Getting back to "normal"

Bailey has gone bak to Alpharetta and seems to be adjusting..she was certainly happy to "see" Laurie when I took her home. Other than difficulty going down the stairs she seems to be okay.
I am back to sleeping in my bed wootwoot!! The guys are quite happy too. We are all in the bed. The only downside is that SPooky thinks he should wake me up early to feed him. I'm still waking up at three but it is nice not to have to get up and let the dog out!
Haven't done any sewing because my back has been bothering me...sure wish FOster was in Ga. He could fix my back right quick.

Just a few sights of what we are looking forward to in a couple of weeks-Magic FafaLand, Covington, Ga

quilt camp 2007

I found the pictures but I need to modify them before I can post them
But here is the entrance to FafaLand

28 days until quilt camp

Shannon sent a reminder email.....only 28 days until camp! I can't wait to pack the car and head out to Fafa Land. I took pictures last year and I will try to find them in the computer but this is a major feat for me as I am rather challenged (to say the least) when it comes to the computer!

At any rate-the planned project is a quilt called Union Square. I spent the past weekend cutting the strips-8 million 2 x 21 strips. Now there is a list of more fabric to bring for misc projects. I will have to print this list off and start working on it as well.

Fay (or what is left of her) arrived in Atl over the weekend. And while it is wonderful to at last have some decent rain, Bailey is not fond of being out in it. I didn't really pay attention, but since she has been with me, I have not had to deal with taking her out in the rain very much. This is the week that Laur returns from Japan....I can't wait to see her-this is the longest time we have been apart. Good grief-what a sap I am. When she left, she told me it was like when she went away to college and she would be home soon. But that was when she was only staying until the beginning of July. This is way different!!!!!

I worked a little on the spring fling quilt yesterday-made 4 blocks-sure hope that one of the little girls will want this one because it definately does not fir in my house!

Pattern seeking.....

I spent the rest of the weekend seeking a pattern for my new jelly roll "fabulous fall". I also bought the layer cake. So far nothing hits me pattern wise. I spent a good deal of yesterday reclining on the couch. It really was kind of a wasted weekend. However, having looked daily at a bunch of fabric that I bought awhile ago that I did know what I did have a pattern in mind, I finally started that one. The line is called Spring fling and it has been sitting here since spring. It is made with charam pack "flowers" I did not get very far with it becasue I have decided to change my background color from white to a light green-more flowery. I happen to have the green from the baby quilt I made. Had to buy another backing since I did not buy enough of the first one.
but now I guess I should get ready to go to work

Pattern seeking...

Not far from the truth

The other day I joked about the upcoming event at Sweet Home Quilt and wondered if there would be a line. I arrived at Sweet Home a few minutes before nine last night and the porch was FULL of laughing women waiting for the doors to open. I heard that they began assembling an hour earlier! What fun...middle aged women that have their priorites straight! I think the ladies inside were slightly fearful of being trampled when they opened the doors.
As usual, I was bad! Gretchen, Cindi, Sarah and others had piles of purchases as well. I bought a backing for the Civil War Scrappy quilt and I found another jelly roll that I had to have. I loved it so much that I bought the layer cake as well. This morning I will check out the book to see which one I want to do next! But first I need to begin to prepare the fabric I have for quilt camp.....Come on Sept 18th! It probably wouldn't hurt if I did a little cleaning too!

the only sad part of last evening was that Becky was unable to come. But Becky I know you were there in spirit with the rest of us!

Not far from the truth......

2008-17

I have finished sewing the binding on the 2007 quilt camp quilt. I love the colors and the quilting is done in a plum color, of course. Yummy. The backing is a rich deep red also one of the colors in the top. Can't remember the line of fabric this was but do know that it is a Moda.

Bailey is in her usual early evening spot. If only she would sleep this soundly later on!!

This has been a bad night. I think Bailey has her days and nights mixed up. We have been up way too long this morning. And she has been in and out at least three times. I have just given up trying to sleep-it isn't going to happen!

I picked up a quilt yesterday from the LQS. It is the quilt from quilt camp last year. Again, I had finished the top by the end of the time out at Fafaland. And then it sat....and sat..and sat. I needed to finish it before camp this year. It is quilted in a pattern called Autumn in Oregon and has leaves and apples quilted in. It really came out nice. Now I am on to the binding. I also have six rows together on the Civil War scrappy quilt and another 2 rows made. I did not stack this one up ala Pat-Sister Superior as I was trying to get the snowball blocks to meet up with the middle of the nine patch-most of them do!! I should have this top done sometime over the weekend.

Come on Friday...midnight madness...I am needing a trip to Sweet HOme!!!

Scrappy Civil War

Yesterday afternoon I finished sewing the snowball blocks for the quilt.. I love this book Jelly Rolls but then, i really love jelly rolls...!!!
Anyway, instead of making the center of the snowball block a light color, Melisa and I chose one of the prints in the line of Wildflower Serenade. It has the effect of blending in, instead of "popping". I really think I am going to like it. Just for fun this morning, I sewed two blocks together. But since this is Tuesday, I can't play and must go to work....so I can afford Friday night....is it Friday night soon????

Only had to get up twice during the night with Bailey and the second time was at four thirty. Not bad the other thing that I have discovered...since I am sleeping on the couch, I am sleeping more on my back and in the morning, my back is not hurting. I have built myself a great spot in the corner of the couch with pillows and a couple of quilts.

Anniversary sale at Bad Melisa's

It is offical, although we all knew about it from a notice a couple of weeks ago. Midnight madness sale starts at 9PM on Friday night. Be there or be square! I wonder if there will be a line like at certain events? Will Melisa have to give out numbers ahead of time?
At any rate, I will be there because I might need some more fabric....heehee.....
Then I look at her email this morning and I might have to go back on Saturday as well,,,more sales...the more you buy, the more you save.......This is one of the reasons she is Bad Melisa-Evil Temptress!!
I know I will see my buds there Friday night! must have fabric...need more fabric...

Just a Jelly Roll Junkie

I just read Gretchen's blog(Stella Bella). She was much more productive than me. I fully intended to sew all day today. Yesterday I started on another quilt from our "fav" book. I am doing Civil War Scrappy using Moda line Wildflower Serenade.
I got most of it cut yesterday-finished this morning. Then I started working on the nine patch blocks. I have finished all of them. I have started on the snowball blocks. But then I was summoned to the couch....the end. But now I am once again awake,so maybe I can get a little more done.

Gretchen made a "Bad Melissa" bag. I love it-must find out what the pattern is. But I think the bag is not big enough for a Sweet Home Aquistion trip. A bag the size of a large kitchen garbage bag would be better......come on Melisa,,,,,,tempt us with some more good stuff.....I NEED JELLY ROLLS NOW!

Also Gretch was good with some cleaning....that didn't happen here either. Bailey and I did go for a ride in the car today. I had to go down to the vet to buy her some more of her medciation. I know she couldn't see anything, but I thought a little time away would be good. And she did not have to be alone.

2008-15 and 16

here are shots of the quilts finished this week. The first one is the sisters quilt from last month-Firecracker. I love the border on this one so much that when I found more in the shop today, I bought the rest of the fabric on the bolt. Have NO idea what I will do with it but now it is mineeeeee!

Second picture is the quilt kit I bought last month from Bad Melisa. Peggy did the quilting on both of them. I guess I need to come up with a name for her too!!! She is the reason I drank my way across the Caribbean in 2007. She was one of the instructors on the crusie. However, I cut most of the classes! And now she is doing a workshop in January in Florida. She ans Sister Superior both....and I am going to go too! I might even attend their classes but if the weather is good there are no guarantees!

Today I worked on another quilt from my jelly roll book. Gretchen says that we are jelly roll junkies......and Friday night is midnight madness at Bad Melissa's!!!! And we will be there for sure!

I am so glad it is Saturday...today is sisters-so I will be able to catch up on the news of the group and visit with friends. Gretchen posted a pix of Firecracker-love it-it is a neat quilt. I will post pix of mine later. I finished putting the binding on that one on Wednesday. Since I am up again in the dark, I will be able to finish sewing the binding on the Shangra La quilt before going to sisters. Then it is on to the next jelly roll quilt.....I am on a jelly roll now!

I spoke to Laur last evening and she has posted about her climb of Mt Fuji. She took some really neat pictures and it is the closest I will get to Mt. Fugi. And it is not something I will add to my own "bucket" list, Stone Mountain was bad enough for me!!

She is now in the home stretch of her Japanese adventure and will head home in less than 2 weeks. I can't wait to see her. What a sappy mother I am!!

trying to think before coffee........................

I am getting used to being up at the ungodly hour of four thirty in the morning! Bailey needed to go out and now has had her breakfast as well. I am awaiting the completion of the coffee.
After work yesterday, I picked up the 2 quilts from Peggy. This weekend I will be sewing on binding. They are both trimmed and the binding is made. I gave to figure out what I want to put on the back of the recently finished top-Daisy chain.

Peggy wanted to know if Gretchen and I were in a competion...I am just trying to finish up some of the projects started in the last coule of years!

Now I need my coffee................

First day of school.....

I called Sarah tonight to find out how her first day of first grade went. She was not really very talkative.....I got a lot of "good" when I asked her questions. And Emma was quite talkative but I could not understand what she was talking about. Sarah is happy because "Ross" is in her class. I think he is her main man.

Bailey did okay today being alone in her new state. I was a little concerned about leaving her this morning. I left the tv on for noise. I'm thinking it probably went okay because she is her usual self this evening.

the dreaded yellow buses.....

Today is the first day of school for lots of people, including Sarah-who starts first grade today. I called last evening to wish her luck and ask her what she is going to wear. Of course, one of her new outfits with knee socks, new shoes, a necklace and just one bracelet. I hope someone remembers to take a picture!

Other than the fact that the drive to work this morning will present aggrivation...I know it is coming, I am glad this weekend is over. It has not been a good one. Poor Bailey seems to be adjusting to her new world as best she can. I wish I could explain to her and that she would understand. That is really the hard part. I am a little concerned about her being alone while I am at work but I have the baby gates up so she only has access to the kitchen and the living room.

Yesterday afternoon, Harry died. She was a good old girl. She was the last of the "northern" cats. I have had her since she was a kitten. As best as I can figure out, she was about 15 or 16. Her Momma left her with me. She was the older sister of my beloved Tractors AKA Mr. Fatpants. She was quite the timid girl and spent most of the time under my bed. Last year I put her in a "2 room crate" because she really destroyed the carpet under my bed. She was actually very content there as she could watch but the other guys could not get to her.

All in all, it was not a good weekend for animals in this house.

Daisy Chain

I finished sewing the rows together and put the border on...tahda.....done!

Seeing Eye Person....

About 3 days ago, I noticed Bailey was walking into things. I called Kris on Friday to ask her if a dog could go blind suddendy. Anyway, long story short, yesterday morning I called Laurie. I had not intended to tell her until she got home but I was really concerned that something else might being going on. Yesterday morning I took her down to the vet and yes for some unknown reason, Bailey is now pretty much sightless. It seems some dogs can suddenly have retinal detachment. The vet says she will adjust to her new world. Poor Laurie is a wreck. I have become Bailey's eyes. I am limiting her area to the livingroom and kitchen. She seems to be able to maneuver about there alright. I have taken to sleeping in the livingroom on the couch, so that if she gets up, I can help. But other than vision loss,she remains the same. Hopefully the blood work will also not be too bad.

I did work some on the Daisy chain quilt top. I will post a icture later. I should be able to finish it today. I don't really feel like doing anything else. I need to go to Publix today-no food in the house.

More of the 20 wishes.......

6. travel across the country visiting quilt shops with lots of money!!

7. Take a Caribbean crusie with girlfriends

8. Spend time at the saeshore and walk barefoot in the sand

9. St. Mary's Mohegan Lake moved to Lawrenceville

10. A secured retirement in my own place but close to the kids

11. Honest politicans

That's all I can think of for now.....this is tough!

20 wishes.....

Becky posted this challenge the other day......then Gretchen started adding her wishes and now Pat. Okay......OMG I am so shallow!!!!
This is going to take awhile

1. Health, happiness and long lives for my children and grandchildren.
2. Cure for Alzheimer's disease
3. Enough income so that I could live comfortably (not extravigantly) for the rest of my life.
4. An adult *companion" without strings attached.
5. Old and dearest friends living nearby so that we could spend hours together doing nothing.

That's it for now. I have to think some more........

Daisy Chain preview.....

My friend Becky wanted to see what Daisy Chain looks like. I have now got 3 blocks made. I could not wait to see how it would come together. I have got all the segments cut for the blocks-45 more to sew together. More to come later......

cutting and sewing at dark thirty......

Since Bailey has decided that she likes to get up really early, I have decided to take advantage of the time. Although this morning I did go back to bed for awhile since poker was on and that is REALLY early! But I did get up for a second time at 5AM and after a cup of coffee, I hit the sewing room and finished sewing the strips for the project I am working on. And I know I am going to love this one! I am using the Portobello jelly roll and the pattern out of the jelly roll book is Daisy Chain. Once I get these last 9 segments pressed and cut into segments, I can begin to put it together. I also cut segments this morning of the ones I sewed together yesterday afternoon.

Had my check with the MD yesterday and she gave me a muscle relaxant and a pain reliever for my back. I did sleep quite well last evening!! I am hoping taking just the muscle relaxant today won't knock me out at work but I really need it as I have one of the most uncomforatable chairs on earth....on to the rest of the day....

Now it can snow in New York....

I got up early this morning and finished sewing the binding on the quilt for Kathy's new grandbaby. So now it can get cold in NY!

Bad Melisa....

This is a picture of Melisa of Sweet Home Quilt fame.

But first, I will begin this tale with events of yesterday. I left work yesterday and headed down to Conyers in search of fabric for the quilt to be done at "camp" next month. I decided I would use 4 fabrics from the line "12 Days of Christmas" by Moda. Purchase in hand, I headed home. When I checked my email last evening, there was one from ( you guessed it)...Sweet Home. Melissa reports some new jelly rolls have just arrived....how did I miss them?
This morning when checking emails, my friend Gretchen has forwarded the aforementioned notice and says she sees a trip to Conyers soon. I guess I need to go too. And I am out of the house early in order to get there because I have an appointment with Sarah and Emma to go shopping. I pulled into the driveway at 10 on the dot. I beat Gretchen by about 15 minutes!
In the picture above, that is Melisa the Temptress. How innocent she looks...looks are deceiving! The shopping bags belong to Gretchen and me. AND both of us need to make another trip because some of the jelly rolls did not arrive when she unpacked the box.

Now I really, really need to finish the baby quilt as Nicholas arrived last evening. I should have been at home, quilting instead of lusting after more fabric in Conyers! But then again, Gretchen was supposed to be sewing binding on 3 quilts that she picked up this week. I hope she accomplishes her task. I must say, I was quite impressed with her list of gotta haves that she brought with her this morning.