B-I-G Box!!

It was like Christmas tonight! I forgot what I had ordered from The Fat Quarter Shop, and this was fun to open! But 17 lbs! Yikes!

Jelly rolls of Madeira and The Hamptons, backings for a couple of quilts, Moda U's kit this month using the Allspice Tapestry line, some yardage, a pattern ........ fun, fun, fun! Everything is always so wonderfully wrapped and packaged! It truly is like opening a present!

This heat is really taking its toll on me. 104 today. I had to get out in it twice, and my glasses steamed up when I got in the car both times. Good thing I don't wear them to drive! Everyone at work today was talking about the rain and lightning and thunder last night. I'm sorry I slept through it because I don't think I've heard thunder for a couple of years. I love the rain. I don't even care if it's real stormy rain. I love it. Always have, even back home where it rained almost every day. I just think there's something soothing about listening to rain.

Just one more day to wade through before the long weekend. I don't even know what I'm going to work on, but I do want to spend one day working on the giterdun borders. I need to get that thing out of my life! I guess I need to get organized on the Thimbleberries Hometown Christmas project, and I'm sure there will some appliqueing going on. But whatever else I do this weekend, I must buy food! Jane baked up a batch of my favorite peanut butter cookies, and my dinner for the last two nights have consisted of three cookies and a bottle of water. Man does not live on cookies alone! Well, he might! But I shouldn't!

I'm off upstairs to snuggle in with my new DVD of "Steel Magnolias"!! Thank you, Jane!!

Gratutides:

~ A/C is on the top of my list today!

~ A good, productive day at the office.

~ Deciding my next applique project!

~ A/C! Did I mention that already?

An Observation in Target

I mentioned going to Target a couple of nights ago and only spending $56. Hooray! I couldn't help but overhearing a mother/daughter "conversation" just as I walked in the store.

This mid '30s mother was hustling herself and her 10ish year old daughter towards the door. The mother was literally screaming at the girl.

"You were ARGUING with me!"
"No, Mommy, I wasn't.
"YES, you were."
"No, Mommy."
Even louder, "You were! You were arguing about whether those shoes had high heels or not."
"No, I just said --"
"You WERE arguing with me. You said they were high heels and I said they weren't. You were arguing with me."
"But --"
"See? You're arguing with me! If I say something, don't argue with me. Why do you always have to argue with me?" It went on and on until they were out the door.

This is where my mother, Minnie, would have quietly said, "Just wait until I get you in the car." Yeowie! We all know what that meant! ROFLOL

Maybe this is why I only spent $56. Hmmm...........

Blast from the Past!

Wow! I had totally forgotten about this UFO until someone asked me about it tonight! Ignorance IS bliss!

I really want to get back into this one, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to take the class again. I remember being so confused. I managed to get the footballs all made, but was having trouble getting them sewn to the goalposts. Does that make sense?

Well, I'm in no hurry. It's been in a dresser drawer for over two years. But I did say tonight that if this one isn't finished in my lifetime, that I'm taking it with me!! LOL. So back off, all you dibbiers!

It was 102 today. I had to run an errand in the middle of the afternoon and I couldn't even touch the steering wheel. It's a good thing I just had to go around the corner. I drove with my knees! Oops, I shouldn't admit that, I guess.

I keep pulling stuff out the stash room and hauling it downstairs. You should see this place! Now this is on the dining room table. That was about the only clear surface in the house! LOL

We're not Building a Piano Here!

That was what my dear Dad always told me when I'd get so frustrated trying to do some perfectly. I was such a little perfectionist growing up. Things had to be perfect; otherwise, I would do them over and over and over until they were. When he'd see me just about fit to be tied, he'd mosey over and say, "Bebe, we're not building a piano here." I heard that my whole life and didn't truly understand what it meant until I started quilting!

Most of my friends already know the "why" part of why quilting was so difficult for me at first. It was so totally frustrating for me to try to do something and have it turn out so terribly wrong. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't even remotely perfect. Not even from that galloping horse. Just when I'd be at the point of chucking the whole thing in the waste can, I'd think about that gosh-darned piano.

I was reading Kristie at http://quiltharvest.blogspot.com/ tonight and I thought of Dad again. She mentioned being scared to cut into a Thimbleberries kit, and then tried to point out to us some points that she perceived as not perfect points. Well, Kristie, that quilt looks perfect to me! A perfect piano!

I told a new appliquer last Thursday night that she wasn't building a piano - and she looked at me like I was chewing bugs! I should have 'splained that one to her! LOL. I'll save that one for the next time she's frustrated!

I guess the whole point of this blog -- besides the fact that I miss my Daddy terribly, even though he's been gone 34 years -- is that I've finally given myself permission to make mistakes! I don't lay awake at night worrying about them. If it's fixable, I fix it. If not, I move on and chalk that one up to experience. I've decided that every quilt made by me and by you will end up being loved by someone, perfect or not!

Gratitudes:

~ Countdown to the long weekend!
~ Making it out of Target for only $56 last night!
~ No boxes on the doorstep tonight. That's a good thing!
~ Pianos!

Hometown Christmas Challenge

Knowing that Kim over at http://www.kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/ is a Thimbleberries fan, I mentioned to her that I had unearthed the Hometown Christmas kit from the bowels of my bedroom closet. She said she had it also, hidden somewhere in the dark recesses of her studio.

Then Sharon over at http://www.redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/ admitted she had it, too.

So Kim suggested that the three of us hold hands and do it together. Kim mentioned it on her blog a few days ago, and discovered others who wanted to do it with us. I've have a couple of folks email me about joining in.

The rules are simple. We start on September 1st, and must do one section by September 15th. Then the next section by September 30th, and so on. Two sections a month. That's very do-able!! Check out Kim's blog for the specifics. This is going to be fun, and it's a way to eliminate just one more of those kits clogging up my stash room!

Oh, one more thing. Although Kim may be the fearless leader on this project, Sharon is already cracking the whip! Man, it hasn't even started yet, and she's already harassing me!! :)

Join in if you can!!!

Welcome aboard the Hometown Christmas train!

EDIT: Last night I found one set of these books on sale at http://www.backdoorquiltshoppe.com/. I also saw at least one full set on eBay - I'm sure there are others out there - if you're interested and want to do a little searching for them.

Another All Things Christmas Block

Finished the third All Things Christmas block!! I just love this project!

Guess I'll be prepping another pumpkin block this week.

I'm starting to get my holidays mixed up here!

Queen for the Week

Birthdays are wonderful, but whole birthweeks are fantastic.

I can't even begin to describe how blessed I feel today. Thank you to everyone - and you know who you are - for all the wonderful goodies! Books, patterns, a needle saver, red and green fabrics, Yankee candles and candle holders, jelly rolls, luscious charm packs, an electric knife (there's a story there!), birthday cards, cake, online wishes, wonderful emails, phone calls, dinners ........ who went and elected me Queen for the Week?!!

I was going to put everything away today, but I think I just might keep it all out and pet it some more! While everything will return to normal next week, the wonderful memories of this week will last forever! Thank you so much!

Gratitudes:

~ I LIKE being 56!

~ Birthday cake for breakast! I can do that. I'm 56!

~ Leaving everything out to enjoy for a while. I can do that, too, because I'm 56!

~ How about birthday cake for lunch? Yep, you guessed it, I can do that! I'm 56!

Introducing a New Blogger!

http://fabricalchemy.blogspot.com/

You must go visit her blog and say hello! She's such a sweetie! And she's got a beautiful doxie-mixed dog named Bentley! Bentley is an oldie but goodie! And judging from her last post, she loves shopping as much as I do!! LOL

Long Week is Over!

What a week! I'm plumb tuckered out tonight. I hope I can sleep in a bit in the morning. The only thing on the agenda for tomorrow is to get the filthy car washed and then head over to Jane's.

I've been having so much fun on these BOMs I'm doing that I signed up for another one! I know, I know, you don't have to say it. This one popped up on The Fat Quarter Shop and I couldn't resist. I've never really liked mysteries too much, but this one has me intrigued. About this time next year I'm going to have lots of BOMs finished at the rate I'm going! LOL

http://tinyurl.com/3c2f7f

Oh, Kimberly also has a new fun game on her blog. The Jolly Jabber link is in my sidebar. Check it out!

The flowers in the house smell so good. I have two beautiful arrangements here that I received for my birthday this week. I used to buy flowers every Friday night at the market and make an arrangement using greenery from my yard. I need to start doing that again. Flowers make me happy. Of course, I don't have a yard any more, but I'm sure those shrubs outside could stand to lose a sprig or two from time to time! :)

I did figure out why it's been so hard for me to get up in the mornings lately. A couple of months ago the power went out, and I had to reset all the clocks. I keep the alarm set for 5:00 a.m., but until I reset the clocks, I was always awake when the alarm went off. One morning this week I was rushing to get dressed because the clock on my bedside table said it was 7:30. That's too late for me to be leaving the house. I came tearing downstairs and was trying to round Daisy up in the kennel when I noticed the clock on the mantle. It said it was 7:00. The microwave clock said 7:00 also, as did my computer. OMG, my clock upstairs was half an hour fast. I had been forcing myself up at 4:30 a.m.! LOL. Sheesh, you can't take me anywhere! I don't even look at the clock once I'm up because I know how long it takes for the doggie walk, the coffee to cook and shower/hair time. I can't believe it took me that long to figure it out. What a dutz I am!

Finishing the third All Things Christmas block is on my list of things to do this weekend. In fact, I'm going to work on it tonight, so it should easily be finished by tomorrow. Then I guess I'll prep another pumpkin block. I've been enjoying the evening applique. I am going to sew Sunday, though, on the string quilt. Miss Bernina needs to be turned on!

And for sure one thing I'm going to do on Sunday is tackle that huge stack of magazines and quilt books that have piled up over there. My bookshelves are full at the top of the staircase, so I'm going to have to make room for them downstairs. I sure can't enjoy them stacked in that pile!

Nashville Show

Judy called last night from Nashville. Our quilt is hanging! This is exciting for me. Of course, there's no ribbon on it, but that's just fine with me. Judy's Licorice Delight didn't ribbon either, and it's a stunning quilt. (sigh)

Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Boss was lovely last night. I was comfortably full after the meal, and then they popped out with the birthday dessert. Oh, my! A pastry tart with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries, drizzled with caramel. That put me over the top. I had to waddle in when I got home. Next week I must go on a diet! Next week!

Tonight is Applique Club. I packed up my suitcase this morning with a couple of show and shares that will show layering, etc., to the new folks in there. It would be easier if I didn't have to bring so much stuff with me. This time I've packed the light box. Daisy freaks every time I pull out the suitcase, so I just left it downstairs in my sewing room from the Club two weeks ago, thinking she would get used to it. Nope. She gives it wide berth. LOL

I can't wait to hear all about the show from Judy and other friends who attended. Someday I hope to make it there.

Yawn!

What am I doing up at 3:00 a.m., you ask? Well, that's what happens when you go to bed at 6:45 p.m. I knew this was going to happen. My body is a fine-tuned clock -- ROLFOL, I did qualify the "fine-tuned" part! I slept away Saturday, so Sunday night I tossed and turned. I think I actually slept about two hours. Monday I was dragging butt at work. I seriously considered closing the door to an empty office and snoozing for an hour at lunchtime. The same on Tuesday. I barely made it home last night. I drove home with my mouth open the whole way; I couldn't stop yawning. Got home, took Daisy out, and then headed upstairs just to get something. That bed looked SO inviting. I slept like a rock until 15 minutes ago. Maybe a glass of wine at dinner tonight with Mr. & Mrs. Boss will straighten things out. It would be real tempting to sit on the sofa and applique right now, but I'm going to head back to bed and try to go back to sleep.

It's my birthday today. I'm officially 56. I told someone this week that I can't figure out when that happened. I don't feel 56; I don't act 56. This one has bothered me a bit. You know those age categories you have to check on a questionnaire, 46-50, 51-55? Now I'm in the 56-60 category.

Trying to put a positive spin on things, I was thinking about the advantages to being 56. I might need some help with this one. I qualify for senior citizen discounts at restaurants. I could join AARP. I'm a protected worker because of age. I don't have to explain myself when I get sassy. That's all I can think of at the moment. Any others?

Age is a state of mind. I've decided for just today I'm going to be 29. All day. All 24 hours of it.

Mail Day! Yikes!

This is almost all of the stuff that arrived here on Saturday and today. I say almost all because there were also two birthday boxes from friends.

The envelopes on the left are the Patchwork Party blocks and the finishing kit from the Fat Quarter Shop. I only have one more envelope to get, but I received two from another shop. I need to call them. The monthly charms came from the FQ Shop as well today. Then two other BOMs came -- no, I haven't started these. All in good time. After all, I will need something to work on in The Home!

And then to top it all off, the Keepsake catalog. I'm not even going to open that one! It's going straight to the recycle bin. Well, maybe just a peek. No!!! No!!! No!!!

I'll bet the postman was wondering what the heck was going on today. LOL. I remember that poor postman at my ex-house. He used to ring the doorbell on Saturday, and when I'd open the door, he'd say, "More quilt stuff!" Every weekend the same thing. I know he was sorry to see me move (said with much sarcasm)!!

It is okay to say "postman"? Postperson didn't look right. Honestly, I get absolutely lost in the political correctness these days. It's baffling. When I played basketball in high school, we practiced good sportsmanship. Didn't bother us any. And I heard someone this morning on TV correct himself. He said, "She's a wonderful actor -- I mean, actress." I thought actor worked fine. And

This is going to be a crazy week. Tonight I stopped for a manicure and didn't get home until about 7:30. Daisy had managed to get her kennel door open again, and greeted me at the door. She's been so hyper since I got home. It makes me wonder what she did all day! Hmmm....

Tomorrow night I've got to run a bunch of errands after work, and also pack up my suitcase for the Thursday night Applique Club. I wonder how many will show up. I hope they all come back. LOL Then Thursday night it's straight from work to the quilt shop for the Club. By Friday I'll be totally worn out! Good thing it'll almost be the weekend!

I finally got Melzie's 300th blog prize mailed off today. I felt horrible that it took so long. Getting to the mailing place or the post office is just plain difficult for me with rare lunch breaks and working past when they close. But it's off to her finally and should arrive Thursday. Melzie, enjoy!!

I've plumb run out of clothes. All of my summer clothes are looking pretty "used" - and only fall/winter things are in the stores now. Don't they know we have ten minutes of winter here? I guess I'll go digging in the closet to see what else I can unearth for a couple of more months. I'll have to remember to go shopping for summer clothes in December.

I'm so jealous of all those ladies (yes, you Judy!) who are going to the Nashville quilt show. I wish I could see the strawberry quilt hanging. I'll probably never have another one hanging in a show. Oh, well, I'm sure they'll get lots of pictures. But I'm still jealous! LOL

I'm really behind on reading blogs -- well, not far behind on reading them; just far behind with leaving comments. That's what happens when I sneak a few minutes during the day to read one or two. I'll try to be better about that! Beautiful stuff being created on our little ring!

Gosh, reading over this blog, it's really a potpourri of topics, isn't it? :)

Gratitudes:

~ It was only 100 today!! Yipee!

~ Giving thanks that Hurricane Dean is not going to hit Texas/Louisiana.

Pumpkins

The picture I couldn't post yesterday. And Daisy always has to run over and drop a toy in the picture. It's play time for her when I put something on the floor to photo. Silly dog!

I slept away the day yesterday. My body must have needed it but I've got a lot of catching up to do today. I need to run errands, but I don't want to get out. I might just piddle around with housework and stay inside. Checked the freezer, and I've got some ground sirloin in there, so a pot of spaghetti might be on the meal agenda.

Will anyone fess up to doing the Patchwork Party that just started? I've joined the party, and four of my blocks have arrived. I really want to get started on those, but I'm going to wait until a night this week to start making them. I know myself well enough to know that if I even open the first package today, that I'll spend the whole day working on them. I'm normally not a fan of black on quilts, but this fabric did sing to me. Yep, the fat lady was singing .... (sigh). The finishing kits were all quite lovely, but I decided to go with the one from the Fat Quarter Shop because it wasn't so dark. Plus it's a fairly simple setting that I might actually finish.

It occurred to me that some out in bloggerland might think I work for the FQ Shop. Nope, just a devoted customer. Kimberly's site is so easy to navigate, and it's always the first place I go to when looking for something -- or just looking. Besides, if I worked there, I would have zero money left over from my paychecks after I paid my tab each month! I would be sleeping in my car! LOL. Since I'm real lousy at posting links, I've got the FQ shop over in my sidebar for easy poking if something I mention appeals to you. But be sure and tell me when I can put another notch in my megging belt! :)

I can barely even get to my cutting table or sewing table for all of the fabric sitting around. Cleaning up that space is on the agenda today, as well as repacking that suitcase with the stuff I'll need to bring to the second Applique Club meeting on Thursday night. And I'm so far behind on washing. I'm heading over there right now to get those machines running. It'll be an all-day process, I'm sure. I hate hearing appliances running so I delay turning them on. At 2:30 this morning I came downstairs and started the dishwasher.

Another thing I want to do today is iron the batiks that I washed last weekend, and cut my foundations so I can get Judy's string quilt made. Another project that I won't be able to stop once I start sewing. It's going to be so pretty! I picked up a backing for it last week, so I'm all ready for this one to be a quick project.

It's almost 7:30 am. The day is wasting away. I'd best get at it.

Slug Day!

And, boy, did I need it! I actually slept until after 7:00 this morning! Gasp! I know! Haven't done that in eons.

Finished the third pumpkin block. I have to embroidery the stem caps on Blocks 2 and 3, but I can do that later. Fixing to prep the third block of All Things Christmas. (Chuckle here - Jane hates it when it say "fixing"!)

That's the problem with appliqueing. I applique in spurts because once I start, I don't want to turn on the sewing machine. Okay, tomorrow I sew!

Speaking of sewing machines -- well, sort of speaking of sewing machines, check out this new gadget that's coming soon to the Fat Quarter Shop. The SideWinder!

http://tinyurl.com/2qj3nd

I usually load up about a dozen bobbins at a time, but darn it if I don't run out right in the middle of something important. That means unthreading the machine to wind bobbins. Voila! I can't wait to get one of these. Best invention since the rotary cutter!

I was invited to dinner last night with Ginger, Linda and Jane. We had a great time. We went to the Macaroni something. I forgot the name of it! LOL. But it was fabulous. I had the twice-baked lasagna. It was enough for three people, so guess what I'm having for supper tonight.

Don and I talked for an hour today. He's had the second cataract surgery, and is just amazed at how clear the world is now. He said the only problem he has is he still puts on his glasses out of habit, and can't see a thing through them. LOL. Gail is still in the cast on her arm. Did I mention they were in a car accident three or four weeks ago? She said her chest is feeling better now, too. It was so sore after the accident that she could hardly breathe. No broken ribs; just lots of bruises. There's one spot in a breast that still has a really sore spot and she feels a lump. She thinks it's just from the seat harness, but she's going to have a mammogram next week just to be safe. It's their turn for some good luck. He's carefully watching the Hurricane Dean news, although if it stays on its present course, they won't be affected by it.

The blogger picture button doesn't seem to be working today, so I'll get a picture of the pumpkin block posted another time.

Yawn! It's 2:30 in the afternoon, and I feel like I could take a nap. Hmmm, maybe I will!

I've Been a Bad Blogger!

And terribly remiss for not posting Darlene's gorgeous pincushion earlier! What a beauty! I feel so lucky to have won one of them! Thank you, Darlene! I love it!!

This week has been so hot. How hot is it, you ask? I left work today and it was 103. I work down in a valley. Usually climbing out of that valley on the freeway it cools down. Today the thermometer in my car kept going up and up and up. It got up to 112! Yikes! That's the hottest it's ever been here - well, since I've been here. Then when I went down into the valley where I live, it cooled down slightly - back down to 102! A regular cold snap! I'm sure my electric bill will be astronomical this month, but I don't care. I need to leave it on pretty low to keep the upstairs cool so I can sleep at night. I don't think I'd mind the heat quite so much if it wasn't so dusty, too. I keep forgetting that my part of SoCal is just an irrigated desert.

The third block of All Things Christmas came from Kimberly at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ last night. I'm going to start prepping it tonight. Yep, I'm going to keep up with this one all the way through to the end. I started stitching the third pumpkin block, too, last night. I'm having a ton of fun appliqueing again, but I really need to turn on the Bernina. I'll never use up this stash doing applique! LOL! I'm going to make Judy's string block this weekend out of those luscious batiks, and whatever else I can find to sew on. I know, I know, I need to get the borders on the giterdun, but I really did need a break from that monster.

Jane and I were talking this weekend about going antiqueing again. There are a couple of little towns around here that have neat antique shops in their downtown areas. It's just so hot right now. We may need to pack an ice chest full of Diet Cokes and Dr. Peppers. LOL

I baked a big ham Sunday afternoon, so I've been eating on that ever since. Tonight a salad with ham in it. LOL. It's kind of like the turkey leftovers at the holidays. This one was way too big for just me, but I was so excited to see a ham at the market that wasn't spiral sliced. But at least I've been eating at night, and that's making me sleep better. I go to bed most nights without eating because I never can remember to stop at the market on the way home. And when I do stop, I end up buying everything but food.

Gratutides:

~ Boxes on my doorstep. Such fun!

~ Reading Judy's new book from cover to cover again last night - the third time through it!

~ Just feeling really good lately.

Six Years Ago This Month

Six years ago this month I started quilting. Well, technically I guess I wasn't quilting, but I took the required rotary cutting class before I could take the beginners class the following month. I got real confused about using the rotary cutter - some blog readers may remember why - so thank goodness I had a month to practice before I had to cut the good fabric!

I had enough brain cells left to know that I needed to go to Joann's and buy cheap fabric to practice on. Of course, the fact that I had two yards of every single piece in the Robyn Pandolph line "Morning Glory" waiting for me really spurred me on to figure out the rotary cutter/ruler thing.

I saw the Scrappy Flag episode on Alex Anderson's quilt show. I can do that! Now remember that I had not taken my first quilting class yet, only the rotary cutter class, and that the old brain still wasn't firing on all cylinders.

I figure I bought probably 20 yards of patriotic fabrics at JoAnn's, so I started cutting those up into half square triangles, and started sewing them together -- with a 5/8" seam!! When those were all sewn together, I cut out the blue and the stars and managed to figure out enough of the instructions and sewed those together - with a 5/8" seam!! I sewed the whole thing together and it was awful but I was real proud of it. But I couldn't figure out why I lost all those points on the stars, and why it didn't look like the picture on the pattern.

Well, I took my first quilting class in Sept. and learned that I had to use 1/4" seams. Yikes! So not one to give in readily, I spent that whole next weekend taking off that first blue block and making another one using 1/4" seams and sewing the flag back together. You guessed it, I didn't fit. So I just put a strip of red across the top. Now my flag was done, and I was ready to figure out the quilting part of it. But it still looked horrible.

And to add insult to injury, my maid, Lupe, who was studying for her citizenship test, informed me that I didn't have enough stripes on the flag, so I made another row or two. Now the flag was square! Who has ever heard of a square flag? It had a blue square with 1/4" seams, sewn to red and tan blocks with 5/8" seams, a strip across the top to make it all fit - and it was square! I was ready to throw the whole thing away and give up quilting.

Confession is good for the soul. I didn't throw it away. I wadded it up and stuffed it in the bottom of wire basket holding all those patriotic fabrics from Joann's. I found it this morning, and decided to share it with the world! Aw, sheesh, I really am going to do this! I just threw the wadded up mess over Daisy curled in her quilt on the floor, and snapped it. I'm going to post this before I change my mind.

I guess the reason I was thinking about this today -- JUDY'S BOOK CAME IN THE MAIL!! I'm so excited! The book is just gorgeous, and the quilt I made for her is on Page 33. I won't post a picture of it here. This is Judy's book and her moment to shine! I fixed a cup of coffee and sat down to read it. I was reduced to tears to see that she mentioned my name in the Acknowledgements. She didn't have to do that. I love you, Judy! Thank you for turning me into a quilter. Perhaps if you had seen my first attempt, you would have thrown up your hands and given up on me completely!

Strings for Judy

Okay, I know we're supposed to be using our stash on this one, but I walked in Ginger's last night and these batiks had just come in. They were just sitting on the counter. I mean, what's a gal to do!

I love batiks and have a lot of them, but none of them in these wonderful colors. Most of mine are more fall colors. So I picked up a focus and some quarter yard cuts, and I'm all set to make a string quilt for Judy's August challenge. I'll send this one to Judy, along with a few bucks for batting and postage. Thank you, Judy, for taking on yet another project like this! You're da bomb!

This week was a good one. Lots of things were accomplished, although little on the quilty front, and I felt good when the week ended.

One thing that happened and that I'm real excited about is the new Applique Club at Ginger's. Back in May or June, I mentioned to Ginger that I wished the shop had an applique group. She said to give her a proposal. Huh? Well, that sounded like a challenge to me! LOL. So I did, and she went for it. The group will meet for now the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from 6-9 p.m. This Thursday was the first meeting, sort of a meet and greet. There was a good group of all skill levels. Ginger says since this was my bright idea, that I had to get it started. So I brought some appliqued quilts and tops, gathered up notions that might be of interest to them, and stepped into it. The meeting went really well. There's an adorable 12 year old child named Katie, and her mom who both want to learn to applique. Katie is an accomplished embroiderer, so this is the next step for her. Betty is an advanced appliquer, and the rest of the group ranged from advanced beginner to advanced intermediates.

I have new respect for quilt teachers! I was SO tired when I got home. I talked for three hours -- that was hard! Quit laughing! It was! But everyone seemed really interested in what I had to say, so they actually listened! There were lots and lots of really good questions that, hopefully, I was able to answer. The last 45 minutes we all went out into the shop and looked at patterns, fabrics, notions.

It was really funny in class because I said that instead of picking out a solid, flat color for their applique, they should choose something with movement. Someone asked me what I meant by that, and I just happened to have a dozen or so FQs I had pulled to demonstrate what I meant. :) FQs that read as a solid but that were either TOTs or that had some small design in them. Well, when we were out in the shop, I stood back and listened to what each little group of them were discussing. Everyone was talking about movement .... and saying things like, "Does this have enough movement? No, no, that one doesn't have enough movement; this one has more movement." So I guess if nothing else comes from this group, at least they'll look at fabric a little differently!

A fun thing I thought I would do, at least for the first meeting or two, was to have FQs that would be given as prizes to those who had a show & tell or who asked a question. I just wanted everyone to get involved in this group. So I decided that whoever asked me this one particular question that I've been asked every single day for the entire 13 years I've been in SoCal, that they would win the first FQ of the night. I talked for a few minutes, and then asked if there were any questions - and that there was one particular question that I fully expected to be asked. This lady raised her hand and said, "Where are you from?" Hooray, we had a winner. I tossed an FQ to her, and everyone laughed. So the questions started coming, and everyone went home with an FQ. I think they enjoyed that! I know I did! But most importantly, everyone participated and there was lots of laughing and catching of FQs that were lobbed towards them!

I'm hoping that after the next meeting, everyone will be sitting and stitching so that I can do the same. But someone had to be the leader and get it started. I need to quit volunteering for things! LOL

\This weekend will be spent piddling around the house, after my dip & clip this morning, of course! Jane and I might head out to a quilt shop later today. Like both of us really need to do that! :)

Gratitudes:

~ The gift of gab that does come in handy sometimes. LOL

~ A productive week at work.

~ The nights cooling off nicely, making for an enjoyable doggy walk.

~ Judy's new book! The most exciting thing of all!

~ Friends!!

Last Silly Post - I Promise!

But, hooray, I found my pictures. Oh, great, you say? Last one, I promise!

The Mallard Duck. My mother really did love me, but you'd never know it judging by some of these dance costumes! And check out those itty bitty bangs. What's with that? LOL

I remember in our recital, we were dancing in a V formation. We're ducks, remember. The lights were flashing and there was a thunder sound on stage to go with this mallard duck music. We all had to do these turns, and the hook on the end of my wing caught in the next dancer's tutu. Well, I froze and she twirled and twirled and twirled. And the rest of the performance I had her entire tutu flying around the stage off the end of my wing, and she was tutu-less. It all came off of her! LOL.

What you can't see in this picture is this ridiculous dark green satin cap that looks like a swimming cap, with a white thing that went around your throat. I guess it was supposed to look like a mallard's head. Yeah, right, a mallard with bangs!

Dad had an old movie camera and caught the whole thing for posterity. Mom was mortified. (hee-hee) Don had those old movies, but I guess they all burned in his house fire. Just as well. (rolls eyes here)

Okay, back to the present. Quack!

This Was Fun!

I threw this together in about four hours today, applique included. I hope to get it sandwiched and quilted next weekend. Jane was working on a quilt out of this Holly Jolly fabric yesterday, and it made me want to cut into a charm pack! LOL. And it's the first time I've used a charm pack after collecting them for forever! I need to get to working on all those FQ towers, too. They've seasoned long enough!

This is a Pieces from My Heart, Sandy Gervais pattern. I ordered it from The Fat Quarter Shop. It calls for one charm pack, 2/3 yard for the backing, and 1/4 yard for the binding. It's 18" x 36".

Today was real relaxing. I have a big sewing mess to clean up, but that's okay. It was a good sewing weekend with a finished pumpkin block and this tablerunner flimsy to show for it. Hopefully I'll get more sewing in this week. I want to prep more applique. It's relaxing to sit and stitch when I get home from work.

Pumpkins

Two down -- a lot more to go!! What a fun day working on this block! The BOM is from www.patchworkgardenquiltshop.com.

Getting ready to go chow down on some hot raisin bread right out of the breadmaker! LOL. Jane's sitting over there sewing on a Christmas quilt, and Daisy's looking for handouts!

And I'm trying to stay off the computer because I'm wanting to go shopping and poking buttons. Best I get back to sewing!

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who jumped on the "pickmepickme" bandwagon.

The winner of my 300th blog giveaway is ...............

MELZIE!!!

Congratulations, Melzie!! Email me your snail mail address, and I'll get this box out to you on probably Tuesday! Enjoy!!

Now back to my pumpkin!!

Testing the Picture Thing

Hey, it worked - sort of. This is from Picasa. I've got a lot to learn about -- well, about everything, but this is was good as it got at midnight last night.

Might as well talk about this picture since it's here and I may never be able to put another one up. These are the first two blocks from Bunny Hill Designs' "All Things Christmas." The angel still doesn't have a face, and the embellishments will go on after its quilted. And the two blocks aren't sewn together yet. I'm actually doing this BOM as they come in. Amazing - especially in view of the gazillions of BOMs I've collected for the past few years. Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop did a fantastic shop of putting this BOM together. I've become a real fan of her shop. Sort of like my QuiltMobile ad line, "The ultimate shopping machine!"

I should have taken a better picture. Matt hooked up with me remotely last night and downloaded the Picasa software for me. I don't know what's wrong with my HP picture software. I'm getting all kinds of error messages and it just shuts down. So I uninstalled it last night and reinstalled, which I thought would surely take care of the problem. Nope. So I gave up and started playing with Picasa. An online friend helped me this morning figure out how to crop and rename the picture. I just threw these blocks down on the floor and snapped a quick picture so I would have something to practice on. Didn't plan on actually getting something up here. LOL. So excuse the wrinkles and wonky picture.

That's why Mom said you should never wear your slippers to the market. What does that have to do with downloading pictures? Nothing. But I've bored myself silly talking about that subject, and I'm sure my blogger friends are even more bored.

But about those slippers -- I grew up in a small town and you couldn't even go out in the morning to get the paper without seeing someone you knew. When I moved to SoCal, I figured I wouldn't have that problem. I did, and I already blogged about that. But last weekend I went over to the brand-new Albertson's in the brand-new shopping center which is off of a brand-new exit off the freeway right by my house. I debated about getting some decent cloths on before I went over there, and decided I'd better because you never know. Sure enough, I had been in the store about five minutes when I heard, "Vicky?" I turned around and there was the CEO's wife. Turns out she loves that brand-new store and drives all the way over by my house to shop there. Good thing I didn't have on my slippers, huh? LOL.

The prize drawing will be today when Jane gets here. She gets to do the deed. I've already boxed up everything, so the prize winner will have to snap a picture if she/he wishes to. Thanks to all who commented, and good luck to everyone!

And speaking of prizes -- I got Darlene's pincushion in the mail last night. It's adorable. I'll post a picture later. That is, if I can replicate what I did to get this one up here! LOL. Darlene, thank you!!!!! It's gorgeous, and absolutely my favorite colors! You are a perfect sweetie!!! Thank you thank you!

Yesterday was one of THOSE days! So I thought maybe a hormone shot would cure all that ails me. I had to go to the clinic to pick up a physical. Might as well get one while I'm there. Wouldn't you know it ... I got the brand-new nurse lady. It took four sticks and calling in her supervisor before those hormones got where they were supposed to be. All I wanted to do when I got home was put an ice pack on my butt! I know Kim will come up with something suitably smart-alecky in her comment! Go fer it, Kim! I actually laughed through the whole debacle - it was one of THOSE days, after all!

I'm about two-thirds done with the second pumpkin block. I love pumpkins, so this one is a lot of fun.

That's it from the home front. I must straighten up this joint before Jane gets here. I know she certainly doesn't mind quilty clutter, but there's a limit!

Exciting New Blog

Check out Kimberly's new blog:

www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com

This is so exciting! Miss Emma is precious, and having Anne Sutton as the first guest is perfect!

Congrats, Kimberly! It looks wonderful!