Ever had one of those decades?

I'm sorry this will not be very quilty. Although I did finish the top for the University of Michigan wedding quilt I had to have done for the June 14th wedding and I even made the label and the binding and gave the top and back to Liz today. It is like the one I did for the U of M art auction last year. This is the third time I have made this quilt. ENOUGH!! I am not a U of M fan! But it is now finished. I am so happy. Now I need to decide which quilt to begin on, a good place to be!

I guess that is the good news. Oh, no...wait, I did have a dentist appt today and have been flossing every day since the last visit as they told me I might have bone loss and they needed me to floss daily. Well, that scared me and so I did what they told me to and I got RAVE reviews at the dentist! My gums look perfect! *VBG*, WHEW!

So I was minding my own business this am (which just in case you didn't know is when I happen to get into the most trouble for some reason) when the school called me about my son. He has been in a lot of trouble this year, all of his own making I might add. It just seems like it is one thing after another and I am so beat down over this. I really don't want to elaborate but I just needed to vent. Please just keep me in your prayers, I need more help than I can get anywhere else!

I hope you had a good weekend. My week ahead looks pretty busy so we will see if I get back here by the end of the week. Take care!

I Just Joined a web-ring

Hey how about that?  I just joined the web-ring called "More quilting for fun".  I have never been a part of a ring before.  I saw it over at Finns place and it sounded like fun.  We can all use a little more fun in our lives, right?  Now I just have to figure out what to do with it, lol.  I will begin by visiting all the other blogs that are part of the ring and I will let you know what I find.  If you have time, join me in visiting some new blogs (at least new to me!)

Have a happy day!

My Red Shoes

I know it has taken me awhile to post a pic of my new red shoes (clogs really) but aren't they cute?  There is a strap across the top of my foot but I am not talented enough to raise both pant legs and use the camera at the same time!

I got these in Shipshewana and I like them almost as much as my green ones.  

I finished the back for TUQ last night and brought it all for Liz to work her magic on.  I used a light aqua print for the border that I really liked and it had these orange viney things running all around on it with teal and orange flowers on it too.  I am uploading a photo of it right now. It is one of the fabrics in this ugly quilt I actually like! 

 I loved the aqua dot fabric too (that was Kelsey's favorite one also).  I actually *bought* that one to go with the other ones.  So I bought 3 fabrics. excluding the border to add to the FQ's I was given.  I think I will have to tell my friend, Ellen, that if she wants to buy me fabric for Christmas or my bday, please buy something I like not "something outside your comfort zone".  I would *never* do that to anyone, especially now that I know how it is to work in that context.  

I couldn't get a good photo of the flimsy as it is very BIG.  I will see if I can get Robin and Liz to hold it up so I can take a photo and post it later!  Have a good day!!

Easter!!!

Easter weekend was a lot of fun and a lot of work!  All my kids were home and my dad and sister came too.  I did a LOT of cooking!  but it was so nice to have the family together.  Here is my DD1, Shelby with my dad.  He sure looks great for an 81 year old guy, huh?  She loves him and he adores her too.

She was so happy to be home and to be with her family again.  She quit her job in IN to move back and will be living with my dad and my sister while she returns to school at Grand Valley State University in the summer.  She will be looking for an apt with her old roommate but for a short time she will be living with them.  You can see that my sister is thrilled!  She loves Shelby so much and could not be happier that she will be at their house for however long it ends up being!  (My sister has CP and lives at home with my dad).
Here is DD2, Kelsey with my sister.
Now all the cats thought it was just wonderful that I brought in fresh greenery for them to eat!  How thoughtful am I??  Here is Mosen guarding the flowers from the "others".
I was hard at work on TUQ this weekend and finished the top!!!  Aiden was "helping" as cats are wont to do.  As I was putting the last border on DD2 came by and asked if it was TUQ that I was working on and could she see it?  Well, she LOVED it and wants to keep it, ugh!!!  I guess it will have to be hers now.  Darn it, I almost had my raffle quilt done and gone before one of my girls claimed it.  Maybe next time!
Can you believe it?  Nineteen years old and still wants to dye Easter Eggs???  I made 18 of them and we dyed them all.  DD1 and DS went to a movie and when they got home they wanted to know if we saved any for them?  We had not, who knew?  DD2 said a funny thing while we were dying the eggs.  She wanted to make a green and white one for her BF she said, but we didn't have any white dye!  Really, Kelsey??  Then she said, "oh, never mind", and we laughed!
I bought these, apparently for the cats, but I thought they were beautiful on the table.
Autumn thought so too!
Finally I got a photo with me and my dad in it.  I don't have a lot of these because I HATE having my picture taken, but I thought it was good to get one with him.
I hope you all had a great Easter!  

Shipshewana...Again

It was time to go to Shipshewana again!  This time I went with Liz and both of her parents and Yuki.  We had such a fun time!  We had a beautiful day with lot of sunshine and warm weather!

I just fell in love with Kitty Cucumber.  I bought the panel and this pattern was free with the pattern.  Isn't it so cute?


Look how tiny those squares are.
I couldn't resist a photo of an 2 Amish men by their buggy.
This was inside Yoder's department store.  I also got a new pair of really cute red shoes, but I forgot to take a photo so I will do that and post it later.  I have my cool green ones on today since it is St. Patrick's day!
This beauty was hanging in Yoder's but they had no pattern.  They did tell me I could take a picture though.  I might like to try to make one like this one!  It doesn't look that hard.
We went to the Yoder's meat and cheese shop too.  There is Liz checking out.


Yoder's has the best chicken base ever!  So here is Yuki with her cheese and her chicken base!!
They also have wonderful dried Jalapeno pepper pieces.  These are so good when added to hashbrowns! mmmnnnn!!!!  I also tried the roasted granulated garlic.  I haven't tried it yet though.

Saturday morning I had a quilt sale with the CL's which I took a few photos and will post later.  Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!!

Blue Aloha

BLUE ALOHA

I told you if you waited patiently you would know the story behind the little blue quilt.  It is entitled, Blue Aloha and went to my friend, Natalie.  I am using the photos from Natalie's blog as mine are at home!  I will, however tell you the story here.

This quilt began when I asked the CL's to cut up 6" blue squares.  "Why are we doing this?" They asked me and I told them I didn't know.  All I knew was that we needed to make a blue and white quilt so get cutting!  Then I began working on the "S" quilt for DD2 which many of you sent me blue and green fabric for.  Surprisingly this also ended up needing 6" blocks.  As I went to my stash to choose some blues for both of those projects I came across the blue squares left over from another quilt.  There were enough of them to make into something so I took them upstairs and sewed them all together.  I realized there were not enough to do much with but I had all these wonderful blue 6" squares I could pull from and make the little orphan quilt bigger.  I had no idea why I was making this quilt or who it was for, but someone else knew!  I got the center of the little quilt finished and at the same time heard that Natalie had lost someone dear in her family.  I was lying in bed thinking about the blue quilt when I *finally* realized that this quilt was supposed to be for Natalie all along!  This is the second time the Holy Spirit has had me make a quilt when I didn't know who or what it was for, I knew I *had* to make it.

The obvious question then was what to do about the borders.  It came to me in my sleep, leis.  So I emailed Natalie with a LOT of questions about leis.  Her posts were so beautiful telling all about leis.  How to get the leis around the border.  I really did not want to applique them so in talking with Liz, she said, lets embroider them.  I thought that sounded good so went home and back to the stash to find "water" fabric for the border.  In digging down to the bottom of my stash I found a blue print with white leis that actually came from Hawaii, the place where Natalie's FIL lived...PERFECT.  Why had I not seen that in the first place, again, divine intervention?  Of Course!  So I put the borders on and used the water for the back.  Liz quilted aloha on the top and bottom and quilted an orchid in each corner.  She also did some awesome tropical leaves in the side borders.  In this photo you can see the aloha.

I got it all packed up and mailed out and then Natalie went on a family trip!  So she didn't get to see it until her return.  It was so difficult for me to wait patiently, (hmmm maybe another lesson for me??)  Her family loved the quilt and I think it fulfilled it's purpose, to comfort a friend and her family, quite nicely!

Stargate-The Ark of Truth!!!

Warning   If you are not a fan of the show Stargate you may want to skip this post!

OMG!!!  It is *finally* out!!!  I was so excited to get home from work today so I could watch it!!  for anyone that does not know, I love the shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.  (Especially SG-1)  It ended in it's 10th season and so I have to reconcile myself with only Atlantis but since one of the main characters from SG-1 came over to Atlantis it is much more fun to watch.  So back to the movie.

I was all set to make dinner and settle in but nooooo.  My DH was watching an episode of SGA so I just concentrated on dinner.  Then my all time favorite episode of Stargate SG-1 came on... The Loop!  I love that one.  So I had to wait until that was over to begin the movie.  I decided to put together the rest of the 4 block units on TUQ so got that done during the commercials.  Finally it was time to watch the movie.  Oh no, but wait... the DVD player had become un-cabled from the TV and needed to be fixed. About 30 minutes later it was hooked up.  We put the movie in and the sound was screwed up, ARGHHHH. So DH had to mess around with that WHILE THE MOVIE WAS ON!!!  *Finally* it really was all set and we could settle in and watch it.  

The SG-1 team was re-united and the movie ROCKED!!  The scenery was amazing, the music was sweeping, the dramatic tension was fantastic and the fight scenes were fabulous.  I loved it and can't wait to watch it again along with all the "stuff" that comes on a DVD.  I can't wait for the second film to come out.  This review was pretty good.  There is good info on the show also at the MGM site.

Ahhh...Lacrosse season in Michigan!

So lacrosse season signals spring you say? Everywhere but in Michigan Today DS's team could have their first organized high school practice...outside! This is one tough bunch of boys! This was part of the warm ups.

These were sideways walks.
This is my DS!
Streeeeetch those muscles boys!
Stretch some more, it will warm up your muscles!
Whenever they dropped the ball and had to scoop it back up there would be snow in the cross (the net part on the stick). The coaches told the boys to shake out the snow before passing, but you know how boys are..
They thought it was funny to catch and throw the ball and the snow at each other. DS again.
They had to use colored balls so they could find them in the snow. Usually the balls are white. I thought this was a cool picture!
Now the coaches told the boys that whoever passed the ball, if their throw was so bad that the other guy couldn't catch it the thrower would have to chase the ball. So one of the coaches threw a really bad pass and this boy told him he was going to have to go and get it! I laughed and had to agree, it was, after all what they had said. The boy told the coach that I agreed with him and he had to do 20 down ups in the snow.
When he was done I reminded him that whatever didn't kill you makes you stronger. Sorry about that Popa!

I hope you all enjoyed my pictures of spring in Michigan! My hands were frozen and I was only out there for an hour and a half. I had 2 sets of batteries and both went dead. I took almost 300 photos but didn't think you wanted to see that many. If anyone wants to see the rest you can go to the picasa album at http://picasaweb.google.com/mamaspark/ChickenBBQFirstPractice2008

Think warmer weather, and soon

Go see Mary Ann

Ok, you *need* to go to see Mary Ann at a Very Mary Design.  She is having a week long giveaway of fabric to de-stash (love that word).  You need to leave a comment and put it on your blog.

well...what are you waiting for?  Go NOW!

My Arch Nemesis...TUQ

OK, OK...I'm ready to cry Uncle here. So I was working away on TUQ and had made almost all of the sets of 4 blocks I thought I would need. Mind you I had a lot of the triangle units left for being so close,hmmm. Counting proceeded and guess what? Yep, I had *more* of those but certainly not enough of the regular strips I would need to do the border. ARRRRRGHHHHH. Why didn't the pattern just *tell* me how many 12.5" blocks I needed to make so I didn't make as many from the strip sets as I could? Why didn't I actually *think* about what I needed to do before merrilly cutting and sewing? Am I a moron? Nope, it does NOT say anything about how many 12.5" blocks to cut. Omsosis, I guess. So I had to do the unthinkable, you got it, buy MORE of this hideous fabric!!! YIKES!!! It only comes as a bundle, of course, so I had to buy the bundle. So I decieded, lemons---lemonade, right? I decided I didn't like how it finished in half a 4 block unit anyway so this will allow me to extend it (which, IMHO, they should have done in the first place. Now I will be able to make it a little bigger and have enough squares for the border too. OH yeah, about that. Now that I am making the quilt bigger, the border needs to be bigger and so I had to buy more of the border fabric too.

While at JAF I decided to check out the clearance too. I found some really cute nursery rhyme toile like fabric in pink and green for $2 a yard, so I bought what they had to use for backs. Also I found this really cute MSU ribbon and *had* to buy a spool of that too. (I don't have photos of any of those things).

So I guess the road to Hell is really paved with good intentions. I started watching Beauty and the Geek with DD2 and didn't touch the machine until she left around 6pm. Bad me...bad!!
I need to finish this quilt and soon. I spent most of Sat cleaning the sewing room and the downstairs as DD2 was coming home from the week in CO. Her BF's parents were giving her a ride home from the airport and what if they want to come in?? The Sewing Room was a MESS and I needed to clean the entire downstairs. So I spent all day cleaning and doing laundry (so I could do hers when she got home). Well, LSS, they did NOT come in and the airline lost her luggage so, no laundry. At least the house is clean and this week I can sew guilt free!! The next day they had 4 of the 6 pieces of luggage, no snowboard though. Bummer. She got her suitcase and boots and so did her BF but they both lost their snowboards. They have 5 days to *find* thim so we will see what happens.

In addition to all this excitement. DD1 informed me that she was giving her 2 weeks notice and that she needs to move out of her apt in IN by the end of the month (told me on Friday). So her plan is to move in with my dad and sister (they are very excited about this) and put her "stuff" in storage. So we will see how it goes. The official start of the lacrosse season kicks off on the last Sat of this month so it will be a busy few months coming up (hence *needing* to finish TUQ).

Whew, anyone got some additional caffeine? I might need some = )

CATS...that's all I have to say

So...I was working on the UQ and Aiden was helping! She actually fell asleep on the sewing machine! Cats, sheesh!

This was once I was sewing along and she was "getting comfy", she really made herself at home here!
Then she finally left and this morning Mosen decided to "help" so here he is "Helping" me design more of the UQ.
Not to be out done by those silly cats...Laxy joined in the fun and was keeping warm those blocks I had finished.
And just for you Jeanne, Jack. He got in on the UQ action this afternoon and was there long enough for me to snap this photo.
Just a quick shout out to Laurie at Quilting Rush, thanks for the blue fabrics!! I did not have any of them! To everyone else it is snowing like a --- here so try to stay warm and send me an email, I *need* to talk to you!

Progress on The Ugly Quilt

There is progress on the Ugly Quilt.  I found my 24" ruler, yeah!!  Therefore I was able to cut the 12.5" squares into 4 triangles.  This shows how some of them *could* be put back together.

I didn't have time to do any sewing before I had to go to the church for quilting  with the CL's tonight.  They are making progress on the green string quilt.  We have over our 45 all green string blocks we needed for this project.  I decided I needed to work on TUQ (The Ugly Quilt) while I was at the church.  The ladies loved the pattern and some actually liked the fabric too.  I was able to use some of the ladies to help me.  They handed me pieces and did some pressing too.  I managed to get 6 big squares of 4 blocks put together.  It doesn't look so bad, right?
There are 70 blocks total and I sewed only 24 so I have a few more to do but I have decided I really like the pattern.

We were talking about our church group last night too and I think a few changes will be happening with the CL's.  I think we will charge a fee to be a part of the group.  I will ask that there be one donation quilt from each person per year.  They will have to participate in at least 1 group project per year.  Then we were talking about using up the stash at the church and I think I will issue a challenge to the CL's to use only the fabrics in the stash plus maybe one of their own choosing to make a quilt for donation.  Have any of you done anything like this before?  Did you stipulate a size?  Did you allow the back to not be from those fabrics.  I would like to hear what you might have done or if you think this would be a good idea for a group endeavor?  I want to try something that will challenge them.

And Snow it Continues

Oh yes...this snow is what greeted me this morning as I went out to my car.  I shoveled a path to the car, then another path to the garage as it is garbage day, then a path down the driveway so I could get the cans to the curb.  This is my front walk way.

Then I had to scrape the drift off the car!  It was burried!!!
I just thought I would share some photos of our weather since many of you have been showing such beautiful warm, sunny weather.  Now here is Hallie, since she didn't get into the action with the last photos of Autumn and Aiden.  Jack was up on the Ugly quilt last night but I was too tired to look for the camera.  Isn't Hallie sweet?  She was a rescue cat brought home by DD1.  She is kind of a fraidy cat but she loves me!
I tried to cut the squares of the Ugly quilt up into their 4 parts but couldn't find my 24" ruler.  I have to check the car, as I think that is the last place I remember having it (for a class) .  Wish me luck or I will have to use one from the church.  I did put 2 smaller ones together but that was a pain.  I did like how the triangles look once those squares are cut up, the pattern will be cool.  

I hope you are all staying warm if you got hit by all that snow like I did.  At least it is sunny here now, and the snow is beautiful!!  

Several blogs that I read have recently been talking about menopause.  My friend, Robin, sent me a song about it that is hysterical, if any of you want to hear it email me and I will send the MP3 file to you.  It is really worth the listen!!  I don't know how to post it here but I can definately send it to you.

The Journey of the Ugly Quilt

So...you might be wondering why the journey of the "Ugly Quilt" begins with a photo of Autumn?  Well she was *helping* me work on the quilt.

As you can plainly see this poor quilt simply did NOT have enough cat hair on it nor were the strips quite random enough to suit her highness.  Hence the "cat mixing".  Thank you Miss Autumn!
Well, fatty, I mean Aiden, needed to see what had caught her sister's attention and she decided it needed even more cat hair.  So she positioned herself to help me out with that.  lord help *anyone* that receives a quilt from me that is allergic!
So now that you know all about the furry helpers (Jack and Mosen visited also, sorry no pictures) I will talk a little about this quilt.  for Christmas my friend, Ellen, gave me a tin of FQ's.  Not my colors(except for the aqua dots which is fabric I had to add to make the numbers of strips work) but I decided since they were upstairs they had to be in the que for finishing (anything that is "upstairs" has to be finished first).  Now I really do NOT like the colors but I decided to make something with them anyway.  I found a pattern that I thought lent itself to this and didn't look like it would be too difficult to do and that I wanted to try making anyway.  I had to cut the fabric into strips and make strip sets.  Well, the pattern called for 42" which meant I had to sew my strips together to get the length, which I did.  Making the strip sets took longer than I thought but they are all finished now.  I need to cut them into squares and cut the squares diagonally into 4 triangles, rearrange and re-sew.  Presto change-o, we'll see how that goes.  So I was just curious what any of you think about these colors and fabrics?  

Here is the actual pattern.
I'm thinking this will be my contribution to the U of M raffle, which is good as it will be done early and cost little as all but the back will be from fabric I already have (and was actually given to me).  I will, of course, go through the stash and see if I can find a back too.  

An interesting thing occurred while I was cutting this quilt out.  I noticed a HUGE rabbit in the snow in the front yard.  It was so beautiful!  She just sat there are stared at me and finally dashed away.  Well, I wondered why, in the middle of the day, a bunny would be in the front yard?  I usually see them at dawn and dusk, mostly.  So I opened the front door only to see the neighbor's cat, Sony poking his head in the hole in the bushes where, I am assuming, said bunny had just come out of.  So I chased him away and hope he leaves the bunnies alone.  My cats do not chase the bunnies, they are afraid of them.  But...mice and voles BEWARE!

Skipity-Do-Da

Wow!! Who knew how generous you all would be to me!! I asked for green and blue 6" squares for the"S" quilt and you certainly delivered!! These beauties came from Amy at the Calico Cat. Thanks Amy!! I sent her some cat squares in return for the greens she sent to me.
Here are a few more from Amy.
Now then these fabulous blues came from Jeanne at Luv 2 Stitch.
Jeanne also sent all these wonderful greens. I love it!
Now these beauties came from my newest blogland friend, Pat at Bell Creek Quilts. Apparently she is a transplanted Wolverine and now lives in Badger territory (sorry for you). She was asking about my MSU fabric and we got to talking and I told her about our Big Ten quilt that we are always looking for fabrics for and lo and behold she sent me a yard of each of these wonderful Wisconsin fabrics! What a doll you are Pat, thank you. Last year that Big Ten quilt raised over $1500 for charity so the patient families at the U of M will appreciate your generosity also. (Hard to swallow the old Spartan pride, but thanks!) Let me know if you get in a pinch for the MSU fabrics. She even sent a cute little note!
Lastly, I wanted to show you all how great our green strings are turning out for the St. Patirck's quilt! This is just four I put together but there are a lot more. I think they are quite striking. The CL's liked them so much they asked if we could do them in another color (wonder who will design that quilt??)


My friend Ellen had given my some fat quarters in a tin and I found a pattern but (of course) I needed a few additional fabrics. They are not really "my" colors anyway so I was struggling with the whole thing. (Aqua, orange, green and brown) The print is kind of retro too so it was difficult to add to. I don't have anything like it in the old stash. So I went to JAF tonight and bought a little orange that should work. I will take photos tomorrow once I get some of it put together. If I don't like it I will just donate it. I need a quilt for the raffle too so...hmmmm maybe this will be the one!

I spent the day getting DD2 off to Co with her BF. They are staying with his sister in Denver and will go snowbording, ah to be young again! She was pretty excited. It necessitated several trips to stores to get "stuff" that needed to be gotten and packed for the trip. I hope they have fun and don't break anything important, those are some big mountains!