Back home and almost well

I got home last Tuesday night but by the time I was home, I had a bad cold/chest congestion and haven't done much of anything since then. I am finally feeling better and went to work the last couple of days.

I thought I would start with a couple of photos. I told you that we had snow so here are a couple of photos from the warm inside of Joe's house.

This one is from the living room looking out on the back yard. The houses/condos are attached and each has a small front and small back yard. They are three stories with living room and kitchen on the first level, three bedrooms on the second level and a large bonus room on the top level. That is where I sleep when I am there.

This is out the kitchen window. The red building is the school where both of the kids go. Noah is in day care and this is Hanna's last year at this school. The one she will go to next year is about 5 blocks away. This one is very convenient. This is during the big snow day right before I came back home.

I have more photos but it will take a little while to get them all loaded up.

And again more snow

It was Sunday in Sweden and guess what - more snow. According to the weather report we will be getting a storm tonight and tomorrow. Just in time for my early morning flight back to Georgia on Tuesday morning.

We went to see Madascar 2 on Saturday night and then stopped at the food court and picked up satay for the kids and sushi for Joe and me. On Sunday morning we had omelets, while the kids had hot cereal. It started snowing right around noon while we were out at a outdoor mall.

In the evening we went to the kids swimming lessons. Hanna was in a backstroke competition - actually they compete against themselves only by trying to beat certain times on the clock, not each other. It was amazing to me how many kids there were swimming. They have lessons each Sunday and are getting to be good swimmers. Since they are going to Thailand for Christmas, they will be doing a lot of swimming. They will be leaving here on the 23rd and have a warm Christmas.

The Snow went away

I am not sure what happened last night but my post was posted with nothing in it. What I was trying to say is that all the snow went away because after it snowed, it rained. However, now that it is actually Saturday morning, I woke up to find that it had snowed most of the night and it looks like a winter wonderland from the windows.

We went to an IMAX movie about the deep sea yesterday. It was great and I had English on a receiver so I could understand it. Noah really liked it.

Last night we made pizza. It really turned out great. Fried onions, mushrooms and garlic topped with cherry tomato halves and ham. Lots of cheese and what they call Pizza Salad - kind of a cabbage salad with oil and vinegar. Quite tasty.

Making a Pinata

The grandkids went to school today and Joe and I went out. It was a bright sunny day. We went to IKEA an bought some candles (have I mentioned how many candles they burn since it is dark so much here in the winter) and then to the plant nursery. We bought a few bulbs for Karin as a surprise when she gets back next week.

After school, we started making a Pinata. The kids have a book called "The Pinata Quilt" and my sister make the quilt for Hanna when she was a baby. They had been reading the book and wanted me to bring a pinata for them. Since I decided that it would be impossible to pack a pinata, I told them we would make one. Foolish me!

We got started today by blowing up a balloon and then putting a layer of newspaper dipped in flour/water paste all over it. The book suggested using liquid starch which sounds like a good idea but Joe says they don't sell it here. What he really means is that he as never seen it sold here. He also told me they don't have baking soda but Karin says they do. Unfortunately, she is in the US until Monday so we made yucky paste.

Dipping strips of newspaper into paste and sticking it all over a balloon is apparently great fun if you are 5 or 8. At my age, it was not so much fun. I got to clean up paste from everywhere, including Hanna's hair. The first layer is done and we will get to have the same fun again tomorrow and the next day. After that, I brought colored tissue paper that we can make a mess with.

No way to load photos, but I will take some for later.

By the way - it is snowing!

Another day in Sweden

It is cold and rainy here in Sweden. Also very dark. Not much daylight each day. Today we made chocolate chip cookies and decorated gingerbread men that I bought at Walmart. The kids had a great time.

The big adventure of the day was going out in the cold rain to the grocery store. It is really interesting to attempt to grocery shop in another country. I forgot my camera but we will probably go again.

Tomorrow is supposed to be clear so I think we are going out to lunch while the children are at school. Noah stayed home today but he has his English lesson tomorrow so off he goes. Of course, Hanna has to go every day since it is regular school for her. Noah is in day care so he can miss occasionally.

Karin (my DIL) is leaving for Philadelphia in the morning and will be back on Monday. She is really looking forward to some time with a friend while recuperating from a big project at work.

It will be fun spending time alone with my son and the grandkids.

In Sweden

I got to Sweden today and am using my son's computer. Not sure if I will be able to post any photos from here but I haven't taken any yet. I will be here for 10 days.

On Friday night, I was at the shop working the evening shift for our Quilt Til You Wilt group and decided to heat some soup on the microwave. The soup got so hot that when I tried to move it, it spilled all over my hand. I immediately ran it under cold water but the palm of my left hand was burned quite a lot. After about 1/2 hour, I decided that I needed to get medical attention so the women who were still there agreed to leave early and I went to the Urgent Care facility where I got in 5 minutes before they quite taking patients for the evening.

They were wonderful and put some wonderful potion on the burn and bandaged it up. They gave me prescriptions for pain pills, antibiotics and more wonderful potion. I went to the pharmacy before they closed and bought bandages, tape and other stuff and went home. Took a pain pill and managed to sleep all night.

Yesterday morning I re-wrapped it and was ready to go to the airport. I flew Delta from Atlanta to Paris. The plane from Paris to Stockholm was an hour late but I got here safely in the early afternoon. There was snow on the ground from earlier today.

The grandchildren are wonderful and seem to like the quilts I brought for them, along with all the other stuff my son requested, including peanut butter, chocolate chips and Bisquick!

I only slept a couple of hours on the plane so it is off to bed with me. Will try to check back in tomorrow.

Stitchers Angel Swap

I got my swap all the way from Holland. I love everything that was sent to me. The green bag is perfect for holding socks as they are in progress. The windmill is a needle book and is perfect to add to my redwork kit. Of course, my redwork is really black.

Look at the sewing caddy that goes over the arm of a chair. I also received a pin cushion with lovely lime green cross stitching on it. There are several notions included and some great note cards.

I forgot to take photos of my package and it is on the way to Australia. Hopefully it will get there soon.

ALQS Quilts

Here is the quilt I sent to my partner for the second ALQS quilt swap. I was a little late sending but it is on the way to her now.

Here is a closeup of the quilting. I call it dwirling!

Here is the wonderful quilt that was sent to me all the way from Australia. My swap partner who sent to me is Emma. Check out her blog - she makes wonderful quilts and I am so lucky to get this one.

I lived in Australia in the early 1990's and this is a perfect remembrance of my time there. The colors are wonderful!

Beginning Machine Piecing Update

Here are some of the newest blocks from my beginning machine piecing class. They are all doing a great job!

Last week we worked on log cabin blocks and this week we learned about half square triangles and they made friendship stars.

Here is the next set of blocks. Similar colors that result in a very different look.

This last set of blocks are going to make a beautiful quilt. I love these fabrics.

Since I am going to Sweden on Saturday for 10 days, we are taking a 3 week holiday from class. The last two classes will be in December. Although I will be back before Thanksgiving, the students decided that they would prefer not to have class on the day before Thanksgiving.

Fall Wall Hanging and Cool Socks

I finally took the Pumpkin quilt down from the front door. I don't really have a fall quilt to hang but found this Thimbleberries little quilt from a few years ago.
At least the colors are fall colors.


Also, I have been thinking about trying to knit socks again. I did make one pair a couple of years ago - I wore them yesterday. One of my beginning quilting students makes her own socks. Here are the ones she wore last week.

I love that they are fraternal socks - not identical.

New Dog Blocks

I got two more blocks of the Dazzling Dogs Block of the Month done and ready for pick-up. I really like this one Love his glasses and his backwards baseball cap. He is month 3.

This next one looks like my Chula. She is about this color. Don't you love the glasses?

I love this project. I am really having fun picking out the fabric each month and then making the dogs.

Election Day 2008

I waited until today to vote. Early voting here in Georgia was so busy that I decided not to go last week. Bill went on Thursday and stood in line for 3 hours and 10 minutes but did vote. I was busy quilting a customer quilt so didn't go then.

I had thought about getting up early this morning and going to vote but since I had a morning guild board meeting, I decided to wait until afternoon. I made sure that I had a snack, water, my book and even a chair in the car - I was prepared for a long wait.

I got to the polls at 1:30 and was done at 1:35. There were other people there but NO LINE! I couldn't believe it. All that worry about nothing.

Eight years ago, I waited in line for over 2 1/2 hours and then had to leave to get a plane - to Florida. I didn't get to vote and have sworn that I would not allow that to happen to me again. I was prepared to wait for hours if necessary.

We are sitting here watching the NBC news coverage of the election - could be a long night.

Elm Creek Club

We had the monthly Elm Creek Club yesterday. Several of the group were out of town so we had a small meeting. Pat had 8 blocks done so at least we had some show and tell to share.

Don't you like the nice soft colors she is using?

Ring in the New - January

We started a block of the month at Tiny Stitches in January and I am sorry to say that I have just been collecting them, not actually stitching them. Here is January finished - finally!

Each of these blocks will finish at 4" by 6" so it will be a small wall quilt when finished. Since they are so small, they really don't take very long to stitch, so I really don't have any excuse for delaying so long to get started. Well, I have one done and only eleven to go.

Halloween 2009

Well, yesterday was Halloween and we had one child come to the door. At least we had one - the last 3 years there have not been any. Although we live in a typical suburban neighborhood, we do not have street lights and therefore it is quite dark at night. Since this is the first time that Daylight Savings Time has been in effect at Halloween, it wasn't completely dark when the first (and only) trick or treater came.

Here is the small quilt that is hanging on my front door. I made him several years ago and think he is quite cute. He is one of the early quilts that I quilted on my longarm so it is probably from 2002. I guess I will take it down tomorrow until next year. I don't have a Thanksgiving quilt to hang but will find something. I have found that table runners are the right size to hang on my front door - by the way, we have a glass storm door that protects my door quilts from the weather. We got it so that the little doggies could lay in the sun in the hallway. Not that they are spoiled!

Bottle Tree

Bill finally added more bottles to my bottle tree. I still can use a few more (I would like to replace the green ones). It looks great in the sunlight.

I want to take the bottles off the top and put a bird house on it but this is not the right time of year - maybe in the spring when they will be available to buy. Also, I am hoping to plant a vine of some type that will grow up the tree next year.

Mary Sorensen at Guild

Mary Sorensen was the guest speaker at guild on Friday. She is a wonderful speaker and a great teacher. If you have the opportunity to take a class from her, take it! Unfortunately, I was not able to actually take one of her classes but she did a wonderful presentation at guild. Everyone really enjoyed it.

After the morning meeting we went to Ted's Montana Grill, which has been our usual lunch place this year. As usual we had a great time and were joined by about 8 other members.

Mary is an applique artist and does beautiful work. She is also the college roommate of one of our members so she stayed with Harriett while she was here.

This year has been so much fun with all the wonderful teachers we have welcomed at ECQG. Next year is a quilt show year so we will not have as many outside speakers but some great ones have been signed up. Only one more meeting as president and will then turn it over to Danielle for 2009.