The Week to Come

I found a pad at Staples that was a bit larger than average. It is also marked off in quarter inch segments. I have it on the table and this year I am using this method to stay on track of what needs to be done, menus for the week and progress so far............ There is plenty of room for sketches and what ever I think of...............

We did not finish the office. The dear old back began acting up and I had to take more breaks that usual... We made a good start and I should be able to finish tomorrow even while I am working on my mystery quilt.

I will post my mystery quilt progress as I go....................

Ubiquitious Sock

Here are the socks I was supposed to finish in November. They are ready to wear at last. The yarn is Cascade Fixation. The pattern I found on line at Knitty.com. The yarn has a small amount of elastic in it so the sock feels really comfortable on. It comes in a large range of colors and is not to bad to knit with either.

I am leaving the office a bit early today. Then off to Curves for my last workout of the year and then home. Lem and I are going to do Chinese take away for dinner tonight. That means I might find time to finish the preparations for my New Years Day Quilt on Planet Patchwork.

Tomorrow is the BIG CLEAN of his office. We will be gearing up for TAX SEASON. His office is in what would be the dining room. Both of us are savers and occasionally we have to clear out. The BIG CLEAN usually takes an entire day. I will be ready for some restful quilting by the time Sunday arrive.

Double the Fun

Planet Patchwork is offering a Mystery Quilt on New Years Day......... I have my fabric cut as directed and have completed the first clue of block preparation. There was another clue posted this morning so I will need to get that done.

Issues with sleep again. No problem getting to sleep but I woke up at 12:30. By 1:00 AM I decided to go downstairs and sew for a bit. That is when I finished up the blocks I needed. I went back upstairs at 3:30, made a cup of chocolate, knitted a bit and turned off the light at 4:00 AM.

Tonight "Sweet Home Alabama" is on the Fox channel. Lem and I will make this a movie night and he will sit in the living room with me while we watch the movie. I of course will be working on the ubiquitous sock.

A Basket Full of Happiness

I really enjoy Mystery Quilts. I do have one made that turned out to be a real dud but I plan to make it over again in better fabric. These are usually quilts that you can get instant results from. BUT.......... The designers are upping the ante and it is taking longer for the preparation. That is just fine because you get a better product.

My dear friend Peg sends me information on these mystery quilt groups and this is one she sent. It is a Yahoo Group under the name "QTMysteryQuilts". Ann Winans is the owner of the group and her e-mail address is "a.winans@mebbs.com". This is going to be sewn on New Years Eve. It is all cut out and ready to sew. Yes, that is 200 gorgeous 2 1/2 inch HST you see there on top. The fabrics came from Thousands of Bolts, a truely wonderful place to shop.

Knowing that I want to complete two quilt tops in the month of January, this project will be a real boost.

Better pictures

I had a difficult time getting the pictures the right size. Perhaps this is better.

The table was set for a wonderful holiday feast. I can tell that I need more practise in getting a meal ready........ At one time I was competant but not any more. We were going to have Stawberry Salad but I bought the wrong size box of Jello. I fixed it as the recipe directed and placed it in the refrigerator to begin to gel. Then I prepared the crust and while it cooled I made the cream cheese and whip cream layer. When the timer went off for the Strawberry Gelatin I opened the refrigerator to find that it was still liquid. That is when I looked carefully at the recipe and discovered my error. Oh well, we will have that tonight with our Wild Rice Soup and hot rolls................. Our neighbor brought the Poinsetta. Isn't it lovely? I had not bought one this year and it was just the perfect touch for the table with the Pomadors all around it. I can use those Pomadors for centerpiece on Valentines day. Then I can start placing around in places that need to be refreshed.

The Table at Christmas

The table was set for a wonderful holiday feast. I can tell that I need more practise in getting a meal ready........ At one time I was competant but not any more.

We were going to have Stawberry Salad but I bought the wrong size box of Jello. I fixed it as the recipe directed and placed it in the refrigerator to begin to gel. Then I prepared the crust and while it cooled I made the cream cheese and whip cream layer. When the timer went off for the Strawberry Gelatin I opened the refrigerator to find that it was still liquid. That is when I looked carefully at the recipe and discovered my error. Oh well, we will have that tonight with our Wild Rice Soup and hot rolls.................

Our neighbor brought the Poinsetta. Isn't it lovely? I had not bought one this year and it was just the perfect touch for the table with the Pomadors all around it. I can use those Pomadors for centerpiece on Valentines day. Then I can start placing around in places that need to be refreshed.

The Stockings are Hung

At long last. They are done. This was another project that I had to undo and redo several times. I never finished all that I had planned but I am going to keep working on them till I am finished. It might be June but I am still going to get them done.

Another Finish

Well, at last another finish. Do they look like little quilt blocks? They are supposed to...............

They are cross stitch over one thread.....Boy, I sure didn't like that. The thread filled the little space. Then the cross stitch is put on a button that the shank has been removed from and glued to the metal part that makes the bracelet part of the watch.............

I just might not do another one.......

Met Lu for coffee at the Sparrow (picture later) and a quick tour around Snows (picture later) to see what they had on sale.

I had seen the feather trees that some of you had and thought I needed one too. At half price it was a good purchase. I also purchased the ornaments for the gifts for next year. More about that later.

I am still giving some thought to my plans for 2007. I might get brave and post them later. 

A Soon To Be Finished Project

Here are the swap blocks from a Row Jane I participated in last year. I had the idea of setting them in the center of Ohio Star using the instructions from Kathy on the Dear Jane List. (you can see two trial blocks in the lower corners) I selected my fabric and began. Then one thing after another required immediate attention so this was always put aside. Recently while making the Gratitude quilt from Judy, I used this as my Leader/Ender quilt.

Finally all the blocks were done. Then the sashing began. After assembling two rows I noticed that two of the cornerstones in the sashing were off by 1/8 of an inch. Really showed up to me since it was white on blue. I took it to the local quilt shop to see if they thought it was really that obvious. Can you tell that I did not want to redo those rows? I held it up proudly and asked if they could see a problem. Some minutes passed and Vicki said, "Yes, you have one of the flying geese upside down on the first row." Those were not the words I wanted to hear......

I had to take that apart and fix it, then redo the sashing. I added a couple more rows and then needed to cut more sashing strips. Put the next row of sashing together and began to attach it. I had cut 1/2 of them 1 inch too short. That had to be redone. Got that added and noticed that one of the white on white fabrics was wrong side out. Picked that out and began again.

I am still trying to get this beauty together. Only one row left. That will take a bit because one of the geese is flying upside down on that row also. At least it is not attached to the quilt yet.

This is only part of the problems I have had this month. Nothing is working for me. Must be the medication...............

Blogger is working today.................

My friend Peg stopped in for tea on Friday night............ She is the one that made the Horse Quilt.

Since I have been a tad under the weather she brought me some treats. The bottom photo is my "Get Well" bag. She made a rice filled pad for my back. I sure am enjoying that. She also brought a jar of Chicken Soup mix that she put together and three packages of different teas. She is surely a grand friend to have.

The top picture is the Christmas napkins she made for me and the Angel for the top of my tree. The angel is just the perfect touch for my little tree. She has one of the amazing embroidery machines and if she keeps on with all the wondrous things she makes I might just have to check them out seriously.

Everything I have worked on since my last post has been redone. Some things several times. I still only have one of the simple little Christmas Stockings completed. I hope I can do better soon.

Small Beaded Ornament Tree

Here is a smaller tree with beaded crystal ornaments.

Beaded Ornament Tree

This tree is for the beaded ornaments. I really need to make more of them so that it is full. Perhaps I will after we move to NC. They all came from Beadecked Ornaments Pattern Books

They are not hard to make. All but one of them fits over the top of the ornament so if the ornament gets broken you can just put the beaded portion on another one. There is one that is closed at the bottom. That one would have to be re-made if the ornament broke. Now that they have unbreakable ornaments I might make more of the type that close at the bottom.

Closeup of one ornament

This is a close-up of the beaded ornaments I made one year. If anyone is interested, I do have pictures of all of them. I sold a few that year and I have not replaced them yet. They are so much fun to make.

I got the tree back on Saturday and got it decorated for Christmas. The snowflakes are made with beads and wire. Not the easiest thing I have done. Many times the wire would break at the end of the process and you would have spent that time for nothing. Perhaps after Christmas I can make a few more tassels for myself and decorate the tree entirely with them........... 

These were actually finished in November. This is the pair I made while traveling instead of finishing the pink ones........ 

The Tassel Up Close

Someone asked for a close up of the tassels so here is a picture of just one. They are ablut 3 inches long. The pattern is a free online pattern from Swallow Hill Creations.

I have ordered from them and they are a reliable source of some items I had difficulty finding. I have also made one of the knited coin purses they have as a free pattern.

I was able to work on my "Jane goes to Ohio" for a short time this morning. I have four rows completed and I am now piecing the fifth one. There are six rows altogether. This quilt is turning out better than I ever imagined.

Well Here It Is

This is the tree with 65 beaded tassels. All ready to be taken to the Guild meeting on Thursday so that each member can select a tassel to take home. I am really pleased with how they look. So much that I will be making more for my own tree as Christmas Ornaments.....

That is all I got finished last night. Still moving a bit slower than usual. I still have to finish printing and getting ready to mail the Christmas Cards for Mama. My sister lives close by and does so much for her. Cards are one thing I can do.

Some Like it Hot.....

The color on this is just not good. The orange is really more of a burnt orange so you will need to mentally adjust when you look at this.

The pattern is from Planet Patchworks Block of the Month.

I had three blocks already completed and this week I made the other nine. This morning I put the last border on it. I will back it with the print and use the electric blue as the binding.

I will say that it looks much better in person....................

Having back problems now. Not able to do much of anything that requires the use of my right hand. Being righthanded that is a real problem.

Another Vacation Picture

Here is another vacation picture. Rebekah brought her 221 so that I could do some alterations for Mama. Naturally Jason wanted to know all about why we kept talking about how special it was..........

I got all of the alterations done so now she has a few things that fit.....

We went to Truro yesterday but I failed to take the camera. I am still not used to making sure I have it just in case I see something worthy of a picture. We went to the Atlantic Spice Company for spices for pomandor balls. I am hoping to use them as the centerpiece this year.
Did a bit of shopping this afternoon. Two small lamps for the holidays, a tablecloth and some garland................. Now off to see what we can have for dinner. 

Recap of the Month

Judy's Hour a Day Quilt
Done and it turned out great.......... Now I have to wash the fabric for the backing and get it quilted. I think I will send this one off.

Finish Holiday Swap Blocks Need 20
Mailed and they arrived on time. Now to wait for my portion to be returned. Wonder how I will set these blocks?

Finish Beaded Tassels Need 65
All done and now they need to be put on the tree for the dinner. When that is done I will post a picture.

Finish Insipid Geranium Quilt
Sleeping under that quilt now. Since the temperature is dropping I might need to add another one.

Finish Brothers Quilt
All done and I am glad to have it ready to deliver to him. Hope he likes it.

Finish hot pink stretch socks
I got one done and began the second one. Since we were traveling I finished another pair instead. It had no pattern and was easier to work on without thinking.


Make Nifty Fitty Blocks 2 to be sent for approval
That is still on hold.

So I have two items to carry over........ They will go onto the January list. For December the goal is to:

Finish 2 quilted Christmas Stockings

Make 18 potpourri balls

Finish 24 little stuffed angels

Decorate for Christmas

That will take all my time this month. Of course, I will be thinking about two quilt tops I have to make in January............................

Dear Brothers Quilt

Finished at last. I began this quilt so many years ago. Thought I would try my hand at it. I didn't like quilting at all. Made the blocks and put them aside. I came across it several years ago and had it quilted. Then it hung around waiting for the binding. I have many projects like this. I hope to finish many of them this year.