Something very special

 I bought something...a piece of art.  This is Kaaren's quilt, of the Painted quilt, HERE. She was selling this treasure, and I had already planned to make this one when I had the wool...so I bought hers!!  This quilt was featured in Primitive Quilts.  I am in love with it!!  I just pinned it up for a moment on my dining room wall, but it is now being framed.  (Like my old, old, antique wall paper?)  It will be a gift for my first grandchild's room decor.   I am having it framed to protect it.   If I ever have a grandchild...no pressure here!!  Actually I don't nag the kids...it will happen in it's own good time!!

 A close up.  Kaaren hand stitched every delicious morsel of this quilt.  I love it.  My pictures are not good...but her quilt is amazing!

And here is where I am on the sampler quilt.  I am way, way excited about this quilt!!  It has been nothing but joy, from beginning to end.  You can make this quilt too!!  See Jeni's blog HERE.




**********************Nurse's notes**********************************

The man was a cowboy.  A real cowboy, with horses, cows, and a ranch.  And a bevy of lovely ladies in his life, a wife and darling daughters.  Down for a rodeo...he fell down dead...really...dead.    CPR was immediate!!  And he was revived.  BUT!!  He needed heart surgery, emergently.  And so he had it...and so he rode off in his huge pickup, into the sunset.  And did amazingly well!!

His tough, rough ranch life of hard, hard work served him in good stead.  I truly believe a weaker man or woman would not have survived.  I just loved them all, and will never forget them. What a blessing my patients are to me!




Now keep in mind...this story has been changed for privacy purposes, and has taken place in the past...maybe ten years ago...or less...and also I have written permission to talk about it from the cowboy himself.

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Have a great day, all!!

Julie

Progress for the day

 So here I am with my little quilt above, from Jeni from the Willow's blog.  Jeni did not have the hearts all over the place...that is from my little heart!!  Only one more section to go, and I have most of the blocks made for that section too.  Woohoo!!!  Her version is amazing, I really love it.

And this is my yellow block for March.  The pattern is Connie's, and she has the free pattern HERE.  And a whole bunch more!!  You should get a cup of tea and sit down and check her site out!!


Have a wonderful day, everyone!!  I am working on the string purse tutorial, and will have it here shortly.  ARE YOU WORKING on BINDING for this month??  I am!!

Julie

Country Girl Modern Winner!! and the design wall, and a new scrappy purse

 I am making some blocks for the Rainbow Challenge.  This blogger is really a fun scrapper, using every color of the rainbow!  I am making a few blocks along this year, just to enjoy the fun.  Please see her blog at:  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Is anyone interested in making string purses?  Of course, you can make any color you want...I just wanted to know if there is enough interest in a tutorial.  This one took about 90 minutes to make.  Fun and fast!!


JO at Jo's Country Junction had the most wonderful giveaway this past week, and the prize is their BRAND NEW BOOK, Country Girl Modern. If you click on the title, you will go right to Jo's blog, and be able to purchase this book for yourself!!   By random number selection, Teresa in Music City, who blogs at http://aquiltandaprayer.blogspot.com/ won the book!  Congratulations, Teresa!!  I will be sending you an e-mail notifying you, and Jo will send you your book!!



*******************Nurse's notes*********************************


I have had the privilege of taking care of the oldest of the old patients this past week.  One lady was 109 years old!!  The oldest patient I have ever taken care of by far.  She was in great shape, but she was blind, so she needed just the slightest bit of help with meals and activities of daily living.  She asked me to get her in the hall so she could walk, and used the side rail for walking up and down the hall.  Her advice to me for longevity and health??  Don't smoke!!  Stay Active!!  And don't get FAT!! Very sternly I was told all of this... She was so darling, I loved her on sight!  She went back to her assisted living, where she is apparently just happy as a clam.

I had a 98 year old lady yesterday.  She was also blind, but other than that, in wonderful shape too. Maybe eyes just don't last that long! She walked four times in the hall yesterday, and she was most interesting.  She said she could sense changes in the air when people or objects where near, and knew just how to zig and zag without running into anything, even though she could not see.  She always knew when we came into the room, etc.   All her other senses were heightened, due to her failed sight.  Very interesting!!  Have you had any experience with this??  I would love to know!!  Her big wish was to not miss the Maverick's game on TV, so she could listen to it.  She too was not fat, never smoked, and she was very active.  THERE IS SOME WISDOM HERE FOR ME!!!  SELF,  PAY ATTENTION!

She would trace my hand each time I came in, carefully touching my skin and tracing my nails.  I felt that she "saw" me more clearly than a lot of sighted people!!

I love my nursing job...really want to savor these moments of connection and shared wisdom.


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Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

Winner of the Binding blitz, and a quilt...of course!!

 Well I must be losing my little mind, because I don't remember making this quilt either!!  But there it is, in my stack, signed on the label with my handwriting!!  Crazy...this means I MUST GET MORE SLEEP, LOL!!  This will go to the hospital tomorrow...a patient quilt.  It is the perfect size for warmth in a hospital bed.

 Congratulations to our winner of February's binding blitz!!  Sylvia, you are lucky number 14!!  I will send you an e-mail so you can get me your address for your gift.  Sylvia blogs here  http://flickenstichlerei.blogspot.com/ ...what a treat to go and see her work!!

And here is the prize for March!!  I just got this book at the quilt store.  I love it!  It has some very cool patterns, easily adaptable for brights or batiks...just a fun book.  Civil war ladies...this is for you!  So get working on bindings for March, and we will link up at the end of the month.  Random number selection will be done at the end of March for the winner!!



Hope you all are having a great day!!

Julie

Country Girl Modern!!

 It is my turn for Jo's fun blog hop!!  Jo and Kelli, of Jo's Country Junction, have written a book!!  It is Country Girl Modern, and you will love it!!  This book has the best of both worlds...with fun piecing techniques, and beautiful colorful modern fabrics.  It is such a fun book!

 This is my big time favorite quilt in the book...I love it!!  It looks more complicated than it is to sew, and this quilt is just right for scrappy fun, which is the kind of quilting I like best.

And talking about SCRAPPY!!  How about this quilt!!  I love it!!  This quilt would definitely qualify as a scrappy marvelous quilt.  Using it all up is the name of the game here!.


A little about Jo and her family...Jo lives in Iowa, and her family are farming folks.  That is my background too, so I instantly just loved Jo's blog and her quilts too, of course, and I read their blog every day. Jo and her husband recently bought a new home and are in the process of making the house just right for them.  Jo is the kind of lady that you love right away.  She would make the perfect sister, best friend or neighbor...too bad I live half the world away!  I love that Jo and  Kelli, Jo's daughter work as the perfect team doing the  quilting.  Jo designs...Kelli cuts and sews...Jo sews too...Jo quilts...they just work as a well oiled machine!

The best thing is...if you leave a comment here, you are eligible for a drawing to win this book from Jo!!  So please leave a comment, and if you are selected, you are also eligible for a bigger grand prize from Jo's Country Junction.   The drawing is on the 17th of March.

Please see her blog HERE, at Jo's Country Junction, to order your own personally autographed copy of Jo and Kelli's book. Jo has a book store now!! This book is a great gift idea too, because there is something in the book for everyone.  It is published through Kansas City Star quilts. Jo has also been published many times in quilt magazines and different venues, and I am always tickled to see her name in my quilt magazines.



Please see all these fun bloggers too on the blog hop!  I am day Three...Bonnie and I from Quiltville switched due to Bonnie's teaching schedule...so there are so many fun blogs to go to and enjoy.

March 7th Country Threads  http://country-threads-chicken-scratch.com/

March 8th Michelle's Romantic Tangle http://mychellem.blogspot.com/

March 13th-Quiltville  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

March 10th-Patchwork Times http://www.patchworktimes.com/

March 11th-Quilt Hollow  http://www.quilthollow.com/

March 12th Moda's Cutting Table http://blog.modafabrics.com/

March 12th Confessions of a Fabric Addict http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/ 

March 9th Julie K Quilts http://juliekquilts.blogspot.com/

March 14th Sweet P Quilting and Creations http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.com/

Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

Slow Stitching

 Binding here.  This is not my quilt, but my friend Robin's quilt.  It appears maybe to be a 1950's quilt?  Anyway, her grandmother made four of these quilt tops, and I have been trying to get them all done for her. Millie quilted them, and I am binding them.  This is the very last one.  Robin has all the rest of them already.

Scraps and florals galore!!  It is not straight...it is not perfect...but I love the heart and soul and love that Robin's grandmother put into it.  So this is my slow stitching for the day!!  I am linking with Kathy, HERE.


Have a great day, everyone!

Julie

Binding Blitz!!

 I am working steadily along on the Orange peel/Pumpkin seed blocks.  I am still in the prepping stage for all these blocks.  Lots of reds are cut out, so hopefully it will be a big quilt!!

And this is what I bound in February!!  Yahoo!!  Done...I used a scrappy binding for this scrappy quilt!

It is time to show your bindings for February!!  Please link below...I will keep the link open for 5 days, to let everyone have a chance to join in who wants to.

I will link my quilt first, just to make sure the link works.  I, of course, don't count mine in the prize drawing, LOL!!

Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

An InLinkz Link-up