Good Luck Steelers

Here we go Steelers

Missing the days of Terry...

Happy New Year!

Stitch stitch stitch...

I finished the rooster block for my friend just in time...she came to visit tonight!
I finished the fleece blanket with appliqued name and snowflakes for son's girlfriend just in time for her return from New York.
I finished quilting the Christmas wallhanging and just have to bind the edges.

Progress - -progress!!

Ah December- One Stitch at a Time

Such a lovely month...It is so nice to have time off to enjoy the decorations...and eat all the goodies and visit with friends - FINISH PROJECTS. I am hoping to finish lots of project this week, but I think I need Eleanor Burns "Quilt in a Day" speed to finish all the nearly finished but somehow STILL not finished projects....but today I rescued the extra rooster block and figured out how to calculate the checkerboard border...(that is interesting for someone as Math Challenged as I am) but with a little trimming of the block, I got it to fit...now for the quilting and binding and off goes Mr. Rooster to my friend for a Christmas gift...
Stay tuned for the finished photo

So what is on the to be finished list:

1.The irish chain - the blocks are pieced and the borders need to go on:

2. The flannel lap quilt STILL needs backed and quilted - it has been aging gracefully since last January - oh dear :

3. The stars quilt STILL needs recalculated additional row of stars- it is in a stack of miscalculated frustration:

4. The wrap purses need finishing and handles

5. The Eiffel Tower Tote Bag/Purse needs constructed

6. The winter wallhanging needs one more snowflake and binding

Oh Dear - I am starting to get nauseous...how will I finish all these and get on to the new - - yeah yeah - I know - one stitch at a time...

Block in a Bag for December

I decided to try one of these "through the window" or "through the iron gate" ideas since the block for December was our own choice of patterns. The fabric provided was the floral which I fussy cut and rearranged to look like a garden of flowers, and the blue for background. An interesting technique and not too difficult except for cutting out the black...

Getting Ready for the Holidays

So here it is - -I am trying not to PANIC - - but Christmas is only 18 days away....and the to do list is enormous!!

Shopping - -it would be nice if I had a list with some ideas....
Baking - - Is it really necessary to bake 15 different kinds of cookies??? ---yes --- in my world -- it is!! I really should get started. I need several cans full by Thursday....Too bad I have to go to work everyday!

Decorating - - ok, that is NEARLY finished..The Christmas houses are all snuggled in the snow and lit...the candles are in place...and after several repairs on the vacuum cleaner - -all the needles are swept up.....I just cannot get the angel on top of the tree....you see - - the tree is too tall and touching the ceiling. I tried cutting the top with the sharpest thing I had - -a Bread knife....I have done this years past - - when no tools could be found - cut branches off the bottom of the tree with a knife...it isn't easy, but it CAN BE DONE. But not this tree top...no siree...it is a big thick branch and I CANNOT get the darn knife through it. So I sent the former Marine to borrow the tree trimmer. He forgot. So the tree is all decorated and naked at the top. Pitiful...

Did I mention the list of gifts to be sewn? I dare not --the sight of it would surely make me cry. Better get busy and fast....I could use some elves!

Meanwhile - -Taffy just sits and watches. She is ready for a stocking full of new chew toys and doggy treats. She will have to WAIT. I wish she could bake and shop!!

Taffy is so happy - - it's the Holiday Season!

(PSST - it's popcorn in the bottle that she is after)

Happy Thanksgiving

"When I'm worried

and I can't sleep

I count my blessings

instead of sheep

And I fall asleep

counting my blessings"

Lyrics: Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings

Thank you Veterans

Today we honor tribute to those who served our country.

Thank you veterans and their families!

To those who served and came home

and those who did not...

We are grateful for their service!

The Challenge Quilt - Mermaid

Yippee!!!

I am so happy - - I won a ribbon in our Quilt Guild's Challenge. The challenge was to create a quilt to represent the colors of the gift bag we drew at random. Quilts were judged on the basis of innovation, use of color, use of "frou frou" and viewers choice.

I haven't won anything like this before. And I must admit - I was really clueless on this process...though I have had the creation of this in my mind for quite some time in my continuous endeavor to be at the beach or be reminded of the beach. And - -I have never attached all these items to a quilt....I impaled my finger a few times trying to stitch through the quilt...so I am really happy that my mermaid was well received and WON a RIBBON!! My prize was a lovely stack of fall colored fat quarters!!

Who would be

A mermaid fair,

Singing alone,

Combing her hair

Under the sea,

In a golden curl

With a comb of pearl,

On a throne?

I would be a mermaid fair;

I would sing to myself the whole of the day;

With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;

And still as I comb I would sing and say,

Who is it loves me? who loves not me?"

- Lord Alfred Tennyson, The Mermaid