Lucy & Ethel

We didn’t pen ‘the girls’ in the kitchen Thursday night because I didn’t want them to crawl up the gate and fall off…so they had the run of the house, but we DID close our bedroom doors.  When I opened the doors on Friday morning (3/30), they were 1/4 inch away from the crack in the door and ran right in.  Ethel is missing her collar and we can’t find it anywhere, so Michael will buy a new one while he’s out running errands (BJ’s, library, PetSmart, Harris Teeter) because I can’t stand not being able to hear them to know where they are hiding!  I had a LONG SKYPE session with BG in the morning and it was just wonderful, and I finally got to my studio around NOON.  I guess I had my usual post project let down on Friday….after I finish a big project, I generally have a day or 2 where is it hard to get something going.  I sewed a bit on my FPF patriotic, but mostly sat on the lanair with my honey and Lucy & Ethel & Cookie:  

reading a new book.  We had leftovers for dinner and I headed back downstairs as Michael wanted to watch the UCONN women play.  He finally came to bed after mid-night; UCONN lost by 2 heartbreaking points in over time  :~(.

QoV at SHQ, delivering QoV to the York County Sheriff

Dateline – Thursday, 3/29 = It’s 6:15 in the morning….Michael is in the bathroom…I’m still lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, thinking about my day….it’s still dark outside….oh no….I hear bells….yep, Lucy has figured out how to climb over the 30’’ high dog gate that we have been using to pen them in the kitchen!!!!  That didn’t even last 2 weeks!!!  Yikes – we don’t have a plan “B” right now.  

Michael was up and out for golfing after packing up my car and I headed off to quilting.  We worked on Quilt of Valor quilts and got 3 tops almost completely done….YAY!!  

We also had great show and tell:

picture piecing from June

Jeanne finished a quilt from last week's class

Mary made the Quilt of Valor below after being at a ceremony and hearing one of the men say 'but they're all so bright'!  Something that I should definitely keep in mind as that's how I would describe pretty much all of my quilts of valor as well:

Susie gave us a history lesson (and I have to interject that I hate history, but I truly could listen to this chick for hours....she is so interesting...and an excellent speaker with interesting stories!!)  The quilt below is what an original 'quilt of valor' looked like.  These originated in the Civil War and there are very, very few left, so Susie wanted to make a recreation.  She said blankets were few and far between and very worn out for both the North and the South and that the government approached the ladies at home (you know...the ones they thought were sitting around with nothing to do  :~), and asked for quilts.  But they had very specific requirements.  The quilts needed to be 55 inches by 85 inches and be in dark colors as they were likely to be bled on and in the mud.  And they should include some uplifting sayings for the men:

I showed my 4 patriotic quilts (and the net bags which some of the women seemed much more interested in  :~) 

and finally talked about what they were for.  

On January 16, 2018, 4 cops from the next county over from mine were shot during a domestic violence dispute.  It was shortly after that that I felt led to make quilts for them.  I didn’t want to talk about it much, because I wasn’t sure I would complete them, or how long it would take.  I didn’t want to be delivering quilts to them 6 months after the incident….I was hoping for more like 2 months.  I made up a special label for the back of the quilts:  

You  are  a  hero  who  puts  your  life  on  the

line  every  day  and  you  have  my  gratitude. 

This  quilt  was  made  to  honor  you  and  the

sacrifices  you  make  to  serve  and  protect.     

I  hope  as  you  wrap  yourself  in  my  prayers  for

your  healing  and  safety,  that  it  will  continue

to  remind  you  that  you  are  appreciated.

and dove into making them.   I had all of the tops done before I went on retreat with Pat, and as you know….got them quilted, labeled and bound once I got home.  I left quilting early to pick up Paula and head to the sheriff’s office to deliver the quilts.  

All of the quilters prayed over the quilts before I took them, and they also prayed that I could ‘keep it together’ ie not be crying the whole time that I talked to the sheriff.  Well, it was a wonderful experience and the praying really worked…I held it together until I was leaving and Sheriff Tolson asked me to wait just a minute.  

He stepped into his office and came back with a pin.  Now, one of the officers died from the shooting (Michael Doty - I made the fourth quilt to go to his brother who is also a police officer) and they had made up memorial pins to commemorate him.  Sheriff Tolson told me that they weren’t giving these pins out to civilians, but only to other law enforcement officers, but he was so touched by my gesture that he thought I deserved to have one as well.  Well, I started to lose it then, but when he gave me a big hug as well it was all over  :~).  

It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad I did it.  I did ask him to try to take pictures as he handed the quilts out, so you may see those in the future.  It was a 45 minute drive home and Paula and I got a LOT of talking done.  

My honey was home when I got home and said he was happy with his score of 86, even though he didn’t have any birdies in the round.  At 6 PM I picked up Jan & Jerri L and we headed into Waxhaw for a Maundy Thursday performance at Pam’s (Thursday quilter) church.  It was wonderful and I was home before 9 PM (after a quick stop for FROSTY’S for all of us).  It was a very emotional day and I just collapsed on the sofa in front of the boob tube until bed.

Mexican lunch, Paula sews, Lucy & Ethel

Wednesday (3/28) was a hectic day.  I got my blog out just in time to 
SKYPE with Janice…and we finished up just in time for Paula to pick me up 
to head out to our mammogram appointments.  We headed out for a Mexican lunch afterwards….(yum, except I managed to drip queso TWICE on my newly cleaned top  :~( .  

Paula's nachos

my burrito bowl

and of course chips & queso

We were home around 2 PM and Paula sat down to sew up the bags for the quilts.  She had an idea in her head….and sewed her heart out all afternoon.  

They turned out beautifully and I LOVE them:   

I now have 4 nylon net bags as gift bags, with scraps of my patriotic fabric sewn around all 3 sides of them….they make the quilts look just perfect.  I didn’t pack everything up because I will be showing them for show and tell Thursday at quilting before giving them away.    While Paula was sewing I did manage to totally finish one butterfly on my embroidery machine:  

Michael had sausage soup for dinner (I didn’t really have dinner as I was still so full from lunch) and I got to sew for a bit after dinner (started sewing together the FPF patriotic that has been on my design wall for several days) before heading upstairs to watch TV and veg.

Here's your daily dose of cute...no videos...just the girls resting while Paula sews:

yoghurt, 3rd & 4th quilts done, kitty videos

A little catching up first…I never did get Michael’s yoghurt done on Monday, so that’s what I did first thing Tuesday morning (3/27): 

Next…I am TWO movie reviews behind (Michael had them written out, but I kept forgetting to put them in!!)…and they were good movies, so here goes:

********Michael's Movie Reviews*****

WRINKLE IN TIME (and *Redstone Theater Review) – Wrinkle in Time stays fairly close to the young adult book of the same name.  I used to read it to my 6^th grade classes and was curious to see how Hollywood would handle it.  Brilliant cinematography enjances the story of a daughter’s search for her long lost father.  The search stretches across time and space.  With the help of fantastic other dimensional characters, Meg and her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin, ultimately face the terrible “IT” on Camazotz.  “IT” is pure evil and is engulfing the whole universe, and can only be defeated by one thing (I won’t give that away).  Great acting by Meg and extraordinary acting by the youngster who plays Charles Wallace, lift this movie to great heights.  I give it 4-1/2 fat quarters out of 5.

*Redstone Theatre is your ordinary theatre with 14 big screens and regular seats (no recliners).  Their small popcorn & drink is REALLY SMALL!!!  Brand new and clean with super sound system in the theatre, I attended to see WiT.

LARA CROFT TOMB RADER – The reboot of this classic video game/movie from 6 – 8 years ago is quite good.  It starts with plenty of back story of Lara Croft’s relationship with her mysterious dad.  Eventually he disappears and she is obsessed with finding out what happened to him.  That leads to adventures in Japan and ultimately to an uncharted island home to the burial place of an evil queen of death and destruction.  People want to unearth her (why?)  Very ‘Indiana Jones’ type perils await Lara in her quest.  Good guys (and gals) abound as do very evil villains.  It’s all good fun and not super violent.  I give it 4 fat quarters out of 5. 

Tuesday was unusual in that we were both home for breakfast with no where we had to be, so when Michael came home from walking the dog at 9:30, I asked him if he wanted pancakes for breakfast.  I had buttermilk, yoghurt and milk that I had to use up, so that's why I wanted to make pancakes...and they were yummy:

I had most of the day Tuesday to work on my quilts, and I needed it.   By lunchtime I had finished the 3^rd quilt:  

and I began to take the 4^th quilt off of Miss Scarlett to get it cleaned up.  I got the bobbin ends woven in, the basting ripped out and the trimming done before heading out with Michael and the girls to the vet’s office.  Well, it’s going to be a long 2 weeks….they have eye infections, ear infections and respiratory infections.  So twice a day we have a myriad of antibiotics to apply that they don’t like getting….that’s definitely going to be a challenge.  We were at the vet’s for 1-1/2 hours, so I really put my head down to work when we got back.  Michael had dinner and left to pick up Larry for the movies and by the time he got home…they 4^th quilt was done:  

YAY!!!!  Paula came up with a good ‘wrapping’ solution…on Wednesday we hope to make nylon net bags to hold each of the quilts.  Hopefully that presentation will make them seem more like a gift, than just handing over a pile of ‘blankets’ (I just cringe when the VFW guy called them blankets...as I'm sure any qulter would  :~). 

Your daily dose of cute:

I may have posted this next one yesterday...I don't remember:

2nd quilt done, martini night at Andi's

Michael left at 8:15 AM Monday morning (3/26) for golf at Stonebridge and I was out the door right behind him.  I wanted to be at Himebaugh’s when they opened at 9 AM to buy more thread for my labels.  I picked up 2 spools and some needles and headed off to the dollar store, hoping to score gift bags for these quilts.  I had no luck at all  :~(.  I found the perfect size, unfortunately they were all decorated for baby gifts.  Guess I’ll have to drop back to plan “B”, just as soon as I figure out what that is.  I made a quick stop at ALDI’s for blueberries & blackberries so that I could finally put together Michael’s yoghurts before getting home at 10:30.  I headed right downstairs to continue to work on another quilt.  Other than a visit from Nadine (kitties foster mom) when we decided that the kitties may have colds and should go to the vets, I had my nose to the grindstone with the quilts.  Michael was home by then...happy with his 3 birdies....but not with his score!

By the time I left for martini night, another quilt was totally done (2 down and 2 to go....I have an appointment on Thursday at 3 PM to give them away):  

Martini night was at Andi’s house and it was great.  She had the table all set, and little vases of really pretty flowers scattered about: 

We had apple-tinis to go with dinner:

She had loaded potato skins for an appetizer, and the potatoes were only about 1 inch in diameter…so cute and so yummy:  

Then a terrific salad, 

and a huge chicken pot pie casserole….yum!  

We played Pictionary after dinner….most of us are terrible artists, but we guessed most of the answers and laughed and laughed.  

This was Bonnie drawing 'Spain'....I don't think we got this one  :~). 

Dessert was chocolate-y, minty martinis, rasberry bites, and thin mint cookies:

It was a wonderful night and I had a good time talking with everyone.  I was home just after 10 PM and read for a tiny bit before bed.

So, our friend Ginny bought an exquisite gift for 'the girls'....the top of the box is a scratching pad, and inside the box:

Lucy & Ethel already love and play with the ones we've put on the floor!!

Kitty video of the day:

Cookie & kitties, finished quilt, Quilt of Valor recipient

Sunday (3/25) was another gloomy day, perfect to stay in and sew/quilt, so that’s exactly what I did  :~).  I started to quilt the 4^th quilt…unfortunately I had changed to a variegated thread which is a teeny, tiny bit thinner than my regular thread and my tension was WAY off  :~(.  Two hours later after I had ripped out everything, I tried again after changing the needle, bobbin, tension, re-threading and trying a test strip and finally got somewhere:  

Michael, Lucy, Ethel & Cookie all came downstairs as well…I guess someone is jealous of the kitty's new bed:   

I can’t believe she even fits in there.  Eventually cooler heads prevailed and everyone was back to their regular places:   

Lynn & Mitch (neighbors) came down to visit the kitties and brought a gift.  Mitch does pottery and made 2 matching dishes for the girls:  

They seem to like them.  

While I was quilting on the 4^th quilt, I worked on the binding of the first quilt and by the time I went to bed, all of the quilting was done: 

and I had one totally finished quilt:  

One down, 3 more to go.  I play to call today and hope to make an appointment for the end of the week to give away these 4 quilts I've been working on.  Once I have given them, I'll talk more about where they are going.  I'm both excited and nervous about it...we'll see what happens.

And, another veteran received one of my Quilts of Valor:

I just love making these!