Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hope Everyone Has a Happy Thanksgiving Wherever You Are!

Thanksgiving is first and foremost about being thankful for what we have. It is time for friends and family to get together
AND
Secondly it is for eating until you can't move!!!!!


So count your blessings everyone and not the calories.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Finally a Finish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I have finished something.  My carolers can finally sing. 

And I am continuing on my merry way, working on my BOMs.  I have finished Delight on my Gail Pan Christmas Wishes:


This maybe my most favorite quilt when I am done.  Now if I ever get done....
Because I keep starting new things like this...


I would have gotten farther on this one, but naturally the piece of fabric I was going to use for the sashing was theeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssss much too short to do the vertical piece.  So now I am in hunt and decide mode. 
I will probably not get much sewing done this weekend because we have tickets to the V8 Supercar race (Australia's version of NASCAR for my American friends) on Sunday and I want to try to go see New Moon sometime on Saturday.  Go Team Edward!!!
Maybe I will get more done on Monday after a break.  Fresh view and all that.  We can only hope!!!
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend whatever you get up to!!!


Monday, November 16, 2009

Ripping and Tearing

I think I have been doing more seam ripping than I have sewing this week.  That and tearing my hair out!! As long as I only get the gray ones, I guess it is OK.
I have been working on trying to catch up on my Calico Cut-Ups BOM . I am threatening to turn it into a six or nine month quilt.  Some of the instructions are not real clear and some of the blocks are a wee bit daunting. I am also about to run out of one of the colors I am using, so that may sway my decision even more. We shall see--here is what I have done so far:

I also started to quilt my carolers wallhanging.  UGH!!! I just got through unpicking all that I did.  With all the little seams, it is very hard to do a nice smooth curve.  I am thinking I may have to break down and see if I can do a little hand quilting.  OH DEAR!!! And can I finish by the end of the month if I do.  Maybe a combination.  We shall see.
I also started another project--YES I AM CRAZY!!!! Well, I went to the grocery store and I saw some really yummy looking cherries--BUT--they were $30 a kilogram (2.2 pounds)--SO--I left them there. Then I came home and made this pie instead:


                                      
                                               
It will last a lot longer and won't stick to my hips, so it is probably a better pie to make anyway.  I am going to make a few more different varieties and then decide what they will become. 
So hopefully I have done enough boo boos and finished unpicking for the rest of the week (hee hee hee hee) and I will be able to get something accomplished!!!!!!
And Joy  is back from vacation!!!! Yay!!! Well, I am glad anyway--she may still want to be on vacation.  Instant whine feedback is very helpful when you are making boo boos.  So it is going to be a great week!!!
For everyone out there!!! Have a good one, A-

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Happy Monday!!!!

Is that some kind of oxymoron or something? Not sure, but (knock on wood) my Monday is going pretty good.  I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Mine was a peaceful, stay at home one.  Good for getting some sewing done. I managed to get three of my November blocks done.  It is scary--only one more month to go. I am going to have a lot of quilts to quilt at the beginning of the year.  Should I start new BOMs next year? Probably shouldn't, but probably will.

Natural Wonders

Harmony Village

Sundrop Critters
And I finished the top of my caroler wallhanging.

I didn't stop there, but those are all the photos for now.  I have started working on catching up on some of my other BOMs and I am trying to decide which Among the Gum Trees designs to start and, and, and... I think I should remove the word start from my vocabulary.  
Oh well, it is all fun--and it if isn't it goes in the UFO pile for awhile.
Have a great week everyone!!!!!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Back to Normal--Whatever That Is?

The evil inspection lady is gone!!!! YaY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually she is not evil, I just get all stressed before she gets here, so now I can chill. Maybe a nap is in order??????????

And the Retreat is over. It was fun, but a bit frustrating at times. I learned my lesson about "inexpensive" thread quite awhile ago, but since I have had my supplies packed since the June retreat I was still in possession of quite a few of them. I got the flu right before the last one so I couldn't go. Needless to say--thread painting was interrupted quite frequently by broken thread, broken needles, wadded up thread, cursing, etc. At one point the knob came off the side and almost an entire spool of thread started spilling out the side of my machine. I almost had a nervous breakdown. Fortunately our fearless leader operated on her and all was well. Finally I gave up and decided to work on my alternate project. That didn't work well either. I was not happy with one of the fabrics after I started putting things together. Ugh!!! So I spent quite a bit of time watching other people sew and deciding that there were quite a few new patterns that I was going to have to buy.
So, speaking of our fearless leader and very able assistant:
Michelle and Nikki from Handcrafters House


Landscapes were being created

New machines were being broken in

Tote bags were being whipped up

And hopefully--this is what my frog will look like when I get new thread and muster up the courage to keep going. This is the one that Michelle did. It is one of her original patterns from Raggedy Stitches.

That is all for now. I did manage to find some fabric that I think will work well as a background for my last couple of Harmony BOM blocks. I am going to fiddle and see how I can make it not so obvious. That I think will be todays trial. And then on to my carolers. I really need to finish them. Really I do!!! Hope you are all having a great week. Til later, A-