play it again, sam . . .

I'm beginning to feel a bit like a broken record . . .

Three weeks running now that my stash hasn't changed, for better or worse! And given the work that lies before me, my tune isn't likely to change next week, either!

But I have plenty to slowly stitch away on today. My favorite tools are assembled:

And I have miles of black seam covering to stitch.

Miles.  Times four!

I did finally get my Christmas put away. I had considered leaving it up until February 2, but I had the time and the inclination, so I went ahead and put it away. I used to think that it was pretty impressive that all my tree ornaments fit in a single, small box:

But then I got to thinking how impressive it was that I live in an RV and get to fill that whole box with tree ornaments -- and put that box in a forty gallon Rubbermaid container with the rest of my Christmas stuff. Wow!

So today I'll go sit in my freshly dusted and vacuumed living room, put a fire in the fire place, make a pot of tea, and stitch away the afternoon. Sound like a plan?!

Linking up with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

:)

stuff and junk and things . . .

The weather this week has been absolutely gorgeous, so far.  I captured this beautiful sunrise on Monday . . . 

I already shared it on facebook, but I like to cover all my bases.  LOL!  Today's forecast is pretty lovely, too:

Hard to believe we had snow flurries and ice, this time last week!

I did get to spend a tidy amount of time in the Nook yesterday . . . aaaaaaaah! I finished up the last few stitches on the POTC block I was working on. And then promptly forgot to take a picture of it. So I guess you really didn't need to see a picture of it!

I then pulled out the pineapple quilt and got busy on it. There were aspects of it strewn all over the room . . .

But the most important thing was getting it here:

So now the entire center is stitched together and what I have to work on now is stitching down the covering sashes. While I was at it yesterday, I did go ahead and cut, stitch and press all of those, so they'll be ready to go when it's time to attach the borders.  It's already a pretty substantial quilt and the borders will add 10" to all four sides!

It was a quiet day, spent in the company of me, myself and I.  Oh, and this darling little gal . . .

Isn't she sweet??!  She's my Nook "companion".  She never argues or disagrees with me and is a terrific listener! She quiet listens and smiles at everything I say. Very affirming. My Stitcher's Etc. pal, Sarah, made her for me, so I wouldn't be without companionship whilst stitching the day away! She needs a name. Any thoughts??

Did you know that today is Squirrel Appreciation Day?! It is! And to celebrate I found a darling royalty-free drawing that would make a very cute stitchery . . .

credit

Perfect for my neck of the woods (quite literally)! Just right click and save. It beats trying to 'hug a squirrel'!

Linking up today to Esther Aliu's WOW (Wips On Wednesdays) post!

:)

same song, second verse . . .

. . . my stash stayed the same and my busy-ness was worse!

Well, my stash did stay the same.  Nothing in and nothing out.  Fine.  And my week was very busy.  Our ministry held its annual board meeting on Friday, so the days I wasn't working, I was busy helping Todd get ready for that.  Except for Thursday night . . . Thursday night was guild, blessed guild night!

Our speaker was fiber artist, Molly Elkind.

Her work was incredible!  I loved her cardinal piece . . .

Plus she did a lot of work in cotton paper that was very fascinating.

She's moved all over the place in her mediums, from fabric, paper, and now weaving. She shared about a new type of organic cotton being grown that actually grows in colors -- green and brown. These are two pieces she wove using it . . .

Interestingly enough, when it's washed, it gets darker and darker, instead of fading. How cool is that?! Needless to say I enjoyed her lecture and trunk show very much! 

However, because of all the comings and goings, I still haven't spent a lot of time in the Nook. I got in there long enough to put bed risers under my cutting table legs:

Tah dah! Now, if I can just make it to Tuesday . . . I'll be able to spend a whole DAY in the Nook! Yay!!

In the meantime, I'm still working on this POTC block, stitching when I can . . .

Which will probably be in the car, to and fro tomorrow! I've only got two more units to attach to the block. And yes, that's tape on the units . . . I do that to make sure the units go together the way I want them to, which is especially important if you've been fussy cutting.

But on Tuesday . . . it's all pineapple quilt. Finally!

Like how I put it on hangers and hung the strips?  Makes for a gorgeous backdrop (if I do say so myself)!

Linking up in a couple of places.  First, HeLP for Hexie-aholics, over at sarah did it! It's her birthday weekend (Saturday, January 17) so go over and give her some birthday love!  Also linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts!

:)

a head-spinning weekend . . .

(First:  A very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! shoutout to my youngest sister, Laura!!!)

Whew . . . it's Monday and I'm *worn* out!  Not that there's too much I'd change about this last weekend, it was just so action-packed, it ended too quickly!  I just asked if I could get a weekend do-over.  I was told yes, in four more days.  LOL!

Thursday night a group of ladies from church went out for dinner and a movie.

We went to see Into the Woods, and it was fabulous!  It was quite fun and a musical to boot, which is one of my favorite genres.  It was a great pick for a group of girls ... the theater was almost empty and we giggled and sang through it!

I spent a good portion of Friday hanging out with the Panter kids! We had fun just playing around with blocks and toy cars and baby dolls.

Olivia was my baby doll of choice!

June pretty much stayed in/on/over my lap for the entire morning.  She's such a ham!!

Sawyer's gotten too cool for pictures (although he's not too cool to take a piggy back ride), but he obliged me with a selfie . . . and his unsmiling silly self! Such a stoic face!

Friday evening everyone met at Joc's house to celebrate Ellie's third birthday. WOW!  Where has the time gone?!?  I can only hope that Jason will share some of the pics he took, because I didn't take the first photo!  (What kind of Neesey am I?!?! One that's too busy holding babies of one sort or another to be holding a camera!)

Joc was kind enough to text a sweet pic of three-year-old Ellie in a new costume:

Ladies and gents, the famed Elsa of Frozen!!

Saturday was filled with errands and whatnot, then I headed to "Little Gym" for Ellie's friends party. 

The theme was Tinkerbell and Joc did a terrific job on it!  Again, very few pictures, but again my job was to hold wee ones . . . 

One that was not so happy to be held by Neesey!  Poor Everley ... though she's not looking too happy here, after mommy slipped in a quick feeding, Everley went right to sleep and slept quite happily in my arms, almost through the entire party, which was nice, because it allowed Jason *and* Joc to be with Ellie and enjoy the event.

My stash report is unchanged from last week . . . 

I really don't see a whole lot of change coming my way in the 'in' department. That's my plan, anyway!

My slow Sunday stitching was mostly done on the road, yesterday.  Sundays have gotten to be such busy days.  I'm helping teach the pre-school SS class in the mornings and then I'm teaching the ladies' discipleship class on Sunday evenings. Add choir practice and the probable meeting (or two) and Sunday afternoon is gone.  But we've got a thirty minute car ride to and fro and I've gotten a good portion of this POTC block whip stitched together . . . 

Because it was cut and ready to be assembled it's what I'm stitching.  I haven't had time to get into the Nook and get the strips cut and ready to stitch on the pineapple quilt.  Maybe this week??!

Linking up today to Patchwork Times (fabric report and design wall posts) and Kathy's Quilts!

Happy Monday . . . make it a great week!!

:)

reading thru the new year . . .

It's the first Tuesday of the month.  That means it's Bibliophile File day! Hurrah!

Last year I set up a challenge for myself to read four different types of books each month. I'd choose a book that had been recommended, a book I'd borrowed from the lending library (physically or digitally), a book to review (blogging for books), and a book that was a faith/walk strengthener.  I did fairly well through the year and even typically managed to throw an extra couple of books in there a month.  For example, during the month of December, I threw caution to the wind and devoured about eight Melody Carlson Christmas stories, in addition to some other fluffy, Christian Christmas-themed tales.

I have no desire to set any particular challenge this year, but I have already picked four books to read throughout the year and I thought I'd share those for this first BF linky party of the year!

These are the devotionals/daily readings I've selected for 2015.  The first is Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young. I'm familiar with this one -- I've had the app and two of my sisters have the devo. It's filled with short but stout daily readings that have already this year pierced my heart.  

The second one is called Designed for Devotion:  A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation, by Dianne Neal Matthews. This one is also filled with shorter daily readings designed to set focus on God in all His glory and invite personal relationship with Him, why relating His story as told in Scripture, from beginning to end!

The third one is already such fun -- this one is Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture, by Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda.  Oh my goodness -- fifty-two women from God's word . . . the good and the bad . . . the pure of heart and the evil . . . and what we can learn from them!  Because this is weekly studies, I started this one last Monday, so I'm actually into week two.  Eve was our first subject and Sarai is this week's focus.  I can already tell that this one is going to be GREAT!

And finally, the challenge of the four, Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible, by George H. Guthrie.  Don't get me wrong -- Guthrie didn't write the Bible -- it's actually the Holman translation.  What Guthrie wrote was the introductions of each week's readings and the act and plot summaries.  It's fascinating reading as he has the reader reading God's work in the order in which it took place, historically.  I've already had understanding of Scripture that I'd never put together before. It's the meat of my reading and it's a great way to read through the entirety of Scripture in a year's time.

And then, just for fun (and girls do need their fun), I'm also doing a little light reading . . . If Teapots Could Talk, by Gloria Hander Lyons. This one is filled with "fun ideas for tea parties"!  Hmmm . . . who could I have tea parties with?! It's got some nice recipes and I love tea party themes and there are plenty of those, as well. I'll get some good use from this one, I'm sure!

Anyway, that's it for me for this month.  Head on over to sarah did it! to see what has others turning pages!

:)

some assembly required . . .

I have had the most marvelous time putting "Neesey's Nook" in working order! My darling hubby did the hard stuff . . . hanging insulation and pegboard, painting, laying linoleum, and hanging shelves! But then I got to come in and do the fun stuff!  So let's start at the front and I'll give you a little tour. First off, no door of mine is complete without a wreath:

This is the perfect place for this very "campy" wreath (although after looking at it, I think I will move the hook up to the top part of the lattice)!  And then if you look directly down...

You'll see I purchased (with a Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card I got for Christmas) a lovely, heavy-duty mat -- which is an absolute must when you leave in the middle of the woods.  Trust me.  

Probably the first thing you see when entering is the ironing corner:

Oh gosh, I do love pegboard!  Let me get in a little closer here . . .

Isn't that fun?  I love those little baskets!  And my sprays looked much neater and easier to grab. My "Count it *all* JOY!!!" mini won't stay there . . . I'm just trying to hide the worst of the ironing board stains!  

A quick peek up here . . . 

Todd installed this shelf so I'd have a place to put my fabric bins!  These bins are my stash (usually a fat quarter or less), organized by colors.  I have a couple of rubbermaid tubs of yardage.  Shhhh.  We left the roof unfinished.  I may go back and paint it white, later.  But for now it was good as it was and I rather like the rustic look.

On down and around is the cutting corner. I can't think of anything more phenomenal than having one's rulers and templates all available at one's fingertips.

Well, most of them are in finger reach.  If you move on past the window, you'll see where my bigger rulers and templates are hanging:

You see that there is the door (where we came in).  Just to the right of the door (or to the left, if you're outside looking at the front) is my sewing corner . . .

Isn't it darling?!  I found a nifty pegboard hanger that was just perfect for my scissors!  And then right above the window:

JOY!  And buttons!  Both very good things. Would you believe I got two of the "JOY" decorations for Christmas?! It actually made me very happy. First of all, that people associate that word with me (and that's all Jesus) and secondly, because it gave me one for the RV and one for my nook!  Perfect. Each one of the windows has open space above it. This window has the entire width, and the other two are divided by a 2X4.

Now that Neesey's Nook is open for business, we also have our dining nook back in the RV:

Yay!  We can have breakfast at the table together again! LOL!!

So that was nook assembly . . . now for quilt assembly.  On the 'wall' this week is, of course, the pineapple quilt. I finished the hand-stitching and now to prepare the top and bottom pieces to attach:

My seam coverings will be a LOT longer. But gauging from the layout below, all my black lines are going to line up perfectly.  Whew!

This may be the biggest quilt I've ever pieced *and* quilted by myself! And there's still an 8.5" border to go all the way around. I cannot wait to have it on my bed for real!

Linking up today with Patchwork Times.  Have a GREAT week!!

:)

off to a good start . . .

I knew I wanted to keep up with my stash again this year, but I also knew I wanted to do it a little differently. I do like knowing how much yardage I've actually purchased when the year is over . . . but that wasn't reflected in my numbers.  So I've set up this year's report just a little differently:

Tah dah!  Yeah, I know, as long as it's out, it's out, but I like to know. What hasn't changed is my goal to use/give away MORE than I purchase or otherwise acquire. We'll see. This go 'round, three of the yards I added purchased were solid black, for the pineapple quilt.  The other half yard was two fat quarters of pretty Christmas fabric that I liked.  Both the yardage and the FQs were on sale--one of our LQSs has an annual store-wide sale on January 1 . . .

Pandemonium! We had a fun time bumping into each other...quite literally. I spied this darling little piece on the wall while we were there:

Isn't that cute??!  I'll have to add that to my growing list of 'want to's' -- that have to wait until my UFOs are finished!!

In other news, I've made some exciting progress on the quilting cabin . . .

Of course, those pics are already outdated as we hang shelves and stuff!! I'm trying to come up with an appropriate name for my space.  So far the only thing I've come up with is "Neesey's Nook".  Any thoughts?

And speaking of 'Neesey', here's a darling shot of the group for which I am so named:

Aren't they just delicious?!  Getting all five of them to look at the camera at the same time and smile (and hold still) is nearly impossible, but that makes it all the more precious to me!

And then of course, there's this one . . .

I think Leia has missed you all!  Baahahaha!!

And finally, if I get in some slow stitching time, this is what I'll be working on . . . still trying to stitch down that last seam covering before moving on to the top and bottom sections.

Oh well, at least when I'm ready, I'll have my space ready to go!

Linking up today with Patchwork Times, Kathy's Quilts, and sarah did it!

Happy Sunday!

:)