Design Wall Monday

On Monday, Judy at Patchwork Times encourages us to share what is on our design wall.

Mine has been the same for months but this weekend I managed to get six blocks cut out for my Yellow quilt. It is supposed to be monochromatic but mine is yellow and white. I have so a small amount of yellow in my fabrics that I had to ask Peg for some of hers.......... Nancy and Joan and Barbara are giving me more on Wednesday.

I got six blocks cut out. Four partially assembled and two completed.......................

Go on over to Patchwork Times and see what everyone else is working on......... Inspiration awaits.

You Know What They Say

About best laid plans...............

I did try but it was just not to be. Tuesday went well.......... I did home making duties till after lunch and then came upstairs to sew. But my Nemesis came to visit so it was a wee toes up I had instead............

I did manage to finish one of the two mug mats I wanted to make that day...........





I have also been knitting along each evening and I now have three pairs of socks completed. One pair was half done at the beginning of the year but the other two were made this year. Too bad that only one pair is on my list of projects to finish for this year. That would be the bottom pair. They will go well with a quilted sweatshirt I made several years ago. It is finished but I am not happy with the way I finished the neck so I will be re-making it at some point.


Today it is off to work again......... Oh well, maybe tomorrow I will get some fun time in.........

Today is the first day of my new at home time............ I wonder just how much I will actually accomplish. My goal is to work in the bathroom and two bedrooms between 10:00 AM and Noon.

Right now the Lem and Wade Hamilton are asleep and I came upstairs to get some stitching done before they get up.

The first thing I need to do is finish the decorative stitching on my last two tea towels. These are the ones that I think are a bit smaller than I like. Yesterday I got more fabric to make more blanks for stitching. I am going to try a scallop edge on the next 1/2 dozen.

Whew.... That's Done

I haven't been near the computer for a week now.

This past week did not go at all as planned................

I was supposed to work everyday and get the product unpacked and organized and get the office set up again.

All would have worked well if VERIZON had done their job correctly. If you or a member of your family works for Verizon I am sure they are among the 5 percent that I spoke with that were capable and courteous................. No rave reviews on the rest of them however..........

Monday I started unpacking. The phone seemed to work and I got quite a bit done. About lunch time I checked to see if the recording that VERIZON had promised (and that I would be charged for) was actually working.............. No it was not. I called VERIZON and was told that they would fix it............... By end of business that day........... Remember this was supposed to have been done the Thursday before but I suppose they had a problem.

Tuesday when I got to work I continued my organizing efforts. After all the Tim with Cape Cod Computer could not get there till Thursday morning to set up the computer network. I planned to spend my time getting everything ready to go by the time he arrived.

Lem called me on my cell phone to tell me that the office phone was not working. I could call out but it would not receive calls. Once more I called VERIZON.............. It takes about 20 minutes to get to a live person and their hold music is abysmal at best.......... Oh yes she says.......... They can get that fixed by end of business................

Wednesday........ I printed the orders that I had received and went to work. Thought I could at least get them packaged up and ready. Then when the credit card machine went in I could run the charges and get them in the mail............... Would you believe that I still did not have a correctly working phone? Once more I call VERIZON.................Well, I am told, they have checked their system and it must be inside the office. They charge for that you know.... Fine I tell him..... I need this to work so send someone to get it fixed. Well they were too busy on Wednesday but could be there on Thursday............ Fine.........Just get it done. I really wanted all of the phone problems solved before Tim showed up so his work could go seamlessly.

Tim arrived on time Thursday morning. VERIZON showed up about an hour later to fix the problem that must be inside.........After all they had checked their system.

Hmmm..... 30 minutes later he comes back to announce that it is not inside after all........Surprise... He will begin to backtrack and find the problem and fix it. Should not take more than one hour............ Would you believe he calls me 3 hours later to tell me that it is a bad card in the Brewster office and the only person that can fix it is on break but she can get it fixed by .............. Yes, you guessed it...........End of business today................

Tim finished his work and we both hoped that when VERIZON got their problems solved I could get things accomplished................... This was not to be............ Tim had to come again on Friday to get the DSL line to work correctly........... It was not till after 3:00 that we finally got the internet working................

All of the added problems were tiring. I came home every day too weary to even think much less come upstairs and play.........

Today I am catching up on my Blog friends and getting some much needed rest......... Maybe I can get something finished later to show you.

Cheddar Stuffed Crusty Loaves

When I made bread yesterday I noticed this on the back of the bag of King Arthur Flour...... It looked just delicious so I thought I would give it a try.

I mixed the starter before I went to bed last night............


This morning I was all ready............


I made the dough and let it rise while I went on to other tasks................

And after it was baked this is what 1/2 half of it looked like. I gave the other half to our neighbors.............

The End

For the last two weeks I have been packing for storage all the things in the office where I worked.

Most things went into storage but the products and computers are now at Peter's Condo. I will go there twice a week and fill orders and answer any messages that are left.

It has been a difficult experience. While he was not an easy person to work for I did enjoy most of the tasks required. It was close to home and when he traveled I had the office to myself.

A family from Norway stopped by on Tuesday. They come to the Cape this time each year to visit family and stop by to see Peter and to pick up a few books for their daughter. How hard it is to say that he is gone now. They wanted to know where he was buried so I had them follow me to the cemetery. It is so sad that he is gone. He was a great historian and gifted writer. He will be missed.....................

On Monday I will go to the Condo and start unpacking. I will be working 5 days a week till that is done and then go to my 2 days a week schedule.

Starting the New Year with a new schedule and more time at home............ Life continues to change in ways I never imagined.

More Rearranging

I moved my 6 foot table from the other room. I am getting an 8 foot table delivered on Wednesday. There is one at the office and since the furniture there is being sold I purchased the larger table for machine quilting....................

I thought this table would be the perfect place to keep extra projects on. Little did I know that I would fill it up.



The Duchess (Featherwieght) has not moved. I like having her under the window. I sewed for 16 years in the basement with no view of the outside and I really like watching the scene from the window.


This is the last area that needs work. I really must spend some time getting all of those papers organized in some fashion.


As you can see, the design wall has not changed in months. Perhaps soon..........

This is a kit I got from Temecula Quilt Company. They offered it on their blog free if you placed a $10.00 order.

Of course I cut the first piece wrong. Sometime after the first of the year I must call them about getting more wool.............. It is a delightful little kit that came in the brown paper bag with the snowflake stamped on the front. Even included a peppermint candy cane......


Yesterday and today I have done some re-arranging in the studio. I moved out the top layer of baskets and put the fabric boxes on top of the baskets under the cutting table instead.


Lem wanted to go out for air for one of the tires before the predicted snow came along. I asked if he would stop at the Christmas Tree shop if I went along........

I found this delightful little casserole dish for $4.99........... I am going to try to make a chicken pot pie in it tonight for supper.

I found these travel mugs on sale for $1.00 each. I have a few people I want to make Mug Rugs for and these will be perfect to go with them.



Temecula Quilt Company is offering a free pattern. I found the first block HERE. Of course I printed the first installment. I have been wanting to learn how to do the freezer paper applique they mention and I just might give it a try with this project.


I want to make some purse accessories for my friend Lu. This is the fabric I selected.



I have been working on the free Tea Towel offering from Bird Brain Designs..........


I have my Schnibbles fabric all ready to go...............


And of course the kit with the Opps............



At least the Schnibbles project is on my UFO Challenge list...........

I am going back to my tea towel embroidery. It won't be long before I have to go downstairs to cook.

Thank you Alan...........

We were supposed to get a light dusting yesterday but someone where along the line the weather went in another direction..................

It snowed all day yesterday. Just a nice steady snowfall.......... I came home early because the mailman said that the roads were bad. He was so right. There were plows out but none of them made much contact with the pavement. Just macho men driving around with their plows up. Men sure are strange.............


Lem got some pictures of the front yard...............










And I tried a few out of the windwo upstairs...............






Then in the late afternoon we started getting the big ocean effect flakes that cover the ground quickly............















Six to eight inches I am told.........

Just before four this morning I heard the pleasant sound of a snow plow in the front yard and the sound of a shovel clearing the walkway. Alan's crew had arrived to plow us out............. They plow the drive, shovel the porch steps and walkway and clean around the car.......... All set for me to head out in the morning.

This is the scene out of my studio window this morning. We were fortunate to get a light dusting. Not enough to keep me from going to work and packing tapes.......................


If I live long enough to retire these are the days I will enjoy making a big pot of soup and a loaf of bread and staying in all day.


Peg made everyone a notebook cover for Christmas. It covers a wire bound notebook.........






Since I am on this Tea Towel path I have made a list of everyone I want to make a Winter Tea Towel for.



These will be a bit shorter than the last ones. I did not add the scallop edge to them but put in a deeper hem on the front.


This is the free design from Bird Brain Designs............ I made several copies and cut them apart. I wanted to get as many as I could on the sheet of Transfer Eze.


All hemmed and ready to stitch...........

Finished....................

The last tea towel is embroidered......................... and wrapped................

Most have been delivered. Only three more to give out................

Our office is moving.......... Doesn't that sound like fun?

I found out Wednesday that the office is moving and we have to be out by Dec 31. My boss was a pack rat and there is lots of stuff to be tossed. Not to mention all the product (think mostly books) to be packed and moved and set up somewhere else.......... And the new space is 1/4 of the space I have now................Did I mention that I am the only employee? And that my hours are being cut to 10 hours a week?

So for the next two weeks I will be working extra hard to get everything done. I had put my blogging on hold because of making Christmas gifts............. Now this............... At least there are some holidays in there so I can catch up.

I have been giving thought to the upcoming New Year and what I will be doing then. With all this work ahead at the office I should have lots of time to think............

All the mug rugs are finished at last.......... I can soon start wrapping up Christmas. Perhaps then I can bet back to my regular stitching.

I think it might be a good thing to hang on to this years Christmas list and to start early. That sounds good but we know it never works................


I finished two more hats...... These are going to Jason and a friend of his.......... Lately it has been colder in NC than it has been here in Massachusetts............

Now to wrap some of the gifts that are being mailed....................


Write out a few labels...............


Place tea towel between two sheets and stitch all around making sure you catch the string on the label in the stitching............ It is all ready to slide into an envelope and mail.

If I had more time I could cut out little shapes and ornament the front of the package but frankly right now I will be glad to see them wrapped and mailed.

Mug Rugs Part 2

A few strips cut and sewn together...................


Instead of embroidery I used a Green Gel pen for the holly leaves.................


Add three beads for berries, batting, backing with a bit of quilting and the binding and


Voila........... A lovely Mug Rug...........


A close-up of the holly with berries...........


that matches the side of the mug...........

These mugs were purchased years ago at an after Christmas sale. I knew they would come in handy one day...............