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Sunday, May 08, 2011

Home for the Weekend!


You know, it doesn’t happen very often that I’m not teaching somewhere on a Saturday, or using a Sunday as my travel day to/from somewhere. I decided a couple years ago that I was going to try to schedule the week around Mother’s Day off as a treat for myself…and it has been great to be home this week!

The one hard part about the scheduling is, fitting in all the stuff I want to do in the amount of time there is to do it. For instance, I’ve got a guild local to me….within an hour’s drive away, that has been trying to schedule me for some time for JUST a Saturday when I could just come and do a workshop. Just down the road…would be fun…easy access, fun day, sleep in my own bed without a lot of travel, but I would have had to give up YESTERDAY in order to do it, and sometimes a girl just needs her own Saturdays, no matter how badly she wants to spend time with the guild ladies down the road.

There is not another place through the whole year that that Saturday for them will fit. It’s crazy! So now, we are looking at any Fridays…I sent them to the calendar to see if any openings I have will coincide with openings that THEY have --- if they can narrow it down for me it helps.

But in the mean time….I tried to not feel too guilty that I was able to spend time this week working on my own things on my own time frame in my own basement!

I took time this week to grab dinner out with Lisa – and we took Shelby for a walk afterwards!

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On our walk up the street, we were approached by this orange and white fella who was VERY curious about just what Shelby was! Shelby IS kind of cat sized you know?

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Things were going along just fine! Little orange kitty let us pet him, was very affectionate and not afraid of us at all….and Shelby was ready to get into the act and see what all of this was about as well….

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They got closer and closer, just about to touch noses --- lots of sniffing going on…..

Aaaaaannnndddd----

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YIKES! I guess that was close enough! The kitty hissed, reached out a paw….and the blur of Shelby you see is her getting the HECK outta Dodge! LOL!

We really enjoyed our evening walk, and made plans for Lisa and Karen to come to my house to sew the next day ---

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Morning arrived, and my doorbell starting ringing! Lisa set up her FW at my sewing desk and started piecing on her project, a shop sample in blues..

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After the previous night’s shenanigans, Shelby was going to stay close to “MOM” under the desk!

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Karen and I loaded her 4 patch scrap quilt in the machine….and commenced to quilting! She has a house guest coming, and you know, there is nothing to spruce up a guest room like a new quilt on the bed, especially when the house guest is an in-coming guild teacher!

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We used a variegated purple thread, and the 4 petalled posie pantograph called LAVISH by Hermoine Agee of Lorien Quilting was perfect for spring!

It was so perfect, that I also used it to quilt the CRUISE QUILT!

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Doesn’t it look pretty on the aqua blue border!?

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And I’ll give you just a sneak preview of the corner treatment..LOL! I’ve worked it out with Sew Many Places, that the kit I provide will be called a “STARTER KIT!” And just like Stone Soup, by the time we all bring some extra fabric and share with each other, we’ll have a good mix for the center which will be very scrappy, just my style!

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Even those aqua cow spots don’t look so bad when quilted! LOL!

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Neither does that art deco aqua and peach thing on the other side of the hopscotch blocks! I love the whole texture that the quilting gives…..

The binding is ON…it just needs an evening or two of hand stitching down…and I’ve got a hanging sleeve to make…a good way to use up MORE of those aqua cow spots maybe?!

Today has also been a great Mother’s Day. DH and I headed out to Concord Mills to use a gift certificate that was nearing expiration date. It’s over an hour away, and I stitched hexagons in the car the whole way. Nice eh?

We got there too early! They didn’t open until 1pm, and it was 11:20----what to do? We went and watched a matinee movie! We saw Source Code, and it was quite interesting. After that we had no trouble finding things to spend the gift certificate on. I got new summer sandals! Happy Mothers Day Feet to me!

We enjoyed a nice lunch at Texas Land and Cattle….and I napped all the way home. Here I am, 5:40pm, a late blog post, but I’ve enjoyed this weekend so much.

Happy Mother’s Day, Everyone!

16 comments:

GerryART said...

Sounds as though you packed quite a bit into the time off ! ! !
Even time for a nap, way to go ! ! !
hugs,
Gerry

Impera Magna said...

I'm glad to hear you had a lovely Mothers Day weekend! I'm also glad you kept your promise to yourself...

qltmom9 said...

I hope the rest of your Mother's Day is ~lovely~ also.
OH, how I would love to do that cruise. I'm SO excited for everybody who gets to go. I sure hope we get to see that quilt after the cruise. Yes?
Shelby is SO sweet!

Lucy (in IN)

Teresa in Music City said...

Happy Mother's Day Bonnie! Good for you - I am glad you were able to just relax and be yourself this weekend, doing what you love. You deserve it! And that four-petalled posie is a really cute pattern!

Jo said...

Bonnie...GOOD for you. You need time and days off...everyone does. Don't feel guilty for ever saying no. If you always say yes, you'll find yourself running on empty. So after the cruises are we all going to see a sneak peak of your beauty? I am curious to see the civil wars and other fabrics mixed together. I have both and haven't been brave enough to try. Glad you had a nice weekend.

Cousin Jill said...

Happy Mother's Day Bonnie!! I also have a black and white "Shelby"...his name is Hulk...15 years old and doesn't get around the block much anymore. We have an orange neighborhood cat that will walk with us. No hissing or swatting ...thank goodness! Love the 4 patch quilt and the quilt pattern choosen! I am trying to figure out how to get me a long arm quilting machine. I used my cousins and stippled my RRCB and have to have one now!!

MaryBeth said...

Your little pup is so cute, Bonnie. I have 2 black and white Havanese that look very similar to Shelby. What breed is he? (she???).

Brenda said...

Now that is a nice way to spend your day - weekend acutally!
And don't feel bad for taking time for yourself - to do what you want. You have to re-charge your batteries and it sounds like you did.
Loved the dog/cat story!! And that you got pics for it - that was great!! Good friends, fun time sewing and being creative, yup, that makes a really nice weekend.
Happy Mothers Day!!

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

I really get tickled when you talk about Karen. You blog more about her then she does bout herself on her own blog. LOL! I hope she shows the quilt at Monday's guild meeting!

Salem Stitcher said...

Shelby and I both enjoyed the weekend hanging out with you. It was just what I needed!

Beth said...

No one deserves a bit of R&R more than you! Glad you took a bit of time to see friends, sew for yourself and just relax.

JudyCinNC said...

Actually your time off sounded very much like your normal schedule - just within your time frame and home environment. Glad it was just what you wanted to do. Great way to spend the day. Judy C

Ruth said...

I'm glad you had a good Mother's Day. Your quilt is beautiful. I love the 4 pedalled posie panto you used. Could you tell me where you got it so I can order one? It would be perfect for the quilt I am working on now.Thanks,Ruth
rdpoff@gmail.com

Gail said...

Bonnie, your blog has such a calming, uplifting effect. You blog about free things in life that we can enjoy, and like the story of the cat and dog, you created a great story around it - with the play by play photos. You get lots of pleasure from everything things, like walking and exploring flea market type stores. Thanks Bonnie, all the work you put into blogging is well appreciated.

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

It's a digital pantograph by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting ((Australia)) called LAVISH. http://www.digitalquiltingpatterns.com/store/lavish-pantograph.html

Nane said...

I really thought the kitty and Shelby would kiss. She doesn't know she is a dog so why wouldn't she kiss a kitty. The cat on the other hand figured it out...just in time.

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