what's gone on this past week

Boy, this should teach me not to take so long to post. 3rd post in one day. Then I promise I will hush up, LOL.

As always when you return from a trip there are things to take care of on the home front--unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, errands and so forth. It was no exception at our house. I had books to list and fabric to put away on top of that. More on the fabric later.

I had done most of the binding of this donation quilt in the car when I wasn't taking my turn driving. I have shown it some time back as a top but now it is quilted. I call it Pippi Memorial Garden to honor my kitty girl but the real name was Rose Garden or some such thing. I am just being too lazy to go link to the past post or the pattern site if it even said it on the pdf file. I took the last stitch on it Sunday evening.





Here is Skyler giving the quilt one last love. Somehow I feel like Pippi would be proud of him since she was a champion quilt tester. This was the last one to go in the box as it was heading out with the others for M2M. I mailed out 14 quilts yesterday morning.. Pat is kindly quilting 3 others and 3 of them have already been sent on so that makes 20 children that will receive a quilt from my mom and me with binding help from my quilt group.

Back to the fabric---it was in two boxes and then a smaller one with scraps, orphaned blocks and quilt "toys" and notions from the man who donated the fabric. It couldn't really stay in those? Or could it? There really is not a lot of surplus space around here to store it but I could make some room in the bedroom closet if I cleaned some stuff out. I did that first--tossed some clothes, donated some clothes to the thrift store. The few things I did keep went in the blanket chest. Then I separated the fabric stuff from the boxes into types--Christmas fabric, homespuns and plaids, tops that need remodeling. Boxed those up separately. The stuff that remained? I separated it by colors but that led to going through the existing stash stored under the pressing//cutting table plus a few bins on the shelving units. It all broke down basically into reds, blacks and grays, blues, greens, purples, pinks and yellows and yardage for quilt backs. Back into the bins when I was done. I don't have enough room to devote a whole bin to some of those---they is still some of the same colors in other spots---but it is better than it was.

By Friday night I should have cut out the fabric for the FABS challenge the next day. Problem was--I had lost my glasses that I need for distant driving when I was on my trip. I had made an appointment for an long overdue eye exam that day and had my eyes dilated. Who knew? I have some cataracts developing and some changes that needs some further testing in about an week. This might have been a blessing in disguise if there is indeed something that bears watching or further treatment. BUT my eyes remained fuzzy from the dilation and I didn't think I better be operating a rotary cutter. Instead I rewrote the EQ drawings and amended the document I had made for the cutting and such for our use the next day. If anyone wants the pdf file for this, email me and let me know and I'll be happy to share it with you.

I was kind of lagging behind Pam, Pat, Norma and Cher all day but here is my finished CGF ( Cher's Gym Floor for our acronym loving bunch)top. If you have seen how theirs turned out you see how different they look. Cher and Pat did the original version with 12 inch squares of focus fabric while I scaled mine to 8 inch. Pam did as well but she didn't flip the blocks as I had originally drawn it. Norma did something completely different and made the blocks half the size and used her scraps.

The focus fabric I used was another challenge piece from my mom called Jungle River Party. She sent the raspberry red back with me as it matches the elephant in the fabric so well. The lime green was unearthed in the fabric organization shift though I believe that I had used some as a quilt back in the past--I found the cutaways stuck in with the yardage. The gold is that favorite told tone on tone that WTIL participants will remember as "Kit fabric" Ellen sent me a roll of the yardage when more was donated. All from stash--if not my own, then someone else's originally but I work on the idea at that point that possession in 9/10ths of the law if it has resided at my house for more than a few months.

Here is what my Mom did with the same fabric. Pat generously shared her directions and a tutorial on how to make one of these HERE . You can see where she had raspberry red fabric to share. I may use the leftovers for binding---or more of that lime green??? Mom also used a bit of that ubiquitous gold TOT.

So what else? My printer died yesterday and had to be replaced as I had packing slip to print. That's is how I found out it would no longer feed. 4th one of my 11 year computer life. The heating grate on the grill disintegrated and by the time the food I was grilling yesterday was done it was sitting on the flame. I was trying to find the parts online last night but we have an ancient model number I guess and no parts. DJ talked to a humanoid today and he suggested some universal parts---I checked when I went to pick up my glasses and told DJ about it so we are back in business there.

We decided to switch to Vonage and are waiting for some sort of phone router to be delivered. The CSR assured DJ that a 10 yr old could install it. DJ asked, in effect, if the 10 yr old came with it. Turns out we know of one that will be headed this way in about two wks---we might need you, Ted, LOL.

Oh, the glasses? Mom just called and found them in her car. I had borrowed the car when I met Allison for lunch but didn't remember putting them in the car for night driving. Doesn't that figure? Well, the new ones are for distance and driving and not close up reading. Save me from buying a cheap pair of reading glasses anyway.

I didn't do a lick of sewing today again and I might not tonight either. Got some library books due tomorrow so I may just curl up with one of those after supper. And so it goes...............

this one is better

I am going to change my profile picture to show the newbie kitty--need the url for google. I'll also tweak the name of blog to indicate the changing of the "guard" SOOOOOO here is a much better picture of Skyler---yep, that name is it. I like it, DJ likes it so Skyler it is. Think I'll ever get used to saying him, he or kitty BOY instead of her, she or kitty GIRL??


I have cut out a quilt top to make a memorial quilt for Pippi from a stash cat fabric and some donation fabric that I newly acquired. Pam wanted to do this for her and donate the quilt for her quilts for Mexico. She emailed the other day with a link for the pattern she chose to use--her top is done or near done. Isn't that a sweet thing to do? I'm using the same pattern and will sew a bit after supper. I want to see how the Viking is doing for piecing. BTW, my diagnosis was correct--I needed a new bobbin case in addition to the normal clean out and maintenance.
K. best decide what we are having for dinner and get out there to rustle it up.

Pippi

I had intended to write about my day out with the girls on Friday and mention my computer went south the very same day. Lost some files but hey, I lost something far more precious to me yesterday.

It is with great sorrow that I tell you that my Pippi passed away last evening. My frequent readers know how many pictures I have posted of her over the 2 years I have been blogging and how often I talk about her. Heck, she shared billing with the quilts, after all. I assume that this from was the culmination of her kidney insufficiency and heart problems. That is the nurse in me wondering concerned about the cause and effect, I guess. She was first diagnosed in June of 07 so DJ and I both feel blessed that she was with us for a bit longer. The last week or so it was obvious that things were worsening and no treatment was going to be of help this time around. She reminded me of the same things a geriatric human would experience, really.

So bear with me as I write a tribute to a wonderful kitty baby. I married too late in life to have any "real" children. For 11 years it has been Pippi, DJ and I rattling around the house and she was in effect, my child. This is no where near the same as losing a parent or another family member but to me, she was part of my family.

So, we had our girl since early March 97--11 years. The people at the shelter estimated her age to be around 2 when we got her. You see, she was found in a trailer court in LeRoy, IL along with her two orange and white babies. They had already been adopted when we arrived on the scene. I had just had to have her predecessor Tyson Tubbs put to sleep (brain tumor and he could no longer walk) --another sad, sad time. I knew that I needed to find another kitty to love or I was not going to quit crying.

By weeks end, we went to the Humane Society shelter--the cats were on the lower level of the building. The staff member opened one of the doors to a large room and about 4 or 5 cats approached us. All different colors and sizes. DJ was saying "how about this one?" "this one is pretty" and such things. Really Pippi picked me out as much as I picked out her---she turned around and hissed at the other cats like "get away from her!! She's mine" . She had one weepy eye and had licked herself bald from flea allergies on both flanks but they told me she had tortoiseshell markings. I picked her up and DJ said "I don't think you are going to get that one away from her" He was right.

She never was a lap kitty and I always sooooo wanted her to be. Oh, she would occasionally climb on DJ's lap if she thought she might get ice cream bowl lickings. Or even squeeze into his side of the recliner but she would generally slink down low when he tried to pet her. She would take lovin' on her terms and handed out plenty of kitty kisses. She was also good for pawing at the bedcovers, headbutting or circling the pillow if she wanted you up bad enough. What cat doesn't excel at that though? But mostly she got him up to feed her while I got the detail the rest of the day.

She would scare me to death when she climbed up to the rafters of the house. She amazed me at the tight spots she would squeeze into when she wanted to hide. She was a wonderful quilt tester and would also try fabric or batting if none was available. She would make it impossible to make a bed because tossing the sheets and blankets about was an invitation to play as was a bathrobe tie dragging on the floor or a retractable tape measure. She could be the floor show as she played on her catnip box or went tearing up the hall like her tail was on fire or tossing her catnip mouse up in the air and losing a pile of them under the coffee table. She seemed to know when my car came home and often met me at the door AKA her food bowl. She also seemed to be aware when it was time to start dinner always waiting for that handout she seldom got. She was the one who amazingly to the vet, blew out the ACL in her knee a couple summers ago. She was the one who never wanted to go outside but sure could chatter at the birds and act like she was going to dive through the screen if one got too close. She was the one who would alert me, by her behavior, that we might have a real mouse in the house but never catch one. She was the one who would let me share my bed occasionally but loved her window perch best, so much so that she had two of them.

DJ often said she followed me around the house like a puppy. I don't know about that but she would track the sun through the house and often wind up in the sewing room by evening. There she would watch from atop the pressing table, her perch or the fabric shelves. Of course she also had her hiding spots in the sewing room too when privacy was needed. She insisted on drinking her water on a corner of the pressing table and if the bowl wasn't there, the cup that filled the iron would do just as nicely, thank you very much. I could go on and on---she had cattitude.

So we wrapped her in a quilt that I had not necessarily made for her but became hers and DJ buried her out in the yard near the shed where no one is likely to dig up for any reason. We'll plant some perennials out in the area soon.

I will not be able to find us another furbaby till late in the week--that guy is coming to lay the laminate on Thursday and there will be too much in and out and doors opening/closing, too much hubbub to bring a kitty home. I will miss her terribly but I have enough room in my heart for another furry friend to love as long as I am allowed.

Thanks for listening.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Got your green on? I do and it is hard to miss green shamrock socks, LOL. Around our house it is also known as the anniversary of our first kiss. 30 years ago today DJ kissed me in the parking lot of Long John Silvers in Bloomington, IL. We were not even dating at that point but my boyfriend at the time had transferred to a job in Pittsburg, PA. I was wearing a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" pin and not only did DJ collect but so did the co-worker he was having lunch with. We were not total strangers at the point, I might add--he was a friend who later got promoted to No. 1 sweetie when that long distant romance ended.

I have been a quiting maniac the last two and half weeks trying like anything to get all the donation quilts done and be caught up for a change. At left, you see most of the quilts I quilted spread out at our meeting place. 11 in the shot but I have done 4 more since that time.

The Belles and I had a binding party last Tuesday. Linda C, Aline and Jane all took some of them home with them to finish up. In fact, Linda C met me in town this morning with three of them done and requested a couple more! Bless you! Meanwhile I haven't done one more stitch in the intervening time in my challenge quilt --it's there on the end. Maybe this afternoon.

I have just one more donation top to quilt---oh, so close to reaching my goal!! Eric the Red, my trusty Viking that I use to machine quilt decided otherwise. Right in the middle of #13 quilt it was no go. I think just wore "him" out. Well, it is time for it to be serviced though I did what I could to clean it out, changed the needle, re-threaded and all that. I can quilt on my Brother Inno-vis 450 so was able to finish up the quilt I was working on at the time though I was not happy with how the borders turned out. My mom has that one back to see if she can salvage them. I quilted #14 on the Brother and started #15 but hated the results and had to un-quilt 4 long vertical lines. UGH!!! Not an experience I would care to repeat anytime soon.

Over the weekend when a yahoo group was having an online retreat I did quilt one more with regular thread, SID, on a donation top that I didn't much care for and got the job done. This was a top that was given to us from an estate sale that Theramae took apart to make two tops. It is not very well done, I'm afraid. I have the other half here at home as well that needs some seams re-joined. I don't think that is happening. While it has some nice pieces of feedsack fabric in it, I would rather dismantle it to get the sack fabric and re-purpose it than quilt another ugly quilt. Fan blocks would be nice.

The two quilt pictures are anything but ugly. Jane and Sarah had teamed up on the modified scrappy nine patch before Sarah became ill. It has cool backing fabric too---some my mom sent from a Hancock's sale that looks like green and gold ink blot tests, LOL. The angel panel is one that Pat F turned in---cute with a soft yellow flannel backing. I'll get pictures of the three completed quilts when we meet again next week and I can hang them up as I normally do.

I have not gotten any further with my convergence quilt since I am still waiting for my fabric order. Not that I would have had time to work on it even it had been here. Saturday Marilyn and I ran up to Albertville (about 50 miles north of us) to take our machines in for service. On the way up the sirens sounded in a town about 30 miles up from home. Oh oh, turned out that there were tornado warnings almost straight west of our location at the time. I knew that I was going to stopping at a pet store in the strip mall near were we were at the time so we would just hold up there till the warnings were lifted. 30 minutes later we were on our way again.

So much rain had fallen in a short time that there was a fair amount of standing water in Gadsden. We had driven about 4 miles up the road and I just asked my friend "do you think we should turn around and just go back home?"-- the sirens sounded again. Tornado warnings for our home county. Nope, we best keep on going north rather than get back in that mess again! Fortunately, the weather did improve the further north we went. By lunch time it was no longer raining but remained overcast.

We stopped at the discount fabric store about 6 miles from our destination and then off to the sewing machine service center from there. We had lunch at a deli (yummy reuben sandwich and potato salad for me) and a stop Marilyn needed to make for her business. Then home by 2:30 once I dropped Marilyn off at her house.

About the only other thing I have accomplished in the sewing department lately is that I took off the sashing strips on that Pioneer Braid top that I had messed up in January. Read all about that debacle HERE. At that time Norma at Random Stitches suggested a solution when she had much the same problem. I cut the sections into squares as she did but I am using the sashing strips from the strippie I originally planned but trimmed down slightly and sewing the sections into blocks in groups of 4. (Click on the ed. note portion of my linked post to see how hers turned out--there is a link there that will take you straight to her post with the picture.) I have one row done as of last evening. It is not exactly tripping my trigger yet but it is bright, a child may like it better than me and the top is not going to go to waste. I AM afraid that I may not have enough fabric for the sashing part but I used the leftovers on a small wall hanging that is pinned but not yet quilted so it would be easy to un-pin that and substitute something else for backing.

Above you saw Pippi relaxing on DJ's bed for a change. There and his bathroom rug seemed to be her preferred spots the past few days though I know she was sitting on the (closed) toilet lid in my bathroom a good bit last night. LOL, I had to use DJ's facilities when I got up this morning as she was STILL sitting on it. Silly cat! Also a spoiled cat. She wanted up on the bookshelf of fabric so badly the other night that I removed three stacks from the three baskets just so she could climb on them. That used to be a favorite spot till I needed it for storage!

At left, DJ working on our shed. I had promised him last week that I would be caught up enough to help him with replacing the boards on the left side of the shed. Turns out he didn't need me after all. Can't say that it breaks my heart. I would do it because he asked but hey, someone else wants to do it instead?? The two guys that our neighbor had hired to paint/repair the exterior of his house saw DJ out looking at the damaged siding. He offered to do the work for a fairly nominal amount if DJ bought the materials. Plus they could get started that afternoon. Even better, they had a truck and could haul away the damaged siding and trim boards. DJ did the caulking and will finish up the painting. He was doing the prime coat in this picture. The crew is due back today to put on some gutters and downspouts to keep this from happening again.

Well, guess that's it for now. So what will it be--binding or sewing? I want to be say I finished something so I'll pick binding. It's half done at this point and I can sew later, right?

shop hoppin'

I don't know just where the day has gone but it is almost time for supper! How did that happen? I don't have to cook since we have leftovers available and will be going out for lunch tomorrow--cook's night off, I guess. I suppose I'll just keep goofing off--maybe do a few rows on my sweater or the November snowman block.

I had been on a tear with quilting some of the tops for Mexico--4 quilts done in 4 days time-- and intended to continue on that pace this weekend as well. Well, not completely done--the binding volunteers will finish up. My part is done though. BUT my pal Judy unexpectedly stopped by Friday afternoon to drop off a book for me and issued an invitation to go the Atlanta (GA) area shop hop with her on Saturday. I took me about 2 seconds to say "YES" and work out the logistics. DJ and I had tickets to the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast Saturday morning so could we leave after that? Sure! Turns out Judy had just told her husband to go to the same breakfast without her but she would go after all and meet me there. We would send the boys on home without us after we ate. Playtime!

It is about 90 miles or so to the outskirts of Georgia on I-20 so off we went. Got hung up for a good bit trying to hit I-285 North to Marietta since we were heading to Tiny Stitches. Judy had gone to the Hop in '05 with a couple of the Belles but for reasons I don't remember, I did not. She has visited the shop a few times in between and knew how to get there. I have been to Tiny Stitches once with Cher when she was visiting her sister who lives in the ATL area but no way would I have remembered how to get there. We picked up a map for the participating shops and took it from there.

Next up was Little Quilts since it is also in Marietta but we decided not to worry about getting all the passport stamps--no way since we had to get home to AL somewhere before supper and the shops would be closing at 5 Eastern time. Cher had said that Intown Quilters was her fav shop in the area--brights, batiks etc That appealed more to the both of us.

But first, we went to a Cheesecake Factory near a mall off 285--I didn't know where the heck I was all day, LOL. Yummmmy but no cheesecake for either of us. They could have had to clean drool off the pastry case had we not gotten to our seats soon. (I had Thai Chicken Pasta and Judy, grilled salmon and brought the leftovers home with us)

So the picture above shows what followed me home. From top left, a free pattern from Tiny Stitches and Intown Quilters rendition of the tropical themed shop hop quilt. Next to it, Little Quilt fats of shirtings and Civil War type fabric to add to my collection of same. I am not going to cave into the wave of Civil War Diary blocks I have seen on some blogs but I will make something with it in the future when I find a project I want to do with it. The striped fabric was included with their shop pattern along with the candy.

Moving to the right, a yard of bright green fabric. That I need for the next row quilt----a yard of fabric that "represents" us in some manner. We are to tell why we picked it out and what it means. Well, I guess I am a little "dotty", like brights and make kids quilts but what she wants us to do with it from there is unknown at this point. The red tone on tone and the red and green batiks are for the Christmas row that will be headed my way soon in May. The fat eighths in the lower right in front were from Tiny Stitches as our freebie while the batik squares were from Intown Quilters.

Lastly, the 8 fat quarters to the lower left are some I picked out for the Convergence wallhanging that we FABS are doing--check out the ones that Norma has selected! Now to narrow down which weekend we are going to actually sew this!

I got home from GA at 5 our time, just in time to fix our supper. Playtime over! DJ was enjoying the good weather yesterday and getting the lawnmower ready for spring/summer. Here's my fella relaxing in his recliner this afternoon and Pippi, above, thinking about sunbathing in the doorway. It was gorgeous outside today--almost 70 by our thermometer though as I write this the sun is setting and it is cooling a bit. We opened up the windows for some fresh air this afternoon. He got in 9 holes of golf this morning having played only 3 times in February--a little rusty would be an understatement, he said. I walked in my shirt sleeves in the mid 50's. Storms may be on the way in come Tuesday--nothing lasts forever but we can enjoy it while we have it, right?

So, none of plans worked out this weekend but I did something better that I had no idea I would be doing. Nice break away from the home routine and a good day with a friend. I'll take it! Hope you had a good weekend in whatever you chose to do.

getting ready to roll

I'm getting ready to roll on out of here for the retreat tomorrow afternoon. A load of laundry is tumbling in the dryer. The wardrobe selections have been narrowed down--some lighter clothes if the room is too hot and sweaters if it is not. The suitcase is on the bed ready to be packed. Pippi is not sure that she likes THAT idea since it is encroaching on HER space. The car trunk is emptied of non-essentials since I need to make room for Aline's luggage and sewing things too.

My sewing projects that I would like to work on are all set and packed up as of yesterday afternoon incorporating something old and something new. Do-able in that time that I have to work:

• Bargello--WIP
• 4 patch posie--UFO
• Christmas Patience Corner--PIM

We had thunderstorms and tornadic activity here in Alabama on Sunday and I had intended to get some bargello sewing done. Instead I had to bail from the computer and sewing machine for a good chunk of the afternoon. To make good use of the time, I cut bargello strips and paired them up for sewing the last two stratas. In the end, the only sewing that got done Sunday was joining the subcut sections for the 3rd panel and adding it to the two I had done already. Then on Monday, between errands, walking and a haircut appointment , I got the 4th panel done and the 5th panel up to the subcut stage---it is about done, in other words. I hope to find some border fabric at the quilt shop this weekend as I know I do not have any long enough dark green yardage--at least so far I am thinking green will work. I need it all to be spread out and look at it first.

I did some cutting yesterday trimming a pile of print Christmas squares to a uniform 5 inches for the Patience Corner I intend to make (like Finn's and Norma's). You see who had to test it out at least temporarily. Earlier in the afternoon I had cut a stack of squares from a scrap bag from the Christmas Cloth Store. I had purchased it a month or so back when Norma and I were talking about my making one of these quilts. (The website/store is merging with the fatquartershop.com site today and the site indicates that. ) So anyway, the Patience Corner is all cut and kitted up in the pizza box, minus the cat, of course. I also cut out the sashing strips for the 4 patch stacked posie UFO so I am ready! It won't take me long to grab my sewing supplies though I know I have to wind a pile of bobbins for the machine I am taking first.

I plan on quilting a bit this afternoon and tomorrow morning so best get the packing part done. In some ways it would just be easier to stay home and sew by myself like always but no way, no how would I want to miss out on this fun time with my friends! DJ is acting like I am abandoning him and pulling that "poor me" act but it won't hurt him to miss me a little. Good company, good food and shopping plus a break from the home routine? No contest. I'm there!

Monday, Monday.............

That goofy cat---still seems enamored with sitting on top of the TV set though that seems to be an evening thing. She even slept up there for several hours the other night. I figured she might as well be comfortable and folded up her thermal pad to put atop the flat part of the set and away from the vents. Good move till she wanted to get down. The whole thing including cat slipped to the bag of fabric below. Of course, she walked away from the spill like she intended that to be her exit though far from graceful. Pictured here, she was keeping me company while I stitched and watched an episode of "Without a Trace" I had on the DVR.

When I changed the bed linens for our guests, I also switched out the bed covers to rotate things around. Now the goofy cat will not have anything to do with her thermal pad. LOL, "give them the books and they eat the covers". Instead, she seems to have fallen in love with this particular spot on the bed. No laying at the foot of the bed or any location on the left side , this one area. HMMMMM Wonder where it will be next week?

I have gotten a bit of sewing done since my last post. During my Friday and Saturday sewing time, I got busy with moving that t-shirt quilt along. All the t-shirt sections have the black and white gingham the future owner requested around them. I will be adding what looks like a shadow to the right and bottom sides of the blocks and I got that all cut out and ready to strip piece . After that,I will fill in with more of the white to accomodate the various sized blocks. Some design time will be needed in EQ so I know exactly what sizes to cut that white sashing fill. It will look sort of like framed pictures. Well sort of like the SEC quilts shown HERE but not with uniformly sized blocks. The gingham sets off the whites, grays and reds of the shirts. One brown one and one blue in the mix but all in all, pretty monochromatic.

Yesterday was fun sewing with the bargello. I finished up the 2nd strata which was lacking the lower third and cut did the secondary strips and de-looping so I can see what it might look like. The pile next to the machine is the 3rd grouping (I am doing 5 bands for a full sized quilt). I left off last night joining pairs of 2 to make groups of 4. Once joined I'll have the 3rd strata over 30 strips completed.

A box of strips had arrived from my mom last week so I was having a lot of fun pulling stuff out of there and pairing it up with the stuff I already had cut. I am not cutting any of the strips to length, in my case 20 inches, till I am ready to use them. Mom's are cut 3 1/2 so any extras will be used for another purpose. I almost wish that I had tried the trip blocks instead and briefly thought about switching horses in mid stream, taking the first band down to 5 blocks instead. Naw, just go with what you have--too much work to rip and reinforce the seams when you have more scraps and strips to play with!

This might take a 3rd weekend of sewing for me to get closer to a finish but this one is mine and it isn't supposed to be a race.

Tomorrow is the Belles meeting. We will be making heart blocks in memory of Sarah so I need to pull the container of pinks and get my sewing supplies packed up. Yesterday I had tried to pull out my door peephole on a string that was tied to the handle of my carry along basket to get a better look at the bargello. Unfortunately as I pulled the peephole out, I yanked up the divider in the process, up enough that I cannot get the divider to seat properly. I will need to empty part of that and straighten it out before I can even think of loading it in the car. Sounds like a good "before lunch" project to me.

I am not sure but I think I have passed my two year blogiversary and this is will be my 367th post on this version of my blog. Pam and I both started blogging in early Feb 2006 shortly after Cher started hers joining the stashbuster ring. I am still in the ring while they have moved up but still blogging independently. Through a stupid error on my part and blogger not cooperating I deleted the first one and lost 6 weeks of posts so that is why I cannot be sure of the exact date. It's been fun and I am happy for the friends I have made and the people I have I visited along the way. Thanks for stopping by!

just puttering

Pippi is showing you her newest acquisition. I got her one of those cozy cat cushions that features a self-heating core and warms without electricity and FedEx delivered it on Saturday afternoon. I was thinking it might help those old kitty bones. She sits down so gingerly sometimes that I thought she must be a bit uncomfortable. Then the next minute she is hopping up on something high or running 90 mph down the hall, so who knows? She seems to like it--to the point that DJ asked me where I intended to sleep last night. (She did allow me to have half the bed and I pulled the quilt at the bottom of the bed up over me till she moved on a few hours later. )

Speaking of bones, I have got a case of the lazy bones today---no sewing or anything remotely sewing related for almost a week now. A little knitting, yes, but that is about it. Well, first it was because we expected company on Friday and Saturday. But I had another project that I'll tell you about in a second.

Actually the golfing pal came--and left--while we had gone out for our anniversary lunch on Friday. We came home to a note in the door that said it was too cold (meaning too cold to play golf---duh, we tried to tell you that on the phone). He indicated that he was heading on further south--my guess down to Columbus, GA or Jacksonville, FL where other friends live but I don't think that they were much warmer on Friday and Saturday. I think he had that planned all along based on a less than promising forecast.

We were NOT looking for him till the evening hours anyway. DJ and I had left the kitchen floor mopping detail for last and the chairs were off in the living room so good thing he didn't come in! DJ said he was worn out from his cleaning detail earlier in the morning so he just hauled the chairs back in , LOL---and did it the next day. So we will have a clean house for us---we are worth it!

I had asked about some ideas for organizing my notebook stuff in my last post. Patti had some good ideas to suggest and really it was along the lines of what I was thinking as well. Norma had sort of put the bee in my bonnet about this in a conversation recently. I hope that she will post how she deals with her paper stuff as I think you might find it helpful if you haven't got a handle on YOUR stuff.

I gave some thought to the types of patterns and printout that I have. Then Thursday evening and most of the day Friday (once I knew Herb was not going to be plunked on my couch) I sorted and culled my way through my stuff. I am basically a traditional quilter so a good bit of my collections falls into the typical types of blocks:

• hearts
• baskets
• stars
• log cabins
• fans or circular designs and so forth.

As I was going through the notebooks I found that I needed some space devoted to:

• seasonal/holiday patterns
• kid friendly patterns since I make donation quilts
• critters other than cats (cats have their own notebook and have had for some time, LOL)
• reference/technique
• home dec/totes, etc.
• Clothing patterns but those were already separated out
• I don't do much applique so I didn't feel I needed a category for that--added it to the general mix.

Some stuff I separated out by designer if it was someone that I have a good bit of----in my case that would be:

• Amy Bradley
• Billie Lauder
• Debbie Mumm
• Glad Creations
• Atkinson Designs
• Mary Ellen Hopkins and on it goes.

Other stuff fit a theme, of sorts and could be grouped together as well-- barns, country, sewing, etc.

I tossed a bunch of my EQ printouts--those are in my software anyway-- unless it was something that I didn't feel I could replicate or had a lot of notes about the set or cutting directions. I kept handouts that I had generated for the Belles but those went into the mix---baskets, stars, log cabins, fans, etc.--if they fit the criteria even though I have those in my document files too. The duplicates got tossed or set aside to share. Then I just separated things out into the named categories and kept adjusting which notebook that they went into. Even better the one with the sprung rings that would not catch all the holes on the all the sheet protectors?----it is outta here! I cleaned out the two file cabinet drawers as well. Only one notebook is currently a hodge podge but it is also the one with the empty sheet protectors so anything new will be put in there temporarily. So I feel a whole lot better about that situation!

Moving onto something that I am NOT so okay with and part of the reason why I am not sewing. I was doing pretty well on working on this till last Monday night but I have real problem child with this. I swear that I cut all the strips the same length. I know that the sashing is for sure as I trimmed them all off at the same time. I stay stitched the braid strips to keep them from stretching as they were added to the sashing. I don't know if you can tell just how badly these have turned out from the picture. Some are too long and others are too short!! Worse yet? The last set that had two pieces of sashing added to it is too short on one side and too long on the other!! SHEESH Now what do I do?

I didn't have the heart to get the tape measure out and see what went wrong. I just folded them up and put them ont he shelf---mostly because I was cleaning. It is just scrap material and my first impulse is just to toss the whole thing (but save the yellow if I resorted to that drastic a measure) No way, no how, it this going to make flat quilt like it is now. Trim the long ones off and add something to the bottom of the too short ones once I know what the heck these really measure?? My mom said to take off the stay stitching (too tight a seam, too close to the edge---no thanks!) and take the seams up a bit to make them fit. Chalk this up to experience and never make it again is my feeling at the moment-- if the measurements are wayyyyy off. I have made one of these before without this kind of mess!!

We had a gorgeous day today though pretty frosty this morning. It was up till almost 60 today, warm enough to just walk in my jeans and sweater minus any t-shirt underneath--no heavy sweatshirt, hat and gloves today. Yesterday, not quite as warm but the first sunshine in days so there were a lot of people at the park. The basketball court had about a dozen people playing ball, the skate park was full, some kids tossing a baseball around, some of the playground equipment with their parents keeping watch. Still others on bikes and walking either in the park or the adjoining trail. Even one family flying kites. With school in session I have sort of gotten used to being about the only one in the park as I walk or spotting a few walkers in passing. Guess we all were a little sick of being inside and wanted to enjoy that sunshine.

No cooking tonight since I cooked our lunch--hurray for leftovers to warm up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1-29 ED NOTE: I have gotten a couple of good suggestions both here and off post about what I might be able to do with my oh, so errant braid strips. Norma at Random Stitches was kind enough to post a picture of her salvage job when the "Bias Bogey Man bit her bad" as well---click HERE for a view of her creative solution. I would need to take the sashing strips off but those could be used elsewhere---maybe on a Chinese Coin strippie, yeah that would work. No more braid though--I'm cured, LOL. OR what would it look like if I kept the yellow on there, cut squares and chunked it into squares whatever wide they measure? Food for thought.

meetings and homefront

My quilt group met yesterday but for a variety of reasons just three of us were there---the two newest members and me. The weather was awful--cold, raining/drizzling and gusty winds so I can't really blame anyone for staying home. A couple of the girls are having some health problems as well.

I pinned this little wallhanging after I pieced some old batting strips together. The pattern is from Joined At The Hip, one of their yard long designs. Something a little different for me--first, it is primitive and second, appliqued. Well, the easy way ( fused with steam a seam 2, windowed where possible and machine button holed. ) I thought it was a cute pattern. I have some of this type of fabric but probably not all the top would call for and ordered one of their kits . My sunflowers are a little bit lean-ier than theirs but hey, it is supposed not supposed to look perfect, right? They would have given us a paper sheet to help with the layout if placement were critical. Anyway, my wayward sunflowers changed my cats position a bit lower to get it fit in the available space. I just made my chicken's legs longer. Buttons will be added for the eyes once it is quilted.

When I was telling Cher and Norma about my project when we were chatting the other day , Norma commented that the motifs were a bit like the three of us. Buddies, of course but Norma collects chickens, I have a cat (Pam, this works for you too) and Cher has a dog. Nice analogy, I thought.

My other project for the meeting was to start to stick down the interfacing on the t-shirt quilt sections--boring but necessary work--but I could still visit with Nancy and Linda C while I worked. Linda had to leave around lunch time and Nancy and I decided to go to Olive Garden for soup, salad and breadstick lunch. A few stops on the way home got me back about my usual time.

Linda C has been a busy, busy girl since we last saw her and had a couple of quilts to share with us. The pattern is "Just Can't Cut It" from All Washed Up. I believe it is one of three (maybe 4?) that she made using the pattern. Good way to keep a focus fabric intact.

The other quilt she shared is a sampler she made in a beginner quilt class being taught at the new quilt shop in Oxford. She said that she didn't made the drunkard's path block that was to be included and substituted another block. Well done, Linda!

Nancy was studying some of the reference books while Linda stitched a zigzag quilt from one of the recent Quilt Sampler magazines. I am looking for some help for her with left handed rotary cutting and believe I have the perfect source for her here in my home library---Rotary Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro since it has pictures that will help her with lining up the ruler and such.

DJ and I received word that his golfing friend will be here sometime on Friday. The weather is going to be awful and really just like what he is leaving in Illinois. I doubt that they will be able to play any golf but he is coming anyway. It also happens that he will be here on our anniversary. He may be an old friend of my husband but I sort of resent having to spend our special day with him. No special meal, no movie night, no cuddling on the love seat if Herb is plunked on it. Okay, enough acting like a spoiled brat.

I started on my house cleaning today but did a more deep cleaning than his visit really required. Baseboard cleaning with the brush and crevice tools, washed the drapes in the sewing room and so forth. Thorough cleaning in my bedroom, sewing room and living room. I'll get to the bathroom tomorrow. I even vacuumed off the thread on my 4 wall mounted thread racks and rewound all the loose hanging threads. All this led me to the opinion that--

• I am nuts. The sewing room is the lint capitol of the world and it looked like it but still, mini-vacuuming thread?
• thread is just a big dust collector and except for needing it for binding finishing why do I even have all those colors?
• there has to be a better way to store it if I had the floor or shelf space

As I was filing some quilt patterns this afternoon , I have also come to the conclusion that I need to find some other way of storing and indexing these patterns. I have about 15 notebooks of varying capacity in sheet protectors. I should have stock in the company that makes those things! I have commercially purchased patterns out of their little pouches, stuff from the net, printouts from EQ of sets that I have used, inspiration photos and articles from magazines that I have pulled out so I could toss the magazines. How do you store this stuff? By theme, designer, technique?? All of the above, LOL ? Trying to find something usually means digging through most of the notebooks till I locate what I am hunting for. Do you keep a spread sheet of location and number the books?? I am going to mull this over. Even if it means taking everything out of the notebooks (I know I have duplicates) to sort them, I need to come up with a better system. Just not till after the company is gone and before he comes back with his wife in about 10 days.
Meanwhile, Pippi just stayed parked on DJ's office chair and trying to avoid the kitty eating machine. This is her new (old) favorite spot, her love affair with my bed apparently is over. She is also trying to take any opportunity to sneak into his closet . I discourage that since I want her to get up to eat. She would stay in the closet for hours and it is harder to coax her out.
Hope all is well at your home-----

another Saturday check in

Well, here it is--another week has flown by and I have to wonder what I did all week, in retrospect. Early in the week I was finishing up my next row robin obligation--not due till the middle of February-- and got it out in the mail but can't show you that. I started on a Joined at the Hip pattern--one of those cute yard longs--but still need to do the borders so can't really share that yet either. All the machine embroidery is completed though/ Thursday was "lost day" as I was down in bed with a sick headache most of the day and yesterday I was knitting on my cardigan.

So what is a blogger to do? Well, Pippi was sitting up in an entirely new spot yesterday on DJ's bureau. I am used to her sitting on his desk looking out the window or his desk chair but up here made me do a double take and call him in to see. Later the goofy girl was up on the kitchen table sitting on the newspaper---now that is NOT allowed and she was promptly removed once she was spotted.


The biggest news flash is that it is snowing---rather an unusual event but that frigid blast of cold air from Canada is colliding just right with the warmer air from the Gulf. We had some sleet/flurries and rain mix on Wednesday and that did collect north of us about 30 miles and on Mt. Cheeha about 30 miles south and east-ish--it is Alabama's highest elevation and part of the Appalachian foothills to you would expect it in the higher elevations.

The weather wonks had predicted 1-3 inches for our band in the central part of the state from midnight last night till 7 but it didn't arrive here till about 9. By 11 this is what it looks like in my yard. Further south and towards Montgomery they said heavier snow was expected.

Now, I am from the Midwest, IL and some of my grade school years were spent in WI so snow is no big deal to me. DJ and I have been in AL now for about 10 1/2 years and this is only the 2nd (possibly 3rd) measurable snowfall and we weren't in the state for one of those. All the natives talk about the Blizzard of '93 and the weather wonks were being very careful to say that it would NOT be a freezing rain event.

The temps are going to drop to about 18 tonight so they are more concerned about refreezing, I guess though the pavements appear dry. It IS still snowing so who knows?

I took some video as well but my first attempts were sadly lacking in production value. First I forgot to turn the camera off standby and got nothing, LOL. 2nd round, I switched the camera position and all it did was make one of the bushes stand horizontally.

I'm staying home---maybe finish up my little wall hanging and find something to back it with though I doubt I'll quilt it today. I'm in sewing mode, after all and hate to change the feet and change horses in mid stream too. So I believe that I will instead finish up those Pioneer Braid strips that I started on NYD.

Ohhhh the mail guy just delivered some Christmas prints from Norma that I have been expecting all week. (Thanks, Norma!) Tempting to just veer off on another tangent. I told Cher earlier today the t-shirt quilt has got to be tackled next week. I best stick to that as I want that done and outta here! My version of the Christmas Patience Corner will be my reward for doing that perhaps? No shortage of choices, that is for sure!

this and that on a Sunday

This was a first---I don't think Pippi has ever tried to sit on TV before. The table itself , maybe. She likes to get up on the pressing/cutting table and then hop over to her window seat--that's a given. Lately though she thinks she can walk around the room without setting foot on the floor.


From the TV stand table she makes a jump over to my sewing table---parked on the braid strips I started--and then over to my desk which it to the right in the picture. What a silly goose!

I can't say that she has been a deterrent to sewing---I just didn't either find time enough to get started with the weird walking schedule I have had lately. Because it had been so, so cold with a frigid, bone chilling wind blowing and a high temps of 25 one day and barely into the 30's the next, I did go up and got a membership to use the indoor walking/running track at the community center in the town about 8 miles north of my home. DJ said to take his checkbook and pay for it--thanks for making an investment in my health changes, Honey. Well, guess what? I am officially a senior, according to , and it cost him a whole whopping $5 bucks for the year. Good to have a fall back position in a climate controlled spot out of the elements. Turns out in order for me to get my distance in I have to walk 40 to 42 laps----a little boring and hard to keep track of the laps so I guess it is better to walk for time in. I was able to wait till early afternoon and go to my usual outdoor spot the last three days. Very pleasant today though--highs in the mid 60's. What a change! DJ played golf for the first time in weeks.

So what have I been up to? Marilyn called a few days ago and asked if I wanted to ride up to a town about an hour from here to go to the discount fabric store. Sure, I said--it would be good to get out of the house a bit. She sews professionally, making doll clothes and lately, a cute hanging towel of her own design to hang off your stove handle that looks like a child's dress . (Mine is a molded handle or I would have one of these in a heartbeat). She was picking out fabrics to go with the towels and had a cart full of bolts. I poked around the store and found a few things to bring home though it makes for a pretty boring picture, LOL.

The red was a yard flat fold of a Christmas red with metallics---I have a Christmas row to do along the line somewhere. Also Norma is sending me some Christmas fabric squares to add to some that Cher sent recently and some I already own. She may post about her working on a Christmas Patience Corner quilt this weekend but Finn is the one who started her off on her journey---and now me , when the squares come, LOL. What a bad influence these two are (not!) So anyway, I got some white on cream background and WOW depending on which one will work best--I am leaning towards the cream though but the WOW will be used for something, always need some of that for block swaps and so forth. The one piece of yellow was just because I liked it for kids quilts while the other will be background for another row obligations. It is a subtle daisy print but will be in smaller less obvious pieces for a fall/Thanksgiving theme.


We went to lunch yesterday at the Mill Street Deli there in Boaz (AL) for a yummy sandwich. A Reuben and potato salad was not the most dietetic food to be eating so I declared yesterday a calorie watching holiday---and walked after I got home after 3. Good girls day out.

So what have I been working on instead? My cardigan from the neck down. I am 2 increase rows away from dividing the stitches for the sleeves so it is growing and getting heavier but still fits in the knitted bag that Cher made for me along with a skein or two of yarn. I'm having a ball knitting---I know this is a quilting blog but we all seem to cross craft. I have no desire to knit socks though!

The other thing I did today was whack up the t-shirts that will be used in a commissioned piece. I thought about cutting out the fusible interfacing as well but the desire to get that last little bit of knitting done is a stronger pull. Tomorrow, after I run a few errands hitting a place that is closed on the weekend or I would have gone today. I'll get back to the braid strips at the Belles meeting on Tuesday--good sewing project for there and if anyone wants something to do, I'll hand them some more strips and/ or the bag of two inch squares.

That's it for a lazy Sunday-----

Monday, Monday.......

Hurray! My challenge quilt top is finished as of last evening when I finished the borders. My piecing abilities were sorely tested on this one with lots of points to match where the geese points and square in a square met. Challenging mostly because the flying geese were just a hair off in size but I was beginning to wonder if I could piece a 4 patch correctly too. *SIGH* Lots of un-sewing and realignment attempts. You try to do your best work on any project and I know I can do better. Be kind when you see the pics, please? I want to post the challenge quilts as a group after our party tomorrow.

So instead, here is Pippi thinking that she can get up on the shelf where she used to squeeze on top of those three baskets. Sorry, Kitty, that ship has sailed, LOL. It was all cleaned off that she could have gotten on any of them when she wasn't interested in climbing up there. Obviously, the quilt shop yard sales and such have filled it all in again and some serious stash busting will be needed. (Finn, your quilt top is up there as I tracked down the print I need for a border from my stash---it will be one of the first ones pinned for 08) She thought she MIGHT park on the sweater parts instead but moved on. I really need to dust and just generally clean house but it will wait a day or two.

Mostly I have been busy piecing my quilt top since I last posted. DJ is waiting for a haircut, more sandwiches for lunch to spare the cooking time and so forth. I got my walking in this morning followed by 7 other stops to run errands.

Now I'm headed to the kitchen to make my contributions to the Christmas potluck--pecan pie squares and a layered pumpkin dessert that sounded interesting. The heck with watching calories for one day anyway.

Pam wanted to see a picture of our tree. I like the white lights and DJ put on the little red bows. I don't think you will be able to see the ornaments necessarily---we have several ceramic mice and snowmen/snowwomen ones that my mom made years ago that HAVE to go on the tree. Some soft ones are down on the bottom if Pippi wants to bat at them but mostly she has just ignored the whole deal. Time was, she would run off with a different soft ornament and I would find them laying in the hallway when I got up in the morning. (Like delivering dead critters to her mama, I guess, but only getting half way there with the spoils?) The tree skirt was made by my mom too.

I have hopes of starting my Christmas cards today too---DJ mailed all his days ago, LOL--while I was sewing. Just to boost my sewing confidence I want to finish up my triple rail top this week followed by quilting the last WTIL top for 07. I'll do a few rows on the sweater neckband along the way too--pickup work. A row robin obligation (hearts of some form or another) will follow and then the commissioned t-shirt quilt to prep and piece. That's the plan at this point.

checking in

Best laid plans are subject to change. I had intended for a week or so to get that last WTIL quilt in the stack quilted---it didn't happen. SO challenge quilt first and then close out the 07 year of donation quilt work.

What intervened? Well, the last couple of years other than the nativity set being put out and DJ adding lights to the cedar tree outside, I have not decorated for the holidays. Much of my previous decorating surfaces is no longer available for various reasons so I couldn't go all out even if I wanted to. Which I didn't..........

Then DJ was looking through a sales flyer and found a reasonably priced 6 foot artificial tree and bought one as a surprise for me on Friday. We decorated it that afternoon. I spent the rest of the afternoon putting other things up and going through the boxes to see what we could get rid of. I was horrified to find out both of my snow globes had lost their liquid and one was still dripping---my good Dept. 56 one that had been a gift and I don't think I can replace, gone. The other was a department store promotional one for 2000--cute but not so emotionally attached. Which strands of lights work and which don't? Why are keeping this stuff? I was able to combine two boxes and hope DJ can do the same with the inside and outside lights.


I am showing the two little quilts that are on display. The one above is a "take off" on a Tonee White angel quilt from "Appliquilt for Christmas" The golfing friend's wife and I started this on one of their visits. I enlarged it a bit and probably scaled the angels down a bit in size so I could add the line from "It's a Wonderful Life"----did the little girl say "his" or "its" wings? I recorded the last part of the movie and listened to it repeatedly before I did the stitching. I heard it as "his"

The other wall hanging is up in the spot usually reserved for my Katrinka Designs "Multi-seasonal Banner"--never did get the Santa insert done for that thing, and should. This Debbie Mumm Santa that Joy and I worked on together is up instead. As I look at this, I am reminded on our day of sewing together as well as her being my secret pal "gifter" that year--some of the fabrics in the pieced border are gifts from her. The ornament he is holding is a hand painted one from a friend in Bloomington, IL and my former quilt guild, now deceased. I also have a little wreath up on my sewing room door that Carolyn had made. Gifted quilter and gifted artist.


I have a Christmas log cabin quilt top completed and even pinned but obviously, not gracing my bed--still waiting to be quilted and antiquing up in the closet. SIGH, maybe next year. This is Pippi's "new" napping spot. She had ignored her wool throw for weeks when it was sitting on the pressing/cutting table but throw it on the bed when she had decided the pillows were the place to be and she is all over it, LOL. I picked this woven throw at the Amana Colonies years ago when DJ and I took a little mini-vacation there.

I do have hopes of working on my own version of the Oxmoor House BOM though this year. After all, I finished one last year for my friend Betsy at her family's request after she passed away. The picture shows the top though I think I have one after I finished the binding and it came back from the long armer. This was the second one she had worked on and I knew she was making substitutions in blocks from those in the project bag. It was not going to be an exact replica of the one that went to her other son. I redesigned it to fit in those blocks. I did the same for my own quilt, long set aside.

Which brings me to the next deterrent to sewing this past weekend--- Jane had given us tickets to the lodge pancake tickets and she and her mom were at the event when we arrived. She said a couple of the girls were going over to the Birmingham area quilt shop to their Christmas open house and they had room in the car if I wanted to go. Miss a day of shopping with the girls? My low back and right knee were expressing dissatisfaction with me and I had already decided to lay off a day of walking. What time are you leaving and were do we meet?

The shop Heart to Heart was featuring their HQ proquilting machine and was doing some hands on, door prizes, goodies and so forth. I got a few 30's fats, one pattern, the quilt sampler magazine for my collection. I even found some little glass bulbs to put on reindeer antlers, a block that I had included in Betsy's quilt though I used something else for hers.

Then the girls wanted to run down to Knit and Stitch in the same strip mall. I didn't even know there was one down there---let's go! Oh, the yarns were so pretty. Aline got some floss to start some redwork Sunbonnet Sue's from an Aunt Martha transfer but I was more fascinated with the sweater that one of the women was working on. A cardigan #9725 from Knitting Pure and Simple that was knit from the neck down and without sewing sections together. On display in cool variegated yard was the pullover version #9724 yarn. I got them both--only one was in stock but the owner will mail the other one when it comes in. Turns out that is the same pullover pattern that Cher used on one she made. We lost them temporarily while Aline and I paid for our purchases--they had run into the Sew Bizz shop a couple of doors down. Turns out they service and sell Brother machines and parts which is good to know as an owner of same. Terry found some fabric she wanted there. (She also insisted that we stop at a garage sale coming and going--to each their own) Lunch at Cracker Barrel and home around 4.

I found a Coats and Clarks yarn at Wal-mart the next day in fall colors that will look good with my auburn hair but not enough skeins so I ran up to the supercenter north of us and got the rest. Since the whole thing is knit on a combination of double point needles circular needles I thought I was good to go. Yikes, I was missing the #9 points from my Denise Interchangeable Knitting set I had received as a long ago Christmas gift from my parents but thankfully, the company has been sold from the original makers of the item. The new team have a website rather than the ancient address I had on file with the kit and sell replacement points and cables. I also found out that the largest sized double points I had were 8's. Found an online supplier for those since Wal-mart only had straight needles. After the fact, I remembered that I could have probably drove down to Hobby Lobby some 15 miles from the house to see if they possibly had any. Oh, well!

I wanted to knit, doggone it! I thought about the ancient knitting UFO I had--a pullover Aran knit that probably won't even fit it has been sitting for so long. It might fit my niece though. I hate sewing these sections together. That and time factors is what was holding this up---one stinkin' shoulder seam, really. Someone, somewhere (Pam?) suggested that I just join it with the sewing machine--a little hard to feed on my contrary machine but it worked. I picked up the neck stitches and have a couple rows done for pickup work, TV time with DJ. I probably won't get it done in time for Christmas but maybe her birthday. A little progress anyway. I had also started an Aran cardigan a couple years ago--the back is done and a bit of one front--as a carry along project on a plane trip. No shortage of things I can work on when the mood strikes.

Monday I spent the morning doing the calculations on what I needed to cut for my merkitties project. I did some re-designing on the corner units first since I noticed that there was an easier way to piece them then I had it in the original drawing. Once it was straight in my head, I cut it out and stitched up the strip sets. The design requires big flying geese units so I'll use the no waste four at once method there. Another part, some diagonal corners for the fill in parts. I did the Puss in the Corners and half Puss in the Corner's yesterday and I'll do a pile of 4 patches today and move on to the square in the squares if I have time. Some progress on that then before the Dec. 10th deadline. Thank heavens, this is not a huge quilt, LOL.

Well, that's how it goes around here. I think it has warmed up sufficiently to get dressed and head to the walking trail. Sun's out, breeze is blowing but up to 48 degrees so should not have to bundle up too much. I just got some thermal underwear that I could have used three days ago but I am just as happy not to have to use them.

Checking in

I hope those of you in the States enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. It was a quiet day here though we had our main meal at noon, freeing up my afternoon to finish up the quilting on a top I had been working on. We had had turkey breast and trimmings not too long ago so I fixed ham instead and tried to watch my portion sizes and no second helpings. I did enjoy every bit of that pumpkin pie though! Somehow when it takes 10 laps (almost 3 miles) around the park to burn off a dessert, it makes me think twice about overindulging but hey, it was a holiday.

I have had these pictures in the camera for a few days but really have not been online or on the computer much this past week. You can probably see the lake that is catty corner from our house in this shot. I love these Bradford pear trees at the end of our lane at the entrance to the nearby subdivision. Gorgeous in the spring with the white blooms, nice green leaves in the summer and then stunning color in the fall. Since we mainly have bushes on our own property, I sorta think of these as "ours" even though they aren't, really.

Wednesday afternoon we heard the screeching of tires and a car heading the opposite direction of the one you see pictured had to swerve to avoid a woman who pulled out of the side road near the lake---a blind spot really and there have been accidents there before and near misses. The young man wound up in the culvert near the base of the tree just out of camera range--no one hurt but it probably didn't do his front axle much good. They had to close off the road for a bit to allow the wrecker guy to haul it up and out.

Another shot of the rows of trees at the subdivision entrance---just to the right is our lane. BUT the "tree assasins" have been out working in our end of the county for the past three weeks and finally made over to our immediate area. (Asplundh contractors for the power company--we had the same company in IL and called them the same thing so maybe they are all over?) Some trees have been literally trimmed in half at the top to avoid the power lines and just look lopsided. The last row of Bradford pears bit the dust as they finally grew tall enough to have the power line run right down the middle of them. (See below?)

I am just sick about this and the people in the subdivison probably are as well. Late this summer they were also about to cut down some 75 year old pecan trees in the town north of us but that is being held up in a court case. One of those situations were the homeowner was about to chain herself to the trees to keep them from annihilating her trees and seeking legal recourse against the power company.

This is one from our own yard. Color is off a bit though as our house is a grayed-green with gold accent trim. I rather like this shade better, LOL--not fond of the green.

As I said, I have been quilting a good bit this week. When I last posted several of the Bama Belles and I had gotten together to assemble a friendship/appreciation quilt for one of our members. Saturday Jane, Sarah and I went over to Aline's to pin said top and I had volunteered to quilt it. (see below? who knows where this stuff will land on the page though)

I was finished with it by Monday afternoon and really should have had DJ close the door behind him before I took the picture---I kinda like the stained glass effect but you can't see the quilting very well. Plus I think you can see a husband outline a bit, LOL and that danged overgrown plant of DJ's is blocking some of the blocks. Jane has it now to finish the binding so it will definitely be done in time for the presentation at the Christmas party next month. I'll get a better picture once it all done.

I also did a little friendship star top that Joy had donated and my own Puss in the Corner top--both will be going to WTIL headquarters once they are completed. I guess I didn't take a picture of the PIC once the top was done but it looks much like the EQ sketch and was made from the challenge box of scraps that Ellen sent out. Only appropriate that it return to her as something usable, right? I have one more to do--a watercolor Split Nine Patch that Lois made from her scrap basket. I love it! The blocks finish at 3 3/4 inch. She did a wonderful job on it and I can't wait to share it once the pins are out. The quilt group meets on Tuesday so I can pass these on for binding and move onto the next project.

After the quilting is finished it will be my Merkitties Challenge top. Only been thinking about it since August, after all. I look forward to some piecing. Commissioned t-shirt quilt right after that. Meanwhile, I have put a few rows of knitting in my headband for walking purposes---about half done. When Pippi would not get off a quilt top I thought I was going to bind the other night I even did a bit of bluework on my snowman project--still stuck in October there. Got a small spot to fix in one of my jackets before I forget it is there again---more handwork.


Speaking of Pippi, she has decided that she does not like her dry cat food anymore. A few days of really not eating had me worried sick--were her kidney levels labs bad again like this summer when she wasn't eating? Or was she just being finicky? A test before I drug her in for repeat lab though. Since she would scarf down a bite of contraband canned food, I had DJ pick up a canned version of her prescription diet at the vets early in the week. Thankfully, she seems to like it and is eating again. It is pricey and smells awful but if she is eating and avoiding 4 days of IV therapy, I say, go for it. Here is her "new" favorite spot--smart girl as she is right smack dab on the softer of the two pillows. You probably cannot tell just how much weight she has lost from the pictures as I should have turned on an overhead light but she is really bony.

Well, that rip is not going to fix itself so off I go----