life and stuff...

Didn't mean to not post for this long, but showing the same tumbler picture isn't what I call blog worthy. I'm still working on the tumbler quilt's applique parts at night and getting some normal house things done during the days. Quilting has been much slower this past few days due to normal life stuff really. One I've had the worst non-cold sinus thing for days. No idea what was wrong as I didn't have the normal cold symptoms, but the allergy issues sucked and I lost an entire night to the worst sinus headache. No sewing that night.

But I do have a few things to show for myself! I was able to get several blocks ready for my ABC sampler quilt so I could work on them during the evenings. I like to prep the applique pieces during the day and then you can lay them out and mark for all the stitchery sections and take off the applique. I prefer to get the needlework done ...if I can...without the fabric already sewn on. Saves my stitches getting pulled. I worked on the Q for Quail block and the M for Mother block. The quail is finished. I kinda thought the M block was too, but looking at the picture I don't like all the space at the bottom edge. Children's names go there and I don't have any...so it's empty. I think the feather stitch is going to wrap around the bottom corner just a bit. OH and I forgot their FEET!

I spent one morning cutting all the pieces for this months 27 Geese in the Forest blocks. Boy, cutting take so much time and actually I lied. I haven't cut all the white triangles pieces. I need 84? or something each direction and I'm only up to 54 each. They are rectangles cut into triangles so you have to be careful to cut both directions to have them facing correctly.

I've also spent time doing another little clean out of the house in preparation for a move. I know I've mentioned moving before...I've wanted to move for quite a while out of this state. When is a total crap shoot. Long term estimate could be a year...short term could be 60 days! So we might as well get moving and do some work now. Up till now, I haven't mentioned anything about my hubby's job.

I normally don't talk about real life family issues anymore on the blog because it makes most people uncomfortable. Only a very few of you know that my husbands company filed for bankruptcy months back due to a CEO who played fast and loose with company money on the futures market and lost it all...stole is the word I use. Oh right except for the $74 million bonus (was it?) he split between himself and his company buddy last year. Because of this thieving bastard, an extremely profitable, successful company is no more, dissolved. He'll get his in court hopefully. Turns out it may have all been orchestrated by a competitor, which if it floats your boat, you can read about here (keep reading down the whole page). Might help to explain the high gas prices last summer. Screw the employees and their families...we want to put our competitors out of business. Lots of good employees will be laid off. Not exactly their fault...no one can take advantage of you if you don't put yourself in that situation. So we wait and plan for every eventuality we can think to happen.

We move under another branch of the company April 1st?, we think, and so far have no idea about anything. Who stays and who goes...IF we will have any benefits or what they will be, even what pay they will offer. Good news is that hubby will probably be one of the last to go due to his job in the company. But these people don't run a business, and don't want to. Are we having fun yet? I'm certainly not and I'm rather pissed over the whole thing. We're hoping for a quick sale to a good company or to find a good job somewhere else.

If you read all that, thanks for letting me rant. I may be a little more scarce for a while as we do some things around here to get the condo ready for sale. I'll be around and still quilting.

tumbler details......

SO lots questions about this quilt! It was, I think, the first bom offered from Pinwheels. I'm not sure how I found them, but they are at our quilt show every year. Bad news...it's about 3 years old maybe more. I do know that their fabulous 3rd bom "Cabin Fever"quilt is still being offered on their site. I didn't order that one since I hadn't finished this one and I only did 2 months of the 2nd one called Ping! I don't see any pattern offered on the site and I know they have some. I have another one made from scraps. SO give them a call and ask them about this quilt or about offering the pattern.

I actually love this quilt so I'm not sure why it sat for 3 years before getting done. I loved doing all the blocks and getting to do all sorts of patterns. They sell the acrylic template on the site and this one is about 12 inches. They also have a 7" and a tiny one.

Melanie asked about cutting the blocks. YES, you trim them to the correct size using the template, I kept mine uncut until now, just trimming them before I've sewn the rows together. They've been hanging from the wide end on skirt hangers for the whole time. I have most of the close-up block shots in my flickr album. Just click on the flickr box in the left column and go to the In Progress Set.

Also important.... I learned a trick quickly. When I first got the blocks I did exactly what they said to do and made my big square/rectangle. Then I started the second block and looked at the picture and wondered how they got the hourglass blocks centered?

Look at the dark hourglass block on the right..that was the first block. I realized I was going to cut all that extra fabric in the top corners. So the lighter hourglass above is the result of laying down the template and sewing just enough to extend past the template by 1/2" or so. As a result...I have 3 BIG ziplock bags of left over fabric for other projects!! They sent extra anyway, but I got LOTS left over and at $13 a yard, that's good!

tumbling...

I'm plugging away on my Taupe Tumblers and working to get totally caught up on all my bom's still. Okay so maybe I have too many open projects going at the moment. I'll finally admit that...and once these get completed I'm definitely going to have a less concurrent projects working at once. The old brain can't seem to multi-task as well as it used to anymore. *s

****Another blogger comment from Nancy...who is quite the good digger of Miller tidbits!!
"More info of the Miller's. Spencer Jr. on his WWI Draft registration card said his hair was "red". Google "Hattie Maria Ruggles genealogy" and you will find more. Found out that while T. Spencer was living in Chicago he was President of the Chicago Bicycle Club."***** Thanks Nancy again!

My Uncle years back did his mother's family (my grandmother's) all the way back to the 1300's and I have the whole book he made detailing all the lineage. It's quite interesting.

national quilting day...

Kim wanted to know how we spent it...so I can oblige with some details and pictures! See... I'm not just digging in old boxes and stores! I was sewing!! So on the actual day I got the last 5 blocks of these assembled and ironed.

These being my block of the month project with Homestead Hearth. I know I said I'd never order another bom program from them again, but these aren't the same as picking fabric for each applique part of a block. I figured a pieced program was safe enough. Simple, easy...4 blocks a month...easy as pie and so far so good. I had month one done, then month 3 arrived last week. SO back to work. I spent Friday cutting the pieces out and started sewing a few. Saturday I had the last 5 to assemble and got them done quickly before lunch. Now three months are done and I am way ahead of the game! These won't look like this either.... they are turned on point and alternated with a lovely brown.


I also am desperately trying to get the last pieces of the Four Seasons quilt done so I can move along to my new bom...Baskets of Life. I made a bargain to not start the new until I finished the old. So again, work like a dog to get finished. I have the fall bird done and now the fall house is done. Just two little sections to complete and assemble and then I'll get the whole top assembled and start quilting! Won't be too long as the fall branch is about 90% done now. Best of all I can move on with doing the Baskets! I love those and I'm feeling tense because 3 months have arrived and I haven't even started yet!

Once I had my last few Brownstone blocks done yesterday I pulled out my Tumbler blocks and stared at them. Then I just started putting them together. I have the top two rows sewn together and ready for some tiny applique on the ends...then the borders need to have some applique before going on. I goofed on one of the first blocks I made for this, and I'm in the process of re0doing the block. All this type fabric was totally new to me so I appliqued the flowers to the back of the fabric!! Has to be changed. It's working very well and I have just the center and stem to removed and re-locate. Then the next few rows will be ready to assemble! I hope to have it ready to quilt by the end of the week! I also would like to have all my blocks done for the month for Geese in the Forest...all 27 of them...all done by next weekend!

Happy sewing!!

hattie and spencer...

Oh Nancy has found out more about Spencer and Hattie! Thanks tons Nancy...especially in letting me know that Spencer's first name didn't start with a Y and instead a T for Thomas. Here's what Nancy left in the comments:

****I found a lot of info for Spencer and Hattie.
They were married on Jan 1, 1885.
Her maiden name was Hattie Maria Ruggles born in Moline, IL on June 6, 1858. Spencer was Thomas Spencer Miller born April 25, 1859 in Waukegan, IL. Even though they were both born in Illinois due their fathers occupations, their families were from Massachusetts. They had 3 children. There is so much more. Nancy *****

Then I plugged them into Google and follow the first link to find more.Their 3 kids were:

1. Marguerette Miller b: 10 Dec 1888...Massachusetts
2. Spencer J Miller b: 2 July 1891...Massachusetts
3. Hellen Miller b: Jan 1897...Massachusetts

I'll post more with the quilting stuff as I uncover it! Thanks Nancy for doing that and for sending on the right path to look!! I'm posting quilty stuff later today!! Never fear!!

new finds...

Hit the thrift/antique stores again yesterday to pick up a few blue jars for a fellow enthusiast and I was sent to a new store, thinking they might have the one I wanted...they didn't, but I did find a few things I couldn't pass up!

Finally found the small old tin I wanted! 4" x 6 1/2" and about 1 3/4" deep and PERFECT for small little pieces!

Then I found exactly what I've wanted for the kitchen counter ever since putting away the lighted church after Christmas. A little light for the counter top. It gives the kitchen such a nice glow at night.

I know quilting has been slim to none around this blog for the week, but I am working and getting some finishes done so next few post will be all quilting! Have a great weekend everyone!

my sweet letter

Oh I knew that I wasn't the only one who loved reading others old letters! I bought about 20 of them the next day too! It's so funny to read them. I also found some lovely old Christmas cards and a few neat postcards. The letter is from Hattie to Spencer and she refers to 5 years, so I think it's been a long engagement.

So the letter... you can almost read it in the pictures but I'll type it too.Mr. T.S. Miller
#11 to 23 S. Jefferson Street Chicago, IL

No. 26 West Street
Worcester Aug. 10, 1884

My Dear Spencer,
Father has invited me to go to church with him to-night: so I am going out to Piedmont Church. Your last few letters have talked so awfully of financial difficulties; I am beginning to fear. I wonder what I am going into.

If it is so hard to take care of one, how much more so will it be to care for two. We won't think of being married till about Christmas time. This will give you a month longer, and you won't have to feel that you must rush so dreadfully. I can't understand why your finances are thus. I've had not half the salary you've had. I have paid my board, clothed my self and paid all expenses and in addition have saved enough for my trousseau. This is why I can't understand the reason why, in all these five years. I can't see the need of feeling anxious at this late day-

Have two pretty suits - Full dress and half dress - best suit. You've common suits enough. Dress over-coat with a seal-skin collar to match your cap. Gloves, you will need several pairs. White of course; brown and the like. You should be getting things gradually, that is the way I am doing it.
**A nice warm comfortable winter over-coat*** (She squeezed in the side margin spaces)
A linen out-fit for one under set would be nice. Wish I was where I could get your underclothes made for you. I think you might get a shirt pattern and an A.G. Pattern cut, and then send them to me, then I might get the cloth and have them cut and made for you much less than you could get it done. Do you like this plan?

We can certainly save money if you have a good salary. Have you received a little book from me? In what condition did the forget-me-nots arrive?

Good bye dear,
Hattie

I typed it exactly as she wrote it. I love how they folded letters back then. The paper was folded and started on the side with the fold to the left. Then they either used the inside as two sheets, or turned it and wrote down the whole length, then to the back page...and the envelopes were so small!
I love how she ran out of room and had to write the last sentence along the side, then turned over the page and wrote her name upside down in the top margin.

So after reading this, then reading it to hubby about 4 times, I knew I was going back the next day. I was compelled. I HAD to find more letters. Did they get married after all? I went right back, dropped my purse on the floor between my feet, took off my sweater, and stood there for about 2 hours! I touched every note in that box and finally after I was almost to the back...I see..

Mrs. Spencer Miller...New Jersey. Postmarked June 3rd, 1908. My heart leap out of my chest and I grabbed that envelope!

And that was it. No letter inside...just the envelope!! I almost died! I looked again all through the back of the box. I knew I didn't miss anything. It just wasn't there. but I do at least know they got married. Since the weren't to marry until after Christmas... by 1908 they had been married 23 years. Good for them. The letter was mailed from Morcan Park, IL and on the back it has a Chicago postmark too. So maybe she was away visiting. Or maybe they moved to NJ and an old friend was writing to her.

I got letters from ladies inquiring about teaching jobs from about 1894 to 1905 or so going to the head of a school in NC. Letters from a soldier writing to his sweetheart about trying to get into a commissioned officer school, I think, and about how desperately he misses her. I'll take some pictures of the Christmas cards and post cards later.

losers and thrifting...

Okay, so I'm not really doing the "Loser" thing anymore. I've got way too much on my mind and I don't want to have to think "did I do my post?" but I'll try to keep up. I did weight myself...really just to see how much the cast iron iron weighed..but I stayed about the same. Sorry General, my hearts just not into it right now.

The other day I set off to the local antique hub to get a few things from the thrift stores. I was searching for blue glass jars...some filled with buttons, a heavy cast iron antique iron, some old wire metal baskets, and some older tin boxes...or newer. Just neat smallish sizes to keep projects. I was successful in finding some of my treasures!

Hit the jackpot with the blue jars. I could have bought 6 or 8 more but let's not get nuts. I know where they are, so I can always go back...these will more than do me for now. I almost jumped for joy seeing that tall one with the metal lid. I rarely see them that size...and that day I found two! One metal top... one glass! Notice how the tall one has more green in the coloration? I'll find buttons later, or thread spools, or whatever to put inside or just leave them to enjoy empty. I love both kinds of lids actually, but I am partial to the metal ones. I had no clue what metal that was until Libby mentioned the zinc lids. I just like the milk glass wedges in the top.

You can also see the cast iron antique iron I found. Good and heavy...about 5 pounds! What I plan to use it for is a weight to hold my doll quilts when I can't use a hoop but I need that pull for doing the rocking stitch. When I use it, I'll explain in a future post. I remember Lea using something called a Mighty Iron? in Japan and I thought this would work perfectly for just that.

I didn't find any baskets or tins but I have more places to check some other day. However, I did happen upon a stall that had a big box of old letters and postcards. Does anyone else love reading old letters? I stood there for about 15 minutes looking at different letters and I pulled out this one and read the first page LOVING it, so it was mine. $1 no problem. I didn't even pay attention to the postmark, but I knew it was old. Look at that handwriting!

I get home and sit down and it dawned on me 1984...there was no 2 cent stamp in 1984..OMG!! Could this be 1884!!! Look 1884! Does this bore anyone? Because I am fascinated by it. This letter is written from a young lady to her fiance 114 years ago! It blows my mind to hold something 114 years old in my hands.It's also hilarious! and completely in keeping with today at the same time. Well not the trousseau part, but the way she gently scolds him about his finances. I have more pictures and I'll write out the letter if it's something anyone else is interested in...you let me know. I've read it about 10 times! I even went back the second day to search that big shoe box for more letters from them! I'll just say I was sort of successful. You tell me if you want to hear more. I don't want to bore you with totally non quilty stuff. Have a good day sewing ladies!

Just one winner...

Sorry ladies, but there won't be another drawing for the Stack and Whack Dresden's. Marilyn's package is going out tomorrow with all the Dresdens...large and small. At MY urging, I told her to not even consider it being piggy to accept what she rightly won...first choice to decide what she wanted. We would never consider her piggy for taking her prize!

I only tossed out the option of maybe having a second drawing if the winner was one of the gals who had asked for just one OR the other size. I'm thrilled that these are going to be used and enjoyed by someone else. I was ready to bin them. I'll have to give second thought to my clean-ups from now on. Once again thanks so much for playing along!

Something else I forgot to share...the backing for the SLOL quilt! I always love how Crazy Mom Quilts does her backs with that strip of pieced fabric in the middle somewhere. SO when I picked out fabrics for the backing I took some that I had bought from Thousands of Bolts for just this purpose and ended up having this 15" or so missing in length. Perfect! Just the right size for a fancy strip.
Now some of you know that I had issues with Homestead Hearth on their inability to stay on time with sending out these monthly packages, but I never had problems with the packages themselves and they always sent more than enough fabric to make the blocks...waayyy more! I have 2 ziplocks full of leftover, unused fabric pieces. SO I sat down and started making blocks. Strip by strip I combined, with pieces I either didn't care to use, or had left over after cutting the size I needed! Sewed them all together and got a fabulous section to work!! The top is the blue plaid cotton and the bottom the red lighter plaid. I like how it turned out and it saved me cutting up another yard and half of cotton to get just that little section. It's a great idea!

hand quilting...

I love doing it, but after the "sewing elbow" got bad it didn't like me very much. Poor Cheddar Doll quilt sat patiently waiting.

Finally this last week I finished the borders and got the binding sewn. I even used some of the fancy new designs I learned from this book. Now on to the tumbler quilt...?What to do, what to do???

Perhaps this picture is a better view of the quilt? Geez, Pixel, that's just the way I wanted to take the picture.

We have a winner.....

I printed out all the comment sections and did the little "folding into bits" technique and hubby drew one of the slips for a winner....Marilyn YOU ARE THE LUCKY WINNER!!! If you will send me your snail mail address I'll get them all right out to you.Your poor slip got ripped being opened, but it's you! IF for some reason you don't want all of them, let me know that too! I'll keep the jar just as it is and pick again for the next person and ask that winner if they want the rest. We can just keep going down the line until they all end up in a nice home!

I'm so glad I asked about these. Thanks for playing along ladies!

can I just say...

WOW! I'm shocked. I honestly thought nobody would want these guys, so I'm happy to pass them along. So that anyone who comes by knows...I'll leave it open until Friday at noon and then put the names in a hat and have hubby draw out a name. IF the winner doesn't want all of them, I'll go to the second name drawn and see if you want the rest of them.

Now yesterday I started to get out my list and see what I had down to get done.... loads really to choose from. Well what do you do when you feel like doing none of them??? You make a new top!

I went through this book looking for the quilting design on this quilt. I'm about to finish another one and this will be hand quilted next, so I wondered how they quilted it way back when it was first made. It was so much smaller and the pictures shows that she just did small lines of stitches. Looks like she was practicing her quilting stitch. Hey, she was only 7 at the time!

Meanwhile, a few pages over was this wonderful top and I just started pulling fabrics! It took longer to pick just the right fabrics than to sew it together! I love how it seems that they had squares of color that they cut into 9 sections. See the 5 red squares and then the 4 others in another. The same with the pink squares. I tried to stay as close to the colors and choices as the original.

After I got the top done I decided the little triangle pin cushion wasn't working for me anymore, so I grabbed 2 fabrics from my Jan Patek scrap bag and made myself a little round puff. Much better!

free stuff...

Nope, it's not a give-away in the fun sense of the word, but it's free stuff all the same. I'm doing some cleaning up of the sewing room and getting rid of things I know I'll never use. Rather than just toss these I had the thought that maybe somewhere there was someone who might want them. Seriously you will not hurt my feelings if you don't want them...hey, I don't.

So we'll work it this way: if one person wants them...great! If more than one person wants them then I'll draw names and winner takes them. If you only want some of them, that's fine too and maybe we can divey them up!

These were made in the one and only class I ever took...Dresden pinwheels things made from doing the stack and cut method...So here's what I have: 10 completed Dresdens (above) with NO centers...8 1/4" wide from point to point....

And 2 packs of already cut wedges for the same size...10 Dresdens in each pack...for a total of 20 more Dresden circles.
6 smaller Dresdens 7 1/2" from point to point with green centers. They can easily be removed and changed.

Plus 8 pre-cut wedge bundles for 8 more smaller Dresdens.

I've already made 2 quilts with these things and I have no plans for any more, so if you want them they are yours FREE~! Here's how I set mine 4 years ago...see how long these have sat around?? Thanks ladies!

WOW! I'm shocked. I honestly thought nobody would want these guys, so I'm happy to pass them along. So that anyone who comes by knows...I'll leave it open until Friday at noon and then put the names in a hat and have hubby draw out a name. IF the winner doesn't want all of them, I'll go to the second name drawn and see if you want the rest of them.

FINALLY....

Here's she is...almost all done. The hard parts are done, just have to add the buttons to the lower half but I thought you all deserved a picture. Poor hubby's arm were dying!

Sweet Land of Liberty
59 x 82
pattern by Cheri Payne
everything else by ME!

I used an Aurifil thread, color #1318 that was shared to me a while back by Libby as a fabulous color that blends with everything. It's fantastic and is so easy to use for quilting. I did switch to a light off white for just a few areas. I left the picture really large so if you can't see the whole thing you can go in through flickr and view it all all sorts of sizes by clicking on the picture to the right under Just Completed!

Here's a couple close-ups. I don't worry about every stitch being perfect especially on quilts where I make up the quilting as I go along. I like the birds big goofy wing, and it covered the space!An easy graceful curve done up and down with a wide turn at the end.The checkerboard...it's not necessary to quilt every line.
I wasn't going to quilt the embroidery spaces but they puffed too much and had to be tamed, so I used light and meandered around the words.
The big star has...is it called wine glass? on the points, and meandering.
I loved every minute of doing this quilt and I'm loving the next ABC Quilt Sampler too. Please think about doing yours soon. I know so many of you got the bom kits and I even got a final one today which I didn't know was coming. I know big quilts like this look daunting but if you do them one block at a time, before you know it they are done! I'll finalize the last of the detailed blog posts soon. My arms are very tired after pushing and pulling this thing around so I'm saving the typing for later. Thanks for coming along while I muddled through doing this one!

Loser Monday...again?

Geez how fast these come up? I gained 1 pound but then the last 5 I lost were probably half water weight so it's not so bad. I'm over beating myself up about anything. Enough. So I promised a good soup recipe...this came from the best cooking blog called The Perfect Pantry. This soup is fantastic! I obviously use vegetable stock and I found a great pasta called Ditalini that works great for this soup.

Pasta E Fagiole

2Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
Pinch of Kosher salt
Ground pepper to taste
1 Turkish Bay Leaf
4 cups chicken stock ( homemade or low sodium) or vegetable stock
14 oz canned diced tomatoes with their juice
1 tbsp ketchup
15 oz canned cannellini beans
1/2 lb dried spaghetti, broken into pieces 3-4 inches long, or any STUBBY pasta
5 oz bag of baby spinach leaves, remove hard stems.

In stock pot over medium-high heat, melt butter with olive oil. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and saute until the vegetables are soft. Add the bay leaf, chicken stock, tomatoes and juice, ketchup and canellini beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the pasta and simmer for 10 minutes more stirring occasionally to keep the beans from sticking. Fish out the bay leaf. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the spinach, and stir to combine. As soon as the spinach wilts, the soup is ready.
(Note: Like many bean soups, this one improves with age. It will be delicious the first day and better on the second.)

I blogged about this soup here and the changes I made. Less pasta and a tad more liquid.

**BTW, I FINISHED the quilt...all done and waiting for a good pair of arms to hold it for a picture** WHOO HOO!!! Post to follow as soon as I have some pictures to post!

quilting machine...

In case you wondered where I am, I can be found right here...still working on getting "the monster" quilted...as it's now named. Boy is this ever a big heavy quilt. It's all those layers I think. I really need to do some piecing, but that involves switching machines and I'd just as soon finish before doing that, so I'm giving it one more full day of quilting to get it done.

To the right is my faithful companion, who stays right there all day with me to keep me company. Okay let's all cross our fingers and wish for me to finish today!

snow. sewing, and sanity....

All have returned to the household. Hubby was away at a conference since Friday morning and I hate him being gone. I'm not scared to be alone at all...it's not that. For some reason knowing that I can't get to him easily causes my anxiety to soar and I stay in a constant state of panic attack. It works the same when I' m away somewhere. It's stupid, but it's just what happens. Thanks to those special ladies who held my hand through it...you know who you are! He's safe and sound arriving very late last night after fighting through snow, ice, and rain to finally make it home 3 hours later than planned! Whew! Calming sanity.

On the LOSER front! A side effect to all that anxiety is that I have a nervous stomach and generally lose weight. I've been worried about hubby's company sale so last week when I totally forgot to post I had lost 3 pounds. I begged forgiveness from the Drill Sargent and I think I was forgiven?? Huh? But I knew I better post this Monday. Today, I'm down another 2 lbs from this weekends experience. I wouldn't recommend anxiety as a way to lose weight...seriously, but I'll take the side effects all the same. That's 5 pounds for the 2 weeks!

As, I'm sure you all know it SNOWED on the east coast! We got 3 days of rain first then finally last night it started with the ice and I thought we'd end up with an ice storm. Then everything stopped. When we woke up this morning it was all snow! Not much..maybe an inch. I know I've asked for it...but not while hubby's on the road passing ditched cars...szeesh! See that flooded street in the second picture? The construction guys had to stick one of those giant rolls in front to keep debris from getting into the sewer line. It never drained well before, so of course it doesn't drain at all now!It's all the way up to and COVERING our parking spots. Picture me...10PM, I realize that the water is about to go into hubby's car. I'm in my pj's, so I pull off my bathrobe and pull on my flannel pants, roll them up to my knees and stick on my socks and the oldest pair of tennis shoes I own. I tucked my nightgown into my pants and pulled on the thickest sweater I have, got my gloves and an umbrella and out I go to move his car! I must have looked lovely. I knew my feet would get wet but that was the COLDEST water I've ever felt and it was up to the bottom of my knee caps! Lordy, my feet stung and ached for about a minute. I backed out the car a tiny bit and circled around the empty spaces and moved his car, then trudged back to the door shivering, trying not to slip and fall on my sizable behind. I carried my dripping shoes up the stairs and stuck them right into the garbage!

Now I really admire those gals who love when their husbands leave and they sew for days. I thought that was my plan too. Turns out I can't concentrate on anything. I finally made myself pick one thing and got to work. I finished the second block in Gail Pan's free bom and sewed on the green borders. I'm liking this Christmas CW thing in the fabrics.

Then I got to work getting the next 2 ABC sampler blocks ready for sewing. I marked all the embroidery work to do before I stitch down the applique pieces. I like to do it that way rather than crease the fabrics that never seem to smooth out for me. So M, Q and R are marked and getting sewn while all their applique pieces are pre-turned and ready for sewing. NOP will be next. But first, today I'm doing some more work on the machine quilting of the SLOL quilt.

Hubby's in the den and I can finally relax and concentrate!