I are a college graduate

My mother informed me yesterday that I should breathe and relax...and learn how to spell breathe correctly. Jeez, that is what I get for writing a post two seconds before leaving on a road trip. Spell check didn't tell me it was wrong.

I am spending Christmas with my Mom and Ben in Oregon, it's a quick trip since I have to be back to work on Wednesday.

My niece, her boyfriend and their three girls were here Christmas Eve. At one point you could not see the carpet in the living room, there was wrapping paper and gifts everywhere. The girls are ages 3, 4 and 5, so they were very excited about opening presents. Everyone was happy (maybe a few over excited tears) and playing until after midnight.

Christmas day Ben's Mom (90) and her boyfriend (81) came over for dinner. My Mom's neighbor Bill (86) also joined us dinner. They all arrived about 2:00 p.m. and were gone by 4:30 p.m. LOL ,very different party.

I'm using my Mom's computer, none of my pictures are loaded. Since I have to include a picture, this is Miss Hissyface, a.k.a. Smokey, my Mom's cat.

Breath

If you are like me you have been running around the last few days shopping, sewing, cooking, packing and trying to get a million little things done. Please take a minute and breath...relax...

Have a safe Merry Christmas and a health New Year!

I feel better

I haven't fixed the disaster from Friday. But I put together this little Christmas wall hanging today.
I bought the snowman stitchery at a rummage sale, it was in a plain wood frame begging to be made into a little quilt.

I like how this one turned out.

No Pictures

Did I sew last night?

Yes.

Am I going to show you what I made?

No.

Why?

Because it looks yucky.

I made another candle mat, and when I put the binding on it the border bunched. Even the back is bunchy.

Today I pouted about it all day.

Tomorrow I'm going to take it apart.

Friday Night Sew In

I am determine to sew tonight...so I gotta get to it!

This is a fireplace log holder that I stack quilts in, Fred thinks it makes an excellent bed.

Another nice weekend

Karen and I got together Saturday for some fabric shopping and lunch. Karen has kids, I have cats, we have fun trading stories about them, work and life in general. We are two lucky people...

...really, we are lucky. One quilt shop we stopped at was having a holiday open house and I won a door prize raffle.


I got to pick a gift bag of my choice. I didn't open it until after we left the shop. The bag was heavy and I knew it had a ruler in it but I was so surprised on opening it to find a Henry Glass & Co fat quarter bundle of Summertime! Love the fabrics! The ruler is a template ruler to make corner to corner curve squares. I'm not much on curved piecing but I think I'll have to try out this ruler, looks like it would be interesting to use.

The next shop we went to was having an open house also. And had door prizes too. Yup, you guessed right, Karen won! A nice gift certificate which she promptly spent.

Fabric shopping, prizes and friends, nothing could be better.

Had a nice weekend

I did a little bit of sewing this past weekend...somewhere in blogland I saw this candle mat, I remember thinking it would be quick and easy to make. It was. I did quilt-as-you-go construction.
It took longer to pick out the fabric than it did to make it. It's cute, but I don't know if I'm going to make more.

My Mom spent Friday in her jammies sewing all day. She has become addicted to the Bow Tuck tote bags. Here is one she made from some of my stash.

Too cute! I think this is her 5th or 6th bag. She can make them faster than I can.

I'm Thankful

That Obba got to come home today and that his first insulin shot occurred without any incidents.

I'm thankful for the family and friends that were here today. And I'm thankful that all the dishes are finally done.

I hope you all had a bountiful Thanksgiving.

Life is going to get interesting

I finished the second Sudoku Solution wall hanging a few weeks ago. I finally got the binding sewn on this week.

I had a left over block (made it on purpose) so I made a little mat out it. A friend bought the quilt, she is going to give it to her sister as a gift. Although I think she is really tempted to keep it herself.

I spent most of this afternoon at the emergency veterinary clinic ... Obba was diagnosed as diabetic. He has had symptoms for a few weeks but I thought he was just being a picky eater, and I thought it was Fred that was drinking all the water. Today he took a turn, by early afternoon he was not doing very well but he wasn't that bad either. Always the dilemma on the weekend - take him to emergency vet (so expensive) or wait a day and take him to his vet. Luckily I took him to the emergency vet. They ran some blood work and did a urine test. Sugar and ketone were very high. He is staying tonight at the vet's. The doctor just called and told me Obba is doing well, they have already given him a small dose of insulin and his levels are almost normal. He also mentioned Obba was hiding under the blanket...Obba is a bit timid, most people know him as the lump in the middle of my bed.

If you live in the Sacramento / Roseville area of California I strongly recommend Loomis Basin Veterinary Clinic. Everyone there is so caring and professional.

Life will be interesting for both Obba and I as we learn how to deal with insulin shots twice a day. My neighbor, who has been through this with two of her cats, has already been very helpful and informative, she also warned me that today will not be last trip to the emergency vets.

I'm Back

Did you know I was gone? I went to visit my Mom in Oregon for a week. It was her birthday and we had a party.

Mom was the Birthday Princess for the day. Well maybe the upside down Birthday Princess for the day. My aunts from Idaho were there and my niece and grand-niece. It was so nice to see everyone.

The trip was great, no bad weather, and a wonderful visit with my Mom and family.

I had a request to show the whole yellow brick quilt, so here it is...you can see my pieced corners a little bit better in this picture.

I had a few blocks left over so last night I made up some table toppers.

Notice the border fabric on the table toppers...it was suppose to be the binding on the yellow brick quilt. This is the second time this year I've used fabric that was targeted for something else. Now I don't have enough of it for the binding. Jeez, I can't believe I did it again. I do have a "second best" fabric that will work.

This and That and Not Much

Last weekend I visited Stephanie. We both got a lot of sewing done in one afternoon/evening. I could kick myself for not taking a picture of the quilt Stephanie was working on, so beautiful! I think the pattern is called Shadow Box, she reversed the colors and "shadowed" the boxes with a light cream color then framed it in a brown. It was very dramatic looking.

I also quilted my latest Sudoku Solution wall hanging - no pictures yet, still need to put the binding on it.

I FINALLY got the borders on the yellow brick quilt. I didn't have enough of the border fabric so I pieced two corners.

I think the borders really toned down the yellow solid. Although you can't tell from this picture since EVERYTHING looks yellow. I really need to take pictures during the day.

This is a quick little mat I made recently.

One of my coworkers gave me the little cats. Each one is playing with a ladybug.

Whoo Hoo Part 2

I won second prize at Carol's Crafty Creations. Looks like a first prize to me.

Don't you think this would be really cute in wool? Hmmmm, I think I have a few Fall color wools. I tried to talk Carol into adding Buster in the envelope but he was too busy modeling with another one of her beautiful quilts.

My favorite quilt at the show was a vintage quilt. This is the back...

The front...

And a close up of the blocks.

It is a log cabin star c. 1890.

Whoo Hoo!

I have been one lucky girl lately. I won all of these goodies from Mary of Quilt Hollow's Fall into Fall giveaway. Check out the Quilting Coupon! Are you jealous?

And TWO of Kelly's (I have a Notion) giveaways. These two are perfect together. I had to force myself to put the book down so I could write this post.

Thank you both so much! I have a feeling I'm going to very busy working on these fun projects.

More quilts from the show...

More pictures tomorrow. Did I mention that I took 161 pictures?

Lots of pretty quilts...

I loved the art deco look of this quilt, the colors...

and the quilting! Metallic threads and beads!

The lines of the quilting emphasize the lines of the design. I drooled all over this quilt, it really wanted to come home with me.

Isn't this just the cutest quilt! It wasn't very big and it was hanging way up high. I think it was called The Kiss. It just makes me smile every time I look at it.

More quilts...

I took a picture of this quilt thinking it was machine quilted designs using colorful threads. Then the white glove docent asked if I'd like her to hold the back up to the front so I could take a picture of the front and back together.

I was taking a picture of the back. This is the front. Beautiful applique work.

Do you have a bunch of doilies started but never finished? I do. A friend's grandmother-in-law was a crocheter, she knew I liked hand made doilies and table clothes so she gave me a handful of them. Now I have a idea of what I can make with them...

Not the best picture, but I love the idea. There may be a flower arrangement in my future.

Stay tuned...I have more pictures to show.

Busy Weekend

Lots going on this weekend.

Friday was Friday Night Sew In. The only thing I worked on was a glass of wine.

Saturday was the Pacific International Quilt Festival. I shopped, I took pictures of quilts, I took more pictures of quilts then I shopped some more. My poor feet and back. I really did take a lot of quilt pictures, mostly to capture the quilting on them. So many beautiful quilts, there are some incredibly talented people out there and I'm go glad they shared their talent at the show.

I'll share more of the photo I took over this week but I thought I'd start with this quilt.

Beautiful feathered stars framed by a bazillion (I counted) little half square triangles

And the quilting! OMG! I thought this was a beautiful quilt with wonderful color placement to start with but it always amazes me how much more the quilting can add to a quilt. So much detail.

I drove to the bay area, spent five hours at the show, had dinner with Stephanie then drove home. It was a very long day. But so worth it. Then when I got home I found out I won four, yes I said FOUR, different giveaways! Wonderful things that I will share with you when I receive them.

Nancy came over to sew on Sunday. She made the binding for this quilt...


... another one of my patterns she borrowed. I love how this quilt turned out, so cheerful and inviting. She also worked on two other quilts (have I ever mentioned how prolific she is?). I got the Sudoku Solution quilt cut out and a little table mat cut out and put together. I'll show it after I get it quilted.

After such an eventful weekend I think I ready to go to work ... on another glass of wine.

Pretty quiet around here.

I had company over the weekend (miss you Mom). Between company and getting ready for company I haven't had any time to sew.

(Blogger turned the photo again.)

A friend has asked me to make another Sudoku Solution wall hanging. It will be a gift for her sister who also likes to work Sudoku puzzles. She picked out the main fabric at the quilt store along with a few fat quarters. We shopped my stash for the rest. I love the main fabric she picked out. It is really tempting to go back to the store and buy ME some.

But I am going to resist.

No, I'm not invoking self control, I have ulterior motives. Next weekend is the Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara. I'm saving my pennies (ha! more like dollars) for the show.

Puzzles

Meet Laci. Jayme found her wandering around the neighborhood this morning. She is not wearing a licence, but she is wearing a name tag with a telephone number. We've left two messages. It's been over 5 hours and nobody has called back to claim her.

She is older, very sweet, very well behaved. Looks like she is part golden retriever and part irish setter.

She really wants to come into the house but my cats are saying "No!" I'm not sure if they know what a dog is.

I really like working Sudoku puzzles. I was working a puzzle online earlier this week and started wondering...Hmmmm...

(blogger turned the photo)

Why couldn't I make a quilt from a Sudoku puzzle? I couldn't think of any reason not too.

This little quilt is the solution to the puzzle I showed above. The light gold is 1, the print is 4, the dark green is 8 and the dark purple is 3. I took me about 10 minutes to solve the puzzle and about 4 hours to make the solution. Wow, I think I actually have a name for one of my quilts - The Solution.

And we're walking...

Not me, it was 97 degrees here today, it's suppose to be 100 tomorrow. What happened to Fall?

I finished another small quilt. I couldn't think of anything interesting to quilt into it, so I just used the walking foot and stitched in the ditch all the seams.

I finished piecing this top over a year ago. I'm determined to get more of my flimsies quilted. Two down, seven more to go (not including the two quilts I'm currently piecing).

Gonna Buy a Lotto Ticket

I won again! Kelly at I Have a Notion had a wonderful time at Checker Distribution's 62 Anniversary Open House and shared all kinds of notions and quilt designers on her blog.

I won a pattern by Far-Flung Quilts, and it is even signed by the designer Carolyn Griffin.

Thank you Kelly!

Friday Night Sew In...

...was a success! I quilted while listen to an audio book.

I finished quilting the scrappy half square flimsy I made a while back.

Siddi is feeling much better. She was very (not) helpful last night while I was working on this quilt. I also got the binding sewn on - I'll do the hand sewing later.

I know I've show the top and back before but I don't think I've shown a finished quilt in ages!

I'm Ready

Tomorrow night is Friday Night Sew In...I'm ready. I'm determined to finish quilting AND putting the binding on one of the quilts I pinned last week.

I bought these at the dollar store (my second favorite store).

They are perfect to store these...

I may need to get more.

Mean Mama, Lucky Mama

The lucky mama won Stitching Lines at Mary's blog Marin & Colusa. I think they are going to very helpful turning this pile of squares into half square triangles.

Thank you Mary!

Poor Siddi, she had a reaction to her shots. She ran a fever most of the day yesterday. To keep her from getting dehydrated, I kept forcing water down her throat. She thought I was a mean mama by the end of the day. She's doing much better today, still quiet and sleeping a lot, but she's drinking water on her own.

Not Happy Campers

She is hiding from me...


He peed on me...

He hissed at me...

This is empty...

We all went to the vet's today. Poor mama, literally and figuratively.