Is There a Brain in There Among the Quilt Patterns?

Yesterday was filled with doctor stuff.  Carrie called to ask if I could baby sit since his school was closed, but I had appointments already filling my day. Luckily Frank was home and he was delighted to take charge.  We don't often get to have him and I was glad to be have the opportunity.  Andrew's mother seems to live there so I didn't want to miss out on that. 

I was in and out of the house, doing Papa-Relief in between driving on some still icy streets.  But once again, I was alone dealing with everything on my own.  Seems like that is my state of being.

They were able to combine to the MRI and Ultrasound into one appointment due to the cancellations they had.

Interestingly, it was recommended that I see a neurologist.  I looked up his stats once I got home and I was a bit uneasy.  His specialty is brain tumors and brain oncology.  I have a quilting friend who is having brain surgery today and one of our board members died of a brain cancer several years ago.  Not sure I want to be in their company.

We met Carrie and Andrew for dinner and baby dump and I went home to bed, exhausted from the day.


I did get a a bit of a chance to work on one of my little 3D pieces.  But the machine does such a horrible job of stitching, that I ripped it all out in favor of hand-stitching a big running stitch with perl cotton.  I really need to take that stupid machine back and let them dismantle it.

I thought I would make a star block, but this guy had a mind of his own.  Does not look like a star at all!  but it looks very Improv!

My favorite block I think is this one with the curves.   Also very improv.  I would like a whole quilt like this one. 

I  am going to get a pile of these faced so I can sit at night and do the hand work.

You know, I might have to get some 12 wt thread.  Wouldn't that work in the machine and be a heavy thread?  I guess I have to order it, that it probably would not be easily found in the local stores.

Then I am going to start on one of the big print quilts.

And soon I will have to start giving a quilt to everyone I know again!  LOL

Barn Quilts, Stash Reports and Things I Need To Get Done

I heard from Julie Sefton about the Barn Quilts we made as part of the process testing for her book Build A Barn.  Gallery quilts will be displayed at Chattanooga (SEPT) and Des Moines (OCT)  then Memphis (early NOV) before they head home to each of you.

If you get a chance to see any of the show, take some photos for me! 

I did nothing again this week, so stash report remains the same.  But on the good side, I didn't buy anything either!  LOL.  "Even" is a good thing.

I went to the CFAL (Contemporary Fiber Artists of Louisiana) meeting this afternoon.  So much is happening.  there are so many classes coming up, remember the metals class I took last year?  Mary Hettsmansperger is coming again in July!  I am over the top  about that. 

Now I know I need a blow torch.  It is a sign from the gods. 

We also have several fiber classes, a Photoshop workshop and a beading class coming up.

And there are two shows.  One in Sulphur La, but I don't think I will enter anything in that one.  The other will be in February 2017 at the Old State Capitol.  I am all over that one.  So expect great things from that one.

I have a fiber group meeting this Wednesday I have nothing made for, I need to finish upteen bindings, I have a bazillion to be quilted and finished and I have a Cotton and a Modern Robin to keep up with.  

But it is exciting, all this work to do.  

Considering didn't even step into my Quilt Room in two weeks, I really need to work this week to catch up.

Oh, and we bought a new fountain.  The old one had a leak in the pan.  It will be installed on Monday.  I will put goldfish in it to keep the mosquito larvae out of it.

I have to do some research on that to make sure the fish don't get sucked into the fountain and their little fishy guts don't get spewed into the air on a stream of water.............

Here are the photos that should have gone with the last post......

Cute.  Frank working on the fontain.  The new pump didn't work the last time he "fixed" it, so he got it working this morning.  Funny story.  He cut a section off a piece of piping to get the right pump housing when he bought a new pump.  So when he went to put the piping  back on, he realized it was short the exact amount he cut off.........uhhh, wrong pipe!  So we had to venture to to get more at the hardware store.







Here is the thirsty steiva. 














And here is the stevia overflowing with the 2 inches of rain we had this afternoon.  It is in a pot I made called hypertufa.

Basically cement and peat. 

And hea-vy!  You ain't moving this one unless you have Frank muscles.

 

Tallying the Results of the Quilt Your Quilt Tops in June Challenge

I am getting totals from those who were participating in the Quilt Your Quilt Tops in June Challenge with me.

I am waiting on two others.  If you were Quilting Your Quilt Tops alone with me in June send me your  tally and I will put you in line to see who won!  This is exciting.

I got 5 and half of Dan's BQ quilt with the lizards finished.

I have totals from Patty A., Rhonda, Cindy, and Pammy.  There is a clear winner in this bunch so far!

While we wait for the rest of the numbers to come in, enjoy my new fountain!  For some reason, yesterday Frank came home with a new fountain for the patio.  So we put it in late in the afternoon but it was still stinking hot!  this was the old fountain.  Not bad.  I had salvaged it from a broken fountain and a pot that held herbs in my kitchen window.  I stuck them together with that insulation foam in a can and sprayed the whole thing with a fake stone paint spray.  I was ready for something new.


Here is Franklin the Worker Guy taking the old fountain out and leveling the foundation block for the new fountain.  You can see DiNozzo looking on to see if he can lend a paw somewhere.

When we moved to this house 27 years ago we poured this patio as one of the first things we did.  I was big pregnant with Carrie so he would not let me do too much work.  We framed it in, made the center space for a fountain and had the cement company come and pour it.

The Worker Guy disconnected the electric from the old and got the new one ready to connect up.  It came with a plug in but he cut the cord and hard wired it into the old junction box.

And, I might say, he did not electrocute himself!  It may be the first time, too!  Although the shock therapy usually has benefits.

Here is DiNozzo getting bored and checking out my tomatoes.  How many people have to grow tomatoes 4 feet in the air to keep the dogs out of them?  Geez.  I may have to bring these to Carrie's to get them to ripen before they get eaten.  He checks them out every day to see if they are ripe enough for him to eat.

Here is me getting bored and looking at the tires of the wheelbarrow for inspiration in quilt patterns.  Actually that is not a bad idea for a quilt.  And it could be scrappy, although currently I am seeing everything in red and white at the present time.

 Well, we got the water bubbling but the whole shebang is not level and the water pours only to one side.  We spent about half an hour cussing and beating on the stone it sits on trying to level it out.

Here are some of the rocks I have collected from our vacations for the last 40 years.  They pile up around the fountain to make a beautiful display.  There are rocks from Tennessee streams, southwestern deserts, quartz crystals from caves, petrified wood from downfield streams when we canoed through Mississippi.  Lots of rocks from various rivers and streams, even as far away as Alaska.  I even have a petrified bone which is probably a rib bone from some cow or something.  One day I will take it to a forensic scientist and see if it is real.  They all had to be moved to set up the new fountain.

And here is the whole thing last night, working!  I put the rocks back in a pleasing arrangement this morning.

This morning in the sun, it was spectacular.  I really need to watch the water in this one, you can't see it because it is below the fountain in the bowl.  If evaporation occurs, then the pump will have no water to pump.

Chloe the Smelly Basset was sunning in the yard watching the birds fight over the seed.  We have had a woodpecker come the last week and sit on the feeder.  And the red winged blackbirds just toss the small millet out and search for the larger sunflower seeds.  So there is always a congregation of smaller birds like wrens and tits and the cardinals and pigeons who are in the grass next to the squirrels finding the scattered seeds.  And Chloe, who eats the seeds and poops out the seeds.  She has the best digestion and PLENTY of fiber!

glen