Catching Up...February

Good morning,
So, I said last week that I would start blogging again, then promptly got side tracked with a round of Doctors appointments... So here I am a week later with some answers to my medical problems (I won't bore you with the details) and some frustrations because of NO answers. What I will do is share some of what has kept me away.. are you ready?Torrie turned 16, I think that was what my last post was about. Anyhow, she being the princess that she is (really she is not she is very smart and level headed, that's why this was so much fun) anyhow, being such a princess, she decided that for her 16th birthday all the girls should dress up in their most formal wear and go to a nice dinner and a play... the hilarity ensues... Oh and as you can see, she matched her cake, yup sick mama...Morgen in her nice dress, she looked pretty that night, this should have given me a clue that my other baby is also growing up... more on that later.. in the August post...
Here are all of the girls all dressed up and ready for a lovely dinner out...
Torrie chose one of her favorite dining locations...Dairy Queen! Boy did we make a scene people actually stopped and stared! The folks who work there were very very cool about it though, the best part, there was a little girl about 6 having a birthday party too, we over heard her ask her mommy... can I have a princess crown too? Mommy said no because she didn't have one. Then one of the girls in our group went over and gave her her crown. Very good kids my Torrie's friends.

Oh and yes there was a lot of quilting going on in February, but you don't get to see it till my next post... So stay tuned for MARCH (a bit later this afternoon as I have a lunch date in a few minutes)

So much to share, So little time!

After a long 7 month hiatis from blogging I feel it is time for me to come back! I am sorry it has taken me this long, we had a busy and wonderful spring and summer, we went on a little vacation to the ocean, and as always because of the daycare we had just a super busy and fun summer with the kids. Most importantly though... I got a longarm quilting machine!!! I found and purchased a lovely 19 inch Homesteader and put it on my Suzy Q frame. I love this machine and I will share pictures and all I love about it in my next post. I will say that due to the new machine I have been very very busy quilting up my stack of tops, so look for a post with all my quilt pictures soon too.
Like later this afternoon I hope!)

Until then, have a great morning and it's great to be back.

Torries new car and quilts done!

I have been a busy, busy girl!
I am finished with Magic hour! (OK still have to sew the back together but that doesn't count!)
And have moved on to Adams Black, White and Red quilt, I have it done except the boarders, and I have almost finished the two extra quilts from the left overs, I will get them done this weekend and posted since I have a three day weekend I am pretty sure I will have time to get all three finished!

I have also been busy searching for a car for Torrie. Stuart has been working on a 72 bug for her to drive, but sadly has not made a lot of progress on it and it will not be drivable for a long while. So I made the command decision to use some of my savings and buy her a car...oh what a long strange trip this has been!!! I spent several days looking on craigslist for something in my budget and something that will be safe and reliable... well let me tell you, those three things just DO NOT go together!!!!
I looked at one car that.... well lets just say, the pictures were wonderful (just love photo shop!) But when we actually saw the car, well side swiped, spray painted, water leaks oh and my personal favorite, they had MELTED the air bag cover back in place, of course no air bag because it had deployed when the car got hit!!! OMG.

So, after that lovely little car I decided it was time to start calling dealerships, now I know that the chances of finding something in my price range is almost zero, but it never hurts to call.

My first call, I get put on with this nice salesman named Rick, I explain to Rick that I have $XXX amount of money, not financing anything, something safe for a teenage girl.... you get the idea, well as we are talking Rick says to me... "Do I know you?" Me.. "no" he says "you sound really familiar" ...Oh I say... then he asks if I quilt.... now let me tell you, I work from home and do NOT know a lot of people especially men... so when a strange mans says he knows you, AND know you are a quilter the will FREAK you out! Anyhow, he then pauses and say...Wendi! I say..RICK... Turns out that I had completely forgotten that my good friend Wendi's (maker of the Cars quilt a couple of posts down) husband is a sales man, and low and behold but that was who I got put on with... well, long long story short, Rick was a wonderful help, I ask him to please find a car that he would buy for HIS teenage daughter (yes he has one too) and he did. I did cost more than I had planned on spending...(I will NOT be putting a fence up this year after all) But I got an excellent car for Torrie... So with out further ado... Torrie's new "Grandma Car"

It is a 2001 Buick Century, like I said a grandma car, BUT it is in excellent condition, drive beautifully and has working air bags! Plus, even though it is not some cutesy teenage girly car she love is.

The sad thing, it is newer than MY car!


A quick shot of the inside, this car was very well cared for, the only wear spots are on the steering wheel. I am happy and think we got a good deal.

So, yep all in all a very productive week, one quilt finished, another almost finished, two more with all blocks completed just needs assembled, and a new to us car purchased, Oh and Torrie took her written drivers test today (passed it too) takes her driving test next Friday, and turns 16 on Saturday!
Yes, busy busy and loving it.
Thanks for stopping by, I am headed to bed!
Ginny

A walk in a rainbow

I love going to the fabric store... I know women who love to shop and look at jewelry, I know some who love to shop for make-up, I know several who have shoe addictions (you know who you are!) and I know some who love to shop for clothing... for me it is fabric, I love the colors. When I walk into the fabric store it is like walking into a rainbow, all bright and cheery, different textures, shimmery, bold, and pastel all in one. No matter what my mood I am always happy in the fabric store, and I ALWAYS go over budget!
I have not been feeling well this last week, I am not "sick" no cough, or stuffy nose just a sore throat and all over body aches... Today I was finally feeling up to leaving the house, still tired but needed to pick up the backing for the Magic Hour quilt, and another that is in the works (I will be taking pictures soon and showing it off). So off to Joann's I went, had a lovely visit with Annie one of my DC moms who works there, she was shopping too! Got the backing I needed plus a couple extra yards! Oh and cutting mats were on sale so I splurged and got a new cutting mat, my old one was just about wore through on the 0 line! All in all the trip was a success, fun and I feel 100% better, lighter in the pocket book, but since everything was on sale I won't complain too much!
So with that, I will wish you all a wonderful upcoming weekend, and remember when you are feeling those winter blues... go to the fabric store and take a stroll inside a rainbow.
Happy quilting.
Ginny

Magic hour update and a new haircut!

Good afternoon!
Oh yea it is almost FRIDAY and boy do I need a Friday this week!

I have been super busy working on the Magic Hour quilt and am down to putting on the final two boarders! I don't usually make quilts this large and now I remember why! I am excited about getting it quilted. Karen O from http://quiltsnkaboodle.com/ (this is her website) or even better, visit her blog here... http://quiltsnkaboodle.blogspot.com/ Anyhow, Karen has agreed to quilt my quilt for me. Now there are a couple of things you should know, Karen was the wonderful lady who we contacted shortly after Hurricane Ike came ashore a year and a half ago, she generously accepted and handed out many many quilts donated by quilters all over the country. Karen is also a fabulous professional longarm quilter, A-1 dealer and has been a huge inspiration for me. By reading her blog and looking at pictures of her quilting I have been able to learn enough to apply to my own quilting that I am no longer embarrassed to actually show my quilts off! Any how now, this wonderful lady will be quilting my quilt for me and I could not be happier! She did warn me that it will take about 6 months before it get it back, but that is OK, you know what they say, all good things come to those who wait!

Here is a picture of the almost finished quilt.And another

Oh I got a new haircut too!!! Love this picture, you can't see the GREY!


Well, time to pick up the little one from school, hope you all have a wonderful productive weekend. And as always, thanks for stopping by!
Ginny

Magic Hour!

Good Morning, its FRIDAY!!! Oh how I love Fridays! A very busy weekend awaits, hair appointments, dog to the groomer (I love my groomer she is the best!) Grocery shopping, and I get to spend just a little time working on my latest quilt.
For ages my Darling hubby has been asking for a new quilt for our bed, the first one I made is getting rather holy, plus, it is kind of boring. Just a simple Trip Around The World, done in shades of blue.
So recently I purchased Eleanor Burns Day and Night book, oh what pretty quilt, went to Joann's got the perfect fabric, and got to work.....


This is just a quick layout, on the dining room table, I am still ironing and sewing blocks and will be for a while. But I wanted to share with you all a sneak peek!

Now, there is a cute little story to go with this quilt, when I envisioned this quilt, I wanted something in blues, you see Stuart loves blue, as I started piecing I knew in my mind how it was going to look.
I described it to Stuart as "you know in the summer time just after the sun has set, when you look to the west and the sky is still blue, but then as you look to the east the sky changes colors to purple then dark blue, and you can see the stars coming out, what to they call that?"
His reply....Twilight.
Now, I know many of you are great fans of Stephanie Meyer.... I for one can not stand her books so there is NO WAY IN HELL I am going to name this quilt Twilight!!!!
Now Stuart, is an engineer... their minds don't work like other peoples.. He pulls out his Old Farmers Almanac and looks up twilight. There are three twilight's, the first is when the sun is from 0 to 6 degrees below the horizon, the second is called nautical twilight, when the sun is between 6 to 12 degrees below the horizon and there is astronomical twilight 12 to 18 degrees below the horizon... his suggestion... we call it "Between 12 to 18 degrees"
Lets hear a big resounding NO from you all!
So, the next day (yes we are coming to the end of the story) I am telling the Girls about the conversation with Dad... Morgen my younger daughter looks at me and say "Mom, you should name it Magic Hour"

Why Magic Hour ask I.... her reply " in the movie Reign of Fire (good movie BTW, about dragons, the end of civilization, and Matthew McConaughey all tough and buff!) Anyhow, in the movie the Matthew, tells Christian Bale that "the dragons have excellent daytime vision, and can see even better at night, But twilight is the only time they have a hard time seeing, that their vision is not as good and that is when they can fight and defeat the dragons, that is Magic Hour".

And thus a quilt was named!

Hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend!
Gin

Quilt Hanger and Christmas.

Happy New Years to all, I know I know I am a couple of days late, but better late than never!

We had a nice quiet Christmas here, just the way I like it! It was just Stuart and the Girls and I we woke up late (one plus of having teenagers, no more 6 am Christmas wake ups!) opened presents, then just hung out for the morning playing with our new toys, I made a nice rib roast for dinner... yea quiet!

Then that weekend the Girls and I went to the movies, Sherlock Holmes and Avatar.. both good movies, but I have to say I highly recommend seeing Avatar, that is a beautiful movie!

Then, the rest of the week I just lounged around, did some quilting but am having problems with my stitch regulator so not as much quilting done as I would have liked :(

I did want to make this post about something other than just our Holidays... and after my last post and Christine's questions about my quilt hanger I thought I would share a little about how I hang my quilts.
You see I hate and I mean HATE making hanging pockets for quilts, and one of my daycare parents has the best hanging system ever so I thought I would share (after I used the idea myself of course). :)

First a picture....
As you can see, it is just simply a curtain rod (purchased for less than ten dollars at Walmart) and curtain rings, the rings have little clamps on them that I use to hold the quilt. The rings come in a pack of 7 for $5.00 So for about 15 dollars you have a nice quilt hanger.
The thing I like about this system is the fact that the rod is adjustable in length so if I have a larger quilt I can extend the rod to accommodate the size. Plus you can get just about any finish you want to suit your decor!

I really do love the fact that I can now hang any quilt I want and I don't have to have a sewn in pocket!!!

Full credit and thanks goes to Kim my wonderful daycare mom who showed me her hanger!

Well, I guess that is it for today, time to get to work... Thanks for stopping by and feel free to ask any questions you many have!

Ginny