It has been a few days but I'm here enjoying the chatter. I had a notions fair at my LQS on Monday and came home with a couple pair of new scissors and rulers. I've been working on the mystery blocks to break them in and so far so good. I haven't posted my BB because there is a quilt on my design wall I want to get together first so this time I might be the one bringing up the rear.
Jeanie....I like your choice of sashing.
mirabelle and QNS...a long distant sit and sew! I love this group. So nice to be able to help each other and we all can look over your shoulders.
Carrie....nice you got stopped. When I went to Shipshewana earlier this month, we did wind up in the ditch! Linda had never had an accident before so she is a safe driver. We were being passed by a semi who was going too fast for the conditions and you could just feel the SUV being picked up and start to slide. She had her wits about her and turned into the slide which caused the car to turn a complete 360 just missing the end of the trailer. We did another "doughnut" in the left lane and drove into the median. No damage to either of us or the car. Took about 2 hours longer than we planned but we got to our destination and enjoyed the afternoon.
DDamsel...sad for the family dog.
QNS...I too had a laugh about the installment hugs. Hope he gets his computer soon so you have some peace and quiet.
Anael...touch is such a strong healing "medicine". So happy for you that you could do your part!
QuiltE...I too have been missing JanR. Should we send out the sheriff?
it's about 40 degrees and snowing today so there is no accumulation but it's a very nice day to not have to go out! Maybe I'll get another mystery block done and then get back to the PC.

You're welcome QuiltE! I love listening to Playing for Change.

Just one more Sylvia block to go! 139 finished :D
I won't be home tomorrow so I should get my behind in gear and make that last one! I was thinking of starting another Sylvia but I'm not sure yet. Maybe I should finish some UFO's first, like FWS, Dear Jane and Ode to my Mom. I'm sure I have several others laying around.

GGal ... oh goodness! what a road trip that was. Thankfully you are here to tell us the story. Envious of your trip to Shipshe. I was always supposed to go with my girl friend's parents (Wakarusa). Sadly they are both gone now.

At the least, our Posse should go and round up JanRN!

QNSue ... take note of GGal's trip and stay home and safe! PLEASE!!!

Anael ... woohooooo!! Sylvia almost done ... are you finishing it tonight? Please please show it to us!

Yes, the weather has turned most foul yet. The ducks are refusing to leave their shed, and have joined the guineas in their run under the heat lamp...first day ever this winter for that....so the weather is most fowl here. May the sun shine on the rest of you today!:)

QuiltE, only the blocks and there are too many to show them all at once. It will take a while before they're all sewn together. I didn't even pick the sashing yet. I think........dark green :D Never did that before.
I think I will finish tomorrow, don't feel like making another block tonight. Besides, I started 2 years ago with Sylvia so she can wait one more day ;)

It's finished!!
 

I just finished my first PC quilt!! Here is a picture of it being held up and then on the bed in the living room where it will "live". :) Still needs to be washed.

Oh, oh, oh, Carrie! I'm speechless! It's beautiful!:thumbup:

Wow Carrie, it's gorgeous!

Well DH was home yesterday & we went ta a thrift store. I had seen a 401A there last Sat (when I took DSis) The lady who owns the place (her name is Beverly) said that I could have it for $40 w/or w/o the cabinet. I didn't want the cabinet. Yesterday at the store I used a brush & some oil ta git it unstuck, so I bought it. http://www.quiltinghaven.com/Smileys...lt/shocked.gif (Yep I got another machine. LOL) Ya'll wouldn't believe how much gunk was in it!!! At the house I really worked it over, oiled everythin', used petroleum jelly for grease & greased all the cogs. Used a thick thread & a silicone product ta clean out the tension disks. There are still 2 things that won't budge. One is very minor & I'm sure I will git it ta move, (it has ta do w/the cover plate.) The other one has ta do w/the changin' o' the stitches. I've got 'em soakin' in oil right now. I wish I had some penetratin' oil. That would work better. I'll mess w/it later. I haven't taken any picts yet. Maybe tamarrow.
I also read a book! The first one in several years. (I sure do miss readin') I haven't been able ta concentrate enough ta read. (I used ta be a bookaholic. http://www.quiltinghaven.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif )The book is Family Patterns & is the first in a series called Patchwork Mysteries by Kristin Eckhardt & is published by Guideposts. I came real close ta figurin' it out. http://www.quiltinghaven.com/Smileys/default/smiley.gif I was off only by a li'le bit. I read it in 2 sitting's. I read for 4 hours night before last & 2 hours last night. It's not a hard book, probably on an 8th grade readin' level. I'll probably git the next one in about 6 weeks. Hmmm actually I've had it about a week & a half, sooooo I might git the other one in 4 - 5 weeks.

Carrie...how pretty. It looks so nice on it's new home too!
Dubib...do you collect vintage machines? I sometimes think that I would like to get a treadle like I learned to sew on.

Stories of near misses on the road--DSIL had a little plaque in her Chevy Chevette (remember those little box cars?) "God is only a whisper away." I think of that often when crisis come upon us. Carrie, I understand the dilemma "which way home should I go?" We live down in the valley and the only way out is up. Snow covered roads are always a challenge. Love my front wheel drive just for that reason.
Carrie the quilt is gorgeous--borders really bring out the blocks. Isn't it nice to see at least completed quilt on this "what's the name of the thread, now?"
Angel food cake all gone so no left overs. Oh and I fell off the fabric moratorium band wagon, but I had to have some fabric to finish that quilt and then there were these neat moderns my DD would love as a purse and......
Get that new motor running, dublb.
Oh and time for a nap as I did bookwork too late last night.

I sent Jan a PM..She hasn't been feeling well...Let's hope she gets better soon...

QNSue ... Please be careful with the heat lamps. They do a good job, but are so dangerous!

Anael ... oh I knew you didn';t ahve them joined. I just want to see the final one when you get there! Did you use your signature white and bright clear colours with it? I'm sure you know that I'd like dark green (my FWS).

CarrieM ... Congratulations!! I really like that background colour (peachy beige?). It really sets off the blocks so they shine forth. It looks so at home in it's home! :)

DublB ... Looks like you have another project on the go ... how about some WD40 to free things up?

OKSGlad ... I've been thinking the same as you that the name of the thread does not really represent what is here. Hurrah for new fabric!!!!! :)

Honchey ... Is it possible to start a new thread to keep just for the completions, much like our FWS thread. I go back to it so often and it'd be hopeless in this one to find any quilts! :) Sorry Ladies! Thanks for the JanRN update ... so easy to be under the weather with the weather the way it's been. So many people with bugs right now.

Yes, QuiltE, we did have a fire in our shed due to a heat lamp a year or two ago..the whole volunteer fire department with its seven trucks was here in less than 11 minutes. Chickens scratched straw up into the low heat lamp, and it started the fire on a Sunday morning just after 12 o'clock...neighbor spotted it and called the fire department who thought the house was on fire!....First question, did we have it wired for electricity?? 'cause fire follows electrical lines. Chickens all flew the coop, neighbor got all gasoline cans out of the shed,(before he knocked on our door) and most of the machines with tires on them, two wheels did catch on fire and was rolled out of the shed...top of the shed is black, but did not burn down. Really created a whole new entertainment for our little village. Now dh is wiser and he wires it to the top of the dog run, well above the guineas heads. Ducks do not have a heat lamp.

I like our thread the way it is; sorry. To go back in time and read everything again, is a journey through time and our lives and good eating with recipes...all rolled into one. It is just like a 200 page book. A book that I would buy in a New York minute. Create your own table of contents and index...on a snowy or rainy afternoon. :)

Hope JanRN gets to feeling better real soon!!

If we want to continue together as we have been, the thread has to stay as it is.. This thread was meant to cover it all..discussion & completed quilts.....

GG - I didn't start out ta collect machines but yes I do seem ta be collectin' 'em. :) I think I have about 15 or 16 machines. 5 o' 'em are a bit modern. Oops 6 if ya count the embroidery machine.
OK I had the motor runnin before I left the store. The motor's on 401A's are internal & I didn't want ta deal w/replacin' that. :)
Oh Sue that sounds scary. I'm glad that ya have the lamp set up right, now. Here's hopin' that ya stay warm through this weather & that it blows over real soon.
QE - WD40 is bad for sewin' machines. It evaporates too quickly & then ya git rust. Yuck! Yes sewin' machine oil evaporates but it takes about a year. I do oil all my machines more than once a year though. W TX dust & sand need ta cleaned out much more often than that. 3 in 1 oil is bad & gums up a sewin' machine. If ya have a newer machine w/plastic gears 3 in 1 oil will eat up those plastic gears. Ask me how I know. I still take my machines ta my sewin' machine guy if I can't git 'em goin'. (I have no idea how ta set the timin' on one o' these or sometimes there is just somethin' that is just a bit off & I can't find it.) My Guy is cheap though. $45 ta $90. I've never actually paid $90 but have seen that price tag on one o' the machines sittin' in his shop. I did git the stitch selector unstuck by late th'safternoon. :) The part that holds the feeddog cover plate is movin' now. Not too easily, but it is movin'. Tamarrow I'll put it all tagether & actually sew on it. :)
Oops it looks like I wrote a book again.
Honchey - tell Jan that we are prayin for her ta git better soon.

QNSue ... oh dear! That must have been a fright for the two of you.

Honchey ... I had just thought it;d be nice to show off the completions a little more, to the rest of the world! Kind of likely our separate weekly photo and discussion threads were. Them's the rules! so I will accept them.

DublB ... Good thing to know ... though I don't have any old machines to ruin with WD40! I'm intrigued by them, but don't really have the interest to work on them. I remember all too well my Mother "fighting" with her machine when she had problems with it, and wouldn't have the patience, I am sure!

Two more blocks ... and I have enough for my PC quilt top. However, that won't be the end, as I'll be making some spares to swap in and out when I do the placements. Plus I have some that are OK, but rejected for the "official" PC quilt ... so yes, there'll be a second one with them! :)

QuiltE, I had your FWS in mind when I thought about dark green sashing ;) I tried to follow the colours of the original quiltblocks but I guess all together it's a bright quilt and most with WOW background. I didn't use the same background in all blocks, now I wish I had :( So I might make another one!

Good morning, ladies. Thank you, Anne, for leading this lost PC rider back to the trail. Got a little lost there for awhile. Not been a real good couple of weeks here in JanRN land. Offer on house never materialized; I've spent a lot of time cleaning and staging trying to improve the possibility of an offer. The house is 100 yrs old, my mother lived there for over 60 yrs. Altho the house has all the newer mechanicals and is structurally sound, it looks like a house a 90 yr old woman lived in. People want a totally remodeled house and that's not going to happen.

I've also worked a lot of extra days. Big FART coming up at the end of March--International Quilting & Sewing Expo in Cleveland. This is one place I don't put a spending limit on myself (rarelly do anyway LOL) but this is an all day, once a year trip with all the latest & greatest in fabric, gadgets, machines, etc. My friend drives her big, bright orange van (can't miss it in parking lot) and we make frequent trips to the van to stash away our purchases and go back and get more. On the way home last year people behind us must have thought they were following Fred Sandford's junk truck--we were packed to the roof!

Wow--203 pages and over 2000 posts. Love you guys!!! Thanks for your concern. Hope to be back in the saddle and all caught up soon. Peace.

Jan....so happy to hear from you and sorry that these past couple of weeks have been a struggle. I watch a lot of home improvement TV in the afternoon and love what the Property Brothere do. Too bad you can't find someone in your area that does that sort of thing that could find you a buyer at a decent price. Someone that can pitch the rehab and hold the buyers hand through the entire process. A house with good bones needs to loved that way.
Hummm....tomorrow is March 1. We can start mailing the mystery blocks, right?

!!!Good Morning!!!

thanks all for your concern over Sadie, she was the mommy to our male Hercules (picture), who is pop to the puppies. so she was the babies GMa. the puppies are 7 weeks this saturday! ready for new homes :D so we are trying to decide if we should keep one :D

here are my Bblocks!!!!

Dh daughter holding girl puppy

Hercules :D

And I tried to get a good picture of ALL the pups... but they are just to wiggly!

Awwwwwwww I want one :D

Hi Everyone...The sun is shining here and I hope all of you are doing ok!!!!

DD the pups are such cute balls of fur..of course you have to keep one!!! sad about the Gma tho...

Dublb, I also collect sewing macjhines...Dh has told me no more!!!!

QuiltE..I really don't want to expand this thread..we're nice and snug here..not ruffling any feathers if you understand what I mean...PM me if you need to..

QNS, fires??? what a horrible experience !!..

GGal. No, we don't mail until after the 15th of the month...You are probably biting at the bit to send but not yet..

And Jan, so glad to see you here ..words cannot say how happy I was when I saw you post...
remember..all of you.. to PM or email if you need to...

We put it out to the County Land Preservation that we might consider selling our property and they repied by phone that they are VERY interested and now the ball is in motion...they will be notifying us by mail of their interest...No $$ discussed yet..They know the price has to be right or it's a no go...I have very mixed emotions right now about it...We've been here for 44 years and it's been in the family for about 90 yrs... moving forward..if all goes well we'll be in Delaware as well as North Carolina...BUT, DH says we have to be at least a 1/2 hour away from my sister :)
and this time I will make sure the extra room is big enough for all my sewing stuff!!!!

I'm going out now to get a hair cut...I'll be checking in later...H.

Anael ... Nothing wrong with bright. In fact, you have really influenced me on wanting to do white work!

JanRN ... I'm with you on not re-doing a home to sell, despite what realtors say. Hopefully with spring (it IS coming!) there'll be more action. Look forward to that FART trip ... I remember hearing of your adventures last year! :) Take care!!!!

DDamsel ... Yea for your BBs. Are you going to use the black? or just for showing them to us. Wiggly (as you said), cuddly, fluffy and oh so adorable are the puppieeeeeeeees! Of course you MUST keep one of the babies, just to keep your numbers the same. And a sweet little DSD.

Honchey ... oh no, I am not wanting to ruffle feathers! All is good!
I'm sure it's hard to consider selling your home with all your personal history there, as well as the length of time in the family. As you've already identified, there is a positive, in that you could "choose" the right place and make your personal sewing sanctuary, just as you'd like! Good Luck, as you progress with this change.

:(:o Aw shucks, Honchey. I'm so ready to see my pineapple and surprise someone else with a block I just LOVE. It hangs on my design wall and gives me warm thoughts of her whenever I see it.

Yippee for me I found my Mystery block that I misplaced (not lost:D). But got a call from a local business today. I put their check and our phone bill check in their envelope and sent an empty envelope to the phone company. Thank goodness it wasn't a switch of checks. So Nancy (don't you love a small town) shredded my phone check and I had to take time to contact "big" phone company. I must be losing it!! Note to self--"Don't do bookwork late at night!"

DD those pups are sooo cute. They aren't going to stay in that pen for long or are they already starting to climb out? Cattle panels don't hold our pups in--they crawl through the openings. Our Border Collies are about the same age--but a little bit smaller! Some one remarked on the our white pups. In the mother's litter, there were white with a little bit of black collies . Must be a strong trait as the pappa dog has a lot of almost all black on his side. Will soon be finding homes for them--one is already spoken for. Hopefully all will be gone by the time spring really arrives. No citing of robins yet--too much snow down south in QNS country.

Love how this thread has evolved! We just keep the campfire a burning--but away from the chicken coop!

Honchey--what do you mean by County Land Preservation? In our wide open space in the Midwest we have not dealt with the issue. If all goes through yes changes are coming your way.

Jan get better. Someone will see the gem your mother's house really is and they will turn it into a beautiful setting. Enjoy the big FART with your friend! Sounds like a fun time.

Got our health insurance notice yesterday--a $325 a month raise in premium. Getting close to $1200 month just to have health insurance for the two of us. :mad: Good thing I have droppped maternity benefits:D

Great news, Honchey , on all events...since I need to do my mystery block yet. Missed our hair appointment cause of the storm, so we go tomorrow. Hope you sell your place if you want too...and be closer to your sister.

Good Luck to JanRn to sell her mother's place. DD you need to keep one more dog for the gk to play with.

But today was out of chicken feed and cat feed, and had a wellness doctor's app't...he did not like the sound of one lung, but I knew I was recovering from a sinus problem, so no big concern there. His sister who is an RN works with him, offered me 5 chairs, "not the right color" for their clinic, so we loaded them up too; then gave 3 away to gentleman who runs the feed store in Queen City...his wife might take them to their home; their choice. Eggs all delivered, came back to Queen City gas station, and meet our plumber there that has his PhD in Sh@! or so his wife says, filling up at the station, who had found an extra bale of straw, and he gave that to us. So it was quite a day. Neighbor got her car stuck in her drive, but says her brother will get it out this evening, not to worry. She might take the other two chairs. Cannot move anymore into our house unless something goes out the door.

Now to fix a meal for grumpy dh...wellness check meant we skipped breakfast; had a quick meal at deli, but he wants more, now.@@!! not later. LOL!!

Here's what I did today after school with the kids...a new purse for me. :) It is made from 3 FQs plus the lining fabric. Pictures are Front (pocket under flap), Back (pocket), and Inside (2 more pockets). I put 4 pockets because I don't like everything all together in the middle. I decided I will add a magnetic closure to keep the flap closed.

Jan--hope your weekend is better than your past couple weeks!

DD--those puppies sure are cute.

QNS--sounds like you got lots of things done while in town today. Did you get DH fed and happy again?

OK--At least you didn't send your mystery block in place of a bill, then they really would have been wondering about you!

QE--you asked about State archery...it is on this Saturday. The my oldest DD shoots at 2pm and the other 2 kids shoot at 4pm. Next weekend is my March retreat...will be getting ready for that next week so won't be getting much sewing in until I get set up there on Thursday afternoon.

Very cute, Carrie; love that purse. Got a couple of patterns to try,and my own ideas too. AIL wants one to fasten to her walker or wheelchair...have the fabric and lining fabrics. Yes, I have feed him (dh) his favorite, Kraft Marconi and Cheese.

Snow is collecting on our roof and sliding downward, more snow is coming down every once in awhile...officially 11 inches here but again its where you measure it that counts. Two different TV stations reported 9 1/2 inches of snow for Des Monies and the other station said 11 inches. Had to go out and take a picture of horizontal icicles...probably will be gone in the morning. Its holding the front door closed so the picture is looking out the storm door.

I know, OksewGlad, your little puppies are valuable ones; and they are all so adorable. DD, I think your puppies sell pretty good too, and much in demand also. If either of you have one left over, we may need to PM on that subject.

Oh, the joys of finally getting a hair cut tomorrow!! I am about ready to 'hack' it off!! Or pull it out!! It will feel so much better then...if it is cut properly. Every one take care....a wear a smile on your face!:thumbup:;):o

OKsewglad, Here in NJ it's technically called "Green Acres"....We've had in influx of New Yorkers & North Jersey & Staten Islanders move into our area (Central New Jersey)..we're known as the garden state and our farms were disappearing and becoming housing developments..our schools and infrastructure suffered so the people of NJ voted to preserve as much Green Acres as they could by voting for money to keep the land as it is and no more housing developments...because our home is an older one it will probably br razed... so there won't be any fixing up of anything until we hear that that the price is right!!!

This is what I've been playing with for the last week or so..

Honchey--Wow!! You've been busy! Very pretty blocks!!

Jeanie--your 60s and 70s sound nice. We've gotten snow the last several days. I am thankful that at least it's been in the 30s so not too cold compared to a couple weeks ago when we were under 10!

I call it mindless sewing and I was very happy doing it!!!! it's the start of a quilt called film at 5?? I didn't need the pattern...it's pretty easy to follow from a photo...the light colored blocks are going to be one big enormous block...maybe it will grow up to be a quilt some day :) the squares are all from the swap I participated in here on the board...