WIP's and other fun stuff

So you want to know what I've been up to huh?  First off my arm is healing.  I can now expose it to the air without running around screaming because it hurts!  I have the bandage off and it is scabbed over, hurrah!!  Still really red and tight and now itchy and just a little bit painful so point of the story...I'm healing.

I had seen this cute little needle case over here and thought it looked like something I would like to try.  I need some little gifts for some quilty friends this year and I also thought it might be nice for our Christmas Craft sale at the church and maybe, if I thought it was easy enough, I might make some as thank yous for the people that donate quilts to our raffle at the U of M.

The orange fabric is left over from the cushions I made for my wicker outdoor furniture.  I have 3 other colors too.  I didn't know what I was going to do with the scraps so thought I would try using them with this (it is home dec fabric)  I used the HD on the outside and regular cotton on the inside.  I wanted to share it with the CL's so thought I should try to make one before I brought it to the meeting on Tues evening.  I was finished, seriously, in 15 minutes.  Cutting and sewing.  It was THAT easy!  I have not put a closure on it yet.  The pattern calls for a snap and then a button sewn over it (way too much work for me!)  I will do velcro.  

I used a wool felt for the inside part.  Never mind I was in a hurry and didn't pin it so it is not centered, (tell me you didn't notice before I pointed it out?)  I have decided to cut some out and use them as leaders and enders while working on my FS quilt (of which I now have 62 of like 121 blocks finished).  Clever, huh?  LTW gave me back some batting that I can use so I don't have to cut up big pieces so I am recycling too.  Wow you should be amazed now, lol!!!  We quilters are good at multi-tasking aren't we?
Remember this little quilt?  It is one of my 2 orphan stars.  I used the left overs from the M string quilt and had enough to make 2 of these.  This one is the one going to the Christmas Craft sale and the other one is going to the U of M art auction (once it is finished).  LTW did an overall panto on the blue but "cut out" the star using her new toy.  Then she programed in the quilting for the star.  Pretty cool huh?  Give it up for LTW.  She now has like a gazillion new patterns which she needs to get right on giving to me to post on my side bar for others to choose from!  C'mon now Liz, get right on that!!
I have no concrete plans for the weekend, how about you guys?  I may end up in Grand Rapids visiting the storage facility and then in E Lansing visiting DD2 and back to GR and then home, but other than that, nothin'!  

We are looking for another car for DS, oh that's been fun (just pith me and put me out of my misery!)  I think the choice has been narrowed down to a 01-02 Mustang.  Could the boys work on it together and leave me out of the *fun*, oh heck no!  "Mom, will you call and see what insurance will be?"  "Why can't dad do it?"  "Because he doesn't know what to ask."  "Mom, can you call about a loan?"  "Why can't dad do it?"  "Because you know how better than he does."  Mind you he is at home all week while I am at work.  But who's complaining.  I got the info now maybe the 2 of them can go and take care of actually choosing a car without me!  Do you think that will happen?  I  seriously doubt it!  *sigh*. 

My friend, Maryann from Very Mary Designs, emailed me and told me she made something neat from the old magazines I sent her and she is sending me one.  Apparently with some other goodies.  YEAH!!  I love surprises!!!  What a sweetie she is.

Keep in touch and thanks for stopping by!!

OUCH!!

Thank you to everyone that has expressed sympathy for my nasty burn!  If you are squeamish, don't look! : )  That's the inside of my arm yesterday afternoon when I was showing it to my friends in the lab.  Gross, huh?

I almost went to the urgent care last night, if it wasn't after 10pm I probably would have gone.  It was getting red streaks radiating out of it and hurt like crazy.  Instead, I took 2 NSAID's and went to bed.  After about 30 minutes it stopped hurting and I fell asleep.  It pretty much looks like this still this am but I am going to just keep taking the anti-inflamatory drugs and hope for the best.

For those of you concerned about that dog.  No, I didn't get rid of her but she is still on my "list" of not so favorite people right now.    

I didn't get any sewing done last night, but I did read a little bit.  I am really enjoying the series of books I am reading.  The title of the one I am currently on is The Saxon Shore. The series is by Jack Whyte, and I realize how much I really do enjoy reading.  the ever amazing Liz the Whiz has hooked me up to books on iPod but I haven't had an opportunity to get to that yet.  I will, I definately will.  

Speaking of Liz the Whiz (LTW), she got herself a fancy schmancy long arm, a Statler!!!  She is keeping her other machine too.  I am excited about the design opportunities with both machines running.  Yeah, more toys!!

I'll keep you up to date about the arm.  It is healing.  Takes longer when you are no longer a spring chicken!!  Thanks for stopping by.

Secret Santa Swap

I was just sitting at my computer thinking (recovering actually from a day at the lake with all DH's family) about the Secret Santa Christmas swap I signed up for this year. My partner is a new to me blogger and I am trying to decide what I should make/buy for her. I am very excited to be a part of this swap. This got me thinking about who might have me and how it might be a good idea for me to talk a little bit about some things I like (and maybe some I don't like so much too).

My favorite colors are blues and greens especially in the aqua or teal family. I like bright cheerful things. I love animals especially cats. I love water and all water related things. I am a HUGE fan of all thinks Celtic (my heritage) and love everything related to king Arthur. I love quilts, bags, pincushions, needlecases, notecards (oh heck who doesn't love all that!) I do some embroidery, although I am not very good at it yet! I love Halloween and Christmas. Anyone that knows me knows I am pretty lively and cheerful.

I hope this is somewhat helpful for my SS!! I think anyone in the swap should put up what they like too, c'mon you know you want to join in!!

Just a quick note to you all. I don't know how much quilting I will be doing for awhile. I was out in the back yard with the dog and she was running and her rope caught me and brought me crashing down in the yard (I'm fine from that) but the rope was wrapped around my arm and I have a HUGE rope burn across the inside of my arm right where it bends. I feel so silly but it hurts like crazy. It is difficult to bend it with out a lot of pain tonight. I put some Neosporin (with pain control) on it and took some Ibuprophin but it is pretty swollen and sore. I can't leave it uncovered as it burns like crazy then. Any suggestions to make it feel better? I will listen to all suggestions. Then to add insult to injury DH made steak for dinner (it was so good) and I was going to clean the kitchen but he needed help with the boat so I went outside to help with that. Well, when I opened the door the dog slunk away and that means only one thing, she put her big dog choppers all over my leftover steak and ate it ALL!!! No leftovers for us. She knows she is not supposed to do that but she does it anyway. I was so mad.

Anyone want a dog??

Since You Asked...

I am happily surprised by all the nice things you all said and are saying about my Witch's Pantry quilt!  I need to give credit to where I got the pattern for the jars.  If you follow the link you will see the pattern.  It is a free on on the web.  The cat and the mouse are from Claire's Cats 2 which is a great book.  I made up the broom and the JOL and COL (oh yeah, I forgot to take a picture of those to show you yet).  If you want the broom let me know and we can see if I can figure something out.  I just made it fit the quilt in scale.  I added strands of fabric to the bristles of the broom cuz I thought it would look better.  If any of you decide to make this quilt, let me know so I can stop on over and take a look at your version!

Happy Quilting!!

The Witch's Pantry

The Witch's Pantry is coming along quite nicely considering I should be working on other things!  I found the bug jar pattern and thought it would be nice to use for our CL Christmas Craft Sale.  I thought I would try it in Halloween fabrics and then I couldn't stop!  ACK!  I have an anniversary quilt to work on and the FS quilt to finish, what's wrong with me??

Anyway, here are some of the jars I made.  I used a light limey green for the background (very Halloweenesc I thought)

I used this dusty purple for the shelves.  It is actually a plaid, I think it shows up better in one of the close ups.  I appliqued the cat on top, and the broom on the side and a mouse on a shelf with fusible.  Now I need to stitch around them.  I decided to do it by hand and am actually almost finished with the cat, but will show it once it is all done.  I used a gold metalic pearl cotton and I like how it is coming out.  I thought that the other bottom corner needed something so last night I make 2 Jack-O-Lanterns (actually one is a Cat-O-Lantern) and fused them in place.  I will show you those later when the stitching around them is complete.
I like how the broom turned out!  The blue I used for the floor was a gift from Pat when we met for my birthday and it was perfect!  I loved the spider web fabric for the broom handle.  and the fabric I found, in my stash for the bristles was perfect!
This was taken this am and the light at 6:30am is not great so forgive the poor quality of the photo but you can see my mouse.  I used the gold pearl cotton on him too.  Isn't he so cute?
You can see the plaid in the purple better in this photo too.  I made legs for the cabinet and I like how that turned out too.  Of course DD1 thinks this is for her (she thinks *all* my quilts are for her, lol).  I will keep the hand work for when I meet with the CL's or the CHV quilters so it will make me work on the other 2 quilts!  Please let me know what you think!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It seems like I never have enough time to do what I want to do or that the "stuff" of live gets in my way! We went out to dinner with my inlaws and DH's sister and husband at a very nice place on
Thursday. We had a wonderful dinner and a wonderful time! I really like his sister and BIL. I was talking about my quilts and then decided to show my BIL the string "M" quilt. He wanted to buy it right then and there, lol. I told him it was a raffle quilt and he said "How much?" Finally I was able to get him to understand raffle. Well, they have a son that graduated from U of M so I might have to make one of these for him.

Maybe you remember me making a rag quilt for my godson, their son? Anyway, she would not let him take it to college with him. Called it an "heirloom" PAH, it is a utility quilt! I *still* cannot convince her otherwise, sigh. She has it put away for him. I think if I make the M quilt I will have to mail it directly to my nephew (now living in SF) or he won't get to use it either!

These are the pictures of the rag quilt. Mark played basketball in HS and was considering playing for MSU. The orange and black are his HS colors and the blue is BBall fabric.

I put the college colors on the back, MSU's are green and white.
Here is Mark with his quilt! As you can see, it is clearly a utility quilt, right? It was made to be used.

Friday DD1 came home and we hung out all day (I took the day off work to spend time with her). Yesterday I had quilting with the ladies at the church and managed to get my Halloween Jars all sewn together and on their shelves. Now I have to make some design decisions. I want to applique a cat on the top and a broom on the bottom. I just don't know if my design skills are equal to that challenge! LOL. I think it needs a floor if the broom goes on it so I am off to preview "floor" fabric. I'll get a photo posted soon.

25 Years of Marriage

Yesterday was my 25th wedding anniversary.  I wish I had photos to show you of low those many years ago, but I haven't learned how to operate the scanner yet!

DH's sister came by with these beautiful Waterford flutes and a bottle of champagne for us.  She is great and we were very appreciative of her thoughtfulness!

Before I left work yesterday this arrived for me!  (and yes, that's my messy desk at work)
Here I am holding the flowers and the balloons.  In case you can't see it, the balloon in the back says "I love you".  There were 25 white roses.

Why white?  Well on the morning of our wedding, he send me a dozen white roses!  So when he does flowers for an anniversary (and it has been quite awhile) they are always white roses.
I ended up getting him tickets to the Nascar race on Sunday at the Michigan International Speedway in MI and Pit passes.  He can take DS with him.  They should have a good time.

We went out to dinner last night and then watched Allison swim in the 800 free relay.  She was the lead off swimmer and the relay took third.  So now she has a bronze medal!!  

It was a good night for everyone!!

This and That

Well, this is going to be one of those posts.  

Schmitty swam in the semi finals last night and placed 9th by 1/100th of a second!!  That sure is rotten luck, huh?  I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished though and she still has the 800 free relay to swim in and I am sure that will medal.  Wasn't it an amazing night for US swimming last night??  We certainly do Rule the Pool!!

I have been working on some of these "jar" blocks for a quilt to use for our Christmas craft show to sell and have the money for the CL's to use for quilting and whatever else we decide we need to have to make our charity quilts.  I am doing Halloween jars.  Here are just a few.  I am making 16.  I will"put them on shelves" and maybe put a cauldron or a broom in the corner, we'll see.  I love Halloween!!  What do you think?  NO I haven't stopped working on FS or the Anniversary quilt, but these are fast and fun to make.  (Can you say ADD?? LOL)

The third installment in the Designer Mystery BOM arrived yesterday so I need to get to that too.
As if there is not enough for me to do this week here is the rest of the line up for the week:

Quilting with the CL's tonight

25th anniversary on Wed (no quilting with the CHV ladies tonight)

Senior pictures with DS at 4pm

Dinner with the in-laws and DH's sister and BIL on Thursday

Friday- WHEW

Sat quit-till-you-wilt at the church

Sunday Lacrosse picnic

Now, I REALLY need your help with this.  As you can plainly see, my 25th wedding anniversary is tomorrow and I have NO idea what to get DH.  I really wanted to go on a trip to Ireland but that is not in the cards (you know that pesky 2 kids in college at the same time thing!)  So any ideas?  I know the Nascar race is close to home on Sun and he would love to go to that, but I was thinking of something together or some kind of gift, HELP!!

Whirlwind Weekend

The first thing that happened this weekend began on Friday when DD2 came home.  We went out and shopped until we dropped!  Her 20th birthday was on Saturday.  One of her gifts was the shopping spree.  We got her some new clothes and then on saturday she drug her dad and I to IKEA (NOT one of my favorite places to go).  We got her a stand for her tv and some other assorted "stuff".  Needless to say, my wallet was much lighter!

Saturday night we had the wedding reception of some of our friends.  Here is a photo of DD2 and her BF, Brad.  That dress was one of our new purchases.  Don't they look so cute together?  She was invited to the reception as she is good friends with the daughter of the bride and they actually lived together last year in the dorm.

I thought this was so amazing.  Look at that swan!  It was carved out of some kind of vegetable or fruit I think.  It was edible for sure. 
It was drizzling when we arrived and then the sun came out and then this rainbow.  I think that means good things for their marriage don't you?  I was the first one to see it!  You should see their house (really a mansion).  It was so beautiful.  In one of the kids (I'm talking about a 18ish boy) rooms, there is a bookcase that turns around and you can go into the "secret room".  That was my favorite part.  I did respect their privacy and did not take any photos to share with you all, sorry.  He is a CFO of a major US company and I just didn't think it would be a good idea!
Here is DD with the bride.  They were both beautiful, don't you agree?  The bride's dress was so elegant and she was just radiant!
In this photo you can see the bride and groom.  (That's why I showed you the photo of the bride first so you would know which ones they are!)  He was a happy guy!  They have been engaged for quite some time waiting for her kids to graduate from HS and the house to be finished.  
It was a lovely evening.  Then we all recovered like slugs on Sunday and all I did was read a book that I am in the middle of.  It is a series and I am 3/4 of the way through the 2nd book.  They are by Jack Whyte and the first one is called Skystone.  

Lest you think my poor sewing machine was idle, I did manage to make some Halloween Jar blocks.  I will try to get some photos tonight and post tomorrow.  In addition, I watched Allison swim in prelims this morning and she qualified for the semi finals!!!  I think they will be on the TV tonight around 10pm, so please send your good thoughts her way.  She *needs* to make it to the finals!!  Go Allison!  Was that 400 free relay last night not the most exciting race ever?  After all the trash talk we got in the pool and owned that race!!  Go Team USA!!!

Schmitty's going to the Olympics!!!

Just so you know, Allison made it into the semi finals which should be televised tonight at 10pm here in MI.  If you get a chance watch it and send your good vibrations to her!!  Go Allison!!

I know you are all probably sick of me talking about Allison, but I am so excited and proud of her!  Her parents have set up a blog so we can all find out how things go for her in China.  Please take a moment and stop by and wish her luck at her first Olympics ever!!  She is s wonderful person and her family is the best.


According to her blog her 200 free is on Monday in the am.  Take no prisoners, Allison!!

Week Catch Up

It has been a very busy week both at work and at home!  Quilting with the CL's has changed to Tuesday nights and the new Cherry Hill Village Quilters evening edition has begun on Wednesday evenings.  We had our first meeting last night.  I hope it will be a successful group.  I did manage to spread out the FS quilt blocks that I have done, in no particular order.  The photo is kind of yellow, I'm not sure why that is but here it is.


I really like how it is turning out.  I have like 30 some odd blocks finished but there are a total of 120 to make so I have a ways to go.  I found a pattern for a block that looks like a jar.  I have seen these done with different bugs, food and things like that.  I decided to try one with Halloween fabrics, so I got most of that cut out last night.  I still need to cut out the lids.  I have NO idea why I am starting another project, lol.  I will use it for our Christmas Bazar at the church to raise money for that group.  

I know, I know, I need to get back to Karen's quilt but...I just HATE making those blocks.  I think I will have to make myself make one or two before I allow myself to work on the FS or jar project.  I feel like a magpie, ohhhh, look over her at the shiny bauble!!

Lacrosse is beginning again and with it some of the left over drama is rearing it's ugly head.  i am so done with drama in my life!  I'm not quite sure how to handle it I have been prayerfully considering what to do and how to do it.  Please keep me in your prayers for guidance.  As the president of the club my role is so complex and I need to wear so many different hats.  I just hate all the drama, I guess I had my fill in HS!!  Anyway, I digress!!

My DD2's 20th birthday is on Sat, the same day we have the wedding so I will get to see her on that day at least.  Her bike got run over (by her room mate, accidently) so we are getting her a new one for her birthday.

Talk to you all soon!!

Secret Santa Christmas Swap

I just found this and thought it was so funny. Does anyone else watch the Simpsons? Mr Burns does this clapping his hands together and saying "excellent" and I think that is a hoot too.

Now back to the regular stuff!

I know I haven't posted for a few days but I am still alive. Chooky Blue is hosting a Secret Santa Christmas Swap and I have signed up! There are over 120 swappers and many are international. I can't wait to find out who I get to swap with. It has to be a secret though so I can't tell you. I'm not sure if I can show photos of what we are to swap, but if I can I will share peeks.

I have about 20 blocks finished with the Fresh Squeezed fabrics but have not taken any pictures, maybe tonight.

More later...

Well, it's later and I still don't have any new photos. I did go to quilting with the CL's tonight and I got 12 more FS blocks finished. I just love them! I also received that yellow dress in the mail today. HATED IT!! Yes, you read that correctly. I just did NOT like it at all. It may be because I am a little too fluffy to actually fit into it correctly, or it may be the fabric had absolutely zero give or that one arm hole was just not fitting right or maybe because it is yellow (I thought I could overlook that, but...no.) So I will send it back and use the dress I have that I wore to another wedding, *sigh*. I will go and search out new black shoes though. I was so uncomfortable in the ones I used last time. Oh well, maybe I will go and see if I can find something in the sotes. My biggest problem is that I am fat and cheap! LOL, this is not a good combination, lol. I'm going to go and read some more in my book and then early to bed for me!!