Good Mail and Quilt Blocks!

Andrew and I are going to sit down and go over the list of horse names this weekend. I asked Richard what he thought and he is such a sweety, he just said "Whatever you want, Baby, it's your horse." They do tease me because I name every animal that we have on the farm, even the chickens.

Tomorrow will be a long day! Friday is my shopping day, grocery store, feed store, dollar store, Walmart, bank, and post office. Since I do all of my shopping for the week in one day, it takes a several hours. Oh, I also have to drop off snacks for Hunter's snack day to school. Pick up both boys and then on up to pick up Breanna, my stepdaughter for the weekend.

Mom will also be home tomorrow!!!!!! That makes me so happy! She has been gone for a month and now she will be back home for a month. We are going to a quilt store about 2 hours away, actually that is the closest one to me. I told Richard that for my birthday I wanted the fabric, book, and cd to make the Civil War Diary quilt. The book came yesterday, the cd should be here tomorrow, and I will pick up the fabric next week. I called the quilt shop a couple of days ago to get directions since I had never been there and she was so nice. I live in KY but this shop is in WV which I live on the border of WV. She said they had tons of the Civil War Reproduction fabrics. She said it ran about $6.99 yd, I had called another shop that was close to this one and she said that had a FEW and it was $8.50 yd. So needless to say I will be going to WV Quilts. Oh and she asked where I was from and I told her, she asked if I planned on going to the quilt show in April at the Carriage House Inn in Paintsville KY. I go every year, it's about 1 hour away. She said that she would also be there and if I saw anything at her shop that I wanted her to bring to the show just to call a few days before and she would bring it with her. She will be setting up in the vendor area. I thought that was very nice since I have so far to drive. She also said that her shop is about 3000sq ft.

I did get a few blocks done today. I checked the website for the Claudia's Quilt Shoppe BOM and they already have the March block up! I was really excited. As you can see it was a very easy block and I needed 4 of them. I love this very scrappy quilt. Then after I got them finished, I realized that I had not even made my blocks for February! Silly me....

Ran down to the mailbox today and I had some wonderful mail! I recieved this beautiful apple pincoushin from Linda. She had a giveaway on her blog a few weeks back and I won!!! It is so cute! She did a wonderful job on it, it is very well made!!! Almost too pretty for me to stick pins in it! Thanks Linda!
And last the medical news....My nephew had his procedure this morning. He had staph and they had to lance it. Poor thing he is only 18 months old, they said he woke up and hit the nurse!! He is doing much better now! Now for my boys....Hunter has his appointment on Wednesday the 5th for his little procedure and Andrew's appointment is Friday March 14th with the Heart Specialist. I will feel so much better after I get all of this taken care of....and then I can start back with my appointments!!!
Kristie

I would like to have your opinion!

As you all know we are getting two more horses probably this weekend! One for me and one for Hunter! Now Hunter's is a red and white paint and he has already named him. We told him, it was his horse and he could name it anything he wanted. Now maybe that wasn't such a good idea since he named the cat, "Donkey" :) So in the end he had decided to name his "Jingle Bell" I don't have a clue as to why, but that is what he wants...

Now, my horse is a CHOCOLATE colored Rocky Mountain Horse. These are gaited horses, like our others but the others that we have are Tennessee Walking Horses. I am thinking I will call him "HERSHEY" but when we show him at the horse shows he needs a show name! They will announce it like this...

" Now entering the ring is Andrew Layne #17 riding _____________"

So I need a catchy show name!!! I have narrowed it down to a few but can't really decided for sure. So this is where I would like to have your opinion!

1 ~ A Box Of Chocolates

2 ~ A Horse Of Course

3 ~ Addicted To Chocolate

4 ~ Chocolate Drop

5 ~ Coco Puffs

6 ~ Just Plain Chocolate

Now I could be mean and name him "Fart A Brown Color" That was actually on the list of horse names!!! :) Like I said I will call him "Hershey" because that is easier and you don't want to have to ramble off a full sentence when you are trying to get his attention. I just need to figure out a show name!!! Please help!! Or if you have any other suggestions I am open to them!
Kristie

Civil War Diary Book In The Mail Today!!!!

The boys didn't have school today, we got about 1 1/2 inches of snow last night! I doubt they will have it tomorrow either. So I have spent the day with the boys and not much sewing going on. We have just sit around talking and watching some tv. I truly enjoy every extra minute that I get with them but I hate when they cancel school so much. It just makes it harder on them when they go back.

I finally got my "Civil War Diary Quilt" book in the mail today. I should recieve the cd in a few days. Stupid me didn't order them at the same time. Anyway, I have so enjoyed reading the diary entries. I love anything to do with history and the civil war. We actually have a couple of cavalry saddles that were used during that time. We still ride them.

I hope to go shopping for fabrics next week after mom gets home, she is going with me. I have been looking over the patterns and I do believe that I will paper piece most of them. I think it would be easier for me to do them that way. Some of those pieces are very tiny and I want it to look nice since I plan on displaying it from the balcony in the new house.....if we ever get it finished. I'm in no big hurry to finish the quilt, I figure I will just work on it along with some of my others.

I did work on my Baltimore Blues Februay block for a few minutes this morning. I started getting a headache so I stopped. I think I need new glasses. :) I want to get this block finished before the March block comes out next week. I really need to get back into the swing of things. It doesn't seem like I have been getting alot of quilty things done lately.

I just got the call that my nephew who is only 18 months old has staph! It has been going around everywhere pretty bad the past few months. He is starting to run a temp and the doctor wants him at the hospital so that they can lance it. Poor little thing. I will have to check on him...
Kristie

Kristie

Andrew To See The Heart Specialist!

A mother's worry's never go away do they?? As you all know Hunter has to have some medical things done to his private parts. He had an appointment on the 15th of February but they cancelled it and it is rescheduled. It is nothing major but it will be very painful for him.

Now Andrew has to go see a heart specialist. He is having heart palpations or something like that. His heart beats way too fast at times. He has just started this, he can just be sitting here watching tv and it will start beating real hard and fast. At times it gets almost up to 200 and then it will slow down and skip a few! My brother has this same problem and his started about the same age as Andrew! He has been on heart medication since he was around 16. Now my sister has a problem with her heart too. Hers just beats too fast all the time. She is also on medication and she is only 23. The doctor is doing a referral for Andrew to the heart specialist, so I'm not sure when his appointment will be, I should find something out tomorrow. More than likely they will put one of those monitors on him for a few days first and then go from there. That is what Andrew's doctor said they would do. But it should be controlled with medication and he will have to take it for the rest of his life. This is not something that he will have to have surgery for just something that the medication will regulate, but still when it is your child you still worry. I have been worried sick since I found this out today, but I have been trying not to show it too much around him. He doesn't need to worry about it right now. I love my boys more than life it's self and just wish that I could take away their pain and worry. I guess that is just part of being a mother.

I finally finished doing the applique on my January block of Baltimore Blues. I started doing the applique on this block today which is the February block. I don't have alot of it done yet, I HATE doing those tiney circles!!!
That is about all of the quilting that I got done today. I would love to get this block finished before Friday if I can. Mom will be coming home on Friday!!!!! I can't wait to see her! I just miss her so much while she is gone.

I think I will work on my block a little more before I set down with the boys to watch American Idol.
Kristie

Quilts For Donation!

I have two baby quilts to show you. I did NOT make them, but I wish I had. A lady brought them to the guild meeting today for me to donate to the pediatrician's office where my sister works. They will be donated to the patients on an as needed basis.

I think she did a great job on them, and believe it or not they are not pieced. They are panels! She machine quilted, what would be considered stitch-in-the-ditch. I really had to look twice to realize that they were not pieced.


I have tons of baby tops, that I need to quilt and send to donate as well. I think it is great when people can come together and hopefully, make a difference in someone's life.

There were some others that said they would bring some at the next meeting. It doesn't matter if they just make one, it will help. I had been trying to do it by myself, but I just couldn't keep up with what was needed, so I mentioned it to the ladies at quilt guild and they decided to help.
Kristie

I survived!

I have survived the weekend!!! It's now 4pm and the last one has gone home. I think they all had a blast! My house is a total mess! But I will work on that tomorrow, right now I just need some down time. Today is actually Andrew's birthday, he is 15! Here is a photo of his cake, it has a fishing theme, it is hard to see but it does have fish in the water.

This is a photo of some of them. Andrew and Hunter are making silly faces. Andrew is sitting in my sister's lap and Hunter is with Crystal, which is my sister's best friend. There are 2 boys missing from the photo, I tried to find a photo with them all in it, but I didn't have one. I had a total of 7 boys here, that is counting my 2.
Here is a photo of our house progress. We finally got the plywood and house wrap on the bottom floor. You can't tell it from the photo but we have started putting down the subfloor on the second story. We will cut out the holes for the windows after we get the roof on. We have them done, they are just covered up right now with the plywood. It is slow going, but we will get it finished someday...Hopefully I can get back to quilting this week! At least I hope to. Tomorrow is my quilt guild meeting at 10am, so I am excited about that. We will be discussing a mystery quilt project.

Kristie

Two More Horse's On The Way!!!

Okay, you all know how much I love my horses so in a few days we will have 2 more additions to our little horse farm! I am such a happy girl right now!!!! So here is the story....

I have the best hubby in the world!!! We love horses and always have. After we first married the first one we got was Ole Jim, the mule. You all know that he is my baby and none of them will ever replace him, but I still love the others. Then came Bullet, which is Richard's. Then I asked Richard for a big black Tennessee Walker. We went looking and I came home with the biggest black Tennessee Walker that we could find. He was actually 64 inchs to the base of the neck. I loved him so much. We had him for a year or so and he got the colic in the middle of the night and died. I was heartbroke. A few months went by and he asked if I wanted another horse and I told him I wanted a red and while paint. That is when we got Storm. We bought him at an auction. I saw him from afar and pointed, told him that was the one. I just knew! So Richard said no matter the price it was mine...we came home with him that night! Then there was Beauma, Eb's Private Treaty, and then Autumn!

Then I got in my head that I wanted a Chocolate colored Rocky Mountain Saddle Horse. I just love these horses. And a little over a year ago, we were riding with several of our friends and one of them were riding on a chocolate rocky mountain horse, he had just bought it. I loved it!! I told Richard that I would love to have it! Anyway the guy sold it shortly after he had bought it, he buys and sells all of the time. Today, Richard told me that he had a suprise for me but I had to wait about a week. So I wouldn't stop until he told me what it was and believe it or not, it is THAT SAME HORSE THAT I WANTED! That guy bought it back and now it is mine!!!!!

And to add to the fun Richard's friend is giving Hunter a horse!!! He just thinks the world of my boys and since Andrew already has a horse, he is giving Hunter is very own! It is a red and white paint! Very pretty! He is about 2 yrs old and still a stud horse, but since it is for Hunter we will have him cut, to calm him down!

So it is a happy day here on the Layne Farm!!!!

Oh and by the way, I am surviving all of the boys here this weekend....I will post photos of that later! They are having a blast!!!
Kristie

Ohhhhh, What A Weekend This Will Be...

As most of you know my oldest son turns 15 this weekend. We were having him a party on Saturday. School was cancelled again today so he was worried that no one would be here because they had planned on riding the bus home with him. So it started....the phone rang at 6:30am this morning and one of his friends asked if his mom could drop him off on her way to work! He was here by 7:30am! I had to make my weekly trip into town this morning to grocey shop and other things so he went along with us.

Now here it is 3:15pm and there is now 5 boys plus my 2, for a total of 7!!! These are all 15 and 16 yr olds except of course for Hunter which is 5. They are very LOUD!!! Actually they are all good boys, they are just having fun! I'm not sure if Breanna, my stepdaughter, is still coming or not yet. She has a dance at school tonight and I guess it depends on the weather for tomorrow.
Anyway, the boys will be staying ALL weekend! I think I will work on my yo-yo's since they won't make a big mess having them out.
Kristie

It's 3am!!!!

Here it is 3:07 am and I am wide awake! Got hubby up at midnight for work and then sat down to check the UPS site to see why Andrew's birthday gift did not come today like it was scheduled to. I entered the tracking number and it said "need correct address" I call the UPS in Ashland Ky they said it would be next week! Uhhh NO!!! His birthday is this weekend! She then told me that I could come down and pick it up. Ashland is about 1 1/2 hours away! I told her I paid shipping for it to be delivered to my house, not so that I would to drive 1 1/2 hours to pick it up!! Long story short....it will be here on Friday! Oh and they had the right address, she said it was a new driver! By the way...it is 2 guitar pedals, one gives him the blues sound and I don't remember what sound the other one has. He picked them out because I don't have a clue when it comes to this guitar stuff. All I know is right now he has around $1200 in his guitar, amp and these pedals. Teenagers are so expensive!!!

Anyway, I guess that got me a little mad and now I can't sleep...which gets me in trouble....I ordered a quilt book!!!! I know I didn't need it, but I wanted it. I have been wanting it for a while now and I finally brokedown and ordered it.

So now after I get it I will have to make a trip to Russell to the quilt store down there. I'm told they have a wonderful collection of repro fabrics! It is about 2 hours away, but I will just have to load up on fabric when I get there to make it worth my trip!!! :)

Kristie

Too Many Fans!

Today was another cleaning day. I had to backtrack and pick up the kitchen and living room that I had done the deep cleaning the few days before. Today I did the deep cleaning on the bathroom, hallway and laundry area! Now like the other rooms this consisted of cleaning very surface! Actually, I'm still not done with the bathroom, I need to clean the shower and under the sink.

The boys were home from school today! They have already cancelled school for tomorrow too and there is still NO SNOW!!! The news is giving snow alerts for us, but I have yet to see any snow. The area that we live in is very hilly with lots of backroads so that makes it hard for the buses to travel. They usually allow several snow days for the kids.

During one of my breaks today, I found more UFO's that I had forgotten about! I had done these several years ago, actually you can tell by the fabrics that they have been put up for several years. They will be 12 inch blocks when finished. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made these. There are 3 sets of blocks and 44 in each set! That is 132 of these fan blocks, just TOO MANY FANS!



I will probably try to finish a few of them at a time. I swear I think I had gone crazy making that many fans!

Tomorrow morning, if there is no snow, the boys and I will head in to town. I need to order Andrew's cake for the weekend. I will probably go ahead and pick up some other things that I need for his party. I usually do all of my shopping for the week on Friday, but I will have to do this in two trips, I don't think it will all fit in my car.
Kristie

My sample block!

I couldn't stand it any longer!!!

As you know I put my sewing machine and all my sewing things up yesterday since I will be cleaning all week. Today I cleaned the living room :( Moved all the furniture and cleaned under it, swept the ceiling, cleaned the light fixtures, actually I cleaned everything except for the fireplace and I just didn't have the energy for that today. I'm not going to clean it at all on the inside, since we use it everyday, I just need to clean the outside and wash the hearth. Anyway, back to my story....

I took a break this morning and drove down to the mailbox. That is when I got the wonderful gift from Cindy!! After seeing it, I so wanted to start sewing, but knew that I really needed to clean. And with every break that I took, I was on the internet either looking at quilts or talking about quilts! Then finally, when I moved my quilting magazines out of the living room and put them in my closet, I dropped one. I picked it up and you know that I had to sit down and thumb through it. I saw a applique pattern that was a simple design that I really liked. Now I know I don't need another project, but you know me...the more the merrier! You only live once, right? Anyway, back to cleaning, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to try it. But I decided I wanted it bigger!!! So I sat down at the copier and enlarged it! Here is my sample block!

I haven't appliqued around it yet, my machine is still put up, but I just wanted to check the size. I do think this is one that I will do later. I'm not sure what colors I will use in the quilt. I may actually do each flower in different colors, kinda like a scrap quilt, but I will have the two fabrics in the flower matching like I do this one. Maybe!!! Then again, would it look better to have the whole quilt with the same color flowers?? Or maybe like, all different purples or something?? Give me some ideas...
Kristie

A Wonderful Gift From Cindy!

Today I recieved a wonderful gift from Cindy! She sent me this beautiful butterfly wallhanging! You all just really make me cry with these gifts. Thank you so much Cindy, I do truly love it. I now have it hanging in my living room right above my computer desk.

It really is beautiful! The back also has a very pretty butterfly fabric. Thank you again Cindy for making my day better!!! I have met so many nice quilters on the web and you all have become a big part of my life.
Kristie

I've had to put it up for a few days...

I put my sewing machine up for a few days. Andrew's birthday is this weekend and he will be having a party. So I have spent the day cleaning my kitchen. I guess you could say doing a little bit of spring cleaning. I figure if I deep clean a room a day this week, I should be ready for the party. I sew at my kitchen table so my kitchen is usually a mess. I cleaned everything in the kitchen, windows, oven, cabinets, just everything. I even got down with a scrub brush and cleaned the floor around the edge of the walls and cabinets! It really needed it. I am so tired right now, I can't believe I actually let it get that bad.

Andrew will be 15 on Sunday, so he has 5 or 6 of his friends coming home with him on Friday to stay the weekend. The worst part of the weekend is, Breanna, my 14 yr old stepdaughter, is coming to stay this weekend. Let's just say, that went over like a turd in a punch bowl. Richard is about to die. He is so protective of her and now we will be having that many boys staying. He said "They had better not even look at her" I reminded him that he was once that age too, and he said "EXACTLY!" Honestly, they are all good kids, so I don't worry about anything, I'll just be enjoying watching Richard sweat all weekend!!! Oh, and Richard said she has to sleep in our bedroom too. So this should be an interesting weekend or at least a funny one.

I will drag my machine back out the first of next week, but I have a few things that I will probably work on this weekend. I have some yo-yo's that I could work on or a quilt that I am hand quilting. I really need to get it done, I just don't know if I want to drag it out, it is a little bulky. Oh well, I will find something to work on!
Kristie

Featured Quilt Of The Week ~ 6

I didn't post a "Featured Quilt Of The Week" for last week, I just got sidetracked! So here is the one for this week! Actually, this one is still just a top. It is called "Road To Dixie" I made it a few years ago and really enjoyed sewing this one together. It is a queen size top. The border fabric is my favorite, it is navy paisley. This is one that I hope to get quilted soon.

My 154 Quilts!

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I had 70 tops that need to be quilted. Here is an old photo that I posted several months ago. I think at the time of this photo there were somewhere around 60 tops. I love to quilt, and someday these will all be quilted, I promise. As soon as we get the house finished I will have room for a longarm and that is when I plan to start quilting them.

I have made 154 total! I have them all listed in a notebook so that I can keep up with their names. So 84 of them are quilted!!!! I just didn't want you all to think that I just make tops! :) Here is an old photo of some of a stack that I had stored in an antique cabinet. I take them out every once in a while to refold them. Needless to say, I have quilts piled everywhere.
I try to refold them every so often. I am starting to run out of room to put these quilts. Right now the house that I am living in is right under 1000sq ft. So with 4 of us, it is very crowded in here. Our house, if we ever get it finished, is 3200 sq ft. Which will be plenty big enough, but in time it will start to shrink after we live in it for a while.

I always enjoy seeing everyone else's quilts, but that is what gets me in trouble! I always see something else that I want to make!

I love to quilt! And I find that it is something that I will always enjoy. I have been quilting for about 10 years now, it is a hobby that I picked up after a divorce. To this day I still find it to be relaxing and enjoyable!
Kristie

Mark Lipinski?!?

Okay ladies this post will just tell you how far back in the sticks that I live. Everyone lately has been talking about Mark Lipinski and I honestly didn't have a clue as to who he was!!! Okay, now I know you all are laughing at me, but I really didn't. So I decided to take it upon myself to find out! I googled and man was there alot that came up with his name! Finally, I got it narrowed down to his website and blog!

And I must say this man is BRILLIANT!!! Amazing, just truly amazing! I even sent my sister in to town to try to find his magazine. She called me on her cell to tell me they only had 2 of his magazines left. So home she came with the March/April 2008 edition of Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home Magazine! I have been thumbing through it for a while now, and I believe this is a magazine that I will purchase frequently! Oh and I even saw a photo of his cat, Lilly and she even looks like my cat Donkey!

Here is another photo of Donkey! I'm sure you all are probably tired of seeing photos of him. But here he is sleeping in my scrap basket!

Now on to more quilty things! We have been working on the house today, but in my mind I have been quilting! I have been thinking of future projects that I just can't wait to start and past projects that I just can't wait to finish! Do you know that I have 70 tops that need to be quilted!!! Yes 70!! I really need to get working on them! Some I plan to machine quilt, some hand quilt and others I will send out to be longarmed! I think first as far as quilting goes, I will start quilting some of the baby quilts to drop off at the pediatrician's office where my sister works. They will be donated to some of the children that really need them and they will also give some to the terminal ill children for comfort quilts. It will make them easier to finish knowing that they are going to a good cause. I would love to get my Bargello and maybe another quilt quilted real soon, there is a local quilt show coming up soon! But anyway, I have so many quilting plans, but just not enough time to do them all!!! I told hubby that I really need a maid so that I could have more quilting time.

Kristie

Still working on it!

I know you all have already saw this photo a few days ago, but it is still what I am working on. I am sewing so slow because I am soooooo afraid of messing it up! But I'm not actually working on it constantly, just a minute or two at a time. But I'm in no hurry, I'm not really in the mood to work on anything else right now. You know how moody we quilters get!

Today was Hunter's Valentine's Party at school, since they didn't have school yesterday. So after running by this morning to pick up Richard's check, on to the grocery store, bank, Walmart, Dollar Store and Feed Store, I was finally back home for a few minutes before I had to leave again. I had to put all of my stuff away and then on to school for Hunter's party! The Hats were a big hit!!! They all loved them and the teachers loved their gifts too. The teacher even took a group photo of them all with their hats on!! I was so glad that they liked them!

When I got back home Richard was here and so was the satellite guy! After a couple of hours working on it, I finally got my signal back! You would not believe what the problem was! It was the cable that goes from the satellite dish to the tv, the end was bad! So they replaced the end connector and now everything is just peachy!!!

So now we have all settled down for the evening. Richard is watching "Heartbreak Ridge", Hunter is playing with his train set, Andrew is in his room playing his guitar and I am on here trying to catch up on everyone's blog!! That is a losing battle. I got so far behind just from that one day that my internet was down. So if I don't get to comment on your blog I am very sorry! I will have everything back on track soon!
Kristie

What A Day!!!

This has been a long day!!! First off, Andrew tried to get on the internet this morning to check his My Space and we had no internet connection. Now since I live in the sticks we do not have high speed internet we have dial-up, I just have a seperate phone line for the computer. So we tried for a while then I called the phone company, they said they would fill out a work order and have someone out here to check it in a couple of days. So when I told Andrew that, I thought the poor child would pass out! He is used to using the computer alot.

So the day went on, and Richard called around 1pm, talked to him for a few minutes. Then about 15 minutes later, I pick up the phone to call my mom and there was no dial tone! So now, my regular house phone was not working. So when Richard got home he started working around with the lines and the weird thing is. I had no internet and no regular house phone, but he hooked the house phone up the the internet phone line and it worked perfect! Now how odd is that. So around 6pm the house phone line started working and around 10pm my internet started working.

And I know this is not at all related to my phone problems but now my satellite is not working!!! It just says "NO SIGNAL" I could scream!!!! I guess I will be calling the satellite company in the morning to try to have that fixed.

So that has been my day!!!! But I did actually work on my applique block this evening! I had plenty of time, with no internet and no satellite! Hopefully, I will get caught up on everyone's blogs this weekend!!!
Kristie

My Sweet Hubby!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Well, as you all know I have to get hubby up at midnight for work. As he was eating his breakfast I started to pack his lunch but couldn't find his lunch box or coffee thermos. He said he must have left it in the truck, so I ran out to get them and this is what was laying in his front seat!

He wrote some really mushy stuff in the card that made me cry!!! He is truly the love of my life. We have been married 7 yrs in May and we have only had 3 arguments! So I won't complain at all. I feel very lucky!!!
Kristie

Working On Applique!

The boys are home from school again today! We finally did get about 1 inch of snow!!! The school system allows so many snow days but they usually have to make up a few extra days. There are so many hills and backroads in this area that it make travel very hard. So with the boys home, I didn't get alot of sewing done.

I did clean up my sewing table and put a few things away. But I have been working on my Baltimore Blues January Block on and off today. I got January and Februray's blocks cut out and ironed down, so now I need to stitch around them. Now applique is something that I don't do alot of. I love the look of applique, but seems that all of my quilts end up being patchwork. I started a BOM with my guild a few months ago and needless to say that didn't last very long. I am still on the first block. So when I saw this new Baltimore Blues BOM, I just knew that I HAD to do it. So I practiced on some scraps first and then started on my block today. Now I really feel like a beginner!!! I have my machine on the slowest speed that it has and it is really taking me a long time, but I am not comfortable going any faster right now. So I figure it is better to go slow and do it right instead of ruining it by being in a hurry. You really can't tell that much about it in the photo but I have the purple in the center flower done and part of the dark purple in the top left corner. I really like how it is turning out but I am glad that their is only one block a month to do! That way maybe I won't get behind!!!


I can't work on it very long at a time, my eyes must be getting worse or something. I think I am trying to focus on the stitches too much. I have glasses but seems like I am having a hard time seeing my stitches. The lighting isn't the best in the world either, I think I need to pick up a light to sit by my machine.
Kristie

Small Flag Pillow

Not alot of quilty things to show today. I had both boys home from school today. They cancelled school last night, because they were predicting snow overnight. We didn't get any snow but we did get a layer of ice. I hate ice!! Anyway with both boys home I didn't get alot of sewing done. Seems like every time I turned around they were fighting! But I know that is just how boys are.

I did sew this little pillow up for Hunter. In school they are learning some American History and he is just fascinated about the flag. He sits and draws flags constantly. I found a panel of these little flags that someone had gave me several years ago, so I decided to sew him one up. It only took me about 10 minutes from start to finish, so nothing major.

Here is a photo of Donkey passed out on the couch. He sleeps weird!!! But we love him!!

If I get the chance this evening, I would love to do a little bit of sewing. I have a ton of things that I need to catch up on.
Kristie

Another Project Off My List!

Not alot of sewing going on here today. I spent most of the morning trying to round up my chickens. If you look close in photo below you will see a couple of hawks! There were about 7 of them hanging around trying to catch my chickens. I finally got all of the chickens put up in the coop and then the hawks left! I guess that is just part of living in the country!

I did manage to get my 2 throws embroidered for Hunter's teachers. So all of the gifts are ready for Hunter's Valentine's Party at school. I really need to clean my sewing area up before I do anymore sewing. Today when I was sitting there doing this, I had things falling off of the table!
I think tomorrow I will work on one of my BOM's. It has 4 blocks in it for this month. And then I want to practice some machine applique before I actually start sewing my pieces down on my Baltimore Blues blocks. At least that is the plan, but nothing usually happens that way.

They are calling for snow and ice here tonight. The news said it should start around 8pm. It's 9pm and there is nothing! The snow I want it's the ice I could do without!! I would just like to get enough for the boys to be able to get out and play in it. The roads do make me nervous when it snows, so I usually just stay home until it melts off.

I have some laundry in right now, so I think I will clean up my sewing area while I'm waiting for it to finish! I have to get Richard up at midnight for work, call my mom at 3:30am to make sure she gets up (she said her alarm is not working very well), then call my sister to get her up for work at 6am (she has 4 alarm clocks, but can't hear them!!!), and last...I get the boys up at 6:30am for school! After they leave, I do my morning feeding, clean the house and then have some "me time" at least until it is time to start dinner.

OMG!!! I just saw on the tv that they cancelled school for tomorrow and it hasn't even snowed!!!
Kristie

Balitmore Blues February Block

Late last night I went ahead and cut out for the February block. I still need to stitch it down, but at least you can get an idea as to what it is going to look like. If I live through all of those tiny circles, I think I will be okay. They sure are tiny!

Anyway, like I said last night, I plan to use this week to do some catching up. Where I've been sick I've not gotten as much done as I would like to. This is what I need to get done, of course it doesn't mean I will get it done! :)

~ Applique January and February blocks
~ Applique Heart Tablerunner
~ Planet Patchwork's BOM-last month of it and it is 50 small blocks plus borders
~ Claudia's Quilt Shoppe BOM-I think it is 4 blocks this time.
~ Embroidery 2 fleece throws for Hunter's teachers.

I bet that I won't get half of that done, but it will be fun trying!!!
Kristie

A little bit of sewing

We finally got all of the hog finished last night! Richard did most of the butchering since it was outside and he didn't want me out in the weather were I had been sick. After getting it quartered up he brought it in and we cut the rest up in the kitchen. Well, he did the cutting and I did the packaging. The meat grinder died about halfway through the sausage, so we had to make a trip to Lowe's last night to pick up a new one.

This is what I worked on yesterday in between the packaging. A tablerunner in plaids. I love the look of plaids. I still need to stitch around the hearts and stars but I will try to get that done this week.

While we were out last night, I stopped by Walmart and picked up some fabrics for the Baltimore Blues BOM that I wanted to start. I am a month behind but hopefully I will catch up soon. I still need to stitch this one down too, but I just did it this morning. The colors don't show real well in the photo, it looks orange but it is a golden yellow, with purple, lavendar, and green. I bought matching threads for it too.
So that is what I have been up to the past day or two. I still have a few other BOM's that I need to catch up on this week. I think that is what I will do this week is catch up on everything.
Kristie

Quilting and Farm Life

Today is the day that we are butchering the hog! I promise no nasty photos of that, I know that is not for everyone. But here it is something we enjoy and the meat is so much better when you do it yourself.

But first...I got up early this morning and sewed my 6 strips together!!!! So here it is!!!

I can't believe that it has taken me so long to make this. But anyway here it is and I know that I still need to add a border but I will get to that in a few days. I'm just happy to get this much of it done! This cold has really slowed me down on everything. Needless to say, my February To Do List will not get finished this month!!

So before I run outside to start cutting this thing up, here are some farm photos that I took earlier today!

Here is the pig that we are butchering today. He weighs about 350 lbs not as big as the last one that we butchered but still big enough.

This is Bullet, our stud horse, standing very proud!

Of course, this is my baby, Jim!! This was taken about 6am this morning while we were out feeding!
Old Fred, our bassetthound. I couldn't catch Ida Belle to get her photo, she is too hyper!

Stormy! This is one of the horses that Richard bought for me. He is such a big baby too. he is one of the horses that the boys show during the summer.
Here is Beauma! She is in the lot with Storm and thinks she runs this farm! This is Autumn! She is trying to play peek-a-boo with me, I think! She is the other horse that the boys will be showing in the Summer. She has to stay in the stall because she has full plantation shoes on, they weigh about 4 lbs a piece. They have metal bands that cross her hoof to help keep them on. We have them on her now so that we can work with her and have her ready for show.

This is Rogjo and Henrietta. These to never stray away from each other.

I guess that is enough for now, I'd better get busy!!!

Kristie

Hats, Hats, and more Hats!

Well, I am still feeling like CRAP!! I am better than I was, but it is just moving. I still have the cough, but now it is mostly in my sinuses and left ear. I have been putting ear drops in my ear to numb it. I slep on the couch today for about 3 hours. Needless to say, I haven't been sewing much the past few days.

I really want to get my last 6 strips sewn together on my Scrappy Bargello. I can't believe it has taken me this long to do it. Yesterday I found these Winter hats on clearance for 2/$1, so I bought 20 of them!!! You say, why 20??

They are child size and I thought I would make them for all the kids in Hunter's class. He is having a Valentine's party in a few days and I thought I would throw these in with their gift bags that we have fixed up. So I decided to embroidery each of their names on them. The boys is embroidered in a varigated green and the girls is in varigated rainbow colors. I have them all done now and it only took me about an hour to finish all 20.
I am so far behind on reading everyones blog. I am so sorry if I haven't commented, I just honestly haven't felt like sitting here at the computer for very long at a time. But I have been wondering what everyone has been up to. I will try to catch up on a few of them tonight.

Here is another photo of Donkey. Doesn't he look so comfy?? As you can see he is sleepin on on of my quilts and a quilt magazine...my kind of cat!

Before I finish my post for the night, I just want to thank everyone again for my quilt and all of the sweet comments and personal emails. I have recieved a few emails from quilters that have gone through the same thing or one of their family. It is so nice to know that someone cares. That just goes to show that "Quilter's Are Special People"

The funniest thing happened this morning. I was at the grocery store doing my shopping and a friend of my mom's walked up to me and said "I heard that you recieved a quilt" I didn't know what to say. I asked how she knew, she said that my mom told this lady's sister and her sister told her. So I told her the story about it and she said that it was about the sweetest thing she had heard of. I felt so PROUD!!! I plan on taking it to my guild meeting at the end of the month to show them what beautiful work that you ladies do.

Kristie

You have really touched my heart!

I truly don't know where to start! Well, I guess it all started with a post right before Christmas. I had been diagonsed with Graves Disease, long story short, I have 3 tumors on my thyroid. I was terrified about all of this. The doctor said that I needed to have radiation treatments to kill the tumors, since they could not be removed because of the location. If they try to remove them, I will have paralysis in my face and will affect my speech. The worst part about having the radiation was I was told that I could not hold my children or interact very much with my family because the radiation would be transferred through my pores. This upset me greatly, because I am very close to all of my family and my boys. We are a very huggy-lovey family.



Since this post, I have not yet had my radiation. I have gone to a different doctor and he, of course, wants to do his own set of tests. At first, he didn't think that I would need to have the radiation, but now he says that he thinks it in my best interest to sooner or later have the radiation. I will be on several medications for my thryoid and other things...bp, etc. Right now the doctor wants to do a biopsy, but it is the needle biopsy. I forgot the medical term for it, but he wants to schedule that after I have my MRI and Ultrasound of the thryoid area.



Now that you know the background of the story, let me tell you what has happened today...I recieved a box delivered by UPS today. I open it up and I am brought to tears!!! Now in this box was a beautiful fabric panel, a wonderful name tag, delicious Godiva Chocolates, a card, and a QUILT!!!! Now I'm dragging this quilt out and start seeing all these names on these blocks and I immediately start crying! My boys are with me looking at everything. Andrew asked "Mom, why did they send you a quilt?" My response "I don't know" I see a label on the quilt, but I am crying so hard that I can't read it, so Andrew has to read it to me. The label reads....



Kristie, thoughts of you in each tiny stitch,

Stippling, Binding, Stitch in the Ditch,

This quilt brings thoughts of love so true,

From around the world, especially for you.



This quilt has been quilted with love

for Kristie Layne of Kentucky in the year 2008

by Hazel, Nancy, Jill, Gina, Maureen, Rhoda, (for some reason I can't connect to Rhoda's blog, but she posts on www.myquiltblog.com)

Moniek, Michelle, Cindy, and Jen.



Top Assembled and Quilted by Jen

Binding by Cindy.



Now how sweet is that? The card said that they decided to make this for me as a comfort quilt. I have cried and cried. I have never in my life had anyone to do something so precious. I hope you all realize how much I love this quilt. I called my mom to tell her, we were both crying on the phone, she can't wait to see it.

Now, I don't usually post any photos of myself because I am so paranoid about how I look. I have gained alot of weight in the past two years due to my thyroid. And you can see in the photo how thick my neck looks. I have 3 tumors in it so I guess it has to be big. There is a big difference in this photo of me now and the photo at the top of my blog, which was only about 2 years ago. But hopefully, after I get all of this taken care of with my thyroid, I will loose this extra weight. But here I am sitting proudly with my new quilt. And no, I don't think I had brushed my hair, I had only been up for a few minutes and I still have my PJ's on. :)

Here it is hanging up on my wall so that I could take a photo of it.

And here are to other precious goodies that were in the box. A lovely panel, delicious Godiva Chocolates, that are almost gone already. A name tag, that I will proudly wear at my next guild meeting, and a heart touching card that I will cherish forever.
This just goes to show what great people quilters are. I truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Kristie

Ohhhhhh, What A Night!!!

I guess you all have heard about the bad storms and tornados across several states yesterday and last night. So here is how it all started for me...Chantal (my sister) called me at 12:20am and asked if I had heard about the tornados down in Tennessee, at that time I had not. She said they were bad and headed this way. She was still up that late and I thought it odd since she had to work this moring. After I hung up with her, I figured it must be bad and she was nervous. So I called her back to tell her if she needed anything at all to call me and I would be right there.
She and Mom live on the property that connects to ours, but mom is gone to work, so Chantal was alone and scared.



I went on to bed and finally fell asleep around 2am, because I couldn't breathe when I layed down because of my cold. I could hear the winds but just didn't think they were that bad. Then the phone rang at 2:15am and it was Richard. Now he had left the house for work at 12:30am and was hauling coal several hours away. He said that an emergency announcement came across the radio that "tornados and 80 mile an hour winds were coming my way" for me to get prepared because he was too far away to get to me. They were telling everyone to seek immediate shelter!! Richard said if it hit here that the house would not stand that high winds. Because of the location of it, he said I would be better off getting in the outbuilding. So I hung up and then he called right back. He then said it came across the radio that it was alot closer to get out of the house!!! I said "What about my sister??" He said "Get the boys and drive to Chantal's because her house would be safer since it was next to the hillside and would be harder for the high winds to tear it down" So I drag the boys out of the bed, call Chantal and drive out there!!! The boys were very scared!!! Which I was too, but felt that I had to be strong for the boys and Chantal!! We were out there and Richard was on the phone with us the whole time. First we were sitting in the family room and then we saw the glass in the french doors starting to move so we decided to go in the living room and we had planned if it got any worse we would all get down next to the center wall and flip the couch over us!!! Finally it all calmed down and all was better! Around 4am I came back home and there was tree limbs everywhere!!! Luckily all was fine here at home! We did have a couple of small things happen, but nothing major!



Here is a small tree that had fallen down beside the driveway.



And here is another tree that had blown up from the roots. The top is caught in another tree, that is the only thing that stopped it from falling on over! As you can see the fence is attached to this tree so we will have to redo it.
But again, this is small things compared to other people that has lost their lives from it. So sad!



The electric went off around 6am so I didn't send the boys. They had been up most of the night and were exhausted. I called the school around 10:30am, they were getting ready to dismiss, because of flooding! She said they were concerned about not being able to get some of the children home!
Kristie

My Great Pick-Me-Up!

I'm still very sick and haven't done alot of sewing the past few days, just mostly sleeping. But I had to run into town this morning. Stopped at the mailbox and had a "great pick me up!" I recieved this today from Toni (the quilting pirate). She has what she calls Manic Mondays, she gives some very nice things away and this is what I won! A yin-yang kit! It will be perfect for my 14 yr old stepdaughter! Toni is a very talented quilter. I love visiting her site, her work is very inspiring.

My Scrappy Bargello is still hanging on the wall in six strips! I really haven't felt much like working on it alot. But I do have it down to 6 panels, it probably wouldn't take me 15 minutes to sew them together. Then I will need to add a border to it. I'm just feeling lazy!!!

As you can see here, Donkey has made himself right at home. Andrew doesn't like for me to take his photo, but I did get one of him and Donkey. We are ALL very happy with him, even me. He is alot of company to me during the day, when I am home alone. I am very proud of myself for being able to deal with him the way that I am. We have become very good friends.

I had to run into town this morning to pick up supplies for Hunter's school project. Now I love doing school projects with the boys but this one is not really Hunter's its a "MOMMY Project" Thats what gets me! Now he is 5 and in kindergarden and the teacher sent a paper home yesterday saying that they needed to make a "timeline" and turn it in by Friday. Now this timeline needs to be photos of Hunter from birth until now! I called this morning to get more details....they said....use poster board, scrapbooking supplies, lots of detail, has to be EXTREMELY neat! Now how neat is a 5 yr old??? So I made a list, and will have to borrow some of Chantal's scrapbooking supplies, I even bought a cartridge of colored ink, because I didn't want to send my orginal photos. Well, I guess I need to stop complaining about it, it has to be done.

Kristie

Featured Quilt Of The Week ~ 5

Here is my "Red Baskets" I made this quilt a few years ago and it was bought by the same man that I made the "Quilter's Snowflake" for. He had the first one made for his wife and his daughter loved the quilt so he came back and bought this one for his daughter.

I had planned on keeping it for myself, since I love red and white quilts, but the money was just too good to pass up. It is hard to see in the photo, but each basket is a different red print. It was longarm quilted by my friend Sandy.

I would love to make another red and white basket quilt someday to keep for myself! I guess I will just have to put it on my list...
Kristie

Bargello Progress

Here is an update halfway through my Scrappy Bargello. This photo is really too close up to be able to tell much about it. I have the strips hanging in my hallway so I didn't have alot of room to take the photo. I have 3 out of 6 panels finished. I probably won't get anymore of it done tonight, I'm still feeling like CRAP!!

I had put all of my WIP's when I started cutting these strips for this Bargello. I need to finish the bargello within the next few days so that I can get back to work on my others. I have really been slacking since I have been sick. I also need to update my February's To Do List and do my BOM's for this month. Hopefully, I will get back on track soon!!

Richard went out earlier to work on the house a little more. He got the ceiling beam up in the master bedroom and some of the floor joists down in my sewing room. I didn't help him today because he wouldn't let me out in the cool weather.

I just talked with my little sister on the phone and she is sooooooo sad! Now she is 23 and I am 35 so there is a big age difference but we are just as close as a mother and daughter. It just breaks my heart to see her upset. Her boyfriend is in the National Guard and leaves Tuesday for 3 weeks of training. He then gets to come home for 8 days and then ships out to Afghanistan for 15 months!! She is just heartbroke and I honestly believe that she would marry him in a heartbeat. I just don't know what to say or do for her....

Kristie