Completion and New Shoes

I have been doing some sewing.  This is one of the swap blocks I have been putting off making.  I agreed to participate and then found what the colors were (not my choice) and that we were to prewash all the fabrics.  Have I ever said that I don’t like to prewash?  I have not seen the need but the real problem is that I don’t like to have to press all that fabric.  So I started with great intentions and then pooped out when it came time to press and cut the fabric.  And then the deadline loomed….and loomed…..and loomed.  So this week I pressed, and pressed, and cut, and sewed.







During all of this I also remembered that I am not a fan of chain piecing.  I did, however, figure out that if I marked my machine (see the pencil mark in the photo) I don’t have to draw a line on the fabric.  It made it a lot easier but I find chain piecing kind of boring.








11 blocks are almost finished.  This is the one I made so I could see how they will look.  Today I will finish putting them together and then get them in the mail and then I can get back to making a couple of fun quilts I have in mind.











On Saturday we shopped.  I “needed” to get some white sandals along with birdseed, pool stuff, and big magnets for my HQ.  I found my sandals right away but while I was looking DH started looking too which left me some time to browse.  This was not a good idea as I found these:



 Aren’t they beautiful? 





They are covered with owls with a background of orange (my favorite color, if you didn’t already know it).  Even a metal owl on the strap.  I wore them all Sunday and they are really comfortable.  My feet are not used to being enclosed but they are willing to allow it once in a while, as long as they are comfortable. 








I did take sewing brakes with a little reading and this:


I do have to say that this is a great way to relax.  30 minutes in the water and I was ready to go back to chain piecing.


Now that you and I are fully relaxed, lets check in with Judy at Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are working on.

Frustration and Success

I had no email this week until today. For some reason I was unable to get onto the AOL web page or the Facebook web page. I could get to my blog page, no problem, but sometimes I was unable to get to other blogs. I tried four different computers here at home with the same result so I knew it was not my computer. What I don’t know is what was going on or what to do about it. But this morning everything was working all right again. Yippie!

To ease my computer frustration, I spent a lot of time in the studio for the last two days. I have gotten the center of, what is now know as South Seas, sewn together (no picture as it looks just like it did in the last post). LOL I am auditioning several fabrics for borders: nothing seems to be just right so I may just have to go fabric shopping again. What a terrible thing to have happen to me. And I now have 7 embroidery centers done: they really take a lot of time.

The big news is that I finally have the binding done on Alabama Escargot.

I am really happy with how this has turned out.

These last pictures are my “I am woman, hear me roar” pictures.

These steps are extra ones we have here and I have been moving them, little by little, for the last couple of weeks. It is REALLY heavy so I can only move it a little each day and then I have bruises on my arms from lifting it. But today I got them all the way to the pool: they are half of my makeshift deck. There is another set of steps just like it that I will start moving tomorrow. I keep hoping that I will develop arm (and back) muscle enough that it will get easier. NOT! Oh, well, I will at least have a full deck before it is time to winterize the pool. LOL

I love my husband.

I really do. However yesterday, while working on these, he came home from work toting a bright red jacket and a red baseball cap.

Would/Could I embroider a “B” on the cap, the jacket front (to cover something else) and on the back? Seems it is needed for the play he is helping with which, by the way, is going on this weekend.

So I spent some time on the computer finding a good font and then setting up three designs, the letter “B” at 1.5”









4.5”





and 6”. I got the cap done and the front of the jacket but then had to leave for my Weight Watcher’s meeting: I left the machine stitching away so the letter was done when I got home. The jacket, however, went to rehearsal and didn’t make it back so I guess I will be appliquéing it on tomorrow.

Today was laundry day (no pictures of that. LOL) so when I was done I spent some quality time in the pool. No shots of me in there but the thermometer ducky also had a good time.

Then I decided that the best dinner we could have was pizza so we jumped in my car and enjoyed the wind in our hair on our way.

Then when I got home I noticed that one of my hydrangea bushes seems to have a flower coming. I searched both plants but didn’t see another potential flower.

What a great weekend I had. It started on Thursday and Friday when our backyard went from this








to this. This photo was taken from my studio window: how neat, huh?

I had a pool when I lived in FL but it was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan and I haven't had one since. I find that paddeling and/or floating in a pool is so very relaxing and this weekend we put a small pool in to accomplish this. And by it being so much smaller, I will not be expected to do any real swimming, just relaxing.

Saturday we went to NWFL. There I paid a surprise visit to a group of sewing ladies I used to meet with. They are called the Boutique Belles and the group formed around the patterning program called Pattern Master Boutique by Wild Ginger. These ladies sew the most beautiful clothing and get together to help each other and learn more about the computer program and how to tweak it for the best fit. I have no pictures but I will tell you that I love these ladies. I don't attend anymore because I love quilting and have little to no time or inclination to sew clothing. I had gotten the program in order to make quilted clothing like this.


I call this jacket Ribbons and it was made with a PMB pattern.














Saturday was again great. We again went to NWFL but this time with our daughter, SIL, and DGS. My daughter wanted to take her husband out to dinner at his favorite place as a thank you for all his support and help while she goes to school We had a wonderful time and lots of laughs. This picture


was taken after DD and I had already eaten and were really full.







Since there were 5 of us we took two cars. So after our meal, DH and I hit target for a screen room for the back yard, Publix for food we can't get in rural AL, and two antique shops where I bought this to hold handwork (I have very little of that).

Now, since it is Monday I am supposed to show what is on my design wall. Well, here it is. I have't done anythng with the Christmas blocks and the applique block from last week is still there.

But I thought I would also show you the shadow box broject I am working on. these are things my mother made for me when I was a baby/toddler. I am going to have to switch them to a horizontal layout because I want to add two pair of shoes (one pair bronzed). Then I have to figure how to tack everything down and we will be good to go.

Speaking of go, nothing in the studio is getting done right now so I guess that means I need to get off this computer and get busy. See ya!