I have been quilting--Yeah! It is going well enough, and I do enjoy doing it. I feel that my free motion quilting isn't the greatest, but I feel it has improved and I am not real ashamed of it so far. I will just have to wait and take pictures of it because I do not know how to describe what I am doing. Nothing fancy, that is for sure. The only thing I am wondering about is if I am quilting it too close for it to be snuggly. I am hoping not because I intend for it to be used.

I did do the diagonal lines on it Sunday, then yesterday was definitely errand day for me. Cleaned up dog messes out of the back yard, ran by the bank, stopped at the post office and to Walmart and grocery...then home to unload and put away things. Followed by mowing the yard. All before noon.

In the afternoon I gave the dog a bath, cleaned up after that mess and gave myself a shower--LOL Then vacuumed and mopped, fixed supper and washed dishes. Oh, I think I did a couple loads of clothes yesterday, also.

And have not did even half that much today...did do a couple more loads of laundry and fixed supper and washed dishes. While doing laundry I contemplated the quilt but still didn't know how/what I wanted to do. Then after supper and dishes I just went down there and started. I FMQ'ed for about 2 hours....I am going to give this to a friend, but I will tell her it is part of my learning experience. She will love it anyway I think.

I am hoping to go for a drive tomorrow and planning on taking my camera. But, I had that planned for today and got up to rain so it didn't happen. I should learn not to plan too much...things have a way of happening to alter the best laid plans. I am not even sure what direction I want to head...so many places call my name. I am even thinking about throwing my fishing rod in the back just in case I am tempted to throw my line in the water. But with all the rain I doubt if anything would be biting..

The day has come and gone again with not a stitch sewn. I was gone with my daughter most of the day. We were supposed to be with the scout kids to sell popcorn but the ones that signed up to sell went on the camping trip instead. What kid wouldn't? So after getting set up and staying an hour, my daughter just called it off since no kids were showing up.

We loaded everything back up, took it home, and went to the mall and walked through the major department stores. It is the first time I have been to the mall in months! (The only kind of shops I like to frequent are fabric/quilt stores.) The mall has been remodeled and some stores have changed spots, as well as there were a couple new stores. Neither of us bought a thing...I was on the lookout for that perfect purse, and she was just looking.

We had lunch and then drove to other DD's house. Rachel had not seen their new puppy that found them--part pit bull boy. The vet thinks about 3 months old. He does not meet a stranger--loves everyone. I think it is highly intelligent. It was a neighbor's and got out and came to them...then it disappeared when they went to work. So when their day off came, they went to this neighbor to see if they had caught it but they didn't know where it was and didn't really want it.

So, it ends up another neighbor had seen it roaming and had caught it thinking it was Sarah and Jeremy's...so they went back to the real owner and ask if they were serious about not wanting it. So that is how it came into their life.
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I did pin baste a small couch sized quilt Thursday. It is left over blocks from that last quilt top I did that has an Irish Chain feel to it. I have not quite decided how I want to quilt it so haven't started. I am trying to let the muse hit me before I start. But I may just have to start cause I really want to get it done fairly soon.

The other 'problem' I am having with it is it is mostly off-white tone on tone fabrics. Yet there is the colored squares that form the chain feel to the quilt...I cannot decide if I just want to go ahead and use the same off-white thread on those or do I want to attempt to use a multicolored one on them. If I thought I would not have trouble with getting the tension balanced just right, I would definitely go for the multi-colored on top and the off white on the bottom for those colored parts. But it is very hard to get it balanced just right to not have the pokies coming through one side or the other.

So it is decisions delaying me yet again....

These are pictures of some of the quilts my mom made...I took them with a polaroid camara when I was still a teen-ager. I wish they were better quality, but I am still glad to have these to show. This is only a small sampling of the quilts she made. All before the rotary cutter! She cut out her template/pattern out of cardboard and would just hold it along with the fabric in her hands and cut out the pieces with scissors. I don't think I ever saw her use a pin or anything to hold the cardboard in place. Any part of the sewing that was done on a machine, was done on a treadle machine.