Two more t-shirt quilts done, one to go....

I finished these two t-shirt quilts this weekend. They are Christmas gifts for the same person. The red and black one only needed the binding to be finished.

The yellow and black one I pieced and quilted and put the binding on all this weekend. Amazing what a deadline and a rainy weekend will do to get things finished. I hope she likes them. Now, I just have one more to finish and that will be all of the for pay projects I have left. Yea!

Thanksgiving weekend.

My Dad came for a visit for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a leisurely turkey day. The arrangements at our house is Robert cooks the turkey on the grill and is responsible for baking the ham as well. I get to do all the "fixins". This year, like last Megan came over and helped. It is fun to cook with Megan. On Friday, my Dad took us to Sam's and we bought 85 boxes of flooring for the shop. Oh, boy more work to do. After my Dad left, Robert worked on the veranda, and I finished one more of my for pay t-shirt quilts. Saturday, I had to go to work. Bummer, another long weekend that was not a long weekend. Then as tradition holds we decorated our tree. We also watched Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. I'm not sure why we feel like the Lord of the Rings trilogy is something we should watch around Christmas time. One of the dilemmas for us this year is the annual Christmas picture and letter. We haven't taken the picture yet and I haven't even started the letter. (which is stress Megan out a little) This is different for us as I usually have the picture in mind early in the year and taken long before now. And the letter usually goes out the first weekend of December. *sigh* Well it looks like this year will be different.

Balcony demo

Here's what years of water damage can do to a perfectly good balcony. I finished removing the top flooring and will replace the 2x8 boards on the front that are half gone in some places.

Ann's Needle and Hook, Franklin NC

Through, one of my friends at Pieceful Hearts quilt guild, I was introduced to Ann of Ann's Needle and Hook in Franklin, NC. Ann is retiring from the quilt shop business after 13 years. She and her husband Sonny are both 71 years young and would like to travel a little more and spend some more time with their grandchildren. Anyway, Robert and I drove up to Franklin and bought the remnants of Ann's fabric inventory, a couple of fixtures, some chairs for the classroom and some odds and ends. Ann and Sonny said we were an answer to prayer, funny because that is exactly what they were to us. It was wonderful to meet them, and make new friends.

Here's the bounty before it was covered with tarps for the ride back to Augusta. The truck bed is full of bolts of fabric.

Here is the fixtures, most of the fabric and the chairs it in the classroom area, of our shop.

Robet and the trip to Franklin NC.

I got an email from Robert today asking if we wanted to leave for Franklin tonight, so it wouldn't be such a long day in tomorrow. I thought that was a great idea, but maybe only drive part way. He made reservations at a hotel in Taccoa. I was a little leery when we were driving through Taccoa, that the hotel might not be so great. The one he had made reservations for was Country Hearth Inn. Again I was a little leery when we drove up and there were only two cars in the parking lot. Robert assured me that it was a "modern" hotel. I am not usually a really picky person, but I do want my hotel room to be clean and I want it to have a clean bathtub. Well, bless his heart it was a really nice room with a jacuzzi tub. Which is always a big hit for me. Thanks Robert for a spur of the moment night away.

Window trim.

When I got home from work tonight. Marie and Sammie were here. Marie painting trim and Sammie working on her computer. My ladies Bible study had met on Tuesday this week, so I was able to stay downstairs and work with Marie to paint the trim. I do love the red against the baguette colored walls, but red does take several coats. We did get most of the trim with a second coat on it. some of it may take a third. :-( Anyway, when I finally came upstairs at 10 minutes to 8:00p.m. Robert had the spaghetti dinner done. We watched Survivor and I was off to bed. It was good to paint with Marie, I had hit a little bit of a wall and that helped me get over the hump.

A little blogging help.

Tallulah must have missed me while I was gone, because she sat close and "helped" me blog.

Mullis/Leonard retreat.

This weekend, was the annual Mullis/ Leonard retreat. We got our wires crossed and they thought it was next weekend, and we thought it was this weekend. Anyway, the Leonards were flexible and we had a nice time. Saturday was a little cold and rainy, but we managed to have a good time, and we got to see this beautiful rainbow.

We did spend some of the time looking for something that would work for a checkout counter for the shop. There was a counter here when we bought the building, but it is ugly blue laminate. We didn't really find anything that would work, and are thinking that we will try something HGTV-ish to the counter to be creative and save some money. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. (here is a picture of the counter in what is now our bedroom)

We did find this table though that would work for and island /table in our kitchen. It was a great find.

From Quilters World.

Robert and I sat with the editors of Sewing Savvy and Quilters World during the Handi Quilter Reception at Quilt Market. And, I received an email from a lady in Australia saying she had read about us in an article in Quilter's World. So, here's the article. Here's the link to the Newsletter.

" I do have a few photos to share, though. The first one is of a couple who were attending Market in advance of opening a brand-new quilt shop in Augusta, Ga. Robert and Kathy Mullis will be opening the Quilt Shop on the Corner in January. They sat with Julie Johnson (editor of Sewing Savvy) and I at a reception sponsored by the people at Handi Quilter, who were introducing their new quilting machine, the HQ Fusion, to those in attendance. I want to keep in touch with Bob and Kathy as they open their new shop during these hard times. I wish them great success.

Robert and Kathy will be opening a new quilt shop.
Julie Johnson and I have a fun time at the Handi Quilter party.
The International Quilt Market is an event that helps keep me up to date with what is going on in the quilting world. Not only do I get a chance to see thousands of beautiful quilts, and new books and products, I see old friends and make new ones like Robert and Kathy."

We're done! Not really, but at least we can get our business license.

Pedi Paws

Sabueso about the pedi paws " I hates it, it burns us."

The Newlywed Game.

This is most of our small group. Left to Right.

Us, David and Gabi, Kenny and Ellie, Matt and Lara, we are missing Jeff and Kristen. (Funny how we all look like giants in tiny kitchen due to the angle of the camera.) We are starting a marriage study, so tonight just to get to know each other a little better we played a made up version of the newlywed game. We had a blast. David and Gabi who have been married a year and a half won with 35 out of 60 points. Matt and Lara came in second with 20 points, Kenny and Ellie and Robert and I came in last with 15 points. Ouch.

Here's the questions:

What was the first movie you saw together?
What was your first married address?
What was the most recent piece of furniture that you shopped for together?
Who would she say was the “better catch” out of the two of you?
If she could send you to a Body Repair Shop, what on you would she have fixed?
If he saw a guy flirting with you, what animal would he most act like?

–bear,

-chimp,

-field mouse?

What is your wife’s greatest cooking disaster?
Within one how many keys does your husband carry?
If your husband could have any car in the world, what would it be?
What is the most romantic thing your husband has ever done for you?
What repair job did your husband do and make worse?
Where is the most unusual place you’ve made whoopee?

So, how did you do?

voting

So, I went to the polls at 6:15 this morning to get in line, as to not be late for work. We vote in St. John's Tower which is a retirement village. I was forth in line. All the people in line in front of me had those fancy walker chair things. I was the youngest on there by probably 25 years. As I sat on the ground and listened to some seasoned voting veterans, I got comments about how they would sit on the ground except they would not be able to get up and that the ground now seemed farther down than it used too. While sitting there I got my foot run over by a motorized wheel chair. Owe. Then "Roberta" a toothless woman that lives in section 8 housing and works at the civic center came in and entertained all of us with stories and jokes. (not all of which were PG-13). By the time I left there was a fair crowd in line to vote. My experience was not to be out done by Robert who stood in line for 35 minutes 15 of those minutes with the fire alarm going off. All in all it was a very interesting voting experience.

Daniel 2:20-23

Passage Daniel 2:20-23:

20Daniel said,
"Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
21"It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.
22"It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.
23"To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king's matter."

The beginings of the bathroom mural.

Here's Beth working on the beach mural in the bathroom. I so appreciate Beth's artistic talent and her willingness to let me "help".

Here's just a peek of what the bathroom looks like, I don't want to show you the whole thing as it is still a work in progress.

Shelves.

We bought some fixtures when Hancock Fabrics closed a couple of their stores in Roswell/Alpharetta before we moved to Augusta. Robert and Don put together one, cut down two and made a completely new shelf with what they had cut apart. They will serve to separate the classroom area.
Here's the finished units with some of the bolts of fabric that is starting to come in on them.

What a Saturday workday means to Tallulah and Sabueso.

Sabueso looking for a place in the sun.

Tallulah chasing the ball.

And then bringing paint to Beth, when she can't find the ball to chase.

The accent wall color.

Here's what my friend Marie worked on today, while Beth and I worked on the bathroom mural and Robert and Don worked on shelves. I love this color, Marie and I thought it kind of looked like chocolate ice cream while it was in the can.