Monday Nov. 23 and Thankful

I was laid off for over a year and was on an unemployment extension when I finally found a job. In the last extension they required you to post or mail 3 places per week that you applied for work in order to qualify for your check. Sounds fair enough. I didn't post for one week early on and got a letter telling me to (it was at the beginning and I didn't know I needed to and it was a mistake) send it in. I wrote a detailed letter explaining why I didn't send it that time. WELLLLLL....

almost 4 months later I get a judgement in the mail telling me I am disqualified and therefore have to pay back over $4000. GULP.

I called yesterday and talked to a woman who told me I need to write a letter explaining why I shouldn't have to pay it back and fill out the paper for the missing week and it should all be covered. I hope that is the end of it.

For that I am Thankful!

Thankful Nov 22nd

I am thankful today for my very supportive husband. We have been married for over 23 yrs. He is ALWAYS supportive of what I am doing. When it was wanting a tiny little Fiat Spyder convertable he said, "go ahead". When I wanted to go look at Long arms at a local convention, he not only went with me, he encouraged me to get the best one and start a business, something I had been wanting a long time. Every single time I have started a diet, (and there have been lots of them)....he has been supportive. Yesterday, there were two parties he attended. These were not family get togethers, these were football watching, beer guzzling, snack eating parties. He wanted me to go too. I begged off and he seemed hurt at first. This morning I started to explain and he stopped me and said he understood. I am really serious about losing weight and I know that if I go to a party with lots of food and beer (I'm a beer drinker) I would be weak and start eating or drinking or maybe I wouldn't but I didn't want to chance it. I am thinking about myself first for a change and he gets that. He supports my decision all the way. I love him so much and I can always count on him to support me in my decisions. I think that is pretty special and I am blessed.

33 days until Christmas

Yikes! I better get busy!

Thankfulness (is that a word?)

I haven't posted in a while mostly because I have been busy and haven't felt like it. I hate to post something negative so I don't. Let me explain.

I have had an awakening of sorts in the last month or so. I have had three funerals to attend in the last two months. All men in the prime of their lives. Not related deaths, btw. The first was a manager at my last job. He was sick with esophagal cancer and was fighting it. The last time I saw him was when I was laid off. He seemed well then and I had emailed with him a few times since and talked a couple times on the phone. I was sad to hear he lost his fight with cancer.

The second one really hit me hard. This fellow and I were colleages. We had worked together for many years. He always was a "higher up" than I but he was a friend. He pretty much got me in at my last job where he was the general manager at the time. He said he didn't do anything but give HR my resume, but that was enough. He was promoted to VP of welding over a year ago and I hardly saw him, but we had mutual friends and even had a group of us that would have lunch together whenever we could all manage it. He was a dynamic man. Everyone I know liked him. He was smart and so friendly and engaging. He always brightened a room when he came in. He made everyone feel special. He was one of a kind. He also was only 39 yrs old. (I think) He had a beautiful wife and two small children and he was very involved in their sports and such. Being a coach for his daughters soccer team, etc. He was in great shape and very attractive to boot. He had an injury that lead to his hobbling around and then developed a blood clot. They knew about it. The doctor told him to take aspirin to break it up. One Friday evening he was out to dinner with his family and took his 6 yr old son to the bathroom and collapsed right in front of his son and died. The blood clot broke loose and went to his heart and killed him instantly. It was sudden and unexpected. I miss him so much and I always will. I can't get him out of my thoughts.

The third was a friend and our mechanic to boot. He died last week in a freak motorcycle accident. It was dark and the road curved and he missed the curve and slid on some gravel. He was only 38.

I have had an awakening in my own life and my own mortality because of the last month. I am feeling extremely vulnerable and aware of my shortcomings. I am extremely aware of the importance of making every day count.

I am in terrible shape. I am the heaviest in my life and I feel very uncomfortable in my body. I asked myself...Do I want to live like this for the rest of my life? The answer was no. I decided then to take action now. No more excuses or waiting for another day to make a change. I drew the line in the sand and made a plan and started.
I started my diet on Monday Nov. 9, 2009. I have lost 9 lbs so far. I am determined to do what I need to to make my life better.
Other than the diet, I am planning several other changes.
Some of them are:

• Exercising on a regular basis to improve my body and my heart.
• Making contact with several people who I have lost contact with.
• Cleaning out my house and getting rid of the excess STUFF.
• Taking online classes to educate for a possible job change in future.
• Take stock of my quilting business and either make a better business plan or sell it.

Tomorrow, I start my thankful posts

I know....I KNOW!

I've been MIA....but I can explain...sorta.

First off I got a job about A month ago and if you know me you know that is a very big deal! I had to provide my own computer and it is only a contract job but still...I am working and that is a very good thing! I love the job, nuff said!

I have 4 quilts for others here in the house and I haven't been quilting at all. BAD GIRL! I am changing that this week for sure. I have so much I want to get done in the next month, it is crazy.
I have been sick for a week. Kind of a bronchitis type thing. How sick you ask? Sich enough that I missed 3 days of work and cancelled my trip to Quilting with Machines that I was totally looking forward to and had already paid for all my classes. Hopefully some of my classes sold so I can get back a little of my money. At any rate, I've spent 5 days in the spare room on the pull out sofa and it isn't comfortable. Slept in my own bed last night and it felt great! I am definately better now and will be going to work tomorrow. I spent the day yesterday, changing sheets and doing laundry and cleaning up the house. I just bought all new pillows, sheets and towels at Kohl's a few weeks ago. Everything 50% off! I love Kohl's! So I am washing my old pillows today and Mark will bring a couple up to the motor home next time he goes. They washed up a lot better than I thought they would (feather and down).
So I had big quilting plans for today and I WILL quilt some later. Right now I am cleaning out my closet and making a big bag for Purple Heart pick-up. I am tired of having so many clothes stuffed in my closet and still have nothing to wear.
My list of things to do today is:

• press and cut strips for strip exchange
• finish washing pillows
• clean and mop kitchen
• make cole slaw for dinnner
• finish cleaning out closet
• quilt at least 2 hrs

TA DA!

These are so stinkin' cute! They will be a house warming gift for a friend. They are having a party today. Can't wait to see their new place!

Making pot holders

I am making a few pot holders this morning. We have a house warming party to go to today and Mark is making a creamy pasta salad for our dish to pass and I am making a gift of pot holders. I am using Vicki's directions. They are easy and look great when finished. I made us about 7 of them for our kitchen and I really like them. I'll never BUY another pot holder!

Spicy Salsa

Ah, we love salsa in this house. We eat a LOT of salsa. We like a thick, chunky, spicy variety. We buy Frog Ranch Hot usually but it is around $3 a jar and we can go through 2 or 3 jars a month sometimes. Add it up, that is a lot of $$ for salsa.


My garden doesn't usually produce that well and this year was no differant. My neighbor has been most genorous with his abundant garden this year. Not only with us but several neighbors. He gave us 3 large bags of tomatoes. We tried a new recipe for salsa last week and it only made 3 quarts (= 6 pints). We liked the taste so we made a large batch this time. This has a lot of basil and cilantro and garlic and onions and peppers. It is FULL of flavor and this will last us for around 8 months. I will prolly make one more large batch before the season is through to take us through the year and also Mark loves to give it away to family and friends. We cut up the tomatoes yesterday and let them drain over night in the fridge. Today we added all the other ingrediants and here is the pot simmering. It is full to the top!




Here is the finished product. I tried it and it is delicious!

There is 2.5 hours of my time I won't get back!

My neighbor gave us a TON of tomatoes and we are making our second batch of salsa. The first came out sooooo good and only made 3 qts when it cooked down. This is at least 3 times that much. This is just the tomatoes. They need to drain for a few hours so we do it in two stages. You might not be able to tell but this is an extra deep sink and a huge colander. This will make a lot of salsa! Yummy!

Who needs the Farmer's Market....

....when you have neighbors like ours!

My neighbor Chuck brought over two bags of fresh picked veggies from thier garden. I have lots and lots of tomatoes, some peppers, both hot and mild, some cucumbers, the best green beans ever and a big zucchini. I wasn't planning on it, but Mark has already requested I make salsa tomorrow. I always make salsa first from whatever tomatoes we get because we use so much of it and it is expensive to buy....

So I cleaned the kitchen up and bleached the sink and I'm ready for a cooking day tomorrow. Maybe I'll make a dessert too.

GO cutter play date....and a shout out to LINDA!

Today was a fun day. I went to a meeting of the "minis". We are a small group of long armers. We made our own group (and we are keeping it small on purpose) and we take turns hosting. It is all about fun and no rules...no blocks to bring, no strips to bring, no food to bring (but we always DO anyway), no kitty...you get the picture.

We always try to come up with something fun to do. We all have long arms so sometimes we just have a muslin on and play around but for the most part we try to come up with a "theme" per se. Today was GO cutter day! There were 7 of us there, three with GO cutters and only three with projects to cut. Boy it was fun. I cut lots and lots of 1.5" strips for a new string quilt I have been wanting to make. Here are my strings. You can't tell in the picture but there are a LOT of strips on there. That would have taken me a LONG TIME to cut them by hand.



Also I had help with pressing and prepping so we got a lot done. Linda cut out oodles of squares for a quilt she is doing. Here she is cutting...




and here is her stack of blocks....IMPRESSIVE HUH?




Here the girls are just hanging out and trying Gails's long arm. You have L to R, Lea, Lou and Nancy H. Lea and Lou don't have long arms...YET.





It is a long drive out to Gail's (2.5 hrs total driving for me (I met Nancy at her house and she drove to Gail's) and almost an hour for nancy to drive there and back. A lot of driving because we are all spread out. It's worth it tho.



Oh and this is a special hello to my friend Linda...HI THERE!

I want cake!

In this case, a Tranquility layer cake. Green Fairy Quilts is celebrating her baby's first birthday and giving away a layer cake. Check it out!

Design Wall Monday

This is the same thing that has been on my design wall for a week now. I'll add the borders after I finish quilting a few quilts. This is my I wanna Be Like Ronda quilt!

Now it's just hot!

As I suspected, I couldn't sleep last night. I finally gave up the fight and went to bed at around 3am but didn't fall asleep until around 5:30 and woke up a few times before I got up at 9. I will NOT sleep during the day anymore no matter how tired I get.
Started quilting today doing lots of SID and I had a heck of a time pulling the thread up using the Madiera Monolon and Bottom line in the bobbin. I know, I know....I should use a cotton thread in the bobbin but I don't have any and I didn't want to wait. I got it to work so far. It's so dang hot though, I am not getting much quilting done....hmmm, maybe at midnight it will be cooler :-)

What a wasted day!

I slept almost ALL day today. I don't know why except I just wasn't feeling like doing anything and I was tired. I woke up late and fiddled around on the internet and had a bologna sandwich for lunch. Then I laid on the sofa and fell sound asleep until my dog went bazerk because the mailman was here with a delivery.
It was a big box from Ronda with a quilt EZ template I will be needing for my new quilt (she is loaning it to me) and some batting and marking tools...she is just too good to me and I don't know why cause I don't deserve it....well I sure appreciate it though.....I called her to let her know it all arrived safely and to thank her in person.
I then went back to my room and laid down in front of the fan and fell back asleep. I didn't wake up until after 7 and Mark had dinner almost ready. Now it is midnight and I am wide awake and feel like cleaning. I have a load of laundry in and cleaned the kitchen already. I am going to attempt to go to bed in an hour or so and get up around 5am. I have to break this bad habit!
It is hell being home all day. I don't know what to do with myself!

Sewing on IWBLR quilt Aug 7, 2009

Well I just spent a couple frustrating days looking for work and there just isn't anything out there. Very few postings that I qualify for AND would maybe be able to do and/or like it. I am looking at clerical positions now because my computer skills and my personality are all I have going for me. Of course everyone wants a person with 5 years experiance and a degree.....to answer a phone and file papers? HELLO! I'm not knocking those who work in an office...I know there is a lot more to it than than but come on...it's not rocket science (or robot programming...I know how to do that, LOL). Anyway, I'm gonna work on my quilt now. I have all my strips cut out and ready to go. I WAS going to just cut half of them out and sew them and get some laid out quicker buit I am so anal about how I do things....I always do all the cutting and assembly line sew. Sometimes you just can't (or don't want to) change your ways.

1PM and ready to assembly line sew the rest of the blocks.Here is the layout of squares how Ronda thought I should lay theym out with more of the white and black. I don't know...I like more of the green I think. We will see...............

Aprons!

Who doesn't love them? I certainly do and this is my blatant attempt at winning yet another one from Lizzie Jo. Go on and go over and put your name in the hat.....Lizzie Jo is giving away not ONE, but TWO aprons. Ain't that great?

Personal Quiltathon 8am July 25, 2009

So my IWBLR quilt piecing is finally at a stage where I will see some progress now. The first stages where you are prepping, cutting and making small units like QST, HST and strip piecing seems to go on forever....then all of a sudden it is done. LOL

In my last post my friend Linda asked a few questions and here is the answer.

IWBLR= I wanna be like Ronda (K. Beyer)

She is the one who made this same quilt first and after I drooled all over it, she sent me everything to make one for myself, the pattern, the fabrics (same ones she used) and even the papers to make the QST. I am so lucky! It is not a rag quilt. It is a star pieced quilt and the white is just one of the fabrics in the design. You'll see!

IWBLR Progress July 20

Ok, this is the part of a quilt piecing that it seems like you don't have much done when in fact you already have been working for several hours, pressing, cutting, piecing, trimming and pressing. Here is a small picture of progress.

Overheard 7/13/2009

I babysat just a couple hours this morning and then "gramma" came and relieved me. The 6 yr old welcomes us with hugs and then asked, "Gramma....will you take us to Chuck E. Cheese today?" Gramma says, "Oh not today sweetheart, I don't have two dimes to rub together today but I promise I'll take you before you go back to school". Ok, so she goes into the front room to watch cartoons while gramma and I talk and we hear...."Gramma? ....you can use two of my dimes if you want to!"


Out of the mouth of babes!

Still working on Thursday's list

Yes, I almost always underestimate how long these things take me. For instance, I did one step on the yellow brick road blocks wrong. 40 blocks! I sewed them, pressed them and UNSEWED all those seams which we all know take 4 times longer than sewing. I am almost done with those and will finish that quilt today I hope. I don't have any housework planned for today so I should get a lot done. We will see.

Thursday to myself

I unexpectedly have the day off from babysitting. So I plan to try to get more done today. I have some laundry in and picked up a bit but the house work is pretty much caught up. So I plan on working on 3 items today

1. Finish making blocks for the spring Yellow Brick Road quilt I started last week. This will give the girls something to do on Monday. They love to play with my fabric and design board and I will let them layout the quilt. I figure a yellow brick road...they can do a pretty good job w/o much help from me...and it will keep them occupied.
2. Quilt EZ swirls on a customer quilt today.
3. Start getting fabric cut out and quarter square triangles made for my new quilt that Ronda sent me all the fabric and pattern for. Gees, I got it a week ago and just now getting to it. I really wanted to complete a couple things first.

Christmas in July!

It is Christmas in July at my house!


Looky what I got today in the mail:

Do you recognize this fabric? You would if you know THIS lady! Ronda is so talented and super nice and when she was quilting this quilt last month and posting her progress I was blatantly drooling and commenting on how she was coming with my quilt. Ronda played right along but alas her daughter is getting the quilt. Then she turned around and sent me this! Including the pattern, the papers to make the quarter square triangles and her extra triangles. Can you believe it?

There is enough here to make a whole quilt which I will do promptly. I guess Ronda didn't know about my needing to finish 2 UFO's before starting a new project, but this breaks the rules...right? RIGHT?

Thank you so much Ronda. This touched me more than you know. I appreciate you!

Tuesday sewing and new goals

I have decided that I will complete one UFO a month and I won't start a new project until 2 UFO's are done. (each time) That way I will get my UFO's completed and still be able to start new projects if I need want to. My UFO list will get smaller then (or at least that is the plan.)
Christmas is only 6 months away and I want to make a lot of my gifts this year so I better get busy.I need to get my Christmas plan in order. I'll be back to get some sort of plan together but now....now I am going to sew at my friend's house. Toodles!

I promise pictures for the next post! Pinky swear!

Sunday Stuff

Well Mark is back home and things are mostly back to normal. He just made a potato salad and put BBQ pulled pork in a crock pot for dinner so I don't have to cook. I just finished scanning and shredding the bills for the month and there will be some sewing today. Let's see how much I can accomplish. I will post pictures of whatever I decide to work on later.

Sometimes I really disappoint myself

I have been thinking a lot lately of how I can be a better person. Be a better wife, a better friend and most importantly, a better mom. I only have one child who is all grown up now. Her outward appearance is all grown up but in so many ways she is still a child and in need of guidance. The trouble is she doesn't want me to interfere and I have been really trying to give her complete freedom to not only make her own mistakes but solve them. It is very hard for me NOT to rush in and try to help. That doesn't stop me from voicing my opinions though and more often than not I end up hurting her feelings when that is not at all what I was trying to do. Sometimes I feel like such a failure when I see the choices she is making. I'm not talking about anything horrible. She doesn't do drugs or smoke or even drink (much). She is kind to everyone and is childlike in her joys and sorrows. She is just making what I feel are poor choices about things that effect her life in a big way. She is completely unmotivated to do anything more than work her part time job at a grocery store. I was pleased when she got that job but that was when she was a student. Now she is no longer a student but still only works part time.

I don't know how to reach her. At times we are very close and others, she is distant. I love her so much and all I really want for her is for her to find a career that will make her happy and that she can live on. I want her to be able to support herself and not rely on any MAN. I don't expect her to be there right now but at least to have a plan and work the plan. I am praying for guidance. I need to know how to help her. I don't want to hurt her. Am I overstepping?
The hardest thing for me to do is nothing. Lord give me strength and patience.

Wake up call!

I was reading blogs today and was reminded by Diane that Christmas is only 6 months away and we'd better get started on our Christmas presents. That was the wake up call I needed since I have every intention of making as many gifts as I can this year. I better formulate my plan. I know I promised my family I will be making one person a quilt every year until everyone gets one and they are looking forward to it. I guess I better get on that!

Quilting today

The kids I babysit are at a friend's house for a play date and I am quilting Quilt EZ swirls on the strip quilt and it looks really nice. If all goes well, I should have no trouble completing this in time for Saturday gifting. Today is a good day. Tonight I go to my Tuesday sewing group meeting and I am picking up a quilt to do too. Yeah, it's a good day!

Strip Quilt Layout

Ok, so I'm a bit late but here it is! Tomorrow I will complete the top and hopefully the backing so I can load it on Monday. Remember, it is due on Sat!

I am such a LIAR!

Well, not really, but I haven't gotten all the blocks done yet. It is 7:15pm and hubby just got home so I am talking to him. My stomach is cramping so I was relaxing on the sofa. Before I sleep tonight I WILL have the rest of the blocks completed and laid out on my design wall to be sewed together. I need to finish the top and get the backing together tomorrow for sure. Why is this such a struggle? I know why, because I don't feel well...UGH!

I am so BEHIND!

I got the first of two grad quilts done in time. Here is the grad with her gift. She did like it, even if she did stuff it right back in the bag and take it to her room.....KIDS!



















I started babysitting full time since the girls are out of school now. This is what the last day of school looks like around here.























I have also been sick as a DAWG for the last couple days and spent most of the time in the bathroom...all this to say I am terribly behind in my most important grad quilt which I MUST have done by next Sat. Half of it is completely pieced-It is a string quilt, but the other half looks like this: Left side needs one more row, right side is ready for trimming. I need to finish this. I am blogging about it because I am hoping it will prompt me into faster action. I have the house to myself since Mark went to a college grad party (his good friend's daughter). I begged off this one so I could stay home and sew. I still have a touch of the bathroom thing going too so I'm glad I stayed home. Jess went to work. I'll be back for an update at 4:15.

Progress!

Well I got half of the 2nd graduation quilt pieced. I am still making the blocks for the other half. 40 string pieced blocks. I am hoping to finish that tomorrow and maybe even get them trimmed by the end of the day. We are having a party here on Sat and the recipient of the 2nd quilt will be here. I had the first half laid out on my design board (that is in my dining room) so I needed to take it down. Instead of undoing my work laying it out I decided to put together what I had so far. I'm glad I did. I am at least half way done piecing the others.

My baby girl Jessica will be 21 in three days. I can hardly believe it.
These are some of my favorite pictures of her when she was about four.

Leg problems---Why I've been MIA

I've been away froom here for exactly a month. It could have been less and it felt like longer than that. I have had some problems with my legs and have done little of anything for weeks. Lots of pain and wraps on my legs meant I spent a lot of time on my butt w/ my legs up. No quilting or sewing to speak of and I am so behind right now. I have two customer quilts to do and two graduation quilts of my own to do so that means binding and all. One of them is due for June 6. Talk about procrastinating. I received my new Edgerider wheels but they haven't been put on yet. My friend is supposed to come over tomorrow to change them out for me. yippee! I am looking forward to it. So my todo list looks like this:

1. Quilt Martha's quilt (customer)
   
2. Quilt first grad quilt
3. Finish piecing 2nd grad quilt
4. Quilt Carol's quilt (customer)
5. Quilt 2nd grad quilt

I better get busy.

Smile and the world smiles with you!

It's almost spring! and this week's goals

I was in Tennessee last week with my sister and her two kids to visit our mom. It was nice weather for a couple of the days and cool the rest. We came home Saturday and the weather was beautiful all day, even at home! I will post more about this with pictures later.

I haven't done much of anything on my to do list since LAST WEEK. There are 3 quilt tops I would like to finish this week and that will be my goal. I am famous for getting the center of a quilt done and then get stopped at the borders....I hate sewing borders on!

1. Jessica's log cabin still needs borders
2. Bethany's quilt still needs borders (graduation gift) DONE
   
3. Bears in the Farm house step 5

This is all do able since I have 4 good days left for the week and none of these will take me more than a couple hours to do. Next week...QUILTING!

Michigan weather men!

Just LOOK at all that snow!NUFF SAID!

Another day to myself

Well we are in the process of getting the snow. Doesn't look like much yet but from what I hear it is wet and heavy and the worst is yet to come. I was ready to go across the street to babysit but there is no school today and their dad decided to take the day off too, so I find myself with the day to myself. I was winding bobbins while waiting to go across the street so now I already have a cuppa in me and ready to go on this quilt. May as well get busy on it! Has to be done for tomorrow anyway and I have lots on my to do list. This is the list from the other day. I hope I make some progress today.

1. Quilt Baptist Fan on a round robin quilt (customer) DONE
   
2. Make blocks for Karen's hug quilt and mail
   
3. Finish my Bears in the Farmhouse top and make the binding
   
4. Finish log cabin top for my daughter
5. Cut two battings for up coming quilts (this is a pain to do because of lack of space here)
6. Cut 5" squares for a my Tuesday swap meeting
   
7. Possibly start quilting Jessica's quilt

Sunday Again

Well, I didn't accomplish as much as I'd hoped this weekend but then I never do. I always seem to underestimate how long things take or how much I can accomplish in a day. I still make lists and goals however or I would just flounder and wander aimlessly and get nothing done. So I made progress. We are expecting a lot of snow tonight. Between 8-10". Mark seems to think it may not be all that much....we will see.

Personal Quiltathon- April 4 &5

I have a lot I want to accomplish. I think I am going to call a personal quiltathon for this weekend.
Let's see...on my to do list is:

1. Quilt a friend's quilt (a freebie) DONE
   
2. Quilt a baptist fan on a customer quilt PROGRESS MADE
   
3. Finish my Bears in the Farmhouse top and make the binding PROGRESS MADE
   
4. Finish log cabin top for my daughter
5. Cut two battings for up coming quilts (this is a pain to do because of lack of space here)
6. Cut 5" squares for a my Tuesday swap meeting
   
7. Possibly start quilting Jessica's quilt

I may update this list later....it's a goal anyway.

Distractions of the adorable kind....

I am supposed to be quilting today........
What does it look like when you are too sick to go to school but too healthy to be in bed?

It looks like this:

Actually, she went to school but I got called to pick her up. She has a nasty ear infection. This is the little one I babysit. (lives across the street). She wasn't too sick to eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich however. Check out the chocolate milk mustache!

Stash Report-Week 13

I went a little crazy over the last few weeks and bought 36 yds of fabric.
I KNOW....I KNOW!

Most I have plans for so it isn't as bad as it seems (yeah RIGHT!)
So without any fanfare my totals are:

Fabric Added this Week: 36 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 36 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date: 29.25 yards

Total -6.75 yards busted

Honey Mustard Chicken

Another winner and easy to make.
This is my favorite dinner and I make it a lot. The asparagus was a bit soggy. I usually always steam it fresh but it was super cheap a few weeks ago so I tried blanching and flash freezing and then using the food saver and put them in the freezer. They were soggy. I don't think I will be doing that again.


What is on your design wall? This is on mine.

A little organization and Dinner

Mark got home around 1pm today and he spent a large part of the day picking up the yard and burning sticks and twigs and general clean up. What a difference that made. I officially moved my sewing machine into the quilting room and set it up near my big work table. I had it on the tv table in the dining room and had extension cords all around plugged into the iron, sewing machine and light and well.....I tripped yesterday and almost...I said ALLLLLMOST, sent my Janome 10000 flying! Oh, I don't know what I would have done then. I have hopefully solved that problem by getting rid of all the cords and tripping hazards. That was a close one!

Yep, another dinner to blog about.
Since Mark was such a good man and cleaned up today, I made him one of our favorite dishes. Szechwan Beef:

Yes, we like spicy food in this house. This recipe is very flavorful using lots of spices for the marinade.

Jess approves:

Personal Quiltathon day 2

Ok, so it took me longer than I thought to get everything I wanted to DONE, but DONE it is!
First, the wedding dress quilt. Here it is:


I used the Meandering Magic technique by Suzanne Earley. I am totally giving her credit because I was trying this technique on my own and it just looked "off" and too thready. (I was practicing on a practice piece of course). I finally broke down and read the book and it just totally made sense. I tried it out using her instructions and it looked so much better.

I also got the center of the Carpenter Star put together. I will do the borders later. Mark is on his way home and I need to put it away.

Personal Quiltathon

I have three main goals for today. #1 is to finish this customer quilt. I have been sitting on it for a long time because quite frankly, I was scared of it. It is made from a wedding gown. Yes, a satin and heavily beaded wedding gown.
I finally swallowed hard and loaded it last night. This shows how heavily the beading is on the outsides. It was a pain to pin on and not damage the beading.

This is what it looks like now. I will finish this first today and then move on to other tasks.

This is a Christmas gift for my husband. He is gone and won't be home until early afternoon tomorrow so I want to at least have the center of this all pieced. I can add the borders at a later date:

I need to finish the center of this quilt; This is a pattern by Judy L.
I'll check back with an update in a few hours.

A hearty dinner before his trip

Well Mark and Jess are at work. Mark is going away for a long weekend but leaving right from work so I won't see him until Sunday when he comes home. Who knows if Jess will be here tonight or not. That's ok, I'll just do my own thing.

I plan on sewing and quilting a lot in the next few days.

I made a nice hearty dinner last night. This one I make often. It couldn't be any easier. First, I peel carrots and scrub red potatoes and rough chop them up, I add any other veggies I want like fresh mushrooms, green pepper and onions. This time I added broccoli because I had some. I fill the pan up like so:
Hint<I use tin foil in pan for easy clean up>
Then sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley, red pepper flakes are optional and just stir it up to kind of coat it, then rough chop up some Italian sausage links and throw those on top like so:

Pop it in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are done. I usually take it out and stir it once after about 40 minutes.
This is a nice hearty meal and easy to prepare. We love it.
Plated up:

Oh, and then I made a pineapple cake for dessert and to send with Mark on his trip.
I had some for breakfast today:

Sunday Dinner

We had a szechwan Chicken stir fry tonight.....here are the veggies:

Plated up!

This was awesome!


This however was not so awesome:You guessed it....the border on a customer quilt. I give up!
I am NOT A MAGICIAN!