Quilting & bed woes....

Well it's been awhile since I blogged - the last time I tried to leave a post it was so slow I gave it up and then I got very busy with work and too many other things to mention. I finished the fall raffle quilt for my quilt group - we have a retreat every fall and we auction off a quilt to make money. Our theme this time was "Falling Leaves" so I made this quilt out of many different leaf fabrics. It started out as a different pattern that wasn't working out too well so it evolved into a simple Flying Geese pattern. I had someone do the quilting on it and although you can 't see it up close it's really lovely with a pattern of maple leaves all over it in a varigated golden thread. Hopefully it makes a few hundred dollars for our quilt group. I also have been working on a table runner for our little silent auction which is pictured here - it's not finished quite yet, it still has to be quilted and the binding edge put on. I like this tablerunner pattern and I also cut out another one out of all apple-themed fabrics. My quilting goes in spurts it seems.





Tonite I got back to working on my Wild Roses sampler by CHS. I finished the last row of rose bushes - yeah!!! That's 21 rose bushes in total - after the first 4 or 5 you have the pattern memorized and don't need to refer very often to the pattern. After a while I just kind of did my own color choosing as I pleased. I still have the lower-case alphabet to stitch at the bottom and add my name and I'll be done!

We got a new mattress about a week ago and it's been a rough week for me. I have a bulging disc in my back and was having trouble with our old mattress which was causing me to have to sleep in the guest room at times where we had a newer mattress. I decided to get a Tempur-pedic hoping it would help my back pain. It felt fine in the store (of course) but the first few nights I felt like I was being tortured! It feels like you are sleeping on a brick. I guess it takes some time to break it in. I have a couple of friends who have them and love them. By midweek I was pretty depressed as these mattresses are very expensive. We can exchange it for something else after 30 days so I will see how it feels by then. After day 3 I put one of those foam egg-crate pads on it and that has helped. But I have had a lot of back and leg pain this week and having to take my pain pills. That makes me pretty grouchy. Hopefully I'll start to feel better soon, they say sometimes it takes awhile to get used to a new bed.

I got the special paper mache boxes I ordered from Hobby Lobby online. This is for the Blackbird Designs "Secret Garden". I had to buy a set of 3 in graduated sizes to get the correct one but they weren't too expensive and they were shipped very promptly. They're actually very sturdy and well-made. "Secret Garden" is my next stitching project. I'm using a piece of off-white Lugana and some Needle Necessities from my stash - yes it's true I am actually using some things I already have and didn't buy new. I had 3 or 4 skeins of this blue Needle Necessities to make something else then changed my mind so this is a good opportunity to use some of it up. I also bought all the supplies to antique the box that the stitching will be mounted on. Next week of course is Labor Day with a 3-day weekend for me and the following weekend I go to my quilting retreat. I can't wait - we always have a lot of fun on these weekends and it will be COOLER there. We get very excited if it rains as we live in the desert here in Phoenix. Rain is a big deal around here.



Here are a few pictures of things I plan to work on soon - I love this Reindeer quilt and I have a bunch of towels I want to do fusible applique on for gifts. These are all patterns from the Nancy Halvorson "Art to Heart" books which I really like.