Merry Christmas

  Well, I have not been up to posting for some time now, I am sorry for that and hope to get back to it in January. Hubby and I will be going to see our daughter and the new little one in a few days and I am still working on a commission due yesterday. Technically it was due a couple of weeks ago and with the funeral and hospital stays just prior to my dads death I got behind, by a couple of weeks. Then the second week in Dec. I came down with a horrible sinus infection that put me in bed for 5 days. Ughh! I am still dealing with the effects and just happy I can say I feel good even though my nose is still running and my head is still a little fuzzy. My sinuses hurt so bad that I broke my little toe in the middle of the night while I was at my worst and never even realized it was that bad. Still got a bruise on my toe and the top of my foot 2 weeks later. LOL
   I have a feeling that next year is going to be amazing, and my family and I will look back on this year and wonder how we could have made it through. I have big plans for lots of sewing and getting caught up on my own quilting projects. So until January yall have a very happy New year and a quilty 2013.
Tennye

My Life in a Few Words

  Well, you will find some of this is a recap of things you have heard before I am sorry for that but it fits. Life has kind of made me crazy the last few months. Daughter and grandson came to visit and we had a fun family vacation on the beach. We borrowed my dads truck for the trip so we could ride together and my Van was just not acting right. Just after she left we had to put daddy in the hospital, and he was there a week.  The week following daughter leaving I got sick, along with 2 of the kids, the one who came to visit and one that lives with us still. Before I got better daddy was in the hospital, and mother came down with the mess we had. We brought daddy home to her being still sick.  He came home and seemed to be doing a little better, but started sleeping 15 or more hours a day, most days. Then my husband was laid off from his job of 36 1/2 years. He has odd jobs he does so we are not hurting as bad as we could, but still our insurance is gone. This all seems like it took just a few weeks, and yet I know it was the last two months at least. Mother got better and daddy did not, so when they asked me to take him to the Dr. for his appointments I was happy to help. There were to be two appointments with two Dr.s in the same building. After we saw the first Dr. he said he was just going to admit daddy to the hospital, so we should cancel the next appointment. The hospital and medical complex are in the same building, so we went to the cafeteria for lunch while waiting for a room. Well, we waited six or seven hours for that room, and we thought it would be any minute so we just sat there in the halls of the building. We had a great visit, and even though daddy was tired and wanted to go to sleep, he was in good spirits and acting like himself. Over all it was a long hard day, but we all enjoyed the time together. He was there seven days, and while he was not responding to the treatments as we had hoped, he was in good spirits and everyone had at least one or more good visits with him. Wed. evening my girls picked mother up to go see daddy. On the way to the hospital they stopped to pickup an electric razor for him, since his had broken. Before they even got into the store mother fell and busted her glasses and was in a good deal of pain. They called EMS and she was transported to the same hospital where daddy was.  She had a CT scan and x-rays on shoulder and knee. When they released her she was groggy from pain drugs, but had no broken bones or brain injuries. I took her up to daddy's room for a visit before we took her home. I stayed with her that night , I just didn't think she should be alone with those drugs in her. She broke her glasses when she fell so I took her to get new ones Thurs. She sure had a black eye and looked a mess.  I brought daddy home Thurs. evening after super and he felt really good and had lost most of the fluid he was there to get rid of. He and mother had a good day Friday as well. Some time around Eight thirty that evening he said he felt bad and went to bed. Sat. afternoon Nov. 27th around two thirty or three he lost his battle with COPD. I was there with mother and my family who live here were there in just a few min. We had to wait four hours for the funeral home to come and pick up his body, so we sat out side in the yard while we waited. We were not able to make any arrangements until Mon., with it being a holiday week we made the plans for Wed. With most of the family here we had 33 for lunch at my cousins for Thanksgiving. We are still waiting for the death certificates, so the paper work we need to get done is on hold until we get those. They should be here Mon. the 10th of Dec.
  Needless to say sewing has been on the back burner, and then out of the blue hubby decided we needed to paint the house while he was out of work and had time. We got a good start on that this weekend. Most of the front of the house is painted, and if the weather holds I am sure we should get the back done this week or over next weekend. I will be glad to get the paper work taken care of for mother, but in the mean time I have sewing to do, that needs to be done by the tenth. So I will be working hard this week, and may not have much time to write. I miss my time with you all and look forward to getting back to a normal schedule, I realize normal may not be what it has been, I still want to get back to it. So tomorrow morning I will get up and try to get a work out in and get busy with the laundry and the sewing.
  Until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

I am Back I Think!!

  Well, I have been gone for so long and just stopped in for short little spurts, so I am not sure what I have said and what I have not said. LOL I have slept since then if you know what I mean. I have some great pictures and my girls have some great ones too. I just don't know where they are. I have some on the phone, some on the camera and some in the drop box. The girls do as children will do and tell me oh, mom I have those and you can have them any time you want them and then when I say" ok now would be good for me"they say sure. Then that is as far as it goes. The oldest has a share option on her drop box with me, so maybe I can get some from there. I will add soon, I promise.
   I finished the lovely quilt for my daughter and sent it right off to her for her birthday, then I quickly finished a raggy quilt for my grandson so they could take it home while they were here. However, her suitcase was too full and it is still here in his suitcase which we had to keep. LOL Such a tale that one. She mailed the baby's suitcase here so she wouldn't have to pay the 75$ the airlines wanted for her to bring it along. Well, we had things for her and added them to the box to mail them home. Same size box, much heavier, 3x the price for mailing it home. She decided not to mail it, but leave it here and let us bring it to her when we visit her in Dec. Then with the job loss I am not sure if we will be able to make that trip.Either way we will make sure they get all the stuff back. Maybe not all in one box and at one time, but back never the less. LOL
   Well, I have to go for now it seems with hubby here more often he wants my attention when I am busy and now is one of those times. So I am off for now and will get on those pictures later today. So until I have a min. I am wishing all of you a very quilty day.
Tennye

AAQI Raises $75,000 at IQF Houston!

We are over the moon!

During the four and a half days at International Quilt Festival in Houston last week the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative sold 1,597 quilts earning $75,000 for the AAQI.

You can read more about it on our blog:

http://aaqiupdate.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/international-quilt-festival-rocked/

          

Or, for a quick and condensed version see our official press release:

http://www.alzquilts.org/tiqurabigmot.html

Well, just wanted to share the good news, so until next time yall have a very quilty day.

Tennye 

CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL QUILT AUCTION STARTS NOVEMBER 1ST

 

  Hi friends,

I have been so busy, i will get back in a day or two, however in the mean time please check this out. There is is a video you can watch as well.

 

 

CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL QUILT AUCTION  STARTS NOVEMBER 1ST

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AlzQuilts.org) offers an online auction during the first 10 days of every month. Each November, in honor of National Alzheimer's Awareness Month, the AAQI offers 12 very special quilts. This year the auction quilts have been made by world renowned quilters Alex Anderson, Hollis Chatelain, Caryl Bryer Fallert, John Flynn, Diane Gaudynski, Becky Goldsmith, Pat Holly, Libby Lehman, Marsha McCloskey, Sue Nickels, Mary Sorensen, and Ricky Tims.

 

The quilts are about 16" x 16" and the auction is open to the public.

Last year the 12 quilts offered in the November auction raised more than $14,000 for the AAQI, an all-volunteer effort to raise awareness and fund research through art.

Visit http://www.alzquilts.org/ciqa.html to preview the quilts.

On November 1st you can bid on the quilts here:

http://www.benefitbidding.com/listings/categories/index.cfm?category=965774286

To watch the video: http://youtu.be/V8nCbK7Ej88 (Click the SHARE button and then select embed for the code to put the video on your blog.)

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® (www.AlzQuilts.org) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $773,000 since January 2006.

Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer's.

Quilts for Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)

   

   I just have a little different post today and I just know that all of you will love this. I have seen these quilts at the Houston Quilt Festival and they are varied and lovely. They go for different price ranges and you can help by either making and donating a quilt, or purchasing one or more in the Auctions. Here is more information. Until I return yall have a very quilty week.

Tennye

The AAQI is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. We sell and auction donated quilts, and sponsor a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $773,000 since January 2006, one quilt at a time.  The AAQI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. 

 

CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL QUILT AUCTION  STARTS NOVEMBER 1ST

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AlzQuilts.org) offers an online auction during the first 10 days of every month. Each November, in honor of National Alzheimer's Awareness Month, the AAQI offers 12 very special quilts. This year the auction quilts have been made by world renowned quilters Alex Anderson, Hollis Chatelain, Caryl Bryer Fallert, John Flynn, Diane Gaudynski, Becky Goldsmith, Pat Holly, Libby Lehman, Marsha McCloskey, Sue Nickels, Mary Sorensen, and Ricky Tims.

The quilts are about 16" x 16" and the auction is open to the public.

Last year the 12 quilts offered in the November auction raised more than $14,000 for the AAQI, an all-volunteer effort to raise awareness and fund research through art.

Visit http://www.alzquilts.org/ciqa.html to preview the quilts.

On November 1st you can bid on the quilts here:

http://www.benefitbidding.com/listings/categories/index.cfm?category=965774286

To watch the video: http://youtu.be/V8nCbK7Ej88 (Click the SHARE button and then select embed for the code to put the video on your blog.)

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® (www.AlzQuilts.org) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $773,000 since January 2006.

Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer's.

We really appreciate it!

Ami Simms

Founder & Executive Director, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
More than $773,000 raised for Alzheimer's research since January 2006. Help us make a difference...one quilt at a time.

  

 

MIA again

  So sorry to have been MIA for so long. As I told you, my daughter and her baby came for a visit, we all went to the coast for a family vacation, then she went home. I came home from the coast sick, and before I was able to recover fully, my dad ended up in the hospital and mother got sick. Needless to say life has been crazy and some what hard. The day before I was able to bring daddy home from the hospital, hubby came home with the news that he has been laid off. After working in the same place thru two sell outs for 36 1/2 years he is out of a job. We got all of the PTO he has stored up and three months severance pay, plus if there is a bonus from last quarter he will get that as well. I have lots of photos to share and much to say, just no time right now. I was sick for so long I am still trying to get life back in order, so I will be back soon with more. Until then yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Comment Security

 Well, I have been told that even though I have turned it off, I still have the hated comment word on my own blog. I am having several problems with the blog this weekend as it is. I had to change my password and it is still trying to tell me I have logged out from another location,and right now it is popping up every time the automatic save happens so I will be typing along and not typing at all .
I give up.

Do You Pineterest?

 I do, Pinterest and I have a love hate relationship with it. I love the fact that I get to have a quilt show any time of day or night that I might want to go look. I hate the time it takes away from my day and my sewing. I love that I can go there and find a tutorial in one of my pages, because I found it one someone else, and pinned it. I love that I have seen quilts that inspire me and encourage me to be a better quilter, and to learn more. I love that people I have never met and may never meet are pinning pictures or tutorials that I will love and want to go back to and read. I hate that sometimes the pin has been deleted when I go to look at it, because someone either abused it or made the poster feel like they have been taken advantage of.
  If you would like to follow me on Pinterest I am Tennye and I enjoy crafts and sewing and bags and mug rugs, so those are the things I pin most often. I have other things, I pin and sometimes they are for my grandchildren and daughters. I would pin things for my son as well, but he would never see them, so I only pin for him if I want to make it or tell him about it.
  Can I just take a minute to stand on my soap box, I won't take long I promise, but if you have a blog why do you think it is important to have the security setting on your comments? I love some of the blogs I follow and I would love to comment, but then I run up against that stupid security word. If you can call it a word at all, the type is so distorted trying to rewrite it is impossible. So frustrating, when you would really like to say something nice about a quilt or a post. Okay I am done, sorry. 
  Okay that is all I have to say about it, so until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Birthday Gift

  Well, next week my lovely daughter will turn 40, and I decided it was a big enough deal to make her a wall hanging to celebrate. This pattern is one I received from a blog I follow on her birthday. Isn't that lovely, for her to give her followers, a gift on her birthday. I know I already told this story, but it relates to today's post, so please excuse the duplication. I am kind of going out on a limb with posting this before the actual birthday and sending it to her. I may even be going out by telling her age, although I think it is silly to worry about that kind of thing, she may not. You see, I did not raise this daughter, I put her up for adoption when she was born. She found me back in 2005, and we have been getting to know each other since then. The fact that she is in my life on her 40th birthday is a big deal for me, maybe even a bigger deal for me than her. LOL I don't think she reads my blog so maybe it will be safe for me to show her gift before she gets it.

 I put it together in strips, that is how she suggested it be put together.

 Just 2 of the borders.

 I hate having to draw all those lines. LOL Below are the ribbons for the ribbon border, and I don't have a picture of it completed.

  I forgot to take pictures of all the steps, so I hope you enjoy the ones I have. When I got to some of the steps, I discovered I had made some mistakes. I can not with any certainty say the mistake was from the directions, or if they were mine alone.  I will go back through and see where I made them, for my own interest, not to complain. I just don't want to make the same ones when I make the quilt again. I know I will make one for myself some time soon. I might even make a larger one for this same daughter since she is the one who loves butterflies so much. I have only one picture of the completed top, and as you will see I have not quilted it yet either. I will post those pictures as soon as I am finished.  I hope you enjoy and until the next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Austin Quilt Show

  Well, I had a wonderful weekend, my daughters took me to the Austin Quilt Guild show on Sat. and I truly had a great time. I got a couple pieces of fabric. One is the fabric called Quilt Across Texas. If you have not seen it this is a panel of the state of Texas in red white and blue with each county outlined. I love it and I have a plan for how it will be used. The daughter who purchased it for me is hoping for a quilt with this fabric as the center, and I will be doing that for her. She also bought me a lovely piece of blue batik that I will be using for water in a couple of quilts that I am working on in my head already.
  Back to the quilt show, wow there are some very lovely quilts and I saw a couple made by blog writers that I follow, that made them even more special to me. I am not a member of the guild, and probably won't be joining, but they do have some very talented quilters.   Actually the lady who taught me the most when I first decided, just wanting to learn to quilt, was not enough is a member. She really tried to get me to join back then, but I had three little ones and baby sat two others. I just didn't feel like I had the time for any more than I already had in my life. I might have learned faster and with less mistakes if I had joined, but I have enjoyed those learning times all the more since they have come over time.

  Saturday was also the last day that one of the local quilt shops will be open. I find that a very sad thing, even if I understand the reasons. I have been thinking about it a lot since I heard they were closing and I am planning to invite as many ladies as I know for a quilt and visit soon. I am hoping that if we have enough interest we can start a club of some sort with block of the month kits, or something like that. I would be happy with just a time of quilting together once or twice a month, but I think others might like the challenge of a plan. If any of you have had experience working with the fabric distributors in this fashion and have any advice, please share. I have done this before only not with kits available. I made a plan and gave directions and each of us used our own fabrics. It worked very well for a good long time, then I had to go back to work. Sadly it all fell apart after that, and we tried again a couple of times to reboot the group, but just lacked the enthusiasm needed. I have that now, if I can just get others interested.

  The quilt show had some amazing quilts, and I forgot to take my camera. I have asked my daughter to send me her photos from her phone. When I get them I will add a few of the pictures to this post. I will go ahead and post it for now and add them later, so if you are reading and there are not pictures, please come back in a day or two and check them out. Until then  yall have a very quilty week and I will be back soon.

Tennye

Busy Times

  Hello to each of you, I have been busier than usual the last week or so. I am finally feeling human and not like a rock, or better yet the underside of a rock. Therefore I have been shopping, working and just generally doing things that require my getting off my bottom and out of the chair. The other day mother and I went out for a couple of errands and ended up going to one of our favorite stores for clothing. We were very happy we ended up there, and sad to see the signs on the door. They are having a big sale, a going out of business sale. We can still shop with the chain we just will have to drive a good 10 miles or so to do it. In the mean time we got some really good deals on a couple of things for me and her.
  I am trying to get some things ready for the many birthdays coming up this month and next. We are also going to kind of get an early one in for the Nov. birthday girl since she will be here for a visit in Oct. So I have lots to do. I got this great pattern for a butterfly quilt block from a lovely blogger who created it, to give away to her followers, for her birthday.  I love it in the colors she did it in and immediately thought of my oldest daughter when I saw it. She loves butterflies, and purple, so I found some great purple and black and white fabrics for it. I got it all cut out on Friday and I will post pictures once I get further along on it. I also bought some really great fabrics for the cute VW on the beach quilt I am planning to make for one of the pass it on gifts.  I got some 70's style fabrics in purple and coordinating colors for that one. Now I just need to find the fabrics for the back ground beach and road. The creative juices are flowing again and I am loving it.
  I went out with the girls on Sat. and we went to a store I had never been to before. They have a very large selection of Vera Bradley stuff (for lack of a better word). I had no idea she had put her name to so many items. I found the cutest bag I have ever seen, and it was reasonable enough price that I would have bought it, if I could have figured out what it would be used for. Now there was a time when I would have bought it just cause it was cute. Not any more, I reserve that luxury, for fabrics. I did find a purse I wanted, but find I am opposed to paying high prices for a bag, I know, I could make for half that price. I would not want to make it, and sell it for half the price, but make it for myself yes. 
  Well, I am off to see what is next on the agenda, I will try and get some pictures before I post next time. Until we meet again, yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Fabric, Stash or New

  How are all of you today, I hope, that if you are in the path of "Isaac", you will be safe. I have family who live in New Orleans, and Baton Rouge, so we are keeping a watch on things. I am sure there will be a need for some new quilts for those who are even now losing homes and possessions. I hope that I will have time to do just that when the time comes.

  Well, time to move on to the topic of this post. This post is a result of my reading the same magazine article in Quilters Newsletter that spurred me to write about thread and about documenting the quilts you make. So I ask, do you plan your quilts around your stash, or do you plan and then go shopping for the fabric? I read this article and I noted that she was able to tell what fabric line it was from and the name of the manufacture. I must say I do not know those pieces of information about any fabric in my stash, and I seldom notice those things when I go to a store to purchase fabric.  I think she may have even said something about where she purchased her fabrics.
    I know the selvedge often has that printed on it, but since I usually cut that off as the first cut when beginning the cutting of my quilt. Then it goes in a bag I plan to use to make some selvedge project in the future. hahahah I am not sure that will ever happen, but they are saved never the less. Needless to say I usually don't go back to that bag and try to match up fabrics so that I know what the name of the fabric line is, or the manufacturer either.  Is this important when you plan to put your quilt in a competition ? I have never made a quilt to put in a competition, and I don't know if I ever will, but if I do, is this information something I am supposed to have?
I am not sure I will ever make a quilt for a quilt show, I am not that secure.
  Please tell me if you are a competitor in quilt shows. I would like to hear from a real person who does compete. Not that the one who wrote the article was not a real person. I simply meant I have not known anyone who competes, and on those same lines, I have not gotten any rules for competing in a quilt show. I wonder if I will ever think I am good enough to put a quilt in a show. Okay, so on we go, I have not been taking many pictures lately, but maybe I will do better.
  Until the next time, yall have a wonderful week.
Tennye

Buy Local

  I got an email yesterday from the local Bernina/ quilt shop that is less than a mile from my home. They are having to close their doors for various reasons. One of the reasons is the economy has gotten bad and they no longer make enough money to cover what is cost to keep the store open. On top of this the husband has been diagnosed with fast moving Alzheimer disease. He is the sewing machine repair man and just a general part of the running of the store and sales of the machines. I must say I have have cried for this family and what they are going through. I am sad for them as well as the local group that spends time and money in this store. It looks like we will all have to drive much further for our classes and fabrics now. I know there are health issues involved here as well as the financial ones, however, if they made enough income from their business would they be able to stay open? I have not attempted to open my own fabric store, so I am not speaking as a professional. I have been involved in the beginning of a new store, and after just a few months she was able to see that she would be able to pay off her loan in half the time she had expected to. Would it be possible to offer your customer a better price for fabric and still pay your bills? I just don't know, but what I do know, is I will do my best to buy local when I can to try and keep the stores open that I count on for fabric and patterns and classes.
  Until next time yall have a very quilty week,
Tennye

Thread, What Kind

  Hello friends,

Well today is a lovely warm sunny day in Central Texas. We are having some non typical weather for August, and it has been rainy for the last week with much cooler evenings, and days. I saw on the news at noon, we will have at least one day back in the triple digit this weekend, and maybe back to the lower temps. As I enjoy these lower temps I look forward to getting back into the sewing room and maybe doing some hand quilting in the evenings. I regularly use Gutermann hand quilting threads, but I have never thought what weight that thread is. On the other hand I have also not made note of what weight thread I use, when sewing ( Mettler), or doing machine embroidery ( Isacord). I have been reading some articles and heard a CD that I got when I was a member of an on line group. To that end I wonder, do you pay attention to the weight thread you use when piecing, quilting, or just plain sewing? I am beginning to wonder if I need to do more research on this subject and pay attention to the weight of thread I use for all of my sewing.
  On the same lines as my last post, do you record the type of thread you use on a specific quilt,including piecing, quilting, and embroidery? I am not sure how thread would work in the scrapbook style of documentation, but most any other type of documentation would be workable. When reading an article in the last Quilters Newsletter, the winner of a quilt show was telling not only what kind of thread, but what weight she used. I am intrigued by this, and wondering how important it all is. 
  So I am wondering if any of you have feelings about this and if you do please share with me here. In the mean time I will be doing some research on line and any where else I can find information on thread. When I feel like I know enough to share I will write another post and share what I am learning. So until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

  Adding this little picture that I made while playing with my camera for yall to see. I think it is cool.

How do you Document Your Quilts

 Hello,
I am home and glad to be here. The last week was not a bad week, but I have not been so tired in a long time. I was up before 7 every morning and needless to say in bed before 10 every night. We didn't end up making as many trips to the Dr as were originally on the schedule for the new mommy and baby. One kept getting postponed due to a berthing, and two were just plain cancelled due to over stimulation for mommy. The baby has gained back over a pound, but still has to go back one more time for a weight check, since she had lost 1 1/2 pounds of her birth weight. She is a cute baby, and stronger than any I have ever seen, but then again I have never seen one that was 10 ponds at birth. She can already push herself up enough to fall over and possibly off something if she is too close to the edge. We did not give her the chance to prove that too us, as we could see it when she was being held. I have a cute picture, but alas it is on my phone.
  I really enjoyed spending time with my aunt and uncle as well. I stayed at there house and just went over to take care of mommy and baby during the day time hours. Being on a walker that is when she needed me, not while daddy was there. One of my cousins came over and we had a great visit as well. I am blessed to have such wonderful family, and they take good care of me and I feel at home with them. I really wanted to come home or I could have stayed for a birthday party they were having at one of my cousins house that night. They do combo birthday parties, and it was three they celebrated this time. Also one of the cousins daughter was accepted into the sorority she wanted to get into on Friday. I am sure they added that to the celebration, even though she was not able to stay long for the party.
  Okay, for the title of this post, I have some real questions about how others document the quilts they have made. I am sure there are many thoughts on how to do this. I personally like the idea of having a scrapbook and putting scraps of the fabrics, and photos of the process and finished quilt in the book. Now just because I think that is a great way to document my quilts, does not mean I have gotten to that point yet. I try hard to take a good picture of the final quilt before it leaves my house. However I have the problem that I am sure many have had. I put them on the computer and have lost some when a virus or something else takes out the computer. Right now I have a desk top computer just sitting there waiting for me to figure out how to get my stuff off of it. It was frying keyboards at an alarming sped and had given me the blue screen once, when we turned it off the last time. I hope I will be able to get the photos off of the hard drive at least.
  I know there are other options for keeping track of the quilts you have made and even who the recipient of the quilts are. This was all brought up in an article I read about a quilt maker and her quilts. Do you prefer to keep a record on your computer in a word file, or is the scrapbook more your style. Then again maybe you have a method I have not mentioned. Is your list, just that, a list of all the quilts you have made with no photo? Is it important to keep track of the quilts you make, or am I just being silly, because I want to keep up with what I have made. I have a "brag book" that I keep with pictures, from the old days before digital camera, and it is not complete. I let some get away with out making pictures of them and I sure wish I had not. So how do you document, or do you think it is important?
  Until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Summer Olympics

 Well, Hello friends a faithful followers, I am much better these days and have just been so busy trying to get my house and my life back on track to sit down and write. I have so many things to talk about and I will do my best to get back soon.
  I have spent my free time the last two weeks watching the summer Olympics, and they have been amazing. I am not a fan of all the events, but still have enjoyed watching. I am actually watching as I write. My hubby does not like to watch and with him sleeping most of the day and all evening we have gotten to watch a lot more than we have before. I love the diving events the most, they always amaze me. Now I am looking forward to the winter games, they should be very entertaining. Now that the games are going to be over I will be able to get back to sewing and cleaning, 
  However I am leaving tomorrow to go help my daughters best friend for a week. She has a new baby (2 weeks) and is having some problems. She has a sciatic nerve problem from the delivery, and she has to use a walker to keep from falling. He leg just goes numb and she is walking and has nothing to hold her up. Sadly she does not have family or close friends to help her out, so I am going to go do that. The baby had to have mouth surgery also and is losing weight since she hurts when she tries to nurse. They have a Dr. appointment every day this week. I will go tomorrow and stay with my aunt and uncle at night so mommy and daddy can be a family, and spend the days with her and help as much as I can. If we have any time I will try to make some meals she can freeze and have after I am gone.

 Just a little aside I have been doing a little sewing, just not much time for it until the house is clean again. My daughter did a massive clean out of her closet. She had t-shirts from Junior high, and she will be 30 next year. She kept the ones she wants in a quilt and put the others out for donation. Well I decided to try one of those reusable bags made from t-shirts.  It was not hard, but took some time, since I did some hemming that I have not seen in the instructions I have read. I hope it holds up as well as it seems like it will and completely washable. I did a squared off part to make it a little boxy for use.
  Well, Like I said I will try and get back this week, but not sure it I will get the chance, but definitely when I get home. So Until them yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Do you Guild?

  Well, first let me say I would have been back sooner but had to take my daddy to the hospital on Mon. and have spent many hours there with mother this week. Not sure if I should say he is better or not, he has lost over a gallon of liquid and that is good. Then he started throwing up, and they can't figure out why, that is bad. He feels much better though as he has been able to sleep there and at home he was not sleeping much.
  Now on to the thought for this posting. Do you guild? I have been invited to join the Austin guild as well as the one in Round Rock, however I don't join things. I really don't have anything against them, and sometimes I think I would love to be a part of a group like that. I was reading my new copy of Quilters Newsletter today and they have the column that is essays from readers of 300 words or less. This month is was do you love your Quilt guild?   As happens most months one is like an advertisement for the guild experience and the other three are more personal. The woman that I think of as my mentor was a member of the Austin guild and always encouraged me to join. Back then I had three small children and very little money so I never did even visit. I wonder how much better I would be as a quilter had I joined back then. Or would I have learned at the same rate that I have?? These are thought provoking ideas, but in the long run I can't change the fact that I didn't join back then. So do I now find a guild and join it? If I do will it make me a better quilter or just a more connected quilter?? I do have a lovely group of ladies I met in a on line group, I don't think you could really call it a guild, but a group. When the website went through too many changes and was shut down for a couple of weeks we sort of drifted off. Now most of us are on face book and one of the ladies took the initiative to create a page for us and she invites us as she sees fit or as she finds us on face book. We are connected again and it is nice to be able to visit, but it isn't the same as it was before.
  I did help start a small quilting group at our church years ago, and we met once a month more like a guild than a bee, however we acted more like a bee. We met and quilted together, no formal meetings. I did offer several challenges and a mystery quilt as well. I tried to keep us together and when I had to go to work they dissolved. I did not think I was the glue that held the group together, but for some reason they did. Now that I am not working any more I miss them more than I did when I was busy with work. I find though that it is hard to go back, and I am not sure how to start again. I don't have the connections with ladies, or quilters other than on line.
So, please share, Do you Guild? Until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

I Am Back, I Think

  I don't want to really go into the dirt of it all, and I am not even sure what all of it is. I have been depressed for several months and I finally just got too down to talk at all. Through prayer I remembered some things that helped me to pull myself out of it last time and I am on my way back up. In the mean time I have done little or no work in the sewing room and I missed the giveaway I had planned. So if you will give me another week I think I will be able to get that ready and post pictures of it. I worked on the quilts I have to finish a couple of times last week and again today. I gotta be honest it had been so long since I picked them up I had forgotten where I was. Today I got it all out and layed it out and made some notes so that tomorrow I will be able to start sewing on it again. Yea!!!
  I have a hard time not doing anything even when I am in a blue funk, so I have been reading. I got a Kindle Fire several months ago and I hit the Amazon website looking at the list of free books pretty regular. I find they either rearrange the list often or they add and subtract stuff often. Early this month I found a mystery with the title of a quilt block. I was kind of excited and then a few days later I was on a blog I follow and she asked for our support of a fellow quilter whose book was being sold for free on Amazon. It was the same book I had just bought. It is "Wild Goose Chase" by Terri Thayer. I am not savy enough to post the link and the picture, but if you have a kindle or an kindle app check it out. I finished reading it early this morning and I enjoyed it very much. It is a murder mystery so it is a little PG, and has the suggestion of sex, but thankfully no real details.
  I am off to check out some other blogs and thinking about how to fix the problems I found this morning on the quilts. Until I get back yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Wish I Had More

 Friends, I am so sorry I should have gotten this give away done by now and I have just been out of it. I am not sure what the reason for it is, but have had no ability to concentrate for a week now. Still having some trouble but getting better. I kind of think I was on the verge of a sinus infection from allergies, and headed it off with over the counter medications. Please forgive me and know I will be back as soon as I can think.
Have a quilty week.
Tennye

Almost There 5000 Views

  I promised a giveaway when the blog got to the 5000 views mark and today we will discuss the ways you can win, and just what it will be that you win.I have been going through my mind and trying to figure out just what wonderful gift I can give to one lucky winner. Oddly I want to make you something, and not just give away a list of fabrics or a book . The thing is I really don't have the time to make a gift, so I am still looking through things. I will do my best to post it for you next time I post.

 In the mean time I have spent days and hours searching the web for a purse pattern that I love. Now I don't want to buy one, but have about decided that I may have no other choice. I have searched the stores for just the right bag for me. I had a purse made by a famous purse company, that is actually my favorite one. I have had several of their purses over the years and the one I loved best was from them. I have this thing for old fashioned keys and that is their symbol they have one on every bag, not embroidered, it is actually a metal or plastic key.  I am in the process of trying to reproduce my favorite bag, but got scared and put it aside.  I may just have to go back and finish it, because I am not having any luck finding one, in a pattern or pre-made. I would have just taken the old one apart and used it for a pattern, but I think I may have told you before, I gave it to good will .
  Early last week, hubby said I needed to get my sun glasses. I got my new glasses in Nov. and got the transitional lenses in hopes that I would be okay with them. Needless to say in the Texas sun I found myself squinting when the transitions were as dark as they were gonna get. So I headed in to Walmart and found a pair of shades I really liked, and we ordered them with grey lenses. They came in last week, and I picked them up Thurs. in a rainstorm. So now I need to make a purse big enough to hold them, and I need to make a new glasses case too.  So we are all caught up and I need to go make some supper. Have a very quilty week yall.
Tennye

Reading This Weekend

 I have to tell you, that even though I don't see any thing getting accomplished, not even the laundry, it seems I am busy all the time. I have to admit some of the busy is reading, I have been in the mood lately and I have finished three books since last week. It all started when my daughter loaned me The Hunger Games on kindle. We have been hating that she and I could not share the books that we have, when if they were paper we would most definitely share them with each other as well as my mom. So she was about to buy the book explaining the process, when she read the reviews. One of the reviewers told how to share for a short period of time in her review. So even though we may buy the book in the future at this time we just followed her very specific instructions and did a loan. It seems that the loan is only for a 7 day period, and I was already reading a book. So I put the one I was reading aside and read Hunger Games so that I did not lose the book before I finished it. I enjoyed it very much and it kind of got me in a reading mood, well that, and we are having some rainy and cool weather as well. Once finished I went back to the book I had been reading and finished it. Amazon really knows how to get you, they have a list of free books that changes every month. I get most of the books mother and I read from that list. The thing is often those books are the 1st in a trilogy, or series of books. Like the one I happened to be reading before the loan from my daughter. So of course I had to read the next one, so I went off and searched for it and yea, it was on sale for 3.99. Well, now I am on the list of waiting customers for the next 2 which are not out yet. If you think about it they are really quit genius, if there was a way for me to get repeat customers by giving away something I would get right on it. Alas giving away a bag or a quilt does not often give you repeat business, it only gives you an empty wallet. I also love the free books because I would not want to pay for a book by an author I had never heard of or read before. Now that I have access to the free book list I have come to love a couple of authors I never heard of before.
Well that is enough of a rant from me today, I am headed into the sewing room for a couple of hours . Next time I promise we will get back to quilting, so until them have a very quilty week, and if your in Texas stay dry.
Tennye

Sunny Saturday

 Hi, friends I have had a very different start for my Sat. Hubby is not working today, and that always makes him change my day. I like my Sat. mornings, but today hubby had a different idea. I was going to mow the back yard Thurs. but the mower pull broke while I was trying to start it. Some one gave hubby a practically new mower a few weeks back, so I used that one today. I really like my Sat. mornings usually, and I don't mind mowing usually. Today however I got those things mixed up and I don't like to do that. Sat. is the only day of the week I don't have to get up early, and I don't feel guilty about reading for a while before I get up and get dressed. Hubby's new job is starting to interfere with my routine more than it has already.
 Oh well, life goes on. I did find some extra time from  getting things back to normal around the house after being gone for a couple of weeks. So I used that time to go into the sewing room and do some minor sewing. I told you that I made my granddaughter a beach bag for Easter. Well, now her mom is asking for one too, and since my mom bought her a refrigerator bag for grocery shopping and I will be mailing her a box, I thought I would go ahead with that. I have some scraps cut into squares in the pink, my daughter likes. So I have sewn them together and now I am considering how I will either quilt this fabric, or just back it and go forward. I have a plan in mind but have not done one like this before so I am not quiet sure if I know how. I wish I had a picture, but still not sure if I know how to make the shape.
 Well, sorry to say I am getting hungry and I still have to do more yard work, so I will leave you for today. Yall have a happy cinco de mayo now okay!! Have a very quilty weekend.
Tennye

Last Day of Vacation

   Hello all, well just wanted to cover the last few days of my vacation before we move on to things we talk about most often quilting and sewing. Fri. my lovely daughter had to work, so I spent the last full day with my amazing grandson. I did most of my packing that day knowing we would be very busy Sat. and not wanting to wait until Sun. morning.
  The granddaughter had 3 games on Sat. and since the 1st one was 9:30 AM I missed
  

that one. I stayed home with the baby, while mom was working. She came in after work and we all loaded up the car and headed out. The weather had been so cool I never thought about suggesting we load up some water and cool drinks. That was a big mistake, since we were in for the long haul. The next 2 games were back to back on the same field and with the same team. I have posted some pictures of the first game we watched , but my camera battery died before that one was over.

   We got a surprise when we got there, as the coach for the opposing team was my son in laws cousin. He coaches his daughters team, so that meant cousins were playing against each other. I had met them Christmas when I was there for the baby's birth, so they recognized me.
  Thank goodness my daughter did think to bring sun screen, but I missed a few spots and I got a little burn. Gratefully I don't suffer from little burns, so my flight was not as miserable as it could have been. It was only my chest and nose, I just didn't think

about my chest and missed my nose or I sweat it off. I had one of those "why me" things happen while we were there. I walked over to the power aide machine to get water. The coke truck had just left so I was not expecting it to be really cold, but I did expect water. What I got was the one flavor of Power aide I dis like the most, grape. I needed the liquid so I drank it, but really why did it have to be the only flavor I truly despise. Funny I love grape jelly, but that is as far as the grape goes for me.

 Well, I have gone on for long enough. I had a great flight home, and on the first leg of my trip I road with a lovely woman who was going to see her son in El Paso, TX . That is where my oldest daughter lives and I sure wished I could get on her flight with her and go to see them. I may have said something earlier, about the fact that the day I left for TN, that particular daughter flew into San Antonio. My girls drove down there and visited with her for a few hours that night, so I had just missed her. I was sad, but how sad can you be when your getting to see your new grandson. We moms are pulled in different directions all the time.
  Well, that is it for my vacation, so tomorrow we will talk about the quilting I still need to do. Until then yall have a very quilty day.
Tennye