Something nice in the mail.....

Between my part-time job (which I never expected to have in retirement) and a project I can't yet speak about here, I have been nearly overwhelmed and not able to do much that is just "fun" stuff (although the project is fun...but it's just a deadline kind of thing, so that makes it be less fun...LOL). Anyway......I had a nice mailbox package the other day. I won a giveaway at Nancy's blog (click HERE to read her blog). She sent me a really neat notebook that you color the cover design yourself AND a set of Bic Permanent fine-line markers in really COOL colors. I didn't know they came in such great colors. Here is a picture of the stuff after I opened the packageand here is a picture after I'd colored some of the cover (and the design is on the front AND the back). Whew...this is going to be a UFO as it is going to take me awhile to finish coloring this!!! Thanks, Nancy..I love it as I have always been a kid at heart and loved to color. AND....this is the final reminder about my giveaway for a GO! cutter and dies. Click on the sidebar if you've not yet entered and get the info. I'm sad to say that the last few days, I have had people enter who left NO contact information at all.....and when I click on their names to try to find some contact info, I draw a blank and I have to discard their names then. I stressed in my "rules" that I need contact info and I even mentioned it again on AccuQuilt's Facebook page but STILL some folks try to enter with NO contact information. How do they think they would get notified if they won??? Oh, well.....it's their loss as now they aren't even IN the giveaway! NO entries will be accepted after 6 a.m. EASTERN time on Sunday, August 1. The winner(s) will be drawn that day and I'll probably blog about it that night or on Monday morning. Good luck to all and thanks for taking the time to enter. Whoever wins will LOVE that cutter...I promise!

Let me tell you about my FAIR day.....

Monday was a FAIR day for me (and hubby). After I enjoyed some fun time with my neighborhood quilt group (Lakeside Ladies), he and I went to the Delaware State Fair. This post will be rather picture intensive....but before you look at them, let me remind you that time is FLYING and on Sunday morning at 6 a.m. my time (eastern time), the giveaway for the GO! cutter and dies will close. So...if you've not yet entered and want to be in it, click for the info on the sidebar here. (ONE entry per person so we keep it fair, okay?)

Now...take a trip to the State Fair with me......some photos will need no explanation!Yes...I did go see the quilts. The ones here were all made by 3 gals I know very well. Please excuse the framing of the quilts...all but one of them were hanging from the ceiling and I couldn't get a great angle on them.
First we have Lucy, who has only been quilting for about 5 years! She is a retired hairdresser. She dyes her own fabrics, sometimes paints on the fabrics AND does her own quilting (at first on her regular sewing machine and now she has a long-arm.) This first quilt won her a blue ribbon AND the judges' award this year. LOTS of her hand-dyed fabrics in this one AND she makes the design herself..yes...she just "happens" to be able to draw. Not TOO talented, is she??? (click to enlarge and appreciate it more)
Another of Lucy's quilts....yup...more of her hand-dyeds in THIS one,too. And, I'm sure you noticed ANOTHER blue ribbon and a scalloped border to add to the merriment!!!Gee...Lucy must be slipping...she only got a YELLOW ribbon on this next one. Now, you really need to click on this and LOOK at all those flowers behind this garden gate and know that she hand-dyed most of them in various shades so the flowers would all be shaded. Do you hate her yet??? LOL Wait...you might in a second when I tell you this next thing about her. When she had only been quilting about two years, she submitted a quilt (think it was a Baltimore album type quilt) to the Paducah AQS show...she was still quilting her things on her home machine then. AND...the quilt got accepted to Paducah. She didn't win there...thank goodness or WE would have all hated her for getting a quilt into the Paducah show just 2 years after she started quilting!!! LOL I hope you clicked on these photos to enlarge them. (Personally, I think the judges were NUTS for not awarding THIS quilt a blue ribbon in the watercolor quilt category...I meant to look at the winning one, but I doubt it held a candle to this one!)Next, we have two quilts from a local gal who is doing long-arm work for me lately....Jackie. She won a blue ribbon with this one. It's a LARGE quilt and space was at a premium, so they had it folded....which is a shame as it's STUNNING when seen in all its glory. But...you'll get the idea of how nice it is anyway. And here is a wall-hanging done by Jackie...it is so peaceful and pretty. I'd love to have it in MY house! Her quilting is always exquisite as she doesn't use a computerized long-arm...she does it all herself....deciding on what would look best and then just DOING it. All the quilts she does are very customized and wonderful.

Now the next gal, Joan, had a few quilts entered in this show and I thought I got all of them but find I only got one. Sorry, Joan. It was a pretty quilt, though (as were her others). You can't really tell from this photo, but this is actually a rag quilt of sorts.....very nicely-done!Needing a break from the sun, we went to the casino (one of our state's casinos is on the grounds of the State Fair) where I....so NOT a gambler (nor is hubby) spent a big $3 and came out $2.52 ahead on the penny machines!!! Hubby lost his $3. We had a nice supper in the cafe there and then went to see a group that we LOVE that does a lot of State Fairs. They are based in Dallas, Texas, and if you live in that area OR anywhere near a State Fair where they will appear, you should go see them. Their name is Vocal Trash....they are SO entertaining and energetic with music for lots of age groups...lots of percussion and great voices. We have followed them now for about 5 years and see them every chance we get. Nobody leaves their show without big smiles on their faces! I was persuaded to dance in front of the stage with their lead member and one of their dancers....NOT my usual thing to do and I would not go up ON the stage, but I had a blast right there at the foot of the stage. This last photo shows me and the lead guy (Steve) who is pointing at me and telling hubby to take my picture and saying to hubby, "Can you believe I got her up here to DO this??" IF any of you have already seen them and are fans of theirs, let me know. I know they go to the Pullayup fair in Washington state (probably didn't spell that right), the Missouri State Fair, the Iowa State Fair, the Colorado State Fair and the list goes one. If you can see some of their videos on You Tube, you will see what I mean about their energy level!!! Anyway.....I leave you with that photo of me dancing with them last night. Pretty funny, huh? (In case you don't recognize me, I am the chunky one in the black shirt...their lead guy is in the blue...48 years old and not an ounce of fat on HIM...could it have anything to do with the energetic shows he does??? Maybe I should travel with that group and get skinny!!! LOL)

Where my GO! cutter lives.....

When I won my GO! cutter and hubby saw how thrilled I was with it AND how I was wanting so many dies for it, he built a little unit where I could store my GO! and the dies. Here it is in this picture. You can see I have one "official" storage rack filled with dies and then two letter-holder racks (from the stationery department at Target) that are holding some others nice an upright in the recommended storage position. Below the dies and on the left, is the GO! cutter (all folded up to store nice and neatly). To the right of that you can see a couple of small plastic containers (one is holding thread). Those containers will be relocated as I acquire more dies (SOON, I hope!!) and need that space to store them. This whole wooden unit was built around one of those large 3-drawer plastic storage carts in which I have some of fabric stash stored. I'm very happy with the way the GO! and the dies are stored so neatly and in a way that I can get to them easily. NOW....if you win my giveaway of a GO!, how will you store it in YOUR house??? (If you didn't enter the giveaway yet, be sure to click on my sidebar for the information you will need to enter...better hurry...time is "a-wasting"!!!)

Please show you care.....

I am making a second attempt at a second post for today (as the first one didn't post for some reason). I know quilters are very caring people and I'd like to ask you to take a brief break from your current project to participate in making a "comfort" quilt for a young mother who has been gravely ill in the hospital for many months now. Click HERE to read her story and to read how you can participate in this project. (I will be putting this icon and the link on my sidebar so you can get to it again....or in case you want to put the information on YOUR blog, too.) If you read about this and decided to participate, leave a comment there on Jane's blog (the gal who is coordinating the project) and she will get back to you with her mailing address. I know I can count on many of you to do this, because I know I have some of the best blogging buddies in the world!

Brown Bag fun at our quilt guild meeting.....

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile will recall that several months back, you helped me select 4 fat quarters to submit for a fun activity our quilt guild does. This is called a "Brown Bag" activity. To refresh your memory (and for those who are new to my blog), I had to take 4 fat quarters and put them in a brown bag with my name inside and staple the bag closed. At the meeting, we each got a different brown bag to take home. We then had until the July meeting to make a gift with the fat quarters in the bag we got...and then present it to the person who "owned" those fat quarters at the meeting. Thursday night was THAT meeting. So....here are the 4 fat quarters I had submitted in my stapled brown paper bag....And....drum roll, please.....here is what I GOT at the meeting that a really nice gal made for me...
TWO great bags....click to see them a little bit better. You still can't see all the great sewing and how well-made they are...and pockets inside and out both bags! I really love them. We were allowed to add fabric, if we wished, and this gal did...and I LOVE the fabric she added. I am very happy with my Brown Bag gifts and everyone else was, too. There was such a variety of items.....decorated towels.....pillow covers.....wall-hangings....table runners....bags of all sizes....an apron.....even a decorated basket. The gal for whom I made a gift was not present due to feeling tired from chemo treatments but her friend took her gift home and looked at it and said she will really enjoy it. (Just to remind you of what I made for her......it was this wall-hanging with her red/white/blue fabric and hand-quilted since she loves hand quilting.)Now....again I will remind you of my giveaway...courtesy of the wonderful AccuQuilt folks....for a GO! cutter and dies. Click on my sidebar for the information if you've not yet entered. I am still loving my GO! cutter and am in the midst of making a baby quilt using the chisel shapes I cut so easily...that went together perfectly. I hope to be able to show that quilt in a few days.

I met a blogging friend yesterday!!!!

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to meet up with a talented blogging friend, Cecelia. You can read her blog by clicking HERE. She has a sister who lives in my area and she mentioned awhile back that she and her hubby would be in the area this summer. Well.....last week Cecelia emailed me and said this was the week she'd be up here from West Virginia!!! We set aside today to have lunch together. Her sister, Sarah, joined us. My quilting pal, Kathy, and I were working on a project together this morning, so Kathy ate lunch with us, too. We went to a lovely place in Georgetown, Delaware, called The Brick Hotel.....a very old building that has been renovated and is now a restaurant as well as a small hotel. I'd not eaten there before, but Cecelia's sister suggested it and it was a great choice! The waiter was very attentive and the meal was wonderful. The company was exceptional. The fact that we had not only quilting in common (her sister quilts, too) but we are also all retired educators, made for no shortage of fun conversation...shared stories about students and their sometimes wacky parents, etc. Before we knew it, nearly two hours flew by and it was time to go our separate ways. I hope we get to spend time together again in the future! Here are some photos we took.

First is a table shot taken by our terrific waiter (wish I had gotten his name...maybe Cecelia recalls it and can comment here on that). Left to right in the photo: Kathy, Sarah, Me, Cecelia
See this purse Cecelia is carrying? I wish I'd gotten a better photo of it as it was a beautiful purse....very well-made by her sister, Sarah. (Sarah could teach the folks at Vera Bradley a few tricks...that's how well this purse was made....really!!! I was hoping Sarah made them to sell as I've have ordered one on the spot from her.)This last photo is a close-up of Cecelia (on the left) and me on the porch outside. (Of course, neither of us likes our pictures being taken...but we know our blog followers "demand" this of us.....right, Tonya??? She made us PROMISE to take pictures and post them. LOL) The porch is filled with rocking chairs and looks out onto what is called "The Circle"......a nicely landscaped area that is the hub of the county seat here in Sussex County, Delaware......a very nice atmosphere all around.....a perfect spot to meet a fellow blogger! Thanks, Cecelia and Sarah, for a very nice afternoon! Now...if you have read this far and haven't yet entered the giveaway for an AccuQuilt GO! cutter that is being run on my blog right now, look at the sidebar and click there to get the information and enter. AccuQuilt is a very generous company!

Giveaway entries to date......

Here is a report on the GO! giveaway entries so far.....89 total entries as of the time I am preparing this blog post. Of those, 10 already have a GO! cutter and are hoping to win more dies for it. The remaining 79 entries do not yet have a GO! If you are reading this and still haven't entered, there is still time. Look at the right sidebar on my blog and click on the giveaway icon there. You will then be taken to the post with the rules and that is also the post where you should make your comment if you are entering the giveaway!

When you read this, it will be July 20 and it will be the day of a big event in Nebraska at AccuQuilt's headquarters....the unveiling of the top 2 quilts in their barn quilt contest. How I'd love to be there for the fun today! I hope some of you live close enough (and read my post about it last week) and might be going....so you can report back to me how it was....AND include photos, too!
Now, on a more serious note, most of you know our dog, Pepi, had to be put to sleep on July 8. The above photo shows a lovely sympathy basket we got a few days later from the vet along with a nice note (which is shown below). I thought it was a kind gesture for them to do this. There were 4 small pots of African violets in the basket. I have now taken the pots out of the basket and hope to keep them alive and thriving for many years.

WOW....impressive......

I have had many entries already on the giveaway of an AccuQuilt GO! cutter on my blog. (If you missed the post about that, look on the sidebar for it and click there to get the information you need so you can enter the drawing...even if you already HAVE a GO!, you can still participate.) I have been very impressed with the charity projects so many of you already do...and the ones you promise to do if you are a lucky winner!!!

I have had a huge amount of non-fun (read that: non-quilty) stuff that has been taking up my time recently, but I did finish Jelly Roll Block # 10....I varied it a bit and made it to my own style. Here is a picture of it. You can see it better if you click to enlarge it. (It's not been squared yet.)There are 2 more blocks to go. I don't like a few of them so far....so I may look very carefully at the 12 blocks when they are completed and cut it down to my favorite 9 and be done with it. The remaining 3 blocks can then go in my bag of "orphan blocks". NOW......I need a favor from you. Please go to the brand-new blog of my friend (and neighbor), Sherry, and sign on as a follower and make a comment there. Click HERE to get to the blog. She is an awesome quilter......self-taught, but very productive. I once showed you a huge, custom California king quilt she made as a wedding gift (will get that picture out again and have her post it, I think, on her new blog.) So....go there and check her out...okay?

Let's get GO ing.........

Thanks to the wonderful folks at AccuQuilt.....a terrific, customer-oriented company in Nebraska....I am able to run a very special giveaway. Not too long ago, I won a GO! cutter from them on their Facebook page. I have been in love with this tool ever since. I am now officially a "senior citizen" and I can tell you that this product is one of very few I have seen in my lifetime that actually exceeded my expectations! I have been only too happy to tell everyone about this wonderful cutter that has made my quilting life so much easier due to the speed with which I can now cut fabric AND the accuracy that results and I have also demonstrated it to other quilters. I know many of you would love to have one of these cutters, too. There are a couple of other giveaways being done for this right now and we have each tried to vary our "rules" a bit. Since I want only those who are serious to enter, I need to make you do a few things to show you are trying to familiarize yourself with AccuQuilt and their products...which seems only fair since they are letting us have these terrific giveaways. Read more (below the photo) to find out my "rules" for how you can enter to win.Oh, yes....wait...silly me.....I nearly forgot.....the good news continues. I know some of you already HAVE this cutter, and I didn't want you to be left out of entering my giveaway. AccuQuilt has kindly allowed me to do the following.......if someone who already has a GO! is my winner, they will get 3 dies from AccuQuilt, and I will then draw a second name who will win the GO! cutter with the starter die that comes along with it. (If the winner does not already have a GO! cutter, he or she will win the whole "kit and kaboodle"...that is: the GO! and starter die as well as 3 other dies!) Is anyone excited about this yet?? If so, continue reading to find out how you can enter. Please read carefully, because if the rules aren't met, then your entry will be discarded...and you don't want that to happen, do you?

1. The giveaway will end at 6 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, August 1...winner will be announced later that day.

2. You must go to AccuQuilt's Facebook page and click "Like" if you are not already a fan there. I will be watching and want to see that everyone who enters my giveaway makes at least one comment there over the course of my giveaway.....between now and August 1. And if you are new there, say "Pat sent me" when you make your first comment on that Facebook page! (I might find your comment easier that way.)

3. You are also to go to AccuQuilt's website......www . accuquilt . com (no spaces before and after the dots). You are to look over the GO dies there and come back to tell me which 2 you like the most. If you already have a GO, you should tell me which 2 dies you'd like to get next.

4. You are to tell me what CHARITY project you will make with the GO (or the dies) if you win. I realize some of it may have to be cut with the rotary cutter...depending on what dies you have when you are making this item. (Just for your information: The starter die that comes with the cutter cuts a 4 1/2 inch square, a 2 1/2 inch square and 2 1/2 inch half-square triangles....all of which will sew up to be a half-inch smaller, of course.) Your charity project could be a pillowcase for a children's cancer hospital, a quilt for a newborn intensive care unit of a hospital, a lap quilt for a local nursing home, a quilt for Downy's Quilts for Kids, etc. I am trusting that IF you win, you will follow through on this AND show us a photo of it on AccuQuilt's Facebook page once the item is made. I am trusting that all of you will be honest and not take this commitment lightly.

5. Lastly, you need to tell me in your comment whether or not you already have a GO! cutter.

So....to sum this up: you will be making ONE comment and get ONE entry. Your comment will tell me you are (or have become) a "fan" of AccuQuilt on Facebook........it will tell me which 2 dies you like for the GO after you visit AccuQuilt's website.......you will tell me which charity project you will do.....AND you will tell me if you do or do not have a GO! already. Four pieces of information...be sure all 4 pieces of info are included in your one comment in order for your entry to be valid.

Get that comment on my blog by 6 a.m. Sunday, August 1...and put that comment on THIS post (which you will always be able to find by clicking on the GO photo on my sidebar to get directly here). Be sure I can reach you by clicking on your name. If you don't have a blog, be sure to include your email address in your comment to me. I wish everyone good luck and I'm sure you all join me in thanking AccuQuilt for a wonderful giveaway. They have been kind enough to give me 3 dies of my choice as a "thank you" since I have been so vocal about promoting their product and since I am willing to host a giveaway. I can tell you, truthfully, that I'd have hosted this giveaway even if they did NOT give me anything...that's how much I believe in this GO! cutter and how excited I am for others to get a GO!, too.

So..what are you waiting for? Get GO! ing!!!

You are invited to a BIG event......

What: Barn Quilt Unveiling Ceremony
When: Tuesday, July 20, 2010. 11:00 a.m. CST
Where: AccuQuilt
1035 E. Dodge Street
Fremont, NE 68025
(25 minutes west of Omaha, Neb.)

For my followers who live a reasonable driving distance from Omaha, Nebraska, you should try to attend this big event at AccuQuilt (the home of the wonderful GO and Studio cutters for quilters). They ran a contest and the two top winners will be revealed at this event. The first place winner's quilt will be in a 17 x 17 foot format on the AccuQuilt building and the 2nd place winner's quilt will be in a 6 x 6 foot format. I wish I lived close enough to GO to the event as it promises to be a wonderful day! If you do go, please take photos to show me. (For those of you who can't go, be sure to visit AccuQuilt on Facebook to see the photos they will post there.) I hope to visit them for a tour someday. If you would like to tour their facility when you are in that area, all you need to do is call 888-258-7913 and they will be happy to set a date and time up for you. Folks who have toured the facility absolutely love their time there and enjoy meeting the staff. This company is truly customer-oriented and, from my experience, they bend over backwards to be helpful. I do hope some of you can go there to the Barn Quilt Unveiling. IF you do, be sure to tell them that Pat from Delaware whose blog is called A Little of This and a Little of Pat sent you, okay??? AND......to end with some more exciting news, be sure to check back here on my blog on Friday for a wonderful giveaway........you will love it, I promise!!!

GO! ing "scrap-happy"......

Do you have baskets (or boxes or bins) like these???

Believe me, I have a few more just like those shown above. They seem to have a way of multiplying. I always have good intentions of using the scraps, but only rarely do I pull out an odd piece and use it. So....I decided I need to get GO! ing. I got out my AccuQuilt GO! cutter and some of my dies and cut away for about 90 minutes all totaled (let myself have a snack break in between!!!) The above mess was transformed into this.....

(squares and strips of assorted sizes)
and this.......

(half-square and quarter-square triangles of various sizes for which I have a fun plan...which is explained to you below)
AND this...

(circles of various sizes, rectangles and tumblers that are already pinned into rows to be sewn as the start for a fun little girl's quilt).
So....here is my plan for the half-square and quarter-square triangles...

I am going to start sewing them together into squares...just at random...very scrappy (which I love). I have some that will finish into 2" squares, some that will finish into 4" squares, and some that will finish into 6" squares. I will then put them into rows and vary it....maybe 3 rows of 2" squares....then a row of 4" squares...then a single row of 2" squares...then a row of 6" squares and on and on until it gets as big as I like. I will call it "GROW as you GO!
Get it???? Grow as you GO! (pretty cute name, huh?)
I know it will be an ongoing project, but I also know that I'll now use these scraps and would not have been using them if they'd stayed in all those baskets!
Thanks, AccuQuilt, for helping me to be SCRAP-HAPPY!!!

Pssst....it's somebody's birthday.....

My quilting pal, Kathy (Quilting Nana)....click HERE for her blog......has a birthday today.  Maybe you want to go over and wish her a Happy Birthday???

Check out Micki's Giveaway....

Micki....a wee American gal who is now happily living in Ireland....is celebrating the second anniversary of her blog by having a very nice giveaway. Be sure to click HERE to check it out...even though I would love to win it. OH....make sure you tell her Pat sent you. I don't get extra entries for that, but at least she will know that her blogging friends are sending more people to see her happy and fun blog, okay?

Also......I want to say thank you to all of you who commented and sent emails to me about the loss of our little dog, Pepi, this week. Your words did a lot to comfort me at a time when I was feeling quite down and lost. I still expect to see Pepi everywhere I look....and expect him to greet me at the door when I come home, but I know time will help ease some of that.
And....one last thing.....my good blogging buddy, Gene, told me how to cross something out in a post...which I see people do but I wasn't able to figure it out here. He told me to look for an icon in my "compose" section (which is the section I use when I type my posts) that has an ABC with a LINE through it.....then highlight what I want to cross out in my post...and click that icon. Well...guess what? There is no icon like that in MY compose section.....the only ABC thing up there is the one for spell-check. Gee...I feel cheated...why do some of you have that cool, crossing-out icon and I don't? Mine appears to be lost...can someone tell me how to find it....PLEASE? LOL    OKAY....Gene just helped me FIND the icon by updating my "editor" on my blog......so next time, I can use my cross out "thingy"....YAY!!!!

Our dog is now at peace.....

Sorry that I wasn't up to reading blogs yesterday. We had to take our dog, Pepi, to be put to sleep. The vet thinks he probably had a brain tumor and he was so much worse yesterday morning and was literally failing before our eyes. Luckily, we have two very good friends who were there for us.....both named Linda (and neither one with a blog). I don't know what we'd have done without them. We know it was the "right time" and we know he had a good life, but it still was very hard for us..... and the tears keep coming. I know we will smile, eventually, as we recall the 12+ years of happy memories we had with him. We have already smiled as we recalled how he had been rescued from the streets of Brooklyn (where he was found wandering when quite young) and then was lucky enough to eventually "retire" with us to the beach. The funny part is, he HATED the beach and would shake terribly if we tried to get him to walk on the beach, so we rarely did that. I am going to put a few of photos here of him.....just because it will make me feel a bit better.

Lounging on a beach towel in May.......but the towel was on our porch and FAR from the beach, so he was okay with that.Pepi loved to be underneath blankets.....and here he is after being carefully covered by two of his favorite "blankies" and with his favorite squeaky toy. Our granddaughter, Jessi, covered him like this and put the toy by him when she was here on Mother's Day weekend.At the beach but not happy about it (taken in 2007).He used to love fetching tennis balls.....even though he could barely fit them in his mouth.And this is one of my all-time favorite photos of him.....when we first got him and he was quite young. He never totally lost that puppy cuteness, either.Run free now, Pepi....with no more pain and suffering. We miss you, little guy....and we are glad to have had you as a part of our lives for the past 12+ years.

Tiny pieces.......

These 4 photos are tiny pieces of projects I am working on but can't show here yet. I don't want any of you to think I've been a slug and sitting around doing NOTHING....because I have been VERY busy....I just can't talk about any of it quite yet! So...for now, here are some "sneak peeks". Two are finished already and two are in progress (and about 3 others are barely begun)....and SOMEDAY I will be able to show them all to you here! Also....on a serious note, please keep good thoughts for us as we helplessly watch our dog going through some health issues that I think are signaling the beginning of the end for him. He is over 12 years old and has been losing control of his legs.......falling over even when standing still (but otherwise trying to run and play as usual). All his labwork came back "okay" ($354 worth of "okay") and they have no clue what is happening. We can't justify putting him through all kinds of other tests at his age and if they found it is a tumor or a neurological problem, we'd not subject him to surgery anyway. So....we wait and see what happens. As long as he isn't in pain and is eating and drinking, we can do that. If, however, he stops eating or drinking or is in pain, we will have to make the big decision...the one every pet owner dreads.

Gifts from quilting friends.....

Here are photos of two recents gifts I've gotten from quilting friends. The first photo shows 4 fun fat quarters I got from Sherry (no blog). She is one of the gals in my neighborhood Lakeside Ladies quilting group. We recently had a "birthday luncheon" where we each brought a gift and we had a sort-of grab-bag gift exchange. This is what I got and also a cute notepad that is sewing-themed but I forgot to include it in the picture. I think I'm going to make two cute placemats out of the fabric. (Of course, I will cut the fabric with my GO! cutter!!!)Next is a birthday card and some really nice Christmas fabric quilt labels from Sandi. I am sorry I blurred the photo when I took it...but...trust me, the fabric labels are VERY nice and are NOT blurry!!!!

Happy Independence Day......

Happy Independence Day to all here in the U.S.A. and a big thank-you to all who have toiled over the years to guarantee that we continue with our freedoms. God bless those who are serving today to uphold our freedoms, too.

Speaking of independence, this photo shows the independent streak of the homeowner in Salisbury, MD. Apparently, he has a couple of rental homes and the local historic preservation group prohibited him from replacing a window in one of the homes, so...in protest, this is what he did to another of his homes in that area!!! I wonder how the local preservation group likes THIS? (I'm betting they wish they'd let him replace the window in the other house!!! LOL)

Another table runner.....

I love table runners and I use them in places other than a tabletop....so I can use a lot of them. Good thing since I enjoy making them. I also like them since I enjoy hand-quilting and can do that quite easily on a runner. I am also enjoying learning my EQ7 and designing things that I can cut entirely with my AccuQuilt GO! cutter. This is a runner design I did on EQ7 Thursday night...

I decided to use fabrics from my stash to see if the pattern worked the way I expected it to work. I'm not crazy about the fabrics I used (and like the ones in my EQ design better) but I think this one will perk up a bit when I put the binding on it as I have enough of a bright blue to use for the binding. Here is the runner I made yesterday using my EQ design. It worked out perfectly....and everything was cut accurately and easily with my GO! Lots of fun....that's for sure! (It should enlarge if you click on the picture.)Shortly after this posts on my blog, I will be heading into Lewes to work at the 44th annual art show run by my church. I choose the early shift (starting at 6:30 a.m.) as I can get a parking space at that time......and I then get done around 9:30 and can go look at the work done by the 140 artists who are in the show. It's a juried art show and is quite fantastic. Very rarely does an artist give up his or her spot....so there is a waiting list of folks to get into the show. Much of the artwork is too expensive for me, but I do enjoy looking! I will try to get some pictures.

85 years ago......

Please excuse that this post has nothing to do with quilting...........

85 years ago today, my mother was born. It will be 21 years this upcoming September since she died. While she did get to see my kids, she never got to see my kids grow up and marry....never got to see me become a grandmother....never got to become a great-grandmother herself. She never got to see me become a quilter. While she didn't quilt, she did sew clothing and she did a lot of crocheting and I think she'd have been happy to see my quilts. Undetected breast cancer (which then spread) robbed her of too many years and I guess I have always been angry about all the things she missed.....all the happy things I'd have liked to share with her but couldn't.....all the times I wanted to call her on the phone to ask her advice about something....and couldn't. A large part of my adult life has been spent without her and I have discovered that no matter how old a gal gets, she sometimes just wishes she could talk to her mom. I know some of you have lost your moms, too, and I'm sure you know how I'm feeling today. For me, it has been so many years that I can no longer recall the sound of her voice and sometimes can't even recall her face in my mind unless I look at a photo....which is sad. I don't have many photos of her but here are some of them...


Mom with me and my younger sister.....

And tucking us into bed......
And one Easter Sunday.....And on the day of my wedding.........

And with her grandkids on the Christmas that was to be her last......I guess I naively thought after 20+ years, I'd not still miss her, but I do. Happy Birthday to her in heaven!