Random Rambles

No pictures to share. I do have one, but I'm sure that no one wants to see the image from the MRI I had done on Friday. That fun trip to Monkey Bizness I took with Grace in April, well I'm suffering the consequences. The very loud pop I heard and searing pain, that was me tearing the cartilage in my knee. Got to visit with an orthopedic specialist this morning who suggested surgery. Me, being stubborn and a chicken, decided to take the route of rehab and a brace to see if that works. The sound of 2 months in an immobilizer brace and 6 months of rehab just didn't sound too appealing. Okay, so I was really thinking, OH NO, how will I get to the cave and sew since it requires descending a flight of stairs. I know, all things are possible. If there's a will there's a way and all those other good cliques.

My fun news is that I met Jacquie from Tallgrass Prairie Studio last night in person. She accompanied me to a fun filled Starlight Quilt guild meeting which consisted of some serious BINGO playing. The winners took home fabulous fabric prizes. I think everyone had a great time even if they didn't win. (I was SOOOO close - I don't think I could make it on the BINGO circuit since I got so excited I kept forgetting to breathe.)

Small World

Well it's Saturday and I begged and pleaded with the munchkin to sleep in this morning. I'm pleased to say SHE DID. I don't know if it happened because of the storms we had last night (lots of booms and cracks) which made her run to our bed or not. Suffice it to say, I got sleep until 10AM. I don't know when the last time that happened. So when Grace announced that she would like to go out for breakfast, I was happy to oblige. We went to Mimi's, which was rather surprisingly good.

After that we made a run to Louisburg to hit Needle Nest. The normal ladies weren't there, but had 2 replacements filling in. The one lady looked very familiar to me so we started chatting - where do you live, do you belong to a guild, all the usual questions. Surprise surprise, it was Sharon from QuiltGranny Shoes. It's funny to me how small this HUGE world really is.

I couldn't contain myself while at Needle Nest and had to purchase a layer cake. I think the end of my garage sale profits finally burnt through my wallet.

Fabriholics Defined and Defended

I don't know how I got here, but this is very funny. Someone actually took the time to put the definition in writing. She also took time to explain a 12 step program, which I think I might need.

Check it out.

http://members.aol.com/denise2734/fabric.htm"target=_blank"

TGIF

I don't know about anyone else, but this was one long week. What's up with that??? Did it seem long because of the upcoming 3 day weekend? Or was it just long because of the new system install at work that didn't go well at all? I don't know. None the less it Friday and I'm OH SO THANKFUL for that.

Big plans? I think we will be eating some BBQ, drinking a few adult beverages and enjoying the company of our friends. Right now I have a houseful playing Wei games. It's funny to hear them all yelling at the TV and game. I'm not a big video game person, so for me it's way more fun to sit and watch and LAUGH loudly.

My hope is to finish one quilt top and get it on the frame over the weekend. I realized that the person I'm making it for has a birthday coming up what sooner than I planned on. Another what's up with that - why do we all wait so incredibly long to make something for someone and the time just keeps creeping up faster than we are prepared for? I chalk it up to my horrible sense of timing. I always think I can get something done in a much shorter time than the average person. I don't know WHY I think that since I always end up giving the handmade gift late. Perfect example is the I SPY baby quilt that still needs to have the binding hand sewn. Took it to the shower, gave it as a gift and then took it back home. I found out the today that the baby decided to go breech, so there is a C-Section scheduled for June 5th at noon. I need to get cracking!!! UGH!

My other goal for the weekend is to try to get all of my patterns, pictures and embroidery designs off the computer that felt the need to bite the dust last night. Hopefully honey can nurse it long enough for me to dump everything to our external drive. Thank goodness Santa brought us a new computer (and laptop) at Christmas.

Guild meeting is Tuesday and I think that I might have a guest joining me. We will be playing fat quarter BINGO. I'm rather excited. If my guest does join me (and you know who your are), I just might have to reveal both of our identities by posting a picture. OH MY GOSH!!!

Well if I don't post over the LONG 3 day weekend, have a great one!!!!

Special Delivery

SPECIAL DELIVERY for Becky from ....


I love going to mailbox when there is a special package in there just for me and especially when it's from Kimberly Jolly.

I saw a book on Stella Bellas blog and it caught my eye. Anything to do with the infamous Jelly Roll will catch my eye. Doesn't take much to capture and addicts attention, you know!

So here's the booty I got in the mail.

17 projects. I'm in Heaven. Here's page 1 to tease you into purchasing the book too.


I had to do a little more shopping while online because I didn't want the book to lonesome all by itself in the mail. Another cool Jelly Roll pattern...

And a pattern for charm squares since I think I'm just as addicted to those as I am Jelly Rolls.


Hopefully with the upcoming holiday I will be able to spend a little time in the "Girl Cave" as it's so fondly referred to by the opposite sex.

MQS Round 2

I have tried for 2 days to get this post out there with pictures. I give up. Click on the link below to see more pictures from the show.

PICTURES

The other night I put the binding on the I SPY quilt in an attempt to have it ready for the shower yesterday. I used fusible thread. Very Interesting. I think I'm going to have to play with it some more to see if I'm a real convert or not. I got it at the Superior Threads booth at MQS.

Well, we are off to the Farmer's Market. I guess there is someone how is selling the infamous (at least to our area) Morel Mushrooms. Hopefully we can find some.

Have a good weekend!!!

MQS 2008 - sneak peek

AWESOME!!!! This was my all time favorite. Makes me smile everytime I look at it. Details regarding the picture to follow tomorrow.

I Spy, MQS and the Kitchen Sink

Tonight's post is about a little bit of everything, thus the kitchen sink reference.

MQS (Machine Quilter's Showcase) starts tomorrow and I can hardly stand it. Decided not to take classes this year. The show itself will be enough for me. I have been saving my pennies, so I'm planning on doing some serious shopping.

I Spy - Completed this evening for a baby shower on Friday. I need to get the binding on and sew it down. Hopefully I can get that done, otherwise I'm going to be huge Indian giver. My friend decided to not find out the sex of the baby. Because of that I couldn't figure out what to make. Finally I Spy came to mind. Scary thing - didn't have to buy any fabric for this one. All of it came from my stash - batting and backing included. I embroidered I SPY on the top, bottom and sides.


Last but not least, Mother's Day. I decided to do one domestic thing and change the sheets on our guest bed. The Munchkin has decided she likes sleeping in there rather than her own bed. I figure if she's sleeping in a bed that isn't mine, I'm good with where ever she picks. Below are pictures of the layers that were removed from the bed. I completely forgot how many quilts I had piled on that bed.

Layer 1:
Made when working at Cloth World. The manager
wanted a quilt made out of chintz (very shiny). For free
fabric, I'm game. The shine disappered after
the first wash.

Layer 2:
First paper pieced quilt. 84 pieces in each block.
Not sure what I was thinking. I also didn't
understand the concept of light, 2 mediums and a dark

Layer #3:
Silly Santas that I bought 10 yards of. I still
have about 4 yards left.

Layer #4:
The lump is the cat who felt the need
to be on the bed as I was trying to take the bed apart.
This quilt was made about 10 years ago. Started out as
a twin and quickly turned into an over sized king.

Tomorrow or Thursday, I will post all the beauties from MQS that I take photos of. OK, maybe not all of them, but quite a few. Until then, sleep tight.

Acronyms

Today I found this list of quilter's acronyms on this blog. I think I could seriously do a post on each one of these acronyms. Hmmm something to think about or fodder for reading, which ever way you want to look at.

FART = Fabric Acquisition Road Trip
FIU = Finish It Up
HSY = Haven’t Started Yet
OBW = one-block wonder
PIGS = projects in grocery sacks
PIPS = projects in process
SABLE = Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy
SEX = Stash Enhancement EXperience (or Expedition)
UFO = UnFinished Object
USO = UnStarted Object
VIP = Very Important Project
WHIMM = Works Hidden In My Mind
WIP = Work in Progress
WIWMI = Wish It Would Make Itself
WOMBAT = Waste of Money, Batting, and Time
WWIT = What Was I Thinking
WISP = Work In Slow Progress
WIVSP= Work In Very Slow Progress

Do you have any to add to the list???

Tomorrow is the big garage sale in our neighborhood and our house. I decided to post some of the items on Craig's List to drum up traffic (to clear the rest of my spectacular goodies). OH MY GOSH. My email exploded overnight. 3 pages of responses. Who knew that a crazy Little Tyke Playhouse would be such a hot commodity. I can only hope that everyone will come and buy everything so I won't have to deal with it on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!

Can't Believe It's Sunday Night

Where did the entire weekend go???? I know that I got things done, but it just doesn't seem like enough.

I did get my messy sewing area cleaned up. I can now see the table where one of my sewing machines sit, so I might be able to do some work this week. I also cleared the cutting table so I can now see the matt, my ruler and the rotary cutter.

This morning I had a friend come over who needed some sewing done. On Friday, she found some sun dress material (already smocked stretchy top - aka from the 70's) that she wanted me to serge up the back for her. I didn't really notice that she had brought in several bags when we headed to the basement. We got all the dresses for her and her 2 girls figured out, when the final bag was opened. This is where I had to chuckle because I knew I was really in for some sewing. My friend had committed to make a fleece blanket for another lady that we work with. The lady has been asking when it would be done, when the reality of it was that it hadn't even been started. So long story short, we threw it on the quilt frame and machine quilted it together with a meandering stitch. Turned out pretty darn cute. My friend was funny because I started the machine up and did the first row just to make sure the thread wasn't going to break. I rolled the fabric and got ready to start the 2nd row. She just kept getting closer and closer to me, knowing I'm one of those crazy people that has space issues. She was definitely in MY space. I stopped the machine and let her take over. She had a great time meandering all over the quilt. There was enough fabric on the top, bottom and sides, that she's just going to trim it down and fold it over the sides to make the binding. After we pulled the masterpiece off the frame she announced that she will coming back again for several Sunday's during the fall to make blankets for Christmas. LOL!

I started cutting out 6" squares today to make an I SPY quilt. I have this idea in my head and hopefully it will turn out like I'm imagining. Hopefully I can get some pictures up of it this week. I need to have it done by the 16th for a baby shower I'm going to. I'm going to do some machine embroidery on it in hopes of drumming up some business.

MQS is coming to Overland Park in 2 weeks. I can hardly wait. I think it's because I missed the show in Chicago last month. I'm hoping to make some money at my garage sale this weekend, so that I have some shopping money.

Garage Sale Season and Glasses

I’m not normally a big garage sale person but this year, for some unknown reason, I’ve decided that maybe if I spend the time to look there might be some treasure that I just can’t live without.

Last weekend I went out on a whim to scour the neighborhood that my in-laws live in since they were having the subdivision sale event. I found a little papazon chair for Grace to use when she’s hanging out in the basement with me. My big purchase for that day - $2.



On the way home from work yesterday I pass a house that always has driveway sales. A very large shelving unit caught my eye, so I made a u-turn and headed back. The shelves are perfect for all my projects and plastic containers.

I have a few projects to finish

Our subdivision is having the annual garage sale event on the 8th, 9th & 10th. At first I didn’t think I would participate, but as usual changed my mind. I’m going to go through some of my stash and see if there’s anything I can part with. I keep telling myself – parting is such sweet sorrow, but then there can be a trip to the store. My organizing and parting projects have created these 2 pictures. I have my work cut out for me this weekend.

There is a table under there somewhere.

Cutting table, I can't find it. Oh brother.

And the last topic - Glasses. Grace was blessed with bad eyesight. I keep thinking, genetics really stink. The pediatric opthamologist said she is very farsighted and halfed the prescription because it's so strong. We go back for another visit in December. Had to share this funny picture of here at the eye doctors office with Miss Liz.