work in progress

Somebody commented on another blog they'd like to see more things in progress. So I'll show you where I started and where I end up with this project.

The first photo shows the fabrics and the pattern laid out together. I really don't do blue at all so I changed to the purply gray fabrics.

The second photo is of the final layout of the applique background and the first flower pinned to it.

The pattern uses holly leaves, flowers and berries. The berries and flowers aren't holly berries or flowers though. Once I got the holly leaves done and pinned onto the background I hated them. I think part of it may have been the colors of the leaves. They just didn't really do anything for it.

So I changed them to ivy leaves and made about 4 times as many leaves as in the original. Since I made soooo many more leaves I can leave off the berries and the applique will still fill the space.

Since our move is only two weeks away it'll be a while before I get back to this.

back in boxes

There's a good size stack of boxes in the spare bedroom now. I hired a kid to come help me. I put an ad on craigslist and he emailed me 41 minutes after I posted!! He packed what would have taken me a week to do in a little less than 4 hours. That room is so small I couldn't get far enough away to get the whole stack in the picture!

My second oldest granddaughter is coming to visit for her spring break so she'll help me build another giant stack of boxes. We'll build the second stack in the living room.

After I take her back and go sign the papers on the house if there's anything left to pack I'll call my packing helper again. He really was great help. We'll have him and his two brothers come load for us when that day gets here.

I get to buy a house! I get to buy a house!!

We actually get to buy a house!! I'm so excited!

I wasn't finding anything for rent so I called one of the realtors there and asked if they had rentals and she said "why don't you call the mortgage guy and see if you qualify." Uhhhhhh, okay. 10 minutes later we were pre-qualified for a mortgage!!

So a couple of weeks ago I went down there and hubby and I spent two days looking at houses. We found two that we really liked that are big enough etc. We put a bid in on our favorite one. That was on Monday and by Friday we still didn't know if they were going to accept our offer or not or what they were going to do. So I had the realtor withdraw our offer on that house and we put in an offer on the second house. I think we have all the details ironed on that offer and we should go into "under contract" before long. The closing is April 1st.

It's a nice size house. The listing says it's 5 bedroom but one of the bedrooms is barely big enough for a day bed so it's really more of a storage room they finished. We'll probably turn it into a small exercise room. Otherwise it's 2 bedrooms up and 2 down and 2 bathrooms up and 1 down. It doesn't really have a dining room so we're going to turn the living room into a dining room/library/sitting room. It's separate from the rest of the house so it can be a more formal space and then we'll put the actual living room downstairs in the family room. The sewing room will go downstairs too. The second bedroom upstairs will be an actual guest bedroom.

This means we should stay put for a good long while. After I get the sewing room together I won't have to move for years and years so I can actually get caught up on everything!!! I'm really excited about that part.

the third baby quilt

I thought I was never going to get the third one done!! I had to quit working on it to shop and wrap Christmas gifts plus do all the cookie baking and mail everything. After that I just lost my momentum for a week or so.

In the picture the binding along the top isn't done but this quilt went into the washer and dryer and straight into a box and into the mail yesterday.

I have one more quilt from these same fabrics but with one of the reds for the outer border. I put it all together in a kit and it can sit on the shelf for a while!

two baby quilts so far

This is the two quilts together.


















This one is for the son of my first cousin's daughter. She helped me move this last summer and this is a "thank you for letting me borrow mommy" gift. The colors in this one are red, blue, green and deep plums. The background has teeny little stars in similar colors but they don't match exactly.

This quilt is for my newest granddaughter born the 1st. The fabrics don't want to photograph true in this one. It's peach, lavender, yellow and pink. The background is a really, really pretty pale gray.

it's a done deal

We're going back. Sort of. Hubby is going back to his old job but we're not going to live in Oklahoma.

He'll be going back probably this week or the first of next week to start work.

Some sudden changes. We're going to find hubby a cheap apartment and he's going to live there until I can move in June. We're locked into a lease on this house and there's just no way we can afford to pay this lease and pay for another place to live. So I'll stay until the lease is up.

the job situation

Hubby didn't get the job in Missouri. Not because somebody else got the job, because they took the posting down and didn't hire anybody. I think they found out the position was going to cost them a lot more than they thought and decided they could get along without a General Foreman. Oh well.

So hubby is still looking. Then today his old boss called. They really want him back. His old boss thinks they're going to have an opening before long. I told hubby we could go back there but I will NOT live where we did before. We can live just 37 miles away from the plant and be in Kansas and it's a world of difference. I might be willing to live 5 to 10 miles inside of Oklahoma so we don't have to do two state tax returns every year but it's going to have to be a great house!!

In quilty news I have one baby quilt ready to hand stitch the binding down on the back and the second and third ones are cut. I'm going to finish the third one next since that baby is due soonest. I won't get much done before Friday though. Tomorrow morning they're coming to rip up the bathroom floor and replace it because it's rotted and like stepping on a wet sponge. Then I have to go to the tax office and take a couple of hours of class and take the tests. I don't know that we'll be here thru tax season but if we are I want to have a job.

Then of course on Wednesday I'll start cooking for Thanksgiving. My BFF, her husband and my oldest son will be here for the holiday. I'll make the dough for dinner rolls, make a cheese ball, and do some veggie prep for Thursday.

Friday though there will be plenty of leftovers so I won't have to worry about feeding hubby and I refuse to do battle for consumer goods so I'll have the day to just sew and sew!!