TGIF!!

Well, it's Friday............my "do anything I want to do" day! I look forward to Fridays! Today I am going to be working on some Christmas string blocks. I have quite a few Christmas fabrics and so I am doing some Christmas strings for a small swap. Here is a pic of 2 of them which I have not trimmed yet. Hmmm..........the picture seems to be a bit dark.........sorry about that!

I have also still been making coasters. I cut loads of 4 1/2" squares to make coasters, so I am still trying to get all those made. I hope to make a set for each of my co-workers by Christmas..........44 sets of coasters. I should probably make at least 2 sets each week to be sure that I get them all made. They are easy and very useful.

My husband's mom is in the hospital in Bonham with pnuemonia. She is 89 years old and not doing well. Several years ago, she had an episode where she mistakenly drank some Pine-Sol thinking it was apple juice and very nearly did not pull through. It left her lungs quite scarred and pnuemonia is the last thing she needs. We went to Bonham last night and will be going back tonight or tomorrow. DH is having a very hard time with this and I feel so sorry for him. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

On a lighter note.........I am LOVING this cold weather we are having! I just wish we would get some snow. Snuggling under a quilt in cold weather is the best!

Okay, off to sew some! Make it a great day!

Bits and Pieces

Wow! I didn't realize that it had been so long since I've posted anything. I must try to do better.

I think whatever hit me at the first of the month lasted longer than I initially thought. I do finally feel better which is great!

I did finally finish my oldest grandson's red/white/blue Churn Dash and gave it to him. He really liked it and was thrilled that I finally got through with it. :) I know I took a picture of it, but I seem to have deleted it off my computer. If you want to see it, I know the top is in my archives somewhere. Drat! I did not mean to delete that off my computer!

I have the binding sewn to the front of a blue rail fence and just need to sew to the back and I will have another one done. Then after that, I have a Christmas bullseye ready to quilt somehow. I am thinking that I may tac this one on my new machine, using some of the cute stitches that came with it. I will think on that one a bit longer. I am going to finish some UFO's this year!

I have a Spiderman quilt and a wallhanging in the queue to finish next. Then, I am starting on the cowboy boot blocks that I have had for a couple of years. That quilt will be for my husband who is patiently waiting for me to finish it.

Ok, that's all for now.

Have a great evening!

Back to the Land of the Living

Friday evening I begin to notice that I was cold......bone chilling cold and it wasn't even cold. I asked DH if he was cold and he wasn't. I put on a flannel shirt and sat down in the den with him to watch tv. I soon got up, got a quilt and and soon after got up and got another quilt. I was bone shaking cold. He finally found a thermometer and yep, I was feverish....101. His first thought was the FLU...........nope, I said.........I never get the FLU.........one of those lucky people, I guess. I never take a flu shot either until last year and I had a bad reaction to it, so our doctor told me not to take it again. However, I did get the FLU once about 5 years ago and had very vivid memories of thinking I was going to die. I had not had it since childhood, not even the winter DH and all 3 children had it! Try taking care of 3 children under 12 who all have the flu at the same time! I was out of work for a week! But, I knew Friday night I did not have the flu. Saturday, I spent the day going from the bedroom to the den and back, miserable and cold. I had no distinct symptoms other than fever and chills. But, I was miserable. I slept off and on all day. Sunday, I was better, still cold, but not as cold. Yesterday, the fever finally broke around 5:00 pm. Thank the good Lord! I was sick of that......whatever it was! DH wanted me to go to the doctor yesterday, but I didn't think it was necessary as I was better, not worse. So, whatever it was that hit me is gone (I know prayer helped) but, I did not get any sewing done! Not a stitch this weekend. I hope to get started on the BB's quilt this week as that quilt is just too beautiful not to make.

Make it a great day everyone and stay healthy!

New Project for 2008

Well, I said I was not going to start any new projects this year until I finished some UFO's that I need to finish. Ok......that was before I saw this:

http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/baltimore_blues.htm

It is so beautiful and I love blue and yellow quilts. So, I am going to work this in amongst the UFO's I need to finish. I will still work on UFO's.....I plan to make a major dent in them in 2008, but I might just need a little diversion now and then and this beauty will fit the bill.

I think I have plenty of blue and yellow fabric also without any shopping, but if I need to shop I can do that too! I also plan to use up some stash (although I do not have a big stash , contrary to DD's beliefs) so that I can get some new stuff this year. I bought very little fabric last year, but I still have some that I need to use up, even if it goes into string blocks.

I guess I better get off here and go get busy doing some housework so that I can sew some today! Make it a great day everyone!!

XOXOXO's

Thread Chest Arrived!

Well, my Madiera Aerofil thread chest arrived! I was so excited to get it! So many spools of thread and so many beautiful colors! I couldn't wait to open it and fondle all that lovely thread. Know what I mean?? LOL!! However, after I got it opened and was admiring the thread, I noticed that they are 100% polyester. Bummer!! I haven't used polyester thread in my quilts in years. What to do?? I am hoping that someone in blogland will have used this thread and have a positive experience to relay to me. Please?? I posted this on a quilt forum that I visit, but so far only one person has responded and she has never used this brand of thread. So.......I am hoping for more response from blogland, plus it gives me an entry for my blog. :) Here are a couple pics of all that lovely thread.











I hope everyone in blogland had a very Happy New Year and that you get lots and lots of quilt projects finished in 2008. DH and I spent a quiet day at home yesterday, watched one movie and I sewed on string blocks. I was on vacation over the holidays, so it's back to work today. Ugh! But, at least I am able to work and I have a job.

Happy New year everyone and make it a great day!

Another Ornament Runner

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year and got lots and lots of goodies, especially quilting goodies. I did not get one quilty thing. I guess my family decided I had enough. LOL! Never!

Here is a picture of another Ornament Runner that I made........this one in Christmas fabrics. I really liked how it turned out.

I took this whole week off as vacation time and this morning, I am so glad that I did. I am tired after the last few days. I got up yesterday morning at 6:3o to get started on Christmas dinner.We had to eat right at 12 as youngest dear daughter and new hubby had to go to his family after lunch. I had gotten a good head start on Monday.......I made 2 pumpkin pies, one pecan pie, 5 pounds of fudge, pecan pralines and had a lasagna together waiting to be cooked. The lasagna was for oldest grandson, who loves lasagna! However, I needed to bake a ham yesterday morning. I got my coffee and got woke up and got started. I got my ham in the oven and got all the ingredients out for the cherry sauce. I then went and got my shower, dried my hair and about that time oldest dear daughter called me. She was nearly hysterical. I could hardly understand her. I finally got her calm enough to tell me what was going on. They had received a phone call from her mother-in-law that her father-in-law was unresponsive. Sandra could not wake him up. Anyway, they needed to postpone our Christmas as they needed to meet Sandra at the hospital. So, I called youngest dear daughter and told her to go ahead do her in-laws first and we would play it by ear for ours. So, my husband and I finished dressing and drove over to oldest daughter's (40 minutes away) to pick up her children. We brought them back to our house. But, everything turned out okay. Stefani's father-in-law was diagnosed with too much ammonia and was treated and sent home! That is a miracle in itself. So, everyone finally got to our house about 6:00 and we had a Christmas supper instead of lunch. Then we did presents and visited for awhile, watched RV again which oldest dear daughter and family just love and snacked on all those pies and candy I made. Thank God dear daughter's father-in-law is okay and having a delayed Christmas celebration turned out okay too. I bet all my grandchildren were asleep before they got off our road last night!

Everyone have a great day!

My First Project On My New Machine!

Ok, I am finally getting around to posting a couple pics of the first project that I did on my new machine. What a sweet machine she is!! I had so much fun playing around. I took six blocks that I had and made a small runner. It measures 25x18 finished. I used silver metallic thread and just played with several different stiches. The runner is a crazy patch of stitches!! :) I used several different ones......a herringbone, bells, flowers, stars and penguins. I think it turned out rather cute. I gave it to my youngest daughter, Courtney who actually used blue/silver and snowmen as her Christmas theme this year. Perfect for her!


The second picture is a close up of some of the different stitches that I used. I hope they show up well enough.








I really wanted to do some more sewing on her, but I had to get out and get some Christmas things done and I had to get started wrapping Christmas gifts. I am not big on gift bags for the kiddos as I like to watch the kids open their gifts, so with 4 grandchildren, I have lots and lots of wrapping to get done and only a few days left to do it. Ack!! How did Christmas get here so quickly this year! I am usually more prepared than this year.

Oh, I almost forgot. Elna called me yesterday to verify my mailing address. They shipped all that thread yesterday so I could have it by Christmas!! Isn't that just too much!! I can't hardly wait to get it.

So, anyhoo...............make it a great evening!