List & Pics!!!

Hey Y'all!!  Here in Mid-Michigan we had more snow visit us and it's a whole 23* F. before the wind chill on the semi-bright day. The Chickadees are flittering about on the branches of the neighbors apple tree lending a bit of color against the super bright white background.  So why not grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage and settle in warm up by the stove.  Glad you was able to stop in for a spell.

So I can't wait tell ya what's all new and happening this week.  I found I had a very productive week and of course we have new eye candy to look at in several forms.  The 1st thing I did today was to sit down with my coffee and list making supplies so that I could decide what I wanted to do this week.  So with coffee in the veins and pencil in hand,  I'm off.... sound the charge!  So far my list looks like this:

• Decide on a border design for my HT Mystery Top  Decided to try ribbon border late Friday Night
• Make the borders for the 2 Red & Green Doll quilts for donating for Christmas Festival  Added both sets of borders Sat. Afternoon & in sandwich mode
• Continue to hand quilt for one hour on  "Sunflower & Crows" Had a date with Beethoven Sunday afternoon Monday & Thursday
• Sew together some of my scrap blocks for donating doll quilts for Christmas Festival Completed on Sat. Afternoon 
• Finish hand piecing the last 26 tulips
• Design a personal swap pattern  Drew 1st Draft on Sat. Afternoon
• Cut out a Schnibble pattern.   Finished cutting out Sunday
• Finish reading at least one of my current reads - I have 3 going right now.  Almost finished with 2nd book
• Finish at least 2 more layers on new knitting project. 
• Make batch of Cranberry & White Chocolate Chip Scone Cookies.

Yes, I know it sure looks like a lot don't it.  LOL.  But some of this is busy work for the evenings or when I'm out and about running errands this week.  Some things, like adding on simple but small borders for doll quilts; I can do in one sitting.  I usually cut in multiple batches.  I have some scrappy 6.5" blocks already together so I can start chain-stitching them together.  When I'm hand quilting - I tend to do approximately do a minimum of just over an hour at a time since that is normally the length of one Cd of the Cd Book that I'm listening to.  Etc., etc..  And of course all this will be recorded in my quilt journal as I like to see what I have accomplished. Since I have started to keep track, I don't think I've missed more a couple of days in total in almost 2 years.

So are we ready for some eye candy?  One of the things that I did this week was to catch up and finish my Homesteadingtoday.com (HT) mystery top as directed up to the point of borders.  So due to a special surprise I was am to take part in this and here is what I came up with. 

I went from this....

To this.... 

So now I'm contemplating on a border for it.  I really don't want to do my normal single strip of one color for it.  I'm thinking I might try something different, something I haven't done yet, which in reality leaves a world of designs to choose from.  LOL.  I do know that I want the red fabric to add that extra little pop with the focus fabric flowers  (wow...say that fast a few times...lol)

Some of my other stitching includes some red and white triangles that I made some time back but managed to sew them wrong according to the block instructions so they got tossed into a box of scraps.  Well I dug them out, decided to square them up to 4.5" and made 2 Ohio star blocks out of them.  I'm going to turn them into doll quilts to go with the soft dolls that I'm making for our village Christmas Festival.  They will be added to Santa's bag to give out. 

 I know the red looks darker in the block but there is hints of the brighter red is there.  Nice thing is I still had the solid red from that table runner project so I didn't need to purchase anything for this project so far.  Got to like when that happens.  And to me these won't look overly "Christmas-y" even though these are the more traditional colors. 

This week my loving S.O. decided to try a new recipe that he had found online.  It's one of his favorite things to do when he can't sleep.  Any how, he found a recipe for a cheese souffle.  I have to admit that as much as I LOVE to cook, I thought that making one of these required a special skill .... only to find out that it's actually not that hard to do.  Now we don't currently own a souffle dish but we do have a 6 cup Pyrex bowl.  So since those things are oven proof, it was put to good use.  Tada......



Before the hoards attack




Breakfast is served!!



The funny thing is ..... I'm sooooo not a breakfast person!!  It's usually brunch time around here so that I can get at least 2 cups of coffee in me so that I become more human-like before food is served.  On this day he waited and timed it out just perfectly.  Made some hash browns and popped in some English Muffins to which I was able to add my orange marmalade to.   Yummmmmm!!! It was nice to have some marmalade in the house again!  It never fails ... when I get a hankering for something it is almost never in the house. Dang that Murphy & his  bloody law!!

This past week I was able to partake in some out-of-the-house time with my friend from my local sewing circle.  It was really nice to go along and have some time to pet some nice soft yummy cottons, flannel and minky. We had made it to a little Amish shop that is in Clare and the joy of it all on a snowy day.  The best part was I didn't have to drive so that was a good thing...lol.  It was funny ... I was told we would be visiting several stores in the area so I knew what was in my pocket for spending and that I could buy a few FQ's at best as still be able to buy my lunch.  Yeah Right!!!!  The long & short of it is .... I came home loaded down.  Here is part of the bounty that I was only going to buy the pattern print out for "Hidden Stars" 'cuz I was sticking to my serious budget plan .... I ended up with everything but the backing for it....included the batting!!  All without dropping a dime as I guess my friend decided I needed a nice pick-up-me after all that I've been through of late.



The Yummy Fabrics for "Hidden Stars"

I  really liked the sample that was hanging up as this "Hidden Star" pattern is done with 4-patch blocks instead of the normal 9-patch block and was made from a Kansas Troubles (?) line.  This particular layer cake is my 1st one so I don't care that it wasn't the most current one as I LOVE Holly Taylor's fabric lines.  The  one yard of brown fabric is one of her current ones and will used as a border.  The ohhh so buttery Moda yellow is 2 yards and destined to become the "stars" and the binding for this quilt.  I'm not much for yellows, but I just kept going back to it.  I was only looking to buy a FQ so that I could take home to admire it until I found a nice pattern worth of it.  I thought that I was helping my friend pick out the fabrics for herself..... Surprise!!!  We only manage to visit this store and have lunch as the weather was starting to go downhill.  So once lunch was over end wandered closer to home but we ended up @ her place.  Where she taught me how to do a simple knit stitch.  So while I was clacking along with my size 4 needles, trying to get my tension right;  she starts pulling out books to look at (& a few to keep) and 3 of those embroidery boxes filled with flosses for me to take home.  It appears she is got so much stuff that she has been trying to thin the masses so to speak and I'm to be the receiver.   Free is Always a good thing and her loss is my gain!!!  Thank You very much. 

A good way to use up some yarn

And of course I needed a new skill like another hole in the head but this was something that I wanted to learn for a while now.  My friend said for an adult, I sure picked a new skill quick like and that is kind of unusual.  With in 5 minutes of being shown I had gotten close to an inch done on the needle.  Yea for me I guess ...lol.  Maybe that is because I don't really have anyone to show me how to do crafty type things so I'm more or less self-learning. 

I'm making some progress on my tulip blocks with just 26 left to hand piece.  Most the time this is my "on-the-run" when I go to see my doctor.  But the last couple of nights I worked on them during TV Time and completed 17 of them done.  So chances are  -in theory- I could have the rest of them knocked out by weekend's end.  Whoo Hoo!! I also have been time in on my hand quilting of "Sunflowers & Crows" as I either listen to my small collection of Classical music or a book on Cd. 

The cats have been quite amusing this week as you will see from the pictures.  They are really getting that whole running through the house like a herd of elephants down pat.  We have this little braided rug they just LOVE to terrorize! 

  

And of course they always must always they sure love to be in my seat no matter which one it is...



Hummmm .... Thread....



What?  Did you want THIS seat?



And they are ALWAYS so Helpful....
 

Gee Mom... You shouldn't Have!!....Box ....Empty Box 



 

 



Wait.... WHAT ...!!!!!  You mean this isn't ..... MINE?







They sure have been a delight since they came home with us those 3 short months ago!! There just something about kitties.... and being released from the Cat Prison aka the Shelter .... life is good!!

Well now it's time for me to mosey on now so that I can start me some Angel Hair Spaghetti with Garlic bread for tonight's supper.  I'm really glad could stop on in as I enjoy the company and the hen session.  Sure hope You'll stop back in next week ya here now.  I'll have the (place fav hot drink in space) on fer ya.   ;)

Toodles,

Tricia