Today, on my way home between bus routes

I stopped at a fabric place.

When I walk into a fabric store, I become overwhelmed because there's too much to look at. Too many choices. Too much to be distracted by.

So I called my little sister Z. My next quilt is gonna to be for her because she's been bugging the **** out of me to make one for her. :-)

I called her and asked her to help me out. Every time I've asked her what style she wants, what pattern, what colors, what *any*thing,

she tells me it doesn't matter.

For someone like me (confused as soon as I walk in the fabric store), this is *no* help whatsoever!

She explained that she was just trying to make things easy for me.

I love her.

But she does not know how my mind works!

Anyway, this morning she told me that she wants something bright and cheery.

Hmmm...

Bright and cheery...

So this is what I got:

And a close-up of the patterned fabric:

How's that for "bright and cheery"!

Cute! And Bunny (my 19yo daughter) proclaimed it adorable. (grin)

Now I just have to cut it... (shiver)

Wish me luck. And I hope I have enough fabric. I hate trying to figure out just how much I'm gonna need of what fabrics. Especially if it's when I'm standing in the store... Not only am I "challenged" in the fabric store, but I'm also "challenged" at math! lol

I'll keep you posted.

-W

Here's to Number One for 2009!

I did it!!! I finished the quilt!!!

I'm sooo happy! :-)

It's the fastest I've ever made one! I made this in under one month. Yay!

I think it looks okay. Of course, I see all the little "oops" along the way - in the piecing, in the quilting, in the binding...

Here's the front:

(See the laundry in the background? A completed quilt and I still kept up with housework and supper and everything else! :-) )



The back:

Not sure if you can tell, but I simply did an up and down quilting on it. Fast and easy. :-)

Folded (sort of close up):

This is probably the widest binding I've ever done. I like it, except for the messed up corners! I couldn't get those right, despite the wonderful tutorial from Amanda Jean. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/10/binding-tutorial.html

And the label:

Again, from a tutorial by Amanda Jean: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/10/one-way-to-label-quilt.html

And it's *done*!

I really like the back. Thanks to Amanda Jean for the idea about making the back pretty too, with the big strip of color. :-)
Thank you Amanda Jean for the label idea. I tried using parchment paper, but it didn't work, so I used Wonder Under and ironed it down to write on it (for that personal touch!), and then I ironed it onto the back and stitched it down good. :-)

And Mama will love it! When I get it to her, that is - which will probably be weekend-after-next when we go to Beaufort, SC.

I can't wait to give it to her. She's gonna be so tickled. And surprised! She's totally not expecting it. It's not her birthday or Mother's day or anything. It's just "I Love You Day". :-)

Well, Suzanne, what do you think?
Oh, and do you have any ideas for colors for Z's quilt? She's not helping me out at all with ideas for hers...

-W

I'm Taking MyTime But

I'm quilting my project!

Kitty found my safety pins...

in her room!

I told her I didn't care where they were, just that they were found. :-)

She started a quilt this past summer (a big one of 4"x5" patches), and she had the pins with it 'cause she's almost ready to put it together. I need to help her with it...

But


this one is my priority right now. :-) Once it's off the machine, I'll get back to helping her with hers.


It's chilly today; it's 43 degrees at 11am here, but the sun is out and it's a beautiful day.

I just got back from the doctor - I had my annual thing. They did my bloodwork last week for it, and it's all good. :-) Plus I had my mammogram at the end of January, and that came out fine too. So it's a healthy start to the year. :-)
Have you had your check-up lately?


Well, that quilt isn't going to sew itself! :-)

-Wendy

I'm So Upset!!!

Pissed *and* upset!!!

I have my quilt/batting/backing taped to my living room floor, and
I CAN'T FIND MY SAFETY PINS!!!
I have looked in every room of my house!
Can't find 'em!
The house must have eaten them!
I am wanting to pin my quilt together, get it off the middle of the floor (in the way!) and get started quilting it together!
But noooo. I can't because I've put my safety pins *somewhere* and *now* I can't find them!
It's so *aggravating*!!!





Remember that I moved my sewing and cutting tables down to my dining room? Well, somewhere between the Art room and the dining room, those safety pins disappeared. Poof!
I'm going to keep looking, though.
I *refuse* to go buy new ones when I *know* I have a *bunch* of perfectly good ones here in this house!

Okay.
I need to change the subject or something before I get all riled up again.

So, what are you making for supper?
I haven't really thought about it for tonight.

Weather update: It's 73 beautiful degrees out right now.

Ooops! It's one o'clock. I need to get to school to drive the children home. :-)
I'll blog more later!
Hopefully the next one won't be a rant. :-)


-W

It Was Absolutely Beautiful!

Today's weather was so gorgeous, I just wanted to skip and shout in the parking lot at school while I was waiting for the bell!
Seems like Spring is already here, though I know Mother Nature is just teasing us mercilessly. :-)
It got above 70 glorious degrees today, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing. The robins were walking/hopping across the road as if we were stupid for being inside vehicles, which we were. :-)
It was absolutely beautiful!
Days like today remind me why I usually see the silver lining in the clouds.

Well, I worked a little on my quilt during my lunch break. I finished piecing the backing, and then I laid it out on my living room floor ('cause the kitchen is too small), taped it to the carpet, put the batting over it and laid the quilt top on top of it all. My next step is to pin baste it.

I'm excited about this one.
AND (drum roll please...)

I've decided to give it to my Mom.

Those are her colors, and it'll go really well with her new modern leather couch. Something to keep her feet warm.

Don't worry. I already have an idea for a quilt for my little sister. She won't be left out.

Actually, my ultimate plan for this year is to make a quilt of one size or another for each member of my family - my Dad, older brother, older sister, little sister, and others.

I already gave a quilt to my second brother. About 6 (?) years ago I made a Wedding Ring (NOT to be confused with Double Wedding Ring) to him and his wife. She collects antiques and decorates their house with them, and I made a white and blue twin quilt for them that they hung on the wall.

I'm really not a fan of hanging quilts on the wall - I want the people I give them to to really *use* them. Wrap up in them. Walk on them. Whatever you want! Make them a part of your family. Love them and they will love you back. :-)

So, Suzanne, if you are reading this, SURPRISE!!! Let me know what colors you'd like.
Seriously.
I wouldn't kid about something like this.
Actually, I have one in mind for you and Brownie, but I'm not sure if you'd really like it. So give me some idea of colors, and if you'd like a "traditional" pattern or something else.

Well, supper's ready! I didn't feel like working on it since I just got home from work, so...
Hamburger Helper and green beans.
Lame, I know.
But it's fast and easy. :-)


-W

Soon...

Well, on the way back from Danville yesterday, Boyfriend and I stopped at a fabric store in Greensboro and I bought a little bit of black fabric to finish up the backing, and I bought the batting - 80/20 cotton. Now I need to make the time to lay it all out on the kitchen floor, and soon I'll be quilting! :-) I've decided to quilt in white thread on the front and black on the back. I'm still undecided about the color for the binding: it'll either be white or red...
Being this is the first quilt I've made in a l-o-n-g time that wasn't a kit or from a pattern, I somehow didn't realize I had so many decisions to make. :-)
("Wah" my daughters would tease me. :-) )

While at the fabric store I also bought a bobbin winder. I'm so thrilled and can't wait to use it! It should help simplify things and make part of the process go faster.

I'm all for faster!
Plus, it was on sale!



The weather was fantastic today! It was like a Spring day: it got up to 70 degrees, if you can believe that! Just last Tuesday, it was snowing its butt off, and today it's almost nice enough to be in shorts and flip-flops!
Unbelievable.



We had Tortellini Chicken Soup for supper tonight. Kitty (17yo daughter) requested it. I think soup is for cold weather, but she said Tortellini Soup is for any weather! I figured it's fast, it's easy - what more could I want?! :-) Want the recipe? I forget where I originally got it, but from the first time I made it, it was a major hit with my girls. They've requested it many, many times over the years. I even gave the recipe to my sister, and even her "country-boy husband" likes it. :-)



When I started this blog, I intended it to basically be a quilting blog and nothing more, really...
Man! I should have known better...
Once I start writing, it's difficult to stop.
I'm not really much of a talker, but once I start writing you can't "shut me up"! :-)


Okay.
I'm mostly rambling in this post.
Guess I'll go find something else to do! :-)


-W

I'm Tired But...

But I wanted to write something today.
We left Concord this morning after having breakfast with my Dad at a local diner (Punchy's). It's been what seems like forever since I last saw my Dad. In reality, I saw him about three & a half weeks ago... That is a long time to me. :-)

Anyway, the 'we' I was referring to is my husband, "Boyfriend", and me. We left for Danville, VA to spend the weekend with his Mom & Dad.

Boyfriend's Dad has what's called Parkinsonism.
It's like Parkinson's but has other symptoms with it... Or something like that. :-)
Anyway, his Dad has Dementia. He was always quiet, but now he's even more quiet. But he's not having any combativeness or contrariness or anything like that. He's still a sweet and easy to get along with man. He remembers his daughters & son. He's very slow to answer any question. I'm not sure he knows what we're talking about. It seems like it takes him a long time to process what we say. You can see him working on it in his mind...
He takes lots of meds, four times a day. Just a few years ago, he didn't take anything except a baby aspirin! He only feels like lying around all day, and my MIL won't make him get up and do his exercises or anything.
We know that's not good, but we can't make her make him.

Boyfriend's mom is basically taking it all in stride. She's doing well for the most part. Yesterday, Boyfriend, his two sisters and his mom talked to a lawyer, and most of what she had to say was basically depressing. But after some time and pondering, we feel a little more at ease with the legalities, I think.

All any of us can do is take it all in stride. Sit back and breathe deeply a number of times each day. Trust that all will end as it should, in its own time...

I keep reminding myself of this.


We've had a fairly full day and are going to bed now.
Thanks for stopping by. :-)

-W

I've Been Saying It All My Life

I've been saying 'I don't know' all of my life.
When I was young, I said it a lot, and I think it was usually because I didn't really want to say what was on my mind, or because I didn't want to say what I really felt, or because my answer wasn't the answer someone wanted to hear.

Well, I'm still saying I don't know. And I guess it's for a lot of the same reasons.
But I'm trying not to say it so much. I'm trying to tell people what I really think and feel. It's not so difficult anymore. We age and grow and learn and become more comfortable with who and what we are, I guess. And we gain in confidence. I am so much more confident now than I was in my twenties and thirties.
Thankfully! :-)


Anyway...


We still have some residual snow in shady spots, and school was delayed for two hours today. It really messes people up for some reason. I'm so surprised at the number of people who cannot figure out what "two-hour delay" means! Come on people! If you usually catch the bus at 6:55am, then just count two hours up and figure out that you will need to catch the bus at 8:55am this morning! It's not like it's rocket science!
And I'm supposed to be the one who's confused by numbers! Sheesh!

But, all in all, it was another good day. :-)
And I got a major surprise today.
I came home for a "short" lunch (which isn't really short in the first place; it's just that today's was shorter than usual), and Bunny (my oldest daughter) came downstairs and hung out with me for a little bit.
I jokingly asked her if she'd like to ride the bus with me this afternoon, and

she

said

"Yes."!!!!!

I couldn't believe it!

So, of course, I took her up on it! :-)

I showed Bunny off to my co-workers, and then we left on my route. The kids loved her. Everybody usually does. Everybody always has. It's almost odd how strangers like her instantly...

Anyway, I got some much-needed time with my oldest. Now that she's finished with high school, I really don't see her that often. Her schedule is different from mine, and she's always flitting off with her friends if she isn't asleep. :-)

It was really good to be with her most of the afternoon, even if it wasn't totally one-on-one.

Thank you Bunny. You are my heart, you and your sister. I love you both so much.

I'm changing the subject before I get all mushy and start tearing up. :-)

Actually, I think I'll go work on my quilt backing, which is shaping up fairly nicely if I do say so myself.

Peace

New Quilt!

Well, I've done it!!! I've pieced a new quilt!!!

First I need to say that it's been more than three years since I made a quilt. I'm on a Yahoo quilters' group, and one day someone gave the website for this blog: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ . Well, in looking through her extensive blog, Amanda Jean (said 'crazy mom') inspired me to get my butt in gear and start quilting again!

I brought my sewing machine, table and cutting table downstairs into the dining room. I put the dining room table in the office ('cause, sadly, we really don't use the dining room for its original purpose). I went through my stash of fabrics and brought out two really nice packs of fat quarters that I bought at least four years ago. One pack was black fabrics with white, and the other pack was reds with black. I love the color combinations!

There were 12 fat quarters of the black with white, and 12 of the red with black...

I cut the fat quarters into 2 1/2" by 22" strips.

(I only used 21 of the fat quarters 'cause two of the fabrics were really burgundy and I didn't want them in there, and one of them I just couldn't cut. I like it too much. :-) )

Anyway, next I arranged the strips into a pattern of 1 black, 1 red, 2 blacks, 1 red (& repeat, thus the pattern).

I sewed the strips end to end, so I had one l-o-n-g strip, and then I cut that into 5 1/2 foot strips.

Then I sewed the strips together and ended up with this:

I love it!!!

I'm really tickled, and for a number of reasons:

1. I started quilting again.

2. I started last week and the top is already done!

3. It actually looks good, and I'm pleased with it! (Liking what you've made without criticizing the crap out of it is a big feat for me... and many others, so I've heard.)

Now, though, I have a problem...

I have to figure out if I'm going to give it to my Mom or my little sister Lindsey. When I started piecing it, I had no idea who it was for, but when it was about two feet long my youngest daughter, Kitty, said, "That looks like Lindsey." So I thought I would give it to her.

But then I was talking to my Mom on the phone and when I told her I'd started a quilt, she asked me what colors were in it. When I told her black, white and red, she gasped and exclaimed, "Oh! Those are my colors!"

So now I have to think while I'm working on it.

Sister or Mother...

Sister or Mother...

Hmmm...

Anyway, I've already figured out what I'm going to do on the back. My oldest, Bunny, helped me with that. She has a really good sense of design and color and all.

I'm going to borrow Amanda Jean's technique of having a small section of piecing on the backing. I think it's going to look g-r-e-a-t!!!

I'll post pictures as I go.

-W

Snow Day! :-)

Well, here is a new day. I thought I would try to post something, but when I woke up I couldn't for the life of me remember what I wanted to write about! :-) (After my first post, I'll bet some of you are wondering about me now!)

Anyway, when I let the dog out last night getting ready for bed, it was snowing! (And just Monday it had been up to 60 degrees!!!)
When I woke up this morning, it had snowed at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches! That's really a lot of snow for this area. It usually only snows every three years or so, and usually just enough to cover the grass, and they typically close the schools for it!

Needless to say, it definitely snowed enough for school to be closed today!! :-) I drive a school bus, so I have a "free" day. I need to iron and put away the clothes, to clean house, and other chore-type things, but all I WANT to do is SEW!!!
I'm in the process of making a quilt. It's been at least three years (if not more!) since I've made a quilt, but I've been reading a blog by amanda jean http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ , and she's really inspired me to get back into it.

Thank you Amanda Jean!!!

And I thought it might be encouraging to me if I'd blog about my quilt(s?), so, guess what Amanda Jean: You've also inspired me to do something I've never done before,
and I've never even met you nor seen a picture of you.
Isn't the computer age odd like that? You can develop a "relationship" with someone you've never met.

Hmmm.... Actually, now that I think of it, that's what PenPals were, and they were very popular for a long while. So I guess it's not that odd after all. :-)

I'll try to take a picture of my newest quilt-in-progress and post it soon.

-W

First Things First

I'm not sure why I'm making a blog, but here I am doing it anyway. It's not like I have tons of time to sit around putting my thoughts into words for all to see... I'm not even sure I want others to see...
But here I go anyway.

I went to my Mom's this past weekend.
She lives in Beaufort, SC with her husband of 12 years. She'll be 73 in May.

She was diagnosed last summer with Alzheimer's.

I almost broke into tears when I wrote that just now. I haven't told anyone except my husband, my daughters, and one of my sisters-in-law.

My youngest daughter (17 y o) tells me I'm in denial.

I'm not in denial.
I just don't want to talk about it yet, that's all.

Anyway...
It was a very good visit.
My husband went with me, and we had more fun than we've ever had there. The four of us just kidded and joked around a lot.
My Mom has always been... "ditzy".
As a matter of fact, about 10 years ago I was joking around with her and I asked her, "Mama, when you get old, how are we gonna know if it's just you or if it's Alzheimer's?" My older sister thought I was terrible for saying that, but that's the kind of relationship my Mom and I have always had.

On the way home, I got to thinking. I told my husband that I want to offer for my Mom to come live with us if she ever needs/wants to. I couldn't get all of the words out because I was trying not to cry! It's just that it's the right thing to do. My Mother took care of me all of my "young" life, and if/when she needs me, you can bet I'll be there for her!
He said, "We'll see." He explained that we don't know what will happen; whether she'll even need to move or whatever.
Whatever.
If she needs me, you just try to stop me!!!

-W