Date Night, MIL and a Quilt in the Planning

It is late Saturday evening and my mind is beginning to get a bit fuzzy, so forgive me if this post is all over the place.

Big and I went to see a movie today. It is rare we spend that kind of money to watch a movie. The remake of Total Recall was playing and Big is a fan of the movie and a bigger fan of Jessica Biel.

Source: sawfnews.com

Big told me she wanted to take me on a "date."  I am not sure if watching a movie about people killing each other in the future is my idea of a date, but what the hell!  I don't get out much!  I didn't mind the movie and Big loved it, so all is well.

Early Monday morning, Big will be leaving for the state of Pennsylvania.  The land of the Amish.  The land of beautiful quilts and fabric that you don't have to take a second mortgage out to afford.  I wish I could go with her.  I would love to shop while she was working.

Alas, I can't go.  I have to stay here to prepare for ........ a visit from The Mother-In-Law!!!!  Need I say more?  There is a possibility the MIL will not be coming for a visit.  If that is the case, Big will not be home for two weeks.

I have been lining projects up to keep myself busy for the next couple of weeks.  Of course, you know there will be a re-do of the sewing studio.

I am also planning on making a quilt from this fabric.  I purchased two layer cakes and some backing fabric, while in Lancaster, PA a couple of years ago.   I love the colors.

I found out the book, "Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lintott at the library.  I am planning on using the pattern titled, "Diamonds at Large."  It will be an easy and fun quilt to put together.

I am happy to make something that will come together fast.  Perhaps I can get the top finished before the visit from the MIL. 

I am off for now.  Almost time for bed!  Hope you had a wonderful day.  Thanks for dropping by and I hope you come back!

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Pyjama Party Sunday

Today, I am joining Marg's Pyjama Party Sunday.

Remember the mess with the pinwheels the other day? My craftiness for the day was spent re-sewing them. Here is the final layout.



Sorry for the bad photo! We have had rain, rain, rain. Every photo I take comes out dark and blurry!

Now comes the big question. How do I quilt this?

I don't really want to take it to be professionally quilted. Although it is, and will be, a favorite of mine, I don't think I need it quilted by someone else. I will save that expense for something I would consider, "Heirloom". Let me know your ideas.

Also, Big and I went to see the movie, "Bad Teacher". It was a funny movie and I enjoyed it very much. If you have a chance, go see it!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

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Vegetable Garden and Quilt Mess Up

The Baby and I decided we would, once again, have a vegetable garden. We moved the current raised beds and built one new one. We planted tomatoes, jalapenos, zucchini, 2 types of lettuce, spinach, leeks, broccoli, basil, watermelon, cantaloupe, turban squash and Japanese eggplant!


Three weeks ago


Yesterday

The beds are positioned next to a sidewalk that runs from the back porch to the driveway. We have to walk by the beds everyday, which makes it easy to bend over and pull a weed or two before they take over!

About a year ago I started a pinwheel quilt. By starting, I mean I went out and bought a 1/2 a yard or more of 35 different floral fabrics! Six months ago I started cutting and sewing pinwheels. I got 17 of them finished before a trip to Kentucky (more on that later). I finished the the other 18 pinwheels between visits to the quilting shops of Ashland, Kentucky.

When I began to work on the placement of the blocks, I noticed a problem. Do you see it?



Mind you, the blocks are placed on a tablecloth, so don't say the problem is the red showing through the white part of the pinwheel - it was a dark and rainy day and this was the best light!

Let me know if you see what is wrong!


Daisy (the pup), Precious (the cat) and Budgie (the bird) enjoying a summer day with me on the back porch!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Chicken Poop Sunday

First, I would like to say hello and welcome to my Swap-Bot.com visitors. I hope you enjoy my blog and decide to come back often. You never know what you may find here!!

When I first decided to blog, I thought that I would like to have titles for every day of the week. I figured it would make coming up with something to blog about much easier. Big, The Baby and I tossed around some different titles for Sunday's blogs. Big and I thought Sexy Sunday would be good, but The Baby was grossed out by the title and thought others would find it offensive also! Go figure! We came up with "Chicken Poop Sunday" because no matter what, on Sunday the chicken poop is cleaned and the yard is mowed.

I have never blogged about this before because it has always been Big's job. Since she is gone, it is up to me! I don't really mind the chore, it won't take long. Big gave the girls some leftover chicken (I know - they are carnivores!) and their poop really stinks! I thought I would share this loveliness with all my blogger buddies. Avert your eyes if you are squeamish!




This is one of our Leghorns. We have three of them. They were the first to find a home with us.



They act like they never get food! The brown and grey chickens are Arancauna, they lay blue and green eggs. They are often called "Easter Egg Chickens" because of the different colored eggs. I can't remember the breed of the other two chickens. The Baby would remember.

I have decided I will not paint my "studio" today. I am in need of some sewing therapy and my pinwheels are calling my name! The walls will be there another day!

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

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Good Day

Today has been a good day. Big's Mom is out of the hospital. No one is really sure what was going on with her. She has some follow up Doctor visits, but they should all turn out fine. Her diet leaves a lot to be desired. She needs to up her calorie count and eat food that will "stick to her bones." I wish someone would tell me to eat more!!

I have been busting my ass in my studio and other than painting it and hanging things on the wall, it is finished. It was more work than I thought it would be, but isn't that the way all projects are? I am excited to get back to my sewing.

I finally found my way back to the pinwheel quilt I started a few months ago. I will post photos later. I am so in love with the pinwheels!

Hope you are having a great weekend. I am going to start mindlessly at the television for a while.

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Back to "Normal"

Thing are getting back to some semblance of "normal." Big went back to work today (I am not sure if she will make it the entire day or not), The Baby is back in school and the dog, the three cats, the bird and the 8 chickens and I are here with a long day of chores ahead of us. I have a list of "To Do's" that is so long, all I want to do is run away from it! My plan is to go slow and tick one thing off at a time.

Today I will:

1.) Vacuum
2.) Sweep/Mop (My Mom bought me a shark - so I don't really hate mopping as much)
3.) Laundry
4.) Plan a menu for 2 weeks
5.) Plan a grocery list
6.) Pay bills
7.) Put new handles on the kitchen cabinets
8.) Some sort of crafting (I want this to be #1, but I will be good and do chores first)

The Baby called this morning to say hello and let me know what is going on in her life. As she is telling me what her daily plan is, I can hear that she has labored breathing. She is like Big and easily gets upper respiratory infections, so I begin to worry. I didn't want to interrupt her, so I let her talk and I continue to get more concerned about the breathing. She finally stopped talking for a moment (we both talk a lot - I blame it on my Mom!) and I asked her why she was breathing so heavy. She had one of these in her hands -



She was busy cleaning the grease spots off the wall in the kitchen! Ahh...she is a chip off the old Mom block!

Well, I am off to get my list started. I just remembered, I get to hang with the Quilty Ladies and my Guild tonight. I am feeling more a part of the group, so I hope the meeting will go well. Have to go find a red, white and blue fat quarter for trading!

Have a wonderful day!

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Valentine Wall Hanging

Remember a few posts ago, I posted a photo of a Valentine's Day wall hanging? Well, I finished it on Saturday night! Since Valentine's Day was the next day, I decided to place it on the dining room table for a few days. I am happy with it, what do you think?

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What I am working on

I guess that I was in the mood for Valentines yesterday. I started making some quilted coasters (found the pattern on Martha Stewart), I got two finished. Instead of quilting in squares like Martha did, I decided to but an X on two and I will quilt an O on the other two - Hugs and Kisses - get it?!? I also put a wall hanging together. I did some stitch in the ditch quilting on it so far. Now I need to mark it up and do some more "fancy" quilting on it. What do you guys think?






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Finished quilt

Well, it has been a long time! Too busy!! My mother was here for my daughter's birthday in the end of May and I made a lap quilt for her for Mother's Day. I took a class and picked the materials that I thought she would like and worked on it whenever possible. Well - needless to say - I was working on the binding on the day I had to take her to the airport!! I think I got it done about 45 minutes before we had to leave. Anyway, she has it now and I think she likes it, so that is what matters. Here is a picture of it. I machine quilted it, my first time, and I like the way it turned out. What do you think?

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