Present for a girlfriend

My husband's girlfriend that is ..... and don't get concerned; she's 82, a real sweetie, and in the hospital with something serious and needs a little pick-me-up. As a carpenter, he's always in some other woman's kitchen making it nice for her. Every once in a while he finds a keeper to go on the "girlfriend" list and they become part of our family. He even picked out the pattern for this table topper while sitting patiently (or not so patiently) in the LQS last Saturday afternoon.

For something fairly simple, the pattern instructions were unclear and required a lot of thought to figure out what the instructions really "meant". I checked, it was written in 1998. You would think that sometime in the past 11 years someone with no prior knowledge would have tried the pattern and discovered the problem. Ah well, it was good for a puzzle and I like the way it turned out.

I'll send this out with him tomorrow morning to deliver - hope she likes it!

Take care all,

Lisa

I'm melting here ...

It's h-o-t, and I'm whiny! At 6pm tonight it's still 112 outside and mornings the temp at 6am is usually 90-93. And yes, I know I live in the desert and should be used to it, but man it's really hot here July-September (and some years into October). If you're visiting AZ in the summer, know that you need to sip water all day every day to avoid dehydration (which can really make you sick). We had a couple of extra weeks this year of 90-99 so I'm thinking I might have gotten a little spoiled. Oddly enough, 90-99 is really fairly comfortable! And I'd like a little rain please. Only here does rain cause everyone to run outside and stand in it with their faces up and arms out drinking it in. I wanna stand in the rain!

'nuff of the weather report ............

The good news is that since I can't do much outside without burning up, indoor projects are making progress. Well, except that HUGE "file pile" that's balanced precariously on top of the file cabinet in the laundry room. I'll have to be in exactly the right mood to tackle that one!

On a quilty note, I've sent the Priority quilts to their destination, and I'm nearly done with the quilting on the green batik. Sorry no photos this time, my camera is at the shop. I don't have a new project picked out either, but I'll choose one in the next few days. I'd really like to do the Pick & Choose that Nancy and Erin and others are doing, but I can't seem to find that issue!! I know I took it with me to Mom's several weeks ago ... maybe I left it up there? It's all good .... just another opportunity to look through my quilting magazines and pattern books. Hurray!

Here's hoping your worlds are a little cooler than mine and it will rain here soon (I've never actually wished for rain in my life!)

Take care all,
Lisa

I'm still here ...

Hi all,

Whew! It's been a couple of weeks since my last post 'cuz I've been so busy. Work is busy, we had family for the long holiday weekend, and we got to hang out with our 2 year old grandson for the last 5 days. I'd almost forgotten how much you don't accomplish with a 2 year old around. However, it is fun! How can you not play when this face wakes you up every morning?



But I did get a few things in my quilting world accomplished too. I've got the blue/green batik layered and have started the quilting. It's currently on the dining room table mid-stitch. And I finished up a couple of small Priority quilts for Alzheimer's Quilts. These were quick and fun, plus I got to try a couple of new things and get relatively quick results.

To honor my uncle, the carpenter, and who has had Alzheimer's for nearly 10 years now, the first one is 2 Carpenter's Square blocks that I found on Quilterscache.com. This traditional pattern calls for 1-1/2" strips and a finished 11" block. Priority quilts can be no larger than 9x12, so I changed the strip size to 1/2" thinking that I'd only be reducing the block size by a third. Well, no, not really. 1-1/2" unfinished produces a finished 1" strip and a 1" unfinished becomes a finished 1/2" strip, which is really cutting the block size in half. I ended up with 5-1/2" blocks. No biggie, I'll just make 2. It's a little wonky in the borders because the strips required such exact seam allowances to make them work properly and I was tired of unsewing so I just let it go. I figured Alzheimer's can make life a little wonky, why not this?



The 2nd is to honor my aunt, his caregiver. There was no pattern for this one, but I used (sort of) Ricky Tim's convergence technique and Circle Dance templates and made a sun in the sky. Not sure what to title this one yet, but I'll have to figure that out before I email Ami 'cuz its on the form you have to fill out. ;)



Hope all is well in your worlds ...

Lisa