I'm a Stalker...

OK—I confess… I’m a stalker. Not the people kind… the porch kind. I finished piecing my quilt and set out quilt and camera in hand for a photograph. I always knock first.
No one was home and thought as long as I didn’t photograph a house number what harm could it cause? Fate intervened and of course the homeowners pull into the drive right in the middle of my photo shoot… Lesson learned, I get caught at everything. I better live a clean life. They were real nice people. Told me to take all the photos I wanted, I could even paint the porch if I wanted.

Here are the borders attached to the piece. After it is quilted I’ll show a complete shot. You may notice that the borders are different than the pattern (see previous post). I could tell you that I’m adventuring out on my creativity…. That I was trying to ‘make it my own’. But truth be told… I lost the pattern. I carry patterns with me everywhere I go—Being an Mom that works inside AND outside the home---there’s usually more time to read about quilting than actually doing it. I could have figured it out, but I just didn’t want to use the brainpower necessary to duplicate the pattern details. I kept looking at the pile of scraps left from piecing this quilt…It look like a lot of waste to me. So I opted for making 300 half square triangles from the leftovers and I’m really pleased with the outcome. And I have border fabric leftover now for another project.

It’s 55 degrees today and overcast, but the pups and I have been weeding the garden and with a sweatshirt the temperature is just about perfect….

Until Tomorrow----

Sunday Evening

Sunday Morning sun gave way to cooler temperatures and cloudy skies in the afternoon. Here’s a snapshot I took leaving for church this morning.
Only three kids today, but they got tons of TLC with the small number.
The afternoon nap was a must and then I hit the sewing machine. Here is my progress. The quilt is called Cottage Tapestry by Fig Tree quilts. There’s an eclectic group of fabrics that are completely out of my comfort zone. The shabby chic style fits Chelsey perfectly and it will probably be hung in her room after a brief visit to our back porch. The quilt might have fit better in purchasing a fat quarter bundle of a special grouping but I had fun playing with the random fabric to create the quilt picture. Here’s Chelsey’s favorite block.

Tomorrow the pieced borders will be put together. It was a great quilt to work on matching seams. The instructions were easy to follow. A beginner could knock this one out in no time. I’m even going to attempt the scalloped edging.

Here are flowers on my garden work table. Both kids are on their way home from weekend trips. Even though I don’t have to work tomorrow, I’m going to get up at the regular time to have coffee with Don and see him off to work--- besides I don’t want to waste a minute of this week sleeping.

Gratitudes:
Families, Our Sunday School Lesson
Spaghetti & Meatballs, Homemade
Cooler Temps

It's Raining....

It’s raining—both literally and figuratively. I guess the sign I made fits. For the past three weeks the boss has been telling others I was laid off. He has this plan that everyone in our office takes a week off with unemployment because of the economy. Well, week one went by, and I wasn’t. Oh yeah, I had taken a vacation day and came back and my name was on the payroll girl’s email—I got the cc copy. (I sound bitter, don’t I). Then the rumors went around again on week two and I was still working every day. Week three comes around and I get the notice. It could always be worse. It’s just for a week until the next rotation comes around. I think God was definitely telling me I need to slow down too. The boss said, “It’s nothing personal,” when I asked how much money was the company saving by doing this….But funny, when it’s happening to you—It sure feels personal. I can think of a million things that are going undone --- but someone in the office said… when it’s your turn, you just walk away. It’s not your problem anymore. I’m really trying…..

So, I went home and picked daisies for the table. I love my new paper napkins—a Walmart special. I changed a few quilts around and changed my dishes on my shelf.

I make lists--- Lists for quilts to make, chores to do, gratitudes, reasons not to be angry… I’m a list maker. I’m hoping to post every day I’m off—because I’m going to keep things in perspective.

Quilting has taken a back seat—truthfully… it’s been all the way into the trunk. Summertime, kids being home, family stuff, have all come before the needle and thread. That will change this week. Here is the Basket for April BOM at Country Loft and the March block for Ruby’s Garden. Yeah, I think I’m getting my groove back.

Well, the rain has stopped—both literally and figuratively---I’ve got week off and didn’t have to use vacation time. These two guys are becoming buddies and they are ready for a run….

Gratitudes
my family
summertime
Corn on the Cob—w/lots of butter

Gifts from Tanya

Summer is in full swing with hardly time to stay in and type. I wanted to show the surprise I received from Tanya on Saturday. Handmade gifts from Utah--- there’s fabric, paper, recipe cards, cards for sharing and a handmade box that I’m fighting my daughter for. Thanks again for sharing your talent.

We’ve been working on housebreaking Chelsey’s pup. I don’t know if he’s trained or we are. He is reminding me that puppies are a lot of work. Chelsey’s being really responsible and taking charge of him, but puppies take more that one person – exhausting.

Weather has yet to hit 80 degrees, but the garden seeds are popping out of the ground.

Snowshoeing has been replaced with watering flowers, biking and running Ransom along side of the road as the bugs are real thick in the woods.

Gratitudes:
Quilting friends
Letting go, kind of like being Brave enough to ride the bicycle with no hands---(even for just a few seconds)

My Grandmother's Quilt

I’ve been stressing because I wanted to post about quilting--- and there just hasn’t been a whole lot of that out there. But I realize you have to keep life in prospective and I’ve been doing tons of good stuff and the fabric isn’t going anywhere. All good things in time.
Quilting first off. Don has taken off for a few days to deal with spring home maintenance. The kids brought home college junk and now he has declared part of the basement a fire hazard so he started going through it. This is what he found in a box, one of my Grandmother’s quilts.
Chelsey’s response: “Mom—she picks out better fabrics than you!!!” It needs a little repair, but I’m going to work on it tonight.
It’s hand pieced and hand quilted.
We have a new addition to our family. Chelsey has gotten a pup for her apartment at school. He’s part terrier and part Chiawawa. His name is Bruno because Chelsey says he needs a strong name because he’s a little guy. He’s 4 months old. Ransom is adapting better than we thought. Here’s a photo of them together.
Our robins have flown the nest—Sunday Night. I think they just outgrew the nest and fell out so they had no choice but to fly. Here is the last photo of them together all 4 of them.

Saturday morning Ransom and Bruno found this in the woods. They were barking and Chelsey came to see. There was a Doe behind the garage. Usually they are just as scared of people and run away if you get near. Chels grabbed the pup thinking he’s was going to get stepped on and when she turned her back the doe head-butted her. T he dogs were screaming and she was screaming and I came running out to the porch. First thought—the doe was sick or something. Then I saw something like a cat at her feet. She was protecting her fawn.
We called a DNR friend later in the afternoon because the fawn remained behind the garage and the doe left it. He told us that fawns are born with no scent and since they are too fragile at birth to travel the does keep them in tall grass and come back often to nurse. Sure enough for 48 hours that fawn lay alone with Mom coming back and forth to check on it. We kept the dogs away.. But by Sunday evening he was gone. We’ve never seen anything that close to home.

There are miracles in your life every day--- you just have to find them…