New Roof

The past couple of days we have been putting new shingles on our roof. As you probably know from this post, I hate heights! So being up on the roof has not been a lot of fun for me. I also can't stand to sit back and watch other people work, so I swallowed my fear and climbed that scary ladder. :~)
If my 79 year old Dad could get up there and help, then so could I. Our oldest son was also there to help. The heights don't scare him at all. He was just working out there right on the edge with me waaaaaay back from the edge, telling him to be careful. Anyway, we are almost done. But, I didn't order enough shingles so we still have about 2/3 of the back side to finish. I will be ordering more shingles today. Redoing and updating the outside of our house is almost complete. We put on new vinyl siding and replaced the windows 3 years ago. Now the new shingles. I noticed after looking closely at this picture, that I had better give the patio a new coat of stain too. Well, maybe I can talk Randy into doing that, I would rather be quilting!!!! :~)

Ethan and I are going to be spending the day at the zoo, celebrating his upcoming 8th birthday.

Thanks for visiting with me in my little corner of the world.

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Things Slowing Down a Little Bit.

Things are settling down a little now, well for awhile anyway. I did get in some for "me"
quilting last week. I finished this little turkey, it was time for the witch to rest quietly in a drawer until next year. :~) This is a really cute wallhanging that my LQS has been doing as a BOM this past year. I haven't kept up on it each month, but it has been fun. I have all of the kits, I just need to get them finished. You can get the patterns here.

When I purchased my quilting machine, I did not want to go into business, I just wanted it for my own use. But, I had a friend approach me at church a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would quilt a baby quilt for her, as her regular LAQ was swamped, I said that I would do it. I was so nervous working on someone else's creation. This was her first try at applique, she did a fantastic job. She is very pleased with it, so I guess all is well. Still don't want to make it a business though. :~)

Ethan's school had a potato decorating contest. This was his little creation. I came up with the idea and Randy helped him to build it. Pretty cute, huh?

My walking report stinks. Nothing in the past two weeks. :~(

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Simply Sophisticated ----

Is it Monday or what! I am doing everything wrong this morning and I have only been out of bed 1 1/2 hrs!! First, I put in a load of laundry and spilled a little detergent, then I was making some bread and I needed to cut the recipe in half, cut everything in half except the water, had to start over, next my oatmeal boiled over! Arghhh!! I did get Ethan to the bus on time, though. So maybe things will get better from here! :~) I sure hope so. I am going over to help our son and daughter-in-law put up some wallpaper border. Maybe, I should let them know that I might be jinxed today. hehe

I had a little sewing retreat this weekend. Just me, here in my own little sewing sanctuary. I did keep getting interrupted by company Saturday morning. It was good company, my Mom and Dad and our oldest son. He came to take his little brother Christmas shopping and out to lunch. He was at work on Christmas, so he didn't get to be here. He wanted to make it extra special for Ethan. It sure does this Mama's heart good to see how close her two boys are even though 16 1/2 years separate them in age. :~)

I was able to get caught up on the Simply Sophisticated BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop.

I love these fabrics. They are so yummy. Randy wandered into my room and asked what I was working on. When I explained that it was a mystery and that I didn't know what the finished quilt will look like, he gave me a very strange look. His comment was, "How do you know you want it if you don't know what it will look like?" Well, because the fabric is yummy and mystery's are fun, you silly man!!!! LOL

I am also catching up on another BOM from Fat Quarter Shop. This one is Designer Mystery using Peace On Earth fabrics.

Oh no, don't tell Randy that I am doing another mystery quilt. He may begin to question my sanity! Like he hasn't already! LOL

Both of these are still available if you are interested.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Spring Cleaning Frenzy - Spring Swap

Martha received my Spring Swap quilt so I can reveal the little cutie in it's entirety. (I have no idea why the picture uploaded sideways. lol)
It has found a wonderful new home in New York. I am so glad that she likes it. This is so much fun, I can hardly wait for the Summer Swap.

Judy is having a Quiltathon weekend again. But, sadly I couldn't participate. We had a beautiful day here today, just look at this sky.
Ethan spotted these two jets and wondered if they were going to collide. We had to watch them to make sure they would be o.k.

Sweet Hubby brought home a new toy, so out to the pasture we went to cut down some old dying apple trees. These were planted by his grandparents 80 years ago and sadly they are starting to die. We needed to get them down before any damage was done by them blowing over. My back is sore and I have some scratches on my arms. But, it was good to be outside, getting some fresh air and working. I love living in the country. :)
Ethan had to climb up in this one after it was cut down to check out the big bird's nest in the top of it. No one was home, it was an abandoned nest from last year. I don't want you think that we cut down some poor bird family's home.

We then decided that since we had such a great fire, we needed to have roasted hot dogs for lunch. After a full tummy, my little one had a short siesta under a tree. :)

I haven't been in the sewing room all week. I have been doing some major spring cleaning inside too. I repainted my dining room and our bedroom. I decided that I wanted to go with more neutral colors. I love it! While I was at it, there was lots of dejunking and deep cleaning going on too. It is nice to do that once in awhile. Now that the outside work has begun, my sewing time will begin to dwindle. :(

Baseball and Sewing

We spent the day at the ballpark last Saturday. It was tournament for our little slugger. They won second place. I was so proud of them. They have all had lots of fun. I love baseball! We have a minor league team, the Chukars, that are just 30 miles away. I will be taking Ethan to some of those games this summer. He wants to see how the pros play. :0) Here he is getting his trophy and his medal for second place. See the little black smudges under his eyes, the coach put that on all of them just like the pros. They all thought that they were pretty cool. Too cute!!!!!




Here is a picture of the quilt that I made for the Boy Scout rummage sell. It is just a quick little I-Spy type quilt. I used the leftover fabrics from the quilt that I made my granddaughter for Christmas. I hope that it will help their cause.








This is my progress on the quilt that I am making for my BIL's birthday. I just need to decide for sure what I am going to do for the borders. I am trying to shop from my stash but, I don't know if I have just the right thing or not. The pattern calls for some Bear's Paw blocks in the border. I think I might change it a little. I got the pattern out of Quiltmaker Nov/Dec 06 magazine. This part has sewn up really fast. I haven't made log cabin blocks for awhile, forgot how much fun they were. :)

Hope that you are all finding some time to stitch a little.

Hugs & Stitches, Julia