Cleaning Up and Bee Time

I've been sorting my 2 1/2 inch strip bin into color families. Looks lots better now. Some of the shorter pieces I'm going to go ahead and cut into 2 1/2 inch squares and put them in their bin.





The sorting is going to take some time to complete. My friend Debbie commented that I needed to get started with these and make a 1600 quilt......I didn't know what that was until I googled it. Sounds like a plan to me and it is an interesting technique. Maybe the blue and yellow strips could become a 1600 quilt.

Last night at bee was a lot of fun at Sue's house. Always good to have some laughs with friends, especially after a crazy day.

Remember the hershey kisses fabric I gave fat quarter's to each of my bee girls after my trip to Hershey PA?.....well friend Debbie F. made us each a wall hanging from some of the chocolate fabric...very sweet.



Happy Quilting on this final day of 2011, I'm off to work in the ER.
Shelia

The Reason I Don't Like To Take Medications

If you know me you know that I don't like to take medications that affect my ability to maintain a clear mind ie., pain medications. And this is one of the reasons why...






This is what is left of my buckwheat neck roll I have been using for my headache and back pain. I thought I put it into the microwave for 2 minutes......evidently I hit a few more zeros than that and almost burnt my house down. Good thing I was in the quilt studio and smelled the smoke quickly and had a fire extinguisher handy. Now to explain this to Roger. No more headache med for me!! Took many things on my plate right now and I need to be clear headed to keep up. My head is just going to have to deal with it and move on!
Thank you Lord for keeping us safe today.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Out Of Control

Sometimes you just have to admit that something is out of control.......so here it is....my confession........
my bin of 2 1/2 inch strips ARE OUT OF CONTROL.....they are taking over like the andromeda strain.....if you remember that movie then you are getting old...hehehe.



See what I mean......so I have to do something with all these strips. Pull out the Bonnie Hunter and Jelly Roll Books and lets find something to make from this fabric.


You know you have to use it up because fabric is just too expensive to throw these strips away. I have so many beautiful fabrics in this overflowing bin.......overflowing.....you mean volcanic eruption don't you!

Looking back over 2011 I see so many times that we have pieced beautiful things from scraps of fabric. So when life gives you scraps....make a quilt.

Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Merry Christmas On This Twelveth Day Of Cristrmas

Our beautiful Christmas Tree.


Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. On this wonderful Christmas Day my true love gave to me...a spinpad cover for my IPAD 2. Interesting cover which serves as a stand, works with the smart cover and give you a handle on the back of the IPAD. Truely unique item. I love it.





And on this Christmas Day I gave my true love the two gun cleaning and repair videos that he wanted.



On this day our Lord and Savior was born in Bethlehem. Thank you Lord for our salvation and all of the blessings you give us each day. Thank you for gift of wonderful family and friends. Help us each day to realize all of the things we have to be thankful for. Remind us to have a givers heart. Remind us to spend more time with those we love and doing the things we love to do.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Shelia & Roger

On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas

On this eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....A new machine quilting book by Judy Woodworth. I took a quilting class from Judy while I was at MQS in Overland Park, Kansas in 2010. She is such a sweet lady and I learned so much from her class.


And on this eleventh day of Christmas I gave my true love.....his favorite nuts, cashews.


Now it's time to get things ready to snuggle down tonight to await Santa's arrival. Merry Christmas everyone........maybe a few minutes for quilting today???? Not for me it is off to work 12 hours in the emergency room today. Family comes tomorrow for a late lunch, many things to get done prior to their arrival. Until then....
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

On The Tenth Day Of Christmas

On this tenth day of Christmas I just have to laugh. Roger and I have been married a long time and even think alike. Our tenth presents attest to this.
.........on the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....a new pair of bedroom slippers to match my new robe.


and on this tenth day of Christmas I gave my true love..... a new pair of bedroom slippers to match his new robe.


So you see why I am laughing. We both had each other bedroom slippers for the tenth present. What a hoot.

Another blessing today......my headache is finally gone!! I've been sleeping most of the night and day today from the medicine but whatever, it finally worked. A wonderful tenth day of Christmas.

Now to get prepared for Christmas dinner on Sunday. I work in the ER tomorrow 12 hours so I need to get a lot of planning done today, but still a little groggy.

Happy Quilting,
Shelia

On This Ninth Day Of Christmas

On this ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me....(boy this is a long song).....A new pink bathrobe.  I guess we both had the same idea that we needed new bathrobes.  Our old ones were almost 10 years old.  This thing is sooooooooo soft and warm.  My cat jumped into my lap and stopped in her tracks as she felt the softness.  You could see the envy in her eyes and she started to knead.

 And on this ninth day of Christmas I gave my true love.....The Tim Tebow book "Through My Eyes".  I also sent this to our oldest son Roger Jr. for Christmas as they are both Tebow fans.  I thought it would be a good thing they could read and talk about together.

Have a great day quilting......or preparing for Santa to come this weekend.
Shelia

On This Eighth Day Of Christmas

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..... a wireless keypad to use with my IPAD....WOW!!


And on this eighth day of Christmas I gave my true love.....a Home Depot gift card......he just loves that place!



Today was Uncle Virgil's funeral at the Veterans Cemetery in Anderson. Really nice service. Taps gets me everytime. The honor guard 21 gun salute and flag ceremony was so touching.

Take some time for quilting today.
Shelia

On The Seventh Day Of Christmas

Amazing how fast time is passing.  So on this Seventh Day Of Christmas my true love gave to me...... A beautiful 2 yard piece of batik fabric, a coffee mug and a tea towel which reads....."I may not be perfect.....but parts of me are excellent".  What a hoot!!!!



 And on this seventh day of Christmas I gave my true love a new robe.  It is soooooooo soft.   Maybe I can borrow it sometime........that is if the cat doesn't find it first.

Now off to finish some last minute details for the funeral and get my dad a hair cut. 

I plan on doing some destressing in my quilt room this evening.  Maybe some cleaning, maybe not, who knows what might be going on in this room.  I now have wonderful Josh Groban Christmas music playing on my IPAD and new boom box that I received.  Wonderful music that I know Uncle Virgil would be singing right along with me. 

Many Blessings,

Shelia

On The Sixth Day Of Christmas

On this sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..... A new quilting book for machine embroidery.  He didn't realize that I don't have a embroidery machine.....yet......maybe an idea........hehehe.

And on this sixth day of Christmas I gave my true love..... some gun magazines he's been thinking of subscribing to.

I'm off to work today as family is finishing up funeral plans for later this week.  Trying to keep my mind busy.  Today is Roger's first Monday off with his new schedule.  He will be getting new tires for our Grand-daughter Haley's car and finishing up Roger III's rear-end repair on his mustang.  Guess it doesn't sound like too much of a day off for him.
Get some quilting in today,
Shelia

A Solem Fifth Day of Christmas

On this fifth day of Christmas we are reminded how precious those we love are to us.  Yesterday we lost my precious uncle Virgil, my dad's baby brother.  He was a precious christian man and I know he is with my grandmother, grandfather and his brother Don at this time.  What a joyous reunion at this time of year.  It is a reminder of how we should make sure we tell those we love how much they mean to use each and every day as we know not when God will call us to be with him.  But as uncle Virgil would say.....o.k. girl what's next.....enough said.

On this fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me....  A beautiful batik jelly roll of 40 different fabrics, they are gorgeous.

And on this fifth day of Christmas I gave my true love.....his favorite cologne.  Obsession for men.

I'll end this post with my favorite scripture...

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understandings.  In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.   Proverbs 3:5-6

Many blessings,

Shelia

On This Fourth Day Of Christmas

The fourth day of Christmas is here and my true love gave to me.....
"Jelly Roll Quilt Magic" book.  Wonderful patterns in here.  Can't wait to try some fun stuff.

And on this fourth day of Christmas I have my true love a gift card to Lowe's.....which he has already removed from the sleeve.....guess he is ready to use it.

Off to work so got to run,
Hope you get some quilting in today.
Shelia

On This Third Day Of Christmas

On this third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...... A wonderful Jelly Roll of bright jewel toned fabric.

And on this third day of Christmas I gave my true love.....The beginning of a wonderful movie night together.  Three Movies and a voucher to make popcorn and enjoy the evening together.   (I think I am really the recepient of this gift....hehehehe)  We love spending this time together.

Last night I also attempted again to load EQ6 onto my new computer, I called the tech support line who helped me load the program.  But today it states it can't open the file.......grrrrrrrrr.........

Got a few more presents to wrap and get under the tree.  Then off to rest, trying to get rid of a headache and prepare for the weekend working.  I have so much on my list of To Do's but today I am going to have to rest.......think this 2 week long headache is stress, but I am soooooooo over this thing.  So doc says rest......so gona try that.

Happy Quilting,

Shelia

On The Second Day Of Christmas

I really think I like this twelve days of Christmas.  I really needed this uplift daily.

So....on this second Day of Christmas my true love gave to me..... a wonderful Taste of Home slow cooker cookbook.  I love the taste of home magazine ever since the first issue many years ago and recently have been using my slow cooker more and more, so this was a wonderful thing for Roger to have chosen.

Now on this second Day of Christmas I gave my true love.....Yaktrax Pro for his shoes.  Yes I want to keep my honey safe as he thrashes through the ice and snow this winter.  These you can keep in your pocket and put on your boots as you walk out into the winter weather.  (got me a pair for my shoes also as walking across parking lots or having to walk to work at the hospital during ice storms is one of the most treaturous events).  Don't really want to have to use these, but now we have them if needed.

I hope that you are beginning to get into the spirit of Christmas with all of the hussle and bussle going on right now.  Take a few minutes to enjoy the season and the blessings each of us have at this time.  

And of course I hope you get some time to quilt today.  I just visited Bonnie Hunter's blog and saw the cute little mug rug she pieced from her scraps.  I did some mug rugs recently as I was quilting another quilt in the long arm.  I like to put extra blocks and fat quarters either beside or below the quilt and use up the extra batting that is with the quilt I am doing.  It gives me alot of little quilted items that I can make into zippered bags, mug rugs etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Happy Quilting,

Shelia

On The First Day Of Christmas

Roger and I are doing the 12 days of Christmas this year.  It has been fun finding little things to give for each day, some little, some bigger gifts. 

So.....On The First Day Of Christmas my true love gave to me...

 A boombox to use in my quilting studio with my IPAD 2.  YIPPIE!!

Now on this first day of Christmas I gave my true love...

A gun book he has been wanting.  He was thrilled.

Christmas blessings everyone......don't forget to get some quilting in when you can.
Shelia

Quilting Friends Are The Best Friends

I know most quilters will say that they have great quilting friends, but I am so blessed to have a wonderful group of friends that I regularly get together with to quilt.

Last week was such a stressful week and adding in a quick trip to Florida to check on Roger's mother was the back breaker. My precious friends knowing how stressed I was offered to work on some pillowcases for me, they knew I needed to get them done by this week for the children at Shriner's. Suzanne offered to come by and pick up the fabric I had purchased for the cases and the bee group would work on them while I was away. These girls are unbelievable! Suzanne's sister in law Michelle here visiting from Wisconsin herself pieced 25 pillowcases!!! The bee pieced a total of 91 pillowcases for the children, bringing the total pieced for the children to125. So HUGE THANKS and tremendous blessings go out to Suzanne, Susan, Sue, Debbie, Gina, Dave, Michelle, Betty. Youball are angels of mercy for your assistance in this project. We will be giving the children their christmas stockings and pillowcases this Friday the 16th.
Below is a picture of some of the cases on my ironing table.















Now you see why I say I am truly a blessed woman.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Suwanee Valley Quilt Shop

This quilt shop is on the way to Roger's moms house, it's about 30 minutes from her house. It's a unique stor where seven ladies who loved quilting have joined together to open a shop. They have put a lot of time and thought into making this place a great stop for quilters. It is not in a heavily populated city, far from it. It is in a quaint one stop light town. But traffic to the shop is steady. I've been there before when buses of ladies came from the lower part of the state for a day trip. It is well worth the drive.


The shop is composed of two buildings, both jistoric coke bottling buildings. In one is the main quilt shop and cafe and the other is their classroom, longarm quilting, candy shop and antique sewing machines and repairs.


You can see through the christmas room out into the little cafe. They serve a lunch menu of things likensoup and sandwiches and to die for desserts.


One half of the classroom.


The book room.


Part of one of the fabric rooms.


The longarm room


Cute cat quilt hanging in one of the hallways.


Christmas tree quilt outside of the holiday fabric room


One hallway is covered both sides with notions


Beautiful manatee pillow on a display chair.


Another fabric room


Love, love, love the bathroom door.


Their banner quilt at the register.


Holiday fabric room has all of the different holiday fabrics.


Now this is Florida.....pink flamingos!





One room in the antique section.


More antique room.


I liked this room divider, can see quilts hanging over the rails in my room.....need to add this to my "to do" list.


A unique part of this shop is Herb, an african grey parrot. I first met him when I kept hearing a cat meow. I looked everywhere for that cat. The cage was covered and it looked just like a quilt draped over something. Then one of the ladies, "hush herb, you are not getting out". Then I knew just what I had been hearing. They also have a cat and the bird is always immitating the cat. Ever since that first meeting I have had to talk to Herb when I visit.


An antique crazy quilt framed.


More of the crazy quilt. I'm not one who will probably make a crazy quilt, but I sure admire the talent of those who do.

Next is a quilt that I made for my mother in law Alberta using the BQ pattern. This pattern lets you use those large focus and novelty prints. she loves roosters so I pulled every rooster and chicken fabric from my stash to make her quilt.


A close up of the BQ block. Love how it frames the focus fabric.


Looking at the label, yes Susan I made a label...hehehe. I can't believe I made this in 2007 for her Christmas present, boy times flies!


Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Location:Trenton, Florida