Ok, I am SO done with snow!!

If you would like to know why I haven't been able to get any amount of sewing done here goes:

This picture is the back end of my car. . . I shovelled from the edge of the plow job to the back of my car yesterday. The car is outside the fence line. . . but when I was shovelling it was about 1 foot INSIDE the fence line. . .it was a LOT of snow.









This is a picture of a giant evergreen tree that is on the corner of our property...I took the picture because I thought it looked really pretty.












These next pictures are of Casey on the sidewalk. . . you can see how high the sides of the snow banks are on either side. . . .













These next two pictures show Casey along the front tire of my car (which is still snow covered at this point) and a view down the sidewalk looking from the back steps towards the driveway. . . the gate is open because there was no way for Casey to get to the road. . . because Mr. Books & I couldn't either!!! LOL















My shoulders and neck are so sore I have been sitting with the heating pad. Can't wait until the weather gets a little warmer. . . not the heat of summer, mind you, but I would really enjoy having some 60 - 70 degree days with a nice breeze.

Hopefully tonight, or tomorrow at the latest, I'll be able to get some stitching in.




In peace and pieces,

Amazon.com won't get any more business from me

As many of my long time readers know, I am a very opinionated animal rights person.

It has come to my attention that Amazon.com has decided to carry a book that teaches how to train pit bulls to be fighting dogs.

Therefore, I am getting the word out. . . I refuse to purchase anything from Amazon.com from this point on.

Pit bulls, and many other dog breeds, have been vilified to the point of almost needing to be completely exterminated.

NO animal is born to attack. . . .protect & defend, yup, you betcha. . . but then again so do humans (aka 2 legged animals).

If 2 legged animals used the brains that we are supposedly born with then every animal on this planet would be treated with respect & dignity. . . and not used and abused for profit.

If you choose to purchase from Amazon.com, that is your choice. But as for me and my house. . .we will boycott Amazon.com. . and tell everyone why we are doing so.

In peace and pieces,

Stash Report -- January 23, 2011

I missed posting last week. . .but I hadn't used anything so there was no progress to report.

However, THIS week was terrific!!

Fabric Used This Week 9.5 yards
Fabric Used Y-T-D 10 yards

Fabric In This Week 0 yards
Fabric In Y-T-D 0 yards

Total Fabric Used Y-T-D 10 yards!! whooo hooo!!

The usage came in from completing 9 blocks of the Kimono Medley quilt (more pics will be posted tomorrow), completing the Yellow Brick Road quilt top (girl version), and making some quilt labels as a gift.

6 yards come from the backing fabrics needed for the Yellow Brick Road -- both girl & boy version (to be done this week -- I hope).

Check out Judy's blog for additional progress reports.


In peace and pieces,

Libel law comes to internet postings. . . . it's about time!!!

There was an article in my local paper today about a Georgia case concerning libel charges against an internet poster. Here's the link:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110121/NATIONWORLD/110121018/Ga.+man+awarded++400+000+in+Internet+libel+case

If this doesn't stop some people in their tracks then nothing will.

I hope this gentleman is able to get every single penny he was awarded!


In peace and pieces,

Prayers are still needed

Next week starts the 6 month health battle in my family. . . .so prayers are still needed so that the doctors are guided by God to the proper procedures and that the insurance companies have compassion that sometimes is lacking in corporate America.

In peace and pieces,

First time design wall posting

Ok, I'm not sure if this would actually qualify as a design wall entry. . . but it is a work in progress, albeit a "play" piece, so I'm listing it.

Last night Mr. Books & I finally got the Juki working on the Grace Frame. . .and we loaded a test piece and started checking out the way the machine works.

Mr. Books wasn't sure where the pantographs went that we purchased at the same time as the frame (after all. . .that was almost 2 years ago) so we just played with free motion quilting.

Here are two sections of what I played with:



The flash from the camera caused the white blob, but I think you can see a little bit of my doodling.

Here is a picture of the miniature quilt that I am working on . . . I had listed the fabric used in the Stash Report yesterday. I just need to get the binding sewn to the back and then ship it out.



I hope to be able to start showing work on the two UFO pieces that I am working on for this month.

Plus I also need to start working on my monthly Christmas gift so I am prepared for 2011.

In peace and pieces,

Stash Report -- Week 2

Ok, don't laugh!

Fabric Used This Week: 0.5 yards

Fabric Used Year to Date: 0.5 yards

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In Year to Date: 0 yards

Total Fabric Usage Year to Date: 0.5 yards

I got a miniature quilt completed for a swap that I am in. And that was the only fabric that was used this week.


In peace and pieces,

Pictures of the Kimono Medley blocks

I didn't get a chance to get to the computer last night to upload the pictures. . .but here are the two blocks (out of nine needed) that I completed for the Kimono Medley oh so many years ago:



The background is a very pale blue. . .and it picks up the blue tones in these two fabrics very well.

In looking in the project box I have a third block cut, but not sewn, and have fabrics for the other six blocks already set aside. Since the sewing is pretty straight forward (except for the triangle at the neck) it shouldn't be very long before this is a top.

Well, it shouldn't be very long if I keep the motivation going to work on UFO's instead of starting even MORE new projects!!


In peace and pieces,

I have TOO many UFO's!!!

Ok, I knew going in to 2011 that I would have to make a concerted effort to trim down the number of UFO's that I have.

I KNEW I had a LOT of UFO's. Oh boy, do I ever have UFO's!!!!

I signed up for Judy's UFO Challenge --- this covers 12 UFO's.

I signed up for Nancy's UFO Challenge --- this covers an ADDITIONAL 10 UFO's.

I signed up for the UFO Challenge on the Stashbuster Yahoo Group (add the above 22 and raise at least another 15 or so. . . . .).

Have you been keeping count?? That brings me up to 37 UFO's (at least).

But I have a problem. . . .and it is ONLY January 6th!!

I can't locate the UFO that was originally scheduled for this month's work from Nancy's Challenge. I've looked in a lot of tote boxes. . .found tons of UFO's that I hadn't thought about in quite a while. . .but couldn't locate the 18 blocks (12" square) that were part of the Color Swap from 2009.

So, rather than pull out even more tote boxes and get myself even more depressed with how many UFO's I have I did what any self respecting quilter would do. . . I changed the list!! he he he he

Therefore, instead of working on the Color Block Swap I am going to be working on my Kimono Medley wall hanging that was started at a class at The Quilter's Barn close to 20 years ago!!! No, wait, actually it was probably MORE than 20 years ago. . . because I don't think I was at my company when I worked on it. . .and I have been at the same company for almost 20 years.

I will post pictures later this evening. . . as soon as I get them in the computer.

In peace and pieces,

UFO challenge from Judy

This year I want to get some UFO's finished. . . and have signed up for 3 programs to try to keep myself on track.

Judy's UFO challenge is running for a full year. . so, if all goes well I'll have 12 items done.

Each month she will pick a number and that is the project that we should be working on to complete.

Of course, as with all challenges, it is up to each person to pick what they work on; but, for the time being, I plan on trying to work on the projects as they come up.

Here is the first one on the agenda:


This pattern, I believe, is from the book Square Dance (but don't quote me because I can't be sure). It was from a class I taught more than 15 years ago.

Originally it had a wide orangey-red border that just did not thrill me. Which is why I think the project ended up in the UFO pile.

I have removed the old border and found two fabrics that work beautifully with the colors that are in the block fabric (amazing since the fabric is at least 15 years old!).

My plan, as shown in this second picture is to do a small border of black to stop the quilt and then do a larger (I'm thinking 3") border of the green and then bind it with the red (but I'm thinking that I might use the red as corner stones and binding it in black). . .I'll have to see what the quilt wants to do.




In peace and pieces,

SSCS Package Opened. . . finally there are pictures!

I have finally found both the camera and the upload cord so I can get pictures on this blog to make things more interesting for everyone (including me!!).

These are the gifts that I got from Lise as part of the SSCS that has been run for the past couple of years by Chookyblue.

There were wonderful chocolates:

And an Australian craft magazine with lots of eye candy:


An extremely ingenious, and well made, sewing tote with many pockets (that each had wonderful surprises like scissors, buttons, thread and other bits); an Australian calendar, a pen from an animal rescue organization: What makes the sewing tote so ingenious is that the strap acts as a closure for the tote -- holding the contents in nice & tide.

Lastly, here's another pic of the ornament that she made. . .it is so cute that I plan on having it on display year round:

It was a lovely gift to get & I amazed myself by holding out to open the packages.

In peace and pieces,

2010 Year In Review --- Goals Reckoning

I went through the listing of goals I had for 2010 (that are listed on my side bar) and, it doesn't look like I did very well:

Read 27 books

Didn't get that far (actually I may have done more if I counted quilt books and such). . .but my list was only for actual literary books --- not instruction books.

I did read 15 books so I didn't completely slack off.

Make 12 quilt tops for charity

Hmm, this goal wasn't met either. But, I did complete 2 quilt tops.

Complete 6 UFO's to flimsy status

Ha, didn't get any of this done!!

Get basement cleared out and organized

Uh, hmmmm, well, NOPE. . . . it is probably in worst shape now than what it was in January 2010!!

Here's to a better try in 2011.

Use 1/2 of the yarn stash

Ok, since I haven't gotten the basement organized I can't be sure that there isn't more yarn lurking around (and I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a LOT more lurking). I have been working with yarn that is on hand and did not purchase an excess amount in 2010 so I might be getting close to this --- just don't know yet.

Reduce fabric stash by 100 yards

HAH!!! Didn't happen. . . .actually I think more than 100 yards may have actually come IN in 2010 -- but I did donate quite a bit. . .just not as much as Mr. Books & I purchased.

This goal needs to be better addressed in 2011.

Be more selective about swaps

Yes, I did very well on this front. I participated in several swaps but they were carefully selected so that I did not get overwhelmed.

So far this year it appears as I need to change this goal into "be more selective about the challenges I sign up for". . .he he he he

Make 2 prayer shawls for church

Unfortunately, this didn't get done. . .I need to get cracking on this.



All in all it looks like I didn't hit near as many goals as I would have liked. . . and I can't quite figure out why. . . . I didn't get all that much done for myself and wasn't in alot of swaps so I don't know where the time went.

Actually, I need to correct that. . . .I spent alot of time on Facebook games and it shows in the amount of things that I did not get done.

Hmmm. . . .guess it is a good thing that the desktop has been out of commission for a while & I need to work on the laptop if I need the computer.

For 2011 I'm hoping for a better year end reckoning.


In peace and pieces,

Belated Stash Report -- January 2

Ok, have already gotten more delayed than what I wanted to be -- especially this early in the year!!

But, I have a completely neutral report:

Fabric Used This Week: 0 yards

Fabric Used Year To Date: 0 yards

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In Year To Date: 0 yards

Year To Date Usage: 0 yards

I'm hoping to do much better this year than last year. . . .both in stash usage and blog posting.

In peace and pieces,