Thursday, March 26, 2009

Busy stitching

I haven't been posting, but I have been stitching. Life is very busy right now.

One thing I've been up to in my absence is getting a job. I have not had a job since I was pregnant with my 12 year old, and DH and I decided that this would be a good time to find a part time job. I am going to be working as a Residential Program Worker in a group home for developmentally disabled adults. There are four men living in the house and the deal is that I will be one of the people that helps them with the day to day tasks such as cooking, cleaning, personal care, driving them to doctors appointments and their day programs, participating in recreational activities with them, etc. I'm looking forward to starting, but first I need to finish up all the pre-employment stuff. I've been to a medical exam, drug test, physical test to see if I can lift, walk, carry, bend, etc. I'm working on getting my public service drivers license. I've been thru background tests, including being fingerprinted. I still need to complete classroom training, defensive driving class, CPR and first aid class, medication administration certification and some other stuff that I can't even remember. But I start training classes in less than two weeks. I think this job is going to be fun.

Earlier this week, Thing Two had surgery. He needed a lot of dental work and wouldn't cooperate with either of the dentists that we tried to use. So he had it all done under anesthesia, and we are relieved that it is over.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get stuff straightend out here at home so things can run smoothly while I am in training. I've also been to the accountant to work out the tax filing.

This little quilt (it is like 8X10) is from the Vermont Shop Hop. When we went to one of the shops, she gave us the little printed panel with the phrase on it along with the pattern for the little quilt. I made the strips slightly bigger. This is going to hang in my sewing room when I ever get it cleaned up. I'm going to make a couple more of these for some friends, but I'll probably embroider the phrase instead of using a printed one.




I finished my Noah's Ark project. I had a bit of a challenge getting the parts together. I must have cut something the wrong size along the way, but I solved the problem by adding a couple extra strips to make it all fit together. It looks kind of lumpy, and in a couple places it is, but thats because I refused to quilt thru the embroidery. In the end I'm very happy with how it came out...very cute! Thank you Lynnette!!


In addition to these things, I've been working on my Spring Swap (can't show it), pay it forward gifts (can't show those yet either) and a couple other little things that I'll share another day.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Goodies in the mail!

Yesterday was one of those great mail days, I had a lovely goody in the mail all the way from Australia. A week or so ago, I got an email from Rose that I was the winner of a giveaway on her blog. She has two new patterns out for a seasonal sampler. One contains fall/winter, the other contains spring/summer and lucky me, I have all of them! Take a look here to see them. I'm going to get started on the spring one this weekend. But first, I need to work on my items for Linda's Spring Swap. I'm gathering my fabrics for that project now. Maybe I'll share a sneak peek tomorrow.


Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Happy Birthday, Thing Two!



Happy Sixth Birthday, Big Boy! Time really flies, it is hard to believe that he is six already, but there ya go! We filled his bedroom with balloons this morning (and now DH and I are lightheaded from blowing up six dozen balloons!) and we are taking him out for lunch today.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Great Customer Service

Since I like to complain when I receive lousy customer service, I also like to commend businesses that provide excellent customer service.

Tonight, I need to tell you how happy I am with Bee Sew Whimsical in Australia. I've wanted some specific Australian patterns for a while, but I've been a bit apprehensive but ordering from another country was a bit intimidating. I ordered three patterns on February 25th (which was the 26th there) and they arrived today, March 3. That was fast. Not only that, Darlene included a bonus little stitchery pattern and a yoyo! Great Job, Darlene! Thank you, and the next time I want a pattern or something from Australia, you'll be one of the first places I look for it!

At the same time, I also should mention Mrs. Martin's Quilt Shop. Karen is also in Australian shop owner and I've ordered from her two times in the past and also shipped very quickly and is always very friendly.

So feel free to go ahead and order from either of these shops anytime you feel an urge to stock up on some of the great Australian patterns out there!

Monday, March 02, 2009

Triangles finished



Today I finished the triangles for Judy's Bears in The Farmhouse Quilt Along.
Other than that absolutely nothing is going on quilt-wise. Maybe tomorrow.