Thank you Ms. Eleanor!

Today I found *Another* Check in the mailbox from my reader Mrs. Eleanor!!!! My second reader to support me in raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity!! Whoo hoo! this helps put me over the $200 mark that I've raised... it will be sent off to our coordinator quiltaholic in my next mailing. ;) As a group we are hoping to raise more than the $4,000 we raised last year to give to RMHC.

More quilts have arrived - click over to Quiltaholic's blog to have a look. Mine hasn't been mailed off yet... as I'm hoping to hear back from the local newspaper still. If I don't get a call back or reply email this week I will give up on the local papers.

However on the good news side - I ALSO send an email to CKNJ, the Central Kentucky News Journal - in my KY hometown where I grew up and they ARE very excited about featuring me and my quilt in their "Milestones" section of the paper!!! Weee! I'm not even going to tell my Dad & Clara - just let them open up one Monday or Thursday and see me there! ;) Of course when they replied they said that they wanted a photo of me to go with the story - so that will be interesting to see what I come up with them. I doubt they'll want any funny faces that I've been known to take. :P

...and just b/c that post was in 2008 doesn't mean that was the last time I played in the mirror... LOL I have lots more since then - I just haven't shown ya. Guess I'm waiting to be double dog dared or something... :P

So thank you to my blog readers who are thinking about donating a few bucks to this great charity of the Ronald McDonald House - every little bit gets added up and together we can make a great contribution!!! and Not to mention - all of those who help out get CHANCES TO WIN SOME BEAUTIFUL QUILTS!!! ;)

I told my dad about selling $200 worth already and about the two blog readers who have sent in checks... and he told me, "Well that's no good, you're ruining my chances of winning... that cancels out the $10 I gave you."

I told him, "Well Daddy, that just means you'll have to send me money EVERY month from now until September for MORE CHANCES!!!" :P

and he laughed as he replied, "Well maybe so. You could sell freezers to people in Alaska couldn't you?" :P LOL

Well maybe so - but I don't want to find out. I just want to sell chances on quilts! ;) Thanks again Mrs. Eleanor for helping me with my goal to help the RMHC!

Love from Texas!

It's Wednesday already?

Although this photo was taken the week before we left on vacation - both Nora and I have worn these same outfits while here in KY while we visit family. We drove it straight through and made it in record setting time from TX to KY - only 14 hours! We arrived Saturday around 9am

...and since my broken camera is still broken - really really broken - as in - stuck in video mode only - I've not been able to take photos while here in KY visiting :( and that makes me very sad!

However you can betcha that I have been grabbin up my step moms every chance I get and using it! I'm sure she won't mind since there is no worry of wasting film! ;) and LUCKY for them and us - we had an extra photo printer that we got free with a rebate still BRAND NEW in the unopened box that had been sitting in the garage for a year that we brought with us to GIFT to them this year for Christmas! :) Dave Ramsey would be so proud of our baby steps, as we just started the "Total Money Makeover" November 1st.

Just wanted everyone to know that yesterday my daddy got a good report from his most recent PET Scan tests. Edited to Add: I missed it yesterday when they came home from the doctor - but today heard that the scan found a small spot of some sort. Something to do with the liver or normally located near the liver but Dad's wasn't.. so they will do a MRI test on it after the first of the year. The doctor said that it could be normal for Dad but that he didn't know what it was and in appeared to be in a different than normal spot... but all in all a GOOD REPORT :)

Thank you for all of your prayers for my Daddy, Ollie Newton during this past year!! He learned that he had Stage 2 Rectal Cancer in April and underwent several radium and chemo treatments before his surgery in July of this year.

It has really meant a lot to my Daddy that so many people form ALL OVER were thinking of him and prayin for him.....

and even took the time to send him a get well or thinking of you card!!

Just look at that stack of cards he showed me - ALL from my online QUILTING friends! You all are so AwEsOmE!!! :)

Look at this funny one from my HGTV friend NICUnurse! ;)

Love from Kentucky!

SURPRISE!!! Dad and Clara are here visiting!

OOOooooups, almost forgot a BIG something that happened this past week - see what back dating can do to you - get you all out of order...oh well - it will just appear that I have posted everyday, and that is my goal right? LOL On Monday of this week (5/12/08) Daddy called around 9am and said, "Clara and I just had breakfast here in Jackson, MISSISSIPPI and we are on our way to come see you!"

Aaak! Talk about a Surprise! I was thrilled that they were coming and on the way, but HELLL-LOOOOW couldn't I have had at least a few days notice to prepare... over a weekend perhaps? Jackson, MS is only a few hours from here and sure enough they arrived in about 4.5 hours. :P

Well, I guess technically I did have a warning.. for the past few weeks when I talked to them on the phone, they have been telling me that they were itching to come see the kids... and told me of their busy schedules of coming and goings.... and said that there was no way they could come before the 10th...

so I knew NOT to expect them before the 10th... but to show up on the 12! boy they were not foolin! :cP
They didn't stay the whole week - just arrived Monday afternoon after driving a full 16 hours... and then went back the same way Thursday/Friday... we said our good byes at bedtime Thursday and I joked that I may bump into them on their way out as they planned to get up between 1-2am and leave.

.....and wouldn't you know it, Paul Thomas cried out around 1:05am and as I was going to his room I noticed the light on under the door of the guest bathroom... and as I held him rocking him back to sleep I heard them leaving. I regretted not getting to tell them one last time "love you, bye, have a safe drive..." so I spent the next 30-45 minutes praying for them as I tried to get Paul Thomas back to sleep.

What a wonderful couple they are and how very grateful I am for each of them and what they mean to me!!! I am so glad that they have one another. They sure are very happy together and love one another very much.


The next time we see them will be when we go home for the 4th of July. :)



Love from Texas!
~bonnie

Closer look at my quilting frame

Someone emailed and asked for a closer look at my quilting frame set up. Here is a photo I took of it. See, nothing fancy. Just plain and simple... I describe it as a saw horse design because that is what the two end pieces remind me of.I don't think he has a lot invested in it... under $100 easily and it would be easy to make for anyone who has a handy husband. My dad used pine b/c it is soft and you want that for tacking the ends to the poles. And this time he made me two sets of poles. One for bed size quilts that I think he said are 90" and another set that are for lap or crib size quilts that measure 60" which are stored in the garage right now.

It isn't hard to put together. We spread everything out on my floor in the den and mom and dad use to use a bed in the basement to put the quilt on the polls. Just remember to roll one side over and the other side over so the quilter doesn't have to have their arm over a hump as they hand quilt. ;)

This is the second frame my daddy has made. The first frame like this before I was born some 30+ years ago for my mother and she used it for years and years. When she died in 1999 there had been the same quilt in the frame for almost 10 years!!! YES 10 years!!! See when she stopped smoking, she also stopped quilting. B/C every time she sat down to quilt she craved a cigarette! Plus the fact that the quilt in the frame was only a pretty bed sheet with a quilt looking design on it - I guess it wasn't really worth it to finish up... no big loss right?

Well, it sat there in the laundry room of the basement for several years after she died... with all sorts of stuff piled up on top of it... takin up the room... and it never dawned on me that I would want it until last summer when Daddy and Clara were planning a trip down to TX... and asked if there was anything I wanted... and I spoke up about momma's quilt frame. Only I spoke up too late! They had cleared it out and given it away... quilt and all. (again, no big loss as far as the quilt goes..) but I wanted that frame. Oh well, it was my fault for not asking for it years earlier.

So I was surprised when Daddy brought it on his recent trip here earlier this month!!! I quickly moved around some things in the den so it would have a home behind the sofa. I had to piece together a backing for my Round Robin Texas Treasures while the day we put it in the frame as I wasn't prepared! Lucky for me I had enough scraps to use!

It's ok that I don't have the exact frame Momma used...I have the next best thing - one just like it! However I only wish Momma had kept a journal of her quilt making and often wonder how many quilts she made over the years?!?! She could have taken a Polaroid of each of them and filled a album easily! She gave every one she ever quilted away except for the 3 Grandmother Fan Quilts for my brothers and I. These were the first 3 momma ever made from start to finish all by herself. Barry's corners were black, Brian's were brown and mine were that fabulous 70's gold! :P

Sadly, that very first one she made for my oldest brother Barry, he doesn't have. His EXwife still to this day has it and she has been married 3 more times since Barry and it is on her bed! I have no clue as to the story there... perhaps Barry never asked for it, I don't know... I was just a junior in High School when they divorced... but I saw it on her bed the last time I was visiting my nephew at her newest husband's home just a few years ago.

Currently there are three quilts quilted by my mother still at my parent's home. One is a apple green and red Christmas quilt that my Momma Newt hand pieced and mom quilted... and b/c of it's bold fabrics, my grandmother refused it back b/c she was sick of looking at it! LOL

In November when we were at Dad's last, I noticed Clara had it spread out over the back of the sofa in the den and using it as part of the Christmas decorations. :) It made me feel good to see it out and being used again!

Another quilt is of a cross stitch pattern. Oh how I remember daddy and I having a time separating all of that floss for her!!! Looking back, I am not sure how much I helped, but at the time I sure thought I was..... I don't think Daddy particularly liked the quilt or the colors, but he claimed it b/c he knew how much work went into it and didn't want her to give it away!

and the third quilt still at my parents that my mother hand quilted is A Trip Around the World that my Momma Newt hand pieced for my father as a Birthday gift to him... so naturally he still has it... but I so hope that one day it gets to come home with me! As it is my most favorite of all quilts Momma Newt ever made. I don't know why it is, but it is. I was about 10-11 when it was made and I remember visiting her and her showing me how many "trips" she had made around the world as she made progress... then I clearly remember the quilt being at our home while in my mother's frame and she stitched 1/4" around each and every block. The backing is all white and is sooo beautiful!!!!

Sorry, no photo of that one. Maybe this summer when I am home I will remember to get it out and take a picture of it.....and maybe, just maybe Daddy will say I can take it home! :P

But, about my quilt frame.....The only thing I would change and may have him work on the next time he visits if it is in the next couple months... is SAND the wood on the bottom of the saw horses! It is rough and I can't imagine how bad it would be for one of the twins to craw up on it and get stuck! Perhaps if I can find a hand stapler I can add some batting and scrap fabric to cover?

Well.....hey, lookie here... with all the kids asleep, I actually got to write a long post and share lots of photos! yeahhh!!! ;c) See... I told you I was gonna try and be a better poster. :)

Love from Texas!!! ~Bonnie

It's been a month??? noooo REALLY!?!?!?

Well, I guess so, below it says my last post was Jan 11th and today is February 11th... gosh where does the time go? Wish I could post tons of projects finished and new ones started, but I haven't really did that much. Being a momma has kept me pretty busy lately.... and sometimes the only thing that keeps me going is dreaming of "one day." LOL

But, I so have one quilty thing that I am very happy to report!!

I now have my very own quilting frame!!! It isn't anything fancy, infact, my Daddy made it before he and Clara came for their visit from KY at the beginning of the month. They celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary on January 31st and both years have came to visit us during that weekend/week. ;)

I had to move some furniture to make room for it in the den, but we foudn a spot for everything and were able to set it up the day before they left back to KY. I almost forgot to take photos of us getting set up but did remember it and I took a few along with Nora helping to take photos and she did get 1 or 2 good ones and of course 9-10 good ones of the celing fan, window, and fireplace LOL... I guess that is to be expected of a 3 year old!

OK this is a little blurry but it's the best photo Nora took of us! and we are tacking this side down to the pole but then Daddy remembered that we should have tacked it to the underneath side... so we had to redo it.
The quilt is my "Texas Treasures" Round Robin quilt that I made with my friends on the HGTV board. You can read about when I received it back last year here.

and here I am a little while later sitting down to quilt. ;) I have no idea how long it will take me to finish it.... let's just say that right after I pulled my knot thru a baby woke up screaming!

URGH so I although I was so anxious to get started, I had to immediatley put it on hold a while... it just may take me the "rest" of the time we live in Texas to hand quilt it!!!