[QUOTE=QuiltingNinaSue;6073373]

Dublb, just realized I brought a machine like you got back in time to PC page 95. Amazing what you can learn by rereading our PC section...how many patterns do you have for your 340 Deco? Have you had your lessons and used it yet?


I just love my Deco! I need ta go back & git more lessons ta learn how ta use the alphabet & how ta git more patterns off the internet. It has 100 patterns w/it & so far I have just used the ones that are on it.

Hellloooooo!!!
Flowers are planted ... and now please Let It Rain!!
Believe it or not, I am not too achy-breaky-stiff-and-sore. :D
Just a little, which is just fine with me!

So now life can get back to normal ... or as normal as that is for me!

This afternoon, I promise, I'll get a pic of my MB that arrived from ___________ (gotta keep the suspense going!). And if DDamsel is real lucky, my GFGs might even have their Kodak Moment in the sun! :D

And now, I'm off to read all the posts that I've missed.

I've made some Blueberry Jam Tea to go with QNSue's Chocolate Cowboy Cookies in the RV ...........
(yes JanieW, it's David's ... OK, but not as good as many)

CarrieM ... Congratulations to your kids! Your wedding quilt is going to be very rich looking. What a grand back yard. Is your front, much the same?

QNSue ... glad that your storm damage was minimal. Did you get to use your new machine knowledge since your course? And now off to another round on Thursday! :D

QNSue and JanieW ... great photos of all things! Especially the wisteria, that has me wanting to see one IRL. Of course, I want a Rocky Mountain Variety one, to keep it Canadian! :D

JanieW .. you'll have to photoshop the yellow roses to pink for your Alberta Rose or else it'll be confused with Texas! :)

OKSGlad ... when I watch Alex from now on, I'll know you are watching it with me! :) Wonder if we get the same show or in a different sequence?

MiraB ... great solution for your Lemonade Quilt, as OKSGlad tagged it! I'm anxious to see what your bordering will be like. Of course, go and start a new quilt! :D

DublB ... that's some retreat ... ten days! ENJOY!

Now I'm into catch up mode from the week away, the week of catch up and then the half week of gardening!!! :D All is good!

Ok gals more pictures not of the storm damage last night but the columbines are in full bloom now: purple, pink/red, orange,and two colors[ATTACH=CONFIG]414626[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]414627[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]414628[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]414629[/ATTACH]ooooooops sideways on that last one.

And then the Oriole (Baltimore) nest in the tulip tree over the garden area in that string constructed nest:


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QuiltE, you can have our rain! We've had about 3 days of sunshine and rain every day after that :( It has been raining all afternoon, our gardens have had enough!! So please let it stop :) :)

QNS, beautiful pictures! ! !

QNSue ... ooooooooh those columbines are absolutely beautiful! I have them growing wild in my bush. Would love to get them growing in my flower beds. Now if I could only find someone with a growthy patchy like yours, so I could dig a few up and move them in! :D

DublB ... you ladies take this serious road trip plus retreat!

Anael ... yes, I will accept that rain ... just so long as it knows when to STOP!

No QuiltE, it doesn't know when to stop but you can't have it all :D

Gorgeous columbines, QNS.

These are my Antoinette Bouquet tulips. They come out soft yellow and then gradually change to a rapberry peachy colour.

These were last week on Monday

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last week on Tuesday
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Today

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I got my MB today from QE! It uses all my favorite colors. :) Thank you so much. My girls both really like the swirly orange and green. I like the design on the dark orange. Even got a little sparkle in there. The three blocks together are a good combo of lights and darks.

I mailed my MB today, should be received by Thursday I would guess.

Bev--have a great trip!!

QNS--some more beautiful flowers. I just bought some columbine to plant in front of the house.

Janie--those are pretty tulips too...thanks for the progression pictures.

Beautiful tulip, Janie, I like how you showed how they changed colors...wonderful. I like the side of your house, too, with the red color pieces.

Carrie, a beautiful block. Beautiful collection of three. Don't count on mine when and where it happens to look like those; it will be different, I guarantee that!

Have a good fun safe trip, Dublb.

Just popping in to the RV for a cookie and a coffee QNS then I am going to sit in your garden and enjoy the beautiful flowers and everybody's company. The only flowers I have here is my hibiscus bush and it doesn't flower a lot, and 2 flower bed of hippeastrums. I have not seen the sun for about 3 weeks now, the skies are grey and showers of rain every day.

Janie I love your tulips and how they change colours.

Carriem those blocks play well together, you are going to have one stunning quilt, as will everybody. The MB's have been exceptional so far.

My plans for today is to get the final border on my NOT so Marjen for Error and finish the applique flowers and then start sewing the borders on that quilt. Thursday I will start cutting my DS's new quilt, I am going to make him Bonnie Hunters Smith Mounting Morning, in browns and blues. He doesn't like bright bold colours, so will make it in colours he likes.

Will check in later today, have a great day everyone

Man I could use a cuppa. Thanks QNS. I was getting the oriole and hummingbird feeders ready this morning--I know I'm late--Mr Oriole has been chastising me from my bedroom window every morning--and my neighbor on the river called. Last night lots of rain fell to the west of us and a majority of that comes down the river near here. She's been flooded out 2x before and was taking preventive measures and asked if I could come up and move things from lower level of the house to ground floor--they have a tri level house with a basement level. So left the feeders in the sink--started fixing a bite for DH and myself; took 2 yo back to the barn and headed up. Another neighbor also came by as well as her DS and DIL. We moved things up in about 5 hours time and she has walkway paths through out the upper levels; but hopefully they will stay high and dry. Her DH is on the road and should be back by now. Yes I'm whipped, but managed to make sense of packing her fabrics and clothing patterns for her GD AG doll as well as move lots of things up from basement area. Another friend who lives about 20 miles upriver talked to my DH and said he's seen the water higher only once before. Hopefully preventive measures will work.
OK grands are here now so better check to see what they are up to!!!

JanieW ... OMG your tulips are beautiful! Kind of like getting two for one, with those colour changes. And the white edge adds for extra interest. Nice to see and enjoy after a long winter!

I'm SO impressed with all of you Ladies who know all your plants by name, and even down to the variety/hybrid. I know my plants by these names .... yellow lily, bronze lily, yellow daisy-like thing, green fuzzy creepy crawly, etc.!!!! :D My Black Eyed Susans are just that ... which variety? I have NO clue! :) Likewise the Echinacia. Bet I surprised you that I even know their names. Then there are the host of hostas ................ :)

CarrieM ... Look at those blocks, spinning together! That swirly fabric was all one fabric, and there were other parts that had blues, turquoises, purples, darker greens, orange/reds. It reminded me of a Spirograph design. Am I aging myself? :D

MiraB ... what beauty you must have when your hibiscus blooms. I was stymied about Hippeastrum and thanks to google discovered they are amaryllis. Now that'd be something to see growing naturally, instead of our potted "Audreys"! I have two perennial hibiscus bushes that put on quite a show late in the summer. They don't show their new growth til quite late ... so much so that I am thinking they are dead, then all of a sudden they spring to life. So right now, I am watching and fretting! :) Our hard winters often kill out some of these more tender things!

OKSGlad ... how good of you to run to the aid of your friend. I'll hope for her sake that it is not so bad as feared.

And now for the unveiling of my May MB ........
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Many Thanks to JanRN ... Isn't it beautiful? :) The block is called "A Flash of Diamonds" from the book "Quilts for Rosie". The colours are absolutely bang on with my MB Wish List. The fabric is exceptional!!! I took it outside for the photo shoot, and got eaten alive by the mosquitoes (know anything about that CarrieM?:D), so by the time I did that, I said, forget a group shot. They do play well together!

Guess what? It just started raining ... cats and dogs! :D And lots of thunder and lightning. So Anael, guess I won't need yours! :D Now so long as it is not everlasting as Anael's rain ... or related to that dreadful tornado in Oklahoma this afternoon.

Before I succumbed to the mosquitoes ... I did get this shot done, to appease our LovelyDDamsel. Speaking of whom, where is she? :D
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The hexies have one inch sides, so this will be a table topper as it's about 20"x29". The white isn't white, but a pale mauve floral. It isn't laying too flat, as most of the papers are still in place. The single flower is going to be my guinea pig as I will hand quilt and then try the facing method with that ring of hexies. If that works, then I'll do the same for the table topper.

I'm hooked on these hexies and the process and am looking forward to doing something else as it's been a perfect on the go project for me!

Striking MB you have there Carriem...Lots of contrast and very pretty colors....Great Job QuiltE....and You QuiltE received a very soft and lucious butter yellow..(your favorite) MB...
On another note...I have been glued to the TV since this afternoon after learning about the disastrous tornadado that destroyed towns in Oklahoma...school children lost their lives and adults as well...I'm so sad and feel so helpless when I hear about such happenings...

Beautiful block QuiltE, and I love your GFG so pretty.

The postie brought me a surprise today, a b-e-a-u-t-I-f-u-l MB thank you so much Oksewglad it is perfect, and it is playing nice with its friends:thumbup: The block is Illinois Star block from Carol Doak's 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars

Thank you also for the extras, I will have to think of something special to make with them

Now back to the grindstone:D

Honchey ... you got me "pegged" ... butter! :D I too have been following the Oklahoma tornado updates. So much devastation and death. So sad.

MiraB and OKSGlad ... my goodness that is a beauty! Though I'm surprised that it was from Illinois ...... not Iowa! :):) Is that yellow in the centre a Fairy Frost? What a lovely trio of blocks!

Correction--although I'd like to take credit--it's not my block, mirabelle!!

Great flowers ladies!! including QE's fabric one! It's lovely.

What a flash of diamonds Jan!! Wonderful.

Carrie--Rollin', rollin', rollin' down the river--your bevy of blocks reminds me of paddle wheels!

Orioles will be happy in the morning. but have to get both a new hummingbird and oriole feeder--broke one of the liquid containers on the 2nd oriole feeder and a hanger on a hummingbird feeder. Will be lots of fighting now!

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend!!

Thanks MiraB, DublB and OKSGlad re my flowers! :)

Oops sorry I got so excited to post my block I wrote the wrong name, lets try again

Thank you so much for my beautiful block GGal it is perfect and I love love love it.

Note to self, take a deep breath and don't get too excited:D

I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful flowers and MB's :)

Here's a picture of my quilting table. I thought carrie wanted to know?
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Who wants to have my killer kitty who went kind of crazy? She acts like something is haunting her!

Great setup Anael would be perfect for quilting on, I love it

You can keep your killer kitty, I'm not allowed to have any more cats, DH and I used to breed and show Persians many many moons ago and our Grand Champion, Benfield Fatima Pasquale (yes that was her name) was not supposed to be in the driveway when I was reversing my car. I will let you all imagine what happened next. DH didn't speak to me for a week

Finished the borders on my quilt, took a photo and my camera decided to do stupid things and DS erased my pic, so will take another one tomorrow. Also finished the applique (yay) and got the first border on my lap quilt. Will try and get it finished tomorrow..

DH will be home for lunch tomorrow so I had better do some grocery shopping in the morning...

Interesting table Anael. Mirabelle, thanks for making me feel good...thought I was the only one who made mistakes on here, but you have the better excuse of being excited about the new block. Beautiful block.

Mine is finally getting the the post today ..... for.................tune in later. Not telling who gets the MB.

Not sure we will ever reach the happy 50 years of marriage; yesterday was so bad...but today is a new day. Off to get our haircuts today! If only I knew how to get dh a job!! Somewhere other than home!!

Yes, Oklahoma gets bad tornadoes every year. And Iowa gets floods and that can be very bad news as well. Dublb, have fun on your trip.

Mirabelle...I'm so glad you liked the block. For each block I do, I sweat bullets trying to get it as good as I possibly can and this one was no exception. I only wanted to give you a sample of how beautiful the Mirabelle material is. I noticed yesterday that my LQS got in more of the line in. It's all so beautiful.
Dubib...have a safe, fun trip.
QuiltE...love the GMFG. Glad you got the grunt work done in your yard so now you can enjoy it. Beautiful MB!
OK....what a good neighbor you are! Hope the preventive measures aren't put to the test.
Carrie...what a beautiful back yard. Nice place to sit and watch the birds.
QNS...sorry for the conflict at home. Does you DH have a buddy that he can spend time with on a regular basis? A change is scenery would help both of you.
Janie...I was at the garden center yesterday and was amazed to see an entire section devoted to fairy gardening. You really are cutting edge!!
Anael...a perfect quilting table! It would be so nice to have that much room.
Good day at class yesterday. A new project which I will make into a baby quilt for my GG??? I'm putting the SS quilt into rows and hope to get it done this week so I can use the design wall. It rained last night and the forcast is for stormy weather today and tomorrow.
FYI...for those sending to Australia....I mailed the block May 5 using one of those large cardboard envelopes from the PO. I did have it in a priory envelope because that's what I had at home but that would have cost over $26 so I slipped it into the different envelope.

Update on the twins: no going home yet. Bram has to go to Groningen (UMC) because he has a double hernia. It's causing trouble and he might have to go back on a ventilator for a while. Isa still has eye problems and they still didn't deicde whether she needs an operation or not.
I don't feel very happy right now :(

Hugs to you, Anael. Wish I could do more than that.

Beautiful block for mirabelle, Gal. Excellent. Love yours too, QuiltE. Very clever choice of fabrics for carrie.

OK you are a sweetie to literally drop everything to go help your friend.

QNS, We could be sisters. Yesterday I could have killed my better half. He is so good to me and is always a big help around here but yesterday he got on my last nerve about noon and then it went down hill from there. Must be a full moon.

QNS, you are for sure not the only one who makes mistakes, you just got caught. :p

Here's a good one on me. I don't often drive by myself because I have Meniere's Disease and I can get sudden onset of vertigo with no warning. A simple thing like a shoulder check when changing lanes can trigger an episode. I definitely should not be driving if that happens as I become debilitated fast.

A while back my husband and sons were shingling our roof. They were running low on shingling nails so they sent me to Home Depot. I felt ok that day so agreed to go. As I am getting in the truck, my son hollers from the roof to pick up a two- four of beer as well. So off I go , get the nails, then head over to get the beer. I put the beer in the back of the truck, feel ever so smug that I am doing this all by myself and then go sit in the passenger seat. After awhile the penny drops and I realize I'm driving. I laughed out loud all the way home!

View from our back deck. This is our neighbour's May Day tree. It is beautiful, but it hates me. There is at least a half inch of yellow pollen floating in the top of our rain barrels from it. Achoo!

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GGal and MiraB ... still an incredibly beautiful block! And better still, being that it is in the MiraB fabrics! :) Thanks for the kind words re my GFG. Yes, glad to know the grunt work is done and over!MiraB ... oh dear! How sad! :(

Anael ... {{{HUGS}}} I can totally understand your disappointment. It seemed all so close to their coming home. Great set up for quilting! I forget, do you leave it permanently set up and use it as your cutting table when not quilting? And with it set up, does this mean you are going to be doing some more quilting?

QNSue ... here's hoping today IS a better day. In the meantime, keep your focus on your get away on Thursday, to help you cope. Maybe you could leave on Wednesday and stay overnight at your friend's home? Would do you good!

JanieW ... too funny on your waiting for your chauffeur! Old habits!!! What a lovely back yard, and complete with your greenhouse! :) achoo!!! I've never seen or heard of a May Day tree. It looks like it puts on quite a show .... though not so enjoyable when one is suffering from it. achoo!!!

About my set up: no, it's not permanently, it's not suitable as cutting table. Besides it's huge so very inconvenient to leave it on my dining table. I only use it with FMQ.

Janie, lovely back yard! I had a good laugh when I read about you sitting in the wrong seat :D

I thought I'll do some FMQ. Bought expensive thread (Madeira) and it keeps breaking! I knew my Brother doesn't like Madeira but my Bernina doesn't either :(
I was looking for Aurifil but the LQS only has # 40 and my Bernina doesn't want that either!

Are you telling me that my Bernina is a Thread Diva?
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I noticed that Bernina seems to promote Mettler threads in the manual. I haven't used it yet, as I have quite a good Aurifil stash. Granted, I have yet to do any FMQ!

I didn't realize it was your dining room table! Yes, definitely could not leave that set up all the time. Did you use the rigid foam insulation?

When the thread breaks, change to a different needle....its all in the size of the thread going with the right side of needle. I will copy my little booklet onto the computer this evening and sent it to both of you...learned that at my lessons and it made sense to me.

No dh has no close friends, he has always 'borrowed' mine but its a better day 'cause he got his own way all morning. Time to finish planting the front of the house garden...my fingers are crossed. No, quiltE, bf has two rooms full of fabric....like you cannot see the floor...so no staying there.

Janie love the tree but understand the pollen problem.

QNSue ... Just think of what a good sleep you;d have, on top of that fabric!!! (..............kidding!!!!!!!!!:D) Another tip I learned about needles and threads ... use a top stitch needle as it gives a longer groove from the eye up the shaft of the needle. And I've probably used the wrong terminology, but you get the idea!!



yooohooooooo DDamsel ........... I'm awaiting those pink duckie photos!!!! :D

Janie you made me smile this morning, love your driving story, boy if I didn't drive myself I wouldn't go anywhere, even when DH and I go somewhere together he gets in the passenger seat:D what a beautiful back yard you have, pity about the tree - bless you!!!!

Anael will say a special prayer for Bram and Isa and also you today, remember we are but a click of the fingers away if you need to chat..

QNS hope today gets better for you, just hide in your sewing room and forget your worries.

Now time for me to finish some chores before DH gets home, I think I am getting too used to being on my own for a week, hope he doesn't decide to retire any time soon:D:D

Completed most of the planting of flowers and garden. Will replace newspapers in the tires with tomato plant tomorrow and wet them down to stick in place.

The high winds picked up the dog run covered with tarps and wrapped it around a couple of trees. It threw the logs on top to the West, the gate of the run to the East. So we need to free the tarps, and fold them up; then try to straighten up the fence around the run.

Sewing Day Thursday in the lesson on the embroidery machine in Des Moines. Will love the break from home. But the fall out comes when I bring it all home. So be it. He told me I could set up my sewing room so I am...my way. And I ordered one more folding table for my old machine, Bernina 1530. Now the challenge is clean up the room so everything will fit into the 14 by 12 room.