Thursday, September 22, 2011

My comfy chair


This chair has always been my favorite piece of furniture in the house. I read, watch TV, visit with friends and yes, take power naps there. As you can see, it has also become my place to recover from this shoulder surgery. The pillows offer support for my arm and thanks to my wonderful neighbor, the table on the right holds everything I need while sitting there. My books, phone, remote control and occasionally a glass of iced tea. Leslie loaned me the table while I was recuperating and she may never get it back!

Recovery is going well but I still can't sleep in my bed so the chair has also served well for sleeping at night. Again, the pillows offer just the right support for my arm. Not sure when I'll get back to sleeping normally but in the meantime, there is my chair.

Since the milk bottle carrier was empty in my picture the other day, I thought I would show it with the bottles in it. The bottle on the right is the one from the dairy where my dad worked. It was a very lucky find for me.

Now, I'm back to my pattern organizing project. I can't sew them right now but all these patterns are giving me lots of ideas for future projects.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The things you find...

While I have been home and not able to sew, I have started the process of purging stuff. It started in the kitchen while my friends were here to help me. My countertop was cleaned off and re-arranged and really looks great.

This corner was really crowded. The basket now holds mixes and some tea. Finally the teapots have their rightful place.
Now, the corner used to house a huge collection of recipes that I had saved. It made my niece nervous to see the loose papers so close to the stove. Funny thing is, I don't cook that much so no problem.

Now, while I was purging the recipes I couldn't believe the things I was finding. So many recipes I had saved but now realize that I would never make them anyway. But.. I did find some family treasures and recipes that my mother and grandmother had written down. Even if I will never make them, they are definitely keepers. There was one other surprise in the mix. Check out these coupons! When was the last time you saw a coupon for 5-10 cents? What a hoot. I was even thinking of trying to use them but realized, no bar code. A true walk down memory lane. 

And yes, the recipes still look good. 
I wanted to share one more corner of the counter with you. I have a milk bottle carrier that has been hidden away and now finally has a display spot. One of the bottles that will go in is from Greenwood Dairies where my father worked as a milkman for many years. (They were in the dishwasher when I took this picture.) We always had these bottles on our back porch but I had to find this and one for my sister at auctions. So glad I did.


Now I'm off to do a little more purging. I must say, it does feel good. 

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I have to share a finish


I just wanted to take a minute to share this finish with you. I did share the top with you before but this was the wedding quilt that I finished right before my surgery. And I did, right under the wire. I'm not sure if the couple got it yet since I sent it home with the groom's mom. Guaranteed delivery! 

I pieced together different fabric for the backing. I'm so glad we've been freed to do that. 

I used a Susan Branch label. I really love her designs but have to find another way to write on the label. 

My straight line quilting too. And we don't have to follow the rules any more!

It makes me feel good to share this since there won't be any finishes for a while. My shoulder is doing better every day. Still hold out hope for sewing sooner rather than later! We'll see...

Hope everyone has a great week.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Good Enough Quilters


It is the day after my birthday and I am happy to say that I am still celebrating. I am one who believes that birthdays should last a month and I'm very lucky because my friends indulge me in that. Last night I went out to dinner and as we were sitting in the restaurant we saw this rainbow out the window. How lucky was I to have a rainbow on my birthday! I do want to thank all of you who sent such nice birthday greetings too. So much fun.

I am finally able to share the pictures from our Good Enough Quilters meeting. The meeting was held four days after my surgery and I wasn't able to go but Fran very helpfully took the pictures for me.

This is the quilt that Cindy made for her son and daughter-in-law.  Aren't the colors great!

Closeup of the quilting. She had it done by one of our favorite longarm quilters. 

This is Debbie's quilt from our block patterns. I think she may have been the first to finish. Makes me feel a little pressure... It does look great. 

Love the colors of Fran's floral quilt. 

Laura's BOM's from Pennington. The block on the right was my reason to start this process. So funky. 

Laura's great-grandmother's sewing chest. We had one like it in our house too. Love them!

Fran's postage stamp quilt. All those tiny little squares...

I'm looking forward to our next meeting. It sounds like there are so many ideas out there for what we will do next! 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Never too old to be young!

Today is my birthday! And I know I would love to do a giveaway to celebrate but since I'm challenged at the moment, I will have to postpone until a little later. I can't really search my stash or closet to find something good. Maybe I will just wait and celebrate my first Social Security check. Yes, I'm that old and have absolutely no complaints about aging.

I wanted to share a gift I got in the mail yesterday.


A few months ago, my sister gave me the American Girl doll, Molly. I had told her that was one I liked. Well, yesterday, she sent me the desk. Now this desk really belongs to another doll but I said that it would fit Molly too. We used to have a rolltop desk when we were growing up and boy, do I wish I had that now. Instead I can enjoy looking at Molly's. Notice the school bag she has over her shoulder. I think some of the items in the bag will fit in her desk. 

Yes, it is true, we are never too old to be young!



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Day by day and a big thanks!

It feels so good to finally be able to type with two hands. My rotator cuff surgery was on September 2nd and as I am improving each day, I am feeling a little more normal. Surgery went well and I have to extend a huge thanks to the friends who came and stayed with me, providing moral support and everything else I needed. And also thanks to everyone else for their cards and phone calls and caring. I am a very lucky person to have such wonderful family and friends.

Not sure if I shared this but these were a few supplies I bought before surgery. Carbohydrates are medicinal, aren't they? 


I still won't be able to do any sewing but plan to look through patterns I've collected to see what I will do first after the sling comes off, PT has time to work and I'm ready to go.


I do have one other thanks for this post. When I got home from surgery I got an email that I had won this lovely, soft fabric. How is that for a pick-me-up right after having an operation! I won this fat quarter stack from Julie at Adventures of a Cross Stitch Drama Queen . It is a Riley Blake design called Promenade. I just love the soft, old-fashioned look of it.

I'll be back tomorrow with more, including the pictures from our quilt group. I couldn't be there but thanks to Fran, I have some wonderful quilts to share with all of you. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Please vote!

Just wanted to do a quick post to ask for your vote. I entered this quilt in the quilting gallery's weekly theme contest. It is for jelly rolls quilts and this was certainly one of those. And, if you remember, started after I cut the strips the wrong lengths and had to go back and punt.


I only have the link to the website so if you go there, you will have to click on Weekly Theme contests to see the choices. I don't even know if there is a prize but I would love to win!

http://quiltinggallery.com/

This will take you to their site and then you can click on weekly theme contest on the right.

Thanks so much for your help!