last wow . . .

Or rather, Works in progress On Wednesday = WOW!

This is not just the last Wednesday of the year, but the last DAY of the year! Where did 2014 fly away to?! Todd and I will probably spend the evening relatively quietly, depending on what Bowl Games are on when we get home from church, and a pot of pinto beans and ham, which is already in the crock pot. Tomorrow morning, though, is our Stitcher's annual get together for a meal (breakfast at Cracker Barrel this year) and shopping the sale at Patches & Stitches, one of our LQSs. For me it will be more about the fellowship than the shopping, and that's fun stuff!

With the thought of fleeting time in mind, I've been plugging away on the Pineapple Quilt this week (remember, I've determined that I will have it finished before the end of January). I managed to assemble the middle three sections so far:

I'm working on stitching up the last seam 'cover' out of the four required.  You zigzag stitch the pieces together like so:

And then the strip (which you've machine stitched on like binding, on both sides--one on the front and the other on the back) flips over and hides where you've connected them:

Voila!

And that's what I'm doing right now. I'll probably finish this and prep the strips to attach the long row of blocks across the top and bottom, too.  Who knows, maybe I'll have those attached and finished by the week's end?!  Maybe not. LOL! One thing I do know and that's that this quilt will be pretty decent-sized. It's square, and I still have 8" borders to add to the sides. This one is going on the bed. For sure!

And the other quilty thing being worked on is my cabin!

Pegboard walls all the way around . . . and it's being painted white (by my very darling husband) as I type! Isn't that awesome?!  I'll can hang every tool and ruler and template I have on its own hook!  LOL!

So that's what I'm working on, what about you?  Linking up with Esther's Blog today!

:)

designing walls . . .

Quite literally, that is!  I was a bit of a tease, yesterday, showing off a *tiny* portion of one of my 'quilty' Christmas presents . . .

The rest of it is this beautiful building . . .

OH MY GOSH!  I was so thrilled/surprised/shocked/awestruck when I opened this present on Christmas morning! It was actually a picture, since it arrived the day after Christmas.  It's all for me!  My very own quilting cabin! With a lovely, covered front porch for a rocking chair and a little table.  Room for tea and hand-stitching:

Perfect, right?  Inside is bare, for now . . .

But I've got an idea of how I want it to look!

And what magnificent views I'll have, regardless of which window I'm looking out:

Today, Todd's purchased the insulation and pegboard for walls and he'll get the electricity hooked up:

And then I'll do my magic with paint and curtains and shelves and tables! And move all my quilty things and fabric out of the RV and into the QC!

Best. Husband. Ever.  :)

In the meantime (aka, inside the RV where it's warm and dry), I've resurrected The Pineapple Quilt.

I've determined that it will be my first finish/UFO finish for 2015 (if not earlier)! Linking up with Patchwork Times! 

Happy quilting!

:)

wrapping it up . . .

Thankfully, I'm *not* talking about wrapping presents!  The one task each Christmas season that I *promise* myself I will not procrastinate on (wrap as you buy, wrap as you buy), even this year, I still put off until the last days!  No, I'm ready to wrap up these year's stash reports!  

No changes from last week.  My numbers are decent.  I didn't quite make the goal of using more than I took in, but I made definite strides over my stash-happy practices from the years past!

Those are my numbers from 2013 and 2012.  I think I'm continuing to make marked improvements as I get older and wiser (and run out of space for stashing)!  I've definitely decided that I will continue to report stash usage next year, but I think I will differentiate stash that I purchase versus stash I acquire by any other means. 

I had a very quilty Christmas this year!  Both kids got me lovely rulers and patterns and paper-piecing templates and acrylics!

I'm so excited to play with it all. Needless to say, I'll be playing around with the castle wall pieces today, for my slow stitching!  I'm even more excited now about integrating those blocks with my POTC blocks and making something BIG! Whooohoo!  Linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts!

I also got another quilty gift from my husband . . .

But it deserves a post of its own, so for now, this picture will have to do. Let your imaginations mull that over!

Happy Sunday!

:)

wishing you a very . . .

slowing down . . .

In all manner of things, it would seem.  I've obviously slowed down in posting . . . I've slowed down physically, due to one of my notorious sinus infections which leaves me lethargic, coughing and voiceless. Which in turn slows down all other aspects . . . shopping, gift-wrapping, and crafting! Ah well, to everything, turn, turn, turn. 

In other words, my afternoon of slow Sunday stitching turned into napping on the couch with White Christmas playing in the DVD player! So instead, I thought I'd show off Ellie's dress . . .

Which I finished in the nick of time for the ballet!

She was thrilled with it . . .

Isn't she precious??

She, Jocelyn and I all had a marvelous time watching the Nutcracker.  Ellie was totally enchanted by it all!

This week, my stash took some very minor hits . . . 5 fat quarters, to be exact.

One was used to wrap an ornament for my Stitcher's Group, and the other four were gifted to another quilter.  None purchased.  It's been a while since I actually *bought* fabric!  Linking up today with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.

We have two Christmas cacti at work and both had tons of buds.  One of them finally burst forth in glorious bloom this week . . .

Isn't that marvelous?!

And finally, we had our December guild meeting on Thursday, which is our holiday dessert fellowship.  I was so tickled with the table centers, which were also door prizes:

I was even more tickled when my ticket number was called and one came home with me! Isn't this just precious? One of the hostesses' husbands made the trees ... and then the ladies on the hostess team made the sweet little ornaments to hang on it!  Perfect for a quilting/sewing/crafting room, I'd say!

I have a lot of catching up to do if I'm going to be prepared for Christmas Eve with the family, so things will probably continue to be quiet here on the blog.  But as we all gear up for all the festivities of Christmas week, let me leave you with a thought from this morning's Advent devotional, which kicks off the week of peace:

True lovers of peace are those who, in all their sufferings upon the earth, remain at peace in mind and body for the love of Jesus Christ. - Francis of Assisi

Or as Paul put it in his letter to the believers in Philippi:  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

May your week be peace-filled!

:)

happy holiday chaos . . .

This was a perfectly busy week and next week is only going to be busier . . . holiday chaos (of the happy kind) has kicked in!  I spent Tuesday with Ellie and Everley.  Ellie got her tree put up in her room . . .

Girlfriend *loves* Christmas!!

On Thursday, I watched the Panter crew while James and Kim went to an office party.  Sawyer and June watched the live Peter Pan with me . . .

That is, they watched it until they the passed out in their respective seats--I think they decided that their dreams were sweeter!

Friday was filled with errands and running here and there.  And today our ladies ministry headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee to Miss Mary Bobo's for dinner.

It was marvelous!  We had a great time and the food was just marvelous.  When I got home I stopped at the gate and hung the Camp's Christmas wreath:

Isn't it gorgeous?! A lady up the road make them and was selling them. I knew this would be a perfect fit! I pulled in just in time to watch my beloved Crimson Tide win the SEC Championship game . . . pretty handily with a final score of 42-13!

My stash report is pretty uneventful . . .

A quarter yard out for some quilted potholders I made for a StitchMAP swap (which I forgot to take pictures of).  And nothing in!

Ellie and Jocelyn picked this "E" for Ellie's dress:

So this is how I'll be spending the next few evenings.

I plan on doing satin stitches and padded satin stitching (where there's depth to the letter) in one ply of regular DMC floss.  I've never done satin stitching on a shape like this, but so far, so good.  To give it a little glimmer I'll use a single ply of a red metallic floss to outline it all when I'm finished.  I'll be sure to get a picture of it -- preferably with Ellie in it. I hope to be able to slow down the 'chaos' and get some good stitching time in on Sunday!

And finally, guess what I found?  Another Melody Carlson book!

And it's about a Christmas feline! Adding this one to my December reading!

Linking up to the stash report post at Patchwork Times, the Slow Sunday Stitching post at Kathy's Quilts, and the Feline Friday post at sarah did it!

:)

t'was the month before Christmas . . .

You know what??  It's the *first* Tuesday of the month!!  That means it's Bibliophile Files day! This month my reading is mostly completely centered around the season . . .

 

Ummmm, yes.  You'll notice that they're all by Melody Carlson. She writes the most darling, sweet stories, and I've been a fan of her work for a long time. These are all simple reads, but fun . . . with food for thought, Christmas, and a little romance (generally speaking) thrown in for good measure. Fluff, yes, but happy fluff for a busy time of year! And even though there are seven pictured, I'll have no trouble at all getting through them!  One of them fills my library quota and one of them fills my review quota, and the rest fill my need for fluffiness.  :)

That leaves my 'recommended' and my 'spiritual food' books, which is also easy enough:

I mentioned on Sunday that I was preparing to celebrate the season of Advent. I'm using these three devotionals.  One (The Christ of Christmas) was recommended . . . and the other two just looked good to me! Two of the three have short daily readings, which I ponder in my morning quiet time. The third is broken up into weekly sections that I'll probably digest and study on weekends! I started all of them yesterday and I'm so excited about what I've read so far! I want to spend the next month appreciating what Christmas means.

So, that's what's on my Kindle book shelf for the month!  Head on over to sarah did it! for the book linky party and to see what others have on their reading plates!

:)