Off in the Morning

I'm flying out at 6:30 a.m. I've still got lots of stuff to do at home tonight, and I'm hoping I get to leave work at a reasonable hour to do those. But I've also got to get everything organized here at work before I leave. Can you tell I'm stressing now?

Judy, I didn't get that backing done. When I get home, I'll do that first thing and off to you.

I'm really excited about going home, even if just for a few days. I hope to get lots of pictures, but last time I was there I forgot to take any! LOL! I hope all those Louisiana crawfish know they're destined for my tummy! I plan on seriously reducing their population over the next few days!

I hope all my friends in bloggerland have a wonderful week and weekend. I'm sure it'll take me a while next week to catch up on all the goings-on. But we could make that task real simple - as my friend Gracie would say, "No talking while I'm out of the room!"

A New Blogger For You

I had a nice comment from Elaine and went to visit her blog. Some beautiful quilts. She's a fan of our Bonnie at QuiltVille, too!

Check out her blog if you get a few minutes! Neat quilts!

www.elaineadairpieces.blogspot.com

I was supposed to be doing some work today, but I just started on it a couple of hours ago. I was making more crumbs instead. I think I've got 30 now made. Just love those things!

Other than that, it's been a lazy, relaxing day. I've got to go in earlier tomorrow as I found I had the accounting key in my pocket when I got home. So I've got to get there before those ladies.

Spaghetti sauce almost done. I'm hungry!

Fun with Vic and Jane

That's what my friend Mar calls the shopping excursions when Jane and I get together. We got off to a later start today than usual. We both had errands to run this morning.

When Jane got to the house, she suggested we go to The Calico House in Yorba Linda. I had not been there since they moved to their new location over a year ago. So we took off and enjoyed our day.

We were both very good shoppers today! I said I wasn't buying any more FQs, but there's a purpose for these. I'm still collecting black and whites, and also brights and dots for a Freddy Moran quilt. I think FQs are a wise purchase in this instance!

But then I really fell off the moderation wagon and bought two patterns and two books. The one not pictured is "Pieces of the Past" by Nancy Martin. Someone recently mentioned it - was it Finn? - and I was surprised to see this 1986 book in the store since it's out of print. It's a great one!

But the best part was I remembered I had a full punch card for Calico House in my wallet, and another almost full! So I got $25 off these purchases! Found money!

Jane is getting over a really bad cold. I felt so sorry for her. She was a trooper today but I knew she wasn't feeling well. Hope our trip to Souplantation for cornbread made her feel better! LOL!

Had a haircut and manicure this morning, so I just need to organize clothes tomorrow and I'm ready for the early Wed. morning flight to Louisiana. I can't wait!

Pincushions

I love pincushions. I've got tons of them. But the ones I use most are the magnetic ones. This one is on my sewing table with the thin glass head pins that my Bernina loves. I've got one on my cutting table, one on the Nelly table on the arm of the sofa where my applique stuff is. And there's one just for Jane's pins when she's over here sewing.

But the other four pincushions are real special to me. I first went to the Alex Anderson retreat in Nov. of 2002. I didn't know that each retreater gets a pincushion from Alex as a momento. The blue and white one was 2002. The one with the pink heart was 2003. The black and white was 2005. I had to miss retreat 2004 because of my shoulder replacement surgery. My friend, Mar, made the red and black pincushion for me for Christmas! So that's my 2004 pincushion. And Sally just recently sent me one from a shopping excursion to the big city. I love it!

A couple of years ago, Sheila sent me this antique make-do. I knew nothing about them, and was delighted to find that old is new again. There are patterns out there to make these. The fabric on it is old, as are the lace and buttons. Sheila always sends the most interesting things! Lucky me!

This week is almost over. This weekend I've got a haircut scheduled, a manicure, and then begin packing for the trip to Louisiana. It's getting really close!

It was so hot today - and it's so pleasant tonight. Daisy and I enjoyed our walk this evening. The setting sun was bright red! Even it's ready for autumn!

Gratitudes:

~ Sheila's benign diagnosis! Prayers answered!

~ Accountant is getting it. Hope she does as well while I'm gone next week.

~ Leaves are turning on the trees outside my front door

~ Six more days until I go home!

Featherweights

KC Quilter posted a picture of her two babies, her featherweights. Reminded me that I've got a couple of them.

I have a black anniversary featherweight, my birth year. And I've got this white one. A lady who used to be in my online quilt group called me one night and said she was bidding on a white featherweight on eBay, and did I want it. I told her I'd take it. Turns out it was in Hollywood. So I arranged with the guy to drive over and pick it up, but I didn't want to go to his house. So he left it at his mail box place near the corner of Hollywood and Vine. I had never driven there before, and got lost a couple of times getting there, but found the place. It was my adventure for the year!

Now, if you've never been to Hollywood, let me just say that Hollywood and Vine is not an area that you'd want to be caught in after dark. A lot of prostitutes and surly types. I call her "The Hussy" because she was hanging around that corner when I got her! LOL

I have never sewn a stitch on either of them. They're in the back of the hall coat closet. Jane has a place here that will go over them and fix whatever needs fixing. I should arrange to get that done. Everyone says they're fabulous machines to sew on. I just had to have them because all of my friends were getting featherweights. I'm such a pushover!

My friend, Deb, told me from day one that if I ever decided I didn't want it, that she'd take it. I was kind of feeling guilty for having these things and not wanting to use them. So I had just about decided to let her take it. You'll never guess what happened! She was driving home one day and saw a house with a huge pile of trash in front of it over by the side of the road. She saw what looked like a featherweight case. So she screeched over to the shoulder, and went trotting back to look at the case. It was a case in perfect condition, and inside was a white featherweight in perfect condition! Someone was throwing it away! Only Deb would have noticed that! LOL!

It's Decided!

I want to come back as my dog!

Mindless Sewing

My sewing room looks like a tornado was turned loose in there - and I don't mean the famous "White Tornado"! So I might as well make a bigger mess before I drag out the vacuum.

More crumbs ... more mindless sewing. These are 9.5" so it won't be long before I have a quilt! These are SO much fun! And fast! Jane's going to want these back, I just know it! LOL!

I'm an impulse buyer. I went to Target tonight to get a new coffee pot. Might as well pick up a DVD, oh, and some Skillet Dinners and bread, and I can't forget Dr. Pepper, detergent, etc., etc. I'd love to walk in that store just ONE time for under a hundred bucks!

I searched my stash room high and low last night, and I don't have enough of anything for the backing for Lisa's quilt. So I guess I'll have to visit the new quilt shop one night this week.

Gratitudes:

~ Last auto at work purchased. Hooray!

~ Everyone laughed at a picture of fat little Daisy dog today!

~ Leaves are starting to fall. Does this mean autumn is finally coming?

~ A real peaceful feeling today.

~ Blessings overflowing!

Happy Dancing!

Finally finished Lisa's quilt top. I brought it outside to take a picture, but it was too shady. It's always something!

I dug through all the backing fabrics I have and nothing seems to work. Going to go through them one more time before I cave in and head to the quilt shop. Stash busting first!

Thank you, Judy, for your inspiration and help! You rock!

Getting In The Mood!

Cook up some beignets this morning, and brewed up a pot of Community coffee! Won't be long until I'm home!

The first batch came out kind of flat. I rolled them too thin. The mix said to roll to 1/8" but they didn't puff. So I rerolled the next batch to 1/4" and the puffed perfectly. Unfortunately, I ate those before I took pix! LOL

Nine days until I set foot in Louisiana again. NOW I'm getting excited!

Translation .... Boring!

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Must Love Dogs!

New Quilt Shop Opened!

It's Ginger's Quilt Shop in Montclair. Really cute, nicely laid out, big! It smelled so .... so .... new! All of the bolts were still almost full, and there's a nice selection of fabrics.

I was so good! I need to award myself with another gold star! I picked up two books that hopefully will aid in reducing stash. And got a free FQ to boot!

This weekend I will finish Lisa's quilt. I'm real ready to get it finished and off to Judy to quilt. And I'm real ready to start some serious stash busting! So Katie bar the door after my trip home! :)

One car purchase finalized at work today. Check! The other vehicle will be finalized Monday! Check! Quarterly estimates mailed off today! Check! Accountant working out nicely! Check check!

Gratitudes:

~ Some inspiration with bright fabrics tonight at the new quilt shop

~ A missed phone call but a sweet message from Don today reporting that his birthday party was almost all planned out for me! (And said with MUCH sarcasm! LOL!)

~ A nice long chat with Connie last night. What a sweet lady with a really funny story about a one-eyed mouse!

~ Unusual that I'm hungry tonight. Maybe if I eat something I'll get some much needed sleep.

Busy Day!

The new accountant started today. She did good! Cross your fingers, but I think she's a keeper.

CEO had four appointments today, and I was working both ends of the building, back and forth to my office by his and down in Acctg. I honestly don't know why I'm so fat because I must run 10 miles a day in that place! Every time I'd sit down with her to go over another procedure, he'd buzz me that he needed me down there. I was plumb tuckered out by about 2:00. And then to top it all off, he decided that he wanted to buy a new Suburban today. So I'm off during my (ha-ha) lunch hour to bring a check to the dealership. Got back to the office and thought all was going to settle down a bit until his next appointment, and lo and behold, he decided to buy a new car, too! This is real unusual for him because he's real conservative. His Caddy is a 1998. I've been after him for a long time to get a new car, but today? Two of them? LOL. We had a huge laugh about that!

Tomorrow hopefully will settle down some. He's got one appointment in the morning, and then I think (I hope) he's going out of town. Maybe I'll have the afternoon with the new lady. One of these years I need to get in my office and shovel out the stuff that's been piling up in there over the past couple of months.

I'm going to stop in tomorrow night on the way home at the new quilt shop. They're staying open until 7:00 at night! Hooray! I know that I can now stop there on the way home when I'm desparately needing something....... well, I might need something. You never know! Anyway, it'll be fun exploring the new place. Jane has already been in there and says it's adorable. She's going to help her tomorrow get it up and running. It'll be fun!

Sad news today. My friend in Missouri's little puppy was hit and killed by a car. I'm just heartbroken over this. I called and talked to Jace tonight. Sally is out of town with her brother who just lost his wife after a long illness. Such an awful thing to have to deal with alone. It was good talking to him, and we ended up trading funny stories and laughing a bit, so I hope the talk helped him some. I got off the phone with him and gave Daisy a huge hug. Same old dog - same old hugs!

It's only 9:30, but I'm heading upstairs now. I need to stretch out in a prone position and relax! I've enjoyed reading about all the quilty things getting done by all my blogger friends! Keep posting those pictures! Please!

Nothing New Here

Absolutely nothing! Same old chores at home that I can never seem to get done; same old project on my sewing table; same old dog. I'm real envious of Judy that she's got all those bindings to do!

I'm in a funk today. Woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible headache. Headaches scare me, but this one is just the same old allergy/sinus thing I always suffer from this time of the year. Still in all, I was awake half the night, and then way overslept this morning. I hate it when I do that because then it's straight into the shower, a quick Daisy walk, and then fighting the traffic in to work. I didn't get a cup of coffee until almost 10:00.

I've been thinking a lot about gratitudes today. I'm hard-pressed to come up with anything new or original. Just the old standards: good health, Daisy, a comfortable home and lots of quilty things to play with. And my friends - especially my friends!

September 11, 2001

Judy shared her story of where she was on 9/11/01. Here's mine.

I was getting dressed for work. I had not even turned on the TV that morning. The phone rang and I answered. It was Don. He was obviously very upset. When I asked what was wrong, he told me to turn on the TV. I was standing in the bedroom and grabbed the remote. The TV was mounted on the wall in a corner near the ceiling, and I remember standing there looking up at the set. I was too shocked to even sit on the bed.

The first thing I saw was not a picture of the towers, but a newscaster saying that the White House was being evacuated. Then the picture shifted back to the twin towers just in time to see the second plane hit. Don and I both started crying then, and he began saying a Rosary in which I joined.

We didn't say much but stayed on the phone with each other for 30 minutes. I then got the call-waiting signal, and asked him to hold. It was the office wanting me to hurry up and get there because I had the keys to the CEO's office and there was a TV in there.

The rest of the day was a blur. The CEO, VP and I stayed in there in front of the TV most of the day. We would call the other employees in when there was breaking news. I just remember being very nauseous by about 10:00, and throwing up a lot during the afternoon. We were worried about the CEO's two daughters who lived in New York. Jennifer, the youngest, had a part-time job in one of the Towers, but this was supposed to be her day off. As it turns out, she was evacuated from her apartment building which was very near there, and called her mother about mid morning that she was okay. The older daughter was on a flight coming in from Italy which was diverted to Canada. There was much relief when we finally heard from Susan in the afternoon.

My thoughts and prayers today are with those who lost their lives that day in this senseless tragedy, with the brave people who aided the victims, and for our military personnel who continue to protect us.

God Bless America.

Done for This Weekend

One more pieced border to go. I may can get most of the blocks made this week, and then finish the assembly next weekend. The light at the end of the tunnel!!

Two Sides Done

Sorry to keep posting this quilt, but it's all I've been working on for the past month! Just the two shorter sides to go. Push or shove, I'm going to get one of them done today! Once it's altogether I'll get a better picture. Right now I've got "stuff" in the living room which prevents me from laying it out and getting a straight-on shot.

I'm really loving this quilt, but I have to admit I'm getting a little tired of it. Does that happen to anyone else?

Jane and I were talking yesterday about our cache of quilting books. I told her that often I flip through them once or twice and then on the shelf they go. Well, here's my new challenge to myself. Before the year is out, I'm going to go through some of the first quilt books I bought and pick out a quilt and make it -- totally from my stash. This will give me the opportunity to go through my books and, knowing me, I'll fall in love with most of the quilts in them all over again! It may be a quickie pieced quilt; it may be an appliqued one. I don't know at this point. I just know that it's a shame to have such wonderful books up there on the bookshelves and not utilize them!

Sewing Day!

I had the most fun today sewing with Jane. She came over this morning and left about 9:00 tonight. She got lots more accomplished than I did as I continued to piece the woven border on my niece's quilt. She told me I could share this picture of the blocks she was working on.

Are these adorable? The pattern is "Fore & Aft" by Mountainpeek Creations. Jane has a HUGE stash of black and white fabrics, and the pink is perfect with them! Such a simple block but stunning!

Gratitudes:

~ A perfect day sewing with my quilting buddy!

~ A phone call with Mar and her sewing day quilting buddies!

~ Great Mexican dinner!

~ My brain is about to bust wide open from all the inspiration! :)

Too Cute!!

My friend Cheryl from Boston sent this to me for my birthday! It's the most adorable little lamp! There's even real thread on the spool! Thank you, Sweetie! I love it! I'm going to put it up in my stash room on Grandma's treadle machine. It'll be perfect there!

Cheryl and I met on Alex's old message board. She flew out for the Road to California quilt show in 2004, and then we saw each other again last November at Alex's retreat. Can't wait until this November to see her again!

It was a very long "short" week at work. But everyone was in a good mood and the work flows seamlessly when it's like that. I need to get busy picking up around this joint tonight. Jane's coming over tomorrow for a sew day! She suggested we go to a nice little Mexican take-out place near here for food tomorrow, so no cooking. Just sewing up a storm! I can't wait!

Gratitudes:

~ All of my online friends, many of whom I have met in 3D!

~ A good interview today with an accountant!

~ A wonderful call from my brother tonight! Less than three weeks until I get to do some major hugging on him!

~ An email tonight from Judy that made me smile!

~ The inspiration I get from all of you!

Surprise Package!

Judy!! I keep telling you "No packages" but you just don't listen!

It's a Jim Shore dachshund named "Longfellow." How adorable is that! Got him/her up on the mantle right next to Daisy's picture! Daisy wishes she was that cute (and that skinny)!

The timing was perfect after a totally stressful day! When I opened the door to take Daisy out for her walk, she had to sniff the package on the front porch before we could head out. Really interested in this package! Did she know what was in there?

I love it! Thank you so much, honey! Made me smile, and that's a very good thing!

Sewing Tired

This is why I don't sew when I'm tired. A LOT of HST. Drew a line down the center, and sewed 1/4" on one side of that line. Turned the blocks around and proceeded to sew right down the center penciled line. Oops! I got the seam ripper and was just about to start taking that center line stitching out when I occurred to me that I didn't have to. Those would be cut apart on that line. So back to the sewing machine to sew 1/4" down the other side of the center line.

I think that's as far as I'm going tonight. Not an hour of sewing. 25 minutes of doing the oops-dance! I'm going to bed!

Answers to Questions

A lot of folks emailed me with questions about the quilt in my last blog. The main question was what pattern is it and where can they get it.

Well, I should have asked Judy's permission before I posted it, but, as usual, I was in a hurry to show everyone that I actually do sew occasionally. :)

The main part of the quilt is part of a design that Judy is currently working on. I think those two blocks together are awesome. The border is from EQ. Judy reworked the instructions a bit using larger pieces where possible, and it was very easy to put together. A bit tedious, but easy. Of course, having Judy hold my hand through the process helped tremendously!

So there you have it! You can take this to the bank - I will never in a bazillion years be able to design something so beautiful. Judy, you're remarkable. Thank you!

Making Slow Progress

Moving slowly along on the pieced borders. One side is done, working on side two. I'm anxious to get the focus fabric back on the outside border to tie it altogether.

I showered this morning and didn't blow my hair dry. I'd forgotten how many curls I have. Of course, they're sticking out every which way. I swear Daisy did a double-take at me a little while ago! LOL!

Just grilled a steak and it was good. I was going to do that last night, but opted for breakfast food instead. I'm enjoying the grill. I can't believe I waited so long to get one. Next weekend I need to clean up the patio, sweep up the leaves, and put a couple of chairs out there. When it's cooler, I sit out there and applique. There's too much dust and pollen in the air now. I started sneezing every time I went out to check on the steak.

Tomorrow is going to be a tough day at work, so I need to hit the hay earlier tonight. I hope I can sleep. I quilted in my sleep the last two nights, and actually got up once last night and wandered into the stash room looking for a fabric. I must have dreamed about it because it was sure important to find it. :)

Lately I've been counting days/weeks/months until the next long weekend. For me that will be 9/27 when I go home. 23 days! Then the next time off for me will be Alex's retreat in mid November, another four day weekend. I must be getting old because I never used to look forward to days off so much. Or maybe I'm just worn out.

Not much to blog about tonight - subject hopping.

Lazy Slug Today!

I leisurely started working on borders on my niece's quilt. Got the first round on, and now I'm making the pieced border. I'm so pokey! Tomorrow I'd better get busy and get moving on this thing. It's not going to make itself! And I'm real ready to dive into some of the inspiration quilts from yesterday! But first things first!

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, and relaxing Labor Day!

Well, drat!

Blogger gremlins would only let me load one picture on the last blog. That was the photo of the Leah's purchases.

This one is Cozy Cottage!

Shopping!

Well, I did it! I shopped! Had a wonderful day with Jane. We went to three quilt shops, and then picked up her DH for a lovely dinner. I was so tired when I got home last night, but had that warm and cozy feeling after such a great day!

Pictures are from two of the shops - Cozy Cottage in Brea and Leah's in Orange. Neither of us had been to Cozy Cottage before, a real cute shop, and I had only been to Leah's one time over four years ago. Beautiful quilts hanging in both of them. Lots of inspiration - and a LOT of fabric we ooohed and aaahed over remained at the store. :)

I bought only what I felt I absolutely needed to finish a project, and small cuts at that! The books and patterns are inspiration for using up more stash, so good buys! The first picture is Cozy Cottage purchases - stripes I need for a Christmas project, dark brown print for a binding on Chocolate Covered Cherries top (with a little left over for an applique project), and only two FQs just because I wanted them! The books are all fat-quarter related because I'm wanting to use up those FQ towers that seem to have multiplied in my stash room over the long, hot summer!

The second picture is from Leah's. The yardage is inspiration for Judy's October project. That fabric may end up on the back of the quilt, but I like working from focus fabric - keeps me focused! LOL! The stripes for a binding, a turquoise for the stash color I'm collecting now, and polka dots because I LOVE polka dots! Since all of my magazine subscriptions have run out and I'm not renewing them, those two magazines were okay to buy. The thing I'm excited about is the prepackaged Aunt Grace fabric by Judie Rothermel - a backing for the crumb quilt I'm putting together from emptying Jane's waste can after our cutting day. If any of you are looking for '30s backing, you might want to look for these packages. The fabric is 110" wide by 3.25 yards (117" total) big enough for a queen size backing. It was only $12.99! I couldn't resist, and now wish I had picked up more than one of these.

All in all, a perfect day! And today I sew!!

September 1st

I was wondering how I'd feel today about buying fabric - and I didn't even want to! Of course, tomorrow going to quilt shops with Jane may be a different story! I'm going to make a list tonight - bring a couple of patterns with me, a book that I'm looking for a particular border for a quilt in there. I know I won't be buying any speculation fabric. I'm SO over that!

This was a very long and hard week at work. They always seem to be more intense right before a long weekend. It's like I worked at fever pitch all week. Dip & clip at 8:00 a.m., and then off to pick up Jane. I'm really looking forward to getting some inspiration - both from the quilt shops and from her. She's so knowledgeable about all aspects of quilting. I learn something every time I'm with her. But mostly I just have fun. Neat lady!

Then home to sew for the rest of the weekend. I'm looking forward to being lazy and doing things at a leisurely pace!