There's a story behind it!

Since my hubby was gone for 6 days at the Wildwood Kite Festival in New Jersey, I was able to sew my little brains!  I finished all the letters for the back of my Jubilee quilt, so now I can show the plan.  All the letters need trimming up, and the bottom orange area is going to be all crazy-patch pieced, but I think it's well on its way!

And here's the story behind it.......

When we first moved to Maine, I used to drive all over New England exploring.  One of the first drives I made was to Connecticut, driving down I-95.  Well, as you drive along south, there is an overpass across the highway, and on it is this piece of graffiti........"Perhaps some chocolate chips cookies and milk!"

Well.....the second I saw that.....my heart skipped a beat!  It's the best graffiti I've ever seen!

First.......it starts with the word Perhaps!  How cool is that!  I just love that word!  It's so sweet and kind, and so unexpected in a graffiti!  Coming from Southern California, where the graffiti is all gang-based, harsh and evil......I thought that this was just so darned sweet!

Second......who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies!?!  Yeah!

And, of course, being I'm lactose intolerant, the 'milk' part is a stretch, but when ya gotta dunk, you just gotta dunk!

So.......I looked into this graffiti, cuz I was just so taken by it, and it turns out it is the answer to a question posed on a previous overpass.  The question being......"What will set you free?"

That's a pretty profound question, but in my book.......that answer says it all!  Straight and to the point.....life is just that simple sometimes!  And shouldn't it be!?!  :o)

So......for years now, I've always wanted to put that little phrase on a quilt........and what better quilt than my Jubilee!  It's all about me, for me, what I love, and it just had to be!  And I'm loving it!

I'm going to be piecing the crap out of the bottom orange section this weekend, while hubby is gone on a golf weekend with our son.  Once the bottom is all pieced I can start sectioning it together!  Woohoo!  It's really coming together!  :o)

Have a great day!

regan

Confucius say......

......"Woman who take camera outside, while cooking on stove......go hungry!"

Yeah......never do it!  I thought I was just going out for 1 minute to take one little pic of the Lily of the Valley garden, but I got sidetracked, and distracted, and started taking pics everywhere, and walked down the hill, and around the back of the barn, and when I finally came in, my oatmeal was fused to the bottom of the pot!  lol

But I did get some good shots of the plants around the yard.......but first.......I've been working on the back of my Jubilee quilt!  Woot!

And no......this doesn't spell anything yet......I'm just making letters at this point!  And after each letter, I'm getting more and more ideas about the back, and I'm getting more excited about it!  I can't wait to show you something that makes sense, but I'm no where near that point yet!  But getting there!  And with my hubby gone for 6 days, and I only have one more shift to work until I'm totally done......I have a feeling I'm going to be cranking out the letters pretty fast!  Woohoo!

So......the other pics I took are outside, around the house.  I'm just happy to have everything so green, and a few blossoms coming already.  I know a lot of you have had all sorts of prettiness in your gardens already, but here in Maine, we kindof have to wait!  And it seems like forever sometimes!  But when I was planting my seedlings for my veggie garden this morning, I was noticing all sorts of 'stuff' out there!  Yay!

My Lily of the Valley bed has really filled in nicely in the past 2 years.  It was so sparse and awful looking a while back, so I looked it up, and read that it really likes to have its roots 'messed with'......so I did!  I took a shovel and rake to it, and figured if it didn't come back, I'd have another bed to plant lilies in, but it came back beautifully!  And I took a bunch of cuttings of the flowers back in the house, and made 2 little bouquets with them.  I never thought to do that before, but I saw it on a blog (omg.....WHERE did I see that!?!).....and now I have that lovely aroma over my kitchen sink and in the living room!  I think I need to pick some more!

On the left is the Lily of the Valley bed, and it all overlooks the side yard and neighbor's pond.  I just love this view, and it's what we get to enjoy from our screen porch, on the right.

This is from that side yard from the last shot looking back at the big maple tree.   Several years ago we had a neighbor friend do some excavating on the front yard, and I asked, while he was at it, could he build me a planting area and retaining wall around the maple with the big rocks we had lying around.  I went to work, and I came home, and he had built this wonderful stone wall around my maple tree!  It is just as I had discribed it to him!  Love it!

And he's SO good, he even put a granite bench in it for me to sit and enjoy the view!  What a man!  It's taken a couple of years, but most of my plants have really filled in the bed around the bench and tree, and I put in a little stone path to get to the bench from around the back.  I just love this little area.

My peonies are really filling in this year, too!  I can't wait for the blooms!

And my Sum & Substance hosta is already over 3 feet across!  It will get to nearly 6 feet across by summer!  I just love it!

And my biggest 'happy thought' right now is that I am going to get to spend all the time I want in my gardens this year, and from now on!  Woohoo!  Life is good!

Hoping you are having a wonderful day!

regan

The top is done!

I just finished putting the last two borders on my Jubilee quilt!  I'm so happy with how it turned out!

And yes, the top and bottom border are the same, the right border is different, and the left has no border at all!  It matches my inspiration piece from the Red & White show.....and I love it!  It's totally out of the box for me......woohoo!

I'm still drawing up the plan for the pieced back, but it won't be long before I can start cutting fabric!  It will be a very simple back, cuz there is so much piecing on the top, I don't want it to weigh 80 pounds!

And boy, are things ever falling into place these days!  Here's my really big news!.......

I just put in my two week's notice at work!  I'm done!  I'm totally done!  I'll never have to work again!  Woohoo!  I'm so happy I could do cartwheels (and I've never done them before!)  lol

A friend of ours who recently turned 62, told us he started his Social Security benefit.  And John and I started thinking......why are we waiting!?!  He's turning 63 in July, and our plan has always been to wait until he was 65 to start it.  But really......why wait!?!  So we did the math every which way you can, and figured it going out 20 years, and the difference over 20 years is only about $4,000!  I was shocked!

MY SANITY IS WORTH $4,000!  lol

So we made an appointment at the SS office, and started it right up!  And the very next day, I gave my notice!  My last day is May 25......and I'm so damned happy!

This just made so much sense to us.  And really, all I want to do is spend time with John, and golf, and quilt, and travel.  Two years ago, when John had prostate cancer, it struck us that you just never know what can happen, or what tomorrow will bring.  He's totally cured, thank God, but anything can happen......any time!  And we need to spend every minute we can together, and happy, and feeling good.  And not wasting it at some stupid job that doesn't make a bit of difference in this world.

So.......in just two short little weeks, I might manage to post on this blog a little more often, too!  It's a win-win!  Yay!

Who knew turning 50 could be so good!?!

Have a great weekend!

regan

I've been shamed into posting! Ha!

Lori, from Humble Quilts blog, noticed I hadn't posted since I returned from my trip.......about 3 weeks ago!  What's up with that!?!  Surely I have something to say, or pictures to show, or I could do my usual ramblings.

So.....yeah.......usual ramblings it is!  lol

I guess I have been busy, trying to get back into a routine......but it's damned hard to do after being gone for a month!  Vacation is so much fun, and normal life is so blah!  And full of chores!  But I have managed to find a few fun things to do since being back!

In fact!, yesterday!  My friend Pat and I headed over to Cyndi's Busy Thimble shop in Litchfield, and had a ball!  What fun!  And Cyndi's shop is packed full of nothing but reproductions!  Woohoo........Heaven!  It's so funny, cuz I was running out the door to meet up with Pat, and I raced back in to get my little 8-pointed stars, cuz I thought "I will need them to match to the fabric I want for the sashing.".......and then I realized.....Duh!......it's all civil war repros......it will ALL go together!  Yay!

So......first things first......this is the fabric I've chosen for the sashing for the little stars.

And here are the 24 little stars I have finished so far......I'm sure I'll need a couple hundred, but I'm still not sure how big I'm going on this......so we'll see!

I also purchased a few other fabrics at Cyndi's.......and these gorgeous birds were on on the discount table!  Yummy!  The flower rows were used in a beautiful little quilt for the borders, and Pat and I both bought some of it......we just couldn't resist!  So perfect for the borders!

THEN......we went to Marden's (a big discount place here in Maine that has a fabric section) and JoAnn's, but I didn't get anything at those.

BUT THEN.......we headed over to Quilt Essentials in Lewiston, and I picked up a layer cake of the Australian fabrics that I saw there just before I went on vaca.  I had been thinking about them the whole time I was gone, and I loved the display quilt they made from them.......it had a very masculine look to it.  And I just knew I needed to make my hubby a quilt with them!  I'm so excited, and they are stunning fabrics......and totally out of my usual box!  I'm really liking stepping out of my box!

Arent't they amazing!  I just love them!

So when I got home, of course, the first thing my hubby always asks is, "What did you get?"  (He's so well trained, huh?  lol)  I had packed all of this stuff into one bag, and I had my little stars in their fat baggie in the bag as well, so I dug in and pulled out the sashing fabric and birds that I got at Cyndi's, and had the stars baggie on top of everything else, so he couldn't see that there was anything else in the bag!  Yay!  I totally hid the Australian fabrics from him.........so he is going to be so surprised!  I'll try and work on it when I know he's gone for a while, and I'll just one day magically have it done!  Ha!  I can't wait!  And yeah, he never reads my blog, so I don't have to worry!  :o)

That's something I've never had to do with him......hide fabric.  I know a lot of quilters stash stuff and sneak it in the house, but John has always been the first one to say "get it", so I've never had to sneak anything past him!  And it's not that easy!  lol  Good thing I never have to do it!  :o)

Of course, I have worked (just a bit) on my Jubilee quilt, too.  I've put all the blocks and sashings together, and now it's just needing the last two borders!  Woohoo!  I'm nearly there!

I just love how it's looking, and I already have the plan in my head for the pieced back!  Yippee!

And one last thing........the other day, I was driving past the animal shelter thrift store, and out on the lawn was a treadle machine.  Well, I was heading for work, with not a minute to spare to look, so I called my hubby who was at the nearby golf course, and said check it out, see if it's crap, but if it's decent......I might want it!

He arrived at my work a couple of hours later with it in the car!  Woohoo!  And it just needed a little WD-40 on the mechanism and that wheel is running smooth!  Totally cool!

It just needs some polishing, and cleaning up a bit.....but I love it!  And I checked the site with the serial number and it's a 1923 vintage!  Love it!  The cabinet is in really nice condition, too......with the little decals all in tact!  Just needs a little polish!  And it had two bobbins in the drawer!  Score!  lol

Ok.......that is truly all I have to say........except that I just had my physical and mamo on Tuesday, and everything is great, including my cholesteral!  Woohoo!  Life is good!

Have a great weekend!

regan