Thinking Ahead to Christmas

I made this quilt probably three years or so ago for my niece. But I couldn't give it to her until I made one for her sister. Well, I've procrastinated long enough. I will start Lisa's quilt this weekend. It wasn't like I didn't have the best intentions. In fact, the focus fabric was purchased with her in mind when I first started quilting five years ago. They are both getting quilts for Christmas!

Kyra's favorite colors are pink and green, so the Robyn Pandolph "Secret Garden" line was perfect for her. With a lot more experience under my belt now, I would do different things with the color placement, but too late now! LOL! Queen size. Beautifully quilted by Judy.

It was SO hot today I couldn't even touch my steering wheel when I got in the car to come home. When my car was in the shop a couple of months back, they reset all the computer gadgets, and now my temperature gauge is in Celsius. I had to look up the conversion when I got home. 40C is 104F. 104! And that was at 5:20 tonight. I'm too old for this heat!

Gratitudes:

~ My nice cool home

~ A long four-day weekend ahead

~ Dinner with Jane tomorrow night

~ Still managing to get up on time this morning even though I was awakened by a late night call

~ Fresh rosemary

Grrrrrr.......

I hate thinking about electronic things. I really do. My internet cable service has been down for two days. So I called them last night, and they can't have anyone out until July 5th to fix it. I asked if I was under contract, and am not. I hung up with them and called Verizon and asked about their DSL package. About ten days to get it all hooked up. So I ordered it. Figured I'd be doing a lot of sewing in the meantime.

Then, lo and behold, last night I came back online. Now I don't know what to do. Any preferences or suggestions on DirectTV cable versus Verizon DSL will be appreciated.

Off to work earlier today. It's going to be a long one, but then FOUR DAYS OFF - IN A ROW!!! I'm as excited as a child on the last day of school! :)

B-I-G Ruler

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a ruler/template junkie! Just when I think I've found the perfect rulers, something else comes along! I mean, it's always something!

This puppy is a 20.5" square. It's humongous! I used it to square the poppy string quilt and it worked perfectly! LOL. I don't have a lot of arm strength and my rulers will sometimes slip because I can't press down hard enough on them while I'm cutting. This ruler is big and it's heavy and it ain't going nowhere once you plunk it down! It's a neon green OmniGrip. This one worked so well that I've picked up a few other sizes. I was worried about being able to use it on green fabric, but not a problem. I highly recommend these rulers! :)

Stopped at the market on the way home just to get a couple of things. Well, $140 later I still didn't have anything to eat for supper. But I discovered that pushing that cart around made me very aware of the sore spots in my shoulder. Guess I need to baby this thing along. I could just kick myself for falling like that. I suffered for four and a half years with the shoulder, and had such tremendous relief after the replacement. I'll get back there. I just need to take it easy for a bit.

Aha!!! Picture posted!

Testing, Testing

Now it works. Go figure!

Unable to Post Pictures

It's been three days now. I'm not doing anything differently. Hmmmm.......

I've got two quilt tops with backings boxed up and ready to be mailed off tomorrow. I needed a little *push* on the backings, but they're done. Now to get this mess cleaned up and pull that other one back onto the sewing table.

I sincerely hope someone reminds me to take a vacation next year on June 26th just in case it's been designated "Pick on Vicky Day." Sometimes I just want to go work for a nursery and water plants all day. Of course, I'd probably be living out of my car, but it does sound enticing.

Judy, thank you for letting me blow off steam.

Jane, I miss you.

Sally, you know what I want to say.

Mar, thanks for the reminder.

Gracie, happy you made it safely home. We can talk now. :)

Leora ---- just 'cuz.


Gratitudes: Man, this is gonna be hard today!

* Downey Wrinkle Release

* Frozen skillet dinners

* Remembering that I forgot to get toilet paper :)

* Wide backings

* Laughing at Daisy when she sneaked my water bottle to chew on and got wet

Backgrounds

I had a good chat with Judy yesterday about the amount of background fabric I should buy. I seem to never have quite enough. I think we resolved the issue by deciding that I should come to visit her and we would go shopping for BOLTS! LOL!

I spent a few hours at The Fabric Patch yesterday. It was so crowded in there! I really feel for Jane and the ladies - but I know this is all part of closing the store. After I had done my shopping, I noticed that there were so many bolts behind the counter that they were almost tripping over them. So I started putting them away. I guess because I had no purse over my arm and was putting away bolts, ladies assumed I worked there. When asked, "Do you work here," I would reply, "I can help you." :) I ended up picking out a bunch of borders for ladies, finding patterns, locating fabric. I hope I was helpful because at 1:30 I was worn out. I told Jane it was funny because I have trouble deciding on my own fabrics for borders, but it sure was easy to make decisions for others!

The most interesting thing was I thwarted a shoplifting. I saw a lady who was standing close to the front door and she was looking around in a suspicious kind of way. Then I noticed that she had a Gingher scissor set that she was easing into her oversized purse. I quickly walked up to her, put my hand out and said, "I can put those away for you if you're through looking at them." Her facial expression and body language really gave her away at that point. She puffed up and looked like she was going to argue with me. Then her shoulders relaxed and she sort of smirked and handed them over. I turned and hung them back on the notions wall, and when I turned back around she was gone.

Another interesting thing - and I don't know if this happens all the time or just because it's a sale and was crowded in there - but ladies would pick up several bolts of fabric, and then walk around the store trying to match it up. I was seeing that they would abandon the bolts anywhere in the store when something else caught their eye. So I started roaming around and gathering up the wayward bolts and putting them where they belonged. One lady in particular was driving me nuts doing that. I must have put away at least 15 bolts that she abandoned. I hope I'm a much more considerate shopper than that! I told Jane to call me today if I can help in any way. I know she won't, but I'll go if she calls. They are working long hours with no hope in sight for a day off until things slow down a bit. She's going to really enjoy her well-earned retirement!

I picked up several more cuts of background fabric yesterday. And a bunch of empty cardbolt bolts. So I came home and wound all the 5-10 yard cuts I've purchased in the last week on those. Sure will make it easier to see what's there when I'm looking for something. I need to get in that backings closet and wind more of those flatfolds on bolts. It's hard to move those flatfolds around. These bolts standing on end will be better.

This buttery yellow is for my oldest niece's quilt. I didn't have enough of what I had already pulled. There's no excuse not to start this quilt over the long holiday weekend! [Well, Blogger wouldn't load the picture. I'll try later.]

Today I sew. But first I have to do a little housecleaning. Dusting, wiping down the kitchen and toilets. I've dedicated one hour to doing that! Better get busy!

Gratitudes:

* Availability of beautiful fabric

* Claritin

* Construction is finished on the new wall near the walking path. Daisy will appreciate it when they've planted the new grass!

* An enjoyable couple of hours reading blogs of remarkable quilters

* Blooming magnolia trees near our morning walk

It's Hot

It is SO hot here, and supposed to be even hotter this weekend. If you need me, I'll be in my sewing room enjoying the A/C!

Had my appointment today with the orthopedist who did my shoulder replacement. He x-rayed my shoulder, and the prosthesis is intact. He could see a little pooling of blood where a tendon attaches to the prosthesis. He said I really gave it a good tug when I fell down the stairs, but it is still attached. So I'm to just rest it as much as I can and go back in four weeks if it's still bothering me. He thinks everything will be fine, though. He's such a funny old man - told me he would like to write one prescription for me, for a one-story house! LOL!

I don't have any new quilty pictures to post. I'm still plugging along on the red and white shooting star block. The problem with doing such an easy, repetitive block is my mind is constantly designing new quilts. I think I'm up to about 3,467 now!

I miss my roses....

Safe travels to Gracie as she makes her way back to New York.

Gratitudes:

* A good health insurance plan at work!
* Leora is back home for good!
* Deb's mom, Blanche, is out of the hospital and doing a lot better!
* Jane and Marlene's inspirations!
* It's Friday!