busy, busy, busy . . .

Tsk, tsk . . . the working hours have changed again.  I'm working less hours, but over more days, and it's really thrown me for a loop! I see it in my ability to get in quilting time *and* to my ability to blog and read blogs.  I need to find a routine and get settled in . . . the first week was a doozy, filled with a lot of other activities, too!

The main one was preparing for our first Global Missions Conference, hosted by a local church!

We have just started the process (aka, we just got approval from our board and are now talking to the attorney) to change the name of our ministry from Restoring the Church Ministries to Church Strengthener, so we needed to get new business cards made and highlight a new ministry website. And, since this was our first conference to be a part of as a ministry, we weren't quite sure what to expect, but our display looked pretty good:

It was a terrific learning experience and we got some good exposure. We were a little late in getting into the game (so to speak), but we'll be ready in the fall, when another of our local churches holds a similar conference. One of the highlights of my evening there was being across the way from the Missions to Haiti table. He and his wife had served in Haiti for forty years . . . that is just so incredible and wonderful! He gifted us with some Haitian coffee and some Haitian vanilla!  Sweet!

Yesterday the weather was simply gorgeous - sunny and rather mild - and the Panter crew came up to soak in some sunshine and exhaust some energy!

Pawpaw is always a fun one to follow in follow-the-leader! Unless you've got rocks in your boots.  Olivia took it all in from her carrier. Mostly she just dozed . . . the warm sunshine was good for that, too!

My stash report remains unchanged from last week . . .

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  *sigh*  I'm still plugging away on the pineapple quilt.  I got all the handwork finished up on it, at least for the time being. I hope to get out into the Nook and assemble the borders (which involves piecing and quilting them) so I can attach the corner blocks to them and then attach the borders and hand stitch those seams down. Phew. Then all that will be left will be the binding! Whoohoo! Today, though, in my slow stitching time, I'll be working on a little mini weaving . . .

Isn't that cute?? It was originally a challenge from my StitchMAP group . . . I finished that one and am making several more -- they make great fobs!

Linking up today to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts. Y'all enjoy a happy Sunday!

:)

slacker . . .

I've been such a blogging slacker this week!  C'est la vie . . . chances are, if I've been slacking on the blog, life is moving along at a pretty good pace!

My stash hasn't increased or decreased, my design wall hasn't changed, and to be honest, I haven't gotten even fifteen minutes of stitching time in since last Friday! On the other hand, I've spend time with my friends, worshipped and fellowshipped with my Sunday school class peeps, spent time with family and especially grands, and (grocery) shopped and (grocery) shopped and shopped. One of those trips included riding the train with my friend (and pastor's wife) and their son:

Whew, it's all been a whirlwind!  Oh yeah, I also found out . . .

Yup!  It's a girl!!  We'll be having *marvelous* tea parties!!!

Ellie and I made a sweet little Easter craft on Tuesday . . .

He's not here; He is risen!!  She was so sweet, working on the empty tomb.  She also tells me she's ready to be a big sister.

I think she's going be a terrific big sister!

And today is my sweet husband's birthday!  We'll be celebrating with the whole crew, tonight, here at the camp!

♪♫ Happy birthday ♪ to YOU! ♫♪

♫♪ Happy ♪ birthday to YOU! ♪♫

♪♫ Happy birthday dear ♪ Todd !!!! ♫♪

♫♪ Happy ♪ birthday ♪ to ♪ YOU!!! ♪♫

♪♫ And many more . . . I ♥ you!!!!! ♫♪

I do have a new little hexie project for the month.  Actually, I have my choice of three different hexi projects:

These are from the StitchMAP hex labs for the month (along with my Celtic Garden and Australian Wattle projects).  I haven't decided for sure which one I want to do . . . any thoughts?! Regardless of which design I choose, it'll finish up in hexie form.  So I'm linking this on up to HeLP for Hexie-aholics on sarah did it!

Have a happy day!

:)

short and sweet . . .

That's what today's post will be . . . mainly because I've not had the energy to do much of anything this past week, as is evidenced by my 15 Minutes report . . . 

Nothing but hand work on the Celtic Garden, which I'm very happy to report is finished (at least the stitchery part):

Yay!  I'm so pleased with how this turned out and really enjoyed the process as well as the final product.  I know I'll make another of these.

My stash report is unchanged from last week . . . 

Although I will admit that I was wandering around on Craftsy and found a HUGE deal on a 20 FQ bundle of Kona solids and so next week's report will not be so dull.  [insert cheesy grin here]

My slow Sunday stitching is back to the secret mug rug project . . . just a bit more stitching on this before I'm ready to turn it into an actual mug rug.  Wanna little sneaky-peek again?

I've had a lot of fun playing with this piece, too!  Can't wait til it's safely in the hands of its new owner and I can share it in total!

Linking up today with the stash report at Patchwork Times and the Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching linky party!

This is the day that the LORD has made ... we shall rejoice and be glad in it!!

:)

another week . . .

With the exception of Tuesday, it looks like *most* of my minutes this week went towards my StitchMAP assignment . . .

And it really doesn't look like I've made a whole lot of progress with it, does it?

I finished the monogram and am now working on the outside border.  This is also a new stitch to me, called "palestrina". 

It's a lovely little knot and there's more work on top of the cloth than there is on the back side.  But it's a little time consuming to make sure that your needle always ends up in the right place and you don't pluck fabric or your previously lain floss in the passing.  Of course, I suppose by the time I'm finished with this (I have to finish the outside border and then stitch it again in the opposite direction in the inner border), maybe I'll be better at it and it will go more quickly.  It probably goes without saying that this will be my Slow Sunday Stitching project!

My stash took a lovely little hit in the wrong direction this week:

I gained those two yards at my Sassy Sewers meeting on Thursday.  One of the gals has recently retired and has had the opportunity to go to Hawaii with her husband (who goes on business) several times.  She brought back with her some of the most gorgeous fabrics . . .

Aren't they beautiful?  Just rich with color and they feel so lovely, too!  I'll take those two yards willingly!  I'll also be linking up the good ol' stash report to Patchwork Times.

I also got some time in "on the needle" this week -- Ellie mentioned that she needed a scarf like Sawyer's.

Well, not just like Sawyer's ... I made hers a little skinnier and a tad longer and fringed it.  We'll see if she'll actually wear it!

And finally, in the midst of all this grey and cold, cold, cold, there are the first indications that Spring really IS on its way!

If that doesn't bring a smile to your winter-weary face, I don't know what will!

Don't forget to check out my book review of Shades of Mercy and the book giveaway, HERE. Happy Sunday!

:)

tea parties and stitching projects . . .

It's been a crazy week . . . I spent most of the morning, Monday, in the doctor's office.  Another sinus infection gone rogue into my lungs, leaving me with another case of acute bronchitis.  I sound worse than I feel, but all that coughing is wearing on a body (and bladder...I'll say no more).  But he got me on antibiotics and a whole host of things, so hopefully I'll be right as all the rain we're getting!

I did spend Tuesday with Ellie.  What a fun day we had!!  First of all, the girl can sleep.  She didn't wake up until almost 9:30!  After we snuggled and I fed her some breakfast, we decided to make scones for an afternoon tea party.  I'd gotten some new tea (a cocoa, candy cane rooibos tea) and thought Ellie would enjoy it, but she also loves to help in the kitchen, and scones are easy and quite necessary for a tea party.

Ellie cut the butter into the flour . . . 

She's working that pastry cutter like a pro.

And stirred . . .

And tasted . . .

And we ended up with some yummy cinnamon raisin scones!

Perfect for an after-the-afternoon-nap tea party!

It was nice because Ellie's mommy got to join us . . . a three-generation tea!

I finished my heart spool project and it's looking good in the ol' quilt stand . . .

And I'm working on a couple things.  A secret mug rug project, this StitchMAP hexie lab project . . .

And gathering my stuff to work on over retreat, which is in less than TWO WEEKS!

Today I'm headed out to stitch with the Sassy Sewers.  They're always fun!! Happy day!

:)

whoopsie . . .

I see that November is taking after October and sneaking up on me!  And we're already a third of the way through it, to boot!  I guess it's time for the ol' monthly stash report update . . .

Used/donated this month: 1.0 yards

Used/donated year-to-date: 36.25 yards

Purchased/added this month: .75 yards

Purchased/added year-to-date: 86.5 yards

Net used/donated for 2013: -50.25 yards

To be honest, it took me a minute or two to figure out exactly what, if anything, I'd purchased in the way of fabric last month!  I added two fat quarters to do Ellie's superhero cape and got a great Alabama Crimson Tide fat quarter as gift wrap for my birthday!  Roll Tide!  That was my addition.  After cleaning up the bunk room -- AgAiN -- I have sworn off fabric buying for the rest of my life! the next decade! the year! a month or two.  Maybe.  *wink*

I also was given a bag of silk ties and some velvet remnants for crazy quilting.  I can't even begin to count it, so I'm not, but I wanted to be forthright in my posting (for posterity).  LOL!

And once again, I have a plethora (don't you just love that word??) of pictures because I'm so delinquent in posting (gotta love me!), so I'll do a pictorial post with comments, instead of paragraphs!

First up ... last Saturday we celebrated June's "One-ness"!

Kim set a beautiful spread!

I contributed my signature cream cheese mints!
 I'll be posting the recipe for these next week.

June is all tomboy...she quickly abandoned her princess wand for the sword!

Ps...unless she's captive, getting a front shot of this girl is *tough*!
But since the back is almost as cute as the front, who's complaining?!

Birthday cake:  a success!

Next up:  Sunday -- all smocked up for a paint day with my youth SS girls!

Everyone with their works of art -- what a fun afternoon we had together!

I did a Christmas tree -- I love it!  I'm in the spirit!

Monday, June and I had one-on-one time while mommy and Sawyer went to the dentist! 

Monday afternoon, Todd and I went tooling around the camp, enjoying the day.

Tuesday, I spent the whole day going through my mess in the back bunk room.
It was a complete disaster, but twelve hours later . . . 

A pan of it's organized neatness!  (Clicking will make it bigger.)  When creative
genius hits, it's easy for the room to get out of control.  Bahaha!

The Panters came by for a visit on Wednesday.  Sawyer was having
a ball playing in the leaves!  Constant motion --out of about twelve
pictures, this one was the least blurry! 

Thursday I got to spend with my darling Ellie!

She was a *big* help in making a batch of my Holiday Biscotti.
And she learned that she's quite fond of pistachios!

The aforementioned Holiday Biscotti.  Isn't it pretty??  And it's *so* yummy!!
I'll be guest posting at Sew Crafty Angel next week, sharing the recipe, in case anyone is interested.

Then last night (Friday), Kim, Sawyer, and I headed to downtown Fayetteville
for theopening night of the town's Host of Christmas Past event!  We got to see
the lighting of the Christmas tree, hear carols sung by the high school chorus
(in which three of my SS girls  sing), and have dinner out!  Sawyer was enchanted by all the pretty lights and decorations!

And finally, I'll wrap this up with some fabric creations!

Finished up my stitching course with the lined butterfly bag and pattern weights.

Kim brought me some fabric to turn into a Thanksgiving dress for June!
(But the fabric is Kim's, not mine, hence not included in my stash! Whew!)

Working on my next crayon tinting/stitchery project for my mini-stand!

And, worked up my blocks for our guild's Starstruck Block Lottery.
The theme this month is "Christmas".  These were *so* easy, I may make a
couple more, seeing as how they're not due for two weeks!

Okay, so that wraps up this week for me!  We've got a camp full of Cub Scouts, an AL vs. LSU game tonight, and then tomorrow I'm headed to watch Ellie while Joc and Jason take an overnight road trip to Atlanta.  I'll be back next week with the Cream Cheese Mints recipe as well as a link to the Holiday Biscotti post!

:)