I fell into that wild vortex called LIFE!

You guys must be considering my blog as a real DUD anymore! Where did all her fun posts and pics of her projects in progress go?? Do you know I haven't sewn anything of my own since.....since....heck, I'd have to check my OWN archives to find out. I have finished the binding on the leader/ender strippy. The sleeve STILL remains to be sewn down..it wouldn't take more than an hour, but it's an hour I just can't make myself do right now.

The sinus thing is finally about to subside I think.....not so clogged anymore, just a bit drippy, which is much preferred over clogged! *sniff sniff*

I've been working on customer quilts hard and heavy....I want everything cleared up for when I go see Lucy 3 weeks from SATURDAY! YES! So if I've had time...it's been on someone else's quilt, not my own. Understandable....and good too, because starting May, my student loans have to start being paid back. Oh Joy! When I haven't been quilting for someone else, I've been working at the massage clinic. I'm happy to report that I've more than made my rent this month! I'm going to be gone the last week of April, so I won't be able to count on that week's income to cover my rent for May, so there is just a whole lot of shuffling going on here trying to get ALL the bases covered.

Jeff's prom is Saturday. We have reached compromises. He has done chores for money...he and his girlfriend SPLIT the cost of the tickets (which I thought was fair since SHE asked HIM to the dance)and they are having dinner here at the house. We are going to grill them a steak dinner, baked potato, salad, rolls, veggies, and dessert....set the table with the good china and candles. This compromise came about because he didn't get a job to have enough money to take her to a fancy place, and I refuse to pay for his dates in that way.

All we had to rent for him was the tux jacket...he has Jason's old tux pants/shirt/bowtie/cumberbund/shoes from when he was in jazz band. It will do. Jeff owes me about 3 GOOD carwashes for the jacket rental. We will take our own pics....I'm not paying for the photographer, that isn't my job either. So it has been a whole lot of compromise around here. He's still not happy about it, but it's better than nothing, and at least he has made an effort for part of it.

The pic is of a customer's quilt I just quilted with the fabulous fans templates by circlelord. I'm just posting it for eye candy so you have something to look at and know that I HAVE been quilting here, even if it hasn't been on my own stuff! And I'm still alive and breathing.. :c)

Bonnie

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Quilting On Drugs....*LOL*

What started out as a simple allergy bout has grown into a full fledged attack on my sinuses! AUUUUGHHHH! I'm doing everything I can to keep hydrated, and keep my sinuses dried up so they don't go into the dreaded sinus infection stage, but I'm not sure if I'm winning, or if the stuffy sinuses are! Pressure, headache, hard to breathe...

Antihistamines and decongestants make me woozy.....so I needed something to quilt that was not too painstakingly precise. I also need to stay caught up on customer quilts because I already fell a bit behind while Jason and Shanon were here (understandable)and I don't want to get farther behind when I leave for my trip to visit Lucy on April 22nd! Yes...less than a MONTH!! (we are counting down sleeps :c)

I've been asked before what some of my favorite pantographs are, and though I don't do a lot of them, there are times when they really fit a customer's budget and can look great on a quilt. It also works really well when I'm under the influence of decongestants..*LOL* I just plug in the headphones, listening to the lastest crime novel on MP3, and away I go!

This is one of my faves...It's called "Feathers All Over" by Deb Geissler. The feathers flow and twist and turn and it is impossible to tell where one row starts after another row ends, so you don't get that 'blank line' that can sometimes happen in between rows of stitching when doing pantos. The design is not too big and open, and not too intricate, just right. I also tend to like leafy, viney, jungle type things, or flowers that look random, so again it doesn't look like things are marching in around all across and up the quilt. I like it so that you can't easily pick out the repeat.

Really busy scrap quilts are the perfect candidates for something like this...also random looking pieced quilts...even in a set collection of fabrics, like yellow brick road, turning twenty, etc...are GREAT for some of the pantographs that are available out there. And while quilting in a decongestant-induced-fog...I can still quilt a quilt that the owner is going to love! This one is a "minnesota hot dish" and belongs to Diana Stewart.

Bonnie

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Teenage Retirement??? *AUUUGHH!*

Jeff, my 16 yr old is still cranky because he still doesn't have a job....I have offered and offered to take him looking, but all he wants to do is "hang out" and "chill" with his friends. Okay. Fine. Now his prom is 2 weeks away and I told him that without a job, I was NOT going to pay for his prom date. I told him if he HAD a job, and just hadn't been paid yet, I was willing to front him some money, but he had to have the job for me as security that he would be able to pay me back. I'm sticking to it.

He thinks we are the worst parents in the world...but we have done EVERYTHING...including taking him to places to pick up applications, and taking him back to deliver them. I ask him if he has checked up on any he has turned in, just to see if they have any openings yet, and he won't do it. He has to date turned in only 3 applications, about 3 weeks ago. I AM NOT going to pay for his prom!!!! But it is making life sorely miserable here because he feels like we are so unfair. (I don't get how he sees that...when we have done everything short of DRAGGING him to find a job!)

Blogger is being cranky this morning (Maybe it got it from jeff!) and won't let me upload pics! AUgh. So I'll try again later....

Bonnie

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Tea Party Quilt Done!

I finished the tea party quilt today! I worked at home finishing the quilting and applying the machine part of the binding and hanging sleeve, and then I took it to the massage clinic with me to hand stitch the binding down while I answered phones and worked the front desk.

I got the whole thing done! I feel so good to have it this far and am anxious to send it back to Elizabeth so she can see how it turned out....

Other than that, it was a pretty basic, non-eventful day and was MOST WELCOME!

Bonnie

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