I had to give it up...really, it's not my fault!

This morning I got up and walked past THE CHAIR and saw that it was full of dog hair from my dog just walking by it a few times!!! It was really upsetting because it would not brush off easily either!! Kenny saw it too, and said, "Guess that was the wrong color, huh?" Well, we both decided that it was silly for me to do any more work on something that was only going to make me angry with the dog every day. Plus, it would never look totally clean since the dogs are always in the house. So, I took the pictures you see here and took the fabric off and rolled up what was left (maybe for curtains in the future). Guess I'll be heading to the furniture store after all. Maybe I will find a nice recliner for Ken to use.

Ok, so I was secretly overjoyed to be ending this project. I have curtains to make and a few quilt tops to put together!! YAY!!

My baby is almost 21!!

My mom sent me a picture of my daughter, Evelyn. She was at my brother's house visiting my parents while they were here last week. My dad made new cabinets for my brother and his wife. They are so gorgeous. I will post pictures of them tomorrow.

I finally started my $%#@% slipcover.

I will admit it. I'm afraid of the slipcover. All day yesterday I told myself that I had to make this thing while I am on vacation. I just got home from Pennsylvania last night and decided that I would begin today. Well, first I had to get the house clean. That took until noontime (of course I had to take curtains down, wash windows, wash sheets, do moldings, etc.) Then I had to go to the quilt shop to buy the thread for the blasted slipcover. That took about an hour. On the way home I decided to go to Walmart to get the velcro I would need for the blasted slipcover, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the most adorable fabric for new curtains for the two bathrooms. Naturally I had to refrain from actually whipping up the curtains until the slipcover was at least started, right? Finally, I realized how pathetic all this procrastinating is and I started to pin the fabric in place on the chair. I did a little cutting and pinning and have three pieces in place so far. If I get too worked up about sewing it together, I will just leave all the pins in and call it a day!


My trip to Pennsylvania was spectacular and energizing. We stay at the nicest little B&B in East Earl. I will post pictures of it later so you can appreciate just how cute it is. The owners, Laura and Greg are the nicest people and make you feel so at ease and comfortable. I got to spend the day with my friend Beverly at her farm with the little goats!!! There is a picture of me with the smallest baby on her blog BeeHavenAcres!! She made me and my friend Deb the most gorgeous aprons too. Plus she shared some of her canned goods from her gardens. What a glorious day that was. It was sad to leave lovely PA, but we will be back. Kenny would like to make the trip when he is not so busy with work. Maybe this summer when it's a little slow.

My wish for you all...

Tonight we are using the woodstove for what is probably one of the last nights of the season. It was hot today (around 70), but the house stayed cool and now it is chilly. There is nothing like using the stove each evening to keep warm and cozy. Turning the thermostat down to 55 makes me feel like we are less dependent on oil and more dependent on ourselves for what we need. I hope you all get a chance to sit by a warm fire each night.

spring swap blocks are here!!!

These blocks are from a MJF spring block swap!! I was thinking that maybe I would add a nice floral sashing to it. Right now I am not sure if I want it to be a table covering or a small lap quilt. The tags on them are the names of the women who created them. So far, I think I have done about 12 swaps with the girls at MJF and by now many of us are friends. Making these blocks was fun because it made spring come faster. Pretty soon, I will post a picture of the quilt top.

In two days I am off to Pennsylvania with my friend Deb!! We will do some quilt shops, antique shops, lots of food from Cracker Barrel and a dinner with the Amish. On Monday, we are learning to make soap with the owner of the B&B we stay at while we are there. Then, when I get home, it is time to make the slipcover. There will be 4 days left to get it done before going back to school. While I am away, I am going to get my witch kitchen towel embroidered. It's only been about three months since I started it.

The latest blocks for my embroidery club!

The top block is almost done, just needs a border around it. The one on the machine is so cute because it is for Christmas and even has a little teddy bear in it. It takes about an hour and a half for each block to stitch out (over 30 thread changes in each one) but they are so nice and will make a beautiful quilt.

I thought Iwould like to make a machine embroidered quilt project for my pastor. The other night I downloaded a lot of gorgeous pieces to use in it, but it will take a long time. Maybe one block a week for twelve weeks. Then I will add pieced blocks (Christian Cross is a nice one that uses color in a bold way) to make it a full sized quilt. I'll stitch one out this weekend and see how long it takes.

Cool stuff from my husband's grandfather/by way of his mother...

My husband's grandfather used to collect cocoons and raise them...only to later impale the unlucky things for his collection. These two are some of the nicer ones that he framed. My mother-in-law is cleaning out and my husband wanted these, so we will find a home for them somewhere in the house.

Future project for my husband?

I have always wanted an old truck to tool around town in and to use for Sunday drives. My husband used to be an auto body man (one of the very best around too!!) so I would love to get a truck and have him be the one to totally restore it. Anyway, he saw this truck and took me to see it. The only problem is that it has no motor, no gas tank, no transmission, and so on and so on. When we thought about the total cost, it seemed a little too high for our budget right now. We'll keep looking. These trucks were actually used by Old Navy as props and advertising.