Thursday Stuff...

First off I want to thank you for the overwhelming openness sharing your "failure to launch" stories with me. It is an INCREDIBLE thing to know I'm not alone, that you are praying for me, (my sanity), and my son!! I even told him that I had people praying for him all over the globe, and you should have seen the look on his face....it was a combination of "uhoh! Busted" and the "Their here!!!" heebee jeebies from poltergeist! Just letting him know that the whole quilting world is pulling for him...AND for me.

One of the comments that came really struck me. I need to put this in a greeting card to hand him when/if he does go live in his car:

Goodbye, good luck, be careful and let me know if you are sick or hurt and I'll be there.

Maybe we should submit this to Hallmark? Don't you think we could find appropriate use under many circumstances for such a card, be it a co-worker, an ex-friend, a bad relationship? *LOL*

So what did I do today?

1.Gym.

2.Staples to get copies for Saturday's "My Blue Heaven" Workshop in Goldsboro, NC.

3.Walmart to buy a new blender. (YAY oh yes..this one comes with a food processor jar too...I'm so easily amused!)

4.Dropped off car at the Saturn dealership for it's 50k flush out appt. Got loaner car in return...Weeeeeee! It's an Outlook with all the bells and whistles. I want one. Of course they knew I would, that's why they loaned it to me in the first place! (*&@#($*&(*&! But..I'll keep my Vue another 4 years or so. I love that car.

I'll pic the Vue up tomorrow around noon when I leave for Goldsboro.

5. Ran to Sam's Club (in the loaner car) for assorted stuff.

6. Finished quilting Jared (HALLELUJIA!!!) and got the binding and sleeve on, ready for hand work this evening.

A Scottish friend in Canada sent me a DVD of "BAD GIRLS" and I can't wait to watch it.

Bad Girls was an award winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It was produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road . It was set in the fictional women's prison of Larkhall, and featured a mixture of serious and light storylines focusing on the prisoners and staff of G Wing.

It sounds hilarious...and great for stitching by.


So here are the pics of Jared....over my front porch rail, binding on, sleeve hanging (it's like a slip hanging below the skirt...*LOL*) and that's what my evening entails.

Thanks again....for carrying me through tough times! It's great to know we are not alone, isn't it?

Read More»

*singing* PRO-CRAST-IN-A-TION!!!!

Remember that Carly Simon song, "Anticipation??" And then it was used for the sound track to the ketchup commercial?? (don't remember, del monte, heinz,or hunts...whichever...I just remember it was ketchup!)

Well, that's what I'm humming today as once again Jared Takes A Wife gets put on the back burner as far as quilting goes! But it's only noon-thirty, so there is still hope!

A box came from Anna, and inside of it were pieces and parts and scraps and chunks of stuff she didn't want in HER sewing room any more, so they came to mine :c)

In a midst all the cute kid flannels and brights and Christmas fabrics and lots of other fabric "stuff"...there were these 16 Yellow Brick Road blocks that just needed to be put together! It niggled at me and it niggled at me, and I finally convinced myself that in about 1.5 hours I could slap those puppies together, and put a couple borders around them and call them done. Anna....thanks for the gift of the blocks! It gave me a quick surge of piecing pleasure, and I am so thrilled with this! It's helping me work through some very stressful emotional times.

I'm not sure if it's going to be an autumn table topper at my house, or be gifted to someone (I have someone in mind...but not sure of the colors she likes yet) but this really lifted my spirits today. What a way to pay it forward!

And all this....really IS helping me deal with a 19 yr old high school drop out son who wants to blame us for everything that is "wrong" in his life without taking any responsibility for the fact that HE is the one who quit school, quit the GED program, quit his job, finds EVERY job beneath him. We offered to pay him for painting the deck, but he did half a job and quit..so no money until he finishes...and now he wants to go live somewhere else.

(yes, this is my rant and I need to get it off my chest or die)

He forgets we pay the insurance on his car..and his cell phone..and he is going to find himself without BOTH very soon. He has a way of twisting things....of saying he is going to QUIT the electrical courses we paid for at the community college that just started this week, as a way to get back at us. Geeze, tough love is hard. Is it really best for my son to go live in a gutter to figure it out that he isn't entitled to everything he has, he needs to WORK for it?

Do I want my son to go live in his CAR? It's put a torture on my heart and I am hating this so much. We have all been WORKERS in this family. To have one who isn't..who just wants to slide by...is driving me nuts.

Read More»

Where's Bonnie?!

She's back in NC!

I got back Sunday evening from visiting the Crossroads Quilt Guild in Perry, GA. Had an absolutely FABULOUS time!

I know you think the travel has got to be killing me,but you know what? It isn't! I might not have as much time to post as I did before, but when I can drive...I find that very relaxing. Me and books on MP3, a couple antique malls to get my wiggles out and break up a long drive, and I'm a happy camper!

This time I was able to go through Augusta and had a fun lunch with Siobhan of Scraps & Thread Tales. We hit an antique Mall there, and I bought the cutest little Sew Handy by Singer....with the box in tact! It was so fun to see her, even for an hour or so.

And Sio, I didn't come back through Augusta...I went 75 to 85 instead, so I didn't make it back to get that red cabinet with the drawers...if you still want it, it's yours! *LOL* Atlanta isn't too bad to navigate around on a Sunday morning, and going that way meant I avoided all the little tiny towns and stops along the way. Besides...their antique malls were closed on a Sunday! :cD Thanks for the wonderful lunch, the batik tote bag and the gorgeous china inside! It's already in my hutch, and i'm going to USE it!

I quilted and quilted in the evenings while enjoying my time with Angelia and her hubby. We laughed and laughed, went out for Vietnamese food, BBQ....what a wonderful time.

I am nearly done with the center of the "Love in The Barn Door" quilt....then the outer border is all that's left to go, but not sure what I want to do there yet.

You can see...in the center of my hoop...the SMALL area that needs to be filled in...almost there!

I'm using wool batting in this one, wow..I love how that needles. I remember Gwen Marston saying when we had lunch in Fl with her, Tonya and I, that she didn't like wool because it beards. Maybe so....but it sure needles better than cotton, and it doesn't get the little fleckies of batting pulling through on the thread like quilter's dream cotton does either. So what's a quilter to do? It's not something that will be heavily washed or used..so I think it's going to be less likely to beard.

Besides...it was scraps of batting that needed a purpose, and using them in this cleared them out :c)

Here's a close up of what I was doing in the pieced borders before I got the center done as far as it is.

And this little ditty! I finished this one on the plane to Idaho, and the binding and sleeve are done.....finished that while watching The Biggest Loser finale a week ago :c)

Today? Jared Takes A Wife goes ON the machine. I need it quilted and bound before the Quilter's Unlimited show at the Dulles Expo center in June. That's my goal for today...get it mounted in the machine,and start the quilting.

But FIRST..I'm off to the gym!

Read More»

Mother's Day Memories....

Hey Y'all!

I survived the Mother's Day reunion! I got back Monday night late..and as usual, so many other plates are spinning, it's hard to keep them all up there.

Would you believe we had 2 parents, 6 siblings and 3 spouses, and 7 kids 9 and under? There were 18 of us all together,and what a zoo it was! But I love zoos....so this was so worth it.

Every minute was spent either eating, cleaning up from eating,or preparing what next meal would be served. Isn't that how it always goes with huge amounts of people?

It was wonderful watching my siblings with their kids. I'd met one niece and one nephew, but the other 5 were new arrivals since the last time I had visited.

I'll give you an idea of this....there were 2 5 year olds and one 3 year old, and all of them (girls) had to be the BOSS all at the same time. Get my drift?




Saturday we found a yard sale and I found a little china tea set...tea pot, creamer, sugar bowl, 4 plates, 4 cups...4 knives and 4 forks, all little girl sized, for $6.00!! Too cute....So from there the idea sprang...give the girls a TEA PARTY! We found some cheap swanky bead necklaces for the girls, and some fun hats, and we were on our way...

And the bossy girls became docile! And polite! And then after a while my nephew, age 9, joined in, and was saying please and thank you. Too cute.

We took long walks up mountain roads....every day. Most days twice. I love it up there. The air is so crystal clear. Lilacs were in bloom and my mom's garden was coming alive with spring.

I took a lot of pics of cabins I liked...I'd love to have a log cabin some day in the mountains...

and I took pics of my mom's place,not log,but still a cabin....love the smell of the pines and the sound of the wind blowing through them.

I wish I had taken more pictures. Some family had left by the time I took these. My brother Michael and his wife Nicole had gone back down to Boise where they live. My sister Mary and her hubby Kelly and two kids had left to go back to Salt Lake because Mary had to work an evening shift on Mother's Day.

But I got these!! Forever Hugs!!


Me and my mom. We are 20 years apart. My sister Mary and I are also 20 years apart.

My handsome brother Rick! Rick was born when I was 15. Since I was married at 19, I was gone most of his growing up. I felt more like his Aunt than his sister..but we reconnected, and he is a wonderful young man.

My gorgeous and talented sister Joy. She is a JOY to my life!

My brother David who entertained us with his tales of farm life and soothed us with beautiful guitar melodies around the camp fire.

There is more to post,but it's getting late....and guess who has to leave for Perry, Georgia in the morning? It's a 7 hour drive...yep. She's on the road again!

Read More»