Sewing

I have finished sewing the center piece of my contest quilt for JoAnn's. And now I am on the computer working on my EQ7 working on the border design. I have an idea in my mind and I want to confirm that this is really what I want to do. And it is. The only Christmas sewing left to do is Frankie's dog coat. It is cut out and I just need to sew it up. That should not take very long and I will do it tomorrow.

Val is coming tomorrow evening for another sewing lesson. She has wisely decided that there is no way she will be able to finish nightgowns for herself, her sister, her niece and her daughter. They will make nice Valentine's gifts. She is going to tackle an apron for her friend's birthday. The party is New Year's Eve. That is a more attainable goal. I can cut fabric for my piano key border and she can sew. It will be a very fun evening.

In stitches,
Judy

Christmas Progress

I am making great progress with my Christmas sewing!! I have finished both pairs of sleep pants. The dog coat is cut out and will be a cinch to put together. That should be finished tonight!! I still have a spot of shopping to do and I will do that over the weekend. Tomorrow will be committed to working on my contest quilt for JoAnn's Fabrics. It is looking good at least in my mind it is. Layers of sewing still need to be done. Pictures will follow once the pictures and entry form are winging their way to Hudson, Ohio in January. Not many of my friends have seen the quilt. I like to keep it under wraps until it is done.

In stitches,
Judy

Christmas Sewing

Christmas sewing has been interesting this year. I started out with a nightgown for my niece and it went together easy as pie. I have been sewing for more than 40 years. Then I got a nasty head cold, flu thing and for a whole week I worked every day and was in bed by 7pm. No sewing done at all. So I am a bit behind at this point. I still have two pairs of sleep pants to make and a coat for my grand puppy. Last night I cut out the coat for the grand puppy and started on the sleep pants. I looked high and low for my tracing paper to trace of the appropriate patterns for the sleep pants. No such luck. Could not find the tracing paper so I went to bed. This morning I found the paper next to my bed. It could not have been there last night, because my sewing machine was living in that spot for the last several days. The tracing paper is on a heavy cardboard roll. So now I am ready or not. Seems the pattern I thought was in multi sizes for the baby's sleep pants is just on size. Large/extra large. He is not there yet. He is more Medium. Now I have to alter the pattern. I went to the basement to look at my pattern collection and I have the same style of pattern in a Medium. I may be able to pull this Christmas sewing off after all. I would like to get them cut out before work and sew them after work. And during work I want to work on my quilt for the quilt contest that JoAnn Fabrics is sponsoring. At least that is my plan.

In stitches,
Judy

I had a party

I had a party on Sunday. I invited 9 gals from work to come to my house for dinner. I made homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade filling for stuffed shells. Today I finished cleaning the house, put up my very small tree, and put together stuffed shells. I have had a terrible head cold for the last week and though I am feeling 100% better, I am still without a sense of smell. I had to have one of the gals come with every time I wanted to check on dinner because her smeller worked and mine doesn't. Dinner was a big hit!! I also made two kinds of salad dressing. We also had salad, bread and two kinds of dessert. We finished off one bottle of wine and made a dent in the other bottle. We laughed, talked and eat. We had an amazing time. Most of us started working together years ago and all us of work from home or are at new positions in different companies. It was so nice to see everyone and I am hoping we can do this again once winter is over.

In stitches,
Judy

Christmas Concert

This afternoon I will be attending a Christmas Concert with The Southwest Ohio Symphonic Band In Middletown, Ohio. My sister, Becky, plays the flute for this band. After the concert we will gather at my mom's house for dinner and tree decorating. Becky promises that this will be yet another awesome performance by the band.

This is the beginning of my weekend. I am off today, tomorrow and Tuesday. Next Sunday I am hosting a group of gals from work for dinner. Most of us no longer work in the office but are work at home people and rarely do we get to see one another. I will be making stuffed shells with homemade sauce, two kinds of homemade salad dressing. The others will be bringing dishes to fill in the menu. I anticipate lots of talking, laughing, eating, and silliness.

I am hoping to finish my Christmas sewing this week. Just need to make two pairs of sleep pants and a dog coat. Simple sewing. Then I can concentrate on my entry for JoAnn Fabrics Quilt Contest. It is coming together nicely but it is still just pieces and not even a quilt top. Busy, busy, busy I will be this week. I would not want it any other way!!

In stitches,
Judy

Friday Night Sewing

 
Friday night was Val's first go round with sewing. She is making matching nightgowns for her daughter, Clara and niece Lana, who are both under the age of two. And she is also making matching nightgowns for herself and her twin sister, Vicki. Such ambition!! I am so proud of her and what she has accomplished so far. One little girl nightgown cut and sewn.

She will be here this afternoon to get back at it. The pattern for both nightgowns are very similar and very easy. We will make a small change in her sister's nightgown. By February she will be a nursing mama and we are adding a zipper.

I am spending the morning hours at work today. Calls for two hours and then training. Then making the dash home on my lunch break to finish out the rest of my shift! It can be done as I repeated this same scenario on Wednesday.  I love working from home.

In stitches,
Judy

Today is Special

Today is the day my daughter in law is sworn in as a United States citizen and as mother in law I could not be prouder. Of course, she and my son are in New York City and I will have to celebrate alone here in Ohio. I do not know all the steps that they had to go through but I know it was time consuming and expensive. My son is an attorney and decided that he could do the leg work but he now has a new respect for the attorneys that do that for a living. There are lots of things required to make this possible. For example, they needed her birth certificate. Seems easy, right? No. She was born in India and has 6 birth certificates. And the one that had all correct information was in Hindi and they had to have it translated and then get an affidavit that it is correct and that she did not do her own translating.

She is traveling with her job and was in Florida until last night. She had a late night flight back to NYC for the ceremony this morning then back to Florida to finish out her presentation. At least for the trip back to Florida my son is going with her and they will celebrate together in warm, sunny Florida.

A very proud mama,
Judy

Christmas sewing

One Christmas sewing project is done. I will take it's picture and then wrap it. I will not post pictures until after Christmas. Not fair to person getting the gift to see it on my blog. I still have a dog coat and two pairs of sleep pants to do and then I will be done. Today will be sewing on the quilt I am doing for JoAnn Fabrics quilt challenge. My skill set at work has changed and right now I have more down time between calls. So I will sew today.

Tomorrow is craft night at the house. Val is coming over and I am teaching her to sew. She is making matching nightgowns for her daughter and her niece and matching nightgowns for herself and her twin sister. The pattern is simple but the prep work is a killer for someone who has not ever sewed before. I will let you know how things progress over time. She hoping that everyone will be decked out in new nightwear for Christmas Eve.

Sunday is my sister's Christmas Concert with the Southwestern Ohio Symphonic Band at Lakota High School this year. It will be a fun time and then we are coming back here for dinner. I need to clean!!!

I need to close and get ready for work. I just need to run upstairs gave some breakfast and turn on the computer. The joys of working from home. It is a good gig if you can get it.

In stitches,
Judy

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hoping you will be spending time with those who are near and dear to you. For those who will not be joining for the holiday, know that they will be with in your heart.

I will be cooking dinner tomorrow at my sister's house. It will be a small gathering this year. I still have a bit of hemming left to do on the table cloth for our table tomorrow. My mom will be meeting me here at my house and we will travel together to my sister's house. My youngest sister and her three kids will also be joining us for dinner an Wii. We will exercise off all that turkey.

 
I will not be attending any of the Black Friday sales this year. I am working both Friday and Saturday! I am aiming to get to JoAnn Fabrics this weekend for some of the thread that is on sale. I have a couple of sewing projects that I am doing for Christmas and need thread to complete them. I will be off Sunday and Monday and I am hoping to get started on my Christmas sewing.

Hoping everyone has a blessed time with family and friends and be careful when out for Black Friday!!

In stitches,
Judy

I am spoiled

 
I am so spoiled and I will admit that. I have a job that I really like and have been doing it for almost six years. In April of this year, management sent a bunch of us home to work including me. I am so in love with working from home. This week or at least the days before Thanksgiving several of us are back in the office for training. The office is located in a rather busy, congested shopping area. It is the week before Thanksgiving and it is raining. That is not a good mix for anybody. Traffic is horrid!! In the morning it is not bad for me but my co-workers are on the road over an hour to get to work. Last night there were lots of accidents and an explosion and fire at the General Electric testing facility in Evendale. Yuck!! It takes me about 17 minutes to get from my garage to the parking lot at work and it took over 45 minutes to get home last night. And now I am getting ready to do this again. I will be happy to be working in my living room on Black Friday and I might even stay in my jammies!!!

In stitches,
Judy

Thanksgiving Plans

 
It is going to be an interesting week. Of course, Thanksgiving is Thursday and our family gathering is going to be on the small side this year. My sister and her hubby have moved to Georgia and they are not coming this year. My son and his wife and their dog will not be making the trip from New York for Thanksgiving but will be here for Christmas instead. My niece is cooking this year in Columbus for her family and a few friends. My sister's husband is leaving town and spending Thanksgiving with friends who live near the airport. My brother never spends Thanksgiving with us and will miss him and his family and will see them on Christmas Eve. So this year we are gathering at my sister's house, where I will share the cooking with my mom, my sister Becky, and my sister Patty. Patty will be bringing my niece, Lily and her two brothers Vincent and Neil. It will be a small but festive group. We will miss all those who cannot be with us this year and hope to see them all at Christmas Eve celebration at my mom's.

I have been sewing. I am working on special project not quite ready for pictures. I did snip a tiny bit of my finger with the scissors that I thought were not quite that sharp. I have bandaged it up and I seem to still have feeling in that finger. I am hoping to do a little more sewing before going to bed.

Tomorrow thru Wednesday I will going into the office to work. I along with about 11 other co-workers will be in the office for training. It will be nice to see these people. Most of us are work at home people and I have not seen them in quite some time. I need pack a lunch and get up much earlier and actually drive to work. I know I will appreciate Friday and Saturday this week when I am working from home yet again. 

I must close and get ready to finish my day. Look for something to wear to work. Find a notebook to take notes in and pack my lunch!!

In stitches,
Judy

Today is my Monday

Sunday and Monday are my weekend. And it has been more fun than one person can handle. Sunday I went to the store and picked a few groceries and made homemade pea soup. Yum!! Did some laundry with the full intention of sewing Monday.

Monday was great! Cleaned up my dishes and to the sewing machine I went. First to machine quilt in gold the piece of turkey fabric I got to cover the whole in way in hallway. My neighbor told me how fix last night. Just what I need, another project! I tore up this house looking for one of the two feet I use for meandering. Two hours later Jennifer and I were on the road to get a new foot!

 Got the foot, then the bobbin cracked from age. Fixed that, then I bent the needle. Fixed that and finished the piece. Then my neighbor dropped by with fabric for me to make neck scarves is for dogs for their Christmas picture. Those are done already!

Just before bed, I heard a noise in bedroom. Drip, drip, drip. We had high winds yesterday and rain and now my roof leaking just above my head. After moving the bed, dusting, I put the bucket behind the bed to catch the water. Water dripping in an empty plastic bucket is quite loud when one is trying to sleep. Added a towel to the bucket to muffle the noise. In the morning, I connected with a gal at work whose former son in law is a contractor that does roof work. He came out on Wednesday and tacked down a few shingles and all is well with the world. 

I was able to finish 3 doggy scarves, the turkey wall hanging and the Christmas wall hanging since Monday. Quite a productive week so far.

In stitches,
Judy

Hello

Life is busy right now. I have decided to treat myself to a top to bottom check up. Not all appointments have been completed and not all results are in but nothing much wrong. Yeah! The kidney stones have stopped dancing for the time being.

I have been hand quilting during the slow times at work. In fact, I am quilting right now. It is so relaxing. My weekend starts around 5pm tonight and I am planning to spend it with my sewing machine. Pictures to follow.

In stitches,
Judy

I have been remiss

 

I have been remiss in adding entries on my blog. My new shift has started at work. I am now working Tuesday thru Saturday 8am to 4:30pm. I am really liking the new shift. I have also been doing some overtime. I am spending my free time waiting for another kidney stone to pass. And getting all of my medical check ups done. I am guessing that will be my Christmas gift to myself and they all should be done in time for Christmas.

I have been doing a little bit of sewing. I am currently hemming 5 pairs of pants for a friend.  And I am working on my hand quilting project in between calls at work. Not much down time at work and not much hand quilting being done. I am toying with the idea of making a quilt for JoAnn Fabrics' quilt contest so I have been working on several ideas. I seem to be more creative when I am somewhat overwhelmed  by life. And that is what is happening in my life right now.

In stitches,
Judy

Sisters and Fun

It's the weekend, let the fun begin!! I have just finished working 20 hours of overtime and my new schedule starts next week. I will be working Tuesday thru Saturday. This will be a three day weekend for me. Wow!!

My sister, Karen, is in town again from Georgia and we are going to get into mischief this weekend. Tomorrow Karen, Becky, another sister and our mom are going to see Art Deco: Fashion and Design in the Jazz Age 
and then back to Becky's for lunch of homemade soup and bread. Then I think Karen and I might make a trip to JoAnn Fabrics for the Moonlight Madness Sale. I am making a flannel nightgown for a friend for Christmas and the snuggle flannel is on sale 60% off.

Sunday is a trip to northern Kentucky to babysit my niece, Lily and her two younger brothers, Vincent and Neil while my sister mans the Open House at the school where she teaches. Then back home for me to work on mulch mountain. Actually it is going down and it is more like mulch hill. There still is enough mulch in the way of getting my car into the garage. The weather on Sunday is supposed to be favorable for mulch moving.

On Monday, Karen and I will be making a trip to Lawrenceburg, Indiana to visit the Hollywood Casino. Yeah. Then in the evening I will be able to go to my small quilt group meeting. That makes me happy!!

I have been sewing this week! I have found out that I can sew standing up. When my system at work is loading work for me, I end up with up to 15 minutes of time to fill. I did have a sewing table set up next to my desk, but that is so messy. So now I have my machine set up on  my buffet and sew standing up. Whatever works!! I am making a polar fleece duvet cover for my comforter. It is lavender and yellow with pink hook and loop tape. Sounds like an Easter Egg, doesn't it. The walls in my bedroom are sage green and this duvet cover will go with curtains that are hanging up there now. I am going to try it out tonight without the hook and loop tape. Tomorrow I will put that on the duvet cover after I get back from JoAnn's.

In stitches,
Judy

Life

Life is going along. My allergies have woken up and are kicking my butt. Seems to have settled in my chest and are playing hide and seek with my voice. I work in customer service and I am on the phone 8 hours a day. Today I was able to do work off the phone to save what little bit of voice I had. But mid way through the day, my internet went out. Shucky darn. For almost an hour I was unable to do any work at all. But my voice was behaving. Getting ready to log back into the work computer for my overtime. Won't need my voice but there is a storm brewing outside with lots of lightning and thunder. I hope I can keep power tonight. Life is what happens when you make other plans.

No sewing again today. I will be too tired once my day is over to do any sewing. Maybe tomorrow between my over time and my regular shift I will be able to do a bit of sewing. I have several quick projects to do. Just need a few minutes together to get them done. I have purchased the fabric to make Lily a new flannel nightgown and it will be a cinch to sew together if I get the time.

My sister, Karen, is back in Ohio. We are hoping to spent some sister time together this weekend. I am also going to Kentucky to get some time with my niece and nephews on Sunday. And my new shift starts next week at work, and I will be off on Mondays. So this weekend I will have a three day weekend. Awesome!!

In stitches,

Judy

The Weekend Stuff

The weekend is over and what a weekend it was. I spent Friday night with Jan and Linda from my quilt group at the new JoAnn Fabrics and dinner a Wendy. No of this was planned we ran into each at the store and had such a good time.

Saturday I went to my mom's and spent the day with her and my sister and her three kids who were visiting for the weekend. I brought along home made pizza crust for lunch and Tastefully Simple Beer Bread for dinner. The kids helped make the beer bread for dinner.

Lily and Vincent made Ghosts for their yard.

The finished products with Lily and Vincent.

The ghosts in mom's flowerbed with St. Francis Assisi

And  the newest member of  Lily and Vincent's family.

In stitches,
Judy

Stuff

 
It has been such a busy week so far. The big push at work last week was that were going to be so busy. Incentives were given for people to sign up for overtime. I do overtime almost every day so I took the incentives. We were not busy at all and people were sent home on unpaid time off. I did volunteer for that one time as my sister was in town for a visit. This week that increased work load showed up and no incentives were offered and I took as much overtime as I could get. Of course, now I have money and am too tired to spend it.

No sewing has been done so far. I have done some prep work for a quilt I would like to do with the leftover brown, lime green, and teal fabrics. Once I have something sewn I will post pictures of it. I have been working in the yard. I am still working on getting rid of mulch mountain. It is starting to get cooler outside and at some point I will want to put my car in the garage and that mulch mountain is still in the way. I am a bit closer to getting the new flower bed put in the side yard. And once that is complete and huge chunk of mulch mountain will have a new home. And then I will just distribute the rest of the mulch in the yard. Then I will have to rearrange some stuff in the garage in order to get the car in there. 

In stitches,
Judy

The weekend is coming!

It is Friday and the weekend is coming!! Today is the only day this week that I am not doing overtime. Yeah! I have gotten my new shift at work. It starts on 10/25/2011. 8am to 4:30pm Tuesday thru Saturday. I am off one day during the week and that is a good thing. I will be able to save my PTO hours for something fun instead of doctor's appointments. I will be able to get to my quilting group and guild meeting. I am so excited. I will be able to do overtime and still have a life.

I have moved the quilt in the banner from the floor frame in the basement to a lap frame next to my work station in the living room. When I am slow on the phones I will be able to put a few stitches on the quilt. I was not able to get much quilting done on it while it was in the basement. It is very calming to work on it in between calls. I take customer service calls all day long. I have been doing it for over 5 years and just recently have started working from home. I would not trade it for the world.

My sister, Karen and I are going to the gambling boat in Indiana tonight and then tomorrow hooking up with the rest of my sisters and my mom for breakfast before my sister leaves to go back to Georgia. Her visit has been short but she how packed a lot of stuff into the time she was home.

This weekend will be yard work for sure. The lawn is screaming to be cut. It has been longer than this and I am not in danger of losing children in the yard yet. I am also hoping to work on the mulch pile on Sunday if the weather holds. It has been warm and sunny all week but I have been doing overtime. If you volunteer for overtime you own it and cannot give it back, unless it is the company's idea. It was their idea to cancel overtime for today. Not mine.

Time to finish the laundry in the washer and get ready for work. And get ready for the weekend!!

In stitches,
 Judy

Monday morning

Monday morning is the beginning of a wonderful week. I am doing a bunch of overtime again this week with a bonus at the end of the week. My sister is coming home for a visit. She should be arriving at her daughter's some time this morning. She will spent time in Columbus, Ohio until mid afternoon Wednesday when she will start her journey to my mom's in Hamilton. She will make many stops along the way, visiting other friends and family. She is bringing pecans from Georgia and her and mom will be making chocolate chip cookies. She and I will hook up on Friday night and go to the gambling boat and then all of my sisters and my mom will meet at mom's for lunch before she makes her way back to Georgia. We are all excited to see her and I know she is excited to see us.

No sewing done this weekend. Did have a friend from work come and put the poison in the attic to get rid of the mice critters up there. And the grocery store called my name loudly as there was no food for breakfast today. Now I have food. Yeah!!

I need to get off the computer and log in to the work computer upstairs and start taking calls. We are supposed to be starting our busy season today. Over time is calling my name.

In stitches,
Judy