High Five For Friday

Welcome to my High Five For Friday. A time to look back at the week and share my top five highlights! I love this because it is POSITIVE....you can not share drama or problems or worries or concerns! If you did not have 5 great things happen last week, it is time to look harder! My top 5 are....

1.) My new purse. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! My friend had a Thirty-One party and this is what I ordered. It is darling!2.) The biggest highlight of the week is that the grandkids came to stay. We are having such fun, and though the house is trashed, that is ok....we are having a great time!3.) A couple weeks ago I got a smart phone. It was my Christmas gift from Sweetheart. I was going to take it back...it does WAY more than I need, but he said, "no"...he wants me to keep it. If I am keeping it, I need it to at least have some style! I got this cover for it the other day. So pretty!

4.) With the raffle quilt done and gone, the UGRR Sampler is back in the hoop and I am enjoying my evenings working on it! This one is going faster than I thought it would. I am planning my 2012 quilting goals next week!5.) Isla's tickets are for sale!!!! WOOHOO!!! Stay tuned, because on Monday, I will officially announce it and share how you can get a free chance to win this incredible quilt! In the meantime, feel free to buy tickets ;) Visit www.quiltforisla.blogspot.com to purchase your chances and help this family!
To link up and do your own High Five For Friday, visit From My Grey Desk!

A Little Bit Of Everything

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Things have been busy here. Lots of running and few at home days. Sassy is finally playing with Cammy. She is still not totally warmed up....no naps together yet, but there is no hissing or growling and some active play time going on! We are homeschooling daily. I am switching things up a bit with some character quality training.
I am putting stitches in the UGRR Sampler. Not as many as I want to, but soon I will be snowed in and happy to have this big quilt in the hoop! Chamomile seems to be a quilt lover.....not like Sassy is, but she was quite interested. Sassy is the most quilt loving cat I could imagine, so I think she would be hard to beat! LOLIt has not been all fun and games around here. I did some deep cleaning in the kitchen. Is it weird that I enjoy seeing into people's cupboards? I do. I would NEVER open your cupboards or drawers without permission, but I sure like to see when you show them on your blogs. I cleaned out my baking cupboard....I also keep medications on the top shelf of this double cabinet. Here is the BEFORE:And here is the AFTER:The "Thou Shalt Not Steal" paper is just a reminder for those who like to eat my TUMS...I'm not naming names. This double cupboard connects to a third cupboard...I guess it is a triple cupboard. I store nail polish, light bulbs, extra hand soaps and sanitizers...odds and ends. Here is the BEFORE:Gosh what a pig! Here is the AFTER:Lots of room to fill with junk! Hopefully I can maintain it til Spring!
I will close with some pictures of cuteness....first some kitty cuteness...You know what's coming next, right??You guessed right! She got that tail!
Now some Grandbaby cuteness! My son got the kids pictures taken and I have some wonderful shots...I will show several here and more on other posts. I don't want to overdose you, though my Aunt Pete would love me too!

A Wonderful Day

A Happy Birthday wish to my sweet Mom. She is out and about with her sister today and I pray she is having a wonderful day. She is in the middle of reading "The Help", so calling her can be dangerous! LOL Once she finishes, we are going to see the movie! I can't wait!!

All the blocks for Isla's raffle quilt are in. One block all the way from Israel is in there! ALL of them are beautiful and will make the perfect quilts. There are 48 blocks, which is PERFECT, cause the leftover 16 will go into a little quilt for Isla.
I played a little with the placement. I think it will be a stunning quilt.... It will be ready to go to Coleen in about a week! Coleen just posted a pic of her most recent customer quilt. Her quilting is so wonderful, and I am honored she is willing to do this one!
My own quilt is in the hoop and after getting the Crossroads block and a couple of sashing strips quilted, there is a place for me to rub my hand over and feel the quiltiness of what this quilt will become!
Can you guess how I am spending my Saturday afternoon?? Oh yeah! Now I just need a hot cup of coffee next to me, cause it is COLD outside!Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup for dinner. It is such a crisp September day, that it had to be soup! Now I am off to get that cup of Hazelnut coffee and grab that quilt back up! Praying you are having just as wonderful a Saturday afternoon!

Set for Winter Quilting

I was going to share our day trip to Galena today, but blogger started throwing a tantrum, so I will have to save that for next time. I did get these pictures loaded before the fit began, and this is plenty long enough for a sit down! It has been a long week and it started out rough for me. If I ever doubted God's timing, it was not on Monday. Just when needed, the mailman brought a special package!SASSY!!!! Get off of there!!!!That's better! This incredible wallhanging arrived from Linda. The delicate words, stitched by hand, spoke of friendship, and touched me more than words can express. My absolute favorite quilting design, was included....double crosshatch! I LOVE IT! Thank you, Linda! Monday's cloud lifted and Tuesday and Wednesday went by like a blur...Tuesday I had my day out with Mom. It was a good one. I weighed in at WW and lost 3 pounds, plus got my 5% sticker! Big milestone....now on to 10%! Wednesday, we headed to Galena with the kids. Another excellent day. Thursday was basting day! I have a love-hate relationship with basting day! I had already marked the top. I think it will look great and the sashing stencil I chose fits well.

AGAIN with that cat! She loves a quilt of any kind!One of the things I DREAD about basting day, especially with a huge quilt like this, is the pain I know my back will suffer because of all the bending. Because of that, I usually take a couple of days to baste a quilt of this size. This time I spent 8 bucks and purchased these risers to lift my table up to counter level.BEST 8 bucks I ever spent! I did this entire quilt in one day with ZERO back pain. Granted, it took me 12 hours and about 200 yds of thread, and though my legs ached some the next day, that was nothing in comparison of days of back pain! I am now set for winter quilting!
Today, I plan to add some major quilting in that quilt and have a nice relaxing day. Tomorrow, the grandkids, my son, my sister and her family, and my parents, come for the day and after church, we will take them all to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Em's birthday. Next week will be busy too. My Mother in Love is having a valve replaced in her heart on Wednesday, so I plan to be there all day, and then running up to see her as often as I can as she recovers. I have perfect peace everything will be fine, but if you think about, say a prayer for her. ♥

Off to have that perfect quilting day!

Waiting Up

It is 5 minutes til midnight and here I sit, waiting up for a teenager to get home. I remember, too well, these days from when my oldest son was a teen. Charlotte went to her first Youth Rally tonight with our church. She rode a bus with all her friends an hour away and had, I am certain, a perfect night! She should be home any time, but since I have to be up until she walks in, I thought I would do a quick post.

School started this week. Sassy found the kids school box quite comfy!
Charlotte was a bit bewildered at the difference in the curriculum from last year to this year. She is working at different levels (gotta love homeschool!) and her higher level books are a challenge, but one I am sure she can handle. Same for Zach. He started 5th grade with a bang. It should be a year filled with learning!
I was able to get the last of the leaves on the UGRR Sampler. This is a really poor picture...it was very windy and the borders appear rippled, but believe me, they are just fine!
I am in the process of marking it and I have the backing and batting ready to go. Here is the backing fabric.....It is a navy marble with ivory floral. So 1800ish!
Grandkids come for an overnight tomorrow. The Youth Rally will be held at our home church tomorrow night, so I may take all the kids and go. I am looking forward to hearing about Charlotte's night. I guess I am out of things to share. I will be back in the next couple of days to let you know the UGRR is in the hoop and also to show you some fence rails for Isla's quilt!

A Quilty Post With A Touch of Sass!

Look at those wonderful 9 patches!!! I am so excited to get this top done. What a labor of love knowing all your quilt blocks will be in it! I may have more blocks than I need when they all stop coming in. Not to worry....I will be putting together a little quilt for Isla with the leftover blocks. If I am one over, it will be used for a label. NO blocks will be wasted!

I got my quilting mojo back. It may have been all the 9 patches coming in that did it! Regardless, this runner finally got a binding and is in it's resting place.
I have also been appliqueing leaves like crazy. VERY soon the UGRR Sampler will be in the hoop! Before I talk more about that, I was able to pull out a prized possession yesterday!
My fall runner, made by Winona, comes out every September 1st! It is a great day when that comes out. I will have it on my kitchen table until Dec. 1st! Last year for my birthday she made me a Christmas wall hanging, so I will be able to just switch them, and have a "Winona" treasure for months! Speaking of Winona, she shared a blog link with me and I found the most beautiful Fall 9 patch quilt there. What a great way to use my scraps....it is on my "list"! You can see it here....plus it looks like a great quilting blog! Lots of tutorials to look through. Since I am sharing links, Chris sent me a great link to a new blog. If you love quilt history like I do, you will love 1812 War and Piecing.
Another thing that comes with fall is a new blog look. I used the UGRR Sampler as a backdrop to do a photo shoot with Sassafras. HaHa! What a morning that was!I put her on the quilt, as for the first time EVER she didn't just jump up there. The girl loves a quilt! She insisted on being at the end instead of centered nicely, and just looked annoyed.Of course it immediately became bath time, so I had to just sit back and wait. She gave me a few glances....just enough to say "I'm in charge here."
Then it HAPPENED! She saw a fly!!!The squirrel chattering began and she prepared to strike.

That was that....photo shoot over!

I did get a pic that I think will work. If you do not already see the new header and blog design, you can come back later and check it out!
We had a very sad day this week. My mom and dad lost their sweet dog, Ike. He was my dad's best friend. They spent all their time together when Dad was at home. It has been a very difficult time for them both, so if you think of it, could you say a prayer for them that the healing will happen quickly. They are adamant that they will NOT get another dog. The pain of loss is too much for them to take. I am hoping they change their minds. My father gets such joy from dogs...especially a lap dog, which Ike was.
The grandkids are coming for the night, so I plan on getting some pics. We have a church picnic on Sunday which will be lots of fun! I'll see you after the weekend!