This Leprechaun is HOME!

SO...another week has gone by! What have you all been up to while I've been gallavanting around? :cD

I'd love to thank the guilds in Aiken, Santee/Elloree, and Augusta for hosting me this past week! I had a wonderful time. Everywhere I stayed a new friendship was made, or an old one was deepened and strengthened, and I thank you all!





Yesterday's class for the Virginia Bound quilt workshop was the icing on the cake. We had 26 (or was it 27? I lost count!) quilters attending, and since it was a string type scrap class, we had mess everywhere!! It was so fun....I'd walk by and the ladies would be digging into their piles...I'd come back around and the piles seem to have grown even bigger as they continued to dig and FLUFF up their scraps. We had quite the laugh about it.

This class starts with instruction for drafting your own block! So not everyone was working on the same block size. That also made the class fun. Now that the ladies know how to do it, they can draft the block in any size they want for any project they want it to fit.

Everyone had different color/fabric choices they were working on, and it made for some interesting blocks. We had christmas fabrics with a gold background, we had christmas fabrics with a cream background, we had blue/cream.....purples/blues/teals against pastels, we had purples against green, green against cream, brights against black, plaids against shirtings, orientals against creams, you name it, we had every color combo under the sun and they were fabulous!





The facility was great too. Lots of light and lots of room to spread out. Lunch was provided, the best chicken strips, and I'm not kidding you.

We finished up about 4pm and I hit the road right then anxious to get back to Winston Salem. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive from Augusta all the way home, and a good part of it was through black nasty thunderstorms, but I knew coming north that I'd work my way out of the way of this storm system, so I kept going. I just wanted to be home and sleep in my own bed.






Thursday and Friday nights were fun and special for me, as I got to stay with my son & his significant other :c) It was the first time I got to see their place since they moved in, and we had a really good time. They are fixing their place up so cute and homey. Jason was even spending time in the yard on friday, and that tickled me. When he was growing up he would grumble and moan about having to do yard work, and here he is working on their place! I'm proud of both he and Kim for how hard they are working to make this house a home for the two of them.

I've got lots of packing and organizing to do. Tomorrow night I'm doing a trunkshow/lecture in Durham NC! At least it is closer to home. I'm meeting the gals from that guild for dinner which should be fun. It's just a quick evening thing.

I have a June 2nd deadline for my book, AND...I got a call from my Editor while I was away! I am so excited about this book project. You'll just have to bear with me if posts aren't as frequent while I buckle down and make this dream come true!

For those wanting to participate in the next mystery..that is still ON. I just need a couple weeks to get everything together so I will be posting the fabric requirements on April 1st! And we'll go from there.....

Crumbs Class -----A Whole Lotta Love!!

It's saturday evening and I am finally getting around to uploading pics from last week's crumbs class! This was BY FAR the most fun class of all. There just is something that happens when a group of quilters let loose, and mess abounds. You should have seen the PILES of crumbs and scraps everywhere...it was a quilter's bomb zone! Weeeee!





We started out with basic crumb block construction, and then I let them go to town for an hour playing with their pieces and creating basic crumb blocks.

From there we went to maverick stars,and we worked on those until lunch time! By the time lunch was over, we were really "Feelin' The Love"! (of our scraps!) and so we did L & O & V & E!

Of course, you can't limit quilters, and once they caught on, many were off and running and doing their own thing! One gal did VOTE instead of LOVE, changing her L to a T, and she was going to use it on her patriotic quilt. GREAT IDEA! And then we had people doing their names, or initials....even one who wanted to spell out SCRAPS! I said, if she didn't get the hang of the S's...she could just leave it as Crap...*hehehe*



From here we worked on some wonky pieced hearts, and then spent the rest of the time using any time left on whatever they wanted to work on. It was so fun to see everyone just let loose!

I also let MYSELF loose....After the daytime guild meeting the day before, we had lunch, visited the Gone with the Wind museum, and hit an antique store, but then the rest of the day and evening was mine. Would you believe I passed up on the Atlanta area quilt shop hop....to stay in my ROOM with my featherweight and sew until midnight?! Well..believe it! Cuz I did!




I took the sample blocks for the crumbs class, and decided to sew them into this little quilt as a demo, instead of just having individual blocks to pass around. Once I got started it just grew and grew...fun, huh?

I'm teaching the crumbs class again in Asheboro NC in a couple weeks, I hope it will get even better!

Jeff is feeling much better too with the wisdom teeth thing. He is swollen, but the bleeding stopped last night. He is good on his meds, good on his rinsinge and hygiene, and hopefully won't get the dreaded dry socket.

Jason and Kim arrived about 3am (ACKKKK!!!) With their half grown kittens. My cats threw a hissy fit...Emmy Lou went under my bed, and who knows where Oscar went because he hasn't shown himself back out publicly yet. There is attic eave space through a little door in the closet wall, and I think he's in there. He's hidden in there before and I figure he'll come out when he gets hungry.

Other than that, we are just enjoying each other here. It's cold and windy out..what a great day to be in and with family and watch old movies and just be together!

Misery Loves Company!!

Can you see Buddy with his broken leg up on the couch? He won't leave Jeff's side! Sadie does her part watching out for Jeff too.

This morning was Jeff's goodbye-to-the-wisdom-teeth day! I am so impressed with how smoothly this went. You know how it is when you move somewhere new, and you don't have a doc, a dentist, a hair stylist, etc? And if you get someone, they are backlogged for weeks and weeks?

Although I hate the fact that we were forced to find a vet, a dentist, and an oral surgeon so soon after moving, I am so relieved with the help and concern we have been shown with these issues.

DH took Jeff to the dentist the same day I left for Atlanta, and they set him up an appt with the oral surgeon for Wednesday, the morning after my return from Atlanta. his wisdom tooth removal was set for 11:30 this morning, and yesterday they called with a cancellation and said we could get him in at 8:30am today!

This is better...since Jeff couldn't have anything to eat or drink past midnight. We got there, the surgery took 1/2 hour...and we were home! I've been to the pharmacy for his meds. I've been to the grocery store for an assortment of jello cups, rice pudding cups, yogurt, popsicles (Ice lollies for those of you down unda!) and ice cream. I hate the fact that all soft/cold foods seem to be SWEET...so I got some macaroni salad and potato salad too.

So right now, he is in the recliner on the sofa..ice pack up to one cheek, alternating every 15 minutes or so to the other cheek, gauze pads in place, looking like a chipmunk! POOR GUY! I remember my wisdom teeth surgery so vividly that I can imagine how he's feeling, though right now he assures me he is feeling NOTHING. I tried to get him to take a pain pill, but he says his tongue is too numb to swallow, and we tried and the pill wouldn't go down, and though I hate to wait before getting pain meds in him, I don't know what else to do?

It also says not to take the meds without some kind of food, and he doesn't feel like having anything on his stomach yet, so I guess I'll wait a bit and see.

****UPDATE**** as of 12:12 pm we have SUCCESS at getting Jeff to get pain meds down!

I'm playing nurse-mom today, and getting ready for Jason and Kim to come tonight. The guestroom is ALMOST ready, at least the bed is sleepable and they have TV access in there. What more do they expect from Mom's B&B?! I'm excited to have them here. Jason came a few weeks ago, but Kim was still in school so she couldn't get time off.

It's going to be a busy weekend, and then I head off again. This time back to Aiken SC for a trunkshow/lecture on monday, Lake Marion Quilters in Elloree, SC on Wednesday, and then a workshop in Augusta GA on Saturday! In between I'll be able to crash at Kim & Jason's new place. Here we go again!

Poor Poor Pitiful Puppy!!

Buddy spent time yesterday at the vets getting his new permanent cast on. Just like human patients, we had to wait for swelling to go down before we could really wrap it up good.

We are lucky in that the bone wasn't displaced and surgery wasn't required. And silly boy, he loves going to the vet for all the petting, ear scratches and tickles he gets! What a sucker! *LOL*


We go back in 2 weeks to get it checked again. The funniest part is that because the cast goes so far up his leg, he has a hard time lying down because the leg won't bend. You nearly need to push him over onto his side to get the leg out from under him.

I'm just glad that it wasn't any worse than it is. Our pets are such a huge part of our family. We worry about them just as much as we do our children!






Here are some pics of the second class I gave in the Atlanta area....Scrappy Bargello! We had so much fun with this class! I love hearing the grunts and groans as people are encouraged to sew something "uuuuugggglyyyy" next to something they normally wouldn't pair it with! So many comments of "I swear I never bought this!" or "I can't belive I still HAVE this...it's at least 20 years old!" or "I'll trade you THIS ugly one....for THAT ugly one!" Too much fun. The pictures tell it all...we had so much variety, it was really fun to walk around the room and see how different they all were, and the variety of fabrics that were being used. Since this was a scrap class, I encouraged everyone to use fabric they already had on hand. To clear out some old stuff, to not buy anything..and to just have a power-sewing day of fun!

Several of the ladies had these tables by "sew ezi" and as I talked to them about the tables, I got nothing but raves! I had seen them at quilt shows, but didn't want to lug one around, and who knows when I'll get to another BIG show where I'll have a vehicle to drive it home with me, so I went online and ordered one! They fold up, they have wheels, a cover....and an insert that makes your sewing machine flush with the top of the table. Perfect for retreats!

Today I'm going to a charity quilt day with Mrs Goodneedle! I'm really looking forward to meeting the ladies there at her church who do this every Thursday. It's just for a couple hours, but is just what the doctor ordered. Some sewing time for me with ladies from my own location! I need to start meeting people here. I've been here a month now. Boy, does time fly!

She's Back!!

What a great time I had around the Atlanta area this past week! Talk about a whirlwind trip! Three guilds, Three workshops, 2 1/2 trunk shows, a luncheon & bee meeting, antique shopping, antique auction attending, even a visit to the "Gone with the Wind" Museum!

This trip includes lots of pictures so I'm going to do this in installments..besides that, I have to leave in 15 minutes to get the dog to the vet. He decided the fast way down from the deck was to jump off. This was while I was gone...so DH and son took him to the vet and found he broke his leg. He's in a cast with a splint. Poor Buddy. I'll get a pic of him later.

Jeff also has an appt with the oral surgeon this morning to have his wisdom teeth removed on friday. Is there any rest for me after all this time away? NO!!




My first class was the Star Struck class hosted by the Piecemaker's Quilt Guild of Cumming, GA. I got to stay in Shanon's guest room in her beautiful home. She even ran errands with me, dropping off printing at Kinko's for the classes I had coming up (Thank heaven for 24/7!!) and we went to a yummy mexican place.

The weather...unlike the company...was FRIGID! Can you believe it was SNOWING when we woke on Wednesday morning? No kidding! The poor pansies were shivering in their beds. And so were we!

Never the less, what can be better than 20 quilters holed up in a wonderful quilting space, machines humming, fabric flying, laughter bubbling? Look at these beautiful blocks! I think everyone had a wonderful time and really got a lot done.

This was a terrific group, and I was blessed to be able to spend the time with them that I did.

Off to the vet and dentist....I'll post more later!