I'm home

Market was fun and I saw alot of quilt friends that I only get to see once a year.

Tricia Cribbs of FriendFolks was super busy this past year and introduced 4 count them FOUR books this year. Of course I had to decide what books I wanted to carry and that was hard. I decided on Turning Twenty #4 Feeling Groovy and Turning Twenty just got Better. My sister-in-law and Mother-in-law made a sample of Feeling Groovy from the #4 book by the same name and it is so cute!









I visited my friends at Superior Threads and nearly went broke! I have had such a good response since starting to carry the thread on my website, so I bought more...LOTS more. LOL

I made some new friends at Becolourful. Jaqueline de Jonge is the designer and what a designer she is! all I can say is WOW! Her brother seems to be her biggest cheerleader and fan. They both are some of the nicest people you could want to meet. I don't have all of her patterns, but I have many of them.


















At Festival I don't know how it happened but I was blessed with a corner booth this year. I was so excited! I took a picture incase you wanted to see it.





Now to get everything unpacked and counted and put up on the website.

I also have this deep burning need to get into my stash of civil war reproductions and cut out a quilt. I usually feel that way after spending a long time getting ready for a show as I am immersed in all of the bright colors that I dye and I really need to be soothed with the calm colors of old.

More news later,
Diane

I'm Off!

In more ways that one! LOL
Ahem...sorry I am a bit tired and crazy right now. Of course just when I thought I would be packed and ready to go early this year a delivery arrived that I thought was not coming. So I had to stop what I was doing to get the patterns kitted. I was short a couple of colors I thought I needed so I had to quickly dye up a couple of yards. Then I had to rinse, then iron, then cut, then package...you get the idea. Six hours later I have everything kitted and bagged, but now I am six hours behind on packing. UGH!
I wanted to leave about 7am tomorrow, but I will be fortunate to be awake by then! I am so tired, but I can't sleep for thinking about what I don't want to forget.
Of course I didn't get groceries bought for the guys, but I guess they are capable of taking care of themselves for a few days.
Ok, I am going to try and sleep.
Later,
Diane

hurry hurry hurry...get it all done!

Want to see what I have been up to?

Here is more...

I have more in the wash too.

My friend Linda G took home my Clam shells quilt and bound it for me. Can you believe that? That is too nice! That was after Beth A. quilted it for me. It really looks great all quilted and bound. Don't you agree?

Now to get the instructions finished!

more in a bit...

Diane

10 POUNDS!!!!

Woo Hoo! Ray and I went to the Dr.'s office today to get our Flu shots, while there we got on the scales to see if our healthy eating for the past 3 1/2 weeks has done any good. We each have lost 10 pounds! How cool is that? What a boost to actually see some nice results. I have done Weight Watchers and honestly only ate what I was suppose to eat and lost 7 pounds in 3 months. I was so discouraged. I guess the fact that I know Ray won't cheat, I know I can't cheat.

I was asked today by a lady in the quilt shop what kind of diet we were on. I told her nothing special, just low fat, low calorie. We have been eating only grilled or broiled fish and chicken and loads of fruits and vegetables. It really hasn't been difficult so far. We have only had red meat once and it was in stew with tons of veggies. I have even gone so far as to all but give up Coke. Now that is a BIG deal. We have been trying new restaurants to see what they have. Applebees is probably the easiest to eat at as they have a Weight Watchers menu and it is really tasty. We also have a local restaurant, Cooper T's that makes fantastic grilled fish and salads.

I promised Ray that once a month we would have one meal of his choice. So we went to OutBack to have steak and baked potatoes. We both ended up getting grilled fish saying we didn't want to screw up a good thing. LOL

Later

Diane

Delays...

Well Ponchatoula was a wonderful show and I had a great time once again.

I just love seeing the quilts up and down main street. Doesn't it have a Mayberry-ish feel to it? Can't you hear that whistling and imagine Sheriff Taylor taking Opie to the fishing hole? This imaginary town is one I could live in! If it existed, that is.

Now that this show is history I am home busy getting ready for Houston. I would be finished except I was not able to get to my sink for several days. Here is the story...you ready?

Ray and I came in the house a couple of days ago and a smell hit us as we walked in. It smelled like someone threw some spoiled food in the trash but didn't take it out. We looked, we sniffed, we poked around, but nothing. So I think maybe it's the fridge. Maybe something old was in there and needed to be cleaned out. Nope, not in there. Finally I open the cabinet under the sink and there it is! There has been a leak and the smell is the wet paper lining the cabinet. UGH! GROSS!

Now my husband can fix anything in the world he puts his mind to fixing. Key words being "puts his mind to". He does not like doing plumbing! Knowing this, what do you think are the only real repairs we have had to do since moving in this house? Hot water heater, dishwasher, multiple toilet (one of those being a complete overhaul), and now the kitchen faucet. LOL. The poor man can't win for losing! Has my stove (electric) gone out? No. How about my dryer? No. Only things that deal with water and water connections. Even our last house we had a water line bust under the sink and flood the whole house, but that is another story.

Anyway, Ray works for a couple of days and finally gets it all fixed as there is rusted bolts and drilling out of said bolts to be done only after he has worked 10 to 12 hour each day and before the local hardware store closes. But my man comes through once again and I have a new faucet. WOO HOO!

All of this said to explain why I am still working on dyeing fabric. I have only one more dye day and I will be done, but then I still have to rinse and iron. But I will do my level best to get my Turning Twenty fabrics in the dye today so I will have Saturday and Sunday to rinse and Monday through Wednesday to iron. All the while I have 2 baby size quilts that I need to quilt and bind. My friend Linda G is binding my Clam shells quilt. Isn't she too great? There are not many people I know who say to me, without me asking mind you, "Hand it to me and I will bind it and bring it to you on Monday". Now that is a friend! I have two quilts to drop at the long arm quilter today and then I will need to bind them. I will then be finished and ready for Houston. Do you think I can get it done by Thursday and be able to leave Friday? Man I hope so!

mix,pour,swish,zip,repeat

This is me, all day. LOL
This is what I get for putting till tomorrow what I should have done that day. I am now in overtime mode getting everything ready for my next show on the 13th. The show is in Ponchatoula Louisiana and it is a really nice show. It is hard on vendors, but it is a good show non the less. It is only hard because it is a one day show so you show up and set up then sale then breakdown and go home. It would be fine, but I live 2.5 hours away from there so it makes for a very long day. This year I was told we could actually set up the day before the show. I am not sure if we will do this or not, but I hope we will. It will make it so much nicer to sleep between setup and breakdown.

The house is all abuzz with talk of shows and senior year of high school and moving and promotions. This is Ray's last week at his present job. Today is his last time to fly offshore as a "grunt" as I teasingly call him. He has for years had to haul really heavy tool bags up and down stairs on the offshore platforms, but today should be the last time. He said he was going to try and visit all of them today to say goodbye to all the men.

My youngest had his senior pictures made last week. I was a bit upset to find this out as he didn't tell me and we didn't go get his hair cut. He is pretty shaggy, but it is what it is. Like he told me "mom it is a snapshot of this time of my life". Sometimes he can be so smart. I won't stress as I plan on getting him a new suit and getting his picture made soon anyway. We also are trying to decide if he will get a senior ring. he doesn't really want one. he said he would just leave it in the box and then have to worry about losing it. I am of the mind to just take the money we would have spent on the ring and invest it in a new computer he really needs. His present computer is a bone yard computer. It was one that he and his brother salvaged parts from other computers and built.

I have 4 shows on the calendar between now and March so I will be busy for a while. Then I will concentrate on packing and moving. I know there are things I will not want the movers to pack as I have had that heartbreak before. So I will be slowly making my list of stuff I will pack and move myself.

Oh, I gotta go, I hear the washer stopped and need to get back to work.

Later,

Diane

I had to stay quiet

I haven't blogged in a few days due to the fact I was told not to talk about a few things for a few days. I am the type of person who tells everything I know. So the only way I was sure I wouldn't talk about certain things was to stay quiet.
The news is, my husband was offered the job, and he accepted. He will start his new job soon. My son and I will not be moving though until he graduates from high school in May. It will be a bit tough, but we will get through this.

I am trying to concentrate on dyeing. I have a show next weekend and then I have the International Quilt Festival the first week in November. I have so much to do!
I put some pictures of the dyeing later.

Later
Diane