Hi Mom and Dad

I received a call from my parents the other day..."Hi, we haven't heard from you in a while...what's new? We checked your blog and do you know that you haven't written anything since May 11th?" What a bad daughter I am not to call or update my blog so my mom and dad know I'm still alive! So I'm here to say I am still alive and I promise I'll do better on calling my folks and keeping up-to-date here.

Today is my daughter's 25th birthday. She can't believe how "old" she is and I can't either! I am not old enough to have a 25 yr. old daughter! She's a sweetheart and her dad and I love her to pieces. Unfortunately she lives 8 hours away so we don't get to see her enough. She has grown up to be a lovely young woman (in spite of our parenting skills) and we are so proud of her...Happy birthday, sweetie pie!

More on what I have up to later...stay tuned!

More Spring...

I'm enjoying the beautiful weather. I have seen Orioles in my yard twice now. Hopefully I'll have my camera ready next time! Until then I have captured one of the many goldfinches that

make me smile everyday.

Crafting and creativeness is at a standstill here...I just picked up my son from college yesterday and laundry is the business at hand. There are piles of it! I do have some ideas for some new projects...that's what 14 hours in a car will do! Stay tuned....

A Slice of Heaven...

Here's a photo of a heavenly spot in my backyard...

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Ahhhh....

I have been crazy busy ever since I got home from my vacation. Today I finally get a chance to catch my breath. Ahhh...now I just have things that I want to do not things I have to do. It's a very good feeling. Here are some of the photos of what's been going on in my life.


Baseball in Florida...



One of my vacation suitcases...It holds yarn and sunscreen...what more do you need?





The project I created for a machine embroidery cross stitch class I taught last weekend...



The project I created for a software and felting class I also taught...


Now on to more fun things, stay tuned...

Block of the Month Block 2

Time has really gotten away from me...I guess that's what happens after a lovely vacation! I finally got my suitcases completely unpacked and the washing machine is humming so now I can spend some quality time at the computer.

Here is Block 2 of the Block of the Month quilt I have designed. Happy Sewing!

Fabric Requirements:
From white fabric cut:
Eight 4” squares

From green fabric cut:
Eight 4” squares

Directions:

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the 4” white squares.

Place a 4” white square right sides together with a 4” green square. Sew ¼” seam on each side of the drawn diagonal line. Cut on the drawn line and press the seam toward the red fabric. Trim to 3½”. Repeat with all of the 4” squares. You will have a total of 16 half square triangle squares.

Lay out the squares and sew together in rows as follows.

Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4

Sew the rows together to complete the block.

No Pictures...

Sorry, I forgot the cord that connects my camera to the computer so no photos until I get home. We have left Florida and have traveled to South Carolina where it is pretty cold. We have met up with my husband's brother and sister and their families for the rest of the vacation. It is looking like the weather will improve each day.

I just finished the best book I have read in a long time. It is called The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield. I brought two other books with me but I know they will never live up to the one I just finished! I am also knitting a baby sweater for a friend's new grandson. That's all from vacation central! Happy Easter!

Ahhh...vacation

We have followed our son down to Florida to watch him play baseball...it's hot here! I'm not going to complain, since there was snow in the forecast for home. I packed a whole suitcase with yarn and needlework...I'll have some photos for you tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my youngest...he is 17 today. He is growing up to be quite a wonderful young man, although there are still times when he acts like a little boy. He is not a morning person...he gets that from me...he is a very talented runner. He has also taken a real interest in photography. I have already shown some of his photos in my previous posts. Here are some more of his shots. Happy Birthday my boy!

A New Necklace

Here's a necklace that I made this weekend. It is a very delicate pearl and sterling silver treat. Of course, it's in my etsy shop. I do love those pearls...I have a set of blue pearls that I just knotted in a necklace...I'm not sure those will make it to the shop...I might just have to keep those!...stay tuned...

My Daughter

We had a wonderful visit with all of our children last weekend. While they were here my daughter and I spent some quality time beading. She created this beautiful necklace that I have put in my etsy shop. She has made a few of them for gifts and I encouraged her to make one to sell. Each is a one-of-a-kind creation usually made with a specific person in mind. It is lovely and sweet, just like she is!

Block of the Month

I have designed a block of the month quilt for my local quilt guild. I thought I would share it here too. Here's what we are doing...each block will only be two colors. There will be a total of 10 blocks. Above is the suggested finished quilt, it is approximately 60" x 73", but you can put the blocks together any way you want. If you want to use only two fabrics in your quilt you will need approximately 4 yards of each fabric for the suggested finished quilt.

In our guild we raffle the blocks...if you make one you get a chance to win all of them. Each month I choose a color combination...it will be different for each month...that's why the instructions will be different colors each month. Feel free to do this with a group of friends.

If you would like to use my instructions for your quilt guild email me (wwvests@adelphia.net). I have a different instruction sheet that you would probably like to have and I can send it to you.

I would love to know who is using my instructions so if you are doing this as a group project let me know by email or a comment here. If you have any questions...let me know. Happy quilting!

Block of the Month
February 2007
Monkey Wrench
Block should measure 12 ½”.
Please make sure you are using an accurate ¼” seam allowance.

Colors for this month’s block exchange are red and white.
Fabric Requirements:
From white fabric cut:
Two 5” squares
Four 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles
One 4 ½” square

From red fabric cut:
Two 5” squares
Four 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles

Directions:
Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the 5” white squares.

Place a 5” white square right sides together with a 5” red square. Sew ¼” seam on each side of the drawn diagonal line. Cut on the drawn line line and press the seam toward the red fabric. Trim to 4½”. Make 2 (which will result in four half-square triangles).

Sew each of the white 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles to the red 2 ½” x 4 ½’ rectangles. Make four.

Construct block in rows following the diagram:

Results

Here is the wobbly circles tote in its felted state. I just love the way this came out. The shape is great. I am going to line it with a fun fabric and add some pockets. I think I will also add some kind of a strap because I don't like bags that I can't put over my shoulder. I already have an idea for another one...

Here is the Noni Bag...it is a darling little bag. It still needs some work. I just pinned the flower and leaves on to see how they would look. I need to add some beads and the handles and more flowers...stay tuned!

Time for Felting...

Here is a photo of the Intarsia Bag I finished knitting months ago. I think it's about time to felt it, don't you? It's on its way to the washer with the Noni Bag. Stay tuned...

Two more items added to my etsy shop...some ribbon adorned key tags...love that pink and green!

Snow, Sunshine and Some Knitting

The sun is shining today. If I wait ten minutes I'm sure it will be snowing again! Here is a photo of my Noni bag...a hint of Spring in all of this cold and snow. All of the elements are knit, now it's time for felting...stay tuned.

Stuck on Stripes

Here is the status of my sweater. This is a self-striping yarn. Look at the difference between the front and the back. I know you won't see them at the same time and the seam will be under my arm, but I'm not happy with it. I've decided my options are:

1. Leave it as is.

2. Put the project away and never look at it again

or

3. Keep working on the fronts and redo the back to match the fronts by using two balls at the same time.

Can you guess which one I am going to do?

In the meantime I have knit a Noni bag. It is the Night Garden Felted Evening Bag. I have it almost done. I will have photos tomorrow, stay tuned...

Happy Valentine's Day

It is another winter day here...cold and snowy outside...warm and toasty inside. My son has a snow day and we are going to bake some cookies...heart shaped of course!

Last weekend I went away with my quilting friends to Turtle Rock Retreat. It's a little house just off the shore of Lake Erie set up perfectly for quilters. We had a wonderful time...lots of laughing, stories, girl talk and a few glasses of wine. Look at what we accomplished...

I'm Learning

I continue to learn about HTML...today I was able to put a link to my etsy shop in the sidebar. There's not much in the shop...yet...I'm snowed in here so there will be more added today. I just spoke to my sister-in-law. She's bored and going stir crazy...I love being stuck at home with nowhere to go and I'm never bored...just crazy!

Winter Wonderland

We are in the middle of a classic lake effect snow storm. It has been snowing here since yesterday. I haven't been outside yet (I'm not that crazy!) but there has to be almost 3 feet of snow out there. I took some photos from the house...I'm not sure they will give you the enormity of it all...

A good day to sit by the fire and knit!

I Did It...

I did it...I opened an Etsy shop here. I have two things in there...this pillow

and this bracelet

I have lots more in mind...stay tuned