I'm a Winner (In More Ways Than One)

Like many people, I have been super busy the last few weeks.  We drove my daughter back up to New England on Friday and spent Saturday  helping her settle in to her new apartment before she started her summer job on Monday.  She really lucked out.  She loves to write and is a very talented writer.  Her idea of fun is to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Write A Novel Month) each year.  This group encourages writers of all ages (they have a young writer's branch) to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  Her six week summer job is to assist young writers at a program at her University.  In addition to spending one on one time encouraging young would be authors, she will act as a counselor during the traditional segments of the camp day.  As an added bonus, she can walk to work.  I am thrilled that the program ends a week before my son's wedding so we will have time to drive up and bring her home without being too frenzied.

We had time to do a few of her favorite things before she went back.  It included visiting a National Wildlife Preserve where the birds hang out along the walking trails begging for handouts.  The bird at the top is a chickadee, the lower picture shows a tufted titmouse.  She also managed to encourage a downy woodpecker to land on her hand and take some sunflower seeds.

As if that isn't enough good news, she has secured a job in a research lab on campus for  the fall semester.  The project the lab is working on could yield data and information that might be useful for her Master's Thesis.  The data from the lab she worked at last year would have been perfect for a thesis project, but the President of the non-profit is on sabbatical and could not serve as her thesis adviser.  The professor that interviewed her for the new lab position is interested in having her use their data for her thesis and would probably be able to serve as her adviser.

Now for the Good Stuff!

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway over at Snoodles' Lily Pad Quilting blog.  The handcrafted wood ruler rack is made by Buckaloo View Woodshop .  When I visited the Buckaloo View Etsy shop, I saw lots of lovely things I never knew I needed.  I treated myself to a desk top bobbin rack.  I am delighted with the workmanship .  The wood has a lovely natural sheen and it has little rubber pegs on the bottom so it won't scratch the sewing machine cabinet.  When I use my embroidery machine, some of the designs require multiple thread changes and it's hard to keep them all in order.  I love that I can fit the bobbins and thread I need to sew out a large design.  DragonDrop and Padsworth, Snoodles' devoted assistants, managed to sneak some luscious colors of my favorite Aurifil thread into the package.  

Tomorrow, is the first of four injections to try and cushion my creaky right knee.  If you hear a protracted scream at about 2:45 pm EST, don't worry, it's just me seeing the needle. I think it's probably scarier to think about than the actual injection.  It will be worth it if I can dance with my son at his wedding.  We are considering dancing to "You are the Sunshine of my Life," by Stevie Wonder.  Let me know if you have any other song suggestions.  I don't want anything that will make me cry.  Fat chance!

First a Plan for the Month of July and then the Moment You Have All been Waiting For

I have really been remiss in my plan to conquer UFOs in 2013.  In an effort to catch up, I plan to finish 2 quilts in the month of July.  They will be made from the scrappy  101 nine patch Gumdrop/Potato Chip blocks I made in June.  It's true, these are relatively new, but they need to be finished before they join the box of old crotchety UFOs.  To keep me honest, I will be linking up at Sew Bittersweet Designs for the July Goal Setting Party of A Lovely Year of Finishes.

I'm keeping my goals manageable for July in the hopes that I will actually complete them.

Now for the important business. My loyal assistant, Retired Guy, has been bribed to pick a winner for the charm pack giveaway.

The winner is number 5;  Gill from the UK, who said: "Now following you on bloglovin."  I will notify Gill by email that this lovely charm pack will be winging its way over the ocean.

Breaking News:  I just returned from the Orthopedist who gave me the report of the MRI I had on Wednesday.  Apparently, I have moderate tricompartment osteoarthritis.  The technical translation is worn out old lady knees.  The good news is nothing is torn.  The bad news is most of cartilage is gone.  The crunching sound I hear when I move my knee is bone rubbing on bone.  Ouch!!  A knee replacement is forecast for the not so distant future, but in the meantime, I will be receiving a series of injections made from the cockscomb of a rooster in my knee to help cushion the fading cartilage.

Just a Few Things to Finish Out the Month

I added 2 more blocks for my rainbow postage stamp collection.  I already had the blue strips cut so it was easy to run them up.

The bottom block is a print of large frogs spaced on a blue background.  If you look closely, you can see bits of frog legs, eyes and tongues.  I think it will spice things up.

I continued to make blocks for my Gumdrops quilt.  I am seriously thinking of calling this the Potato Chip quilt when it is finished (if it ever is) because you just can't make one.

I think this will be the last of the 9 patches for a while.  The original quilt calls for 48 blocks and I have made 101.  The next step is to cut the 1.5 inch sashing for the blocks.

These are the rest of the blocks that I showed in my last post.

I will be linking them up with Cat Patches' June NewFO party.  There are a lot of great projects to see this month.

I am giving a small shower for my son's finance at the end of July and visited Home Goods to look for items to be given as prizes for hopefully not so silly shower games.  I saw this, but refrained from being tempted by the low price.  

It was only $69 and everyone needs a knight in shining armor, but that could buy a lot of fabric.  If anyone has suggestions for menu items or games, please leave a comment.  I am not a party person and feel ill at ease being a hostess.  I am only having a dozen guests, mostly members of my husband's family, but I really want to make it special for the Sweetheart.  After her mom's death in April, it has been difficult for her to focus on the wedding plans.  

They finally found a tiny house to rent.  It is a converted summer house built in 1930.  The first floor has a kitchen and living room with an enclosed weatherized porch.  The second floor has a bedroom, bathroom, and 2 enclosed weatherized porches, front and back.  I live slightly left of the middle of nowhere.  The house they are renting is the middle of nowhere.  There are heirloom roses growing outside the door and it is at the very end of a dead end street.  The grown up me sees all kinds of drawbacks, but the me inside, who remembers what it is like to be a newlywed, finds it very romantic.  The ceilings are very low.  Even this can be seen as an advantage.  My 6'4" son can paint the ceilings without stepping on a ladder.

The MRI on my knee is scheduled for Tuesday.  As soon as I scheduled the appointment, it started to feel better.  We'll make the decision about how to proceed after physical therapy tomorrow.  My body is definitely not liking the whole getting old thing.

I'm Joining the Cool Kids and Moving to Bloglovin and Offering My Followers an Incentive

I've been enjoying using Bloglovin to follow other bloggers so now it's my turn to move my blog too.
I am claiming my blog and I hope you will continue to follow me using Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Anyone who follows me on Bloglovin will be eligible to be placed in a drawing for a surprise  Moda charm pack.  This is definitely a bribe, but you're worth it.  I will choose a name on July 4th

Can Scraps Ever Be Used Up?

I've really enjoyed participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013 at So Scrappy .  Each month, I have pulled scraps to make postage stamp blocks, but still have odd 2.5 inch scraps leftover.  Instead of putting them back into the scrap bucket, I decided to sew the strips and charms into 9 patch blocks to make the Gumdrops quilt by Sherri McConnell that was featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Sew Scrappy magazine in October, 2011.  Sherri blogs at A Quilting Life and has lots of lovely things to look at and features some great tutorials.

The blocks are addictive.  Every time I sit down at my machine, I find myself making more.  The quilt requires 48 nine patches.  I have already made 94 and can't bring myself to stop. The blocks are sashed with white and the resulting quilt looks bright and crisp.  

.I also made one yellow block for my June Rainbow Challenge postage stamp collection.

And discovered enough orange scrapes to make one orange postage stamp block.

I added a few more scrappy centered Sawtooth stars.

Sorry for the distracting shadow.
I haven't been able to quilt any of the tops I was hoping to get done.  They are too big to baste on my kitchen table and I am unable to kneel due to an injury to my right knee.  Hopefully, the physical therapy will resolve the problem.  I am linking my rainbow blocks to this week's block party at Sew Scrappy.  Drop by and see all of the other blocks people have completed this week.

I lost a month. Time to find it again.

My sincere apologies to everyone waiting to find out the winner of the fat quarter bundle.  I'm desperately trying to catch my breath after a very busy period.  I won't bore you with the details, but the craziness doesn't seem to be slowing down.
On to the drawing for the giveaway for the 8 luscious fat quarters of Laurie Wishburn fabric.  Drum role please!

Number 23 is my lovely follower Lisa Marie, who said:

I am a fan of pieced backings -- they add a little surprise on the back. I am participating in Hands2Help. Got an early start this year, so I have one quilt done and another underway. Congrats on your follower milestone!

I will be emailing Lisa Marie for her address so that I can send her fat quarters in a timely manner.

I actually did manage to sew a few things since my last post.  Hopefully, I can post them tomorrow.  Right now, I am off to physical therapy.  The therapist is a lovely woman, but I always leave the office feeling as though I have been stretched on a rack.

In Appreciation of Followers

April is just about over and I haven't quilted the 3 tops that were on my list.  I did sew the backings for them.

                                                                                                                                                 I prepared the small apple backing for a project that never got off the ground so I added green borders to make it big enough for one of the Tetris Quilts. I think it would make a great tablecloth, but unfortunately I don't have a table it would fit.

It is the last Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013 at So Scrappy.  I did manage to finish 3 green blocks for this month's challenge.  I am linking up to Sew Scrappy for the last green Saturday of the month.  Other participants will be displaying their green projects for April.

I completed 4 more Saw Tooth Star blocks.  Although I did not finish them during the season of Lent, I still managed to complete my goal of 40 blocks.  I will continue this project until I make a dent in my box of crumb blocks. I have a pile of HSTs waiting to be trimmed so I might have another group finished next week.

 I made one more pink block for my rainbow postage stamp blocks.  I decided that I would like to have 3 of each color so this will finish the pink group.

Over the last few months, even though I have not posted very often, I have acquired more followers.  Thank you to those of you that have been following me for a while and welcome to any new followers.  I planned to have a giveaway when I reached 100 followers.  I now have 101  so it's time for the giveaway to proceed.  If you would like to be the recipient of 8 luscious fat quarters of Laurie Wishburn fabric, please leave a comment.  The name of the winner will be drawn on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12th.  I will ship internationally so that all of my followers may be included.

If you are participating in the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge, please indicate that in your comment and you will receive and extra chance in the drawing.  If you are not already signed up to participate in the H2H Challenge, it's not too late.    The quilts will be donated to two very deserving charities and many generous prizes have been donated to award to participants.  The button is on my sidebar.
Sorry, this giveaway is for followers (new or old) only.