Not for Queasy Readers ! My Fat Dog's Buttons

Anyone that knows me (even a little) knows that I have a FAVORITE fat dog. Her name is Chelsea. She comes to work with me every day & has been for 9 years. I don't think I will dothat when we move to TN. Anyway - Monday a co-worker was petting her & says to me "Hey Miss Sam - what's this lump on Chelsea's ear?". To which I answer: "What lump?" My fat dog, Chelsea, had this huge lump on her right ear. It looked like what batting does in old quilts & wads up in big lumps? Only this was soft. She didn't like me fiddling with it. So my plan was to take her to the vet today while I was off Only my office help had the flu and we swapped days so she could stay home & get well. My co-worker's wife (a very good friend of mine!!), CJ, volunteered to take Chelsea to the vet. Well she didn't come back with my dog!!!!

CJ said that Chelsea had an ear infection & has shook her head & ruptured a blood vessel in her ear and that is what caused the swelling. The vet has to lance it, drain it & put a compression bandage on it. I admit that I didn't have a clue what a "compression bandage" was, but I was not prepared for BUTTONS. Bless her little doggie heart. He lanced the swelling & literally sutured the buttons from inside to outside of her ear. This is to prevent her ear from swelling again while it heals. If it does appear that it is swelling , (yack here) , I have to wash it & clean it until it drains. I am not kidding , these are actual BUTTONS on my dog's ear. he shaved her ear too. Poor Chelsea, she is still quite loopy in these photos.

I feel rotten too, since I didn't notice anything. I'm sick over it. How can I NOT see this? For goodness sake, I bring this dog TO WORK WITH ME !!!! When CJ didn't come back with my dog, I cried. I was so upset over the whole situation.

I hope I didn't gross anyone out with these photos, I really didn't think anyone would believe me that she has BUTTONS stitched to either side of her ears. I called CJ & she was astounded & I called my bud Zan - she read all my emails today bemoaning how rotten a pet owner that I am to let something like this slide & SHE was astounded too. I've never seen this. Never. And the poor dog is just fretful....The vet siad she has to wear her buttons for 2 weeks. I know it's awful for her, but I'll bet you a dime that all the people I work with are going to ask me if I did that!!! Even DD#2 didn't think that the BUTTONS were actually stitched on her ear. I was already being a big bother to my dog - she wouldn't let me get any closer to her ear....do you blame her?

DH is't home - I have got to figure a way to get my favorite fat dog upstairs & into our room - she's too heavy for me to lift into our bed. Don't roll your eyes! I HAVE to make sure she doesn't scratch the buttons out. Maybe I should just sleep in the downstairs bedroom?

Where's a baby gate when you need one? if I can get her into a specific bedroom, I have to KEEP her there!!!!

This is going to be a LONG night.

Sam

Weeks & Weeks & My Older Quilts

It's been a few days - cetainly more than a few - days that is - and maybe a week since I posted last. I have been SO busy. I have traveled every week - out of state for the past 3 weeks. This week & next week are the 2 that I get to get back to normal. Whatever normal is. Then the first week of April , I am traveling BACK up to TN to spend 2 days of house hunting. Seems I don't LIKE house hunting much....I really don't want to get into that rant right now.

My friend & fellow blogger, JP, posted a quilt on her blog that looked familiar to me! I made one too. I think it was in some scrap quilting book or another. And then also in the Fons & Porter magazine. It has a zillion little 8 pointed stars in ti. It was SO boring to make! I think I had 1800 little 1.5 inch star points. No joke, I counted them! Anyway - It's the quilt on the 4 poster bed. that's the master bedroom bed. The quilt is really too big on the bed, because I made it a queen size & the bed is full sized. The quilt hangs down on the sides to the middle of the sideboards.... We have queen size beds in the guest rooms . (that will change when we move)

Top 2 photos are of the quilts in the master bedroom. The Blue & White Zig Zag quilt that I call my Rick-Rack Quilt is also a Fons & Porter pattern from thier magazine. I actually made 2 of those Rick-Rack Quilts! I over-sewed too many blocks & only ended up making about 20 more to make another quilt!

the next photo is of the quilts in the "pink" guest room. I love that quilt on the bed. It is so beautiful & all in Thimbleberries prints. 100% Thimbleberries. I have 2 quilt racks in that room - along with a quilt on the footboard of the bed! I made all of these.

Last is the "yellow" guest room. I call that quilt on the bed "896". Why? You ask? Well, because there are 896 flying geese units in that quilt. I didn't think I would EVER get those finished. but I did, & it's one of my favorites too. That armoire is in the yellow room - I plan on FILLING it with quilts.

I didn't want to post withot showing some photos, so - there they are - some of my most beloved belongings. Quilts! All made by me. My quilts are more than just a hobby - they are part of me. Blood sweat & tears. Definately one or more of blood sweat & tears has gone into the making of any one of them . There are more - some at DD#1's apartment in the big city & some with DD#2 at her apartment at college. and I probably have 5 (maybe 7?) quilt TOPS hanging inn the closet.

If you wonder WHY I stand the pillows up on end (you can't see them - but they are up on end on the bed in the pink room too.....) on the beds...it's because I forget to close the doors to the rooms to keep the cat out & if the pillows are down, or propped up - he'll sleep on them. I hate the cat on the bed and he really only gets up there to sleep on the pillows. So ? Problem solved now. He doesn't even get on the beds at all if he can't get on the pillows!!

Ha ha

Good Night

Sam

Home Again! And Garage Photos !

Sunday ! WOW - I am home from the "big city". Glad too. I lost my car at the airport yesterday. I wrote down where I parked. Level/isle/letter....but failed to find where I wrote it down when I returned to the airport. Being gone for 7 days didn't improve my memory either. I searched for about 30 minutes & then airport security helped me. They drove me around & around & around while I kept hitting my car alarm on the little key ring fob. We found it, and it was no-where near where I thought I had parked. I felt completely stupid with a capital "S". I'd have been there until dark, had it not been for the security folks. I'm glad that they were not super busy & couldn't help. I was near tears as it was when I finally DID ask for help.

Sunday we got up & went out side to work on the garage. We got the soffit finsihed on the front & all the vinyl installed on it. DH had been home a day & a half during the week & he got the single bay painted & got the 2 bay sanded & painted, the metal bent & installed on the garage door opening & this neat little vinyl peice with a rubber "seal" type thing installed too. It looks so NICE !!!On Saturday - while I was playing hide & seek with my car.....DH installed the vinyl on the front of the garage. After we finsihed the front soffit, we installed the light fixtures. 4 on the front of the garage, 1 on the side at the standard door & the last on the back of the house. Total of 6, they all had to match. When we got those done, we started installing more 1 X 4 strips onto the tall ends of the garage, for the soffits on them. It's more of a one man job since we don't have scaffolding......I'm a good stepper & fetcher......we got the one end half done but can't finish until we get the "bird box's" built on the back side of the garage.....the 3rd photo from the top is the soffit that we ended with. DH said that since there is no air flow on the "ends" that the vinyl soffit is solid, in the front & the back, the soffit is vented (has holes). I LIKE the vented soffits better. More eye-appealing.....but that's just me. DH says that the solid soffit is harder to install too. I know it harder to cut! I have a small blister on my thumb from the huge scissors we use to cut the vinyl. I say small, because MY blister looks like a flea bite compared to the blisters that DH has on his hands.....

When we got to a point that we couldn't do more without getting into night, I came in & gave the favorite fat dog a bath. She wasn't too dirty, not much washed off in that department. But I sure hope the stink came off. She was potent after spending the majority of the week in the kennel. then I took a shower & started dinner. What was DH doing????? (He's a work-a-holic....) he stayed in the garage hooking up electrical outlets. The last photo is of him on the first one he started. He got 2 walls done & the face plates installed too! He jammed the screw driver into his hand too, bled all over........I asked him to stop but he said he wanted to work late enough so that he could turn on all the lights on the front of the garage & "SEE" how they all looked.

DH did a wonderful job. It looks beautiful all lit up!

Last week while I was in the big city, I stayed with DD#1. It was SO nice to visit. No hurry, no holiday. Just night time talk & cooking & watching TV. Boy ! We sure tore up the town! Ha Ha. DD#1 had an allergic reaction to either some new make-up brushes or the make-up itself (don't know which) either way - she ended up with swollen eye-lids & had to come home early on Thursday from work & take some Benydryl (sp?) She looked better by Saturday but her eye-lids were still puffy a little bit. DD#1 cooked while I was there too. She's a good cook! Lasagna one night, wine poached chicken another night & then chicken burritos on Friday night. We ate out 2 of the nights.....

I mis-read my flight arrangements - thought that the flight out was 11 AM - it was 12:43 & I waited at the wrong gate too - only got on the right one, because I overheard the lady say "Birmingham" - whew! Nearly missed my flight! I'm a nit. I guess?

Got to see DD#2 for a short while. Less than 24 hours! She came home on Saturday evening & left by 10Am on Sunday morning.....she said it was goingt o be her only "free" weekend all of March. Seing her a little is better than not seeing her at all....

Gotta go - got to check on some other emails & got to un-pack my trip bag & pack DH's for the up-coming week. Monday should be a bear. Gone all week & closing to deal with ! How fun for me! (I don't think I can really call it fun)

Sam

Week of 2/25 thru 2/29

No photos with this post. I'm in Texas this week. I don't like this city. It's busy. It's dirty. It's crowded. And there is much here going on that I DON'T have to deal with in Alabama. Homeless people, pan-handlers...and other un-mentionable people. It's just not home. I am in a training class at the corporate for the company that I work for. It's downtown. I can officially state that I have seen more traffic in this week than I think I have seen all month at home! I am serious....the traffic is plain horrid. I rented a car & it's a small compact little model - I feel like a little teeny tiny ant on the interstate in it!
But the UP side of my week away has been that I get to visit with DD#1. she has been the best hostess. She has cooked nearly every night. I feel like I'm in a hotel. 'Course I don't have the nightly rate! Ha Ha !
2 more days of classes & I can go home. i am enjoying my visit with my daughter, but I'd like being home too. DH called & said that he has finished painting my side of the garage and that he has got the metal installed on the garage door openings. Whoo-Hoo! I am excited. Now all we need INSIDE is the crown molding & the floors painted & all the electrical outlets & covers installed & I can set up my quilting machine.....then we can finish installing the vinyl.

gotta go
DD#1 has dinner cooking!

Sam

Dolls for DN#7

Remember last month when i said I had to make/get a doll for DN#7? Well, the doll is porcelain. Not exactly a doll that a 5 year old can PLAY with. So i got this other vinyl doll for her that she CAN play with.

My projects this week (not including the bathroom tear out) is to get the porcelain doll all cleaned up & redressed in the little smocked outfit i found. I have to stuff & dress the other doll. That vinyl doll is one of those Apple Valley dolls. "Jordan", I think is this one. A very, very pretty doll. I actually found some old doll wigs from when I was making dolls , in storage, and one was red. I liked the red wig best, but when I spoke with DN#7 this evening she asked me to PLEASE make it blonde. So , blonde it will be. It's glued on now, the wig is...so that I don't change my mind.

The porcelain doll needs to be re-strung. I'm not sure what I'll use to do that, but I have to find something. I can not remember how I made the other one. It has been over 20 years, you know?

Wretched dolls.

I am SO going to punch my DB#2 when I see him.

It's late, and I'm tired. I made 3 posts this evening. All with photos! No plain Cheerios tonight.....

Sam

Blue Room

This is my sewing room. It's been pared down a LOT. We took a sample of the wall paper & had the blue bird color matched & painted the walls that blue. This photo is taken at 10 PM & the flash makes it look much brighter. DH was RIGHT - the 2nd coat DOES look better. That whole back wall had cabinets on it. I will be installing a "skirt" on my sewing table to hide the stuff (projects) under it.

I will be staging it as a "siting room". Can't say it's a bedroom because there is no built in closet. It's about 11 X 13. Pretty good sized. I have a bookshelf, a wing back recliner & small table that I'll put in there.

Since both DD's do not live at home, we painted the 2 other bedrooms. One is yellow, we call it the "YELLOW ROOM". The yellow room has dark furniture in it. Very masculine. The second is pink. We call it, you guessed it, the "PINK ROOM". The pink room is very girl-lee. White iron bed, white nightstands. I love it. I'm not making excuses, but it's a really, really light pink. During a bright day or even at night with the lights on , it's hard to tell that it's a pink at all..... Ha! Ihave 2 quilt racks in there too!

So what else would we be calling the sitting room , if not the "BLUE ROOM" ????

Sam

The Big Cat

This is our cat.

Y'all have seen all the dogs, this is the cat.

We call him Smelly Cat.

Not because he smells, but because when we got him there was a new & popular sitcom on TV. FRIENDS was the sitcom. I never particularly enjoyed the show , but one of the characters, Phoebe, sings a song called Smelly Cat. She actually can't sing worth beans & the song is awful, but, it was very comical to listen to it so we named the cat Smelly Cat. He's 13 and the only one we have. I can't leave clean laundry out, hel'll lay on it or in it. I can't leave a closet door open, he'll get in there & find SOMETHING clean to sleep on. I can't accidiently leave the underwear drawer open, he'll get in there & sleep & then everything has to be washed. And I don't DARE leave a quilt in progress on my sewing table, yep!, he'll be sleeping on it! Not pieces of quilts, just if it's a big piece - like if you're putting borders on it & leave it on the table over night....Oh yeah - the FUNNIEST thing he's resorted to doing is everytime DH comes home & brings in his suitcase, Smelly lays all over it. Like the cat missed DH or something. Funny little cat, he is....

Sam

Another Week Passes

Another week passes us by.

You know? 25 years ago, I never thought I'd be where I am today. I have regrets, sure, but none that I feel I need pennance for. I just felt like the middle of February 2008 came quicker than I thought it should.

This week has been eventful - weather wise for sure. 70's one day & 30's the next. no wonder people are dropping like flies with the flu. I think I have escaped the worst of the flu...I take vitamins! Maybe that's what keeps me healthy? Ha ! That's what I tell myself anyway!

Last night I put a 2nd coat of blue paint on the sewing room walls. DH said it needed it, I disagreed and procrastinated. Now it's done, I have to admit that DH was right. It does look much more nice. The 2nd coat of paint took much less paint than the 1st & if I had done it 2 weeks ago - I'd have been happier. Now I am FREE to go onto other "inside" projects.

Notice I said "INSIDE". Those are projects which I prefer to take care of myself. Packing closets. Painting. Culling. Wondering why I ever keep some junk......Rearranging....ripping off wall paper. Stuff that just isn't done well by 2 or more people in cramped spaces.

My next inside project is to rip up carpet in the downstairs bathroom. Yes carpet in a bathroom. Must be a southern thing...I've seen it a lot & lived with it for 9.5 years. Now it's coming up. The carpet gets removed & the wallpaper is coming down. Painting the walls, the vanity & the doors. Replacing all hardware: faucets, paper holder, towel bar, drawer pulls , light fixtures, and maybe the shower faucet...I don't know how hard the shower faucet will be to replace....THAT might be a project for DH. But ! I have 2 bathrooms. I am only going to wreck one at a time. That's the plan , anyway....that and if I mess up too bad then we still have a spare!!!!

Sometime between now & the end of the month....a landscaper is coming. Going to freshen up the flower beds. I think "freshen up" is an understatement. He's going to rip out all the dead azeleas, replace them with holly, re-mulch & spread the dirt that we have had piled up (2 dump truck loads ) over the trenches that we made for the utility lines for the garage. i on't think he's doing any more than that. We'll put _ what's that stuff you buy in squares? You know grass - what's that ? OH SOD ! Can't imagine why that escaped me...we'll sod the area he covers in dirt.

Keeping the DOGS out of all this is going to be so fun for me. Right! So fun....SURE.....

I have been horribly lazy this week (maybe THAT's why it's aleady the middle of FEB?) if I ever turn on the TV - I never move. So? The game for me was to NOT turn it on. After I cleaned the kennels, I did something else. I finsihed the 2nd coat of paint & I have sewed 8 pinwheels. I call them Parker Pinwheels.....I have enough sub-units sewn together for another 12 blocks. Since I am working Saturday at the landfill - i am taking my sub-untis with me to iron, cut apart re-iron & match up pairs....20 blocks is a far cry from the # I need for 2 quilts, but it is sewing that I have not been able to do. I feel like it's sewing I have deprived myself! Sewing is therapy - I just need a lot of therapy....Ha Ha Ha

well - that' s my feather pillow that I hear calling for me.....

Good night all & on my next post I'll try to have some photos. A blog without photos is like the difference between Honey Nut Cheerios & the plain ole Cheerios....the plain ones are just a little bland.

Have a good evening!
Sam

My Weekend - no sewing!

This is what the DH & I did this weekend! We installed vinyl siding. We didn't get it all done because we have to get the soffits built & the vinyl on the soffits. So we put it up as high as we could go without getting into where the soffits will be. It looks so GOOD. These photos were taken at around 4:30 PM & it wasn't real bright on Saturday afternoon. The TOP photos is of the backside of the garage. We had put exterior outlets there because we had planned on cementing that area & roofing another 10-12 feet (after we pull the shed out) behind the garage for storage of lawnmowers, the air compressor & possibly a small boat. The center photo is of the end of the garage that faces the back of the house. I am standing on the rear deck to get this photo. And the last photo is of the end of the garage that you see when you come up to the house. The vinyl siding on the garage matches the vinyl siding on the house pretty good. We had the vinyl siding on the house installed nearly 6 years ago & the manufacturer doesn't make this SPECIFIC color or style any longer....it's CLOSE. And since the garage does not touch the house, it's barely noticible. matter of fact, it looks fabulous.

Saturday we got the biggest majority of it done, Sunday we worked on framing the soffit on the front of the garage. we didn't get it completed because we ran out of 2 X 4 's. SO? We started another list for our next trip to Home Depot next week.

After we ran out of lumber, DH started wiring the breaker box and I spent 2 hours scraping drywall mud up off the cement floor with a metal spatula. Cement is cold on your knees! DH got all the breakers wired & we hooked up ONE electrical outlet so that we don't have to use extension cords anymore!

( Yes, I know that my flag is tattered! That bell pole is being moved & I HAVE a new flag to replace that one, bt I want to wait until we move the pole!)

I am so proud of DH & me! We woke up so sore on Sunday & still we got out there & did what we could until we couldn't go any further or ran out of materials.

I feel like we're getting somewhere now! I can hardly wait for the day when I can put up my long arm! I know, I know! We're moving! So what? I hope that when Iput it up - that it won't be up for long, that we'll be moving soon.

It was SO nice to have DH home for 2 consecutive days. 2 days to be together...I WON'T say that having him gone all week is worth the 2 solid days, but it was sure nice to have someone besides the dogs to talk too. Granted, the dogs aren't as communicative, but at least they listen. DH does too! Besides, I even made a REAL dinner. Ate until we couldn't eat anymore.

My friend, Joan, posted a recipe for Apple Pan Dowdy that looks scrumptious. i think that's on the "make / bake / take" list for this week while I'm home. If I make too much when I bake, I take it to work & pass it out to the dirvers'!

Speaking of Joan, I read where she wasn't feeling well recently. I hope that you are better Joan! Watch that sore throat, I hope it's not streph. Get well soon!

I have been pinning strips together for pinwheel blocks too!

Sam

Trunk Show

I attended a "Trunk Show" this evening. It was held at "A Time 2 Sew" in Collinsville, AL. Cindy Blackberg was the presenter. (shown in the attached photo obtained from her website) A Time 2 Sew is also conducting a retreat with Cindy this weekend, but my time & my funds are committed elsewhere. Attending the trunk show was nearly a last minute decision. I only decided yesterday! Cindy Blackberg is a well known hand piecer & hand quilter. I do neither. She brought all sorts of samples & I was selected to help display the quilts / samples that she brought with her.

Her work is awesome! Little teeney tiny pieces, little teeney tiny stitches. Oh what a challenge she has presented. It would have been nice to take the classes, but it just isn't possible...darn it!

Cindy promotes & sells quilt stamps. Her hand piecing is so precise due , in a large part, to the stamps. the stamps have the cutting line & the stitching line. They can be used for machine piecing too, but they are little. I bought the Kaleidoscope stamp & want several more, but again, not in the budget.

I like quilts withlots of pieces, I can't tell you why, I just do. i find sewing relaxing, and maybe hand piecing will be relaxing too. We shall see, because I sure want to try it.

Most of the quilts that Cindy brought were small sized. i want to make one BED sized, with all the teeney tiny peices that she has. I want to make the "Railroad Crossing", the "Mariner's Compass" and the "Kaleidoscope". And maybe, just maybe the "Scrap Baskets". (If I live long enough to make them all........) I have always had a desire to make a Mariner's Compass Quilt & actually have more than one pattern for them, all paper-pieced. but the blocks Cindy made with her templates looked so nice.....I have to TRY, at least!

I have to laugh at myself, because if I don't, I'll surely cry - but about 6 years ago I bought a hand quilting frame. No little jobbie, not for me.....I bought the Hinterberg folding frame.....not a cheap jobbie either. That baby was several (more than 3) hundred dollars. Three rails, no basting. You know how many times I've used it to quilt a quilt? Exactly ZERO. The entire time I have had it, it has held a lamp over my cutting table, strips for quilts, and many , many UFO's. I don't think that was the intention of the designer & it certainly wasn't my intention to let it sit. do i want to sell it? NO! I want to use is (obviously ...one day....) to hand quilt! And I believe that I shall! Just not tonight. ( that & it's in strorage until we move.....)

You can see Cindy's stamps, patterns, books on her website : www.cindyblackberg.com A very charming woman. One of her designs is in the latest issue of American Patchwork & Quilting - last project in the magazine. it only touches the tip of her talent. Beautiful work!

Good night!
Sam

Thank You, Lord, for Wednesday's !

Wednesday is my day off from my regular full time job. I use this day to go to the "shop" & operate the long arm quilting machine. Since we are in trasition with the garage & moving, I am limited to JUST Wednesday's. I have been trying to quilt 2 quilts every Wednesday. Today - I just couldn't do it. #1 I was cold. The shop wasn't cold, I was. Being cold is the exact opposite of my normal temperature , and also my back was still sore from ditch digging on Sunday - so I stopped after one quilt. I was home by 2 PM

My original intention was to come home & start painting on the sewing room walls. Instead? I took a nap & tried to get warm. Chelsea was in a loving mood & wanted up on the bed with me. She's too old & too fat to get up there herself, so I helped her up there. Good thing too, that fat dog must have a built in heater. I was so cold I thought I'd need more than one quilt, but in about 20 minutes, I was snoozing comfortably with my dog. We woke up about 5 PM & then I decided that I'd complete what I had set out to do that afternoon.

I painted the sewing room! I only had to paint the top half of the walls, the bottom has the paisley/bird/vine wallpaper & we color matched the blue bird in the wall paper. I thinkt he blue is a littel darker than I had intended, but it still looks nice. And the best part? I FINISHED it. I didn't finish until about 9 PM so too dark to take a photo. The room looks larger - DH thinks so too. ( you can just barely see the blue in the attached photos - but it's less bright than the photos seem to make it!)

It's supposed to be right at 30-32 degrees tonight. I bought the "boys" in from outside. DH said it wasn't too cold outside too leave them out there - but if I borught them in, I'd have to give Bourbon a bath. No problem, Bourbon LOVES the water & is very co-operative in the tub. There is no way that Briscoe was going to settle down , so soon as I brought him inside I put him in his crate. I think he thinks he's being punished. It took both me & DH to get Briscoe in his crate! No easy task. Maybe after consecutive cratings he'll get the idea & crate without persuasion...one can hope right? Bourbon will (willingly) sleep on a pallett & stay there all night. Briscoe won't. Eventually I will get Bourbon a crate too, but not right now. Durn things are $152 EACH. After I crated Briscoe, I bathed Bourbon. Suprisingly enough, he only smelled bad, he wasn't dirty. Less dirt came off him than Chelsea when I bathed her last week. And Chelsea sleeps on the loveseat! Boubon stays outside. Enough of the "boys". I put up some photos for y'all to see them!

The electrician was here today . He hooked the garage box to the house box. Now DH has to install all the breakers! Whoo Hoo! this is a happy day! We're getting closer to completion! I am so excited. I can't wait to get into the garage. Moving or not, the machine is going up! I am QUILTING.

I want to make a banner for the wall in my quilting studio - i can't remember the artist - but there is a rock-n-roll song that is called (I think) "Hold on to your dreams" and in the song they say it in FRENCH, and it sounds so beautiful - and as sappy as it may sound, I hold to my dreams, I dream a lot, sometimes, they come true! Or close to true ! I would like to make a banner that says "Hold on to your dreams" in French & then maybe in Italian too. Why? WHY NOT, that's why. I like the song & I like the saying....

it's late - i have had a hugely full Wednesday & now/ I hear my feather pillow calling me again.

Sam

Moving Plans

Well, this is the formal announcement. We're moving back to TN. DH was offered a supervisory position over more than one facility & it will be personally & (very) financially rewarding to do it.
We will be moving within the next 5-6 months, so it's not RIGHT AWAY.
Obviously the house isn't ready to be put up for sale. We still need to finish the garage, and do some freshing up inside before we can put it up. I don't know what the moving package actually entails, so we are waiting to see that. But I DO know that if we don't sell the house by "x" date that the corporation will pay us "x" percentage of the appraisal...and since the area has "grown" that won't be too bad....
we will be looking in the North West to South West side of Nashville. We can't afford a home in the BIG cities. Not a home like I want. Suffice it to say: the *new* house will already have a basement/garage/bonus room (SOMETHING) pre-existing to put up my long arm machine!
I'm excited & I'm not.
I am excited because I really love TN. My sister is there & it would mean a great deal to me to be able to spend more time together with her. TN is beautiful, I think it is more beautiful than AL. I am excited about getting a newer home (maybe) I am excited about what my job responsibilities will be.
I'm not excited about packing. I'm not excited about leaving the friends that I have made - I am not excited aobut long distance ....I am not excited about having to train someone to do my job.
BUT - as evil as some people may think me, I ALWAYS try to find the silver lining.....And I want this move to be a good one.
This was a much easier decision to make this time around. since both DD's are out of the house, and school is no longer an issue, relocating just does not seem the burden it was 10 or 15 years ago.
DD#1 is living out of state & talks about going to "remote" job sites. DD#2 is half way through year #3 of college & is contemplating graduate shool out of state - so it's not like either one of my precious DD's is coming back home to roost. Not this year anyway....Besides that, I think our little county is a little too COUNTRY for either of them to make a permanent residence here....but Nashville? That might be another story. Los Angeles it isn't, but it's bigger than here.
Not that "here" has been bad. I like where I live. I especially like my house. I like the land that we live on & I like the quiet. I would really have to bowled over by the *new* house to even consider a SUB-DIVISION !
anyway - that's the NEWS I'll keep ya'll posted on our progress.
We're still working hard on the garage though, I'm determined to get my machine up & running.

Sam

What I don't want to be when I grow up!

DH & I are building a 3 car garage so that I can put up & operate my long arm quilting machine. We started in August & we only get to work on it on the weekends & that generally means ONLY Sunday. Today we rented a walk-behind trencher to dig the little ditch for the water line & the electrical line. Well DH handled that part, it really is a one person job. BUT ! When we got to the sidewalk it was all by hand. UNDER the sidewalk. It took us 3 hours to dig under a 4 foot wide sidewalk. It's done, we have some clean up to do & we have to dig a little DEEPER than we thought to tie into the water line...my back is SORE, sore , sore.
I am absolutely positive that I never want to be a ditch digger for a living or a grave digger. No way. I am sure that both carreers are fullfilling but there's no way I'm signing up. Not willingly!
It looks like we were digging a raceway for hampsters or something.
and I let the big dogs out & Bourbon kept bringing his ball & dropping it in the ditch - he does that on purpose, he wants to make sure you SEE the ball so you can throw it for him. Sweet dog, but that trencher is very mean looking.
DH walked behind that thing & it shook & vibrated so bad! I am surprised his hands are not more swallen then they are right now. Bless his heart. We had Alabama red clay caked on our boots, it felt like I had on elevator shoes or something...ha ha ha
Tomorrow we put in the PVC lines for the water (with a manual cut off valve) and the electrical conduit. We will have a certified electrician do the actual "hooking up".
the county that we live in has ZERO building codes. You actually don't even have to have a certified electrician, but if you want the electric company to approve the installation & turn power to what ever is not adjacent to your main supply - it's best. you don't have to have a permit to put a roof on, add-on to your home, or replace anything. The only inspection you hav eto pass is from the sewer folks. they come & make sure your septic tak & field lines are done correctly , but they don't care who does it.
When I lived in Orange County , CA - you couldn't even repair your own roof, or build a deck without first obtaining a permit. It was a pain, but if you ever saw how some people LIVE here in AL then the pain might be worth it. Some folks look like they live in some 3rd world country....
That's a story for another post some other time...

I don't ever want to dig ditches when I gorw up - certainly , it can not be inticing enough to take me away from my present job. No chance at all.

Sam

Me!

3rd & final post of the evening.

Me & my fav fat dog!

Just for the record: I'm the one in red.......LOL

Sam

Non-Traditional Log Cabin

This is another Log Cabin Quilt. It's very NON-traditional.

I made this for DD#2 - I lack getting borders on it.

My "helpers" were kind enough to hold it for me, I couldn't figure out how to crop them out!

Thought you'd like to see the wild side of the Cabin! these colors are really out of my comfort zone - I am very , very NOT these colors. But it is HAPPY & DD#2 likes it. It will have purple borders & I am intending on quilting it with something really girlly , like butterflies & flowers or double butterflies....in power purple thread. I'll probably end up with motion sickness before I'm finished.

I don't like brights, I don't like batiks, and I don't like huge prints. I am totally drwan to rich deep browns , reds, blues....Civil War Reproduction prints, or my absolute fave: Thimbleberries! I also like 30's reproductions, but not nearly as much as the other 2. I never get tired them, or so it seems. I think i have made 3 or 4 Red/White/Blue quilts int he last 5 years. Both my DD's sigh & roll thier eyes when they set (yet) another r/w/b quilt!

Sam

Log Cabins

I finally finished all my blocks. And now the hard part comes. Which setting? I laid the blocks out on the floor & took photos of the 3 setting that I like best. I figure it will be easier to choose WHICH setting I like in a photo , then to sew it all together & decide I don't like it at all. The 1st setting takes a little ingenuity to see the setting. It's actually a Ohio Star in the center. I think you have to know what you're looking at before you can really see it. 2nd setting is (I think) called the Streak of Lighting( or maybe Fields & Furrows? not sure.....), and the 3rd is the very traditional Barn Raising setting.

I have a Log Cabin quilt in the barn raising setting, so my decision is between the first 2.....Ha Ha ha I found an error too! I have one block still turned the wrong way in the Streak of Lightning setting! It's the very last block in the lower right hand corner of the photo....See? setting them out gives me REVIEW tiem - I'd have probably sewn that mistake right in there! Then had to frog-stitch it!

Keep in mind, I am an experienced quilt maker and the Log Cabin quilt that I have made is fairly simple in comparison to "other" quilts I have made. I call making Log Cabins , therapy quilting because they don't really have to have much of a pattern....I didn't use one for the ones I'm making. I just cut 2.5 inch strips & started sewing......it's great therapy for me!

( I don't know how I got the italicized locked!)

I am excited that I finally have these blocks done. That's what I get for making enough blocks for 2 quilts.....even though they have been simple, it's been a journey.....I started them in (what?) October , I think......about time I'm done, I think

I figure I'll send emails out to F & F and get opinions on which setting looks best! the best part of having made enough blocks for 2 quilts is that I can make each quilt in a different setting or both the same. We'll see.

Have a good evening!

Sam

Snow in Alabama

I have lived in AL for 9 years and 6 months. It has never snowed. It did today. The snow won't stick, it hasn't been cold enough for long enough. It was pretty while it lasted.

It was after 4:30 PM when I could get these photos - so they are dark.

You are seeing the back of our house, the deck & then also a look from the back of the house towards the front. The front of the house faces the lake (only there is no water there right now...)

I think I got more snowflakes ont he lens of the camera!

The roads will probably be a horrible mess tomorrow. North East Alabama does not get enough fowl weather for the municipalities to spend any money on emergency equipment for fowl weather - so when it does get bad - everything literally shuts down, closes....

I don't think that will happen with this particular snow event - but! I could be wrong!

Sam

Pinwheels

My friend & fellow blogger Joan, posted the link to HGTV with the directions for Double Pinwheel Blocks. It's an Eleanor Burns pattern & I have the book & to this day I have never used the BOOK. Last night I made 2 blocks

So simple! And if I follow the directions correctly, there is a teeny tiny pinwheel on the back. You have to do that so that all the seams lie down flat!

I was just trying to see if I could do them & they were fast & easy.These Were just "test"blocks to see if I could make them easy enough. I sew with Singer Featherweight and I use a 1/4 inch foot on it. The "foot" makes the seams a scant wider than a TRUE 1/4 inch & since I use it so much, I compensate. My strip sets did not measure EXACTLY 4.5 inches. They were more like 4 & 3/8's. So that is the width I sub-cut the strip sets. By looking at the blocks - can you tell I didn't have an EXACT 1/4 inch? I don't think so !!!

Sam

Happy Quilting!

Oh Happy Day ! I have finished 56 of the log cabin blocks! I am so excited. That just leaves another 56 blocks. i have an extrememly horrid habit of making the "body" of a quilt top but never geting around to borders.....matter-of-fact, I have 2 such tops, right now, under my ironing board waiting for borders. After I get the (2) Log Cabin quilts completed they are NEXT. I don't know why I do that????
I plan on machine quilting , at least one of the Log Cabins, with a pantograph called "Autumn Oaks". It's from Willow Leaf Studio & the pantograph has Oak Leaves & Acorns. it's been hugely popular with my long arm customers! I decided that I need to use the pattern for myself.
I'm just excited to have 50% of my blocks DONE.

Tomorrow night I am going to go to the "shop" & load a customer quilt so that Wednesday , while I'm off (off from my real job), I can get 2 customer quilts done.
With the holidays, my car being in the shop, and taking Saturday's off to work on the garage ( my future Long Arm Quilting Studio!!!) I'm pretty backed up.....but 6 quilts is "backed up". Right now it is!
I got a call from a customer last week regarding the quilt that I had quilted for her. I used a pantograph called "Paisley Playtime", again from Wilow Leaf Studios (my favorite shop for pantographs - as you'll notice) she told me that she was VERY pleased with the job that I did for her. I am so glad when i make my customers happy. I like the validation, I guess.
It truly hurts me when I can't make someone happy with the long arm quilting. Or when I've done exactly what they asked & I don't get the reaction from them that I expect. A reaction equal to or greater than the effort I spent on quilting it, I suppose.....It always makes me panic when a customer tells me to pick a pattern for them....that makes me the guilty party if the quilt isn't what they expect....(huge sigh here...)
I guess that's why I am currently sticking to Pantographs. The free hand quilting is a little further awa than I would like it to be, but when I can spend more one-on-one time on the machine without squeezing quilting into ONE day, then I think I can tackle it. I know one thing is for sure, I have filled a sketch book with feathers, they look great on paper, I sure hope they'll look as good on fabric!

Have a good evening!

Sam

Oh Brother

I have 4 brothers. 2 of them older than I am & 2 younger. I have 2 sisters too, one older than I am & one younger. But this post is regarding DB#2. You know? You just have to love brothers. No matter how mad they make you & no matter how dirty a trick they play on you....( I told you that I'd pay for playing that trick on Simple Simon, right? - well it's here) Over 20 years ago...1984 maybe 1986...somewhere in there, my craft-of-choice was making porcelain dolls. I had molds & poured them & had them fired in someone else's kiln. I liked making "baby" dolls. Well , as a JOKE that I don't have enough room to explain, I made & gave one to DB#2. Fast forward to 2008. DB#2 is now married & has 3 children. His middle child is a little girl, and she makes niece #7 for me so she'll be called DN#7 - DB#2 phones me & says that DN#7 wants to ask me a question......DN#7 gets on the phone w/me & askes me ever-so-politely "Aunt M, would you pretty please make a "glass doll" for me like you did for Daddy?" At first I was baffled & didn't understand the question & then it dawned on me what DN#7 was talking about!!!! She was talking about the doll I made 20 years ago! I told DN#7 that I would do what I could & that it's been a long, long time since I made dolls & I sure would try real hard...and to put her Daddy BACK-ON-THE-PHONE !!!!! With no hesitation I have told my brother that my foot will definatley connect with his butt, the very next time I see him.
DB#2 said that every once in a while his DD#1 wants to hold the doll....I informed DB#2 that I don't make dolls anymore & would know where to begin to FIND one....he said I really needed to try hard, as the doll is his & isn't going to give it to DN#7.
Oh boy! Now I am on a quest for the doll. i have a budget, but in order to secure the EXACT SAME doll I think I'm going to have to blow the said budget to get DN#7 the doll. I am afraid to get her a substitute because I would want the exact one, so i am sure she does too.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for the kid! It might not be tomorrow, but I'll send the kid a doll, just like I made for her Daddy.
My brother is SO not nice!

Wish me luck on the doll hunt.

Sam