Bunbear Quilts

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T20:09:00.000-06:00

Not the fanciest cookie, but the first big cookie I've made in a long time! It's a fourth of a roll of premade cookie dough shaped into a heart. Could have used some fancier icing, but this was just for fun!

Hope everyone has had a nice Valentine's Day!

Putting on the dog

2012-02-14T14:58:00.000-06:00

Okay, that was a corny title... Last night the Dachshund, Pekinese, Dalmatian, and German Shepherd won their groups at Westminster. Tonight there are three more groups to be judged then Best in Show. I am really pulling for the German Shepherd! When I was a little girl, my very first dog was a German Shepherd. His name was Clyde. I'll never forget that dog. Sure loved him lots!

Almost time for the dog show!

2012-02-13T17:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'll admit it - I wait all year for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. These two nights my family all know not to call or bother me. It's six hours, over the two nights, of dog show bliss for me. I even gave Ivy a bath today.

Since I had the day off, I was able to get the Jacob's Ladder quilt pin basted. It only took me a little over an hour. I was pretty pleased with that and I'm glad it's done. Now I can sit down and machine quilt on it whenever I get a few minutes.

Been snowing here for a couple hours. We might end up with a couple inches.

More pics

2012-02-13T12:12:00.000-06:00

Here's another basket I found at the thrift store for my thread. It's nothing fancy, but I like the way I can put things in them.

This little basket has some cones of thread that is for my serger. I hardly ever use my serger, mostly because it's only a three thread machine. I could start using that thread for machine quilting, But I like my pretty colors better!

This little gem of a basket is one of those you get produce in. My great grandpa used to have some wicker baskets like these in the 'peck' size. Maybe even in a half bushel size, too. Grandpa didn't keep thread in them though - they held goodies from the garden, mostly the absolute best tomatoes I have ever had in my life. These cones of thread were a bargain at a dollar, yes, only a dollar each. Now, I don't use cheap thread as a rule, but I can get away with it in my older, mechanical machines if I clean them a lot as I sew. And I could not pass up a huge cone of thread for a dollar. I just didn't have it in me.... lol

Design Wall

2012-02-13T08:39:00.000-06:00

My design wall has a mix and match group today! I've got several scrappy houses from Bonnie Hunter's site and I've got a few Farmer's Wife blocks made from the sew along. Probably not going to do too much with either of those projects today. I want to work on pin basting Jacob's Ladder and maybe get started machine quilting it!

A lot accomplished

2012-02-12T21:52:00.000-06:00

The house really smelled good tonight. Can you guess why? I baked two loaves of bread!

I had made a pork roast for dinner with all the trimmings, too. Sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, corn. Yummy!

Here's my Jacob's Ladder quilt top so far. I think this is going to be all I'm going to do in it. I was considering putting another border on it, but I think this is enough.

I'm not real pleased with those two off color greens in the corners, but I am not going to take it apart now. Just going to leave it and hope for the best.

I have been haunting the thrift shop lately for baskets to use in the sewing room. Here are a couple of them that I found and put to a good use!

If I don't have my thread all out in front of me I tend to get stuck in a rut, just using white for everything. Boring.

A quilt to love

2012-02-12T09:42:00.000-06:00

Have you ever made a quilt that you just absolutely love? If you are a regular blog reader of mine, several months ago you may remember my 36 patch quilt. It has been finished for quite some time now and holds a place of honor on my bed. Every day I look at this quilt, and every day I fall in love with it all over again. I see the combinations of fabrics that I used and it simply makes me happy. I think that's a good thing.

And you know what else? We USE this quilt. It's not just there to be pretty. Yes, there was a lot of work that went into it, but I didn't make it to be put away on a shelf. We sleep under it, lay down on top of it, and let the dog and cat on it. I'm not saying that I am letting it be destroyed, I'm just saying it's getting put through it's paces. The cat has a daily ritual of pouncing on you in the morning, with claws extended, and she regularly does this on the quilt. There hasn't been any damage, but if some does occur, I'll just patch it and give the quilt even more character!

A couple of years ago the dog chewed holes, yes HOLES, in my husband's favorite quilt that took me three years to create and hand quilt. I put patches on them and put it back on the bed. What else could I do? Beat the dog? Not going to happen. She was a pup at the time and had those sharp puppy teeth. I guess I could have put the quilt away while she was teething, but I didn't, so it's my fault.

My point is, if you love what you create, don't hide it in a closet or drawer! Use it! If you can't stand to use it, display it! Hang it on the wall, or frame it if it's small. Why spend all that time, energy and love to create something then not enjoy it?

Had to make more blocks

2012-02-11T22:21:00.000-06:00

I finished putting together the Jacob's Ladder blocks today and laid them out on the bed to see how I would set them. After trying several different combinations, I decided I needed four more blocks to set it the best way. So upstairs I went and made four more Jacob's Ladder blocks. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to put them together into a top.

I want fried chicken

2012-02-10T10:04:00.000-06:00

There. I said it. However bad for me it may be, I want fried chicken for lunch today. I've been thinking about it all morning, and on my lunch hour I am going to go to KFC's drive through and get a two piece wing dinner. With mashed potatoes. And a biscuit. Sigh. I feel like Pavlov's Dog, because I'm just about drooling over the thought.

I can't wait to get home from work today and get those Jacob's Ladder blocks done! This quilt is going to be for my dad and his birthday is only a couple weeks away. I'd like to give it to him then. And then there is a little bit of the guilt factor here because my mom's birthday is next week and I didn't make her a quilt this year. It all evens out.

Been waiting for the Farmer's Wife quilt group to announce the next block to make. I'm thinking of trying to get a friend of mine to work on this with me. Kind of doubt she will though, because she is expecting a grandbaby in August and has baby quilts to make! Speaking of baby quilts...

After Dad's quilt is done, I need to hurry and get the pink baby quilt top quilted. The baby shower I'm giving that one away at is the first weekend in March. Then there's a little lull between babies, but in August two of my friends are expecting grandbabies, so I had better stay on top of that! I've got a lot on my plate! Loving it!

I had to laugh this morning. My friend who gave me the tee shirt pieces yesterday called me this morning and said she found one more and would I swap out one she gave me for this piece? Cracked me up! She has really helped out in making this quilt by prepping the tee shirt pieces. She cut the shirts apart and then ironed light weight interfacing to the back of all the pieces. I need to trim them up, but the majority of the work is done. It should go together pretty quickly. There are 16 large pieces and no sashing or borders.

Climbing the ladder

2012-02-09T21:18:00.000-06:00

Been working on those Jacob's Ladder blocks. I have one more seam to go and all the blocks will be finished. Then the fun part of deciding how to set them comes. Will want to do that Saturday and have Ev help. He has a good eye for things like that.

I have a stack of tee shirt fronts from a friend of mine at work. She wants me to make a quilt for her from her son's old shirts. Going to get started on that soon.

Caught up

2012-02-08T21:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm all caught up with the Farmer's Wife blocks! This one is called Economy. Pretty simple - a square in a square in a square. I have had that tan material with rosebuds for a while. It's a really pretty piece of fabric. I have an unfinished top somewhere with a lot of it in it.

I also sewed some of the Jacob's Ladder pieces tonight. Could have done more but Criminal Minds came on and I wanted to watch it. And now I'm ready for bed, so tomorrow is another day.

About me

2012-02-07T21:47:00.000-06:00

On one of the chat groups I belong to, the question was asked of our group "when did you learn to sew?" I answered the question briefly online, but I think I would like to answer it even more detailed here on the blog. I'm going to pick and choose different things to tell about the journey I took to get to this point in my life with my sewing/quilting. I think it's only fitting to start at one of my earliest memories.

My childhood was filled with mostly older relatives, not just older as in my parents, but older as in my great grandparents and great aunts and uncles. If you can believe it, even today I have one great uncle still living. I digress, back to the sewing story.... My Great Aunt Leah was my paternal Grandpa V's sister. She was elderly when I was very young, as Grandpa V. was the baby of the family. Aunt Leah lived with Little Grandma, her and Grandpa's mother. It probably goes without my saying that this household was a quiet one. Two elderly ladies don't generate a lot of excitement and energy for young children.

My cousin, who is a year younger than I, stayed at my grandparent's house a lot, and we would frequently visit with Aunt Leah and Little Grandma. One of my earliest sewing memories was at Aunt Leah's, sitting on the floor threading a needle. I remember that I wanted the thread to be really long because I didn't want to have to thread the needle any more times than necessary. When I look back on this, it was probably before I entered Kindergarten. In Kindergarten it was discovered that I desperately needed glasses. I think my cousin and I were just sewing some scraps together for doll clothes, but nothing really ever materialized.

We would also use paper towels when we couldn't get ahold of any scrap material to make our doll clothes. They were usually recycled back to being paper towels when we were done, and we weren't allowed to use a whole lot of them, either!

Somewhere along the line, at my maternal great grandparents, a box of linen type scraps were found. I remember those white pieces were the oddest shapes, but I tried my best to put them together to make something, anything, for my Barbie doll. I also remember my Great Grandma S. had a blue and grey shaped sewing basket that I loved to paw through. It had some of those old needle cards with the bright picture of the lady on it and the words "Sewing with Susan". That gal looked so happy to be threading a needle....

Kitty pic, again

2012-02-07T21:27:00.000-06:00

She really does think she's royalty, you know....

Today was a fairly trying day at work. I'm pretty certain it was a full moon. I don't understand how some people can be so rude. It's not my fault they are out of work. It's not my fault they didn't get their unemployment insurance. It's not my fault their last employer didn't pay them. It's not my fault they have to go to the doctor. Or are homeless. Or don't want to get a web based email because that would mean putting their name out there on the internet.

I'm sure you get the picture. It was sooooo one of those days. And I'm grateful and thankful to have a job. Amen.

I did get upstairs to pick out some fabric for the next Farmer's Wife block. I found some pretty scraps and pressed them. That was about all I did up there, though.

Gentleman's Fancy block finished

2012-02-06T21:41:00.000-06:00

Another Farmer's Wife block finished! Now all I have to do is this week's block and I'm all caught up. These blocks are interesting and fun to make. I need to go back and read the stories associated with each block. That was the reason I purchased the book in the first place, really.

I also pressed the sections of the Jacob's Ladder blocks tonight. They are all ready to be sewn into complete blocks now. I will have a total of 32 blocks when I'm done. They are 12" square. Not sure how I'll be setting them yet. I have some nice options for borders, plus quite a few left over four patch units to incorporate somewhere, either in the borders or on the back.

Cute kitty cat...maybe....

2012-02-05T16:45:00.000-06:00

I think Shadow cat was telling me to back off in this picture above! She had hopped in the laundry basket and I kept disturbing her because I was taking clothes out and folding them.

She was content when I decided to stop and leave a couple tee shirts in there for her.

Did a little sewing on the Jacob's Ladder blocks today. Getting ready to watch the Superbowl.

Catching up on blocks

2012-02-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Here's the block Mother's Dream from the Farmer's Wife collection. I finished it today. I'm only a week behind on the blocks now.

I also worked on the Jacob's Ladder blocks today. They are coming along nicely.

I made a pot of chili today for dinner tonight and to eat if we want it tomorrow. Since it's the Superbowl game, I am going to make some snacky stuff to eat whenever we want. Going to make a pot of clam chowder and a homemade pizza. I know, that's a weird combo, but it's for us to just eat whenever and the leftovers will get eaten through the week. I also have three portabello mushroom caps that I want to stuff and broil.

Ev put a new light fixture on the ceiling in my sewing room today. The old one was one of those with a pull chain and the little clicker for the chain had long ago bit the dust, so I had to screw and unscrew the light bulb when I wanted the light to come on. We will see how long this fixture lasts...

Another Farmer's Wife Block

2012-02-03T23:21:00.000-06:00

Here's my Honey's Choice block for the Farmer's Wife sampler:

The color in the picture isn't very accurate. It's really much nicer than this. I didn't intend to sew this block when I went upstairs tonight. It was after 9 and I had been napping on the couch most of the night, still trying to get back to normal from this sinus thing that's working on me. I was just going to go upstairs and pick out the fabrics for the block, but then I just got involved and went ahead and made the block. It's so cute!

I have to say, it's going to take a LOT of six inch blocks to make a quilt of any decent size, and that is what the Farmer's Wife blocks finish at - six inches. Maybe I should be doing two or three or even four of each block... I'm going to have to look on the companion cd to the book and see what layout they suggest, so that I have some idea what to expect.

It's raining here tonight and has been pretty much since it got dark. Made Ev some Italian Sausage for supper. I had a bowl of soup. Not much in the mood to eat, I guess 'cause I can't taste anything with my nose all stopped up.

Bits and Pieces

2012-02-02T21:46:00.000-06:00

These are the pieces for the Jacob's Ladder blocks. I have two thirds of each row of the blocks sewn together. It's so much easier to do these by chain piecing, so I try and find ways to match up blocks that way.

And this, my friends, is a six inch block named 'Contrary Wife'. This is one of the blocks that the Sisterhood of the Farmer's Wife group has already made. I'm playing catch up and this is the first finished block I've made, but no fear, this Contrary Wife will get there!

I like the brown and deep red colors in this block. The green is just some material I had to lay it on so it wouldn't fade away on the table. I have a big scrap bag I got some time back from a friend that I'm picking through, in addition to combing through my own scraps to make these blocks. That's a lot of fun!

Feeling a little better, but not pushing my luck! Sinus are still all yucked up, so tonight I put some Vick's in the vaporizer/humidifier.

Just do it...again!

2012-02-02T15:08:00.000-06:00

That's the mind set I have to have tonight when I get home from work...just do it! Ev called and said he didn't need me to make dinner because they were having a meal at work. That means from the minute my feet hit the floor when I get home, I can quilt until bedtime if I want to...woohoo! So you know what? I'm going to just do it! I might make a detour stop at our local Dollar General Store (love the folks that work there! Great people!) and pick up a box of good cereal. I'm out of cereal at home, at least out of any kind I want to eat, and I'm thinking I'll just have a bowl of cereal for dinner. It just doesn't get any easier than that, folks!

Quick post

2012-02-01T21:59:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post then I'm going to sleep! I ended up coming home from work at noon today and immediately took a nap. Got up for probably less than an hour then took another nap! Sleep is the best medicine for a lot of things, I think.

Anyway, I did go upstairs and sew together four Jacob's Ladder blocks and pick out the materials for one of the Farmer's Wife blocks, but that was about all the energy I had. It could be worse, so I'm really not complaining! Nighty night!

I refuse to get sick

2012-02-01T09:33:00.001-06:00

Last night was full of good intentions. I intended to go home and work on the Farmer's Wife blocks. I intended to work on the green Jacob's Ladder quilt. Well, you know that old saying about intentions... haha.

Ended up having to go to the grocery store, then made dinner. After that, I spent the entire night trying to get warm! I guess I had a little bit of a fever, because I was just chilled to the bone. When I went to bed at 8:30 I had four quilts on me and still couldn't get warm. Added another quilt and two rice bag warmers, plus the dog layed on my feet and the cat curled up next to me before I could even start to get warm!

Long story short, I think this sinus thing is working on me and I'm a bit angry that I'm getting sick. Isn't that the silliest thing you ever heard? But I am! I don't want to be down. I have things to do, places to go, people to see, quilts to make!!!!

So today I am at work, plugging along, trying to stay warm. If I make it through the day, which is about a 50% chance with the way I feel now, I want to go home and sew tonight. I think I will do the Farmer's Wife blocks in brown and tan colors. I'm usually a blue person, but trying to step outside my comfort zone a little more these days.

Wish me luck.

Tired Monday

2012-01-30T20:15:00.000-06:00

I seem to have quite a pattern going on Mondays...come home and collapse! I'm just so tired when I get home from work on Monday's I'm lucky to get dinner made.

Found a pair of ladies work gloves that have tiny gripper dots all over the palm surface and fingers. They were at the grocery store, of all places. I bought them for less than two bucks and intend to use them in my free motion quilting.

Making it an early night...

Side tracked...again

2012-01-28T21:09:00.000-06:00

Today I wanted to get those green Jacob's Ladder blocks done. Well, as it ended up, Johanna came over in the morning and we visited and played gin. She wants a protective cover for a new device she has, some thing like a phone but not a phone, like an ipad but not an ipad, I really don't know exactly what it is. Anyway, she picked out material for me to make not one, not two, but three covers for her. Sheesh. Well, I made one and I'm going to wait to see her again to make sure it's right before I make the other two.

And while I was working on that, Nick saw me and asked what it was. So then he proceeds to ask if I would make a sleeve for his laptop! How can I say no? sigh. I'm taking advantage of this time between her coming back to make sure the cover works, and him picking out fabric to just get what I can done on the green blocks.

Baby top pic

2012-01-28T10:03:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture I finally got uploaded of the baby quilt top I made from a New Year's Eve Mystery on one of the Yahoo Groups. It's going to be for my friend Lori's new grandbaby that is due in March. Will have to get busy quilting it soon!

Last night I didn't sew but was up in the sewing room doing some dreaded pressing. Ugh. I've got the pieces for another mystery quilt all ready to be sewn together into blocks, but the half square triangles and four patch blocks all needed a good pressing. And the dog ears on the half square triangles needed trimming, too. So I sat there and pressed and trimmed and pressed and trimmed until my eyeballs were about to fall out. I did have something on the t.v. to watch, but it wasn't all that interesting either. So I only stayed up there a little over an hour. I have more to do, but the bulk of it is finished and I would like to get the rest finished so I can put these blocks together already.

I peeked at the final layout, and they are a Jacob's ladder block. The mystery directions have the blocks being made in two different settings and combined, but I think I am going to stick with one setting. My blocks are made with 8 different greens from my stash and 1 light green background from stash. If it gets finished, I would like to give it to my dad for his birthday late next month. He just created a little man cave and I thought this would go nice in it. And green is his favorite color.

Ev is supposed to work tonight, so I'll have the evening to work on sewing. Until he heads out to work, I have so much to do, I just don't know where to start. I want to make some homemade bread, so I should get that put together and set to rise. I have laundry coming out my ears, as usual. The humidifier needs it's weekly cleaning (by the way, still no nosebleeds since I've been using it - very happy with that fact!). There are dishes to be done. And I have got to get the rest of the holiday decorations boxed up and taken downstairs. I have them all piled in a corner, but needed some boxes from work to put them in. Brought the boxes home this past week so I have no excuses now!

So I better get off this computer soon and get busy!

A little bit of love

2012-01-26T22:35:00.000-06:00

Here's the finished wall hanging!

Just walk away

2012-01-25T22:33:00.000-06:00

That's what I had to do with the wall hanging. I just had to walk away from it tonight. I spent an hour remaking the hearts in a deep red color that I really like. I stuffed them with fiberfill, rather than using a thin piece of batting as with the pink hearts. I stitched everyone's name on a heart. Now, they are pinned to the wall hanging and I'm not sure if I should leave them in the spots they are in or move them around. Hence the 'just walk away' title of this post. Going to sleep on it tonight.

A work in progress

2012-01-24T22:59:00.000-06:00

This wall hanging is NOT done yet. I have the background quilted, but I need to figure out what to do with the hearts. I just wrote our names on them in fabric pencil, but that is not going to work. I'll have to stitch our names on in a dark thread. Then I'm just not sure about the placement of the hearts. Any suggestions or comments? Also, I will be putting the word 'family' down at the bottom, possibly in a heart also.

That one heart just totally fades away. Maybe I should remake the hearts in a darker color and stitch the names in light thread? hmmm. Have to mull this one over for a bit.

My son and I were acting quite goofy tonight. He has some karaoke songs on his computer and we started singing along with a microphone. Sure hope no one heard us!

Oh my aching back

2012-01-24T15:56:00.000-06:00

Actually it was my shoulders. Oh, did they hurt! After my marathon sewing session on Sunday when I sewed for over five hours, my shoulders were just screaming at me. I barely slept Sunday night and was like a zombie all day Monday. I did make it through the work day but when I got home Monday night I just crashed on the couch. Went to bed real early and when my head hit the pillow, that was all she wrote!

I need to post some pictures soon. The Valentine's wall hanging is something I dreamed up and I'm pretty tickled with it. It has 2" squares that make up the center panel, then a thin border and a wider border. The sqaures are left over four patches and were in all different kinds of pinks and neutrals. I have the top of the wall hanging finished and need to pin baste and quilt it. After that is done, I intend to applique hearts on it with all the family members names on them. As our little family grows, I can add more hearts. I was teasing my daughter today and told her if she married someone I didn't like I would put their heart on the quilt with velcro rather than stitching it down... haha. I need to get it done quick, though, because I want to enjoy it for a while before the holiday gets here.

Johanna was home briefly today while her dad was there. I happened to call home and was talking to Ev when I hear Johanna start going on about a blue quilt. She discovered Bethany's quilt and was telling Ev that I should give her the quilt! I had to have him explain to her that it was already given to Bethany and that she just didn't have room in her suitcase to take it home with her. That did make me feel good, though, that she liked my work. All the same, I told Nick to go to the Post Office today and get a box so we can send it to Bethany before it turns up missing! heeheehee.

Five plus

2012-01-22T22:11:00.000-06:00

I sewed for ovver five hours today. Loved every minute of it. Worked onn the mystery tthen onn a Valentine wall hanging.

A few hours of Netflix and quilting...what a life

2012-01-21T22:12:00.000-06:00

I am so thrilled to have Netflix on my Nook Color! I sat and watched shows on it while I was cutting four patch units for a mystery I'm working on today. I could have hooked up the play station and put netflix on it, but it was so much easier to just do it on my Nook!

I got my 'Word Play Quilts' book by Tonya Ricucci in the mail yesterday. Looking forward to reading it and having some fun making some new projects.

Finally remembered to change the furnace filter today. I also cleaned the new humidifier again. I have got to keep on top of that. It was so yucky the first time I cleaned it from the hard water we have here. It's not a big deal to clean, just a little time consuming. Well worth it.

Slipping and sliding

2012-01-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

It was sure a tense drive home. We have freezing rain tonight and the roads are as slick as glass! I just hunkered down in the big chair with my Nook and Netflix watching Sons of Anarchy.

Is it really only Thursday?

2012-01-19T09:08:00.000-06:00

This week at work it is going really slow. Really slow. I'm extremely thankful to have a job, don't get me wrong here. I guess it's just getting back to normal after the holidays that is making it drag.

I didn't do any sewing yesterday. I'm at a point on the mystery where I need to press and cut again. And we all know how much I love to press. And cut. haha. I should go upstairs tonight and sit in front of the t.v. and do these mindless tasks. Depends on how I feel when I get home after work, I guess.

Last night I put three drumsticks in the oven that I lightly browned first, then baked with a glaze over them of apricot jam thinned out with a bit of water. They were very good. Made a side dish of mac and cheese for Ev to have with them. I had a bowl of soup. I really like that Bear Creek brand of soup mixes. If I'm not going to make the soup from scratch, that brand is the next best thing.

Political (maybe) post about internet blackout today

2012-01-18T11:32:00.000-06:00

Wikipedia is blacking out it's website today to protest laws that Washington is trying to pass. I think, as a quilter, this might actually affect me. Here's what Wikipedia says to do, and if you go to their website they will link you up with contact forms:

Call your elected officials.

Tell them you are their constituent, and you oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Why?

SOPA and PIPA would put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA would build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

In a world in which politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money, Wikipedia — and sites like it — cannot survive.

Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they would fatally damage the free and open Internet.

Okay, my quilty friends, I'm off my soapbox. Do what you feel you can to support the cause. And if you have opinions to the contrary of this cause, I respect your opinion, just don't share it. Please respect mine. Thanks!

Half an hour of sewing today

2012-01-17T21:18:00.000-06:00

Since today was the first day of work for the week, it felt like a Monday and on Monday's I typically just come home and crash. I did, however, go upstairs and do some sewing for half an hour. I'm working on a mystery quilt again and am doing it a little at a time.

I made Ev a turkey noodle casserole for dinner. Don't know if he will like it or not, but I thought it was pretty tasty.

A mysterious three hours

2012-01-16T20:37:00.000-06:00

Well, maybe the three hours weren't mysterious, but I did spend three hours working on another mystery! hee hee hee. Baked another batch of sugar cookies. Took some to my uncle here in town and froze some to send to my uncle in California, along with some jar bread. Probably mail that off in a day or two. I like to freeze the breads, then put them in vacuum seal bags. I think they stay fresher that way.

Had today off for MLK day. Back to work tomorrow.

Sunday laziness

2012-01-15T13:39:00.000-06:00

Just having a lazy Sunday afternoon around here. I have tomorrow off for MLK day. Did a little cutting and pressing for a mystery that went on yesterday. I didn't get to any sewing, but that's okay. I'm going to do some today, probably.

Nick asked me to make quilts for his online groups of friends. I don't know if I'm going to tackle this project or not! There are a lot of kids in that group. They have overnight parties where they hook up all their computers and play games. Usually the parties are in a warehouse, so it's pretty cold. They have air mattresses and crash out when they feel like sleeping. I was thinking I would try making some of those wonky letters that I've seen on one of the blogs. Lazy gal quilting is the blog, I think.

Office cold

2012-01-13T10:27:00.000-06:00

My office was so cold yesterday, when I came home it took me a good hour to finally warm up! I sit by the window and door at work, and the temp in one spot INSIDE was 55 degrees. BRRRR!!! So today I am wearing many layers, plus have those 'hot hands' packs shoved in the toes of my shoes. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...

Cutting and marking stars

2012-01-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

Tonight I spent an hour in the sewing room cutting and marking pieces for three stars in the 'oh my stars' quilt a long. One hour to cut and mark three stars. One hour. I just can't see me doing this for 110 stars. Granted, one reason it took a long time was that I was cutting them out from two different disassembled men's shirts, but still. One hour. I'm sure you are getting the drift by now that I feel that is way too long to spend cutting and marking pieces for three stars. Maybe if I cut them out of yardage, rather than shirts it wouldn't feel like such a chore. I don't know.

One thing I did not do tonight was make a block from the mystery quilt. Well, really I didn't sew at all, just cut and marked.

I made breaded chicken patties for dinner and put them over noodles with some sauce and cheese. I hope Ev likes this home made chicken parmesan. Nick and Bethany made home made pizzas from the dough I froze last weekend. This was the first time I froze pizza dough like that and I'm really pleased with the outcome. I may have to make up a batch of dough and freeze it so we can have home made pizza more often!

Today we learned of a tragedy at the place Ev used to work. A man was killed in an accident there. It shook both of us up quite a bit. I pray the man's family finds peace. I am so thankful that Ev doesn't work there anymore. Thank You God!

Random pics

2012-01-10T21:08:00.000-06:00

Wanted to share a picture of the quilt I finished for Bethany for Christmas. It was a mystery quilt a few years ago. I made the top and it languished in my sewing room until this past Christmas season when it finally yelled loud enough at me to be quilted and given away.

It is square and not overly large, but Miss Bethany had to reach up quite a bit to hold the edge, so I think it will be just right for her! Here's the back side.

My machine quilting is coming along. I really feel that I need to keep doing it, to stay in practice, or I backslide and have to relearn how to do it each time I attempt it. Bethany commented it looked like puzzle pieces, which is exactly what I feel that meandering is supposed to look like, so I guess I did okay.

Just a goofy shot of Nick folding the quilt while eating a sucker. Could we maybe call this picture 'eye candy'? haha.

Here's a picture of the 'Zelda slippers', as the kids like to call them.

Again, these were made from a felted wool sweater from the thrift shop. The pattern was on the web and it was the easiest slipper pattern I have ever come across. And speaking of slippers, it's been two days since I have seen MY wool slippers. I'm starting to wonder if Ivy didn't get a hold of them and no one is telling me.

I did a little sewing tonight. I made another block for the mystery I was stuck on. Then I cut apart two mens shirts and pressed the material. I've chosen two shirts to make three different size star blocks for the 'oh my stars' quilt a long. The quilt a long started a few weeks ago and I'm just now getting in on the fun.

A quilty post now

2012-01-09T21:16:00.000-06:00

Here's what the baby quilt, mystery quilt, from New Year's Eve looked like before I put it together. The borders are the purple, pink and light green and the binding will be the yellow.

Another online group is starting a mystery next weekend. I'm going to jump right in.

Frustrated

2012-01-09T21:13:00.000-06:00

This isn't quilting related - well maybe it is because when I'm aggravated like this it's hard for me to quilt. See, my darling son is having some academic issues. His GPA sucks, to put it bluntly. He's nearing the time when he must have a better GPA than he does to transfer into the four year college. He is going to have to get straight A's from here on out and then some to raise his GPA. I don't know why I get so worked up over these things. I just want him to succeed.

It could be a total different scenario, and I know this. He could be like one of his former classmates from high school who is in college and just got his girlfriend in a family way. He's going to have to get a job and keep going to school to get his degree. Or he could be like some of his former classmates who aren't even going to college.

The worse that could happen, I guess, is that he just gets the Associate Degree for now and then gets out in the workforce. He will have to continue on a little at a time to get the Bachelor's Degree.

I just have to pray that he figures this one out. And soon.

A little or this and a little of that

2012-01-08T17:16:00.000-06:00

Baked some banana nut bread today. Going to send some to my uncle out in California later in the week. I might make a batch of apple pumpkin raisin and send it out there too, but not going to commit to anything.

Was upstairs for a while doing a little sewing. I got to thinking that the reason I came to a halt on one of my projects it was that I just didn't care for the way it was turning out. So, I went upstairs and sewed one of the blocks together, and, yup, that's pretty much the reason. Sigh. It was a mystery quilt and I have all the pieces cut and most of the clues sewn. I have decided that when I go upstairs for the next 30 times, I will sew one of the blocks (the one's I don't like - there are 30 of them). They alternate with other blocks, but I'm not even thinking about those right now. When it's done, maybe I'll like it more.

I also made a house block in a larger size than the scrappy houses pattern calls for on Bonnie Hunter's site. Here's a pic of three smaller and one larger block:

The smaller blocks are 7.5" and the larger one is 10.5". That seems kind of big. I was having trouble with the other ones. You can see the chimneys on the top left house aren't the same, because that strip just wouldn't come out the right size. I'm sure it was my seam allowances or cutting the pieces wrong, but it was aggravating. Those houses are probably going to end up potholders.

My dog is a dork

2012-01-07T21:14:00.000-06:00

The way our house is laid out, the bedroom is right off the front room. If you are sitting in the recliner, it is angled toward the t.v., but you can see right into the bedroom, also. You can just see the corner of our bed. Where my dorky dog is laying, with her head pointing at the front room so she can sleep with one eye open and still know what is going on in the front room!

This crazy part of my brain wants to make another 36 patch quilt.

Unbelievable weather

2012-01-06T23:01:00.002-06:00

It was close to 70 degrees today. That's just unbelievable for January here!

Today was our baby girl's birthday! I can't believe I have kids this old...

Didn't sew tonight. I have made three scrappy houses this week. Not real sure where that's going, but they are fun to make.

Ivy is a sleepyhead

2012-01-05T17:51:00.002-06:00

Everyone who knows me, knows that I go to bed pretty early. I like my sleep. Well, apparently my dog likes her sleep too. She was sitting in the front room with me tonight, and before 6 p.m. she gets up, glances at me, then goes to the bedroom and lays down on the bed. It's a dogs' life.

I love games

2012-01-05T00:29:00.000-06:00

I saw an article about a local area inventor who created a dice game and just had to have it. Nick and some friends were going to St. Louis tonight and I found the game at a store on the way there. They picked it up for me, and now it's after midnight and I'm checking out different ways to play the dice games online instead of sleeping because I have to get up for work in the morning!

Now all I need is someone to play the game with!

I did go upstairs and make another house block this evening. Just doing them on a whim, because I think they are cute. Might make a wall hanging or maybe a lap quilt. Not committing to anything, just having fun making the blocks right now!

Just another day

2012-01-04T19:56:00.000-06:00

Not much going on today. I've started watching what I eat, using the Supertracker program on the government website choosemyplate.gov . So far, I like it. I'm still figuring it out, but it has a lot of very good information on it.

Might go up and make another house block yet tonight. Or not. Just taking it easy. Thankful for all God has given me. As much as I want some material things, I really am blessed with all that I have. I am truly thankful!

Day 3 of the year

2012-01-03T21:33:00.000-06:00

Went back to work today after having four days off. The day seemed pretty long. Lori came over for a while right after work. Showed her the quilt top I made over the weekend. It's for her new grandbaby that's due in March.

I didn't do anything on the baby quilt today but I did go up for about an hour and make a cute little house block.

Cold today

2012-01-02T21:36:00.000-06:00

It really felt like Winter today. It was in the 20's. Brr! Saw a few snowflakes this morning, too. Can't complain. We have been lucky up to this point.

I sewed the rows of blocks together and added three borders to the baby quilt from the New Year's Eve mystery. I like it! Now, I have to just keep myself moving on it and quilt it. I just don't know how it would feel to have a baby quilt ready for a baby a couple months before it's due... Usually, I'm burning the midnight oil right before the baby shower. Hey, I haven't finished it yet, so I better be quiet!

Back to work tomorrow after the New Year holiday. Went to Wal Mart today and was going through their clearance rack. Found a nightshirt with frogs on it in Santa hats. It was real cheap and I need night shirts, so I got it. Sent my mother a picture. She had a lot of fun with it!

Made a big pot of chicken rice soup today. That's for tomorrow or another day this week. We had steak for dinner. I had planned on cooking them yesterday, but Ev wasn't in the mood for them. Actually, I thought about cooking them on Saturday night, but we had eaten too much at lunch to be very hungry.

Oh what a lazy day...

2012-01-01T20:25:00.000-06:00

Didn't do too much of anything today. Went to church then sat around reading a book on my Nook.

I am reading The Help. I had seen the movie and enjoyed it. Really enjoying the book too.

No sewing today. After almost 8 hours of sewing yesterday, I think it was okay to take a day off.

Don't look if you're doing the New Year's Eve Mystery

2011-12-31T22:10:00.000-06:00

Here's the block for the New Year's Eve Mystery quilt. I got all 12 blocks finished today. They just need to be sewn together to make the baby quilt. You can't see it with just the one block pictured, but when the blocks are set together, a neat secondary pattern emerges, too. I like the way the colors played well together, too.

Went to Lotawata Creek for lunch today. Had to go to Barnes and Noble to get a few things taken care of on my Nook. Both places were fun to go to. Had a good time.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve Day

2011-12-31T11:05:00.000-06:00

Been up since 6 a.m. waiting for clues to the mystery quilt to be posted! I'm such a nerd... Started working on it and hoping to keep up, but may be leaving the house for a few hours soon. Hubby and I might go out to eat and also stop at Barnes and Noble. I have some questions on my Nook that I could not get satisfactory answers from their help line on.

So Happy New Year to everyone. I hope and pray that this coming year will be a good one for you and your family.

Windy day

2011-12-30T17:54:00.000-06:00

40+ mph winds today! Wow! At least the temp isn't too bad. Hasn't been very cold but they are predicting that in a few days.

Not that anyone really wants to hear about my health, but I was having a real problem with nosebleeds a few months ago. I decided to run my vaporizer every night, and it solved the problem. Well, I think I finally killed the vaporizer, so today Ev and I went to Wal Mart and picked up a new one. It's made by Vick's and it's billed as a warm mist humidifier. This particular model is also labelled as one that is 90 some percent bacteria free, which was important to me. It was almost twice the price of the vaporizer, but I think since it's a humidifier it will be made for continuous use. I set it up right away and am hoping it works!

I did some sewing today. I made a pair of slippers for Bethany from a felted wool sweater. I found the pattern online a while ago, and it's about the easiest slipper pattern ever. The slippers I made for her were from a green sweater and she is calling them her 'Zelda' slippers. I'll take a pic of them soon.

Tonight I want to get the pieces cut for the New Year's Eve Mystery. I ironed the material earlier today.

Pictures!

2011-12-28T11:41:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of the individual lap robes I made for the nursing homes. The pics are a little after the fact here, but better late than never.

These two were made from Moda charm packs, plus a small amount of stash fabric:

This was a panel I found in my stash:

This was a double slice block pattern made in brown and greens for a man:

Purple blocks I won in a block lotto years ago that were aging nicely in my stash:

Pink double slice blocks:

Three lap quilts made from 6" squares and neutral fabric from my stash:

Log cabin squares and miscellaneous pieces rescued from the thrift store:

And two more of the same panel I found in my stash:

It sure was a lot of fun making these!

Feels like Monday

2011-12-27T21:36:00.000-06:00

Pretty tired today. Feels like a Monday since it was my first day back to work. ugh.

Picked out some material to do the New Year's Eve mystery on one of my groups. I'm going to do the baby size and make it in girl colors. A friend of mine is going to have a new grandbaby and they know it's a girl. She is due in March. I also have a couple other friends who are expecting grandbabies soon, so I'll be making a couple more baby quilts soon.

Finished another quilt today

2011-12-26T20:46:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that I finished Bethany's quilt before she got here? haha. Yup, I got 'er done. Spent 5 hours in the sewing room, loved every minute of it, and machine quilted and bound her quilt. She will be here tomorrow (Nick can't wait) and we will give it to her then. Hope she likes it!

Raining here tonight. Might turn to snow, but I doubt it. Seems too warm.

Not sure what my next sewing project will be. There's a New Year's Eve mystery on one of the groups that I'm thinking of participating in.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:51:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all my friends around the world! May you have a joyful and blessed day today.

I had both my kids home yesterday and over night. We had a wonderful dinner of Cornish hens and all the trimmings. Baked a lot of goodies, too.

This morning I baked a pan of cinnamon rolls. Made the dough in the bread machine after dinner last night and rolled them up. They rose in the fridge overnight and all I had to do was put them in the oven this morning. Oh, the house smells so good! Not going to put icing on them because half my crew doesn't like it and I don't need it! :)

Busy day of shopping, baking, and wrapping

2011-12-23T21:41:00.000-06:00

My feet hurt. I've been going nonstop since 7 a.m. Hit Wal Mart, then the grocery store, with a few little stops in between. Got home around noon and started cooking and baking. Made a big plate of deviled eggs, two lemon meringue pies, and a cheesecake. Yes, a cheesecake. sigh.

Started wrapping presents. Got about half of them wrapped. Will take care of the rest in the morning. Johanna is coming tomorrow around noon and is bringing her presents to wrap. Plan to make a couple batches of easy cookies. Also going to put together some cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning. Want to go to Church Saturday night. The choir usually sings a lot on Christmas Eve Mass.

But right now my feet hurt. I'm going to bed.

Ivy strikes again...

2011-12-22T10:24:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention in the last post that yesterday, when my darling husband came up to have lunch with me, he let our mouth with a dog attached stay inside. Ev said it was drizzling and Nick was home (upstairs asleep) so he THOUGHT she would be okay. right. not.

Remember a few posts ago I mentioned I won something? Well, what I won was a new television. Our old console television threw in the towel about 9 months ago. We then drug one of the kids' old 19" t.v.'s down to the front room and had been using it. There was a contest where if you brought in a canned good, you got an entry into the drawing for a new t.v. It was at our local Ford dealership, and I was very fortunate to win. Of course, I think I brought enough canned goods in to feed a small army (they were donated to the local food shelter), but still came out ahead.

I digress. Yesterday, while Darling Hubby and I were enjoying lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Ivy was dining on the remote control for the new television! Oh, that dog! She ate the remote for the satellite receiver not too long ago and we had to get a new one. This brings her tally up to 2 remotes, 1 couch, 2 chairs, umpteen shoes, hats, and goodness knows what I've forgotten already. It's a real good thing we love that dog....

Long story short, I called the manufacturer of the t.v. and it will be over $40 to replace the remote. I called our satellite provider, DishNetwork, and they said our Dish remote should do everything the t.v. remote did. After attempting to do some of the things it was supposed to do, Dish informed me that I need a new remote from them, which will be free, and they are sending one out. Good ending to an aggravating start.

Oh, and I got a speeding ticket on the way home from work last night, but not telling my husband... He will read about it in the local police report in the newspaper and then we can laugh about it...hopefully... :)

Holiday is coming up fast

2011-12-22T09:32:00.000-06:00

Christmas is almost here! It's been stretched out before and after the holiday for us this year. Last weekend we went up to Mom's, this weekend we will have Christmas at home, then next week Nick's girlfriend will be here and we will have a mini Christmas with her.

I have my menu planned out for Christmas Eve, when everyone will be home. Making Cornish Hens, pea casserole, green bean casserole, salad, stuffing, and whatever else we want to add to it between now and then!

Baked a lot of those jar breads and have them in the freezer, so won't be doing a lot of baking. Maybe a batch of cookies or two. Want to make some cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning breakfast. yummmm.

Almost done with my shopping. Tomorrow, after Ev gets paid, I'll go to Wal Mart and pick up a few things that I have to get yet. Most of my grocery shopping is done. Ev did bring home a coupon from work for a free ham or turkey, so I'll pick that up soon.

Haven't done any more sewing on Bethany's quilt, but not worrying about it. As long as the machine cooperates, I shouldn't have any trouble getting it done. I asked Santa for a new rolling chair to use when I'm machine quilting. The chair I have at that machine is a reject from work I took home years ago. It's an office chair on wheels with no arms. It would be perfect except it's all broken. The back keeps sliding down and the padding is all worn down so it's like sitting on a board. And it doesn't roll well at all. So hopefully Santa's UPS delivery will get here on time....

Quilting started

2011-12-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

I've had this top done for a long time and decided it needed to be quilted and find a home. Nick's girlfriend will be here next week and I plan to give it to her. I got about a third of it machine quilted tonight. Still just comfortable doing loopy loops, but hey, I'm doing something at least! The top was made during one of the online mysteries I participated in.

Wiped out

2011-12-19T21:30:00.002-06:00

Tired from all the traveling and having to work today. Didn't do much of anything when I got home from work except cook dinner.

Measured a top I have to be quilted. Going to get the batting for it this week so I can pin it and quilt it soon.

Back home again

2011-12-18T20:02:00.000-06:00

We all went up north to visit my mom and family yesterday. Came home today. It was a good visit, but I'm wiped out now from the driving. Took a hot bath and I'm relaxing. This is a short week for me at work, with the holiday coming up. Tomorrow I want to get a few more things taken care of on the present front. Still have a few little things to get. And I want to get some wrapping done.

Party day

2011-12-16T16:10:00.000-06:00

Today was our Christmas party at work. I brought sloppy joe. We had so much food, I brought a lot of it home! Everyone always goes a little overboard for this party. A couple of people who used to work in this office came for the party. It was nice to see old friends again and catch up.

It's a wrap

2011-12-15T22:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight I wrapped most of the presents that will be going to my mom's side of the family and Ev's side. I'm just not that into wrapping anymore.

Today was a lucky day for me. I won a prize! It sure felt good to win something. Our family is really blessed.

Hoscah Recipe

2011-12-15T09:45:00.000-06:00

Here is the recipe for hoscah, or hoska - however it is spelled. When I was little my great grandmother would make it all the time. We also called it sweet bread, but I came to find out later in life that term also refers to some disgusting part of an animal that people eat, so now pretty much just refer to it as hoscah.

Mammy did not really measure much when she made hoscah. She had made it so many times, she probably could do it in her sleep. Grandpa would say "Who needs cake when we have hoscah!". Some times she would just put raisins in it and some times, especially during the holidays, she would put the candied cherries in it. I do think I remember it having nuts in it once or twice.

I tried to write the recipe down many years ago by watching Mammy make it and take notes, but I really couldn't get it just right. Later on, while surfing the internte, I came across a recipe for Czechoslovakian Egg Braid on recipezaar. It fit the bill perfectly for hoscah. All I had to do was add the raisins and candied cherries.

This recipe make two very large loaves. It is best eaten immediately because it gets stale quickly since it has no preservatives in it. I usually cut a loaf in half and freeze the rest. It freezes very well. It's good plain, with butter, or even toasted.

So without further babble from me, here is the recipe for Czechoslovakian Egg Braid by Charmie777 on Recipiezaar with my additions. I'm calling it the hoscah recipe!

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
3 eggs
1 cup raisins
1 cup candied fruit, chopped (red or green cherries)
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water

In a medium saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup water, margarine, sugar and salt to 120 (or very warm) stirring frequently. Allow to cool enough so that to barely warm so that it does not kill the yeast. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and yeast. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat for several minutes, then beat in the whole eggs. Add enough flour to make a dough that cleans the sides of the bowl. Add raisins and candied fruit. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes.

Grease a large bowl and place dough in it. Turn to grease top, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes. Punch dough down.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Divide 1 piece of dough into three equal parts and roll each into a rope about 12 inches long. ON a greased 15x10 inch baking sheet, braid the three parts, loosely fastening the ends. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until light (braids will not double).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Make and egg wash with the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water. Brush braids with the egg wash just before putting in the oven. Bake until bread is a deep golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, 30 to 40 minutes.

Tonight was another marathon cooking/baking session

2011-12-14T19:51:00.000-06:00

Cooking and baking update - I'm pooped! Got home from work and hit the ground running. Browned four pounds of ground beef for sloppy joe. That will be Ev's dinner for tonight and the rest is going to my Christmas party at work Friday. I added celery, onion, and green pepper to it, and then the sauce.

Ev texted me and asked if I could bring him a couple grilled cheese sandwiches to work because he was hungry and had eaten his lunch early. Did that.

Put together a new recipe for potato soup in the crock pot. That has to cook for 8 hours, so going to have Ev turn it off when he comes to bed tonight.

And I finally got the hoscah put together. It's on the second rise and will be going into the oven soon. I will post that recipe before the week is over, promise! It's really good stuff.

Now, I'm going to sit down and watch Criminal Minds.

And tonight was a pumpkin apple bread kind of night

2011-12-13T21:10:00.000-06:00

The last time I made pumpkin apple raisin bread I wasn't pleased with it. I used storebought applesauce and it just didn't have the depth of flavor the batch did when I used the homemade applesauce. Tonight I used chopped fresh apples instead of homemade applesauce and it was very good. That bread in a jar recipe is so versatile. I just love it!

Put up the rest of my village tonight. I did not put all my houses and figures out this year. I just didn't feel like it, so I didn't do it. I picked my favorite ones and put them out. I really hope Ivy leaves things alone.

No sewing tonight. Don't know if I will get any done this week or not. Tomorrow night I plan on wrapping some presents for family we are going to see this weekend.

It's a banana bread kind of night

2011-12-12T21:00:00.000-06:00

Made some banana nut bread in jars tonight. The house smells good!

I had to stop at the store on my way home and get a couple things. Nick used to work there and he drops in on the gals to chat now and then. When I was in there one of the gals asked if I was baking any more breads. I laughed and said yes I was baking tonight. Then I asked how she knew about them. Turns out Nick has been talking them up to people. She told me his favorite was the apple pumpkin! Cracked me up but really made me feel good.

It's that time of year again!

2011-12-11T20:51:00.000-06:00

It's time to make goodie bags for Christmas! Just made two this year. One for Johanna and one for Nicholas. Johanna doesn't have a steady boyfriend right now and Nicholas' girlfriend lives states away. I don't have as much Christmas fabric as I thought I did and I was having a hard time picking out fabric. I brought down several pieces and let Nick pick the material for his and for his sister's bag. Nick's is the red one. I like both fabrics and made a nice drawstring top this time, rather than just attaching a tie on one side. That part changes from year to year, depending on my mood....

I started to put up my village today. Didn't get too far, but that's okay. I'll put it up through the week. We have the tree done. Didn't put too many ornaments or stuff on it this year, but we all like it and think it looks nice.

I am considering making us all new stockings this year. Haven't hung the old ones up yet, either.

The church potluck was nice. I got a kick out of seeing all the wrapped quilts sitting on with all the packages for the nursing home folks. That was my little secret today and when one of the people went to pick up the stuff for their family member, it made me feel good. Yeah, going to have to remember to start earlier next year on those so I can make them a little more special.

Done, done, and done!

2011-12-10T21:01:00.000-06:00

A stack of a dozen lap quilts! All done! I did it!

And they are all under wraps, now. Tomorrow is the pot luck dinner at church and after which they will be distributed to their intended recipients at different nursing homes in our area.

I've got a batch of pumpkin apple raisin bread in the oven. Taking some of it to the pot luck tomorrow.

So, this morning, when I was putting the binding on the last lap quilt, I only had two sides to go and I would be all finished, the Bernina decided to act up. It started when a needle broke. It ended up with me taking the needle plate off, then taking apart the bobbin area and cleaning out all the fuzz and lint and thread and wow, how did this tempermental machine ever function with all that stuff in there? That Bernina is not my favorite machine to use, mainly because of it's lack of being a workhorse, but after pulling all that stuff out of there, I have a newfound respect for the machine! I am certainly not one to allow my machines to get in that condition, but the Bernina has a drop in bobbin, and all my other machines are not. I wasn't cleaning it out properly because I didn't know I was supposed to clean some of the areas.

Anyway, I had to take a 45 minute detour to do all that, then finish the binding on the last lap quilt. The machine is in tip top shape now. I have another project I want to get on right away before Christmas gets here. I want to finish up the pine trees wall hanging.

Ev put the lights on the Christmas tree tonight. I'm going to put the ornaments on it tomorrow and try and get the village up. Started clearing the junk off the piano so I can set up some of it there. Why do I accumulate so much junk?

Three done tonight, three left

2011-12-08T21:36:00.000-06:00

Went upstairs tonight and put the binding on three of the remaining six lap quilts. I was determined to get at least two done tonight and pushed myself to do a third. I'm glad I did, because now I know that tomorrow I will be able to finish, no problem.

I made a small pork roast for dinner with some fried cabbage and noodles. Yummy! I know it's just simple food, but we like it.

Six done, six to go

2011-12-07T22:49:00.000-06:00

Had a busy evening tonight. Came home from work and just had time to check the mail and talk to Nick for a few minutes. Then ran out to meet a friend for dinner then went to church. Tomorrow is a Holy Day. Our church didn't have a vigil Mass, but the church in the town over did. I really like the church because it's very old fashioned. Plus, my great grandfather on my dad's side helped to build it.

When I got home I had to fix Ev's supper, then throw clothes in the wash. One of my shows is on from 8 til 9 so I watched it. Then I went upstairs to sew. I was able to bind two more lap quilts! Six are done and six need to be bound still. I would like to have had more done by now, but I think I can finish them up in the next day or two!

I almost forgot

2011-12-06T22:26:00.001-06:00

Happy St. Nicholas' Day!

Three more done

2011-12-06T22:16:00.000-06:00

I did not finish binding five lap quilts, but I did finish three. When I was doing the last one I made a mistake and sewed the binding to the front side first, instead of the back. I left it and machine sewed it as neatly as I could. As much as I would have liked to have stayed up and sewed some more, I think sewing the binding incorrectly was my cue to stop at three! Eight more to go!

Also tested out the pigma pens I have in a drawer. Wanted to make sure they still work. They do. Just going to write their names on them.

I'd rather be quilting

2011-12-06T14:53:00.000-06:00

When I am at work, all I can think about is getting home to do some quilting! Tonight's dinner is going to be simple - just hamburger helper. I'll get that going and then I will be free to quilt up a storm! Going to cut the binding a little larger for the lap quilts than I did yesterday. I cut it at 2" and that was just a little too narrow for my liking. I have enough binding cut at the 2" for another lap quilt, but I think I'll just put it in the scrap bin and make 2.5" because it will work up faster. I won't have to fight it so much. Should I set the goal for myself to get 5 of them bound tonight? Is that unrealistic? Then I can shoot for 3 Wednesday and 3 Thursday? We will see how ambitious I am when I get home! haha.

Pictures!

2011-12-05T21:27:00.000-06:00

That poor dog. Johanna insisted on picking her up for the picture! This was Saturday when we went out to get our Christmas tree. It was a beautiful day. Today we had a bit of snow and sleet! Guess Winter is trying to get here.

Cranberry Nut Bread...yum! I get conflicting opinions about the cranberries. Some like them tart and some would like them to be sweeter. Might make the next batch sweeter just to have a comparison.

Isn't this the cutest little ornament? My friend, Mary, sent it to me. Life really is good when I'm quilting!

And speaking of quilting I spent almost two hours upstairs tonight. I cut binding and put it on one of the lap quilts. I also trimmed up the remaining six that weren't trimmed. Still not sure what, if any label is going to go on them. And I promise to take a picture of the stack of them when they are all finished!

Almost there

2011-12-04T20:57:00.000-06:00

I have quilted all twelve of the lap quilts for the nursing homes! Trimmed six of them. Hope to get started putting the binding on tomorrow after work. I'm so excited! There is such a sense of accomplishment, looking at them folded up on the table in a big stack, even if they aren't all the way done yet! I am confident I can finish them this week. They need to be done by next Sunday and I don't think that will be a problem at all. I am so blessed to have this ability. And very thankful for it!

Made pork chops, mashed potatoes and asparagus for dinner tonight. My friend Lori gave me her seal a meal machine and I sealed up some leftover meatloaf and threw it in the freezer, along with some rice. I need to get more bags for it, and also an attachment to seal mason jars.

Pretend there are pictures

2011-12-03T23:12:00.000-06:00

I have a bunch of photos I wanted to put on the blog post tonight, but they are in my camera in the kitchen and I'm in bed, so they are going to have to wait. Just pretend you are seeing them... I have pics of the family at the tree farm today getting our Christmas tree, pictures of cranberry nut bread I made, and a picture of a beautiful ornament that a friend sent me.

The cranberry nut bread was a new twist on the bread in a jar recipe. The cranberries were too tart just out of the bag, so next time I think I will sweeten them up in a syrup before adding them to the bread.

Machine quilted another lap quilt today and got about a third of the way through another one. There are three left to quilt now. Then it's on to the binding festival....lol

Ivy went with us to get our tree today. She was a good pup and greeted everyone by politely licking any exposed body parts within her reach.

Johanna has a broken heart but is being a brave soldier and muddling through it.

Nick is a sick kid right now, but hopefully is on the tail end of it.

Nativity festival

2011-12-03T07:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday right after work I took my dad and step mother to a Nativity Festival in Springfield. It was really nice. The festival was held at a Franciscan retreat center. Part of the display was in a beautiful church. The nativity scenes were from all over the world and very interesting.

Today I need to do a little housecleaning and get started putting up my village. I also need to finish quilting those four lap quilts. Shouldn't take long to get that done at least.

We are planning on getting our Christmas tree today. I'm looking forward to that! Both kids are going to be home and will go with. I hope I can convince Ev to let us bring the dog, too! There might not be room in the truck for her, though.

Same old same old

2011-12-01T20:15:00.000-06:00

Not much going on today. Same old same old. Didn't do any sewing. Still have those last four lap quilts to machine quilt.

Two more quilted and last four ready to quilt

2011-11-30T22:06:00.001-06:00

Tonight I quilted two more of the lap quilts and pin basted the remaining four. I had to piece the batting for the last two, but that wasn't a big deal. With any luck I will be able to get the four quilted tomorrow after work. Then I can start on the bindings. Just going to machine bind them all, that's the easiest and fastest for me. If I had more time, I could have done more intricate designs and such, but maybe next year.

Still have a mess with that online retailer. Today I got ahold of a Senior Executive Resolution Specialist at their corporate headquarters. She is at least staying in communication with me, via email, and has attempted to resolve the issue. She is not having much success at this time, but the thing that is helping me to sleep tonight is that she has mentioned making accommodations if any overdraft fees are incurred because of this issue. That is one of my main worries, so it meant a lot. The problem should not be happening. I made purchases and the retailer is debiting my account for up to three times for each purchase. The debits don't all stick around, because some are what they call 'memo posted', but while they are there, my account has to have the money to cover them or it will be overdrawn. This is nerve racking, to say the least. Let's hope tomorrow is a better day on that front.

There is a display of 140 Nativity Scenes from around the world on display in Springfield at the Franciscan Sisters Motherhouse this weekend. I'm going to take my dad and stepmother. Haven't told them where we are going, just that we are going someplace they will like. Dad may or may not go, depending on if he gets a deer on Thursday. I hope he gets one so he can go with.

Progress again

2011-11-29T22:35:00.000-06:00

Here's my progress so far. Six tops have been quilted and are waiting for binding. In this picture the other six tops are just matched up with backings and I was ironing the backings. I finished ironing and even had time to pin baste two more tops and wind bobbins for them. They are ready to roll tomorrow. I AM SO INTO THIS!!!!!

Just a side note, do you see those scissors on the table? Those are a very good pair of Wiss shears that I bought when my kids were babies and I was into making their clothes and shirts for my husband. That pair of shears cost quite a bit of money back then, and probably still does today. I actually think I paid about $50 for them 20 years ago. And I still don't think I have ever told my husband how much they cost.... I don't use them for anything but fabric. They have endured the years well. Just a good example of if you buy quality, it lasts. Wish I could always AFFORD to buy quality....

Made some Polish sausage and fried potatoes for dinner. I had some leftover meatloaf and fried potatoes. Made Nick a quesadilla.

Random thought: Ev has often commented that he wished our walls were drywall instead of plaster because it would be easier to put some insulation in this house (which is desperately needs, by the way). As I sit here writing this, I look over at the wall of my room, with it's plaster bumps and texture and drips and yes, even some tiny plaster cracks near the baseboard. And I think that a plaster wall is 'warmer' than drywall. It's got character. Each plaster wall is different. They just don't make them like they used to. I also like it because it's more soundproof. That's important when two people in the same house are on different shifts.

Cyber frustration and lap quilt progress

2011-11-28T22:55:00.000-06:00

Oh, I should so learn not to crow... I was telling everyone how I had made all these online purchases and that I was so tickled things would be delivered right to my door. Just a few clicks of the mouse and my holiday shopping was well on it's way to being finished. Than I looked at my online bank statement.

The major retailer that I had made four purchases online with in the last few days was showing not four but six debits from my bank account. Sandwiched smack dab in the middle of the legitimate and authorized debits were two identical debits made two minutes apart. This is so not good. Called the retailer and spent 50, yes 50, minutes on the phone with them and really did not accomplish much other than getting extremely aggravated. Called the bank and got even more aggravated when, after explaining my situation, the gal informs me that there isn't much they can do until they look at the video. Huh? What video? The video of who used my card to make those purchases.... Uh, they were online purchases, I repeat. She babbles on some more and in an exasperated voice again tells me they have to look at the video of who used my card. Three times, I tell her there will be NO video because they were ONLINE purchases and ONLINE debits. When she again mentions watching the video, I got a little bit (okay, I raised my voice) upset and she puts me through to her supervisor. Long story short, my debit card is now on restricted use until we find out what's going on. Not happy about it, but had to do it because if I didn't and more debits came through, I would be liable for them.

On a better subject, I machine quilted two more of the lap quilts tonight and ironed the remaining six tops. This makes five of the lap quilts quilted, one basted, and six tops pressed. Going to shoot for quilting the other one tomorrow and basting a few more tops. Gotta keep going on them! Time is getting short!

Raining and sleeting outside, and the wind is howling! Guess Old Man Winter is making his entrance in a grand way.

Very productive day

2011-11-27T21:06:00.000-06:00

I got a lot done on the lap quilts today. I managed to machine quilt three of the twelve and pin baste three more. I also wound the bobbins for the three that are basted, so all I need to do is just sit down and sew! I like that a lot!

I have a list of the names of the people they will be going to. Thinking that I might put their names on the backs of the quilts, since they are nursing home residents, and all. Don't know if I will have time to do a sewn label, but maybe just putting their name in permanent pen on the binding might be enough. I'm thinking that all of the lap quilts might be bound with white muslin, just so that I can do it all quickly. Starting to get tight on time with them.

Still not feeling up to par. Hoping this doesn't go into my chest. Entire family has it now. Yuck.

Baked a turkey today. Used it to make those good sandwiches. Johanna was here for a while and ate a couple, too. She's getting over a broken heart right now, poor baby.

My first quilt

2011-11-26T21:05:00.001-06:00

Bonnie Hunter at quiltville has asked us to reminisce about our first quilts. I didn't have to go far to take a picture of my very first quilt. It is still in use, under two more recent quilts, on my bed.

It looks white in this picture, but that's because of repeated washings over its 30 year lifespan. I made this when I was 17, between my senior year of high school and first year of college. My grandmother on my dad's side helped me to make it. It was very simple in design, just squares put together in a fairly random pattern. I remember I drew a grid of squares and colored them in with different markers to represent four different fabrics. I bought the material at Zayre (anyone remember that store?). There were two fabrics that were printed with blue flowers, one with red flowers, and one with yellow flowers. They were tiny flowers and even had a speck of green in with them. When I got the fabrics home, I remember my step dad saying they looked like underwear fabrics! Haha. I bet he don't remember saying that, though!

The year was 1982 and the rotary cutter hadn't been invented yet, so like so many others, I used a pencil and a yardstick to draw on the back of the material, then cut each square out with scissors. What a painstaking job that was! I used a polyester batting and a light blue sheet for the backing. Thinking I was really cool, I used two different colors of quilting thread. I used blue in the squares that had blue flowers in them and white in the other squares. And to be different, I quilted a diamond in the squares and along either side of the seam line of each block. A LOT of the stitching has come out, but it's held together pretty good for the most part. My grandmother actually finished the quilting for me when I had to start college and didn't have a lot of time, but when I got it back, it didn't get a binding on it. I let it sit on my cedar chest and age nicely for a couple years. Then I decided it would look really nice with lace, of all things, around the edges. I bought some eyelet lace and proceeded to put it on the quilt. Called it done and started using it on my bed!

After that first quilt, which by the way I decided to do on a pure whim, there would be more. I had just said, I'm going to make a quilt, and then did it. Marriage and babies came a few years down the road and I didn't get back to quilting until 1994. Then, I made 19 'quilts' one fall to give to family members. I used different things, from flannel sheets, to purchased flannel, to make tied quilts, again with polyester batting, that I didn't bind, but did 'envelope' style. With the scraps of flannel I made a backing for a top that I made from 29 pairs of my husbands old jeans, along with some thrift store jeans. That quilt was also tied. My son used that one until the backing completely shredded. I have the top still, and think about making another back for him someday, since he loved that quilt to death. It was soooo heavy, I had to take it to the laudromat to the industrial size machines to wash it!

I took a break again for a short time, maybe a year, but then got into quilting full swing. By then rotary cutters had come onto the scene and I remember getting my first one and how totally thrilled I was with it! Many years and many quilts later, I'm still loving it and hope to continue quilting until I can't do it anymore. I still use the 1980 model Kenmore I got for Christmas that year from my maternal grandparents. I also use a variety of other machines, that I have collected over the years. That machine, and the Kenmore my grandmother had that I inherited are my two favorites I hope to one day have a longarm machine.

So, that's my story! Check out the other stories on Bonnie's blog: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/11/first-quilts.html

Donna's frogs

2011-11-26T19:39:00.000-06:00

My friend, Donna, has been working on this top off and on for quite a while now. The frogs are pieced and the dragonflies are appliqued. She brought it over today to baste. Donna is going to hand quilt it for a special little boy in her life. I hope he knows how lucky he is!

I pressed four more of the lap quilt tops and backs. Cut them to size. Need to get moving on them, but I have been roadblocked with another sinus infection or cold, not sure which it is. It's really working on me good, though. Ugh. I hate that, I have four days off and two are spent traveling and the other two that I had planned on using to quilt like a mad woman, I can barely crawl up the steps.

So call me crazy, but I'm going to bake a turkey tomorrow. When you don't have thanksgiving at home, there aren't any leftovers. When there aren't any leftovers, there aren't any grilled turkey, blue cheese, and grilled red onion sandwiches. I intend to cook the bird early in the morning and make the sandwiches for lunch AND dinner. If anyone complains, tough patootie. I seriously doubt there will be any complaints....

Bought the cat a scratching post yesterday. Hope this will curb her desire to scratch my furniture.

Back home

2011-11-25T17:11:00.000-06:00

Just got home from Mom's. Had a real nice Thanksgiving visit. Ate lots of turkey and pumpkin pie. But, I don't have any turkey leftovers.... I'm thinking I might bake a turkey bird tomorrow or Sunday. Maybe.

Going to try and get more of the lap quilts pinned today.

Happy turkey day

2011-11-24T06:58:00.002-06:00

I'm up early and getting everyone moving here. Going to see family today and have to start moving early! Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

2011-11-23T22:11:00.000-06:00

Just in case I don't get online tomorrow, I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. What are you thankful for? You don't need to tell me, just remind yourself every now and then how lucky you are to have the things you are thankful for on this day. Happy Thanksgiving!

So cute!

2011-11-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

How can you not just love these little bottles? I'm not a Coca Cola drinker, Diet Pepsi is my soda choice when I drink soda, but these bottles get me every time.

Ironed two tops and two backs, then pin basted two of the lap quilts. I'm going to start with the preprinted panels.

Rainy day

2011-11-22T09:01:00.000-06:00

I would so much rather be home sewing than at work.... It's a rainy day here and the perfect weather for sewing in my pajamas. Sigh. Instead, I'm at work, which isn't a bad thing because I'm grateful to have a job. I am going to go to Wal Mart at lunch to pick up some more batting. Tonight I would like to get at least two lap quilts basted, maybe more. I'm thinking I'll bring them down to the kitchen and baste them on top of the deep freeze.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving. I'm not cooking at my house, but I am going to take some of my quick breads to dinner.

On a personal note, I have to say that making these lap quilts is really a good thing for me right now. Things have been in quite an upheaval with one of the kids and having a way to get away from that by working on this project has been a Godsend. There have been times in the past when things at home, with the kids, or other 'just life' stuff have gotten me down and I have turned inward and not done any quilting. Maybe it is a form of depression, but not so bad that it ever was debilitating, thankfully. This time, I saw it coming and decided I was NOT going to let it go in that direction, instead I was going to use the quilting as my therapy. And do you know what? It worked. It worked very well, in fact. I accomplished more than I thought I could (even just to this point, I know that I have more to do yet!), and as I sewed, I was able to put things into perspective and work through them, then move forward. I am truly blessed.

11 and 12

2011-11-21T21:12:00.000-06:00

Whew! Okay, all 12 lap quilt tops are complete. Going to take a deep breath and then jump into the quilting! I think I'm going to start with the pre-printed panels. I have some pink material that will make a nice backing for the panels. I do need to get to Wal Mart and pick up more batting.

I think on the tops made with the six inch squares I might just quilt a wavy line in about the middle of the squares from end to end. That will be a nice quick way to get them done. I am also considering just doing a loopy loop all over them. I need the practice on that kind of quilting and this is a good opportunity to get it.

Number ten

2011-11-20T20:05:00.000-06:00

It looks a lot like number 7, because it's from the same charm pack selection. The border is a darker green.

I have 11 and 12 assembled into rows, ready to be sewn together. Just ran out of umpf. They are both like the one in the previous post that was six inch squares alternating with miscellaneous six inch squares. Sure feel like I accomplished a lot this weekend in the sewing room. I could have finished more, but had some other things going on.

Number eight and number nine

2011-11-19T21:49:00.000-06:00

Here are two more lap quilt tops I finished. The top one is half solid cream and half mix and match six inch squares I had in my stash. I do like the way it turned out and may make another top like it. The other top is the second double slice I did, this time using the browns and greens. I like it a lot, too. My friend Donna likes it and says she is going to have to make one in pinks.

Five miles, no more mouse

2011-11-18T21:13:00.000-06:00

Walked five miles again today. Again, not all at once, but at least I'm moving. It's not my favorite thing to do, but after I do it, I feel good.

The mouse went belly up today. Guess he found some poison. They were teasing me at work with him. Ugh. He's probably not the only rodent in that building. And some of them even walk upright...

Back to quilting. My friend Donna came over tonight. I showed her how to make the Double Slice block. I also had it written down with little pictures to help her visualize in case she forgets. Donna makes one quilt at a time, so she won't be making this block any time real soon because she is working on a quilt right now.

I did rough cut pieces for the green and brown Double Slice lap quilt. Plan to work on that tomorrow morning if I can. We have photos tomorrow at the church for the church directory. The appointment for my happy little hive is at 10:30, then my dad wants a big group photo for the directory also. That pic is at 2. Ugh.

I really wanted to go up to Springfield today for the gran opening sale at the new Joann's store. I didn't do it, though. Talked myself out of 1. spending the gas money, 2. taking the time (takes an hour one way to get there), 3. buying fabric I don't need, and 4. driving home in the dark. But I really really wanted to go....

So as plagued with nosebleeds as I was, ever since I started using the vaporizer every night, along with the saline nasal spray, I have not had a nosebleed. What a pleasant change. I hope this continues to help and that they leave for good eventually.

Five miles, one mouse, and one fox

2011-11-17T21:39:00.000-06:00

Here's what I accomplished today. I put together 64 of the charm pack squares into a top 8 squares by 8 squares. I ran out of steam before I put the border on, but you can see the material I'm going to use for a border next to the top in the second pic.

I feel pretty good about the fact that I walked 5 miles today. Not all at once, but 5 miles, nonetheless.

We have a mouse at work. Have I ever mentioned that I. Hate. Mice?

On one of my walks today, during my break at work, I saw a fox out in one of the fields. I don't think I have ever really seen a fox like that out in the open before. Barb was walking with me and she said it looked like it might have been a momma fox by the way she was acting. She was trying to get our attention and lead us away from an area that quite possibly could have been her den with pups in it. She was a very pretty animal, a gorgeous copper red with a dark tail. I thought she was quite big for a fox and really had to watch her closely to be convinced she wasn't a cat. She was in the middle of a field and when she moved, you could really tell that she was not a cat, just by the way she flitted about. It was certainly a gift to see such a beautiful animal today.

I haven't cut the material for the Double Slice in brown and green yet, but it's ready for me. I wanted to do something quick tonight, and since the charm pack squares were all ready cut, they fit the bill. I found out that the deadline is December 11th for me to get these lap quilts done. I'm certainly challenging myself here!

More ideas

2011-11-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

So I have three charm packs of 5" squares that are in spring-y colors. I just bought them through the mail, with the intention of participating in a challenge, but I've changed my mind about doing that. What I thought I would do now is just put the squares together in rows of 8 to make a lap quilt. I'm not quite sure how many squares are in the charm packs. Each one will take 64 squares. If I don't have enough squares to make two, which is what I would like to do, I think it would look nice alternating print squares and a constant, some pretty solid or even muslin.

I also have quite a few 6" squares cut, all miscellaneous fabrics, that would work out nicely for another lap quilt or two. Those could be done in rows of 7, so I would only need 49 for each lap quilt. Hoping that I have enough to do two that way, and again, I could always use half miscellaneous prints and half of a constant, such as a muslin, square.

As of now, I'm feeling pretty confident that I will be able to get 12 tops completed. Getting them basted and quilted and bound - well, let's just see how things progress! I have been wanting to make these using mostly stash materials and batting. My stockpile of batting has decreased quite a bit, so that is an area that I'm sure I'll have to purchase things. Normally I work with all cotton batting, making all my scraps all cotton, and pretty much a no brainer that they are all the same fiber content. Well, it has become increasingly difficult to find the all cotton batting at a reasonable price, so yesterday I broke down and purchased an 80/20 bagged batt in a crib size. With a little piecing, I MIGHT be able to get enough from one bag for two lap quilts. It will be close, but even if I don't have quite enough, I think I will be able to get three from two bags at least.

6 tops done

2011-11-16T22:00:00.000-06:00

I finished the pink Double Slice top tonight and picked out fabric for a double slice done in brown and green for a man. I'm really challenging myself to get these 12 lap quilts done. And I think I can do it! If I just get 2 more tops made and then slice up that back I will be satisfied, but I'm shooting for making 6 more tops and not slicing up that back.

Block bonanza

2011-11-15T21:40:00.000-06:00

The top photo is one of the panels that I found late last night to use for the lap quilts. The bottom photo is the layout of 16 Double Slice blocks to make another top. I picked out the fabrics and cut and sewed the blocks tonight. I still need to sew the blocks together, but this was enough for one night. If I feel like doing something in the morning before work, I might sew the rows together. If not, it will be ready tomorrow night to quickly sew together.

This Double Slice block was mentioned on Stashbusters. I found a video on YouTube from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. It was a real easy block and I'll probably make more than one top from it.