Ready for Friday

Not only am I ready for the weekend to be here, I'm especially ready for Spring.  We've got another cold front coming in, which plays havoc with my arthritis.  And it's so crazy that the northern part of the state is supposed to be 19 when the southern part is 70 - and Arkansas isn't that big!

I cannot remember if I showed you this little quilt or not so lucky you - you get to see it again if I did.  :)  This is the February Kathy Schmitz BOM...

I also finished this springtime one - I think it's May.

Next week the Think Ruffles Blog Hop will begin and I'm betting this one will have some amazing projects.  I'll post the schedule for you Monday morning....my day will not be until the 13th.

And lucky me - I won a fat quarter bundle on the Moda Blog Hop that just ended - can't wait to get this prize in late March/early April when the fabric is available!

I'm working part time this spring so I'm not sewing quite as much but I've finished a couple of things for the Ruffle blog hop.  I'm also going to Physical Therapy three times a week so my sciatic issues are better but the inactivity of the last two months has manifested itself in a few added pounds.  So...it's back to Weight Watchers on Monday for me.  Anyone want to join me?  I have a double incentive, or maybe even triple....a wonderful trip in July, a grandson's wedding in August, a high school reunion in October.  Any tips for maintaining your enthusiasm over the long term?  Maybe I should stitch a big banner with those three things on it and hang it in my kitchen!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Sunday

A Few Small Things

For those of you who saw one of my recent wool pieces and my question about quilting it....I decided since it's a primitive piece I would go with a big stitch done in diagonal lines. I'm pretty pleased with it. A friend brought me a beautiful sashiko pattern but I decided to save it for a different project.

And of course I'm back with another piece to ask what you might do with this one...I've just finished the stitching and it's not even pressed yet.

The appliqué is wool and even though it doesn't show in this picture the head, body and tail of the sheep are different fabrics. There's not much definition there at all. This was a kit so I used what they sent me. I'm thinking about taking the head off and redoing it in something from my scraps. But if I do what color would show up and still fit with these colors/style?

And for those who asked me about the cross stitch you glimpsed in the background of another picture...

After my last child was born in 1976, my third child, there was little time for anything remotely related to crafts or stitching. At the time I was really loving counted cross stitch and used stolen moments to do a few stitches. I had a dear, dear friend who lived one block down. Like me she worked full time and raised children. In our desperation for both me time and friend time we would put on our pajamas and robes and about 10:00 one of us would go to the others home and we would stitch til midnight in the quiet of a sleeping household.

This piece, completed in 1979, was one I did during that time and gave to my mother. When she joined our "Little Pappaw" four months after he died I brought this home with me. The fabric has yellowed but it is precious to me. It's in a very cheap, dollar store frame...all that I could afford at the time. I will keep it that way as a reminder that any gift given in love is priceless.

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No Matter How Old They Are....

My son is nearly 40.  Yes, son, I'm saying that right here for everyone to read.  Nearly 40.  Last week he and six other football coaches stayed with me for three nights while attending a coaching clinic in town.  And no, I don't have room for six big football coaches so this little house was wall to wall bedsm but they were totally wonderful and had tons of fun staying together.  Kind of like an adult sleepover.  :)  Of course, it's not like a women sleepover where we would have slept two to a bed - each of them had to have his own bed because Heaven forbid they might touch briefly, accidentally somehow.  Men!

Anyway, Friday night it started snowing.  We were supposed to get a dusting and it turned into over 4" in places.  I knew he was inside a large hotel in meetings and wouldn't see outside so I started texting him about how bad it was, how there were 10 car pileups between him and me, on and on....  When he finally got home he said it was awful driving in so I yelled at him - "I told you to come home!"  His answer?  "You never told me to come home Mama.  You just told me how bad it was so I thought you meant to be careful".  Yes, I said he's nearly 40.

I'm a Convert

This morning I woke up hungry - unusual for me because I normally don't want breakfast for a couple of hours.  And I wasn't just hungry for anything, I wanted some bacon.  I'm not even a big bacon lover but today I needed bacon!

Sometimes I wonder if our bodies crave things it needs....you know like when you're really wanting orange juice is it because you need Vitamin C?  But what in the world would I need in bacon?  Anyway I've been wanting to try baking it instead of frying it - something I saw on Pinterest so that's what I did.  Preheat to 400 degrees, put in a pan that has a lip for holding in the grease (in other words not a cookie sheet!) and bake for about 15 minutes.  No lid.  Monitor it because I suppose it would depend on how much you're trying to bake.  Drain and pat it dry.  It was crisp and perfect!  I don't think I'll ever fry it again!

Not Again!

Yes, again.  Arkansas - a state that rarely gets snow - is getting it again this week.  Oh my.  Guess that means more sewing time.  :)

The next question is what do I want to work on?  I'm in the middle of so many things that it's hard to choose....I have the strips cut for a simple strip quilt, a wool piece that needs a little hand quilting, a huge embroidered quilt started (I'll show a snippet of it later), a baby quilt waiting on the free motion quilting....I could go on.  I don't know which I'll choose but I do know I'll be checking out the bloggers participating in the Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop over at Sew We Quilt.

Check this lineup - there are some wonderful stitchers here!

Feb 12th

Lady Carol

just let me quilt

Lady Sandy

Upstairshobbyroom

Lady Cynthia

dreamquiltcreate

Lady Pat

scrapatches.blogspot

Lady Jolie

Jolie Maxtin

Lady Susan

desertskyquilts

Feb 13th

Lady Beth

Beth Strand

Lady Jenny

Squawk That

Lady Britt-Inger

Hill Valley Quilter

Lady Carla

Create in the Sticks

Lady Marian 

Seams to be Sew

Lady Lyndsey

Sew many Yarns

Feb 14th

Lady Soma

Whims and Fancies

Lady Laura Ann

fuzzyhatquilter

Lady Doris

Quilting Queen Online

Lady Rexie

Crow Calling Woman

Lady Shari

refreshedintent

Lady Cherry

cherry blossoms quilting studio

Feb 17th

Lady Mary

I piece 2 Mary

Lady Vickie

More stars in Comanche

Lady Anne

Stitchingbythebeach

Lady Selina

selinaquilts

Lady Theresa

bumbleberrystitchn

Lady Jane

janesquilting

Feb 18th

Lady Lana

itseamstobesew

Lady Judy

www.frimart.ch

Lady Shanna

ssparrowinflight

Lady Amanda

amandamurphydesign

Lady Kay

sewgoldenachance

Feb 19th

 Lady Bente

iliketoquiltblog

Lady Kristen

meadowbrook

Lady Linda

catsnqlts2

Lady Marcy

Madebymeinred

Lady Susie

SusiesSunroom

Mdm Samm

sewwequilt

Is It Spring Yet?

Because if it isn't spring, I'm going back to bed.  Honestly, here in Arkansas we don't get all that much cold, cold weather but this year has been different.  And we rarely get snow but already it's snowed several times and this afternoon it's going to snow again.  There's no telling what my heating bill is going to be because I just keep turning it up a degree and then another degree.

Meanwhile I'm still staying in and stitching.  That's the positive part of cold weather.  :)

 The background is cotton but a very loose weave.  The figures are wool done with a blanket stitch.

Do you think the background needs some quilting?  The pattern doesn't show it but I think it does.  Some hand quilting?  Big stitch?  If so, what pattern?

And do the sheep need eyes?  Again when consulting the pattern it says yes but I'm thinking maybe no.  It shows French knots.

I love this piece and plan to hand it above one of the doors in my living room but I'm pretty sure I really want some quilting on it.

I Haven't....

watched this much television in years!  I'm sure you're tired of hearing by now that I'm down with a bad case of sciatica because it's been a month this has been going on but to be honest I'm discovering all kinds of things about myself.  One of them is that there's a reason I don't watch much television.  Particularly daytime television.  Good grief this stuff is so bad that I watch 5 minutes and turn it off.  Game shows are yucky; there's just no other way to say that.  I don't mean to say anything ugly about people who like game shows - this is just about me.  And I won't even watch 5 minutes of soaps because the small bits of those I see are getting close to porn (just my opinion).  Now here's the real confession part of this...I love NCIS, Bones and Castle.  I record those and watch them while I stitch.  But I find I'd rather listen to a book while I'm having to rest my back.

I don't do well being limited in my activities.  I get whiny.  There I said it.  Whiny.  Is that a word?  Doesn't matter because I bet you know what I mean.

A positive thing in this episode is that I'm getting some hand stitching projects done - some of them have been waiting a while.  And I can sit at the sewing machine for a little while as long as I get up and move around.  In fact that seems to be the most comfortable time for me...isn't that a blessing!  Here are a couple of things I've finished this week:

I made this little mug rug for my best friend (Hi Connie) who has a monkey of her own named Katie.  It's going to be perfect to sit a cup of coffee on, or a glass of milk and a cookie.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was making something my blogging friend Michelle from The Raspberry Rabbits was going to like.  Isn't this the cutest thing?  It's from Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine, Spring 2012, and the pattern (Wabbits) is by Lynda Hall of Primitive Pieces by Lynda.

Lynda's two granddaughters drew the rabbits and Lynda turned their drawings into a pattern - I so love that idea that I'm going to try it with my younger grandchildren.

One of the things I'm doing while sitting is following the She Who Sews Blog Hop set up by Madame Samm  of Sew We Quilt and coordinated by Carla of Creatin' In The Sticks - I loved participating in this one and seeing all the other projects and there's one more day coming up tomorrow.

February 6th

Lixie Makes It

How ART you?

 Seams To Be Sew

threads on my socks

Quilted Delights

Life in the Scrapatch

krislovesfabric

Sew We Quilt

A Rainy Sunday

It's rained here for a couple of days - gray, heavy skies with a heavy mist sometimes interlaced with bursts of heavy drops.  It's 2 degrees above freezing and the temperature is supposed to drop later this evening so we could get freezing rain, sleet, and/or snow.  The county I live in is right on the line of the front so there's no way to really predict the outcome.  I've gotten out candles, oil lamps and flashlights; my grandson brought in some wood and laid a fire in the wood stove and my son-in-law moved the furniture around so I can easily use the gas fireplace as well.  My philosophy is that if I'm prepared it won't happen.  It's only when I'm caught unaware that the power goes out.  Tell me I'm right.  Please.

I'm still a bit incapacitated with this round of sciatica.  I'm mostly sitting in a recliner because that seems to be the most comfortable place.  Because of the medications I've been on for nearly a month I'm frequently really, really tired but in the occasional bursts of energy I'm still working on some hand stitching - mostly finishing some things I've had either traced off to embroider or some wool pieces waiting to be appliqued.  This is a wool Valentine piece that came from Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine...

The original piece has some tiny flowers embroidered around the outside of the big heart but I chose not to do that on my version of it.  The background fabric is wool but looks like suede - the color is really just a bit darker than this picture shows.

A couple of days ago I was trying to decide on something for lunch on one of these rainy days and pulled out this jar of tomatoes canned this summer.

I sauteed some onions and garlic in a little butter, then put a tablespoon or so of flour in and browned it, added the tomatoes after putting them in the blender for just a few seconds, and then mixed in some half and half.  I've never made homemade tomato soup before but oh my, it was good.

We have another round of the So She Sews Blog Hop coming up tomorrow.  You won't want to miss these bloggers - I know they're going to be showing us some wonderful things.

February 4

Just Let Me Quilt

Hill Valley Quilter

Sew Much 2 Luv

My Whittle Adventures

 Kids and Sewing

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Moosestash Quilting

I Piece 2 Mary