Monday, December 31, 2007

Last update

We got the pathologist's report today: Stage 4 Glioblastoma. The doctor said 6-18 months. This is not acceptable and we will be going to one of the major centers, quite possibly the Anderson Center in Houston. There is a wealth of information on the internet and they are doing amazing things in the field of cancer treatment and Steve will be one of the long-term survivors. Pray for Steve and Kim because they have a long road ahead of them, but he is a fighter. Thanks.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Update

I first want to thank everyone for the prayers -- I can't possibly answer everyone individually right now, but please know they are extremely appreciated and keep them coming.

Steve underwent a 12 hour surgery yesterday. The surgeon removed the entire tumor, but found he also had a ball of arterial/vein something or other (the blood vessels are all wrapped around each other like a ball of rubber bands). She had to remove that and reroute the blood vessels and that necessarily added to the time of the surgery. We are waiting on the pathologist's definitive report -- they may have to send it to Mayo's, which could take up to 3 weeks or more.
He is today in the intensive care unit, sitting up, eating hospital jello (what do they make they stuff from?), talking and in good spirits, trying to watch the Bears game with a parade of people coming in to see him. We were there earlier, will go back later in the day when the parade slows down, hopefully. He has some slight weakness on his left side -- not even noticeable to our untrained eyes, and it should improve. He has two drains in his head which are draining blood. He had a cat scan this morning and the doctor said everything looks really good there. He is expected to be in the intensive care unit for 2 to 3 days, and another 2 or 3 days in the regular surgery unit. However, my son, God bless him, is taking bets on leaving the hospital in the shortest possible time ever recorded! And I don't think the doctor doubts his intentions at all! She is still amazed at how healthy he is otherwise.

That's where we are. I will obviously not be online much at all. I'm setting everything to no-mail and I won't be able to even answer all the emails I've received in the past day, but please know that we really appreciate all the prayers and good thoughts. Thanks.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Big Time Prayers Needed

We have been on a 24 hour roller coaster that abruptly stopped at the top with a diagnosis of a brain tumor in my 38 year old son's brain. He was dizzy and vomiting yesterday, went to the ER and after a lot of tests, we got the diagnosis at 4 pm today. He is having surgery to remove a tumor that has a lot of blood vessels involved -- it is about a 3 inch mass that has to be removed or he will die. They are not even sure what they are dealing with, only that it has to come out. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 am. Please, please pray for Steve. Thanks.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

My favorite Christmas Gift


Stephanie made a calendar for 2008 for us.
Each month has pictures of our favorite subject matter -- our grandkids!
Each month I'll try to remember to get a picture of that month and post it here. I've already told her we'll expect one every year now!

My quilty gifts: gift certificates to King's Men Quilting Supply and I have already put in my order and it is on it's way today! vbg I ordered thread, a panto and two books for the longarm. My plan for 2008 is to spend a lot of time in the front of the longarm learning freehand quilting. I like doing pantos, but I'd really like to improve my freehand skills. I can finish up a whole bunch of ufo's while I learn, hopefully!

Gratitudes:
Beautiful weather on Christmas to drive to Steph's.
We had a really nice Christmas and all three of the kids were very well behaved. Even 5 month old Will, who got passed around a lot and he smiled for everyone!

Carolina Crossroads Pt. 3

I finished all 80 of the nine-patches for part 3 of Bonnie's mystery quilt. I probably should square these up -- but not today. vbg

I'm trying to get end of the year stuff organized: I finally cleaned up and put back all the quilt books I have removed from the shelves this year (yes, they were all over the house and in big piles in front of the bookshelves upstairs -- for the entire year!). I have another stack of magazines that I received/bought this year to go through -- but it is not a large stack, so I have curbed my quilt magazine addiction a lot this year. I still have tons of patterns printed from the 'net to go through and file (one way or the other), and I've set aside a book for keeping Bonnie's patterns I'm working on or plan to do this next year. I haven't bought many quilt books this year either -- except, I have bought longarm quilting books and magazines. I think I just traded one addiction for another, but am trying to tame that one too. The plan for tackling this will be one bite of the elephant at a time. I'm working on whittling down the other paperwork in this house right now and hope to get it under control by the end of the year -- but an hour and a half at a time is enough before I go stark raving mad!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Carolina Crossroads, Part 2


I've been fitting in a little sewing here and there lately and this afternoon I finished part two of Bonnie's mystery. I have the strip sets finished for part 3, but they'll wait til after Christmas to become 9 patches.
I put the ham in a slow oven a little bit ago and have the Korv (Swedish Cooking Sausage) on the stove. The food is ready to pack up tomorrow and take to Steph's and I just put all the Christmas gifts into a couple of big bags to haul up there, too. I think I'm ready! Merry Christmas everyone!
Gratitudes:
Kevin will drive tomorrow, so we only have to drive home from his house.
It's supposed to be bright and sunny, so a good day for driving, too.
AJ called this morning and wished me a Merry Christmas Eve. He and his mom were getting ready to play "football guys"! LOL
What a precious gift grandchildren are.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas

No pictures today. The only quilty thing I did was take the top and bottom borders off the Christmas Stars quilt and trim 1-1/2" off them and put them back on. They no longer wave -- funny how that works.
The plan was to work on Bonnie's mystery, but then Bill asked where the book was for the central vacuum. After a long search, I found it and then proceeded to start cleaning out the files I have in and around the desk and file cabinets. We save every piece of paper, I swear. I am finally tossing the receipts for nails he bought when he finished the basement -- 7 years ago. I am getting rid of the warranty and books for those appliances that went belly up years ago, and putting the ones that we still have in one file. I had planned on finishing one drawer today, but only got half-way finished and son, Steve called, so talked to him for a half an hour. By that time it was way past lunch time, so stopped for lunch, then decided if I was ever going to get those borders done I needed to do them today. After that was accomplished, I cleaned up some papers in the sewing room -- patterns I've printed off that I actually want to do one of these days.
Anyway -- never did work on the mystery, so hope to find a bit of time here and there over the weekend to play.
I couldn't go to AJ's Christmas program today because we were hit again with fog, but Steph said she taped it so we can watch on Christmas day. His preschool class sang Jingle Bells and got to ring bells as they were singing; he got quite vigorous in ringing his bell and dropped it and it slid away and he couldn't find it -- he started crying. How precious is that?

Just in case I don't get back to blogging... I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I've been quilting!


This is the second quilt I made with the "Depression Block" from Quilter's Cache site. It's been waiting for a couple of months to be pinned on the machine and I finally did that and quilted it this week. I used templates from R&S Design. They are actually pattern boards used on the back of the machine. Basically, the poor man's version of Circle Lord. Someday I'll buy the Circle Lord, but for now these will have to do! They worked okay for the Baptist Fan on this quilt anyway. I stitched the binding on, but still need to add a label (after I decide who will be getting it!), and stitch the binding down. It felt really good to pin a quilt on and quilt it -- been awhile and I've missed it. Now I'm itching to pin another on right away. I still haven't worked on my nine-patches for Bonnie's mystery, so I may have to at least get started on that before I pin the next one on.

We have some elderly relatives and friends that are not in good health lately -- 3 with heart problems actually -- so we need to get some visiting in between Christmas preps and trying to cope with weather in the midwest -- today it's so foggy that the sky is as white as the ground, so we had to cancel one visit already. Good day for quilting, though.

Gratitudes:
AJ is back on antibiotics for his bronchitis -- hope this works quickly.
Working on the longarm -- it was a real pleasure.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Cooky Day

Yesterday was Cooky Day at Steph's. The forecast in Illinois when I left in the morning was for 1 to 2 inches of snow; in Wisconsin, it was 1 - 3" of snow. I got there about ten a.m. This first picture is of AJ and Briana decorating a pan of sugar cookies before baking. The big plate of sugar cookies in the foreground are awaiting frosting and more decorating. AJ gets tired of decorating, so he goes and plays and helps Daddy clean the basement and plays and comes back and decorates a cooky and plays, etc., etc.

Grandma had baby duty. And AJ wanted Grandma to play "pirates" with him, so Will and I played pirates with AJ for awhile. (That's AJ's pirate ship in the picture!) Will is 5 months old today and he's cutting teeth on the bottom, so Grandma got drooled on a lot! It was a wonderful day.



I left to go home at 3 p.m. The revised forecast for Illinois was 4 - 7 inches and Wisconsin was 5-8". The two highways in Wisconsin -- 12 and 43 were what is known as "snow covered and hazardous"! Lots of cars in ditches, lots of police trying to help people. I got in a line of cars that was at least 20 cars long and mostly the top speed on 12 was 35 mph. On 43, we sometimes made it to 45 mph! By the time I hit I90, I was pretty much white-knuckled --- some idiot pickup driver passed the line of cars and he had to have been going 70 mph. God forgive me, but I was hoping he'd land in the ditch ahead, but I didn't see him. I90 was mostly just wet -- the plows and salt trucks had definitely been on top of things there. We even got it up to 60 mph! Back down to the 50's and below for the rest of the way home, though. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get home, which I thought was pretty good since it's normally a 1-1/2 hour trip anyway. We got about 6 inches of snow last night. It was still a fun day spending time with the grandkids -- hadn't seen them in about 3-1/2 weeks.

Gratitudes:
Making it home safely in the snow
Grandkids -- nothing better in life

Friday, December 14, 2007

Just Like Clockwork....


Friday has arrived and I haven't blogged since Monday -- so much for trying to blog every day! vbg
I managed to get the sashing parts put together on Tuesday this week, but haven't touched the quilt til today. It took me all day, to put the top together and put the borders on. I had planned on having a green border between the tan and the red, but after getting the sashing strips all on, I took a picture of the top and it looked really dull. I like the green really dulls down the red in these fabrics, so I left the green border off in hopes of brightening up the quilt just a little. It's also a bit of a dark picture -- in real life it is a little bit brighter -- the tan is a bit brighter I think. This close up of the sashing strips shows the colors a bit better.

Anyway -- the top is finished, I still need to prepare the binding and backing, but I'm done working on it for now. I'm two steps behind on Bonnie's mystery, but I think I'll be caught up by the end of the year anyway.


I joined Stashbuster's UFO challenge for 2008. I've listed a few of my ufo's and flimsies on the right side of my blog -- I have not listed all of them, because I know I won't finish them all next year anyway -- why torture myself? vbg I do hope to bust a lot more stash next year and do a better job of keeping track of how much I do use up. Bonnie's mystery plus all the other quilts on her site will be great for busting scraps and I really need to get a handle on the scraps this year as well.
So, the rest of this year will be working on the mystery, hopefully get a quilt pinned to the longarm -- I'm getting rusty not using it and in order to get some ufo's done next year, I'll need to get better at using it -- and maybe cut one or two wallhangings out that I'd like to make, or maybe put a panel together with some border blocks and get it ready for quilting. Mostly, it'll be whatever I feel like working on!
Tomorrow is cookie day, so there will not be any quilting -- just playing with babies and kids and eating cookies!

Gratitudes:
The ice storm is over and driving shouldn't be bad tomorrow.
Christmas Cookies!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Monday, Monday

No pics tonight. This was a typical Monday - do laundry and clean house. Still have a load in the dryer and the last load in the washer waiting for the dryer. House is clean. Don't know why I bothered -- should have planned to do it tomorrow. The ice storm that is currently south and west of us is heading our way -- sometime after midnight expected arrival. I usually run errands on Tuesday and if I had half a brain I'd have done that today and cleaned tomorrow. Doesn't matter though -- I'm not going out tomorrow at all. Bill ran to the store this afternoon and bought milk so we're good to go -- we can eat out of the freezer and pantry for months!
I did cut the sashings and borders for my Christmas Stars quilt, but that was the extent of the sewing today. I may stitch on my Primitive Garden block tonight or I may read a book -- I'm flexible. vbg

Hope everyone in the path of this storm is staying safe. See ya tomorrow!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

The blocks are done

I set up my portable design wall in the basement near my longarm. It's a little inconvenient for using when I'm actually sewing blocks together because my sewing room is on the 1st floor, but once I get the blocks put together I can put them up and look at them while I'm on the treadmill in the morning! Anyway, here's the finished blocks. Now I have to cut the sashing strips and piece the sashing and the cornerstones and cut the borders. If I have enough left over (which I doubt), I might make more blocks, but we'll see. I really like the way they look even though the picture is a bit dark here. I haven't squared these blocks yet either, so don't look too closely! vbg

I'm done sewing for the day -- still haven't touched the second clue of Bonnie's mystery -- but there's always tomorrow. I'm in no rush to finish either of these projects -- just enjoying the piecing time.

Gratitudes:
We got about an inch of snow/sleet, so thankful it wasn't all ice.
Sewing time
Making plans and writing out the to-do lists.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Christmas Stars revisited

These are the last two versions I previewed and I voted both of them down!


So what I was left with was this: The green stars with the red centers and tomorrow I'll make the red stars with green centers. I think those work the best for what I want to do. I finished 6 of the blocks today and hope to finish six more tomorrow. I spent half the day having sneezing fits in between trying to sew -- not real pleasant. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. I did talk to my son this afternoon -- he and his wife are leaving on a cruise tomorrow.


I'm heading upstairs now to relapse and try to stop this sneezing stuff!

Friday, December 07, 2007

Another day

Survey results:
It seems everyone likes the all red one and no one is too fond of the green fabric at all -- the green is actually part of the collection and it does match the green in the red and tan fabrics. I would prefer a darker, maybe forest or hunter green, but it didn't work with the other two. Personally, I love the red and tan fabrics and the all red block, but I need the green in there for contrast. I finished the flying geese today, so I'll play around with them again tomorrow before I decide what to do.

I spent an hour and a half getting my mammogram this morning -- par for the course, I always have to have twice the number of films than normal. But, thankfully, no spots or lumps and I'm good to go for another year. Then had to pick up Bill's chain saw from the repair shop and stop at the store. I swear we had more snow in our driveway this morning than the whole city of Rockford -- so roads were clear anyway (and I probably could have gone to Wisconsin yesterday, darn it).

Got a couple of nice packages in the mail yesterday: The bottom border portion for the Primitive Garden quilt; and the winter edition of Kansas Troubles newsletter and 4 fat quarters of her fabric. And today in the mail we got a Christmas gift from my niece in Colorado -- a very nice digital photo frame (I always open Tammy's gift because I know she opened hers as soon as it got there - which was probably today -- my brother & sister-in-law used to open gifts on Christmas eve because my sister-in-law couldn't wait and their daughter is just like her! LOL -- Tammy got the 4 stars tablerunner.








I hope to work on my Christmas Stars quilt tomorrow and I need to get started on the second installment of Bonnie's Mystery Quilt. We're supposed to get another snow storm this weekend and again next Tuesday -- it's really a great time to stay in and quilt.

Gratitudes:
The roads were only wet this morning for the half hour drive to my appointment.
Hershey's Kisses
My niece, her husband and son.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

What's Your Opinion?


I was supposed to babysit the grands today, but Steph called early this morning and it was decided because we're supposed to get another winter blast this afternoon that it wouldn't be great to be driving home in blowing snow. (As it turns out, the snow hasn't started yet, so I probably could have made it most of the way home before the blast -- but who knew?!) So, today turned out to be a free quilty day. I cut out most of the Christmas Stars quilt I plan to make with the new fabric I bought last week. And now I need your opinion: There will be two blocks -- red stars and green stars. Which do you like better, the red with green center or all red? And the green with red center or all green? I'm leaning towards the opposite centers because I think the green needs that bit of red punch.



Blogger is not playing nice with me today, so who knows what order the four pictures will end up in?!
I had planned on starting the second installment of Bonnie's Mystery Quilt today, too, but got caught up in this one. I'm still in the process of making flying geese units and I haven't cut out the sashings or borders yet. So, tomorrow, the plan is get the strips ready to chain sew on Bonnie's and use them as leader/enders for this one! Well, that's the plan anyway.

Gratitudes:
Steph's mother in law was able to step in and babysit for an hour so she could get to the dentist.
She's home before the snow started.
Another quilty snow day!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Mystery & Mittens

Here's my hundred red and green rail fence blocks -- the first step of Bonnie's mystery. I ended up using the scraps I pulled out of the bins -- I had a large amount of red and green and still have a lot of neutrals in there that I'll press and cut as needed. Just wasn't any sense in pulling fabrics from stash when I have such a mess of scraps in the bins.





And here's the completed mitten tablerunner. This was really fast to make and I love how cute it turned out. I used some great blue fabrics for the background and then appliqued the mittens using all flannels. Today I put the binding on and even stitched it down after I finished the rail fence blocks.

Still haven't cut out the red/green/tan quilt I wanted to work on -- maybe on Friday after my mammogram! Tomorrow I get to babysit the grandsons for a few hours. Hopefully, I won't have to drive in snow or freezing rain on the way home. We did get 4 or 5 inches of snow last night and the wind has been howling since about midnight, so it's really been blowing around. And tomorrow we're supposed to get more snow -- late afternoon, early evening.

Gratitudes:
Our neighbor/friend plowed our drive this morning (after Bill had already snow-blowed it once!).
A Quilter's Snow Day today -- playing in the sewing room.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

My Christmas Present

In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to post something on my blog every day!
This is my Christmas present! What is it? It's my central vacuum system with a brand new motor. Bill took it apart yesterday, took it to the dealer, he called this morning with the estimate and an hour later called to say it was finished! Saved about $500 over buying a new system. So, yes, I am spoiled and now I have two new vacuums! BTW -- the Sears upright that I bought works great (except I am so not used to using an upright and one that doesn't fit well into corners unless you use the tools part). Naturally, I whined Monday when Bill asked me how I liked it. And yes -- I know he's a keeper. I'll be nice to him!

We're getting the snow now that was predicted -- anywhere from 3 to 6 inches. I managed to get all my errands run before it started, so I'll just spend my time in the sewing room. I finished appliqueing the mitten blocks last night, pinned and quilted around them today (and surely know the reason I got a longarm -- I am really bad quilting on my DSM). I've also made the binding, but haven't gotten it on yet because I had to help Bill re-install my vacuum! So tomorrow I hope to get the binding on and cut fabrics and make 100 rail fence blocks for Bonnie's Mystery Quilt. It's going to be a quilting day tomorrow!

Gratitudes:
I'm grateful my DSIL is back home after spending the weekend in the hospital, but I sure wish her kids would insist she move in with them -- she's all alone in the Chicago area and her 4 kids are spread all over -- not in the area.
My hubby -- I think I'll keep him.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Decorated Tree


Here's the tree with the decorations on it! I just got out the Lenox China snowflakes, a treasured set of bisque snowflakes given to me by my BFF Deb, and an assortment of antique looking, or primitive type decorations and let it go with that -- I think it's enough. This picture was taken about 4:30 this afternoon, with the lights on the tree lit. One string this year is enough.

Today was spent cleaning house and doing laundry, and cleaning out my decorations bins that I keep in the guest room upstairs -- all the fall, some Christmas and the rest spring/summer everyday stuff. I had them all messed up and now I have the fall stuff altogether as well as the Christmas stuff separated from the everyday stuff -- it's one of those things that has been bugging me forever and when I finally got around to doing it, it only took less than an hour!

I started the mitten quilt yesterday and only have 3 more mittens to applique down before I get it ready for quilting. I'm using regular cotton for the background, but flannels for the mittens -- I think it's going to be really cute.

We're supposed to get snow tomorrow and Wednesday -- oh joy. I have to drive to Steph's on Thursday to babysit, but it should be clear by then. And Friday I have a mammogram appointment -- oh joy again! vbg It's supposed to snow again on Friday, but hopefully I can get in and out and home before it decides to do it. I hate driving in the stuff.

Gratitudes:
Got my list finished and even got some stuff done that wasn't on my list.
George Forman's grill -- so nice and fast to fix pork chops on for dinner.
Digital cameras

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Christmas Decorating


Is this the greatest Christmas tree, or what?! I know -- my kids and probably my husband will hate it, but I absolutely love it. And seeing as how I'm 60 years old, my kids all have their own homes and Bill doesn't do any decorating around here, I'm putting up what I want. I haven't dug out the tree ornaments yet...the two that are on the tree I just bought at my favorite quilt store. I'm going to be very selective on what I put on the tree and there won't be a lot. I put 1 string of 100 lights on it, although I may buy another string before the season is over.
I have actually looked for a twig tree for years and this year I finally found a source and I'm really happy with it -- primitive and folk art, standing in my log home library looking out at the back porch and the snow/sleet and the woods in the back...what could be better? Oh, I know, my quilted tree skirt!

I had planned on cutting my new quilt out today, but then got caught up in the excitement of Bonnie's Scrap Quilt Mystery. So, naturally, I've been digging through scraps and pulled an overflowing drawer of 1-1/2" and 2" strips and squares. I'm going to do mine in red, green and neutral, because I can always use another Christmas quilt. And then I pulled fabrics to make the mitten tablerunner at the Harbour Quilt Company. Just can't resist it either and I think it'll go fast. Anyway -- so far haven't cut anything out and will have to do a lot of pressing before I can start Bonnie's. Maybe I press while I watch the Bears today!

Gratitudes:
I'm grateful Blogger has an automatic save on these posts -- almost lost this one half way through!
Christmas trees
My fabric stash -- nice to be able to pull fabrics for anything I might want to start at anytime.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Organization and finishes





I finished the second tablerunner and one candle mat yesterday. That's the extent of quick Christmas gifts I will make this year.











I planned on starting a new quilt today with the fabrics I bought the other day (which by the way are not actually Christmas Fabrics -- they're by Terry Clothier Thompson, her Oak and Reel line). Shown below. The middle fabric is actually a really pretty tan (it looks pink on my computer at the moment). I did write out what I need to cut for this project and it is waiting on the cutting table.


Anyway, instead of cutting the fabrics, I spent most of the day cleaning up the sewing room. I did iron the fabrics and ironed and put away two fabrics I bought from JoAnn's yesterday to be used as backings. I don't know why I bought them -- there really is a big difference in quality -- so I will use them on quilted wall hangings or something that won't get as much wear as a regular quilt. I did use my 50% off coupon there yesterday to buy the rest of a roll of Warm & Natural batting - 11-3/4 yards. I don't need batting at the moment, but know I will always use it and ya can't beat the price!

Back to the day's doings: I also listed my ufo's and flimsies that I can find at the moment. I need to keep better track of what is waiting to be worked on and what and where finished products are. I didn't list the projects I have kitted up (meaning cut the fabrics for but haven't started). And I found a bunch of orphan blocks I didn't know I had, but I'm not counting them either, or any of the projects I have waiting as leader/enders. I'm going to join Stashbuster's UFO Challenge for 2008 -- both to keep me focused on finishing and to force myself to keep track. I'm going to try to add my list to my sidebar (computer challenged - so wish me luck!).
I've also joined my guild's Nickel Squares exchange for 2008 (took last year off), so will need to get busy cutting squares each month for that. And I'm going to keep my ongoing project of pressing scraps and filing them in their bins out so I can clean out the baskets and bags I've stuffed them in. I did add some 2" strips and squares to one of the leader/ender bags today, so I have made some progress there.
Next on the day's list is to put away the last of the fall quilts and decorations and put up the last of the Christmas/winter quilts and table toppers. I hope to put up my tree tonight or tomorrow -- I bought a new twig tree this year and can't wait to put it up!

Gratitudes:
Spending a cold/sleeting/icy day in the warm house playing in the sewing room.
Getting organized.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

A finish, finally!

This was the first project for the Stashbuster's Quilted Table group. I just finished binding it this afternoon. It's not a very good picture, but I really enjoyed making this quilt and I liked working with these fabrics from a few years ago. I only have scraps left -- so that's a good thing! I put this on the longarm, but only did ditch quilting -- couldn't think of what to do in the sashing and borders, so didn't do anything! I think it'll be fine and it'll definitely lay flat. I'm sending it on it's way early next week.

Today I went to my favorite LQS -- specifically to buy a couple of Jim Shore Christmas ornaments -- one for a friend and one for myself. I almost got out of there with just the ornaments, but then some more Christmas fabric called my name. It's in the dryer right now, so I can't say whose pattern it is, but it's a Moda fabric, which I love. Three colors, green, red and a tan with red berries (looks like raspberries on it). And because I really shouldn't have bought fabric, I came down and designed a quilt on EQ6 to use all three fabrics and a background I hope to find in my stash. As soon as I get the other tablerunner and one candlemat finished, I'm going to start cutting. I'll show the fabric then. And, I think this one will be mine!

Gratitudes:
Being able to visit my favorite quilt shop - I love the ambiance of this shop and chatting with the ladies there.
Buying new fabric (even though I don't need it -- it's still fun to buy once in a while!).
Baby Will weighs 13 lbs 12 oz and is becoming a real porker!

Friday, November 23, 2007

I've been busy

I am not a Black Friday shopper. I used my time much more efficiently today. I quilted.
I put the basketweave top together as a leader/ender project while making some tablerunners/candle mats today. The first border has been cut, but I'll need to finish the rest of the items before I work on this again.
I made one tablerunner yesterday and a candle mat and while I was working on them I remembered that I used this fabric to make practice blocks for a bom I did a couple of years ago. I thought I only had about 3 blocks, but when I went looking, I found I had 8 blocks finished. So, I put 5 together on point and made another tablerunner. Then, put two on point and made a small candle mat (that will probably give me fits when I try to bind it!), and then bordered the last block and made a candle mat out of it! I made enough binding to bind all of them, but only made one backing so far. I probably have enough background fabric to back the two smaller mats, and then I'll have to rummage through stash. I still have some fq size pieces of some of the fabrics left over. I don't remember how much I bought of the fabrics to begin with -- I know I loved the fabric and didn't have any project in mind. I'm feeling quite virtuous in busting stash today though!
This tablerunner is the first project from Stashbusters' Quilted Table group. I want to finish it soon so I can get it in the mail.
This tablerunner was made with practice blocks from a bom of a few years ago -- it was a Thangles design bom. I designed the runner and made the top today.
The runner on the left was made with practice blocks, as was the one on the bottom of the second picture. The top one I made yesterday with leftover fabric.


Now "all" I need to do is finish them all!
I am in the process of marking one of the big tablerunners and will probably pin it on the longarm so I can do it fairly quickly. I may do the other long one on the longarm, too, we'll see. The smaller ones of course I'll do on the dsm.

Gratitudes:
The new portable design wall -- works well for these small projects.
Plain ole hamburgers for dinner tonight!
Solitary piecing/quilting time -- so nice to spend time with my own thoughts.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving.. to all my American friends

We celebrated our family Thanksgiving last Sunday, so today has just been Bill and me relaxing at home. He's been reading a book all day and I've been quilting - what else?! We'll be doing the last of the leftovers (except turkey- we still have plenty) for dinner tonight.
I have a tablerunner and a candle mat ready for quilting and the basketweave scrap top partially together. The tablerunner is a project from the new Stashbusters group, "Quilted Table", whose goal is simply to make a tablerunner/wallhanging, small project each month of the year. I used to make a lot of tablerunners, but since I've gotten the longarm, I make larger quilts instead. I decided to join the group and make smaller projects for gifts as needed. So today, I busted some stash and made a couple of gifts. I hope to get them quilted by next week because one I want to send to my niece for Christmas.

Gratitudes:
I'm grateful for family and friends; good health and happiness; the luxury of having a home and plenty of food on the table; and the real luxury of being able to shop my stash and spend days at a time piecing and quilting.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Something different

I was going to write my usual mundane quilting/everyday life blog piece tonight, but I've been inspired to write something totally different.

About 8 or 9 years ago, the local NBC station (Rockford, IL), promoted a young woman to evening news co-anchor. Her name was Heather Pick and she was like a breath of fresh air -- the first anchor in this area that was so totally at ease in front of the camera, it was like having her at your dinner table talking about the news. We watched her as she got engaged and married. And then, when she was 29, she discovered a lump in her breast and we watched her announce the cancer results on the news also. We watched her go through the chemo and losing her hair and wearing a wig, and growing her hair back and she even did a story on her own reconstructive surgery. And, then she had a baby girl. It was wonderful watching her go through these life changes because she was a natural in front of the camera. And then, Columbus, Ohio snatched her up and there has been no one that can even hold a candle to her in Rockford.
Three years ago there was a short blurb in the Rockford paper saying that Heather had had another child, a boy, and right after found out the cancer was back, and had spread to her bones. I remember the article quoted her as saying she'd lived a good life (and she was only 34).
Haven't heard anything about her since til today. The Rockford paper had another article on her -- she's now 37, her cancer "remains inoperable and incurable but now isn't life threatening" - whatever that means. Her daughter is 6, her son is 3. The article goes on to say "Today, Pick is continuing to push boundaries, stretching her zest for life while helping others". She has recently recorded several vocal tracks on a 13-track CD, "Circle of Support". "All proceeds from the CD go to "A Christmas to Cure Cancer", a group that raises money to support cancer programs through donations in exchange for CDs and through benefit concerts throughout the year".
I just ordered a couple of the CD's at achristmastocurecancer.org
For those of you in the Columbus, Ohio area, Heather is on Channel WBSN-10 -- she's the morning and noon anchor. She's terrific and very inspiring.

Gratitudes:
I'm grateful that Heather is still hanging in there and praying she'll be around to raise her kids.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

If it isn't one thing, it's another....

I'm in "getting ready for Thanksgiving" mode here. This means lots of cleaning, lots of food buying and prepping (later this week). So, Monday I'm doing laundry and my regular house cleaning and the central vac decides to die. Admittedly, I am spoiled rotten and the central vac is one of those things that has spoiled me. We had it installed when we built the house back in '93/'94. It is only 13 years old, but it has gotten plenty used in those 13 years. Anyway, it sounds like a bearing in the motor, so I'm sure it'll cost a fortune to get fixed and they will probably recommend we replace it -- and you know they no longer make that model, so the whole system will have to be replaced. Not happening any time soon around here. So, yesterday I went out and bought the Consumer Reports "Best Buy" upright vacuum at Sears on sale for $50 less than usual. I have an upright vacuum here that does only carpet, but I needed a good vac for hardwood and tile floors and this one was the most highly rated. Today I spent most of the day vacuuming all three floors of this house and washing the tile floors. After the holidays I need to spend a lot more time on my floors, but this will get me through the holidays anyway. And on being spoiled by the central vac -- I only have to drag around a 30 foot hose and the floor or carpet attachment. With the upright, I have to drag the whole thing around and find outlets for the plug and try to keep the cord out from under the machine -- talk about being all thumbs today. Hopefully I'll get used to it after a few more cleaning sessions!

My sanity saver today:
I spent a bit more than 15 minutes sewing the first two strips of scrappy basketweave blocks onto the papers I had already cut. I hope to work at least 15 minutes a day on these after I finish my "have to get done" stuff!

Gratitudes:
Being able to buy the exact model of vac I wanted without settling for something else (and having it on sale!).
Lists and plans
Scratching the "itch to stitch"!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Back from the Cruise

We got home from the cruise late Sunday night. We had a nice time, in spite of playing tag with Tropical Storm Noel. Noel won on Monday night -- seas were very rough and Bill and I spent the evening in our room trying to ride it out. We did have a window in our stateroom, which helped a lot. Noel also won on Saturday -- we were supposed to stop at Princess Cays island for the day, but the storm got there first and did some damage that they did not have time to clean up, so we spent the day at sea instead. This picture is of Bill and me at Bluebeard's Castle on the island of St. Thomas. St. Thomas is a beautiful island, if you ever get the chance to visit. Picture's not very good -- but that's okay because I didn't lose the weight I wanted to anyway! LOL

I've spent the week trying to catch up. I've been fighting a cold which had me down for the count last night, but today I feel I lot better. I've managed to get the laundry and ironing done, the house cleaned and even spent 2½ hours yesterday cleaning out my pantry. Next week I'll be getting ready for Thanksgiving, which we will be celebrating on the 18th -- I'll be cooking, so busy time right now. However, Stashbusters list is having a virtual retreat this weekend and I'm going to join in! I ordered this portable design wall before we left (Patti at Quilting is my Passion found it on sale at Eleanor Burns' site) and I checked it out and ordered it and it arrived while we were gone. (I just tried to find it on Eleanor Burn's site and it is no where to be found so I assume she sold out of them -- but I did find it in Nancy's Notions catalog awhile back). Anyway, I put it up Monday afternoon, but took it back down on Wednesday so I could clean. I'll put it back up after Thanksgiving. I have the first 15 scrap blocks on it that I'm doing for the basketweave quilt from Bonnie's site . Yesterday I made 30 more blocks -- I had to dig out another container of scraps and strips to give myself more variety. Today I used a lot of them for another 15 blocks, so I have a total of 60 blocks made. I'm going to make 90 and then see if I want it any bigger. I think I'll need to dig out more strips, which is a good thing -- to get even more variety. I hadn't planned on working on just one of the scrap quilts at a time til I finished, but I was on such a roll chain piecing these blocks, that I think I'll keep at it til this one is finished anyway. Then I'll move on to one of the others I have bagged and waiting.
I like the portable design wall -- I don't have to pin batting to the quilt I have hanging on the wall, and it's fairly easy to put up and take down -- it will be great to take to workshops too.


Gratitudes:
Flannel sheets -- fall has definitely arrived. We had a killing frost while we were gone.
Long phone conversation with Stephanie.
Steph and AJ have bronchitis, but she got into the doctor right away today and hopefully will be on the mend soon -- and AJ feels better than she does to start with.
Phone conversations with both our boys on Monday -- they called us to see how the cruise was. Kevin's call was short because he was at school (he's a teacher). Steve's call was relatively long although he was heading to the airport for a business trip. It's nice staying in touch with the kids.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Heartstrings #7

I am really pleased to say that I finished Heartstrings #7 this week and relieved a whole lot of pressure from myself. This one was made with the extra blocks I picked up at guild last Monday night. It is 45" x 54" and will go to one of our members whose husband is a county deputy sheriff to keep in his squad car to be given to whomever needs it. It was so windy out yesterday that I had to take the picture in our library -- the quilt wouldn't stay on the swing!

Opthamologist update: In addition to a cataract in one eye that was removed, a cataract in the other eye that is growing but not ready to be removed, dry macular degeneration which turned to wet, was treated and is back to dry, Bill now has low pressure glaucoma! With the regular glaucoma test, his pressure tests normal, but with the special field test, he does have it. He will now have to have a drop of medicine in each eye every night before bed for the rest of his life. We're still thankful he has any sight at all!
I, on the other hand, have perfectly healthy eyes, no signs of any glaucoma or cataracts or, thankfully, macular degeneration. But, I now have tri-focals! I had no idea I couldn't see the mid-range clearly -- I've been compensating for it forever, plus I've always worn contacts, so didn't check for the mid-range. I ordered new glasses Monday and picked them up yesterday afternoon. So am in the process of getting used to them. I think I'm going to love them. When we get back from the cruise, Bill has to go in for a re-check on the glaucoma, so I'll take my old frames in to have prescription sunglasses made with the tri-focal.

The rest of the time before we leave for the cruise at oh dark thirty Sunday morning, I'll be cleaning house, doing more laundry, taking the dogs to the kennel (I dread this part -- I start missing JR immediately), and packing. I'm starting to get excited about the cruise. They offer a yoga class and a pilates class and I hope to sign up for both. (Weird huh? planning on exercise on vacation?!) I've always wanted to take a yoga class but have never gotten my act together enough to do it. I have tapes at home that I've used, but I think a class will be fun -- same with the pilates class (probably won't be able to move the rest of the cruise after that one!) I may hire the personal trainer too; we'll see..... You know I'll be eating well and having dessert often!

Grandkids: AJ is enrolled in a preschool class two days a week. They do crafts and learn lots of things. Yesterday they painted an ocean and then glued goldfish crackers to it. He told his mom he only ate one of them!
At his Music and Fun class at the YMCA, they played Halloween bingo. Each child was given a little cup with candy corn for the markers. He stuffed a handfull in his mouth right away (how was he to know they weren't for eating?!) Ended up he was the only one that got a Bingo!

Gratitudes:
Bill still has sight -- and at least glaucoma can be treated. He can still drive during the day, and I drive at night.
AJ -- he's certainly come a long way from 10 weeks premature.
Will -- he's starting to sleep 6 hours at night. I have a feeling he will be following in his brother's footsteps.
Briana -- she had her first band concert (she's in 4th grade and just learning to play the clarinet).


Sunday, October 21, 2007

A really productive day

I have no pics, but I sure made some progress today. I finished the outside work in the flower beds -- if I don't get out there any more this year, it's looking better than my usual fall mess, so that's a good thing.
I got Heartstrings #7 pinned on the longarm and made 4 passes on the pantograph. I'm using Hearts a Flutter by Lisa Calle on this one. This quilt is only 45" x 54", so three more passes will finish it nicely and I can probably squeeze those in tomorrow.
Then, while watching the Bears WIN their game against the Eagles, I cleaned out my fabric cabinets. The big one in the clutter room (sewing room) was so messy that I literally forgot I had whole stacks of fabrics. I had started refolding and resorting last year and again at the beginning of this year, but never finished it. Today I finished it. I put more into the Hoosier side cabinets in the kitchen, re-positioned some in the big cabinet, cleaned out the bottom two shelves and actually found another top I forgot I had that needs to be quilted. I'm actually throwing out some batting scraps that are really not worth saving (and I've been known to save every inch). I'm throwing out some old ironing board covers (why on earth did I save them in the first place -- they're really in bad shape?!) I brought the garbage bag down to the basement to sort through some of the batting and other scraps I've been accumulating down here, too.
I put away the stacks of fabric that I pulled out for my Halloween "Midnight Silhouette" quilt -- now they are right where they belong and I can actually see what I need and keep the stacks in the cabinet where they belong.

Tomorrow we have appointments with our eye doctor -- Bill has to have a field test for glaucoma, and I am getting new glasses. I have worn contacts for 41 years and this last pair have given me fits -- smudges every time I put them in. So, I quit wearing them, am back to my glasses and have decided to just go with glasses this time. I have bi-focals and it is probably easier just to leave my glasses on while quilting instead of constantly having to take my reading glasses on and off all the time. I'm going to order prescription sunglasses, too.
This whole week is going to be busy trying to get things done and get things ready for our cruise.

Gratitudes:
That feeling of accomplishment when the fabric cabinet is clean and you can actually find things in there.
That urge to pull fabrics and start a new project because you can actually see the fabrics now!
The Bears Won!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Heartstrings #6

Today was beautiful here in the midwest, so time to do a lot of outside work. First I took down the screens and hauled them into the garage, where Bill and I will put them in the rafters above the vehicles one of these days. Then I washed the windows on the outside and this is not a fun job! We live in a two story log home -- the windows on the second floor get washed by climbing out onto the roof of the porches -- not my favorite thing to do -- maybe next year I'll pay someone to do it for me! I didn't do the inside yet -- first because it takes longer because we have metal grids to make them look like eight over eights or six over sixes and they have to come out and go back in after washing -- kind of a pita. And, I can do the insides anytime. So, spent another 2 hours cleaning up flower beds and cutting back the stuff that is done blooming. Still have about another hour's work out there -- sometime tomorrow afternoon.

So, after my shower, and because I was definitely stiff and sore, I sat and stitched the binding down on Heartstrings #6. I managed to get it put together and quilted this week, and now the label and binding are on. I used a pantograph called Alfresco by Lorien Quilting again on this one. I have #7 top put together, and it is waiting for quilting now. I've felt a bit pressured to get these done because we have our vacation cruise coming up and when we get back we'll be doing family Thanksgiving the day before my next guild meeting, so I needed to get these done now and free up my time. I hate having things hanging over my head with deadlines!


Gratitudes:
A beautiful day for doing outside chores in preparation for winter.
Finishing Heartstrings #6 - really takes a load off my mind.
Lists

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Will's Baptism


Grandson, Will was baptised this past Sunday. With all the people around him and pictures taken in the church were rather dark, I didn't get a good one with him in his Christening suit. So, today Steph brought the boys to the mall so she could take Will to Sears for a photo shoot and I got a pic of him in his suit. She had the photographer at Sears take pictures of him in 3 different outfits, too! He's 3 months old.
AJ is already busy playing in the play area here.

Gratitudes:
Healthy grandchildren.
A fun time with the boys today, and a few minutes for mother/daughter talk.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Homespun Jacket

I finished my jacket this afternoon. I've been working on the wool appliques all week -- buttonhole stitched them by hand, which was really easy! Put the jacket together today and stitched the binding down this afternoon and just took it out of the dryer (it probably needs a little pressing and I need to check for loose threads), but it's done! This pattern is called Homespun Jacket and is from Primitive Gatherings.

By the way, I'm really pleased with it and for someone who has no knowledge of clothing construction, it was really easy!

Tomorrow is Will's christening, so will be spending most of the day in Wisconsin.

Gratitudes:
I finished the jacket and I like how it turned out.
Working in the sewing room today.
Nice fall days.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Heartstrings #5

I finished sewing the binding and label on late this afternoon. So Heartstrings #5 is ready to go back to guild next Monday and I'll be picking up more blocks to make the final one for this year then also. This pic was taken in my basement, on the couch in front of the longarm.

Spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry. It's a pain in the neck job, but someone has to do it! vbg Tomorrow is errands again and hopefully Wednesday or Thursday I can get back to working on my jacket. The high today was 88, but tonight the more seasonal temps return and tomorrow it's only supposed to reach 70 degrees. So, I really want to finish the jacket!

Gratitudes:
A new grandchild of my friend was born this weekend. She and mama are doing okay, although she did arrive by unscheduled c-section.
Relaxing in front of the tv after an active cleaning day.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

QFAH

I put the last two borders on the Quilt For An Hour for September/October. I have the binding made and ready to go too. Now I just need to decide how I'm going to quilt it and pick up some backing fabric -- I think either a light blue or white because I'll probably be using white thread for the quilting on the top and in the bobbin.

From there I moved on to my jacket. I stopped and cleaned up the mess from the QFAH first, and cleaned the sewing machine and put in a new needle and wound a couple of bobbins with different colored thread -- it's always nice to start fresh on a new project. I have the sleeves and the back quilted....it's a quilt as you go pattern. My legs got tired of standing and walking back and forth between the cutting board, ironing board and sewing machine, so the fronts will wait for another day.

I sat for the last hour of the day and stitched the binding on the Heartstrings quilt -- have two sides finished. That's the extent of my quilting day. Tonight the Bears meet the Packers and I can only hope they can pull something out of the hat to win the game -- it would be nice if at least one team in Chicago could win a game! vbg

Gratitudes:
The jacket pattern is really going together well, so far. I know nothing about garment construction, so this is a good thing!
A new needle for the sewing machine and a fresh start.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

A little bit quilty

AARRRGH! I just finished typing an entire post and blogger threw it away on me. So, I go back to the saved post and all it has are the pictures I uploaded. Double aaaarrrgh! Guess I'll try again.
What I started to say today was that I tried to convince myself that it is really anal to switch between projects in one day when I could finish one before going to the next. But, I couldn't convince myself of that fact. I detest putting borders on a quilt, so I told myself I'd put one border on the QFAH quilt and then move on to something else. Well, I did put two borders on, but left the last two for another day. I've been dying to get my jacket cut out, so I did that today. I bought the pattern from Primitive Gatherings at the Chicago show last April. It's really a simple jacket, which is why I love it. I wanted to get it finished before fall, but never managed to find the time. Now fall is here, but it was 90 degrees outside today and I have the a/c back on, so thought there's no time like the present and hopefully I can finish it before I really need it.
It has flying geese flying down the sleeves, so I also pieced those after I cut all the fabrics and batting.
In between the borders and the flying geese, I've been piecing a basketweave quilt via leaders/enders. This is the pattern from Bonnie's quiltville site, except I'm making mine 6½" squares. I finished four more today -- I've been taking the paper off at the end of the day so I only have to work on a few at a time. I have 8 finished so far. These are using the strings I sorted from that first bag of scraps a couple of weeks ago. I'll make up as many basketweave blocks as I can from the strings, then start another leader/ender from one of the other scrap quilts I sorted and then when I get a chance I'll sort another bag of scraps to replenish the supplies!
I also made up another of the blocks for the Midnight Silhouette quilt. I like doing these blocks one at a time.
Gratitudes:
I'm glad I didn't listen to myself today and worked on a few different projects -- it makes the tedious ones go faster and the rest of the day is more enjoyable.
Kevin & Deb took us out for dinner last night -- wonderful food and company. Their addition on the house is coming along nicely.
Bill used the excuse that his eye doctor doesn't want him driving at night to let me drive home last night -- it's his way of acknowledging that his eyesight is not good at night without me having to argue with him.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Resurfacing

Life sure gets in the way of quilting sometimes. I don't think I've touched my machines except to dust them in the past week. No stitching at night, nada. Babysat the grandsons Saturday night, spent the night, came home Sunday - tired. Watched the Bears game (I'm a diehard Bears fan, what can I say). Watched Devon Hester try numerous run-backs which failed, and fell asleep when he actually did run the kick-off back for a TD! Arrrrrggghhh!
Monday was cleaning and laundry day and I also tried on a few dresses from my closet. We're going on a cruise in a few weeks and there are two cocktail/evening dress nights. Tried on the Mother-of-the-Bride dress for DD's wedding 4 years ago -- could get it on but look like a stuffed sausage. Have one in my closet I can wear. Tuesday I bought another -- basic black that fits but I wouldn't call it my "little" black dress. So, as of Monday I'm on a diet for real. I'm also back to the treadmill and setting up a weight training program. I've known for a long time that I needed to lose some weight (and really, it's not that much, but it sure has repositioned itself!), but trying on the dresses was the breaking point. Now I'm motivated. (Should have tried the dresses on a year ago! LOL) BTW -- this website is totally free and totally motivating for anyone wanting to drop a few pounds: www.sparkpeople.com

On to the quilty stuff. I picked this quilt up from a friend last week. Her sewing group is making baby quilts for the pediatric ward at one of the local hospitals and I told her I'd quilt them for her. So I pinned it on yesterday afternoon and quilted it with the Hearts A Flutter panto and gave it back to her last night.

The plan for today is to pin the latest Heartstrings quilt to the frame and quilt it. I have a lot of projects going at once, so finishing is good.


Gratitudes:
AJ was an angel this weekend which helped a lot in taking care of Will. Will had a bit of a gas problem for a couple of hours which was finally resolved for all our sakes! vbg
My treadmill and weight bench (I should have been on speaking terms a lot sooner!).
Motivation

Thursday, September 27, 2007

It's been a busy week, but it doesn't feel like I've accomplished much

Yesterday I managed to put the Heartstrings top together, make the backing and they are waiting to be pinned to the longarm. I also put most of the Depression block quilt together and finished the second block of the QFAH quilt. Today I finished the Depression block quilt, made a backing and it is waiting to be quilted. I also started putting together the QFAH top. And yesterday I made the second star for the Midnight Silhouette quilt. Today I did cut out the pieces for another, but haven't put it together yet. And I picked up a baby quilt top and backing a friend made for charity that I'm going to quilt for her also. So, nothing finished, but I have moved a few things further on towards the end.
Mostly today, we met Steph and the boys in Rockford at the mall so AJ could play in the little play area, we could talk and Will could be held by Grandma and Grandpa. Then we had lunch at the Granite City Brewery - which is relatively new at the mall, and Steph went back home and so did we. Didn't do much of anything, but boy are Grandma and Grandpa tired tonight! vbg


Gratitudes:
Healthy grandchildren.
Nice lunch today -- lots of food, so dinner was a bowl of soup.
JR napping at my feet.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Multi-Tasking

Today I accepted the challenge on one of my lists to work on an ufo or wip this weekend and hopefully, finish one. But first, I've been envious of Jeanne this week because she's started a number of new projects and I'm stuck here in finishing old stuff. So, I pulled this pattern off the bulletin board where I posted it at least a year ago intending to start it way back then. Obviously, never got to it, so today I made one block. I hope to make one every time I sit down to piece anything, but no promises. This quilt has a lot of applique on it, which I love, but I'm not holding my breath in getting to that part any time soon. I hope to finish by next Halloween, or the one after that. vbg I love the designs of Blackbird Designs, but I truly dislike their instructions. And, I'm glad I remembered that and read through them before I started cutting this block. Their instructions called for cutting the black and orange squares 2½" and then sewing on the diagonal line, making 1 hst, and tossing the rest. A lot of waste, and I don't care to make tiny hst's from the waste. So, I cut my squares 2-7/8, stitched on either side of the diagonal, making 2 hst's with virtually no waste. I'm happy with the result, and managed to enjoy making just one block today!






















So, on to the next project, which was the QFAH. I spent at least an hour squaring up a gillion 2-3/4" hst's, then put four together to make these pinwheels. I have all 18 pinwheels finished and that's where I stopped for the day.



















Then I sewed the Heartstrings top into 7 vertical rows. Next time I'll sew the rows together to finish the top. While I was working on the string blocks, I was also finishing up the blocks for my leader/ender project, which is another Depression Block quilt. I squared up 20 blocks, layed them on the floor to see how they looked and picked them up in rows and pinned them together. When I sew the rows together for the string top, I'll sew these blocks into rows and then it'll only need borders to become another top. (No pics).

And finally, I stitched the binding down on the Floral Double Four Patch quilt (even remembering to add a label). (I took this pic in the late afternoon so it's a bit shady on the porch).
















So, all in all, I worked on 5 different quilts today and finished one. And, I may do some more applique work on my Primitive Garden bom this evening -- ya just never know -- I'm on a roll today!

Gratitudes:
Simple grilled corned beef and swiss cheese sandwiches for dinner.
Starting the new project even though it will quickly become a ufo -- it's fun to start something new now and then. And I usually do finish the things I start -- eventually.
Baby Will weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz and is 22-1/4" tall! Little porker!
AJ is doing really well in pre-school and both AJ and Briana are taking swimming lessons now.