An Expandable Tote Bag for Jean in Il.

Last night I fnally finished this colorful Expandable Tote Bag for Jean. This evening I took pictures, signed it, and packed it up to go in the mail in the morning.

I went to church this morning, then to work at JoAnn Fabrics this afternoon. Nancy stayed with her Dad. Things were slow at work, so we mostly had a "fun day". I had a chance to show off pictures of a couple of the last bags I made. Small "brag books" were available at half price (.59) so I picked up a couple. Now I have a book to put some of my bag pictures in so I can really show them off.

Here it is after 9:30 already. NO ice cream tonight. We ran out last night. BUMMER.
We will have to settle for milk and cookies. I need to clear off my cuttng table and one sewing machine table and put my scrap fabric away. I will probably start another expandable tote bag this evening - or I may work on AJ's quilt - or I may go to bed early??? I haven't decided.

Take care...

A Rainy Day with AJ

Today was a fun day with AJ. It rained off and on all day long. This afternoon he wanted to go outside, so we went out. Foolish me thought he was going to stay on the porch and stay dry. That lasted about two minutes. He worked his way down the steps one at a time and before I knew it he was running around having a good old time. I got lots of pictures and he got soaking wet. After about a half hour I got him back in the house and dried off and got dry clothes on him. I had to bribe him with ice cream to get him to come in.

AJ's new quilt

I feel like I have been working on AJ's new quilt forever. I finally had it machine quilted and I'm very happy with the job Justine did on it. The design is a baseball theme with balls, bats, and gloves. Yesterday I added the bnding and now all I have to do is stitch that down and make the label. I figure I have about a month to finish it. I want to give it to him when he moves into his new home.

My Strip Pieced Blocks

I have been using up a lot of my various strips of fabric on these strip pieced blocks. I believe I have about nine more blocks to make and I will have another quilt top to add to my stack of wips. I work on these when I want to do some "mindless work".

Father's Day 2009

We had a good day on Father's Day this year. After church I went to Wegman's and got a cake. Nancy stopped in the afternoon for a nice long visit with her Dad. In the evening after diner AJ and his Mom came for a visit. We had cake. Cathy and Franky called. Cris and Frank also called.

What I did Today

AJ was here for awhile today. He went out with his dad on the tow truck this morning. He always has a great time doing that. That child loves anything to do with cars. While he was here today we went out for two walks. The first one was with Grampa and the second one was just the two of us. After our walks we raked some more leaves in the back yard. I should say "AJ raked and I picked up".

After he went home I came upstars and cut up some more fabric. I did the "red box" tonight. Next will be the "purple box".

Tomorrow I am going to have another (the second)teen age GREAT grand child. Where does the time go???

Tomorrow is a work day, so I would like to get in bed early tonight. I wonder how early "early" is going to be.

Good night...

My Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day. It rained all day today and was dark and gloomy all day long. When I wasn't organizing my yellow scrap fabric, I was sleeping. It was a good day to sleep. I finally got my yellow fabric - plus a box of scraps that I found on top of one of my bookcases - organized and cut into various usable size strips and squares. After that was done, I pulled out my box of red fabric. Tomorrow I Will start on that one.

Yesterday I cleaned my sewing room. I pulled everything out and cleaned all around and under everything. I put a lot of old paperwork through the shredder and cleared that out. I still need to clean the closet. There is no telling what forgotten treasures I will find once I start that.

That's about all of the excitement that has been happening around here lately. I need to get back to working on the expandable tote that I'm making for Jean and I have unfinished scrap quilts that need to be finished.

Once again, it is after mid night and time to get in bed. AJ will be here tomorrow. It's always an interesting day when he is here.

Good night...

My Day

Once again - this morning we had another trip to the hospital. Grampa woke up with pain in his chest and back. We went through our routine and very much against his wishes we headed back to the hospital. T.R. was in town so I called him and he met us there. I let him sit with his Dad and listen to him fuss and carry on. I was not happy. I was schedualed to work today and had to call in and let them know what was going on. Grampa was checked out and after 5 hours it was determined that he could go home. After we got home, Michele and A.J. stopped by. A.J. was in trouble with both of his parents. To much "sassy mouth".
Later in the afternoon I went over to the quilt shop and picked up A.J.'s new baseball quilt. I had taken it there to be machine quilted. I am really happy with the way it turned out. Now I just have to add the binding and make the label and it will be finished. Then I did some grocery shopping. I slept the rest of the afternoon.
This evening after diner I got on my computer and it wouldn't work. The pointer wouldn't move. I tried everything I could think of and finally gave up and called my friend, Dickey, to see if she could walk me through how to fix it. That didn't work, so she came to my house. To make a long story short - everything is working fine now.
She is a real lfe saver.
After that, I went and watched some TV and finished the binding on my quilt.

I guess it is bed time. Grampa is coming upstairs.

good night...

Two Finishes

I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I finished two projects in two days.
Yesterday I finished the Expandable Tote Bag for my friend, Elen. This is the fourth one she ordered. One for her Mom and two for her sister. Her sister's first bag was stolen from out of her car. This new bag is for Eleni.
This evening I finished the Black & White / Red quilt. I'm not especially happy with the way it turned out, but it is finished.
Today I receved a package of fabric for another Expandable Tote Bag. I want to get that one cut out tonight - or tomorrow.

Take care...

A.J. & his Grampa

This is our four year old grandson, A.J. and his Grampa sitting in Grampa's new lounge chair that he got for his birthday last month.

A.J.'s Pot Holder

A.J. is working very hard on this pot holder that he wants to give to his Dad for Father's Day. It's finally finished with a little help from his Grama.

My Brown "Big Blocks" Quilt

Here is my Brown "Big Blocks" Quilt that I intend to put on etsy tomorrow and hopefully sell. It is made of all cotton fabrics and measures 71"x54". The price is $80.00.

Progress on Eleni's Expandable Tote Bag

Yesterday I finally got all of the pieces for Elenis' new tote bag all cut out. Then I had to go to work from 5 - 9:30 PM. After I got home I would have started the machine quilting, but I chatted on the phone with my daughter and grand daughter til almost 12:30 AM. I don't talk to them often enough :( ...

Anyway --- This afternoon I got the majority of the machine quilting done. The pix is a layout of one side. This side will have three 12" deep pockets and a strip of four 6" deep pockets. The other side will have the strip of three 12" deep pockets only. Maybe I will finish it tomorrow????

My Project for Today

My plan for this afternoon is to start a new Crafty Grama Expandable Tote Bag for Eleni, one of the ladies I work with at JoAnn Fabrics. The black and white fabric will be the main part of her bag and the red fabric will be the handles, trim and lining. I hope to get all of the machine quilting done and maybe the pockets and handles added today. We will see how far I get.

I have the binding attached to the Black & White / Red quilt that I have been working on. The will be put on "hold" til Eleni's bag is finished.

Take care. I shall return...

Movin' Right Along

I'm movin' right along with my Black & White / Red quilt top. Tonight I finished basting it and got the edges trimed. I have decided to tie this one. With it being a sampler top, I can't see a way to machine quilt it. Anyway, tieing will be faster and I will have one wip done and out of the way.
After work this afternoon I picked up fabric for the backing on the Planet Patchwork quilt. That one may be next if I don't change my mind.

Grampa got out of the hospital yesterday. The Dr said there was no damage done to his heart muscles. He had an attack of angina. Everything is under control for now and I sure hope it stays that way for a long time. Trips to the emergency room are NOT fun.

Today was a sad day for our daughter-in-law, Michele. Her dog, Reine, died. She was an old dog (18 years old) and in very poor health so it wasn't unexpected, but still it is sad.

Good night...

What I did today

My day started at 4AM when Grampa woke me up complaining he "didn't feel right". I asked him how he felt and he said he had pain in his back and his chest felt "heavy". I woke up real fast. I grabed the NitroQuick and after an argument from Grampa - I gave him three as directed by his doctor. We did not get the desired results so I told him I was going to call 911. He said "NO" he was not going to the hospital. Welll... We spent the rest of the morning in the emergency room and he was admitted. There was no heart attack, the problem is with his blood presure. One time it is up, the next time it is low. Anyway, Grampa is still in the hospital. Michele and Anthony came to visit his this evening. Anthony is all excited about the stuffed animal parade he is going to be in at his school tomorrow. He starts school in Sept.

I came home about 8 PM. Got a shower and something to eat. Our answering machine has been acting up for a long time so I decided to fix it. I can't do this sort of thing when Grampa is around because he tells me "I don't know what I'm doing". Well -- Guess what -- the answering machine is fixed. I changed the message to something I want on there and not the generic one that he had on there. I also set the time and date so they are correct. I also figured out why the caller ID wasn't working on the phone. The batteries were dead. Tomorrow I am going shopping for some new re-chargable batteries so I can fix that.

It's almost 12PM and I need to get in bed with my book.
Good night...

What I Did Today

My day started at 4AM when Grampa woke me up complaining he "didn't feel right". I asked him how he felt and he said he had pain in his back and his chest felt "heavy". I woke up real fast. I grabed the NitroQuick and after an argument from Grampa - I gave him three as directed by his doctor. We did not get the desired results so I told him I was going to call 911. He said "NO" he was not going to the hospital. Welll... We spent the rest of the morning in the emergency room and he was admitted. There was no heart attack, the problem is with his blood presure. One time it is up, the next time it is low. Anyway, Grampa is still in the hospital. Michele and Anthony came to visit his this evening. Anthony is all excited about the stuffed animal parade he is going to be in at his school tomorrow. He starts school in Sept.

I came home about 8 PM. Got a shower and something to eat. Our answering machine has been acting up for a long time so I decided to fix it. I can't do this sort of thing when Grampa is around because he tells me "I don't know what I'm doing". Well -- Guess what -- the answering machine is fixed. I changed the message to something I want on there and not the generic one that he had on there. I also set the time and date so they are correct. I also figured out why the caller ID wasn't working on the phone. The batteries were dead. Tomorrow I am going shopping for some new re-chargable batteries so I can fix that.

It's almost 12PM and I need to get in bed with my book.
Good night...

My Jewel Tone Quilt

What I found today

What I found today

Today I found this wonderful Jewel Tone quilt that I put together several years ago. The top is all done. I still need to add a border and find a backing and binding for it. I am planning on sending it out to be machine quilted. It is so big, I would never be able to do it myself.

I, also,found several other quilt tops that need to be finished.

I am making a real effort to get in bed before 12 AM. I have been staying up much to late, lately, and that needs to end.