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.

And The Lucky Winner is Wisconsin

Tuesday night we had a farewell dinner for our Dear Jean Mello. She is going to Wisconsin to be with her sister......... (Jean is the third from left).

Jean I met first at a class on tablerunners. I usually avoid classes. There is always one annoying person and they usually sit beside me.......... This class was great fun..... Mostly due to Jean. She is quick witted and always has a pleasant word for all.... We met again an a class last fall. Once again she was a boon companion.......... We are in the Saturday Sewing Society together. It just won't be the same around here with Jean.



Her dear friend Lynn organized the good by dinner and the gift.



And we are all waiting for her to open her present.





And we are still waiting.

Enough says Lynn and lends a hand..........


We got a Cape Cod Bracelet for her. (pictured here........ It comes in all gold or all silver but the most popular is the silver and gold. Here on the Cape we tend to be less into fashion and with the combination of gold and silver it goes with whatever you might be wearing. It does not slide on but the ball unscrews. My husband says it takes three people to get one on. The idea is never to take it off.)


Now Jean will have us with her always..............................

Empty at Last

I promised Rebekah a picture of the first EMPTY space in the basement and here it is.........



All the shelves were full, the table was stacked almost to the ceiling. You could not see the door because it was full to the top with Rubbermaid Totes............. I mean FULL.............

I kept looking at that space and groaning. I really did not want to clear it out. Well, it is done now. Most of the things were given away. I still have the other 3/4 left to clear but that will not be as bad. In fact the other side of this back section is almost done.

I am starting to feel as though there will be an end to all this activity and I can get back to my stitching schedule.

And She's Off

My Dear Kate has joined the army.................. She is on her way to basic training for nine weeks..

Her mother retired in May two years ago. Now Kate is following in her footsteps.

Rebekah and I selected fabric for a quilt to give to her when she graduates from basic training. I wish I was a good with words as some of my blogger friends but when I sit down to write they just aren't there. Rebekah has never had Kate gone for as long as she will be away this time. Prayers are appreciated.

Love This Block

This block was not the easiest thing to make at first. I really couldn't understand all the problems I was having........... Other people made this block and no one mentioned any problems.


Reading the instructions correctly might have helped me. After I went back to square one and read them again I realized I had cut some triangles 5/8 of an inch too big............. This will really make it hard for the block to come together. I tossed the incorrect parts into BOB and cut them out correctly. After that it was a piece of cake................ I knew the problem was with something I was doing. I have NEVER had a problem with anything Judy has designed.........


In fact, I like this fabric together soo much that I ordered more to make the Army Reserves Star for my daughter. It is a block I found on Quilters Cache and I have been wanting to work on it since she retired from the Reserves............... I can add that to my stack of "Want to make" quilts.

The house is still in a bit of turmoil. Things not yet where they are supposed to be. It is getting better. I might get to answer email and read blogs again one day.