Sunrise Quilt Studio

That's what today is! It's been raining and thundering and lightning almost all day - at least since 9am. I was going to go shopping then get school done then quilt, but the rain has changed all those plans. Sarah and I did get out and run an errand for Paul, but that was between downpours. As soon as we completed that errand, the rain started again. The girls and I did our shopping in the rain 2 weeks ago and I can tell you we did NOT have fun getting soaked to the skin pushing a cart full of groceries 1/2 way across the parking lot, so I put off shopping until tomorrow - if it doesn't rain! And since I refuse to run my quilting machine in a thunderstorm and thereby risk blowing out the $10,000 machine which would now cost me $15,000 to replace, I couldn't quilt. And because I refuse to run my domestic sewing machine in a thunderstorm because a power surge could blow out the $1000 machine that would now cost me $6000 to replace, I couldn't piece my Bird quilt. Sooo...

Here are the photos of the completed coral reef. I wish I could get the entire wall in one photo, but it isn't possible with my camera. Everything is on one wall except the turtles who are hanging out over the toilet :) This afternoon I repainted what I wanted to be brain coral and made it into a pile of rock. I just couldn't get the coral to look right. Then I added more seagrass and some mossy things to anchor the grass and corals. I also did more shading on the largest seaweed to make it stand out more. The girls like it. Paul looks at it and grins but doesn't say anything. I think that means it's a strange thing to put into a bathroom, but he knows me well enough to know I won't be swayed if he tells me he doesn't like it-ha! Susan

Here are a couple of photos of the quilt I finished for the Kimberling Area Library raffle. It's a redwork quilt with snowmen and snowwomen :D Paul took it down with him yesterday and delivered it. The library will sell raffle tickets on it to raise money for the library. While Paul was in the Springfield area he was also able to stop by A-1 Quilting Machines and buy me a roll of polyester batting so I can get started on Joe's quilts for his open house in September. I've also been busy painting a coral reef mural in Mot's bathroom. We painted the walls blue a couple of weeks ago, taking down the fish wallp aper border. Mot was sad that she no longer had her fish, so I promised to paint more on the walls for her. I was thinking of a stenciled border but somehow it turned out to be a wall mural. It's coming along slowly but surely. Luckily I had some Dover coloring books on the coral reef that I was able to use them since they are copywrite free. It's hard to get...

It has been raining since yesterday morning and we are soggy! Our backyard is like a pond. The water is running down the hill some, but mostly standing in the yard. fortunately the dogs have sense enough to stay in their dog house and out of the rain. The girls and I had to do some shopping today and it didn't look like it was going to stop raining anytime soon so we headed out to JoAnn Fabrics where I picked up some batting and backing fabric for the Kimberling Area Library quilt. Next we stopped at McDonald's for lunch then went to Aldi's to buy groceries. By the time we got home and unloaded groceries - in the rain of cours - we were soaked through. We made hot tea for Hannah and me and hot chocolate for Mot to warm us up. I've decided to hold off on painting the bathroom for a day or two and get caught up on laundry today. It's about all I can handle right now. For any of you who don't know about it - there is an on-line shop-hop going on. You surf a list...

Paul had a kidney stone attack Saturday evening and we spent 3-4 hours in the emergency room at Skaggs Hospital in Branson. He was in sooooo much pain! I've been told that pain from a kidney stone is worse than child birth, but I wouldn't know - I've never experienced either one. I had my kids the hard way - adoption! Physical pain may not have been a part of that experience but emotional pain certainly was! Adoption labor can last YEARS! Ask me how it know. At least Paul passed the stone this morning and can go back to work tomorrow, but he is really worn out. I think the trauma of the pain has wiped him out. Even with the pain I experienced with appendicitis I don't think it was near what he had to endure. This afternoon while Paul was napping, the girls and I did some shopping. Hannah wanted a new book to read so we stopped by Barnes & Noble so she could spend her allowance. We went next to Lowes so I could see what they had in the line of remodeling our kitchen...

The KAL quilt show was a big hit! So many quilters this year. It's getting to be a big event in the area. I took a couple of photos, but the room is so large that my flash just dissipated and the pictures didn't come out :( But I took photos of Ginny's quilt before I left home. She got a nice round of applause when she showed her quilt. I have detail photos of this quilt on my webshots page. http://community.webshots.com/user/loftinlane Lorraine showed her series of 30's quilts and got lots of laughter at her presentation :) She is definately the right person to MC this show! The Kimberling Area Library had a quilt top donated to them to raffle off to raise money for the library. The quilt is red-work snowmen and was made by ladies of the Coveside Quilters. They asked me to quilt it for them! I have quilted 2 tops for them in the past and it's an honor to be asked to do it again. I'm going to get started on it this week. Joe also brought me 7 quilt tops to compl...

Tomorrow afternoon we are heading down to Reeds Spring so I'll be able to attend the KAL quilt show :D The girls are excited to be able to spend time with family and friends. Paul is planning on putting in fence if it isn't raining - or snowing! It was 70* here yesterday 60* today, but we have snow predicted for Saturday. I'm currently working on Ginny's Seashore quilt. It's soooo pretty. I'll have to post photos when I'm done. I should finish it in the morning and will take it with me to the quilt show. Ginny will be able to show it there. I'll take lots of photos at the quilt show, too. I'll post what I can here. Susan

I don't have a single quilt ready for a show this year, but I need to get started. The Kimberling Area Library is having their annual Spring show this coming Saturday. I know several customers have quilts that I have finished for them that they are going to show. This is a Show and Tell type show - no place finishes or ribbons. It's a lot of fun to see what everyone else has been working on. I'm not certain I'll make it for the show this year :( A family friend/semi-relative (my sisters in-laws) are having an open house at their property in September. It's at Gatewood Gardens in Galena, MO. I'm quilting 12 quilts for Joe to display and sell at his open house. I've also been invited to set up a booth and sell my own quilts! It's a great opportunity to get some feedback, so I need to get started making quilts. Now I have several small quilts put away that I use for show & tell and samples for quilting customers. I could mark them for sale and work o...

Here is the pattern and the fabric choices that I'm using in the bird quilt. The pattern is difficult to imagine how this quilt will turn out since I haven't colored in the blocks. I started this design on another piece of graph paper and have that one colored in, but I realized that it would be a bit difficult to piece, so I redrafted the pattern and in the process, I left out the color. The fabrics that are labeled with numbers are the background fabrics. The other fabrics are going to be used for the birds. Right now, Paul and I are competing for table space so I relented and gave the table over to him since he needs it to do business work on in the evening. I haven't had time during the day to do much with the quilt anyway. Laundry has piled up on me again and the entire house needs cleaned so those chores are priority today - after I get done blogging :D Then I'll get down to the basement and finish Betty's Boondoggle quilt. I should only have about 1-2 ho...

Mot has really enjoyed her train set. In fact we have added 2 more trains to her set and several pieces of track. Today she spent her allowance on a 3rd train. This one is Gordon. So she has Thomas, Dennis and Gordon. She wanted to buy 2 more trains, but I held her off until she earns more allowance! The track is getting big enough now that it's going to take over the living room floor pretty soon. Hannah is working on a science project and making a model of the earth. She has a cross-section model made from a styrofoam ball. I didn't realize how much styrofoam costs now. I spent $10.00 on an 8" ball! I told her to be careful with the project so we wouldn't have to buy another ball-ha! I went through my quilt's in waiting and realized that I had 4 of Betty's quilts, not 2, so I have one of them on the machine now. I'm doing pantographs on her quilts so they won't take long. Once I have her quilts done, I'll start on Ginny's art quilt. That ...