Technology is great .....AND Quilts LOTS of Quilts!

Yes, my laptop is still in the hospital .... HRUMPH .... Apparently they are waiting on a part for the touchscreen (probably the case to the touchscreen).  As the battery had died (and was an internal one at that) it had to be sent into the service center for replacement AND since I paid for the full shebang extended everything warranty and one of my four legged children had pulled it off the table and cracked the case, I decided to go ahead and have that repaired while it was hospitalized.  WELL....apparently they are still waiting on the transplant team to acquire the necessary parts to preform the surgery so I am STILL stuck with this slow IBM model that was I believe built in the early 1700's and the operating system is run by snails.  Therefore, I have been remiss in posting. 

THAT BEING SAID.... It might take me a week to update what I've been up to lately..

A lot has happened in my world in the last 10 days so I won't go into details of everything, but when I left you all on the 9th, I was reflecting .....


One day in early December I joined Cheryl for her quilt class that is being offered at a little church in Hernando.  WELL, let me tell ya, I got inspired.  I came home and started pulling out tubs and totes and this is what I came out with.


WAY BACK in February, 2002 I took a quilting class that was offered at Hobby Lobby.  We had such fun once a week playing with fabric!  The very first quilt we made was called "Hearts & Stars" which is a funky little lap quilt with machine appliqued hearts.  I got the entire quilt top pieced, sandwiched with the batting and backing, machine quilting done and the bias binding sewn on. BUT never got it hand stitched down.

Another lap quilt which I don't know the name for was completed also to the point of hand stitching the binding down. 

And Jere has claimed that one as his own morning warmth!

I got both of these quilts finished this week !!!

The 3rd quilt that ended up being packed away with only the blocks constructed is a BEAUTIFUL "Stained Glass Window" quilt.  I did it in funky bright colors with lots of movement and the backing and border fabric is bright primary color large polka dots with a bright color "wavy" print that will be made into bias binding.

One more a "Maple Leaf" quilt has only the top pieced and the bias binding made.  It will be added into the quilt rotation soon!

The only quilt I did complete at that time is this one.

  I don't remember the name of the pattern, but it is a queen size quilt that I completed and gave to my mother for Christmas in 2003.  When she opened the package you would have thought I had given her a million dollars.  I don't think my mother has loved anything like she did that quilt.  She slept under it every night, took naps snuggled up with her great granddaughter in the afternoons and when she entered the hospital for the final time in in July, 2006 I had to drag her quilt up there.  She passed away wrapped in that quilt on October 28th.  I now have it hanging in my bedroom on a quilt stand and think of her often and how much she love that quilt.




I also found some really cute fabric with cows, chickens, pigs & sheep printed on it as well as 2 packs of plaid flannel fat quarters.  I had such fun putting together this "Log Cabin" quilt which will be gifted to a very special someone soon...I believe this quilt has been featured in a couple of previous posts, but I finally got it completed!

The last quilt I'll bore you with is going to be a baby quilt for my new grandson Wesley (due in May)  I have it pieced and will probably take my "Window" quilt off the hoop today and get it finished up.  

That cute little elephant print will be the backing and I will bind it in a solid blue.

Another thing of interest I found (actually yesterday) in my mother in law's sewing cabinet was a little plastic case with several packages of "between" needles for hand quilting.  

If you look closely you can see this is a pack of 20 needles that sold for 10¢.  That is 1/2¢ each!  Doing a Google search, I found the cheapest a package sells for today is $1.99.  CAN WE SAY INFLATION ??

On the cross stitching front, I have set aside my GP Sleepy Hollow in favor of quilting for a bit, but here is where I stopped.

That Pumpkin head is a bitch to stitch !! 

Tucked into the last 2 weeks was Valentine Day.  While Jere isn't one much for flowers and candy (my blood sugar couldn't handle that) we do usually go to dinner (the NIGHT BEFORE! to avoid the crowds) and this year as it was on Saturday, went to breakfast.  I had the MOST YUMMY big plate of eggs, bacon, sausage & hash browns with Lemon Curd filled Blackberry Crepes.  

As you can see, I didn't like them at all !!!

After breakfast we went to:

Jere was hoping to learn a new trick or two ... LOL ! 

Saturday I got the most pleasant surprise.  I was at the kitchen sink washing my hands after finishing up some appetizers for the watch party at Casa Jackson when there was a knock on the carport door.  There stood a delivery man holding a beautiful vase of spring flowers.  It wasn't my Birthday, or Mother's Day (which my sons usually remember with flowers) so I couldn't imagine! 

They were from Julie, Peter's real mom and look at the sweet note attached!!

Hockey !

Our boys are on a ROLL!!! They have won 8 straight games and 12 of their last 13 !!!  Saturday night 2/21  Peter got his FIRST professional SHUT OUT  with a 3 - 0 win against Huntsville!!! He was, as usual AWESOME !!!! 

Last week we had ice & snow.  Schools were closed, Jere was home from work for 2 days (and quite under foot) and it was COLD.  Again last night we had about an inch of sleet.  

I don't think we will be grilling out tonight ! 

I know around August I will be missing all this "cool" weather when temps are in the upper 90's, I am a puddle of sweat and am longing for my hockey boys return to the ice, but I really long for the boys of summer and ......

Till next time,

Cindi
2.23.2014

Reflecting .....

On February 9, 2010 I got out of the hospital.  Not because of an illness or having ANOTHER surgery, but because I was a prescription drug addict.  NO I did not buy them from the corner drug dealer, but was being prescribed them by the bottles full by a doctor.

After 5 surgeries from 1996 through 2003 to try and stabilize my deteriorating spine, I was left with chronic pain which was supposedly being "controlled" by a pain management doctor,  What was really happening is he was giving me any and every kind of narcotic/antidepressant/muscle relaxer, which was doing nothing to really control the pain.... It was controlling my mind.  From 2003 until THAT DAY in 2010 when Jere walked in from work and I didn't know who he was is nothing but a 7 year blur.  

I do a lot of thinking while driving and this morning on my way to my monthly stitching group meeting I realized just how much has changed in the last five years.

One of the things I am most grateful for (besides my sweetie, Jere of course) is the wonderful group of friends that have come into my life.  I fondly refer to them as my "Hockey Family" ....  Reba, John and their 5 kids Nathan, Elizabeth Ann, Gracie, Owen and Lily ... Anisha, RJ and their daughter Angela ... Jordan ... Kent & Frankie ... Then there is my Hockey son, Peter.

My life would be so empty without these great friends.

A lot has happened in the last 5 years..... I lost my older brother in 2012.  My oldest aunt (and the last relative from my parents generation) passed away in February 2013.  My youngest niece, Robin was killed in a car accident, at the age of 15 on Halloween 2013.  My sweet Bruno went through cancer surgery in January 2013 followed by 3 months of chemo which gave us 22 extra months of his sweet yodeling and tail wagging.  And in August 2014 Jere and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. 

There have been many other things that have happened during the last 5 years, some really happy times and some very sad times,  but you, my friends ... you keep my life full !

Thank you each and everyone of you for sharing your lives and families !

Till next time,

Cindi
2.09.2015

Harikuyo, the Festival of Broken Needles

Today, February 8th, all across Japan, Harikuyo will take place in Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.  Hari means needle, and Kuyou is a Buddhist memorial service.  Memorial services are usually held for spirits of the dead but it is also common to hold them for inanimate objects that have served well in life, or indeed that life depends on.

Known as the Festival of Broken Needles, it is a ritual of thanks and respect for tools of the sewing, tailoring and embroidery trades.  It dates back 1500 years;  women (and men) dress in fine kimono and gather together all of the needles they've used, broken and/or worn out during the previous year.  They proceed to the local temple or shrine, where a three-tiered alter is prepared.  The lower level displays sewing accessories, such as scissors, thimbles, thread and so forth.  The top tier offers seasonal fruit, and white mochi (ceremonial race cake offerings).  In the center section is a large slab of tofu, into which everyone plunges the pieces of their broken needles.

Later they will be take to a sacred final resting place.  The tofu keeps them safe and not forgotten, yet because of being protected in the tofu they cam do no harm with their points.  In a second sense they are still present in life.  The priest will incant a sutra, that reflects the passage of the needles from use and invokes a Buddhist blessing that is passed on to the users of the needles.  By showing respect to the needles they have used through the past year, they are offering thanks and requesting that the power and energy of the needles be present in the stitchers for the coming year so that their skills may be improved.  Priest will also sing sutras to comfort the needles, heal their broken spirits and thank them for work well done. 

No sewing takes place on this day.

**Fron Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.


Till next time

Cindi
2.8.2015

THURSDAY again .....

.... I guess it's about time for another update on the life and times of ME.

When I left you last Friday, I was about to rustle up some lunch for Mr. Sleepy head, which turned out to be Tuna Salad sandwiches.  After lunch, I finished up on laundry & a few housework things then I headed to Southaven for Hockey and Jere went to the club to run a friend's annual Racquetball tournament.

I guess the Peoria Rivermen were a bit upset that the Kings won 2 of 3 games when we met in their barn two weeks ago because they came out with a vengeance.  While the penalty minutes were pretty low and  even (10 for Kings, 12 for Rivermen) the Ref Mike Sheehan in his typical fashion failed to see  TOTALLY disregarded I know of 4 BIG penalties one of which was an Interference call AND called off a goal scored against Peoria.  The Kings, were way off and lethargic throughout all 60 minutes of play and even though we out shot them 42 - 31 we suffered a 4-1 loss.  Coach had given them off on Monday for the MLK Holiday and called off practice for Tuesday morning which I believe played a major factor in the outcome.

Peter's mom, Julie AKA The Momma Dog joined us at the game and we had a great time watching Adam in the net.  She told me that since Peter would be in net the next night she would probably sit up top.  It seems that she has a tendency to throw up when she watches her boy play.... nervous stomach I suppose.  

Saturday's game the teams looked like TWO DIFFERENT TEAMS !! Our guys dug in and played a hard sixty minutes and gave us quite a show.  Peoria played DIRTY.  The penalty minutes (13 -19) included a fight, check to the head, unsportsmanlike conduct and abuse of an Official.  (The fight was quite good though with Luke Warner knocking some sense into Alex Hudson)

Warner vs Hudson 1-24-2015

True to her word, The Momma Dog perched high up on the very top row during the game, but boy was she loud !!! I kept hearing "MOVE THE PUCK" ---and I do believe her little 5 foot nothing inch frame was much louder than Anisha's (and they can hear her across the arena).

The post-game party that night was very lively and I also met another fan of Peter's from when he played in Pensacola.

Sunday we planned to take Peter & Julie out on the town and show them a little of Memphis food and culture.  Originally I planned to take them to The Rendezvous for some Memphis Style Ribs and ambiance followed by a carriage ride through the streets of Downtown Memphis.  WELL, those plans were shot to hell when I found that The Rendezvous is closed on Sunday & Monday AND after calling about the carriage ride for that night and being assured they would pick us up at the restaurant we selected, I was told (when I called that evening) that no one had carriages out that night .... HARRUMPH .....

HOWEVER, I am actually very happy that things didn't work out for Rendezvous because I discovered a WONDERFUL place up on the third floor above BB King's on Beale. Itta Bena.

OMG .... this place is phenomenal.  The atmosphere was wonderful, service excellent and the food was TO DIE FOR.  I have had a lot of Salmon in my life but this dish was just indescribable. - Grilled with a yummy creamy sauce perched on top of wild rice pilaf and grilled green beans!!! There was also Steak, Red Snapper and Steak and Lobster for the other 3 diners and according to the table all were prepared to perfection.  This place will definitely be a go to place for fine dining in the future !!!

After dinner, we strolled Beale Street and checked out some to the gift shops where Julie found her Elvis sunglasses and fake sideburns for her husband and picked up a few other souvenirs for the family.

Flash forward to Tuesday and the Face Off Field Trip between The Mississippi RiverKings and The Columbus Cottonmouths.  Not only was the arena lively with a reported attendance of 5,632 (at least 5,600 of those being school kids) but the game was EXCITING !!! The boys came out ALIVE and had the Snakes down 5 - 0 when they finally snuck one past Adam at the 3:38 mark of the 3rd period ending the game in a 5 - 1 win putting the Kings in a 3 way tie for 4th place and just 4 points out of 1st (can we say PLAYOFFS ???)

There was a couple of funny (odd) things happen during the bgame.  1.  Everyone thought with Columbus down 3-0 at the end of the 1st period that they had gotten on the bus and headed for home when they didn't return to the ice at the end of the period break.  Well finally they trickled in and I found it strange they weren't called for a delay of game penalty. AND 2.  When Devin Mantha smashed his 2nd goal of the game past Loewen in the second period, Loewen ripped off his mask and slammed it on the ice breaking it.  (which should ALSO have been a delay of game penalty).  They worked on that damn mask 3 times during the remaining duration of the game and I still don't know if it ever got fixed. (BIG BABY) .....

Today was Quilt Class Thursday and I took one of my pseudo-granddaughters, Elizabeth Ann AKA Sam with me to expose her to some of my craft.  She is home-schooled and she and her mom Reba thought she could use some HomeEc.   She had a great time and I had me a gofer.  We got a sashing added to the backing fabric (which was about 3 inches too narrow before that addition) and will get it pin basted this week to sart the actual quilting next week.  Lunch afterwards at La Siesta was yummy as usual .....

On the cross stitching front, I got the head added to the Horses Ass and began stitching the Headless Horseman's ass.  It is really starting to take shape.

So ... I guess that brings you, my one or two faithful readers up to date.  It is about time for The Mr. to arrive home and I guess I need to go think about what to do about dinner.

Until next time,

Cindi
1.29.2015

The Momma Dog !!

..... Yesterday was quilt class day in Hernando.  I headed out around 8:30 to make the 9:00 class and left  The Mr. in bed sick.  I know, I should have skipped class and been a good little wife and stayed home to nurse him back to health, but hey, there are more important things in life...

This is the fabric I had to construct a "Log Cabin" quilt....

So.... yesterday I got all my stuff out to work on piecing the blocks together using the gold fabric as sashing and then proceeded to cut the strips for the border.  now mind you the constructed blocks make a 46" X 72" quilt top.  I purchased 2 yards of that pretty red fabric on top for the border.

TWO yards of 45" wide fabric (36") X 2 = 72" ... which WOULD have given me the perfect length for the side borders IF it hadn't shrunk by 1" when I washed it AND IF I had cut it right in the first place.  NATURALLY I measured twice and cut once.  I just had it turned the wrong way and cut it selvedge to selvedge instead of Lengthwise.  SO... off I went to JoAnn's (35 miles away) to purchase more fabric for the border.

Two hours later, after washing & drying the additional fabric, I did manage to this time cut correctly and after adding the border this is where I am.

After class, Shirley and I went for our typical Mexican lunch and again I headed to JoAnn's for MORE fabric for the binding, quilt batting and pins to "baste" the whole thing together at next weeks class. 

Now mind you, the quilt top is constructed of several different cuts of plaid flannel with a mottled gold cotton sashing and red with gold dotted binding.  For the backing I have is this cute ....

.... farm animal print (cows, chickens, sheep, pigs) so what to add for the binding ????

..... why not black fabric with tiny white polka dots ?

How cute is that ?

HOMEWORK:  make "bias" binding from the black/white dot fabric.
 

In the mail I also received the pattern from Nicole for the February SAL (Stitch-A-Long).  The chart says:

"Cross Stitch is the act of sewing thousands of tiny kisses onto fabric" ~ Author Unknown

As you can see in this snap ....

 

..... I have selected a pretty rose color evenweave fabric and some yummy silk Waterlilies hand-dyed thread in Mulberry.

At 5:30 the RiverKings were at Fazolli's for the 2nd Sign & Dine of the season, and THE MOMMA DOG aka Julie was in town (from Ontario) visiting the Hockey Son.  She has claim to him as his REAL mom!  We had such a GREAT TIME!!!  While the guys were at their table interacting with the fans that showed up, Julie and I had a good visit and chat about our guy.  (No, I will not reveal any secrets she shared) but leave it to say, we have a lot in common and had a great chat.  Peter had already bribed his mom into dinner at Red Lobster, so I tagged along and we had another hour of fun watching Peter put away a big plate of crab legs.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures, but Julie is going to be here until Sunday, so snaps to follow.

 
I did manage to get a few stitches in on Sleepy Hollow, but not before I ended up with this:

After picking for about 10 minutes, I gave up and cut the knot out....

Then got this far before my eyes were crossing with sleep and I hit the sack.

I spent the last 2 hours this morning (Friday) on line trying to get my "Cloud" straightened out with Verizon.  I do love my mobile service with Verizon, however, their website is so NOT user friendly.  I am pretty tech savvy  but somehow I deleted my entire "Cloud" account and after online chatting with one of their reps, I finally gave up.  THAT will be another day's challenge.

I am now starving, and as The Mr. just wandered in (feeling a bit better) I guess I need to get up from here and rustle up something for lunch.

On tap for tonight I will be venturing down to the "barn" again to see the RiverKings take on the RiverMen in their first match-up of the season on home ice.  Jere will be at the club for a Racquetball tournament so I believe Julie will occupy his seat and get initiated into the Hockey Family.

Detail to come .....

Till next time

Cindi
1232015

IHSW, TULSA and another MONDAY !

This past weekend was the first IHSW for 2015.  Those of you that read my page can read about it on the tab up there.

My weekend past was so hectic that I only got about 50 stitches in the Sleepy Hollow piece.


1.16.2015

 


1.20.2015


Today also is the January New Moon check in on my TUSAL .... also on a page on a tap up there.....

Yesterday we spent the day with our hockey son, Peter.

He does look a bit different than this picture as he has shaved off his mustache.  Anyway, we picked him up around 11:30 and went to Gengis Grill for lunch.  I swear, I thought I was going to need to ask for some side boards to hold the pile of meats and veggies he stacked up in his bowl.  After lunch we went shopping at a couple of places including some specialty shops at Wolfchase Galleria then came to the house and hung out till time to go to the Coaches show. 

It was a fun, relaxing day!!

I noticed in the last few days that the battery in my laptop that I have had less than 2 years has gone bad.  I purchased the "Black Tie" service plan when I got it which includes replacing the battery, but I have to send it off to the Best Buy Geek Squad repair center and will be without it for 3 - 4 weeks..... UGH .... what am I gonna do without it ?????

Well I shall not ignore my blog, even if I have to spend the time in the frigid room that houses out desk top,  I'll keep things up to date.

Gotta go stitch some...

Till next time..

Cindi
1.20.2015

 

Monday ... Again !

...........and such a busy weekend it was .....

When I left ya'll on Thursday, I was about to head to Hernando for my quilting class.  Well, I made in on time, for the first time :) !!  Some worked on getting their fabric cut and a couple manned the sewing machines and pieced our already cut blocks together.  I got to strip # 9 and realized that I didn't have enough fabric to complete the 15" squares I wanted.  So on the way home, I stopped at JoAnn's Fabrics and found 2 pretty pieces of fabric ~ a red and a gold that would co-ordinate perfect with what I had.

 

This project will be put on the back burner until later this week.

Friday after my morning coffee I got to cracking on the baby seat blanket I was making for Mallory's shower gift and WOW ... it turned out SO CUTE!!! 

Label printed on fabric !!! 

 

 

Hockey Friday night was the first meeting between the RiverKings and Fayetteville FireAntz.  The two teams swapped the lead during the 1st period ending with a 3-2 with the Antz on top.  Then when they came out for the 2nd period our boys never gave the Antz another chance to score.  Adam saved 25 of  28 shots on goal and the Kings netted 5 of the 40 shots they fired giving them a 5-3 win, putting them up past Fayetteville into 6th place (can we say Playoffs ???).  !!!

A friend of Jere's passed away last week so Saturday morning we attended the memorial service in Germantown.  It was the second time I have been to a Catholic funeral and had forgotten how many times you were up and down ... singing songs, praying ..... whew and it was almost 2 hours long... but was a really nice service for a wonderful man.

I delivered Jere back home and dashed back east to Collierville for Mallory's baby shower getting lost and arriving 30 minutes late.... but what a nice party it was.  There was lots of snacks, a few typical baby shower games and such nice gifts she got !!! 

Near the end, some of the guys showed up and look at these great looking boys, their brides and those darling baby bumps.

Robbie, Mallory, Chelsea, Ned

Proud Granna !

Another trip north to pick up Jere for the hockey game that night and we were heading south to the Landers Center.  

It was my night to work at the Booster Club table, so I missed the first 2 periods of the game, which included a couple of pretty good fights (Sheldrake, a former RiverKing is playing for the Fayetteville FireAntz and got in a tussle with Mike Grace), Peter taking 3 past him into the net to give the Antz a 3-0 lead, Adam replacing Peter in the net as goalie and the Kings ending the 2nd period down 3-2.  WELL, all they needed is me down on the glass to get the score even at 5-5 ending regulation play .  Then 2.27 minutes into overtime, Leo slapped one in to give the guys a 6-5 win.  

Sunday morning we met the kids and my brother & sis-in-law, along with Kristin & Brandon and Kasey at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. YUMMY !!!

Isn't this a cute pic of Kristin & Brandon ???

After breakfast I dashed to Kroger to pick up stuff for my famous Cheese Dip and some fruit for the watch party at Casa Jackson of the afternoon match-up between the Kings and Huntsville Havoc.  The Hockey family (along with 3 of the pseudo-grands came over and the boys added another win to the history books taking the Havoc 2-1.  With Peter working his magic in the net he stopped 26 of 27 shots putting another win under his belt. 

And .... its Monday ......

This is the first year Jere's company, Ducks Unlimited has observed Martin Luther King day as a company holiday, so he is off.....(and of course still snoozing at 9:03)....

On tap for today is to pick Peter up, go to lunch, let him get a little shopping in and then hang out at Casa Jackson until time for the coach's show tonight at Maria's Cantina. 

Check back tomorrow for a report on today's events ......

Till next time

Cindi 

1.19.2015