What a glorious weekend!

Friday and Saturday, I went to the Jane Bray's home for a LBC women's event. What fun! Friday night was a late night; followed by an early morning back out there! We finished up by 11:30 and I headed home to get ready for our Girl's Night/Baby Shower for Lori. My darling husband had vacuumed, swept and tidied the kitchen, and just generally made the house look nice. *And* he brought flowers for me to arrange and set out! He's ***so*** wonderful!!

We had a fun time Saturday night. I was really pleased that both Joc & Kim were able to be there! We played a baby shower mad libs. Oh my. I think I shredded that sheet when we were finished. I know Joc sure hopes I did!

Folks were out of there by 8:30, and Kim, Joc, Todd & I sat around a talked for a bit. I love my family very much! Joc had met Elaine & Jimbo for lunch in Nashville, and they had sent her back with boxes of school supplies, and a quilt top that my Grandma Wadleigh had started, for me! It's precious -- I'll enjoy finishing it!

Sunday morning, Todd & I headed to Lighthouse. Brother Randy preached a very thought-provoking sermon titled, "Blessed". He used Genesis 1:26-28, Colossians 1:16-23, and Ephesians 1:1-10 to illustrate how blessed we are simply because each one of us was specifically created by God, the Creator. I am divinely designed; with that comes terrific responsibility!

Then Todd & I came home and had dinner and a raspberry cobbler. YUM!!! Then Todd went off on shift, and I finished Twilight and then made the Orange Marmalade Cake (see previous posts).

The weather, too was simply gorgeous! If that was a fall preview, bring it ON!!

Selah!

:)

Oh. My. Goodness.

And I've not even tasted of it yet! But it sure is beautiful to behold, if I do say so myself. Of course, I didn't come up with the recipe, I just followed it very, very carefully!! The true test comes after dinner tomorrow, when Todd and I slice into it for dessert! Shoot, if it didn't need to refrigerate for at least two hours before serving (and Esther notes that it's better when refrigerated overnight), I'd load it up in the car and take it to Station 6, and we'd get into the darn thing right now! :) Ha! At least that way I wouldn't have to worry about eating more than one piece!!!

I was very impressed with the whipped cream/sour cream frosting. It was superb. Very light, and not overly sweet. It will probably be the perfect compliment to the marmalade and the very dense cake. Man, with five eggs, four egg yolks, a cup of butter, a cup of oil, and a cup of buttermilk -- talk about rich! It needed a light frosting!

There are some things I would do differently next time, if there were to be a next time (which there probably won't be, since I'm not taking the Kitchen Aid mixer on the RV).

For instance, I would definitely only purchase name brands. I didn't purchase name brands for the heavy whipping cream or the marmalade. I don't know that it'll make any difference, but something niggled at the back of my brain that if you want to bake the finest product, use the finest ingredients. File that.

I don't think I did a good enough job tapping the air bubbles out of the cake batter pans, before I put them into the oven. It didn't seem to pose a problem, I just think I could have done better.

I would use a little more marmalade next time. Twelve ounces didn't seem to be quite enough to nicely cover both of the inner layers and to lay a nice showing on the top.

Other than those things, I believe it was GREAT! I can certainly now understand Esther's reluctance to make the darn thing, though. Good gravy, what a time consumer!! I remember in one of the books, Esther (Bollick) fumes that no one eats cake any more, much less bakes them from scratch. I don't wonder why!!!

Still . . . it did look awfully grand and impressive, sitting there on the counter. I will try to remember to take a picture of it before we slice it tomorrow night!

I think I'll try Lew Boyd's chocolate cake next.

Bon nuit!

:)

Yes! I've finally done it! Well, part of it, anyway. The cake part is baked and cooling. Yay! I've only got to let it cool completely, then layer it with the filling, and frost it. The cake itself is perfectly scrumptious! I have to admit I had my doubts about the splendor of an orange marmalade cake, but the cake part is very, very good.

I'd forgotten how good a 'from-scratch' cake is! So different from a cake baked from a box!

Time for a little more reading . . . then to finish layering & frosting!

Let us eat cake!

:)

a potpourri . . .

I got to thinking . . . for someone who claims to be a quilter, I sure haven't done a whole lot. I've got pictures of -- maybe 3-4 quilts splattered throughout this thing? So I went back and took a look. I'm more accomplished than I thought! Here's a random sampling of some of the things I've finished since I started . . .


This is my first ever quilt. It was the Block of the Month quilt from Patches and Stitches in 2006. The passion begins!




This is Kelly's Horse. I did this for a darling young lady. It was my first attempt at applique. I like applique a lot. Thank you Mrs. Martha for your help.



This was the 2007 BOM from Patches and Stitches. I still haven't completely finished it, but I do love it! This quilt will adorn our bed in the RV!!




This is the first baby quilt I ever made -- gave it to my niece for Christmas in 2007. It will definitely *not* be the last baby quilt I make! Not with grandbabies in my near future!





This darling little patchwork puppy was fast and done for a friend of mine. I forgot to take a picture of the final product!

This was my table runner for Thanksgiving 2008. The pattern was a lot more challenging than I had realized it would be! The first photo is of the center, prior to quilting it. Too bad you can't see more of the finished runner through the table decor! :)




I paper-pieced this cupcake for my favorite cupcake maker/baker. I didn't actually quilt this -- I framed it instead! Still . . .


There are a couple of other projects that I've started and not finished . . . I tell my husband that my plan it to collect projects now, while I can afford it, so that when we retire and money is tighter, I've still got fabric and kits to play with! :) A good plan, if I do say so myself!

Ciao!

:)

Busyness.

Last night was the monthly meeting of Heritage Quilters of Huntsville. It was the last meeting of the 2008-2009 year, and was celebrated with a pot luck dinner. It was fun. I sat at a table with Charmaine and her stitch group. Charmaine was the one who kept me from leaving the very first (overwhelming) meeting of the guild I ever attended.

Anyway, her stitch group is a very friendly group, and very involved in the guild. It was a good place for me to be. One of the women is co-chair for the membership committee this new year, and I will be helping her out for the coming year. I figure that's a good committee to be on if I want to get to know people!

I also got the nerve up to "show & tell" my Grand Hands quilt. I'm glad I did. I know it will be up at the show, but you've only got 25 words to tell the quilt's story in the quilt show program. That doesn't do *near* justice to explaining the why's of that quilt! Anyway, showing it off was fun. :)

I also sat next to a woman from their group who does long-arm quilting, professionally. Hurrah! She was really very nice and gave me her business card. An answer to prayer!

On a quick side note, while I passed the time between work and meeting, I stopped in Books-A-Million, on Airport Road. I got a 16-month planner for 2010, an audio book of Jan Karon's children's books (which was on sale for the bargain price of $5.97), and ... the Twilight DVD. I couldn't help it! I've really missed it since Joc took her copy with her in June!

I still haven't gotten around to the Orange Marmalade cake yet. Sunday afternoon, perhaps. I'll be able to put all the ingredients that need to be "room temperature" out before church. Then when Todd heads into work, I'll get busy. Then I'll watch Twilight. Hahaha!

I finished up this week's chapters in Jeremiah in yesterday's quiet time, so this morning I read Proverbs 21, and headed back into Psalms. I prayed through Psalms 51 and 103, and just spent time on my face in prayer. It was good quiet time; I really heard God's voice on some things this morning.

Tonight and tomorrow morning will be filled with the ladies Bible study -- we're doing Beth Moore's Loving Well. I still haven't decided whether or not I'll spend the night. Decisions!

Tomorrow evening is a *GIRL'S NIGHT*!!!! We're combining a girl's night with a baby shower for Lori. Fun times, fun times. I'll also probably do an RV tour -- early, so that Todd can go over there and hide while we party! It's nice to have two domiciles, for the time being!

Back to the grind . . .

Adeus!

:)

Real quick post . . . this morning I was able to finish up the other BOM due in September -- the subtle block. So I took pictures of all six that I've got ready of those too! But I'm not real pleased with the picture layout from yesterday, so I cropped all of today's pictures and collaged them together, so I could pull it up as one, instead of six . . .

Yay! I also took a quick couple of shots of the Grand Hands quilt while I've got it in my possession. My mom brought it to me when they came up for Joc's wedding, so I could enter it into the quilt show next month.

A true labor of love, this was! Now I have to do a 'matching' pillow for grandchild number thirteen!

Later gators!

:)

Finally . . . I thought to take some pictures this morning of the "Brights" BOM I'm working on . . .

There are two blocks that I've picked up, but that I haven't even really looked at yet, much less completed. Those are the two that were due July and August -- too much happened (like a wedding) and I didn't get them completed yet! But I vow to have them finished before the next turn in date, which is September 12th!

This quilt will be the 'sister' quilt to the BOM from the first half of last year. The patterns are different and some of the fabrics are different, too, but it will be close enough that they will look very cute together. This will grace the bunks in the quilting half of the bunkroom in our RV!

I need to finish up the pineapple quilt (as I've come to fondly refer to it) for the master bedroom in the RV. Since it was a quilt-as-you-go quilt, I've just got to figure out the center, put the parts together, and bind it. Perhaps by the year's end.

Tonight Todd and I are going to tackle the 5 gallons of apples that we have. We'll peel, core, slice and freeze the bulk of them. I sent Jocelyn home last week with a gallon bag of them. We should be able to enjoy cobblers and pies with apples from our own tree throughout the winter!

I'm hoping I'll get home in time tonight to work on that marmalade cake. Oh yes, I'm determined. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner (with bread and salad, of course), which is already prepared -- just needs to be heated, so dinner will be a breeze. Yeah, I see a marmalade cake in tonight's future. We'll get a little bite and I'll send it on into work with Todd! Perfect!

Okay. So enough for now . . . but quilting surely is on my mind!

Vaarwel!

:)

I got to spend a little more time in the quilting room yesterday evening and this morning. Not enough to finish the second BOM, but enough so that the nine squares are pieced and ready to piece together. I really did think that when Jocelyn got married and we were living child-free, that I would have more free time. I've yet to see it! This week has something scheduled in every evening; add a full 40+ hour work week, housekeeping, and meal-making -- whew! Just try to get a little down time in there! :) C'est la vie.

Anyway, I am almost finished with the second of my BOM's for August. They aren't due until September 11-12, but since I procrastinated terribly with the last two months, I figured I'd jump ahead on this month's. It's full of flying geese, which I think is my least favorite pattern. I can never make my blocks work correctly when they have flying geese in them. Even when I'm exacting and precise and *sooooo* careful, it doesn't quite work. I guess the answer is to keep doing it until I master them! Or find a full-proof way to work them!

Anyway, I'm really ready to finish up the Boy Scout Quilt next. I've got the sashing cut and ready to piece the top together. I haven't decided what to do for the back, yet. I think I'd like to back it with a flannel -- perhaps something camouflaged-looking. That would suit my nephew, I think. I'd really like to have this to him by Christmas!

I cannot decide what I want to do for my sisters this year. Perhaps a quilted wall-hanging? Hmmmm. That will take some thinking. When I have time. Hah!

Tonight, Todd and I are headed to Jackson Way Baptist Church for the Sunday School appreciation banquet. Should be fun. Daniel Edmonds is the speaker again this year. I really enjoy Daniel's wit. I wonder if anyone else I know will be there?!

I started to make Esther's Orange Marmalade Cake out the the Mitford Cookbook last night, but only got as far as purchasing the necessary ingredients. Do you know how hard it was to find cake flour? The only kind Publix carries is the Swan brand. And is it with the rest of the flour? No! It's on the very bottom shelf under the cake mixes! I guess I semi-understand the logic, but then again, no. It's flour. They don't sell the bread flour in the bread aisle! And is the rice flour found with the rest of the rice products? No! Cake flour should be housed with the rest of the flours! Just my personal opinion.

Ah well, enough for now . . .

Plus tard!

:)

Yeay! I did finish a BOM square this weekend. Finally! Once I get started, it's no fun to stop. I wanted to be in there (my quilting room) so badly this morning! After I finished my quiet time, I went ahead and started getting the fabric ready for the second block. Next thing I know, it's ten minutes to eight! :)

I'm really wrestling with some issues of sacrificial giving. I know it applies to me, I'm just not sure in what context. I gave a very non-committal answer one time about giving to homeless people/street beggars. I think my thinking was wrong. Who am I to be judge? Only God sees the heart. All I can do is identify a need and tend to it. Thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

I feel a little disconnected at the moment. I want to belong.

We had James, Kim, Jocelyn and Jason over for dinner Saturday. What a fun evening! I love my children and their spouses! I'm so glad the guys are excited about creating a website for the ministry. And us girls can talk girlie stuff . . . like babies, and decorating and cooking! Heaven. What was even sweeter was that we hung for a long time in the RV -- and it was cool. Life will be okay.

TTFN!

:)

Made a little trip to break up the work day . . . care to guess where I headed?

PATCHES & STITCHES! :)

I *had* to pick up my overdue BOM's. And so while I was already there, I made it worth my while and did a little shopping. I got an instructional DVD on Baltimore Album quilt appliqueing. I think it will be helpful. It certainly will make me more likely to give the BAQ a shot! I also got a pattern for a Christmas tree skirt with a matching table runner and mini-tree skirt. Cute stuff!!

And then, there's this inclination I have towards baby quilt patterns now . . .

I can't wait to be a grandma!!!!! It's still so strange to see it in print. To dwell on it for any period of time. To think that the child I birthed and raised is now only seven months away from birthing his own child.

It could be very easy to get all caught up in the "what if's". But not if the Lord God is in control -- which He very definitely is! I'm so glad I can let go and let God.

More on that later. If I remember!

Last night I cut the black strips for Ben's Boy Scout quilt. I may work on that for a while tonight. Or the current BOM! I decidedly need to work on a quilt project of one kind or another!

Tomorrow we head to an RV accessories store, and then on to the Watermelon Festival in Russellville, Alabama! Hooray!

Manana!

:)

So. A very humbling experience last evening. But empowering, as well. I was sitting in the lane at the credit union, waiting to transact my business. It was later than I usually get there on a Thursday, and consequently, there was a bit more traffic. All three lanes were two-to-three cars deep. There was a lot of waiting going on!


Anyway, I was sitting there listening to a sermon CD by John Hunt. It was hitting home with me and I was listening intently. I was focused. I was not going to give in to impatience, but instead had resigned myself to the wait. I finally pulled up to the teller window and sent my transaction in, but knew I'd still have a bit of a wait. As I sat there, listening to the sermon, I noticed that credit union employees were leaving and walking to their cars. One woman in particular stood out to me. She came out alone and was smoking a cigarette. For some reason, my first thought was, "Ugh. She's smoking. Not attractive." Then our eyes met, and God overwhelmed me with the sense that I could continue to look intense, disinterested -- and look away, or I could engage her with a genuine smile. But it was my choice. I chose to smile, and her face was transformed by a returning smile. And in that exchange, I knew that I had initiated (prompted by the Holy Spirit, of course), something that made a positive difference in a stranger's day. And the ability to do that was rather overwhelming.

Josh Hunt had a tremendous quote posted on his facebook yesterday:

You can measure the character of a man largely by what it takes to put him in a bad mood.

And it was really cool to me until I started really reflecting on what that meant and looked back at what last put me in a bad mood. Talk about convicting!

Back to Isaiah. I finished up the book in NASB and started over in The Message. Wow! For all that the wording may not be technically accurate, the message makes far more sense! I actually think when I finish it the second time, I'll go back and re-read it in the NASB just to see if it makes more sense. Then I'll start looking at commentary.

But for now . . .

Auf Wiedersehen!

:)

So, for some odd reason, I find that I cannot sign into my blog from the firefox browser. Ugh. I hate it when technology tries to get the better of me! :)

I can blog. I have thoughts! But would I really want to spend a year cooking every recipe in a cookbook? Maybe. But which cookbook would I pick? Therein lies the dilemma!

Perhaps, instead, I just stay focused on my daily quiet time in God's Word, and working on quilts. One thing at a time, right?

I had planned to be so faithful to journal my way through my quilt-making projects. You'd think it would be easy, as much as I really do enjoy writing. But for some reason, I just can't keep at it consistently. I guess, with only so many hours of the day, I choose other things. I also suppose that if I *really* want to be faithful, I'll set aside a pre-determined amount of time every day and JUST DO IT!

Well, then. I'm currently behind on every quilt project I have on the burner. My Patches & Stitches BOM are now two months behind (and I'll have to pay $5 to pick up this month's installment)! Joc's wedding quilt squares are just sitting there looking like they want me to get busy. Although, to be fair to myself, I am waiting on the next installment of the Round Robin to send out additional squares for relatives to sign. Ben's Boy Scout quilt is waiting on me to cut and sew borders. And there are at least two baby quilts I need to be working on! Hahahaha (psychotic laughter) . . . no wonder I'm not journaling my quilt making processes!!! OH! One positive; I did fill out the entry form for The Grand Hand's quilt to be in Huntsville's quilt show!

The thing is, I don't wanna just talk about quilts. Not when there's all of life out there too!! There's our ministry, and our church activities, and our new RV, and our empty nest, and our soon-to-be grandbaby . . . I mean, WOW! Why limit it to just quilting (or cooking, or whatever)????

My current quiet time is in the book of Isaiah. I just got to the section that really starts focusing in on Christ. I'm reading through it in the NASB version, but I think I'll go back and re-read it in The Message (for the sake of readability). I'm amazed at the levels of prophecy in Isaiah, as well as the message of freedom it contains (and the One who frees). But I still sometimes feel like I'm reading the words, but not understanding the meaning. Hence the reread in a different version. Who knows of a really good commentary or study of Isaiah?

Back to food. We're having chicken packets tonight. I let Todd pick. Why not? I've already done the prep work; it really doesn't matter what he picks! Isn't that FUN?! That's why I love monthly cooks!

Perhaps the Mitford Cookbook. Maybe I'll cook my way through that one. On the RV.

Or perhaps I'll just write wide open.

Arrivederci!

:)

I'm hungry! That's all I wanted to say. :) I'm not really hungry. I just want chocolate. Or something. A chocolate something. Yeah.

Adieu!

:)

Todd and I spent a glorious weekend (long weekend) at Lairdland Farms Bed & Breakfast. How incredibly wonderful it was! We spent time walking in the meadows and woods; exploring creeks and streams; journaling and spending time in God's Word. It was heaven-sent! The country there was beautiful, and I couldn't help but lift my arms in acknowledgement of God's amazing creation. Wonderful weekend.

He spoke to me about a thing or two . . . priorities, in particular. Where are mine right now?

Time for me to adjust myself to my Father's priorities!

Hallelujah!

:)

Oh my. I can't believe how good it feels to be online, on my own laptop, with all my own files back at my fingertips -- I could almost cry! Truly, I wasn't too surprised -- I've been praying that I'd be able to access all the info on my old hard drive -- and when Todd told me he'd been praying for that very thing too -- well, it was nothing but God's goodness!!!

I can't wait to upload all the pictures I've taken in the past couple of months! Yay!!! I'm back!

Shalom!

:)

Good gravy! I think my quest is to see how much time I can let pass in between posts! Of course, it doesn't help at *all* that my laptop is down (and has been since November) and probably won't be up and running for another month. Which means I get pc time when one of my family members allows me access on their computer! It was probably a mixed blessing -- not having my laptop allowed me to focus on a certain quilt I needed to finish for Christmas. And not just _by_ Christmas, but in time to put it in the mail and have it arrive by Christmas! Whew! That was a close one -- I did it! :) Pictures later; like in about a month or so....!!!!

So I'm doing this daily devotion by Beth Moore. Today's selection talked about practicing the presence of Jesus, as a means of praying without ceasing. I worked on it today. It was tough! I'm so human.

Psalm 42 makes a reference of deep crying out to deep. This is worthy of some 'deeper' digging. I'm off to it.

Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you! Goodnight!!!

:)

What a lovely weekend I've had. Busy, but filled with interesting and fun things. Yesterday morning I headed out to Hooked on Quilting, only to get stopped less than three miles from my destination, to allow the Trail of Tears procession to run through Fayetteville. Evidently, due to some controversy over the traditional route, a group road down 64 from Chattanooga and made a stop in Fayetteville for lunch. It was huge. I literally sat at the intersection of 431 and 10 for 45 minutes watching hundreds and hundreds of motorcyclists riding through. Pretty cool stuff.

I probably could have turned around and headed home, but then I wouldn't have had any quilting thread to begin quilting my Grand Hands blocks! That just wouldn't do. I waited it out and finally did make it to HOQ. Cindy has *lots* of pretties in her shop -- including some really darling Moda fabrics for autumn! She also had a bunch of books that were BOGO free! I bought two. I love books! One was a Christmas projects book, and one was just absolutely *darling*!! She said she thought of me when she saw it, because of the hands! Cute stuff.

We watched the Alabama - Arkansas game, such as it was. The Tide really did roll over the Razorbacks. Or perhaps I should say the Razorbacks rolled over for the Tide! :) Sweet victory!

After the game, we showered and headed to Gurley. We dropped off our stuff at the pastorium, and then we headed to Ted and Janice's home for dinner. Janice is a wonderful cook and their home is quite lovely. It's beautiful, but also very comfortable. I felt very much at home right away. Of course, that's got as much to do with the fact that they are warm and loving hosts! We had a nice night.

This morning their were FIVE of us in Sunday school! Oh joy and thank You, Lord! It was a good lesson, too -- the parable of the 10 virgins. I like lessons that make me think! This one got us going. There are lots of ways to be prepared; my focus just needs to be on the right One.

I've continued to work on Joc's block. It's coming along! It'll probably take me 2-3 evenings per block. I need to stay focused!

Joc is on her way home with Chinese takeout! Yum. Time to wrap this up!

I wish I knew a closing in Chinese. Japanese will have to do . . .

Sayonara!

:)

*crash*thunk*

And here it is...Friday! Yeay!

Wow -- what an incredibly humbling experience last night was. There were some absolutely gorgeous submissions! It was a fun evening, but it definitely put me in my place. Novice! That's okay, though. It was a learning experience and next time I'll have that experience behind me and USE it! :) It did, however, make me rethink using the as yet unfinished Grand Hands quilt for the 2009 show! :)

I had a little visitor at my sewing room window this morning. Actually, he (she?) crashed into my window. I heard the *thunk* and knew whatever it was now had a headache. I couldn't see anything from the window, but when I stepped outside, sure enough, there was a little wren. All I could see was that his tail was moving slightly. I got out there and righted him -- he seemed to be okay; just a little stunned. I scooped him up with my dust pan and set him, pan and all, in a bush. I didn't want to leave him down there on the ground -- too many cats! He was breathing heavy, but at least he was breathing! I will check on him as I leave for work. I hope my pretty new windows don't end up being the cause of his demise!

Speaking of work, I do have to do that today. Best make haste! But, in those infamous words . . .

I'll be back!

:)

Last night I baked my first apple pie of the season. The difference this year was that I made it with apples off our own tree! There's nothing like a slice of hot apple pie, from (literally) the fruit of your own land, with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream! Unless it's a cold slice of apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on it for breakfast! That's a nod to my Yankee heritage and Grandpa Wadleigh, who started many a day in Massachusetts, that very way. I miss him.

I also turned in my challenge quilt yesterday!!! Tomorrow is the challenge show at the guild meeting. I'm so anxious! I've learned that one sees far more faults in a project she's turning in for judging. Ugh. :) I will add a photo of this one. It's called "Alabama Checks and Balances" because of the pattern in the square blocks, which is called The Alabama, balanced in-between the Blazing Star blocks. The Blazing Star blocks look like their made up with a series of symmetrical "check marks", hence the name. The challenge was to do a patriotic/election themed quilt using the particular red fabric that is in the star. You also had to have at least one star and one stripe somewhere on the quilt. I think I've got that covered. I broke with tradition and used a silver metallic thread to quilt the piece, and *really* broke with tradition by binding the whole thing with silver lame (envision the accent mark over the e)! Crazy. But it was fun and I'm glad it's done -- off to bigger things....and bigger quilts!

Oh, and off to work. We are spending the night at the pastorium tonight, so it will be Friday, probably, before I'm at a computer again.

Adieu!

:)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! I do love Sundays! We had a terrific time this morning. Our SS class was down in size. (LOL - we went from 3 last week, to 2 this week -- me and my pastor's wife! If she doesn't show next week, I'll know not to give up my day job!) Interestingly enough, I'm not discouraged; I'm encouraged to pray more! This is such a novelty for this little church -- an all ladies class -- I know it's right and I know it's where God wants me to be, so in faith, I'll trust Him and carry on!

Yesterday I was so pleased to have finished the quilting of my challenge project! I'm so glad that I decided to machine quilt. I'd have never have finished the darn thing if I'd persisted in hand-quilting! Today I cut into the silver lame to do the binding. At first I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to manipulate the lame like I needed to, but it's working fine. I have to be careful with pulls from the pins and the machine needle, but I knew, as soon as I'd finished binding my first side, that it was the perfect choice! It sets off the metallic quilting thread perfectly! It was just the touch my patriotic theme needed. I finished the top and bottom this evening; I'll finish the sides tomorrow evening and put on the sleeve and my tag. I'll post pictures when it's all finished. And *then* I'll get back to work on my Grand Hands quilt!

Todd and I took a long afternoon nap, but I'm still rather sleepy at 9:30, so we'll probably head off to bed. Lovely day, lovely day! I *do* count it all joy!

Vaya con dios!

:)

What a productive day I've had!!!!

I went grocery shopping this morning. But I didn't make the run to Wal-Mart. With gas prices being what they are, forget that! I cannot believe that between Wednesday and last night, gas prices increased over $1.20 per gallon. And that's at my cheapie Wavaho station! I notice they didn't even have their gas prices posted today. Stinkers.

Anyway, I headed to Publix (which is my favorite place to shop), and just shopped carefully and frugally. :) I *can* do it if I put my mind to it! It helped that on Friday I stopped at Food Valu and picked up 10 lbs of chicken breasts at $1/pound! I know, right?! Great price! I cooked it today and put it up in the freezer. Enough chicken for five meals and one soup! And the broth was heavenly.

So, after I put groceries away, I worked on my challenge quilt. I finally gave in and decided to machine quilt the darn thing. I was going to use silver (metallic) thread when I was hand-quilting, but for machine quilting I put navy thread in the bobbin and used the silver metallic thread in the top. I finished the top three blocks and the stars across the top. LOTS faster than had I hand quilted! :) I may finish this thing in time after all!

Tomorrow we have a SS teacher's meeting, which we'll be having over lunch in the pastorium. I picked up BBQ from O'le Dad's, and got the sides at Publix. Oh, and I made brownies, too. I've made a lot of brownies lately!

I also made the first pot of chili of the season. It seemed an appropriate dinner considering we'd be eating it listening to the 'Bama game. It was good chili -- Todd went back for a third bowl! I've been on this cheese grating kick lately. Okay, lemme 'splain. For Christmas last year, my folks got us a Williams Sonoma gift certificate, which I love! So I got this Cuisinart hand-held electric grater. Todd didn't think I'd ever use it (and now he accuses me of using it just to prove him wrong), but I love it! I can put a block of cheese into that bad boy and have it shredded in seconds! I love shredded cheese, but I don't like using a hand grater. Ouch. I used to buy pre-shredded cheese, but the additives in packaged shredded cheese change it's melting/cooking properties. You can't make decent homemade macaroni and cheese with it. So I've been buying the block cheese and shredding it myself. It was good on the chili!

I also ran by the library (while I was on my way to Publix) and returned some and picked up some. I finished my Lori Wick book yesterday before girl's night, so it might have gotten desperate if I hadn't picked up the next two Elm Creek novels!

I've still got laundry going. It should wrap up about the time the game does. Then it's Night-night, Neesey!

Sweet dreams!

:)

*Lots* of fun last night! I love it when I get together with "the girls"! Such a sweet (and sometimes a little 'dilly') fellowship! Loads of laughs and good conversation. And two of the sweetest babies!! We met at Dena's home last night and the food was plentiful and quite delish! Emily made an artichoke-spinach dip, out of Cooking Light, that was particularly good. I'll have to persist for that recipe!

Todd's on his way home -- and home is where we'll be spending the day. Gas prices have been driven to an incredible high. I'm incredibly glad I filled up at $3.45, so that I only had to top off at $3.65, so that I didn't have to get gas last evening at $4.65. I have to say it again. Incredible! Ah well, it gives us the excuse to stay home and enjoy the day and each other without so much busy-ness.

I've finished the flags for the challenge quilt. I don't know if I'll finish in time or not! Ruh roh. I guess that's what I'll work on today!

Lots of fun quilting websites out there. Think I'll peruse those for a while this morning, too.

Buenos dios!

:)

Hey! What do you know? Today I came home from church and put together my Patches BOM! This quilt is going to be gorgeous. I've worked really hard to keep my points lined up -- yep, it looks nice if I do say so myself. Tuesday I *may* put together the feathered star it sits in, but I've got to get busy on quilting the challenge quilt. I'll include a picture of the block I just finished, and the block I finished last month, set in the feathered star!

I showed off all of yesterday's (and today's) efforts to Todd -- I'm can't quite decide if he was appreciative enough!

I'm GRINNING!

I asked on the Huntsville guild group what a "Turning 20" quilt was. Evidently it's a quilt made from 20 fat quarters. Someone suggested I google it - duh, why didn't I think of that - and I found plenty of examples. It's different looking, but I'm not sure it's my thing. Perhaps as a crib quilt?

Now we are off to the fair! Whoohoo!!!

Hasta luego!

:)

Okay, so today I got busy early on. I finished the last blazing star and put it on point, and then pieced the entire top together. Now the "quilt sandwich" is ready and waiting. I'll tackle that in the evening hours of the coming week.

Then I made cheese raviolis with a special Alfredo sauce, and scratch brownies for Joc and me. Yum!

My next task was to cut out the backs for the Grand Hands quilt. The blocks are 18" square and I cut the backing at about 21-3/4" square. next I cut out the batting and put together all 12 blocks to that they are now ready to be quilted! I've already selected the template I'm going to use for the quilting -- I've sketched it in my log. I may go on and work on the September BOM -- actually it's August's block -- but it depends on how tired I am!

What a lovely quilting day!! Throw in a couple of good background movies (like The Devil Wears Prada and Runaway Bride) and it just makes for a happy Saturday!

Ciao!

:)

So, once again, much time has lapsed from my last post until today. Much time, and much life, as well. It seems I've been quite thoroughly bitten by the quilting bug. I've got it bad! Perhaps if I spend time blogging my quilts, it'll help me work through the desire to spend money on more fabrics, gizmos, gadgets, classes, etc!

Or perhaps not.

:)