"Catch of the Day"

I was able to finish my son's quilt before he found out about it.  Last Friday afternoon he brought my grandson over to spend the week-end so he could work on his quilt.  Fortunately I had the quilt labeled and the storage pillow case made, and had both tucked under some other quilts on the guest bed.  GS wanted me to give it to him right then, rather than wait until Christmas, which I had considered a bit, but not too much.  I began showing them the stacked quilts one at a time, and when he saw the big mouthed bass, he said, "And that one's mine, right???!!  GS said he was claiming it, but Son said, "I don't think so!"  He loves it, as imperfect as it is!   Unfortunately, the fish I quilted in the borders don't show in this picture like they did in the last post picture.  The quilt is 72" x 54", a little large for a throw, but it will be great for the big guy to cover with on the couch!  I'm not sure whether the wife will like that or not.???  *giggle*  Maybe I've told you that he works at Cabelas in the fishing department, and goes bass fishing every day he's off duty, if the weather cooperates and the Honey-Do list isn't too long!  Several years he caught a very large bass, and had it mounted with a lure similar to the one in the quilt hanging from a small branch in front of the bass; looks almost like this one!

"Catch of the Day" 

Friday night I let my grandson play around with my new toy, which by the way, he named "Sunshine".  He was fascinated with it, and really learned a lot  about it.  Then on Saturday, he learned how to sandwich and pin his quilt, and he stitched through all the sashings to stabilize the star blocks for quilting the next time he can come over.  He went to church both services with me, and the church kids invited him to join them for a couple of hours of basketball Sunday afternoon, and then to join them again after the evening service for pizza at CiCi's.  Since he lives a several miles away and attends another school, he really doesn't know any of them well.  He has visited several times all right, but I was surprised, but glad that they invited him to join them both times.  He had a great time, but didn't get a lot of quilting done Sunday, but that's okay.  He will be back when he can again.   Here's another look at his progress.  He is really proud of it!  Me too!

I didn't get to sew any all week-end, but I did get a couple of new things last Friday!  New eye glasses, and a new cordless electric lawn mower.   I mowed Saturday while GS sewed, and loved it!  My old one (same type) had died a natural death about a week before, and the lawn was looking pretty bad, what with all the rain we've had lately.  More is coming Wednesday too.

Today I quilted a little bit on the other project I was working on as a decoy on the days my son was off duty from his job.  Maybe I can finish it this week; I surely hope so!

Hope everyone has a good week, stress-free, with lots of quilting time!

---"Love"

More Quilt Show Pictures and Some Quilt Progress

A couple of weeks ago I promised a few more quilt show pictures. These were from the Granbury Quilt Guild Show. There were many beautiful quilts. Again I cannot give proper credit, but I was impressed!

Parker County, Texas, Historical Quilt, From Permanent Collection

My grandson's school took a holiday on Columbus Day, and he spent the day with me to work on his quilt. He finished the top, and I'm really proud of him and his work!  It is totally his design, even the sashings.  It's not perfect, but he says, "I can live with it!"  He did really well on all those points --- Granny's opinion!  We didn't get it hung very well, but here it is. I don't know when he will be back to sandwich it and begin quilting.

Here's just a teaser of one of my new projects; hope to finish it within a couple of days.

  

You can't imagine what I've gone through to get this posted!  I think my computer is loaded down and very tired!  So am I!  But tomorrow's another quilting day, I hope!  

---"Love"

I Have a Couple of New Toys!

The past two or three weeks have been very busy for me. Almost every day, or at least every other day, I've been somewhere --- sometimes fun (quilt show and shopping; good times with friends), sometimes not (doctors and dentist), and lots of church activities. Hopefully life will slow down for at least a couple of weeks!  I need to get some sewing done!

 Last week a friend and I went to the Trinity Valley Guild Show in Fort Worth; there were lots of beautiful quilts. Here's a few of my favorites; unfortunately I cannot identify the makers, but I was impressed for sure!  Sorry, but I think my camera was not on the correct setting, but hopefully you can see much beauty here!  There's lots of work for sure!  I took lots of pictures, but too many to share them all.

The day before we went to the show, we went to a quilt store closing in a small nearby town and spent way too much money on fabric, but hey, it was on sale half-price; can't miss a deal like that!  I haven't taken pictures, but I got fabrics for at least four quilts.  I hope I live long enough to get them made! *grin*

Then as though we hadn't spent enough of the kids' inheritance, a couple of days later we both bought new machines on sale --- Janome 8900.  You know the kind of deal --- just like cars, just before the new models come out!  I know I'll love mine!  No more will I have to fight to squish a big quilt through;  the throat is 11" wide.  Of course, it has way too many other advantages, which I'll probably never use, but it's nice they are available.  It's been setting on a table in the sunroom, and I got to wondering where I would put it when Christmas parties time comes in just a few weeks!  So -----  last Saturday we went back to the store, and I bought a cabinet for it which was delivered Tuesday..  I had to re-arrange the sunroom, and I'm not yet happy with all that, but I can make it work.  Here are my new toys!

Tailormade Elise 

Empty Open Cabinet, with Janome 8900

The plastic insert around the machine came with the machine, and will serve as a temporary fix to cover the hole around the machine, but I've ordered the insert that fits both my machine and the cabinet.  It should arrive in two or three weeks.  I thought the store would have to order the cabinet, but they had one in stock, so I got it sooner that I had thought possible.  So far, I'm loving both the machine and the cabinet!  (Now if I can just stay home more so I can use it!!!)

I'm going to have to stop making excuses now, and get busy quilting that Underground Railroad quilt, and then get my Civil War blocks together!  First, I want to make a couple of smaller things for gifts, and I started one of them yesterday; more to come on that soon.  Also I need to make a runner for when the cabinet is closed.

Yesterday I went with three friends to another nearby quilt show and saw lots of pretty quilts.  I'll try to post a few of them in a few days, along with progress on my little quilt.

I hope I have finally figured out part of my posting problem, and I hope a solution as well.  I still haven't figured out what happened!

Hey, I just checked the thermometer on the patio, and at 5:30 PM, it was reading 60 degrees on October 4! That's a welcome change from what we've been having.  I turned off the AC and opened the windows and doors today ---- NICE!!

I really have enjoyed reading about what everyone's been working on; lots of pretty quilts out there!  Thanks, and do keep sharing!

---"Love"