Lots going on here...

Nikki is getting close to moving. She's planning on leaving Thursday morning, if all goes well. I helped her load a few things into the trailer this morning and then went back tonight to help get things packed and ready to go to the trailer. It is really hard for her because she is doing most of this alone because Zach is in Cincinnati already. If you can imagine trying to pack while you have an 11 month old with you, you can understand why she's not quite done. Also, there are things that can't be moved until the last minute because you are using them. She and Quinn have spent the last two nights here and will do so again tomorrow. Their beds are in the trailer, so they'd be sleeping on the floor if they weren't here. Of course this allows for Jack and I to see some things we'd normally be missing out on, such as Quinn brushing her teeth. She loves to have them brushed and she even likes to do it herself. Can you see those big front teeth?

Sheryll (Jack's daughter) was here this past Saturday. Sheryll is VERY talented and artistic and she has been bitten by the quilting bug! She has given me a number of feedsack fabrics and I've been playing around with them, but she has been working with some reproduction fabrics and made a bunch of 9 patches and triangles. Sheryll, Nikki and Lynn were playing around with the blocks trying to come up with a cool layout and I really like what they came up with. What do you think?

Thursday is going to be an interesting day around here. Nikki and Quinn will be joining Zach in Cincinnati and Jack is having a cardiac cath done. He's been experiencing some chest pain and the doctor wants to have a "look-see." At least this time we know what to expect. When he had this done 2 years ago, we were not prepared for the 4 stents that were put in. I've rearranged my schedule for the rest of the week so I can be with Jack., which means that tomorrow (actually today) will be very long and busy. I'll work from 5:30AM until about 2:00 and then teach my class from 5:45PM - 8:00. I'm sure I'll be tired but not be able to sleep. You all know how that goes. I've got to get some handwork to take with me to the hospital because I know that will help pass the time and keep me relaxed.

I'll keep you posted.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Isn't it amazing that appliances know just when to break down? Our freezer has been a bit temperamental lately and it finally quit working Tuesday. Actually, it still works, but as a refrigerator, not a freezer and only when it feels like it. For a while, it didn't even work as a refrigerator so we did lose some stuff. As you can tell, the new freezer is larger, especially since I had to throw out a bunch of stuff. Oh well, I'll start restocking soon.

I haven't had much time to quilt lately, just a bit of piecing here and there. I was hoping to get my retreat quilt done for Saturday's meeting, but I don't think that will happen. Plus, I didn't get any more done on the raffle quilt. I MUST finish that and get my "S" blocks done for the alphabet swap. Oh, I just remembered that I also have a pink and brown swap to get done also. Those won't take too much time though. My goal is to get all of the swap blocks done by Sunday and get really serious about the raffle quilt. I love how it is turning out.

I've had 5 embroidery orders this week that needed done quickly so that took precedence over quilting. It was kind of cool to be able to cut fabric while both machines were embroidering. I was cutting some more half square triangles for my Ocean Waves quilt, and there are a LOT of HSTs! Check out Bonnie Hunters website for a picture of the quilt. Her blog is on my sidebar and you can get to her site from there.

Nikki and Quinn are here tonight. Since Zach has moved to Cincinnati already, I picked up Quinn earlier tonight so Nikki could get more packing done. When Nikki came to get Quinn, she stayed for a while and just decided to spend the night. YEAH!! I sure am going to miss these overnights! They are planning to make the final move next weekend. BOO HOO!

For Christmas, Nikki made me a scrapbook and I love looking at it. Apparently, so does Quinn! More to come later....

Big News!!

Well, there has been quite a bit of news around here this past week.

Zach had a job interview in Cincinnati and he got the job! It's great that he found a job in the field that he wanted and that it is close to UC so Nikki won't have far to travel when she's back at school. The news is great, but kind of bittersweet at the same time. He, Nikki and Quinn were going to be moving to Cincy in June so I was ready for that, but now the move will take place much sooner. I thought I had some time to prepare myself, but I guess I have to get ready NOW. It sure will be hard to not see them so often. Quinn has been walking, actually running is a better way to describe it, for about a month now and she just jabbers all of the time. I'll miss that, but as Jack said, Cincinnati is less than 4 hours away, so we'll just have to make a lot of road trips!

I've decided to look at the positive side and recognize that there are a lot of quilt shops between here and Cincy that need for me to dicover them!

More BIG NEWS

Nikki and Zach are ENGAGED!

I'll get a better picture of the ring later, but my batteries were dying and this is the only picture I could get. What do you think? Are they happy? No date has been set yet, but it will not be until after Nikki graduates.

I've actually been doing a bit of sewing. I've been working on the guild mystery quilt, my letter S for the alphabet swap and the raffle quilt (Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight). I've also been working on some embroidery that needs done for an order.

I'm trying really hard to take care of my UFOs before I start something new, but I've got a couple of quilt designs that I'm playing around with and I want to start those NOW.

More to come later, and you can be sure that there will be pictures of Quinn.