National Dog Day

Usually, I am not a lucky person when it comes to winning things.

I won this at the guild meeting last night.

It cheered me up.

Did you know yesterday was National Dog Day?

I was really missing this girl.

It's just not the same here without my sidekick.

Thank God she likes FaceTime!

All Work & No a Play

Why is it that just as things are settling down around here, I have to leave?

I had hoped that these last days would be relaxing & mellow.

Instead, I had window & sliding glass door drama.

And wind mitigation inspections.

Tomorrow, I have the alarm rewiring.

It's back north for me Thursday morning.

Just in time to clean up that place.

I was wishing for a lil uninterrupted floating & sewing.

On the bright side, the house passed the inspection.

And I have 3 flimsies to bring north for Lolafication.

And I have my guild meeting tonight.

And, an old friend is visiting me for Labor Day.

And my October trip should be relatively renovation free.

And I will get to see Frannie.

And Murray, Baby & Herman.

And Jenn & the ring.

Perspective, Meg.

Perspective.

What quilt block are you?

Apparently, I'm a Flying Geese.

Which makes sense, cause I am a bird brain.

I crack myself up.

I'm hoping that I have inserted a link for you to find out which one you are.

If not, you can find it over at Missouri Star Quilt Company website.

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Revisiting Cactus Flower

All that's left is curved piecing.

I do not like curved piecing.

But I'm pushing on & hoping for a good end.

ISpy flimsies

Today, mindless sewing was in order.

More work on the house, lotsa noise, zero concentration.

There is still one door left to replace. 

Chuck says he should be done tomorrow. 

Prayers are needed...it's a drag with all the banging and drilling.

In spite of the I humane conditions, I made 2 ISpy flimsies.

I had 2 precut in baggies, so I zipped them together.

This is one...

The other looks the same.

When I get north, I'll add borders.

Or not.

Who knows?

It's the easiest thing to make.

And some kids LOVE them.

To reward myself, I'm having sushi for dinner.

Yummo.

HSTeria

Remember when I went on a HST binge?

I made quite a few HST quilts.

I think it was 2 springs ago.

I remember really digging the mindlessness of it.

I could look it up in my blog archives, but I don't wanna.

I could also post pics of all those HST quilts.

Again, not happening.

Of course, my binge was well before the HSTeria craze in Blogland.

Does that make me a trend setter?

I had one last pile of HSTs here, awaiting design choice & construction.

I decided on Chevron.

I'm glad I did. 

I'll take this north and Lola-fy it.

Unless I decide to add borders.

Which could happen.

But probably won't. 

This was made from the leftover pieces of this quilt, my HST pinwheel that lives on the couch in FL.

I used all but 4 of the HSTs from this group of 10" squares.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE USING UP ALMOST EVERY BIT.

Makes me feel like a real quilter.

Plus, I don't have to visit my orphan block pile issue.

Good Lawd, that is getting to be huge!

Both are good sizes for single or double snuggling.

I got both of these quilts from 1 PB&J layer cake and 42 assorted blue solid 10" squares.

That is all...Carry on.

No Reply Bloggers

http://anyonecandecorate.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-you-no-reply-blogger-how-to-fix.html

Above is a link for those of you who would like to change your blogger status.

I'd love to respond to you, but I don't know who you are!

XO

Kathleen Jane

Look who was all decked out when I arrived!

Kathleen Jane, my vanda orchid.

Patty gave me this orchid last winter.

I hung her high in the Live Oak out front when I left & hoped for the best.  

Clearly, she's quite happy up there. 

I read they only flower once a year.

And are difficult to grow.

I guess that was bad info.

I have 3 others orchids out there in the tree, but not as high up as KJ.  

They are different varieties.

2 of them are green with no blooms.

One appears to be deceased.

Prickly Pat, my cactus, is growing like crazy, too.

I may need to repot her again this winter.

The Road to Compliance

A few weeks back, we received a notice from the HOA informing us we were in violation of the rules.

It seems our home was an eyesore due to under mulched flower beds & stains on the driveway.

Horror of a Horrors!

I quickly hired a power washer and took care of the driveway.

I called around to landscapers & they wanted $500. & $700. to mulch the beds.

That seemed ridiculous.

After 20 bags @ $3.33, I'm done.

Since I paid retail for the mulch, it's safe to say that these guys were charging me $400 in labor.

I am old.

It is hot.

I was moving slow and taking lots of breaks. 

It took me about 3 hours to spread 20 bags. 

That comes to approx. $133.00/hour for labor. 

Are you serious?

It's not rocket science. 

Maybe I should go into landscaping.

I will be informing Murray of my rate and will probably take it in fabric. 

Or fabric and Anthony's. 

God, I'm good.

I guess Mr Nasty neighbor got a compliance letter, too.

Cause his roof is no longer filthy and his beds are trimmed. 

I noticed this while I was floating around the pool in a post mulching attempt to cool off.

I also learned that Mr Nasty & his family have vacated the premises. 

Apparently they have moved out to the country.

This is a good fit for them.

They are weird.

The house is not for sale, so I'm assuming they will rent it out. 

Normally, I would be worried about renters.

But this guy was so distasteful, even the Clampetts would be an upgrade. 

Now that the hard labor is behind me, I plan to enjoy my little slice of tropical paradise....

....when I'm not bombarded by workers, inspectors & insurance guys. 

***sigh

Make it a good one. 

Close Call

Early this morning, I went to Home Depot for mulch.

When I returned, I found this gal in the street.

I quick parked & got out just in time to see the Pest Control guy come flying around the corner.

I jumped out of the car, waving my arms and pointing.

(Good thing I don't care what my neighbors think)

He stopped just in time, & I shooed Myrtle out of the street.

It was really something to see how fast she could move when she wanted.

She actually 'jumped' a couple of times!

When I looked up, the idiot exterminator was shaking his head at me.

Fool.

As soon as my contract is up, that guy is history.

My Famous Friend

Well, I have a famous Quilty friend!

It's Barb!

She's always been a sewer, but, I'm pretty sure I was responsible, at least partly, for her quiltiness. 

She made this awesome quilt a while back...it's a paper pieced Hunters Star.

I even gave her some scraps for it, never realizing what awesomeness she was about to create.

When she was done, she brought it to me to longarm.

As soon as I saw it, I told her, 'Barb, this is a special quilt.'

She said, 'Meh, do whatever you want on it.'

She had spent eons piecing it and could not see it's spectacularness. 

Is spectacularness a word?  It should be. 

She was just glad to be done with it.

(this often happens on long projects, you just look at it for so long, you can't even see it anymore)

I put baptist fans on it, just to give movement but not to detract from this gorgeous piece.

I mean, the thing is a smorgasbord of scrappy goodness and precise piecing.

Her guild asked for entries to hang in an exhibit at the Allentown museum.

At least I think it's the Allentown Museum.

Of course, this was selected.

I remember having the 'more fabrics you use, the less important each one becomes' conversation with her.  This quilt is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of that!

That Barb, being the sweetheart that she is, gave me credit for quilting it.

And, she had her hubz send me these great shots for my blogging pleasure.

Thanks, Tim!

I'm hoping to get to the Museum when I get back to see it myself.

In other news, my son, John, proposed to his girlfriend, Jen, yesterday.

Looks like this guy is getting a Mommy.

I wish I could post a pic of the happy couple, but I haven't any.

You'll just have to trust me when I say they are adorable!

A big day for sure.

I's tied...

When he was a toddler, my Herman was such a good sleeper.

He used to say, "I's tied, Mommy.  I needs nap.' when he was tired.

I'd bring him up, put him in his crib with a snuggle, and he'd sleep & sleep.

I've been saying that to myself all day.

I wish someone would've snuggled me up and put me yo bed,

I got ZERO sleep last night...it was hot.

And today has been so noisy from the window installation.

Here's one of the holes in the house.

I's so tied, I dozed off in the middle of it all!

More than once!

I couldn't even focus on the simplest of tasks...

And it was rainy.

That never helps, & it also kept me out of the pool.

Wasted day all around.

It's to bed early for me.

I hope I dream about baby Herman...

He was such a sweetie.

Temperatures

This was the temp when I left Syracuse this morning....

Brrrrr

I'm a hot & steamy kinda weather girl,

I was so happy to get to Ft Myers.

Until I got to the house and opened the door.

IT WAS 90 DEGREES IN HERE!

I called my neighbor and he tried to get it running.

No luck...the repairman will be here still 630am.

It's cooled down some...

Off to a great start!

Fur babies

Quilt tester...Extraordinaire 

Poor Frannie never gets a chance.

3 for 3 & Nanu Nanu

It's a rainy, cold day.

Sad news everywhere.

Might as well add to the gloom by doing another binding.

That's 3 bindings in 3 days.

I should get a medal.

Or something.

Even with all this practice, it is not enjoyable for me.

But, it feels good to have completed quilts that I can use.

For now...I think I will use this in my MBR here in NY.

Phil said he liked it...his favorite color is green....and it's a nice summer weight.

It's good here for a while, although eventually I see it in FL or rehomed.

I started making this with Kelly in mind....

And, lastly, I must bid farewell to an American treasure. 

His comedic talent was unmatched. 

His dramatic characters could reach inside you and touch your heart.

Patch, John Keating, Mrs Doubtfire, Armand, Genie & Adrian are a tiny sampling of the scope of his genius.

His stand up was 'wet your pants' hysterical.

When you watched him, you could see he was teetering on the edge.

I always thought he had kind eyes.

I read a piece on Robin Williams by another favorite, James Taylor.

JT speculated that perhaps Robin himself was as surprised by his talent as the rest of us.

I think he might be on to something.

Maybe his genius was as much of a burden as it was a gift?

Do the brightest lights burn out faster?

To those who much is given, much is expected. 

I've certainly received hours of enjoyment from his efforts.

Surely his body of work will live for generations to come.

They say someone takes their own life every 13 minutes.

Life is hard, depression is real.

Perhaps he can help to extinguish the negative stigma of mental illness posthumously?

Or maybe he won't. 

Either way, he left us with a lot.

May he rest in peace.

On a Roll!

Lawd Have Mercy!

I've bound 2 quilts in 2 days. 

My Road to Round Rock (Judy Laquidera QAL) had been languishing in the binding pile since I returned in June.

Not anymore. 

I've decided it will live on my family room couch.

At least for now, cause I like the pop of color it gives this very dull decor.

It goes so much faster when you use the DSM for bindings.

The results are not perfect..

This is the worst of the imperfections.

I could fix it...

I might someday...

Probably not. 

Done is better than perfect.

(And, it holds up better in the wash w/machine stitching.)

Bound

Between yesterday's Sit&Knit and today's carpet cleaning...

I finished hand sewing the binding on my Bargello Wall Hanging.

I used a 1 5/8th" strip instead of my usual 2 1/2" cause it's a small quilt and Who wants the binding to overpower or confuse the eye. 

It wasn't that bad to work with...I used my stylus a lot. 

In reality, I found every minute to be sheer misery. 

Have I mentioned that I hate binding?

I NEED a binder-person.

It's done and I'm glad. 

Yay!

Sit and Knit

After I over photoed the snot out of my Stonehenge quilt, I headed to Caz for a Sit&Knit.

Or, if you're me, a Sit&Sew.

Susan hosted this fun afternoon at the gorgeous Jepheson Estate in Cazenovia.

I've been here before, working the Francis House Silver Tea.

Trust me, it's much more enjoyable to be there as a 'Sitter.'

I took another tour, this time a leisurely one.

I was surprised how much I remembered from my Silver Tea experience.

I should've taken more pictures...but, oh well.

Here's what I got.

A Victrola in the Parlor.

Mary is home for 3 weeks from University.

I love Miss Mary.

This stained glass is breathtaking.

My iphone does not do this place justice.

These are the Master Bedrooms...female and male.

Below is the walls in servants/children's quarters...

Painted tin...yummy.

An antique New Home with cabinet in great condition....****le sigh****

Susan & me...in a fog, as usual!

All set on beautiful Cazenovia Lake.

I got about half the binding finished on my Bargello Wallhanging. 

And the company made it bearable.

I'm trying to tak Clive into taking me out for a martini.

Wish me luck!

Sometimes...less is more.

I hope that's the case with this quilt.

For days, I hemmed & hawed over what FMQ designs to use...

To no avail, may I add.

Finally, I just decided to go simple..

Clamshells.

I was inspired by Clive's choice at Francesca's on date night. 

And, I made Spaghetti & Clams for the Texans.

It was a sign from above...

Or maybe it was a gastrointestinal sign.

Who knows?

Either way, I am finished and can lug this puppy south with me on Thursday. 

Out front

In the patio

Thrown on the steps

Under a tree.

I realize this is picture overload of an average quilt...

Please indulge me... it's rarely nice enough in CNY to take photos outdoors.

I was going to applaud Mr Bixby for his Supermoon photography efforts last night. 

He informed me he had sent me some great shots he took at 2:30 am, after my pleas for him to use his super iphone skills for my blogging pleasure. 

He has a newer, fancier phone than I, cause he is so important. 

While I was finishing this quilt up, I was day dreaming of the wonderful compliments I would bestow upon him....

then I looked at the pictures.

He titled this one 'patio under Supermoom"

And this, 'Supermoon, 2:00am'.

Very funny, Clive. 

Sheesh!

Have a great day, friends.