Today is for Joe Cocker

Today is a sad day in our house, 1 year ago today we lost a very loyal friend and companion. Joe Cocker was our second Cocker Spaniel and was a true joy to have in our lives. He absolutely loved to play ball - catching, throwing, chasing anything that had to do with a tennis ball he was there for it. He played right up to the day before he died, which is how I found out he was not well when he would no longer want to play. The poor little guy had a tumor growing in his belly that caused his lungs to fill with fluid, he never showed any signs that he was so sick until that day when I noticed his breathing was labored and he was breathing from his abdomen. He died in my arms that night, he wanted to go off by himself but I would not let him, I knew he would not let me be alone. So today is for Joe, we miss him so much.

Mary

Card Trick Finished

Since I can remember starting to sew/quilt I have always given my self some stitchin' time in the AM. Since I work retail my hours vary so the past 2 mornings I opened which means a very limited stitchin' time. On my ealry mornings I like to work on the bindings and since I handstitch them I usually save them for the early shifts. This morning I finished the binding on the Card Trick Quilt next I have a 30's Scrappy Quilt to do.


Since Sunday, I had cut the strips for baby size Bargello Quilt and was able to get a few sewn together to get this quilt started. Thats usually how I get quilts pieced and together, just spending time whenever I can and not before long I have a quilt top done.

Well hopefully tomorrow I'll have my washer fixed. When I called yesterday to find out more information on the timing of my appointment, I described what happened and they ordered the water valve to have it for tommorrow. They were suppose to call today if they had to delay the appointment but no word from them so I will keep my fingers crossed. I don't remember the last time I looked forward to doing laundry but I have enough underwear to get me thru Friday and after that is buy new or go to the Laundromat. So fingers crossed because I don't really want to travel with dirty clothes.

Once again tomorrow will be a whole new day.

Mary

My First Post

This is all new to me since I have never blogged before nor kept a journal.

First I will tell you the I live in the Upstate of South Carolina with my husband of almost 13 years and our 4 Cocker Spaniels. I am a manager with a 'big box retailer' and have a small quilting business on the side.

I started quilting approximately 10 years ago when I could not find a comforter to fit the king size mattress we had purchased. It was a simple Rail Fence pattern and was hand quilted, wasn't very pretty but it fit the need. We do not use it anymore but I still do not have one of my quilts on our bed, that will soon change since I now

have completed the quilt top just needing to be quilted. From that first quilt my interest just grew, I became very interested in Alex Anderson's program Simply Quilts and could never miss an episode. I'm a fan of Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day and adapt allot of her techniques to the way I piece my quilts.

Thru the years I have upgraded my sewing machines and frames I use. I have a Brother ULT2003 sewing/embroidery machine for my piecing and I use a HQ16 on a Handiquilter frame to do my handguided quilting. I have also, like any true quilter, have a well established fabric stash - my favorites are the 30's fabrics, using them always make a nice bright and cheery quilt.

I have a small quilting business, currently I have a store on eBay and I sell some of my quilts on consignment at a craft shop back home in Wisconsin. I soon will be offering machine quilting service and binding service to my eBay store and along on my website.

I am currently finishing the binding on a lap size quilt, the blocks are called Card Trick. The focal fabric of the quilt is a multi-colored floral on a black background with the blocks in a mottled fabric in complimenting colors. (Like I said I am new to this blogging I am not sure how to remove the duplicate picture). Once I am finished with this quilt I will be offering it for sale at my eBay Store.

I had plans of starting a Bargello Baby Size Quilt but my washer decided to change my plans today. Since I worked all week today was laundry day, put a load of whites in and after a little while I heard the signal chime 3 times so I went to investigate. The washer was overflowing and there was a odd code on the display, so I shut off the water and yelled for my husband. After a bit for vacuuming up the water I tried to get the washer to at least spin the wet clothes out, it did pump the water out but would go no further with the cycle. So after searching for the receipt and the extended warranty paperwork I was at least able to make an appointment to have it repaired.

Well 2 glasses of wine, alittle comfort food and 3 chocolate kisses have completed my day, not sure what tomorrow will bring---I guess I'll find out.

Mary