Here is a quilt I've been working on a little bit here and there... from the Focus on Florals book by That Patchwork Place. I have only actually sewn the bottom right couple rows so far... need to finish sewing all the rows - adding the setting triangles at each end and then I can sew the rows to each other. I'm liking it... and it's helping me keep my sanity...


Now that I have it all laid out on the floor - I guess I need to get going on it so the cats don't play with all the pieces. I've been working on this when I need a break from working on the house... LOL having said that you'd think I'd be done with it by now!

Look what I found last night...

Last night I was looking at the classes being offered this fall at A Quilters Gathering in Nashua, NH. One of the teachers is Pamela Mostek.


A couple years ago I made 2 Wreath quilts from her book "Scatter Garden Quilts" for a class I taught at the quilt shop. The Christmas Wreath quilt I made was very popular at the shop - I was very happy with how it came out and sent Pamela an email with a picture of it. I had forgotten all about her asking if she could use it when ever she was able to post student pictures.


When I poked around her site last night I found she has a blog and there I found a link to a student gallery... - and look what I found all pretty sitting there! My Christmas Wreath Quilt!


I was quite surprised and pleased to see it there.

A Leap of Faith...

Do ya ever do that? Take a Leap of Faith... just step out there without a parachute, cut wood without safety goggles, serve soup you haven't tasted yet, wash windows in the dark? Move and not know exactly where you are going?

I was asked in my last post where I was moving to... and I've been pondering that answer all afternoon. You see the quick answer is - I don't know exactly.

I do know that at least temporarily I'll be moving to northern MD where my husband currently has an apartment. He's working just south of Philly - so the commute is pretty easy from there. And the general plan is to live someplace south or southwest of Philly out in the country. Of course we have to sell this house first. And that's about all the facts in the matter.

Those few details or the lack of details seems to bother some folks I talk to. But I'm OK with things being kinda up in the air. I'm pretty sure things will work out... one way or another - things will work out.

My last chore this evening was washing some windows. Well it was either that or drag out some paint and do some touchup work - washing the windows won! As I worked on the last few - it was getting dark - which limits your ability to see if you have any streaks. But I kept washing... another leap of faith? Sorta - I was using a microfiber cloth soaked in white vinegar and one of those cool lint free cloths (kinda like diaper material) to dry the windows. So my 'leap' really was easy because so far I hadn't had any problems and the 'light' really wasn't a factor in what I was doing. What happens if tomorrow I find some streaks... well I'll drag out my supplies and wash them again. It will work out... one way or another - those windows will get cleaned... or I'll hang curtains over them! See - things will work out.



Speaking of a Leap of Faith... here's a picture of my granddaughter from this summer. Her first leap off a diving board... I can't believe her Mom was able to catch her in mid-air just as she had leaped off!

Scary and exciting all at the same time. Kinda like moving... and Life.

Can't drag my feet anymore...

If I continue to drag my feet about finishing up this house I'm gonna have to see an orthopedic doctor!

I really do have to get all these little things finished up so that I can focus on the few remaining big things - like the basement.

The basement work is at the other end of the tunnel. I can't work on the basement because it's got stuff still in it... like all the stuff that belongs upstairs. Hmmm - guess I should explain for those who don't know - I'm in the process of getting this house ready to sell so that we can move.

The wood floors were refinished this summer - a process that requires that you move everything out of those areas. Since every room in my house (except my bathrooms) has hardwood floors - it meant everything had to go. So we threw away, packed away (in two PODS), gave away and finally stuffed away all our stuff. What we were keeping to put back in the house went into either the closets, bathrooms, front porch, basement or garage.

Now I can't bring all that stuff back upstairs until all the other work is done - like the painting. And it seems like we are painting everywhere... well it doesn't seem like we are - we ARE painting everywhere. At least one if not all of the walls, ceiling, and/or trim in each room is getting whacked with a brush or roller. My arm will only do so much painting at a time - I'm probably just being a weenie about the whole thing... a numb hand isn't a big deal is it? If my left hand weren't so clumsy and uncoordinated it would be more help...

So I'm at the point of tying up loose ends this week... finish a few more touch up things (oh and the kitchen ceiling) and then move the paint containers downstairs and start moving the house stuff upstairs.

This week I need to call the realtor... see where the market is these days and get this show on the road.

Painted myself out of a shower tonight...

I guess I wasn't thinking today. I was just puttering around earlier with the tube of caulk - some here on this trim - some over there on that window - oh yeah gotta recaulk the window in the tub downstairs. Then I break out the can of paint - touch up here and a little bit there - oh look it's the same white semi-gloss I used in the upstairs bathroom - so off I go to touch up the trim and paint the ceiling... and since I earlier caulked the window downstairs - now I can paint it too. Great - got a lot of little things crossed off the list.

I washed up the painting stuff all pleased with myself... and as I pulled my painting clothes off to get ready for my shower... hmmmm... no place to take a shower since both places have fresh drying paint. I'm glad I wasn't doing any heavy duty work today too! A cat bath will have to suffice.

LoJack for Laptops and Renters Insurance

One of my daughters recently returned to San Diego from Hawaii and unfortunately her Apple laptop computer was stolen out of her checked luggage. (We won't even go to the "what ever was she thinking..." topic.)

She (with the help of her sister) spent the better part of 2 days changing passwords and log-ins for her online stuff - and she's had to suffer through the hassles of putting fraud reports out to the credit companies and changing banking info.

She immediately filed reports with the Airline, Police, and her Insurance Company. Yes - the good news is that she has 'Renters Insurance' and even better news is that the policy covered the loss so that she could replace her laptop. Renters insurance is very cheap and well worth the investment.

Unfortunately she's lost lots of pictures that had been downloaded to the laptop and I'm sure that as time goes by she'll remember other documents and files she had on there that she doesn't have a hard copy for.

So what else could she have done?? (yeah besides not putting stuff like that in a checked suitcase)

• Purchase and use TSA approved locks for the suitcase - these allow the suitcase to be opened and searched by security at the airport - and would limit the ability of others to easily pilfer though your stuff.


• LoJack for Laptops! I learned about this last year when my husband purchased new laptops for us from DELL. We have a 3 year plan. http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/ This would at least provide the possibility of recovery.
  
• Backup photos and documents to other permanent storage.

Which reminds me - I need to get photos and other documents on my laptop copied to CD... or better yet - I think I'll get a portable DVD burner so that I can put more data on a DVD disk. No sense tempting fate...

You are spending too much time painting if...

you have to vacuum the drop cloths!

Well it didn't help that I went away for several days last week, I work at the quilt shop on the weekends and I'm sure I could find a few more excuses... but the end result (especially with 2 house cats) is that when I finally get back to painting - I have to vacuum first. The big drop cloths sorta stay put but the vacuum plays havoc with the 'pre-taped plastic drop cloths' that are all around the edges - I have to cut the suction power way back or they get sucked up.

Actually the cats have been more of an issue with the plastic - they are having a grand time running and sliding around - so I'm always resticking them in place as I move around the room.

I had set Friday as my 'finish by' date but I'm not sure if that's going to pan out. I made the mistake of having a cup of coffee last night... so I was up late and slept late as well.

Howdy from Howdy!

I've decided to jump on this blog bandwagon... just to have a place to ponder life, family, friends and my love of quilting.