Done before the deadline!

Yup.

Last weeks adventure

I've been a bit lax on putting up pics, but here's proof that I really did go to a Bonnie Hunter workshop last week!

 And here's me and hubby at the restaurant in Peoria after the workshop.  We had a nice time.  It was a lot of driving, but not too bad.

I have half the binding and the label done on Cool Batiks.  Shouldn't have any problem finishing it today.  Then need to start on my sister's birthday quilt for early November.  Time keeps speeding up on me!  haha

Cool Batiks is quilted and ready for binding

Here was the Cool Batiks top at 11:30 Saturday morning:

And here it was at 9:30 Sunday morning:

I'm still just doing a simple loopy meander.  It's my go-to quilting because it's easy and looks nice.  Here's a close up of the front:

And a close up of the back:

I used a piece of muslin off the bolt I just bought a few weeks ago.  I got the 90" wide muslin at Joann's and I'm glad I did.  It's nice not to have to piece the back if I don't want to.

The cat has left the building

 It's hard to see but there is a black cat in that carrier on the chair.

And here are the two permanent residents of the house after she left.  I think they both took a nap to relax for the first time since last Friday night!

So tomorrow I can finally sew again!  woohoo!  The cool batiks top is loaded on Gemma and ready to go as soon as I load the batting.  I also have the squares ready for the last birthday quilt.  Upstairs or down, either place has a project ready for me!  And I better get busy...

I finally came into the year 2013 and got a smart phone yesterday.  My old phone, from 2008, finally threw in the towel.  I hated to see it go, and really didn't want to pay for another data package on our bill, but getting a smart phone was the next step for me.  I'm glad I got it and I do like it a lot so far.  It's going to take a bit of getting used to. 

Tired today

I am tired today.  Last night I stayed up to watch a show and then talk to Ev for a bit.  Didn't get to bed until after midnight.  Now I'm just dragging through the work day, trying to keep my eyes open!

Haven't done any sewing with Lenore the cat visiting.  She is supposed to go home tomorrow night, so I'm hopeful I can get back in the groove!

Still being terrorized by a crazy cat

Last night, around one a.m., we were unpleasantly awakened by two cats chasing each other.  Unfortunately, the chasee decided to run right across our bed, over the pillow, which we happened to be resting our heads on at the time.  It is not clear if the chasee or chaser is the culprit, but one of said cats managed to scratch and draw blood on Everett's face.  It was not a pretty sight...

sigh.

No sewing tonight.  That's pretty normal for a Monday night, though.  I did try again to get the base plate off the sewing machine yesterday, but that one screw just would not budge.  So, I ended up just putting the other ones back in and giving up on cleaning it at this time.

Good way to end a good weekend

I had a great time in Peoria at the workshop!  Will have a few pics from it to upload soon, but they are on my camera and right now I have pics from my phone to upload.  Today Ev and I went to a Fall Festival in nearby Bond County.  It's known around here as the Ripson Bridge Fest.  This was the first time we have gone to it and we really enjoyed it!

I took this picture to send to my son.  The fest has many unique craft booths.  This guy makes guitars out of cigar boxes!

Here is the sign by the bridge, noting it was made by the King Bridge Co. in Cleveland, Ohio.  The bridge is in the process of becoming a landmark, which I think is pretty cool.  

The wide and thick planks were rather uneven to walk over, but they made me wonder who and what has gone over the bride since the 1800's!

 A view from up on the bridge.  The band, which was pretty good, was playing old time tunes, kinda bluegrassy stuff.  The stage was a wagon/trailer.  To get to the fest from the parking area (which was a corn field) there were two tractors with wagons on the back servings as taxis!

A nice view of the bridge...

I did get a few little things for Christmas gifts.  Ev got a new sweatshirt.  I've discovered he's kind of like a little kid, if you get him a present right away when you get somewhere, he is happy....  I had to talk him into going to the fest, but once we got there he really enjoyed it!

Didn't do any sewing today.  I'm trying to clean the bottom of my machine, but I can't get the bottom plate off.  There are 5 screws and I have gotten 4 off.  Before we went to the fest I put a generous amount of oil on the screw, hoping it will penetrate the threads and allow me to remove it.  If not, I'll put the other 4 back and give up.

A visit from THAT CAT

Oh, my, what have I done?  Nick is out of town until late next week and we are cat sitting.  Do you remember that black kitten, Lenore?  The one that used to chase my eyeballs during REM sleep?  Yes, that is the cat we are cat sitting for.  Nick called to see how she was doing and I whispered into the phone that I couldn't talk very loud because I was upstairs hiding from her at the time...  haha.

I really was upstairs when he called.  I cut a total of 13 yards of fabric into 2.5" strips.  Five yards each of different purples and different peach/oranges and three yards of different greens.  These are what I am taking with me tomorrow for the Playing with Jacks workshop with Bonnie Hunter.

Ev does not have to work, so I am really looking forward to checking out Peoria with him.  I'm also very glad that I won't have to drive by myself the two and a half hour one way trip.

Happy Thursday

Because it's almost Friday!  I had a good day today.  It is my birthday and everyone important remembered it.  Ev and I are going to celebrate on Saturday when we go to Peoria (if he doesn't have to work).  And if he does, we will celebrate Sunday.

Nick stopped by after lessons tonight and showed me how to download the old CBS Mystery Theater recordings from the internet to my ipod.  Hokey, I know, but I get a kick out of them. 

Got the cool batiks top and back loaded on Gemma last night.  Not sure if I'm going to load the batting and start quilting this weekend or not.  If I do, I have to do it all in one shot.  We are going to be cat-sitting for Nick's crazy cat while he is out of town and this beast does not respect the boundaries of the quilting space!  He will be returned to his owner mid next week, so I might just do some other sewing in the meantime.  Maybe my layer cakes will come from Missouri Star Quilt Company and I can put together that last top.

Cool batiks

Here's the top of 10" squares of cool batik fabrics.  It's 8x7 squares, so a goodish size.  These were fabrics I brought back from Paducah this past April.  The clearance table at Hancock's of Paducah is a lovely place...  haha.

Would like to get this loaded on Gemma tomorrow night.  The birthday this is for is at the end of October but the next birthday is in the first week of November so that quilt has to be done soon also.  So many quilts, so little time!