Some pictures of our remodel

Molly the watchdog

An open air hall?

New stage for the ASL monitors

The Moldovans doing food service

The little ones enjoying the first meeting

Our remodel in December 2010, let's just say it was rainy and cold, to put it mildly. We got to know a lot of new people from the other congregations. We had Russian, Romanian, English and Sign Language, and lots of interesting communication! Glad it's over, but what a great experience.

Made a boo boo

Wow, made a big boo boo on my latest quilt. While snipping it, I cut into one of the squares pretty badly. Will need to rip it out and sew in another one. It is on the edge, so it shouldn't be too difficult, but that's what I get for trying to hurry. And I was just gettting cocky about how fast I was whipping them out.

The Petra Quilt

This one was a breeze to make, all the corners seemed to WANT to be together. Maybe because it was all light weight fabric, or could it be that I am getting to be a better sewer?
The flowers from Todd and Sherri's anniversary party added a nice touch to these pictures. But still only 6 views on Etsy. That is not good.
So I have 5 quilts for sale right now, Loredana, Daniella, Laura, Natalya and Petra. For some reason Loredana keeps getting all the views, but my photos of it are not so hot. Need to revamp.
I put together another a large sized one tonight from stuff I already had cut out. Such an easier process, all the decisions were made and I just sewed. Think I'll call it Valentina?

The Laura Quilt

I asked Laura what her favorite color was and she said green, all kinds of green. So this is named after her. I did something different on the back, a checkerboard of corduroy and chenille. Chenille is such a pain to sew with, especially the new stuff. I looked like I worked in a feather factory when I was finished.
I got the cute animal flannel at the Goodwill, and I'll sell it with the sheet that I bought at the same time. Was going to give the sheet to Myra for Elliot, but I am being a terrible friend, I'll try to make some money off it!

This was a new record, it took me 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, but I didn't do the Xs, it was too thick for batting. How in the world do people actually make a living doing this?

The Natalya Quilt

My latest, a try for something a little more edgy. I prefer my more traditional look, but these colors were fun to work with. The black fabric was from a pair of Talbots summer pants that always looked horrible on me.

I sold Anastasia!

Anastasia, now at Shugabee Lane in Texas

So excited, I sold another quilt. A woman in Texas who has the ShugabeeLane shop on Etsy bought my little pink shabby chic baby quilt! She loves the fact that I make eco-quilts, and would like to see more since she is opening a baby boutique. Now would be a great time for the quilt elves to show up, but I think I'm all on my own.
I seriously need to get some Warm and White batting, it just won't seem to go on sale. I can't really make much of a profit at this until I get the batting cheaper.
Next quilt is the Natasha one, baby quilt with 25 large squares, stuck on whether to put in some black fabric from some Talbot's pants, or just stay all girly and pink.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That was on my refrigerator for quite a while. So simple, but not easy when things get busy. Now with my hands having so much pain from osteoarthritis, it is even more important. Besides being vegan, apparently I am supposed to stay away from:
Nightshade plants (all the yummy Italian vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes)
Sugar
Chocolate
Coffee
Wheat
Nuts
Spinach
there is more, but those are the biggies. (Plus of course all meats, dairy and eggs, that is the easy part.)

So, what is left?

Fruit smoothies
Oatmeal with soy milk
Veggie salads
And we are back at smoothies for dessert!

I felt totally fabulous doing the raw food challenge for a month this summer, but then fall came and who wants smoothies on a cold morning? Not me. But who wants to have to take her wedding ring off at night because her hands swell in the night? Not me. So here I go again, will try to do 50% raw, see if that is good enough. With the days getting longer, maybe it won't feel quite so wintry and I'll be more in the mood for a fruit smoothie to start the day, and a salad for lunch and hamster food for dinner.

In need of Quilt Elves

What next?

I love Etsy, but apparently so do millions of other people selling their wares. Etsy is currently making some improvements to how things appear to the public, but I doubt it will affect my few little quilts.

I have 3 quilts ready to go and another in mind. But I can't afford the Warm and Natural batting until it goes on a killer sale, and I can't do anything until then. I've been puttering around looking for some more fabric, found a cute chenille remnant today at Joanne's fabric, but I now know it won't go far. These rag quilts take a huge amount of fabric.

Another issue is this pesky bout with osteoarthritis. How can I have it when no other women in my family have it? Making quilts when my hands ache is not so much fun, besides that I really shouldn't. What I need are elves, really great quilt elves. I find the fabric, choose the design and they do all the work. Like a sweat shop, but nicer. Molly would love the company.

At our very early surprise 20th Anniversary

 Ernst and I have celebrated two anniversaries every year for twenty years. Well, this year was weird because of the huge celebration on 10-10-10. So yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the day Ernst proposed. January 6, that is a big day for us. Each January 6 we have done a little something to remember that day.

Well, I haven't transferred over to my new calendar for 2011, and it came and went without us noticing! Ernst was on vacation and we have just been bumming around at home. I should have got flowers, or a card, or at least made a nice dinner for Ernst. We did eat together, we were at the Raelians getting some Romanian tutoring, that doesn't count.

Three more rag quilts in the works

Three more rag quilts now await my further attention.

Elena, a rich red and green one with some heavy duty upholstery fabric, should be just a joy to sew!
Larissa, another blue and white quilt but with much thinner fabric than the last one.
And Kodie, a doggie themed rag quilt that has just adorable fabric.

Now I just have to wait for a great sale on Warm and Natural Batting, which I am totally sold on since trying to use an inferior product. You get what you pay for. But it has to go on serious markdown, so right now the sewing machine sits idle.

Mikayla's Quilt, halfway there

The outdoorsy themed quilt for Mikayla is halfway finished, we got all the Xs sewed, we laid it out and picked the pattern and then boxed it up to finish in 2 weeks, at the Tamale party.
My personality is so all or nothing, it's going to be hard for me to wait the 2 weeks. Maybe that's why I end up practically crippled at the end of a quilt, with the dishes piled up and the house a mess. This will be good for me, out of sight so I won't go out of my mind.






Mikayla was a natural at sewing, she did almost all of them herself, and then was revived by a visit to Chipotle.