New Project

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

Catching Up

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

New Family???

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.