Feeling better

I did go to the doctor.  I guess I bragged too soon about not getting sick once since I announced my retirement. I can't say that anymore.  What I thought was the weather causing me to feel bad turned out to be another bought with bronchitis.  I can't figure out how I got it this time.  I don't remember being around anyone sick lately.  Not even Ladybug.  I got a prescription for antibiotics to help clear it up and I should be my old self again in a couple of days. 

I feel yucky

It's not that I'm really sick-sick,  No fever or anything.  It's either the polution or the pollen, I'm not sure which, that is bothering me.  Sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, coughing, and generally just feeling really tired.  I tried to work on the quilt on the machine but mostly I wanted to go back to bed and sleep.  I did get the outside borders quilted.  I't going to take another day to rest.  We have rain today so it should clear up the air.  If I don't feel better tomorrow I'm going to the doctor.

Still here

I've been at the quilting machine working on the current quilt.  It's taking quite a bit of time to complete.  I work until it get's too hot in the studio then I go do something else.  I've been working on the cardboard breakfast bar and posting the steps on the cardboard blog.  Yes, I know it still looks like just a box but that will change. 

I've had to deal with some paperwork, paying bills, filling out entry forms, signing papers for my mother, and stuff like that.  I did have a visitor yesterday for a little while.  Of course the first thing she did was check out the cardboard furniture stuff and the quilts hanging on the design walls.   

When she first saw me she gave me a really great hug.  She takes after her Uncle Jimmy in that way.  He gives really great hugs too.  Not that the others don't give good hugs..... hmm... how to describe it.  Some people have a special way of giving hugs that are from deep inside themselves and you can feel it.  In my opinin, a hug is more precious than diamonds.  I just wish I lived close enough to the other grands to get hugs from them every few days too..... sigh. 

I'm hoping I can finish the current quilt today before it gets really hot again so I'm headed to the studio now. 

Another snowy weekend

Like many places, we got more snow over the weekend. It used to be that a snowy weekend meant I would be quilting away and getting lots done because I couldn't get out. Not anymore. I'm still getting used to having a toddler follow my every move and wanting to get into everything. These days, snowy weekends mean lots of playtime with Ladybug. Gosh, I sure will miss her when they move into their new house.... whenever they find the right one.

Ladybug had her very first snow outing. She's never been allowed to get into the snow before so the experience was pretty exciting. At first she didn't know quite what to think about actually walking in it. Then she discovered it was like lots and lots of ice.... she's crazy about ice chips in a cup. She wanted to eat it but the Mommie said no.



When the mommie thought she was cold enough and should come in to get warmed up.... Ladybug had a fit! A full out two year old's tantrum. She didn't want to leave the snow fun. Mommie had to struggle just to get Ladybug's coat off so we could give her hot chocolate to warm up. I guess Ladybug will become a snow bunny when she's older.

Today, hopefully, I'll get some quilting stuff done. The daycare is open and the Mommie could get to work safely. I do have the next quilt on the machine. I should be able to get it stabilized and ready for the quilting. The day seems so short when there are so many things to accomplish.

Media's big boo boo

I'm still laughing. I think it's hilarious!

When it was first announced that a woman had given birth to 8 babies; the media went on a frenzy to find out more about her..... even though she wished to remain anonymous. There were all kinds of questions about the morality of invetro firtilization for a woman who already had 6 children. Especially for a single, unemployed woman.

When the media was asking all kinds of questions of the doctors about the morality of giving a woman with children more babies by the invetro method.... I kept thinking why should they care how many babies this woman wanted. How she chooses to get pregnant is her choice.... not the doctors. No one in the media ever questions the right of the Duggers to keep having more children. Not one person in the media ever asked Mr and Mrs Dugger..... don't you think 18 is enough? No! Instead the media invites the Duggers to be on their tv show with all of their children. The media celebrates the fact that Mrs Dugger is expecting baby number 19.

The media kept asking..... how will this new mother of 8 support 14 kids if she is unemployed and single. So exactly when did the dictionary meaning of the words..... single and unemployed..... come to mean..... poor, uneducated, and on welfare? Yes, I know in society this is the way people view a single unemployed mothers with lots of children these days. But why should it be this way?

The hilarious part is that the woman is not an uneducated welfare mother. The reporters had it all wrong. She is single because she and the babies' father chose not to get married. Lots and lots of couples choose not to marry and still have children together. Hundreds of thousands of people have been layed off lately which means they are now unemployed.... am I right? Being unemployed doesn't automatically mean a person is signing up for welfare or that they have never gotten an education does it?

The media kept asking the doctors why a selective abortion wasn't done to get rid of some of the babies instead of letting her have eight? Well, not everyone is in favor of abortions. That's why we have the big debate over whether a woman has a right to choose isn't it? So where are the right to life people now? Why aren't they in the media defending this woman's choice not to selectively abort?

Yes, I'm still laughing at the big boo boo of the media. This woman is not poor and on welfare nor is the father poor. They both have the financial means to support the children. This woman has chosen to be a stay at home mother. And why shouldn't she be allowed to make this choice like everyone else? Many women have chosen to be stay at home mothers and no one ever questions their choice. This woman is not uneducated. She is attending college and working toward getting her PHD.

If the media got this story so very wrong.... isn't it possible they are wrong about other things too? I don't think I will look at the news in quite the same way any more.

Oh, and before I forget.... I'm still working on the next quilt.

I need to pay attention!

Snow? We were supposed to get snow? I didn't know that. I woke up to snow on the ground. That's what happens when I don't pay attention. I have become so focused on deadlines that I forget to pay attention to the world around me.



Saturday when I was working on the returned quilt.... I ran out of thread. Guess what? I didn't have another cone. Geeze! Another one of those didn't pay attention things. So I have to take that one off the machine and wait until I can get a ride to buy more thread. My daughter was working the weekend so she couldn't take me.

I can't let my machine just sit idle..... can't earn a living that way.... so the returned quilt came off the machine and this one went on. Did I tell you I love my zipper leaders? This quilt is an easy one. It will balance my time between a difficult quilt and an easy one.

It got the circle lord fan design..... which is quick and easy.

I finished that quilt early; but, not early enough to work on another one. So I started looking for a paper document I really needed. I realized that my papers have gotten totally out of order. If there was a disaster and I should have to evacuate on a moments notice; I would be in big trouble. No way could I grab the right papers to take with me. Also, if something should happen to me and my daughter had to take over for me..... she couldn't do it. She wouldn't know where anything legal is kept. Well I started sorting and filing and came up with some ideas to file papers. I put a post about it on my other blog. Here's a picture of the start. It's not a lot but anything is better than what I was doing.

Yesterday my brother took me to the fabric store to get the cone of thread I needed. Today I will get the returned quilt finished and shipped out. This past weekend has been a wake up call for me. I need more organization in my life! I've stayed too focused on quilts while everything around me has gotten totally out of control. That's just not me. I'm usually really organized and a whirl wind of activity.

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I have carry over December quilts that still need doing. I have January quilts waiting. I have February quilts here already that somehow now have January deadlines. How did that happen? I guess I didn't pay attention..... again. Obama says this is the year of change.... well it's a year of change for me too.

Today is my birthday

My daughter asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. My response was nothing.... absolutely nothing. She didn't believe me but it's true. I just want to have my last day of staycation to do nothing but rest.

So that's just what I'm going to do today...... lay around in the bed and rest.

Updates

Ms. Bunny has been moved to a psychiatric facility to stay for awhile. She has always known she has cickle cell and that it caused her pain along with many hospital stays. She is now realizing the implications of what her life will be as she grows up. She's having a hard time mentally absorbing these things at only 6 years old. The doctors there are better equipped to help her understand it all.

SIL is still waiting to have her arm set. She has to be off her blood thinner for a few days before they can do surgery. It's broke in 4 places. She will have screws put in to hold the bones together.

My daughter has a rental car and an attorney to help her deal with the insurance companies. Neither her's nor his insurance were offering her the full value of her car which meant she couldn't get a replacement car without making payments. She doesn't want anything more than enough money to own a car without any payments due on it. This is only fair since her car was completely paid for.

My own update? Hmmm..... I tried to learn to use photoshop so I could start doing some portrait quilts. The version I bought didn't come with a book of instructions. It requires logging onto the website to read and learn. My brain wasn't willing to absorb the information so I'll leave that for later. I worked on my guild challenge quilt a bit then decided that's not what I wanted to do. I couldn't concentrate.

When my quilting brain is on overload and desparately needs a rest; I change to doing plenty of physical activities. I won't bore you with before and after pictures but I scrubbed and cleaned the bathroom. Including all the woodwork, tile, and walls. The physical activity left my body suffering from aches in muscles I forgot I had. That's a good thing though. My creative mind is starting to come alive again. Toward the end of the day my mind was coming up with ideas for the quilts that are waiting.

Today I'll start scrubbing the kitchen.

Yesterday was another one of those days.

A day when you just want to rewind and start it all over. You know what I mean? I type talked yesterday that I was supposed to be going shopping for things to stash away for next xmas. Not long after my post I received a phone call that my SIL had fallen the night before and broken her wrist in 4 places. She was in the hospital to have surgery to have it set.

I also forgot to mention in my last post that my daughter was on her way to visit Ms Bunny at the hospital when she was hit by a drunk driver Christmas night. She was t-boned on the driver's side. She's going to be fine but the car isn't. It's a total loss. The baby was at home with daddy.

So instead of shopping as I had planned; yesterday was a day of waiting on phone calls, cleaning house, planning, making notes, and evaluating goals for 2009. Today will be more of the same.

Christmas is still waiting.


First thing Christmas morning my six year old grandaughter, Ms. Bunny as I call her, asked to be taken back to the hospital. She didn't want to open gifts to see what Santa brought. She just wanted to go to the hospital to stop the pain. She has sickle cell. She was in the hospital earlier this week but was sent home to have Christmas. It's very sad to see a child so sick. Her gifts will wait until she is back home again.

I gotta tell you a story about one of her gifts. On the day after last Christmas I went shopping to find bargains. Lots of great bargains are found the day after Christmas. That's the time when I start getting things together for birthdays through the year and the following year's Christmas presents.

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I found gifts for several of the grands. I happened to find a couple of Bratz dolls at 75% off for Ms. Bunny. I bought them hoping Ms. Bunny would like that kind of doll. She had never indicated to me that she did so it was a gamble. When Ms. Bunny came to see me a few days ago, after her last hospital stay, I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her. To my pleasant surprize she said she wanted a Bratz doll. Well there will be two Bratz dolls waiting for her.

While the parents took Ms. Bunny to the hospital, I stayed with Ladybug and cooked dinner. She loved her gifts too. Her's were not wrapped.

I helped unpack some things for my daughter while she was gone. She's still unpacking from her recent move to a bigger apartment. I kept the boxes to use in some of my cardboard crafts when I get around to doing more of them.

Today is another big shopping day. Time to find bargains for birthdays and next year's Christmas again. Actually, today is the day I take my SIL for her grocery shopping so it works out for me too. We plan to go to several different stores. It's probably going to be a very long, busy day. But wow.... who doesn't like finding bargains?

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I do hope that all my blog readers had a very pleasant Christmas and that you got all your heart desired!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!


I finished the baby quilt so I took it with me to visit the nursing home. Mom was delighted to see it finished. Today was the family Christmas get together. Lots of people making the patients very happy. I was allowed to take pictures but I'm not allowed to show them publicly. So here is Mom with her Santa's helper hat on.


Here's the finished quilt ready to be bound then wrapped.

Primitive applique gingerbread man and flowers. Can you see the message written? It says for Ellisa Jewell. In another block I wrote from her Na Na and great Na Na.

I did simple quilting so I could finish it quickly.

It's hard to see but I did meander in the background of the blocks and a leafy design on the sashing. Both very quick to do.

Here's a view from the back.

I don't think I told you that in my family it's a tradition for all the women still living that are a direct line (to the child born) would put some work into one quilt for the child. Mother, grandmother, great grandmother etc. My daughter still has to put her part into the quilt. She's going to write a poem on the back with pigma pen and then draw some flowers or something around it. My daughter won't sew anything no matter how hard I try to get her to. She hates it.

I'm glad the tradition is to continue. Now I have to figure out what I can get Mom to do for a quilt for my newest great-grand. She can't sew anymore but maybe she can draw on some fabric. Hmmm..... I wonder where I stashed my fabric crayons? I'm sure I have some here somewhere.

I will resist! I will resist!

I will resist the temptation to start quilting for customers another three days!

I received these by UPS and it was a big temptation to open the boxes to get started on the 2009 quilting. I resisted though so I can relax until Christmas is over. If I open the boxes and put one on the machine I will be tempted to stay home instead of visiting with family. Actually, my first priority will be to complete the quilts my customers were kind enough to let me move to after Christmas. The boxes won't be opened until those are done.



Today I'm working on completing a quilt for my youngest grandaughter. My mother made the blocks many years ago when she was in the first nursing home. She did the best she could to do applique. The blocks were intended for my daughter's first child when ever that might be. When my daughter became pregnant I pulled out the blocks and finished the top. A crib size. My grandaughter will be a year old in February so I think it best if I get this one finally finished.

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Its amazing how many machine quilters will set aside their own projects in favor of making our customers happy. I'm probably more guilty of this than most. Which is why I plan to change things this year. I believe I planned to change it last year, and the year before that, and the year before. This year I have much more determination but we shall see how the new year turns out.

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This evening I will visit my mother at the nursing home. I hope to show her the finished quilt so I best get in the studio and do the quilting.

What does a machine quilter do when the rush, rush, rush of the Christmas season has ended and she's not quite ready to hurry into organizing and cleaning? When she's not quite ready to do anything except relax for a day or two?

Well she puts together some of the organizing items and just takes it slow and easy. My thoughts are coming up with a plan of action for when the cleaning and organizing does begin.

I started with this cabinet. It's replacing the white cabinets I used in the kitchen last year. They were much too small for what I wanted them to hold. This one is much larger and is just right for holding canned goods. Well duh Anita.... this one is made for holding groceries and the white cabinets weren't.



Of course it comes in pieces that must be put together.

There are always a zillion little plastic pieces too.

In the end, it all comes together nicely. I still need to put the shelves inside; but, at the moment I'm deciding how far apart they should be placed. I feel the investment of $100 was worth it.

I really like the new size! I think I'm going to maybe get another one if I need the extra space. I'll use this one for awhile before deciding.

After an hour of putting that together and a whole day left; I try to think of something else to fill my lazy day. Lazy because I want it relxed and without any deadline to finish anything.

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I think to myself..... now how can I do a better job of organizing the can goods within the cabinet? Rotating the oldest cans to the front and the newest ones to the back is always a hassle.

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I also think to myself.... I don't want to put a lot of money into any cabinet organizing system just yet. I want to see what works and what doesn't before investing any more money. So I take this.....

and create these. TA DA!

These work just like the soda can organizers made for the refrigerator. The newest cans go in the top and the oldest ones come out the bottom. No more hassle of rotating cans when I shop for groceries. I'll paint them after I've made enough to fill the cabinet and see if they are sturdy enough to last a while. If... after I make several of these and find I still need more storage space; I will know I need another cabinet.

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So what will I do today? I'm still not ready to start cleaning and organizing. I want at least one more day of no deadlines!

I think I'm having a bad hair day. (Don King style)





To get the full impact you should click on the picture to make it larger.

Yesterday the UPS man brought me a package. Very strange. I'm thinking a customer sent me a late quilt for Christmas or else an early January one. I couldn't imagine who it could be. I didn't recognize the return address and the box was really different than any I'd ever received before.

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I open it to find fresh fruit! OH WOW! First I have to get rid of all those plastic peanuts.





Here they are.... fresh apples!




These are not just apples, they are antique varieties. Some dating back to 1600's. There was instruction sheets in the box telling me not to remove the apples until I had read the pages. It's quite a history lesson about apples and Johnny Appleseed and all the different varieties in the box. They come from Kilcherman's Christmas Cove Farm in Michigan.

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Now I'm wondering how I can save the seeds and plant them some place for the future. I can't plant that many trees in a tiny city yard. Hmmm... maybe just one or two? I did loose the crab apple tree that the city planted in the street easeway. It was taken down in a storm. Maybe I can put one there and one in the back yard? I'm going to save all the seeds to see if I can get them to grow. In the mean time I'm going to enjoy eating all the different varieties to see which one I like the best.

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Thank you Ann, I love it!!!!!

The latest quilt is on the machine. I hope to finish it sometime today even though I won't be here most of the day.





I was tagged by Linda for a blog award. (click on her name to visit her blog... it's really nice) I hope you forgive me Linda for not tagging others at this time. I will save my tagging for after the xmas rush is over. I'll have more time to play on the computer then. Right now my concentration must be kept for finishing the Christmas quilts.


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This is the first year that I won't be cooking the holiday meal. My daughter's mother in law is providing the thanksgiving meal this year. My daughter is moving to a new apartment over the weekend and then will take over the cooking for holidays. Her first big holiday meal will be Christmas. She's really looking forward to it. I'm so proud of her.

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So a new era has begun in my life. No more big holiday meal cooking at my house.... but I will make things to take to her house. So will the mother in law. Both of us agree it's best to let the young uns take over and we can just enjoy. It certainly takes care of the issue of which in law is going to have them and the grandkids over for each holiday. Both grandmas will go to see the grandkids. Actually, since I'm no longer doing the cooking for holidays I can visit my son's and their families more often.

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The recent passing of my aunt has me thinking of some changes I must now make in my own life. My thoughts have turned to that of my annual re organizing of my house. I no longer need all the stuff I've accumulated. For example, I no longer need a set of dishes for 30 people. So those will be divided and passed along to the kids. There are many other items in my house that can be given to the next generation. The closets and cabinets are stuffed with several things that I will divide and hand down.

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Just the thought of emptying overflowing closets, cabinets, and floorspace is getting me excited to start.

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Ok, I gotta do a little quilting before I get picked up for my visit.

I haven't been quilting the last couple of days due to a death in my family. It was a very special aunt. She took me into her family and cared for me many times when my mother was hospitalized due to her mental illness. Her name was Vondalene (Flener) Hill of Butler County, Kentucky.



This aunt was very dear to my heart. She was married to my mother's brother. They married when she was 15 and he was 16 and they were married for 62 years.


Today at the wake I saw many cousins and relatives I haven't seen in several years because everyone grew up and moved to other places. The funeral is tomorrow so I will be unavailable until Tuesday.



It's been very hard the last couple of days. I will miss her a lot.

I finished another two day quilt.



A different kind of border design.

A feather type design on the blocks.

Curlies on the inside border.

A view of the block from the back.

A view of the border from the back.

I got some disturbing news yesterday afternoon. My nephew's daughter is ten year old and is in Children's Hospital for wanting to commit suicide. Ten year old children aren't supposed to be thinking like that. I'm so thankful she had the good sence to tell someone she wanted to go to the hospital. What's even more disturbing is to hear there is a five year old in the hospital for the same thing. Five years old! Geeze. What is the world coming to when the children think like this??

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Children are supposed to be...... well..... like children. Playing and having fun. They should not be thinking of killing themselves. When my son committed suicide he was fourty years old. Hearing about my grandniece has me thinking of him again. Could I have prevented it if I had known? I have to keep reminding myself..... I can't change the past.... I can only remember, accept, and keep going.

Today I plan to work on an easier quilt. The waiting list is slowly getting shorter. But.... the days remaining till Christmas get shorter too.

Today is my follow up visit with the doctor. I'm sure he will give me the ok to go back to work. I've got the first quilt on the machine so I can start working on it when I get home. Its a t-shirt quilt I pieced before my hospital stay.

Hopefully, finished quilts will start showing up on my blog soon.

I went back to the doctor yesterday. The drain tube is gone. He said it will take several weeks for the knot on my jaw to go completely away. There will be scaring inside too. I have another appointment for next Monday for follow up.

I'm still not able to open my mouth to eat a proper meal. I'm eating what I can get through a straw. Soups and things like that. I can tell from my clothes that I'm loosing weight.... I can afford to loose a few pounds, yea.

My daughter has been here to help with the house cleaning. I don't know what I would do without her. She plans to come back this weekend to clean and maybe help with window plastic. The trees are still green but cold weather is just around the corner.

Today I'm going to do some priority planning and make phone calls. Phone calls here and there are not too tireing. Thank heavens for wonderful customers! Some will be willing to postpone the quilting of their tops until later. This will help me a great deal. My budget is going to be rather tight for awhile but is something I can live with. I've had to get by on a lot less in years past.

Getting the energy upgrades on the house finished is the best thing I've done in years. The insulation still hasn't been done. It's my fault this time. Who knew I would have surgery right when they had planned to come work? So now I have to wait my turn again.

I'm doing a lot of thinking these days. Thinking is easy when I lay around most of the time. January is usually when I do most of my reorganization and goal setting for the new year. I've been thinking of changes to my blogs and to my webshots. I've been thinking of ways I can change my daily routines. I've been thinking of ways to reorganize for better efficiency in almost everything I do. Everything from grocery shopping, to teaching classes, to playing on the internet.

For a long time I've felt as though I were an expert at thrifty living. I mean really, I have gotten by on only $10 a week for groceries for a long, long time. The economy now has me rethinking my ability. The economy has changed lots of things, including what I'm able to buy with $10.

I'm absolutley sure I can be even more thrifty if I work at it. The main thing that I want to do is share what I know with others. To pass along my knowledge while I still can. I'm sure a lot of what I know is also known by many other people who are my age; but, there are young uns out there who have never been taught to be thrifty. I'm hoping the young uns can benefit from what I put into my helpful hints blog.

Ok, now my thoughts are racing again. Images of blog changes are dancing through my head. Maybe I should go make some notes instead of sitting here type-talking. Or start making a few phone calls.

Later........