Retreat Weekend

The first full weekend in November and in March are our Retreat Weekends at Pine Mountain State Park.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to go for the last two years for both weekends.  But this year had a snag. 


My Dear Sweet Hubby had major back surgery the first week of October.  He was doing great, then the end of the 3rd week of October he wound up with an infection.  Thanks to our awesome God, it was not staff, strep or MRSA.  It was just a common infection that most of us carry in our bodies.  He was on IV antibiotics until the 19th and everything is clear and he is good to go. 


So with all of this going on I had to cancel almost all of my retreat.  I did manage to go up on Saturday and spend the day with my quilting friends and work on a few projects.
Here are some pics from retreat - enjoy!



Teresa at the restaurant

 

  

 

Wanda and bag she made

 



Happy Karen!

Cindy waving Hi!

 

 

 

 

 

 






Maggie working diligently on Pineapple Blossom

Me working on Celtic Solstice

My Celtic Solstice blocks.



Kay's Pineapple Blossom

Sassy busy as a bee!                         Julie hard at it.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

My First Quilt on Lucey McGillicuddy

Since my training was postpones, I had a friend that has a longarm come down and show me some things about using my Lucey on Saturday.


I learned how to use the laser and the pantographs and was able to quilt my first quilt.  Yippee!!!  It was a challenge to say the least as this is the first time I have ever used a longarm other than playing with them at the quilt shows.


I am going to need lots of practice to get this right.  There are a lot of errors in this one but overall for my first quilt I am pleased.  Here are a few pics.



This is where I was putting the binding on the top to be hand stitched down on the back.

I have also been working on Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice.  This one has been in progress for a while and I am hoping to get a lot done before the new mystery comes out.

And this is my sweet Jake snoozing, he is a pretty good boy.  He thinks he is a lap dog and has to have his snuggle time in my lap every morning. lol.



Happy Stitching Everyone!

Update On Quilting Room and Lucey

It's been a while since I last posted.  Lots has been going on.

First off I did complete some of the items on the list below.

1.  Get lights, design wall and curtain rod up in quilting room. - Lights are up and working.  Curtain rod and curtains are up.  Still no design wall.

2.  Finish putting all fabric away on shelves. - 95% Complete.

3.  Purchase another shelve for storage. - Complete and filled up .

4.  Get desk moved out of quilting room. - This has been done.

With all of this done I was able to have Lucey McGillicuddy delivered at the end of September. 

Poor Dear Hubby had another major back surgery on the 3rd of October so Lucey was in boxes until after we got him home. 

We had a kid that helps out around the house help me set her up. 

She is working great. I have only practiced a little on her as poor Hubby got an infection at the bottom of his incision and had to go back into the hospital for 5 days.  Luckily it was a common one that most of us carry and wasn't MRSA, Staff or Strep.  He is on IV antibiotics for two and a half more weeks but doing great.

Because of all of this I had to postpone my training on Lucey until December.  It was supposed to be this past weekend.  Luckily I have a friend that has a long arm and she is going to come and show me some things so I can be practicing before training.

I had a birthday in September and Hubby got me the perfect cake.  He is definitely a keeper.

September Goals

I am going to try to start keeping a list of goals that I want to complete for the month.  It seems to help others so I'm giving it a try. 

I hope I can keep these goals and make some much needed progress.

1.  Get lights, design wall and curtain rod up in quilting room.

2.  Finish putting all fabric away on shelves.

3.  Purchase another shelve for storage.

4.  Get desk moved out of quilting room.

If I can accomplish these by the 3rd week of the month then I can have my long arm delivered and get it set up.

This is an APQS Lucey

mine will be called  "Lucey Mcgillicuddy"

Once all that is done then I can hopefully finish a quilt top for the shelter that we are helping.


Say a prayer please that all gets completed.  It's sometimes hard to get everything done when you work full-time and while things are still coming in from the vegetable garden.


Happy Stitching Everyone!
Anna

Making Progress

I'm slowly but surely making progress on my quilt room.  All the painting is done!!!  I'm ready for hubby to put up my fluorescent lights and then I can install the baseboard trim and the curtain rod over the shelves.


I have already started unpacking boxes and containers.  I still need to purchase a shelving unit and move a cabinet in there, then we should be all set for Lucey to arrive.  I anticipate that I should have her by the last week in September if not before.  I want everything put away when she gets here so all we have to do is set her up.


I'm not going to know how to act having everything in its own place and not have to dig through storage totes to find what I need. :)


Happy Stitching !
Anna

Happy Dance Time!



I'm doing the happy dance today.  I just put a deposit down on my very own APQS Lucey!  I can't wait till she gets here.  Got to get my room finished up soon so I have somewhere to put her.  I have the curtains to put up over the shelving and just have to finish up my painting then I can put all my stuff that (I'm keeping that is) back in there.  Then we will be ready to rock and roll.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Anna

Pillowcases for Children's Hospital

Every year our guild makes pillowcases for Children's Hospital.  One of our members graciously volunteered to bring in 200 kits for them so we could sew them up.  At our July meeting she had 100 there and will have the other 100 at the August meeting.


I grabbed a 2 pack. Those are complete and I have cut about 10 more and finished 3 of those.  I am going to start cutting kits for them so when I need them all I have to do is grab a kit and put it together.


Here are a few that I have completed.

Happy Stitching,

Anna

Peaches and the Garden

After work last night  I went home and started peeling this basket of peaches. 

I made the peach cobbler below for supper. YUM!!!  Only thing missing was ice cream.

Then I sliced the rest of them and put them in the freezer for use this winter.  I ended up with 7 quart bags. 

I also went to the garden and picked okra, sweet peppers and jalapeno peppers.  Hubby wants me to fry some okra and green tomatoes and I will put the peppers in the freezer for later use.

Our tomatoes have done great this year.  I have canned 40 quarts so far and we have given lots away.  One of our friends that we gave some to has canned 11 quarts from the first bunch we gave them and not sure how many they have gotten out of this last bunch. 

This is just a few of the 40 quarts I have put up.

I have also put okra, squash and zucchini in the freezer for this winter. Oh and we have canned 14 quarts of green beans.  They didn't do so good so we planted another row and are waiting on them to get ready. Hopefully they will do good and we can get around another 35 to 42 quarts put up.  We have plenty from last year but always try to put up as much as possible in case we have a year that things do not do well. 

I hope to get some sewing in tonight.  That's been slow going with all the canning going on.

Happy Stitching !

Anna







My First Time Flying

My Great Uncle passed away in Corpus Christi, TX 2 weeks ago.  He was my Grandfather's half brother.  So my 84 year old Mom was bound and determined to go out for the funeral that was being held at Houston National Cemetery.   So I get on the first airplane ride I have ever taken to go with her to Houston because she was not going by herself. 

It was not as bad as I thought it would be but I asked God to get us there and back safely and he did just that as I knew he would. 

Uncle Jr retired as a Lt. Coronel from the Army so he had full military honors.  Mom has always had a hard time with the 21 gun salute and taps.  I thought she was going to jump off the bench when they started firing the guns.  She is jumpy anyway.  All in all it was a good trip under the circumstances and we got to spend some time with our family.

My Mom (redhead) and her Aunt

My Great Aunt and my cousins

Do I want to fly again?  Maybe but not anytime soon.

Happy Stitching!

Anna

To Do List

I have so much to do it's not even funny.  But is it all on hold until next week as I am flying with my Mother to Houston for the funeral of my Great Uncle.  He was the last one living on my Grandfathers side.  He was 94 and fought at the Battle of Normandy. 


This will be my first time ever flying and I'm not looking forward to it but Mom wants to go and this could be the last time she sees any of them so I'm biting the bullet and trusting in God to handle it. 


When we get back I will be finishing the priming and painting of my quilt room down stairs.  Pics are the progress so far.


First all of this had to be moved from the room so it was put in the living area downstairs. 

 The ceiling was a dark brown paneling and the walls were a blue flowery paneling.  Not anymore.

You can still see some of the blue paneling where I haven't primed yet in the pic above.

You ask why am I doing this besides it being so dark in that room.  Hubby has said "YES" to a long arm quilting machine. YIPPEE!!!  I'm looking at the APQS Lucey.  Any comments about this machine or brand good or bad would be greatly appreciated. 

I will post more pics after I have the room all finished.

Happy Stitching!

Anna

 

 

 

Another Baby Quilt

My Niece is expecting her second child.  This one will be another boy and they are naming him Camden Tate.  She wanted a deer themed quilt for him so I searched the web to find the fabric line she wanted, purchased it and made the quilt.  She loved it!





This is the front.

My beautiful Niece Jennifer!

 

This is the back.

Its like having two quilts in one. :)

With this one finished I hope to cut a piano key border for another small quilt for a little one that has been very sick.  Once that one is finished I will get back to quilting the shelter quilts that I have been working on.



On a different note, I would like to ask for prayers for my sweet Mother.  She is 84 and is having a stress test this week.  Please pray for good results.  Thanks in advance!!!!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Update on Jake

Our new puppy Jake isn't so much of a puppy now.  He is somewhere between 9 and 10 months old now and weighs about 45 lbs.  He still thinks he is a lap dog and loves to snuggle up on you.

He loves to play and will entertain his self by throwing his toys and catching them or running after them when he misses them.  He also loves to play tug of war and keep away, although it is him keeping the toys away from us.  He will bring it to us to play and then run with it when we reach for it LOL.

He is a pretty good pup all in all.



New Emergency Shelter

February - We have a new Emergency Shelter in our town!  We have desperately needed one.  It is open from 5 pm to 9 am and the homeless can go stay there to get out of the weather.  They also house victims of  house fires, etc.  They get a place to sleep and a hot meal.  They also have a TV and games that they can play.



A friend of mine from church put out a call on Facebook that the shelter needed food and supplies as they had a family of 4 coming to stay for the weekend that had their utilities turned off.  When they found out about it, it was too late to get them turned back on so they had to wait until the following Monday.  This was in addition to the 3 regulars they have been having.



Some from our church took food and clothing, etc that the shelter had requested.  Hubby and I took some things also and talked to the people running it.  They are set up to sleep 10 people with cots and bedding.



Of course when I saw the cots the first thing I thought was that they needed quilts on them.  So what did I do?  I got on Facebook messenger and contacted some of my quilting buddies to see if we could get enough to volunteer to help make quilts for them.  I have had a few respond so far and am going to check with our Guild members to see if anyone wants to help.  We will be sewing at one of my friends offices and I hope we can get several to come help.  



Two of us have already started cutting strips and blocks to use in these quilts.  I have already started assembling blocks.  I am using 2.5" strips and sewing them to a 10" foundation to make "Heart String Blocks".  I started this last night and have 10 made so far. I will need 80 for a twin size quilt so I better get on the ball.



Below are a few pics from what has been started.

I several more made now.  I started these back in February.

Happy Stitching Everyone!!

5/16/16 - Update on the Quilts - we have about 8 or 10 tops completes and have 2 or 3 quilted. I have 1 that is halfway finished being quilted and another one sandwiched ready to quilt when the first one is finished.



"Vanilla Fields" Progress

I have been making some progress on the Vanilla Fields quilt.  Here is where it is at as of Sunday, Jan 31st.  In this pic I have block pieces ready to sew together and in the second pic these need to be cut into half square triangles.

As of Monday, February 1st it turned into this:  

and on Tuesday I got all the middle section sewed together and over the weekend finished the blocks by putting the wing triangles on.

Happy Stitching Everyone!