Embellishing!

I finally finished the appliqué on this block and have moved on to embellishing.  So much fun!

I've only just begun, but these little stitches make such a difference in the look.

These are just simple backstitches, but when done with this dyed seagrass they really make the appliqué pop, don't they?

We had a very busy weekend.  Saturday was spent with family from out of town.  Daughter 1 and her hubby moved here that day, too.  Then Sunday we all got away to the lake for the day.  This was our first trip there this year.  Now that we're in Auburn the lake is only 45 minutes away, cutting an hour off our trip.

We're counting down now: four more nights before we live in our new house!  This week we have a few more condo projects to finish.  And more embellishing for me!

Still Working on the Applique

Obviously I didn't finish the appliqué yesterday.  Maybe today?  There will be little orange circles at the top of all those little spikes.

Yesterday Daughter 2 and I ran a few errands, one of which took a bit of time.  We needed to go to the local newspaper office.  No big deal, right?  Well, my GPS sent us on a wild goose chase.  Or maybe I should say a wild LLAMA chase, as we spotted one during our journey.  You wouldn't think that in a city the size of Auburn that you could spend that much time looking for a certain place.  But we did.

We finally found it right under our noses and spent all of about 5 minutes inside taking care of our business there.

We also ran in Kohl's because I was looking a new top or two.  By the time we finished our epic journey, we realized it was 2 o'clock and we hadn't eaten lunch.  We went through the drive-thru at Burger King because we'd been wanting to try their sweet potato fries.  (YUM!)  While at the drive-thru, a car pulled up beside us - it was my son-in-law, Tommy!  He's been making trips here every day to bring stuff for their apartment.

Then later in the day we worked in the condo.  We mounted two wall lamps (one on either side of Daughter 2's bed), lowered her headboard, hung curtains, and put a rubber thingie under the rug to keep it from sliding around.

We're very pleased with our progress!

More Sue Spargo Progress

I am moving along on this block.  Today I hope to finish all the appliqué.  Then I get to the fun embellishing part.  Not that the appliqué isn't fun, too!

This was my yummy supper last night.  A HUGE home grown tomato topped with chicken salad.  I could live on this!  The chicken salad was from a place I mentioned in my last post.  It's called Chicken Salad Chick.  They have 15 different varieties of chicken salad (I want to try them all!)  They also have homemade pimento cheese.  You can order a sandwich or buy it by the pound.  Check out their website to see their menu.  Currently they are only located in Alabama, but franchises are available so hopefully they will grow.  It is certainly a popular place here!  There was a long line at the drive-thru.  I can see why since it's probably THE best chicken salad I've ever eaten.

We've been here in Auburn for one week now.  One more week until we move into the house.  Mickey and Prince have been doing very well.  You have to wonder what goes through their minds - seeing all our stuff taken out of the only home they've known.  Now staying here at the condo.  But they go with the flow.

I don't think I've mentioned here yet, but Daughter 1 and her hubby are moving here this weekend!  He's going back to school.  We're really excited that we'll have BOTH of our daughters close by, at least for the foreseeable future.  We're going to take them lunch during their move Saturday - maybe some chicken salad?  We'll see.

Settling In

See?  Told you I'd been sewing a bit!  I decided to pack up my 2012 Sue Spargo Block of the Month kits to work on in the condo.  There is limited space here, so I needed something to do by hand - no room for a sewing machine.  These BOM kits come with all the embellishment thread, the wool, cotton, and silk fabrics (sometimes even velvet!).  So all I have to add is a needle, thread, thimble, and scissors.

Yes, I'm behind.  This is the January block.  I'd love to get two blocks done while we're in the condo.  Above I have the fabric cut and pinned in place.

And here I've appliquéd the rick rack.  And I'm working on the rusty brown piece.  Hopefully there will be more progress today.

I'm settling into a nice routine here.  I'm enjoying spending time with Daughter 2.  We went to Target yesterday.  I think we may go to Michael's today to get some artwork framed.  The heat is oppressive and gets to me.  I'd rather be inside during the heat of the day.

The hardest part about the condo is that it is on the second floor.  The dachshunds don't do stairs so they have to be carried down to do their business.  Last Friday, I had one under each arm coming up the stairs and I fell.  Bummer.  Luckily I didn't do any damage to myself - just a skinned knee.  So now we only take one at a time. I learned my lesson!

Last night I cooked for the first time here.  I made a chicken casserole, rice, and green beans.  It felt good to be in the kitchen and we have enough leftovers for another meal.  I heard this weekend that there is a good place to get different varieties of chicken salad just down the road.  We may check that out today.  This hot weather makes me want something cold to eat!

From Birmingham to Auburn

Last week seems a bit of a blur to me.  While hubby and I watched, 5 strong men packed up all of our stuff and loaded it on this truck.  It took them two long days, plus another hour on the third day.  It's hard to believe that EVERYTHING we own is on that truck.  All I have with me are one suitcase, a small toiletry bag, and a small box of hand sewing.

The truck pulled out of Birmingham at about 9:30 Thursday morning.  Hubby and I finished cleaning the house and loaded the cleaning supplies in our cars.  We left at 11 am.  Below is a peak at our Birmingham home.

So now we're in Auburn and the truck-load of stuff is stored in Atlanta.  We're pretty pooped - not sure why since we didn't have to pack and load, but I guess the entire process can be wearing.  We're enjoying a bit of a break before we move into the new house in a couple of weeks.

This morning, Hubby and I started the day with a long walk with the dogs around downtown Auburn and the campus.  Tonight we had a lovely barbecue dinner at a local restaurant with Daughter 1 and her hubby, and Daughter 2 and her boyfriend.  So good to have family together!  Last night our good friends from South Carolina came through and we spent a wonderful evening with them.  So we have been well entertained.

This afternoon I actually got out my packed sewing project and cut some fabric!  Oh, how good it was to fondle fabric again!  Tomorrow I will pick up a needle and thread, no doubt.  So I will spend this mini-vaca in the condo sewing, and reading, and walking the doggies. And you know what else?  Someone gave Hubby a bag of homegrown tomatoes!  So my first tomato sandwich of the year will happen soon!!!!!!

Twas the Night Before Moving...

Twas the night before moving and all through the house,
ALL the creatures were stirring as if chasing a mouse!
Not a room was compete and not one was neat,
There was hardly a place to relax and take a seat.
With two suitcases packed along with dog food and bowls,
We're preparing to live for two weeks like trolls.

Lots of Sterlite containers, bins and boxes galore,
Piles of pictures and quilts and knick knacks I adore.
The TV's are packed, ready to go,
What will I do without my shows?
That great big truck will be here tomorrow,
Then goodbye to this house with a bit of sorrow.

But on to Auburn we're ready to run,
We hope that killer is gone with his gun!
We're ready to settle and make some new friends,
This is a new beginning, not the end!
But for now I'll be busy, so pardon my time-out,
I'll be back soon with lots of quilting shout outs!

I Want to Ride My Bicycle, I Want to Ride My Bike

Do you remember that song?   It must have been playing in my head at the Quilt Symposium of Alabama yesterday.  I couldn't resist this bicycle fabric in two color ways.  ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!  Our new Auburn neighborhood is nice and flat (unlike our Birmingham neighborhood), so there will be lots of bike riding in our future.

I also brought home some Kaffe Fassett Paperweights - don't have any in this color.
 

More Kona?!  What?!  Don't you have enough already?  I probably do, but this Poseidon group just reached out and GRABBED me!  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that these colors will fit in perfectly in the living area of our new home......

And in a bolder version of the same colors, these Stitched in Color fat quarters came home with me, too.

I also bought a little pack of the Clover Wonder Clips.  None of this better get lost in the move!!!  Enough shopping already!  I will bring nothing more home before the move, I promise!!!

Hubby's home!  We're relaxing tonight, but tomorrow we'll hit the ground running, packing up sewing machines and televisions, taking a load of donations somewhere, and reloading the car with some storage stuff.

Quilt Symposium of Alabama!

 I took a bit of time out this afternoon to attend the Quilt Symposium of Alabama, held this year in Birmingham.  They sure timed it well - my last week in town!  I enjoyed viewing the quilt show - lots of beauties, many made by good friends.  I couldn't help but notice the quilted portrait above.

Here's the tag - what a lovely tribute!  This is as close as I came to having a quilt in the show.  It's always heartwarming to see that someone has taken my technique/book and made something beautiful.  It makes all the long hours, weeks, and months spent writing a quilt book worthwhile!

I'm enjoying having Daughter 1 and SIL here for a few days.  They attend the Miss Alabama pageant each evening, and are enjoying some of their favorite Birmingham restaurants during the day.  I also had them go through some stuff in Emily's room today.  We came up with a huge pile to donate - gotta get rid of it this weekend.

The move is approaching so fast now.  At the beginning of the year it seemed so far away.  Now we have less than a week left here!  Where did this week go???

We Have a Mailbox!

We now have a mailbox at our new house.  Even though we won't be moving in for a few weeks, I can now tackle the change of address process full speed ahead!  Hubby will be driving to the house regularly to check the mail.

I haven't mentioned it here, but hubby started his new job in Montgomery in January and has been living in Auburn at our condo since then.  He comes home on weekends to do the yard work (and see me and the doggies!).  I am so ready to be living FULL-TIME with him again!  And that day is ALMOST HERE!

Tomorrow, Daughter 1 and her hubby are coming to B'ham to stay here for several days - YAY!  They'll be in town because her hubby's sister is a contestant in the Miss Alabama pageant - Good Luck, Angelyn!  I've told them not to expect too much hospitality around here:  the refrigerator and pantry are all but empty.  About all I have to offer is a bed and a bathroom.  But that's fine with them.

A couple of random updates:

Fleas:  Gone!  Nipped them in the bud!

Kindle:  Found!  Sunday afternoon/evening our electricity was out for 4 hours during a storm.  I piddled around the house during that time, moving stacks of stuff and neatening.....and there it was!  In a stack I'd hidden behind a bed, probably before a showing.  So relieved!

Fabric Alert!

Here's the newest fabric to make its way into my home.  But it's not for quilting.  This is a home dec fabric that I'll use somewhere in the new house - the living area or the dining area.  I only have two yards, and I want to make it go as far as I can.

Some of my ideas for it:
1.  Long rectangles to go over the end chairs at the dining room table.
2.  Table runner
3.  Pillows

Any other ideas out there?

We had another hard working weekend here in Birmingham.  Still a lot to do, but we're making progress.

Today's list:
1. Change of address for various magazines
2.  Move small items around house to make packing go smoother
3.  Make a few phone calls

It's our last full week in B'ham.  The Quilt Symposium of Alabama will be held here later this week - hope I can make time to go check it out!

Whirlwind Trip to Auburn

Just back late this afternoon from a quick trip to Auburn with hubby and the doggies.  We stayed overnight at the condo with Daughter 2.  Our new house is now complete and staged.  It's open for most of June to raise money for charity.  We loved walking through all the rooms, seeing how it's been decorated.  The room above is staged as a little boys' room, but it will become my new studio.  There are three windows looking out over a small lake.  I love the light - much brighter than my current studio!

We rented a U-Haul trailer and filled it up with furniture that we want to keep, but we don't want in our house.  I know - doesn't make sense - why are we keeping these things?  Most of it will go to our kids when they have their own homes and have room.  For now this stuff will live in a storage facility.  We pulled the heavy load from Birmingham to Auburn.  When we arrived at the storage place, the doggies were ready for a drink.  OOPS!  I forgot to bring a water bowl along.

There was a Christmas wreath with plastic ornaments in the load of furniture.  Hmmmm.  I pulled the end off the ornament and filled it with water from the bathroom.  It worked!  See Mickey lapping from the silver ornament?  They drank their fill, reminding us of hamsters drinking from a tube!  Necessity is the mother of invention.

Our son-in-law was in Auburn and came to help unload the trailer.  What a relief to have all this done.  The load included 4 beds, 3 mattress and box spring sets, 1 sofa, 3 bar stools, 1 wardrobe (the heaviest piece!), a bedside table, two small chairs, and several boxes of Christmas decorations.  Whew!

We could have let the movers bring all this stuff to Auburn, but they would only bring it to our new house, and then we would still have to put it in storage.  We're trying to make our move-in easier by having the storage unit stuff done ahead of time.

As soon as we got home, hubby reloaded my SUV with more stuff for the storage unit.  He'll haul this load back to Auburn on Sunday.  Tomorrow he's going to cut the grass here in Birmingham for the LAST time.  Then he can drain the oil and gas from the mower to ready them for moving.

And, believe it our not, we have a house showing tomorrow!  We're less than 2 weeks from closing!  We hear someone wants to put a back-up offer in, just in case....  The house is a total mess, but we said okay. We're not even leaving during the showing - we'll just step outside with the dogs while they're here.

It's going to be busy around here for the next couple of weeks!  I don't think I'll be able to sew, but I am going to pack some handwork to take to the condo for the two weeks we'll be there.