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

Here's to the New Year!!

Well Ladies & Gentlemen..... here it is our 1st get together for the new year and time for new beginnings. Time of reflection and anticipation all wrapped up in pretty paper. Something about the New Year has us thinking of those goals we would like to reach... rather they be to lose something, gain some insight, become more ..., try to do/not do... or whatever the case maybe. 

I know we are all busy making our resolutions with great gusto but the real challenge will begin when we get farther along in the year. I know I'm off to a great start as I started the New Year with a Needle in my hand as the ball dropped.  I did revisit mine own goals that I stated a few weeks ago. And after much reflection and realizing they was beyond a tad lofty I would like to revise them if y'all don't mind. 

My new goals are now to do 2 small projects each month. Now this could be a combination of any of UFO's. WIP's or New items.  That  would include any swaps that I might sign up for. If I finish those, I will pull another small project out of the box to finish and if I don't finish in that month I'll move it to the following month. I think two smalls could be a reachable  and reasonable goal to strive for in my humble opinion.  

This month I have a table runner for a swap that I need to finish & mail out on the 15th.  The hard part was done when I finished the last appliqued snowflake block. So now after my boy goes home on Sunday even, on Monday the sewing machine comes back out and the piecing should clip a long quickly.  For my second project, I'm doing my own "OOAK" piece for a St. Valentine's swap between me & my close friend that lives in Hagerville, Ontario, Canada.  This one I'm keeping under wraps until she receives it. So sorry there won't be any sneak peeks on this one folks. So there are my 2 small goals for this month.  The nice thing is I already know what the 2 are for February, making me ahead of the curve so to speak and that is always a good thing in my book. LOL.

And for my long term goal, I have decided that if I can get at least one of the large queen top done, I would most happy.... thrilled even. Why just a top you might ask as you consider what you just read. Well it could be kind of a cop out in a way but it's more like having a reality check and unfortunately my check has bounced!   With the 2 tops having lots (and I do mean LOTS) of hand appliqueing on them, I have to realize that I might be lucky to even get one of them done.

The other day, I was able to put some time in on "Sunflowers and Crows". I had added some echo quilting to the inside of the pinwheel triangles as I sat listening to the next 2 Cd's in the book that I'm listening to.  I broke down and decided that I would use an actual 1/4"-ish stitch in this area instead of those little 8 to 10 spi's.  They really look HUGE in comparison, but I'm making myself stretch a little to give another visual effect to this - my Frankenstein.

So this weekend my plan is to continue with the St. Valentine project that I got started.  I divided the piece into 8 quadrants and have been plucking along.  I introduced the second color into it last night.  Tonight I'm most likely introduce the third & final color into this quad before I move onto the next quad. At the moment it appears that the brain & fingers are having a meeting of the common mind, meaning they are playing nice together as the vision is coming about. 

On Wednesday , I went to see the doc about the blood work I had done in Nov.  At that time, there was enough change in my TSH level that I'm now on a synthetic thyroid supplement.  The kicker is that I have to take it on an empty stomach and have to wait for a minimum half hour. EEWWWWW ... Wait ... NO Coffee ... ugh! the horror!!!!!!

Sooooo the long of the short of it is ... I'm going to put that time to use.  I'm jumped on the treadmill for the half hour.  It's been quite some time (like maybe 4 or 6 months.) I was on it. I started by 2 mph's for the first 25 minutes,then bumped it up that last 5 minutes to 2.5 mph's.  I didn't really break a sweat 'til I bumped it and surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Afterwards, I took a gander at that horrible thing called a scale.  I didn't add any weight but on the other hand I didn't drop any either. So I guess I know what I going to lose. I am hoping that half an hour every morning will help.  I'm only suppose to walk - no running - not that I could but under the threat of dire straights of death. But 110 -ish calories got to count for something. Which reminds me - I need to track this stuff for the doctor. 

So I have a December finish to show ya.  I took part in the quiltingboard.com monthly doll quilt swap. My partner liked brights, and as we know;I wanted to do something a bit different so this is what I came up with.  Now keep in mind that this was during the last snowstorm when I lost power and had to think on the fly.  So I free formed this stocking  from a small pic in a coloring page somewhere. I love looking at free coloring sheets as we all know...lol.   I blanket-stitched the whole thing by hand around the applique.  I place these small buttons (?) beads to the cuff points but ended up not doing much quilting on it at all.  
                                                 
The little ornie I made from Crafter's felt, poly-fill and twine that had on hand.  I thought it made made for a cute surprise. What you think...would like one? Hummm maybe I need a giveaway again. Thinking here.... maybe an idea will bloom before the end of the post.  LOL.

I enjoyed the PIF's stories from last week and look forward to seeing more of them. So please keep them coming.  This year I would love to have my PIF project to be for the little girls that take part in the Visit with Santa our little village has a part of the Winter festival. I'm going to take some of my scraps and turn them into little blankets for their little dollies or stuff critters. Actually what I REALLY wanted to do is to include a dollie or stuffie with these little blankies, but I don't get the opportunity to go garage saleing - where I might find some nice gentle used "babies".  So I'll work with the blankies at least.

We had about 150 little girls this past Christmas. Which was just under 1/2 of the little kids that came to see "Santa". I guess that number didn't include the older kids. When I went to the library and talked to the Head Librarian about doing this, my 10 yr. old son heard us talking.  It appears that my son has shown some interest in helping me when he comes up for the summer. He has been attending Cub Scout meeting down there at dad's house and thinks this would be cool to do.  Hey ... I'm all for it and it's great to know he is thinking about others around him at this age.

Well on the Kitty front ... they have been settling in nicely as they have been caught playing and chasing each around the house.  I do have some pictures that I have to upload someday to show ya. They have minds of their own that's for sure!!  Appears they are quilty surveyors too as they are in, on or under whatever I might be working on at the moment. And I had to catch Ms. Honey a couple times as she trys to take off with my with flosses.  The little bugger!!  LOL.

Hummmm ... looks like I'm really have been rambling along for quite the while so now I have to think of something for that little Mittens Giveaway.  Okay ... how about you tell me about tell me about your New Year goals. I will pull a winner next weekend and announce in the posting at that time.  Good Luck Y'all.

Toodles,
Tricia

The "girls", Old Man Winter and "PIF"

Whewwwie!!! We made past the pitfall of the Mayan Calendar and the world didn't seem to come to an end per say.   So Yeah US!!!  Aren't we the lucky ones! 

The "girls" are settling in to our little home rather nicely.  We have renamed the the girls and they seem to be taking to the names better we had expected.  The darker one of the two sisters, has been given the name "Nosy Rosy". Yes folks Rosy is really living up to her name. I believe in her way of thinking, her humans MUST be available for her inspection at any given moment.  That closed doors really shouldn't be closed to her at all -- especially if one of the members of her "staff" is behind it. She seems to enjoy Steve's company and if given the chance will sit on my side of the love seat and cuddle up with him so that they may nap together.  She definitely is the stronger personality of the two. 

Now her sister, on the other hand; seems to have aligned herself to me.  She is a bit timid at times, but her more playful quirks are coming out and showing that she is no wall flower in any means.  The whole time since their arrival, I have made it a point to talk to them both and during which little ms. timid has taken to the name of Honey. So Honey it is.... although Steve still refers to her as "Paranoid".  But I'm sure he will come around to Honey as she comes when called. It's funny that Honey get be VERY persuasive as to having my attention ESPECIALLY in the mornings as I try to do my computer stuff along with my 1st cup of coffee. Nothing like someone sitting on your hands and lower arms as you try to type.  LOL.

We are very happy to have these girls become a part of our little family.  We love how they greet us in the mornings as we make our way to the coffeepot.  They seem to enjoy being talked to and will flop over their sides for scratching. We look forward to many years of cuddling and silly antics.  Oh guess what!! I'm happy to report that according to what I saw on the Humane Societies page, there was 5 other adult kitties around the same age as our girls that was sprung from their Kittie prisons to their very own "forever home" too!!  Way to go Kitties!!!!

"Ohhhh .... the weather outside is Frightful .... "  Those of us in the Mid-West was visited by Old Man Winter. He decided to showed us who the boss was for the last few days.  He sure did show up with a grand bluster to let us know it ain't no puny humans!  We had ended our week with power outages, winds up to 65 mph at times, drifting snows, bitter cold temps and yet again another van issue that involved another tow bill & the alternator.  Ain't Life a kick in the head sometimes?

So this week, I managed to get a nice present for Steve done for his birthday/Christmas on Monday.  I made this nice long lap quilt for him for the couch that is the prefect width for across his chest and give him the ability to tuck it under his feet with his 6'1" frame.  I have to say that this was the most inexpensive quilt that I have made and He certain can't be any happier with it  Why you might ask?  Well good question, as it leads into one of the topics of the week. 

I was a recipient of the "pay it forward" movement that is know widely throughout the quilting world. I was give this red, white & blue Homespun Patch panel that was a couple yards with this other fabric that is a dark tan blender type fabric for the back by a friend from my Wednesday morning quilting circle. She told me that she has had these fabrics for years and years and never got around to doing anything with them. She figured that she would clean out her stash and past it on to me. Then I was give a really thin poly batting that was queen-size from another friend that didn't work for her current project and it had a slash in the package & batting... so it was nonreturnable.  So now, I have the main components for the quilt, I spent several Wednesdays prepping, & putting it together so that I could tie it.  I "happen" to know that I had a skein of red, white, and blue variegated yarn that I wanted to use.  So then my friend handed me some red star Hoffman print to use as the binding that worked perfectly.  So what did I contribute besides the yarn and the time? I was luck to receive such generous offers in order to make the one of 2 gifts that he will receive for the holidays. And everyone knows that a homemade item is just the best thing to receive!!! Right?

A few months back you might remember me talking about "Pay It Forward" at the end of Sept.?  About the movie with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment? Or you might be familiar the book of the same title by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  But either way in some form or another we all seem to know the thought process behind it all. I know to have been on both sides of the "PIF" coin so to speak at different times in my life on more than one occasion.

We all know that quilters are a wonderful community who love to "Pay it Forward" to all those around them.  Be it in quilts & pillowcases for Charity, for the Victims of Disasters of all kinds - like those of Hurricane Sandy or the families & community of the Newtown, CT. shooting that has recently become part of the most recent news. Another fine example of PIF was the New York Officer who bought a pair of boots and socks for the homeless man in mid November.  That was a wonderful show of PIF or as some would know it as Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) in a world today that most would turn a blind eye to anothers plight and violence is getting to be almost blase anymore.   

I can almost bet that you or someone you know has been a receiver of a PIF/RAK in the past. Think about it for a moment ... I'm almost sure you have seen those commercials on TV that touch on this very thought process. So take a minute and Really think about it.....

Okay now ... did someone in line at a store have a cart full of things, turn around to see you had one or two items or a young child with you who was staring to fuss and allowed you to go ahead of them with "please" and a smile;  instead of making some snide remark out loud to themselves about bringing cranky kids to the stores?  Maybe someone driving in front of you along the turnpike paid your toll fee or paid for your coffee that day and wanted something so small, that a smile & a "Thank You" has us wondering what that person's hidden agenda is?  Have you been in traffic at a light during heavy rush hour and here you are trying to pull out into traffic only to have everyone so wrapped up in their own lives, that they not willing to give up that few feet of space to allow your vehicle in ahead of them because your car might prevent them getting someplace a whole 30 seconds faster - when some kind person waves you in in front of them?  It is interesting to watch the dynamics of how we - as a whole - look at things ... myself included. 

In 1916, Lily Hardy Hammond wrote, "You don't pay love back; you pay it forward."

The expression "pay it forward" is used to describe the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of to the original benefactor.

Well the reason I'm trying to get to is I once again came across the "Paying It Foward"  thread today, as I learned about a month ago now; I was chosen by Sara (of http://theamerineclan.blogspot.com ) that I was one of her "winners"of her PIF.  She is taking part in this and I thought I would too.  It is a type of "gifting" where the "poster" will pick three winners and make them a homemade gift sometime during the following 365 days. Then each of the three winners will do the same. Basically 1 person reaches 3 people and those 3 people reaches 9 reaches 24... et cetera et cetera. I know there probably is most likely some big fancy term or name of some sort algorithm that uses the concept of algorithm is also used to define the notion of decidability that escapes me at the moment to explain it. But once again I'm going to try my own PIF with homemade items. I'm going to  ask you to tell me about your own PIF experience.  Was you the receiver or the giver or even a witness to such an act that touched you in some way? 

Once you have perused the few little rules, tell me your story in the comment section below. I know with the holidays upon us we all are a bunch of busy bees, so I'm leaving this open for a while before choosing my "winners" so to speak.  But maybe this will have you thinking and looking about you for those little chances for "PIF" that cross you path any given day. Now if you don't have a blog or other social media item to take part in the "PIF" drawing, but still want to share a story with me .... I'll be glad to read all about it.  Just let me know some how that your comment is just for a chance to share the story.  I'm hoping to read lots of wonderful stories that it will be hard for me to make a decision for my winners!!

I will also share how I progress in my own PIF journey in the items that I will be making and how I plan to work on this in the new year to come.  I have some ideas that I'm kicking around and want to discuss with a few people before I make any kind of announcement as of right now. 

The rules are few but simple and are as follows:

1. I will create a crafty gift for  three people who will be randomly picked  that leave a comment to this post. This is a surprise, and will arrive to you anytime within the next 365 days.

2. Upon signing up for Pay it Forward (PIF), you are committing yourself to the project...someone pays it forward to you, so you pay it forward to others! Even if you didn't win here ~~ please feel free to start your own PIF chain!!  Just post this, or something similar so others can get involved. Basically you will create your own post where you create gifts for 3 people as well.

3. You need to have an active blog of your own...{or some way to post up your PIF info like a flickr, pinterest, or Facebook account. Basically you'll need a place to announce your own PIF and to post some pics of the process.} 

4. After winning persons are announced on this post, post something similar on your blog...so you can spread the "Pay It Forward" love. I will email you asking for your mailing address {and the online address where you are posting your PIF info} so I can get your crafty treat in the mail. Please make sure your email address is visible on your profile or leave it in the comment.

Well now that I have become long-winded in today's entry, I'll give my farewells to thee. Please know I love any comments or thoughts that my posting might have inspired you to leave.  Y'all come back again... you hear.

Toodles,
Tricia