Grrrrr!

Yesterday was one of those days; the kind you look forward to, the kind you plan for, the kind where you just KNOW that you're going to get sew much done! I had half a dozen burp cloths to stitch, a pretty pink quilt on Sundance waiting for me and a few borders to add to a baby quilt that is under construction. The day dawned cool and misty, with the promise of more rain, I didn't even need to feel guilty about not going outside and staying home all day! I poured a cup of coffee and carried it into my studio, I decided to work some machine embroidery first thing. I lingered over the design process a little longer than I should have, but it didn't matter... after all, I had the whole day ahead of me! After loading the designs on a memory stick I powered up my machine and hooped a burp cloth for embroidery. I began to stitch... in fits and starts. The bobbin thread continued to fray, snap and break. I worked on the bobbin case, adjusting the tension and ripping out the faulty stitching. I had a LOT of practice with this procedure; repeating it over and over, and over again. I was growling by this time, at noon I still didn't have one burp cloth completed! By the time I fixed the problem and completed the first one I could feel the day unraveling; I knew that I needed to simply walk away, eat a late lunch, and regroup. The afternoon proved worse (from a productivity standpoint) than the morning, my growling got louder and the plan for the day evaporated. My machine decided not to recognize the memory stick anymore. (Luckily, I was able to upload some designs from the stick to my computer files for safe keeping before it quit working entirely!) I hauled my laptop over to the machine and sent the designs directly via a patch cord, I finished the fourth burp cloth at 4 PM, I was still in my pajamas(!) and desperately needed a shower; but, I'm stubborn, and decided to bind the edges and trim out the four that I had completed stitching. I broke two machine needles in a row and found that I couldn't top-stitch a straight line without skipping stitches to save my life. My husband decided to take over dinner duty, he sent me to the shower and fixed me a cheeseburger, just what this growling lion needed! I turned on some music after dinner, it calmed the savage beast; the finishing proceeded smoothly and without interruption. By 9 PM I had four burp cloths done, the pretty pink quilt was still untouched and that baby quilt under construction was, by now, nothing more than a distant memory. Yesterday was one of those days, you know the kind. Grrrrr!

Today is another day,
Life is Good!

Read Those Directions!

With a severe case of tunnel vision I had been piecing together this quilt top, using left over charm squares, from the pattern Nickel Dogs by Me and My Sisters. These puppies have been on my design wall for weeks and I kept thinking that something didn't look quite right, but I convinced myself that all was fine and pressed on. I had the blocks all completed, and the rows joined, I was in the process of adding the borders when I realized that there was a mistake(!) in the instructions. The given measurement for the top and bottom inner border was five inches too long! Hmm. I whacked off the excess and stitched them in place anyway. My husband made a passing remark as he glanced at what I was working on, something about the dogs and their positioning being, *ahem*, impolite. Huh? Finally, I saw it, my mistake was glaring; I had failed to insert the vertical spacer strips between the rows! Arrggh. I picked apart this puppy parade, row by row, and began reassembling it. Suddenly, the instructions for those inner borders, top and border, were correct! Go figure. Take it from me: when all else fails, read those directions! But, if you can't do that, at least look at the pictures!

Life is Good!
For the record: the placement of the yellow dog, lower right, ( marching to his own drummer) is intentional!

Really?

When is the last time you've been shopping at a mall? I do hit the major department stores from time to time, parking outside the main entrance and going straight in and out without any mall "cruising". It had been a long time for me, until recently; apparently there are new stores since my last visit.

What's next?

Life is Good!

Another Year...

...another candle.
(that's a whole lotta wax!)
Life is Good!

Feel The Love?

Sundance has been working overtime, stitching around all the love and best wishes on this wedding signature quilt. These Rail Fence blocks sat beneath flower arrangements on the tables at a Nane and GP's recent wedding reception where guests were invited to sign their names and express their happiness, in written form, to the newlyweds. Salem Stitcher did the piecing and KB appliquéd the love birds. Nane is in our Bee; we've watched our friend fall in love and shared in her happiness from the earliest days of that first date through the courtship, engagement and, ultimately, her wedding! This quilt makes my heart smile, it's impossible not to feel all the happy love woven together here; stitching on this piece is an experience of pure joy.

Can't you feel it?
Life is Good!

And A Child Shall Lead Them...

Mason has this book, he just LOVES it; it was a birthday gift. He wants to hear the rhyming Bible stories over and over; he adores looking at, and identifying things, in the illustrations as well. I was reading to him the other day, the story from Matthew's gospel of Jesus calming the storm. At the end there is a drawing of Jesus, in a white robe, standing on the deck of the boat with outstretched arms. Mason ran his finger along the picture of Jesus and looked up at me questioningly.
"Jesus" I said.
He looked back at the picture intently, then back up and me and stated, firmly: "God"!

Life is Good!

Great Find!

Look what I found while shopping in the Capital City:

it has to be the perfect wine for a quilters get-together.

Don't you agree?
Life is Good!

Making The Best Of A Bad Break...

Thanks to everyone who has expressed get-well wishes and prayers on behalf of my daughter following her fall and resulting broken foot. We're establishing some routine in what was an otherwise well-oiled machine of a household. A patio chair has been placed in the shower for stability, it works great! The newly appointed cook and housekeeper takes at least twice as long as normal to do each and every little task; the child-proof cabinet door locks, doorknob and outlet covers really slow me down. I fold the towels differently and put the dishes away where I think they should go, but so far my daughter hasn't sent me packing for home; she is patient with me and I am sympathetic with the situation of the patient. Our outings consist of those where there are motorized carts for transport; so far Target and Harris Teeter are tops on our destination lists. She will visit an Orthopedist on Monday for a more definitive diagnosis on the fracture and weight-bearing. Right now our prayer is that the baby will stay put for as long as possible, the best scenario is that Mommy will be walking on her own two feet when the little one makes her entrance. In the meantime we're coming to grips with what has happened, counting our blessings and enjoying some unplanned mother-daughter time together!

Life is Good!

One Wrong Step...

My very pregnant daughter missed the bottom step in her garage and broke her foot yesterday morning. She was on her way to the car and was carrying Mason on her left hip; he is just fine, and so is the baby. Her right foot didn't fare as well; she heard the bone break as she went down. I am helping out in the Capital City this week, there's lots to do when the doctor's order is no weight bearing for six weeks. Easy to prescribe but hard to do for a woman who manages her home, has an active two-year-old (who likes to hijack her crutches!) and has a nursery to furnish and prepare! I'll be here through Saturday and will relinquish my resident status when other family members move in to take their shifts with Mason-watching and general helping out; we're all happy to be here and do what we can, but no one will be happier than my daughter when she can relieve us on a permanent basis. Please remember her in prayer for speedy healing and patience along the road to recovery!

Life is Good!

Preschool Pot-Luck?

When my daughter picked Mason up from Preschool earlier this week she was informed that one thing that he was going to need to work on was eating only HIS OWN lunch! My daughter was surprised by this information but assured the teacher that they would discuss this at home. Mason chatted on about "Casey's lunch" as they drove home, wearing some other child's (probably Casey's!) tell-tale strawberry jelly on his face! He now understands that he is to eat only what mommy puts in MASON'S lunchbox. I believe when they all sat down to eat that he thought it was a Preschool Pot-luck; hey, he is Lutheran after all!

Life is Good!

Labor Day Weekend

Summer 2010 is one for the record books; very hot and humid, I'm not going to miss it one little bit. We had a fun and busy weekend. The weather was absolutely phenomenal; the perfect way to usher in a new season. We were lucky enough to meet up with our favorite two-year-old on Friday for a quick bite of dinner and a hug before he was off, with his Mommy and Daddy, for some relaxation in the mountains. The rest of my weekend was spent piecing, and quilting. The baby quilts are being made in pairs around here these days, so if you're enjoying the pink one (above) you need to take a peek at the blue one (below) too! I cut apart two ABC panels, (thanks, Quiltkeemosabe!) combined them with two coordinating jelly rolls and... voilà; two 55" X 55" baby play quilts for tummy-time. I'll post more about what I'm quilting later on this week. I should have spent all my time inside; I did some weeding and managed to come in contact with poison ivy which resulted in a painful, itchy patch just above my left knee. That'll teach me to leave the sewing room, and do yard work, now won't it?

Pass the calamine lotion...

Life is Good!

Finally, A Flimsy!

The top is complete, at long last! This one has been a piecing challenge, making sure that none of the baskets became turned or flipped within each row. Whew! But, it was a lot of fun~ more fun than a barrel basket of monkeys! Yep, there is one... the quilt named itself! Can you find it? There are 113 (4.5 inch) "Postage Stamp" basket blocks made from 226 charm squares for a lively mix of colors, patterns and textures. The pattern is from Alex Anderson.

"More Fun Than A Basket Of Monkeys"
58" X 58"

Life is Good!

First Day of Preschool

Mommy says she didn't cry~
Nana did, when she saw this picture!

According to the report,
Mason just loves his preschool
with all the activities and friends.

Life is Good!