I published this blog story a while back. Please take the time to re-read it. I will post an update in a week or two!!!                             

There once was this puppy-

     Boy, what a week!  On Thursday morning, as I was enjoying the peace and quiet in the office (bosses were out of town for a few days- whoo hoo,LOL) in walks one of our truck drivers. He had a little pet taxi with him. He told my shop guy and me that he had found this puppy and kennel abandoned at a truck stop- freezing and hungry. The truck driver had put a big block of snow in the kennel for her to drink from. (I am trying not the judge him- at least he rescued her, put her in his warm cab and brought her to us). As far as the ass who dumped her- I hope someday you are freezing and starving with no one to help you, you rotten bastard. The driver was going to take her to a shelter, but I took her out the kennel and she sure as hell was not going anywhere. I told him I would find her a home and shoved her in my hoody.

        I wanted to get a good look at her to see what breed she was, so I tried to stand her on the work table in the back. The poor little thing could not stand! I thought she had hurt her hind legs or her back. My shop guy poured her a big bowl of milk ( I know this is not good but at this point it was all we had to give her as my turkey sandwich and Fabian’s Captain Crunch were not interesting to her). She at first was not interested in the milk, and just slept in my arms for a while. Going to the bathroom was quite interesting as I did not want to put her down. But now I know I can do it one handed if I ever need to- haha. TMI- I know.

       I made the obligatory call to hubby-“come help me, I rescued a puppy”. Of course, he answered with “What do you need me to do?” So, while he was on his way to my work with some food for her, this sweet little girl finally woke up enough and warmed up enough to want some of that milk. And she drank, and drank, and drank. About 20 minutes later she was up and running all over the office- eyes brighter, ears up, tail wagging, and peeing all over the floor. Success!

    I was finally able to get a good picture of her and posted it on Facebook, asking if any of my friends were interested in this puppy. Bob showed up with the food and suggested I contact our vet to see if they do any pro-bono type work with stray puppies. One- I hate asking for free stuff, and two- this place is not known for being cheap, but we do love them! So, I called, and the sweet gal that answered the phone said ”yes- we do that all the time for adoptions for strays, etc.” and she told me she would have the main vet call me back.

      I got a text from a friend at one point that said “looks like you found a home for her” WHAT? I had not checked on Facebook as I had been pre-occupied cleaning up pee spots :) Actually, there were several offers to give this sweet thing a home! The first person to respond is a dear friend I worked with several years ago. She has another dog, a cat and 2 great kids- a wonderful family for a puppy! She wanted to come look at her! Fortunately she lives very close to where I work.

     She showed up a few hours later, sent a pic to her hubby and left with the puppy! I did not even cry as I knew this little one was going to be loved and well cared for. I would have loved to have kept her, but we have 4 critters and live in small place. I know we could have given her the love she needed, but I knew she was better off with my friend.

   The next morning my awesome vet called me, I gave him my friends’ number, and they have an appointment! He said they would give her a free well puppy check, and a discount on shots and getting her spayed. If you live near Lafayette, Co go see Dr. Dodge and his staff at Jasper Animal Hospital. They truly love their patients and it shows!

   I texted my friend to see how the puppy was doing- they have named her GRACIE! I think that name is absolutely perfect! She is fitting in well, and Amy says she is a joy! I promised her I would not nag her all of the time for updates- I hope I can keep that promise!

  Here is Gracie in all her glory-

    Have a great week everyone!

Oh where oh where have I been??

 Hi everyone!  I am so​ ​sorry that I have not posted since last year.  Ok, so it is more like 6 months, but after you hear what has been going on you will understand. And if you don’t, quit reading my blog. HAHA! Contrary to what you may be thinking, I was not in prison or re-hab. Though I am sure some of you will think I should be institutionalized for this latest adventure!!

Last fall a friend had told me about a trip she had taken to Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, MO. MSQC has been on my bucket list for several years. The whole town is quilt shops. It started out with one, and has now morphed into 13 different shops. A quilter’s heaven. My sweet friend explained how she met someone who worked for Missouri Star and how much they loved it. While I wasn’t really looking for a new job, the Denver housing market had really taken off- which means people were paying $1500/month for a crappy 2 bedroom apartments. This was becoming quite ridiculous for us.

On a whim, after chatting with my friend D, I got on the MSQC website and applied for a job, thinking nothing would come out of it. I had several other things fall through prior to this and figured this would just be another disappointment.

Well, here we are, 5 months later living in beautiful little Hamilton, MO with a great house and big backyard, paying wayyyyy less for the house than we were paying for our place in Denver. Every time I let the dogs out and watch them run with their little ears flapping in the wind, it makes me smile.

I basically bought our house online, and didn’t even get a chance to look at the inside until after I got here in November. I lived out of suitcases for 3 weeks, staying with my new co-workers and in other various places, while Bob stayed behind with the critters and did all the packing. Bless his heart!!! I even got FORCED to participate in a quilt retreat shortly after I arrived. That was torture, I tell you. NOT. Due to the fact I work in the retreat center they wanted me to participate in one so I could give feedback based on the experience. It was a tough assignment, but I pulled myself together enough to do it. It was fortunate I had brought my sewing machine with me, and of course several projects. Quilters are always prepared! I would highly suggest to anyone that a retreat here is fantastic, and worth every penny. I met some great people during that retreat, and some are even coming back later this year! Hi Christine and Terri!

We are loving small town life. We ended up moving into our house on Thanksgiving. Thank goodness, my brother and his wife made the 3-hour trek (Thought I was going to say 3 hour tour, didn’t you?) to help. While unpacking, our wonderful new neighbors showed up with a full turkey dinner for us all. (My plan for Thanksgiving dinner was Casey’s pizza) It made me cry. I could not even believe it. It was the nicest thing to do, and nice things just keep happening.  I love that Betty who works in the post office asked how we fared through our first tornado warning (BTW it was not fun but thank God, I had wine in the fridge), that when you check out at the grocery store your bags get taken to your car, and getting to know all of my new, wonderful co-workers. I thought I would miss the big city, but I do not. Not one bit. I do miss my kids- though one left Denver shortly after we did and moved across the country. Good thing I didn’t stick around just for her- brat. And of course I do miss my quilting peeps. A lot.  Thank goodness for social media and cell phones!

I am getting some sewing in- I have a few secret projects going on now that I cannot share quite yet. I will share them with you all very soon. Of course, my sewing room was the first thing I set up. Who needs organized bedrooms anyway? As long as I can find some clean underwear and a pair of jeans I am good. 

We have had a few visitors- my brother and his wife came and helped us move on Thanksgiving; our friends Kevin and Becky saved our lives by driving Bob to Denver, helped pack up our old storage shed and bringing all the crap valuable stuff back here; and our friends Ed and Terry surprised us with a last minute visit a few weekends ago and we had such fun! We also have some more company coming this spring and summer. I am so looking forward to all of them!

If anyone comes through Hamilton, please stop in the retreat/sewing center and say hello. If my office isn’t in there anymore someone in the shops can find me:)

Thanks for hanging in there with me, peeps! I promise not to be such a stranger.

Happy quilting!

Courtenay

                                    Another Retreat in the Books

  Hello everyone! Last weekend was my semi-annual quilt retreat. I think we have one of the best weekends, as the colors of the leaves up in the mountains are just perfect, as well as the weather!

  We all got a lot of sewing done, some eating and plenty of drinking! Michele had her Silhouette machine and was cutting vinyl like a crazy woman! She made this for me- I love it!

                                        Crack Whore Tip Bowl

  I got a few things done- Mrs. Chillingsworth was completed- I still need to quilt her-

Mrs. Chillingsworth

  I sewed this top- I used a template called Flowering Snowball. I loved that Kaffe fabric- and I think I am going to add a wide white border and applique on it. It just isn’t big enough for me. I now have to design something- it might go into the UFO pile for a while until the inspiration hits me.

Another finished quilt

  I also pieced this top and got it layered and stitched in the ditch. Now I need to go back and finish quilting it. I used a batting I had not used before – Quilter’s Dream wool. I only use wool battings in my flannel quilts- it makes them nice and light but toasty at the same time.  It is very puffy- and I love it so far! I am sure the dogs will love snuggling under it this winter!

                                     

  Judy pieced this beautiful Quilts of Valor quilt. She amazes all of us how much she gets done at retreat. She is such a supporter of that organization- she makes many of these during the year.

                               Red, White and Blue  Valor Quilt

      Roxanne whipped these beautiful table runners out- and used a nifty Sashiko machine to quilt it. Beautiful!

                                      Roxannes table runners

  Denese pieced this beautiful Labyrinth quilt- she also finished another top but it is a secret so I won’t share that one!

  Jan was working on the biggest top I have ever seen, but I did not get a picture of that. Eileen was working on a paper pieced project that has been taking up a lot of her time, and Lexie was working on an applique beauty that I failed to get a picture of.

  Laurie worked on this LITTLE quilt top- isn’t it pretty???

Laurie's Quilt

                              

  Roxanne also made this precious mini quilt- love it!

                                       Roxanne's Little quilt

I took this quilt for show and tell- it is a UFO from years ago- I am happy with the way it turned out-

                                           My Halloween Quilt

     We also had a special treat this time- Jan’s son Kurt cooked us Friday lunch. Here he is plating our food- ( the only time that happened all weekend)

                                                        Kurt

  It was a wonderful meal- and we all felt very spoiled.

   I am already looking forward to the next one. I so enjoy spending time with my peeps- and love them all so very much!

Craftsy Labor Day Online Class Sale!!!

Time on your hands with the kiddos back in school? This is a perfect time to take a Craftsy online class!!!!

Quilting, sewing, knitting, painting, photography, baking, cooking, jewelry making, and much, much more!!

...

Selected classes up to 50% off!!!! Use this link for great savings!!!!

http://www.craftsy.com/ext/CourtenayHughes_holiday

                When One Door Closes Another Opens,

and Sometimes it is Literal

   Hi all!  Last week I received the news that a local quilt shop was closing its doors. While I did not frequent this shop all that much (I have had myself on a tight budget lately) it is a bummer. I had worked at this shop several years ago before it changed owners and loved it. I met a lot of great people- and am still in touch with some of them. One of which happens to be my bossJ. While the new owner was always very gracious and kind when I did go in, it just wasn’t the same. It had also changed the locations so it wasn’t familiar at all anymore.

   Then, on Saturday while perusing Facebook a friend of mine had posted something regarding fabric, to which one of her friends replied indicating there was a new quilt shop close by. WHAT??? How in the hell did that happen without me knowing, the one who tries to know all shops quilting? I asked the friends’ friend- who I do not know- where I can find this shop and she kindly responded quickly with the website of said shop.

  After perusing the website, and noting it was open on Sundays, plans were made for the following day. We are not going to mention I had just got back from a day spent at a quilt show and also visited a quilt shop. It is an addiction- I know. MY NAME IS COURTENAY AND I AM A QUILTING ADDICT. There- I said it. Let’s move on.

www.aquilterscorner.com


  After forcing (asking) hubby to drive, off we went. We arrived at the shop and the minute I entered I loved it. I was greeted by Marci, the owner, and then saw this wall of Kaffe. It was like a light shined down from the heavens- ok, so I am being melodramatic but it was beautiful.

Kaffe Wall

  After wondering around for a bit while Marci was finishing up with her customer, I was drooling so much Bob had to go to the car and get me a napkin. I saw a large selection of Grunge fabrics, solids, Denyse Schmidts’ new line, pretty flannels, fall, Halloween, Christmas, reproductions, etc. The shop is so new the plastic was even on some of the bolts!

   I soon got to chat with Marci a bit. What a sweet woman! The shop wasn’t supposed to be open until next month, but she decided since she was always there anywhere she may as well open the doors! I loved how she wrapped my purchases (a pattern because I need more patterns, a piece of light background and a squirrel) in pretty tissue and gave me a pretty bag to put them in. Are you now wondering what the hell is a squirrel doing at a quilt shop? Well- turns out she has a few home deco items as well. She has these great pickets for sale, and some cool critters that hand from them. One of which happened to be a squirrel, my favorite critter! Now I have to save up to get the picket to hang him from, but for now he is sitting on a shelf in my kitchen, waiting patiently for me to get my act together. Guess I need to make a trip to East Colfax- those of you that don’t know the significance of it just think Bunny Ranch but on a stretch of road in Denver. Maybe by this time next year I will have the money haha.

Squirrel and Picket

Squirrel

  I am looking forward to visit again soon- and I encourage anyone who is the Erie/Lafayette/Louisville are to stop by. You won’t be sorry!

A Quilters Corner

71 Erie Parkway, Unit 104

Erie, CO 80516
720-328-8181

                                                       Trying to stay cool-

  Hello everyone!  Boy, summer has finally arrived! Our A/C went out last week- thank goodness our complex jumped on getting it fixed- right after they got rid of the 9 wasp nests that were inside of it!

  The hubs took me to the south end of town a few weekends ago to try out a cupcake shop I’ve been wanting to try. They did not disappoint! One the way home he asked if I needed to go to the quilt shop (already knowing what the answer would be) and we stopped. I have been very good at not buying fabric for the heck of it- but this one I could not resist. Look at those faces! I bought 3 damn yards- and No, I don’t have a clue what I am going to do with it. Don’t judge me-

 

Mermaid Fabric

 I also have been working on another baby quilt for my daughter’s friend. I will share pics after the quilt has been given. Last Sunday I started my machine up and the damn thing wouldn’t sew! Now- I have been trouble shooting students’ problems with their machines for years, and have usually been successful at determining the issue. I have not had any trouble with my machine since I bought it. I am kind of freakishly anal about keeping my machine clean- thank you to all my teacher friends and bosses who stressed that a clean machine is a happy machine! I had just cleaned out the darn thing, very well I might add, after the last time I used it. Did I put something back in wrong? There is only one way the bobbin case goes in- I took it back out and put it back in a dozen times. I also re- threaded it about 40 times. Still no luck. Of course this was on a Sunday when no place is open for machine repair. RATS! (I said a lot worse than that- ask Bob) So, Tuesday after work we took it to a new shop I was trying out. They called on Thursday- yes 2 days later- and said it was ready. I asked the repair guy what was wrong and he told me he took the bobbin case out and put it back in. NO FUCKING WAY. I don’t believe him. LOL.

   I was impressed they got it turned around so quickly- they also did the yearly maintenance on it for me. Another place I called wanted to keep it 3 weeks just for the maintenance part- maybe longer if I needed any new parts. Now- anyone that knows me well knows that me without a machine for 3 weeks could be ugly. Bob was terrified at the idea- thank goodness I ran into the new place and checked it out. I have tried it out on these fun, fast wallets- and it is running like a dream!

Wallets

                                                                     

     I also finished up a 3 year old UFO- can I get an Hallelujah?  I didn’t want to do a lot of fancy quilting. I tried to make this scrappy, but then when I put all the blocks together I hated that bright red block. And I am not thrilled with a few others. Oh well. Lesson learned- I threw it in the wash to get all of the critter hair off of it. It shrunk up nicely!

                                                                       embroidered quilt

    Due to the fact my machine was out of commission, I actually got to read a book! I bought the book by Sue Klebold, the mother of one of the shooters at Columbine. All I can say is wow- it is an amazing read- but you do have to put it down every few hours to catch your breath and hug your kids. She is very brave to tell her story- and all of the proceeds from her book go to a few mental/brain health charities. I think that is great. I admit- as a mother of young children when it happened I remember thinking “how could they not know?” And now as the mother of now 25/26 year olds- I totally understand. She was very involved in her children’s lives- almost a helicopter parent- and Columbine still happened. Read it if you can handle it.

     Well dear readers I hope you are enjoying this time of year-

 Courtenay

  LOOK WHAT I FOUND

  I am sure you have seen all of the fun coloring books that have been for sale in the recent months. They have been popping up everywhere. While they look interesting, they use to have absolutely no appeal to me. I do not like to color- never have.

  When I was young (yeah- they had coloring books back then, smartasses) my mother bought me a huge coloring book. It was called The Night Before Christmas, and the pages were probably 24 x 36. I think I might have colored in it twice. I do not know what my aversion is to coloring- I am sure it has to so with some childhood trauma but I haven’t quite figured out what that was.

  A few years back Crabapple Hill Studio came out with a pattern called A Gardener’s Alphabet. I loved it. However, there was coloring involved- and a lot of it. Thank goodness for good friends that just so happen to love to color. Lexie actually volunteered to color all of the letters for me.   I have already shared some of the ones I embroidered- and no they aren’t all don’t yet either. Don’t judge me.

Gardener's Alphabet

  Then, the same darn company came out with some new patterns involving witches- and OMG are they awesome! Who will I con get to color the freakin’ things for me? Rachel, the very sweet daughter of my friend Terry came to the rescue. All I had to do was give her my fabric and she is tracing and coloring away as the patterns come out. How sweet is that? Have I started to embroider these yet? Hell no- and again, you best not be judging my ass.

The Mystery of the Salem Witches Quilt Guild #1

The Mystery of the Salem Witches Quilt Guild #2

   I was at a quilt show a while back with my peeps. I spotted a skull coloring book and thought “how cool- too bad I don’t color”. Then my friend Terry pointed out that I can use the pages for embroidery designs- OMG! The heavens even opened up and a light shined down! It was really probably the lights flickering telling us the quilt show was over and to get the hell out- but lets go with the heavens-it's a better story. A whole new world opened up for me. Of course I bought the book- and I have I used it yet? NOOOO- but let’s not go there. Remember- no judging allowed!

Skull Coloring Book

  Then, Lo and Behold- the mother-load of all coloring books came out. SWEAR WORDS!  They published it like it was meant for me! Of course I bought it, thinking a few of my friends needed an embroidery with some of these words on it- LOL. I love the fact that the cuss words have little kittens and dogs and flowers and rainbows all around the words. That cracks me up. I found it on Amazon.com- the web site that has everything.

The Mother of All Coloring Books

  So, now I am looking at all of those coloring books in a different light- can I use them for hand embroidery patterns? If so, which of my other friends can I con into coloring for me? My poor friends.

   Have a great rest of your day, my friends! I better go get some hand work done-

           Where, oh where 

 has the slacker blogger gone??

 I am so sorry I have not posted anything recently. Life has been nutty- working 2 jobs(sometimes 3) has really been taxing on this old hag.

 I have done a little bit of sewing the last month. I sewed 2 of these for a friend from my retail job-

Peyton Manning's Bronco Purse

 Funny story about this pattern.  My friend, Leslie, got this pattern from a friend of hers. When she handed me the pattern I giggled. The pattern designer is a gal I used to work with! She has many patterns published now and is also an amazing long-armer. SMALL WORLD!  Right at this moment Kristy is in Salt Lake City at Quilt Market selling her wonderful patterns. Here is a link to her website- and if you are in the Denver area and need a long-armer contact her. She is wonderful.

http://wolfquilting.com/

 I also made this adorable quilt for a friend’s new grand daughter.  It was very fun to make-

Zebra Quilt

  I have also sewn this little quilt top- it went together beautifully and I love the fabrics in it-

Mini Quilt Top

I also finished up a few UFO’s- and we aren’t going to mention how long they have been UFO’s- I am just glad to get them done!

 

UFO

  Well, I am hoping to have more time to sew now. Tuesday was my last day working retail. I approached my day job and as we are getting hammered with business asked if they would like me to work more hours for them and I would quit the other job. So, now I get to get home every night by 5:30 and only have to work 'til noon on Saturdays. I am thrilled. I am also taking a bit of a long weekend off for Memorial Day weekend. I see lots of napping and sewing in the forecast J. And maybe a wiener or 2. Get your minds out of the gutter- I think Bob is finally going to fire up the gas grill I bought him for father’s day last year and we will get some Ball Park franks on that baby!

  I must say the one thing I will miss about my retail job is the wonderful staff that I worked with. You know when you meet someone and almost immediately think “you will be a friend for the rest of my life and where the hell have you been”? Well, I am so happy I met Leslie. She reminds me of my dear friend, Penny who lives a million miles away. Leslie and I connected right from the start- we both have potty mouths, love Jon Snow (if you don’t know who that is quit reading my blog right now and go watch Game of Thrones) and Fifty Shades of Grey. She conned me into making her those damn Bronco purses and some wallets and in return I get free haircuts. I won’t need to pay for a haircut for at least 10 years LOL. I will miss seeing her 2 times a week but will keep in touch. Thank God for texting and Facebook!

I hope to get to blog a bit more- and sew a lot more.

Thank you for not giving up on me-

Court

SUMMERTIME QUILTING PROJECT

LONE STAR ONLINE QUILTING CLASS

Lone star online quilting class. Buy it once and use it again and again. Any time you want. Great summer sewing project. Click on the link below for details and to order the class.

www.craftsy.com/ext/CourtenayHughes_464_H

                                                 Boundless Fabric- Ooh lala!

  Recently I was asked to sew one sample block out of a quilt kit for Craftsy, who now has their very own fabric line called Boundless. I sewed up one- 24” block out of a 80” x 108” quilt. It is all red and white fabrics and I have always wanted to make a red and white quilt. There were a few rules. The first one was no pre-washing- WTH? That one freaked me out as I am an avid pre-washer. The other was I was not allowed to put steam in the iron when pressing. I was not sure I could do this project after all. But, since I am my mother’s daughter (stubborn) I plugged away. Thank goodness I was allowed to use starch!

  I decided I would cut the whole fabric kit up and get the rest of the pieces ready to sew at a later date. I figured if I am cutting for one block I may as well cut everything. Well, after ten hours (not really but it seemed  like it)  of cutting and a new 60MM rotary blade I finally got it all cut and was ready to sew, but it was lunch time.  God forbid I sew when I am hungry. As I grabbed George the cat off of the ironing board to take her out of my sewing room so she didn’t screw around with my 100,000 tiny pieces of fabric while I was gone. However, instead of going willingly, she did this- accidentally. I almost cried-

   After a pitcher of margaritas at lunch I was ready to start sewing.  The block came out great, although once it was done and feedback was sent I do admit I hit it with a shit load of steam after the fact! I did enjoy working with the fabric, and I look forward to finishing the quilt- someday. Maybe in 2020.

  For my own sanity (the little I have left)  I did soak the red fabrics in hot water overnight, and the fabric did not bleed at all. I was impressed. I am very pleased to know that as I was a tad worried about the finished quilt bleeding. Whoo Hoo!

  Craftsy is having a nice Boundless sale on their website- if you would like to shop,  follow my link below so they know I sent you (I might even get a little credit).

 http://www.craftsy.com/ext/CourtenayHughes_Boundless

Have fun!!!!

NEW FABRIC LINE FROM CRAFTSY

 

 

Do you want to use wonderful fabric in your next project? Then use Boundless fabric from Craftsy. I was lucky enough to use this on a test block for them- and I loved it! The block went together perfectly, there was no fraying and the red fabric did not run when I tested it. Use my link below so they know who sent you- and shop til you drop!

http://www.craftsy.com/ext/CourtenayHughes_Boundless



 

                                           The Eagle Babies are Back!

   Last year I got turned on to this most wonderful website,

 http://www.berry.edu/eaglecam/

  It is a tad addicting, so beware! You can sit for hours watching one of the most beautiful creatures on this planet we call Earth. Last year the couple had 2 babies, and this year they have another 2! I must admit it can get a little brutal when the mother is ripping the trout apart to give it to the babies, but this is nature. It is not the Disney channel LOL.

 

   My bosses aren’t too happy with me when the eggs hatch- my attention is given to the baby eagles rather than with typing quotes and answering phones.

 

  I think it is so wonderful that the college made the webcam available to all of us, as this is something we could never see otherwise.

    Gotta run- I have to see what the babies are up to-

The Other Eagles!