WHERE DID MARCH GO

Boy, I certainly don't know where the month of March went and now it is already April 10th. There have been alot of things going on with my family in the month of March. First thing was that darn flu bug. I haven't been that sick in a long time and it took some time to get back to my ole self. Then 3 weeks ago I had to undergo some foot surgery. I had a bone spur growing on the side of my toe and I had it removed 2 years ago but the thing came back. So this time, surgery was more intensive. It is improving day by day but I am still wearing white socks an open toe sandals. It is very tender and there is still alot of leakage which the doctor told me would be about six weeks. This has stopped me from sewing though because I really don't use my left foot at all to sew. One of my bosses' wives is pregnant with their second child so I decided I had better get my butt in gear and make the top to get it off to the quilters. I love how this quilt turned out and it is so bright and cheery. It only took me 3 days after work to piece this together.

The new baby's name with be Alexis and she is due on her big sister, Addison's first birthday, July 6th. Aren't they going to have their hands full.

I have been doing a lot of shopping though. I bought all the blocks for Patchwork Party and the finishing kit from Kimberly. I just love it and can't wait to start it. First thing though is I am bound and determined to finish my Web Sampler quilt. I am done to my last 6 finishing blocks and to order my border fabrics and put it all together.

Then I ordered the kit from Dandelion Girl. Boy do I love this fabric also. It is so calming to me. Perry turned me on to a new quilt shop when she went to a quilt show. It is called Lillies Classic Quilts and Debbie is the owner. I have purchased a few kits from her over the last couple of months. She definitely has an eye on putting fabrics together. This quilt store is also going to have a quilt in the new Quilt Sampler which I think will be out on May 10th.

Have been really busy at work also which doesn't make me a very happy camper--it just makes me so stressed out because it never seems that I can see the light of day. I really need to go in one weekend but I hate to do that because then it seems like I have no spare time at all.

I guess Carol and Sharon are at the Chicago quilt show by now. Hope they both have a wonderful time and of course, don't spend too much money. LOL.

Well gals, must go for now, phone is ringing. I will check back in tomorrow.

IS IT SPRING YET

It has been awhile since I have posted but the last few weeks have certainly been in a blur. The flu bug caught up with me about 3 weeks ago and at the beginning I was in bed for 3 1/2 days. My husband and I had the flu shot his year and it certainly didn't stop this strain that we got. It started out as a typical flu and then I am prone to getting bronchitis and that is how it ended up. It really has wiped out my energy and therefore my house is really showing the consequences of that now. Then 2 days after I got sick my husband got sick again. This is the fourth time he has been sick this winter and he is still coughing up a storm. I told him the other day he should get to the doctors but of course, do men listen. Nope, not at all.

Perry challenged me to talk about my new iron so here it goes.
I always have had Rowenta irons and I was so tired after using them for awhile they would start leaking and ruining all my ironing boards. After the fall quilt market, one of the quilt stores that I go to for my first Saturday class bought this iron and was talking about it and said anyone interested they could order one for us because they come from Canada. So I said, I course you never had enough irons and I NEED one. I have fallen in love with this iron. It is called "Velocity". I am sure anyone that is interested in this iron can do a google search and bring up all the information on it. It is a digital iron and has its own separate steam generator. I want to tell you, this sucker really gets hot and hot fast. There is a separate button you can push for the steam and the steam has 2 settings of its own. I think I have used this iron for about a month now andI absolutely love it and would not go back to using any other iron. It does have an automatic shutoff and you just hit the button when you are ready to use it again and it just takes a few second to heat up again.

Haven't been working on that much lately. I am working on my Web Sampler blocks and I think I have 8 finished. I will post pictures of those on Monday. I am also working on my BOM's because of course I am really behind on those and trying to get caught up.

I am not a very patient person and right now I am waiting for so much stuff to come in so I can order it. My problem is when I see it I want it NOW. I am patiently waiting for the kit for Dandelion Girl which is supposed to be available in March. Doesn't Moda know that it is March and I want it NOW. I am also waiting to do the new Spring Patchwork Party quilt and that isn't so bad, I only have to wait until April 1st for that. Then the new Quilt Sampler will be out and I am certain that there will be tons of quilts in there that I must make. Like I don't have anything to do.

Well I am off right now to go and make some dinner. I am half Polish and tonight I am making Haluska. It's very good and very simple. It is basicially noodles and cabbage.

Hope everyone has a good night and will talk more soon.

Hugs, Cindy

AND THE WINNER IS.........

Well I did the drawing at work and just printed out all the e-mails and had one of my co-workers draw the name. And the winner is.........Toni. Congratulations Toni, please send me your snail mail address and I will get the kit out to you. I tried to get a clearer photo but it just didn't turn out. Sorry guys. Stayed tuned though, I will be having another give-a-way in a couple of weeks.

I have so much to talk about today. A couple a weeks ago I invested in another new iron. This iron was a little expensive at $129 but I think that it is worth every penny I spent. I was so sick and tired of my Rowenta's leaking all over the place and ruining numerous ironing board covers. I was getting sick of buying a new ironing board cover at $14 a pop every couple months so this iron will pay for itself. This iron is made in Canada and has its own steam generator which you program for either low or high. I love this iron. You hardly have to even press any of your seams. Did I tell you, I love this iron

I know that there is a lot of talk on the blogs today about the new Mystery BOM that is going to start on The Fat Quarter Shop. If you are reading my blog Kimberly, thank you for organzing this new BOM. I think it is going to be a total success. I am totally in love with this BOM and I can't wait to start and have already orderd the finishing kit and backing. This is going to be one beautiful quilt. I love anything by 3 Sisters. Of course my friends Lisa, Perry, Nicole and Carol are going to join me with this BOM and if anyone else is interested, please let me know and we will include you on our posts regarding this BOM. I know Patchwork Party is going to start on April 1st so I figured I have 2 months to finish that quilt before this BOM starts. I cannot resist the Patchwork Party quilts because they turn out beautiful.

Well off to get some chores done and cooke some dinner. Talk to everyone later.

Hugs, Cindy

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Well I must certainly be loved this year because Joe sent me these beautiful roses to my office. (I know he has something else hidden so I have to wait until he gets home from work for that). The florist that he has been using for the past couple years does a fabulous job, they put other arrangements that others gals in my office were receiving to shame. I called the florist to thank her and tell her what a wonderful job she did and she said we always want our arrangements to stand out and they certainly did. Since we got married 21 years ago, Joe has always made sure that I had a dozen of red roses on Valentine's Day, even when he was deployed and overseas. Even though there are times I look at him and think why in the world did I get married, at times like this I will keep him.

7 Random Things About Me
I've been tagged by a few fellow bloggers so I'm sharing 7 random things about me...firstTHE RULES:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post THE RULES on your blog.

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4. Tag 7 people and link to them.

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Well here we go:

1. I love Starbucks coffee to the point that is about all I drink every day. We have Starbucks coffee packets in our office to make the individual pots of coffee and believe you me, there is always a pot of coffee on. At home, I have a Tassimo coffee maker and Starbucks has finally come out for the discs for them, they are a little expensive but that doesn't stop me.

2. I hate to get up in the mornings. My alarm goes off at 5:20 and I automatically shut it off. Yes you heard me I shut it off, not hit the snooze button> I then fall back to sleep for about 20 minutes. I don't know what wakes me up, but I do. One of these days I am not going to wake up for work in time.

3. I cannot pass up a quilt that has already been made into a kit. I know it really is a sickness but I cannot pass up quilts that they have already picked out the fabrics.

4. I don't like to be late and don't have much tolerance for excuses people use for being late especially to work.

5. I am addicted to reality shows and soap operas. I limit myself though on the soap operas. I usually watch the Soap Net at night recently because there is nothing else now.

6. I love spicy black jelly beans. I would always get on my mother's nerves because at Easter time I buy the bags of spicy jelly beans, take all the black ones out and throw the rest of them away.

7. I love all kinds of music but I especially love Tom Jones. When we lived in Mississippi my husband and I went to see one of his concerts and women were still throwing their panties at him. My daughter just can't get it but who cares.

I am not going to specifically tag anyone because it seems like everyone has been tagged in the past few days. I'm just asking if you haven't been tagged, tell us 7 things about yourself.

Don't forget, sign up for my give up on the appropriate blog message.

Hope everyone has a good night.

Hugs, Cindy

SCHOOL HOUSE AND GIVE A WAY

On Sunday I went to one of our local quilt shops and took a class called "School House" which was given by the owner Karen Montgomery and was supposed to be from 10:00 to 3:00. Karen is not only a fabulous instructor but she also designs for Timeless Treasures. You should see her newest collection called "Abby Lane" which I bought and will take photos of tomorrow. School house was broken into 6 little mini sessions of learning some new technques, i.e., paper piecing the insert for a coffee mug, new technology, making a Valentine postcard, making a little brooch, you get the idea. We got a goodie box filled with all kinds of neat things. It was so nice of her to do and very well appreciated. It was so much fun and lunch was even included which was very yummy. Well I guess I got to the shop around 9:35 and I was looking around waiting for my friends to get there and all of a sudden I looked up and it was snowing like heck. I thought well this is great, if it keeps snowing like this I will never get home. Then the wind started whipping around. I heard reports that in places the wind was blowing at 51 mph. All of a sudden the stores when dark because of down trees from the wind. Well there was no electricity but the show must go on and everyone got use to being in the dark.

You all must go over to Karen's shop and check out her blog for the last few days regarding what are weather has been like. It is hysterical. One of the things that I love about her is her personality, she is very funny and very sarcastic (which I absolutely love). Her website is www.thequiltcompany.com and the link to her blog is in the upper right hand corner.

In early celebration of Valentine's Day and this awful weather we have had since Sunday, I am having a give-a-way. So tell all your friends and neighbors to leave a comment on this post about checking out Karen's blog and you will be enterd in the give-a-way. This is a quilt kit called "Holiday Stars" by Thimbleberries and measures 68 x 76 and comes with all the original fabrics. I will draw the lucky winners name on Monday, February 18th.

Until later---

Hugs, Cindy

SNOW DAY

Well this is what I woke up to this morning. I knew that they were calling for a snow storm last night but it started much earlier than they anticipated. I was just going upstairs to get dressed and looked outside and decided I was going to take a floating holiday. It is just a very miserable day to be out on the roads. This is looking out my bay window into the backyard.This picture was taken from my front door and I was trying to get a picture of it still snowing. It is supposed to be like this most of the day, then it is going to turn to freezing rain and then turn back to snow later on tonight. So I thought it was a good day to stay at home, do a few little chores and then sew.

Below is the package on got from Lisa on Saturday. This is the leftover fabric that Lisa used for her Valentine's Day quilt that I am going to use to make me one. It won't be for this Valentine's Day and I sure hope it will be finished for next Valentine's Day. Aren't they beautiful. Thank you so much Lisa for sending me these, I love them.

Well for some reason I am getting the blame for starting us on a new challenge, the new Web Sampler quilt. It is just beautiful. Well I guess they need someone to blame right for instigating this and I guess I am the one that they are pointing the finger at. That's fine, at least I am not alone in with project. I have one of my blocks finished but I am going to wait until next Monday to post that one. I am hoping to have another block done by that point. I am concentrating right now on getting caught up with my BOM's so I don't get way far behind so that is my goal for this week.

Well off to get some mini chores done and then sew, sew, sew.

Hugs, Cindy

FINALLY

Thanks to Nicole, Lisa and Perry for their patience in me finally being able to post my version of our challenge quilt. My husband had gall bladder surgery last Wednesday and what I week I have had. For the past 2 years I have been dealing with a sick elderly mother (God bless her) and then on top of it my husband had some complications with his surgery. I will spare you all the details but it has been very trying on my patience. The funniest was I had been gone all day on Sunday taking care of my mother and I walked into the house at 4:30 and he looked at me and said do you want to watch a movie with me. I almost lost it as I was dragging in a 35 pound box of kitty litter and said are you kidding me--I have all the laundry to do, clean the kitchen, cook dinner and take all the garbage out. He just looked at me like I was crazy. At that moment, I could have killed him because if the rolls were reversed I wouldn't have had the luxury of laying on the couch. Maybe that is why the surgeon said to me that men were big babies that go through gall bladder surgery.

So here it is--my challenge quilt. I love how it turned out and now I need to purchase my backing fabric and send it off to the quilter. I think I am going to have just an all over pattern done on this one. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Also last week I received from Nicole my package from her give-a-way for the messiest sewing table. Thank you so much Nicole for the book and jelly roll. It is from Shangri-La and I definitely love this line of fabric. Don't know what I will make from it but I will let you know when I have decide on something.

I have so much to tell you guys with so many new things that I have gotten in over the last week. I am going to try to finish my Patchwork Party quilt tonight because I want to ask you guys what I should do about the borders. Hopefully I will get that posted tomorrow.

I am so far behind on my cleaning around here so I am off to run the sweeper and start the dishwasher. Joe went to work today and I am sure he is going to crash when he gets home because he was up sick all night.

Talk to everyone soon.

Hugs, Cindy