Amish Bus Trip

Yesterday Debbie and I joined Linda's guild members for a trip to Berlin, Ohio on a tour bus. I got up at 4:30am and met the bus at the South Charleston Recreation Center by 5:30. We drove to Teays Valley and picked up another bunch of women and suddenly we were 37 quilters going to quilt shops! Even the bus driver was a woman!
We watched the daylight come up thru the windows of the bus on I-77. Our first stop was at Miller's bakery in Charm. I loved the cinnamon smell in there! But I controlled myself and didn't buy anything. It was raining and pretty chilly. After that we visited Miller's Dry Goods. A wonderful quilt shop! Although I was very tempted I controlled myself once more.
The bus drove back to Berlin and parked in a church lot right on the main street. Debbie and I were starved so we went straight to a crowded little restaurant. After a delightful lunch of beef and noodles with green beans and homemade rolls we hit the shops on the main street. I bought some candies in the bulk foods section of Sol's and some fudge at Coblentz. Debbie got a pumpkin latte and it was time to head back to the bus.
Granny Fanny's Quilt Shop was next. It is in a little village of shops that includes a crafts mall, a pet shop, and more. The shop I liked best is called Tis The Season and is a year-round Christmas store. I have been there before and I really enjoyed it. The hard part was walking back up the hill to the bus afterwards. I am so out of shape! I had to stop a couple of times so my muscles would keep working.
When we left there we stopped at Dutch Valley for dinner. A $12.98 buffet! I knew I couldn't eat enough to justify that so I ordered a turkey sandwich and fries. My dinner was only $7.50. I know that several of the ladies were disappointed with the food, including Debbie. Mine was ok. They had a bakery in the restaurant but I controlled myself there also.
Then it was time to start home. We stopped at a rest stop just inside the West Virginia line, and soon we were back in South Charleston, where we had left our cars. I got home a 10pm, tired but happy.
All in all, I brought most of my money back home with me. I only bought food and candy. I really didn't see any fabric or patterns that I couldn't live without. I still enjoyed my day with Debbie and the ladies from the quilt guild. This morning I was still tired when I got up but I was scheduled to work today. I took a couple of Tylenols and soldiered on. Besides feeling very tired I have sore muscles (the back of my legs!) and I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Work wasn't hard and I was able to sit around a lot. The only thing I was disappointed about was no stop at one of the cheese places, especially when we drove right past one. I was looking forward to getting some chocolate cheese.
I want to make another trip to Berlin (maybe next spring) and enjoy all the places we didn't go yesterday. I'm sure it would take several days to do everything I want to do there, like visit Behalt, Heini's cheese, Warther's, Wendell August, and other places I have been before and really enjoyed.

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.

August EQ7 BOM

This is my entry into the August EQ7 Block of the Month contest. Each month they post on their blog a quilt block and they only give us the size pieces to cut, no instructions on how to put the block together. This is a small block - only 6" square. That means really small pieces. I used scraps of the fabric designed for the WV shophop I did in June. I wanted to fussy-cut the shape of WV for the center piece but it was too large and all the edges would have gone into the seam allowance. I am very happy with the block and would love to make a whole quilt out of them, only larger of course. I don't usually fool with pieces this small.

Design Wall Monday and some miscellaneous

Here it is Monday again already. I can't believe another week has gone by. I have done very little sewing this week, embroidered the Halloween shirt and sewed two potholders. Haven't even put the binding on the potholders yet. I need to spend some time cleaning the sewing room and putting fabrics away. I pulled nearly everything out looking for scraps for the Halloween appliques. Then I didn't put it back. Now I have a big job facing me. I worked in the garage for a while yesterday and filled my car with bags for Goodwill. I was going to take them up there today but I guess I am just too lazy to get dressed and go. I'll take them tomorrow before Richard's doctor appointment. I will probably go with him for that. I want to make sure he tells the doctor that he has been feeling bad lately. I am afraid Richard doesn't tell him anything.
Today I put a roast in the electric skillet and I will surround it with potatoes, onions and carrots. I also made up a box of Suddenly Salad. I love pasta salad but I'd rather use a box mix than make it up myself. I am thinking about making some haystacks for dessert. They are a favorite around here. The problem is they are made with sugar and you cannot use Splenda. I tried it once and it did not work.
We are still getting lots of tomatoes from our four tomato plants. I have heard all over that people's tomatoes were not doing well, and that they were nearly finished for the summer. We have had a bumper crop this year and they are not done yet. I took a bag of them to JoAnn's with me yesterday and gave them away. I have eaten a ton of bacon and tomato sandwiches! Richard and I both make a point of eating at least one tomato a day, but I bring in about eight a day. And very few small tomatoes, these things are huge!