Enchanted Quilting

A Me Update

2011-10-22T06:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I have been missing in action. Not sure anyone has missed me....but I have missed you all.

Thank you, to those of you who left messages about your/my mother-in-law. It is good and bad to know there is more than one of my mother-in-laws out there. I am sorry and I feel your pain. As an update to my relationship. Since our last trip to Iowa, my mother-in-law has had nothing but bad things to say about me to my dear husband each time they talk on the phone. After one conversation he had with her, he hung up and told me to delete her from my Facebook page. Yikes! I didn't want to do it, but I did. It was liberating, lol. She keeps asking to be my friend again, I will not accept.

Okay, on to happier times. I am a college student now. Yes, that is right, I have gone back to school. Right now I am getting my prerequisites completed, then I apply for the nursing program. My first plan was to get my RN, however, this week I have found many articles and have talked to a few people who say most hospitals are only hiring RN, BSN. Okay, this means that I will be 93 when I complete my studies...no big deal, right? I'm not too worried. I will keep plugging along. It will happen. My plan at this point is to attend CNA classes over the summer, then I can at least get a job working with patients. This will give me more points to go towards getting into a nursing program.

Getting back into school has been challenging. Of course working 40 hours a week and 2 classes proved to be a challenge. Add to this a husband, housework, cooking/eating, a daughter who has decided I don't spend enough time with my granddaughters, I was not a good mother to her growing up, and I am a terrible mother now. (Of course, she forgets all the times I have been there for her and she doesn't ever begin to know what I have sacrificed for her in the past. I spoiled her too much.....grrrr). My real job has been very slow so I requested to go to a 30 hour work week. That has helped a bunch. I have time to get more study time in, can spend a little time with my husband, etc.

My husband is perfect! Have I ever said that out loud? I'm not sure...but I have now. He has been helping with housework, dishes, cooking and laundry. He said that this is his job, my job is to make good grades. Thank you!!! I still jump in and do a few things, but he usually gets onto me for it and says I am not to do anything. Sorry, I have to, at least, but the dishes away from the dishwasher. If I don't, I can't find anything. He puts things in the strangest places.

Okay, that is about it for now. I have to get to my homework.

It Ain't Just Me

2011-08-20T12:38:00.002-05:00

Yay!! After my weekend with my mother-in-law I thought maybe it was just me being sensitive. Today I talked to my daughter-in-law who had been there too. I said, "Mary was in rare form last weekend." Becky said, "Oh my gosh....I have never seen her like that before. She treated you like dirt all weekend!" Welcome to the family!

I talked with Rod on the phone today and told him what Becky said. He said, "What is wrong with her?" Then I felt bad and started making excuses for her. Drat!! I hate myself for that. I said, "Maybe she is depressed or something." Drat!!! I hate myself for that.

Hopefully I will not have to go visit her again....ever!! Maybe, just maybe, I can stay home in a quiet house and Rod can go spend the weekend with her and she will be happy as a clam! I know I will.

"You'll never be a skinny, little girl"

2011-08-16T10:13:00.002-05:00

What inspires you to stay on track?

I went to visit my mother-in-law last weekend. We always discuss diet. How beautiful my sister-in-law is....and she is. How my mother-in-law cared at one time, but doesn't any more. This time we started talking about diet and I said I have rejoined Weight Watchers. That is when she said it....

"Mary, you will never be a skinny, little girl!"

Huh?!

That took me off guard. My mouth fell open. I said, "I'm not trying to be a 'skinny, little girl', I'm trying to get to my healthy weight range." I then walked into the bathroom, shut the door, looked into the mirror and said, "I'll show you!!" Anorexia, here I come!! Not really, I like to eat too much for that.

Who does she think she is?!?

I know who she is. She is the most hurtful woman I have ever met. She hates me. She is very jealous of me and the time I spend with Rod. How completely weird and twisted is that!?!

Rod had her on speaker phone one day while calling to see how she was doing. He told her he just mowed the yard, and picked produce in the garden. She said, "Did you have any help?" Like I was sitting in the house eating bon-bons. Of course, my mouth fell open and I turned from my chores in the kitchen and looked at him. He immediately took her off speaker phone and went out on the deck to talk to her.

She has told me that she has the cutes picture of Rod when he was little, dressed in a cowboy outfit. I have one of me dressed in a cowgirl outfit. I said, "I would love to have that picture." Thinking how cute it would be to put the two pictures on the wall together. She looked me up and down like I was a piece of trash and said, "Why would I give it to you, so you can just leave him and take it with you?" Seventeen years later, I still don't have the picture. Oh, did I mention she said this in front of about 25 people?

She is a bitter, hateful, deceitful, woman....and she is my mother-in-law. Yikes.

This makes me know, I do not want to ever be like her.

AMAZING

2011-06-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

People never cease to amaze me!

I belong to a couple of chat forums for quilting. I am always amazed at the amount of money people "want" to pay. First they post the question, should I or shouldn't I buy this enormously expensive item. They get tons of responses, mostly nays from people who have the item and never, ever use it. After about 30 posts....like I said mostly "don't do its"....the person posts, "Thanks for all of your responses to my question. I took the plunge and made the purchase!" Huh??!!?? What did I miss. Everyone tells her don't do it....and she thanks them and does it anyway. Why not just save cyber space and make the dumb purchase in the first place. Ah, just had a thought....may she just wanted to buy it anyway and wanted everyone to know she had it.

People never cease to amaze me!!

Salsa, Chips and Margaritas

2011-06-11T16:10:00.003-05:00

Okay, show of hands. Who remembers the quilt I wanted to enter in the theme category for MQS, hum, what was it last year? Yes, last year. The theme was South of the Border. Somehow, must have been Divine intervention, I got this crazy idea that I could enter. I drafted out a pattern on paper...well not really drafted, I just did a very rough draft, but I gotta say...it looked awesome. I almost had convinced myself I could do this.

I gathered the fabrics, as you all know can take some time. Then I purchased threads of many colors, mostly Superior's Rainbows.

Do you remember seeing my entry at MQS? No?? Yeah, that's because it never made it. I finished the spiral lone star and the points met perfectly - yay me!! But that is where it ended. That really lone star...and I mean lone star...has been laying on my table for a year an a half. The other fabrics have been cut and ready to keep on creating...but I have not been able to bring myself to do it. It is like someone pulled the plug on my creativity and I am just drained. Kind of empty.

Lately, the star has been calling to me. The majorly big problem is....well, there are a couple...the first majorly big problem is MQS has already had another theme and announced another one for next year, which will mean I am now 2 years behind the "theme". Kind of funny when you think about it. The second majorly big problem...my longarm has been sold and is gone. Oh, and another thing...all those beautiful, eye candy, threads were sold long, long ago...so there is a third majorly big problem.

When I finish this quilt top, and I will finish, I will have to quilt it on my domestic machine. I can't even image attempting that. Hey, I just had a though....maybe by the time I finish making the top, I will have bought another longarm....now, that is a funny thought!

New Baby's Quilt

2011-05-20T19:07:00.002-05:00

We may go shopping tomorrow for fabric for Kelsey's quilt. Yay. I tried to look after I left Claudia Pfeil at the convention center on Saturday at MQS. I had set in my mind that I would go to the quilt stores and look at fabric...it would inspire me. I went to two of my favorite stores, walked through looking at ever piece of fabric in the store.....and left empty handed and empty hearted! Hum....I am not out of my slump....yet. I know I will and am hoping that when Jen and I go shopping for Kelsey's quilt fabric something will click...by the way....here is a picture of the cutie-patootie getting the quilt....

It is Getting Real

2011-05-10T18:31:00.003-05:00

Well, Penny is coming this weekend to pack up my longarm and take her to her new home. We will also pack up my beloved Circle Lord and send it off with machine. Really, the Circle Lord won't do me any good without a longarm, so I will let it go....but it almost harder letting go of it than it is the machine. Isn't that strange?!

Tonight I have started pulling quilting magazines off the shelf to offer up to give away. If Penny doesn't want them, they go to a local guild. Whew!!! I have way too much stuff! This is just the tip of the iceberg.

If I can keep from mailing anything I'm going to. I do not want mess with trying to keep everything straight and trying to run to the post office a zillion times. I just don't have it in me.

On the other hand. I will be so happy to get my basement cleaned out...cleaned up....and organized once again. It is a complete mess right now. I would take a picture but someone would turn me over to the authorities.

On the other hand, I will be so happy to drag out my sewing machine and make myself some clothes that fit. I am long armed, long bodied, long legged...I need clothes that fit!!

My Newest Blog Spot

2011-05-04T07:38:00.002-05:00

I have decided you all don't want to hear about my weight loss pros and cons. My exercise dilemmas, etc. So I have set up a new blog dedicated to all things running, exercise and today....aging, lol. Below is my new blog address:

http://runningfromfifty.blogspot.com/

I hope you will join me in my endeavor to become more fit. I will either inspire you or make you never want to exercise again.

The Royal Wedding....In My Opinion

2011-04-30T10:39:00.003-05:00

You know....we all have one....opinion I mean and sometimes I thing I have too many and may be a bit opinionated. I try not to be, but I really have an opinion on this one....The Royal Wedding.

I love this stuff. I have this British family history and feel as if royal blood flows through my veins....however, my family would not have even made it through the door of the servant's entrance. So, I do know my place. Therefore, my opinion.

I love Prince William and have since the day he was a twinkle in his beautiful Mother's eye. I have followed him and Prince Harry along the way. Prince William reminds me of me. Reserved and quiet. While Prince Harry cracks me up. Now that guy is a character and could get someone into trouble.

Okay, on with the wedding. I have some favorite moments, as any fan of the royals do, but my favorite dress of the day.....

You guessed it....Pippa's. This dress inspires me to keep running on that stinking treadmill. To keep working out in that stinking gym. I want to wear a dress like this!!!

When I read the name of the designer of this dress, I had to know more. Of course it was Sarah Burton for Alexander McQeen. Now, if you are a fashionista, you know Alexander McQueen's story. How sad. He hung himself in February 2010, just a few days after his Mother died from cancer. How very sad. I also read that it was just days before some great fashion show of which he was not invited. Too bad.

There were some favorite scenes from the wedding. The kiss and the second kiss were okay, not hot....just okay...very reserved. I wanted to see him lay one on her. Of course that could have made the Queen have a heart attach, so maybe that peck was best.

I loved the ride out in the Aston Martin Volante after the wedding! Now that was hot!!

During the ceremony, I loved the way Prince Harry had to turn and watch the bride make her way down the isle. The smile on his face was priceless and there it was again....that gleam in his eye. I love this guy. I would have been worried about corruption for those children riding in the carriage after the wedding....but I bet they enjoyed the ride.

It will be interesting to see if something comes of the looks Prince Harry was giving Pippa. How about royal double cousins...now there is a story.

Bathing Suit Shopping

2011-04-07T06:49:00.002-05:00

I could have found a better way to spend my afternoon!! I got off work early one day and since I go to the gym and frequent the sauna and since I only have one bathing suit I decided I needed another. Shoot me! I have lost 35 pounds in the last year. With that in mind I thought I would look pretty good in a bathing suit now. Think again. Can we say hail damage!! Yes, my legs look like I should be calling my insurance adjuster for an estimate. Ick!! I tried on about 5 suits. You would think after the first one I would have realized that there was a problem, not with the suit, but with the try-er on-er. So I continued on through all five! Cellulite is hideous. I went straight home...didn't buy a suit, by the way, and searched the Internet for cellulite. I found out it can be a family trait...thank you mother, she doesn't have any. And I don't think my grandmother did either. Yay! That means if I can keep up the gym workouts and the weight loss, I should be able to shed this hail damage and wear something that looks....well, decent. I'm going back today to see if I can find a suit....I need more than one and I will apologize to the pool side people as I appear on the scene.

Garment Sewing

2011-04-03T12:33:00.002-05:00

Okay, first things first. When we first learned to sew, one of the first things we had to learn was pattern selection. What body type do you have? Are you tall, and long waisted, or short and short waisted? Do you have legs to you arm pits, or just little stumps? (of course it was worded differently). Several questions you must ask yourself before you select the pattern. Next, you sit at the pattern books and pour over the numerous pages of patterns. Then, there it is, like a beautiful light shining down like a ray from the heavens. There is the pattern that will flatter your body type and make you look like a runway model. Then why oh why?????? do people select patterns with gathers and a waist band on a skirt when they have a thick middle??? Is it because society has told us that we are free to wear what ever we want to??? May I suggest the show....What Not To Wear .....Come on people. Don't waist your time cutting, sewing and fitting.....only to be wearing the wrong style. Please!!!!

My Butt and Legs are Killing Me!!!

2011-03-24T17:08:00.003-05:00

Okay, as some of you may know, I have committed to run a 5K this year. I have selected the race I will be running in and have signed up. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my employer pays my entry fee. I say fortunately because when my employer pays our entry fees, it encourages us to get involved. I say unfortunately because I feel as if I can't back out, because - blast! They paid my stinkin entry fee!! So now I am in.

I have a personal trainer. He is a very nice man. You know...you know how Bob was when The Biggest Loser first started. Like everyone wanted Bob and dreaded getting Jillian. Now, Bob is bad too. So, the first night with my trainer I said to him, "So you are not like Bob and Jillian, right?" His response, "Oh Miss Mary, I am not like them at all." And he laughed. I thought it was a nice laugh, like I had nothing to worry about......I was wrong.

I told my perfectly built personal trainer that I my goals in this lifetime are, 1) run a 5K, 2) become physically fit for my age, 3) lose about 30 more pounds, 4) tighten up my core. He took me serious. He doesn't know me!!! Really!!!!

The first week, we did testing. My endurance, my strength training, and flexibility. I tested out above average for women in my age range for endurance. And in the "excellent" range for weight lifting. Then just average for flexibility. They lied!!!

Kevin gave me some things to work on for the week, then we would meet back up on the next Monday. I worked out all week on my own and was feeling pretty dang good about myself. Then the next Monday came around.

Kevin worked with me on upper body strength training. Yeah. I know I need this bad. I am as week as a noodle. I felt good after this workout and thought Kevin was a great trainer that I could learn to love! This this week came along.

This week, on Monday, Kevin had a list of lower body workout. We started with some weight machines. Then went to dead lift using 30 pounds of weight, while standing on a platform so that I had to really extend the muscles in the back of my legs...ouch! Next we did squats. Oh, but not normal squats. No, no, no....Mr. Kevin the nut had me try it first on a weight bench. "Oh wait!" he said, "I'll be right back." Apparently the bench was too tall for me, so Kevin went to the dumb bells and brought back one that was about 50 pounds (not that it matters how heavy it was) and set it on it's end. Now, a dumb bell is about 12" tall when standing on it's end. Then he handed me a 10 pound weight and had me do 3 sets of 10 squats, going down just low enough to feel my fanny just touch the dumb bell, but not rest on it. I did it, but oh my gosh, I was hurting. Next!!!

Yes, there was a next. Then Kevin, the physical torturer, had me do lunges. You have got to be kidding me!!! I am not sure I can do this. Oh, Miss Mary, you can do it, I have faith in you. Yeah, yeah, yeah....whatever!!! Kevin gave me 3 different options. I decided on the one I thought I could handle. I made it, but it took a few minutes. Whew....and then.

Next. No stinkin way!!! Another something???!!! Yes. Knee ups. Let's see....you step up on a tall step with your left foot, and raise your right knee waist high, then back down to the floor. Ten times. That is when my legs went. Have you ever heard an athlete say they didn't have any legs....that happened to me. Not on my right leg, but when I tried to do my left leg, I did the first one, stepped down to the floor and started stumbling backward. Kevin's eyes were huge! He asked if I was okay, and decided we needed to walk the track. He had many more things planned for me, but I was just a mess. Have you ever seen a new born calf trying to stand for the first time....I looked just like that. My knees tried to bend the wrong way, and every way. Then I had to walk down the stairs to leave the building. Then drive home. I was in no condition. Whew!!! I am way out of shape.

Today, three days after the first day of squats....I was able to use the regular bathroom stall at work and not the handicap stall. I could not sit or stand without the handles. This afternoon I was able to do 3 sets of 10 squats again. I keep telling myself I will run the good race....I hope I live to see the race.

Family Updates

2011-03-12T08:24:00.002-06:00

Okay, so one faithful follower, (thank you Glenda), said she is still reading my blog and watching for family updates, etc. Here we go....fasten your seat belts!

First, we will start with Jen. Jen's baby is due April 9. She has over come the Hyperemesis gravidarum . Yay! She is hyper nauseated, but she can eat and drink and for the most part smiles and has color in her face. However, she has been having labor pains for the last week. She has been to labor and delivery two times this week. The first time, because she was having very severe back pains and the doctor wanted to have her checked out. They gave her a shot to stop the labor pains that didn't work. They kept her a while longer, gave her a second shot, got the pains to lessen, then sent her home. Then she went for her regular weekly doctor's appointment on Thursday. A full blown exam....if ya know what I mean. The doctor said things looked okay, (how do you phrase that without sounding....weird), told her to get dressed and left the room. When she stood up all heck broke lose. She thought her water broke, but it was in fact blood. Lots and lots of blood. Her sock filled up and she was standing in a puddle. She grabbed a sheet and the door. The nurse was outside the door, fortunately, and the nurse got the doctor. He decided he probably nicked a blood vein during the exam. They sent her on her way. After and hour and a half, when the bleeding had not stopped, she had to go back to the labor and delivery at the hospital for the second time in the week. They did an ultra sound and a stress test. Everything is fine. The new baby is 6 pounds 8 ounces and scored an 8 out of 10, which is good. Baby is still in the oven!

Second, my Mom. Mom is mom. Strong willed....okay, I know where I get it already!! She is determined to drive. She wants to drive to Kansas City to see us just to test her endurance. At the expense of everyone else driving on the streets that day. Mom cannot lift her right foot. I'll let this sink in a moment. Okay, the right foot is the one that goes on the gas pedal as well as the break pedal. Yikes!! I have threatened to call the police if she tries it, which made me the least favorite child and probably got my name blotted out of the will. Oh well!

Mom kept saying she was going back to work in February. Didn't happen. Actually, it is never going to happen. Mom is a door greeter at Wal-Mart, which is where she was when she had the stoke. This is where I get a bit bitter, so stay with me here. Wal-Mart handled a stroke totally wrong. She told them she was having a stroke so the lady in charge asked her what she wanted to do. Huh?! You have to be kidding me!!! Mom, who doesn't want to draw attention to herself (that is the difference in the two of us), said, "No, don't call an ambulance, just call my son, he will come and get me." So the lady walked my mom to the back of the store and cleaned out her locker. I am angry with Wal-Mart. When the commercials say, "Time lost is brain lost." They are not just a whistling Dixie.

Mom has not gone back to work, but I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't try. And maybe she needs to try so she can see that it is impossible. She will drive over there as she does almost everyday.

About the trip to Kansas City, she says she will drive slow. I will let you all know when not to be on the streets in Missouri....If I know. I am afraid I will just get a phone call saying they have her in jail or worse the hospital...or worse....

Third, my dear aunt who had been struggling with COPD for a while finally began the fight of her life in November. At the end of February my Aunt Lora lost her struggle and went to be with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that my aunt is in a much better place, but we will miss her until we see her again. Then what a reunion it will be.

Now, about me. I have started going to the gym faithfully. I have hired a personal trainer to help me know what to do to build my muscles, stamina and help me train for a 5K. Yes, I need someone to teach me how to run. Rod thinks I'm goofy. He can't figure out why I didn't just let him help me. Right! I would poke his eyeballs out and tear his ears off his head before it was over. Not a good idea....I wouldn't want him to become disabled over a simple trip to the gym.

Okay, and my quilting machine is sold. I will know today to whom. I have a buyer on each end of the United States. Two buyers locally, which would be a lot easier keep coming up with excuses. Too bad, so sad....it would be easy to deliver locally. But I think the best woman will win. Time will tell.

I think that is about it. My life in a nutshell....

My Newest Obsession

2011-03-11T20:43:00.002-06:00

Hey all. Sorry it has been so long since I have written anything. I may have lost all of my followers, but I hope not. It has been a busy time with the illness and passing of my aunt. My daughter's pregnancy. My aging parents. How many more excuses do you need? Sorry, that's all I've got!

Okay, my newest obsession. I love, love, love fashion. I know, those of you who know me personally probably have a hard time seeing that, but it's there, hiding under all these frumpy, store bought clothes.

I have always loved fashions from the 1940's. I have always thought I have an old spirit or something. I love any old movie centered around this time period. The dresses are so detailed. Any who, I didn't know there was this whole world out there of people who write blogs totally devoted to vintage patterns, fabrics, trims, etc. It is bazaar. I am just glued to these blogs.

I have gone to the basement and dug through my patterns....and there they were. I had gone to an auction many years ago, way out in the county. At the time I was an antique dealer and bought and sold everything that caught my eye. I loved that job more than any job I have ever had. Anyway, one sale I attended had a box sitting at in a line of boxes at the edge of this back yard of an old farm house. As I snooped through each box, making a mental note of the contents of each box, I flipped the flaps back on "the" box and there they were. Probably 50 patterns from the 1940's. I had hit the motherload!! If only the Internet had been more. If only there had been an Etsy.

I purchased that box of vintage patterns for $1. No one else wanted them. I sold them in my both in the antique store for $3 - $5 each and they sold like hot cakes. I kept about 4 patterns that I just couldn't part with. Totally against Rod's rules. "You can't keep everything you buy. You are in the selling business." What he don't know won't hurt him, right?! Besides, those patterns don't take up any room at all.

I love them. Occasionally I take them out and look at them. Admire them. Dream of making one of the dresses and actually being able to wear it. Which brings me to my concerns....

I have noticed, on some of the blogs that I have come to love, these ladies are making these wonderful designs out of the most icky, vintage fabric. I get the "idea", but I don't want to wear a dress with fruit all over it. I don't want to look like I took the table cloth off the table and made a dress. Maybe I don't have an obsession after all. Or maybe my tastes are just way different. I would feel like Carol Burnett when she did the 'Gone With the Wind' skit, wearing the curtin with the rod going across her shoulders....that cracks me up just thinking about it.

For me, I will buy some modern fabric, maybe a nice suiting fabric to make one of these great dresses with superb detailing. Make it look very tailored and just sharp. I just don't want to look like a well put together summer table.

My Quilting Machine is for Sale

2011-02-15T17:51:00.001-06:00

If you know of anyone looking for a quilting machine....I have one for sale!

2004 APQS Millie - MUST SALE $11,000 WHAT A DEAL!!!

This machine has gotta go!!! Located in Kansas City, Missouri. I would be willing to set up the machine and give you beginner lessons, if you are in the KC area, Kansas, Iowa, or Southern Missouri. This machine has the onboard bobbin winder, that I still use. Had a complete overhaul/spa treatment in 2009, and I have only completed about 4 quilts since then. Here are the specifics:

Copied from the APQS web site Millie description:

On-demand Automatic Stitch Regulator - will reduce your practice time significantly and get you off to a good start with perfect stitches every time.
Handcrafted from aircraft grade aluminum
Throat size of 26" x 10.5" - With 23 square feet of capacity without advancing the fabric
Weight 52 lbs (24 kgs)
Voltage 120V (50/60 Hz)
Super-quiet enclosed DC motor
Precision timing by Synchronous Belt Drive
Standard APQS hopping foot specially designed for use with ruler and guide accessories
Fully adjustable, ergonomically designed handles eliminate carpal tunnel injuries and provide for maximum visibility
Two-stage automatic needle positioner
Single-stitch function
Lower thread cutter, an APQS exclusive
Electronic channel locks for both horizontal and vertical straight-line quilting at the touch of a button
Power fabric advance with foot pedal control maintains consistent fabric pressure to eliminate wrinkles and puckers in the quilt.

Also included:
Hartley fly wheel cover
3 zipper sets
Homemade expanded base for thread cutter
Hartley Micro Drive Handles
Donita Reeves Ruler Mate Base plate
Edge Rider Wheels

Email me at mary.atchison1@gmail.com

SUPER BOWL

2011-02-06T12:50:00.000-06:00

GO PACKERS!!!!

Snowed In

2011-02-02T07:29:00.002-06:00

Okay, I am snowed in today. So much snow. The main roads are clear, but getting to them and out of my neighborhood is the not so fun part. Is it worth sliding off the road and into a ditch. Nope! The deductible on my car insurance and the amount of pay I make in one day.....Nope! I will stay home. Clean my house. Go through my stash and patterns and get crackin. Although, my basement is a mess with quilting items that need to be sold and shipped. I wish I could have a big garage sale here locally and just get rid of it all without the hassle of shipping.

So, did I mention that I have a big pot of black beans with a ham bone, onions, garlic, peppers and seasonings simmering on the wood insert in my fireplace. Yum!!! Can't wait till those are done. Hum....I'm thinking homemade bread would taste very good today.

If I'm going to get anything done....I gotta get....

My New Friend

2011-01-15T10:06:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's my dress form. We met about a year and a half ago. She was smaller than me. I thought that was a bad thing, turns out it was perfect. Now I think she is bigger than me...turns out I feel better about that! I'm trying to take my own measurments, not a good idea according to the directions. I will have to get the only person I know, who knows how to use a tape measure, my husband, to help me. Oh Lord help me!!

So you all know about the scoliosis thing. I backed up to a wall to get the correct shoulder height for the dress form. Turns out my shoulder measurments are...right shoulder (from floor) 58 3/4" and the left one is 59 1/2". How do you set that one up? I plan to split the difference.

Trading One Addiction for Another?

2011-01-15T07:27:00.003-06:00

Since the decision to sell my machine and "get out of the business", I was so excited about the prospect of sewing some of my own clothes. Oh how wonderful to have sleeves that stop at my wrist instead of a mock 3/4 sleeve. Not to mention the little girl clothes for Haylee and the new baby girl coming in April. Yes, I have been looking and looking at patterns. Making lists of the ones I like so when they go on sale for $1.99 I will be all over it.

Because I am going to be sewing instead of quilting, I have been reading some sewing blogs, saving some of them to my favorites so I can keep reading. Here is my observation....

I am trading one addiction to another. There, I said it. Good thing my addictions both include fabric. I have plenty!

In reading these blogs. The seamstress' post pictures every day....different pictures of different clothing items they have made. Wow!!! I remember sewing my own clothes and it usually took a couple of days sometimes a week. This leads to another observation....

Do people cook or clean their homes or do we hire housekeepers and chefs?

Holy cow, I make less than $15/hour at my real job...I mean a lot less. How in the hello Bill do you afford a housekeeper? I am at a loss. How do they cook? Or do they order out? Again, how do you afford this? This brings me to another observation....

When do we spend quality family time? When do we spend time with our husbands? When do we study our Bible? When do they workout and make sure they have a healthy heart? When do we take a long, warm, bath with rose petals?....okay, forget that one. Just sayin.

I think I need to stop reading blogs. It is depressing. I am not Wonder Woman, (but would take her figure in a second...and her little suit), even though I would love to be. There is only so much of me. There is only so many hours in the day. I get hungry. Oh, another thought....

When these women are not quilting and/or sewing....they are knitting...huh??! Where the heck did that come from?? And they make their own socks! Socks for goodness sakes. Can't you buy a pair of socks for about $1. Good grief...socks!!!! Even if you buy a great pair, it's less than $5....how much time, money for yarn and needles and patterns do they spend.

My brain is on overload. Again. Do you think I have a brain the size of a pea?

Don't get me wrong, I love all of the creativity. It is beautiful. I will continue to read the blogs, what am I talking about. Of course I will continue to read them. I just cannot keep up.

For me, I will eat heatly, workout so I keep my blood pumping. Buy clothing patterns and file them in a box in my sewing room. No more fabric, I am still petting the fabric I have. And read the blogs of my favorites friends and favorite creative people.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Home Alone

2010-11-15T07:18:00.003-06:00

Home alone is never a good thing. I don't eat right, I sleep when I want to and I only clean up after myself when I know my husband is 30 minutes from home.

It is deer season in Missouri. I guess I should say it is gun season. I hope the hunters get these little boogers because so far this year they have caused about $4000 worth of damage to our pickup, no telling total cost across Missouri. I know one guy that has hit 3 deer in the last 2 months. Not good.

Anyway, enough about deer hunting.

I went to the quilt studio last week to look at the overwhelming mess....again....and there she was, looking at me with that lonesome look. The look was not on her face, because she does not have one, it was just that way she holds herself. She is my dress form. I need to name her, because I think we are going to become very close in the weeks to come. Yes, I have been bitten by the sewing bug.

I have never been able to use my dress form since I brought her in the door. And that is a story in itself.

It was Christmas, was it last year...or year before, I don't remember. Anyway, I received an ad for Hancock Fabrics in the mail. I circled the picture of the dress form I wanted, I wrote on the ad the size to get and then I handed the ad to Rod. I just knew he could not go wrong.

I am like a huge kid on Christmas morning. I wake up early and bug him to get up so we can open our presents. I run down the stairs and sit on the floor next to the tree. Rod comes down and goes right to the coffee pot. Huh?! Wait, it's Christmas morning, let's open gifts. No, not Rod, he wants to make coffee, he wants to cook breakfast, he wants to wait for the kids to come over. No! No! No!!! The kids don't care about opening presents with us.

Anyway, that morning I opened my present from my loving husband. I knew it wasn't a dress form because of the size of the box. I knew the dress form would be at lest 3 feet tall or so, however, this box was only about a foot tall. What could it be?? It had to be something in the diamond catagory since I knew it was not what I had asked for.

It was my turn to open a gift. I ripped the paper off the package, tore open the box, and there it was. The ugliest coat I had ever seen in my life. It was Sherpa like, woolly looking, sheep fur. Camouflage in taupe, cream, and neutral colors. That was the most horrible thing I had ever seen. My reaction...."What....(gulp)....is this?". "That is a very expensive coat!!" says he. I put it on, even though inside I was screaming....'Don't do it! Don't do it!!' It was awful!!! I took it off and turned to him. "I really don't like this coat." I still can't believe I said it. Normally, I would take it graciously and tell him how I love it, and I would have worn it until I started liking it. His response..."You don't like it?? But it is very expensive!" Me..."I don't care how much it cost, I hate it!" I whined and complained and then I said, "You need to take this back to where ever you got it, get your money back, and get me what I asked for!!" He did....I have a dress form.

I made a huge mistake though in getting the dress form. I guess I thought I was smaller then I really was. When we got her all set up, I took my measurements and started to adjust her....and she was too small at her largest size!! Yikes.

Finally, since going to Weight Watchers, and now working out at the gym, she fits me. The only problem, my neck is smaller than her neck. Rod says that I have a pencil neck. Thank you darlin for the compliment....you know exactly what to say to make me feel good about myself!!

So, I have decided to put her to work...after I get all of this quilting stuff out of here. I still have orders to fill, people to contact, post office runs to make. What a job this has been trying to sell off my quilting business.

I am really looking forward to making some cute clothes for myself, Haylee and the new baby. I can work at my own pace and do what I want to....No customers to bug me....I am so happy.

The Fisherman (totally not quilt related)

2010-09-21T12:02:00.003-05:00

I'm watching one of my favorite, modern day, movies today, "A River Runs Through It". I really love this movie. The dad, Tom Skerritt, one of my favorite actors, plays a rigid, God fearing father of two of the cutest little boys, who grow to be two entirely different young men. Even though they were raised the same, one grows to be the man his dad wanted him to be, the other grows to be a rowdy, hell raiser. And in the end the hell raiser pays the price. And the family suffers.

In the beginning of the movie the dad takes the young boys to the yard to teach them to be perfect fishermen. Using a metronome, the father teaches the boys the technique of proper casting. Ten and two, ten and two, ten and two. Back and forth, back and forth.

I don't know any fly fishermen. There are not many trout streams around here. I can think of three off the top of my head. After tasting a fried crappie, who in their right mind would want a nasty trout? I guess some would say that there is nothing better, but I'm a southern girl raised on walleye, crappie and catfish. Until I met him.

I was married when I was still a child. No, not fourteen, I was older than Loretta Lynn, but a child all the same. I was 17 years old the day I said, "I do." Two days after I graduated from high school. And thought I really meant it. Eight years and two small kids later, I said, "No thanks!" If this is marriage, why aren't there more divorces.

For eight years I was a single mom. Oh, I met a few young men, I could count the ones that worth introducing to my children on one finger. And I wasn't really interested in him. Then I met the fisherman.

I assured him that I had grown up on Bullshoals Lake, on the Arkansas side. I loved that lake and had a deep respect for the water. It was a beautiful place to grow up. Yes, I knew how to fish. I could bait a hook, just hand me a worm, or better yet, just give me the can....I'll dig it out myself. After all, my parents would not let me fish until I could bait the hook. At the age of four, I became a fisherman too. This fisherman had met his match.

He took me out fishing the first time in his boat. It was not a fancy boat, but it was wide and deep and I felt safe. He drove to a place on the lake that he just knew was the right place. And it must have been. He gave me the seat at the back of the boat, while he took the front so he could operate the trolling motor. He had purchased 2 dozen minnows...huh? Not worms? What do I do with these things. The fish we caught when I was growing up were not much bigger than the minnows. Yes, I was raised fishing for perch mostly. Pan fish. This was going to be an experience.

"How do I put this thing on my hook?" I said in my southern Missouri accent. I wanted to make sure I did it right.

He gave me that look. You know the look, if you are a woman, the look that is a little on the smirky side, that says, "I know something you don't know!!!" (Say that in a sing song kind of melody).

He grabbed a minnow from the bucket and took my hook. He ran the hook under the minnows chin where the gills come together, and right out the top of the minnows head. Ouch! I told him I thought the minnow knew and could feel it. He made me stop talking, said that he couldn't think about it. That made me know he had feelings. Being a big guy he had to hide them so no one knew.

Did I mention that he grew up just about a hundred miles or so from the John Wayne birth place in Iowa. He has a bit of a northern accent. Never thought I would "hook up" with a northern boy.

He told me to drop my line over the side, not to cast. Oh brother! I want to fish!! He told me I would get hung up if I cast my line. I watched as he rigged up his line. He tied on a hook, then went up the line about ten inches and tied on another hook. Huh? What is this about? He baited his hooks and dropped the line over the side of the boat. He held his fishing pole in his right hand and the line he held gently in his left hand. Feeling. He was feeling for the fish. And it didn't take long. Wham! He caught two crappie at once! I sat there. No fish for me.

I continued to sit there watching as he caught fish after fish. What color were those minnows he was using? Huh, same as mine. What is the deal with this fisherman? How does he do that? I know the same dang fish are swimming by my line.

There was a cockiness about him. What is it with me? I hate that kind of attitude....but I am drawn to it. What is wrong with me? I hate it, but it challenges me.

The fish he was catching were small, but they were fish. I wasn't catching anything. This is ridiculous. I was tired of watching him catch fish. That is when I learned something about the fisherman. He doesn't like attention, or at least he says he doesn't, but he wanted my undivided attention. I turned to the back of the boat and dropped my line out of the back of the boat. My back was turned to him so I couldn't see him pulling in two fish at a time.

As I sat there, my back facing the fisherman, I could hear the fish splashing as he brought them in. When he threw them back, he tossed them over my head so they landed right in front of me in the lake. Oh, he was a piece of work!

As time when on, I decided the fisherman wasn't half bad. I convinced him that he couldn't live without me, and I bought a dress. You may have read that story, if not, go back in my archives, it's a good read.

As I watch this movie, and see how fishing was an art and this father was teaching his sons the art of fishing. I realize that I am married to an artist.

My brother wants to fish. He goes fishing with the fisherman and comes home empty handed, and the fisherman, he always has fish. My brother gets hung up. My brother breaks his line. My brother breaks his pole. My brother has a few choice words and my brother wishes he would have stayed home. But he is intrigued by the fisherman.

The fisherman takes his son fishing. The son catches nothing, ah, but the fisherman, he has fish, and lots of them. The son shakes his head and says that it is because the fisherman is at the front of the boat and fishes the good spots before the back of the boat can get there. I don't think so.

No one knows how he does it. I have often asked him how he knows when it is a fish and not the bottom of the lake. I always seem to catch the bottom of the lake. Then I lose my tackle. I have cost the fisherman more tackle then you can ever guess. How does he do it?

The fisherman has a feel for the lake and for fish. He just knows how to catch fish.

One day, as my teenage son sat in the boat, we watched as a very poor family paddled around the cove near the docks. There was a dad and about 30, dirty little kids in a 16 foot boat without a motor. I really think they were fishing for food. I watched the fisherman impressing the teenage boy by casting his bait between a dock and a boat parked in a slip. Never hitting the boat or the dock, this made the teenager laugh. The fisherman was fishing for large mouth bass, one of his favorites. He never, ever kept them, but always released them back to the lake. He cast an incredible cast when all of a sudden - wham! The fisherman reeled in an eight pound large mouth bass that was lurking under the dock. The teenage boy was quite impressed and laughed and cheered. The fisherman looked at me, then looked at those dirty, hungry kids. He said, "You think they would want this fish?". "Without a doubt!" I told him. So he shouted to them and asked if they wanted that fish. I have never seen a boat without a motor travel faster, but those kids had that boat next to our boat in record time. Now I was as impressed with the fisherman as the teenager was.

Sometimes the fisherman makes me crazy. Sometimes I hate that cocky attitude and wonder what was I thinking. Sometimes I wonder, where would I be without this quiet, mountain of a man. Where would I be without the fisherman.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

2010-09-18T08:41:00.002-05:00

So...ever heard of hyperemesis Gravidarum?

It is morning sickness. Oh, but not your average, run of the mill morning sickness. The definition on the Internet is: extreme, persistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that may lead to dehydration. Let me tell you what it really is. I will paint you a picture of my day yesterday.

Haylee is a very active almost 3 year old. She wants to play house with her baby and have you swaddle her baby with her little doll blanket. Then she drags out all of her toys and finds her big, round crayolas and coloring book and want you to color with her. Then she needs a drink. Then, even though she is potty trained enough to potty, the poopy part has not been accomplished. So she asks for a diaper when she knows she needs to "go".

In the mean time, here is her momma, Jen. Jen is connected to an IV bag of fluids with a needle in the back of her left hand, and a pole on wheels so she can slowly make her way to the bathroom. Although, when she moves she throws up. So the trip to the bathroom always means she will toss her cookies, so to speak.

On Jen's right side is the pump. The needle is in her right leg with a tube running up to a little pump in a box that hangs from a strap around her shoulder. This pump was giving her Zofran. Yes, the same medication given to cancer patients when they have chemo to keep them from being so sick. Although, Jen found she was having an allergic reaction at the site of the of the Zofran injection site on her stomach. They have changed the medication from Zofran to Reglan in the pump and Zofran orally.

Some of you remember what it was like to have morning sickness, no matter if it hit you in the afternoon, evening, or when you first woke up. What was your remedy? Saltines?

Hyperemesis gravidarum is so new, that when Jen was pregnant with Haylee, I tried to read about it on line. Then, the "professionals" were saying hyperemesis was prevalent in girls that had very close relationships with their mothers. Huh?! They were saying this was all in their heads. How frustrating.

Jen and Charles thought, after all they went through, that Haylee was it! Jen talked to her doctor about it and he told her there was a 50/50 chance she would do this again. She would tear up if you even mention them having another child. As time went on, they thought about it and decided that they didn't want Haylee to be an only child, so they would chance it. Guess which 50 it turned out to be?

Today I am sitting here writing this after day 2 of "babysitting" Jen and Haylee. I took 2 days of vacation. A vacation I needed badly after not having any vacation for well over 2 years. My sick time and vacation are one. If I call in sick they take my vacation time. I had bronchitis and a sinus infection, together last year and missed 2 days one week and the entire next week of work....there went my vacation. This year I save and saved and had one week saved up and I was planning all kinds of great things for my time off. Then my Mom had a stroke. I spent my week with her. I had just earned 1 day back and Rod wanted to take 2 days off and go to the lake to have 4 loads 0f gravel brought in, and set up our 5th wheel. Of course I would be docked for 1 day but it would be worth it. I needed the time off. Then there was Jen and Haylee.

Knowing how sick Jen was, and that Rod is up for surgery next week and can't do any physical labor, he would need more help than I would be. He knew that I was having a struggle with going to spend 4 days at the lake, knowing Jen was up here so very sick. He asked if I wanted to stay here, he would go on down on Thursday and when Charles got off work on Friday evening, he would go help Rod. That was a win/win. Charles needed time away from Jen and all the illness, and just some guy time. And I couldn't stand the thought of being away. I can't do physical stuff anyway so I would be no help.

So here I am. Just trying to get everyone to understand hyperemesis. So back to that. Since Jen became pregnant this time, I went back to the Internet for a refresher course. Guess what, they have changed their minds. Hyperemesis is not in their heads. Now "they" have to change the thinking of the medical professionals to have a better understanding. There is something in some women that causes this horrible illness during pregnancy. Finally!!

To give you an idea. It is like this tiny baby, growing everyday, and today is about 1 1/2" or the size of a fig, is like poison in the body of the Momma.

Jen just lays here on the couch and occasionally can talk to Haylee and coo to her and pat her and tell her she loves her. Then, just as quickly, she is moaning and saying "oh, my gosh, I can't do this. I am just so sick."

Then her IV bag runs out of fluid and we need to change it. Or, if she is very sick, she can call the company that handles the pump and they can electronically give her a super dose of the meds. One time. However, when she calls them, they can never find her in their system because there are so many people with her name. They then have to search by her address. By the time they find her and administer the larger dose, she is very, very sick from moving around.

She has to check in with the IV people too. When she calls them, they want an inventory of her goods. She has to get up and go to the dining room table, count the bags of fluids, count the tubing packets, count the needle kits. Then tell them the count. Every time. Then she needs more drugs because she has moved and is throwing up again.

Oh, one more things. She takes her ketones, and report that too.

If the site where her IV is in her hand begins to hurt, she is to take the needle out. Then she calls them to have then send a nurse out to insert another needle. She then has to take inventory - again and give her last ketone reading....even if she just did it the hour before. It is like they have no record of the last conversation. They do not seem to realize or care that she can't be up and around. It is almost the most ridiculous thing ever.

Guess what they say to her...."have you tried eating saltines?" Seriously!!

Unless you have personally experienced Hyperemesis gravidarum yourself or with someone you love, you know nothing about it.....and I don't mean that in a mean or condescending way, I mean you have not lived until you see someone go through this.

And if you know someone going through this....please, please don't ask them if they have tried saltines.

My First Customer

2010-09-16T08:01:00.003-05:00

I posted a message on the yahoo's quilting group I belong to, letting them know that I will be going out of business and have items for sale, including my Millie. If they wanted a spread sheet of items for sale, I would send it to them. One lady contacted me wanting a listing, and wanted to come and look at my Circle Lord. Then she contacted me back and said she had someone that wanted to look at my machine. Yikes. It is really getting serious now.

Since I had not used my machine in a while, I had to go down and make sure she was running well. Man, that machine just sings. I had no tension problems with her at all. She was perfect!

I was very excited that someone was interested in my baby. I thought when the time came, I would be a little sad, but I'm really not. I am really kind of excited to get 'er gone. It is just time for me to move on.

You know what I am most worried about? I have a nagging in the back of my mind that, because I have met so many great friends through the machine quilting world. I am worried that since we won't have machine quilting in common any more, we will lose those friendships. I really hope that doesn't happen. I could name names, but you all know who you are. You have become very dear friends to me. You have been there for me and with me through thick and thin, with personal issues as well as quilting.

Hopefully my equipment will sell soon and I will sell everything locally and not have to mail anything. If not, I will be posting on a couple of web sites soon. Just getting my lists together.

I Think I Met An Angel Today

2010-08-31T17:19:00.005-05:00

Well, he may not have been an angel, he could have just been a lonely old man, but he could have been an angel.

Actually, it was yesterday. Rod has strained his giblet and had to go to the doctor. Those of you who know Rod know this is serious. More about that later.

The nurse called Rod's name and he went back to see the doctor. I sat there for a few minutes looking around, assessing my surroundings, making sure I was far away from anyone who looked...germy. Then I settled in and started watching Fox News. That's when I met him.

An older gentleman stepped up to a chair next to the table that was next to me. He was looking at the TV screen about as interested as I was. He started making small talk about the stock market, President Obama and how he thinks the next president will be a woman, and he thinks it's about time. Then he sat down.

The gentleman's name was Earl. Earl looked to be about 78 years old. He had a hearing aid in his ear, and one of those doohickeys stuck on his head that should help him hear better. Earl said to me, "I can't hear very well. Could you be my ears and listen for my name? My name is Earl." He said this with such a grin that you couldn't help but say "yes!"

"My wife is in a nursing home. She has Alzheimer's disease. She doesn't even know who I am." Earl seemed sad when he said this, and I was so sorry for him.

"I'm sorry! Alzheimer's is such a bad thing. I'm so sorry." Gosh my heart just went out to him.

"Yes, it is, a very bad thing." tenderness in his voice. Then just like that. "I'm an hour late for my appointment." He put his fingers over his lips like he had just been caught with his hand in the cooking jar. His eyes almost twinkled. He was so stinking cute!

"An hour late!" I exclaimed. "Well, they will still get you in."

"I've been dancing over at the Senior Center." He was so cute! Earl put his fingers over his lips again, like he just told a secret.

"Dancing?! Well that's fun!"

"Oh, I love it." Earl said with feeling.

Then the tide changed.

"You are looking at a man who had died twice in his lifetime." Earl looked at me like I would believe him.

"You have?! When?" I was interested, beside I liked talking to him.

"The first time I was 8 years old. I was sick with pneumonia. All of a sudden I was in a place that all white. The sky was white, the stream was white and all the flowers were white. And there was an angel. I didn't look at the angel, but I know that's what it was. And when the angel spoke, it didn't have the voice of a woman or a man, just a voice. I wish I had looked at the angel." Earl said, "I asked the angel why everything was white, even the flowers. I like red flowers." Earl looked at me and said, "I was just a kid, but I knew I liked red flowers." Then he said, "And just like that, we were in another place, and it was covered in red flowers. Beautiful red flowers." Then Earl told me what I suspected. "I believe that when we get to heaven, we will have whatever our heart's desire." I think so too Earl.

Earl continued his story, "The angel let me see my Mom. I could see right through the roof of our house. And there was my mom, doing dishes in the kitchen. The angel said to me, 'Tell your Mother that her boy needs her.' I tried to tell her, but she couldn't hear me. Then I knew that our loved ones know what we are going through, and if the angel allows us to we can talk to them, but the angel didn't let me talk to my Mother. The angel told her. The angel said to my Mother, "Check on your boy, he is not breathing." My Mom stopped washing the dishes and went to my bedroom. There I was laying on my bed, and I was not breathing. My Mom ran from the house, screaming for my Dad who was in the barn. My parents ran for the house, and I could see them. My Dad picked my lifeless body up from the bed and cried and prayed. I was their only child and they couldn't stand to lose me. My Dad raised me up to his shoulder and patted my back and cried and prayed, and right then and there he made a promise to God that he would serve him always. And I came back to my parents." Earl paused.

Earl looked at me and said, "You probably don't believe me, do you?"

"Oh yes I do!" I was hanging on his every word.

Earl looked shocked. "You are spiritual!"

"Yes, I am." I assured him.

"Oh, I know it! I can feel it! Oh, you know what, I just need to tell you, whatever you are doing, keep doing it." Earl had such sincerity. "I don't know what you are doing. I wish I knew, but I am suppose to tell you, whatever you are doing, keep doing it."

I smiled at Earl. Then I asked, "When was the second time?"

He had a gleam in his eyes again. "It was twenty years ago. My wife and I were divorced. She hated me, she absolutely hate me! Nothing I could do would make her have anything to do with me. I was living apart from my wife at the time. I had climbed a tree to cut limbs and I feel out of the tree. I broke bones in 27 places in my ribs and chest. I was in intensive care for several days and had to have surgery. An angel was there for me and this time I looked at the angel. I really wanted to see what the angel looked like. That was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." Earl dropped his head and shook it back and forth. "I can't even describe what it looked like. Just the most beautiful think I have ever seen." I just could feel the honesty coming from Earl. He believed he had seen an angel and I believed him too.

Tears came to the old man's eyes. He shook his head and said, "I get so emotional."

"That's okay," I choked on my words, "I do too."

Earl looked across the room at a young couple. "I'm sorry!" he said in apology, "I talk too loud."

"You're fine." The young man said with a smile, as his wife nodded her head yes. "You're fine." He stated again.

Then Earl did something that surprised me. Earl got up from his chair, went to a box of Kleenex, and saying, "I just get so emotional. The older I get the more emotional I get." He wiped his tears and walked to another part of the large waiting room. He picked up a newspaper and sat down.

I watched him in astonishment for a few moments. Then I turned and thought about what Earl had said. "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!" "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it." "I'm suppose to tell you that."

I didn't have to think about it any more. I simply whispered, "Thank you, Lord!" "Thank you for sending me Earl, with his message to relax, I am doing what I am suppose to be doing."

Then there was Rod coming through the door.

We got in the car and Rod told me that they are making him an appointment with a surgeon. Seems he strained his giblet while working out at the gym and now has a hernia.

While we were driving to the sporting goods store. I told him the first part of Earl's story. The part where Earl was 8 years old. As I shared Earl's story with Rod, of course, I clouded up and started to cry.

Rod totally destroyed the moment when he said, "And you believed him?!"

"You bet I did!!"

Thank you Lord, for sending me Earl!

No More Enchanted Quilting

2010-08-23T20:58:00.002-05:00

I have had 2 customer quilts for a while. Just no time to work on them like I should.

Before my Mom had her stroke I called one customer and told her I was having shoulder and neck problems and it was taking longer then usual to get this quilt completed. She said that was fine and wondered if I could get 'er done by Labor Day for a county fair. I told her I would try.

A week and a half ago I called her to tell her that my Mother had had a pretty bad stroke and this is going to slow me way down. Now I am battling neck/shoulder pain, 40-hour a week job and a mother that lives 150 miles away who cannot do a lot of things for herself. My customer was fine with that. Said that I need to concentrate on getting my Mom better, this is the most important thing. Great!
Thank you I agree.

Today, I tried to work on her quilt a bit, I was hoping to get quite a bit done. My cousin's wife called to see how my Mom was doing, and my phone clicked with another call.....I let it go to voice mail. When I hung up from my cousin, I listened to my message. It was my customer wanting to know if I had the quilt finished. I could not believe it.

I called her right back and told her that I was unloading the quilt and bringing it to her. She could figure out what she wanted to do with it.....I really could care less. I reminded her that my Mom has had a stroke and I am keeping the highway hot checking on my parents.

This is why I cannot be in business for myself. I will not let customer's rule my life. My family comes first and I told her this. She said that she loves to talk to me and hops this has not ruined our friendship.....I hope not too. I loved this woman, but how insensitive could you get?

She tried to give me a tip and I refused. I gave her the batting. Now I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I felt so good that I came home and called the last customer and told her what was going on. She was fine with it and I took her top back too. I am now customer free. I feel so much better knowing I don't have to please anyone but me. And my parents and my husband and my kids, and their spouses.....and everyone else.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement for my Mom. She is doing a little better. She has come home from rehab last Thursday and today started an intensive physical therapy. She is tired of doing all this PT and wants to just stop and get on with her life. I keep telling her that this is the only way to get on with her life. Her cognitive thinking is not good and she doesn't realize it. She wants to quit going, but the doctor won't let her drive and if she stops going Medicare won't pay for any other treatment....so they've got her.

I gave my Mom her family tree for her birthday. Can't remember if I have shared this story, but my Mom's dad was an illegal immigrant. He had a family in Canada, but left them to come to America. He met my Grandmother, married her and they had my Mom. When my Mom was 8 years old, my Grandmother turned him into the authorities and they shipped him back to his birth county....England. I started searching ancestry.com trying to find Mom's sisters. The girls have passed away, but the oldest sister's daughter has contacted me. Then a cousin and another cousin's wife. We are finding all kinds of family....and they are finding us!

My Mom loved her present.

You Never Know What Will Happen

2010-08-05T12:44:00.004-05:00

Most of us go through life taking each day, each hour and each minute for granted. I know I go through my days thinking one will be pretty much the same as the last and no different then the next day will be. However, my Mom let me know that is not true.

On Friday,July 30th about 3 pm my brother called me at work. I thought is was strange that this brother who never calls, was calling in the middle of the afternoon, but we were planning an 80th birthday celebration for my my Mom so I figured it had something to do with the party. Not so.

A few minutes later Rod sent me an email. Since I cannot take personal phone calls while on the clock. The email read something like, "Terry just called. Your Mom had a stroke today. They are in the ER right now so they don't know much."

Okay, all I needed to know was, my dear Mom was in the ER with a stroke.....and I am 300 miles away. I jumped out of my chair, went into the break room and called my brother Terry. He said that they didn't really know much, but Eddie, my brother in Springfield, thought she was going to be fine.

I'm from the Show Me state. Need I say more?! I left work and drove home thinking of all I was going to do to get to Springfield to get to my Mom. I walked in the door, packed my clothes and waited. Rod was picking my grandchildren up from Jen's house then bringing them to our home so I could get them in the car and take them back to Springfield and their home. Whew!

Right before Rod arrived, someone called me to say Mom was not as bad as they thought and my get out of the hospital on Saturday. I changed my plans, after all Mom was going to be fine, right? I decided to go down on Saturday morning. Am I ever glad I did!

My Mom had a stroke in her lower brain stem. This type of stroke can be fatal because the lower brain stem affects your breathing, swallowing and a lot of bodily functions. This type of stroke is usually either debilitating or fatal. My Mom has been blessed!

Who ever it was that thought she would get out of the hospital the next day must have been smoking crack. She was in the hospital for several days. I sat in her room at the foot of her bed from 8 am to 8:30 pm every day, while she slept. On Monday, I thought I was losing her. Her blood pressure was very high. Because of the lower brain stem stoke, it affected her balance, and she was terribly nauseated. Anytime they moved her, she thew up. Sorry to be graphic but this is what happened. I sat there and watched the nurses working on my Mom, cleaning her up after she threw up and then changing her bed because she couldn't control her bodily functions. I left the room, went to the bathroom down the hall, went into a stall, and cried my eyes out. I just knew that was the last day of her life.

Mom finally started to get a little better. They finally let Mom out of the hospital and put her in a rehabilitation facility. She did not want to go! Finally we got her to understand that it was not a nursing home. They have worked with her very hard to get her functioning again. I am so proud of her, mostly because not one time has my Mom complained. If anyone asked her how she was doing, she would respond, "Just fine". She had a roommate at the hospital that complained all the time. I hope I am like my Mom someday.

My Mom should be leaving the rehab center this week, either Wednesday or Thursday, if the doctors will allow it. Then she will start an even more intensive PT, with my brother taking her there daily.

I can remember a time when I thought my Mother was the most ridiculous thing that walked. Not stupid, just a pain. Now I know who the pain was.

I really hope I am like my Mom as I grow older. I don't want to be a stubborn as she is, but I think it is too late for that. But her wisdom, her graciousness, her strength, her sense of humor, and her steadfastness. I want those traits.

God is good for allowing me this woman I call Mom.

It Is Official

2010-07-29T05:50:00.002-05:00

After playing a tennis match in my head and heart, I have come to the realization that quilting is going to be a thing of the past for me.

My physical therapist has said that she can get the pain more manageable, however, I will always be in pain. At first she told me I should quit my job. Now, I ask, how do you do that when you need a pay check and times are hard. Sometimes I wonder if the medical professions know there is a recession going on. Anyway, every time I go in, which is two days a week, she asks me if I have done any quilting. When I say that I have not, she says, "good!".

This week 2 of my grandchildren are visiting. My granddaughter has been wanting to make a quilt so I decided a great, easy quilt would be a disappearing 9-patch would be good. We are using my "GO" to cut the squares. I must say the "GO" is fast and wonderful. I was hoping that because of the "GO" I would be able to make quilts even though I cannot do the quilting. However, after this week, I realize that is not to be.

I have a quilt on the machine now that I will be finishing. Then I will give the other 2 unfinished quilt tops back to the customers they belong to and call it a day.

I will finish my own quilts - only about 3 laying around here. Then everything in the studio goes up for sale. I will be offering everything locally through my longarm group, MO-KAN Machine Quilters, then whatever is left over will go online. I'm thinking I will post a "garage sale" locally for machine quilters only.

I know you all have been going through this with me. I am sorry for all the whining you have had to put up with. Sometimes the pain is unbearable and I just don't feel well. I have come to the reality that I have to cut things out of my life that are not absolutely necessary. I make no money quilting. If it causes me major pain and makes me miserable, then it has to stop. Quality of life means a lot to me.

It is going to be possible to get my pain in control and try to build up the muscles in my shoulders and neck, which should help support my head. Right now I have no strength in my neck and shoulders so just keeping my head up is causing my muscles to knot up. This has been a very slow process. I will be purchasing a Tens Unit to wear all the time to help relax the muscles. Currently I get the electric stim each time I go to PT, but that is only twice a week. They all think I need it more often than that.

So, I'm tell you all that, to say this. I really appreciate each one of you, and for your comments and support for me along the way. I know those of you who are longarmers want me to hang on to my machine and give it time. However, in talking to the medical professionals who are helping me along the way, I know this is not going to be possible.

Thank you all so much for you comments and support. I really appreciate each and every one of you.

My Daughter and Her Daughter

2010-07-05T08:58:00.002-05:00

If you don't know by now....I love this picture!

This is my daughter Jen and my granddaughter Haylee. Jen is camera shy, but her husband was able to snap a shot of the girls playing. I'm so glad he did. I just love this picture.

As most of you know, Jen had a terrible prenancy and if she even thinks of getting pregnant again, big tears well up in her eyes. That's okay....we can spoil Haylee to pieces!!

Next Quilt Up

2010-06-28T21:06:00.002-05:00

Oh, I love this piecer. This woman makes me want to keep quilting. Her quilts are always square. The fabrics are well thought out and work beautifully together. We have won and award so I am thinking we are a team. She called today and needs her quilt done for the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, Missouri. I was as work when she called me to ask if I could get 'er done in time. I said, "yes, I can do it!" Mostly because I am a dork. I have about 2 1/2 weeks to get it done and we have a holiday weekend in between.

The really great part, when Claudia Pfeil was here for MQS, she spend the last night in Kansas City at my house. Since I love the quilts I get from this lady, I couldn't wait to share them with Claudia. I never expected her to ask for a piece of clear sheeting to draw on. I quickly obliged. Have you ever seen a mad scientist at work? Me neither! But I think this was it. (I know I shouldn't say "Me neither" but it comes from my raisin). Claudia spread the plastic sheet over the quilt top and started drawing designs. They were right on spot for what I was thinking I wanted to do on the quilt. She drew and drew until I almost shouted "Stop!" Claudia was to the edge of the plastic and was headed for the quilt top. She looked at me like I just stopped her from stepping in front of a run away bus. She had a funny little quirky smile and said, "You understand what I mean." Oh, I get you sister!!

I have decided not to take a picture of this beauty until I am finished with the quilting. I can't wait to share it with you. Maybe this is the inspiration I need to want to keep my machine and keep going.

Stay tuned, you are going to love, love this quilt!

Alert...Alert...

2010-06-28T13:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, it's not really an emergency, honestly, it's just a little update of sorts.

To catch you up...

I am on week 12 of Weight Watchers and have lost just over 15 pounds. Yippee!! That is more than a pound a week, which is good. Also, I am walking at least 2 1/2 miles per day, also a good thing.

My shoulder/neck/upper back thing, the PT has decided is a neurological thing, she just can't figure out what/where/when or how...but we know what not to do - by trial and error.

We are about to buy a travel trailer with all 4 sides in tact! (probably the best news).

My favorite customer, the little lady that is 83, called me today to say she would like to have one of her quilts completed in time to enter in the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, MO . Fair date July 30 - yikes!! And stupid me...I told her I would try to have it to her in time to bind it.

I need a Psychiatrist!!

What's Wrong With This Picture and Happier Things

2010-06-26T08:45:00.004-05:00

I'm pretty sure I know how Cinderella's step mom felt....I resent quilting this quilt....isn't that crazy? But take a look at the picture.....

'Nuff said!!

No wait, one more thing...it's really not the quilt's fault. I think I loaded the back sideways....the last row will tell the story.

Now for better things. Our garden. It is loving this hot, hot, hot, humidity we are experiencing right now. This only means one thing....the best home grown maters ever!!

One last thing to share....and it is too funny. I hope it is not one of those moments where "you just had to be there".

We have 2 older campers on our property at the lake. It is so hot right now that I hate going there, but we have to go every once in a while just to check on things and Rod does some weed eating. Too many rocks to be able to mow.

Both of our campers are falling apart. One was really bad so Rod decided to salvage the aluminum and copper then try to tear the camper down to the trailer and sell it. Right! That was 2 years ago. I have a flippin fit when we go down there telling him it looks like a junk yard and we just need a big, bad dog on a log chain and things would be perfect. He too has decided it needs to go. However, while we were there last Saturday, he was weed eating away, when he looked up at me and said, "Things are looking really nice around here!"

Definitely a Kodak moment!!

I took this picture, then showed him the picture and repeated what he said. He busted out laughing!

I am afraid I have changed my Ioweegn (sp?) into a hillbilly.

Just a Little Medical Update

2010-06-15T15:34:00.002-05:00

Okay, don't want to bore you tears, but I have been whining about my neck, back and arms for so long that I thought I should share the latest.

I went to physical torture....I mean....therapy last Friday for the first time....again. I was going a year ago and now I am back. The therapist is a neck specialist....thank you Lord!!....She took one look at me and said, "Have you ever been diagnosed with scoliosis?" I'm sure I had the deer in the headlight look, and nodded my head. "Yes, when I was about 13 I was diagnosed." She then took me to a mirrored wall, (love those, by the way), and showed me how "twisted" I am. Everything is going downhill on the right side. My eyes droop, my mouth turns down on the right side, my head tilts to the right - a marked tilt), my hips are lower on that side, my shoulder is higher on the left side. Yada, yada......

The therapist told me it is going to get worse before it gets better but we have to retrain my muscles because this has been going on for a long, long time.

Today I went for my first "real" treatment. Ouch! She was not overly aggressive....I am just a mess. She is applying pressure to pressure points. Not a lot, but enough to make me want to cry.....but then I'm a wimp. Suddenly, I can feel the pain ease up. It is totally a miracle. Not to say I won't be going through this several times over and over. It is going to take some time to get each muscle to relax totally. She did tell me that I am a very strong person with a strong frame and "could be buff"if we can get these muscles to relax long enough to build strength.

Woo-hoo....I can be buff!! Look out Demi Moore....I'm all over this!!!

Thank you all for listening to me whine again. At lease I know what is going on.....I kept thinking I had some dreaded disease. Although, I will never be totally pain free because of the scoliosis, I should be much better.....later.

Where Did It Go??

2010-06-04T12:54:00.002-05:00

How many times have you been playing on the Internet...looking at web sites....looking at quilts...and there it is.....the next quilt for your list. You know the list. The one that you had to start because you kept finding quilts that you want to make, but you were getting behind so you started a list. Okay, most of the time it is a mental list, but it is a list.

A couple of days ago I was surfing and found a quilt pattern that I knew had to be on my list. For two days I have searched for that blasted quilt/web site, and still I cannot find it. This is driving me to drink....almost! Where is it????

Honestly, it looked like a very easy quilt to make, almost a single Irish Chain, 2 color quilt....but different. Oh if only I could find it.....

Well, on another subject. Weight Watchers is going well. I am losing 1 1/2 to 2 pounds per week, we won't talk about the one week that I gained one pound. No we won't. But I have also been walking everyday....3 miles per day. I love it!!! It is hard to get started walking or dieting or exercising, but once you get into it, it is awesome. I kind of feel like I can take on the world. Why is that? Endorphins?? I don't know....but I feel empowered and I have only lost 11 pounds. Wait until I have lost 50 more....I will be like, like, I don't even know who to compare myself to, that's how powerful I feel.

Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes

2010-06-02T08:11:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am making some very much needed changes in my life.

First, I am back at Weight Watchers and losing. Yes! Some of you know me and know that I have been here before. Last time I quite at 20 pounds to goal because my hubby decided he was there and didn't need to lose any more. Besides, we can do it at home. Don't ever believe that! You need to support of those meetings to get to goal and beyond.

Second, I am walking....usually 3 miles a day - walk/run. Except today, I draw the line when there is lightning....I know not very adventurous.

Third, I will be finishing the 3 customer quilts I have in house then selling my longarm, supplies, etc. I have had a quilt on the machine for more weeks than I would like to admit. It is a simple panto....I even blogged about it a few weeks ago....and still it is not finished. So comes a time when you have to look in the mirror and take a very good look. I am just not wanting to quilt.

I think it will feel like a big weight has been lifted of my shoulders. Then I am going to give it a bit, maybe till August, then I will begin piecing quilts. I have several on the chopping block that need to be done. The prospect is very exciting to me. If I can get these out of my way, then I will make some cute dresses for Haylee....my cutie little granddaughter.

Maybe, just maybe, I will collaborate with a longarmer on a show quilt. Who knows. Time will tell.

Next big job. Inventory!!! Ick.

A Little More MQS Inspiration

2010-05-16T17:18:00.003-05:00

Now that I have had time to reflect a little more about MQS and the inspiration gained...I realize that I did get some inspiration. Whew, I thought something was wrong with me.

The quilts were all so beautiful, as they always are. I still don't understand the judging, but maybe it is not for me to understand....after all, I am not a judge, right. I don't understand brain surgery either. There are just things like that in life....things we just don't understand.

I did get involved in a different side of MQS than I have before. MQS was in the wrapping up stages. The ladies voice came over the intercom system, "Machine Quilter's Showcase will be closing in 10 minutes. Please make your final selections. We look forward to seeing you at next year's show." I made a mad dash up one isle and down the next. Searching for the last...whatever...that I needed to buy. I mean, I only spent $28, surely there is something else I "need". No, nothing.

Claudia Pfeil was planning to come to my house after the show, so she asked if I would help tear down the APQS booth. Sure I would, happy to help where I could. You know how sometimes you feel like people could get a lot more done if you were just sitting in the corner? That is kind of the way I felt. I knew they had a system and if they had to tell me how to do something it was just going to slow them down. After a while I found a few things I could do that didn't cause someone else to have to undo and redo all my work.

I also help the IMQA crew take down signs from the vendor booths. Cindy Drake is quite short and need a long armed....longarmer to take down the signs. I can see why she asked me now. Cindy would have needed a step ladder to get these things down. She is so much fun, she makes me laugh every time I am around her.

Spending time this week with people I talk to on chat everyday was also very inspiring. You put a face with a name. You see their personalities. It is so great to spend time with these people. You know, you read their posts on line and think you know them. You see their pictures and you form a little opinion of what you think they are like. Some times you are right on the button. Some times you are way off. Many times this week I was very surprised. Maybe mostly by people that I forgot were coming or didn't know they were coming.

I was so very happy to spend time with Linda Card. She is such a hoot. She says little things that makes me laugh. She is inspiring. She finds the good in everything. We need to be surrounded by people like that. Linda Card...I love you....and I miss you already!!

My little partner in crime, Donna Smith was not here this year. I felt like something was missing....you know like, I forgot to put my bra on, or my shirt was on backward. Something was just not right....it was Donna!! Girl, you have to come next year.

Finally, I have a big decision to think about. Not buying a new machine....Certainly not selling my machine....but a big decision. I may be giving more info later. For now I need time to talk, think about and pray about this decision....then you all will know.

Thank you for reading my ramblings.

MQS Inspiration

2010-05-14T13:07:00.003-05:00

Well, this has been a bittersweet year at MQS for me. The sweet....Linda Card!! If you have never sat next to Linda in a class or in a program, I would recommend it. That woman is way too funny!!! Plus, she is so stinking nice. She is just like a ray of sunshine. She just seems to find good in everything. I need to be around her more often.

The bitter....My friend Donna is not here. Donna and I walk around at MQS with our noses 3 inches from the quilt surface making comments. Comments like, "Look at that! We could have don that!!" Have we ever entered a quilt? No! So this year Donna is not here. I walked around trying to "get into it", but I just couldn't. So I call her! I told her it was just no fun this year walking around looking, looking....I couldn't focus. I told her that in my opinion the judging was kinda strange this year. Her comment...."I knew we should have entered our quilts this year!" Ha! We are going to be saying that until we are 97....I hope.

It has been wonderful seeing everyone this year. However, I have tried to work everyday, at least part of the day, and then a couple of days have gone to the convention center to spend the evening or just hang out for a few hours. This is kicking my booty! I am so tired right now, I could curl up and go to sleep. I only have an hour and a half and I go home to wait for my husband, then he is going with me to Overland Park to meet Michael and Kay of Loricircles or Circle Lord, for dinner. I love them!!

The quilts, of course have been beautiful.

I got to meet Carla Barrett. Such a beautiful person.

Oh, and the Adatious Auction was pretty good. It started out kind of slow but then it got a little better. Claudia's quilt brought $2000!! Woo hoo!!! I hope to donate another quilt next year.

Usually I am inspired by MQS and can't wait to jump in and start quilting....this year....not so much. I think I am just tired.

MQS Begins....

2010-05-09T14:37:00.002-05:00

Or at least the hoop-la. Yeah!!!

In about an hour I will be standing at the Kansas City airport waiting for Claudia Pfeil....and watching for my friends Linda and Laura. Oh I can't wait to see them. Then I was reading MQR today, and Carla Barrette said that she would be arriving at 4 pm.....oh my gosh....how will I know her....please oh, please let me see her....I love her quilting and if I could just get close to her....But wait....I consider myself close friends with Claudia. I pick her up at the airport every year, spend time with her the whole week of MQS, and yet, I can't quilt like she does. Shoot!! I just knew if I could get close to Carla something would rub off.

It is like being in Hollywood for a quilter when you spend the day at the KC airport the day before MQS....You see all the big....I mean really BIG quilters....like Marilyn Badger....I feel like the people of the village when royalty rides through. Like I should drop in a low curtsy when Ms. Badger walks by. Oh my gosh.....it is so cool....

Raised Bed Gardens

2010-05-08T12:33:00.002-05:00

Finally, the garden is happening. No rain for the last few days and we are on our way. We have to hurry though.....the rain starts Sunday and goes on all week.

Our back yard is so wet that every year we are planting in mud. I hate that. It is so worthless. All the hard work you do is marred in clay. This year, finally, my husband listened to me. We are going with raised beds. He has made 6 large beds, one small one, and we have the whisky barrel for something.

This is the picture of the second load of rich, black soil (on the front of the trailer) and the dark brown mulch that will pave the walk way between the beds.

Here is another view of the garden.

Herbs!!! Yum...I love to cook with herbs.

Here he is, hard at work....while I sit here typing my blog.....shhhh.....

You can't see it in these pictures, but at the front entrance, on the left will be the rhubarb bed. I love a great garden!!!

Crappie Season

2010-05-08T11:23:00.004-05:00

Okay, my pictures are a bit backward....but we caught the fish....before we cleaned them, lol.
This is my husband cleaning these tasty fish. I love crappie....

This is why I can't get a quilt finished.....But we are spending quality time together....Getting snagged, cussing, stomping...his old boat taking on water and then him standing on his head at the back of the boat bailing water to make sure we don't become a statistic.....

This is Rod's oldest son, holding the catch of the day....they did alright.

At one time Rod was taller than Luke....told him he needs to start standing up hill of his little boy. Although, how far up the hill would he have to stand to be taller than 6' 8"?? Actually, Rod is 6" 4", still shorter than Luke...but not by as much as it appears in this picture.

YUM!!!

Burrrr

2010-05-07T21:18:00.002-05:00

We have sunshine....white puffy clouds....and wind that can blow your hair right off your head! And is it ever chilly. Next week, during MQS, it is suppose to be rainy and nasty most days. Why, oh why?

Can't wait to see the quilts, though I have to wait unti Thusday. I need some inspiration....

Bad, Bad Blogger

2010-05-05T06:26:00.002-05:00

I think I have a screw loose.

When I find a blog that I like reading, I join that blog or make it my favorite, or....see I don't even know what you call it. Anyway, every time I do that I can't find it. Every time I want to read other blogs I just go to Ramona Quilter's blog (thank you Linda) and read her list :o)

This week....I found all of those I have been joining/saving/whatever. I'm so happy I found them. And I feel like a dork!

On another note....is it just because I know so many quilters...or is there a divorce/separation epidemic among us. I can see how it can happen. We really are involved in the business of quilting and significant others usually feel neglected. It is too bad that we cannot find a balance. I have just found out that another up and coming, quilter is single again and it just makes me sad to hear this. We need a balance somehow.

Just saying....it must take a very special person to be the significant other of a machine quilter....if you have one of these special people....you probably should just go throw your arms around their neck, give 'em a great big smootch....and let them know you love them.

What! Fine Hand Applique'.....???

2010-04-30T13:08:00.002-05:00

I have decided for the second time in my life ( I never learn the first time) that Fine Hand Applique is for those beautiful women who have nerves of steel and should be wearing a halo and wings!!

It is suppose to be relaxing...or so they tell me. I have one stem sewn down that is about 6" long and half of a flower....and I am ready to scream. I will be working this quilt over to make my applique pieces attach to the quilt in a different manor or, the quilt goes into a garage sale!

This is a beautiful quilt that I picked up on vacation on year on a fishing trip to Wisconsin. I love the quilt. I find I hate to applique.

Seems if I remember right, I took a class on "Fine Hand Applique" and ended up throwing the small piece away just after the class. Yeah, I do remember that!! No, this one is not going into the trash....I will finish it, just not with hand applique.

Today I finish, start, finish

2010-04-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

Today is the day that I finish the quilt that has been on my machine for 3 weeks. Yes, you heard it right...3 weeks. Guess what intricate design I am quilting on this baby....

See, very intricate. I think the quilt is a whopping 68" x 68" and I think I have finished 2 rows. This is the quilt that I had to cut the borders to make them fit....yes....same quilt. I have zero motivation to work on this quilt. But it does need to be done, so today I will finish it.

My next quilt is one that I took out, measured three places in lenght and found that the quilt gradually became longer as I crossed the quilt. So by the time I made if from one side to the other the quilt was 6" longer. Did I mention it has about 5 borders? Yes, five...count 'em. I called the maker and she came and picked it up, "fixed it" and brought it back. Today I try to load it. If I can get 'er loaded.....I will try my best to finish this quilt this weekend.

I have 2 quilts left....beautiful, beautiful....I cannot wait to start tme. Totally custom and these quilts are absolutely beautiful. I will post pics. Stay tuned.

What to do....What to do???

2010-04-20T22:34:00.002-05:00

I have a battle going on in my head like a tennis match. My problem? I have stopped machine quilting for customers. Plus, I use my longarm only occasionally. So, I'm thinking I should sell my machine, make room in my house for furniture, family, friends and fun. But, I want to make quilts....and more importantly...I want to quilt those quilts myself. Can I quilt a quilt on my domestic machine? Probably. Do I want to? NOT! I'm spoiled. I love my longarm. I would love to have the new APQS Bliss...however, I don't want to break the bank to do it. That makes me think I should down size. If I am quilting for just me....do I need the biggest machine I can find? Could I go to a smaller machine? Or, should I just keep my machine since I have already paid for it, I already know my machine. I know what makes her tick. I know what kind of thread she likes, and what kind she hates.

Do you see what I am going through here?

If I sell my machine, our plan is to put in water and a sewer system at our property at the lake, then eventually build a cabin. It makes sense that this would be a family venture. We would all be able to enjoy the lake and spend time with each other. Sounds like a good argument....but do I really want to spend that much time with my kids and their kids. And.....do they want to spend that much time with me?!

If I keep my machine it will keep our basement occupied. It will take longer to be able to build our dream and I don't want to be old and decrepit by the time we save enough money to enjoy ourselves.

Wow, it kind of sounds like I want my cake...and I want to eat it too. Is that impossible?

What to do....what to do????

Okay, I Take It Back

2010-04-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

I was so excited about Bliss....and still am for those who get this system. It sounds awesome. I, however, will not be one of the lucky ones. I have decided to just keep my old Millie, buy some Edgerider wheels and be happy with what I have. I just can't spend another $9000 to upgrade the system that I have. I would need to sell my machine in order to purchase a new head with the options I want. Plus buy a shorter table, add quilt glide and hydraulic lift. I would love to have it all....but in reality....that is crazy!!! Can't and won't do it. By the way.....I probably give the impression that we are poor, not so, just cautious with our hard earned money.

New APQS "Bliss"

2010-04-13T05:53:00.002-05:00

I am sold. Now all I have to do is sell my husband on buying a new quilting machine. Sell my machine. And buy the new APQS Bliss system. I had the best machine APQS had 6 years ago....now....they have a new and improved system...and I want it!! I have even gone so far as to contact Mark at APQS, tell him what I have and what I want and he has emailed me back with what he can do. Just wondering how many times in one lifetime I can sell my husband on a quilting machine.

I've been wanting a Millennium with the quilt glide since it came out. My plan was to try to get it with the Edgerider Wheels. Then a bird told me about this system a couple of months ago and I have been thinking....then this week APQS spilled the beans. Now I am ready. I will get everything together to present my case to hubby. I will first start with pictures of the bass boat he needs and convince him that we can afford it and we need to get it for him...then "oh, by the way, I'm selling my machine to replace it with this one." Still thinking this plan out...so not sure yet.

I'm Gonna Bust My Stash!!

2010-04-11T20:40:00.002-05:00

I know...I've said it before, but this time I mean it!!

When I first started quilting everyone gave great advice about storing your stash. Don't put it in plastic because plastic will break down the fibers. Don't put it against wood because stuff seeps out of the wood onto the fabric and ruins it. You are suppose to be so very careful about where you store it, and yet, I am stuffing it any place I can to get it out of sight. Enough!!!

First, I will make a spread sheet of fabric I have on hand. Then as I use it, I will be able to see the number change....That should help, do you think? Any thing just to use this fabric. I love it, or at least I did when I bought it. I am not one of these trendy girls that has to keep up with the current fabric in the stores. I just want to make some quilts.

So no more talk....only action. Wish me luck!! I'll let you know how it goes.

NQR - West Virgina Coal Miners

2010-04-10T06:12:00.002-05:00

Just heard the news that the four remaining miners bodies were found a couple of hours ago. I am so, so sorry for all the families and friends of all of the miners that lost their lives in this terrible accident.

When you hear that four men could still be alive in a situation like this, you feel in your heart that they could not possible be alive, but you hold out hope. Then when you hear the news, you can help but feel broken.

As you know, I am investigating my family tree on my Mother's side. As I started the investigation I found that my grandfather was born in England to a family of coal miners. The records are sketchy, but I see my great-grandfather in census records, then I see my great-grandmother as a widow. They moved to Canada, to yet another mining community. I have been reading newspaper articles of a terrible mining accident of 175 miners that were killed in an accident. That is astounding. If that was not bad enough, I read of a forest fire that swept through the town that family moved to that burned the entire town to the ground. Horrible! One story that stuck in my mind and I cannot shake. A mom and her two children tried to escape the fire by lowering themselves into a well, sounds like a great idea, right. Wrong. The fire was so intense it cased the water to boil.

I am just amazed by the history I am finding about these people. I am happy and blessed to know that my husband and sons are not miners. I thank God that we don't live in that part of the country, because it seems to feed your children, you must be a coal miner. The media people that ask questions are suppose to be educated, and yet they ask "Why do you do it? Why do you work in the coal mines?" Are you crazy?? First we are in a recession, are there any jobs to be had if they quit being miners? Second, how would you pay your bills or feed your family if you lived in West Virginia? And they do this so we can leave the lights on in the room we are not in. Whew...think about that for a while.

I'm so sorry. I don't mean to get on my soapbox. I know this is not quilting related. I just can't help but let you all know what is on my mind and since I am investigating my family history this story has been on my mind as I have been following the story of the miners.

Quilts of Valor and the Likes

2010-04-05T08:19:00.003-05:00

I have a question. Why is it that when people say they are quilting a Quilts of Valor quilt or a donation quilt, they say they will try experimenting or that they are great "practice" quilts? I have heard some say that it is because these people don't really appreciate good quilting and this is just a time to practice. I have heard some say that these people may not even take care of the quilt, they usually just throw them down for a dog to lay on. I have even seen some of these quilts that look like someone started one design, then changed their mind and stitched something else right over the top of the first stitching.

This all confuses me. When you donate money to a cause, do you know that the money is being used for that cause, or that the money is being misused as we have found to be true in the last year or so of major organizations. You don't know where your money is actually going, but you donate in good faith. Isn't that what we should do with these quilts too? (I'm on my soapbox today, can you tell).

This has bothered me since the first time I heard it discussed as "just practice quits", and it just sticks in my heart. Here is goes....

The men and women in the military are protecting us everyday. They lay their lives on the line, not knowing what is around the next corner. And we give them a practice quilt because we don't "think" they will appreciate it. Why bother?? Why not just walk up to them and say "thank you"...don't think that is enough....or do we just want a reason to practice?

How about a little kid that has been through a terrible experience. Oh, they won't appreciate it so we just "practice". I remember being a kid....if someone had given me a quilt, I would have treasured it, protected it, and love it. I don't think kids have changed that much.

Sorry, I don't mean to preach....I just heard this again this week and it stuck with me and I just had to say something. Forgive me if I stepped on toes, or offended anyone.....It just hurts my heart to hear this....and it's my blog so I can do what I want :o)

The People I Have Loved

2010-04-03T15:54:00.002-05:00

This is kind of sad....get your kleenex and have a seat.

My Mom is an only child, expect for the two half sister's in Canada that she doesn't know, has never met, and may not be living....we don't know. But, she had a cousin in Broomfield, Colorado who she always talked about. "Dale is a character", was how she always described him. When I was in my late twenties Dale, his wife Leora, and Dale's Mother came to visit. Dale's Mother was my Grandmother's sister. And I soon found...that is where Dale got his character. Aunt Rachel was a pistol. She was 89 years old when I met her and I was expecting this little, frail, lady. Not so, She was very upright, strong, walked every day, and way to funny!! When She was in her sixties she bet her 40 year old daughter that she could still kick the clothesline. Her daughter tried to tell her not to try it...but too late. Aunt Rachel rared back and kicked, forgetting that she had a pencil skirt on and it caused her back leg to come up off the ground landing her flat on her back. Her husband picked her up and scolded her for her antics. I want to be like Aunt Rachel when I'm sixty!

Anyway, after meeting this part of my family, I was happy to know that my mom came from this kind of stock. They were such special people.

I became very good friends with Leora, Dale's wife, and we started writing to each other. I learned so much about her and her life growing up and how she went to college to become a school teacher and how she worked in the mission field. Then she met Dale and they were married. Our friendship continued for years until Leora was diagnosed with cancer and passed away about 4 years ago.

Dale was so distraught by losing Leora that he would post emails talking about how he just didn't think he could go on without her. The emails were so depressing that sometimes I couldn't open them, I would just leave it and go on. Finally, Dale's attitude changed and his focus became telling the world about the love Jesus has for us.

Dale was a story teller....I think that is where I get it......and he was an artist. You could not sit down to talk to him that he didn't tell one of those jokes that you couldn't tell if it was a real story or a joke, but it was so funny. He had a lot of true life stories too that was just too much.

I was so sorry that I grew up in Missouri and they lived in Colorado and I never knew them until the last few years.

Dale passed away this morning at 1:30 am. He suffered for many years after having several strokes. He was confined to a bed these last few months and it was just so sad to see his health fail so much. I just couldn't help but think that Dale is now in a much better place where he is not suffering. He is right were he has told us he wanted to be, with his Lord, and Saviour, Jesus Christ....and with his beloved Leora.

I will miss you Dale. You were one of the good guys!!

Brilliant Idea

2010-04-01T15:48:00.002-05:00

So, this is not quilting related...I just wanted to share what was on my mind and you all are my audience.

My mom will be 80 years old this year in August. What do you get someone who has everything....and has never thrown anything away? I figured it out!!

My mom was 8 years old when her father, an illegal immigrant from Canada, was deported back to his country of origin, England. He died there in 1962 from asphyxiation. So sad that my mother never seen him again after he was deported, which is probably why she can't throw things away, so I don't fault her, I will just have a huge job some day. Anyway, I am looking up her family history and will give this to her for her birthday. What a great idea, right?!

So, I was just searching the internet and coming up with a little information, such as Canadian military records, with his mother's name. I finally bit the bullit and decided to buy a one month memebership to Ancestory.com and I am finding lots of things about my grandfather. I am just so excited but I can't tell my mom yet. My momma is not a very emotional person, again, probably because of her past she has learned to disguise things....but I have a feeling she is going to be beside herself when I had her this information.....just had to share.

I have added a new blog

2010-03-30T06:36:00.003-05:00

Yes, that is right...like I don't have enough to keep me busy, I have developed a "throwdown". I have issued a stencil throwdown on the APQS chat. If you have not been there and read about the challenge, please do so. If you would like to participate, please feel free. I have posted a like to my stencil throwdown blog below. I will be posting pictures to the blog as they are emailed to me. Stay tuned.

http://stencilthrowdown.blogspot.com/

....Continued....the Quilt From....You Know Where

2010-03-24T06:28:00.007-05:00

Okay, as promised, here are the pictures of the quilt that I have been battling with this past week. The first picture is the result of me "fixing" the border. This yellow striped border was stretched so that the edge was flared. I had to take a tuck in order to get the border on. If I had left the quilt and not taken the borders off....this one, tiny tuck would not have been here.....however....the border would have had about 10 tucks, one every 2" or so.

This picture shows you the difference in the quilt top (bottom layer) and the border. Thank goodness for good feed dogs!!!

This picture shows the stretched yellow sashing and corner blocks....what a mess.....

This pictures shows what I had to work with after the starch and steam....and starch and steam...

This is to give you an idea of how stretched out of shape the corner blocks are. This is the measurement from the quilt side....

This is the measurement on the same block on the edge where the border will be re-attached.

Here is the edge with the border pinned onto the quilt....do you have tears in your eyes...I do....

Just another one to show what we are working with.

Some of these pictures... I can't even remember why I took the pictures.....but the seams were not 1/4" from one end of the seam to the other....there is a really good one later......

This pictures shows the 2 - 2 2/3" pieces I cut out of 2 borders to make them fit the quilt.

This picture shows where the maker added pieces to the other borders to make them big enough....I bet we didn't need those...but I'm not digging any deeper. If I can get this sucker on my machine, I'm done.

did I mention pressing....check out the pressing. Thank goodness she didn't want SID....You really have to look...this picture is not very good.

This one shows you the pressing and how I can stick the tip of my seam ripper into the fold created by the pressing.

You can see the seam line and the pressing better here....

And did I tell you, she didn't line up the edges....some were off.....Are you glad yet, that you are not trying to quilt this quilt??

This was the quilt before I took the border off!

I hope you enjoyed this show.

It is such a cute quilt....too bad she didn't take her time and do it right!

Last Topic to be Continued

2010-03-23T07:37:00.001-05:00

Well, today I am going to the neuroligist about my neck. Hopefully he will test for pinched nerves or whatever....but I hope he finds something. In the mean while, most things have stopped hurting. Isn't that how it goes. It will flare up again, but for now I will enjoy the pain free days.

While I am getting ready to go, I had a few minutes to spare, thought I would jump down to the basement and work on the quilt from....well, you know....

I would just like to say....that story is to be continued. I have the two oposite borders off the quilt. So the inner pieced border is also eased. Only that is like sashing with corner blocks....anyway....to be continued......

(Thought I should let you all know....I know you are on the edge of your seats now!!).

Baggy Borders

2010-03-20T07:34:00.003-05:00

Tell me why a piecer refuses to apply borders correctly!?!

I have 3 customer quilts left to finish up. Sounds easy doesn't it? No, it is not. That is what makes this job so stinking frustrating.

This quilt belongs to a customer that sent me a quilt last summer. On her former quilt I charged her $18 per hour to "fix" her quilt. She had a center block with applique'. the borders around this center block was shorter than the center so that the center had to be eased. What a mess. I had to remove the center block from the quilt. Measure the center hole add 1/4" and cut the center block to match that measurement. Of course I had to make the applique look as if it is centered, but it was off just a touch.

I invited my customer over to see this "mess" and show her how to fix it. She took one look and said, "No way. I could never fix this. You fix it, I don't care what it costs!" What??! I don't want to fix it, I just want to quilt it. Why me?!? Because I am a machine quilter.

I fix in my mind that these last few quilts will be fun. I am going to really enjoy these last few quilts and then get on with my own quilts.

I load this quilt, noticing the last border has some fullness. My plan.....ignore it and quilt it out...isn't that what they think we can do anyway?

Today I basted the batting to the backing with my channel locks on so that I have a very straight line to line my quilt top up to. I determined that my edges should be at the 37 1/2" mark. I pinned the center of the quilt, then the side at the 37 1/2" mark. Oh my gosh!!! I could pick up the border and pinch a good 2" or so. &*&^^%%^&*(*&^ (that is me cussing....since I don't cuss...they came out as numbers the first time I typed it out :) ).

So, I have unloaded the quilt. Now I am sitting here tearing the borders off the quilt. I will lay it out flat, measure, cut the border down, apply the sides, measure, apply the top and bottom borders. &**&&^%^^&^&&. There now I can cuss. Then I will reload the quilt. Get it done and out of this house!!

Do you all go through this every time??

My next quilt. When the customer brought it and dropped it off. I laid it in the floor, measured in 3 places across the quilt and then 3 places on the length. The length measured 6" different on one from the other side. SIX INCHES!!! Do I seem angry?? You bet I am. Why do these people spend so much money on the fabric, then botch it all up and call it a quilt?!? I'm sorry. I am suppose to love quilting and just be happy to quilt. It just isn't that easy.

I had that customer take the quilt back and fix it. Did I mention it has about 3 or 4 borders. I wasn't touching that one.

Anyway....that quilt is up next. Can you imagine....I feel like I am going from one hell to another.

If you are reading this, and you are a piecer. Please, please, please, make sure you are taking your time to piece your beautiful quilt so that there are no tucks, no easing. Everything is laying flat. Your machine quilter will be happy and you will be very pleased with your quilt when it is finished.

If you are a person thinking of buying a longarm and starting your own business. Have a plan. Have a dollar amount that you will charge if you have to make these alterations to a quilt top. When a customer brings a top to you, measure, measure, measure. Then measure the back, making sure it is 8" long and 8" wider than the top. If it is not, send it home. Don't think you can "fix" it. You may end up like me...feeling very frustrated by quilting.

Maybe I should offer to teach a class at my house on how to make a quilt that will make you and your machine quilter happy. Humm...maybe I'm onto something. I cannot teach these classes in a quilt store, because these people will not take the class there. They think they know how to piece.

Now, after saying all of that. I refuse to write another post like this. I am tired of being negative. If I can't say something nice....I won't say anything. If I don't post for several months....you will know why :o)

Spring Fever

2010-03-19T13:19:00.001-05:00

Will the winter ever end??

Donna, I take it you are having bad weather today....We get it starting tonight....They are predicting up to 6" of snow this weekend. I just hate that .....NO MORE SNOW!! The good thing about snow this time of year is that 1 day after it falls, it is g-o-n-e.

Looks like I may be stuck in the house again this weekend. I was looking at sunny web sites today, you know, Key West, Florida. I want to go to a place where I can lay in a hammock all day and sleep all night. I don't want to shop. I don't want to go out to eat. I don't even care if I eat at all...but I know that isn't practical. I just want to be on a warm beach. Warm sand, waves and a slight breeze. Yes....I can feel it now.

New Directions

2010-03-18T05:56:00.003-05:00

Okay, after my last post and giving it much thought and discussion, I have decided to keep my machine. I won't be quilting as much. I had to come to grips with the idea that it is okay for her to just sit here, not doing anything.

Currently there are two customer quilts in my basement, one on the machine, one hanging for inspiration. Those quilts will be completed this weekend. Hopefully!!

I have one customer that is a sweetheart. She is 84 years old and does a beautiful hand applique. Some of her quilts are hand pieced also, and they are just beautiful. The quilts she puts together are always show quality quilts and she has many ribbons to prove it. Any way, she called while I was down with the flu, and wanted to know if I would quilt another quilt for her. I love her quilts and feel the passion when I think about her and her quilts. I am happy to quilt for her. I always go to her house and pick the quilts up too, something I don't do for my other customers. She is just so darned nice, and the "Aunt Bea" type of person that you just can't help but love.

I purchased a vintage quilt top a year or so ago and can't wait to get my hands and machine on that one. It will be nice to have a quilt of my own!! This one will be first on my list when I am ready to quilt.

My mom left me with 3 or 4 quilt tops 5 years ago....still haven't had time to quilt them. They will be quilted and I will give them back to her. Some are baby quilts that I'm sure she would have liked to have given to my children when they had babies....oh well.

I think this is a good decision. I think I am happy with this decision. I will keep the machine and let her collect dust. Maybe, someday I will get back in this and trade her in for a more updated version of the Millie. Someday!!

Thank you all for your comments and thoughtfullness. I appreciate each one of you more than you know. Oh, and thank you for reading my blog....you never know who is reading until you post a message like I did, lol.

Quitting Quilting

2010-03-15T13:37:00.002-05:00

Well, it seems to be official. I have 3 quilts to finish, then I will be posting my machine for sale. I have been thinking about it for months and this weekend I decided it has to be. I will finish my customers quilts and let the few people I have left know that I won't be taking any more in. I have a few of my own quilts to work on too so I will list the machine for sale and then work on my own. I'm sure the machine won't sell when I first put in on the market, so I should have time to get my own quilts completed.

It seems like it has been forever since I have had a normal house. We should have plenty of room to ramble around when everything is gone.

I don't know what my futur holds. I will keep piecing because I love piecing. When I have a top ready to qulit, I know I won't have any problem finding a great quilter to finish my tops. I know some really wonderful quilters as a result of being in the biz for 5 years.

Who knows, a few years down the line I may decided that I can't live without machine quilting and I will jump back in . For now, I am going to relax and live my life with my husband and kids and grandkids without worrying about someone elses quilts.

I plan to keep up my blog....My stories never end ya know. Of course there will be my latest adventures in quilting.

Thank you all for being my faithful followers. I appreciate you for listening to me whine all the time. Stay with me....there is more where that came from.

Two Doctor Visits in One Week

2010-03-12T11:36:00.003-06:00

I had to go to the doctor on Monday. It started with the flu on Friday, and I ended up with a sinus infection and upper respiratory infection. The entire week has been spent laying on the couch. I am sick, sick, sick of this!!

Today I had to go back to the doctor. It is now Friday and my ears are still plugged. My head hurts. Today, she gave me a shot. Now I ask you....why didn't she do that on Monday so I could get on with my life?

Oh, but I ask you one other question....why can't I get in to see my own doctor? When I called on Monday, they said he was booked for 3 days solid. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So, this morning....Friday, I call and ask to see my doctor today. No, he is booked today too. I have had it. No more to this doctor's office. Once before when I called to make an appointment I had to see someone else. He told me, the next time I went in, that I needed to select a doctor and stay with that one doctor. Huh??! So I have decided I need to do that. Find a doctor who is not quite as busy and stick with them.

Oh, Monday, when I was seeing the wrong doctor they sent me back for a chest x-ray. As I was walking back to room number 29, the doctor was standing in the hall and said, "Is 29 back yet?" Not, "Is Mary back yet?" of is "Mrs. "X" back yet?" But, "Is 29 back yet?" I am a number at that doctor's office. That is way too busy.

I hate looking for another doctor.

Oh, and the shot feels like it could be helping. Plus I am taking a decongestant. That seems to be helping too....who knows, maybe I will feel human before the day is over.

Life Is Getting In My Way

2010-03-10T15:27:00.002-06:00

Maybe I am suffering burn out...maybe other things are just more important right now, I don't know, but I cannot get where I need to be in the quilting world, ever!

As you know, I had big plans to enter a quilt into MQS. As time started getting closer to the first of January, I knew I had to kick it in gear. I really started busting my chops to get 'er done. I spend one day of intense piecing and my neck, shoulder, arm and back rebelled. I stopped for the day, but intended to get after it again the next day. I didn't make it through an entire day. It was apparent that I would need to rest my body and plan my quilting so that I could finish that top. My dad was ill and I had to go to Springfield for a weekend, then I had a migraine, and a week ago Monday I sounded very much like I was catching a cold. My first customer of the day, on the phone, even commented about my cold. Hummm. Then on Wednesday of last week I woke up with a migraine again. I had to be off work that day, but felt better in the afternoon. Went to work on Thursday, and was very tired, but I was trying to push through. Friday at 3:30 am I woke up again with another migraine and was so sick there was no going to work. I was even too sick to go to the doctor, but felt I had the flu and knew they wouldn't want me there or be able to help me. I was ill all weekend and finally, today....Wednesday, I am feeling better. My first day to wear glasses.

I say all of this to say, I think it is a conspiracy. I think the "biggies" in the machine quilting world have set out to keep me from entering a quilt.

Okay, sorry, that thought just hit me...that is not at all what I was intending to say. I had such a great idea for a quilt. I was going to enter a quilt in the Theme Category of MQS. My quilt was going to be named, "Salsa, Chips and Margaritas". Now, I will tell you that I am not an art quilter. I only like quilts that are functional. I love traditional quilts. No quilts on the wall for me.....except this one. I was so excited about this quilt. I designed it from the center out. I even started a little notebook of fabric swatches, pattern, thread, quilting designs, border ideas, etc. I stay awake nights thinking about where I would hang this quilt in my house. How I would redesign a room around this one quilt. You know what that is.....passion!!

With all the passion in the world, my body still will not cooperate. Now don't get me wrong. I am not crippled, at least not in the way that I need a wheelchair to get from one place to another, but I do have these crippling ailments that keep me from doing things that I love.

This week my thoughts have been running rampant. I am not a competitive quilter. It doesn't matter one wit to me what a couple of judges have to say about a quilt that I would enter into a contest. I do not have a competitive spirit. Am I a party pooper? No!! I love looking at the quilts. I hate having a piece of paper thrust into my hands and have people telling me to "vote" on my favorites in each category. Of course I am going to vote for my friend's quilts, doesn't matter if their quilt is necessarily the best.....ooops....is that a faux paux?? Is that something we all know about, just don't talk about??? Yes, I think so.

Okay, I have so much more to say on this subject, but will wait until I am no longer a quilter....then I will be able to say whatever I want to....or just skip it.

So, since I have been off work now for 5 days, but only had 3 days of vacation time, I have none left for MQS. I will take a couple of hours off on Tuesday to pick a friend up at the airport. I will take off on Thursday so I can spend the day with my friends and plan to be there in the evenings. This year sucks!!!

I'm a new mom.....

2010-03-02T11:10:00.003-06:00

We purchased a steak over the weekend....it just needs to be a little bigger :o) Our kids are raising him on their farm...and then we will divide....after....you know.....

This is a picture of my cutie Granddaughter feeding the baby.

My Nebraska Trip

2010-02-26T21:07:00.004-06:00

Kneeling, left to right: Laura Farnham, Suzy, Virginia, Sheri, Julie

Next row, left to right: Roxanne, Julia, Kerri, Renae, Debbi

Last row, left to right: Me (Mary Beth) and LeeAnn

My trip to Nebraska was way too much fun. I just have to say, my new found...old friends are way too much fun!

I would say that I was up with the chickens, however, no respectable chicken would be up that early! I was up at 4:30 am....on a Saturday. Was picked up by a person I met on the Internet. My husband cannot get over that part of the story. One of my new friends, Suzy, was coming my way, so she just picked me up. We met Virginia at a McDonald's in the next town up the road, and away we went. I talked non-stop. Those poor, poor women were stuck in a car with me for 3 hours. Live and learn...that's what I say.

When we reached our destination, Julies house, the kitchen became the gathering place. We started out by eating a deliciously yummy coffee cake. I was a little embarrassed when a piece of my coffee cake hit the floor. However, Julie has two of the cutest dogs who have radar when it comes to goodies hitting the floor. So no worries. The two dogs were a little yellow lab and a West highland White Terrier. I love both breeds so I didn't want to quilt...I just wanted to roll in the floor with these two dogs.

After starting the day with the breakfast of champions we went to the quilting studio. Julie has the most beautiful studio. The room is huge, and Julie's husband is a woodworker extraordinaire. She has a batting rack and a thread/ruler rack that is just too cool. If I could have tucked it into the trunk I would have moved it out of her way.

So, the meeting started with me doing a demo on the Circle Lord. I had almost all of my templates there. After I showed the Featherz Wreath template, you could see Virginia itching to take hold of those handles and take off. I think we have a new Circle Lord fan.

Then Laura Farnham, who stopped by on her way from Colorado to Des Monies to the APQS Rep Rally. Okay, Laura drove all night and arrived in time for the meeting. Now, I love to quilt, but I find that I like to sleep more. Or at lease get more then 20 minutes, which is the amount of a nap that Laura took while on her way. Don't ask me if she pulled to the side of the road for that nap, she didn't look like she wanted to make small talk.

I will say that Laura, even as tired as she was, can really quilt. She did a demo of her beautiful feathers. She made them look so easy and I know they are not. That is total inspiration.

When we all went down stairs, I notice Laura had a beautiful quited bag with her goodies in it. Little did I know that her sister designed and made the bag, and the goodies in her bag, were patterns for all of us. Yippee...Now maybe my friends will have a beautiful bag too....maybe.....I said, maybe.

So here are some pictures of our day, a little out of order. The first picture is of our lunch, I will try to name everyone.

Debbi and LeAnn - Of course my friends Linda Card and Donna know Debbi. I am here to tell you LeeAnn is so much fun. Oh, you all probably know here too from MQR.

Standing on the left is Roxanne, sitting/center is KerriM from APQS chat, and Laura Farnham.

Left, Julie, our hostess. Julia Martin, Renae Gamill and Debi.

Of course, front and center is Sheri Butler - talking with her hands - she has more energy than all of us combined.

We had so much fun. We laughed a lot. And new friendships were made. It was just so good to meet people we talk to online everyday and only get to see a tiny little avatar. I hope we get to do it again someday.

Going to play in Nebraska with my quilty friends

2010-02-19T13:14:00.002-06:00

I am so looking forward to Saturday! I have never been to Nebraska!! Yes, that's right, I have been to Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, but never Nebraska...I wonder why???

We, a car load from the Kansas City area, will be going to Omaha to join the Midwest Machine Quilters group. This is a bunch of ladies from all over the eastern side of Nebraska and as far away as Des Monies, Iowa. This is going to be so much fun meeting some of these ladies that I know from chat and have never met face-to-face, and seeing old friends that I have known for a while now.

We are all bringing our favorite tool for show and tell. Of course, I will be lugging my Circle Lord equipment. Since I know I will never be able to afford a computerized system and most of the quilting I have seen from the computer system, I'm just not crazy about...sorry to my friends that are in the techno age.

So, I have just received some new templates from Michael and Kay at Circle Lord. I am so excited about showing them off. Some of the girls do not have a circle making contraption so it will be fun to see how they like it. Some have had other circle makers systems and hate them. So they should have fun too.

Can I just say that I think my medication is making me loopy :o) I feel like I need a nap and I keep staring and everything gets blurry. You know that feeling of needing to lay down after you take prescription drugs...well, I can't!! We are not busy at work, so for a while I was had my head resting on my and could feel myself falling off the proverbial cliff :o) DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!

Sorry, that had nothing to do with Nebraska, quilting or the Circle Lord :o) But I think I'm trippin....now I know what those kids felt like in high school...wow...I missed out!!! :o)

MQS Quilt

2010-01-21T06:42:00.004-06:00

Oh, I have a terrible feeling that I am not going to get my MQS quilt finished.

By now I thought that I would have the top pieced and then I would start the quilting by the end of this month. However, I still only have the center pieced. I am ready to start the paper piecing, but lets face it...it is paper piecing. That takes a little longer to do. Even though I love to paper piece, it is a little more tedious.

Life just keeps getting in the way. We had to go bedroom furniture shopping. We watch Haylee on Tuesday evenings and I also had her last Saturday evening. Don't want to pass up time with that cutie patootie.

I tried moving all of my sewing things into the living room so I could piece while Rod and I spend the evening together. Well, that just didn't work. It was a mess and because our living room is small, if someone was sitting on the couch, I can't sit in my chair at the sewing machine. My step-son has moved back in for a while so there are three of us here on a weekend.

My dishwasher had given up the ghost so I was doing all of my dishes by hand. I missed her so much....but she is back....$200 later. I am not going to complain...after all, as a machine quilter, when I charged customer who complained about the price, we would always say "do you pay the plumber his charges?". Nope, not complaining. So having her back will free up a little time each day.

I don't want to give up. I just purchased the backing fabric for this quilt...it is sooooo cute I just can't give up yet.

Green Smoothies

2010-01-20T13:15:00.003-06:00

Okay...who ever named the smoothies must have never tried to drink one! That is the nastiest thing I have ever tried to drink. Bleck!!

I told Rod last night..."I love you, but I can't do this any more. Please don't make me another smoothie." He said he thinks he has an idea to make it better, so he makes it with tomatoes...okay, I can do that...and an orange...huh?! then who knows what?! Bleck!!

Today for my lunch I had a tiny container of yogurt, a granola bar, and I tried to give it one more try with the tomato thing....did I say bleck?!!

I give up...I can't do it any more. I am either going to not be healty and die young, or I am going to eat my vegetables in the form God intended. I pick the latter.

KIDS

2010-01-15T13:23:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought your child could have been switched at birth....even though you have had them for almost 32 years and they look like you and your ex-husband? Kids!

Getting Healthy??

2010-01-12T06:14:00.002-06:00

A couple of years ago I decided I had to lose weight. My husband did too, but his mind set was not where mine was. I sat here and whined and was low and I would say things like, "we are going to die", "we are just killing ourselves with the food we eat." Why he did not have me committed I will never know. Finally he hopped on board and we joined Weight Watchers. That is when the transformation took place.

After we started WW I started reading everything I could about nutrition. Have you ever read Bob Green's books (Oprah's trainer). He is the most inspiring person I have seen yet. I also read all of the WW magazines, looking at before and after pictures and reading their stories for inspiration. Oh, and Prevention magazine. Although, I did notice with Prevention that one article would tell you how great one food is for you, then another would tell you why you should avoid this food....too confusing. Still there is some very good advice there.

Any who, we have gone back to our old ways. Even after Rod lost so much weight, family and friends thought he was ill. And I could just pop in Target and grab a shirt off the rack and buy it without trying it on....Ah, those were the days. Okay, back to it....Rod has decided for me, the I need to be healthy. Man, is he on a kick. Some guy he works with is telling him all the benefits of drinking homemade juice. So over the weekend Rod purchased a super dooper 3 horse power blender. This thing will cook soup, or make ice cream. You suppose to be able to grind seeds, rinds, and one brand of these blenders even show an I-Phone being pulverized, we didn't buy that one because we don't want to pulverize our cell phones.

Everyday Rod tells me something new this guru he works with is telling him....all the same thing I was telling him 3 years ago but he thought was bunk. Why do they do that? Finally, Rod is all about getting us healthy....and I am sick of hearing about it. I want to rebel. I want to buy a case of Ho-Ho's and eat them in front of him. Maybe tie him to a chair and gag him so he can't say anything about fruit and vegetables...and then eat one cup cake after another, smiling all the time....maybe drink a glass of store bought, non organic milk. (At one time he thought organic was a gimic...his new friend has him sold on the idea).

Men!!

Inspiration

2010-01-03T21:01:00.004-06:00

Apparently I am an inspiration to some, and you know who you are! So for those of you who are inspired by me or by something I am attempting to do, this is for you.

I spent about 2 hours in the past 2 days working on my studio. I have made it though about 1/32nd of the room. I get going really well....then the dust gets the best of me and I start sneezing and my eyes start watering. I think a gas mask would work well.

In trying to weed my way through the...we will call it "mess"...I have decided that I have way, way too much fabric. It is not necessarily quilt fabric, but my brother stopped by one day and had a few rolls of decorator fabric. Now, let me just say, just because they call it decorator, doesn't mean you should really decorate with it. But, because it was there and it was fabric, I couldn't say no. Next time I will just say no.

I have read other blogs and looked at quilting studios to see how others have organized their studios. One seemed like a great idea. Metal shelves, you know the wire shelf kind, with the fabric separated by color. However, I don't have the wall space for shelving, shelving, shelving. So I will stick to my idea of hiding it in the closet, under the stairwell. The problem with that idea is, out of site out of mind. If I don't see it...and I am very visual, then I may not do anything with it.

Batting...batting....batting....I have a ton of batting, both packaged and on rolls. I am not quilting for customer right now, so I have a lot of batting. I have to figure out a way to store it, so that when I do start quilting for customers again, I will have the batting. But I could sell it all and just start all over again. Humm.

I have two long, folding tables that I sit next to each other. They are 9' long, so on one end I keep my sewing machine, the other has my cutting mat. All over the table is stuff. Rulers, cut fabric, rotary cutters, little girl dress patterns, yada-yada. Junk, junk and more junk. And under the table?? Rolling, plastic drawers full of...guess what...more fabric. Those carts are going into the closet.

I ask you this...How can one be creative if you are in a mess all the time? I don't think you can, because you are always thinking about the surroundings instead of what you are trying to create. For me, I am always losing things while I am working. Hum, could it be that it is because when I lay something down, there are a hundred other things laying there to disguise my tools.

Earlier I said that I am a visual person. That being said, I like having my tools and everything where I can see it, so I don't put things away. Not a good idea. Just telling you that makes me have flashbacks to first grade. Can you believe that I can remember what happened to me 44 years ago?

When I was in first grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Crocker. She was the greatest teacher ever, or so I thought. Thinking back maybe not. Once a week Mrs. Crocker would say, "Okay kids, we are going to clean out Mary Beth's desk." And all of the kids would gather around and Mrs. Crocker would take things out of my desk, pinching each item between her finger and thumb like it was dirty. She was say things like, "I wonder if there are any mice in there?" It was humiliating even for a 6 year old. When I go into my studio I hear Mrs. Crocker's voice. And she was my favorite teacher. Did I say I never liked school. Oh wait, that is another subject we will save for later.

There is a lot of pressure. When you are quilting for a living, your studio is your work space. I kept it looking better back then. I was in it ever day. Now, I work 8 hours a day, plus the getting ready for work and commute times. Come home and fix dinner, clean up the kitchen and drop into bed. I don't take the time to do anything extra....like go to the quilting studio. On the weekends, I do grocery shopping, babysitting my grand baby, gardening, cleaning the rest of the house, laundry, bill paying, etc. There is just so much to do that seems more important.

I have to come up with a plan, it is either eat the studio or have the studio eat me.....so to speak.

Paper Piecing

2009-12-28T19:06:00.002-06:00

Paper piecing, you either love it or you hate it. What do you do when you are confronted with a quilt pattern that screams "paper piece me"?

Me, I love to paper piece. I am so excited because I get to PP in this quilt I am slowly putting together for MQS. I stopped by the copy shop today to get the pattern blown up to fit the area where I am planning to put the design. Yippee, I am so excited!

Okay, okay, I can hear some of you moan in anguish. But listen, it's not really that bad. I mean, after all, piecing is like putting together a puzzle, and paper piecing just gives you excellent, tiny, points. Right? So, no more hating it, just make sure you cut your fabric pieces large enough to more than cover the area you are working on.

I know, I know, the rest of you are whining about the tiny pieces of paper left on the seam. Am I right? Think about it. A tiny, little, fleck of a piece of paper that is going to go away....someday. And besides, come on, besides you who else is going to know it is there? Your machine quilter? Pi shah!! They don't really care about that!

Okay, enough with this. In order to piece successfully, I think I need to clean my studio. Gosh....when is this quilt due??

Today is THE DAY!

2009-12-26T12:57:00.002-06:00

Well, today is THE DAY. I am determined to start the program I know some of you have been involved in already...stash busting! Well, not just stash busting, but studio busting too. My quilting studio is a mess. Working 40 hours a week, quilting when I have time, spending time with family in my down time, and trying to keep up with meals, family, housekeeping, quilting when I can squeeze it in, and neck/back problems, the studio has been on the back burner. Today, it moves to the front burner. I need to organize the studio - big time! There is way too much crap in that room. Things I know that I will never use are sitting there waiting....waiting...waiting...for what!? Me. Me to come up with something creative.....I don't think so. There are only so many hours in the day and when I use creativity it has to be for something totally worth it.

I have this new laptop with Windows 7. I am open to this system, but I do see something I don't like....only one thing....I cannot figure out how to google images anymore. I guess I will have to do this on my desktop computer with the older operating system. I love to google images and look at quilting studios to get good ideas on what works for other people. Humm, that leads me to a thought...does it really work for them, or does it just look good in photos...hummm.

We are kind of snowed in here in KC this day after Christmas, so it is forcing me to buckle down, stay focused and get on track....I say all of this as I sit her in my PJs, watching a rerun of "What Not To Wear" wondering how I would react if they showed up at my door. It is after 1 pm...if I put it off much longer...I won't have to do it today....and Garmin is forcing OT tomorrow...yes, they want me to answer emails tomorrow to answer all those questions from people who purchased GPS systems and can't figure out how to use them. They are expecting huge amounts of email. They do this every holiday, and every holiday they call us to say, "never mind!" I have my fingers crossed. Even though 8 hours of overtime would be wonderful....I would rather stay home.

So, I want to take pictures to show you how bad it looks in the studio....but I just can't open my life up that much. You can only see a work in progress

I'M BLOGGER CHALLENGED

2009-12-23T15:23:00.003-06:00

For the life of me, I cannot add someone to my favorites or whatever you do as a blogger. Right now I have to go to Ramona Quilters blog, read her latest and greatest blog, then go down the list of her favorties and read other blogs.

What is wrong with me?

I feel like I have failed the blogger community!

Latest Quilt

2009-12-04T08:06:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share my latest project. It is the center of my MQS show quilt, the only part I have done. When I started this project I thought this would be the hardest part, however, it was so easy! If this is the hardest part...I'm game...bring it on!!!

So, the next part will be the paper piecing. I love to paper piece, just need to figure out what and how I am going to do it....here is a better picture of the center...

Just curious...do you see Salsa and Chips when you see this quilt...I mean...there are blue corn tortilla chips. And...Timeless treasures has a fabric with all different colors of tortilla chips - perfect for the back.

MQS Quilt

2009-11-09T12:24:00.000-06:00

Okay, just typing "MQS Quilt" makes me nervous.

I am learning so much while I am piecing this quilt. It is a spiral lone star...yes, I have lost my mind as a matter of fact.

Yesterday I had it all layed out on the floor. It was a little stuffy in the house and almost 80 degrees outside so I opened the window in front of my machine. Didn't think about the wind blowing. I chased pieces into the dining room and kitchen. Once I got everything back in order, my son-in-law called to say he and my 2 year old granddaughter were coming over. Yikes. I picked everyting up, pinning the rows together as I picked them up. I am hoping I have it organized enough not to take 2 hours to figure out how to lay it back out.

This has been a booger....Next is the paper piecing. Now, I love paper piecing, but not sure about this. I think it is the MQS...MQS...MQS....playing in the back of my mind.

And let me just say, those people who say, 'I don't care if I win, it is just exciting to have my qult hanging next to XXX'. I don't fall for that mess. For me, they are just people. They are profession longarm quliters just like me....so they should be just as excited to have a quilt haning next to mine...right?? Whatever!

So, I have a wedding quit on the frame right now. I thought I had 2 customer quilts, but did some digging this morning and found another one. So after the wedding quilt...and I do have picture os the progress...I will get these 3 customer quilts done. Then I should be able to qult my MMMMQS quilt.

Stay tuned.

Kansas City in the Fall

2009-11-07T15:20:00.005-06:00

So, have you been to Missouri in the fall of the year? Nothin' could be finer!! Really!! This is what I see when I look out my front door in the mornings...

I wanted to get a good picture of the rolling hills here. When you are driving down a stretch of highway and you come to wide open spaces filled with these beautiful orange, yellow, gold and red trees it makes you happy to be alive.

Everywhere you go, city and country, you are surrounded by this astounding color. The contrast of the orange of the trees, the dark brown of the tree bark, against the green carpet of grass just makes me want to jump and play in the leaves. I just love the fall.

Neighbor's Orange House

2009-11-05T12:40:00.000-06:00

I know I need to get use to it....but I noticed something I just have to share.

The sun comes up in the east...that's not what I noticed....my house faces the west. The sun shines on my neighbor's house and the orange color reflects onto the inside of my garage wall. The First time I noticed this I thought something was on fire outside. The second time I thought the same thing, but then remembered the house. I'm just wondering...if I keep my curtains open in the evening, I wonder if I could keep my lights turned off and still illuminate my rooms.

Flu Shots - I'm not a Fan

2009-10-29T15:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, I had the flu back in 1977, thought I was going to die. Then again last year, again, thought I would die. On Tuesday this week, got a flu shot, Wednesday and Thursday, thought I was gonna die!!

I have told myself all these years not to get the shot because it makes some people sick afterward. No way was I going to get the shot and have the cure be as bad as the illness. Then I started reading where the shot doesn't make you sick any more so I thought, "what the heck, might as well do it, I am getting old." Ha! Never again. I got the shot because I didn't want to miss work and missed two days anyway. And I hate daytime TV, by the way.

Today while watching interviews about the flu shot (this is the regular flu, not H1N1), I noticed the wording was a bit evasive. They didn't say you wouldn't get sick, they would waltz around it. Knowing that I am sick, from the shot, I now know what they were saying.

Maybe most people don't get sick, and maybe I am in the minority, but they need to tell us that. When I got the shot I mentioned to the nurse that this was "my first time". She got a funny look on her face and then handed me a flyer that said something about "you may experience flu-like symptoms after the shot" Huh!??! Too late, she had already stuck me in the arm.

So much for missing work!!

Bells and Whistles on Sewing Machines

2009-10-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

I've just been reading a few blogs and came across one talking about sewing machines. Ha, that's funny, I was just looking at some piecing and thinking, we only use a straight stitch, why do we think we need a machine that does it all.

The blog I was just reading was complaining about a retreat/class that she had taken that had these whopping, fancy, machines with too many features to "simplify" our lives.

Recently I have started using the old black Singer machines. I love 'em. They only do a straight stitch, but what a stitch!! If you have never seen a stitch from one of these machines, you would be surprised. The newer machines have the ability to do a variety of stitches, with that, comes the straight stitch that is just a touch off from the last one.

That being said, you would think that piecers would only use machines like these old Singers. The people who use Featherweights can probably testify to this. Maybe that is why they love their Featherweights.

Maybe our piecing would be much better if we get rid of all the bells and whistles and go back to a regular sewing machine....besides those old machine - if you get the right one - will last longer than all of us put together.

Kids Do the Darnedest Things

2009-10-20T11:42:00.002-05:00

While I'm waiting for my curlers to heat up I though I would share a story.

My daughter Jen works evenings from 3:00 pm to 11:30 pm in a call center. As with most people who work this shift, she cannot go right to sleep when she gets home so she winds down for a couple of hours. The next morning Haylee, her almost 2 year old is ready to get up, but Jen is not.

A couple of weeks ago Jen woke up to a funny odor. Her nose is hyper sensitive and she jumped up to find a pepper shaker opened up and pepper drizzled all around her as she slept. Sounded like a ritual kind of thing to me, so I thought she was probably paying for her raising.

Jen is trying to teach Haylee to be a diva. Haylee usually carries a purse, she loves to wear bracelets and when she is at my house she uses my canning rings to adorn her wrists. It is quite lovely.

As a diva, Jen has started rubbing lotion on Haylee's feet. Now, the minute Haylee lays eyes on a bottle of lotion, her shoes and socks start coming off. I can't say I blame her, I have seen myself eating grapes and my husband rubbing my feet with lotion....in my dreams!

Last week, Jen woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door. You know the stupor you find yourself in when you wake up from a dead sleep and you don't understand what is going on around you? That is where I imagined Jen to be. Then it hit her, Haylee had closed Jen's bedroom door as not to disturb her while she slept.

Jen opened her bedroom door and looked down. Haylee had been playing in the bathroom. There she was, both hands filled with tampons and Vasili smeared on both feet.

Oh yes, Jen is paying for her raisin!

Running a 5-K

2009-10-14T12:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, don't freak out! I'm thinking of running a 5K. Now, I should start by saying, I don't run, so probably instead of saying that I am thinking of running a 5K, I should just say, I'm thinking of running. After all isn't thinking of running almost as good as running?

A few weeks ago I told myself I could do it. I was starting slow. After reading How to Run a 5K on the internet, I am finding that I was starting extremely slow.

I have never ran in my life, or jogged. I walk like a gazelle, but I don't jog or run. People who walk with me jog and run, but I walk.

When I started this a few weeks ago, I did my little warm up, and then ran to the first intersection in the street. I then walked to the next intersection. Then repeat. Oh my gosh! I thought I would need to have a knee replacement. My left leg hurt so badly after a few days, I was in tears. Every night I would fix dinner then sit with a moist towel and a heating pad on my knee. I know, I know, it should be ice. No, I cannot do ice. Besides the heat worked. Along with the prescription pain killers the doctor prescribed for my neck.

I had to stop running. I wore a knee brace until the pain stopped. I did keep walking and kept going to the gym and thankfully the pain has stopped in the knee.

A customer called in (at work) about his fitness watch and told me he was a runner. I told him I want to try it, but had this awful pain in my knee. He told me that he is 65 years old and just started this a few years ago and loves it. He was so encouraging that I will not give up.

So, I am in training....or at least I consider myself in training. I'm going to do this even if it's the last thing I do. (Not literally, I'm not crazy).

REUNIONS

2009-10-06T08:13:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been invited to a reunion, class or previous work, maybe family, and you panic at the last moment? That happened to me recently. My first employer, after my children were born, Commerce Bank, had an employee reunion for past and present employees. I knew I should lose a few pounds before I went, but I didn't do anything to try to lose weight until about a week before. What was I thinking?

I started walking, the walking/running about two and a half miles a day. The day of the reunion we would be driving 3 hours to get there and Rod had to work till 1 pm so it was going to be a tight schedule. It was not until that morning that I got up and tried to put on the only "business casual" clothes that I now own. Nothing fit!!

As soon as the stores opened I jumped in the car and zoomed out to Zona Rosa (a new state of the art outdoor mall - kind of a city in a city). I ran through the doors of Coldwater Creek and told them what I needed. They gave me that deer in the headlight look and informed me that if I needed tall pants they don't carry them. Okay, all you retailers out there....women are getting taller....get a clue! I settled for a skirt...I use to look so good in a skirt...some people should not wear skirts, I have fallen into that catagory.

I ended up with this ugly skirt that I will probably only wear that one time. Ick!

When I arrived at the party, some people had jeans on! What how did you get in here dressed like that? They told me that another email came out letting them know that jeans would be fine. I didn't get that email...$100 later!!

I started looking around. Of course I had not seen these people in 16 years, but they all looked different. I must look the same...the first girl hugged me and said my name and how great it was to see me....I said that it was great to see her too. Then turned to my friend, Tracy and said, "Who was that??" She wasn't sure either. I could tell she was not going to be any help at all.

The next person that hugged me I said flat out, "who are you?" She told me and I was floored. Then I realized everyone looked old! And a little on the chubby side...yippee I fit in!!

Different Strokes for Different Folks....

2009-09-06T14:20:00.005-05:00

Isn't that what they say?

Hum, I wonder if "they" had a neighbor painting his house this color....

I must say...the whole neighbor hood is talking....to each other....some of my neighbors have never said one word to me...they are now!

I'm pretty much speechless...besides, they also say "A picture is worth a thousand words".

TEMPORARY INSANITY

2009-09-05T13:04:00.003-05:00

This must be some kind of insanity. Our children are grown and are having children, so we have decided to only buy birthday presents for the little ones. That made me feel like a cheep skate, so....I told them I would make them anything they wanted in the way of a birthday dinner. Of course you can't leave out the spouse, so I have 7 birthday dinners to cook this year. Not so bad.

Today I am making my daughter's dinner. She has requested meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, homemade rolls and pretzel salad....huh! I was all lounged out in the recliner last night starting to feel my eye lids dip lower and lower when all of a sudden I jumped up. You have to make the pretzel salad the night before or the jello slides off the rest of the dessert....ask me how I know this. Plus, you must let the pretzels cool enough to spread the middle layer on. I had to run to the store to get all of the ingredients. Then whip it all up when I got home. I didn't get to bed until after 10 pm.

First thing this morning I mixed up the rolls and have been letting them rise all day.

The really fun part is that in my down time I am working on my business taxes!! Can you see me pulling my hair out?

I getting ready to leave the fun taxes and run upstairs to get my hands into the meatloaf, peel the potatoes and get them on to cook....let's see...who will clean the house....hum, not me, I have plenty on my plate....not my wonderful husband, he went to the gym to workout....hum...what is wrong with this picture.

If only I could rewind and take back those words. If only I didn't feel sorry for my poor little children not getting a birthday present from us....I am insane!!

Feathers!

2009-09-01T06:21:00.003-05:00

Have you ever noticed all the different styles of feathers? They could be the same type, like hump-bump or whatever, but the style the quilter uses to make her feathers are always unique.

I was just looking at quilts posted on a few of the chat groups that I frequent. One caught my attention because the feathers were quite whimsical and the quilt seemed to be more conservative. Yet, the feathers looked fine. That is when I started thinking of all the different styles.

For me, once I learned the hump-bump style, I have not been able to do anything else. It is so frustrating. I try to do the regular feathers, working my way down one side of the stem, only to do the hump-bump when I go up the other side. If I try to start from the bottom of the stem and go up....my brain freezes....then I go into hump-bump mode.

I know, I know, you are thinking...."just practice". Hello! I have tried that, I get the same result every time. I have scads of sheets of paper with dorky looking plumes on one side of the stem and hump-bumps on the other. Sometimes the regular feathers are best for a quilt, but I can't seem to master it. Even though the regular feather is what I started out on....then I bought a book that showed the hump-bump in detail and now I am stuck in the rut.

Anyway, back the styles. I guess our quilting is a lot like our hand writing, everyone has their own style, their own flair. Probably if I tried to sign my name a different way....I'd probably sign it all wrong and wind up with a different name altogether. Maybe I will just stick with the hump-bump.

It's Here!!

2009-08-11T05:25:00.007-05:00

You will never know, (or maybe you all would know), how excited I was when I stepped out of my car yesterday, when I arrived home from work, to find a neat, square, box sitting on my porch a delivery of the US Postal service. It is like Christmas!!

I ran to the porch, grabbed the box, flew to the basement and started tearing open the box...there it is - already! I placed this order on Saturday, no special shipping, and it arrived here on Monday. I placed my order with Autumn Rose Quilting in Keene, New Hampshire. What service!

Oh, oops, you are onto me now, you know it's fabric. Yes, it is fabric, it is The Morris Workshop. I love this stuff...here are the pictures I took last night, I just have to share....

I had a hard time finding the 40-fat quarter pack. Everyone wanted $110 for it and it was sold out. But I am diligent, I just kept searching until I found Autumn Rose Quilting and they had the pack for $89 - Yippee!! But it wasn't the 40 fat quarters I was initially after it was this fabric..

Oh my gosh...I just love this stuff!! It is very Arts and Crafts. Love it, love it!!

This just shows some of the iris pattern included in the line.

Oh, what to do, what to do...I almost couldn't go to sleep last night just trying to come up with a pattern to use for this fabric. The one plan I do have is to leave some open areas, probably with a cream background fabric for some really great quilting designs. I am signed up with Dover Publications and have been saving the freebie stuff they send me every Friday via email. I have quite a collection of Arts and Craft style designs and it is time to put them to good use.

I hope you all are as excited as I am about all this...can't wait to get started on this one. I will keep you all included on the project. Stay tuned!

The Journey Begins

2009-08-08T16:34:00.007-05:00

Well, actually it all started just over 2 years ago when I started piecing the quilt top. I'm talking about my son and daughter-in-law's wedding present, their log cabin quilt. They are both the out doorsy type so I felt this was the perfect pattern for them. Their house is decorated in a cowboy theme. In fact, last year for Christmas I gave my daughter-in-law the cutest gift. I spent the day at a county, estate auction. The auction company had stacked all of the house hold goods on this huge flatbed trailer. I was actually waiting for a vintage, green, Singer sewing machine to sell, when the auctioneer held up an item. You know when you see something that you know would be perfect for someone. He was holding up this jar that was about 8" square, probably from the early '60's. It had a bow-legged cowboy on the front of the jar swirling a lasso and 2 words, "Cowboy Nuts". I started bidding and won the bid at a mere $7 for the jar, I was thrilled. I took the jar home and parked it in the garage until very close to Christmas, then cleaned it up, filled it with cashews, (her favorite nut - who knew!), and put a western fabric square on top that I tied down with brown ribbon. Becky loved her gift!!

Okay, back to the quilt. I told you all that I would post my progress....well...here it is....

In this picture I am trying to decide what to mark the quilt with. Claudia suggested the big, red, chalk marker...not that it marks the quilt with red chalk, heaven forbid! Well, you know what I mean...I opted for the chalk marker.

Next, which tool to use, the Nautilus, spiral things, that make my head hurt just thinking about using them...or that curvy ruler that will give me a nice flowy spine?

Okay, wait, I need to weigh this out...audition a few things and get these creative juiced flowing...So I added a salad plate to the mix....

By golly, I think the salad plate won out. Thank you Dawn Cavanaugh for teaching me that there are some really cheap tools just laying around the house.

The only problem I am having is when I come to a corner. It gets a little cramped in that corner, so I am going to have to be really creative. If you have any suggestions I'm listening.

Blast These Designers!!

2009-08-05T19:00:00.002-05:00

Yes, blast these designers. You would think that all of the patterns and designs that can be produced on fabric would be already thought of...that their creative minds would go numb and they would not be able to come up with anything else. Then the next thing you know, "You've got mail!"

Okay, I know, I could remove my name from the mailing list of the great quilt shops I have visited across the nation. But then I wouldn't know when they were having a sale! Today I opened an email from a local shop....scrolling down, down, down the page and then BLAM! There it is...."The Morris Workshop"...okay, thinks I who doesn't get out much...a new workshop taught by a woman named Jean Morris or Betty Morris or whatever....so I clicked on it and there it is, fabric to feast on.

I hate to pay $9.99 a yard for fabric. Should I bite the bullet and get it and say I deserve it and this quit is mine. Or do I take a chance that no one else really cares for the fabric and they won't make a mad dash for the cash register with all of that beautiful fabric.

Oh why, oh why, did I have to think Dave Ramsey had such a great idea?

KIDS!

2009-08-03T06:17:00.002-05:00

Okay, here I go again...not quilting related.

That old saying..."I know now why animals eat their young..." I don't exactly want to eat him, but I am willing to put my 31 year old son up for adoption. Of course he comes with a wife and three kids.

This weekend my 9 year old grandson was baptised. We are Baptists, so we believe that when a child gets to the age of accountability (when they know right from wrong), then they have a free will to choose to follow Christ, or not. Some are saved at an early age, some not until they are teens or even adults, some never. My grandson accepted Christ a week and a half ago at church camp. A very exciting time.

We were invited to come down for the baptism. That is a 3 hour drive one way for us, but such a wonderful and exciting time in a 9 year old's life, we were happy to do it. The last time one of these children were baptised, we were invited down, but at the last minute were told that the family would not have time to visit with us because they had invited my daughter-in-laws family over for dinner that day. I was a little hurt, but let it go.

On Thursday of last week, my son calls to find out if we are coming down. I was planning to go to my parents house to visit on Saturday, then all of us go to church on Sunday and spend time with my parents and my son's family on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon before coming home. I tell my son what I am thinking and he informs me that he may not be around on Saturday. I blew off a little steam with him, he stammered around and I told him to forget about it. He apologized and said he would try to get out of his obligation.

On Friday my daughter-in-law called and left a message wanting to know what time we would be there so she and the kids could "spend the day with us and grandma and grandpa on Saturday." I called her back to let her know we would be coming on Sunday morning because I was canning green beans on Saturday.

We were up at 5 am ready to go by 6:30 am, ate at a Casey gas station for breakfast as we traveled. Made it to my mom and dad's, then off to church. When we arrived in the parking lot, my grandson ran up and gave me a quick hug, but didn't even say hello to Rod. My ex-husband arrived at the same time. The same ex-husband and grandparent to these children who lives less than 5 minutes from them. The kids all ran to my ex and held onto him for dear life. We walked into the church and all three of the kids went to my ex-husband and sat with him. My son and daughter-in-law walked in said hello to us, then had to go help with the baptism. That was fine, I get that part. My son laid his Bible in the pew with us, then when the baptism was over, sat in the pew in front of his dad. I was so mad I was ready to walk out, and probably should have.

Isn't it funny. Here I was in church of all places, feeling sorry for myself and how my son was treating me. There was a plea from a man wanting help with a mission trip to an inner city of some place near St. Louis. This man had tears of pain as he talked about these children of the projects. It helped to take the focus off of my pain some what. I prayed, "Dear Lord, please don't let me think about me, let me focus on you." The song service was beautiful and I could feel the presence of the Lord as the music ministered to my very soul. But my heart ached.

When the service ended, I walked out to the parking lot. My son caught up with me and tried to make small talk....I couldn't speak. I didn't want to lash out with something I would regret later. I held my tongue. Finally, I said, "Rod, we need to get on the road."

My oldest granddaughter walked me to the car and acted as if nothing was wrong and said, "Hey, I thought you were going to come by and help me with my curtains."

How do I not focus the pain and hurt on myself without sounding a selfish and self-centered as my child and his children?

Fast MRI Results

2009-07-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

Wow, that was fast. I had the MRI on Wednesday morning and my doctor's office called me at 4:50 pm. I thought it would take a few days, maybe the first of next week.

Turns out I have a bulging and narrowing disc in my neck (that explains a lot) and they are going to try the injections to help me. Cross your fingers!!

MRI DAY

2009-07-29T11:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I have been having a pain in the neck for a long time...and I'm not talking about my ex-husband! This is the real thing. Had it for years and it is not getting any better.

Today I had an MRI, something the doctor said they would not do unless there was surgery involved - yikes!! Why does the MRI have to be so difficult?

The table they lay you on is very, very uncomfortable. Then the racket that goes on inside that little tube...around and inside your head. Wow!! If I didn't have a headache before I went into that rabbit hole, I had one when I came out! And you better keep your eyes squinched shut or you are going to go into hysterics. Don't forget to breathe while you are in there. And my neck has hurt all day now from the position I had to endure. Fortunately it was only for about 15 minutes. Much better than the 45 minutes last time I had an MRI.

They are saying pain management is next. I have already been through 6 weeks of physical therapy...the MRI...depending on the outcome...pain management...or surgery - yikes!

I'm just saying...you would think they could make the MRI just a little more comfortable.

TIME TO THINK

2009-07-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

My husband came home with that glimmer in his eye on Thursday. "You know...the weather is going to be perfect for going to the lake this weekend." Great! I really don't like going to the lake. We have electricity, but that is it. If it were not for my brother's camper, we would not have a place to sleep without the posibilites of critters. Not an inviting thought.

We left bright and early Saturday morning. It is about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive and we were ther by 9 am. Rod wanted to wake me up at 3 am to leave...I'm sure he is happy he didn't do that! Once we arrived I got out all of my quilting magazines that had come in the mail the day before and my Egg Money quit book to look at ideas for an upcoming quilt. After going though all the books I was bored...again.

There is the hammock, sitting there just calling to me. Have you ever just given in to a hammock? Wow, those have to be the greatest invention in history. I got into position and eased my legs up and layed down. Aahh!! This is the life. Once there I looked up into the trees and the sky beyond. Beautiful!! Oh look, there is a humming bird, hum...and nothing red for it to be attracted to...just trees, leaves, and the big, wide, open, outdoors.

Listen, what do you hear? Hey, I actually could hear the voice of God. Now, there you go, you think I have lost my marbles. Nope. I'm just saying, it is so quiet and still, that if you really just calm down, you can hear His still small voice in the light breeze that ruffles the leaves on the trees. Oh wait, do you hear that bird in the distance? What is that? I don't think I've ever heard that call before. I wonder what kind of bird that is.

There they are, God's choir just started up. Have you ever heard this choir? It's the locusts that are scattered around throughout the trees. Which reminds me of a story too good to pass up.

Rod and I had been married for about 6 months. I would go to the back yard, picnic table to study my Bible and have my quiet time with God. I had been out there for a while when Rod came out to check on me. Rod was not a Christian at the time and just didn't "get it." I'm sure he thought I was looney.

He walked up to me and asked what I was doing.

"Close your eyes and just listen."

My new husband wanted to make me happy so he did as I requested. "Why am I doing this?"

"Listen. Do you hear the locusts in the trees? They sound like a choir. Like they are singing a song just for God. If you listen it is as if they are in sections, just like a real choir. And if you listen, as they finish, one group will stop, then the next, then the next. Just like when the choir dirctor instructs them to fade."

That is when my loving husband looked at me and asked, "How much pot did you smoke when you were a teenager?"

Priceless!!

THE OBSESSION

2009-07-24T05:56:00.003-05:00

Oh...please make it stop!!

I cannot close my eyes and go to sleep at night! As soon as the lights go off and my head hits the pillow my mind becomes obsessed with quilting! All I can think about it the quilting designs I will add to my son's wedding quilt...yes, the one that is 2 years late. At least the top is finally finished...

Of course you can only see 3 borders....this sucker is so big I couldn't find any place in my house to take the picture. I had to move my husbands antique dresser out of the way and take the shot in the only place in the house where I could spread most of the quilt out. There are 4 sides to this quilt.

I plan to keep a log (pardon the pun) of the progress of this quilt here on my blog. The next step will be to mark the quilt in the border and the light areas of the logs. Since this quilt has so many diagonal areas and my table only has a 20" or so area to work in, I want my veins to flow instead of being a bit jerky. I think if I try to stitch as I go it is not going to "flow". Besides, I have decided to try out my Nautilus rulers, so this will be the quilt that gets that treatment.

Oh, back to the obsession. Besides the log cabin quilt, there is the theme category quilt for MQS. The title of the quilt keeps me going. It almost whispers to me, or maybe it is yelling...."make me"..."I'm a good idea!"...."you will enjoy releasing your creativity on me"....yada, yada! Just so you know...I'm not hearing voices...I'm not ready for the funny farm just yet. I just think, think, think. I wonder if all the great artists, song writers, scientist, etc. from past history had this problem too?

Oh, and how about my son and daughter-in-law's quilt. Or my mom's quilt, my dad's quilt, my mother-in-law's quilt, my husbands step dad's quilt, or my father-in-law's quilt. Do I get a quilt...not yet!! The obsession continues.

What A Day

2009-07-18T07:52:00.002-05:00

Wow, you would not believe how absolutely beautiful it is here today. The temperature is about 68 degrees. No humidity. Yes...you read it right, no humidity in Missouri in July. Our air conditioner doesn't even kick on. I love this.

Today is a very full day. I am going to finish the log cabin quilt I started over two years ago for my son's wedding. They will be married 2 years in September so it's time to give them a gift. I am going to dig through my stash today to see if I have border fabric. If I don't find any....well...you know what that means. I have to go to a quilt store. Gosh, I hate that!

This quilt has been a doosy for me. I have always wanted to make a log cabin, now I wonder why. They are boring! Stitching one log at a time, pressing, stitching, pressing....I need hardwood floors and roller skates to make this quilt. I even stacked my blocks in the correct number for each row so I could stitch all the logs for each side, then press....boring, boring, boring!!!

I'm so happy to be almost finished with this project. I have one customer quilt to finish, then I start quilting this one.

I've noticed most quilters do such intricate quilting on their customer's quilts. I have decided to just do normal stuff for customers, and leave the good stuff for my own quilts. I know that sounds selfish...even as I write this it sounds selfish. But, my customer's don't want to pay for that stuff. The one customer that did, bought herself a longarm and is doing her own quilts now. I lost her. So now, if I do a customer quilt, I only do edge to edge unless they want more, then they pay. For my own quilts, my plan is to really make 'em sing!! Then I am going to enter them in local shows and see what happens.

Speaking of shows. Next up, my MQS entry!! That scares me to pieces, (ha, a quilter's joke). I know, I know, all you gals and guys that have entered quilts say you do it so your quilt will hang next to Madam Who Who's (she is the latest and greatest). You say, "just to have my quilt hanging next to her quilt makes me feel good." Or "I just want to know what the judges remarks are so I can become a better quilter." Oh come on....Have you not thought about this....every machine quilter in the world is going to be looking at your quilt. Think about that!! They are going to be analyzing and criticizing. They are going to find every mistake. They are going to read your entry to see if you are new at this. See this is what I do...I get all worked up and the butterflies start in. By my my butterflies will be the size of elephants. By May, I will be under the care of an internist who will have me on Zantac and nerve pills.

Of course I would never expect to get a ribbon. But after you spend hard earned money on the fabric. Pour over patterns, design ideas, and sketches. Take weeks or even months to quilt this beauty. Then bedazzle it with crystals if needed....Don't you think a ribbon and prize money would be nice?

I'm Getting Close

2009-07-11T08:30:00.003-05:00

Here it is...

But do you know what it is??

That little sampling of fabric is the first quilt I ever plan to enter into MQS! Can you believe it? I'm that far along on my show quilt! I have the pattern planned. I have the name of the quilt. I have most of the fabric, although...I am a quilter...I do love fabric....there are always more fat quarters to conquer!!

This is a little scary. Everyone...every world renown quilter, every normal quilter, every body who is anybody is going to see my quilt. They are going to do what I have done in the past. They are going to put their nose to the surface of my highly sought after fabric and they are going to examine every fiber of my quilt. From the piecing to the stitches. From the length of the stitch, to the color of the thread. From the shape of my continuous curves to the little doohicky I fill the space with. Oh yes, my friends, I have decided I have been looking at your quilts too closely. We all need to start stepping back from the quilt...in my case....step way, way back from the quilt. Just admire the overall effect from a distance.....Please!?

Here is the next one....

Know what this is?

This is my son and daughter-in-law's quilt. It may end up in MQS, but I haven't decided yet. I have to get busy. I have 3 other quilts to make in addition to these 2 and I have one that I am working on now. I have 1 customer quilt to finish and 2 waiting to quilt. Then I will draw the line and say not more customer quilts for now. I must do my own.

Just thought I would share where I am.....the show quilt is on my mind day and night. I visualise what it will look like. What people will say (most of the comments are good). What the people will think (most of the thoughts are much like mine have been in the past....oh my gosh...I can quilt that good. I should enter).

My friend Donna is suppose to enter one too. Boy, Donna, you better have a quilt in that show.....I don't know if I can walk around inspecting quilts with you if you don't.

I MUST BE A GOLDEN RETRIEVER

2009-07-09T20:44:00.003-05:00

If I believed in reincarnation....which I don't....I think I must have been a Golden Retriever in a previous life. You know how GRs are always happy to see other people and they just want to be noticed, and petted (not me), and talked to. I realized yesterday, that is me! I must want all of those things.

I started back to the gym this week. Now, we have been going to the same gym for almost 10 years off and on, and yes, more off than on, but you would think some of the people there would recognize me. At least with a foggy look, like...I think I've seen her some place before...but where? I don't even get that much.

The first time I noticed it was after my workout. I went into the locker room to get my gym bag and stuff out of the locker. This place is very big, and low and behold, the lady walking in right in front of me went to the locker right next to mine. Ten thousand lockers and she has the one right next to me. Now, if I were staying to shower and change clothes, that is pretty awkward. But I was leaving to go home and take care of my person hygiene. So I said, "Isn't that how it always goes. Out of this whole room of lockers, and ours are right next to each other!" The lady just looked at me and gave a half hearted smile. Very, very cold!!

Then, on my way out the door, one of the young men that works at the gym was walking up the sidewalk. We were the only two people on the sidewalk and I looked right at him ready with my "hello!" Nope, he kept his eyes straight ahead and walk straight through the doors. What am I chopped liver?

I remember thinking if these people were a little more friendly maybe they would have more customers. Then I thought, maybe it is just big city people. They don't bother anyone and they don't want to be bothered. Yep, I am ready to move to a very small town. But then, I know there are different problems there.

This has been playing back in my head all day. Why are people so self contained? Why can't they just say a simple "hello"? Why can't we just smile at each other without someone "thinking" something strange about us? Then it hit me....it's not them....it's me! I'm a dog. I want attention, affection, a pat on the head. Scratch my tummy and I will be happy!!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....

2009-07-05T19:16:00.005-05:00

Okay, okay...I have had nothing to do with it so far....But isn't it beautiful??

My husband has worked very hard to try to make a go of our garden this year. Our back yard is lower than the rest of our property. In fact, just behind the shed you see in the background is a creek that runs through the neighborhood. When it rains hard, the creek has been known to overflow and is slowly eroding our yard.

This year to try to battle the elements, we hauled in about 8 yards or "compost" or what we called manure when I was a kid, and 8 yards of top soil. The neighbors call across the yard to us, calling my husband "farmer Rod"....ticks him off....she is always telling him that for the money he spent trying to get the garden going he could buy lots of produce. Hum, has she been shopping lately?

I cannot tell you how hard Rod had worked getting this garden going this year. The dump truck that brought the top soil couldn't get into our back yard because we have had so much rain this year, so he dumped the load right between our house and our neighbors, about 50 yards from the garden. Rod shoveled the dirt into a wheel barrow and wheeled it to the garden. The dump truck left the load at 5 pm on a Friday night, at 9:30 pm Rod finished wheeling the last of it to the garden. Amazing. He is 50 years old and has a bad back. He is just amazing.

So my job starts this week. The green beans are just about ready to pick. That is my job. I will be picking and canning. Oh, I can almost taste those green beans right now. Poor, poor neighbor lady....the smart one....she won't know what she is missing....

Stay tuned....there is much more to come from this garden!

Exercise Freak

2009-07-03T13:15:00.003-05:00

When I reached my top weight, and found some family pictures that where revolting it changed my life....I thought.

First, I started whining. Every time my husband would walk in the door coming home from work, I would be sitting in the recliner with a sad look on my face. The words I uttered, I will never forget. "We are killing ourselves!" Maybe I had watched Dr. Oz one too many times. Or "The Biggest Loser", (love that show), but I knew something had to give.

My husband, who doesn't have a sympathetic bone in his body said, "Then let's do something about it!" Not really the response I was looking for. I thought he might pet me and tell me it would be alright and hand me an ice cream sandwich.

We started going to Weight Watchers together. Most of the time he was the only man in the meetings. And did I mention he is highly competitive. Every week was a competition to see who could lose the most weight. It was almost always him. I do remember one week when I lost the most and I did a happy dance at my chair in the meeting room, and hooped and laughed. Man, that felt good....once!

Second, after I made it to the twenty pound weight loss mark, we joined the local community center where we worked out on an almost daily basis. In the end I lost 33 pounds, but still needed to lose 20 more pounds to reach my goal. My husband had lost 80 pounds. How do they do that, by the way? Anyway, that is when I found out that my husband is an exercise freak! It doesn't matter to him if he is dying, he will go workout. Not just an easy workout for an hour, oh no, he works out every time for an hour and a half to two hours in the gym, then forty-five minutes to an hour in the pool. Swimming, swimming, swimming....and he is good at it. When I try to swim, my neck hurts. I told my husband it hurts my neck to swim, he watched me, then said that I hold my head up like a turtle as I swim. I guess my form is bad.

We lost all this weight in 5 months. We were both looking great. My husband was thin, something I had never seen on him. I still had a ways to go, but we decided to quit Weight Watchers and go it on our own. Big, big mistake.

That was two years ago and over time I have put some of the weight back on. I am almost back up to my top weight. Did I mention I also quit going to the gym.

So over the past few months I have convinced myself that I hate the gym. And I think I really do hate the gym. I know the gym is our friend. To be healthy and stay that way we must move. But I hate the gym. Without a doubt the most boring place on the planet. I think I need to be involved in team sports. I loved to play softball, volleyball, and do gymnastics. But getting on a treadmill for 30 minutes...ugh!! P-l-e-a-s-e!!!

Well, today is the day I start back to the gym. NOT!!! The gym closes at 3 pm....it's 1:30 now....and my husband isn't home to drag me down there.

I'm determined...all of the weight is coming off!!!

My Quilty Friends

2009-06-27T07:04:00.002-05:00

I would just like to pay tribute to my "quilty friends" today. Wow, have I been blessed with some of the best people in the world as friends. And I mean the whole, entire world. I'm not sure I show them that I appreciated them enough, so I want to just take a minute and salute them.

When I started quilting about five years ago I only knew one person locally that was a longarm quilter. I had only made two quilts and another quilt top by the time I bought my machine, so I was pretty green. I just loved quilts so much I knew I had to have a longarm.

My first year of going to Machine Quilter's Showcase, or MQS was the most horrible experience ever. Not because it wasn't awesome, but because I didn't know anyone and I didn't have anyone to hang out with or do anything with.

The second MQS I attended I knew a few people, but still not a lot, and I took a few classes. Still I was alone and I gotta tell ya, it was boring. I learned a lot from the classes, but walking around with no one to talk to was terrible. I volunteered that year to white glove just so I could talk to people.

By the way, for you quilters out there, have you ever noticed when you go to a quilt show, the people running it are not very friendly. The women who white glove always look like they have just sucked on a lemon or something. Don't they love quilts and want to talk to everyone about them. Don't they want to encourage others to jump in there and make a quilt. What is it that makes these people so blah? I don't get it. Let your hair down girls....if you love to quilt...put a big smile on your face and at least act happy.

This gets a little away from my friends, but I joined a local guild my first year of being a machine quilter thinking I would eventually drum up some business. Those meetings were jam packed, probably 85 to 100 people. And I walked in and very timidly took a seat. The looks I got from the people at the table were as if I had sat in Susie's assigned seat - how dare I. I swear, no one was sitting in that chair, but Susie always did and she would be there any minuted. Like they had assigned seats. Very, very, cold. I thought if I got involved it would be better, they would get to know me and know I wasn't out to get them. I white gloved at their quilt show. When I walked up to the table in front and said, with a smile on my face, "I'm here to white glove." Three older women sitting at the table with sour lemon puckers looked at me and one said, pointing at a box in the corner, "Grab some glove and put your purse in that room." pointing me in the direction of the room. Wow! They are at all what I expected. They looked like some one's grandmas but they acted like some one's bulldogs.

Back to my friends. So the third year I went to MQS, I decided to make it much more fun. I got online at the APQS chat site and started drumming up business. Trying to get the attention of anyone going to MQS to look each other up so we would at least know each other when we ran into each other. It worked.

The friendships I have gained have been the best. Probably the first person I met was Linda Card. Oh my gosh, I am so glad I met Linda. Linda is a tall woman like me, so that was the very first think I like about her. Then I got to know her. Linda has a heart of gold - seriously. She has a soft side that lets her friends know she is there for you no matter what. If you are down, she will pick you right up. If you need a shoulder, she has the best. And she can make you laugh till you cry. Linda can give the best advice ever, or back you up on a decision that you are not too sure about. I would not trade her friendship for a million bucks. Linda takes no bull off of anyone, and is teaching me to do the same. I wish there were not a million miles between us and we could hang together all the time.

Then there is Donna Smith. My friend Donna and I hang out during MQS. Geez, that girl, kind of has a dry sense of humor, but oh my gosh, what a quick wit. We walk around MQS inspecting the quilts, nose to quilt. We can find every fault with a quilt immediately. Oh how wrong that is of us! We can do that because we have never entered a quilt in this show. But our time is coming. I think this is our year. Then others will have their noses to our quilts - yikes!! Donna is also one that makes me laugh till I cry and I wish we lived closer, there is only one state that separates us, so we only have Kansas as an excuse. I have made Donna promise to remind me when I get old and lose my memory, that I hate quilted jackets and vests and to remind me not to make one for myself.

As a disclaimer...quilted clothing is beautiful for other people and if you like it, more power to you...they are just not my style.

How about my friend Debbi. Debbi lives in Iowa. Quilting talent just drips off of Debbi. What a great machine quilter she is. And so funny. Again, a quick wit and you never know what she is going to say. I just didn't expect that from her when I first met her. She was very quiet and I just didn't see her as a funny girl. I knew we could be friends right away, because our personalities are a lot alike. Oh, and she is Baptist, like me.

I just love it when we all get together. Last year Debbi and Linda met here during the summer and we shopped till we dropped at the Kansas City area quilt shops. It was so much fun. I was with Linda when she did a dance down some steps in front of the Chinese carryout place because she saw a spider. Now, if you have ever seen Jed Clampett do his dance, that was the exact dance Linda did down the steps. Oh if you know Linda Card, and know her health issues, you would not believe she could dance down steps like that....but I am here to tell you...Ginger Rogers never danced like that! I laughed so hard I was crying. I tried not to think about it all the way home, but I would bust out laughing and could barely drive. It was hysterical!!

Linda planned to get here first so she could get the full size bed. That left Debbi with the twin bed. Debbi could not sleep on that bed, bless her heart, so she got up in the middle of the night to go to the recliner in the living room. My husband falls asleep watching television and I can't wake him up to go to bed. Debbi tip-toed to the recliner only to find Rod snoring away. Poor girl. I teased her about that one, and she took it like a trooper. I don't remember where she ended up sleeping that night. I know she tried an over stuffed chair in her room. Debbi, if you are reading this, I have fixed the problem with that bed, it is much more comfortable now. But I have a feeling you will beat anyone else here next time.

There are many other friends I have met though my quilting life, and I don't want to leave anyone out, and I cherish their friendships. The three ladies mentioned here have just bonded with me and I think we will be friends forever.

I miss you all and wish we could get together this year. It would be fun to laugh and shop and eat. You all are the best!! God has blessed me with you and I am grateful to Him for putting you in my life.

50 Ain't So Bad!

2009-06-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm only a few days into it...but 50 is not as bad as I thought it would be...in fact, it doesn't feel any different then 49!!

My husband is the best husband in the world. For my birthday he rented a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider - convertible - bright yellow and black. We put the top down, put the music up - loud - and sang with Toby Keith all the way to Springfield (150 miles away) to spend Father's day with my Dad.

When we pulled into my parent's driveway, the yard was full of family and friends coming to help me celebrate my birthday.

The best part, my husband didn’t' tell me how to drive one time. He actually just relaxed...or at least he looked relaxed. I was having too much fun to look at his knuckles to see if they were white.

Turning 50 - Yikes!

2009-06-20T08:16:00.002-05:00

Okay, I am usually upbeat and enjoy life. Oh, don't get me wrong...I love life....because the alternative doesn't sound so good, (except the afterlife - I do know where I'm going). But if you don't enjoy sappy, or sad...you need to be forewarned to step away from this blog now.

I was born on Father's day. I tell my Daddy that I'm the gift that keeps on giving. He always chuckles, but I think in his mind - at least a few years ago - he was thinking "or the gift that keeps on taking!".

This is where it gets sad.....

I thought I would turn 50 gracefully as my mother did. It was just another day for her. She is not emotional, and if she is she bottles it up...not a good thing, but that's how she is. You can't change her at 78 years of age.

My birthday is tomorrow, June 21st, the first day of summer, the longest day of the year, and Father's day. Oh, and my 50th birthday to boot.

I think I would be fine, except that, my sister was 50 years and 1 month when she died from colon cancer. She was diagnosed 2 years before she passed away. My sister was the best person in the world, and that is not an exaggeration. Sharon was her name.

Sharon was the type person, that even though they had no money, she would go to every garage sale she could find and look for shirts for my older brother. My oldest brother puts on any shirt he can find, and they never fit him. He is over weight, so is belly hangs out under his shirt. My sister hated that, so she would hunt for 3-extra large, long shirts. Just to make sure he was covered. My brother is married, you would think his wife would have done that for him...but no, my sis did it. I probably should pick up where she left off, but honestly, I am the type that looks at him and think I should slap him and say, "Where is your pride, man?!"

If Sharon knew you were a collector of anything, she would find something to add to your collection.

Sharon had the best sense of humor you have ever seen. When we got together we would laugh so hard, I would pee my pants. Again, no exaggeration. I don't know what it was that she did that was so hysterical, but I would laugh so hard I hurt.

She was such an encourager. If I called her (and we talked long distance everyday, sometimes twice a day), whining about Rod. She would remind me how much he loves me and how she can tell just by the way he looks at me. She always put things in perspective like that. I think she could see this so well because she lived in a loveless marriage.

Sharon married a guy who was hooked on uppers and downers. As a truck driver in the '70's that was pretty much the norm. After they were married, Sharon tried to protect the fact that he was also an alcoholic. But as the years progressed, it was very evident. She still tried to hide it, but it was pretty much like an elephant in the room, if you know what I mean.

Sharon loved her husband until about 5 years or so before she passed away. But my sister took her wedding vows very seriously. She left him one time, but took him back as soon as he whined to her of his love.

I guess I needed to get this out of my system so I could enjoy my 50th birthday.

On to a happier note...we are on our way to get my present....we are renting a convertible for the weekend...taking a drive to spend my birthday celebrating Father's day with my Daddy.

Vintage Singer Bug

2009-05-29T05:51:00.002-05:00

Just like a pesky mosquito that Singer bug is biting, biting, biting. I try to slap it way...but it keeps coming back. Ouch...there it is again!!

I have found a vintage, mocha, 301, longbed, with all of the attachments, and a carrying case. I want it! I want it bad!! I have been in communication with the owner, but have not committed yet. I want to email her right now and say...."Yes!...Yes!!...Yes!!! I'll take it!!!" But my common sense keeps saying, "Now Mary Beth, do you really need this machine?"

You know from a previous post that I have just purchased a 301a, short bed, black. She is just beautiful! I decided yesterday to try her out. Since I have not had the chance since I purchased her. I thought, if she runs clunky and makes a lot of noise, then that settles it, I won't buy the one I have found. Guess what?! Oh my gosh! This machine is THE BEST!! It just hums, and the stitches are beautiful!

Why did I ever pay $1000 for my Janome? If you have never tried one of these gear driven machines....you must! I'm not talking about the vintage Singers with a belt. Although I have never sewn on a Featherweight and Lord help me if I ever do. I cannot spend $400 on another sewing machine. But these that are gear driven machines are smooth and quiet and absolutely the best machines ever!!

I have read that the Singer 301 is the next in line to the Featherweight. I can accept second place when it comes to these machines.

I'm fighting the feeling...but I think the feeling is winning. Maybe I could offer them less and someone else will buy it. Oh pesky mosquito...please go away......