Job Searching and Reading

Well, the week has flown by. I've been spending a lot of time job searching and making phone calls. There are lots of jobs advertised but so many people looking that it's really difficult to even get a response from applying. And forget trying to get a decent salary. :(

I did meet a woman (customer) who came into Gail's shop Monday and low and behold it looks like I'll be doing some contract work for her. Who knows where this will lead - somewhere, I hope! I'm very excited to get started; we're meeting next week to discuss all the details.

On a completely different note, my older daughter, Erin, gave me the first two books in the Twilight saga to read. I really wasn't interested but took them. Then I came across one of my blogs a couple of weeks ago and saw where the author had started reading Twighlight and raved about it. I can't remember what blog it was (I apologize) but thought - what the heck. Let me look into this. Boy am I hooked! I'm kind of a slow reader but I've finished the first two books and purchased the second two yesterday so I can continue. And like the other blog author stated, yes the story is based around a teenaged girl, but it is so good that the age difference doesn't really matter to me.



Well, it's Friday again - I'm off to clean a friend's house. And no, I don't do it out of the goodness of my heart; she's paying me. It helps us both.

Have a good weekend everybody and keep your fingers crossed about this contract work thing for me!!

ttfn

Halloween Table Topper Complete

Yay - I finished something! My Halloween table topper is complete; I stayed up late to get it done. I'm trying really hard to make time to do the things I love.




I'm off to clean a house for a friend; it will be another long day.

More Pics from My Sister's Visit

Hey everybody,

I wanted to post the rest of the pictures from my sister's visit last week. I intended to take her to several quilt shops in the area, but I swear, Thimble Pleasures is my favorite shop and we just didn't need to go anywhere else. We really had such a great time during both visits. All the staff is so friendly and quite talented. Several of them design their own patterns, as well as teach classes there. They are moving to a larger location this week and will have even more delicious fabrics to chose from. I can't wait to go over there Saturday to check out their new space.

Now for those pictures...

Karen (left) and Diane (right). Karen designs and teaches, as well as acting as their webmaster. I'm not sure if Diane teaches but I can tell you she is one of the funniest ladies there!! And very sweet to boot!
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Another shot of Karen



Just a few of their batiks; they have a huge (and gorgeous) selection


A small glimpse of the main room


Alissa keeping herself occupied with some toys in the corner

..and she requested this one

Susan checking out a pattern...or something...


A wall hanging class example:

...and another

...and another...!

And now for the fabrics that Susan purchased. Disclaimer: She told me to let everybody know she has a "disease". I told her that lots of others have the same "disease" - hehe. I just love the way they fold the fabrics after they cut them. Diane said you have to be able to fondle your fabrics and this way you can see them all at once :)















That was our great shopping spree at Thimble Pleasures. We had such a good time and I can't wait to do it again with her, although she might feel differently after me taking her there. :)

We Interrupt This Sewing Segment.....

to bring you an update on "Living With Deer".

Yes, you guessed it, I got sidetracked today. Last week Lowes had their perennials on sale 3 for $10 and I bought a few to try to replace the deer damage. I intended to get them planted before my sister arrived but ran out of time. Today I went outside and got to work. First I had to cut back the spent yarrow and pull out all the dead stuff. One side of the bed is completely bare but has lots of little salvia volunteers.

The deer usually leave those alone so I transplanted a few of them. They'll grow big and fill in the entire bed by the end of summer....hopefully.







Now I know this is the worst possible time to plant anything, and between heat and lack of rain, things are usually looking pretty bad around here anyway. But I couldn't stand it so caved in. I bought some beautiful varieties of coneflowers - three yellows and one pink. I also got a couple of pink penstemmons. I got them all planted and then covered them with deer net - the only sure way to keep them safe. The deer have never bothered my coneflowers or lantanna before but have done a number on them this year.





And since I was dripping with sweat already, I tackled some weeds in the perimeter bed. Didn't get finished but it's looking much better.

I completed Alissa's snuggle quilt and it's all ready for her. I'm going to work on my Halloween table topper this evening before going to bed. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Sew Much Fun!

Let me start at the beginning of the visit. My DS made me the cutest little kitchen towel. She said she ran out of time and didn't get the button sewn on but I can do that. She has a very fancy embroidery attachment to her machine and does beautiful work on everything she touches.




She also brought her handbag patterns and completed the Claire Handbag by Lazy Girl Designs



Her bag - I wouldn't have the patience to make one of these.

An inside shot

Alissa stayed with us for a couple of days and Susan made her a cute little bag without any pattern from some scraps. She is so talented. Alissa was thrilled, as you can tell by her face.


Here is my little Halloween table topper. I took a couple of elements from a pattern I borrowed to make it. I wanted to make a cute pieced house block but had a lot of trouble trying to make it into a 6" square. I'm going to applique a black cat on the right side of the roof and sew some crooked boards on the house. I still need to embroider a spider and some other elements but am quite pleased with it. I'll post a completed picture once it's all finished and bound.



On the second trip to Thimble Pleasures we took Alissa with us. She almost immediately picked out some cute fabric that was perfect for a quick snuggle blanket so I bought enough to make one for her. This blanket will stay at my house to make it even more special to her. I've sewed some buttons on it and all that's left is to bind it, which should be done tomorrow if I don't get side tracked with yard work :)


Well friends, that's the sewing we did this week. My DS has gone back to her own home and I miss her. It was so nice to have her here with me and share something we both love so much. We're definitely going to have to do this again!

I have lots more pictures of our trips to Thimble Pleasures and will post them next time. (I can't find where I saved them!!!)

Have a great day tomorrow!

Some Cute Critters

Hey Everybody,

We're having so much fun that I haven't made time to blog about it.

My sister, Susan, arrived Friday evening and we've been on the go a lot! Saturday I took her to the BEST quilt shop around - Thimble Pleasures - and we got lots of fabrics. On the way there, we passed a really nice garden center that happens to have a few critters living on the large property. We had to stop and pet the goats...they were so cute. And they had some beautiful swans, along with some Canada Geese (one of my favorite creatures on earth) and pretty ducks.




They had several black swans, as well as white.






I needed something at JoAnns, so we headed there next. I bought a few Halloween fabrics for something I had in mind. We were on a roll! :)

Then we went to the State Farmer's Market and bought lots of fresh produce cause you know we worked up an appetite looking at and buying all those pretty fabrics. I mean, that's really tough work - ha ha!

She was quite overwhelmed at the Market. I didn't even think to take any pictures but the produce is all gorgeous and grown locally by hard working people. We had corn on the cob, tomatoes, green beans, cantalope and grapes for supper. Who needs meat with all that!?!

Yesterday was stormy and we got some much needed rain. It was a perfect day to stay inside and sew. I was in the mood to work on something for Halloween and made a cute little wall hanging. I still need to do some embroidery and embellishing and then I'll post a picture of it.

My sister had brought several patterns for handbags with her and started on one of those. She finished it today and I'll post pictures next time.

Today we went back to Thimble Pleasures because Susan decided she wanted some fabric that I had bought Saturday. Wait till you see all the gorgeous fabrics we bought! I've already started a cute snuggly blanket for Alissa and hope to have it finished tomorrow, but by the next day for sure.

On the way home I took her to a very high class craft co-op and she took several pictures there. I'll be able to share them once she gets back home and uploads them and sends them to me.

OK friends, I need to get to bed. Tomorrow is another day of sewing and eating good food and our last one together. I hope you're having a good week as well :)

ttfn!

Company and Quilt Stuff

I'm so excited! My sister is on her way "as we speak" for a week long visit. She's bringing her sewing machine and we have lots of fun ahead of us. I can't wait!

There are several quilt shops in the Raleigh area that I've just never taken the time to visit. Well, this week we'll be hitting most of them. I'll be taking her to the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh to buy lots of fresh, local veggies to eat. I'm pretty bad about cooking for myself but am happy to eat well when somebody is here. And this will be my first week off from helping Gail in months and I'm really looking forward to it!!! Gail is at the Atlanta Market for the weekend ordering fall merchandise for her shop.

Now...check out this beautiful and adorable quilt that's up for a give away at Katie Cupcake
The pattern is from Quiilt Soup Pattern Company. I had never heard of this quilt site before; you need to check it out. They have lots of really nice patterns and kits.

Well friends, my house is an absolute wreck and I've got lots of cleaning to do before my sisiter, Susan, arrives later today. I always let things get so out of control around here!!! I'll be blogging about our adventures and yummy quilt stuff to share with you.

ttfn!

Where's Smudge???

Smudge, my #1 gray kitty, is usually not far away. The last couple of days he's been hiding somewhere. Actually not hiding, but has found a neat place to be by himself.

This is my antique grain bin that I keep dirty laundry in. It's really neat because there are two sections. The smaller section is where I toss all my white stuff. The larger section is where everything else goes.


hmmm...looks like he got into the right side of the bin for me :)





Goofy kitty.....

So How Was Your Weekend?

What did you do? Have a cookout and watch fireworks with friends and family?

I watched the national fireworks show on PBS last night and kept an eye out for my daughter and son-in-law who were there. He's one of the Capitol Police and I thought I might see him, but no.

I worked on my laundry room all weekend and almost got it completed. I installed self stick tiles, which look very nice but makes the mint green paint look horrible. I suppose I'll have to repaint the room now. The tiles weren't what I really wanted but they were the cheapest tiles Home Depot had so I went with it. I still have to move the washer and dryer to put the new tiles under them but ran out of energy.

I got the caulking finished and new trim up. Now I just need to touch up some areas or repaint the entire room.

We were supposed to get thunder storms all day today but didn't. There were a few sprinkles here and there - just enough to make the humidity unbearable. It's so dry here that even the weeds are shriveled up. :( At this point, I feel like I'm watering plants just to feed the deer but really hate to let everything turn crispy brown yet.

I caught Wendy and Tom, my outdoor mouser kitties, on the porch. Wendy was sacked out; Tom was just looking out into the yard.





Oops - she doesn't look very happy about me waking her up...

Sorry Wendy girl!