Family, Progress, and Fun

Lookie, lookie, I finally figured out how to get pictures back on my blog.  It seems that Google/Blogger is not playing well with Microsoft Edge which comes with Windows 10 so I had to add Google Chrome so I could access my photos.  

Anyway, this is one picture of part of our family (see list of names and associations on the last post) after we had finished a great breakfast together.  I am the one sitting.  And this was taken prior to my last surgery.

And this is the other part of the family that was here the day before.  I am the head of hair in the lower right corner.  It truly was a fun filled weekend.

Last weekend our oldest son and his wife were here from Atlanta but we didn't take any pictures.  I had finally begun to feel somewhat steady on my new hip so we took off for breakfast at my favorite fast food place, Whataburger, and then to staples to buy a day planner.  I was beginning to loose track of when different people were coming and decided I needed a place to write it all down.  Between all the home health people and four doctors who want to see me I am a very busy lady.

But guess what! Last Wednesday no one was scheduled to come.  Eric and I looked at one another and decided it was time for us to visit Pensacola.  We ate at a favorite place and then went shoe shopping.  And we did very well for ourselves.

Funny, I didn't get a picture of the 3 pair Eric got for himself.  What I did learn is that 3 hours in the car and both of us were stiff in the joints.  I guess we are out of travel condition (and of course we are getting older).

And last but not least, I spent 4 hours in the studio yesterday.

I had already gotten the appliques on the background but hadn't stitched them down. Now this one is complete.  Unfortunately I am 5 months behind on the two BOMs I was working on and hadn't even started on the new one I for sure want to do.  But I did feel productive so I guess I will be in the studio again this weekend.

And when it came time for a rest I could be found on the deck with our wonderful animals.

Have a great weekend everybody, I know I will.  Gari

Gingerbread Men and Deco Flowers

 

 


 It took me a while but I am finally working on my BOMs for April.  See that crease in the fusible: it came from a fold and is the fusible separating from the paper.  I was really annoyed but after I drew the pieces and cut them out it settled down.   

 

 
 
 
 
 

So, with a little hunting around for interesting fabrics, April's Gingerbread Man is ready for stitching.

So finally, here is my Design Wall.  All four of my Gingerbread Men, all together.  Someone on the Fat Cat Yahoo group asked if anyone was making these so I am going to share this picture to show that, at least so far, I am and I'm keeping up.

 

 

And then, after some knitting time, I got back to BOM work.  I have the yellow fabric fused to their pieces so now I need to finish the green pieces. You can see the picture of the Deco Garden's flower for April but, as always, my choice of fabric may make mine look a little bit different.

 

I will be linking with Patchwork Times and then back to work on my BOMs. With any luck I will have them both done soon so I can start something new. :-)

 

Have a great week,  Gari

BOMs Progressing

Progress is being made on Gingerbread Man #3. All I have left to stitch down are his eyes and the white frosting on his arms and legs.

Here I am, in my sewing corner, after picking up the white thread for the frosting.  The shelves behind me are almost bare as I recently moved fabric from them and have not yet decided how to use them. The one with the thread will be used for "current usage" thread but the rest will probably be storage for machine extras.




And then I began working on the Deco Gardens #3.  After I had the fusible on the fabric I all of a sudden noticed that I hadn't "windowed" several of the pieces.  It probably doesn't matter but I like the softness of the windowed pieces.  Also, I don't know if you can see it, but she added little accent slits on four pieces. Not an easy thing to accomplish with fused pieces.

 

 

But with much effort I got everything cut out right and laid out on the pressing cloth.  Now, please note that none of the pieces touch each other.  This meant that I couldn't fuse the full layout together and then move it to the background.

Each piece had to be moved separately and then I had to fuss with it to get it looking like it was supposed to look.  Sometimes I think that these designers work very hard to make this hobby difficult.  ;-)

Anyway, this block is fused down and ready for some blanket stitching. 

 

I got a new phone this week so some of my pictures are still on the old phone which is in the studio.  Next week I will be showing some of the new fabric that I added to my stash, just in case all of the close fabric stores close.  I should be set for at least another 10 years: think I can refrain from buying more?

 

Monday I am supposed to be doing laundry and doing some house cleaning so I can get my cart moved.  But by Tuesday, if I am not worn out, I plan to be in the studio stitching away.

 

I will be linking with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot.  Then it is housework for me: you go on and have a good time reading the other blogs.  :-(

Design Machine Bed

My design wall today is the bed of my sewing machine where I am working on my "secret" project.  I spent part of the weekend finding matching threads.  It is really funny how many shades of blue I have.  And the same went for most of the other colors.  I was really glad that the machine has natural light cuz that helped me find the best threads.

 

 

And today being March 1st meant that I could download my BOM blocks for this month.  I quickly printed, copied, and cut the pieces of the Gingerbread man and look forward to fabric hunting tomorrow.

 

I was very disappointed  that the Morning Glory pattern was not up today but at least I have one to work on while I wait.

 

As I said in my last post, my little pillows are done and almost ready to send to my mother so she can pin them on the "family" pillow I made for her several years ago.  I thought I was done with this project but this morning I realized we have another baby (great grand for us) due in May.  Maybe I need to have a talk with our family members about a cease and desist order. ;-)

 

But for now it is time to link with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot.  And then get busy making this a productive week.  Gari