My Birthday Present from Hubby!

Well I just have the bestest hubby in the world!! When I came home one night this week and told him that the Air Conditioning in my Tracker wasn't working again, he sighed and said that it was time to retire the old car and look for something else....So I did some research online and then last night we went to the Dodge dealership (same owner as the Chevy dealer he works for) and test drove the car that I fell in love with online :)

As of 11:30 last night I am the proud owner of a 2007 Dodge Caliber....She is fully loaded and drives like a dream! I can never get lost again thanks to the GPS Navigation system built into the dash..Hubby is picking up all the software from the dealer this afternoon that wasn't with the car when we bought it....LOL....After I get it installed I think I will be able to change the clock....LOL

Hopefully I can have a quilty weekend (unless I'm out driving) LOL

Home Renovations!

Well I finally got around to taking pictures of the exterior work we had done last fall. After living in this house since it was built in 1978 we decided it was time for new windows, siding and front doors. We also redid the back deck with Trex and Vinyl Railings (please excuse the mess in the side and backyards, it's been too rainy the last couple weeks to get things to the dump LOL)

We also had some interior work done over the last few weeks. I had the foyer, stairwell, upstairs hallway, living room and dining room repainted (The wall color is called "Great Green" and though the trim looks white it is actually a light shade of green called "Honeydew"). Those areas had not been painted in about 12 years and mom kept running into the hallway walls with her power chair causing several scrapes and holes. In order to keep the walls intact I had white wainscot installed on both sides of the hallway to protect them from her "wheels". You can also see some of the quilts I have made over the years mostly for my mom. She collects teddy bears so 2 of them are bear themed. The other wallhanging in the hallway was my Hoffman Challenge entry quite a few years ago. It was during the original Stack & Whack craze so I couldn't resist putting some S&W blocks into the wallhanging. It didn't win any awards or make it into an exhibit, but I entered and still have my pin to show for it :)

Working on a UFO!

Well I have actually been working on an old UFO as a wedding gift. It's a blue and white quilt that was started several years ago that I've decided to finish as a wedding gift, the wedding was yesterday but we didn't attend as I am getting over a bout of bronchitis. Due to the bronchitis I wasn't able to finish the quilt either, but I will be finishing it soon so that we can send it to the newlyweds :) Here's a picture of the top thus far, it just needs borders and then quilting. I'm going to work on the borders tonight

I've also finally finished appliqueing the 30's kitties on my embroidery machine for a Row Robin swap I'm in. These kitties are just adorable and I love them! Now to sash them and finish the row :)

Here's the Spring Wallhanging I Made!

Well you have seen the wallhanging I received, now to see the wallhanging that I made for QuiltyAngel.....I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Lancaster Show and she opened her box up when she got home yesterday!! And she emailed me that she loves it! Here are the pictures:

My Whirlwind Shopping Spree in Lancaster!

Well in case you didn't know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to shop....especially for quilty things!!! I had a 3 hour break for lunch during the class I took at the Lancaster show....So Nancy and I ate fast and then hit the vendors!!

If you've never been to the Lancaster Quilt Show, I'll let you know that the vendors are spread out into 3 separate buildings (one of which is in a hotel across the street from the Host)....So a mere 3 hours is not enough time to properly see the show, but I had to work with what I had....LOL....and I made a big dent in my bank account...LOL

Here's a pic of what I bought....just to give you a point of reference there is over 26 yards of FQs in that picture (not including the stacks of hand dyed fabrics in the back of the picture) and the stack of yardage to the right is all from 2 of the shops outside of Lancaster that were open late....We went there after we left the show and I had a ball!!!

Spring Swap Opening!

Well today was our Spring Swap Opening in #QuiltChat and here's what I got from my friend Sue aka Sioux in PA:

Double Wedding Ring ala John Flynn!

I got home from the Quilter's Heritage Celebration in Lancaster, PA at about 1am today. I came home early because of my daughter's Honor Band rehearsals and performance today and tomorrow. But I did have 1 fabulous day at the show!

My friend Nancy and I took a Double Wedding Ring class from John Flynn all day yesterday and we had a blast!

Here's a picture of John ripping out some of my stitches because I didn't quite hit the mark the first time....LOL

And of course Nancy and I had to have our pictures taken with John....

I'll post more about the show and my 3 hour shopping extravaganza later :)

I Really Have Been Quilting This Week!

Well I have been quilting, but I can't show pictures of what I've been doing until after April 14th. Yesterday I finally finished piecing my wallhanging for the #QuiltChat Spring Swap and today I quilted it. I'll be doing the binding and label tonight and then washing it tomorrow and packing it up along with some goodies to send to my swap partner. The swap is secret so I can't show the pictures or tell you who it's for until after the grand opening next Saturday. More later!

Customer Quilt Finished!

Here's the latest customer quilt all finished! It's 74" x 88" and in took approximately 2 days to quilt freehand hearts & ribbons all over. I used Suzanne Earley's technique from her book "Meandering Magic", the quilting pattern is called "Heartstrings". This was my first time using this technique and I really enjoyed myself! Thanks Suzanne!