December

Still a bit 'out of whack' here with quilting and blogging...but have hopes for better focus in the new year. Here are a few pics of crafty/sewing things I managed to sneak in during the past month. First is some fabric stuffed candy canes that I will stiffen and antique for completion...as soon as I finish stuffing the other ones. This idea is from Carrie and Rosie at Miss Rosie's Quilt Co


The next photo will hopefully not make you seasick looking at the awkward angle but it is simply a table cloth quilt with Debbie Mumm's Noah Noel fabric. I can't even remember how long ago that I bought it but it made me feel happy to pull out something that I could quilt quickly to count as finished. It is a good thing to go shopping in one's own cupboards!

And the last picture is of Mr Mosley sitting by the table topper I made from long ago purchased Woodland Santas...also by Debbie Mumm.

This season feels better to me than past as I got an early Christmas present from my boss telling me I can go to part time in the New Year. I am thrilled...more time to recover from those 14 hours days! More energy for family and fun things! I am blessed and grateful.

Following that good news the season got even better with a visit from my friend from the north who came and walked dogs in the rain with me, baked cookies, read by the fire and even stitched some (her first quilty project!). It was an absolutely wonderful visit. Thank you Tonya!

Thank you all as well for checking in on my blogging start this year. It is kind of fun seeing my projects and notes posted 'on the screen'. I have really enjoyed seeing so many ideas and wonderful thoughts shared by other quilters through the blogging world. I pray that you all know God's Peace and Joy this season and on into the new year.

back to plan A

My plans for the baby quilt to have scalloped edges fell by the wayside when I realized that I didn't have enough backing to cover a bigger quilt. There has been so little time to sew that I just wasn't willing to put it off long enough to travel to shop for more fabric...I just wanted to quilt it. So after re-timing my longarm to get the stitching back in order, I was happy to put some loops and hearts all over this little shabby chic (am I spelling that right?), romantic collection of red, white and pink fabrics.

So is finally on its way to sweet little Emelyn Kate.

almost back

As you can tell, it is over a month since I posted my whereabouts...it has been a focused and taxing time but I think it has been fruitful. I passed my 'lovely' CEN test almost 2 weeks ago, then worked too many days in a row and managed to earn a cold that I'm still trying to beat. Less whining from me about it this time because it wasn't the flu or something worse. And mostly just required drinking fluids, taking Motrin and reading some good books.
Absolutely no sewing has been happening here but will hopefully start soon.
I am participating in the Quilting the Psalms group. I am thinking I will use the Cherrywood fabrics leftover from the Women of the Bible quilt. My niece really liked that quilt so I'm thinking this Psalms quilt will be for her. I'll have to see how it turns out. She was pleased with the batik quilt..."Searching for Chili Pepper Red"... so I'm hoping she will like with this one.

I found a new author, Robert Whitlow and enjoyed reading Deeper Water and Higher Hope. There's a third book in the trilogy that I will need to order. He's a lawyer and writes from that background. Fast reads and good characters.

Now the real news is that the new baby arrived early October and she is adorable. Almost even more adorable though is her proud big brother. Emelyn Kate is one lucky girl to have Kian welcoming her into the family. This is the second grandchild for my brother, Ron. I tell ya...his kids are making him and his wife look so good! Alot of love passed on down in that family.

quick note re: whereabouts

Last month I studied this book to take the exam for Trauma Nurse Certification last week. Intense course but I did well and learned alot.

This month I study this huge book and take another exam sometime early October. Hope to learn alot more. After working in ICU most of my career, I have now been working in the Emergency Department for a little under 2 years. So I'm hoping to put what I've learned together and add to it.

Yesterday after a hair appointment, I was able to stop at our tiny LQS to visit with the owner and brought home these. The sewing tin is a gift for a friend and the book is for me :-) I love scrappy quilts and hope to plan for some of these. Kim at Magnolia Bay Quilts has designed some lovely ideas for quilts.

When I can fit it in though, this will be this months project for the first great grandbaby girl in my family. Don't know her name yet but she is inspiring me to try a scalloped edge. I read Kaaren's blog and first got the idea from her love for 'scalloping'. I have received several tips...one from a friend who has a special template for making whatever size I need and some from the ladies at Quilter's Cupboard where I shopped for the fabric. They helped with color choices for the border and binding and recommended sewing the edge of the scalloped edge before I cut it...actually now that I think about it...she said to actually sew the binding on before I cut it as well. The sewn edge was to hold the fabric together and actually give me a line to follow for a 1/4"seam. I'll have to re-read this note before I tackle this challenge because it is going to be a few weeks before I can do it...I will surely forget! Note to self....read instructions :-)

a visit to the lighthouse and a visit to see Ruby

On the coast north of San Simeon is a lighthouse named after these rocks...Piedras Blancas. We toured today and learned about the history, the native vegetation and some of the marine wildlife that frequent the area.

The top of the lighthouse was damaged in an earthquake and removed in 1948. There are plans of restoring it but in the meantime, it still has a working light fixture. No fog horn though.

I thought some of the architecture was interesting. The window is actually on another building which houses machinery which I can't remember does what!

The rocks have a large number of sea lions resting on them.

And the next pic has a favorite beach for some Elephant Seals. You can see the sand bathers in the upper left corner and two sparring males in the water towards the middle of the scene.

After touring, we went for lunch at Sebastian's in San Simeon. And then we went to see Ruby :-)
All perked up and settling into her new home.

new luckypup in the family

My mom wanted a little dog and the local animal shelter just happened to have just gotten in a pure bred Pomeranian. So Ruby, 8 years old, came to live with her today. She was not spade yet and thus had to have surgery this morning. She is still recovering from the anesthesia and decided under the bed was the best place to do that. She's probably right because we are going to have a hard time not petting her :-)
Ruby is awfully cute. It seems like so much for her to go through in such a short time...move to the pound, meet potential owners, wait over the long weekend, have surgery and then move to a new home....but that's how they do it with county animal control. At least she will have a quiet, safe place to start over.

not much sewing going around here

Had to work most of the past week but stitched the border on this little baby quilt for a co-worker. The LQS had easy kits of fabric put together and so I grabbed a couple. Since the next grandbaby in our family is to be a girl, I picked up a second kit with pink, red and white in it. A very shabby chique start for her. Will start that soon.

getting to the finish

Elinor here, looking out the window...and as always, away from the camera. She is sweet company even if she won't pose for me.
We have been working away stitching the binding on these placemats...only 3 to go. I tried the turn the backing over method but couldn't get the mitered corners the way I liked them. So I gave in to binding each of them..It's a good excuse to sit and sew by hand though.

Last photo is of the roosters on the back.

I'll be happy to finally put these birds in the mail this week!

2 favorites

This is an Olfa ruler 6" x 24" that advertised being slip resistant. I have been using Invisigrip on the back of my rulers to prevent slipping, but I find this ruler works better. I purchased it last week at Beverly's with a 40% off coupon and am quite happy with it. My old Fiskar rulers that were my favorites had lost the markings as I hadn't put Invisigrip on soon enough. :-(

The markings on the Olfa don't seem as vulnerable. Time will tell.




Marianne is helping show my other favorite. My reordered Organic English Breakfast tea came yesterday from Donnalynn with Sensibiliteas. She really knows tea! Donnalynn shares lots of information about where the teas come from and the differences, etc. I learned that I'm taste specific to teas more from Ceylon than from China. She keeps me happy with delicious flavor :-)

Donnalynn also knows quilts and helps with the MQX quilt show in the spring....well, April, not always "springy" in New Hampshire.

too tired to think

Work was simply too much to take today. So to turn my mind to things that are more fun...I have my photos of the first and latest quilts. :-)

This first beauty was actually the brainstorm of my freshman college roommate and I. Why be like everyone else, we'll buy fabric and sew it together and make coordinating bedspreads. No instruction, no pattern....can you tell it is 1970? Orange was my favorite color for years...till we 'learned what season' we were...I'm a 'winter' (remember that?)...it doesn't include orange. And as of 2006...I'm still in a lime green phase....I just don't wear it.
We never actually finished the bedspreads. My granny finally folded the thing over a really thick batt and tied it for me. I am so glad she finished it for me. What an sweet memory.

It occurred to me though that maybe I could show the first quilt I made when I was actually learning from someone who knew how... This lovely Debbie Mumm Noah's Ark quilt was made in 1994(?) on my brand new Bernina. Capistrano Sew and Vac's Steve paid for my first quilt class for the purchase of my most beloved 1090S. That class was an awesome gift!

So my latest finished quilt was actually the Imagine quilt shown in a previous post. Almost finished are these gol' dern placemats that are taking forever to make. I'm quilting 'chicken wire' and I'm going to bring the backing around to the front for binding....really hoping that works.

just a little progress

The rooster placemats are coming together here. Here's a picture of the 'parts'. I have pieced the blocks and put a very dark brown border around each group. The backing is on the quilting machine and hopefully this week I'll have time to quilt the chicken wire pattern on them. I really enjoyed these rooster mug shots. The backing is a different rooster fabric that seemed to coordinate fairly well. Finish pics in a week or so...depending on how I do the binding. I'm hoping to fold the backing over and finish with mitered corners as a binding rather than cut and sew regular quilt binding.

Just purchased this cute flannel on Friday to make a baby quilt for a new great grand baby entering stage center this fall. I was sure it was going to be a boy but yesterday we got the news 'It's a girl'! This sounds pretty exciting! The parents are wonderful and the first born son is a sweet heart. He will be a nurturing big brother to the baby girl. But do you think these pale greens and blues will work? Should I pursue pink?

"Imagine" a finish

I think we have overcome some of the computer issues so...Finally some quilting around here. This is a Schnibbles quilt called Imagine that I finished today. I messed with the block placement a bit to make a more obvious pattern. Lovely collection from Moda called Peace On Earth. The plaid in the group was my absolute favorite. It is a small 37" square and fits perfect for me to use when I sit at my computer or to adorn the back of my chair.

I'm working on placemats with roosters this week... when I am not headed off to work that is.

log on problems

I'm having trouble with my computer locking up every time I try to pull up the blogging website/dashboard page. So I'm not sure how long I will keep trying to blog. Thanks for those of you who have checked in for my posts and I'll continue to check in with yours when I can.
Keep stitchin' :-)

doggin' it

Looking at this video, one might assume we are successful at getting Mosley to get a little extra exercise using a Dog Trotter....however, we can only get him to move ever so briefly when trying to reach for the cookie. It apparently needs a motor. :-(

Oh well, I'm going back to stitching and either start the placemats I need for a gift or finish the binding on a Schnibbles quilt (as seen in left corner of video). Guaranteed success there.

Update just in!...we called the 'company' and they suggested putting the front of this contraption on wood blocks to raise it up a bit. AND it worked! Mosley was trotting away at 2.8miles per hour and very proud. Now why would we want this in the first place? We adopted Mosley last November. He is almost 8 yrs old and has some behaviour issues that I felt would be partly helped by more exercise. I walk the dogs 4 days a week for about 1.5 hours but can't do it on the days I work. Dear Husband, as sweet as he is, is not able to take them for walks but came up with this idea as a way to help them when I'm not home. This is such a huge relief. Returning this item was going to be a huge shipping challenge!

This week, we also had a long awaited consult from a trainer who has done some work with The Dog Whisperer. I've watched the shows but knew there was so much I just 'wasn't getting' and boy was I right. She helped us so much in such a short time. After owning dogs for 30 some years, I may actually become a calm, assertive pack leader :-) Thank you Cheri Lucas!

I rewarded Mosley for his efforts with a walk out in the real world with his sisters. What wonderful creatures :-)

more diamonds

So for the stitching part of the retreat, I worked on some diamonds. Photo, top left, is Quilted Diamond (these are all from Linda's first book) #94 It was just what it ought to be, and looked what it was; and QD #130 a letter from a niece.

QD #68 It has been the work of many generations.

Desert Retreat

I traveled to southern California to the desert this week to stay at La Quinta Resort for a few days for a medical conference. The trip was paid for by the physician's group at our ER as a reward for a few nurses that had done the most patient follow up calls. I was thrilled to be 'caught' doing my job well.

A friend from Tucson drove there to stay with me. The resort is nestled right up to the base of the Santa Rosa mountains. My camera and skills don't quite show the grandeur of these mountains but they were almost the best part of being there. The temperature was actually not as high as usual for this time of year which was a particular 'God send' perhaps just for me :-) It was a blissful 85 degrees on Friday with just a gentle breeze.

The first pictures show the mountains behind the resort and this lovely manmade stream over river rock that I enjoyed.

The next photos are of the courtyard in front of our room,

the lovely Spa where I indulged in the best pedicure of my life! and a massage.

And then these lovely flowers.

Diamonds of flowers....which gives a hint of what kind of sewing I was doing while on retreat. more later,