A Little Tip to Share

You know when you are laying your blocks out and you finally get the layout that really clicks for you.  You pin the blocks together one block at a time, gather them up, head to the sewing machine and sew them all together.  Now to sew the rows together.  I lay them out again and for some reason the rows don't want to line up the way they did when you first layed them out.  Some of the blocks line up with the same blocks and they just don't look right.  I came up with a solution that works for me.  I hope it works for you, too.

While you have your blocks layed out, as you are pinning them together, pin a strip of paper with the number of the row to the first block of each row.  I sew the paper into the seam allowance so I don't lose the number.  After I have all the blocks sewn together and have pressed them, it is easy to line up the rows.

It really keeps the frustration level to a minimum.  Anything to makes things easier!

It's Been a Busy Summer

It seems as though this summer has raced by.  And I'm grateful for that because this summer's heat has been out of this world.  I have been miserable.  And you know I work outside.  With the change in weather the last couple of days, I have been in heaven.  This summer's heat has drained me physically, when I get home I am spent and can't seem to get motivated.  But with this cool down, I am ready to get busy!

Thought I would share a few of my entries from the state fair this year.

There are a couple of blue ribbons in there.  I'm pretty psyched about them.  Thanks for looking!

Meet Ricky

When I envisioned Ricky in my mind, he was a cute little mouse; a pincushion i created to be sweet and fun to enter in the state fair.  Well, after I actually made him, he became a rat.  So, Ricky the Rat will sit along side all the other little pincushions crying out to get his ribbon.  "Pick me", he'll say as the judges make their way through all the pincushions begging for a ribbon.  Maybe if he slips them some cheese he'll have a chance.  Let's hope so!

A Sherbet Pips Quilt

I fell in love with the sherbet pips collection.  It is so sweet.  I bought two charm packs and added some kona solids to come up with this darling lap quilt.

My five year old granddaughter, Ava, asked if she could have this quilt and I told her I already made a quilt for her.  She said, "Grandma, when you finish it, then you'll decide who to give it to?"

I think I've decided!

Mmm, Fruit Salad

Nothing like a nice colorful fruit salad in the summer.  Unfortunately, it's already gone.

Another Lap Quilt

Remember when I was working on this http://sewingsandy.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-latest-quilt-in-progess.html?  Well, now it looks like this!

I love how it turned out.  This was my first real attempt quilting with pearl cotton.  It was kind of hard to sew with.  But I love the results!



I used different colors for the different color blocks.  After I quilted around each block with the pearl cotton, I used regular quilting thread to hand quilt through the solid squares.  It turned out really nice.  The quilting went pretty quickly.

It's the perfect size to snuggle under.  Now, if I can just keep my daughters from trying to claim it! :)



I'm the Mail Ma'am!

I have worked for the Post Office for 14 and a half years.  Eleven of those years I have carried mail.  Let me say that I love my job. 

I am proud to wear the uniform.  I love being on my own everyday and talking to my customers.  I have learned so much from the people I see on my routes everyday. 

This job keeps me in shape.  I walk anywhere from 8 or 9 miles a day to only a mile, depending on the route I am on that day.  The people on my routes are wonderful.  I love getting to know them.  You can learn a lot about people from the mail they get.  From the magazines they get to the bills I deliver. 

There are some things I don't like about my job.  I'm sure everyone has some things they don't like about their job, too!  I don't mind working in the winter.  I like the cold weather.  But the summers here in Kentucky are brutal.  The humidity makes it unbearable.  There is only so much water or gatorade you can drink. 

I guess what I dislike most about my job is the supervision.  We are not allowed to make any decisions on our own as to how to do our job.  We are never asked our opinion on the best way to do the job.  Someone sitting in an office somewhere makes all the decisions as to how we carry the mail.  That probably isn't unusual but it sure makes it seem as if our experience and opinions aren't valued.  During a meeting, it was mentioned that perhaps when making changes to routes consideration be given as to which routes to add more walking to because it is hard on our bodies over time.  We were told that the P.O. didn't care about our bodies and if we were having a hard time maybe we should consider a different career.

In spite all that, I still love what I do.  Can't imagine where I could work and get the benefits and pay I get without more education.