A LIttle Bit Of This.......

There's lots of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven't the time to enjoy it.

~Josh Billings

I am healthy!  That's what the doctor said yesterday morning.  Just a routine visit, nothing more.  I still have to go in for a fasting blood work-up and make an appointment for an ECG and then I will be good to go for another 6 months.  Nice to be told twice in one month that I'm healthy - as long as you can ignore the ALS - all systems are go.  So, for the rest of the morning I was able to get some sewing in.  The afternoon started with the scheduled visit of our ALS case worker.  Mostly just a chit-chat but she let me know what she is planning for the support group over the next few months.  The evening was our grocery shopping run.  Home to put groceries away and then a few minutes to relax in front of the TV with a cup of decaf.  Whew!  It was a busy day.

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PHOTO FACT OF THE DAY

Tater Day

Did you know there was such a thing as Tater Day?  Tater Day is a large festival in Benton, Kentucky. It was started in 1843 as a celebration of spring, and a time when all of the townsfolk would get together and trade in sweet potato slips, used to grow the plants. It is also the oldest continuous trade day in the United States, in which goods such as guns, Coon hounds, tobacco or livestock are swapped or sold. The biggest part of the festival is the parade, which completes one circuit around the town. It includes Political floats, Marshall County High School marching band, horse and buggies, clowns, vintage cars, horses, Ms. Tater Day, and other things for which Marshall County is known. There is also Junior Ms. Tater for little girls ages 5 to 12, and a Little Mr., Tiny Miss, and Baby Ms. Tater day pageants and floats for the younger kids. Tater Day also has carnival rides, games, a market, mule pulls, and several other exciting events. Another event is the "biggest potato" contest that attracts large potatoes from across the town and a potato eating contest. You can get a kickin' funnel cake too! Woohoo!

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MUG RUG SWAP

Yesterday the mailman brought me a wonderful squishy envelope all the way from Pauline in North Yorks, United Kingdom.  Pauline was my secret swap partner for Leona's Mug Rug Swap Adventure.  Inside I found two darling mug rugs and two mug wraps......

Here are the two mug wraps on two of my mugs.  Are they cute?  I especially like the little flower buttons on the right one.  I had never seen mug wraps before but I'm sure they will help keep my coffee nice and warm.

And here are the two darling mug rugs that Pauline made for me.  She used some great coffee fabric to create these.  Perfect since they won't show where coffee drips may fall on them.  I don't have Pauline's email and I don't think she has a blog so I hope she sees this post.  Thank you so very much, Pauline, for the wonderful mug rugs and mug wraps.

On a side note....the customs declaration stated that there 2 mug rugs and 2 mug raps in the envelope.  Can you just picture the custom agent reading the description and trying to figure out what those items were?  I'm surprised the envelope hadn't been opened just out of curiosity - lol.

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MONTHLY MINI QUILT

Yesterday I worked on my mini quilt......

It's already sandwiched and ready to quilt today!  I did learn one important thing about my sewing machine yesterday.  For the majority of the applique I was using just the regular blanket stitch and kept wondering "why, oh, why is the applique getting wavy?".  My tension was set correctly and the fusible web was staying flat (that's another story for another time).  On the last piece of applique I decided to go to the applique setting of my machine.  Set the stitching for blanket stitch there.  Lo and behold it stayed flat!  Who would have thought there would be a difference between everyday blanket stitch and applique blanket stitch.  Learned my lesson!  Made myself a BIG sticky note "For Applique - USE APPLIQUE BLANKET STITCH".  Wow!  And to think that the whole piece could be non-wavy as we speak.  Oh well.  Chalk it up for another lesson learned.

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BALTIMORE BLOCK

Yesterday I finished the second block of the Baltimore Album quilt.....

I think I have circles pretty much down pat.  There are a couple that look a little wobbly but for the most part they all look round.  The leaves are definitely not uniform, but as somebody told me last time - nature is not perfect (even though I want mine to be - lol).  Now onto block 3!

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TODAY'S GOAL

Today I hope to finish the April mini quilt.  If time allows, perhaps I will start another Bee block that I need to make.

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GIVEAWAYS

P.S. I Quilt is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of Quilt Album.  Winner will be drawn April 6th.

Sew Many Quilts is having a giveaway.  You could win a pattern from Jaybird Quilts.  This giveaway ends at midnight on Monday, April 4.

OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder is having a Sherbet Pips giveaway.  Kristie is giving away 23 slices of 10" X 10" pieces of Sherbet Pips - that's almost 2 yards.  This giveaway ends Friday, April 1.

The Confused Quilter is having another used book giveaway.  Staci is giving us a chance to win one of 6 Thimbleberry books.  This giveaway ends Friday, April 1. 

Quilt Dad is having a giveaway. You could win a fat quarter bundle of Nesting Chairs.  John will be picking a winner on Sunday, April 3.

Quilting Gallery is having a sponsored giveaway.  You could be one of 10 to win  a sampler package of  Saral's Wax Free Transfer Paper.  Winners will be selected on Wednesday, April 6.

1 Choice 4 Quilting is having another great giveaway.  You could win 7 yards of fabric from the fabric line by Anthology called Sweet Tooth.  There are 14 different fabrics in 1/2 yard cuts.  This giveaway ends Sunday, April 3, at 10:00 pm EST.

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FINAL THOUGHT
Sometimes I feel like an old dog learning new tricks.  Just when I think I know my sewing machine, it throws me a curve.  Same thing with the computer.  Hit the wrong button and everything disappears - permanently!  All the electronic gadgets out there can be stifling.  I'm still learning things about my phone and I've had it for several months now.  Quite often someone will say something their phone will do which will cause me to check for the same thing on mine......well, I'll be - mine does that too!  Then there's the TV and the DVR.  Don't ask me the ratio and aspects, just let me watch my TV programs when I want and to be able to zoom through those annoying commercials.  Believe me, I'm not complaining.  I just wish I could keep up with the modern world of techno-information.  I definitely go through gadget overload.  How about  you?

Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight?
~Al Boliska

It's the last day of March!  Are you ready for April?