Thanksgiving Recap...

Let's see...we're only slightly over 2 weeks past Thanksgiving Day...so...yeah...this post is right on time!  LOL

Our daughter, Erin, and her family came in for a few days to spend Thanksgiving with us!  We had a great visit and a very nice Thanksgiving dinner!

Clark showed us what "food coma" looks like...

...because when you've had enough, you've had enough!!!  

Clark and his dad, Dale, also provided the dinner entertainment!!! 

Sera and Clark with our dog, Ginger...

While they were here I gifted Erin & Dale with their wedding quilt!  This top was purchased from Ebay already hand-embroidered...I just hand-quilted it.  It is 100" x 100"...a king-size!!!

Loretta

Changing of the (Seasonal) Wardrobe...

I saw this picture on Facebook and it represented PERFECTLY the colors here in West Virginia this past week!  If you were ever curious as to what Fall looks like where I live...this is it!  The maple trees turned bright red and the oaks turned bright orange this week.  STUNNING!  

Unfortunately, the colors won't last long.  Within a couple of weeks the leaves will all drop and we will be left with naked trees.

Upon checking the weather report for the coming week, I saw that the high's will be in the 50's and 60's with the lows dropping into the 30's and 40's at night.  

With this news, I decided it was time for the bi-annual "Changing of the Wardrobe".  That means that I put away all my short-sleeved summer shirts to make room for the longer-sleeved winter shirts.  When I switch out my clothes at the beginning of the season I hang the hangers backwards when putting them into my (very small) closet.  When I wear a shirt and return it to the closet after being washed, I turn the hanger the right way.  That way at the end of the season, I can tell which clothes I actually wore and which ones I didn't.  The ones that didn't get worn at all get sent off to the consignment shop or thrift store.

But this year I had more issues with pulling my winter clothes out of storage.  I've lost 40 pounds and 2-3 sizes since last winter, so each item had to be tried on and assessed.  I found 4 shirts that I could take up using my serger, and the rest went into bags to be delivered to the consignment shop this week.  

All in all, I emptied 51 hangers, filled one medium-sized trash bag to be discarded (too worn), and filled 3 medium-sized trash bags with shirts and 1 grocery bag with shoes to go to the resale shop. Some of the clothes had only been worn 1-2 times.  

clothes ready to go to their new life somewhere...

Yesterday while Andy and I were out and about grocery shopping we found a moving sale and I got this Elfa storage tower in pristine condition for $5.  When we got home I checked on the internet and saw that they go for $75+ new at The Container Store.  

I'm hoping to find a place in my sewing room for it and use it for fabric storage, but if not, I'll use it somewhere else in the house for storage/organizing.  I've asked Andy to try to find a piece of wood or plastic, etc., to go on the top to make a "shelf".

On the quilting front, I've been working on the hand-quilting on Erin & Dale's wedding quilt when I get the chance.  I'm moving right along on it and as you can see in the picture, I'm close to the top...close to being finished!  I'll probably only need to roll the quilt 2-3 more times and I'll be done.

Loretta

Summer's Almost Over...Time For a Change!!!

Quotes for the Day:

"Our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." ~M. Scott Peck

"Go where you are celebrated—not tolerated.If they can't see the real value of you, it's time for a new start." ~Unknown

You're probably thinking I've fallen off the face of the earth...again...but really I've just been incredibly busy.  I can't believe that summer is over because I feel like I've not really had a summer yet this year.

My summer started out with deadlines for finishing three quilts...

Clark's 1st Birthday quilt...

Kate and Jon's wedding quilt...

...and Karen's comfort quilt...

In July, we took 14 days and went to Georgia to take care of our two grandsons so that their parents could get away to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  

Just a few short days after returning from that trip, I decided that I had to make a job change to maintain my own sanity, so near the end of July I started job-hunting.  It didn't take long before I had an interview...followed by a job offer...which I accepted last week!  I have put in my resignation at my current employer and this week will be my last work week there...followed by an already-scheduled vacation for our daughter's wedding. 

After my vacation, I will start my new job in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) at West Virginia University Hospital.  I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time!  Change is always difficult, but I'm so ready for this new phase in my life and career!  

In the midst of all of this job hunting/interview/preparing to leave my current job, etc., I've been seeking calm and peace in my quilting.  

I pulled out a project that I had purchased at an estate auction 4 years ago.  The blocks were already pieced but needed put together and quilted.  

 

I squared up the blocks, laid them out on my design wall in the layout above, then decided that they needed some cream-colored sashing between them to help break up the "busyness" and help make the top large enough to fit a queen bed.  They are now sewn together with the sashing and I am currently working on making a "piano-key" border with the leftover fabric.

I've also been hand-quilting on my daughter's wedding quilt.  (She gets married in 2 weeks!)  The quilt won't be done in time for the wedding, but just this weekend I reached the half-way point and am now working on the second half!!

Loretta

New Quilt Project...

About 5 years ago, I purchased a hand-embroidered vintage quilt top off of Ebay.  My daughter saw it, finished some the embroidery that needed completed, and asked if I'd make it into a quilt as a wedding gift for her and Dale when they got married.  

It seems that wedding is in the works for later this year, if all goes well!  Hence...I figured I'd better get to work on it.  

It is a king-sized quilt, measuring 100" x 100".  Whew...might take me a little while!  

It is too big to get a nice picture of it in my house because I really don't have a place or bed that big to lay it out on, so I took pictures as I was loading it into the frame yesterday.  

I started hand quilting it today.  What I like about these tops is that the quilting lines are already pre-printed on them so there is no marking involved!

Like most vintage linens, there are some "storage spots" that will show up in the pictures as I post my progress.  These don't bother me because when it is all done, I will soak the whole thing in Oxi-Clean.  I do this to all of my vintage linens that have storage stains on them and I've never had any stains that not come out.  ("Storage stains" refers to the brown spots that are caused by either bugs that get up into the fabric at some time OR that come from being in contact with non-sealed wood like a cedar chest or wooden shelf.)  You can't wash the item before quilting because it will wash out the pre-printed quilting lines and you take a chance of the unfinished edges raveling.  

Loretta