Monday, July 28, 2014

Post #69 - Day off. Or off day. Whichever.

I had big plans for today.

That's nothing new. I have big plans for every day. Sometimes things get done, sometimes life gets in the way.

Today life gets in the way of my plans.

I had a huge stack of newspapers that I'd planned on turning into rolled logs.  We tried that a few years ago by wetting the newspaper and rolling it then letting it dry for weeks. We weren't impressed with the results.  But I recently did some research and some people were claiming to have good results with rolling dry newspaper. So I thought I'd give it a shot. 

Last night I started rolling the paper logs and finished up this morning. I didn't count how many there were.  Quite frankly I am done looking at them.  A short time later I realized that my hands were rebelling. They ache so badly that I am taking the rest of the day off.

So here, enjoy some pictures of sleepy kitties.



Click *HERE to return to the home page.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Post #68 - The week in review

This has been a busy week for our household.  We had one at church camp and two at Boy Scout camp.  And then there was Family Night at Scout camp on Wednesday where we enjoyed a potluck meal with our Troop families.  Then a storm came through and lowered the temperature AND the humidity.  We were all happy to see that happen.

The boys were home on Friday and had wedding rehearsal Friday night. The oldest is the Best Man, the youngest a Groomsman.  

When did the kids that my kids ran around with get old enough to get married, hmm?  

Anyway, Hubs got home from Scout camp today, we ate lunch, then attended the wedding.  And it was a lovely wedding. The bride was beautiful, her dress was fairytale gorgeous. But I couldn't help myself--when the Groom walked out I commented that he's just a baby!  
Kids.

I've taken a short break from the quilt piecing. I ordered a new foot for my sewing machine and it should be here early next week. It will help me keep the seams even and exact.
Exact is important when quilting. So I hear.

Meanwhile I began work on a stuffed animal pattern.  I joined the *Cuddle Club sewing club last month. The first pattern I received was for Buster the dog.  
 (Image taken from *Wendi's website.)

I've used Wendi's Shiny Happy World patterns before and I recommend them. Remember the*Easter Eggs from felt?  Actually, that stitching club set is what reignited my love for doing crafts. I was pretty depressed after my parents died last year and it was good therapy for me.  So Wendi holds a special place in my heart, even though we've never met. 

But I digress.

I joined the Cuddle Club a little late and missed the first two stuffed animals. My kit arrived in the mail while I was in *New York. So here I am, nearly a month later, just now starting work on it. Wendi keeps the pattern a secret until you receive it; I was tickled to see it was for a cute puppy dog. The kit arrives with everything needed to make the stuffy except for the stuffing, sewing machine and thread. She even included a cookie! But after setting in the package for over a week it was inedible. Still, it was very thoughtful of her.

Since I've been hanging out in fabric stores lately, I went ahead and picked up more cuddle fleece to make a second stuffy. 
Because I can, that's why. 
And since I always give away the stuffed animals I make I figured why not make two at once? Wendi had sent me fleece in pretty rust and brown tones. I picked out a cute brown textured fleece to make a whimsical dog.
Several years ago the kids helped me make pattern weights using different size washers and some fabulous nylon strips on a spool that my cousin gave me. I wish I had more of that stuff. Anyway, this was the perfect project to use fabric weights and the rotary cutter.  All the pieces were cut out in no time.
While I'm thinking of it, why haven't I ever heard of Wonder Clips before?  I ordered a set of small ones and have been using them all this week. I LOVE these little clips. 
 I use them instead of pins to hold the cut pattern pieces all together. I'm also using them to keep the quilt blocks and pieces in their piles. When I begin sewing this slippery fleece, I will use them to hold the fabric pieces in place instead of pins. They are turning out to be very useful tools.

After everything was cut out, I got distracted when I noticed that the boys' dress shirts for the wedding still had the creases from being in the package.  So I stopped working on my project to iron them.

While I had the iron out I went ahead 
and pressed the seams on the quilt blocks that I have pieced. Pressing the seams helps the block lie flat.

And then Kate and I stopped to play with 
the kitties who were just waking from a nap.
 Brutus doesn't normally care to be held, 
so this was definitely a photo worthy moment.

 And then things got silly when I put a glow bracelet on Lizzie. 
It lasted about 15 seconds before she took it off. Then we took it away from her so she wouldn't chew on it.

I will work on the stuffies next week and share pictures when they are done.

Click *HERE to return to the home page. 

*This blog program will not allow me to change the link settings. The default setting does not make the link very visible, so I've marked them with an asterisk. 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Post #67 - The kittens have NAMES!

A big thank you to everyone 
who suggested names for the little darlings. 

We didn't use any of them. 
(Although "Bonnie & Clyde" were real contenders.)

But we appreciate your efforts. :-)

I tried to get a nice picture
so I could introduce them to you, 
but they don't stay still long enough to get a 
good picture while they are awake.  
Here, let me show you a few attempts:


  And then they fell asleep. 
So without further ado, 
let me introduce to you

 (Princess) Lizzie

and Brutus.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Post #66 - A-sewing we shall go

Dishes are done.
Two boys are off to two different camps.
Laundry is started.
Bills are paid.
Sun tea is setting out, brewing.

And so with this little guy by my side

I'm chain sewing

the striped blocks.

It takes longer to pick out four strips than it does to sew a block. 
Seven down, twelve more matched up & ready to sew, thirty-one more to go!


 The three state/stars that I have patterns for are finished and appliqued on their blocks, ready to be paired with a striped block.
 I receive a pattern for the stars once a week via email, so it will be months before I can assemble rows because I'm not setting them in the same order that I'm making them.
I like to be difficult that way.
But by this time next year it will look something like this! :-)

It really isn't too late to sign up for the stitching club over at 
Wild Olive.
Go check it out. 

Friday, July 18, 2014

Post #65 - Five on Friday, kitten edition

Five things I've learned this week:

  1. Apparently my feet move while I sleep and are irresistible to a waking kitty.
    1.a.  Kitten claws are sharp!
  2. "Fresh Scent" kitty litter is a lie.
  3. Think you've got the house clean?  Give a kitten a white pompom to play with. I dare you.
  4. If you think they are too small to reach or get into something, kittens will prove you wrong every time. They are sooooo curious!
  5. Kittens grow right before your eyes, changing day to day. It's like having two hairy pre-teens in the house.

 
I can't imagine life without these two.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Post #64 - Playing catch up

Here are a few things that happened last week while I wasn't blogging.

We roasted marshmallows and watched the fireworks display on the 4th.

The garden is beginning to yield some crops.

I freshened up some of the front porch furniture.

We ate a bowlful of cherries.

 I worked on an quilting project.

And you would think the new pulls for the ceiling fan would be fool proof.
You would think wrong.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Post #63 - Name those kitties!


We've been sharing our house with these two little cuties since this weekend...

...and they don't have names yet.

So I was hoping...

...you'd have some suggestions.

 Because we've just been calling them "kitty"...

(male)

  (female)

...and they really do deserve proper names.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Post #62 - Remembering I have a blog...

Oops, I kind of forgot to finish the vacation stories.

So...besides visiting Niagara Falls, we explored Northwestern New York and had a great time doing so.

One day we drove to the Lake. 
Lake Ontario, that is.
We found a NY State Park. It had a lighthouse.
The strange thing was, that it wasn't foggy where we were staying (about 15 miles from the Lake) but when we got there it was so foggy we couldn't even SEE the Lake.
Golden Hill State Park
Golden Hill State Park
 The Thirty Mile Lighthouse at Golden Hill State Park.

I took a picture of Lake Ontario, then realized someone was doing a photo shoot on the dock. Oops.

 We tried again a few days later. We found a lovely community park to walk through. It was right on the Lake and the park and the people in it were charming.
 Lake Ontario sans the fog.

The water was really clear:

We sat down on a park bench, enjoyed the view for a while and took a selfie:

While we were exploring New York we noticed that the roads were in great shape. No potholes. No patches where there used to be potholes. They are doing something right.  Oh, and it's FLAT. With wide open skies.
 It is a beautiful part of the country.

I got such a kick out of this silo that hubs pulled over and let me get a picture of it.  Not only does it have a face, but there's a chicken on it's "hat."
 Some fun people lived there. You can tell.

 I also started a new embroidery project. When it's finished, it will be another pillow for the camper.


 We went shopping one day and found a store called, "Five Below". It had lots of interesting things in it. This happy little solar flower called to me.

 I liked it so well I went back and bought another flower and a surfer dude. He does the hula on his surf board. Fun!

This picture is a little blurry because we were on the Interstate; but it's clear enough to see the rows and rows of grape vines.  There were numerous fields, countless acres of grape vines. It was really something to see.

I can't wait for our next big adventure. I love spending time with my husband.