What I am thankful for...

**********

I am thankful that I finished this quilt top this past week. It's the "Fabric Gal" pattern from Eleanor Burns' book, "Still Stripping After 25 Years." The 'peppers' fabric will be the backing for it. I like the color combination, which I took from the border fabric. I also put in a narrow strip of purple faux piping between the blocks and the border. The quilt top is 39" square, and is intended for a tabletopper.

I am also thankful that I finished my next swap ATC's, which use the image called 'Sophia' by PID. You can't see it in the pictures, but they have a wash of glitter on them that makes them seem almost holographic.


My MIL now has a daily provider, and today she got her to eat more than she usually eats in a week. My MIL is happy with her, and as long as this progress continues, we will feel a lot less stress over her condition. That really is something to be thankful for. DH admits that we should have done this a long time ago.

My Eastern Star chapter is having their annual rummage sale this next weekend, and I have cleaned out my clothes closet for things to donate. My sons and I were Trekkies during their teenage years, and I had all the TV episodes from the original series, as well as TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise on VHS. I no longer have any interest in them, my older DS doesn't want them either, and my younger DS has them on DVD; so they are all going into the rummage sale as well. These are home-taped videos, not production videos--but some trekkie might like to have them. We'll see! At least I've freed up a lot of space in my video cabinets! More to be thankful for!

The weather has been cool and rainy the last few days, and it has felt really good. I've been staying at home as much as possible, because my heel spurs have been acting up again, making it very painful to walk for more than a few feet. I have been taking lots of ibuprofen, which helps some. Not so thankful for the pain, but hurray for meds!

We had planned to get take-out meals for Thanksgiving this year, but the expense will be too much; I'm going to my fall-back plan--deli-sliced turkey with all the fixings. I simply don't have enough room in my tiny galley kitchen to deal with a turkey or ham. We'll cook the fixings here, then take them over to my MIL's house for the meal. Thanks be for deli turkey!

We have been teaching Copper to talk. To get any table scraps he has to say, "I want it!" or as close as his little doggy voice can get. He tries really hard, sometimes having a whole conversation with us before he gets something out that sounds anywhere close to "I want it!"
But he has gotten the idea, and DH thinks we have created a monster. When he tries to eat his morning donut, Copper asks for continual bites and it comes out perfectly clear. DH wonders if he will get to eat any of his own donut from now on! Copper also loves ice cream, which he proclaims is "nummi-nummi-num!" I think so too, Copper. I am so thankful that we found you at the shelter--you were worth every penny we spent, and so much more.

I am also thankful for my DH's continued remission from his cancer; for friends and family; for continued good health except for my feet; and for a roof (however leaky) over our heads. I am thankful for my DS in Iraq staying safe, and my DS here for his help and support.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

**********

Great Giveaway!

**********

These three quilts are being given away on the Old Red Barn Co. blogsite! Aren't they great? I just love the old-fashioned look. These are all designer quilts, fully quilted and finished.
Be sure to get over there pronto to enter for a chance to win one of these quilts or one of two patterns! See the box in my sidebar.

**********

Cold, cold, go away!

**********

I've been fighting my cold for almost a month now, and I finally have it down to just a nagging cough. I've been sick enough that I didn't feel like doing much. I did try out the quilt pattern that my sister gave me, although I just wanted to make a table topper with it. This is a very simple pattern that looks complicated (don't you just love those?) The pattern calls for nine-patches made out of 4" squares (I used 3" squares.) The center square is white, the corner squares are a feature fabric, and the rest are a coordinating print. Then you cut the blocks in half vertically and horizontally, and turn the upper right and lower left pieces 180 degrees, then sew the pieces back together. My quilt used 16 blocks, 4 across and 4 down. It finished 28" square, just what I wanted.


Here's the back, which uses the leftover feature print fabric bordered with strips of the purple print. I bound it with a strip of kelly green, although it looks teal here.


I quilted only the squares of feature print, and wrote my name in quilting on the center bottom two squares. (It says "Made by Marcia Gilbreath" with "2008" in the upper right corner.)


I'm very pleased with the way it turned out, especially since it's the first time I've really quilted anything on my sewing machine. It's not perfect, but it'll do.

**********