H2H Quilt progress

Crud - I had hoped to have photos here.  I've gone through all kind of gyrations today to get them saved so I could post them.  I had a friend take a photo of the fabrics with her cell phone.  She sent them to my phone.  I then forwarded them to my DD2.  She then forwarded them to my e-mail.  And then this evening, I went to a neighbors house and used her computer saved the photo so I could then post it.  It wouldn't let me insert the image!  The only thing I figure that the problem can be is the file is a .zip file.  I saved it as a .pdf file, but the system still wouldn't let me link it to this post.  Crud!

Update:  I meant to say I had saved the .zip file as a .jpg file.  I said I saved it as a .pdf file.  Duh!  Stupid!

So.....

I was up until 3 a.m. this morning working on the H2H charity quilt. For some crazy reason I couldn't sleep, and after about 30 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to get to sleep, I decided, "What the heck..I'll work on the quilt."

So that's what I did. Remember this post where I said " Since I have to measure three times to cut that one time, and I already know I'm running short with my fabric, I can't take a chance and screw up." I should have re-read that post. I definitely should have re-read that post.

The H2H quilt is going to have 9-patch quilt blocks. Before my trip to Augusta, I had cut the strips for the colors I was using in the 9-patch blocks. Last night, since I couldn't sleep, I sewed the strips together and got them pressed. Then I went back to bed. Since I didn't fall asleep again, I got up and pressed the seams on the strips. Then I went back to bed again. Still couldn't sleep, so got up again. This time, I cut the strips into smaller pieces which would then be sewn to make the 9-patch block. I guess I should be thankful I made it this far before I screwed up. Like I said, the fabric is already at a premium because I was cutting it close with the measurements. Well - I may have to get a little experimental (which I'm not very good at doing), because I had all 25 of the 9-patch quilt blocks cut out when I realized I hadn't measured correctly. I guess doing all of this in the middle of the night due to sleep deprivation probably contributed a lot to the problem. Instead of cutting the long 3-fabric strips into 2.5" strips, I cut them into 6.5" strips. That doesn't sound that bad, huh? Well - that means I lost 1.5" of fabric on each and every block. So...that means I lost 37.5" of fabric that was already at a premium. And unfortunately, I don't have enough fabric to finish the quilt the way it was designed.

I hope I don't end up screaming like a wild woman, cuz I'm really upset with myself. I'm working on an idea and trying to figure out if it will work. I'll know after I get all the blocks sewn together. I haven't quite got that "vision" some of the quilters have where they can visualize things. I can't visualize anything. I have to get it all assembled, and if it works, great! If it doesn't, oh crap! I hope what I'm thinking about works, because it may be just the deviation from the norm that makes my fabric shortage provide some visual interest.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Birthday to me!

Wow!  Hard to believe I'm 58 years young today!  Although it's not hard for my back to believe - wow, it's been giving me fits today.  I skipped lunch and walked for 30 minutes and had thought it would help ease the pain, but I think it aggravated it. 

Whew!  Was it ever hot!!!  I wish I could say I lost some weight, but I'm sure I didn't.  I know I lost some sweat.  My word - my  hair was soaked and I was one Hot Mama.  My face was pink/red and there wasn't a dry spot from the tip of my head down to my shoulders.  Good thing my day ends in about 30 minutes.  I'm sure I'm going to be smelling pretty ripe in a little while.

I never have been one of those ladies that "glisten" and not "sweat".  I sweat like a racehorse.  It just drips off me like rainwater.  Ha-ha!  I went out to check the internet to find out what exactly the saying was about sweating and glistening.  Here is what I found.  I thought it was cute enough to share with you: 

Ladies don’t snort; they snuffle.
Ladies don’t sweat; they glisten.
Ladies don’t fart; they poot.

Do you snort or snuffle?  Do you sweat or glisten?  Do you fart or poot?

Happy Mother's Day - and my screwed-up weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms out in blog land.  I spent the weekend with my mother, daughter and granddaughter, and a good time was had by all.

We had a bit of a fiasco Saturday evening when we went out for dinner.  We went to a well-known steakhouse (there were 5 of us) and anything that could go wrong with our dinner did go wrong with our dinner.  It seemed to take forever to get waited on, and then it seemed to take forever before we got our salads.  And when the waitress brought our salads, she said our steaks were ready.  We told her we didn't want our steaks with our salads, and I said with all the customers they had at tables around us, there were bound to be others that ordered the same things we ordered, so please deliver our steaks to one of them, and not to us after it has been sitting under the heat lamp.  Well, long story short - our steaks were delivered and nope, they hadn't been sitting under the heat lamp.  They were cold.  My daughter and I had them re-heat our steaks.  My husband (who isn't particular), said he'd be okay with his.  Mom said she was too hungry to return hers.  Well...when they brought our re-heated steaks to us, my Mom had to return hers because it was so tough she couldn't even cut it.  So, needless to say, we had a miserable experience.  One redeeming fact - the manager came over and gave us our steak dinners free.  So all we had to pay for was an appetizer, four drinks and a child's meal.  I think it ended up costing less than $20.   The tip for the total of the meals (prior to the discount) was more than $20.   Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn't it?  Well...it certainly made for a miserable dining experience. 

And then - the Pièce de résistance?  I had taken my expensive camera with me to take photos while we were at dinner.  I didn't expect the restaurant to be that full at 5pm, so taking photos wasn't exactly an option.  So I never used my camera.  So....when we got home, I was going to take some photos.  Surprise!!  No camera.  Panic mode.  Panic mode.  I go out and check under the seats of the car.  I call my daughter.  I call the restaurant.  I drive back to the restaurant.  I talk with the manager.  The waitress.  I look under the booth where we sat.  No camera.  So I start crying.  Over a camera.  I didn't fall asleep until early in the morning.  I was so upset.  I told my mom I shouldn't own anything that makes me get that upset about when it's lost or missing.  I was so depressed. 

This morning, my daughter came over with the camera.  She said someone she knew in the restaurant had seen us leave it, and they called her and had returned it.  I spent a pretty sleepless night worrying about something I shouldn't have worried about.  A camera. 

This was a lesson well-learned.  I don't want to sweat the small stuff.  Not ever again.  Never.

I definitely had my priorities screwed up.  Am I a total idjit or what??

I've been cutting fabric

Well, once again, I wish I had photos I could post.  I've been cutting fabric for the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I may have to get a bit creative if I run short, which is a possibility.  I don't have the money to go out and buy more fabric, so tried to go with something I had in my stash.  Lord, I'm praying I've got enough fabric.  Please, please, please.

I was hoping to have everything cut out before American Idol came on TV, but that didn't happen.  And I know better than to try and attempt cutting some of the strips while the commercial is on.  Since I have to measure three tmes to cut that one time, and I already know I'm running short with my fabric, I can't take a chance and screw up.

I guess I'll be packing my bags during commercials.  I'll be heading to Augusta after work tomorrow.  I'll be there to spend Mother's Day with my mom, and I reckon we'll be celebrating my birthday (it's Monday).   I'll be 58 years old.  Wow!  I know I look that old outside.  I feel older than that in my knees and my back and my joints.  But I feel 20 years old in my heart.  I'm always shocked when I think about how old I am.  And how long I've worked in my job.  I've worked for the government since May 12th, 1975.  That's 37 years.  Thirty.  Seven.  Years.  Where did time go?

How the heck did I get started in that direction???

I'm heading to pack my bags.  I won't be on-line until I return Sunday evening.  I'm going to miss visiting all of your blogs and reading about what you've been doing.  And in the meantime, if any of you are in the Atlanta area, how about coming by and cutting my fabric?  I'd really, really appreciate it.  I'll leave a tip jar in the sewing room for you.

Have a good weekend, y'all.

Mac Users beware of fake antivirus program called MACDefender

Yet another reason I'm afraid to purchase a new laptop. 

Not long ago, I stumbled across a newsletter called Techlicious.  Since I'm severely electronically-challenged, I thought I might pick up some key points from this newsletter that would make me not quite so dumb to my kids (as if that could ever happen).  I've picked up on a few things from the newsletter, but never thought about sharing it with anyone.  Ha - especially because practically everybody knows more about cell phones, cablevision, computers, etc than I do.

Those of you who have been reading my blog know I don't own a computer.  The one I use is furnished by my employer for the days I work from home.  My personal computer bit the dust.  I even took it to three different shops to see if it could be revived, but sadly, it has performed it's last search.  I was considering purchasing a Mac because of a comment Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict left on my recent post about getting a virus on my work-issued laptop.

Now I see this article  and then this article from my Techlicious newsletter telling about the Mac virus attack.  This article still gives high ratings to the Mac regarding virus protection, and I'm still considering a Mac.  But I wanted to get the word out to all of you about this.

So Mac owners - read this!  Don't fall victim to this latest scam.

My evening with Gary Sinise

I finally got an opportunity to download a personal photo.  Are you shocked?  I know I am!  Someone else took the photo and e-mailed it to me, and after a few gyrations, I was able to get it inserted here.  And since none of you have ever seen a photo of me, let me introduce myself.  I'm the one with the white hair and white blouse.  See, I told you I needed to go on a diet.

Last week, I was in Augusta, GA attending a dinner for the 319th Transportation Company Vietnam Veterans dinner (my husband's unit). 

The keynote speaker that night was Gary Sinise.  And what an amazing person he is.   He posed, chatted and spent as much time with each person as possible for four hours and didn’t stop until the room of nearly 400 had emptied out.  This was all done after spending the entire day touring the Active Duty unit and visiting the wounded warriors in the military hospital at Fort Gordon.

I don’t want to make this post boring, but I’d like to share a few things with you.

1.       Gary Sinise was never in the military.

2.      His deep-rooted support for troops was born partly out of guilt.

3.      He escaped the draft because of his age and spent much of the conflict oblivious to the sacrifices men only a few years older than he were making.

4.      His brother-in-law was a Vietnam veteran and Sinise learned much about the war through him. Sinise wanted to know why men served, what combat was like and how he could help veterans.

5.      Sinise was deeply honored to play the role of Lt Dan in ‘Forrest Gump’

6.      The Steppenwolf Theatre he co-founded in Chicago continues the tradition of bringing in local veterans for a free performance of the final dress rehearsal.

In perhaps his most important role, Gary Sinise helps veterans heal.  Just as he did last week.

The men and women who protect and defend this country are pretty amazing people.  And, as it turns out, so are some of the actors who portray them in movies.  Rarely is there more heroism, more patriotism, more honor or more camaraderie squeezed into one room than there was Thursday night in Augusta at the 319th Transportation Company Vietnam Veterans dinner.  I am deeply honored I could share that night with them.

Fabric $5 per yard - what a deal!

       

Crafty Girls Workshop has their clearance fabric on sale for $5.00 per yard.  With the rising price of cotton fabrics, they're going fast.  Go check them out - I'm seeing some Michael Miller and Kate Spain.

Look at those adorable baby panels for $5.00 each.  Aren't they so yummy?  Check it out and let me know if you order anything and what you order.  Cuz I'm curious like that.