Busy day

And only a very little bit was quilt related.  Sheesh.  And all I did was sew some fabric together for a QOV I’m working on, and work on a pillowcase to go with it.  I’m using Vicki’s directions for making the case.  I thought that I’d drag my serger out to try to serge the seams and doggone it, I still can’t….quite…get it threaded properly.  I’m missing something with one of the looper threads.  Is that what’s it would be called? it doesn’t go through the needle, it comes up from the bottom.  anyway. moving on.

That killed more time than I care to admit, but I think I know what I was doing wrong, so I’ll go try again…maybe tomorrow, since it’s almost 10!

Part of the evening was spent entertaining my niece.  We had invited her brother over for a sleepover and she decided she wanted to come, too.  She spent a bunch of time playing with the boys, but after supper decided she did’nt really want to go back out and play anymore baseball.

I was going to show pictures of what she and I did, but then I remembered that her Mom occasionally reads this blog, and I’d better not give away the surprise.

Sorry to have been so mysterious in yesterday’s post.  I’m just not quite ready to talk about what’s going on until some more details are worked out.

Mark and the kids are playing Pirates of the Caribbean Scene-It.  I think it’s about time the whole crowd found it’s way into a bed.

At least, I think *I* need to go to bed, so I’ll yak on ya later –

Suzanne

Eating an elephant

We’ve made the decision to go ahead and try to implement this big (slightly) whacky idea I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

The making-of-the-decision is a huge weight off my shoulders, but now there is a new weight.  The OMG-there-are-a-million-things to do kind of weight.

Don’t you just love cryptic posts that don’t come out and tell you what they are actually talking about?

Yeah, me too.

Some of you probably know what I’m talking about.  Some of you can probably guess.

Some of you will be thinking that I’m just insane.  You are probably right.

Right now I’m just trying to remind myself of my second favorite saying.  (In case you’ve forgotten, or need to laugh again, my first favorite saying/motto is the one about being a horrible warning…)

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

TTFN-

Suzanne

p.s. you have until Sunday night to comment on this post if you want to a chance at one of the 3 patterns that are up for grabs.  i’m wishing i had a whole stack of them so that i could sell them to all of the non-winners.  since i don’t, be sure to visit the link in that post where you can buy them.

Yesterday was a fluke

Well, the getting out of bed on their own part, anyway. We’ll see how the rest of the morning goes. Just for fun I took my camera up and started taking pictures, telling them I wouldn’t stop until they got out of bed. It took a lot longer for them to decide to get up than I would have imagined. They did ride their bikes again, and the school hasn’t called wondering where they are, so I’m assuming they made it safely.

I should admit that even though *I* didn’t follow them yesterday (or today), my sister-in-law did…so it’s still kind of like I’m watching them…

The really good deal I thought I got yesterday was also a fluke. At Staples, I found a Webcam on their clearance rack — originally $84.99, marked down to $39.50. When I checked out, it actually rang up at $12.50. I was so excited!!! What a deal!!!

Yeah, right. Darn thing doesn’t work. And it appears that it might have actually be a return. The manual smells like cigarette smoke and has handwriting on one of the pages.

So now, instead of having chats via webcam with my 2 year old nephew, I have to box it all back up, and remember to take it and the receipt back to Staples the next time I go up there, which might not be for two weeks, and you know darned well I’m not making a special trip, with gas approaching $4/gallon.

In quilting news: the binding I’ve been complaining about is finally finished. Now I need to get a hanging sleeve on this crazy thing. I really hate hanging sleeves.

I’d better quit procrastinating and get the sleeve (and a label!) done.

Have a great day!

Suzanne

And away they go

out of bed, on their own, before 7 am

breakfast eaten, lunches packed, shoes on

time to go, turn off the games

out the door, on their bikes.

without mom.

bittersweet

Pattern Giveaway

I am in the midst of cleaning my office. And not just a swipe over the top — I’m actually opening up the cabinets and clearing those out, too. It’s interesting the treasures you find when you do something like this.

What I found this morning were copies of 3 patterns designed by the owner of the former quilt shop in town. These are awesome, awesome, awesome scrappy quilts.

I have other copies of these, so you, my lucky blog readers, are going to get the opportunity to own one of these patterns. Just comment on this post between now and Sunday, and I’ll have my assistants draw 3 lucky winners from the names.

First up is Zigzag 9 –

This quilt uses 2.5 inch strips, so it’s great for jelly rolls or strip clubs. The pattern has instructions for 3 different sizes (baby, lap, and queen). I’ve made several of these and back in the day when I was busy with customer quilts, I quilted several.

Next we have Galaxy:

This one uses 2 inch strips. Again, I’ve made and/or quilted a bunch of these. This one is very versatile, and different fabric choices can make it look completely different. Several years ago, the designer made one out of Cherrywood fabrics, using a dark purple as the background (instead of the light) and it was gorgeous. Instructions are for lap or queen/king (depending on border choices).

Last, but not least:

Red Hot Leftovers

I actually quilted this one. You can’t see it from the photo, but the background is full of feathers. I’ll try to dig up a closeup….

I’ve made this one completely scrappy, but I prefer the look of the scrappy reds and neutrals. I also quilted one that used red for the large stars and black for the small stars and it was gorgeous. Instructions for 2 sizes are included.

So, comment away, we’ll draw for winners on Sunday and patterns will be on their way next week.

Time to go run some errands, then back to the couch with my binding project. Why did I think it was a good idea to make this quilt so darned big???

Suzanne

edited later to add: I can’t believe I forgot to include the name of the designer! The patterns are designed by Iowa Star Designs. I believe you can still order them from http://www.iowastarquilts.com

Do as I say

I’m forever living my motto “If you can’t be a good example, be a horrible warning”

Yesterday at lunch, we were eating leftover goulash.  Joe was examining the Parmesan cheese and asked if he could shake it up to try to break up some of the clumps.

Mark and I both made noises to the effect of sure, but make sure the lid is closed tightly.  He checked it and then started shaking it gently side to side.  Of course, this was doing nothing, so I decided to show him how to really do it.

So I grabbed the container and started shaking it up and down as hard as I can.  ( I can barely type this, I’m laughing so hard.)

The stunned silence was priceless.

The Parmesan Cheese was EVERYWHERE.  I even had it in my hair.

I tried to tell the boys that this was a good lesson for them about WHY you needed to make sure the lid was on tight.  The response was basically “Well, Mom, we didn’t learn anything other than you are certifiable.  Maybe YOU need to learn to make sure the lid is on tight.”

Quilting assistants

Of course there is Katie, who generally sleeps through any quilting I do (she climbs up on the back of the couch in my sewing room and you should see how misshapen that couch cushion is). I think she started going up there because Toby would sit on the couch itself, and she was trying to get away from him…)

This picture is from a year ago, but I’m almost ashamed to admit how many pictures of her in this position we’ve actually taken.

Yesterday, I was trying to take some in progress pics of the quilt that I just finished quilting and unfortunately those pictures didn’t turn out that great, but I did get a really good shot of another quilting assistant:

This little guy rides along on the handles of my A-1 Quilting Machine.  He has magnets in his paws.  Mark and the boys got him for me somewhere, but I can’t remember where now.  Isn’t he cute?

I’ll try to take better pictures of the quilt I was working on tomorrow when the sun is shining.  At least, I hope the sun will be shining.  It looked beautiful today, but looks are deceiving:  it was cold and extremely windy.

TTFN-

Suzanne

Go visit my Mom

And give her brand-new blog some love (be sure to tell her I sent you…)

http://middyjane.wordpress.com/

(Middy Jane was her mother’s pet name for her when she was growing up and it still occasionally slips out. Short for Midget.)

She’ll probably have some knitting and some quilting and I don’t know what else. Poetry maybe?

Anyway, you have to go visit and see the picture of the hat and shrug she made for her newest grandbaby. Totally cute. I think she needs to post a picture of the grandbaby *wearing* the shrug, though.

(edited later to add:  well, it would help if I made the link clickable….and also if I said  “go visit my Mom, PLEASE”  sheesh, who taught me my manners???)

Rain, rain go away

The weather fun continues here in Eastern Iowa.

Remember all that snow and ice we had all winter long?  Well, apparently we are going to have rain and rain all spring long.  Last weekend was a total of 4 inches worth.

This weekend?  It rained yesterday and it is raining (and going to continue to rain) today.  Basements full of water, sewers backing up.  Mud everywhere.  The creek is out again, and I’m sure there will be flooding issues around the state.

On a bright note, the temps are nice and when it isn’t raining, it’s been beautiful out, plus, the grass is a gorgeous shade of green.

The thunder and rain woke Joe up before 6 and he came to join me in bed.  The first thing he said was “School will probably be canceled.”

Another blooming nine patch

This one is not mine: it was made by a customer that has brought me something like 4 or 5 Blooming Nine Patches over the years.

She is donating it to an auction to benefit a young mother that has cancer. The young woman is in the midst of a divorce and has 3 children under the age of about 5 or 6.

The quilting was done freehand on my longarm.  The thread is So Fine and Bottom Line.

I know that most of my quilting friends that read this either (a) quilt for themselves or (b) already have a relationship with a quilter of their own, but, if anyone out there is looking for a machine quilter, and likes the style of my quilting, I’m accepting new customers for machine quilting.  Drop me an e-mail if you  would like to discuss!

And now — I’m off to get the boys weighed in for football and then to the church for choir rehearsal.

TTFN-

Suzanne