April UFO & a peak at the Japanese Fabric

I have done some work on the April UFO.  I certainly can’t believe that I will finish it before the end of the month.  I still have lots of work.  I am looking forward to the month when an almost done quilt is chosen.  Life did some getting in the way of the quilting. 
DH spent some time in Tokyo, I joined Weight Watchers, and I picked up some extra time at work.

You can see I have a few more rows of applique to sew down.  This quilt is going much slower than I thought that it would.  It is irritating how much I have to scrunch the quilt and make it fit under the machine.  You can see the close up of the flowers.  I have to make the red inside of all the flowers. 
The prints that came home from Japan are border prints.  All but one of the prints have the border on both ends of the print.  I love the variety of the prints and can’t believe the beautiful colors.  When DH said he found me some fabric, this was not what I was expecting.

The “store” was just a street vendor.  I am looking forward to working with them.


Hope to keep in touch,
Just Another Quilter

Current status

I thought I would just give a quick update. 

DH returned last week Wednesday from Japan.  He went through about 5 earthquakes.  He is fine.  He returned with fabric.  I will get some pics and show later.  Today is my only day with no girls and no work this week.   He also brought home some Saki, chopsticks and Chai tea for me.

I went to Weight Watchers today.  Last week I was down 7.5 lbs.  This week 2.5 lbs.  I am so excited.  I just would be happy to make it through this week and stay even.  The key for the week:  Plan ahead.  Decide when to use your points for the week BEFORE you get to Easter dinner.  I will weigh in again on Monday after Easter.  That is a little scary.

We ended up at the Bull vs. Pacers play-off game on Saturday.  What a great game.  I hope they can pull off another win tonight.

We got to see friends in Chicago while we were there.  What a great surprise that was.

Better get quilting.  I only have an hour left before the girls arrive home.

I did work out today. : )

Just Another Quilter

Our little trip to Jamaica

We flew down on St. Patrick’s Day to the island paradise of Jamaica, Mon.  We decided to ask some neighbors if they were interested in going.  So 4 adults and 4 kids headed off.  We had adjoining rooms.  We had a little surprise…they upgraded our room.  (This was our 4th trip to the island.)  The kids enjoyed making a crocodile….then a few days later we saw a few more.

The real crocs were very docile.  The locals must feed them some because the crocs would let the workers actually touch them.  We all thought them as a little crazy.  The Jamaican’s aren’t known for great roads and more than a few of us got sick on the road to see the crocs.  The crocs are located in the brack or brae water (half salt/half fresh water) of the Black River.  We visited the YS Falls just north of the crocs. You can walk up into the falls.  There is zip-lines that fly up over the falls.  We only got to spend about 1 hour here.  Next time we will try to spend the whole day there.

The next place we headed off to was the Appleton Rum Factory.  We have been fans of the Appleton Rum for years.  This distillery has been making rum since 1749.  Many of the old ways are still in practice.  This is also the only woman senior rum blender in the world.

The view from the room is gorgeous and I can’t wait to go back.  I must say, besides the humor and events of our own group this was our least eventful trip in a long time.  We always seem to find eventful situations or it finding us (people lost at sea, fires closing roads, social uprisings, police shootings and famous people showing up).  

My socks are coming along well after lots of airport/airplane time.  I also read 2 almost 3 books.

I wrote this up just before DH left for Tokyo.  I finally had some time to gather up the photos.  Things are going pretty good.  I did sign up for Weight Watchers on Thursday before the "Are you sitting down?" call.  I am doing pretty good considering.  I have taken off most of the Jamiaca weight.   My worst time is after the girls go to bed. 

Just Another Quilter

Life is a rollercoaster

On Thursday about 4:30pm my husband called my cell phone asked if I was sitting down.  I mentioned that I was driving and his comment was “good you are sitting down”.  He said that his work asked him to go to Tokyo.  He left about an hour ago for the airport, less than 48 hours after the initial conversation.  His return ticket is for 2 weeks from now.  However, the exact length of his trip is unknown.  His work decided that he might have knowledge to help with the earthquake disaster cleanup.   He is not excited about going but also thinks that he may be able to help. 
He has traveled for work before.  It was always inside of the US and often for advanced training.  We have been making calls and getting him packed.   We sent water in his suitcase and forks/spoons (so at least he can eat with them in his room).  I have encouraged my girls to eat with chopsticks when we have oriental food, he never does.
Us girls will be just fine, and he will be also.  It just reminds us all how small the world really is and how things can change so quickly.
Please keep us all in your prayers.

Just Another Quilter

March is Done

As most of you know.....I finished my March UFO!!!!
Here is the pic.  I finished quilting and sewed on binding at Retreat at the beginning of the month.  The binding is now finished and strings are all trimmed.   The April UFO is my stacked coins top that needs to be quilted.  I will have to dig it out to get pics.  You can see others finished projects at The Patchwork Times.

Life here is a little crazy.  When it settles down in a couple days I will fill you all in.  Keep our family in your prayers.

Just Another Quilter