Sewing, Grand Openings and Ponderings

What a loaded title line! This weekend has been quiet. I've done a bit of sewing, applique prep, and just basically taking it easy, trying to feel better, and enjoying the moist, cool weather. I was offline yesterday until very late in the day. That happens when it rains. I guess it's a good thing it doesn't rain here often! To get the chill out of the house, I lit the fireplace and snuggled up next to Daisy on the sofa to prep some applique. If you're looking for a nice light, feel-good movie, check out "The Holiday." We enjoyed watching it.

Spooky Nights is assembled. I had a tough time, as usual, with this setting. I don't know why my brain scrambles when figuring out those corners. I actually unsewed a whole row, only to realize I had done it correctly the first time. (sigh) But I think it turned out cute! Will post a picture a little later. I forgot to recharge my camera batteries.

And the box is unpacked. Lots of borders and backings for jelly rolls and charms. It's time to start sewing some of those up! And three kits - I poked those buttons because I want to do easy stuff for the rest of the year. After seeing the peach cobbler recipe at Anne Sutton's site, http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/ I want to work on this one first! http://tinyurl.com/375wno
Can't you just smell that peach cobbler baking in the oven? And isn't this pattern and fabric just gorgeous! Beautiful and easy! Yes!!

The ponderings - just had my hand slapped while trying to reach out to someone. I know that someday the truth will come to light. It always does. Until then, I'm comfortable with the fact that I tried, but I'm now done trying. The venom and poison spewing forth from a hateful, twisted soul continues. Nothing I can do will change that.

Had a nice long chat with a friend last night. We haven't talked in like forever. We say "hi" on our online group forum, but it's special when we actually get to talk. And, yes, I was sleeping when you called! LOL. But thanks for calling me back with the time so I could set my clocks! The electricity went off for a while! Everything was blinking at me! The microwave is dead as a doornail (I need to look up the origin of that phrase) after the power outage. I wonder if there's a reset button somewhere on it. Guess I'll have to call for maintenance to come by. That's the good part about renting! LOL.

Off to see what other sewing trouble I can get into today. The slug I call a dog is snoozing loudly. Maybe I need to turn on some music to drown her out! But maybe she has the right idea! Maybe a nap at 9:30 a.m. is in order for me, too!

Gratitudes:

~ "Autumn Wreath" Yankee candle. Thank you, Jane!

~ Bacon and eggs for dinner last night. Comfort food!

~ The giterdun is loaded on Judy's longarm as we speak! More on that later.

~ Feeling peaceful

O-M-G!

Look what was waiting for me on my doorstep tonight. Couldn't even lift the doggone thing! Had to get the dolly just to get it in the house!

Don't ask me what's in it. I'm going to wait until this weekend to open it when I'm not so tired. A box that big deserves plenty of attention! I want to oooh and aaah over everything in there - all beautifully packaged, I'm sure, by Kimberly at the FQ Shop.

The weather has turned fallish. I won't get the fall decorations out just yet, though, because I'm sure the hot weather will be back. It was wonderful last night. I got so cold that I had to shiver my way downstairs to get a second quilt for my bed. I should have lit the fireplace and snuggled up in front of it.

I may be trying to get sick. I hope not. I've got quilts to make!!

I Sewed!

See? Sometimes I actually DO sew!

Ginger's 1st Anniversary Sale

I was totally exhausted when I got home. No, not from shopping.

The sale started at 10:00. I didn't get there until about 10:45. When I got close enough to see the store, I saw a line of women (and men) stretching around the building. Found a parking place a good ways away, and got in line.

There were so many people there when the store opened that Ginger couldn't let them all in at one time. However, those waiting outside were all in a festive mood. Ginger had set up a covered tented area where they were serving free hotdogs, chips, potato salad and cold water. So no one was unhappy.

Of course, I just had to add some comic relief. Everytime someone walked out of the store, I got the crowd cheering and yelling, "Big bag! Hooray!" It was hilarious.

About 45 minutes of waiting in line and then Ginger walked outside. She saw me and said, "Jane's been looking for you. We need your help inside." Of course, she said this real loudly so others wouldn't think I was getting preferential treatment. So I zipped inside, stuck my purse under the counter, and grabbed a pile of bolts behind the cutting counter that needed to be put away. The store was packed. When I say "packed," I don't think I can even describe it.

There was a bluegrass band playing inside which added even more to the festive atmosphere. Everyone in line was toe-tapping and singing along. The cutters were singing, a really elderly woman pushing an oxygen tank was doing a little dance. It was so much fun. What wasn't fun was fighting my way through the crowds to put bolts back on the shelves. The funny part was I'd head off to a certain section of the store, and before I got there, women had plucked those bolts out of my arms!

About 3:30 or so the crowd thinned out a tad, and I decided to look around for myself. It's funny how bolts you see sitting there every week suddenly become appealing in a 25% off sale! I was pretty good, though. Four yards of the black for the "Happy Hauntings" project which I'll begin in a couple of months; 6.5 yards of the light batik for a background to use up some of those batiks I have; 3.5 yards of the Chocolat paisley will be perfect for the borders or back of a Christmas applique project; and 2.5 yards of the creamy neutral just because. All of these were what was left on the bolt. (I didn't want any of that fabric to think I didn't love it!) Oh, and one Lori Smith pattern, Golden Memories. I needed sewing machine needles, but I totally forgot about those until a few minutes ago.

I'm not real good at estimating crowds and things, but I'd say there were a couple of hundred empty bolt boards when I left at 4:00. And they were still cutting fabric.

A couple of funnies that I overheard: One lady asked a cutter if there were any rules on the yardage lengths for the sale. The cutter told her one yard. The lady, in a disappointed voice, said she really wanted a yard and a half. The cutter quickly added the word "minimum." I don't know why that struck me as funny. Then a few minutes later, someone asked me if she could get "a 4/8th yard cut." Still chuckling over the other comment, I told her I was sorry but they could only cut 8/8th yard cuts for the sale. I shouldn't have told her that because she looked confused, but she laughed when I changed that to one yard. She was doubling the fabric requirements for a pattern and it just came out that way. I'm still smiling over it, though. I really shouldn't EVER work in retail! LOL

Plus, I'm not used to standing up that long. At the end of the day, my lower back was hurting, the back of my calves were hurting. My hands were sore from picking up bolts. I was a sorry mess! Of course, nothing that a couple of Tylenol Extra Strength couldn't take care of. Heck, I wish we could do it all over again today. It was fun!

As I told my online group, I'm done shopping for like forever! Truly! Today I sew!!!!!!

Okay, I'll Admit It

I'll admit defeat. I was poking buttons tonight - a lot of them. If you're going to kick me off of the stash ring, please make it painless!

But I HAVE been sewing lately! In fact, I'm going to sew a lot this weekend. But first thing tomorrow, I have to head over to Ginger's for their one-year anniversary blow-out. I don't need anything. I don't want anything. But there's going to be live music and hot dogs ........ I know, I know, putting me in the middle of a store-wide sale is dangerous. But I'm all poked out tonight!

I'm going to finish up a couple of Christmas wallhangings tomorrow. The Holly Jolly Christmas one I made a couple of weeks ago, and also the gingerbread men one. And then last the borders on the Bundling Board, and the embroidery on All Things Christmas. That should keep me busy!

I went through a few months of not wanting to sew much, so this feels good. Even the buying part feels good, because it's motivated me.

So if you need me, holler loudly. Miss Bernina will be humming away and I might not hear you!

Another ATC Block Done

Four blocks done now. Well, not totally done as there's some embroidery on a couple of the blocks remaining. The fourth block needs reindeer antlers and a rope/string from the reindeer to the package. I'll do that this weekend.

This week at work -- it hasn't been pretty. So let's not talk about it!

I was awakened this morning at 4:30 by a large thump and my bed moving. It was only a 3.7 earthquake, and far enough away that I shouldn't have felt it at all. So I was up then. No point in going back to sleep for 30 minutes. It's been a long day. LOL

Sharon at http://www.redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/ figured out tonight who my friend Jane is. LOL. I've met Sharon on a couple of occasions - although I don't expect her to remember that! But anyway, we decided to share Jane!

Gratitudes:

~ Tomorrow's another day!

~ Light traffic tonight, for a change!

~ Feeling a bit more combobulated today!

~ Trying to decide on the next project! What fun!

Spooky Nights

No, that's not my evenings here at home. It's the name of the quilt I worked on today. It's a kit I picked up at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ BEFORE I decided to collect Halloween fabrics. LOL. Anyway, these blocks went together in a couple of hours this morning, and I planned on spending the rest of the day doing the sashings and setting triangles.

BUT ........ the next installation block for All Things Christmas arrived! So I'm going to work on that instead. And I wonder why I accumulate so many UFOs! However, this quilt is going to get finished next weekend, as well as the Quilts in a Bag blocks I did a couple of months ago. It's time to start finishing up some things!

I was talking to Jane last night about some of these UFOs that are near finished. I have the red and white shooting stars that's close to done, and also I just need to get a final border on Bundling Board. Those will in line for work the following weekend.

Two UFOs a week - I can do that!! Now that doesn't include the quilting because I won't be doing that anyway. But it will include getting the bindings pieced and ready to go on when the quilts are back from being quilted. Sounds like a do-able plan to me!

This weekend was another lazy one. My left shoulder is really aching me, so much so on Friday night that I totally convinced myself I was having a heart attack. Needless to say I didn't sleep much. Then yesterday the pain was radiating across my chest. Today it's going up my neck into the back of my head. And, yes, this is my good shoulder! LOL. I thought maybe it was a pulled muscle, but now it feels more like a pinched nerve. Extra Strength Tylenol hasn't made much a dent in the pain, and I don't want to take anything stronger because those kind of pills make me feel stupid. Guess I'll be checking in with my doc next week. I HATE getting old!

I think I'm going to light the BBQ grill in a bit and cook some hamburgers. Then I won't have to think about food for a couple of nights this week!

Edit: Daisy is SO not talking to me! I foogerbooed her into the bathtub, and now she's hiding under my bed. This pout will last a good two days!!

Gratitudes:

~ Beautiful weekend with much cooler temps!

~ A long talk with a close friend today! ILY!

~ Laughing out loud at Daisy's snoring!

~ Laughing at myself a lot this weekend! I crack myself up!