BABY IT IS COLD OUTSIDE

I cannot believe how cold our weather has gotten already and it is only the first full week of December. We had our first really bad snow storm on Saturday and of course I had to be out driving in it because I started to Xmas shop. I was afraid that I wasn't going to get home. I was driving so slow and was slip sliding all over the roads. Not very good at all. I finally made it home safe and sound and didn't go out the rest of the night.

Sorry for the long respite and now I am finally starting to get in the swing of things. I lost my mom on August 11th and it has been a trying time for me. Lots of emotions, good and bad. There has been lots of things to do in tying up loose ends. In the state that I live in everything has to go through an estate so the government can get there fair share in taxes. They make everything so difficult and it has been lots of court appointments and paper work.

Have not been sewing very much at all and hoping to get back into this in the new year. Anyways both of my sewing machines are acting up and have to go into the shop. I am thinking of buying a new Janome so I can have it for a backup machine. I did finish 2 quilts and put the binding on for Xmas gifts this year.

Have started to decorate the house for Xmas and will try to get some pictures of my tree on here tomorrow.

I THINK SPRING HAS FINALLY ARRIVED

This is the apple tree in my front yard. On Monday there was just little buds all over but yesterday when I got home from work all the flowers had bloomed. This tree was one of the reasons my hubbie decided to buy this house. It really is stunning when it blooms.

Pretty, pretty little pink flowers.

Hope everyone is doing well. My foot is very slow but at least I think it is finally starting to mend. I had another surgery last Friday because it had become infected and the antibiotic wasn't really doing anything for it, but once he opened it, all the pressure was relieved.

Hope all of you working gals had a good Professional Administration week. One of my bosses took us out to lunch and then my other boss bought me a $75.00 gift certificate to Joanne's. I guess I need to be on the lookout for a coupon and stock up on blades and needles.

Haven't been sewing very much at all. Am hoping to get back to that shortly. I have 2 blocks left to make on my Web Sampler quilt and then I can start putting it together. I ordered my border fabric on Monday so hopefully it might be here by the weekend.

Well will check in later,

Hugs, Cindy

NOT SUCH A GOOD REPORT

This afternoon I went to see the foot surgeon and I didn't get a good review. Apparently, I have an infection that has set in so it has taken me back some. He did some digging without any numbing and I thought that I was absolutely going to kill him. I am on a very strong antibiotic now and instead of soaking in epsom salt, I have to soak in peroside. If it is no better but next Friday, guess what, he is opening the incision again. I can hardly wait. I guess I will have to buy some more fabric to cheer me up--what do you all think?

I have posted some pictures of the quilt that I just got back from the quilter today. Perry's granddaughter, Katie, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Last year, Perry made a quilt and it was raffled off as a fundraiser. This year, I am donating a quilt to be raffled off and here it is. You will have to watch Perry's blog to watch for the details on how you can bid on this quilt. It was a BOM that I did from Homestead Hearth and it is made out of the Moda Chocolat line. My daughter even commented how beautiful it turned out. I love it.

Here's a picture of some of the star blocks

Couldn't get the whole quilt in. I believe it between a queen/king. So what do you gals think?

Hugs, Cindy

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