Our Christmas cactus sits in the south window, Dublb.

SewBizGirl, enjoy your trip for us, too. we are seven hours from it and have never gone. I loved your Civil War Quilt you finished.

Almost have the first sorting out and cleaning done in the QR. light, medium and dark scraps filled the 3 pop out laundry bags I had gotten at Wal Mart. Then a good friend came in and helped me out in getting all the small totes into two larger ones that fit into the closet. I divided up some of the fabric with her. I want to sort out the rest of the fabric, then sort it by size. My guest room and QR is much improved now. Boxes will ship end of the month or first of May. The Fat Quarter order for the 3 ten and one-half inches pop up on sale did not include the pattern for the sides that is needed in the project. duh, guess I never noticed that sharp merchandising little practice. So I will have to order from them or not. Undecided right now. Disappointed in the order.

Snow came this morning and is all gone this afternoon. I think I will get one more trip to The Sampler and enjoy the 75% again...if she is still open this week.

We have dealt with rain, hail, sleet, ice, and snow....snowing.big flakes right now. We are all so sick and tired of this. Once it does warm up it will be mud.

I set my CCactus outside for a couple of weeks last fall and had a few blooms before Christmas. Now looking at it and buds are forming again...go figure.

We had 40 degrees today. No snow for us but we had a bad thunderstorm and heavy rain that lasted all day yesterday! I hope it warms up this week, as they say it's supposed to.

I remember over a month ago saying I thought our 80 degrees would just stick around and lead us into a very hot summer. Wrong! I think April's been colder than March.

I am so excited about Paducah I can hardly sleep! I will share pics from the quilt show when I get back... but maybe not show what I buy. That may prove to be embarrassing! Actually, I'm going to be looking at the quilting machines... long arms and sit down long arms. Any tips? How does one buy a machine at a show when there is no one in your local area to service it? I have a lot of questions.

Thanks for your comments on my CW quilt, QNS. I'm in love with that quilt. I seem to be in a real "keepy" mood lately. I was putting together my most recent Boom quilt, which was supposed to be for donation, and the thing turned out so beautiful I can't bear to part with it! Also have been sandwiching an extremely scrappy top that I put together from strips my sewing mentor made from her scraps. She's nearly 90 and just retired from our charity group, so I'm looking at her top and thinking I must keep it too. It reminds me so much of her! And she won't be doing these anymore.

Have a great week, coming up!

Bonnie, I think any reputable company will assist you no matter how close the dealer is. I have a BabyLock...the LQS sells them and know help is a phone call away if shop owner can't help. Have you been researching companies...I know Gammil, APQS, HP, Juki to name a few....this site popped up on my search...maybe it will prove helpful. Good luck.

https://products.bestreviews.com/bes...ilting-machine

I finished machine binding the BH I quilted last week...#6 off the frame. Next one on the frame will be the crazy ponies I made using QNS pony scraps. I FMQ'd on the sewing machine, and now going to try to finish off the last three borders on the LA. GD#1 will be happy as this is for her.

Thanks OK... I want to see Crazy Ponies and the BH quilt you finished! Please post pictures.

Glad to hear of all of the activities.
QNS it sounds like you are making progress in your sewing room.
I wish you girls were around here to help me in my house.
I had been trying to get a bit of sewing done, and I don't know if it is my chair the wrong height or what, but my back has been all bound up with spasms that make me jerk. I am going to have to get it checked out to find out what's going on.

We had 80 temps the other day, and tonight chances of mixed snow and rain.

I had some daffadils come up, and I didn't even plant them. What a surprise.

It's been a strange Spring in a lot parts of the country! We had an ice storm this past weekend. All the tree branches were coated with ice, making them go 'click click' against each other in the wind. A bit worried that that the ice will have affected the cherry and apple crops this year...

SBG, if you keep the strip quilt and it reminds you of your friend, it will be a treasure to you. There's nothing wrong with having your own quilts!

OK, 6 and counting! It seems like just yesterday you were doing the first one!

JuneBillie, daffodils you didn't plant! How did that happen! Lucky you. :-)

QNS, you are always busy doing this and that! Your trips, your sewing, your cleaning, your flowers and garden-- I'd like to be half that productive!

So much news lately...

One winter when I was a child in Massachusetts, we had an ice storm like that. It was Christmas time and Dad had already put up Christmas lights in the trees in our front yard. The ice encapsulated the branches, lights and all. When we plugged in the lights, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen! Colored lights were glowing from within the ice. Never saw anything like that happen again.

Thanks Giv, for the encouragement to keep the scrappy quilt. I am going to treasure it!

I just finished putting the binding on my quilt made from the most recent Boom swap I took part in. Going to post it in the pictures section.