Fun With Jen and Cindy

I could hardly contain myself Saturday morning before Jen and Cindy (Peony) got here. Friday night, I was on the computer, and I knew Jen was out late at a ball game, and Cindy was having a hard time going to bed. She was all packed up waiting to go! She said she probably wouldn't be able to sleep, and I emailed her and told her to GO to Bed! Anyway, they made really good time getting here, and probably would have been here a little sooner, but the Yahoo map they got wasn't updated with our current highway and streets, so they went just a little bit a farther than needed. They got turned back around, and back into town, then Jen called me. Now, since I have NO sense of direction, I thought I knew where they were, but I didn't, so the directions I gave them were worthless, but in the end, they made it here.

We unloaded the car and went downstairs, and first loaded Jen's quilt. It went on the frame beautifully, and we were up and running in no time. My friend Margaret stopped by to see our progress and to say hello, so it was good seeing her. She has met Jen and Cindy too, from our quilt trip to Waunakee, Wisconsin, so she wanted to stop and see them too. It didn't seem like too long, and Jen was done with her quilt already!

In between quilts, we went out for lunch at one of our family restaurants, Flapjack's', after I gave them a tour of Maquoketa. Now, this didn't take too long. I showed them how to come into town from the way they were coming, for the next time they visited, and I drove by where I work, and where Louie works. While we were out 'touring the city', we drove by the Eagle's club where they were having a car show. My husband Louie entered a Harley Davidson that he just rebuilt for our nephew, Travis, and they won 2nd place!

This is what the bike looked like when Louie got it.


Now, I know with all that excitement, Jen and Cindy probably didn't want to go back to quilting, but I managed to drag them back to the basement and made them get back into the 'program'. =-D

We loaded Cindy's quilt, and she was off and running. All went well for quite awhile, but then we started having some problems. We tried a lot of different solutions, and in the end, the machine got a nice cleaning and oiling, (and a few other things I can't say!) then we did a 'prayer' over the quilt for better results, and even that didn't help. God can fix a lot of things but He must not be too good at electrical connections, because I finally figured out that the connections on one end of the cable that runs the cruise control had some wires that were coming out and causing it to run erratically. I changed the cable, and all worked slick after that. (How did I know this? I had problems before and Louie fixed it temporarily, and then I ordered a new cable for when I needed it, and we 'needed it!')

While Cindy quilted, Jen sewed the binding on her quilt, and worked on another project. I just kind of messed around and didn't accomplish much....just enjoyed my friends' company!

My new good friends left at 9:30, and had about a 3 1/2 to 4 hour trip ahead of them. I felt bad they had such a long ride, but they assured me they would be fine. They sang all the way home to stay awake. Cindy emailed me when they got home to let me know they were fine.

(Make sure you check out the video on Jen's Cre8tive Quilter Blog!)

Thank you, Jen and Cindy for coming down to visit me. It was a wonderful day. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

I feel so blessed to have discovered Jen through a yahoo digest, which had a link on her post, to her pictures, and then her blog. I kept reading her blog, then emailed her one day, and we became fast friends. The second blessing came when I got to meet her mom, Cindy, who is just too cute! I believe God gives us special gifts, which are friends, and I feel like God must really love me, because He has given me so many good friends, and just keeps 'bringing them on'. Jen and Cindy introduced me to Maureen, who also is a sweetheart, and soon, we ALL hope to meet Jill from Ohio. So, Jill.......come on down!!!!! (Or over, or over and up, or ????...just come on!)

Now, just what did I ever do without my computer? This is where I have met SO MANY wonderful friends over the last few years. Thanks, God!

In two weeks, on October 13th, my BESTEST friend, husband, and chauffeur, Louie, will again be driving my 'Loose Tensions' quilt group friends to Milwaukee to 'The Patched Works' quilt shop, and to 'Bits & Pieces' quilt shop for a nice fall outing. I hope the leaves are still hanging in there, and are still beautiful, but if they aren't, it will still be a wonderful day, being able to spend the day with all of my friends.
I can't wait!