A Week Later

Here it is a week after my last posting. (Hum, how did I get this underline and how do I get rid of it?)

Pat took to the tractor to mow the lawn this week. Well, at least the back yard. It's very dry here and so the grass isn't growing all that fast in the back. There is almost no shade out there although there are some 10' trees in the back.

I have spent many hours in the studio. Instead of boxes all over now there is "stuff" all over. Ugh.

I also took some time to sew a bit. It's rather hard with that stuff all over but I needed to. I am working on a mystery quilt from late 2008. Marge called it Scrappy Bricks but I call it the Million Pieces Quilt. It seems to me there are a million pieces in the quilt. I recently decided to make it bigger so it could be put in one of the guest rooms. (Am I out of my mind?) It will have some brick red and navy blue as borders so it will look good in that room.

Sunday I headed over to the public library to meet the members of the local guild for a sit and stitch. I worked on my A Tisket, A Tasket blocks. Well one block. I got a basket, the handle, a squirrel tail and part of the squirrel sewn down. Then I noticed I hadn't pulled out the paper from the squirrel's tail. I wrestled that thing out and in the process pulled a thread. Now it's a brown tail with two white lines on it. NO, No, no. The tail will be coming off and a new tail will replace it.

Pat started his new job on Monday. I worked in the studio. Tuesday I did little (including grocery shopping...) but I mostly read an old novel. I tend to keep my paperbacks and reread them. This book is from 2003 and there are 5 or 6 in a series (and I own them all) so I will enjoy rereading them.

Today's jobs: laundry, repack the a big box into several movable little boxes, iron the curtains I washed yesterday and rehang them, play in the studio... maybe. Does anyone still use silver "stuff"? I have at least two silver tea services, several vegetable bowls, revere bowls, platters, water pitcher, etc, etc. I almost NEVER use them. I've given some away to thrift stores. I sold some at one point. I'm pretty sure my daughter doesn't want them. What do you do with it? And, china. I have nearly 4 place settings of a bone china. Not enough to use. I'm thinking of selling it to a replacement china company. Has anyone ever done that?

I think I am now blogging as a procrastination tool. On to the boxes. Take care all.

Happy Quilting All!

WE'RE IN!

If something can go wrong it will go wrong.

Bonnie

Monday we closed on the house in Powhatan. It went very smoothly -- no problems. We headed out to the house all happy because the driver had said he would be there around 9 am and wait for us. Um, no. He wasn't there by 10:30 or so when we got there. No, 11:30 came and went. He was stuck in traffic on I 95. (note to driver -- leave early to avoid DC morning rush hour or go the back way.)

He finally showed up some time after noon. And then there was the problem getting into the driveway. Or NOT getting into the driveway. The street is narrow, the driveway is narrow and long. He got special permission to drive down our neighbor's driveway and drive over the grass to our driveway. Um, no, street is still narrow ... etc. By about 4 pm we realized NOTHING was coming off the truck on Monday.

We went back to Holiday Inn Express and got the same room. We had some of this. Yum. Sorry it was only half full. Thanks, Kevin. It was great.

Raggs was happy to have his friend Tiger at the hotel room. Well, that and his dinner bowl filled at

the appropriate times.

He was a very good dog while traveling.

However, he was getting tired of all the upheaval in his life. He wanted all of his toys. He want a bowl for water and dinner.

I was ready to get back to doing some sewing. Not yet. Tuesday dawned sunny and bright. A "ferry" truck and the big truck arrived ready for some action. The men loaded up the rental truck, drove it down the driveway and then emptied the contents. Repeat. Several times. Until the kitchen looked like this. Actually, we'd already unloaded some of the stuff by the time I took this picture.

Now the kitchen looks like this. Not perfect but most stuff is put away. Notice the new refrigerator. (with magnets...!) When it was brought in they didn't set it up correctly. Everytime I opened the door the whole refrigerator moved 6 to 10". What? Pat figured out they hadn't put the legs down ... or some such thing. Now just the door opens.

Pat set up the two guest rooms. Kids are coming to visit 4th of July weekend.

The great room is set up and in use.

I even have cut some roses and arranged them. We have several floribunda roses in our new gardens. I will really enjoy cutting roses and placing them around the house. They don't last really long -- these are already gone & I picked them yesterday.

Tomorrow we're going out to change our driver's licenses and, I think, car registrations. We'll do a bit more shopping. Then I'll deal with my shoes. When did I get so many shoes? And, where will I put them all?

I'm hoping to spend an hour or two up in the studio tomorrow also. It is totally buried in boxes. And, I'm not sure how I am going to store everything if the truth be known. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Quilting

Mid Move

Greetings from Richmond, Virginia!

The good news is the everything was eventually packed and the truck was loaded.

The bad news is only two folks showed up to load the truck and finish the packing.

After a 2:00 am consult, Pat sent me off to Jenny and Brian's house with Raggs around 10 am. We didn't want to worry about Raggs getting in the way of the loading. (yep, we were both awake at 2 am and have been sleeping erratically all week.)

The other bad news is they didn't finish loading until 9:30 pm. Pat drove an hour or so and then got a room. Luckily he was so tired he fell right asleep and didn't wake up until 6 or so. But he got going early and was at J & B's before we left for the shower.

The shower was so much fun. Jenny has a wonderful group of friends and I really enjoy spending time with them. Heidi, the maker of this quilt, made the most darling dress, panties and booties for the baby. And, she did a wonderful job. No picture now as I couldn't find my camera when we were leaving for the shower. Although I did find it tonight -- my luck.

Here's the baby quilt I made for Jen. All it is is a simple 9 patch with all center squares white. And it is sashed in white with red corner stones.

And, here's the back. I bought a Moda Valentine's Day panel and cut off the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment. Then I added a turquoise border and a red border. I actually bought lime green for the border to go with the leaves but liked this turquoise I had at home. I used a stripe on the binding. Most of the squares came from the same line of Moda fabric. But I was very happy to use some stash too. I quilted it on Ruthie with Daisy Swirl panto, red Presencia thread and Warm and White cotton. I really like this quilt and wish I didn't have to give it up. But, it will be perfect for my special baby girl!

It's time to get to bed to do a little reading. Tomorrow my real work begins. Hopefully by Saturday we'll have a lot of the house in good shape. Pat goes to work next Monday. I'm sure he'll miss his short "retirement."

Happy Quilting All! I'll be back quilting with you in a couple of weeks.

37 Years

37 YEARS!

That's how long Pat and I have been married.

WOW!

Thanks for the grand adventure, honey.

And on other fronts the house is started to be packed up.

Raggs feels it is his job to supervise and comment.

Happy Quilting All

My job this afternoon is to close up the bernina and put her cover on. Sniff. For sure no quilting for the time being.

T minus 4 and counting

Things have been moving along albeit slowly for me. For the most part I am not a pretzel any more. But I am not moving all that fast either. Work still needs to be done in the studio...

I'm farther along than this shows but ... it still needs work.

One of the things I was doing a week ago was folding 1/2 yard and bigger pieces of fabric to go on my open shelving. Here's how I do it.

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Spread folded fabric out on a flat surface.

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Place your 24" ruler on the fabric as shown. (Mine is 8 1/2" wide.)

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Fold up one side of fabric over the ruler. And then the other side.

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Slip the ruler out of the fabric.

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Fold the fabric in half.

.Stash on shelf.

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I am constantly surprised at how useful it is to see all of my fabric (1/2 yard and more) at a time. I've made many a quilt recently by going to the shelves and picking. And usually the shelves look so neat. (Well, until I start pulling from tall piles or carelessly!) If you haven't tried this method of storage, I highly recommend it. I particularly like that the fabric is mostly at eye level. None of these stacks are at the bottom of the shelving unit. That's reserved for baskets/boxes of fat quarters.

Time to get finishing up the studio. I only have today and tomorrow... and the motivation of a slug. Well, maybe a bit more. But have to get with it rather than postpone the packing!

Happy Quilting All. (I am so jealous!)

What Did I See???

Yep, a black bear ... but not this one.

I was driving through Promise Land State Park yesterday on my way to Wednesday quilting. A black bear came out of a yard running toward the street like he was going to start chasing my car. Yikes. He actually didn't run in the street. I think he got tired. I did not stop to get pictures cause I couldn't imagine explaining claw marks on the car. I did see that he crossed the street after I had driven by.

Now I've seen all of the main wild animals in the Poconos. Many folks up here have problems with the bears tearing up pipes from their septic system. Pat has seen bears near our property but I haven't. Nothing like a bear sighting to get you going in the morning!

Today was dull compared to yesterday. Almost first thing this morning I was trying to lift a box that was way too heavy. And, I forgot the primary directive -- lift with your legs. Yep. My back is out for a bit. I'm comfortable sitting or laying down. Just don't expect me to get up and walk without being bent over. Think pretzel. I'm still getting things done but just not very fast. Hopefully the back will recover over the next few days.

Tomorrow a car load of things are going to a thrift shop. Hopefully it will bring funds in for the fire department and the items will be put to use again. (Just how many three ring binders do I need??)

I'm going to enjoy myself this evening by reading a paperback and then stashing it with the stuff going to the thrift store.

Happy Quilting.

Dresser Done

Yes, Bloggettes -- I am not quilting.

In fact, I didn't even visit the studio yesterday. (hum, wonder if I left my lemonade up there and how fast would mold grow any way! EUWEW...)

Yesterday was closet shelves and dresser work.

Today I can say, I cleaned out the shelves and drawers in the closet and put the stuff back into my dresser. And made a pile of "stuff".

We have been gathering "stuff." Eventually the "stuff" will go live at a thrift store in hopes it will find a new home. That is, once we find all the other "stuff" that will be moving on. It makes me feel so much better if I think of this stuff with a new home that is NOT a landfill.

I did do some sewing on Sunday afternoon. I had forgotten to make the thank you blocks for the folks who worked so hard to keep Faithful Circle Quilters going over the last year or so. Members of the guild make these "thank you" blocks for the officers and committee chairs at the end of their terms.

I look at it as the only stash I am using this month.

As Pat said, at least you aren't buying anything new either.

So, where's the fun in that??? I had fun using some fabs I haven't used before. Like the cherries and the orange... I LIKE them! These will go off in the mail after I sign them.

Raggs, on the other hand, is not a happy camper.

His ear is disgusting and itches.

Actually, he must have mites or something that is causing the ear to smell and drain... YUCK.

He was just at the vet so when we called yesterday about it they told us to come over and get the super-duper ear cleaner.

Raggs was NOT a happy camper when we cleaned his ear with that. But, we are happy campers as it appears to be doing better. Poor Raggs -- he's gonna get both ears cleaned today.

We also suspect he's nervous about all the boxes and upheaval in the house. He isn't finishing his meals. (what? he always cleans his bowl...)

Hey Kona, Kona girl,

there is some left over food here...

oops, Kona is in Maryland, she probably can't hear me calling her.

When Kona and Raggs are together they are fed at the same time.

Kona inhales her food in 15 seconds or less.

Raggs is slow -- takes about a minute.

They both leave their own empty bowls and check out the other's bowl just in case someone misses something. It always makes us laugh.

Raggs will be much happier when he visits Kona at the end of next week. Hopefully he'll like his new fenced yard also.

Today I am back up in the studio. More fabric will be packed up. And, I am going to start to go through and pack the stamping stuff. I figure two more days up there. Hopefully that will do it. Then a day in the room with Ruthie. She's feeling very neglected. Sigh.

Take care all you Blogettes... I'll be posting all during the move unless we don't have wifi. But that is high on our priority list!

Happy Quilting to all who can fit it in ... I am jealous!

Judy's Monkeys!

A couple of Wednesdays ago, Judy was hard at work on a baby quilt using some monkey fabric. She designed the quilt to use the fabric to best advantage. I believe some of the fabric was decorator fabric. Here's the whole quilt.

Judy, Carol and Ann looking over the quilted top. Ruth does most of the long arm quilting for this group.
Here's a close up of the crazy monkeys, the banana fabric, the polka dots and the red go with fabric.
Judy also found this great palm tree quilting design. And, of course, the darn cute sock monkeys on the back!
End of eye candy!

I packed box 14 of quilting supplies today. I also am working on making thank you blocks for the officers of Faithful Circle Quilters. I got all the fabric picked and mostly cut out before I put all of the boxes of fabric away. Well, some of the fabric put in the boxes. I'm losing motivation on this. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do another 4 or 5 boxes. And, finish some more of the thank you blocks.

It is hot and humid here in the Poconos which is not typical. We've been running the air conditioner for the last several days. (And folks said we wouldn't need it... HA!) No wonder my motivation is waning. I'm off to either pack or sew depending on how the mood strikes me.

Happy Quilting All!

May Stashbusting Report BOO HOO

May Stash Report

Fabric Acquired: 3 3/8 yards

Fabric Used: 2 3/8 yards

Net Fabric Acquired: 1 yards

Year To Date Report

Fabric Acquired: 25 1/2 yards

Fabric Used: 21 5/8 yards

Net Fabric Acquired: 3 7/8 yards

HOW could this have happened??? I haven't been to a quilt store ... well, one but honest, I bought NOTHING. I just turned in a couple of quilts for an Airing of the Quilts event. OOOPS, I remember -- the Faithful Circle Quilt show. I bought a couple of fat quarters and a great piece of fabric for a future grandbaby something. It might be a dress...

And, we were out of town a bunch also. So, not much got finished. And, heaven knows June should have neither purchases or finishes.... unless I decide to quilt and bind a little quilt that is hanging on the chair... I just don't like the backing I picked for it. Hum, maybe I'll do one more.

On the "packing" front -- I'm not. Well, I go up to the studio every day like I am going to pack but I keep getting distracted. But, it is related. Yesterday I started listing all my UFO's. I have plowed through a couple of boxes to see what is in them. Oh, surprise, who knew I had participated in a cat block exchange! I have two PIGS -- projects in grocery sacks. The projects aren't started but all the fabrics and the pattern are together. Lots of collections of blocks. Or one big block that could be used for a medallion quilt -- including a mariner's compass.

UFOs to share

I bought 9 of these Amy Bradley dogs at the FCQ quilt show ... um, er, at least 2006. And during the show I got at least one, maybe two done. Currently I have 6 done. Three more to go. These are machine appliqued after adhering them to the background. How hard would be to finish these?? They really are cute.

I won the FCQ block of the month last fall.... lovely oriental blocks....

And this rather anemic looking green background with the purple star was a round robin I was doing with my buddy Sharon when she lived in England. I couldn't decide what to do next. And, honest, the green is actually a nice color it just looks horrible here! I could figure out what to do with Sharon's but this just stopped me in my tracks. I have some notes about using oranges and yellow with triangles on the next round... hum, maybe I could get this finished some day.

I took this charity quilt off Ruthie earlier last week. I was surprised it quilted up so nicely. The backing was corduroy and there were some cotton sateen blocks.

I guess I've postponed working in the studio long enough... except, now it is lunch time. I'll just nip downstairs and have a bite to eat and then, honest, I will get right back to listing ufo's or packing or ...

Happy Quilting All! (I just wish I could join you!)