March Snow

Spring was in the air. Trees were turning red with buds and the daffodils along the road were blooming. We saw our first robins since late fall and the blackbirds were entertaining us on the way to town with their flying group acrobats. I would wake up early to daylight and it was lasting until after dinner. All the usual signs of spring.

Since moving to western Kentucky back in 1984 I have witnessed another usual sign of spring many times over. That sign is a heavy March snow. Usually it is wet and sticks to the trees and true to form we were blessed with a nice March snow Friday. Here is a picture of what our snowball bush looked like Saturday morning. I should have waited until the sun was shining to take the picture, but I was afraid a wind might blow the snow away. It was very pretty, but the snow is now off all the trees. Some still remains on surfaces that are protected from the sun.

Bill and I cleaned the snow off the front deck yesterday after breakfast. Unfortunately the snow shovel handle broke, but we did get most of the snow off the upstairs deck. Our dog Tipper
had laid on the snow right at the front door. Her body heat melted the snow enough to create ice.

My DH and I told my dad it was there and that he should not go out via their front door, but to come downstairs and use our front door.

Needless to say he did not listen and when he went out he fell as he was trying to close the sliding glass door. I was in the shower at the time and Bill thought I fell. So he checked on me first, I was not the one to fall. When he went upstairs he discovered Dad laying outside at the icy spot on the deck. Fortunately he only hurt his right elbow. Both Bill and him said he has grooves in his elbow to match the grooves of the door frame. I thought Dad would be sore today, but he is fine.

We thought Tipper would be a small dog, because her mother is short. Here she is as a puppy.



She laid under the saw horses as Dad and Bill were building her dog house. She quickly outgrew the dog house, but the cats could hide from her in there. She was soon too tall to even crawl through the door to get to the cats.

Bill is now home from fishing with a broken line. Does that mean he had a BIG OLD FISH on the line???????

Need to go get some work done.

Peggy

My Patterns

I know some of you have been waiting for my patterns to be available. Part of the reason for the delay is I had some of my pieces waiting to see if they would be published first in a magazine. The Dashing Nines has been turned down at this time, so I will now publish it myself. Well actually it wasn't turned down. It was more I wanted the magazine to choose between the two designs Batiks by Design(BBD) and I had submitted so I could publish the other design. Another of my designs, that I have not shown to you is still being considered. I need to get them some additional information. I can tell you this much, if it is published in "the magazine" it won't happen before the Nov/Dec issue. I will keep you informed.

My patterns will be released soon and you may get them from Batiks by Design using the link to the left under My Patterns or directly from me. The first two patterns will be available early next week. I need to do a bit more work to have them just right. Well just right in my eyes.

I worked this morning for Patti at BBD. I finished cutting and packaging a couple of orders then started serging the edges of fabric we are going to wash to put into kits. Patti is going to offer a couple of patterns with prewashed fabrics to see if her customers like them that way. It does take more energy and time on our part, but if they sell we may make more.

After leaving work Bill and I went out to lunch. We try to do that on Thursdays, because it gives us good husband and wife time. Sometimes we will also do some shopping, but today we went to the cemetary. I received a survey from the one of the local cemetarys. I filled it out only because we would get a two night stay in one of several hotels around the country. I know it is a come on, but I can listen to someone for an hour or so to save some money when traveling. I knew we would have to talk to the sales person, but I was honest on the survey indicating that we already had cemetary plots. They didn't ask me where they are located. Actually I have two cemetary plots. One in Ohio, which also has a casket and vault already bought, and a pair that my husband and I have in Wisconsin. We will be using the ones in Wisconsin. Anyway to make the long story short we now have two nights in a hotel to use before September 2009. The sales person was nice and did answer some questions I had about disposing of the plot I own but won't be using.

Tonight I started collecting materials needed for a machine quilting class I am taking Saturday. I know how to machine quilt, but it is nice to practice, learn another person's methods and be with others also in the class.

Tomorrow night Bill and I are having dinner with his sister and brother-in-law. They are passing through our area on their way home to WI from AL. They spent most of the winter in AL. Several couples from WI rent cabins in a state park and enjoy all the activities offered in the area. They picked a great winter to be away from WI, as WI had record snows, winds and temperatures this winter. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Well I need to work again tomorrow, so I best get to bed.

Peggy

It's been so long!

I have not been able to post to my blog in such a long time I had trouble remembering how to get here. Don't worry, everything is ok here, just busy and tired.

Our weather seems to be stuck in a cycle of a threat of ice on Thursdays. So far we have either been too far south or too far north and have missed the bad stuff.

I worked four days for Batiks by Design this week. Most of what I did was to sew on samples. We try to work up all the patterns in Patti's fabrics, so everyone can see what they look like using traditional batiks.

I also worked on taxes this week. Funny thing, I felt like I hardly worked last year, but the IRS considered me a small business because I received a couple of 1099's. You get these when you earn more then $600. from one employer. So it looks like we will need to pay again this year. At least it won't be much that we will need to pay. I still need to change and add few items before I can send the taxes in, but the hard part is finished.....YEAH!

Bill had four post put into his lower gum Wednesday. These will be used to hold his lower dentures in place. He has been a real trooper with the whole process. Right now he has 4 metal posts and no teeth. Some how he manages to eat.

A couple of mice were in our greenhouse and ate the tops off of all the tiny tomato plants. So the second batch of tomato plants are starting to come up. Part of them are now living on my stove using the stove light to grow by. That means a lot of crock pot, microwave and Forman cooking for a few weeks. I can always use the stove upstairs, but it is kind of an adventure to see what can be made without the stove. I did move the plants one evening so I could broil a few steaks, but I thought Bill should have something he really liked before he had the posts put in. His lower teeth will be put in as soon as they are drilled to accomodate the posts. Then the upper teeth will need to be aligned to the lower teeth.

I think I can actually stay home this weekend if I want. It is nice to know that even if it doesn't happen. I will be sewing, cleaning, doing laundry, cooking.....geez I think I want to go out! No actually I enjoy doing all of that even if I sometimes complain. The one thing that is nice is Nascar is back on TV and Dale Jr is doing just fine with his new team.

Time to make the coffee for tomorrow.

Peggy

The Weather

Yesterday and today we again have been fortunate to not have any damage from the weather. Lots of damage happened with in 75 miles all around us, but not here.

Seeing the pictures of the snow that is hitting Southern, Wisconsin where my husband's family lives, reminds me of the many snow storms I "enjoyed" in Indiana and Ohio. My favorite memories include the 27" of partly cloudy (unpredicted snow) we had when I was in JR High School in NW Indiana. Another was the blizzard we had in Ohio while I was teaching in Preble County. The snow and drifts were so high I could not see the mail boxes at the road. They were completely covered with snow. The National Guard was called out to clear the roads in the county. We missed a whole week of school if I remember correctly.

Several things I remember about snow are how the sun reflects off the snow, how quiet the world seems when outside in the snow and how messy and ugly the world gets as the snow melts into slush. I would much rather drive on packed snow rather then in slush.

Much happiness to all,
Peggy

What not to do when the electric is out!

Last Wednesday the weather was windy as a weather front was about to go through our area. Right after we finished eating dinner our electric went out. So the dishes didn't get done. My DH and I took naps. About three hours later the electric came back on just long enough for me to reset the clocks and try to get on the computer to check on the coming weather. Flicker....Flicker...Flicker and it was out again.

I had slept for three hours and was wide awake. It was totally dark in our house. We do have emergency lights that we use to move around the house, but we conserve them. So I had the bright idea to light some candles so I could work. Now I will show you two of twenty reasons why I should not try to rotary cut using three short candles. Notice that the brown and gold fabic is longer then the white and gold. They are supposed to measure the same size. So I had to trim. I also didn't cut enough of the brown and gold fabric as I couldn't accurately count the pieces not knowing if I had one, two or three pieces in my hand.

So today I trimmed and sewed. I need another picture for my pattern cover showing an additional setting of the table runner. So this is how it is layed out using the same number of pieces as the blue one or the multi colored one posted earlier.

For those waiting on this pattern it will be available soon. I am waiting on some paper work from the state. I thought it came in the mail yesterday, but it was a large envelope that included all the stuff I read already, plus a blank application. I at least know they received my application and it looks like it was approved, just waiting for the magical numbers needed to do business.

I am now working at Batiks by Design part time. Tomorrow is a work day, so I guess I need to finish up for the night. Have a good one!

Peggy

So much to learn!

Sorry I don't have pictures again tonight. I have not taken any lately that I can share. I promise the next thing I sew will be posted.

Patti from Batiks by Design and I are trying to learn many new computer programs that will make things easier for both of us. It seems like there is a never ending CD out there with a new...or old program that I don't have...that I, she or we need to know. At least we are learning the accounting and bookkeeping programs together, so we can compare notes and maybe one of us will know how to work out the problem.

Some things in life are as I have heard all my life "clear as mud". The new terms, the way different people write and maybe just my lack of brain cells to process everything really makes life interesting.

Let me get back to my sewing and designing as soon as possible. I have so much I want to accomplish all at one time.

If everything works out right and my parents are healthy enough to take care of themself for a week and a couple of days we will be going on vacation. Today Bill, my husband, rented a condo in Wisconsin Dells for the last week in March. This is the week that our grandson is off school for his spring break. The place we rented will sleep 6, so I am sure we will have some overnight family visitors while we are there.

The Dells is a popular vacation area, but mostly during the summer. Much of what goes on during the summer are the types of stuff we avoid. We just want a place to "get away" from it all, not be shoulder to shoulder with other people. That is why we go to the Dells in the winter when much of what attracts others to the Dells are closed for the season.

Another reason we go to the Dells is being able to rent a place that is like home. We can eat out if we desire or we have a kitchen where we can cook. We also can have relatives and friends visit us instead of us running all over WI becoming exhausted. Since our relatives live from LaCrosse to Madison and south they are all with in an hour or so of where we will be staying.

Another plus is the outdoor activities we can do while our grandson Devin is staying with us, so hope for good weather. We can go fishing, play at the out door playground, or go to the indoor activity center. All of this is on the grounds of where we are staying.

Shopping is also available in the area, but we will keep that to a minimum. We do like the new outlet mall there and I know where a few quilt shops are located in adjoining towns. We will also make the trip a time or two to Bloomington, WI, my husband's home town. We love it there. It is a small town that has some of the most interesting people if you get to know them. It also has a great bakery that serves breakfast and lunch. I will also buy some bread from the bakery and maybe some rolls to take back to our Condo. At Christmas time they have wonderful cookies. I really like the cranberry oatmeal cookies.

My personal travel schedule will be busy this year helping Patti at Quilt Shows. We are going to Chicago mid April and then Paducah, KY at the end of April. Paducah is only 65 miles away, but we may spend a night or two in a camper up there to conserve our energy. August we will be in Nashville TN. Then we have a break until October when we will go to Des Moines, Iowa come home for a few days then we are off to Houston. Our schedules are different in each place, but one thing stays the same.....we get tired....we eat too many snack foods to just survive and restaurant food takes too long to arrive and are very expesive. Oh did I say we get tired! As you can see I would much rather have a home cooked meal that arrives right after I change my clothes and I can enjoy being off my feet. A spa bath tub would be nice also, but I would not have time to use it anyway.

Well it is off to bed time. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day and it is suppose to rain with strong winds. I just checked the weather. Now they are saying Thunderstorms! OH YES! It is only getting up to 58 degrees and then drop to 25 degrees. If we didn't need so many basic items I would just stay home. I am out of too many things, so I will just hope the bad weather doesn't hit until afternoon.

My Views about Machine Quilting

I must say that I am one of those people who prefer hand quilting. I also must say that after going to so many quilt shows lately I admire machine quilting. I know some of my friends are falling over right now. I am not sure if they fainted or if it is because they are laughing so hard!

I always loved the look of hand quilting and actually enjoyed hand quilting. The problem I have is I like lots of quilting and I just don't have that type of time. I have quilts that I started hand quilting more then 10 years ago. Two of these quilts have special meaning to me, so they will never be finished by me other then by hand. Now the other two quilts I can see me machine quilting them just to get them finished. The problem I have with both of these quilts is that they are large, have polyester batting in them and would be difficult to do on my domestic machine.

I recently quilted a quilt that is less then 50" square on my sewing machine. I had a few areas that were difficult to quilt, but most of it was fun. The hard part is deciding how I am going to quilt the piece. Borders are the biggest problem, because all four sides are usually alike and need to be quilted the same. Sometimes that is easy if the fabric has a pattern to use as a guide, but when the fabric offers no clues for the quilting???? I know I can use a quilt stencil, but that means an extra step. Funny I don't mind that step when I hand quilt, but when doing it by machine I kind of like the freedom to not having to follow a line. I think part of that is because I find it difficult to follow a line. My walking foot has an offset opening for pulling the threads through. I can't line up with that unless I move my needle......HA, I just thought of that. Why didn't I think about that when I was quilting???????????

Another problem I discovered for me is that moving the fabric with my hands causes my right hand to hurt right in the middle of the palm. Funny thing is I don't notice it while I am quilting, just when I am trying to relax and do something else. I also noticed that I need to take breaks to relax my shoulders. I get too tense trying to do the design just a certain way.

I did learn that making circles is easier in one direction then it is going the opposite direction. This is a good thing to know, but my natureral instict is to start in a place to cause me to to the direction that is not good for me. In time as I do more machine quilting I will remember where to start to make it easier.

I think the thing that I learned that really impressed me is that when you step back from the quilt about 3 feet all the imperfections disappear. It is when you nose is 6" away while you are sewing that things really look bad. Also when quilting close the imperfections seem to disappear as more quilting is added. Or maybe it is because I want to get the quilt done that I stop seeing the "problems" and just overlook what bothered me when I sewed the design.

Oh well! All I know is that I had better learn to love machine quilting, because I have lots of samples to quilt of my new patterns. I sent off last week for the last of the approvals I need before I start selling my patterns. So I will have several for sale soon!

It was cold here today, but not nearly as bad as it is where they are playing foot ball today. I can't believe they schedule a night football game in Green Bay, WI in January!