WOO HOOO!

I am 99.9% CERTAIN that I have FIXED Gussie!!!  It was that  finicky little rocking finger in the bobbin area that wants to be at a CERTAIN  place at a CERTAIN time during the stitch.  I CERTAINLY have had “fun” with that little buddy!  You can be CERTAIN that from now on I will know how to work on that little sucker, because I have been adjusting and readjusting it for the last 3 days!!!

Thank YOU, Lord, for the wisdom to get it done!  I CERTAINLY did NOT want to make a trip to Missouri!!  Tomorrow’s plans…..

no-loop quilting!  YAHHH!!!!!

KAT

We Went, We Bowled…

And I won some MONEY!!   YAAAAA!  I won 2nd place in Women’s Singles Event!!!  That “do-over” helped salvage my hurt feelings over the poor bowling of the previous weekend.  DH also may be getting some money back on team event…. we will see how many places they pay.   We think his team is in about 6th place, and mine is in 7th.  We will see when the checks come out.

OTHER NEWS:  I HAD Gussie FIXED!  She was not leaving loops!  BUT she was very hard to move while quilting, so…. I tinkered with her just a little bit more, and now she is definitely NOT fixed and I can’t get her anywhere NEAR fixed.  I’m breaking down this morning and for the first time ever in the 6 years I have owned her, I am calling the Gammill tech hot-line.  I am DESPERATE!  If I don’t get her fixed this week, next week I am throwing her in the car and heading to West Plains, Missouri with her!  Enough is enough, Gussie Fay!  Play nice!  Hopefully Jearld at Gammill will have some good advice for me today and we can get this issue solved for good.  I am NOT looking forward to a 1000 mile round trip to the factory!!

OTHER OTHER NEWS:  The garden is pretty much gone, except for okra.  We have okra coming out our ears.  Remember that picture back a couple of months ago of our okra patch?  I think EVERY ONE of those little plants survived.  They are now tall as trees and producing a bumper crop.  They are the only thing that can survive our lack of rainfall.  What are we doing with it?  Freezing a little, eating a little, and giving away a LOT! 

Also on the agenda this week is picking some more muscadines.  DH picked about a half of a gallon last week.  We need a little more to make a batch of  muscadine jelly… YUMMO!

Got to run this morning… I apologize for no-picture blogging, but it is the best I can do right now.  “Hello, Gammill tech, are you there…. HELP!”

Be blessed today in all you do!!

KAT

Do-Over!

There are so many times I wish I had a “do-over”… when I do an “oops” on a sewing project, when that long cast while fishing lands in a bush instead of the water, when I burned or over-salted something I was cooking… the list could be endless.  I just found out I DO have a do-over in one instance.

Remember in my last post I was whining sharing about how we bowled poorly at Natchez… WE GET A DO-OVER!  Friends going to the tournament this weekend needed a substitute couple, and here we go again.  Perhaps we can improve our scores, but if not, we will still have a good visit with friends from our area.

SUBJECT CHANGE:  I thought I might get the twin’s quilts done this week… NOT!  (UPDATE:  They are home and doing well.)  I picked up 6 quilts in my rounds yesterday.  This is not complaining…. because it bring in $$$$ !  I’m in a time and money-gathering crunch before I have to pay for my IQ install, so that is a real blessing!!  That also means that you probably won’t be seeing many posts from me in the next 2 weeks.  Just know that I am doing well and busy as a worker bee, well, WORKING!

Somewhere in the midst of all this craziness I must find time to do a little painting in my quilting room.  I have a very long shelf that can’t be taken out (too long to turn the corner with the quilting machine in there) that really needs repainting.  Left-over peach paint from the hallway paint job several years ago will do nicely.  I also want to paint the chair and perhaps the table I will be using in there… We will see exactly how much gets done but the shelf MUST get painted before IQ arrives.  Once we get the install done I can not push the machine over to the other side of the room to work on the shelf.  Once IQ is set up and level (in a very un-level room) I am not moving that machine for anything!

Now I am “off to the races” today… quilting, laundry, etc.  Have a blessed day and rest-of-the-week, too.

KAT

Good Friends, Good Food,…

But STINKY bowling!!  We really enjoyed the visit with our AR and MS friends.  We also ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  BUT, we both bowled terribly.  I got my average only 2 of the 9 games… that is pretty stinky.  I did manage to pull out a 207 for one game yesterday, and then turned right around and bowled a 97 in the next game.  Bowling was invented to keep us humble… and it does that to me regularly, and ESPECIALLY when I go out of town to bowl!!  But yet we keep doing this…. does that make any sense? 

The fun of renewing friendships and catching up on what is new with them keeps us going out of town a couple of times a year for these tournaments, and we are looking at adding a 3rd one sometime in the spring of the year.

Today will be spent wrestling with Gussie.  She has decided to start throwing loops on the back of quilts again.  I think she is rebelling because she knows IQ is coming… she’s jealous.  I have picked 25 loops from the back of the latest quilt, and will open up the “guts” of Gussie again today.  UUGGGHH!  I tinker with her, she is better, and then back to the same old tricks.  I MUST get this issue solved before IQ gets here… the clock is ticking…  25 more days!!

Got to run…. lots to do today.  I am hoping to actually get the Veggie Tales quilts done this week and I will post pictures of them.

Have a blessed week, and may the Lord prosper everything you set your hands to!

KAT

Natchez, Here We Come!

It’s that time of year again… we will venture to Natchez, MS for the Grandma/Grandpa Bowling Tournament. I hope we bowl well, but if not we will still enjoy a good visit with our AR friends and also eat well. (Starting the low-carb thing again as soon as we return, so this is like a prisoner being offered a last meal.)

My design wall has NOT changed this week (so I won’t be posting on design wall Monday) because I have been busy quilting and cleaning the studio… there were dust/lint bunnies the size of small dogs in there! YUK! It is a much more pleasant work-place now that it is clean and more organized! I did some rearranging and moved the batting rack into the guest bedroom. In it's place I put a small table and chair so I will have a place to sit while IQ stitches and I lounge back and eat bon-bons. HAHA! I am on an IQ countdown… only 29 more days!!

The twins arrived safe and sound. They weighed 6-13, and 6-8… big girls for twins! I am pleased to introduce Ryleigh Jean and Kyleigh Lynn.

SOOOO, I hope you all have a great weekend! I’ll give a bowling report when we return.

KAT

Design Wall Monday

Aren’t these CUTE!!! They are for the twins my niece will deliver TOMORROW!! I would hurry and get them quilted, but since they are in Oklahoma, I don’t think they will exactly need to be snuggled in a quilt for a while… like maybe, FALL!

I LOVE Veggie-Tales, and these panels really caught my eye. I wanted something very bright and cheerful. These will be “using” quilts, and I think the twin girls will enjoy these funny and cute characters.

Hi, Larry the Cucumber… nice to see you again!

Bob the Tomato, don’t be so shy… show yourself!

And during the construction of these quilts there was a slight “oops” on my part. WHAT did THIS??

SURELY it was NOT ME! It MUST have been Panasonic’s fault (see below)!

I have NEVER left an iron sitting down on the ironing board in all of my fifty-plus years, but while working on this I was in a time crunch, and just walked away from the ironing board. Twenty minutes later I came back to the room to iron another seam and there was my iron sitting down. Yep, a great big scorch is left behind, but I am thankful that it does cut off automatically so at least I did not set something on fire!! SHEESH! I never cease to amaze myself at the ridiculous things I can do!

And also still on my design wall is the OB Wonder I showed last week. I’ve done some rearranging, but am still not completely satisfied with the look, so I will play with it some more.

Now you have read about my silliness and seen my project, so go to Judy’s blog and follow the links to other design walls. You will be amazed at what others are doing!

Have a blessed day, and please keep my niece and the twin girls in your prayers. They will arrive via C-section tomorrow.

KAT

Blogging Comment Issue, and Farm Visitor

Is it just me, or does this happen to you, also?  I’m having a real issue with commenting to blogs.

When I try to leave a comment on any blog (and I have heard others remark they have this problem when trying to comment on my blog), the security word does not show up.  I type in my Google account, password, and hit enter.  I then get an error message, but this time the security word DOES show up… What’s up with this?  Does that bug you, also?  Any cure for this that anyone knows of?  TIA!

We have company at the farm this weekend.  Katie Bug is visiting again, and has really enjoyed a home movie and popcorn, bowling, Chinese food, 4-wheeler riding, and her most favorite, picking muscadines. 

They are just beginning to turn, and the outside critters are getting them quickly.  Perhaps we can save enough to make a small batch of jelly, but for right now we will just eat our fill.   YUM!!

IQ update:  My dealer called and my IQ install is now scheduled for Sept. 11th…   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  (The 10th is my BD.)

That’s it for now.  Tomorrow will be busy.  Jenn will be coming to church and lunch afterwards.  I am splurging and making chicken and dumplings, purple hull peas, okra, and fruit fluff for dessert.  (Lime flavored.  Katie Bug picked that and has already helped make it.) And while Jenn is here we have some quilting projects to work on planning.

Have a great weekend, and be blessed!

KAT

Design Wall Monday

I know you are about to faint… 4 posts from me in the same week! Perhaps I am over my blogging block! Either that or else things are moving very quickly in my life right now… that’s the truth!

This is my first time to join in the “Design Wall Monday” hosted by Judy L. If you want to see some really neat things, go HERE and click on the links. They will take you on a tour of design walls of other quilters… very interesting!

And, if you are visiting here for the first time because you are following my link on Judy’s post, WELCOME, and come back again soon!

What is on my design wall?

I finally got bitten by the “One-Block Wonder” bug, and I must say, this is a very fun and easy project! The fabric I chose (before I got the book) was not the best for this technique, but it is a good practice. I was so surprised at how quickly these sew together. Now to get the rows sewn… that probably will be a little slower.

I still have some rearranging to do to make things flow a little better. I also have to decide if I am going to make it larger. This is 38 blocks. I have enough fabric to do another 2 stacks, which will give me another 76 blocks. The thing is, the repeat on this fabric is so small that the new blocks will all look just like these, so I’m thinking I may just call it quits and make this a wall hanging. I can always use the remaining fabric for lining.

This was so much fun I have already picked out another fabric to make the next one from… Today while digging through my stash I uncovered 5 yards of beautiful fabric (obviously bought on sale, because I never buy that much unless it is a good sale) that will make a beautiful One Patch Wonder. So that will be on my design wall soon!

Thanks for looking… Come back again!

KAT