MY Halloween treat this year.......

Happy Halloween to all. MY treat this year was getting to see Jessi's school kindergarten photos (taken a couple of weeks before she got sick). She is doing better and should be back in school on Monday. I hope she doesn't pick up more germs anytime soon. She has been out of school now for over a week. *sigh* I do love these photos, though....don't you? (Excuse me for boasting about them, but you know how Grammy's can be about such things!!! Apologies to those who have already seen these on my Facebook page.....but...again....you know how it is when you have grandkids and want to show them off to everyone!)

Isn't this GREAT?

Look what QUILTING FIESTA made and mailed to me for my granddaughter, Jessi. Isn't it GREAT??? If you look closely, you can see she has put the color names on each slot in Spanish AND she used thread to match each color. Jessi's school system starts Spanish in grade 1, so she'll be happy to have this when she starts learning color words there. THANKS, Betsy, for the wonderful gift. (Be sure to look at the 2nd and 3rd photos as they show other views of this fun pencil roll!)
Isn't the fabric used for this pencil roll ADORABLE??? I really love it and know Jessi will, too.And here is the pencil roll all rolled up and tied nicely. Great gift, isn't it?

Woo-hoo......20 blocks done.....

I know...I know...having 20 blocks done is only a small "dent" in the entire quilt. (There are 140 blocks in the whole Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt, for any who didn't realize that.) I am not yet 100% positive I'll do all 140....at some point, I may decide there are some blocks that won't be made. I think if I made all of them, it would be too big for any purpose here in my house, actually. Anyway....I got off-track. This photo is of the latest completed block...the block named Lancaster Rose. It's an appliqued block...and we all know I do not excel at applique, but it turned out fine enough. After I trimmed it, I ended up "close" on seam allowance and don't want to remove and re-do the leaves, so I will have to do a smaller seam around this one block...no big deal, right? Below that block is a photo of the 20 blocks that are completed to date. I am doing it ALL scrappy and so far haven't bought any fabric, but I will need to buy more neutrals soon for background. I'm please with it so far...not sure what color sashing I'll use....I will decide that at the end of the "block-making" fun! UPDATE on granddaughter: Jessi was back at the doctor AGAIN yesterday....bronchitis a bit worse so not going back to school today...now she will not go back until Monday. She'll miss the Halloween fun, but...it's better that she get well, of course.

I love these two fabrics.....

First, I must say I got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday from a fellow blogger whom I consider a real friend. She'd prefer I not blog about it....so I won't, but I hope she knows I appreciate the gift (even though it was unnecessary for her to send it to me).

Now.......I have to say, I just LOVE these two fabrics. I plan to use them in a set of reversible placemats for my kitchen for part of the holiday season. Aren't they pretty fabrics? (Click to look at the detail.)

And...I spoke too soon yesterday. My granddaughter was to have gone back to school then, but she woke up with more problems. She went to the doctor and has bronchitis now. They said many kids are getting "piggyback" illnesses after the flu......so she is now on med for that and hopes to get back to school tomorrow.

SBS progress........

This is called the Chinese Coin block from the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book. It is so similar to both the Churn Dash and the Shoo Fly block (also in the book) that I thought I had already MADE this one when I had it partway completed. But...it's a tiny bit different. I am finishing up the Lancaster Rose appliqued block and should be able to show that to you soon.

As a way of updates, some of you have asked about baby Maddy and she is doing better. I believe today is the day they will take her out of the "cool" state and start to do neurological testing on her, so she could use a lot of prayers for this....and so could her family! This has been a very rocky start for her and her family has been very worried, as you can imagine. I have seen photos of her and she is a very pretty baby and had a very nice birth weight, too. As for my granddaughter, she has been fever-free now long enough to go back to school today. Her mother, though, is now down with one flu or the other. She was put on Tamiflu to ease the symptoms and if she is fever free for long enough, she will go back to work tomorrow. Both will probably have that horrible, dry lingering cough for a few weeks, but at least the body aches and fevers will be gone!

CUTE scrappy quilt.......

Isn't this quilt cute?? I came across it while randomly surfing online. A tutorial can be found for it HERE at a blog called Brown Paper Packages. I can see how anyone making this could vary a bit from the tutorial and really have a fun time with this quilt. It can be funky or more "organized". The one shown on the blog is baby-sized, but it could be any size at all...just limited by the size of your scrap bin, I guess. I may try to make some strips from my scraps and keep them for a "someday" making of this quilt! MAYBE a table-runner size would be more workable for me!!!

Prayers for a sweet newborn baby, please....

I woke up to find out that a quilting pal's newborn granddaughter has some very serious health issues and had to be resuscitated upon her birth. She is in serious condition out in Washington state. Please keep this little one (her name is Maddy) and her family in your thoughts and prayers. I can't even imagine how the family is feeling now....and I so hope and pray things turn out well for the little sweetheart.

A good day for napping on the porch......

Our dog, Pepi, thought yesterday was a good day for napping on the porch.......first on one of the swivel rockers......

Hey.....why are you disturbing me??? Can't a guy take a nap in peace here????
And then some naptime on the glider.....
I was tired just watching him!!!

Fall decorations......

I decided to post photos of some of the fall decorations I've made in the past few years. It's fun to put them out each year! Some were pretty simple as I'd not been quilting long....but I still enjoy them each fall.

This was a runner that was in the Fons & Porter magazine awhile back. The backing fabric is the fabric shown in the placemat the next photo...and I use that side of the runner and those placemats through Thanksgiving.A too-simple placemat but I made it before I trusted myself to do much quilting. It is reversible and the other side is Christmas fabric....no quilting on it...just "pillowcased". They have lasted now, though, for about 4 years! I love this fabric!!!
Various other table mats and runners......these pumpkins are BAD....they turned themselves sideways and won't go back to the right way....sorry you have to turn your head to see them!!!GOSH...another sideways photo. I HATE it when Blogger does that!!!Okay...Blogger is behaving now for the last two photos......The diagonal quilted lines on this last one were done by hand...and I was pleased with the look I got on this one. It was from a Pat Sloan book, as I recall, although I think I changed something a tiny bit from the pattern.

UPDATE on my little granddaughter.....

My daughter just called...they were just leaving the ER. She said it was packed with kids with the same symptoms. Jessi was seen first. They did a chest x-ray since she had asthma (that she might be starting to outgrow...but that puts her "at risk"). For some reason, they are not saying any of those kids definitely have flu, although they feel it's likely. They said Jessi's lungs look fine (thank goodness) but they feel she probably has an upper respiratory infection in addition to a "touch" of the flu. I'm not so sure they are correct. BUT...they did keep her long enough that her temp came down to 101 and she was acting like herself again....at the 105 temp, she wasn't acting right at all. She didn't need any IV fluids. They prescribed an antibiotic because they do feel it's mostly an upper respiratory problem (probably because she had no other flu symptoms than the fever and a very bad cough). My daughter would have preferred they admit her overnight to make sure the fever was really starting to go away and to get a couple of doses of the antibiotic into her to see if that does help. BUT......they will have to monitor her at home. The doctor said if it is upper respiratory, she will be fine by the end of the weekend once the antibiotics get into her system. This is a child who doesn't generally run a temperature, so I hope they are right on this one. I appreciate the many kind comments and prayera and would ask you to please keep her in your prayers that the doctors are right and she's not been misdiagnosed. I've seen on the news too many kids who were sent HOME from the ER in recent weeks and really should have been admitted and treated.....and had serious consequences because of that misdiagnosis. I don't want that to happen to Jessi.

Worried about my granddaughter....

I'm putting a second post up today to let you know I'm very worried about Jessi, my 5-year-old granddaughter. She had a cough and low-grade fever yesterday morning. She went to the pediatrician who thought she would be fine. By last evening, she was up to a 104.1 fever. My daughter was to alternate doses of Tylenol and Motrin and give her a lukewarm bath...which she did and the fever came down to 101.1. This morning, the fever was up to 102 already (which is high for the morning...as it usually goes up as the day progresses when they are sick). By 1 this afternoon, it was up to 105 and the doctors were wanting her taken to the ER. I am waiting to hear something and I am very worried. It's scary and with all the negative stuff in the news about her age group and fevers and the two kinds of flu, it's very worrisome. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers!!!

Mums on a pretty day.....

Yesterday was a really pretty day and I took a couple of photos of some of my mums. I know the really nice weather won't last much longer.......but I'm enjoying it while it's here!
The next mum hasn't yet opened a lot of its flowers.....but it is still looking very nice! (Even though the photo turned itself sideways!!!)

A simple SBS block.....

This block from the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book is called "Bow Tie". It is a very simple one. The directions, though, showed it being made with templates and needing Y seams. I decided to do it with 4 large squares and then put small squares on the two corners in such a way as to make the tiny triangle part of the bow. NO Y seams with my way of doing it!!! So....you see....VERY simple block!!! I guess soon I'll put all the blocks I've made together in one picture so you can see my progess so far. (Still a long way to go, but...making steady progress.)

Ta.....Dah.......

Yay.....I'm happy because the Posies 'Round the Square block is done (unless I do decide to embroider something in the middle). It's not perfect, but......I once had a teacher in a quilt class say that "Done is better than perfect"...and I think she was right! So....this is how it looks.......AND...hold onto your seats, but I actually cut out and prepped all the pieces for another applique block in the book...one called Lancaster Rose. I've not yet sewn the pieces in place but I laid them in place to take a picture to show you. I'm sure you might be surprised about this considering how mightily I struggled with the applique block above. BUT...for this one, I decided to use the template plastic that is heatproof to see if I could get a good result without driving myself bonkers! I cut my pieces bigger than the plastic template for each piece.....did a hand stitch around the edge of each fabric piece and then pulled the thread to draw the piece up snugly around the template plastic, gave it a good press with the iron and removed the plastic template. It worked and I was very pleased with my success. When I sew the pieces to the background, I will be able to get the points just right and not be frustrated by it as I was with the leaves in the block shown above. Anyway........here is the picture of the new block with the pieces just laid in place. I'm proud that I stuck with it!!! I doubt that I'll ever be a real applique lover, but...at least I can do passable work. I have a big grin on my face now!

PLEASE....Barb in American Samoa needs more help.....

Many of you know Barb (blog is Bejeweled Quilts by Barb) who is 2/3 of the way through her husband's work assignment that has them living in Pago Pago, American Samoa. Many of you were so kind to send boxes to her a few weeks back to assist victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami there. It turns out she has heard about at least one village that was never even visited by Red Cross or FEMA for assistance as of not too long ago (would hope they might have gotten there by now or will get there soon)....terrible living conditions for some people.....total devastation of homes so too many are living together in very crowded conditions. Everything has been lost by some people.....even some of their family members died in some areas. Barb felt bad asking us for more help, but several of us bloggers have convinced her that nobody will be offended if she makes known the needs that still exist. There are a few bloggers who are having a giveaway to entice people to send another box. I have thought about that but decided against it...rather than put my money towards a giveaway for anyone here who already probably has more fabric, books, and patterns than they need, I'd prefer to use my money toward helping Barb with another box or two. If YOU would like to send another box (of if you didn't know about it the first time and would like to send one now), please look at the list below to see what is most needed. The best way to mail is in the priority mail boxes and envelopes you can get at the post office as they don't go by weight...there is a set fee. One box costs $4.95 to mail...another one $10 and change...and up from there. BUT you can send as much as you can fit in the box. If times are so tough for you that you can't send anything, that's okay and everybody understands, but I have a LOT of readers here and if even 1/4 of you can send a box, that would make a huge difference to some people who are really hurting now. (Gotta love how some of the "helping" agencies don't seem to do much helping quickly enough during these natural disasters....as we all saw down south here after hurricane Katrina.) For any who wish to help, you may leave a comment asking for Barb's address (unless you still have it from sending something last month) and I will be happy to provide it for you. Let's each rally around Barb....who, if you know her at all, is one of the most caring, generous people I know. She even gave her back-up sewing machine and lots of fabric and supplies away to someone who lost everything and used to depend on sewing for her family. And even in the midst of the disaster and total devastation surrounding her there, Barb made and has sent a block for the quilt being made for Terry as soon as she heard about the accident Terry's husband had...which many of you also did. She gives so much to others...and now is the time for us to continue to help her do that. I thank each of you from, the bottom of my heart for considering this latest request. Here is the list of most-needed items:

School supplies
Shoes (most wear flip flops)
Pillowcases, towels, sheets
Clothes
Hygiene products (those went really fast)
simple tote

Hurry....last 2 days of a good giveaway.....

Would you be interested in the giveaway of a jelly roll AND a pattern for a jelly-roll quilt AND some Christmas appliques? If so, hurry HERE to The Quilting Cat and enter today!!! (Giveaway ends tomorrow....October 21.... at noon.)

THIS warrants a second post today......

FABULOUS giveaway of a whole fat quarter pack.....that's 27 fat quarters.....from Red Rooster's Pumpkin & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals. You're asking WHERE is this giveaway, right? It's at Pumpkin Patch Primitives and you can get directly to the giveaway by clicking HERE. Now if you go and enter AND blog about it on your blog, please mention that I sent you so I can get an extra entry, okay? (You KNOW you want to help me get some extra entries....right?? LOL) AND...if there are LOTS of entries....if it goes over 250, there will be extra prizes. The drawing is October 31, but go over there now and read all about it.

Applique block for SBS in progress.....

This is a photo of the applique block I've told you is driving me crazy. It still needs more applique on the remaining two corners. It's probably the easiest of all the applique blocks that are in the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book.....but I've been driven bonkers by it. There were to be tiny circles in the center of each flower but I didn't like how they looked, so I did some little embroidery in each center with a French knot in the middle and like that better. The block is called "Posies 'Round the Square" and the floral motif is in all 4 corners when it's done. To me, it looks like something should also be in the middle of the block BUT with the name saying the posies are 'round the square, I guess that's why the center doesn't have a flower. (I should be glad, huh? If there was one in the middle, I'd have to applique 5 of these buggers on there and several more leaves.....YIKES!!! No, thanks!!!) I tried to do regular needle turn and threw THAT leaf away. I did freezer paper and glued the edges under (as shown in an applique book) for a couple of the leaves and it was messy working with the glue like that. For the other 2 leaves, I used the freezer paper as a guide but then needle-turned the edges under and that seemed a bit easier. I'm not crazy about any of them, though, and may try to use plastic template material for the rest and iron the edges under (since the template material is heat-proof)...and see if those are easier to do. I WILL finish the block (for those of you who told me not to give up), but I am not 100% decided yet if I'll do the rest of the applique blocks in the book....may just do doubles of some of the other blocks (in different fabrics) or might just make the quilt smaller. I cannot imagine me doing several applique blocks!!! Oh...and for those of you who are applique experts....I know the points on my leaves are NOT good and not even pointing in the right direction in some cases.....but I checked the points on some of my real leaves on my plants outside here and they aren't so great, either!!!!! I figure if the real thing can have wonky, crazy points, then MY leaves can have those kind of points, too! LOL

Celebrating a friend's birthday.....

There are 3 couples here who knew each other from when we lived in NJ. We have a dinner to celebrate each other's birthdays. A few days ago, we had a dinner to celebrate the b'day of Linda....a sometimes quilter/never blogger friend! This is her wearing her birthday crown and necklace.....we pass that along each time it's another person's birthday.... and with her "birthday girl" glass by her place setting.....silly, huh?It was at my house this time. We each make something but the person who hosts usually does the main dishes. We always have a fun time. This is the table before the guests arrived.
The menu this time was tomato basil soup with soup crackers and cheese for toppping it, a tossed green salad, cheesey breadsticks and butterflake dinner rolls, two kinds of marinated pork loin, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, a mixed veggie dish (with squash, asparagus, peppers, carrots, onions in a peppercorn sauce), wine and various other beverages, and birthday cake for dessert. I forgot to put out the applesauce and after-dinner mints and also forgot to offer ice cream with the birthday cake.....DUH.......have you ever done that? I hate it when people go home and I discover there was something that never made it to the table!!!

Next we have Linda blowing out her candles....or trying to blow them out but Ruth (who made the cake) had the candles on there that will NOT blow out....you need to put them in water to extinguish them! We had a few laughs at this, of course. If you are very observant and noticed little "animals" on the table and wonder about that, those are 2 silly battery-operated rodents who wear birthday hats and sing Happy Birthday and attend all our birthday gatherings!!! We may be goofy, but we have a lot of fun.

Another good mail day!!! AND enter KIM's giveaway....

GOSH...time got away from me and I nearly forgot to mention the very PRETTY giveway Kim is having at Bitty Bits & Pieces (click HERE to go directly to it and HURRY as it ends tomorrow!!!) PLEASE tell her I sent you!!! Her prize is great, as you will see. She is very talented.

I had another good mail day.....received this package from Julie (click HERE for her blog). She had a giveaway recently and I was lucky enough to win. I got Cabbage Rose fat quarters in beautiful colors........an adorable little bag Julie made that is just right for toting a small hand project......two pairs of scissors (timely since my little ones just "walked" away this week AND they were on my Fons & Porter retractable leash and necklace...so that made me sad)........and also a GREAT quilting book, as you can see. The book not only has great quilts in it, but it also has lots of good information about tea and lots of terrific muffin recipes!!! What a super idea for a book!!! Thanks, Julie, for a wonderfully fun package. Be sure to visit her blog...she is a wonderful quilter and also an extremely compassionate nurse. I also want to thank those of you who made very encouraging comments and suggestions in regards to applique on my post here yesterday. I've done fusible machine applique and raw-edge work....but for these blocks, the applique really needs the edges turned under (since the blocks aren't very big). I'll figure out how to do at least a few of them decently but doubt I'll do all the appliqued blocks that are in the book.....will substitute in some places! Like some of you said...it's MY quilt and I can make changes!!!

Another SBS block.....

Here's another block from my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book......this one is called Bright Hopes and it's a simple, plain block. I have another block in progress that is giving me a problem.though. It's one with applique...not even a particularly hard applique, but I'm having a lot of trouble with the leaves. I am not good at applique and with as discouraged as I'm getting on this first block with applique I've attempted from the SBS book, I am thinking I might not do ANY applique blocks from the book. I will struggle to finish this current block and then make a decision about that. I can handle paper-piecing and even the Y seam blocks....but the applique might be my "undoing" with this particular quilt. I know they say practice makes perfect but I don't want to take time to "study" applique while in the middle of making the blocks in this book. I know some of you LOVE applique and do it well....wish I could say the same for myself.....but I can't! LOL

Want to win a subscription to McCall's Quilting?

Last year, I was the lucky person who won a year's subscription to McCall's Quilting magazine. YOU can enter to be the lucky person this year. The giveaway is done by Molly....a quilting blogger in Texas. Click HERE to go to the post where she speaks of the giveaway. Sign on as a follower of her blog and tell her I sent you, okay? She is looking to increase her blog readers and you might be the lucky winner and within a short time, you can receive that fun magazine for a year. So hurry on over!!!

Nearly forgot to show this to you.....

Here it is approaching the middle of October and I nearly forgot to show you the October "cottage" I got in the mail on October 1. I am loving these cottages. If you have noticed the previous ones, you know by now that 12 of us are in a themed cottage swap (organized by Quilting Fiesta). We each have a month and we make 12 cottages for that month. We began in May. My month is February. This October cottage used some fabric that glows in the dark...pretty cute cottage, isn't it?? (I suspect you could tell it was an October-themed cottage even if I'd not told you!!! LOL) This will be a fun quilt when all the cottages are completed.

Gotta love the mail..........

When the mail brings things like I've pictured below, you've gotta be happy to see the mail carrier arrive, right?

First is a giveaway I won from Cora.......I thought it was going to be the pretty floral panels (there are 4 of them....will make great pillow covers) and also the Kaffee Fassett charm squares. BUT....Cora included some nice extras in the package......a Christmas apron with my NAME embroidered on it and a really cute drawstring bag in great colors. (I'll post a second photo of just the bag as it's cute as a button...click on it to see it in greater detail.....did you use a pattern, Cora, or is this an "original" by you??) Cora, you are very kind!!!
Next we have the walking foot that Lynda G so generously gave to me when she discovered I had to surrender my walking foot when my 4900 machine was given back to Janome (and the new 5200 model they gave me did not come with one). Sorry the photo is dark...guess I didn't use my flash and didn't realize it until I went to post the photo. Lynda had an extra.....and she was kind enough to give that extra foot to me as well as a little baggie of the tiny hair scrunchies that are wonderful for keeping thread and bobbins from unwinding! Thanks, Lynda.....you are a sweetheart. I will say again what I've said many times before.....quilters are THE BEST!!! If these gals are "new" to you, please be sure to visit their blogs by clicking on their highlighted names above.

Are you ready?..............Name results........

Between the comments I got on my posts since Thursday as well as a few emails, there were 26 people who made name suggestions for my new sewing machine (and some made several suggestions). So many of those suggestions came with terrific reasons...and a few really made me chuckle!!! I thank each and every blogging friend who participated in this fun activity. I took all of your names and gave them a number and used the computer's random # generator.....then I decided to pull ONE first name, TWO middle names, and ONE last name!!! Additionally, someone sent an email suggesting any name chosen should be preceded by a title....because we all desire this machine now to behave royally. When I came up with the 4 #'s for the 4 names, two of those people had multiple suggestions, so then I had to # their multiple suggestions and have the random generator narrow it down. Taking all the above into consideration and not to keep you in suspense any longer, I am pleased to announce the following name:

Her Royal Highness Princess HOPE Cara Lucky Benjiro.Whew....now THAT's a mouthful of a name, isn't it? Actually, since # 7 was chosen first (that was Mary Quilt Hollow's) and since another gal (Gari) hadn't read the suggestions and also said HOPE, that name was suggested twice (which must be a "sign"), so she will be called HOPE for short. (Hope was actually the only name suggested twice.) That is a good name, because it stands for a lot of things.....my HOPE that she will be a good machine that won't sprout hidden problems in the upcoming weeks and months....HOPE that I will make lots of nice things with her....and HOPE that I remain friends with all of you wonderful blogging buddies for many years!!!

Now....to acknowledge the others whose name suggestions are within Hope's name.......the title suggestion was in an email from Julia in Australia, Cara was the suggestion of Gene (Cara means friend in Gaelic and my friends were surely involved in the effort to get Janome to replace my bad machine), Lucky was one of the multiple suggestions of Barb in American Samoa who felt the luck of the Irish should somehow be part of the name, and Benjiro (which means peaceful in Japanese) was one of the multiple suggestions of Rachel. Now we can see that the entire name encompasses, HOPE, FRIEND, LUCK, and PEACE. I think that about covers it, don't you agree? (And aren't you glad this naming "event" is finished? LOL) Hope is a new member of the Quilting Kingdom and will be a well-loved member if she serves faithfully for many stitches to come! Let's hear it for HOPE....... (and I'm sure she thanks you very much for making her feel so welcomed!!!)

a PAWS from quilting..........

TOMORROW I will post the new name(s) for my sewing machine....but.......for today, here is a post of a much different sort!!! I have mentioned that my area has an annual greyhound gathering called Greyhounds Reach the Beach. Last night, we attended a "wedding" on the beach....below are some photos of various members of the wedding party (there were two grooms and two brides as well as various attendants and a "Queen" officiated). Some of the hounds (including one of the grooms and one of the attendants) were quite bored by the whole event and chose to lay down on the sand for part of the ceremony. There were two wedding cakes afterwards (made for the dogs by a woman who does pet treats) as well as "pupcakes" for the dogs. Quite silly....but also a lot of harmless fun. Even the local newspaper turned out to cover the event! You just never know what crazy things might be happening in a beach town on the weekend!!! It's not quilting, but.......I just had to share this with you......so...here are photos I call my PAWS from quilting.........(Notice the garter on the left from paw in the next 2 photos......)And here is a hound sporting a bow-tie.....Our dog (not a greyhound, as you can see) HATES the beach....so we didn't take him with us, but we did come home with a pupcake for him and he thoroughly enjoyed it and could hardly wait for hubby to unwrap it and give it to him!!!

Two more Sylvia's Bridal Sampler blocks....

Here are two more SBS blocks.....the first is called Contrary Wife and, of course, then I have to show Contrary Husband. (Actually, Contrary Wife was shown when I showed the photo of the new Janome machine on a previous post, but I'm not sure I told you the name of it, so I'm showing it again.)The "name the machine" results aren't in yet as I'm waiting for Rachel to submit her idea (since it was her suggestion to name this new Janome in hopes that he/she will behave nicely for me...unlike the last model Janome I had!!!) I should be able to report the name by the end of the weekend. There are so many good names that I cannot choose....so I will be putting them into a hat and drawing out one or two. It occurred to me that maybe the machine will behave better with a first name AND a middle name??? LOL

THREE machine posts in a row....whew!!!

I can't believe this is the third day in a row that my Janome 5200 is being "featured" in my blog post. BUT...I have to talk about it one more time. For one thing, if you didn't see the names that were suggested for my machine in yesterday's post, GO LOOK. I am tickled at the suggestions...some very serious and a couple that were pretty darned amusing!!! I am going to figure out a way to choose one of those names.....even if it must come down to putting my favorites in a hat and pulling one out at random. I will let you know when a decision has been made. Thanks to all who participated and also for putting down some great reasons for the names you suggested. You're all just great!!!

Now...here is reason #2 today for mentioning my new machine. Last week when I was helping our Barb in American Samoa get her mailing address out to people, I "met" a very nice gal named Lynda G. when I sent Barb's address to her. Consequently, Lynda read my blog and I read hers. (Click HERE to read her blog.) She's also a retired teacher, so we had that in common. Then...she read about my sewing machine situation and emailed me to say she had an extra walking foot for the Janome machines and was willing to give it to me. I offered to pay her or at least pay postage and she declined saying I should consider it a PIF for helping Barb. Can you imagine that???? I was really touched by that gesture and the walking foot is on its way to me as I type this. Thanks, Lynda....that was very kind of you and I'm very appreciative of this gift to me. Okay...now enough about my machine (at least for today....LOL)

Our area has a large annual gathering of greyhounds and their owners on Columbus Day weekend....it's called Greyhounds Reach the Beach. I've come to know some of these people and only see them when they arrive for this event. Yesterday I spent the day taking two of them from the Midwest on a "tour" of Cape Henlopen State Park and Lewes. The weather was gorgeous...similar to Monday when I posted photos from the park....although a bit cooler. Yesterday, dolphins were swimming south and we were able to see them at the park. It's often hard to get a photo of them as you never know exactly when they will surface. BUT...I did get one photo....doesn't do justice to what we saw, but I figured I'd show it to you here anyway. I"m sure you'll have to click on it to be able to see the dolphins. (It kind of looks as if those fishermen were catching a BIG fish, but....trust me, it was a pod of dolphins swimming by and the guys weren't bothering them at all.) Another CALM day, as you can see by the small waves. No surfers in sight when the seas are like this!!!

Name that machine..........

Okay....yesterday Rachel suggested to me that I name my Janome 5200 sewing machine (the one that was mentioned in yesterday's post). I have never been good at giving names to things I own. I have friends who name their cars....their sewing machines....their vacuums.......their crockpots.....you get the picture.....they name EVERYTHING. I'm not one of them...had enough trouble thinking of names for my kids, BUT......I was thinking maybe my sewing machine would be HAPPIER (and behave nicely???) if it had a name. I need help with this, though. So......I'd like for some of you to come up with some suggestions....but don't just say something like "Sally"......tell me WHY you're saying "Sally" (or Jill or Pretty Girl...or whatever name you think the machine should be called). I'm thinking this could be fun (or maybe FUNNY). So...help me....okay? I'll look at the ideas and decide on a name within the next few days. I'll put two photos below....one is of the sewing machine so you can look at her (him??) and be inspired to come up with a good name. Click to enlarge and see her (him???) a bit better. The other photo is of another block I made with the new machine for the SBS (Sylvia's Bridal Sampler) quilt top. This block is called Children's Delight.