Goodbye Gretchen

I lost a very, very dear friend yesterday.

I hadn't seen it coming. . . . and can't believe that she is gone.

I'll be away from the blog for awhile but if the absence is longer than what you have been used to I thought I should say why.

If there is something that you have been "planning to do". . . . . stop planning & just do it already. . . . you may not have a chance to get back to it.

In peace and pieces,
 

There is a new project on my plate!

I've been hemming and hawwing about starting a new quilt project. . . but then I finally "bit the bullet" and decided to do it.
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One of the quilt shops that I go to, Pennington Quilt Works, runs a Saturday Sampler every year.  It is a year long project that is done one block per month.  There is a "start up" payment and if you go to the next meeting with the completed block from the previous month you will get the new block without payment.

I've participated in one or two but never finished them because there wasn't a completed project to view and with some of the fabric choices I couldn't see how the individual blocks would work together.

This year, however, I really thought that it would be fun to push my creative boundaries and signed up to do a quilt using Kaffe Fassett and other Westminster fabrics.  It also seemed to be a more masculine design choice that I thought would be nice for Mr. Books.

Here is the "teaser" page that Pennington Quilt Works has on their website:


The block for Kaffe and Friends looks really bold and different.  Unfortunately, for me, the completed project seemed very washed out and the blocks did not "pop" from a distance as the one in this picture does.

The shop was accommodating in that they allowed the participants to change their minds about their choice.  The Luxe in Bloom was really striking. . . but white is something that I try to avoid with 2 dogs.  The French General looked lovely and old-fashioned. . . but I thought it was a little too feminine to use.  So, I'm back to my normal color choice. . . . autumn colors; however, I don't usually work with a lot of batiks so this should be fun.

The shop has presented a quilt in each of the fabric choices. . . . but they have said that there will be larger samples that we will be seeing later in the year; I don't know if I will be making a really large quilt so I may stay with the original sample that they showed.

I've cut the fabric for the first block. . . .when I get it completed I'll post a pic.

In peace and pieces,

I'm attending Camp Loopy!!

Ok, it is all Judy's fault. . . . . every year she talks about Camp Loopy and how much fun she has (and how far behind she gets before the deadlines. . . and she shows the wonderful yarn and projects that she starts.  Well, suffice it to say that she just goes on and on and on and on!!!  LOL

Well this year I decided to check out what all the talk is about & I am going to Camp Loopy.

My camp yarn is this:


It is Cash-Woole in Teal.  I have no idea why I picked that color. . . . but I thought it was a neat color.

Starting June 1st we have a month to either knit or crochet a project that uses at least 375 yards of one skein of yarn.  The yarn had to be something that we haven't worked with before.

There is quite a bit more than 375 yards on the skein that I picked (I was afraid that I would not have enough since my knitting is not the best for staying on gauge).  And, since I mostly work with Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn it wasn't hard to find a yarn that I had never worked with before.

Now the question comes in. . . .what project should I work on???

The yarn I picked is a laceweight so the baby afghan pattern that I picked up recently won't work.  There are a couple of patterns on Ravelry.com that I like:

Simple Lines

I've started working a sample of this pattern in some left over worsted weight yarn to see if I could understand the pattern. . . it seems to be working nicely with the heavier yarn so I may stay with this pattern for Camp.

Easy Peasy Scarf/Shawlette

This one looks interesting also. . . .but I'm not sure if I'm really ready for a lace pattern -- even if the pattern says that it is good for beginners.

Maybe I'll do the first one for Camp and then, with the remaining yarn in the skein I can try the 2nd one without having a time constraint.

I can't wait until my yarn arrives. . . . . and then I'll just have to wait for June 1st in order to start working on my project.


In peace and pieces,

Playing catch up

When last we were here we were talking about Friday Night with Friends.

I am happy to report that I actually did some work on a project. . . but since I think the person for whom I was sewing reads my blog I don't want to spoil the fun & show what I was working on.

BUT, I can tell you that it was the 4 blocks that make up my row in our guild Row Robin program that has been going on since January.  It is more Framed 9 Patches and if you go to this post you can see a previous row that I did. . . . .same blocks but different colors; this month was all solids with white as the background.

Truth be told I wasn't sure I was going to like the way the row turned out. . . but it does look pretty neat.  I hope Valerie likes it.

I've completed 2 more books:


This is the latest in the Tea Shop Mystery series.  I love this series and enjoyed this book very much.  It's funny but the characters have become so ingrained in my imagination that whenever Laura Childs puts in a physical description as SHE sees the character and it doesn't fit in with how I see the character it interrupts my train of thought about what I am reading.

Does that happen to any one else or am I just really weird?

The other book that I have read was:

This is the first book in a series based out of a pizza shop.  I enjoyed it, but I didn't feel that the story line was as well developed as it should be.  The story was a bit "choppy" at times. . . a little distracting but not so much that I won't read any of the other books in the series.

There is more reading on the horizon, I picked up this book from the library today:

I believe that this is the 2nd book in a series set in Amish country; the main character is a Mennonite woman that runs a Bed & Breakfast.  The characters are well done & I enjoyed the first book so I'm hoping to be able to get through the entire series so that I can be up-to-date on it --- much the same way that I had played "catch up" with the Laura Childs series (there is a scrap booking and a small time diner series in addition to the tea shop one).

Well, guess I better get a move on. . . . there is a lot to do before I get to read my latest book!


In peace and pieces,

Friday Night With Friends. . . it's time to sign up & get to work!

Cheryll is once again hosting the Friday Night with Friends this evening.  It is so wonderful that she takes the time to do this. . . it helps give me a monthly "kick in the butt" to try to get some stitching done.

It's fun to go through the bloggers that have signed up to see what kinds of projects are being worked on.  To me it is much better than Pinterest!

I'm hoping to be able to get some stitching done. . . .even if it is only some hand stitching.

In peace and pieces,

Traveling Stash Giveaway WINNER!

Well, we have a WINNER!!

True Random Number Service

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

5
4
3
2
1

Timestamp: 2013-05-03 00:43:19 UTC

The winning comment is from Quilting Ranny.  I've sent her an email via Outlook so as soon as I hear from her I will get the box in the mail & on it's way to its new home.

Thank you to every one that took part. . . .I wish I could send you all a box because they are really fun to play with.

In peace and pieces,