Posting pictures

This is the center block of my Yours Truly Round Robin quilt I am making, along with a lot of others from the Carol Doak paper piecing site. It is called "yours truly" because it works like a normal round robin, except that you do all the rounds yourself, so you don't have to wait for someone else to send your lovely quilt on thru the mails. This is the first time I have made one of these from the patterns of Carol, so I am really getting my brain stretched. We do get suggested things to do for each round, and so far, I have gotten all those right, I think.

I am hoping that the fabrics I chose will last until we get our last round done, and my black is starting to run low. I may have to punt here! LOL The next picture is how my quilt looks after round 4. I want to work the burgandy and green into the next round, but am having a bit of a problem wrapping my brain around the idea of really sharp points!! Math was/is not my favorite subject, but have to use that to figure all my sides, so they come out looking nice. I will be working on this some more, just as soon as I finish sewing more pillow cases, which will be for donating to Ronald McDonald House thru my local guild. What a fun project, and I have become additcted to making them in bunches. Not lots of heavy sewing going on here, because we are in the middle of doing some well/water repairs here at home, and I just don't want to get my fabrics all messed up. I have a lovely quilt that will be hand quilted by me, all ready to load onto the quilt frame, but must wait until the water work is all done.

Some of the liberated fabrics from Arkansas will definitely become pillow cases, but I will show that picture in the next edition of this blog. Hopefully that will happen before too long. LOL

At any rate, please look at my round robin quilt and give any suggestions you see fit to share. I will need the help.

Thanks and hugs,
Ele

Feb. 28, and 7 more sleeps!!

Well, here I am, waiting to get the motorhome loaded for our annual trip to Mountain View, Arkansas. I am still hoping that we can get all the loading accomplished, because we have sooooooo much snow on the ground, it is very difficult getting around our yard. We do have the motorhome in the converted corn crib, so at least it is dry!! I am happy that we only have 7 more sleeps before we leave, that is, if all goes as we hope, no more snow, good traveling weather, and no more delays! I know, I know, that is asking for a lot, but we are sure praying for all of that, along with being able to connect with our fellow caravaners. This has been such a long, long winter, and we have had snow on the ground constantly since Christmas, and not much has melted, because it has not been warm enough to do that. Oh well, that is just winter in Iowa, I reckon.

One good thing about all the icky weather is that I have gotten a lot of quilting done. I got the breast cancer quilt from guild to put the binding on, and that is now finished. I have also made a lovely little quilt for a swap in the chatroom, and that is all ready to mail off to the lucky lady whose name I got! Sure hope she likes the quilt, but if she doesn't, I hope she will send it back to me, because it is actually one I have come to love, a lot!!

This is a week of running for medical test/check-ups/appointments, so when that gets all done, we can get busy loading the motorhome. I do know that I will be very tired by the time we get to where we are going, but will have fun after we get there. Lots of good friends to see and hug, and lots of good music to hear and enjoy. We sure love going there, and am glad we can still go. Not sure what we will do when we can no longer travel that far. Just have to wait and see.

I am hoping to get to meet up with one of the ladies in the chatroom, who lives in both Texas and Louisiana, where she works. Was hoping to do that last year, too, but it did not work out. Will try again this year.

Dealing with all the weather, doing my quilting, keeping up with the house work are about all I have been doing this month, so sorry this is boring. Hopefully, after we get to Mt. View, I will be able to write more interesting stuff. I do have 2 tubs of quilty stuff to drag along with me, including some new patterns to attempt, so will keep you posted on how those are going. I have put a picture of the breast cancer quilt in here, somewhere, so enjoy looking at that. I did hand quilt one of my UFO's. and it is now living in it's new home. It turned out pretty nice, and I was happy to have it gone!! I think Ruth will probably wear it out, just showing it to all her friends. LOL

Now it is time for me to find my bed, as I have to go for a mammogram and bone density test tomorrow. Need to be rested up for that, I guess. At least neither of those should be painful, so it should be an easy day. A quick stop at the Aldi store, then home in time to go out for a free dinner at the Branding Iron in Thompson. A couple up the road called and invited us, so we are gonna take them up on it. Never been there, but understand it is a very good place to eat.

More later! Stay warm and dry, and peace to you.

Quilty hugs,
Ele

It's Fish Fry Day!!

Got up early, so could eat breakfast at a reasonable time, before we head north for the annual Fish Fry in Nicollete, MN. We decided that we have made all but one of the last 17 years meals there, so did not want to break the chain. They cook about 3500 pounds of Alaskan Pollack fish, and a huge amount of potatoes for both American potato salad, and warm German potato salad, and unknown quantities of cabbage for cold slaw. All this is served from 11 a.m. until about 8 p.m. People come from all around the US for this event, so we enjoy being part of the process. We usually meet up with some of our friends, who all like to eat, but this year we ate all by ourselves, because all the friends must have been busy with other things. We also include a trip to Schmidt's Meat Market, because it is around the corner from the fish fry. Today we bought some smoked cheddar cheese, 3 sticks of summer sausage (different flavors), and some wild salmon filets. We also chose 1 very nice looking butterflied pork chop, to be used as a birthday gift for a 90 year old lady we know. Also gave her a jar of our homemade sauerkraut to cook with the pork chop, so she will have a very good meal, whenever she makes it.

After eating all that fish earlier, we just had ham, cheese, and spinach wraps for a light supper, then went to have birthday cake and ice cream with our friend on her big day. It is not every day a person gets to have a 90th birthday. Her kids had a card shower for her, and she had gotten 87 cards by today, and more are expected. Not bad at all, and some of the cards were very funny! I think she enjoyed her big day. She has a lovely cake all decorated, and will serve that tomorrow at her church.

I have been working hard on the little quilt for the Spring Swap for the chatroom I work in. I will have a very hard time giving this one away, as I have come to really love it, even though the colors are not my favorites, this quilt is just plain beautiful. Not sure the colors will show up in a picture, but will try. Sorry, cannot put the pic up yet, because I don't want the recipient to see it before she gets her package.

The last quilt I finished will be going to it's new home tomorrow some time. I really wanted to get it there before now, but have not had the time. I have been going to a new dentist for my teeth, had medical testing in Mason City, and will be going to Mayo for my regular checkup in about 3 weeks, and my mammogram on March 1. We are also getting ready to get the motorhome loaded for our trip to Arkansas on March 8. I sure hope some of our snow will be gone by then, so we can actually get out of the yard. LOL

Now I am tired, so think I will find my pillow soon. I will be working on more quilting stuff this weekend, especially if we get snowed in AGAIN!!

That's it for this time.

Ele

Yipppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! I got my row of the month quilt all hand quilted, as of 9:50 p.m. tonight!! Even the back looks good, so I am a very happy camper. Got the binding all ready to attach, which I will do later today. Need to have it completed by the end of the month, so I can take it to guild for show and tell. The label on the back of the quilt is gonna say "Thanks for the house cleaning help"!! Well, the quilt has been in my UFO pile for the last 6 or 7 years, so having it gone, will be cleaning house!! I am glad to have this one done, so now Tom and I can redo my cave, so it will work better for me. I have not changed anything down there since we moved in, so it is time for moving things around.

We have decided to do away with our second house on the property, as it will cost us too much to repair the plumbing, after the pipes froze last month. We are gonna salvage some of the stuff inside the house, then either burn it down; smash it down; or give it away to be moved. Any one of those plans will work for us, so if you are in the market for a really nice house, call us.

We had talked about turning it into a quilting studio for me, but not having lots of extra, available cash has taken that option away. Will keep you posted in here.

I finally told Tom about the offer from the senior center in town. He wanted to know how come they asked me, if the job was such a good one. I will have to learn the answer to that, but won't until next week. I told him about the offer only after he had gotten full on my last batch of homemade soup. Naughty of me, but sorry, it worked. LOL

I go Monday to find out about new dentures. On Tuesday, I am going to Minnesota with Tom. He is going to work on some farm equipment for the steam show in Dundas, probably do some welding. I am going to spend the day with one of the wives, shopping, lunch, and gabbing. I need a "girls day", so it should be fun. Look out, thrift stores, here we come!!!

Well, now I am going to rub some Bag Balm into my dry, cracked hands, then hit the bed. Got lots of work to do tomorrow, and need to be rested for it.

Good night, sweet dreams, and peaceful slumber.

Ele

Oh, my goodness!! I do have to apologize for my gross lack of neglect for this site. I have just been so busy with the rest of my life, to keep this up. I will try to do better!!

I have been slaving away on one of my UFO quilts, and the hand quilting is nearly done on it. When I get it all done, it will become a gift to my hairdresser. She wanted to pay me for the quilt, but I told her we would barter for it. So now I get free haircuts for as long as we can manage to get together, and she gets the quilt out of my house. LOL The quilt has only been waiting to get finished for about 7 years. I will be happy when it has a new home, and I know the quilt will also be happy.

I have been working on a couple of BOM's, so that takes much of my time. I am also trying to sort thru all my stash, so have been pulling stuff out and getting that ready to donate to Goodwill, come spring. My basement now has about 6 good sized containers filled with the items I am culling. Still trying to figure out where all that fabric came from, as I do not remember buying it all. Could that be because I am getting old??

Some little tidbits of news: I have been voted in as Secretary/Treasurer of the local quilt guild, and that job starts this month. Am rather looking forward to that, as it has been a large number of years since I did that kind of stuff. Used to be very good at it, so hope I still have that talent. Another new item for my anticipation is that I have registered for a quilting cruise in 2011! I have never been on a cruise, so am really looking forward to this one. One of the teachers on the cruise will be Carol Doak, my paper piecing guru, so looking forward to meeting her, for sure. The last little bit of news is that I have been asked to run for the presidency at our local Senior Citizen group. That was a bit of a shock, because we are still considered to be the "new kids in town", and the senior center is pretty much all the old timers here. I was both flattered and shocked, but am actually considering taking the job. Have not told Tom about this one yet, so not sure how he will react. I do not think the activity level will interfere with our traveling for music or steam shows, so all that should be fine. Still pondering and praying about how to tell him.

We have been dealing with tons of snow in our yard, as is most of this country. I was a bit upset yesterday, when I got stuck in the driveway!!! I thought I could just plow my way thru the drift across the drive, but quickly found out that would NOT happen. Soooooooo, had to go get Tom from his shop to pull me out. After he did that, we just went into town in the pick-up, which is 4-wheel drive and got us out of the drive just great!! Now our temps are sitting in the low to mid 30's, and the apron by our garage is actually melting of snow. These temps are supposed to hang around for a whole week, but we will see!!


That is about all for now, but I promise to get back to this on a more regular basis. I am hoping to learn how to get more pictures into these posts, so that will make these a bit more interesting.

Until later, quilty hugs and prayers,
Ele

What a difference a year makes

Well, just one year ago today, I did not know I had cancer!! By this time of the day, I was in a room at St. Mary's Hospital, which is part of the Mayo Medical Complex. Little did I know that is a few days, I would get news that nobody wants to hear. Thank God Tom was there with me, because I really needed to lean on him then. I think he was worse off than I was, because he took it so hard. So much has happened in that year, and I am so very thankful that I am still here to be able to tell about it. Being in remission is wonderful, and a blessing, but what you have to go thru to get to that point is not fun at all. I am now hoping to be more like my old self in about a year more or less. The disease really knocks you for a loop, and it takes a long time to get completely back on your feet.

We went yesterday to the bluegrass festival in Garden City, MN, and that was for our anniversary celebration. We have made it 8 years married now, so we both think it will be a nice long union!! The fairgrounds where the music was held is full of oak trees, so the stage is set up under 2 huge trees that have limbs stretching so far from the trunks, I sometimes feel they will break off. It was wonderfully cool, comfortable, and not many bugs to bother us. The music was great and we got to visit with some friends we had not seen for a few years. All in all, it was a good day. By the time we got home about midnight, we were exhausted, tho, and went right to sleep! Went to the Mongolian Grill in Mankato for our supper, because the food available on the grounds was hopeless. Oh, well, next time we will take our own food in the cooler, so we won't have to drive an extra 35 miles for a decent meal.

Tomorrow I have to drive back up to Mankato for a day of necessity shopping, gotta get stuff for our party in September. You know, paper plates, toilet paper, trash bags, etc. We will be having about 150 people this year, so the trash and garbage really piles up in a hurry. At least we will enjoy the people coming up from Arkansas for the goings on this year, so that will be fun. It has been interesting trying to come up with enough sleeping spots for the people who do not have a camper. Good thing there are places in town for just this purpose, even if there is no motels. We have reserved a small house, to sleep at least 5 people, so that part is taken care of. We have been working on the yard and trees to make it look like someone actually lives here. LOL Poor Tom works so hard keeping up with the lawn mowing in between rains. We had a bit over 4" of rain last Thursday night. What a storm it was, lightening flashing almost constantly. Was glad we were home.

Just wanted to remind myself of the activities of last year, so now I am tired and need to get to sleep so I can travel in the morning. Will be back later today with more words and maybe a new picture. Keep watching.

Quilty hugs,
Ele

My return to blogdom!!

Hi, I'm back!!! Seems like a very long time since I did this, and from looking at the calendar, it is also very true. I have been so busy since we got back from Arkansas, I barely have time to write anything, let alone sit and think about this.

The last time I wrote, I had just delivered that lovely wedding quilt, and loved watching the bride and groom open and examine the quilt. I was happy to have it done and where it was intended to be, as I worked on it for nearly 2 years, even when I was dealing with my cancer. Needless to say, I was happy to have it gone from my house. My basement looks very bare, but I bet I will be filling it up again, with a new, or another old, quilt for hand quilting. I am making a very large dent in my UFO pile, which had numbered about 25 or so. At last count, I have finished up 8 of them, for which I am very thankful for having the energy and time to work on them to completion. Now if I can just find homes for them all.

I have been having a blast lately, making more teddy bears and paper pieced postcards. The cards are for a swap on the Carol Doak site, which I am a member of. Lots of fun stuff going on there, and I find I love p/p more every time I make a new block. Talk about addicting!! LOL

Had to go to the doctor today, for more info on my diabetes. I have been having horribly high glucose readings, first thing in the morning, after a full nights sleep. I got scared about that, because they should not be that high. He told me that my body was not getting the correct signals from my pancreas and liver, concerning the insulin inside me, thus the high readings. He put me on a generic medicine to help fix that problem, so hopefully, it will help. Will have a couple of months to find out. I spent the whole morning running around today, and got home just in time to do my stint in the quilt chatroom. Picked up some items I needed to complete one little quilt, which is to be a birthday gift in September. I have been working on this one for about 3 years, and all I have left to do is add the hanging sleeve, then make the decorative rod to hold the quilt. Won't take long, except the painting part, because that has to dry before I can get it all done. I will post a pic when the project is totally done.

I have gotten quite a bit of asparagus out of our small patch this year, and we have enjoyed every single bite. Have just about eaten the first package of radish seeds planted, and am about to freeze spinach, because it is coming faster than we can eat it. Not to worry, we love it fresh or frozen, except that the frozen does not do well in salads. LOL

Have gotten all my yellow petunias planted in containers, and they have started to grow a bit, even tho we need some rain. It is getting pretty dry here, so a nice gentle shower would be very welcome. Not sure if the stuff I planted in the rock garden will make it, but I keep hoping. Something or other has been moving my old hens and chickens around the rock garden, because I keep finding clumps of plants all over the place. I think it is squirrels, but I could be wrong. When Tom took the straw covering off, he knocked one bunch right off the spot it was growing, so I had to replant it. That is the ones that keep moving around. Perhaps those chickens are trying to see or go to the other side of the rocks. They will be really surprised, because there is nothing very good on the other side!!

Have had to pick up lots of branches and limbs from trees, because of all the wind we have had lately. New branches almost every day, so have to be careful out there.

Well, it is late now, and my eyes are trying to slam shut, so will take them to bed now. The Tylenol has started working, so I will be able to sleep, even with my sore legs. I have been doing some block piecing on the old Singer treadle machine, and forgot just how much work that is! LOL I have enough parts now to make a good sized quilt, so the pain is ok!!

More later and hugs for now.