Quiet time

Yes, over the 5 days we spent together, we actually ran out of stuff to talk about. So, yesterday was a very quiet day around our house. Just chores and junk.

And, I started a quilt for Sydney for Cmas. She desparately needs a new bedspread. When she came to us, she needed so much, so we bought one of those "bed in a bag" things that had it all; bedspread, dust ruffle, shams, curtains, valances and some assorted pillows and I think we paid about $30 so you can imagine the quality of the fabric. That was over 2 years ago and it is worn out, so she's getting a quilt. I'm using Moda's Wiscasset Layer cake and charm pack and making my own pattern. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not an original. It looks like one quarter of a disappearing 9 patch block (thanks, Cheryl. I thought of it after seeing all yours). I used the dark square from the layer cake and the same dark square from the charm pack and I cut the light squares from the layer cake in half. I had to add 4 fabrics, but that's okay. I was trying to match a chair that we put in her room earlier this year and it has green and the fabric collection doesn't, so I got to add some of my favorite greens to the mix as well as some lights from the stash. I'll try to show a pic, but the only place I can lay it out is in the living room. She almost caught me yesterday when I was toying with where to put everything before she got up.

I also finished the quilting on the cmas quilt and got it washed and laid out to dry. Today, I started adding the beads and buttons and bells that will finish it. Well, almost finish it. I decided to try my first all machine binding to try to save time. And, I made a real mess of it. So, after the holiday, when it comes down, I'll fix the binding. It looks fine from the front, but the back of the binding is a real mess. I got frustrated with the time it was taking so I stopped part way and just basted the rest down. I can do better.

And, we put out the cmas decorations. It's a Friday after Tgiving ritual at out house. Reach and stretch, lift and carry. My poor back. This year, Sydney was a real help. She and I do the tree every year and this year, we did a swag over the windows in the dining room. Rob does all the village...and he has enough that it takes him longer to do that than it does to decorate the tree! And, Sydney has two trees that she put up by herself with help from us for the lights.

We spent a small part of our time cmas shopping. It feels so good to get that started. I'm not sure why, but we didn't encounter any crowds. I can only guess that the crowds came out as soon as the stores opened and we didn't get out until 10-ish on the days we shopped. Anyway, I hope none of the stores were counting on the customers we saw to put them in the black. The only place that was busy at all was Hobby Lobby and they were only busy in the cmas decorations dept.

So, that's our holiday break in a nutshell. I'll get some pictures on here starting tomorrow. Taking pictures seemed like such a daunting task that I never got to it and this morning, we had unexpectedly cold weather, so I had to spend my few free minutes moving plants inside the green house. Take care and have a great Monday. Lane

Thankfully

Well, it is the day of giving thanks and this morning, when I woke up, one of my first thoughts was that I wanted to share some things I'm thankful for. I think sharing them makes them all the more special.

I'm thankful that we both have jobs and that we can provide a loving home for Sydney. I'm thankful that we have a comfortable home where we can all feel safe. I'm thankful that I have family and happy childhood memories that I can try to pass along to Sydney so she'll be familiar with some of the old traditions that my parents shared with me.

I'm thankful that I have a full sewing room and a partner that will let me use it without being jealous of the time I spend there. And, I'm thankful that I can afford to make quilts, in both time and money.

I'm thankful that I have a job that I enjoy and that I am confident about.

I'm thankful that we have friends, and while I wish they could be with us today, I'm sure that they will be back to us for their favorite holiday traditions soon. And, I'm thankful for co-workers that are more than just co-workers. They're friends. And I'm thankful that I work in an environment where the is little strife.

I'm thankful that I can still afford to hand dollars out the car window to help those less fortunate. And, I'm thankful that my family has health coverage.

And, I'm thankful for my internet friends. You guys are terrific! It's odd to think that without the internet, I might never have met you.

Okay, that's enough being thankful. Now, I have to go cook. Okay, okay...I'm thankful that we have all that food to cook, even if I'm going to spend the better part of the day cooking it and cleaning up after it. Happy Turkey day to you. May your turkey be moist, your potatoes be smooth, and your green bean casserole be firm. And, God willing, may none of of us that are cooking poison anyone this year. Lane

Feeling tremendously better.

I guess after yesterday's little tirade, I was able to get all that off my chest and move forward. Now, I have the beginning of a cmas gift list, my blood pressure has dropped, and the cold sweats seem to have passed. I think it must have been some planetary alignment thing.

Today the sun is shining, it is crisp and clear, and I got another block of the cmas quilt quilted. That's 2 1/2 so far plus most of the ditch work. Sydney is going into tutoring for math, so that's one less series of arguments for us to have. And, tomorrow Rob and I are only working half day. Now, the second half is going to be spent taking Sydney to the latest vampire/werewolf/teenlove/kiss-kiss movie starring boys that can't afford haircuts, so don't get too excited for me. But, in general, everything seems to be aligned just about right.


Guess I just needed a day to be ungrateful before I could get into the holidays. Who's going shopping on Friday??? I'm not. After tomorrow's movie, I might get some shopping time in, if I offer to take Rob someplace really special for supper, but after that, we're not leaving the house except in the event of an emergency. And, yes, our very small turkey did come out of the freezer last night. There should not be a problem being ready to cook in a couple of days. The potatoe rolls are rising in the fridge along with the copper penny carrots that are Rob's favorite vegetable and the cornbread full of onion and celery. There's a pumpkin pie in the freezer that I made a couple weeks ago. Two more small casseroles and some yams and we'll be ready to light the candles. Oops! I forgot the candles.

Y'all take care and have a wonderful Tuesday before Thanksgiving. This weekend, I'll probably post some pics of cmas decorations. Rob insists that we start putting them up on Friday after Tgiving, but I insist that we can't start until the dishes are put away (my own little way to delay the merriment and the dusting). See ya'. Lane

Ho, ho, humbug

It's here. I've put off thinking about it until I can't anymore. It is the holidays.

I've been so busy with 6th grade homework and 6th grade issues and just trying to hold it all together and I've temporarily lost my ability to look forward to anything...well, anything but quilting. So, I've absorbed myself in my quilting and just tried to do my best to get through the rest of it, refusing to acknowledge that the hardest time of year is yet to come. And, now the holidays are upon us and I forgot to take the Turkey out of the freezer this morning and I've only got a few Cmas gifts under my belt. I am truly unprepared.

There was a time when I competed with Martha Stewart at holiday time. I could make everyone a homemade gift, whip out the perfect meal for 25, serve it with the perfectly polished silver and every serving piece you could imagine on an immaculately white, starched table cloth. Every light twinkled, every ornament shone. The handmade stockings were hung in front of a clean fireplace and the dogs all got a fresh haircut. There were fresh jams and jellies and real fruitcakes (no, not the candied fruit. real fruit and soaked in rum for a month).

Now, don't get me wrong. I've never pretended that I did all this stuff to make other people happy. I did it because it made me happy. But, at some point, what makes me happy changed. I didn't plan it. But, it happened none the less. I went from wanting to do all this stuff for others to just wishing they would chip in and send me to a hotel for a few days.

Handmade, Homemade, those are words I'm not even going to think about this year. I've always toed the gift giving line, but this year, I think I'm going to make the final concession: gift cards. I held out as long as I can, but apparently, I made a huge mistake last year, after the stock market near crash and 40% of everything I owned went away in the blink of an eye and for the first time (at least the first time I knew about), my gifts were not deemed worthy. And, as much as I'd like to just say "Nuts to you!", and as much courage as I've tried to gather to say something only slightly more polite than that, I've decided to take the good old reliable solution and "throw money at it" to make this particular problem go away. I haven't made so much as a batch of jam.

Oh, I'm still planning to shop for Sydney, although I have to admit that I am not excited about it after the really hard year we've had with her. And, I'll shop for Rob even though he has everything I can think of to buy for him. I have a snowman block that I can finish and send my MIL. I made a batch of holiday ale for my co-workers. And, I always come up with something fun for my best friend. I found some really simple ornaments in a quilting magazine the other day and I think that if Rob will help, I can probably pump out a few of those. Everyone else, and you know who you are, should think about what you'd like to buy with your Target gift card.

Curmudgeon, Scrooge, bah! humbug! When did I go from the perfect holiday person to someone that just wishes it was January already? Oh, I know...it was sometime around when I got chastised because last year's gifts were "cheap". Or, maybe it was around the time my kid decided her new parents needed to be punished for what her old parents had done. Oh, oh, no! I know. It was when people stopped appreciating all the really cool stuff I was doing for them because I enjoyed it and started wanting something else. Yeah, that must have been when it was.
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Wow! You cannot imagine how good it feels to get that off my chest. I've been carrying it for a while. I'd say quietly, but I'm sure it's come out in some unintended ways. Sometimes I just need to share what I'm feeling to change it. Who knows, maybe I'll even use some of that sugar I've been hoarding and make a little batch of jelly.

Y'all take care and I hope you are planning a wonderful holiday for yourselves as well as for those you love. Remember, it's about you, too. I'm certainly going to try to focus my thoughts that way. Lane

The Great Cleveland Shop Hop pictures

I'm HOME! I know it was only two days, but they were a work filled two days, so I was really glad that I got to enjoy my little shop hop. The other highlight was our Weds nite event, which was a double elimination pool tournament that my team won. There were some funny rules meant to make the game go faster, but pool is pool and even though it had been years and years (and years) since I'd played, I was an asset to the team...well, I made the first few shots and got cocky and started missing, but after I gave myself a little talking to, I was able to focus and make some more shots.


Anyway, if you missed my post about the shop hop, here's a link that talks about the stores I went to: hop. The top row is the fat quarter bundle I picked up in all browns. I'm wondering if I want to make an all brown quilt, which would certainly be fun to find a pattern that would show up even though I used just one color, or if I want to add some other fabrics to them and make something. Either way, I don't want to just add them to the stash. I want to keep them separate. The next row is the half yard cuts I picked up and plan to make a quilt from. And, the pattern is there, too. Now, what to do with the pattern??? The quilt store owner, that made the inspiration, made it all out of batiks and it was beautiful, so I might do the same thing and use the collection of fabrics to make a different pattern. Her mistake? See the black diamonds? She accidentally left those out, so it was all 6 pointed stars. Yummy! Decisions, decisions; making decisions is half the fun of quilting, right? I know that Bonnie Hunter is posting a new mystery for cmas in red, green, gold, and neutral and these fabrics would be great for that even though I had looked forward to using scraps to make Bonnie's pattern in the spirit of her work. But, with all the WIP's I have, there's no need to make these decisions right now.



This next picture is what I'm calling an accidental quilt. It's all remnants and random fat quarters that I picked up here and there over a couple of months. I piled them up waiting to serge and wash and realized that what I'd collected would make a really nice little quilt. Now that I look at the picture, the colors aren't quite as vibrant as they look here, and they go better together than this photo shows. Haven't decided what to make, but again, I plan to bag them together for a future quilt. Wouldn't they make a cute baby quilt? I love primary colored baby quilts.



Okay, so that looks like everything I'll need to make quilts in 2010. We'll see if I can actually stick to this. Maybe '10 is my year to stick with my "no buy". Wouldn't that be sweet!

Y'all take care and have a great Friday. I have a very busy Friday at work planned to try to get through the hundreds of emails that I got over the last few days while I was out of pocket. I tried to read as many as I could in the hotel room, but really, who can work all the time? I'd be a very dull boy indeed. And, we can't have that now, can we. Lane

The Great Cleveland Shop Hop

Fly, fly, fly, drive, drive, drop my co-workers off at the hotel and the Great Cleveland Shop Hop began. Goal: Find a pattern and get the fabrics I'll need to make it while here in Cleveland. Buy half yard pieces.

Every story needs some tension to make it interesting. Quilt shops close at 5 and 5:30, with one shop open until 8. I didn't drop the guys off until 4:00.

Shop 1: Quilts and Sew Forth in Mentor OH, a nearby suburb of Cleveland. The owner there was very, very nice and the store is in an old house and it is packed to the gills with fabrics. She advertises thousands of bolts and I believe it. I didn't find a pattern there, but I did find two great greens and a pack of beautiful brown fat quarters. They suggest that instead of the other stores on my list, I go further north.

Shop 2: Cottonpicker's quilt shop in Madison, OH. This is a small storefront shop, but she has lots of great fabrics. Here, I find my pattern. She's made it and it's hanging on the wall. When I ask if she has the pattern, she says yes, but points out that she made a mistake, which is what made the quilt come out the way it did, so she talks me through her mistake so I can make sure and make the same one (;-))Lots of background and 60*, six pointed stars. I picked up a half yard of a green with tiny red flowers in it and another green with larger red flowers that have gold centers and the pattern.

By this time, it's getting pretty late, but there's a sewing machine dealer where I can get a Bernina quilting foot. But, I took the wrong lane and couldn't exit. By the time I could turn around and get back, I'd driven past a really bad accident, so that was out. I'd never have gotten back there by 5:30.

Then, I drive all the way back across Cleveland to get to Quilter's Source in Parma, OH. It's the shop that's open until 8. Here, I got a great red and a gold. I also got an off white batik to go with a quilt Rob has requested and a Moda pack of 5" squares (sorry, I don't know what those are called) to use in a baby quilt I need to make.

All in all, a great trip so far. After sitting in traffic for what seemed forever, I finally got back to the hotel and have had a sandwich and have just realized how tired I am. So, time for some resting to get ready for the work that actually brought me to Cleveland in the first place. But, so far, I have to say it's my most fun trip to Cleveland ever! Now, I'm going to sit and baste some hexagons until I drift off to sleep.

Y'all take care and have a great couple of days. I don't know how much time I'll have to get back online but I'll let you know how the rest of the trip goes. Lane

One stitch after the other, on and on...

I'm almost half way around Apple Pi, whipping the binding down. And, my mind is moving on to my next project. But, there's no need to start thinking about that now. There's no time to work on it, so why torture myself thinking about it. Speaking of torture, we're going to have to replace the carpet in our house...soon. Rob surprised me by walking through the flooring section yesterday, looking at prices. Now, me, I can make a decision, place an order and get the furniture out of the house for the installation without ever looking back. Rob, on the other hand will suffer long and hard to make sure he doesn't regret whatever we do. I think I've just about talked him into pulling up the old carpet and painting the floor and spreading area rugs around. The prices yesterday helped, that's for sure. It's so hot down here and I really think that having the concrete slab exposed would keep the house so much cooler in the summer. It would be colder in winter, but we only have one cold month a year anyway. It would be much cheaper to keep it warm for a month than to keep it cool for 6 months. We have two neighbors that did it and it really worked for both of them. But, they painted their floors flat and dark. I'd want something with some shine and a nice neutral. I teased that we'd paint it light green and paint a big red oriental carpet in the center. That did not go over very well.

Sydney finished her book yesterday while I ironed and embroidered. And, she finished the book report with a minimum of whining. It's a "brown bag book report" so not only did she have to write a short summary of the book, but she had to decorate a brown lunch bag and put 10 things inside that reminded her of the book. They decorated the bag on Friday while I took a night off from her schoolwork and we scurried around pulling things from around the house over the weekend to go inside. I think she's pretty proud and she certainly did "A" level work. Poor thing. She never gets to rest from Rob and my perfectionist tendencies.

And, yes, I did pull threads for that little bit of embroidery I wanted to do. And, I'm glad I didn't take it on a two day trip. It was more bulk in the luggage than what I originally planned to take as finger work and I was finished in an hour and a half. I'd have been so disappointed on the second night with nothing to do. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. I'd probably start something new!

While I'm in Cleveland, I've arranged for time away from the group and to borrow one of the cars to go quilt shop hopping. I've always wanted to do that, but there's never been time. This time, I took inspiration from Erin (My Patchwork Life) and decided I'm doing it. So, I've found the shops I want to visit and looked up the addresses and phone numbers. Two are near the hotel and one is nearer the airport. I have to take two co-workers to the hotel when we get there, but then I get the car. The stores closest to the hotel close at 5, so I'll hit them first and the third place is open til 8 so plenty of time. Then, I plan some Italian at my favorite Cleveland "hole in the wall." Back to the hotel early and plenty of time to play.

Y'all take care and have a great Monday. We'll see ya round blogland. Lane

Binding...YEAH!

Well, sorta yeah. When I got the binding on and turned the first corner stitching it down, I realized i had not quilted in the corners. Uggghhhh. But, I'll wait until it's bound and then put that in.

We talked about quilting for texture in threads that disappear into the background. Here's the quilt front lit. See the apple with the bite out of it? Tee-hee...i crack myself up.



And, here's the quilt side lit. You can see how much texture there really is. Just makes me want to reach out and rub it.

I expect to spend a lot of time listening to the book and whipping down binding. And, I picked a project to take to Cleveland next week. It's just basting hexagons, but, who says a project needs to be complicated to be fun. It's certainly the most portable project I have. But, I'd rather pull out embroidery floss and embroider the month names on one of my BOM's. That takes enough ambition to pull out thread during what is shaping up to be a very busy day.

Y'all take care and have a great Sunday. We're watching a long movie about the 70's that's really good. Lane

I can see the finish line!

I couldn't resist a little quilting last night, so I had Sydney do her reading aloud in the sewing room while I sat at the machine making repairs to my quilting on Apple Pi. Only had to ask her to speak up once. We are reading the best book! I can't wait to find out what happens next.

The long jog to finish Apple Pi is almost over. I can finish the quilting in no more than 3 hours. Then, there's cleanup (you know, the hunt with a magnifying glass for dangling threads). I'm also going to try to run over it with one of those sticky lint brushes to see if it will help me find those long threads that the quilter never sees, but are always found when you're showing off the piece under a bright light. When I had to walk away this morning, I spread it out on the sewing table and set the light just above one edge so all the texture would show up. Can't wait to share that picture with you guys. Finish the quilting and get it bound and I'll be done!!! Yeah!!

I was found on facebook by an elementary school friend the other day. Wow, that goes back a long way. We were in school together from first grade until 9th grade. She was a beautiful girl and looks fantastic. Made me feel old. My high school sweetheart's daughter was on the homecoming court this year. (No, she never knew I had a crush in high school. She married a boy she's dated since before I met her. I had to settle for just good friends. Wonder if things would have turned out differently...hmmm...nah, probably not.) That also made me feel old. So, I dressed up in my best cowboy clothes and boots for work today. Hey, look pretty, feel pretty, right?

From Sydney's math book: If Maria bought 5 1/4 yards of material and made a dress that took 3 1/8 yards, how much material did she have left? Sydney's answer? 2 1/8 yards. My answer? None...she quickly added it as the perfect border for a quilt she had in progress. (Have you ever found that you wear colors at the same time you're using them in a quilt? I sure have.)

Y'all have a great Friday. I have to leave work early because our neighbors, who keep Sydney between the time the bus drops her off and the time Rob gets home, are out of pocket today. I plan to use the extra time at my sewing machine. Maybe I'll even be able to talk Sydney into reading so we can get that out of the way so we can watch TV tonight. Rob would appreciate that. See ya'. Lane

Vintage Thingies Thursday

Hi, everybody! Welcome to VTT sponsored by my friend Coloradolady (Suzanne). Suzanne is featuring a set of dishes that remind her of her childhood today. At the bottom of my blog, I've left a little note to Suzanne about those dishes.

Today, I'm in honor of my Dad's very good news after his procedure yesterday, I'm featuring a quilt that came from his parent's home. This is a real beauty with blue stars, muslin and the sashing is red with green cornerstones. It is beautifully pieced. The pattern is either Sunflower or Sunflower in a Star, I can't remember which. I stumbled up on it very soon after My mom gave me the quilt and didn't get it and now, I can't find it again. The yellow sunflower petals are sewn in such a way that they are three dimensional, which explains why the lines don't look straight. It's because they are sewn into the seam between the two blue starpoints, spread and pressed flat into the teardrop shape of a petal.

The top is beautiful, but I think it must have been purchased or handed down. The quilting is not up to the high quality of the hand pieced top. The backing is the thinest navy polyester...so thin that you can see the batting through it and the quilting stitches are very large and nowhere near straight lines, but done in a dark blue thread, so each and every one of them shows up on the top. One day, I hope to pull the quilting stitches, replace the poly batting and backing with cotton and re-handquilt it. One day...you know, that day. That day when i don't have 44 other quilting irons in the fire.

Now, for my funny Suzanne story. Suzanne is featuring a set of dishes just like the ones her Mom had when Suzanne was a kid. If you remember, about 6 weeks ago, we went antiquing and had the challenge to buy a full place setting to use at our supper that night and we could only spend $3. My plate was from that set. The set must have been popular in the are we were in because we saw a ton of it, cheap! I even went into some thrift store and saw a whole set, with serving pieces. Wish I could remember where, Suzanne!

Y'all have a great Thursday and jump on over to Suzanne's site and see all the other great vintage items people have shared. Lane

common denominators

I am soooo tired of 6th grade math. We're preparing for an end of the grading period test tomorrow and spent about 3 hours working on adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators last night. I finally got so tired I couldn't multiply in my head and pulled out the calculator. I normally work them the way she has to. When she said I was cheating, I patiently explained that I'd already passed the 6th grade, so all that mattered now was that I had the right answer so I could help her, not how I got the right answer. She wasn't buying it. Of course, Rob thought that was hilarious.

What I don't understand is why the teacher didn't just give us the right answers so I wouldn't have to work the problems. I'm a little out of practice :-(

I seem to be looking for common denominators with everyone lately. Right now I seem to be out of sync with everyone? I have a business trip next week and am not sure how much that's affecting me. And, my Dad is having a little surgery today. I'm sure that's got something to do with it. And, everyone at work is really uptight about having enough time to do their job.

I'm really spending a lot of time in my own head and everyone around me wants me to be out there with them.

Rob found a quilt pattern in a magazine I left laying open this morning. I haven't even quilted the last one he asked for. Guess I'd better get on the stick. I didn't even get his cmas quilt basted over the weekend. I am behind. But, I've bought two cmas presents! I think I'm ahead of the game.

Lane

The long, hard day

Whew! Finally, it's over. I got a call as I was walking out the door yesterday that I needed to do a tremendous amount of work by end of day today. Work that normally takes 3-4 days to complete. But, I had a second cup of coffee this morning and I put my mp3 player on and I danced in my desk chair and I actually finished. The lady that made that unrealistic, last minute request said I was her favorite person today. I know it couldn't be helped. No one knew they were going to need this stuff so quick. But, now, I'm a tired puppy. Thank goodness Rob is cooking supper tonight. All I'll have to do is help Sydney with homework and then I can go to bed!

I just wanted to share something about yesterday's post. I knew the quilting I showed was going to disappear. I planned it to. Most of the quilting I pulled out early in the project was because I used contrasting thread and didn't like it. I actually prefer when I do that level of detailed quilting and it disappears into the fabric. It's there if you look close, but for everybody else that doesn't really have an appreciation of the work that goes into that kind of quilting, the fabrics can still jump out. If I'd done all that in a contrasting color, I'd lose the beauty of the fabrics I picked. It's also why I don't do the tiny background filler patterns on anything but whole cloth quilts. If I do that on patchwork, it takes over. I'd rather the patchwork show up than the quilting.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Lane

Oh, btw, a friend that I met in blogland really did something nice for Sydney and while it would probably embarass her for me to say who and what, I wanted to let her know publicly that I really appreciated it. You have a really big heart! And, you know who you are. lw

Now you see it, now you don't...

I finally finished all the border quilting and got all that paper pulled off. There were 8 sections and I estimate it took 2 hours to quilt a section and another 2 hours to pull out the paper. After the first section, I just quilted them all and then I could take it out into the living room and pull during family time. Now, all that's leaft is some fixing and a lot of thread snipping and quilting a few places I missed here and there and then I can bind this one. Here's the pattern, all quilted in.



And, when I pulled the paper out, it all disappeared. Wish I'd done it in black thread instead of dark brown. You can still see some of the tiny, sand sized pieces of paper. This is after I cleaned it with a pair of tweezers. I sure hope all that will wash out!

It's fall in Texas. This is our maple tree out front. It's lost about half the leaves, but we're getting a great show of gold this year. We don't always. Some years, it goes from green to bare with no colors in between. But, with the cool nights and warm days, we got a show this year.

We took this after Sydney and I had spent about 2 hours raking up the leaves that had fallen, mulching them up and storing them in airtight trashcans to put into the garden on another day. This morning, as I was leaving the house, I saw that Rob had put them all out on the street and the recycling team had taken them. RATS!!!

Take care and have a great Monday. Rob and Sydney are both off and I'm having to work. Something's wrong with that. Lane

And quilting, and quilting

I feel like the energizer bunny. I just keep quilting and quilting... I finally finished quilting the borders on the apple quilt. How about this for a name: Apple Pi. First, because of the apple theme and then Pi because I've always heard "easy as pie", but this has been a long and hard project, so I thought about the numeric Pi, which goes on forever. Anyway, don't need a name till end of the year, but this has been the working name that's stuck the longest. I still have considerable work to do on it, giving it those finishing touches and fixes that I hope will make it fare well in a show, but now I've got all my safety pins out of it and I need to get them into that cmas applique quilt and get it started. I know that Rob really wants to use that this year and I'd sure like to finish it for him. I have another cmas themed top finished, that I really like. I'd love to get it quilted and hang it in the sewing room, but I know I'll not be able to finish two in time. Maybe I'll just hang the top. Shame on me!

Sydney's birthday went off without a hitch yesterday. She nearly drove us crazy wanting to open gifts, but we got her to hold off until after dinner. She asked for biscuits and white gravy for her special meal. I did my best, but my biscuits were flat and dry as sand and the gravy was lumpy. Guess I'm way outta practice with that kind of cooking. But, it was okay and she seemed happy and even asked for more biscuits for breakfast this morning.

Tomorrow, we're going to take her to the mall to get her ears pierced. It will only be the second time we've taken her there. I don't do well in crowds and Rob is happy to shop anywhere else so the poor kid never gets to go. Wish us luck. I worry that we'll get one done and she'll chicken out on the second one. Hope not.

Take care and I hope we all get a lot of quilting done this weekend. Lane

Vintage Thingies Thursday, wooden spools

Welcome to VTT, sponsored by my friend Suzanne. Today, I'm taking an easy route and posting a picture of my wooden spools of thread.

When I bought my treadle machine, one of the drawers had at least a dozen small, wooden spools of thread in beautiful colors. No way was I going to throw those gems out. I'd been seeing baggies of spools in antique stores for lots of dollars. It didn't take me long to decide to display them in this old jar. But, I wanted the jar to be full, so I was planning to go ahead and spend the money and buy one of those baggies full next time I saw one. Then, when we were in a thrift store, I saw a box of empty wooden spools. I picked out a half dozen to go with my other purchases and when I was checking out, the lady mentioned that there was a whole box of them. I told her I saw them, but they weren't marked and I didn't want accidentally spend a lot of money. She said she'd sell me the whole box for fifty cents, and of course, I went and got it. I still have half that box with big spools in it. Haven't decided what to do with them yet, but I'm sure they'll show up sometime in a VTT post.



Hope you all are having a great day. I'm back at the office, with just a little coughing. Head on over to Suzanne's blog to see her pink rose items and everyone else's links. Lane

Feeling better

Well, I'm feeling better and Rob came home yesterday, sick. I still sound gross, so I'm not going to the office. I'm working from home, and then at lunch, going shopping for Sydney's birthday present...tomorrow is her day and I've been sick and haven't done anything yet. We're getting her ears pierced this weekend and I'm going to start her collection of more grown up underwear. She's twelve and it's time to get her out of the kids department. It blows to be man-mom.

Not a word from her Mom. Don't know if she's sending anything or not. Rob wrote to ask her not to drop out of the kid's life and she never wrote him back. Sydney won't write because her Mom hasn't answered the last two letters. Did I say it blows to be Man-mom?

Sydney is mad...well, you get the picture. Every year, the two weeks before her bday are hell on her parents.

Okay, that's enough doom and gloom for the day. It's not really that bad. It's just a little overwhelming because I don't feel well. I'm still smiling and quilting. Lane

Pass the tissue

Okay, so you already know what men are like when they're sick. We whine and complain. Even me. Don't know what I have. Don't care. Probably allergies because I don't have a fever. But, I'm home. I worked some this morning, but I'm about to wrap up in my cuddle quilt and take a nap...after I blow my nose...again!

Lane