Margo Purse

This is the newest purse pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. It just came out a couple of weeks ago and I knew I wanted to make it immediately. I may teach it in a class at Viking sometime soon. I need to make another one and watch how much time it takes so I can see if we can do it in a one day class. The front of the purse has two pockets large enough to put a cell phone in. There is a zipper about one inch inside the top. A bunch of pockets ring the inside. It also has a hard bottom so it doesn't collapse and holds its shape. It wasn't difficult to make but there are many people who cannot make anything by reading the pattern. I believe the second one will go much faster. These coordinating fabrics are by Debbie Mumm and are sold at JoAnn Fabrics.

Pictures inside burned house

These are pictures of the house behind mine that burned last month. The first picture shows the bathroom. The other two are the kitchen from the hall at the dining area. You can tell that the fire started in the kitchen. Chris told me that the guy that was in the house at the time of the fire said he saw sparks from one of the outlets as he ran out. He assumes the fire started in the wiring. I took these pictures totally in the dark because the windows are all boarded up. I just hoped the flash would show what was there. I wouldn't step anywhere except in the hall because I couldn't see.

Primary Election

I was a poll worker in yesterday's primary election. The day started early. We had to be there at 5:30 am in order to be ready for the first voters at 6:30. My polling place is located in a Senior Nutrition Site, that means they feed senior citizens lunch for free every day during the week. They were closed yesterday, but the cook came in and fixed us a nice breakfast of egg casserole, sausages, and pancakes. I really enjoyed the casserole. We only had 78 voters so we really were not busy. My job is to take the ballots and verify that the poll ticket numbers and the ballot numbers were all correct and then run the ballots into the ballot machine. The machine counts the votes as it goes and stores everything on a flash card which is picked up by someone from Voter's Registration a few minutes after we close the polls. There are five of us workers; three Democrats and two Republicans. We spent the day talking and enjoying ourselves, and we also each had something we wanted to work on. I had my spring quilt and my Yellow Brick Road to do the hand sewing on. I got the spring quilt done and one side of the Yellow Brick Road sewn. I will get the rest done while watching tv at night. I also had a couple of quilt magazines and a Family Circle. We each also brought food for the day. I had a lot of junk food with me but I didn't eat much of it. I got sleepy and bored a couple of times but not too bad. I was sure glad to close the polls at 7:30 pm and go home. I went to bed early and slept for 9 1/2 hours! Today I still feel lethargic and slow. It is this way every time. It is only worth it because they pay $225 for this day!

We made quilts for Downy!

Saturday was Downy Quilts day at Viking. A bunch of us got together to make quilts for the Children's Miracle Network thru Downy Fabric Softener. We had made some quilttops earlier so the quilters could start on them first thing that day. Others of us made more quilttops to be quilted. I don't know the final number yet but I heard that ten quilts were finished and another ten were waiting to be quilted. Several of us took kits home to make (I made three more on Sunday) so there will be plenty more. You see, Downy will send a kit to any quilter that wants to make one, and then they hope you will make up that one and another one out of your stash. I donated some of my stash to this effort and I have made (so far) a total of eleven quilttops for them. I think this is a wonderful way to give back. All the quilts are made from the same pattern (which is a really simple pattern) and in fabrics that kids will love. Some of the quilts I saw featured cats, dogs, horses, seashells, bugs, frogs, all in bright, beautiful colors. The first photo missed a few people because we didn't think to get everyone together until some had already left. The second shows some of our quilters hard at work. The third is one of the quilts I had made up ahead of time. Linda ordered pizza for everyone and some of the girls had brought cookies for dessert. Besides getting a lot done, a good time was had by all!

Damien's Baby Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of Damien when he was a baby. The picture on the porch in his baby walker is my favorite of all the pictures. He was an adorable baby and is an adorable kid. At 4 and 1/2 he seems really intelligent and so quick to catch on. He plays video games better than I do and learns things instantly. I look forward to watching him grow up. He really gives us a run for our money when he visits us!