Just plain happy!

Ya know...today has just been a SUPER day! I went to coffe with a girlfriend and we gabbed for almsot 2 hours! Then I went to weigh in and found out I stayed the same...I was ECSTATIC for that since we just arrived home from Cancun on Tuesday! :oD

I am also excited cuz I am home alone! WOOHOO!!! DH and the oldest ds are in StL for a concert. And my other son who lives here is working!

I also spent over an hour talking to my dad on the phone. That is a miracle in itself! It is the first and only time I can remember talking to my dad that long on the phone. My mom and I could do that every day! But since mom died in May of 1992 that hasn't happened for years. I missed those chats with mom, but tonight I had tears in my eyes after my chat with dad. My heart was so full after that!

I love my dh and my ds but being alone is great too! I am looking forward to going to sleep with a DVD in my new player and being alone. I also look forward to Dh coming home tomorrow and wrapping his arms around me and telling me he missed me and loves me!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!

Back from Cancun

Well...if you read my previous post you know that it was iffy as to whether or not DH and I were going to get out of KC. Our flight was at 6am and we WOULD HAVE gotten out IF our plane hadn't had mechanical issues. It just gave the *S*N*O*W* all the time in the world to build up and become slush. The KC airport was closed for the longest time in its history...about 6 hours. We were rescheduled to Monday with the same itinerary so we got a hotel by the airport and stayed there instead of having one of our boys come pick us up in the nasty weather. Plus we got to sleep a bit longer. SO...here is a pic of our first night of vacation at the Marriott KC Airport! LOLThen 24 hours later...the view from our room in Cancun...too gorgeous for words. We slept every night with the sliding glass door open and listening to the waves crashing in the ocean! We had dinner one night at a place across the street from us called "El Shrimp Bucket". This was our kind of restaurant...great food, great prices and SUPERB service! We just love a place where the servers/staff love to have fun with their guests and this place was so amazing that we went back a second night! This is Jordie (asst mgr) and myself being silly!Seriously...how can a place with a sign like this, above a tap that you can walk up to and fill your beer, NOT be heaven??!!! LOL Anyone who knows me knows how I LOVE my beer!!! In moderation of course!!! :oDThis was a picture of our server, Hernon (sp?) and I. He was just so fun! He has 2 little kids that are just adorable and was a lot of fun!One night we went on a dinner sunset cruise and there was dancing! One of the servers got me on the dance floor! It was a lot of fun...bad food but a lot of fun!!!One afternoon we went parasailing and that was amazing! Not long enough, but amazing!!!And this is what happens when housekeeping has too much time on their hands! LOL...I couldn't find the bathmat...how cute is this?
This is a picture of pizza delivery...Pizza anyone? LOL
And finally, the quilter in me had to take a picture of the stained glass window behind the hotel lobby bar...I kept staring at it and this conversation happened between dh and myself:

him: sure is pretty isn't it?
me: sure is
him: why are you staring at it so much?
me: cuz I'm trying to figure out how to make it into a quilt! DUH (LOL)
him: but the colors would be hard to find in fabrics (one fabric was wood grain looking)
me: heck no...
him: but that brown color would be hard to find wouldn't it?
me: heck no...
him: really? (shocked)
me: really...lots of fabrics are made to look like nature and landscaping stuff
him: really? (shocked)
me: really! (does this guy NOT get it? LOL)
him: ok, I believe ya
me: that took long enough...I'll just take a picture! The weather in Cancun was low 80's every day and sunny...we came back to snow and low 30's. It's FREEZING here! The wind chill is brutal too! I guess I got spoiled! We had a super time and were able to extend our lost day on the front end to the back end!

Hugs,
Laurie

Heading to Cancun...

DH and I are SUPPOSED to head to Cancun tomorrow. We are scheduled to leave at 6am from KC and fly to Dallas. Then we leave Dallas at 9:05 and arrivei n Cancun at 11:45. I said SUPPOSED to because we have some major rainstorms and turning to snow tonight into tomorrow. I hope (fingers crossed) that the temps stay in the mid 30's so it's just rain and not ice/sleet/snow. I WANT TO GO TO CANCUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I'm gone for a week! Have a great week everyone!

I've been tagged...

I have been tagged by Country Mouse and decided to play. I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things about myself. So here goes:

1. I gave birth to 4 kids in 5.5 years and never had any pain killers! YIKES!!!
2. I am married to a man who hasn't missed a day of running in 35 years
3. My DH and I own 3 weeks of Marriott Timeshares: 2 weeks in Palm Desert and 1 week in Oahu. WE LOVE TO TRAVEL!!!
4. I have 2 tattooes that I got when I was 45!!
5. I have 41,000+ miles on my car that is only 18 months old! My license plate says "RDTRIPN" for a reason!
6. I love surprises...as long as they are happy ones!
7. I want to look like my mom when I am gray haired...she had GORGEOUS gray hair!

So there ya have it! Random things about me! I tag anyone who reads this and wants to play!

Stash BUILDING...not BUSTING!!

*SIGH* Well, I updated my google docs and here is the sad news:
Stash Busted: 36.2 yard (clap clap clap)
Stash Enhanced: 75.75 (boo hiss boo hiss)
Total: 39.55 brought in

BUT BUT BUT...remember that 50 of those yards were ONLY $1/YARD...yep...ONLY $1/YARD! I just could NOT help myself! SO...I don't feel badly at all!!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL
Hugs
Laurie

KU Quilt top DONE!!!

I was able to get the borders on today even though I had to get my car fixed. Seems that the battery was dying and I had to have it replaced! UGH...I hate car issues!

Here is the top and all I have to do is get a back made and throw it on the machine. I suspect that will have to wait until after our trip to Cancun this Sunday!
I hope the pictures enlarge this time...so you can see the fabrics better!

Have a great day! Stay warm if you are in this silly Midwest/East Coast weather!

Guilty Quilter at work

The GUILT got to me after buying so much fabric (click on previous phrase to see post) while in California!!! So today I decided to make something so that I can BUST some stash! LOL...

I made the top (borders to be added tomorrow) today using KU fabric. This quilt will be for my son's orthopedic surgeon who repaired his ACL. Dr. Snyder was AWESOME and he's a grad of KU and a HUGE sports fan! What better than a quilt to thank him! I had to throw the soccer balls in there since that's DS's sport of choice and the reason for the injury and repair!

I hope Dr. Snyder likes it when it's done. The pattern is "Just Can't Cut It" by All Washed Up Quilts. This is the 4th time I have made this pattern. It's great for large patterns or if you want a cool quilt and need it quickly!!

Here's a closup of the fabricsI'll have a stash busting report either later tonight or tomorrow! I hope you are having a great Sunday and are getting some quilting done!

I don't know why the pictures won't enlarge when you click on them...darn

Putzing around in the sewing room!

Well, after a fun time in California with my buddy, I came downstairs to quilt a bit. I finished the 4 Valentine cards for my girlfriends (the light pink ones) and also one for my DH (the center one). Not too fancy but cute. I bought some valentine ribbon and heart ribbon at Walmart along with some valentine fabric that I used for my girlfriends' cards. The fabric on DH's was some fabric that I have yardage of. Now I need to clean up a bit in here...it's driving me crazy! Have a great Sunday...

I'm home...

I had such a great time with my buddy Laurie! (please visit her new blog) We shopped, we ate, we laughed, we exercised, we visited her family, we sewed, and we just enjoyed being best buds!!! YEP...life was good in California!

I am glad to be home...anxious to snuggle with dh tonight, anxious to pet my new fabrics tomorrow, anxious to quilt a bit, anxious to get back into a routine, and anxious to have my buddy come see me in KS!

Life is good when you have girlfriends in your life!!!
Hugs
Laurie

FuN in California

Hi! I am in California visiting my TSB (twin separated at birth) LOL. We are having so much fun! BUT...it's NOT good for my stash reduction program! LOL

BOY OH BOY are we having FUN!!! Yesterday we went to 2 quilt stores. We did some MAJOR damage at the first store, Queen B Quilt Store (or something like that), but we really hit the JACKPOT at our second stop, The Cotton Patch! TSB asked if I wanted to go, she was thinking not, and I said YES! WELL, we get there and are looking at fabrics when 2 employees ask us to move so they can get thru with a flatbed cart FULL of bolts of fabric. We asked what the deal was with those and they said they are $1/yard! WHAT??? Did we hear CORRECTLY???? ONE DOLLAR A YARD?????????!!!!!!!!!

YEP...since it was the Chinese New Year and if you spent $10 on a coupon book there was a coupon in there for all the clearance fabs @ $1/yard! HOLY COW...there were probably 200 bolts of fabrics to choose from. We went crazy!!! I had told TSB that her fabric stash looked pretty pathetic. She showed me some and I asked where the rest of it was...there was no more! Anywho...when it was all said and done, TSB checked out and had purchased 28 yards of fabric. I was still having mine cut and while at the register I said to TSB that at $1/yd I was going to go back and look for backing fabrics. TSB agreed and the gal at the register said she would NOT check me out then because once you used your coupone you were DONE!!! The gal said that TSB would have to put it on my order if she bought more. FINE BY ME!!! When we were done we figured out that we bought 90+ yards of fabric! We have pictures but I am not sure how to get them on here. I will see if I can get them on my blog. OH YEAH...the gal forgot to charge me for my coupon book so TSB got a 2 for 1 deal!!

Here TSB and I are with our $1/yard fabs! WOW we did great...HIGH FIVE!!!
A nicer shot of us with the "stolen fabric"!!! LOL
And here is TSB's dd with ALLLLLL of our fabrics purchased yesterday!!!
Today we have some errands to do, then meeting up with Marlene (we met Marlene at Alex Anderson's retreat in 2003) for lunch and then we are FINALLY going to SEW!!! I hope everyone has a great day. I head home tomorrow! I think I'll ship my dirty clothes home and take my fabric in my suitcase! YEP...that sounds like a plan! ;oD

Here's a pic from Alex's Retreat wtih TSB and myself. She's lost a lot of weight as well...don't we look MUCH better???
PS(my name is laurie and I am a fabriholic and it's OK! no one in their right mind would turn down a DEAL like THAT!!!)

Memories...

I bought my DH a book called "Cellaring Your Wine" for Christmas. We have totally gotten into drinking great wines since we moved here. The book he is reading told him how to build a great wine cellar for very little cash. DH decided that our puter/storage room was the perfect place! LOL...well, last week he started cleaning out this room. I warned him that it was full of stuff that our oldest 2 (who didn't move from MN to KS with us) had packed and sent to KS with the movers.

Sure enough...DH found clothes (they don't fit either kid due to weight gain), crafty things from school, posters, hand made signs from friends when they were soccer players, report cards, school pics, and LOTS more! OH, he even found some FOOD in those boxes! LOL and EWWW

SO...our storage room is now empty but our rec room is now STUFFED to the gills with the "STUFF"! (sigh)

One thing though was a box of my things from being a kid. This quilt was my "blankie" while growing up. I have no clue if it was a store bought gift or if my grandma made it for me. It is WORN and smells musty. I soaked it last night and it's a little better. There is a hole in the center and the outsides are totally frayed. But it is MINE!!! And it brought back a lot of memories! I was thrilled to find this!

I'm not sure what to do with it. I am thinking of having it framed but am not sure that that is the right decision. Any ideas??

Gosh...I feel little again!!!

Hugs,
Laurie

Fire Station Wallhangings

WHEW...I finished the last of the 4 bindings on the Fire Station Wallhangings! They are now ready for my son to take to the stations and have the firefighters decide where to hang them. If you look closely, they are the same but different! LOL...It's strange...but my firefighting fabric stash is pretty depleted! I used 6.5 yards of fabric for the wallhangings! WOOHOO!!! That's more than I bought on Saturday! LOL

The "Fire 2 Dist" part of these are t-shirts from the station!

Disappearing 9P

Well, here is a sample of my attempt at the disappearing 9P. (see previous post for link) The 2 blocks together were done with blue being the predominant color and turning them as suggested in the tutorial. The lone block is with the gold as the dominate color and turning the block an extra time...interesting effect... I think I'll make a scrappy blue/gold one and see what happens! There are endless possibilities with this block! WOOHOO...FUN TIME SEWING!!!

Super Bowl Sunday...

Well...it's FINALLY here...Super Bowl Sunday (SBS)!!! I'm not a huge football fan but I just LOVE the food, the commercials, and this year Tom Petty for halftime should ROCK as well! YUMMY & WOOHOO!!! I have spent about 2 hours in the kitchen already and am still NOT done...

Stay tuned for what all of the ingredients turn into! I might even get some sewing in today...I want to try the disappearing 9P on Sew Mama Sew's blog. Join the fun over there!

I've been Good and Bad...

First for the BAD STUFF!!! A few days ago I was perusing through Big Horn Quilts and found this focus fabric! DROOL! DROOL! DROOL!!! I resisted but then today I met Becky at a LQS and look at what LEAPED into my arms...but this wonderful fabric selection! HONESTLY...I SWEAR it LEAPED into my arms...ask Becky!!! I bought 3 yards of the focus and a yard of the others! So much for stash busting! LOL

But when I got home I pinned the 4 fire station wallhangings onto the longarm and went to work. I risked doing it this way (first photo) because I didn't want to load this little guys on one at a time. It worked out very well. I'll post pics later when the bindings are done...that's a project during the Super Bowl tomorrow.

Then I had to make the postcard to reflect the wallhanging project. here is the front... and here is the back!
SO...I bought 5 yards of fabric today, but the 3 wallhangings used up 6.5 yards so I guess I still BUSTED SOME stash! LOL

It was great to meet you Becky and thanks for the pattern! ;o) Your daughter is adorable as well!!!

I am honored!

Rose gave me the "you make my day" award and I am honored! I started blogging to journal my quilting and life. If I inspired someone...AWESOME...but that was not my intent! To know that I inspire Rose is a bonus! Thanks Rose! If you want to see some great photography and quilting...check out Rose's blog!

Applique Heart Quilt

I have been playing with the attic window setting option for the heart quilt. I am not sure if I have enough fabric to do this or not...but it has been fun. What option do you like best? This one?

Or this one? The striped border is NOT going to be used...that is still an issue...the border!