2013–Year in Review

I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year since I posted the 2012 year in review … seems like it’s been just a couple of months or so.   

2013 seemed to be the year for traveling … in January we took our first cruise, visiting St. Thomas and St. Maarten.  Once we were back on dry land, we stopped to visit my Dad who was wintering on the Alabama Gulf Coast.  In May, we spent two weeks in Florida with DD and her family … if you’ve been here long, you know how much I love the beach … and to be able to spend time on the beach with my Ts was perfect!  We spent a week and a half in September at my “happy place”, Hilton Head Island, and we had a weekend getaway in November.

There were a few milestones in 2013 … I collected my first Social Security check (guess that makes it official – I’m old ha!) and my Dad turned 90 in March.

I finished a wall hanging and two bed quilts for our granddaughters … fewer quilts than I had hoped, thanks mostly to a 2-month hiatus due to nerve issues in my index finger on my right hand.  I started and am still quilting a Storm at Sea and am working on two English Paper Piecing projects ( a big change for this previously one-quilt-at-a-time gal). 

DH and I tried our hand at a garden, renting a plot at our village’s community garden … with mixed results, our green beans were an epic fail, but we got plenty of tomatoes.  In the fall we put raised beds in the back yard and will try again next summer.  And we replaced and enlarged our deck … I can’t wait for spring, when I can sit out on the deck, basting hexies! 

I returned to “work” in 2013 … I watch my Ts 3 mornings/week while DD works at the YMCA.  I LOVE my time with my Ts!

It was an exciting year for our Cardinals … another trip to the World Series, but not quite the outcome we were hoping for.   

All in all, 2013 was a very good year … and I’m looking forward to 2014!

Wishing you and yours a very

Unexpected Slow Stitching

I certainly didn't expect to get in any slow stitching today ... my sister, her S.O., and her grandson were going to come down for a post-Christmas Christmas celebration.  I got up this morning and got to cleaning (please tell me that I'm not the only one who postpones a thorough housecleaning until company is expected). About the time I was just about done, I got a phone call from my sister's S.O. ... they aren't coming. My sister's grandson had a stomach bug a couple of days ago, and my sister was up all night last night with it ... and her S.O. was starting to feel a little puny himself. While I'm disappointed that they're not coming down, I have to admit that I'm glad they're not as I'm not interested in receiving that kind of Christmas gift!  ;-)

We headed up to DD's not long after we got the phone call ... we needed to deliver the electrical cord for their PS3 player ... and to get some time with our favorite people. We had carry out Chinese from a new (to us) restaurant ... yummy!  

We got home in time for me to pick up my needle and thread and get in hand quilting on my Storm at Sea while watching the Blues. 

I've moved the hoop twice now after getting all the old, ugly stitches removed and replaced.  I'm making progress, slowly but surely. I know I've said it before, but I'm so veryglad that I decided to rip out those ugly stitches ... it's looking much, much better, if I do say so myself. Instead of dreading working on it, I'm finding myself looking forward to the times when I get pick up my needle and thread. ;-)

I'm going to link up to Slow Sunday Stitching http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2013/12/last-slow-sunday-stitching-for-2013.html ... if you want some quilty eye candy, come on over to see what the other slow stitchers are working on.

Hope you're having a blessed Sunday!

Kathy

It Really Is a Wonderful Life

My Christmas was the. best. Christmas. ever!  I hope that yours was fabulous as well. 

We spent Christmas Eve at DD's.  It was a wonderful day ... presents, good food, lots of fun ... with my favorite people.  It just doesn't get much better than that. I was a little sad when the night came to an end. 

DD and her family gave me these sand dollar ornaments and little quilting boxes.  Yep, my daughter knows me!  

DH was a real sweetie, giving me an Accuquilt Go Cutter (cutting fabric is probably my least favorite part of quilting), a couple of puzzles, a personalized ceramic casserole, and a box of Turtles. 

Christmas Day was a quiet day here at Chez Nana, just DH and me. We watched It's a Wonderful Life (our Christmas tradition) and rebroadcasts of a couple of 2013 Cardinals baseball games. I spent a good part of the day quilting on my Storm at Sea ... I'm just about done with ripping out and restitching.  I'm almost ready to move the hoop to the last bit of the ugly stitching.  I'm beyond thrilled that I chose to rip out all that stitching ... I was so very unhappy with my stitches ... I confess that I was sorely tempted to just shove that quilt into a bag and hide it in the basement ... out of sight, out of mind. But then I reminded myself of all years I dreamt of making a Storm at Sea quilt and all the work I put into piecing that top, and I knew I couldn't give up on it. It's been a lot of work to rip out and then restitch, but it's been worth it because instead of being ashamed of the quilt, I'm thrilled with how it's turning out. 

The next week is going to be a busy one ... today is DSIL's 39th birthday. My sister, her S.O. and her grandson are planning on coming down for a post-Christmas get-together.  

It's hard to believe that Christmas 2013 is now behind us ... and equally difficult to believe that in just a week, it will be 2014. How time flies when we're having fun ... and we are certainly having the time of our lives here at Chez Nana.  

Kathy

Christmas blessings

Wishing you and yours a very blessed Christmas!

Still Here ... Still Slow Stitching

It's been a busy couple of weeks and while the next couple of weeks will also be pretty busy, I'm hoping that I will be able to pop in a little more often.  In the meantime, let's get caught up, shall we?

Week 1:  DD picked up a few extra shifts at work and worked a couple of shifts at the Scholastic Book Fair ... so there was a lot of time spent at her house ... a lot of time with my Ts.  The week was capped with a 3-day swim meet  ... Friday night T#1 swam his first 500 yard (20 laps!) competition, and T#2 swam a 200 yard event.  T#3 finished 4th overall in the 6 & younger boys, and T#1 finished 5th overall in the 11-12 boys. T#2 didn't finish in the top 6 places for the 9-10 girls, but she swam very, very well and swam several personal bests.  I was so proud of all 3 of them and thrilled beyond words that I got to see them swim. 

Forgive the poor lighting and the goofy expressions on the faces of three exhausted kiddos.

Week 2:  DSIL took a week's vacation, but I still was blessed to have some "T-time" on cookie day Wednesday and Thursday when DD and DSIL drove up to Springfield for the visitation for a friend's father.  The downside of the week was the Crud that I came down with on Tuesday ... an idea of how rotten I felt?  I didn't pick up my needle and thread at all until Friday. You know I'm not feeling well when I'm not feeling well enough to spend some time with my needle and thread!  I'm still not 100%, but I'm certainly feeling better than I was at midweek. I'm praying that I will be back to normal by Christmas. 

Over the weekend, I was able to make up for the lack of quilting during the last couple of weeks ... with some time with my needle and thread during a movie marathon.  I did get some work done on my Storm at Sea. I've probably got 2/3 of the previously stitched blocks ripped out and re-stitched ... and I have to say that I am so very happy that I decided to redo the quilting ... it's looking so much better!

(See the lights from our Christmas tree there in the background?)

I also got some piecing done on my Martha Washington's Flower Garden. 

We watched White Christmas, To Have and Have Not, Now Voyager, Casablanca ... when we weren't watching last week's NCIS episode and the Illinois vs Missouri Braggin' Rights game.  

I'm linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday. 

Slow Stitching Again

It has been a busy weekend, but I did get in some time with needle and thread In spite of all the busyness.

We spent Friday with the two older grands - fun times!  I had hopes of getting out to play some laser tag, but with snow falling, I just wasn't sure that it was worth the risk of getting out on the road. We made the best of being housebound. ;-)

I spent Saturday in the sewing room working on the Christmas ornament gifts. It took almost all day but I got them done!  The two on the left will go to my sister and the two on the right will go to DD. These are made using the fabric I bought at Hancock's of Paducah when we were there last weekend. I have plenty left, and I'm thinking of using the fabrics on the left to make a Christmassy table runner or wall quilt ... some day. I've got to finish up my storm at sea and my two hexi projects first. 

Sunday after church, I was able to do some hand quilting on the aforementioned storm at sea. I got all the unstitching and re-stitching done on another hoop-full. When I sit back down with it next time, I'll have to move the hoop. I'm making progress - slowly ... but slow can be underrated.

I'm going to link up to Kathy's quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday. 

Several of you mentioned using your iPads for just about everything now ... which leads me to a question:  do you all use your iPad for blogging?  I've been using mine to compose my blog posts, but I have yet to figure out how to insert links or pictures using a URL.  Any help or advice?

I'm not sure how much I'll be around Blogville the next couple of weeks ... crazy busy ... so I'm going to take a break from blogging. I hope to continue to visit, but I can't make any promises.  In the meantime, have a blessed Christmas season. 

Kathy

It's Going to Be One of Those Days

It was snowing when I went to bed, so I was hoping for some snow this morning ... only to have my hopes dashed. Technically we have snow ... but it's just enough for a thin layer on the driveway and sidewalks ... not even enough to cover all the grass ... there are blades peeking through.  I can only keep my fingers crossed that the second wave of snow that is supposed to push through today will bring a decent amount of snow.

I rarely use my laptop any more ... it's just too convenient to check Facebook or email from my iPad. I mostly use my laptop for Quicken (checkbook register), to use spreadsheets, to check emails that I've saved over the years, etc.  My ISP's mobile mail server wasn't responding this morning, so I thought I'd check my emails on my laptop. But I booted it up, I discovered that my battery was draining ... I checked the connections, unplugged/replugged the power cord, and rebooted the laptop ... to no avail.  I was sure that the power cord had gone bad ... so I searched Dell's website to find the proper replacement power cord (I had to determine what model I had, and after some searching, I found a service number conversion chart - whew).  $90 for a replacement cord!!!  I told myself that would be cheaper than a new laptop ... while I rarely use my laptop, I'm not prepared to do without one completely as I still use several programs that will only run on a PC. For some reason I decided to check my iPad's power status (it's plugged into the same power outlet) ... it wasn't charging either.  Hmmm ... maybe the outlet or the wiring to it was faulty ... which caused me to remember that the outlet on the other side of the island has a GFCI breaker ... and sure enough, it had tripped. All I had to do was push a button, and power was restored to our island!  All that time, fretting and frustration for nothing.  Not the start to my morning that I would have liked. 

I can only hope that the rest of my day will go better ... 

I was able to move my hoop yesterday on my Storm at Sea.  It's slow going, but then hand quilting isn't the fastest way to complete a quilt ... although it's the only way for me.  ;-) So far, quilting doesn't appear to be causing any problems with my finger. It's still not healed completely yet, but I certainly have seen a lot of improvement since the problem first appeared. My doctor said that nerves heal very, very slowly, so I shouldn't be too impatient. (Easier said than done - ha!).

My plan for today is to work on the Christmas ornaments ... miniature pineapple blocks sewn up in green and red. There's a nice big window in the sewing room ... I'm hoping that I'll be able to watch snow falling while sewing the ornaments ... good way to really get into the Christmas spirit ... and a good way to end a day that didn't start as well as I would have liked!  ;-)

Have a fabulous Friday!

Bizzy

Bizzy, not dizzy!  Ha!  I thought that once we got past Thanksgiving, things would slow down ...not the case. 

I've been spending even more time at DD's this week ... she's picking up a few extra shifts at work so the university student employees could get away to spend Thanksgiving back home ... and after she's gotten off work, she's had a few errands to run. She certainly didn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to stay later ... I love my time with my Ts, and I remember a promise I made to myself 35 years ago ... one of the first things my mom said to me when I told her that my ex-husband had left me was that she hoped that DD and I weren't planning to move in with them.  While I had absolutely no intentions of moving back, it crushed me to hear her say that. That's when I promised myself that if my daughter ever needed my help, I would be there for her, no matter what. 

But spending more time at DD's hasn't meant that I haven't had a little time to spend with needle and thread. I promised myself that after Thanksgiving, I'd see if my finger would tolerate hand quilting ... and I'm happy to say that it does!  I'd almost forgotten just how much pleasure I get from hand quilting!  It's going slow as you'd expect with just a few hours to spend on it in the evenings - not to mention having to rip out the existing stitches before I can put in my new stitches ... which was absolutely the right thing to do. I am so much happier with my stitches!  

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was tempted to add the red hexi "path" for my Martha Washington's Flower Garden blocks ... to see how a finished block would look. 

Ok, maybe it's not the best photo, but I tried and tried to get a better shot - but this was the only one where the colors were even halfway accurate. Now that I'm able to hand quilt, I suspect that my MWFG will go on the back burner.  And of course, I need to get to work on those miniature pineapple ornaments!  Too many quilts, not nearly enough time!  ;-)

It's been downright balmy lately ... highs of the upper 60s the last few days.  But winter will be returning - with a vengeance. We've got single-digit lows coming up, but not before we get some freezing rain, sleet, and snow (2-4"). I'm excited about the snow ... the freezing rain and sleet, not so much. Of course, it sounds like a little further south is in for even worse weather than we are ... up to a quarter inch of ice ... been there, done that 7 years ago and it wasn't fun - we were without power for 7 days.  

Wherever you are, I'm praying that you will be safe ... and that you'll have a fabulous day!

Another Slow Stitching Sunday

Saturday morning I visited the quilt museum in Paducah. I was convinced that there wouldn't be many (if any) hand quilted quilts ... hand quilting just seems to be a forgotten art. But I was pleasantly surprised at the number of hand quilted quilts. I spent a lot of time up close and personal with them, and you know ... I learned that even award winning quilters aren't perfect ... I saw a few lopped off triangle tips (granted not by much ... I didn't even see the missing tips until I got waaaay up close) and a few appliqué stitches (again, I had to be very close to see them). The point is not to criticize those quilters but to remind myself that I don't have to be so hard on myself ... perfection is an impossible goal. The important question is not is my quilt perfect, but did I enjoy creating it, did I stitch love into it?

After our morning at the quilt museum, we headed south to visit the Land Between the Lakes and Kentucky Dam.

This is taken as we walked along the top of the dam ... I could see desks in the windows.  I guess there's a staff who control the locks to control river traffic as well as water levels.  I tried to get a picture of the dam itself but it was late afternoon and the sun was behind the dam ... causing a shadow on the dam.

Another 3 hours on the road to head home from Paducah game me another opportunity to get some work done on my hexies. I love working on hexies ... there's just something about having a needle in my hand that is so restful, so soothing to me. And it helps relieve the monotony of riding in the car on our travels.

I won't get much hexi work done in the next few weeks ... I've got to work on those Christmas gifts that I bought fabric for at Hancock's. And I'd like to bring back out my Storm at Sea and see if my finger has healed enough to allow me to do some hand quilting. I hope so as I am going to be doing a lot of unstitching before I can make any more progress on it. :-(  Whenever I start a new project, my first few stitches are always bigger than I'd like but I quickly get back in my rhythm and my stitches are fine. Not the tiniest ever quilted, but certainly respectable. This time those initial stitches were bigger than my normal first few bigger stitches and for some reason I decided to just keep stitching all my stitches that same size. Somehow I convinced myself that consistency in size would somehow compensate for the embarrassingly large stitches ... and I must have convinced myself that they weren't that large.  :-o I looked at them carefully during the time I couldn't quilt because of my finger and saw them for what they were - way too large to be acceptable!  Ugh. I knew that I'd never be able to enjoy or use that quilt ... I realized that I would never be happy with that quilt and that after all the work I put I into piecing it, I would rather unstitch all those stitches and stitch over... I knew that I was unhappy enough with those stitches that I might never even get back to finishing it. While I realize that my aim is not perfection (see above), that doesn't mean that I should settle for an embarrassingly mediocre job, especially when I am certainly capable of better work.  ;-)  It will be a pain to remove all those stitches, but I know that I will be much happier in the long run so it will be worth it.

We arrived back home around noon ...after a light lunch, we put up our tree, Christmas village and nativity set.

By the time I put the last piece in place on the village, I was done ... we will have some leftover Thanksgiving turkey for dinner, and I'm going to spend my evening in the recliner. I hope to feel energetic enough to work on my Martha Washington's Flower Garden ... or maybe just do some semi mindless basting on my hexagon star pieces. 

I hope you all have had a blessed Sunday ... and are looking forward to a fabulous week!

P.S.  I'm linking up over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.  If you're a quilter and have done some slow stitching this weekend, why not join in?  

Too Late to Get Caught Up?

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking. ;-) I can't even remember when I last posted so I don't know how far back to go to try to get caught up!  Let's just go over the last week and call it good, ok?

Monday was spent cleaning and tidying in anticipation of our house guests. Everything looked good Tuesday morning when I left to go to DD's ... I had the morning shift with the Ts with just enough time to get home before my dad arrived.  He always likes to go with when we go get my sister from the airport. DD had a bit of trouble getting away from work and we visited for a little while before I headed home ... my dad who is notoriously early (so much so that I'm tempted to start telling him to arrive a good 30 minutes later than the time I need him to arrive ha!) had been at our house for an hour by the time I got home. Thankfully DH's morning appointment didn't run late so he was home to greet and entertain my dad. We had a nice couple of days all together ... the only downside was that my other sister wasn't feeling well enough to come down. 

After we dropped off my sister at the airport early Thanksgiving morning, we headed over to DD's.  DD provided paper placemats for each of us ... having each of us write something on everyone else's placemat, sharing why we were thankful for him/her. It was so touching.

I didn't realize that my picture cut off part of the thankfulness. I will save and treasure this forever. My dad joined us for a light lunch and a visit before he headed back home.  Because I wasn't sure when I'd be done with my family obligations, DD graciously moved our Thanksgiving celebration back to dinner time. So I was able to help with some of the preparations ... and able to enjoy an absolutely delicious feast with my favoritest people. 

I had another early morning shift with the Ts Friday ... a "bonus" day since DD took a shift so one of the university students could go home for the Thanksgiving weekend. As soon as I got home, DH and I grabbed a light lunch and hit the road for a weekend getaway in Paducah - quilters' central!  I got some hexies basted for my hexagon star quilt on the 2+ hour drive down. We got here in time to check in at our hotel and then head to Hancock's of Paducah - the Mother Lode of quilt shops.  

I bought some fabric for some Christmas gifts and for my Martha Washington's Flower Garden.  I amazed myself with how well I controlled myself ... there were so many fabrics that I loved!  

Today we will visit downtown Paducah, including the Quilt Museum - of course. We were in Paducah 3 (?) years ago, so we will probably pass on some of the sights we've seen before, but a visit to Paducah isn't complete without a visit to the Quilt Museum (and Hancock's of course). Then DH would like to drive out to the Land Between the Lakes to see the dam and lakes. He's such a good sport when it comes to visiting the quilting "hot spots", so it's only fair that we see a few things that he'd like to see.  ;-)

We will head back home tomorrow - I've got another "bonus" shift with the Ts Monday morning. I'm so incredibly blessed!  

Slooooooow Stitching Sunday

I've decided to join in with the rest of the slow stitchers over at Kathy's Quilts. As a hand quilter, my quilting has always been slower, but now that I've discovered English Paper Piecing and hexagons, even my piecing is slow. ;-)  

I haven't accomplished too much exciting this weekend ... some housecleaning in anticipation of family here for a couple of days early next week ... a bigger job than I thought since I've been postponing some of my regular housecleaning ... I justified it by knowing that I would do a thorough cleaning for our guests, but truth be told, I suspect that part of my reasoning was really so I could spend more time working on my hexies ... Ha!  

But it hasn't been all work and no play here at Chez Nana ... I have been able to do some stitching on my hexies. I have 11 blocks completed and am almost done with #12 ... I am stitching the outer row of that block and should be able to make some progress this afternoon on #13.  This photo was taken while I was in the middle of block #12 (is it just me or do these blocks look like they're not all the same size?). 

I will be using a red for the "path" (the "connector", if you will, surrounding all the blocks). But I will wait to sew them on when I determine the layout (although I'm tempted to stitch the red hexies onto one block just so I can see how it will look). I'm not sure how big this quilt will be. My original plan was to make it a wall quilt, but I'm enjoying this too much to stop ... I suspect that I will make it at least a lap sized quilt. The red and cream star flower quilt (blogged about here and here) will probably be a wall quilt (I have just the spot for it), but I can't guarantee that I will stop when I need to on it either. Working with hexies is just plain addicting!  ;-)

I wish I knew why I procrastinated on hand piecing/English paper piecing ... but better late than never. ;-)

Have a blessed Sunday!

A Friday Daybook

I have been busy this week ... and drawing a blank on anything blogworthy.  But then it occurred to me that I could do another Daybook ... always a good choice when life has settled into a blissfully wonderful but possibly boring (to others, not to me!) routine.

FOR TODAY 

Outside my window... 

It's a blustery, overcast day. Dreary even. Certainly looks winterish ... Just in time for the return of winter-like weather. 

I am thankful... 

For the opportunity to spend so much time with my grands ... It's exhausting and sometimes stressful, but I relish these moments!  

In the kitchen... 

There are a few bags of groceries that I need to take to DD's this morning. Thanksgiving is always at her house, but we had a bit of a wrench thrown into the works this year. My sister who lives in Texas is coming up for a couple of days next week, leaving Thursday morning. So we will have our Thanksgiving feast that evening. DD may have to get the turkey started, but I should be there in time to help with most everything else. 

I am wearing...

Navy sweatpants, a gray sweatshirt, a gray hoodie and wool socks.  If you've read this blog often, you'll know that cold and I just do not get along. I've already set the thermostat 4 degrees warmer than we had it when we moved here 5 years ago. I told DH that I was tired of wearing 3-4 layers of really heavy duty clothing just to stay warm inside the house. So we gave up our notion of saving a few dollars on our utility bills in order to be more comfortable. ;-) 

I am going... 

To Paducah, KY the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'd like to see the quilt museum again, and DH would like to see more of Kentucky Lake Dam. I will stop at Hancocks of Paducah for some reds and greens. I want to make some paper pieced pineapple ornaments for Christmas gifts. 

I am reading... 

In the Paths of Righteousness by Cindy Viguie, book #6 in the Psalm 23 mystery series. It took me a little longer to get into it, and while it's still not my favorite, I'm enjoying it. It's nothing heavy or serious, just some light reading for the few times when I have a few moments to spare (since most of my free time, as you all know, is spent quilting or sewing).

I am looking forward to... 

Christmas this year. I always look forward to Christmas, but for some reason, I'm especially looking forward to it this year. 

I am learning.... 

How to manage my time more effectively now that I'm spending my mornings watching the Ts. I'm also learning what are my biggest time wasters so I can still have plenty of time with my needle and thread. ;-)

Around the house... 

I've been postponing a good housecleaning because I'd rather stitch and because I know I will want to do a big cleaning before my family arrives on Tuesday.  

A few plans for the rest of the week... 

The week is almost over, but I will spend late morning/early afternoon at DD's. Then I think I'll get started on the major housecleaning (see "around the house" above) ... I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow morning so I can relax for a couple of days ... How better to relax than with needle and thread. 

A peek into my day...

See above. ;-)

Have a FABULOUS Friday!

The Weekend Wrap-up

It was a busy and fabulous weekend ... I'm not ready for it to be over. ;-)

Friday morning meant heading over to DD's to watch the two littles while the rest of their crew helped DSIL's parents move (a local move from a small apartment to a larger house).  We watched a couple of movies and played ... I took my hexies with me for something to do while the littles napped.  When I got home, DH gave me the mail, including a box full of sewing goodies!  Tina at Slightly Off Quilter hosted a bloggaversary giveaway earlier this month - that I won!  Look at all the loot she sent!  

I've already got plans for the paper pieces and thread and am sure that I can come up with a project for those precut hexies ... and with the pens I no longer have any excuse not to label my quilts. I am still so excited that I won all that cool quilting stuff!

Saturday was a repeat of Friday ... well, except for the box of goodies in the mail. ;-)

Sunday was a kind of lazy day at Chez Nana, although it wasn't drama-free. We had a band of storms move through around lunchtime. We got some rain and major winds (gusts up to 60 mph). The wind blew the rain so hard that we could scarcely see our neighbors' houses, and it moved our deck furniture including our gas grill.  Thankfully DH didn't detect any damage to the house.  We were very fortunate as the front that was responsible for the storms produced tornadoes that touched down In other parts of the state.  After the storm passed through, I put dinner in the crockpot and spent the afternoon stitching my hexies. Each block has 25 hexies, all stitched together by hand, so it goes slowly. I have 10 finished and am putting together the 11th. I'm really enjoying working with these hexies ... I don't know why I resisted English paper piecing for so long.  ;-)   

Have a marvelous Monday!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

I can't believe I'm actually able to participate in the Hodgepodge this week ... I've missed being a part of it.  Why not click on the button above and join in the fun? 

1. Describe a typical Sunday from your childhood.

After my mom took us girls to Sunday School, we would have lunch with one of her friends and her kids.  During the summer, our afternoons would always include the Cardinals broadcast on KMOX - my sister and I would keep score on leftover notebook paper from school.  We always watched the Ed Sullivan show before bedtime. 

2. How comfortable are you with uncertainty? Explain.

Very uncomfortable. I like knowing what's going to happen, when, where, why, and with whom. Yes, I'm a control freak. ;-)  Thankfully I know Who is REALLY in control.

3. What have you accomplished recently that might be described as crafty, as in 'arts and crafts' crafty?  If crafty doesn't work for you, how about handy? Or both?

I suppose some would think of quilting as crafty ... I think of it more along the arts side of "arts and crafts".  I'm not very crafty - no creativity and not much desire either. 

4. Have you ever worked in a 'food place'? What did you take away from the experience?

I was a waitress my first year of college - 60 cents an hour.  I decided right then and there that no matter what, I was going to finish my degree because I vowed that I would never waitress for a living.  And I make sure that DH is a generous tipper.

5. Cold turkey, talk turkey, what a turkey...in recent days, which turkey phrase or idiom best applies to you and why? Click on the word turkey if you need to read more about the meaning behind each phrase. 

I'm sure that many who know me well would say I need to choose "what a turkey". ;-)

6. If you could have any one guest join your Thanksgiving dinner table, who would it be?

Instead of adding a guest, how about subtracting one?  Ha!

7. What is one thing you must accomplish today? 

Today?  I need to check to confirm that the auto deduct from our checking to pay our Target red card took place.  Exciting, huh?  ;-)  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I had my annual check up Monday afternoon. I discussed my finger ... I was told that because I'd been faithful to rest my finger, I was one of her most compliant patients.  ;-)  She was still confident that the nerve would heal completely and that as long as I pay attention to any pain/discomfort and as long as I don't overdo, I am fine to use my finger.  I may slow down the healing a little, but I will have my life back.  ;-)  I've figured out what seems to exacerbate the nerve, and I do my best to avoid those activities.

Yesterday was DH's birthday.  T#4 gave me the present she made for him and asked me to make sure that he got it.

This is what greeted us out on our deck yesterday morning.  This may not be the earliest snow, but usually if we get any snow this early, it just melts immediately.  So having snow greet us after an overnight snow is certainly unusual.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Weekend Wrap-up

The mini retreat/sew-in on Friday went well - it was awesome to be pampered and surrounded by fellow quilters - at least one of whom was also a hand quilter!  I didn't accomplish all that I set out to, but then my expectations were a little unrealistic, I must say. I tried to participate in the mystery, but my inexperience in making a quilt from a pattern caught up with me - not to mention that using a rotary cutter is not "finger friendly" (a fact I learned the hard way on Wednesday when I cut all the squares for my star flower project).  So I brought home the salvageable fabrics and all the instructions and will try again (with plenty of spare fabric - just in case ha!). I did get a couple more of my pineapple miniatures stitched together, and I did baste several papers for the aforementioned star flower project. 

 

These will finish at 3" square. 

These are about a third of what I basted on Friday - they will be the 6-pointed star points/flower petals. 

Saturday morning we got most of the dirt moved to our raised beds in back - for our garden.  DH ordered the correct amount of topsoil per the company's calculations but we had quite a lot leftover, so DH ran to the lumberyard to get enough boards to make a 5th box.  Our original plans were to have just enough room - with an extra bed, we will have room for more veggies.  This was taken mid-project with my iPhone and the sun shining right at me, so forgive the less-than-spectacular photo quality.  

Saturday afternoon I got a little piecing done on my Martha Washington's Flower Garden, but I wasn't able to stitch as long as I would have liked ... I think cutting the star flower fabric on Wednesday set back a little the healing of that nerve. :-(  I stopped as soon as the nerve flared up ... I'm learning to try to be content with even short periods of time with my needle and thread. ;-)

I woke up early Sunday morning - 4:00ish early. I stayed In bed for another half hour or so trying to fall back to sleep - to no avail.  I did a little more basting of star flower papers - I decided to do a few hexagons so I could get an idea of what my star flowers would look like. I had hoped to get a picture of the pieces put together, but just as I finished up the last hexagon, I got a phone call - an offer from DD - an offer I couldn't refuse - watching the Ts so she and DSIL could run some errands and have some couple time.  That T-time was a perfect ending to a pretty wonderful weekend!

Have a marvelous Monday!  Be sure to thank a veteran!

Thursday's Thoughts

Hmmmm, once again I missed out on the Wednesday Hodgepodge. :-(  By the time I remembered that it was Tuesday (meaning time to compose my Hodgepodge for publication Wednesday morning), I was too exhausted to even think about blogging, let alone come up with answers to this week's questions. 

I did some more piecing on my Martha Washington's Flower Garden ... I finished up the 4th block and started the 5th ... I'm not sure how many blocks I will use to make this quilt ... I need to count out how many hexies I have basted and get an idea of whether I have enough to make a decent-sized wall quilt. 

I spent Wednesday afternoon cutting fabric for the next hexagon/English paper piecing project in red and cream.

The cream will be the larger background hexagons, the reds will be the 6-pointed stars, and the green (it's a very muted green that almost photographed as brown) will be the smaller hexagon center.  The pattern I'm using was called star flower on the website where I found my inspiration.

(Source: BillieBee's Blog)   

I will begin basting on Friday when I attend the Sew-in hosted by designer Jenice Belling. I've wanted for the longest time, to attend a retreat and to make some real-life quilting friends, so when I saw the flyer for this Sew-in, I signed right up.  Ok, so it's not an actual retreat, but it's a start!  ;-)

The little bit of warmer weather than we'd been enjoying has been pushed out with the rain that came through Tuesday and Wednesday. We definitely needed the rain, but I am not ready to get out the winter coat and electric blanket. :-(  

Have a fantastic Thursday 

The Weekend Wrap-up

It was a busy but wonderful weekend. I was sorry to see it come to an end.

A relaxing Friday was a great start to the weekend.  I spent a few hours stitching up hexagons ... I would have liked to have spent more time with my needle and thread, but I'm still trying to take it easy on that finger until it's fully healed. And it was ok ... by the time I finished up it was almost dinner time ... and time for T#4 to come over for a sleepover at Nana's.  ❤

Saturday morning came quickly as we had to leave by 7:15 for a 2-hour trip up to Jacksonville for another swim meet.  We packed up a lot of books for entrainment - although I think dropping the books into the floor as ahe finished "reading" them and then asking Nana to hand her another one was as entertaining as "reading" them was.  ;-)

It was a long day, but she was a real trooper. 

Her brothers and sister did well at the meet.  By the time the meet ended, it was dinner time, so we stopped for burgers and shakes at Steak n Shake before we headed back home. About halfway home, we were treated to a lovely sunset.

We got home in time to reset our clocks ... and an early bedtime. 

We bookended our weekend with another relaxing day Sunday. I spent a few more hours stitching ... I have 3 blocks completed, and it won't take much to finish up the 4th. 

I have to say that I was NOT ready for it to feel like bedtime by 7:00 Sunday evening - and it's only going to get worse as the days get shorter. :-(  Between the colder weather and the shorter days,  I have to say that I'm not looking forward to winter. 

Have a marvelous Monday!