

I really have to make those cookies tonight.  The cookie dough has been in the fridge for a couple days and I don't want it to get funky.  But I will have to get on them right when I get home because I have a dentist appointment at 6:40.

Grill it up


Last night I wanted to try out the rotisserie before Easter, so I put a small pork roast on it.  It turned out pretty good, so I think it's going to work just fine for my cornish hens.  Going to have our dinner on Saturday with the kids.  That poor grill has seen better days, hasn't it?  haha.

Before work this morning I loaded the back and the top on Gemma for the Paducah 2014 quilt.  Just need to load the batting and it's ready to quilt!  Whee!