Happy Birthday

Please Click Cake

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Dear Daughter,
Happy Birthday to you..........

Friday Already

Here another week has passed and it is time for the great weekend planning. I did so poorly last weekend. I wonder if this one will be any improvement.

Number one on the hit parade is to finish the Fields and Fences quilt for Lem and Honey. I should be able to accomplish that if nothing else.

The next thing up will be to prepare the Sunday School report the board meeting next Tuesday.

I also need to finish my portion of dear friend Lu's snowman project.

Those are the "MUST DO" items. Anything else will be extra.

It goes without saying that the house blessing, laundry and grocery shopping and getting clothes ready for next week also must be done.

After that I will get to work on the three things that must be completed by December first. After I finish piecing and quilting the Tablerunner for the Cyber Guild it will be lights out in the Studio until the other projects are done. That will give me time to think of which project I want to finish first when I go there again..........

Kaitlin needed some gifts for her officers when she was installed as Worthy Advisor of her local Rainbow Girls Assembly. I made dragonfly pins for her. Thought you might like to see a picture of them.

I'm in Deep Kimchi

Looking at the small list on the side bar of the promises that have deadlines really looked innocuous. Then I put it on that nice little time line at the top. I am really in it now..... Those days are passing fast. I will have to put aside everything I have going now and get these promises completed. Well, except for the quilt that I am making for Lem and Honey to sleep under this year. I have 3/4 of the quilting done on the center. I should finish that one this weekend. If I don't do anything else.

Oh, I will also be doing the hour a day quilt from Judy. I have my fabrics selected............ I discovered that I have NO BROWN fabrics. Except for 3 small pieces that are destined for another life............ The only reason I have orange is because I was going to make my sister a Quilted Tote and never got around to it........ I thought about waiting till Monday and going to the LQS for a few browns but decided against that idea. This is a learning lesson quilt........... Not one I need to purchase fabric for..........

I almost forgot to show off the little purse I made this weekend. A friend gave me the pattern. It is from Lazy Girl Designs.. The bottom fabric was a fat quarter that I didn't want to cut. I have another one that I was "saving" and I will make a bag from that fabric also...............

Another One Bites the Dust

This past weekend when I had a long list of “must and should” items to accomplish, did I follow through with my plans to get a few things off the list………… A resounding NO…. can be heard…………. There are only three things left on my list that have deadlines this year. The others can be put on hold for awhile. I did not work on those three things. Instead I took a random path to the past. After viewing Darlene’s stack on Quilting Daze, I opened the extra large plastic tote I was storing under my cutting table that contained my quilts in need of layering and/or quilting…….. I came across the Holiday Swap Quilt I made in 2005. It was layered and pinned and ready to complete…………So I did just that. Saturday morning I sat down at my machine and stayed with it till the quilting was done. Sewed the binding on and took it upstairs for the handwork. I finished stitching the binding at the quilt bee and got ready to take the picture……No wait, there is no label. Has to have a label and I had made one for it…… Back downstairs yesterday to locate the label. Aha, here it is……. And labels for 2 other quilts? ( I will have to look for them later). I stitched two sides of the label on before my evening out but I did not get to finish it. This morning I took a picture anyway. Yes, I do see the pins on two sides but I will finish it tonight. I just wanted to have something to post today.

A Great Night with Friends

Here is Nancy Pollard and Barbara Walsh. Here is Beverly Fine and Eileen Miller.




Janice brought her Dear Jane and I got a picture of it. That is Janice standing with her Dear Jane in the first picture.



At long last our fledgling quilt bee might be getting off the ground. I made a sad attempt last year to start a Dear Jane group. I convinced the LQS to post a notice and let us meet there.

The day came, I wore my Dear Jane Doll Pin and armed with my Dear Jane book I headed off the the quilt shop. There were 6 other people there. One had done all the blocks on the Dear Jane and was working on the triangles. Another one was interested in making the quilt and the rest just wanted to meet occasionally to stitch with friends......

It was at that time that I met my dear friend Peg. She and I have gotten together several times over the last few months and I treasure our friendship. She even helps pin quilts when I need help with that...........


Acknowledging that I can be pushy sometimes, I allowed someone to take over, get everyone's name and address and we discussed the next meeting. We met at her house the next month. That was January............

Janice and Shirley left for Florida for the winter and the group decided to wait till they returned in May to meet again. May came and went, and June, and July, and August.

Last week I called Janice and at last we made arrangements to get the group together. We met last night at my house.

Janice brought her Dear Jane and I got a picture of it. That is Janice standing with her Dear Jane in the first picture.

I also took a picture of my Dear Peg but of course that is the one that did not come out. I got a good picture of her feet.........silly me........

These are the choices for this weekend and week.
1. Dear Jane blocks for Holiday Swap. I got 14 prepped Friday morning and they are ready to stitch.
2. Baby sock. I have one done and need to finish another one. I learned the provisional cast on and the Kitchener stitch while making the first one. Knitatknoon has great instructional videos on all sorts of knitty things.
3. I could stitch down the binding on the geranium quilt. I found it in the studio and all it needed was the binding. I stitched it on yesterday morning before work so it could be brought upstairs for the hand work.
4. There is the Winter Chair needlepoint. I need to get at least 4 more hours done on it before class next Wednesday. I did work on it for two hours....
5. If I watch television I could work on my blue glittery socks. That yarn actually has a strand of silver thread running through it. One sock done and one 1/2 done
6. The Moda table runner is ready to be pieced. That is for a swap for the Cyber Guild.
7. Last but not least is the snowmen to be stitched for my friend, Lu. She is on the Holly Berry Bazaar committee for our local hospital. Every other year they have a bazaar to raise money for the hospital. She bought the kit to make 6 snowmen. They will sell for $1.00 each. She paid $8.00 for the kit. For me it would be much better to write them a check and be done. That is not going to work for her so since I sew and she doesn't, I will sew up the snowmen so that she can stuff them and decorate them..... She is such a special friend and I am glad to help her out. Yes, I did get this completed

I took that picture this morning and so far I have done none of the things shown. I began by doing a few loads of laundry. Since I was downstairs anyway I thought I would begin machine quilting the top I made from my 2004 Holiday Swap blocks. Well, that is all done, the binding is cut out, pressed and sew on and ready for the hand stitching. I am moving right along with that project.

Lem and I did a few errands and now I am ready for a wee toes up. Then perhaps I can get on with the things I need to work on......

The recent discussion of pincushions sent me on the prowl for what I use.

The hat on the left is the pincushion that sits with my featherweight, The Duchess. Both the machine and the pincushion were gifts from Rebekah and Robert.

Behind that and to the right is one held by a row of Chinamen. This style was popular many years ago. It sits by the cutting table just in case I need a pin or two. The stack of hearts lives by the design board. Paper pieced blocks need assistance staying in place. On the far right is a knitted pincushion that works with the Janome. You can see the wooden handle of my stiletto at the ready. Front and center is one of the two items left by my Great-grandmother. It was originally a napkin ring and I added some fiberfill wrapped in velvet. That sits on the large tray I use to corral the tools I need for the current projects.

I had planned a few more pictures to set up the weekend but the camera is being difficult so perhaps tomorrow.

Tonight is TV night so I will knit instead of stitch. 

Wednesday....

I finally got one quilt top complete. Now I need to make arrangements to get it layered so that I can quilt it. Since it is just straight stitching, I will do this one myself. The one I finished was Fields and Fences. I want this one for Lem and Honey to sleep under this winter.

I also got a small pocket book cut out this morning. Don't get excited. It is one of the Lazy Girl Fat Quarter Friendly bags so it doesn't take much time. I will stitch it in the morning.

When I get home from work I will be diving into my needlepoint chair project. I have class tonight and need to be able to show some progress.

I was looking for a picture for today. This is one of the little beaded tassels I am knitting. They are so easy to knit. After you have strung the beads of course. 

So Far Today

So far it has been a good day. I got quite a bit done before I came to work. I prepped two blocks for the Psalms quilt that Carol Honderich is hosting. It takes time to iron all those tiny pcs of freezer paper onto fabric......

I got one border sewn on the Fields and Fences quilt. I actually got two sewn on but I had run out of bobbin thread half way through the second border and it was time to go upstairs.

I got the coffee ready for tomorrow, the bathroom spiffed and dust mopped all the floors. That is one nice thing about a small house. Some chores just do not take too long.

The beds are made and supper is cooked. I have 2 errands after work and then I can head for home and work on my needlepoint chair a bit.

Here it is..........The lap quilt for my sister..........All done..... I might even get it mailed tomorrow. 

Care Quilt

Pieced, layered, quilted, bound and labeled............ My contribution to the service project of my Cybee with Cyber Friends Quilt Guild........ Another item in the mail.............. 

My Last Row Jane Blocks (I think)

If my memory is correct this is the last set of Row Jane blocks I will need to do. I hope mine will be coming home to me soon. It is such sheer joy to have a project complete........ 

Tuesday Already?

I just cannot believe that it is Tuesday already. Time sure does go by when you are busy.............

Two things were not done this weekend. I did not get the borders on Lem's quilt and I did not get the table runner started. I did finish everything else. I could have gotten them all done but Lem wanted to take a little trip to Hyannis and I agreed to enjoy part of the day with him........ Glad I did too...

It has been so much easier this week since I have my clothes ready for the week. One less thing to do each day. That is one of those things that require a decision and that is always a problem.

Meals are done for the rest of the week. I never learned to cook for two people. I still cook for four. Now I only have to cook half the time. The other half is leftovers.

I saw the Hour a Day Quilt from Judy. Sunshine Quilts I can see she is going to be of great assistance in helping me cut my stash down to a managable size.

I have always admired those nice beaded watches. Last year when I needed to get a bead order up to a certain amount for free shipping I added a couple of watch faces. I just knew I would make them into watches right away.

This is the first one. The other picture is of a necklace I made when I was practising the spiral necklace. This past spring I convinced Lem that he really wanted to go with me to TJ Maxx...... We found a top with the same green in it and I knew that at last I had something to wear that necklace with. That of course led to a stop at Beady Boop for earrings to match. And now I have a watch too. Isn't that just too much?

























As to my accomplishments today. Well, they aren't too bad...........

I did get the house blessing completed and the laundry all done. I have clothes lined up for the entire week. I even checked the weather forecast since it is supposed to be 82 on Monday and 62 on Friday. I got one set of blocks prepped for the holiday swap.

Lem wanted to take a ride out this afternoon so we went to the Big City. For us that is Hyannis, about 20 miles away. We went to A C Moore for split rings. I want to make some beaded stitch markers. I took my socks with me of course. I have one finished and half of the top of the second one done.

We never made it out to the garage. I keep putting that one off but Lem has agreed that tomorrow we will give it at least one hour of our day. All in all it has been a successful day. I might even get all the other tasks accomplished tomorrow. Now off to sew the binding on the Care Quilt.

The Weekend Cometh....

Aha..... Another week has passed and the weekend cometh...

I need a plan or the entire weekend will be lost. There are so many things to choose from.

It would be a good weekend to do some clearing in the garage.
I could finish stitching the binding on my quilt for Madwomen and get that ready to mail.

I could add the borders to Lem's quilt and get it ready to pin.

I could do the house blessing, get caught up on the laundry and get my clothes all ready for next week.

Doing a little clearing out in the studio would not be amiss.

I could prep some blocks for the Holiday Swap or even do some stitching on the table runner I need to make.

Which one will I choose.............

Stay tuned for the next installment.

What Color Green Are You?

You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you. Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show. People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate. But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

What Color Green Are You?

On Wednesday nights I go to a class at Town Ho Needlecrafts. Barry is the owner and instructor. Brilliant man. Gifted in the use of color.

As I was sitting there one night several years ago I noticed an Adirondak chair with a pumpkin in it. My daugher and I like adirondak chairs and I thought that was really a cute one. Barry explained that it was one in a series of 4. There was one for each season. Sure didn't take me long to say "I want them". He placed an order with the artist for two sets of them. One for him and one for me. They are hand painted on canvas and work well for traditional needlepoint BUT....... Barry likes to do Creative needlepoint....... Different threads....Different stitches...... Each week I would do exactly what he had done. I worked along slowly. Barry got bored with them and put them aside. He promised to get back to them soon. I have two completed and they are at the framers. If I can locate the picture of them I will post it later. I wanted to finish them last year but that did not happen. I wanted to finish them by the end of spring 2006. That did not happen. I do not want to go into 2007 with those pictures still incomplete. They are taking TOP PRIORITY now. They are moving into the FAST LANE. It really is hard to tell from the picture but the sky is complete (but not the snowflakes), the chair and basket and the red ribbon are complete. I am now working on the green pine leaves. I have the thread for the snow man, the snowflakes and the water. That is my goal for this week. Then if all goes well next Wednesday I will learn how to do the snow on the beach...................... 

Your Brain is 53% Female, 47% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Another One's Done

Aren't they just adorable? They belong to Carmela Thompson in NC. If I have counted correctly, these are the last blocks I will need to do for this Row Jane. I can just sit back and wait for mine to come home to me................VERY BIG GRIN 

Another Finish

Several years ago I made a few cotton outfits for work. Then I developed the idea to make jewelery to wear with them. This necklace was supposed to have fruit beads on it but the base I began with is to small (size 11 beads) so I changed the idea a bit and came up with this necklace.










Here it is on the fabric I will be wearing it with. It is too late to wear it this season but there is always next year. Now if I make the little potpourri bag and jewelery bag to hang with it I will be all set for next year. No, that will have to be another project.

Confession is Good for the Soul

After looking at the new catalogs I looked for my sock yarn.........
Here it is...
All kitted and ready travel. Directions included in most bags.

The next expedition in the Nether Regions will be to gather together my sock books and patterns. Perhaps I can get this portion of life organized.

There are 34 future pairs of socks here. If I did knit one pair a week I could be finished in 8 1/2 months. I cannot knit one a week so it will take me a bit longer........... Maybe I should print this picture and take it with me when I shop?
I am adding my sock list to the side bar.........This is such a great way to keep on track. A daily reminder that I need to be more in control of my spending.

Here is the list.....

Pink Broadripple
Blue Fortissima
Carnival
Red Railroad Rib
Red Railroad Rib
Fuschia RailroadRib
Pink Easy Worsted Weight
Mother Lode
Mixed Berries
AquaGrayPurple with Flecks
Primary Colors
Primary Colors
Purple Many Diamonds
Blue with colors
Regia
Navy Many Diamonds
Periwinkle Little Arrows
Pastel Little Arrows
Pastel Little Arrows
Grape Little Arrows
Primary Colors Applause
Florida Colors Sockatta
Green/Purple/Pink Sockatta
Gray/Green/Pink Sockatta
Blue/Aqua/Gray Sockatta
Blue RegiaSalmon
Almost Argyle
Autum Socks
Purple Socks
Green Autumn Leaves
Green Many Diamonds
Gray Mock Croc
Burgundy Twisted Socks
Purple/Gray/White Sockatta

Where Did the Day Go

I had such great plans for today....They went to naught....... I had two goals - finish my Care Quilt and finish my Fields and Fences top.........Neither are done.........

I did buy groceries, cook lunch, take a walk with DH, take a nap, wash the sheets on two beds, dried them and made the beds. Cleaned two bird cages and vacummed part of the living room. I wrapped the two wedding samplers and got them packed to mail........ I also packed up a box of surprises for Jason & Kim, two boxes for Rebekah and one for Robert. Now the coffee table in the living room is cleared of all the excess items I had placed there in anticipation of mailing them. Rebekah called and chatted for 45 minutes. Using my handy head set I managed to knit a bit on a sock while we talked.

I got a Lion Brands catalog and a PatternWorks Catalog today. Obsession takes over if you aren't careful........ They even have knitting needles with batteries that light up while you knit so you can knit in the dark...... I must save up for a pair...... Oh, the Oat Coutour patterns look like something I am up to these days.......... Fitting can be a bear so I started knitting socks and shawls......... There are some really great sock yarns these days....... I should know, I have gone overboard already. Just as a reminder of what I have ( and hopefully to reming me why I do not need more) I brought up my PLASTIC TOTE of socks. Already kitted and ready to knit..... I think I will make a list on the side bar.......That should dampen any purchase urges I have. I will take pictures later..............

The Guild Meeting

My dear friend Peg invited me to go along with her to the Cape Cod Quilters Guild meeting. I was a member once before but they moved the meeting place farther away. I don't see well to drive at night so I stay near to home if I need to go out.

One of the members showed a quilt she made this year "ALL FROM STASH" (except for the blue section on the back). She established 2006 as a stash clearing year and this is what she got from the experience.

Holiday Swap

Yes, I signed up for the Holiday Swap on the Dear Jane list. I have such a lovely quilt (not yet quilted but layered and pinned and waiting) from 2004 and I wanted to do this again. I already have the fabric and I got the blocks I wanted to do and I have done them so many times that they are easy to me now.............. I suppose I just like swaps.......... For me it is a connection with other quilters and I don't have to clean up before they arrive............ Eight more blocks and I will have all my other promised DJ blocks done................ Yes, I can do this..........

Warmsies

I keep a pair of socks going all the time. Sometimes more than one pair. It is a great thing to grab on my way out the door when DH wants to take a ride. I can knit them while I watch TV and most evenings I put in a few rows as a way to wind down before bed. Here is the pair I finished this morning. The knitting has been done for weeks but they needed the ends run. That has been done and they are ready to wear.

Another Table Runner

Since the last one I made was not great and it is supposed to be a gift, I cut out another one. I am sewing this one on the Duchess and perhaps it will be better. 

Chain Event Mystery Quilt

The mystery quilt I made this weekend was so awful that I felt the need to redeem myself by making a better looking one. This is the fabric I found this morning. It is cut and ready to go........ 

Fields and Fences Completed Blocks

Here are the blocks I have complete. I had a few minutes left this morning before I had to come to work and began stitching the four patch units with the red you see there. This is going to be a great quilt. 

Fields and Fences

While looking around at the McCalls Quilt site, I came across this quilt. It really spoke to me and I went immediatly to the fabric shop for Homespun. It has been sitting around since.

When I got home from work yesterday, I began cutting the fabric. There are 49 blocks and I thought that if I did 10 a day, I could have the quilt top done in one week.

You know that feeling you get with a new project and you don't want to stop working on it. Drat, I had to visit the grocery store and then come home to cook. Began stitching again after we ate. I have 1/2 of the blocks cut out and 18 of them stitched............... I can see this puppy done by Sunday. 

Close Up

Here is a close up of the block on the table runner.