Loads of "Help"

I had loads to do this weekend. I had to get ready for my second guest post over at Stash Manicure. I wanted to do a littletutorial but only got one part of it done today. I spent time at the gym yesterday and then home, food, cleaning up, grocery shopping with hubby and then just hanging out. Unfortunately, not much done quilt wise. I did a little designing but some of it is for Stash Manicure so I really don't want to share that right now. I can show you that I had a couple of really amazing "helpers". First meet Autumn. She loves to watch the needle go up and down and eat my thread. Then when I try to shoo her away from the needle, she just rolls around on whatever I am working on like this.

Isn't she so cute?
Ok, I get it, enough time spent at the machine. I will take a minute and pay attention to you!

Next up is a photo of my cat, Jack "helping". After I went off with Autumn I cleaned up a little and brought in some fabric a friend had given to me. I had not even taken it out of the bag yet when Jack decided he needed to guard it for me.

As I type this Jack is laying right next to me. He is never very far from wherever I am, even at night!

As I sat here typing, my DH told me to look over at him. Autumn had jumped up in his lap and was lying on his computer, "typing". When I asked him what she was typing he said, "W's, F's and some P's mostly, oh, no and some spaces!" I laughed and then Hallie decided she needed to be a part of the calico gang and jumped up to share DH's lap. HAHA I love my cats!!


I did some work on my super secret project too. Man-o-man, so much I can't show you right now! I hope you will be patient and keep coming back. It made me happy to be able to play with my designing this weekend and I am most anxious to show you soon. XOP

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

That's what the word of the day was on Wednesday when PTM and I went over to see out friend Cori (of Crazy quilt Girl's online fabric shop). We are fortunate to be her friends IRL!! I can *finally* talk about this, whew, I was burstin'! On our last FNSI, PTM was working on a super cute item for our friend, Cori. We went over to pick up some things we had ordered and I brought my camera to capture the big reveal. (Sorry the first one is a little blurry, but oh so funny!!)

So PTM made Cori apron!!! She also gave her a darling cupcake book.

I love that photo of 2 of my BFF's together!! Rumor has it that Cori has not taken the apron off yet! True?? They are both two of the most wonderful, caring and generous people I have the pleasure of knowing. Love you guys!!

Then PTM and I went to Wed night quilting. I wanted to get a lot more than I actually ended up getting done, but isn't that how it usually goes? Several wanted help and I am happy to help. I did, somehow, manage to get my next block in the LCAL finished. I like this block in the series.

My blocks don't have the high contrast pizzaz some other do but I like how this is turning out and think the finished quilt will be beautiful. I did cut out PTM's block for her too, but she wouldn't let me sew it for her. Too bad too, cuz I was on a roll of matching things up pretty darned well too. Maybe she will let me do it at her house. I did manage to snap a photo to show you though.

I love how her pinwheel just POPS!! I need to work on my next JRQAL block too so I am at the same place with the two of them. I am hoping to get some quality sewing time in this weekend. I hate not being able to share with you guys but I can't share this one, not even a peek until I get the OK. Just know that it will be amazing and well worth the wait, ok?

I may just have to go over to PTM's this weekend to help her photograph her tutorial that she is planning on putting up at Stash Manicure! Oh, I guess that means I need to work on mine too as I will be back there in February too!! Anyone know how to get more hours in a day? Anyone??

I just have to share this with you all though. On Thursday morning when I was on the U of Mich. campus driving to work, as I was winding down a hill, there was a whole herd of deer. Not one or two but 18 does!! The campus is in the city. Crazy but kind of cool, huh?

I went to the gym last night, came home, ate, cleaned up the kitchen, threw in laundry and proceeded to make a pumpkin cheesecake for a birthday present for my friend, Karen today. I finally figured out a way to keep it from cracking. I put 2 bread pans, filled with water,into the oven as the oven was heating up and then continued to bake it leaving those in the oven. It seemed to work. This one was beautiful! She loved it!! She is ready to have a baby any day now too!!!

While that was baking I made chicken pot pie to bring to DD2's place for dinner tonight. I'll just bake it there. Washed up the dishes, cleaned the kitchen again, fed the animals, put the clothes in the dryer and dropped into bed!!! I m looking forward to seeing DD2 tonight. I hope you all have fun, productive weekends, whatever you are doing!! XOP

Alternate Winner

I have not heard from Dee. I waited longer than 24 hours hoping I would. I tired her profile for an email ...nada. I tried to email her from her comment...No Reply. PLEASE, people, if you are leaving comments put your email in your reply or change your settings to include this information otherwise I have no way to contact you and that would be a shame, wouldn't it??

I did ask Mr. Random Number Generator to generate another number and he chose...

NUMBER 98 BRENDA who said: I loved loved the idea of writing a blip every day of the year on a quilt. What a heirloom it would be. I see so many possibilities. Thanks so much for sharing. Hoping I win your giveaway so I can start my quilt soon.

If this is you, please email me with your snail mail address so I can get this layer cake right out to you!!

OK, all that being done (I hope), I had a couple of things I thought I would share with you. I brought my 365 quilt to my Thursday guild meeting and off handedly mentioned that I liked one kind of marking pen better than another. Well, that got everyone all stirred up! This got me thinking that maybe my blog readers might like to know about my pen too? In case you don't already know, I am a scientist in my real job, that's right a regular nerd, still love me?? Anyway, I was using a Pigma pen and then a Millennium pen to do my writing but I didn't like how light the writing was. I also, even with the freezer paper behind it, didn't like how the tip of the pen catches in the fabric. Not really a smooth flow. We had these fine line markers at work and I thought, "hmmmm, I wonder if they will work on fabric?" So I borrowed one and used it and never looked back! Curious? Ok enough suspense, this is the pen.

The pen is made by Sarstedt a German company. They come in black, red, green and blue. Catalog numbers are 95954, 95956, 95955, and 95953 respectively. I found them on Amazon in a 10 pack. They flow well, leave a nice dark line and are indelible (I heat set mine with a dry iron too). They work great for labels too.

The other thing I wanted to talk about is a stone stamp my friend Yuki carved for me. Yes, you read that right, she carved it out of stone for me!!! The face of the stamp is about the size of your thumb nail. I have a few photos for you too. I love the little case she had for it too, see the bunnies on it? Adorable!

I put them by my ruler so you will know how small they really are. I had trouble getting a clear photo of the face of the stamp and the lid at the same time so here are 2 pics one is clearer in each of the shots. Notice the small bit of Japanese characters on the stamp? It is my name written in Japanese!!

She also found and gave me some stamp pads with fabric ink on them. I just ink up the stamp and use it on my quilt labels. If I make a quilt for donation or that I end up selling on ETSY, I just put my stamp on the quilt. I have shown examples of this on my labels in the past.

I hope you enjoyed this information and we will chat soon!
XOP

City Quilts The Book

(Photo from the C & T website)
I belong to the Creative Troup over at C & T publishing. They will send me (you too if you join up) electronic versions of their books for free. You have to publish 3 reviews. One on their site, one on your blog and one on Amazon. I am reviewing the book City Quilts, which I have had now for quite some time. I LOVE this book. It is probably one of my most favorite books.

In this book, written by Cherri House, she takes us into her world of using old patterns and making them new again. She does this by simplification and use of bold, solid colors. She talks about making the fabric do the work for you. If you have a beautiful fabric let it shine in your quilt design.

I have begun to incorporate more solids into my quilts as a direct result of reading this book and following her work. I think that is the part I liked the best in the book is her directing you in *how* to use solids to their best advantage.

All in all this is one amazing book! Like I said in the title, if you don't buy a lot of books, make sure you don't miss out on this one!

I have some additional things to blog about but will do that later today or tonight.
XOP

Oh Boy Do I Have A Lot To Share

Let me start with yesterday. I went to the gym for 2 hours then home for a shower, which I really, really needed!! DD2 came home and we went to get our nails done. I had a pedicure and she had a mani/pedi. We used to do this when she was in high school before all the big dances. It is a tradition we both still enjoy doing. I was always so happy that she wanted to be with her mom and we never missed a dance! We had to go to the phone store and get her a new phone too. That took forever! She is now the proud owner of a Droid X and loves it!! She has an interview in NC at a university for graduate school (second week of Feb). They are flying her down there and everything! She has an interview at Purdue the first week of Feb, too. Lastly she has a phone interview with the University of Maryland sometime soon too. Looks like graduate school for her!! We are so proud of her

I was going to vacuum but Mosen was guarding the vacuum so I had to wait (still haven't done it, LOL) What's up with that crazy cat anyway??

I didn't do very much yesterday after that so I won't bore you with the details. On to today!

I did the usual, laundry, cleaning etc but in the afternoon, I managed to get my mug rug finished. I LOVE it!! Now I will show you front and back if you promise not to make fun of my quilting. My FMQ is not the best but I think it came out pretty well.

After my arm got tired (patting myself on the back ya know?) I decided to work on my 12 Days block. It is such a cute block! A house all decked out for Christmas.

You know what that means?? It means, for today, I am totally caught up on all my BOM commitments!!!

Last but not least, I have to thank you all for leaving comments on my blog and on Stash Manicure. It was enough to get an invitation back!! That's right boys and girls, I will be guest posting again on February 11th. Mark your calendars, grab a cuppa and let's see what I can come up with for you all.

Drum Roll Please...

I got up nice and early this morning so I could make a list (since not all the comments were separate) and then I used the random number generator (which I have no idea how to put that in here so you will just have to believe me when I tell you) and the winning number was 9! Dee, you are the winner!!! I will be emailing you shortly to get your mailing address. Congratulations and thank you everyone for reading my post and for all the nice comments!!

I don't want to *string* you along but I will have another post on Feb 11 at Stash Manicure so be sure and check it out. I have more to post about today but will put it in another post.

CONGRATULATIONS DEE!! (Oh no, Dee, I don't see a way to contact you, so I will give you one day to get in touch but if I don't hear from you I will have to go to the back up number I generated).

XOP

Friday Night Sew In

Last night was the FNSI. I took the day off work. I went to the gym in the morning and did Zumba then PTM and I went to the Sally Ann (Salvation Army) thrift shop. On Friday and Saturdays the ticket color of the week is 5 items for $5!! I got some more silk and linen. In addition all linens were 75% off!! I scored some GREAT vintage linens. YESSSS. Then we had to decide what to do after we were done (2 hours later). I drove home and gathered up the things I wanted to work on and then met PTM at my favorite place for lunch. (No shower either...EW!!) We then drove to her place to sew. There were a couple of things we wanted to work on and we managed to get quite a bit finished or or least loads of progress made.

PTM and I are working on Mug Rugs for a Mug Rug contest being held by Madame Samm on her blog. If you are creative you should think about doing it too. It is supposed to represent you. You all know that I love aqua and green, strings and owls so here is what I came up with.

I still need to stitch around all of the pieces, and then quilt it. I was just pleased to get it this far! So what do you think? I was a mug rug virgin!!

Next up for the night was to put together my Birdie Stitches block for that BOM over at Little Miss Shabby's blog. Any of you guys doing it? I finished my stitching on Wednesday night and put the block together on Friday night. I used Dream On for my fabric.

I'm lovin' how it came out! I can't wait for the next one. Are any of you participating in this BOM? If you are not but want to just drop in on LMS's site.
Most of you know my long arm quilter friend, LTW right? Well with all her quilting she doesn't really have time to piece. She had her mom stitch out the blocks from "Over the River" and she pulled all her fabrics and then she handed them off to me! I have several of her WIPs (which are now my WIPS!!) So all that being said, after dinner, I worked on all the flying geese required for this quilt (66 of them). She did the stitching in dark blue on a light blue background. I think these came out well. Now I need to put them together and cut the inner blocks. Never ends does it?

I finished and then it was around 10pm. PTM worked on something *super secret* so I can't share it with you at this time, but it is super cute!! She managed to get her 4th LC block done and just has her last 2 to do to catch up. I dragged my sorry butt home and went to bed!

I almost forgot to tell you about the contest the other day now didn't I? There was a woman there that had done the A Tisket A Tasket (the free BOM from Bunny Hill). How could I compete with that? I think there were 7 or so quilts and mine tied with 2 others for 2nd place. A little disappointing but hey it is what it is, right? I am thinking of submitting the quilt to a magazine. The kitties in the center are Vogart so I need to see when they were produced. If 70 years have passed they are in the public domain, so I am trying to find that out. If any of you happen to know the answer to that let me know?? I'll be working on that.

The drawing for the giveaway is tomorrow. Since some of you put all your comments together, I will go through and make a list and number them that way. I will notify the winner sometime tomorrow, once I get the ginormous list done, LOL.

Well, enough blabbing for one night. Have a wonderful Saturday night and I'll be back to announce the winner on Sunday! XOP

I'm So Excited For Tonight

I would like to take a minute to thank everyone that has left me such wonderful comments both here and over at Stash Manicure. You have all made my week so much brighter with your 365 quilt love!! My good friend, PTM pointed out that I did not say when I would be choosing the winner of the layer cake. Since I know that people sometimes get busy and may not have a chance to read the post until the weekend, I will do the drawing on Sunday January 23. Please be sure I can contact you via email or I will have to choose someone else.

Yesterday was the funeral of a friend's mom. I am not a big fan of funerals as I suppose most people are not. I felt good that I could go and support my friend though. I was walking into the church (this was actually at my own church) when the pastoral associate came up to me and told me that my friend wanted me to be the eucharistic minister. YIKES! A big honor to be sure but very nerve wracking for me. I did it and my friend PTM told me I did a good job, WHEW!!

After the funeral I went to the grocery store,UGH. Then off to play in PTM's basement!!! We had lunch first, her famous chicken salad (you should go and ask her for her secret recipe!) I decided that I needed to pay her back for all the amazing binding she has done for me so I made her first three blocks in the layer cake QAL, with the fourth one waiting to be assembled. I need to finish that one and her last 2 tomorrow for the FNSI. I will also be working on the Over the River quilt for LTW. WOW, you would think I didn't have any of my own things that need working on would you? Well, I sure do but I would like to pay back my friends first. PTM and I will work on finishing our mug rugs too, so I guess that is for me. I bought an adorable owl mug and will use the owls on it for my inspiration.

Photo of Mosen laying in my scrap bin!

Tonight is the meeting of the Plymouth Piecemakers and we get to bring our finished basket quilts for judging. I know you have already seen this but for those that haven't this is my entry.

The criteria was that you had to make a quilt with a basket(s) in it. You had to make the entire thing yourself, piece or applique, quilt and bind it. So this is smallish (29" x 29") since I had to quilt and bind it myself. I have no idea why I am so excited, since you only win the right to select the challenge for next years quilt but I am. It is the first time I have done something like this. I was thinking of sending this to a magazine to publish the pattern. Do you think anyone would like to make it?? Well, wish me luck tonight and thanks again for all your kind words. I love reading each and every one of your comments!

I'M ON STASH MANICURE TODAY!! (There's a giveaway involved!!)

(Edit: Comments are now closed)
YESSSS I got to do a guest post over on Stash Manicure! Hop on over and see what the buzz is all about. I had the opportunity to share my 365 Day Challenge quilt. It was a daunting task but I am so glad I did it. Lots of fun. I won't spoil it by re-writing about it here, so you must go to Stash Manicure and read it.

I said I had a giveaway now didn't I? OK here's the dealio. It is for a Moda Bella Neutral Basics Layer Cake that is up for grabs, so you will have a great start to your own 365 Day quilt.

This is what you need to do for a chance to win, you must do all of them.
1. Leave a comment on Stash Manicure and tell me you did so.
2. Become a follower of Stash Manicure, and tell me you did that too.
3. Become a follower of my blog.
4. Leave me a comment about my post on Stash Manicure

I do hope you all enjoy the post and I look forward to hearing from all of you soon. XOP

Castle Peeps Quilt Top

First things first. The morning when I was almost to work my DD1 and I saw what looked to be an accident on the corner we drive past. Loads of emergency vehicles and a BIG bus...with someone laying on the ground. Oh no, someone was hit by a bus! I dropped DD1 off at her entrance and went into the lab. A little while later she texted me to tell me that the person that got hit was her friend, Kelly that she works with!!! I found out, just a little while ago, that there were no broken bones and *only* soft tissue trauma, only? SHEESH!!! She was released from the hospital and sent home. So if you think you are having a bad day just be thankful you are not Kelly!! Please keep her in your prayers, she is going to be one sore girly tomorrow!!

Now on to happier things. I told you I would show you my latest quilt top and so here it is:

I am totally in love with this fabric and with this quilt! Isn't it adorable? Before you all go asking me where I got the pattern here you go. It is a free pattern from Lizzy House (the designer of the fabric). It took me almost no time to make this beauty. I am so excited about it.

I went looking for quilting patterns too and found one called Dragon Riders by Meadowlyon Designs. It will be perfect for the 4 large horizontal areas. I still need to decide what to do in the little one. I am thinking of putting the baby's name. That means I have to wait until he is born (you never know if they will change their name choice!) I also found a castle to use for the outer border that has penants on it and everything! I left that one at home so I can't tell you where I found it (and I can't find it again now when I am trying to do that!!) I will put bricks up the actual castle with some vines. I think it will be awesome!! The only part I didn't like about making this quilt was the roof on the castle. I printed out the templates and measured them but they didn't work out quite right. I fiddled around with it and it turned out alright, but if I make another one of these I will have to figure that template out! Or figure out a way around it, LOL!! If anyone reading this has made this and done something different, let me know!

This quilt makes me happy! I am also happy that my DD1's friend will be OK. I plan to go to the funeral home tonight to be there for one of the quilt ladies who lost her mother on Friday. Hopefully it will help lift her spirits, I think that's the best I can aim for under the circumstances, don't you??

I am so very excited for tomorrow!! I will be the featured guest on Stash Manicure!!! I have an awesome post about a 365 day quilt that I made. Don't forget to check it out. There will be a giveaway associated with that post too so stay tuned. You will have to comment there and do something on this blog as well to be eligible to win Trust me when I say you will want to come back and check it out!! Until tomorrow then.
XOP

Day To Myself...What?

DH had to fly yesterday and was overnight so I had last night and today all to myself. What did I do today, I hear you ask? More laundry, dishes and vacuuming as well as cleaning cat boxes, but I got a lot of sewing done today too. Wanna see?

First thing done was block 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas. I made 2 blocks from the kit sent to me.


I needed to get the next Layer Cake block done too and here it is.


Then I decided to make the next Jelly Roll block too. I really like how this one came out.


I was watching and listening to the Tudors while I was sewing all afternoon. Now I need to finish up the laundry and a few things. I finished a baby quilt top too which I will show you tomorrow, not spilling the beans today!

Oh yes, I will be on Stash Manicure on Wednesday so come back and cuz' in addition to that I will be having a little giveaway too.

I hope you all had a good weekend too!! XOP

What a Crazy 24 hours!

It all started last night. I received a text message on my phone stating that my credit card beginning with x numbers has been deactivated and that I should call them. I had given my credit card to my son to buy us dinner so I called him and he had received the same text. I called the number and when they asked me for my number I knew it was a scam and I hung up. I received 2 more tests which I ignored. My DH had come home after the first text and while i was telling him about the texts another one came in. He said did you call DD2 and tell her it was a scam? Well, I had not but she is VERY gulible so I called her right away. TOO LATE!! She had called the number back and told them not only her debit card number but her social security number too. UGH!! Called the bank (the least of my concerns) and then called Life Lock to enroll her to hopefully preemptively stop any identity theft that will assuredly be tried. What is wrong with people??!! Please keep her in your prayers, she is going to need it. So most of my evening last night was taken up with trying to take care of this.

This morning was the monthly meeting of the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild and the speaker today was Kathtryn Schmidt, of Rule Breaking Quilts. She did a trunk show for us and her quilts were very unique. I like the techniques and have tried some of them in the past and will most likely experiment with them in the future. Here are a couple of pictures.

There are more photos on my Flickr account too. I went to the meeting with PTM and our friend Christa. It was a good way to spend the morning.

I came home and decided to do some laundry and cleaning. I need to sew but thought I would do some other necessary stuff first. Hopefully tomorrow I can get up fairly early and do some more cleaning and laundry but I really want to get some sewing done. I did manage to get the binding machine sewn on and hand sewn down on my red and white quilt. So it is all done now and ready to bring to the meeting on Thursday to participate in the challenge. I am happy about that! I also managed to take apart another garment, this time a silk dress I bought at the Sally Ann (Salvation Army)for $1!! I bought quite a few linen and silk garments to take apart and use for quilts!

Last but not least I need to write my post for Stash Manicure which will be posted on Wednesday so don't forget to stop by Stash Manicure on Wednesday to see what I have to say.

OOPS, sorry one more thing. There is a great giveaway over at Lucy and Norman's blog. Go on over and sign up.

I hope you are all having a good weekend. I can't wait for the morning, a new day and loads of possibility. My happy today? I got to go to the quilt guild meeting with PTM. On top of that her DH sent me directions on how to number my comments!! WOO HOO. Thanks, honey!!
XOP

Wednesday Night Community

Every Wednesday night I get together with some pretty wonderful women to quilt. We meet at the administration building in our community. The room is spacious and well lit. We have a lot of fun. I went over to PTM's before the meeting. I intended to put the binding on the red and white quilt. I started to do that and realized that I needed to rip it all out and do it differently, UGH!!! So PTM helped me rip and then it was time to eat and leave.

I always bring more to do then I ever get done. I thought I would do the next block in the layer cake QAL but I left my scraps at home so nope, not that one. I needed to take some photos of the project I want to talk about on Stash Manicure next week. Stay tuned for that one. Then I decided to work on my 12 days of Christmas BOM. I got quite a bit done on that but needed to press with the iron (and it was left at home).

One of the things that makes me happy is to see the sharing, teaching and "community" we have when we all get together. As long as no one is chewing gum loudly (brings out my weirdness over mouth noises, but that's another post) we have a lot of fun. I managed to snap a few photos of some of the women and thought I would share. We have done a lot of teaching and sharing and laughing and learning. It makes me really happy to be a part of such a wonderful group of women!



Just look at PTM...so cute, helping Barb learn how to embroider!


Hey are any of you participating in the next Friday Night Sew In?? It is next Friday. Better start thinking about what you want to work on!!
XOP

I'm a WINNER!!

Yes I certainly am! I received an email during the night while I slept telling me that I had won a giveaway over at Pigtales and Quilts. What did I win I hear you asking?

I won a $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!!!

If you have never visited the FQS you need to run, not walk, right on over and check them out. I buy all my Moda from my friend Cori (Crazy Quilt Girl's online shop), but for other manufacturer's I usually go to the FQS. Both places are fabulous.

Happy: Winning the gift certificate made me happy for the day! Now I just need to work on making someone else happy today! Have a wonderful day!
XOP

JRQAL Block 6

I did manage to get something else finished this weekend. I made block 6 in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. I had to laugh, I made the inner part and forgot the borders, thought I was finished until I put it with the other blocks. Then I realized I had forgotten the borders! Fixed that and now it really is done.

I just adore that little bunny in the center don't you? I used it last time I made this quilt in this block too.

I managed to get the next 12 Days of Christmas block(s) cut out too but not sewn. It is always interesting to try to put the sewing room back to the way it was before Christmas, so I spent time doing that as well as making lists of things I need "to do". I will show you the blocks once they are finished.

If you have read this blog for awhile you know that we have 5 cats. On Saturday night DH was trying to enjoy a bowl of ice cream when 3 moochers showed up to eyeball his ice cream! I managed to snap this pic while they were paying attention to him instead of me!


Went with DD1 to see the Harry Potter movie last night. I have to say I thought it was pretty good. I will be sad to have them end. Work today, bummer, but kind of a slow day which is nice for a Monday.

Happiness: On Saturday, I suggested DH might like to go to Cabela's while I was at LTW's. That made him happy! Sunday, I went to the movie with DD1 and that made us both happy. Today, PTM and I ordered a pattern I have wanted for a long time and it was on sale (still WAY too much) but we will both use it. This made us both happy.

What did you do to make someone happy this weekend?
XOP

Redwork Kitty is Quilted!!

I got up yesterday and went to the gym. Fat reward for that was that I had gained another pound! Six pounds since the end of November! UGH. I guess I will be back at the hard work beginning this week. Then to the Sally Ann for some thrifting. I got a purple silk dress, and some more wool for cheap! Then I went home. I did laundry, and some other stuff while DH was out at Office Max. I needed a new graph notebook. I have actually filled up my last one and this will be book number 3!!
When DH got home we packed it all up to go to LTW's so I could quilt my redwork quilt. I belong to a quilt group that had a challenge. You had to make a basket quilt and do the entire thing yourself. So I went to LTW's to use her Statler to quilt it. Oh YEAH!! Here is the photo tour.


I quilted a design into each of the individual geese. Actually the Statler did it, I just programed it and outlined it and let it work it's magic.
LTW actually got a few pics of me working.

It took me about 3 hours to do even with LTW showing me what I needed to do. I outlined the baskets and put flowers in them too. You can kind of see them here.

I did a crosshatch in the center and I love how it came out.

After I finished, I got to go out to the barn and say hi to the peacocks, Blue and Osirus. I didn't take any pictures as it was freezing but they are getting so BIG! After we left we decided to go out for dinner. We went to a little place called the Bayou Grille in Belleville. I had the ribs, don't they look yummy?

Dinner was good and the company was awesome.
Now I have to get to work on a few things so I have something to show you all tomorrow!
XOP

Near Miss, Mid Air Collision Eminent

Really?? Why didn't you all *tell* me that my geese were going to have a mid air collision??? You wouldn't hurt my feelings, you really wouldn't! No worries though, PTM told me ever so gently yesterday and now all the geese have straightened up and are flying right, whew, thank goodness!

Before and After:


Now I can do the happy dance. I am in love with this little quilt and can't wait to go to LTW's on Sat and use her machine to quilt it up! Stay tuned for that fun time, I'm trying to get PTM (aka Louise) to go with me.

I was thinking about my word last night on my way home from PTM's house and decided that I will put a little something in this blog each time I post about how I added happiness to someone else's life or someone made me happy. So to that end, I went to my friend, Karen's baby shower last night after work. She is the one I made the chenille blanket for. I didn't get to stay for the entire thing as DD1 was with me and demanded to be dropped off at the grocery so she could shop while I was at the shower. I tried to get her to take the car, but NO. I told her it would be at least 2 hours if not longer, but no. Right about 2 hours into the shower DD1 calls to tell me she is done and can we go home? UGH, I asked my friend to open my gift as I had to leave. I'd say she was pretty happy wouldn't you?

Isn't she a beautiful pregnant woman? I wish I had looked so good pregnant!

After I got home DH was looking for his money clip. I found it, he was happy! I sat down to rip out my errant flying geese (not so happy), and I talked to PTM. She had her DIL's quilt ready to go to LTW's but I needed to go and get it so LTW could have it and work on it over the weekend. Let me tell you, it was such a hardship to go over to PTM's and sew in the basement! LOL. I brought my red and white quilt and tamed those geese. All is well with me now, I am happy. On top of that PTM let me use her red thread and I was able to get the rick rack handles sewn down too. I asked LTW if I could go to her place this weekend and use her machine to quilt this wee quilt. I am going on Sat, hopefully with PTM!!

On top of all that I got my next block for the JR QAL finished too, bonus!!


All in all a pretty good night! Tonight DD2 is coming over to go out for dinner, so I must head to the gym as soon as I get home, especially since I missed yesterday and Wed. (GACK...experiencing gym withdrawl...) I am hoping to get caught up on my 12 Days of Christmas BOM. I have the most recent block to cut out and sew. Maybe a trip to the Sally Ann, we'll see. I have to decide which project to begin working on next. I want to work on one of my UFO, for sure but which one? This is the question, any suggestions? The list is on my sidebar.
XOP