Busy Days

I've been pretty busy the past few days between working on a long arm quilting website and blog, visiting Mimi, doctor's visits, shopping and some new quilting projects.   It feels good to be doing something.  I've been pretty inactive since we moved between not working and one minor ailment after another. 

My longarm quilting website is in progress.  I haven't really done anything on the accompanying blog but will get around to it, eventually.  I ordered business cards, this afternoon.

Had a great visit with Mimi.   We didn't do much of anything but eat Indian food, buy a baby car seat and buy nail polish but it was a great visit.  As always. 

I've had some doctor's appointments - nothing major but they are recommending with my family history that I remove my ovaries laproscopically when they quit working.  Whenever that happens.  I confess, after seeing what my mother went through (she died of ovarian cancer in 2007), it would be a relief to know I am not facing the same fate.  No final decision has been made but the option is out there.  If anyone has any experience with this or knows anything about it, give me a shout out. 

The roadrunners are behaving differently and I suspect their babies have probably left the nest.  We aren't seeing them nearly so much but still see them several times a day.  Here are the latest birdcam photos:

"Well they call him the streak..."

"The fastest thing on two feet..."

Daddy Roadrunner actually seems to like us.  This morning, as the sun came up, a big fog bank covered the pasture and that is all I could see while I sat on the patio with the girls drinking my first cuppa joe.  At a certain point, the fog bank rose about a foot and there was our roadrunner buddy, walking along the fence with something in his mouth.  Pearl flew back there and she and Daddy Roadrunner raced back and forth on opposite sides of the fence, parallel to each other, both seeming to have a great time and in a companionable way rather than an adversarial one.  Eventually, he raced off and she barked after him, but it sounded more like she wanted him to come back to play than that she wanted to eat him. 

And then there is this that showed up:

What dark creatures of the skies prowl.

Happily, while I was sitting on the back patio, this evening, I spotted a pair of bluebirds checking out the new bluebird house.  I am hopeful they will decide to move in and I'll have a new project for the birdcam now that the roadrunners aren't being so sociable (not that you would notice from the way Daddy Roadrunner was playing with Pearl).

I am so excited because my youngest girl and her husband will be in town, tomorrow.   I haven't seen her since Christmas and desperately need a daughter-hug.  I plan to take them out to eat (our gas oven has died and needs to be replaced - BLAH!) and if she has time, take her out for a mom/daughter spa pedicure.  I bought some mauve and coral polish when Mimi and I went shopping and we can use that.   I don't like using the polish at the shop because they use the same brush on everyone.   Nasty.

I've also joined two groups working on quilting projects.  The first one is a group called "The Twelve of Us" and the object is to make a home made gift for each of the members over about a year and a half.  Each of us chooses a project to create (the first one is a purse/tote that has yo-yos on it) and we send it to another assigned person on the list.   I am in the process of working on my yo-yo tote and can show you some snippets but not the whole thing until after it has been received by its recipient.  The next project is a planner with a quilted and embellished cover.  The group has a blog but it is not open to the public. 

Here is the fabric I chose for the yo-yo bag:

I've had this fabric awhile and just love it.  But the project calls for the use of yo-yos and I have never made one. 

What is a yo-yo?  Here is a picture of the example given by the person who chose the first project (it is the little round things at the bottom of the tote):

Now, I will be honest with you.  I hate the name.  Yo-yo.  Just sounds stupid. 

Moreover, I got out three of my basic quilting books for instructions and the first four I made looked awful.  Happily, someone else in the group suggested that we try using the yo-yo making tool put out by Clover.  She said it made the whole thing a cinch.  While I was out with Mimi, we picked up one at Hobby Lobby.  I think she thought the name was as dumb as I do.  I told her about the project and before I could describe it, she asked me if I was supposed to sew a yo-yo (you could tell she was trying to picture it and probably thinking something had happened to my brain).  However, it was an honest mistake and an obvious question. 

But I digress.  Today, I tried out the yo-yo tool and I'll be danged if I didn't have fun with it and am becoming a yo-yo fan (that just makes me cringe).   I struggled with the instructions on the package until I found a youtube video that made it all clear. 



I'd bought some metallic thread and embellishments in anticipation of the project and here are some photos of making the yo-yo:

Here is my new magnifying glass:

It has a light and a stand.  I figure the doctor can use something like that to see what she is doing when she yanks out my ovaries.  And no, I don't know when that will happen.  She said ASAP but I don't know what that means. 

Here is a sneak peek of my first yo-yo made with the tool:

I'm darned proud of it.

A second group I joined is The Bakers Dozen.  It is comprised of thirteen textile artists (yeah, go ahead and call us that - sounds fancy!).  The object of the Dozen group is for each of the thirteen members to choose a theme and we will have six weeks to create a small, artsy project or 12 x 12 inch mini quilt with that theme in mind.  Hopefully, we can find a gallery to use the projects as an exhibit.  When they see my work, they may change the name to "An Even Dozen" and kick me out.  Some of the themes selected, so far, are: Baubles, Bangles and Beads; Symbol; Totem (I picked that one); and Ocean.  I am completely intimidated by the group - quite a few do nothing BUT art and I am not much past hemming pants with a stapler. 



The group was inspired by another online group called Twelve by Twelve.  If you want to see some great quilted artwork, check it out. 

Okay, that is it for tonight.  I've been up since before dawn (Pearl saw a toad outside the bedroom window at 5:30 a.m. and had a canniption until I let her out). 

Happy Quilting, Penny, Evelyn and Pearl