Sunday, February 2, 2020

STITCHING.......

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching taking place over at Kathy's Quilts....head over and check out what everyone is stitching on today.

As for me, I'm working on a quilt for my niece, Zoey.  I asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted Stitch on her quilt.  I found one I liked and proceeded to start working on it.  As of today I have 4  rows done.  It's for a twin bed, so I think 7 rows will work.
There is going to be a light green border on the quilt.  I'm planning on embroidering music notes on it. 
The cell phones I've put on the quilt is a history lesson for Zoey.  The little talk bubbles have Slang Words from the 1960's....so she will have to track them down on the internet.  She knows some of them....
The blocks are 10 1/2" blocks with a 2" border between each block and row.   Stitch and the cell phones are all done with fabric from my scrap box.

Hope everyone has an awesome day stitching...and have a great.....


Wednesday, January 29, 2020

BOOK REPORT.......

This was my January Book Club's choice.  I tried reading this book, but it just didn't grab my interest.  So I stopped after the 5th chapter.

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout










I give this book **

Monday, January 20, 2020

BOOK REPORT.....

The Water Castle - Megan Frazer Blakemore




















Synopsis (Amazon.com)
Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle-their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle-and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic.Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets. But Will has rejected legend and magic, putting all his faith in science. When Ephraim learns of the Fountain, he's sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will's help, the trio embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families' shared history, through every secret room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines of magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving readers left to wonder: Do you believe in the unbelievable?


This book is listed as Junior Fiction at my Library....but don't let that fool you into thinking it's just for kids.  Really good book, held my attention very well.  And if the unbelievable could be called Faith....I believe! 5 *****

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges
Monthly Key Word Challenge.....(Water)
Color Coded Challenge....(Blue)


Thursday, January 9, 2020

EMBROIDERY HOOPS......

Do your embroider....what kind of hoops do you prefer?  I myself like the wooden hoops, they seem to hold the fabric tighter. 
I've tried the plastic hoops, but didn't really like them that much.  They don't seem to tighten up as much as the wooden hoops.

I do lots of embroidery, I'm working on a Crazy Quilt....here are a couple of blocks I've done.




I'm linking up with Tamar for Little Things Thursday.  Head over to Tamar's place and check out all the folks sharing their posts.



Wednesday, January 1, 2020

HOLIDAYS.....

The holidays are over...the Christmas Tree is down...had my Cabbage Rolls for New Years.

The twins have been out of school for almost 2 weeds....they go back to school Jan. 6...then maybe things can get back to normal.

I was so bored with playing games on my computer, I picked up my grand daughters library book...It's Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dav Pilkey.  I've wanted to read this series of books, but have never done it.  I must say I was pretty surprised...I really liked this book!  This is book 8, so I've got to go back to the beginning.


The teachers are nice, the cafeteria serves delicious food, and the school principal, Mr. Krupp, thinks George and Harold are hilarious. Something is very, very wrong -- and it gets even wronger when the boys' pet pterodactyl, Crackers, and Sulu the Bionic Hamster are captured by George and Harold's evil-twin look-alikes. Now George and Harold must face their greatest foes yet: THEMSELVES! Can they handle this mess on their own, or will they need Captain Underpants to swoop in and save the day?

I give this book......

*****

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

CHRISTMAS......

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.


Sunday, December 22, 2019

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.


Thursday, October 24, 2019

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
###############################################################################
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....

 

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

CRAZY QUILT.....

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

Block 6
Block 7
Block 8



Friday, September 13, 2019

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.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

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.


Tuesday, September 3, 2019

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. 


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

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. 
********************************************************************************
 
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.






Sunday, August 25, 2019

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.....


Saturday, February 2, 2019

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.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

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......



Wednesday, January 9, 2019

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.



Saturday, January 5, 2019

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. 

Friday, January 4, 2019

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


Tuesday, December 25, 2018

HOLIDAYS......

Hoping you all have a safe and happy holiday season.


Friday, December 7, 2018

CRAZY QUILT CHALLENGE......

I've been following Sharon over at Pintangle to keep track of her Crazy Quilt Challenge.  You can get all the info for the challenge here. 

The idea is to make a Crazy Quilt with 2020 different items.  You can count fabric, beads, threads, ribbon, lace, technique and buttons.  I'm going to do this one, don't know it I'll get it done by December 2020, but I'm going to try.  If you want to see Sharon's Crazy Quilt blocks (she had 10 done) you can see them here.

I made a Crazy Quilt last year, but haven't got the top together.  Mine is 12 x 12 blocks.  I thought I would try a rectangle shape this time.  I've got a couple pieced but haven't started the embellishment.  I've set up a tab to put the pictures when I've finished them. 

Be sure you check out Sharon's place for lots and lots of goodies to look at.  Sharon also shared from
Janis Stoker  a printable PDF file you can use to keep track of the items you use.  


Have an awesome quilting day!