jenniferquilts

Evening read

2012-02-06T01:55:00.000-06:00

Snowball helped me with my evening read, she held the pages down while I read the articles about jewelry making.

It's been a busy week since we got home from vacation. I'm trying to wind down now from work and the Super Bowl(liked the half time show). I sliced my index finger on a broken glass so that is throbbing just a bit...........I've spent three out of four nights at the bar so it's been late nights around here for me.
I will be at the quilt shop alot, there is medical issues and vacations for the next two weeks. I also have two nights at the bar this week to look forward too. I love both my jobs but when it rains it pours! My mom broke her leg just above her ankle while I was in Florida so I have spent more time with her this last week too. She is doing well considering the injury and she has started some sewing to keep herself busy. She is also making hats on the round looms, hers are much prettier than mine, she likes sparkly yarn. I take her to the doctor Tuesday for x-rays, we'll see how things are then.

Pool side

2012-01-31T08:26:00.000-06:00

I love the pool at the resort, it's as warm as a bathtub and usually not to crowded. I took pic's from both views, one from our room 9 stories up and the top pic is the view I get when I'm floating in the pool.

Kevin

2012-01-31T08:18:00.000-06:00

A nice relaxing week at the beach and pool in Florida............

Sunday morning it was back to work around the farm........

A load of fire wood in the basement and a pile of brush cleared from my driveway.

before vacation

2012-01-29T12:17:00.000-06:00

I finished this quilt before vacation but didn't have time to download the pic's. My friend Diane made this using pillowcases her MIL made. They found the stash while cleaning out the house after her passing. The work is wonderful but the pic isn't. I forgot to take a pic until delivering it to the bar so I tossed it over the pool table.........she bordered it with dark blue and it's king sized. She is giving it to her husband Alan.

This is my favorite piece in the quilt. I love working on memory quilts or sentimental quilts!

This is the quilt I will be giving my friend, I was quilting it when I heard of her mother's passing, now to get the binding on.............

And last but not least is Jim's quilt, Roseanne made it for her husband with a bandanna as the starting block, the brown one in the top middle row. They went to the Cattleman's Ball last year and this is the souvenir from the Ball. This quilt spent Christmas on my quilt frame...........ugh! I still have it too because I didn't finish it before Roseanne had knee replacement surgery last week. I think I will work on another one or two of hers soon and deliver after work in O'Neill sometime. (she lives in Atkinson)

Cold

2012-01-20T01:10:00.000-06:00

Oh I am not used to this cold...........I can't wait to be sitting by the pool in Florida in a few days! Our sort of annual vacation starts Sunday and I'm so excited! I don't have any plans while there besides swim in the ocean.
Soooooooooo I got a few things done this week,

Roseann's quilt that has been on the frame for a month is off and ready to go.
A quilt for a friend is quilted who lost her mother this week.
My friend Diane's quilt is done too, she made it for her husband, more on these when I show them off with pic's on here.
Sorted more in my studio, books, fabric into charity baskets and even stuff for fire starter
Magazines go to quilt group next, I'm sure someone will want to have some evening reading.
I also got my machine on the desk.

Today was bar day, spent 3 hours this afternoon then went back after an hour and a half of laundry duty at home and put in another 7 hours, ok it's off to bed.........tomorrow is quilt shop day.....

Another day

2012-01-11T11:16:00.000-06:00

It's another day of cleaning and sorting around here. Just returned from town, had to take Kev in to get his tractor, and I got a big ol' Mt. Dew to help me thru the afternoon. Sara told me yesterday while helping me that the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. (gotta love 14 yr. old) Well I have a huge problem with hoarding and my plan is to tackle it in small bits.

20 or so patterns are out the door, gave them away at quilt group last night
empty boxes are out of my studio
sorted trims and such-they have a home in a three drawer cart
sorting kits into baskets
empty jars are in the house ready to go to the basement
a basket of clothes came into the house to be sorted and washed
books and patterns are slowly finding their shelf

I hope if I work everyday it starts to make a difference around here..................oh and to get my sewing machine a happy home on my sewing desk! (with lots of room around it, not piles of stuff waiting to tip over on me)

Janurary

2012-01-10T16:18:00.000-06:00

Another quilt from the Holt Co. Museum collection. This is a signature quilt . I should of taken notes because I've forgotten the details of the quilt.
This month is flying by......not sure why but I'm not getting much sewing/crafting done. I am in the process of cleaning my studio. I have to admit I am a hoarder. Oh that's so hard to admit but it's time, and it's time to break the cycle of hoarding.

I cleaned my closet and donated a trunk full of clothing to the thrift store in Ewing.
I throw away half bottles of lotion if I know they have lost their scent, or I don't like them.
Shoes have been sorted.
Got rid of a few books.
Threw a few towels away.
Have a box of Christmas stuff ready to go away.
Gave my Mom back her jewelry boxes that were stashed in my closet.

I feel pretty good about getting rid of things, now it's off to my studio to work some more. I am working on a jewelry making station. (kids are home, they need to haul stuff so off I go)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T22:01:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from the Trease kids! Sara, Brad, Kristin and Josh.

Winter

2011-12-21T22:58:00.000-06:00

It's the longest night of the year, winter solstice. It was also my uncles b'day. I should of been born on this day but stubbornness on my part delayed my arrival by two more days. Forty three years ago there was a terrible storm, my Grandma took my mom to the hospital, almost didn't get there though, couldn't get up the huge hill in the car with all the snow. When they arrived the nurses came out thinking my Grandma was the one needing help, guess my mom had to go to the doors herself to get someone to let them in. I always thought this was funny, my mom didn't look pregnant and she was tough too. I always watch the weather on this day, waiting for another blizzard, today was 40 and overcast with a slight wind. No storm tonight.

Thought I'd show what I work on when nothing is going on at work. This is an ongoing scrappy project. Very simple so I can have no stress sewing and interruptions don't hurt. I am down to borders on this now, not sure if I'll add them though, can't seem to find anything I like. Right now the quilt is 80X110 so really it don't need borders.........if it had a home I would know what color the borders should be but right now it's homeless, just add it to my UFO pile.

oh the fun we have......

2011-12-21T22:36:00.000-06:00

The girls helped me string garland and lights on the deck rails tonight. They also decorated something that was left on the deck for over a week. I got a new one a week ago but someone keeps ignoring me when I tell him to get it off the deck (Brad). Oh well, who we got to impress, hillbilly is in the genes. (yes those white spots are snow, I'm a mean Mom and I made them help me in the dark and snowy night)

Little Christmas Cheer

2011-12-21T22:28:00.000-06:00

I like decorating and creating for Christmas. The first wreath is one I made for Al. I clean his house once a week or so when time allows. He forbid a tree when I asked him if he had one or wanted one so I compromised and made him a wreath. The lights and all the ornaments are his, I just supplied the wreath, bows and the girly pink cow ornament on the left.(he raises Holstein heifers)

This sweet Barbie wreath is MINE!!! I used to have them on a tree that sat in my bedroom but with my new furniture there just is not room for a tree so I downsized a bit and put them on a wreath. I am donating the leftovers to the second hand store, I don't really need 40 Barbie toys..........

This little tree sits on the kitchen bar, it blinks alot! I put pokie lights on it and mostly red and white ornaments. We used to have pokie lights when I was little so when I found them at the thrift store I had to have them. Mom says the pokie star points kept me and the dog from messing with them on the tree.

bags

2011-12-14T08:48:00.000-06:00

Sara, Mom and I made a few makeup bags last night for gifts. They had them cut out and zippers in before I got there so all I had to help with was the sewing sides and corners. I stole this pic from my Mom's blog flicshasews.blogspot.com if anyone wants to see more that we've done. I love making things like this and it was even better with help.

December already?

2011-12-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

I think I am in shock, it's already the middle of December! The weather is starting to act like it too.......cold and dreary. I am in the middle of a big mess with Christmas decorations (planned to many like usual) and finishing up a few quilts for other people this week too. I am starting to get overwhelmed so it's time to take a deep breath and start making lists...maybe I will feel better when I check things off.
This is a Holt Co. museum quilt. Oh I've already forgot the details, guess if you want to know more visit the museum!

Kids

2011-11-25T16:51:00.000-06:00

So yesterday I forced the kids outside for a few pic's. I think they really enjoyed the shoot. Now to just pick one and write up a letter, print, address and send............oh my!

Tablerunner

2011-11-25T16:43:00.000-06:00

I made a quick table runner last week for myself, I usually make gifts this time of year but this fabric has cats on it and I collect cat Christmas fabric. I also have an end table I like to cover in the living room and this was perfect. I even put it out before Thanksgiving and no one complained about Christmas before Thanksgiving. I put away all the Turkey Day things this afternoon, it was sad but it's time to move on and get ready for the biggest mess of the year............whoooohoooo...........anyone else feeling overwhelmed yet?

State quilt

2011-11-25T02:05:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Candy Shoppe hosted a trunk show last week to kick off their anniversary sale. The Holt Co. Museum showed off their quilt collection. This is a state flower quilt made by a ladies aid group and was raffled off. I should remember more details but I don't..........sorry. I did take pic's of Neb. and Iowa blocks.

I thought maybe I should post something quilty here since this is supposibley a quilty blog...........

My Mom

2011-11-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

We love Halloween around here, especially dressing up so no one knows who we are. Kelsey invited us out for a party and told everyone to dress up. Well no one knew it was her except for one guy there, not even her own grand kids! She gave everyone hugs before she left..............Kelsey didn't have a clue who the alien was at his party!

Party time

2011-10-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

Sammie is ready for the party.......

Who knew zombies eat witches...........and tattoo'd girls kill zombies.........

Zombies like pirate puppies too........

zombie boy..........didn't even change costumes..........he's a computer zombie.

Koda is enjoying the party too, just taking a break from all the fun.

Whats going on

2011-10-24T00:46:00.000-05:00

Not much going on..........hahahaha! We're all so busy around here I don't know which way to go first, Harvest, work, drama practice in the mornings for Sara, fall break, Brad and the flu...........ugh! It's not going to slow down either for a week or so..........guess it's just that time of year, oh to be an ant when it's much more fun to be the grasshopper.

adopted

2011-10-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

We've been adopted. He showed up a week ago happy and healthy but we have no idea where he came from. I put flyer's up in town but no calls. Well we named him Buddy and I guess he's staying.....well as long as he wants anyway because he's a runner. If he stays around he's getting fixed..............and someone needs to build a doghouse!

8 yr old kind of fun

2011-10-03T18:03:00.000-05:00

My little brother Kelsey never grew up. He loves his toys and loves to share them with other little boys. Andrew was in heaven with this little bike, he rolled off of it 3 or 4 times and just got up and brushed off the dirt and wanted to do it again. It was great fun watching the kids try to ride the bike, Andrew was the best because his legs are shorter and didn't drag after he learned to put his feet on the pegs. That's one thing about living on a farm, toys are wonderful!

New garage

2011-10-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

This is the top floor of my new garage/studio space. My view will be over the house to the east and tree tops to the west. The guys have since added the walls and steel roof (minus the end because of wind issues this week.)

Brad just loves it when I have a camera......

This is the view from the north side, 3 car plus is a big garage and lovely big studio space upstairs! Not sure when I will be moving into it, harvest has started then the snow flies......

Old/new quilt

2011-10-02T13:28:00.000-05:00

I bought this quilt at a garage sale awhile back. I almost hate to say how much I paid for it in fear of quilters who will stop giving gifts to babies because the quilt just gets sold at a sale. Well $.50 later and it was mine......sorry Grandma's, not all of babies things are kept. Well anyway I love it and I'm in the process of taking the ties out, cutting off the binding and putting new borders on it.

As you can see the work is really nice on the blocks and I like the yellow sashing so it's staying.

Here's a few of my border options, not to happy with any of them............I did pick another fabric but didn't cut it yet so not sure of what I'll decide. Seems like when I start and stop a project I always change it when I go back and look at it again. I will also recycle the back and batting into another baby quilt so the only thing wasted is the binding, oh wait it goes into the fire starter box for this winter. I think it was worth $.50 and some time. (oh and border, back and batting for the new quilt)

few things going on

2011-10-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

Just a few things going on in the last month. I don't carry my camera much right now for some reason so when I finally got around to downloading pic's I forgot what I had on the camera. The top pic is two hats and a scarf I made for my niece for Christmas. I didn't know what size hat to make for a 5yr. old so I made two.......

The Orchard Quilters made table runners at our last meeting. This is Jane showing off her finished top. The meeting was fun and everyone there got their top put together, just a few people missing so they will have to play catch up when they get their kits. I think in October my Mom has a project planned and she's having the meeting at her new place..........tour anyone?

starting gifts

2011-09-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

This afghan has been my take along project for a few months now, in the car,at the bar, and in my chair. The yarn is partly Grandma Allen's, partly Aunt Sis's and some I got from a yard sale. Being a take along project I misplaced a few squares here and there, found a blue one behind my yarn box, a lavender one is in my studio, and I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin found some in his truck. Sara don't like it so it won't be her gift this Christmas. I'm sure a niece will love it.......or a SIL.......

Sammy had to get in on the action after the first pic was taken, he wouldn't move, sooooo here he is. He thinks all blankets are his, alot of the time he sits on the couch or end of my chair under whatever I'm working on.

Good thing my nieces like purple! I have a blue and brown started and a pink one, and fringe left on a white/cream/tan one too. Wow it's been a yarny summer!

Hats Hats Hats and More Hats

2011-09-01T11:56:00.000-05:00

The beginning of August I decided to learn some new things, how to make hats being one of them. Since I made Sara model the first 4 I decided to make Kristin model the second 4 (turned into 5) I think I really like to make hats and I have more planned for charity and for gifts. Kristin is keeping the dark purple for herself and Sara requested the same color different style. This bunch will go to Bridges and Beyond in Ohio. I have the box ready to mail along with these squares and a baby afghan everyone in my house thought was ugly. (I like grey and pink together but nobody else does) I lost the afghan for awhile in my mess but finding it I am excited to finally mail it off. I have done alot for others lately, it really feels good to know I am helping others with my craft. I am working on scarves for the special Olympics this winter, I took two big bags of clothing to the Sunset store in Ewing, it's run by the Catholic Church. I made up a box of food for a young man who just got his first job so he would have lunches for the week. I started collecting pop tabs off of cans for the elementary school to donate to the Ronald McDonald house, it's a new project for them, they also collect box tops and soup labels. I gave a quilt away last week..........I have more of them to go. I like having crochet projects while watching TV and it's been so hot lately it seems I watch alot of it to stay inside where it's cool, oh and my sleeping habits are out of whack so it's alot of late nights.

time flies

2011-08-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

Time flies when your having fun......or so the saying goes. Summer vacation is almost over around here, school starts this next week and the kids are getting ready to head out of here soon. Kristin has been busy helping my mom remodel her building, painting and such. Brad and Sara helped roof the house in town. (Mike and Lisa's) Josh is on his way to South Dakota to visit friends today........busy busy busy! I'm trying to keep busy but the umph is just not there, I'm hoping today is more productive in the creative department for me. I have plenty to do, just no ambition. I have been working on an afghan in the evenings while watching TV, made some more hats(pic's coming soon) and worked up a tablerunner (very simple) and wrote instructions yesterday. I think it needs a few more tweaks before I share it though.
Maybe writing my goals for the day will make me get out of this chair and do them.........hahaha!

Family home

2011-08-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

This is sunset from the mountain outside my aunts house in Arizona. I walked up the road past two houses to stand almost at the top of this ridge. I really enjoyed the trip to help my mom and she's right, it is beautiful there.

Tuesday I went to Omaha to pick up Kristin and Josh from the airport. Kristin is home from a 10 week adventure in Waco Tx working and living at MissionWaco. She worked with kids and youth in the summer program, helped out in the office, worked at the second hand store and the biggest part was the summer theater program. I think she is in love with Waco (ok maybe not the town but the people there) I know she touched many lives with her gifts and especially her gift of laughter!

Josh is home from a two week visit to Spokane Washington. He spent some time with friends and they took good care of him for me. He got to see Seattle and the ocean too. He loved it there.

Now everyone is home for the next two weeks, my quiet house is full of laughter and teasing again.

College starts the 19th, high school starts the 17th, there is a trip to Omaha planned, the zoo is on the schedule. I'm sure a bit of school shopping will happen, and tonight a picnic at my MIL's for Kristin's B-day (happy 21st) . Wow...........where has the summer gone?

koda

2011-08-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

Puganese.........Pik a pug.........pug a pik...................oh my!

I have a new friend, his name is Koda and he lives with my mom. She got him from the

border rescue in Bisbee Az. He is 7 months old and pug/pekingese mix. I think he's the cutest thing ever and just love him to death! Mom thinks he's a pain in the rear most of the time..........ok she may be right but what a sweetheart he is. He loves everyone and is good company. He does like to run off so if you see her following a dog in the streets of Orchard don't just watch..........help catch him!

learning to make hats

2011-08-03T09:14:00.000-05:00

My lovely model is wearing the latest in winter assesories, don't she look thrilled.....ok I had to bribe and threaten just a bit to get her to put the ruffly hat on but after I threatened to nix Netflix she was a wonderful hat model. I am learning to crochet hats from Youtube. It's great fun to sit in front of the computer and crochet along with Thresa. The brown one is supposed to be a large men's beanie. I think a bigger hook is in order for the next one. The second one with the white edge is a mistake........don't try to remember the insturctions while watching TV. I put to many ruffles on the third hat.........oh well.........and the last one I did just perfect so it got a flower. I will send these off to Bridge and Beyond in Ohio. I don't mind practice hats if someone can get some use out of them. My model did put in an order for a dark purple beanie......

Lap quilt

2011-07-03T19:23:00.002-05:00

I finished this lap quilt before I left for AZ last week. Thanks to GlenEllen for the already cut raggy blocks she gave me last week I could whip this up and send it off to Kristin at Waco Mission. When this quilt is washed the cut edges will fray and soften up nicely. Perfect size to cuddle up with in a chair. I will send it to Waco and Kristin can give it away to someone who needs a little 'cuddle'.
I really liked sewing this up with the already cut edges, it was fast and with my bum thumb having the edges done already was a treat. I really think a raggy die for the Sizzix might be a fun thing to have.

Arizona

2011-07-03T11:09:00.002-05:00

I'm in Az for the week. My mom has lived here for a year and is ready to move a few things home to NE so I flew down to help her. Today we are going sightseeing around Bisbee. I will snap a few pic's with her camera and share them later. I'm not sure I like really hot weather(115 in Phoenix) and 108 in Tucson where we checked out the flea market last night. I did watch a really cool lighting and rain storm on the way here, spotty rain thru the mountains. Ok off we go...

just hangin' out

2011-06-28T08:21:00.002-05:00

Summer is here and we're just hangin' out on the deck with the pets. Evenings and sometimes supper outside when it's not raining....I planted garlic in my planter on the deck, so much for flowers...hehehehe! It's been wet here and gardening has not fit in my weird schedule very well so when the planter was still empty the first of June I filled it with garlic that was past it's prime for cooking. I also put winter onions in my flower bed, it was the only space cleared when they needed to go in so in they went.

Sammy thinks he is supposed to sit on my lap if I'm on the deck, then he chases Blackie the cat away from me. (sorry no pic of Blackie...thanks Sammy) He don't mind him in the house but if he finds him on the deck, watch out! The chase begins!

This is Gavin's Point Dam on the Missouri river in Yankton SD. We made a side trip on the way to camp this year to see the water flow from the dam. They say there is more water coming thru this dam than Niagara Falls. The dam road is still open on weekends but this was Monday so we took the long way around to get on the SD side to get this close. I didn't want to be sprayed with river water so this is close enough. The flooding is bad and I think it's only going to get worse for folks down stream. I know some of my family and friends might lose everything and I worry and pray for them. I am busy working on quilts for this tragedy because that's what I do. Oh and I have a great sidekick who keeps me on track (Sara) and my mom will be here for a few months to help me too.

Bathroom redo

2011-06-18T10:46:00.002-05:00

Here's my before bathroom, boring white and grey. I redid it 3 years ago when Kristin graduated from High School. Oh my it was in serious need of paint and such. So before Josh graduated this spring I decided to paint and redecorated from pale frogs to bright frogs.

Wow! I thought I could pick paint at the store, well I got mint instead of sage.........oh well, no changing now, I replaced the rugs and shower curtain(that is a giant frog on the curtain if your wondering) and found vintage frog pictures at the same thrift store. I also made the curtain, but didn't measure it when I sewed it so it's a little short for my liking. I'm on the look out for another table cloth in the right colors to remake curtains. I also found a frog can for my plunger. I figured I spent $32.00 dollars on my makeover. Paint being $26.00. I liked the frog knobs on my cabinet so I kept the soap dish and such and just added a few new frogs and brightened up things just a bit. I will be happy with the redo until Brad graduates, who knows what I will do in 2 years to my poor bathroom!

something to show

2011-06-13T13:04:00.002-05:00

I got a call from one of the quilt group members needing a quilt to send to a soldier serving in Afghanistan. A local boy the church in Creighton is sending a care package to. Not the fanciest quilt I've put together but it's something from home and the gals were sure happy to send it.

This quilt now lives in our living room. The kids love it, I love it and Sammy the dog really loves it! I thought they would put it away for summer but the flannel feels good when the evenings are cool. This is one that I quilted last January and just got it bound this last month....talk about slow.........

I love UFO's! Sure I know I'm weird and have hording tendencies but other people's UFO's really make me happy. For $.25 I can set this little kit beside my chair and work on it in the evening when I'm watching stupid TV. Heck it might turn into a UFO someone else will think about finishing someday.....sure I love UFO's but that don't mean I actually finish them.

Oh another sideways pic, well anyway Sara and I are working on dresses for Africa. We cut 14, have 2 done and the rest are in process. She did pretty well helping me pick trims and sewing the center backs, she didn't care for adding elastic and didn't even want to try the arm binding part. I can deliver them to the thrift store in Ewing when they are done, I love local drop offs, postage just kills me.

Not much else going on around here, the kids are hanging out and the garden needs a little help......going to mud some plants in today, the rain just keeps coming.........

maybe later

2011-06-01T09:10:00.002-05:00

Today I will quilt. Yes I'm going to quilt. YES I'M GOING TO QUILT! (yes I'm yelling at myself) I have lots to do for other people and more to do for myself but I just keep planning more projects.......keep making more kits........keep digging deeper in my studio......oh to have more ambition. Well anyway yesterday Sara and I started cleaning the studio, we got a space cleared out of the main room for her sewing desk and machine. Stuff gathered for sale at the Farmers Market (if I take it all) and lots of things sorted. I found a few treasures also, it's like shopping in my own stash. Sara wants to make a few things so she sorted her projects and will soon be wanting help finishing them up, pillowcases for her room, holiday wall hanging with removable things for each month, denim purse from a skirt for her friend(ok I've had the skirt for over two years) and she has sock monkey fabric she's dying to use. I think maybe later I'll show up here with pic's.

Some days

2011-05-29T10:29:00.002-05:00

Some days things just don't go like they should, cat on my quilt frame? Shouldn't happen but it does. Rain Memorial weekend? Same feeling. Tired to the bone from 3 days at work and two long nights at the bar. Ditto. I know today will be the day I do housework and sleep, the weather is dull and dreary and my house is getting deep because I have not been home to crack the whip with these teenagers that live here. I made a trip to Omaha last Monday to deliver Mom and Kristin, a trip to Norfolk for eye appointments, made jam on Wends day and worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (got lots of sewing done and a few good sales too!) I also took the night shifts at the bar to help out with the weekend alumni traffic. Friday was so busy I had to have a customer call the boss to come help me...wow! Last night the last hour was a big rush after the class parties. Tonight will be interesting as we're catering the alumni dance and having the bar open. I did get kind of lucky and don't have to be there till 8. I like my part time jobs but sometimes I think all the shifts shouldn't happen on the same weekend, just like that cat on my quilt frame.

Uncle Danny

2011-05-25T09:32:00.002-05:00

My Uncle Danny passed away on Easter, I was there in the hospital with him for the last two days of his life. My Mom was in Az and my Aunt Donna in Kansas City so Kristin drove me down to Co. Bluffs when I got the news he was on Comfort Care Friday night. I chased all the creepiest friends away when I arrived and only his true friends would show their faces to his family and stop in to check on him with us there. My Aunt and Uncle John along with Adam made it up Saturday and we kept each other company until Sunday when I had to leave about noon. Kristin had to go back to college and I had to work. John and Adam left about the same time to care for animals and Adam had a job interview the next day. My Aunt Donna stayed with him until the end, I'm glad she was there. I know he was waiting for us all to leave before he could let go peacefully. The 14th we had a small service at the church next to my grandma's house with family and the 6 of us (mom, me, Sara, John, Donna and Adam) went to the cemetery. My Aunt wrote a poem for Danny, I find it very fitting of his life and want to share it here.

Daniel Nile Wilson

Born November 20th, 1954

Died April 24th 2011

What was he looking for? By Donna Brooks

What was he looking for?

No one ever knew

Even as a child,

What was he looking for?

He was a little wild.

Trouble seemed to find him,

Even when he hid,

What was he looking for?

When trouble he would bid.

The rules he did not follow,

He lived life his way

What was he looking for?

Never did he say.

Now the end has come,

Free from all life's strife

What was he looking for?

Throughout his troubled life.

Mission Waco

2011-05-25T09:21:00.002-05:00

Kristin will be spending 10 weeks at Mission Waco in Waco TX. She is an intern with the theater dept. (or anything else they need). missionwaco.org I checked out the web site today, they are really busy down there! I noticed there are a lot of programs for adults as well as a summer theater program for kids. I think I will donate a few items to the Clothesline, its a resale shop who's sales go to a program for rehab. I also have some craft items that will be put in the box along with the hats I make. I will be sending Kristin a care package or two so adding a few extras won't hurt. I would love to send money but the plane ticket and new clothes for the kid kind of ate up the cash.....so I will do what I can along with lots of prayers!

Challenge

2011-05-23T08:01:00.002-05:00

I issued a challenge to my fellow quilt group members. I gave them each a jacket front and back panel and told them to use it. It was blues with a flower pot on it and jacket shaped. It also had the instructions printed on the fabric around the panel. The top pic is mine, I used the blues in my pink and blue string quilt (I'm channeling my inner 80's loving quilter). I decided to use up a bunch of mauve's and blues, not sure how big it will be when totally done, hopefully big enough for my bed.

Here's a pic with every ones challenge, Flicsha made the bags, Luanne made the small quilt, Linda made the RWB string blocks and Anita made the table runner.

Close up of Luanne's small quilt, you can really see what the panel looked like from this pic.

Here's mom's bags, she even used the instructions in the bags.......and she used everything! Just kept making things with the scraps!

Anita's table runner is on the left and more of Linda's blocks. We were missing a few members so it will be fun to see how they used them next month.

Kristin's play

2011-05-21T10:22:00.002-05:00

OK I thought I had this sideways pic thing fixed..........oh well turn your head and look at them. Kristin was costume designer for her friend Andrew's play, The Bird Boy. He wrote and directed it both. Her friend Isaiah was property designer and the crew made over 2000 paper cranes for the show. I was very impressed with the show and I think Andrew has a future in writing 'Lifetime' movies. (oh and he's a fantastic actor too)

Kristin said her design was mostly a scavenger hunt as the play was set in modern Seattle. Sara and I really enjoyed the production and our time spent with Kristin too.

Look...I'm one of those people who take pic's of everything! (that's what Kristin says) well I blinded the audience before the show with the flash on the camera. It amazes me how much my girls look alike, they always have. In baby pic's sometimes I have to look at the background instead of the girl to tell who the pic is of, especially when Sara is wearing Kristin's hand me downs. It's funny but all Kristin's college friends know when her family shows up for a show because of Sara. They are hollering for Kristin even before we can ask for her.

graduation

2011-05-19T07:53:00.002-05:00

My kids and a couple friends at Josh's party.

Here we are, the whole family. I'm really proud of my kids, they are growing up to be extraordinary people. Josh graduated 3rd in his class and will be attending Northwestern next year majoring in history and writing. He also has a job for the summer. Kristin will be a missionary in Waco TX at an inner city youth mission for 10 weeks. Brad has a new summer job starting when he gets out of school and Sara is doing small jobs also, babysitting, mowing, helping her mom.......oh and drivers ed!

Grad presents

2011-05-18T21:37:00.002-05:00

Kristin made presents for her friends graduating from college this spring. She put these quilts together at Christmas time and I quilted the bottom 3 in January. The top quilt I finished for her on Mother's day and she bound it before she went back to school that evening.

The middle two quilts are made from recycled sheets. I love vintage sheets! Reminds me of summer nights when I was a kid, sleeping with the windows open, to hot for even a sheet to cover up with but by morning being cold and looking for that sheet. The sheets now days just don't have the same feeling, oh don't get me wrong, I love my high thread count Egyptian cotton but small print cotton from the 60's are to die for and the white heavy cotton I got from my grandma..........oh are they nice!

I think I'm going to have to have one similar to this green beauty, big enough for a king size bed to remind me of summer nights. I have a pretty good stash of sheets now to just get busy sewing! I am also on the look out for a king size set for my bed but they are hard to find that big in a set, guess I'll just keep looking at thrift stores and junk shops. (I know they made them, my Mom had a king size bed in the 70's)

Kristin called me in a panic on Monday, the green was on the white after washing. I told her to go buy a fabric dye magnet and maybe a bleach pen. She found a Shout fabric dye sheet on a table in her hallway where every one puts things they don't want or need before moving out of the dorms. It worked and saved her gift quilt. I'm happy to report the friends loved their quilts and Kristin was happy to give them something she made.

May has been a busy month, my Mom has been here two weeks, graduation for Josh and Sara, work, cleaning, parties and my uncle died on Easter. I have pic's to share of most events so just be patient with me and I'll get started soon!

bindings

2011-04-19T19:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I worked on bindings, not my favorite part of quilting that's for sure! I have had these quilted since January and sitting in a pile on my sewing desk. I started binding the smallest quilts and still have 5 more to go. Above is my Tiger quilt, I had a yard of the tigers and half a yard of the dark rust. I bought the fabric with a pillowcase in mind but when I got this book(no I can't remember the name) I turned it into a small quilt. I hope to do a few more of these quilts in the future, I have the fabric bought for an oriental version and a tropical iris with orange and turquoise colors.

UFO alert!!!! This little stack and whack fan is about 12 years old now. Mom made it when she was doing Fan classes. The blocks were cut from a pre-print 30's panel. Some of the coolest fan blocks were made from pillow panels and this was a quilt panel she found on the shelves of my quilt shop. It hung on the wall and made the class rounds as a top and when I closed the shop I kitted it up with back and binding with plans to quilt it someday. It lived at Mom's awhile and then it finally made it to the 'to be quilted shelf". I like to do baby quilts when I get a pile of odds and ends batting, it's easier to piece small bits of batting for baby quilts and I like using up leftovers. This little quilt does have two stains that must be treated in the wash before being given away, with all the traveling this quilt has done it's no wonder there are spots and stains.

I picked up this print fabric in Fremont in their sale room FQ's awhile back.....ok over a year ago...well anyway I matched the green from our sale room and pink from the front and this little baby quilt was born. It was a challenge to myself to make something out of the 2 FQ's, oh and it was a challenge because it was hard to match and not much fabric to make anything bigger. I'm happy with the end result and a sweet baby girl will love it I'm sure.

Last but not least in my binding day was this bright little quilt. I made all the blocks and had them pinned to a design board. Kristin set them together and added borders. Most of the fabric came from work.

look what I found...

2011-04-19T18:03:00.002-05:00

I found these in the laundry room...........momma cat had them in this basket turned sideways in the corner so they were caged in. I moved them into a dog crate and momma sleeps in there with them during the night. This weekend I am taking them to my friend Al's house so they can be barn cats. It's so much fun watching them and the puppies together.

Sara is excited to play with her new machine from Mom. I picked up a few 4 inch squares from a garage sale over the weekend. The 4 inch ruler was included in the sale too.

Also picked up some jewelery at the garage sale, it was fun to add to my collection. I am going to tear apart a few things and remake them........like the ladybug pin......the heart key chain...maybe the gold circle necklace....and the hoop earrings I'm just going to wear. I love hoops and its fun to wear a different pair everyday. (for $.25 each I can afford to change it up)

I finally put binding on some quilts! These two are Heartstrings quilts, the top one was sent to me to finish and the bottom one is a Project Pink from a few years ago, I am so close to finishing that project.....whew! Not sure where they will end up or how soon they will be given away as I'm trying to get things pulled together for graduation and Easter.

little project

2011-04-15T10:41:00.002-05:00

I found this metal hamper at a thrift store last week. $3 bucks for the hamper and $4 for the paint. I really thought about keeping it for my room but the berry pink paint screamed SARA so she is the lucky girl who got a new hamper for her room.

When she got home from school I handed her the glue gun and told her to jazz it up with the plastic stones. She calls it bejeweling..........I call it funny! I sat outside with her and chrocheted scrubbies and enjoyed the weather. Oh and played with the dogs too. (also painted a metal shelf that you can see behind the hamper, she bejeweled it also)

And here's the finished project, for $7 she has a new personalized hamper that looks cool in her room and the best part is we did it together.

a box from my mom

2011-04-15T09:28:00.003-05:00

I started with the center FQ for this baby quilt(sent by Mom). The yellow is brand new at work and I thought it was perfect for a baby quilt. I ended up with a 38x48 quilt. I thought the animals were to big to cut up into smaller blocks and the way they were on the fabric there was no fussy cutting them unless I wanted to applique them onto something. I always like bright baby quilts and this one will go into my stash for gifts or for sale.

Another 10 minute table runner, now I have 5 of them to finish with buttons on the ends. The blue fabric is lighter on the ends, not just my camera making it look that way. Below is a pillow case for Brad, he was complaining that I never bring him cool presents......so I thought of him yesterday and made it green to look good with his green bedding.

Mom sent me a box and a package this week, the box was a sewing machine! Now Sara(or Kristin) and I can sew at the same time! The package held some beading supplies and fabric. I collect cat fabric and there was a piece that had names of cats all over it with paw prints in olive green and black. THEN..........DOG FABRIC! It makes me giggle to think of my mom sending me dog fabric, I really do love it and to prove it I used some of it yesterday. It was fun making things with it and I have plans for more of it but ran out of time.

long week

2011-04-13T12:56:00.002-05:00

I wanted something similar to the color of the necklace in the middle(my mom's from the 70's, she had rockin' style) but a bit longer and more eclectic, so I strung the cream and gold beads two lengths and attached them to a gold chain I found in mom's stash. Also made small drop earrings and a bracelet. Not sure if I'm done with this one yet, might add a pin of some kind to the side where it connects to the chain and maybe some ribbon or something........just not sure.

Found this cool pink bead in mom's box(yes I love her box of stash beads and jewelry) and it spoke Spring to me so Sara and I dug thru a bowl of mixed beads and found silver to string the pink bead with. I made it short, 16-17 inches so it fits close to the neck and added the extender to made it just a bit longer if needed, also like the extender hanging down the back now that I have short hair.

Quilt group last night was fun, we worked on chairty quilts and Anita got this one pieced and ready to quilt so now I have to get busy! We also gave a quilt to Linda P. to deliver to a gal she knows who is sick and in the rest home with cancer. Sandy took a baby quilt to give to her friend who's baby was born with some facial problems. It's always nice to give them away when needed.

This is my latest sample for work, oh I can't wait till all the kits sell and I can take it home!!!!

Josh had a good time at prom, and everyone look....he's smiling!

More quilts

2011-04-07T23:07:00.003-05:00

These two quilts are samples for work. I love to play with color and love to sew up two of something in different color ways just to see the possibilities. I really thought the pink would be my favorite but the green is really speaking to me.

Sara is modeling one of the necklaces I made tonight, I found the butterfly pin at the thrift shop in Creighton for a buck, the beads are out of an assortment pack I bought years ago and the chain is leftover from charm bracelets. I love to repurpose jewelry and make something old new again. I made a few more goodies but no pic's tonight. I picked up quite a few cool things at the thrift shop today, it was a fun trip and now I have something new to build with for spring jewelry. I also have mom's box of beads and old jewelry. (oh my it's like a treasure!) I used a gold link chain and some of her beads tonight too. Thanks Mom!

Sara bought robot charms while in Omaha, tonight I helped her put them on chains. I tried to add beads and more charms but she vetoed me and insisted she liked them plain. Oh she did steal the pearl beads I picked up from the thrift shop today to layer with the robots......I kind of like her funky/girly style.

geography bee

2011-04-05T19:27:00.002-05:00

Sara did well at the State Geography bee on Friday, she answered 4 out of 8 questions right. To get in the running for the top 10 7 out of 8 was needed. I'm really proud of her and next on her list is Quiz Bowl tomorrow.(hope they do as well as Josh and his high school team, they took 1st) We had a great day in Omaha together, picked up booze for the bar, stopped at the Log Cabin Quilt shop for work, got stuck in rush hour traffic.........bought her a new outfit at Bass and Pro where we picked up Kev new boots. Hit two fabric stores looking at beads and fabric. Oh and we hit the 'bins' on 72nd. It's the Goodwill store where they sell things by the pound. Everything is thrown into big rolling bins and you dig thru it looking for treasures. Sara found some Anime books, I got another dehydrator. It was a fun day with my daughter.

I made the quilt on the left, Roseanne did the quilt on the right.

Here's my spring table topper, love the springy colors and the bunny just makes it cute. I was at the shop today and there is one kit left!

I also did the goose chase table runner, I will have two out of this one also, it's made, just not quilted yet. The kit has enough fabric except for binding to make two. (why throw the extra in the scrap bin?)

I am starting a quilt in these colors tomorrow so when I cut kits I also did a few table topper kits with the leftovers. Well this topper got vetoed so I bought what I cut up and will turn it into a throw size quilt. I'm going to make 3 more of these sections and add a border.

Tonight I got two baby quilts ready for binding tomorrow and I think I will cut another quilt top up to take to work. I am on the down hill stretch on the quilts I had planned for samples....whew! Two quilts and a table topper to go, Shop Hop had been fun and lots of neat people have come in to see us. Just a few more days to 'get your hop on'.

Jewelry day

2011-03-30T20:54:00.003-05:00

My Mom sent me these beads from Arizona awhile back, I decided today was the day to make myself something from them. I thought the dragonfly clasp was fun and it will definitely be seen with my hair cut short. I also made two pairs of earrings, didn't know which one I would like the best so I made both, now I have choices.

With the pink/brown beads I made necklace, earrings and bracelet. I usually don't wear a whole set of anything but I like the option to do so. I found the big/small rose beads in Mom's stuff. (thanks for sharing Mom!)

(every pic is sideways and I don't know how to fix it....)

While I was busy so was Sara, she has been wanting a necklace like the one on the cover of a book. This is her House of Night necklace. The one on the book cover had a bigger charm and diamond shaped beads. I think she did ok with her DIY knock off. She's happy with it and I'm happy that she spent time with me doing something crafty.

I also made charm bracelets for work, 14 bracelets, 3 necklaces and 5 bracelets with 40 charms on the each! My hands were cramped up by the 5th bracelet, ugh! Shop Hop started today, have more samples to show off but I'm to tired to find my camera and download pic's. Tomorrow Sara has the State Geography Bee in Omaha so we will be gone all day. Good Luck Sara!

Hair

2011-03-29T21:21:00.003-05:00

I had a hair emergency today............I decided to straighten my grown out perm. I have done it before, no problem. Well today was a different story, no I don't have a before pic, lets just say straw has a better feel than my hair did when I was done. The ends curled up and fell off just like hair being burnt. I couldn't get a comb thru it without it breaking. The more it dried the frizzier it got, it was so bad I just got in the car and went to Norfolk. Walked in to the mall and told the gal at Regis to cut it off. I really made her work hard and over an hour and a half later this is what was left. She tried to leave it as long as she could, there was no hope and I made her cut another inch and a half off the front and two off the back. (I've never had my neck shaved before)Sooooooooooo long story short; never trust a box that says gentle and safe for all hair types! Josh told me I look just like all the other moms now....oh great....hey what kind of earrings do ya wear with short hair?

weekend

2011-03-27T10:50:00.002-05:00

This table runner will be for Kristin after the kits are gone from work. I took one of her dishes into work and matched it up with this brown. Julie and Vicki picked the batik and I got it sewn up this week. It's not been a sewing week around here so this is all I have done, notice the piles of fabric at the top of the photo.....two more table runners and a small quilt.

I took Saturday morning and watched sewing shows and worked on this afghan. My Aunt Sis started it with 6 giant granny squares, I sewed them together with bright pink with a little help from Sammy. Now Sammy and I have an afghan from our Aunt to cuddle up under together.

I thought about adding ruffles around the edge but in the end just a simple crochet finished it off, this is the first project I've ever joined together. I like the way it turned out but my Aunt crocheted so tight it was hard to slip a hook thru and i finally had to skip a stitch every so often. Heck it's good enough for who it's for..........me! (and Sammy)

Enjoying the weather

2011-03-22T19:19:00.002-05:00

Me and the 'boys' spent a little time out in the yard enjoying the weather, 70 degree's sure is nice this time of year. The sun was so bright that this was the only pic that turned out decent. Spot would not join me, Sammy and Blackie in the grass, he stayed on the dirt by my car the whole time we were out. I made them stay outside today in the cage while I was gone today and they were sure happy to see me when I got home until I gave them baths!

Just another sneak peak at a kit for work....

Three more table runners done and ready for display!

I got this little throw quilt finished up also and ready for display, red and black/white are big this year at the shop.

Today I spent a little time with Roseanne cutting and kitting up a few more table runners and small quilts. Tomorrow I start sewing! I'm starting to feel the push to get things done before March 31st!

puppies

2011-03-17T13:18:00.004-05:00

Blackie and Spot are ready for new homes! They will be 8 weeks old on Saturday. Anyone interested just let me know. Shih-tzu's get between 12 and 17 pounds,( or I say large cat size.) Non-shedding, they need haircuts twice a year, loved to be brushed and don't mind baths. They like to be outside during the day when it's warm and love to snuggle on the couch.

Love this quilt! It's a Moda Bake Shop pattern.

Moda Bake Shop pattern again, those designers are great!

The Orchard Quilters got together the other night, we made 10 minute table runners. These are so easy! At one point I looked at the girls and said, "leave it to a bunch of quilters to make this easy project hard" and then we all relaxed and had fun making them. We did do a bit extra with some top stitching, we decided they would wash up better with just a bit more structure. Still need to tack on buttons or something where the corners come together and meet, I'm thinking pins, or brooches, even cute beads. I made the horse and the patriotic runners, Maxine made Easter, Linda made Halloween and Luanne made St. Pats and the red/black combo. Luanne also had two others finished so we could see options, different sizes and color combinations. I really enjoyed her homemade shrimp dip, wow! She made it with her own katsup, how many people make katsup? Well it was so yummy I ate way more than I should have, thanks Luanne!

Josh giving his speech, it's the only decent pic I got, gonna have to learn how to take distance shots with my camera. He qualified for state speech next Friday, so we're all going to Kearney! I'm really proud of him, he made up his mind he was going and now he is!

Today I've got corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, I followed the recipe in the O'Neill Shopper, I've never made it with cabbage, or potato's or onions.....or apple juice and brown sugar....I always just tossed it in the cooker and poured water on it. I'm sure it will be good and I'm hoping someone brings me some at work tonight. Oh yeah, I'm the lass serving green beer at the ye' ol' tavern (ok not sure what to call myself but lass just ain't fittin') and homemade Irish Cream. Yes I made it! Yes it's good! I like it and I don't like Irish whiskey, little strong for me but just right for everyone else. I wish I would of bought another thing of sweetened condensed milk and I would make a batch with Black Velvet, then.........I know I would lovvvve it! Well off I go to find my green outfit and color my hair red, just wouldn't be fittin' to have the bar wench's grey roots showing....hehehe!

New camera/sneak peak

2011-03-13T15:37:00.004-05:00

Here's a sneak peak at a few of the kits that will be available at the end of the month at work, this baby quilt was soooooooooo quick and I love the colors! It's 51x55 perfect size for baby/toddler.

Two quilts, a batik and a 30's and two table runners, there will be more soon!

I am still looking for my camera, so I thought as soon as I bought a new one the other would show up. So I am now the proud owner of a little pink Casio. I think I like it, it's easy to work and the pic's look fine so far.(ok I only took a few) I have been lost all week without, didn't realize how much I love to take pictures until I couldn't. Kev is upset because I replaced it but I really don't care, he replaces tools when he looses or breaks them, well that's what I did this time, my camera is a tool and I needed it to do what I do. So now I'm off to take pic's of everything I've been working on the last week and a half......oh and pic's of my puppies!

I sewed up a cute LITTLE baby quilt this morning, I'm saying little because it's half the size it's intended to be, oops I cut wrong and just couldn't figure out why I had so many extra triangles. Well anyway I will put some borders on it and finish it after I go back to work and see if I have enough fabric to remake it the right size. I cut it out late Friday afternoon, should of done it earlier when my brain was working better. I also have another one to cut out, but this time I know not to mess it up! I am trying to get samples made for Shop Hop coming up at the end of the month, it's gonna be a fun 10 days!

still lost...

2011-03-09T08:24:00.003-06:00

My camera is still lost, I'm in mourning.....I feel like part of me is missing, ughhhhhh!
Who would of known a silly little gadget would be so important to me. Today I am cleaning the dining area in an attempt to find it, maybe the cat moved it while laying on my quilting stuff.
I have been sewing quite a bit lately, to bad I can't show it off here! I quilted a T-shirt quilt for my MIL and 3 shop samples. I love my new batik quilt, it's a kit at work to be unveiled during Shop Hop (march 31 thru April 10th) we are working on new table runner kits and I also designed a sun hat just for fun. I have made 4 of them and hope to have the pattern ready soon.
On the home front not much going on this week, Josh took first in both his speeches at the Speech meet on Tuesday! Sara will be going to Omaha on the 1st of April to compete in the state wide geography bee and Brad turned 16 this week. Oh and Kristin is in Chicago at the moment, on the first leg of her tour with the drama ensemble ministry. They are doing a 10 day tour to New York state and she is stage manager and part time van driver.
The puppies are getting ready for new homes, anyone interested?

no camera

2011-03-04T17:34:00.002-06:00

My camera is lost.................and I'm lost without it. I took pic's Tuesday night at Brian's house(progressing nicely with paint and flooring being laid) went to use my camera Wednesday at work and it's not in my purse. I have looked everywhere I can think of, cars, studio, driveways, pockets, even called work and the library. So if someone out there has seen my camera...........

St. Pat's

2011-02-27T16:39:00.001-06:00

I made this little wall hang a few years ago, ok, like 11 years ago...........wow..........well I finally got the pattern written up and it's ready to go! Sara helped me with the cover of the pattern last week and I took it to work for Julie, might make a few kits for the shop depending on the demand. O'Neill is the Irish capital of Nebraska so I figured we should promote St. Pat's day.

I have started sample sewing for the shop, Shop Hop is coming up soon and we want lots of new kits on display for the event. I love this time of year! (only for the sewing, the weather gets me down)

quilts

2011-02-20T11:30:00.002-06:00

This is a little quilt I finished yesterday, binding and all! Thanks to a generous donation of fabric to the Orchard Quilters I was able to send the blocks and fabric to my Mom and she set together the quilt and mailed it back ready to quilt. I love pink girly quilts! This little quilt will have a home with a preemie baby as soon as they release her from the hospital. (born in late Dec. due in April)

The Orchard Quilters made more heart blocks, I'm thinking about setting them together with this print...........just not sure yet.

This is the second of these that I have done, sold the first sample at Christmas so I whipped up another one. There are three more kits at Quilter's Candy Shoppe.

Roseanne put me to work on a 'hurry up I need this baby quilt' and truthfully I was glad for the push! I think I'm over my quilting slump (thanks winter) and ready to kick it in gear this week. I just sent the rest of these kits to the Log Cabin quilt shop in Omaha. All we had left was the blue sample and pink kits.

Oh and a very special thank you to a knitter in Sioux City Iowa, I love my new socks! I picked them up at the Goodwill after a visit with Kristin. They are perfect to sleep in with my new jammies bought on clearance. Now I understand the craze of knitting socks!

binding fairy

2011-02-17T11:19:00.002-06:00

Oh how I wish I had a binding fairy............this is just one pile waiting patiently for my attention. I got quite a few quilts done in January, except for binding. Maybe someday I will take pic's of the fronts and post about them.

I have also been busy with my hook, these are squares for Bridge and Beyond, if I ever get around to mailing them. I am using up yarn my mom sent me and some from Grandma's too.

Some of these hats are gifts for my little cousins, made from Grandma's yarn and some are charity. When it's cold outside I like to watch TV and knit hats on the round loom. I can do a hat in about 3 hours with a few breaks in there if anything worth watching is on.

I do know that I'm tired of winter and being inside. The last few days have been so nice that when it turns cold again I'm gonna be sad (like tomorrow!)

New babies

2011-01-28T18:46:00.002-06:00

This is what we've been playing with this week, they are soooooooooooo cute!Hard to believe they will be a week old tomorrow. Sammy and Sadie are doing just fine as parents again. (like Sammy has a hard job!) Tonight they will be named when Sara's friend Kaylee comes to visit, Sara promised she could name one of them so we've been waiting.

Heart quilt

2011-01-13T22:29:00.002-06:00

I spent today messing around in my studio. I know this pile of blocks don't look like much but it takes a long time to iron, cut and fuse these into place. There are 30 10.5 inch blocks with hearts fused on them and enough strips cut to border each block and binding. My quilt should end up to be 70x80 or so. I am taking it to the next Orchard Quilters meeting, hopefully someone will take it off my hands and do the sewing part. I love the planning and cutting part of a quilt but get bored before I get them done so I decided to just "plan" a quilt or two. I hope the girls like this heart quilt, I only planned on making a few blocks but I got a little carried away and ended up making blocks for the whole quilt.

My studio never really warmed up today and my sewing machine is broke so cutting and ironing took up the whole day. I did plan to quilt something but never got around to it.........sometimes I just have to play.

Doctor Who

2011-01-12T10:30:00.002-06:00

Doctor Who is alive and well living at my house. The 1970's version, not the "new" Doctor. Kristin worked on this scarf a lot before Christmas, in fact she got so sick of it she made it somewhat shorter than the pattern called for. I think it could easily have 40 plus hours in it......wow! I shopped for the yarn a couple of years ago when my brother asked for a scarf not knowing how hard it is to find 1970's colors in all the same type of yarn. Well all Kristin's hard work paid off and Josh loved his present.

Christmas/New Year

2011-01-01T20:59:00.003-06:00

Oh how funny my kids seem to think they are.............someday they will look back and wonder about themselves.

Don't ya just love a Christmas Eve jammies photo ?

Kristin and Sara ready for Church.

Oh and here's a pic of them opening an early present from their grandma Flicsha............don't they look thrilled to get towel and dishcloths?

My grandma Allen always made buckeyes at Christmas, now Kristin had taken up the tradition. Oh they are sooooo good!

Time flies when your having fun....least that's what they say....whew I had ALOT of fun then. I'm not sure where the month of December went, all I know is it's the 1st of January already and I'm in shock. Kristin has been home for two weeks and we have been busy cooking and making gifts. I decided about the middle of December I would not nag my children to clean house........well it's getting a bit deep here but nobody is complaining and I'm a much calmer Mom. Ok they have cleaned some, gotta have dishes to eat off of and clothes to wear. I will start getting mean and grouchy after they go back to school, until then I'm ignoring it all. Kristin has me slaving away in the studio this new year, she decided to make gifts for some friends who are graduating in the spring, I will come back with pic's as soon as they are done.

star quilts and charity quilts

2010-12-11T11:15:00.001-06:00

This is my class sample, I made it to show the steps for the class. I will add a pink border when I get back to work. ( the bolts of fabric around the bottom and side are being auditioned for borders, I finally decided on the pink)

This is my students star. I think she did a great job and I love the colors! It will have borders left over from the star center also.

I am still working on Project Pink quilts. I gave this one to my Mother-in-law to do the binding on. She will donate it to the Indian Reservation along with the one shown below.

This string quilt was an Orchard Quilters project last year. Wanda got it set together and I did the quilting, she will finish it (it is finished) and send it off tomorrow night when she attends a program at church for the Indian Reservation.

Today I am snowed in, that's the only reason I had time to sit down and do any blogging, I am on a deadline before Christmas! I have hats to knit, scarves to crochet, quilts to quilt.
Ba-humbug!!!!!

long time.......

2010-12-11T10:27:00.002-06:00

I made a cute little bag last week for my Sister-in-law for Christmas. It holds 8 balls of yarn and long enough to hold knitting needles too. My original plan was to have the pockets on the inside (someone sews backwards). I liked it wrong side out so I left it, sometimes I end up with good mistakes.

While Mom was here for a week we did a little sewing. This is one of two bowls we made, she added beads to the openings around the rim of the bowl after I took this pic. It's made with the selvage of satin fabric leftover from a batch of table runners I cut for a wedding. The variegated thread is Christmas colors. Mom needed a grab bag gift for her fiber arts group in Arizona.

While we were making bowls I did this little candle mat. This was my grab bag gift for FCE. (Extension Club) I think it has multiple uses......candle mat........mug rug........frisbee for the dog.......

My little brother is doing well after his accident. The truck not so well.....Kelsey was thrown out and his friend Alex took a few tumbles in this...(5 rolls they are guessing) Kelsey will have a long recovery but he's alive and still kicking.

A bright spot in the last few weeks, Josh's play. It was really cute and the kids did a good job too. I know he's relieved its over, now it's on to speech!

long week

2010-11-21T11:57:00.002-06:00

Here's a pic of the progress on my Brother-in-law Brian's house. They have also installed the beam that goes along the roof line for the vaulted ceiling. Today they are tearing out the last of the old bathroom. I also heard talk of installing the basement windows. I know the wood stove has been set in place also, I will take more pic's later.

Quilt group gave my Mother-in law Wanda a quilt last week. It's been a long summer with all the problems my father-in-law has had and the group wanted her to know they are thinking of her. Linda did a wonderful job of setting and quilting, it really means a lot to me that they thought of Wanda, Thanks Quilt group!

Oh here's a pic of dinner today, ok I made this one a week ago and liked it so much I am making it again today. I heard the recipe on the Splendid Table on NPR. It's Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good. Yeah that's the name of it............how can ya go wrong with bacon, garlic and heavy cream? Oh and cheese!! It's fun to make and yummy too!

I spent the first part of the week in Omaha with my brother, he was in a car accident. He's doing fine now but it was questionalble for awhile. My Mom flew in from Arizona and she stayed in Omaha after Kelsey left with his girlfriend so I will be going to pick her up tomorrow and then swing by Orange City for Kristin. I'm glad they both had flexible schedules so I didn't have to make two trips this week. I am looking forward to seeing Kristin and having my Mom here for Turkey Day.

no pictures

2010-11-12T18:59:00.002-06:00

This will be a very boring post......no pictures. I am having computer problems and my computer nerd is busy being general contractor on his brother's house. So until something on this thing makes him mad it will be broke, just like the plumber's wife with the broken pipes.....
Tomorrow we go see Kristin and her play she is stage manager for. Looking forward to seeing her, and the play.
I made some crochet squares for charity while watching movies with the kids, yesterday was a total waste of a day-migraine, ugh!!! So after I slept it off I sat in my chair with my fuzzy blankie and some yarn, I am really not very good at granny squares but ya know they say practice makes perfect.
Work today was interesting, I am cutting off 6 inch strips of all the sale fabric so it can be scanned and put on the Internet for sale. I didn't get as far as I would of liked because I was BUSY! Lots of sewers out and about today.....it was a good day! I really enjoy customers and helping with their projects.

sneak peak at Christmas

2010-11-07T14:17:00.003-06:00

Here's my sneak peak at Christmas presents! I'm doing a kitchen theme this year. I know I never buy myself new towels and hot pads when I wear mine out, so I'm thinking these will make useful presents. I like to make things people can use or need, nobody needs more knickknacks.... so towels, scrubbies, hot pads, dishcloths, and food mixes in jars is my main plan.

I picked up this fabric at the Log Cabin in Omaha last time I was there, just love the quilty Santa's. I think I did pretty good making two FQ's stretch this far.

Oh and I did these with one FQ. I know I'm a bit late jumping on the cupcake bandwagon, everyone else has 'been there-done that' but my gift receivers will love them anyway.

This little wall hang was a quilt group project, well it's finally finished! It's been laying on top of a pile for quite awhile now, and started a few years ago......all I had to do was machine quilt it. I probably will give it away for Christmas too. I seem to have gift giving on the mind since Halloween is over. I know there is another holiday between the two but I really don't care much for it so this year I'm ignoring it. Oh don't get me wrong, I'm excited that Kristin will be home for it, but that's about it.........Kev told me he's roasting a hog this year, I told him to have fun planning and cooking the rest of it too. Ha Ha Ha! So if I get a bit grumpy between now and then ya all know why.

sneak peak

2010-11-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

Yes I'm channeling my 1980's dusty rose loving self...........This will be a Double Irish Chain for my king size bed. I had the medium rose print in my stash and when I took it to class Roseanne picked the dark print to go with it. I really like pink and now I'm excited to be making something for me! Yeah I know I'm behind on my decorating colors but in my bedroom I tend to go for the romantic girly look, tan, cream, pink, rose, burgundy......a little lace and lots of girly stuff on my dresser. (now if I could figure out how to make the huge tv a bit more feminine.......

I got the Christmas quilt done for work, there are two kits, yeah only two, one like this shown and another with the floral as the border. I'm happy with it and I hope the kits go fast so I can bring it home before Christmas. there was enough scraps to trim a couple pillowcases too.

I got this out of a book called Mostly Christmas, it has some cool tree skirts in it too.

My puppies

2010-11-06T13:38:00.002-05:00

This is Samantha and Patches, they are 5 months old now and ready for new homes. Shih-tzu dogs are pretty calm and loving.

Patches is a tri-colored female.

Samantha is a black with white female

They loved to be held, and they love to be outside during the day. I have taken them both for a pick-up ride and they just sit on the seat, no jumping or trying to escape.

Samantha will be like her daddy, hard to get a good picture of because of her color.......their fur is just long enough now to put a bow in (should of done that for the pic!) they love cats and other dogs. Shots are current and vet said no problems with the nose and sinus. They don't bark much and they sleep in the kitchen. They don't shed like a regular dog, it's more like they lose hair like a person so they do need to be groomed twice a year or so. I give baths about every three weeks. I do brush them and they don't seem to mind except for trying to eat the brush.

work and play

2010-11-03T21:21:00.002-05:00

I would like to thank Trish from my Heartstrings group for this little quilt, if you look close you can see Raggedy Ann and Andy. I am going to send this off to a reservation to keep a little one warm this winter.

Here's a couple more heading off this week also, just as soon as I find the "blanket lady" Barb here in town. I took these pic's in my Mom's building, don't ya just love the carpet?

While my Mom was here in October we made matching baby quilts that are now on display at Quilters Candy Shoppe. Hers is the blue and mine is the red. She has a baby to give hers too in December, mine don't have an intended home as of yet..........2 kits of each left at the store.

Last but not least is my favorite, well favorite this week anyway. I had the fabric line and pattern name memorized but my Swiss cheese brain has lost the information........well anyway it's at the shop and soon (when the kits sell) I will bring it home to live in my living room or on the end of my bed or most of the time on the laundry room floor!

I have a Christmas quilt started for the store, it should be done this week or next. I also started a Double Irish Chain in pink and white for my bed. Roseanne is teaching a class and I'm sure the only way I would ever get one done is to be held accountable to her and my fellow classmates. Besides its time for a new quilt in my room AND I'm using stash fabric. ok.... so it will look like a 80's/90's throwback.........yes its almost dusty rose..........but I like it and that's what matters in my little quilty world.

my kids

2010-11-03T15:51:00.002-05:00

Josh, Brad, Kristin and Sara (Patches, Sammy, Samantha and Sadie) oh and Patches and Samantha need a new home if anyone out there is interested.

And this pic is to prove that my boys do occasionally smile..........

halloween

2010-11-03T15:28:00.002-05:00

ok, so I like Halloween...........Brad helped me with my costume this year, I started it for Sara but she ended up wearing Grandma Allen's vintage cocktail dress (sorry no pic's) I had Brad standing in the kitchen with his arms out so I could hotglue this mess together. As you can tell my husband is not real impressed with my craftiness.............

We had a good time but I think I'm getting to old to wear costumes..........

Something quilty

2010-10-16T15:58:00.002-05:00

When I was at the Log Cabin I found this panel and decided to make my house a Halloween quilt. I brought it back and also got two kits made for work. I like whimsy Halloween and this is my kind of cute. Oh and it was fast too, I don't' ever put a lot of time into seasonal quilts like this, I'm into instant gratification during the holidays! I'm also working on another sample for work but it's going to take me a bit longer to finish than I thought, there was a fair amount of ripping going on yesterday afternoon! I promised to have it done by the 20th so I'm planning a sewing day(or evening) here pretty quick to finish it up.

new project

2010-10-16T15:05:00.002-05:00

This is the building my mom bought when she was here last week. It's going to keep me busy for a long time! The front don't look to bad and it has a new roof...........the rest of it is in need of some TLC and some $$$.

This is where my demo team decided to start. It's a back porch built on the end of the building. My little brother says he can save it so we started the clearing and tearing for him.

I'm just showing the corner where we started in the pic's, the window behind Kristin is falling in and the siding is all but rotted away. I did a quick patch job under the window so no critters would come visiting tonight. (don't ya love the duct tape holding the outside walls together?)

We took two pickup loads out today......

Kristin found another hole, this one is where the duct tape gave out about 6 feet or so up the wall. She's standing on a chair for this pic. The brick is the building next door!

Tomorrow Kelsey will be here and he's gonna help me with a few little fixes, I have some door locks to change and he's gonna have to patch this hole up just a bit.

I am so glad Kristin came home for Fall break, I've missed her and she's also good help.

crazy two weeks

2010-10-13T16:36:00.002-05:00

A lot has happened in the last two weeks. My Mom bought a building and we moved her stuff into it, remodeling is imminent.......I am tired and out of shape! I'm working more at the bar(heading there in about 5 minutes) and will have two days at the quilt shop this week. After taking Mom to the airport Tuesday morning I went back to the motel and enjoyed a morning nap then I made my way over to the Log Cabin Quilt Shop in La Vista. I spent a good two hours there visiting with the boss and checking out everything in her shop. It was so nice not having anyone bugging me while I looked around........'are you done yet' .........'can we go now".........'what do you need that for?' I also brought home a few things to make samples, oh I'm excited! I will be back to this blog in the next week with things to show off! It's a good thing I have to go to work at the quilt shop tomorrow........sample time!

October

2010-10-03T12:24:00.002-05:00

Mom's here from Arizona for two weeks so on our visit to see Kristin at college we went to the pumpkin patch. My teenager's are funny..........can't ya tell by the pic's?

We saw the children's play at Northwestern it was Asian Folktales. I always enjoy the productions they put on, very well done and the actor's are great. Ate the best Chinese food before heading home too.I really enjoyed the day with the kids and my mom.

I have been battling the after affects of the flu for a week now. It took a Dr. appointment to finally kick it, ugh! I hate being sick! I'm not working at the motel anymore, I can't work full time, keep my quilting and my kids happy and get anything done around the house so something had to go.........(didn't think I would give up quilting did ya? and the kids are to hard to get rid of..) So I'm back to a day at the quilt shop, and a few shifts at the bar. When I fully get over being sick I have big plans...........hehehe........oh and helping my mom this next week will keep me busy I'm sure!

quick pic

2010-09-21T00:34:00.002-05:00

Just thought I would show off my latest at work project. I am having a terrible time taking good pic's at work so please excuse the quality of this. I started the quilt and finished the quilting in one long day, just the binding is left to do when I work again. I think there is plans to make a crib sheet and bumper pad to match. I found a baby bed for display so next week we will have something new at the shop! I know there is also some Autumn things in progress....looking forward to seeing them too. Just work going on around here, long days(sometimes 10 hour shifts) at the motel. I am looking forward to a day off to do some quilting!

Fall weather

2010-09-14T11:09:00.002-05:00

Don't ya just love this weather? I felt so bad for this gal, the rain came before it was expected and boy did it rain!

Josh(left) was part of the Homecoming coronation last week. These 6 boys have been together since kindergarten. They are 5 farm boys and Josh.........I do think they all cleaned up pretty well for the occasion.

I don't have anything to show sewing wise this week, I worked on string blocks and cut some foundations for blocks that I will drop off at my MIL's today for quilt group tonight. (I'm going to work 3-11) I also started my kitty quilt with the fabric I got two weeks ago in Grand Island. It's a simple 4 patch, won't take long to finish if I ever get back to a sewing machine!

I better get moving, hosting a baby shower at work today and I have to stop and get frosting.....can't make it with no milk or butter in the house!

long time no blogging....

2010-09-06T12:28:00.002-05:00

I finally finished this quilt............my Grandma Allen did these blocks for me a long time ago. We went to an auction in Verdigree 13 years ago and she bought the blocks, embroidered them and gave them to me. I picked fabric out 2.5 years ago and pieced the center, got sidetracked and never finished the border. I got back to it about 6 months later and quilted it just this year. I finally got the binding on this week........wow........it took me awhile to finish because it was hard to work on it after she died. I am saving this little quilt for my first grandchild. (hopefully it will be a long time before I give it)

My Mom made this little baby quilt when she lived in Florida last year, its strips from a grab bag she ordered online. I love the stripe binding. I also put flannel on the back to make it nice and snuggly. Mom didn't like it much after she got it done but I think it's cute and some baby will love it!

I have had a busy few weeks, took a new job at Super 8 front desk. It's full time and right now mostly evenings 3-11. I really wanted days........I kind of like the job, just not the hours or the pay! I am holding out on judging until I see what kind of insurance is offered and a regular schedule. My children are starting to complain that I'm never home to talk to and Kev hates it when I work evening hours.

Today I made peach preserves and sometime this week I will do jelly, wow it's good! I love this time of year just for the canning and freezing......

pillows and such

2010-08-21T12:32:00.002-05:00

Kristin finished her pillows, K for Kristin, A for Ali. I was really sweet and gave her my newest most favorite fabric to make these, she better LOVE them!

Got this pink heartstrings ready to quilt plus another that I forgot to take a pic of, on my way to work now........get moving or be late!

Matchless Star's

2010-08-19T22:17:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick pic of both my quilts. This is before I got the second one quilted. Looking at them hanging together I decided the second needed quilting so it would look as good as the first one. I am doing a class this fall if anyone is interested. My next star will be with hand dyed fabrics and a black/bright butterfly batik. I found my stash of hand dyed and it's time to use them! Kristin sewed with me today, we quilted 6 pillows, fronts and backs.(ok I'm tired from all that pinning) I also got the horse quilt done and she finished sewing up a UFO bright baby quilt I've had hanging on the design board for over a year. I work tomorrow so its going to be a full day......off to bed for me now....

more quilting

2010-08-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

Kristin talked me into a late night quilting party, she helped me pin and position her T-shirt quilt and she promised to bind it herself! I quilted her name into the plain space on the front, she seemed pleased with it. Now on to 6 pillows.......

This is Roseanne's wedding quilt, it's beautiful! I know the lucky couple will love it!

This is a little table topper, I think Roseanne will scallop the borders, well that's what she did with the others I quilted that were this size. Kristin says these colors are boring...........hehehe...........if it' not brights it's boring to her. I love it, looks like my living room.

I brought 3 more quilts home to do for samples for the shop, I would like to have all the shop samples quilted but that's just not possible. I have one more planned sample to sew up for work then it's on to something new!!!! (I love to plan and start projects!) Ok I'm off to do a little speed cleaning then get ready for work at the bar, little miscommunication on the work schedule there......thought I had today off, oh well it's money.

Quilt group

2010-08-11T09:19:00.002-05:00

Last night was our Orchard Quilt group meeting. Heart blocks were on the menu. Sandy and her mom Linda cut hearts and assembled, I stitched them down. Along with the 9 I had made there is 16 done. Everyone will be so proud of me....I handed them off to someone else (SIL Anita) to assemble into a quilt when the time comes. I also handed off that basket in the background (Sandy) there was an unfinished set of string blocks lurking in it's depths.......

Oh boy was I on a roll......these QAYG blocks left the meeting with Linda! I am so happy that my friends put up with me and my UFO's!

I am heading out to my studio to turn on the AC and spend the afternoon quilting, today it's time to catch up on other peoples quilts, clean a bit and organize! I am working on my input/outflow theory......output last night was good (thanks to the quilt girls) so maybe I can organize another group of UFO's for next month...hehehe...

Sunday

2010-08-08T19:23:00.002-05:00

This is my first Matchless Star quilt fresh off the quilting frame. I love it!!! When I first put the batik background on I wasn't sure but now I love it! I am going to teach a class at Quilter's Candy Shoppe on this one! I will take this back to work with me on Friday to do the binding and to display with the other one for the class.

I was using up batting scraps today and this is another little quilt fresh off the frame. Mom sent me this awhile back, it was for a gift but she changed her mind. I like it with the bright pink thread in the white border, striped binding will just set it off. Next baby girl to show up is getting a sweet pink girly quilt. I put soft pink and white gingham flannel on the back.

Oh where oh where is the binding fairy when I need her? I'm 7 small quilts behind on binding....wow! I spent the day doing UFO's, started with the top shelf and I'm working my way down........my hoarding tendencies are getting the best of me and as Kristin put it "inflow is more than output". I looked at my quilting calendar and realized I am 50 quilts behind my goal for the year so far. ( I try to do 10 a month) Soooooooooo I'm going to take my Mom's advice and" do something, anything, even if it's wrong."

Kristin joined me in the studio this afternoon, we weathered the thunderstorm together. I quilted, she labeled her England photo's and filed them in the album. I got a kick out of seeing her working at her Grandma's sewing desk. I really enjoyed having a Sunday off of work, might make a habit out of it.

ready for college

2010-08-07T23:39:00.002-05:00

Kristin will soon be leaving us again........I know she's ready to resume her college life. She will have a roommate this year, Ali has agreed to share so Kristin will have to learn how to share all over again. (no roommate for a year and a half and she is spoiled with extra room) The girls have decided to add a coffee table and pillows to the decor......no couch just beds and lots of pillows! Kristin leads a devotional group that meets in her room so a table is a great idea for meetings. I'm excited because these pillows have been cheap to make....recycled pillows hide beneath these cute covers. I figured after a year of being sat on and thrown around they can discard them without feeling bad that they cost a lot. She also found wicker boxes with cushions on top at Hobby Lobby for $10 each, storage and seating! Now if I would finish her t-shirt quilt.....

two posts in one day...

2010-08-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

Kristin turns 20 tomorrow.........hope she likes Orange cake with butter cream frosting.

Austin is staying for a few days so I put him and Brad to work. Here they are painting Brad's bed frame. Two cans of spray paint and they need two more.

They are sleeping here tonight...........

Here's Austin starting to dig the fire pit, I sent marsh mellows out. Not to worried about the fire, it rained last night.

Looks like they are ready to camp.......hehehe.........in the back yard, if you look closely you can see my roof in the top left corner of this pic. Sara is spending the week at Dawn's with her daughter Rachel. Thursday we trade kids back. I enjoy having Austin around, keeps Brad busy!

Long week...

2010-08-03T16:34:00.002-05:00

Kristin is working on her T-Shirt quilt, she found a bunch of leftover quilt blocks and pieces to put it together with. I can tell her what some of them are from....the gold and green floral was a quilt I did for Dad and Paula, the Tye-dyed fabric was Ashlee's, the 30's print Hole in the Barn Door blocks were from a Row by Row swap with the State Quilt Guild, cat fabric from blocks I did for an exchange and the old blocks I bought at a garage sale. She has sooooooooo many T-shirts, this is just her favorites.

Patches was her little helper.....what a cutie!

I started this little project today after I found a fridge stand for Kristin's mini fridge. She also mentioned making square shelves (easier to buy at the thrift store) well anyway brown is boring so I dug around and found a dictionary in Brad's discarded books....leftover from 6th grade.
I tried to get it all done before Kristin came home but no such luck so I let her do the shelves.
Kristin has a roommate this year so space is at a premium in their room. I think her bright colored accessories will look good with her bookish shelves.

It's been a long month around here, my father in law is in the hospital. He had a heart attack but wouldn't go to the doctor until he was so bad he didn't even know what time of day it was.(lack of oxygen) it was touch and go for awhile, he was just getting to the point of bringing him home when he climbed out of bed and broke his hip. So off to Norfolk to have it fixed, they weren't sure he would survive surgery but that went well and he is recovering slowly. It will be awhile before he comes home yet so it's going to be another long month....

fridays sewing

2010-07-24T01:27:00.002-05:00

This is a repeat...........made the first one almost a year ago, sold it at Christmas. I still had 5 kits made up so today was the day to finally make another sample. You can find the pattern on Moda Bake Shop. Not going to quilt it for awhile, we will see how the kit sells without quilting. I love 30's prints.

I finally finished the Matchless Star sample quilt. (the second sample) This is another I will quilt at a later time. I have my first sample done and waiting for quilting, maybe this next week if things settle down. I only have one corner that I'm unhappy with but it's staying in now, the more I rip with this quilt the wonkier it gets, love all that bias.....

I have a plan for another one of these quilts but the way my summer is going it will be 2011 before I even get a chance to gather the fabric and remember where I put the pattern!
It's been a long day with the quilt shop then working the bar....think I'm settled down enough now to get some sleep......

My weekend

2010-07-19T07:53:00.002-05:00

Friday at work I finished two quilt tops! I used our 5 yd quilt top patterns, I love the top quilt, the pinks are wonderful, the pic is terrible, sorry.....

This fun quilt is Newton the Sheep. I think it's fun and kind of sweet. I finished them and threw them over a rocking chair for display just before closing.

This bridge is just west of Ewing on the Elkhorn River. The bridge is standing but the road is gone, the river changed channels and left the bridge standing high and dry. Sara is sitting on the end of the bridge, gonna be awhile before they get this one fixed!

Thursday

2010-07-08T16:53:00.002-05:00

I painted a frog. Drew and painted a frog. I asked Kristin for a frog picture two years ago when I remodeled the bathroom. She never had time so today while she was painting I joined her and painted my own frog. Now to find a frame.......

Kristin was working on her London England picture we found at Hobby Lobby in the clearance isle. It was really boring according to her so she livened it up with her own funky style. She is definitely a color gal! It was fun spending the afternoon being artsy.

4th of July

2010-07-07T13:50:00.002-05:00

Family was here for a picnic, the kids played games.........and so did Flatty Katty.

Flatty Katty also played the part of Josh's parrot....the food was good and I know everyone had a great time, I ate and went to work, they enjoyed a movie, games, made cookies and played with fireworks.

This is Transportation by Michael Miller. It's on display at Quilters Candy Shoppe. I made up a few kits and when I bring it home I will make pillowcases to match with the leftover fabrics. (or throw pillows)

This is my 1st 5yd quilt. Stupid me had to pick one that is put together like a big puzzle, block by block. The fabric I used was Seasons with Norton, he's a little sheep who is rollerskating or ice skating thru the seasons. I think it's cute and I hope somebody else does and the sample sells the rest of the fabric.

The Country Market is this afternoon, Sara and I are planning to attend. I made cherry sauce and jam this week and today Sara made Chex Mix and Puppy Chow. Ok I better get moving........4:00p.m. will be here before I know it!

A finish

2010-07-04T00:46:00.002-05:00

Flatty Katty enjoyed my latest finish. I started this afghan a few years ago, only had a skein left to put on so tonight while watching TV I finished it. I am going to put this one away in a box labeled for my future grand babies. Now don't anyone get excited.......no babies happening around here....I just know how fast time flies and I want to have something handmade for them to enjoy. I also am really slow at finishing afghans, if I want to have one done for each of my kid's babies I need to work on them once in awhile.

We named this little white kitty Flat Kat, or Flatty Katty as I call her, she is flat.....well her ribs are flat. More like a humans than the round shape like an animal. We think she got layed on when she was born, not sure but she seems to be healthy and she sure is happy!

Sammy likes the kitties now that they are a bit bigger, him and Toulous (not sure of the spelling, the kids named him after a cat from the Aristocats movie) used Brad as a pillow.

I did a little cooking and a bit of cleaning today after I picked Sara up from camp, took a nap on the couch and enjoyed my day off. The 4th will be a picnic at my in laws and work at the bar in the evening.

Finally

2010-06-30T11:48:00.002-05:00

I finally got my bedroom wall done.......well one anyway. The top pic is stuff from my Mom's that she didn't want anymore so I took the frames and put my wedding pic's in them. I had a mauve frame and a gold metal frame I replaced, also hung our engagement pic in the grouping. I decided my style is a bit more traditional/plain than glitzy/glam so I also got rid of the gold flowered frames. Just a few little changes and no money spent...(Sara helped me decide on the arrangement of the pic's)

Here's a pic of my yard stick shelves.....in progress.

This is what the guys have been doing this week, another two feet and it will be deep enough for the block layer to start the basement. I just think they wanted a reason to buy this new toy.......

Hats

2010-06-21T13:34:00.002-05:00

I loved using the round knitting machine.....until I broke it.
These hats will be heading off to Ohio soon, they are all for charity. I am trying to clean out stuff around here with the girls helping and these might as well be out of here since I won't be doing any more until I replace my machine.
I have lots to do around here and plan to make the most of the week off of work, so that means naps and such....oh I mean cleaning and such!!! I am going to make my yard stick shelves today so maybe I can really get something done for a change instead of just planning to do it.

Sara's bed

2010-06-18T18:54:00.002-05:00

I put Sara to work painting her new bed frame. I bought it almost 20 years ago on an auction in Orchard, some old guy I can't remember his name....bought the mattress and frame for $5. I needed a bed for Kristin's room at the time, I got tired of sleeping in the chair with her when she was a baby. Along the way the Kristin upgraded to her own twin bed and the mattress was disposed of and the frame went to the well house. Sara got tired of having a bunk bed in her room now that she don't have to share with anyone so we hauled it out and she slept on the floor for awhile. I got tired of seeing her room look like a tornado hit it with everything all over........(for some reason she wouldn't use her nightstand and piled everything on the floor beside her mattress) so out came the $5 bed frame and a can of spray paint.

Kristin helped her cut boards to fit the bottom of the bed, not sure we needed them but better to be safe than sorry. I teased Kristin that I sent her to college to learn to use power tools..........gotta love stage crew!

We put the twin size mattress under her bed, that way when she has friends or Andrew stays over there is a place to sleep, easy enough to pull out and she stuffed the extra pillows under there too. They gave me stress over my 20 year old sheets......said they were stretched out. Hmmmm so I got it at a garage sale, sounds like my girls are getting picky!

I think they have plans to watch movie's in here now.....

Sara wants me to mention a thanks to her Grandma Flicsha on here, she loves her new purple fuzzy blanket, in fact the girls have been fighting over it for the last two days while remaking this room. I also want to mention the quilts, both made by Grandma, they look fantastic in here and Sara is so proud of them. I am really happy that the girls have made such an effort to clean out and simplify their rooms, makes living in them so pleasant.

Where have I been?

2010-06-15T22:03:00.003-05:00

Let me introduce the newest members of our family. Sadie has put us all thru a lot of stress today with the birth of these sweet little babes. Last night I was sure she was going to have her puppies.........well this morning I let her out after a short sleep night, she was a really wet dog when I left for work so I made her stay outside. Kristin called at 11a.m. no dogs in the house. She started looking for them, Sammy showed up but no Sadie. Didn't see her all day so I came home and started looking....we combed the woods and all the outbuildings. No dog. We gave up and hoped for the best...... I was out watching the chickens and heard whining.......under the chicken house! Brad came out with a flashlight and shovel and started digging, we could tell by the sounds that she had them under the far corner from where she went in. Brad and I dug a hole big enough for him to lay in to reach up under the house and pull them out. We have 5 alive out of 6. Sadie didn't come out until Brad pulled the last pup out then she peaked out from under the house and looked at me like I was the meanest woman on Earth! She is now living in a basket with her babies in my bathroom, I even had to give her a bath.......the babies were clean but she sure wasn't!! I am so glad we found her, none of them would of made it thru the night....the raccoons would of came home and ate them. (we do have one less coon thanks to Kev) soooooooooo if anyone is interested these pups will be ready for new homes in 6 to 8 weeks....

This is Don's house............supposed to be corn fields in front and behind..........now it's river. All the roads are closed, a lot of water running thru Nebraska right now. No telling what kind of damage we're going to find when the waters go down.

This is one of Sammy and Nicki's babies, she has 5, oh they are soooo cute! Shorkie's are so cute! They will be ready for new home's in a month or so, in the pic they are about 2 weeks old.

Country Market in Clearwater, gonna be there on Wednesday night from 5-8. I'm hoping to have a different jelly featured each week. Not sure they will have the market this week due to the flooding...........

Here's the gang taking a break from all the demo. The inside is gutted and now they are waiting for a basement to be dug and the house to be set. Someday my brother-in-law will have a home.

Well that's whats been going on the last two weeks or so around here, the girls are cleaning my studio.......more on that another time.

whats going on this week

2010-05-26T21:59:00.002-05:00

Sara and I are making jelly! We made 46 jars today. Apple, Apple/cherry, White Grape(forgot to skim foam off the top and looks weird in jars we're keeping it for ourselves) Hawaiian Punch, and Mixed. This should be a good variety for the Country Market we are planning to attend on Wednesday nights thru the summer in Clearwater and Saturday mornings in Neligh. We also tried wine jelly....wow it's good! Blackberry Merlot and Cream Blush. I have 4 little jars of each, if they sell well I will make more, if not Brad will be happy! He had the Blackberry Merlot with peanut butter on toast...hehehe...I think it would be grand with cream cheese and crackers myself.

Sara helped me with a few herbs this week too. Spearmint, chives, sage and winter onions.

I have made her my little helper this year, not sure she's to thrilled but it's better than laying on the couch all summer.

Sadie got a haircut, now everyone is calling her "fat girl" just because without all the hair you can really tell she's expecting a litter of puppies. I let Sara cut Sammy's hair too without my help, poor boy....I can't show his pic for fear of being charged with animal cruelty! I have yet to "fix" his hair cut.

And last but not least the guys are trying to fix systems. No luck on this one.......Kelsey showed up and Kev put him to work! I stood on the ground and watched.