an occasional peek into a quilter's life

just a peek...

2011-10-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

It's been forever, so I decided to just bite the bullet and WRITE.
Life is good. Pretty much the same ole', same ole' stuff, but then less drama is good.
I haven't been getting any quilting, because I've been focusing on de-packratting the house. I watched one too many shows of "Hoarders" and decided that we were NOT hoarders, even though it was starting to almost look like it. :-) Got rid of a bunch of stuff and found a bunch more cool stuff. Unearthed a bolt of pale pink satin and started making dresses and a vest for all the grandkids. Unfortunately, Wren grew too much between the start of the project and now, so I'll have to make a different dress for her. 5 dresses and a vest, just for fun. It will be a great photo op when I'm all done. I'll do my best to share photos.
Both grandkids living here are in school now. Wren is in first grade and Ben is in kindergarten. My own kids did well in school, too. Paddy got her B.S. in Art and Jack's still working toward his B.A. and trying to get into nursing school. And me? I'm just plugging along, one class at a time. This term I'm taking a Geology class. It's all about earthquakes and volcanoes. Fun! I'm already over halfway through reading the textbook.

We (meaning my adults kids) are having a Halloween party next weekend, so that means that we need to get some serious cleaning done. Guess it's time to get off the computer and do it!
Hugs to all of my faithful readers.

Exploring My Town

2010-11-14T21:26:00.001-08:00

Rick and I had the day off together, so we spent the day taking pictures. All of these photos were taken within 3 miles of our house. I love Oregon! :o) First, this picture above is the little tree that is right by my car.

Here are some of the leaves. We've already had to rake 3 times and there's still another big huge pile that need raked again. This time of year, I am not happy about having 1/3 of an acre.

Wren and Ben were so excited to show us the rainbow. "Look! Look! You've got to use your camera on THIS!"

The string quilt is finally all the way quilted and bound. See, all my little scraps that I save do eventually get used. :o)

Some of the geese at the city park near our house. We are in a migratory flight path and there are thousands of geese here. They are pretty to look at, but they absolutely decimate the farmer'sfields and they aren't doing the new soccer field a whole lot of good. I hope they keep flying south...more south than this.

This is the path on the way to the pond. I love to walk through the fall leaves, especially if I know I don't have to be the one raking them up. And isn't the moss pretty?

Right in the middle of the photo is a Great Blue Heron. I love watching them, especially when they take off into the air. This one just stood there.

2 photographers enjoying the day. (That's Rick, with the visible camera, and of course, me.)

What a picturesque area.

This is part of the sidewalk downtown. I reminds me of a quilt.

I love this sculpture of a grasshopper...or maybe it's a cricket. I know it's made of metal and is about 6-8 feet long. It's mounted outside the second story of Whitlocks Sewing Center.

Here is another angle.

We had lunch here at Casey's, known for hot dogs. Rick had a hamburger and I had a Coney dog. I've read about them and finally got to try one. I forgot to take a picture of the food.

Here's one of the signs in the restaurant. Cute!

I did remember to take a picture of the drinks. Yum!

The outside of Greenbaum's Quilted Forest (my favorite quilt shop) has a scissor-shaped bike rack. I think the different bike racks makes the downtown area just that much more interesting.

Just one of the many quilts hanging in the shop. (Hey Abby, I thought of you when I saw this.)

I took many pictures of architectural details. I thought the texture was interesting, but I only included these 2 pictures. Above, nails imbedded into a brick wall, and below, many layers of paint and some bolts. I'm not sure, but the photo might be sideways.

And lastly, a beautiful eye-catching little flower. It looked a little out of place so late in the season, but I sure enjoyed the bright little splash of color.

Thanks for exploring my town with me. :o)

I got bored with Blogging, I think

2010-11-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

If anybody's interested, I'll let you know what I've been doing. Once I'm caught up, maybe it will be easier to STAY caught up. Yes?
September, the new school year started up. The school year is already 1/4 done. This summer, I only had a total of 3 weeks off because I worked at summer school. That was nice. The extra money came in handy for us to replace our deck. Now we have a beautiful and strong deck made of TimberTech decking. It should last quite awhile. I love sitting outside on the deck, under our big old maple tree.
September and October I took dance lessons to be able to participate in Thrill the World. It was an incredible exercise program, while it lasted.
Now, my goal is to make a baby quilt for one of the teachers at work, and one for one of my granddaughters and then make some American Girl clothes for granddaughter Wren. Oh, and some pajamas for all the grandkids.
I also signed up for Weight Watchers. I do need to actually follow the plan, but I guess I'm taking baby steps. I'm ready to be healthier.
All the leaves are falling off of my trees. I love walking through the dry leaves. Not so much when they are soggy, but they are still beautiful. Since I can't upload photos today, I'll just have to leave the leaves to your imagination. :o)

close-up of the vintage jeans quilt

2010-08-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

My sister brought me a quilt top that she got at a garage sale and asked me to turn it into a quilt. It is now finished. Many people wanted to know what the little pictures were, so I took close-ups of the fabric swatches used. For all of you that were interested, here you go...

Tax Refund Purchase

2010-06-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

With our tax refund this year, we paid off our truck and a credit card and I had enough to get my sweetie a camera that he's been wanting. Fortunately, it has already arrived, so I told him that I'm going to call it a Father's Day gift and have him wait until Sunday to open it. He's so excited! After almost a year off of work, I'm glad that we have an opportunity to splurge. :o)

Crayon Drawing quilt is done

2010-06-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

We started this quilt back in October, but it got finished yesterday (at about 12:30 a.m.). I'm so happy that I made my deadline. This quilt was made for the teacher in our classroom. It's his first year of teaching and it's been a doozy of a year. Our class is a high school special education classroom and I wanted to commemorate his first year of teaching.
The students (with help from some of the assistants) made blocks by using color crayons and I made it into a quilt. It was presented yesterday at lunch, and today was the last day of school. And you know what? He liked it!

I have been quilting

2010-06-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

I can only show you some of what I've been doing, though, because I gave away 2 quilts without remembering to take photos. I made 2 bags (but I'm showing you the front & back) and a quilt for one of the seniors at my school. I love my bags and he loves his quilt. :o)

And the rest of the art show...

2010-06-03T17:40:00.001-07:00

Would you like to see my daughter's art show?

2010-06-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here are her pieces of art. Next, I will show you some of her show partner's artwork. It was their senior show. Not all pieces were her favorites. The teachers chose what was to be shown. If nothing else, they are interesting. :o)

Another quote I saw...

2010-05-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Buckle up-
It makes it harder for the aliens to snatch you from your car.

A quote I saw...

2010-05-11T19:57:00.001-07:00

The Wizard of OZ~~
Just 2 more women fighting over a pair of shoes.

Is life always so busy?

2010-05-10T21:56:00.001-07:00

Worked all day, picked up the grandkids from daycare, went to Target and bought some laundry baskets, stopped at the carousel for a couple of rides and came home in time to talk to Rick on the phone (he's working out of town). I left the house at 7:00am and didn't get back until 6:30pm. Sheesh! Are my feet tired! Mind you, they are tired and only in stocking feet because one of the kids accidently knocked the bowl of spaghetti out of my hands and it splatted sauce all over my white shoes. Of course, I had to wash them before they stained too badly. They will be fine, but they are my favorite shoes, so I get to wear something less comfortable to work tomorrow. :o(
Got to read a bedtime story all the way to the end, and even though I was yawning, I didn't fall asleep. :o)
Now, it's time to start a load of laundry, go to bed and start the whole routine over again tomorrow. Sweet dream to all of you. May you have a wonderful May.

P.S.-I ordered a new camera. Yay!

What is $100,000,000?

2010-04-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here' a nice little clip that explains how much a hundred million dollars is, compared to the rest of our federal budget...

http://www.wimp.com/budgetcuts/

Something to think about, huh?

Oregon is beautiful!!!

2010-04-05T22:20:00.001-07:00

Retreat week-end

2010-03-28T22:35:00.001-07:00

Some of the members of one of my on-line quilting groups went to a retreat in Arkansas, but I didn't go this time. I stayed home and played along with them. Here are some of my finishes...
First, the one that's right at the top, is one I just finished today. It's McKenna Ryan's "High Spy". It's only 12" square, but I swear, it took longer than a regular bed-sized quilt.

Here is both sides of an Elvis pillowcase. I have a friend that L-O-V-E-S Elvis, so I think she's going to be a little excited to get this gift.

Here is my nephew, Jamie, with his new Asian quilt. He spends the night and needed a quilt to use when he's here. My 2 little grandkids aren't always so happy to share one of their quilts, so he now has his own.
The front...

the back...

and the matching pillowcase.

I already showed you the hot pads--now I can tell you, the Coke ones have already found a new home and are much loved and appreciated.

And that's enough for tonight. Hoped you enjoyed peeking as much as I did sharing. :o)

Got up at 5:00am to start the day

2010-03-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

The first thing I did was to finished up a project. I've got these hot pads all bound and finished.

This little polka dot baby quilt was so fun to put together, and I was so pleased to use a leftover block. Don't have a recipient in mind yet, but I'm sure that eventually it will find a good home.

These 3 pillowcases have already been taken to Greenbaum's Quilted Forest, my LQS. They are a collection site for the 1 MillionPillowcase Challenge . Some of the fabric, I already had in my stash, and some of it was in the pile of fabric I got recently at the second-hand store; Over 22 yards of fabric for less than $11.00. Could any scrappy quilter pass up a deal like that? LOL

Just a touch of Springtime

2010-03-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Flowers in my yard. The lilacs are just barely starting and the daffodils are almost done.
We already picked a big bouquet of daffodils, but I forgot to take a photo before they shriveled up.

Is it Springtime beautiful at your house yet?

It's been forever...

2010-03-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Just a little peek at what's been keeping me so busy...
This is a quilt, all of polka dot fabric that I made for my sister-in-law's 50th birthday. And guess what? She likes it!

And this little matching nursery ensemble; quilt, changing table cover, pillowcase, pillow and diaper stacker was made for my niece's new baby girl. It arrived just 5 days before that baby did. I hear little Hailey Raye likes her stuff from Aunt Debi. :o)

More to come, but for now, I need to go to bed. I'm still getting used to the dreaded daylight savings time clock change. Good night.

my first set of Dotty Stars blocks

2010-02-11T22:14:00.001-08:00

Now, I'm making another set for a block swap I'm hosting. This is going to be a way cute quilt!

Music and more

2010-01-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

I love quilting and I love music! All sorts of music, almost all genres. Recently, I've added to my collection. Some is re-purchases from music I loved as a 10-year-old and the others I've discovered and love now.
Before I show you my new CDs, I wanted to show you my itty bitty claim to fame... Bonnie K Hunter has a new book out, (that I've pre-ordered) titled Leaders & Enders and my comment and recommendation is right on the web page.
I have, now in my music collection,

Osmondmania

Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay, along with Donny, Marie and Jimmy. I usually can remember them all.

The Partridge Family -

this was my very first album. I got it when I was 9 or 10, and LOVED it! I don't know which song I like more, "I think I love you", that was NOT on my album, or "Umbrella Man". That one so reminds me of living in the Pacific Northwest.
Keith, Laurie, Danny, Chris and Tracy and let's not forget Reuben and Shirley.

Seals & Crofts, beautiful voice and mellow tunes. A nice change from the stronger rock that I usually listened to.

another Michael Jackson. Love song #9!

Susan Boyle (although I may have already mentioned her.) Love, love, love her "I Dreamed A Dream"!

and Adam Lambert (great dance music).

My new magazine

2010-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

I have been letting most of my magazine subscriptions expire. I don't need them. I have a million and a half patterns that I haven't got to yet, but they are starting to feel like the same ole', same ole' stuff. I still get Australian Patchwork & Quilting and American Patchwork & Quilting, but the rest are no longer coming...and I miss finding a quilting magazine in my mailbox. I went to the book store the other day and found Quilting Arts. I bought the special edition about the Houston International Quilt Festival and was showing it to my daughter...the art major. She is going to be able to use one of the patterns as a starting point for one of her projects. She needed an idea and this one the professor approved of. Isn't it cute? OK, now maybe I don't need to make any birds since she'll be doing it, but I think I still might need to make a bird or 2. They look like they might be cute little pincushions.

Finally, life is slowing down a little

2010-01-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Math class is all done, Christmas is over, but the last cleaning up of the Christmas decoration is still on the to-do list and the new year has begun. Time to slow down and breathe for a minute before starting on the next big round of activities.
I pulled a
A "B" is nice, but for all the time and homework I put into it, I so should've got an "AAA". lol
A B is plenty good enough. I'm just relieved that I passed. I'm also proud to announce that I got my official acceptance letter to Marylhurst University. Yay!
Now, to go and take charge of cleaning and reorganizing the house and getting caught up on some quilting UFOs. There's no time for any of that when I'm taking classes. Next time, I'll show you pictures of what I'm working on. I know, you can hardly wait, huh? :o)

My class made quilts

2009-11-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

We made the newspaper, too! We made charity quilts and hand tied them. Believe me, it was a labor of love, and not easy, but the kids were so proud of themselves. Read about it and check out the photos, too. It's amazing what quilters can do when we work together. :o)

Marylhurst University

2009-11-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went to research and tour Marylhurst University, and made my mind up to apply. I even turned in the first part of the application.
The vast majority of the students are both part-time and non-traditional, so I think I'll fit right in.

some sewing machines are home again :o)

2009-11-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

I've had a tough time getting all the way through our class' quilting unit. The very last lesson was showing them how to add french fold binding onto our quilted hot pads.

Last week, when I was teaching my students how to quilt, I has just terrible luck. First, my Pfaff stopped working. OK, not a big deal...I grabbed my Janome Jem. Well, that stopped working. Different issues, but still, it wouldn't sew. OK, it's much heavier, but we're doing the last of the class and we wanted to get finished, so I brought the Bernina to class. It worked for about 15 minutes and then it, too died. 3 sewing machines, 3 different issues. I bundled them all into the car to go to the sewing machine "hospital" and drug out my very first, original, New Home machine. That baby, probably made in the 1950s, finished the last of our quilts up and ran as smoothly as you could imagine. Yay! for good old mechanical machines!
The New Home is almost ready to go back into it's case. The Pfaff and the Janome are home safely and the Bernina is still waiting for a hook. Not that I *need* it, but it should be home within a week or so. At least I didn't have to even think about using the treadle machine. There's no way that I could've drug it to school to show the kids how to attach binding. :o)

No pics today

2009-11-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile, so I figured I'd just put some words here to let you all know what I'm doing.
Everybody is healthy, Rick is out hunting, this college term is about half over, so I'm thinking that Paddy and Jack are sighing a bit in relief. I know I am. My math class is kicking my butt, but I think I'm winning. I really hope that this is my last math class in college. No guarantees, but a girl can hope, can't she? :o)
Today, I did no math homework nor any quilting. :o( Instead, I defrosted the regular fridge, the little fridge and the freezer. Then I cleaned out the fridge, roasted a leg of lamb that I found in the freezer and am in the process of making a double batch of pear butter.
My roof was leaking into my sewing room, but I got up on the ladder and raked all the maple leaves out of the valley and yay! No more leak. I would've asked Rick, but he's gone elk hunting this week.
At work (a special education high school class), we are having a unit on quilting. We are making quilts for charity and also hot pads for the kids. "Little quilts". 2 of my sewing machines are now in need of some TLC. They won't work at school. Maybe they'll do better at home. If not, I have 3 machines ready to go to the sewing machine doctor... and one of them is my favorite "use it for everything" machine. I love to quilt, but I am so ready for our quilting class to be done. Have you ever tried to teach a pre-schooler or grade-schooler how to quilt? Well, that's us, times 12. We do have 7 quilts ready to go to the school police officer, so that will be exciting.
OK, that's enough for tonight. I've got homework to do tomorrow, so I need to get some rest so that my brain will work tomorrow.
Hugs to everyone and I hope your roof doesn't leak in this beautiful fall weather.

My new Pincushions

2009-10-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was in a pincushion swap recently and here are my newest ones. In the front row are my little goodies from Jo in Texas, Liz in California and Angela in Indiana. The 2 little anime' cats in the top row are what I made to swap. Aren't they all so cute?!

The last of my salsa garden

2009-10-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

We got way too many tomatoes, these 4 tiny peppers and zero onions. Aren't they pretty?
It was a fun first attempt at gardening.

American Doll patterns

2009-10-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Since I have granddaughters, I'm thinking ahead...maybe too far ahead, but someday, they may like American Girl dolls...or at least the knock-offs. Do any of you have these dolls? Do you make clothes for them? If you're interested, there are free doll clothes patterns at A G Playthings and they are nice. They are by American Girl, but the patterns are retired now. And did I mention that they are FREE? :o) I like the idea of American Girl much more than Barbie and the clothes are easier for me to make. Go check it out.

Is it really the end of summer?

2009-10-03T16:24:00.001-07:00

It's getting cold enough that I'm thinking of kickin' on the furnace, the leaves are starting to turn colors and fall off the trees and I'm wearing a sweatshirt. Then, why do I want an ice cream cone so badly?!? LOL In just a little bit, I'm going to take my nephew with me to the store so that we can choose out our favorite ice cream, and maybe even splurge on a box of waffle cones. Can you say "Yum!!!"? Yeah, I thought so. :o)

Frugality strikes again.

2009-09-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am making a bag. So far, this is what I've got done. I took a bunch of leftover flannel scraps from my quilt backings and cut them into 3/4" strips and have used them liked yarn to knit this. It should be done in another week or so. I totally love being able to make stuff from "nothing". That's what lured me to quilting in the first place...making something out of "nothing".

First day of school and a wedding

2009-09-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

Ben & Wren all dressed up for their first day of school. They started Head Start, but there will be a change soon. Next week, they get to go to the daycare/preschool at the university that Paddy attends. They are looking pretty grown up.

Here is a photo of the wedding procession. If you want to see more wedding pictures, they are on my webshots page:
http://community.webshots.com/user/quiltinggirl
It was a fun and interesting wedding, but the bride and groom are very happy.

Some of my summer activities

2009-09-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

No matter what I'm doing, I always bring a hat and sunglasses.

This summer we went camping, to the coast and the Oregon State Fair and for drives in the mountains. We also went to a baby shower, a couple of weddings, for walks in the park and to the High Desert Museum. Here are some pictures so you can share in our summer of discovery.

Rose hips growing in the park. They are full of Vitamin C and are very popular to use in making tea. Rick loves them, I'd prefer more sugar. They might be healthy, but they don't taste yummy.

This next picture is poison oak. Rick knows what it looks like even if there's one scraggly little twig.

Since I am not allergic, I don't even notice it. I'm learning to so that I don't get any oils on Rick.

Just a plain ole' teasel, but I think they look cool. Fortunately, I've never had to use one for a hairbrush, but at least they are out there, if we're ever in that type of survival situation.

Here is part of the Willamette River, a slough in the back of the park.

Filberts, aka Wild Hazelnuts. Yum! I think they are even better before they are roasted.

An old fire truck from the High Desert museum. Jamie took all the photos there. He loves using the digital camera.

Here is a river otter. They sure are able to swim fast.

The inside of a covered wagon, or maybe a camp/chuck wagon.

This little chipmunk was stalking Jamie. He finally got it to hold still enough for a photo op.

Niece Megan, is holding her cousin Harley Rae. Oh, and the parents *loved* the Harley pillow.

Jeremiah and Vanessa holding their wedding quilts.

Jamie, at the beach wedding of his brother. He'll be 13 next month.

Bag #1 that I made from a polyester-y sheet, with some fancy machine stitching. This one is filled with 2 wedding quilts.

Bag #2. I needed a huge bag and by making it, it was free. This one is holding a baby quilt, baby donkey, outfit and one full-size pillow (with fancy pillowcase).

We always like to see some sort of animals at the fair. Baby cows are cute, aren't they?

Of course, I had to look at the quilts.

This is one seriously cool quilt!

Check it out! A Harley made of Legos. Sweet!

And Oregon is celebrating its sesquecentennial...150 years of statehood. Happy Birthday, Oregon.

I still have to post more, but it's time to get dinner ready. This is enough for now, to give you a wee taste of Oregon, for the last month.

Deadlines area good thing...Really. :o)

2009-08-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

If I didn't have deadlines, I'm not sure these quilts would be done and ready to go for the Saturday celebrations. But first.....

Grandpa was playing with the camera and the little ones wanted him to take their pictures.

Here is a gorgeous one of Ben. Such a ham and so happy.

And here's one of Wren, just four and a half, but looking so much older and so pretty. Beautiful and loveable grandkids. Right?

Well, here's the real picture of them. LOL Yep, this is the "real" Wren & Ben, and now you know why they have the little nickname of the Dynamic Duo.

This is for my nephew's baby girl, Harley. I already showed you the pillow, and now, this quilt is done. "Bunnies and Butterflies" seems just right for a baby girl. These blocks are from a swap I did with one of my on-line groups Back Porch Friends. They're all in 30's fabrics and WOW. I love it that I had enough butterfly blocks for 2 rows and I think thecolors set off the bright butterflies nicely.

I made matching couch for another nephew and his wife for their wedding this coming Saturday. One is lightweight and has a pink backing. The other has, for it's batting, an old fuzzy, polyester blanket, and a brown flannel backing, so it's nice and warm. On the front, though, they are almost twins. I used the Stack the Deck pattern by Karla Alexander. Teh fabrics came from a birthday club FQ swap. The theme was pink and brown. I think they look gorgeous together (that's why I kept the scraps and made the sewing machine cover and hot pads that I already blogged about).

The top one in the winter-weight, while the bottom one is the summer-weight one.

Now, I need to go and sew up a couple of gift bags. I don't want to go and spend $5+ on a disposable bag, when I can repurpose an old sheet and make the 2 that I need. OK, time to get off the computer and get back to work. If I can get everything done today, tomorrow, just my husband and I (and our cameras) will go people watch at the Oregon State Fair.

making gifts galore

2009-08-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of me (not so flattering) that my little grandson took. He's so proud that he can take pictures with my camera. For being 3, he did pretty good.

I'm working on the baby quilt for my nephew's new baby girl, Harley. It's bunnies and butterflies.

Here is the pillow I'm making for her daddy, my nephew, Michael. You always seem to need an extra pillow when you have a baby, for propping and blocking so they won't roll over, so this one is mostly for jokes at the family reunion/baby shower. Michael said that he'd like to name the baby Harley, if it was a girl, because that's probably the only Harley he'll ever get.

And here's the backing. (I ride a Harley, but I sure don't look like that. I wish!)

Here is the Double Delight quilt I made for my sister-in-law Bonnie. I love the little pieces and the tricky intersections, but I think she'll love the pink more than me. She seems to like it just fine. :o)

A leftover block makes a perfect label.

I'm making 2 pink & brown quilts right now, for 2 different weddings and I used the Stack the Deck pattern. I made the blocks and then used some of the scraps to make a border. After the quilt tops were all finished , I still had scraps, so I made a sewing machine cover for my little travel machine-a Janome Jem 720. I don't usually like pink, but I'm kinda' growing into it...a little. I was in a birthday FQ swap and the theme was pink and brown. I wasn't sure what I'd do with it, but when the 2 weddings came up, and one bride used pink for a color scheme, and the other bride used brown, I knew these colors would be a hit.

And I love having a little something for me to know that these fabrics were from my birthday.

Here's the back.

Here's the little hole I made so that the handle can be accessible, with a flap to keep the dust out.

And the beautiful fron, with 2 pockets, and 2 pockets on the ends. Kinda' cute, huh? Oh, and I had still more scraps, so I made some of them into hotpads. These will be for a sister-in-law. She's a single mom of identical 8-year-old twin boys. She used to be a serious girly-girl, so I think she can use a little pink pick-me-up.

And that's what I've been doing lately. I'm still working on Harley's baby quilt, but I'm not done sewing the binding down, so that will have to wait for another day.

new glasses

2009-08-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today was the glasses shopping

experience. Finally, we figured out how to get good glasses with insurance covering everything. Buy the frames at one store (or online), and take them to Costco and order the lenses. Super frames, great optics and reimbursement coming from the insurance company. Rick and I were so due for glasses. Now, I just gotta'

wait.

My new glasses.

charity blocks

2009-08-13T06:52:00.001-07:00

I've been collecting charity blocks and making charity quilts for awhile now. When the blocks are all the same size, it's easy to put together a quilt, but when they are very different sizes, getting it together is a bit more challenging. With the blocks and strips that people in my on-line groups have sent, I took all my bits and pieces, and sewed them into 12" blocks. Here are the final results. We have a total of 72 blocks, divided into 4 quilts. Can you spot something that you (once upon a time) sent in? Doesn't it feel good to know that, finally, within a month, these should be real, finished quilts that will be warming a child out there, somewhere? To all of you that donated, thank you for making this possible. Onto the blocks...

This one is for either a boy or a girl.

This one is gor a girl.

This one looks like it would be good for a boy.

And this is just for a little kid, boy or girl.

Through all of this, I've decided that coping strips are an amazing thing. :o)

I've been so busy, I forgot to blog

2009-08-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

First, I haveto tell you... I'm so excited! I invented a block for my online guild's charity program. The theme this month was to use orange in any 12" block. I am trying to design a pincushion and this little kitty is the basic concept. I thought I'd try it on a block first, to see how it works. To me, it works great! Only thing is, do you think there's enough orange? LOL

Here's a close-up of his little kitty face. Looks kinda' anime to me.

I made 2 blocks, so here are both of them. They are supposed to be the same, but when you free-hand something, there's bound to be a little bit of a difference. Right?

Here is the other style of block that I made. Just wanted to show you. These blocks usually get made into a kid's quilt, so I wanted to help make a kid happy. :o)

Grandkids are wonderful! Here are Wren and Ben, all dressed up for a birthday party.

Last week, my husband and I took a couple of days and went exploring the mountains of our beautiful Oregon. We even spent about a half an hour walking on the Pacific Crest Trail. Hiking the trail is something we've planned to do for many years, but life always seems to get in the way. The part we were on was quite navigable. I was kinda' worried that it would be too rugged. Believe it or not, I'm not quite in shape for a *rugged* trail. :o)

Sahalie Falls. It's gorgeous! I totally love all the green.

We weren't even on the lake this time and we saw another bald eagle. I don't know why, but I love it when I can see one of these majestic birds.

On our trip, we found this log cabin. I know it's rustic (to say the least), but I could so live in one of these.

Yep, we went back to the coast again, but didn't take nearly as many pictures as last time. This is at Ecola State Park. Eventually, we'll go back there. There is a beautiful hiking trail, but we got there just before sunset, so we ran out of time.

When I got back home, there was a package waiting for me. It was some slow cooker recipes and 4 yards of batiks from my California sister. Wasn't she such a sweetie for thinking of me? And it's not even my birthday, just a fun surprise.

Here is the Kinsale Cloak I finally got finished for my daughter, Paddy. It's navy velvet with a white satin lining. It was fairly difficult trying to get the threads to balance, but I did it and it looks good. I got it all the way to the hemming stage and hung it in the closet to make sure that it was stretched enough before hemming and then forgot about it. It was on my "to-do" list for weeks. Funny thing is, once I finally started working on it, it was done in about 2 hours. She wants to wear it in the winter, especially if she and friends ever decide to go out carolling.

And here's the back.

Now, if anybody knows how to tell me how to change my blog so that I can reply to people that write comments, I'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, if you need a response, my email addy is: quiltinggirl at gmail dot com

Be Attitudes blocks

2009-08-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of people ask me where I got the info to make my "Be Attitudes" blocks. I ordered the pattern book and then my quilty friend Peggy gave me her leftovers from her Block a Month. Wasn't that so sweet? :o) (Thank you, Peggy.) That's why I'm making 2 for every month... one in the pictured colorway with Nancy Halvorsen fabrics and the other with fabrics from my stash.

I have to make a kimono

2009-08-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

My son is to be a best man in a wedding and I just found out that he needs me to make him a kimono to wear. How fun is that? Have any of you made one before? I hear that it's not too difficult. I'll let you know how it goes. :o)

I'm plugging away on quilty stuff

2009-07-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

First, let say "Woo Hoo!" I finished 50 little postage stamp blocks. #50 is done and in the pile. 1/8 of the way through making all the blocks I need. Oh yeah!

Remember just recently, I posted about needing to repair the kids' quilts? Well, one of them is finished and Wow! did it need a lot of repairs! Several spots in the middle and pretty much the whole outside border. It was cheap fabric, obviously, but it lasted over 10 years. Now, where it was is all covered with patches. I used all the dandelion fabric and most of my collection of orphan blocks to get this one fixed. What do you think?

Today, since it's like 100 degrees, I'm trying to stay in the house where it is a little bit cooler, or at least pretends to be. Time to go back and take advantage of quilting time. :o)

Our trip to the Oregon coast

2009-07-25T09:41:00.001-07:00

24th anniversary trip ***The photos are better if you click here and follow the link.

fixing quilts

2009-07-24T11:15:00.001-07:00

I love to make new quilts, especially the tops, and it warms my heart when a quilt that I made is so loved that it's worn to shreds. Then, I usually have an excuse to make another quilt. Unfortunately, my kids don't want *another* quilt, they still love the raggedy one that they already have. They just want mom to fix it, so that's what I'm working on today--fixing quilts.
Jack's, I took apart and patched the top, but it's going to be needing new batting and a new backing and then very lightly quilted on the machine. Paddy's quilt, on the other hand, has already been patched, so it needs more patches added to it to cover the raggedy-ness. Here is a photo of the quilt and the fabrics that I'm going to use for patches. She loves dandelion fluff, so this is what she requested. It's very light weight, so I decided that maybe I'd better work on them while it's still summer. :o) As soon as this one's done, I'll start on Jack's. A quilter's work is never done. :o)

Month 11 is finished Yay!

2009-07-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Be Grateful

I am so pleased that I'm getting all caught up with this set of blocks. That feeling of accomplishment is kicking in and I still have one more month to go. Doing this BOM is making me see that I really can pull it off. That's really good because I have two more BOM patterns in my sewing room waitng for me to make time for them. :o) Isn't it cute?

New Shoes!

2009-07-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

I went to the coast last weekend and I'll have to tell you all about that later, but for now, I'm so excited! I got 2 pair of new shoes. Every year I get a new pair of shoes for school, but this time, I also found a pair of heels. I bet this is the first pair of heels I've owned in 20 years. They fit! Yay! Aren't they so cute?! :o)

Does anybody do crock pot/slow cooking?

2009-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, let's say in the late 70's, I used to have a crock pot and tried to use it. To be honest, I was never thrilled with it. To me, it was small, hard to clean and everything had about the consistency of dog food. Well, with the new and improved slow cookers that are available now, I'm trying again. I bought a decent slow cooker last year (or maybe the year before?) and I couple of dinners have turned out nice. I'd like to expand my use of it, but I really don't know where to start. Do any of you have any suggestions? If you have a favorite site or a favorite cookbook, I'd love to hear about it.
I think using a slow cooker could save electricity, keep the kitchen cooler in the summertime, and even help me be more organized and ready for dinner, once school starts again... and give me just a little more time to play with my quilting. :o)

some songs I like

2009-07-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

"The" Susan Boyle song: I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

"Journey Steps" blocks

2009-07-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

One of my online quilting groups is having a block swap, but I didn't join in. It my favorite type of swap, but it calls for batiks, and I'm running low. My sweetie has been off work for over 5 months, so somehow, buying batik fabrics didn't seem to be a top priority. Instead, I made my blocks out of regular purple fabric and played along. :o) Wanna' see my blocks?

It's not the same as a batik quilt, but it's going to be cute! And did you notice that every single block is a different color of purple? :o)

Instructions:
Some have asked how to make this blocks, so I wrote up some instructions for you:

The purple blocks are soooo easy to make. The little 4-patch are made of 1.5" blocks, 2 yellow and 2 purple, to end up measuring 2.5". Then, they are made into a 4-patch, alternating with 2.5" purple squares. Those are then set in 4-patch style with two 4.5" squares. When they are all sewn together, they measure out at 8.5", to finish as 8" blocks. So easy! Just make sure that your little yellow squares line up correctly.

2009 Sisters Quilt show

2009-07-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

2009 Sisters show

2009 Sisters show #2

2009 Sisters show #3

2009 Sisters show #4

Rainmaker Day

2009-07-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today, July 12th, is known as Rainmaker Day. In Salem, Oregon, there has never been measurable rain, in recorded history. I think that long-standing record is now broken. It's raining and there is thunder and lightning going on. Hmmm... it's sad to see the record go down, but it's nice to know that I was here. OK, electricity is starting to flicker and I need to save my computer.
Hope you are enjoying the very last Rainmaker Day in history. :o)

...and I don't even really like fishing ...lol

2009-07-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the first fish I caught this fishing trip.

And this one's a little better size.

There were about a million dragon flies.

Here are the 3 that I caught. We will eat them tomorrow. Yum!

We stopped on the way home for lunch. I wanted you to see how big the trees are.
DH, Rick, is standing at the bottom of the tree so you have some perspective of size. It was a fun trip, but I was sure glad to get back home.

what a gorgeous place Oregon can be

2009-07-07T21:35:00.001-07:00

A Great Blue Heron...

A Bald Eagle...

A Cormorant...one of many...

A Goose and her babies...

and another Bald Eagle.
I just had to share some of what I saw on our camping/fishing trip this past week. Beautiful.

another set of blocks is finished

2009-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Be Forgiving is done and I'm so excited! Only 2 more sets to go. Yay!
I learned a very important lesson on this block...no matter how cute the color is, don't use a nice tightly woven piece of sheet for a background. It's almost impossible to applique through! :o(

My Beach Blocks have arrived & "Be Smart"

2009-06-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have more beach blocks to add to my collection
and they are the cutest little blocks. :o) (Thank you Eula, for hosting a great swap.)
A couple of years ago I was in a swap for beach blocks, but I only did one set. You know, time constraints and all that? Well, I was just in another beach block swap and both sets of blocks play together real pretty.

I have some great patterns for a few more blocks, so I think I'll add to the pile and *then* figure out how to set it and turn these babies into a gorgeous quilt. :o)

All of my quilting isn't *just collecting blocks, but sometimes it feels that way. I have 2 more blocks to add to my "Be Attitudes" collection...
Be Smart is finished, in both colorways. See...
I have to admit that it wasn't very "smart" to put blue letters on a blue background, even if they are different blues. I just didn't realize I had set it up like that until I was fusing the lettering on, and they were the last to go on. Still, I like how they turned out. On to the next set!

The Blue monster is Done!

2009-06-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

I made an 8'x7' blue quilt for my little grandson Ben and it's so huge it barely fit on my quilting machine frame. I taught my daughter how to make crumb blocks and she raided my stash to make blue blocks. Then, she raided it even more for the large blue squares. She made the blocks, but I sewed everything together. It was going to be 8'x8', but that was too big, so we took out some of the blocks and I ended up using them in the backing. For those of you that read the previous post where I mentioned about the nasty metallic thread, I can tell you that when I switched to using regular thread, it quilted up very nicely.
I'm working on a flower quilt for his sister, my granddaughter Wren, and when it is done, I'll give both kids their new quilts. I think I'll try to get them finished in time for them to use this summer after they get their tonsils out. Yep, both kids are scheduled for surgery this summer. We already have special pajamas hidden away and now, we should be able to have quilts for each of them, too.
It's so exciting to get another UFO done and off of the "to-do" list. :o)
P.S.-I tried the Math 111 class and sad to say, I need to do a review of my last class before I tackle this one. Advice: do not skip 2+ years in between math classes. You'd be amazed at how much you can forget. :o(

my bike is practically a "movie star"

2009-06-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Mine is the really cute olive green one that starts the video. Unfortunately, it takes second billing to the loud one with the Rinehart pipes. :o)

My box of goodies - Yum!

2009-06-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

I love getting surprises! Especially if it involves fabric or chocolate.

I got a wonderful little surprise in the mail from Linda G. for participating in the charity she's hosting this month. This month, she's collecting 12" plaid & cream-on-cream traditional blocks, to make a charity quilt for a boy this winter. My blocks happened to show up just in time to win this prize. :o) What a wonderful way to start the summer. Thank you, Linda.
P.S.-The candy was yummy! and the plaid is great!

One kamikaze moth!!!

2009-06-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, this month flew straight into my son Jack's ear canal. Not fluttering around his ear, but more of a immediate dive-bomb. . . *straight* into the ear. It was a crazy few minutes in our house while we were trying to figure *how* to get that stinkin' moth OUT of his ear! Fortunately, he was the one that was finally able to grab it with a pair of tweezers and pull it out. Just before he could flush it, I told him, "Wait! Let me get a picture!" Disgusting as it was, he was really glad for the photo. It is posted on MySpace, Facebook and now here.

***Now, I know why I usually wear a hoody when I'm outside; the hood is moth-protection. lol

P.S.-For those of you interested, he said that it sounded like a helicopter was in his ear. It was loud!

School's Out!

2009-06-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention... Hooray! School's Out!!!
(click the link...I love the song!)

Slowly, but surely I'm quilting

2009-06-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! I've got another month's worth of Be Attitudes blocks finished. Aren't they so cute? Every time I work on them, I'm thankful to Peggy for sharing the darker fabrics with me.

Speaking of fabric sharing, Kathi, a friend from Kansas sent me a surprise squishy filled with little 1.5" charms. I used them to make 2 more blocks for my on-going Perkiomen Daydreams quilt. Thank you, Kathi. :o)

I have a big, blue quilt loaded on the quilting machine and it is the largest quilt I've done. It barely fits. I have about one foot all the way across quilted and now, for some strange reason, the thread I'm using has started breaking every few feet. I'm too frustrated to keep working it tonight. Tomorrow, I'll mess around with it and see if I can get it to work, but if not, I'll switch to a regular non-metallic thread. I so wanted to make the quilt sparkle, but not if I have to stop and re-thread the machine every minute or two. I'm simply not that patient.
Monday, classes start at the local college and I'll be there taking a math class; Math 111-College Algebra. With luck, it will be the last math class I have to take. It's been a couple of years since I've taken a math class. I hope I haven't forgotten everything, but if I have, I have the book from the last class to refresh my brain, both my kids are beyond that and could help tutor *AND* my other son and little brother both are signed up for the same exact class. I guess this is the summer for math. This is the last term that my son will be going to the community college. He was accepted into Oregon State University into the pre-med program and is studying Radiation Health Physics. I'm so excited for him. :o) I hope he likes it. This summer ought to be class-filled and, hopefully, fun!

more "Be Attitudes" - Be Honest

2009-06-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have another set of "Be Attitudes" blocks done. They have been stalling for way longer than I had hoped, but finally I'm getting healed enough to be able to work on them again. My shoulder is healing nicely, but the tight, intricate movements that I need to do when I'm doing the machine buttonhole stitch make my shoulder tire very quickly. I'm about a year behind, but I'm happy that I haven't tucked them away some place "safe" and forgot where they were. I have total confidence that I'll get them done...dare I say before Christmas? LOL When these are complete, it will be the first time that I've ever made a real Block of the Month quilt. I'm looking forward to that accomplishment. Now, onto the next month's blocks.

Graduation time

2009-06-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Graduation was yesterday and the quilt is ready.
My nephew graduated from high school and I have his quilt ready *before* the graduation party. Yay!
I've been collecting fabric for this one for quite awhile. His mom and another aunt donated fabric to use in it, too. This one is a dual-purpose quilt because it also celebrates his achieving Eagle Scout ranking. The backing had to be enlarged, but I think the back turned out pretty nice. :o)
I started out making a guitar quilt, but it was so small, that I used that part as a focal point and played from there. I think he'll like it. :o)

The baby quilt is DONE!

2009-06-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Remember that baby quilt I showed you how to do? With sashing, but no corner stones? Well, it's all finished and just in time.
It is for the band teacher's new baby, and we should be able to deliver it before the end of the school year. :o)
I had all students and staff that are in the class sign the label, and it's a BIG label, as you can see.
The backing wasn't quite wide enough for the top, so I incorporated the label into the backing when I widened it. Pretty cool trick, if I can say so, myself. lol There's no way that someone can just take off the label now. :o)

I still quilt

2009-06-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've made some pillowcases. I needed gifts for 8 graduates at the school I work at and, of course, waited until the last minute to start on them. Fortunately, pillowcases are quick for me to sew. A couple are regular ones from the store that I added lettering to, one is a definite girly-girl color, just for a special student, and the others are of the school colors. Each of them have lettering on them, but all a bit different.
I found every intended recipient and passed out all the pillow cases before graduation. The best part...
everyone loved them. :o)

I have finished a new quilt for Lilliana's "big girl" bed. She's not quite ready, since they don't have the bed yet, but her quilt is ready. It's all flowers. It also has a matchingbottom sheet and pillowcase.

I also have started a long-term project...

I am sewing 1.5" little squares together. Someday they may grow up to be my version of a Perkiomen Daydreams quilt.

It's the start of "swimming pool" season

2009-06-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

Silly faces. Happy faces. Just playing.

Same week-end, different grandkids, same amount of fun. :o)

Yesterday was a day to play in the front yard

2009-05-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

DS#2 and family showed up with the 3 girls and I finally remembered to take photos. They were all having a lovely time. Gracie is wanting to sit up so badly.

Chloe was having a great time on the little slide,

while Lilliana was riding the bike.

Grandkids are so cute!

make an easy quilt

2009-05-24T16:00:00.001-07:00

I am making a quick little baby quilt and I thought I'd make it with you. I wanted to do sashing, without cornerstones and I remembered the first time someone showed me how to do it. I was so excited to have all my blocks line up right without the cornerstones. Why do more work than you *have* to? :o)
So...I started out with 9" blocks (with the seam allowance still showing, it measures out at 9.5"), and just for easy math and because the print was a little larger, I decided to cut 2" sashing.

I had 16 blocks, so I cut:
16 - 9.5"x2" strips and sewed them to the right side of each block.
Now, press the seams to the sashing.

Next, cut:
23 - 11"x2" strips
You get the 11" measurement by sewing the block and sashing together and then measure it.

Sew 16 of these to the bottom of the blocks and once again, press the seams to the sashing. Yes, you will have 7 leftover.

Now, lay the blocks out so that they look good. See that left side? That's where some more of your 11" strips are going to go. Sew them to the first block in each row and press toward the sashing.

You can use any 9" block or even a plain ole' 9.5" square of fabric. My blocks are 30's and WOW, so I used a 30's print for the sashing. I'm not sure if I actually like it, but I already had it and since it still sticks with the theme, it will do.

Lay out the quilt blocks again and you'll see that your top row needs something.

Here's a close-up of the top row.

Notice that there are 3
blocks that have only two sides sashed, but the 4th block, the one in the top left corner, has sashing on the bottom and both sides. It's going to need a little longer sash.
Take the last 3 - 11" strips and sew one across the top of the last 3 blocks in the top row.

The very last block, you know, the one in the top left corner, because it has the block and 2 sashes, if you measure them, you'll find that it needs:
1 - 12.5"x2" strip.

Got all the sashing sewn to the tops of the blocks?
Like this?

Now, sew the blocks for the top row together.

Sew the next row together.

Sew Row #1 to Row #2.

Keep going.....

As soon as all 4 rows are sewn together, you can do the "Snoopy-Happy Dance" because your top is now done. :o) Yay!!!

It should measure about 44" square. You might want to split a piece of yardage that you're going to use for a backing and add in an accent strip. Just a 6" strip of fabric added in will make the back large enough for this top.

show

2009-04-25T21:31:00.001-07:00

I went to the quilt show and took pictures for you all to attend a virtual quilt show.

2009 MVQG #1
2009 MVQG #2
2009 MVQG #3

I went to retreat

2009-04-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

The bests part of going on a retreat is meeting up with friends and making new ones. Last month, I flew to Winslow, Arkansas, just so that I could hang out with 15 of my on-line quilty friends. If you like to see pictures, check out my Webshots album.

Digital photos are fun!

2009-04-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

I took many pictures of quilts that I still need to upload, but these were fun pictures that I wanted to share, first. I took some of my students outside and let them use my camera. They love to take pictures and the assignment of the day was to look for flowers or animals. There aren't usually too many animals around the school, at least slow enough animals that we can capture in pictures, but this little bug was quite obliging. We caught it and it showd the students how it rolls itself up into a little pill shape. Then, we learned how to pick it up by touching it and letting it grab hold with its little feet. It was one of our more interesting lessons. :o)
Looking for flowers, all 3 students found these dandelion fluffs and had a blast blowing the seeds off. They thought it was absolutely hilarious when the seeds would land in my hair and I would pretend to be grossed out. *Yep, it was a silly photo shoot, but they learned and had fun! Don't you wish all your classes were like that?

Life is almost back to normal

2009-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've been off work, but starting Monday, I get to start again. I know that all the students miss me, I just hope I can remember everyone's names after being gone for almost 2 months. :o)
I zipped down to Arizona while I was off work and got to visit many family members. It was a quick trip, but it was nice to get some visits in. I still think Arizona looks almost like another planet.

I also had fun at the quilting retreat I went to. It's not that I need to go somewhere to quilt, but it sure is nice to get to visit with my quilty friends. Hi Retreat Friends! I loved getting to visit with you all.
And now, it's the week-end and I have to be ready for work on Monday, so it's time for:
changing the sheets
washing the laundry
folding the laundry
cleaning the sewing room some more
making homemade bread and potato soup
airing out the house, just because it's a beautiful day
and getting in some quilting time
Hope everyone had a wonderful week-end.

I'm excited!

2009-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

It's almost retreat time. Dark and early Wednesday morning I take off to go to meet up with a bunch of online quilty friends. Some of them, I've talked to for several years, and will finally be getting to meet, in person. Some others, I've already had the pleasure of meeting and visiting with and *all* of them are friends that I so want to see. We will be enjoying ourselves in the midst of the Ozarks.

I'm packing up my projects and clothes and sewing supplies and checking that list not only twice, but more like 5 or 6 times. I'm not a purse-person, but I'm finding myself wishing that I had a purse to keep all my goodies together in. I think I have a bag around here that will do, I just have to find it. Now, to get off the computer and get ready for a quilting retreat. Woo Hoo!

Always look for the silver lining

2009-03-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

No pictures today, just thoughts. :o)
My husband is without a job for now and I'm off work, still recovering from shoulder surgery, so...we are both not working, at the same time. We've been puttering around the house, doing a little cleaning and straightening and visiting with each other. Definitely nice. We have decided that since neither of us are working this is a perfect time to go visit family. We both come from large families, so we're going to zip to Arizona and visit part of that large family. Yeah, Oregon to Arizona is not exactly zipping, but it should be a wonderful chance to visit and just be together. We'll get to visit his brother, my brother, my sister and his aunt & uncle. Everyone is getting older and some family members have serious health problems, so we thought let's go now. It's much more fun to go when we can visit instead of waiting until there's a funeral. I always intend to visit with people, but life seems to get in the way. Well, my mom died last summer and since then, I've had 2 brothers end up in ICU. (They're both doing OK now.)
Being out of work is not a good thing, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
Oh, and I am looking forward to the difference in the weather; it was snowing here today, but I'll bet it's a little warmer in Phoenix. :o)

update on my shoulder recovery

2009-02-27T22:14:00.001-08:00

Several of you have asked about me and my shoulder, and such sweeties you are for caring. :o)
I am amazingly better than I was a couple of weeks ago. My flexibility is greatly improving and I'm so grateful for each day's improvement. I still have 3 very sore spots, but considering that they removed 6 bone spurs and ground off 3/8"-1/2" of bone at the end of my collar bone, I think I'm doing pretty good. The bruise on the front of me, in the deltoid muscle, is just about all gone. The bicep is going to take awhile before it can help me do push-ups, and I am now on a first name basis with a new little muscle called a trapezius. Me and that "trap" muscle are having go-rounds to decide who's boss and you know, I'm a stubborn one, but every once in a while, it wins. lol Do you know that moving your arm can cause an "interesting" pain up the back of your head? BUT, I'm really not complaining, just noticing. I can move and I know I'm getting better. And...I know that I will feel much better in a few months. When I even think about getting whiny, I remember what they told me at the doctor's office. "You're young and in great shape. You are going to do great!" I don't always feel particularly young. I'll be 48 in a couple of months, but I guess "young" is subjective. And have you guys seen my shape? Yeah, it's great, huh? :o) But I still like the "young and in great shape" definition.
I have been working on quilting, albeit w-a-y more slowly than usual. Tonight, I finished 3 quilts. Tomorrow, I might get pictures. You know how the knee bone is connected to the leg bone and the leg bone is connected to the hip bone? Well, the way I feel today, the thumb bone is directly connected to the shoulder bone. I learned that while I was sewing the last of the binding down on a quilt. I know, I should've stopped, but I was so close to done. You all know how that is , don't you? :o)
Now, I'm going to stop yapping and get away from this computer. I've maxed out my typing abilities for the day and it's time to be lazy, prioritize tomorrow's activities and get some much needed rest.

My new form of shoulder therapy

2009-02-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

I always seem to have a need to be busy doing something, and that "something" is not usually napping. I've been doing plenty of napping while recovering and healing this shoulder, but I decided to branch out and see if I could do some embroidery. I got this cute little bunch of violets from a challenge they're doing on SewManySwaps and I think it turned out pretty. And my shoulder is only mildly irritated at me for doing oh-so much work. :o) My shoulder and I had a talk and we decided that it was definitely worth it. I already have many pieces of embroidery, most of it vintage, that someday I plan on incorporating into a nice, feminine quilt. I think the violets will play nicely with the rest of the pieces. I'd show you, but really, I'm too tired to drag out the pile and fold them so that they are visible...and then have to fold everything all back up. Nope, not gonna' happen this week. Someday...

February 14 is a special day

2009-02-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows that today is Valentine's Day, but in Oregon, it's also the state's birthday. Today, Oregon is 150 years old. Happy Birthday, Oregon! Happy Valentine's Day!

Mission Accomplished!

2009-02-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

I have all my photos saved to disks. It's been on my "to do" list since last April. Now I won't feel so bad if the computer crashes. I've whined about it enough here that I thought that I'd share the good news, too. If I had 2 good arms I'd find something to take a picture of. :o) Instead, I'll go and be lazy and try to heal.

You just can't keep a quilter down

2009-02-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of days after my granddaughter's birthday, I had surgery. They used the largest bandage I've ever seen to cover 3 tiny little holes. Don't worry, I won't show you the holes ... yet. LOL

I was growing an impressive little crop of bone spurs in my right shoulder and it was time to get rid of them. Surgery was Tuesday afternoon and Thursday night I was talking to my sister-in-law on the phone. She had asked if I had done any hand-sewing yet.

She and my daughter both agreed that I was maybe a little obsessive in my quilting, so it seemed like a perfectly reasonable question. Of course, I'm all doped up and told them that there was no way that I was ready to do any work on my quilts. Crazy ladies, for even thinking such a thing. Yeah -- well, last night night, before I went to bed, I had to see if I could hold a needle. Hmm, I have you know that I'm only a little obsessive. I did put the needle down after only sewing one thread-length. I managed to get about 8" of binding sewn down.

Yay! Not too bad, considering that I'm right-handed and it's my right shoulder that's recuperating. :o)

Guess who had a birthday?

2009-02-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

This week is brought to you by the number 4.

Wren is 4 now and is proud to let everyone know it. She wants to use 4 in her everyday life. She needs 4 crayons, wants to be read 4 books, needs 4 items of silverware and insists on getting 4 M&Ms, but Ben only gets 2 M&Ms because he's only 2. Needless to say, Ben has an entirely different outlook on the M&M distribution plan. The kids had a grand time at the birthday party. Only 3 little kids, but plenty of yummy things to eat and lots of gifts to open.

I'm working as fast as I can

2009-02-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a close up setting of my quilt "Double Delight". It was a mystery from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site. I set mine straight set, so it's a little different. I plan on gifting it to my sister-in-law Bonnie, so it will be a Bonnie quilt to a Bonnie. She's wanted a "Debi" quilt for years, so I think she'll like this one. And with all the pink in it, it seems just right for her.

Here you can see the whole quilt.

This one just came off of my quilting machine. It is for my Brother-in-law, Brian, in Arizona. You can't see the tie -dyed border, but with it, and all the bright colors in the quilt, it will be perfect for him. Almost every time I see him, he's wearing a tie-dyed tank top.

This red, black and white one I'm making for a teen-ager. Aren't all these blocks gorgeous together? They were made by members of the SewManySwaps group. You quilters did an awesome job!

And this last little one I made because I had enough striped fabric left from the R, B & W one for a backing. It will keep some little one nice and warm.

Now, you know what I've been doing lately. :o) Just quilting away.
Hugs!

I am a photo-saving procrastinator

2009-01-19T21:36:00.001-08:00

so, today, I don't have any new quilt photos to share. I've thought about posting on my blog, but so much happens that I'm never sure what you all would want to hear about. I love to post photos, too, but I have such a time getting photos out of my camera lately. Know why? Because I have every photo taken since August ... 2007 still on my camera card. I have most of them on computer, but whenever I take a new picture and want to upload it, I have to upload all 700+ photos in front of the new ones first. What a pain! And I can't bring myself to delete them off of the camera until I have them saved to disk. In the past, my computer had a habit of deleting itself and I don't want to lose all photos, so I know that at least I'll have these. Maybe I had just get myself in gear and stop procrastinating and deal with them. So, anybody know how many CDs I'll have to burn to save all of them? LOL
So, instead of showing you the latest quilt I've been working on, I'll show you some special people to me.
First, here are my friends Sharon & Dolph. They came on New Year's Day to visit, all the way from the east coast. I can't believe how much I missed them until they were here. I am *so* going to have to get myself to the east coast.

He has been my friend since I was a freshman in high school. We figured out that, other than family, we are the friends that we've each known the longest. Almost 33 years. He and Sharon got married about a month and a half before Rick & I did, so next year, we'll both be celebrating our 25th anniversary. (Photo of Rick to follow.)
Now, here's a picture of Jamie and Ben (nephew & grandson), with Jack (son) and his friend Elena in the background. Here is a better photo of Jack and Elena. :o)

We were all at an anniversary party for my sister, Sheri, Jamie's mom. She and her husband had a renewing of vows and it was a very special day for her.
Here is Sheri and my daughter, Paddy.

Have I told you about my sister-in-law? Well, here she is, the other "Debbie" B.

I'm Debi and she's Debbie. Same last name, too. We are married to brothers. We used to live together, and we share the same doctor's clinic and shoulder specialist's office. She has freaked out the people at my work by calling and saying "This is Debbie B. Can I talk to Debi B?" And when we go shopping, she's always ready to pull out her driver's license to prove *my* identity. lol As you can see, we're practically twins. lol

While I was browsing for photos, I found this one and had to include it. Jamie and Rick, my sweetie. I think they're getting ready to go outside.

So, even though there are no quilty photos today, at least there are some photos. Blogging will be a whole lot easier to do once I get my photos taken care of. I also have several quilts to photograph.
... maybe next time ...

June block is done ... finally

2009-01-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

I finally have another block finished. I cleaned up my sewing area a while back and lost some pieces I had cut out. I finally found them and got 3 sets of these all cut out and ironed on. *This* one I have all the edges sewn. Half of the blocks are done and I'm so happy. This is the first Block of the Month I've done. I've printed off instructions to do others, but there's a big difference between intending to do a BOM and actually doing it. :o)

How do you always remember to post?

2009-01-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

I got so far behind and I want to share so much with you, I decided to just post some pictures. Hope you like them.

Barbie survived all summer/fall stuck in the maple tree and finally escaped during the ice storm.

Here's me while we're out playing in the snow. I know many of you got more snow, but for us, this is major amounts of snow. :o)
More photos soon...

It's been almost forever

2009-01-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything here. I keep waiting to post some new pictures, but they're still in my camera. Just wanted to let you all know that I havent' forgotten you. It looks like it's going to be a doozy when I do get pics available.
The last couple of days I've had friends from Connecticut visiting...and remember, I'm all the way over here in Oregon. I haven't seen them in over 10 years, so I can tell you that it was a wonderful visit. :o)
Now, back to my regular life.

I'm a Popsicle lol

2008-12-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

You are a coconut flavored Popsicle

You Are a Coconut Flavored Popsicle

You are easygoing. For you, summer is definitely a time to kick back.

You are a peaceful soul. You shy away from drama and stress.

You are a warm and compassionate. You give everyone a fair chance.

Your tastes tend to be simple. You rather have a few high quality items than a bunch of junk.

What Flavor Popsicle Are You?

Snow day? ... Snow week!

2008-12-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

The weather outside is snowy and icy and just plain nasty. We didn't have a 2-hour delay, we've had school cancelled for the last 4 days. The grandkids are loving playing out in the snow, but there's not enough snow (yet) to build a snowman and they are definitely looking forward to that. They have watched "Frosty the Snowman" about 20 times this week, and are fully prepared to make their own snowman. The only problem is that we can't find a magic hat.
I was at the store a couple of days ago and found a new musical book about Frosty. When you open it, it plays the music and the words of the song *are* the words of the book. It's pretty cute and, fortunately,
hasn't got too irritating, yet. :o) I believe they'll have that song memorized by the end of the winter.

Since I have a snow day today, I'm going to try and get a bunch of things finished. Of course, there's the non-holiday chores that need to be done... balance the checkbook and pay bills, but there's also, finish a couple of quilts and a set of hot pads, and make a set of curtains. And the very first item to check off of my list (after shower and dressing, of course) is to get the toys sorted that we're donating to people from Freecycle. Paddy and I sorted all the kids' toys and made a pile of them that are still nice enough to pass along to someone else. We've been matching up the toy to a child's age/gender and letting their parents know to come pick them up. It's nice to be able to get a less cluttered house and be able to help out others. I haveto gather and label bags of toys and then post an email to the parents. They have about a week to pick them up before Christmas, so hopefully the ice will melt enough for some safe driving.
Today, I'm thankful for time to be productive.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

I'm getting stuff done, but there always seems to be more that I need to do. Of course, instead of actually *doing* it, I find myself on the computer... finding cool stuff. Here is my favorite version of "White Christmas". Even the video is amazing!
Another Christmas song that I really like is "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt.

decorating or quilting?

2008-12-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

I'm still sewing binding on that baby quilt, and at school, the students are putting up decorations. Wren & Ben want to put up decorations here at home, but we haven't got quite that far. Off to get some work done around here. Christmas cards *and* decorations...after I finish that little quilt. Oh, what to do first? :o)

another baby quilt in the making

2008-12-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm slacking off on my auntly duties and I just had to tell you. My nephew and his girlfriend had their baby this week and I forgot to make a baby quilt. Well, it's all the way to the binding stage and I've got that about half done, so I'm not doing too badly. I'm very glad that I had some blocks left from a swap. Photo to be posted soon and you can see what I could do in a weekend. :o)

I'm a prolific procrastinator

2008-11-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

I've been getting some quilts finished lately, but I still feel like I'm procrastinating. Friday, as I was sewing the binding down on Ben's quilt, I realized, "Ack! Tomorrow is the baby shower!" DS#2 and wife is having child #3 and I still didn't have the quilt done. Well, yeah, the top's been done for weeks, but there it sat, right on the edge of the sewing table. Believe me, Saturday afternoon/evening was all about finishing that baby quilt. It's finished and already delivered to the shower. I even remembered to take a picture .
Let this be a reminder to you all... finish that project and don't procrastinate like I did. It's not worth the rush-rush-rush feeling that you have to do to make the deadline. lol

Wants vs. Needs

2008-11-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do, or
Do without

This is a folk saying that I've heard all my growing up days. My mom was raised by her grand-parents, so they were grown-ups through the depression and grandparents before WWII. They taught me many ways of being frugal and being a good steward of what the good Lord saw fit to give. I know all that, and I can squeeze a penny hard enough to make it whimper, when I want to, but you know what? Lately, I haven't wanted to. Oh, I *do* want to, but I want to spend that proverbial penny, even more than I want to save.
Right now, I'm having a tough time trying to talk some sense into my head. I have a perfectly fine digital camera. A good camera. I chose it and it's been working just fine, for well over a year now, but ... I want a new camera. No, I definitely don't need it, but I sure do want it. I've even been pricing. Beach Camera has the best price. Sooooo........
Does anybody have a clue why I'm lusting after a sweet, tiny camera, small enough to fit in any pocket, or even in the top of my bra, when I've already been blessed with a perfectly fine digital camera already?
I really want that camera and at the same time, I don't even want to want it. Aaaauuggh!

2 charity quilts finished Yay!

2008-11-20T19:54:00.001-08:00

A mom and her little girl, about a year and a half old, were in need of everything to set up house. They had escaped from an abusive situation, so my contribution was a couple of quilts. I used a few charity blocks, a lot of my blocks and fabric from my stash to make these 2 quilts. Both of them are green and pink and they both have 20 blocks with sashing in between. I thought the mom might think it was nice to have similar quilts. The little girl isn't going to be toddler size for long...you know how fast kids grow, so I made it a bit bigger and then each block is a bit different, kinda' like a super-easy "I Spy" quilt.
Look at the blocks in the mom's quilt. You just might recognize something you have sewn. If you see your block, let me know. I love to find my block in someone else's quilt, too. :o)
The embroidered blocks were drawn up by my very first Quilting Sister. I took one close-up, so that you can see what I'm talking about. They kept my hands occupied for many an hour and now they have the perfect home in this quilt. I hope the words are inspirational to a new single mom.

2008-11-20T19:46:00.000-08:00

Wren and Ben both are old enough this Halloween to choose their costumes, so Wren was a princess

and Ben was a pirate. What other costume can you get a cool sword with?

Jack 'o Lantern

2008-11-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

When your kids get older, pumpkin carving takes on a whole new look. lol

Life has been too busy for blogging

2008-10-17T18:30:00.001-07:00

It's been about a month since I posted. Since that time, school has been going on, both of my kids have started another year of college, my mom passed on and I've inherited the Elvis quilt that I made for her.
I've been slowly working on some quilty stuff, but not much. I have a top and backing of a Bob the Builder quilt done, for Ben. Now I just need to actually put it on the machine and quilt it.
Want to see it, so far?

My strip blocks are all sewn, but it's taking forever to get all the paper backing torn off. I think if I ever do this again, I'll sew onto a fabric foundation, so there's no ripping involved.

Patriot Day

2008-09-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

We remember.

Wanna' see some of my string blocks?

2008-09-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Courtney, from an online group, asked to see the string blocks I mentioned, so I took a couple of photos. First, are some blocks in progress--

I sorted through my scraps and couldn't believe how many strings I had, so after having them boxed up only for about 2-3 months, it was time to make a string quilt. I had seen many of them on line and I think they are cool. Very scrappy and I know that I'm using up what others might consider "trash". I love making quilts out of "trash". LOL
I decided to use old phone book pages for the foundation and started sewing strips onto them. Then, I know when I have roughly the right size. After I get the whole page covered, I turn it over and trim the edges down, so that all the pages are the same size. For my phone book, I can cut an 8"x10" block.
Now, here are a few finished and trimmed blocks. When I get further along, I hope that I'll remember to post a quilt top photo.

Not getting much quilting done

2008-09-07T13:56:00.001-07:00

Here is the view from my patio door now. Lovely, isn't it? We are ripping out the old rotting deck and it's a lot of work.

Rick and Jack working on ripping the foundation of the deck off of the house.

Here is a big pile of boards that have all the nails removed from them. My brother Jack and I were on nail detail. Most of these boards will be reused in another project. Making porch steps for the shed, as a floor in the wood shed and maybe even making some temporary steps to get out of the patio door.

Here is my brother that came over to help and reminded me how to get those stubborn nails out of rotting boards. Easier said than done, believe me!

Here is just another view, looking into the house.
We're making progress. :o)

And this is the 'Possum Patio. If you look close, you can see the the 2 cement blocks in front of the entry way. If I can get this fixed, maybe I won't have to use my possum trap anymore. Now, back to clean-up and with luck I'll get to work on my string blocks later tonight.

We are "writing" letters

2008-08-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

Wren and Ben have many grandparents and great-grandparents, so today I helped them write letters. To you and me, it looked a lot like using stickers and crayons, but they had fun, as you can see.

I can't believe how much stuff I have in here

2008-08-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

The stuff from sewing room exploded all over my living room, in preparation for having the carpet ripped out.

Even more of the "explosion"...

The ugly carpet. Yuck.

The totally cleaned out sewing room, now with oak floors.

I'm so tired of moving so much fabric.

Here is my neat and straightened studio...with Ben helping to show it off.