New quilt, back to work and a wonderful surprise from my fabulous husband~~~!!

Oh dear, what was I thinking...yep, I am now gainfully employed, waaaahhhh!! I secretly miss working with patients. My friend, who works at the hospital where I left @ a year ago, keeps telling me some of my favorites keep asking for me. That is sweet. I like knowing that I have made differences in some lives...I am just not sure about followers, lol.

I have been working on my 9 patch block a day that is going on over at crazymomquilts.blogspot. I have also been trying out a new pattern that has been rattling around in my head for about a week. I want to see if it's feasible before I reveal it!

We have a fairly spread out home...and 5 fun filled doggies. The said doggies appear to have been out in the humid hot weather enough to have picked up a flea or two. omg, what a nightmare. We went thru this @ 3-4 years ago and used a ton of chemicals, washed, vacuumed, boiled and darn near poisoned the poor dogs to rid our little family of these pests.

Now, keep in mind my husband is not a typical green works person. So you can only imagine my surprise and total elation to find he had not only found but printed out

natural rememdies for ridding fleas from dogs but from other areas in the home! I am very pleased with his finding these recipes.

The spray for the dogs is very simple. Cut a lemon up, place in a pint jar, cover with boiling water and let steep overnight, pour into spray bottle and spray your dog avoiding his eyes, face and "tender" areas.

I hate chemicals. We are trying this, will have an update in a few days with the results. We are also trying other things on the list. I am not sure what is going on with my pc but when I "insert" names, blogs, or other stuff into blogger, it refuses to show up on my post, I don't get it!

Here is the website for natural dog vs flea remedies:
www.caninenaturalcures.co.uk/fleas.htm.

Baltimore Album~~~bitten by the bug!

I have had a blast perusing other quilters blogs about everything quilty and have decided I have been an absolute chicken in regards to applique. What am I thinking? I am not jealous...am I?...maybe overwhelmed, yeah, that's it. I am in awe when I see other renditions of Baltimore Album style quilts. Why am I procrastinating? I think I should just do it and quit whining.

I have TONS, no really, TONS of old quilt magazines hanging out at my house. I can't help myself. I have found that it may not appeal to me now, but maybe in a few years...I hate being a packrat. I have had this magazine around for ages. It's dated June 1989 and is filled with tulip patterns. I, however, fell in love with the cover quilt. It has gorgeous watermelon borders. I think I have the perfect fabrics for it. Mostly Moda fabrics and a yummy yellow Kona Cotton. I better get going...

Freezer paper, pens/pencils, pins, scissors....yep, wish me luck!

Which quilt do I chose...and long stitch is me...!

A very good friend of mine from Minnesota is here for the week selling vintage items at the flea market. She loves our weather~~~84 wahooooooo~~and asked me to cut a kit for her daughter. I had only had it done in flannels and like to include a pic of the finished quilt with the kit. She wanted it done in a mostly blue colorway. I made the top in the colors she chose and placed some more blues in the "other" colors. Now I just can't make up my mind which I like better. I decided since I was fooling around I had better get going on my Christmas quilts and am busy sewing one for one of my kids' presents. Little buggers might read this so I won't tell! She doesn't want flannel but the other 2 do, go figure! I made a chocolate and cherries for my little neighbor girl. I am planning on big stitches with overdyed Valdani threads, yummy! Let me know what ya'll think of the 2 blues and/or chocolate. Have a great weekend...Elaine

Looking for this southern belle quilt pattern

I had to get out of the house. Ever have one of those days? I was vegetating and becoming sedentary and slovenly. So I forced myself to dress up a bit and call on an old friend...someone I hadn't seen in a few years.

I called on a sweet lady that creates some of the most awesome quilts, table linens and embroidery. It is one of those ladies you wished you had had as a grandmother or aunt. This lady is so talented and well versed in the needle arts. I wish I had half of her talent. As we were talking I asked her what she was working on and she showed me a gorgeous black and white quilt...wow, just beautiful. She only hand quilts and "doesn't mess with table or wall quilts" as she explained but makes bed quilts to pass on to her children, gchildren, and ggchildren. She gave me show and tell of some awesome quilts: embroidery, applique and pieced. I love her quilts!

She asked me if I had a pattern for this quilt or where she could find it. It appears to be like a southern belle pattern with a hankie for her skirt (perhaps not sewn down?) and hankie corners appliqued on the borders. I have worn myself crazy trying to find it on google and tons of sites. Does anyone have this pattern? Does anyone know where I can buy it? She has her heart set on doing this pattern. I am not sure where she even got this page from. Any help would be appreciated.

I have a ton of patterns in my personal stash...or should I say my over expanded sewing room...if anyone is in need of one. I might also add that I am looking for the pattern friendship dahlia or baby dahlia. Thanks tons!
...Elaine