Glorious Sunday

It's so beautiful here today.  It was 65 at 9:00 this morning and it's now 75.  Love this weather!

I've been working like a mad woman in the Cottage.  I thought I had a couple of more weeks before my new Horn cutting table was to be delivered.  They called me Friday night to tell me it was in and would be delivered Saturday afternoon.  Yikes!  I had done a lot in the Cottage but I still had boxes to unpack so that would fit in there.  I'm now about 75% done but there are still a lot of boxes sitting around.  Most of those have to go upstairs and I'll need to hire some muscle to do that.  But I did empty 30 more boxes.

I went ahead and got two cabinets to slide under each end of it as well as a big cutting mat to cover the top.  The tables aren't under there all the way so the top looks wonky.  Once the boxes behind it are moved out, then I can put it in its forever home and lock the wheels.  I already love it and I haven't cut a single thing on it yet.  The height is perfect, and my cutters and rulers will fit nicely in the drawers.

I ordered this from the Quilting Niche in Houma, LA.  I looked for a Horn dealership nearby, called them, and was able to place the order over the phone.  The owners, Debbie and Patrick, brought it to me yesterday and set it up.  It turns out they are also a Bernina dealer.  I showed Patrick the box that looked crushed that my 750 was packed in.  He took it out and, sure enough, there was a problem with it.  So they took it back to the shop and I'll go pick it up in a couple of weeks.  I can't wait to visit their quilt shop.  It's an hour away but that's close enough considering how perfectly lovely they were.  And the plus is that they also can service my Berninas.  Win/win!

All of the blocks are made for Lucy but I had to stop sewing on it to work on the Cottage project.  I'll don't know how much I'll get to sew this week because my brother is having surgery, and I also have physical therapy two days, blood work and an abdominal ultrasound.  So that's four days busted.   I'm going to try really hard to sew even for a few minutes each day. 

The best thing is I finally found all of my photo albums.  I enjoyed looking through them this morning.  There was a tearful moment when I found lots of pictures of Katie, my first doxie.

This was from November 1980 when she was three months old and I was about four months old.  (rolls eyes)  She was the best dog, extremely active, ran-not-walked, made me laugh every single day for 17 years, and she'll always have a piece of my heart.

I've been taking lots of pictures of flowering things in the yard and beds, but I won't bore everyone here.  It's been so much fun watching things bloom that I thought were dead, bulbs popping up everywhere.  Now that I pretty much know what's here, I can add to it more easily.  I love my yard!

Sewing a Little - or a Lot

I've been sewing.  I can't do a whole lot of other things.  I'm still waiting for the last window to come in (it had to be remade), and then waiting for a dry week to get them installed.  I tell you, patience is not a virtue I possess!  I did make a decision on some of the new furniture, and that should be ordered this week.

Since I've taken over the empty den to sew in for the time being, I've used this time to be a bit productive.  Of course, physical therapy two times a week, and at a place 30 miles away, has cut into my production, but I am forging ahead as best as I can.

I made Block 10 of the Designer Mystery BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Two more months and this can be assembled.  I looked at the finishing kit yesterday and am considering changing it up a bit.  Still have time to ponder that.

I have *almost* finished the Moda Modern Building Blocks top.  I was an inch and a half short on a color and had to place an order last week.  Hopefully it will come in today and I can get this one off my sewing table - and off the floor.  I'm sure I wastefully cut something to have come up short. (sigh)  This is a big quilt and I've really had a bunch of fun making it, especially working with the Moda solids.

Last week I unearthed the Lucy quilt from those boxes out back.  Carrie Nelson offered this kit shortly before she went to work for Moda.  I love the orange, black and gray fabrics.  Anyway, I decided to cut those out yesterday.  Busy hands and all ....

I still have to cut the background that happens to be my favorite dots from Minick & Simpson.  I thought if I get these strips cut, I can start sewing the strip sets between other sewing projects I have going on.  There are a lot of them to make.

After I cut the strips, I sat down and organized the strips into sets.  I used the binding clips to hold each set.  I'm ready to sew these now, and am so proud of myself for being so organized!  ;)

My new cutting table will be in in two or three weeks, so I'm going to spend time on the days I feel good tackling the rest of those boxes downstairs in the Cottage, or at least the part of the downstairs that my sewing table and cutting table will go.  I haven't even set up my Bernina 750 out there yet.  I did take it out of the box.  A couple of boxes later I found the foot pedal.  The next box had the cord, and yet another box had the knee lift.  What was that packer thinking?  It's been such a mess finding things.  I'm in my forever home and I plan on the next move being in a hearse, but I can honestly say that if I did move again, I wouldn't use that company!  I have two or three long boxes of freezer paper and I can't find any of them, and the little local market didn't have any.  It's so irritating to open a box with almost all of the things I'm looking for, only to find one thing missing and the box stuffed with unrelated items.  Another example, I found the Bose radio but the envelope containing the instructions and the remote are not in that box.  I purposely placed them on top of the radio before the packers arrived. Sheesh ...

Enough complaining.  I need to head to a larger market and I have just added freezer paper to my list.  I'm anxious to get started on the Austin Bluebird BOM!

Squeal!!!!

I am so excited!

Last week Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson announced that there would be 12 names chosen from among those who signed up with her for the Austin Bluebird BOM.  The prize would be one of twelve Austin Bluebird boxes that Moda had left over from the BOM they offered.  These came out after I had signed up with Laurie, and I was coveting that box!  Yes, coveting it!  (I'm Catholic. I confess.)

Guess what came today!!

Along with the Austin Bluebird box and Month 9 of the BOM, Laurie included two mini charm packs, Crazy for Red by M&S and Whitewashed Cottage by 3 Sisters, as well as  a sample size of Vintage Textile Soak and her Patrick's Patchwork pattern.  I thought I had all their patterns but I didn't have this one.  Now I do, and I love it!

Laurie, thank you!  My quilting cottage will be mostly decorate in M&S colors and fabrics, so this will be used and displayed prominently!

Squeal!!!