Time Marches On

Now when I come back to California it is as a guest at my own party!

It was all Perfect.  The perfect setting, with the perfect people, the perfect food and goodies. 
My D-I-L and son did a perfect job putting it all together (and some help from my Bestie, Peggy.) 

 

Various people that I love.

Rosaria (In the red...Tracy's mom) made all the food and it was delicious, as usual.

For most of the day, the older kids were at sports events.  

But when they all came home, it was food and cake all over again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My D-I-L did discover, late on party day after all the guests
had gone home, that she spelled my name wrong. 
She was embarrassed, but I had a good laugh.

 

 

My son's sense of humor. (Thank you, honey.)

It was a marvelous day!

 P.S.  The nice part of living in another state now is I had two parties....Thank you Sister and B-I-L.

Celebrating my Birthday in KY the week before.

 

Finally, Light At The End of The Tunnel

 

After a month in Kentucky, I'm still spending major dollars at Lowe's, Menards and Walmart, but as the days go by I can see REAL progress.

This was my sewing studio shortly after moving in:

And, finally here is my studio today, pictures from three corners of the room:

Everything pretty much has a home, although I imagine I'll be moving things around as I get back into sewing. 

The sewing table is temporary (borrowed from my sister).

I've ordered a new desk for my office area and the office desk will get passed down to the studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dresser above will be a custom iron surface.  

Watch this video by Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts on making a custom iron surface.  HERE

  

I've ordered a custom cutting mat for the chest on the far wall.

This chest is a work bench for the garage.  I bought it at Costco about 20 years ago.  It has always been part of my sewing. 
It is 18" wide.  Cutting mats are generally wider so I went on line and found MyBinding.com.

MyBinding is not specifically quilting related but the lady I spoke with said a lot of quilters order from them.

 I'll start sewing tomorrow...altering some shirts for my dad....

Dad's recent 91st birthday celebrated with my Kentucky family.

Settling In

Things are coming along...everyday it feels a little more like "home."

I'm busy putting away, still purging as I unpack and even hanging things on the wall, decorating my nest.

Starting top left:  notice my vintage machine corner in the living room ... I added my Sewing Machine wall hanging. (Pattern is "Let's Go Sew" by Pat Sloan.)  The piggies (Mom and the Quilting-Auntie) have found a prominent place of honor in the living room. (Pattern is Lola & Olive by Fiberworks.) Auntie's wall hanging has a new home in my kitchen/dining area. (This was a kit Auntie bought at the Sisters Quilt Show, must have been 15 years ago.)  And even the Ukulele family have their space. 
Alas, the studio is still mostly in boxes...

Today my focus will be the studio.  I'm headed off to Lowes to get shelving... I've become quite the handy-person of late.

But first, I'll spend some time with my dad....it's his birthday.

 Happy Birthday, dad!

Home

Indeed, it is official, I'm a Kentuckian.  Registered my car.

The repairs to my house are done, the car is registered, my office is all set up (mostly) so I think it is too late to back out!

With repairs on my house taking longer than expected I'd only unpacked the kitchen and my bedroom. 

Tomorrow I will unpack the living room and start on the sewing studio.

 

Living Room

 

The Studio

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last two weeks have been hectic, but mostly I've enjoyed seeing my sister (and her D.H.) and my dad most every day. 
The weather has been cold (and a sideways-rain storm yesterday) but mostly I'm enjoying the city.  

My next steps are to find a church, find a gym, find a quilt guild and find a ukulele group.

UPDATE:  I declared a "no driving" day, which forced me to spend an entire day opening boxes and attempting to find places to put things away.

The living room is looking pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

I created an area in my living room for my older sewing machines.  I'm quite happy with it. (I do cover them.)

I hope to tackle the studio today.

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

 ...Often Go Awry....

Our new plan.

The original plan was to take our time driving to Kentucky incorporating a few fun side trips, i.e. Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell and maybe a quilt shop or two AND Buc-ee's!  (I've wanted to visit a Buc-ee's since watching this YouTube video!  HERE)

But... a phone call from my sister Monday night changed all that.

Big winter storm predicted...and it should land on Thursday, right in our path...
when we would have been in Arkansas.

So, we cut all the fun side trips, jumped in the car and drove like crazy women...

two massively long days...

but we beat the storm arriving in Kentucky on Wednesday night....just ahead of the ice and snow.

My car in my sister's driveway Thursday morning.

We did stop right outside Amarillo to visit Cadillac Ranch. It was a fun distraction, even if it was freezing cold and windy!

I was wearing two puffy coats and a sweatshirt and I was still shivering.

HERE is a video of the Cadillac Ranch from 2012.  (Truth be told I was a bit disappointed to see all the graffiti.)

So, now we are all hunkered down watching endless Netflix, eating endless good food and playing endless games of Skip-O. 
(Kind of reminds me of early-pandemic days...)
I'm hoping the weather will improve enough soon to get out and go see my new house. (My daughter is hoping she'll still be able to fly home out of Paducah on Sunday as planned.) 

And-That's a Wrap!

 

 

Kentucky, here we come (my daughter is driving with me.)

Taking the southern route to avoid snow. 
And, we have planned a couple of side trips along the way.

Before packing up the studio, I did finish and gift my sister, Brenda's, birthday quilt, the Dawn Quilt.  She loved it. 

My last quilt completed in California.

 

 

 

 

Now it is off to a new adventure.  There is excitement and there are tears. 
I built a life here in California in the more-than nine years I lived here and it's hard to say good-bye, especially to the babes. 

 

But fun times lay ahead. There's my sister*, Joy (and her D.H), my dad,
quilt stuff everywhere.... I've heard there is even an ukulele group.  

Yep, fun times lay ahead.

 

 

 

See you on the Other Side.

 

 

 *By now you are probably catching on that I have A LOT of sisters.  Yes I do.  Six Sisters and Two Brothers.

The Big Finish

Boxes, boxes, boxes galore!  As moving day approaches I find my world all boxed up. 
However, I did manage to finish up a couple of quilts for gifting.

Two of those gifts:

A baby quilt for my great niece, Mekenzie:

MeKinzie Loved It

Originally I had intended to create Ring Around the Daisy (Click Here) but realized I was quickly running out of time so I had to punt and create my own design.  I call this the Saggy Baggy Elephant Quilt.

I did not attend the shower but decided, instead, to spend the weekend with the grands at a hotel in the San Diego area.

Making a detour on my drive back to O.C., I had a wonderful Sister Lunch with two of my sister's, Renee and Brenda.

Sisters, Renee and Brenda

I presented Brenda with her birthday quilt  The Dawn Quilt

(unfortunately we did not get a photo of the three of us...I could kick myself!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I head into my last week in California
I'm saying my good-byes and getting just a bit misty-eyed.
I built a life here in the last 10 years and it's hard to say good-bye.
But, I am looking forward to a new adventure in Quilt City USA.