SIX WKS VACATION

SUZE IS AWOL for at least 6 weeks...she broke her wrist...trying to save a doggy from getting hit in the road....this is LEM doing the typing

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends...............

I hope you will all enjoy family and friends and have a safe and happy time.

I will be out of pocket for a bit but I will look forward to checking in with everyone later.

STASH REPORT

Nothing purchased and very little sewn.

In the throes of the final minutes before the Christmas Holiday.

I failed to report in last week and felt it necessary to say hello this week.

I am working on the Katelyn's Garden quilt and I might even finish the top this week. Several things are 'on the cusp' so perhaps I will have news and pictures to share at a later date.

Week Six

At last I have found a moment to post the picture of the block for week six. I am delighted with the way it turned out for me. The colors are great together. I still have plans rolling around in my head for setting the blocks. I am thinking of adding perhaps adding more blocks so that the quilt will be 5 rows of four blocks. I will have to wait till the end to add extra blocks to make sure none are repeated.

Reporting In

Dear Rebekah and Robert were with us last week........ We had a marvelous time enjoying each other's company.......Rebekah did all of my mother's Christmas cards for me and Robert cleaned and oiled my sewing machine. Now the Duchess hums along much quieter. I had to work three days but we managed to find some time for a trip to the mall and one day to see a battleship.

One day while they were out and I was at work, my dear husband bought a bunch of flowers for me. I like fresh flowers in the house. Not possible much these days. All the vases have been packed but a glass is making a fine substitute.





Saturday we had flowers delivered from a dear cousin. Now I have a lovely arrangement for the table over the holidays. It looks so festive. She is so kind to send something we will enjoy all season. Carnations last such a long time.


Even though we had guest, I found a bit of time each morning to catch up on the Quiltville.com mystery. Here are my 100 rail fence blocks and my 100 nine patch blocks. I just read the next clue and it will be 80 nine patch blocks. I am using the Katelyn's Garden quilt as the leader/ender quilt right now.




For my upstairs project I am making more ornaments. I have a few I promised thinking that there would be some left over from the Guild. I was wrong about that. I hope this dozen will hold for awhile. I want to move on to other things.

Week Five

Here is my completed block for week five. We have guest this week so before they got up yesterday morning I went downstairs and selected the fabrics for this block. Before I knew it the block was done.

Then it was off to retrieve their luggage because they arrived before their bags did. We finished the afternoon going to see the USS Massachusetts. It is a big boat at Fall River and the men loved it. I have one more day off this year and I can take it on Friday. We are going to the Mall in Falmouth............. That is one event the women will love.

Update

For anyone interested you can find the Cuban Black Bean soup at Rhoda's Southern Hospitality. We had it tonight and it was delicious. I did add some rice because Robert is from Mississippi and he and I agreed that rice would improve anything............... I picked up some crusty bread at our local bakery.....MMMMMMM MMMMMMMMM Good.

What a Weekend........................

I was on the go all weekend. Rebekah and Robert are here this week. They came up from Atlanta on the train. Then in Boston the got the bus to the Cape. We picked them up last night in Hyannis at 10:30. How wonderful it is to have family here for the holiday.

I cleaned all day Saturday and most of yesterday. I also fixed a pot of Cuban Black Bean soup from a recipe I got from a fellow blogger. I will edit the post later with the link. I can't seem to find it right now.

I am also using this as my STASH BUSTER post. Here are the blocks for the first four weeks of Amanda's offering over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Here is week one.

Here is week two.

Here is week three.



And last but not least, week four.


I am using the fabric from the grab bags I get from Homestead Hearth. I have enjoyed pawing through the basket of fabrics making selections. I have difficulty making fabric decisions and this exercise is good for me.

There are several more quilts I want to make with this fabric. Perhaps I should start a list.

Pictures from Peg's House

I took a few pictures at Pegs. I have more that I will show later. This is a tree decorated with light bulbs that her daughter Susan painted. It is simply delightful.






This is a doily Peg's grandmother made for her. It is lovely on her table.

The Tree With Beaded Ornaments

Here is the finished project. After all those hours of beading here is the tree that went to the Guild Dinner.


I thought they turned out rather well.




I am making a dozen more as I had promised a few to friends. Last year there were some left over but this year they are all gone. I will be beading for a few more days.

Moving Right Along

The next StashBuster project is this quilt. I am using the fabric left over from the Elm Creek Quilt to make this one. Looks easy and it really is after you get your mind around all those HST's. This is another famous Red Rooster design. They have some great patterns but there instructions are terrible IMHO..... I already know that if I do this one again to cut the squares for the HST's larger so that I can trim them down to size. I might just try to remember to do that on all quilts........ They assemble so much better that way.


I will be taking my time and enjoying each step. At class last week I cut out most of the quilt. This morning I cut a little more. I have all the squares for the HST's cut and the center blocks cut. All that is left is the setting triangles and the borders.



I am slowly pressing each neutral square to a pink or green square and using the new
Mary Ellen's Best Press Spray. (I found my bottle at my local quilt shop and I could not get her website to open this morning) That adds such a lovely fragrance to the air and a little stability when I slice those blocks in half on the diagonal. I find that I take my time and enjoy touching the fabric and pinning pieces together to insure a better connection. I am focusing on this project only instead of rushing through so that I can move on to the next one.

A Couple of Things

Here it is at last............The Purple Passion quilt top. I got the last border on it this morning. I am so pleased with how it turned out. My skills are getting better each day.

Thank you Judy for designing such a lovely quilt.

Judy always does special borders and this one turned out rather well. Even I could do it.

I also finished the back of my komono vest. Now on to the front.

Here is a close up of the pattern.

Let's Add One More

I got a comment from "My Little Stitching Corner" so I checked out her blog. That led me to "Crazy Mom Quilts" who is hosting a 12 week, block of the week. She has tutorials on her side bar.

Do I need to start anything else...........NO...............

Am I going to?.......................YES............

How is this for specious reasoning..... "I am supposed to be working on stash busting and this is a stash busters quilt" Sounds good to me.

I stayed up late watching Monday Night Football. I don't even like football, but Lem was watching it and it was nice to just sit with him watching the game and me knitting my vest. I did get the back finished all but binding off.............

That meant I slept late so you have no pictures today buy such is life.

This morning I finished assembling the rows for Purple Passion. I put the rows together and I have added the first border to two sides.

While I was sewing I washed 3 loads of laundry............. Then upstairs to fix breakfast and lunches for today, shower and get dressed for work.

Break time is almost over so I must get that nose back on the grindstone.

Stash Report

Sunday night and it is time for my stash report. I did finish the Elm Creek Quilt top this week and I am now working on Purple Passion. I have all the blocks made and two rows of nine assembled...............

My stash reduction method is to finish the quilts I already have fabric for. The list on the sidebar is incomplete and I hope to get it up to date some time this month. Or at least in January.

This weekend was dedicated to a bit of house blessing and holiday decorating. I will get some pictures taken this week.

Oh Happy Day

Yesterday was such a stellar day, I can hardly believe it. I think the whole uplifting of spirit began when I got the sock yarn. I felt so much more light hearted after that and lo and behold, the giving just kept on. But, let me bring you up to date. Several weeks ago while talking to another guild member I said that while I stitched industriously each day, I would not have a quilt of "show" quality each year. It would take me longer than that to come up with a quilt that was worth hanging in public view. I will confess that most of my quilts are made for the sheer pleasure of the work itself and not of the caliber of say, Judy of Sunshine quilts or the lovely creations of Hanne or the work we see from Mae and Nadine or the accomplishments of Patti. I produce just run of the mill copies and I am delighted with what I accomplish. This 'friend' looked at me as though I was something on the bottom of her shoe and said "Oh, you're a topper.'..... Well, yes, I am. I do make tops. Lots of them. Or should I say, I begin tops and occasionally finish one when forced by circumstances. At one time I would have been hurt by such a remark but not any longer. After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion on things. I repeated the story to my Breakfast Club friends and we all laughed uproariously because it was such s funny story. Dear Joan found this pin and gave it to me. I will wear it with pride when I go to the Guild party on Thursday. I also plan to show it to the person that made the remark.

In the mail on Thursday I received my first installment of the BOM for Leanne's House. Oh, they are so lovely. I am going to enjoy making that quilt. After seeing Hanne's completed quilt, I thought for a long time before I ordered it. It will be the only BOM for me next year.


I almost forget the other gifts from my Breakfast Club friends.

From Joan I received a calendar for quilters. It has the most wonderful appliqué quilt pattern in there.

After work, I went to Peg's and she helped me assemble the ornaments for the Guild. She will finish putting them on the tree and she will take it to the meeting Thursday. We will have to wait for a picture till then.

She takes her fabric scraps and cuts them into blocks after she finishes a quilt. She asked if I knew anyone that would want them and of course I raised my hand. I just adore scraps. I always have.

This is what she gave me and several books also. I have two quilts selected already to use those scraps.


I am also pleased to report two finishes from November that got done just under the wire. I ran the threads for the pink socks and completed the black socks. I am so pleased to get them done so that I can begin my green ones. But first I will finish my vest.

Progress

Here is the Elm Creek Quilt. The top is all ready for class. The colors do not look too good in this picture but it is really lovely in person.

I am hoping to get it layered and quilted so that I can give it to my mother for Christmas.





This morning I spent another hour with Judy and the Hour A Day Quilt. If you are interested in making a quilt the instructions can be found at the link above. Her designs are easy to assemble and her instructions are impecable.... She has a way of adding sashings and borders that make the quilt appear to be so much harder than it is.


Also with as little as an hour a day you can complete another warm hug for you or someone you care for.
I was never able to get a good picture of the Wisteria Sampler. I will keep working on that. At class last night I managed to get a part of the three hearts (you can see the one on the right) completed. Barry gave me some fabric so that I could make a few more and practise cutting and needle weaving. I do hope I get to spend some time practising this skill before next Wednesday.



Last but not least is the ubiquitous sock I am slowly moving up the foot portion. I am anxious to make my green socks so this should move along faster than before.

A Gift For Me?

Isn' t that just luscious yarn? It is Merino and Alpaca...... Definitely warm toes kind of socks. And it goes with my new corduroy pants........... Some wonderful person sent that to me and don't I feel special......... She has already done so many kind things for me and I was not expecting this at all............. The black socks will be completed forth with so that I can start knitting these socks..............

Meanderings

I slept late this morning. That meant I did not get the sewing done that I had anticipated. I did however manage to get my centers completed for my HAD quilt. I also cut the first border for the Elm Creek Quilt. I must get the borders on and that project complete before Saturday.



I undid the stitching just a tad on the cross seams so that I could pinwheel the center to eliminate much of the bulk there. I did not cut them with the seam ripper but gently undid the seam. I think they will hold well.



This is not a good closeup picture but then I am still learning about my camera.

Last night I managed to get the heel turned on the black sock and nowI am halfway through with the gusset. It will be downhill from then on. I really need to get this sock finished.




After work yesterday I made it to Curves. I had to go easy on two machines because of a stiff neck problem. It is still bothering me today but Lem got some of those heat pads and I am wearing one.........

After Curves, I went home and Lem and I went out for errands. You know the usual, Pharmacy and grocery store. Going into the grocery store I spotted Norfolk Island Pines about 4 feet tall complete with some red bows and red ornaments on sale for $19.00. Yes, one came home with me. It will be our Christmas tree this year.

After we got home, I fixed dinner for us and while that was cooking I set up the coffee pots for tomorrow and laid out what I would wear to work. It is always good to have that done but I am not always good at doing it.

I tried working on the Wisteria Sampler but I just could not get going. It is still set up on the table and if all goes well, I can get some stitching done after work. This is one afternoon I have nothing scheduled for after work. I would really like to get the row of leaves finished on this and the beads sewn on for the grapes and then I could start the Klostern blocks and the Hardanger Embroidery.............

My Two Cents

Last week I joined with others in attempting to use up some of the fabric I already have.

Judy Laquidara is the leader of this group and I am interested in seeing just how long we can work toward our goals.

She mentioned in her post this morning that it is good to make a list of what you plan to accomplish each week.

1. Finish the top for the Elm Creek Class"I Remember Mama"


2. Finish "Purple Passion" my HAD quilt top.



3. Cut out Katelyn's Garden


That might just be enough for one week.

STASH

The only stash reduction for me this past week was work on my HAD quilt. I am considering updating my list of HSY's but I will approach this with dread.......... The list is just too long.

This week I hope to put the borders on the Elm Creek Quilt as I will need it for class. I am using the leftover fabric from that quilt to make one called "Katelyn's Garden" from Red Rooster.com.

I am hoping to get it cut out this week as I will need something to work on in class on Saturday.

Here are my HST's for the HAD. I have half of them trimmed and partially sewn. The other half still need to be trimmed.

I did complete one block just to see how it looked. I am really pleased with the outcome.




Here are the two blocks side by side..........



Even the ubiquitous sock is showing progress. I have finished the Heel Flap and perhaps tonight I can move on to turning the heel.................


While I was working downstairs I came across a pattern that spoke to me. After looking around my sewing room I found a piece of red fabric that I bought several years ago that I have been saving for just the right project. More on that next week.