Finished Memory Quilt

Here is James with his memory quilt. What a blessing to have him home for a couple weeks. The quilt will go back with him for his second semester of college. Blankets warm the body, but quilts warm the heart. I hope he enjoys reading the blessings others wrote for him on this new quilt.

~Joan

You'll Know Why No Picture

I have the flu. I have never been as miserable as I was all last night, and I've given birth nine times! Gut-clenching pain that went on and on and on...then the stomach emptying . I've been in bed since bedtime last night, except, of course, the multitude of bathroom trips. This came completely out of the blue. I am so tired of being in bed, but here I am. Would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery.

~Joan

The Eagle Has Landed

It might be time to watch Apollo 13 again. Anyway...James's quilt is finished. It is waiting its turn in the washer and dryer. It turned out great. I have not sewn or quilted in such a long time. It is so nice to have this finished. Just wanted to post the update so that those of you who follow my life can sleep well tonight. Photo shoot after it is laundered.

~Joan

Picture of Frustration

This is the back of my quilt from last night. Houston, we have a problem. The tension was off...w-a-y off. I persevered. I adjusted. I rethreaded. Tonight I finished the outer part of James's quilt. Tomorrow my goal is to quilt the part with the hand-written sentiments. If I can get the binding on as well, all of us girls should all be able to pitch in and hand stitch the binding to the back so he can take it back to college next week.

Good night!

~Joan

Christmas Quilting

Our last two weeks or so have been so incredibly busy that today is just for relaxing. Part of my "day off" is machine quilting the above quilt. It's James's memory quilt. He is home from college for two weeks, and I hope to send this back with him. My ancient machine (made in the '30's--that's 1930's for you smarties) gave me fits last night. I was very frustrated, but was able to get it going this AM.

Stay tuned for more progress pictures later.

~Joan

Fun Surprise at Chick-Fil-A

Because of this pesky sinus infection, I was wake when Emily came home from work last night. I'm usually fast asleep by then. She came in with red roses. I raised eyebrows (of course) and asked where they came from. She said a customer in drive-thru gave them to her. He told her he gave them to his girlfriend, but she didn't want them. Emily gave half of them to one of her coworkers. Inquiring minds want to know the story behind the rose refusal. As Wesley says in Princess Bride, "Get used to disappointment!"

Here is my beautiful Buttercup with her share of the rejected roses!

~Joan

Cookie Party Pic

Above is a pic from the cookie party I had Tuesday night. One friend had already slipped away before I remembered to take a picture. I invited a great group of ladies over for a make-it-bake-it-take-it cookie party. You can see some of our results in front of the group, on my very messy island. We made three new-to-me recipes.

I had baked round home made sugar cookies that morning. I much prefer the flavor of my home made cookies to store-bought dough. Those were dipped into red, white, or brown chocolate melts and then sprinkled with crushed peppermints (yum, yum) or Christmas color sprinkles. I had already baked and cooled a Devil's food cake for cake balls. We also made a new-to-me recipe from my friend, Rachel. Easy Lemon Crinkle Cookies. They were quite possibly the easiest cookies I've ever made "from scratch". Here is the recipe:

1 lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

Preheat oven to 375. Pour dry cake mix into a large bowl. In separate bowl, mix eggs, oil and extract. Add to cake mix. Mix thoroughly. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls then drop into a bowl of confectioner's sugar. Roll until lightly covered. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 6-9 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

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We had such a great time. I'd do this again next year. The best part? My sweet Susanna cleaned up the big mess after I dropped, exhausted, into bed that night AND she got up early the next AM to empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher as a surprise. And, BOY was it!

Take time to enjoy having some friends over this holiday season.

~Joan