Getting Back to Business

Finally, I made it into the studio and this is what I accomplished.  I anticipate I will get it appliqued this weekend and then will need to quilt the top that is on the frame so I can quilt this.  Sorry, I can’t remember where I found it: I looked where I thought it was but no luck.  Anyone else know?

Edit:  The Ripper is from Fons & Porter:  http://www.fonsandporter.com/articles/Grim_Ripper_whimsical_mini_Halloween_quilt?bc=c

Thanks to Judy D (http://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/) for coming up with it.






I am now midway through the foot on my current sock.  I am going to try to figure out how to get the colors to match before I start the second one.  I should have this one done by the weekend so will be trying this new, to me, technique. 
It may appear that I have a lot planned to get done this weekend.  Well, I do, but DH is going to be gone for 3 days so I should be able to either get a lot done or be very, very rested.




The morning before we left on our vacation we were surprised to find a state trouper coming down our drive.  He had just been talking to a woman who had hit this tree with her car.  The tree is on the edge of our driveway,













as was our mailbox.  She broke the stand and took it completely out of the earth.  We hadn’t heard anything and never saw the woman: the trouper said he would send the paperwork to us (and us with no mailbox) but so far we have heard nothing.







We had our mail held at the post office and this week DH got busy building a new box.  Maybe I should paint a bull's-eye on the new box to see what happens. 















More Elsa  pictures.  Here we are doing our morning yoga.  I am bending forward cuz I don’t think I could pick my leg up that high, even if I wanted to.








Then some weight trainning.  It’s hard to take exercise seriously when the weight is giggling.










And then we rested.  Can you tell we were having fun?










However, we also have a cute baby here at home.  This is Sadie who was wondering why I left the deck and she didn’t get to go with me. 





And now, back to sewing and knitting.  Have a great week.  Gari

Gone and Back

This is the reason I have been absent from my blog, and my studio.  Most of you have seen her picture in the header of this blog but last weekend we had the first chance to be with her in person.  She lives almost 1000 miles away from us and at only 9 months is quite unable to come for visits with us.  She is the daughter of our DS#3 and his very sweet wife.





Even her Grandpa was entranced by her.












And I loved this picture as Elsa eats and Ponce keeps watch over, or under, her.

And just in case you think this will be all the pictures I will be sharing, think again.  I have a few more and, thankfully, her mother keeps taking and sharing even more.








I did try to use my time wisely. I had some time to myself and spent it sourcing out yarn shops.  I found two and did myself proud with these purchases.  Then, on the way home we just happened to go by Mary Jo’s in Gastonia, NC.  Well, we didn’t exactly “go by”.  When I realized that we would be there during open hours I gave myself 30 min to shop for fabrics for a the new BOM Carol Doak is running.  And, yes, I was in and out in 30 min.




The three on the right are batiks.  I never have enough background fabrics and then there are just some that call out to me while I am passing.  And the purple, well, I really need a Halloween tablerunner and placemats.  Will I have them done this month?  Who knows?





Of course I need to say that we also did some antiquing on our trip and one of the things I found was this acrylic box.  It is about 30” high and 36” deep with three shelves and the perfect place to store my yarn. 









I started this sock prior to our trip but since getting back I have completed the heel flap and am currently working on the gusset (the hardest part for me to understand).  I forgot to split the yarn into two balls so I can’t start the second sock until I get this one done.

I have a couple of other knitting projects started: I like to have one in the the house, one in the studio and one to work on when I get bored of everything else.

And what about quilting?  Well, I have two new BOMs to start and one to finish plus the two that are still ongoing.  I have one quilt top still waiting on the frame.  So after I get some household chores done I am going to be sewing, quilting, and knitting.  See what fun I have!

Hope you are having fun, too.    Gari

Design Wall and Musings

This is what is on my Design Wall this morning.  They are blocks from the Aunt Reen Jelly Roll Sew Along.  What you see is not the layout Doreen planed but one I kind of stumbled on.












This is the weave pattern.  It is much more organized that what I currently have on the wall.  I still don’t know how I will sew her together but since I still have several blocks to complete, I have a little time to decide.







These are the last of the blocks parts that still need to be sewn.  The only sewing I did over the four day weekend was on these blocks and it again proved that I get tired of sewing the same thing over and over.  But today I will finish these so I can have the whole set on the wall and then I will move to something else, for a while.






I did take a break from seam stitching to put this month’s fish together.  He is a little more subdued than some of the others but I see him as a camouflage fish.












And I also put Owl #5 together.  It is a little hard to see his outline on the background fabric but he will show up better when he is stitched down later.











Later today I hope to get to the last teapot BOM and perhaps to be able to cut out the ornaments for the Deck-ade The Halls Quilt Along.


Our son and daughter-in-law have been on a vacation in Teaton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.


We have followed them through pictures and loved seeing the three of them having so much fun seeing a whole new place. 








 And it has been nostalgic, too.  When our son was 6 months old, the same age as his daughter, we went on a two month camping trip from  IL to OR/WA/CA.  And we had a 6 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and this son with his twin sister.  We had a great time then, just as they are having a great time now.  It is such fun to see our children enjoying each other and the world around them.  And I love the digital age that allows them to share with many pictures.  Thanks, guys!

Family, Nature, and Easy Street

Did you see the new header picture?  If not, it is time to look at it and then you can read that this is our youngest son (44yo young) and his almost 2 month old daughter, Elsa.  Think he is a proud Papa?  You bet he is.  And we are so enjoying seeing him with his new love.




And his twin sister didn’t want to be left out so she, too, has a new baby.  This is her gift to herself for becoming an RN and getting a new job.  Even if you can’t see it too well, her smile is every bit as big as her brother’s. 









Not to be outdone, Nature is having babies, too.  Even though the temps have been near freezing at night, our trees and bushes are sprouting new leaves.  I just hope they are hardy.









We live in the country but don’t have chickens.  Well, we don’t own chickens.  These are some of the neighbors chickens that visit every day to find goodies under the leaves.  There are about 15 of them, about half hens and half roosters.  They are fun to watch and there is crowing going on all day.  And aren’t they beautiful?  We love having them around and the dogs love chasing them.  They don’t want to catch them, and aren’t allowed, but they do love to watch them run and fly.





And look how close to being done I am!  I thought I might have been done yesterday but between phone calls, lunch out with DH and then assisting our daughter with her car buying, I wasn’t even able to get into the studio.  So this afternoon, after housekeeping duties, I plan to get back in there and get some more quilted.  I should be done by the end of the week. 






When I left the studio Tuesday evening I saw the beauty of the quilt in the shadows.  I really love how my quilts look different with sun, shadows, and especially in the early morning light when I wake up under them.  I am really looking forward to waking up under this one. 




And now it is time to get the dishes in the dishwasher, walk the dogs, and feed the birds.  Then lunch and it will be STUDIO TIME!!

Closer to a Finish

Any chance you are getting tired of seeing the same thing on my design wall?  I know I am.  So, even though I have 4 block As, 3 large triangles, and 2 small triangles left to make, I started sewing blocks together.  You can see the corner in the upper left (1 blocks, 2 large triangles and 1 small triangle).  It doesn’t seem like much but I was really excited to see this move toward completion.  And I have continued to sustain the one block a day (Friday I did 2 and then was gone all Saturday).  If I can do 2 a day this week I should have all the blocks done by the end of the month: wouldn’t that be great?



And guess what else I got done.  I completed the quilting of my feathered star table topper.  I guess I , once again, need to thank Judy of Patchwork Times for her lessons on quilting feathers for even though I am still learning, I am very pleased with the results on this quilt.



One other great thing that happened for this quilt this week is that I found, buried in my stash, more of the background fabric.  I had been fretting over what I would use as a binding so I began digging in the “yellow” section of fabric to see if I had anything that would compliment these two.  “And what to my wondering eyes should appear” but the very fabric I was trying to match. 




So Sunday I cut, pressed and sewed the binding on this little quilt.  Today I will finish the binding and this quilt will be residing on our table.  DH has already decided that his “new” globe will look great on it so that will be our table decoration…….for a while. 



On Saturday DH and I took off to do a little antiquing.  Although several of the antique malls we have loved have long since disappeared, there are still a few in and around here so we try to do our best to keep them in business.  I really do not like shopping except when we are wandering through looking at old things, some of which remind us of our childhoods.    It was a very pleasant day.



And now I leave you with a picture of our most recent grandchild, Elsa Grace, lying on the Frog Quilt made for her by me.  Most of you will have already seen this quilt but I also wanted to share it’s being put to good use.
Have a great, productive, and inspiring week.    

Gari