Design Wall Monday

I'm not sure I will like this when it's finished. I do like variety of color but the white alternate blocks just shout wrong out to me. I think I am going to swap out the white for cream.

Book Review

RESTLESS IN CAROLINA by Tamera Leigh

Bridget Pickwick is a 33 year old widow who is unable to come to terms with the death of her husband Easton. It's been 4 years and she still wears her hair in dreadlocks and her wedding ring. Even her niece and nephew think its time she sheds her widow weeds. Her family home the Pickwick estate is up for sale to meet family obligations. Bridget is set on finding an Eco-friendly buyer, one who won't turn it into a Industrial Park or housing development.

Enter J C Dirk whose family was cheated out of their land by one of the Pickwick's in a poker game. When it comes up for sale he is determined to reclaim his family's land by buying up the estate and turning it into a Eco-friendly golf course. Eventually he realizes he has to let the past go and withdraws his offer to purchase the Estate.

As Bridget works though her grief at the loss of Easton she gets rid of the dread locks, quits wearing her wedding ring and returns to God. As she falls in love with J C Dirk she finds out he is the son of Calhouns who were cheated out of his land. Their relationship falls apart until a solution is found to return the land to the Calhoun’s. Bridget finds there is a "happy ever after".

I was disappointed when I began reading this book and thought I would never get through it to the end. Much to my surprise, the book was very good and I read it cover to cover in one sitting. While there is a religious background I didn't feel as if I were being preached to. It is well written and once you get through the first few pages it holds your interest in that you wonder what will happen next. The story line flows from one page to the next with ease.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their “Blogging for Books” program

Busy Week

It's been busy around here now that I'm finally finished with quilting the raffle quilt. It's done and in the hands of another sister for the binding and label to be added. It's a beautiful quilt, the colors are rich and the pattern different than we've ever done before. We try to keep the fabrics something that will go with anything and more country than anything else. This year I decided to do Baptist Fans and what a mistake I made with them.. Instead of starting from the top or bottom I started in the middle which left me with fans off their mark and little areas that needed a bit of extra fill. Am happy to know that next year my youngest sister is going to be quilting the raffle quilt and I have passed the this off to her.

I've been cleaning house. 4 months of constant quilting leaves little time for anything other than the bare necessities getting done. The bed got changed, the dishes got into the dishwasher, the laundry was kept up, the bathrooms cleaned and the floors swept. Dusting, window washing, floor mopping and all the other chores of keeping a tidy house got neglected. The past couple days I've been moving furniture, vacuming up mounds of kitty fur from under everything, washing windows and scrubbing floors. Spring cleaning in July.

The 4th party was wonderful. An adult party with very few little kids and we celebrated with gusto. Lots of good food and company. Some came early and stayed late, others came late and left early. Fireworks went on for several hours and still some flashes at 2 am the next morning. A big bonfire to keep warm by and smoores for those chocolate lovers. I stayed over as the party was at my sisters and jumped out of bed at 5 am to rush home and take care of my fur balls who both are diabetic. A good time had by all.

Today I sat down and sewed for the first time in months. One of my internet friend's daughter is having a baby and I finally got my block done and ready to mail in the morning. Next on my list is a wedding quilt for friends of John. I'm doing a Triple Irish Chain with hand dyed fabrics I had left over from another project and had no idea what to do with the left overs. It will be bright and colorful. I'm happy to be back sewing after such a long dry spell.

Roscoe

Today I took my fur baby into the vet once again. He's been having problems off and on for over a year for the same symptoms. Lately he's had blood in his urine and after a trip 12 days ago, a shot of a super antibiotic he still has blood in his urine. How does one tell that? I've a smart kitty, he came into the bathroom as I was using it, stepped into his litter, hung his behind over the edge and urinated on the floor.

I did my homework and went with a list of questions and symptoms. Between the Vet and I we decided he should have some IV fluid as he is very dehydrated, blood work, a urinalysis and ultrasound to determine whether he had bladder or kidney stones.

Dr. Sullivan just called me to report on the ultrasound. No bladder or kidney stones however, it showed a tumor or cyst in his abdomen which he aspirated and is sending to the lab. This could very well be the cause of all his problems.

Right now he is doing better with the IV fluids he is getting and he will be able to come home late tonight then go back for another IV in the morning.

Book Review

"Too Rich For A Bride by Mona Hodgson"

Ida Sinclair, having attended business school back East joins her two married sisters in Cripple Creek Colorado where she finds employment with Molly O'Bryan. She rejects the warnings of her sisters about the questionable business practices of Molly as she gains her ambitious move into a man's world. Not wanting suitors she finds herself falling in love with one of them. Ambition, greed, priorities, love, right and wrong all come into play as Ida makes her way into the business world.

I really enjoyed this book. It weaves historical along with fiction. Well written and a fast read.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of their “Blogging for Books” program.

It's been a year of really bad weather with tornadoes skimming across the country and landing in California. Who ever heard of such a thing, nut trees uprooted and rice sucked up to hither and yon. Way too much rain here in our green green pacific northwest, snow in Reno the end of May. Who ever heard of such a thing. I haven't been able to get out to do much in the way of yard work. I hire my nephew to mow my lawn and cut down the tall grasses that refuse to be nice out in my lot. The grass with all this rain grows faster than a person can keep it mowed down.

On the nice side we have had some nice sunny days with warm temps. Just a little temptation to get outside and dig in the gardens and hopefully plant some seeds that won't rot in the ground for all the rain and cold temps we've had here.

I've started to collect next winters wood. I like to get it early so it can "season"over the summer. I have a super sweet wood guy that brings me the cleanest, pretties wood one could want. Who you say wants pretty wood. Well, I do. I don't want old wood that's been sitting down for a long time and is dirty half rotted. I stacked a cord yesterday and I'm beginning to think I'm really getting past the age of stacking wood. I felt like a hundred year old when I rolled out of bed this morning, everything and I mean everything screamed to high heavens. Like what did you do to me. LOL

I'm still plugging along on our family raffle quilt. This year is going to be a nip and tuck to get it done on time. I over estimated the time I would have to hand quilt this monster and I've been spending a good 8 hours a day with it. My house has gone to h............. in a hand basket and I've got kitty hair enough to build three or four more. It's all I can do to keep the kitchen sink cleaned, the laundry done and forget anything called dusting. My fingers are so sore from pin pricks and letting me know "we aren't doing this next year, we are on strike".


I had some new visiters to my yard the other day. I guess this couple must have a nest down by the creek behind me. I got a glimpse of them, grabbed a couple pieces of bread and ran outside to feed the new visitors. They slowly came up in the yard, gobbled up the bread and proceeded to make their way back down to the creek. My sister out at the beach has a rooster pheasant with a harem, I have one little old Mallard Duck with a girlie.

Sewing with Sisters

We had another sewing day on Thursday to exchange our RR's and baste the raffle quilt for next year. Can't say as we did much sewing as compared to sitting around the kitchen table with our morning cupps's or at least 2 of us did and cinnamon rolls made up front and delicious. As would have it when it came time to hit the road for home I completely forgot the raffle quilt which I am hand quilting sitting in my sisters living room and now have to go meet her at her office to collect it and get busy on the quilting end of it.

I received my row robin back from my internet exchange. Lovely musical blocks in all bright colors that I am anxious to lay out and stitch together. It won't be a very large quilt but will make a nice throw on the bed topper to keep the big quilts from gathering so much Kat fuzz and fur. I hope to lay it out tmr after my dental appt. John is off to Seattle to the Coast Guard office so should have time to play with the blocks before he gets home.

Weather has been really windy but warm here lately. Went out to haul in wood this afternoon and found my tarp had blown off my woodpile leaving it exposed to the rain we have been having. Grabbed my wood for the day and replaced the tarp, staking it down so the next wind wouldn't make a sail of it for me to go chase down the road.
My kat has the biggest feet. All thums and looks like he has catchers mits where paws ought to be. lol

I haven't much to write on my blog. There's not much going on while John is home for his 2 months off other than the normal trips to the grocery store, the weather and our trips here and there to take care of his requirements for his job.

I did spend a good hour today cleaning and straightening out my sewing room, I do need a bigger room. It's so crowded with the LA in there that I hardly have room to turn around in. My siblings and I own a piece of property left to us by our Mom that we are putting up for sale this spring. I'm hoping it sells so I can build John a garage and convert the present garage into a sewing studio/game room. I can see it in my dreams.

Sadness

Today I learned that my former friends father passed away the latter part of September. It saddened me for he was a very special person who took me under his wing and called me his adopted daughter.

I spent many hours and holidays with his family and treasured every moment I spent in his company. He was like having my own father back for a short time. A lovely gentleman, caring and giving. He will truly be missed by all who knew and loved him.

I wish I could have went to his memorial service. I wish I could call and offer my sympathy to his wife, daughter, grandson and his wife and ask what I could do to help, but I can't.

It's been a few years since his daughter and I parted a friendship of many years. I don't know why to this day how this happened or why and have regretted more than once the loss of this friendship. I wish I could step across the street and let her know how very much I know what she is going through. It's a terrible thing for a daughter to loose her father, her confident, her friend.

It's a very sad day when someone you care about passes on and you can't even let the family know how much you cared about that person. He will always be remembered for the wonderful person he was.

Gratitude

For having shared a small part of this wonderful mans life who gave from his heart and expected nothing in return. For being a father figure when mine had been gone for a very long time.

It's Officially Winter I think

Winter is here in full force....We've had so many weather alerts everything from heavy rains, floods to high winds. I'm tired of winter and January isn't even here yet.

Christmas is over, today was our anniversary....32 years of wedded bliss...vbg, not so much bliss sometimes but bliss just the same. Amazing for being together all these years later after getting married on a whim because we had nothing else to do the day after Christmas back in 1978. Today was supposed to be spent with John enjoying the day and being thankful for all the years we have spent together but as with life he got called back to work yesterday and had to leave at first light to go back to the ship.

So, I spent my day in the sewing room peeling blocks out of the raffle quilt top to fix. Snails trails just do not look right when the trails are not placed correctly. The first one came out was redone and replaced in short order. The second one took way longer to pick out the many rows of stitching. Somebody had made 3 and 4 passes on the same seam line and not bothered to pick out the previous ones. What a mess but are now almost all back together and ready to replace in the top with one more to go. I'll be glad when this repair is done and I can move on to my next project which is potholders for my sisters.

I just finished making two throw pillows for a neighbor for her grandsons for Xmas. She wanted a block with their initial in the center so did a star with the initial in the center spot. I've never done throw pillows or cording for that matter and didn't enjoy either project. Cording even with a zipper foot is not the easiest thing to do but do I did and got them done. Walked over today to see how they liked them but nobody home so will run over tmr.


Don't know if I mentioned I finally finshed my 12 Days of Christmas wallhanging but here it is on the wall. I'm pleased with how it turned out and think I might do one more for my other great granddaugter as I only have 2 and doesn't look like there might be anymore in my lifetime.

I'll leave you tonight with Lady who thinks she's a dog and needs to stretch out in front of the heater.

I'm Bored

It's gray, gloomy and rainy here in the Pacific Northwest. Good time to sit in by the wood stove and be artistic but I don't feel artistic. I feel glum, gloomy and bored to death with watching the rain fall out of the sky.

I haven't done anything sewing that is exceptional, just finished a couple blocks for an internet RR that I signed up for. Which makes me think why do I keep doing this, getting back bunches of blocks or rows that I stuff away for a rainy day. And isn't that what we are having right now, lots or rain and flooding rivers and creeks right out my backdoor. Paper piecing did I tell you I hate to paper peice but did a palm tree block for the RR which had a Hawaiian theme, then scrounged around and found an applique block I had done with the idea of putting together a Hawaiian quilt of my own. Wasn't going to happen so off this block went and saved me the time to do up another block. Is that cheating or what, completed my commitment and re-purposed another block. TADA

My commitments to projects is getting smaller by the minute. I have to big blocks to make for my neighbor for her two grandsons. Both need a alphabet letter of their names and to be quilted (I think)for a pillow. Shouldn't take to long to do them and have this commitment out of the way.

Like Nan from BC I surely do like pics on my blog but don't have any to share.
But wait a sec yes I do Some of my neice and nephew My neice with her gingerbread house and my nephew with his santa cookies which he decorated all by himself and then got to take them home to eat.


Jr

A Walk in the Snow

Today I decided I had had enough of being in the house. Cabin Fever you know and my plan to have Thanksgiving Day dinner with one of my sisters and her family was derailed due to the falling snow. Needing to collect my mail from my mail drop I decided a bit of fresh air would do me good. I dressed up in my cold weather gear aka motorcycle riding suit and off I went grabbing my camera on the way out the door.

As I walked along enjoying the peaceful and quietness of the morning I could hear the crunching of the snow under my feet. What a beautiful site before me with the freshly fallen snow and flakes gracefully floating down from the sky. As I walked along I met a young couple towing their small child on one of those circle sleds. We exchanged greetings and went on our way.

As I came to the end of my street I started up the hill being careful to step far off the road as each car started up the hill.

Collecting my mail I wondered who chose the spots to place our banks of mail boxes. Thinking that all SUV's are not equal I watched this one back all the way down the hill not being able to get where he was going. Stepping to the rear of the bank of boxes I prepared to jump over the embankment behind me should he not be able to stop.

Not being ready to head home I decided to walk out to the gate and see if the county had plowed the road into town and who should I meet but a jogger out for a run. The road hadn't been plowed so I turned back towards home wondering when the snow would go away so I could get into town.




















As I turned to head home a Jeep turned into the gate stomping on the gas deliberately trying to fource a slide and I wondered if I could get out of his way. I watched as he drove on down the road and turned towards my house.

As I walked along I stopped here and there to enjoy the beauty of the day.

Finally heading home I was met by this cute little fella who was also out enjoying the snow.




After a few games of toss and fetch I continued on home having enjoyed the falling snow.

Baby it's Cold Outside

We're in a cold weather snap out here on the far left coast. It's a whopping 22 degrees outside and has been all day long. How it can snow when it's that bloody cold is beyond me but snow it did, just enough to make a mess on the roads up here in the woods. Winds are whipping out at my sisters clocking in at 60 mph which makes me glad my big trees protect me. I know this is nothing compared to what other parts of the country get but I'm still cold and am already for summer to be here. LOL

November has not been a good month for my furry friends. My Lady developed an abscessed tooth that had to be removed. A day spent at the Vet Hospital, tooth extraction, Bx and big vet bill. No sooner had she recovered and back to the Vet I went with Roscoe, the Manx. He was one sick kitty. Dehydrated, very elevated BS, low Potassium and UTI. Spent three days taking him in for IV fluids with Potassium added, antibiotics and now daily BS tests with insulin shots. In one week he's improved 100%. I can almost see the weight coming back. His diabetes is no way under control, some days normal, some days way off the scale. In talking with the vets I find more indoor only kitty's tend to develop diabetes than indoor/outdoor ones. Makes one wonder if all the exercise they get chasing down prey has something to do with it not to mention a diet other than dry kibble.

Thanksgiving this year is going to be iffy. John won't be coming home with the weather so unpredictable. Driving from here to Portland is iffy if not impossible and I certainly don't expect him to drive home in the kind of weather we have been having. I've been invited to two of my siblings for dinner but don't know if I will go to either of them. Both are out in the county and driving on ice is not my idea of any kind of fun especially off this hill I live on. My sister has so generously offered my nephew to come fetch me as he has studded tires and is a good driver in snow. Not him I would worry about but all the other ones on the roads. I'm going to bake my dinner rolls just in case and hope the promised higher temps and rain arrives on time.

This year I am prepared for the bad weather I know we will be getting. I've stocked up on kitty food, litter, people food and all the other necessities one needs to survive stuck at home. I can eat out of the freezer and pantry for a month or so. Won't have the fresh veggies and can easily run out of eggs but in a pinch can always walk a mile to the high dollar mini-mart here if I really need those things.

I've managed my time at home with sewing. I'm working on a very old UFO, my Broken Star that I've been ripping apart and English paper piecing back together. I have one more leg on the center star to complete and then start the broken star around the outside. This isn't going to be accomplished in a day or two, but will take moths to take it all apart and re-do it. I have another Quilts for Kids kit to put together this week so when the weather breaks and I feel it's safe to drive to town I can get it back in the mail. I enjoy doing up these little quilts for these little kids who need a love to wrap in.

My missing quilt has been found. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I found it right here in my sewing room.
Having had a "seniour moment" I had forgot putting it in the container I had planned on using for our Sister RR exchange. One of my sisters happened to be at Joann's when they had a sale on their boxes and she had purchased one for each of us. Deciding I would start doing something about the containers sitting on the floor holding remnants of other finished projects I opened the one closest to my hand to see just what was in it.....Much to my surprise there was Mom's missing quilt.

Today I put the binding on and stitched it down. Another UFO completed and out of the way. The odd block in the middle of the 3rd row is left over fabric from a one piece sun-suit I had made some 50 years ago. Remember those one piece shorts that were all the rage during the Kennedy years?

The Mysterious Quilt disappearance

Last Saturday I went out to my sisters for our bi-weekly sewing get together, taking a quilt made from Mom's blocks to show n tell. Did the show n tell, put it back in the bag and merrily went about sewing.....At the end of sewing we packed up hopped in the car and off for a late lunch and also take care of some business for our LLC.

Well, the other day I decided I had caught up on due projects so would bind it having stopped at Joann's for a hunk of fabric for it....and would you know it's nowhere to be found here in my sewing room or anywhere else in the house.

Next thought is...has to be out in my sisters shop and that I had forgot to bring it home....hmmmmm she can't find it either. I barely remember not having it in the car on the way to lunch so it had to be at her house. NOT unless its hiding in plain site and she doesn't know exactly what she's looking for. Her shop is big, a converted 3 car garage and packed full of totes and sewing tables, machines etc. Hopefully come this Saturday our next sewing date I can find it out there otherwise it's a mystery yet to be solved.

Today I'm going to spend my time stitching on blocks for our raffle quilt. We're getting close to having them all done, nearly 100 blocks and then can assemble it ready for quilting. Every year I keep saying this is the last one I am going to hand quilt and every year I find myself settled in during the winter with a nice warm quilt in my lap.


We've handed off our Sister's Round Robin centers. I get to be the first one to add on here. I'm not quite sure what I will do other than add a stopper round and square it off. It's bright and cheerful as are my 2 other sister's centers. I'm waiting for it to talk to me and it better get busy as we are handing off again the first of December.

Mine is dark and dreary and I'm not one bit happy with my choice of fabrics. My center is the Kansas Troubles fabrics that we are using in our raffle quilt, which IMHO will be quite nice not like my center. I also made a big goof and didn't notice it till the 2nd time I had ripped out and had it completely back together. Some days mistakes can stay mistakes and we can live with them. I wasn't about to tear it out a 3rd time. I wish I had went with bright colors which are more to taste.

We are into winter here. It's been gray, wet and cold. Time for fires in the stove and yet some days are bright and sunny. It's been one of those kindling years so far.....lots of kindling used to start a fire to warm the house then let go out. I've been using my little radiant heaters which will warm up the front of the house but now I need that heat in my sewing room way at the back of the house. National Weather Service is predicting a winter like we haven't seen in almost 50 years. I'm not looking forward to that but this year I am going to be prepared for it.

Busy Time

Wow, its been busy around here lately. Haven"t had much time for ME which I thought I would once John went back to work. vbg

Timers: would love to keep you gals company over on the FLQtr list as I sure could use some timers around here especially in my sewing room which is a disaster again. Too much stuff too little room. However I have to run errands tomorrow. Spent three days trying to make an appt with my "new" DR. My old one retired and sent a letter telling me I had been assigned to xxxx DR and could call xxxx number to make an appt. Well I've tried and have been put on hold and passed off to the new patient scheduler and again put on hold for hours. I'm not a new patient been going to this same clinic for years on end, I just want an appt and with a DR I choose not one chosen for me. So end result rather than sitting on hold am making the trip into town tomorrow and going to the clinic and DR of my choice office to make an appt. It's getting harder and harder to get a DR especially if you are a medicare Pt. I tried to get in with one of my sisters Dr's and was refused even having Cigna as a primary. They don't take medicare even as a secondary.....shame on them. Makes me wonder what those who only have medicare do for medical care. I guess it's the price you pay for getting old.

My sisters and I are doing a round robin and I have finally decided on a center block to do which ...grin, grin....means a trip to the LQS to pet some fabrics. I'm planning on doing this in rich fall colors, the new Kansas Troubles line. Got to get busy on this as it's due the end of the month.

Have spent the last 2 days cutting fabric for our next years raffle quilt. We are using the Kansas Troubles rich color fabric and I think this one is going to be a beautiful quilt as we are doing "Judy Martins Shakespeare in the Park" . Am looking forward to getting started sewing on it. Our sister/cousin group will meet on the 16th to start the stitching process and part of our little invite note is "bring your seam ripper" as all blocks must measure either 12 or 6". That ought to put my one cousin's knickers in a knot. LOL

On the sewing horizon for me is to finish:

Quilting my Mom's quilt I have on the frame
Load a Quilt for Kids and get it quilted and mailed off
Do 2 set of blocks for an internet RR
Stitch up my center block for the sister RR

And during all this am supposed to be catching up on all the house-mouse stuff I ignored while John was on vacation.....Can somebody please clone me.

Went to my second EQ7 class last Saturday. I kept thinking while sitting in class and having already discovered on my own what is being taught that "I am paying to learn something I already know". Isn't this a waste of good fabric bucks" I did learn one thing I hadn't discovered on my own yet so guess it was worth the $$'s and it was kinda one on one time with a sister. Hard to get those when you have an abundance of sisters.

Took another sister to the Navy Base today. It's nice that I can take a visitor and help her save some dollars. Can't understand why coffee beans are 6+ dollars there and over 10 in the local grocery store or why beer is $12 a case there and over $20 in local stores or why hard liquor is the same price as the local liquor store.. Doesn't make sense to me at all. I guess with all things if you shop around you can find savings all over the place.

I just finished a book on tape. "Made In America" that I thought very interesting. It dealt with the Depression, FDR , WPA and WWII. If you are a history buff or interested in that era, this is a good listen too or read, whichever you do. Learned some very interesting things dealing with all the things the WPA built during the short span it was in effect before WWII. I highly recommend this as it beats most of the fluff I've listened to or read in years. Our local museum is having a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition currently and the exhibit is the paintings (part of which are all those WWII posters) that were commissioned by the WPA. I'm hoping to get over there to see it. Our Museum recently has been affiliated with the Smithsonian so I hope to see more of the traveling exhibits come to town. On a side note...my Dad worked at Northern Pump Munitions Plant (MN) during the war building the big guns for the battle ships. Every year for Xmas they were given Lithographs by Gorden Grant and I have several framed and hung on my family room walls. My Mom managed to hang onto all his from 1941-1945. Mine are all ships which is nice especially since John retired from the Navy.

Good Things
Life really is a bowel of Cherries.
Quilting with my sisters.
Deer who stand under my kitchen window waiting for apples
Sunshine after cold mornings
A fire in the fireplace
Friends near and far

Yesterday I waved John off around noon to go back to work...3 month vacations are way way to long, not that I won't miss him next week. vbg

Spent the afternoon starting a round robin of cleaning. Did 4 loads of laundry and put it all away. Cleaned his bathrm, scrubbed the litter boxes, policed up the kitchen including moping the floor. Emptied the dw and refilled it. Swept up all the floors, and changed the sheets. Today was the first day in a very long time that the bed got made as soon as my feet hit the floor. LOL

Today I hauled a load of yard clippings out to my sisters where they burn it on the beach. Gives them a nice evening fire while the weather is still nice. Came home and completed the top to another"Quilts for Kids". Now have to get the current quilt (blocks my mom did) done and off the frame so I can quilt this one. Didn't do much else except sweep the floors again which is a daily chore. Had my nephew out to mow the lawn, sure like that.

Tomorrow is our monthly EQ7 class. Looking forward to it. It's at the LQS which is nice as I need to look for fabric for the center blocks on a RR my sisters and I are doing. Have been playing with the idea of a medallion for the center start out block in Navajo colors. Terra Cotta, turquoise, white or tan and black. Our LQS gives a 20% discount after you have spent $100 which makes it nice when your putting out a lot of loot. I only have one complaint about the EQ programs. When you have 1/2 square it counts those pieces as a full square and you have to be really careful with the yardage requirements. We forget year to year when we do our raffle quilt for our annual family picnic. Again we purchased to much fabric but......we've been doing a different backing so this extra will go to the backing and not end up in the stash. This year we are doing "Shakespeare in the Park" in dark rich colors.

On Sunday I am meeting my sisters and we are doing all the cutting/sorting/packaging in preparation for sewing our raffle quilt. With so many different ones working on the blocks it's good to have it all pre-cut into a kit. We purchased everybody a 1/4" foot with guide so all seams should be equal and lead to less rip rip.

Our weather has been beautiful, nice warm sunny days with the trees all turning colors. This is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. Crisp cool mornings, bright sunshine and gorgeous color on the trees as the leaves turn. Have to enjoy it as it won't be long before the winter monsoons start and it rains constantly till spring. Time to get out and enjoy it while you can.

Gratitude's

Chatting with my oldest son.
John going back to work.
Spending time with my sisters.
Deer in the backyard.
Enjoying beautiful weather.

Where has Summer gone? It seems June just arrived, John just came home, the family picnic was held and now fall is fast approaching. Our weather here is still bright and sunny however the temps are dropping fast. Yesterday I had to go to the Navy Base for supplies so checked my thermometer as I went out the door. It was a whopping 44 degrees. Brrrrrr

The fawns are here and such a joy to watch them frolicking around in my yard. We have several sets of twins this year and a few singles. They are so used to my feeding them apples they stand at attention waiting for the apples to arrive. When I stand at the sink they will stand right below the window and wait for me to come back out.





My 3 sons were together for the first time in several years at our annual picnic. Was really good to have them all together for a photo snap. I don't get to see them often as 2 live in CA and aren't able to come to WA to visit very often and I just can't make that drive anymore. Used to be so easy to just hop in the car for a road trip but not anymore. Age does tend to slow us down and make for trips that don't happen very often. I miss my sons and their families.



I've been working on "Quilts for Kids" a worthy charity if ever. I've enjoyed the kits I've received and hope to keep on doing them. They are so easy as they are all cut and ready to go even the backing. All I have to do is assemble, add a batt, quilt and send back. I've been trying to do at least one a month but sometimes I get behind and need a little nudge to get the current one done and off in the mail.

I've just finished a set of exchange blocks. They are the second set I've done for the same round. The original set was posted off to the next person in line who seems to have just dropped off the face of the earth. I feel bad that the person I was doing the blocks for has lost her blocks as well as the ones I did for her. I don't mind that my blocks are in limbo as there were more sitting around that I could use. I don't understand a person that signs up for an exchange then keeps the blocks and drops out of sight. Don't they realize what they do?

I've pulled a UFO out to finish into either a lap quilt or a bed quilt if I can figure out what to add to make it big enough. The blocks returned home to me all stitched into a top and included a sashing/border. I had donated them to a good cause and the person who took the donation felt they should be returned to me. I appreciated the gesture and will do my Moms blocks into a remembrance of when she could still quilt. My mom passed away a couple years ago and was a very proliferate quilter.

Saturday begins a new season of EQ classes. I'm looking forward to them as I really need to learn all the ins and outs of the program so I can use it. My sister and I take the classes together and she really has benefited from them. I 'm basically lazy and haven't practiced anything I've learned. LOL

This week my sisters and I are getting together to decide on a pattern for our next years family raffle quilt. Looking forward to getting together with them. It's always a fun day with lots of laughter, food and fun. We always go to the local fair and check out the quilt displays for ideas. We've got some really good ideas but this year was a dud. Lots of depression era fabric quilts, nothing that had "curb appeal" and the colors so drab and dreary. We've found that traditional patterns with rich fall colors goes really well and there wasn't a thing at the fair this year that had rich colors.

Gratitudes

John being home for an extra month
A new roof on the house
Sisters that enjoy each others company
The deer who come to the yard daily

Today was my youngest brother's birthday. I remember when I moved back home some 19 years ago he hadn't turned 30 yet and here as time flies by he's just turned 48... Where do the years go? It makes me feel so old to have my baby brother pushing 50 and then I think WHOA...my own three sons are getting up there as well being 52, 50 and 42.


I got up this morning, had my cuppa, updated my games and threw my clothes on. Dashed out to the yard and let the mower drag me around all before 10:30. Felt good to get that exercise but I sure was pooped when done. Makes me wish John were home and enjoyed doing yard work with me. He loves his home but sure doesn't carry that on to the yard stuff or maintenance. It falls all on my shoulders and I've beat the game as I get my nephew out to do it f
or me.



After catching my breath from the yard work I sat down to do some paper piecing which me and it don't get along very well. Everything is so right handed that I spend a goodly amount of time ripping out because it's backwards for me.
I really like this kitty and the fabric I chose to do him in...I'm an admirer of Bengal kitties and this fabric is so like their fur.
Anyhoo, I'm doing a Row Robin with a group and this lady wanted dogs and maybe a cat or two. Some of the blocks in this RR just screamed to have a kitty on a shelf. I thought this little puppy in his blankie was appropriate for a quilt. Had fun even with all the picking out I did putting him together. My sis drafted both of these in EQ6 and before she realized she could move the templates around on the print page she did a print/cut/paste/copy and then a print. Some of the parts were distorted and don't match really well but overall am pleased with these two blocks. 2 more to go tho'.

I finished another Downy Quilts for Kids the other day and it will go back in the return mail tmr. I plan to do one or two a month as they are so easy and quick. Machine quilting is quick as well at they request a pretty tight quilt right up to the edge. I enjoy doing these and feel like I am comforting some child with CA. The fabrics are so Kid orientated that I have to giggle at some of them. This time I had scuba diving fish and crabs. I needed a name for this quilt and couldn't think of a thing so am sending it back with a note asking them to please give it a name.

I'm counting the days till John gets home around the 4th of July. Now that the truck is fixed I hope we can load the cats up and go to the ocean for a few days. I so want to walk on the beach and watch the sun go down over the ocean. I miss my sunrises and sunsets which we never get a chance to see where we live up in the forest in a holler between the mountains. The trees get in the way and all we catch is a small square in the middle of them.

The fawns have started coming into the yard. I tried to catch one on camera as I document them every year but they were so skittish all I could catch was their tails as they quickly hopped across the yard and into the thicket out back. Will have to wait till they aren't so skittish to every little noise. We can always tell the Deer who came back for apple handouts year after year as they will come so close and we can almost hand feed them. I enjoy my deer.

I spent today picking out all the quilting I had done on the latest Downy Quilt. I didn't like it and the backing bubbled way too much. I wanted to quilt a stencil and learned the hard way you need to do your quilting across the rows as you go and not do all the stencils first and then go back. The Downy quilts need to have extensive quilting due to being washed daily so I'm doing a tight meander on them. I enjoy doing these little donation quilts knowing they will comfort some child here.

Weather here has been really nasty all this month. My local farmer says we are going to have a difficult time finding both beans and cucumbers this year. I wonder why my two most favorite veggies are not going to be doing well this year. Strawberries have been late this year too.

I picked up the bug quilt for my GGdtr again and have been working on it. Her 3rd birthday is in September so really need to finish it before she's way too old to enjoy it. I'm pretty close to getting all the hand quilting done thank goodness. I need to finish it before my Son is here mid July so he can hand carry it back when he returns to CA.

I don't have much to write about but am trying to post something frequently to keep my blog updated. John is due home for his 2 month vacation in a couple weeks. I've got lots of house-mousing to do to get ready for vacation time when I never get a thing done other than cooking and laundry. It's easy to keep house when I am here by myself, only needing a swish and swipe here and there. I close my eyes to the dust that accumulates on all the flat surfaces, under and behind the furniture scrambling to get all the cleaning done in the last week before John arrives home. My time alone is for doing all the fun things I like that he doesn't. VBG

Gratitudes

My youngest son who has been estranged for years and now calls me every couple of weeks.
Good Health and Family

I don't post to my blog often. I don't really have much to report. Life goes on, my other half is gone most of the time leaving me to fend for myself. Most of the time I'm at home, talking to the Kats and hopefully stitching on something or another.

I did put in a pretty good sized garden with one of my sisters. We both have a "table garden" just a few things like tomatoes, lettuce, cukes at our houses and our big garden is out on our property in the county. It's been so wet here I'm wondering if anything will grow and not be drowned out from all the rain. The local farmers say beans and cucumbers are going to be difficult to grow this year and strawberries are iffy with all this rain.

I've been spending my time sewing. Have finished a quilt for my son's friend who is a roofer and bringing him up here mid July to roof our house. It's a volunteer job but I feel I really need to do something for him and since $$$$ are short a quilt will be nice.

I've been doing the Downy "Quilts for Kids". I like this charity group as these quilts stay in the country and if you have a local group they stay right in your area. They take very little time to put together, come in a kit and all you have to do is provide the batting and postage to mail back. It's my little donation to giving back and I do enjoy doing them up...a good change from having to use my brain. This is my second one and hope to do at least one a month.

I just finished paper piecing a block for a group I'm in. Took me 3 days to do this one block. I don't like PPing as I spend more time ripping than I do sewing. I wonder if it has anything to do with being left handed in a right hand world. Seems as if everything is backwards to me and for me.

Must get out of here.

If I have anything to be grateful for its my Family, Friends, Children and my wonderful Hubby who takes such good care of me.