Crash & Burn!

Bad news...my computer crashed and burned yesterday.  No means to get it fixed or to buy a new one.  Not sure what to do...hoping God has a plan!  Keepin' the faith! 

I am only able to access this email at work. 

I have the next four days off...can you imagine how much I'll get done with no time on the computer?  YIKES!  I think I may suffer severe computer/blog withdrawal, though. 

I'll check in next Monday.

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

Gobble! Gobble!

Finally!
After 8 days of no sewing, Naomi Janome

and I spent a lovely 70 minutes together!

Here is a sneak peek at what got done...

36 lovely squares of the Gobble Gobble

fabric collection by Sandy Gervais.

Aren't these colors absolutely gorgeous?

I won the Gobble Gobble charm pack 

in a giveaway a year ago.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it,

so set it aside and promptly forgot about it.

While straightening and sorting yesterday,

I saw it and decided that I could quickly

put a table topper together with it.

(I am thinking I could give it to me mum...

her birthday is in 8 days.)

Got all the charms laid out to my satisfaction

last night before going to bed.

Got up this a.m. and sewed them together.

Naomi Janome and I were humming!

Laundry is about all I have going on today...

perhaps I'll get more sewing done.

Hope you have a great Sunday!

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

For Sale...

For those of you who aren't aware of my selling blog...or even for those of you who are and haven't checked it lately...

I have some rug hooking books still available, a few Wool Street Journals (including one that is out of print), and just posted three cutter heads for sale.  AND, a few rugs that I hooked!

Click on The Chocolate Puppy over there to the right in my sidebar to go to my selling blog.

I am feeling better today.  Taking it easy...gave Tag a bath and am getting laundry done.  Also, I'm sorting through some stuff (hence, the cutter heads & rugs for sale), trying to get things organized for Christmas projects.

Other than that, nothing much.  

Don't forget to check out my selling blog!

Have a great Saturday!

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

Gifted!

Thank you one and all for

your caring words.

You truly touch my heart.

I feel about the same today.

Seems to come and go, though.

Sometimes, I feel not so bad.

Other times, I feel like crap.

Still just want to sit.

And do nothing.

Which I find I'm kind of good at.

The bright spot of today?
The bit of time that I forgot how crappy I felt?

Coming home to find multiple packages

awaiting my approval.

Poppy Collection in the Spice colorway.

By Laura Gunn.

This is not my usual style.

Yet...

I LOVE it!

(be sure to click to enlarge)

which translates into these fabrics...

Okay, that's about all I can do.

Must go and rest up.

Starting a new book, "Thin Places".

Go here to read about it.

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

Crapola!

Not feelin' so great these days.  Just this crummy cold that's been hangin' on for over 3 weeks now.  blah.  That's just how I feel...blah.  Really, I haven't felt 100% since my bout with pneumonia in the summer.  I had regained a lot of energy, but it sure didn't last long.  Just seems that everything I do is a huge effort...that I really need to push myself.  All I want to do is just sit in my big easy chair with Tag by my side...hangin' out.

I hope to feel better soon.  I miss my Naomi Janome.  We have a bazillion projects to work on.

I am way behind on replying to comments.  So, If you haven't heard from me lately, it's nothing personal.

  

Hope you are all feeling okay.

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

Last Night...

I think this is the best Friday Night Sew-in I have had!  I actually accomplished a lot!  (Helped that the one show I wanted to watch on tv was not on!)  Here is the 'diggers & dozers' quilt top that I finished piecing.  It still needs borders...measures about 50x52" right now.

Also.  I got these borders put together last night, though I didn't sew them on until this morning. 

The tiny border (1/4") is a pale blue with pink rosebuds.  (Thanks, Janer!)  Which, by the way, is what I am using for the backing fabric.  So, I thought I would add a special touch to the front with it.  Only so much pink one can handle.  Not sure if you can tell, but the inside edge is not sewn down.  I took 1" strips of fabric, sewed them together (end to end), folded/ironed in half, then sewed to the outside edges of the quilt top all the way around.  Like one would do a regular border.  Then, I sewed  the wider pink border on top of it.  Just gives it a little something...and breaks up all that pink!  I like it.  

Hope you're having a great Saturday!

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

Friday Night Sew-in...

I am so ready...

haven't done much sewing this week at all.

I have a border to put on the pink quilt

and a little boy quilt top to piece.

Eating supper now and then will get moving.

Must watch "Outlaw" tonight, too.

Click here if you would like to join in.

What will you be working on?

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

A New Adventure...

Look what came in the mail!

I have been wanting this book
since the first time I saw it.

I really need to keep 

my hands busy in the evening

while I am watching tv.

There are some dang cute projects in here...

including a few punch needle pieces

done up by my super-talented friend, Debbie.

I'm focusing on the stitchery 
& applique projects.

For now.

Only time will tell what I come up with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note.

I stopped to pick up some books
at the brand new library branch that I use.

It's all do-it-yourself!

Find my own requests/holds.

Check myself out!

How fun!

In and out in a flash!

LOVE it!

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

A Small Project Finished

Not so long ago, I blogged about this here.

And, now it is finished.

I really love it...

but then, I love all the quilty things I make.

It measures about 30 x 34 inches. 

The backing is premium muslin.

Nothing exciting.

Purely functional.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, when I first started quilting,

I finished each project before I started another.

Not so, anymore!

I have 4 completed quilt tops waiting to

be sandwiched/basted/bound.

Why is that?

I have no clue.

Perhaps because my creative juices

are flowing somewhere close to warp speed
and I am having fun trying to keep up.
Don't know.

But, it's an interesting thought. 

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

Pink Square in Square...

Here's what I did with the pink fabrics.
I put this together last night and today.

Erin, over at Why Not Sew? had 

organized a small charm swap.

 We swapped pink charms (5"). 

I thought and pondered and deliberated...

wanted to get the most out of my charms.

I finally decided on this design...

simple square in square blocks.

I used 36 charms with

Kona solids in carnation,

bright pink, and pink.

I mostly used the solids as 
contrasting values with the charms.

I may add a small border.

Measures about 51" square right now.

Easy peasy.

Pretty in Pink, indeed!

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

Not Much Going On...

But, there is a lot of pink in my near future...

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

Tony Baloney

My nephew, Tony, is in the Air Force, and has been in Anchorage, Alaska, for the past 3 years.  Fortunately, my sister, Joyce, lives there so he was able to have someone from his family close by.  Tony married Mercatie in June and now he is being moved to South Carolina.  So.  Long story short, they're driving a U-Haul truck there.  All the way from Alaska.  Yup...a long trip! They spent a few days in Wausau with his Mom & Dad & friends.  Ryan (Tony's best friend since kindergarten) left Wausau with them today to drive to SC.  I'm a few hours south of  Wausau...they would be going toward Chicago down the interstate that is about 6 miles down the road from me.  So, they stopped at the truckstop and I ran (drove) down to visit with them for a short while.  I hadn't seen Tony since he left for Alaska...and hadn't yet met Mercatie, so I was happy to see them.  And, though I have heard about Ryan forever (remember...best friends since kindergarten) I don't think I had ever met him.     

Yeah.  This morning at 5:00 (uh-huh, I get up early even on the weekends), I was thinking about meeting Tony, et al., and thinking that I didn't have anything to give him.  Joyce made him cookies to take along when he left Alaska, his Gram made him cookies, Jill was going to bake for him...but I didn't have stuff to bake with.  Thinking, thinking.  Course, not that Tony was expecting anything from me...just thought it would be nice.  Then, I happened to remember that I had seen a 14" pillow form in the closet yesterday.  A pillow form without a purpose.  I know!  I could make him a small pillow to match the ones I made and gave them for their wedding.  I thought that was a good idea.  Go here  & here to see the ones I made in June.

But.  I thought...with all I have on my list to do, I didn't really need (or want) to add in one more thing. 

About 4 hours later, when I was on the phone with Jill (my sister...Tony's mom), I told her about my early morning thoughts.  She, of course, thought I should do it.  I had plenty of time.  Well, she talked me into it.  An hour later, this is what I had come up with...

Wow...that pillow form is really fat!  {grin}  Tony & Mercatie love the small pillow.

Well, that's all I have for today.  Except to say that Tag has been walking around with his food bowl for the past hour or so.  It is just now time for him to eat.  I should feed him, then.  Poor thing.  ha!

By the way.  I added a few patterns & other stuff to my selling blog...The Chocolate Puppy.

Have a good Sunday evening!

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

A Small Project Started

As I said in yesterday's post, 

I haven't done much sewing at all lately.

I was kind of restless this 
evening & really wanted to sew.

I have a ton of projects...but what to work on?

I started a small one. 
One that wasn't really on my list.

Needed that feeling of accomplishment, I guess.

I pulled out my Kashmir III charm pack, 

cut the charms in half and,

in about 2 hours, had this done.

Measures about 30 x 37 inches.

It won't take long to baste/quilt/bind.

hmmmm...it looks vaguely familiar to me.

ohyeah!  It resembles this one...

Here's the story.

In early summer of 2009,

Brenis and I each bought a charm pack

of Kashmir III (the same fabric I later bought

a fat quarter bundle of, which I

recently used for Carole's quilt).

Brenis and I were going to make

each other a small quilt.

She made that one up there for me.

I surprised her by not using the Kashmir III charms.

Instead, and because she had been raving about

red & white wonky log cabin quilts, 

I made this one for her.

Yup, that is quilted with red thread.

Pretty daring of me only 7 months into quilting,

don't you think?

I feel better, now.

Ya know, for having used my sewing machine.

And, Naomi Janome is happy.  {grin}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh.  I found some more rug hooking books.

Well, I didn't actually find them.

They were sitting right there on the shelf.

Not sure why I didn't see them last weekend.

I'll be listing them on my selling blog tomorrow.

I need to work on organizing my woolens, too.

Hope you have a great weekend!

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