This is what I worked on this past weekend at Pat's house. I had a blast. We get along so well and it is 2 hours from home so it is a real escape for me. The first time we got together for a weekend was the first winter after Raychel got sick. I went out on a Thursday night and on Friday we sewed for most of the day and when I woke up on Saturday morning I never got out of my pajama pants. Mike, my husband, could not believe that I was at someone elses home and not getting dressed. So one of our rules is - one of the days we are together the most we can do is brush our teeth. So I went to her house on Friday and did not come home till today so Sunday was the day of just brushing my teeth. We laugh so hard that our sides hurt. I told her we would never fit in at a quilting retreat with our rules.

This quilt is called "Banana Split". It turned out real cute but it is a pattern that waste a lot of fabric and you don't realize it until you have cut all your fabric and you have to size your blocks from a size 6-1/4 down to 5-1/2. I was going to give it to Charlee (adopted 7 month granddaughter) but after all the work I'm not sure if I want to pass it onto her. Her Mom does not seem to appreciate the quilts but LOVES the polar fleece blankets. Go figure. I will have to think this one thru.

















Not sure yet about New Years Eve. We were thinking about going to some friends home in Ft Dodge Iowa which is 3 hours south of us but Mike starts his cardiac rehab tomorrow and we are not sure if we want to travel on Wednesday. I guess we will figure it out tomorrow. We did buy scallops and prawns in case we stay home.

Till later.

I love last minute trips. Pat, my sister in law, called and asked me to pack up my machine and what ever I want to sew and drive out to her place (about 2 hours from home) and sew the next 2 days. What a way to end Christmas and of course I said "Well Yes if you have to force me". Her sister, Sharon, is going to come for the day and sew also.

A little nervous about leaving Mike and Raychel but I need a caretaker mental break. I feel bad leaving Mike because I know all he will do is sit on the couch and watch tv and that is not good for his heart to just sit around. Cardiac rehab is going to be good for him to jump start the exercising. Raychel is just not doing that well but I have been saying that for 2-1/2 years. Her two cousins from out of town are going to go over to her apartment today and just hang out all day with her. This will be so good for her.

I started making Charlee's quilt so I will be taking that project with me to work on. That one is a lot of sewing and a lot of cutting the 6-1/4" blocks down to a 5-1/2" block. I had to read the directions a few times to make sure but yes that is what I have to do. With my new rotary cutter it will go quick.

Till Later

So I know it is really hard to see but the dark part of the star is my Dad's flannel shirt that he was wearing the day he passed away. I know I blogged about this a long time ago but there was a issue. The iron had fallen and burned the binding before I even got a chance to give it to my Mom. I took the binding off and finally after a long time I got it put back on and hurried to hand sew the binding on today so I could give it to her today for Christmas. She truly liked it and said that my little brother could keep it for the first year. My Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary was yesterday, Christmas Eve, and maybe this year was hard time for her. Was sad that she didn't want it. Maybe my timing was not right. I was really hoping that she would love it as much as I did. I will talk to her tomorrow about it, I need to know.

Am I the only one that can't believe that it will be Christmas Eve in 2 days. It just seems to be happening faster then I am ready. With Mike and I both on unemployment this winter it will be a Christmas more about the meaning of Christmas than gifts. Thank God my children are adults and understand what is happening in this world.

This unemployment thing can end up being a very productive time for me when it comes to spending time in my sewing room. Not a bad thing.

Check out these 2 blog candy giveaways. Either one would be a great win but to win both that would be sweet. Check them out.

Raychel is back in the hospital with chest pain and all over pain. She is down to 95 pounds and this is a dangerous low for someone who is 5'9. I will work on hand sewing the binding that I have not been able to get myself to finish. God I hate hand sewing. Also we are waiting on a snow storm. It will be are third scare this week and have had no more than a dusting. This one will probably hit us hard thou.

This is my new rotary cutter and I love it. I have shoulder pain from a rollover accident and I cut out an entire quilt with no shoulder pain at all. I don't know about everyone else but with my other cutter I have to put so much strength and bending forward to work it and with this one it is like cutting thru butter. Best purchase I have made since my quilting frame.

I have decided on the next quilt I want to make. It is called the banana split. I bought the pattern at a quilt show this past summer and fell in love with it. So while I was at that quilt show I bought the 32 fat quarters needed at a great buy. I am not big on pastels but I do like the bright colors with the pastels. I am excited to make this quilt, something new. I am giving it to my granddaughter, Charlee, (yes a girl) who was born in May. I'm a little behind. You can see my new rotary cutter in the back ground I will post pictures about that wonderful new item I got.

Well I guess one should never wish for something they really don't want. Our receptionist at work gets laid off every year for the winter months. I am an accountant for a road construction company and in Minnesota we can't get to the roads under all that snow. So I have always been jealous of her for getting laid off and have always thought of all the sewing I would do if I didn't have to get up and go to work. Well yesterday I got laid off. I will be returning to work on April 1st. This is going to be financially difficult. Mike was laid off this winter also but has been working for his company now and then and we just report those earnings to unemployment. He was suppose to go out of town this week but he had a heart attack last Wednesday and just came home from the hospital last night. He won't be going anywhere the rest of the week. I never thought this economy would ever touch me but I guess it did. I work for a family owned business and it is a Mom (Dad just died last Feb) and 3 kids. One of the brothers and the sister are my bosses and they do not want me to go for no one knows my job. It is all about the Mom not thinking her kids have worked hard enough and she thinks by removing me they will have to work harder. The daughter offered to go on unemployment for me but the Mom said no. So much hate and greed.

I guess I will be posting a lot of finished quilts in the future.

I have had other readers say comments about Raychel, my daughter, and thought I would just say that if anyone is interested I do have a website that friends and family can read to follow her progress. If anyone is wanting to check it out the website is:

www.caringbridge.org and then there is an area on the left side that you will enter her name, raychelsherman, all one word. Check it out you will realize what an amazing daughter I have and see what a hard journey she has traveled.

I just cannot believe that I have received my first reward. How exciting I was not sure my blog was looked at much. I received this from the The Bitchy Sticher, the moment I started reading her blog I knew this was one I would read as long as she wrote. She cracks me up besides being so real about everything in her life and I love that she swears. I don't think that I will have any problems sending on this award to some bloggers that I truly enjoy reading.

So here are the bloggers that I would love to forward this blog award onto:

First is Amy from where ever their work takes them. This is a woman that travels the country for her and her husbands work and manages to make beautiful quilts in her very nice 5th wheel. Talk about a wonderful sewing room. Can you imagine the wonderful quilt shop opportunities she comes across?

Second is Jean from Council Bluffs Iowa. I love reading her blog and I love that she reads mine. She makes beautiful quilts and I just like looking thru her pictures, she inspires me.

Third is Christina I love the colors this woman chooses. She does tutorials that I always enjoy going thru. Again this is one that really inspires me to go after the colors that I love and to put them all together.

Forth is Mary Her blog she is well followed and for good reason. She is a woman with a big heart and does quilts for Heartstring Project. What a wonderful gift she offers. She also is kind enough to have a website where you can go and download her projects with great tutorials on how to. The big plus is she is from Minneapolis and Coon Rapids where I live is a suburb to that great city.

Fifth is John, I wish he was my husband or should I say I wish my husband sewed like John. Talk about being able to put colors together. You can tell by his blog that he loves to quilt and sew and he loves his family.

I always thought it would be fun to get an award but never new it would be this exciting.

I saw this rotary cutter at a quilt show in November. I tried it and loved it but was not wanting to pay $20 for a rotary cutter. Well back in March I had a roll over accident in my truck and had put my arms up over my head when I started to roll so protect my head. When I did this I hurt my right shoulder and over the last 9 months it has gotten worse. I tried to do some cutting last night and I am so sore this morning. I decided that the $20 would have been worth it. I went on www.overstock.com and got it for $22 and that includes shipping. It is right/left hand specific and if I remember right I didn't have to put a lot of pressure down to cut the fabric with this one. Just thought I would share this wonderful item.


Oh by the way it is called the Martelli Ergo 2000 rotary cutter.

First I want to share this cd with everyone else. It is a great program for a great bargain $39.00. I have designed 5 different quilts that I would love to do. I can scan in fabrics and download the newest fabrics out there. I guess it is a cheaper version of EQ. When my Sister in Law was here last weekend she played with it a lot. Check it out.








My wall hanging is up. I put in in my living room instead of my entryway. It was very exciting to put it up so I can have others enjoy it hopefully as much as I do.






This is a quilt I threw together about 1-1/2 years ago. It was the first quilt I put on my frame and machine quilted. I used it to practice on and did a pretty bad job. I figured I would bind it and have it for the grandson when he comes, it is very soft flannel. He will like it, it has cowboys on it.

I have so much to post about so I might as well jump in. First of my sister in law, Pat, and I had a blast. She arrived on Friday afternoon and we got right to it. I had my sewing room already and her table setup. I worked on my first wall hanging that I want to hang in my entryway. All I have to do is the binding. I have decided since this is a wall hanging I am going to use my machine to sew the binding down. I had promised that I would from this point on I would only be hand sewing the binding down. Pat was the one that convinced me that I need to hand sew the binding. I figure it being a wall hanging no one will see the back. So here it is:

I really had fun making it. It is the very first thing that I have made just for me. I will make myself a quilt this winter.

This one I have posted before but this is the one that I am struggling to hand sew the binding. It is not coming easily.

This is one I made for a very close friend who moved from Minnesota to Phoenix. She was very excited about decorating her house in the southwest decorations. I wanted her to have something of me in her new home. I miss her dearly. The first picture is not the best of picture (to close up) but you get the idea.

Till Later

OK so yesterday went just fine. I was concerned have ten people in my home would be tight and it was but everyone was very cozy. And actually I had 2 extra people show up but it worked. Everything came together right about the same time. We had dinner around 3:00 (we usually do it around 5:00) because my Mom has trouble driving in the dark and she refused to let anyone drive her. When everyone left I started doing dishes and looked up at the clock and it was only 5:00. Kind of nice to have the whole night to just clean up and relax. When one starts at 6:00am preparing and cleaning and everyone sits down to eat and I finally sit down and some were done. It was kind of a let down, thou everyone did continue to sit at the table and visit. A lot of work for it to be done in 30 minutes. Oh well 3 weeks ago we were thinking that Raychel was going to have to stay in the hospital for 1 month and that was where we were going to have dinner. We were together and that was what matter. Started the turkey soup last night, yum.

Pat should be here in about 4 hours and I have everything ready for our sewing orgie (that is what Mike calls it). Last year I think one day I spent the whole day in my pj pants. Pat has to do her hair and makeup everyday, not be that would be time away from the sewing machine. I have 2 different projects I am going to work on and I think I will get through them. I won't have the machine quilted but I will have them ready.

It's turkey day tomorrow and I can't wait. It was going to be just Mike and I and the kids and then Grandma decided she would join us. Then I found out that my two older brothers didn't have anywhere to go so they will be joining us. Then my one brother's roommate, Mary, is also going to come and his daughter. Thank God I bought a 23lb turkey.

Friday is the best day of all. Pat, my sister in law, will be traveling 2 hours to my house to spend 3 days. We will do nothing but eat and sew and I just can't wait. Her and I do this about 4 times from the weekend of Thanksgiving till it is warm. She is my inspiration. With her here is my chance to just think of nothing but sewing and laughing, which we do a lot of. I will post on Sunday what we got done.

Check out the blog candy drawing. This would be such a fun one to win.

I made a promise to myself that the quilt I finished for my great niece Ellie I would hand sew the binding down. In the past I have always done the whole process on the sewing machine and I know that is wrong but I hate hand sewing. I have to get this done and am finding every reason to do something else. I promise I promise that it will be done by hand.

Yesterday I got the call from Raychel saying that she begged the doctors to let her go home and they finally agreed. I think she needed to get out and have a mental break. She now has to depend on herself for strength to get herself hooked up and get the tube feeding running. She is going to need positive thoughts sent her way.

I have gotten my wall hanging already to start sewing and get it hung on the wall. I already know what I am going to start on next and that is going to be a nice bright quilt for Charlee.

I need to start back on my list of things I wanted to get done around the house. I really wish that might would realize that this is our list and not just mine. He is funny.

Till Later

It amazes me when quilters work so hard on their work and then give them away from their blogs by doing a drawing. This is such a wonderful thing. I came across this giveaway - old red barn and what a wonderful give away. I would love to win one of these beautiful quilts.

Raychel had her feeding tube put in on Wednesday. They began the feeding yesterday and it went ok. Today she has had a very rough day. The feedings usually make most people very ill. Hopefully by Tuesday it will have passed.

Mike goes out of town tomorrow just for 2 days so I will have a little time to sew and really looking forward to it. I am hoping to have something to show by Sunday.

Raychel got her feeding tube put back in. She weighed in at 100 pounds and this is just to thin. The doctors have finally decided to start working as a team so hopefully they will be able to pull her thru this. I am not so sure that the feeding tube is going to work since she did have this before and didn't put on weight. The plan also is for her to come home to our home. She cannot be home alone for a while. I am sure that this is not going to go over well. Hope the weekend will be better.

Till later

Mike took Raychel back to the hospital. She weighed in at 102 fully clothed. When she went in to have her feeding tube put in she weighed 118 and it seems that it didn't work. She called me last night to tell me that her liver and kidney functions came back not good. I am not sure what the numbers were so I am anxious to talk to the doctors this morning. Mike and I have had such fears since last week and I am very afraid that our fears are being confirmed. I'm not really sure how much longer she can continue like this. We have begged and begged the medical profession to help and they don't want to clean up someone else mistakes. For anyone that might be reading this Raychel had gastric bypass that has gone wrong.

On a quilting note there is a Sewing Expo here in Minneapolis this weekend and my SIL, Pat is coming in with her sister and friend and I think I am going to sneak away and go for awhile. Every so often you just have to take a break.

Till Later.

These are the batiks I have decided on and have already started cutting out the pieces. It will look so nice in my entry way, I cannot wait to have it done.

Anniversary give away

This morning while reading some of my favorite blogs I came across a great giveaway check out seekatiesew. I won a give away last week and it was so exciting.

I always heard people talking about blogging and I never could understand why one would. Well after coming across a woman's blog and seeing where that could take me and show me some of the most beautiful quilts and meeting wonderful people I now get it. Not knowing anyone personally that quilts this has been such a wonderful experience and a true learning tool.

Till Later

I have made a decision and that is I am going to put the quilt I am making for Kris away for right now. Her birthday is in May so I have time.

I have this pattern and I want to use batiks on it. I have never done a wall hanging and this will be my first one to work on. I will have to stop at the store to get the batiks on my way home tonight. I have never worked with batiks before and I hear that it is very nice material to work with. It is a pattern that I will be able to cut out quickly and put together quickly, hopefully done before the end of the weekend.

Raychel is not well and will probably be back in the hospital before the weekend is over. A month ago she had a severe liver damage from taking Tylenol Cold and Flu for 2 days. This happened from being so malnourished and her body not being able to flush it thru and in turn did liver damage. She is really trying to hold off from going. I will have to work around her needs.

I was able to work a little on my sister in laws quilt last night but I am having issues. This is my first quilt that I have no interested in. I feel so disappointed in myself. I don't know if it is because it is all red and creams or if it is the pattern. I think my real issue is the other fabrics that I already have plans for that I am so excited to get started on. I think Kris knows I am working on one for her so I really need to keep on going. Mike will be out of town for 3 days this week so I will work on it while he is gone.

Till Later

Spent the day either working on my daughters laptop or at her apartment making dinner. She is a pretty ill woman and has a feeding tube so when she has the craving to eat I usually try to accommodate her.

Tomorrow it is suppose to be cold and snow flurries. I am excited that means that I can get the beef stew going in the morning and then heading to the sewing room. This will be my kind of day. I don't really care for the cold but it is my reason to hide in the sewing room.

Till Later

back pain

I have been battling a low back pain for 4 weeks now and it really has put a damper on my being able to sit long enough to sit at my machine and sew. I am not a big tv buff since the remote has never left my husbands hand. Today I am going in to have a shot of something into my lower back. The nurse that did my referral said she had it done a 1-1/2 years ago and she has had no pain since. I am so hoping this works.

I am hoping that by Sunday I should be able to post Kris's quilt all pieced together. This is my goal for the week.

I have been trying to get my sewing room organized and it is little by little happening. I have to get my family to understand that my sewing room is not the spare room for things to go to when they don't know what to do with it.

Till Later

Well here it is Friday (finally) and it is Mike's 55th birthday. We are making taco's and other things to go along with it and about 15 of his favorite friends. It should be a good time. When I decided to do it and after inviting everyone I think had second thoughts about having it after working all day. Then I thought it thru again and realized that this will give me 2 full days to do as I please. I will be back on task with my list. I will be working on cleaning the basement which is my sewing room. I have decided that I want to paint the walls but need to un-lutter first.



I am hoping to work on Kris's quilt this weekend also, can't work all weekend.

I started working on my sewing room today trying to get things under control. I actually have many things I want to get done and I have the list. I am not pushing myself that I have to get these things done right now. It is a long list and I know that once it is all done I will feel so much better but it is going to take time. Having Raychel in the hospital or taking care of her for the last 2-1/2 years has really effected the home front. She is worth it and I have been telling myself that things will get better and I will take control again. I think this is my first true weekend home in a long long time and I am loving it.

I did get Ellie's quilt reloaded so that I can fix the screw up in the beginning of the machine quilting. I have 1 quilt top that needs to be done, I have one that was quilted and some ripping out and needs to be redone and then there is my Dad's memory quilt that I need to put the binding on. Going thru my stuff I have realized that I don't need to buy any more books or magazines. I also have found material that I forgot I had, I need to get it out of the bags and onto a shelf so I won't forget I have it.

I love material, but everyone does right?

Till later

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday, what a disappointment to find out it is only Thursday. I really want it to be Friday. Raychel has been in the hospital since Monday. She has an infection in the area the feeding tube is coming out of her abdomen. She also had a cold so she was taking Tylenol Cold and Flu which she is not suppose to take because of her liver problems. When she was admitted they checked her liver enzymes and it shows that there has been some severe damage. It is so sad she is only 29 and it just does not stop for her.

On Saturday Mike and I are planning on clearing out the basement so I can reclaim my sewing room, how exciting. This will make a dent in the list I have made.

Till Later

Well these are the blocks I have decided on for Kris's quilt. I was suppose to have 2-1/2" squares not half square triangles. So I search and this is what I have come up with. I have a lot of different barn red prints so think it is going to look very nice.

Two weeks ago we took our motor home out to our sister-in-law, Pat, for a celebration of her husband, my husband's brother's passing away. We took the motor home because Raychel had not been doing well and it was a 2-1/2 hour drive. That evening when we left we had a belt brake and ended up using AAA to haul the motor home back to Pats. We finally got out there yesterday to work on it and after Mike putting in new spark plugs, new belt, new spark plug wires, oil change it still did not work. This morning he realized that we now have a cracked cylinder head. This is a very expensive fix. Pat said we can leave it out there for the winter if we need to.

Out of all of this mess I got to spend the afternoon with Pat going to quilt shops in her area. I am so proud of myself, I did not make a single purchase, even thou I really did come across some great deals and beautiful fabrics. I have decide that I really need to get thru the material I already have. Mike will be going on unemployment for the winter with the season coming to an end. I really need to watch my pennies this winter. I won't be watching pennies because Mike is laid off but with the economy the way it is heading I feel the need to be financially responsible. Sometimes I hate being a grownup.

I only have a few hours left of this weekend and I am heading down to my sewing room to finish ripping out thread from Ellie's quilt.

Well I can't believe that it is October 2nd, where has the time gone. On Tuesday I drove to my sister in laws in Willmar, about a 2 hour drive west, to go to a quilting guild meeting that she belongs to. I have been thinking that I would like to join a group but was not sure what they were all about. Her group has 142 people, that is huge. It was fun they had 3 different stations setup that you could go to and learn something different. She said that she really enjoys going and that she has learned so much from all the other quilters. I will look into finding one that is closer to home.

Last Saturday I went to Raychel's to hang out and put here new dining room table and chairs together. Well sitting on the floor all that time really hurt my lower back. I have been to the chiropractor twice this week and will be returning on Friday. I need this to pass, I don't do well be held down from doing things. Hopefully today will be a better day.

Till Later

I have to say I have not had a quilt top on my frame since May. I got my bobbins threaded and then threaded the machine and started going. Well of course it started jamming up and then I got the tension fixed and then my thread started breaking. I changed the needle, had it in wrong. What ever I did worked and now it is fine. I had to leave to go to the grocery store but I will be back to it soon.

Fall in Minnesota can be such a wonderful time of year. It can be 85 like it was on Thursday and 60 today. Great day to put on a pot of chili. By this time of year I am pretty tired of food on the grill so making something on the stove or in the oven is so comforting.

Till Later.
Cathy

I got the quilt loaded and then realized that I only have 2 bags of batting. One a twin size and the other a double size. I only need 50 x 63, I really hate to waste the batting but really don't feel like going out tomorrow. I stopped at Walmart tonight on my way home (Joann's was not open) and the didn't have the batting I wanted. I have gotten very spoiled by the 100% cotton batting so that other stuff just feels like it would not be very soft.

My intentions are to get up in the morning and do some cleaning then hit the sewing room. Mike is wanting to clean the garage and he can I have no problems with that as long as he does not think I am going to be a part of his plans.

So I have decided that I need to post a picture of Ellie's quilt top. I think by posting it will hold me responsible to get it quilted.

I found a pattern that is going to work for Kris's quilt. It was a picture of a quilt I found in a magazine that had no other information except the name, it was an article on antique quilts. I searched and searched and finally found a larger picture and have figured out how to make it. It is called "Ocean Waves". All I could find out about it is that it is a antique quilt and does not look like there is a lot of information out there on it. I did find another quilt out there that was called the same, but was not the same quilt. I will post a picture on my progress on this one. I am excited to get going on it. We have Ronny's funeral on Saturday but I should have all day Sunday or at least some of the day. I can't wait.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Well my creative juices are flowing. I wanted to make my sister in law a quilt. Her home is very country and her living room is cream and barn red. So I am going to make her a cream and barn red. I found the pattern cut all my half square triangles and realized that it was squares not half square triangles. So now I am looking everywhere for a pattern that is mostly half square triangles. This is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. I will find one thou. The advantage of this happening I have been seeing a lot of patterns that I do love and am already thinking about the next 15 quilts.

Well no quilting but had a weekend away. Raychel went home Thursday and I spent the night with her. She did pretty good. I think being home will get her up on her feet a little quicker. Mike and I were leaving Friday morning to go to Fairfield Iowa for a bike rally. Pat called and said that Ron was not going to make it thru the day. We left Minneapolis and drove to Willmar. We stayed there for about an hour and then took off. We made it to Des Moines Iowa around 10pm we were pretty wiped out so we decided to get a room there. Saturday morning we got up and headed to Fairfield. As we were pulling into town we got the call that the show had been canceled due to rain. They had gotten around 6" of rain the night before and Dave Mason was stuck in Chicago in horrible weather and was not going to make it. We got the call this afternoon that Ron had passed away, it is so sad to lose someone that is so dear to one. I love getting home after being gone all weekend.

till later

Here it is Wednesday and my poor Raychel is still in the hospital. Her whole belly started sticking out last night and so of course they are checking it out. Would hate to send her home with a possible leak. They did a small bowel follow thru and we should know more later. They will be doing xrays through out the night. Hopefully it is just a lot of air that is having trouble moving. If everything is ok she will be coming home on Friday.

I am not sure what I am going to do this weekend. My plans are to go with Mike this weekend. I really want to go see Dawn and Gene, but I will have to wait and see.

Ok I feel like this is becoming a blog for everything else besides quilting and that might just be the way it is for right now.

Raychel is not doing well and I'm really not that surprised. Surgeries have never been easy for her. The doctors are not sure right now what actually is going on. She is only getting the feeding tube formula and only her pills are going by mouth. They switched everything over to oral yesterday. She also is have a lot of pain issues but that also is not a surprise. With her being on pain meds for 2-1/2 years they just don't work like they would for someone else. They tell me when someones is very malnurished and dehydrated that can cause a lot of pain by making the muscles contract and spasm. We are hoping that this will help all those issues.

Never got Ellie's quilt loaded and it probably won't happen tonight.

I talked to Dawn and she is going this weekend. I talked to my Mom and she is off all weekend so she said that she can take care of Raychel while I am gone. I really hope that this works out I would love to see Dawn. With them living in Ft Dodge Iowa and us in Minneapolis it is hard for us to get together. It usually ends up being twice a year.


Till Later

Well did not get to the quilting. Mike wanted to go out to see Jessica and Aaron's new place. They have been in their new home since last Sunday and she let him know that this was not acceptable. She is funny. They really do have a beautiful home.

Went in saw Raychel in the afternoon, she is hurting and it seemed to be getting worse. The nurse explained to her that this is normal as she moves around her body needs to get use to it just like working out. Sounds like she is going to come home today, Mike will go get her. She is wanting to go home to her apartment and I am not sure that she will be ok. We asked that she come to our home and Grandma said she could go there for a couple of days. I guess there is nothing like being in your own bed.

Might be able to get some sewing in this week after work. Mike works down at the State line Rally on Saturday and I will be going with. Dawn and Gene will be working that show also and it will be so wonderful to see them. It is a 6 hour drive but it will be worth the company. It also will be nice to get away from home and just hang out and not run between the two girls homes.

Till Later

As much as I love my weekends Sundays can be a sad day. The end is near and another week of work. I am hoping to go see Raychel early so I can get home and sew.

My intentions are to get Ellie's quilt loaded and started. When I have machine quilted other quilts in the past it is always the anxiety of, am I going to do a good job? I feel I am good at the piecing part and the fabric choices it is that final step. I think a lot of my problem is I want to be so much better than I am. I know that practice, practice, practice is what is going to make me better but my time is short. I really can't wait until winter when I can take more time off work and really spend some real quality time in my sewing room. My fear is Mike is planning a trip to Arizona that I am not aware of yet.

Till Later

Raychel is back in her old room, this is a much more comfortable room. The surgeon saw no need for I.C.U. and I am glad. She has two incisions not sure why will know more tomorrow when the surgeon comes in.

Tomorrow is suppose to rain all day and Raychel has a lot of visitors coming. Mike and I got all the upstairs cleaning done so I think I will load Ellie's quilt. I am not going to get comfortable loading the quilt frame unless I start doing it and I have 3 quilt tops that need to be done. I think my goal is going to be no no more working on new quilts until I get those 3 machine quilted. It really is not that bad of an idea.

Until later

Raychel's surgery went well. The surgeon said no more surgery the risks outweigh the benefits. We are hoping after a couple of months with the feeding tube she is going to start feeling better. They moved her into intensive care to keep a close eye on her due to all the complications she has had in the past.

Hoping if I don't get home to late I will be able to get some sewing done in the morning, but of course I have to clean house first.

Well no surgery today, they were not able to coordinate the surgeon, g.i. doc and the operating room so it will be tomorrow at 1:30. This actually will work out better Mike is off until next Thursday and I will be off for the weekend.

I am hoping to load the quilt for Ellie. She was born in April and I should really get it done. I picked up the backing today at the quilt shop by work. I still am not real comfortable loading the quilt and then it is the actual machine quilting that I get nervous about. I really need to get out of the meandering that I am always doing. What I need to do is get some muslin and start practicing. I ordered some pantographs and I would like to practice with them or with the stencils that I have purchased. But for right now I will get this quilt loaded and meander it and be done and try to do some practicing before I have to get the next one loaded.

Well I did not get to sew last weekend and I am so disappointed.

I spent all day Saturday with Raychel and it was wonderful. She was able to go shopping, which she loves and then I made her favorite dinner. It was good to see her eat. I left on Sunday to go home to sew and ended up helping Jess and Aaron move into their new place and then ended up bringing Jaxson home with me. I still am not use to having a toddler in the house. Monday came and I helped Jess and Aaron continue to move.

Raychel ended back in the hospital on Monday which I new was going to happen sooner than later. Tomorrow they will be putting in her feeding tube. It will not be like a normal procedure thou for her. I was told this morning that it will done as a operation and will take about 3 hours. They are hoping over the next 2 months of getting nutrition she will get some strength and be able to handle surgery at that time. They have decided that they are going to remove the entire stomach, something they have been trying to avoid but the time has come.

I am excited for this weekend to get here. Mike is not out of town so that means my children will not be so demanding of my time. Of course we will be spending a lot of time at the hospital but it will be both of us which makes it easier to handle. I am hoping to squeeze in some sewing time, maybe early morning.

It is 65 degrees at 4:00 in the afternoon, I think Fall is on it way.

I am so happy that this 3 day weekend is finally here. I was going to run away to my sister in laws for 2 days and do nothing but go horse back riding and sew. Unfortunately Raychel is not doing well and I decided that it is not worth going far away from home when i don't know if she is going to end up in the hospital or not. With it being Mike and I that she depends on it is to hard to leave.

I have decided that I am going to make this a family / me weekend. I am going to take Raychel grocery shopping, if she is up to it and then we are going to go buy her a kitchen table. We are going to go back to her apartment and just hang out and watch movies and I am going to spend the night. She gets pretty isolated when she is sick and not wanting to get out and hang out with friends so I think it is going to be good to get her to do things.

Mike will be home on Sunday afternoon and will probably come home and hit the couch. I am hoping to load a quilt on the frame so I can get it machine quilted. It will nice to get it to my great niece, she is already 4 months and I should have finished this months ago. Mike has to work on Monday evening and then Tuesday and Thursday all at the Republican Convention in St Paul. He is not very thrilled about these shows but that is part of the job.

Well Labor Day weekend is almost here and have been trying to decide what to do. Pat and I made plans for me to come out on Friday right after work and stay until Sunday. We were going to go horse back riding and then sew all afternoon of course. Well I had to decide to stay home and that was such a difficult decision to make. I wanted to go out there so bad but Raychel is not feeling well at all and I don't feel comfortable leaving when she is like this. She is going to have to have the feeding tube put in. I think she is going to end up in the hospital the next few days and that sucks for her and of course I am feeling selfish. I hate it when I act like that she is the one suffering.

My plans for Friday are I am going to come home and try to clean out the basement and try to get things organized. With everything from the front bedroom going into the basement to make room for Justin I want the basement to be organized since that also is my sewing room. I want to take as much as possible to the dump on Saturday morning and put the twin bed down in the area that
Mike use to have his studio in. I think this will make a nice little area for Raychel. This thou is going to take away from where Pat will sleep when she comes for our quilting weekends. I am also going to put the futon in Mikes studio so she could always stay in there. With Rod being sick I am not sure that she will make it in this winter, I will have to go to her. I like her to come in thou so she can use the quilting frame.

Mike came home last night and will be leaving tomorrow. I love it when he comes home. It is funny we seem to talk more when we are on the phone then we do face to face. He is always so tired when he comes in so I try to let him sit on the couch and flip thru channels. We are getting cable put back in next week and he is happy because he will have on demand back, more to watch. Sounds like he is going to be in town next week with the republican convention there is a lot of work.

Till later

As I was hoping I would finished and delivered Raychel's quilt and for once I delivered. She loved it as I was thinking she would. I had been making quilts for others and I think her and Justin are feeling left out. I did start one for Kris and as soon as that is done I am going to start on one for Justins. I will start looking for fabric now, of course.

I was going to go with Mike this weekend but now that Dawn won't be going due to the motorcycle accident I will be staying home. This will give me a big jump on Kris's quilt. I was thinking the other day that I am not going to make any plans to go anywhere this winter. Mike was making it sound like he would like to go to Karen and Daves and if we were able to get airline tickets at a good price I would be will to go for a Wednesday thru Monday. I want to spend sometime this winter at home.

Well no babysitting this weekend, but having to move Justin back home. He and his roommate had a falling out and he feels it would be best to move out. His choice. He is going to have to move into the front bedroom which is going to be some work for me. This is the room where Raychel would sleep when she would stay over so I have to clean it out to make room for his stuff. He wanted to move back into his old room but Mike had made that a studio and he has had to move his studio multiple times over the last 10 years and I won't do that to him. Justin will have to do with what is offered to him. I am going to have to figure out something for Raychel when she stays over.

Mike comes home today and has to leave again on Sunday. I am hoping that on Sunday I will be able to sew. I was going to go with him on Labor Day weekend but with Dawn and Gene getting in the motorcycle accident she won't be going so I am going to stay home. This will give me more days to get the house back in some kind of order. It also will give me time to sew.

I have Raychel's quilt ready to be sandwiched. I was going to put it on the quilt frame but I have changed my idea on how I am going to quilt it. I do thou have 2 other quilt tops that I do need to get loaded and done and I am hoping that this is something I can do next weekend. I really want to work on Kris's quilt I know that she is going to love it.

Later

Well I did not get any quilting done. Boy it is not easy being 49 and taking care of 3 children 2 under the age of 18 months. I do love those kids thou.

Mike is leaving on Thursday and will be gone until the next Wednesday so I will get the 3 quilts done that need to be loaded and quilted. It will be nice to have nothing hanging out there to be finished. I know a lot of quilters who are fine with that but it bugs me knowing that I have unfinished work. I really am not a anal person.

Mike has been gone since Friday and is on his way home. Just found out that he has to go into the studio tonight, bummer. I thought my days of being home alone for days on end were over but I guess on the other had I should be happy he is working and loving his job.

Going with Jess tonight to look at a house, they only have 2 weeks before they have to be out of Karen and Dave's house. Karen is not talking to me right now but her birthday is on Thursday so I am going to send her a card and some money to spend on herself. I'm sure she will talk to me then.

For now.

I have decided that I need to get a new laptop and I am hopping with this new purchase I will spend more time blogging. I want a place where I can write about my projects that I am working on and also what is going on with me and my family.

I like many, have 3 quilts right now that need to be loaded on my quilt frame and be quilted. My daughter, Raychel, has been waiting patiently for her black and white quilt that I have to finish. Of course I have started on one for my sister in law. Raychel has been very ill for 2-1/2 years and my family has been very kind to me. This particular sister in law has really been there for me. She is my little brother, John's, wife and she is a good person. I have made their three kids all quilts and I think she needs one also.

I am babysitting this weekend for 3 grand kids that I have adopted since my friends moving to Arizona and 3 grand kids needing a backup grandma. With my own kids being adults I have forgotten what it is like to have a 3 month old and 18 month old and a 10 year old. Don't get me wrong I love it. I will probably not get my own grand kids so this is just fine.

I am hoping to get home early tomorrow so I can get at least my daughters quilt loaded. I think that is the thing that holds me back the most. I bought the backing and it was the material that is 108" wide so that will hopefully make it easier to load.

Raychel just found out that if things don't improve over the next week surgery is going to happen a lot quicker than we thought. She will be going back to HCMC and that makes me frustrated. I hate that place.

Jaxsons quilt

I made this quilt for Jaxsons birthing present. He was born back on Feb. 16 2007

Jaxsons baby quilt

Up close of Jaxson's quilt

Callies quilt

I had decided that I wanted to make my brother, Johns, kids each a blanket and give it to them on their birthday. This is Callies and when she saw it she hugged me and said that she loved me. That is big coming from a 8 year old.

up close of Patricks quilt

This is the quilt I made for my nephew Patrick. I made one for him and his two sisters.

Patricks birthday quilt

This is Patricks birthday quilt. He really did like it even thou he does not look like it with him sitting at his computer.

Dads quilt

I made this quilt out of the shirt my Dad was wearing the day he died. It only took me 2 years before I could even cut into it and then to decide what to do with it. Probably one of the hardest quilts I have made

Jessica's Wedding present

This is the quilt I made for Jessica and Aaron for their wedding. She is not into quilts that much so I am not sure how much she liked it. I thought it turned out nice.

Cal's quilt

This is the quilt I made for Cal. He helped me out so much when Raychel was first ill and then again in October when she had her surgery and I had no vacation left. This was the only way that I could pay him back and I think he really liked it.