Today Rebekah and Robert are in North Carolina looking for a house. They will be moving in December. He reports for duty on January 17th. I really thought that we would be in North Carolina before they were but it seems that will not happen.

I had also hoped to finish quilting my nine patch before moving on to something else.That won’t happen either. My nemesis has once more become a problem so I must take a break for a bit. I made that decision this morning and since then I have been thinking of what to do next. I still have not gone upstairs so I am not sure what is ready to stitch and what needs to be prepped. Then I remembered my box under the end table that contains my Grandmother’s Flower Garden. That might just be the project I need to balance the hand quilting. Anyway, I will get it out tonight and begin again to assemble it and in a day or two I will do more quilting. Perhaps by stitching on one and then the other it will help. I am going to get some blue painters tape to mark the parts on the quilt that are done so a picture will show the progress. Lem has brought my computer and camera downstairs for me so I can get pictures loaded and online.

Home soon and a wee toes up……………Ahhhhhhhh

We have had people looking at the house again. One couple on Sunday and one couple yesterday.

That means the house is squeaky clean again. I actually got a good nights sleep last night for the first time in weeks.

I am still quilting the nine patch quilt. I have all the quilting done going in one direction except for the edge. I ordered the piece to put in my quilt frame for doing borders. I thought I would wait till all of the center was done before I put it in the hoop and do all of the edge at one time.

I haven't been upstairs to the studio in so long but I am still staying with the project at hand till it is complete.

I checked the calendar and found that this picture and the next one were taken over two weeks ago. I had gotten the house blessing done, and the cooking and baking complete and sat down to put a few stitches in this quilt.




I made a pot of tea and had a slice of Pumpkin Bread with whipped cream... There was soft music playing and even though it was raining outside it was nice inside. Little did I know that was the last time I had for several weeks.






By Tuesday I was under the weather. And also under the covers in bed with a good book and a box of tissues. Lem went to out to get cold medication and chicken soup. He came back with this too.




So I did exactly what the card said for the rest of the week.




I finished the previous quilt all but the final border. That will require marking and my chalk pouncer is already packed. I took that quilt off the hoop, folded it up and consigned it to the "to be done" stack. Then I got out the little nine patch quilt. I had planned to machine quilt this one but it is so heavy that it drags in the machine. It is now on the hoop and little by little I am getting it quilted. This is really a learning experience for me. I haven't been upstairs for weeks now. I just spend my free time on this quilt.



We had someone look at the house yesterday and someone is coming today to look at it. Maybe one of them will be our buyer.

Little Wooden Box

As I mentioned earlier, Joan stopped by for a visit and brought me a box that Bill had made. I saw a picture of one similar somewhere in my travels and thought it was just the loveliest thing.

Knowing that Bill works in wood, I made one of foam core to show him what it was that I wanted.

Dear person that he is he made four and Joan sold three of them at the Guild Quilt Show. I was the lucky recipient of the last one.


The handle slips off so that you can put spools of thread on it and it has a stop on one side. I had mentioned that I wanted to make a plaid and black quilt and I was beginning to collect small pieces of plaid fabrics. She was good enough to include quite a large bundle of fabric in the box.


Don't I have just the nicest friends?

My Design Floor/Wall

I know I was supposed to do this on Monday but life interfered. Since my design wall is too small I have to use the floor. After the picture was taken I managed to get three sides sewn together. I have enjoyed making this quilt. But then I always enjoy Judy's designs because they are so easy to follow.



Now this is what is on the design wall. I have been working on Bunny Hill's Tisket Tasket BOM and at the same time I have been working on Leanne's House. I enjoyed Leanne's House so much that it seemed natural to incorporate her method of making blocks into my Tisket Tasket quilt.




I actually found some graph paper and tried to come up with a design. This is it.


Now I am in the process of embroidery and assembly. This project will move slowly because I am no artist. I can only trace things. I am pleased to have my drawers with 1 1/2 inch strips to pull from when I begin to assemble the rest of this block.

The Weekend

When I got off of work this past Friday it was just to rainy and cold to try to get to the grocery store. I went home for a wee toes up instead.

I had my list of things to get accomplished this past weekend and it was a roaring success. We did the grocery shop Saturday morning before the rains came. Then home to finish the laundry and attempt to do a bit of mending. After all I spend a lot of time stitching, why should the hem be dragging in most of my slacks? I cut the shirt tails off of two blouses so they would have more of a jacket look since I wear them over a turtleneck instead of tucked in. Of course I did not have the EXACT thread to hem one of them. I was stitching them on the machine and I didn't have anything any where close. That meant a stop at the shop this morning on the way to work. I can finish that next weekend.

Saturday afternoon Joan stopped by with a gift for me. It was delightful to see her. I took the gift upstairs to get a picture but so far I have not done so yet. Perhaps tomorrow.

I did not go upstairs yesterday or again this morning. I had things downstairs calling my name instead. By bedtime Saturday night the house was clean, the laundry all done and we had a nice Sunday ahead.

Sunday brought wind and lashing rain. It was good to know that we could stay in. Lu came by for brunch on Sunday. I lit all the candles in the living room and turned on soft music. Lem cooked. He usually cooks breakfast on Sunday. After she left I sat and quilted and Lem sat and computed. I have the outside row of blocks completed on two sides. Two sides to go and then the two borders.

The Hour a Day quilt is on the floor upstairs waiting for me to add the border of blocks to it and the last four borders after that. I am half way through the handwork on Block Nine of Leanne's House. Seems as though there will be several finishes here soon.

Sunday it rained hard all day long.

Hour Seven, Eight and Nine

I have actually finished hours 7,8 and 9.. Were it not for obligations of hearth and home I could finish the top this weekend. Part of me wants to do that and a year ago I would have. I know that if I continue to work on it at a slower pace I will have a better finished product and I will enjoy it much more. That being said, I am going downstairs to begin the weekend chores.

Have a good Saturday!

Block Eight

Here it is.............Block Eight of Nine of Leanne's House. I am amazed that I am so close to the end. I must confess that if Hanne and May Britt had not encouraged me this would still be in the box it came in. These ladies finish projects and encourage others to do the same. I actually believe I will have this quilt together by the end of the year. Now to decide if I will have it machine quilted or do it myself........... That is the question.

Weekend Events

Since there was an open house, Lem and I spent Saturday and Sunday morning getting ready. We move a lot slower these days so it takes us longer.

I also worked on the Great Clothes Swap. We decided to only get out part of our winter clothes. We have more than we really need so I thought we would select exactly what we thought would get us through the winter and that is all I got out.

Then we rode around for two hours while our home was open to strangers. The weather was wondrous and we got some great pictures of Pleasant Bay in Orleans.


The tide was out.
and some people were clamming for supper



I sure would not want to pay the heating bill on the house on the hill.



After we got home I made pumpkin bread using Judy's recipe. I gave a loaf to our New Jersey neighbors. They are here for a few days.

The other one I kept for us. I hope to have a slice with a cup of tea when I get home.

On My Design Wall

My design wall is only four feet tall and four feet wide. It serves some purpose but I am not sure how much of one.

Wanting to participate in Judy at Patchwork Times Monday morning question I managed to get the blocks from Hour Seven of her Hour A Day quilt on the design wall and a picture made.

A Couple of Small Steps

I have several handwork projects going at one time. I keep them by my chair downstairs. That way if I run out of specific color of floss for one project I can move on to the next. If the project is applique and I need the light box to place the next piece I can set it aside until I go upstairs the next morning. There are also a few knitting projects in case knitting catches my fancy.

Here is Block Seven in LeAnne's House. I cannot believe that I am so close to the end of the handwork on this project. I have begun Block Eight but Thursday I ran out of green floss and had to put it aside till I could purchase more. I managed to get a skein yesterday and I can get back on that tonight.


Another one in my bag of tricks is Jan Patek BOM for 2008. When I added this to the collection of blocks for this project I realized that I now have FIVE blocks completed.

The old saying "Little and often fills the pot" is true. A few stitches here and there as time allows gets the quilt made. And a few dollars put aside each week and soon you will have enough for a trip to the fabric store.