Progress and stuff

I am continuing to work on Gramma's Aprons...there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel!! I have set a goal of having this done-done within a short while and will continue to plug along.
There are only 2 sides left to do and but I have run into a bit of a calculation problem. One side and a corner spaced out evenly and I am very happy with the outcome...the spacing on the second side has gotten off and for the life of me, I cannot find where or how...I decided I could "do it my way" and make an adjustment, which is what I have done...the top, one corner and one side are done. I am not sure how the spacing got off, but it did, the quilt measures out right...but the marking didn't!!! I need to mark the bottom and see what I come up with...maybe a need for some more creative marking...hopefully not!!!

Monday you will find me in MCM getting backings ready for 9-10 quilts. I may have already mentioned that a friend and I have reserved 2 quilting machines for January 19-21. The shop owner will let you use her machines FREE if you are quilting for charity, which we are. Reservations are hard to get, we made these reservations back in September!!! I am hoping we can look at her books and get another reservation in sooner than later!

Ed and I have two grandkids with us this weekend. Rex (14) and Kaitlyn (9). We're having a blast, as always! Katie and I cooked dinner last night: Baked Ziti, cheese bread, green beans. Sometimes I forget how much a 14 yr old boy can consume!! Today we went to town (drove on icy roads!) where the guys went to see Pursuit of Happyness and us girls went to see Charlottes Web. I had thought we were all going to Pursuit of Happyness but Katie said she didn't want to see a sad movie...HA!! at the end of Charlotte's Web Katie and I were both using our salty popcorn napkins to mop the tears off our faces and blow our noses when Charlotte died! LOL we are so silly!

I wanted to share a couple more snow pictures. I love snow...(oh, I said that earlier, didn't I?? LOL) This pic was taken at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday as I was headed off to the office. At 11 a.m. I left the office and did not return...it had continued to snow and we had gotten quite a bit more, plus there was a nice layer of ice under it. Before I left the office I rescheduled appts, no reason for anyone to be out in that! We still have plenty of snow on the ground, roof tops are still covered with snow. Temps remain in the 30's so it isn't melting and if it should melt it just freezes into ice. The kids were given a "Yahtzee" weekend...5 days off in a row!

This next pic is of Rex and Katie's snowman, it was waaay too cold to be outside (22!!) so they made a quick snowman and came inside...they made a snowman because they wanted Ryan to see the snow. They raided the jar on the kitchen counter that is full of odds and ends of toys and etc since Mr. Snowman needed a few friends, a pet or two and some wheels...his hat is a cupcake paper, his nose is a toothpick....no eyes because the cheerios wouldn't stick on him, Rex said that was ok because he is sleeping...actually, he is lucky to have a head at all since his head kept falling off!! They had a good time and both came in with RED hands, cheeks and noses!
This pic is of JackFrost on my dogwood tree, isn't it beautiful? I should have played around with the settings on the camera before taking this pic but I didn't...all of the trees and plants in our yard were covered with frost this morning, it was just as beautiful as the snow has been.

Like Chopping Wood ~~ Warmth X2

I am working away at getting Gramma's Aprons (Novemeber 6th post) quilted....and loving the process, it's been a long while since I have completely handquilted a quilt.

I had a heck of a time finding any stencils that I wanted to use for the border quilting, finally decided on three different ones that I liked somewhat equally ~ mixed and matched and came up with a plan to use all three! I knew I wanted to put flowers on Gramma's Aprons...thought I might want something vine-y with leaves between the flowers...really like cabling so played around with what I had and what I found and am really liking how it is all coming together... even if it would make some seasoned handquilters gag from using all three of these stencils on the same quilt!! LOL

Just like chopping wood for the winter woodpile, this is keeping me warm while working on it and will keep me warm when it is ready for use. While working on it each evening it is draped over my legs...Akira usually is content to wiggle his way under it and lay on my lap..which is much easier for me to quilt since he is not laying on my bossom, his favorite place to nap!!!

Today is KatieBugs last volleyball game of the year....wrestling is about half over for Rex and Tristan....basketball is just around the corner (all 3 grands)...always hopping with the grandkids, and we try really hard not to miss a moment of any of it.

Christmas gift purchasing is pretty much done at our house, an easy year for us, we knew what we wanted to do for almost everyone early on and had pretty much finished our shopping even before it was time to get started! This afternoon we will get boxes ready to be mailed out on Monday. Still no tree up at our house...at this late date I am thinking it will not happen. Decorating didn't happen either. I do have a few things out that are out only at Christmas but we are not decorated like usual, Ed usually does a fantastic job of getting a nativity display on the lawn and lights on the house, nothing this year. As I mentioned in an earlier post, between his continued recovery from back surgery and my so very graceful fall off the deck (landing on my right shoulder) neither one of us is in any kind of shape to do any of the lugging and toting around that it would take. Next year! Next year!! Next year!!!Here is a pic of my Christmas quilt, it went on our bed this morning. This was finished in 2003, but I think I started it in 2000...got the top done but couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to do the applique Before or After the machine quilting so we used it on the bed for 2 years as an incomplete top. I finally decided to do the applique AFTER I got it back from my machine quilting lady. She did an absolutely wonderful job! The quilting is holly leafs and berries, makes me smile. There are usually 10 or more bears dressing in their holiday attire on the bed as well..but they are packed away, waiting for next year!

Jack-dolph

And today was Antenna Ball Changing Day...so here is a pic of the one coming off...I warned Jack-dolph to keep his eyes closed but he must have peeked at some point while the car was speeding along and now I see he has lost an eye...poor Jack-dolph!! Jack-man is currently on the car, but I don't have a picture to show you...soon...I love Antenna Balls!!!

There you have it...an update for what is worth!

What are you up to???