Whats up with my life

I thought it was time to let everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking, mostly. I wrote a post awhile back but couldn't get my pictures from my camera to the putter. I still can't! I need Brittany to come home for a visit to help me figure it out. She is doing well and lives in Columbus and works at a radio station. Grandson Mike is out of the Air Force and working at Whirlpool.  Nick is now 14 and taller than all of us. Ryan is 12 and is quite the sports guy. Korey at 11 is into more vidieo games than is healthy for a person. Gabby is 10 and likes to swim. And wants to all year round even when the pool has ice on it. Zoey started school this year and is a great little girl. Khloe is 3 and is a little sweetheart. I'm still quilting and have gotten a few tops done. I have been trying new things that I see on youtube. My tops have turned out pretty good. Sorry I can't show you pictures. I am still at Wal-Mart, almost 4 years now. I found out that I have diabetes and thought that was causing all of my of my foot pain [like so bad I couldn't hardly walk at times]. My Dr wrote a script for shoes and the man that fitted them said he thinks it is arthritis instead of nerve pain but the shoes have helped a lot. I still won't be running any races but I can walk. Butch is doing well also.                                                                               

My blog

Wow, I didn't realize how long its been! Did you miss me? I have been missing since June of last year. I think I was on strike from blogging because I got tired of people pointing out when I hadn't blogged in a while, but I never intended to be gone this long. I have decided to do my own thing and post when I want to and not when they tell me that I should! Sorry Aunt Mary it wasn't because of you. I have been out to the barn a few times in the last couple of weeks. I had some blocks to do for the family exchange. I did bowtie blocks that turned out pretty cute even if I had to say so myself. I also worked on my arrowhead blocks that we worked on last year(I should have had my quilt done last year as it was a project that the family group worked for last year). Grandson Nick still likes to help me out by doing my ironing. He does a good job with that so I started teaching him to use the rotary cutter. He didn't do a very good job on the first block but did much better on the rest. I think I will use the first one on the back of the quilt if I ever get enough blocks done to make a quilt with. He really wants to learn to sew on the machine but I worry about sewn fingers and things like that and yet I left him use my cutter. Don't make much sense to me. I would post pictures of the blocks but I seem to have misplaced my camera. I have the usb cord and the battery charger but not the camera its self. Maybe it is hiding in the same place as Butch's ipod shuffle and when I find one I will find both. That would be nice.

What I did on my last day off

On my last day off I decided to go out to the barn and to do a little sewing. I wanted to make this quilt top that I had seen over at Babyboomers blog. It really caught my eye when I saw it and I knew I had to make one. So I did. Do you see what is wrong with this picture? What, I turned 5, count them, 5, squares the wrong way. I was not a happy camper when I saw what I had done. So then I had a date with my seamripper to unsew what I had done wrong.

Now it is all better and waiting for some kind of border or borders. And thanks to hubby for holding it up for me. I really like this little quilt top and the pattern and I see myself making more of these. At least one more for my youngest grand daughter. What I really liked is that you can change the size of the quilt by changing the size of the squares that you use for your HST"s. I used 2" squares and was really lazy and didnt square them up and I won't do that again, nothing lined up for me. My next one will be made with thangles in a bigger size. Besides all of that I do like it but what do I want a blue and orange mini quilt for? I used the fabric that was on my cutting table. Hmmm maybe I could give it to my step daughter, she likes the Denver Broncos. Ok everyone has been saying that they have been having trouble with blogger and now I am, it won't let me publish my post with out going to my list of posts and doing it from there. Is it blogger or is it something that I did?

Hot pad and a Quilt Top

I decided to do this little hot pad today. Kathy and Doris from my quilt guild made up little kits and directions for these to give us at retreat.It turned out really cute but it took me to trys to get it right. Sometimes I'm a little slow at directions on new things. I had it backwards.

I didn't mean to have a big space between my pictures it just happened and I don't know how I did it. I seem to have probablems typing on my laptop. I drag my thumbs across the little mouse pad and when I do that it messes everything up. Then when I tried to move the picture I messed it up more. Sorry! While I was in the barn today and after I made the hotpad I started a baby quilt for my sons friend next door and I got the top done. Maybe next week I will be able to quilt it if I can find my walking foot. My Pfaff is broken again and I haven't been able to take it in to get fixed yet and I had put my walking foot for my other machine up so I wouldn't lose it and you guessed it I can't find it. I do that all the time, hmmmm could it be old age creeping up on me?

This is my mom at their camper. We had a cookout last saturday night for mothers day. I had to work mothers day weekend so we did it last weekend. Wouldn't you know it rained[no suprise there] as we were on our way out there and for awhile after we got there. It did quit and we had a good cookout. My brother and his wife came too. I gave mom her present from us and she thought it was funny. I got her a red polky dotted gallon tea jug and a red polky dotted tea glass and abox of our favorite tea bags. I also had a T-shirt made for her with a picture of Shawn and his 6 pack on it. The shirt turned out really good even if I did take the picture.

My son got more ink last weekend. Afterwards he asked me how I was able to sit for the 4 hours it took me to get the one on my back. He said that this one hurt him. Poor baby! My ankle hurt worse than my back did.

Sleeping Angel and a Quilt Top

Zoey knew where to go when she was ready for a nap. All of the littles have taken their naps on Grandpa as its the softest and the warmest place in the house. Nick used to crawl up behiind him to watch tv and to nap and at 10 he still does that.

My new quilt top. After seeing this on a friends blog I had to try it. I like it even though it didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I bought my jellyrolls at Joann's and I had to buy 2 of them to get enough strips but instead of having 2 of each fabric I had 4. I think that is what made my fabrics clump together. No matter, the kids will still fight over who gets to use it. They always do! The greatest thing about doing this quilt was it only took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to sew it and that includes my pressing time. I will be making more of these. I might start cutting my strips from my stash to make more of these. I wonder how many I can make before I use it all up? It felt really good to be in the Barn again. I hadn't been out there for awhile. My son came out to visit while I was sewing and when he left he forgot to close the door and the kitty from next door came for a visit too. Good thing I saw her come in or I could have had a big mess in there. Well it is time to get ready for work as I have to go in a 4:00 today. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

6 Pack

My son, Shawn and his 6 pack or Brady Bunch if you like. Last night is the first time we had all of the kids here at the same time. After 5 hours of them I was wishing for a 6 pack of my own but not the kid kind. I was wanting something with a little [alot] of kick in it. Love them all but sometimes I love it more when they are going home! Its not often that we have Ryan so I have to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. We are having Easter dinner today as I have to work all day Saturday and Sunday. Wally World is only closed 1 day a year and it isn't Easter Sunday. Maybe it will be quiet out there since most will be filling up on ham and Easter eggs. I can hope, can't I? Happy Easter!

Birthdays and a Baby

Meet Khloe, our newest granddaughter. Born March 10, 2011. She is Zoey's sister.

Our Gabby had her birthday in March, she is now 7.

Zoey had her birthday party last week but her birthday is not till April 27.

Her cake was really cupcakes made to look like a cake. It was pretty good too.

Zoey had her own little cake. That she ate, then she ran around the house like a madman.

Where does time go

Seams like I just posted yesterday, but we all know that I didn't. So much has gone on since my last post that I can't remember it all. No sewing though. I just can't seem to get my butt out to the barn to sew. Maybe I can this week since the only day I worked was Sat. I don't work next week either. Said that sales is slow. That means no hours for me and also no pay for me. I do work the week that starts April 23. I did see my first Wal-mart person and it was so bad I won't describe it in this blog. I don't want any one to get sick because of me!

My grandson Mike left for the Air Force on March 22nd. Hard to belive that he is 18 now and in the AF. All of the older grandkids are gone from home now and all we have left in town are the little ones that are not so little anymore. Well, we do still have Zoey, who will be 2 at the end of April and Khloe that was born in March. So anyway I was checking out blogs yesterday like I do every day and there it was, a scrap quilt the caught my heart. I think I have to do this one if I ever get out to the barn. It is on the Baby Boomers Quilting Bee blog. All done with HST's! There isn't anything like a scrap quilt. I have been really trying not to buy any fabric for a while now so it is a good thing I like to use scraps. Of course the loss of income makes that easier to do. If you don't have the money you can't spend it. And like all quilters I have enough stash to make quilts for a very long time. I might have to buy some background fabric sometime though. My quilt retreat was at the end of Feb. and as soon as I upload my pictures to my puter I will post about that. I had a good time at it. Good friends, good food and 2 days worth of sewing time. Whats not to like about that?

I'm still here!

Well I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have had problems with my puter. It got sick and spent 2 weeks in the hospital and still isn't right. Good thing hubby got me a laptop for christmas. Then I had to get a router before I could go wireless. Then I had to figure out how to hook it all up. I still haven't got the new printer linked to the laptop yet. Maybe sometime this week. I am still working at Wal-Mart but not as many hours as before christmas. I hope that picks back up soon. I am waiting to see some of those Wal-Mart people that I get pictures of in emails.There hasn't been any quilting going on here. Its been too cold to go out and wait for it to warm up enough to sew. Plus I have been LAZY! I did buy the fabric for the borders of the last scrap quilt I worked on. I have been working on things for the retreat that mom and I plan for my guild. I will be mailing out the fabric and cutting list for the mystry quilt sometime this week. This years quilt is called Stash Digger and it is very scrappy. I have started shopping for the door prizes and I hope everyone likes what I am getting this year. What I really hope is that I get that weekend off work. I put in for it already.

More on Wal-mart

I have completed my first full week at Wal-mart. The Work is easy so far and the people are still friendly. I enjoy it! I really enjoy it when they put me in the fabrics and crafts department but then I see fabrics that would be at home in my stash and for right now I have to leave them behind when I go home. We still have fabric but they are not going to order any more. Bummer! I have discovered that when people shop and decide that they don't want something that they have in the cart they dump it in some strange places. It is my job to find the things and put them where they go. I find things hid behind other things, in things, you name it they hide it there. My feet are getting better. Its not as hard to be on them as it was. I sometimes wish I had knee pads when I have to clean up the very bottom of the shelves. I have also discovered that people steal the dumbest things, like the whole package of puffy paint except one color. Whats up with that? You can't find a use for that one color? Or you only need 2 cupcake stickers, not the other 4. The list goes on and on. Don't they know that they will still be in just as much trouble even if they don't steal the whole package. Are you getting bored hearing about Wal-Mart yet? My job is zoning the housewares department which means I go through and clean up [refold towels repackage things and move things to where they really go]. I also do hardware, and fabrics and crafts when they put me there. The fabrics and crafts dept. was a big mess as no one has been there for a long time and when they did put some one in there they didn't zone it. [at least not very well]

My first 4 days at Wal-Mart

I made it through my first 4 days at Wal-Mart. I didn't know if I would or not after the first 2 days. I really like the job and the people that I work with. Everyone is very helpful and friendly. My problem is my feet! Remember I have always sat on my big cushioned butt and being on my feet for 8 hours is killing me. I am not having any trouble with my legs like I thought I would, it is all my feet. I will be getting a new pair of shoes as soon as I can. I was hired for housewares but I was put in Fabrics and Crafts on Tues. and was there most of the time. Yeah!!! I am finding that the work is fairly easy but I stay busy all of the time. Every one keeps telling me to wait till the Blitz which is what they now call the Friday after Thanksgiving. Oh boy I can't wait. I have to work tomorrow and Sunday but then I have 3 days off.

Wal-Mart training

Well I have done 9 1/2 hours of training this week mostly on the computer. Monday morning I start training for the job that I will be doing. At 7:00 in the morning to be exact. Do you know how long it's been since I have seen 7:00 in the morning? Almost a year. Nothing like plunging right in. I get a hour for lunch so I will probably have to take a nap so I can work till 4:00 in the afternoon. All in all I am still looking foreward to working for them. They gave me my name badge, and my box cutter on tuesday. I have tan pants so all I have to get yet is my dark blue shirts. I work 4 days next week and 4 days the next week.

Wal-Mart

I START AT WAL-MART TOMORROW MORNING AT 9:30! Bet I don't sleep tonight from worring about it. It has been a long 2 1/2 weeks since I went for my first interview. Its been a long time since I had to look for work and the first time was a lot easier than it was this time, of course I was 34 years younger then and my mom already worked where I did. It was also my first time taking a drug test so that was scary even though I only take the drugs my Dr. tells me to. I hope I like it like I think I will. Wish me luck!

Happy Holloween

Our traditiona; Holloween picture of the grandkids ready for trick or treat. Gabby, 6, Ryan 8, Korey 8, and Nick 10. Ryan will be 9 in Jan. Korey just turned 8 last week, we had cake and ice cream for him today. Got them all sugared up before the went trick or treating. There isn't a whole lot of difference in the sizes of the younger three. Nick is just a big boy.

I have three of these done for the family exchange only 4 more to go. Then I have to work on the little girl blocks and I have 7 of those to do. Not going to happen by Sat. This is the star block that I had to rip apart a few weeks ago. Once I figured them out they went together really easy. I might have to more of them. I wanted to do them in a dark red with the gold but I didn't have enough of the red. So I went with the green. I didn't want to buy anything to do them. I don't stash bust with those that report weekly but I am trying to use up so I can move more fabric out to the Barn. Still haven't heard anymore from Wal-Mart but they said I wouldn't till sometime this week. I hate waiting!!!

The Job Hunt

I went for my third interview this morning and if my background check and my drug test comes back I should be hearing from Wal-Mart. I could be hired in just in time for Black Friday. Thats pretty scary. I have seen first hand how shoppers act on that day. Heck, I've been one of them! I am pretty excited about working there. It will be so different from what I am used to. [sleeping late, reading all day or sewing all day staying up all night playing on the puter] But really it will be great not to have to work in a factory. I hope everyone stays safe and dry on this windy stormy day.

Fall, Sewing, and my Job search

Closing the pool makes me sad every fall. I spend alot of my summer in there, with the grandkids. The older ones swim like little fish. The younger ones are learning. Gabby should be like the boys next summer, she does ok when she forgets and just does it but then she remembers where she is and becomes a wimp that won't let go of the steps. See the 50lbs of sand on the deck? The one that weighed 200lbs of wet sand when I had to take it out of the steps while the wet sand was pouring out of the pour spout [that the bags have in them] right into the top of my swim suit. Really felt good!

I had to take a picture of the sun shining it the trees one night last week. It was so pretty when I saw it. [Had to get the barn in there too.] Our back yard faces east. The sun was setting when I took it.

I took this one later the same night. I liked the pink lights that was in the sky.
There hasn't been any sewing going on around here cause the last time that happened I had to rip everything out. It was one of those where I knew what I was doing, I read the pattern more than once. I sure did, then I skipped one whole step. Haven't been back since! I do need to get back out there, I have 14 blocks to do by Nov. 6 for the family exchange. I have the fabric for 7 of them cut thats what I was trying to sew when I did them wrong. All 7 of them! Good thing I didn't have to cut anything off after sewing parts together. Oh yeah, thats the part I forgot to sew on them.
On the job side there has been a lot of looking. I had 2 interviews last week. One at Goodwill Industries, part time, 37 hours a week and never any benefits 7.30 to 7.60 per hour. No. 2 was at Joann's, seasonal part time no benefits and hours all over the place during the week 7.30 per hour. I had 1 interview this week at WAl-Mart. Again part time guarantied 24 hours a week most times closer to 40. Chance for full time after I learn the job more than 7.30 per hour. I also got my second interview with them now they have to check my ref. and do a background check and then hopefully they will call me for the third one. I was offered a job at Goodwill but I didn't take it yet. I really hope Wal-Mart calls me back.

What I Found In My Watermellon

We went the the farm market sunday and bought some mellons, one was a watermellon. I cut it open tonight and this is what it looked like inside. I had never seen a yellow watermellon. Now I have! When did these come about? I have to say that it was as good as a red one.

Now I have to show what Butch does with Shawn when Shawn gets on his nerves. Just a friendly little tussel in the living room. Butch won this round.

Sorry to be showing this quilt again but I had an idea for the borders and wanted to know what you think. With all that is going on with all the different colors in the blocks how would a border of all the different backgrounds used in the center? I am thinking of a 2 1/2" wide and cutting them 4 1/2" long like the block units. I know that will be alot of work but if I use a fabric that looks like a solid for the outside border, the border of background would frame the blocks better that any color print. So what do you think? I still haven't decided what color for the outside border.

1 picture found

Ok, I found the picture of my quilt center, not in my puter but on my camera. I must have deleted it last night some how. I do things like that sometimes and don't know that I do. Its still not the best photo but I tried to take another one on the deck and this was the better one. I took it on the living room floor and didn't have much room for it. I like it. I can't decide what color I want for the borders.None of the colors have jumped out at me and said I'm the one yet. It is 96x96 right now and the borders will make it plenty big enough for our bed. I have been thinking of adding something to the top and bottom to make it longer so I have more overhang at the foot of the bed. Square quilts never hang over the end the same as they do on the sides. I see Miss Kimmy is on it in this picture too.

Bits and Pieces of my Summer

This is something you don't see every day at my house. Both kitties on the couch, most of the time if one is up there the other one won't jump up there or the first one gets down when the other one jumps up.

It was haircut time and hubby was a brave soul to let Nick start it. Nick's short Barbour career
didn't last very long. Butch has what we used to call a pineapple in the 70s. Butched down except for some bangs. Nick didn't think about the bangs and cut some of them off. That ended that job for him and I had to fix it the best that I could.

We have been in this alot this summer. Nick was riding on the dolphin for a little bit. For some reason the kids have trouble staying on it. Maybe because it is round on the bottom.

Gabby was begging me to take her picture so I did. Look at that smile. Worth millions!! What is it with kids that they have to pose when you have your camera out? It took me awhile to get her to smile like normal. All of our Fremont kids start school next Tues. This is the first year that they have to wear uniforms to public school. Sure is going to save the hassle of what to wear. Our other grandson starts school tomorrow. Our county fair is this week which is why our kids don't start till next week.

I guess this is a teaser. I had a picture of the whole thing but when I browsed my pictures I couldn't find it. My secret sister picked this pattern for me to work on this year and I have to show progress on it when we get together every two months. I have the whole center together and all I have yet is the borders but I have to decide what I want to use. Around here nothing you put on the floor is safe from my kitties. Miss Kimmy had to lay on it as soon as I laid it down. I will have to post a picture of the whole center after I take a new one. Now I have to work on my retreat quilt to get that top done. I just need to finish putting the center together and make some more HST's for the border to put them on. I don't know what happened there that I didn't cut enough or I lost them. I think I just didn't cut enough, must have gotten in a hurry. Happy Quilting!!

Things I find in my camera

I think that grandson Nick has gotten my camera again. When i loaded them to my computer I had 5 of these again. I have to have a talk with him about other peoples things and leaving them alone.

I happened to look out my back door the other day and saw this in my neighbors back yard. Nice and big, licking the salt off of the stump. Randy puts a salt block on there for them in the winter.

Then I looked out a few days later and this was almost up to my fence. I couldn't believe that the kids where in the pool and it was brave enough to come up there. I t ran off when I opened the door.

I showed you how Nick was sleeping under his bed in a different post so I thought that I would show how he was sleeping last week. On his floor again with Grandpa's snuggy on and what is on his face????

GAbby's eye mask! You would think that if the overhead light is bothering your sleep you would get up and shut it off. Not Nick, it was easier to get up and get the mask and put it on.
On the quilting side I have not done any. Shame on me. I have things to do but I have been really lazy, the books that I have seems to be calling my name every day and I can't get past them to get to the door to go out to the barn to sew.