Mad Monday

Well, no, I'm not mad, at least not angry mad, maybe a little crazy, over-the-edge mad? Gotta chuckle, or I would go 'mad'. Anyway, while it's still Monday. I had no changes in my fabric ratio of in or out, unless you count the yard or so that's old & has a few holes in it - I used it in my first quilt - that I set aside to maybe use to make quilted pads for my favorite veterinarian - she only cares for cats, so I won't be posting about it at Judy's.

The morning was spent taking Nick to school, then to my PT appt, working a crossword puzzle while waiting in my car for the appt. time and listening to my favorite Christian radio station. Actually, it's the only Christian station I can get, and I do like it. Greg Laurie of Harvest Crusade fame is on while I'm taking Nick to school, and then it's Family Life Today. Later in the day is music. I also had my latest CD addition...the newest Chris Tomlin one, to listen to. Love it!

After PT, grumble, grumble...told me not to use my rotary cutter...grumble, grumble...because it puts the wrong movement on the part of my wrist that still needs to heal...grumble, grumble..you'd think 12 weeks would have been enough healing time...grumble, grumble...oh, I got side-tracked...after PT, went to Lowe's for what I'd hoped to be the final components for my stash closet, but they didn't have the end caps to the closet rod so thought I'd check out The Home Depot. They didn't have them either. So I bought the wall bracket that the rod can set in at one end at least for now. I did notice though that HDs prices were about 50 cents cheaper per item, oh well, too late now. I'll know for the next room/closet update. While still at Lowe's I also had to do a quick-plan-change as the brackets and uprights style I was using wasn't carried in 8" and for the side wall, I'm using 8" laminate boards, so on another aisle, found some that would work. They're very similar, just 'single' slotted as opposed to the double-slotted for the bigger boards. I didn't get any of it installed today though.

After those stores, it was off to Trader Joe's. Why did Nick go through the better part of 2 gallons of milk in less than a week? Guess that's what's helping him get so tall! Actually, come to think of it, I slipped TJs in there between the two hardware stores leaving the milk in the car for all of about 10 minutes while at HD. Then when I got home, I had a bunch of chores to do, so worked on some of them. And I forgot to stop and pick up cat litter.

Then I went back to pick Nick up at 3:00 and as it turns out, seems 'just in time' as later in the early news it was reported there was a shooting about a mile from the school, and then via email, the school stated they'd gone into lock-down at 3:00, so he must've gotten out just before they locked-down and had gotten to the car and off we went.

And lastly, we went to see the movie Courageous tonight. So much better than hanging around the house and doling out candy to little munchkins...I'm sure their dentists appreciate that it will now be ME who eats it instead. I enjoyed the movie, though it seemed a little slow at first...it's message was far more important and was delivered very well. No one told me to make sure I had my tissues with me though. Yes, there's a very sad part to the storyline, so if you see it, take your tissues!! Good night :)

Fina-Lee Friday!

• Again went to Lowe's for some additional closet supplies...I'm making up the plans as I go :)
  
• Wondered why the lady was standing in the (busy) traffic lane talking to a man in the center median and wasn't about to move until the man moved her? And I had to swerve.
  
• It was a half-day school day...Grandparents' Day.
• Nick's friend needed to ride home with us so we had lunch from that clown Ronald's place.
  
• Wondered why two slow-pokes insisted on driving side-by-side impeding traffic for miles.
• Nick's friend's mom came and picked up BOTH boys for a play time they haven't had in weeks.
• The stash closet is looking more like a miniature quilt store, lol. Love seeing the fabrics on the shelves. It's exciting to see progress...it's been a long time!
  
• Marty works from home on Friday.
• I don't have to cook...we get take-out on Friday :) Baja Fresh...Dos Manos, we split it, and I still couldn't eat but half of it...it's huge! and there are chips and salsa :) Nick had a burger from that other boxy clown place. He won't eat Mexican food. Except a crispy taco with just meat & cheese. Baja Fresh only has soft tacos. :S
  
• Wondering if Rory McElroy will win the Shanghai golf tournament...he's in the lead by 2. I use to play golf. Until I got married. Until I had Nick. Until I had foot problems. Until I got fat...and lazy. My clubs are still in the garage. Once followed Tom Watson at a demonstration round. And another time followed Arnold Palmer at another event. Yeah, that was a long time ago.
  
• Nick thinks it's possible to have too much quilt fabric. I wonder if he'd say the same about video games?
• It was dry and windy today. I'd rather have the fall weather of the wet land I was raised in. This is not my favorite time of year.
• I'll be glad when pumpkin holiday is over...and the TV gets rid of the slasher movies!!!
• My daughter forwarded pictures of my grandson. They had a dusting of snow where they live and it was his first time having snow fall on him. He didn't like it. But he sure is cute. He's 13 months old.
• And that's Friday.

Who Needs Instructions....Hah!! I Do!!

The tools of the trade. Electric drill, square with level, laser stud finder, pencil, instruction sheet.
Yesterday, I went to Lowe's to get the brackets and shelves for my fabric stash storage room - Sometimes I think it would be best if we didn't have so many choices; it can be mind-boggling. I pretty much knew I wanted one of those easy do-it-yourself adjustable systems. I've toggled back and forth about whether to get solid shelving (laminate) or the wire shelving. With my new folding method, I determined the wire would not work, so laminate it is. And I'm partial to white even though there were numerous options including an oak look which I'm also partial too, but hey, it's a closet and ain't nobody gonna see it but me, and the white laminate was the least inexpensive. So after mental quibbling with myself at the store I made my selections and brought them home and waited for Marty to come home from work, then go to the gym, then eat his dinner before I could get him to find the drill and get started. I'd already taken care of using the laser stud finder and leveler to get the top rail placement identified. I've just never used the drill or electric screwdriver before. After he put the rail up, I then tried to hook the slotted 'uprights' onto the rail and...huh?...why won't they fit over the edge? I got the WRONG ones!! and at 8:00 at night I wasn't going to go back and exchange them, so had to wait until this morning...after my physical therapy (which was better today...he did a little more to 'earn his money'). The new uprights fit perfectly, but are shorter, so had to get separate extender pieces and in the long run, combined, they cost more than the single correct-length 'wrong' ones. :( (And I loved Marty's sour face when I told him what all the components cost. Keep in mind, as procrastinators, there are a lot of "fix-it" projects around here that will cost that and more simply because we've procrastinated...the fun of home ownership...but I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh, and I could've hired a handy-man at 3x the cost.)

See these funny looking doo-hickeys? They're wall anchors, which you have to buy separately in a hardware pack that includes the screws you need to install the uprights...except with the extensions, they came with a set. Go figure. Funny looking aren't they? My brain just wasn't wrapping around how to use them. There's also this black nail-like thing called an anchor key. And there were no directions, not at the store, not attached to any of the original pieces, though there is a hard-to-read direction on the extender pieces I got today. Needed my specs to read that! But yesterday, I didn't have the extenders, so I went online to the Rubbermaid site and found some directions. Funny thing those directions. Viewing them online was like looking at a copy, of a copy, of a copy, of a copy and it didn't improve by printing them out, so by looking at the picture and even reading it wasn't real clear about those anchors (other than they'd only be needed if you weren't able to put the screws into studs). Marty and I both looked at those things and tried to figure out how to push that straight edge out in order to push the anchor into, and flush with, the wall, even after drilling the 3/8" hole to insert them. It just would not work. The instructions don't show how to do that. So while at Lowe's today, an employee was there in the aisle, a man, and I asked him. He didn't know either, but opened a package of parts and looked at it, and fiddled with it doing the same thing Marty and I did, bewildered as well, but then, like a light bulb coming on, tackled it differently. He pushed the flat side inward instead of trying to pull it out, which then folded the anchor into the necessary 'nail-shape'. See how I have that cream-colored one clipped? Like that, it would fit through the hole and then flare back out to 'anchor' against the hidden side of the drywall. And once through, then you use that little black tool to push that straight side back out in case it didn't do it all the way on its own. After all that, I don't think we'll need to use the anchors, but we'll know how they work if ever we should.

And, ok, well, I tried to do the pre-drill hole and have managed to get the bit stuck in the wall. I can't get the drill chuck tight enough I guess. OK, got it out. Tried to drill the first screw in. I even leaned into the drill and ... oh good grief! Reverse!! Success, the first screw is in! When I was taking carpentry lessons from my dad by observation, he used a screwdriver and a hammer, and these battery powered things didn't exist; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. My wrist is holding up well too :) Maybe I won't need ALL of those therapy appointments after all, that would make me real happy. One upright & extension solidly in place! (The one on the right is done. The one on the left is just hanging there, and that other thing dangling...that's the chain for the ceiling light. I didn't edit my pictures. I'm going to wait till Marty gets home for the other one; I want his opinion as to why I'm getting the reading I get with the stud finder...it might be electrical wiring and I don't want to go drilling into that, or it could be a horizontal board between the studs?. Not sure why it would be, but I guess some boards are for fire breaks, and in this house...wiring could be anywhere. It was built in '66. There is wiring to the light in the closet ceiling, as well as to a hall outlet, and a room outlet, both on walls that abut the closet to the left, so...I'll wait. Because I'm a big chicken. And because I have to leave pretty soon to pick Nick up from school.

Hope your day is running smoothly.

Tail-dragging Tuesday

Yesterday, I made a specific point of staying busy with household chores. Whew, am I tired today! And I still don't feel like I accomplished much as I'm so far behind on things, especially those deep cleaning chores which I haven't gotten too yet.

This morning was occupied by my first physical therapy appointment on my wrist. I have to do this twice a week for a month. I'm betting I tell them I'll just let time and God finish the healing! I can't help but wonder about why I, and my insurance, are paying some 'professional' to show me how to move and hold my wrist/hand in various positions for 45 seconds. I suppose he has a good education that needs to be paid for, and if it does eventually need surgery they won't do it without having gone through these hoops. At 11 weeks after the initial injury, I find it hard to believe it's just 'swelling' of the ligaments and other tissues (mind you, the wrist itself never swelled up!) that's still causing the ache, and the pain and popping with certain motions, but what do I know. So much for that rant against the medical bureaucracy.

On a brighter note, in my morning grogginess it seemed awfully dark this morning but I never bothered to look out a window...was all I could do to pour my coffee and fix Nick's and my breakfast. (Marty is up and out of the house by 5:30 so he does the coffee and then grabs breakfast when he gets to work-I think the company pays for it right along with his lunch-great benefit.) When it was time to leave to take Nick to school, he opens the door and not only is it cloudy out, but it was WET! It was sprinkling! I had no idea it was suppose; guess I wasn't paying attention to any weather reports. We both love the rain...after all...I'm the Duck out of Water :)

Have a blessed day and stay safe!

Stash Report - October 23

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm in the process of re-organizing my fabric. I thought I'd wait until the first of the year to join in with the stash report at Judy's, but I'll go ahead and jump in now. :)

I must note however, lest you think I'm a shoppin' fool that hasn't made a quilt all year (except Poseidon Loses), that of the 118.3 yards added to my stash this year, only 16.4 were actually purchased, the other 102.9 yards were given to me. (Yeah, I know, right?) The fabrics in PL aren't counted here as they were a project already begun by someone else. The leftover fabrics are included!

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 118.3 yards
Net Used for 2011: unknown

Fabric-o, Fabric-o, What Do I Do With Thee?

Did you think I was trying to decide my next project? If only. Well, that thought is there, but that's for another post. This one is on fabric organization, or lack thereof.

Despite the fact that my house seems rather disorganized and at times cluttered, and a box or two, maybe three or more, can be found stacked in a hallway, or in the middle of a room, I really, really do prefer organization and my fabric stash has been a little chaotic for awhile...and not because I've been so busy piecing and quilting with it that I've left pieces laying around. You see, for the last year or so I've probably done more collecting than sewing. And that fabric has been stuffed here, and there, and even elsewhere. Throw in this year's medical issues, and it's chaos...at least in MY mind. I'm working towards changing that in 2012. I have 2.5 months to get my act together - self-imposed structuring! I'm determined to not buy any new fabric, unless it's an absolute requirement for a specific project (when I get back to sewing!) and I just can't find anything acceptable in my stash.

So...for a few days I've been working on pulling out all my fabric and re-folding and trying to decide how to best store it. Most pieces have been in locking plastic tubs stacked in a closet. Fine, but hard to work with. The shelf above (not in photo) has bags of batting pieces. I have a huge bundle of batting (Warm & Natural) in a large bag to the left of these stacks. Initially I tried to organize by color but one color runs into another which then runs into another and my brain started getting confused as to which tub it belonged in, oy!, and with a few things by 'collections', i.e. repros, western. The photo below shows my ca 1930s collection. I have a couple 1 yd pieces that my mom gave to me, not necessarily 1930s, but vintage early 1950s which she had used to make dresses for my sister and I. I think of those is that vertical piece between the two rows on the left.I'm still not entirely sure how I want to organize, and I need to finish my re-construction of my real fabric storage closet. That closet measures 56" wide by 45.5" deep, a small walk-in closet. This is a photo of the closet. The two tubs in the back right corner are fabrics I acquired as the result of a precious lady who was instrumental in starting our missionary quilts classes many years ago and before my time, who ended up with Alzheimer's and her daughter passed the fabric on to someone else, who in turn passed some of it on to me. I'm sure a lot of it will still be used either for missionary quilt's or other community service projects. The tub on the left has some strips for log cabins in military red, white and blue in addition to some yardage from when a group of us worked on some military quilts. and there's a pile of quilt magazines, too, and still the paint stuff that managed to get cluttered with miscellaneous stuff. Back to the closet; to date, I've painted the walls and nailed cedar down for floor covering. The closet has a ceiling light fixture. Originally, I was thinking I'd put in deep wire shelving and stack the tubs of fabric on the shelves. But the last few days, I'm thinking I may just put in laminated board shelving, adjustable, and with about a 12" height in between. Then on the side, put in a rod section where I can hang those fabric lengths of over 3 yards (I may change that to 4 yds). I currently hang those on the hangers with cardboard tubes. I may leave the hanging fabrics in the guest closet. There are two closets in that room. The one you see below and a shorter one on a wall to the left and behind the room's entry door. I could then likely utilize a rolling cart or two for the smaller pieces.

I had read somewhere the idea of using comic book cardboards for wrapping your fabric around like bolts of fabric at a store, but rather than the height of the fabric's half-width, fold it again so that it measures approximately 11" high (1/4 fold of width). I was thinking of doing that but wasn't inclined to buy online and wait for delivery so decided I could achieve the same effect by using a 6" ruler, or in this case, a 6" cutting mat which I could use as the guide while 'rolling' the fabric and then easily slip it out. I decided this would work fine and have been doing so with all yardage measuring from one to three yards in length. I now have a whole lotta cute little fabric 'bolts' which I can stand alongside each other or lay atop each other on a shelf...if I only had the shelves! I had also read about folding fat quarters so that they fit into empty tissue boxes (which I just happened to have three empty & flattened waiting to go into the recycle cardboard trash). I pulled them out, taped them back together and cut the bottom off them. My FQs were already pretty much folded the same way, so that one was easy.

Now my real dilemma, the decision as to how to fold those fabrics that measure full width by whatever length up to a yard, and then all those other odd pieces that don't measure the full width but could be of any length, and all those other odd pieces that I haven't already cut into specific size squares or strips for future not-yet-selected projects, sigh! And what about those pieces of whatever size that match a bigger piece of yardage, do I keep them together, or pretend they're just 'scraps' and separate them and cut them down more? Oh, what to do, what to do! And then do I still keep 'collections' separate? I know I will on the '30s repros because I've only ever bought FQs of those, and they fit snugly in that drawer.

Note to self: buy appropriate shelves and install (or get Marty to install).

Quilt #013 (Barie)'s Pinks

This is also an Eleanor Burns Quilt In A Day Double Pinwheel pattern. I altered the number of rows, and the size before adding the binding was 67.5" x 78.5". It's shown atop a double bed.

I made the quilt as a Christmas gift for my half-sister whom I hadn't met until she was around 34 years of age. I began the quilt in December 2003 and finished in October 2004. Ignore the date on the photo - that's because I was too lazy to figure out how to change it or remove it. I can be quite lazy at times.

My fabric choices and placements didn't bring out the double windmill pattern as well as with the other one from the same pattern. I opted for a tan background as Barie had dogs and I felt sure the dogs would probably sleep on the quilt right along with Barie. Barie's favorite color is pink. It is quilted in the ditch, and is obviously scrappy pinks.

I probably won't hear from Barie again, nor will I go out of my way to reach her. I had found her after wondering about her for 34 years and having only seen a picture of her at about the age of 1, and we stayed in touch for awhile. Long story short, her brother Mac (from her mother's first marriage) and my sister Marie (from when our dad was still married to my mother) got married to each other within four months of being reunited after we located Barie. They'd first met when my sister Marie was about 14 which is when my dad, and Barie's mother were married and Marie went to live with them for a short while and they'd had a crush on each other. We all told Marie to wait but she didn't and they are now divorced (from a purely earthly perspective, not a bad thing!). Messed up lives create further messed up lives. There's also a half-brother (from yet another mother), somewhere, but this situation has shown me I don't need to find him. Some things are best left behind us. Ok, off the rabbit trail and back to fabric. Really, back to fabric...folding, organizing, deciding. Have a blessed day!

Health, Doctors and today

This has been a medically rough year for me. And I'm sure so many others have it worse, so I don't like to belly-ache too much about my health, but the last few days have just been more than I've been able to cope well with. The wrist I injured August 9th, while improving is still painful frequently and with certain motions and I had a follow-up visit with the doctor today. My appointment was for 10:20 and the doctor finally gets to me at 11:05. The next step is 3 or 4 weeks of physical therapy twice a week and if that doesn't help, the next step is a cortisone shot, and if that doesn't help, maybe surgery. This original injury occurred exactly one week after an emergency appendectomy.

For the last four days I've been having some really bad lower back pain with additional pain at about the bra level. Bending over is painful. Squatting is better but not by much. I'm so tired of doctors that I don't know if I want to go to a chiropractor, back doctor or neither and just pray that this flare up will subside.

In February I had a foot surgery for the removal of a Morton's neuroma which didn't give me the hoped for result - more of a 'trading one pain for a different pain/sensation' which includes two permanently numb toes. It's become a great excuse for not exercising, but I will have to get started on that!

There have been ongoing dental issues as well. Because of one dentist breaking the tip of a tool off in the root canal which couldn't be removed even by a specialist, I have a tooth that will more than likely require removal at some point. Have you ever had a burr in your sock? That's what it often feels like. I now have a new dentist whom I love but his work hasn't been trouble free either though I still have confidence in him and hope it improves.

Days like today though make me long so intensely for the Lord's return and my future glorified body. I left the doctor's office in tears; it's as though I've reached the medical breaking point, so if you pray, pray for my ability to cope with these ongoing medical issues, and that they'll be resolved. I would so appreciate your prayers.

S.I.N.S

I was randomly skimming through blogs by selecting "next blog" here on Blogger, and I came across a blog (I didn't remember the blogger or name but think it was from Australia) who mentioned my title of S.I.N.S. While I am admittedly a sinner saved by grace, this is not what the blogger was referring to. I'd not seen this acronym before, but I think I'm guilty of S.I.N.S., that of having Stuff I'll Never Stitch...not that I don't want to, but I don't think I could if I lived another 100 years! But these are S.I.N.S. I don't think I need to repent of , but then again...happy quilting my friends :)

Quilt #012

I love, love, loved this quilt. It looks so-o-o-o complicated, but wasn't! This was also a missionary quilt and was pieced by me but tie-quilted and bound with the help of other 'many hands'. It measured 89" square and looked great on the double bed, even if it wasn't in colors I'd decorate in. This one was started on May 1, 2003, and finished on October 29th of the same year. It was a busy quilt year for me in 2003 :) I believe it was passed on to missionaries in Feb. 2005. The pattern was from the November/December 2000 issue of Quiltmaker magazine under the title of "Prairie Meadows" but in a more earth-tone colorway. I could easily do this pattern again in colors that go with my decor.

Design Wall Monday

I'm new to Judy's Design Wall Monday and don't have anything on my wall at present, but thought this would be a good, if not humorous, way to begin. I have some projects that I need to get back to work on and how many hundreds of ideas that I'd like to start with a stash that'll clearly outlive me. It's a good thing I like scrappy quilts. As recently as last night I was continuing on my organizing of some of the fabrics that have been scattered hither and yon with their respective projects.

The lanyard has that removable section which, instead of scissors, I've attached a needlepoint pincushion I made some years ago. It keeps pins under control at the design wall...when I remember to use it.

Well, my post didn't last long there. My confusion I guess is that the post actually has to show fabric or a design of a project in process or intended, and not what I have (as shown here) on my design wall which is the lanyard. My bad. So, back to the drawing board as they say, and somewhere down the road I'll have a project back on the wall. I don't hold this against Judy, after all - her blog, her rules, and I believe in following rules and if I had rules on my blog and someone didn't follow them, I'd do the same and give their post the boot too.

This Learning Thing

With this post, I thought I'd try using Firefox as my browser to see if there's much difference. When I use IE, Blogger tells me some things may not be supported because I don't have the latest version of IE. I researched the latest version, and found that since my OS is XP that the latest IE version would be more problematic in other areas than leaving it as it is. So-o-o, until Marty decides to upgrade all the computers to Windows 7 (or whatever is next before you know it), which is more compatible with the latest IE upgrade, I'll stick with the status quo.

In other learning, I'm learning (should I NOT have know?) that something happens when a child becomes a teenager. Is there some switch unbeknownst to parents that just flips on when the 13 is reached? Don't get me wrong, Nick's a great kid, but there's something about that independent spirit that doesn't want anyone to tell him what to do and having a conversation! Oy! Let's pull teeth. And giving instruction on our newly adjusted (re-created?) chore sheet.....because chores weren't getting done and Marty doesn't encourage until I encourage Marty...yes, there are times it's like having two children in the house...oh wait, make that three, I can be just as irresponsible.

It's design wall Monday at Judy's. I haven't taken part in this yet and there's nothing actual ON my design wall except a scissor-holder lanyard. I may take a photo of it and post it anyway :) It'll be a good, and humorous beginning.

Home Alone

Sometimes I don't know whether to be thrilled or sad that I'm home alone. I suppose I could make my own plans to go somewhere, but frankly, I do like being home, and even, home alone. Nick wanted to go to his friend's house so Marty took him over before going out to a city about 45 minutes away in order to meet up with some friends for photography. Marty will be gone most of the afternoon and Nick probably until after a youth group meeting this evening at the church near his friend's house. He's been enjoying going to the meetings lately.

I'd be more pleased with myself being home alone, if I could focus on a single thing and accomplish getting it done or at least making significant progress. Our home is 'lived in' and more often than not looks rather frazzled with clutter and stuff. And since our vacation in July and my subsequent health issues (the appendectomy and the fall injuring my wrist) it seems things are in greater disarray than normal and I'm a bit overwhelmed as to where to start, and when I have attempted to start, I've gotten side-tracked and seeming to not make any headway at all!! Maybe what I need is a good list of things that need to be done daily, and then a list of other things that need to be done but have no real deadline. Do I see Jan. 1st on the not so distant horizon....yeah, but I never make New Year's Resolutions...they always get broken!

Quilt #011 Double Pinwheels

Yowsa! This thing is HUGE! It measures 91" x 113". It's another missionary quilt and was started April 17, 2003 and finished June 20, 2003. It is no longer in my possession but I don't believe it's been given out to a missionary yet. This is a Quilt In A Day by Eleanor Burns pattern. Perle Cotton was again used to tie it, and it has a solid light blue backing. I loved how the colors looked together and the white was a geometric pattern that resembled the blades from a pinwheel. I wouldn't mind making one for myself but not so large. The photo was taken with it displayed on a queen-size bed.

Quilt #009

I made this quilts for our Missionary Quilts group. It measures 70" x 82". I believe I did all the work on this from start to finish, but others may have helped with tying and hemming the binding. The pattern was published in the 1999 Better Homes & Garden Sampler under the title "English Trellis". I never think to take photos of the back of my quilts. I chose a sage toile for the backing. I started on 4/3/2003 and finished on 4/19/2003! Are you amazed at that with just 16 days considering all my other projects were years? I think I was trying to prove my skills to the lady (and now friend) who headed up the Missionary Quilts program. Of course, tying is much quicker than machine quilting and all the MQ quilts are tied. My tying preference is to use Perle Cotton when I do so. I do not like using knitting/crocheting yarn, just too bulky and fuzzy. On Sept. 17th of that year, this quilt was gifted to some of our missionaries in India...a nice fit.

Still Adjusting

...and trying to understand how Blogger works!! I notice that the photos I upload to Blogger are saved at Picasa. I viewed my photos there and saw many were duplicated so I deleted the duplicates...but it could take 24 hours to see if they're the ones that actually posted to the respective posts. The duplicates were there, I assume, because sometimes when writing a post and editing it, I would backspace one space too far and delete (?) the photo. At least it didn't show anymore, so I'd re-upload it. Spacing doesn't seem to stay where I put it. If I preview my post, then go back to the edit, the dialog has shifted. There seems to be a lot of unnecessary 'work' in creating a single post. Am I being a fuss-budget and do I just not get it?, have I missed something somewhere? And I added the counter that shows blog views...as I checked the box to NOT have MY views included in the counter, but it seems it changes anyway, and I don't know if I'm the only one who views my blog or if others are seeing/viewing it. I'm not concerned with numbers but it would be nice to know if even one real person (besides me) is/has visited :)

Anyone else using Blogger have this much confusion/troubles at the beginning/still?

After Surgery

Praising the Lord for my mom's surgery which went well and was finished earlier than expected. She's not experiencing any pain yet, but I expect some will hit eventually. She was also released from the hospital and home by 10:00 this morning. On Monday she will go in to have the drain tube removed, Lord willing, and for the results of the tests on the lymph nodes. For some reason this particular hospital had to send them to a larger town for biopsy rather than check them during the surgery. Still praying that the cancer has not travelled.

Quilt #007

From the "Morning Star Wall Quilt" pattern in Magic Stack-n-Whack by Bethany Reynolds; I chose a gold-painted fabric to make the stars and border. It measures 42.5" x 46 5/8" and is a wall-hanging I display at Christmas. Started in early December 2000, it was finished in late October 2003. I discovered the fabric paint to be a little hard to work with as to the center points but managed and ended up with flat centers :) . This was a much better fabric choice for this technique than was the fabric in "(Nick's) Planets". It was machine quilted and I used tissue paper to design my own 6-pointed stars for the border quilting. Tissue paper doesn't hold up really well though so I did about half of each border at a time, pinning the paper to the border. It was also entered in the local guild's quilt show, but only received a couple viewer choice votes. One fellow guild-member made the comment to me: "It's interesting that a Christian would quilt it with the Star of David." Well, my Saviour was born a Jew, so it shouldn't be seen as odd at all.

Quilt #006

"(Nick's) Planets" In Nov 2006 I took a class through our LQS (now gone sadly) from the book: Stack & Whack by Bethany Reynolds. The fabric I later found for the backing would have been much better for the front, but it is what it is, and Nick loves his quilt. It is tied except along the borders where I stitched in the ditch, and it gets washed every few months. It measures 56"x 64". Nick's favorite color at the time was blue, and he was interested in planets. His now favorite color is black, but he still wants his bedroom painted dark blue...might happen before he heads to college, lol.
One of Marty's relatives was Clyde Tombaugh who discovered the now-demoted planet Pluto.
I enjoyed making this quilt but was disappointed with my fabric selection because it doesn't provide enough "oomph" for the technique. I finished it in Nov 2002 in order to display it in our guilds quilt show. It was not an award winner, nor had I expected it to be.

Waiting (Im)Patiently

...for news on my mom's surgery (see this post). She was scheduled to go into surgery at 10:30 a.m. and the surgery was to last 3.5 hours, then another 1 or 2 in recover. I'm on edge, even though I keep praying and know all is in the Lord's hands.

Quilt #004

I gave this quilt the name "Under The Oaks" because many of the fabric designs are oak leaves, and because I miss the oaks of my childhood. The pattern however, was called "Friendship Quarters" and published by American Legacy Quilts. It measures 56"x 44 1/2". I started it in October 2000 and finished it three years later. I had some struggles with all of those half square triangles. It hangs above our fireplace.
The pattern is fat quarter friendly so when I purchased it at a quilt show, I also purchased a grouped set of eight FQs (at least one is a Moda) that were in a colorway I liked, they became the friendship stars and block corners. To that, I added the background fabric, called 'Moss' and the binding fabric which is a Kona Bay fabric. The top had actually been finished since March 2002, but by then I was finding it hard to find the right shade of brown I wanted for the binding. For the backing (not photographed) I used golden-toned "Fossil Fern" (Impressions by P.B. Campbell & J.L. Jack for Benartex). It was entered in our local guild quilt show in 2003 but alas, did not garner any awards. This is still one of my favorite quilts. It gets laundered on occasion too...about once per year. It's coloring doesn't fit well with Christmas colors, so it comes down to be replaced temporarily at that time.

Near-Teenager...Now Teenager

It's official, Nick is now 13, a teenager. Marty took Nick and three of his best buddies to one of those places where they can race each other around a track. Not inexpensive for two sets of 14 laps each, but a kid only becomes a teenager once in his life, and we've not done anything but our traditional birthday dinner at the honoree's restaurant of choice in the last two or three years, so it was ok. They had a great time, but Marty didn't take a camera, so there are no photos. Nick wanted cake donuts with frosting and sprinkles in lieu of a cake, so I ordered them from the local bakery and placed them on the cake plate with 13 candles. They look pretty nice on the plate and Nick was pleased.

Introducing....

I can sometimes be a bit paranoid about putting my real and/or complete name out on the internet. I'm a little old-school so it takes me awhile to get comfortable with cyberspace. So here in blog-land, my name is Lee. It IS my middle name. And Young is a family name though not my actual surname. I think I'm comfortable with that. My DH, I'll use a derivative of his middle name from here-on-out as well is Marty. And that son of ours, he shall now be called Nick. In fact, I'll probably refer to most friends and family by their middle names. It's respecting their privacy too as many of them aren't even comfortable with being on that popular social network. I'm there under my real name but have grown pretty comfortable with knowing how to control the privacy settings. Here, there's no telling who's lurking and sees the things you post, so it'll be what it is.

Week 42 Stash Report

Nothing in, nothing out lol. I'll start adding this weekly Sunday report so that I can get in the habit in order to begin adding my report to Judy's post over at Patchwork Times. Hopefully, I'll be showing something in the "out" category as I get organized, my wrist heals and I get back to working on my UFOs and WIPs...do they count as WIPs if at present not working on them but want to be?

Quilt #005 Christmas Wallhanging

This one with blue, was begun in Nov. 2000, and is complete except for the decorative aspects, so I haven't given it an exact finish date yet. It is machine-quilted and binding is complete. The previous two were both tied using the 1/8" red ribbons that hold the decorations on. This quilt, however, I wanted to do a little differently in order to be able to remove the red ribbons & decorations, so I was adding tiny snaps, or hooks & eyes, or whatever I could come up with that would allow the decs to hang correctly yet be removed. For now, most of the decs are held on with quilting safety pins until I can get each one's attachment mechanism sewn on. This wallhanging is for our home, and we seem to have an incredible amount of dust, so I wanted to be able to launder it on occasion, even though it would only be displayed for a month or so each year.

The first of these three wallhangings, was taught to me by a lady friend at my church. She's a dear quilting friend and mentor as well as a sweet woman of God.

Editing note: I originally had these three on one post, but every time I looked at the blog, it seemed the written content had shifted and my attempts to fix it only made it worse, so I separated them and adjusted the post date and time to keep them at least in the same area with each other. Please tell me I will learn how this Blogger site works!

Quilt #002 Quilted Wallhangings: The Christmas Quilts

This first one is #002 (with the gold star topper). It was begun in Sept. 2000 and finished in Nov. in time to gift my daughter for Christmas. At that time I didn't have a design wall so had pinned it to some drapes so that odd border isn't part of the quilt.

Quilt #003

The one was also begun in Sept. 2000 and finished in Nov. 2000 and gifted to my parents for Christmas. This past summer, my mom decided I should have it back as she's 'down-sizing'.

Quandary

When I view my post on the first quilt it shows the second paragraph with line spacing different from the first paragraph. They were typed the same. I don't know what made it that way and can find no way to change it. Hmmmmm.....

"Do I Really Want To Quilt?" My First Quilt

From Start Quilting with Alex Anderson, I began this quilt in June 1999, but didn't finish it completely until March of 2003. That looks like 3.5 years doesn't it? That's because I actually wanted to quilt it rather than tie it and I hadn't learned how to do that yet. I didn't track my time on this one. And I don't remember how soon after I began as to when I finished the top. It seems it wasn't 3.5 years, but I was caring for my then-toddler so it might have taken awhile and in the meantime I had started other projects as well. The story about this first quilt is found at http://duckoutofh2o.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-quilting-journey-long.html.

The 'bumps' in the top part of the binding are from the clips that hold it while it's hanging or maybe from the pins holding it to the design wall. Occasionally I'll rotate it and let gravity rearrange those 'bumps', or if it gets too dusty, into the washer, yes, it gets laundered, and also the dryer! and I'll use my iron to press it. Sometimes it's used as a table topper. If you read the story, you know how much fabric I purchased and from some of that extra fabric, I made the additional blocks and turned them into placemats (I had no pattern, just went by the size of some I had.)....12 placemats to be exact. Do we ever have 12 sitting around our table? Not a chance. These days, we don't have the three of us around the table every night :-S.

My Morning

It's been a good morning :)

The near-teenager was taken to school where he and his classmates were to attend their first three classes. I came home and had my breakfast, sorted through some mail I didn't get to yesterday and then was picked up by the mom of one of his classmates and best friends and we went back to the school to pick up the boys' backpacks and see them off. The children were given instructions and their cabin assignments and were then loaded onto two buses, along with their overnight bags and sleeping gear for a retreat at a not-too-far-away retreat center. Sometimes it seemed a little like herding cats, but overall the children were cooperative yet very excited to be going on this overnight trip. They're scheduled to be back at the school for pickup around 5:00 tomorrow night. The house is always 'empty feeling' when he isn't home at times he normally would be. Sigh. On the 'upside' of that though is that I don't have to drive the 22 mile round trip to pick him up from school.

After the kids had departed, the other mom and I took the brief opportunity (due to a timing constraint she had) to have lunch at McDonald's. It was nice but brief, and for the first time in years since this McD's was remodeled and staffed with new employees, they didn't mess up my order. They've been on my personal-boycott list for a long time. Of course, when you only order a single sandwich item without changes, it shouldn't be messed up. But they would, that's the experiences we've had at this location.

The other mom then dropped me off at my house. So it was indeed a good morning. Now, to see what mischief I can get into this afternoon and evening.

The evening is 'mine' and DH has a buddy/men's meeting he regularly goes to on Thursday evening.

Oh, the only 'complaint' for the morning, was with another McD patron...her perfume was so strong and not pleasant. She walked out behind us and then walked past us, and even now, 45 minutes later my nose is still burning and the scent seems to be lingering in my sinuses. I'll save my personal rant on fragrances for another day....in a nutshell, I can live without them entirely!

Kitty Update

Fanner saw Mrs. Vet yesterday. In a nutshell, it's a wait-and-see, or try to get through a couple weeks with observations, an antibiotic and to get beyond near-teenagers birthday (and thus bad/sad associations) before having her put to rest. While the probable stones didn't show on the xray, the symptoms lead to that conclusion given she didn't appear to have a urinary tract infection - no crystals in the urine, and that last December when she had surgery to remove the stones, the stones didn't show in an xray either, but did in an ultrasound right before surgery. The fact that the stones have recurred in such a short time (first indication might have been as early as July) confirms the vets recommendation to not do another surgery. This little kitty, at only age 7, has already out-lived her life-expectancy given her medical problems. We've been blessed to be able to have her and to love her and care for her. Why are these things always so hard?

My Quilting Journey (long)

I began quilting in 1999. I'd always wanted to try my hand, or should I say machine, at it. So much so that I crocheted a 'patchwork' bed cover back in the late 1970s. My nearly blind grandmother (she had macular degeneration) made a whole bunch of quilts from feedsacks in the '70s and gave one to each grandchild (I wonder how my brother got two?). I didn't know a thing about feedsacks at the time, let alone how to care for such a precious gem so I loved that quilt to the point of it showing lots of wear and tear before finally stowing it away in my hopeless chest (no chest, just a box and I was single with no prospects). Back then, at least to the extent of my knowledge, quilts were tied and used for bed coverings, not highly decorated and placed on a wall, nor in a glass case. Perhaps that's why I far prefer traditional quilts over fabric art. Don't get me wrong, I 'appreciate' the art pieces and the labor and creativity that go into them, but in my book, true quilts go on a bed or over a lap, other than that, they're quilted wall-hangings or fabric art. And yes, lest anyone take offense, I have made and display quilted wallhangings and some that would be considered fabric art because I've added decorations in the form of buttons, bows and other ornamentation to them.

In 1997 we had been married for about a year and a half, not getting younger (not quite mid-40s) and DH and I decided we should be letting God decide if we were to have children, so we stopped preventative measures and in Feb 1998 were happy, though a little frightened, to find I was pregnant. That pregnancy became the now near-teenager. And he was the only one, though I have a daughter from a previous marriage. Having the near-teenager gave me the blessing of being able to be at home full time, that and DH taking a new job within six months of his birth that increased his income substantially.

While I lay in bed nursing my newborn darling boy, I discovered HGTV. I never knew of it as prior to my marriage I didn't watch television and hadn't, except rarely, in nine years and was pretty much clueless as to daytime and cable television because I'd been a full-time employee, part-time student, and very involved church member - there was no time for TV. Wouldn't you know, I discovered Simply Quilts with hostess Alex Anderson. I loved that show. I loved all her guests and I kept saying to myself that I should try it and see if I'd like it or could even do it. So after two years, yes, you read correctly, TWO years of watching - ok, so I'm slow and lack confidence - I found some scrap pieces of fabric from my high school home economics days (yeah, I'd kept that stuff for, um, well, over 25 years) and from somewhere had a pattern for a single pinwheel block. Wow, cool, ok, I can DO this, I LIKE to DO this. So first on the agenda, and maybe I'd already done this and that's where the pattern came from, I bought a beginner quilt supply kit. You know, the one with the rotary cutter, a ruler, and a 6"x 12" cutting mat. Having watched Alex's show for so long, I trusted her so I picked up her Start Quilting with Alex Anderson book. While the book gave the fabric requirements to make individual quilts of each of the five blocks, it didn't give a separate list of fabric amounts if you wanted to make it just as a sampler. With not knowing a thing about drafting or adjusting the fabric amounts and hearing that five-letter word "stash" I went ahead and purchased fabrics for all the quilts, except for the backing fabrics, and so my stash was well on its way to becoming a hoard.

Somewhere I had picked up the notion that really good quilters didn't need to pin, so my very first quilt (wallhanging) saw no pins. If it wasn't perfect it was unsewed (I don't like the term reverse sewing, that to me says sewing backwards not ripping out what you've sewn.) and then resewed. The block section turned out quite well, I was very proud of my accomplishment. Overall I was very happy with how it turned out. Of course, now that I have more than a decade's experience behind me, I have become very dependant on those pins I once abhorred. I like very thin pins for piecing. Also, I can now see the less-than-perfect areas of this little quilt. Some of the fabric choices and colors are just, bleh, the borders are a little wobbly - I must've missed the lesson on measuring those! - and the binding is so-so even though that isn't really obvious. Knowledge and growth can sure change perspective, but I wouldn't trade, or try to fix, that "first quilt" from the way it is for anything. It's my history. And the genealogist in me says "let it stand".

There's a bit of OCO in my quilting...Obsessive/Compulsive Ordering as I don't like DISorder in some areas of my life. I have kept nearly every receipt for any quilt-related product or purpose and set up an Excel spreadsheet to track my purchases by item, and I also label my fabric with a pinned on sticky post with where I purchased/obtained the fabric, when, cost, how much fabric and an assigned number which is logged into yet another Excel spread sheet. However, I didn't start this until somewhere well into the first year of quilting so I don't have some of the early information, but do have the receipts. I just can't identify which specific fabric they go to. During that first year, a neighbor a block away was having a yard sale and I bought an absolutely HUGE box of mixed fabrics, and a couple bolts of juvenile blends, all for around $40 :) it was a little difficult to assign an individual cost to those. My purpose in all this was that as I could see my stash growing and this was/is a hobby, I wanted to be a good steward of the resources the Lord provided through my husband's hard work, so tracking my expenditures on a hobby was important to me, although DH really didn't care.

I also developed a form to fill out for each project I began that would give me all the details that went into the making of the quilt project i.e. the materials, the pattern name & author, and how much time I spent on each element of the process. I also developed a separate sheet that would have 1 1/2" square samples of each fabric with the aforementioned identifying number. Yes, there's some maintenance on my part in all this detail, but I figure it helps me by keeping my 'work' brain active should I ever have to return to a paying position in an office environment. I'd worked in a telecommunications department of a large aerospace firm doing billing reconciliations, coordinating between the responsible departments and accounts payable. So in that sense, I was an analytical bean-counter, lol.

The realization had hit that I was behind in some areas of this process, so yesterday I caught up, and additionally pulled out my finished, my UFO and everything in-between projects and made sure I had photos of them. Photos will begin to appear in the next few days, or sooner.

That's the journey. In 12 years I've started 34 quilting projects of my own that I've logged. Maybe 30% are finished, 30% are nearly finished, and the rest... well, their process will be shown here eventually as well. I have also during those years helped with other project not my own, and some community service items through the quilt guild to which I belong.

Distressing News

This morning I received a phone call from my family member in the Northwest to let me know that she has breast cancer. She has chosen, given her age, to have the affected breast removed rather than have the lengthy, and daily(?), radiation treatments. While optimistic, one never knows the outcome of these things in the early days. Yet to be known is if the cancer has traveled to the lymph nodes or elsewhere. The nasty intruder is said to be the size of a nickel. Isn't that pretty large? It wasn't discovered in the last mammogram she had two years ago. Perhaps this would be a good time to stress keeping your annual mammogram appointments!

There is no update on the kitty's health issue. I stopped at the vet's this morning, but Mrs. Vet wasn't in today so will get kitty there tomorrow for an exam and to discuss if there are any options to keep her with us. This is not a good time for this to be happening as the near-teenager will be a teenager on Saturday and it would be an awful dampener of his special day.

Much prayer is needed, and requested. Thank you ever so much. The Lord knows the lady and her needs.

Special Needs Kitty

Meet Fanner. She is our much-loved kitty with some very special needs. From the time she arrived in our home, we were able to see something wasn't quite right with her. At just a couple months old, she was walking funny one day and drooling from the mouth. She spent a night at the vet's office quite aways from home because it was the only one open on a Saturday late-afternoon. They weren't able to diagnose the problem but informed us we could take her to a specialist for a spinal tap...a drive of two hours away and a likely cost of over $1500 or have her put down. Ooooo-kayyyy. Well, we opted for neither and took her home to love her and wait and see how things would naturally go. I should mention here that we got her specifically for our then 6-yr old son. Or was he 5? She did better and over a few months we determined she was allergic to fish in the canned cat foods...good observation by hubby. Fish in dry food was ok. We had a regular vet nearby but testing he did wasn't adequate and over the next couple of years things were touch and go and almost gone when he gave her all of her shots at one time. More time spent overnight at the vet's. Eventually, I was recommended by a neighbor to go to another vet here in town, more expensive, but she specialized ONLY in cats. After several more tests, and a process of elimination, it was determined that Fanner had a condition known as liver shunts, more often found in dogs than cats (Google searches can explain it far better than I!). Something doesn't develop right with blood vessels & liver at birth. During the two years prior to Mrs. Vet, Fanner also began having seizures which became more often as time passed. Mrs. Vet put her on a medication that would hopefully help and it has some, but the seizures have never stopped and the medication, being a sugar-based product, caused uncomfortable flora to grow in her belly, so she also had to start taking Amoxycillin to curb the flora. From the seizures, she became blind although she can 'see' light and seems to be able to tell some things when in her path but will run into others. Regardless, she gets around very well indoors and in our enclosed back yard. She can't get out because she can't jump - hind leg muscle weakness issues. A couple years ago, she developed bladder stones. We'd noticed she was having trouble urinating and there was blood in it. Back to the vet and an expensive bill to surgically remove the stones. Mrs. Vet showed them to me...as big as my little fingernail! That's big for a little 6-pound cat. I can only imagine the pain yet she never wimpered. Mrs. Vet told us that should the stones recur, that she wouldn't recommend another surgery, it would be too hard on her. Well, the reason for writing all this...we've reached a point where it appears the stones are back. She's presenting the same symptoms and unless Mrs. Vet has some new options when I call in the morning, I'm afraid we'll have to say goodbye to our precious kitty. It'll only get worse and we don't want her to suffer. She's my boy's kitty, but I think I'm more attached than he is. She sleeps next to me most nights, follows me around the house like a puppy dog during the day. I feed her, medicate her and scoop her litter. And I don't want to face tomorrow :(

Planning For 2012

No, I don't believe the world will be ending in 2012. Believing the truths of God's word in the Bible, the Lord Jesus would have to return to remove His followers (known as the Rapture of the Church). Following the rapture is the seven years of tribulation, which is then followed by Christ's 1000 year reign ON THE EARTH, so the earth has, at a minimum, another 1007 years should the Rapture occur imminently....many days I would like that to happen now rather than the day of which no man will know until the time. Other days, I pray it doesn't happen for a very long time because there are so many people I love who don't have a personal relationship with Christ and I want to see them in Heaven. So, I know the earth will be here in 2012, whether I am or not! So I will plan, and the Lord will make the necessary adjustments to my steps.





Since girlhood I've enjoyed collecting recipes. In part I think, because growing up we pretty much had just basic foods and repetitive meals. That may have been fairly normal in a rural area where neither money nor grocery variety were abundant during the 1950s and 1960s. Over the years I've culled through those old recipes, added new ones and added numerous cookbooks to my shelves. Something I need to do frequently. Lately I've been creating weekly menu plans with a breakfast/lunch/dinner chart on the front and a shopping list on the back. For both, I found forms online, adjusting to suit my needs. I have about six months worth in work at this time. What I've noticed is that I must really be desiring winter, as many of the recipes I'm adding are casseroles, stews, soups, and in general, hearty meals. As I refine these menu plans, I'll see how I can adjust them to make them healthier without robbing flavor. Hubby and I both need to lose more than just a few pounds while the almost-teenager is a true string bean! We want to keep eating like we're 20 and the string bean doesn't. My goal is to have the menus ready for 2012, if not before.

Next on my list is to get more quilting done. Aside from Poseidon Loses, I've done nothing on creating quilts except adding to my fabric stash and quilt tools and books collections. PL is the 34th quilt I've started/worked on since I began quilting in 1999. And some of those, as with PL, were worked on by others as well. In that count are some missionary quilts, a couple quilts for military members in our church fellowship group, and a quilt for our pastor and his wife that were joint projects where I did the piecing and others did the quilting and/or tying and binding. Some of those projects have only reached the starting point of setting aside the pattern and fabric, but I still count them because I will proceed with them. I'm looking forward to joining Judy L's weekly stash reports, Design Wall Monday and UFO Challenge 2012.

In part, that's also why I want to keep up with this blog. It may not be daily, may not even be weekly other than the reports, but I'd like to keep it going with some of the things in my world, and as I learn my way around this blogging thing, I'll start adding some photos.

Poseidon Loses

This project was tossed my way this past Spring. It was intended to be a quilt for missionaries from our church. It may remain in my custody for a very long time. The fabrics, all wonderful, were chosen by someone else, my guess probably more than a decade ago. The pattern is altered from the book: Samplings from the Sea by Rosemary Makhan copyright 1993. Many of the various blocks were already finished but some didn't align 'perfectly' but I thought they were close enough to 'ease' together. Many other parts to various blocks were also cut out. I cautiously checked the remaining amounts of the various fabrics to make sure there was enough of each to make the quilt in the layout that would work for our missionary quilt preferences. The diamond blocks in this project are all template made (have I said 'ugh' yet?). I cut some of the additional pieces needed and set myself to sew together all the blocks (I confidently ignored the cardinal rule of measuring the finished blocks.). I then, just as confidently, sewed three strips of the blocks together before taking them to my design wall and pinning them up to see how it would look. Gasp!!!!! They DIDN'T LINE UP!! And they were too far off to 'ease' in. Like about 6" between the first and second rows...how could I have goofed THAT badly. Well, lesson learned for sure! So this is where the hours of unsewing, remeasuring and trimming, and yes even adding smidgens, and in some cases all new pieces to do it all over again. I unsewed nearly EVERY block in the piece. I was NOT going to let Poseidon win. The top measures 86.5 x 74.25.

End of Summer...Catching up

Oh my! It has been quite some time since I posted, hasn't it? I realized I had prepared a post welcoming in 2011 but hadn't posted it; it is now posted.
On to some updates from 2011:

• Our son, nearly 13....and several inches taller than I! He's grown a lot this past year.


• My daughter gave birth to an utterly handsome baby boy the first week of September 2010. We traveled to visit them during Thanksgiving week and met the little bundle of joy. (It's over 1100 miles away.) He's now over a year and walking.


• In the spring, a whole lot of quilt fabrics and books were passed my way, along with a project that had been started & abandoned...I now know why! I spent many hours sewing, then unsewing, then resewing and now have a beautiful Storm at Sea quilt top ready for the backing to be assembled. Project is currently on hold due to a couple of the following reasons.


• My 40th high school reunion was this summer so our son and I traveled to my hometown. Where did 40 years go?


• While attending the activities of my class reunion, a pain developed in my lower right abdomen, yep, appendicitis. I put off going to the ER for several days so am praising God it didn't rupture during that time.


• One week after the appendectomy, I took a fall and injured my wrist. Another trip to the ER. Not broken, but badly sprained. Upon returning home at the end of vacation had an MRI: tears in the ligament. Eight weeks later, it's still a bit painful with certain motions but is on the mend & won't require surgery, but I still have to use the splint with certain chores and activities.


• Son's school resumed the last week of August, so we're adjusting to the changes of being in junior high.


• With the wrist issues I've been able to do only the minimums with housekeeping and such, and very little to nothing on my hobbies of quilting and genealogy. DH isn't 'allowed' to cook, or wash dishes...it's just best for all that way ;). Son has learned to wash most of the dishes.


• Hmmm, now I'll spend time figuring out how to return to normal margins instead of bullets. Technology!

Hello 2011

Whew! Where have I been? Utterly distracted. Treacherously dealing with the affairs of the 'farm' and the 'frontier' and secretly wishing both would go away and take my 'addiction' to them with them. Well, that likely won't happen, but hopefully, prayerfully?, the time spent on them will be lessened.

2010 is nearly over; in less than six hours here. 2010 in so many respects has been a personal waste. I've neglected much. I've felt the un-dealt-with effects of my own sins of anger, resentment, bitterness, laziness and neglect of God and His word. And so 2011 will encounter the prayers and efforts of trying to undo what I should never have allowed to occur within my own heart and soul.

Lifting my bottle of water, as I'm not a drinker, here's to 2011 !
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Oct.1, 2011 - I obviously didn't get this posted on Dec 31st, LOL