NESTYs - I love it!
That's a great acronym, Doris. One thing about them, though: if you just bought fabric (rather than kits), sometimes the plans just fade away. You wonder, after a few years, why did I think I wanted to do that?
We, too, are having rain in Northern Ontario. I'm longing for sunny fall days.
Hugs to all, Brenda in Nn Ontario
glad to see the BB Chat back up
It was down every time I checked it, last week, so then I fall out of the habit of checking it, and so it goes.
GRACE IN ONT - I'm so sorry about your Mom. I'm sending you (((cyberhugs))) and prayers....
ROSEY - Is Hope feeling better? Diarrhea is not fun, even sloppy isn't fun, especially with a hairy breed dog that has petticoats back there. Ugh.....
RAIN - I am officially sick of rain. At our house, I collected nine inches of rain in the gauge during the month of September. Eight of those came over a period of eleven days. It's been raining again since Sunday, not much, but it's gray, cloudy, misty type stuff, sort of like the UK and Ireland. (been there, know what it's like. Ack) The weather is cooling off, autumn is here, and our blood is too thin and not ready for cold weather. Soon the leaves will start turning, and it will be fun to see if we have a riot of color, thanks to having sufficient rain this past summer.
I'm finally motivated to finish a quilt I started at an AQS workshop, four or five years ago. 'bout time, eh?
And I learned a new acronym. We all know what UFOs are, but we all have some NESTYs:
Not
Even
STarted
Yet. Guilty as charged. I have three quilt kits (kits! mind you) that are aging in my stash closet, plus fabric bought & washed for another quilt. Ugh . . . I have more NESTYs than UFOs.
Hugs to everyone~!
Grace
My condolences to you and your family.....it is difficult no matter what our age to go through this loss.
Heather
Condolences, Grace
I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Grace. Christmases, times of celebration, nothing is the same without our parents in our lives no matter how old we are, ourselves.
Rosey
For Grace
Condolences and warm hugs to you, Grace. It is hard to lose your mom no matter how old or out-of-it she is. My mom died last November, and it was so strange at Christmas and Mother's Day to realize afresh that she isn't here any more. I had problems with my mom in adulthood, but I remember that she was the first person who loved me and who taught me about the world. Even when she was suffering from dementia and severe emotional problems, she would often become the mother I remembered - just for a few moments - if she realized I was upset or sad. I think I concentrate more on my relationship with my own children now because I realize how important I am to them.
Brenda in Nn Ontario
There is no more
Hi all,
Been awhile since I was here. Have not checked the posts yet but will later.
You know how we at one time or another received that poem,"There is no more".
Well it really hit home this morning while I was in the shower. I always read the poem and thought I understood the words. So much for that.
Tow weekends ago my DM passed away and even though she has not sort of been alert for the last 18 months, funny how you always sort of hope. You may not realize it as hope and maybe it isn't.
DM has not even been up to visiting in my home even for the last 12 years , but this morning it hit me "there is no more" Guess that as long as she was alive I maybe figured maybe some day, even though my head knew it was not possible, I guess the heart does not give up so easy.
She will never she how we fixed up the renovations or my quilting, as she was the first person to get me started. Even though she herself did not quilt, it was fun getting started with her.
Kind of tough.
gotta go now. have a great day all, just wanted you to know I am still around.
Grace in On
My sister's stash
Hello,
My sister recently passed away after battling lung cancer for two years. Her daughter is keeping most of my sister's stash but has requested that I share some with other quilters. I've got various pieces of cotton, some fabrics that might work for applique, small pieces for scrap or applique, etc. If you could use a bit of fabric for charity projects please contact me direct at
dolphinquilter at
hotmail dot com
Raeann in Missouri - I tried to contact you direct but the email I have is no longer in service. If you'd like some of this fabric, please contact me. Thanks. :-)
Hugz, Mary in Oregon
The Croc Hunter
Does anyone else get big "croc" eyes when they see Steve Irwin on Animal Planet.
It's still so hard to see him there on the screen.
I came home for lunch & there he was, his sweet handsome face, his irresistible accent &
his undying convictions! Centainly harder for me to except than the loss of MJ, sorry!
Old houses, rainy days and a gorgeous quilt
Heather, I know how you feel. The house we bought here in the Soo is over 100 years old, and there have been a few surprises, although not as scary as yours. Luckily, some electrical work had been done before we bought it, and we had an electrical inspection done. It amazes me how many outlets in different parts of the house were put on one circuit.
Laura, the quilt you posted the other day is lovely. I especially like the border fabric. I'm plugging away very slowly at my UFO's and am looking forward to the day when I finish something!!
We are having rainy, rainy days with more to come. When I lived in Manitouwadge, I knew that whatever weather Thunder Bay had we would get in a day or so. Now TB's weather passes north of us most of the time, and I haven't figured out where ours comes from. I think living along Lake Superior and the St. Mary's River where it flows into Lake Huron affects our weather a lot. I do like the fact that up to yesterday, there were still flowers blooming in some spots. We've only had a couple of frosts - very different from up north, although not in Sara's league!
Today we are having the big celebration of DD#2's 33rd birthday which was on the 1st. I'm going to see what it's like trying to feed 16 people in this little house. It may be the first and last time. I'm doing a non-knife-and-fork meal so people can sit anywhere. There will be 3 babies under 5 months old, so I'm hoping they will charm everyone so much that they won't mind the limited space. Wish me luck.
It's great to see everyone posting. Keep it up! Hugs to all.
Brenda in Nn Ontario
Sunday morning
and we are sitting at 6+ Celsius....I think that is around 40 or 42 F......high won't be much more than 10 or 11 and it is very damp with rain this morning....I need to be out planting tulips and daffodils but maybe tomorrow. We do have a dryer day predicted for then but the rest of the week is rain and more rain and then the dreaded "S" word predicted for the long weekend along with the rain.....the white stuff won't stay this go round and won't be the pretty white fluffy flakes, it will just add to the mud.
Sara , what a lovely way tao celebrate your Grandson's 13th birthday, I have a hard time imagining where the time has gone already and my two DGS are only 19months and 6 months. And the initial ultrasound for DS#3 and his girlfriend show a strong heartbeat and we will wait for the next one in a couple of months.....DS wants to know if it will be a girl or boy because he is only painting the bedroom once ! I guess a neutral shade isn't in the works at this point. We just pray for a healthy grandchild in late spring !
How does something so simple turn into a probably expensive repair ? Forturnately we are looking at this as being very lucky that there had been no emergency because of it. Yesterday was the day to change the old fan light fixture in our bedroom. But during the process we found old wiring and wrong connections and live wires...yikes.....and we have run that fan almost daily, turns out there is something wrong on that whole circuit because 1/2 my sewing room, all of the back bedroom where the DGS sleeps and 1/2 the master bedroom is on this circuit and when the fan was taken down it blew the power on these areas.....seems like the boxes are even live, so we shut down that whole area's power and will wait for the electrician to come on Monday rather than pay extreme rates on the weekend.....hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow and therefore safe.
Both our fathers were electricians and we have a more than healthy respect for these things.
Off to work on the sleeves for the last pumpkin face sweater......now it seems that hats will be necessary......BIG SIGH !!!
Heather
Questions for dog training
Hi, I've been awake since 5 AM when the dogs decided they both wanted to be on the bed, and next to me.
Any dog owners/lovers out there with tricks of how to keep the dogs off the bed, without the crying, wimpering that goes on when they are in the kennel? I put Dog #2 in kennel at night, with her bed and cookie, and she loves it until some ungodly time in the AM, 2:00, 3:00, whatever, so DH lets her out and up on the bed. The other dog has been happy sleeping under the bed, then decides she wants to be up there, next to me too.
Enough!
I would have them both in the same or seperate kennels (travel crates) in the laundry room with the door shut from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. DH is the real problem.
We just bought a new mattress and box springs last week. It had been years since I had a good night's sleep, thought it was age-related. Turns out we just had a worn out bed. I'm not happy about sharing it with 2 dogs. It would be OK if they stayed down at our feet, but they both want to be next to "Mom". Maybe I smell sweet or something.
I'll gladly entertain suggestions and ideas.
Today is going to be a long one. Church, then we had promissed DGS #3 that we would take him to football game today at 1:00. DGS #1 turns 13 today. Where does the time fly to? I remember being in the hospital seeing him on the warming tray, looking at him through the glass. After about 24 hrs. of labor DD had a C section. It was a long night/day until he decided to arrive.
OK, off to start the day. Coffee is calling my name.
P.S. to our Canadian sisters--supposed to be sunny and about 85 by kick off time at 1:00.
Sara in Fla.
A successful retreat...and I got a bit long-winded.
Rosey wrote a few days back that when she was in Minneapolis/St. Paul she "visited the most wonderful quilt shop, with Pat Cox, that overlooked a lake north and west," and wondered if it was the same place where I was going to a retreat. Nope. Sandi Irish would probably know which place you are referring to. I live a short two hours from the twin cities and the retreat center I went to is in Sleepy Eye. I really got a lot accomplished in two days! And, I didn't even spend the night because I had another commitment on Thurs evening. The projects I took with me all needed only a few hours of work - sewing on the bindings, a bit more machine quilting, the last border added, etc. One example. When my daughter was three I bought a precut fan quilt at a Crazy Days sale. At the time I said "This will be great when she leaves for college" because I figured it would take me that long. "How old is she?" you ask. Three months short of 18.... I finished the top a l-o-n-g time ago, had it machined quilted at least two years ago and only needed to do the binding. Most of them were not what you would call real "beauties" or I probably would have finished them sooner!
Our guild challenge this year is to finish up some old projects, which is what prompted me to get some of these things done. We are supposed to bring our projects to the Oct or Nov meeting and do a pre-show and tell. The project that I am going to enter in the challenge is actually from a retreat off the board - MN Babes 2000. At that retreat a group of us bought a challenge fabric and were supposed to make blocks for each other that represented our idea of "MN Babes 2000." Anybody remember that? I don't know how many participated but I found about 12 blocks from that swap last week. I think 9, almost 10 years will qualify as an old project. I already know what I am going to do with the blocks--I found a block that is a friendship star with a chain going in both directions (that's probably as clear as mud...) I also have the sashing for the blocks that you guys made for me about two years ago and all the blocks done for a Blooming 9 patch. So those are my top three projects on the "to-do" pile.
I've written a novel here. Better get moving - it is Oktoberfest in New Ulm and we are going to go check out the band playing down town as well as the grape stomp at the local vineyard. Joleen in MN
audio books
This is just a short note to say how much I've enjoyed all the activity. Keep it up!
My commute to TN to teach everyday takes me about 45 minutes each way, and I've gotten in the habit of listening to
audio books. I've found a site called Librivox that has the goal of reading all literature in the public domain onto their site.
http://librivox.org/newcatalog/ The books are read by volunteers. So far I've found books by Alcott, Dickens, Shakespeare, Bronte, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the
Bible,
Peter Pan and
Robinson Crusoe. The only thing that has bothered me so far, other than a rare mispronunciation on the part of one of the volunteers, is that some of the books are read by more than one person. I find it a bit distracting to change readers at the chapter. I put them on my Ipod, but if your computer is in the sewing room, you could easily just play them on your computer. I burnt them onto
CD at first, but I was going
through an immense number of
Cd's. I think I'm going to look for all my childhood favorite books next, such as
Black Beauty.
I've been sick all week with a sinus infection that didn't get cured by the first round of antibiotics. This time it has really knocked me down, and then I got a major
hay fever attack on top of it. I didn't feel as bad as the people with the flu, but I really felt bad for me! I did break down and actually go to the doctor, so I know I really didn't have the flu.
I'm on fall break this week, but I'm going down to Montgomery to spend some time with my parents, so I doubt I'll get any quilting done. Maybe I'll take the apple core quilt pieces with me to slip stitch closed.
The weather, after three solid weeks of rain, has been lovely. I have been too sick to enjoy it. Hopefully it will last a few weeks longer.
Hugs and prayers for all in need.
Laura in Alabma
Wonderful to see so many posts
It really makes my day when I sit down with my first coffee and I can read how you are all doing over there. Love the tales of the dofus, named Rufus. Sorry Jane I think you have a right one there. I just love the eyes, they really show his soul. I always get my groceries in cardboard boxes and give Gus one every couple of days. It takes him that long to tear the box into 50 cent pieces and all we have to do is to throw the bits away. For all he is a right idiot he has never chewed anything in the house, the cat has ruined more than Gus. She chews the edge of desks , tables, shoes, and walls.
Harry is so much better , still has to have his op but in himself he is improving, don't need any more scares like that. He used every machine in the hospital , so has been checked all over. we were so pleased to get him home I wasn't ready to be asked what were my thoughts on resusitation.
Our Cara is now 18 months and is so much fun. She is using a lot of words and can make herself understood very well. As soon as she arrives here she asks me for "cheese please" I have the plastic cheese for her as it is wrapped and she and the dog go outside and eat cheese together. She wanted a banana but decided she was too full so was sitting there trying to wrap the fruit in the skin and was patting it together.She is very good as right from the start her mother if she told her no she meant it so Cara doesn't bother to argue, not yet anyway.
I am still hand sewing the hexagon quilts only 2 more to go . This one is looking good , all flora and fauna of New Zealand on a black background. I am now quilting the hexagons and then can sew them together all 110 of them. Hopefully this Christmas??? Should have been last but I got sidetracked making dolls and clothes for our little one. Such lovely fabrics around and such fun to make the slightly way out things Joanne likes for her ladyship. I have made a pattern for a smocked top and pants but will check it out before I spend a lot of time making it. Jo isn't into frilly clothes and quite frankly Cara is such a tomboy she suits plainer clothes. She went to her first fancy dress last week as a flower, supposed to be a fairy but she didn't suit it. She looked lovely until we saw her wandering out of the house with a vodka bottle under one arm and a sausage stuck in her mouth, very ladylike. We dont drink and fortunately the vodka was empty .When I can work out how I will send you a photo and you will be able to see for yourselves. I can hear more rain coming so had better shut some windows. Hugs to all and take care. Bee in NZ.
No picture
I have no idea where it is. I will try again.
Time to Check in.
Hi all! I am so enjoying all the chatter and catching up here. It is only fair that I also participate . I have been piecing, piecing, piecing and loving it. I made 5 table runners with a Hawaiian theme for the kids for Christmas. I am now making a Christmas themed quilt from a kit my DQF gave me for my birthday in August. When that is done, I will take 5 quilts to my machine quilter - hooray. Recently I designed and pieced a baby quilt from fabrics by a new designer, http://cicadadaydream.blogspot.com/, for Henry Glass. If I am lucky - and not forgetful - I will post a picture.
On a less positive note, I am searching for cause(s) of blood in the urine with the help of my doctors. You know, that one step at a time to eliminate what it is not. If you would be so kind, keep me in your thoughts while we resolve this.
The Culprit
Well, it may have been a dead mouse that seemed to whet Hopee's appetite. Meanwhile, she's embarassed about the business of having poopy drawers and her human mother inspecting her 'deposits' outside. 'Hope'fully she'll be a somewhat improved tomorrow.
Joleen, when my husband was training on his last aircraft...747-400...he trained in St. Paul. I flew there for the first week to get him settled in the Marriott and while there visited the most wonderful quilt shop, with Pat Cox, that overlooked a lake north and west, I think it was, slightly from Minniapolis. Might this be the one? That retreat sounds absolutely perfect with someone else doing the work and meal planning.
It's nice to see so many posters...we all think our lives mightn't interest others yet, going onto the board in the middle of the night last night, it was like walking into a room full of friends.
Rosey
Too soon to think about "S"
It's only Oct. 1st - too soon to think about "S" and all that it brings..... I have a couple of fun days ahead. Our guild has a retreat today and tomorrow at the Schoenstadt Retreat Center about 15 miles from here so as soon as I get my "you know what" in gear I will be going over there. I won't be staying over night this time because I have a Dear Jane class tonight, but do plan to spend the day both Th and Fri. Theresa - who is a lurker - always sets up the retreats for us and does a great job. The center is run by sisters in the Schoestadt order. We set up our machines in a gorgeous big room with a view of a lake, and when it is time to eat one of the sisters announces that the meal is ready. We shut off our machines, walk into the next room, eat, put our plates on a cart when done, and walk back to our machines. Same thing the next meal. Homemade bread, soups, wonderful homecooked meals...we all feel very pampered by the time we leave. Theresa usually lines up several of these retreats a year.
Last weekend was a quilt-filled few days as well. Firefly Quilt Shop in Mankato was part of a 12 shop, 5 state, 3 day, 2 night, 11 meal/snack shop hop. Both of my sisters (IA and MO) drove up and the three of us helped with the food for all three days. What a fun bunch of ladies - and a few gents - came thru the shop over the three days. Turkey supreme, banana bread and apple bars to die for seemed to be the hit for each meal. My DJ class is at that shop tonight so it will be fun to hear the comments about the other shops from the quilters that went out from the Mankato shop. Better get movin' so I can get to the fun.... Joleen in MN
Just for you Sara !
It is 530 am and the temperature is -5 Celsisus and if we are as lucky as yesterday we will get to 11 or 12 + by afternoon, and yes I do have my wool sox out and the extra quilt on the bed now !
