Is this what it's like?

Last night when I went to work, I realized I wasn't seeing very well.  Thankfully, I had a pair of reading glasses with me and was able to function.  Eventually, I realized I didn't have my 'bifocal' contact lense on my eye.  Hmmmm.... honest mistake I guess.  (though I was puzzled) After I got home from work, I started checking out my contact situation, trying to figure out how I went to work without my trusty bifocal.  I tried on four different contacts that I already had open and none of them worked.  My first thought was that I had received the wrong contacts when I reordered last week.  Upon further inspection, the only box of contacts I could find was my old box and they weren't bifocals.  hmmm... what did I do with that new box of contacts?  I searched and searched and searched.  The trash was already at the curb for Friday's pickup, but I convinced hubby to retrieve the garbage can for me at 1:30 am.  He and I sat in the garage and dug through baby diapers, coffee grounds, chicken packaging, etc.  (you get the picture), looking for my new box of contacts.  (he was gagging and I was giggling)  Anyway, they were not to be found.  As he took the garbage can back to the curb, I looked in a kitchen drawer, that I had already looked in two times before, and there they were!!!  Am I losing it??

Not only that, I am very clumsy these days.  I tripped over the dachshund on Wednesday, landing flat on my back in the kitchen.  It scared the grandbaby and he cried. I went to visit my daughter last week at her new apartment and fell backwards over her end table when her huge dog jumped up to greet me.  Hubby says I need to exercise to regain strength and balance.  I'm thinking about rejoining Curves next week.  Did I tell you I also hip problems??  How will I ever function at Curves?

Female things are happening and I am very scatter brained these days.  Is this menopause?  Will it get better when menopause is over.... say like .... ten years from now?  Any advice?  Any encouragement?  Wow, who knew things could change so fast?  :o( 

Winner Winner!

The winner of my 21 block giveaway is:  The Mayo Family  Congrats! to you and I hope you will enjoy these blocks.  Email me your address and I'll get these in the mail to you soon!  :o)  :o)

What I did today

I went to the dentist, cleaned the kitchen, played with this little guy,  took a nice nap on the couch, ate leftover veggie soup for supper.   Currently watching ball game with hubby.  It has been a good day.  :o)






***Tomorrow I will draw the lucky winner for my 21 quilt block giveaway.  See post below***

21 quilt blocks *give away*

I've shown you some of these blocks in the past.  These are swap blocks that I received during the 1990's, while swapping with others through classified ads in "Quilt" magazine.  I've held on to these blocks for all these years, thinking that 'one day' I would make them into a quilt.  I don't think that 'one day' will ever come, so if you are interested in becoming the new owner of these blocks, to do with them whatever your little heart desires, leave a comment and I will pick a winner on Wednesday, Oct. 26.   (note: most of these blocks have the maker's signature on them)

Quilt Progress

I completed the quilt top yesterday for "Quilts for Kids".  Next week I plan to baste it, quilt it, and send it back so that some sweet little child (probably a little boy) can enjoy staying warm under it, while he is trying to get well.  My prayers go out to this little fellow and his family.  I truly have enjoyed working on this project.

And then it happened...

Just when we thought hubby wouldn't get to move back home until his retirement, it happened!!  A position opened up in our area which allowed him to transfer home.... just like that!  He found out one day, drove home that night, and has been here ever since.  Yay!  However, we still have this 'little' issue of moving his things from the rental house.  We've been working on that this week and next week we'll be moving our daughter into her own apartment.  Busy?? yes, but I've still managed to sew a little and I even read two books this week (during our travels).  Mom, have you ever read Glenn Beck's "The Christmas Sweater"?  If not, it'll be on its way in the mail to you soon.  A must read!  I also read another  Elm Creek Quilts  this week.  I just love those books!!  Not only are they fun stories, but they actually teach some quilting techniques throughout the stories.  Love them!!! 

An Avery Weekend

This little sweet guy stayed with Grandma and Papa this weekend:

We had a great time!  He and Grandma attended a birthday party at the nursing home for one of Grandma's patients.  What fun!

He is the sweetest baby I've ever met!  (my own included)  He is very content, always laughing or doing something funny, and hardly 'ever' cries! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.  This is his 'pretend to cry' face.  While we were at the beach this summer, my whole family visited one day.  There were probably about twenty people in the room and Avery stood in the center of the room and  pointed at each person in the room, one at a time, with his little serious face, and expected everyone to pretend cry.  So everyone took a turn, pretend crying, for Avery.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  What a sweet memory!

And this is Avery with his sweet mommy and daddy!  They are wonderful parents and my heart just swells with pride when I think of how happy they have made Papa and me.  Grandma is tired this morning, but it was a great weekend!

New Glasses!

I recently won a give away of reading glasses (8 pair!) from Gretchen at Bird Nest Cottage.  I was thrilled to have won them, as my collection was dwindling down, and I needed to buy more.

I wanted to show you who else was excited about the new glasses!  He kept saying " I see"  "eyeglasses".  He would not 'write' or 'use the computer' without his eyeglasses.   Can you see my new quilt frame in the back ground???  Q snap... I love it.  Thank you Gretchen for the wonderful new glasses!

My first swap block

I received my first swap block from my partner, Sunny, yesterday.  (you can click the button on the right:  Block Swap Adventure  to learn more about this group)

With this group, we get to describe what type of block we prefer, and Sunny couldn't have made this block any more perfect for me!!  The colors are actually brighter than what my photo shows, but you get the idea. 

I drool over this quilt everytime I see it in catalogs and on the web, but I know I could never create something so beautiful.  (it is offered as a block of the month project)  I am hoping to collect enough scrappy colored blocks from this BSA group to start something similar... in these happy, happy colors!

Yesterday I made this label for our friend's baby quilt.  I wanted to use my Brother machine to embroider her initials and the year on the label, but was very disappointed in how the letters looked.  Too plain, too simple.   I love hand embroidery anyway, so I made this little label and sewed it on last night while watching tv with my daughter.   It's been a good week.  :o)

Brother 101

I am trying to learn my new Brother Sewing Machine and while I am having FUN doing so, I still have a lot to learn.  But that's okay... practice will eventually make me the 'master' of my machine, right?

I practiced free motion quilting on this little block.  I am amazed at how much easier the fabric glides around with the feed dogs down and the quilting foot attachment on the machine.  If you click, you will see that I have a ways to go.... and that I changed designs throughout the process.... but it was fun.  I can feel the potential here!!!

I decided to call this quilt 'finished' without adding the appliqued flower designs, like I had mentioned in an earlier post.  I cut the flowers out, but when I laid them on the quilt, my daughter and I decided it would be too 'busy' by adding all the flowers to it.  I machine quilted this on my new Brother... much easier to do with straight lines!

This is the back side of the quilt.  I hope to give it to baby Kamden's mom next week. 

**The most important thing I have learned so far about my Brother.... the needle will go up or down, whether your thumb is out of the way or not!  I was trying to change out the quilting foot attachment and 'thought' the needle was in the way.  I hit the up/down button and guess what?  the needle was already UP... so when I hit the button, it came DOWN.... right into my thumb.  It broke off when I snatched my thumb out and yelled some word I didn't even know that I knew.  ;-)  I had about 1/4 to 1/2 of a needle hanging out of my thumb.  I pulled it out without difficulty, stopped the bleeding, and once my heart beat calmed down , I resumed sewing.  BIG LESSON LEARNED!  It was pretty sore for a day or two, but much better now.  I think the owners manual said something about turning the machine OFF when changing out accessories.  I guess I need to reread that part. **

A sweet project

I actually found out about the Quilt for Kids project from another blogger and I don't remember who to give credit to:

The project is sponsored by Downy and they have helped provide quilts for very sick children in hospitals.  They send  the (free)  fabric to make a small quilt and the quilter makes and returns the quilt within six weeks. 

I used to be a neonatal and pediatric nurse and as a young nurse, some of us enjoyed sewing doll clothes for the babies.  (back before premie clothes were so available for purchase)  The families loved them.

I have several people in my life who have passed away and I thought this would be a great way to 'remember' them.  I ordered my first kit today and will make it in honor of a recent friend who passed away.  I wanted to share this site with you just in case you are looking for a way to share your love of quilting.  Happy Quilting!

Sneak preview and Georgia Bonesteel

I completed my swap block for my first month in the new group.  (click on block swap adventure button to learn more about this swap)  I can only show a preview, because  my partner hasn't seen the block yet.

But let me tell you... my seam ripper and I became very good friends while making this block.  I had not used templates to make a block in a very long time.  I pulled out my trusty "Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel" book to find 12 inch block patterns.  Of course, the patterns in her book are made with templates.  Thankfully, I was able to find my stash of templates that I had already made to go along with this book, so I was able to save time there. This block proved  to be very challenging for me to make.  It took me a lot longer than it should have, but in the end, I am satisfied with the block and will be mailing it out to my swap partner this week.  I've decided to use the swap group as a way to challenge myself... to relearn... and to learn even more about piecing blocks.  I have very fond memories of using my Georgia Bonesteel book, as this is the first quilting book I had ever owned, and I've used it a LOT!  I hadn't even opened the book in years  and had to climb into the attic to even find it.  What a joy it was to reopen and rediscover the treasures inside.  

*PS.. I loved Georgia  Bonesteel when I was in high school and used to watch her on PBS (whenever we could get the station).  While in college, I dated this one  guy for a short time and was over at his house one day.  He came into the living room to find me watching Georgia Bonesteel on his tv.  He asked "what ARE you watching?"  "you aren't serious, are you?"  "are you really watching that???" LOL.... yes, I was serious... and still am!  :o)