Washer has arrived :)

But.. it doesn't work properly ARGH!!!! When we got it unloaded, and put in the bathroom, got it all hooked up. I began a load of wash, baby-sat it in the bathroom, decided to give my sister a call, since she had left a message on the answering machine.

While talking with her - the water kept running and running and running, and the water was getting to the top - right up to the top. So I had to manually move the knob so it would move. I never did the washing, got to the rinse part, it began to fill with water - same thing happened filled right to the top. I "finished" that load.

I did a second load changed it to a small load, same thing happened. Called the place where we bought it from, explained to the guy what happened. He told me to try something - which I did. Same darn thing happened again.

Third load - Brian thought I just should try it again, see what would happen if we didn't do anything, that maybe me opening the door all the time wasn't helping matters. So I listened to him. Guess what!?! WATER is running out the back of the washer on to the floor. I had heard it, I immediately turned the washer off. I said to Brian, who was standing next to me, that there was water on the floor. His response. "Where" DOPE! "On the floor - grab a towel!" He grabs the towel and throws it on the floor, all folded up yet. MEN!

So I was able to get my floor washed in the process.. LOL

So I had to call the appliance guy this morning, and hopefully he can make it tomorrow. Tonight Brian was insistent of seeing it worked since he went a bought another hose to see if it would help. Nope, had to move the knob to the next cycle, or it would fill up to the top. Brian thinks it might be the water inlet valve is bad, will have to see when the guy comes to check it out.

SpRiNg FeVeR

I just did something I absolutely love doing! I just put a load of washed laundry out on the clothes line to dry! WOOHOOO!!! (Nope didnt get our washer yet.. have to call back this afternoon to see if came in or not :( )

I tried taking a picture but its too sunny out there, and my camera doesnt like the brightness.

Its kinda funny, cause off all the snow that your standing on, you are taller than the post of the clothes line.. LOL Gotta be careful so you dont bang the noggin. As of right now, its 55 degrees outside, its very muddy in the drive way. Cant do to much out there, since there is still snow everywhere.

*Tagged*

I was tagged... get to know me alittle better

Four jobs I've have had in my life:
1. Activity Aide - 4 yrs now
2. Teacher/Child Care - 6 yrs
3. Waitress - 6 yrs
4. worked in a deli - 5 months (got the job as Activity aide)
also worked at ShopKo, cleaned condos for extra money, many babysitting jobs

Four movies I love:
1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Walk The Line
3. Runaway Bride
4. Shall We Dance

Four places I have lived:
1. Larsen, WI 1976 - 1983(with family)
2. Winchester, WI 1983 - 1998 (with family)
3. Winchester, WI 1998 - 2001(rented from my parents - lived across the street with my brother)
4. Long Lake, WI 2001 - present (with DH of course)

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Will & Grace
2. Real World/Road Rules
3. The Division (the reason I'm up late - watching it now.. LOL)
4. Viva La Bam

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Atlanta, GA
2. Nashville, TN - been there 7 times (almost moved to TN)
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Washington, DC

Four websites I visit daily:
1. ebay - checking out the auctions
2. Yahoo Groups - checking messages
3. Northwoods Woman
4. My blog and Golden Needle Quilt Studio

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza
2. Turkey Stroganoff
3. Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
4. Oranges

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. at a craft store, scoping out the cross stitch and the fabric section.. LOL
2. Visiting my family, seeing how big the kids are getting
3. Camping!
4. Bed ... LOL

*TAG, You're it!* Feel free to do this on your blog :)

Living In Fast Forward

Living in Fast Forward.. Now I need to rewind real slow!

Im hooked on this song by Kenny Chesney.. sure sounds like my life lately! Seems like there is never enough seconds, minutes, hours, days, years.. etc.. (LOL) in my day. Today at work, my coworker and I were talking about sleep, and I had mentioned I had gotten to bed about 2am last night (which Im sure is going to be the same again tonight). She mentioned that she was in bed by 8p, heck I was just getting off work at that time, with another 50 minute drive home - which puts it about 9p.

When I get home, I talk with Brian, check the mail, check emails, check ebay, and then settle into what I want/feel like doing for the evening. Thursday night I started on a new quilt. Im making a log cabin style quilt, with fire truck print center block, and it has blue and white logs. I hoped to work on it tonight, and have all the blocks sewn together, but I never made it to the machine. Tomorrow night, when I get home from work (have spent the past 3 days there already) I hope to have the blocks finished, and then on Tuesday I can start putting the quilt together.

Tuesday Im going to work @ the quilt studio, getting the newsletters ready for mailing. Wednesday hope to hear some good news about the washer, that we have been waiting on. Have to work Thursday and Friday. Havent even thought about next weekend yet.

I cant find myself bored, thats for sure. But sometimes you have to be bored to appreciate the time that you have. Just sit back, and allowing yourself to be bored is hard when you have lots of things to be accomplished, but Im grateful that I take the time to become bored. Good for the soul!

Oh boy, here comes the Old Navy commercial.. Daddy Oh.. Clap Shake Jump!

Little House in The Woods

I started this last night, and while waiting today for the washer to finish, I finished another project :)

Its called Little House in the Woods, a design from Heart In Hand, stitched on 18ct Mushroom aida. I will be finishing it into a wallhanging.

Waiting for the washer you are thinking.. umm werent you suppose to have gotten your washer last week? Umm yes you are right, but nope still havent gotten our washer :(. Its on backorder from the company. So now we have to wait till next Wednesday to see if it comes in or not. But my MIL was very generous and allowed me to do 5 loads today. So now Im all caught up on the laundry! :)

ILCS SAL Exchange - HIH

This was stitched by Vicki a stitching friend from ILCS

On Monday I received my SAL Exchange (where I send someone the pattern, floss, material... whatever else - and the person that receives my items, stitches the design for me, and sends it back, and I do it for someone else.) back.

I LOVE IT! The exchange for this time was Heart In Hand Wee One, I chose Wee Welcome. I sent the floss, aida, and pattern to a cross stitching friend, Vicki in CT. She did a wonderful job stitching. It did take her alittle longer to get this stitched, but I figured out why. The design is BIG! I will make it in to a wall hanging. I will post a picture when I get it finished.

African Storm At Sea

YAHOO!! Its finished! The quilt top of the African Storm At Sea is done! This quilt I had fostered for a friend, she had 7 blocks already completed, and I finished it all to have 49 blocks. I also had to make the two smaller units to complete the whole layout - which was another 15 of one unit, and then 14 of the other unit. I checked back in the archives as to when I received this quilt and it was Feb 22! I have made two S @ S before, and it pretty much was making 2 of the throws to make just this one! I enjoyed every stitch!

Brian stood on the chair so I could take a picture of the quilt. The quilt is a king size, and its HUGE!





Over this weekend I spent 16 hrs just putting the quilt top together. I figure I had about 30 - 35 hrs in the quilt. No wonder Im exhausted! I had no timeline on getting the quilt finished, but I once I make a promise to get it done, I get it done.. and in little time as possible. Just my nature, I guess.

Since this is a paper pieced quilt, I tore off the paper to help with the weight of the material and the paper. Im so glad I did! (I did leave the paper on the edges to help with putting on the borders). This is the pile of paper that I tore off, I did start by putting it the bag, but then I just ended up on the floor, so if it didnt hit the bag, it was no big deal.. but I pretty much missed the bag each time.. LOL

I think that Laurie Jean would be proud of my "mess".. LOL Yes that is all the paper torn off the quilt, and the bag on the right is full of the same paper! I gotta plant a tree now!

I SEE *Stars*!

Yes I saw stars this morning.. LOL All of the 50 state flowers are now sewn together (the blocks that is) and I arranged them on the living room floor for a picture. When I was figuring out why I was ending up with an extra block, come to find out that I had 2 of South Carolina. Im sure that we can find a home for that extra one!

Now these will be taken up to Laurie Jean's and she will be doing wonders with them! I will take a picture when the quilt gets finished! Its going to be HUGE, and awesome. I saw the eagle that is going to be quilted onto the quilt - ts BIG! Im so excited to be working on this project.

I feel so good to be helping on such a large project - being a some what of a beginner - I think I have advanced to the next level, and really enjoy being challenged. Even Brian commented this morning that he thought that quilting was more work, but its really not with that sewing machine.. LOL MEN!

Today is Quilt Day, so Im going to be working this afternoon on the African Storm At Sea - hoping to get more blocks done. Will post what I did later this evening.

Pink/White Log Cabin Quilted

I just have to show off the Pink and White Log Cabin quilt that I got back yesterday after Laurie Jean finished machine quilting it for me! I JUST LOVE IT! We discussed what I wanted on the quilt as far as the stitching design, and since the person that this quilt is going to, loves dragonflies, so did dragonflies and loops. And I think it just turned out AWESOME! Im so happy that I chose a soft pink colored background, cause it really shows the stitching off wonderfully!

Now all I have left to do is make the binding, sew it on, and then handstitch it around the outer edge.

Secret Sister Struck again!

Yesterday when I got home from my adventures out.. I checked the mail, and had a card from my secret sister - from a cross stitching group. In the card was a needle threader, aqua colored Mill Hill beads, a skein of Weeks Works Dye - Whitewash!

Thanks so much Secret Sister, I really enjoy receiving goodies from you :) Here is a picture of what she sent me - sorry its so blurry, - we need a new camera!

Quilt On Display

Today I went up to Iron River - for some "Me" time. Brian was invited along but didn't want to go. Oh well. I had the thinking that I should stop and make an appointment for getting something done different with my hair. Walked in and she said I could get me in about 15 minutes, so I just waited. I had my hair highlighted blonde and red, and had a hair cut besides. I think it looks really cute.. of course I came home and Brian didn't even notice! I wasn't too happy, but he found out that I got my hair done.. MEN!

I also went over to Angeli's where there was a quilt show. I met up with Laurie Jean there. She walked me over to where the quilts were on display. I had machine pieced the blocks, and Laurie Jean did the assembly, and the machine quilting.











Laurie Jean and I went back to her studio, and I picked up the pink and white log cabin quilt that she had machine quilted dragonflies and loops on. I just love it! I had chose a lite pink background fabric and then Laurie Jean used fushia colored thread... and it just turned out AWESOME!

XStitch Finish - Jesus Loves Me

On one of the Yahoo groups I belong too.. someone (thanks Rita & Shari) had mentioned this freebie, its from My Big Toe Designs, called Jesus Loves Me. I just had to stitch it! It reminds me so much for my Sunday School days, being a student and a teacher. I found myself singing the song over and over.. just ask Brian the variations of the song I came up with.. LOL I stitched it using varigated DMC floss of the colors that were listed. Of course the scan does not do the finish justice.

ARGH!

Its has snowed all night, and most of today! It was starting to snow when I was coming home last night from work, which was around 9pm. When we went to bed around midnight it was barely enough to cover the porch. This morning when I awoke, we had about 2.5 inches! Atleast we didn't get the 6 - 10 inches they had forecast over night. I'm guessing that we have had about 4 inches total.

Other than that, I spent it indoors. Brian did spend some time outside, either shoveling, or cleaning off the vehicles. I worked on the State Flower Star block - actually have 30 completely finished. So I only have 20 to go.. which I do have a good dent on the flying geese pieces that attach to the block. I'm thinking that this weekend I will be done. I haven't even touched the African Storm At Sea since last week - besides its nice to take a break and work on something different for awhile.

We did have to venture out in the weather. Our SIL called to say that she was stuck and needed help. So Brian, Brian's brother, their kids, and myself went to go and help her out. It didn't take long, but it was sure cold out. The wind sure made the windchill awfully cold!

Well I have to work tomorrow.. so I'm going to go and find something to cross stitch. My mind has been talking me into stitching something new ... and small.. LOL

Update about the Washer

This afternoon Brian and I went and dropped our washer off at the repair shop. Well we just left it there, told them they didn't have to worry about repairing it, since the guy that does the repairs - umm said that it wasn't worth the time for us and him to repair it as the kind of brand the washer is, they have a hard time getting parts for it. We looked around and looked at the new machines that they have there. I had my heart set on a certain machine, but I thought that it might not work. Well since we live in a mobile home, we are limited on space. The normal machine is 27" across. But 27" is too wide for us. We need something 25" and smaller. We checked out a washer and dryer, that were stackable. I more so just want the washer, as I always hang the clothes to dry above the bathtub. Well we weren't sure how much we could play with. So we came home, but left our old washer/dryer there - we had asked if it was ok to just leave the old machine there, and if there was a charge for disposal - Nope.

So we came home, measured the size of the area we have the washer in. Went over to Brian's parents and measured their washer. They have the normal size washer. So we decided to go up to Iron River and see what they had up there. We stopped at an appliance store. Looked around, didn't see anything that we liked. Talked with the sales guy about our dilemma. He said that his boss had just ordered some 24" Whirlpool wash machines this morning.. LOL. I was so excited. Of course they wont be there till Wednesday. But I had asked if they could hold one for us. We actually have no clue as to what the machine will look like. But since we are in a bind to get one, I paid for the machine in full and they will be delivering it later next week. WOOHOO!

Star State Flower Quilt

I've been challenged again .. and I love it! Yesterday I went up to Iron River and did alittle shopping, and then stopped by at Laurie Jean's to pick up the rest of the material I needed for the African Storm At Sea quilt that I needed to finish. LJ and I had talked the last time I was there about helping her with a brainstorm quilt she had. She has all of the 50 states and their state flowers. So what I had to do was measure out the 4.5" to make the block around the flower. Then I had to cut all the other pieces to make the star around the main block. So I had to cut 400 of the white 2.5"sq material, 2.5"sq of the blue material, and also 2.5" X 4.5" of the blue. I had to trace a line to make a diagonal of the white squares so I could sew it straight. I completed one block to see what it was going to look like. One down, 49 to go! But its going to go fast.

UPDATE: I have had a few comments about the Star block.. I was excited about showing this block off, and out of my laziness.. I didnt press it fully and I got a hump in the fabric, but its all taken care of now.

African Storm At Sea WIP

As Nicole requested in her comment about the Never Enough Stash.. Im posting a pic of the progress of the African Storm At Sea Quilt.

When I got the quilt to foster, it did have 7 of the completed blocks together, and I just finished 11 of them tonight. Showing in the picture is (almost) 18 blocks, well, you have to realize that there are 54 to be finished! So this quilt is going to be HUGE!

Actually have more to put together, just need to get them going, and it doesnt take much to sew, and iron. As I go along, Im going to have to make more of the units as I either didnt have enough paper, or for the one unit I didnt have enough material. Will post again, when I get more done. This part of the quilt is going to go fast as its more sewing together, rather than cutting everything out, trimming it down, and ironing.

Never Enough Stash

This is a freebie from 4 My Boys called Never Enough Stash - how true is that! I received this freebie with an ebay win from Melissa (Thanks Melissa!) Started it about 6pm, and was finished by 11:30p - even though I wasnt stitching the whole time - was watching a movie, had dinner, and checked emails thru out the night.

I needed something to stitch while we watched "Walk The Line" what an excellent movie! I loved the music! Joaquin Phoenix can sing! (OH BABY!.. LOL) He portrayed Johnny Cash so well, the movements that were made were just like the legend. Reese Whitherspoon (who won a Best Actress award at the Academy Awards tonight) was a joy to watch! Seeing her in other movies such as Legally Blonde, and Sweet Home Alabama - I think her portrayal as June Carter was the best yet! Loved the movie.

Other than that.. had a great weekend.. worked about 10 hrs total on the African Storm at Sea quilt. Finished up the Yellow Brick Road quilt, put the borders on. Need to get up to Laurie Jean's and get the rest of the material to complete the blocks that I didnt have enough material for. Cleaned the house some, dealt with the washer. Relaxed, stitched, sew, and slept.. LOL

Funeral Services will be held

for the washer/dryer! Yes I think that its going to appliance heaven! (Well atleast from this house.. LOL) We have one of those combination washer/dryer which we got from my parents for a wedding gift - which was 3.5 yrs ago. When we first got it - it took about 1.5hrs to do a load of laundry, and now it was taking about 2.5 hrs to do a load.

Yesterday morning I was doing a load of clothes in the washer, and it just started making the most awful noises that I haven't heard it make before. It would make noises before in the past, go to check on it, and it would be fine the next load.

This noise yesterday was like when you opened the bathroom door, you were going to see parts of the machine flying around the room.. LOL Walked in, turned off the machine, and started it back up again. Did the same thing (and of course its when its doing its spin cycle). I took the load out of it and hung it up to dry, cause I wasn't going to use it again.

Brian tried to check out the back of the washer - took off the cover. He has a feeling its the barrings - the tub is a front loading, and when we would spin the tub around.. it was catching something, and when it was working with the power, it sounded like war was going on in the bathroom... LOL

So we are going to have to go shopping for atleast a washer - I really didn't use the dryer, cause when I used it, it had a "hot" smell to the room, and the clothes were a wrinkle mess when they were dry. So I just hang the clothes to dry in shower.

Arrangements are pending.. LOL

Heavenly Me

This cute design was stitched for a cross stitcher friend that is making a "Listen Honey" quilt. I chose to stitch the "Heavenly Me" design. One requirement of the quilt block was it was to be stitched on evenweave - since Im not a fan (umm more like a beginner with evenweave). Since I didnt have evenweave, I had to buy some evenweave material. Of course it being white, I had to dye it blue -since the background of the design was blue.. and it wouldnt look right with it being on white. Im happy with this design, and stitching on evenweave!