Some Pics From the Quilt Show

I'm back from the quilt show....oh my gosh, the talented people in this world. My DS and I took lots of pictures and had a great time. We were both very inspired and bought patterns for some very neat projects.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy...more to come later.....





The one below was from a book of patterns, which I purchased. I'll be making this for Alissa's newly painted room.

I can't wait to get started on one of my new projects!!

Lots To Tell You!

Lots going on this week and I'm feeling encouraged and happy again.

First, Miss Blair went to the vet today for a final heartworm test and she is now free and clear of those horrible little things. This girl is so sweet and I just love her to pieces. I'll be officially adopting her in the next couple of weeks. She has a minor issue with high ph levels in her urine so has more pills to take for a while to correct it. She refuses to go outside and do her business and will hold it forever. I have to walk outside with her or she'll just stand at the door, maybe b/c she was an "outdoor" dog before and doesn't want to leave the house. Anyway, she's a good girl and I'm happy she is with me.

I took a little video of her being happy, but don't know how to upload it from my camera.

Second, I have a firm interview in a week or so about a decent job. The pay will just let me survive, but it's permanent and will have benefits. I've also applied for a fantastic job that I really want - also permanent. I've talked to them to make sure they received my resume and they should be scheduling phone interviews later next week. I will do my best to get this job; the pay is right and I would love this entirely different industry (not giving any details about it yet). I've also had an interview yesterday for a really nice temporary position, but haven't heard back from them yet. So, things are looking up again. I'm not going to get my hopes up like I did last time, as I fall so hard when things don't work out.

Third, lookie what I got with my house cleaning money...a netbook. This baby is the size of a sheet of copy paper and is so convenient. I justified the purchase because I sit for 6 hours a day twiddling my thumbs so can now at least look and apply for jobs during the day. You have to act quickly due to the number of people out of work. Plus, the application process is so lenghty and it takes up my entire evening just to apply for a couple. The nice people I'm helping don't mind that I do this and I immediately do whatever they need taken care of if something comes up.


Plus this new toy will be great to take on trips (not that I go on many) or if I feel like driving up the road to Panera Bread or some place that has wireless and I can log on. I never thought I'd get something like this but I'm glad I have it now.

Oh - it came with a built in webcam and microphone and Skype. Skype is what Oprah uses to have video conference calls with guests. My sister and I "visited" with each other last Friday and it was so much fun. It took us both a while to figure out what we were doing, but we will definitely be using this gadget for show and tell.

And since I'm meeting my sister in Hampton, VA for the Eastern Regional Quilt Show, I'll be taking my new toy with me. Hmmmm....wonder if I should give her a name??? I made a simple sleeve to keep her clean. There are quite a few tutorials on line but I ended up doing it my own way. I might add some embellishments to it later, but for now it's just fine.

I basically made a pillow case with batting between the layers and then folded to make a large pocket for the netbook and a smaller one to hold the cords.

Here it is all packed. If the cords weren't in it, everything would be tidy and flat.


So, I've had a pretty good week so far and am extremely excited about going to the quilt show. I went to it two or three years ago and the quilts are beyond incredible. I'll take some pictures for inspiriation and share with you.

Now, I've got to get some things done around here before hitting the sack.

ttfn!

Friday Sew In and a Beautiful House (pic heavy)

Hi folks,

I was so proud of my special quilt that I made for my granddaughter, Ginny, that I wanted to leave the post up for a while, but I'm back now.

I've been working on Brutis the Cat freebie from Bronwyn...isn't he cute?



I've also worked on my zig zag quilt, but I'll post about that separately.

I'm currently working a temporary position for a residential builder in a beautiful new community. The job (if I can call it that) is very boring, as I pretty much sit all day house sitting. Fortunately, they don't mind if I continue to job hunt via the web on my new little netbook I bought with my house cleaning money. I could easily justify the purchase due to the fact that I sit for 6 hours a day doing nothing productive. Anyway, this development is incredible and the model I get to sit in part of the time is exactly my taste, so I thought I'd share some lovely pictures. The house is 2,400 sq. ft. and has three floors with a wrap around porch, a separate back porch and a detached garage. I just took pictures of part of the house, but you'll drool when you see them. Here ya go...enjoy!

Main living area - open concept. The dining area is right behind the sofa.







Looking into house from front door. There is a dining room just to the right, but I didn't take a picture of it as it's being used as the office for sales.



The master bedroom - so pretty..


The master bath - it's big but not humongous. The color is my favorite shade of green and I got the paint list from the builder. I'll be painting my bathroom this green and using some of the other room colors as well.




This is the smaller bedroom and I love the color of blue. It doesn't show accurately here but it's beautiful.


The other bedroom...


The attic has been finished as a top suite. I'd definitely make this my sewing and craft area...



This is the back porch, which the living area looks out onto. I'd live out here.


This is the side porch...

Ramp leading to the yard and garage...


A shot of part of the back of the house. Doesn't it remind you of something you'd see on Cape Cod?


The couryard between the back porch and garage...

Entry to the garage...


A small yard on the side. These houses are built close together like an old neighborhood...all are different looking with front porches.


And I love this gate!


I have a busy week coming up as my sister and I are going to the big quilt show in Hampton Roads, VA Thursday...can't wait!!!

Have a good day everybody!

An Award and My Special Project

Hi everybody,

What do you know - I've received a sweet award from Kas over in Australia! I've just discovered her recently and she is my kind of gal. She wants to one day start an animal sanctuary. I told her if I lived near her, I'd sure help her with it!!
Thank you Kas, for giving me this award as I really appreciate it! I can always use a little cheer these days and this definitely made me smile. :)

I'm going to have to pass this award along to Di, who always comments on my blog faitfully. She's such a character, that Di!

And the second recipient is going to be tough to choose, as there are several regular commenters. Fern is a faithful blog friend and has received quite a few awards recently. Actually she was bombarded by awards in just a couple of weeks, and now she can add this one to her list.

I would also like to share this award with another supportive commenter - Marlene. Marlene has been a supportive commenter of mine as well. Thank you Di, Fern and Marlene for being supportive and encouraging!


Now, you all know I've been hinting around about a very special project I've been working on. Well, it was received yesterday by little Ginny so now I can post about it.

I am very proud of this special quilt I made for my granddaughter's first birthday. Erin (her mommy) had asked a while back if I'd make a quilt with her four pets' portraits on it. I knew what I was going to do almost right away. She had also requested that it be kind of scrappy and mostly white. Well, I got the scrappy look right, but the white part just didn't work out the way I had pictured in my head. But we all agreed the colors in the quilt are beautiful. The picture shows the orange much brighter than it actually is; it's really a pale shade. And I loved the yellow fabric so much that I wanted to buy it in bulk, but these were all fat quarters from Hancocks and you know those fabrics are always different from what's on the shelves. The pictures don't really do this quilt justice; the fabrics are all so very pretty.

Now for the pictures...drum roll please...... TA-DA!!!


This is Daisy - she was the most difficult to make as she is quite "wolfish" looking. Daisy is the queen of the house...just like my Princess!


Here is Bullet - named because he had been found in the woods - shot. He was a sweet basset mix that had to be put to sleep not long ago before his cancer made him suffer. Sweet Bullet...


And this is Gracie, a very shy girl who runs to hide whenever I come to visit.


And this guy is Dude, a very handsome kitty who has a white ring around his black tail. He is a pretty and fluffy kitty!


In the very center block, I embroidered Ginny's birth announcement information. I also wrote her a letter telling her how I made the quilt just for her. I hope she will always remember me by this.

So folks, that's my big, special project. It was well received by my little family and I hope Ginny loves it and cuddles with it all the time!

Have a good day tomorrow, friends. I took the weekend off from job hunting, as it makes me quite unhappy. Tomorrow I'll start again. I saw a nice quote last week by Elanor Roosevelt: "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts"...I'll keep it in mind.

Friday Night Sew In, a Mini and More Snow!

Yay! I finished the first block of Boquet, the free BOM by Jenny of Elephanz. I'm not that happy with my fabric choices and have started the second block with some really pretty fabric I bought a couple of years ago. When I'm all finished with the blocks, I might go back and re-do the first block.



And here is a sweet mini wall hanging my DS made for me a gazillion years ago. She is so precise with her work...unlike me who has the "it's good enough" mentality.


AND....we had more snow last night! This one was about 2 inches and the heavy, wet kind that sticks to everything. It's just beautiful! The last snow we had was fine and icey and made a mess on the ground but didn't stick to the trees or power lines. I'll take some pictures and post them later. Right now I'm off to clean Gail's house for her. Thank goodness for this little extra income; it certainly helps me out (and her too).

I'm looking forward to this evening when I can listen to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio and then watch my Britcoms on PBS. I look forward to these programs all week long (such an exciting life I lead).

ttfn...

Another Untimely Post

Well, last Friday was Ginny's 1st birthday and I didn't post about her. I'm a very bad Nana! :(

Mother Nature celebrated her big day by dumping more than two feet of snow on her house!


Her mommy and daddy are giving her a birthday celebration this weekend, I think. That's if anybody can get out of the snow. They live near D.C. where everything has been shut down for four days now.

Ginny didn't mind though because she got to open a little present by herself. Looks like she's enjoying the wrapping paper more than the present. Isn't that the way it always works!



Happy belated birthday, dear Ginny! I wish I could be there with you. If the mail man can get through, you should get a very special present from me in a couple of days. Then I can show everybody the very special project I kept hinting at.

Sew In Friday a Little Late

Hey folks,

I didn't get any stitching done Friday, or yesterday for that matter, so couldn't post about the sew in yesterday.

I'm still jobless; all my hot prospects fell through. I was so disappointed. To top it all off, my unemployment ran out so I went down to the ESC to file for a two month extension I heard was available. Long story short, it wasn't a pleasant experience. Every time I go into that office, I get another piece of information I should have been told in the very beginning. It's like banging my head against a brick wall. Anyway, by the time Friday rolled around I was half sick from discouragement and didn't do anything but fall asleep on the couch.

Saturday I went to clean Gail's house and did a lot of thinking while I was there. I think I've come up with another plan of action to secure a job. At least I feel like I've got a goal to shoot for now. I always feel better when there is an action I can take to correct a problem...makes me feel like I have some control over the situation even if I don't.

Today I'm feeling better and hauled my trash to the recycle center and washed my salt covered car from the snow last week. Then I took care of the chickens and geese and was ready to come back inside.

My bird quilt I posted about is ready to be sandwiched together but I don't have any backing fabric, so couldn't go any further with that project. I was looking around at all my pictures I've been saving from blogland and wanted to make a bright a cheerful mini quilt for myself that included some little birds. There are so many talented gals in blog land and I save pictures for future inspiration when I come across something I really like.

This is the one I decided to use as my inspiration piece. I can't remember who made it but I just love everything about it. Mine will be a little different, of course.


The next step was to find instructions on how to make a zig zag quilt and wouldn't you know, Crazy Mom Quilts has a tutorial. I love how everybody is so sharing of information in blogland.

The instructions are easy enough but do you think I could figure out a design on point??? I wasted a little of some very expensive fabric trying to make a smaller version of the tutorial. Here is a picture of what I've gotten done so far. Now that I understand how to lay the pieces out, it will go a little faster.



I'm tired and going to work on my little project some more before going to bed early. Like Scarlet said, "tomorrow is another day!"

My Prizes

I know I'm a few days late posting this, but look at the cool prizes that Marlene sent me...you know...for the contest I didn't even know I entered??? :)


First is this beautiful apron...there was a lot of work put into this. It's almost too pretty to use! In fact, I might just hang it on my baker's rack to brighten up the kitchen.



And how about this stack of goodies... I especially love those surgical scissors, which will be great for clipping threads when I embroider.


Thank you so much, Marlene, for all the great gifts. You surely are a generous gal and a great bloggie friend!