HOME ALONE FOR THE NEXT WEEK

Yes, that's me for the next week. My DH has gone on an adventure by himself. Really, he drove to Illinois for our granddaughter's graduation party and then down to Indiana to visit his siblings. I sure miss not being with him for these occasions but I really needed to stay here and keep an eye on my Mom. This is the anniversary of the death of her husband (my stepfather) of 43 years. She is 85 and sometimes has trouble dealing with the situation.

Anyway, this gives me the perfect opportunity to SEW without having to stop for those wifey things like cooking and cleaning. Started out today with the Orange Crush (see below) then will be headed back to the Batik Jewels.

A LOT OF ORANGE

Boy, does the orange jump out and bite ya! This is definitely going to be a bright quilt. Can't wait to see how this comes out. All my friends that are working on this are guessing as to what the setting is going to be. There is still a border to go so anything is possible, I guess. All I can think of is Bonnie told us before we started Step 5, that the middle of the quilt was done, so the pink and green blocks must be surrounded by the "Bright Orange" blocks. Guess we will just have to wait and see. It has been fun and interesting, however.

This is the Flamingo quilt, made for grand-daughter, Abby. The blocks are from a shop hop we did in Florida 2 years ago. If you click on the picture you can actually see the flamingo fabric in the border. I set these on point and added the blank blocks to make it a full size. There were a million flying geese, well maybe not a million but a lot. It was machine quilted by V. Kirby in IN and she did a fantastic job. Hopefully I can keep it secret until Christmas. She is so nosey, she will probably find it before then.

Off to take my Mom to dinner.

BABIES EVERYWHERE

All of a sudden I have been overwhelmed by Baby Shower invitations. As I was opening 2 the other day, my thoughts went to what to buy. DUH! You have all this fabric and it doesn't take much to make a baby quilt. So I got busy and made this one out of 30's prints I had left over from making both of my granddaughters quilts a few years back. Have enough to make about 3 quilts without going to the store. GOOD FOR ME!

The pinwheels go together real quick and I did machine quilt it (easy stitch in the ditch). Should hold up with all the washings it is going to get. Have the other two cut out, just need to put them together.

Today is our 44th Wedding Anniversary. Some years back we went on a year to year renewal. Asked my DH last night if we were going to renew for another year. "Let me sleep on that" was his reply. We have committments tonight, so celebration will be put off to another day.

GOOD NEWS

Thanks everyone for your good thoughts for GD, Abby. The Dr. said she is doing great, but will have to keep it medicated and covered for another week. As far as scaring goes, Dr. said it will probably take up to 2 years to clear but didn't think there would be any long lasting scaring. Will have to keep it moist for a long time and make sure she uses waterproof sun screen. We are greatly relieved.

A BUSY FEW DAYS

All 30 step #4 of Orange Crush done. I really like the way these blocks turned out. Can't wait to see what the next ones will be like. These look pretty good by themselves even if I didn't do the rest of the steps. This has really been a fun thing to do.

I spent all weekend working on things. Got up early Saturday morning and planted all my summer flowers. Of course, it was a humid day and I was wringing wet by the time I got done. I always seem to pick the most humid day we have to do this project. Never fails. After a shower, I turned to on these blocks. Sunday morning was church and Mother's Day lunch at the Country Club with DH, Mother, Daughter and Granddaughter. Good food and I didn't have to cook or clean up. Spent the rest of the day making these blocks. So it was a great weekend.

Update on granddaughter. She is going to the wound clinic in the morning. Hoping they can do something to prevent the burn from scaring. It is getting better, but still looks pretty bad and is very uncomfortable for her.

MYSTERY SOLVED

Finally done! This was a mystery we did at camp last September. Laura, Pine Ridge Quilter, provided all our clues. This was a fun mystery to do at camp and see all the different quilts that came out of the same pattern. I did increase the size by adding the two borders and added the applique. Vicki Kirby in IN. quilted it for me and did a fantastic job. Sorry you can't see the detail on this because it is fabulous.

You can see my DGD, Abby, peeking out on the left side. She has had a rough few days. On Saturday she fell while riding her scooter and skinned her knee really bad. Her Mom cleaned and dressed it but Abby took the bandage off on Sunday morning. For lunch she decided to fix herself Ramen Noodles in the microwave (which she has been doing for a long time). Not thinking, as is common for most pre-teens, she pulled it out without a pot holder and immediately spilled it down her leg causing a 3rd degree burn from the middle of her upper leg down to and including the skinned knee. After a trip to the ER and some meds to prevent infection and help with the pain, she finally went back to school today, bandaged and limping.

YEA! OC #3 done

I really had a hard time with this step. Having to do the mirror image really confused me. Took me a while to get it all figured out, but it is done. Sure hope we get to bigger pieces pretty soon and get into our major colors. I'm getting excited about seeing how this is going to turn out. Impatient also.

GETTING BACK TO REAL LIFE

First things first. PADUCAH was a great time. Being with good friends, seeing beautiful quilts and MEGA Shopping! Hancocks still blows my mind every time I walk in there. Below are a few of my favorite quilts at the show. Can you tell I like bright!

The Zodiac sign quilt is by far my favorite. There were so many beautiful quilts and the minatures were amazing. So many great ideas but just not enough time in my life to do all I want to.

Returned home to TX on Monday and was immediately thrown into real life again. However, I did manage to get to my sewing room late on Wed. and finish Part 2 of OC.

Will try to get to Part 3 after my shipment of boxes arrive today. My new companion ruler is in there and I want to use it. Had to raid my DSIL stash for more metallics to hopefully finish this quilt. I thought I had enough but I began to panic. Thank goodness she comes to my rescue. (OFTEN)

I am getting real curious as to what this is going to look like. Excited also. I have mixed these blocks up so much there is no rhyme or reason to any of them. Hope I am not disappointed as to how they all go together. I am notorious for second guessing myself. Does anyone else do that?

It is back to taking care of business here. UGH!! Also taking time out to clean house. Having a group of women (12) here on next Tues. to play Mah Jongg. So sewing time is going to be whenever I can work in a few minutes here and there.