Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Fires

There were fires in our area yesterday and last night around 10.:30 I smelled smoke and woke up DH. We couldn't see anything. It could have been the already burned areas I was smelling. It gives you a nervous feeling when you live in a rural area. I understand there were houses lost and I will try and find out today who lost their homes. It is windy again today so would you say a prayer for all who live in fire danger areas?

I have a quilt I can donate. I just need to see who to contact. I will let you know.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Pictures

I can post pictures. Thanks, Elaine Adair, for suggesting Mozilla Firefox. It worked. So here they come. Pictures that is. The previous post was a pic of 4 Patch Stacked Posies close-up and below is the full view.



And here is my Flower Basket Round Robin:
Now for the grandkids:

This is Mason at six months old.

This is not the best picture but here is Mac, Aimee, and Mason in December.

Blessings everyone.

Windy Day


It is windy! And we have dust in the air. But we have sunshine! Yeah! Last Feb. we had a very windy day like today and I was unloading my quilting notions at Paradise Piecemakers. They were and are such nice ladies. They directed me to a door close by to make it easier. We don't normally see dust in the air in this part of Texas. In San Angelo where we came from you did and certainly in Lubbock where our youngest DS went to Texas Tech. In fact in one of those dust storms he had a wreck. Previously, he had rear ended someone in Oct. of 2003. Well, during a dust storm in Dec. and repairs had not been made to his pickup--his hood didn't latch securely--his daddy had told him to chain it down--he didn't----the hood flew up and he couldn't see where he was going and hit a lady head on in the city limits of Lubbock. No one was seriously hurt. Thank God! But we did get one of those phone calls around midnight that no one wants to get. "Mom, I've had a wreck and I'm at the emergency room." He assured us he was okay. He had to have some stitches in his mouth but other than that he was okay. We finished the night at home, Bridgeport, and Early the next morning drove to Lubbock. He graduated in 2004 and is now employed by an engineering firm in Dallas and is a responsible husband and father.

I asked Saturday if I could bring my quilting notions and display them in Feb. at the Paradise Piecemakers meeting. They said sure. I need to sell some things. In the order I sent in yesterday I have several items ordered for people. That has been my intention all along when I started this was to take orders and deliver them. But it has been slow to catch on. I think gas prices being as high as they are may have helped. I really don't know. I think I had to prove myself also. I have also discovered that people want to SEE things; so I have in the course of time developed an inventory BECAUSE when I order I have to order a minimum amount. I do try to order wisely. Boy, has that been an education.

So, in the next few weeks I will be visiting different quilting groups : ) . Love it! Patsy, I wish you lived close by you would love my quilting group on Wed. but you keep looking in your area and see in you can find something or maybe start your own group. That's how our group started back in 1990 I think it was. A couple of ladies wanted to get together and quilt and they knew some others who wanted to, too. They met in homes for several years. Then we have been blessed to meet in a room of a building downtown for several years. The Decatur group meets in the VA building and shares utilities with them. The Chico group meets in the firehall. Both of these groups have to move their frames out of the way before leaving. The Post Oak group meets in a community center (and this is one place I have so much fun). I demonstrated a pattern to them in Nov. My first time to do this. I felt so inept. But they were so gracious and kind. They said they enjoyed it.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Busy Day

Today is going to be a busy day! I've got to finish up my order of quilting supplies, take tapes back to the library, get stamps, mail bills, and gather tax stuff. My husband and I have a Christian ministry and I have to get those contributions notices mailed out. So, this will be short and sweet, hopefully. LOL

We had a very nice weekend. The weather was just wonderful, Praise the Lord. My DH had to work Saturday til 3:00. It was VERY foggy Sat. morning so I delayed going to the Paradise Piecemakers meeting. I told myself I had X amount of time to work on the Kraz-z Quilters scrapbook. Well, I GOT into it. The fog didn't really lift til 10:00 o'clock. I wasn't really in the mood to sew anyway so I kept working on the scrapbook. Then I ate lunch and went. There weren't many there. But it's always fun to be with those ladies. They bring their sewing machines and projects or handwork and sew. They are so sweet to each other; hugging and helping one another.

When I got home I worked on the scrapbook until I finished it! I ran out of clear sheets and posts. I picked some more of those up when we went to Wal-Mart yesterday. I need to add a few clip arts and it's done for 2007. Yeah!

I didn't get the block cut out from the Triangle Tricks book. I realized I had to get an order together so started that Friday afternoon. Tomorrow I should have time or today if I get everything done.

Blessings.

Friday, January 25, 2008

No ice

We missed it. No ice, basically no precip at all. Reports are that the ice is spotty in our county. So, I've got my cup of hot Early Grey Irish Breakfast tea on the computer. The weekend sounds so nice 60 degrees Saturday and maybe 70 Sunday. Yeah! Maybe DH can be off and enjoy some time at home. He has worked a lot of OT this week. One night he didn't get home til 9:30. Leaving the house at 5:30am and getting home at 9:30pm makes for a long day. So, I have had a lot of solitude. And sometimes that gets me depressed and I have to work on NOT getting depressed. While I was out yesterday I went by the library and got some more movies and picked up a book on CD. I had read on Bonnie's blog that she downloads books from her library. Her library is much bigger than our Bridgeport Public Library. I was fortunate to find books on CD; most were tapes. I will plug the CD in a little while and give it a try.
The lights are blinking so maybe I better post this before I lose it. I'm also going to finish the scrapbook while I listen to the CD. And later on I am going to cut and sew one of the blocks from Triange Tricks.
Blessings.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Glad for Sunshine

Good Morning, Sunshine! Yeah! We have had a lot of cloudy, dreary weather as of late and it kinda gets me down. I don't really like cold weather. I really don't like wet cold weather and that is what is in the forecast for later tonight and tomorrow. I'm thinking I will go to the grocery store and stock up. Then I will come home and do some baking. That always gets me in a better mood.

On the quilty stuff. Yesterday, after our club president left we talked about the quilt we want to make for her. I took my redwork idea. Several don't like to embroider so that wasn't the best idea. We always have the dilemma of the 1/4" seams not being the same. We looked at books we have on hand; and well, several were absent yesterday so we didn't come to a decision but we got some good ideas. We want to embroider or sign our names on the blocks to make it special.
I have been looking at http://www.quilterscache.com/ for 12" blocks. I am to have one done before the Feb. guild meeting. I could look for hours at the different designs. I have also checked out some books at the library when DH went deer hunting last weekend. One of the books is
Triangle Tricks from That Patchwork Place published by Martingale & Company. They demonstrate in the book a nifty way of making triangle units. Included in the book is a chart for making different size finished blocks from 2" to 12". I will be trying out this method and let you know.
Blessings to all.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Cold this week

We had a little rain yesterday. This morning we are overcast with misty rain and in the thirties.
No quilting yesterday. It was time to figure my sales tax and mail in my payment for the last quarter. I ran errands and paid bills.

Today, I will work on our scrapbook again. It's just a matter of cutting and glueing. I do have a special part of it that is not complete. I am doing a bio on each member. I probably have interviewed less than half the members. Tomorrow, while they quilt I will do some more interviews and practice with the camera. We are at a point with the quilt that not many can quilt at one time anyway.
I looked online for that redwork pattern I talked about in a previous post--one where there are quilters quilting around a frame. The pattern company is Quilting Bee Designs -- if I remember correctly. The pattern is a rectangle something like 14 X 16 inches. They also have a pattern for entire quilt of individual quilters doing different quilty things. They also have rectangle redwork patterns of a quilt show, quilt class, quilt shop, etc. The problem is I don't think my wholesaler carries all the patterns. At least that's what it looks like online--I can call. I think it would be so special to do this for our president. I will let you know what I find out about the patterns. I might can contact the pattern company and see if they sell directly and how many I would have to buy. That's always the clincher--most of the time you have to make a minimum purchase of $150 cost price. That's a lot invested in one thing. When I order from my wholesaler, they require a minimum purchase and they will pay freight. I have to pay freight on all fabric, batting, notecards, and some other items. Some people don't understand why you can't order one week and turn around and order right away again. I can understand why quilt shops are going out of business. There are successful quilt shops and I don't know if they have a really big number of quilters in their area or the owners are better business people.
Blessings and keep warm.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Sunday

What the difference a day or two makes! DH got home last night from deer hunting. No deer in the ice chest. WooHoo! Sorry, DH. They had a blast though. I was so glad he came home when he did. We had a pipe freeze up and break in our boar pen and when things thawed Sunday noon it became very apparent. And it didn't help matters when I forgot to turn off a faucet filling the calf trough. Oops. Sorry, DH. But it is so dry here the ground soaked a lot of it up. BUT we are forcast for rain this week. We need it desparately. We have a burn ban on in our county.
To answer one question from an anonymous commenter--no, I don't sell to quilt stores. I guess you could say that I am a retailer just like them. 'Cept I'm not just like them 'cause I don't have a store front. I travel around to local quilting groups and have set up booths at quilt shows. I am thinking of going internet and have been encouraged to do so. I don't have near the expertise as many quilt store owners. I am still learning so many things. I have learned a lot since I started doing this. I am so "at home" when I'm with other quilters.
I have read blogs for years before diving in this past November and starting my own. I still don't know a lot of what I'm doing but I'm having a lot of fun anyway.
Well, I started out saying "what a difference a day or two makes". It seems like I never know how my weekends are going to go until they come. Youngest son called Saturday morning while I was getting ready to go to guild meeting. "Mom, would you keep Mason for us?" Sure, okay, plans changing. Not that I had any plans set in stone or an exciting weekend planned mind you.
And did I mention in a previous post that he is such a joy?! I'm telling you after DGD -- this child is like "still got heaven all over him". She cried for the first four months of her life. He wakes up smiling. He giggles if you make a funny face at him. And boy do I love doing that!! I wish we lived close enough for me to babysit him for them while they work. But boy am I out of practice! He weighs twenty pounds and he gets heavy holding him. They forgot his pacifier--but he's not that attached but it helps to get him to sleep--especially at grandma's house. I am vertically challenged (meaning--I stand up tall to make five feet) so I don't have much lap area vertically speaking. So, I stood with him and swayed with him to get him to sleep patting his bottom. I handed him off to grandpa Sunday am and he put him to sleep for his nap.
This afternoon we traveled to Graham to pick up two gilts (young female pigs who haven't been bred) who had been shown in the county show there. The family who bought them go to church with our daughter. They wanted to give them back after showing and let us breed them and then have pigs to show next year. They are blue butts. Know what they are? Leave me a comment and tell me what you think they are.
Oh, Patsy, you had to clean house when your son called. Me too. Mason's not crawling yet but I like to vacuum and dust before he comes because he's been having congestion problems. Although this place could use some really good deep cleaning. You know those lists I started (licking pencil and making a notation) --move furniture and vacuum behind, lemon oil cabinets, and lemon oil paneling, take everything out of china hutch and dust and wash items, etc. etc. I already feel myself losing weight. Yeah! I so need to go through old paperwork and throw out but I absolutely HATE doing it. I think I will get DH to do it sometime. He is so much better at knowing what to keep and what to toss. I need to go through all my crafty stuff and probably toss some things or give away. I went through a drawer last year. I threw out an old lamp shade last week. My DD was always my organizer when she lived here but she has her own house now and isn't interested in organizing mom anymore and mom getting disorganized. God, do you have organizing angels? Could you send one my way? Thank you.
I did go to quilt guild meeting Saturday morning. Maybe this will grow on me. I'm not much of one for meetings where you meet and talk. Let's have some action! They were staying after the meeting for a workshop on the next raffle quilt BUT they weren't all agreeing on the pattern and I had DGS coming so I left. That reminds me I'm supposed to look for a redwork pattern that I thought I remembered seeing that had women quilting around a quilt frame. I had suggested making a quilt for our president in my Wednesday group. Everyone thought it was a good idea to make a quilt and now we are trying to decide what pattern. So, while I'm online I will check with Checkers.
God Bless y'all.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Saturday

Thank you, Patsy, for trying to help me post pictures on my blog. I don't understand it either. I click on the picture image in the toolbar and my little hour glass comes up for a second and then goes off nothing else happens. I went to the help center and tried some of the things they suggested. Still nothing. Next time one of my kids is here I will get them to look at it for me.
I saw Patsy's comment on Judy L's blog and went to her profile; read her blog and left a comment or e-mailed her. I don't remember which now--I've slept since then. LOL Anyway, Patsy e-mailed me and asked for my phone number. I e-mailed back with it and we had a nice long conversation. We found out where each of us lives, about our children, quilting, etc. The internet is amazing. Patty, hope you have a nice visit with your son and family.
I have guild meeting today. I debated whether to go or not. But have decided to go. I committed to help set up the coffee and such before meetings with another gal and I need to follow through. They have a workshop today after the meeting but I will not be able to stay. I have a funeral to attend. Our neighbor down the road has been sick for a long time and she passed away.
I printed more pictures from the memory card of our club's camera last night. As the picture taker I really need to work on my picture taking and get acquainted with this camera. I must move sometimes when I push the button. And the pictures are darker than what they should be--so I will get out the book and read it and practice. The ladies are going to feel like celebrities. LOL
DH is deer hunting again. It is the last day and all they can shoot are does and spikes. He and two other guys from work went with him and when he called last night they were laughing when I answered the phone. They are having such a good time. I am glad. He deserves to relax and have fun at what he enjoys. I will keep the home fires burning. I did burn the fireplace yesterday--does that count? LOL
I haven't gotten any quilting done this week. But I will as soon as I glue in all these pictures and type captions and glue them in and put cute clip art to illustrate. Who am I kidding? I have the rest of August thru December 2007. But I will finish! Monday is supposed to be kinda nasty as far as weather goes so a good day to work on it. I will get'r'done!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

BRRR!

We are cold today. Before you northeners laugh, this is Texas remember. It is in the twenties and the wind is blowing. Cold I tell you.

I had a great time at quilting yesterday and as soon as I get done posting and reading I will finish up my club's scrapbook. Actually, before that I need to make a call to the wholesaler about a ruler a customer wants. She wants a ruler that has 1/16" on it. Anyone seen one? I got on wholesalers website last night and didn't find one but will call this morning to verify.
I also need to make calls to past customers to see if they need anything before I place an order in the next week or so.

I need to get something out of the freezer for supper tonight. I think I want to make soup or chili. Something warm! I keep forgetting to buy cornmeal at the store. I do have a package of cornmeal mix but I really don't like the mixes. Too sweet to me. Weird, I know.

I have got to get back in the sewing room and quilt and piece some more. First things first. I procrastined now I have to pay. Gotta get the scrapbook brought up to date and then sewing.
I didn't mention that I need to pick up more post for the scrapalbum. I dislike going to Wal-Mart to shop. I used to like it. What has changed? It seems like such an effort to park and walk and walk and walk and walk. Nine times out of ten I forget something and have to walk clear across the store again and again. I may just go down to our little variety store in town and see if they have some. That's why I prefer to use the ring binders. Someone donated this one. 2008 will be a ring binder. Next time I go to Wal-Mart I will pick one up. LOL

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Quilting Day

Yes, it is Wednesday; so that means Kraz-z quilting day. I have been working on our scrapbook for our group and have brought it up to August, 2007 BUT I need some people to be identified in some pics so I had to put those pages on hold. AND I need to get the memory card from the camera to print Christmas pics. I printed some pictures from my new printer yesterday and they turned out really well. I like them much better than our old printer. I just tried to post a picture and I have not a clue how to get it on this blog. HELP. I have pictures of quilts and grandkids and nope; just don't know how to get them on here.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Catching Up

Last Thursday & Friday (when I couldn't post what I was doing due to computer problems) I worked on my quilt club's scrapbook; I'm the historian. I hadn't even started the 2007 album before Thursday (can we say Procrastinate); so I have brought it to about July and today I will work on it some more. I love being creative and decorating it to please others. And hopefully they will be. Guild meeting is this Saturday. I was coaxed into joining the guild back in September and now I kinda wished I hadn't. I really feel that I don't fit in with this group of ladies. So what do I do?

Please pray for DD and family. They are a blended family and they have been and are experiencing some problems.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Computer Woes

Well, I had computer problems for awhile but hopefully that is over. Let's see I've got lots to update if I can remember everything. We babysat youngest grandson weekend before last so Mommy & Daddy could have a date night. He is such a joy. This past weekend we had the pleasure of our five year old granddaughter visiting. We had so much fun with her. We did crafty stuff and I'm teaching her the beginnings of quilting. We are hand piecing a little quilt for one of her small stuffed animals. She wants things to go together faster than what they are; but, for her age she is doing very well. Her world is full of DSL, DVRs, etc. and she doesn't understand why we can't make two or three different projects in one afternoon. We did a paper purse (her idea) using fabric, ric rac, dried orange rind (from our snack), markers and glue. That was Saturday morning. Then we got pizza. Yummy! Then we stopped to get a birthday card for my FIL and she picked out some fabric with dogs all over it. She wanted to make a pin cushion using this fabric. She wanted to make it in the shape of their pug. There happened to be a pug on the fabric. And I may have broken copyright laws BUT I snipped out the pug and scanned and enlarged it and used that to draw a pug on muslin with permanent maker and we shaded it in with brown crayola. Then I sewed two pieces together right sides facing and turned it and let her stuff it with poly-fil. Sewed the opening closed and she was happy. She now has a pincushion that looks like her Puggy. She wanted to make pillows out of the remaining dog print. We simply ran out of time before Mommy and Daddy came. We made chocolate chip cookies for Papaw Saturday evening and she helped. She is very good. And we read The Quiltmaker's Gift both nights before bed. So no quilty stuff for me to report but I do like getting DGD interested in quilting because my DD is not interested in sewing at all. She is my scientist and teacher.
I got my hair cut this morning. I got her to change my style just a little. The other style required using lots of gel and I'm not much of a gel person. I like simple--blow dry and go. This will work.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Help

Please, if anyone reads this and can help me learn to post pictures; please, comment or email me. If there is a book about blogging that will help me; please, tell me. I signed up for a Picasa account but still don't know what I'm doing. ANY help would be wonderful. Thanks.
I will clean house today. Then I will do some quilting.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

2008

Happy New Year to all! Today is quilting day and I am making quilt labels for a customer. Did I mention that I'm a quilting notions peddler? I took a picture of some pine cones I stacked up and uploaded onto my computer and used that image to make a quilt label with a text box over. I hope Dixie likes it. If not I have given her some choices.

We had our blackeyed peas, cornbread, German sausage, and deviled eggs yesterday. Yummy. Sorry to you that don't like blackeyed peas. I make my cornbread in a cast iron skillet. I've gotten by kids to liking it that way. My daughter asked if I had a spare skillet and I did so she got that one. My oldest son asked for one for Christmas. He made his cornbread and blackeyed peas on Jan. 1st. Now onto daughter in law. She's not feeling well so probably youngest son got to do the cooking.