I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack

Finally figured out how to sign into this account again. Obviously I didn't move *all* my files to the new laptop!

Sorry I've been out of touch

Sorry I've been out of touch for so long. I didn't realize it's been over 6 months since my last post. Time flies when you're having fun (or working your tushie off). Actually, I wish I was working my tush off...there's more real estate there than I care for.

Talk to everyone soon!

Beren James Lee

I know I haven't blogged in awhile. There's just been too much going on. My brother finally got rid of his tramp of a wife. This woman needs some serious psychological help and I only hope that she doesn't damage her children too much.

That being said, Roger and I did get a "nice" surprise in the mail this week. There is a wonderful group out there called Missing Angel Foundation who has a program called "Angel Pics". These folks take the photos that parents of stillborn children have and retouches them. Often these pictures are the only things that parents have of their 'angels' and unfortunately, as was in Beren's case, the babies show the trauma of birth. I could look at the photos with the eyes of his mother and see how beautifully perfect he was, but most folks looking at the photos couldn't. WEll, thanks to that group, I can show you Beren. I love his father very much, but this little guy was and is the enduring love of my life.

Update on the Dragon

I finally got my camera working again -- Here's the latest update on the dragon. More soon!!!!

Eyes of Inspiration

Okay, so the dragon has an official name -- Inspiration. My creativity is inspired and he's going to go in the music room, hopefully to inspire Roger. I have to confess that I cheated a bit on his eye and nostril. They are wonder-undered together and I'll hand stitch them down.

A friend of mine commented that she liked the black background better. WEll, me too, but I guess it's Roger that would have to live with it and he hated it, so...

Well, here's the newest photo...I can't really sew anything else down at this point because I need to cut the mane and beard first. I'm also including a photo of my "assistant" Doc -- that hallway is where I have my pattern posted and if he wasn't there, I might make some kind of mistake...

Flame ON!

Okay, I've been moving forward on the dragon project. You know how sometimes something just grabs hold of you and if you don't do anything about it, it's an almost painful feeling? That's how this dragon is. I don't think I posted here that Roger really did NOT like the idea of a black background. He went with me and picked out a solid mango fabric. Which I really did NOT like.

Life is a compromise, though, isn't it? Love even moreso. I made a trip on Friday to a LQS and picked out a beautiful Hancock multi-color that had the mango, but also a few other colors for some movement. I don't LOVE it, but I don't hate it -- same for Roger -- great compromise. Actually, I love the fabric and will definitely be going back for some more of it--I think it would be great for one of the girls' Christmas quilts.

Also, at another LQS, I found the perfect fabric for the flames. I thought I had it before, but when I saw this, WOW. The only thing that irritates me is when I get a little attitude for asking for only 1/4 yard. It's not really a color I can see myself using a lot of, you know?

Anyway, here's a picture of what I've got together over the weekend. :) I have basted down the head and neck, but the flames and gums are down tight. I'll finish the teeth tonight, I hope. The bases are down, but they need the rest.

Hope you guys like it!

Inspiration Strikes with Flames

I'm wondering if "Inspiration" would be a good name for this dragon. It seems that since I decided to do it, it's just come together. It could also be because it's taking up the entrance hall wall and I want to get it down asap. Of course Roger can't quite understand why I had to draw this thing 3 times in order to get the pattern ready or why I have to sew it more than once (basting, placing and quilting). At least it wasn't expensive -- I went to JoAnn's of all places (please nobody smack me) and was able to get all the material for under $20. It's actually not terrible quality. Because it is for a wall hanging, I'm not overly concerned about durability. It's not like it's going to be going into the wash like a bed quilt would be.

Please disregard the temporary backing fabric -- I just wanted to see how the greens looked against black. I'm considering going for some rich black with silver stars through it for the final background. I'm not sure of the background material yet, just that I want it rich looking. If I *do* use cotton, I know that there will be a good bit of embellishment.

Anyhow, here's the progress and the final pattern (reversed). You can see the final size, that is 3 sheets of refrigerator paper taped together.

Dragon Sighting

Okay, so I've had this dragon pattern for about 3 years now and couldn't figure out what to do with it. It's from the "Great Book of Dragon Patterns". Well, the other day Roger mentioned that he needed some more sound-proofing for the music room -- what else could I do but volunteer to make a wall-hanging? Here's a copy of the first draft of the dragon, it's going to be 40 x 40...I *might* make a border, but I'm not sure yet. I have to see what this center looks like when it's done. I'm considering tracing it onto tulle to give myself a better base and then put the whole dragon onto the background fabric...Right now, I'm dealing with color and breaking this down into smaller pieces...

Anyway, here it is...

Owls in Flight

Okay, so here are my second round of owls. Hopefully, the USPS won't lose them this time!!!! I like owls, but I've had enough already! On to the witch's hats.

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately...I'm still too angry at that family member by marriage that I'm actually afraid to write. You know the old saying, if you can't say anything nice...well, I have nothing nice to say.

The Fur Kids

Okay, I haven't posted in quite awhile. There have been things going on in my family that have prevented me from being able to be civil in print. Since I was so enraged at what will thankfully be a former family member (can't come soon enough, if you ask me!), I didn't post here. Well, pbbbbbbbttt to that. May Ma'at visit upon her everything she so richly deserves, and that's all I'm going to say -- at least for now.

Someone requested that I post some photos of my fur kids...Here you go:

Marlboro

Moraine

Doc

Maverick

Grady

Hunter

Virginia Tech Shootings

There aren't a whole lot of things to say about this incredible tragedy, but I'm writing because I find myself filled with some strange emotions, to say the least. Maybe writing will help sort it all out.

First, of course, I can't express enough my condolences for the families and friends of those who were murdered. The survivors will have a hard time ahead of them and my heart goes out to them. There are some folks there that are incredibly brave and I'm sure as time goes forward we'll hear more and more of their stories.

Why is this guy and his family on my mind so much? I pity his parents and family so much. How incredibly horrid to have raised someone capable of this type of action. Here's where my problem is and I'm putting on my asbestos undies, but how sad for this guy...He was so obviously in trouble and mentally ill -- people are coming out of the woodwork saying how they knew he was disturbed, but DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!! Wasn't there one single person who cared a little bit about this guy? Maybe with help and/or medication this could have been avoided. Instead, this kid fell through the cracks and now we have a national tragedy.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Flame away...

Alzheimer's Quiltlet #1

I finally finished the first quiltlet for the Alzheimer fund raiser with FGM. Lots of starts and stops because of my stupid machine and I think I drew this lighthouse about 6 times before I liked it. As it is, I'm peeved at myself because my applique placement isn't what I decided on. I guess that's what I get for working on it late at night! On to the next two!

Last Fairie Flying

As many of you know, I recently won The Last Fairie Flying game with the Fairie Goddess Mothers. The theme was fantasy creatures and there is a plethora of them. Every fat quarter is beautiful and joy of joys, one of the fqs was duplicated a couple of times, so I'll have tons to work with! I'm still doing the happy dance!

:)

Two Posts in One Day? Or Here's the Sewing Area

Okay, so the request went out on Fairie Goddess Mothers for photos of our sewing areas. Mine is located at the back of our love seat, kind of part of our living room, but kind of separate and we also have the big computer back there (Roger's sitting there). It's a mess right now. Somehow, with only a little bit of space and not nearly enough storage, I end up with a regular mess. I clean it up every couple of weeks and that seems to be okay. Right now it's due for a cleaning. Just as a note -- My cats love the ironing board. The Pepsi bottle contains water for the iron so that they don't knock it all over the place--I really avoid any drinking near the sewing. :)

Art on the Walls

We're finally getting close to being done with the renovation!!! For some reason, art on the walls seems to be the final step. Between yesterday and today, Roger went into storage and got out some of our stuff for the living room. The two Nene Thomas prints and the dragons that the boys made us. I have one kind of big wall left and I think it's earmarked for a dragon head wall-hanging that I've had in mind, but didn't make because we didn't have the room (or so I thought) Mwaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Anyway, here's a couple of snapshots (please excuse the mess!)

New Table Runner Design

Here's the new table runner design. NOt a great picture because here it's still not finished. This was taken when I was matching each side to make it reversible. I'm trying to figure out how to quilt it because I want fairly invisible quilting on each side. I have a red variegated that looks really nice on the red side, which will be my "everyday" side for most seasons, but I haven't found anything for the gold side, which will be my harvest holidays side. The gold variegated that I have just looked...poopy (for lack of a better word) and I picked it out.

Any and all suggestions from my friends out there (quilting and otherwise) would be most appreciated. Although I'm putting the pattern out on my ebay site, with a variety of different fabrics, I can't really do it until I have a finished product.

:)

Flu or What the Heck happened to my nose

Just back from the doctor -- thank goodness I don't have the flu but I did get a huge case of reaction to something down at the barn (which was my own original diagnosis). I went down to the barn on Sunday, as usual, and there was my normally chestnut horse totally grey. No, his age didn't catch up with him, but he had obviously been rolling in the mud and it had all dried. Anyway, after his turnout -- crazy horse galloping all over the place, I stuck him back in his stall and took a curry to him.

For those of you with horses, you know it's a heckuva lot easier to clean them when the mud is dry rather than wet and I went at it with a vengence. I got him cleaned up (at least not mud packed) but managed to get dust all over me and in my ears, nose, mouth -- you get the picture. When I got home, I just walked inside the door and stripped off in front of the washing machine. I even had dust in my undies - bleek. (I know, TMI, but it was *that* pervasive).

Anyhow, took a shower and started dinner. All of the sudden, I'm not feeling so good. Nauseous, light-headed, exhausted--you get the picture. By the time the stew was done, Roger was eating alone and I was out for the count on the couch. Got up and was in bed by about nine and then spent most of the night up and down, sick as a dog.

After day 2 of not feeling well enough to go to work I was worried that I had the flu. I decided to go to the doctor -- no flu, just a lot of barn "stuff" still in my nose and ears and sinuses which was causing my nausea (post-nasal drip), dizziness (sinuses stuffed) and exhaustion (not processing enough air). She told me to use my Flonase, go for the Sinus DayQuil and if it gets worse, call. I feel like an idiot.

That's all for now folks.

I'm attaching a pic of the cause of all of this, nice and shiny and looking very innocent.

Tart and the Aquarium or Fun with Sardines

Or I think they were sardines -- Needless to say the Tart seems to spend a lot of time at the aquarium between Mommy and Brendan and Daddy and then me. She's knows the whole deal, down to which tank has "Nemo" and which has "Dorie" and "Gill". We had a ton of fun at story time which was Dr. Seuss' "All the Pets You Can Get". At some point they talked about old pets and she told the lady reading all about Sebastian who got old and then went away (he was put down about a month ago). Just about broke my heart!

And then there were the sardines -- we're walking around near the Ray Bay (petting rays) and Tart let's me know she wants to feed them. Me, being ignorant, said that they don't let you feed the fish. At that point, Tart grabbed me by the hand and brought me to the little cooler where they sell food for some of the fish. They were out of ray food but, oh joy, you could still feed the sand sharks. I fork over a couple of dollars and get a little paper hot dog tray (for lack of a better description) with about 5 sardines. YUCK!!!!!! Not for the 3 year old though -- she had no problems picking up each one and closely examining it before sending it to the sharks. She was petting them and looking at their eyes....EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW! Anyway, we went back for more about 5 times before she was satisfied that the sharks had eaten enough.

Totally gross trip for me, but fun. Mostly trying to figure out what sounds the various fish made when underwater...People thought we were nuts, I'm sure.

Winged Hearts

Okay, I finally got the design done for the winged hearts swap and my first one done. Did you ever have a situation where you just couldn't get motivated? I mean, I had the design in my mind (although it *did* go through some changes), pieces cut, etc. and just couldn't get my rear in gear to finish it up? I mean -- I like winged hearts enough to wear one forever on my shoulder, but I just couldn't get moving to finish up this swap stuff...Oh well, the rest should be done soon. I just have to finish up cutting some kits for ebay.

See you soon with a fun description of Tart and my trip to the aquarium.