Morning All.  I don't know where the month of June went, but here it is the last day of June.  I hope June was a great month for you. 

I have to share this bible verse with you that was sent to me from the Saddleback Church website I am signed up on.  From John 1:16, "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." (NIV)

This verse has made me stop and take inventory of the many blessings I have received, but have not acknowledged or maybe I haven't even realized.  How about you what blessings have you received?

Blessings to all.

Blessings everyone.  Another fabulously beautiful day here in Monticello today, but I do wish it would rain.  Being retired from farming Gary and I know the pressure that farmers are under right now waiting for the rain to come.  In our area we have had little rain so I do pray for rain.

I've been working on a quilt this week, just took it off of the longarm only to realize I missed quilting a spot.  Geez!!! oh well I'll just put it back on the longarm in the morning and fill-in the blank area.  I would have put it back on as soon as I saw the blank area, but then we have three of the "dumplings" over right now so the quilt will have to wait until tomorrow.  There's a picture below of them on the golf cart with "Papa".  They are riding the golf cart through the neighborhood with Papa right now so I'm trying to get this posted before they return.
I've also posted pictures of last weeks quilts pieced by Joyce, Pam and Kathy.  I never cease to be amazed at all of the beautiful quilts that are quilted on my longarm.  As quilters we are so fortunate to have such a vast selection of material to choose from these days.  I remember when my grandmother quilted she would use polyester material, not my choice, but that was what grandma had available to her at the time.  I think Grandma would  love seeing all of the material that is available now and she would be surprised to see my Gammill/Statler longarm machine.  As quilters we are so fortunate at the vast array of material, notions and machines used to finish our quilt tops.  We can tie a quilt, hand quilt or machine quilt our quilts to put them together.  It's fun to have choices and we are blessed to have many choices when it comes to quilting.
Blessings to all.

Blessings on this beautiful Sunday.  I can't even begin to describe the wonderful weekend we experienced with my brother John and my favorite sister-in-law, Jane.  I don't think I have laughed so much since our last visit.  All I can say is if you say the word "nipples" Jane and I will break into hysterical laughter.  David came home so he could spend some time with his Uncle John and Aunt Jane.  There were times when we were all laughing that David thought we were all acting like we were back in high school since the laughter went on for minutes at a time. I would try to talk get one word out and start laughing uncontrollably again and then Jane would start laughing as well.  What a wonderful visit with wonderful memories.  We did cover a host of topics over the weekend with each of us having our own opinions.  What I love about my brother and sister-in-law is that I am allowed to have my own opinion, even if my opinion may differ from theirs and they still love me and respect me.  It is just wonderful that the four of us can sit down, share our thoughts and not have to worry about being scrutinized. 

We enjoyed the lake and I even floated on Lake Freeman with my floatie.  My back is still sunburn but not to the point of discomfort. I fixed filet mignon, corn-on-the-cob, Bob Evans potatoes (gotta love Bob for fixing the potatoes for me), broccoli salad and rolls.  I don't think I want to get on the scale tomorrow.  I even got to show John and Jane how my Gammill/Statler operates.  They couldn't get over how the computer could run my longarm and the beautiful quilting pattern that was being placed on the quilt.   I've posted a few pictures of the happy foursome.  There is also a picture of this beautiful green frog that decided to take a rest on our umbrella.  Isn't he cute?

Blessings to all.

Happy, Happy Friday Everyone!!!  I didn't quilt today because I've been cleaning rugs, vacuuming, mopping, washing bedding, etc. etc. etc.  All because my big brother (John) and my absolutely favorite sister-in-law (Jane) are coming for the weekend tomorrow. ( I love it when I have weekend guests because it makes me kick it into gear and do some extra cleaning. ) This is our summertime get together weekend.  We always have a special time together.  There will be much laughter, discussion of the election or not, silliness, boating, and sheer joy that the four of us are together enjoying each others' company.  I can't express enough the love I have for my brother and sister-in-law.  I feel blessed.

Well gotta go and put a quilt on the longarm.  John wants to see the Statler in action, so I promised him I'd have a quilt ready to go. 

Blessings to all for a joyful weekend.

Afternoon everyone.  Another hot day here in Monticello, Indiana.  But I'll take this weather any day over snow and ice. 

I just had to post some pictures of the quilt I've been working on.  I actually finished this "star" about 10: 30 pm last night.  It was worth the late hours.  The owner of the quilt Susie A. said this quilt is entirely paper pieced.  I'm sorry, but I don't know the pattern name.  I used two layers of Hobbs 80/20 to "Poof" up the quilt.  The thread is Glide in navy, bright yellow, and a green.  Lots of thread changes, but the quilt called for the different colors.  Over 90% of the quilting was done freehanded.  I only used the Statler in the yellow sections with the spike patterns.  Although this quilt took extra time to quilt, I am so happy with the results.  I hope Susie likes the results as well.

Blessings to all.

Whoops, I almost forgot to say Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there.  I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend.

 I'm so excited I quilted my quilt I call "Illusion", actually called Double the Fun by Kate Spain and Sherri McConnell.  I used the pattern for the back of the quilt which did not have the sashing piece as it did for the front of the quilt.  This pattern was found in the Better Homes and Gardens - Quilts and More Spring 2012 issue on page 50.  The quilting pattern was Curls and Pearls #2 by Nancy Haacke (www.digitizedquiltingpatterns.com) and I enlarged the pattern to 14.7 inches high.  I used two layers of Hobbs 80/20 (white) batting and Glide white thread.  I am very happy with the results of the quilting pattern.  I am doing a "Happy Dance" that this quilted is quilted!!!

Please indulge me I have posted a couple of pictures of our son David and his girlfriend Maddisen.  They were in Monticello this weekend and celebrated Father's Day with us and Madison with her family.  Not that I'm biased or anything, but I think they are such a cute couple.

Well I better get settled down and get some rest.  Four of the five "Dumplings" will be over tomorrow.  Jacob, Abigale, Carly and Eli will certainly liven things up here tomorrow.  I hope Gary has the golf cart all charged up.

Blessings to all.

Happy, Happy Friday!!! Greetings all.  Whew I had quite a week quilting.  Six quilts quilted and back to their respective owners.  I already posted one of the quilts, but below are the other five.  I wish you could see all 75 crystals I placed on the Laurel Burch wallhanging.  Sue H. who made the quilt wanted some "bling" on this quilt so I applied 75 crystals of various colors and she was happy with the "bling" factor.  I just love my job.  I thought each of Sue's quilts were special, but I must say the cowboy boots wallhanging was so cute.  I then found a cowboy boot with spurs pattern and quilted a boot in front of each of the four boots.   The purple material and the black, red & white quilts were made by Sue's daughter, April.  Great color arrangement on each quilt.  The red, white and black quilt had  material that had piano keys on it so I placed a musical pattern by Nancy Haacke on this quilt.  You could almost hear the piano playing once the musical pattern was placed on this quilt.  The row by row quilt was a block of the month Sue signed up for at Rossville Quilts shop www.rossvillequilts.com   I placed many different patterns on this quilt using the Statler and freehand quilting.  Sue does an excellent job at piecing her quilts which makes my job of quilting easier.  Thanks, Sue. 

Well that is my week of quilting.  I'm still wanting to get my illusion quilt on my machine and quilted.  I've got my house in order, grocery shopping done, made a pot of chicken/vegetable soup, but I still have a few things to do before I can quilt.  I want to make a fruit pizza since I have some house guests coming in for the weekend and then maybe I can quilt. 

Oh boy gotta go, hubbies on top of the roof cleaning the skylights.  I think my blood pressure just went up 20 points. 

Blessings to all.

Happy Tuesday, June 12, 2012.  Well I survived my 60th birthday today.  Gary and I had a wonderfully peaceful day.  We were on the go most of the day which included a jaunt to Lafayette to purchase a new sun umbrella for the deck.  I can't wait to set it up tomorrow.  We had lunch at Igloo and I had my most favorite drink of all a Vanilla Coke.  It was worth every calorie.  I even made a quick stop at a quilt shop.  You gotta give Gary credit for being so patient today. We finished up the day by going to our grandson, Jacob's softball game. I didn't get a chance to quilt one of my own quilts today, but that is okay.  I will quilt my Double the Fun (I call mine Illusion) this weekend for sure.
I've posted a picture of a quilt I did yesterday for Nancy J and pieced by Meg F.  I love Kaffe Fassett fabric.  This quilt is so gentle to the eye.  Meg is an excellent piecer so quilting this quilt was so easy.  I used Glide thread in Lt. Lilac and used a pattern called Jamaica.  The quilting is hard to see but the material in this quilt is so beautiful it hardly needed much quilting.  This quilt should be on its way to the National Quilt Association quilt show in Columbus, Ohio www.nqaquilts.org June 14-16, 2012.  Beth is probably hand stitching down the binding as we speak and Nancy J should be hanging it in her booth at the show.  Wish I was going to this show, maybe next year.

Blessings to all and thank you for the birthday well wishes.  Turning 60 wasn't so bad after all.

Today is June 11, 2012.  Today has been a day of reflection for me, in between running errands, grocery shopping, etc. etc. ect.  I've posted a picture of the quilt I quilted for myself last week.  I showed a few pictures of it while it was still on the longarm.  Then I realized this will be my last quilt....... the last quilt I will quilt for myself  while I am still in my 50's, well actually 59.  Tomorrow is my 60th birthday.  Good grief when did 60 years go by.  For some reason I was having a problem turning 60 and then I realized how selfish of an attitude was that for me to think this way.  When my husband( Gary), my  brother (John) and my favorite siter-in-law (Jane) each turned 60 I was elated just knowing they were still here with me on this earth.  So "60" look out here I come.

And how about my Coca-Cola chairs?  (I actually have two)  I just spray painted them over the weekend.  They were looking awfully faded so I got a can of Krylon spray paint and went to work.  I love the Krylon brand of spray paint.  No drips, just a nice even coat of paint on my Coca-Cola chairs.

I did get two quilts quilted today, not bad for a lady turning 60.  Gary asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday tomorrow.  I told him you'll probably think I 'm silly (certainly not the first time in almost 40 years of marriage), but I would just love to spend some time quilting one of my own quilts.  He had thoughts of going to a garden center and picking out some flowers.  We'll just have to see how we end up celebrating my "60th" birthday.  However we celebrate atleast we will be together.

Blessings to all.

Happy Friday!!  And what a glorious day, the sun is shining brightly, boats are on the lake and hardly a cloud in the sky.  I do pray for some rain though for the farmers, gardeners, and those whose lawns could use a natural watering.

I have posted some pictures of quilts I've been working on this week.  The red, white and blue quilt was completed and went back home this week.  Jo Ann H. should have her binding on that quilt and ready for the 4th of July.  The scrappy quilt for Nancy J in the turquoise, orange and green came out beautiful using the Pearls and Curls E2E 2 pattern.  I liked this pattern so much I now have my own quilt on the machine running with this pattern.  I feel a little guilty quilting one of my own quilts, but I will also quilt a customer quilt today.  I'm excited to have one of my own quilts quilted.  Now I just have to get the binding on this quilt.  Not my favorite step in quilting, but you have to do what you have to do to complete your quilt.

I hope you enjoy your day, the people you come in contact with today and the beauty that is all around you.

Blessings to all.