1st Block of Bianca's BOW Christmas Quilt

Here is the 1st block of my Christmas Quilt. Can't wait to see how it will turn out.

July's BOM for the OhioQuilters

Here is July's BOM

Baby Steps

Today begins my fifth week of retirement. I spent the day cleaning my bedroom. Taking baby steps. I threw away a lot of stuff but still have lots that I need to get rid of. It took ten years to accumulate the clutter after we moved here. Hopefully, I can get rid of the mess faster than that.

What Happened to Summer

I woke up this morning to the realization that summer passed me by. What happened! In May I was looking forward to retirement. Well, I retired July 30, 2010. It has been a month and I am just beginning to settle into a routine.

So much has occurred in this last month. Week 1 we had our three youngest granddaughters spend a few days with us. Week 2 I was fortunate to get to spend several days at a quilting retreat. I had a wonderful time hanging out with a great group of ladies who like to sew as much as I do. Unfortunately, week 3 my dad passed away. He was in very poor health and I think just gave up once he realized he would have to remain in an extended care facility. As for week 4, I can't tell you what happened. It just went by in a flash. Weird, how that happens.

We went to Jackson today to visit my father-in-law. We also went to the cemetery. Hopefully, it will cool down a little and Jack and I can get to the yard work. The weeds are taking over.

Blogging Is Hard

I am not the best blogger in the world. By the time I have a few minutes to post updates I am too tired. Can't wait for retirement from the "working world". I want to do my kind of work and that is making quilts. Once I put the 9-5 routine behind me I will have the energy to devote to making more quilts including (drum roll here) actually fully completing quilts. Jack says my collection hanging over the upstairs bannister does not qualify me as a quilter.

I worked on two "Quilts for Kids" and two for the James' Stitching Sisters this past weekend at a wonderful quilting retreat in Berlin, Ohio. The group consists of a bunch of wonderfully talented ladies. There were many beautiful quilts in progress. I hope some of that talent rubs off on me. I can't wait for next year.

Cleaning House

It's been a tough two weeks. Dad went into an extended care facility a week and half ago. It is time to clean out his house. He has lived in that house for 20 years; thirteen years without Mom. He was a hoarder and kept everything. My sister, Connie and I are slowly going through the house and getting rid of the things that are of no value. We toss an item then come across another item that holds memories and stop to talk about them. It will take awhile but we will enjoy our time together.

Snow Day

Didn't feel like driving in this nasty snow today. Fortunately, my boss allowed me to take a vacation day and stay home. Fantastic! A whole day to sew to my heart's content. I decided to use the time to make the six blocks for the OhioQuilters' Blue and White Block Swap. Well, it didn't go as I had planned. As I placed the finished blocks on my design wall I realized they would work really well for the embroidered lighthouse blocks that I have been agonizing over. The blue and white blocks set the lighthouse blocks off perfectly. Goodbye swap, hello challenge quilt.

Finished Quilt Top

Thursday night I finished a quilt top I began three weeks ago. It turned out even better than I expected. I can't wait to get it quilted.

Quilt for Kids

Here is a picture of a quilt I made for Quilts for Kids. It was a quick and easy pattern. I hope it will make some little one happy.

I Was Never Good At Keeping a Diary

I wondered how good I would be at keeping a blog up-to-date. I was never very good at keeping a diary nor was I good at journaling. I am glad I haven't put my blog out there for the world to see.

I am going to give it another try, though. It is such a great way to share my quilting with friends.

Friday (September 25, 2009) was Jack's last working day at the prison. He is officially retired on Wednesday, September 30. His birthday is tomorrow - 62 years old. Of course, he is not really retiring. He is just making a career change. He will become a nanny to Alexie and Ian. I think he is really looking forward to his new responsibilities.

Yeah! I have succeeded. I managed to clean my sewing room enough last week that I worked some on a quilt top I started in May. Saturday, I spent more time deep cleaning the room. I have four bookcases in the room. I cleaned two of them. I also have a four drawer office file cabinet that is full of "important" paper plus other useless junk. I cleaned just one of the drawers. Altogether I threw away five large trash cans of trash. I still have three file drawers plus two bookcases to clean. Nothing like getting control of the room. I then spent some time sewing and managed to finish the quilt top. I will post pictures of the room and the quilt top. I am happy with both,

September came and now not much left of it. I finally got to spend some time working on a quilt. I spent yesterday cleaning the sewing room so I could actually get to the sewing machine.

Last night Jack and I with Alexie went to Nationwide Arena to see the "Spirit of America" show performed by members of the US Army. It was truly inspiring. The music was excellent. The show covered 234 years of history of the Army.

Cannot believe it is now September. Where does the time go?

For joy! For joy! Jack now has only four weeks left to retirement. I can't wait and I know he can't.

I still have everything left on my to-do list left except I did manage to get Olivia's pants shortened. Now I need to mail them to Olivia before school starts for her, which is next Tuesday.

Is It September 11, 2009 Already

Where does the time go? I thought I could post something everyday but am not as dedicated as I thought I would be. Our family had a great Labor Day weekend. Kristen came down Sunday and stayed until Monday. We celebrated Layla's 7th birthday Sunday. Her birthday is actually tomorrow, September 12.

Monday we went to Connie and Jim's in Jackson for the Phillips Reunion. We had a wonderful time. Those attending were:
Daddy
Connie and Jim
Kristina and Brian
David and Kim
Kara and Andy (Roof)
Jeremy and Linda
Sadie, Lexie, and Zena
Carolyn and Jack
Rob and Lisa
Erin and Joey
Jeannie and Jason
Alexie and Ian
Jeremy and Kelli
Ivan
After the reunion David took Jack and me and Ivan for a ride around Lake Jackson on his new pontoon boat. After that Jack and I and Ivan stopped by Doris's house and visited. Doris's family, Alice and Tommy, and Edie plus others were there. We had a really nice time.

No sewing done this weekend. I did do the 5K Heart Walk Saturday and paid dearly for that. Came home, took two aspirins, a shower, then took a nap. Jack and I went to Jackson Saturday evening for Aunt Bonnie's 65th birthday party. We had a nice time at Dave and Karen's. They have such a beautiful home.

Sunday I slept late, read the newspaper, went to Waffle House, the library, then to Kroger's. Later, Jack and I went to Jeannie and Jason's to pick-up Jason's work time sheet that needed to be faxed to his company. We then took stuff to my new office. Jack helped me file the service reports back into the file cabinets. I'm sure they would have stayed in boxes for months if Jack hadn't helped me.

I spent some time working on the sewing room. Got a little more things put away.

Finished shortening the pants for Olivia. Couldn't find Layla's pants. I think maybe she took them back home. She loved the pants but they were so tight on her. I need to buy her a larger size.

Sunday we took our PC to Dayton to give to Lori. Her computer is shot and not dependable. Because we have the laptops we don't use the PC anymore, plus it freed up some space in the sewing room.

Yeah!!! The weekend is here. Tomorrow I sew.

I worked late today and was too tired to do anything when I got home. At least it will soon be the weekend. I need to clean downstairs but I WILL get some sewing done. I need to start eliminating some of the things on my to do list.