I know yesterday was a beautiful day outside, but I was on a mission (like Alex with the jack-in-the-box), and sewed all day.  

And guess what?  Right before dinner I finished up the design part of all 4 borders!  Of course I still have to 'sash' both sides of all of them before I can add them to the quilt, but it's looking quite possible that I'll have the entire top finished (!!!) in time to take to Busy Bees Show & Tell on Wednesday.  

If I also found time to get the back pieced I would be able to hand it off to Pennie for quilting then - but the more likely scenario is me taking it over to her house at some later date.

Carolyn's coming over this morning to transfer pix I took at the February Foothills meeting (she's the official  poster-of-the-pix onto our website, and was out of town for that meeting.)  She'd also like the pix from the January meeting, which she also had to miss (and which I know I also took pix of!) but 'somehow' not only were they never downloaded to the computer, they are MIA on the camera.  I'm thinking that when I recently cleared all of the 2012 pix from the camera I accidentally included those January pix.  Bummer!

(Note to Lisa: I can do that!)

Then it's off to pick up Teresa and take her to lunch.  She fell off a ladder a few weeks ago (trimming trees) and broke her ankle in 3 places.  It's been hard to get together since she and Kaye retired a year ago.... they've been off riding their horses here, there, and everywhere.  The 'good' thing about her mishap is that now that she's 'grounded' for the duration we can spend some time together; I know we have lots of girl-gabbing to catch up on.

It's been a week since Alex moved into his apartment...

 (of course!) he loves it!

Enjoy your week.  I know Patti will... she's on Spring Break, which means she finally has time to just sit and read!

After what happened last weekend (with our non massages!) I got smart:

I stopped in at the massage school before I picked up Carol yesterday morning (it's right on the way), paid, and got us on the list.  We stopped in at 35th Ave. so I could get the three pieces of fabric I need for my 'new' border idea (lots going on at 35th Ave. - too bad we needed to rush off), and then went for our massages.  We only had to wait maybe 5 minutes for our turns, and when we came out an hour later, folks who had been waiting when we came in were still waiting their turn.  My new plan of attack was definitely a success!

Of course the massage itself was wonderful.  Karina wasn't sure she was up to the deep tissue massage I requested (she's only had one class on that so far, and I could see from her sheet she's just started working with clients... think I was her 4th.) She offered to pass me off to another massage therapist, but I stuck with her, and she did a fine, fine job - my back and shoulder feel MUCH better!  And yes, I definitely let her know just how pleased I was.   

I reminded her that everyone has to start somewhere, and also that I'm well aware the providers are still learning... after all, it is a school.  So she also left the session feeling better (there's that win/win again) and more self-confident.

Carol came back to the house with me (Tom invited her for dinner) and we spent the the afternoon cutting out fabric (my least favorite part of the process, but it's much more fun when there's a friend to chat with) and then watched Mama Mia, finishing up just in time for a delicious dinner.  Great day, right Carol?

And with the fabrics already cut, I should be able to make great progress on the other three borders today.

  Life is good!

Friday morning Alex stopped by to pick up some more of his stuff, and ended up going over to Carol's (with Tom and Hoogie) to help pick up the large heavy equipment (drill press, band saw, and radial arm saw) from Marvin's shop.  All that time he's spent at the gym came in handy today!

We got a phone call Friday morning from a guy who was in town (from NC) hoping he'd found 'the Tom Dodge who makes knives'; he wanted to come over and buy one. And when Pete came by in the afternoon he was so impressed with Tom's work he ended up buying four!  He was going to get a motel before heading to the airport early this morning, but we offered him the guest house (much appreciated) and he then took us out to dinner.  Everyone was happy!

I had a very enjoyable lunch with Renee (as always) at Le Chalet.  She's busy (as always) but is looking for a new place to volunteer - Learning Ally, which records textbooks for the blind (and where the two of us met) has closed!  That's VERY sad news indeed!

Based in Princeton, they've had to shut down a number of locations around the country (budget cuts?) and sadly Phoenix was one of those places.  I always enjoyed my weekly recording session; helping others read has always been a 'mission' of mine, so I was sad when chemo made me too tired to even think about volunteering during treatment. I was just thinking the other day that once I get back from my trip with Mom I'd be able to go back to recording books.  

On the way home from lunch, shortly after I turned onto Union Hills at 55th Ave., I had to pull over for a police car that was really zooming; I no sooner got started again after it passed when I heard more sirens and saw the flashing lights of another few police cars in my rear view mirror.  They came flying by, and then a whole bunch, more than a dozen, went roaring past.  As fast as they were going on a surface street (really, really fast!), and as many as there were, it was definitely NOT a good sign.  When they turned onto 51st at the high school, of course I thought the worst.  But there was nothing on the local news later (I watched at 4:00, 4:30, and 5:00) so I have no idea what the emergency was.  Maybe there will be something in the paper this morning?

Once I got home I saw that the mail had been delivered (delivery times have been very chaotic the past few weeks, and sometimes not until dinner) and was more than a little surprised to find Sandy's birthday present which I had just mailed at the post office the day before.  So I headed back  to the PO to see if I could find out why.  There was a very long line (out the door) but I just bypassed the line and went up to the same clerk who waited on me yesterday.  He remembered the package (very distinctive, with yellow duct tape) and had no idea why it came back to me.  He took it (again), and hopefully this time it will head to Maryland.

Enjoy your Saturday.... I know I will, because Carol and I are off to the massage school to get the massages we missed out on last weekend!

Start your day off with a smile with this optical illusion dance:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=111029542422763&set=vb.316852408377305&type=2&theater

I had been feeling more energetic this past week

but yesterday (after sewing all morning and running errands in the afternoon, including a long-needed Target run, a trip to Walgreens to see about getting smaller pill bottles, and waiting in the long line to mail a package at the post office) I ran out of steam and took a nap.  I was also feeling a little under the weather (something I ate?) but did manage to eat a good dinner, and afterwards Tom and I spent the evening moving (heavy) furniture back into Alex's nice clean room.

And now for some more quilt pix.

Red Rock Quilters entered quilts from their challenge, which was titled Endless Possibilities.  I loved their entries!

Endless Possibilities:
With A Little Help From My Friends


Endless Possibilites:
Touch of Blue

Endless Possibilities:
Spring Has Sprung

Endless Possibilities:
Wild and Crazy Round Robin

Endless Possibilities:
Summer Kaleidoscope

While these colors don't especially grab me, I loved her idea to use the various fabrics from elsewhere in her home (curtains? pillows?)

 

to create this perfect piece for her home!

There were also several  absolutely spectacular quilted chairs made by AQG President Pat Benner that I (sadly) did not get pix of.  Some people are just SO talented!!!

Landscape quilts, like this Flyin' In, are on my "to do someday" list.

This appliqued More Flowers For My Quilts was beautiful - I'm always stunned when quilts like this don't capture a ribbon.  The amount of work that went into this is incredible.

More Flowers For My Quilts detail:

And that's it for today's quilt tour.  Things to do, places to go! (lunch with Renee at Le Chalet)

LAUGH FOR THE DAY
(Certainly you have a minute for this - but don't blame me if you can't stop laughing!)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=101073460086653&set=vb.422852161138513&type=2&theater

Yesterday morning I went to Busy Bees and brought the wedding quilt with me to talk about with Pennie.  She does spectacular quilting, so after she gets done with it it truly will be a work of art!  My plan is to get the border done (and the backing pieced) soon so I can get it to her before I leave on my trip.  That way Zach and Bekkah could have it in time for the Texas summer heat.... LOL

Of course the ladies all greeted me with congrats about machine; they were happy that it went to a 'deserving person'.  :-)   It was great to be back at a sewing hive again after so long!  

Once I got home I delivered some egg cartons to Estera - her chickens have been very busy (this is apparently perfect weather for them) and she had no place to put all the eggs.  While there I built towers with Willie (he 'dragged' me over to the block bucket) and also got to 'play' with 3-month-old Julianna before she went down for her nap.  Estera had called a couple of days ago to  find out about the ladies who clean for me, and then made an appointment for yesterday afternoon.  Having someone else clean her house was going to be a first for her, but I got a text later that she was very pleased with them.  (I know I am.) 

I hated to run off, but I had Alex's carpet to shampoo.  This is the first time all of the furniture has been out of there since we moved in 15 years ago; the water wasn't as black as some times that I've done it because I had shampooed what I could a couple of months ago when he 'moved' to Stephanie's.  In a couple of days, when I'm sure it's completely dry, I'll be able to move stuff back in.  Right now the big oak dresser is taking up most of the hallway, but that's no big deal.  What I'm really looking forward to is getting the captain's bed out of the garage (it's been there ever since Alex bought his kingsize bed.)

Then it was off to the library to drop off my March Madness entry and pick up a book on Hold.  On the way home I stopped in at Summer's house (she lives on the next block, almost kitty-corner behind us.)  When neighbor Lisa (& JT & Gracie) delivered eggs the other day, I asked if she knew anyone who might be interested in Carol's piano.

Lisa mentioned Summer, and since a house with 4 little boys sounds like a great place for the piano to end up, Carol was quite happy when Summer said she'd take it.  (Summer's husband, who will have to arrange to move it, may not be quite so happy...)

I started on the wedding quilt borders.  Figured out how many blocks I'll need (112, not counting the 4 cornerstones), ironed the fabric, cut one WOF of each color, and started cutting out my squares and triangles.  Then I was able to start the fun stuff: putting the blocks together.  Yesterday I got the first 22 blocks done before I ran out of steam.

But today there is really nothing else on the agenda, so I hope to make a lot of progress and 'color' a lot of that purple turquoise!

Tom mowed the front yards and Back 40 (again) yesterday, and did a little more trimming (I still laugh, thinking of Bailey's comment years ago about 'how nice it was that we didn't have much yardwork to do here'...!!!) so it's looking pretty spiffy.  We still can't deal with the the backyard jungle because even after the bee guy's second trip out here (to plug up another hole) we still have confused (and now really pissed off?) bees swarming that cottonwood. 

For dinner last night we went to Pei Wei's and ended up having a pleasant chat with the couple at the next table.  Both of us ordered the 'new' Black Pepper dish (beef for him, chicken for me) even though it had a spicy symbol next to it on the menu.  (It used to be Tom's favorite; he was bummed when they took it off of the menu, so of course he was happy to see it back.)  Although both dishes were delicious,  they were quite hot.  I couldn't eat too much of mine (I'll nibble on the leftovers over the next few days) and went through a number of glasses of water.  Tom ate all of his, and had a red face with sweat dripping to show for his bravery!

Back home we watched Argo on Netflix.  I had seen it in the theater (with Patti) but Tom hadn't. It was just as enjoyable and gripping the second time around.  FYI - I was isolated in Supai with no TV or radio during those years when the hostage situation was taking place; my only link to outside news was the weekly Time or Newsweek that arrived with the mail by muletrain.

Now I'm going to go work on the border, and later, when I take a sewing break, I'll post more quilt show pix.

Another very early morning; not sure why I'm waking up before the crack of dawn (otherwise I'd blame it on the sunrise) but I'm not napping during the day or falling asleep shortly after dinner, so that's a good sign in the 'feeling more energetic' category.  And boy, am I ever ready to be there!!!

I've already gotten my stuff ready to head to quilting (much) later this morning, and since it wouldn't be fair to Tom to make noise getting stuff done around the house I'm 'stuck' at the computer. 

Guess I might as well  post some more pix from the quilt show, right?  (And at some point I'll be done with them, Mom...)

Nice bright Chain Gang:  

For that fisherman in your life:

OR

For your own special Honey Bunny:

Or maybe there's a Wild Woman in your life...

And speaking of wild women, I loved this contemporary treatment of Sunbonnet Sue with Betty Boop - quite original, and effective!

I've always liked heart-themed quilts (already have quite the stash of heart fabrics and patterns) and 'one day' all my ideas will come together.  In the meantime, I just keep 'collecting' heart quilts.

I love peacocks (and the peacock color palette) so it's no surprise Peacock Fantasy caught my eye.

This majestic quilt was stunning:

I liked how she used her stash of cat fabrics in Rim Country Cats.  I've been collecting dog fabrics for years.  And while I know that Someday is not a day of the week, one day, who knows?

Curves are harder than straight edges, but maybe one of these days I'll give them a try (and hope I have a blast like her instead of going bananas...)  In the meantime, I'll just appreciate others' quilts.  :-)

But now it's 6:00 and Tom just got up - so I guess  <sigh> I'll go start cleaning Alex's room, which needs some serious attention!