Frogs and turtles..... Well, the centers for the baby quilts are done, but I'm not "in love" with them as much as I thought I'd be. I think once I get more done and add some more color to them, I'll like them better. I sure hope so. I'd hate to ditch these blocks and start with a whole new color pallette for this part....but that's just what I'm wanting to do at this moment.........***sigh. However, since it is going on 10 PM and my alarm goes off at 4, I'm definitely done sewing for tonight. Maybe I'll feel differently in the morning. Going to cut some strips and lay them out and see if that changes things........hoping it will! This is a quilt as you go project, so once I get started, it will go fast. Oh well, I'll sleep on it and see what happens......

Quilty stuff.....
Well, I don't have any new pictures to post, but got to thinking about the last couple of things I did actually finish that I have photos of and thought why not show them. This table runner was a housewarming gift for some good friends of ours. She told me she was decorating her dining room in wines, so I hoped she meant literally, not just the color and made her this tablerunner. I was pretty sure it was as safe bet, as her dh is the assistant plant supervisor in the barrel factory my dh works in....so wine(and whiskey) are their business. She LOVED it! Posting a couple of close ups, too. The center grapes were appliqued by hand, and I'm showing the end because I loved the wine bottle fabric I found to use on this. I used that on the back as well.

For Christmas this past year, I made a couple of chicken pincushions. I thought I had pictures of both, but can only find one tonight. This one was made for our guilds gift exchange. We play a game we calle "dirty Santa" where gifts get "stolen" and some of them really make the rounds. This little guy changed hands several times before the game was over! We have a lot of fun with this and it makes you feel good when your gift is one they "fight" over!

I have been working on the turtles for the twin quilts. Have changed the design just a bit. Instead of a pinwheel block in the center, I'm going to applique an A in one and a B in the other..initials for Addison and Brayden. I have all of the components for the turtles done and pressed. Just need to trim them down and stitch them together. Then I can do the frogs. Am probably going to try to get all of those done and then assemble the 2 quilts at the same time so I can make sure I do them the same. The only difference is going to be the Frog/Turtle and the A and B. I also have a quilt top for a Widow's support group that has to be quilted by May 23 that I really need to get busy on.

Maybe I'd get more done if I didn't sit in front of the puter so long at a stretch! But........it'll all get done! The rain has postponed tomorrows yard sale, and dh doesn't have to work, so we find ourselves with a "free" Saturday! It's going to rain all day, but being in a drought, we need the rain so I'm not going to complain! Will post pictures of the turtles and frogs soon, I hope! Now I'm off to find the letter applique files for EQ5.

More Garden Pics.....................

I took more pictures of the garden stuff this afternoon, and thought I'd share them. One is of my strawberry pot. I'd always wanted one and for some reason, decided this last weekend that it was time so I got one! The plants I bought at the local greenhouse already have blooms, too! I also took a picture of our new Gazing ball. Since dh is into collecting marbles, I fell in love with this one. It looks like a giant marble sitting on the stand! (He liked it too!) Can you believe how much my basil has grown in just a couple of weeks? I'm so happy with it! Then I took a shot of the whole flower bed to show you what I did with the begonias and how nice it looks since I weeded and mulched it! I'm so proud. A friend of mine said my yard is starting to look like that of a retired person! Oh how I wish! The Clematis is beautiful as always. These blooms are from one of my 3 clematis plants. I showed one with my hand in the pic so you could see how huge the blooms are. We have an arch made from a cattle panel and when we put it in, we planted 2 clematis plants. (we already had one on the porch railing). One made it and the other didn't. We kept trying and finally, the 3rd one we put in that spot made it. But by this time, the first one was a couple of years old, so it's way bigger than the newest one. The flowers on it aren't as pretty as this one and it doesn't bloom til later......just goes to show that even though the 3 plants are all clematis, they are all different! I'll show pics of the other 2 as I get blooms! The other 3 flowers are the tuberous begoina blooms. I bought 9 of these wonderful little plants and took pictures of 3 of the prettiest blooms this afternoon.

Sewing.......on the inside, I did get a little more done on my turtles yesterday. Tonight was our quilt guild meeting, so I didn't get anything done. I always enjoy the guild meetings. The ladies are so talented and inspiring. We are a very informal group and are all in it for the good time.....always a lot of laughter at our meetings! Our group also has a sew night once a month. Some months, we have a group project going on, other months, everyone just brings whatever they want to work on. I enjoy the meetings, but I think the sew nights are more fun! What could be more fun than an evening of sewing amongst friends?

Well, I think it's time to get this posted and get ready for bed. Dh decided we needed to have a yard sale this weekend, and I have done next to nothing to prepare.......so the next 3 days are going to be hectic...wish me luck!

Poems...............tonight I went looking for a poem/diddy to share with a friend, and instead of finding it, I found a book of poetry I had written back in high school. Jane suggested I type some of them up here, so here they are.

This first one I'm posting was written when I was in the 10th grade. I went to an almost all white, small country school. We had an African American family move in and they had 2 sons. The older one was a year behind me in school and we shared a few classes. He was a sweetheart. One morning, I was late for school on a day we had those tests where everyone in our grade had to go to the cafeteria to take it.....as I walked thru the halls, there was this heaviness in the air and I had no idea why. When I got to the cafeteria, I wrote a note to a fairly new girl whom I had befriended, asking her what was going on. She wrote back, "You know Eric, that black kid?........he died last night.".......she had no idea he and I were pretty good friends.....of course being 15 years old, the news that a friend had passed away devestated me..Even now, 25 years later, the memory is so vivid in my mind it brings tears. Back then, I fancied myself a poet and this poem was written for Eric Sean Williams on the day he was taken away from us..I titled it simply "Eric"

He was so young, Lord
Why did you have to take him away?
He was so sweet, Lord
Why couldn't you have let him stay?
He was the kindest of friends, Lord
He was always there if you needed him.
He was also a good Christian, Lord
He was everybody's friend.
But you wanted him to be with you,
So you took him away from us.
Away from all temptations,
Now he'll forever live in peace with you,
Leaving memories for us whom he left behind.
I'll think of him often, Lord
Whenever I'm feeling low.
And the memoreies of his goodness, Lord
Will help me as I grow.

AZ 4/81

This one was written in 1979........when I was 14! I titled it "Growing Up"

As I sat there thinking
about the fun we'd had
I then thought of how we are now
and it made me very sad
Once we were so close,
as close as a family could be
But it seems we've went our seperate ways,
and it really makes me hurt to see
That those who once were my best friends,
now seem like not much more
Than the authority figures in my life
who seem to think raising me's a chore.
But deep down in my heart I know,
that they still love me a lot
And they're not quite sure how to cope
with the daughter that they've got
I wish that they could understand
I'm not still the small child that they knew
And the outside of my body
is not the only part that grew.
I'm slowly becoming a woman
and wish that they could see
That I can't be treated the same
because it's really a different me!


If I remember correctly, that one stemmed from the fact that I wanted to date(at age 14, lol) and my dad wouldn't let me!

Ok, 2 is enough for one night....lol.....most of the rest of them are sappy love poems..for some reason, I didn't have the foresight to put a name with any of the poems, so I have no idea who they were written for! But reading thru them was an emotioanal walk down memory lane!

OH, the twins were born this morning! They don't have names yet though! I told my aunt today(the grandma) about a commercial they are running her where a guy calls his 16 y/o daughter "Hey You" and son was "whatshisname"cuz they couldn't decide on names..she said she'd tell the new mom about that! hehe........anyway.............til next time, I'm outta here!

Well, here is Mr. Turtle. He went together much more smoothly than Froggy.. But then, he is a much simpler pattern. Now I'm anxious to finish the other 3 of each and get this quilt going. I've about decided that instead of the pinwheels I have in the original layout, I'm just going to put blank squares of the background fabric in there and IF the babies are born in time, emb. a name in the center square of each one...they said last week if she made it another week, they'd go ahead and let her have them. They've been stopping her labor for weeks now. Other dilemma is since I didn't get these done before now, do I want to use the blue fabric I had originally bought for the backing, (since I did buy 6 yards total), or do I want to look at Joann's tomorrow and see if I can find some turtle fabric to back this one and frogs(I know I can buy frog fabric at WM) for the frog one...I guess I'll just wait and see what they have before I make a decision!

Froggy #1. Only 3 more to go! Had a lot of problems getting started, though. First, I designed these quilts in EQ5, which I absolutely ADORE.......but when I printed out the paper piece patterns, I didn't like the way EQ had grouped the pieces, so I regrouped and renumbered it MY way. HAHA......MY way is not always the BEST way, as I learned after I got into the sewing part. I had an "odd" line. But, rather than start all over again, I just sewed a partial seam, added the next element, then went back and closed off the seam. Not a big deal, just an unexpected pain because of my hard headedness! Oh well, only 3 more to do, so I'll just deal with the partial seams. Now I'm off to sew a turtle. Hope he goes together quicker than the frog! Maybe I'll have another picture to post later this evening..

Photos
I'm still trying to figure out the formatting of this blog business. I uploaded 5 pictures and here they are. I'm not sure they are in any order that makes any sense, but here they are, anyway. The boot is a yard ornament we bought last year, but never put anything in it. I put flowers in it on April 1, and here is what it looks like 2 weeks later. I'm loving it! The picture of the 2 flowers was just something that kind of jumped out at me and said "TAKE MY PICTURE" as I walked by the hanging basket they are suspended from. I love the herb pot. There is sage in the center pot, and it is surrounded by basil. I've also included a picture of my bleeding heart. It's really pretty this year, though I'm not sure this picture does it justice. And mixed in with all the flowers, I've snapped a shot of the fabrics I bought for the twins' quilts. The far right piece(the blue with colored dots) will be the backing of one. Not sure what will back the 2nd, as they only had enough of this for one. I will probably also add a few more fabrics to the mix. My neighbor, who has enough of a stash to open a fabric store invited me to come see what she had that I could use! Will definitely take her up on that one!

Ok, didn't get any sewing done today, but here are the pictures of the designs I am doing for the twins' quilts. Of course the fabrics I bought look nothing like these, but this shows the designs. I'll post pics of the finished quilts soon, I hope!
I did get mother in law to the eye doctor and an appointment scheduled for some kind of extensive test next week before he'll do the cataract surgery she needs. After I took her home, I went to Lowes and bought flowers and mulch! So, needless to say, I didn't get any sewing done, but I did get 3 more hanging baskets planted, the rose bushes mulched and bordered with rocks, planted a huge pot with basil, with a smaller pot inside of it with sage in it.......that turned out neat, if I do say so myself! Also repotted the gardenia I had splurged on for myself. It has a couple of buds, I can't wait til they bloom. I've always loved the smell of gardenias, but have never had a plant like this. Oh, I also planted 3 washtubs with impatiens........busy busy busy!

Well, I didn't get any quilting done, but I did get the twins' quilts designed in EQ...well, the blocks. I have 2 different layouts I'm still trying to decide between, but I know one baby will get a froggy quilt, and the other will have turtles! I will go shopping Thursday when I take MIL to the eye Dr and maybe I'll find the inpsiration to make a choice then! I just wish Joann's and Hancocks weren't so far away! I did get the cutting table cleaned off........well, a spot big enough to cut on! I was going to stay home tonight and work on some frogs and turtles, but it was Sew night with the guild, so I went and helped on the group project. Since her eye appt is at 9 a.m. on Thursday, and I took the whole day off, I'm hoping to get some sewing done Thursday afternoon. Then again, I also plan to go back to the greenhouse, so may end up planting instead! Got my bushes planted after work yesterday evening. Need to take some more yard pictures. My bleeding heart is blooming and very pretty right now! Maybe I can do that tomorrow afternoon! We'll see if it gets done!

Ok, here is a side view of the mailbox. you can barely see the little petunia coming out the bung hole(where they fill the barrels). I was going to cut holes sporadically in the barrel to have more growing out like that, but dh talked me out of it.

I have been working on straightening up the sewing room.......the cutting table has remnants from my last several projects and just didn't have room for any more! Have all the fabrics sorted and ready to put back in the bins with thier own color again...maybe that'll be the inspiration I need to get some sewing done!

Ok, here is my 3rd attempt at this blog business.....My friend Jane keeps insisting I get one, so here goes....maybe!

The last several weeks have found me in the dirt instead of the sewing room. I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time when I didn't mess with my flowers at all last year. I was to busy working on our daughters wedding. (Which turned out beautiful, btw)
DH works in a barrel factory(they only make the barrels, they don't fill them there! hehe) and for years, I had been asking him to get me a barrel to plant flowers in. You can buy the half barrels anywhere, but I wanted a whole one. Well, back in January, we were at a party and saw the big boss and I asked him how much one would cost me...ended up with one for free! DH found me a mailbox that has wooden slats on it, which fit perfect, so we now have a new mailbox and stand. I think it's very neat looking and will be even better once the flowers grow.
Yesterday, I bought yet more plants, so hopefully today, we'll get them in the ground. The yard is really shaping up. I'll post more pictures as the flowers flourish!
Hoping to find time to spend in the sewing room today. I have a quilt that needs to be done by the end of this month, which should be doable since I'm only going to quilt in the ditch on my machine...and it's not that big. Am more inspired to work on the twins' quilts, though. They are due next month but the drs' have been working hard to keep her pregnant for the last few weeks. She is the girlfriend of my cousin. I've never met her since I live 800 miles from my family, but these are the grandsons of an aunt who I've always been extremely close to. One day, I'll have gbabies of my own to make quilts for!