(Laurie on the way out the door to Psychology class at 6:40 a.m.)

"aww Mom, why do you have to take a picture....I'm cranky!"

"because you're going back to school again this semester, and because I'm proud of you and that's what mothers do......click!!....have a great day honey!!" :)

Karene's love blanky

She liked it, she really liked it! (in my best Sally Field imitation....teehee!!)

The highpoint of my week.... :)

For just a little while tonight - everything was alright in my world. We had dinner with the girls tonight, at Northwoods Inn.

Not my favorite place to eat, although the salad is a hit with me.....(two helpings!!). However, its is Michael's absolute favorite place, and he's loved it ever since his Mom and Dad brought him here as a child each time they visited this area to go to Disneyland, etc....













It was fun to listen to the girls' dreams and hopes and plans.

Laurie starts another semester Monday, taking Psychology in the morning on campus and taking another class online at night after she drags herself home from a full day of work and her evening meeting. She's looking forward to a trip to Paris with Kim (her sponsor/friend) and several sponsee sisters, in February.

Karen is contemplating some changes at work, and earnestly studying Japanese language and culture, in the hope of becoming a participant in the JET program in 2008. (Here's a link that explains a little of the program: http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/jet/outline.html )

(Nope, I'm not thrilled about that one.....its one thing to feel that it is time the girls aim for getting out on their own and progress toward assuming full responsibility for themselves as adults, etc.......its another to have one of them on the other side of the ocean.......Sigh.)

But tonight, all was well with my world. Both of them were with us; we shared a meal and a really nice time together. It was kind of bittersweet. Our days of impromptu dinners out when everyone's schedule allows it, are numbered. Things will change. Some change is good. Some change is really really difficult.

I love my daughters. I'm proud of them both and I love them so much...... :)

It isn't a UFO, it is an FO!!

Finally, Karene's love blanky has been completed. This was just an experiment. I ordered some four inch squares from an ebay seller, because while looking at various sellers' fabrics, these reminded me of the colors she wears, and just somehow said "Karene" when I looked at them......












I took them to my parents' home last September and made the top......it has taken me an embarrassingly long time to quilt it and bind it....but it is done!












It isn't supposed to be an example of technical excellence. It is supposed to sort of showcase the pretty flowered fabric, and become a well used and worn out symbol of my friendship with my bestest friend. If she ever needs a hug and I'm not there, she can wrap up in it and hopefully "feel the love!" I hope she watches movies and drops buttered popcorn on it, drags it outside and has an impromptu picnic on it, tosses it over her when it gets chilly in the rainy winter.....or over Craig or Matt when they dose off on the couch.....

I'll make Karene another "real" quilt some day. I have several in mind....but I wanted her to have a love blanky first.....

Next, I'm working on love blankies for my daughter Laurie and my daughter Karen, and my niece Elizabeth, whom I have known by the adorable nickname Wiffie all her life.....And of course there is the Irish chain to finish.....and the kaleidoscope quilt in shades of deep forest green, aqua and burnt orange.....sounds unique but its quite pretty.....

And my knitting.

I think my job just needs to be sacrificed so I can devote more time to these projects!! ;)

Irish Chain Quilt

UFO report.....The Double Irish Chain












A bit of progress has been made. Two types of squares were created. 18 of the one on the right and 17 of the one on the left (above)! First they were put together in horizontal strips as below.....(yes, the only place I had to sew today was my office)












The horizontal strips were sewed together.....This created the center of my twin sized double Irish chain quilt....













Now, I could have stopped there with a simple binding and called it a day....
But nooooooo.....
I had to fall in love with the seminole border.....pictured below in Eleanor Burn's book Quilt In A Day Irish Chain..... which I just discovered is made up of a mere 70 additional blocks, each made up of groups of three squares.....I think I need to lie down. After a couple of drinks and some serious chocolate.













I guess it will be a UFO a bit longer....that's going to take until February, 2008 some time, encouragement and assistance from my Teacher Extraordinaire, Janet.....I have no idea how to make those little seminole trims come out exactly the correct size, butting up against those 9-patch squares. But if anyone can get me through it, Janet can! Stay tuned! (Pass the chocolate!)

Patio 2

Then again, maybe not. Trying again!

So there you have it. Even the flower pot doesn't help! It tries, but up close, the leggy, "so over it" appearance of the impatiens just adds to the overall not-quite-doing-it-for-me. Back to the porch.

I tried moving the fiscus out to where it would get more light, and I arranged a few of the afore-mentioned leggy and so-over-it impatiens - the turtle is a nice touch. It was a gift from Karen on my birthday or Mother's day - and its a shoe cleaner in disguise....I love it!!

I lightened up the previous fiscus corner with Mr. Spikey and the remaining impatiens and a succulent group that needs a repotting for the top plant - I love those plants. They look like quilting designs on a branch....so cool. I am trying to determine how to successfully repot them without breaking them. I like the corner better now.

Mr. Frog likes it too.

As I said, overall, it is neater. I need to get the round top for the table experiment. And a number of cans of Fusion paint by Krylon. Makes cheap resin chairs that are past their prime look brand new, according to the customer reviews on some other blogs and sites. If it works, I will have a fairly decent table/chair set for the cost of the paint and one plywood circle from HomeDepot (my favorite toy store....well, one of them anyway!)

I'm tired. I am also just a bit sad. I live in Southern California, and as I said to my best buddy Karene - I want a yard that says SoCal. One that takes advantage of our year round growing season. Green, beautiful, flowering, with decent grass, and NEAT. But life (work, laundry, sleep, dinner) just keeps getting in the way of what I want to accomplish. (on the quilting and knitting fields also!!) Oh well. This is an improvement. So there!! :)

Patio 1

I'm going to post in bits. I had a nice entry ready and Blogger wouldn't take my pictures. Not one. Trying with a smaller narrative and only a few pictures.

Grrrr.
Its better, because its neater and a number of pots got tossed and I'm just simplifying a bit. Here's the "before" of the patio:












Pretty pathetic. First we must lose the grill, which involved some research, trying to determine how to fasten the propane to the frame of the grill. During this time, I was kneeling under the grill with the book beside me, following directions and bending a wire that simply was not doing what the picture indicated. I sat up at one point to look at the book again and my head hit the shelf on the side of the grill. The side holding my iced tea. I realized this, because I was deluged with iced tea, over my head, neck and back. Felt great for a moment, but all in all, I wasn't too impressed with myself.

All this was happening with the accompaniment of the little rugrat in the yard behind me, practicing after what had to be his first trumpet lesson. I was so impressed with him that I called Karene so she could listen. We agreed that a cow in labor would have sounded better. Don't get me wrong. I love kids. I really do. I am currently knitting hats with my daughters to keep kids warm in Mongolia because I love kids. I can't blame the kid - he's not really a rugrat. He just has parents who think I'd love to hear his trumpeting, so they're sharing the experience with the entire neighborhood. I'm not stupid - I can imagine how that would sound inside the house. Yep, "Its a beautiful day Junior, go practice outside."

Back to the patio. The old umbrella stand must also leave. Heaved it (dripping iced tea all the way) to the garage into the garbage bin. Began creating a place for the grill to hide when not in use.











I had dutifully measured the wheels/legs of the grill. I had purchased enough one foot square blocks to create a hard surface for the grill to sit on while not being used. I figured I would pull the grill forward, or even lift it with the assistance of Mr. B., onto the grass, and cook, and then put it back. The two times a month that we grill, it seemed like a swell idea.

Well, the execution looks a little "white trash" to me. And actually, again, I am not too impressed with myself. I neglected to take into account the width of the shelves of the grill. Hence, the grill appears to be holding up the palm trees......just between you and me, its called careful wedging. Well, maybe shoving and creative cursing. Sigh.

Blogger is not cooperating. I will post this and start a new one.

Not Enough Time

My newest addiction. I got the Knifty Knitter round loom set. I'm doomed. I want to make things by the gazillion. But I will restrain myself. This little gizmo is great for taking along when you want to not have to worry about sticking someone with four double pointed needles, or dropping stitches.....I will definitely work on a hat while flying to and from Wyoming in a few weeks. I'm interested in making a few items from time to time, saving them up to send in a box for the yearly Dulaan project....Here's a link to the project....
http://www.fireprojects.org/dulaan.htm

I'm rediscovering how much fun it is to knit, and my friend Deborah keeps sending me links for new yarn, each more beautiful than the last.....sheesh. I want them all. I commented to her today, even if I could retire right now, there is Not. Enough. Time. (She agreed.....and she's semi-retired already.....there's just not enough hours to do all that we want to do that is creative and crafty and fills that need in us to make something useful and beautiful, all in one....)

But here's my first hat - whipped up in one and a half hours total time.....the last hat I knitted for Karen on double pointed needles took me hours and hours and hours and even a tad of creative cursing.....this is SO much more fun.....now I'm contemplating ordering the rectangular looms too......so I can make scarves for the Dulaan project that match a few of the hats......

I'm working on the adult size now (for Karen) since I have a ton of that yarn and she likes the colors.......Then will switch back to child size and finish up my six skeins - making good use of them!











My quilting class with Karene continues, and my quilt continues.....though not as quickly as I would like....(I know, don't comment about the rabbit trail I went down named Knifty Knitter.....) I have made 18 of the blocks for the double Irish chain.....This week I'm starting a set of different blocks that work with the first 18, to continue the pattern. Its so much fun to see how the Eleanor Burns pattern/style of constructing this quilt makes it happen so easily!

I've tried several times to load a picture of one of the 18 squares.....but Blogger is not cooperating.....Another time perhaps....Back to work for me!

It's Hot

I used to live in Texas. I loved many things about it. But the heat wasn't one of them....Yesterday felt like Texas.

Michael put a thermometer on the front porch because he did not believe the official "the Weather Channel" report that it was 101 degrees in Anaheim, California, in our zip code. (Nor was he buying the announcement that with humidity, it felt like 106.)













The first reading was about 104. I took another picture later trying to get rid of the glare of the flash....and it was hotter by then. (Not counting the humidity!)














(The thermometer was only on the floor by that ray of sunlight 14 seconds before I took the picture....) Yep, it was 106 on my shaded front porch, all afternoon. It was muggy and heavy and hot. We took the thermometer inside after that, because sun on the front porch was going to give a false reading and cause the inmates, er... I mean my housemates, to make a run on the ice cream in the freezer.

But we are fortunate. There are thousands in Queens, New York right now, with no electricity for over a week, and temperatures just like these. I have NO room to gripe and whine. On the bright side, its supposed to be in the low 80's next weekend!! :)

Uh oh....Mom's trying to FIX something!!

Today's post will be of limited interest to anyone except my Dad, from whom I get my natural inclination to try to "fix things"......

Sometimes, that's the extent of the similarity between our efforts to fix things: its natural for both of us to try. He regularly succeeds. I regularly have sore stomach muscles from wheezing with laughter as I attempt to act like I know what I'm doing.

Two days ago, the vacuum was being used by the 26-year-old, who was industriously cleaning her room. There was the normal irritating screaming of the vacuum which was suddenly punctuated by a sound resembling a jackhammer on concrete, and then deafening silence broken only by an undeleted expletive. Doors opened everywhere and family members converged on the scene. "What happened?" was the idiotic chorus that rose as we surveyed Karen through the swirling clouds of settling dust.

"I dunno," was the enlightening reply. Possible culprits were located on the floor as vision became more of a possibility.....a random screw, the knob to adjust the heighth of the vacuum, clods of dirt......nothing very telling.

"Yay" Laurie said, as she disappeared....."now I don't have to vacuum my room!" (She's got that "get over it and move on!" thing nailed.....I could take lessons from her. Instead, I vow to fix it.)

I took poor Mr. Blue Vacuum downstairs and he sat in the holding area (the den) awaiting diagnosis. The holding area is where all the "happening" events in this house take place. Why, Sadie gave birth to her second hair bunny in the holding area yesterday. After I finished typing today, I decided to operate. I gathered my tools (screwdriver, scalpel razor blade, scissors, light, fan - I may as well be comfortable...) and I entered the holding area to prep the patient.
I removed the drape, and proceeded with a bimanual examination........yep, any first year resident could see we had a possible strangulation of a vital organ.....the beater bar was encased in a huge amount of foreign objects and debris.........

I removed the cover and dissected away the foreign bodies and other crud....I was feeling pretty smug when I got all this out.....I have no idea what some of this is.....I wasn't even sure when I got it off the beater bar and could take a better look....

But as I say, I was feeling pretty smug. I put the bottom plate back on, sat Mr. Blue Vacuum upright and turned on the power. Jackhammer noise! The Pure Bred Big Yellow Dog nearly wet himself, Le Tigre (the Pitbull) buried her nose in my left elbow, and I turned it off, waited for the air to clear, and contemplated my next brilliant move......

I decided to take off the top cover of the vacuum and see what there was to see.

Okay, that would be a wad of dog hair and crud, right over a seemingly important perforated little vent like area.....Perhaps removing that major obstruction will shed some light on things.....

Why look....speaking of light....hidden with in the disgusting stuff is the light for the front of the vacuum which has mysteriously not worked for months.....I'm sure I have a diagnosis: the light is shaking inside and making the death rattle noise. Voila! Yep, I started feeling smug again! I placed the light bulb in the appropriate location.

Hesitantly, after warning the Pure Bred Big Yellow Dog, I turned Mr. Vacuum back on. Without the benefit of the cover, the death rattle was deafening. All four dogs joined the fray in protest. I turned it off, and then I did the smartest thing I've done all day.

I solomnly intoned "Time of Death 17:55."

Mr. Blue Vacuum is now in the morgue garage awaiting trash day. Sorry, I called it the morgue by accident you see, because Little Bunny FooFoo, the Cat Who Used Up Her Nine Lives, and Spike the Bearded Dragon lie in state in the freezer in the garage, awaiting a proper burial. Don't ask. Really. Don't.

Now I'll turn my attention to trying to improve the performance of the dishwasher. (Max just ran upstairs to hide!) And Mr. B is picking up a new vacuum on the way home. (Note to Laurie: Honey, you can vacuum your room now!)

Dog hair, spinning.....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312152906/104-2364593-0788739?n=283155

Still seems weird but it is an idea with some merit!! Talk about recycling!! Apparently people are either grossed out by the idea or love it. I think I'm sort of in the middle - curious and intrigued, but I would not want to wear it myself.

Now a sweater from a cute alpaca or a sheep that I raised and got sheared each year......no problem! Go figure!

Not again....

Furball Sadie gave birth to another hair bunny today......Sheesh. If I could spin this stuff, it would make the softest warmest sweater......but it would smell like a dog.....oh well, at least she will be cooler!!

In an aside that will probably be "cute" to dog lovers....I was transcribing a few days ago and saw Sadie run past my office door with the Pure Bred Big Yellow Wuss Dog, and my fleeting thought as I glanced at her was "she looks like a flying aviator......goggles and all....."

Goggles? Wait just a dog-gone (pun intended) minute! That was my bra she had clamped in her mouth, cups flopping merrily as she tore past me.....(past tense also intended).....it wasn't a bra by the time I got to her. It was a mere suggestion of one, well-chewed, frayed, with holes in some fairly strategic places. Seems that someone helpfully put my clothes (which I forgot to take out of the dryer) into a laundry basket on the floor.......which is just the perfect height for her to run by and snag something!!

Not to worry! Mervyn's was having a great sale in "women's foundations" this weekend!!! ;)

New nickname for Sadie.....Furball?

Its that time of year.....she needs to shed, but for some reason, it doesn't fall off of her....she looked kind of lumpy today, so I got the doggie hairbrush and gave her a new chew bone, which renders her into a cooperative state.....

I was able to basically flip her from side to side and could have tied her tail in knots, and she wouldn't have cared, as long as she had that big new bone to chomp on...... She has this inexhaustable supply of soft grey/white undercoat....

The results of 30 minutes of brushing, emptying the brush and brushing some more.....

Look at the hair collection right beside the brush! Unfortunately, I think Butthead , Furball Sadie has a lot more where that came from, but I figured 30 minutes was enough....don't want her to decide she doesn't like the brush.

Sigh. Back to work.

Pirates, dogs and floors....?

Yes, its Jack Sparrow, from Pirates of the Carribean......

(with breasts.....as one of Karen's friends so sweetly pointed out!)

The new Pirates of the Carribean movie is out and wildly successful. I got a email from Patti (I work with her) stating that she loved the new one, because she knew Karen loved the first one. I sent a few pictures of Karen to her, showing her Karen's Jack Sparrow costume from the heyday of the first Pirates of the Carribean movie.....In one picture we immortalized her boot covers she scored at a costume shop which covered her normal shoes and lent a certain authenticity to the outfit.

Patti wrote back to complement Karen's costume and my wood (laminate) floors.....Reminded me yet again of how much I love my floors in the downstairs (Wilsonart brand)....I can honestly say those floors have saved a few dogs lives......I would have killed them otherwise....

Remember that idiotic commercial a few years ago with a woman who sits there, serene and peaceful amid her child's birthday party which is taking place like a Mardi Gras all around her....and you hear "Mom, Peter spilled grape juice on the carpet!"

And her response, as if she were fresh from her yoga class and had not a care, or a tense muscle in the world, was "that's okay!" with a smile.

And the scenario continues, with crashing sounds and splashing sounds, and with each announcement of catastrophe, even one from an obviously older male character, announcing something along the line of "Honey, I spilled the entire bucket of used, dirty oil from the Mustang on the carpet!", her response was.....still with the vacant, zen-like glazed eyes and ear-to-ear grin......."that's okay!"

Well, I strive for such perfection in my life, you see......and when I hear crashing noises "Mom, Sadi knocked over my soda!"..... "MOM, Le Tigre knocked my spaghetti (with red sauce of course) right out of my hands!" and "MOM, MAX THREW UP!"

I serenely leap to my feet, ever helpful, and assist with the clean up, all the while chanting (as the commercial taught me) my mantra: "that's okay, that's okay, that's okay" interwined with "thank heavens for my wood floors, thank heavens for my wood floors, thank heavens for my wood floors...." and the occasional "thank heavens and Dr. What's-his-name for my hysterectomy!"

Yep, its been about five years - you would think the floors were installed yesterday as far as the appearance......except in my office where my industriousness has worn the gloss just a bit under my chair......it was the best money I've ever spent in my life. The upstairs will be gutted and replaced with the same floors, as soon as the last child adult offspring moves out......We figure saving a minimal amount each month will enable us to pay cash for that flooring purchase, since the last of our descendants probably won't be sandblasted out of their room until sometime in 2014.

End of commercial for Wilsonart Laminate floors.... :)

Inchworms and UFOs

I love plants and flowers. I crave a beautiful, well maintained, flowering yard, with lots of birds and butterflies......

However, I haven't got a green thumb anywhere. Sigh. (Or the money for a gardner with knowledge!)

Not only that, but nature conspires against me. Last time I tried to grow tomatoes, I got a bumper crop of half eaten tomatoes and a family of funky looking humongus worms that entertained us. It was better than TV. The tomato plant grew so well it plastered itself against the kitchen window....we could wash dishes and watch the destruction of the tomatoes all at the same time....

Tonight I decided to repot two sage plants I bought. I received some rosemary from my friend Deborah before she moved and I've enjoyed it so much I thought I'd expand my horizons a bit.....I bought some German oregano which is growing well, and I just got the sage a week ago. I grabbed the two little plants (which I thought in passing this morning looked a bit sad).....and headed out to the back porch....

I was horrified to find that some of the leaves had little teensy holes in them.....and I soon found two culprits..... the teensy holes were made by two teensy inchworms....

I have to say, he's cute......but he's evil in disguise, I'm sure!
Here's another shot of him......

That's him, right beside that nickle....and the well-chomped sage leaf!! One of about 15 leaves I had to cut off, because they were full of holes.....
Grrrrr!

UFO (unfinished object) #15 Progress Report:

It is now 13 inches long.......this is a simple shawl, will be 60-65 inches long when done.....just for throwing over shoulders when its nippy and easy to shrug out of when driving......I'm currently suffering from the delusion that it will actually get cold enough here to use this. Someday, I would like to have enough time to make these regularly, for donation to battered women's shelters. You can read about this project here:

http://www.shawlministry.com/

I thought I would practice by making one for myself first, and see if it was doable. A suggested pattern may be found here:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-prayerShawl.html

There are lots of possibilities.....I wonder, however, if I wouldn't be able to make/accomplish more by making my quilted "love blankies" in smaller form.....for the moms to snuggle with their kids in their safe places, once they make it to a shelter for women, etc.

Enough random thoughts for today. Work calls.

Project Garage 2006

The situation in the garage reached critical mass a long time ago. I have reached the end of my patience with it.....Grrrrr! I bought shelves, with the assistance of one of my trusty cohorts in adventure, Karen. Patrick had the misfortune good sense to go away for the weekend, thereby missing this particular adventure with Joy.....

Karen and I bought heavy duty (will hold 4000 pounds, evenly distributed) industrial shelving at Home Depot. We are women, hear us roar! We were not even deterred by the view that greeted us at the beginning of Project Garage 2006.....

That's the single car side above.....Here's the double car side below.....Yeah, three car garage......funny thing is, I don't see any cars.....

Shelves were built, with the aid of determination, creative cursing, laughter and luck! We now have all of Karen's treasures binned and shelved.....Laurie's are almost done.....my craft supplies (quilting, knitting, tole painting, etc) will be organized soon.....we have not touched Mr. B's stuff.....he's working up to it..... Sigh.

I will take new pix tomorrow......we've been at it for two days, and right now, I'm too tired to hold the camera. I'm doing well just to hold my glass of wine.....and I'm eyeing the bed......

Tomorrow promises to be a light day for my transcription business.....More progress will be made......(crosses fingers!) And the next day is the Fourth of July! More progress is possible.....and a reward: sewing time with Karene!

Ultimate goal: VW van housed in garage, and torture devices treadmill and stationary bike located in garage.....not the middle of the living room! (crosses a few toes for extra benefit!)

But in other good news!

My "Laurie Lu Lovebucket" had 444 days yesterday! One-day-at-a-time is adding up! She has worked SO hard and come so far. She has a fantastic support system, good friends, a good program, a great job, and fantastic results to show for it. Two of the people that I am thankful and grateful beyond words for, are Milton (her counselor, mentor and friend) and Kim (her sponsor, friend, partner in fun - she works with Milton)..... They have watched Laurie go from the little girl in the corner with the black clothes, the black hoodie pulled up over her head, angry and snarling....and they have encouraged, directed, dared and cheered her on....and today, she is the "Laurie Lu (not her real middle name!) Lovebucket" that we knew was in there somewhere, and are so very, very proud of. Here's a pick of Kim and some of Laurie's girlfriends on a recent trip to ski/snowboard at Big Bear......(see what I mean about partner in fun??) (Laurie far left, Kim beside her)
And here's Mr. Milton himself....with Kim at a bonfire down at the beach that the group held one weekend....

And here's another picture of Milton, I believe from one of the conventions they attended...

And one last picture of my Laurie on the right, at a wedding she attended with a friend recently! What a lovely young lady she is! Congratulations Laurie Lu! I love you!

Today I vacuumed the grass.....???

Mother Nature can be such a ...."pain in the arse" sometimes. For five years, I've had an umbrella that stuck up out of a glass patio table......weighted down with a sand/water filled base which I dutifully filled with more water every year.....it never took more than a tablespoon or two to refill it - because it was not leaking. Whenever the Santa Ana winds kicked up, I made sure to stack the chairs, and tie the umbrella shut and we never had a problem, even in really, really severe Santa Ana winds.....

Until today. Dead quiet this morning, muggy, "June Gloom" weather in SoCal. Sudden gust of wind. Crashing sound. I knew, right then. I said to my husband, "that was the sound of the glass table being destroyed." And I was correct......unfortunately.

I have already pulled the table frame off the umbrella, and then pulled the tablecloth that was twisted around it, full of glass, over to the patio.....

There's that much glass UNDER the umbrella too......and an enormous amount was neatly encased in the tablecloth....

Sixteen paws wanted to go out and pee.....so I had to deal with it sooner rather than later......so there I was, with my shop vac, pointy end nosing around in the grass, sucking up shards of glass. Oh well.

Next!

I'm finishing another UFO (unfinished object!)......

This is a quilt that has taught me, among other things, how very much I need the class I am taking on Sunday at Leah's Quilts. Janet, teacher extraordinaire, just might make a real quilter out of me yet! I invented this quilt, in a sense. I just sort of made it up. I purchased 4" squares of a variety of flowered materials on Ebay, because they reminded me of Karene. Her preferred clothing colors, her spirit, just seemed to go with the squares of flowers. I wanted to make her a quilt to wrap up in and watch TV, drag outside and use for a picnic, and wrap up in when she needed to "feel the love" during difficult times - the quilt was to represent a hug from me....It wasn't supposed to be a masterpiece of technical ability.....just a soft, comforting "blankie" for a bestest friend!

I put the top together during a trip to Cody to see Mom and Dad....we had so much fun laying it out and calculating strips and purchasing borders.....

That was last September a long time ago.....an embarrassingly long time ago......Its getting finished now! The quilt top turned out fine, but I'm not so hot at finishing them. I'm not entirely pleased with this one, but it will still serve the purpose for which it is made - representing a hug from me!

Note to self: Pay attention when Janet teaches you how to finish the class quilt!

Anyway, I machine quilted it today using simple diagonal stitching with varigated thread that picks up the flower colors....













My hands didn't feel like they were gripping too well, and I don't own any of those fancy quilting gloves with the gripping finger surfaces......Lightbulb moment!! Karen gave me gardening gloves with gripping surfaces for Mother's Day......as yet unused, so no mud and crud to get on the quilt! Perfect!













They helped a lot! Might not ever take them out to the yard for yard work!!

Got the quilting done, the binding attached.....all that's left is hand stitching the binding and hiding my loose threads. Hmmmm, strategic folding might hide the one crooked corner that has really irritated the heck out of me for the last hour! Oh well, won't get noticed......much......maybe...... :(

Optimistic as always, I'm already planning what I will tackle next, as if I actually knew what I was doing!

Baby Kaleidoscope Quilt Completed

This is the view when I laid it on the table with batting and backing and got ready to baste it together.....

And this is the picture of the completed quilt that I staged for my quilt book.....

And this is little Michelle, after she unwrapped it......

A very happy mommy-to-be! ('scuze the poor focusing job....) We will miss seeing her in the Chipotle Restaurant where Patrick and Karen work.....but she has promised lots of pictures when Baby Jay arrives.....maybe even one on the quilt!!

This is a picture of me, clearly suffering from "completed-quilt-euphoria" as I contemplate my next project......of the dozens I have waiting to be started or completed.....

And this post would not be complete without a "thank you" for the artistic input from bestest buddy Karene......who helped me pick the colors/materials to complete it, that made that quilt just sooo come together! Thank you Karene!!