August 2021 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Dresden Plates and Sadness for Our Country

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!

Nanette

Linking To: My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts; Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday, Scrap Happy Days, Quilting Patch Linky Party To-Do-Tuesdays;PHD in 2021;

August 29, 2021

Slow Sunday Stitching

Yup! August is a done deal (only 2 days to go)! Hot and humid was the weather of the day here! I am now trying to walk 10 minutes in the Sauna bath and then 30 minutes on the indoor exercise bike. Makes it possible to get those endorphins going each day. Not doing anything for those 10 pounds, but it will eventually!

I have really been working steadily on Dresden Heaven quilt. I have completed appliquéing 96 of the 105 Mini Dresden plates to the background grids! YEA. Only 9 more to do today. Then I have 16 Large Dresden plates to applique to 10” background fabric.

I am NOT going to do 105 one inch circles for the center of the Mini’s or the Large Dresden Plates. I have decided to use buttons instead and ordered them from Amazon Friday. I am hoping that there will be plenty to match colors.

93 Mini Dresden Plates – Ready for Buttons!

After I have completed the above grid, I will prepare the background grids for the larger Dresden Plates and applique them to the background fabric. After that, the next step will be to cut the individual blocks and then sew the buttons on.

When I finish this top (hopefully in the next 2 weeks or sooner), I will be down to only 2 UFOs remaining from previous years. A Bountiful Life and Stonefields. This quilt will be hand quilted with long stitching. I plan on advising a piano key border using as many of the 1930 fabrics that I have. If I have enough, it will be all the fabrics that I used in the Dresden Plates!

I have had a great week of peace and quiet – absolutely no problems. BAMC has generated a check to cover the remaining balance due back to us. So relieved that project is complete. So I can finally say that our normal lives are coming back to us. Sometimes we tend to forget how wonderful it is to not have to deal with problems and when things calm down, it is a wonderful gift!

Pray for the families of those lost in Afghanistan.

Hugs, Nanette

August 29, 2021

In Memoriam -26 August 2021 – Lest We Not Forget

Today I leave you with this.

A tribute to our fallen Angels and may God protect and give their families and friends peace. Take a minute to view this beautiful portrayal of how heart wrenching this is for those left behind.

May God Bless and Watch over this Great Nation at our time of need.

Hugs,

Nanette

August 25, 2021

To Do Tuesday – 25 August 2021 – A Day Late!

GREETINGS! I am so happy, our lives are becoming so boring and we love it. No drama for the last 5 days – almost to my goal of having 7 days of no DRAMA and NO PROBLEMS. Our 7 years of hard and stressful years must be coming to an end and life is settling back to normal for Clay and I. We are healthy and are enjoying getting back to enjoying our home and freedom from stress. A new phase of our life! We are truly blessed. I have the greatest housekeeper who is great and always shows up on time and never cancels. I really appreciate her dedication to her work.

I am keeping my goals daily. Walk once to the gate, so when the weather cools down I can be ready to do my 30 minute walk again. Then each morning I do my 30 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes with my Sun Lamp, and finally 15 minutes in the sun for more Vitamin D. Baby bananas are back in the diet for potassium, so all in all, I am happy to be able to do my “must do list” for health and then work on my UFOs.

The following UFOs are remaining from 2020 and beyond.

Dresden Plates – Continue stitching plates to background grid
Stonefields – Sections 7-10 – will limit blocks to 100.
A Bountiful Life – 7 blocks to finish (16 total) plus a border

The following quilting projects are in work.

A Quilter’s Dream – Trace quilting patterns and load in Z44
Continue quilting Raggedy Ann and Andy (Row 1 completed) I would like to finish this one by next week for PHD 2021 – we shall see.

Completions for the week of 16-22 August 2021

I have completed 72 of the 105 Dresden Plates so I have only 33 to sew to the background grids. Feeling good about this.

On Sunday I finished sewing 10 labels to the quilts I had quilted and 2 table runners. This felt good. They now reside on the quilt rack in the Library and Den.

Seven Quilts Completed from June – July 2021

I have slowly plodded along in getting caught up, but believe me when I say that I am ready to make more quilt tops, Cross Stitch, Lap Hoop work, Knitting, etc. The only project that I am not sure of how many more hours to put into is A Bountiful Life. I vacillate back and forth as whether to just do a border with 9 blocks or continue on with 16 blocks. I am afraid that I am just tired of that quilt and just want it done – no matter what it looks like. (But of course, that is today’s feelings – things change so maybe I will feel better when I finish Dresden Heaven). I just miss creating something new.

Have a wonderful week of stitching, or maybe just enjoy each and every day!

Hugs, Nanette

August 23, 2021

HQAL – 22 August 2021

Well, not much to report from this neck of the woods as far as accomplishments, but I will offer what I have accomplished in the month of August (not a lot to brag about). There have been some issues that took me away from quiet time here, one of which was working with BAMC and BCBS on reimbursements and Doctor appointments. BAMC will reimburse us for the charges that were erroneously handled by their billing errors and not paid by Medicare. BCBS sent a payment for their part. All in all, by NOVEMBER 2021 we will have been reimbursed 100% of monies paid out to BAMC in 2020. By then it will have been 18 months for us to receive.

Life will be getting back to normal now and I am looking forward to September 2021. I pray for a very BORING life to begin again for us. We need a break!

I have finished sewing labels on 10 quilts.

I have finished 9 more Dresdens – The Pinky Ones. 56 Completed of the 105 small Dresdens sew on the grid background.

Certainly I can accomplish much more for our next HQAL in 3 weeks – either than or give up on quilting! LOL.

Have a blessed and happy week and enjoy stitching.

Hugs, Nanette

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piercers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Sharon, Sherrie, Karrin, Daisey, Connie,

August 23, 2021

Slow Stitching Sunday – 22 August 2021

We can begin to kiss August goodbye and hello to September and hopefully Fall! Ah cooler weather. I have not been able to get a lot done, but today I did finish putting all labels on 10 quilts (1 wall hanging (small) and 2 table runners). These are all old OLD UFOs that required my attention. I always put labels on my quilts, although I do believe some have slipped through the crack in the past.

It is important to have that label attached for historical purposes for family, friends, or whomever ends up with your quilts.

It always feels so good to finish up projects that have been hanging around for so long. I have 3 more quilts that were among the first of my quilts made as I began my quilting journey, one is in the process of being quilted and the other 2 are hanging on the rack to be quilted by long stitch quilting by hand.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy your Slow Stitching Sunday!

Hugs, Nanette

August 15, 2021

Slow Sunday Stitching – 15 August 2021

Summer is here in full force and we are half way through August! The last 2 days were very nice and the heat did not bother me because we had nice winds that helped cool one off a little if one were outside. Today there is no wind and I think there is a chance for some rain for some people.

Another getaway cancelled – thanks to Biden and his Borderless Country! So we will go in December, maybe everyone will be staying home at Christmas and we can go play!

We had such a busy week and Friday I was tired, but active. Yesterday I finished with my “paperwork” goals and that really makes me happy! Did a lot of shredding, but everything is up to date for our Lawyer. YEA!!!

I started quilting Raggity Ann and Andy this morning, but after quilting one row I am done with that for the day. Not sure, but could be Mr Fibro. But then again maybe it is BAMC sickness! LOL! But wait, that is what Slow Sunday Stitching is all about! REST and Relaxation!

I have completed another section of 9 Dresden Plates! They are the Pinky ones. I have 63 completed (without circles) and 42 more to stitch down. Then the Circle Party begins.

Now that I am looking at the picture, they are not true colors, oh well, what can I say! Lazy Sunday,

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week! Enjoy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

August 12, 2021August 12, 2021

How is Life Treating You These Days?

First I must say, please click on the link below and realize what is going on in this Country. Lori sent me this clip and I felt it needs to be seen. I am also adding some background information that Lori commented on below. “The woman in the video works (or worked) for the CDC. The CDC had also published (and has since taken down) that only 6% of deaths were actually from Covid (as the cause). They also stated that the PCR test that is used canot tell the difference ebtween Covid and the flu. So, what is one to beleive?”

https://www.bitchute.com/video/iHIOlGIxevoc/. Interesting isn’t it!

WELL if this doesn’t make you think, then listen to what has happened to me because of our Government that is not working well. As most of you down for the last year I have been in a paper battle with Medicare, WEB-TBA and waiting on BCBS to process our reimbursement claim when Clay was an Outpatient for his 2nd hand surgery after the trauma event.

I prepared 3 THREE EACH 250 page submissions to 3 THREE Insurance Companies. There was hell to pay trying to get our money back. I filed 3 THREE Congressional Inquiries with our Senators and House Representative to no avail.

This morning, I found out that BAMC IN JULY 2020 moved the Outpatient Surgery Bill ($5,240.00) to be filed under Part A of Medicare instead of Part B AND DID NOT ADVISE ME. Therefore because BAMC told us to pay the bills as they came in or it would be turned over to US Treasury within 60 days, we paid all bills totaling $6, 782.00 through the end of June 2020. IT HAS TAKEN ONE YEAR TO FINALY GET IT THROUGH ALL 3 INSURANCES, only to find out that BAMC will have to refund our $5,240.00, and then ALL 3 insurance companies (including Medicare) will come back to us and ask for a refund for whatever they have paid us. Sounds great HUH?

Well, I am asking for prayers for me so that I will not worry about the year that I have spent doing all the work I did unnecessarily, all the Stressful Days, and all the stress it put on my body.

I have requested that BAMC refund us $5,240.00 immediately since they are filing the claim under Part A of Medicare (and we have no responsibility for any of this bill). Now for those who do not understand the Government IMMEDIATELY will mean within 6 weeks if the Deputy of the Unified Billing Office at BAMC can achieve that level of expediting, otherwise it would take 9 months for the Government.

I will say that I have the most respect FOR ALL PERSONNEL AT BAMC. They were acting on what their internal procedures were and the were so supportive with me when I realized how massive the paperwork had been put on me.

So I leave you with this saying, “this too shall pass”. I will get over the shock, the loss of a year for naught, and that with some supporting prayers, I will rise up and become a solid quilter again.

My life will be much better. My health is doing great, just need to relax, lose 10 pounds (BAMC caused this, LOL) and watch my Potassium and my Vitamin D levels. I am grateful for good health because these 3 things are under my control.

I no longer trust my Government as they are liars, incompetent employees, and do not care about this Country nor do they care about you! Remember, I worked for them and respected them for the 33 years that I worked for them! NO MORE!

We will cancel our September vacation as we do not wish to get the Chinese Virus and all the Variants that the Illegal Aliens are bringing in to this country. Maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas will find us near the water. But for now, I will get over this shock that was just given to me because God has blessed Clay and I and our health is great.

NOW ON TO QUILTING! Have a great week-end, stay cool if it is hot in your hometown, and put on a coat if you are cold! (just let me know where the cold is – LOL)

Thanking you in advance for Prayer Support – I will recoup from this quickly because I know God will take care of it all.

Hugs, Nanette

August 8, 2021August 9, 2021

Slow Sunday Stitching – VERY SLOW!

Welcome to South Texas where it is just to hot and humid to be outside! One day I will realize that I am not 50 and cannot take a lot of this hot humid weather! (Not sure when that will be…).

I am recouperating from a marathon cleaning of the Studio Rooms. I may be worn out, but it was so worth it. From the cleaned out bookcase and getting fabrics back in the right place in Room 1 to cleaning out 37 Elfa drawers, miscellaneous binders, downloaded patterns that were printed out and never will be made, to preparing a gift box for Susan in Room 2! She will have a field day on reading her new books and enjoy making something pretty with the fabrics that I am passing on to her.

It always feels so good to share with others. Lisa stopped by yesterday and I loaded her down with beginning books for her. She will also have plenty to read and stay busy learning all about our quilting world.

The last 2 years I tended to just put things here and there in different drawers, not really remembering what I had purchased and when. I now know where everything is and so ready to start on a new quilt, BUT, alas, I have 7 quilts to quilt on the long arm and hoping to have them done by the end of August – quilted and binding hand sewn. I also found my copy of A Quilter’s Dream pattern!!! YUP, I had attended a workshop class with NB Guild in mid-2000. It was a walk down memory lane for sure!

Yesterday I finished making the labels for 8 quilts and 2 table runners. For some reason I decided to make them larger than I usually do, but these are older projects and some had a history behind them.

I ordered 2 more Horn Sewing chairs like the one I purchased for the Z44 in the Den. The 2 chairs in the Studio were getting to the point where I had to used extra cushions (back issue) to sit on them. Susan is going to take the other 2 chairs so I am very pleased that she can use them they still have a lot of life in them.

So for my Slow Sunday Stitching I am going to try to start tacking them down to the quilts. Heaven only knows where they quilts will be stored – I think I have some room in a closet!

I have almost finished 9 more of the Dresden Plates – just 4 more to tack down and it will be on to Number 64 – getting closer to 105! Then the circles (UGH)!

Today I am going to load Raggedy Ann and Andy on the long arm and work on selecting the stencils for marking A Dreamer’s Quilt which will be loaded on the Z44! As you an tell, I am a week behind my goal of having them loaded last week. But loving my clean and organized Studio!

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week!

Hugs, Nanette

August 4, 2021

To Do Tuesday – On a Wednesday Morning

Good morning all! I do not have any progress on quilting, but my Studio rooms are getting cleaner. On my last post I showed my progress on cleaning out the quilting books that I will never use and have no use for them. I have made room for the books that I know I will be using in the future and plan on not purchasing anymore!!!

I now have all my Quiltmania books (Di Ford books, etc) on the top shelf and the book case is now covered with clear plastic to keep them dust free and protected. You can see what it looked like Monday here when I had pulled the books that I did not want to keep.

NOTICE: Rather than selling the books that I listed for sale, I will be giving some to my Cousin Susan, and other friends, with the remaining being donated to the Wilson County Library in La Vernia. Clay and I are very blessed and I have decided to share with others.

UPDATE on the BAMC Reimbursement from 3 insurances. It has been exactly 1 year that I sent the first reimbursement claim to Medicare, 9 months to the Secondary, and 5 months to BCBS. Yesterday after putting some serious pressure on the BCBS representative, she has been assigned to work my package full time this week to finish it. There was a conference call between BCBS and BAMC and I yesterday which will end this mess for sure.

I am beginning to feel somewhat relieved that I will be closing this chapter of our lives. Now to see if we get $10 or more. Should be nice whatever because I will not have to think about it ever again. Time to burn some paperwork.

Update on my room cleaning. I am about halfway finished with the large room. We have to run to San Antonio this morning, but this afternoon I will finish and tomorrow I will join the quilting world again!!! I have thrown out a lot of paperwork (free patterns downloaded and printed out). It was memory lane all over again. Some I kept some are in the trash. BUT I did find the book where my copy of the pattern for A Quilter’s Dream was…. I now have 2 copies – anyone ever do this?

Yesterday I ordered 2 more Horn Quilting Chairs for the Studio. Mine are both over 10 years old and will be gifted to Susan! I was being good to Nanette yesterday. What more could a Quilter want? A clean Studio and 3 new chairs to be comfortable in.

I am looking forward to the month of August because after today there is NOTHING other than quilting on my calendar! That is a good feeling!

Maybe by next Tuesday I will have Raggity Ann and Andy loaded and quilted, and A Quilter’s Dream loaded and started on the Z44, until then have a great week and thanks for listening.

Have a blessed day and happy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

August 2, 2021

Cleaning The Studio on our 25th Wedding Anniversary!

Happy 25th Anniversary to my wonderful sweet husband who puts up with me and still loves me like he did in 1996! What more could I ever want in life?

The cleaning started yesterday when I was looking for a pattern called A Quilter’s Dream. I had made the quilt in or around 2008 but could not find the pattern. I picked up some binders and realized that the dust was getting pretty thick and started cleaning the area where I have 4 sets of Elfa cabinets. What a mess!!! So I moved on to another area where there were some more binders. Another inch of dust.

I do believe that it has been over a year or more since I have done a detailed cleaning. I was wondering what was giving my sinuses fits after spending the days in the Studio. So I made a commitment to put off anymore quilting until I had my 2 rooms cleaned. I started with my book case and nearly fell over Rolling Dust!!!! I know that has not been touched in a long time. It was also time to weed out the books that I would never use and donate them to the Library. I also wanted my Quiltmania Books in the bookcase. Clay built it for me in 2009. It looks so nice and neat and CLEAN now, but that took about 5 hours to go through each book to either keep or give away! Now I need to quit adding anymore books! I have them separated by Applique, Designers, Embroidery, Reproductions and Miscellaneous.

This stack will be for Lisa to go through and pick and chose what she wants and the remaining will then go to the Library for others to either take home of just enjoy.

Now here is what will be giveaways.

Here are some that I want to sell. If you are interested in any of these books email me at fredericsneice@gmail.com.

If you are a paper piecer or want to learn, I have 7 books from Carol Doak. I tried paper piecing one time and that was enough. It is not my forte’

How about some Bonnie Hunter books – too scrappy for me.

Here are 5 of Rosemary Youngs books. The Civil War Love Letter Quilt was purchased as a used book. The others are new and never been used.

How about a Ricky Tims or Kaffe Fassett book? Kaffe is just too loud for me!

These are the last of them. I purchased the books and will never make a quilt from them. Fruitful Hands has some embroidery and lots and lots of recipes for dishes that I cannot not eat. The 101 Log Cabin book is paper piecing.

Well, I must get back to my dusting as I have the bigger room to clean and what a dust bowl. I will be back in a few days after I figure out how to load my Z44 and get Raggity Ann and Andy loaded. The pressure is on. Clay did help clean the top shelves above our little kitchen area – he is such a wonderful husband and today is our 25th Wedding Anniversary – we were married in the house then. On 1 September 1996 (seems like yesterday) we were married in the Church!

Have a wonderful week,

Hugs Nanette

August 2, 2021

HQAL – 1 August 2021

Hello fellow hand quilters! I believe that we are a dying breed! It takes a long time to quilt a quilt by hand, but it is rewarding! When I purchased my HQ16 (2005 – no computer driven machines at that time for novices) I had illusions of grandeur that I would love it and really learn how to do some of the beautiful work that the professional quilts do. But I will say that now I will finally really join the hand quilters of our group and quilt a quilt on my Z44!

I have been working on Dresden Plates and binding quilts – check out my previous posts to see the quilts I have completed the last 2 months! I definitely will never quit a wall hanging or a quilt on my Domestic machine! Just not for me! My shoulders hurt more than when I work on my long arm! Lesson learned that I am not a Domestic Machine quilter as I am not pleased with the outcome!

I have completed 54 (plus 3 others on another grid) Dresdens (boy am I slow) with 45 left to tack down. They go fast but I have been wearing myself out with quilting and do not feel like doing hand work each night. Where or where has my 50 year old body gone??? LOL

I will be loading A Quilter’s Dream this week on the Z44 along with my new Horn Chair! This will be the first time my frame has been used since I purchased it in 2016. I discovered that The Grace Company no longer makes this frame. Very happy I did not sell it earlier this year.

Have a great beginning of August and keep on hand quilting and hand work. Our calendar is clear except for one day to San Antonio for Clay’s last knee shot! YIPPEE!!!!

Hugs, Nanette

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Sharon, Sherrie, Karrin, Daisey, Connie,