Gosh I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted!
I guess I have just been really busy or very boring!
I did get my CNA/RHHA license back last month. I have done a little job hunting but thought I would wait until after the holidays to look seriously. I put in applications at 2 different places and have heard from both. The first one I turned down the job. Did you ever feel like things weren't right about something? That was my impression of the first place. The second place called yesterday and I have an interview tomorrow afternoon. I think this place would be a good place to work and was where I wanted to hear from of the two.
I spent the day with my Mom and SIL Jan getting some sewing done. Jan and I finished a summer quilt for my Dad and his wife for Christmas. Mom needed a baby rag quilt made for a gift so Jan and I did that also. I was able to finish a batik quilt last night. Finally got that quilted and the binding on. It is now ready to be washed and wrapped for Christmas. I have 2 quilts that I need to get quilted and bound before Christmas. This Santa is running a little behind schedule!
Mary L. is the owner of a yahoo group I belong to. She asked everyone in the group their quilting goals for 2009. I made my list and will try to stick to it!

So here are my 2009 goals!

1. Complete all my UFO's. I know that sounds like a big accomplishment to some but I really don't have that many. Some need borders and quilting and some just need quilting. I think I have a total of 8 of those.
a. Design border, add border and quilt black, white & red spikey wall quilt
b. Black, white & red log cabin quilt
c. Quilt row by row quilt
d. Quilt purple spikey wall quilt
e. Quilt wall quilt made for Wierd to Wonderful challenge
f. Make quilt using Batik Happy blocks
g. Quilt blue and yellow Bag Lady quilt
h. Quilt blue and white star quilt
i. Put binding on scrap quilt
2. Finish piecing my Civil War Love Letters quilt blocks.
3. Continue to watch my quilty spending very closely. So far I haven't used my credit card since September which is a very good thing for me.
4. Keep track of all my purchases and post to my blog. Thanks Mary for the idea! If I post it as soon as I get home it should be easy enough to do.
5. Use up at least 1/2 of the 33 gallon tote of scraps that I have. That should be 2 quilts in itself. I have already made one and didn't make a dent in the tote full.

I got some photos to share with you.

This is a picture of some blocks on my design wall. I won these blocks in the Quilting In Indiana yahoo group. Aren't they great! Big Thanks to all my friends at Quilting in Indiana! This will most likely NOT be the final version. Just wanted to see what they would look like together!


These are photos of a scrappy quilt I have been working on. I used a quilt as you go method that I learned at retreat back in September. All the fabric except the black came from my scrap tote. Instead of batting I used some scrap fleece that my MIL had given me. Didn't know what else to use it for.

This is the front-----


This is the back-----


Hope you had a great day! I know I did!

Rhonda

What a day! I had my first day of clinicals today. 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. I was so nervous today before I left the house. Definitely a case of STRESS! I now know there was nothing to worry about. I guess I just can't help but worry about everything. How do you not? If you know the answer to that one, please tell me. It was actually a really nice day. I got to meet new people and enjoy their company for 8 hours. The Clinical Instructor was so very nice and helpful. Very sweet lady!

I was able to get a little sewing done over the weekend but not much. I made 2 blocks for the Block Lottery on our Quilting In Indiana yahoo group. Now I just need to get those in the mail tomorrow. I had planned to do it today but it just didn't happen. I also got the second border on a lap quilt I have been working on. One more border and it will be ready to quilt.

My DS, Micky, came from Ohio for a visit on Saturday. I had planned to go to my mother's for a while that day. I think she was pleasantly surprised when I showed up at her house with Mick. After we got back from there, we watched a movie that DD, Jill, had rented. It was called The Eye. Interesting movie but isn't one I would highly recommend. Mick and I ended up going to Madison and picking up pizza and a couple more movies. Just like The Eye, they were funny but not hilariously funny like we had expected. It was just fun to spend some time with Mick.

Well, that is it for today.

Rhonda

The last day of classroom training was today. I feel like I have learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. We took 2 tests today and I scored 100% on both. Yeah!!! Monday we start clinical so that should be fun.
I hope to spend some time with my sewing machine this weekend. My plan is to get the borders on the quilt that is on my design wall.

Thank you Jacquie for cheering me on this week! I really appreciate it!

Hope you had a great day!

Rhonda

Day 3 of 4 is done!!! One last day of classroom training for my CNA license. It seems to be getting easier. Another 100% on my test today. Tomorrow it will be 2 tests! Yikes!
Clinical training starts Monday and goes for 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to it. It is really hard to just sit and listen to lectures for hours each day.

Fall is definitely here! The cooler weather makes me want to wrap up in a quilt and settle in for the evening but too much to do. I have dinner in the oven, if you can call it that. Another quick meal out of the box. I knew it would be hard for me to go to class all day, drive an hour home and then cook a meal. So when I went to the grocery over the weekend I picked up a few meals in a box.

I haven't had time to sew all week. So the quilt I have on my design wall will probably stay there until the weekend. I just need to add 2 of the 3 borders. It is really turning out nice!

Time to go and find that quilt I do believe!
Hope you had a great day!!

Rhonda

Wow! I made it through my 2nd day of CNA class. Two more days of classroom training. We had a test today over what we learned on Monday. I got a 100% so I was quite happy. I guess the studying I did this morning helped. Yesterday evening I thought I was a lost cause. So much to learn and so little time!!!
Doing this leaves me no time for sewing. I got home at 6:30 this evening. Hurriedly fixed one of those Complete Meals by Betty Crocker (I think). Did the dinner dishes and folded the towels that were in the dryer. Started a load of wash. Answered emails.
Now it is almost time to go to bed so I can start all over tomorrow. Test again tomorrow! Will study in the morning!

Hope you had a great day!

Rhonda

It has definitely been a great day! I finished my first day of CNA class and only 3 more to go. Classroom days of course. Then the clinical weeks begin we I am really looking forward to. I should really be studying for the test I have tomorrow. I hate reading though! Maybe it would be better to do it in the morning when my mind is fresh.

We got great news in the mail today also. Jill has been accepted at Hanover College for the Fall 2009 semester. She is so excited! Of course, I am too. When she applied a couple of months ago, I thought she would be disappointed. But the application at the time was free, so why not try anyway. Hanover College is very hard to get into. It is compared to Harvard and Yale. Today the big news came.

Here is a portion of the letter:

Dear Jill,

Congratulations! On behalf of the campus community, it gives me great pleasure to offer you admission to Hanover College for the fall term of 2009.

Since our founding in 1827, our college has been a close, tight-knit community, very much like a family. With that in mind, we are very careful about who we invite to become part of the family because we are not just admitting a freshman class, we are admitting our future alumni. Based on your academic record and your contributions to both your school and community, we feel you would be a great fit here at Hanover.

In the meantime, I am very pleased to welcome you to our community and look forward to you joining us on campus as a member of the Class of 2013.


I am so proud of her I could bust! Now, the really hard part comes. Paying the tuition!

CONGRATULATIONS JILL!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you had a great day also!!

Rhonda

It has really been quite a while since I posted. Since the last time, I have done so much I don't even know where to start.
The retreat I went to was the greatest. I have never laughed so hard in all my life. What do you expect though when you get together with good quilty friends.
We had a paint chip challenge for the retreat. From the beginning, I called my challenge project Root Canal. Root Canal went home with a good friend of mine at retreat. Shannon now has that ugly thing, well I think it is ugly. I thought I had a photo of Root Canal on my computer but as usual couldn't find it. Oh well, it wasn't exactly something I wanted to show. LOL

I start CNA (Certified Nurses Aide) training tomorrow. One week of classroom and two weeks of clinical. I am really excited about it. I have wanted to do this for a while. I actually even enrolled earlier in the year, but had to withdraw because we started the process of trying to adopt our boys. I really miss them and think about them a lot. I hope they are happy in their new home.

In our attempt to adopt our boys, we became a foster home. We had our first placement a couple of weeks ago. A little girl that was 3 years old stayed with us for 12 days. I am so glad that is over. I don't think we will be taking anymore foster children. Maybe we just had a bad experience but I don't think we will do it again. I have a lot of respect for those that do it continually.

That is it for today. I will try to get here more often to post.
Have a great Sunday afternoon!

Rhonda

The sweet smell of retreat is in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
I am going to a retreat in just 15 days. I am so excited! I still have some things to get done before the 17th even gets here. Things like finishing my challenge quilt. I did manage to get it under the quilting machine needle today. A quick meandering pattern should be enough. I also need to make something up for little gifts for the other retreaters. Haven't quite decided what yet but I need to decide soon or I will be out of time. Plus I need to decide on a quilt to start while at retreat. I figured it would be a lot easier if I just started something new to take with me to work on. But I would like to have all the fabric cut before I leave.
I could probably get a lot more done if Walmart wasn't expecting me to show up for work! LOL

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!

Rhonda

It has been a while since I last posted. I am going to try and catch up a little bit today. lol

I have been working quite a bit lately so that could be my excuse for not posting. If you don't buy that I have others. lol

I haven't been able to get much sewing done lately. I really need to get buys though. Retreat is just 3 weeks away and I still have my challenge quilt to quilt and bind. Knowing myself, I will probably wait until the last minute.

I received a wonderful little package from Judy in North Carolina the other day. Judy is one of my sisters friends that I met while there a few weeks ago. The pin she sent me is gorgeous and I think would work great on a purse. Now I need to find the time to make one.

I am going to a sewing day tomorrow at Bloomington. Jean, the hostess, is one of our members from our Quilting In Indiana yahoo group. The day will be spent sewing, maybe, with some of our other members at a quilt shop in Bloomington, Shiisa Quilt shop.

Anyway, here are some photos from North and South Carolina.



This is my sister Dawn, with out part of her head (new camera, lol). Actually, this is how she looks most of the time. LOL Sorry Dawn!


This is Judy and Dawn, working away on their wall quilt.


This is Sharon, I think she is the head of the hospitality committee! Wonderful cook!


This is Ann and Leanne. Two other members of the hospitality committee. Also, both great cooks.


This is the finished wall quilt we worked on while at Dawn's.



This my niece Aimee and her two children. Zach and Isabell, I think you can probably tell which is which.



This is Jill holding Isabell.

The remaining pictures are of a bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. It really amazed me and I had to take as many photos that I could while traveling 70 mph in traffic.

We have arrived home after a short trip to South Carolina and North Carolina. It was a long 11 hour trip home. I will have lots of photos to share the next few days. That is if work doesn't interfere.

We left very early Thursday morning to go to South Carolina to see my niece's new baby. And, of course, to see Zach and Aimee also. Delivered a few goodies to them also, including the wall quilt for the babies room. Isabelle is gorgeous of course!!!

Friday morning we left for North Carolina to visit my sister and her husband for a couple of days. While I was there I met quite a few of my sisters great friends. Also taught a quilting class to a few of them.

Hi Judy, Elizabeth, Andrea, Carol, Sharon, Ann, Leanne, & Dawn of course. I probably forgot a couple of you but my memory isn't very good anymore. Sorry! It was great to meet all of you!

I have already got some laundry going so I don't have to spend all day tomorrow doing that.

Hope all of you had a great weekend!

Rhonda

Now that my niece Aimee has received the wall quilt for her new baby, I can post a picture.


Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Rhonda

I love seeing all the Tote Bag and Purse patterns available now. I have even purchased some of them but they have always intimidated me to the point that I hadn't made any of them. That changed yesterday.
A few weeks ago, an online friend, Sharman Neel, sent me two tote patterns, a charm pack and coordinating fabric. I made it yesterday afternoon. It went together very easily and only took about 4 hours to make. Thank you so much Sharman! I love it!


The pattern is available at Quilts Illustrated and called the Charm Party Tote.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Rhonda

I received an award today!!! I opened my email today to find a note from my friend Debi Wind awarding me the "Wylde Women Award".
Debi creates such wonderful art! You must check out her blog and see it!

This award was created by Tammy Vitale to send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

These are the rules of this award:

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.

2. Link back to this blogsite (http://www.TammyVitale.com/) (so I can go visit all these wonderful women.)

I wish to bestow the honor of this award to:

Mary L.

Shannon A.

Sandy C.

Judy D.

Laurie M.

Thank you ladies for your inspiration!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Rhonda

It has been a few days since I posted. Thought it was time to put something new up on the blog.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday freezing corn for this winter. It is going to be so good!! Mom and I worked part of it yesterday. I just wish I would get some zucchini. Need to make some more cake! Have you tried the Zucchini Coffee Cake out yet? Let me know what you think.

In a few short weeks the plan is for me to teach a quilting class for my sister's friends. I designed something just for the occasion. I have the top pieced but need to do the quilting yet. They asked for a Christmas design and that is what they got. I love this fabric.


What do you think? I love to hear your opinions.

Have a great day!!!

Rhonda

What fun we had yesterday!!!! My Mom, Jill and I were able to get 29 quarts of Slaw in the freezer. It didn't take as long as what we had thought it would. This Slaw is so much better than the Creamy Coleslaw most people eat. It uses a Sweet and Sour Dressing. Here is the recipe. Let me know how you like it!

Freezer Coleslaw

1 Medium Head of Cabbage
1 Green Pepper, shredded
1 Carrot, shredded
1 tsp. Salt

Sweet and Sour Dressing:

2 c. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. whole mustard seed
2 c. sugar


Combine all dressing ingredients in saucepan. Boil for 1 minute. Cool completely.

Shred cabbage. Add salt to shredded cabbage. Let set for 1 hour. Squeeze excess water from cabbage. Add green pepper and carrot. Stir in Sweet and Sour Dressing. Freeze.

Have a great day!

Rhonda

I have been working on a class sample the last few days. I designed it in EQ6 but it seems that I always move things around in the design when I go to actually make it. I need to get really busy and get it done so I can make the supply list. But first I had other things to do.

I ended up making a cake this morning. This is a family favorite around here. So I thought I would share the recipe with you today. I actually used zucchini right out of our garden.

Zucchini Coffee Cake

2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. chopped pecans
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla (3 tsp.)
2 c. shredded zucchini

Topping:

1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped pecans


Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and pecans in a large bowl. Combine eggs, oil, vanilla and zucchini in another bowl. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle over batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!!!! We do!

Hope you have a great day!

Rhonda

A wonderful quilting friend just started her own blog. If you get a chance check it out. She may have only her first post but at least you can say you knew her when she first started out in the business. LOL

http://sew4uandme.blogspot.com/

Yesterday, I was able to finish the wall quilt for my niece's new baby. The baby isn't due for a couple more weeks so I am ahead of schedule. I can't post a photo of it because I am sure Aimee would peek! Wouldn't you Aimee!

I also was able to get my blocks for the lottery on our Quilting In Indiana group put together. So here is a photo of those. The instructions for the block can be found at:

http://www.quilterscache.com/N/NextDoorNeighbor2Block.html



Since I can't post a photo of the quilt I just got done, I will share some photos that my Dad took on their trip to Colorado. I think these photos were taken in Kansas. They are Wind Powered Generators. I wouldn't mind having a couple of those in my back yard!







Hope you are having a wonderful summer day!!!

Rhonda

July 6, 2008

Yesterday I received a box in the mail from my Secret Sister! What a great gift to receive on my birthday. Here is a photo of everything she sent me.


Thank you to my wonderful Quilting In Indiana Secret Sister!

I also was surprise to get $100 from my wonderful husband to spend at the local quilt shop. When I say local quilt shop, I meant Sharynn's in North Vernon. I stimulated the economy somewhat at that time! lol

Anyway, I had a great weekend and birthday!

Hope you have had a great weekend also!

Rhonda

July 4, 2008

Happy 4th of July!!

There are no exciting activities here at our house today. It has been rainy, dreary weather here. We are going to a cookout tomorrow afternoon. It is my IL's annual BBQ Rib cookout. And of course, tomorrow is my 48th birthday. I have already received all my birthday gifts. I got a digital camera and some fabric from all the kids.

I have been working on the quilt for my niece's baby that is due in a few short weeks. The piecing went fast but now the quilting is going slow. That isn't my favorite part of quilting. But I am sure it is going to be done in time. When this project is done I will get started on a class sample. I need to get it designed tonight so I can pick up the fabric tomorrow at Sharynn's. Then there are 2 challenges to do. One is due before the middle of September and the other is due in November. I have the one for September designed so I just need to get the fabric and make it.

Well that is it for today! Hope you are enjoying your holiday!

Rhonda

July 1, 2008

Wow, the beginning of a new month! One of my favorites since my birthday is in July. I already know what I am getting from all the kids. Why do I know? Because I told them what to get. lol A new digital camera and some fabric. My daughter has been kind enough to tell me that all has been purchased. I wouldn't trust her with any secrets! I didn't even have to ask her, she just blurted it out when she came home with the purchases. No future for her in a government job that requires secrecy!

Yesterday was our 7th Wedding Anniversary. My wonderful DH got me a $100 gift certificate to one of the quilt shops in Madison called Margies Country Store. I like going there because she always has a great selection of fabric in her clearance area. Who can pass up fabric at 50% off! I know I can't. What did I get Greg? He told me 2 things he would like to have. So I got him both. A Dewalt grinder and a set of Craftsman sockets. He said it was like Christmas yesterday morning when he got up! We are going with all the kids but Micky out to eat tomorrow evening. Plans are to go to Cracker Barrel. Should be fun!

I am still working on my Lonestar Cabin quilt but have gotten quite a bit done on it. I have all 288 small diamonds completed. I have been working on putting all of those together into the 32 large diamonds. That is almost done also. Once those are put together though, I will have to put that project aside for a little while. I need to start on a wall quilt for my nieces new baby. The baby is due July 24th so I better get busy.

That's it for today! Hope to share some good photos soon. Waiting on that new camera! lol

Rhonda

June 26,2008

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. I have been working on finishing up those 288 diamonds for the Lonestar Cabin quilt. I am down to only needing to do 62 more and the first few strips are already on those.

No pictures today. I haven't finished anything to take a picture of. Maybe in a few days. I hope to have all those diamonds done by then. Then I need to start on a wall quilt for my niece's new baby.

I have been thinking I need to go through all my projects and make a list. A list of what needs done to them to have them finished. Get those UFO' s done so I can make room for more.

That is it for today. I know not much!

Have a great day!

Rhonda

June 23, 2008

Over the weekend I did some playing around on my Mom's embroidery machine. This is what I came up with. I should have pressed it before the picture.


Have a great day!!

Rhonda

June 22, 2008

My sister sent pictures of the quilt we made her. These are photos of the quilt on her bed with a bed ruffle.






Have a great day!!!

Rhonda

June 19, 2008

Have you noticed the new layout for my blog? I thought I needed to brighten it up a lot. Do you like it, let me know.

I have received comments on my blog from several people. I don't know how to reply to them. Haven't figured that out yet. Could someone leave me a comment and tell me how to do that? I am computer illiterate. lol

The photos I post aren't very good either. I can tell you why though. My digital camera is 7 years old. When I bought it back then it was top of the line. But you know how things are. You buy something one year and it is obsolete the next. I have asked my kids for a new camera for my birthday next month. I think I may just get it. Yippee!!!! You will actually see decent photos on my blog. LOL

I spent yesterday working on my Batik Happy Block swap. I have all my blocks done. I will mail them once Jill gets her blocks done for the swap. I think she has 15 of her 50 done. They are really easy and go together really fast so it won't take long. We are way ahead of the deadline which is August 15th. We are doing this swap in our Quilting In Indiana group.

I thought today I would work on some blocks to send for the Quilts of Valor quilts. One of the ladies in our group participates in that and gave us the instructions for the blocks last Saturday at our sewing day. These quilts are made for injured service men and women in our state. A very worthwhile cause. You might want to check on the organization in your state.

Well, that is about it for today. Have a wonderful day!

Rhonda

June 17, 2008

My sister received her quilt today. From what I gathered on the phone this evening, she is happy with it. I guess I won't get it back after all. Darn it!!

This is it! This photo was taken at our Sewing Day last Saturday. That is Angel peeking over the top. She is such a sweet girl! She is really tall too! There are two other people behind that quilt but they are a little shorter. LOL



Hope you had a great day!!!

Rhonda

June 16th, 2008

If you have a blog, you know how hard it is to come up with a title each time you post. My solution---just have the date as the title. So that is what you will see as the titles on my posts.

My sister's quilt is now in South Carolina for a short visit then will be on to North Carolina tomorrow. I guess you could say it is taking the scenic route to her. I am anxious to find out what she thinks of it. If you hear screaming it may be her.

I had planned to post yesterday telling all, well some, about our sewing day Saturday. But I got busy Sunday and didn't get it done. I got up Sunday morning and took a shower and got ready for church. After church I thought I might as well mow the yard. I got that done and took another shower. Got the vacuum hooked up on the pool and did that job. Just got that done when Greg came home and said his brother needed some help setting his tobacco. So off to the field I go. Spent 5 hours doing that. I wish I had thought ahead and took the sunscreen. I am quite a bit red right now. Anyway, got home from there about 8 p.m. and had to take another shower. 3 showers in one day!!!

So I do need to tell about our sewing day on Saturday. We had a blast!!!! I think we had a total of 17 people come that day. Some for just a little while and others for the whole day. The last ones left about 7 p.m. I didn't get much sewing done but had a lot of fun just chatting with old and new friends. We took a road trip to one of our nearby quilt shops. I think they were glad to see us. Maybe not. We were there for about an hour past their closing time. The owner, Sharynn Patterson, gave everyone 10% off their purchase. That was so sweet of her. Sharynn and her employees are so nice. I love going in her shop. I did purchase 3 new patterns and a stencil. One of the patterns was for my daughter Jill. It is the Sassy Bag by Lazy Girl Designs. Jill has been making some of the Wonder Wallets by Lazy Girl so I thought this would be a great pattern for her.

Today I made 2 blocks for the block lottery on our Quilting In Indiana group. The pattern chosen by the winner this month is Kansas Dugout on the Quilters Cache website. Great website if you are ever looking for a pattern. Here are photos of the two blocks I made. I didn't get a straight shot of one of the blocks so it looks kind of funny.





















This is the better photo of the two. I guess I must not have been wobbling as much. LOL
























See what I mean about being wobbly! LOL

I got these 2 blocks done today plus 42 Batik Happy Blocks for a swap I am participating in. They are turning out really great. Tomorrow it will be more Happy Blocks!

See ya later!!!!!!!


Rhonda

June 13th

I finally got the binding put on the quilt my Mom and I made for my sister. Tomorrow it will be going home with Mom. Sunday it will make its way to North Carolina. I plan to post a photo on Monday. By then she will have seen it. It was a large project and we are glad it is done.

Tomorrow is one of our sewing days here in Deputy. Some of the members of our Quilting In Indiana group will be getting together to just sew. Some I have met but some I haven't and am looking forward to meeting them. We always have a great time. I think we get more eating and chatting done more than anything. I think this is going to be our largest group since we started doing this. My daughter is even decided to go also. She wants to makes some wallets from the Wonder Wallet pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. She made one Wednesday along with a purse. She did really good.

For the last few months I have been working on a quilt called Lonestar Cabin. I started it back in March but have had to put it aside several times for other things. The pattern is from the magazine Quilts With Style. There are 32 diamonds in the quilt. Each diamond consists of 9 log cabin diamonds. Here is a photo of one of the 32 diamonds.








Hope you are having a great day!




Rhonda

Cooler Weather!

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood! After the heat and humidity the last couple of weeks it was nice to wake up to an 80 degree day.

I had to get up earlier than usual today. I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment for a root canal. Yuk!!! It wasn't nearly as bad as what I had thought. What hurt the most was paying that much for it! As my DH says,"its only money!" You mean its only fabric! Fabric I can't purchase because I had to spend so much on dental work. So depressing! I think how much fabric I could have purchase for the cost of that tooth.

I did do some recent fabric shopping the last couple of weeks. All on sale of course.

My first purchase was to Colorful Cottons online. Everything was on sale for $4 a yard. My order got her in a decent length of time but $24 for shipping and handling was way too much. I know that at least $16 went to just handling. That made my fabric almost $5 a yard in the long run.







My Colorful Cottons order.












The next order I placed was with Stitching Post Quilts in Washington, Indiana. Some of the fabrics were $2.75 a yard.







My Stitching Post Quilts order.








The last purchase was made at Margies Country Store in Madison, Indiana. Margie and all her wonderful employees makes her store one of my favorites. I got all my fabric 50% off when I was there yesterday.







My purchase at Margie's Country Store.






Now that I have purchased all this fabric, I need to start some sewing. LOL That is what I am going to do now!

Have a great day!

What are you working on?

I spent the biggest part of the weekend working outside in the yard. I have the sunburn to prove it. I got my car washed, the yard mowed and the pool ready to swim in. I think the pool was the hardest part.

I have been doing some designing with my Electric Quilt 6

Here is a sample. Let me know what you think.



Hope you have a great Monday!

What Today Will Bring?

I have my day all planned. As you know though, the best laid plans will go awry.

We took the pool cover off our pool yesterday afternoon. For the first time since we purchased the pool the water looked nasty. Solid Olive Green! So it is off to the pool shop this morning with a container of water from the pool. I hope I don't have to spend a lot on chemicals to straighten this out. Since I need to go to the bank also, I will do that while I am in town. With the gas situation, we try to do everything in one trip. But after that trip 20 miles north, I have to make a trip 20 miles south to take my daughter to the doctor. Might as well go to the Walmart while I am there. I don't like going to Walmart. So that will be a short trip. Hope to be back by 2 so I can get some sewing done. I spent some time yesterday working on a Lonestar Cabin quilt I started back in March. There is close to 5000 pieces in that quilt. Yes, I said 5000! I have one of the diamonds done and have 31 more to go. I will post a photo of the diamond as soon as I can.

Have a great Saturday!

It has been a while!

Almost a month since I last posted! Where has the time gone?

I have had so much going on. Where do I start?

My Mom and I had been working on a quilt for my sister, Dawn. We finally got it sent off to the quilter on Monday. I think it turned out really well. I would post a picture but I don't want her to see it. She has to wait until it is delivered in a few weeks.

My DH and I finished the process of becoming a foster home. We are now licensed and ready for some little ones. We did this to try and adopt 2 little boys we have known since their birth. But things did not work out and the boys will be going to a family in Ohio. We just hope they will be happy with their new family. One day, I hope they contact us. We miss them so much.

I quit my job last week. Now I have plenty of time to spend in my sewing room. I want to start a new project but have decided I need to finish some of those I already have started. Most of them just need quilted.

Our quilting group is having a sewing day here in Deputy on the 14th. I know we all will have a great time. It is so much fun when we get together. I always look forward to meeting new members and getting together with everyone.

Today is the last day of school for my daughter. I know she is ready to have some fun this summer.

We are going to try and get our pool opened up this evening. It has been really warm this last week. We went from 60 degreee weather to 90 degree weather overnight.

I will leave you with a picture. It is a quilt design using the Disappearing Nine Patch.



Hope you are enjoying your summer day!

Retreats are wonderful!!!

I spent a wonderful 4 days at the North Webster Retreat last weekend. I had such a great time I plan to go again next year. I made some great new friends, ate so much food, and completed a few piecing projects. Judy DeWald was a awesome teacher for the Needle Turned Applique class. I am ready to dive head first in to some applique now.


The photo to the left is the Mystery quilt a lot of us participated in. Disregard the glare spot on the quilt. Once I add some borders I think it will turn out great.





The photo to the right is a Round Robin that I finally got all the blocks sewed together. I added a 2" black border to the blocks. I plan to add another border of spikes to this wall quilt.
The blocks were made by members of the the Quilt Mavens yahoo group. There were 7 of us in this Round Robin. Each person made one 12" and two 6" blocks. The blocks weren't sewed together until they came home. Thanks go out to Liz, Janet, Mary, Stevie, Kathie and Becky for their contributions to my quilt.

52 hours to go

From what Joanne L. says we have about 52 hours until retreat starts! I am really looking forward to going to this special retreat in Northern Indiana. I will get to meet some great online friends for the first time! Liz, Mary, Susan, Joni and all, I can't wait to meet you in person! I hope I didn't forget anyone!

I am leaving on Wednesday to drive up to my SIL's to spend the night. Then wonderful Joanne L. is picking me up on Thursday morning to finish the drive to retreat! Then back to my SIL's on Sunday evening for the night. Should get home on Monday morning sometime. I think my DH is looking for to the vacation also.

Riding with Joanne I am sure will be an experience. I know already I should take a tarp for inclement weather and she has already said, "unruly passengers will be strapped to the cargo rack on top". I don't plan on being good! lol I think we should sing 99 spools of thread on the wall on our way. Well, I thought it was a good idea!

I guess I better think about doing some packing tomorrow. I don't even know what project(s) I will take with me to work on. I have so many I want to take but I don't think I will need that many.

Joanne, I will be ready! See ya soon!

Spring is here!

I think anyway! The weather has been great! So great, I have had my windows open during the day.

Greg has had to actually mow the yard. Now it needs it again. I may just do that tomorrow if I get the time. The grass is green from what you can see under all the dandelions!

Greg was able to get the garden tilled up on Monday! Yeah!!!! We even got our potatoes planted. Yesterday evening we set out our cabbage plants. I know we set out way too many though. Greg's uncle has a greenhouse and supplies us with all our plants. Whenever we ask for 12 we get 24. That was the case with the cabbage plants. We asked for 12 and got 24. Uncle Dave picked up our seed potatoes also. You can probably already figure out we got more than we wanted. Asked for 25 pounds and got 50. If the weather is good this summer, we will have plenty of potatoes and cabbage. I think it is because he always has so many extra and just wants to get rid of them. I hope it isn't because he thinks we eat that much! LOL
I always figure if we can't use it we can give it away to those that need it.

My Mom and I have been working on a quilt for my little sister Dawn. She is so little anymore. She is 45 years old! Where has the years gone!
We are making it out of batiks using Log Cabin blocks. The center of the quilt is 120 of those blocks. Then there is the first border of Flying Geese. The last border is Log Cabin blocks set on point. I think it is going to turn out nicely!
I have another quilt I need to get started on. A wall quilt for my niece's new baby that due to arrive in July. Since it is a wall quilt it won't take near as long as Dawn's quilt. The baby is going to be a girl if all the technology is correct. Her name will be Isabella Rose. I have the design in my head and just need to put some things down on paper.

Next week I am going to another Quilting Retreat in North Webster, Indiana. There will be 19 other ladies that I will be joining. I am really looking forward to it. Some of the ladies I have gotten to know through email and our Quilting in Indiana Yahoo group. I can't wait to meet them! Retreats are so much fun! You learn so much and make wonderful friendships!

That's if for today! Hopefully I will make it back sooner the next time!

Retreat!

I just had to stop in and tell everyone about a wonderful retreat I attended last weekend!
A few of us decided to get together for the weekend at The Leavenworth Inn in Leavenworth, Indiana. We had such a wonderful time!
We each received some wonderful gifties. Here is a photo of the gift I gave. I call it my Fabric Milkshake. It reminds me of the great milkshake that you get at Steak N Shake.


I will be going to another retreat the first of May. I am so looking forward to it!

I'm back!!!

I haven't posted in a little while so I thought I better get over here and do that!
I haven't been working on much except some Nine Patch blocks for a swap in your Yahoo group. We have 16 players right now for this swap. Yeah!!!!!!!!
I have been trying to use up some of the scraps in my scrap tote. That is a really big job!! Been making lots of nine patchs out of those. I realized I have a lot of strips to use up also. I need to make some strip blocks to go with a strip quilt that I have started. When I started it I didn't have enough strips to make it as big as I wanted. Now I am sure I have enough.
I have thinking a lot about what project I want to work on at our retreat coming up. 8 more days until we get to get together to sew for a whole weekend. We are meeting up at the Leavenworth Inn in Leavenworth, IN.
Isn't the Inn beautiful? I think so!

We have had a lot of rain lately. Everything is flooding! School was even on a 2 hour delay yesterday for the flooding. Some schools were even closed. It stopped raining yesterday afternoon and turned to snow. The snow didn't last long which was a good thing. I am ready for spring and hope it comes soon!

That is it for today! Stay dry and warm!

Sew Along Quilt Day Retreat Weekend

If you want to have some quilting fun this weekend, stop over at Pat Sloan's blog and enjoy the Quilt Day Sew Along Retreat Weekend. There are always fun things to do with Pat around!

Blocks for the Lottery

On one of the Yahoo groups I belong to, we are doing a block lottery. Here are my entries! I really like the blue one better. Laurie M. was the winner for this months lottery and she picked the pattern for these. At first I wasn't going to play, I thought the pattern looked too complicated for me. But I couldn't pass up the challenge. Found out the pattern was really easy! So I am glad I went ahead and played.










I spent the day with my Mom yesterday. Our usual day together is spent going to quilt shops or sewing together. Yesterday was different. Very different!!! We spent the day here at my house washing curtains, washing windows and doing some furniture moving. We still had a good day together.
After Mom left, I did get some sewing done. I have been working on a wallhanging using the Signature blocks I received in a swap. I now have all the blocks in rows and just need to sew the rows together and add a border. My pile of quilt tops is growing so probably after this quilt I will need to concentrate on getting my tops quilted. I have a couple that just need binding so those will go fast.
That is it for today! Maybe I will be back tomorrow!

Tamara's Package of Wonderful Things

As I said in my previous post, I received a wonderful package from Tamara over at Quilting N Stuff. Here are the photos I told you I would post. Tamara was so generous! Thank you so much!




Have a wonderful sewing weekend!!!

I won again!

I received a prize from Tamara over at Quilting N Stuff. Thank you so much Tamara! I will try to post a photo of the wonderful gift you sent me. There were some Fat Quarters that were absolutely gorgeous. Also a Watercolor Quilt Kit and a pin caddy (I am not sure what you call it but it is fantastic). I will try to get that picture on my blog this weekend. Tamara was so generous!

OWOH Giveaway

I was the lucky winner of a prize from the OWOH giveaway. I received a wonderful prize from Shelley Jones at Nahia Creations. The prize was Bath Salts, Chocolate scented soap and some great Peppermint Lemongrass Lip Balm. Thank you so much Shelley!

Moving!!!!

I spent the entire day, except for going to the bank and getting groceries, moving my sewing room. My entire house is in disarray!!! No I won't post any photos! lol
I am working on rearranging my entire home. That is what happens when you decide that you are going to try and adopt. We have one more training class and the home study to go through and hopefully we will have two little boys to join our family.
My mom had voluteered to come help me do some moving tomorrow, but sometimes the best plans go bad quickly. My boss called right after I talked to my mom and asked me to work days the rest of this week. I sure can't turn work down right now. lol
Some people would probably say we were crazy! Maybe we are but we are still going to follow our dream.
Can you believe it? This is my second post for today. I have had just too much energy for today.
I also want to thank Lish for the You Make My Day award. Lish is so creative. You really need to check out her blog. Make sure you check out her photos while you are there. Her Wonder Wallets are great! Thanks Lish!
Enjoy the rest of your evening!

You Make My Day Award

Debi Wind, over at Just Me And My Rubber Stamps, has been so kind as to award me with the You Make My Day Award. Thank You Debi!!!

The rules for the "You Make My Day" award, are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know through an email or posting to their blog so they can pass it on. You may get the award more than once, so if you do, consider yourself very loved! So pass it on!!! Here are the 10 blogs that make me happy! Check them out and see if they make you happy!

Ellen

Sandy

Mary

Sew Very Creative

Tamara

A Peach In Stitches

Laurie

Stitchin Friends

Quilts & ATC's

Lish

Have a great day!!!!