My weekend ended up starting on Friday, inadvertently. Thursday afternoon, evening and night, we had a fairly substantial heavy, wet snowfall, about 10-12", along with driving 30 mpr winds. Then the temp started to fall and it was a mess. We live in an area where we have old overhead power lines and tons of mature trees, so we always have power outages - so many, in fact, that we just installed a new natural gas powered generator that automatically starts up when the electricity goes off. Thursday evening the power went off about 8:00 or so, and our new generator kicked in. I noticed that it sounded like it was running a little unevenly, but at least I had light, heat and flushing toilets. I was quilting away when I heard beeping and a woman's voice. "Warning. Carbon Monoxide." I went down the basement and I could smell exhaust, probably from the generator (which is outside). I immediately called the gas company and my husband who is in Colorado. I opened doors and windows and the snow was being driven into the house. Mike called a friend of ours who began digging out of his driveway so he could come and help me. I bundled up and went to sit and wait out in our solarium which is unheated and separated by a door from the rest of our house. The generator meantime had stopped working (good thing, because I didn't know how to shut it off.) The gas company and our friend Ron got there in about an hour and confirmed that it was the generator and made sure it wouldn't go back on, and I spent a dark, chilly, flushless, and mostly sleepless night. I was mostly bummed that my quilting weekend was turning into a bust. I couldn't get to work because of the 18" snowdrifts in the driveway. But miracle of miracles, the power was restored by 8:30 Friday morning, and the cause of the malfunctioning generator was found to be snow and ice driven into the filter, which caused excessive CO to be present in the exhaust. We do have to do find the leaks into the house and spray insulating foam into them though. I'm certainly glad I was awake when the power went off. I don't know if I would have heard the downstairs CO alarm if I was asleep. The one outside my bedroom needed new batteries, and we hadn't installed them. Lesson learned. Oh, and you're supposed to replace CO detectors every five years so the gas company tech told me. I'm feeling pretty damn lucky, and I've been quilting up a storm. I've gotten the top to Peekaboo Monkeys almost done, I made the PP lotto block and the weekend's just beginning. Yahoo!

I made the backing and then birthed the patched Christmas tablecloth this afternoon. It finished off nicely and now I have one to switch off to for holiday meals. I have two quilt tops waiting to be addressed and one of them has the backing already cut to size and awaiting sandwiching. I don't think I'll start on either until I get inspired again. I had to push to finish the last one before boredom set in. Seems like I worked on it forever, but it was really more like six weeks. I do want to spend some time in the sewing room, but I have a few diversionary projects to do before I pick back up on the quilting. I have a rocker to replace the cane seat on and the supplies are gathered and I may do it tomorrow. I'd like to construct a rag basket. One uses strips of cotton, wraps it around cotton clothesline and then sews it together as it is coiled. Then I have some left-over Japanese cloth I used for the backing for the blue/cream quilt I'd like to make some pillow slips from. It's gorgeous, an oriental Crane print in shades of blue. Thiking of making another canvas floor cloth and have some denim squares cut for a bath mat. Then again, I may squeeze in some practice with the new FMQ foot before I start on one of the new quilt tops. I've a new great granddaughter I'd like to make a dress for, and I want to use some light cotton lawn to make a few snoods. My hair is down past my bottom, and I usually wear it in a bun and could use a few covers to keep it neatly tucked under.

Theresa...great quilt...love the colors! Congrats on three finishes...I know how good that feels! And Lois...that is going to be perfect for a guy quilt...the colors and design are perfect! I tried improv once, had fun, but didn't quite know when to stop...silly I know. I'm looking forward to seeing this finished! I have a few tops complete, and have decided it's time to find a longaremer to get them quilted. Trying to finagle them thru a small throat is just more effort than I'm up for...love doing the quilting on small quilts, but anything larger than a lap size and I'm tuckered out. While my upper arms need the work out, the rest of me just wants it done :-) I keep saying I'm going to start an Irish chain, but I must finish my leaf block and mail to Beverly...my weekend objective before going to back to work on Monday. Happy sewing everyone! V.

Linda, congratulations! How exciting ... and happy mama and baby are doing well. Valarie, I hope you figure out what is going on with your dog. It is hard when our furry family has health problems because they can't tell us what is going on. Poor baby. We have our grandDOG for the weekend. She will go home later this afternoon. We went to the home & garden show and looking at RVs with friends yesterday. We did stop at a quilt shop to pick up a book and tool I ordered. It's Strippy Stars by Deb Heatherly and also got a new tool to make the stars. I am anxious to give it a try. Friday night I did finish another UFO and then sandwiched another quilt and started quilting it. I have it almost ready for the binding - hoping to get it done this afternoon. I have lots of weeds calling my name, but it is kind of chilly outside so the sewing machine is calling louder! Sue