Friday Already?

I don't really know exactly where this week disappeared to............

I thought that when I retired I would have lots of time....... That sure was wrong...... I have so much less time than before but I am enjoying myself much more. It just takes me longer to get things done........

Monday was WALMART day.......... Not living near a Walmart for 20 years had turned me into a Walmart junkie......... I enjoy going there as much as my husband does not.......

This was my find this week......... A bamboo cutlery tray. I will put it in the studio to hold the accessories for The Duchess........


Then off to the excitement of a mammogram.... And since May is Mammogram month at Eastern Radiology they gave me this lovely cup. I will enjoy this because I drink cranberry juice and club soda all day long and this glass does not sweat as much...........


I finished the Biscornu Pincushion.............. Now to make more for the guild. This morning I pulled out a charm pack that I bought on sale in January........Sorted them into pincushion pieces and today I can start that project...... It should not take too long.


Wednesday was Guild............. Someone brought the quilt that the Greenville Guild is making for their raffle quilt........... It is so much lovelier in person.....


This is a close up on fone of the blocks...........And it is all hand quilted........



It was also the day to turn in the bags that were made for the Red Cross....... This is such a giving group. The last two meetings have been used to coordinate the making of care quilts using the blocks and fabric and batting donated to the Guild.


I took home 12 string blocks with two yards of green fabric for the backing. I used the green fabric for sashing instead and ordered some fabric for another border and backing. It should arrive today or tomorrow. When it does I have the center section all ready. I hope to get it finished within the next several weeks........


I met with the Lunch Bunch........ A group of girls I went to high school with. They meet every Wednesday for lunch......... It was such fun. I did not take pictures because some of them are camera shy.... and it was my first day with the group...... Maybe next week I can get a few shots.

One of the girls teaches painting furniture........... Yes, I did sign up for a class.... Upon arriving home I unearthed this table to be painted.......... I think I will do a penny rug design on top. I am thinking of painting a floor cloth for the family room of the new house.......... This will be good practise...................

A Lovely Weekend

Saturday was the Crystal Coast Quilt Show............... I called Rebekah to see if she and Robert wanted to go......... Happily the answer was yes.........

They live an hour and a half away and the quilt show venue is an hour and a half from here.

They got here about 10:30 AM and we headed off to Morehead City. As it approached noon Robert asked about lunch............ We stopped at Crabby Patty's and the food was excellent.....


This was my favorite at the show........ I can't imagine that much work in one piece but it is so charming........



This was Robert's favorite quilt............



Great job of quilting and a unique border.



Of course we always go to the shows to shop........ I found a few things that I had wanted and a few patterns that I did not even know I wanted..........

Rebekah and Robert bought a pair of dressmaker shears for me....... Gingher no less and they are spring action so they are less tiring to use. I cut a few things with them yesterday and they are lovely to use........


I did get all the pieces cut out for Strawberry Fields and now have them beside my machine all ready for the next leader/ender project............

I got one quilt top pressed and the backing sewn together and pressed. I started on the second top but ran out of spray sizing....... Today is a shopping day so I can pick that up while we are out.

I also got more of the Baby Quilt marked and ready to quilt and the fabric cut for the last of the Hexagons for my dresser scarf............ Lots of bits and pieces being done in several places. One day soon I will actually be finishing things.........Imagine that.........

I Am Not Sure...

...exactly where to start.............


Anne Ida at Quiltaholic (here) had a button on her sidebar for the Strawberry Fields Quiltalong. It looked like a good project and it did mention being good for a leader/ender project. Since I have not yet unpacked my red and cream log cabin I thought it would be a good idea to cut out the fabrics for it. I am delving into my two big scrap bags for this one.

And I agreed at the guild meeting to make some Bicornu pincushions as gifts to visitors.......I found that pattern at Quiltsalott........ (here).

Temecula Quilt Co. has a BOM for Lori Smith's Heritage Sampler. I signed up for that and two kits came at once........I started late..........


These bags are paper stuff that I need to sort and organize........


An almost finished pincushion......(it has been in that state of uncomplete for almost a year now)

A pincushion kit I bought years ago......... There is another one somewhere because I got one for me and one for Rebekah...........




A stitchery I started prepping from Lynette Anderson.......


A printout of a quilt that I saw on the Sanguine Stitcher...... She found it here.


Judy Laquadara at Patchwork Times mentioned this as a project for 2011. I got the book and my two bags of fabric and now I just need the time to sew........


Dawn at Linen Closet Quilts offered this for us to stitch. I have all of the patterns printed and I know where the last three are....... I am sure the rest of them are in those three bags of papers to go through.

And I have yet to try this block that I see around so often........


Our guild is making quilts for the people that lost everything in the recent tornadoes in Snow Hill, NC. They are so very close by and in such need..... I was given 12 blocks and the backing to assemble a quilt.

Not to forget that I need two quilts ready for the Lilly to quilt by Wednesday. The tops are done but I need to get them pressed and the backing sewn together and pressed.

Just where to start is a wonder...

I tried to post these pictures yesterday and to read a few blogs but Blogger was not accommodating. Instead I worked on the ironing, baked two small cakes and two loaves of bread and went with Lem on the ubiquitous errand adventure..............

Thursday was a bit more exciting............ We stopped for steak biscuits at Bojangles and headed out to Grifton.............. I wanted to add more potting soil to the tomatoes that Jason and I are growing in the Topsy Turvey planters that Rebekah bought for us................

After that was accomplished we headed over to the lot to check on progress.

Dillard had put up his contractor sign............ It sure is a big one.........


Now the footings are dug and the concrete is poured. There is a dumpster on the lot for debris and a Porta Potty and a large pile of masonry sand.............

This view is taken from the front of the lot.

That is not water you see there but the concrete that the house will stand on........


Looks like rather a mess right now...............



I then came home and finished planting the flowers I had been buying for the last few weeks. They had been gathering on the back porch and the time had come to get them in a more permanent place.

Then I put the rest of the plants in pots on the steps to the back porch..... Right, no sewing done on this day either...................

Update

My nieces wedding was on Saturday. Lem and I were able to attend....... How good it was to be with family for such a special occasion.

She got married on the beach at Emerald Isle...... The weather was bright and sunny but not too hot.

I promised my sister that I would get a picture of Lem and I so here it is Jean.............


The mother of the bride is in front followed by the bride and her father.




Sunday Jason and Kim took us out to lunch at McCalls in Goldsboro. Then Jason showed me where all the fabric shops were there........... Lem and I hope to get there some time next week for some shopping.

Monday morning bright and early they started digging the foundation.






Not much to see now. Lem and I are going out there later today to see what else has been done.


Yesterday was the Guild meeting. Our guild gave a donation to the Kinston Arts Council. They let us meet there each week and there is no fee....... These funds were raised from a quilt raffle they did last year.............


There was also a Show and Tell portion of the meeting. This quilt was made by putting crumbs of fabric on dryer sheets............





The center of this quilt was donated and someone finished it as a donation quilt.

One member passed away and the family donated two unfinished quilts for the guild to quilt and donate.



Another member made two pincushions as gifts for visitors to our guild.


This quilt was sent to a member by a friend........ It was purchased at an estate sale and the label on the back said that it was pieced as a wedding quilt in 1936 and the quilting was completed in 1996. That is a good reason for me to want to get all of my tops quilted now..........


It was mentioned that there is a quilt show in Morehead City this weekend. I called Rebekah and she and Robert are driving here on Saturday so that we can all go together.

Now off to do some ironing before Lem's next Doctor's appointment.........

Another Day on the Road

The original plan was to have Thursday be an AT HOME day. Otherwise things just don't get done around here.........

Instead, Jason called to say he was going to be working on the house in Ft. Barnwell and he wanted me to see the floor there. He came by and we followed him out there. A good thing too because it was way out in the country.

The floors are #2 Red Oak................ Of course this picture is the floor unfinished and it will be so much prettier after it is finished. It has wormwood holes and knots and character....... Just my kind of thing.... So that is another decision made........

This is the house the floors are going in.


It is being built by the same contractor that we selected..........


And of course I had to get a picture of the cornfield as it is just coming up.........

This area is near the Neuse River so this family is prepared for flooding..........




This looks like a yard that would take a few days to mow........


Or this one...........


And this one........... I know that I would like less yard to maintain...............


When we got home I mixed up a cake mix. I used two 6 cup bundt pans instead of one 12 cup pan. That meant I had one cake to give to Kim when she stopped by this afternoon.



And I gave her a loaf of bread too...................

It was really a lovely day. Who knows I might even get to sew one of these days.......VBG