My Quilting Life

What Our Kids Know...

2008-02-24T16:00:00.004-06:00

Well, last time I commented that I couldn't post any pictures because I couldn't find the cord to my camera. Lo and behold ~ leave it up to my 10 year old to inform me that my computer has a port to put my camera card in...I don't even *need* to have a cord!!!! Thank goodness for technology-savvy little boys...

On the quilting front ~ I spent a few days at the vacation house this week with some friends. I completed an easy Turning Twenty Around the Block quilt top for my uncle and began a quilt for my SIL. Even tho I vowed this year to make sure the emphasis was on ME and projects for ME, these other things have seemingly worked their way in. I guess I just can't say no. Plus I know how comforting a quilt can be ~ and wanted to make sure that each of my uncles had one to cuddle up with while going through surgery, chemo and radiation. Here is a pic (not the greatest) of the first Turning Twenty Around the Block that I made for my Uncle Chub:

He loves horses so I used a line from Wilmington Prints (I believe) that had horses, cowboy boots, horseshoes, etc. I really like the way it turned out! And it was fast...I had the top put together in a day.

Here are a few pics of the quilt I made for my niece, Gracie. It's a line of fabrics from Piece O' Cake Designs and I think it turned out really cute! I'm a little behind as it's been in my UFO bin for a year or so...it was supposed to be given to her when she was born and she turned 1 year old in December of 2007. Better late than never!

I decided to get really creative towards the end of putting it together and decided that I would add prairie points in each of the fabrics in the corners. Just a little something extra that I think turned out really cute!

I've also almost finished my nephew's quilt. It was made using a "peek-a-boo" pattern and it was a true PIA. The binding has been machine sewn on...I just need to either hand tack it down or machine finish it. That's on my list for this coming week.

I'll post more pictures as the quilts get done. My other uncle's comfort quilt is going to the long-armer this week as soon as I pick up some backing fabric! :)

Family-wise, it's been an eventful start to the new year. Miss A has to go for a surgical consult this week ~ we're thinking she needs to have her tonsils and adenoids removed as she's been having problems sleeping and is developing sleep apnea. Our youngest son had to have it done a couple of weeks before he turned 3 years old so Miss A isn't far behind as she will be 4 in April.

Youngest A is going to be 19 months on the 1st of March. Where oh where does the time go? I am 'over' the "I *need* to have another baby" syndrome/whine...but I still miss when they were little. I probably always will...

We have just returned from a few trips. We visited Seattle for five days in January for hubby's work. It was a fun trip and a nice break from the everyday blahs at home. Will and I were both ill with strep before we left ~ I was fine while we were gone ~ then Jim and I both returned home with strep AGAIN. Miss A also was sick and Austy had an ear infection. We almost needed a vacation from our vacation!!

We've been traveling to Minnesota to do some relative-visiting, too. I have two uncles who are both dying of cancer and the visiting was long over due. Spent a short-day in the Cities, visited with my stepdad, and came home in the WORST weather I think I have ever traveled in. Blizzard warnings, blowing snow, reduced visibility and 2" of ice on the Interstate for 60 miles. We were glad to be back home after that trip.

One of my many goals this year is to keep up better with my blogging. I've been working on cleaning and reorganizing my studio (again!) and hope to be able to get to the point where I can leave a project out and continue working on it whenever I have a few free minutes. I *really* hope to knock down my L-O-N-G list of UFOs (and maybe start a few new projects, too!).

Don't forget to visit my sister site ~ Treasured Threads. We are the largest supplier in the US of Australian designer quilt related patterns. We're growing more and more everyday and are always adding something new!

Still No Pictures :(

2007-11-14T14:13:00.000-06:00

Well, darn. I still can't find the cord to my camera. I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy another one. Hopefully, it will be easier this time!!! The last time, I ended up ordering one off of the internet because I couldn't find one locally. UGH! What a pain!! If only I were more organized...

Anyway, Suzette sent an email asking us to post for WIP Wednesday. Since I can't do pictures, I'll give you a basic rundown of what I have going that needs to be done before Christmas:

Gage's Quilt ~ This was started for my nephew shortly after he was born (2 years ago!) and was meant to be a baby gift. It is based on a pattern called "Peek-a-Boo" from the Quick Quilts magazine and Let-Me-Tell-You...this quilt has been anything but quick!!!! It's a cute idea but for an anal retentive quilter like me who has to have everything *perfect*, it's been a nightmare. The reason it's still not done is I have to keep putting it away because it's been so frustrating!!! I remember that the last time I had it out, I came to the conclusion that I was going to go away from the pattern a little bit and make some of the blocks different so as not to have so many of the PIA blocks to do. That involves some frog quilting and I haven't gotten that far yet. My secondary goal was to have it done last year for Christmas...but since it's still on my WIP list, you know that didn't happen either :( SO...my FINAL goal is to have it done this year for Christmas. We'll see how that goes...

Gracie's Quilt ~ This is for the aforementioned's little sister who will be one year old on December 11. I have all of the fabrics purchased and know what I'm going to do, but haven't started yet. It really is simple so need to get that one put together and to the long-armer SOON.

Sharon's RR ~ Yet another frustrating project. I participated in this absolutely *wonderful* round robin with my small group and I still have my best friend's quilt. I was the last one to get hers and got frustrated with my round. She told me to put it away and come back to it. I have been working on it lately and just have some final embroidery to do. It should be an easy finish. Since she doesn't have a computer and can't read my blog ~ LOL ~ I can tell you that I've purchased her a gift certificate to our local long-armer as a thank you for waiting for it for SO long. I know she will love it but I feel so guilty!!!! (Or is that Quilty?!?!?!)

I have also been on a creativity HIGH lately ~ so went shopping three times last week. I purchased Nancy Halvorsen's new "Love Is" fabric calendar and the focus block fabric and coordinates to make wallhangings for my kids' rooms. There's even a weiner dog in one block! :)

I also found some really neat fabrics on clearance for 75% off and am going to make the girls' Christmas dresses. My husband laughed when I showed it to him and said maybe I should make them in *next year's* sizes because he bet that I would never get them done for this year's holiday celebrations!! LOL We'll see who wins out on that one...

There's a WHOLE other list of WIPs that are listed on the right side of my blog. I have my small group meeting all day tomorrow and hope to get lots accomplished! At the end of this month, I'm going on an all weekend quilt retreat (Friday noon to Sunday 10am) and then again on the weekend of the 8th of December. I have Hello Kitty flannel-backed satin to make both of the girls pajamas as well... I don't think I've done this much clothes sewing in a LONG time!!!

I really feel that 2008 is the YEAR OF THE WIP!!! I hope the rest of you will join me!

Where DOES the time go?

2007-11-05T08:55:00.000-06:00

Of course, we all know that's a facetious statement. Time DOES march on...whether we want it to or not. Consider this: my "baby" is now almost 11 years old. Son #2 will be 7 this month (birthday party at the "vacation house" this weekend). Daughter number 1 is three and a half. Youngest daughter is now 15 months. Didn't I just give birth to these babies?!!?!

Ah, well...as such, it's been since September since I last posted. I never lack for anything to do, mind you, it's just that, well, for whatever reason, this blog has fallen to the bottom of the priority list. I think part of it is that I have lots of other blogs that I try to read on a weekly basis and those people ~ their LIVES ~ just seem so darned *interesting*!!!!! Mine just seems so hum-drum. Most days, it's wake-up, get the boys off to school, get the girls up and going, spend all day with the girls doing "girly-girl" stuff (mostly related to Hello Kitty, baby dolls and telephones), wait for the boys to come home from school, make dinner, get the kids ready for bed, fall into bed exhausted and still try to find some time to please the hubby :)! Add (on certain days), dance class for daughter #1 (I said I'd never do it!!!), 4-H for both of the boys, homework, preschool...you get it...I know you do :)

On the quilting front, I've been quite busy, although there are no pictures to show you today because I can't find the camera cord to connect it to the computer. :( But I'll tell you a bit about what's been going on.

On Pat Sloan's list, I've been participating in a 'gridded' Round Robin based on Pat's book, "It's Your Turn ~ Round Robin Fun". It's a great book and really neat concept if you're tired of the traditional "add-a-round" Round Robins. I haven't received mine back yet ~ seems as though everyone in my group is a little behind (including me!) but can't wait to get it back. I have a couple of pics of the ones I've been working on, but they're stuck on the camera right now...

Several members of my quilt group got together to make a friendship quilt for another member who hasn't been feeling up to par lately. The center block is based on Amy Bradley's "Spool Flowers" quilt and the rest is made up with cuddly chenille and plain blocks. I'll post a pic as soon as I get the camera situation resolved...

For ME...I think I've finally gathered all of the necessary materials for Verna Mosquera's "Vintage Valentine" quilt

and plan to start on that after the first of the year. Of course, that is only ONE of the many that are on my "TO-DO" list... I'm using alot of Robyn Pandolph's florals and am going to make some of the flowers (shown above in white) using Clover's new y0-yo maker to give it some dimension. I hope to post my progress on it as I get going...

Hubby and I flew to Houston at the end of October to attend International Quilt Market. While there, we met with Melanie Hurlston & Rosalie Quinlan from Australia (Melly & Me and Rosalie Quinlan Designs...see their patterns on my other website), Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched (hope to start carrying her things soon!), Pat Sloan, Mark Lipinski (from Quilter's Home magazine), Janell Cleveland and her sister from Lasting Treasures, Elaine Waldschmitt from The Quilted Closet, Judy Martin, Verna Mosquera from The Vintage Spool, Edyta Sitar from Laundry Basket Quilts, and a host of others...It was a great time (as usual) and there are SO many really neat things coming out SOON. Check your LQS for new products...the fabrics, notions and patterns are absolutely FABULOUS! :)

I'll have pics from Market to share soon...

Hope everyone's start to November is Fan-tab-u-lous! The holiday season is upon us (as evidenced by all of the Christmas stuff in the stores...even BEFORE Halloween! UGH!)...

Join in the happiness of the season and count your blessings!

WOW!!! It's September already!

2007-09-15T14:29:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Hope your summer was great...it's good to be getting back into a routine with the kids back in school.

Still no quilting going on around here with the exception of a few small projects...I found the neatest fabric on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics last week. It has a black background with big, colorful, funky flowers all over it. I'm going to make a purse and needlepunch one of the flowers on the front. If it turns out, I'll probably be making a couple more for Christmas gifts.

It's also official ~ Treasured Threads has gone "live" with a temporary website of its own. You can visit here. Lots of pictures up of all of the current patterns we carry. Exciting things are happening! Check back often!

I'm getting ready to head to Market in Houston in October. It will be an exciting time to catch up with all of the new things that are happening in the quilting world! I'll keep you all updated.

Since I've been so slow at getting anything done with my LONG list of current projects, I'm putting a challenge out there to all of you in blog-land! Starting in October, I'd like to see us pick a current project for the month and MAKE PROGRESS on it. Finish piecing it, start quilting, put on a binding, etc. It doesn't have to be the entire set of steps to get it to completion ~ it can just be one ~ but something that will move you a step forward. If you're interested, let me know! I'm intending to make a list of my UFOs, WIPs and WD (wanna-dos) here soon. I'll update on the sideline of my blog when I have it ready to go.

Enjoy this beautiful weather we've been having!

LOTS of new quilting things!!

2007-07-14T15:11:00.000-06:00

I have been absent from the blogging world for awhile and after I tell you all that I've been up to, you'll understand why!!

First of all, I was overwhelmed with the response to the Australian designer patterns. I think they're great and am glad that you do, too! I just put in another order as I can't seem to keep any stock around here (not complaining!) and am currently working with five more designers to add to the list. I'm also working on creating a new blog just for the business end of things so as not to clog up my personal blog here. Watch for the news of its grand opening!

SO...what have I been up to? Quilting, quilting and more quilting!! Not in the physical sense, but I have been filling my little brain up with it until it's coming out of my ears!! LOL The first Friday in June was spent on a short road trip to the nearby Omaha Quilter's Guild show in Omaha, Nebraska. My friend Barb and I went and spent the day, all the while watching the sky as it was storming all around us. We never did run into anything other than a few sprinkles. The show was set up nicely ~ TONS of vendors and new ones that I'd never seen before. I did plenty of shopping!! LOL The quilts were displayed nicely although there wasn't really anything that caught my eye. I had to giggle as the raffle quilt this year was a Pam Bono design and the guild must have had a class on it...there were plenty of that same quilt in the show. :) Sometimes that's just the way it goes ~ I find it's usually easy to tell what the speakers and/or theme for the guild is for the year. It is usually pretty evident in the shows.

The next week, a friend and I attended MQS in Kansas City. WOW! The long-arming talent out there still just astounds me. I was lucky enough to meet Sharon Schamber (this year's winner at Paducah and also the ribbon-taker at MQS). I tried out ALL of the machines I could find as I'm currently considering investing in a mid or long-arm. There were the big names...Gammill, A-1, APQS, Nolting and there were the smaller machines (and smaller names), too ~ Voyager, KenQuilt, TinLizzie, Handy Quilter, etc. It was great FUN to test each machine, but there was so much information, I was about on overload!! I have it narrowed down to two selections...but will not be making a decision until I can spend a day at each distributor's place to play more with their machines. I'll let you know when the time comes for one to 'come home' to my house!

I also was priviledged enough to be able to stay with a great bunch of gals in a hotel suite right across the street from the convention center. I don't think I've spent as much time laughing in a long time!! Here we are in all of our glory. Don't we look like a fun bunch?!?!

I'm also going to put just a couple of quilt pics here for your enjoyment. You can find the remaining photos of MQS quilts at my Webshots album here.

So...after the excitement of MQS was over, I took off the next week with my friends Barb and Sharon to the MN State Quilter's Guild show in St. Paul. We spent Thursday at the show and had a marvelous time. TONS of inspiration and, in speaking with others, have decided that this year's show was really "Inspiration for the Everyday Quilter". Meaning that, while there were some beautiful advanced quilts on display, there were also plenty of beautiful quilts that provided tons of inspiration for those who don't consider themselves professional or advanced. My pick of a few pics from that show are below. The first one took Best of Show (and did it ever deserve it!). The second one is a pattern I've considering purchasing but have yet to. Seeing it done up in person has convinced me that I need to find it again! It was gorgeous!! If I remember correctly, it is a pattern by Marti Michell's daughter.

You can see the remaining photos of the MN show here. The evening and two days following the show were spent shop-hopping around the Twin Cities area at every quilt shop we could find! Some of the ones we visited were Bear Patch Quilting in White Bear Lake (GORGEOUS shop with TONS of samples, fabrics, stitching, etc.), Rosebud's Cottage in North St. Paul (awesome selection of wools and very nice classroom space), Quilter's Courtyard in St. Paul (very nice shop with great samples and awesome fabric selection!), Gruber's in Waite Park (boasting 10,000+ bolts of fabric ~ very well organized plus a yarn selection for knitters/crocheters/embellishers as well) and St. Croix County Dry Goods in Hudson, WI (awesome shop with TONS of quilt fabric and oodles of antiques...what more could you ask for?!?! LOL). We stayed in a very nice Holiday Inn in east St. Paul the entire time and it worked out well as the central point for all of our excursions! My main focus this trip was accumulating fabric to begin working on my Vintage Valentine quilt. I'm almost sure I now have everything I need!!

I spent the next couple of weeks 'recuperating' LOL and hitting the local shops for a few items. Yesterday, I attended the Ankeny Quilter's Guild annual show and it was a hit this year!! I've attended every year for the last 7 and, I have to say, I was very disappointed in last year's show. They had moved it to a new location (which was nice) but the quilts and vendors last year either weren't my style or I wasn't in the mood (which is rare!). This year, they did an excellent job and the quilts on display were great! They also had Karen McTavish as this year's speaker. If you don't know who she is, definitely check out her website at the link provided. Her long-arming has definitely revolutionized the quilting world and she has TONS of followers! She is now a rep for APQS and teaches classes in her own studio as well as all over the US. She gave a great lecture and is such a nice person to talk with. I hope to upload my Ankeny show pics soon and will share as soon as that's accomplished.

We also added a new furmember to our family this week.

Max is a 6 year old AKC Golden Retriever who was given up by his family who didn't have enough time for him. He rode great in the van on the five-hour trip home from north of the Twin Cities and has been great with the kids!! He seems like a horse compared to our mini-dachshund, but he's really just a gentle giant :) He already knows some commands ~ sit, stay, down, fetch, shake, etc. He LOVES to be around people and has become part of our family already. He's not so sure about our cats, yet ~ but we're working on that. He doesn't really want to eat them, he just wants to play with them and they're not so sure about that!!!

I'm getting ready for our biennial quilt show coming up at the end of August so hope to have pics of my own projects to post soon! (Have to get on the ball to get them done for the show!)

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!!

More Australian Designers...

2007-05-11T07:34:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note on Leanne's House BOMs. I have had several inquiries about doing the BOMs on a monthly basis instead of purchasing the entire pattern set at once. I have no problem doing that with a minimum sign-up! Monthly BOMs would be $10 each postage paid and would be sent out around the 1st of every month. If you're interested in this option, please email me!

**Just a little clarification on any of the BOMs...I am offering them at $10 per month per BOM for the PATTERN only. I do not have them kitted although that may happen down the road.**

Now, onto the other Australian designers I will also be offering.

Sisters Rosalie Quinlan and Melanie Hurlston have teamed up to offer patterns under the name "Melly and Me". They offer a unique line of contemporary, fun quilts, bags and 'softies'.

Baby Floss Quilt

Cherry Blossom Bag

Little Kitty Softie

These are just a few of their designs. You can see all of them here. Patterns are $9 each with an ordering deadline of May 25th. I am offering a pre-order discount. Contact me!

Rosalie Quinlan also has her own line of patterns and they can also be seen at the same website. She offers four different BOMs, quilts, stitchery patterns, bags and softies.

I Remember BOM

The Joy of Life BOM

Cotton Candy Bag

Christmas Blessings III Stitchery

As above, Rosalie's patterns are $9 each and I will be offering her BOMs on a monthly basis for $10 postage paid. Pre-order discounts are available on the patterns and BOM sets (monthly price is without discount). Contact me if you're interested!

Our third featured Australian designer for today is Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs. Gail is another fun designer who offers a variety of quilts and bags. She is especially fond of Christmas! Check out these examples:

The Magic of Christmas BOM

Home Sweet Home BOM

In My Garden Quilt

More of Gail's patterns can be seen here. Individual patterns are $9 each and BOMs will be offered monthly as well for $10 postage paid. Pre-order discount available! Contact me!

I have a few more to post, but Blogger is fighting me so will try in another post.

Have a great day!!

2007-05-09T07:29:00.000-06:00

I am SO excited to tell you that I will soon be offering patterns from Australian designer Leanne Beasley. She offers wonderful patterns such as:

The Couch Companion

Girls' Birth Sampler and Prim

Nana Doreen's Sewing Tote

Quilt Bag and Block Keeper

And my personal favorites...her two BOMs. They are wonderfully inspiring! Leanne's House is shown first and The Journey of a Quilter is shown second. If you are like me, I sometimes (!) have a short attention span and lose interest quickly within the process of making my quilt. These quilts will hold your attention as they combine a little bit of everything! Piecing, applique, embroidery...you can have it ALL! GORGEOUS!!

The rest of Leanne's patterns and books can be seen at her blog:

http://leanneshouse.typepad.com

Make sure you check out her neat "365 Challenge", too!

I KNOW you want to be part of the fun!! I am preparing to place my order with my Australian distributer SOON and am offering those who would like to order in advance a discount off the price of any of her patterns or books. All orders MUST be paid on or before May 25th. I take PayPal, MO or personal check (must clear before that date to qualify). Contact me via this blog for more information!

I am also investigating carrying patterns from five other top Australian designers and will be posting when I have the information available so keep watching!

Some New Fun Things!

2007-04-17T07:12:00.000-06:00

I've been talking with other quilters who attended either the MQX show on the east coast this week or the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. Both were AWESOME shows and some really neat things came to life there. One of them is this new rotary cutter lite by Clover.

At only $7.95, it attaches neatly to your rotary cutter and gives you that extra little burst of light right where you really need it. Being the smart-ie that I am, I would say first off, you are TRULY a dedicated quilter if you are cutting fabric in the dark. However, as the aging process sets in even for me, I have found that I just can't have enough light to be able to see anymore. My hubby constantly complains that I have every light on in the house!!!

Another neat product that came out recently (I'm sure it was being sold at the Chicago show) is this new yo-yo maker. I've never made yo-yos, but I've thought about it alot!! I always think that whipping a few of them up here and there would be easy and soon, I'd have more than I would know what to do with! This has gotten great reviews online. It looks like this:

And using one gets you this:

What fun!! BTW, the above pictures were borrowed from The Quilter's Buzz. The actual link to the yo yo maker (with a review by Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs) is here.

And I tell you, Clover is really on a roll...

PamKittyMorning (LOVE this gal!) talks about another new Clover product, the PomPom Maker. Who'd a thunk it?? It sounds like so much fun!!

One other really cute thing...two years ago before Christmas, my friend Marilyn taught me how to crochet those fuzzy scarves. That's the ONLY thing I know how to crochet!! LOL Anyway, they've been talking on the Pat Sloan group about these really cute little crocheted buttons.

I can think of TONS of things they could be used to embellish!! Now I think I'll have to learn how to do it... Sherry has a tutorial on her blog here.

And as if I don't have enough other things to do...my birthday is coming up on Monday and I think I might have to go shopping!!!!!!

Speaking of birthdays, my little used-to-be redheaded baby is going to turn 3 on Saturday.

Yesterday, I took her shopping to get some decorations, etc. and it all had to be Hello Kitty, of course! She will look so cute with her little birthday tiara on! I'll share pics from the party later on.

AND speaking of shopping...hop on over to EBay to check out this week's Quilt Pink Auctions. Some members of Pat Sloan's group made this one.

Bid and win! You get an awesome quilt and you can feel great about your $$ going to a wonderful cause!

'Til Tomorrow...

What a Fun Weekend!!

2007-04-10T19:47:00.000-06:00

Last week, my hubby turned 35. Not a big deal to some, but I always try to make his birthday a little extra special. He grew up in a family that didn't celebrate birthdays/holidays much as opposed to my family where we celebrated every little thing that came along and always in a BIG way.

A few weeks ago, I got a wild hair about throwing him a surprise party. I invited 15 other couples to eat with us at Rube's Steakhouse (YUM) and I hired our community's supreme baker to make a couple of cheesecakes. I had it set up with a girlfriend and her husband from out of town that we would meet them Saturday night at Rube's for dinner. In the three week period between the original invitation and this past Saturday night, I have never lied so much in my life!!! LOL I had his friends RSVP either via my personal email or via my cell phone. The only thing is whenever someone called, they always did it when he was in the house or with me!! It was hard to explain all of these "unknown" male voices to my dear hubby!!

Anyway, I pulled it off without a hitch. He never expected a thing and was totally awe-struck to show up to 30+ people all yelling "SURPRISE"!! It was awesome! Not to mention the food and friendship were great, too. And it really was a lot of fun putting it together.

This week is going to be a busy one with the kids...they didn't have school yesterday as the final day of their "Spring Break". Then there is Kindergarden Registration later on this week which means William will be home on Thursday and Friday. The weather this weekend is supposed to be rainy all day Friday and Saturday so I think we're going to take a family trip to the City for haircuts (we all need them!) and a fun family day out. There's a new dinosaur exhibit at the State Historical Society that I'm sure the boys will love.

I'm hoping to have all day tomorrow to get some quilting done. Lots and lots of stuff on the to-do list!

House Looking...But Not Buying

2007-04-06T10:33:00.000-06:00

We went again yesterday to look at more acreages. I'd previously been to two (one of which the pictures were WAY better than the actual house) and the other needed way more work than what we were willing to put in. And both had hardly any outbuildings or ones that were ready to fall in if you touched them. (a husband's requirement!)

The ones we saw yesterday were...UM...Okay. One was in town and was a huge old victorian with a wrap around porch. Thought I'd love it. And I did. For it's craftsmanship, oak woodwork, and open-oak-curved staircase. GORGEOUS!! But not practical for my family. With four kids, four inside cats and a dog PLUS a quilting studio I am NOT going to give up, there just wasn't enough practical space. It really hurts me to say that because my dream has always been to own a Victorian house with a wrap around porch.

The second one we visited had a nice metal building wiht heated shop area and office (score for the hubby), detached two car garage and a house with ALL hardwood floors (score for me!). Unfortunately, it was S-M-A-L-L. I need space. I'm a closet claustrophic, I'll admit it. Large open spaces are what I need...

The third one we looked at scored BIG time. Of course, looking at it from the outside, it was the one I thought I'd like the least and actually ended up being the one I liked the most. LOTS of space, five bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 5 acres of ground, a metal shop buildling and two big bins. It had been lived in by a little old lady and, when she either passed away or moved to the nursing home, the son moved in and renovated it. All new everything...fixtures, carpet, hardwood (Pergo), linoleum, etc. It's bad side came after thinking about living there for 30 years and having to do all of the stairs. It was a split-level so when you walked in the front door, it was either up or down but no where else to go. And am I going to want to do that 30 years from now??? Am I even going to want to do that right now? Visions of carrying a sleeping baby with armloads of groceries came to mind... The other bad thing is the carpet that was redone was put in as a tight-weave Berber. And I HATE Berber carpet. Especially with kids.

Anyway, all of this 'looking' has me thinking about what I do want in the "perfect" house. Then I'm going to try and get my hubby to do the same so that we know what we're looking for. The thing that scares me the most is being able to find it around HERE.

My perfect house would have:

1) Five bedrooms
2) Three bathrooms (kids, master, 'community')
3) Large open room with separate entrance (or opportunity to make it so) for quilting studio with room to put a long-arm that I hope to acquire someday
4) Eat-in kitchen with an island big enough to sit six seats
5) Breakfast nook off the kitchen with a fireplace
6) Private balcony off the master bedroom
7) Double hung windows
8) Walk-in pantry in the kitchen
9) Fireplace in the family room
10) Rec room for the kids

I could live with a ranch style house if the basement were finished and a walk-out. That's all I can think of right now.

Otherwise, not much quilting going on here this week. I'm preparing to put in a book order over the weekend, ordering more Vintage Valentine patterns (see further down in the post for pics) and ordering some patterns from Jacqueline de Jonge of the Netherlands. You can see her patterns here. Very, very nice paper-pieced patterns. Let me know if you're interested in any of the above! I will be putting orders in on Sunday evening so payment by then is appreciated. Contact me for pricing and more details.

Even though I haven't gotten any actual sewing time in, my thoughts are quilting-based EVERY day. Since my trip to Minneapolis to IKEA, I'm slowly getting my things put together and moved into my studio. Of course, that type of thing always takes three times as long as you think it should!!

The kids are home from school today and Monday for Spring Break...so I'm off to help them clean-up in the toy room today. Then we're going to color Easter Eggs later on!

It's HERE :) Discounted Quilting Books!!

2007-03-17T17:14:00.000-06:00

My "pet project" is finally up and going now! I invite you all to take a look at and join Treasured Threads Books 'N More where we offer the newest quilting related books at a discount every day! Come join our group and discuss books, patterns, notions and ideas with other quilters. Give us your opinion on your favorite (or not so favorite) book, pattern or notion and find out from others if that item you think you want is really all it's cracked up to be! Every month, we'll be featuring a famous quilter and his or her items. You can find our group here.

Have a great weekend! Hope you'll join us!

2007-02-09T14:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all of you who sent me an email about Needles the Bear and the Vintage Valentine pattern. The copies of the pattern that I had in my possession are now sold out but I still have a few Needles left. Let me know if you'd like one. I'm getting closer to my surprise ~ hopefully in the next week or so. Stay tuned...

Other news here is that my hubby finally gave in to my Christmas wish and went with me to Menard's last weekend. The built-in bookshelves surrounding the window in my studio have been completed!! I've finally gotten the fabric bolts and books put on the shelves and now I'm working on placing my vintage sewing machines up above. He also installed wire linen shelving around the perimeter of the room near the ceiling for box storage, extra fabric storage, etc. I will post pictures SOON...although at this point, it's still such a mess you can't even see the floor!!! I am trying to purge as I'm rearranging and putting things back away.

We're heading out for the weekend with some friends...hope you all have a great one!

For Sale!!

2007-01-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

In the process of reorganizing my quilting studio, I came across a box of "Needles" the bear and he and his brothers and sisters are looking for new homes. They are similar to a Beanie Baby by TY although not made by the same company. They make great gifts for that special sewing friend in your life and feature one of America's most loved vintage sewing machine, the Singer Featherweight. $10 including shipping. Contact me at my email address.

The other thing I have is one copy of Verna Mosquera's VINTAGE VALENTINE block of the month pattern. It is only the pattern and is an absolutely STUNNING quilt. Instructions are included for both hand or machine applique and it's very popular right now. The pattern alone in the quilt shops is selling for $64 (since it's a block of the month), but I'll let this one go for $40. Let me know if you're interested!

Stay tuned for more stuff and a big announcement I have regarding quilting stuff in the next month!

My Bargain of the Day!!

2007-01-20T11:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, my SIL and I went shopping and, of course, we love to hit the consignment/Goodwill stores along the way. I just couldn't believe my eyes when I found this beauty in one of them for only $25. It immediately went to the front of the store with my name on it! I love the intricacy of the woodwork and the wheels are a Mariner's Compass pattern (my favorite!). My step-father was an excellent woodworker and I have all kinds of "quilted" tables in my house that he made before he passed away. This will fit in nicely. I'm going to use it in my office as a place to store fabric bolts, I think. Would anyone know what its original purpose would have been? The top has two trays (you can see the handles for them in the top picture), and then inside is really roomy with that little place with the holes. Can't for the life of me figure out what that would have been used for. Anyway, it's about 4' long and 18" wide. Parts of it break down for storage. It could use some cleaning up, and maybe a coat of poly to make it shine...but I think it's WONDERFUL (my hubby thinks I'm crazy!!)!!

In other news, it looks like we will be moving. I'm going to start looking at other acreages this week and see what's out there for what price. There's one that I've had my eye on for quite a while now, but when I called the real estate agent this morning to see about it, she told me it needed a lot of work. We aren't opposed to that ~ actually, we'd rather buy something that way so we can fix it ourselves like we want it. But they want an OUTRAGEOUS price for it...and I do mean outrageous. $175k. Whew!! For our area, it had better be a mansion and have new EVERYTHING for it to be that much. I'm going to look at it anyway...but now I know why it hasn't sold yet. Most acreages around here sell for $80 - $100 so we're looking for something in that range or less if we have to fix it. We'll see what happens!! We won't have to move right away (we know we have at least until March of '08 to live here if we want) but knowing that we have to move gives us the chance to 'leisurely' look for something instead of being forced to buy something just because we have to have a place to live. Of course, all of this happens (what a LONG story!) AFTER my hubby takes a new job that began on January 1st. UGH. If we'd known then what we know now, he maybe wouldn't have taken that job and we'd have looked at moving away from here.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! Looks like we're setting up for another big snowstorm here tonight and tomorrow...they're predicting another 6" - 8"!! And Miss Austyn is getting baptized at church here tomorrow morning. It could just be us and the pastor!! LOL

Another New Idea...

2007-01-15T21:06:00.000-06:00

Usually, I'm a pretty savvy shopper, and I love to hit the consignment stores and places like Goodwill. Last week, I took a day for myself and went shopping in the city. For those of you locals, the east side Goodwill has built a brand new building and it is WONDERFUL. I always loved the east side one because it was so clean and you could find anything without having to wade through piles and piles of stuff. Anyway, I found five cards of these button covers. Aren't they cute? They were considered Christmas so I got them for 75% off which was... are you ready for this...a quarter a card!!! They're Hallmark so I'm sure they cost a pretty penny brand new. The first thing that came to mind was putting them in a quilt somehow...and the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how absolutely adorable a snowman quilt would be with these for the embellishments!!! I have 10 sets so I could make 10 blocks with one snowman each doing a different wintertime activity. Not like I need any new projects, but just couldn't pass up this little bargain. The other really neat thing I found that day was a watercolor painting all about quilting...it has pins and needles, a rotary cutter, applique, quilting, etc. I'm going to hang it up in my studio when it's finished. I'll have to take a pic and post that, too.

Speaking of the studio, I started cleaning it tonight. It's going to take me a couple of weeks, but should work out rather well as the girls and I are planning a trip to Minneapolis sometime in February or March to go to IKEA. They have some really nice storage units that I'm going to get for my newly redone space. No use going to get them, tho, until they're ready to go in. I'll try and find some links to what I'm getting so those of you who are also thinking about purging, reorganizing or just plain setting up a space can get some ideas.

Have a great week! I'll have more pics to post later...

My Christmas Organizer

2007-01-15T20:59:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to be organized this past Christmas and, thanks to Nora here, I did just that! She does the cutest scrapbooking and papercrafting stuff...I just had to follow along. My book may not be as crafty or as good as some of you other scrapbookers out there, but it worked for me this year and I'll make improvements as I go along. I had a December calendar (next year I'll also add November), a Christmas wish list (which *really* came in handy), an envelope to keep all of my receipts, a section for Christmas cards sent, a section for recipes, and a section for notes. It worked out really well to have all of my info in one place and I got to spend a couple of hours at Archiver's picking out Christmas paper and stuff, too. It was almost as much fun going to the paper store as it was going to the quilt shop!! Notice ~ Tina and Tracey ~ I said ALMOST. LOL One of my resolutions for this year is to get my office space reorganized (yes, I know, AGAIN) and make time at least once per month to get together with a couple of friends and do some type of scrapbooking. I have so many pictures that I need to do something with.

My last project...

2007-01-15T20:41:00.000-06:00

A little commentary on this fun, fun project. We draw names at Christmas time for a "secret-sister" in our small quilting group. I was so excited this year when I drew the name of my secret-sis...she absolutely LOVES cardinals and that made her present super easy!! I found the three patterns on the internet (can't remember names right now but contact me if you want to know and I'll look them up for you). It was a plain black sweatshirt when I started and I added the front cardinal on a branch from one pattern, the pocket from another pattern, and the caridnal on the back from the third. I then embellished it a little with hot-fix crystals and did a decorate stitch on the hem. I think it turned out really cute!! Wonder why I always have the time to make everyone else really neat quilted things but never anything for myself!?!? LOL Anyway, hope it inspires you to create from your heart, too!

More Pics...

2007-01-15T20:37:00.000-06:00

I just have to include this picture of our long-haired mini-dachshund, Copper. He is SUCH a little card and brings us so much laughter each and every day!! I'm a cat person, myself, but absolutely love this little guy and would recommend the breed to anyone who is looking for a great indoor dog.

Getting Caught Up...

2007-01-15T20:33:00.000-06:00

Going to try and get caught up on posting some of my photos and, in the process, try out the Picasa software that I've downloaded to help me do so! Every year, I try and talk my kids into being something "unique" for Halloween. I've never let the boys be something bloody or scary, but they just wouldn't give in this year and I was ready for an 'easy-out' solution to finding them costumes. Below are pictures of what my four ended up as...a kitty cat, a chicken, dracula and the grim reaper. I made Miss A's chicken costume and did it ever turn out cute!! We went trick or treating at the zoo and people were taking more pictures of her than anything else!! LOL Maybe this year I'll have more time so I can make them ALL costumes. Hmph. We'll see. I'd rather be quilting!! LOL

Happy 2007!!

2007-01-01T17:25:00.000-06:00

Wow!! I am SO happy that the new Blogger is here!! I had so many problems at the end of last year that I gave up posting for awhile. I hope that those of you who used to read me regularly are still checking in every once in awhile to see if I still exist. My goal for this new year is to blog at least twice a week.

Would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!! I've completed lots of end-of-year projects but will write about them in a new post.

Here's to an AWESOME 2007!!

One More Thing

2006-11-19T14:44:00.000-06:00

I am not a fan of those emails that get forwarded and forwarded and forwarded...in fact, most of the time, , I delete them. But I found this one particularly enjoyable and one that really makes us stop and THINK. And especially poignant during this week of Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if I believe that it truly came from George Carlin, as I've always thought of him as a raunchy comedian, but I haven't got the time to check it out, either. SO make your own decision. The thoughts are GREAT...no matter where it originated.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete..

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin

Whew! It's Hard to Keep Up!!!!

2006-11-19T13:42:00.000-06:00

And yet another month has gone by. Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger. Anyway, keeping busy around here. I have started my Christmas shopping and am not surprised that it seems that most of the rest of the world has also. Next year, I'm going to have to start in July to beat the crowds!!

The kids had a wonderful Halloween...our house was filled with the Grim Reaper, Dracula, an awesome chicken, a pink kitty cat and a hotdog. Pictures to follow...probably sometime this week. Our dachshund ate my USB cord that connects my camera to the computer so I haven't been able to upload any pictures. I see my new one FINALLY came in the mail yesterday. I bought it online and shipping was one low price...had no idea it was coming from JAPAN. No wonder it took so long.

I've been quilting on and off...wish I could get some really long hours of time in to get some things finished. Seems as though I just get started and then either big A needs something or little A needs to nurse. Always something around here!! I did get my MIL's lighthouse poncho from two Christmases ago done (and given to her so she can actually wear it this year!). I'm still working on Gage's peek-a-boo quilt, a couple of things for my quilting Secret Sister, a *really* cute quilt supply 'pail' for my two best quilting friends (you can see a pic of the sample one and buy the pattern here), and a BUNCH of pillowcases for the aunts and uncles this year. I'm also trying to get a list made for when we visit IKEA either before or after Christmas. I'm going to get some new furniture that will help me stay a little more organized in my sewing studio (I hope!).

We are done in the field until spring. What an awesome feeling!! Can't complain right now about the crop prices either. I love these kinds of years!! We're meeting with the family this week to finalize plans on buying the acreage and a small part of the acres. At $4k an acre, you don't get very far before you've reached 1/2 a mil. Scary thoughts!!!! We've got all kinds of irons in the fire right now and some big changes are going to be happening in our life here SOON...hope they are all for the good.

On Friday, we had our family pictures taken and the kids' pictures taken for Christmas. I have to say, they turned out awesome!!! Will share when they come back. I was very happy with the photographer we had and she was so good, she got Afton back on track when she decided she was going to have a meltdown in the middle of pictures. We celebrated Will's 6th birthday yesterday with a party for his friends from school. What a hoot 10 little kindergarteners are!!! Glad to have a day at home today to try and get caught up.

I will try and download everything off of my camera this week so I can share some new pics with everyone...we have a busy week ahead with a friend's funeral tomorrow, running around on Tuesday (and celebrating Will's birthday again with family) and preparing for Thanksgiving on Wednesday and Thursday (I'm hosting my side of the family this year)...

Hope everyone has an AWESOME week!! Be thankful for everything (and everyone) you have...I AM!!!

Everyday Ramblings...

2006-10-09T10:39:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't been able to accomplish much in the quilting arena lately. The babe is just too cute not to hold and cuddle all of the time. Besides, I'm in this mode right now that's all about "I'll never have another baby...boo hoo...." so I'm savoring every moment. We went for her 2 month check up (already!) on Monday last week and she has grown 3" and gained over 3 1/2 pounds...she is now 23" and 12#10oz. She is just getting so big!! She had to get three immunization shots and one oral immunization. Needless to say, she didn't feel very good on Tuesday so we spent ALL day in the rocking chair that day! Looking back, that was my worst day last week as Miss Afton decided that she needed to have a "Be Mean to the Dog" day and our poor little Copper just couldn't escape her wrath!! She loves him so much but she can be so ornery!! (And Blogger doesn't want to cooperate now or I'd post some new pics of the three I get to share daily antics with!)

Anyway, I went back and updated my goal list earlier this morning and discovered there were things on there that I'd completely forgotten about over the past several months! I did get a really cute little 30's purse done up for my friend Sharon, tho. It was a Pat Sloan pattern from the Quilts and More fall issue. Here's a pic:

I think it turned out cute...lots of trims and embellishments really dressed it up!
Now it's early October and time to start on Christmas presents. I'm proud to say that I HAVE done a little bit of shopping. Miss Afton is really into Hello Kitty right now and I found her the most adorable rhinestone necklace that is Hello Kitty's head at Jordan Creek Mall. I'll have to take a pic and post it later. I also found a Hello Kitty twin sheet sale on clearance at Target (gotta love those Target clearance items!) for $7.50. That's right. A whole whopping $7.50. Woo Hoo!! Other than that, I've not done any other shopping. Truth be told ,this will be the year (again) that I wait until the last minute to decide what I'm going to do. Sigh.

We did draw names for our Christmas Exchange at our last small group meeting and I have been *waiting* for it to be the year that I got this person's name...she will be SO easy and I already have a couple of things in mind for her. Both are handmade, tho ~ so probably better figure on getting started on those!!

My plan for this week is to repurge (again) my quilting studio so that I have some flat surfaces to work on. I did a bunch of paperwork yesterday and it felt good to get the last four month's worth of stuff filed and put away. Why, oh why, do I let it get so out of hand?!?! I guess I'd rather be quilting ~ no matter where it is in the house ~ than dealing with anything else. I need to get my Bernie in for a good cleaning but hate to be without her for too long! I have my Singer 201 I can sew with in the meantime.

My friend Barb and I attended a local quilt show over the weekend. I wouldn't say there was anything *spectacular* there as far as patterns went, but the quilting (mostly long-arming) was absolutely GORGEOUS!! I did get a list of names so I will be checking out some of them for my upcoming projects. The show was very nice, tho ~ this group does a lot of vignettes within their cubbies of quilts and it's always fun to see what they come up with!

On Friday, Barb, Sharon and I are going to the DMAQG show in Altoona. This year, they're also having the Midwest Feedsack Collector's Show next door and I'm really looking forward to going! Sharon is a long-time feedsack collector and absolutely LOVES 30's fabrics (I'm getting there, slowly but surely!). I think we'll have an awesome time (we usually do when we're together!!).

Our next quilt show here happens in August of 2007 and we will begin in-depth preparations for it soon!

Round Robin Pics

2006-10-09T07:55:00.000-06:00

FINALLY! Pictures of most of the quilts from my small group's Round Robin. What an absolutely fantastic project!! I was so impressed with everyone's work! We're planning to do it again starting sometime in January although we're not sure if we're going to do it exactly the same way or try something a little different. Either way, it will be fun! Here are the pics:

Barb's Quilt done in Civil War fabrics. Until I saw this, I had no desire to even look at civil war reproductions let alone work with them. This one is absolutely GORGEOUS!!

Mikki's Quilt done in 30's repros. I love the 'echoed' Dresden Plates in the corners.

Marilyn's Quilt done in Christmas colors with cardinals. I love, love, love cardinals because my mom did. I think that's why I have such a special attachment to this quilt!

Tammy's Quilt done up in 30's.

There are two more (my friend Sharon's and my own). I didn't even think about having someone else take a picture of mine with my own camera on picture day!! But I'll get one taken here soon and post later. I'm doing the final work on Sharon's and should have it completely done by the end of this week so I'll have pics of that one, too. (I'm a little behind, as always!!)

Enjoy the pics! I'll post another update soon (and include that apple pie recipe!).

I Fell Off the Face of the Earth...

2006-09-21T13:29:00.000-06:00

or at least it feels like I did. Has it really been a month since I last blogged?? Where, oh where does the time go? My baby was 7 weeks old on Tuesday this past week and I guess that's a reminder as to just how fast it flies. It seems like just yesterday when I was whining about how long the pregnancy was taking and Could_We_Get_Her_Out_Of_Me_ALREADY!!!! LOL

I will start out by telling about the "big news" I mentioned in my last post when Blogger wasn't playing nice and wouldn't let me post photos. On August 20, Jim and the boys and I went to see Big and Rich in concert...again. Wink had to wear his "Big Kenny" hat that I made him last year, of course...AND we had tickets in the fifth row. I think one of the neatest things B&R does is bring a little kid up on stage at the end of EVERY concert and present them with a guitar just like Big Kenny's. Wink kept asking me if I thought it would be him...and I said, 'we'll just have to wait and see'. NEVER did I think it REALLY would be him!!! But sure enough, Big Kenny noticed him towards the end of the concert (it was the hat, I'm sure!!) and the security guard came over and got him shortly after that during the encore. We were SO excited and so was he!! Now, for those of you who don't know my Wink, he is SO shy. The security guy didn't even give him a chance to say NO, he just pointed to him, J handed him over the crowd and up on stage he went!!

Needless to say, we were THRILLED. What an honor to be picked from a crowd of 11,000 people to get to go up on stage. And especially since Wink just absolutely loves Big Kenny. :) So here's just one more pic of him on stage with the guitar Big Kenny gave him...it says LOVE EVERYBODY on the back (just like Big Kenny's!) and it is hand-signed on the front by Kenny and has the B&R logo. Wink also got a really nice case to put it in and a bunch of pics that are also autographed. Now he wants to take guitar lessons!!!

Anyway, it's been a month and we're still riding high :) Can't wait to see them in concert again :)

On the quilting front, my small group finished up our Round Robins and had our 'celebration party' last Thursday. OMG - the quilts turned out absolutely GORGEOUS!! I will post pics of them soon, I promise!! I also made a really funky little purse this past weekend for my friend Sharon. I used up the 30's prints leftovers from her Round Robin and embellished it with some ribbons, rick rack and old buttons. I gave it to her yesterday and she seemed to really like it :) Now to just get back to my list of "to-do's"...

I've been busy just trying to keep up with everything...a rambunctious two year old, a newborn, two boys in school with homework, open houses, book fairs, etc...and a grumpy-ass husband who is thinking all of the rain we've been getting lately is WAY too late in the season and is doing nothing but ruining his mood by delaying harvest. Bad thing is...doesn't look like there's an end to the rain in sight... we've had over 8" in the last three weeks and now this weekend it's supposed to rain again today, Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday. It's nice to still have him home most nights at a decent time...but it just delays the inevitable and ~ at this rate ~ we'll still be in the field when Santa's doing his nightly duties in December!! I also heard that the Almanac has predicted this to be a wetter winter than normal...I'd better start getting the boys' snow gear ready now! They've already told me they can't wait for snow on the ground!

I'm off to pick the boys up from school this afternoon...I've been promising them we'd go to the apple orchard. I'm in the mood for Caramel Apple Upside Down Pie (yes, I'll post the recipe later)...and I think I'm going to can a bunch of apple pie filling for us to eat through the winter. I did get around to canning some caramel spiced pear butter and Pearberry Jam a couple of weeks ago...I guess all of the rain is good for something :)

More Pics!

2006-08-23T16:22:00.000-06:00

Blogger is finally cooperating once again. Above is a full picture of the Round Robin quilt I mentioned in my last post. It was a labor of love with new techniques all around for me...hot fix embellishments, lots of embroidery and my own version of Stack-n-Whack corners. Turned out nice, tho...don't you think?

Now I'm on to the final one...done up in 30's prints. I have NO idea what I'm going to do to it yet but had better get started...it's due on September 21st when we will all exchange and get our own back. I can hardly wait!

And here's a new pic of my new little one. She is SO funny and makes the most hilarious faces!! She is sleeping well and has grown an inch and gained back 1 pound 12 ounces since we left the hospital. I feel extremely lucky with her as we've had no feeding issues and she nurses like a champ! I hate to say that she is sleeping longer stretches at night because I'm afraid I'll jinx myself...but she is and it's great!! LOL

And here's my favorite picture of all of my children together...on the day they came to the hospital to meet their new little sister. I haven't been able to catch them all sitting in the same spot with her since!! LOL

Speaking of the kids...school started here today. My oldest started 3rd grade and my second oldest will start kindergarten on Friday. I love that they're growing up, but having a new baby in the house just brings back that realization of how FAST they're growing up. As of Monday next week, I will only have two at home and the other two will be in school all day every day.

And J had his consultation appointment yesterday for the big "V" which is now officially scheduled for the 7th of September. I know we've discussed it and yes, we've agreed that it's time, but there's still a little, tiny part of me that's sad that the childbearing part of our lives will be over. I absolutely ADORE my kids and they are beautiful (yes, I know I'm biased)...I've always said that their beauty was proof positive that J and I have always belonged together. Speaking of which ~ today is the 22nd anniversary of the day we first started dating. I can't believe it's been 22 YEARS. We have been together longer than our parents had us as children separately. I'm proud to say that we know each other inside and out but we still find new things to discover about each other all of the time. I guess that proves that we all grow and change continually. :)

I'll post our other big NEWS in a bit...it's not great unless you have the photos to go with it and Blogger isn't playing nice again right now!!!

Finally...Some Progress and Pics!!

2006-08-19T20:57:00.000-06:00

Whew! It's been busy around here! I am feverishly working to get the business paperwork done before the end of the month, birth announcements made up and sent out, a birthday quilt put together, Round Robins finished up and sent on with another new one to start...the list is endless! At least I'm getting some quilting in between the 24/7 nursings, naps and diaper changings :)

I finally have pics of the Round Robin I've been working on. It was due on the 3rd of August but the girls gave me a little extra time to get it finished since I had a baby in that timeframe!! I am very proud of the way it turned out...I have a love for cardinals since they remind me so much of my mom and I wanted to do something really special for this one. I got my inspiration for the embroidery from one of the fabrics in the center panel. I have never done this type of 'do-your-own-thing' embroidery before, but it was really a lot of fun! I drew out what I wanted and then traced it onto the fabric.

I used a simple stitch for the pine needles with a stem stitch for the center 'branch' and then a stem stitch for the brown branches, too. I embellished it with hot-fix ruby red crystals and green holly leaf buttons...both of which were new techniques to me. I've never done any embellishing on quilts before! I really wanted to rubber stamp the holly leaves...I even made my own rubber stamp from an eraser!! Then I couldn't find the right color of green fabric ink...thus the change to buttons. They're a little smaller size than what I wanted, but I think they turned out cute on it anyway :)

All of the cardinals are hand blanket stitched with a satin stitch for the beak.

I guess you'll have to stay in suspense until tomorrow to see the rest...Blogger is not playing nice right now and won't let me upload the picture of the entire quilt top. If you *really* can't wait, you can visit my webshots page here to see it.

I also have Austyn's birth announcement finished so will try and post that tomorrow, too (or you can peek at it at the link above)!

I Am In Love...

2006-08-09T16:01:00.000-06:00

We had a baby! As I wrote before, I was scheduled to go into the hospital on Monday night, July 31st to be induced. We checked in about 10:30pm and I was in bed with an IV in by 11pm. Things went well. No contractions to speak of showing up on the monitor, so I was given Cytotech to help thin and dialate my cervix. I'd talked with other moms who said absolutely DO NOT have this done...but I'd already experienced it with my #2 son and it made my labor go SO much more smoothly and quickly than any of my others. I gave the big okay to do it again with the hope that it would progress like the other.

J and I spent most of the night resting as the contractions weren't too bad and I knew I had a long day ahead of me on Tuesday. My OB's partner came in about 7am to check on my progress and broke my water. We started a pitocin drip shortly after that. I thought I might be brave this time and go as long as I could without an epidural...but that thought didn't last very long :) By 10:30am, I was dialated to 5 and we decided it was time to call the anesthesiologist. A young gal came up to do it ~ very professional for her age ~ and inserted the catheter. I prayed that we wouldn't have problems like the last delivery where they couldn't find a good spot to get it in. No problem with that this time...rather the epidural only took on one side instead of both. So I was completely numb on the right, but could still feel very strong contractions on the left. What to do, what to do... We finally made the decision to have it 'adjusted' with the hope that would fix the problem. But to no avail. My next choice was to have it removed and re-inserted. I had to laugh at the options...by that time, I was hurting pretty good and it was either re-do it or go without. Hmmm...difficult decision there. LOL

The second time worked like a charm...TOO much you could say. I went numb not only from my belly button down...but from my belly button up almost to my neck. This caused panic and alarm with the delivery room nurses but I was feeling mighty fine by then as J would continue to tell me that I was having another contraction and I would just smile and nod and say, "That's nice!". I couldn't feel a thing!! I guess their concern stemmed from the fact that you can develop breathing problems with the anesthetic working across your chest region...so the solution to that was to SHUT IT OFF. Ahem. I just paid $1500+ to have that little thing put in me not once..but TWICE and now they wanted to shut it off. Ok then. I guess the anesthesiologist wanted to make sure I really got it good the 2nd time around!!

Shutting it off wasn't as bad as I thought it might be...I had enough of it in me that I lasted quite a while. The nurses checked me again at 1pm and I was only dialated to between a 5 and 6 (so practically no progress in two hours) and I had gone that entire time without the epidural turned on but still felt pretty good. J and I joked that we would be there ALL day with as slow as I was progressing. Then IT happened. The anesthesia wore off just like that and the contractions were right on top of one another. Another check had me at 10 and ready to push...just a short 20 minutes later than when previously checked!!! I panicked without the epidural so they turned it back on...but it's a slow process when you're watching it through that little tube. Drip. Drip. Drip. UGH!!!! I guess my main delivery nurse felt sorry for me because she called the anesthesiology department again and the guy in charge showed up with a nice big syringe full of stuff that he put directly into my line. I admit it. I am a WIMP. W.I.M.P. If I had to have any of my kids without that, I would have only ever had one. Period.

My OB showed up shortly thereafter and actually spent almost an hour at the end of my table!! J joked with him that we were really getting our money's worth this time! With our last daughter, he barely made it through the door before it was over. :) It's funny the kinds of conversations you can have when you're in that position...I tried my best to keep my sense of humor throughout it all!! I cannot say enough, tho ~ how much I totally love and respect him as my physician. He has been SO good to me since I started seeing him almost 15 years ago and has been the attending OB at all of my children's births.

Anyway, our little Austyn Caeline was born at 2:12pm on Tuesday, August 1st. She weighed in at only 4oz lighter than her sister...9#1oz and 20" long. I am glad we decided to have her when we did or she would have been a 10#er at her due date!! She has an entire head of dark black hair like Daddy and is an absolute doll!! You can see her hospital pics here. Under the picture is a tab that says next picture...click on that and you can see more.

I have a bunch more pics of her on my digital camera, but my USB port is not cooperating right now so I haven't been able to download them into the computer yet. I'm hoping to be able to get to that in the next day or so.

SO...I am in love once again. All Over. It's just such a giddy feeling. I love my new baby girl, I love my "big" (2 year old) baby girl, my 5 and 9 year old big boys and especially my hubby. There is just something about it this time that makes it seem as though our family is truly complete now. And they all have been SO good since we came home from the hospital...makes me want to cry just thinking about it!! I am one of the luckiest Moms on the face of the Earth...

We Have a Date!!

2006-07-28T09:44:00.000-06:00

I had my weekly OB appointment yesterday. Things look good...my GBS test came back negative, clean urine, measuring great, swelling was about the same but my blood pressure was up quite a bit. Not to worry ~ I'm pretty convinced it was just nervousness.

We discussed induction and, although I didn't really expect Barney to agree, we are going in on Monday night to have this baby!! I will be 38 weeks 2 days but she won't be born until late Tuesday night or early Wednesday so I will technically be 38 1/2 weeks by then. Tuesday is 11 days before my actual due date, but I am thinking she is probably about 8# now so that really isn't a concern. And both of my previous pregnancies were induced at 7 - 10 days early due to size (my last baby was 9#5oz)...I like to grow them big and healthy, I guess!! I am HOT, TIRED and just plain worn out and ready to get this over with. Who knew that pregnancy could be so emotionally draining, too? Ever since I had the unexplained bleeding starting at 7 weeks with this one, I have been extremely paranoid and worried about every little thing. Soon, that will be a thing of the past and I'll have this little girl in my arms where she belongs :) I love my kids and I normally love being pregnant...but age and my mother's built-in worrying about every little thing have really gotten to me this time!! LOL There will be NO MORE after this one which is bittersweet...but Jim already has his consultation appointment set up for August 22nd!!

On the quilting front, I have been working on my Round Robin that is due next Thursday. In cutting the borders, I discovered I didn't buy enough fabric (duh!) so had to make due. I'm actually quite proud of myself and my "ingenuity"...I found the most *awesome* Christmas fabric in my stash that matched just perfect...only thing was it was a stripe. I don't really know what to do with stripes which is why it was still in my stash, I'm sure!! Anyway, I decided to make stack-n-whack cornerstones using this fabric even though I've never done a SNW and don't even own any of Bethany's books!! I dug through my quilt book collection and came up with something very, very similar and had a great time figuring it out!! Today, I will get my embroidery traced on and started so I can get the embellishments added on over the weekend. I forgot to take a pic before I started on it, so you will just have wait until I finish to see what it looks like! I already know I am going to love it!! And hope to do more fun stuff like this on my own quilts down the road.

A HOT and Busy Weekend!

2006-07-16T10:07:00.000-06:00

Temps have been near 100 here for the past few days and that's just too much for this fat, extremely pregnant mom to take. So I've been staying in the house and enjoying the AC. I haven't really felt all that great for the past week or so and it seems to be getting worse...guess that's how it is in the middle of summer in the Midwest chasing three little kids around and extremely pregnant with the fourth :) I made the kids start to clean out the toy room on Friday and we finished up yesterday. Two big bags of stuff to Goodwill and a box to Freecycle later, it's done. My boys just have TOO MUCH stuff and it kills me to think about getting rid of some of it after the $$ that's been spent. But we just don't have the room and with the addition of another little one, they're just going to have to make some choices. They did actually sit down in there yesterday and watch a movie...something they haven't done in a LONG time because it's been such a mess. Even though I hated to do it, I made them do it ALL themselves just so they could maybe appreciate what I have to do to clean up after them on a daily basis. They were pooped when they were done!!!

On the quilting homefront, I am working on my next round robin. I have the most *awesome* idea for this one and the person who 'owns' it is really into cardinals and Christmas so I'm adding a little bit of glitz. I'll try to post a pic later on today of what it looks like now before I start and then in a couple of weeks, when I hope to be done with my part, I'll post another pic so you can see what I added. Let's just say it will include a couple of techniques that I've not attempted before but feel confident doing including making my own rubber stamp (which actually was pretty fun!!). I was disappointed that I couldn't find what I needed at the local LQSs (and that IS plural because I think I've hit 7 of them in the last week) so had to order the last couple of things from the internet. This round is due on August 3rd so I should have plenty of time to get it done as long as I get my borders on and what I want to do drafted on it today. It's going to be a nice hand project to work on!!

It's a busy week this week starting with tonight. I'm going out to dinner with my book club...with the exception of Alice's bookstore opening a week ago, I haven't seen them or had dinner out in about 6 months. Now that April's quilt is finally finished, I'm taking it with me to present to her (I am kind-of embarrassed that it's taken so long). I know she will be happy to have it and I will be happy to have it out of my house :) Then I have an OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon, dinner out with some friends that night, the annual Midwest Cookbook Collector's Convention on Wednesday and CCQ on Thursday. Guess I'd better get my rear in gear and get lots done on Monday and Friday!

And how could I forget...six years ago today at 6:18am, we lost my mom to colon cancer. It's been a lonely six years without her as she was one of my best friends. One of her best friends who still lives in town and belongs to one of my charity groups tells me all of the time that she knows how proud my mom would be of me if she were alive today. I also think she would think we were crazy for having such a large family but she would absolutely ADORE my kids...Wyatt was so special to her. In a way, it still feels like yesterday, but realizing that Wyatt will be 9 in a couple of weeks and knowing she died when he was almost three and we didn't have any other children yet brings me back to the reality as to how long it's actually been!!! Today, we will celebrate her life and the time we got to spend with her...

Just Had to Post This Pic!

2006-07-10T11:29:00.000-06:00

This is a pic of my friend Tammy in my small quilt group. She has CF and has had a really rough year this year with not only that, but a sprained (broken?) wrist as well when she fell off her horse. With all of the existing medical problems she has, adding another one to it takes a LONG time to recover. BUT she is doing great, now ~ and is back to quilting alot again which I know makes her happy.

Anyway, she had to have a surgery last year implanting something (can't remember right now what it is) but her bra rubs on it so she has (in the past) gone into the bathroom, removed the culprit and come out loudly exclaiming how she just couldn't take it anymore. She is a HOOT!! So the other girls in our group came up with the idea that we should make her something with a bra because if she isn't going to wear it, it needs to be good for SOMETHING!! LOL

I started doing research on the internet and found out there actually is a pretty big trend out there right now (especially with red hat ladies) to make "bra purses". We expanded on this idea a bit and made our Tammy a bra sewing kit. Since she loves western stuff and horses, we chose some of those theme materials for the outside and then added some bling-bling with black sparkly beads, black feathers and red tassles! The inside is filled with pockets to put all of her thread, needles, tape measure, etc. in. It closes with velcro and has a strap so she can carry it over her shoulder like a purse. It turned out REALLY cute. And she was not only surprised but just tickled by it, too.

I'm off to quilt this afternoon ~ working on another one of my July projects that MUST be done before I have this baby!! Yesterday, I got the next step penciled out for this RR that I'm working on...off to the quilt shop tomorrow after my OB appointment to get what I need!

Finally! Some Progress!!

2006-07-08T12:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I buckled down and finally got the binding done on my friend April's quilt. I've attached a picture of it for your review :) Each of our book club members signed a block and then the remaining blocks are filled with inspirational sayings and quotes. In the middle is a copy of a picture that April painted of an old gravel road with the saying "The Road of Life is Smoother When Traveled with a Friend" in the block next to it. April was supposed to have moved across the state this past summer since her hubby had taken a job there. However, they couldn't get their house sold, so she and the four youngest children decided to stay for another two years until the now oldest in the household graduates from high school. I have to say that we (the book club) were NOT disappointed that she wouldn't be leaving!! But we'd already discussed/purchased/began on the quilt project so we did it anyway and when she finally DOES end up moving, she will have it as a rememberance of us.

The book club girls and I also attended the grand opening last night of Beaverdale Books, a store owned by another friend in my book club. This is the realization of her dream and it is very, very nice. They have it set up with reading areas and the shelves are not all spines like you see in a library or the big chain book stores. The marketing ideas they have done are just great! She also stenciled quotes from famous authors all around the top of the walls. We wish her GREAT success!! I know she'll do well.

In other quilt-y news, CCQ threw a baby shower for me on Thursday this past week. They bought me the Fisher Price portable swing I'd been wanting and then...best of all...they made me (hmph, me...it's for Baby A) a signature quilt!! It's awesome! Each member signed their name and then embroidered it, one member pieced it, one quilted it and one put on the binding and label.

When I picked the kids up that day, Afton crawled into the front seat and said (in the most innocent way, of course!)..."For ME!?!??!" She was SO excited!! It was hard to tell her that it was for Baby A! Now to just keep it away from her until Baby A arrives :)

Speaking of which, I spent most of yesterday having contractions again. I made sure I was drinking enough water and they still kept coming. I decided against going to the hospital, tho ~ and just waited it out to see what they would do. Once I went home and went to bed, either I was too tired to notice or they calmed down and stopped on their own. So far, so good today.

I'm off to get some lunch ready for the kids and spend some more time quilting this afternoon!

Where Did June Go????

2006-07-02T11:41:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's Sunday the 2nd of July already. What happened to my month of June? I guess time flies when you're having fun...or so they say :)

I haven't made time or found time to quilt in the last couple of weeks and it is driving me CRAZY. I thought I was going to have the afternoon to work on some projects until my hubby just informed me he made plans for us to go visit some friends out of town later on this afternoon. UGH. Not that I don't *want* to, because I love visiting with them...I just have so much stuff that I want to get done before this baby arrives!!! And it's hard to get anything done when you're not home to do it!!

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't think I accomplished ANYTHING off my June list and will now have to move it all to the month of July. Pretty soon, I'm just going to have to give in and remove some things because my time is running out.

Of course, if this pregnancy were going perfectly, I wouldn't lose so much time to problems, either. Yes, I ended up in the hospital again this past week. I started having contractions on Wednesday about 11:30am and I thought they were just Braxton Hicks...but when they didn't go away and started getting stronger...you guessed it...they were the real thing so down to the hospital I went...ALONE. Sometimes I think the hubby just doesn't have his head screwed on straight. But I didn't push the issue of him coming with me and he didn't offer. Anyway, after 6 hours and 4 doses of terbuteline, the contractions settled down and stopped and they sent me home to rest. Thankfully, I haven't had any since then. And the "boss" (my OB) says that if I make it just two more weeks (I was 34 weeks yesterday)...they won't try and stop them again. I'll just be able to go ahead and have her. And am I ever READY!!!!

This weekend I catered a wedding event at our local lodge for 275. It wasn't too bad...the menu was pretty simple but I'm completely exhausted today. Which is why I had in my mind that an afternoon full of quilting therapy was just what I need!!

Gratitudes

1) Our new puppy has added so much fun to our lives! Yes, potty training is a PAIN and I still think cats are easier BUT he is such a little card and there's nothing better than seeing the joy in my children's eyes as they play with him and discover how much fun he is!

2) The baby has been moving lots and letting me know in her own subtle way that she is okay. I enjoy being pregnant but I'm ready to endure sleepless nights to have this little bundle in my arms! (Only 4 or 5 more weeks to go!)

3) The solitude of a shopping trip to my local LQS ~ without children ~ and without a time table.

4) The coolness of our central air conditioning on a really hot Iowa afternoon.

5) The memories I have of my mom as we celebrate her life by mourning her death on the 16th of this month.

We Have Had the Worst Luck!!

2006-06-23T10:13:00.000-06:00

It's been a bad dog year for us on the farm. Last year, the week before Thanksgiving, my beloved Magi dog died. She had 'disappeared' for a few days the week of Thanksgiving and we looked and looked and couldn't find her. Of course, when you live on the farm in the middle of nowhere, when they're gone, they're usually gone without a trace. Anyway, Jim finally noticed that our other dog, Max, was hanging out more than usual by the propane tank and when he went there to see what was up...there was Mags. She was 13 years old and had lived a good life with us here on the farm.

Then, a couple of months ago, the boys' Beagle dog, Lucky, lost his life on the paved road south of our house. I think I wrote about that little incident some time back in my blog... We had only had him for three years and he had NEVER strayed from the yard until this spring when Jim started bringing home chicken manure to spread on the field for fertilizer. I guess the pull to that stuff (YUCK) was just too much :( It led him to the neighbor across the busy paved road and he and that dog became buddies. We guess that he was probably on his way over to "visit" when he met his demise.

Then, on Monday this week, we lost our only other outside dog, Max. He had lived a good life with us here on the farm, too ~ and was getting up there in age for a farm dog. He was 11 1/2. A couple of months ago, we started noticing he was having problems walking and the vet said it was probably the beginning of hip dysplasia. At the time, it wasn't really bad enough to do anything about and we talked about what to do with him this fall. I was afraid it would get worse over the winter and he would get laid down somewhere and not be able to get back up and then freeze to death. I guess we don't have to worry about that now :( Jim made the comment a couple of weeks ago that he thought he was depressed at being an "only" dog and was getting lonely. But he had some pretty bad habits (like killing everything that came through the yard and destroying the siding on the buildings when a rabbit or something ran in there and he didn't know how else to get to it)....so we had made the decision a while ago that we wouldn't get another outdoor dog until he was gone so as not to instill those bad habits into another one.

After the boys' Beagle died, they each decided they wanted a dog...of course, they couldn't AGREE on just one. Wink wanted a mini-dachschund and Wyatt wanted a golden retriever. Since we knew the dachsie would have to be an indoor only dog due to size, and we knew we didn't want to get an outdoor dog before Max was gone, the decision was made to get a dachsie first. Thus the addition of Copper to our family almost two weeks ago now. Of course, now that Max is gone, we are plagued with the never-ending question as to why Wyatt can't get a dog now, too.

Unfortunately, this has to be a firm mom decision...with only 5 - 6 weeks left until the new baby arrives, I just can't take any more on my plate. And potty-training one dog at a time is enough for me! But it does feel strange to come home in the dark and not hear that familiar bark greeting and cold wet nose when you get out of the vehicle to go to the house...

Lots of New Things!

2006-06-17T08:58:00.000-06:00

Whew! Yet another busy week at our house! We are proud to announce the addition of yet another four-legged family member...Wink got his new mini-dachshund puppy on Monday afternoon. His name is Copper and, while I was *extremely* apprehensive about having a dog in the house, he is doing wonderfully and has only had one minor accident thus far. We are crate training him and the first few nights were full of lots of crying (from both the kids and the dog) but things have calmed down considerably since then. Here is a pic of him playing with his new favorite toy...a stuffed pig that oinks when you squeeze its tummy!

He really is a nice companion and the boys just love him to death! They are always holding him (spoiling him) so he will end up being a lap dog for sure! Wink is already asking if he can sleep in bed with him once he's reliably potty trained. Works for me as long as I don't have messes to clean up!!

In other news, I finished up my RR quilt to exchange at Thursday's CCQ get together. It was another great quilt to work on...all of the girls in my group do such a great job and come up with the most awesome ideas!! I got a new one to work on that's due in six weeks and then will only have one more after that before we get our own back. I can't wait! Here's a pic of the one I just finished:

Now to just come up with something great for the next one!

In other quilt-y news, I feel as though I'm getting farther and farther behind on my list of to-do things... Since my trip to Minnesota was cancelled this weekend, I'm hoping to have time to do some clean-up in my ever-so-messy studio and then get to work! I am about 1/2 done with putting blocks together for the girls' quilt that I started on about a month ago. Sharon went over some applique basics with me on Thursday so now I can start with the leaves on the blocks I do have done.

Pat called this week saying she had my Wizard of Oz baby quilt finished so I need to take time out to go get that sometime next week. I *still* do not have the binding hand-sewn on my friend April's quilt so will have to make that a priority this week, too.

So many things to do and never enough time!!! LOL

On a lighter note, I've been reading a few blogs where the author lists her gratitudes for each day. After the tough day I had with the kids yesterday, I've decided that I'm going to try it to keep myself in a positive perspective. When you're fat, tired, HOT and extremely pregnant...sometimes, it's hard to look at the bright side!

Today's Five Gratitudes

1) My kids and the fact that they're all healthy enough to *want* to kill each other

2) My husband who comes home every night and makes supper, usually without complaint

3) The companionship of our four-legged friends...without my cat, sometimes I think I'd go nutty!

4) As much as I hate to admit it, I am really thankful for the computer...the chance to talk with other like-minded individuals and the extensive information available about ANYTHING

5) A gentle breeze on a really hot day...the kind that makes you think it might just be 10 degrees cooler than it really is :)

I Forgot that I'd Been Tagged!!

2006-06-05T07:54:00.000-06:00

My friend Tina tagged me a couple of weeks ago when I was having so much fun making trips back and forth to the hospital...Here it is, girlfriend! I might be slow but eventually, I remember!!! LOL

5 Things in my fridge:
~2% Milk
~Ketchup
~Pepsi
~Water
~Yogurt

In my closet:
~My husband's clothes
~Extra sheets/blankets
~The one pair of jeans from high school that I can't bear to throw out...even though I know I'll NEVER fit into them again
~Extra candles
~Costume jewelry

In my purse:
~Not much! It's really small
~Coupons
~ATM Cards
~Calendar
~My quilt sizing cheater card

In my car:
~Big and Rich CD (always in the player!)
~Garbage can
~The keys (so I don't lose them!)
~Wipes
~Band Aids and Antibiotic ointment in case we have any "accidents"

On my Tivo:
~Don't have one!!

Whew! It's been B-U-S-Y!!!

2006-06-05T07:25:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I've let so much time go by since the last time I posted. On one hand, this pregnancy seems to be moving so S-L-O-W...but on the other hand, weeks go by and I wonder where the time went!

A week ago this past Thursday found me in the hospital again...this time for swelling issues. It was just my ankles when I woke up that morning (not unusual for being 28 weeks pregnant at the time) but by noon, my hands and face had joined in the party. A phone call to my OB's office sent me to the hospital to be checked out once again. Testing for pre-eclampsia came back negative but the Fetal Fibronectin test that they did came back positive for pre-term labor. Saw my OB the following Tuesday to find out what I should do...he's so laid back that we're doing N-O-T-H-I-N-G...N-A-D-A...Z-I-P. Go to the hospital if my water breaks or I start bleeding or I start having timeable contractions. blah.blah.blah. I also found out there is a high rate of false-positives for that test which, I figure, is why he is not worried. After all, it took a Pitocin jump-start and close to or more than 24 hours to have my three other kids...why in the world would this one think she should make an early appearance?!?! LOL Anyway, the test is only good for a two-week period of time...so I figure if I don't go into labor by Thursday this week...all is well. :)

On the quilting homefront...I've been working like a madwoman on a new quilt (I know, I know, shame on me). I picked the pattern up at Market and absolutely LOVE it!! It will go in the girls' room when it's finished. I chose a yellow background floral print that I've had in my stash for the past five years as the focus fabric and it is Gorgeous!! I'll post pics soon. I'm really putting it together because it has some simple applique and 1) I figure if I DO end up on bedrest due to problems...I need something to do and 2) the applique is minimal and the same shape over and over again so it will be simple to learn and easy to practice with for more complicated designs down the road.

Unfortunately, starting a new project means that I didn't get my May Goal List completed...but I'm not stressing and moving those to June. Some of them may be moved even further back since my trip to Minnesota this month had to be cancelled...BOO HOO... Barney says no travel further than an hour and a half to two hours from the hospital considering all that has been going on. While I understand and agree with that...it's still very disappointing as Sharon and I have been planning this trip since LAST summer after we had such a great time!!

I have accomplished much more on my "home" to-do list...last week, the kids and I spent a day cleaning out Miss A's room and getting it ready for Baby A. Everything has been rearranged and Baby A's clothes are all washed up and ready to go. Then we spent a day and a half on the boys' room...sorting their books (can't believe how many duplicate copies of stuff they had!), rearranging their closet, getting rid of stuff and switching their beds. Will has been complaining for MONTHS about getting the top bunk so we finally made the change (much to Wyatt's disappointment). We are going to try a six month on - six month off arrangement. Hmph. We'll see how that goes!! We also cleaned out the remaining storage stuff from the hallway and either pitched/put it away. Ah...the feeling of success!! Now we just have our bedroom to finish up there and it will be all done! I'm putting it off until next week, tho ~ too many other things this week to do.

Speaking of which...the t-shirts for the Barn Quilts will be ready for this weekend's BTF celebration. I'm starting to put them together this afternoon and hope they go quickly. I'm really in the mood to quilt and would like to get more of that done this week, too.

Well, off to re-prioritize my June goals, change the laundry around and get the kids out of bed. Need to get the day "officially" started!

It Never Fails

2006-05-24T22:11:00.000-06:00

Just when I have a good thing going...BOOM...something else has to come in and screw it all up!! I had a great time in Minneapolis this past weekend at Market. The fabric line up for Fall is terrible (IMHO)...just not my style. But the talent out there for new patterns and such is absolutely incredible. Hopefully sometime this week, I'll have a chance to post pics of some of the goodies I picked up while there.

Unfortunately, I overdid and knew better. By our arrival home on Sunday evening at 5:30pm, I was pooped. Then we had to attend a graduation reception so it was late before I got to bed. On Monday morning, I couldn't get the baby to move, so I headed down to L & D to get checked out. Five long hours of NST and an ultrasound later, I was headed home. She was fine...I was just a little paranoid and I'm sure she was just a little tired from my over-activity over the weekend. A couple of other good points, tho ~ I did spend Saturday night with my step-dad and great aunt and uncle to celebrate the life of my birthmother as she had died exactly a year before. Then on Sunday, we stopped at IKEA before heading home and it was AWESOME! I found so many neat things I'd like to have when I get really serious about redoing my quilting studio :)

This week seems to be flying by...can't believe tomorrow is already going to be Thursday. I have spent the last three days/nights trying desperately to get caught up and also get my printer fixed. The big job I've been hired to do is due in two weeks and without a printer, I am royally screwed. Jim and I thought we had the problems solved tonight...but to no avail. I think I'm going to have a big bonfire and give it a proper going away...

Anyway, off to bed now for some sleep. My little redhead decided it would be fun to get up at 6:15am this morning which she NEVER EVER does. It's early to rise for me tomorrow to help Wyatt pack his lunch for his school picnic and then try and continue with getting caught up around here. I was hoping I'd get some quilting in this week, too, but the days are flying by...

To Market, To Market...Jiggity Jig

2006-05-19T06:50:00.000-06:00

Lots of exciting things have been happening here this week. I had my regular OB appointment on Tuesday with Barney and everything looks good "for an old lady". LOL Baby's heartrate was still great and I haven't had any major complaints except for this wonderful cold I seem to have picked up with the weather change. I start going every three weeks now which can only mean that D Day is that much closer!!

I also stopped into a new quilt shop while in DSM..."The Quilt Express" on the west side. Very nice shop for just getting going, lots of fabrics, books and patterns. And they are selling Viking machines. It's a sister store to one of my other favorites, The Quilt Junction, so I even got to visit with a gal I used to work with! They had the new edition of Quilt Sampler so I picked one of those up while there and found some really cute 30's FQs to make Sharon's purse from.

When I got home, my Amazon.com book order had arrived! I have been trying to order, without success, the Lois Hallock "Organizing Your Perfect Sewing Space" book for months now but it's always out of stock. With a special deal I had through Amazon, I ordered not one, but TWO copies of it and only paid $4 including shipping. What a deal!!! Now to just convince the hubby to "redo" my quilting studio yet AGAIN.

Yesterday was my bi-monthly meeting with CCQ. We had a great time, as always. I passed off my now-completed Wizard of Oz quilt top to Pat for her to quilt and also got the binding machine sewn onto my friend April's quilt (another LONG overdue project!). I also got the pieces cut for my new Cindy Taylor Oates inspired duffle bag that I want to get done before my trip to MN in June.

Last night, we traveled to Omaha to pick up J's new truck. I am SO excited for him. He found it on EBay about a week ago and we waited patiently for the auction to end and ~ luckily ~ ended up with the winning bid. It was everything the owner said it was + more. The really great thing is we ended up paying about $7k less than retail book value on it, so it was a deal, too!!! It's old by today's standard (a 2000) but it only has 51,000 miles on it and it's red (J's favorite color) and BIG. Extended cab, diesel, four door with a short box. It's really pretty. I am SO glad he finally got something for himself. He works so hard (which I unfortunately sometimes fail to openly appreciate) and it's about time he has something besides his farm truck to drive around. I'll see if I can post pics of it soon.

Then my friend Jennifer and I were talking about International Quilt Market (which is in Minneapolis this year) and ~ even though I had hoped to go ~ had not made any formal plans. As luck would have it, her hubby didn't really want to go, so we made plans to go together. We're leaving this morning about 10am so I'd better go finish packing and get ready! There are going to be SO many really, really neat things about Market and I am very, very excited. :)

Whew! I've been on a wonderful roll this week!!! LOL

384...Is That All?!?!?

2006-05-12T08:12:00.000-06:00

I finally did it! I finally finished up my long-overdue Round Robin and passed it along last night. Aahhh...the smell of sweet success. The only disappointing thing is I got to thinking about how many pieces were in it...hmm...24 blocks each with 16 half-square triangle blocks...384 blocks or 768 individual pieces of fabric. IS THAT IT?!?!? Why in the heck did it seem like a never ending project?!?! LOL I would have expected the number to be up in the thousands for as long as it took me!!!!

Well...it is great to get it moving on to a new home anyway... Here's a pic of my completed round:

Now to move onto the next one. I swear I am NOT going to procrastinate this time around!!! And I already have in mind what to do for it so I hope to start working on it (and maybe get it finished!!) this weekend.

And it's time to move on to other projects of my own. I think one of the first things I'm going to do is get the borders cut and sewn on my baby Wizard of Oz quilt. It's something so simple...I just need to get it done and off my list. Although those fabrics I posted the other day are STILL desperately calling my name...

A couple of days this week, I've spent working on new Barn Quilt projects for the summer...we have two currently in progress and another five that have been confirmed. I need to get the new block list out so potential owners can get their choice made and get my printer put back together to be prepared for the big t-shirt order (200+) the committee placed last night. The shirts are going to be really nice and everyone loved the design we're going to use. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get some ready for the bus tour that's coming in on the 24th of this month. The majority of them need to be ready to go by the 8th of June.

Tonight I'm off to mark out and start painting one of the barn quilts we have primed and the base white coat on. It is a pattern called Country Roads and we'll be doing it up in grass green, grey and black. It will really be nice when it's done and a different color scheme than what we've used before.

Not much else on the agenda for the weekend...so I'm hoping to get alot of things caught up. We'll see how I do!!!

I've Held Off...

2006-05-10T07:34:00.000-06:00

I've been a good girl this week...holding off on any new projects and continuing to work on the RR I absolutely, positively NEED to get done and passed. Finally got all of the 1/2 square triangles sewed, cut, pressed and trimmed last night so it's on to making the last 19 blocks today. I hope to have that done tonight so I can pass it off tomorrow. I'll post pics before it leaves here.

Another neat thing has been going around the quilting blogs so I thought I'd join in once again.

Six Weird Things About Me Hardly Anyone Else Knows

1. I eat all of my food one thing at a time. There isn't a conscientious order to it, although I have noticed that I tend to eat my main entree last. I DO NOT mix my food together except in the event of it being purposely served that way (i.e. chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes). I rarely ever eat dessert.

2. I have this HUGE and I do mean HUGE fear of locusts. My brother used to pluck them off our backyard tree and chase me with them as a child. When the bzz-bzz sound starts in the summer, I stay in the house. One year, when we were first married, Jim brought a shell of one into the house and I cowered in a corner in the living room and screamed and cried until I almost threw up.

3. I always wash my hair first when in the shower and leave the shampoo on until I'm ready to get out. I guess I figure my hair will end up cleaner the longer I leave it on there.

4. The favorite part on my cat is the hair in his ears and I cannot pet him without making a psseeet sound and pulling on it. I would never own a short haired cat that I couldn't do that to.

5. When my mom first died, I refused to have any intimacy with my husband for four months because I was afraid she could see us. (Yeah, I know...it's REALLY a weird thing but she was the first "close" person to me who had ever passed away and I guess the thought of her looking down on us made me feel better in some odd way. Even though it's pretty apparent I'm over that now since I've had three children since then!)

6. I like and have an interest in WAY too many things...I think I could go to college and be a professional student because I could stand to major in about 10 other things right off the top of my list. No wonder I'm a SAHM...I could never make up my mind what type of job was right for me...everything became boring after about six months!

Guess that's about it. It was a fun exercise but it took some thinking!!!

Ever Get That URGE...

2006-05-07T11:06:00.000-06:00

to start something new?!?! LOL That's where I'm at this week. I'm not necessarily bored with the projects I've been working on...it just seems as though I've been working on them so much lately, that I'm tired of looking at them. Hmph. Maybe that's why I have so many things in my WIP pile!!!!

Anyway...I've been working diligently on my Round Robin since it was actually due Thursday this week (blush)...and I'm still not finished. I ran out of fabrics on Friday so had to make a quick (?!) run to the Quilt Shop to pick up some more. Here is what it looked like when I got it...

And this is what my first finished border looks like...

And here's a close-up of two of the blocks:

It was really a DUH moment for me after I started on it. GREAT idea...but the brain just didn't register how many of those little 1/2 square triangles I was going to have to make.

Anyway...back to my urge :) So while I'm at the quilt shop picking up the remainder of what I need for this RR project...I start looking around (always a bad idea when you're in a hurry!) and what do I find? This fabric:

I already have 4 or 5 yards of it at home...originally purchased with the intention of making Baby A's quilt from it as soon as it was confirmed that Baby A was really a girl :) Had no idea on pattern at the time...just bought it because it yelled at me from across the store!!! All of a sudden on Friday, the light bulb turned on and it must have been about a 500 watt one...I could see the pattern in my head and knew exactly what I wanted to go with this fabric. So here is the pattern I'm going to use:

And here are the fabrics I bought to go with the yellow print:

Luscious, aren't they!?!? I think I need chocolate to fulfill the craving! I just want to push everything else aside and start on this one NOW!!! LOL

On the bright side...at CCQ this week, I did get the borders rip-it, rip-it off of the baby size Wizard of Oz quilt and also got two other projects organized and ready to go. One was a set of blocks that my friend Mikki gave me...after she bought the fabrics, she figured out that she didn't really like them. Most of the blocks are already done...I think I'm going to split them out and make tablerunners for Christmas gifts this year. Then the other project is a derivative of a project I started last year (another with 1/2 square triangles!)...I sewed the wrong two fabrics together for the quilt design I was doing...so now have enough of those blocks to make another quilt! Decided on a block design and made those into sets. Not sure when I'll get time to put that together...but at least it's started :)

I'm off to ignore what's truly calling me and work on finishing up my RR. I have the new one to work on now, too ~ I'll have to post pics of it soon. It's gorgeous done up in 30's prints.

Here's to Another Great Week!

2006-05-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

Yeah! I feel so good to have gotten some of the things off my to-do list accomplished again this weekend.

DONE! 1) Declutter the kitchen. I KNOW there is a TON of stuff I could get rid of out of my cupboards. And it was all given away on Freecycle and is already outta here!!

DONE! 3) Sweep and scrub the bathroom floor. Declutter the bathroom closet. Hehe...I "got out" of doing this as Wyatt LOVES to clean the bathroom (he's a strange child!! LOL)...so he did it instead of me! Of course, I had to slip him a couple of dollars for his savings account...

DONE! (almost! Have a little area left to do) 4) Clean off the tops of my built-in cabinets and declutter.

STILL TO-DO in the next couple of weeks:

2) Clean the ceiling fan in the kitchen and the lights in the kitchen, dining room and bathroom.

5) Open up all of the windows and put the finish coat on my remaining built-in cabinet so I can get the glass put in the doors and my dishes put away.
6) Go to Ace and pick out the new paint for Afton and baby's room. Then it's on to cleaning out her room of the furniture that's in there, removing the old border, priming and then painting!! Need to really get a handle on this before I get any more preggers.

It feels SO good to have these things done :) Now onto some quilting for this week. When I originally made out my list of things to get done, I never really put a "timeline" on them so I think I may go back and do that sometime this week. For right now, I need to get my Round Robin finished up because it's due on Thursday and I'd also like to get that Wizard of Oz baby quilt borders straightened out and finished by then, too. If I work quickly and have time, I may even get my Triple Irish Chain Colorwash finished and ready for borders, too!

Then the fun thing for me this week is to pick out a quilt for MYSELF to make...I have birthday money to spend that's burning a hole in my pocket PLUS I have a full card at one of my favorite quilt shops that's worth $25 in merchandise. WooHoo! $125 to spend on something for ME :) I'm seriously thinking about purchasing the fabric for the 3D Dresden Plate that I'd like to get done before next year's quilt show...OR I could save it for Sharon and my trip to the MN Quilt Show in St. Cloud in June...OR I could spend it getting the remaining fabrics I need for Afton's big-girl bed quilt...Oh, the options!! LOL

For right now, I'd better go get my rear in gear to finish moving things around in the kitchen. Our new refrigerator is being delivered tonight!!!!

I'm Joining in the Fun

2006-04-27T18:47:00.000-06:00

As I'm reading the blogs of other quilters, I'm finding that we have an awful lot in common in addition to fabrics and creativity! :) A couple of fun things I thought I would do is follow in their tagging games and start one here myself.

All That History

20 years ago (1986): I was ending my freshman year in high school looking forward to what were *supposed* to be the best four years of my life (yeah, right!).

10 years ago (1996): Married to Jim for three years now and moved back to Jefferson. Still trying to settle in. Working as an insurance agent and loving it until I find out in October that I'm pregnant with our first baby.

5 years ago (2001): Doing ALOT of adjusting to life as my mom has been gone a year or so and Will was born in November of 2000. Quit my job to become a SAHM (who'd a thunk it?!?!) And who could forget the worst day in US History on my MIL's birthday?

1 year ago (2005): Celebrating 12 years of marriage and the one year birthday of our third child...Afton Elizabeth! Still living in our small town and hating it...but learning to live with the life choices I've made which is a HUGE step for me (that high-end executive job still sometimes calls my name!) Facing yet another huge loss as my birthmother dies in a six-week time period from very, very aggressive cancer.

1 month ago (2006): We found out that our new baby will be another girl! Due in August, this brings our child count up to four (and enough!). And yes, we do know what causes pregnancy.

Today: A busy day full of accomplishment on my to-do list. I ALMOST have a clean house!

Tomorrow: Put together my Wizard of Oz baby quilt borders and work out the final details on the Round Robin that's due next week!

Tagging: I'll tag Jinx, Amy, Tina and Tracey...

The Decluttering is ON!

2006-04-27T07:25:00.000-06:00

So far, this week has been extremely productive...

1) I've cleaned out all of the kids' rooms of any clothing that they either won't wear or is too small.

2) I've cleaned out our own closet of clothes that we either don't (won't) wear or are too small.

3) I've organized said clothes into piles of consignment or Goodwill.

4) I've delivered to consignment and Goodwill.

5) Brought back home the consignment "rejections" and posted them to my local Freecycle group.

6) I've cleaned out the kids' toy room and posted a HUGE bunch of videos on Freecycle and expect to continue with the toy downsizing today.

7) I'm giving the remaining Freecycle items on my list until the weekend...then I'm posting to a bigger group and expect to get rid of everything by early next week. (Yeah!)

8) I ordered the new drawers to put the baby clothes in and have sorted through them also. I will need to go back and resize once the drawers get here, but it could be a couple of weeks.

9) The most disappointing thing to my week??? Unfortunately, I haven't done ANY quilting this week and I am getting ITCHY ~ ITCHY ~ ITCHY!!!!!!!

10) My one bad moment...at the expense of all of the decluttering going on around here, I've let my clean kitchen and living room "go to pot" so to speak so will spend today picking up, sweeping and vaccuming them.

**STILL on my To-Do List**

1) Declutter the kitchen. I KNOW there is a TON of stuff I could get rid of out of my cupboards.

2) Clean the ceiling fan in the kitchen and the lights in the kitchen, dining room and bathroom.

3) Sweep and scrub the bathroom floor. Declutter the bathroom closet.

4) Clean off the tops of my built-in cabinets and declutter.

5) Open up all of the windows and put the finish coat on my remaining built-in cabinet so I can get the glass put in the doors and my dishes put away.

6) Go to Ace and pick out the new paint for Afton and baby's room. Then it's on to cleaning out her room of the furniture that's in there, removing the old border, priming and then painting!! Need to really get a handle on this before I get any more preggers.

Guess that's about it...I'm off to see what I can get done this morning and then I think I'm going to sit down this afternoon ~ irregardless ~ and get some quilting time in!

Little Did I Know...

2006-04-21T09:34:00.000-06:00

when I wrote that last post just exactly how sad of a week it was going to be. On Tuesday, our beagle dog, Lucky, was hit by a car on the pavement just south of our house. Wink was in the tractor with Daddy planting corn and saw the whole thing happen :( We're pretty sure he was killed instantly from the sheer force of the vehicle so at least he didn't suffer. The poor girl who hit him pulled over and was crying so hard she could hardly see. We told her it wasn't her fault...We held a funeral for him in the afternoon when Wyatt got home from school.

Wednesday was my 24 week check-up at the OB. Things are fine...heartrate is good and I haven't had any out-of-the-ordinary problems this month so that's a relief. I am thankful for each day of this pregnancy, but I sure wish the time to have her would come so I could hold her in my arms and make sure she's okay. We're still undecided on a name...I told Jim the other night I really liked Austin and it fits all of my criteria (two syllables, doesn't end in an "e" sound), but it's traditionally a boy name (at least in our area). He liked it, too ~ but not sure if we want to go there. Addison is still my #1 choice right now.

Attended a small group of CCQ yesterday...and did something I shouldn't have. I made homemade Olive Garden salad dressing and the recipe called for raw egg. EGADS! Why do I do these things to myself?!?!? I didn't even think about it...made it up, used it on the salad and ate it. Can you spell S-A-L-M-O-N-E-L-L-A??!?!?! LOL I had a panic moment last night and had to call Barney for reassurance. He said not to worry...the risk is SO low...but if I start feeling sick to come in and see him. I looked up some info on the internet (my downfall of scaring myself to death) and found that symptoms usually onset anywhere from 6 - 48 hours afterward so I figure if I get to Sunday afternoon and am still fine, the risk has passed. BUT ...I definitely won't be that stupid again. Anyway, Mikki cleaned out her scrap bin so I came home with a BUNCH of blocks and stuff that I'm going to try and sort out today sometime.

I have a house to clean and stuff to prepare for tomorrow...my baby turned 2 TODAY!! And we're having a small family gathering for her tomorrow. I just can't handle a big blow-out like we're used to doing...I'm too fat and pregnant for that. So we're having a simple meal with cake and ice cream. She'll still have a good time.

I'm off to get started. Have to get most of my stuff done up today since ~ with travel time ~ I'll be gone most of the morning/early afternoon to Jim T.'s memorial service tomorrow. On that sad note, I did find out earlier this week that he did take his own life...something I had feared was probably the truth. Even with an education in your field and loving the job that you do...it's much easier to solve other people's problems than it is to solve your own :(

It's Going to Be a Sad Week...

2006-04-17T10:19:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, we were so busy cleaning, that I didn't even take time out to go get the mail. This is pretty unusual for me because getting the mail is sometimes the highlight of my day! :) I am an information hound and it seems as though the things that come in the mail let me know some of what's going on in the world around us...like right now, we haven't started heavy-duty politic-ing...but it will be coming. And everyone and their dog wants you to have a credit card from their company. And how the mail order catalogs never seem to stop coming...

Anywho, Jim brought it in with him and I just happened to be having a conversation with him before we went upstairs to bed and was opening the day's mail at the same time. In there, was a letter to me telling me that my long-time therapist had unexpectedly died last Wednesday. OMG - what a blow. Jim T. was one of the best therapists I've had over the years...starting way back in high school following my date rape episode in 1986. I started seeing Jim back in 2002 when my J and I started having MAJOR marriage problems. And I do mean MAJOR including leaving with the kids for a week to try and get some things straightened out. Looking back, I realize that alot of it at the time was self-inflicted...I was going through my crisis of not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, but at the time thinking that what I was doing was NOT it. My J played a huge role in it, too ~ which he admitted after being in counseling for a year...we just weren't what we'd dreamed we'd be in high school but hadn't yet matured enough yet at the time to let go of those dreams and reaalize that we had grown to become different people.

Anyway, our marriage seemed to get back on track after about a year and a half of joint counseling and then I continued to see Jim on my own until last year in order to get help sorting out the feelings I had concerning the loss of my mom in 2000 and the subsequent loss of my family in 2003. There were a lot of negative things I focused on at the time, and Jim was one of the biggest proponents of making me turn that around and realize that I AM OKAY and it is my family's loss to decide to no longer have contact with us. Life got really busy last spring with the illness and impending death of my birthmother and Jim and I had just not had the chance to get back together. The last communication I had with him was a phone call he made to me after she died telling me how sorry he was and I was always welcome to come see him anytime. I guess ~ in reality ~ the fact that I didn't "need" him anymore should come as a blessing...not that I don't have periods of depression anymore, but he really gave me some introspect on how to deal with it. And for that, I am very, very thankful.

And now ~ the communities that knew him well ~ will have to endure the loss of a person who touched so many lives in such a short period of time on earth. It really was true that he was definitely meant for his profession. I pray for peace for his family...his wife, young son and daughter (Julia ~ who was adopted from a Russion orphanage and is just the neatest story) and his older daughter and grandkids. They will be who miss him most.

I am planning on attending the memorial service this Saturday and another on Sunday in Ames...to give tribute to a man who has changed my life for the better and allowed me to look forward to the future with grace and hope...Rest well, my dear friend...and may the Heavens be that much better with you there.

Disaster Pics

2006-04-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

Well...I'll try it again today and see if Blogger will accept the photos of my messier-than-ever office space...

What a flippin' disaster area, huh?!?! Aw, well, admitting is the first step to a cure!! LOL

Speaking of which, I spent yesterday afternoon and last night gathering up all of my overdue FA paperwork (since December!!!) and inputting it into the computer, reconciling it from the monthly report and then filing it away. Happy to report that it is one BIG project that is now mostly caught up on. I think there might be a few more tidbits of paperwork out in the chemical shed that haven't been brought up to the house lately, but I'm going to attempt to get them some time today and be ENTIRELY caught up. This morning, I'm going to work on the FLOOR in the office and getting things up and off of it so I can vacuum (the ladybugs in here are driving me CRAZY!) in addition to getting the kids fed breakfast and back to working on their toy room.

I also went through the buckets of clothes in A's room, sorted them for consignment or saved for the new baby and those are ready to go. Anne came yesterday morning, too, to get clothes for Brandon and then she'll bring me back all of his too-small stuff so I can get that ready to go to consignment, too. Guess I'll be taking a trip there on Monday! Yay! More stuff out of my house...Now if I could just get the kids to give up some of their toys...

Off to work! It's going to be a great weekend!!!!

I Said I Would...

2006-04-14T10:21:00.000-06:00

post some pics of a couple of my recent projects so here they are...

One that I had forgotten about but was definitely in my UFO pile was the "Quilt Shop" bag I started for a friend about three years ago. I am *so* stubborn that I got to the point of sewing the liner to the bag, didn't like the directions, and put it away in my WIP pile. DUH!! I really felt like a schlum when I finally finished it and sent it to her. It was my first effort at embroidery, tho ~ and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Then I did the next block for the Round Robin that some of the members of CCQ are doing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mariner's Compasses and just HAD to try this technique. You can't see it in the photograph, but it's a folded, three dimensional technique by Cheryl Phillips. She has alot of neat projects in the book and I hope to be able to put together a three dimensional Dresden Plate quilt from her book for the quilt show next year. It wasn't as hard as I thought and I didn't really mind using the templates since they came with the pattern and I didn't have to make my own.

I also promised I would post pictures of my office as a way to motivate myself to get it cleaned up. So ~ here I am ~ admitting my messiness and my let-it-get-way-out-of-hand-so-do-nothing-at-all attitude...

Whoops! Blogger doesn't want to let me post those right now...I've tried twice and it says "ok", but they aren't showing up so I'll have to try again later.

I am happy to report that I cleaned out all of my billing files and shredded the stuff from 2004 then filed my HUGE file pile of stuff from the last six months. Now to just be able to see the top of my desk again...

I Hate Clutter!!!

2006-04-13T10:52:00.000-06:00

As much as I try to avoid making it, there's no doubt that clutter has made its home inside my house. It seems as though paper is the biggest thing that I can't seem to control...bills, magazines, mail, kids' school work, clippings, recipes, etc. I really, really need to learn to look at it once and then do something with it. Instead, it piles on my table in the kitchen until I think I can *find* the time...which never comes. And then it gets overwhelming and all I can do is look at it and sigh.

That's where I'm at today. The boys get out of school early and have tomorrow and Monday off for Easter/spring break so I am hoping to have at least two out of the next four days to DEclutter as much as I can. They really do a great job keeping Afton entertained and it would be really nice to get some of this stuff out of here so I can do some deep spring cleaning. Her birthday is next weekend...so I'm going to have to do something with the mess that I have...may as well be to get rid of it as opposed to just moving it around.

Unfortunately, this means no quilting for me...I know it is going to take ALOT longer than the time I have allotted myself so I may as well not even give myself any false hopes of getting anything else done and just focus on the task at hand. If I were really brave (not sure that I am...LOL), I would post some before and after pictures as encouragement. Actually, I may do that for my office portion since it would be really nice to see how it is through a photograph since it has just turned into a H-U-G-E junk pile and has been that way for quite some time. It is really a downer to come in here and work every day when I can't find anything!!

On the upside, I will post some pics of the current projects I've been working on as a little eye candy...just as soon as the batteries for my camera recharge!

The Terrible TWOs are Beginning...LOL

2006-04-12T07:21:00.000-06:00

So Saturday, I took Wyatt and Afton with me to DSM while Wink spent the day with Daddy drilling oats. Wyatt was in need of a haircut and new pants. We did the haircut first and it was, of course, super busy so it took longer than I expected. I should have known how my day was going to go right then and there! Afton was into the suckers and the magazines and just would NOT sit still...the little stinker!! I even tried "locking" her in her stroller but then she just wanted to cry...so I spent the time we had there trying to talk to Wyatt and his stylist and chase her around the store. UGH!

We headed out to a couple of shops after that to find Wyatt some new jeans. She was very good at both places until it came time to leave. And she is SO into babies right now and they were, of course, out in full force on Saturday, too. It's hard to convince her that all babies don't belong to her and she can't touch each and every one she sees!!! The funny part about that is...we went to visit some friends with a newborn on Monday night this week...and she barely paid any attention to their baby...even though I was holding him!!! I asked her if she was going to "love on" our new little baby when she got here and she gave me a resounding "NO"!!! LOL I'd finally had enough on Saturday that we just drove around until she fell asleep and then drove around some more for about 30 minutes so she could get in a little nap. Naps work miracles!!! LOL Our last stop was Target and I knew it was going to be a long one with the list of things I had to pick up...she was pretty much an angel while we were there. Sometimes she can be so funny!!

I love how her vocabulary is increasing every day and the way she expresses herself is SO cute!! Yesterday, while we were in the car, Wink and I were playing the "slug bug" game...if you see a VW bug, you yell "Slug Bug" and then you can smack the person in the car with you unless they see it too and yell "Safety". Wink got me a couple of times until I started paying more attention and when I yelled "Safety", Afton started saying it, too. And then she has the most wonderful giggle...

On Sunday morning, my dad called and wanted to see the kids so Wink and Afton went to his house to play for the afternoon. Wyatt spent the day with Daddy drilling oats again. I'm proud to say that I spent the afternoon quilting and got Gage's Peek-a-Boo quilt about 1/2 finished!! It is turning out so cute... but I ran out of blue thread so will have to pick some up at the quilt shop when I'm in Des Moines today. I'm heading down to have my summer pedicure (started wearing my sandals yesterday!) and have my hair cut and permed. I hope it lasts longer this time!!!

The rest of the week is busy as well...Wyatt has Cubs tomorrow night and then the kids are out of school on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday. I wish we were going somewhere for the weekend, but the farmers are all starting in the field so Jim probably won't even be home for Sunday dinner. Oh well...such is the life of a farm wife...and early in means early out which is always a good thing...

Yay! A Great Day Yesterday!

2006-04-07T07:21:00.000-06:00

It ended up being a very productive day yesterday. I actually arrived at CCQ before 10am (which is unusual for me) but I knew there was so much stuff I wanted to get done...

I took the things that I'd gotten in Kalona to share with the others and then did a quick lesson review with Mikki on paper piecing. It was easier than I remembered doing previously...the hardest part is just trying to remember that you have to flip your fabric after it's sewn to cover the numbered space that it's supposed to go in. :) I have two two paper piecing patterns that I'm going to try and get at least one of them done before the quilt show next fall...just as soon as I knock some other stuff off my ongoing list.

Speaking of which ~ I worked on my TICC yesterday. I did finally get the pattern revamped and the three additional blocks built for the top. I did get them sewn together but I didn't get them sewn on the quilt. I could see what it will look like anyway and I am going to LOVE it with the changes. Now to just get the bed measured upstairs and the two vertical rows added to the sides to increase the size to king...and we'll be all set to put the borders on. I'm hoping to clean the house up this morning and have some additional time to work on it this afternoon while Afton's taking a nap.

Pat couldn't make it down yesterday so I didn't give her the Wizard of Oz quilt. Probably a good thing since I don't have the borders on it yet. I could have done it yesterday (and had plans to if she'd been there) but I didn't even get it out and work on it since she couldn't come.

Guess that's about it for today...I'm hoping to have some free time over the weekend to take Wyatt shopping...he needs pants SO bad (although I did find out that G'Ma Kathy has some at her house) and he needs a haircut pretty badly, too. It's supposed to be gorgeous outside again with no rain on Sunday so I might plan a "picnic" type menu for dinner and we'll barbeque before Jim gets too busy in the field...

So far...it hasn't been too productive :(

2006-04-05T20:48:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Wednesday night ALREADY and I have to say that my week has flown by too fast and I haven't felt like I've accomplished much at all.

Monday is a blur to me now (so much so that I can't even remember what I did that day...LOL). Yesterday, I took the kids to GG's in the afternoon so that I could work on paperwork for our tax appointment this morning. Yep, we're that far behind this year :( Usually it takes us two or three appointments to get everything done and finalized, but this year, we just procrastinated just a wee little too long and didn't get an appointment until today. It was a late night last night, but we got it all together. I'm happy to report that we had everything we needed, had a GREAT appointment and are expecting a refund that will not only pay our State Tax bill, but also give us enough extra to maybe purchase a new refrigerator. :) The ice maker finally breathed its last breath a few days ago and I am going CRAZY without any ice in this house. Yes, I know...you'd think I would be smart enough to buy some when I'm in town but I keep forgetting...LOL.

Tomorrow, I'm heading out the door to CCQ and hope to get my TIC top completed. I haven't even unpacked anything out of my bag since I got home from my class on Sunday, which ~ in an odd sort of good way ~ means I won't have to spend the rest of tonight repacking it to take tomorrow. :)

Wink had his kindergarten health check-up today and everything seems to be in "working" order. :) He was having slight problems with the eye test so we're going to make him an appointment to have a regular check-up at the optometrist's office. I'm not too worried about it, tho...he's always passed at his ped's check-ups. They took blood for a hemoglobin check and I thought he was going to have a little "freak-out session" when they said they were going to stick his finger...but all was well once it was done and he thought it was really neat to see the blood go into the little tube. :)

The rest of my evening has been spent cleaning up since the house has been totally ignored while I worked on paperwork and I'll be gone again tomorrow. Whew! What a week it's been already :)

What a totally AWESOME weekend!

2006-04-03T08:08:00.000-06:00

Barb, Sharon and I left about 9am on Friday morning for our weekend trip to Kalona. We stopped in South Amana along the way and shopped at a really neat little antique/gift/fabric shop before eating lunch. Traveled further east and shopped in a very nice store in Coralville, another in Iowa City and then headed to the Ben Franklin in Iowa City where we were not sure what we would find. OMG - what a treasure trove!!! Absolutely gorgeous store filled with only first-quality quilt shop fabrics, TONS of samples, patterns, books, galore... It was VERY, very nice. Of course, we were time limited so only had a few minutes to shop around before heading over to the U for Barb's daughter's graduate student reception. We ate dinner at some little restaurant across from campus...nothing special really, but it was good. The food was a little pricey on the dinner menu ~ $23 for a plate of pasta ~ but we lucked out and got there early enough, they let us order from the lunch menu instead. Headed out to Kalona, checked into our hotel and headed to the evening presentation. Whoops!! I thought it started at 7pm...it actually started about 6:15 so we missed most of it. We caught just the tail end, tho and got to view some really beautiful quilts.

Woke early the next day and watched an Amish family pull in to the grocery store next door with their horse and buggy. In our area of the state, there is no Amish or Mennonite population so it's kind of neat to visit somewhere that the culture is different. We had "continental" breakfast at the hotel and then scooted downtown for a garage sale that we had heard about that was to have quilter's stuff. We HIT the jackpot!!!! We were the first ones in the door at 8am and all three of us got some absolutely fantastic buys. I came home with some sets of blocks (Grandmother's Flower Garden, Goose Tracks (I think), some sort of applique blocks that are similar to a Dresden Plate but aren't), a few new books (50 cents to $1 a piece) and a few new cookbooks. Barb picked up a whole new library for herself for $12!!!!! And Sharon got a little bit of everything. It was awesome!!

We shopped some stores following the sale since our morning meeting didn't start until 9:30am. I found the fabric that I'd been looking for that I was short (3 - 3" squares!!!!) on my Triple Irish Chain Colorwash. I think someone was looking out for us that day!!! That fabric was probably all of three years old and I NEVER thought I would find any more.

The meeting went well...great vintage show and tell in the morning, a fun tour of the Basket Quilt Exhibit in the museum, AWESOME lunch by the local church ladies with a yet to be identified chicken casserole that was really YUMMY, and afternoon basket quilt show and tell and identification. We even got out early and had time for more shopping!!! LOL We headed back to the Interstate and stopped at an antique/garden shop, a local Goodwill store and then the maternity store at the outlet mall on the way home. Got home early enough to enjoy the evening and prepare things for my TICC class yesterday afternoon.

Speaking of which, I got to be the 'anal' one in class yesterday. I absolutely HATE this pattern (Colorwash Irish Chain by Heatherworks)...I think it's written confusing and is difficult to follow. I also hate the way it's written so that when your top is finished, it's not symmetrical and looks like you've just decided to stop building it and put a border on. So ~ in my analytical way ~ I had to sit down yesterday and figure out how to rework the pattern so that my top WOULD end up being symmetrical. Of course, this meant that I had to frog off the last four or five rows, cut two of the "background" square in half, and totally redo those removed rows to make them go on the top of the quilt...but it's been sitting for two years in my WIP pile...what's a little more work?!!?! I guess the plus side is I KNOW I will like it much better done this way and won't have to roll my eyes at it every time I look at it on my bed. I'm hoping to get the top done this week...we'll see... LOL

Otherwise, everything's been going great. The baby is moving more now so I have been worried less. She can be an active little fart!!! The boys have soccer again tonight and tomorrow night (Wyatt's first game!) and tomorrow is Jim's birthday so I'll have to spend the day making him a cheesecake since that's his favorite. The rest of the week is pretty busy but uneventful...tax appointment on Wednesday, kindergarden health clinic, CCQ...

Here's to another great week!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

2006-03-29T09:22:00.000-06:00

Wow! It's supposed to get somewhere near 60 today. Spring is finally on its way! Woke up this morning to a clear blue sky and plenty of sunshine!

Yesterday, Barb and I went to DM for a little shopping and a great lecture by Linda Jenkins from Piece O' Cake Designs. It was about how your quilting (and quilting design) make the quilt. She had an awesome slide show including some of their very first quilts (and what NOT to do) and had some really great samples hanging. I spoke with her briefly about their book, "Stars in the Garden" that's no longer available and asked her if she realized it was selling for big $$ on Ebay and the like. She laughed and said, yes they knew it, and I surely didn't pay that much for my copy!!! No, I didn't. But they've now republished the pattern in actual pattern form as opposed to a reprint of the book...and she said Fairfield is going to be using it in their print ads! How exciting!

I did get most of the fabrics purchased for Gage's baby quilt and hope to get started on that sometime in the next couple of weeks. I think it's really going to turn out cute with the Peek-a-Boo pattern I've selected! I didn't buy the border fabric yet ~ because I think it's going to be the hardest part to choose ~ but we'll deal with that once I get the top put together :) I need to get the fabrics washed and pressed today so they're ready to go.

Unfortunately, Sharon didn't get to go with us yesterday since she not only got called in for jury duty, she got PICKED, too!!! I hope it's a quick trial...I would hate for her to miss going with us this weekend.

Speaking of today...lots on the plate again, as usual. I have got to get my checkbook figured before the weekend, clothes to put away, laundry to do and general picking up. I'd like to find some time this afternoon to work on my Triple Irish Chain...but we'll see how productive of a morning I end up having!

Here's To a Great Week!

2006-03-27T08:01:00.000-06:00

Started off yesterday early (before 8am on a Sunday is EARLY to me!). Had some nice quiet time to myself before everyone else rolled out of bed so that I could check my email, pick up a little bit and get ready for my class in Ames. Took the kids to Jim's parent's house and met Sharon at Casey's. We rode over together and discovered when we got there that the store *wasn't* open to the public on Sundays (hence our idea to get there early and do a little shopping) so we ended up going to JF for a little while instead.

Class was great - there were THREE women named "Sharon" there plus me so it was quite comical. There were only a total of 6 in the class altogether which I think makes for a really nice size. You can chat and not worry about leaving anyone out, have room to spread out your stuff and just generally have a good time. I got the third row (out of 4 1/2) sewed on to my chain and almost two blocks out of the fourth row completed. I'm hoping to have time to work on it a little bit this week but I'm not too hopeful. I've got a busy week ahead! It would be nice to go next week and be ready to put the borders on, tho. WOOHOO! That means I would be able (almost) to knock one thing off my WIP list!

Today is a "working" day at home cleaning up following the weekend. I hate Mondays!! LOL I have a bunch of errands to run, too. Speaking of which ~ here's the weekly funny. Yesterday, before I left, I KNEW we were getting really low on toilet paper and I was going to make sure and stop to get some before I came home. Well, I lost my thought and forgot. Last night...you guessed it! Major emergency in our household as there is no TP and no kleenex. What to do, what to do?!?! So I called the neighbors and asked to have some of theirs (not borrow...ewww!!!LOL). Jim was SO appalled. He says he'll never live that down!! Hey...you gotta do what you gotta do. LOL

Tonight I'm off to take Winks to his first night of soccer practice (if it quits raining) and then to a sewing session to make pillowcases for the troops. A friend of mine's SIL is leaving for Iraq tomorrow and she'd like to get 50 of them done tonight. I'm hopeful that we'll have enough help to pull it off!

Tomorrow, Sharon, Barb and I are heading to the DMAQG meeting to listen to Linda Jenkins speak. Should be a really fun day out. I hope Sharon gets to go -she got a letter to be called in for jury duty tomorrow...but hopefully it will settle today and she won't have to attend.

Wednesday and Thursday are "home days" so I can get stuff prepared since I'm going to be gone this weekend. Barb, Sharon and I are leaving on Friday for the weekend meeting of the IIQSG then home again on Saturday night.

Better go get started so I can say I accomplished something this week!!

A Beautiful Saturday in the Midwest

2006-03-25T17:19:00.000-06:00

Well, I woke up this morning to fresh air and plenty of sunshine. Just the kind of thing to make you think your day might end up being something special. I was the first one up this morning (as usual!) and had a nice quiet opportunity to spend some "me" time before the hustle and bustle began.

The kids and I were up and running when Jim and Wyatt returned from their overnight Science Center trip and I was out the door to my friend Carla's house for a few hours to work on brochures for the Barn Quilt project. It was a nice visit with some time to catch up on the "goings on" around town.

I came home to yet another phone call that I wasn't really prepared to take. It seems there has been more news concerning the two "coordinators" who left our quilt group and their incesstant "gossip" about me around town. The latest is that they've been to the local hospital to publicize the fact that they're no longer part of the group and to lay blame on me in an attempt to get the hospital staff "against" me in preparation for next year's quilt show. Geesh. When I expressed my disgust to Jim, he once again reiterated that anyone who knew me KNEW BETTER and that the only asses they were making were of themselves. I guess I know that...but I really feel this situation is getting out of hand and ridiculous. And the kicker is ~ I don't know how to stop it in an adult manner. The child in me wants to lay down on the floor and scream, egg their house or beat them up on the street...but that probably wouldn't go over too well, now, would it?!?! LOL

Anyway, it was nice to come home to my own environment where I'm assured that people love me and that I really AM okay. :) We had a late lunch about 2pm and then I put Afton down for a nap while the boys watched a movie. I laid down for a bit, too, but the swirling thoughts in my mind wouldn't let me rest so I'm up again and in my office cleaning. Jim's outside doing some clean up work in the yard and getting ready to run the manure spreader in the Adzuki field again. He told me if I could find someone to watch the kids tonight, he'd take me out for dinner! I know it's his way of trying to make me feel better :)

Here's to an uneventful, relaxing, enjoyable evening!

Not Much Accomplished...

2006-03-24T16:20:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, I lost my motivation earlier this morning. My list of things to get done just didn't go anywhere. I did however, get the paperwork on the kitchen table sorted out and the rest of my quilt magazines looked through and decided upon as to tossing or keeping. I really got rid of alot of them! And I followed Sharon's advice to post-it note the projects I liked in the ones that I did keep so I could find them more easily when the moment struck me. :) In between all of that, I found the time to wash, dry and fold four loads of laundry although it's not put away yet. I'm hoping when Jim gets home this afternoon he can carry our basket upstairs for me since it's so heavy. I really need to go through my closet and declutter in there, too...but that's another project for another day :)

Jim called earlier and put in another order for FA so completed the paperwork on that. I swore last year that I wasn't going to let myself get behind and ~ so far I haven't ~ but the season will be getting into full swing here soon so I need to clean out last year's files and get this year's stuff input into the master database so I can put it away. Sales this year have been good although we did lose one major account. From what I can tell, tho ~ the other accounts have increased their purchasing for this year so we should be around the same level as we were last year. We've been picking up a new account here and there, too (today's order was one) so that always helps. I don't usually start worrying until we're about midway through the season. Thank goodness it ends around the end of July...right before Baby A gets here! :)

Wyatt and Jim are going to the Science Center tonight for an overnighter for Cub Scouts. I hope they have a good time. Will, Afton and I are planning to do something fun...although we haven't decided what yet. My feeling is it's just going to end up being pizza and a rented movie. Afton didn't have a nap this afternoon so she *should* go to bed early...we'll see. Whenever I have that "plan" in mind, it always backfires on me!! I'm hoping to get some more decluttering done in my office after she goes to bed.

Guess that's about it for now...off to get my two big boys out the door for their trip!

Today's "Positivity"

2006-03-24T09:40:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning feeling completely different than I did last night. Drama is over once again and I am ready to face the day. I have so much stuff to get done over the weekend...I don't even know where to start.

I did decide that I would make a written list of all of the quilt-y things I want to accomplish this year (in the order of importance)...so I will list them below so that I have a permanent record. I try and do this every year, but I usually write it on a piece of paper and then have to chase it around my office (if I can find it at all!).

1. Triple Irish Chain Colorwash Quilt - King Size (I'm only listing this first because Sharon and I are taking the class starting this weekend and I KNOW it will get done!!)

2. Wizard of Oz Quilt - Baby Size; this will be an easy one to finish up since all I have to do is remove the two borders I had put on, add the floater strip to separate the border from the blocks and put the outside borders back on. My goal for this is to have it done by April 6th so I can give it to Pat to quilt on her long-arm.

3. Take Along Cutting and Pressing Board; I would really like to get this done to be able to take with me to CCQ and classes...I pulled the pattern out again to see what I needed...I already have the *cutest* quilt lady fabric to cover it with.

4. Wizard of Oz Quilt - Lap Size; this one is the same as the above one but I haven't started piecing the blocks yet. I do have it cut out and ready to go, tho. Hopefully, this one will also be done by the 6th to go with the other one. It will be easier to send them both at the same time.

5. Pastel Tie-Dye "Bug" Quilt - Twin Size; I haven't started on this one yet although I do have the main focus fabric. Since the baby will be coming in August and Lizzie will have to move into a "big girl" bed sometime after that, I'd like to have this done and ready to go on it. Not quilting related, but related to this quilt (LOL) is that I would also like to get "their" room repainted before the new one gets here...my current plan is to have one wall yellow, one pink, one light green and one lavender. It needs to be redone to be "girly"!

6. Nature Quilt for Gage - Baby Size; I finally found an awesome pattern (it has prairie points over the blocks so the baby can play peek-a-boo with what's underneath!) to go with the 5 1/2" blocks of bears, wolves, fox, deer and elk that will become baby Gage's quilt. Now to just get the remaining fabric purchased!

Guess that's it for things that really need to get done SOON...below is the rest of my list (in no particular order)...

**Stained Glass Cats Wallhanging...this is one I'm going to have to draft the pattern myself. My stepfather bought my birthmother this awesome stained glass piece when she was ill and dying from cancer. I'd really like to remake it in fabric in her honor and as a reminder of our love for cats.

**Sunbonnet Sue in Embroidery...I bought this book when Afton was a baby and it's actually two Sues playing together. Now that we know she's going to have a sister for sure, I think it would make a really cute wallhanging for their room.

**Carolina Lily...this has always been one of my favorite patterns and I would love to have one for myself. It's probably a ways down the road, tho...

**Wool Hearts and Flowers Wallhanging...this is an "in-progress" piece in that I have all of the wool I need now and have all of my templates cut out. I just haven't gotten any further on it yet. I should get moving on it because I could take it along for my handwork.

**Affairs of the Heart by Aie Rossman...I bought this book last year and absolutely fell in love with it since it combines applique and embroidery. Now to just get Sharon to sit down with me and teach me how to applique!!!!

**Vintage Girls and Boys...I'm not sure how much of this fabric I have and it's laid out to be panels. It's the cutest Michael Miller print and is what really got me started on their fabric line. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

**Batik Stained Glass...This is another idea I have that I hope to get done someday...I have a lot of saved photos of "iron work" that is scrolled and think it would make the neatest stained glass wallhangings. Have to draft my own patterns, tho.

**Blue and White Wedgeworks 3-D Dresden Plate...I saw this one in the Cities when I visited one of my favorite shops there. It is gorgeous done up in blues and whites (scrappy) and the 3-D effect is so COOL!!! I have done one other pattern from her book so know how the technique works...it's just a matter of getting it into the prioritized list. This is one that I would REALLY like to have done for next year's quilt show since it's so different.

**Another bed quilt for Afton - this one done up in Seaside Rose fabrics that I've already purchased. I really, really love them...but decided they would maybe fit her life a little better when she's older. For now, she needs bright, fun things!!

**Dresden Plate 30's...my birthmother cleaned out an apartment that was FULL of stuff and found an entire box of pre-cut petals for a Dresden Plate quilt. All are from original 30's prints. I just have to find time to piece them.

**Floral Nine Patch - Crib Size...hehehe this is the first quilt I ever made...it is all pinned and ready to be hand quilted but still sitting in the WIP pile. I think it's ugly now - but I can't stand to part with it since it was my first one. It will probably never be finished...

**Lucky Stars Brights Quilt - Lap Size; I have all of the blocks needed for this one AND they're already cut out as I had participated in a cutting robin a year or so ago. It just hasn't been the top of my priority list to get them put together.

**Spring Fling Quilt - Lap Size; this was supposed to be Afton's "original" quilt but it went to the bottom of the pile, too. I have all of the FQs pulled from my stash to go in it...just need to cut and sew!

**Americana Rag Quilt; started on this a couple of years ago to put up in my bathroom that has an Americana theme...it's made from denim and red, blue and tan fabrics. The blocks have either hearts or stars in them that are then cut into fourths and rearranged to give it a more scrappy look. It probably wouldn't be a hard one to finish if I'd just make the time to do so.

**Paris Cat and Friendly Felines Bags; I have all of my fabrics for this, too...and Heaven knows I can always use more bags. Really should move this up the list and finish something for myself. :)

There are still more things on my list...a JD wallhanging for the boy's room, redoing some old embroidered blocks that were in my own baby quilt, finishing some Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks that I picked up at a garage sale, a real simple wool four patch sampler, mesh bags for my book club group (and something to go in each of them!), an individual piece to donate to the New Hope Village Quilt Auction this year...the list could go on for miles, I think.

Then there are the fabrics that are in my stash that had an idea when I bought them... I haven't even started to go through them and make out a list. LOL

Guess that's it for now...I hear Afton crying so I'd better go get her up and feed her breakfast. Pretty soon it's going to be lunch!! LOL

I DO have friends...

2006-03-23T23:04:00.000-06:00

I didn't mean to make it sound like I don't have any friends...

After I reread what I just wrote, it may have come across that way. I do have some wonderful friends ~ Barb, Sharon, Marilyn, Bev, Nancy, Wendy, Cindy, the girls in my book club and the girls in my mom's group...just to name a few. I guess we ~ as humans ~ tend to complain more about the things in life that hurt us as opposed to reliving the things in life that bring us joy. Why is that? More than anything else, it should be exactly the opposite.

So, in an effort to redeem myself for the last post, I won't go on about another friendship that I'm dealing with right now that is hurting me...instead, I'll talk a little bit about my family day today and then I'm heading off to bed.

Last night, Wink requested that I get him up early to take a shower since he didn't feel like it last night. This morning when the boys got up for school, Wink got in the shower right away, but then he didn't want to get out. Little Stinker. By the time he got out and got dressed, he decided he had to poop and...you guessed it...the bus came while he was still sitting on the pot. I never did go in there to check and see if he actually accomplished anything or if it was a ploy to get me to take him to school this morning...either way, I drove him into town.

When I returned, Afton had gotten up and was standing on a kitchen chair ~ buck naked ~ and having a bowl of cereal for breakfast. She is so funny!!! What a grin when I walked through the door and her little chants of "Mamie" "Mamie" "Mamie" make me giggle every time. (Mamie is her name for me instead of Mommy) We are sort-of working on the potty training issue but not really pushing it yet since I don't think she's really ready. She could sit in a poopy diaper for hours if I'd let her. Anyway, she hopped down off the kitchen chair this morning and proceeded to pee right on the kitchen floor as I was on the phone to my doctor's office. Whoops! Guess we didn't make it to the potty this time.

Since I went out for lunch today with some of my quilting buddies, I picked Wink up from school at 11:15 and dropped both he and Afton off at the great-grandparent's house. Went for lunch and then went to the courthouse to attempt to do some more research on my little "project", then off to the library to do more. I DID finally find what I was looking for...but it didn't really give me any answers :( Went back to GG's to pick up the kids and they had decided they wanted to stay, so I came home instead and called Jim to have him pick them up on his way through town. It was nice to have a couple of hours to myself this afternoon ~ although I didn't really accomplish anything :(

I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day and I'll get some more decluttering done. It feels really good to have that stuff moved out of my house! And since we know the new baby is a girl now, I can start on rearranging the girls' room, too...

Off to bed now...It's late and I'm exhausted.

Friends can sometimes SUCK...

2006-03-23T22:24:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here thinking that friends are a good thing when you get along with them...and a terrible thing when you don't. Or you think you have been wronged. Or you KNOW you have been wronged in some way.

I belong to a very small, very successful quilt group in my small town. We started out with 5 members and, at our highest point, had 17. Most of the time, there are 10 or 11 that attend on a regular basis. The "originator" of the group and I were best friends when it started...but I was not considered one of the "coordinators" which was fine by me as I had so many things going on already. It was started out to be a "no guilt quilt group"...no officers, no dues, no responsibilities...just meet a couple of times a month, bring your own projects to work on, bond with other ladies, share ideas, etc. As it evolved, it began to get more and more complicated. First there was the request that we give local "presentations" about quilting to groups around town. Then there was the request that we give a program at our local county fair. After that, it was the creation of a "Charity Quilt Day" which, don't get me wrong, was a WONDERFUL idea. But it was REQUIRED of our members to be there and/or participate in some way or you were shunned by the "coordinators" of the group and in a group our size, no one wants to be on the "outs". Following the creation of the Charity Quilt Day, another charity event arose in which we were all requested to also participate by donating fabric, sewing time, etc. Through all of this, there were some underbreath complaints, but for the most part, no one wanted to upset the apple cart, per se, so we all just followed along. That was the first year. Well, it kind of became an annual deal and pretty soon, it seemed as though we were spending way more time doing things for others than we were doing for ourselves.

Throughout all of this, our membership continued to grow with the "coordinators" doing most of the inviting of the new people. Both coordinators were not local natives so they unabashadly invited whomever they could find who said that they quilted. This lead to our next problem. They invited someone who invited someone else that came to be the downfall of our group. Not necessarily that she did it by herself, but she caused a rift amongst people and just tried too hard to be EVERYONE's friend. Most of the time, she spent most of the day talking to anyone who would listen instead of actually getting anything done. And alot of her talking was preventing the rest of us from getting anything done. When it came down to it, no one in the group really wanted it to continue the way it was, so the "coordinators" took it upon themselves to ask her to leave the group. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of this at the time ~ since one of the coordinators and I were best friends ~ and I had also voiced my disapproval of her actions at our meetings. So, in the one and only time I was considered a "coordinator" ~ my name was signed at the bottom of the letter asking her to not continue her membership.

Fast forward a couple of months and I am now working on our first "official" local big-time quilt show. In the process, I spoke with my same "friend" about the trials I was having in getting everything organized and put together the way I thought it should be done. She takes it upon herself to blab to a potential vendor that the show is going to be "crap" and "nothing is getting done" and that she'd better "ask for a refund of her vendor fee and not come" because of it. Hmm...didn't realize I said ANY of those things...although I may have sounded frustrated at the time. In my opinion, it still didn't give her the right to BLAB her mouth to anyone else about something she knew nothing about (since she wasn't involved in any way with the quilt show). STRIKE ONE.

Fast forward again to another dilemma...I am co-coordinator of this show but am also paying to have a vendor booth. I have plans to produce a CD that will have pics of all of the quilts in our show and sell it for a fundraiser for our local Barn Quilt project. Said friend ~ mentioned above ~ takes it upon herself to think she knows something about this and blabs to the Barn Quilt project coordinator about how it shouldn't happen because I am not "qualified" and don't have the skill set or equipment to do it. HELLO?!!?! This coming from a woman who can barely turn her computer ON, let alone use the damn thing for anything more than checking her email. Who is she to tell someone else that I don't have the proper equipment? For crying out loud, I had no intentions of selling it under the advertisement that it was professional photography, etc. I sold them for $12.50 a piece...not hardly the $40 - $50 some really big quilt shows who employ a professional team to produce theirs do. And besides, I've worked in an advertising agency and in graphic design...I have Illustrator, Quark, Photoshop and a host of other expensive design programs on my computer...I wouldn't have them on there if I didn't know how to use them. Anyway, I am on the Barn Quilt Committee and was approached by the coordinator at the time ~ in front of a group of people ~ and SCREAMED at (and I do mean SCREAMED in capitals) about how I shouldn't be doing this project and who was going to be checking my work, etc., etc. Jesus Christ...who cares???? All I wanted to do was donate the damn $$ to the Barn Quilt project...what difference does it make to them where the money comes from??? (BTW - I DID do that project at the show and COULD have donated $500 to the Barn Quilt project from it...but I kept the $$ for me instead). STRIKE TWO. Who claims to be your best friend and then turns on you? And to make it worse, she didn't have anything to do with the Barn Quilt project either. The trend is being realized at this point that she likes to stick her nose in and cause trouble where she has no right to do so.

Remember that old saying that Shit on me once, shame on you but Shit on me twice, shame on me???? Huh..learned that lesson. I made up my mind right then and there that I didn't really need a friend like her to continue to turn my words and make my life miserable. That was pretty much the ending of that friendship.

Anyway, I guess the real reason I'm blabbing on about all of this AGAIN (because to me, it seems like it was SO long ago) is that, a month ago, the "coordinators" resigned from our quilt group. OMG - I have never heard better news. I was still attending because I love everybody in our group and getting together with them was the highlight of my week...but I couldn't stand the thought of going and having the two of them there to listen to every little word I said and then TWIST it into something that was never meant to be.

The butterflies returned tonight. I got an email from my very good friend, Barb, who said she found out that the two aforementioned "coordinators" have started their own quilt group. That's fine. The kicker is...they invited the gal they kicked out of our original group to come back and join them. WHAT?!?! When the two of them did most of the complaining the first time around?!?!? And what makes it even worse is that the two of them are now blaming ME for her demise from our group. Then the icing on the cake...I found out that two (that I know of right now) current members of our group are also going to be in THEIR group...so now my trust factor comes in. How do I know that what I say in my current group isn't going to get carried over into their group and TWISTED again?!?!? I'm on a "me, me, me" kick right now because it seems as though ~ ever since the friendship has ended ~ I am the one they are "picking" on. God, I feel like I'm back in frickin' high school.

Of course, they blame their "resigning" on me, also. Word has it that they just didn't feel "comfortable" in the group anymore. I'm sorry ~ but they created that feeling themselves. The two of them don't have a "coordinating" bone in their bodies...their idea of coordinating was basically, "look at me, listen to me, pay attention to me..." and if someone else in the group had an idea, it was ignored because it wasn't "good enough" or it didn't come from them first. UGH. How many times have I said that throughout this whole conversation?!?! LOL

Anyway, my husband says it's just a "woman" thing...two women can't get along for more than 10 minutes in a room alone. I have to disagree. I think we are passionate about things and voice our opinions regularly, but we also have FEELINGS. And ~ most of us act like adults ~ a majority of the time. I know what I have written so far may seem immature to some of you out there reading this right now but this is exactly why I say that FRIENDSHIP SUCKS. Putting your trust and expressing your innermost feelings to someone to only be walked on and over is just CRAP. And my feelings were hurt. But we move on and learn to trust again which is what I believe I must do...

My First Blogger Post!!

2006-03-23T17:01:00.000-06:00

Okay...since I told Tracey and Amy on Tuesday night at our monthly MNO that I would start writing on this thing, I guess I'd better stick to it. :)

It's Thursday today...a day I've been waiting for for at least a month now...meaning that it's the day AFTER my long-awaited Level II Ultrasound to make sure things are a-ok with the baby. This has been such a long road for me...starting with the intermittent bleeding around week 7 and the "anticipated" miscarriage. Waiting, waiting, waiting for it to happen. Thank God it never did. The bleeding finally stopped around 12 weeks and things have been fine since then. I'm pretty sure I started to feel the baby move around 14 weeks which sent me into another panic because it was never on the same time schedule and I would always worry about whether or not there was still a heartbeat and living baby inside me. The real freak-out session came at my 16 week check-up when the "new guy" meaning new-to-the-office OB couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler. Immediate ultrasound (although I had to wait for the longest 45 minutes of my life to get in) revealed that things were fine.

Now with this Level II scan I had yesterday at 19w4d, I am rest-assured that everything is fine...placenta is firmly attached, the cord is right in the middle where it should be, there aren't any knots or imperfections in it (and it has the necessary veins and arteries), no signs of any chromosomal abnormalities and...drumroll, please...the baby is a GIRL!!! So Wyatt, Wink and Lizzie will have a little sister!!! They are excited...although I think Wink was wanting a little boy more than anything. He'll be fine, tho ~ and now we will be "evened out" as it is...with two boys and two girls.

I had a really nice lunch out today with my quilting girlfriends as we celebrated Mikki's 57th birthday. She hadn't had a very good morning with the eye doctor so I think it was good for her to get out for some fun conversation and birthday wishes. I can't wait for our next get together...she is going to teach us about paper piecing and I just purchased two new patterns that are ALL paper piecing that I'm hoping to be able to get done between now and next fall's quilt show. I gave her forewarning today that I would be listening carefully!!!

Onto other quilting news...Sharon and I talked this morning about the class we're taking in Ames on Sunday. It's a Triple Irish Chain Colorwash and I have my quilt about 1/2 done. The instructions in the pattern absolutely SUCK, tho ~ and it has been sitting in my WIP pile for at least the last year and a half. Kelly (the instructor) guarantees me that I will finish it during this class!!! Then to get it quilted and on my bed!! :) It will be one of the only projects that actually stays in my house...most of what I make gets given away.

As of right now, Sharon, Barb and I are heading to Des Moines on Tuesday to see Linda Jenkins from Piece 'O Cake Designs speak at the DMAQG afternoon meeting. It will be a fun time as we're leaving in the morning so we can do some shopping and lunch before the presentation at 1pm. Some of the girls at lunch today said they might try and join us...the more, the better!

Then next Friday, Sharon, Barb and I are heading to Kalona for the IIQSG Spring meeting. This time, it's on basket quilts and should be fun. This is the first "overnighter" they've had so I'm looking forward to the lecture on Friday night and show-and-tell, museum tour and lecture on Saturday. And the SHOPPING, of course!!! We're going to leave early on Friday so we can get a whole day in before the lecture Friday night. And Barb's daughter is receiving some major recognition at UofI graduate school, so we're going to try and sneak over there to attend the reception. I've never been to the Iowa City quilt shops so that will be a fun, new experience!!

After that, it begins the month of April...and whew, it will be busy! Jim will be back in the field and we will celebrate his birthday the 4th, my brother Michael's the 18th, Afton's the 21st and mine, Grandpa Funcke's and Grandma Wilson's on the 23rd. The month will fly by!

WOW! I feel like I wrote a book for my first blog...I guess I can get kind-of talky :)