Category: Lulu

chickens · community · daily life · Lulu · quilting

I want some chickens!

Wild Rose Quilter8 Comments

Unfortunately, due to city ordinances, I can’t have chickens.  I don’t want a huge flock of chickens, mind you.  Maybe five or six at the most.  Just two to start with, then add a couple more in a year or two, so that the peak egg laying years are spread out among them.  As I’m sure, when they are past the egg laying prime of their chickie lives, I will NOT be able to eat them. I even researched which breeds were well suited to a small backyard flock, most docile, and easiest to handle, etc.  I even had names running through my head for them…Ruby, Maude, Mable, Darcy, Fancy….Yes, I realize chickens require some effort.  I know you don’t just throw them back there in a pen and be done with it.  I have a rabbit, and they require much of the same type attention.  Yes, sometimes it can be a pain or inconvenience, but I enjoy the caretaking responsibilities that come along with my animals.  It gives me a deep sense of satisfaction that I can’t really explain.  Like it feels a void or basic need in me.  I was hoping that maybe there were some minor restrictions, like no crowing roosters, or not over “x” amount.  Actually, I was told I could do it, but IF a neighbor complains, you have 24 hours to get rid of them.  I love fresh eggs, and have a local source I buy them from, but I thought it would be so enjoyable to have a small flock of my own.  I thought about approaching my neighbors to see if they would mind, and offering to bribe them with fresh eggs, but I guess I will just let it go, and dream of the day when I can find the perfect place to live, where I can have a few chickens of my own.  In the meantime, I don’t think Lulu cares for my attempt at disguising her as a Plymouth Rock hen  🙂

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Enjoy your Saturday!

longarm quilting · Lulu · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Sunday Stash Busting Report

Wild Rose Quilter7 Comments

Well, I am happy to report that I have had a pretty good week on the stash busting.  I finished my starry log cabin top, that I have been working on, on and off, for almost ten years. So not only do I have the blocks finished and out of my stash, I used 3.5 yards of this beautiful blue fabric, from my stash, for the border.  I will also be using about another yard for the binding. 

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I also shopped my stash for backing fabric, using up another 10.5 yards from my stash! It wasn’t my first choice of backing, but I decided it would work fine. You will see the backing once I have it quilted and post final pics of this project. 

I also pulled out another UFO, a courthouse steps made from scraps from other projects, and made some forward progress on it.  This is froma Marti Michelle “quilt as you go” pattern, but it took me two blocks to decide quilt as you go isn’t for me.  I started it before I owned a longarm.  After getting the longarm, I decided it would be much more fun to sew them together the regular old way, and quilt it on my longarm.

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Once I have this center done, I will use the same border fabric she used on hers.  And the fun part is, I already had a bolt of the border fabric in my stash, when I realized it was the one she used! How cool is that!?

I also posted some more stashbusting from the week in my Thursday post from this week. And if you want to see my out of control stash, it can be seen in the post prior to this one, so just scroll on down for it. 🙂

This pic was just too cute not to include.  Look what I keep finding under the Christmas tree.

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Oh, I almost forgot! I finished my cousin’s quilt!  Bound, labeled, washed and dried.  I just have to get it shipped off to her and pray that nothing happens to it in transit. I can’t wait to hear what they think of it.

daily life · dogs · longarm quilting · Lulu · NASCAR · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Thank You, Gina!

Wild Rose Quilter7 Comments

Yesterday, my mailman brought a sweet surprise.  My prize from Gina, for winning her birthday drawing on her blog.  She had all kinds of goodies packed into this adorable coffee cup, including fabric & chocolate.  There is also some yummy Apple Cinnamon Chardonnay jelly. I need a little smilie face licking it’s lips to insert here.  (WordPress really needs to improve the smilies and ease of use.  How hard could that be?) Anyway, I digress…Thank you Gina!

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Thank you for the “feel better” wishes. After taking muscle relaxers for a couple of days, I’m still sore, but better.  I’ve taken Jan’s advice, and ordered an inversion table.  My chiro had mentioned a couple visits ago, that he might start me on traction, so hopefully the inversion table will do the trick. I have had xrays done, which show I have significant straightening of my cervical spine, and I have a bulging disc.  My chiro has helped, it just doesn’t last very long.  I had an MRI on my shoulder, but not my cervical spine.  That might not be a bad idea. I’ve taken it pretty easy all weekend, but I did manage to complete my cousing’s quilt top, and prepare the backing.  I also loaded a throw size customer on the machine, and have a couple panto rows done.  Of course, I’m watching NASCAR today.  🙂

Lulu still seems to be doing better, but I think I will call the vet to see if it’s too soon for her to have another allergy shot this week, and maybe just have him look in her ears again to make sure the antibiotics did all the good in there.

We watched The Illusionist last night.  I give it two thumbs up!  One of the better movies I’ve seen lately.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

dogs · Lulu · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Starry Log Cabin and Stuff

Wild Rose Quilter9 Comments

I’ve already reported how I spent most of Saturday.  Sunday, I had planned to get the outer border added to my cousin’s quilt, along with getting some more work done in the entryway.  Well, I forgot that I still needed to cut the yardage needed and prewash & iron it.  So, I managed to get it washed Sunday, but that’s as far as I got with that.  I also threw in the fabrics I pulled for the fall wallhanging, that needed washing.  Saturday night, I completed that last of the Starry Log Cabin blocks.  I pressed them, and began assembling it.  This is what I have so far.starrylog1.JPG

It’s really going together much better than I anticipated.  This is NOT my finest piecing effort, and I was afraid the stars were going to be way wonky.  Not too bad, though…

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I think I will really love this quilt when it’s done.  It is going to have that old fashioned quilt feeling to it, very comforting.  I am pressing the seams open to eliminate some of the bulkiness in the stars.  Hopefully that will help with the quilting, which will probably be an allover of some sort.

Tonight, after work, I got the border fabric pressed and ready to start cutting borders for my cousin’s quilt, and I hope to have them sewn on and that quilt top completed no later than the end of this coming weekend.  I know I won’t get anymore work done on it tonight.  I am tired.  I am waiting on the pizza to get here 🙂 I really need to get this quilt finished, though.  My cousin and her husband are sooooo excited about it.  I hope that it lives up to their expectations.  I can’t wait to get the finished product to them.  She is about 13 years younger than I am, and I helped my aunt with her some when she was a baby.  I am very fond of her. I just wish I got to see them more often. 

Here is my poor little Lulu, who I think, I hope, may be starting to feel a little better.

poorlulu.JPG Mmmm…she got to take her antibiotic in a bite of pizza tonight.

dogs · Lulu · pets

Lulu

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

Well, even though I had an extremely busy day at work, my vet was able to work Lulu in for me.  I took her and dropped her off, and was able to leave work for a few minutes to pick her up and run her back home when he was done with her.  She still isn’t back to her normal self, but we have some new medicines.  She does have some ear infection, and some bacterial infection in her skin, but it is all coming from her allergies.  I don’t like it when my little dog Lulu isn’t happy 😦

daily life · dogs · home improvement · longarm quilting · Lulu · NASCAR · quilting · remodeling

Busy Saturday

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Today started off like normal, with coffee 🙂 , only not as early as most days.  Then I had to do emergency grooming on Lulu.  She is having a horrible time with allergies this year.  I have already taken her for shots, but she keeps itching.  Yesterday, while we were at work, she apparently scratched under her chin til she made a large hot spot.  I didn’t notice it til yesterday evening.  DH made a quick trip to the grocery store to see what we could get, came home with medicated shampoo, and a couple bottles of stuff that is supposed to help.  We cleaned up the area last night, as best as we could, and put medicine on it, and little socks on her back feet to try to minimize her scratching.  This morning, I got the clippers out, and cut all her hair as short as I could, bathed her with the medicated shampoo, doctored her up, and have spoiled & pampered her as much as possible today.  I will call the vet Monday and get her back in for more shots.  Poor baby.

Also, I worked on our entryway hallway some more.  I am almost done with the texturing…one more coat on one side and it will be ready for paint as soon as it’s all dried out.  I finished Kilz-ing the paneling on the bottom half of the walls, and got one side painted.  The new color looks really nice, I think. 

Also, I went to the shop with DH, and we pulled out a retail gondola shelf that he had disassembled and stored in the back.  We cleaned it up and put it together, and filled it up with my packages of Quilter’s Dream batting.  Now to get the word out to the local quilters that we have it available in the shop.

I am excited to report that I have found a group of longarmers that meets once a month, and I have been invited to go to their meetings.  It’s a two hour drive for me, but I am really looking forward to going and meeting them.  This month’s meeting was today, and I was hoping to get to go, but with Lulu like she was, I wasn’t about to leave her.  Hopefully, I will get to go next month.  I found them through one of our local deputies.  Since I work in the adult probation office, we visit often, and he knows about my quilting.  His mom is a longarmer, and the meetings are in her shop.  He talked to his mom and got me invited. 

Oh! I had a wonderful surprise this morning while drinking my coffee and surfing the blogs I like to keep up with.  Gina had a contest on her blog, on her birthday.  I won the drawing!  How fun!  I need to think of a contest for my blog.  Maybe a celebration contest when I hit 10,000 views.  This is the 2nd blog contest I have won.  Earlier this year I won some of Gayle’s gorgeous hand dyed fabrics.  Hmmm…maybe I need to be buying more lottery tickets 🙂 !

The NASCAR race is on, so I must get back to watching!  My favorite driver is Bobby Labonte.  He is driving with lots of pink on his car tonight for breast cancer awareness.  I am calling it the Boobie Cure Car! Go Bobby in the Boobie Cure Car!

daily life · dogs · longarm quilting · Lulu · machine quilting · pets · photos · quilting · quilts · sewing · trees

My Mimosa Tree

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Today, I will treat you to some pics of my Mimosa tree.  I was so happy to discover that one of the the young trees growing in the front yard of our house, when we bought it ten years ago, was a Mimosa.  I love these trees.

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    000_4631.jpg                                                000_4569.jpg   I have a couple of chairs sitting underneath the Mimosa and the Locust trees.  000_4581.jpg    The little dog, Lulu,    000_4622.jpg  and I enjoyed some nice time spent there this afternoon.  We did not get the bad storms yesterday, just some rain last night, and today the high was only in the 70’s.  It was so relaxing to sit underneath that beautiful canopy of leaves and pink, fluffy blossoms,   000_4623.jpg  while I finished handstitching the binding on the blue & yellow log cabin quilt.   000_4637.jpg

And yes, I did get the binding finished!  Yea!  I only had to work at my day job til about 10:30 this a.m.  So that gave me some good time to work on quilting projects.  I got started on the customer panto around 3:00.  I got three rows done, and have about 2.5 left to go.  I could have finished it today, but instead I chose to go out to dinner with my two favorite men 🙂 .  We went out to a local Mexican restaurant. When we came home, I got it all lined up and ready to go for the next row, but decided that could wait til tomorrow. 

TTFN