I Going to HOUSTON!!!!

Can't wait. Tickets are purchased, wish list growing in my mind. Nancy and I are meeting in Houston for 3 1/2 days of unadulterated girl time! No one yelling MOM, no work, just fun, quilts and good food.

Lots has gone on at my house since my last post. I got back from the wedding and State Survey walked in to my office (Of course, I had taken the day off and was still in my Pj's when the call came in at 10:30 am. 5 days of hell with them, but a good survey. I even got my test results the day they arrived and I passed my certification exam, so have new letters to put after my name.

Hubby has spent most of the last 5 weeks in Lafayette with ailing aged parents. FIL is 92 and MIL is 84 and has taken to the bed. Then on top of that the IRS decided it was time for us to file our 2004, 2005, 2006 taxes (I know, but there are not enough hours in the day!!) So I had to drag hubby back from Lafayette to do that chore. Trying to keep his ADD self on track was hard. Taxes is what I spent my birthday doing. What fun. Then DH got called back to Lafayette. At that time, I told him to just go get them and bring them here. They evidently can't live alone any longer, so they are with us now. I no longer have a retreat to go to. Hubby still hasn't found anyone to stay with them in the daytime, so he still hasn't gone back to work. He is reluctant to just put them in the nursing home quite yet. I told him we would try it, but if our mental or physical health began to fail, we would have to look for other alternatives. I won't have my WHOLE life upended.

So as you can see, I can't wait for the mental health benefits of a trip to Houston to visit my favorite (okay, only) baby sister.

I'll try to get the camera out later and post my latest sewing. I have done one top and got half of another lap quilt pieced yesterday. I also have my Bento Box cut out and kitted. I got really excited last Monday night because I got to sew for the first time in months. Okay, so what if it was a Sponge Bob Mat cover and Pillow Case for the youngest grandson to start pre-K with, it involved a rotary cutter, needle and thread!

I'll try not to be such a stranger.

My New Fabrics

Nothing quilty going on in this house for the past week. Work was horrendous, and my normally dull social life got busy. Brent and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary last Thursday. On Friday, we attended the 25th wedding anniversary party of friends at a very upscale restaurant in the French Quarter overlooking Jackson Square. On Saturday, we got up, packed a small bag and headed to the camp to fish and try out our new boat. The fishing was great, the quiet and solitude even better. The motor on the boat is headed back to the mechanic, but the trip was successful. We found out the problems with the boat, without getting stranded. We brought home 4 redfish, 10 speckled trout and 4 dozen crabs. So needless to say, we have been eating fresh seafood since Sunday night!

These are the fabrics from my shopping spree week before last at Thousands of Bolts. I have to say the colors were just as I imagined. You never quite know when shopping online, looking at pictures. I have a yard of each, and haven't quite decided what they are going to become, but they well be used together. Quite a change from the browns, beiges and blacks that have attracted me for the past several years.

This weekend I hope to get the rows of the last batch assembled. The rows are completed, I just have to lay them out in the order they are going, and stitch them together. Then I will have 2 tops ready to quilt. The following weekend, I'll be headed north to attend my younger brother's wedding and spend some time with my baby sister - YEAH! We don't get to spend nearly enough face-to-face time with each other. We mostly keep in touch through our blogs, with the RARE phone call. We both spend so much time on the phone at work, that we don't like to talk on one at home. So our calls are special time spend together.

Gotta go back to work. Have to get ahead, so I can take time off next week and not be terribly behind. See ya'll later. Hopefully, with more pictures this weekend.

My Fun Saturday

What a great day! I drove the 50 miles to Baton Rouge to The Quilt Corner for their 3 hours sale. It was a madhouse - people everywhere! Yards and yards and even BOLTS of fabric going out the store. I don't know if Judy is going to treat us as well anytime soon. She was looking pretty frazzled at 11:30 when I got there and ragged when I left at 12:30. These pictures are not very good, I'll try for better pictures and lighting when the one on the left gets constructed - probably next weekend. The top yardage is the backing, the other orange is the binding - both 40% off. The other 12 fabrics were fat quarters - bought BOGO. The orange with blue and purple hearts was the jumping point for all the other fabrics. They all may stay, or if there are some upstairs that fit better, the others will go to stash.

The fat quarters on the right - also bought BOGO - are going to go in a Bento Box that is birthing in my mind. It is going to be black/brown and beiges. MAYBE, a touch of red, but I haven't decided.

The great thing about a gathering of quilters like this is the visiting. Nancy, I thought of you when talking to this older lady. She has 3 machines, each with their own WOP. When she gets bored with one, she move on to another machine. What a GREAT idea.

I have the table cleared to begin quilting the top from last weekend. If I don't start soon, I won't get done this weekend and some of these others are going to have me pulling out the cutting mat and rulers instead. Must stay focused.......

I have SINNED

Nancy, it is all your fault! Looking at all the gorgeous fabrics you have gotten lately, made me hungry. Now, you know when I get TOO hungry I tend to overeat. Other than occasional fat quarters, I don't buy fabric just to buy. I have just left one of your favorite shops, Thousands of Bolts, and have ordered 8 1 yard fabrics in bright green, yellow and blue. I can't wait to get them in my hands. I promise a post as soon at they are in. They are SO far from the colors that I have been drawn to for several years, I cannot wait to see what they turn into. I will have to pull the pattern books out and see what they will create.

Now, I have to try to be good on Saturday. My favorite LQS is having a 40% off sale Saturday morning from 10am to 1 pm. AND serving ice cream sundaes. How much better can it get than that????? And it's 2 for 1 fat quarter Saturday. Add all that together and it makes it worth my while to drive 50 miles one way to go. I'm on call, but got one of my coworkers to cover for me Saturday so I can go (I covered for her Jazz Fest Weekend, so it's payback time for her). Thank goodness, Saturday is only one more day away!!!

Gotta go to bed. I'm on Cheer MOM duty in the morning. The cheerleaders have been teaching a miniclinic for younger girls and I have to volunteer tomorrow at camp. It was fun last year. Soon as that is over, I have to find a fast internet connection and get some billing out by noon for end of month. Then I am going to spend the afternoon with the Princess, before we have to be back at school for the final performance after camp.

Hubby is leaving to visit his Father (he's 92) for Father's day on Saturday morning. That gives me the weekend free and I am going to quilt the top I completed last weekend. Thanks for all the suggestions. I am definitely going to do a cross hatch. I haven't decided yet if it is going to be straight lines or curvy lines. I guess we'll see how it ends up....

See ya'll Saturday with pictures of my day's purchases.

Suggestions for quilting

See previous post. I'm going to try to quilt this one tomorrow. At least get it started. I'm thinking about a diagonal crosshatch instead of stitching in the ditch. What do ya'll think? I am a VERY beginner at machine quilting. Piecing is a piece of cake, since I've been sewing since a child, but the QUILTING is a challenge for me. Or, since this one if for me should I be adventurous and try out an overall meandering stitch?

All suggestions not only welcomed, but needed.

Ready for Quilting!

7:00 PM

Here is my day's work, spray basted and ready for quilting tomorrow. I am pleased with this quilt. THIS IS MINE. My family keeps my house so cold, I will use this to cover my legs when watching TV.

I have also got the placemats cut out. These are the fabrics for them. My everyday dishes are black and white. I might even do a runner to match all the fabrics. I have to thinks about that. The batting is in the dryer being preshrunk, then I will cut them out tonight. Then these are ready for assembly and quilting.

I'm now tired and I have taken a muscle relaxer because my back is screaming at me. Time to eat. See ya'll later.

Update

It is 12:55 pm. All the strip sets are sewn together, recut into 6.5x2.5 strips and are stacked in nice, neat piles. 3 of the six vertical rows are constructed. Time to rest the back a bit. Think I'll visit with some of you and then it's back to the machine.....

Quilt in a Day - I hope

It is Saturday morning and I survived the grueling week. Worked til 7:30 Monday, then had to be up at 5:00 am on Tuesday and Wednesday to drive 1.5 hours to the inservice/test (AND be alert, go figure!). Then back to THAT PLACE Thursday and Friday trying to catch up on two days lost work. Boy, am I glad that is over. I'll find out in 3-4 weeks if I passed the certification exam and can add more initials behind my signature.

Pam asked me what is an OASIS specialist. OASIS is a set of questions that Medicare requires home health agencies to ask certain patients at certain time points in their care. The answers not only determine how much they pay us to care for the patients for the next 60 days, but determine our outcomes of care, i.e. did we do a good job improving the patient's health and functional status. Since our Federal regulations for home health care require that we ensure good data (we answer the questions based on their definitions) and the answers determine our reimbursement for care, acquiring certification as an "expert" is a big deal for our agency and industry, but doesn't mean anything to any other practice of nursing other than home health. Not that I'm downplaying the importance, because it adds credibility to me, personally, and for the agency that I run. For those nurses out there, I guess you can tell I have been a nurse for a LONG time (31 years last month), because I still care for patients NOT clients.

But, enough of that. It is the weekend and I am determined to do what I want to today. The washing machine was fixed Wednesday afternoon, so I guess I'll do a bit of laundry between playing. I didn't sleep well last night and was up at my normal 6 am. I drank my pot of coffee and read my paper front to back - even worked at the crossword puzzle. I'll have to go back to that later when my back needs a rest - I didn't do too well this morning, the brain just wasn't quite into it yet.

I treated myself to a quick trip to my favorite LQS - The Quilt Corner, in Baton Rouge after the exam on Wednesday. I treated myself to 4 quarter yard black and whites to go with a black on black to make placemats this weekend, 2 patterns and 2 spools of thread. Those fabrics are in the washer, ready for the dryer when the current load finishes. I'll post that picture later.

I had pulled fat quarters off the shelf (Nancy you will recognize most of them probably. They probably started on your shelf, or we may have bought them last time I visited) for one of the patterns. NO FABRIC BOUGHT for this lap quilt - all from stash. By 7:30 this morning they were ironed, cut and put together, ready for the machine. I even took the "scraps" and cut 2 1/2 inch strips for the binding, and cut THOSE leftovers into 1 1/2 inch strips to do in a box (Nancy, are you proud of me). Now, I'm really not all that anal, so anything smaller that 1 1/2 inches did go in the trash.

Now, it's time to pick the sewing machine up out of the corner of the dining room where it has resided for the past week and get to sewing. I hope to also get the LAST 2 rows done on the pinwheel quilt and the borders on it this weekend. Only 20 more blocks to construct and sew together. I got the bottom pieced border done last Sunday and on the quilt, so only the top and it is ready for outer borders and quilting. I bought the above pattern, because after that one, I have had enough of triangle to last for a while (other that the Windy Day BOM I'm doing). I NEEDED a quick and easy project - hence this pattern (the other I bought is the Bento Box), and the placemats that are the projects for this weekend.

Progress report later - need to get to that sewing machine - maybe I'll medicate my back before I start....

There's been sewing going on

The washing machine broke on the last load Monday evening, so no laundry going on here this weekend. Hubby kept forgetting to call the repairman, so I guess it's a good thing we both have 2 weeks worth of work clothes!

Since no laundry can be done, might as well sew. I got the second installment of my Windy Day quilt this week, so I came home last night and cut out month one and month 2. The first picture is the blocks from month 2, the second the center of the quilt which has been waiting a month for me to cut out and sew. I have to confess there was as much unsewing on month one and there was sewing. Just couldn't get my head around the directions. But perservere I did, and I love the way it turned out. My son has claimed this one for his double bed. And he is willing to wait a year for the top to be completed. Now I can await delivery of the Civil War Quilt blocks (5 a month). It should be delivered this week. Guess I'll have to catch up on laundry before I can start them.

I did get Baylee's quilt ripped up last weekend. Tomorrow, between housework and rest, I will attempt to correct the spelling of her name and get the top reassembled. I purchased the backing for it last week, so I should complete it next weekend, if I get it reassembled.

The pinwheel quilt I started several months ago got worked on also today. I got all the blocks trimmed and the first top row pinned and ready to rip through the machine. I started to work on it a few minutes ago, but realized my back was screaming at me after sitting at the machine since 9:00 am. So I took some Aleve and decided it was a good time to post.

I'll try to post progress report tomorrow to keep me honest about my work.

This week is going to be a busy one. My nephew who is in the Air Force is finally getting to go home for a short visit before his first assignment. He hasn't been home since he left for basic in December. He graduated from his technical training at Lackland a couple of weeks ago and got his assignment Friday. He got his first choice - Washington, DC. He is flying into New Orleans Monday and headed home to Mississippi on Tuesday or Wednesday. Don't know how long he'll be in before he has to be in DC, but guess I'll find out Monday.

I have a workshop to attend for work on Tuesday and on Wednesday I'll sit the COS-C exam to obtain my certification as an OASIS specialist. Since the company is paying for me to sit the exam, I'll be studying hard this weekend and on Monday and Tuesday nights. Guess I'll have to schedule some study time for tomorrow, cuz I don't see it happening today. This was a "Susan" day.

Hubby should be home from the camp with fresh crabs (YUK) and redfish (YUM) soon. I know what we'll be eating tomorrow and Monday. Crabs on Sunday and redfish on Monday. Guess I'll have to find something else to eat tomorrow. I'll probably fix something no one but me will eat, since that is the only time I get to cook MY favorites (like chicken fried steak, Chicken and dumplings, potatoes and onions....) I'm getting hungry already.

See ya'll tomorrow.

Disappointing Day - Time to Frog Stitch

I THOUGHT I almost had the top finished. This is it laid out on my living room floor! All that was left was to iron the Sunbonnet Sue down and stitch around it! Not really pleased with the borders, but I figured a six year old wouldn't notice.

Hubby walked by and asked who the quilt was for. I told him and he replied, "You mispelled her name! It is Baylee, I made the same mistake and she corrected me!" So I guess, the ripper and I have a date for next weekend. Might as well fix the borders while I am at it. Thought I would be quilting next weekend, but maybe the next one.

Hubby's passing comment ALMOST made me head to the trash with the whole thing: my entire day of sewing, down the tubes! Almost rage at yet another mother who has to make up the spelling of a child's name (the home health agency I run cares for about 60-80 premature infants at any given time, and the spellings of some names make your head spin). Then I did an internet search and find that on the first 3 of 4 sites I visited, the Baylee is an accepted alternate spelling for Bailey - nto that I have ever seen that spelling in almost 51 years. I could feel a MAJOR blue funk coming on. I went and sat outside for a few minutes and realized, I only have to figure out how to make one E. I have all the rest of the letters. Fortunately, Nancy sent me the scraps from the letters, so that should be easy, and I can try to copy her E. And the borders are really not right, and while a six year old might not realize it, I do, and that is not my standard. Mama would never have allowed me to get away with mistakes so obvious.

I think I will do something quick after this. I believe the next thing to do is a set of placemats that have caught my eye. That should appease my need to finish something easily.