All Treats, No Tricks!

All treats, no tricks~ that is
my Halloween wish for you.

Life is Good!

It's ON!

Bayley, who lives in Tennessee, has challenged Hannes to appear on the blog. Hannes told Bayley that he was waiting for him to go first. Well, he did! These pups can be very demanding; and being dachshunds, you realize, they're tenacious as well... never will they back down from a challenge! So, Bayley... here ya go, Hannes has met your challenge and raised it, with a second photo! What do you say now, Bayley? It's ON! *woof*

Life is Good!
...and a dog's life is full of challenges!

Where's The Heat?

Can a dryer bite the dust, or would it be biting lint instead? It took me a while to figure out that the heating element on this appliance was toast, after I hit the repeat button on a load of towels a few times I finally stuck my hand in there to check. No heat, none. Then I realized what was going on, I'm quick that way. Luckily, my resident handy-man came to the rescue. He suspects that too much lint got through the screen, clogged the vent hose and burned out the element. I don't know how to avoid that happening again, I carefully clean the screen every load. The needed part was in stock and we're operating at full heat again; the dryer is doing what it's supposed to, not coolly tossing around wet clothes anymore. There's only two adults living in this house, and piles of laundry to catch up on after two day's time. How does that happen? We don't own that many clothes, do we? And if we do, how come it seems that I never have anything to wear?

Life is Good!

Going Green, TOO Green!

I have a pile of prepped "Chubby Chicks" ready for appliqué, and a few others done and destined for their place on the design wall amidst the pinwheel blocks. I had a few yards of green chosen, but it's clear to me now that I went way TOO green.
The pieced alternate blocks need to be lighter and softer, still green; but more pear-ish. Ah, gee... back to the fabric store; darn! Please, feel sorry for me. I now have eight vivid green pinwheel blocks; seed for a future project: "It's Not Easy Being Green"... sing it, Kermit!

Life is Good!

The Right Foot

Yesterday morning I was ready to attach the binding to this quilt, the blue version of the same baby quilt I posted in pink not long ago. When attaching the binding to that one, using a walking foot, I thought I would pull my hair out from frustration; nothing went well! My machine was skipping stitches constantly. I did all the troubleshooting I knew how, to no avail. Finally, I gave up, took the walking foot off and walked away. Later the same day I put the walking foot on the sewing machine I typically use for embroidery and stitched it on, trouble free. Since then I have used the first machine for piecing and have encountered no stitching problems whatsoever. Since the embroidery module was attached to machine #2 I decided to reenact the original scenario again. I threaded machine #1 and picked up the walking foot... that's when I realized what I had done previously. Instantly I knew that I had used the walking foot for machine #2 on machine #1! They are NOT interchangeable!! They sit side by side in the same drawer and the mistake was glaring... in a retro-active way! Do you remember the song: "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt"? My version could be: "I'm Too Stupid For My Feet"! Do you have any idea how quickly one can attach binding to a quilt when one doesn't constantly need to stop, change needles, pull one's own hair out, and re-do each and every stitch? Let's put it this way: quickly enough to take a picture and blog about it! The correct foot, on the machine it was designed for, makes a WORLD of difference: ask me how I know! Groan.

Life is Good!

Prayer Update

Thanks one and all for the continuing prayers for this baby, here is the latest update posted early this morning on the FB discussion board:

"Mary Ann opened her eyes today and looked at Robin and Brad. Robin said it was the best feeling to see her looking back at them. I can only imagine how they felt to see their precious miracle looking at them! Remember to praise God for this gift they received! Mary Ann had another good day! Thank you for your continued prayers. Please continue to pray for healing, as well as thanking God for all he has done. Through faith and determination, little Miss Mary Ann has come so far in the past 12 days!"

Life is Good!~God is GREAT!

It's Bagel Time!

It's October and you know what that means, it's Breast Cancer awareness month. At Panera Bread the month of October means it's Pink Ribbon bagel time! I'm a little bit late in posting this as the month is winding down, but there's still over a week left to stop by and pick up a Pink Ribbon bagel or two, (or a dozen and a half*)! They're made with cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey and brown sugar. Plus, a portion of the proceeds go to benefit breast cancer charities. It's sweet in every way, a real win-win. Hurry... they're only available until the 31st; you know you want one!

Life is Good!

*That's what we did, I wrap them up and freeze them!

Going Freestyle

"Introducing the next generation of Etch A Sketch. One that lets you draw loops, lines, curves, and curly-Qs with perfect ease. Just shake to erase! Then draw again over & over!"

Well if this isn't the coolest thing ever!

I'm glad that I have little ones to buy toys for again, just look what I found on a recent shopping excursion! Who knew what a terrific improvement had been made to one of the classics? (Remember struggling to draw a circle with the original twin-dial version, or trying to sign your name?) Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Do you see how this could be useful to a quilter? I think that Nana might need to add one of these to her toy ...er, I mean... tool box!

Life is Good!

Puppy Parade!

I hope these puppies are patient, they're going to have to wait their place in line ("down-stay"!) before they get their date with Sundance. This flimsy measures 50" X 60" and is from the pattern Nickel Dogs by Me and My Sister Designs. My pups are stitched from some of the leftover charm squares that didn't make it into my Postage Stamp Basket quilt from this past summer. Even though I have had a few false starts on this one, (reading the written directions is always a good idea!) I loved every minute of working on this quilt. I'm going to need to ponder some quilting ideas, perhaps it will "speak" to me, at some point, in that regard! If anyone has any thoughts, I'm listening...

Life is Good!

Worth 1,000 Words

Life is Good!

The Colors of Fall

There's more to the changing colors of fall than the leaves on the trees. I spent Saturday potting up mums and pansies. Out with the once-vibrant (now spent and leggy) annuals and in with the lush, cool weather bloomers. It was back breaking work. I potted up a total of one dozen planters between the front porch and the patio, plus I hauled countless wheelbarrow loads of debris (plants, foliage, nutrient-depleted soil) back to the woods. This time of year is energizing to me. I'm ready for the change of seasons now, as well as the changing colors... bring it on! But, seriously, what's up with ALL THE ACORNS this year? Anyone in need of an oak tree 'starter'? Send me your address, I have a few (million) to spare!

Life is Good!

Thanks Giving

I ran across this opinion piece while watching the morning news this weekend. It's too good not to share. Thanksgiving did indeed come early for some this year; if we all looked a little closer, from right where are, wouldn't we find ways to keep hope alive and express our deep gratitude every day? I daresay we would. Thanks be to God!

Life is Good!

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Please join me in prayer for a miraculous baby girl who was born early Monday morning. She is the tiny daughter of my daughter-in-law's best friend. Born much too soon, with odds stacked against her, each day is a victory! The specific prayer on her behalf is for her condition to remain stable so that God can heal the holes in her lungs. If you are on Facebook you can go here to stay current on the discussions and to keep up with her progress; please pray for strength for her Mom and Dad (Robin and Brad) too. Ask your friends and family to pray for baby Mary Ann, each and every prayer counts; and we know that God is listening! Thank you so much.

Life is Good!

Rear Air Bags

I stopped at the fabric store to buy batting for our Quilt Ministry yesterday. It was on sale, by the yard, so I bought a whole roll. It seemed like good stewardship, at the time. After the clerk retrieved it from the stock room and I realized it was a 60 yard roll (I expected it to be half this big) I began to seriously wonder if I could fit it into my car. The bad news (for large purchases) is that I have a small car; the good news is that it's a convertible! I was able to wrestle it in... and get the top back up.This exercise was pure entertainment for a little old man parked nearby who gave me a thumbs-up and a big smile after I was done, glad he enjoyed the show. Luckily, it's short drive from there to church; (and that there are side mirrors) it was a bit tough to see out the back window.

Life is Good!

No Passing

My husband and I took a quick trip to the mountains to do some leaf-peeping on Monday. That's where we were when we found ourselves driving along this road. Whoa~

Life is Good!

A Flurry Of Activity

It's been a flurry of activity around here since Lucy Ann's debut; most of it centered around catching up on projects for her that weren't in line with her early arrival (my timeline and hers weren't synched!). I stitched up some personalized burp cloths, and a few for soon-to-be-born G baby too! I backed a small flannel blankie with soft pink Flurr and tied that with narrow satin ribbons, stitched in place to hold it together. I didn't take a picture of that before I shipped it off but hopefully I can talk my daughter into a shot of it, with the baby, after she receives it. I am at the stage of hand finishing the binding on the ABC quilt for my granddaughter (left) and have G's blue version loaded on Sundance today. Oh yeah, lest we forget that it is October, a black cat wearing a broad grin has managed to creep on little feet into the studio too; it's a good thing he doesn't mind the frantic pace!

Life is Good!