1st Place Innovative Custom Quilting Category pieced by Linda Lasco (for AQS) quilted by me

3rd Place Custom Traditional Quilting Category hand appliqued by Penny Tucker quilted by me

3rd Place Innovative Custom Quilting Category pieced and quilted by Janet Lee, owner of the MQX Quilt Show in New Hampshire

There were many more winners and we ran out of time, the show was nice and we were busy, busy, busy.... I came home with more thread, some cool paints and some wool for Quilt Camp...

Last night was also fun packed, my wonderful friend Linda came up and spent the night, she out lasted me, I crashed on the couch... Ms Sophie loves her Aunt Linda, a few glasses of wine for the humans and Sophie wearing us all out we got some priceless pictures of them both, sorry Linda, you know I love you, the important question here is  was it really the wine or the dog or just being with us (lol)....

Now I have to run, Congratulations to all the winners, we are off to Mackinzie's 6th birthday party, where has the time gone??????

Human Humiliation, she is not impressed,and is hoping that her human Mom feels better tomorrow if this is what she does for entertainment when she is not well.......

Proof that I was truly enhanced with this quilt, a pitiful Sophie wondering if I still loved her, this is right before we headed out to Starbucks for a Latte, pitiful don't ya think?????

And they screwed up our latte, got home took on swig of what the XYZ is this????? A Soy Tazo Chai Tea, yuck! So much for that but Sophie was a happy Puppy...

Things to Do Today:

Deliver a Quilt, Take Sophie in for a nail trim, Look for a Rain Coat for the Mama (she doesn't like going out in the rain either) mail a birthday present to a very special little person then QUILT!

Aquarius

January 20 - February 17

You'll be full of ideas for improving your lifestyle, dear Aquarius, especially as it relates to your family. It is true that over the past few months you have experienced some material hardships. You can breathe easier now because, whether it is for your career or your home, today's initiatives are likely to bring great rewards. Take advantage of the atmosphere to put together a realistic plan for the future...

We shall see if there is any truth to this....... Enjoy your day and do something creative and stay dry! Hugs

The quilt featured belongs to my dear friend Penny Tucker, her work is fabulous, having her as a friend is priceless... The quilting world has been wonderful to me and brightened my life, yes through their quilts that I have been so lucky to quilt but most importantly the friendships that have come from my business...... I met Penny via the phone, she saw my It Ain't Easy Being Green Quilt at PIQF the year it won 1st Place and went on a mission to find me to quilt her quilts... Well as you can see she not only succeeded in finding me but from her contact we have become special friends, we laugh, we cry, we cough (inside joke) and we have formed a collaboration that only a friendship could... We are working together on show quilts, we inspire one another like I have never been inspired, thank you Penny, you are the BEST and I love you.... The 1st Quilt I did was her Sixth Grade Shoes, I love this quilt, a very traditional quilt with non traditional colors, then she sent me her vegetable quilt then the one featured as my blog header Wedgewood Blue bird... Penny designed the blue quilt from a pin she has, after I quilted it I received the same pin and a magnet of the quilt, so giving in so many ways..... Her quilts have won many awards and I have personally won with the friendship..... Here are some pictures of her work with my added touch, we call ourselves the Twisted Traditionals, so many things in common, I just wished she lived closer, but that may soon change.... And yes, we have met, at Spring Quilt Market here in Portland, she is freinds with Barbara Brackman and I was looking for Penny, not knowing what she looked like and I ran into Barbara, went up to her and did my feeble intro and asked her if she had seen Penny and what she looked like, she kindly explained then proceeded on only stopping a few feet in front of me saying well, her hair used to be dark, whaLah Penny in person..... So today is my day to honor my friend a wonderful talent, a daily inspiration who has helped me through so much, thank you for calling me and opening the doors to a wonderful friendship and quilting journey....

Now for Oregon rain, sophie says, "You want me to go out into the rain and do WHAT"?????

I would rather be on my chair curled up in a blanket...... Tell me, does the potty training start all over again when the rains start???? UGH!!!!!

Proof that Sophie is a Terrier and a Jack Russell to go with it, she has now decided that jumping is the most fun in the world, we do not run we jump, jump, did I say jump, and she is starting to show that she has more energy than a room full of 3 year olds..... She makes us laugh and on our toes, she is either ON or OUT, no in between the 2nd picture she is like come a little closer and let me attack that camera, total cuteness

I get asked alot on how I get so much sewing done, well I kinda cheat, one of the easiest things to make is 1/2 square triangles and 1/4 square triangles with Triangle Paper, here is what it looks like in the package and how you use it, so easy, all trinagles are perfect, no stretching on bias, no starch, no glue, just simplicity at its best....

Ask your local Quilt Shop to carry these, they are perfect and so easy, they come in sizes starting at 3/8" up to 4" in the half square size and in the quarter square sizes I generally purchase the variety package.  I save all the leftovers, some day I will make something with them....These are available online at www.quiltime.com... Now you are probably asking yourselves why 3/8" because I asked for them, okay begged for them, I use them in the triple Feathered Star I made that has won numerous awards and is now hanging in my Mom's Quilt Shop.

Penny's quilt is safely in Houston awaiting Festival, her quilt Wedgewood Bluebird was juried into the show, here is a little peak of the center, I loved quilting this one, good luck Penny not only in Houston but at NWQE next week and PIQF in a couple weeks, wow much quilt show anticipation

Now to get this quilt done, have a great Sunday....

Sunday Evening update... Done

It appears that my granddaughter Desiree has broken her arm again, they are in the ER waiting to get x-rays and see the ER Doctor, boy I hope it is not broken, she told me it is the right arm this time, how is she going to do school work, priorities right????

My Sisters boyfriend was found dead in the sleeping cab of his longhaul truck, the Coroner said he died of a heartattack at 55, so sad..... Here he is with my sister at my sons funeral in January... RIP Robert.....

Have a great week.......

And after a Power nap, we look pitiful, enough quilting for a while, lets go play catch and go for a walk, then you can quilt some more..... How could I resist this face?????

And yes, we do quilt, here is some proof of my controlled freehand,

The Judilator not only works great for curved crosshatching, look how even and smooth my controlled part of some freehand quilting is, this tool is fantastic, love it, if you haven't ordered these please do yourselves a favor and get them, I need some sort of control and story to any freehand I do on a quilt as all quilts have a story

And then we nap again, and it is ok, this is Grandma's quilt batting, otherwise I would never get away with this...... We play hard and sleep hard, never a dull moment around here

Linda, Mom and I went to the Trends Show at EE Schenck this weekend, we had a blast, we loaded Mom up with some cool stuff and we picked up some batting and thread... Then we headed to REI so Mom could get some new shoes, while there Linda and I modeled some winter quilting gear, we both refuse to pay the rumored 40% increase in our utility bills... Linda got one great shot of me embarrassing my Mom, mostly myself, I will let her share the evidence if she wishes, I should have gotten a picture of her modeling her hat, I am surprised my Mom didn't leave us both there, grown women acting like we did Bwahaaaaaaaa, too much fun......

Happy Quilting

  Couldn't get to sleep last night til after 2 AM.  It's a stress related behavior that pops up from time to time. I've been doing better and getting my butt in bed by midnight  for a couple of months or more, and then last night  *WHAM*  Today I feel tired, even though I got up at 8:30.

  Spent quite a bit of time yesterday asking for help in keeping my mouth shut.  Some days are better than others, in the life of an active controlling bitch.  I kept catching myself muttering and leaking sarcasm. Storming around the house slamming cabinet doors.  Making all kinds of nasty comments and remarks in my head. 

   Sigh....

 It's just poison, that stuff.  When you get down to it, it's just FEAR, that stuff.  All about things that are not in my control and things that are best put in the lap of my Higher Power and left there.  Things that I really need to be trusting God about.  Financial insecurity. Not getting my way. Being judgemental.  Being scared [again].   Was so grateful to read Pam's blog today about ..."not saying everything that's in my head."   I don't have to add to the trouble by saying things I don't mean all the time *grin,  and words being those things you can never take back once you let them out...they ping around inside your head like errant xrays.  All the apologizing in the world doesn't erase them. 

  My husband is unemployed again.  It's not his fault, it's nothing he did or didn't do....it's the economy, dummy!  lol  But the last time this happened, it went on for far too long and he slumped into depression and was paralyzed from it. I can't stand to see that happen again.  We cannot afford for it to happen, as we live on a string and a prayer when he does work.   As much as I know that gratitude is the answer for me, and as much as I know that God has a plan for us, and as much as I know that he doesn't like this any more than I do...it doesn't stop that fear from blossoming.  The only way to nip it in the bud is prayer and meditation and doing the next right thing.

  We moved here 3 years ago, and life hasn't been this hard for us financially for a long time. 

  I DON'T LIKE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (says Queen baby banging on her high chair).

Okay then.  Now that THAT's out of my system....lol

 I shall go gently into this good day. First things first, I need a shower and breakfast.  I have said my prayers and I will sit by the pond for my meditation time. I will even mow the yard today, because you guys tell me over and again that ACTION is the solution.  Take an action--change a feeling.

  And lord knows, I need to change these feelings.....

  Yesterdays fun included bathing 3 dogs with flea shampoo. The puppy, Caylee, was easy-in the kitchen sink. She didn't like it much, but she was good.  The Jack Russell Terrorist, Molly, didn't like it all. Into the bathtub she went and was scrubbed within an inch of her dirty little life. The crud in the bottom of the tub was testament to her need for this bath.  She's white and brown, and looked grey. lol  Then came the grand finale, Lucy. This medium sized lab mix hates baths with a passion. She fights and squirms and slides around the bottom of the tub. EVERYONE in a 2 mile radius gets wet and soapy if she has anything to say about it.  But finally it was all over and they are all cleaner and flealess, for the moment. I'd like to say that a good time was had by all....but that would be a lie.

~~~~~~~~~Today, my to-do list will look like this~~~~~~~~~~~~

  1) Shut up and be grateful.

 2) Eat a healthy breakfast.

 3) Vacuum (please!)

 4) Laundry and hang it outside.

 5) Mow. (Away from the clothesline)      :)

See?  Better already.

HO.

R.I.P. shuffle...

I had already gone to bed and Howdy was packing to leave for his trip the next day. The dogs were in the backyard. He opened the back door to call them, but they didn't want to come in. He noticed they were running and prancing around the backyard like they were awfully proud of themselves, but he thought they were just being playful. He finally got them to come into the house, where they proceeded to wrestle each other and tear around the living room as fast as they could- again with a great air of accomplishment.

Because I was asleep, and he didn't want them to wake me up, Howdy let them back outside. He watched them for a few minutes and noticed they seemed to be grabbing something, tossing it up in the air and then running around the backyard as fast as they could before circling back to the starting point. He went out to see what they were playing with...

My two sweet, adorable puppies had killed a RAT in the backyard. Now granted, that is what Jack Russell Terriers were bred to do (hunt rats and fox), but still. My boys are so playful and sweet. They don't have a possessive or mean streak in their little bodies- except for Jackson when Nelson wants his rawhide bone. Apparently though, this rat was the best toy ever. I'm glad I wasn't there to see it. Howdy said it wasn't torn up though, so more than likely they grabbed it and shook it to death (lovely mental picture, eh?).

When I told Cheryl what happened her response was "What men they are! Did they bring it to you as a present?" So yes, my boys have become men... and luckily I was asleep and did not receive their gift.

Basically, it was nearly the best-case scenario. All the hype, but no follow-through. We got a half day of work, got to stay in for the night and relax, and no real damage. (Unless you count the fact that at some point last night one of my dogs decided it would be a good idea to eat my iPod shuffle!!)

So no need to worry about us- we survived our first round with Mother Nature!*

*The fate of the dog that ate the shuffle is yet to be determined.

We made a quick but too short trip to see Gina and deliver her quilt, 1696 miles, no wonder i am tired.. We had so much fun and wished we had more time, go check out Gina's blog, I took my camera and guess where it stayed, shame on me..... Sophie misses Gingers ears, she is bored and the Mama says you are an only doggy child, period! Ok, if I forget please remind me.

Sophie got mail, she was so excited, who me mail thanks Linda, Junior and Vincent

When we were in California we had to go to a Quilt Shop, what a wonderful little shop in Morro Bay, here is some proof

And Gina knows how I love pears, I have quite a collection, she gave me this great jade pear, thanks Gina, looks great with some of my others don't ya think????

Sophie found her bark, a 15 week milestone, she heard that commercial 1800-888 blah, blah Empire, you know the irritating one, scared her and me, made me laugh, is she intent or what????? Too much TV for the puppy dog....

Now somebody wants to go outside and play, have a wonderful day And look the deck is almost done, then the yard, just in time

Väl hemma igen tog vi med oss Tindra ut på en riktig långrunda. Den tog längre tid än vanligt att gå, haft ont i magen sen bm besöket. Spänner och har sig, hon tryckte ju en del på den så jag tror att det är därför. Nåja, det medförde att jag fick ta små steg och gå sakta. Vi hade ju ingen tid att passa så det var en mysig runda ändå :). Tindra sprang som en tok och fick simmat en del när vi kom fram till sjön så sista biten hem såg hon riktigt sliten ut.

Jag vet att jag i förta inlägget i denna bloggen skrev att det inte kulle bli så mycket hundrelaterat i denna bloggen men nu blir det så i alla fall. Svårt att komma ifrån, mycket av vardagen ägnas ju åt Tindra och hon är min modell när det gäller användandet av kameran. Så ni får helt enkelt ta att det blir en del hundsnack ;)

Haft en mysig dag och riktigt njutit av solen och värmen, nu kallar sängen men först bjuder jag på några foto från dagens långrunda:

Imorgon ska vi till MVC för första gången sedan inskrivningen och det var ju några veckor sen... 15 veckor har gått sen dess. Vi kommer få höra hjärtljuden, kul :)

Har mått illa och mått bläigt hela dagen, släppte lite nu när vi åt middag. Brukar bli bättre när jag fått lite varm mat i mig. Gravidillamåendet har gått över men vissa dagar är det tillbaka igen. Nu är det i alla fall lite bättre, nu är jag bara mätt istället *s*. Nu ska vi mysa i soffan alla tre (fyra med liten i magen) och titta på film.

Björn som fixat bilder på Tindra (hon fick köttbullen när han tagit sina foto)

Thank you again for all your kind comments on my version of Anne Sutton's Market Morning Quilt design... I have been getting question on the curved crosshatching rulers i used, they were designed by Judy Allen for curved crosshatching several years ago, here they are and how they are used and where they can be purchased, I  called and ordered the 12" Judilator from Sue, she is so nice and the service is excellent as are these rulers for curved crosshatching, glad I remembered I had them after way too much marking and trying to use unmarked rulers to do curved crosshatching.....

The weather is cold and wet, sort of muggy here this week..... The deck is almost done and we are preparing for a very long road trip..... Back soon.... Happy Quilting

Trying to locate a lost Jack Russell Terrier for a friend who is out of town. R.J. is my Lucy's brother and we are all very worried for him. R.J. was left with family and we think he wandered off looking for his owner. R.J. is much loved and missed. He is just over one year old. White long hair with light brown ears and eye patches. Went missing on or about Tuesday, May 6th in the Marshall/Orlean area of Northern Virginia. If you have seen or found R.J. please respond to this post.