SEW FREE MONDAY!

As in, "So free to SEW on Monday!" Catchy, non? I think so. I also think this is the first of many such wonderful Mondays! Know why? Because as of this week, I no longer work on Mondays! Hurrah! So (sew) I shall dedicate Mondays to days of quilting and the like! Isn't this absolutely wonderful??? It makes me SMILE!
What a super weekend I've had! It started Saturday morning. Todd chose not to work overtime, but to spend the day with me! Yay! We headed to Madison and the Cracker Barrel there for breakfast. From there we were going to go to Decatur to a quilt shop (don't I have the most wonderful husband?!?), but when I called them, they didn't have what I'd hoped they would have. Seemed a shame to drive all the way out there for something I could get in town, so we headed back to Huntsville and Hancock Fabrics.

It was my lucky day. Hancocks had solid flannel quilt backing - 108" wide. Yay again! When the clerk cut it for me, he commented that it was a new item -- they'd only just put it out within the hour. Wow! While I was there I found some really pretty autumnal fabrics that will make GORGEOUS applique leaves! I'm finally finding my fabric fetish, I think. There were lots of fun Christmas fabrics, too, but I held off! There's time . . . sorta! Are they pretty? They all have sparkle! Here's also the fabrics I got in the mail this week. I love mail ordering!!!



Anyway, from Hancocks we headed home. From there it was a domestic day. We picked the rest of the apples from our trees and then I picked tomatoes and the last of the cucumbers and a couple of cantaloupes, while Todd picked tomatoes and raspberries! He stayed out in the yard, tending to the garden and watering plants and trimming bushes and putting out birdseed. He also re-hung the bird feeder tray outside my yellow room window! I love to watch the birds while I sew! Plus Todd informs me that the squirrels are back -- perhaps they'll find their way to it too!

I high-tailed it into the kitchen and put up stewed tomatoes and green peppers, baked a pan of brownies, baked a raspberry cobbler, and got dinner ready; home made meatball subs, potato wedges, and a recipe from Eating Well magazine that my daughter had recommended to me -- Corn & Tomato Saute. It was really good! We had cobber & vanilla ice cream for dessert. Bliss!

After dinner, we camped out in the living room. Todd was going through his RV helpful hints book, and I was scanning. So many years ago, I got the bright idea to clip articles, ideas, recipes, etc. from magazines and filing them -- so I didn't end up saving a whole magazine for a couple of pages of interest. Great idea, right? Not so much, when you're moving into an RV that has a limited weight capacity, and my 'saved' clippings were already close to 50 pounds! Egads! So *then* I got the bright idea to SCAN all of my clippings, and store them appropriately on my laptop! They'd be a LOT lighter, and a lot easier to access, to boot! So, that's what I did.

And we watched the game. The GAME. The season opener for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Whew! They sure didn't want anyone to get comfortable, did they? What a four quarters! They played Virginia Tech, which is rather funny; my nephew Ben (the B in BBS quilt) is a freshman there. We texted back and forth throughout the game. Happy ending. For our home, anyway!

We topped off Saturday night by retiring to the RV. Yep, we slept out there! It was a good night's sleep. :)

Sunday we headed to church at Lighthouse, came home to eat dinner, headed to WalMart and Tractor & Supply, and spend a quiet evening with Todd playing xbox, and me scanning. And once again, we retired to the RV for the night. I could get used to it! (Ha ha, I know!)

Today finds Todd back on shift and me in the yellow room. Guess what?? I FINISHED IT! I need to square it up, and then it's off to the long-arm quilter!! Whooo whooo!

Now I'm going to finish piecing the gift quilted wall hanging. And some more scanning. Oooh--and probably some more reading. I finished the last of the Mitford series this morning; I'll start the Father Tim series (of which there's only one book right now) next. Lemme see; I think that's it. There's a pot of Constant Comment on the warmer, and a brownie for an afternoon pick-me-up. Life is good.

Sew Free Monday. Amen & amen!

:)

FABRICS . . . YUMMY!

Oh how I love Saturdays! I regret to say that I didn't finish as much on the quilting end as I would have liked, but I *did* have a day of accomplishment, nonetheless!!

I started out this morning by stewing and freezing all the tomatoes Todd had picked from our wonderful garden! I also added some peppers he picked yesterday as well. I was able to put up a couple of quart containers. I put about 3 quarts of tomatoes in brown paper bags, so they could ripen. 'Maters freeze better when they're mostly red!

I also baked and put up some acorn squash that Jeff had brought into work from his garden. I didn't know this, but they have seeds like pumpkins - and you can roast them just the same way! I've got the seeds soaking in salt water for roasting later.

After that, I cleaned up the kitchen, and Kim came over! I wanted to take her to Hooked on Quilting, so she could look at baby fabric with me! I think we decided that we need to wait until we know the baby's sex; especially since she definitely wants to theme the bedroom! Gosh there were lots of beautiful fabrics -- fun and darling and precious and soft. Yay for babies!! Then we headed over to look at the holiday fabrics. Whoa! Kim found some really cute Moda fabric for stockings for James, her and the baby. I found lots of beautiful things, but brought home a sampling of just a few. I also got a Moda panel for a table runner that was *so* cute! It goes with a kit I already have for a wall-hanging. So darling!

I noticed that three of the four fabrics I got today have the glittery gold in them. Really, I don't do it on purpose. I'm *drawn* to it! I do believe I'm becoming a fabric collector. I guess there are worse things! Gotta stock up while I can!

The fourth fabric I got was the chicken coop wire. Isn't that great? Oh, so much fun!

Kim and I had cake, ice cream, chips & dip while we were at the quilt shop. Both the shop owner, Cindy, and Mrs. Martha were there today, so we got chatted up and down both sides! I really do like giving my business to local small business owners. They are personable and remember my name, and that goes a long way with me. And they said sweet things about my Kim. Kim is definitely one of my "joy to love" people.

Finally we were able to head back home. I think Kim went on to do some grocery shopping, and I stayed PUT! :) I finished watching Matilda, then headed for the quilt room. Time passes so quickly when I'm working (on something I truly enjoy)!!! Next thing I know, it's after six! But, much to my delight, I have finished piecing the top of BBS quilt, with the exception of the outer sash! Whoohoo!!! I still have to cut and sew that, and then I can send it off for quilting! What a JOY! I'll post pictures of that later, after batteries are charged. Six sets of batteries, and not a stinking charged set in the bunch!

This was Day 6 of Week 1 of the love Bible study. She asked that I name some folks that I needed God's help in loving. I listed the one name that I knew from the get-go belonged there, but then another name popped into my mind. This was a person I'd thought about all week and how difficult they had been and how hard it was to get near them. BAM! You think I was supposed to make the connection earlier? I am so thankful I serve a patient God. One who waits for me 'get it'. Father, help me to remember Your patience with me the next time I am dealing with someone who's having a hard time 'getting it'. Allow me to think back on this day and how lovingly You waited for me to see it as You wanted me too!

Can you believe that Monday marks the end of August? September and fall are almost here! And tomorrow I'm tackling the chocolate cake!

Sweet dreams!

:)