Kim, You Won't Believe These Pictures

The children were here for Thanksgiving. We had a grand time. Kim brought my special wine from NC and Robert ordered Thanksgiving dinner from Honey Baked Ham.






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It was delivered on Wednesday by UPS so on Thursday we were able to walk on the beach, try one of the walking paths at Fort Hill and generally enjoy ourselves.

We were sad to see them leave on Friday but were left getting ready for an open house on Saturday.

Well Kim, you have seen the before...(there are no before pictures).

Here is the after.






Sunday afternoon, I started organizing the sewing studio. For the past weeks anything that belonged in the sewing was taken upstairs and just tossed in. Needless to say just opening the door was a challenge. Now I can sew again. In fact I was able to get some sewing done this week. It sure feels good. Yes, I think it still looks messy but I am still working on it.

I am still looking at the same things on the urgent list but there is hope.

Some Progress

I have been doing very little stitching lately. Too caught up in the house clearance. I have spent a few minutes each morning working on my Needlework Casket. This is a picture of progress so far. That represents about 20 hours of work even though it looks like nothing at all. Since this is going to be an heirloom piece I am stroking each stitch to make sure the threads are lying side by side. This takes so much longer but it does give a much nicer finished piece. I also put one in
another frame to be ready when I need a break from this one.


I also managed to finish three pairs of mittens for Joan. So easy to do with leftover yarns and perhaps some little hands will be warmer this year. Until they loose them of course.




This is what has taken so much time. I have opened each box to determine what is in it and sorted all the contents.

The black cabinets are where I am organizing my beading supplies. They are also in the blue containers by the wall. There is much more downstairs to be sorted into the beading section. It just took me a long time to decide how I wanted them organized. I tend to think in "projects" and I will put all I need for a project in a zip lock bag sometimes even with the instructions.

The big bottle holds my half dollars and dollars. Still not sure if I will spend them or move them. They are heavy but those nice gold dollars are hard to come by now.


Onto the other side of the room. Lem shredded 28 bags total of old tax returns and they are gont now. Those boxes in the back corner now have to be sorted and organized.

A Picture or Two

As promised here is a picture of the first 10 hexagons. Each Hexagon is about the size of a quarter. They really are fun to make.

And for Jean, here is a picture of your purse so far................

Tonight is Barry's and Shepherd's Pie for dinner.

Next Up

Don't know where to put something? Just put it in this room. I have spent months clearing out and sorting and giving away and packing.......... Here is one of the two pockets of trouble left in this house.
There sits my computer with its stack of 'to be filed' and around me are some beading projects that need to be organized, some knitting that needs to be addressed and in the basket under the window are two quilts. One to quilt and one to tack................ This is the area I will be working on for the rest of the week and IF all goes well I should finish this weekend.



Don't worry Jean, I did start your pocketbook........... I have the body made and I am now working on the lining.

Wednesday Nights

On Wednesday Nights I go to Town Ho Needle Craft and sit with my guru Barry and others while we stitch. I just finished "Wisteria" and took it to the framers on Friday. Now it is time for another project. This time I will work on my Needlework Casket.

I don't know why the picture came out this way. I downloaded it twice and it is still sideways. Anyhow, that is what the finished project should look like. There are several decorative stitches in the design so it isn't just your ordinary cross stitch.

And here is my box. Barry had these about 12 years ago and I bought it and the fabric, thread and pattern at that time. Well, now is the time to complete this project.

The Bag

Here is a picture of The Bag....... I had several BOM's coming from Homestead Hearth. They have wonderful BOM's of some of my favorite designers. They also have a grab bag. These are left over from their Kits...... I called and asked that one be included in each shipment to me. That gave me free shipping on the grab bag. I dumped all the fabric into this large bag. Did I mention that I am a fan of scrap quilts.............

Now I am going to see just how many quilts I can get from this fabric. I know I will need to add fabric to some of them to get the design I am after but still, this is so much fun.

The bag doesn't appear full because I have little stacks where I am cutting fabric.

Like here........

and here................................


This is the second one I am making from the grab bag. The first one (pictured below) was when Crazy Mom did her Quilt Along

I have already began making the little hexagon diamonds for the center of the quilt. I will post a few pictures as I go along.

Today

The few thank you notes I had to mail are now ready to go. My dear sister did the bulk of them and I only had a few but of course she finished long ago. I am just not good at thinking of what to say but I did find this book that is a great help.


At the meeting of the Bead Society last week we made these snowflakes. Great project and so easy to make. Yesterday when Vickie and I were in Hyannis I stopped at the bead shop for a few more 4mm bicones to turn out more of these.



I also put in the last stitches of this wedding sampler. I have an appointment on Friday to select the frame for it. I am so pleased to get it done. Now I can begin my next MAJOR cross stitch project. Pictures of that later.

All in all it was a good weekend. I am ready to head to work tomorrow........

Saturday morning and so far nothing to take a picture of.

I do have the laundry started and began to go through the email. I got today's e-mail done. Now on to the other 1872 emails.........

I started the day with working on a wedding sampler that should have been done a year ago. I should finish it this week and I sure hope so because I already have an appointment with the framers on Friday.

Now off to another basket of laundry and a bit of house blessing.

Thank you notes are at the top of the list so I will get them done also.

The problem is that I want to do it all...............

Heartstrings sent their newsletter and this was in the letter

Becky Washburn (beckyknits@comcast.net) is in need of helpers for a special service project. She writes ...
Thank you very much for the free Mini-Sock pattern. It's very generous of you.
My goal is to knit 850 of them for a very special Engineer Battalion currently deployed in the far out regions of Iraq for Christmas. At least 1/2 of these young men receive no mail or any sign of life from home. More of them than you would think don't get any mail at all. And a small token would mean the world to them. Do you think anyone would be willing to help me? I have a few done but a long way to go. And I know that Christmas will be particularly bleak. I am a friend of their Chaplain and I want them to each have something personal for Christmas, stuffed with a little something.
I have some sport weight and some worsted weight, I just want them to be colorful. They took a picture for me out one of the windows, and all there is for all the distance you can see, is SAND, and MORE SAND.
The mini-socks only have to hold a pack of gum, a couple pieced of candies and a candy cane. The candy cane will be added by the chaplain, from boxes sent, so they don't all break.
I was using the Magic 28 pattern on a larger needle, but I'm using your Mini-sock pattern with worsted weight yarn instead and a larger needle, so they are a bit bigger, and relaxed to fit some fillings. But still small enough.
I hope that I can knit fast. If you know of anyone wishing to help, I would be grateful.

Of course I printed the pattern and will see about making a few of them. I mean, just how long can that take.

Jackie also posted a mini-sweater pattern on her site that is adorable. I can just see a whole tree of them. Now I know what to do with all those bits of sock yarn. If you have never been to her site it is a wonderful place to shop.

Currently Under Construction

On October 1st my Lemuel retired. He sold his business (he prepared tax returns) and now he can enjoy a much deserved rest. Our phone number was 240-1040. If you are in the United States you recognize that 1040 is also the number of the Federal Tax Return. It took me a year to get that number. As soon as I found out that it was going to be available I started trying to get it. Well, the phone number went with the business so our phone went from business to residential. Sounds easy doesn't it......... Not for Verizon........... It was not until today that we finally got our phone working correctly. This meant I was unable to check email or blogs or download patterns. That is okaye, I have been working on other things but now I am WAY behind in mail............... So I will be attempting to get some things organized and so some clerical housekeeping both real and virtual.

Thank you for all the kind words and prayers.

Suze

Happier Times

Here we are in happier times.......... This was taken in November of 2006.........

Mama passed away Friday morning. Lem and I made the long trip from Massachusetts to Virginia (800 miles) leaving MA at 4:40 AM Friday morning and arriving at Virginia about 9:00 PM....

The service is tomorrow and we will be returning to the Cape later in the week........

Shopping on Saturday

Lu and I went shopping on Saturday.

Judy over at Patchwork Times had posted a free quilt pattern and I wanted to look for some fabric to make it.

When I arrived at Heartbeat Quilts and found the fabric for this quilt. Pat was working and she had never been there when I was before. What a terrific fabric selector she is. I am not great at that part of quilting. I am learning but not there yet. Pat made a few suggestions and this is what she came up with.

Now I never would have thought of using that light one for the background. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.




Then I looked for fabric for the upcoming Quilt for an Hour that Judy is sharing with us. Once again I would not have selected these fabrics but I am trusting Pat on this. I will say that I really was drawn to the two periwinkle fabrics on the bottom.


Lu saw this quilt so I picked up the pattern. I ordered some batiks from Thousands of Bolts and that fabric should arrive tomorrow.



My dear Kim is a lighthouse lover. They had a quilt that is all lighthouses. I picked up this pattern for her. When I looked up their website to put on this blog I found that they have this as a BOM. If Kim likes it I will probably sign up for the Block of the Month there.

Pictures of the Kitchen

Here are the last of the House Pictures for awhile...........

I thought a view of the kitchen would be good. Yes, it does look like that most of the time.

Since I have to be ready to show the house at any time I am developing the good habit of keeping things in order.

Not Quite Ready But....................

There are still four areas that need attention but here it is.................

This means that this weekend when the Saturday Sewing Society meets I will not be able to join the fun. Nor can I participate in the Quiltathon.......... I am hoping that by the time October rolls around I will be all done with this except for maintenance.......and tossing more stuff as I repack.


Nancy suggested a quilt by the door. I think it looks great. Thanks Nancy for the tip.

Family Room Done

Another room complete. How good it is to get this much accomplished.

Since Lem uses what would be the dining room as his office, we eat in one end of the family room.


This shot if looking from the other direction. It is so unusual to see the area around my chair clear. I usually have it covered with projects. I am learning to only have one out at a time. Not easy for me.

It does look like I could have moved that blue massage pillow before I took pictures...



And last of all the fireplace.

Remember the Blue Room

I finally have one room finished.... well, almost.... there is one more thing to do. I need to hem the curtains. Especially the ones behind the bed because they are on the heat vent and it will soon be cold enough for it to come on again.

So if you remember the BLUE BEDROOM.... Here it is transformed.

The walls aren't really that white. More of a linen color. This is from the hallway looking in.


And from the other side of the room.....


I got all of our folding clothes into these three drawers. It is amazing how much less laundry there is when you have fewer clothes...... But we have all we really need...........

My little duckie is from Rebekah. When you squeeze it flashes colored lights for a few minutes.

The tea cup was made in USSR and was a gift from my dear friend Lu.......

Lem just needs a lamp and a clock.
I added the quilt from my International Round Robin..... Every room needs a splash of color.

August Pickle

Tuesday is when the Pickle meets again and I haven't even posted the picture from last month. I have no idea where the time disappears to..........

Left to right we have Susan, Barbara, Jean, Vickie, Joan and Jean.

Tea was poured by Barbara and we sat and we chatted and we discussed and we said good by to Jean................ Perhaps she will visit the Cape and be here for another Pickle.

We Are In The Homestretch

This picture is really too dark. I will try for another one later.

We are finally near the end of this adventure. There were days when I doubted we would ever get everything done. At last I can see the end. I might even get to sew again. That too was in doubt.

Vicky came over yesterday afternoon with her staging tips. This morning I got a few things hung in the master bedroom and Lem and I moved a few pieces of furniture.

The electrician was there yesterday and will be back this afternoon to finish up. The painter will have to come again because we changed the light fixtures in the kitchen and dining room and the new one is smaller..........

There is still clearing out and sorting to do but I hope to get at least 9o% done by next Tuesday when the Pickle meets at my house............ Which reminds me, I never posted the pictures of the last Pickle. Let me write that down.

Another Block One

Just to let you know that I did acturally finish Block One, here she is................

Block Two

I have been doing a little bit of sewing.... Not all clearing out and sorting.

I completed block two of Judy's BOM. If you did not sign up for it you missed a great project.

She is planning another Quilt for an Hour project that begins Sept 15th. You will not want to miss this one.





Some over achiever out there mentioned that she was doing two of them. That sounded good to me.......... I selected a cream fabric for the background that i will use through out the quilt. The other fabrics were from my GRAB BAG fabric. I will use it till its gone and then select more for other blocks.......... I am just not up to coordinating all the blocks at this time so this method will have to work for now.