Life Events

There are so many BIG life events happening for me right now.

The biggest one (after the grandbaby)is my retirement.  

My last full day of work is this Friday.

My official retirement date is August 7, but I am taking a week of vacation time.

I have so many mixed feelings about retiring.

I have worked at the University of Michigan for over 36 years now.

I love working in science.

I have enjoyed all the different people I have come to know and made lifelong friendships.

These arrived yesterday from my daughter.

Made me cry.

It was particularly special to me that she thinks so highly of me.

I can't really put into words how much knowing this means to me.

 Today I was working at my desk and turned my head and there were three of my co-workers standing to the other side of me with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers!  

 I met my best friend at work.

We used to work across the hall from each other.

She was in a clinical lab and I was in a different research lab.

We lost our funding and I needed a new lab.

Our administrative person found me a position in the lab I am in now.

Then we needed another person to fill a position so I suggested her.

They hired her and the rest, as they say, is history.

For much of my career, people would call us by the others name.

We had a lot of great adventures together in the lab.

Since Covid, we have been on different shifts.

I miss seeing her everyday and spending 8 hours talking off and on.

We spent the day together with our husbands last Friday on their new pontoon boat.

I am looking forward to spending more time together like this (not at work)

She is a few years behind me for retirement but looking down the path!

It is interesting where life takes you.

Having been a Spartan all my life I would never have guessed I would work at the other school.

It has been a great journey and I am looking forward to my new adventures.

Thanks for everything, Michigan!

Peace out!

~XOP~

100 Quilts For Kids

I think I just made it under the wire. 

 Luckily for me my friend Liz is amazingly fast and got both of my quilts back to me 

so I could machine bind them tonight.  

WHEW!! 

 I am planning on donating to Margaret's Hope Chest. 

 They are local near my dad and I can drop them off when this craziness with my dad subsides a little bit.

I made one Michigan

The back

And one Michigan State

The back, which is really a light green with the black.
I had to take photos in the darkish as I was feverishly working on the binding!

I had Liz quilt a football pattern into them and am pretty happy how they came out.

Margaret's Hope Chest gets two more quilts,
AND
I am happy I was able to link up to 100 Quilts for Kids too!

~XOP~

Cloud Nine

I was out shopping a few weeks ago and 

came across a pattern that I thought would make a great donation quilt.  

It is called Cloud Nine and is by Villa Rosa Designs.  

I decided it would make a couple of great quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest.  

I did one in U of M and one in MSU fabrics

First the MSU 

(of course)

Close up

Then the U of M quilt top

Close up

After working with both the black and the white as backgrounds, 

I like the look using the white much better. 

 I am making a third one for someone special so that will have to be shown later.    

This top goes together so quickly, and finishes at 56 x 70" 

 Perfect donation quilt size.  

I am handing off to the quilter tonight and

 hope to have them back by Monday to bind and enter in the 100 Quilts for Kids. 

 I am going to machine bind as that will go so much more quickly.  

Wish me luck!! 

What is your go to donation quilt pattern??

~XOP~