Quilty 365, Slowly

Catching up on the last of my Quilty 365

Blocks for Slow Stitching Sunday.  I had them chosen and prepped for each day, but needed to complete the all important stitching.

I am enjoying this little project and can see my applique skills getting a good refresher. Tomorrow I will put the 31 blocks for January up on the design wall and take a pic. Linking up for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Blake has a birthday tomorrow. We started celebrating with friends on Friday night and family today. Tomorrow I will treat him to a nice dinner out. I am so blessed to have this man as my husband.

We had our quarterly lunch with old hospital employees on Wednesday.

Always so much fun to catch up on everyone's lives.  I think it is so great that we have been able to maintain contact and friendships for over 40 years for some of us.

Christopher brought Mattie a new sweater today.

Pink camo. How darned cute is that?

As a struggling procrastinator, I need to post this somewhere frequently visible. Thanks, Bonnie Hunter, for this one.

Take Care,

Jennie 

A Blue for the RSC

I swore that I would not start the colors for RSC 2016 until I finished last year's. And I almost made it through the month without succumbing.  I didn't start the Row Quilt, although I really want to do it.

But I did make this strip star...

Seems I am really hung up on stars lately.  

I learned that some colors are just too light for the star points. But by that time the block was already assembled, so I will live with it. Linking up with Angela for the RSC. Click on the button on the sidebar to see what others are up to.

I also finished the hooking on my vintage postcard bunny that I started at Caraway last summer.

Another one for the binding pile. It is nice to know that both of my rug camp projects will be finished, not UFOs.

Picked these beautiful harbingers of Spring up at the grocery this week...on sale for $2.75!

We have a second new layer at the hen house. Look at how splotchy this one is in comparison to the other.

Amazing!!

Miss Mattie is settling in. She is cute and sweet and mighty spunky.

Napping with Daisy.

Rough housing with Buddy.

Hope you make time for this....

Take Care,

Jennie

Postage Stamp Stars - Check

The 24 Postage Stamp Stars are done. I almost hate to see them finished. These are blocks I wouldn't mind revisiting.

Now to figure out a setting.  Linking up for the RSC...please visit via the link on my sidebar.

Sew Crazies met on Friday despite the gloomy weather. A couple of us worked on 6" blocks that will be a part of an exchange between our group. Each person will make enough blocks from their pattern to share with the group and keep one. I made this one from practice fabric.

The points are really not on the edge of the fabric...it just looks that way because I cropped the photo.

This has been one of those weeks where I accomplished almost nothing on the stitching front. I accept that there will always be weeks like that. It once sent me into a tailspin, but no more.

On Tuesday, Blake and I attended our first Master Gardener class. Plant Pathology doesn't sound like the most intriguing subject, but the speaker was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And then this sweet baby came into our lives.

You forget how busy a little one keeps you. But so worth it.

Macy's cheer team, Southern Stars, won another first place trophy this weekend.

So proud of her....she has really blossomed.

Take Care,

Jennie

What's Going On

The only stitching I have managed the last few days is to stitch up ten dog beds for the local shelter.

Speaking of the shelter, they posted this little baby on social media this morning...

An eight week old baby, already at the shelter over a week. Broke my heart, I sent it to Blake by Messenger (I was at a meeting). When I got home he said "Are we going to get her?". The rest is history. We will be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon. Her new name is Mattie. We think she is probably a spaniel/lab mix.

We have a new layer at the hen house...finally.

The chocolate colored egg is definitely from one of the new Marans.  So cool!

Just for the record, Daisy adores her Daddy...

Love these sleepyheads.

On Tuesday, Blake and I started a three month Master Gardener class. Lots of studying involved, but the folks are nice and the first class was interesting.

Take Care,

Jennie

Slow Knitting Sunday

A couple of weeks ago I finished Simple Shawl, a free Ravelry pattern by Jane Hunter. I am wearing it as a scarf, although I made it pretty long. But I have wide shoulders.

The colors are more blue than the photo reflects. It really was super simple and I love the picot edge.

I am still working on the TGV shawl by Susan Ashcroft.  I also made it larger and have ended up with over 500 stitches of sock weight yarn on the needles.  Grrrr.

That being said, I am working on the ribbing finish and it shouldn't be too much longer.  Linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday (click on button on sidebar to see what cool projects others are working on).

Tonight we celebrated Christi's 45th birthday.  So hard to believe my firstborn is this old!

Her actual birthdate is tomorrow.  I am so blessed to have this sweet, smart, beautiful young woman as my daughter.

Life has been a roller coaster ride here this week. Rob's cancer is back on MRI. We were not prepared for this news at all. You may remember that he just had surgery for recurrence in November.  He had his second dose of his new chemo on Thursday, will get another in two weeks and then another MRI.  We are continuing to pray for and believe that he can have more time with us here on earth.  Yesterday my daughters' 79 year old uncle, who has early Alzheimer's, went missing. His vehicle was found a good many miles away in another state, under a bridge near a river. There has been no sign of him since about 10 am yesterday, and it is not looking hopeful. He is a good man who loves his family and has always been fond of my girls. Sometimes it seems when it rains, it pours.  Prayers for both of these families would be appreciated.

Take Care,

Jennie

Scrappy Saturday

Although it is a Scrappy Saturday, I can't claim it for 2016 yet, as I am still working to finish off 2015. Earlier in the week, I finished the eleven colors for 2015 in my Postage Stamp Stars. I realized, however, that I really wanted 24 blocks for this quilt. I decided to add turquoise. My 1 1/2" block bin was sadly bereft of turquoise, so I had to cut quite a few squares. The centers are now finished and it won't take long to finish the blocks.

Then I will have to decide on a setting. I know I have said it before, but I love these blocks. Linking up over at So Scrappy. Click the button on the sidebar to see what everyone is up to.

Last night I made good progress on this runner. 

Now it just lacks a backing and binding to be counted as a finish.

First you are here....

And then you are wondering how it progressed to this...

Take Care,

Jennie

In Need of a Finish

Last night I felt a strong need to be able to chalk up a finish.  When you are an ADD crafter like me, with dozens of projects in progress and even more UFOs, sometimes you really need to feel as if you have accomplished something.

To prove to yourself that you can follow through.

So, Spring Basket (pattern by Kathie Meyers) is finished.

The basket is hooked in a technique called Reverse Hooking, meaning you flip it over and hook from the back. You pull the loops up higher in the back and skip the number of spaces desired for the look you want to achieve. Mine was done with an 8.5 cut skipping 4 holes. When you finish, you anchor the loops in the back by running a thread through.

The basket rim, bottom and handles are chain stitch in an 8 cut.

When you finish, it looks a mess on the back.

That problem is solved by whipping a piece of wool over the area after blocking.

I used a wool strip....I also used the same wool strip in lieu of rug tape since I didn't have any tape that looked good with it. I am not going to add a label, but instead I will use a fabric market and write directly onto the fabric binding.

Woohoo!!! And I think that I have another project that I can finish right away. It is raining AGAIN here in Georgia....great stitching weather.

Great advice from Bonnie at Quiltville.

Take Care,

Jennie

More of the same

Allietaire....still on Clue 4, but making progress.

Circles, up to date....

And back to the mini Bowties Leaders and Enders....

210 so far.

An incredible photo taken and edited by my talented fourteen year old granddaughter, Sara Ashley.

Need a laugh???

Take Care,

Jennie

Finally, A Slow Stitching Sunday

I did a little Slow Stitching and am linking up at Kathy's blog. Click the link on my sidebar to see what everyone else is doing.

My slow stitching was weaving in the ends on the five dishcloths I knit for myself. They are also my first finishes of the year.

I was desperately needing these. I knit 6 each for the girls for Christmas, so I figured it was my turn.

I also did my circle for the day...

And then it was on to a faster pace.  I finished six postage stamp blocks that I was behind on for RSC2015. I was feeling pretty smug about having all of the blocks made for a quilt (2 for each month), when I realized we only made eleven colors, therefore I made 22 blocks.  I really need two more to have 4 x 6. Think maybe I will do turquoise.

September Orange

October Brown

November Lime.

Now maybe I will work on Allietaire for a bit.

Roxie took a tumble down our basement stairs last Sunday. We were beyond horrified.  She hates the stairs and never attempts them.  Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, though I am sure her old bones ached. And we will be putting the gate up to keep her off the stairs from now on.  

I dug out the heating pad, turned it on low (only when we are at home) and padded her bed well with a couple of thicknesses of an old, soft towel.  She thinks she is in heaven :-)).

Take Care,

Jennie