Reassessments

Over the course of the last few months, I've gotten somewhat out of my routines and behind on things. That doesn't mean I'm not doing anything, but I'm not keeping up either.

(Yahoog Images)

The first thing on the list are my emails. I've gotten really bad, not so much about answering them, but reading them. I have months of blogs that I haven't read that come to my emails for that express purpose. 

I've also gotten behind on responding to all the lovely, supportive comments on my blog. I am really sorry. If I didn't send you a personal response, please know that your comments and support are greatly appreciated and I don't take any of you for granted. I'm weeding through the emails and will respond as soon as I can. If I don't for some reason, again, know that I don't take you/your support for granted. You are still very important to me.

(Yahoo Images)

I've got chores that are behind too, but I'm not going to detail them because I don't want you to know just how bad of a house keeper I really am . . . LOL

So the last couple of nights I've been working on my Lace Cabin from Crabapple Hill.

I had this accomplished before I got so wrapped up in the wool. 

I managed to get this done over the last two nights. It's a very slow process, but I am enjoying it. And the blocks come out so great - at least the first one did :)

So that's where I'm headed now before it gets too much later - and emails :) I'm down to 11 pages from 17 - yes, I was a bit behind.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you countless blessings.

Frustration !!

I was and still am very excited with the progress being made on Wool BOM.

Came up with a plan to put the fancy border all the way to the outermost edge.

 

Got excited when I cut it out and it looked good !!!!

Pulled out my binding. Things started to go awry.

Binding that I made was cut on the grain and not the bias so it wasn't working because it just wouldn't follow those curves.

Drop back and punt. 

I went rummaging in my supplies and found a packaged of double-fold bias and went to work.

One more obstacle - I ran short so I had to stop :(

Monday I stopped at that local quilt shop and found bias binding by the yard - new discovery for me.

I bought 1/3 yard and went home and went back to work.

Not only did I get the binding on, but the hanger is made 

and . . . 

My Wool block of the month wall hangiing is officially finished !!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you countless blessings.

Busy, blessed Sunday

My Sunday is started BLESSED !

My Wool BOM is FINALLY all hand-quilted !!!

 

It's not completely finished . . . yet.

But the hand-quilting is done !!

I still need to bind it and put a hanger on it so it can be displayed.

I am so thrilled with this part of the process finished I just had to tell you all.

In celebration (not that he knew he was celebrating with me), Honey Do put up the quilt rack that was gifted to me by BF. 

BTW, the wall is actually green, not blue - don't you just love cell phone cameras ?

Not sure how soon the wall hanging will be done, but it is officially in the home stretch.

It's been chilly the last few mornings, but that's not stopping Rocky from being outside and saying god morning to the neighbors :)

More work being done in the garden - Honey Do helped me put up new fencing. 

We are attempting to keep the deer out. So we removed the chicken wire and used a heavier mesh. I'm going to get some 2x boards that are about 8 feet long and we are going to run the chicken wire (or facsimile thereof) around the top - above what we just installed - to make it taller and hopefully discourage admittance. So far I only have seeds planted, but now is the time to make the changes before things really start growing.

I found this wind chime while I was digging out the fencing. The original string was rotted so I rigged it so that I could still use it. I didn't want to take the time to figure out how it was assembled and then find the right size string to fix it properly. I'll find some time in the next week to do that, but I wanted to just get it up in the garden. It was too pretty not to use now.

OK - all of this was done before 1 p.m. !!!

So that gives me plenty of time this afternoon to prepare my Bible study lesson for the kids and maybe even work on my Wool BOM.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my joy.

Wishing you countless blessings.

This . . . that . . . and then some . . .

I really hate being sick !!!

I've been dealing with coughing and a runny nose for the last two weeks and it doesn't seem to want to stop and just go away.

Consequently, most of the time I don't feel like doing anything !!!

I hate that feeling even more !!

So Friday afternoon, I went to the library to pick up Newton and while I was there decided I needed to look at some new craft books. I've probably checked most of these out at one time or another, but still wanted to look at some new projects.

I spent Friday evening purusing them while I tried to find something on Netflix to watch.

Saturday, I spent the afternoon and evening working on my wool. I did find something to watch . . .

The quilt is an excellant vehicle with which to tell the stories of the lives of the women that are important to this young bride. The quilt is stunning. 

In poking around the internet, I find that a pattern for the quilt is available.

So I purchased it. It's not my story, but it will still be a gorgeous quilt to make someday and remember the movie.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you countless blessings.

Spring !!!!

I LOVE spring !!!!

The sun shines more and brighter,

the breeze is cleaner and warmer,

temperatures rise above freezing :)

I get to get my hands dirty . . .

Honey Do tilled the vegetable garden Sunday afternoon.

The layout has been put to paper and Tuesday afternoon, I used the garden rake and straightened it out - sort of. It will be an on-going process as I plant my seeds and plants. It's a lot of work and more often than not I debate about whether or not it's worth the effort. But in the end I always decide that it is.

So I spent my day off - Wednesday - working in the garden and generally catching up my chores.

I wasn't feeling well last week, and to be honest, I'm still not over whatever bug had gotten hold of me but I've decided a week is more than long enough and I need to get up and get busy. The weather is also cooperating because it's been warm and sunny since the weekend.

My commitment for Bible Study and the children's program will be finished for the year in three weeks. That will free up two more days of the week when I can just stay home and get things done.

I continue to work on the indoor painting. The bathroom ceiling is on the agenda for this week - priming and painting.

 

These are a couple of the garments I saw at the quilt show at the beginning of the month. 

They serve to remind me how much I have missed sewing and stitching since it's having to take a back seat during the interior renovations of my home. I'm not sorry with my choices, just missing what I love doing. Aren't they beautiful?

Rocky has thoroughly enjoyed this warmer weather, so much so that it's almost impossible to keep him in the house :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you bushels of blessings.

The Black Hole

Do you ever feel like you've fallen into a black hold and can't get out?

(From Yahoo)

That's exactly how I've been feeling lately.

I feel like I'm always playing catch up, there's never enough time to get all the things done that need my personal attention.

On top of that, I've been sick all week with a miserable head cold. My upper lip is raw and sore to the touch.

On a positive note, it has warmed up enough this week that Newton was able to mow the lawn :)

Honey Do has planned to till the vegetable garden, but it was too wet. So he came up with an alternate project we've been discussing for a bit.

 

A fire pit. He wants to put up a nice seating area and make this a permanent fixture. I'm pretty excited about having a place that will force us to sit and relax because neither of us do it very well.

And on that note, he also wanted to get reacquainted with his hammock :)

All of these activities mean that the yard work is beginning. I will need to find time to get into the flower beds and get some weeding done as well as planting seeds in the vegetable garden. I did get some of the fallen twigs picked up in the back yard . . . because I just can't sit still for too awfully long :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a blessed and relaxed weekend.

Sewing and Quilt Expo . . . continued

So I must apologize for my photographs. I used my cell phone and didn't realize how blury the pictures were when I took them. But hopefully, you will be able to the beauty and uniqueness of these quilts.

There was a theme of autumn leaves and I feel that the theme was captured famously.

 

I love how whimsical the boy playing in the leaves . . .

 

the simplicity of design . . . 

 

creative sculpturing (this is one of my absolute favorites)

 

I fell in love with the one on the left too

 

And how amazing is this "portrait"?

I hope you enjoyed the quilt show through my eyes.

I am excited to be looking forward to another visit next year.

 

This is quickly becoming known as the year that winter wouldn't leave. We had another round of snow Friday night into Saturday morning. It was predicted up to nine inches. We received about four. It was a beautiful Saturday with the sun shining and the melting beginning.

There was still snow on the ground Sunday, but definitely warmer - mid 40sF. By next weekend we'll be back up in the upper 60s almost 70.

I spent Friday at the office with Honey Do working on some repackaging. Saturday, I spent the day working on my painting. I have another room finished :)

The diningroom

This small china cabinet was made by Honey Do's grandfather. I've had these pretty dishes for quite sometime and they were put away in a cabinet still wrapped up. I've used them ocassionally but not as often as I think I will now that they are out where they can be seen.

The "dresser scarf" was gifted to me from my mom and as I was putting things away today, I thought, what a perfect place for it :)

 

The wall color is sage. Honey Do wasn't too sure about it yesterday when I started painting. Fortunately, it dried quite a bit darker than when it was wet.

This built in cabinet is from grandpa too.

It's been another busy week. I haven't set my sewing aside. I'm still working on my wool, but hand-quilting is a slow process. As is painting. But with two rooms, a hallway and foyer. Next up . . . the kitchen. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you many blessings.

Sewing Expo

 

I was blessed to spend all day Friday with the love of my life, doing something I really enjoy.

 

Honey Do took the day off work.

 

He bought tickets a couple of months ago for the Sewing Expo.

 

I have been so excited for this day to come.

 

We arrived at just before 10 a.m.

We went through the first room and wondered that that was all there was to the show.

 

We were directed to the "basement".

A huge room filled with vendors.

And so many wonderful quilts.

I don't know that I could pick a favorite

because they are all beautiful for lots of different reasons.

There were lots of unique quilts, like the denim jeans raking leaves and the toe of one foot goes off the end of the quilt.

Along with more traditional quilts.

And even garments.

I am so truly blessed. Honey Do said he would be happy to go with me again next year :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you as many blessings as I've received today.