Garage-Sale-a-Bration!

It’s a family tradition. You have to plan on leaving Minnesota with at least ONE more suitcase than you came with. You won’t be going home empty handed!

But the first stop today wasn’t a yard sale…Aunt Joy remembered she needed to stop by the docs at 8:30 --- so off we went to the medical center! But I’m an old PRO at this waiting room game by now!

After Lisa’s leg appointment last week ---- and TWO other such activities thrown into our run around yesterday --- I’m easy to go with the flow!

What appointments yesterday? You mean YOU don’t do this when you are on vacation?

Well, it turns out that mom dropped a suitcase on her big toe while in Puerto Rico visiting her other sister, and the nail looked like it might come off, and it needed to just be CHECKED to be sure it wasn’t getting infected.

So out came my hexagons while we sat in the waiting room! And all is well with the toe and I got hexagon time while visiting!

After thrift shopping and lunching with cousin Janine, we had to stop at the dentist’s so Joy could get her new crown cemented in place….

And out came the busy bags for BOTH Mom and myself!

Mama, trying to look serious ---while licking the end of her thread to thread her needle for her cute snowman embroidery!

Isn’t this cute? It’s a block of the month thing……She had her embroidery and I had my hexagons!

Oh..and GADGET ALERT! Have you seen these?

These are the itty bittiest scissors I've ever seen, and they are spring loaded and the little push cushions to work it are super squishy! Mom said she found them at Joanns, so we are off to go see if we an locate them here while I am here too--

Mom worked on her stitchery, and I just worked on hexagons, and you know what THOSE look like! But now you know that the busy bag business runs deep in my family!

I also gave mom a hexagon demo...and am sending her home with some paper shapes and some pre-cut fabrics to practice on. We just might get her converted over to being a hexie-addict too!

Mom at the yard sales --- digging in for her hefty duty 25 cent purchase!! ((No, she refrained from buying any more purses today!))

Joy found a BOAT LOAD of great stuff today! And here she is…..aren’t we always digging in the bottom of our purses for loose change? :cD

This guy did NOT come home with me…HE would not fit in my luggage! LOL!…but I had an eye on his boxers wondering how they would work up into a quilt! ;c)

I was probably the lightest spender of all. Sometimes it works that way. I found a nice blouse for the cruise, and THIS lovely beaded bag cost me a whopping $2.00

It’s fully beaded on both sides, the handle is beaded, it hangs long, across the body…there are zipper compartments inside…it’s just CUTE!

And the big deal of the century for me today? This was in the FREE box:

I love to cook with my crockpot and there are some great recipes in here! I was laughing over the vintage..it has to be 70s…..don’t you agree? If you can’t tell from the front cover…what about the back?

Oh DEAR! Let’s pray that that dress NEVER comes back into fashion! LOL!!!!

But food is one of those things that rarely changes…and there are recipes in here that sound so good….like THIS one..

Just the simple addition of dill sounds so appetizing! And you make a sauce with more dill and sour cream to go over the pot roast when it is done..I really want to try this. I’m tired of the same ole-same ole, but I have to watch what DH will like ((And he is uber picky in the food department…)) If the sauce is served on the SIDE….it may be a winner!

We stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet and we really enjoyed it. Things turned to hysterical when we each opened our fortune cookies. Did you ever have cookies with messages that made you go “HUH!??!?” Like things just did NOT translate over?

Well…one after another, all three of us….opened our cookies and read the messages and the laughter ensued…get a load of this:

1. The beginning of all understanding is INNOCENT?! Innocent of WHAT?! Uummmm….okay!

2. The fact that others are bad does not imply that you are good. This was MY cookie, and I felt completely REPRIMANDED sitting there in my chair! When is the lightning bolt going to fall on my head next? :c/

3. Despair is criminal??? This was mom’s cookie. Well okay….but it sure doesn’t fill us with warm fuzzies!

So we told the guy at the cashier desk that our cookies were failures and we wanted 3 more to try for better ones…LOL!!

We are on our way this evening to go visit mom & Joy’s brother, my uncle Steve, and his wife Kathryn! BBQ shall commence shortly……..

And tomorrow? Whhhaaa! I fly home already!

Retail Therapy, Day 1!!

Two Days in Minnesota MID-WEEK with favorite female relatives? NO PROBLEM!! We have this agenda for when we get together….

Wednesdays are perfect for hitting every 2nd hand store and consignment shop in town, and Thursdays are reserved for yard-sale-marathons!

I am so worn out from shopping shopping shopping and bargain hunting and laughing! But we are headed out in the morning early for the yard sales, so I am recapping the thrift shop hopping before I head to bed!

What was on my “HOT LIST?!?” Why darling, don’t you know that EVERY woman needs a little black dress for a cruise?! See this little number in the pic above? I have no idea what this would have cost me had I bought it “at the mall” ----but this little must-have is ADORABLE on, and I got it for a whopping $15.00 bucks! Cha-ching! ((Yes, I know the top of my head is missing, but it was the dress that is the focus of this pic! LOL!))

We were at Savers in Bloomington…each of us pushing our carts around and searching for treasure….Mom has a purse fetish! She won’t admit it, she will justify it every time WHY she needs another purse…and we just laugh and nod and smile and let her indulge her every purse-whim!

I was wandering around, not sure where to start digging, just looking --- when I came upon this wall of Barbies in plastic bags…..

CREEPY!! But Barbies hanging UPSIDE DOWN in plastic bags is even creepier than Barbies hanging right side UP in plastic bags….

And trolls in plastic bags?! SACRILEDGE!!!! ((Speaking of which..umm…Lorraine? I’ve been watching the mail every day for that package and it hasn’t shown up yet..and I’m so anxious for it to get to me, just wanted you to know!))

Growing up I used to envy and play with Auntie Joy’s trolls extensively! Joy is only 5 years older than me, and I literally worshipped her as I was growing up….Still do!

After a bit more shopping, we were joined by another partner in crime --- My Mom & Aunt’s COUSIN --- Janine!

She’s another wild and crazy thrifter, and I was so tickled to see her! She shopped with us a bit and then spent time helping me pick out things to take on the cruise. Her fashion sense is fabulous --- She really helped me a lot!

This little number? Cute on the hanger, terrible on me……it stayed behind!

These two tshirts? They were the same style and I loved them both, but the orange one did NOTHING for my complexion and my hair color…but the purple one looks great with my eyes ((Thanks for saying so, Janine!)) And it was definitely a keeper! I’ll just have to save the orange color for use in QUILTS, not to WEAR!

Here are the three lovely ladies after a lunch at Applebees! From Left to Right, Mom, her sister Joy, and Cousin Janine! I loved spending the day with these ladies!

Tomorrow it will be up and at it for the yard sale adventure of the year. I’m sure we will find some great bargains! If so, I’ll also be on the lookout for an extra duffel bag to haul all my treasures home in ;c)

Time for some beauty sleep..((These gals wore me out today!))

Sleep Sweet, Everyone!

Good Morning, Maple Grove, MN!!

Those of you who guessed I was going to Idaho to visit my mom only got it half right! I’m in MInnesota!

How did this trip come about? Well, I got a message from my Aunt on facebook when she saw that I was going to be in Storm Lake, Iowa which is “only” a 4 hour drive away, and we wiggled and weezled and tried to figure out a way to make it work to get together since my mom was flying in on the Saturday and I was flying home on Sunday.

I even thought that I could make a detour on my tickets, and come up here and see them for a few days, but besides it being extremely astronomically expensive, the time didn’t work. My flight wouldn’t get in until Midnight on Sunday, and the whole family was leaving Tuesday morning at 5am to go to Puerto Rico to visit my other Aunt Gail and Uncle Tony! It just wasn’t feasible.

But I had a thought, and called my Aunt Joy back and said…..”When do you guys get back from Puerto Rico?”

Turns out they were getting back on Tuesday, August 2 ((YESTERDAY!)) at 11:00pm!

I said “What if I come meet you at the airport, could I stay a couple days?” And the plan was put in motion on how/when/where ---- and we were keeping it a surprise from my mom!! And the excitement built!

My flight got into Minneapolis about 8:20pm last night and I was picked up by this lovely lady who was a student in my classes in Storm Lake! This is Amy!

We had a couple hours to kill before the Puerto Rico crew arrived, and we ended up going to TGIF to talk quilts, laugh, conspire, and spend some time. Afterwards, she dropped me back off at the airport and I waited…..and waited….and…..

Do you see it?! Top of the list!?? THEY HAD LANDED!!! I hung around at the Baggage Claim, my heart was in my throat, the tears were already starting to blur my vision.

And I saw them. Mom was talking to Joy, just walking toward the carousel --- I stepped out from behind a pillar and started to walk toward them ---- and when the recognition hit my mothers face, I burst into tears—Of course I didn’t get pictures of this, but my AUNT was busy with her camera, and if I can get them from her I’ll post them.

It was about 1am by the time we got to bed, and that is why I didn’t post anything last evening. There wasn’t time!

But this morning, I was up early for a long walk/jog --- ((More on that later too!)) and when I got back, mom was up, showered and beautiful! We snapped this pic out on the deck before I got to go take MY shower ---

I’ll be here until Friday, two whole days with my Mom and my Auntie Joy! And then the two of them will fly off to Idaho, and I’ll fly back to North Carolina ----

Isn’t this fun?!

Can you Guess Where?!

Take a look at the pic to the left….Where am I!? Does this look familiar to any one of you?

Guess!

I have a couple of friends and whenever we pass through this place, we have to text each other pics of Nuts On Clark! Does it ring a bell to you?

Of course, getting strangers to take pics of you in FRONT of Nuts On Clark is a whole ‘nuther kind of funny! But I have a very close connection, and I’m not stopping to do that!

((Yes, this blog post has been pre-written to include photos of other times I’ve been through this same destination, and I pass through here A LOT! That’s another huge HINT for you!))

Do you remember seeing this on your way through “this place”?? If you never leave the C/B terminals you might never find it…but since I fly from Greensboro in small commuter planes, we tend to always be parked in the cattle pen area E/F Gates! I can’t imagine actually fighting a war in this thing. The display has biographical excerpts of the pilot that this airport was named after. Are you still guessing?

How many of these airports have DINOSAURS in them?! And if this guy could talk, what would he say? Do you know now?

I’ve walked MILES in this space! The people movers are for slackers ;c) I plug in my ear buds and ipod on long layovers and walk the outside corridors, miles and miles and miles, up and around back and forth --- you can get a good workout just walking down here, under ground between the B & C terminals!

If you guessed CHICAGO OHARE, you are RIGHT!

But that isn’t my final destination! Stay Tuned!

Where Is She Going?!

Yes. I know I’m leaving for Alaska on Sunday. But a small window of opportunity, No---more like…a “grab it now or don’t go at all” thing presented itself to me and--- I couldn’t say no!

I’m off to visit someone very special to me, and she doesn’t know it! It's gonna be PRICELESS!

There are very few people who have been in cahoots with me, and even fewer in the “know” –So if you DO know…don’t spoil it!

I spent the afternoon with some of this:

Just enjoying the foot treatment, and smiling over the pearly pink polish. Never too old to be a girly-girl, right?!

I’ve packed my bags….I’ve got my project ready! My kindle is loaded with all the freebie books I’ve downloaded recently….

And I’m packing my swimsuit!

Who am I seeing? Where will I be?

You guess! I’ll let you know when I get there!

Oh, and when I went to Iowa, I picked up one of these, and left it at Horace’s shoe shine stand….I hope to find out if he got it! And that’s all I’m saying!

Aren’t I an awful tease?!!!

Sunday Sew Day!

Yesterday, about mid-morning, I got a call from Miss Lisa, telling me she was taking me up on my offer of a sit n sew day at my house!

She asked "Can I bring anything?" And it’s a good thing she did because with the trip to Alaska only a week away, we’ve been trying to eat EVERYTHING perishable from the fridge so that nothing will sit for 8 days while we are gone.

Why Old Mother Hubbard, your cupboard sure looks BARE!

Well, bare except for the watermelon we’ve been trying to eat, over the past few days! Amazing how much food STAYS in the fridge when there are no ravenous sons here to eat it! 2 people vs a watermelon sure takes a while--But I love summer watermelon. :c)

The dear girl showed up with cold beverages, a treat from Dewey’s local bakery, and bless her heart..M&Ms! We were set to go!

I’ve been really cranking on the machine piecing time, and other than the “sitting at the doc” time we had a couple days previous, I really hadn’t had much “feet up for slow stitchin” time. I think I needed a day away from the machine.

We found a couple of good movies on Netflix and set about to working --- me attaching the opposite side border to the hexagon medallion, and Lisa to working on her applique leaves!

This might not look like much, but I also cleared out a whole TON of smallish neutral scraps by cutting them into hexagons for the neutral border areas. I’m going to need a gazillion of neutral ones, I know…so ….by my close guestimate, this is only about a quarter-gazillion. :cD

And then the thunder boomers started! There is nothing like watching a creepy movie with thunder and lightning going off ON the TV and surround sound from outside!

We opted to order in Pizza for dinner….and let DH help us pick a movie we could all watch in the living room upstairs.

Supposedly “Changing Lanes” came out in 2002, but I’d never heard of it before, and let me tell you, it was a GOOD ONE! Much intrigue, interesting situations, mind games, and life lessons to be learned. I highly recommend it, and your men folk will like it too because it isn’t girly-fluffy. And you will like it because….well…who doesn’t like to look at Ben Affleck? :cD

Pizza and movies and couches with built in recliners and feet up stitching and a big booming thunderstorm. I love Sundays like this! I’m so glad Lisa and Shelby could come join us in our lazy day---

So what did I get done?!

Little bit grainy, it’s a night time picture in the kitchen, and dark outside…BUT…do you notice that TWO sides are now squared off?! YAY!!

Sadie Jane was helping me do the happy dance of joy! Okay…..maybe she was watching ME doing the happy dance of joy, and wondering what the heck it was all about…hmmmm!

Several have asked how big this quilt is going to be, and until I got this side squared off, I didn’t have an answer to tell you, but I can at this point! It measures 78” from side to side. And that’s as much as I’ll know until I can fill in the BIG sections to square the top and the bottom.

It’s back to the machine for me for now…..that is….until tomorrow….when I’ve got a special post to reveal! I’m going somewhere tomorrow!! And those of you who know, don’t you dare spill the beans. We are going to play…WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BONNIE!!

Stay tuned! I’m off to pack my bags!

Afternoon Edition–Free Kindle Book!

THIS one sounds just up my ally!! Love the description and went right over and got it!

Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae has received an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 13 customer reviews

Product Description

Cocoa butter soap, check. Lemon lip balm, check. A dead body?
That's just what Sophie Mae Reynolds finds in her workroom: the corpse of Walter Hanover, the neighborhood handyman. He died from drinking lye, something she has in good supply. But the police don't suspect Sophie Mae, a thirty-something widow who makes and sells beauty products. Instead they call it a suicide. But why would a man with lottery cash and a loving fiancée kill himself?

No one can stop the impulsive Sophie Mae from answering this riddle, not her sensible best friend Meghan or Detective Ambrose, who incites annoyance as well as stomach flutters.

Sophie Mae's big mouth and sharp nose lead her to a peppermint-scented trail of arson, bigamy, and a shocking family secret that reveals a personal connection to Walter . . . and his killer.

This crafty new series features real recipes and a blundering, yet lovable, amateur sleuth who brings a fresh face to cozy mysteries.

Review

"Lye in Wait is an enjoyable book with a credible, if not complex, plot that's handled well. It's a fine start to this new series." -- Hidden Staircase Mystery Books/Mysterious Reviews
"As impressed as I was when McRae was realistic about crafting supplies, I was even more impressed when Sophie ran into all the sorts of realistic problems a self-appointed busybody ought to run into - people she upsets needlessly, people who refuse to talk, and official people who point out that she's simultaneously making herself a target and a suspect. As fond as I am of cozies, book after book of people deputizing themselves and just tripping over clues gets annoying very quickly. Sophie is given a reason for her inability to stop meddling (and it's not just the obvious one) and she runs into roadblocks. I appreciated that." -- Reviewing the Evidence

"Ms. McRae has a unique talent for turning phrases in her wording, and Lye in Wait is a promising start to a new series." -- Romance Reviews Today

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"This is a cozy mystery that holds substance, suspense and clever twists for readers." -- The Coloradoan, 12/09/07

Always double check the price before purchasing. Prices can change quickly and what is free now, may not be later!

A Wee Apology!

I was doing some moving of pages this morning, and pre-dating them so they would not show at the top of the news feed.

Inadvertantly, part 4 of Old Tobacco Road got sent as a NEW post, not buried in the archives like I wanted it to be...

I caught it in an instant, preventing it from appearing in the Quiltville Friends facebook feed --- but those of you who have me in google reader, I'm sorry! It will show up as a new post, and it isn't!

But I have rearranged all the tabs at the top of the blog! You can now find all the free patterns from my website listed here on the blog, all the hints, helps, tips, tricks, techniques AND the links to all the previous mysteries. ((Those that have not been retired and now appear in book form.))

It's been a lot of website cleaning this weekend, and it should all be better having it one place now!

That Nearly Insane UFO ----

It's still in a box. I haven't worked on it for at least 5 years. Will I ever get back around to it?
This is a grainy picture of where I last left off on it ---Poor Quilt. Someday, Maybe. Someday!

All Work & No Play--

First off, a special notice. When we ran Roll Roll Cotton Boll last November, I said I would keep it available until June 1st. It's now almost August, and I've still left it there. However, it's time for it to come down, so if you need to make copies, do it now! It's coming down tomorrow, August 1st, and will be unvailable until it is featured in my next book due out in 2012. Print it now, folks!

I’ve been working pretty steady on some projects that have big deadlines coming up. And I’m making GOOD progress.

See this picture above? This is over 800 half square triangles, cut, sewn, pressed, de-dog-earred! I would have sworn they would have taken up more space than this, looked a bit more significant effort wise…..but no, here they unobtrusively sit in a shoe box.

Do you recognize any of these older blue fabrics? I was being ruthless as usual, just going for color, not worrying about the age of the fabric or the print that is on it, there is even a blue fabric with green Christmas trees on it in here, but it's blue...so in it goes!

And so my brain went numb from sewing pressing trimming, to sewing these together, and when I went to press again….I had sewn 80 of them together pointing the WRONG direction! OY!

Never fear, a chick flick movie ((Usually set in the 1800s, with lots of British accents and fabulous costumes…..places where they actually break for TEA and have SCONES in the middle of the afternoon!)) became my oasis as I put my feet up and started unpicking seams.

My #1 rule?! NO WHINING!! My #2 rule?! My stitch length MUST be large enough to allow the tip of my seam ripper to fit easily under the stitches! And keep a good SHARP seam ripper. Those things wear out and go dead too. If you are having to fight with the blade inside the curved edge of the ripper, chances are it’s time for a new one.

In no time, the triangles were once again individual units, and I could commence to sewing them pointing the RIGHT direction.

But I was tired of triangles. I wanted something a bit more to shake things up. I needed more than TWO COLOR MONOTONY!

All work and No play makes Bonnie a grumpy quilter! It was Play time!

And this is when I KNEW I had gone over the edge…

Remember I said I had even thrown stuff AWAY!??

Aw SHUCKS!!!

I remembered THIS POST from July 2007. That’s 4 years ago folks! ((Oh Yes, we’ve passed our anniversary of 6 years of blogging this June! Whooot!)) and THIS quilt that used to be the header pic for my blog:

Oh I love this quilt!! See those fun rows of coins?! And look at the sashing and cornerstones..I LOVE that chrome yellow! And I also love how all the cornerstones are green, except for the last row on the left. Okay, and one more odd one on the bottom right. FUN!

And these fabrics are all late 1800s to early 1900s, and I love them…..but I didn’t want to use specific fabrics for my blocks. I just wanted to see what I could get out of….ummm…yeah. That trash can! Tonya always said I did take the trash can approach to quilting, and I guess I am proving her right!

I’ve got 5 blocks in wild funky scraps that came back OUT of that trash can! ((Is there a name for this quilt there? OUT of the TRASH CAN!??))

When I looked at the top of that can, you would think there would be NOTHING salvageable in it…but…well, lets just say that I’m going to have to force myself back to those half square triangles, because I have a desire to keep sewing these little guys!

Strip size? 2” X 8” finished. Block size? 8” finished.

I know the "inspiration" quilt used much smaller pieces and narrower strips, but I have no idea what size THEIR blocks finished at. I'm taking these as they come..I'm not cutting them down, I'm just sewing them into rows and trimming at 2.5" wide. Triangles are being sewn into squares, other smaller units are added to make it measure at least 2.5" wide. They are sewn on as they are sewn on.

Dh & I finally got away last evening to see the last Harry Potter movie. I liked it, but I wished that I had seen part 1 again before going to see part 2. I was a little lost in parts, and couldn’t remember what had happened in the last episode. That probably has more to do with my age than anything else I expect, but still. I did like seeing how grown up those kids have become. I've enjoyed watching them grow over the past 10 years! I loved the last scene in the train station!

Enjoy your Sunday! Stitch something beautiful today!