My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready to Go...

I think I'm feeling a bit better today. Hubby washed and vacuumed my car which I have loaded with snacks and drinks. My suitcase is packed. I'm going to Paducah!

A handful of very good friends and I are leaving EARLY in the morning for Quilt Week. So excited! We've had our rooms booked for almost a year. I'm feeling bad for one friend whose husband has been having some health issues so she can't come. She'll be with us in spirit! Will miss you, C!

I'll be taking a lecture/demo from Hollis Chatelain and a lecture by Ian Berry. Other than that I'll just be looking at quilts and shopping. We'll hit the Quilt Museum and Hancock's of Paducah.

Hubby will be here with the doggies holding down the fort and hitting a few golf balls I hope.

Enjoy your week!

Resting....

So yesterday I woke up sick. UGH... I don't want to be sick! I rested all day and this morning got up and went to the doctor. It's a bad cold with an infected ear - I always get an infected ear. Anyway, got a steroid shot, some antibiotics, and some much need cough medicine.

Then I dragged myself to the quilt shop to lead the Accuquilt Club. I told everyone up front that I was sick and kept my distance from the class members. I love these women! They always teach me a few tricks, too. They bring beautiful show and tell projects or photos of quilts on their phones. I try to teach them a small project a each meeting. Last month they learned to cut squares with a strip cutter to make an Alabama Pine Burr block. Today I showed them how to make a bowl cozy (above) for the microwave with a pretty pieced block. We talked about Qubes for the Accuquilt and how to make the most of them. I adore my Qube and use it all the time. I have a 12" block Qube, but we talked about the advantages of the various available sizes. So many options! And then there are the companion die sets - both Angles and Corners. It's amazing how many blocks you can make with these dies - hundreds!!!!!

Next month we'll be talking about the MANY things you can make with circles - love my circle dies!

This afternoon I think I'm feeling a bit better. I was able to nap for a bit. I'm chilling with a little Mickey in my lap and a glass of water and a quilt in my lap. Hubby has cleaned the kitchen and done 3 loads of laundry - the things I usually do. He's a keeper. He gone now to pick up some dinner.

I know I'll be better for my fun and busy week ahead - more about that later!

Tired, Sore, and Satisfied

Here I was yesterday, resting on a large ottoman at the lake house, very tired, having finished three days of heavy labor. WHEW! During the three days Hubby and I (with help from one son-in-law) completely emptied the house. As soon as I took this selfie, even the big ottoman was put on our trailer - we brought it back to town and dropped it off at an upholstery shop to be recovered.

I went through and emptied every drawer of every piece of furniture and the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. This house was my in-law's for the last 30 years. We threw away tons of stuff. Yesterday a charity truck came and took the refrigerator and LOTS of furniture and household goods. LOTS! We gave some furniture and appliances to friends who all came to get it. Anything we wanted to keep went into a storage POD which is now very full:

Yes, we loaded that POD - and we have the sore muscles to prove it! At the end of the day yesterday the house was empty.

We also put the boat and the Seadoo in the water. Another big accomplishment!

The remodeling crew will begin their work on Tuesday. We are so excited! We have remodeled a home before, but we did it piecemeal, over a span of time, and did some of the work ourselves. This time is different. We will not lift a finger. And we are told the work should be done in about 3 months.

We are so excited to be the owners of the home now. We hope the work done this summer will enable this house to be ready for the next 30 years for our family to enjoy.

We'll be going to the lake about once per week for Hubby to mow the grass and to check on the progress.

And this is why there has been absolutely NO SEWING this week.

I hope to rest today and maybe even sew a bit. I miss holding a needle and thread!

Me? Sewing With RED Fabric???

If you know me well, you know I don't put much red in my quilts. I'm just not a fan. I see quilts with red in them and love them, but I don't use it much. I probably should though. 

So why am I making red and white blocks? Well...it's a secret project. And I was only making a few blocks. I love the way they turned out! Maybe I should become a red fan again?

Now that the Masters golf tournament is over (I was disappointed with who won...were you?) we are full speed ahead at the lake. We'll be there a good bit this week to empty the house. A POD is being delivered tomorrow for the things we're keeping. A charity is sending a truck the next day for our donations. 

Have a great day!

The Missing Pieces...

I knew this would happen! I worked on cleaning up the pile that had grown beside my recliner during the final push to finish the flower blocks...and there they were - the missing wedges. Oh well, I don't need them anymore. Haha!

TGIF!

The Next Step

Here is the next step in Bring Me Flowers. I need to appliqué 4 curved pieces to each of these four patch alternate blocks. The tricky part is that there are four different fabrics around the sides. So once I was happy with the layout I had to label each block so I won't get confused. See the sticker?

   

Yesterday I traced the appliqué lines on the backside of each block -

Then from the backside I basted the curved pieces in place with big stitches and big thick thread. Now these blocks will be portable and easy to applique at night while watching TV. I still have more of this basting to do.

Today is Hubby's birthday! I'm making him a special breakfast and I have fun plans for later - but mostly we'll be watching the Masters golf tournament. (And I'll be hand stitching!) Should be a fun day!

Bring Me Flowers

This is not the greatest photo, but here it is. This is the proposed layout. I need to stare at it for a few days to see if I need to move anything around. I'm so glad I started this project. It has been hours of stitching, but I've enjoyed every single minute.

I still have to appliqué all those rounded pieces to the alternate blocks - so it won't be complete over night. I'm guessing I still have several weeks to go, and that's okay.

Enjoy your day...