When I come home....not so bright eyes

Sunday I showed you what I look like when I get up....what most humans in the world look like first thing in the morning. Today you will get a glimpse of what I look like right before I go to bed, when many of you are heading to work. It's not a pretty picture, but since I sleep most of the time with my mouth open and drooling, it is probably most acurate.
See, I warned you. Not a pretty picture. I had just finished reading my e-mails and was heading to bed. Yesterday, after that very long weekend, I went to bed in my scrubs, because I was too tired to even wash my face. Now that's tired.....
You know the story of Midas and how everything he touched turned to gold, or that new Skittles commercial where everything that one guy touches turns to Skittles? Well, Chuck and I have some weird gadget touch because in the past two weeks, my computer crashed, the XM radio in the van ceased to work, my digital camera is on the fritz and the Dish receiver for the HD TV in the family room is acting funny. Don't know about that one. I discovered a slot on Chuck's computer where I could plug in my chip from my camera, otherwise, had now way to show you how lovely I was yesterday morning.
Many of you have e-mailed wanting to know about the biopsy and what is happening. Well, after speaking to my oncologist, the radiologist who read the MRI and my Gyne, we decided to wait 6 months and do a repeat MRI. I am OK with that because it is probably scar tissue from mucho surgical and radiation interventions.
I sewed a lot yesterday and will have some things to show in the next week. Also, as soon as I get my hands on Chuck's camera, I will show you what really big change I had yesterday. Stay tuned...like the tag line on many a TV show.....

Very, very tired

Yesterday work called me at 2 pm and asked if I could come in early. By early, I mean whenever I could get there. So, I started my shift 3 hours early, meaning I worked a 15 hour shift last night. I was pretty busy all night, so I stayed awake, but it is so hard to work a long shift like that without sleep for over 24 hours. Back to work tonight and then I am off tomorrow, but of course have things to do. Not much else exciting to report.
This is how gorgeous I am right after I get up and have my first sip of freshly ground coffee with a tablespoon of Coffee Mate Cinnamon Vanilla Creme....aaaaah.....the good life.

I hate computers...

So, I haven't updated for some time, and I know I have anxious fans out there. Well, my laptop crashed.....again. It was just in for service for a crash on 9/4 and the Geek Squad at Best Buy keep saying there is nothing wrong with it. So frustrating. I am at the mercy of using my husband's laptop when he isn't on it. Last night, I told the guy that I was so tempted to drop it accidentally out of my bedroom window onto my driveway, which if any of you have been at my house, you know it is a almost 3 story drop. It is under warranty, so they would replace it for free. But, my conscious wouldn't let me do that. The "geek" that waited on me last night said he is a senior geek and would personally take care of it. He thinks the mother board is bad. On the other hand, I am a bad mother for wanting to hurt my computer.....
Yesterday I finished those 40 annoying little 1/2 square triangle blocks and am now ready to put the top together.
My Candice is home for a couple of days. We went to Olive Garden for dinner last night and had such a great time. I love spending time with her, she makes me smile, we laughed a lot yesterday. She will be going back later on today and I am working tonight, so off to do what it is that I do when I am home and everyone else in the house is sleeping.....to the sewing room.

It's the Bee's Knees

Thought since I was in the mood to share some stuff, I would show you a recent finished project. I bought a roll of "Sweet Sixteens" at a wonderful quilt shop in Bradley, Illinois, B &J sewing center, while down caring for my mom. I had never seen one before and was so attracted to the primary colors and old look to them. A sweet sixteen is a 5x11 inch roll of fabric squares from a company line. I bought the book "More Nickle Quilts" which use 5x5 squares and came up with this:
Now the thing that I am most proud of with this particular one is the fact that I machine quilted it. Now I have done small things like purses, and tote bags and table runners but have very little confidence, especially when I see some of the things that people produce!!! I bought two books on machine quilting, a cheater panel to practice, etc, but my friend told me to stop reading and just start doing....So I did. I began by doing a meander over 1/4 of it and hated it, so took about 16 hours and ripped it all out. Instead, I did a loop de loop on the diagonal and in the striped border and then meandered in the outer border. I used a primary color verigated thread and if you are running by or have bad vision, you can't see all of the mistakes that I made.
Done is good, right? Small group is tonight, which is a group that has been meeting in my house for 7 years studying God's Word together.
Have a lovely night....

More on the North Siders

Well, folks, Cub fever is in full swing in Chi-town. And I am sick with it!!!! Now is when I get really nervous, because the play offs always give me heartburn. I remember back in 1985 when I was pregnant with Catie and my sister and I were so excited that the Cubs were in the pennant race. It actually looked like they were going to the series, and were ahead in the games and gave away the whole thing. I still remember sitting in Beryl and Dan's family room and watching that ball go between Durham's legs and San Diego winning it. Not this year.....not this year.....(she says as she bites off yet another fingernail to the quick) And yes, the flag is right on the front of my house.

Another page to show

I don't know why it won't take more than 4 pictures, so irritating!!!

Scrappin"

I started Scrapbooking way before I started quilting, but quilting has taken over. I do love it when I scrap, especially with my friends and my daughter, but I don't have many good ideas, so I depend on my magazines and Becky Higgins for inspiration. Yesterday, we had a 7 hour crop at church and I love these because we have each other and if we need supplies, Joanne is there to supply us. I stayed on budget yesterday and only bought a pack of paper and a tape runner refill. I actully did 4 pages, not all complete as a couple of them need journalling, but here they are....enjoy or not, I don't care. Here are some pics from my nephew's wedding in December of 2005; Well, they didn't go into the site like I wanted them to. The black, red and white page should be first, then the rehearsal dinner, then the one with the 4 small pics across the bottom, then the reception. Also, I did a page of Catie's 20th birthday and I love the pictures showing her shear joy. She is about to be 23....I am so behind.

Again???

Yesterday afternoon, the breast surgeon called and wants me to have a biopsy. I thought I could put all of this behind me, but again, I have to deal with the discomfort, the waiting, etc. Well, I know that it will probably be negative, but I still have to go through with it. Stay tuned....
Last night, I had a girlfriend night here. I made dinner and we watched a movie and just had a great time. Our men are on the annual men's bike trip. Now it would have been a little easier on me to go out, but I think our meal was tastier and about 1/10th of the price. So, I may be doing this from now on, just to save $$$$.... besides, I can come up with some great ingredients at Aldi, my favorite grocery store. I just can't find some special things, like last night I needed Hoisen sauce. So, Celia stopped and got it and it was her contribution to the meal.
After they left (at 10 pm, by the way....old ladies!!!), I spent some time in the basement working on the three projects that are in the works. I am trying to work on an applique project that I mentioned earlier. Last night I made the stems with my new 3/8" bias tape maker:

I also am working on a pesky project for the Jo Morton Club that has 40 little squares that are all the same....which tends to bore me, so I do 5-6 at a time and then put it away for a few days. I discovered a time saving way to do it now, where I layer the darks and lights 10-12 layers deep and cut at once and then square up. It has saved my sanity and I only have 12 more to make before I put the whole thing together. I don't know if it breaks any rules, but it works for me. I am always trying to find things to save time and steps:

Oh I had to show you one that wasn't square!!! Oh well, only all of you in cyberspace will ever know.
Being the "get involved" person that I am, since attending and ultimately joining the quilt guild, there are several projects that they are either working on, or they give out challenges, whatever. This year's service project is to make lap quilts for the veteran's hospital, specifically for their wheelchairs. So, on Wednesday, I looked through my stash and scraps and found some that will work. So I came up with this little thing. However, not until I took this picture did I see that the stars are not as random as I had hoped. Oh well, can't always do it right. (in fact, I do it wrong so much of the time that it has become my right!!!)

See, there are stars in every row, but only if you turn it the other way!!!! Darn.....
Today, I am going to a crop from 2-9 pm. I haven't scrapped in a while, so should be fun. I am going to work on Dave and Liz's wedding...that's how far behind I am, they are about to celebrate their 3rd anniversary!! I am also going to do Candice's senior plays and maybe just a fun page. Keep watching, more pics to come.
Have heard from many of you that you regularly read this, so hope that your aren't bored with my life, but I have found even if no one reads it, it is a great way for me to get some of my many words out. After all, I have all of those 5000 words that we women are supposed to use.

Go Cubs Go....

Yesterday's game was so cool!!! I turned on the TV right after that awesome 9th inning. But, I saw them win it and it was awesome. YEAH..magic number is 2....kill them red birds and show em who's boss!!!

The waiting is the worst...

So, I just got off the phone with my oncologist and he said that there is a spot in the area where I had cancer 11 years ago. I think it is probably scar tissue, but they are waffling on whether to do a biopsy, watch it or do a mammogram right now. I have had three surgeries on that breast, so I know the scar tissue is abundant. Have to wait. When I waited three days back in 1997 for the biopsy report, it was so tense and sleepless, but I know that God is in control. I am in His hands and will quiet my soul in His loving embrace. Stay tuned....

Only one set of wheels

We are trying to be better with money. A few weeks ago, Chuck sat me down and showed me the cold hard facts, and the way it looks, they will be wheeling me around to still be working when I am 90. So, I am keeping track of my spending for "fun" stuff, like fabric, notions, etc, all things crafty. I put myself on a 200.00/month spending limit. Here it is the 18th of the month and I have 15.00 left. Now understand that my quilt guild dues came out of that, a payment for quilt retreat in February, the crop that I am doing on Saturday, all fees for the expo last Saturday, so this month was tight.
In that light, we gave our 2000 Sonata to Candice this year for school. She has to pay for the gas, but that leaves us with one vehicle. It really hasn't been an issue as I only work 3 nights/week and Chuck has the squad car for work....until now. He left today for the annual Men's bike Trip and I am working tonight. It was a bit of a hassle to get a ride to and from work for tonight, but I think it's ironed out now. Then, if I want to go anywhere, or do anything, I will be dependent on my friend to haul me around. You know when I grew up, we had only one car, but of course my mom didn't work outside the home and dad lived where he worked as he was a farmer, so there was always trucks, tractors, etc. In this day and age, we certainly have gotten used to every member in the household having transportation, haven't we?
Tuesday afternoon, I had my every other year bone density scan and he wanted me to also to an MRI of the breasts. I'm telling you, it was one of the most uncomfortable tests I have ever had done and had she not finished when she did, I may have asked for a break. They called with results today, but of course, I was sleeping. I'm not too worried, as I have been clear for 11+ years now. TTFN!!!

Two of my many blessings...

Last night I officially joined a quilt guild. Never thought I would, but after Deb invited Celia and I to try it out for the July and August meetings, which were free, we were so excited about what they have to offer, so last night we joined. For only 40.00/year we get incredible educational offerings and get to network with some pretty amazing artists. Last night, Anne Lullie spoke, who is an art quilter living in our area. She is a member of the "Chicago School of Fusing", which if any of you watch the many quilt shows on PBS, have been featured on a few shows that I have seen. Although art quilting doesn't quiver my liver as it does Celia, last night I started to feel a bit of excitement as Anne displayed her art and showed us many quilts from her friends and acquaintances. Next to me sat the grand champion from last years guild show, who is a traditional quilter and she just laughed as she said she is taking the workshop from Anne on Saturday. I tried to encourage her, but I think she is skeptical. Go to Anne's website to see her fabulous art. I bought the beautiful hand dyed fabric from the booth that she was working on Saturday. Her friend Frieda Anderson dyed that bunch and Frieda is a published artist. Celia checked out her book from the guild library last night.

On another note, wanted to share with you my two girls, who are the light of my life. They are so beautiful, and I don't mean just external beauty as they are such a delight on the inside as well. But, I think Chuck and I got the recipe right when we cooked them up. God did the inside work.

Catie is on the left, who is a recent graduate from Wheaton College with a degree in Biology. She is living outside of Charleston, S. Carolina and works at St. Christopher camp as a barrier Island naturalist. She just started this job and absolutely loves it and her co-workers. She invited me for the ride down and we had a couple of days together in the low country. It is an incredible place to live, right on the beach with dolphins, sharks, pelicans, turtles, crabs and numerous other things to see and do. Recently, they had a little hurricane scare, but it missed them by 100 miles or so and they got a good dousing of rain, but little other damage. Catie is a very talented gal with a lovely singing voice (at one time was a vocal performance major), and is a scrapbooker extraordinaire!!! She is never without her trusty camera and records the events of her life, including food. Her friends are annoyed by it at first, but soon come to realize that a camera in Catie's hand is a natural extension of herself.
Candice is on the right and is a junior at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. She is a social work major with an emphasis in women's studies. She went to Hope on a Theater scholarship, but soon changed her mind and has gone another direction. However, God has given her a unique talent for the stage and she has been a part of a production every year at Hope and she also works on campus for the publicity department. This fall, she is one of the leads in Hope's fall musical (they only do a musical every other year and she was also cast Freshman year), which is 1940's Radio Hour. Our high school did this Candice's Freshman year and she fell soundly in love with the show and the one female character, Ginger. When she tried out for the show this fall, she wasn't prepared to make it as there are only 4 female roles and one of them is black, which cut her chances down considerably. She was up against 60 other girls and not only was she cast, but she got that coveted role of Ginger. Also, her roommate Brittany is another lead. We are very excited about seeing it in November. Candice is also an extremely talented vocalist, and she lights up the room with her sparkling personality. She has the greatest sense of humor and keeps us in stitches. She is our resident fashionista and can be counted on for advice.
Both girls love our Lord and we are so proud that they make good choices, and have never given us a moment of grief.....except for normal teenage angst, we have had smooth sailing with them.
See, I can brag on these gifts....I am a mom, it is my right.....
On to the sewing maching, grocery store and nap before work tomorrow.

How 'bout them Cubbies???

Well, I am psyched about my favorite team...da Cubs. For those of you living under a rock, they are (I hope) finally out of their slump and Zambrano pitched a no-hitter yesterday. However, the info wasn't clear about which channel they were broadcasting on and I missed the game!!! When I scrolled through my program listing on my dish, they were only listed on premium channels, so I went to bed at 9 pm, slightly depressed. I get up this morning at 6:30 to find that they were on WGN and I missed it!!!
Today, I couldn barely contain my excitement as Ted Lilly almost pitched a no-hitter. Needless to say, I didn't get a good nap before I came to work tonight.
As they say on WGN all the time "THIS IS THE YEAR!!!!!"

On mom

Yesterday, I shared with some friends the grief process in losing my mom. She was a great lady and I can say I am blessed to be called her daughter.
Previously, I said that I love to meet new people. I got that gift from mom because she was a friend to so many and had so many people in her life.
My brother-in-law, Dan Freeburg made some fantastic pictoral videos for both the funeral and for the wake. One of my friends yesterday asked me to post the link so you can also share in my mom's life well-lived.
His videos are on You Tube and his link is dannyfred1953. There are two videos there about mom, one that is named Beverly Jean and one that is named mom. Enjoy....you may need tissues.
All for now....I need to attack this house before I nap to prepare for work tonight.

Finds

Thought you might like to see what I purchased yesterday at the quilt expo. The quilts were magnificent and I don't know that I will ever have that skill level, but they certainly are inspiring. Celia went to a lecture on art quilting and wanted to hit the booth with the hand dyed fabrics and I thought they were also beautiful:

I don't know if the picture does it justice, but do you see the color gradation from light to dark. I'm thinking a Bargello wall hanging, wouldn't that be pretty? I've always wanted to do one, now here's my chance. I don't want to mess them up because they were kind of pricey.
Then there is a vendor that is always at these quilt shows with paper pieced patterns. I taught myself how to paper piece and really enjoyed it. Now that I know the right way to do it, I probably will enjoy it even more. So I thought with the scraps from the above mentioned project, I could to this:

As I said earlier, I did English paper piecing for the Grandmother's Flower Garden, and then found a vendor with all kinds of template papers. One of my goals is to make a Dresden Plate, but didn't want to invest in starting it if I didn't like it. Well, they seem to understand how quilters may take a huge project on and find out it is way beyond what they are interested in or what their skill level is, so they have these little packets of samples for sale. What a great idea!!!
One of my many catch up projects is a summer quilt for our king sized bed which will be a block sampler. I have 12 or 14 blocks, but to cover our bed, I need 35. I have patterns for many new blocks, but would like to incorporate all different techniques.
Otherwise, I bought my lunch, paid for parking, a cup of coffee, and helped with gas. That was all I bought all day. When she sends it to me, I will show you the charity blocks that Deb and I made, Celia took the picture.
Have a great rest of the day.
By the way, I am not posting in the middle of the night. I think that the blog base site is in a very different time zone. I wrote this morning's at 6:30 or 7 am, but it said I did it at 4:30 am. Trust me, not at that time, folks.

Raining, raining, raining

Yesterday, Celia, Deb and I left at 5:30 am for Madison for the quilt expo. I had a really bad day at work the day before and I was already exhausted, but neither rain, nor hail, nor lack of sleep would keep me from this adventure. We had a blast and were quite tired, but very much enjoyed the show. I even managed to keep my spending in check, although I picked up the adorable Dick and Jane jelly roll at least 6 times, but it would have put me over my budget for the month, so I resisted. Besides, I have enough projects to keep me busy for months, nay, years.
Off to church and a wedding reception/open house for Gavin England and his new bride. Little Gavin is married???!!!??? How can that be? I still see him playing video games, etc....

Eye Candy

So today, I am off to Madison to the quilt expo to see some wonderful things....you can tell I'm old as my kids often remind me, because I get more excited about quilts and fabric than I do a new outfit or a new movie.
Raining, raining, raining....what a good day to feel and smell new and exciting fabrics. One of the vendors at this expo is JJ Stitches from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, clearly one of my most favorite shops ever. I swear, when Celia and I opened the door, I heard Angels sing. She on the other hand couldn't wait to get out of there. No, there isn't any Asian, Kaffe Fossett, or Amy Butler in this shop. It is all Civil War and 30's and washtub repros.....oh, my what a wonder....

Back to days???

I was cancelled for my agency job on Wednesday night, but he asked if I could work day shift today. I haven't gotten up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 since 2005, but here I am, lunch ready and getting in the shower in 5 minutes to be at my job at 7 am. Ugh!!! Glad there is a Starbuck's stand at the hospital for when I crash at around 2 pm. It gets me ready for tomorrow when I get up at 4 am to go to the quilt expo in Madison. So excited!!! I am taking 2 classes and my friends are also taking 2 classes each, so with information sharing, it's like I will be taking 6 classes.
After getting a post from Mindy, I know now that someone out there in cyberspace is reading my ramblings.
Oh by the way....yeah Cubbies. Two wins in a row...are they coming out of this slump??? This is the year. Hey, did anyone else get totally annoyed with the Cub fan that kept putting up the sign behind homeplate last night that said "it's gonna happen"? I was ashamed of him. I was watching though and I think security asked him to leave or they changed the camera angle, because in later innings, he was gone. My friends say I am such a detail person....only I would have noticed it, but boy did it bug me.
Well, off to save lives....have a great day...

God is good, even when the news could have been bad

After the death of my mom, my oncologist felt it was urgent for me to be tested for the BRCA-1 gene. With the red tape of insurance approval, etc, I was told I wouldn't get results until the end of November, but he just called me and I am negative!!! So happy.....
I mentioned yesterday that I am on a road to get projects done that have been hanging around for a while. I took a starch applique class at the quilt shop several months ago, but really didn't like it. It is a good process for some, but I didn't care for it. Well, like I said, I love to network with other quilters, especially those that don't make me feel stupid or untalented in their presence, but who really love to share information. I used to have a boss that didn't share much in the way of teaching save for the "favorites", and I felt that as long as she had the knowledge, she had the power.
I went to a sit and sew on Tuesday and the girl next to me was also doing starch applique, but instead of using heat proof plastic, she uses three layers of freezer paper for the templates. Today, I did it and I love it. The freezer paper doesn't move and I still get a nice shape. I may eventually learn to love applique as much as I love machine and hand piecing.
My sister swears by needle turn applique, but I haven't gotten the hang of that either. I know others that do raw edge, but I think I like the look of this method.
When this project is finished, I will publish a post. I need a 3/8 inch bias tape maker, which I had to order today.

Discovering new things all the time

My kids laugh at me because I am so techno stupid. First of all, I have just discovered this blog thingy, even though it has been around for quite some time. My friends the Davis' just adopted a baby and I have kept up with their new arrival through their blog spot, but setting up one for myself wasn't really a reality until Chuck suggested that I do so. Now, I think after only a couple of days that I am hooked!!! When I went to my profile and clicked on my interests.....well, I found so many people who have my same interests....a whole new group of friends, I am so excited about that because one of my interests that is not listed is to meet new people. My husband and kids say I can't go anywhere without seeing someone I know......on to more adventures.

As I have said, I love to quilt and have done so since 2003. I was introduced to this wonderful medium by my sister. Kind of a funny story. We were at an annual family reunion in Des Moines, Iowa and my sister really wanted to find a quilt shop. She wanted my husband and me along for the ride. I told her the only way I would go to a quilt shop is if there was a scrapbooking store nearby. We found both on the same block, so we compromised. That's my sis in the pink.
Well, I was bored silly for the most part while in the shop and anxious to get to the other shop down the street, but while she was looking and feeling of nearly everything there, I wandered to the back room and was fascinated by a Hoffman trunk show using the yearly feature fabric. Uh-oh....it began.....





My sister, Beryl Freeburg and I. She is the best and I always smile when I am around her.....








Then while she was checking out, there was a table topper pattern and kit by the register and when my husband saw it, he really liked the fabrics, so encouraged me to buy it and try it...after all, I have sewn for years, but frankly quilting was beyond my realm of familiarity. By the way, I blame my addiction on my sister and my husband. (don't all addict have to project the blame somewhere??)


My hubby, Chuck. Very patient with me.










So, I bought it, and let it lay around for about 4 months....Then, while the kiddies were trick or treating in October of that year, I tried it and really enjoyed it, but knew very little about rotary cutting, true 1/4 inch seams, etc.

About two months later, I discovered a fairly new quilt shop in my hometown of Grayslake, Illinois and soon joined the Thimbleberries Club to meet new people and to learn.

Recently, I have been on a path to finish many projects that I have started. Two weeks ago, Monday, I made labels for two quilts.
This is my proudest work so far:

It is a Grandmother's Flower Garden and is completely hand pieced and hand quilted. It is probably the most intensive thing I have done. I was inspired by my own Grandmother Girard to do this. It is all 30's reproduction fabrics, which I am so in love with. Those and Civil War Repro's.
I started it May 2006. My mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer in November of 2005 and she saw me work on this the entire time she was sick. She lost her fight June 20th of this year. When I finished it, it was a rather hollow victory as she was the first person I wanted to show it to. Everytime she saw me stitching on it, she would say, "I wish Grandma could see the talent you girls have, and I am so proud of you!!!"
My mom, my oldest daughter Catie, and I after Wheaton College's Christmas Festival in December of 2007.


The other quilt that I finished that day:This is from that first Thimbleberries Club that I was in. I learned so much from that club and was able to network with other quilters, most of whom were very advanced. This was missing for almost 2 years as the custom quilter that I sent it to would not return calls. I finally threatened litigation and it was returned to me. I sent it to another custom quilter Pam S. and she did an absolute divine job. It surely covers up all of my many mistakes.
Hope you have enjoyed a brief glimpse into the creative side of my life.

A Beginning

With inspiration from my daughter and several others in my life, I have decided to start this thing. We will see how it goes, but I like the ability to journal in this way. When I have some time, I will explore this new communication venue. Stand by....