I cranked up the Longarm today!

Well, I think my longarm was getting rusty! GOSH...It had been a long time since I had done a quilt on it! It was fun! My sister sent me this quilt...it will be a sample in an LQS in MN. She wanted random circles and I said let me try this spiral! WOW..looks like concentric circles but it was MUCH faster! I am pleased with the outcome!!!!! This is from the Circle Lord...www.loriclesquilting.com Judy loves their Baptist Fan...and I'm thinking this spiral is going to be my new best friend! ;o)





Now I want to get an applique project prepped! I'm getting addicted to this dreaded "A" word! LOL

Hugs
Laurie

WOOHOO...1st Applique project is ready for quilting!

I got the borders on the "Survivor" wallhanging! I just LOVE how it added life to the wallhanging! I'm pretty happy with it! Now to find time to quilt the darn thing! Just wanted to share!
Hugs
Laurie

Retreat Applique Project and more...

I haven't posted something quilty this week so here goes! This is the finished applique part of my 2005 applique retreat! I still want to enhance it with beading or rhinestones or something like that. Also, I am going to do a striped border that I will cut on the diagonal and add some pizzazz to it as well. As you can see, I struggle with picking fabrics that stand out on this background. I could have trouble picking out fabrics on a cream background! LOL...one of my challenges with the dreaded "A" word in quilting! Here is a closeup of a couple of the flowers using bias to highlight the petals. I really liked this method because I didn't have to worry about things shifting! Just butt the pieces up to each other, baste them in place, and attach the bias that I made.
I put a pink ribbon from another breast cancer fabric that I have in the center of this flower!
The ribbon was done in pinks for my being a breast cancer survivor. I think I'll hang this in my sewing room when it's finished! IF it gets finished! ;o)
Lastly, these are 3 of 40 applique blocks that I am going to put into a patchwork quilt. My friend who went on retreat with me last year and again this year, and mysel bought 5" squares of this gorgeous line from Moda. We just fell in love with it. I knew right away that I wanted to applique them into hearts. I found a gorgeous deep red and a buttery yellow (the pics don't do the colors justice) for the backgrounds. I don't think I will sash them...but I'll wait and let the quilt talk to me when it's done. It's nice to have something simple to applique on at night.

SO...there ya have it! Something quilty from me!
Hugs
Laurie

Yesterday was a sad day for baseball

If you're not a baseball fan you can skip this post. I am a Minnesota gal and Kirby Puckett is synonymous with MN and Major League Baseball. He helped the Twins win 2 World Championships. He had an infectious personality and smile. He was always SMILING...always having FUN...until one day he woke up and couldn't see out of one eye. Glaucoma had taken his eyesight and his ability to play the game he so loved. There's so much more I could say about Kirby but will stop here. Kirby died of a massive stroke at the young age of 45...soon to be 46 next week. He leaves behind a son, daughter, and fiance.

Minnesota lost an icon in the baseball world. Minnesota lost a friend. Minnesota lost a hero. The nation lost an amazing human being.

RIP Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett
#34

Put your sunglasses on! LOL

Here is the tshirt quilt that I assembled this weekend. I had a MAJOR redesign when I was pressing the interfacing onto the backs of the shirts and found I had one that wasn't included in the design...

It's the western on in the upper middle of the quilt. I had to make a pyramid type deal at the top instead of having all the squares and the Hello I love you shirt in one row. It turned out nicely...but it's wild...the girl wanted stripes and dots...so she got them! ALL FROM MY STASH!!!

Hugs
Laurie

Where does time go?

Today is my "baby's" birthday! He is 17 years old! I can't believe that he's that old already! He's a great kid and I love him to death! Today we'll celebrate with gifts and chicken enchiladas (Dan's request) and chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting! YUMMY!!!

Here's a pic of Dan as a little tyke:

Why are they so cute when they are asleep? LOL

And here's a recent picture of Dan after a soccer game! Isn't he a handsome young man? OOPS...sorry, a bragging mom here! :-D


I'm off to work on a t-shirt quilt! Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie

Today I'm tired!

Gosh, I'm tired today. Too much staying up late and getting up early. I NEED more sleep! And I will get it...I'm just not sure when!

I had the best of intentions today...I wanted to start on the tshirt quilt. But, being tired I decided to wait so I didn't make a fatal cutting error! That would not be a good thing. I could've pressed the interfacing on the backs but I knew if I did that I would want to cut! There's always tomorrow...........

I ordered some things from karen kay buckleys website www.karenkaybuckley.com for applique. It is her circle templates for perfect circles and her thread holder. The order was placed on Saturday night and it arrived yesterday! Talk about FAST!!! And the thread holder is gorgeous...it's made out of Patricia Campbell fabric...black background with BRIGHT BRIGHT flowers...definitely my style!!! The bonus though...I received 2 of her patterns for FREE just for ordering!!! How COOL is THAT!?!?!?!!! I got "Folk Art Fantasy" and "Garden Medley". My friend and I ordered together and she is taking the Garden Medley one. I will keep the other and we'll trade if we ever get to that point! I was thrilled to get this!

I've rambled enough...have a great evening!
Hugs
Laurie

Retreat and Angels!!!

Retreat this weekend was SO VERY RELAXING!!! I was able to get the binding done on the quilt for my friend and give it to her! Here she is, the NEW her, 30 lbs lighter than last year, and the quilt I made for her! SHE LOVED IT!!! There are also 2 closeups of the quilting! The last pic is of a few of those angel blocks and the angel fabric. Laying on top of the angel fabric is a scissor holder that we made at retreat. The spiral is the reverse applique technique we were taught. It's hard to tell, but the spiral is beaded as well! It's the first time I have ever beaded and it was FUN! I think my friend and I are hooked!!!

We chose to try to finish up last year's retreat project rather than start this year's project. We were sort of rebels and it was GREAT!!!

The angel blocks will be picked up this afternoon. I hope they like them! I am not sure when I'll get them back but it'll go together quickly. I am not going to zig-zag or buttonhole 28 blocks because I don't think I have the time. Instead I think I will just do a funky stitch with the longarm to anchor them. They are fused down...any opinions?

Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie
PS(click on the pics to get a closer up view)

Do you believe God puts you somewhere for a reason?

Today I spent the morning cleaning the main floor of the house. It took me longer than I had anticipated and I got in the shower around 12:30. My tummy was growling so I decided to get lunch and go to Joann's and look for an applique pressing sheet. While at Joann's I notice an older couple sitting at a sewing machine and looking at a book. I didn't think anything of it except that I thought they were a cute couple and how often do you see a man in Joann's?? Anyway, after not finding what I wanted I decided to look at the books because I had a couple of 40% off coupons. While looking the older man started looking at books. I asked him if he'd like a 40% coupon if he was going to buy a book. He took it, thanked me and I asked if he was a quilter. He said no, but a dear friend from church was dying of cancer (his voice was cracking and tears were welling in his eyes and I asked him if I could give him a hug which I did) and a group wanted to make a quilt for her. I said, "Oh, a comfort quilt!" His eyes lit up and he said YES! (There was an 85 year old gal at church who used to quilt and she was going to help them.
) The dying friends favorite things are angels and he was looking for an angel pattern. I said, "What about angel fabric?" He told me his wife was looking for that!

I told him if they didn't find any that I had an AWESOME angel fabric at home, not sure how much but I would gladly give it to them. He was thrilled...I gave him my business card and we talked. His wife eventually joined us and she started crying so I gave her a hug as well! I also explained that I had a longarm and would be honored to quilt the top when it was finished. I almost had to tie the 2 down! I proceeded to give them my business card and directions to my house. His wife asked him if he wanted to get something to eat first. I said that would be great as it would give me time to get the fabric together and an angel pattern that I had.

I arrived home and told Sarah the story and she said OMG Mom, you'll probably end up making the quilt for them. I said, "Well, I will if that is what needs to be done!"

They arrived at my home about 45 mins later, Linda and Bill! I showed them the fabric and they were THRILLED with it! (as soon as they came into the house Bill took his coat off and made himself comfortable at my dining room table!!!) We talked, I sketched ideas, ideas bounced back and forth and we settled on a design. There will be 28-8" blocks with WOW angels appliqued on backgrounds that pick up the colors in the fabric below.

I asked Bill and Linda if anyone in the group is a quilter. They told me no. I offered to make the top and they both welled up with tears AGAIN! I told them that I had a quilt retreat this weekend and I would work on the blocks over the weekend and they would be ready for them to pick up on Monday.

Linda told me that during lunch they were talking about me and they both started crying. Bill said he told his wife that when I asked if I could give him a hug he thought, OMG, my wife is in this store SOMEWHERE!!! Linda said if she had caught him hugging a strange woman in Joann's she would've said, "Bill, I just can't leave you anywhere can I?" LOL too cute!

I said, "You know, I wanted to be at Joann's before noon today but the house cleaning had me running late. I believe God wanted me to be there to meet the 2 of you!" They both agreed with Bill saying that he truly believes in God putting people in the right place at the right time!

SO...there you have it! Do you believe?????

Hugs
Laurie

Tshirt Quilt Designing and other Ramblings!

Someone, I don't remember who, asked how I design my tshirt quilts. It is really pretty simple. I have the tshirts out and my 12" and 15" square rulers out. I measure the design on the front and put down a measurement that looks pleasing...making sure that I have about 2" all around the design. That way I know that the measurement is good for that tshirt. I write a small description of the tshirt down and then put the measurement next to it...making sure to mark an H for height of design and W for width of design above the colums...I learned from experience that I can easily mix up those measurements and have to redo the design!! That can be a fatal mistake if I cut tshirts and then find a mistake and have to redesign!

As I'm working my design on graph paper (second photo down) I try to find tshirt measurements that are the same height or width and put them together in rows or columns Once I get the design down on graph paper I rewrite the tshirt measurement page into the rows and the correct measurements making sure to INCLUDE THE SEAM ALLOWANCE!!! That is the right side of this pic...the left is the part where I had to adjust measurements to make them fit! (Usually I do a first row so I know the width of the quilt...In this case I took all the 6" squares and put them across the top...including 2" sashing (I always use 2" sashings)

Is everyone still with me? I sure hope so! LOL

This is a picture of my 2 drawings on graph paper. The first being my first draft and the second being the one where I adjusted it by moving the 3rd row down to the 4th row. Each square on the graph paper is 2" finished. I write a description of the tshirt in each square so I know what I am working with. This includes tshirt color if I have a lot of the same type of tshirts. For example: in this quilt there are several cheerleading tshirts so I had to write the design AND the color as well if it's front/back if I used both sides. I do this because the front and back might not be the same size cut. It helps keep me organized.! As you can see, this quilt is going to be done in neat rows but the tshirts are different in widths, adding variety to the quilt!
The next step is to take my electric scissors and cut the tshirts up the seams and saving what I need. I have to be careful here if it's a large design because I have to have it the right size for the quilt!!! (this step used to be scarey...but it's not anymore!) Here are the tshirts for the design above! The next step will be pressing very lightweight fusible interfacing to the backs and then trimming to size using my papers above. Then I sew each row together and VOILA...a tshirt quilt top! Ready for quilting! I hope this helps those of you who asked for the directions.
NOW...I really should get off this computer because I have a friend coming from CA tomorrow and I need to get the house cleaned! I also have to get the binding done on her quilt! YIKES...I forgot about that! We are going to a retreat and learning reverse applique. We are being rebels though because we don't like the project (it's too folk arty for us) but we do want to learn the technique. We will just take scraps and learn how to do it. We also want to finish last year's project! LOLOLOL...yeah...you read that right! FINISH LAST YEAR'S PROJECT! It's nice to go to this one though because we don't have to schlep our machines!

I AM SO EXCITED to see her! We met on Alex Anderson's message board and are SOOOOOO much alike! It's been a year and we can hardly wait! GIRL WEEKEND!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! I've kept in touch with the blogs and sometimes it gets overwhelming! ;0)

Hugs,
Laurie
PS(My daughter is doing very well! She's had a SUPER attitude! Thanks for the prayers!)

30 LASHES WITH A WET NOODLE FOR ME!!!

OH...I was BAD...VERY VERY BAD!!! I met up with my sister Wed/Th of this past week and we did some damage at the local quilt stores! YES SIREE...I said to hell with stash reduction...I NEED S.E.X.!!! The first pic is of fabric for 2 quilts. The fabs on the left are for a basic HST lap for our family room...the stripe is YUMMY (golds/reds/purples/creams/browns/greens)!!!!!!!! And that shop had AMAZING amounts of moda marbles...couldn't resist it! ;o) The fabrics on the right are for our king bed. I could NOT resist the paisley...it is such a rich fabric! I am going to make 16" Ohio Stars using the paisley as the center, the cream as the background and the green as the star points. Then I will sash it with 4" sashing strips using the red and the cream as cornerstones. The paisley will be the border and binding.




















This picture is of firemen fabrics that I found! My youngest wants to be a fireman when he grows up (he's almost 17) and when I find cool fabrics like this I just CANNOT resist them! I told him I probably have enough fireman fabrics for a king size quilt! LOL















And lastly, these fabrics literally JUMPED into my arms...I AM NOT KIDDING...THEY LEAPED INTO MY ARMS!!!!!!! There is a very simple pattern using the focus fabric (top left) in 12" squares and the half yard cuts as squares/rail fence units to make a very quick quilt. The floral panel and floral fabric at the bottom are going to be the backing! AWESOME HUH?????!!!!!!!!! ;o)




















SO...I know I BLEW my stash reduction theory out of the water...but I have been SO good for SO long! I was DUE for a great S.E.X. time!!!

I'm off to finish quilting the quilt in my previous post! It's freezing here and I am staying HOME...a quilty day for me!
Hugs
Laurie

Quilting felt GOOD!!!

I was able to finish a UFO this weekend...well, the top anyway! I hope to quilt it by Tuesday or Wednesday morning. The focus fabric is the pink with the mulit-color splotches on it! My very dear friend and I bought the same fabric so we could make each other a top...this was 2 years ago last November! I have NO CLUE where she is in the process of making mine, although I do know she's started it! She will HATE me when she finds out her top is done! She is visiting me to go on a quilty weekend in 2 weeks and I decided this weekend that I wanted to surprise her with it. (NO...she doesn't read this blog so I'm not worried about her seeing this!) The pattern was from the magazine Quiltmaker, March/April '01.

The small, dark, inner border is a very deep purple. The 4 squares in the quilt top that look almost white on here are a mint green. The colors didn't show up very well.

Anyway, quilting was great therapy! Thanks again for all the warm wishes and hugs! I love this internet family...always so supportive of each other!!! ;o)

Have a great rest of the day!
Hugs
Laurie

A new day always dawns!!

Thank you everyone for your kind words...they mean a lot to me! I'm FINALLY in my sewing room...had to take DD to the drs...she has a sinus infection. Drugs are a good thing! LOL

The emotional rollercoaster has been pretty calm today. That's a good thing!

It's cold here so I think it's leftovers and jammies along with a DVD tonight. And early to bed for me!! I NEED sleep!

Have a great day everyone!
Hugs
Laurie

Life has been stressful...

No quilting has been done because life has been stressful. The past 48 hours have turned our lives upside down. We'll survive...cuz we are strong...but it still sucks.

In a nutshell, our daughter was evicted from the house she lived in at college and we had to rent a truck and move her back home. She had nowhere to live and no job. She made a major mistake and paid a hefty price. Kids at school are taking the truth and making a HUGE LIE out of it. Basically, they are trashing her. She is a great person with a huge heart and she made a mistake. Unfortunately, people are taking it and making it WORSE than it was.

DH and I have been handling her ups and downs emotionally and telling her that her real friends will come out. And it's happening. We've also told her to ignore all the CRAP...it'll go away. All I can do is hug her while she cries.

And this morning I cried in dh's arms and said "I just want someone to take care of me...I'm tired of taking care of everyone." It felt good to cry!

Tomorrow I hope to get some quilty things done...we'll see if that happens!
Hugs,
Laurie

I barely survived!!!

Well, THANK GOD FOR HILLARY...we ent on a wait list for lunch today...that is UNHEARD of on a M-W...I would've been a basket case and in tears if I would've been alone! I asked for help tomorrow as well. I might also work Friday to get more training...it takes me FOREVER to do "to go" orders cuz I don't know the "Aloha" (the machine that has all the food in there and tells the kitchen what to make).

I will survive...but I need more training! Now to put my tired dogs up and watch my DVR of Dr. Phil!

Hugs,
Laurie

I work by myself today...no more training...YIKES!

Today is my first day of working by myself. Well, actually not REALLY by myself...Hillary is scheduled from 10:30-2 but Paul is going to have her doing other stuff and be available if I get swamped and can't handle it! My tummy has butterflies in it and I have the typical "first day on my own" jitters. As I told dh and EB last night, I'll get thru this and tomorrow will be easier, next week will be easier yet and eventually I'll wonder why I was nervous at all! ;o) I am feeling a bit like I needed more training. 2 of my 4 days were with someone who isn't very good at being a host. And the 3rd day was OK, and the 4th day I was put in charge while Mara trained another new host. Baptism by fire!!! Think of me though!

I am officially the oldest employee at our Restaurant! We make our own name tags by using puffy paints over boring baseball looking tags. (I hope that made sense!) I know a lot of the employees because DD works there and they are all asking me what should they call me. I am thinking "Laurie" but they look uncomfortable with that. SO...here is a pic of my nametag! LOL...we'll see how it goes over today!
Have a great day and I'll check in when I get back!
Hugs
Laurie

Super Bowl Sunday...what will be on your plate? ;o)

Today is the big game! I am not rooting for any team in particular. I basically ask for an entertaining game every year and rarely is it delivered! I do LOVE those commercials though!

Today I have to pick up some lettuce and tomatoes that I forgot for one of our appetizers. I make the world's FATTIEST foods for today and we only have this stuff on Super Bowl Sunday! So I do indulge myself! YES I DO!!! I will probably consume 3-4 days worth of calories in one meal today! Well, maybe not THAT many...but it's a TON!!! It is guilt free eating for me too!!!

If I have time I will work on my pineapple blossom. I have the inside done...I'm debating adding more blocks. When I planned it I forgot how many blocks I was going to do in the center...I have enough 3.5" squares cut out yet for I believe about 10 more blocks...it would require more strip cutting though...thus the debate! LOL

I thought I'd share pics with you of Kevin's graduation gift from last May. I don't like the plain, same size block t-shirt quilts so I design each one individually. So they are all unique!!! The back just HAD to have his shorts he made in 7th grade home ec, and his dirty, STINKY, lucky soccer socks that were thread bare!!! I had to soak those socks in Murphy's Oil soap for a week before I would put them on the back!!! The longarm did NOT like those areas either! Too much bulk!!





Here is another t-shirt quilt that I made for Kevin's ex-girlfriend for her graduation gift. You see how each is unique!!

Have a great day!

Joe's Quilt is Delivered!!

Here is Joe's finished quilt! I delivered it to him and put it on his bed before letting him see it. HE LOVES IT...but it's WAY too big for a twin bed...he needs a double bed and it'd be perfect!















Here are closeups of each panel. I'm not sure if you can see the quilting or not. I didn't do anything special on them at all...the panels speak for themselves.






Here is a picture of the backing fabrics. The white fabric is full of music notes. And this is a closeup of the main fabric on the background. Neat fabric huh?
















And FINALLY...a picture of the quilt on his bed...see what I mean?? He needs a double bed for this to look GREAT...but he likes it and at this point can't afford a new bed. OH...his bedroom...it's not as clean as it looks! LOL...the mess is to the right! He hasn't gotten his bedroom settled yet. I hope you enjoyed the picture show! :o)
Hugs, Laurie

The label for Joe's quilt

FINALLY...I am able to get to the finishing touches for Joe's quilt! My goal for the past several days was to trim/label/bind so I could hand sew this weekend. That just did NOT happen! But today I am getting it done! WOOHOO!!!

Here are 2 pics of the label!



Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie

It's Friday...

WOW...where has the week gone? I have done hardly ANYTHING in my sewing room. I did finish quilting Joe's music quilt. I'd post a pic but there's really nothing to show. Tomorrow I hope to trim it up, prep the binding, and sew it on. I also have to make the label. Then all that is left is the hand stitching!!!

Tonight is date night with DH. Our concert last week with the KC Orchestra was AMAZING!!! We really enjoyed it...except for the idiot next to me who didn't think the announcement of "please turn your pagers and cell phones off" applied to him! GRRRR...more than once he opened his phone to see who had called. At intermission he told his chick he had 8 phone calls to return. DH heard that and said, "It's Saturday night...is the guy a pimp?" LOL...that's my dh's warped sense of humor! But honestly...what adult man gets that many phone calls on a Saturday night???

Not a whole lot going on here which is JUST FINE!!! Have a great weekend!!!

Hugs
Laurie

Work yesterday...

Well, I survived my first day of work! I just had to laugh because not one of the managers knew I was coming! AND...the person they want me to replace, April, was who was training me! That is the ONE person that Paul did NOT want me being trained by!!! The managers on duty were so apologetic. I said no problem! What I had to learn is the numbering of the tables/sections and how to seat properly. THAT is the hard part for me. I know how to greet people and be friendly!!! :0) April did fine but she definitely is NOT trainer material! LOL I will go back today at 10:15, again with April, which cracks me up...but I believe Paul is the morning manager so he might have me doing some other stuff. Time will tell! I definitely need to get better shoes though! I might just wear my tennis shoes today! ;o)

Joe stopped by last night after working. I had bought him a few things for his apt. while I was at Target. He just LOVES his new place! Then he called me a little after 10pm and said that Ryan (a coworker at the liquor store Joe works at) was coming over to see his new place. NOW...I was THRILLED to hear this as Ryan is a SUPER kid. He and Joe get along so well! Joe said to me, "Mom, Ryan is someone who I should be hanging around with. He's never smoked pot and never will smoke pot. His friends don't either!!!" I said, "I'm glad to hear that!" Joe said, "Well Dave was not a good living arrangement for me with all the drugs he and his wife were doing every day. I am so glad to be out of there!"

SO...WOOHOO...this mom continues to be happy with Joe's progress!!!!!

Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie

What a day!!!

WOW...what a day. It started with my weigh in I lost half a pound since Friday. I was very frustrated...I have lost more fat and built more muscle...so that is GOOD! :tu I did complain a bit though. I am tired of hearing "be patient...the last few pounds are the hardest to lose". YEAH i said...but it's been 3 MONTHS!!! SO...after a bit of whining...the gal who runs the place sat down with me. Marcia said she suspects that my body is taking everything I am giving it and keeping it because of my exercise. She put me on the first menu of maintenance which is higher in carbs. No longer exact menus for each meal but 1200 calories broken down into fruits/veggies/carbs/proteins and eat them as you wish. I am SOOOOOOOO excited to have dairy products back...along with lots of other things!

Next, it was off to helping Joe move in. Things went very well there...just a lot of trips up 3 flights of stairs! It was good exercise for me AND Joe!!!

After several trips to and fro we got him moved in. Dan met us at the Goodwill and Joe bought a couch and a couple of end tables. Funny thing though...Joe saw this kidney shaped black table with a set in glass top. It was only $25 but it was wobbly. I said let's find out why it's wobbly. So we were shaking the table gently and Joe said I think it's down at this end. I said, hmmm...let's turn it over and see exactly WHAT is wrong with that end. WELL...I did NOT know that glass table tops are NOT secure...the glass SHATTERED to the ground!!!!!:eek:eek YEPPERS>..the glass top was in a gazillion pieces. I said "Oh SH#$" and there was a grandpa and his little granddaughter standing there. I apologized profusely for that bad word.

SO...I told the lady that i didn't know what the policy was about such accidents but that I would pay for it. She said she didn't know either and would check. She came back and said, it's ok...no need to pay but all of the employees here get to whip ya once! I said "Bring it on!" Then Joe decided that he wanted the frame and would have Dan make a center for it in his Woods class at work. The guy gave it to us for $5!

Then Joe went to run a couple of errands and a guy saw me moving some stuff into Joe's apt. He said do you want this microwave cart? I said are you going to throw it away? He said yep. I said sure! He also had a little wire shelving unit on wheels and I said how bout that? He said want it? YEP! SO...I got those for Joe for FREE!!!

Dan was bringing something up the stairs and the guy asked if we'd want this 4'x2' throw rug as well! YEP!!! THEN...Joe came back from getting his big stuff from the house he was in and I told him about the "stuff". We saw the man who gave them to us and Joe thanked him. He came out with a toaster and asked if Joe wanted that too!!! Joe said is there a microwave in there? :lol:lol There wasn't but the guy, it turned out was the maintenance guy for the complex! I was relived to know he was such a kind soul!!!

Then Joe took us out to get pizza for dinner...it was a PERFECT day!!! Steve and I are WAY more happy that he's in this new place than in a house that is going to get out of hand with drugs. Joe told Steve (I left them to chat a bit at dinner while I came home) that he thinks his former roommate is doing crack as well as other stuff. Joe said he hasn't smoked pot since August and he doesn't want to go there again. Steve asked how old Dave is and Joe said 33. Steve said to Joe...and if you kept on the old track you were on you could be where Dave is today. Joe said he knows that but he doesnt' want to get to that point in his life. Moving was a MUST!

Steve told Joe too that he is an AWESOME manager at Moe's. He said and you know from me coaching you in soccer that I don't hand out compliments like that easily!!!

We will continue to pray that Joe stays on the straight and narrow!!!

Tomorrow I start work...should be interesting!!!
Hugs
Laurie

Today's Project

My oldest son, Joe, is a huge music nut. He wants to go to school for music production. SO...he found these panels on ebay and asked if I could make a quilt out of them for him. I said when you are independent and out of the house! LOL...SO...now that he is moving into his own place on Monday he's been bugging me to get this done for him! It was a challenge as the panels are a very thin 100% polyester and trust me...it doesn't like meeting up with 100% cotton! LOL...There a couple of minor issues and I think they will be ok when quilted...time will tell! Here is the top!


And here is a close up of the guitar fabric...Joe has taught himself how to play the guitar and that is why we bought this for the borders. NOW...I wanted to surprise him with this because he has said several times, "Mom, you have til Super Bowl Sunday to get my quilt done!" LOL...TOday I was listening for his "HEAVY" footsteps upstairs(my sewing room is below the kitchen where everyone enters the house) because I had the top pinned to the rec room carpet in order to do the borders. I heard "softer than Joe" footsteps and figured it was Dan coming home from work. All of a sudden I hear, "MOM IT IS AWESOME!!!!" DANG IT...it was Joe...he saw his surprse but only with the sashing strips and not the guitar border. What's a mom to do! LOL



Now I am going to go put on some makeup, figure out what outfit I want to wear for date night with DH. We are going a restaurant that serves great seafood and then to the symphony orchestra where a gal and guy perform with the orchestra and will do the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Should be fun!

Have a great night!
Hugs
Laurie

Mid-Life Crisis????

I believe I'm in one! LOL...I waited until my crisis was healed b4 posting! 2 weeks ago I went and got a tattoo! It is a celtic knot (which represents my love of quilting) that symbolizes a mother's and her children's hearts intertwined. It is done in purple and pink with shading...I might go back and have it colored in solid...it's on the inside of my left leg...and I LOVE IT!!!


NOW...for the news I promised you this morning! My oldest, Joe, has struggled with stayin employed at one place more than a few months. He's been homeless, broke, and in DEBT. Coming up March 1, he will have been employed at 2 places for a YEAR! WOOHOO!!! And he's working to pay his student loan off, bought our old car and is paying for that, the ins. on it, and his cell phone. We have been his bank since he hasn't been able to get a bank account. He moved out in Nov. and it is NOT a good situation. We are pretty sure his roommates are ripping him off financially and that they are makin their money selling drugs. NOT GOOD...SO Joe said he needs to get out and we agreed wholeheartedly. (the good news is he didn't sign the lease, his roommates did so he's not locked in) I made some phone calls to apt. places on Monday, we looked at a place and put in an app. It will save him about $200/month and that doesn't include the decrease in his gas costs. We co-signed for him because we didn't think he'd qualify on his own credit. BUT HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then today...well, is there any better way to wake up than this? I turned on my cell phone and the voice mail "whoop whoop" sound went off! SO...I said to myself, AH, Sarah called after I went to bed. (she was supposed to call me after her job interview at 8PM last night and I heard nothing.) But the voicemail wasn't from Sarah...it was from Joe.

I will save this voicemail FOREVER!!! And remind me when he's made me upset to listen to it! The voicemail went something like this:

"Um, hi mom. It's Joe. I just wanted to call and tell you thank you so much for your help in finding me a new place to live. I have to tell you how much I appreciate it and how EXCITED (he giggles) I am to have qualified on my own for the apt too!!! I have had such AN AWESOME day and it's due largely in part to you and dad!! I am so thankful that you and dad are helping me pay off my loan to Target (he'll pay us back but we wanted it off his credit) and helping get my student loan back on track. It's just such an AWESOME feeling to be doing this on my own! And I REALLY REALLY appreciate your help...and dad's, I'll call him tomorrow and leave him a message but I thought I might catch you awake tonight. I just had to say THANKS!!!!! I appreciate your help!!! (he giggles again) I am just so HAPPY!!!"

I have listened to that message 3 times already! My heart is SO FULL and HAPPY!!! I pray that Joe is "getting it"!

THEN...there's Sarah. Spending money like she's got it! And she doesn't! She has to pay a LOT of the bills now that she's at a CC instead of WIU. I just shake my head on that one. She should hear about the job tonight...she'd get $4/hour and her tips being a server, which is what she does here. She said she'll probably get hired but is unsure of how many hours she'll get. Time will tell on that one.

Have a great rest of the day...OH...here's a pic of my 5 blocks for the Hazed and Infused quilt.



Have a great day!!!
Hugs
Laurie

"STUFF"...and thanks!!! :-D

I haven't posted for a few days! I have been busy with "stuff"! When you are a mom there is a lot of "STUFF" to deal with! Lots of it is GREAT "stuff" though! I'll catch ya up later!

Also, thank you for all the kind words with my daughter's situation! They were greatly appreciated!!!

I thought I'd share my lone star quilt with everyone. I took this class with Jan Krentz online at Quilt University. Jan did an AMAZING job teaching that class and I would take it again in a heartbeat!!! It was a true challenge. If you want to see more about the work entailed just go to my webshots site. There's a LOT of "STUFF" there! ;)



Today I am going shopping at the mall for clearance bargains. I need some new clothes!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie

Kids and why I'm TIRED

*SIGH* I went to bed last night at 11PM and at 1:45AM I woke up to a sound downstairs and thought "Eh, the kids are still up." Fine...no problem...but I never went back to sleep. At 3AM I could see thru our bedroom door that there was still a light on downstairs. Sure enough, I came downstairs and there was Sarah. I told her to get to bed since we had to be up and on the road at 7AM to take her back to "school". (I put it as "school" cuz she's been kicked out of her 4yr university due to lack of progress and is going to the community college there.)

Anywho...I went back to bed and was still awake at 4:30AM. UGH...I awoke at 7AM and got up, showered and took DD back to "college". Turned around and came home...arriving at 6:30. DH took me to dinner!

In the mean time I found out from Kevin that Sarah broke a spindle on our banister at 1:45 AM when she tripped coming down the stairs...that was the noise that woke me up. I called Sarah and said when did you think you were going to tell me about the spindle? She said she was going to call me tonight. I said good grief, we spent 5 hours together today and you couldn't tell me????? She thought I'd be mad cuz when the boys, Kevin and Dan, chase each other in the house I always yell SPINDLES!!! LOL...I told Sarah it was an accident and stuff happens but to TELL me!!

I'm tired...I think I'll have one or two of the 4 major food groups...A BEER...and go to bed! ;)

I hope to get some quilting in tomorrow...HOPE is the operative word there!

Hugs
Laurie

Tagged by Judy! ;o)

OK...I guess I've been tagged so here goes!!!

Four jobs you've had: Hospital kitchen worker, Elementary Ed tchr, Curves for Women, Health Club, Longarmer, but the MOST IMPORTANT JOB...MOM!!!

Four movies you could watch over and over: Miracle on 34th St., It's a Wonderful Life, A Beautiful Mind, The Notebook, Hoosiers, Coach Carter, Stand by Me, Breakfast Club...and many more

Four places you've lived: Rochester, MN (birthplace), St. Paul, MN, Apple Valley, MN, Burnsville, MN, Overlandd Park, KS

Four TV shows you love to watch: What About Earl, Law and Order, Boston Legal, The Bachelor (I KNOW I KNOW...but I find human nature interesting)

Four Places You've Been on Vacation: Banff, Canada, Toronto, Canada, Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Orlando, Palm Desert, Scottsdale, San Francisco

Four Websites You Visit Every Day: My newspaper in MN, Blogs, Yahoo Family group, Big Horn Quilts, EZBoard website with friends

Four Of Your Favorite Foods: Pizza, Beer (oh YES IT IS A FOOD!!! LOL), Chicken, Salmon, Steak, Buffalo

Places You'd Rather Be: HOME in Minnesota

Four Albums you can't live without: I'm not sure that I can't live WITHOUT these CD's, but they are my favorites at this time: Faith Hill's Firefly, Kenny Chesney (any of his CD's), Shania Twain (her older ones), Aaron Neville (any of his CD's)

Four People you'll pass this on to: Laurie Ann, Darilyn, Jeanne, Joanne

Life in KS today!

Well, the snow above is what is going on here in KS at the moment!! Winter Storm Warning...2-4"! LOL Being from MN that just makes me laugh! MN wouldn't even call that a Storm WATCH, much less a WARNING!!! But, it's a great day to accomplish the fun pictured below!!!

YEPPERS...those are 2 homemade pizzas! One sausage with green olives and the other pepperoni with black olives!!! I have one more pizza crust in the bread machine!! Wanna know why I'm making 3 homemade pizzas??? (the third one will be sausage/pepperoni/g&b olives/onions/green pepper) Well, here's why...Kevin's college friend had a buddy from Alaska come into town . I had told Adam that if Jamie came into town to call me and I'd make pizzas and have them over for pizza and beer! He called last night!!! How COOL is that??? Most people never take me up on my offers so I am THRILLED!!!

I made 2 more blocks for the H&I quilt top! It's a good project when one doesn't have a lot of time! ;0)




Hugs,
Laurie

2 Wasted Quilting Days

First of all, THANK YOU so much for the fun comments on the Hazed and Infused post! Marathon Quilter suggested that I use my story and picture of the tap on my label! GREAT IDEA!!! Thanks MQ!!

So, yesterday I had the bright idea of making a New York Beauty out of those colors...tried my hand at Karen Stone's NYB book that I have with the patterns and templates...DISASTER...TOTALLY DISASTER! I loved the color combinations that I had chosen but the workmanship was probably the WORST I had ever done...YES...the WORST!!! So, that blew my quilting time yesterday!

Today I had planned on quilting all day because I wasn't going to have a car. My son had work, physical therapy, and a dentist appt. BUT he came back from work at 10am and said he didn't work until 5pm!!!!!!!!!! LOL...so he went back to bed and I decided to run some errands. I tried on some aerobic shoes and then went to Talbot's where I dropped almost $400 on clothes on CLEARANCE!!! The only problem, dh needs to take me out to fancy places...so we'll see what I do. (the fun part of that shopping spree was when the gal said there's pants to this ensemble...did you see them? I said no, but if you have a size 12 I'll take them. I did and tried them on at home and they fit like a glove!!! WOOHOO!!!)

When I got home I decided that I just HAD to make a block out of the H&I fabrics. What to do??? I grabbed my book by Judy Hopkins, "Around the Block Again" and picked a 12" block. Here is the result of that block. What I'm thinking is to do a variet of 12" blocks and just make it a sampler! But who knows...that could change! LOL



This didn't photograph very well. The green is a very bright lime green and the dark purple is a purple that leans towards being a black-purple)

I hope everyone had a great day!!!
Hugs
Laurie

DH and I like our beer! YES, this is quilty!

My husband and I really enjoy drinking good beer. There is a restaurant here in KS called "Old Chicago". They have 110 different beers, tap and bottle, and you sign up to be a World Beer Tour member. When you become a WBT member you get a plastic membership card and every time you drink a beer you get credit for it. Once you drink 110 DIFFERENT beers (you don't get credit for drinking the same beer 2x) you get your name on a plaque at that location. Along the way you get prizes too!!! Tshirts, sweatshirts, bottle openers, BBQ tool set and more! They also have various themed mini-tours that you get a tshirt for when you finish it! TOTALLY FUN!!!

SO...now that you have the background here is my story! One night we were sitting at the bar and one of the taps (Hazed & Infused) caught my eye. I LOVED THE COLORS! (and the beer!) ;o) I kept telling DH, I gotta make a quilt out of that beer tap! Being the dork he is he said, "Wouldn't it be easier to make it out of fabric?" DUH Well, needless to say I could NOT get the image out of my mind. We bought a 6 pack of the beer at the liquor store, but it just wasn't the same as having the tap from Old Chicago. One night last week we were in the restaurant eatin gand the mgr. came up to us (we know the mgrs because DD works there) and asked how our holidays were. I then said, HEY, can I have the Hazed and Infused beer tap? He looked at me kinda funny like and I said I HAVE to make a quilt out of those colors! He said hang on a sec and came back with an EXTRA H&I tap and gave it to me...PLUS he brought out a bucket of old taps. I took 5 of them in exchange for making him a tshirt quilt. I know I probably am coming up on the short of that stick but it's OK! SO...here is the tap that I coveted and now own!

A couple of days ago I thought, "It's time to pick fabrics for the H&I quilt!" So, I did! All of these are out of my stash!!! WOOHOO...STASHBUSTIN' IN '06!! I also laid out the Joen Wolfrom's color wheel device on top of the fabrics so you can see how it works. I don't use this often for my color choices, but I was so intrigued by the tap that I wanted to see if it fell into one of her 5 categories:

*monochromatic (one color)
*complementary (2 colors directly opposite from each other on the wheel)
*analogous (7 colors next to each other on the cw)
*splilt-complementary (2 complementary colors and add 2 colors on either side of ONE of those)
*triadic (3 colors equi-distant from each other on the cw)
And it DOES!!!!!!!!!!! It is SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY! How COOL is this???!!! Now to find the PERFECT PATTERN! AH, the hunt of the PERFECT PATTERN! I"ll find it somewhere! Someday...

So here is a picture of the fabrics, the left column are purples (the very deep purple didn't photograph well, it looks almost black but it is a black purple), then blues, yellow greens and yellow). This should be FUN!

Oh, here is a pic of the WBT tshirt quilt I made for DH and I cuz we had waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many! We have finished 4 full tours and are on our 5th!!!

I am going to PIECE today if it kills me! I probably will go get lunch at Moe's and then crank out quilting the rest of the afternoon! WOOHOO!!! I spent a whole day cleaning this pit of a sewing room so now it's time to mess it up! LOL...I even dusted behind stuff and pics and got cobwebs outta the corners! Do I REALLY want to mess it up????!!! Aw heck...WHY NOT! Have a great day everyone!!!

Hugs,
Laurie

For those wanting to lose weight

I clicked on a diet banner on my yahoo mail page last night. It sent me to the Discovery Channel website. I haven't looked closely at this whole program because I don't want to register, but this much I know:

*it's free
*you can get 8 weeks free at Bally's if you join (unsure if there's a contract committment or not and you certainly could do your own exercise if you don't have a Bally's)
*getting the Discovery Channel is useful
*if you register you have access to lots of menus and recipes

Also, I did a google search typing in "free online diet programs" and there were a LOT of them! One is Ediets.com, along with many others.

I hope this helps anyone trying to lose weight this year! Remember...it's not a DIET but a LIFESTYLE CHANGE!!! Change just one thing a week in your diet. Maybe this week it's drinking less caffeine and more water every day, next week it's eating a piece of fruit instead of a cookie everyday, the next week you eat veggies instead of potatoe chips. Small changes like this will add up and make your LIFESTYLE CHANGE easier!!! Going cold turkey is HARD HARD HARD!!! Trust me, that's what I did on my LIFESTYLE CHANGE and I warned my family I might become a B#@*&!!!! LOL Forewarned is forearmed!!!

Also, exercise, ANY type of exercise is important. BUT...if you hate the exercise you chose find something else. You won't stick with it if you don't enjoy it! That much I know!!! Maybe today you walk for 10 mins...tomorrow 15...next week 20 mins...and so. Do what your body says you can do. It's important to listen to your body!!!

I need to get back on track after the holidays as well. This week has been tough but I am determined to make my goals BEFORE 2/1!!! I HAD 4 lbs to lose to goal BEFORE the holidays...it might be more now! But I have told myself I will weigh in again on Friday.

Have a great day!

I'm STUMPED!

I am seriously stumped on this. About 3 weeks ago I got a card in the mail with a $25 gc to the LQS here. Signed, "Secret Pal".

Today...a delivery to my door. The delivery gal said, "Are you Laurie?" I said yes. She said, "You have a secret pal!" ARGH...WHO IS IT??? She said a pretty nice one too! There was a note that said "Your kindness warms my heart!"

This is 2 months in a row and it's making me NUTS!!!! The one local person I think it is vehemently denies it...which I would too! I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy!OH...and the thing of it is, I did NOT join a "Secret Pal" deal...

(SIGH)
Hugs
Laurie

Haven't posted for a few days...still sick

Hi Blogger friends! I have not felt well still! I had wanted to do some quilting the past couple of days...some long, hard, fun days of just QUILTING but I didn't. I managed to get a few hours in but that was it. I ended up lying on my bed and watching TV for a couple of hours this afternoon. I hope this cold will break soon...I haven't felt any better yet with the meds so it's obviously bacterial.

I hope you are all getting more done than I am! ;o)

Hugs
Laurie