We got an electric fireplace

This is something we have wanted for about a year. We shopped everywhere for an electric fireplace last winter, especially late winter when I figured they might be clearanced. Alas, we did not find one we would pay the money for. We finally decided we wanted this one from Sam's Club and no luck, they didn't have them any more! Richard and I started looking at them again last week and decided we had better get it when we could! This one sold for $629 last year but this year we paid $600. I wrote an ad for our entertainment unit and put it on kanawhacafe.com for $300 and I hope it sells quickly. The fireplace has heat! Wonderful heat! It has a thermostat and a timer and a remote control, which will be quickly lost. The storage on the sides is not to my liking (it is made for cd's) and won't hold much, but we really wanted the shelf for the Wii and cable box. Our TV is small but the next one will be bigger. That is Ace, Richard's cat, in the picture. I am so happy with my fireplace! When we were first married our little house on Edgewood had a fireplace with gas logs and I loved it.

It's been awhile....

since I posted last. I haven't taken any pictures lately so I picked these two out of my files. The orange tabby is Sam, top cat and leader of the pack. The tuxedo cat is Missy. She is my elderly baby, being 16 1/2 years old now. Missy is not in good shape anymore. She is liable to pee just anywhere so I am forever cleaning up after her. Sam rules the roost and lets everyone know it. He is not scared of anything or anyone, except the outdoors. The one time he got outside he nearly scared himself to death. He would love to go out an open door but we don't have to worry that any of our cats will slip out the door. Ace, our other tuxedo, will sometimes slip out the door behind us but then he wants right back inside. Living right here on the street I am extremely glad they stay inside.

Today I fixed some beef stew for dinner, first time since late last winter. I scorched it but it didn't hurt it. Richard and I ate our fill and we are going to have it tomorrow too. Adam was going to come up and have dinner with us but he is under the weather with sore throat. I am working tomorrow.

Halloween Quilt Finished!

Friday I finished adding all the borders and
sandwiched the quilt top, batting and backing on Saturday morning. I did most of the quilting during the WVU game Saturday afternoon. Then during the evening I got the binding on the quilt and ready for the hand stitching. Today I sat on the porch and stitched the border down. I had added tabs on the back to hang the quilt on the wall and then slipped a dowel rod thru the tabs. This quilt is going to hang in the store where I work, Viking Sewing Gallery inside JoAnn Fabrics in Dunbar, WV. This was a fun project to do and I am glad I took it on.

Design Wall Monday

I know, I know, it's Tuesday already. Let's just pretend I am not late this week to make this post. At least I have something to show this week! I have made 40 Bow-Tie blocks from my scraps. I bought five yards of the cheddar dot fabric to use for the background of this quilt. The rest of the fabric is coming from my scrap bins. If I have enough of one fabric to get three 3" blocks then I am making a bow-tie. I laid out the blocks on the floor starting on the lower left with the light colored blocks, then medium, then dark. I see from the picture that I need lots more dark blocks if I want to do this layout. I usually just throw blocks together willy-nilly (totally scrappy) but I am thinking I want to control this one. I am thinking about putting sashing around four blocks, still staying in the light-to-dark idea. I am going to just keep making blocks for a while and see what looks best.