December 27, 2012

I sure hope everyone had a joyous Christmas!  We had a white one! Yes, it snowed! We woke to rain -- wonderful rain.  Then around lunch time it turned to snow. Only a couple of inches. But Cold oh, man it's cold! Right now I am sitting -- blissfully I might add --  on a very cold morning with a hot cup of coffee and a quilt in my lap hand quilting.  Five dresden blocks done!  Only eleven more to go and the sashing and outer borders but who's counting? LOL  I am TRYING to learn to use a thimble.  Some may think it odd that I never learned to use one in my younger years.  I just never did.  This morning I have been watching YouTube videos of hand quilting and I will be practicing what I have learned.  Wish me luck!

We had our children and grandchildren for Christmas Dec. 23.  It's always nice to have a full house again if only for a little while.  We enjoyed one of our hams from a Hampshire/Berkshire cross we had raised. It was EXCELLENT! 

It has been a week or so!  Recap-- on  Dec. 19  we had our Kraz-z Quilters Christmas party. It was fun and then things went down from there.  Temps were warm and humid that day--70s.  That night around 10pm there was a cold front blew in.  Blew would be a mild word. 

The winds gusted big time.  One of the big wind gusts blew a large limb out of the tree by our back porch.  It fell onto our electric service line pulling the service meter almost off the pole. It caused a small grass fire! We had to crawl through the big limb's branches to get out to the water faucet and garden hose.  We got that out pretty quickly. Things happened that caused us to have a power surge go through our house! Like the electric company personnel told us -- we had 220 going through our 110 outlets.  Not good!  We saw sparks coming out of some of the outlets initially.  Thank God it didn't burn our house down.  Hog Man being the smart man he is--flipped all the breakers off.  He made a quick call to the electric company to get them to come turn off our electricity. LOL Not many people WANT their electricity turned off.  With the wind gusts and the service hanging on the pole the electricity kept arcing when the wind blew hard. And each time the sparks flew I would pray that there would not be any more fire. Somehow or another our problem was relayed from dispatcher to serviceman that we were out of electricity. When the repair person drove by they saw we had our security light on and thought our electricity had come back on. They didn't call to check probably thinking since the house was dark we had gone to bed.  The security light is on the other side of the service meter.  Long story short--we spent the night without electricity, a huge limb on a live line and up until 1am or so watching sparks fly.  Like Hog Man said--Thank God, my wife's a quilter--we wrapped up in quilts and stayed warm.

First thing the next morning Hog Man calls the electric company back and  a whole crew shows up in no time flat.  As the electricity came back on we immediately knew what was working and what wasn't.  Thank God our heating and a/c unit was okay.  The refrigerator, microwave, tv, stereo, clock radios, all gone.  Our freezers full of meat are okay!  Washer and dryer are okay! We had a big surge protector on the computer, printer, and internet and they are okay--big surge protector is toast.  We have four or five holes in the roof.  And lots of limbs and sticks to pick up after the large limb was moved.  When it happened Hog Man was watching the nightly news and I was sewing at the dining room table.  I was working on a fabric basket on my Kenmore sewing machine.  It was not affected at all. Praise the Lord.

Insurance man came the same day.  We will have a check soon.  To say the least 2012 has been a challenging year.  And thank God He not only walked it with us but protected us all along the way. 

We are counting our blessings here at this house.  May you and yours be blessed.

From the Catering Quilter

Hearts are Broken

Hearts are broken across this nation after the shooting on Friday in Newtown, Ct. A school that was locked should have been safe.  God bless and comfort those who lost loved ones.  God bless those heroic teachers and personnel who saved many lives.  May God bless not only the children but adults in this situation that they may heal and have peace again.  God bless all the police, FBI, medical personnel, etc. that they may heal and have peace again. 

I have a five year old grandson and I can't imagine the pain these people are going through.  We had the occasion to babysit him this weekend and you can guess that I gave him lots of hugs and kisses along with his precious little sister.  And then his mother called and asked if we were okay yesterday! Seems as though he woke up that same night throwing up!  Poor baby--there is a yucky stomach bug going around.  And yes--we are okay.

We babysat them at their house.  It's always interesting to babysit your grandchildren at their house.  You get to see all their STUFF.  And play with their toys-- while Hog Man is glued to the hunting channel. LOL We played Memory.  Well, we sorta played. DGD Paisley being a two year old didn't quite understand and kept getting the cards out of order.  Her brother was pretty patient with her and I am very proud of him for that. Hog Man had arranged to pick up some young Hamp gilts from a family that were showing near McKinney Saturday afternoon.  So we loaded up the kids and they got to experience their first pig show. DGS Mason wanted to do what the other kids were doing in the show rig--walking with their pig and lightly tapping them to turn them and keep their heads up.  We explained that he couldn't that day but he could come spend some time with us and practice at our house -- Papaw could show him how.   He told me that he had two weeks off from school at Christmas.  LOL   For a little boy that doesn't like getting dirty -- this will be very interesting.  He does love animals, though and always ask, "Where is Sissy (aka Little Doggy)?" as if he wants to say "she's a part of the family why didn't you bring her?" 

We had our WCQG Christmas party on the 8th.  It was lots of fun with lots going on.  New guild t-shirts were passed out.  Games were played--"Pin the flowers on the quilt" and pass the gift to the right/left poem.  There were quilts donated to send to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Lots of show and tell.  And of course, lots of good food and fellowship.  Our Christmas party is a mini reunion for past and present members and of course a time to invite friends.  It's always wonderful to see old friends and visit. 

I have a finish! The star quilt came off the frame the first Wednesday in Dec. and I finished sewing the binding on this past Friday.  Woohoo! 

This is the first quilt I have marked lines with a Frixion pen.  I used a blow dryer on a hot setting to "remove" the lines.  On the dark area I used an Allary chalk marker.  I was pleased with how the markings stayed on during the quilting.  I will throw the quilt in the washer this week.  I love the "homey" feel of this quilt, the "wonkyness", and the fabrics used. 

I am making good progress hand quilting on DD Amanda's dresden plate quilt.  As of this morning there are four 14 inch blocks completely quilted. Woohoo!  I have been quilting most every evening while watching TV. 

DS#1 spent a few days with us.  He had a medical test that didn't allow him to drive afterwards so we accompanied him to his appoinment.  He woke up with a migraine (he's been having a lot of them most of this last year) so he stayed an extra day.  Could you say a prayer for him to get relief from his back pain and migraines?  Thank you.  He recently bought his first sewing machine.  He brought it with him and I showed him how to thread it, wind a bobbin, and he made his first stitches.  Another quilter!  He already has fabric bought and a pattern selected.  We just have to find a weekend to cut and sew. 

This will be another busy week with Kraz-z Quilters Christmas party this week and then our family Christmas gathering coming up.   There will be lots of cleaning, cooking, decorating, and sewing gifts going on around her. 

Blessings from the Catering Quilter.

A Quick Post

Hello and how are you this December day?  We have had unseasonably warm weather--80s in December?!  A year ago yesterday we had snow.  The electric bill will be nice anyway. 

The computer still has problems and I am eeking out bits here and there.  If it can hold off until AFTER Christmas it would be so nice. 

Hog Man is continueing to do well.  He is stiff and sore some days after work.  Especially if he's been on his feet on the concrete a lot. 

We had the two youngest grandkids last weekend while their parents had a weekend off.  So that meant I had to put away ALL the sharp objects--translates scissors, rotary cutters, pins, etc. plus the projects I had going.  I folded up the ironing board and put away the iron--that doesn't happen too often--LOL.  Then I had to replenish the fridge and pick up some toddler type foods.  Milk, apple juice, fruit, graham crackers, raisins, macaroni, etc. etc.  I hadn't been to Wal-Mart in awhile. I avoid it. It always takes me at least two hours seems like plus the fifteen minute drive both ways.  I made it in under one hour.  Of course, I was sprinting through the store.  LOL 

They had a blast! You can see the exercise bike in the background!

Since the weather was so nice there was lots of play outside.  We made Kool-Aid play dough.  There was coloring on construction paper. DGS Mason discovered the hole punch.  He was in love! He punched holes in everything to his little heart's content.  Of course, this grandma learned from past little ones to buy washable markers. ; )  

My quilt at Kraz-z Quilters came off the frame yesterday. Yay! Now to get the binding made and put on.  I have started hand quilting DD Amanda's Dresden plate quilt.  I can't wait for the weather to get cooler.  It is mighty HOT with a quilt in your lap in the mild weather we've been having.

I also machine quilted a quilt I had acquired from the quilter I bought the machine from.  Our guild is sending quilts to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.  I got the binding made and sewn on. Sweating the whole time! It is a large one -- 91 x 98 inches and will make someone a good bedsized quilt. My hope is to bless someone who has lost so much.

Our Christmas party for the guild is this Saturday so lots to do to get ready for it.  Donation quilt winner will be drawn Saturday!  I have to go pick up new guild t-shirts from the printer today.  Hopefully I can sell some more tickets on the quilt and I have to pick up some door prizes.  Laundry and balancing the checkbook are in there somewhere!  LOL 

Blessings from the Catering Quilter

Computer Woes

I thought I would post while the computer is cooperating.  I started getting messages about the hard disk last week and backing things up.  Oh, No! Oh, yes.  So if you don't hear from me the computer has died and is in the shop.

Blessings from Catering Quilter

Blue Tailed Norther

Came through before sundown today.  The weather has been "chamber of commerce" as they say.  Just lovely. Just no rain. We need rain. 

Thanksgiving was great. We traveled to San Angelo/Ballinger to gather with Hog Man's family to celebrate.  On the way home we stopped by and picked up DGD Aimee and she spent several days with us.  I helped her to complete her quilt she had chosen to do for her Bronze Award in Girl Scouts.  I showed her how to do things and she did the work.  I showed her how to do the "quick turn method" (page 5 on this link tells an excellent way for a newby).  It worked really good for her.  Then she turned it and whipped the opening closed.  Then the next day she tied it.  And she did it!  She is a quilter! Woohoo!

She looks pretty proud of herself as she should be! Good job, sweetie.

 

 

I hope your Cyber Monday started out better than mine.  I had a cup of water in the microwave heating it to heat Hog Man's thermos before pouring the coffee in and out from under the microwave came a SCORPION. It was a small one but none the less a scorpion.  It quickly crawled back under when I started trying to whack it with the fly swatter. I hauled that sucker out of their with the fly swatter and splat -- no more scorpion. 

 

Then- THEN! Hog Man went to work. Telephone rings about fifteen minutes later.  Conversation went like this--"Hello, are you the ones with the hogs?" We get that a lot so I didn't think much about it UNTIL.  "Yes, we are."  "Well, I'm your neighbor and I've got one in my front yard."  "We will be right there." Guess what--Hog Man forgot his cell phone this morning. I wasn't dressed yet. You know it's Monday morning when things happen like that. Before I could get completely dressed another neighbor was knocking on the door.  Long story short, I got in touch with Hog Man; he came home; the two sows who got out got put up; and things settled down real quick. A feed bucket works wonders! Thank goodness!  Never a dull moment.   

 Blessings from Catering Quilter

Good News

Hog Man had the Doppler sonogram and the blood clot is gone! Woohoo! And--he went back to work on Monday morning. No TV blaring all day = bliss! He was a tired fella when he got home. It will take a little while to get accustomed to the routine.

When we were in Denton Thursday we went by Harbor Freight. Our first visit to one. I had to remind Hog Man of his appointment time. He did find somethings he was needing and for a good price. I picked up a couple packages of rotary blades to try. At $1.99 plus tax I sure hope they work. It will beat paying quilter's prices. Has anyone tried the blades and do they work for you?

Well, they are sure doing their part to make us independent of foreign oil around here. I think they have put in more than seven wells in our local area in the last couple of months. Truck traffic! One of my elderly neighbors said they stopped counting at 100 trucks one day. I believe it! There were days that it was night and day. Like in all night. And all day. I have seen more equipment go by and turn this corner! It used to be quiet when we first moved out here from town. Not anymore. Before the drilling we had noticed an increase in traffic. Now that there are wells there will always be tanker trucks going by.

Blessings this Sunday from the Catering Quilter

Time

I saw on Facebook the other day one of those things you often see on friends pages. It had to do with time. It went something like -- Time flies but you're the pilot. How come I don't feel like I'm the pilot? It's more like sand flowing between your fingers.

I guess it could have to do with HOW I choose to spend my time. Really?!! That could explain a lot. There's always the Gotta Do stuff like cooking meals, cleaning, laundry, bathing, paying bills, feeding the animals, etc. Then there is the mindless stuff -- reading emails, facebook, blogs - when there is time. Included in the mindless stuff is TV. Very mindless. Mostly just background noise in our house.  Then there is the Love To Do stuff and I always seem to find time to squeeze in lots of it. Stuff like quilting. I was just telling someone the other day I wasn't going to start another quilt. Lasted about as long as butter takes to melt in the microwave! I'm going to blame Bonnie Hunter on this one. Yes, it's her fault--mostly all her fault. I've been watching her on her Quilt Cam. Reading her blog about sorting and folding her fabrics. I started feeling guilty about the bags of unsorted scraps by my sewing table. I pulled them all out and sorted them by size. I now have a BIG bag of scraps that I am cutting down while I watch the mindless TV. I have a TV tray set up with a cutting mat and I am cutting 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" squares and thin strings. The thin strings will be used to make more fabric covered clothesline baskets.   The 1 1/2" squares are being sewn into nine patches -- read ----- new project. I fell in love with one of the patterns in Bonnie's book Scraps and Shirtails 2.  I brought the sewing machine into the living room a couple of weeks ago so I could be in the same room with Hog Man in the evenings. I will cut for awhile and sew for awhile. I get up first thing in the mornings and sew for a few minutes. It doesn't take a lot of concentration to sew little squares together. The blocks finish at 9 inches.  They are so cute! Don't you think?

I have other things I need to be doing. Don't we all? But sometimes I think we just need something to focus on other than what there is in our lives to focus on. You know what I mean?

I went to Saginaw to the Thursday Quilters last well, Thursday, of course.  I was running a little late to begin with that morning. I should have loaded my stuff the night before but I was tired and Hog Man said he would help me in the morning. Long story short--I was a few minutes later leaving than planned. Not that it was going to make any difference. Right before I left my ears perked up at the TV when I heard two things-Rhome and Hwy. 287. Seems there had been a bad wreck early that morning involving two 18 wheelers and the road was shut down. Oh, no. Oh, yes. And right before my turn off to Saginaw--there was another wreck. Well, I got to Saginaw but just 45 minutes later than planned. But they were very understanding. I always enjoy visiting with quilters wherever I go. These are hand quilters who meet in their local communtiy center once a week and quilt on four quilts each week. They have enough room to have four quilting frames up at one time! The first time I visited them that blew my mind. And to have 29 members! They take a break mid morning and have refreshments and go around the table with show and tell and also what is going on in their lives.  One lady there is a very prolific quilter. She makes charitable quilts for the homeless. She has made over 60 this year! People give her scraps and she makes these quilts. Wow is all I can say.  Another lady was going to go on a quilting cruise this week. How exciting! And I'm sorry I forgot my camera.

Hog Man is-- bored. And you know what a bored man is like! Not fun. He will be getting another Doppler sonogram or whatever it is called to make sure the clot is gone. He has the okay to go back to work since he doesn't have anymore pain. Finally! Bless his heart-- patience is not one of his strong points. Anyway, I'm not sure which one of us is going to be the happier one on the first morning he goes back to work. : )  Sissy aka "Little Doggy" is going to miss him something terrible.

Anyone else having trouble with allergies. Mine always act up in the fall of the year. I heard them say something about ragweed on TV tonight. All I know is I am so ready to feel better. Some years it doesn't bother me and other years it is bad. Coughing, sneezing, drainage. Yucky. Nyquil is my friend. Best sleep. 

I'm been making my sourdough bread. The kind that you feed the starter every ten days or sooner. I experimented with making cinnamon bread using the sourdough. Oh, yeah. I've been making our bread now for months and haven't bought any. At first, I was eating too much of it. I mean--what is better than a fresh loaf of bread -- make that warm fresh loaf of bread-- with butter. But I have slowed way down on it. Several years ago I was given a long loaf pan. I like to shape one of our loaves (the recipe makes two) in that pan. It makes for a smaller slice of bread. We generally eat one and I share one loaf. Now that I am making the cinnamon bread I make a plain one and a cinnamon one. 

Blessings and warm cinnamon bread to all,
Catering Quilter

  

Bonnie Hunter has asked for our help

And here is her post from her blog

Help for Sandy Survivors!

 

This is an urgent post.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with Victoria Findlay Wolfe of bumblebeansinc.com
over the past several days trying to line up something that we can do to help those left in the wake of Super-Storm Sandy’s destruction.

So many are still without power, having lost their homes or having experienced severe damage ---

So much is needed!

As quilters, what do we do best? We Quilt!

Here is what V sent me to pass on to you:

Super Storm Sandy and my area of the world.

Having missed the entire storm, by being in Houston for Market, I felt helpless as my family were in NYC without me. I started to organize a quilt drive for our area while I was still in Houston.

Once home, I realized how seriously the storm affected my neighborhood, my friends, and fellow New Yorkers, CT, PA and NJ... Homes have been wiped off the face of the earth, people are cold, and wet, and we have rain and snow coming. I need to be able to help NOW.

I just had a call from Raul Russi, Head of the Acacia Network, whom I had previously partnered with on myBUMBLEBEANSBASICS.com Quilt Drive for homeless families being taken out of shelters and put into transitional housing.

He said, "We have 150-200 quilts here, right now. And since the rest of my families are INSIDE already, can we deliver these quilts in our medical trucks to the people in the Rockaways, NOW?" I said, "YES! Let's go!"

Once we have more quilts, we will continue to set up more distribution points around our area including Staten Island, Long Island, NJ, CT.

http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

QUILTS AND BLANKETS are needed ASAP.

Home-made or Store Bought QUILTS AND BLANKETS: ANY SIZE.

Quilts will be accepted, and handed out as quickly as they come in.

Give Selflessly.

Thank you cards will not be sent out due to the urgency of the events of SANDY.

REAL THANKS:

LABEL YOUR QUILTS, Name, address and email.

The person who receives your quilt may want to thank you themselves.

Send Quilts & Blankets to:
Basic Housing, Inc.
Attn: Robert Gonzalez / H.SANDY
540 East 180th Street, Bronx, NY 10457

PLEASE Include INSIDE THE BOX CLEARLY WRITTEN
your name, email & address & Phone

Please ship them with delivery confirmation.

Any questions, Please email:

Lane Falcon: lfalcon@acacianetwork.org

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Victoria Findlay Wolfe bumblebeansinc.com

More from me:

We’ve received the call. It’s time to act! When Hurricane Katrina hit and the Red Cross was calling for twin quilts, the most versatile of sizes, I put up the directions for a very fast and still very attractive Trip Round The World quilt. It takes 5 fabrics, and winds up at about 72” X 85”. I can sew this top in an afternoon, and so can you. It doesn't have to be quilted -- tying is fine!

If you are looking for an idea and want to dig in, give this one a try --- even if you are a very experienced quilter who likes more intricate patterns, this one finishes up nice and quick.

Let’s see what we can do to help each other.

While we are a nation divided over the outcome of our recent national elections, this is where the “We The People” come in ----it’s time to forget about the politics and waiting for the government to take care of things. WE THE PEOPLE need to just get in and do it.

I'm asking your help in getting the word out. Can you please forward this post to your email lists, your facebook pages, your message boards and online groups to spread the word? We need many hands ---help me spread the word!

Now go sew!!

Bonnie

 

 

 

I'm with her. It is going to take "We The People".  Can you help? My heart goes out to these people who have lost everything and are facing winter temperatures NOW.

 

Blessings,

Marilyn

Back from Retreat

It was so much fun and I got a lot done--for me. LOL  I had all the borders for the Dresden Plate quilt pre-cut and ready to sew before I left home. First thing I did Monday -- I started sewing the WRONG border on first. LOL I caught myself before I had sewn it completely. Rip, rip. I got my head on straight and things progressed well from there on out.

LOL Anyway, I got the off-white inner borders on; the pink inner border on; the piano keys sewn together and two of those borders sewn on before time to leave. I finished up last night. WooHoo! All that is left is the QUILTING!

Is this cool or what? This was one of our treats. And it was delicious!

 

There were two other quilters with us and somehow I didn't get their pictures. Sorry, gals. They were working on hand piecing projects. Really pretty. We stayed at LeRetreat House in Gainesville. She offers a program called "Stay 5 nights get the 6th free". You don't have to stay five nights all in one retreat--they accumalate over retreats. I got a free night this time.  WooHoo! 

 

 

The cold front came through early yesterday afternoon and it is much cooler. 40s compared to 70s to wake up to. I won't mind not having 80s for highs, though. After all it is fall and we NEED fall temps. The leaves have been turning and are beautiful.

 

Hog Man did pretty good while I was gone. He said he got bored. His blood was tested one day while I was gone and it was too thin. So they have changed his prescription. Two more weeks of this and hopefully that nasty blood clot is completely gone.

 

I will get a picture of the completed quilt top later. It is overcast here this morning so the lighting is not so great.

 

Happy quilting and blessings,

Catering Quilter