Recent Awards

I have rec’d some blogging awards recently, that I need to acknowledge and express my appreciation to those that bestowed them upon me.

Irene awarded me:

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from in your blog.

3. Nominate 3 blogs

4. Put links to the blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

These are always hard for me, because there are so many of you I think deserve this award.  I think today I will pass it on to Beth, Maria, and Wendy.

So consider yourselves awarded, play along if you like, but don’t feel bad if you don’t!

Awhile back, Jan & Freda both awarded me:

The rules for this one are a bit more complicated, and apparently require more effort to pass on than I wanted to invest. (Bad Randi, bad, bad Randi)

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate 10 other blogs for this award
4. Add links to those blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool.

So, thank you Jan & Freda for thinking enough of my blog to award me.  I’m just too lazy to do the work to pass it on.   And thank you to those of you that think it’s worth it just to pop in and see what I’m up to on a regular basis!

Vicki, I love my new shirts!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Sunday Reporting and a shout out to Anita!

My stash hasn’t changed much.  2/3 of a yd out for binding.  Oh! I had to come back and add a yard I forgot about! I have gifted a yard to someone, they just don’t know it yet! So 1 & 2/3 yds out of my stash this week.

• Incoming Yardage to date: 84
• Outgoing Yardage to date:  118 & 1/12 yds.
• Total Stash Busted to date: 34 & 1/12  yds.

Today’s post is mostly for my dear, sweet friend…Anita.  We became best friends in high school.  Life has kept us apart from each other, physically, for about 12 years now.  But the quilt I have on the machine now is Anita’s.  This is a very special project for me! Twenty-seven years ago, would you have thought we would be working on a quilt together?   A little sneak peek for you, so you can tell me if you think I’m on the right track.

Now do tell me if you don’t like it! I’ll pick it out and start over! Really!

Working on this today got me thinking about this.

This was my wedding gift (my first marriage) from Anita, her mother and grandmother.  Her grandmother made it.  I have forgotten a lot of things over the years, but I remember that the card that accompanied it said they hoped I loved it as much as they loved me.  The marriage lasted a whole five years.  I had to choose some things to leave behind.  This was not one of them. 

Tagged! And a blog commenting question.

This tag is definitely different from any I’ve seen before, and kind of a fun idea.  Carla has tagged me to grab the 4th picture, on the 4th month of your blogiversary, and post it on your blog. Tag 4 others to do the same.  So, if I did it correctly, this is the photo.  I was working on my cousin’s cattle brand quilt, and this is one of the pics.

I tag Jan, Deb, Suzanne, and Vicki!

Also, while I’m posting, I think that I may start answering most of my blog comments, on the actual comment page itself.  That way, if there are more than one asking the same question, I can answer all at once.  I’ve done replies both ways, but I always worry that I will reply on the post, and the commentor won’t come back to see it, and think I ignored them.  What is your favorite way to get blog replies? Or to give blog replies? I’d love to hear what you think!

Good Mail Day and Late Stash Report!

Good things come in these packages!

I ordered this cute Laurel Burch drawstring bag from Suzanne’s store, Knots & Bolts.  I ordered it Saturday, and it was waiting for me on my front porch when I got home from work yesterday!  That was fast!

I also ordered another marking pencil, and the fat quarter was a sweet surprise! Thanks, Suzanne!

Quilting news of the week is that Joanna’s quilt is coming along quite nicely!

My belated stash report for the week is mostly about what I didn’t buy!  I figure that I saved $516.32 by sticking to my guns and not purchasing more stash right now.  I allowed myself to shop a sale at an online fabric store I love, and put everything in my cart that I usually would have, but then emptied it all out after I got my total.  There was some good stuff in there, too!  Yay me!  I’m close to having saved enough for a linen cabinet I’ve been wanting to buy from Plow and Hearth. 

I Got There!

I did get to the end on this one last night.  The pics aren’t the greatest, but it’s so big, and so busy, it’s the best I could get.

Now the waiting begins.  The waiting until my customer comes to get it and I see her reaction.  I think she will love it, she has loved everything I have quilted for her, but will I ever quit being nervous and worrying about this part?  Ever? 

Longarming is a linty job…for sure.  This is what it looks like in the bobbin area, after just one pass.

This is how much thread I used, just on the top of this one.  The cone on the left was brand new, and you can see how much is gone, compared to the new one next to it.  I used a complimentary solid on the bottom, so you can see that this one took a LOT of thread.

This morning I gave my longarm, Corky, a thorough cleaning to get rid of all that lint.  Cleaned the table and table rails, wheels, and gave her a thorough oiling.  Put in a new needle, and she is all ready to go on the next quilt.  This one is going on next.  What nice bright change from the dark fall colors I just finished! Won’t this be fun?  This top belongs to Joanna. 

And check out this sweet little surprise she had tucked in the box for me!  She tatted this little Christmas wreath.  It’s awesome and I can’t wait to hang it on my tree!  Thank you, Joanna!

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for all the sweet comments about BunBun.  I found one final pic that I’d like to share.  This is right after I brought her home.  She thought she found a new mama.

Are We There Yet?

No, not yet.

How much further?

Not much.

Will we get there today?

I’m not sure….

Mmmmm….I love….

Pomegranate Season!

And that’s my Thankful Thursday today.

BunBun Says Farewell

BunBun hopped quietly away last night, over the Rainbow Bridge.  This is my favorite ever photo of her.

Sunday Stash Report, 11-9-08

• Incoming Yardage to date: 84 yds.
• Outgoing Yardage to date:  116 & 5/12 yds.
• Total Stash Busted to date: 32 & 5/12 yds.

I’m hanging in there with the stash busting! I busted 2.75 yds. on the final border of one of my 9P & stripe quilts.  That has me over 30 yards now, which is just over two whole bolts worth out of closet.  This quilt top is HUGE!  The book says it’s 108″ square.  Hmmm…mine is 114″!  Anyway, thanks to everyone who suggested adding a small accent border between the red border and the rest of it, to keep the red 9P from disappearing into the border.  It was the perfect solution.  It’s so big, I had trouble getting a good pic for you.

I also got the pieces cut out for my guild mystery quilt.  I’m not counting this in my stash totals til I get it sewn together.

And, I only have about three or so more rows left to finish the quilting on my customers Turning Twenty Again.  I won’t bore you with anymore pics of the the quilting til I get it finished.  And that probably won’t be til this next weekend, as each row takes me an hour, it’s not something I can work on during my lunch breaks.  And I may not be up to it the evenings after work.  Plus, I’m taking tomorrow off, in addition to getting Veteran’s day off, and going to spend a day & night with my parents, and my aunt & uncle that will be visiting.  That will be fun!  So you may not hear much more out of me til later in the week.  Have a good one!