CHRISTMAS......

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

SLOW SUNDAY STITCHING....

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts is the host for....Slow Sunday Stitching...

Want to see what everyone is working on.....head over to Kathy's place to check it all out.

As for me...I'm working on a Crazy Quilt...I'm doing this on 8 1/2  X  8 1/2 inch muslin squares.  I'm making these blocks from my scrap box...that's what I've named this quilt...My Scrap Box Quilt.  I've got 16 done so far....so have a lot of work to do...I'll just show a few I've gotten done.  Want to see a larger picture....just click on the picture.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 5

BOOK REPORT.....

The Professor and the Madman - Simon Winchester

Amazone.com
The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary—and literary history.

This is my December Book Club choice.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  It has a lot of what I like to read....mystery and murder. 

Dr. Minor is an American Civil War veteran who is locked up in a
asylum for the criminally insane.  He killed a man who he thought was someone else.  This all takes place in 1872.  Who would have thought this would lead to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.  

Dr. James Murray is the man that got the dictionary going.  He got all the people reading books and sending in words to add to the dictionary.  The first publishing of the Oxford English Dictionary was  February 1, 1884.  Want to read more about this......Wikipedia has all the info on this.

2020 READING CHALLENGES.....

The new reading challenges are starting too pop up.  I was at A Novel Challenge checking them out.  I found one I would like to try.  I'm hoping the challenge will get my reading mojo back.  What did I find??

Jamie over at Whatever I Think Of!  is hosting a challenge....

Monthly Key Word Challenge

 .......Six “key words” are given for each month. Your task is to read 1 book that includes one or more of the key words in the title.

MONTHLY KEY WORDS


 JANUARY – Water, This, Hello, Sun, New, Six

FEBRUARY – Girl, Any, Love, Red, Note, Throne

MARCH – Dream, Day, In, House, Luck, Friend

APRIL – Lost, Below, City, Jewel, Night, My

MAY – Sky, Name, Blue, Book, Enchant, Is

JUNE – And, Beach, Number, Wish, Down, Word

JULY – Boy, Last, Day, Into, Dear, Summer

AUGUST – Kiss, Flower, When, Happy, North, Right

SEPTEMBER – Star, Cry, She, Window, Forever, Eye

OCTOBER – Haunt, Around, Shadow, Grave, Murder, Deep

NOVEMBER – Look, Forest, Out, Color, Lock, Now

DECEMBER – Sword, Magic, Fly, Of, Silver, Crown
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I'll also be joining the Color Coded Challenge....

Host is Bev over at My Reader's Block.

[ Here's the basic rule: read nine books with the various colors listed below in their titles or as a dominant color/image on their covers. For full details, click the link above. I'll list my books and date read as they come.]

1. Read a book with "Blue" (or a shade of blue):
2. Read a book with "Red" (or a shade of red):
3. Read a book with "Yellow" (or a shade of yellow):
4. Read a book with "Green" (or a shade of green):
5. Read a book with "Brown" (or a shade of brown):
6. Read a book with "Black" (or a shade of black):
7. Read a book with "White" ( or a shade of white):
8. Read a book with any other color:
9. Read a book a word/image that implies color (rainbow, polka dot, etc)

So hop over and check these 2 reading challenges out....

 

CRAZY QUILT.....

Got 3 more blocks done on my 81/2 inch Crazy Quilt. 

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

WHAT'S BLOOMING AT HOME.....

I love this time of the year.  The Honeysuckle starts climbing and seems to burst into bloom overnight.  And I love the smell.  Walk past a patch of Honeysuckle and your this awesome burst of fragrance.  Our Honeysuckle is in full bloom right now. 

This is a close up of the Honeysuckle Blooms.....

The area where this honeysuckle is, is it's own eco system.  You have Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vine and Pokeberry all growing in this same spot.  The Trumpet Vine and Honeysuckle have grown up the side of the house.

The poor Pokeberry has gotten bent down with all the weight of the vines.  The wind will also knock it down if it blows hard enough.  This is the base of the Pokeberry.

These are the berries hanging on the stems.

I'm linking up with Michelle for Nature Notes.

CRAZY QUILT....

I've finished block 5 of my 8 1/2" block. 

The sunflower triangle has a piece of yellow cord, couched down.  The pink and white ribbon has Bullion Knots on it.

I'm currently working on block 6....

I'm working on the shell fabric at the bottom right.  The clear round button is my version of an octopus.  This frilly stuff is a piece of Eyelash trim...my grandson brought it home to me.  He had a  piece left from an art project.  Haven't quite figured out what to do with piece of marble fabric yet....any suggestions will be appreciated.  

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

8 1/2 Crazy Quilt Block

I've finished 3 more blocks....
Block 2

 This block has a Silk Flower...I put a piece of lace down...attached a silk flower with a button.  Then embroidered some vines.  The little pink flowers on the vines are Bullion Knots.
 
Block 3

This block has a spray of buttons on it.  With some ribbon down the right side.  The Silk Flower is on a piece of burlap and is attached with a button.

Block 4

I put a piece of Blue Ribbon on and used Buttonhole stitch to hold it done.  Then added buttons.  Arrow stitch is between the buttons. 

PERSONAL CHALLENGE.........

I've given my self  a personal challenge....to make a crazy quilt out of scraps from my scrap box...

It doesn't look like much, but there are lots of scraps in there.  When needed I'll pull from my stash of fabric. 
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I've started a new Crazy Quilt.  The block is 8 1/2" X 8 1/2".  The background fabric is unbleached muslim. I'm using my scraps to work on these blocks...but also some of my uncut fabric.  This is the first block I've finished....

The center is a motif I got at Hobby Lobby, it's used for a wedding dress.  It's laying on a piece of antique lace I picked up at a garage sale.  I've uses ribbon and rick rack on the seams...

The ribbon has Fly Stitch holding it down.  The rick rack has Cable Chain stitch holding it down.  All of the threads I used are DMC Embroidery Floss.  I use 3 strands of floss.

The gold is some ribbon I picked up at a garage sale, It has Cable Chain stitch done with green embroidery floss.  In the upper left corner is a button on a piece of lace.  With green embroidery floss used for the running stitch going around the square.

NOTE:  If you want to see close ups of the pictures....just click on them.

NEW SERIES STARTING...

I've decided to start a series of posts on my Embroidery and Quilting.  The Embroidery work will be on my Crazy Quilt.  The Quilting will be on a new Quilt I'm working on for my Niece. 

I will post pictures of each block as I work on them....in the case of the Quilt blocks for my Niece's Quilt....I've already finished 4 blocks...so I'll post these as soon as I get pictures of them.

Hopefully this series will be running for 30 days....we'll see.....

BOB......

is our dog...he's a mix of Labrador and Mastiff.  Which makes him rather big.  He sleeps in some really funny positions.  And just about anywhere in the house will do.

The step between the kitchen and laundry room....

  Most of the time he is just napping...you can tell when he's really asleep by this....

Upside down means he's conked out. 

I'm linking up with Saturday Snap Shot....


FOOTNOTE:
I've been really slack about keeping my blog up to date.  Haven't got a reason, just didn't feel the urge  to post anything.  But I will be working on getting back into blogging.

DEATH OF A SISTER....

My baby sister, Tina, passed away yesterday morning.

Tina was an ER Trauma Nurse for 25 years.  She loved being a nurse. 

She graduated from collage and it was off to the races for her.  She loved working with people and helping them.  She took care of our parents when they became ill.  Tina has 3 children...Brad, Heather and Zoe.  They were the love of her life.  Tina recently became a grandmother, Jaylen is now 18 months old, and she loved him so much.  Tina will be missed by family and friends very, very much.

Love ya sis......

TUSAL....

Totally Useless Stitch Along....the new one for 2019 is up and running. 

Hop over to It's Daffycat to check out all the folks joining in.

This is my 2018 jar of ort's.  The little pile of threads is my January so far.

MONEY......

I saw this cool idea on facebook....I think I'll give it a try.

You start with 1.00 and the next week add 2.00 dollars and the next week add 3.00 dollars.  Just keep doubling every week. 

CRAZY QUILT.....

I've joined Sharon over at Pintangle for her 2020 Crazy Quilt Challenge.  I've got 2 blocks done.

Block 1

Fabric - 4
Braid - 1
Threads - 1
Buttons - 16
Charm - 1
Motif - 1
Beads - 2
Silk Flowers - 1
Stitches - Lazy Daisy, Buttonhole Wheel, Running Stitch,
Chain Stitch, Buttonhole Stitch
Dollie - 1
GRAND TOTAL.....40

 Block 2

Fabric - 5
Threads - Pearle Cotton # 5 - 1
Buttons - 12
Charms - 0
Motif - 2
Beads - 17
Silk Flowers - 0
Dollie -0
Stitches - French Knot, Chain Stitch, Back Stitch
Braid
Rick Rack - 2
GRAND TOTAL - 42

TOTAL SO FAR....
82