Computer Problems

It seems to be the season for computer woes. Now my home computer is getting into the act. I'm working to get it fixed (it doesn't want to be hooked up to the internet and has been acting up for a good 2 weeks). Hang in there and I'll be back soon!

Charm Bag Complete!

I down loaded this charm bag pattern from Moda Bake Shop (thanks, Amandajean!) and put together this charm bag this week. This is a bday present for my niece, who just turned 14. Isn't it cute? I put a big pocket inside, a little cell phone pocket, and a clip for keys, etc (I hate trying to find my keys in the bottom of my purse).

It's been really hot here in Wisconsin this week. Not that I'm complaining, I'm a very summer gal. Dad called me at work Monday early afternoon to let me know he was coming up for DD's softball game. Since it was 15 degrees cooler here by the lake than at his house, he stayed 2 days. He knows that he's always welcome and could have stayed longer. The heat let up and now its much better (high of 85 today).

Today is DD's 10th birthday. She's still sleeping in, of course. For her birthday I'm taking her and two of her friends to the Milwaukee Zoo. She got her big present last night, a grown up digital camera. She went out and snapped pictures in the back yard: the flowers, the strawberry plants, the tomato plants, the hose, the dirty deck chair, the grass, and herself. We haven't loaded them onto the computer yet but its a Kodak, so I think its going to take great pictures for her. She'll take it to the Zoo today.

There won't be much quilting from me this week. My mom is coming up from FL and will be visiting next Thursday. So that means I need to start cleaning house, including all my quilting stuff that is all over the downstairs. Oh well, the house needs it anyway.

Have a great weekend.

Lots of Stuff to Tell You

Since it has been a week since I last posted, I have a lot to tell (and show) you.

First, last Wednesday I attended Bonnie Hunter's "Sister's Choice" class. I would highly recommend her class (in fact, I'm signed up for a different one in September).

Here's Bonnie and I in front of her sample quilt.

Here's the four blocks I got done (I also have about 6-7 half done). Instead of the pure scrappy quilt, I chose a color controlled teal and purple combination. I'll be working on this quilt for the next month or so (at least I hope I get the top done before I see her in September).

I also got my Spring Blossom Mini Quilt Swap quilt done and out in the mail this week. Here's out it turned out. I ended up hand quilting it (which I hadn't done any hand quilting in about 10 years). I love the colors (and hope my swap friend does, too).

Last, but not least, I thought I'd share a picture of some of the flowers in my garden with you. These are Painted Daisy's in front of my Salvia. When I first planted them about 4 years ago, they were a good half a foot away from each other. Now they kind of grow together and since I love the hot pink with the purple, I'm leaving them that way. The white in the far right hand side is some field Phlox that is coming into bloom.

I'm now working on a couple of bags from Amandajean (and the Moda Bake Shop) as birthday presents that I hope to gift next weekend. Hopefully I can show pictures before they're gone.

Have a good week!

The Best Laid Plans....

Well, my weekend sure didn't turn out like I had planned.

Originally, I had made camping reservations at a nearby State Park. You know, one of those places that you have to make reservations about a year in advance if you want to get in. But DD's Girl Scout troop had scheduled an outing at a big hotel with an indoor waterpark over in the Dells. So on Thursday evening (before I bought groceries for the camping trip) DD and I had a real heart to heart talk and she said she really wanted to go on the GS trip. Since the weather was supposed to be iffy, I wasn't going to fight this one too bad. So I cancelled the reservations (only getting back 50% of the money), called the GS leader and got DD signed up for the trip.

I was pretty excited about having about 36 hours to myself. I made plans to go to some movies and go out for dinner and get lots of quilting done!

Friday evening when I picked up DD from the day care center after work, she seemed pretty tired and admitted that she had fallen asleep on the playground (under the trees in some shade inthe grass). I knew that was pretty unusual, so I kept an eye on her. By bed time, she felt hot and after taking her temp (101.3) I warned her that if she was still running a temp in the morning, I would have to call the GS leader and advise that she was not going on the trip after all. Jr Tylenol was provided and off to bed she went.

I woke her several times in the night to take her temp and give her more Jr Tylenol. At 6am, her temp was back at 101.? and I told her that she wasn't going on the trip. Thank goodness, there was no big melt down. I think she knew she was really sick and although was disappointed, didn't feel like doing anything.

I took her to the doctor Saturday morning and although he took a strep culture (strep was in her classroom a few weeks ago), he said it was just some virus going around. Just keep giving her Jr Tylenol and some cough drops if she wanted them.

Her temp stayed down most of the morning and early afternoon, but by 3pm, she was running a high fever again. At bedtime, it was back up to 102. She went to bed in my bed for the night. It was a long night. At one point her temp was 103.5. I swore that if it went above 104 that we were going to the hospital, but it never got that bad. The poor kid kept asking if she was going to die!

Sunday morning, she was running a little temp, only 100.7. We stayed at home and by late afternoon, her temp was back to normal. The GS leader stopped by early Sunday evening and brought DD a stuffed animal from the hotel because she was so sorry that DD couldn't make the trip and was home sick. How sweet was that!

So I didn't get to see any movies (just some DVDs that I had at home). I didn't get to go out to dinner (I think I ate popcorn Saturday night). And I got very little quilting done.

The top is done for my Spring Blossom Mini Quilt. I just need to sandwich it and quilt it. It needs to be in the mail by Saturday. I hope I make it.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening cutting the pieces for my Bonnie Hunter workshop on Weds. I thought it would be no problem, probably take me an hour or so. Oh, no. I think I ironed and cut for about 5 hours. Now, I was watching the HBO mini series John Adams so I wasn't 100% cutting the whole time. But I thought I'd get a chance to sandwich the mini quilt and maybe even get most of the quilting done so that all I'd have left was the binding.

But, the best laid plans.....

Port Pirate Fest

Last Saturday was Port Washington's annual Pirate Festival. Unfortunately, the weather was cold and rainy so the turnout wasn't as good as it has been in the past.

Here's the bow of the ship WINDY coming in to dock. You can go out on a tall ship and sail in Lake Michigan.

My friends come in from out of town and here's DD (on the left) and their daughter all dressed up for Pirate Fest. About 50% of the people who attend are normally in costume (think Renaissance Fair). The girls get a real kick out of dressing up with all their pirate garb.

Aaarrrrr!!!!!

This picture was taken on Friday when the weather was great and about 75 degrees. This is the picture of the harbor coming in to Port Washington from Lake Michigan. It was too bad the weather changed so much. I know that if the weather had stayed constant that alot more people would have come.

4th Grade Field Trip to Madison

Last Friday I chaperoned DD's 4th grade field trip to Wisconsin's state capital in Madison, WI. Since I grew up in Indiana, I had never been to the Wisconsin state capital. I found it really a great place to see. Here's a picture of the front of the capital building.



We had a great tour guide (we were in a group of about 50 kids and 10 adults) who was very knowledgeable about the building, its history, and events.

The rooms in the 2nd floor wings had beautiful glass ceilings to let in the light. Of course, I saw quilt patterns everywhere!

This is the parquet floor in one of the conference rooms. Look familiar?

There were wonderful mosaics on the wall around the rotunda. This one was my favorite one; its Lady Liberty. Sorry the picture is so bad, I took it from about 100 feet away (across the rotunda).

This is the railing for the gallery overlooking the assembly room. See the "W" in the iron work for Wisconsin?

More wonderful architecture in the main area of the wings (2nd floor). Alot of natural sunlight with the glass ceilings and this clerestory.

After we went to the capital building, we went to the museum, then to the Cave of the Mounds just west of Madison. Pretty cool caves, easily accessible, and great colors and formations. Here's DD in front of some formations inside the cave.

And here's DD curled up on her seat in the bus for the trip back to the school. She took a 45 minute nap on the way back (so did her teacher and the principal, but they didn't curl up in the seat like she did).

It was a great trip and I'm glad I went.

Spring Bloom Mini Quilt Progress

Here's where I am on the Spring Bloom Mini Quilt I'm making for the swap. I'm in the middle of blanket stitching down the applique on the flowers and leaves. I've got all the leaves done, now I need to do the flowers. Then I have buttons for the center of the flowers.

I have to figure out how to quilt it. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Look What I Got in the Mail!

My swap parnter sent me a wonderful package this week all the way from Ontario, Canada!

I got this beautiful wall hanging, a really cool notions box, scissor fob, and pin cushion! She also included some neat stationary. Thank you so much Kaaren! Here's her blog: http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/

I fianlly decided that the tulips just weren't working for me (I probably made about a dozen different layouts and wasn't thrilled with any of them, so I'm now working on an entire new design from the same magazine.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.