Rocket Man Quilt Completed

Isn't this a darling design? Of course, it's from the creative mind of my favorite designer, Sindy Rodenmayer, at Fat Cat Patterns. When I met Sindy, I suggested that outer space would be a good theme for a quilt because she hadn't done it before and I had a box of space-themed fabric! I was so thrilled when she created this pattern. Even the back of this quilt is cool. I used a print that has a navy background and planets, some of which are 4-6 inches in diameter.

I will be donating this quilt through Project Linus soon.

Construction Update!

This is a HUGE day at our house! I'm doing laundry at home again! Woo hoo! The guys finished the laundry room first to help me. My four months at the laundromat have ended. (The window looks out on the front yard.)
I want to introduce you to our guys from Mosby Building Arts who have done most of the work on this project. (Many subcontractors have come and gone, but these have been our guys all the way through.) First is James, our project manager, who is willing to do any job, including washing windows. Those are bookcases on that wall, and there will be a little gas stove in between.

Here are Steve and Steve, who are working outside because it is finally warm enough to work on the deck. These guys are so funny!
This is Tony, our painter. The picture is taken from the new room, in front of the bookcases, looking toward the laundry room.

As you can see, the project is moving right along! We'll probably be finished in a couple of weeks.

On an unrelated note, the song in my head today is "Hillbilly Bone" by Blake Shelton. This song has such a good beat (sounds like I'm on "American Bandstand") that I feel like I could do the Texas two-step to it--and I've never tried that before!

I Need Your Vote!

Quilting Gallery sponsors a weekly themed quilt contest, and the theme this week is "Little Boys". I decided to enter to try to win supplies to support my Project Linus work. (I've made about 160 so far, which requires plenty of thread and batting as well as fabric.)

The contest can be found here. If you feel I deserve your vote, I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

It Looks Like a House Now!

We still have a long way to go, but I wanted to show our addition now that it is clad in the same siding as the house. (The trim isn't quite finished.) There is a lot of activity inside now as tile setters, painters, plumbers, and finish carpenters dance around each other. Hopefully it will soon be warm enough to add the deck connecting our back porch to the addition. We are hoping to move DMIL in April.

Redecorating

I've been having fun redecorating my blog today. With so much mess in my house it is a pleasure to be able to change the "decor" of something without creating dust and drips. Today the men are sanding the drywall in the addition. They taped everything up tightly. There is still thick plaster dust on everything! How does that happen?

The song in my head of the day is "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. I have a very strange mind.

Don't You Wish Your Dining Room Was Hot Like Mine?

Don't you wish your home was as lovely as mine? Do you remember this room from my Christmas picture? Now it's a storeroom for faucets, a toilet, sinks, a shower drain, a ceiling fan, light fixtures, many tubes of caulk, etc. On the other side of the room are stacks of boxes of collectibles from DMIL's house. They say that in a few weeks all of the building supplies will be installed in our room addition. It'll be sad in a way. Then I'll have to start cleaning again.

That Song in My Head Today

It's driving me absolutely crazy! I have had this same song in my head for days. I even hear it when I get up in the night to go potty! I hear it in Smokey Robinson's voice:

"Ooh baby baby

Ooh baby baby"

This particular part is repeating the most frequently:

"I'm just about at the end of my rope

But I can't stop tryin' I can't give up hope

'Cause I feel that one day I'll hold you near

Whisper I still love you

Until the day is here

Ooh I'm cryin'"

For crying out loud, I want to know why this song is haunting me! Any theories? I'm hoping that by typing this here, I'll give "Ooh baby baby" to YOU!

Interior Views of Construction

DH has been taking pictures in our room addition before the drywall goes up so he can remember where all the pipes and wires are. I guess this is a good idea in case you need to drive nails or cut into the walls for some reason.

This is my favorite wall--where my washer and dryer will go. I miss them so much!

This is the wall in the sitting area of the addition. A cute little gas stove will go between the windows with bookcases on either side. Mom is going to put two recliners in front of the stove. What she doesn't know yet is there will be a TV on the wall above the stove.

This is the bathroom wall where the vanities will go--see the mounts for the sconces? This wall backs up to the garage, so a lot of insulation, drywall, and firewall will go in that wall this week. Some day we will have a garage again, and we can move all the garage junk off our back porch!

I feel like we're at the stage of this project where you just give up and accept that it's going to go on forever--kind of like the ninth month of pregnancy.

Now You've Seen It All

This is the third quilt I've made for an animal--yes, an animal. I can't believe I said that. These are all very special pets, pampered furbabies who love being warm and comfy like the rest of the family. The first quilt for my DS and DDIL's dog, Jack, and the second was for DMIL's cat, Ginger. These pets really use their quilts!

DH has recently been placing a load of guilt on me because our 13-year-old cat, Quincy, didn't have a quilt. He is a heat-seeking orange tabby who always goes where he can steal some warmth from someone. I finally got with it and made a quiilt for Quincy, picturing him being more active than he actually is! He started using it the first day it was finished! (I think my pet quilt recipients have actually appreciated their quilts more than some of the human recipients. LOL)

My Christmas Table

This picture shows my table just before we sat down for Christmas dinner. I wanted my dear friend Debi to see the table runner she made for me, as it was the centerpiece! The colors were perfect!

Finished Some PL Quilts

While the carpenters and other tradesmen are banging away outside, I've been sewing inside (which is a much better place to be, trust me!) We have been having lots of rain, and it's a cold sea of mud out there. This first quilt I've finished is called "Silly Zoo" and was designed by Sindy Rodenmayer at Fat Cat Patterns. There are other darling animal patterns there, too. If you look on the Home page, you will see her brand new pattern, "Rocket Man". (That "Sheryl" she mentions as her biggest fan is moi!)
The second quilt is "Beach Fun". I found the blocks in a book called "Travelin' America in Applique", which I found late last year at Jo Ann Fabrics. I really like this quilt except for one thing. I used a puffy batting because my Project Linus coordinator gave it to me, but hand quilting it was a big fight, and I don't like the puffiness. I doubt if that will bother the recipient, though. Hope not!

The third quilt is from a pattern by Annie Unrein called "Wicked Easy". I like it because it's easy piecing, and some of the pieces are big enough to allow space for applique.

These quilts are going to the hospital tomorrow, and I send them off with prayers that they will do good work.

We Are Under Roof

Here's our room addition with walls, windows, and a roof! The guys have made so much progress in this frigid weather. What you cannot see is the plumbing, and HVAC work that has been done inside. The electrician should be coming out this week. Construction is such hard work. I really admire all of these people who are working for us.

I took the picture from the porch outside our family room. It will be joined to the room addition by a deck. Sometime this spring we will be sitting out there--after we put the yard and perennial garden back together!