Snow Day!!

Okay..well, not really. I just thought for those of you who are as tired of this heat as I am this summer, these would be a refreshing change to look at. Wasn't too long ago we had this..and won't be too long again here in western NY!

I did get a TON of work done on my Allegany Rings. I have all but the outside borders quilted and now I am stumped on what I want to do on them. Sigh..any ideas??
With any luck, one of you will have a great answer or I will be inspired while I sleep tonight and will get this quilt all done tomorrow. Will post pics as soon as I do!!

No pics but some progress

During the week, I started quilting Allegany Rings. I stitched in the ditch around all the rings and then was doing a simple meander pattern in the center around the rings. I got about 1/3 of the way done, flipped it over to take a peek and decided I didn't like the way it looked. The stitches around some of the curves were just too loose for my liking. So, I spent the next couple days when I had a free minute or two, ripping it all out. Ugh..I hate when that happens. Anywho, tonight I started back on the meandering (after messing with the tension) and got the center all done. I then stitched in the ditch around the red inner borders and was just getting ready to start free motion quilting in those outside areas when I got THE phone call. You know the one..the one us parents dread. My oldest son called to tell me he had just had a car accident and totalled his car. He and the other driver were both fine. Well, no matter that he is 28, he is my baby and I had to go see for myself that he was okay. He was..thank God. Seeing the car was devastating..pieces of it all over the road, front end all smashed in..makes me cry just remembering what it looked like. So, no more sewing for me tonight. I couldn't concentrate if I tried. I came home, poured myself a big ol' glass of wine (think brandy snifter size) and I am going to sip my way right through this.
Oh, by the way. For those that have been asking, Patrick has been doing well. No more seizures and hopefully these meds will do the trick and keep them away. Tomorrow night I will also be pouring myself one of these glasses of wine because Patrick is going away tomorrow until next Friday to camp. Now, don't get me wrong. He LOVES going there. I love him going there and doing all these things he typically doesn't get to do. But....I HATE him being gone. It is like my arm is missing all of a sudden. I am going to channel all my sad and nervous energy into sewing projects, I think. At least that is what the plan is. We will see how much I am actually able to focus on them. Maybe I should skip the quilting and go for something mindless like piecing. Hmm...will keep you updated.

Fell off the wagon already

Yup...I fell off the "no new projects until I get 5 UFO's done" wagon already..and I blame Marge! Over at Mysteries for Relay (button on the left), she had a free mystery yesterday and try as I might, I couldn't resist! The best part was on this one, she gave directions so that you could make it whatever size you wanted..so I opted for the tiny 24" square one. I figured that really didn't count as cheating..well, not much, anywho. Here is my new table topper made with the mystery #15 pattern:



I think this turned out adorable!! Thanks, Marge, for another great mystery. I can't wait until September and the next one!!

Yesterday I got to sew with Shellie. I actually showed up half an hour late as I only woke up 3 minutes before I was supposed to meet her!! We only got to sew for about 3 1/2 hours, but boy, did we make progress on our Jitterbug quilts! Better than that, I got to spend some time chatting with her. Hard to believe that it took the internet to bring us together though we only live 20 minutes apart. She is definitely one of the blessings God has given me!
Shellie also brought along the fabric she bought for us (can you believe that not only did she buy me a donut and coffee to get going, she also gifted this fabric to me, too!!) to make the table runner from Marie Bostwick's 3rd book in the Cobbled Court series! Unfortunately, it took all our time just to remake the hst blocks that we goofed up a few months ago for Jitterbug, so we will have to wait to start on the tablerunner. I am determined to get the Jitterbug top completed and at least 1, if not 2 quilts all quilted up this week. Wish me luck!!!!

I am on the quilter's diet plan

As we all know, quilters are an obsessive bunch. We NEED our fabric/sewing fix. Apparently we need it enough to even venture into our stifling hot sewing rooms to get our fix. My house is old..very old. Most of the windows are so old, you can't open them or they will fall out...literally. We have no air conditioning and the fans only push the hot air into your face. Yet...in the sauna...I mean sewing room I go. The good news is I bet I sweat at least 3 pounds off tonight. I got the backing pieced for Allegany Rings and I got it all sandwiched.



That is about it for tonight. Patrick had another seizure yesterday evening and then vomited as soon as I put him to sleep last night. Since he has cerebral palsy, he can't roll over or move his head out of the way when that happens, so it is my worst nightmare. I am terrified he will vomit and choke to death. That being said, I stayed up last night to keep an eye on him and boy, am I whooped now. He, of course, has been fine ever since. We started him on seizure meds tonight, so please say a prayer that they work and my kiddo is okay.
Off to the pool to cool off before I go to sleep. I figure if this heat wave holds on and I keep sewing, I should be able to drop 10 pounds by the end of the week!!

Post vacation craziness

Talk about a hot week away! The weather was too stifling to go hiking, so we hung out at the cabin and spent a lot of time in the shade at the lake. Was a very relaxing vacation. I didn't get hardly any stitching done at all...a little bit of hand quilting on The Giant New York Sunflower, but that was it. Too hot to have that heavy quilt on me!
Of course coming home also means doing a ton of work..doing all that camping laundry, cleaning up the house and worst of all..catching up on a week's worth of garden and yard work. I swear the vegies grew 2 feet due to all this heat! I even lost about half of my broccoli..it flowered while I was gone. The weeds also went crazy, so I spent yesterday afternoon and today taking care of them. I did manage to freeze about 10 quart size bags of the broccoli and canned about 5 quarts of pickled beets. Don't they look pretty?



I am hoping to get into the sewing room tonight, but my arms are so tired out from the heavy weeding, I don't know if I will get much accomplished. I really need to, though, as Marge over at Mysteries for Relay is having a free mystery starting next weekend, I think, and I really want to do it! I have never been disappointed by her mysteries. Unfortunately, I still have only completed 1 UFO and I am not letting myself start anything else until I have 5 done. So, I better get my tookus in gear!!

New pics of Allegany Rings

Yup..I decided Becca had the name right, so this quilt is now officially named Allegany Rings. Here are a few pics we took of it in the sunlight so you can see it better:





Now, off to get things ready for our trip. Working tomorrow from 9-7, so that doesn't leave any time at all tomorrow night. Catch you later!!