Blame it on the Blue Moon

This, to me, is a sad picture.

Yes, the sun is shining and the snow is glistening.  And, oh, yeah, at first glance you see a nice, spaceous area with semi-clean windows, lighting, and carpet.

But if you look closely, you'll see tracks in the carpet where, once upon a time, something big sat and occupied this space.
This space is sad because there is no longer a HQ16 sitting here.
Yes, DD, the HQ16 machine went to a new home in the middle of December.
Just so sad.
(Imagine all the sad emoticons here)

 But, things are looking up...
There is land-line evidence that that Big Brown Freight Truck will be coming sometime soon.
There is paper evidence that it will happen.
And then, there was an email:  confirmation! For Tuesday Afternoon!!!
YAY, today is Tuesday!!! And now it's afternoon!!!
I have stitched and cleaned and stitched and cleaned all day.
The whole while listening carefully for the sound of a delivery truck.
Afternoon became evening.
Finally!
The Big Brown Truck came.
We heard the truck slow down.  I looked out the front window eagerly.
Then the Big Brown Truck drove on by!

Then the Big Brown Truck driver called and said he would deliver when he finished his other deliveries.
The Big Brown Truck driver decided he didn't want to back up our driveway.
So The Big Brown Truck driver went on and made more deliveries around town.
More sadness.

The Big Brown Truck driver called back.
The Big Brown Truck driver decided he could pull into the neighborhood down the road, we could back OUR truck up to his freight truck lift-gate and we could off-load onto our truck.
Then WE could drive OUR truck back to our house and up the driveway.

Does this mean that there was "delivery made"
if WE had to go with our truck and pick it up???

Notice that it is now dark?  And notice that there are no lights out here in rural Ohio?

Notice in the pic on the right that Sweetie, in blue, is balancing the load, and Brown Truck Driver is shining a little light and letting the lift-gate down.

Still can't figure why the Big Brown Truck driver had to drive by our home during daylight hours, go make other deliveries on the other side of town, then come back after dark, to a location not the address given for delivery, and have us do the delivery!!!

Anyway, the eleven boxes came off of our truck, through the garage, the entry, the kitchen and into the sunroom.  Sweetie and I started unpacking and laying things out.  We emptied all four boxes that held the table sections and parts & pieces. 

It's looking just a little happier in here now...messier, but happier!!!

Then we stopped for the night.  We'll get an early start tomorrow and work on it some more before we need to leave for appointments that have to be kept.

Wait, I have an idea!  Maybe this all occurred because of the Blue Moon tonight!  Yep, I bet that's it.  Not Big Brown Truck driver's fault at all. 

Just blame is on the Blue Moon.   

Guess I did a little Blue Moon stitching today.  How about you?

Happy Tuesday!

quilts and christmas

Here are a few of the last quilts I did:

Patty's golf quilt for hubby on the left.
On the right, the first of three memory quilts.

Above left, a great purple, very large quilt by Kay; on the right the second memory quilt.

The "12 Days" quilt by Patty - on left and close-up on right.

Then on the right the third memory quilt.

The last two are just wall hanging size, by Aunt Mary, both commission pieces.  These two I quilted TODAY at my local HQ dealership.  Remember my HQ16 sold?  My new HQ24 is on order - and YAY, it is shipping today!!! Yay!!!!!

Then I took a little time and cleaned the kitchen and then threw up (not the gross throw up) a little christmas decor.  More about that later... 

Now off to the airport to pick up daughter and S-I-L!
Happy Three Days before Christmas!!!!!

The goose is getting fat!

SOOO... Only  FOUR days left until Christmas.  And that's if this is published before midnight!!! 
This is what I see from my stitching chair:

The tree is out of the box, not fluffed or decorated...not even a quilt as the skirt around the base.

I HAVE hung up the cards received.  I don't know how this started, but tradition is to hang all the cards in the slats of the folding doors between the kitchen and great room.  Maybe because when they are removed they also remove some of the dust that never seems to be removed at any other time of year?

Sweetie felt really bad about the lack of decorating around here and got the one-horse open sleigh down from above out in the barn, put it on the front porch and strung some lights on it haphazardly.  (The sleigh was my maternal grand-dads'.  He lives in Florida now, and doesn't have any use for it in the sand, so I purchased it and love it.)  The lights look great on it from the road, driving by at 45 miles per hour!

And finally, I just received this great bubble light in our work Christmas exchange...so it's plugged in the kitchen.

Oh, wait...I have a very nice Snowball Ornament from one of the lovely ladies in the Snowball Quilt Challenge.  It's hanging in the Quilting Room on the center white divider of the windows.  But that is a sad room right now.  Notice that there is no D.D. Handiquilter machine there now?  Yes, it sold and went to a new home on last Friday.  The new, Big D.D. is ordered, but haven't heard a delivery date yet, so everytime I walk by the door, I'm a little sad.

Back to Christmas decor, or lack thereof:
THAT, my friends is the extent of my christmas decorating at this point!
Happy Four days before Christmas!!!

Christmas packages already???

Today is my day "off" work from the LQS.  So, today when I should be quiltin' up a storm....what do you think I am doing???  Well, I do have a quilt loaded and ready to go.  But I have been having CHRISTMAS!!!

Look:  I opened all my envelopes from the gals participating in the fabric swap within the Snowball Quilt Challenge!!!  See, I told you ..... Christmas!!!
Cute packages, cute ric rac, cute little charms and a bonus cute silky fabric (in red and gold with a little blue shot through - I think this will make a great table mat with a little embroidery and applique') and not a single duplication of fabrics from all across this nation!  Thank you all so much to my swap partners!!!

So then, I had to get MY snowball fabrics out and play with them and let them play with the new pieces:

Aren't they all great?!
This is why I had to wait to open the swap fabrics all at once.  I would have had to have stalled every time I opened ONE.  So, every day or two....open a package, fold it and hold it and take pictures of it and then play with the fabrics I already have, then put the new with the old and move them around and, and, and.  You get the picture.  I call it Fabric-itis.  It's in the medical dictionary, I'm sure.  So I waited and only stalled once, for a very long time!!
Then.... in yesterday's mail, I also received this:

When I first saw these boxes I was surprised that I had boxes waiting for me.  I had momentarily forgotten what they might be.      The first was Lakehouse Dots in white!  Three yards!  When out shopping this past weekend at the not-local quilt shop, I mentioned that I was still looking for the Lakehouse dots in white, and the gal that was cutting my fabric said she had a whole bolt.  She could send me some!  So, THANKS, Roberta, you are a sweetheart!  That is going in a couple of projects, including snowballs!  Then the other box made me drool... again:  I ordered more of that

 line of fabric that is going to be my downfall!!!

Drat that Rouenneries French General Moda line!
But thank you quilt-this.com !!!  Now I can make my "Irish Birds" even bigger and better!!!

OK, Really, off to make the HQ hum! 
Another beautiful day in neighborhood!

humming along and The Snowball Challenge and Fabric Swap

It is said that a picture can say a thousand words:

This picture may be screaming thousands and thousands of words.

This is a "waiting list" of quilts in anticipation of Christmas gifting.
I know, not really a "list" but me and my list-making, so a pictoral list!
The dark green bags in this "list line" have multiple quilt tops and backs in them.  So count each of them as three!!
Daunting, I say, daunting.
So "DD", the HQ machine has been "humming along".
Not only has DD been humming along, but so are the days on the calendar.
ONLY SIX AND A HALF WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!! What happened to the months of October and most of November? 
Here are a few more pics of tops recently quilted:

^ Sharon's

Joell's>

< Judy's

DD is humming along, AND the calendar is humming along.  So I suppose that means I am humming along, too!

NEXT:

The Snowball Challenge and Fabric Swap:

I received two more fabric swap packages today!!!!
Thanks to Julie and a mystery person! (The second envelope today had no return address and I couldn't read the city cancellation mark or Zip, so a true surprise!  But it sure feels like squishy fabric!).
I am having a great time with this and it has just barely started.  I also have been told that I am easily amused, and I have to agree.  Really, each envelope contains just three,  five-inch strips of fabric, so no big deal, but still......look at these little packages.  I'm smiling big right now just holding them and in anticipation of which fabrics my swap-mates chose.  And just thinking about opening them when I have all six in my possession...that will be a great day!
I am still trying to not open them until I receive all 6, so two more to come! 
Thanks ladies!  You are making my days!

Another reason to hum along! 

never say never

From the Merrian Webster Dictionary: 
inanimate:  not animate:
a: not endowed with life or spirit
b: lacking consciousness or power of motion

So do you Name Inanimate Objects?  I know of boats that are named, and houses and estates are named, and Tropical Storms are named. But....... I don't have a boat to name, and my house isn't named, and I have nothing do to with naming Tropical Storms.  Don't blame me, that's the weather service.  (And Tropical Storms named Ike:  I use the name of the storm - but that's tomorrows' blog!)
No, I don't usually name inanimate objects. Don't really see the need.
Well, maybe just this one time.  But there were extenuating circumstances:  DD. 
DD is the name of a machine.....

Of course, there is a story. There is always a story, isn't there?


So, here goes:
One day, many years ago, two friends proved to their husbands that they were crazy and went together and purchased a very nice quilting machine made by Handi Quilter.


The two friends decided that the "machine" as they called it when they first ordered it, would live at one house and the two friends would share the "machine" and supplies and fun. (I don't remember why the "machine" lives at my house, I'm just glad it does, something to do with space and maybe a kid or two, or, I really don't remember.)


So, the "machine" was delivered and a key to the house was given, and it was decided if, heaven forbid, something happened to either of the friends, the other would just get the "machine". This agreement the husbands both were made aware of, and the hubbies both agreed and still thought the friends were crazy!


The "machine" was delivered on a cold February day. Both friends already had quilt tops made and ready and waiting for the "machine".  Neither friend really knew what they were going to DO once the machine was up and going, but anticipation was high. Both friends were present for set-up and when instructions were given.  Both friends practiced and practiced on a pretend quilt sandwich. And both friends LOVED the new machine.

As sometimes happens with new toys and giddiness, it was decided between the two friends that this "machine" was a NEW FRIEND in their circle.   "It" became a "she".  And "she" needed a name. The two friends could no longer just call "it" a "machine"!

As fate would have it, one of the friends' names is Debra, and the other friends' name is Diane. And since this was a new friend in the circle, "she" became the welcomed new friend, DD!  D-from Debra and D-from Diane.  Or D-from Diane and D-from Debra.  Since they were both D names, It didn't matter which came first.  So.....DD:  friend of Debra and Diane.

The two friends loved DD and don't know how they functioned in their quilty little lives before DD was around. DD has helped with so many issues in their lives: weddings, babies, grandbabies, picnics, graduations, birthdays, friends locally, across the entire U.S. of A., and overseas.  And yes, even funerals.

Debra and Diane are so very pleased they made a new friend in DD. It's as if she has always been in their lives!  Neither is afraid or nervous around DD anymore.

The Moral of the story:  It's like this inanimate object needed to be named.  Ok, maybe thats not really a moral, but you understand, don't you? 

But I don't have any other names for any other inanimate objects.

Labor Day

I found this description on a government websight:
"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor union movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers." 
If I was asked, I would guess that this was started in the early 1880's. 1882 or 1881 maybe.  But don't qoute me on this, that number just came to mind as I was writing about Labor Day.  My dad was a union guy, and I remember talking about the date and celebration with him many years ago. 

Anyway, Labor Day is still held the first Monday of September, but I think it has evolved into more of a last hurrah of summer rather than union celebration.

And as for me, I am truly laboring!  I am getting the house ready for my paternal family reunion, held here at my house every year on the weekend after Labor Day.  I have painted, cobwebbed inside and out (see pic below), scrubbed the outdoor furniture,  prepped the bonfire area and cleaned the roasting sticks, weeded, trimmed, set up tables indoors, have the tent ready to put up, pulled out a couple of recipes I am thinking about trying, and even thought about a few activites.  Made a couple of lists (!) too.  One for things to get at the grocery, one for checking things off as they are accomplished.


Just seeing all that in writing makes me tired all over again!  Or maybe because its going on midnight - noooo, that couldn't be it!  Where does time go? Oh, yea, I quilted today, too!


"D.D." the HandiQuilter machine made it back home from her vacation late this week.  She had serious tension issues and needed "a facial and lyposuction" and whatever else the techs do for unruly machines.  I was so excitied for her return! I got her set back up in her old room, (I decided to wait to move her to her new room after the family reunion). 
So, this afternoon I quilted two throw size quilts, here are a few pictures:

This is Louise's (only her 4th quilt).  She is making them for her grandchildren.

She asked for meandering clouds, and I offered to stitch in some "documentation"(first photo below).  She also pieces the backs and adds photos of the recipient (second photo below).  It's a great job, isn't it, and only her 4th quilt!

The quilt below is by Dawn (she did great points!).  And just meandering, nothing fancy.

I have another quilt prepped, hopefully to work on a little tomorrow afternoon.

And now the cobweb issue:

This a shot of the front porch.

Notice the wasp nest between the window panes?

This and cobwebs!

Everywhere.

EVERYWHERE!

This is a close up

of some of the cobwebs.

More cobwebs.

Labor, labor, labor...

maybe I should unionize...

Hope your Labor Day is very little labor and alot of celebration!

Lister

Are you a list maker? On paper? In a document on your computer? In your mind? Out loud to yourself? Hoping that someone besides yourself will answer back?

From the North American Encarta dictionary -- List: as a verb - to arrange a series of related words, names, numbers, or other items one after the other. To catalog, record, register, roll, make an inventory. IE: She listed the things she needed to do.

I didn't use to have to make notes for myself. Except maybe a list for Christmas gifts purchased or made in June and July. Then that list is kept until December to remind myself that I already have something chosen for that particular someone, not to get another gifty gift. Not to freak out at midnight on the 24th that I have forgotten someone when really I am six months ahead of schedule!

Well, today.... I am admitting that I am now a "lister".


I have to catalog, I just Have to!


I record the incoming commissions of quilts lined up awaiting their turn for my hands to work their meandering magic on the H.Q. quilt machine.


I make a roll call of all the items I need to do before the next whatever meeting.


I take an inventory of my kitchen supplies - what I need the next trip to town and grocery.

Suppose, just suppose, our brains really could keep track of all of the above. Maybe the making of lists just helps us to FEEL more organized in our very hectic lives! It's just a way of psyching ourselves out.

grocery

butter
eggs
flour
leaf lettuce
tp
toothpaste

hardware
paint-frosted pine 1 gal
blue tape

bank
post office

And our brains just said: "PSYCH!, didn't really need to do the list, I have it handled right up here". Is making lists just adding to our things to do list? So when making the list above I should add at the bottom: make lists?

I don't really know, but I think that my becoming "a lister" has helped a little. If only to make me feel better, like something is accompllished. An order put to meandering thoughts. And then as I check things off the list I again feel that sense of accomplishment.


Psych!
Any thoughts?

Scraps

Friday 
was a
scrap day:











I went and met up these nice ladies:
Friends and new friends.

Cherie, Monica, me, Valerie, Mary, Beckey, and Sharon. (can you tell I just set the timer on the camera and ran to get into the picture?)It was a great time. We cut up our scraps. We all cut up our scraps into one and one quarter inch strips and sewed them into bodies for scrappy chickens.
We worked on "Free Range Chickens" by Country Threads. In five hours I cut up my scraps and sewed five, repeat FIVE! scrappy chicken bodies. OK, I also talked, laughed, ate lunch, talked and laughed more, and in between all that I made five scrappy chicken bodies. Oh yea, I also won the great door prize gift bag of quilty stuff. And Mary, the WONDERFUL HOSTESS, gifted us each with a very nice scrappy pin cushion. Then I loaded up all my scraps and machine and paraphernalia and went back home.
Where I should have been doing this:
















and this:
















and this:

This is were D.D., the HQ machine will live when she gets back home from her vacation. She should be arriving shortly! And I really want to make her feel welcome.

So she can help me finish up all the scraps in my life.

It all comes down to scraps, don't you think?

My friend D.D.

My friend, D.D., is going on vacation. She needs some spa time, I'm sure. She works so hard and hasn't had a real break for a good five years. Well, just a couple of days here and there locally for minor maintenance. So this time she is going to Utah to see her origins at the HandiQuilter home. She will have some spa exfoliation and facial time (clean and lube) and maybe some minor liposuction for tension issues. Hopefully she will come back fully rested and be ready to do some major stitching...she has 7 (7?!oh, my gosh!) friends awaiting her arrival in the studio!