34 Months Until Debt Free

Roger and I are working diligently on becoming debt free.  We have 34 months left until everything is paid off including our mortgage.  We are so committed to getting this done.  As part of my commitment I am limiting myself to $20 per month to spend on quilting. 
Granted I don't need anything at this point in time.  I am sure that I have enough fabric in my stash to keep my sewing for several years.  Just a thought.........I wonder just how long I could go without buying any additional fabric?????.........scary thought to not buy any fabric.  But.....I do have a lot of fabric already purchased.  I learned just how much fabric I have in stash while making the pillowcases for Shriner's.  You really can't tell that I used any fabric from my stash and most of the fabric for the 128 pillowcases came from my stash!  So my goal now is to use what I have for projects and see how much I can depleat from my stash.
Until later....
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Binding Trick

Here is a tip that I come up with recently.  If your machine has a knee lift you can use it to hold your binding on a roll while you sew it onto a quilt.  It keeps the binding in check and doesn't wind up all over the floor and tangled up.

Give it a try, you'll love it.
Hope you have a great day quilting,
Shelia

Halloween Quilt

I finally got my halloween quilt on my bed.  My cat was sooooo happy to have her favorite quilt to sleep on.

I used the Turning 20 pattern years ago to make this from halloween fabrics that I had collected over the years.  I used the leftover scraps to make matching pillowcases.  It is queen size and so snuggly warm for the fall weather.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Pillowcases for Shriner's Hospital Greenville SC--Goal Accomplished and Then Some!!

I am so thrilled to announce that we have exceeded my original goal of making 100 pillowcases for the children of Shriner's Hospital here in Greenville.  We have 128 pillowcases!! 

Thanks to my mother, my bee girls and several of my quilt guild members for helping me accomplish this goal.  The children are going to be so thrilled when they reach into their Christmas stockings and pull out their own special pillowcase.   We have cases with Mickey Mouse, GI Joe, cats, dogs, ducks, baseball, football, hockey, soccer, mice, flowers, geometric designs and so many wonderful bright colors.  It is exciting to see them all.

Hope that you are enjoying the cool fall weather and spending some time quilting.
Happy quilting,
Shelia

Weigh In Time

I weighed on the morning of my surgery and today I stepped back on the scale and to my surprise I have lost 8 1/2 pounds.  YooWhoo!!!  It seemed impossible since everything I ate seemed to be high calorie, ice cream, milk shakes etc.  Oh well, I am tickled pink.  I am sleeping so much better and feel rested. 
I return to work tomorrow and it is going to be a full week. 
I got my president's quilt trimmed, the fabric washed, cut and pressed for the binding.  Hopefully sometime today I can sew the binding onto the quilt and begin whipping it down. 
Hope you have a great week of quilting.
Shelia

Life Is Good!

I finished quilting my president's quilt yesterday right before the bee girls came over to play. 

Now I am trimming up the top so I can put the binding on today.  YooHoo another UFO out of my pile.
I donated another UFO top to our guild's philanthropy last night.  It was a block of the month that I did in 1994 that I couldn't stand looking at any longer.  I just didn't like the quilt or colors that I used back then.  They are going to have it quilted and someone will really love getting it as their habitat for humanity quilt.  So I guess I got two projects out of my UFO pile yesterday.
The bee girls came last night and we had a blast working on projects.  I'm working on completing my cathedral window quilt so it can be in next years quilt show and out of my UFO pile.  It has been my travel project since 2000.  It has been all over the mainland United States, Canada, Hawaii and Carribean.  I have purchased fabrics everywhere for this project and incorporated them into the windows.  I will be glad to see it completed and take up another travel project. 
It is a beautiful day here today, cool breezes with leaves falling off of the trees.  Fall is definately in the air. 
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Quilting Away

Nineteen days post-op and I am feeling so much better.  It is amazing how much better you feel when you actually get some sleep and your body has rejuvenation time. 
 I am still working on quilting my President's quilt. 

I love freehand quilting.  I think it allows me more freedom in my quilting.  I hope to get this top finished before the weekend so I can put another project into the longarm.  My bee girls are coming over on Friday night to do "bee" so hopefully I will have this done by then.  I am over half finished right now if I don't decide to go back and put more quilting in.   Just pondering as I go.
I will be returning to work on Monday.  I'm ready.  These extra few days have really made a difference in how I feel.  Now back to completing our goals.  Roger and I are working to get our house and land paid off in the next 3 1/2 years.  If we stick to our plan and both work diligently we can continue to help out both sets of our parents and pay off our  place.  We are both excited.  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you set a goal and work diligently to accomplish the goal.  You know the time of 45 months will pass by no matter what you do, or you can set a goal, work extra hours and accomplish a very meaningful goal.  "You can do anything you set your mind to" has always been my saying, it is sooooooo true.
Hope you have some great goals you are working toward at this time and I pray you are able to keep dedicated to accomplishing those goals.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Blessed

The Lord has truly blessed me being part of such a talented group of ladies in my Bee group.  Our bee took home a total of 13 ribbons at the quilt show.  Deb Fenton won 3 First Place Ribbons and the Senior Walking Group Award, Suzanne DiCarlo won 1 Second Place Ribbon and 2 Third Place Ribbons, Susan Perham won 1 Third Place Ribbon and Best Machine Quilting Ribbon, Debbie Clarke won 2 First Place Ribbons and 1 Second Place Ribbon and I won 1 Second Place Rbbon for my miniature quilt. 

WOW!  I am so blessed to rub elbows with all of the talent in the group. 

Our quilt show was wonderful thanks to all of the hard work of our Chairman Suzanne DiCarlo and all of her committees.  GREAT JOB LADIES!!

Today I plan on getting some cleaning done in my sewing room.

Happy Quilting,

Shelia

Fall Is In The Air

Fall is definately in the air today.  Cooler temperatures.  Boy do my hot flashes like that.
Got a few fall things put out today.  Dinning room looks like it is ready for the fall weather.

The quilt show was beautiful today.  We have so many talented ladies in our guild.  They are counting the viewer's choice ballots and I can't wait to see who won ribbons tomorrow.  Don't forget if you get a chance to come check out the show in Fountain Inn.  12p-4p Sunday.  You won't be disappointed.
Today has been the best day I've had since the surgery.  I was a little tired when I returned but Susan and I had a great time selling YLI thread in the booth today.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia