There is a moment when......

Been working on getting the Bees finished up.

And I have to say. I really love the way it turned out.

There is a moment, when you finish quilting on the machine and you are by all standards finished with the quilt.  It can stand along now, even without the binding really.

That incredible moment is when you take the quilt off the frame and see it the way it will look.

It is at that moment I fall in love with the quilt for real.

What's the Buzz?

I spent the weekend working on bees. 

I love paper piecing.  And I love these bees. 

So I decided to make nine of them, just because I love bees.  And because the quilt just seemed like it might need nine bees. 














After I made all nine, I put them on the design wall and thought I should have made twelve.  Oh well.  Nine it is!  LOL.



I had a Quilt Meeting tonight, not modern, more of a traditional bent.  But a lot of people there are doing modern and we may be hijacking the meeting!  LOL. 





These faces say Mom, we love you more than life itself....because you have your hand on the dog bone jar.

Happy Momma’s Day to All

I feel like I dropped out of life for a while......I had some issues with back and neck pain.  That is so hard to deal with.  Intrinsic in everything you do, every move you make; it is difficult to diagnose and get rid of.  I can’t say I feel great, but I feel better.

And I have the Iceland/Loch ness/StoneHenge trip coming up so I want to be able to hike and backpack around for those weeks as well.  I can’t wait for Sawyer to grow up and help his Grandma with her hiking gear!  Although the way that boy eats, we will have to double our luggage weight just with food!

Happy Mother’s Day to all whether you are a mom to a two or four footed creature.  My own mother refused to ever wish me a Happy Mother’s Day  saying I was not her mother.   But I have always felt it was a day to celebrate ALL mothers, whoever they mothered.  So I always make sure Carrie knows I think she is a wonderful mother to that baby.

McGee and Chloe

For 13 years I was mother to dogs and kitties before I was mother to Carrie and now Grandmother to Sawyer.  Being a mother is through a relationship as well as through blood.  My mother’s mother was adamant that my mother never call another woman “mother”.  I can understand that.  That is a bond that is a special one between a parent and a child.  I have a dear friend who recently lost her daughter, she is much in my thoughts today. 

We had a brunch with Carrie and Sawyer yesterday morning at Another Broken Egg where they serve exotic things like Lemon Basil Blueberry Goat Cheese Pancakes.  Talk about wonderful!  I could eat off that menu every morning and gain all those pounds back!

Pounds?  I tried on some shorts this morning, size 12.  I was shocked.  I knew I had been not always eating like ai shoule, but with frank talking about retirement, I guess I need to start working on my willpower.  He is always eating and stays thin. 

Because I didn’t know what was causing the neck/shoulder/back pain I haven’t been working out as much.  So next week I am hoping to burn some major calories every day again.

It seems those last 10 pounds are always my nemesis!!!





I will be spending my day finishing up the 9 bees to put on the borders for the baby quilt for Maddie's new baby!  Next year she will be celebrating Mother's Day herself!

Asterisk

Of course I decided to take the longest most difficult route to get the Asterisk quilt to completion as a top.  Of course.

But I like it.  It looks way different than the idea that started in my mind in January 2016  when took on the Rainbow Color Challenge that year.

I hit all the colors each month as she called them out, until August.  That was the month the flood hit.  So all colors stopped there.

When I picked up the challenge to finish a UFO for May in my River City Guild I chose  Asterisk.  The challenge only requires it to be finished to the top stage, but i am going to try to actually finish it. 


Maybe.  We shall see.  I feel particularly overwhelmed at the moment right now.

 I have the Girl baby quilt to put together for Carrie to gift to her friend. 

That top row is together so that is how wide it will be a lap size.

And Pinkie.  All Pinkie.  All over.

I like it.





I put the Green Boy Quilt on the Long Arm this afternoon and quilted the first pass.  I was going to quilt it with long straight lines down the quilt.



Best laid plans, and all.  I loaded it sideways. 

Why did I do that????????



So the straight lines would have gone across the quilt rather than down the quilt. 


I didn't want that.  So I went to Plan B.  We always have to have a Plan B, right? 




I had watched Angela Walters in a video doing some swirl quilting and decided that would be my Plan B. 






Not perfect, but all free hand.  This is the first pass. 

I am sure tomorrow by the time I get to the bottom of the quilt I will have mastered how to get around the swirls and how to echo myself out of all the spots I get myself into. 

Feels good.  Machine is cooperating.  Looks good.  All is well.

I am sure something will explode soon.