Champagne & puffy things, new Beds=Dreams from tops closet, dinner with Kay & Pete

Michael’s tee off time wasn’t until the afternoon on Saturday (3/1), luckily they were only planning to play 9 holes anyway….he made me a smurfy breakfast before he left, as well as his traditional omelet: 

I got binding made for the mermaid quilt:

then, since I don’t currently have any customer quilts which must be done, I went trolling in my ‘’tops’’ closet for something to quilt.  I’m trying to build up my stash of quilts that need binding, as I will be visiting Janice later in March and want to have lots to work on.  It’s always so much more pleasant to sit across from each other at her dining room table, talking and laughing, while we’re binding :~). 

Anyway, I came across another beds=Dreams quilt top that I didn’t even remember I had, so I decided that was next up for quilting.  Now, I may be getting pretty good at quilt math when I’m trying to figure out a block size or what size to cut my pieces, but I can’t say the same about my ability to figure out what length of fabric to cut to sew together for a backing!!!  My backing is BARELY big enough….so I’m sure I’m going to curse all the way through the quilting of this top….oh well!  I got it loaded up:

and set up the program before joining my honey upstairs. 

After the embarrassment in the White House last week as they practiced their ‘’bully’’ and absolutely stupid (do you have a suit?) brand of diplomacy (?) with Ukraine, Michael and I both decided we needed something to cheer us up, so you know what’s coming….an evening of champagne and puffy things:

-potstickers

-chicken egg rolls

and watching TOOTSIE (another movie banned by the Republicans....you know....a man in drag).  We watched the special features (an entire additional disc) and it was FASCINATING to listen to how this project and story line came together over a number of years...and how many people added to the story line along the way.  I’ve always loved Dustin Hoffman, and love him even more now!!!

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I was totally excited to hop up Sunday morning (3/2) and get the quilting started on my newest B+D quilt...but first, while I was loading up the backing, I was embroidering a ''label'' on the front:

Then the quilting began:

I haven’t used my King Tut Joseph’s coat color in quite awhile and I just love it on rainbow quilts!  And I love doing a simple, simple, simple quilt top…and then having beautiful quilting with variegated thread on top!  I love variegated threads, and King Tut has a bunch of them...the only problem is, it's cotton thread and I forget each time just how much fluzz it generates when it is stitching out!

I got a bunch of scraps cut for a new QoV that BG and Janice and I are going to do at retreat, and also got a cake baked and frosted:

for our dinner.  This was my first time making 7 minute frosting...

and I definitely need to do it again to get better at it. I really like the idea of this frosting as I have LOTS of egg whites in my freezer....so it's either this or meringue cookies :~).

I was happy as anything down in the studio, getting 2 more labels done for quilts:

until 6 PM when we took the cake and headed over to Kay & Pete’s house for dinner. 

WHAT a fabulous, German dinner they made for us!!!!  They had pork and gravy, homemade spaetzle, red cabbage, green beans, applesauce and dark pumpernickel bread. 

Everything was AWESOME!!!  They liked the cake, although my frosting definitely needs more work  :~).  We were home by 8 PM (with tons of leftovers), and just vegged until we went to bed.

I have definitely been remiss about posting results about my back imaging so here goes…here are some snippets from the MRI report: Multilevel degenerative disc disease and facet joint arthropathy.  Spondylolisthesis was present on the CT of the abdomen and pelvis.  There is a large right central/subarticular disc protrusion superimposed on disc bulge and there is severe bilateral facet joint arthropathy. There is resultant moderate right neuroforaminal stenosis and high-grade right lateral recess stenosis with compression/impingement of the right L4 nerve root.  So, I have arthritis, and both bulging and compressed disks, plus my spine is out of alignment and pressing on a nerve bundle (that’s what’s causing the pain).  I have been referred to a back doctor, but they have not yet called to schedule an appointment….so, stay tuned for further developments :~).

I am going to follow my friend Pam's example....I am NOT going to let this define me...and I am NOT going to talk about it a lot. Pam is always in much more pain than I am going through, and yet she is the most cheerful and kind person that I know. She rarely talks about anything that is wrong with her unless you ask...the bad thing about that is that people assume she is just doing fine and not in pain at all! Not true....she just chooses to not let it define her life! And I admire her so very much for that!

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My honey had a frost delay for golf on Monday (3/3), so he still had time to make me a smurfy breakfast before he left: 

Have you ever had the horseradish cheddar cheese from Harris Teeter?  I had forgotten all about it, but recently found some in my freezer….it is AWESOME!  And great for clearing out your sinuses too :~). 

I continued quilting on the Beds=Dreams quilt, and cutting scraps into 4-1/2’’ squares for a future QoV.  My honey got home around 4 PM and took Freya up to the dog park….and while he was gone I finished up the quilting and burying ends on my quilt:

and have cut all of my red squares:

-here's how I'm keeping track of what I need

for a new QoV.  We had tons of yummy leftovers from Kay & Pete’s dinner, so that’s what we had for dinner…and then settled in with knitting and TV watching for the rest of the night.

And 10 years ago....

-Food and Fiber Floozie: blue/green strata, biz cards

-Food and Fiber Floozie: desk transformed, June's quilt, new notecards, blue/green 9 patch

*** I just saw on the news that they’re suggesting that people check on the elderly….I’m usually up by 7 or 7:30 AM…bring donuts! ***

*** I received my electricity bill….I think they billed me for sunlight….divine light…and the light at the end of the tunnel!! ***