Friendship and stitchn' away ....!

A few weeks ago I had the wonderful privilege of meeting a blogging friend.

We had planned a trip visit to my in-laws in Massachusetts. As you all know by now, they live close to one of my favourite quilt shops. What a perk!

Anyhow, that Saturday, The Quilted Crow was hosting their monthly Breakfast Club. I thought perhaps Linda, from A Simple Life, would like to join me, and she did. What a wonderful time we had! So much so that we went to a coffee shop to continue our visit! I so enjoyed her company!

A couple of weeks ago I received this lovely note from Linda.

I am so glad that we had a change to meet in person.

Wow! Now I have two perks for when I visit my in-laws! lol

Thank you again Linda for your company!

On the renovation front, we've moved back into our living-room! Yea! Oh and the heat is functional again. You just never know in the north! lol

Now, I did mention in my prior blog entry that I have been stitchn' away! ;o) Well, get a load of this!

Voila! Block 7 (seven) of Hocuspocusville!


Have I shown you block 8(eight) yet?


I'm telling you those 2 (two) little thimbles are marvelous! I can go on for days on end! It's great!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to do some more hand embroidery! You never know, I may have that quilt done by Halloween!

Cheers!

I've been a stitchin' fool.....

Last week was one of those weeks where solutions to problems just seemed to come. You see, I've been bothered by the fact that I was limited on the time I could spend hand embroidering.

For some reason, when it comes to hand embroidering, I find using a normal thimble cumbersome. So, the finger I use to push the needle would develop a small surface hole that's quite tender and the middle finger underneath my work would get scraped by the point of the needle, thus becoming sore.

You would think after years of hand embroidering I would get callouses rendering this a none issue, but that is not the case.

It was time for a solution!

It dawned on me that we had these little Thimble Pads at the Fibre Junction. So, I gave them a try!

They work beautifully! They are not cumbersome and thus allow me to push my embroidery needle through.

I was impressed!

They last too! The adhesive works for a long period of time. I've been using one for the past 4 (four) days and it still sticks to my finger. As for the colour, well it sort of has picked up the colour of my thread - black!

Of course this didn't help the left hand issue, the one that's underneath my work. Sure I can alternate between fingers, but after a while they all get sore.

Ding, a light bulb came on!

Why don't I try the Under Thimble by the same company?

Picked that up at the Shoppe too!

It was my week off, but you wouldn't know it by the number of times I found myself at Fibre Junction! lol

Well, stuck one of these metal spheres on the other middle finger and gave it a try.

Took me a few minutes to get used too, but it's working great.

The needle scrapes the surface of the metal as opposed to my finger.

No more sore fingers!

Look out, I'm armed!

With these little thimbles on, I can stitch for days on end!

What a relief!

Now, try getting a 13 year old to take this picture? Yea, she wouldn't stop laughing! "Mommy..." lol

Of course I feel kind of funny myself when I show off my middle fingers with the thimbles on! LOL! Kids?!?!

I haven't tried the Under Thimble with hand applique yet, but I sure will give it a try. I'm hoping I can extend the time I spend hand appliqueing! When you're on a roll, it's nice to be able to keep the pace!

Tell me, do you get sore fingers when you work on your hand embroidery? Do you use a thimble? I'd love for you to share your method/tools!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Despite the crazy busyness going on in my life, I am still somewhat accomplishing stuff.

The renovations are going according to schedule. Hubby has been hard at work getting the molding up and is now applying polyurethane to the livingroom floor. Once that has harden, we can actually start moving in! Onward to the dining room!

On the quilting front,

I have Hocuspocusville block 10 done.



The quilt is slowly getting done! I haven't had much time to do some hand work as of late.

I've been in a piecing mode! I will have lots to show you in a bit! I hope! lol

I was really hoping to have this quilt done by this Halloween, but..... not sure I will be able to meet my goal. Oh well, there's always next year!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

New family member.......and the winner is........!

Firstly, thank you to all that participated in my "one of these things" game. I do want to apologize again for taking so long in posting the winner, but you all know what's going on in my life from the last post. Oh, and it's really only the tip of the iceberg! lol

Second, I would like for you to meet a new family member

Meet Lillith!

She's an African pygmy hedgehog! She's such a cuty pie!

She's been with us since the beginning of June. She was rescued from a bad breeder in Texas.

Alright, let's get to the give away! This is the kitted pattern that I've decided to give as the prize.

The pattern is called Make Life .... Fresh by Sweetwater.

I chose from the Neutral Territory fabric line. It is a line designed by Terry Atkinson and Liz Lois of Red Rooster.

Alright, here we go for the draw.

I took out my trusty cauldron again!

Don't mind the mess! ;o)

I'll spare you the details of my ritual, as I am sure you are all well acquainted. ;o)

As I stirred the content of the cauldron, out jumped an entry! Wow!

Now, I know it wasn't a funny trick/spell from one of the participants, because well, you know my routine! ;o) So it must be meant to be! ;o)

And the winner is:

Anonymous Linda in IN.

Congratulations!

Please e-mail me so that we can arrange for the delivery of your prize.

Thank you again everyone! Enjoy the day! Cheers!