See ya :)

Remember I said it here a few weeks ago, Manny is NOT a team player. Did you see all the crap he pulled since the weekend series with the Yanks??? Tek even said he was a distraction to the team lately-and I doubt Larry Bowa will take his crap :P



What's even better , he went to a National League team Yippee!!

We got rid of Farnsworth and gained Pudge ( sorry Jeanne) !!!! But now have Griffey Jr on the White Sox to deal with- not the power hitter of the late 90's but a good bat just the same....

Salem, MA

First stop was the Pirate Museum- very interesting in the stories. I had no idea so many pirates -like Black Beard were real and that their home ports were in New England.




DD and her pirate-


After some shopping on the main drag and right before it started to pour we stopped at Beer Works, a local micro brewery. Food was great- beer was really great. They had over a dozen beers they make on a seasonal rotation. Hubby wants to go back in the fall to try Pumpkin Head


My men *VBG*



Hubby ordered Blueberry Ale garnished with blueberries which acted like lava in a lava lamp , floating up and down till he finished it.








alittle dark- can you see the witch on her broomstick?




Everything in New England is "Wicked Good" or just plain "Wicked"
No wonder I got funny looks for the T shirt I was wearing that was from The Boradway show



This guy greets you in one of the gift shops attached to the first which museum ( not the good one )






I have no idea who's house this is but power walking to the car in the pouring rain and lightening I thought it looked cool and wanted a pic of it.....



We had so much more that we wanted to do, or see , but the wild thunderstorms were just getting into the area and they were going to stay awhile so we took off to find the next hotel near Peabody. Which we ended up leaving early in the morning- just missing the traffic of a very bad accident that happened within a mile of the hotel. Leaving at 8 AM we still got home after 2 PM ( it's supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour trip) with trying to drive in sheets of rain at 40 mph in 65 zones.....and that's how I spent my days in New England

Monday morning on the funny farm with cats

Lots of baseball this weekend means lots of tumblers made :)
I have a zip lock baggie of the ones I made and was going to add some of the ones that I pressed flat this morning and the baggie opened- what a mess. So I figured I'd start printing the paper piecing templates (which takes forever) for the Yogi quilt and play with a layout. Now this isn't necessarily what I'm going to do but the size doesn't seem right in length to me :( at least not what eq says. These one patch blocks never seem to work in the layout for me. I had this problem with my GMFG too. I think I'm going to print out the drawing in black and white and see if it's what I think it is any how..........





.......I went in the measure where I thought the problem was and I found this: Nancy Strikes Again :(

Sunday Sewing- stash report

So this morning at 4 AM the thunderstorm blew in- very loudly I might add. Moose has a new phobia, thunderstorms :(
Another problem was dd and some friends were camping in the back yard even though they were warned that a storm was coming. What do I know? I'm only the mom. So at 4 I had house guests- great start to the day huh? Now what does one feed 4 hungry teens when I woke them up at 8:30? Pancakes and fruit salad of course. Kicked 3 out by 10 cause I wanted my dining room table back to sew.



I came across these blocks I got as a hostess gift from a group I no longer belong to and wanted to do something with them so I made a flimsy. Couldn't find the pieces I wanted to use for the backing so used the last of my muslin. THen the storms came back and they'll be here most of the night so now it sits loaded on the frame. So now I"m wondering how to quilt the thing....any ideas????
I have a nice grey thread I'm going to use but that's as far as I got.

I fell asleep reading on of the Jimmy Buffet novels for a few hours and now have dinner in the oven :) A real Sunday dinner, Roast Beef and all the fixings. Pay back for waking me up at 4 is murder on DD having to all these dishes later :D

I hope the Yankees and Red Sox get the last game of the series in. Been some good games so far. I managed to get 30 tumbler blocks hand pieced last night and 10 yoyos....and have the same prepped for tonight. Could have done some during the Met game this afternoon, but that's when I fell a sleep.

As far as a stash report for the week, I managed to finish my flag banner completely and this top. But on a better note, nothing came in. So what did I use? 1 1/2 yards??? Better than nothing I guess. Vacation will do that to you sometimes. I ordered a chicken pattern from Nanette for my next project in the banner series :)

Sat. Musings

This is part of our sanity kit for the teens while traveling. The trivia game we bought in Portland at some cutesy toy store. San to say the answers are pretty easy- well maybe because I'm a baseball nut. But I did know more answers than both DH and DS - DD could care less but knew most of the Yankee answers....not shown is the GIANT tablet of Mad Libs we have





These lovlies were waiting for me when I got home Thursday...I know I have one of them but damned if I can find it :(



Crossing from Maine to Mass we had to go past the NH liquor outlet. Not really that much cheaper on most things than here but a few good deals but I finally got the last of the Bo Sox wines :)
(Did you see Youk flip when Joba almost beaned him AGAIN last night-lol)



Now how often do you get a gift from someone when you give them a present?? Look what the 16 y/o gave me for making her a quilt *VBS*

Flag Banner Done

Nanette has this pattern for sale in her etsy shop .







What a fun pattern to make! I'm going to have to get another one soon!

Portland Shopping and LightHouses

I think this is Portland on the other side of the draw bridge...I used to be so good with walking on the breakers/ jettys until this knee starting acting up this year. I was afraid to cross some of the granite blocks :( and the cobble stones in Portland....let's just say I undid a month's worth of p/t walking to the stadium first night we were there.


This is part of the fort connected to the lighthouse




This was connected to one of the parks- there was another fort there but it was too crowded and we wanted to get to Salem before 1PM so we skipped the fort.

Just the lighthouse :

You can see why the boats need lighthouses-

Unlike her brother, DD is easily amused and not going through video game withdraw....



Ever since Johnny Depp was a pirate DD has a thing for pirates...this dude was in front of a store in Portland....



Can you imagine my poor husband going in here with our 18 y/o daughter and 15 y/o son???? LOL



In the LL Bean store they had quilts. I hate those kind of "cheap" quilts that people buy, mass produced out of the country. I didn't get a pic of the front which were pretty much lasagna quilts made with jelly rolls but look at the quilting on it.....


I'm thinking I want to attempt this on my ocean waves quilt. I have a blue/green varigated thread from Connecting threads to use.....

Tomorrow is Salem, MA

Portland Sea Dogs

Good thing we bought our tickets in advance before last week. When the Sox announced Poppi was playing in Portland for the week before the Yankees come to town, tickets for all 3 games this week sold like hot cakes. Looks like we picked the best night to go too....


Retired jerseys of past Sea Dogs that made it to the Red Sox.....




Slugger, the masot of the Sea Dogs, hubby and DD ( DS was being a pita that night)




Big Poppi at bat.


He did well Monday 3 for 4



The Portland Sea Dogs even have their own mini green monster:


And they say Yankee fans are weird :p





I thought it was tough living with a Mets fan :)



All and all a fun family night. We talked to the gent sitting on the other side of DD almost the whole time about Yankees vs Sox and had a ball. He was impressed with my general baseball knowledge like which team The CT team was the minors for BEFORE the trainer came out....I even got to watch the Red Sox beat Seattle everynight this week including Tek's homerun the other night *VBG*

I have a ton of pics for the weekend- I'm almost done with my flag banner's hand quilting and made about 20 tumbler blocks, read the new James Patterson book, Sail on the beach and in the room in 1 day

Hello from Portland

Can't add any pics, charging hubby's blackberry.
Having lots of fun, haven't killed a teen yet :)
Let's see the weather is cloudy and overcast, we'll be driving in rain tomorrow when we leave the Boston area.
Monday night we did indead see Big Poppi play with the Sea Dogs-yeah!
Yesterday was spent shopping the port area. Not too many treasures....
today we're hoping to get to at least one of the light houses before we leave for Salem ,MA

Almost done hand quilting my flag banner- only a couple of tumbler blocks made. I read the ENTIRE new book by James Patterson on the way up and on down time in the room.

I FINALLY got to see Tek hit a home run the other night- I get to watch the sox games while here and get updates from my sis on the yanks via text message :)

Be back late tomorrow.....not sure if there is internet at the next hotel...

It's Monday

In a few short hours (8) we're leaving. I just put my ironing board away, packed my tote of a game boy, mancala,yatzee hand held games, a new James Patterson book, my flag banner *VBG* and meds for the next few days in my sewing desk for the car is this :


Also added not pictured is a moda tin and a large yoyo maker. There's parts for over 100 tumbling blocks. Hubby complained that I over pack my sewing (roflmao) but not my clothes. Hey we're going to LL Bean if I forgot it I can buy it. But Paula, I did pack my Tek jersey for the Sea Dogs game tomorrow night!
I bought some card games for the kiddies to play in the room along with the Mad Libs *rolling eyes*
I won't have a bunch of finishes for quite awhile but ....I have alot of parts going which lead to great finishes. Eventually .....

Last Finish - Stash report

Tah Dah!! Another Nancy approved quilt- she's becoming quite the ham for the camera- but alas a bird was on the air conditioner and grabbed her attention. Delivered tonight but I forgot my camera- my sister in law loves both of them *VBG* Didn't Mel do a great job with the quilting????ANd i repay her by sending fabric :P



Here's the bonus hst wall hanging that matches. My niece thought it was for her as it's "her size"



I have no idea how to figure all the fabric used with Grandma Cora, Simply Squares,the spring mystery, which was delivered today to the new mom. She loved it and warned the men of the house it was hers and then this pineapple blossom tonight.
2 kings,
1 queen and a full ....I'm way ahead of the game- opps I had 1 1/2 yards come in yesterday for the kitchen sink borders and binding- legal buys but still ahead of the game -now if I can get the next 3 in que done the week after next life would be grand.
We leave in the morning. Big Poppi is "supposed" to be playing for the Sea Dogs. The kids have a HUGE table of Mad Libs, remember them???? Nothing like teenage responses to Mad Libs.....

I got a Log Cabins with Attitude book in the mail today and my yard and half of 30's prints for the borders and binding of my kitchen sink quilt.








I was told/asked to clean my sewing area up before vacation. I have a 8x11' area that holds the commputer desk, book case and sewing table right in the dining room.....


But I found chocolate and my conscience while doing so:


We get these reminders on one of my yahoo groups about cleaning the wheels of our chairs. I never paid attention to it but look what I found today.....gross


Hey if it doesn't pour Monday night, we might see Big Poppi on rehab at the Sea Dogs in Portland. Figure he needs 3 games before they start playing the Yankees in Boston Friday night. The kids are so excited.

I now have 3 quilts in que to quilt starting when we get back from vacation in this order,
Ann's Summer Mystery
Ocean Waves
and Carolina Cross Roads.
My piecing project is the second Yogi quilt for Yogi and Carmen :)
I hope to have it done early in August. Like the weekend of Ann's mystery.

Now that the sewing area is clean, I can worry about packing tomorrow and leave Monday for New England -yeah!!!

Once Upon a time

I would start a project , maybe a second one but no more than that and finish them. By hand, piecing and quilting. And those who know me, know that I don't make small quilts 90% of the time 60x84" is the norm for the kids and 80" square is the minimum for a coverlet on our bed.
So today I was minding my own business - looking for some solids to cut for Amish Tumbling blocks as my piecing project for vacation.And a container fell off the shelf full of Diamond Strings Well I need at least another 10 blocks and I'm bored with strings, they make such a mess so I did a few rows including sashing- black cause it frames it so well. Now I need to make more blocks and figure what color I want the cornerstones and whether I want to dye some bright color for my inner border. Too much detail
:( So I started putting things away and found more strips for binding on my pineapple blossom and I found another 6 blocks of another project I was doing ( top secret till top is finished- maybe tomorrow :D ) But I don't want a plain backing for this one so I think I'm going to order a fatback for it but not sure of the color. And I'm toying with silk or wool for a batting. But I want them tomorrow not when I get back from vacation :(. I was informed that ALL of this mess needs to be cleaned up before we leave- fat chance - well maybe if I stop playing for awhile. But I did put all my embroidery threads away and plan on cleaning the machine tonight again and see if maybe it will play nice for a day or two.
SO maybe I should stop playing on the computer and get something done....like the binding on pineapple blossom. Graduation party is the Saturday after we get back.


So, I never got the area cleaned but I have a new flimsy :)

Fourth Finish of the Week

If I didn't have enough quality control inspectors with Moose and Nancy, here's my our door kitty, Cliff, checking my work before I threw the quilt in the wash. I "think" I'm done for the week. I'm going to trim Pineapple Blossom tonight but I don't have the binding made. Might be a job for tomorrow. Tonight though, is for watching the Mets and working on my flag banner.

Grandma Cora Finished

Last night at our guild's quilt group I started the binding on Grandma Cora. I intended to finish it during the All Star game. Hell if I had the other quilt trimmed and binding made I probably could have finished that one too :P. Now when the Yankees and Red Sox play it's usally close to 4 hours - but 4 hours and 50 minutes??? I fell asleep in the 14th inning. But the AL wins again-woo hoo!




And this goofy cat sleeps in the center of the quilt on the bed.Like it was made for her.....


I finished the mystery top minus borders this evening- well actually the last row is made and I ran out of bobbins and don't feel like making them tonight so it will be for first thing tomorrow and then I need to go fix the tulip backing and finish that one for before I leave on vacation. I'd love to bind the pineapple blossom and get that ready for my sil for a graduation present. Thanks all for the input on that.

Yesterday I gave Simply Squares to the teen turning 16 Monday as I won't see her again. And she cried -lol. Hormonal girls crack me up.
Love quilt is in the mail. 3 finishes in about a week- life is good here *VBG*

THEY'RE HERE!!!

My quilts came home today THANK YOU MEL!!!
Right away I trimmed the Grandma Cora quilt and finished making binding for it and was in the process of attaching when I remembered, I have Quilt As You Like Night with guild members tonight and I knew I wanted to start stitching my binding down. But what about dinner?? I can't meet friends as they're coming later than I need to open :( Then I remembered I had bought all the ingregients for Libby's Tomato Pie . It is to die for. I cheat and mix everything but the tomatoes together mincing my spinach instead of basil( this time) very fine and it's just yummy. So I'll take a slice of that for dinner and some unsweetened iced tea and fruit for dessert and I'm ready to go.

So the Pineapple Blosson in fall colors was supposed to be for my sil's 40th bday on New Years Day, but she just graduated from the school she was going to for medical training to do sonograms, so you think I should bind the quilt and give it to her at her party????

Monday Musings

Look !!! I started a kitchen sink quilt in my left over 30's prints.It was so humid in the garage ( where the frame is) that I would come in for breaks and do things like change loads in the laundry, start dinner - etc etc.I have quite a few rows to go but you get the idea *VBG*



Did anyone but Paula see that home run derby tonight? WOW is all I have to say- Hamilton hit the back wall of the stadium ,even A -Hole ( I mean Arod :p ) hasn't done that.
And our cable company announced they'll carry MLB network next January- baseball 24/7 OH YEAH!!!

I was working on quilting the tulip quilt and came to the last 16" guess what? The backing was 6" too SHORT So I figure out how to get it off the frame w/o repiining the whole thing - find some scraps of muslin from the last quilt and bring it inside and sew the spare backing to the original backing. Looks great, bring it back to the frame reload it, go to pin the backing and the seam is on the WRONG SIDE of the backing. So now I need to take it off AGAIN.Rip the seam out and resew-reload etc etc. grrr. At least I made some major progress on the flag banner's bapstist fans *VBG* and I got the rest of my star buttons for it :-D




I was taking a pic of the above quilt and saw my dragon- Meet Trouble ( yep that's his name) I got him at the Philley Flower show a few years back. And I got to carry him around all day in my knapsack-lol. We love Philley almost as much a Beantown or Portland. Look what's coming in Sept, The Gee's Bend's Quilts Hubby and I are going to try and go late Sept. on a Friday or something and hopefully catch a Phillies game that night. Have to look at the schedule. He's rather see an Eagles game but I have to draw the line somewhere-lol.




Lastly, here's a quilt from the NJ Quilt show in June. I think this is on my list for sometime this year. But it will be a scrappy 2 color quilt.