Still Quilting

Friday morning.... cold but with sun trying to peak through the overcast. Fall in Seattle - Almost all the leaves have fallen off the old maple in our front yard. That beautiful tree is way too big for the yard but we can't bear to take it down. When we sell the house, the new owners can deal with it. It provides wonderful shade in the summer and privacy but in the winter, when the leaves are down, we get to see more sky and the neighbors. Carl should never have planted it there and had we known, 15 years ago, that it would overwhelm us, we could have taken it out and not had this problem. At least it's roots are not hurting the house but the lawn is mostly roots.

OK - on to other things. I'm making good progress on McKenna's quilt... just decided to do a lot of stitching in the ditch and get er done! instead of trying to be fancy with the quilting. Had forgotten how hard it is to machine quilt... the quilt is heavy, bulky, and has a mind of it's own. So my wrists and back are sore from fighting with it.... Easier to do straight lines and be done with it. Deadline for shipping in Monday! The quilt is cute, if I do say so myself, and hopefully she will enjoy it. I used some fabric in the collars for the two girl bears that is from my mom's robe...it is pink gingham and green gingham so the quilt has something from McKenna's great grandmother in it. Had planned to use more of it but this was what worked. The appliques are button-hole stitched around the edges.

Got an email from my friend, Pat, in Minnesota this morning (we've known each other since 1971) and I loved this...enjoy:

Ten Commandments: Minnesota Style

1. Der's only one God, ya know.
2. Don't make that fish on your mantle an idol.
3. Cussing ain't Minnesota nice.
4. Go to church even when you're up nort.
5. Honor your folks6. Don't kill. Catch and release.
7. There is only one Lena for every Ole. No cheatin'.
8. If it ain't your lutefisk, don't take it.
9. Don't be braggin' about how much snow ya shoveled.
10. Keep your mind off your neighbor's hotdish.

Off to the Bernina!!

Free Time

Well, since I last wrote I have lost my job at Honeywell. The reason I was given was that "your job is being eliminated". No reasons.. and I was too stunned to even question it. Oh, I know the reasons but will refrain from lowering myself to even discuss it here. Corporate America has lost it's soul and there is no loyalty to any employee anymore. I was told and was out of my office in less than an hour. Walked to the door like a common criminal nearly. So much for 10 1/2 years of work. So now I am free. They say when God closes a door, He opens a window. I'm still waiting to see what window I should look out.... actually I am enjoying being home, sleeping late in the morning, reading a book late at night, watching Martha and Oprah and spending time quilting and playing with the "boys". Gene is always busy and Levi is thrilled to have his servants at home all day.

I have my resume rewritten...hard to do..I'm not good at promoting myself. Will be sending it out to a few places this week and filing my unemployment claims. Not fun at this time of my life but we are so much luckier than many people. We have options and one is to move to New Mexico in the spring. May is what we are thinking....so perhaps I'll go to a temp agency and work through them for a few months. Have a friend who works for Microsoft and she's getting me the Office 2007 software so I can keep up my skills there and perhaps get certified to teach Office. Might be fun.

The picture is of the quilts I'm making for the twins' who will be 1-year old on Dec 4th so would love to get those done and off in the mail to them in time for that. Since these pictures were taken I've done the applique and also put borders on them. Will post more pics when they are done. Also working on one for my brother's grand-daughter, McKenna, who will be 3 or 4 in March... would like to get that one done this week and mailed off so her grandparents can see it when they go to see their kids next week in California.

Gene and I are going to Mobile for Christmas this year. David and Carol have a new "old" house in Mobile which will be fun to see. We'll also drive to New Orleans for a couple of days...D&C have friends who have loaned us their condo in NO... will get to see all the sights there and also the 9th Ward that was so devastated by Katrina. First time in 45 years or so that I've spent Christmas with my brother.

So things are going along. LIfe is not all bad and God is good.