It's FRIDAY!

Did you ever think it wouldn't get here?  I know I did.  Yet today hasn't been too bad.  I know what I will be working on this weekend which always helps to keep me on track and I got paid so while I don't have a lot of extra money I have enough to go to JoAnne's or some place for therapy.

I fused the Ravens and heart to the white background last night and started to stitch them down.  What was I thinking?  Stitching at night black embroidery floss on black ravens?  Whew!  I didn't finish even one but I started to mess it up a bit and knew it was time to stop.

As you can see, I had to dig out my clip on magnifiers to put OVER my regular glasses (cheaters) that I wear.  It always makes me feel old.  LOL.  At least I didn't bring out the over the neck magnifier.  I've had to pull that out before.  Talk about looking weird when I have to use all three!  See that cork stopped vial?  That's my needle case that I got from It Is What It Is.  It's made out of a horn.  I have my three needles in it that I'm using for this so when I cut my embroidery floss I can separate the floss and thread three needles at a time.  It goes a little faster that way.

I'm having trouble matching up that Kona red though.  Tonight after work I'm taking a swatch with me and see if I can get a better match than the one I already have. Wish me luck.

Everybody have a great weekend!

Making progress

I should have finished this table runner  awhile ago but I'm afraid of messing it up. With that in mind, I am only working on it a little bit at a time.  Tonight was to cut out the pieces and lay it out for an idea of how it will look.

That will give you an idea.  It will have around a 2" red border and the binding will be in black.  It's called Well Wishers from The Quilt Pattern Magazine.  I think that I'm going to use a French knot for the eyes.  The person who I'm making it for said that they would like to see a white eye.  According to the legend of the Ravens the white eyes reflect light of the sun.

What do you think?

Extended Weekend clean up and quilting

Welcome to my extended weekend.  I wanted to start quilting but as usual I have to clean up before I can start to be messy again.  Last night I decided that I was going to stack up thins on my couch so that I can go through them later and slowly put them away.  It worked out pretty good.

Now I have a chair to sit on and notice my other chair is for when I'm lazy and prop up my feet while I stitch.

I did that last night so this morning I got out the vacuum cleaner and did a quick swipe around.  I should have known not to do that yet.  Bolstered by my success last night I went to the next room and started to clean it.  THAT will take more than one day because that is the room I keep my fabric and stuff in.  But where do I put it in order to clean it and semi organize before putting back?  Yep, you guessed it.  I put it on the bed or couch in the room I just cleaned.  It didn't go too bad at first.  I separated out my fat quarters from my yardage from my scraps and put them on the bed. n These were just the fabrics that were "laying around" and not already in a bin or something.

THEN I started to come across my stash of UFO's.  Oh dear.  THEY needed to be a bit more organized so that took awhile.

I went to Dollar Tree and picked up some of their large bags.  For three bags for $1 I can't beat it.  They even have extra large bags which you get two in a box for $1.  I like to keep my UFO's in them because then my BOMs are all in one place or I can match up certain fabric for a special project and keep it with the pattern so I don't use it before hand.  I think I counted around a dozen UFOs there.  It would have been more but I gave some UFO blocks to a friend so she can have something to work on while going to doctors etc.

The next portion of the sewing area had some things that needed to be shredded so I brought out my shredded and took a break to do that.  Oops.  I had forgotten that it makes a mess when I empty it into the garbage bag.  Notice I said that "it" makes a mess and not "Bonni" makes a mess.

I still haven't stitched down anything but I am still happy with the progress that has been made.  I will put away the fabric on the bed before I go to bed to sleep so that will also get done tonight.

Tomorrow will be back to cleaning the room again and perhaps, if I'm lucky, I will also get to stitch something.  I feel brave today because I took down my winterizing stuff for my window.  It warmed up today and even though I know it will get cold again, it was nice to have the window clear and I could look out it.  Hopefully it won't get REALLY cold for the rest of the winter.

I hope everybody is having a good day.  Here are some simple rules (that aren't always easy to keep) that might help you be happy or have a good day.

Everybody have a great day.  Tomorrow I might be organized enough to post about a new BOM that I will be doing (or attempting to do).  It reminds me of Grandma Chamberlain's Blue Willow plates that she used to always use.

January 3, 2015

See?  I typed 2015 on the first try today.  I must be getting used to it by now.  LOL.  How is everybody doing?  My day has been predominantly good.  I have a new friend (online) who is just starting out in quilting and I found she doesn't have a stash.  REALLY?  I didn't think that was possible.  So I'm going to be sending her some fabric so she can continue to make quilts for families who have lost their parents or children.  That will help me clean up some of MY stash that I'm not using as well as (cross fingers) help me get a bit more organized.  I think that I might send her some lap quilts that I have that mom had been using also.  I have so much from mom that I don't need to keep everything.  While going through her things I found this on her bed and snatched it (grins).

It's mom.  The pink flowers and the pink and white squares.  I know she didn't do them but it is still her.  I've found that it is quite warm and like it across my knees when I'm typing on the computer.  My computer sits in front of my window.  Even though I have plastic over the window for winter, it still gets cold.

 Today's positive/thoughtful thought for the day came from somebody who posted this in a facebook group I'm on.  Let us remember that we don't always have the answer or our answer isn't the only one available.  Quilting is a good example.  How many ways are there to do applique in quilting?  They all are right.  How many ways are there to cook something?  How many ways can you think to get from one city to another one?

So let's respect what other people say and think and don't dismiss it just because we didn't say it.  I believe by doing that new ways of thinking (perhaps even better ways) will open up to us and perhaps introduce us to future friends.

Another thing that I thought I'd share is this picture.

A friend of mine put it on her facebook page and I immediately fell in love with it.  Wouldn't that make a delightful wall hanging?  I might try to do it for next year.

What do you think?  Now I'm off to rest my eyes from the computer for a little bit.

Have a great day.

Happy New Year - January 1, 2015

Happy New Year Everybody!

Do you have your projects all set up for 2015?  Here are some Free Blocks of the Month (BOM) that I have found being offered in 2015.

Sycamore Hill Quilts -     https://cburdy.wordpress.com/

Jenny of ELEFANTZ has a new one.  If you love redwork you might want to check this out.

http://www.elefantz.com/

I have some more somewhere but these are two that I will be working on.    I did manage to work on my January 2014 HEXIE blocks.  Yeah, you read right.  2014!.  It is now sewn onto the background and sometime this month I will quilt it and hang it in the office.  The hexie pattern is about 24" across.

Now that I'm actually putting the hexies onto the background, I need a place to store the templates.  Since they have a hole in them, I am stringing them up.

Some of you might remember that I am trying to be positive so todays tidbits or chuckles come from a  book that I got from mom.  It is called A Gift of my favorite things by Perry Tanksley.

"Instead of so much talking about losing weight, I've decided to just keep my mouth shut."

Another tidbit in that book is:  "If fate throws a knife at you, remember, there are two ways of catching it--by the blade or by the handle."  I don't know about you, but I'll take the handle any day.  :)

Everybody have a good night and count your blessings.  I don't know if  they are big or small but I do know that everybody has some blessing that they can count.  I am blessed with having so many friends.

Thanks Friend.  I'll talk to you tomorrow.