How It Is...

This is how not good I feel...I have not touched my sewing machine in several days.  And, when I did, this was all I could do...put the inner and outer borders on the quilt top.

Poor Naomi Janome.  I'll have to spend some time with her real soon.

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Did you know that Robert Plant has a new album out?  I hear it's #7 over at Amazon.com.  Not bad!  It's called Band of Joy and I must say that I think these songs are so well suited for his voice.  I like each and every song on this album.  Great job, Percy!

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And, cuz I know you've been wondering about Tag's warthog...here is a photo I took of it last week.  I was sitting at the sewing machine and turned my head toward the dining room to see where Tag was.  Saw him laying on the sofa and then noticed that the warthog was apparently enjoying the music I was playing.  See how it's just sitting there, as if it doesn't want to miss any part of the album? 

(be sure to click on the photo to enlarge it)

Ya know...it's all I have.  {grin}

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Under the Weather...

Nose running,

eyes running,

coughing,

sneezing,

sore throat...

YUK!

I feel like crap.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

The Coco Express is Coming!

I need to add a few smallish borders, but here it is.

I don't do random well.  I really don't.

To me, there is always a pattern in my randomness.

That's one of the things I had

some difficulty with when rug hooking.

Trying to do backgrounds the way I wanted them to look.

(and, by the way, that is the reason my

big a** star rug is not yet finished)

So.  I decided to put the quilt top together this way.

Course, then I had to work with values.

Another trouble spot with me.

But, I think I did okay.

Darks, lights, mediums pretty well balanced.

Don't you think?

Gonna read tonight.

Snack = honey crisp apple.

Yum!

With caramel dip.

{grin}

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

The Chocolate Puppy!

I started a new blog...a place to sell my rug hooking stuff!  'The Chocolate Puppy'...see the picture there in my sidebar?  Just click on that to hop over and see what is needing to move out of my house.

Oh. My. Gosh!  This is going to be a huge task...to weed through all of my rug hooking stuff!  Almost overwhelming.  Methinks I'll need to devise a really good plan before starting to sort through it.  

For now, I'm going to put some rug hooking books up for sale.  If you're interested, please hop over to 'The Chocolate Puppy'.  My goal is to get this (mostly) done by this time next week.  So, please be sure to stop back often to see what else is being sold.  And, be sure to tell your friends.

Hope you're having a good weekend.  I'll be sorting, photographing, and measuring woolens.

Later on today, I'll have a photo of what I got accomplished this week.

 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Next Up...

I love these yummy browns...

coco express by jo morton.

(first blogged about here)

  

I spent some time admiring them

and then cut each of the

13 fat quarters into 5" squares.

For a total of 156 squares.

(yeah, I know...I am showing only 12 of the prints)

But, hey!
I now know what I'm going to do with them.

{grin}

Stay tuned!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

She Likes It!

Actually, Carole loves her quilt!

You cannot imagine how I feel about this.

And, for once, words fail me.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Sunday Sundries...

It's Sunday night...back to work tomorrow.

The days of the weekend seem to go by

so much faster than the days of
the week, don't they?

Kaylynn left mid-morning.

I enjoy having her so much.

Oh!  I didn't show you this...

she told her Mom that I like to get stuff.

I've never gotten 'stuff' from her before, 

so I was especially overjoyed to receive this.

I don't know if you can see that 

the 2 middle fingers are bent over.

It is this...

Sign language for 'i love you'.

She treats it as a secret code

that we can share across the room.

I love that little girl!

After the house showing, 

it started raining.

oh.  yeah.
Claire called yesterday morning

to tell me the realtor wanted to 

show the house this morning.

That meant some cleaning needed to be done.

While Kaylynn was here.

oh joy.

Actually, it wasn't so bad.

She helped me.

Truly.

{grin}

Anyway.
It's been raining on and off all
afternoon...making for a damp & dreary day.
But, it's supposed to be in the
high 70's this week!

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I finished reading a great book this afternoon.

The Mailbox by Marybeth Whalen.

You can find her here.

The book is a Christian-based romance novel.

A simple read.

A delightful read.

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I sewed 2 more blocks for Paul/Rachel's quilt.

That makes 16 done!

woohoo!

block 15

block 16

Now I am down to deciding

where to go from here with it.

Time will tell!

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Since Kaylynn was the only grandchild

here this weekend, I did not sort any woolens.

I'll get to that this week.

It's my 'from now til the end of September' project.

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I've been thinking quite a bit about my big a** star rug.

I looked at the last photo I took of it...

25 months ago was the last I hooked on it! 

Wow.

Hard to believe!

Here it is.

Though, I think I might have taken all 

of the brown background strips out.

Not going to go and look.

Just sayin'.

Everything that's hooked was done in 12 days.

And, just so ya know...

that star is 22" across.

Hence, BIG a** Star rug!

That's all I have for now.

Have a great week!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

More Kaylynn...

I practiced braiding hair...

(she has 12 braids!)

and then Kaylynn practiced her different looks...

 

 

We do have our fun!

Time with Kaylynn...

FNSI Results.

 My goal for last night was to make this apron.

 

It's a simple over the head, tie in back apron.

Have a great weekend!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Tonight Is...

YAY!

I have one yard of fabric

from my godchild/niece, Jody.

She wants a simple apron.

That's what I'll be making tonight!

How about you?

Are you ready to sew tonight?

What will you be working on?

Click here to sign up.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

The Wool Gatherer...

I will be sorting through my woolens this weekend and will be putting them up for sale.  

See these 9 totes?

They're not all completely full, but there is a lot of wool in them!  My grandkids may be coming this weekend, so I'm going to enlist their help in sorting through it all.

I'm not sure how I'll sell the woolens...in lots or bundles or fat quarters or what.  My goal is to empty these totes and get the wool out of the house.   I have put aside the woolens I'll be needing to finish the two rugs I really would like to finish.  Those two being 'Fruit of the Spirit' and my big a** star rug.  

If I get really ambitious, I'll go through patterns and books and rugs and put them up for sale, too.  Oh, and how about some of my dyeing stuff, too!  huh.  I guess I'll be spending a lot of time on this project, but it really needs to get done.  

I plan to give you, my faithful blog readers, first dibs by posting everything here.  If no takers, I'll move it over to my etsy shop.    


I'll let you know how it's going.  

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

One More Block.

Here's what I did today...

another block for Paul/Rachel's quilt.

Block number 14.

I think I originally said that I would make 25 blocks.

That's not gonna happen.

I don't have enough fabric left to make another 11 blocks.

I have enough fabric to make a few more.

 16 blocks would be a good number to have...

then it'd be about 72x66.

But, I want it to be a little larger than that.

I have a few ideas.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Kashmir Quilt...

It's done!

So, I'll take it to work today.

Geri hasn't asked, and I haven't

volunteered any information

on how this quilt for her sister

was coming along.
She might be surprised.

I had originally planned to have

it done last week, but running

out of thread while quilting 

really threw me off schedule.

No matter.

It's done now.

It's just a simple 9-patch,

but I am in love.

And, very happy that

I have enough of this fabric

to make myself a quilt.

{grin}

Here it is...all crinkly soft 

(not the best colors...the sun was really bright)

 I'll try to remember to take

photos at work with Geri.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Answer: Shocked & Kicked...

Question:

What do you get when you

run through an electric fence

into a horse pasture?

Yup.

That's what Tag did.

Got off his cable.

Ran to the pasture that is 

enclosed with electric fence...

and Twist kicked him.

What was Tag thinking?

Twist outweighs him by

several hundred pounds!

I mean, really.

No reason to worry, Tag is fine.

Given half a chance, 

he'd probably try it again, though.

Brown dog = mud for brains.

Some of the time.

Had the nerve to ask for a treat when

I brought him into the house.

As if.

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Other than that, it's been a very quiet weekend.

Talked with all 3 of my sisters.

Sewed.

Got 4 blocks done for Paul's & Rachel's quilt.

Finished quilting Carole's quilt last night.

Machine stitched the binding on and am 

about half done hand sewing it to the back.

Watching 'Friends' while doing that.

(I have all but the last 3 seasons.)

Sometimes, laughing so hard, I cannot sew.

Will show photos in another few days.

Hope your weekend was great!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Lots of Stuff...

Kaylynn's first day of kindergarten was yesterday.
Her Mom sent me photos...

Here she is, all ready to go...

Now, she's waiting for the bus...

Finally, she's in her classroom...

I talked with Kaylynn on the phone last night...

she was so excited!  

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I haven't done any sewing or quilting since my last post.

Decided to just settle down and move the timeline.

Got my thread yesterday.

I am set to go.   

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My dqs9 partner got her doll quilt.

Actually, both of them.

I made one for her.
This one...

Look at how wild the back looks...

that's the center fabric of the front.

I made the black and white with lime green

quilt for her cat, Millie.

Here is a photo that Lynne sent 

of Millie laying on her new quilt!

See how the quilt matches her?

Millie has her own blog...click here.

It's a great feeling when what you make

is received so well by the ones you made it for.

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Exciting NEWS!!!

Do you know Nate Berkus?

He's known because of his

affiliation with Oprah Winfrey.

Well, he now has his own show!

YAY!

Starts next Monday.

I am so excited! 

Go here to see what he's up to.

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That's all I have for today.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Kaylynn at the Fair...and Progress.

Kaylynn starts kindergarten this year.

I cannot believe it!

I haven't seen her for awhile.

Her last visit was scheduled 
when I had pneumonia,

so we canceled it.

With school starting and all,

it'll be a few more weeks until I see her. 

I called her on Friday
and I'll talk with her again on Tuesday,
to find out about her first day of school.

Kaylynn's Mom sent these photos today.
They went to a fair...
looks like Kaylynn had a good time.

 

 

 She makes my heart sing.

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I have a dilemma.

I ran out of thread.
I'm 1/2 done with the Kashmir quilt.

Cannot believe I didn't check

to make sure I had enough!

(and remember, I was at the quilt shop yesterday!)

I'm on a (self-imposed) schedule, here.

With tomorrow being Labor Day,

I won't be able to get more until Tuesday.

Bummer.

I wonder if I could trim the quilt 

and put the binding on the half that's done?

So I could start the hand-sewing.

There wouldn't be any wasted time that way.

What do you think?

I cannot think of a good reason not to do that.

Here's how the quilt looks thus far...

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

DQS9 Received...& Another Brown Dog???

I received my doll quilt in today's mail.

From Cornelia.

All the way from Germany!

It is dang cute.

Machine sewn, hand quilted.

Measures 13" square...

those are some small pieces of fabric!

Still waiting for my partner to receive her package.

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Tag has a new pal.

Another brown dog.

Almost as big as he is.

Too bad he cannot keep it.

Though, he sure would love to!

This pup used to sit on a shelf...

was digging through some stuff

today and set it on my bed.

Tag was excited to think he had a new friend.

Guess again, bud.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10