Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Late Day Rambling


I worked on getting four more patterns kitted up yesterday but other than that there was no stitching. My hands and my eyes needed a well deserved break and I will probably extend their vacation through the remainder of the week. In the meantime, I have pulled 10 designs that are on my "next" list. My list often changes as I complete some and others are bumped to a lower spot for new designs that come out! These are not in any type of order. Just a list. I haven't decided which one will actually be pulled for the next new start. Who knows - I may have to start on more than one!

1. Rubie Owl's by Plum Street Sampler
2. Bird in the Bower by Plum Street Sampler
3. Bird Sampler by Birds of a Feather
4. A Weary World Rejoices by Shakespeare Peddler
5. Birds of a Feather by Blackbird Designs
6. Quilt Time Sampler by Little House Needleworks
7. Love Thy Neighbor by La D Da
8. Awake the Dawning Day by Blackbird Designs
9. A Whistling Girl by Hands to Work
10. With One Accord by Heartstring Primitive

I have gotten so bad about forgetting things that I have to keep a weekly "to do and get" list now. It helps so I shouldn't complain. It keeps track of places we need to go on our weekend errands, things we need to pick up, people I need to call for appointments and more.

This giant Sweet Gum in our backyard wooded area will be a thing of the past after tomorrow. Yes, it is coming down. It has been a home to birds in the Spring and Summer and shelter from the cold in the Winter but it is old and is causing worry because of how it leaning and large branches easily break off. I know the birds will miss it as much as I will if not more!

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Finish for Tuesday!


I finished up BAATN last night! Yea! I am really happy with how it turned out. As I said before, I made some major color changes so it would fit into my decor. I also changed the bottom flower design to a star from a Sampler Girl freebie. It had a quilted look to it and I felt it went the theme of the overall design better - at least for my taste! Now that this one is complete, I have several others I am looking to start but no more color changes for awhile! I also need to start back working on This is the Day several nights a week. So many of you finished it off already and mine is sitting here about half done! It is just too pretty to let go into the UFO pile!

I have also been trying to teach myself how to knit every once in a while. I still haven't started the classes yet but I found a website with free instructions and I am practicing. It's going slow right now but once I get the casting on down, I hope to be able to learn other stitches a little faster!

The rains are supposed to start again sometime this week and be another day after day after day type storm front! I guess we are due for some so we don't go into a drought but the yard just dried out to the point that I don't feel like I'm walking on a wet sponge whenever I go outside!

I hope everyone has a lovely day and until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Monday Rise and Shine


Look what followed me home this weekend! It's not fancy smancy and doesn't do a lot of stand up and cheer tricks but it's faithful and loyal. How could I turn it away? LOL. Then we made a quick trip to pick out fabrics for my first quilt top in at least 5 years! Of course I forgot a few colors and other essentials so another trip to the fabric store is on my to do list for later this week! You don't hear me complaining! *big grin*

I made a list of quilt tops and table toppers that are on my "gotta do" list. I am sure more will be added as I begin looking around again! Working in a fabric store is alot like working in a candy shop. For awhile it is a dream come true but you get to a point when you just don't want to even see the stuff in your off hours! I am finally ready to shop, fondle and drool again! LOL.

Our long weekend was filled with beautiful weather! We both had doctor appointments, ran a few errands and just enjoyed the pleasant days!. I also stopped to pick up some more DMC so that I could kit up several more designs! The mail brought a nice surprise and I got Beth's new sampler! I was able to get quite alot done on my current WIP and hope to have it finished up within the next several days!

Thank you all for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits! Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Dropping in


to say hi! There isn't alot of exciting news around here right now. Just the same ol, same ol'. Get up, make up the bed, start the dishwasher, put in a load of clothes, check emails and read blogs while having some coffee, yadda yadda yadda!

I did get several new charts yesterday. I just love these by Plum Street Samplers! I may start on one later this weekend! *wink*

DH is taking a few extra days off so we will have an extra long weekend again and probably stay busy busy busy! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Samplers and Quilts


I have been doing some catalog window shopping for my new sewing machine! I definitely want to start working on my quilting again. I did a lot for quite awhile but I needed a break. I have quilted since 1995 and I hand quilt. I have no problem working with smaller decorative items, wall or table topper quilts but I prefer to send out the larger quilts to be finished. My favorite part of making the quilt is putting together the top and I adore scrappy quilts!

I can easily see myself becoming a hermit so I can quilt by day and stitch by night! LOL! Samplers on the wall and quilts on the beds while dinner cooks away in the crockpot! That's definitely my idea of living the good life!

It was a boring weekend of sorts. DH only had one day off which meant we had to cut out some of our usual errands and only do the necessary ones. Luckily the weather was beautiful on his day off and we were able to get outside and catch up on some things that had been waiting for our attention! But we really worked hard that one day because the next day we were both hobbling around with sore muscles!

I did get a good bit of stitching on my current WIP. Several people have said that the piece looks very familiar but no one is quite sure what design it is so I will tell you. It is from the cover of the March issue of GOS and is Blessed are all the Needleworkers. As I said earlier, I did make a lot of color changes. I loved the original colors but they just didn't fit into my decor.

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Sun Returns!


There just isn't alot of news around here right now to write about! I wish I had more but some days are just bor-ing! LOL!

I didn't do a lot of stitching yesterday. Time to let those fingers and wrists rest up a bit! One of my previous hints was that this design came from a stitching magazine. I managed to finish up page 1 and have 3 more pages to go on it (although they are small areas). Can you tell what the design is yet? I did do a bit of stash shopping and will have some new patterns coming in soon! Yea!

The sun came out yesterday and I saw a lot of weeds that need to be taken care of after all this rain finally slows up a bit! The sun is peeking out again today which I am always glad to see! Maybe things can dry up a bit around here now!

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tuesday Yuckies


Thank you all for your concern about my hands and wrists. They are feeling better and all should be well (minus the usual aches and pains of age) as long as I don't over do!

We are in day two of yucky weather again! We really need a week to 10 days of warm weather with lots of sunshine to dry up things around here! We get some nice days and things begin to get better then the rain returns with a vengence!

I started working on a new design yesterday. For right now, I am not going to say which one of my kitted up charts it is but I will give several hints.

Hint #1 - I have already made a mistake but don't feel like calling in the frogs!
Hint #2 - I have made a lot of color changes!
Hint #3 - This design is from one of the stitching magazines.
Hint #4 - Design size is 100 stitches by 100 stitches.
Hint #5 - I have mentioned that I wanted to do this piece on my blog.

Oh my! Paula has two - yes, two - wonderful new designs posted on her blog! And they are most definitely going on my "to get" list along with the others!

Last night I looked online at sewing machines. Oh, we already have one but I hate the thought of using it. DH picked it out for me and it just has too many bells and whistles on it for my liking! It's fine for hemming up pants and making other clothing repairs but I just want a simple and easy to use machine for making my quilt tops! I found one I like but now I need to talk myself into getting it! LOL!

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Monday, April 13, 2009

A Belated Happy Easter!



All of these new designs and sneak peeks will do me in! Shakespeare Peddler has a new design that will be available soon! Since I love my backyard birds and this looks like a medium sized design, I will definitely be ordering it! What a cute saying and so true! Diane has a sneak peek on her blog that I know will be coming to live here when it's available! I am already in love with it! And Beth has new her design available on her blog!

Several of you asked me how many kitted up charts I counted the other day when organizing them all. LOL. I didn't count as much as I just organized! I can tell you though, that there were a lot! LOL!

I let my wrists and hands rest up for several days with no stitching but while they rested I worked on getting the fabric and threads ready for another pattern to start on! I am still working on This is the Day but this (soon to be) new one has been tugging at the back of mind for quite a while now.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter holiday and weekend. Harold had an extra long holiday weekend and Ryan's birthday actually fell on Easter this year! My little boy is 23 years old now! My, how time flies! We did some of our usual errands and running around. But we didn't get as much done as we had planned. It seemed as though something always popped up that would delay our plans. We had some severe thunderstorms during the weekend with lots tornado warnings! With the ground so soaked - again, all we could do was plan our Spring projects (if the ground is ever given the opportunity to dry up)!

Since I didn't do any stitching or take any pictures over the long holiday weekend, I will share an older picture of one of my backyard visitors!