Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wonderful Valentine's Day

What an awesome Valentine's Day. Got up early, cleaned up, dressed and off we went - hubby, best friend and myself. We headed off to PA and the farmers market. First stop was breakfast though, at a cute little dinner we often hit before a day of shopping.

Then on to the Farmers Market. There's always so much to see. Ended up with some homemade goodies for snacking, bags of candy for Valentine's treats for friends, produce, homemade soaps for our daughter, and some other delights. Love going to this place, but it's only open on Tuesdays. But as the weather gets warmer the outdoor vendors start showing up and then there's a whole flea market to go through as well. Always a wonderful trip.

And then it was off to Texas Roadhouse for Valentine's Day Dinner. Love love love their food. We had an awesome dinner, good friends, great conversation!!!! Then we did just a wee bit more shopping and then it was time to head back home.

Monday found me attending a class with another good friend of mine. We were learning how to make rag rugs. We purchased the looms from our teacher, whose husband made them for us. The process is interesting, and I thought it was pretty easy. Relaxing. My girlfriend and I both said we could see ourselves sitting and doing this and saying "just 15 more minutes, I'm only going to work on it for another 15 minutes"....and then a couple hours later going "uh oh". I'll take some pictures and post them for all to see as I progress through the weaving process. It's a great way to use up your scraps, and come up with some beautiful rag rugs for your home.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Ho hum day...

Today is a work day for me. I work shift work, 12 hour days, which some people say "ick" when they hear it. But then you have to look at it the other way. I work 2 days, I'm off 2 days, and every other weekend is a 3 day off weekend (of course every opposite weekend is a 3 day work weekend). All-in-all it's not that bad. I can schedule appointments on my days off (since they fall during the week). I can take long weekends to do things, or travel, or Quilt.

My Mom likes it because I'm off some days during the week and I take her places. We go to Pennsylvania to Amish country, the farmers market, the outlets, whatever. Hubby likes it because we can plan different things and we get to spend time together. It's a win-win situation.

I worked on my father's quilt some more last night. I did all the straight line quilting on it, and then I got out my BSR foot. I did a couple places, as I keep hanging it over the edge of the ironing board and thinking "it could use a little something here". Eventually I'll have to stop doing that or I'll never get it done. I just have a few more things to do in the boarders and then I can put the binding on. It's already made, just waiting to be stitched on.

Well, it's almost time for me to head home. The skies have been a bit dreary here all day and there has been talk of snow overnight.  I love the thought of snow, but I also hate the thought of snow when I work. That means I have to be the one to shovel the sidewalks around here. That ought to do my back wonders!! Oh well, what's a woman to do?!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Someone poke me.....I need a push!!

Seems like it's one of those days. Just can't seem to get motivated. There's a quilt sitting on my machine in the basement screaming out my name, and I really need to get down there and get it finished. It's a quilt for my father who turns 85 next Wednesday. Hopefully it will be quilted today and the binding sewed  on so I can get that finished and wrapped. I work shift work, so I'm working Friday, Saturday &  Sunday, but maybe I can sneak in a little binding.

Since I'm new at getting this blog up and running again, I thought I'd post some pictures of some of the things I've made during my quilting life.

This was a Trick or Treat bag I made for our Granddaughter.
I love it and want to make a couple more for other friends kids.
It's just the right size for a little one!!


This is a table mat I made and gave to my Mother a few years back.
Can't remember where I  got the  pattern from, but I have 3 more made in the basement to be quilted. I think I'll keep one, and the other 2 will be gifts to a couple dear friends.

This is the label I put on the back of the mat. I'm getting better about labeling my quilts.

Here is a table runner I made for my cousin and his finance for their bridal shower.
It's and easy peasy pattern that whips up  quick with just 3 fat quarters.

We have a group that meets here at my  house  every other Wednesday to quilt. We call ourselves the "Wednesday Wonders". That's because we wonder who will show up from meeting to meeting, and we wonder what we'll get accomplished. The group was started to do our Civil War Tribute quilts, but those are in bags and drawers somewhere, waiting for us to get them out again. Other projects got in the way, so the Civil War Quilts were set aside....for now.

This is Sandy, on of the "Wonders". I think we were actually working on  our Civil War Quilt when this was taken. Sandy is a dear friend of mine, and a great teacher to us all. She's always there to help when we stumble upon a problem. And her and I are always coming up with  ideas for things to make.

Janie -  another "Wonder", and dear friend. She's down the road from me,  so we're in contact all the time. We're always working on  something together, or getting into something...LOL.

And then there's Wanda. Wanda dabbles in a little bit of everything. She quilts with  us, sometimes. But sometimes she  brings her  cross-stitch. She does beautiful work!!!! She also  makes jewelry. I have  several bracelets she made me, and  they're awesome!! She's a busy woman, with family here and in Arizona. We never know when we'll see her.

There are 8 of us total, for now. We have room for 10, and I have a lady interested in joining us. We all  really look forward to our Wednesdays. It's a great night out, doing something we love, with people we love!!

And this was the first quilt I finished. It's actually just a  sampler size. Sandy taught me, in her beginning  quilt class, the 2nd time I took it. Yes, I took it twice. The first time I  took it we made something different, that was harder and I haven't finished it yet (but I will). The second time, I knew how to quilt, but my dear friend Wanda wanted to learn so I took it again with her. Love this sampler. I hang it over the back of an antique church chair at Christmas.

Well, I've skirted the issue of getting my butt moving long enough. I'm now off to be productive. I'll post some more pictures next time, and hopefully one will be of my father's quilt!!!!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Back again.....and trying harder this time!!

Well, I finally logged back on to my blogger account, read some of my old posts, and realized that I really dropped the ball. I didn't really keep up with my blogging, or any of my hopes (lose weight). So here I am, back again, and giving it another try.

As I look out the window of my office it's lightly snowing right now. I love the snow, but this is my day off and we usually have Wednesday Wonders tonight. WW is 8 women who absolutly love to quilt, and love to share their love of quilting. We meet every other Wednesday in my basement. Someone brings a dish for dinner, and someone brings dessert. After we eat, chat and do show-n-tell, we sew. We started out as a group working on a Civil War Reproduction Quilt, but got sidetracked. Now we work on all sorts of things. We share ideas, fabrics, recipes and lives. Tonights meeting will probably be called off - due to snow. Oh well, we'll meet again in 2 weeks. We'll be working on a handtowel project. We try and do one project a month so we'll have Christmas gifts on hand come December.

So with the weather outside not cooperating, I'm heading to the basement, where the pellet stove is fired up, and I'm working on my father's BDay present. I'm making him a "tool" quilt. It's the tool shop fabric from a few years ago, made into a 43 x 65" quilt. Something to keep him warm. He'll be 85 on Feb. 15th, and I think this will be the perfect gift. Once I get it done I'll post a photo for all to see.

Until next time - do something exciting today!!!!