Relapse

It has been a very rough week healthwise.

I thought I was on the mend early in the week, only to have had a relapse.

My head is stuffed up, I'm coughing, and have no energy to do anything.

I don't like not feeling well.

Something that should not have taken very long is taking me all week.

However . . . 

The first section of this spring row is completed.

The first watering can - done.

I'm working on the second one.

Thursday was BF's birthday, so despite the fact that I didn't feel well we met and spent a couple of hours chatting over tea and magazines and quilt books. It was a very nice, quiet morning.

I'm off to take some night time cold medicine and praying I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

On the mend . . .

The cold front came through on Friday and with it, I managed to get a head cold.

(found on the internet)

I was fine when I left the house and the weather was descent, however, while I was in the church the front came through with cold and more rain. I made a couple of stops and went home. By Friday evening, I was sneezing. It was a miserable weekend.

Thursday evening, I began working on my spring row blocks.

I'm calling it a modified churn dash. And I've decided to get creative with the row. The pattern calls for watering cans and daisies to be appliqued on these blocks. But I like my blocks so much that I don't want to cover them in any way. 

The row has seven blocks total. I'm making four of the churn dash and three of watering cans . . .

 

(designs for patterns found on the internet)

The "tulip" can will be the center block and the "frogs" will be blocks two and six :)

I have hand appliquing to do before I sew the rows together.

I also chose my own watering cans, not that the ones included weren't cute too. I just have my own thoughts and decided this was a good month to be rebellious :)

I have a small finish for October as well. 

These little jars I recycled are bottled lattes. The labels are shrink wrapped and come off beautifully without any glue residues. I found the idea on Pinterest.

All I did was cute burlap to the desired size, used double sided tape to hold in place until I could tie on the ribbons. I trimmed the ends and whala . . .  an adorable little vase. I'm going to give one to BF on Thursday with some fresh flowers for her birthday.

I have a new display jar :)

Unfortunately, the widow across the street passed away recently and the children are cleaning house. As soon as I saw the jar, I knew what I wanted it for - my wooden thread spool collection. I've been collecting these for several years (a lot of years) and finally have the correct vessel to display them. There were more, but I only chose this one. I have a feeling I'm going to be really sorry I didn't get the others. I'm absolutely thrilled with it.

It's time to start working on my applique.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Mom time

 

At least once a month, I manage to get to my Mom's to help her around the house and catch up with each other. We talk ocassionally on the phone, but not as often as either of us would really like. 

The day started out decent enough, but the closer I got to her house the foggier it got. It made for some really cool pictures :)

The ride home was  absolutely beautiful. It's still early fall, but I think the lack of rain over the summer has affected our autumn. Colors are changing, but if you look many of the trees are already bare and could end up not surviving the winter.

I got squishy mail :)

I absolutely LOVE 1930s reproduction prints. Aren't these gorgeous? 

I can't wait to find the perfect project for these. I have a subscription for reproduction prints every month and so far have received Civil War prints so they tend to be a bit darker. Imagine my delight when I opened this package . . . 

Happy Dance :)

Spending the evening working on the Spring Row. Very excited to get those churn dash blocks and applique started.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Mid-week burst

A mid-week burst of energy has kicked in . . .

 

After a frantic morning of an oil change and unexpected (or forgotten) errands, I was able to come home and get some things accomplished.

I shredded seven or eight small/medium sized heads of red cabbage. This will be delivered to Mom who will season, cook and freeze for use over the winter.

I also peeled, cored and cut up about a dozen granny smith apples and made apple sauce - this is what's leftover after we sampled. The rest will probably disappear after Thursday's dinner.

I got yummy mail :) I ordered this when I found it on sale for 40% off !!!! 

I debated for the longest time. I love Lori's style and did want this, but just couldn't justify the cost of $30. Well, next time I won't hesitate although I did love the savings. This is a great book with over 40 different blocks and lots of sample ideas with instructions. If you are hesitating, don't. It's well worth it.

Early, early Thursday morning, I chose the fabrics for my next spring row. I'll spend the evening drawing off the applique pieces and cutting out the churn dash blocks. This one should go together fairly quickly.

Wednesday evening I finished stitching on the binding for this little wall hanging. I'm still looking for embellishments to finish it so it's a little dressed up. I'm looking for the hearts and stars and have found some, but wasn't feeling the love. I'm still looking and checking and I know I fill find exactly what will work best and make me happy.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

All I want is a nap . . .

That's right, all I have wanted to do for the last week is take a nap !!!!

I have little to no motivation to do anything, including working on stitchery or sewing.

It's not for a lack of projects either.

Table runners - this wonderful kit came with enough fabric to make two (!!!) table runners. I want to get at least one done by the middle of the month for BF's birthday.

Half assembled 9-patches, just wainting to be completed as leaders and enders . . .

New patterns. The Americana and Spring rows with a few days late publishing. That was ok, it's not her fault that I lack motivation to move on to something else in the meantime. I have them now and am gearing up to work on them.

The third pattern is a block of the week I told you about here.  I have the fabric and the first five blocks printed . . . 

October ALYOFs goal has been assembled and I'm working on the binding and hanger. It took an afternoon to cut everything out, assemble it and machine quilt. I finally picked it up yesterday and put the binding on. The hemming is 1/4 complete :) Still deciding on embellishments.

And there's always more waiting in the wings.

There seems to be a resurgence for the Farmer's Wife Quilt.

This one is being hosted by Gnome Angel and Fat Quarter Shop.

And of course, I'm on that band wagon. So far, I have a version of the book that I got a couple of years ago when it first came on my radar - about the time I was getting interested in blogging myself.

I've finally started colleting fabrics for it which I am purchasing from Fat Quarter Shop. This is not an endorsement, as I buy fabric wherever I find the selection I want at the best price. Basically, I'm an equal opportunity shopper. I haven't started just yet as I'm feeling unmotivated and a little overwhelmed with all I have going on. I just have to find my rhythm and comfort zone and I'll be off to the running again.

For now, I'm off for an oil change and to pick up my BOM from a local quilt shop.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Cold, wet weekend

It's been another busy week and not much time at home to get things accomplished, but I have managed a few things.

 

The Wool BOM is now complete. I can't say I'm 100% thrilled with it and the thing that's giving me pause is the button on top of the bud. So it's on and I'll spend some time thinking about it and looking for something I might like better, but for now it will stay put. There were a lot of french knots on this one and the new stitches were the Palestine which borders the bud and a "basket weave" with is the main stem. The instructor called it something else, but I can't remember what it was.

 

I met BF on Thursday. She's cutting and sewing patchwork flannel quilts for her three children for Christmas this year. The first quilt is on the rack getting machine quilted. The second quilt is in progress and we cut more blocks for construction. The third quilt is still in the planning stages. She brought me two bags of scrap flannels from quilts her mom started, pajamas both of us had made for the children when they wree younger. 

Whenever I feel like doing "something" but not anything "specific" or that requires much brain power, I cut squares for "later". I can only cut scraps for so long. Let's be honest, it's very time consuming because you are working around previous cuts in the fabric and it takes time to lay it out and figure out the most efficient and economical way to cut. I want to get the largest squares I can with the least amount of waste. My blocks range in size from 6.5 inches down to 2.5 inch squares that can be used as random blocks or 9-patches. With whatever is left I try to get 1.5 inch strips for scrap blocks. The rest is waste. As you can see, I have a fairly good collection going. With 9 great-nephews and a great-niece, I could get a lot of quilts made. Needless to say, it won't be this year :)

Rocky and I went for a visit to the vet. The receptionist recommended a store for toys and winter coats, so we stopped.

 

He got a new coat and sweater and some new toys :)

He's only a little spoiled.

It's time to start prepping dinner -whatever that's going to be and then find something a little more productive to do.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Making progress . . . and a goal

It's been a rough couple of days. Normal everyday stuff, kid stuff, busy-ness.

I had computer issues again, but I worked my way through it. Not happy about the whole situation, but I'm working on it.

It's the end of September. I'm managing to stay current on projects and even keeping my mothly goals up to date.

There are A LOT of French knots on this month's Wool. It took me most of the weekend just to get the berries done - mind you, I took a lot of down time too.

I've moved on to the leaves - wool, stem stitch and more French knots to fill in. Once those are done all that's left is the bulb. I'm hoping to finish by week's end.

My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYOFs).

I'm dusting off another oldie from my days at JoAnn's. It's a small wall hanging and pillow. There are a couple of small cut out angels matching the center of the wall hanging that I'm going to make little ornaments out of to use up the panel. This one has matching fabric for the backing. If I had another use for it, I would just back in muslin, but I don't.

With all my busy-ness at this time of year, I've decided to concentrate on smaller projects and get them out of the way. In January, I'll start bigger projects again. Some of my concern is not having supplies to finish some of the bigger projects and until they go on sale and I can get them, they'll just have to wait for another time.

Stop By Sew Bittersweet and see what some of the other ladies are committing to finishing this month. That's where I'm headed :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.