Baseball ,Baseball and more Baseball

Did you see the NY teams games yesterday afternoon?? Woo hoo!!!
Of course only a Mets fan would make an optometrist appointment for my teen aged son in the middle of the afternoon when the Yankees were playing the Boston Red Sox!
So I missed a couple of innings. But as usual great game. Poor Paula being so sick and then her Sox losing all 3 games :( . But we'll do it again next month in Boston.

The series is always a good one each time they play ;)
The verizon Fios package we have somehow we get to watch the Braves and the Cubbies too! So baseball is on ALOT here ( much to hubby's dismay) He's more a football fan.

Last weekend before the kiddies go back to school. No big plans except to clean up the fabric in the sewing area. Seems that the cutting of fabric and the actual hand quilting or sewing bindings on is what's triggering the shoulder pain. So now what? Do I look for another hobby??? I have at least 10 quilts to make before May of 2008 - of which need to be done before the holidays this year.





But I got this in the mail yesterday :) and I really want to try to crochet a pair.
Any ideas on a good place to buy sock yarn???? Or brands to try???? I did find a yahoo group I joined and need to see what I'm doing. Of course one of my friends said it might save the shoulder but will make the carpal tunnel come back- isn't it great to get older?

Back from Philley

I love Philadelphia almost as much as I love NYC- Hubby went to school in Bucks county so he knows his way around Philley pretty well. So the kids get to visit both cities often. We were "supposed" to bring the kid to the Ben Franklin Science place to see the King Tut exibit but for $75 PER PERSON I think not-I mean really I felt that was too much-$300 total- come on the Hilton didn't cost that night for the room.





Here's the Philley's crazy mascot :





We wanted to take the kiddies to the new stadium in Philley- wouldn't you know the NY Mets were playing in town...I can't get away from these guys-lol. Every time a Philley hits a home run the Liberty Bell lights up and rings-lol- we got to see it 3 different times the night we were there ( the Mets lost)






Yesterday DD wanted to go back to Eastern State jail for more pics....It's supposed to be haunted..............

Tah Dah

I did manage to work slowly on the binding and get it all done :)
The trick there was to do a block's worth, put it down and go do something else. Like trim another 90 3 1/2 " hsts for the depression block quilts I need to start after school gets going again for the kiddies.

So now I have all the hsts I need in 2 of 16 colors so I guess I'll do some of the red today or at least get it cut out and ready to sew.

I have a small mountain of laundry that needs to be sorted and put away :( that I really really should be doing......I think playing wins for now.....

Time Flies.....

WOW!! Almost a whole week has gone by since my last post :(
The steroids they gave me were "wonderful" . I now ( for now) have full movement in my shoulder w/o alot of pain- what a concept. Of course hubby FINALLY gave back my janome this morning- what a guy. And I didwork on the binding on the sampler love quilt I worked on a few weeks ago...yippee!!! And that was all the sewing I did all week. I was a good girl ( for a change - lol) Now to finish sewing the binding down this weekend and get it in the mail before we leave on vacation on Tuesday.....
First I have to live through the orthopedic dr appointment which he'll never believe the amount of pain I "was" in after a week of steroids *rolling eyes* But I do feel the pull from trying to work on the binding this afternoon....

Tuesday we're taking the kiddies to the City of Brotherly Love aka Philadelphia for a couple of days. DD got a new digital camera that she wants to take more pics at Eastern State Penitentiary. DS wants to go back to the Art Museum and I just want to hit some wineries on the way home :). Though I do love exploring Eastern State- maybe we'll take the kids on the Ghost Walk around town if it doesn't pour. We were going to try to get to a Phillie's game but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. :(

Thanks for the well wishes on last weekend- Benadryl is a new "staple" in our trip case of meds and first aid. And it's also in my truck - it was a very scarey feeling.

Back from being MIA

what a week :( We went for our physicals last Thurs DD and I. And I mentioned my shouler was sore and wanted to see an orthopedist. BIG MISTAKE. After seeing how far a range of movement I "did" ( notice past tense) have she agreed and sent me out with a script for pain killers and antiinflamitory. The next morning I got up in the worst pain I've ever had next to giving birth to 2 children. No joke. Guess I better fill the script for pain meds. Take once daily-ok I'll try, I take one still doesn't help with the pain but I have to pack to go to PA with Dad and DD to see my 88 y/o grandmother. Next day at almost the minute I can I take the next does of meds praying that it works as ice and heat alternating do NOTHING to relieve the pain :(

Getting ready for bed I notice I'm ichy and asked my family if they've been bitten by misquitos also....nope just me. Lucky me. All night Im up in pain ever 45 minutes or so or iching like ,,well like hell. 6 am I get up for the day take a shower notices huge welts all over- all over.....and I have to keep clearing my throat like I have something in it. DUH!!! I wake my dad up and we find out that where we are in PA ( Out near Bucknell ) they roll the sidewalks up early and Sundays everything opens late. And here I am having an allergic reaction to meds- wonderful.
I manage to get some benadryl at a mini mart at a gas station bring it to the counter and it doesn't ring up and the girls are trying all different ways to find the price- meanwhile I'm ichy and cranky and my throat feels like it's closing ( thanks Dad for telling me I might be allergic because it made everything quicken up in results- Im sure is was hysteria working there) I just take a small pack of 2 tablets and a bottle of water and take the pills and wait for them to figure the price out....sigh. Finally they figure a price I buy 3 packs and the water I used to take it and go pick up grandma for breakfast....slept 3 hours home and most of Sunday. Went back to the reg dr yesterday now on steriods and a new pain med that works and I feel like a new person :)
Get to see an ortho Monday the 20th and now have a very long list of things not to do...ironing, sewing , laundry etc etc and now driving :(
So what does my darling hubby do???? Takes the janome and puts it in the trunk of his car to keep me from sewing :O
the nerve I'm telling you.....lol so I guess I'll have to be good and try to read some of these books I have piled high around here- go figure most aren't even quilting books......
Maybe I'll get to learn more on my emb machine for a week or so...one never knows....

Monday Musings

I got my Pay it Forward gifty from Paula at Coffeetime Studios this morning in the mail :)






Look what came inside, a needle threader, 2 kinds of needles and a spool of thread and she made a case for all to be carried in VBG. Boy will the guild members be jealous at next stitch and bitch -lol






Not alot of sewing since Friday night as Sat was the 5 year anniversary of being digonosed with cancer and my best friend and I celebrate every year with champagne. Great fun, I cooked all morning Sat and then it was veggie burger and salads.
And then yesterday we finished the champagne with brunch.....
So today it's back to the machine and sewing......have a great week!!!!

Good Thursday Morning :)

I've been goofing off the last few days after my morning of green and cream- cutting the never ending pile of wondercut ruler tubes that become my hsts *rolls eyes toward sky* some are colors and white or cream- these will become blocks for seven- yep I said seven, depression block quilts for my Girl Scout troop. And then, there's a pile of greens and blues for the ocean waves quilt I only need 64 of those blocks-. And it's just been too hot to do much of anything :( Well that's besides all the mommy/wifey duties the family needs. Good thing I have my truck as leverage over DD to get "some" help in the chores.No help, no truck, works for me :) Now DS, teenaged man/boy, he is I can with hold food-roflmbo.
Yesterday and this morning I did a quick cruise around blogville and 360* on yahoo and there are so many pretties in progress. I want to make them all VBG. But I "think" I have alot on my plate at the moment so I guess I should get back to the pile of hsts-sigh or none of my grand plans for quilts will ever get done.

Busy Morning

There was a call for love blocks by one of my friends for a love quilt so I spent most of the morning making a bunch for her. Hope they work :)

Then I decided to see what we still had in the garden with all the rain last week and the high heat and humidity this week. Aren't these just breathtaking??????






And then I was going into the house to upload the pics and I hear the faintest Meow- seems I didn't pay proper homage to the resident princess -lol.

Borders Monday

I wish it meant I was relaxing at Borders Books having a nice cold coffee type drink, but no today was clear the table of things that needed finishing. So before the mystery quilt got shuffled around I put borders on that *VBG*





and I finally finished the rows and borders on a love quilt for a friend going through a hard time. This one will loaded on the frame tonight and quilted tomorrow and Wednesday- depending on how hot it gets as my frame is in the garage and it's been pretty hot here in NJ :(

But there's been another call for blocks so I guess I'll go make some green mini bow ties as it's for a man.....

Hopefully the sun tea is done cause I'm parched-lol

What did YOU sew today????

What I did all day- this mystery top minus borders for the little girl next door.

I had fussy cut Tinkerbell fabric for the centers but that little pixie was hiding when it was time to do the blocks . So I cut these centers and got about half way done and I went to put away the extra pinks and there she was, all 24 of her . Oh well I have lots of purple in the stash to do it again .

I got 10 of those 16 patch blocks done as a leader /ender project

and managed to trim 30 hsts of yellow and white and 20 pink and white- Finn I need lots and lots to do all those quilts VBG

and I even got a nap and made dinner and brushed my new best buddy- this cat is getting pathetic- you can't hold him for long but if I have the brush he will lay on his back and wants his belly brushed and he drools when he purrs . By the end of the summer he'll be able to go to the vet I think, and he's got some big paws- he's going to be a small lion-

New Bags :)

This is what I've been doing most of the day.
It was a pattern I bought a couple years ago from Keepsake Quilting- it was ok. I would have changed some of the instructions but fun. So my daughter and I have new bags for shopping etc. Her's has Tinkerbell fabric for the flannel and I have a blue paisley.
But now that dinner is made, eaten and cleaned up- it's time to finish cutting the fabric for the mystery tomorrow on some of the yahoo groups. Hope it's a good one as I'm making a CHristmas present for the little girl next door with mine.....
Hope to see lots of pretties tomorrow night and Monday-

How could I forget

To post a pic of the finished wallhanging??? It's been done for a couple of weeks and looks great hanging over my bed :)






Isn't this great how close this butterfly let me get to him in my lily????

Isn't he cute????

This is Cliff,the cat. He's a stray that decided he likes us and wants to be our friend. He's been hanging around for months and always taking off when you got near him. 2 weekes ago "HE DECIDED" we're ok and now comes to be pet and brushed. Good thing as he has these HUGE mats on his back. Really bad like dread locks actually. I got 3 off and 2 more BIG ones to go. But Cliff doesn't like to be held yet. ANd he can't come in till I can get him to a vet for shots etc. Not taking any chances there.

I've been hand quilting the Hawaiian quilt slowly and making more and more hsts for depression quilts. I need 7 quilts by June of next year-lol. All the same except borders will be different fabric/colors. This is the last year of Girl Scouts and I figured the girls have seen me sew enough bindings on during the meetings and they have all asked for one- well except dd. What a better ending gift for all huh????AND I get to BUST THE STASH at the same time!!! Snoopy dancing here :).

Ann Smith is doing a mystery this weekend on a bunch of groups and I've yet to cut my fabric out. I can't decide which of the 2 fabric groups I want to do.....sad isn't it? PLus as a bonus I have a gazillion 2 1/2" squares here from scrap cutting this week for leader/enders to make more 16 patch blocks :)
So maybe, I should get to cutting huh?????

Swooze and Mare I sent the squishie's yesterday. Courtney's will go next week as not to get loney in the mail box while you're gone :)
Have a great weekend and hope to see lots of pretties on the blogs after the weekend !

Rainy days and Mondays

I think Cyd has the right idea for today :(
It's been raining pretty hard all morning. Though I got alot of "wifey" stuff done, baking fresh banana bread yummmmm, the never ending battle of laundry and dirty dishes. It's a struggle to keep moving :( and not lay down with Cyd and take a nap. One of the teenagers is at work clap clap and the other at 12:34 PM is still sleeping- nice life huh? But today's a day I don't need to hear "i'm bored" so I'll let sleeping dogs lay-lol






I finished the applique part of this baby blanket for a church member . Her shower is in 2 weeks . I will add borders this afternoon or evening and baste it and start the hand quilting on it- yep I said hand quilting in a tradition Hawaiian design for kukui block. Some kind of tree that's all I know about it. In June I bought a great booklet of 20 different blocks for $2 and just by using one of the patterns already I think it was money well spent :)

I too Nancy Chong's class at Quilt University last year and need to practice my needleturn applique and believe it or not, these are the easiest for me to do. My hearts always look lopsided and I really need to master this by next year as my SIL will be 40 and I make queensized quilts for siblings and spouses for the big 40. She wants all fall colors and oak leaves appliqued on it- great **rolling eyes**

So that's my day in a nutshell, hope everyone else is doing something constuctive :)

Dishtowels

So this is what I've done most of the day *VBG*
I got the pdf pattern here:
and the actual step by step directions are here:
http://calamitykim.typepad.com/photos/whip_up_a_darlin_dress_to/index.html
I have 2 more to make and then I'm out of towels to play with.
I think they'd make a great secret sister gifty- don't you?????

Gotta kiss alot of frogs................

Before you find your prince :)
I made these 2 today between errands with the kiddies all day.
They were "supposed to be" toys but I shrunk the pattern either 20% for one of them and 30% for the other. 20% is plenty and a cute size :)
I got them here
http://www.purlbee.com/purl-frog
I have to finish the felted ones too , maybe tomorrow and I have a bunch of dish towels I found an "excellent " pattern to work with for them.....pics coming soon :)

Playing with wool part 2

Ok I was asked what the wool does....see I bought packs of roving the green stuff on left. You seperate it into a bunch of pencil thin or so strands and start wrapping it up like a ball of well like wool to knit :)
you can do all one color or a mixture, then you put it in a knee high panty hose, twist tight and wash in hot water. When the wash is done you roll and compress the wool to get the air out and let dry and you have a wool pincushion. Then you can take embroidery thread ( dmc type not machine thread) and reg wool, like the charms I got in Lancaster last fall and decorate to look like previous post :)

Something different to try that kept me out of the fabric stores for the afternoon-lol

Playing with wool

above pic is from MCCALLS Quilting 2007

A few months ago at guild one of the vendors sold wool roving. Why I thought I needed that is beyond me but I bought 4 little bags of the stuff. :)
And then this morning going through old magazines to make a pile for another quilter, I saw an article how to make the above !!! WOW!!! I wonder if they come out as cute as this one??? Time will tell, I have 3 little wool balls in the washer in hot water :)
I'm "supposed " to appliquing a baby quilt top or cleaning my sewing area. I tried doing that this morning and ended up doing a pretty nice sized strips piece that I want to use to cover a small photo albulm :) Or add to my crazy strings pice that I have going- like a giant crumb pieced block :)
I just can't get into a sewing mode or even cleaning of the mess for that matter....sigh

Quilting Meme

Let's see what the quilter's have in common besides their love of fabric- I think the knitters can do it too if they subsitute fibers for some of the questions.....copy and paste to your blog and change the answers to yours

1: How long have you been quilting???Since the late 70's

2: Did you take lessons ??? not until recently, mostly self taught

3: Favorite Quilting teacher??? Sharon Schamabers

4:Do you follow the patterns you buy? Sometimes but usually with my own "twist" in it somewhere

5:Favorite block? Hope of Hartford

6: Favorite technique? examples, applique,hand piecing, machine piece? depends on the block- I do love hand piecing though

7: Favorite Quilt book??? Right now, Liberated Quilting by Gwen Marston

8: Do you dye your own fabric?? But of course, doesn't everyone?

9:Do you have a quilt YOU made on YOUR bed?? yep right now 3

10: Why do you quilt???? It's cheaper than therapy

11:Favorite color combinations??? Blue and White or Red/white and blue

12:Quilt you want to make in this lifetime? King sized Lone Star or New York Beauty

13: What kind of machine(s) do you own????? Janome Gem for piecing, 2 vintage treadles, vintage homemark ,2 other singer sewing machines for backup and DD when she's in the mood to sew, and the juki for machine quilting on the frame

14: Favorite quilting tool? my seam ripper more like an ball tipped awl- Marianne showed us it last fall and I have to have all the cool toys

15: Do you have a sewing room studio??? Nope just an alcove in the dining room for sewing and part of the garage for quilting

16:Do you belong to any guilds??? Yep, Vice president of it too

17: Do you belong to online groups?? Yep but recently dropped a bunch of them and will drop more by end of summer

18:Do you read other peoples blogs to get ideas??? but of course, can you imagine how many quilts I'd get done if I quit reading blogs???

19: Do you hand quilt??? Excessively

20: Do you have a pile of UFO's just waiting to be finished??? I think I'm up to 6 now Not in any kind of finishing mood lately

Pay it Forward (PIF)

Seems to be the trend on the internet this weekend the idea of paying it forward.
Quilters are the nicest people :)
So the first three people to leave a comment and promise to pay it forward also will get a gift from me :)
And those lucky people need to leave a couple color choices as it's fabric dyeing week here- how cool is that????