Catching My Breath

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity that continued into my Monday. My son and Daughter in Law led me to believe that Bud would be going back out on the road Monday morning. Actually the company he works for has their drivers spend 4 days at home after being gone for so long. They had a scheduled ultrasound and surprised us, walking in with a big pink balloon and a bag of chocolates, all pronouncing "It's a Girl"! So this morning he really is back on the road! We had a wonderful dinner last night, brought in from our local Gators restaurant. It was quite good. In case you didn't notice, my weight loss ticker is back to zero pounds lost. That is because I gained it all back. I am back on track and doing well with my healthy living. I have not had one of those 6 dozen Tollhouse cookies I made, nor any of the wonderful chocolate I got from my new Granddaughter! However, I DID eat some of this wonderful chocolate that came on Saturday, just one day before I went back on my program.Amy sent me this wonderful box of chocolate (3 different kinds), a candle, some gorgeous yellow fabric, a great magazine on living in the country and a beautiful adoption announcement. Also, there were envelopes for Charlotte and Zach with "capsules" you immerse in water and a surprise pops out! Forgive the blur! Thank you Amy for such a thoughtful package. I am now officially off of sugar for the time being and my stomach is feeling the wonderful effects already! The weather here has been glorious. I am going to get my garden ready to plant...the soil is hard, and tomorrow I may run up to the nursery and get some plants...tomato and pepper, and some seeds. I am in Northern Illinois...any idea if it is ok to plant yet? I thought I heard Mother's Day and that is on Sunday.

I pulled fabrics for the new baby quilt. I will need to add a few more to the mix, so a trip to the fabric store is in order. Remember how I posted that I was enjoying the vine on the Underground Railroad quilt? Well, it is fortunate that the new baby is a girl, or I would be cutting fabric for a sailboat quilt to be pieced on the machine. Because it is a girl, I will be able to continue my desire for hand applique for a while.... Block number 1 of 9. The pieces are just laying there...nothing sewn down yet, but I am going to enjoy this one ALOT!!! Needle turn applique is one of my favorite things to do. See the dress fabric? I have enough to make her a dress that matches! So sweet!!! The other 8 dresses and bonnets will be different.

I have had this book for ages and have never done an entire quilt...only a block for a sampler. It will be sashed in pink, of course! Eleanor Burns looks SO young in this book. I think her books are my favorites....I have several and they are all wonderful. The Underground Railroad Sampler from yesterdays post is from an Eleanor Burns book.

Oh, one more thing...do any of you read Allie's in Stitches? If not, please check out this blog. I just found her through Appunti Patch, and never in my life have I seen such beautiful crazy quilts!!! She is extremely talented.

Another beautiful day will bring TJ to Grandma's backyard this afternoon. He loves to play with the kids and run and explore. Another opportunity for me to be Grandma for a few hours!!!