I Am Having So Much Fun!!!!

Diane is visiting from Florida and we are having so much fun!!! We have visited 3 quilt shops (are about to leave for another in a little while) and of course, have done our share of helping the budget here in TN. We also went to a Debbie Caffey trunk show and class that my guild hosted this week-end. Both were fantastic!!!! The class was a technique one rather than really making a entire quilt and it was so worth it. If you ever get a chance to attend one of her classes, do go. For those of you who don't know her, she is actually the person who first began to use 2.5 strips for quilts and talked Moda into selling them. She called them "worms". She teaches all kinds of great ways to use your "worms"/jelly rolls--ways to cut them, neat rulers to use, etc. I can't wait to try one of the quilts in the book I purchased.

Just wanted to drop by and say hi! No pictures unfortunately, but when you are having fun, who has time for pictures.

Hugs! enjoy the remainder of your Sunday!

My latest!

Please forgive me for being so delinquent in posting. I have "checked in" every day, but to be perfectly honest, I really haven't had anything interesting to post about.

I am pretty busy getting the house "in order" for Diane's visit next week. I must be getting old, or maybe it is the hot weather, but it seems to take me all day to complete one room, when I once could clean the entire house in just a couple of hours. I am going to tackle the areas I haven't gotten yet this afternoon. I also don't want to start too early since it will just be yuk again by the time she comes on Wednesday.

The picture is of the quilt I am currently quilting. I actually finished the quilt top last year and started quilting it in a variegated thread. It was horrible, so I proceeded to take it out. You know how awful it is to remove quilting, so I laid it aside, working on it every now and then. I finally completed taking the quilting out last week :-(

I am going to give this one to one of my granddaughters. She is 13 and wanted a quilt with black, pink, green and yellow (I think). This quilt fills the bill---lots of bright colors and it just looks like a teen would love it. I am quilting it in bright green, which makes me a bit apprehensive since the pattern really shows on the black, but I am forging on----it is my hope it will look nice and my slightly off lines will be okay. I purchased a bright lime green to bind it in, so I think it will be cute---sans the wobbly lines of quilting. I am using the "Square Spiral" quilting panto (I think that is the name) that so many of you like. I think it will be great with this quilt since the square spiral is great complement to the pattern. BTW, all of the fabrics are my hand dyes (except the black). The backing is fabric with flip flops, again so appropriate since this granddaughter lives in Florida!

Well, just wanted to check in! Hope you Sunday is a great one (and Happy Father's Day to any Dad's who are reading my blog).

My Week In Review!

I have actually been pretty busy this past week---besides work (of course)! In the quilting arena:

• I finished quilting my 30's Snowball/Nine Patch (I need to think of a name). I got to the end and my border was a bit wavy. I sprayed it down with some water---patted it in place, and the waviness "quilted out" pretty good. I need to square it up and put on the binding.
• I started sewing the binding down on the Amy Butler (I remember one of the fabric lines)/"Kaffe-like" quilt (need to name that one).
• Decided to not change the white binding on the nine-patch. I was just too lazy to take it all off and start over---so I mitered my corners and I need to stitch that binding down...it will be okay!
• Cut out another quilt with my GO!. It is in a Kaffee-book and I am using some homespun and my hand-dyes. I will show you a picture soon.
• Worked on my "Peaches/Berries" blocks. I again am wondering why it is taking me so long to complete this quilt and Judy made hers in like a day! I am NOT going to put a border on this one. It is made from my hand-dyes and it would be much too hard to match the fabs (I think)....plus I think it will be fine without a border.
• I am also "hand-quilting"---yes you read right a small art quilt I made. I am using the "big stitch" and although my husband can't really "see" it right now, I think it is looking pretty good. When I started quilting I noticed some areas that weren't quite lined up, but hey, it's a art quilt so it is okay to not be exact....at least I think so!

I also planted some flowers out front. It is blazing out there and although I started at about 7AM by the time I finished about 3 hours later, I wasn't really feeling very good :-( Because of that, I have been moving in slow motion all day. My DIL had weeded the beds a couple of weeks ago, but it looked like we hadn't touched it so I had to do a lot of weed pulling. I guess I am a "weeny"---can't handle manual labor!!!

Have a great remainder of the day---"See" you later!

"Planting Time"!

I might have mentioned that our youngest son and his family are living with us temporarily (they have moved from Florida). My son works at night and his wife during the day. While my son sleeps, my husband has been "babysitting" their two children (7 and 8) along with our oldest grandson (he is 9). My husband was "whining" about babysitting----"all I have done all day is fix snacks and referee disagreements". Well, guess what I did when our FIVE kids were little (and still do on occasion)? In addition, I also worked a full-time job, went to nursing school full-time, cleaned the house, washed and ironed clothes, helped the kids with homework, fixed meals, plus a dozen other things too numerous to mention. Anyway----today I didn't have to work (I still work full time, clean the house, fix meals, referee fights, etc.), so I "babysat" the kids. We went to Home Depot to get some flowers. They were really cheap ($2), mainly because they looked half-dead. We picked out the best looking ones, came home and gave them some water (they perked right up) and then my granddaughter and I put them in pots (the boys will help me to plant the roses and put the other plants in the ground out front). Anyway, my granddaughter evaluated the deck as "better than perfect"---she is the 7 year old. How wonderful is that!!!! -----and thus far I haven't had to referee one fight----must have something to do with who is "babysitting"---

Have a great remainder of the day!

xoxo