I finally made the decision to go ahead and move my my blog site.  I had moved it to serial quilters and I just wasn't happy there.  Everytime I wanted to post something the site would be down.  Then when the site was up I realized that there were constant changes being made to my site that I wasn't making.  That didn't sit well with me at all.  So I moved to where everyone else has b een moving to.  I want to be in control of my own site not at the mercy of the person who developed the sites.  I just feel that since her first site was changing and then she moved to a new site what was going to be next where we were concerned.  I'll still check in from time to time to see how everyone is doing and I still hope that you continue to follow my  blog.  Right now my site is a little under construction since I still have the majority of my old posts to transfer yet.  So here is where I can be found.  Come and join me.  I'll be watching for all of you.

http://snippysewssometimes.blogspot.com/

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Today was the big sewing day at my Mom's apartment complex.  We all had fun and there were several of us there.  My Mom, Jen, Me, Maureen and my sister Kitty and her daughter Keri stopped in to watch.  There were only a few ladies who stopped by to see what was going on and they were friendly.  We shared the big community room with a group who comes in to play cards, they were friendly at all.

Alot got finished today.  A couple of Project Linus quilt tops that my Mom did.  I think her number is up to something like 10+.  I finished another flannel raggy quilt for Project Linus.  Kitty finished her baby quilt she's making and started to quilt it.  Maureen worked on her mother in laws quilt and her and Jen worked on our BOM getting them put together.  Since there was no real turn out I think next time we'll either sew here or at my sisters.

After we were finished Jen, Maureen and I grabbed a quick dinner and called it a day.  Jen came over and brought Holly with her.  We sewed quite a bit tonight.  We made coasters, she worked on her BOM and has most of it put together and it's FANTASTIC and I finished my Halloween door hanging and made coasters.  Then I started cleaning out my sewing drawers.  I want to organize better and label the drawers so when I"m looking for something I can actually find it without searching.  Now it's time for bed and I'm tired.  Tomorrow is another sewing day and I think I"m going to do my BOM and make a Lazy Girl purse, the Veronica.  Stay tuned for the next episode of Snippy Sews.

Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Last night was our monthly game of strip poker at our local quilt shop.  It's always a great time and last night was again lots of fun.  It was my Mom, Jen, Maureen, Terry, she's the owners Mom, Sherry from our monthly block of the month group, Lauralie and her granddaughter Ashley.  What fun we had.  I'm down a few strips but that's ok I can cut more.  We started out as usual with dinner at Bakers Square and then off to the shop we went.  Maureen was a sweetie and brought me a birthday present of great fabric.  I have two really pretty pieces that I can make a purse with.  Promise to post pictures of the fabric.  Terry gave me a special roll of fabric that says happy birthday all over it.,  Once poker was over it was back to Bakers Square for pie.  This has now become a tradition with us.  I'm always in for the triple berry alamode warmed up.  Ohhhh I'd love to have a piece of that right now.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I'm still on Mom watch and I'm getting pretty tired.  So far I've been with her every day this week at some point.  I don't really mind but I'm getting tired and I'm not able to do anything at home that I want to do.  Tonight was picking up pills, grocery shopping and then filling her pill box for the week.  Finally I left around eight and said I was tired and was going home.  She's doing really good with her Project Linus quilt tops so that's good.  I'm glad that it's giving her something to do but it seems as though she's obsessed with finishing them.  No matter what I tell her she sews from morning till night.  Now she could do that thirty years ago but she was also thirty years younger and had good eyes.  I noticed tonight that she had alot of shortness of breath and that was bothering me some.  Well I busted her.  I found that she isn't using her inhaler like she is subposed to.  After a lecture on why she needs to use it I hope that I got through to her.  I really hope that when I get her age I'm not as stubborn as she is or Jen will have me put away.

Saturday is the day that Jen and I have organized at my Mom's apartment complex as a crafting day.  It started because we thought using the community room for the family to sew in would be great.  Well the woman who is the manager of the building wanted to charge us a $250 deposit to use the room.  That's insane.  So, we came up with the idea to offer a sewing or craft day for anyone who lives there.  We're not sure who will come but it's worth a try.  Part of the reason too is so we can get my Mom to meet more of the people in her building.  We're hoping she can make some friends.  One lady stopped by Mom's today to drop off a box of odds and ends for crafts that she had and hoped that someone would be able to use.  I thought that was very nice of her.  Keep your fingers crossed that this works out on Saturday.

Now Murphy is a totally different story.  He's been feeling neglected since I've been gone so much at night lately.  Everytime I tried to sew tonight he needed something.  He hates to see me at my sewing machine.  I've been working on a Halloween wall hanging and as soon as I sew a few embelishments on it I can take a picture and post it.  This was my first attempt at machine button hole stitching.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Tonight started out OK I had good intentions.  Came home from work, tossed a load of wash in, ran the dishwasher, downloaded and printed some patterns.  Jen and I were going to go to dinner and we did at I Hop and then off to WalMart.  We decided to do the quilt that Kristie is doing, the Migraine one.  We bought our fabrics and then home we went.  All I wanted to do tonight was start on a purse that I want to make.  So out came the pattern and I looked that over and was just ready to start to cut it out when I got a call from my Mom.  Her machine wasn't working right.  Ok back in the car and over to her house Jen and I went.  After sewing a little while on it I realized thread was wrapped twice around one of the upper thread catchers and that was the problem.  Fixed that and then started sewing some of her blocks to gether for her.  She had gotton herself so worked up over her machine I thought it best to do a little sewing for her until she calmed herself down a little.  She told us she has plans to sew until midnight tonight.  Why that late I didn't ask.  So, now we're home.  Jen went home and I can't wait to go to bed and try all of this again tomorrow.  To all of you who got to sew today, way to go.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well the weekend is over and I didn't get to do any of the things that I wanted to do but I still had a great time.  All of my projects can wait for me.  Yesterday I picked up my Mom and she spent the night with me.  We didn't do anything last night but we still had a good time.   Today was a full day of sewing.  Mom is still putting together strips for the project Linus quilts.  She sewed me under the table.  By this afternoon I had to take a nap and she kept on sewing.  Then Jen came and joined us.  I worked on a small wall hanging for Halloween and as soon as it's finished I'll take it's picture.  I made quite a few yo yos today so that was good too.  Then it was time to take the dogs to the pool.  Our county pools closed today for the season at 5PM.  What they do then is open up a couple of the pools so the dogs can swim.  Then they get drained and cleaned getting ready for winter.  So off Jen and I went with the dogs.  We got there and joined all others with their dogs in a line.  There was every sized dog in the group.  Then  the line got even longer and by the time they opened it for the dogs the line was so long.  In we went and already dogs were swimming and running in the water.  Now our two dogs are a little more cautious so they watched at first.  Then we walked in the shallow water with them.  Murphy was so busy looking around he would have been content to just watch what was going on.  I tried to coax him into deeper water to swim but he wouldn't budge.  Then Jen took his leash and he followed her into the deeper water and took off swimming.  He looked so happy.  Jen is going to post some pictues on her blog of the dogs.  We got out of the pool and walked to the deeper end.  They had these huge really cushy pads on the side of the pool and Murphy was standing on it and before I knew what happened he stepped right into the water.  Down he went and he came up butt first.  Then out popped his head and I've never seen a dogs eyes get so huge.  Holly just watched him sink and then followed him in, another surprised dog.  With a little help we pulled them both out of the pool.  Lots of fun later it was time to go home.  Mine is now sound asleep.  There were hundreds of dogs and they were all so good.  Running and swimming, chasing balls in the water.  It was great to see them all have so much fun together.  Well I guess that means it's the end of summer.

Cindy

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Saturday was quite a busy day for me.  I started out running to Jen's house because Michelle and Louie from Iowa were riding up for a visit on their motorcycle.  Maureen was the next one to get there and then in rode the bike.  It was so good to see them all.  My only regret was I had to leave after about an hour to take Murphy in to have a glucose test done.  Everyone should be happy to know that his numbers are down to 219  YIPPPPEEEEEEE.  Then it was back home to my house to wait for my friends Debbie and Marge to come we were going to celebrate my birthday.  We had a very good time and went to of all places Bakers Square where I had to miss the lunch earlier with everyone else.  Just so Jen and Maureen know I had something different for dinner.  I had terriyaki chicken stir fry it was fantastic and of course triple berry pie alamode.  Then it was off to WalMart to just walk around for a while and then back to my house.  I got a gift card from Joanns from Debbie and a great Storage jar from Marge.  We had a really good visit and then it was time for bed because I was so tired. 

Cindy

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I thought it has been pretty quiet on the blog lately so I took a cue from Jill and decided to try out the new site.  I am so computer illeterate that it took me quite sometime just to get the password thing right.  Let's just say the new site is going to take sometime for me to feel comfortable.  For right now I would prefer to keep this as my main site.  I guess I don't understand why if the same person created both sites why improvements weren't just made to this one?  What was the need for a new one?  Anyway now that I'm thoroughly confused I'll give up for tonight and post how life has been going tomorrow.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for thinking of me today on my birthday.  What a surprise that was.  So today I turned the big 55.  I'm not depressed because this means I finally get some senior discounts at some places as long as they don't raise the age.  More later, I have to get back to work.  Thanks again for making me smile

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Last week Jen and I decided that from now on we would get together and sew for Charity on Monday nights.  Part of this is so we get our projects finished and part is because Monday night football is starting and Jen and Holly don't like to be home for the games.  So tonight we started up again.  I finished my flannel raggy quilt and all I have to do is snip it.  Now that makes two that I have to snip.  Then it was on to starting another flannel one.  I seem to be hooked on them.  I have those blocks all sewn with their X's and now it's time to put them together but that will be another Monday night.  At sometime this week I need to make a Runaround purse and a wonder wallet for one of my friends and another friend called tonight and wanted to know if I could come and help her out with a quilt so I'll do that on Thursday night.  She bought BOM's from one of our  Joanns when they were going out of business and she's having trouble with them.  The blocks are all turning out different in size.  We have no idea on how to put it together.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Well I'm off to bed.  Happy quilting everyone.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Aside from making 9 yo yo's I didn't accomplish a single thing today and it felt great.  Maybe it's the weather or something because I just didn't have any energy.  I had good intentions but that's as far as it went.  I did a little food shopping and did that by  avoiding the grocery store.  We have a little local beer depot that has hot ham and rolls on Sunday so I went and got that and also picked up some soda.  Then off to the apple orchard to pick up some fruit and veggies.  Now there are a few other things that I need but they can wait atleast I have some things in the house to eat.  While at the apple orchard I bought popcorn.  My Mom and my sister get their pop corn there and it really  is great tasting.  For years now all I've eaten is microwave popcorn because it's so quick and easy.  But now I've gotton a taste of the good stuff and it's back to popping my own.  What do the rest of you like?  Jen and I ran to a local quilt store because they had a huge sale today.  I picked up a couple of pieces of fabric to make a new purse and a few Halloween fat quarters to make a wall hanging out of.  When we got home we were going to sew and I had a call from my Mom and she needed help with her machine.  She said she just couldn't get it threaded right.  Over we went and only to find out it was threaded perfectly.  While we were there we did a little furniture rearranging for her and moving her sewing table under the dining area light.  Now she has much brighter lighting.  Home we came and all I wanted to do was take a little nap.  We just hung around here until it was time to go to Jen's house for dinner.  Now I'm back home and it's almost time for bed.  I think I just got burned out yesterday with all I did.  Tomorrow night is our charity sewing night so then I'll get something done.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I'm proud to announce that the linen closet is officially DONE.  I have a few odd things to find homes for and a bag to take out to the garbage but other than that it's done.  It looks really nice and it feels good.  Now on to the rest of my apartment.  I just keep telling myself little by little I'll get it all done.  Since it's just Murphy and me the mess is all mine with the exception of a few dog toys .  Tomorrow is a day for Jen and I to sew and I'd like to get a few more things put away but we'll see how that goes.  Right now it's time for bed.  I've been fighting with WebShots for a while now and I'm getting really disgusted so I guess there will be no before and after shots of my closet tonight.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Wahooooooooooo I'm half way done with the linen closet.  I took a before picture and I'll take an after shot so I can show off what I've actually accomplished today.  Is it anal to make up a chart as to whats on each shelf and put it on the inside of the door?  These are deep shelves and I have a front and a back row for things.  OK break time is over it's back to work for me.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Murphy and I just got back home after his trip to the vet.  For the past month we've been going in every Saturday to have his glucose checked.  He's been up lately and they have no idea why.  Today he was up from 319 to 329 so they bumped him up from 30 units of insulin two times a day to 32 units two times a day.  This means another prescription of insulin was called in and larger needles since his only hold 30 units.  After that I took him to the gas station and we drove through McDonalds.  I decided what the heck his numbers were up so he got to have a few fries as a treat.  He never gets anything but dog food anymore.  Now he's sound asleep after his big " outing".  Just thought I'd let all of you know because a few have asked how he is doing.  Also there is no news from the apartment complex so no news is good news.  He'll be staying and so will I.  Hopefully that is the end of that.  Now it's off to do cleaning so I can spend all day tomorrow sewing.  I hope everyone has a good day and thanks for all of the concern for my fury friend.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

, I had good intentions today when I got home from work.  My plan was to come home, start wash and clean out my linen closet.  You know how fast a linen closet gets messy.  I don't understand it since it's just me.  Murphy doesn't have thumbs so he can't open doors and he needs nothing in the linen closet.  Anyway about 4 times a year I take everything out and start over.  Instead I was invited to dinner by Jen and Mike.  We had great barbecued pork chops.  The rest of the night we sat around and watched TV and I watched Jen create things.  Can't tell   you what she made because I'm sure she'll post pictures and tell you all about it.  I  think it sounds like all of us with the exception of Michelle are pretty much in the same slump.  Lots of good intentions and then poof they are gone.  For my weekend right now I have no plans.  Murphy goes for a check up tomorrow afternoon so that pretty much shoots doing anyt hing else.  I'd like to get some cleaning and laundry done but who knows I won't promise anything.  To all of you who plan on sewing this weekend, enjoy.  If the weather is nice out, that is if it ever stops raining I'd love to throw open the windows and get some fresh air.  OK I'm off to start the linen closet.  Wish me luck.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I had a list yesterday of three things that I wanted to accomplish today.  OK so I only did the first one, I forced myself to go to work.  Now sewing and no grocery shopping.  My day  started off shakey when I got a call from my Mom that she wasn't feeling good could I come over.  The good thing is she lives 5 minutes from here.  I got there and she had just taken one of her nitro pills.  She has angina attacks and last winter she had three heart attacks so we really keep a close eye on her.  She's now tucked away at one of my sisters houses and  is being watched like a hawk.  Jen and I stopped over there tonight and she does look much better than she did this morning.  Kitty is a great nurse so my Mom won't get away with anything.  It's been one long day so I think as soon as my wash is done it's bed time.  Better luck tomorrow getting things done.  Also, the rain can stop here any time now or I'm going to have to start to build an ark.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

What a wasted day I've just had.  My asthma was acting up so I stayed home from work today.  I slept the day away.  I laid down on the couch this afternoon and woke up and it was 6:30.  My phone was right there and I didn't even hear it ring.  I guess I was very sound asleep.  With nothing done I guess like Kristie I should set a few goals for tomorrow.

1.  Get up and force myself to go to work.

2.  Work on my Project Linus blanket.

3.  I really do need to grocery shop.

Stay tuned until tomorrow to see how many of those I accomplish.

Happy quilting all

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well in my world it's Tuesday night so that means it's dollar movie night.  One of my friends and I like to go to the movie on Tuesday night because it's only  a dollar.  Tonight we went to see the Nancy Drew movie.  I'm not sure how it happened but in my  youth I never read a Nancy Drew book.  Now I was a kid who would read anything that had print on it, I'm still that way.  How that entire series escaped me I have no idea.  Anyway now I think it's time to start reading them.  The movie was cute and definetly worth a dollar.  I can't wait to see what is next week.  So now it's almost time for bed but I can still squeeze in a little sewing yet.  I'm working on another Project Linus flannel quilt.  It's time to start sewing the blocks together and this is the fun part because it finally starts to look like something.

From reading the other blogs it seems like this past weekend alot of us got new phones.  I'm still trying to get used to my new one.  Now I've had cell phones for probably the last 8 years.  I get to the movie tonight and before it starts I was going  to turn it off and I couldn't for the life of me get the thing to shut off.  I finally found how to put it on silent and put it back in my purse.  OK Jen when you read this don't laugh to hard at me.  I guess I need to read a little more in that crazy book that came with the phone.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Here is a picture of another run around bag that I made for one of the ladies I work with for her birthday.  She was hard to figure out what to get so I just decided to make the purse and hope for the best.  You just never know how people are going to react to a homemade present.  She loved it and used it the day I gave it to her to go to Summerfest.  This last Saturday  was my company picnic at the zoo and I was really surprised when she walked up and she was using it again.  That sure is a good feeling isn't it?

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

This is one of the bags that I made last week for a birthday present.  My sister Eileen is a Master Gardener.  She is forever digging in public gardens with her group.  So when I saw this fabric it just screamed out her name to me.  Her birthday was at the end of July so I decided to make her this purse.  I had also found some little wooden buttons that I sewed on the top.  If you look really close right above the zipper in the middle is a how and a little fork.  From her message to me she just loves her purse and can't wait to go to her next gardeners meeting to show it off.  I tried something different this time on the bottom, I rounded off the corners and I like the look of it more.

Cindy

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Tonight Jen and I started a new thing and we're calling it Charity Sewing Night.  We've decided that from now on we would sew for either Project Linus or Pillowcases for the Troops on Monday nights.  Jen finished one flannel raggy quilt and I finished mine from yesterday and started another one.  She also worked on pillowcases for her half hour that she's setting aside each time just for pillowcases.

I've really enjoyed making the flannel raggy quilt.  Now I have to start doing all the snipping and then it's on to washing and drying it to make it fluff up.

I've very behind in my blogging of the past weekend and all I accomplished but I'm really tired so I think it's time for bed instead.

Cindy

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Wow what a day. I think I had a minor melt down at work today.  There are days that my job is so stressful it could push me right over the edge.  I normally like my  job but today wasn't one of those days.  Anyway I really just wanted to come home tonight and take a nap but I had promised my Mom I would come over and help her sew.  She  now has three more project linus quilts done so that brings her total to three.  She's having a ball doing them which is good.  I told her I'd drop her somemore off this next week.  I've got pictures but I'm so tired I'm off to bed and I'll post them tomorrow.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I just wanted to update everyone on how my Mom's sewing went today.  I talked to her before I had my little nap.  She was very upbeat and didn't need any help tonight.  She had been sewing most of the day and has one top completed and the second one is together but she realized she sewed the last two rows together wrong and has to take out that seam.  I told her I'd come and do it tomorrow night for her if she could wait.  She'll wait for me because Friday she said she needs to "clean'.  Hopefully I can get her borders on and then take pictures of her latest two tops to post.  For someone who hasn't sewn in 20 years, has macular degeneration and age degeneration she's doing pretty darn good.  I can see where Jen gets her sewing stamina from.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Thursday nights are my laundry nights and cleaning night.  I figure if I get it all done on Thursday night I have the weekend free.  Jen can attest to the fact that I'm forever cleaning and I'm always doing laundry.  In my apartment I have small stackable washer and dryers so it's constant small loads.  Tonight started off slow but now the bathroom is done and a load of laundry is done.  Maybe on or two more to go.  I've been thinking about sewing.  I need to make a few more runaround purses so I think tonights the night or I could try a wonder wallet.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I had a call this evening around 7 and it was my mom and she was all worked up about her sewing machine.  She was having trouble threading the machine and needed help.  I told her I'd be right there.  I only live 3 miles from her apartment so off I went.  It seems she was trying to thread the machine and kept missing the last three places that the thread goes.  She has macular degeneration so it's hard for her to see but she's determined that she needs to sew.  Anyway I got her retheaded and she sat right down to sew again.  She's working on project linus quilts and she's so happy doing it but she's really pushing herself.  She wants perfection and she isn't there yet but she'll be there soon.  She used to be able to sit and sew all day and she so enjoyed it.  You can just see how her mind is going and she's starting to think of other quilts that she can do.  It does give her something to do all day.  By tomorrow she'll have two tops finished and ready for more.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I'm still waiting to hear how Jill's date went.  Now that she has us all hooked on her dating life inquiring minds want to know.   Let us know when you can.  Things must be going well or she'd be home already.  Could this one be a keeper?  Stay tuned for another episide of "  Jill Dates"

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Today I took a vacation day since I had a Dr's appointment.  First I went and all went well then this afternoon Murphy went in for another glucose test.  He's finally on the way down.  They upped the insulin a little more and we go again in 10 days.  This is such a long process but I'd better get used to these ups and downs.

I had so many plans for today.  I was going to straighten up a bit and then do some sewing.  Wellllllll, I came home this afternoon and I fell asleep and slept my vacation day away.  Guess I really needed the sleep.  Keep your fingers crossed that I get something done this evening.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well I've tried this probably about a dozen times today and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.  When the picture is in webshots it's the right way and here it's sideways, sorry about that.

Anyway last week when we went to the fair I couldn't resist this purse.  It is one long continuous zipper.  It came rolled up, the top picture and then you start zipping it up and taaa daaaa it's a purse.  Just wanted to share this.  Sorry that you have to turn your head to see it.  Think of it as your exercise for the day.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Like I mentioned last night I've made many great friends by meeting them on the internet in some form of quilting group.  One of the ladies that I met on the internet couldn't make our first meeting with the rest of the group.  She was extremely busy at the time helping to take care of her sister who had cancer.  Anyway she was in town for a few days and emailed me to see if I would like to meet her for dinner.  I saw nothing wrong with this but Jen thought this was just a crazy idea.  What, go to a restaurant and meet up with a total stranger.  Heck Kay  was no stranger she was a quilting friend.  So in  order to be able to leave the house Jen made me take her cell phone with me.  This was back when I didn't have one.  Anyway I was also to call her to let her know that I was alright.  I had told Kay that Jen was afraid I was going to be meeting a serial killer and we had a good laugh at it.  When I was talking to Jen Kay took the phone from me and proceeded to tell Jen that she had never in her life killed a box of cereal and she wasn't about to start now.  We've been laughing about this for years.  Fast forward to Jen and Mike's wedding and Kay had said she was coming.  She wouldn't miss it for the world and she'd be there with bells on.  I didn't think of the bells on until I was walking Jen down the aisle and we got to the pew where Kay was sitting and I looked over and she had sewn tiny little jingle bells to the bottom of the top she had on.  As we went by I heard this tiny little jingle.  See now that's what makes a great friend.

Just wanted to share that with all of you.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I had mentioned before that last Saturday Jen  and I went to Waunakee to the quilt store there and met up with Michelle from our blog and her quilting friends.  They came all the way from Iowa to meet up with us.  What a great bunch of ladies and of course what a great guy Michelle's husband Louie is.  There aren't too many men who would be the chauffeure for a van full of quilting ladies on a mission.  Anyay we got to the store just a few minutes apart.  Jen and I were standing in the store probably with our mouths hanging open looking at everything when Michelle found us.  What a sweetie she is.  We all clicked right away.  I have to tell you all a little story about meeting quilters.

Quite a few years ago I had off the week between Christmas  and New Years.  I knew absolutely nothing about computers but Jen had one and tried a few times to show me how to use it.  Anyway to make a long story short I ended up in the Quilters Chat room and the rest is history.  I started chatting every chance I had staying up late into the night to chat with my new friends.  After  a couple of months it was decided that we were going to have a get together and meet the ones from around here who could make it.  We had a great first meeting with lunch and a show and tell.  We were so used to calling everyone by their screen names that to this day that is still how we refer to each other.  That's where I got my nick name of Snip.  We've shared alot of things through the years from marriages to divorces to deaths.  We've stayed close and are always there when one of us needs something.  We don't get together as much as we used to because some of us are working and can't get away.  We no longer chat in the chat room but through emails or phone calls.  I guess where I was going with this is I think that is where the,  friendships made in this blog are headed.  It's great to think that you can take total strangers and in a short period of time they feel like family, they become family.  So, the newest member in Jen's and my family is Michelle.

Here's the three of us outside a quilt store in Sun prairie.

Michelle brought me a surprise that she made and here it is.  A really pretty litter bag for my  car and a thread bag/pin cushion for my sewing table.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

This is a roll of fabric that I bought on our shopping trip on Saturday to Mill House Quilts.  I saw these colors and the patterns and just knew that I had to have it.  I've decided to make myself the "Yellow Brick Road" pattern using this.  I just really like the soft colors of peach, green and purple.  I'm going to make a lap sized quilt just to have in the livingroom because I can.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

I  was on my way home from work today when I got a call from Jen.  As most of you know we live in the same apartment complex.  Last month there was a dog that bit someone and it was put down.  I didn't even know what kind of dog or what apartment.  So fast forward one month and today they put a letter in everyones door saying that because of this certain kinds of dogs are being banned from the complex.  Low and behold Murphy is on the list but the dog who did the biting a golden retreiver isn't on the list.  So I went right to the office on my way home.  In the mean time Jen went to my house to let Murphy out and she sent Mike to meet me at the office.  I had to wait a little while for the manager but there was no way I was going to leave without talking to her.  Granted Murphy is a Doberman but he is the most mild mannered dog I've ever had.  He gives a whole new meaning to the words laid back.  There is not one viscious bone in that dogs body.  Anyway, she said the insurance company is telling the corporation that owns our complex that there is a list of certain dogs that can't be there.  Now let me go back six years to when I applied for my  apartment and Murphy had to be approved by management.  I took in a picture of him and I even took in Murphy and they let him in.  I paid a seperate security deposit for him above and beyond the one for the apartment.  I pay a little extra each month in rent because I have a dog.  My dog is NEVER outside without a chain on him.  I clean up after my dog and he's done no damage.  Now they have me really worried because I don't know what I'll do if they say he  has to go.  He's my life.  He's a diabetic that requires special care.  He suffers from great seperation anxiety so I know he wouldn't be able to live with anyone else.

To try and find a little humor in the situation I took some of the hats from my lawn goose and put them on him and took his picture.  This way if he has to go into hiding these are going to be his disguises.

The first picture is Murphy as a yard Gnome.  Next Murphy as a bumble bee.  Murphy as a sunflower.  Murphy as a Red Hatter.

Murphy as the Bride of Frankenstein and last but not least, Murphy as Murphy just a smiling away.  Anyway I just thought I'd share these pictures.  Let me know what you think.  Maybe the witness protection plan would take him>>>>>>>>

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Today was a wonderful Saturday for me.  It started out with Jen picking me up and we went just outside of Madison to a great quilt store.  We were going to meet up with Michelle from the blog and her quilting friends.  They all came up in a huge van to meet us, shop the quilt store and of course  do lunch.  It was so much fun to meet all the ladies and of course their chauffeur, Louie, he's Michelle's husband.  I bought fabric and patterns and I promise tomorrow I'll take pictures and post them.  The it was time for lunch and then on to Sun Prairie to another quilt store JJ Stitches.  Bought a couple of small patterns there and that was fun too.  Our day came to an end and we all had to say goodbye but it was so much fun.  Thank you ladies for coming all this way so we could spend the day together.  And, an even bigger thank you to Michelle for my presents.  She made me a wonderful quilted garbage bag for my car and a great thread catcher/pincushion for my sewing area.  I promise pictures of those tomorrow too.

On to part two of the day.  Jen and I headed home and once home decided that we were going to go to the Wisconsin State Fair.  We're really lucky because we live in West Allis and the fair is in West Allis.  Quickly fed my dog, grabbed Mike and off to the fair we went.  I happen to haveo a girl friends who lives across the street from the fair grounds so we parked at her house instead of having to pay anywhere from $10 to $20 to park.  Across the street we went and while we were waiting to buy tickets a nice man gave me a free ticket, saved another $8.    It was crowded and it drizzled a little but we managed to see everything that we wanted to see in a short period of time.  It was actually too hot to eat.  Normally we have cream puffs too since that is one of the highlights of our fair but we passed on those.  I'll go ahead and make them for us next week.  Mike and I did have our corn on the cob, Jen her deepfried cheese curds, they had the flavored milk.  We used to have a senator Herb Kohl who had a milk stand and for 25 cents you could have flavored milk.  I think they had mocha and rootbeer flavored milk.  We watched a little of the clydesdale horses the two hitch competition and moved on.  Walked through the cow barn and it was time to hit what we call the "junk" buildings.  First stop was the oriental village.  Wow we ran across this great little purse that is one continueous zipper.  Again I promise pictures tomorrow.  Jen and I each bought one and i think they were like $6.  Nothing else grabbed us in that area so off we went.  Next stop was the flower building that now also is the new home of the baked goods competition, garments and quilts.  Wow some of those quilts were unreal.  Jen took lots of pictures so I'm sure she'll post them.  They had an area where kids entered vegetables that they grew.  OK so what makes a tomatoe the blue ribbon winning tomatoe?  Inquiring minds want to know.  After that building we had to go and meet up with Mike because he sat outside and listened to the Brewer Game while we were in that building.  Now it was time for the BIG exposition building where they sell everything from nuts to hot tubs to trucks.  That is always a fun place to look.  We were on a mission, we wanted more Oxy Clean detergent balls.  Jen and I bought them last year and they work so great that we wanted more.  Bam there they were and in we went for the buy.  We ended up getting 4 balls, the bags to put them into in the washer and a container of orange cleaner and all for only $20.  That is a bargain because in the grocery store or WalMart they are almost $7 for one ball.  We were very happy.  Then up and down all the aisles we went.  Next purchase was when the kids bought a pound of fudge.  It was then almost 10 PM and that building was closing.  Our last stop there was for some carpet and stain cleaner for pets.  They bought it two years ago and it works great so I bought some too.  We were done and heading out when I decided that it's time that Murphy wears a tag that not only has his name and phone number on it but it should also say that he's insulin dependent.  So of course they have all kinds of booths that etch the tag so he's a proud new owner of a great little tag in the shape of a stop sign with all his information on it.  Then out the gate we went and now we're home.

It's been a very long day but tons of fun.  My feet are killing me and I'm pooped so it's time for bed.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well today I finished organizing the fabric cabinet.  Everything is in stacks according to color.  There must have been a time in my life when I was into buying panels to make things.  I have them for all the holidays and not little ones either.  Big full sized door panels from rabbits for Easter to lots of Christmas ones.  I'm not sure if I'll ever make them and if not they will go to charity.  While I was at it I straightened up the spare room some too.  Then I spent the rest of my time making yo yo's.  Next I have to borrow the circle cutter from Jen again so I can cut another batch.  Soon I'll have to start sewing my garland together to see how it looks.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Today was spent sewing with Jen.  We did both of our BOM's and then I went into my spare room and stared at all my fabric that had attacked that room.  I spent a better part of the afternoon going through fabric and trying to organize it.  I have a cabinet that I keep my fabric in so it's in piles according to color.  Of course Jen laughed at some of the pieces that I had.  She was also amazed that the entire top shelf is all Christmas fabric.  Straightening out things really makes me feel good.  Now again I know what I have and I can hopefully get some things made using my stash.  I found quite a few more UFO's that were hiding in the mess.  I know have a basket that holds all the UFO's that need to be completed.  Hopefully I won't be adding to this stack.  I did find a few table runners using snowmen that I had started, a Halloween table runner that needs I'm not sure what but something and a partially finished baby

 quilt that I can't find the pattern for.  I might just have to make it into some other pattern.  It's all sewn together into strips so who knows how I'll finish it.  Now it's time to go and finish up some more yo yo's.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

This is my sister Kitty.  She's the one I've been telling you all about who is learning how to quilt now that she's retired.  The first picture is of her in Joann's buying her fabrics.

The next picture is taken at my Mom's where Jen and I worked with Kitty to teach her how to use a rotary cutter, mat and ruler.  She took to cutting fabric like a duck takes to water.  The girls a natural at it and not in the least bit afraid of cutting.  In the last picture she's ironing her quilt top.  Kitty decided to go ahead and make a baby quilt for a soon to be new Grandaughter.  The pattern she is making is the Split Rail since we thought that would be a nice one for her to learn on.  She sat happily a couple of weeks ago at her dining room table just a sewing away.  Next we have to get together with her so she can put borders on the top and then layer it up.  I can't wait to see what she decides to make next.  Her mind is already full of all the things that she could make for the babies room.  It's fun to see someone so exciting about learning to quilt.  I just found out the other day that she signed up for a beginning quilting class at our local technical college.  I know the instructor since she heads up our Friday night BOM.  She's going to really enjoy her class.  Stay tuned to see what she makes next.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

This block is from our Friday night block of the month group.  We're almost finished with this one so I can't wait to be able to put my blocks together into a quilt top.

I had to change my block slightly since I didn't have enough of the blue blocks.  We get all of our fabric cut just so for us and I was missing 4 blue blocks.  I switched a few things around and here it is.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

This is the latest in my BOM from Moda U.  We go to a local quilt store called Bits N Pieces for this one.  What a great group of ladies.  I chose the Spring version and there also is a Fall version in brown tones.  We have to go until January to finish this one.  So, this is how I spent part of my day.

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well tonight I sewed on the last of the bindings onto the quilts that Jen made.  It was such a feeling of accomplishment to be able to help her out with this project.  Tomorrow if it isn't raining we'll take pictures of all of them so she can post them for all of you to see.  While I sewed tonight Jen made pillow cases to "wrap" the quilts in.  Now a little relaxation time and then it's time for bed and a little reading.  Gee I wonder what I'll sew tomorrow?

-Cindy (Peony the House Elf)

Well  Murphy and I are home from the vet and I'm very dicouraged.  Murphy was diagnosed as a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic in early spring.  We got his levels where they needed to be and all was going along just fine that is until about two weeks ago.  I noticed his water consumption was up so into the vet we went.  His glucose level was twice what it had been.  Higher insulin was the adjustment.  Now I watch this dog like a hawk when it comes to food and every thing else.  Today he was even higher.  They have no answers for me just keep an eye on him and up the dosage again.  This is very discouraging.  We aren't doing anything different so what is going on?  Sorry I just needed to vent.

Cindy

Last week I wrote about my sister Kitty who decided that she wanted to start quilting.  Jen and I helped her with a baby quilt.  This is the first thing she's sewn and she did a great job.  Anyway I was talking with her today and she's signed herself up for a beginning quilting class at our local technical institute.  The good thing is her teacher is the woman who heads up our BOM on Friday nights, Wendy.  Kitty is going to learn so very much from Wendy.  It's really good to be able to have this in common with one of my sisters.  I'm just so proud of how she's just hopped in and given it a try.  Now she's talking about turning her rec room in the basement into a sewing room so she can just leave her things out and walk away.  I see lots of fabric in her future.

Cindy

I just got home from the movies.  Yeah I know I just went the other night but that was a crummy movie so tonight we went back of course we had to pay $2.  We finally saw the movie "Disturbia".  It's patterned after the old movie Rear Window only it takes place in the suburbs.  Let me just say if any of you like suspense movies that's the one to see.  It was really good.  So, now that I'm home it's time to put the binding on one of Jen's quilts.  She's getting ahead of me so it's time for me to kick it up a notch.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and then comes the weekend and time to quilt.  I'm getting so many ideas from reading everyones blogs that I don't know where to start first.  So many things to make and so little time to do them.

Cindy  (Peony the House Elf )

Tonight at one of our local movie theatres it's dollar night.  Normally a movie there is two dollars but Tuesday  is only a dollar.  I was going to meet one of my girlfriends and see a movie.  Well, us and everyone else.  I got there almost half an hour before the movie and there were long lines.  It is pretty hot here so I think alot of people were just trying  to cool off.  We were going to see a movie call Disturbia.  It's subposed to be on the lines of the old movie Rear Window.  So I wait in this line for 20 minutes and finally get in the door and there is a sign that Disturbia and Wild Hogs will not be seen tonight.  Now what?  Jeanne is waiting inside so I just buy a  ticket and go in.  We ended up seeing a Disney movie called Meet the Robinsons.  OK so for kids it was good but it wasn't my ksind of movie.  But the popcorn was good.  So now I'm home and it's time for some quilting.  I'm going to put on a binding for Jen.  She always does her own bindings but I'm helping her out with these quilts that she's doing since she has a deadline.

Cindy ( Peony The House Elf )

I actually got quite a bit done tonight but none of it was quilting.  I was whipping through this place doing laundry, vacuuming, cleaned out the fridge and in general straightened up.  Now tomorrow night since all of this is done I can finally sit down and quilt.  I still ha ve to straighten out my spare room but that's one giant project.  Since I live in an apartment with no other storage I use my extra bedroom for storage.  I have all kinds of storage bins stacked up with Christmas, pictures, fabric and more fabric and just odd things.  This room is going to get it little by little and I hope to get rid of a good portion of the stuff in here.  OK it's time to make the bed and then I'm off to sleep.  Tomorrow I QUILT.

Cindy (Peony The House Elf)

Hi all, well I moved my binding of Jen's quilts back to my house.  I had been sewing at her house all weekend and feeling guilty about leaving Murphy alone so much since he isn't feeling well.  I now have to do the blue quilt and she just finished the pink and purple one tonight.  I also need to clean here a little so this week I'll finish them.  She was just starting to stipple the kind sized log cabin when I was leaving.  She's a little afraid of that one but she's going to be fine.  It's sooooooo big but if she takes it slow I figure three day's she'll be done.  She's got lots of determination.

I took over alot of the brats that we had from work last Friday for our cook out.  They were partially cooked so Mike finished them off on the grill for dinner.  Now we each have enough to last us all week for lunches.  Well time to clean and vacuum a little before I start on the next binding.

Cindy ( Peony the House Elf )

Today is my first official day as Jen's house elf.  I finally got my name and it's Peony.   We got a little bit later start today but still had a very productive day.  We went to our LQS because it was dollar fat quarter weekend.  Now I need more fat quarters like I need a hole in my head but that didn't stop me from buying 32 more.  I'm starting to think ahead to the holidays and what I can make for people.  I bought quite a few that are great for Christmas.  I'm thinking about making this the year of the purse and making those for gifts.  Then it was home to pick up Murphy and go to Jen's.  Today my job was to clip all of the basting tacks from the green quilt so that I could put the binding on.  That took me forever since we probably had 800 or more in the quilt.  With that done I trimmed up the quilt and put on the binding.  Next up was the blue quilt and I finally finished taking out the tacks and it was time to go home for the night.  I have to finish laundry so I can go to work tomorrow.  After work tomorrow I'll go back to Jen's and trim the blue quilt and put on the binding and then start taking out the binding tacks on the pink and purple one.  I'd like to know where that girl gets her energy from because I could use some of it.  In two days she has now machine quilted three quilts.  I'm sure she finished the pink and purple one after I left because she already had it 3/4 done.  I get tired just watching her.

Came home to do laundry and while I was watching TV thought I would straighten up my sewing area.  It looks bare without my machine but I left it at Jen's until my job as the quilt binder is done.  I dug around and found all kinds of 6 inch swap blocks that I had been accumulating for years.  I found kits that I had for small wall hangings so all of that is now organized in bins.  All of this is starting to take over my living room and mysnack bar.  It's a good thing I live alone.  A little more straightening and it's time for bed.  Little by little I'll get this place whipped into shape.

Cindy, ( Peony the House Elf)

So far today has been a very productive day sewing wise.  This morning I went with Jen to Franks Sewing Center to use his large classroom tables and we basted 4 quilts in around two and a half hours.  Next it was time to take Murphy to the vet.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned before but in early spring Murphy, my Doberman, who is five was diagnosed  with type 1, insulin dependent diabetes.  I almost lost him and I was scared to death.  Anyway we've now got him under control and he eats a special diet and gets insulin injections from me twice a day.  Anyway early in the week I noticed he was drinking alot more water.  Sign number one that something is wrong.  So today he went in to have a glucose test done.  Sure enough his level was up to 360 and normal for him is 170.  There is no explanation as to why this happens it just does.  His diet is the same, his insulin is the same his body just got thrown out of whack.  Anyway I now just increase his insulin and we test him again next week.  With that done I took him home so he could sleep and went on over to Jen's to see how the quilting was coming.  Her stippling on the green quilt is really very pretty.  My job is to make binding for the four quilts and sew on the binding so she can keep on quilting.  I have enough binding done for the three quilts and I still have to make the binding for the big log cabin quilt.  So far she's right on schedule with these jobs.  Time to get back to work before she wonders where I am and comes looking for me.

Cindy

Back in 2001 the year that the kids were married I decided early in the year that I was going to make them a Double Wedding Ring Quilt as a gift.  I happened to go out to visit my sister Karen in Arizona in January and bought a lot of southwestern fabric at that time.  I knew that it was a look that Jen and Mike really liked.  Once home I started making the quilt.  It took me atleast 8 months to make it.  I cut everyone of those little pieces and sewed them back together again.  Sometimes I'd get started and have everything out and Jen would call and say she was coming over.  I'd have to quickly put everything away to make it look like I was doing nothing.  Finally the quilt was done and all I needed was a label for the back.  I used one of the extra blocks and I was finished.  I gave it to them a couple of days before the wedding.  First they didn't know what to say and then they kept on saying how pretty it was.  This quilt was made with much love.  It hangs on a quilt rack in their home and it's really the first thing you see when you get to the top of the stairs.

Tonight when we were outside taking pictures of her green quilt we took this one too.

Cindy

I've made a decision tonight and I need for all of you to know it so then that way I have to do it.  Now I'm raising my right hand and saying, " I Cindy do here by promise that I will clean up the clutter in my apartment.  I promise to do a little at a time until things are straightened up and I can find what I'm looking for."  Now I need for all of you to keep on me so that it gets done.  All this came about tonight after I got home from Joann's with Jen.  I went to clip Murphy's nails, since he has a vet appointment tomorrow, and for the first time I clipped one of them too short.  Now I know somewhere in this place I have a brand new little bottle of stuff that you use to put on the nail so it stops bleeding.  Well, I can't find it and normally when I'm looking for other things I'm always running across it.  I ended up going to the neighbors and she had some.  So this is it I have to make time every  day to tackle some portion of my place.  I need to toss and sort and toss somemore.  There I just tossed out three things while sitting at my computer.  It's progress, small baby steps.

Cindy

At work today I decided that tonight when I got home from work I'd start straightening up.  So far I've been home since 4:30 and I can honestly say I haven't accomplished a thing.  It seems I keep moving from one thing to another.  I've started straightening up my sewing area.   Then I'd jump to putting things away.  Next I'd watch a little tv and then I'd think of something else to do.  So now it's bedtime and I haven't really accomplished anything.  For a while I was out with the dog and chatting with mouy neighbors.

Tomorrow at work we're having a cook out.  Just brats, Italians and hot dogs with all the fixings.  I had to bring home a box of Italian sausages tonight because they wanted them to be pre-cooked before we put them on the grill.  Now I don't know about any of you but I don't do this for myself.  This is happens to be not only our month end at work but also our fiscal year end.  There is so much going on and on top of it all they threw a new phone system and new phones at us yesterday afternoon.  It's really funny how quickly a person can loose  call.  Anyway on top of all of this we're having a picnic.  I think it's time for me to go to bed since all I can smell now is the Italian sausages and that's all I have on my mind is eating one.

Cindy

Saturday was another busy day around here.  First it was off to BOM with Jen.  We're doing a BOM and it's a Moda University block.  We're doing the spring one so light and pretty colors.  The LQS that we go to for this has also been having fat quarters on sale for $1 .00 each.  I bought a bunch last week that I'm using on my Yo Yo's for the Christmas tree garland and yesterday I dug through the bin and picked out some in more fall colors.  I'm already thinking ahead towards Christmas presents and birthday presents for the ladies at work.  I think I'll start assembly line sewing some Lazy Girl Designs and do the RunAround bags.  They only take a couple offat quarters and a zipper.  I'll just watch for the next zipper sale.  Then it was on to pick up my Mom and go  for haircuts.  I love my mother dearly but there are days that she does get to me.  I have to keep reminding myself that she is 87 and this is all a part of getting older.  After haircuts we went back to her apartment to pick up her sewing, we were going to my sisters for an afternoon of sewing.  Now my Mom I've mentioned before lives in a retirement building.  She doesn't socialize with the others in the building.  But my sisters and I do.  We were leaving and the lady next door stopped us in the hallway to chat.  A very nice lady so I thought if we stood and chatted a while my Mom would make a new friend.  After about 20 minutes we left and the first thing she said was wow can that woman talk I thought she'd never shut up.  So off I go again explaining to her it was just polite conversation and getting to know her neighbors.  Then on to the exciting part of the day.

I wrote the other day about taking my sister Kitty to the fabric shop since she'd like to learn to quilt.  I have to brag here she is one fast learner.  By the time I left yesterday she had her first baby quilt top done and just needed to put borders on it.  She's making a split rail fence quilt for a new grand baby that will be born in November.  She's never done any kind of crafting before and she sat happily at her machine and was humming and smiling as she was sewing.  This is GREAT.  Jen was there and helping her along the way.  It was so good to see the progress she made.  So there we were Mom, Jen, Kitty and I all sitting around the diningroom table sewing away.  By the time I got home I was so tired I put my sewing things away and Jen came over and I fell asleep on the couch.  Todays another sewing day.

Cindy

Hi all just a quick blog and then I"m off and running for the rest of the day.  Last night Jen and I went to sit at Barns N Noble and wait for midnight to get out Harry Potter books.  It's become a tradition for us to do this and we always have fun.  Last night was no exception.  We got there early around 5:45 because we had heard they were going to shut the store down once they had 900 people in it.  We went armed with food and drink and of course our Yo Yo's to work on.  Already at that time you couldn't find a place to sit so we pulled up a piece of carpet in the corner and camped out.  We flipped through all kinds of quilting magazine and then a huge stack of quilting blocks.  We then settled in to start on our Yo Yo's.  I was onto my second one and of course Jen had done about 6 already and I kept saying how hard they were to finish off.  YEAH because I was doing them wrong.  We had a good laugh and Jen showed me the right way.  What a difference now they are so much easier.  While sitting there my old boss Lynn found us and joined us.  The party atmosphere kept growing and so did the noise in the place.   I got up and walked around and couldn't believe all the people that were there.  They were sitting everywhere and even had sleeping bags and pillows.  Finally it was time and they counted down to midnight when you could pay for your books and leave.  We got out of the store right around 12:45 which wasn't bad.  When we got outside we saw the longest line of people who hadn't been able to get in the store yet.  We drove around and looked and there had to be atleast 2000 or more people outside.  Anyway I have a new pair of harry potter glasses that glow in the dark and my book.  I was so tired I only read the first chapter but I'm again hooked.

We'll spend the day helping my sister the new quilter with her quilt and tonight I'm READING.

Cindy

Tonight was so much fun.  I am the youngest of 6 in my family.  My sister Kitty is 6 years older than I am.  On December 31of last year she officially retired.  Now she's decided she needs a hobby.  Her daughter is going to have her second child in November so Kitty is going to make baby quilts.  Off to Joanns Jen and I went to help her pick out fabric.  She brought my Mom along so there we were again three generations of women in a fabric store.  Kitty is going to start out with a split rail fence pattern.  She bought three really cute pieces of fabric in pinks and purples.  Then my Mom had given her a piece that is blocks and in each block is either a bear or a bunny.  She bought a soft lavevender flannel for the back of that.  Off to my Mom's house we went to start Kitty out on cutting out her quilt.  Let me just go back a second.  While in the store she we ask if she needs anything else and she says really full of confidence that no because she has a scissors.  Well of course we laughed at that.  She left the store with a cutting matt, rotary cutter and a ruler.Jen started her out showing her how to square up fabric and then within a matter of minutes she had all her strips cut out and ready to sew.  She was too cute thinking about all the things she could make for the baby.  Saturday we'll all get together and sew in the afternoon.  She's going to sew her strips together tomorrow.  So, another quilter is born.

Cindy

I know this isn't sewing related but I need to get this off my chest.  I don't know if any of you know but I've been the Queen Mother of my Red Hat Society group for 5 years now.  I am one of the founding members of our chapter.  We had a very small group only nine of us because they never wanted to expand.  Right now I am the youngest one is the group and I'll be 55 next month.  Anyway through the years they have gotton a little odd.  Anyway last Saturday we were to have a party for one of the members because she's decided to live with a man and not marry him.  Now I'm not old fashioned but when someone says they don't want to get married because they don't want to loose their freedom then I start to question why are they together at all?  She was engaged  to this man 55 years ago and when he went to Korea during the war she dumped him and married someone else.  Fast forward 55 years and her husband passes away.  She learns that his wife has also passed away so she gets in touch with him and they go out.  They see each other for about three weeks and they are engaged.  Another month goes by and he's moving in with her and selling his house.  She keeps say ing she doesn't want to loose her freedom.  I never hear her say she loves him but he's moving in.  Now all of a sudden we are to have a party for her and they are calling it a "living in sin" party.    Something about this whole thing doesn't seem right to me and I keep telling Jen I don't want to go I'm not comfortable going.  So, I decide it's my life and I don't go.  All bloody heck breaks loose because I'm not there.  Now keep in mind when any of the other members don't go to something it's perfectly alright.  I don't go and it's the end of the world.  Next thing I know one of them is suggesting I resign and someone else take over.  I send her my resignation and she comes back with she won't say anything until I email the whole group.  I come home today and there have been all kinds of emails going back and forth and it's very apparent that she did tell them all because they are talking about who should take over.  Anyway for me it's OK I've made some good friends and then some so so friends that I wont' be seeing again.  I sent the entire group my resignation and also told them I was done with the chapter. 

I really do like being a Red Hat but not when it's with a group who never wants to do anything.  There idea of fun is to sit at one anothers house and constantly eat.  There I feel better now that I got that off my chest and out of my system.  Thank you for letting me rant.

Cindy

Another hot but exciting day here.  I went to the Brewers game with Jen, Mike, and Debbie.  Man was it hot out there and of course I didn't think to take a hat or a visor or for that matter sun screen.  Oh well bought a hat at the game.  Best money I've spent in a long time.  Now I just need to vent a little about people who take small children and even babies to the ball game.  It's no place for them.  One couple infront of us had a baby maybe 4 months old.  Granted they had a hat on him but it sure didn't look like any sun screen was on him.  They sat there drinking bottled water, sodas and even ice cream and he never got anything not even a drink of water.  Did they not have a relative or friend or a baby sitter he could have stayed with.  Finally in the 7th inning the Mom took him up and into the shade.  Well DUH it was about time.  Little boy behind us whined the whole time because he didn't like sun.  Well hello you're stting outside and the sun's out.  Then one across from us was pretty well behaved but she was maybe between 2-3.  Baseball didn't interest her at all.  She played on the steps but everytime she didn't listen to the Mom she would grab her by the arm.  I swear one more time I was going to step in and say something.  By the end of the game she had her Mom's finger prints on her arm inthe form of bruises.  Why I ask all of you do people do this?  When my daughter was little and it wasn't the right place to take her and we didn't have a sitter we just plain stayed home.

Anyway the Brewers won and the sausage race is always the highlight of the game.  We have these people who dress up in huge sausage costumes and they race.  It's alot of fun.  We have this great new stadium with a retractable roof.  It's really a very nice place.  Bernie Brewer sits in his chalet out by the bleachers and when a home run is hit he slides down the slide and fireworks go off.  Anyway as you can tell I had a great day.  Now it's time to think about bed because I'm really tired from sitting out in the sun.  Then to top off my day I was out and picked up a large soda in a plastic up with a top on it, sat down to read the blogs and heard a thud.  Murphy had knocked it off the end table and I had to steam the carpet.  The criminal is now in his kennel as a punishment and I'm drinking water.

Cindy

I just got home from seeing the new Harry Potter movie.  I'm a Harry fan and let's just say WOW.  Now I can't wait until next week when the new book comes out.  For the last couple of books Jen and I have been going to Barnes N Noble's to wait until midnight for the release of the book.  We've had a lot of really great fun doing that.  Some people come in costume and they always have activities.  It's one big party atmosphere and I can't wait.  Last year they gave us plastic Harry glasses and we stood behind card board cut outs and had our pictues taken.  This year we're going to take along Uno cards to help us pass the time.  OHHHHH maybe I should take along my Yo Yo's.  Everyone sits around on the floor and checks out books and then the excitement starts to build the closer it gets to midnight.  Today Jen and I went and we pre ordered our books.  She'll stay up and read until the book is done.  I'm not sure if I'll do that this time or do like I did last time when I only allowed myself to read a couple of chapters a night.  That was really hard for me to do.

Cindy

I really didn't ever think I'd catch the Yo Yo fever but it go to me.  I was watching Eleanor Burns Quilt In A Day and on todays episode she showed how she made yo yo's and put them together to make garland for the Christmas Tree.  I'm hooked.  I have three small trees that Jen gave me last year and they are perfect for my apartment.  So today our LQS had fat quarters for a dollar each so Jen and I went and low and behold I bought a bunch of homespun fabrics in reds and greens.  I've already cut out three fat quarters of circles and just finished my second YO.  Now I'm hooked.  I think these will look really cute on the trees giving them an old fashioned look.  When I get a bunch made I'll post a picture.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I stepped over to the dark side.

Cindy

Last night was our Friday night block of the month meeting.  It's always so much fun because they are a great group of ladies.  We always start off with show and tell so this month I actually had two quilt tops and a door hanging that I made since I saw them last so I had things to show.  We took my Mom along and she truly enjoyed herself.  All of the things people showed were great and so were the Alzheimer quilts.

After our meeting we always shop in the store and the owner Brad gives us a discount which is great.  Last night he had a clearance on thread so of course I shopped and then shopped somemore.  After shopping let me just tell you all I FELL IN LOVE.  OK not with a man but with a quilting machine.  He has two of those quilting racks where you attatch your own machine and then quilt away.  Had I had the money last night I'd be the proud owner of one even if it meant getting rid of my livingroom furniture to fit it in.  The one can go all the way up to a king sized quilt.  They had wooden templates underneat that you can follow or you can free motion quilt.  I played with it and so did Jen.  My dream is to own something like this or a Gammill when I retire and take in quilt tops as a little something to help me survive and keep me busy.  Now if I could just win the lottery I'd own one now.

Cindy