I was having fun the last couple of days, making these cute little kitty blocks, which are going to be in a love quilt for a dear friend, who just lost her Mom. She likes cats, so this is the pattern chosen for her blocks. It goes so fast, I could easily make hundreds of them, but I don't know who would want such a quilt. LOL Oh, well, guess that will not stop me from making more. Got a couple of very good suggestions regarding fabric/color choices that I will try to make up later this week, like tomorrow.

I will be able to do that now, because I GOT THE WEDDING QUILT ALL DONE, EXCEPT FOR THE BINDING!!! It is off the frame, and the frame is leaning against the wall, making my basement look absolutely huge!! I did put up thanks to God for helping me get this quilt done, as I worked the time frame out mentally, and I came up with this quilt being worked on for almost 2 years. That cancer really put a crimp in my quilting time, but it is all better now, so God saw to it that I finished the project. Now I just have to come up with an appropriate label for the back of the quilt. I also discovered to my delight, that the backing actually has a bit of pink in it, so it really goes very well with the top of the quilt, which is teal, raspberry, and cream. I just hope that the bride and groom like the quilt.

My sewing cabinet is coming along nicely, and I think it will be coming home about the 18th of April, as Tom and I come home from the wedding in Moorhead, MN. I sure hope I can get some of the mess cleared up before it comes home. LOL

Well, I hope to get some more of my little swap quilt done tomorrow, as we are getting snowed on again. I hate going out in slippery weather, so quilting will be a great excuse for me. LOL
A nice big pot of soup, hot coffee, and quilting, what more does one need to be happy in February?

More later.

Ele

Well, it is now after Valentine's Day. What did you do for fun on that special day? I got to sew, and then we went out for barbecued ribs for supper. Very romantic, huh?? Well, the sauce on the ribs was sorta dark red, so that counts. We show love for each other every day of the year, so don't really need a special day for that.

I did get an e-mail from George, showing me the progress on my sewing cabinet. It now has the extensions and front doors on it. It looks soooooooo heavy, I just hope Tom and I will be able to get it down the steps to my cave. I do know it will get much used. Oh, a good news item!! I worked on a new BOM this weekend, using my FW, but because I can't locate the regular foot for it, was using the 1/4" foot, but that did not work well when trying to do diagonal stitiching for 1/2 square triangle blocks. I set that aside and tried again to make the Kenmore actually sew again. I put some heavier fabric in to sew on, so I could pull it hard if I needed to. Well, it would not sew forward, so I gave the fabric a yank backwards, and after a second or two, I heard the gears shift and it started sewing normally again. I was a very happy camper!

Put the FW away for the trip to Arkansas and finished the whole 12 blocks for the next BOM step. Then I cut pieces for the next lottery block for guild, which will get sewn today. I only have 2 more to make so I will not get behind while we are away. No mail today, so I should be getting a F8 bundle in the mail tomorrow, for a Carol Doak swap. I hope to get those 4 blocks done before we leave, but will have to see how that goes. Got lots of packing, loading, listing, etc. to do before we actually pull out, so some quilty stuff will not get done in the next 3 weeks.

I got a phone call today from the Mom of the bride who is getting the wedding quilt I have been working on for over a year. Needed the grooms name, as the bride changed her mind once before, after I started the quilt. Needless to say, putting the former groom-to-be's name on the quilt now would be ultra-tacky! LOL I now have the proper name, so I can start working on the label. I will be glad to see the last of that quilt, even tho it is lovely. It has been taking up space in my cave for almost 2 years, so it is time for it to go!

Well, it is now time for me to hit the sewing, because I do have to do something constructive today. Might as well be quilting, because tomorrow will be laundry and opping in the chatroom. Oh, ya, I get to be home alone again tomorrow, because Tom goes up to Dundas, MN to work on his steam tractor project. I really do like being home alone, because I get to do just what I want to. LOL Please don't tell him I said that, ok? That goes for you too, Morbida!

Well, I will see you later, have a wonderful day, and keep quilting.

Ele

Test driving a new quilt!!

Here is Edna, trying out her new birthday quilt. She has been bugging me for a green quilt for her, so this is what I made for her. Her big day was on Friday last week, but I figured I had to wait a couple of days, simply because we had house guests that she did not know. I think she looks pretty good laying on her Turning 20 quilt, even at 87 years old. And no, she did not fall asleep and start snoring!! She does do that, however. I got to stay home alone again today, as Tom went to work on the steam engine again. I did my 3 hours in the chat room, then went into town to deliver Edna's quilt, stopped at the post office and the grocery store, then back home. Just after I got home, the doorbell rang. Our renters had come to find out if I could jumpstart their car, as the battery was dead. I did not have cables in the van, so had to go out to the old corn crib to locate the battery charger, which they plugged in and used. Shortly after I came back in the house, they came and said the car had gotten started. It was fun trying to converse with them, as they don't speak much English and my Spanish is what I learned in high school, almost 50 years ago. LOL It was a fun afternoon. Now I am going to the cave, to cut and sew some 9-patch blocks that need to be sent off and received by next Sunday. I hope I can get it all done. All I can do is try.

Quilty hugs,
Ele, in Iowa, where snow is melting

Well, after a very busy, busy week for me, this is a fun moment at the end of the week. On Friday, I had the pleasure of teaching this nice lady how to sew my favorite teddy bear pattern, and here she is, holding her unstuffed, very first project. She made a couple of boo-boos, but after I made her rip the stitches and do it over, she had a nice looking critter to call her own. I sent her home with her very own usable pattern, the instructions for installing the nylon joints to make the arms and legs movable, a catalogue with the necessary supplies for making more bears, and a couple of estate sale chenille bedspreads she can use to make a bunch more teddy's. Joanne said she had so much fun learning how to do this, and she was very thankful to have my assistance. She was an excellent student. Tom said her hubby was an equally adept student, when they were outside in the orchard, pruning the apple trees. Jim has trees at his home in Minnesota that needed pruning, but he did not know how to do it, so he got showed!!! It is a necessary thing to do for the trees, and now he can help his own trees. LOL

Our weekend was wonderfully busy, as was our whole week, but now it is done, and we can get back to our lazy ways for a couple of days, before we start getting our stuff ready for loading into the motorhome, as we are getting closer to our Arkansas departure date. We are hoping the weather warms up some before we actually leave.

Today, we went to Nicollet, MN for the annual fish fry. We have gone on the first Saturday in February for that feast at least 15 years now. It is such a good meal, and we look forward to it all year long. We always meet a group of friends to share the meal with, and this year there were 14 of us, all eating beer battered pollack, German potato salad, creamy cole slaw, warm bread, and excellent coffee. Nobody went away hungry, I just know. After we eat that huge meal, we go around the corner and hit the famous meat market, to stock up on smoked summer sausage, made at the meat market. That is very good and this year we got a jalapeno flavored sausage that has a real zip to it. Should be wonderful on crisp crackers.

When we got done with all that, we headed to Mankato, MN to get Tom's glasses fixed. He lost the nose pad part of his specs, and we could not find how to repair them ourselves, so he put them on the dining table for about 2 weeks, knowing we could get them worked on today, so he wore an old, very scratched pair, and they are not good for his eyes any longer, so he was not doing well with reading and such. Now he is happier, because he can see again. They must have been in very bad shape, because the repair took almost an hour at Vision World! I think the girl working on them learned a couple of new words while working on them. One lens kept coming out of the frame, every time she was cleaning them before handing them back to Tom. She did some very bewildered frowning a couple of times, but was pleasant most of the time.

Left there and headed to Blue Earth, MN, so I could pick up my prescription refills at Wal-Mart. I also got some fusible interfacing to use for stabilizing some tender chenille I want to use to make a few teddy bears from. It is yellow and lovely, but very easily torn, so in order to make it a bit more sturdy, I will use the fusible, which will strengthen it a lot. I also picked up another box of my Mango/Peach tea, which is heavenly. I love the aroma of it while it steeps.

We left there and headed home finally. Seemed like forever since we were home, but it was just a few hours. lol Was glad to get home, as I really wanted to get to the basement and put more stitches in the wedding quilt, but alas, we both sat down in our recliners, and promptly fell asleep. When we woke up, we had to had a bit of left over soup for a quick, light supper, then back to the recliners, Tom to sleep and I to read some of my book. Now I am doing this and getting ready to head to bed. Does not seem that any stitching will be done tonight! I did take a couple of patterns off the computer to work on, and will most likely take them to Arkansas to work on, as they are small things, one is applique BOM and the other is a pin cushion thing to make.

I will be back tomorrow, to show you the green quilt I made for our friend's birthday, which was yesterday. I did not get the quilt to her yet, tho, as she was gone all day yesterday, and we were busy with house guests. She will get the quilt tomorrow, so I will let you see her with the quilt. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a quilty type blog, but sometimes I just don't get to quilt much. I want to, but it just doesn't happen the way it is supposed to. LOL

So, until I gift the green quilt, I will say good night, stay warm, think happy thoughts, and smile!!

Quilty hugs,
Ele

This is what my new sewing cabinet looks like on Feb. 1! I have doors! George is doing a great job on this, and will be very glad to have it in my house to use. He does great work with wood! Still not sure when it will be done and ready for me to use, but whenever that is, it can't be too soon for me. I am getting very impatient!

It was a very busy day for me today, and I am very glad to be back home, safe and sound. Tomorrow will be another busy one, but a bit different than today. I get to do "girl stuff" with my friend Joanne and her sister, up in Northfield, MN. We are going to go junk store shopping, so not sure what treasures I will find. Have a few things in mind to look for, but you never know just what will catch your eye. That is the fun of such excursions.

I did manage to get my wedding quilt worked on a bit yesterday, and actually turned on of the end boards 2 twists before I called it a night. The quilt is getting much narrower across the top now, so it is lots closer to being done, thank goodness. I do not worry that it will be off the frame by the end of this month. I also got another of my UFO tops done into a whole quilt, even the binding is done. Just have the label left to attach, which is what I am going to do next tonight. Feels good to have another ufo done, and that makes 2 off the list now. I will add that picture in the next blog. I am just too tired now to bother with it.

I'm off to do that label now, then have to get to bed, so I can be up and ready to roll about 7:30 in the morning. Another early day for me! I think I am getting too old for all these early mornings. LOL

More later.

Quilty hugs,
Ele

1. Here I am with Dr. Chee, as I present her with her "thank you" quilt I made for her. She was so surprised and happy to get it, almost as happy as Tom and I are with her and her wonderful care of me while dealing with the cancer last year. I had to go today, Groundhog Day, for my first follow-up visit. I got an all clear, with everything looking very good. I was a very happy person, needless to say. It was a good trip, and on the way home, God blessed us with the most beautiful light show! Sun shining thru heavy clouds and masses of blowing stuff below the clouds. The colors were awesome, and the whole thing changed like a slide show. It was such a lovely gift!