The Commish

The Commish. That's my new working name for "Where the Weird Things Are" because since I convinced him to rein it back in a bit, I'm not hating it so much. It sure is pink ----

In fact, it's ok. If SOMEONE were to give me a quilt with all my family on it, I might even love it. You can barely see musical notes (instead of the Beatles) in the lower left, and a bouquet of flowers in the upper right. (instead of Hello Kitty) The other corners will have a speedboat and palm trees, respectively, instead of Jeeps. Gram and Gramps are the top trio of pics, from the 1940's and their 50th anniversary. Daughter and son on the sides as babies and now, and on the bottom is Commish guy and his honey, as babies and currently. The center square will say Happy Birthday 2008 in pink, what else? I didn't use that printable fabric because it felt so nasty and it's really expensive! These are done on t-shirt iron-ons, and I'm really really pleased with the way that worked. The pictures came out so much better too! And it's washable, etc..... It really is kind of a cool concept I have to say -- but executed the way he originally wanted it would have been a crime.
You know how when you've eaten too much candy you have to have some bread or meat or something, to cut all the sweet? So all that pink candy made me want some meat --- Bonnie just finished this one and it's one I've wanted to do for quite awhile, with a twist. I've always envisioned it with a more defined 9 patch in the center, so that's the way I'm going with it. Somehow, I doubt I can do mine as fast as Bonnie did!!

Awhile back I told you about the antique china cabinet I scored at the auction. It's from the turn of the 19th century, and still has the original glass! It has a gentle double bow in front, and curved glass on the sides. It's great old glass -- has that slight wavy look to it. I'm going to fill it with quilts and my teacup collection as soon as I cover those wood shelves to protect the quilts.

I'm so tickled with it -- the shelves are even reversable! One side has plate rails and the other side has kind of a carved edge.
So - what do you know about tulips?

What the heck?????? They're miniatures, to say the least! I bought the tallest ones I could find, they're planted in enriched soil and they all got a bit of bonemeal at planting time. I'd be mad if it wasn't so ridiculous -- a whole bed of teeny tiny tulips to tip toe thru!
This post is number 199 -- you know what that means? YEA - next one is #200!!

Oh Noooo!!!!

Anyone need another distraction? Not enough things in your life to get in the way of sewing? Well, here's the cure for sure: Patchwork Puzzle game.
My apologies in advance for addicting you.
I made it to level 33 - how far will you go?

Happy Easter!

Comfy? This is a long one -----
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Blessed Easter - I know we are. We were out early this morning to breakfast at church, then a lovely service, then home to slippers and jeans, whoo-hoo! Later today we'll venture all the way across the street where our neighbors put on a HUGE egg hunt complete with giant bunny mascot. Six of our grands will be there and untold dozens of other kids, and it's always so much fun!

I have a favorite Easter gospel song that gives me shivers and makes me cry everytime I hear it. It's called "He's Alive" by Dolly Parton, please check it out. Huge powerful song.
Last time I wrote, Cuervo had been to the vet with a couple of bad teeth. Well, it got worse, way worse. The vet called me early Tuesday morning with very bad news from the blood tests; kidney failure, my worst fear for human or animal. He suggested a short term treatment in case this was an acute process, meaning not permanent. I was to inject 100cc of fluid under the skin 4 times a day, get him on Pepcid and keep him quiet. Well, obviously none of that was going to happen while I was in the midst of moving the clinic, so I had to leave him at the vets till Friday afternoon. He was MUCH better by then, but he's still getting extra fluid.

He's so much better that he's even started to bite me again, in play. He's very good about holding still for his needles and doesn't cuss too much. He's NOT too good about eating, tho - we need to work on that. He's down 3/4 of a pound in a week - very bad. Over all he's SO much better, and I am so thankful. Yesterday I spent most of the day sewing. (After sleeping in till 8 am!! DH thought I wasn't breathing - scared the bejabbers out of him, he really thought I wasn't going to wake up. Yikes!) I worked on the "Where the Weird Things Are" quilt, then had to take a break from all that pink weirdness and made this -

It's clickable for a better look - Cool, huh? I love love love orange, and there's not too many cool ways to use a lot of orange. (Orange cat?) This was in a new mag I got 2 weeks ago and just now had time to look thru -

There's a LOT of fun projects in this one! Usually a magazine has maybe one project I think about; this one has about 6 - check it out!
I have some strange tulip pictures coming up also - I'll post those later. What do you know about growing tulips? Meantime, I better get busy - I want to sew today, and go to the egg hunt party, AND get the house picked up for the house cleaners tomorrow, AND get my laundry done, AND paint my nails. What are my odds?

Bad Karma

What kinds of things give you bad karma? Well, that's an interesting thought. There's -
Being mean to animals.
Stealing anything.
Telling fables.
Throwing away baby clothes or furniture (!)
HITTING A HIGHWAY PATROL CAR HEAD-ON!!!
Ooops - yea, that could do it.
I had to cut short my thrilling day at work yesterday to take Cuervo to the vet; he was so sick over the weekend that DH started preparing me to lose yet another old friend. Thankfully, the problem turned out to be 2 badly abcessed teeth which the vet said was not uncommon for an 84 year old cat. (84? Seriously??) On the way home I relaxed, took the back roads and did a little mind wandering. Now, back roads in our neck 'o the woods are really back roads. Little traffic, few houses, not much going on. At one point I turned left from a little road onto an even littler road, and at the apex of my turn ran right into a highway patrol car that was whipping out of a really tiny dirt driveway. (What's he doing there?) We both slammed on the brakes so hard we thought we had collided. We both got out, and if we did bump it was indetectable, but it was that close. No damage except to my last raggedy nerve. He knew it was totally his fault, I had the right of way and he was in my lane and he was chagrined. I called no foul but he's obligated to report it just in case I decide later that I'm permanently injured. Besides, they have to account for every minute of their day, and he spent 10 or so talking to me. Probably to make sure I didn't keel over from a heart attack although I have to think his pulse was a tad elevated also!
Maybe that was all part of a bigger plan to prepare me for today - I'm off to the hospital then to the clinic and face the inspection by the state examiner - aka Dragon Lady. If she objects to the WAY we sign off on something, she can ding us for it. "You need to write out your whole name, not just first initial and last name" stuff like that. Here goes nuthin'!

Must be Springtime

If there are teenaged boys in my yard, it has to be spring! DGS's # 1 and 2 are earning money for a church trip to Mexico in a couple of months, and they're very anxious to do anything that pays. For the next few weeks my yard will look great!

That's 16 yr old Zach on the left and 14 y/o Colton on the right. Those 2 worked most of the day and did all the weeding and cutting and raking there was to do - it looks fantastic!
I've been awfully quiet lately because I'm so exhausted I can hardly move. Work continues to spiral out of control, and now the State has thrown us a curve ball and we're having to deal with that on top of everything else. The mental and physical toll is very wearing. Usually I can pull out of these slumps pretty quickly, but not this time - I'm a whipped pup. I've also been sick - a doozy of a cold which of course takes advantage of tiredness....... I'll be SO thankful when this is all over! In honor of National Quilting day today, I laid around and read quilting magazines, does that count? Last weekend I did manage to get my Spring Swap quilt finished but no pic yet - my camera batteries were dead when I went to take it tonight. Tomorrow, I promise!
DH has been a busy boy in his shop, so I thought I'd share his latest project with you - it's a 1936 Lion Front slot machine, originally made by Mills out of Chicago. Hunny finds old wrecked hulks and restores them to this glory:

Gorgeous, huh? He restores every part of them, from the mechanism to the paint and oak cabinets. When they're done they're a work of art.
Now if only I could get a project finished......I have to shake this off and DO something! I have a huge new pile of Civil War FQ repos I want to play with, and that ghastly comission quilt to get out of my hair. Maybe I'll just plow in and get that thing over with..........Yea, that's what I'll do. Clean up tonight and start cutting tomorrow. Check back and keep me honest!