Do you ever feel like this tree? I see this tree daily on my way to deliver my teenager to school. I had been planning to take a picture of it for months. Something always happened...no camera (well DUH!), dead camera battery, sun shining on it wrong...you get the picture. I feel like this quite often. I rarely have a large uninterrupted block of time to myself or my own pursuits. I get bogged down with house work/clutter/animals/other family members. I start one project and leave the room for it, and come back thoroughly engrossed in a DIFFERENT activity. I have to admire this tree tho. It IS bent...but it is not broken. It has adapted..and is still going strong! It still has green leaves and is growing! I feel bent over...but I hope I adapt and grow!


I'm off to finish up a QOV I had to pick out nasties on..its back on the frame and I want it on its way! Have a great day ::;trying to walk a little straighter...seeing that tree makes my back hurt!:::::

something QUILTY

FINALLY! Something quilty! I'm almost finished with this and hope to deliver it this weekend. The baby's room is done in a beach theme...



this picture is a bit blurry, but the colors are good, and you can see all the blocks.


A closer look at the blocks...




This is a picture of the water meander. It didnt' need too much quilting as it is pretty busy.


Binding matches the border with a small insert of the plain blue batik. I will take a picture of the scrappy back before delivery. I sure am ready for the Quilt Whisperer class I have signed up for in Jan. I need help with design decisions!

Oh my! PIE!

I was waiting the school parking lot for my friend to drop off her kids...I was lending her some pie cutters (you know, the ones where you take the left over pie crust and cut out a leaf or something for the top...so Martha Stewart! But ONE thing I can handle!) When she got there, could I FIND those said cutters in my van? it was JUST cleaned out! Boy! One day of shopping...and POOF..that van is TOAST! ...Riffled around...found the cutters..



Just LOOK what she handed me! PIE! and guess what I DID with it...::: sly smile:::
I ATE it of course! (Don't you think it would have spoiled on the way home if I had NOT eaten it?...well I do! HA!)And guess what yesterday was? 1st day of my swim membership at the gym. Well..actually it was Friday, but the pool was closed for painting till yesterday. Think I'm off to a good start? I SWAM...but then I had PIE for breakfast! :::sigh::: YOU didn't have to look that pie in the EYE! We will see how I do tomorrow...today is a 'I'm sore from swimming yesterday, so I'm just going to do laundry and get my haircut' day. Don't you have those? ::grin:::

We live in a large city, but we are spread ALLLL over a huge valley....and we are a suburb that used to be VERY agricultural. Empty lots are slowly filling in, but nearby my house is a large field. Mostly goats are kept there with sheep being seen on occasion. In the past, one lone donkey kept an eye on the other inhabitants. Now there are 3 adults and 2 youngsters. I think the young are twins...they have been SO cute to watch!


I stopped by the fence to snap their picture from an open car window. I spooked the youngesters and they went TEARING off around the field! I felt bad that I had scared them...my friend Frankie says that they would use any excuse to romp around the field. ...I don't feel so bad now! I gave them some exercise!

homemade pizza!

When we were in California earlier in the month, we were invited by friends of friends, to join them for dinner. HOMEMADE PIZZA! Now I'm not a huge pizza fan, but homemade...OK! I'll bite! I used to make it when we were 1st married,but I never won our older kids over.




As you can see...a VULTURE was laying in wait for this. And it is SUPPOSED to sit for 5 mins! I was lucky to get it out of the pan! When I asked about what to change..the vulture said..NOTHING! ...WOW...well..on 2nd thought, what was wrong with the pepperoni? (it was turkey...drat...I thought I had snuck that in!)Thanks Frank for the tip about the bottom of the roasting pan. That and me remembering to put corn meal on the bottom made these come out GREAT! I'm thinking this will be requested on Sundays regularly!

any one interested in a mystery?

Head on over to Quiltville.com! Bonnie is starting a mystery quilt right after Thanksgiving. Fabric requirements are posted....I went stash diving...



and this is what I came up with. This is just the color palette...It will end up being pretty scrappy. I was kinda surprised at how many turquoise and bright greens I had. I'm usually a brights girl..but primaries call my name most. What colors will YOU pick?

Bad BAD blogger!

OK...I have probably lost all my readers..but here goes! Our 2 out of town trips under our belt, I'm home for the holidays!

I have signed up for an online quilting class in Jan and will probably be MUCH more of a fanatic about this AFTER that, but I DO see quilt patterns EVERYWHERE!
Now to YOU, this is just a package of paper towels.





I however see a quilting design :::grin::::

Notice the cute little curlique border design on the bottom. My family knew I was nuts before, NOW I'm just proving them RIGHT!



Just so you know I
HAVE been sewing and quilting,


Here is a picture of my friend Christina (who does not sew, but now QUILTS!)



working on THIS: a sheet with a Minkee back. Both are supposed to be hard to quilt, and we had not ONE problem...no glitches, no tension problems, NADA. In honor of making friends with my Gammill that day, I have named her Lucy...(as in 'use LOOSE tensions') Sorry..bad play on words. I have more, but I'm trying to save ideas for another day! Hi Anita and Julie No blog! ::;see me waving:::::

haul from Goodwill

Yesterday on my way home from sewing class, I popped into Goodwill. My friend had told me it might be a good place to look for something to keep my thread in. I can always get the plastic drawers, but I'm tired of plastic. It has to be under 25 inches...and the drawers have to be deep enuf for a big cone of thread. I didn't find any furniture..but I DID find treasures!

I have a gap between my sewing table and my cutting table. Things that fall down between are hard to retrieve! I will be using parts of a couple of these things to make a caddy to fill that gap...Karen has been revving me up on my Home Depot wanderings. I love the crafty stuff she comes up with!




A frame for a Lang calendar. I have loved those for a long time...now I have some place to hang it... Also a box with a hole on the side. I'm going to repaint it and use it as a tissue box. Counter space on my sewing table it at a premium. I will be able to stack something on this if the tissues come out the side.





The blue divided platter will go on the long arm for prewound bobbins and other gadgets. See a snowflake theme here? I MIGHT be tempted to call my new quilting biz something with a snowflake...except I live in the DESERT! HA! Wishful thinking...




This little guy is self explanitory. I'm a dog person...and I have papers to organize. Enuf said!

Tomorrow is laundry day. I will finish up quilting a baby quilt and get started putting the next together. Maybe have borders and most of the backing together before bed. See you tomorrow!