Proceed with Caution

*This blog post is a rant* Please feel free to move on, my feelings won't be hurt if you do so, I just need to get it all out.

My office has officially started a 4 phase remodel. I supervise 20 clerks in the reception area and reception I think is in 3 of the 4 phases. This week I packed my office and moved upstairs, as of today my old office is part of the construction zone. We also moved and cleaned and squeezed in 3 more workers into the front reception area and 3 more are moving elsewhere. We are figuring out new ways to do things and trying to make sure all of our bases will be covered. This phase involves the whole bottom quarter of a two story building so there are a lot of other workers affected also. We are looking forward to probably 3 months of noise and dirt and complaints. And then we can move again and get another 3 months of it. And so on and so on. Oh boy! I am excited about changing, not so excited about he journey. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Well, I'm writing this to set up my mood. I'm kind of on a short wire and ready to snap. It's the weekend! thank all that's good, I will have time to recoop and decompress. In order to do that I have a little more to rant on about and most of it is about our economy. WHATS UP??? Has this world gone crazy in the past 2 weeks?? I got sticker shock going to the grocery! Cans of chili that I've bought on sale 4@$1 at one time are now $2 each!!! (Thats the cheap stuff!) My favorite soup? OMG it is up to $3 a can. I was buying it for $1.50 -$2 a can just the other day! And I won't mention the gas. Yesterday after the dentist I found myself looking for cheap thrills at Thimble Creek, that mean't a couple of fat quarters just to get a fix! So sad....AND THEN..... and then I got this email from Williams Sonoma ... Perfect Endings Cupcakes - 9@$59 + SH.....Are they for real? So what if they are from a bakery in the Napa Valley! I know there are a lot of people that can afford these and I wouldn't want to dampen their joy of these perfect cupcakes. So I would suggest : the cake stand of course, umm, thats about $20+, and don't forget the matching plates to serve them on, and then I think that you need this lovely table runner kit for $52.50 from the Fat Quarter Shop to display them on.

You've heard the phrase the "Other Half" well I'm on the wrong half, so better yet, I'll buy the kit and make it for you and charge you $150 for the table runner. Then you would be sure to have the pefect cupcakes. Heck I'd even bake a whole dozen cupcakes to throw in as a bonus!(and I could buy my soup, gas & some more fq's !)

OK, enough, I feel better now, I'm off to a good nite's rest, I will be spending my weekend with a 5 year old so there will be lots of chit chat and smiles. Hope I can get a few stitiches in too! xoxomar

Well now, Libby has thrown up a little game in honor of Sadie Hawkins Day/Leap year. She is curious about our ironing boards. If you post a picture of your ironing board on your blog and comment on her site, you may win a prize. This is my submission uh...confession:

My ironing board is part of my decor. I never ever take it down (well possibly for non-quilting company) and it is the first thing I see when I walk into my condo. It serves as a catch all when my hands are full coming in the door and is very versatile. You can see it's stained. But I don't care about the stains unless they are transferring to my fabric. The cover is one those that you buy at a quilt/sewing expo. Some smooth talking salesman talked me into it. It's actually very nice for clothing, but too slippery for small block parts and pieces. That's when my handy dandy cut n' press comes to the rescue! So... I've shown you mine, now show us yours!! Thanks Libby, confession is good for the soul ;-o

Ahhh Don't you love Fridays? Especially if you don't have to go to work? I had a great day, I pieced the back of the turtle quilt, took it down to the LQS, Main Street Quilts in Martinez, and got it pin basted. Spent hours there just chatting with the owner, Susie and customers as they came and went. It's always so inspiring. Didn't bring much home , just some thread for quilting the turtles and a pattern. I won a jelly roll of the Strawberry Lemonade line a while back and haven't made up my mind what to make with it yet. Maybe this pattern? Split Decision - No need to make up my mind now. Too many other irons in the fire. I was going to meet some good quilting friends and go to a quilt show in Watsonville tomorrow, but I keep hearing that there is going to be a big storm coming in tonite and will be with us through Sunday. I think I will just snuggle up and stay in. Not a good time to be on the road. I stopped at the grocery on the way home and got some ingredients for soup, my netflix movie selection "Becoming Jane" was in my mail box and there is the turtle quilt to get quilted! Not to mention that I have 59 of 60 socks to work on. My friend over at Rabbit Stitchings asked if I was knitting. Nooooo these are of fabric and they are blocks not real socks, for this: Lost Socks quilt. I'm doing a swap with some close friends. Here's my first.I've decided to try the starch method that everyone uses. Being a needle turner I thought it was too much prep time, but I'm finding that I like having them sooo ready to go! But the jury is still out on this method. This is a very simple pattern and I think that corners are easier to needle turn. I'm going to go get cozy! Happy stitching!

Doin the Turtle Dance

The turtle top is done!

It's really wonky, I sure hope the little waves will quilt out. I know you perfectionists and long armers will cringe when you read that. I have a few excuses of the wonkiness; curves, on point, pieced border, yadda yadda.. But besides the little waves, I really like how it turned out. I will probably bind it with the dark pink. I was having issues with green again, that is why it took so long to get done. Umm now to get it quilted. If I wasn't so embarassed about the wonkiness I'd have someone do it for me.

Wait, that's not all I've accomplished! I also finished the Piece & Plenty BOM #3. This block is designed by Brannock & Patek and is primitive. I love primitive, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be for me to DO primitive. I thought I needed more guidance, but now that I'm done, I think it was a good experience. Now I know I can do it!

So, have you signed up for the new Designer Mystery BOM that Kimberly has going over at the Fatquarter shop? I couldn't resist. They go fast and I know I'd be heartbroken if I missed out. Good thing Vicky catches these, cause I would have missed it for sure.

I'm moving on to some new things, I've started another swap that I need to make 60 socks for. The pattern is called Lost Socks, it's adorable and easy so it should be fun. I guess I'm just one of those gals that need at least 3 0r 4 balls in the air. I can't settle down to one project. That would just be too boring!

Have fun stitchin!

It's Been Awhile

Today really is Valentines Day! I hosted a meeting at work today and here are the goodies I brought (dependable pretzels and tissue holders) with the table runner that I managed to get bound and quilted!

I managed to mess up my computer, doing something as simple as putting password protection on it so that a guest could use it while I was away. DUH DUH DUH!!! I set to password protect and didn't have the administrator password. Sure messed me up. I ended up having to do a recovery on the computer and since I only know enough to make me dangerous, I haven't been able to re-establish what I had. It feels like I'm using somebody else's computer!

Other than that I haven't been able to accomplish much, just working at work and then petsitting. I'm still working on bock #3 of my P&P BOM and the ever lovin turtles. I've got a plan for those turtles tho, and I've been working on that, it's getting there. I'm just soooo sllloooowww (hmm kinda like those turtles!). Here's a little of the turtle progress..

And... While I was gone it looks like Kris came over and Tagged me for the 7 weird/strange things meme. I hope these few items don't make you think I'm even stranger than you already thought!

The Rules: 1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you. 2. Post THE RULES on your blog. 3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog. 4. Tag 7 people and link to them. 5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged. Here we go.... 1. If you give me a plate of food, I will eat it all. But only one item at a time and I save what I like best for last.

2. I've lived in Houma, Louisianna and Katy, Texas for short periods of time, 20 years ago. Other than that I've only lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.

3. I was born in Berkeley, California. (see! I had weird beginnings!)

4. My grandparents homesteaded desert property outside of Las Vegas Nevada. They both worked in the casinos. As a child I slept on their roof!

5. I've only ridden a horse once and that was a pony in the park (same with riding a train!)

6. I've never been on ice skates or snow skiis

7. I have to read at least a page or two every nite before I go to sleep.(my sleeping pill)

ok thats it. Now for my tags.... hmm I need to find somone who hasn't been tagged.

SuBee, Vicky(she's havin a blogaversary giveaway!,Alison, Bon, and Laurie

I think I'm at the end of this game, so if I tag you and you've already done it... OH WELL!!! I'll be back home on Saturday, hope my computer finds it way home. Toodles!

It's FebRuary!

and that's the month with the extra R, what a waste of a good R. I thought this week would never end, it just kept happening. I'm so glad it's FRIDAY ! I won't be able to accomplish too much this weekend and It'll be hit and miss for my blog for thenext two weeks. I will be petsitting in Benicia along with my other day job. You know, the one that pays the bills. The up side is that this is my quilting money and we still need to stoke up this economy!

I haven't accomplished much this week, only prepped my 3rd block for the Piece & Plenty mystery. The turtles are still on the wall and they brought the baby in to the office yesterday for show and tell. I need get that done! I stopped by ThimbleCreek last nite to look for a book for Deb. Nope, sorry Deb, they didn't have it, but I did manage to pick up a new American Jane pattern and one lone fat quarter. This pattern gave me an idea to maybe quench the desire I have to make a hexagon quilt. Time will tell. Thimble Creek is having a super bowl sale on Sunday, so I'm reserving my lust for fat quarters until then. Why pay full price? Last week I stopped in for the same reason (Deb's book) and ended up getting about 10 fat quarters only to have them go on sale last weekend too! I mentioned that to Joe and he gave me a few extra punches on my card. Such a nice guy. He was working on a yummy quilt made with Fig Tree fabrics with a machine appliqued medallion of his own design. Please don't hate me for not having pictures, I'm not one of those bloggers that carries a camera around (mines too lumpy). I'll try to take my camera with me when I walk the dog this week.

What I do have to show you is a wallhanging that will be in my office for the month. I finished this last year. It's a Bunnyhill Design and it was a joy to do! Hope you have a sweet weekend! xoxomar