Road Trip

Kris, Jan and I went on a road trip today to Wisconsin (we live in Northern Illinois).  First shop was in Belleville, WI and is in the new Quilt Sampler magazine just out, called Patches and Petals.  Great little shop in a restored 1905 building with wooden floors and center staircase.  Lots of samples of quilts I'd like to make "someday"!  And the only thing I ended up buying was four cotton towels that I may applique something on, or I may not -- they're nice and long though and I like that for hanging in my kitchen.

Next stop was the Mill House Quilts in Waunakee, WI.  Great shop -- it's been around a long time and was in the Quilt Sampler magazine many years ago.  We spent a lot of time wandering around and looking at everything, but I didn't buy anything there!  I sometimes think I have so much fabric that I'll never use -- too much fabric, not enough time -- that I don't buy anything.
We did walk over the tracks to the pub  next door and had lunch on the patio though.

Third and final stop for today was JJ Stitches in Sun Prairie, WI.  JJ's was also in the Quilt Sampler magazine many years ago.  We've all been to this shop before, but I really love it -- lots of civil war repros and my kind of antique colors -- the darks!  I absolutely fell in love with a quilt on the wall (should have taken a picture but didn't even think of it).  I bought the background fabric and a bundle of fabrics for the squares along with the pattern:  The picture on the front of the pattern does not do the quilt on the wall justice -- the background was a deep cream/almost yellow color and all the 1" finished squares are the darks in the stack.  I love the quilts made with tiny squares, but don't usually make them because I really don't like working with the tiny pieces.  This one is mostly strip pieced and I think I might be able to handle it.  Who knows when I'll actually get around to starting it!

All in all it was a very good day -- it was a great day for a road trip!  And I can fondle fabrics and dream about starting this quilt!

Gratitudes:  Kris drove today and it was nice to spend time talking quilts.

More building

Having finally made the decision to stay, I've been making other decisions much easier!  I asked my son-in-law, Aaron to make me a water barrel.  I've always been interested in conserving and reducing my carbon footprint and saw water barrels for sale last summer at the Farmers' Market for at least $100.  Aaron made one for them last summer at a fraction of the price, so I asked him to make one for me.  They brought it down for Mother's Day (it's actually my birthday present because my Mother's Day gift is a handmade planter that the grandkids made filled with a variety of annuals.)
So, Aaron told me what I had to buy and what I had to do to set the barrel up.  I have it at the corner of the garage and the overflow spot should drain right into the part of the downspout that Bill buried way back before the sidewalks were poured that drains way away from the house.  I had to take the solid downspout off and replace it with the flexible one -- once again really happy that I invested in that trusty power screwdriver!  Now I'm just waiting for rain!  I have it set up on blocks so I can fill the watering can from it for watering my tomatoes and peppers!

Back when we lived in a subdivision, we had about a 3/4 acre lot and a big garden (including an asparagus bed that Bill planted).  He also built a compost area with landscape timbers right out by the garden.  It was great.  Then we moved here, have 23+ acres, but a smaller garden and a lot of trees.  Still have an asparagus bed that he planted that first year and the asparagus is still wonderful, but he didn't bother with a compost area.  He was more into cleaning up the woods and the garden really isn't much -- the kids were gone by that time.  But, as I clean out my weedy flower beds and the garden boxes, I collect a lot of stuff that could be composted, so...I bought a tumbling composter from Home Depot.  I put it together on Saturday -- only took about two hours and once again -- that power screwdriver was a lifesaver!  Being a quilter, I've always understood a guy's fascination with power tools, but now I understand it even more! vbg

I put it out in the garden area next to the 5 blueberry bushes Bill planted -- I took the picture in the late afternoon, otherwise it's pretty sunny out there.  The asparagus bed is just adjacent to this area -- you can probably see the tall ones that have gone to seed back there.  I have two tomato plants and 3 green pepper plants in the boxes and a whole bunch of weeds too.  I'm just going to try to manage a small garden this year and maybe next year I can add a little more.

Gratitudes:  I can feel the stress of the past few years slowly falling away now.  I have lots of plans, but know that nothing has to be done immediately.  I'm taking my time and smelling the roses (well, the iris and the peonies anyway!).

A Change of Heart

I have taken my house off the market.  It was a rather expensive lesson in jumping in with both feet before I really thought everything through, but now I have finally made up my mind.  This house is way too big for one person, but it was way too big for two of us!  But it was our dream house and I still love it.  It means I have a lot to take care of, but it also means there is no rush.  The major things I will have to hire some one to do like replacing the furnaces, or staining the outside of the house when it needs it.  I already have a friend's son mow the yard most of the time, but even I can do that whenever Connor is busy.  My neighbors and friends keep the mowers and other equipment working for me, or tell me who to call.  My next door neighbor plows my drive in the winter -- although I also can work the snow blower. 

I've let my flower beds go to weed for years now, but this year I actually feel like working in them again, so slowly but surely I'll whip them back into shape; a little redesigning of them has already begun.

I'm still an hour and a half away from my daughter and grandkids, but all my friends and my church is down here and I'd miss them if I moved.  I'll just be making trips up to Wisconsin to see the boys play baseball and just to spend quality time with my daughter and her family.  Otherwise, I'd be driving down here to see my friends and church - so it's basically a trade off.  Steph made me do a pros and cons list while I was waffling about selling or staying and it came out about even :-)!  I hated having the house ready to show at any moment and having to put the family pictures away, etc.  And the housing market is not back yet, so it would probably be a long time before it actually sold.  So that is my thinking on the subject!

And I decided that there are a lot of things that I can actually do myself and a few things I want to try, so I'm jumping in with both feet.  First up -- Bill always had a Weber kettle charcoal grill -- he never wanted a gas grill.  I sold the kettle at the auction because I did not want to mess with it.  So, I went out and bought myself a small gas grill.  And, drum roll please, I put it all together myself, and even went to FS to have the tank filled (I always feel like a dumb female when I have to do things like that!).  Best gift to myself was a power screwdriver that I bought when I bought the grill!  Love it!

I took the left shelf back off when I hooked up the gas -- it was just always in the way.  Fired that puppy up and grilled a pork chop the first day and had my son-in-law grill burgers on it for Mother's Day!  It works great and all the screws are tight thanks to the power screwdriver!

Gratitudes:  I finally feel like I made the right decision after two years of waffling.

Today was the first anniversary of Steve's death.  We all seem to have made it through today by keeping busy. 

 I can still hear his voice on the phone, so I'm thankful for that; and I still think about him every day -- I doubt that will change anytime soon either.  He was an amazing man whose life was cut way too short.

Change of Plans

The plan for the day was to work outside.  We'd already gotten an inch of rain by the time I got up this morning, and it's still raining -- a nice gentle rain, which is great, but rain just the same.  I'm a little bummed because for the first time since Steve was diagnosed (Dec. 2007), I actually have been looking forward to working in the garden/flower beds and yard.  I have plans to reduce the size of my flower beds and move a lot of plants around. But, I'll wait til the rain is done and do a little at a time.
Moving on, the other plan for the day is doing laundry and that's well on its way.  I'll spend some time straightening up the house, but I think I'll also spend some time on this quilt: 

The part over the longarm table is only 2/3 of the top.  The other blocks need to be sewn together and added.  This quilt is called Four Patch Plaid and is in Pat Speth's first book, Nickel Squares.  I made another of these quilts years ago when the book first came out and use it all the time in the recliner in the evening -- JR sits on my lap on it.  It's showing signs of wear, so I decided to make another.  It's a twin size which actually is a great size for wrapping in the recliner -- especially in the winter!

Gratitudes:  The rain.  We actually did need it, even though it puts me farther behind!
Connor got the front mowed yesterday before the loud thunderclap and rain.  Hopefully, if it stops raining, he'll get the back mowed this evening.

It's Official

My house is listed at For Sale By Owner.com  Listing #23861403

If you know anyone interested in buying a two story log home in the country with 23.5 acres, please let them know!  I am really ready to downsize now!

The view from the Porchrocker

We've been blessed with an early spring -- in fact we are in the part of the US that has been getting 80 degree temps during the past week.  I had to rush out and rake all the leaves out of the flower beds so the daffodils could grow and bloom.  I've spent many a morning lately drinking my coffee on the front porch watching the plants grow!
I'm especially enjoying the mornings and evenings on the porch this spring.  Hopefully, it will be my last spring here so I'm savoring.
 I'm getting ready to put the house back on the market For Sale By Owner.  A really good friend is helping me get all my ducks in a row as to putting together a flyer/handout and arranging for advertising in the Chicago area as well as this area and also on the 'net. 
The plan is to move to WI near my daughter and her family.  It would be really nice to go to the grandkids' sports events and not have to drive back home for an hour and a half.  It would be really nice to finally get settled -- I feel like I've been living in limbo for the past two years.

Gratitudes:
The weather has been beautiful lately -- even though our winter wasn't bad weather-wise, it was still long and gray!
Daffodils.
Friends that know a lot and help me a lot!

My new toy

While I've been sick and whining, and not getting anything done in the sewing department, I have been doing a lot of reading and playing on the computer, the I-Pad and on my new phone.
Some background:  I've had a cell phone for a few years -- the first one I used only for emergencies, never kept it on and paid $20 a month for it at Sprint.  Bill didn't want one.  Then Steve got sick, I saw the need to have a better phone and a better phone package, so I bought a nice LG model, signed up with Verizon because Steve had good luck with them out where they lived (when you live out in the boonies you have to determine these things that aren't issues for people who live in the city!).  I signed up for a full package for texting and data, but cancelled that after a month and just stuck with the cell phone part.  I don't live on my phone.  I did buy an I-pad2 a couple of years ago and I do have a Kindle that I love.  Problem is that I still live in the boonies -- I have satellite internet because I can't even get dsl on the phone lines out here, no cable, etc.  Let me tell you what satellite internet is like -- 5 times the price of dialup, 1/2 the speed of dialup!
So, mostly I don't do much on the I-Pad because the wireless connection is bad!
Fast forward a few years -- the kids all LIVE on their phones -- texting is the new talking, Facebook is king, etc.  I finally succumbed to it and bought myself an IPhone 4S -- with Siri no less.  You can see by the fingerprints that it gets some usage!  I stayed with Verizon, am now back to having a text and data package and oh boy, a hot spot booster.  I can now use my I-Pad and my phone and they work faster than my computer!  And oh boy is Words With Friends addicting on Facebook!  Not only that, but it's been wonderful having something to play with while I'm coughing my brains out and I don't have to expose any one else to it! LOL

Whining is over -- still coughing but at least I can text someone and whine about it now!

Lent

I'm a fairly private individual when it comes to religion, political views, etc.  I'm a Christian, in fact, I'm Methodist, but I don't wear it as a badge or use a bullhorn to announce it.  My friends and I have religion discussions fairly often and I have friends from many denominations.  It's just not something I'm usually public about.  I was raised in the church I attend.  I left it for many years after my first marriage, and after trying other churches and other denominations over the years, I came back to my church when Steve was diagnosed with the brain tumor.  (We had been back before because Steve was confirmed in this church when he was 13).
Anyway, Bill and I joined this church again in 2008.  We had a female pastor at that time, but in 2009 we got a new pastor.  His name is Christopher Druce-Jones and I have to tell you that he is the most dynamic speaker I've ever heard.  He leads our bible study groups and I hate to miss any of them because we have such great discussions and I have learned so much since he came to our church.  In our regular bible study we are reading "Heaven is For Real" by Todd Burpo.  I read this book a couple of years ago and loved it and now we're reading it together and discussing it chapter by chapter.  We have all walks of life in our bible study groups -- so many stories.  It's really wonderful.

For Lent we have a special Lenten study going.  This year we're reading this book.  Adam Hamilton is a Methodist minister in Kansas -- young, like Pastor Chris -- it so amazes me the knowlege they possess.  Pastor Hamilton started his own church and his congregation numbers in the thousands.  (My church is very, very small -- we might have 60 - 75 people on a Sunday).  This book is accompanied by a dvd --each chapter shows the actual sites that we read about in Jesus' journey of the last 24 hours of his life.  I would recommend the book and the dvd.

Like I said, I hate to miss any of the bible study groups and I had to miss last week's Heaven is for Real and chapter 2 of the 24 Hours because of this lousy cough -- now I only have my thoughts on it and nobody else's insight -- I miss it alot!

Okay - enough whining!

The adventures of me...

When last we left our heroine (that's female hero, not drug), she was being productive in the sewing room.  That was last Friday.  I unearthed these blocks from one of the plastic drawers there were stashed in and put them up on the design wall.  Wonder how long they'll stay there before I either do something with them or take them down and bury them again.  I can't remember if Kris gave me these after buying them on E-bay or at an auction, or if I bought them from her at a garage sale.  Note to self -- do something about this memory (or lack thereof) thing.
Irregardless (don't you hate when people use that non-word?!  I do!).  Regardless of what I do with these blocks, I did manage to pull fabrics and cut out a quilt for Mikey -- who will be 2 in June and I thought it was time to make his baby quilt.  I even started sewing it.

And then it happened....from out of nowhere I was hit with the creeping crud.  "They" all say "its" going around -- but none of them say how to avoid it, or how to get rid of it.  It's the cough that starts in the throat, moves to the chest and takes up residence; the sinuses that fill up and then drain whenever they feel like it; it's the don't bother trying to sleep for at least 2 nights because the cough is not going to allow it; it's the rib-hurting, chest congesting, unproductive cough, cough, cough; it's the get out the Depends because at my age I can't squeeze those muscles and cough at the same time cough! It's probably a good thing I live alone and I have an idea JR would probably plan a trip about now if he could!  The pharmacist said Mucinex -- I should probably buy stock in the company.  I know it just takes time and the congestion will break up, but boy am I tired of coughing.  It's been a week now, and not only is my cough unproductive, but so am I.  Nothing more has been done in the sewing room.  I haven't even opened any of the hand applique -- it's too hard to stitch or do anything else when you're coughing or your ribs hurt!

So that's my post and my whine for the day.  I have a couple of more things to write about -- but I'll leave them for a different post!

A more productive day

I spent most of the day today playing in the quilt studio :-)! I had to do a search and rescue attempt the other day to find a certain applique project I knew I had started. In the process I found a few other projects, of course. So, for most of the day I prepped the next blocks on four applique projects, and sorted and checked two others in progress. So, yeah, I have 6 different applique projects going at once! But that's okay, because they are great take-along items to work on and if I don't feel like working on one, I can always work on a different one!

Then I decided to make a block called Pinwheel Star from the Fons & Porter's Sampler Quilts & Blocks Winter 2011 edition (page 40) magazine.  I really like the block, but I'm going to design it with fewer bias edges -- I want to use this block as a leader/ender project while working on other things, so I don't want to mess with all the bias edges -- I'd rather sew and flip the corners of the flying geese blocks, whereas the design calls for cutting triangles.

I have a couple of other things I want to prep, too and hopefully I'll be able to do that tomorrow -- I'll be digging through scraps for another quilt!

Gratitudes:
AJ is 8 years old today -- he was a 10 week preemie and now he's a second grader taking advanced judo lessons, playing baseball, and doing well in school!  Happy Birthday, AJ! 


Being in my own little world, with the cd player on and listening to some favorite tunes while playing with fabric -- what could be better? (Plenty of things, I know!)

Boring News Day

How boring you ask?  I'm sure I heard you!
I have no quilts to show you, nothing fun even on Valentine's Day except for a pic of my big toe -- I had toe surgery a couple of hours ago to remove an ingrown toenail! Whoopee on the excitement scale!  Doesn't it just look lovely.  Maybe I'll actually do some quilting this afternoon, or maybe I'll just take a nap!

Gratitudes:
I finally had the surgery done -- it doesn't hurt although it did take more than the usual amount of needle pricks to get it numb -- and that's the part that hurts.
It should be completely healed by the time spring finally arrives.
JR is always happy to see me come home!

Another Project

I have a stack of unrelated projects always staring me in the face.  You know the ones:  go through the pictures and organize them; clean out that shelf of sewing related stuff and find a place for everything; go through the decorations and toss the stuff that's falling apart and you never use...., etc.

I have a big table in my clutter room (mud room/former sewing room), and I dumped most of the photograph books and boxes on it in hopes I would start cleaning them up.  Been there since November!  Today, I took some of the loose pages of one of the books and started cleaning them up.  These were pics of quilts I made back in the nineties.  This was before I ever got a digital camera and I used to get double prints free every time I had the film developed.  Why I need 48 pics of the same quilt is beyond me!  So, today while I was waiting for my meatloaf to bake, I sorted out the keepers and tossed the rest.  The stack on the left is the one I tossed!  I still have a picture of all the quilts in the stack, but only one or two!  Now if I did that every day for the next 6 months, I might make a dent in the photo department! vbg

I did get my little Valentine quilt quilted yesterday and today I stitched down the binding and the hanging sleeve.

Gratitudes:  My daughter -- she was my sounding board today and she helped me make some decisions I've been wavering on.

More Applique

I spent the afternoon working on my Merry Merry Snowmen block today.  This is the first block of the quilt, so I need to prep the next one.  Nice to have the first one out of the way though.

Not much else going on today -- wind was blowing pretty hard this morning and it looks like it wants to sleet/drizzle/snow or something, but I can't tell if it has actually done anything.  It's too cold to go out to check! vbg

Gratitudes:  My girlfriend made me a cowl collar for Christmas and I love it -- it keeps my neck warm and helps to warm the rest of me.

Finished the Top

I found a red fat quarter in the stash today and used it for the inner border.  I think that sets it off better than just the wide pink border.  This is just a 25" square quilt.  I'll hang it in the little bath with the new shower curtain as soon as I get it quilted.

Gratitudes:
Tim plowed the long drive this morning and I got the short part by the garage snow-blown.  Hopefully we won't get the ice/drizzle they're calling for in the morning.

Another Snow (Sew) Day...

Have I mentioned lately that I hate snow?!  I do.  Can't figure out why I've stayed in this area all my life -- really dislike winter.
It's been coming down since 9:30 this morning and probably won't end til 9:30 tonight.  I've decided to let my neighbor plow the drive this time around -- it's really cold out there too.  He has a plow on the truck that used to be Bill's and offers to plow the drive for free -- can't beat that!

So, I decided it would be a perfect day for sewing.  Wednesday would have been Steve's 43rd birthday.  I met his widow for lunch and afterward I stopped at Acorn Quilts in Rockford to see what was new (definitely needed a pick-me-up!)  I found this fabric (it was brand new -- mine was the first cut off it!).

I bought enough to make a shower curtain for the little bath.  So, that's what I made this morning.  I still have my snowman quilts up in this bath, but it doesn't read obvious Valentine anyway, so I went ahead and hung it up.

In a week or two I'll hang a couple of heart/Valentine quilts in there.  One I know I have to add a hanging sleeve to and I need to dig out the other ones to see what I actually have.  I also started a little Valentine quilt to hang in there -- just 4 appliqued hearts.  I spent an hour trying to find a contrasting or coordinating fabric for the quilt to set off the border, but can't find anything in the stash, so right now the quilt is pretty boring.  I'll post a picture when I finish it --- I've only gotten one heart done so far.

Gratitudes:
My neighbor, Tim -- I would hate to have to clear the drive myself today.
I'm thankful I can stay in and sew on days like this.

Winter has arrived

We finally got "measurable snow" today -- so far about 5" or 6".  I spent an hour just before dark snowblowing -- it's supposed to get really windy so I wanted to get the first layer off to make it easier to clean the driveway on Saturday afternoon when it is finally finished!

I finished quilting my Henrietta Whiskers quilt -- this was a free bom from Bunny Hill Designs.  Kris and I each made the quilt.  I stitched the binding down today and washed it -- to hide all the little errors in the stitching -- not exactly easy stitching around applique pieces! 

I do love the quilt and will be quilting Kris' version for her soon.  We've just started doing another Bunny Hill Design -- Merry, Merry Snowmen -- another year long project!

Gratitudes:
After a couple of tries, I actually got the snowblower to start and stay running!  (Happiness is all relative you know!)
I really don't like snow, but am happy to be safe at home, with plenty of food, heat and enough wood in the garage to have a few fires before I have to go get another supply from the shed!

Final Destination

The crock bench ended up in the kitchen between the two windows of the dining area.  I added a few books, but I think I'll probably add a few more.  Granted, it doesn't take much to make me happy, but this little bench with some of my crocks, makes me smile!

Gratitudes:
Babysitting Will and Mikey yesterday while Steph chaperoned AJ's field trip.  Got in some good grandma hugs!

January 4....

and I've already blown one new year's resolution!  The whole frugal, green thing.  But, I did stay with the green thing, because it's always green to buy primitive antiques, right?!  This is the blanket chest I bought today.  I sold my old coffee table and couch at the auction last spring, bought a new couch last July and have been looking for a chest to use as a coffee table for awhile.  And here it is.

The inside even has a shelf/tray that slides on the top.  I think I'm probably going to put some quilts in it.

I haven't filled it yet, but love that I have a space to put candles and small quilts on the top again.

And then I found this little bookshelf (same shop) and I put it in my library (I also sold the four big bookcases I had in the library at the auction).  I haven't decided for sure what I'm going to put on it, but the rings indicate to me that this was a crock stand, so I put a couple of my crocks on it.  I love old crocks and collect them, so I could probably fill it with crocks, but I think I might add a couple of old hard bound books with the crocks.  Haven't quite decided yet, so I'll play with it and try different things.  I adore primitives, so this little shelf just made my day!

So, even though I already broke one of my resolutions, I'll start over in my resolve to spend less (especially since I'll be pinching pennies til the end of the month now! vbg :-))

Gratitudes:
Finding treasures and being able to buy them when I want.
Having a friend with a Suburban that likes to antique shop with me!  Thanks Kris!

The Depression Quilt

My to-do list was rather long today, but I got most things done -- and the day isn't over so there's still hope :-)!  It's my house cleaning day and laundry day.  I try to get everything done in one day so I can play the rest of the week!

A couple of weeks before Christmas I turned a corner and got hit right in the face with a bout of depression.  Depression is a really ugly thing -- lots of dark thoughts that you don't have any control over; a feeling of overwhelming sadness; a feeling of what's the point anyway.  I knew what it was immediately, so I decided to try to work my way out of it -- it started on a Thursday.  I was working on an old project that I consider ugly at the time and really tedious.  So, I pulled out the Winter issue of Primitive Quilts magazine, set aside the ugly quilt and cut and started piecing the Country Christmas quilt in the magazine.  I even went to my favorite quilt shop and bought some border fabric for it.  In a matter of a couple of days, I finished the quilt, and more importantly, worked myself right out of the bout of depression.  I'm not saying this is what you should do if it happens to you -- clinical depression really needs to be treated by a doctor and if it had lasted any longer, I would have made an appointment. 
This quilt is actually quilted and bound and I'm considering calling it the Depression Quilt, but maybe not!  I really love it -- it's only 48" x 48", but that's a good size for throwing on the couch or on the kitchen table!  The picture was taken after piecing, but before I quilted it.
I went back to the ugly quilt and finished it afterwards.  It was a mystery quilt I didn't want to do to begin with, but Kris cut half the pieces for me last summer and by the time I pieced them into blocks and made another large amount of blocks for it, I figured I had too much time invested in it not to finish it!  You may or may not see a picture of it sometime -- the top is done but not quilted.

Gratitudes:
I'm thankful for my stash and for the Primitive quilts magazines -- love all their patterns.  It was nice to be able to pull fabrics from the stash on a moment's notice and start piecing.
And, I'm grateful that my one and only bout of depression only lasted a few days.

Happy New Year!

And, it WILL be a Happy New Year! I insist. 
I started thinking about my resolutions/goals for the new year and I realized that I stopped making lists sometime this past year.  I'm truly a list maker and I find that I really accomplish things when I write them down, but when I don't I'm at sixes and sevens all day -- going from one thing to another and never getting anything done or always having that feeling that I should have done something and I don't remember what it was!  So, yesterday I made a short list of things I needed to get done:

And of the measly four things on the list, I only actually accomplished two of them!  But, it's a start getting back to a normal routine for me.  My friend Kris and I write a quilting newsletter for a few of our friends -- the past few times, she's done all the content and I do the editing.  Every once in a while I actually contribute something besides the editing, but not lately.  Hopefully next issue will be different.  But, I did work on the newsletter yesterday and will be sending it out later today.

I don't have humidifiers on my furnaces, so have room/house ones that need to be refilled constantly -- and yesterday I blew that job off!  I did, however fill them after church today, so I can still cross that off the list.  I did take down Christmas yesterday -- but I didn't put up a lot of Christmas, so here's the stuff I took down:

I do have lots of snowman quilts and a few Christmas quilts that I can leave up for a few more days.  The snowman quilts will stay up until I exchange them for Valentine quilts.  The other part of that chore was to clean out one of the Rubbermaid bins I keep my decorations in and sort the things again by seasons and put this stuff away -- that didn't get accomplished yesterday, so it'll go on tomorrow's list!

That'll be another resolution on the list -- sort all the bins and put them away -- a little at a time.  I'm not going to make myself crazy this year trying to do everything and accomplishing nothing.

This new year - 2012 - is going to be a good one because I'm going to give myself permission to take the time to smell the flowers.  I want to spend more quality time with my grandkids and if the house gets dirty, it'll keep til I get around to it!

Gratitudes:
Good friends, Squire and Cindy took me out for dinner last night -- lovely meal, good glass of wine and great friends.  And, we were home by 7 pm!  My kind of New Year's Eve celebration!
My church family -- a great bunch of people that really care about me, as I do them.

Time is running out...

YAY!  I can't say that I'm sorry to see 2011 go at all.  I am so looking forward to a new year and a new start.
I realize I've been among the missing in action for the past few months.  A lot has happened and a lot has not happened- vbg.
I had the house on the market for 6 months -- it did not sell, which is okay with me, and it is now off the market.  I will be here another year or two.  I plan to relax, get some things done in the yard and the house and pretty much get back to living my life.  Here's my word for the new year:

Looking back over the past few months, I've had to replace the stove in the kitchen, a whole new furnace (and I have two in this house, so I'm hoping the second one hangs in there for a few more years!), had the driveway sealed (and it's a long driveway), bought a new car -- 2012 Ford Fusion - love it, had my dryer repaired just a couple of days ago, had a tree fall in my neighbor's yard that he thankfully cut up for me, but I think there's another one that I will have to have taken down -- at least an 80' oak tree that could land on his house if it fell; gave up my cleaning lady and found out I can in fact drive a riding lawn mower and save myself some money mowing my own yard -- oh yeah and bought a new to me used lawn tractor.  My plan for the new year is to be more frugal and more green -- I've closed off two bedrooms on the second floor so I don't have to heat them and I've started washing clothes in cold water.  It probably won't make a nickel's worth of difference and the water heater will probably die on me anyway -- but hey, frugal and green is a start!
The cleaning lady was a luxury I gave myself for the past year -- every other week and it was heavenly, but really, I can clean my house and it doesn't get that dirty anymore.

Another reason I'm happy to stay here for another year or two is I finally have my entire sewing studio in the basement.  My DSIL and nephew moved the big fabric cabinet to the basement for me on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  I love having it down here.

I still have a lot of organizing to do with it and the rest of the sewing stuff, but I love being able to come downstairs and pick up where I left off at either of my sewing machines or the longarm or just sitting and appliqueing.  I put up my design wall (a photographic stand with batting attached), and I have my cutting table and ironing board set up all the time too.  The whole time the house was on the market, I had to keep everything put away and neat. 
Anyway -- that's pretty much what's been happening the past few months and now I'm going to look forward to the new year.  I have lots of new year's resolutions, as usual,, but I'll only bore you with a few of them next time!

Gratitudes:
Family and friends that have "hung in there" with me.
My digital camera -- it was a gift from my daughter and family a few years ago and I hope to use it a lot more this year.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!

I'll be back posting soon!

Ah, September

It's 90+ degrees in the shade today -- can't believe it's the first of September! It was my grandkids' first day of school -- thankfully their school is air conditioned.
I did get out to the flower bed at 7:30 this morning -- but by 8:15 I was done.  Made a little progress, but not as much as I wanted.  Next time!
Then I went to the shed and put a coat of varnish on my door trim.  The shop area stays cooler than the outside temperature, so shouldn't be a problem drying.

Then I came in and did some deep cleaning of my main floor bath (I love fall cleaning this bath -- takes no time at all!).  I put up my fall shower curtain (a Moda fabric from many years ago that I fell in love with).  This bath only has a pedestal sink, which I really love, and I added an antique medicine cabinet when we first moved in.

 And today, I did something radically different for me:  I took a page from my friend Kris and hung a couple of quilts in this bathroom.  I had a wooden washboard novelty shelf where this one is now.  This quilt was a group of lottery blocks I won at guild a good 10 years ago.  I put them together right away and love the small size of it.  The hand razor and curling iron were my grandparents'.  I found them when I was cleaning out my dad's house 18 years ago!

 In this spot I had a small 3 shelf unit that is painted blue.  I decided to paint it black instead, so hung this little quilt in the meantime.  Kris pieced this quilt, then prepped the applique for me (she made one for herself at the same time), and we worked on the applique together.

Neither of these quilts had hanging sleeves, so this afternoon I made and sewed the sleeves on.

I ran to Farm & Fleet today and bought the black paint for the shelf, but I'm in no hurry to get it done -- I'm liking the change of having quilts hanging in there now.

'Til next time.....

Another day

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the movies with a group from church -- we went to see "The Help" after most of us had read the book -- fabulous book, and movie -- don't miss it.  Anyway, after the movie, we went to lunch, so I was gone about 6 hours (I live a half an hour from the next big city which is where my church and the theatre is!).  I came home to this:

This is the back door going out to the garage.  That's the very nice trim on the side of the door and the mess all over the rug.  My dog, who is 11 years old, btw, not a puppy, did this.  He also pulled stuff off the shelf of the bench next to the door, tore up a couple of throw rugs and generally made a very large mess.  (He wrecked the trim on the same door last year after Bill died -- everyone said he missed Bill --I said I missed him too, but I don't go around eating the woodwork!).  Needless to say, the dog is now being put into his kennel whenever I leave the house.  I had my brother fix the woodwork the last time this happened, but I get kinda tired of having to ask people to do all these things that Bill used to do.  So, Saturday I took both pieces of trim off the sides of the door, and put them in my car.  Yesterday I went to Home Depot, got two new pieces of trim to match, but they wouldn't cut the angle at the top of the trim, so I stopped at my brother's on the way home, and he cut the angles for me!  Today, I stained both pieces out in the shed.  (Thankfully, we still had a can of the same stain we used on the rest of the woodwork).  I'll let them dry a couple of days, then varnish them with the same varnish we used and then will attempt to put them back!....I am woman, hear me roar!

I also spent a few hours yesterday and today working on the yard and gardens.  I'm making some headway with the weeding; I've had to rake the grass the last few times it's been mowed -- some areas grow faster than others and it just looks tacky to leave all that grass laying there.  I pulled one tomato plant up and all the beans (and picked the last of the beans as I did) and cleaned up the vegetable garden.  I've got some pretty tall weeds in the asparagus bed (as tall as the asparagus ferns get and more), so I'm working on that slowly each day.  Last week I planted a bunch of mums up by the house and down by the road -- hoping to get things looking good for fall.  And this afternoon I pulled some of my fall quilts out and started putting them up.  I know it's not officially fall for a month yet, but I needed a change!  This is one of my favorite scarecrow quilts from a few years back.

And this little pumpkin quilt is still a favorite of mine.  It was a quick design by Kay Steinmetz after a workshop she gave a lot of years ago at guild.  I took the pattern home and whipped up the quilt the next day.  So much fun to do and I still love to hang it in the hallway or the kitchen every year.

The plan tomorrow is to do some more appliqueing with Kris, and of course lunch out!

'Til next time....

August is almost gone....

the summer is flying by and I feel like I've been on a roller coaster for the past 3 months!  These are pictures of the grandkids when we went to the Wisconsin Dells in June.

This one is Briana riding the sky high bike at the Tommie Bartlet Exploratory Center.  That's really a long way up!

I've had my house on the market since the 6th of June -- hence the roller coaster ride.  Someone is interested....nothing happens.  Big Open House -- well attended, one couple stays for an hour and a half....nothing happens.  Today, that same couple came back, spent another hour and a half and still can't make up their minds.  So, first I'm leaving, then I'm staying, then I'm looking at other properties to buy, then I'm staying....Now, I'm planning on getting a lot of yard work done and some general outside cleaning; I'll probably go ahead and have the blacktop part of the drive sealed this fall as I was originally planning to do.  I'll do some more whipping into shape of the flower beds and all this with the intention of doing it for my own pleasure, not to sell.  Next week I'm going to put out my fall quilts and my fall decorations and if someone comes along and wants to buy it, fine, but if not, that's okay too.  When the listing runs out, I'll take it off the market for a few years. 

I'm getting back into the quilting groove.  I'm caught up with Bunny Hill's Henrietta Whiskers block of the month, just waiting for the last block to be posted on the 5th and then I'll put it all together.  I've been getting the sewing studio put together the way I want it, so it's a real pleasure to sew in the basement now.  And hopefully, I'll start posting more on the blog, with pictures of quilts! 

'til next time....

Playing Catch-UP

It's been a busy summer so far.  As usual, I'm way behind on everything -- the yard, the gardens, my quilting, the house, spending time with grandkids...
Steph and I did take the grandkids to WI Dells the end of June -- I just got the pictures off my camera, so that will be another post :-).
We've had some really hot and humid days and finally the past three days have been wonderful, so I did get some weeding done in the garden -- actually found the tomatoes and peppers and beans.  Hopefully they'll ripen soon.  Also got a little bit of weeding done in the flower beds -- but tons more to do there.  I can't take the heat/humidity, so my time outside is limited.  Thursday I managed to get out at 6:45 am and spent 3 hours working out there -- it was wonderful.  But starting tomorrow the heat and humidity are back for at least a week.
One thing about the weather:  I managed to get some appliqueing done while spending my time in the air conditioning!  So, here are blocks 5, 6, and 7 of the Bunny Hill BOM - Henrietta Whiskers. 

I am now up to date on this BOM and hope I can keep up with it now.  I've been catching up with some quilting too -- still have one I need to put binding on, but finished two other small quilts.  I'll post them in a day or two.


Take care everyone and hope you're enjoying your summer.

A finished Top

I

I actually finished putting this top together on Saturday -- but either my satellite dish or blogger wasn't playing nice, so here it is today.  It's only 31" square.  It's a Kansas Troubles little quilt from her Summer's End line of fabric and that, coincidentally, is the name of the quilt.  I have the binding pressed and ready to go and even cut a backing for it.  I won't be firing up the longarm for a couple of weeks though.  I really like the quilt and it felt really good getting back to piecing.  Next project to piece will be Bonnie Hunter's last mystery quilt that she posted online -- I can't even remember how long ago, but I know I'm only half done with it, so I'll be pulling it out to finish up in a couple of weeks, too.

I drove Steph to her doctor's office and to physical therapy today -- her knee is coming along nicely and she's walking pretty well on it now -- she just had surgery last Friday!

I spent 3 hours in the yard yesterday afternoon -- I can see my tomatoes again, along with the peppers and beans I planted -- amazing what a little hoeing and weed pulling will do.  Also got part of one daylily bed weeded before my back and my knees gave out.  I hope to get some more done tomorrow.  This is two years worth of weeds I'm getting rid of  -- I sure didn't get anything done last summer.  I feel like I've survived the worst part of losing Bill now (although I know I will miss him for the rest of my life); I feel like I can make decisions for myself now and get some things done that I couldn't handle last year. I have to say I was blessed with a husband that was a great teacher and I actually paid attention even when I didn't think it mattered; so I learned how to do a lot of things even though I never had to do any of them when he was here.

A little advice for all you wives out there:  Pay attention.  Talk about your finances so you know what's what; learn how to mow the yard, even if you don't have to do it; learn where your electrical breaker panel is and how it works; learn how to change the furnace filter; find out where your water shut-off valves are (we have one on every toilet and faucet in the house); do you have a septic system that needs pumping?  Do you have your fireplaces cleaned regularly?  What about maintenance on your car?  Even if you can afford to have someone else do the work -- it still is important for you to know enough to tell them what to do.

It's 95° in the shade...

but I had a great day today.  Probably only quilters will understand that statement, given my life lately, but it really was a great day!  I spent hours in my new sewing studio and actually accomplished a few things.  I not only got block 5 of Henrietta Whiskers BOM from Bunny Hill prepped,

 but I got block 6 prepped too!  That means I have a couple of to-go projects ready, or

 

maybe they'll be done right here at home -- but either way, they are ready for me to work on!

And then,  I pulled out a project that I've had spread out on the top of a Sterilite storage box since I'm not sure when.  I think I started it last fall -- it's been so long since I've done any sewing that I really can't remember.  It was a Kansas Troubles Project using Summer's End Charm Packs and I had pieced one 4-1/2" block and left all the pieces spread out on the box top and moved it around from the 2nd floor to the basement.  Luckily, all the pieces were still together and it didn't take me too long to figure out where I had left off.

So, I made 3 more blocks in a short period of time this afternoon.  There will be 12 more blocks in different colors to make and sashing strips and cornerstones and borders to add to make a little quilt 31" square.  With a little luck, I'll be able to show a finished quilt top before too long.  I really can't tell you how wonderful it felt to play in the studio today....but I know most of you understand!

It's supposed to storm tonight and cool off, so I suppose I'll have to do some outside work then --- unless it rains tomorrow too!

Friday my daughter will be having arthroscopic surgery on her knee -- same knee that was totally reconstructed when she was 17; they can't find the anterior cruciate ligament at all, but they're hoping that if they fix the two side ligaments (can't remember what they are called), and scrape some bone spurs off the knee, that that will tighten it up enough so they won't have to replace the acl at all.  As Gilda would say, "It's always something".  

Until next time, practice Random Acts of Kindness!

Mikey's Walking

This was taken at his first birthday party on Sunday, June 5.  Now two days later he's proud to carry a toy and walk down the hall -- boy do they learn fast.  He did have clothes on earlier in the day -- but after he had his chocolate birthday cake he needed a quick bath!

Other news of the day:  my house is officially listed for sale as of last night.  I'm going to hate leaving this place -- my quiet spot in the country with plenty of trees and wildlife; but it is definitely apparent that I can not take care of this place alone -- my flower beds need weeding, the asparagus bed got away from me the first week I think, the grass needs mowing and I broke the riding mower and it's being fixed at the moment, lots of trimming needs to be done and I do have someone to do that for me but it's hotter than blazes this week -- at least til Thursday, so I don't want him working in the heat.  I've spent months getting the house ready for showing -- cleaning out and putting away "stuff".  I think we all probably have too much stuff and I know I do for sure!  I've sold a lot of furniture at auction, but I still have enough to fill a house.  I finally have a sewing room I love here in the basement -- but that's okay because I will definitely buy a house with a basement that's big enough to hold it all!
Speaking of which, my latest purchase was a "find" in my favorite quilt shop:  A primitive table that came from a printing company in the area.  It's huge and it's heavy (it took 4 guys to haul it into the basement).  It sits between my sewing area and the longarm, so I have all the pieces of leftover batting pieces shoved onto the shelf on the longarm side.  On the side near the sewing machines there are two drawers.  I have lots of my newest fat quarters and my baskets of sewing notions along with some extra cutting boards spread out on top.  This is not my cutting table, though -- that is in the area of the basement on the other side of the staircase.

And finally, I think I'll be able to actually do some sewing soon.  I have four of the Bunny Hill Henrietta Whiskers blocks finished, but that still leaves me two behind, so I'm going to try to get both of them prepped today or tomorrow and maybe pull out a long ignored piecing project -- it just feels like I haven't sewn in years and I'm sure it's only been months!

I do love these happy squirrel and bird blocks -- I think this will be a fun quilt when it's finished.

Until next time, remember, Be Kinder Than Necessary!

June 2011

This will be one last tear filled post and after this I will strive to have lots of positive, joyful and hopefully soon, quilt related posts.

Today is, first of all Michael Paul (Mikey's), first birthday.  I have a couple of pics in my camera upstairs, so will post them in a day or two -- he is after all the really bright spot along with the other 3 grandkids of the whole past year -- and yes, tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of Bill's death.  And on Tuesday, it would have been Steve and Kim's 14th anniversary.  Which brings me to the reason for this post.  Today I had to do one of the hardest things I've ever done. 
Two days before Steve died, he asked me to buy chocolates for Kim for their anniversary.  At the time I was thinking I would buy them and bring them to him to give to her.  I suspect he knew he wouldn't be here for the actual day.  So, today I brought her the gift of Godiva chocolates Steve wanted her to have on their anniversary.  She was working in the yard when I stopped by -- doing what I do -- trying to keep busy.  We both cried and I cried all the way home.  And I remembered that Steve was taught by the master -- his father -- in how to treat his wife.  Wow, do I miss both of them.

Steve

                                   Steven Michael Talbott, 1/18/1969 - 5/19/2011

Our beautiful, amazing son lost his fight with brain cancer yesterday morning.  We were all there with him.  He was the most amazing man and accomplished so much in his short life.  He was an inspiration to all and he fought long and hard against all odds.  We will all miss his humor and his strength.  I will miss his phone calls and his love.
But now, he is at peace with Bill -- probably enjoying a round of golf and a rum and coke.

Another Wonderful Gift

An old friend sent me a gift today.  Joan lost her husband about 12 years ago and has since remarried.  She and her first husband were our bowling team partners for many years.  We don't see much of them because they winter in Florida, but she and Ben were at Bill's visitation.
This is what she sent, and I love it.  I will be framing it.  And yes, it made me cry, but crying's not a bad thing :-)  Thanks, Joan.

Today was a fun day, too.  Kris and I went to Acorn Quilts in Rockford to see a binding demonstration by Kay Steinmetz.  We actually went to see Kay, so the binding demo was a bonus!  Kay is another old friend -- I took my first beginners quilt class at her shop, back in the early nineties -- she owned Quilters Cupboard in Rockford back then.  Now she's working a couple of days a month at Acorn and Kris is planning a get-together in Byron that we'll have Kay teach a class at this summer. 
It was great getting out and seeing friends, buying fabric (well, really, Leslie has this perfectly wonderful fabric in the back room that is 1/2 price -- I just can't pass it up for future backings!).
And, of course we went to lunch -- always a bonus!

Then I came home and spent about 45 minutes outside in the hot sun (dumb), pulling thistles out of the daylily bed.  I've been complaining about it for weeks, so decided a short time spent getting rid of them was in order.  There's lots more weeds, of course, but a little at a time should get the job done eventually.

Blessings:
Out and about with quilting friends -- always a fun day.
Kay Steinmetz -- a treasured quilting friend.
Attacking the weeds and finding the tomato plants.  I only planted tomato and peppers, so I really should be able to keep up on weeding them!

Thank Yous

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.  The grieving process has just begun and I can tell you it will be long and arduous.  I can't possibly thank everyone for all the kind words, so please know that I sincerely appreciate them all.


I'm feeling the need to have a fresh start of sorts and have started a new blog -- I will still be talking about my daily life, and eventually some quilting when I get back to it, (other things have priority right now), and I hope to make it a little more upbeat -- and try to write more often.  If you'd like to visit, it's:  http://attitudesandgratitudes.blogspot.com

Thanks, everyone, and much love.

It's Over

Bill passed away at 7:05 last night.  All the kids were down yesterday afternoon, including our brand new grandson, Michael Paul, who was born Saturday morning at 4:20 am.  We all got to say goodbye and I was with him to the end.  He's been getting steadily weaker and actually went quickly, which I am so thankful for.  Liver Cancer is one of the most painful of the cancers -- if you can differentiate between them all -- I'm sure every kind is painful.  It is extremely hard to watch someone you've loved for 29 years go through it.

We spent today making arrangements, with more to make tomorrow.  I feel like I've been on the phone all day and my throat can attest to that fact -- I have a very sore throat and earache, and I'm losing my voice, which does not bode well for the Memorial services planned.  Hopefully I can doctor it enough to make it through.

I'm going to miss him terribly , but I know he's in a better place.

Thanks

For all the comments and prayers.  We appreciate them.

We have called in Hospice.  All the doctors in Madison concurred that he is no candidate for surgery or chemo or radiation.  He was very weak and was sidelined for two weeks with a virus (cough and cold) that zapped all the strength he had.  He is hoping to build up his strength in the next few months and possibly go back for chemo.  Hospice will send a nurse out twice a week to check on him and do anything else we need.  All I need to do is call them, so that is very reassuring.  They will manage his meds also and try to keep him pain free.
We spend a lot of time talking -- I think it helps us both :-)!

Keep the prayers coming, and thanks.

God, are you out there? It's me, Joanne

Let's just get to it:  My husband has liver cancer. 
So, if you're keeping count (and I am), since September, Steve's brain tumor has come back twice, he's had surgery, a small stroke, rehab and this last time he had stereotactic radiosurgery, which means they bombarded the tumor from every angle possible with radiation; Kevin was diagnosed and had surgery for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, and now Bill has liver cancer.  We are in the process of getting all our ducks in a row:  we met a great surgeon in Madison at UW Clinic today and will be having more tests done and will have to make some serious decisions over the next few weeks.  She can take 1/2 his liver, if the mass and other spots are contained in the half; and if he can tolerate the surgery -- he'll be 84 in May and we have to meet with his cardiologist sometime soon and he'll probably have to have another echocardiogram.  They are also scheduling tests in Madison, so we'll be driving back and forth, or spending time up there in a hotel, as needed.
I'm going to be spending less time on the computer, obviously, so am taking a break from blogging (you wouldn't notice because I haven't blogged in a month anyway! vbg).