Mom's Birthday

Good afternoon, 
It is a beautiful day here in Missouri. The sun is shining and the humidity has gone way down. It is still hot outside, but at least now it is tolerable. Big news! We got our garden planted. I had an appointment on Tues. to get my hair cut. While I was gone, Kevin got the tiller out and got me a small area ready. This is  very small to what we used to plant. I would estimate it is about 20'X30'. So while in town, I stopped by the garden center and picked up a few more plants. Our garden has 6 sweet potatoes, 2 bell peppers, 2 eggplants, 8 tomatoes, and 2 rows of green beans. Considering we used to plant well over 100 tomatoes and about 24 peppers, this is pretty small. LOL  Kevin is going to till me another section to plant watermelon, muskmelon, zucchini and spaghetti squash. That will probably be it, unless we decide to plant a fall garden. We decided that there is no point in planting more than the two of us can comfortably take care of. I am kind of excited about this small garden. (grin) Sorry, I forgot to take pictures, but I will as it grows.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so I spent much of the day with her. I made her a pair of pillowcases. I used her favorite colors for the cuff and trim. She absolutely loved them.  Here they are.

 It tickled me to make something for mom that she obviously loved. Who would have thought pillowcases would get that response? LOL Here is mom holding one of them up.

I just thought I'd share a few things of mom's with you all. She has this crazy bird that she loves. I think it is a cockatoo (Could be wrong about that as birds are not my thing.) Anyway, this bird is meaner than the dickens. He bites hard. I won't even put my hand in the cage, yet mom goes up to the cage and makes kissing noises. Can you believe it? This bird, BJ, comes to the top of the cage and sticks his head up for mom to kiss. She is braver that I. LOL Anyway, here is BJ. Best I could do through the cage. No way was I letting him out.

Look at him. He is just daring me to get closer. No thank you, BJ. LOL Mom also has a stray cat that kept coming to her apartment, so she started feeding her. You know where this is going. Now she feeds several cats in the neighborhood. LOL Anyway, this mama cat is so pregnant that she looks like she could burst. LOL Poor thing was laying on the sidewalk, meowing at me. Mom is going to have her spayed as soon as she has these kittens and gets them weaned. This is such a good kitty. Mom calls her Mommy. (Now I know where I get giving lame names from. LOL)

Mom has a green thumb where flowers are concerned. (I didn't get that from her. LOL) I only took one picture of her flowers, but she has them everywhere.  They are beautiful and help to attract the hummingbirds that she loves watching.

Mom had a nice birthday and heard from all 4 of us kids and several grandkids. That makes it a nice day.

Speaking of grandkids.....I am packing my bags, getting ready to go. LOL I leave tomorrow at noon. I took the car in this afternoon to have the oil changed and everything checked out. I did laundry yesterday and have been cooking for Kevin to have something to eat this weekend. I am even taking my shorts instead of just skirts like normal.  I am not taking any handwork because I plan on playing hard. LOL Cath says that Ashton and Ava are very excited. I think I may even jump on the trampoline. Kevin said, 'Just don't break anything!' LOL Hope not. I am so anxious to see my babies. I will be in Lawrence from Friday till Sunday, about noon. Then I am going to Kansas City to see Noah and Izabella. That's right, I will get to see 4 of our 5 grandbabies this weekend. Does it get any better? Well, it would be better if I could see Madison too, and Kevin could come with me, but I will take what I can get. LOL I will stay in KC from Sunday till Monday evening, then come home. It will be an busy and fun filled weekend. I should come back with lots of pictures to share, if I don't forget my camera. I even bought some new purple flip flops. (I call these thongs, because that is what I grew up calling them, but my kids have informed me that these are not thongs. LOL)

Aren't they pretty? What do you call these? I think it is a generation thing. LOL 

More good news, I have been on a semi-low carb diet for a week, lost 5 lbs and my blood glucose and blood pressure have both come way down. I am also walking. Today I did 3 miles. I told Kevin that you know you have  had a good workout when you stink when you are done. LOL That was me this morning. (grin)

Well, no quilting projects today, but lots of other stuff. I will be back next week with all the details of my 'Weekend with the Grandchildren'. No time tomorrow for a post. I have to get up early to get all my stuff like, Bible study, walk, breakfast, chores, etc. done, so that I can also make a trip to the bank and store before I leave. So tomorrow will be crammed full. Everyone have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. Thank you for visiting and please come again.

What Would You Do?

Good afternoon,

It is getting hot here, around 89*. We skipped the 60's and 70's and went right to the upper 80's. The humidity is also back. I can't handle lots of heat and humidity, so I am staying in today. My body needs to get used to these summer temps.

I fused this block and want to machine applique it. I have done some machine applique, but not a lot. This is a design from Sindy at Fat Cat patterns. She has awesome patterns and most are free. This one is called Cali. Hmm, after I saw that, I knew I had to make it. Here it is.

Now my question is: should I use thread that matches each section to go around them with machine applique or just use black and go around each piece? I have had this done for a while, but just can't decide what to do. I don't want to ruin it because I really love it. You think my Callie will like it? Probably not. I tried really hard to get a good picture of her today. She was in a snit and would not cooperate. This is the best I could get from the brat. I took at least 7 or 8 pictures, but no go with her. LOL

Now Aeris on the other hand, always cooperates. Isn't she cute? I may have to try to make a kitty block with her coloring. At least she would appreciate it. LOL

I have been working on some UFO's. I am almost done with all the projects that I have sandwiched, so some basting is in my future. I may actually start on a full sized quilt this time. So it won't be a quick project, which means I also need to be working on another project to prevent burn out. (grin)

I went out this morning and walked for 30 minutes. Ok, I waited too long and almost got too hot, so I now know that I need to do my walking early. I have also been very diligent about my diet. No pop or sweets for a week now. Also no wheat. I can already breathe better and have lost some weight. I really have to keep this up as my fasting blood glucose scared me last week. I have been able to control my diabetes without drugs and would like to keep it that way. So it is time to buckle down, eat right, exercise, and take some weight off. I would really appreciate any prayers for me to be able to get back in shape and get my BG down that you might feel drawn to say for me. I have until fall to get things lined out, or I need to go on some meds. I really, really don't want to do that.

Well, I guess that is enough for today. I am really hoping to be able to get my hair cut tomorrow. Wednesday is Mom's birthday, so I will spend it with her. Friday I leave to spend the weekend with Ashton and Ava. So this is a really busy week for me. Not sure how many posts I will get in. (grin) Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

One Binding Down, Three to Go!

I sewed bindings on 4 projects. I got one hand sewn on the back  last night while watching Criminal Minds (one of my favorite shows, by the way). This is a table runner that I made from the Missouri Quilt Company's tube quilting tutorial. I usually call it tube piecing because that fits better to me. LOL  They make quick little table runners.

I quilted this while I was in Kansas City watching Izzie and Noah. Little Izzie loved to run her fingers over the quilted area. (grin)

I haven't washed it yet, but I just marked it with a chalk marker, so most of it has faded off.  I love this black fabric. I have used it in several projects.

Of course, I have to show the back. I love the back of a quilt. I actually picked a fabric for the back that the quilting stitches show up. (grin)

Now, tonight will be another binding while I watch either  reruns of NCIS or CSI and The Mentalist. Hmm, which sounds better? Can you tell I love the criminal investigation shows? LOL  My dh goes to bed with the chickens, but I can't fall asleep that early. So I stay up, watch tv, and do handwork.

It has been raining since last night. We have water standing everywhere, but they say it is going to clear out tomorrow. Supposed to be 86* on Saturday. We will go from having  heat on, right to the ac. LOL Got to love Missouri weather.

Thank you for visiting. Have a great day.

Happy Birthday, Izabella!

Good morning everyone,


Today is our little Izabella's 2nd birthday. I wish I could spend it with her, but I plan to call her in a bit.

She had a lot longer hair, but when I was watching them, her brother got hold of the scissors and gave her a haircut. I think she is cute with it cut up around her ear. I am sure it has grown out a lot since this picture was taken.

She had just gotten up in this picture. She was wanting to go outside to play. Little lady bug, if mama is reading this to you....HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Grandma and Grandpa. We love you! Have a wonderful 2nd birthday and be nice to your big brother. OK?

I was in Wal Mart this weekend. My first stop in there is always the fabric department. We don't have any quilt shops near by, so I depend on Wal Mart, JoAnn's, and Hobby Lobby. While there (getting some fabric cut, of course), the manager came up and told the fabric cutter that she is no longer allowed to order any more fabric. As of the first of the year, they will no longer sell fabric. Hmm, what is wrong with Wal Mart? I know you might not make a big profit selling fabric, but look at t he big picture. Ladies who buy fabric, also buy other products. Very seldom do I get out of the store with just fabric in my cart. So if they will no longer carry fabric, I might as well go to Target or K-Mart. Just a little rant I have about Wal Mart. So what fabric they have is it. I did buy some, of course.

We have some major rain coming in. We are already under a flash flood watch and it hasn't even started raining here yet. I did hear on the radio that it is raining in Topeka and Lawrence, so it is on the way. Once we can get the next 24-30 hours of rain out of the way, they are calling for a nice weekend, with maybe 80*. We won't know what to do to have a weekend without rain. Our yard is looking like a wilderness area. So I guess mowing will be on the agenda. (grin)

I got bindings made for 4 projects yesterday, so I need to get off here and get them sewed on. These are all baby quilt or table runner sizes, but still need to be done. Thank you for visiting. Please come again and have a nice day.

A Nice Day

Good afternoon,

We are actually having a nice day. The sun is shining and it is in the 70's. I think this may be the nicest day we have had so far this month. They are calling for more rain tomorrow, but say we may have a nice weekend. I hope they are right. I am so tired of every weekend being cold and rainy.

I finished the Noah's Ark quilt quite a while ago, but just got it washed , so thought I'd share a picture or two with you.

As you can see, Callie liked it. I had to make her get down so I could take a picture. That put her in a huff, so she moved to my ironing board. LOL

I had a 'duh' moment when I was trimming the half square triangles for the Daisy Star quilt. I had bought a June Tailor ruler for making HST's quite a while ago. I had used it a little bit, but not a lot. I started trimming the HST's to size. I'll show you a picture of the ruler so you can see what I am trying to explain.

You line up the HST's on the lines, then have a slot on the right and on the left to run your rotary cutter down. I had done maybe 25 of these, thinking it was going to take forever. I was only using the right slot and turning the HST after each cut, so 4 times.  Finally it dawned on me why there was a left slot with numbers. By using both slots to cut, I only have to turn them 2 times. (Well, actually I line it up 2 times, but only have to turn it once.) LOL  I felt pretty dumb for a bit, but then was happy to have figured it out. Anyone else have these 'duh' moments?

I figured out that I have 5 projects waiting for bindings, so I think I will get off here and get some of them sewed on. That will give me something to work on tonight while I watch Biggest Loser. Everyone have  a great day. Thank you for visiting.

Daisy Star is a flimsy!

Good evening everyone,

I just spent about 1 1/2 hours talking to a very good friend. She reminded me that I haven't posted a blog in a while, so I figured I'd better get with it before I forget all I wanted to post. LOL

Kevin and I had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago. That really put both of us out of commission for a while. In fact, we both pretty much stayed in bed for 2 days. That is unheard of for us. Thankfully, we are both right as rain now. (grin) Speaking of rain....we have had a lot of it. Hard to believe that we are on the last half of May. It has been cold and rainy all month. Still no garden planted, but what would be the use? Mom has seeds planted, but says they are not coming up. I hear that it may get up to 75* tomorrow with sunshine. I may just sit outside all afternoon. LOL

I finished sewing the borders on to the Daisy Star quilt this weekend. I think it turned out pretty good.

I had Kevin hold it up for me so I could get a picture. Now it joins my stash of unquilted tops. I am now trying to get Double Delight put together. It was a Bonnie Hunter mystery a year ago. Lots of little pieces, so I work on it, then put it up, but I really do want to finish it. I am also spending my evenings doing some redwork. Sometimes that is so peaceful and relaxing for me. Also kind of a no brainer. Just follow the lines. Look at this cute little saying. I love this.

I also finished this 'honey' project.

I also finished this 'primitive friends' redwork this past weekend. It was a busy weekend, craftwise.

I love to take these little redwork projects and make small wall quilts out of them. I use the redwork as a center of the quilt, then build blocks or strips around them. They are a breeze to quilt up and I can use from my scrap bins. These make great little gifts. I have several ready, now, just waiting on me to get creative and come up with the rest of the quilts .

I thank you all for visiting. I know I have been a bad blogger, but sometimes I am just not in the mood to write anything. In those instances, you probably would not want to read what I write. LOL Everyone have a great day. I will try to do better.