This post REALLY needs Pictures - You're out of Luck!

I finished quilting the Irish CHain Quilt. It was 115 inches square. That is a HUGE quilt. I wish I had took photos. I will when I get the binding on it. I was a little disappointed in the row of quilting. I KNEW it was coming & I KNEW there was going to be a little bit of "issues" with it. If you have ever tried to put border strips onto bias peices, then you know what I am talking about. I got wavy borders. Fortunately, only 1 border of 4 had some puckers/pleats. Overall, I am very pleased with it.

Tonight I load CP's baby quilt. Then I have 3 other "customer" quilts pending. I hope to be able to meet with her on Monday or Tuesday to give it to her. (Note to self: email CP)

Funny. I have weeks & weeks between "customer" quilts, and then when MY life is busy, my quilting gets busy.

Between award ceremonies, graduations, weddings, babies....mandatory training (job related) , I have one busy May ahead of me.

I'll post photos later.

Sam

Paducah Show

I went to the Paducah show on Saturday.

We left early enough, but got delayed with a detour in Clarksville. Someone tore down electrical lines & they closed part of the main road & detoured traffic through a less than desirable part of Clarksville. We passed this one house, y'all, that gave us all a giggle. It stood out horribly. sort a grecian design. Gargoyles on the roof. Naked statues. Gorgoyle lighting. Oh! And pink flamingoes. It was ummmm.....tasteful? No, I don't think so. I SO wish I had took a picture of it. anyway - we got through clarksville & got going northbound again into Kentucky.

We stopped at a rest stop before we got there. I made a bad joke: "You know you're a red neck & in Kentucky when they only make rest stops on ONE side of the interstate!". yes, there was only one the whole way between Clarksville, TN & Paducah , KY & it was only on the southbound side...we did the loop-d-loop thing to get to it! Ha Ha....

I drove my car & my freind, Kat, went with me & then in the other car there were 5 girls from my guild. We had a good time. Didn't get to see EVERYTHING. You really need to be there more than one afternoon to see it all.

I bought some really nice pink & brown fat quarters. A pattern and a quilt kit.And some continuoius line design books from sharon Schamber. (that lady has more talent in one finger than I'll ever have in my whole body, I'm sure.... ) I'll post pictures of all that on another day. I have quilting commitments that I must meet this weekend, and being on the 'puter isn't getting me closer to them !!!



This is "Me & Kat". I'm in Pink.

Sam

Architechture (sp?)

While we were at Montevallo College, we toured the campus. After 4 years of attending for DD#2, this was Prince Charming's first "real" visit (that didn't include moving furniture!)

the college is renovating an old, 1880's original house. they are turning it into an "arts" building. They have gutted the inside & probably won't have renovated INSIDES, but they ARE renovating the outside.

I failed to get pictures of the front of the house. it had a 2nd floor balcony & columns running top to bottom.

I absolutely love "Old South" homes. The Plantation Homes. This one was "it".

They were in the process of flooring the sunroom. The glass in this building is all wavy & bubbled.

I LOVE, love, love this sunroom!

Maybe sometime in my life we'll be able to buy a home that WE can renovate/restore/rebuild. Something that signifies the "old south" to me.

Or better yet, maybe if we ever get to re-do y kitchen, we can incorporate this type of floor to ceiling windows idea for the back side of the kitchen (which faces the yard...) can you image a bank of windows, the length of the kitchen with a huge long table for breakfast & dinner? One can dream.

the last kitchen we remodled only cost $15G, i think the southern Sunroom Kitchen Remodel would be over $50-$60...I'd have a HUGE time talking Prince Charming into that....maybe in 10 years.....but not right now!

Sam

Honoree

Yesterday , Prince Charming & I drove to Montevallo to see DD#2 inducted into the honor society.

She graduates college next month.

I am very proud of her. I always "see" my girls as toothless 6 year olds. I guess they'll never really be ADULTS to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT some hovering, over bearing parent. I just don't see them as grown women. Even though they are, and even though I treat them as GROWN WOMEN. They are still & will always be my babies.

I wonder if it's like that for all "Mommas"? i wonder.

On the sewing side of my week.......This week there has not been too much done. I feel lazy. We got all 4 of the Seminole borders sewn together, and I got 3 sewn onto the quilt. Then i have the outer borders to sew on. it will take PROBABLY all of 2 hours to finish & I just have not done it. My plan is to quilt it on Sunday. Or at least get it started.....i also am comitted to getting a baby quilt quilted for CP !! I promised I would have it done before the end of April. I have until next week...I'll do it! THEN...I have other "customer quilts" that are in line.

May is going to be SO busy for us.....DD#1 is closing on a house next week. DD#2 graduates in 2 weeks. Neice #3 (maybe she's #4 because 3, 4 & 5 were born all real close togeher...) anyway....she graduates in 3 weeks. Sister-In-Law #1 is flying to Alabama because neice #2 is having baby #3 the end of May. DD#1 has a wedding to get to too (hence the rush job for the Triple Irish Chain Quilt!) So? I'm busy, busy, busy in the next several weeks. i am SOOOOO looking forward to June!

the attached photo is of DD#2 - she is 2nd from the right. the redhead!

Sam

PUPPIES !!!

I took my Bourbon for a long overdue hair cut. I'll have to post his glamour shots another day...

The lady i take him to, lives , literaaly, in this holler in Centerville. She breeds Boxers.

Aren't they just SO cute?

Sam

Irish Chain Update

As you all know, my oldest daughter & I started a Triple Irish Chain Quilt this month.

This is a wedding gift for her very best freind & sorority sister that is getting married on May 16th.

I am currently sewing all the blocks together! 49 of them. Good thing they are 12.5 inches! (You are only seeing 16 of the 49 blocks, when you see the "quilt" in these photos!)

DD#1 is currently sewing all the strip sets together required for the Seminole border.

We are using the "Quilt-In-A-Day" by Eleanor Burns Book. DD#1 chose to make the "Yankee Chain" version, with RED being the dominant chain color. It is really coming out nice.

DD#1 said she isn't going to be making any quilts to soon after finishing this one......and for SURE, not a King sized one, as is this one.....I told her we were just getting warmed up.

I think we're going to make the deadline!

Whoo-Hoo!

Sam

I Forgot the ROCKS

I forgot to add the photo of rocks.

This is the 2nd load of rocks that I have put in that wagon. There are probably 10 more loads that need to be picked up.

I hate those rocks.

Sam

Back Yard Landscaping

Our backyard is where we have spent so much money. It's un-real. And we're not done.

the photo of the yard actually tells you nothing, as I neglected to get a BEFORE photo. Prince Charming rented a bob-cat & cleared all the underbrush from the yard and then we bought grass seed & fertilizer & put all that out. What you are seeing is 3 weeks old & we have had torrential rains & freezing weather! There is more grass there than I thought would be.

You see the dog kennels on the left? We are putting up chain link fencing within the next 2 months. The front of the fence will be right at the front of those kennels & go ALL the way back to the back of the yard where you see that huge brush pile. All for the big dogs. I hate keeping them in those kennels. They will be very happy soon.!

Prince Charming, me & DD#2 made the planters THIS weekend. That little area between the patio walkway & the house was nothing but ugly red mud & kept washing, so we built those 2 little retaining walls & backfilled them with top soil. We will plant some sort of ground cover in them, soon as we can decide what type of ground cover......That plant is one that my gracious neighbor gave me. It's an Angel Thrumpet. you should see those when they are bloomiming! Then Prince Charming decided that we needed the semi round one to breakup all the angular corners of the patio. Didn't it come out nice?

I am proud of our work. (wish it hadn't cost so much....) but proud, none-the-less!

Sam

Last Weekend's Work

last weekend, as I posted, we re-mulched the flower beds & trimmed all the shrubs & bushes.

I didn't get photos last week, so here they are now.

Please keep in mind that these pictures were taken on Easter Sunday. 2 days after all the tornadoes came through. Sirens going off everywhere on Friday! you can't tell by looking at these pictures, now, can you? Fortuneately, our neighborhood & surrounding area escaped untouched.

Sam

Irish Chain Update

DD#1 & I have completed all the HARD blocks for the Triple Irish Chain. There were 25 of those chain blocks. Now we are working on the alternating blocks. You know, the ones that have mostly background fabric....There are 24 of those. DD#1 has 12 of them already made.

I think we'll make our deadline!

Here's a photo of "Sewing Central"

Sam

Updating!

We have had a very productive weekend. It was forcasted to rain by Sunday. We have been a little lazy in the landscaping department of our home. SO? This past weekend we decided to trim the bushes & shrubs in the front & re-apply the mulch. We spent Saturday morning trimming shrubs. I have this "thing" about bushes or shrubs being taller than the average man. I guess it goes back to when I worked in Law Enforcement. If the bushes are smaller than the average man/woman then you can see someone walking aorund the house. I have never had to worry about that, but when Ilived in CA, I did. Old habits die hard, I guess? Anyway - I raked , and raked, and picked up, for what seemed like forever! We had to buy 11 yards of mulch. That was over $200. Had to buy an additional pitch fork too. It looks so nice now! All nice & fresh.
Then we have a little space between the house & the patio walkway, it slopes and we just can't figure out was to do with it. So, Prince Charming got some of those stackable brick/blocks and made 2 small retaining walls. We lack backfilling them with topsoil & then we'll plant some sort of low maintenence ground cover.
With the left over mulch, we laid down landscape fabric & mulched the hydrangeas.
It was hard work. Every muscle in my body aches. But I am sure that Prince Charming is suffering more than me. When he gets a project in his head, he's like the energizer bunny.

The "E-Mealz" program is going well. The meals offer a wide variety of meals. Very few things have been branded as "no, I don't like that". One was baked sweet poatatoes. I liked them, DD#1 liked them. Prince Charming did not. Sunday, after all our work, I offered to cook steaks. Nobody said NO!

DD#1 is buying a house. She closes escrow on April 27th. I am proud of her. It's about 11 minutes from us. Cute little single story home on a corner lot. Great starter home. 3 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1100 square feet . With an attached 2 car garage. I think our housewarming gift will be her new refridgerator & fencing.

Also - a stray cat come up to the house. Freindly little bugger. He's someone's housecat. I have printed flyers & we are going to take the golf cart out & put out flyers. DD#1 will take him if we don't find his family.

Sam