Catching my breath!

Wow, what a week! I think I'm caught up! I have been fighting this cold turned into a sinus infection and I think I'm winning! lol DH allowed me to sleep in on Monday, taking care of getting our little girl ready for the bus. What a difference it made! I'm feeling much better!

Today, I took care of some much needed things that I have been neglecting. I did take the time to write a few letters to friends I have made on blog land. I also took the opportunity to visit my post office a few time! lol What a beautiful Autumn day!

On the hand embroidery front, I have finished my Autumn's Harvest Pumpkin stitchery pattern. I finally wrapped my brain around the Fly Stitch, thanks to May Britt who was a wealth of information! She provided me with a video link of the stitch!

I noticed that it's a tad off on the lower right side. I'm looking at the pattern and I guess it's supposed to be that way. Strange! I will be turning this into a small rectangular accent pillow. I just need to figure out how I shall make the pillow envelop. It would be nice to make it as a slip cover. Maybe I'll get ambitious and make a stitchery design for every season! ;o) - lol

On the quilting front, this is a new pattern that I am working on, Sherbert Delight by Perkins Dry Goods! I first saw it on a blog a while back and just had to have it! I asked my LQS, Loose Threads, if they could get a copy for me, which they did.

Lora, one of the owners who has become a good friend, will be displaying this quilt in the shop. Of course, now I'm all nervous about my piecing! lol

I decided to make the lap size, which I find to be more of a small twin than a lap size. I'm using 1930's reproduction fabrics. I thought the colours would work well with the patterns.

The Yuletide quilt is still in the process of being pieced. I feel that I must prioritize this new quilt since it will be used in the shop.

Tah, dah! All my blocks are done. It's a matter of piecing the top together.

I will admit, I was a tad anal about my piecing. I don't know why I get that way. I should just be enjoying the process! Oh well, what can I say, c'est moi!

The rest of the week should be a bit more mellow! I'm hoping to play a bit of catch-up on blog land!

Thank you for stopping by!

Le Party Weekend!

This week was my intense school week! It would appear that no matter how much I prepare for it, I never seem to be ahead of the game. I do enjoy the class but it's heavy! My brain is fried after the class marathon!

Aside from attempting to win over this cold that started on Thursday and is now turning into a sinus infection, it was Le Party weekend for DD. So there were lots to do. Yes, I did do my Vulture Vomit, which the kids weren't that game to try except Wawa. She's such a trooper! Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a picture of the table with all the foods.

I will admit, I wasn't into it as much as the previous years. However, I did remember to take some pictures.

Meet Le Party 2007! Fifteen (15) kids in all!

What an imagination these kids have!

I'm finding that as the kids get older, thinking up of activities that will be fun and age appropriate is getting harder and harder. Despite the odd one's wanting to keep to themselves in another room, the majority did have lots of fun. What's with the rush of wanting to be an adult? Adulthood is so over rated!

Since bobbing for apples has become somewhat politically incorrect, we had bobbing for candy corn in whipped cream!

What a blast it was to watch the kids go at it. We decided to have a competition to see who would be the first to get the candy corn. We had a first and second prize winner. Jennifer was great at getting the kids psyched up for the race.

This is my favourite picture of Wawa, Jennifer's youngest. The apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree! LOL

Wawa is quite the character! She's a treat to watch! I tell you, you cannot turn your back for a second on that one! She's always up to something! This is not really the picture I wanted to post of Wawa, but I thought I would spare Jennifer, who has become a great friend, any embarrassment! ROFL

On the quilting front, I have been working on a quilt for our LQS, Loose Threads. I decided to make it using 1930's reproduction fabrics. So far I like the way it's turning out! I will post about it soon!

Thank you for stopping by!

Tagged! I'm it!

Last week I was nominated for the You make me Smile Award by Connie.

Thank you so much Connie for nominating me. You are so kind and sweet! Your blog and e-mails always make me smile!.

Speaking of blog, what happen to the French lyrics that go with the tune on your blog? I keep expecting Maurice Chevalier to pop out and start signing! lol

On a different note, I have been nominated by Darlene, another person that makes me smile, to list 4 (four) things about Me Me. Some of the categories, I really had to think about.

So here goes!

4 Jobs I've had

Book review editor for the Journal of Religion and Culture
Change Implement facilitator (A fancy title for the study of work habits in an organization)
Mortgage Supervisor
Cashier at Winn-Dixie Store

4 Films I would watch over and over

Thomas and the Magical Railroad
Nanny McPhee
The Polar Express
Santa Clause 2 (I love Santa!)

4 TV Shows I watch
Sorry folks, I don't watch TV - Does QNN count?
Linda's Longarm Quilting

4 Places I've lived

New York
Quebec
Vermont (I didn't live there just owned a property)
Florida

4 Favourite foods

Seafood (Salmon, lobster etc..)
Pasta (fettuccine Alfredo, pesto etc..)
Baguette, cheese & wine (Oh wait, is wine a food?)
Chocolate cheesecake

4 Favourite Colours

Green
Purple
Blue
Burgundy

4 Places I would love to be

Hawaii (just so I could get lei like Sharon)
Arizona (so I could float in Darlene's pool with a frozen margarita while I look at her beautiful quilts hanging nearby)
Indiana (So I can sit on Connie's porch and enjoy a bottle of red wine. Oh and I promise to bring my pasta machine for fresh pasta)
British Columbia (So I can visit with Pam and sit in one of those blue chair and enjoy another bottle of wine all while we look out of those beautiful finished windows. Did you dust Pam? ROFL And of course, while I'm there I'd visit Wendy, who also likes wine and Salmon. I've got a great recipe Wendy for salmon stuffed with spinach)

Well that's about it folks. Now it's my turn to tag. So here goes, tag you're it!

Have a great weekend every one!

I'm Stuck!

Not in a rut! Actually, my life has finally settled school wise. I made the decision to drop a class. You see, I only need one (1) class to complete my credit requirements, so why make myself crazy busy when not necessary? I am enjoying the stress free time! ;o)

This is where I am stuck, on my hand embroidery project. The outline of the pumpkin calls for the fly stitch. Many of you were kind enough to provide me with a link that offered a visual instruction on the stitch. However, I just can't seem to wrap my brain around the process. So, I have put the project aside until I figure this out.

One thing I did learn was not to use a Sketch and Wash pencil. My design has been fading! You see, I'm fearful of using a Pigma pen in case I make a mistake tracing. How will I be able to correct it? I figured that by using a washable pencil, I would be able to eliminate my tracing mistakes. Perhaps a regular pencil would work better. Then again, maybe I need to work on my tracing skills. lol

On the quilting front!

I have completed all of the blocks for our daughter's "winter quilt". I do like the fabrics, so rich looking!

Stephen feels that it's not juvenile enough for our daughter. His reasoning is that by the time she is old enough, the quilt will be used up and I'll have made another one more her age. I don't know! The thought of making a childish winter quilt just doesn't appeal much to me. At least not with the fabrics I have seen thus far!

Perhaps I should pay more attention to Yuletide fabrics that are geared for the younger crowd! I do have enough fabrics left to make it a tad bigger! I'll see!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day every one!

What a week!

What a great quilting week it's been! Wednesday was our guild meeting, Champlain Valley Quilter's guild of New York. We had a guest speaker, Karen Eckmeier from The Quilted Lizard. She is such a dynamic speaker, humorous and full of energy. I enjoyed listening to the stories associated with her creations, how she arrived at a particular design. Her work is beautiful to see!

Afterwards we headed it off to Merons, a bar down the street, for our monthly ritual of music, beer and darts. Since I've been hanging out with Jennifer and Lora, my dart game has drastically been improving. I won a game of cricket and 501. What a life skill I have acquired! lol In our excitement and enthusiasm to have fun, all while I proceeded to improve my dart skills, I didn't get home until 3:00 a.m.

I did get up 3 (three) hours later to get dd on the bus and ready my things for a workshop with Karen Eckmeier.

I attended the Happy Villages workshop that was sponsored by the guild. It was a great class! Karen Eckmeier is quite the entertainment! lol

During the creative process, Karen converses with her quilt. It's quite amusing to watch her demonstrate how she builds her village.

She believes that every quilt you create should make you smile. If you are not smiling, the quilt is not finished!

We were approximately 15 in the class and everyone had a different look to their village. It was fun to watch how the various villages came alive as finer details were added.

In keeping with the spirit of the fall season, I chose to do a Halloween village. Welcome to Spooky Hollow!

It is not finished and I have more details to add to it before I can start machine quilting it.

I will admit, this was really quilting outside of the box for me. I'm not used to ad lib quilting! The process involves cutting your squares into various shapes and building your village from the center outward. There is no structure to this, it's quite abstract.

Thursday evening, my friend Patty came over for our bee. I did warn her of my present sleepless state. She just laughed!

Despite the lack of sleep, it's been a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

It's not an illusion!

At last, I have begun!

You are not seeing things! Yes it is a hand embroidery project!

The pattern is called Autumn's Harvest Pumpkin by Crab-Apple Hill. I just love their designs.

It is fall and I since I do love pumpkins, what better hand embroidery pattern to begin! I will say I'm a tad rusty. The stitches are not looking as lovely as I would like them to be, but it's a start!

I will admit, I'm a tad lost with some of the terms. Hence why I started with the words and will work my way via the process of elimination.

For the pumpkin outline it calls for a fly stitch. I really have no clue what that is. I'm thinking that it's the stitch that extends from the pumpkin outline. I lent my hand embroidery book by Judith Baker Montano to my mother so I have no reference in which to look.

If you recall mom is supposed to be embroidering the panels on the French Cottage Garden Quilt for my daughter. Wendy has made the same quilt, hence where my inspiration came from, thank you again Wendy. As Kim would say, "there are hidden cost associated with blogging." So true!

All this to say that my mother has not started the panels yet, which were given to her the beginning of June. Hum..... I wonder where I get my procrastination from, but I digress! lol I should just get the book from her so that I can look up terms.

I'm off to attend to some much needed school work. I did take the week off from school, and a lovely break it was.

Back to reality! Have a great day everyone!

A New Project!

Last week was a rough one for me. I'm feeling much better now especially since I started a new project! ;o) There's nothing like working on something new to help change my frame of mind.

The other day I received my issue of McCalls Quilting magazine and fell in love with the third (3) quilt from the top.

It has always been my goal to have seasonal quilts for each bed in my home. Since DD does not have a winter quilt as of yet, I thought this one would be perfect.

For my quilts designated as "winter quilts", I like to use 100% wool batting. As you know, it can get pretty cold in Upstate New York and living in a house that is more than 150 years old, the insulation factor is no where near those of a newer home. I find wool to be superior on those cold winter nights!

I went looking through my stash and these are the fabrics I came up with. The bottom fabric will be used for the 4 (four) patch square.

I do plan on making the quilt a bit bigger than specified in the magazine. I find it to be a tad small for a twin. Besides, winter quilts always need to be bigger so that you can wrap yourself snug! lol

I do hope you are all enjoying the fall weather. It has been gorgeous in Upstate New York for the past week. It makes it difficult to stay inside!

Have a great day everyone!

My aching body!

Stephen is on vacation for the week. Today, being such a gorgeous day, he asked me out on a hiking date! ;o)

It's been a while since I've been on a date with my sweetie. So, I dusted off my hiking boots and we headed south to the Adirondacks.

We did the Poke-O-Moonshine trail, which climbs an eastern Adirondack peak.

The trail is 2.4 miles round trip. Don't let the low miles fool you, it's very steep. You get quite the workout! Who needs a StairMaster when you've got Poke-O-Moonshine! lol

This is not a leisurely hike what so ever. You are continuously climbing upwards, winding around the mountain until you reach the summit. At times, you're actually rock climbing! lol

This is a beautiful view we were privy too!

It was a tad hazy today, so the colours are not as vibrant as I would have liked the picture to be. The view was breathtaking!

Once we had reached our destination, we had a little picnic! Nothing fancy, apple, cheese, crackers and nuts. It was enough to keep us well energized!

After our leisurely lunch, we headed back down the mountain!

Once home, I could barely move my body! I have not exercised since my surgeries and boy do I feel it! Nonetheless, it's a good pain, if you catch my drift! lol

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Autumn day!