rolling along . . .

All my stitching this week has been hand work . . . minutes grabbed here and there when we're in the car (and Todd's driving) or when Ellie was napping yesterday.

I've made good progress on the strips on the back of the center of the pineapple quilt . . . 

Two sides are completely done and I'm nearly finished a third.  Which leaves me with just one more to go and then I can either start piecing assembling the pieces I've got so far, or work on putting the border together.  

I'll *probably* assemble . . . but we'll see.

I do know one thing . . . when I show Ellie the center, she *gushed* over it.  

Haha -- perhaps it was her glasses, though they're certainly not rose-colored! Needless to say, this quilt will have Ellie's name attached to it . . . for some day down the road!

I've also been working a little on my wool felt Easter egg . . .

Okay, so *very* little. I'm only halfway through the second side. Ha! I found the pattern and tutorial over at Shiny Happy World.  You can 'hop' over there, get an idea of how the finished product will look *and* pick up a copy of the pattern (for free) for yourself.

I got to thinking (rut roh) that I'd like to have a little *variety* in my little stuffed, wool eggs.  So I started looking through embroidery patterns and eggs and stumbled across some little cuties by Cheryl Fall (four freebie patterns, available on About.com).  I printed out the first of the designs and played around with it a little bit . . .

I think I've got a good modification from the egg shape to the elongated shape. And I believe the other three designs will modify nicely, as well. Yay!  I'll have them finished just in time for Easter 2015 -- it's just how I roll!  

So that's where I am this week, in an 'egg'shell.  What do *you* have going on?!

Linking up with Esther Aliu's WOW = WIP's on Wednesdays!

:)

what's up, doc . . .

I've been talking about a carrot table topper/runner for the last month, now. I've finally pulled the fabrics, gotten them ironed, and started working things out!

That looks like a carrot shape, doesn't it?!  :)

I'm still trying to figure out for sure if I want to cut it out, sandwich it right sides together so I can sew it up and turn it right-side-out and then quilt it, *OR* sandwich it right sides out, stitch the outline, and then cut it out with pinking shears (no binding either way). Still deciding, but I'm leaning toward the former option, because I *know* how I want to create the green, leafy stems. 

Those I'm going to outline stitch stems across the width and then cut out the stem shapes with the pinking shears and stitch into the tops of the carrot shape. I'm sandwiching the stems with green felt since I'll leave the sides open . . . 

That way you won't see any 'white' in the stems ... just that darker green from the felt.  Linking up today with Esther Aliu's WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays!  Esther is scanning quilting magazines today (which I'm doing as well)!

In other news, I'm hoping that by introducing Spring into my interior decorating...

...it'll coax it into my exterior!! Y'all, we had SNOW flurries yesterday and temps overnight dipped down into the low 20's. I was so concerned about our daffodils, I culled about half of them and added them to the vase I already had going!

My vase overflowereth! Haha!! Get it??!  I'm so punny! :)

Thankfully today is supposed to be the last (last) day of bitter cold temps, but as the warm front and Spring move in, so does the threat of severe weather.  Out of the frying pan, into the fire?!  At least it's warmer in the fire!  LOL!

:)

wonderful wednesdays . . .

Today is a happy day . . . today marks FOUR YEARS that Sawyer Graham has been a force to reckon with in this ol' world!

He's king of the hill . . . but also holds great sway over this Neesey's heart!  ♥

We celebrated our March birthdays on Saturday. Sawyer wanted a "dinosaur and snake" cake.  Yup, he's all boy.

Luckily, he's got a very talented mommy who was able to create just what the birthday boy asked for!

Blowing out candles was fun . . .

Even though he *was* holding is ears because we were all singing too loud! Ha! That's rich, I know! Ellie is there just in case he needed some help.  :)

I think his favorite present of the evening may have been . . .

The pirate costume!  He had to put it on pronto, and you can just see he's beaming!  Sweet little swashbuckling boy! Happy birthday, Sawyer!!  (And a happy birthday shout out to my niece, Alison, who was gracious enough to share her day with Sawyer -- only she's turning fifteen!)

Ellie and I had a lovely day together, yesterday.  The weather was so gorgeous, we spent most of her awake time out in in . . .

Sweet and sassy!

I had gotten a lovely package from Jean over at Jean Creates.  She sent me a pile of books . . .

You see the theme of most of them??  Right up my crazy alley!

There was also this darling tea-themed wall hanging pattern . . . 

And fabric!

A lot of *purple* fabrics!!!  Such a sweet and thoughtful package! So I had asked her what I could send her in return and when she replied, "A mug rug," my wheels started churning.  And this is what I sent her . . .

I had such fun creating this little piece!!  So there's the mystery mug rug!

And what I'm working on now?

I got the bunny mat cut out and glue basted.  Now I've whip stitched the leaves and the bunnies down.  Still have the flowers and their centers to whip stitch and then I can begin the decorative embroidery.

And I got my 'waffle' piece started . . . 

A couple more leaves to fishbone stitch and then some feather stitching and I'll be able to start adding beads. I had a crazy thought when it comes to this piece . . . how fun it would be to create it Andy Warhol style. Hmmmm.  More on that later.

Spring is springing up at the camp . . .

Unfortunately, temps are dropping as I type and we've got a last blast of winter weather heading our way. Hope my daffodils can weather the weather!

Linking up to Esther's Blog and Works in Progress on Wednesdays!!

:)

wow, snow blow out . . .

Lesson learned.  Usually I don't let myself get all worked up by the weather forecasts. But they were all so sure and hyped up about the 'snowmageddon' of North Alabama, that I bought into it. I mean gosh ... GROCERY STORES closed their doors EARLY last night in anticipation of the event. Plus we'd already had a lovely dusting that they *weren't* expecting on Tuesday morning . . . 

So, against my better judgment, I bought into it.  Serves me right . . . I am SO disappointed!!  We woke up this morning to *nothing* ... blah ... and now it's raining ... blah.  And while they continue to pitch the snow, it continues to rain. Again, blah.  Blah, blah, BLAH!!!

On a (much) brighter note, I not only finished piecing my snowflake . . .

(Yes, that's the actual, not a photoshop illusion!) I also went ahead and got it quilted and bound!

My quilting was some very simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around the snowflake and the outer pieces. With sparkly thread.  :)  I'm calling it Midnight Snow.  It's all the snow I've got.  LOL!

I've also made some progress on my Celtic knot garden . . .

Working on the hedge knots, now.  Tedious, but it'll be worth it in the end!  One thing I quickly learned with the colonial knot is that shorter working thread is better. I'm working a line of the hedges until I catch up to myself.  Then I'll start the other side.  I have to admit, I'm looking forward to getting to the French knots!

And hey -- today is the last opportunity to make a comment and enter to win a copy of Shades of Mercy! Click HERE for a chance to win!

Linking up today to Esther Aliu's WIPs on Wednesdays (WOW)!

:)