Just My Life

2010-11-14T19:47:00.004-06:00

I decided tonight to make cookies using mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe, which is absolutely amazing!!

They are easy to mix up

Easy to bake

Look really good fresh out of the oven

Even Bristol was waiting on hers

And this recipe makes a ton but.....

They did not taste like mom's. :(

They are good and I swear the reason mom's are so good is because of the bowl she mixes hers in along with the wooden spoon she uses.

I guess I will just have to wait until Christmas to get the real thing.

Ang

Almost six months....

2010-10-07T19:53:00.032-05:00

Wow, it has been almost six months since my last post! A lot has been going on but it is only things that would bore you so on to the stuff that has to be shared.

First on the list is Miss Hayley.... a NaNa has to do what a NaNa has to do.

Hayley is now six months old and boy does the time flies faster now than it did when my own were little.

She thought it was fun to sit in her dirty clothes hamper.

First time at the state fair and she would just giggle when that bunny touched her toes.

This is her starting a career as a yoga instructor.

Now that I have gotten that part of my system, but if provoked I have a ton more to share, I will share something I just finished once I found the background fabric.

Not the best picture I have ever taken but you can get the jest of what the tablerunner looks like.

This is a close-up of the block and the background fabric that took me about a month to finally find.

I have not had much of a chance to sew lately but did get the tablerunner in and now just have to get it quilted.

I am working on another sample for a quilt shop in Texas that requires a lot of embroidery work and then pieced blocks. The fabric they sent for the quilt is gorgeous!! I will share more of it as I get more done. This one I am going to ask to keep when they are done with it because I really, really like it.

Last on my list of things to share right now is the newest member of the family.... Bristol.

She is 5 months old now, we got her about a month ago. A breeder was cutting back and she was one of the puppies left out of a litter she did not have time to market to sell. She contacted me to find out if i knew anyone who would give an Australian Shepherd puppy a good home. I wasn't looking for a puppy because my main concern was making sure Indy was healthy as she has had some issues come up, but when this breeder sent me her picture I fell in love and David said go get her. She was free by the way, which was even better. When I picked her up she came with a trizillion little hitchikers (ticks) attached to her little body, enough that it made my backseat of my truck like it had a ton of dirt on it after I got her out. First order of business was a bath of course and a call to the groomer. She went to the groomer two days after I got her and the vet the same day to be checked out and to get something for the ticks and the few fleas I saw. That same week she went back to the vet to have her little girl surgery. Poor thing thought she lived there! She is turning into the awesome Aussie that she is, but she will never be as good as Princess Indy.

Until next time,

Ang

One week ago today....

2010-04-15T17:26:00.003-05:00

This is what we got one week ago today after only 6 hours of labor....

Hayley Dawn

6 lbs, 7 ozs

17 inches long

She is truly adorable!

Sleeps 4-6 hours at a time.

Is awake to say hi to Nana and Poppa and Aunt Amanda without being fussy.

And slept through her mom giving her a mohawk!!!!!

Mom and Hayley are both doing wonderful.

Sew & Tell Friday

2010-01-22T20:10:00.003-06:00

I have sat back and watch my online friend Heather do this Sew and Tell Friday that she discovered at Amylouwho's and figured since now I have started taking half a day off on Fridays that I would jump in when I could too. :)

I actually got to sew today on this:

It is actually a lap quilt for Batiks by Design as a sample for her shop. Patti, the owner, and I have been emailing and sending fabric back and forth to each other since October of last year trying to get the right colors for this. We finally settled on these but we had picked out a dark green with some tan batik for the border but then decided after i got some of this all up on the sheet over the closet doors, aka design wall, that the green would blend in with the arches, so we went on a search again. LOL We came up with a tan that will be gorgeous and the green we are going to use as fluers appliqued on the border. I cannot wait to get it done!!!

I have a granddaughter due in April and I have yet to make her a quilt!!! Tomorrow will be spent on just that instead of this quilt above. :)

Thanks for checking out my Sew & Tell Friday. I hope to be back next Friday with more.

Ang

It Is A Granddaughter!

2009-12-05T15:29:00.003-06:00

She is due April 12, 2010!

The ultrasound was the coolest thing I have ever seen! So different than the ones I had when I was pregnant 23 yrs ago with this daughter who is having this baby girl.

Can you see her little nose? This is the profile of her head. Her little feet and hands were so cute and she never stopped moving, which was just like her mom! LOL

Of course had to go baby shopping after the ultrasound and now my head is going 90 to nothing of baby quilt ideas and little knitted sweaters and booties. :)

Am I Dreaming???

2009-11-28T21:50:00.004-06:00

This was the most scariest thing I have ever had to go through with my daughters.

My youngest, Cassi, calls me at 11:30 on Friday night hysterical. All I could understand was "fire". I finally got enough out of what she was saying to get "apartment", "fire". At that time I said, "Me and dad are on the way!"

We jump in the car, I call Amanda as I know she can get to Cassi faster than I can and then I call Cassi back. At this time she tells me her dog Rhett is still in the apartment and the firemen were trying to find him. I just talk to her to try to get her to calm down because she is almost 5 months pregnant and this was the last thing she needed to be doing.

About 10 minutes later once we reached Tulsa, Amanda calls to tell me they had gotten Rhett out and he was okay. Scared, wet and smelling of smoke, but okay. At this time is when I felt my heart calm down and my body stop shaking.

In this picture you can see both of my daughters, Amanda in the grown jacket, Cassi bending over the dog in the white coat. Cassi's nose is bright red from crying so much but they were both so happy to get Rhett out and Rhett was so happy to see his momma.

Today was spent trying to salvage what we could and get them moved into another apartment. They lost a lot of things but those things can be replaced. Before leaving Cassi and Buddy's (her boyfriend) apartment I had them a bed made with clean sheets, 4 fluffy pillows and a nice warm quilt. I know over the next several weeks they will discover things that we were not able to get out but they are both just thankful that some of the high dollar items were salvagable and working when we plugged them in at the new apartment. I know I will be washing about 100 loads of laundry for them as they have other things to worry about right now than getting summer clothes clean or things that they just hardly ever wear but feel they have to have. Tomorrow will be spent taking Cassi to buy some new shoes as she lost all of them in the fire.

I know by now everyone is asking how it started and the fire department is still trying to figure that out. They have determined it started on their balcony outside but by what they don't know yet. They were not home at the time but like Cassi said driving up to your apartment on fire about 5 minutes after the firemen arrive is not the best thing to come home to.

I am just thankful my daughter is fine, my grand-puppy is fine and the baby she is carrying is fine too. It could have been worse because she almost did not go with Buddy and his friends and she would have been home when this started and probably have been in bed asleep at the time.

Wow! Wish this was really a dream and I would wake up to everything being okay but I smell like smoke and I'm pretty sure this is not a dream.

Another giveaway

2009-10-23T20:41:00.003-05:00

Here are two more giveways (Thanks for posting them Heather!) that are sure to please everyone!

This one giving away a fabric bundle, which is from True Up. With a grandchild on the way this fabric would be perfect.

And check out this really cute pattern from Giddy for Paisley. This one you must enter by Sunday, Oct. 25th.

Go check both out and enter.

Halloween Giveaway!!!

2009-10-21T20:46:00.006-05:00

You MUST got here and enter for this giveaway!!!

http://pumpkinpatchprimitivequiltshoppe.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-happy-halloween-giveaway.html

Look at what the prize is! Beautiful fabric!

If you enter please tell her I sent you! I want to win and I get entered for each person who mentions my name and enters themself!!!!

The deadline is this Friday the 25th, so go NOW!!! and enter!!!

Ang

Halloween

2009-10-02T20:36:00.006-05:00

I'm not a huge fan of Halloween as I prefer Christmas, but I got the priviledge of making this wallhanging for Stitchin' Heaven's quilt shop in Texas.

I need to put the other picture where the black rickrack is around the seam where the orange outside border is sewn on the computer so I can show that one. The black rickrack really set off the quilt as it added just a little bit more to the look. I didn't scallop the edges as the pattern called for because I thought that orange border was too wide (7-1/2") and it called for a scalloped border anyway. I will let the quilt shop do that part. But overall this was so much fun to do. This pattern is called Vintage Halloween and you can get it as a kit on their website, www.stitchinheaven.com.

Here are some closeup pictures of the blocks themselves:

No matter what it was a fun wallhanging to make! I also get the choice of getting it back once the quilt shop is done with it and it will be quilted by then! How cool is that??!!! I am thinking about getting it back since I have a grandchild on the way who would probably love to look at it when they are old enough to enjoy Halloween.

Later!

Ang

Grandchild #1

2009-09-17T19:21:00.002-05:00

Is it a baby or a baby sea turtle???? LOL

This is what I asked my daughter when she showed this to me. LOL She said the same thing. This is our youngest who is due mid-April with our first grandchild. Her and Buddy are excited but I will admit it had to grow on me before I got excited. Being a grandma to me meant you were old but then I had to remember I had Cassi when I was like 5 so that makes me a very young grandma. :) This means baby quilts and things once this anniversary party for my parents is over with next month. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Miss me???

2009-09-17T19:17:00.003-05:00

Tell me someone missed me?!?! Please!!! LOL

I have been busy with summer stuff, redoing our pondless waterfall after Emma decided to play queen of the mountain and some rocks fell, working on the scrapbook for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary coming up next month, trying to get a couple of quilt tops finished for some quilt shops who wanted them for samples, then of course working.

During this time I have bought a new computer as my 1-1/2 year old Dell died, also crashed my laptop after 3 years. So during this time I have been trying to recover things on my old hard drives to move to this computer but so far, hopeless. Best just to start from scratch again.

I will share something in my next post... :)

Death by Quilting Challenge.....

2009-06-03T17:35:00.002-05:00

I have been having so much fun in Pat Sloan's Death By Quilting Challenge. So far I have not been killed BUT I know my days are numbered. I just got my wallhanging finished and in the mail today so the person I mail to will be dead by this weekend. LOL This has been so much fun! You should check out the chatter in the Forum at Death by Quilting as it will have you laughing. Some of these ladies are mean!!! LOL

Here is my finished wallhanging.

Until next time and hopefully I'm not dead soon!!! LOL

Ang

Mysterious...

2009-04-30T15:57:00.003-05:00

Since our trip to Eureka Springs, AR was postponed until tomorrow, I got to sew today and finish up a wallhanging I started a few weeks ago. This is the batik wallhanging kit I bought last year at a quilt show. I just had to make it as I LOVE batiks!!! This picture really does not do this wallhanging justice at all but here it is.

The reason for the name, Mysterious, was me and David were having this discussion when I showed him the last tablerunner about all he ever says when I make something and show it to him is "Looks good". That is all I get, so I told him one day I was going to make something that made him go "WOW!" As I was working on this wallhanging and doing each block, he would come in my sewing room and look at the progress on the design wall. Every once in a while he would comment about something and at one time he said "There is a lot of black in it. Makes it look mysterious." Well that stuck for the name. :)

Did I get my WOW out of him, NO! I got "Looks good". LOL But I know he liked it because he kept looking at it.

Ang

Spring is here.....

2009-04-22T18:42:00.004-05:00

As I walk around sneezing more in one day than I did all winter long, I think spring is finally here. Here is a picture of one my hydrangeas that I still need to plant. I loved it when the blooms were white and blue but now, oh my gosh, they are pretty and BIG. I didn't know when i bought these two that they grew as tall as they did. I thought I could plant them in a pot for a little color on the patio and they would grow like two feet tall, but NO! These things can get 4-6 feet tall. Now my problem is where to plant them. I thought about planting them on the back fence in the backyard but then my question is, I wonder if the horses will leave them alone or try to eat them. They probably won't mess with them, but I have one horse who is all boy and thinks you don't think he will mess with, he tears up. LOL Just ask my husband about his windshield wipers on his Jeep. Another story, another time.

Anyway, just wanted to share a gorgeous flower to admit spring has sprung (Plus it is now 88 outside so summer will probably be here tomorrow! LOL) and it is time to get outside to enjoy it.

Until next time!

Ang

Tax time sewing....

2009-04-18T16:31:00.003-05:00

Well tax time has past but it left me depressed at how much we owe the IRS!!! Sometimes working from home is not the way to go even though I don't think I would change it. I just think hubby needs to think long and hard about some cows as a tax deduction but I think he knows when babies are born I would get attached and tax deductions would become pets!! :)

Since the IRS now gets a good chunk of money from us, I decided to get some of those quilt kits I have bought over the years out and start sewing on them. I knew they would come in handy at some point because I have no money because of the IRS!

This is a baby quilt done in 1930s prints that was a kit I bought about 4 years ago. Now the top is done and it goes in the 'to be quilted' pile. Maybe by the time I get it quilted I will have a grandchild on the way, which means in about 5 years when I finally get it quilted I will have a grandchild on the way or be bankrupt because of paying the IRS so dang much money and have sold all my quilting stuff and fabric!! LOL It is nothing fancy but for a baby quilt it is sort of cute.

Now on to the kit I bought about a year ago at a quilt show. It is a wallhanging done in batiks, which are my favorite!!! I could start on the queen size kit I have that I bought while on a shop hop with a friend and she bought one too. I often wonder if she has hers put together or has even started it. :) I think she reads this blog so she might answer that for me. :) I think she got hers cut out but I never heard if she got it together. I might start on that one instead of the wallhanging. But then I also have another wallhanging of an appliqued horse's head that I could start on too. And those are not the only three I have, I have a few more that are started but I never finished that I could finish. And then there is the Dear Jane book I got recently BEFORE the IRS made be depressed!! I could start on that!! Dang it! I hate choices like this!!! LOL

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!
Ang

For Mom and Dad

2009-04-03T18:50:00.004-05:00

I just finished this little FAMILY album for my mom and dad when we see them this weekend. It was made with BoBunny Word chipboard album. Last time I was home to Texas I brought home all of my parents pictures. Their 50th wedding anniversary is this October and my goal is to have a scrapbook album or two for them then. I made this little album so mom didn't think I was hording all of her pictures and doing nothing with them. LOL This worked out perfectly as there was enough pages for me, my 2 brothers and their 6 grandkids with one page left over for just a collage of pictures of all of us. Mom and dad have no clue what my plan is with their pictures other than to put them in albums for them, but we are also making a video for the anniversary party. It has been so much fun so far. :)

Later!
Ang

Spring???

2009-04-01T15:10:00.004-05:00

I am hoping that the last of winter is over with for us. I bought azalea bushes, hosta plants, monkey grass and for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the blue flowers in the picture below, along with some other flowers to plant about 2 weeks ago. Of course I bought them all and the next week we had snow! So they all came in the house so they didn't freeze. Now they are all back outside and I hope this weekend I can get them all in the ground.

I just love those blue flowers! They are so pretty and will be perfect out by the patio.

This is a picture of where everything will go except for the azalea bushes and they go in the front of the house off to the left of the front door.

Around the back side of this pondless waterfall is a raised flowerbed where I also have calla lillies, hosta and some other ground cover planted. A couple of the things I bought will go around that with the others going to the left of the swing that doesn't show in this picture.

This is my favorite place to sit during the spring and summer.

Later!

Ang

March Tablerunner

2009-03-29T20:03:00.004-05:00

This was the March Tablerunner of the Month and I really like this one! The only thing I wasn't too fond of was in the center block the same fabric as the points and the border are done in, it had 2 squares of that in the middle. Once I got this together I really fell in love with it and the colors. I wish I could get a better color going because it looks like those triangles are black but they are really dark blue. I love the scrappy look and this one had it. Once I get my quilt frame cleared off of holding plastic shoeboxes of pictures brought home from my parents house, I will get this on there and quilt it. I could do it on my regular sewing machine but I want it all laid out so I can see what I am doing better. :) Pluse I need more practice on my Grace frame. :)

Until next time,

Ang

March weather

2009-03-29T17:35:00.005-05:00

Last week we have days up in the 60s and 70s, Friday we have rain all day, and Saturday we have 6 inches of snow!!!

You can see the green grass coming up and the green leaves on the bush just starting to come out.

Today, Sunday, we have very sunny skies and 60 degrees! Gotta love this time of the year!! LOL

Save me from Farm Town!!!!

2009-03-18T19:23:00.003-05:00

Hi! My name is Angela and I am a Farm Town addicted... (as I hang my head in shame)

I have gotten addicted to playing Farm Town on http://www.facebook.com/. It has gotten so bad that I haven't done any sewing since starting to play this game. What is wrong with me!?! Games have never grabbed my interest and why this one has, I don't know. I need help! Serious help! I have neighbors on there that just keep dragging me future and future into its grasp as they are alway needing help on their farms and as soft hearted and giving as I am, I help them out. I have crops to tend to and harvest. I have animals that need me. What have I gotten myself in to!!!??? HELP!!!

New Front Door

2009-03-06T17:26:00.002-06:00

Today was the day to finally replace the front door on our house. When we bought this house 4 years ago the first thing I said I hated other than the green trim was that front door. That is a door you would put on as your back door, not your front! That is the entry way for the house and when you walk up the first thing you can see is the TV sitting there. Not a good thing at all! Plus what happens if I forgot to fold the clothes that were in the dry and I need a clean pair of undies and I go from our bedroom on one end of the house to the laundry room on the other end of the house and you have to right past this entry way!!! Not a good thing if you run through there half naked like I am prone to do at times. We live quite a ways off the road but still. This was not a door for the front door!

We went and bought this door and Lowe's came out to install it today.

The guy did an awesome job and it made the house look so much better and now I can run through there totally naked if I wanted to!! LOL Now our next step is to get a storm door put on, replace that ugly light fixture that I really never paid attention to until today, and then replace all the door knobs in our house to silver like this one since the lead in the glass is silver. AND THEN we have to repaint the house as this color of door does not go with our color of house. THEN I need to plant something in front of the porch, monkey grass or something like that. THEN.... does it ever end??? Someone told me once that work on a house never ends until you hand the keys over to its new owners when you sell. I think they were right!!!

The people that owned this house before us, I swear the man had no sense of color at all! He said the outside of the house was taupe with red brick and green trim. I hate to tell him this but that is not taupe, that is a gray color. Then he tried to say the inside of the house was taupe. Oh no it wasn't!!! It was a peachy pink color!!! And EVERYTHING was painted that color, walls, trim, ceiling, window sills, everything!!! I came in with a some color and some real taupe and painted the inside and now it is time to focus on the outside and then once that is done, it will be time to focus on the inside again. LOL Again that saying up above is so true!!

Until next time!
Ang

Elaine's Great Give Away

2009-02-26T09:24:00.002-06:00

I just saw this great give away on Elaine's blog and wanted to share with all my quilting friends. Check her out and tell her I sent you. http://averettladynana.blogspot.com/ You have to scroll down a bit to see everything and to leave a comment to be entered but it is worth it.

Ang

Forgot....

2009-02-24T18:39:00.002-06:00

And on top of all of this I want to take a course on gourmet cooking!! Am I crazy or what???

Ang

New Project

2009-02-24T18:26:00.005-06:00

Well this new project won't be quilt related at all and why I said I would do it I will never know.

My parents will be having their 50th wedding anniversary this October. I wanted to do a video or something of pictures of their life for this big event coming up. When I asked mom if we could go thru all of her pictures she said sure and that she wanted to put them in a scrapbook sometime but just doesn't have time. I think that was her way of saying "can you do this for me as you are more creative?" Being the good daughter that I am I said "Mom, why don't you let me have them all and I will do this for you." What was I thinking!!!??? Mom had FIVE boxes full of pictures!!! There is no way I will have all of this done by October but you can bet I am going to try my hardest to have it all done.

My dad is a big hot rod guy and has gone to a ton of car shows so he has a ton of car pictures. Those are going just in a photo album for him.

They have a ton of pictures of their vacations to Colorado since they retired and I think those will go in a photo album by themselves.

Then there are the pictures of me and my brothers!! There are a ton!! Not to mention the pictures of the six grandkids!!! Then you have the pictures of when mom and dad were kids and their parents, my grandparents. All of this is what I am going to use for the scrapbooks. I will be scanning them also for a video for their anniversary party. HUH????? PARTY???? Oh no! That means I have to do all of this plus plan a party when I live 8 hours from them???? My brothers better step up to the plate and help on that end!!!! But we all know how men are so we all know who this will fall back on.... ME???

Again what was I thinking??? And now when am I going to get to quilt???? Why didn't I just think about doing a quilt for them instead??? Maybe because they already have some from me, I don't know but I think the older I get the more I think I am wonder woman!!! LOL

Here is a picture of me and my older brother (10 months apart in age) that I wanted to share. Too cute!!

I will still find time to quilt in between making pages for a scrapbook, I just have to find a space on my cutting table to do so. Wish me luck!

Ang

Two Table Runners

2009-02-18T21:10:00.003-06:00

I decided to splurg one day and join a table runner of the month at Everything Quilts. My first two are now pieced but not quilted. Any ideas on quilting them, please share. :)

This one was for January.

And I'm not sure I like it. Maybe because I'm not crazy about the fabric that they chose for the middle. I do like the borders. LOL This one might go to my mom as these are the colors she is putting in her dining room with roses and all.

This one was for February.

I can definitely say I HATE the fabric they choce for the outside border. It is too muted in color than to go with the bright colors in the blocks. This one I will probably still quilt and save it to give to someone who does like it.

I am hoping the one for March is more spring colors or something I like better. I will say I had fun putting these together as they used the new Triangulation papers which were kind of neat.

Until next time!

Ang

Coming out of Hiding!!

2009-02-11T14:57:00.002-06:00

I have been missing in action lately! Last week I drove to Sweetwater, Texas to my parents and pulled a tralier with a wrecked 1994 Camaro to my dad. Boy that was an experience and nothing like pulling a horse trailer. The biggest thing I complained about was I could not use my cruise control on the truck or go over 70 mph!! LOL But that wrecked car is no longer in my pasture making our place look like the beginnings of a salvage yard.

I had plans to come on Friday but work called even though I was on vacation and I ended up staying until Sunday. This was not my plan but I still had fun with my parents whom I miss something awful.

I am now back home, working, trying to get in some sewing or knitting. I will be back to blogging with pictures very soon as I have a tablerunner almost finished to show.

Until then,
Ang

Sunday progress

2009-02-01T19:25:00.007-06:00

I just got this quilt top finished that I started a few weeks ago. I did this while doing a Sew In with a quilting group I am in on Yahoo, CountryQuiltingUSA. We all joined in sewing at home while visiting online.

This quilt really aren't my colors but it was a quilt kit I was given and figured I would go ahead and put it together and either give it as a gift or keep it for snuggling under.

Then I had to add these as these were taken by Amanda of Indy and Junior with her St. Patrick's day boa. :)

Indy is such a happy dog. :)

We can't say that about Junior!!! LOL

Until next time!

Ang

Winter Wonderland!

2009-01-29T09:43:00.004-06:00

We had ice and snow Monday and Tuesday, yesterday some melted, but I got up this morning after having fog last night on top of the ice and snow that hadn't melted and this is what it looked like. Pictures do not do the look out my windows justice!!

The tree branches had ice crystals that looked like a beard. :)

Sort of blurry but you get the idea, maybe a porcipine.

The huge oak that survived the ice storm in Dec. 2007

Looking down the driveway...

Thought this was just too neat looking. :)

Just a tree stump that has some type of fungi growing on it.

It was all very pretty with the sun just coming up and standing under all the trees it was like it was snowing with blue skys above as all those ice crystals on the trees were falling. I just wish I would have gotten up earlier and traveled out on the back roads in the truck to get more gorgeous pictures. These were all from my digital camera but I took a whole roll of pictures on my good 35 mm camera that should be awesome when I get them developed.

Stay warm!!

Ang

Need I Say More....

2009-01-26T13:30:00.008-06:00

As I sit here waiting to see how much of this ice storm we are going to get I just had to share this.

Do I really claim them as my daughters???? LOL

I am also thinking if we get as much ice as they say and we lose our power again moving to Texas will be out! I will be moving to a desert somewhere where there are no ice storms! But then I would have to put up with the sand storms. Hmmmm.... I think this is a no win situation. LOL I guess I will stick with my goal of moving back home to Texas to be with family. At least then if the power goes out for 12 days I would have someone to call to see if I can come take a nice hot shower!!

Waiting.....

Ang

Just Sharing

2009-01-22T10:49:00.011-06:00

I am a little on the bored side right now even though I could be working but why?? LOL So I thought I would look in my picture album on this computer and see what pictures I have there that are still UFOs and need to be finished. Here are a few:

This was a Round Robin done with quilters on a Yahoo Quilting list. It was a blast to do. Each of us did the center and then mailed our center off to the next person, she added a round, and it went on until the last person worked on it and then sent it back to you. The ones I received from the other ladies really challenged me with color and design and it was great to do. I just now need to figure out what I want to do with it and finish it either as a quilt or a wallhanging.

This is one that I will NEVER do again! LOL Those horses have so many small pieces to applique it is unreal. It is machine appliqued. This is all batiks also. I will be adding a few more borders on to it and then quilting it as a wallhanging.

This one is from one of the Elm Creek Quilt books. It is all paper pieced which I love. I do know what I will be adding to it, another pieced border and then some solid ones and then quilt it. It is one of my favorites but I got stuck after that last border on what to do.

Then these are just some that I want to share. :)

This is a quilt that my mom almost threw away!!!! She found it in a hope chest when my great-aunt died. It was made by my great-grandmother. It is worn in spots but still in wonderful condition for the age.

This one was also in that hope chest made by my great-grandmother. And to think mom was going to throw them away because she didn't think anyone would want old quilts!!!! Boy did she get a lecture from me on that one. :)

And last of all since Indy made the blog yesterday, Junior needs to make it today. :)

This is an old picture of Junior as Sam is laying in the background. Sam was put to sleep last year due to old age and waking up blind one morning. He was 16.

And then there is this one!!! LOL This shows our fat cat that has a personality like no other cat we have ever owned. He is named after Dale Jr the NASCAR driver. :) Do you see a trend here with pet names????? Indy.... Junior.....

Until next time,

Ang

Learned something new.... Maybe! LOL

2009-01-21T14:26:00.004-06:00

I was reading blogs yesterday which is one thing I like to do when I get the chance and on a blog somewhere and I don't remember whose, she was giving tips on taking pictures. She said not to use the flash on your camera and it would show better color. So I tried it on my sweater because the picture from yesterday just didn't show the color.

It this any better at all? It still doesn't show how ultra blue that blue is. Maybe I will try reading more somewhere else on how to get better color in my pictures. :)

And while playing with no flash I took these of the Princess of the House or Resident Sheriff depends on if FedEx or UPS is in my driveway, Indy. I just realized I have no pictures of her on my blog and she is a huge part of my life.

(Is this a good pose, mom?)

(You said Stay but for how long? I can't hold this look forever!)

Ang

Catching Up

2009-01-20T15:59:00.009-06:00

The month of December came and went like a blink of an eye. Where did it go?

We had all plans to go home to Texas for Christmas but that didn't happen. We ended up staying home and celebrating it with just us and Amanda and Cassi and Cassi's boyfriend, Buddy. Then on Christmas day we enjoyed a huge meal and then a trip to see 7 Pounds with Will Smith. If you haven't seen that movie it is a must! Very good.

David surprised me with this for Christmas!
My Grace Frame with BabyLock machine!! I was shocked but he made me promise I would get to work on all those wallhangings and quilt tops I have collected over the last 20+ years!! LOL
(As you can see in the bottom picture the rails make a nice place to lay strips for that new quilt top I am currently putting together!)

And so I finished this with just freehanded quilting:

This was from a swap of leaf blocks from a quilting list I am on. This swap was probably done 4-5 years ago. It was fun to just play with the machine while also finishing something. I did practice on a scrap before I did this.

Then I loaded this one and finished it which is done with a freehanded design with stars in it. Sort of a stiple with stars added.

These are Friendship Blocks swapped over a two year period on a quilting list also. They are signed by the person who made the block and some are from other countries. I wasn't really crazy about the sunflower border I put on this one but i figured for a quilt just to have around it wouldn't matter. Now that I see it, it sort of goes with all the color in the quilt. It does not have the binding on it yet as that is my next project.

Then the last thing I finally finished over the past month and a half is my cardigan sweater:

This picture does nothing for the actual color of this cardigan. I haven't blocked it yet and the buttons are just laying on it for this picture, but I really enjoyed knitting this one and it fits perfect. Now my next project of knitting is a pullover sweater that is knit from the top down like this cardigan. Easy to do and no seams to sew.

It amazes me sometimes of what I have accomplished over the last month after the long hours I have been putting in at work. We landed a HUGE account but then after we got it all started they decided that our secure FTP server was not secure enough. So we spend a small fortune to get it how they want it and then they say it still is not secure enough. After a long grueling month of traveling to Ohio, many meetings with this client, we have decided this account is not for us and we are pulling the plug on them. I know IF we ever got it to where they were happy we would start hearing them complain about something else and believe this is just not worth it. I love my job and what I do but I don't like working 24/7 just to make someone happy who will never be happy. So on to the next open door with work where the client will appreciate what we do for them. It hurts to pull this one but I always have to remember there will be some that are just not for us.

Until next time!

Ang

After Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T16:13:00.002-06:00

Wow! Thanksgiving was great! I actually got to go to Houston to my younger brother's house but David and Cassi stayed home. Amanda went with me. Cassi and Amanda were not looking foward to going to my mother-in-law's and to be honest I wasn't either. I had thought about going to Houston to join my parents there with my brother and his wife so I actually just invited myself. :) I knew my brother wouldn't tell me no. :) I did get to take Indy which was even better.

Me and Amanda left on Wednesday morning for the 8 hour drive with her driving. Everything was fine and I didn't mind her driving until we hit Dallas where it was bump to bump traffic and Amanda has the patience level of minus 100!!! It took us about an hour to get through Dallas but we made it and on to Houston we went.

Thanksgiving day was just nothing but eating and then a trip to Galveston. That was something to see after Hurricane Ike. You could see where houses used to be. There were still boats in the ditches off the highway. Trash everywhere. Sand where yards used to be. Whole neighborhoods that were deserted because they were still without power and water. The most amazing thing were the houses that did make it through the storm on the beach, the ones that are on stilts that have driveways under the house, the sand and dirt under that driveway was washed out a good five feet deep! The concret would just be huge rocks. My heart went out to all those people because they still are without a home.

The one thing I did notice about Galveston... it stunk!!! The beaches are not like the beaches in San Diego or Cancun where they are soft sand beaches. These beaches were hard packed. The Gulf is not blue like the ocean in San Diego and definitely not like the Cancun turquoise waters, it was more a green color. But I will admit the ferry ride was sort of fun as long as the birds didn't swoop down and peck your head or pop on your head!!!

I spent most of the day Friday with my brother and dad at a car show which really is not my thing but I wanted to spend time with them and me and my brother can always find things to laugh at no matter where we are. :) Amanda spent the day with my sister-in-law and mom shopping.

We came home on Saturday and that is when Amanda's driving got the best of me. I got home, told David I would NEVER travel with her again!!!! The 90-95 mph speed when the speed limit was 70 was not for me and she is a smoker and that smoking about did my nose in even though seh did roll the window down some. Overall we had fun but man that was not the fun part at all!!!

Here is the one thing I totally forgot about Houston... It is HOT there on Thanksgiving!!! I took hooded sweatshirts and ended up borrowing a t-shirt from my sister-in-law just so I wouldn't sweat to death. It is really sad to see people putting up Christmas lights in shorts and sweating while doing so. LOL I am so used to it being cold or at least cool on Thanksgiving!!!

I am glad it is all over with and now on to Christmas, my favorite time of the year. :)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving though.

SHOOT THE FULL MOON!!!!

2008-11-13T18:30:00.004-06:00

What is it about a full moon that makes people act like idiots and makes my job so stressful? It is like when there is a full moon or really close to being full, everyone goes brain dead.

Not the best picture of the moon tonight. It was a harvest moon but by the time I found batteries for the digital camera from hubby having it at the races and taking so many pictures, leaving it on for extended periods of time, he ran the batteries down, the moon had turned into this. But this has been my reason for the past two days at work of being so stressed I just feel like running away. I just want to shoot the full moon and make it go away even though it is gorgeous at times.

Turning Twenty

2008-11-13T18:21:00.005-06:00

While at a quilt shop with my oldest daughter, Amanda, who is not a quilt nut like her mom, she saw this quilt on display and fell in love. They had the kit but I told her I didn't have time to make it or the money for the kit right then. :D That next week since she does not live at home I called the quilt shop and sure enough they still had the one kit left that had the fabrics/colors that she liked so I bought it over the phone. I had hubby go by and pick it up. So while hubby went to the Texas NASCAR race with my younger brother, I made the quilt top and it goes to the quilter next week to get machine quilted before Christmas.

I just love this picture because he took the digital camera and took over 150 pictures of pit wagons which is what he is sitting in front of here. This was in the pits and he had a blast even though he doesn't look all that thrilled to be there. LOL He is the type of person that doesn't show on the outside how excited he is on the inside. I would just love one day to see him get so excited that he started jumping up and down and running in circles. He would have us all in shock! LOL But the weekend was a great one for both of us as we both got to do one thing we love... me sew, him watch a NASCAR race in person plus visit the pits.

Progress....

2008-11-13T18:17:00.004-06:00

Making progress on the cardigan. Had to stop for a little bit because I just couldn't get in my head how to get the other sleeve on the needles and have it going the right way. :)

It clicked while working today how to do it and what I was doing and now it is off and knitting again. All that is left is the last sleeve and the front band and buttons. Then to block it which should be fun since I really do not have a spare bed to leave it laying on until it dries. Great! Back to thinking again!!! I feel a headache coming on!!! :)

Godzilla and Sweater

2008-10-09T18:28:00.003-05:00

While knitting on my sweater last night my husband decided there was a movie on TV that he JUST HAD to watch again! Godzilla! How many times does it take watching Japanese people talking in English but their lips are moving to the Japanese language and a really fake Godzilla knock down tall buildings before you realize it is really a stupid movie? Well he thinks it is the neatest movie around. I just laughed because the favorite word that these people were saying were 'damnit' and it was in nearly every single line. I am so glad I have something to do besides watch a movie like that to entertain myself. :)

While watching that awful movie and laughing every time they said 'damnit', I did get some work done on my sweater.

So far it has been easy to do and I like the fact that it is all knit as one piece and I don't have to sew things together. The band or neck is not on yet and the beginning of the sleeves are on pieces of yarn right now. Once I finish the body and the band do I get to move on to the sleeves and then I will tell you how hard it is. :)

How Time Flies!!! Can I Get it Back???

2008-10-08T18:20:00.007-05:00

Wow, it was in April I posted my last blog!! What happened to the time between April and October. It feels like it has only been a week, maybe a month since then. Can I get that time back, please???!!!! :) Not a lot has happened since then but still I want that time back so I can do more.

I did have surgery back the end of August that I am glad for now... hysterectomy. Amazing what they find during surgery for the doctor to tell you afterwards that you should have had this surgery many years ago. Well, HELLO, no doctor would listen to me many years ago about my problems and if they did they just wanted to give me a pill to make the problems stop. I am a firm believer if you have problems like I was having a pill is not going to fix the problem! I was so happy to finally find a female doctor who listened and said after doing a D&C for a biopsy of the uterus that I had no choice but a hysterectomy had to be done and done it was. I am still recovering but am amazed that for once in my life I can now sleep all night long without waking up. Amazing what hormones will do for you when all the the other problems are gone. :) And only one day so far where the hormones were just not doing their job and I was not a nice person! LOL

Also got to go to Cancun in July which was fun but I doubt we will ever go back... way too many timeshare salesmen who will literally chase you down the street to try to sell you on them. The ocean was gorgeous. The sunrise was gorgeous. But the deep sea fishing for 6 hours out on the ocean was not fun in my book! I even took Dramimine an hour before the trip but that didn't help at all. Throwing up over the side of the boat is not my idea of fun and a cruise is not in my future as sea sickness is not fun!! Horseback riding on the beach and in the ocean was the highlight of the trip for me. Riding in the ocean is harder than it looks but so much fun. I could have done that for longer than I was allowed. :) Here is just one of many pictures I took while there of the ocean.

And one of the sunrise...

Fun!!!! And the water was the most prettiest shade of turquoise ever!

A Cocker Spaniel and Cow Poop!

2008-04-28T20:55:00.004-05:00

That title alone should get your attention!

On Sunday we woke up to cows in our front yard. They were from across the road but in three years this the first time we have seen them get out. David shooed them back over into their pasture and I figured the excitement was done for the day. OH NO!!!

Later on in the day I let Emma and Indy out to go do their business. When I went to let them back in Indy was at the door but Emma was out in the middle of the backyard finishing up her own business. I could tell from a distance she had something on her. She is white and black and the white was no longer white! She came to the door and when she got closer I saw what she had done!!! She had found the cow poop and rolled in it!!!!!!!! She was no longer white on her back but green!!!!! She stunk and I slammed the door in her face! I went to get a wet towel to see what I could do with her as we were trying to leave. (We have no fence around our backyard just around the 8 acres the horses graze on.)

Of course when I looked at David he was rolling! He knew what she had done when he heard me say "Emma, what have you been in?". He thinks this poor dog is stupid anyway and I have always taken up for her but now I am thinking she is really stupid!

As I was cleaning her off Indy was looking at her like "I tried to tell you not to do that but you wouldn't listen". I got her cleaned up and we left. I asked while in the truck why didn't Indy roll in it and David laughed when I answered my own question... "Because she is a cow dog and knows better?"

I know Cockers are not known for their smarts but are known for their looks and Emma is a very pretty parti black and white cocker but after her roll in cow poop, her smarts of what I thought she had went out the window. She is my dog that when a brand new bag of dog food comes in the house she will sit and stare at it like she is going to levitate that dog food right out of the bag and into her mouth! She will sit there for hours on end staring, so where did my thinking come from of thinking this dog was smart!!!!!! I love this dog to death but I think her nose needs to be checked for smell as she thought that cow poop was perfume for a dog and she was totally wrong!!

WOW!!!!

2008-04-24T16:46:00.003-05:00

That is about all I can say is WOW!!

Have you ever forgotten a password or login to something like your own blog?? Well I just did and believe me I don't think I will do that again. Granted it has been months since I have been here to write anything so I guess I can use that as an excuse for not remember but man they make it hard to get back in when you do forget. But three emails later I am here again!!

It does look like winter is over with finally but now we are floating instead of skating on ice. There is enough mud and water around here to last us a long time! I just wish it would have all be spaced out over the summer months so that we don't have to worry about grass fires or not enough rain to cut hay for winter. I am glad though to see all the hostas, monkey grass, trees and bushes showing their green. Now it is time for me to get out and plant the flowers in the flower beds. I tell myself each fall I am going to plant tulips but I don't for fear of moving. Every place we have ever lived when I planted tulips we have moved before they bloomed the next year.

With that being said we are looking toward the future of moving back to Texas, home, so maybe I should plant tulips! There are a few things we need to do before that move is really done and those things will take a little bit of time.

In the meantime, I have taken up knitting and here is a picture of the first socks I made!!!

Not too bad, I don't guess for my first pair. Only thing I will say is that this pair of socks had better last for a really long time as the yarn alone was $21!!! LOL They were fun and I will probably make more.

I did actually do some sewing over the last several weeks. I have some quilt blocks laying here that I need to get mailed for a block swap on Country Quilting Square yahoo group's Anniversary Swap. We did this a few years back and I needed more blocks to put with those 24 from that year so I can put together a very large sampler quilt in blue and yellows. That is my goal for this summer.

Now that I have my login and password again for my blog I will try to post more of the going on here in my life.

New Family???

2008-01-10T18:53:00.001-06:00

Why is it on some days you wake up and think you really wish you could trade your family in for another one who didn't cause so much worry and stress? I thought I really wanted to do that today but thought it would be luck I would get another family that had worse problems than my own. :)

The things I learned today really opened my eyes of being a mom and made me wonder what did I miss and when did I miss it. I just found out that my oldest who is now 25 years old loves art museums. Where did I miss that when she was growing up? I love art museums but never had anyone to go to them with me until today. I was thrilled to learn this but still puzzled of where I missed this small bit of knowledge I feel like I should have learned about my daughter as she was growing up at home. She never really cared to paint, draw, color or anything so I guess I just took it she didn't like art.

Then my youngest who is now 21 and thinks she can make her own decisions, which she can but she doesn't understand that when those decisions require help from her family that her decisions should be made with that person she is relying on to help her. She is the drama queen in the family and also the one who has expensive taste, which makes me think AGAIN where did I miss that bit of knowledge and could I have changed that when she was younger.

Today has been a day of questioning was I really as good of a mom as I think I was or am. I know my girls know I love them but then again when I told my 25-year-old tonight that I loved her on IM, it hit me, when was the last time I told her that and to be honest, I can't remember! She is going through a time right now in her life that I think she needs to hear that and that alone makes me wonder again, if I would have been telling her that I love her every day, would that have changed what she is going through right now. The 21-year-old thinks getting free furniture that is used from someone is the most awful thing in the world. She sees this as they are getting rid of it for a reason, which they are, they are getting tired of it and are getting new furniture. She didn't want a used washer because again the person getting rid of it is getting rid of it for a reason! She would rather have brand new furniture that she will move around for the next who knows how many years over something nice and used that if it gets torn or broken in a move it won't matter. Where she got this expensive taste, I honest cannot tell you. Again, if when she was growing up if I would have made her wear hand-me-downs of her sister's would this have all been different?

I am lost on where I went wrong or if I really did. I know they both know I love them and will always be there for them when they need me, so maybe that is all that matters. I don't know. Can I have a new family? Better yet maybe I had better stick with mine because I don't think my heart could handle it if one of them was suddenly not there.

A New Year

2008-01-04T19:19:00.001-06:00

Someone asked me today what my New Year's Resolutions were and it stopped me in my tracks. I had to think about this for awhile and discovered that I have never been one to make resolutions at the beginning of a new year. I just go with life and change things as I see fit to do so when the time comes. Year before last in 2006 in October I decided to lose weight. Now everyone would have thought I was crazy and some said I was because the holidays were coming up and that would be the worst time to be losing weight. Well, I didn't care, I did it anyway and lost weight even during the holidays and eating my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies. I carried that over into 2007 and by April I had lost 40 pounds (still need to go about 20 more). I have organized my life in the middle of the year and kept it that way for a long time now. I do things on a whim or when I think I want to do it, not at the beginning of a new year. I guess that is just me flying by the seat of my britches as my dad always said. :) But again I thought about this resolution thing and thought hmmm, maybe I should give it a try and see what happens. It took me a long time to come up with something but I did.

This year I want to manage my time more so I have more time to sew and make more quilts. This will be hard for me because I work at home and my 'office' is in the corner of my sewing room. When I get done with work the last place I want to be is in this room where my sewing machine is because when I come in here I sit down at the computer first thing and it never fails I find something to either work on or email someone back. Work, work, work! I need to find that fine line and draw it between work and sewing.

Another thing I thought about changing was making sure I get fully dressed before work every day. Now that sounds like I sit here half naked working, but I don't. LOL I am lucky enough to work at home so I can wear anything to work in and on cold winter days I choose to wear flannel pj pants and a sweatshirt with my fuzzy houseshoes. I feel like I should probably actually get 'dressed' for the day but why, I work at home and no one sees me but the dogs and hubby when he comes in at night and he doesn't seem to mind that I know of. Now I do take a shower every morning, dry my hair and curl it and put make up on so I am very presentable all day in case someone shows up at the house. So I'm thinking this resolution has already been broken before it was even tried.

After thinking on those two things, I got tired of thinking and I think my resolution will be just to be myself throughout the year, change things as I see fit when they need to be changed, and just enjoy life as it comes to me. I am very blessed with a great husband and two great grown daughters plus I get to work in flannel pants and sweatshirts. I am going to try to make more time to sew and make more quilts, but overall my New Year's Resolution is just to continue being me as I know that one will never get broken or forgotten on the back burner somewhere.

12 Days without Electric

2008-01-02T20:38:00.000-06:00

Some of you know that we were hit by the ice storm in Oklahoma and were without power for 12 days. I tried my best to find the humor in the whole ordeal but after day 2 that was tough to do! I put together a little 12 Days Before Christmas that really can't be sung to 12 Days of Christmas but you can try if you so desire. It sort of helped me take my mind off of sitting in the dark freezing by the fireplace. Here it is:

12 Days before Christmas

12 days of without power and freezing at night!

11 trees with broken branches (really there are so much more than 11)

10 glasses of ice tea (found a new coffee shop that has the best sweet ice tea in town!)

9 phone calls to the electric company (they got tired of hearing from me)

8 loads of firewood (well there was actually more but I had to fill in this number)

7 quilts to stay warm under (not counting the blankets and sheets!)

6 days without internet (before the generator came into our lives)

5 days of eating Taco Bell (or rather Taco Hell! Not too many places in town to choose from to eat)

4 huge tree branches falling on the house (this was scarey!)

3 gas cans that have to be filled up twice a day (this was expensive!)

2 heat lamps that are out for the puppies to stay warm with

1 Generator (that saved us from freezing to death but came too late to save the food in the fridge or freezer)

Just had to share my little diddy that really doesn't mean much but boy do I NEVER want to go through that again!

What am I doing!?

2008-01-02T18:34:00.000-06:00

Okay thought writing a blog about my life and what all is going on with it would be sort of fun, but now that I have sat down to do it, I'm not so sure. The words come when I'm thinking about writing but when I sit down to write, they seem to disappear. It is like my brain just shuts down or gets scared to let those thoughts out. Maybe if I write more, the easier it will come and those thoughts and ideas will flow more freely. Wish me luck and hopefully you will see more of my blogging as the days go by. You will probably read about my quilting, my dogs, my girls, my new found love of knitting, and possibly just about my life in general because sometimes it can get pretty funny. I will be adding pictures as I go for all to see but for now I just have to get used to how this blogging thing goes and what all I can do on here. Wish me luck and hope to have several of you reading my blogs as I go.