Wednesday, March 18, 2009

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.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

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....
















Tuesday, March 3, 2009

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.


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Second Post of the Night (Of course that just means that I forgot something earlier.)

I forgot something in my last post.

I have a picture of the flowers that the gals from the Norwalk club sent me for my birthday Monday. When the guy delivered them, he said he had a birthday cake for me, but that it was non-caloric. It was a flower cake! How cute is that?!?

What the *%#@^!?

Sometimes you are so busy sewing away that you have no idea what is happening on the other side of your machine. That was the case this past weekend while I was at the guild retreat.

I was chain-piecing my blocks when Karen and Kare started laughing and pointing at me. Of course, I assumed that I had food on my face or drool running down my chin so I quickly started to wipe my face and ask what was going on. They both were laughing so hard that they couldn't say anything, so they just pointed to my thread. The thread was dangling and bobbing all over the place while I was sewing! It really was funny and we all laughed pretty hard. As I'm typing, I realize that perhaps most people wouldn't find this to be so funny so maybe we were really tired or in a food-induced stupor! I guess that there is no question now as to the fact that it doesn't take much to entertain us.

Speaking of the retreat. We had a really good time and even though I wasn't able to stay the entire time both days, I got a lot done. I always find it interesting how 18 people can be using the same pattern, but end up with such different looking quilts. Check out the Milan Quilt Builders blog on the sidebar to see a slideshow of the quilts. (Thanks Kare for doing such a great job with the guild's blog!)

I promised one of our guild members that I would update my blog more frequently, so I will work on that. Maybe that should be what I do for Lent, rather than give up something!

I've got to get busy on some of the UFOs that I have, but they might have to wait until I complete two T-shirt quilts. I just received a box of T-shirts from a woman who had seen a quilt I made for one of her co-workers. We spoke on the phone a couple of weeks ago and she said she was going to get some shirts together for me. Well, they arrived today so now I have to work on those. I want to finish piecing the raffle quilt so I can get it quilted and begin selling the tickets. I also want to work on the guild mystery quilt and its BOM. I have three quilts ready to quilt, but I never seem to have the time to layer them and get them under the machine. I forgot that I also have some embroidery that needs done on a couple of casket scarves and some woven blankets. YIKES.....I have my wok cut out for me. Maybe I should cut back on my sleeping or better yet, work. What do you think?

More tomorrow (or the next day), including pictures!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I See Green and Brown

It is amazing, but I see colors outside! It is 51 degrees, the snow is melting and there are patches of green and brown appearing around the yard. YEAH!!!!



If you look closely at the second picture, you will see that the animals are enjoying an afternoon in the yard as well. Do you see the possum?

I know it is early to be thinking that there won't be anymore snow, but it sure is nice to have warm temperatures and see green.

As you can see, my camera is working, but it's only because I have a new disc in. I am resigning myself to the fact that I have lost all of the pictures on the other disc. :( I guess that will teach me to take them off the camera sooner.

I have added a couple of blogs to my list. Check them out! The knittingbrow is my brother's blog and his Jan. 31st video is showing some of the family calendars we've made over the years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Jerry!

Jack and I are off to visit my sister Ann and her family. Mom is staying with them, but will be returning to Dayton soon. We'll be taking Quinn with us and I know we'll have a great tme. I'm also pretty sure that the trip is a "Photo Op" waiting to happen!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Camera Disaster

I sat down to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer and received a message that said "Clean the contact area of the disc with a dry cloth." I did as asked, reinserted the card and immediately received the same message. Of course, the other alternative is to re-format the disc. That of course is not really an option, as I have pictures from this past weekend's retreat and pictures I took tonight of Quinn. The pictures were so perfect. She was standing next to the stairs, holding on with one hand and laughing. The next picture is of her standing by herself, right before she took TWO STEPS!!! Well, I'm sending an e-mail to Olympus to see what they suggest I do. I sure hope there is some way to print those pictures. I tried hooking the camera up to the computer, but it hasn't worked. I'm so bummed!

On a happier note, the retreat was really fun and productive. Even though I didn't complete my normal number of projects, I did get a lot accomplished. I began work on the 2009 raffle quilt (Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight - with her approval) and that has a lot of small pieces. I have completed most of the square in a square units (I need to do 12 more I think) and all of the mini 9 patches are done. I needed to wait for the remaining square in a square pieces because I wasn't sure what I was going to do for the borders. I didn't want to cut into the rest of the fabric until I decided because that would mean that I would have to piece the borders; and I don't like doing that. Anyway, I also stated sewing the blocks together and I have one corner done. Today I decided how I am going to finish the quilt. I want to make a pieced border that I saw on another quilt. I have to e-mail that designer and make sure she doesn't have any objections to me using her border. I don't think it will be a problem because she has a ton of free patterns on her sight and this border is on one of those projects.

I also worked on a Patriotic UFO and have it all done except two borders. I decided to add pieced cornerstones and I need to resize and finish those ASAP. I really like the look of the quilt and wonder why it got put away in the first place.

Of course all of my retreat pictures are on my camera, so I don't have an to show you. Oh well.

Until next time.....