Monday, December 15, 2008

I'm all caught up!

I shipped off the last custom order I had for this year. It consisted of two memory quilts and three pillows. I think they turned out pretty nice and the customer seemed pleased.

After getting that order shipped off, I was able to work on a Christmas Shopping Bag! I used it as a gift bag for a Christmas Party/gift exchange I went to. It seemed to be a hit!

You can find the pattern here: http://www.anotherpat.com/fabricbagXmas.htm

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Where does the time go?

I often think about a new blog entry, and then time gets away from me and I don't get it done.

A lot has happened in the past three weeks! First of all, I completed another t-shirt quilt for a customer. It is a very basic design, but it is what the customer requested. Here are a couple pictures:

The other "big" thing that happened is just a little bit crazy. A couple years ago I went on a diet. I opened my mouth and told my daughters-in-law that if I got to my goal weight I would get my belly button pierced. My husband told me I was totally crazy to make such a bet. Of course, the girls held me to my word. I have lost about 35 pounds and the deed is done.


There, my secret is out. It really didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, however I have learned that where your waistline hits is a VERY important detail!

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Finish Line

I did it! I walked 60 miles in 3 days and raised $2300 in the fight against Breast Cancer! WHAT an experience! You can see me above, looking over my shoulder, right in front of the lady with her arms up in the air (that's my best friend, Janie). This was during closing ceremonies when we were marching in -- over 3000 walkers. It was way more than I ever imagined. In fact, I'm planning on doing it again next year!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Count down is on

Only a couple more weeks until the walk! This weekend was a busy one with an 18 mile walk on Saturday and 9 on Sunday.

Saturday's walk was through Ennis, Texas. It was a really well planned, fun walk. We started at Ennis Regional Medical Center adn walked 10 miles before stopping for lunch. The training walk leader had lots of pit stops lined up. It was very well organized. We stopped at a local doctor's office for refreshments adn teh hospital served us lunch. The group of girls was really a lot of fun also.

Sunday was a 9 mile walk through Arlington. I was dragging a little near the end but made it through. Here are some pictures from the weekend.



Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Walking and walking and walking some more!

This past weekend the QUACers (Quilters United Against Cancer) trained hard for the 3-Day. On Saturday we met in Arlington at 7:00 a.m. to head out. We walked 9 miles, came back to our cars for a break and walked another 8 miles before ending the day with 17 miles under our belt. We "camped" out in a hotel for the night and enjoyed some teambuilding fellowship.

The picture above was taken on Sunday morning when we met to start out again. We headed out and walked 8.5 miles before taking a break for the three R's (refresh, relax and refuel). Peggy had some pretty bad blistered feet so Laura took her home. Janie and I headed out again, tired but committed. We walked 6 more miles and ended up just over 14 miles for day 2.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Negligent

WOW -- has it really been over a month since I posted anything? I have been very busy training for the 3-Day. I did recently complete another t-shirt quilt for a customer. It is made from fire department t-shirts. I am very pleased with the way it turned out:

Monday, September 1, 2008

Back from retreat

Every Labor Day weekend, I go on a quilting retreat with my stitch group, Quilters on the Edge (or "Edgers" for short). There are 12 of us in the group. Janie and I got up on Friday (we took the day off work) and started the day by walking 3 miles. We loaded up my car and headed to Collinsville, TX (about 90 miles from home). We stopped at Quilt Country in Lewisville, TX on the way up. We arrived at retreat around 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Saturday morning we walked about 5.5 miles. Then we went into Whitesboro and Gainesville to visit the quilt shops and do some grocery shopping. We got up on Sunday and walked about 3.5 miles and on Sunday evening we fixed dinner for the group. Monday was spent finishing projects, loading up and driving home.

I was able to finish a quilt top for my niece (who is expecting a baby in November)

I also completed a cute Halloween wall hanging for my grandkids to enjoy:I made some blocks for the 30s block swap I am in:The Edgers compleded a 15 month exchange we did of 3" 9-patch blocks. I should have close to 200 blocks here: I also cut about a million strips for a blooming 9-patch quilt I plan to make:All in all, a pretty productive weekend!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Completed & gone!

The quilt I worked on at retreat a couple weeks ago is finished and gone! The customer seemed to like it. It was a lot of fun and I am satisfied with the way it turned out.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Another good day

The bake sale was a success, again. This week I netted $60 for my 3-Day account. Here is a picture of what the bake sale looks like:

After work, I went to my friend Janie's house. We put together some gifts to give to our stitch group this weekend at retreat. They are pop-top cans that Janie opened from the bottom, using one of those can openers that leaves clean edges. She cleaned out the cans and we filled them with some quilting goodies -- a fat quarter, some pins, a tube to hold pins and some chocolate! Then we decorated the cans and glued the bottoms back on. Our friends will have to pop the top of the can to open it and see what is inside! we thought they turned out pretty cute.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

75 days and counting..

Yesterday was "Expo" day for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It is kind of the "opening kick-off" for the event. They had vendors there selling clothing and other items. They also had demonstrations on tent set-up and packing. That was pretty interesting. You are limited to 35 pounds and that includes your sleeping bag and duffle bag. You really don't want to take anything "extra" along. But, there are a lot of "extras" that you need, like plastic tarps for over and under the tent in case of rain, two pairs of shoes, lots of socks, blister care, etc. So packing is kind of an art form.

Before the Expo they had a 12 mile training walk. I was not able to do that because I had to go directly from Expo to teach a hand quilting class. I didn't think my students would appreciate me coming to teach them after walking 12 miles in the heat! I really need to step up my training. I have not been walking as much as I should. This past week I only walked one day. I am planning on hiring a personal trainer starting in September. I plan on training with her two times a month and have her write me up a training schedule for the rest of the time.

Today is baking day. For the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been taking baked goods to work on Monday for a bake sale to benefit the 3-Day. So far today I have baked brownies, chocolate cup cakes, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. I still need to bake yellow cupcakes and oatmeal cookies, but that requires a trip to the grocery store for more eggs and butter. I have been making about $50 per week to go into my 3-Day account. I only "have" to have about $350 to meet my minimum amount to walk. But to reach my personal goal I still need about $1000.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

"QUAC"ers all together!

I am a member of the team Q.U.A.C. (Quilters United Against Cancer). We decided a little less than a year ago to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. One of our team members, Peggy, is a breast cancer survivor. Another team member, Janie, is an oncology nurse who treats cancer patients daily. Laura and I are just offering our support. We met through quilting.

Last weekend we all were on a quilting retreat together. We had a lot of fun. We walked for about 2 hours on Saturday morning. I haven't tried to calculate the mileage yet! I'm guessing it was about 6 miles or so.

I did get a quilt top finished on retreat and now I am busy quilting it so I can deliver it to a customer by the end of the month.



Monday, August 4, 2008

10 Miles

I did it! I walked 10 miles last Saturday morning! The really amazing thing is that the temperature here reached 111 on Saturday! Luckily we started at 6:00 a.m and finished at 9:30 a.m. Still, it was right at 100 when we finished.

Sunday I baked all afternoon. I made chocolate chip, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, brownies and chocolate and yellow cupcakes. I took all of it to work today and had a bake sale fund raiser. I was able to raise $48 on the bake sale to benefit the Breast Cancer 3-Day! Not a bad little fund raiser! I hope to be able to bake every weekend and take goodies to work until I reach my fundraising goal. I am halfway there!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Home again, Home again

I just returned from a week-long trip to my sister's house in Baltimore. I was scheduled to be there for 5 days, but weather in Baltimore delayed my departure. I went to help my sister make a wedding quilt for her daughter. It took quite a bit of sewing, but we were able to complete a queen-sized double wedding ring quilt.










We took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. We let "Jason" the GPS guide our way. We were a little leery when he took us down this country road:













After a scenic drive, we ended up at Obie's Country Store. THAT was an experience I will never forget! I have never seen so much fabric in one place in my entire life!


I thought this was really cute. Snacks and fabric. Is there a better combination?

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Another one leaves home.....

I just finished another t-shirt quilt for a customer. She picked it up today. I think she was happy with it. It was a gift for her daughter for high school graduation. Her daughter was with her when they picked it up. Here is a picture of it:



She requested an embroidered tribute:

Tommy and I spent the July 4th weekend in Laughlin, NV. We had a good time, although we didn't win any money :) Here are a couple of pictures of downtown Laughlin from the river boat ride we took:


I'm leaving this Friday to go to Baltimore, MD to stay with my sister for a few days and help her make a double wedding ring quilt for her daughter. It will be a fun, mini quilt retreat. We also plan on making a day trip to Lancaster, PA to do some fabric shopping.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The beginning

OK, so I decided to create a blog. I will mostly be blogging about quilting projects and my progress in training for the 60-mile 3-Day walk that I am participating in this November. I currently have raised $640 of my $3000 goal. If you are interested in contributing to help me reach my goal, just click on the 3-Day Logo on this page.

For this first post I will just include some pictures of recent projects. I just completed the embroidery on some t-shirts for some of my grandkids to wear on the 4th of July.

My daughter in law likes to have her kids match for the 4th. She tie-dyed the shirts and I embroidered the names on them.













Next is a picture of a t-shirt quilt that I mailed off last week to a customer in Virginia.

This is a Memorial Quilt I created and shipped at the end of May to a young lady in Virginia. It is made from the clothing of her deceased mother.



She also ordered 4 pillows made from the same clothing.