I love to share my Quilting projects with other Quilters. My goal is to share my progress on projects that I am working on. I would love for you to follow along with me during my endeavors. I hope you enjoy watching me tackle new techniques and projects. Hopefully you can learn from my "hiccups" and mistakes and make your journey easier.
Good afternoon! Don’t be too shocked since I am doing a post on the day it is due – I am sure I will be late again in the future! LOL Today has been busy day today which included an early morning walk, grocery shopping, enjoying a 15 minute relaxation in the Sun for my Vitamin D and now working on cutting out leaves for A Bountiful Life. I have the Vines just about finished and ready to sew the leaves and flowers for a finish!
LeavesMore LeavesLeaves for the Flowers
Now it is time to cut and put them all in baggies. I have a few more to iron on and mark and the I will select the flower fabric and how many to do!
I participated in Lori’s Mystery Quilt and have the top finished. Mine is different from Lori’s setting in that I changed block 3 and added more blocks. I am very pleased with the quilt. I may hand quilt it. I love America and yearn for her to come back to us as we have always know her. This is the 2nd quilt I have made using Moda Stars fabric. Still have a lot of fabric left over to use in other projects.
Have a great week – My goals for next Tuesday will be to have the Vine and some leaves appliquéd. If I get too bored working on leaves I will do a few buttons (oops was trying to forget that project!)
Tomorrow I will be getting my Radio Frequency Treatment in my back and it is definitely time! My Sciatic Joint was really talking to me earlier! I will have a nice short nap and then come home and have a reason to just veg in the Recliner!
Yesterday I received a surprise package in the mail from Mary at Hill Country Quilter. A beautiful card for our recent loss, AND then a pattern and fabric to make the same color wheel she has just finished. If you click on her name you will see hers. What a thoughtful Lady to remember us and to send me the gift. I had asked about the pattern when I saw her Color Wheel. Thank you Mary for caring. Have a blessed week! Be sure to check out some of her quilts.
OK – here we go! Weather is my kind of weather – about 49 yesterday morning and topped off in the mid-70’s. I can live with that, but prefer 30’s and 50’s – What a dreamer I am living in the South Texas. I hit the 20 minute mile yesterday, but my watch did not track exactly, so I walked about 37 minutes! Getting back in shape is great. Wednesday I will get my RF treatment and looking forward to it. Today I felt tired, so skipping the walk! I know, I missed another cool day in the low 50’s.
On the 9th of October (my last post) I thought things would be so peaceful and quiet and quilting productivity would increase. Well, that did not happen. I thought I was through with paperwork, but alas I was not and now 9 days later, I have finally finished with Wills, Death Certificates, coordinating with the Choctaws, finalizing our pre-paid Funeral Arrangements along with required paperwork with the exception of the Obits and Eulogies.
The SA Fire Department Honor Guard will really provide so much support for Clay. It is amazing what they do for our Firefighters who had served the city so well during their careers. We still have a few changes to get a good final on the Wills, but all other paperwork has been done. It is now time to move on with life and the living and enjoy each day that we are given!
Now to the few things I did get accomplished and working on since my last post. I have the vines on 3 borders for A Bountiful Life and Saturday night I finished pinning the vine on the top border. During the great Dallas vs Patriot football game (Our Cowboys Won) I am half-way through one side of the top vine. By the time I finish adding leaves and flowers it will be a pretty quilt that I started in 2015 (or 2016).
A Bountiful Life
Lori at Humble Quilts had a 4 part (very easy and small) Land That I Love Mystery Quilt. I decided to follow along. When she got to the last section, I moved in a different direction by changing the Part 3 block and added 3 additional blocks. The blocks are 6″ finished and I am very thrilled with how mine my version has turned out.
Land That I Love measures 37″ x 37″
Never fear for those who love the Dresden Heaven quilt. I have to do some “ripping” to be able to sew all the buttons on in the center of the quilt. I decided that I wanted to get all the leaves and flowers cut and prepared for A Bountiful Life before I go back to the very last UFO’s prior to 2021!
Have a wonderful week, enjoy the Fall weather, and keep on stitching.
I love the week-ends! They are so peaceful and quiet here on our 5 acres! We are so blessed to live in the country rather than the City. I am beginning to get back in shape in my walking and this morning I am not dragging after walking. It has taken a month to recoup from thinking I was getting exercise on that indoor bike, but that is OK. My stress level is really going down and I am grateful for that!
The last 2 weeks were not the most pleasant and were rather difficult and then very I was busy rewriting our Wills and I pray to God that this is the last time we have to do this. For us we no longer have any living children as they are all in Heaven with God. So it is just Clay and I. We are so blessed to have been together 25 years and that we are still here working on 26. The last 7 years have been so difficult and hard to experience, but I truly believe that now life will begin to provide us laughter and peace each day.
The week of the 27th of September was difficult with the Memorial Service for Melissa and this week was just a lot of work with the Wills. We signed up for monthly donations to the Jones Academy a Choctaw boarding school for underprivileged children. They provide support from K through 12th grade for all Native American underprivileged children.
They have 4 wonderful programs to donate to and we picked the Choctaw Pony Project. This project has 8 horses that are direct descendants from the horses that traveled on the Trail of Tears in 1830. The other one is the Evening Enrichment Programing where they use the donations to take the kids to movies, County Fairs, and support their FHA projects. All in all they provide a loving environment, opportunities to learn social skills, and receive their education. The hold the future for all Native Americans, which Clay and I call ”the forgotten ones”.
Additionally, the Choctaw Nation matches all donations which is wonderful. We did 3 memorials for our children who have passed, to the Scholarship Fund. Jones will be the benefactor from our Estate when we pass.
Yesterday seemed to be a day of laughter and fun – even while working on the 2nd review and corrections of the Wills. Things just fell into place for us and that in itself has not happened in a VERY long time. I finished the Will work, we are set up for Fort Sam Cemetary to be our final resting place, and Clay will be receiving some benefits from the Choctaw Tribe that we were unaware of. All in all, by 6:30PM I was finished forever with my work.
Today is a day to just enjoy breathing! I will be working on the borders for A Bountiful Life – Yes I know, I have been saying that for months, but it will happen today. After I get the top and bottom borders on I will begin to cut out the leaves and flowers for applique. There has not bee a lot of button sewing for the Dresden quilt but I am seeing some starting tonight!
During the last couple of weeks I have been looking at Boos and Bats quilt pattern with The Fat Quarter Shop. I have to blame Laura for getting this one going (hopefully next week). I fell in love with it and the fabrics that they used. They used Sleepy Hollow by Andover and Holiday Collections – Halloween and I was the weak one on this and purchased a lot of each piece. I was surprised that Amazon carried the fabrics along with FQS. Here is a sample of the fabrics and they are so lucious. (I could not get the photo below to reduce – sorry)
Next I purchased some great embroider fabric from WebFabrics. It is a Michael Miller Cotton Coutour fabric.
Next temptation was an email from Quiltmania showcasing Dawn Heese. Around 2014, Jaydee sent me a picture of a quilt that she had made and I fell in love with it, but never got around to it. So when I saw the picture of the quilt with Dawn and the fact that she was had the pattern in her new book, I purchased it from Quiltmania. I absolutely love those bunnies!!!! The pattern is called In the Garden!!!
Here is a picture of Jaydee’s quilt before she had sewn it together. I need to get her to send me a picture of the finished quilt. She is quite the appliquer!
So as you can see, life begins anew today and I am want to get back on the Quilt Train and away from negative thoughts even though the world around us is falling apart, we are not going to participate.
One of the things I did when all the work was finished was to call and make reservations for the Choctaw Casino for next month. There are so many places to visit in the area so this trip will be a much needed getaway! We are ready to see new places and visit old places. ME – I am ready to turn off the world with Casino noise! Since I am limited to eggs and potatoes maybe I will lose a few pounds!
I am always late for my To Do Tuesday post, but that is OK. Celiacs who eat 1/3 of a Bear Claw should suffer!!!!
OK, so time is speeding towards Christmas and 2022 and it is interesting that the first 8 months of each year tend to be a little slower in passing than October through December, so watch out for 30 September! I am making great progress on UFOs (finishing up the last 2) and will be starting new things in October. I am excited!
But for the time being, Here are my small goals completed in the last week.
Completed with the border on Dresden Heaven!
Waiting for Buttons!
The last UFO is Beautiful Life quilt border! I have the vines appliqued on the side borders! but I have a problem with the vine on the right one. Looks like Jack the Ripper will be here today to correct that! I have never done a border like this before so Lesson learned – FOLLOW THE LINES STUPID that is why you drew them the same and marked the top and bottom of each side! LOL
A Bountiful Life
Goals for 5 October 2021:
Have buttons sew on Dresden centers
Complete vines on top and bottom borders for ABL (above) and all flowers and leaves prepared for applique
It has been a long 9 months, but I finally have arrived at a point where I will be able to start a new project and I am looking forward to retiring these quilts to the “To Be Quilted Que”!
Have a great rest of the week and the week-end and hoping we receive about 5″ of rain. Then cold weather can come anytime.
Well, I worked on my idea for this quilt most of the day. My idea was to cut a border out of the background fabric and applique pink scallops on the same background fabric of the blocks, but it looked horrible. Then I tried numerous ways to come up with a second design for the border for Dresden Heaven (which is turning into Dresden Hell)….. and that did not work.
The background fabrics for this quilt are from the P&B Apple Cider line and the border is from the same line and the color ties in with the background fabric.
I am happy that I am to this point. Now to sew the buttons on and it will be in the “quilting” que. This one has to be hand quilted, but it will be long stitch quilting as there is not enough to really do heavy quilting. Machine and long arm are out since I chose to go with buttons.
Like I said, it is not what I had envisioned for the border but at least it is done and now I am down to 2 quilts! Yea. The border fabric has a very small swirling pattern and it really compliments the background fabric, but it does not appear that way in the picture. Thanks to Clay, it is a good picture. One good thing about the border I used now can be replaced if I change my mind! But NOT NOW! I am DONE! LOL
Have a wonderful week, happy stitching and hopefully some Fall weather!
Good Sunday morning! Weather was great for my morning walk, but starting tomorrow and the rest of the week the humidity comes back and I certainly hope it brings us some rain!
Today I will be working on the border for my Dresden Heaven quilt. I finished it yesterday and now it needs a border – a special one.
I am also working on the borders for A Bountiful Life which will be vines and leaves with a few flowers mixed in. Today I hope to start on ironing the freezer paper leaves on the fabric and then cutting them out this week. It should go fast because the quilt is only 9 blocks. Maybe I will have it completed in October.
Other than that, it will be another wonderful peaceful and productive quilting day for me.
Good afternoon! We have had very nice weather in the morning for the last 3 days. Great for walking. We will be getting the humidity back starting tomorrow and through next week and hoping for rain. BAMC has finally reimbursed us for the surgery charge and we have now recouped all the monies we paid out last year. It is so hard to believe that it has been 21 months (almost 2 years) since that New Year’s Eve in 2019. But it was such the blessing from God in the end! He has recovered from the hand injury and has a new Heart Valve that provides us more time together! What a blessing!
I have finished sewing Dresden Heaven together this afternoon. I have a special idea for the border that I believe will really make this quilt unique! But for today – here she is without the border.
Dresden Heaven without the Border
I am very excited now about finishing this quilt. It has been a long time in the making and the idea I have for the border is going to be fun to make! It will delay me finishing it by tomorrow, but this quilt requires that I spend more time with the Border. After all the work that went into it a plain border will not do it justice.
As soon as I finish the border I will only have A Bountiful Life (border in the making) and Stars Around the Garden to finish sewing the quilt blocks together! Then it will be time to start a 2021 project! I certainly have a lot of quilts that I want to make to chose from. LOL
On a personal note, on 12 August 2021 Clay lost his only Daughter Melissa who was such a beautiful Lady. She was only 54 years old. She was a carbon copy of her Father in her facial looks with that beautiful Indian Hair (Clay and his children are Choctaws on his Mother Clara June Cook’s side of the family and related to the original Choctaw Chief MoShuLaTubbe). I always wanted my hair to be as thick as hers as I grew older but mine thinned and she always wanted my skin type that I inherited from my French side. We had many good and bad times together with Melissa during the last 25 years. Just as other families experience the ups and downs with their children. She is now at peace with life and with her brother Darryl and her Mother Linda in Heaven. Please remember Clay in your prayers as he was devastated when we got the call. We are doing better now, but the loss is very much on both of our minds as we go on with our lives.
Melissa Dawn Cook Lane – 22 February 1967 – 12 August 2021
Good evening! It was a cool 104 today here at in our town. We are so blessed to have our home and Studio while the world is going absolutely nuts with the lovely uptick of the CV! Tuesday evening we are going to have a cool front arrive – the first of the season! This will certainly make my morning walk a lot easier (it will be in the ’60s rather than the mid-to high 70’s. Hopefully the humidity will also drop!
Today I finished sewing the larger Dresden Plates to the background fabric! YIPEE!
Large Dresden Heaven PlatesSmall Dresden Heaven Plates
I was going to sew the buttons on before I put the quilt top together, BUT, alas, my brain kicked in and realized that I needed to sew the top together WITHOUT BUTTONS or I would have had a BIG mess! So tomorrow will be a day to move the cutting table out and put all the blocks on the design board. It will be fun to see how it turns out. I used 1930 fabrics for this quilt.
I also have the borders for A Bountiful Life cut out and the side borders are marked where the vines will go, so I will be working on that in the evening. Once I get all the vines, leaves, and flowers appliqued on the side borders, I will then mark the top and bottom borders. I am hoping to complete this quilt top by the end of October.
I am really feeling good about getting very close to completing all of my UFOs left over from previous years. After I finish sewing Dresden Heaven together, it will be more night work, but only to sew on 110 buttons.
Hopefully by Wednesday (or sooner) I can start on putting Stars Around the Garden together! All blocks are ready to be sewn together but I have to cut out the sashing strips and after I have the top together, I will have some applique for the top left and bottom right corners. It is easy applique, so I do believe that by the the first of October I will be making a new quilt! I am really getting excited now.
I am not concerned about the quilt tops that I need to complete. On 20 October I get another Radio Frequency treatment that will cauterize the nerves again. After that I will begin to focus on getting those quilts quilted! In November or December, the professional long arm quilter is supposed to call about quilting 10 quilts for me. I have my fingers crossed that this will happen.
Good afternoon! What a weather change today from yesterday! The last 3 days were rather cool with lower humidity, but today it is heading to a 100! UGH! I am back to walking and each day I am getting closer to my 1.5 miles each morning. I have done 1.25 for the last 2 days, takes me a little longer, but in time I will be back to my normal 20 minute mile. I can certainly tell the difference in how my days are better! I also believe that I will start losing the 10 pounds that need to go away.
Today I finished Stonefields quilt top! Anyone wishing to purchase the pattern can have it for $125.00 with postage. I never mark on my originals so it is just as it was when I purchased it at $200.00 (2015) and Sentimental Stitches now sells it for $190. If no one wants it I will keep it as a memory pattern. I purchased this pattern in July 2015! Amazing when life goes South and we end up with long awaited UFOs to be completed! So finish date is September 2021! I would have never thought it would have taken me this long to make the quilt.
Original Stonefields Quilt
I changed the border as I did not want to put anymore time into this project. This is the fabric I used – it is a Robert Kaufman border fabric that came from Japan called La Scala. It is a rich gold and I fussy cut the fabric and it went together beautifully.
So here is Stonefields Redesigned by Nanette! I am very happy how it has turned out and it will go on the rack for hand quilting.
Starting tomorrow I will cut out the border for A Bountiful Life. I am pleased with my decision to not add anymore blocks to this quilt as I am burned out working on it! The border will be vines and leaves. I may get creative and add either flowers or something else, but I want this one finished and do not want to spend 2 months appliquéing the border.
The background is not quite this dark! A Bountiful LIfe – shortened – ready for the border!
Then I plan on getting A Quilter’s Dream marked for hand quilting and loaded on the Z44 – any bets going on out there that maybe by October this will be accomplished? LOL
A Quilter’s Dream by Linda Ballard
I am still working on Dresden Heaven. I have 6 of the 16 large Dresdens sewn to the background grid. I am hoping to be in the mood to complete them this week. I hope that I could have this quilt completed by next Tuesday as it would be a large relief. I started this quilt in August 2016!!! You can see where I am in this UFO here.
The very last UFO will be the completion of the top for Stars Around the Garden! I have the Medallion Center completed and all the star blocks finished also. This LAST UFO was started in the March 2020 timeframe and the Medallion was finished in early 2021. After sewing the top together, the border will require more applique, but not difficult. My goal for completion for these 3 projects will be mid-October and hopefully sooner. It has been a long 9 months trying to finish all of my UFOs, but the end is near and I can start making something new. Heck, I may even pick up with Mary Brown quilt! We shall see as I no longer set short time goals because life always provides Unforeseen Requirements for me as I get a smidgen older! But take heart! I will be back to 100% soon!
Stars Around the Garden Medallion Stars Around the Garden Blocks!
Am I glad that I stopped making new quilts this year so far and deal with all the UFOs? You bet! I still have quilts to quilt, but that will also come in time.
So I leave you with a wish for a Happy Stitching week! I am so looking forward for Fall weather and am sure most all!
Greetings! It was 68 this morning with lower humidity and a nice breeze. I am back to my walking, albeit a little out of shape (lung wise). That will be easily fixed by doing some breathing lessons and walking every day. It has been about 2 months or more since I had to ride the indoor bike which does not require near the energy that my walking does. But I digress from the subject matter!
Last week I made a decision to finish the last 3 UFOs. Dresden Heaven is “close” to being ready to hit the design board, but I have taken a break from it at this time. I then decided that it was time to just ‘FINISH’ the other two. So the second one is Stonefields, one of the most expensive patterns that I have ever purchased and will not do that again! This is a pattern that is not for a beginner, it is a pattern for a Master Quilter who loves math and enjoys a challenge! There are 121 blocks (6 1/2″) in this pattern. I made it to 81! First of all, I became frustrated and tired of the pattern when I quit it for awhile a couple of years ago. I had forgotten why it remained a UFO, but when I picked it up and started making more blocks, I remembered why it had become a UFO! There are absolutely no directions, no measurements, only copies of graph paper with the design hand drawn with this $200 pattern. Colored pictures of the blocks were sent through the internet and Susan Smith is definitely not a proficient hand Appliquer. The quilt is unique and very popular, but as I previously stated, it is not for a beginner quilter. Here is my version of the 81 blocks on my design wall. You will note the Center with 5 Eight Pointed Stars, Cameo pictures, and the cutest Bunny Rabbit. This was my design choice.
Stonefields
I changed many of the blocks in this quilt. Some of the blocks were not my favorites, so I made the quilt for me to enjoy! I will not be doing the border that is on the original quilt as I want to get this one done and out of the way. It will be hand quilted with long stitches.
The next and last UFO will be A Bountiful Life (ABL). I am also sticking to my latest decision to not make any more blocks as 9 blocks will be great as this quilt just needs to be FINISHED! I have selected the pattern for the border which will be vines with leaves and some flowers. As soon as I finish Stonefields ABL will be next.
I have a lot of choice words for the idiot who is turning our country into a Marxism country but will keep them to myself. BUT I will say that this country just may not survive him, Susan Rice, Pelosi, Schumer, Obama and all the idiot Democrats who voted this idiot into office! I just keep on praying that God will intervene and help this Nation return to a Democracy. Yesterday was the most threatening speech to the American public given by a President of the United States that I have ever witnessed. I am only glad that I am retired now and they have no control over me other than to tax us to the poor house.
Happy Labor Day and can anyone tell me where August has gone? I guess it went by just as fast like the other 7 months of 2021. I am concerned that our September will be the old August – HOT HUMID AND MUGGY! I would be happy to see 65 in the mornings with lower humidity rather than 78-80 and 90-95% humidity, but then I am dreaming again. I have increased my daily exercise to 10 minutes walking outside and 30 minutes on the bike. Personally I think I am nuts, but the exercise keeps me healthy, wealthy and wise! LOL
I have finished the Mini-Dresden plates and they are waiting for me to add the buttons. I had a couple of burn out days from working on them everyday for 2 weeks and did not accomplish a lot with the buttons. A quick preview of how the blocks will look with the buttons and a picture of 105 – 5″ blocks waiting for buttons!
105 Mini Dresdens waiting for Buttons Mini Dresdens with Buttons for the Center
I have 16 Large 9″ Dresden Plates to sew to the background fabrics and have 4 finished. I will be working on them in the evening!
After finishing the Dresden Mini’s I knew I was at the point where I had to have a SERIOUS talk with myself about making final decisions on my remaining 2 UFOs. I have been vacillating too long on decisions on what to do with them and it was time to stop that! We have had 2 wonderful weeks of peace and quiet and this has allowed me to make the best decisions on A Bountiful Life and Stonefields. They are now on the road to completion.
A Bountiful Life will only be 9 blocks and I have already selected the border and will be cutting the fabric, marking it for stems and leaves, along a few flowers thrown in! I think she will finish at close to 60″ x 60″. I am pleased with the decision to proceed to completion.
A Bountiful Life
Now Stonefields is another issue. I have 70 blocks completed, but have now weeded out 5 blocks that I did not like (you can see the small stack on the left hand side of the cutting table). I selected the 35 remaining blocks that I will need to make to complete the quilt. I am going to make a total of 100 blocks (original calls for 121!).
Yesterday I started the process of setting the blocks on the design wall. Jaydee reminded me how to do that when you are working with a quilt like this. Thank you Jaydee – you always guide me to where I need to go with a quilt when I need a Mentor.
Stonefields
I do have one issue and am hoping to clear it up. I had the brilliant idea to use the same background fabric for this quilt but one is a little lighter than the other. I now will have to make sure that I make the remaining block with the lighter fabric in order to be able to alternate light/dark setting. Otherwise, I am in trouble. My nice clean and neat room has now turned into chaos! But not for long. I will get organized and things will smooth out.
Today will be to prepare the border for A Bountiful Life and work on Stonefields. I am taking the day off from exercise – feels good and will give me more time to work on my UFOs. I can see more hand work in my future.
The long arm is calling for me to finish Raggity Ann and Andy, but quilting tops will wait until I have finished all the prepping work on the ABL and Stonefields before continue on quilting tops that have hung around a long time.
For the first time in my life, I am taking each day as it comes – no deadlines – no stress! I am realizing that setting a lot of “self imposed” deadlines on finishing my UFOs only causes me more stress and I have had enough stress for awhile. I will enjoy the process as I go along and when I finish something, I will feel productive. We shall see how long this mind set lasts! LOL
Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and enjoy Sunday and Monday (holiday) slow stitching!
It is a very warm week down here in South Texas. Today I have ZIP, NADDA, for energy. This is what happens when I try to be normal in the eating area. Take Philadephia Cream Cheese and Dill Relish off the menu please. Heck, I do better eating a pizza or 2 flour tacos.
But I guess I needed a day to do nothing that I should be doing besides feeling bad, I am very upset with the Afghanistan debacle. There is always tomorrow to catch up – at least for Americans!
I have finished all of the Mini Dresden Plates as far as appliquéing them to the background squares.
The next step was to cut them into separate blocks.
Then I will sew the buttons to the center rather than the lovely circles. I did 5 of them this morning before I realized that I needed to square each of the lovely 105 blocks to 5″. Of course, since this is a dumb day for me today, so I put buttons on 5 blocks, THEN squared them to the 5″. Made a decision to stop for the day as it was a little difficult to square the block with a button in the center.
A day off is also good because I have stirred up my carpel tunnel with all the hand work and have an issue with my left shoulder. Doing something different will be good – Nothing!
Now to the Disaster for our Country. My heart bleeds for the 13 Fallen Soldiers and their families. To watch the “Heartless Commander-in-Chief” look at his watch after each coffin was taken off the plane at Dover just adds one more of the many reasons that this man should be given the 25th Amendment of the United States Constitution on a silver platter!
,When he spoke with the families of the Fallen he had the gall to just talk about his son who died! The Audacity of the man! The sooner he is gone the better for this Nation even if we are stuck with an equal air head VP as President. At the age of 76 I have never seen anything like this in my life, nor in the 33 years of working for the US Government. I can just image how the 20,000 Service Men and Women who were injured, the 2,600+ who gave their lives, to give the Afghan people a taste of freedom, feel, now that the CIC gave the Country back to the Terrorist that we were killing for 20 years. I do wonder if anyone who voted for this person last November has any regrets? IF NOT THEY SHOULD.
I agree with the Mother of one of the soldiers who was killed – EVERY WORD! Blood on his hands forever. I believe that one of the Sisters of one of the Serviceman killed was heard saying to Biden that, “I hope YOU rot in HELL”! I am sure that there is a place for him there.
You won’t hear this on the Mainstream Media – they are still covering up for the person they put in office!
This disaster and the fallout is not over with. Remember Afghanistan in 2022 Elections!
Hugs and enjoy living in a FREE Nation, or at least until the Democrats screw that up too!
