eclectic collection . . .

It's been a busy week, which means I wasn't able to get in as much stitching as I would have liked, but I got some in nevertheless. I did make some progress on my heart:

But put it down to work on the Peppermint Purple SAL. 

Week 8 was made available on Wednesday, and I had it finished on Thursday, along with a good majority of the box outlines for the entire stitchery!

It's easy, soothing stitching and I'm enjoying it very much.  

Thursday was guild, and I struggled to go, because by the end of my work week--especially when it's been a busy one in the evenings--I just want to go home.  But I went and I'm so glad!  Our speaker was Diane Knott, who was just delightful!  I really enjoyed her program.  Then as a bonus, I won a $20 gift certificate to a local quilt shop!

Yay me!

Saturday I did some utility work on a sweet little bubble of Edith's . . .

This is the after pic. It's challenging, but you can just make it out in the center of the photo. It had a tiny tear so I used a square, white cotton patch and fused it.

This is the back side. If you've never used this fusing stuff, you should give it a try. 

Especially for applique and wool applique! But also for fabric tears. It is very pliable and soft when the fusing process is finished. Very nifty to have on hand!

I also prepped and stitched a block from the Grandmother's Choice BOW.  I actually did go to the last entry and finished up block 49.  

I think eight years ago I may have been afraid of the curved piecing. It didn't phase me in the least in 2020! LOL!

So progress is progress, right?! Still not quite to the halfway point.  The gap in row two is starting to bother me, but it *is* a block that's giving me pause. I may whittle this bad boy down to a six blocks by six blocks quilt and call it done.  If that's the case, I'm MORE than halfway through!  Ha!

While I was in the Nook, I came across a project I'd started late in November and because I'm a squirrel chaser . . . well, need I say more?  Heh.  Anyway, I decided I wanted to finish it up and get it to guild for show 'n tell next meeting.  

It really doesn't need much. I need to stitch the vines, then add the leaves, and then quilt it.  I'll spend my slow stitching today working on it.

After all the rain we've had in the last MONTH (!!!) I did take advantage of the sunny Saturday (brisk as it was) to take a slow stroll around the camp.  Things are starting to green up just the slightest and it makes me happy to see it.

The trees always make me smile.  This one in the center is just the perfect cone shape!  Enjoy!

Linking up today with Kathy's Quilts.  Have a super Sunday!

:)

bits and more bits . . .

It's been a lovely weekend so far.  Todd surprised me with a "gourmet dining experience" on Valentine's Day.  

It was a privately catered event and the food was excellent!  The chef classified his style as 'sophisticated southern.' We were served a four course meal which included a deconstructed Southern Greek salad, seared scallops, braised short ribs, and for dessert . . . 

Red velvet cake with a cheesecake center, topped with white chocolate ganache.  YUM!

Backing up a bit, I spent Thursday evening with the grandgirls and gifted them with their Valentines.

Edith was particularly enthralled with hers and went through her 'goodies' very carefully, several times!  ♥

I've gotten some stitching in, too. I worked up Block 40--Art Square--from Grandmother's Choice.

It went together fairly easily, and I should probably do more than one of these every couple of weeks if I want to actually finish it!  I've got SO much of the fabric.  I really need to do something with it!

I played around with the new Kathy Schmitz heart printed embroidery I got earlier this week, too . . .

This is really fun to stitch on!  For some reason I first thought there was just outline or straight stitching on it, but there are actually quite a few different types of stitches to work out, and I like that!

Finally, I've continued to work on the Peppermint Purple Blackwork SAL piece.  Since  I had finished week 7's block, I decided to go ahead and work out the block outlines for the rest of the year.

Nine rows down and four rows to go; then I need to decide on borders.  It's fun, easy stitching and probably what I'll work on this afternoon for my slow Sunday stitching!

Wrapping it up ... be sure to head over to Kathy's Quilts to check out what other slow stitching is happening today!

Happy Sunday ... I hope you get to enjoy a holiday Monday--I know I sure will!

:) 

weekend goings . . .

Todd and I got on the road yesterday afternoon and headed to Tuscaloosa for a missions conference.  We stayed overnight at the Bama B&B!

It's a really pretty place and I'll share more about that later.

I finished up granddaughter Olivia's patchwork doll quilt . . .

Just a simple finish.  It's sweet! I'll get this out in the mail to her on Monday.

I also finished block 20 of my Grandmother's Choice BOM.

I had trouble with the points on this one.  I may (*may*) go back and fiddle with it. I also may not. 

This is a better representation of what's done and what's actually left.  LOL! The holes in the first three rows are where I skipped a block that looked too tough.  Haha!

I prepped a little stitchery to take on the road and have to work on in our down time today:

Just a little heart. I had the pattern saved on my computer from somewhere. Quick work.

I've gotten a little done.  May finish it up on our way home today ... slow stitching and all!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts.  Enjoy a slow stitching Sunday!

:)

forwards and backwards . . .

Because this post covers a lot of time, current and past!  

I finally finished up Ellie's bicycle embroidery, which was a good thing ... her (8th) birthday was Friday and we celebrated last night! It's a simple finish because I didn't want the fabric or the quilting to take away from the piece it was showcasing.  Mission accomplished!  *smirk*  Ellie had her first slumber party on Friday night, so we did family dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Edo's.  Her choice!

I love the complexity of this sweet girl.  For all that she loves girlie things (check out her new sparkly, dangly earrings).

She's also rocking her "Star Wars" necklace (which is just out of the first picture) and wanted a red velvet Star Wars cake (featuring Darth Vader).  Go Ellie!

I had two fun prizes late in 2019 that I forgot to share.  The first was a giveaway from Jacquelynne Steves's Happy Little Things blog hop.  

The book is filled with all sorts of hidden message possibilities, and aren't those little pins darling??

The second was a birthday giveaway from Lyndsey at Sew Many Yarns!

The grunge (*swoon*) was the prize and the pretty Regent Street was a bonus!  Lyndsey had to ship it overseas, so she wasn't sure when it would get to the states.  Her Christmas card of the magi was perfect, because (though it came the day I left for California) I received it just in time for Epiphany!  Thanks, Lyndsey!

Coming a little farther forward, I did want to share my fun haul from the two iconic shops I got to visit whilst in California.  From Temecula Quilt Co. I went a little crazy . . .

Both of her books, a pattern, a kit, some lovely fabrics (including a little cheddar), and some notions.  The sweet little ruler box was gifted to me by Kim (my daughter-in-law)!

From Primitive Gatherings, I got a darling wool kit for ornaments, a wool pattern for a crazy stitched stocking (full sized), some (more) fabric and some more notions . . .

Scissors.  I have a thing for scissors.  And since I had the pussy-cat pair, I decided I needed the owl pair, too!

Tah-dah!  The Owl and the Pussy-Cat! Someday I need to do a post exclusively about that poem and why it's so personal to me! Back to scissors, though . . .

I really do love little scissors.  They are a *needful* thing to me.  *grin* 

Our last trip of that shop-hopping day was a visit to a little tea room called, The Liquid Leaf.  Sweet little place with a marvelous selection of teas *and* freshly baked goodies (in house).

It was Kim's first visit, too, so we ordered and ate/drank (and cheesed around) in the shop.

I came away with two lovely teas (both of which smell as heavenly as they taste).

Vanilla Coconut black tea and Elixir #2 which is a camomile tea.  Yummy!

Now going backwards a LOT (and yet looking to the future, too).  Barbara Brackman is re-introducing Grandmother's Choice BOM, which she did originally in 2012.  I hung with her through almost half the blocks, but then I had my second ankle surgery and it 'crippled' my sewing foot for a while.

So I'm excited to have the nudge to do something with these blocks and get the second half of them finished! I'd purchased Block Base (which has all the blocks in it) to do this BOM, so it's only right that I should complete it.  

Bringing it current . . . 

Slow progress, but progress *is* progress.  This is what I'll be stitching on today, getting in some slow stitching on a Sunday afternoon!  Linking it up with Kathy's Quilts--be sure to check out what the other stitchers are working on.

Happy Sunday!

:)

where i've been . . .

So, evidently not only did I leave my voice at Grand Oak Retreat, but I brought home a case of walking pneumonia, as well.  Which, in a weird way, makes me feel a little better about my lackluster performance (what I worked on) while I was there.  I was so tired the entire time . . . now I know why!

I also realized I hadn't shared hardly any fun pics from my time with Ellie, the three days prior to retreat! We had such fun together!  She was very intrigued with my bin of *embellishments* . . .

So much so that I had to pull some BIG buttons together for her to play with while I stitched with bitty beads. It was so darling to watch/listen to her play with them.  

She'd pour them on the table and say, "Clean up, clean up!" Scoop them back into her cup and pour them out again.  I got a good sixty minutes of stitching in while she played the button game!

We also made teacup cupcakes!  Oh my gosh, these silicone teacup holders are so precious.  Kim had gotten them for me for my birthday . . .

Ellie enjoyed helping make them, but she *really* enjoyed eating them!  They were a big hit -- I need to get another set of four, I think!

We also spent some time on the playground . . . girlfriend can swing all day!

I loved the way she'd throw her little head back and shout, "Wheeeeeeeeee!!!"

And we watched a movie together . . .

This was during a particularly suspenseful part of the Little Mermaid.  Look how grown up she looks!

I did get a few things put together on retreat, but not nearly as much as I'd wanted or hoped to.  First thing out of the box, I did up the two starstruck blocks for our guild swap . . .

The theme for this month was red and white.  Sweet!

Then I stitched up this little table topper . . .

Recognize the fabrics?  I wanted to get it sandwiched and quilted, too . . . I'll save that for another day.

I did get a Grandmother's Choice block pieced . . .

I like the "T's" in this one!

And I did a lot of handwork, both on my Celtic Garden and on my secret little project (of which I'll share just a tiny corner):

Actually, I spent a LOT of time on the little mug rug project.  Hand work was my favorite!  I've spent a lot of time this week working on my Celtic Garden.  The Colonial knots are finished and I'm almost finished knotting the light green French knots in the center hedges.  Then on to the flower gardens!

And of course, what's a retreat without a tee-shirt?!  

This year's offering -- great colors!

And I enjoyed some spectacular sunrises.  I took one panorama photo.  Simply stunning!

It's not compressed, so when you click on it, it'll be full sized.

We had a total of fifteen women . . . all chit-chatting and oooohing and aaaahing over each other's work.  I love this group of gals . . . 

And of course, the "can't-do-without" gag shot.  Some of us are better at this than others!

I hope to be back in full swing by next week, but I admit, I'm still dragging a bit.  I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!!  I'm ready to usher in health *and* Spring!!

Happy Friday!!

:)