My goodies!

Remember I told you I went on a quilt shop tour while I was in Las Vegas?

If you are going to Vegas and you want to go on this tour, let me know and I'll hook you up with Susan, our quilt tour gal. She does a terrific job of picking you up at your hotel, getting you together with really nice women, getting you safely to the shops she has scheduled, takes you to lunch at a wonderfully delicious soup and salad restaurant and returns you to your hotel excited about all the wonderful things you've seen and purchased. I don't know how a fabricaholic could not have a wonderful time with her. (She will even see your fabric gets shipped home for you in the event you can't pack it all in your suitcase!)

Well, this shot is what I bought on the trip. I thought I laid it all out so nicely, but it looks like I threw it on my bed and took a picture.

This lighting in this picture isn't great, but at least you can see a portion of my purchases. In the back is the bag I got as a gift from Susan, our tour director. It's one of those recycled shopping bags. On the front you see different blocks. On the back of the bag are quilting terms with their meanings, like a page from a dictionary. The fabrics in front of the bag are my chubby eights. There are some great fabrics there!!

This panel is going to become a baby quilt. I saw it and just fell in love with it. I hope the lucky baby will love it, too! There's a red print and enough of the green print for the back of the quilt, sashings and binding.

These fabrics are the only "yardages" I bought. I love them, no specific purpose, just a love of the design. The blue is an oriental print, the orangey one is really more pink with yellow and orange. Very bright. I just fell in love with the daisies on pink and the dark fabric is birds (parrots) on palms and leaves. (I am hoping to do a stack and whack with it.)

These are fat quarters. As you can see, I was on a pink/red tangent while on this trip. I LOVE reds and pinks and think I'm going to start working on a design for myself in those colors.

I just couldn't help myself, I fell in love with these fabrics and HAD to have them for my stash!!

Even more fat quarters I could absolutely not resist!!

These are the patterns I snagged while shopping. Whew, a girl just has to splurge now and then!!

I hope you enjoyed looking at my new fabrics.

Did you miss me?

I'm back from my spring break vacation in Las Vegas. I have so much to share, but it's nearly 10 p.m. and I need to unpack.

Stay tuned, I had a great time and went shopping at the quilt shops there. I'll post some pictures and stories about things that happened.

For tonight, I'm trying to read your blogs and catch up on emails.

Ahhh, SPRING!!

Ooh, it's SpRiNg!!! Don't you just love SpRiNg!!?

It's beautiful! Sunny today and very brisk.

Today was the last day of school before SpRiNg vacation and it was wild!!! Yep, I said wild! Anyway, it's over and I'm on SpRiNg break!!!

I hope you love SpRiNg and you have a wonderful weekend

Looking over today

As I look over today I see it was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the temperature was nice but a little on the cool side.

I went to see Dr. Seliga today and tonight Rick got his new glasses.

Tomorrow is the last day of school before Spring Break. I'm so looking forward to NO WORK for a whole week.



I'm a little tired and have a bit of a headache.

G'night for tonight.





Hugs

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the luck o' the Irish be with you today, tomorrow and forever.

Monday, Monday, so good to me...

Remember the Mamas and the Papas? I still love that song

and I sang it today while driving in the car. I try to do that,cause my off-key singin' will hurt listeners' ears!!

Tonight I had dinner with my sister, Cris. Her birthday (as well as my brother's) is tomorrow. Nope, they are not twins. Mama planned those two (tee hee...but didn't plan on me!) and they were born three years apart. I bought her the cutest garden gargoyle. it's a bit odd, but aren't all gargoyles a bit "out there"? It's not the traditional gargoyle, not gothic looking, but more of a baby face. She loved it and has just the spot for it. We had a nice evening having dinner at Applebee's.

I got a gift too! My sister is helping her daughter organize. They are working on the "office" which is also her sewing room. She was getting rid of her fabric and WOW, did I hit the jackpot. I got her stash!!! My car trunk is pretty full. Not all cottons, mind you, but flannels, upholstery, sheers and fleece. I'm gonna have a fun time!!

Well, my friends, I'm going to go and relax for tonight. Tomorrow I'll bring in all the fabric and sort it into my "system".

Have a wonderful evening. Tomorrow is Tuesday and only three more "get ups" until spring break.

Hugs

P.S. What is your favorite song??

Gorgeous Sunday

What a beautiful day!

The creative gods (goddesses) were watching over me and I am pleased to report I put together a fun, bright and baby-friendly quilt and snuggle blankie. I did it as a quilt-as-you-go project. I made my own appliques from fleece--I couldn't find any in the stores or on the 'net that were big enough. I'm happy with these, I think they are darling and they are fleece, so they are cozy soft for baby snuggles.
I hurried outside to get a picture of it while the sun was out. This picture is the front...at least I'm calling it the front. My husband thinks the next picture should be the front!

The blue is a curly/fuzzy/cuddly poly fabric and for the life of me I can't think of the name of it!! The truck is my fleece applique.

This close up looks big, but in fact it's about 18" square. Just a cuddle-size blankie for a lucky little boy.












Today Rick and I went to church. It was a nice service and very short to boot. I was lucky enough to hold Miss Hadley through the service.

Enjoy your day. I'm off to cut up some fresh strawberries, clean some carrots for snacking this week and begin my roast for dinner.

Hugs

Gotta get BIZZEE

Hello my friends,

Did you realize that today is Saturday, March 14? Do you know what that means? It means I MUST get busy. I have a request for a quilt from a dear woman who is busy in my daughter Kelly's hectic life.

I need to create a quilt for a little boy coming into the world soon. It is a construction themed quilt (cause daddy builds homes!). I have been collecting many fabrics but at this moment have no freakin' idea of how to construct this quilt. If you are like me, I'll take all my fabrics, lay them out and HOPEFULLY the ideas will come racing into my mind.

This week is the week before my vacation...yeah!!! I would like to get at least the quilt top made before the week is over...preferably today.

I'll post pictures as things progress. Please say a little prayer for me to help the creative juices flow freely.

On another note, it's a beautiful sunny day here in northeastern ohio. I live not too far from Lake Erie. If you are from this area you know that clouds are a frequent visitor to this area, bringing us many gray days. Sunny days are wonderful!

Hugs

Even better than my most beautiful quilt

This is my youngest grandchild. She'll be one in a couple of weeks.

I'll get pictures of the other grandchildren up soon.

As much as I love to quilt, grandchildren are the best!

Busy day

Day 2 of back to work.

Ups and downs in my day today...and always, I guess!! I really like what I do for the most part. I talk with parents, greet students who are late to school and am very busy. I like the job. I listen, I laugh and I work hard. I'm busy every day, so my day goes really fast. Today was a tough day in some aspects.

This week is OGT -- Ohio Graduation Testing. Our students who do not need to take the test don't need to arrive at school at the regular time. First period begins at 10:25. Yep, 2 hours and 50 minutes later than usual. Can they make it on time?? NO...at least a lot of them can't. I have students coming to school as late as 12-12:30 cause they "OVERSLEPT"! Overslept? Are you kidding me? Get your lazy hiney outta bed and get to school.

Oh, well...not my call, but I think I have a solution. When you can't get to school on time when on time is nearly 3 hours late, I think you should have a consequence of SCHOOL SERVICE. If you are late (without a legitimate reason such as a doctor appointment, ill, etc.) you would get a slip with a specific School Community Service assigned. I'm talking things like picking up trash on the school grounds, sweeping the sidewalk leading to the school, cleaning up the lunch room, running a dust rag around the library shelves, running the sweeper in carpeted areas, etc.

Can you tell I'm tired and cranky? I worked without stop all day, no lunch break, one potty break and one trip to the copy machine. Ok, I'm off my soapbox about making kids responsible.

Tonight we have calling hours to support Nick, a member of hubby's softball team whose sister died. Sad.

I got up this morning at 5 again. I had a lot to do and didn't get a chance to do a full 30 minutes of Wii Fit. I got in 15 minutes and hope to finish the other 15 minutes later tonight.

I haven't sewn in a few days and I'm missing that. Maybe tomorrow.

G'night for now.

Dragon

Dragon? Dragging...yep, that's me today.
Today was my first day back to work after my surgery and three weeks of recovery. I slept horribly last night. It was too warm in our bedroom. I would toss and turn, then finally fall asleep. Sleep for maybe 30-45 minutes, then wake. Leg cramps. Grrrr, not an easy night.

I got up at 5 and spent half an hour exercising. I was a bit late to work...maybe 10 minutes. Not a problem since this week is OGT and first period doesn't start till 10:25.

Morning wasn't too bad. I kept up with the pace and all was well. Everyone who came to see me mentioned how rested I looked. IN THE MORNING. In the afternoon, I was dragging. I wasn't prepared for this.

I was feeling great at home and expected the same when I returned to work. I don't. I hurt. My hips and my legs hurt. My stomach bothered me, too. (Am I whining??)

After work I did a couple of chores, sat down in my recliner and went to sleep. Not a 20 minute nap, but probably more like an hour or more. I feel better.

Hopefully tomorrow will be easier.

Thanks for listening.

Hugs

Tomorrow I go back to work after three weeks off recuperating from surgery.

I've got mixed feelings. I've enjoyed being home, time to relax and time to go things that I love to do...such as sewing! On the other hand, I feel like I should be working. Never satisfied!! ;)

I've made 11 "Friendly Flock" blocks for my Geese in the Forest BOM. I love doing this paper piecing. It's enjoyable to see the preciseness (is that really a word?) without lots of work.

I'll post a pic another time of my blocks. Tonight it's a movie and the last of my extended time off.

Saturday musings

This morning I woke to a wonderful sound. I heard thunder in the distance.

Now for me, thunderstorms bring wonderful memories of childhood. I learned long ago that I was secure and safe in my home. My childhood was secure and filled with love. I never worried that harm would come as long as I was at home with my parents.

When our children were young, we lived in a home that had a screened-in patio with a metal roof. Oh, how we loved sitting on the patio and watching the storms roll in from the southwest. We would gather, sometimes taking a blanket so we could cuddle beneath it as the rain spray might come through the screening. During these times our children came to embrace the storms, also. It was beautiful to watch the clouds coming our way, watching the lightning and the sound. The SOUND!! Rain pelting on the metal roof, drowning out all other noise, but so soothing to the soul. It was a treat to take those times and be close with those we loved.

After leaving that house, we purchased my childhood home. It's a different feeling now when the storms roll in, I now worry that the drain is clear that takes the water to the sump pump and our basement doesn't take in water. I sometimes worry that the spouting is clear of debris. I guess that's part of being a "grown up". However, I still feel the calm when I know those things are taken care of and can relax to enjoy the storm.

I need to ask my girls if they remember those times of cuddling on the patio when they lived at 482 Silver Meadows Blvd.

Evelyn's Quilt

This handsome guy is my grandpup, Guinness.

Isn't he a handsome canine? He's a chocolate lab mix

and he loves, loves, loves his Mimi.

Gracie is his girlfriend and he gets so excited to

come and play with her.

This quilt is the first "grandbaby" quilt I

made. Evelyn is nearly 6 years old. I wanted

each block to be one of a kind and an I spy type

of design. I was/am very proud of this quilt.

A closer view.




The following pictures are the back of the quilt.

GREAT NEWS!

Everything is fine. The technician squooze me everywhichway. She had the radiologist read the 'gram, then she squooze me again with more pics.

The outcome? I've had this "shadow" since 2005. I'm fine and breathing a sigh of relief!

Changed appointment

I called and got my next mammogram moved to this morning. I'll post about the outcome later.