This was their 13th!!

DD#1 and her hubby have been married 13 years today. They married after college, but started dating in high school. They are bright, successful and wonderful young people. They make a mother proud.

Tonight they went out to eat and grandson and granddaughter spent the evening with us. We played The Game of Life and ate dinner...........time was gone before we knew it. It is a school night, after all.

Typical big brother and little sister poses here:

I have been thinking about what I should give up for Lent..............I think that I will give up french fries. They are my favorite food...........along with shrimp. Not exactly health food, but I love them! And I think you should give up something you will really miss. Makes you think.

The past few days I have been perusing lots of blogs. The talent out there is amazing. I belong to a primitive applique group on Yahoo...........those ladies are among the most talented quilters I have ever come across. And, talk about productive.......... Really encourages me to want to do more and do it better. The internet can be a wonderful thing!! I am thankful for all of the friends I have made over the years through my internet groups.

Time to get a nice bubblebath and do a little reading................

This is the reason...........

I didn't get any stitching done this afternoon. It is okay...........it was worth it!!! I can't believe she is almost three.

This w/e I did get my second Bunnyhill BOM done. I don't think that these little patterns could be any cuter. And you can't beat free.

I missed Guild tonight because DD#2 had to make an unexpected trip to the doctor in Atlanta this afternoon.........the reason I babysat. All is well, and that is a good thing. I have missed Guild far too often lately. Seems something is always coming up.....I miss the fellowship.

I had started quilting on the Dick and Jane quilt that I started in 2007 when I got the call to babysit. Hope to get it done soon. Won't be this week, though. Too many things going on.............

This w/e is my Hooking Workshop in Watkinsville with Jeanne Benjamin. I am really looking forward to that, even though I don't need to start another project. The project that I will be working on is an original design...........a runner that I designed in a Susan Feller w/s. It will be fun to see it come to life. And it is not huge, so I should get allot done on it in the three days.

Better go get organized...........tomorrow is a work day.

Weekend!!

I am so glad that the w/e is here. It has been a long week, and I am ready for a weekend to do my own thing. The weather here is nippy, but gorgeous..........sun shining, gentle wind. The birds are busy at the feeders and the dogs are underfoot. It can't get much better, huh?

We had a great w/e flea marketing last w/e, and, of course, I came away with stuff. That's what you are supposed to do, right? Who could possibly resist that sad-eyed little "Japan" dog. And the sweet McCoy bird and Japan S&P are perfect for the basement. Have to decorate it, you know. Then there was this lovely little planter with a wispy trailing plant (I forgot to ask the name) that the lady assured me had very low light requirements. It is perfect on my kitchen island. Hope she was right about the light. Isn't the bird on the mini arbor too cute? I am obviously into birds....................

And this great ceiling tile, nicely rusted, perfectly matches my basement cabinets. And the Victorian dog print. Oh, my heart, I adore the old dog prints. Reasonable, too, with a nice frame. All in all, quite a successful day!!

On the home front, I whipped out a little Valentine kitchen towel. Nothing great, but cheerful and finished.

Last night was my Sew Crazy Stitching group. We started out doing Crazy Quilt, but now we just do whatever, eat and enjoy one another's company. I took my Primitive Gathering block and did some of the buttonhole stitching.

I have been fretting this week over the number of projects I have........both started and not. My Prim group on Yahoo assures me that I am not abnormal, and that helps. But the leader proposed a plan that was issued by a quilt shop involving working on ten projects, no more than three hours at a time. Sounded interesting and would work with my crafter's ADD . Think I will have to look that one over in more depth and see if it might work for me! For now, it is a nice shower and then to the sewing room to have fun!

Hope all have a lovely w/e wherever you are.

Friday the 13th.........

Fortunately, I am not superstitious. My family is travelling today. DD#1 and her family just called to say that they have arrived safely in Colorado for their winter ski vacation. DD#2 and her family will be leaving in a couple of hours for Disneyworld. I trust that they will be blessed with safe journeys.

The little doggies went yesterday for their haircuts. They always return exhausted, but looking and smelling ever so much better!!Looks like their Dad is pretty worn out, too...............

Finally finished putting the borders on my 2007 SS Sampler. Now it needs a backing and to be quilted. I got a new book this week: Foolproof Machine Quilting by Mary Mashuta. It has lots of techniques and ideas for quilting with your walking foot that are template free. That is pretty appealing to me. I have a smaller quilt I want to try it on, then maybe on to something larger, like this one. I have a Pfaff Grand Quilter machine in a cabinet and think that it would work well with these techniques. I haven't had a chance to use it much, as I bought it just prior to the Big Move. DH bought me a really nice Horn cabinet for it for Christmas, so I am ready to get started.

I am trying really hard to keep up with my quilting BOMs. Only three, sounds easy, huh? Maybe, if I didn't have so many irons in the fire. At any rate, I am done with Hatched & Patched #1 and Bunnyhill #1. This is my start for Primitive Garden (which I love). I only lack part of the buttonhole stitching on it. I had to wait to get some Steam a Seam 2 Lite in the mail before I could get it fused. It is wool on cotton, and that particular fusible works really well with it. Sorry, I should've cropped that photo, but, oh well............. I got notice that the second blocks of Hatched & Patched and Primitive Garden have shipped, so I had better get busy. I also have a baby afghan to crochet for DD#2's little boy, who is due in June. And a rug class with Jeanne Benjamin in Athens the end of February. And all of the UFOs and PIGs!!!!

FOCUS!!!!

My sister and niece are coming up for the w/e and we are going to Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta tomorrow. Should be a fun day of plunking around.......even if it does rain!

Have a great w/e.............

This too cute BOM is from Primitive Gatherings and is called Basket of Blooms. The quilt is Hatched & Patched by Anni Downs, one of those incredibly talented Australian girls. It is cotton and I used IMA for the basket block. It was the first I had done in awhile, and all of those little pieces of freezer paper were a real pain to remove. I am going to have to try the starch on templar plastic method that Jo Morton recommends. Just have to order some Templar plastic.

The w/e was lovely here...........time spent working in the yard a little, and best of all, sitting on the backporch. Someone sent one of those internet getting to know you questionnaires around the other day. One of the questions was "where would you like to be if you could be anywhere right now?". My answer, hands down, is my back porch. I will post a photo of it soon!

Off to bed for now.................

This is the reason................

I am feeling more successful in my approach to projects:

My nicely organized, new sewing room "studio". It is so good to
finally, after a year, have all of my things unpacked (well, almost
all......I have to admit, that I am still working on getting a few things organized) and within my reach. It was a little shocking to realize how many things I actually have that are UFOs, and even more that are PIGS!!! And most of them are actually things that I still like and want to finish/work on. I am just not ready to turn them loose yet.......even though there are a few things that, when finished I am sure will become charity quilts. I still feel inclined to finish them. We'll see what happens. At any rate, I feel so fortunate to finally have a wonderful place to work on my projects. Sure makes it easier to be able to put my hands on what I need! I really have no more excuses to not "Just Do It".


DH has a nice "Library" adjacent to my sewing area. He is able to do his genealogy research there while I am busy stitching. We also have a family room, kitchen, dining area and bath in this basement area. It was more than worth the wait to get it done. Now, to get it decorated and furnished.......no hurry for that, though. It will get done when it gets done.

Later.................

See the little item in the sidebar.......Blogging without Guilt. That has got to be me. Two posts, good intentions, nothing since November. Alas, no guilt it will be.


Like so many others, I have joined in the wildly popular, free Bunnyhill BOM. Like I need another project.....even a little bitty one. But, it was so cute I just couldn't resist. I did fusible with machine buttonhole applique. The snowbuddy is wool.






This is my January hooking class with esteemed hooking teacher, Eric Sandberg. We had so much fun that day!! We met at my friend, Kathie Meyers' shop, The Woolen Rooster (inside Collectors' Corner ). I am working on a huge rug, a reproduction of an antique for which Eric drew the pattern . I will probably finish it in 2025!!! In the meantime, I am working on some other hooking projects that can be finished more quickly...need a little "finish gratification" along the way.
The pretty little basket is "Page's Posies" by the wonderful and talented, aforementioned, Kathie Meyers. I am planning to frame it for my powder room. The other is "Lisa's Geometric" by The Potted Pear......this rug was done completely from my worm bags and was started in a Hit or Miss class that Eric did awhile back. I only need to sew the binding on .......Yeah, so what am I waiting for?????





This is my Second Saturday Sampler 2007 quilt from Little Quilts. I was
behind 3 blocks on it, and since the first of the year, I finished those and
got the setting done. Now I only lack the borders, and quilting of course. The borders are cut and I plan to get them on this w/e.



I also finished up this cute little Pat Sloan
Holly Tabletopper. It was in Create 'n Decorate a couple of years ago. I only lacked the binding for goodness sakes!!!! I fused, machine buttonholed and Big Stitched this one. I used wool batting, and despite most people raving over it, I didn't particularly care for it.

Next post I will try to show you why I am finally making some progress on my projects!!!