Quilting Frenzy

I'm in one. Though in the 10 days since I last posted I've also done a boatload of cooking. Our son turned 22 on Monday and Sunday he had several friends over for playoff football and pretty much all they could eat. I spent Saturday doing all the prepwork, which took most of the day and cooked for most of the day on Sunday, but it was well worth it.

I'll be doing it all again for Super Bowl Sunday, though, as of now, for our family and the two boyfriends.

For the most part, though, I'm in a quilting frenzy. After spending the weekend cooking and cleaning it all up, I decided I'd take Monday "off". It was actually Joshua's birthday that day, but he had to work until 2:30. When he got home, about 3:15, he left here with my husband and other two sons (along with a friend and to drop off Rebekah), Rachel was babysitting. So at 3:30, my whole family was gone except Ruthie and they didn't get back home until 9:00. I had saved leftovers from the day before so I didn't have to cook and I sat and quilted for nearly the entire day. The result was four blocks completed on the ring quilt and I'm thrilled with the results.

I also have 3 tops that are in the works that I want to spend time on. One is the Posy and Celtic top and the next step on that one is to add the sashing and sew the blocks together. I'm hoping to get a start on that later today, but that depends on the flying geese. The blocks are finished and sewn into rows, I cut the border fabric this morning and will spend today sewing that top together. I hope to get it finished this afternoon, but one never knows what will thwart my efforts with all the activity here! At left is a picture of 2 of the rows sewn together and the barely visible border fabric. I went through my entire stash trying to find just the right fabric and I'd nearly given up when I found this one. I'm really excited to see it all put together!

In the planning stage I have an Irish Chain, being done as part of an email group. I've chosen my fabrics, figured out my size requirements and how to make the blocks, and have written out the cutting directions. I'm hoping to have this one cut by the end of the weekend and maybe even have a start on the sewing, but I'll have to see how time plays out. I'm doing a Double Irish Chain and the open white spaces will have flowers appliqued in them. I'm really excited about this project!

I promised myself that I would finish quilting "Joyful" before starting the ring flower quilt, and I did. When I photographed the top, I had a hard time getting the colors to photograph true to color, this time they are spot on.

Here is a closeup of the quilting on the blocks and borders.

And here is a closeup of the back. I enjoy the backs of my quilts nearly as much as the fronts!

And no post is complete without a Ruthie picture. She was quiet for a while so I went to see if she was sleeping and found her all curled up with a blanket and a movie. I never tire of that smile!

I babysit all afternoon today and have to get a quick lunch before he comes. I'm hoping to get some, if not all, of the flying geese top assembled this afternoon and Thursday nights are quiet here so I should be able to finish whatever is not done. Then there is all the paper to pull off since this one is paper pieced. I don't mind that, though, it's great TV work!

Here's to a healthy, productive day, and QUILTY day for all!
Sue and Ruthie

Sewing room changes, quilting goals, and Ruthie update

It's not a clever title, but tells you exactly what you'll get!

Before Christmas, I decided that my sewing room really needed an overhaul. It felt cramped and was very cluttered, as I'd gotten into the habit of placing some storage on the floor in front of existing storage. I also had a stack of bins that looked messy and had a tendency to lean. I was just not happy with it all anymore. I did manage to wait until after the holidays to pull it all apart, I was itching to do it the week before Christmas, but knew I had way too much to do Christmas week to have the room in disarray!

Our bedroom was also getting the same feel, so I tore both rooms apart, moving some storage between them, and revamped both rooms.

In the first picture, the area on the right is the "clutter" spot and tends to gather the bits and baubles that need to be put away. It used to be the cutting area, but I now use my table for that as I can clear it off easily and have plenty of room. The old cutting area tended to be a bit cramped when working with larger pieces of fabric or making larger cuts.

The middle area is a dresser, which contains "office" type supplies, along with some bags and a couple of works in progress. I can put them away out of sight, but have easy access to them. On top of it is a small ironing board, which can also be easily moved to the table if I need more space. For most of the pressing involved in quilt piecing, it will be just fine where it is and be right behind where my sewing machine will be set up, providing easy access.

The second picture shows my table, which has an extra leaf available when needed. I placed it on an angle, which really opened up the room a lot. The shelves full of bins don't look nearly as cluttery in person as in the picture to me, but it is what it is!

The bookshelf is all the way to the right and has a small quilt hanging on it. I plan to make a couple more that size so I can change them out with the seasons. This one says "Let It Snow" much to the chagrin of Rachel (16) who really doesn't like winter once we get past the holidays.

The biggest change is in the third picture. I brought down my chaise/couch (sits like a chaise, looks like a couch) from our bedroom and put it in front of the window. The dresser that was there went to our bedroom. The dresser in the earlier picture was in the corner, but I brought down some storage boxes from our room for that spot. Because of the angle of the boxes, there is a small space between the couch and the boxes that is just perfect for my sewing machine in it's case. It's out of sight, but quite easily accessible. The couch is not only nice for doing handwork on, but will allow me to keep an eye on Lucas and Ruthie when they are outside and I would rather not be. The seat of the couch lifts off and provides a bunch of storage underneath. I took all the basted quilts and finished tops out of the leaning tower of boxes and they ALL fit in this space. Again, easy to access when looking for a project, but totally out of sight.

So now I love this room more than ever. When joined by one or more of the kids, I don't feel like we're all crammed in a small space, and I can't get to what I want/need.

With that big project out of the way, I'm turning my thoughts to my winter quilting. The stained glass quilt, "Joyful", is nearly done. I have 3 1/2 more blocks to quilt and then the small borders. I'm hoping to be binding this by the end of the week. Once it's finished, I'll be taking a couple more pictures and hopefully the colors will be more true. I love the picture, LOL, but the colors are much brighter than the picture shows.

As soon as Joyful is done, the ring block quilt will be next in the hoop. This one will take a long time, it's very large, 98 x 98, and has a lot of quilting on it. I've been looking forward to this one since I finished it and even moreso since I revamped the outer border. I'm hoping to make quite a dent before the weather gets warm and then the small frame might make an appearance again. With my room redone, I should be able to have it out without it being too disruptive to the space.

Also on the agenda is assembling the posy and celtic top. The blocks are finished now and I had planned to put the top together over the weekend but got waylaid so it is still needing to be done. I've decided not to get out the sewing machine until I have to bind Joyful, so this won't be worked on until then. Once out, the machine will stay out for a while as I have a couple of other tops that I want to work on as well.

One is a new strip quilt. This one has background fabric on half of the block and will be set in a zig zag setting once finished. With only half of the piecing of the other quilt, this one should go much faster. There will be a motif quilted in the large triangle and when set together it will nearly look like a continuous design.

I've also pulled out an old project. Many years ago, my first foray into the internet quilting world was an IRC chat line. We did quite a few swaps, and one of them was a flying geese swap. Usually when I did a swap, I made enough blocks to make a whole quilt top, but way too many of these would have been needed. I have several strips of 6 geese from the swap and also traded fabrics with a good friend who designed this paper pieced foundation. We also both received some fabric pieces from other friends, the goal being to have no two geese the same. These were out of sight, so out of mind, but a few months ago I came across them and really want to finish. The blocks are nearly done, will be set into long, vertical rows, and there will be a print strip of fabric between the rows. That's the plan, anyway, I won't know for sure until I lay it all out!

Writing it out makes me even more excited about it all. I've been doing chores while waiting for pictures to upload, so once I'm done posting I should be able to quilt for a good part of the day. It's supposed to snow here again, and I'm hoping it starts while still daylight so I can quilt and watch it fall.

And finally, Ruthie. She's doing so well, and is more verbal every day, it seems. The baby look is totally gone and she's quite the young lady. She looked so adorable dressed for church yesterday so I tried to get some pictures. Of course, getting her to sit still long enough AND look and the camera made things interesting!

At first, she just ran away.

Then she wouldn't look at the camera, though at least she was standing somewhat still.

At right, I coaxed out a smile.

She decided this still displaced storage box (it will soon hold some of the hand-me-downs we've been given for her that are still way too big) was a good place to sit for a picture, though didn't sit there long enough for me to get one!

She's quite the busy girl these days, going from her movies (she sometimes watches two at a time, one on the small TV in their room and one on a portable DVD player that she uses when Lucas is using the TV) to checking out what everyone is doing, playing with her new dolly, and "helping" the kids play games.

With her currently occupied, it's time to fix a quick lunch for me (everyone else has eaten) and get to my sewing! After listing out all the fun things I'm looking forward to, I really want to get to them.

Happy Quilting and Stay Warm!

Sue and Ruthie

Christmas Wrap-up and Looking Ahead

Whew! It's been crazy here since last I wrote. These couple of weeks at the end of December are always wild, it seems, but not usually quite as crazy as this year.

Ruthie got the stomach flu on Christmas Eve, which put a bit of a damper on things. I was singing at church that night so couldn't stay home with her. Rebekah and Brian offered to stay with her so my husband would be able to go.

She was fine on Christmas morning, though a bit crabby about opening gifts. In the end, a good time was had by all. We had our Christmas feast, which was enhanced further by four 1+ pound lobster tails courtesy of Brian.

If you look in the picture above, you can see the big TV on the bottom. That was my grandma's and it stopped working not too long after we got it. Our family TV, which had been moved to my sewing area, was moved back and it stopped working the Sunday before Christmas. When Lucas got the Playstation 2 from Rebekah and Brian, he glanced over at the non-working TVs, wanting to be able to play in the family room, but able to play in his room if needed. I told him quietly that we'd move my sewing room TV, the 19 inch my kids bought me for my birthday, downstairs so he could play. Brian caught wind of it and took charge.

After some discussion as to whether or not our TVs were worth fixing, it was determined that at 10+ years old, they probably weren't. Brian showed up Sunday with the spare TV from his basement. Were we surprised to see this come through our door!

He installed it and hauled away the two old TVs. The look on Lucas' face later in the day when he turned on his Playstation was priceless.

The night before the TV switch was made, Lucas got the stomach flu. The day after, both Mike and I got it. Rebekah got it New Year's Eve and now the only holdouts are Joshua and Rachel.

The ups and downs of the past December are a little mind-boggling when I think them all through. In the end, I think that we came out feeling more positive about a lot of things than we have in a long time.

So now it's time to look ahead! I realized that over the course of all these difficulties that I withdrew into my quilting. It was a good thing for the most part. It gave me peace and pleasure and helped to protect my aching and confused soul. I feel as if I'm coming out of that fog and one of the results is wanting to spruce up our house.

Change comes little by little. As our kids have gotten bigger, slowly the house has become easier to manage. Instead of fighting fires, I want to prevent them. My sewing room and it's lack of aesthetics, has been bothering me for a while. I love the space in general, I'm just ready to take it to the next step of organization.

Part of that will include making some changes in our bedroom as I move storage pieces between the two rooms. I figure that this will be a project that encompasses a few days and I'm anxious to start, but really shouldn't until Monday, when our schedule is back to normal and it is less likely that we'll have friends floating in and out among my mess. I am going to start getting ready, though, by doing some necessary cleaning out and organizing to make the implementation easier.

I feel like I've been running a marathon. I took yesterday "off", or as off as I can get. I was also able to relax and applique some on New Year's Day and the result of these is the posy blocks are finished!

So in addition to sprucing up and reorganizing several rooms in the house, I'm also looking ahead to my quilting for the winter. The stained glass quilt is in the hand quilting stage and not very big so I expect that one to be done soon. As I reorganize, I'm going to see if there are any other smaller quilts in progress that I can finish before tackling the ring quilt.

My plan is to cut sashing for the posy quilt today and I'd really like to get the sashing and blocks all sewn together today. I won't be adding borders yet as I'm not sure yet what will be in the outer border and don't want to limit myself by having the size chosen and already sewn on.

The marking of the sashing on this one will be a bear if I do it as I hope to and then there is a lot of celtic applique to do before this top is finished. I've been really looking forward to the sewing part, but am a bit aprehensive about the marking part.

I also have another strip quilt in the works as well as some other old piecing projects that I wouldn't mind seeing finished this year.

But first off, I need to get organized. This will allow me to be much more productive, with the added bonus of more enjoyable surroundings.

And then there is Ruthie. Aside from the stomach flu, she's been doing just great. Christmas wasn't met quite as enthusiastically as I expected, but she had a good time and she is interacting more and more with people who come to the house, which is really wonderful. In the next week or so, we're going to attempt potty training. With developmental delays, she hasn't seemed anywhere near ready before now, and I'm not really sure she is now, but you never know until

you try. Santa brought her a whole bunch of pretty underwear, which she loved, stacked and re-stacked and wore as hats. We'll see!

Until next time, I hope you are all happy and healthy and enjoying this quiet, post holiday time.

Sue

Christmas Spirit

I didn't have much. I was feeling downright grinch-like, to be honest. At this time last year, we were hoping the new year would bring some relief to our woes, but the year started off telling us otherwise, with my sewing machine breaking down and our water heater dying in the first two days of the year.

And so it went, one thing after another, fighting fires, taking care of the most pressing matters as we were able, letting the other slide until money was available.

As we headed into December, I knew it would be another year where we wondered where the Christmas money was coming from. As late as mid-month, we were wondering if there would be any at all. I planned well with my groceries and was able to plan our Christmas feast and cookie making without adding too much extra to my grocery bill, for that I was really thankful. One of the highlights of Christmas for my kids is dinner.

Last Tuesday, I got the surprise of my life. Noah's mom called to ask me if I was free for dinner when she picked him up. Amazingly I was, my kids are usually busy most evenings and I don't often have someone available to watch the younger kids. Her mom met us at Panera (her mom is our pastor's wife and a good friend) and we enjoyed a nice meal together. I was then told they had additional plans. They wanted to take me shopping. I guess each year they pick someone to surprise with something special and this year it was me. Citing the fact that moms are always the last to get what they need, they wanted to spruce up my wardrobe.

Anyone watch What Not To Wear? It felt like that, without all the criticism. I didn't even know where to begin, but they got a feel for what I might like and they started pulling things off the racks and I went to the dressing room and tried on all different things. There was the "doesn't fit and/or we don't really like it" pile and the pile of things that we all liked. I went out to show them everything that fit at their request.

Now initially, I was horribly uncomfortable. I didn't feel deserving of it and wondered how in the world I choose when someone else's money is being spent. I need not have worried, they had a plan. They took the pile of things we liked and, while I danced Noah around the store (it was getting late and he was getting tired) they picked out what they wanted to buy.

The bottoms are basics. Nicely fitting jeans, a pair of black slacks, and a black tulip skirt, just below the knee with a little flare at the bottom.

These are the jackets. Each very different, each usable with all 3 bottoms.

These are the casual shirts. Again, each a different style and each one usable with all 3 bottoms.

And the dressy shirts. The one on the left has a metallic gold accent running through it and the one on the right has little sequins.

Finally, the accessories. We were finished with the clothing and I was about to begin walking around with Noah when I heard "shoes!" and we headed to the shoe department. The necklace was a little added surprise in the bags.

It was a mind boggling night. I had forgotten what it was like to really get dressed and not just throw on a pair of jeans and a big shirt in the morning. It was also a little bittersweet. I had just been given a marvelous Christmas when I was wondering how to provide Christmas for our kids.

Sometimes I feel like God's most unfaithful child. While we had less than usual to spend, we did have some money by Friday and I worked on my Christmas list to make the most of it. Monday was to be the big shopping day. I needed to take Jonathan to shop for his siblings, bring him home and then take Lucas to shop. I would then leave to do mine, needing to be home by 6:00 so Rachel could babysit and the boys could leave for a planned outing.

But Sunday night Joshua's car wouldn't start, which means he needed Rachel's car, which meant I didn't have a car to use until my husband was home between jobs. I could then take him to work and get started...at 2:00 in the afternoon! Sunday was also bitterly cold and windy and Monday was expected to be the same. It was daunting to think of doing so many errands on such a day, and trying to fit them in so little time seemed impossible.

Rebekah and her boyfriend have been sharing her vehicle as his wasn't working. He got his fixed, though, and she showed up at home Sunday night with her truck. I didn't know until Monday morning, but an early start was again possible.

I left at 9:30 in the morning with Jonathan, brought him home and picked up Lucas, finished with him and picked up Rebekah, who helped me with grocery shopping and picking out a few things for Rachel. I dropped her off at home and picked up Rachel, who also had an errand she needed to run, then she helped me pick out some things. I brought her home and headed back out for the few things she couldn't be with me while I bought. I finally arrived home for the night at 9:00pm. Rachel's babysitting was canceled and the boys opted to stay home which allowed me to shop until I finished.

EVERYTHING was done. The Christmas shopping, the grocery shopping, every bit of it. I found so many good sales that I felt like the boy with the loaves and fishes, the money we had seemed to go so much farther than I expected it would. I had assumed I'd have to go back out today, but when the car issues cropped up I knew it would be best if I got everything finished.

So today, I should be able to get everything finished that I thought I'd have to cram into today (around shopping trips) and tomorrow morning. The wrapping is already finished as I woke very early with aching legs and feet and couldn't get back to sleep. I figured I might as well get up and get started! I have laundry to do, laundry soap to make, two pans of cookie bars plus bread to bake, and I still have to do the homemade marshmallows. As time permits, there is also picking up and vacuuming and bathrooms to be cleaned.

My husband told me to try to lay down for a while, even if I can't sleep, but there likely won't be time for that. If I get it all done today, though, tomorrow can be spent relaxing!

So my Christmas spirit, while a long time in coming, is here in full force and I'm so very thankful for that. I also figured out the nice thing about shopping so late...I don't have so long to wait to see them open their gifts!

I hope this Christmas season find you all happy, healthy and rejoicing that God sent His son.

Sue

Making Progress

I had a busy and productive weekend. My hunters were at it again, leaving my days quite free, but my evenings more hectic and full of clutter as the hunting gear was piled in my sewing area before dinner and on the dining table after since it was needed very early each morning.

I was able to piece, mark and baste the two sets of four placemats. I still have a sewing mat to make and a set of six placemats, but am feeling more confident that I will be able to finish them all.

I had given myself until the end of this week to get the first set finished and was hoping to finish a bit earlier so I could start on the next ones and keep a good pace. Much to my surprise, the first set quilted up much more quickly than I anticipated and I just finished binding them a few minutes ago.

There are two of each color combination to make up the set. I'm so glad to have these done already and will move on to the Christmas set as soon as I'm finished here.

Rebekah and I sat and visited on Thursday, opening day for hunting, and were thrilled to get text messages shortly after lunchtime that both Joshua and RACHEL had each gotten a deer. It was Rachel's first year hunting and she's one of the only girls hunting here through the conservation district, so everyone was quite excited when she had to check it in at the checkpoint. Joshua got a second one on Saturday, making 11 for him in 8 years. He's becoming quite the prolific hunter and my freezer thanks him!

Ruthie has seen just about everyone in the house hold up quilts for me as I've taken pictures, so she decided it was her turn. She took Noah's off of the table and was holding it, we quickly figured out she wanted to hold it for a picture.

Ruthie is still heavily into writing and remarkably rarely will write on something she shouldn't. She holds a pencil perfectly (most of the time) and draws a "kercle" (circle) pretty well. She writes more and more strokes that look like beginning writing strokes, so now when she hands over the pencil and it's my turn, I draw stick figures and write her name, etc, hoping to start to see some of that come from her pencil.

We have a big box of old computer paper with the "tractor" holes on the side, so Ruthie has all the paper she needs for a while. We actually pull off the holes and use it in our printer, she knows to go take a sheet or two out when she wants to write.

With much more quilting to do, and some dishes waiting to be wiped I need to run or I'll sit here until I'm too tired to do anything else!

Happy Quilting!

Sue and Ruthie

Plan B...

is both stressful and exciting. It figures, just yesterday I wrote that I had little Christmas sewing and while laying awake at 5am, unable to go back to sleep, I realized I really did need to do a few things.

I have a small quilting bee once a month with two very dear friends. They are both older than I, having children around my age. We mostly talk, we sew a bit and have a treat. We meet the last Friday of the month, but our November meeting nearly always falls the day after Thanksgiving so we move it to the first week of December, go out for lunch and exchange small gifts.

Gifts. Usually I make something, but didn't even know what to do this time. I was going to buy something, but really there isn't money for that and there is nothing small that I could buy for them that I know they would really like and would be useful. I was in denial. As I lay awake in bed this morning, the worries came flooding in. I hate that! Somehow things that don't seem quite as daunting in the light of day seem so ominous in those wee hours of the morning.

As I ticked through all the things that we need money for in the next month, I knew that careful planning would be of the essence. I have to squeeze every bit I can out of what money will be available for Christmas. The better I've planned it, the less stressful it will be. The listmaking will likely begin today.

One thing I can do something about right away is these gifts. I remembered a pattern set I bought long ago, it had paper piecing patterns for 6 different placemats, enough to make 6 of each. I'm wimping out and making the two easiest ones in the package, the flying geese (upper right) and single braid (lower right.) I think that my two friends will each get 4 the same and my inlaws will get two of each. I thought of giving them each two of each one, but don't want my friends' gifts to be exactly the same.

I finally gave up trying to sleep at about 6:30 and tried to get myself going for the day. It took a couple of jump starts, I felt too tired a couple of times and laid back down only to realize that I wasn't going to fall back to sleep. I got my cup of coffee and started to look for the pattern, which thankfully was right where I expected it to be. I've pulled the pattern pieces and will be pulling fabric when I'm done here.

The magnitude of this last minute project is hitting me, I have two weeks to finish the 12 placemats. One set needs to be in the mail next week (which if I'm on target to finish should be no problem.)

What is the problem is Lucas got what I had and I think Ruthie is next. Lucas has been a trooper and really just wants to just lay on the couch and rest and watch TV, but if Ruthie gets it, too, I don't really know what to expect. If she needs lots of lap time, that will mean some very late nights for me and I'm still coughing quite a lot, too. My husband, two older sons, and middle daughter are all hunting again this weekend. Should they be successful (and we REALLY hope they are) that means processing deer in my dining room for several days after the hunt. Most of the work is done by my husband and oldest son, but I am "on call" for if they need anything or are ready to package up meat.

Still, I feel more optimistic than I was feeling at 5am. One way or another things always seem to work themselves out and I'm sure they will again. With that, I'm going to run, I have work to do! Hopefully Miss Ruthie will be as happy as she is in this picture so Mom can get some work done!

Happy Quilting!

Sue and Ruthie

Quilting and Recovering

I still have a horrible cough. I feel good, mostly have energy but, at times, feel like I'll cough out a lung! Today seems better, not as much coughing and not as hard, so I think it's finally on it's way out. Unfortunately Lucas has now come down with it and Ruthie is coughing a bit, though, as usual, she seems to have escaped the worst of it. God truly watches over our little angel, she is supposed to have a propensity for ear and respiratory infections and not only has not had either, but is, so far, the healthiest of our children.

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful, just us minus one daughter, plus one boyfriend. I ended up not quite as busy as I expected for the weekend, which means more quilting time than I anticipated so Noah's quilt is DONE! I put the last stitch in the binding last night.

I'm now back to quilting on the joyful quilt, feeling like I want to finish this one before moving on to the ring quilt. Aside from a few small sewing projects, I have nothing else to sew for Christmas which means working on whatever I'd like through the holidays. This is the first year since I've started quilting, I think, that I didn't have a Christmas crunch of sewing projects.

I'm nearly done with block number 9 out of 20, and hoping that two weeks at the most and this one will be finished, also. I think I have enough batting here to baste another small quilt and I may do that while my table is still relatively clear so I still have a couple of smaller things to work on. The ring quilt will be fun, but tedious and large. There are times I don't feel like wrestling with a big quilt.

We have another hunting weekend coming up, this one here in Illinois, so there should be some good sewing time this weekend as well. My four hunters will be gone during the day Thursday through Sunday, home for the evening, but hopefully processing deer and then early to bed for early rise the next day.

I'm still a little shocked that Christmas is now less than a month away and am in serious denial. Thankfully I only have to shop for my kids and husband, with a little something for the boyfriends. I will likely be shopping at the last minute, not ideal as that is when I normally bake. Somehow it will all get done and even though it will be busy, it will likely not be nearly as stressful without a bunch of sewing to finish!

Ruthie loves the computer. She can't do much on it, yet, but loves looking at "babies" which is what she says when she wants to see HER file of pictures. This includes any pictures I take with people she knows in them. She knows which keys to push to change the picture if they aren't going fast enough for her.

She loves pretending to type. We also have a game that she thinks she's playing, and she can click around with the mouse. I'm working on getting her to realize that the mouse controls the cursor and then the sky will be the limit and we'll be finding some age appropriate learning (and just fun) games for her to play.

In the meantime, these little activites on the computer can keep her quite happy while I'm trying to get a few things done!

Now, off to quilting. I worked on "Joyful" for a nice little chunk of time this morning, have now done a few chores, made a few lunches and got dishes in to soak so I can relax and sew for a while before cleaning off the dishes and doing a few more quick chores. I hope to spend my evening in a comfortable chair quilting and watching some favorite shows.

I hope the same for you, a relaxing evening and time with needle and thread!

Sue and Ruthie