SWEATER PROGRESS

When I was traveling, I just put the sleeve stitches on yarn and  knit around and around for the body.  Now that I am finished with the ribbing, I have to make the sleeves with the whole weight of the sweater on my lap. I have found that if I remember, I can knit around and the sleeve and then just rotate the sleeve to continue without turning the whole pile around!  Why have I never thought of this before?!?!  It makes the whole process much more efficient.

  I will be finishing the sweater this week, I'm pretty sure!

DISCOVERY

Mary and I were able to load her quilt onto my frame--it was 3" too wide which led to some interesting discussions and ideas.  We ended up deciding that Mary would free-motion quilt in the center of the quilt and then do the borders last.  This was Mary's first attempt at free-motion and over a year since she has used my frame and machine so there was a bit of a learning curve but she persevered!  This quilt is made of the shirts that belonged to her daughter-in-law's recently departed Dad.  I didn't get to work on the binding at all but I hope to do that today.

One quick project I did do was fill this planter with soil and a slip of Swedish ivy.  This belonged to my Mom and Gram before her and now it will brighten my own shelf! 

I discovered this outside--this is our tropical milkweed.

And these are two Monarch caterpillars 

(there was a third one also but he didn't fit in the pic!) 

which have stripped the branch they were on so I pulled another branch into their reach and see if they work through it, too. 

 I'm keeping my eye on these guys

 so I can find another Chrysalis this year!!

 

MOSTLY UPS

I gathered all of the hats 

(they were part of the fallout in the shelf disaster) 

and separated the newborn from the adult ones to ready them for donation.  When I counted the adult hats, there were only 29 so I had to knit another one for an round number! lol  

I also ordered another paint-by-number kit but this one came as a canvas without the frame.  I stapled it onto one of my already framed canvases so that I could more easily paint it!  

It is a bit saggy but the good news is that I can tighten it after painting using those wedges that no one knows what to do with when they buy a ready-to-paint canvas!

I did the quilting first thing yesterday morning and thinking it only needed a row and a half, I would be done in no time at all!  

Unfortunately, at the END of the row I discovered this!  Ten minutes to work across the row and 45 minutes to rip it all out! 

 I did find the problem with the bobbin , of course, and finished the quilt and have it off the frame and when Mary is working on her quilt today, I will bind this one!!!  

 

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Here is the glamour shot of the latest bowl from 1/2 a log of Magnolia.  I've already started a different kind of bowl 

from the other half!

The doily is also a new one just off the blocking pad!

I only have this much of the quilt to finish and it WILL happen this morning!  I keep getting distracted by the lathe!  

And the grand- fur-baby is also here for a few days 

while our son is away for business!

And I leave you with this pretty photo of a Roselle bloom!  The stalk is 8 feet high--I had to zoom in to be able to see it!  

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

Bill helped me split a piece of Magnolia for a small bowl.

I drilled a hole to hold it the worm screw and set to work.

In no time, I had a beautifully shaped bowl and could see some spalting in the wood; always a bonus.

Soon enough, it was sanded and shellac was added.

When it was dry, I turned it around in the chuck and began to hollow it out.

I decided to leave the top edge uneven as the wood was shaped, called a live edge; I merely softened the edges with some sanding.

The shellac will be dry and ready for its debut in about an hour. 

 I need to sand it and add one last coat. 

 I will do that this morning because I ran out of time yesterday!

 

AND THEN...

 I spent a lot of time organizing my bedroom and then the studio and even quilted more than half of the QOV on the frame. At dinner time, I cleaned up and was getting ready to head to our Ladies Bible study when I heard a crash--the shelves in my bedroom closet tipped over.  I didn't have the time to pick it all up last night so guess what I am doing this morning first thing?! 

 It will be a good chance to reacquaint myself with all of the projects and supplies I have buried in that pile!  I have the bracket that I always meant to use to safeguard against this collapse

 but I will certainly screw it onto the wall now!  

TWO DIFFERENT FINISHES

This paint-by-number is finished;  and I can't wait to paint another.  I must say that while you are painting all of the little spots, you kinda miss the big picture.  I love the point when it all comes together for you!

The blue one was the old doily and I did it!  I duplicated it with some #10 variegated cotton in the same weight, and I used a #10 steel crochet hook.  They are the same size!  
 

TIME TO VISIT THE STUDIO!

I loaded the next QOV quilt onto the frame 

and hope to get at least half of it done today.

Mom gave me one of my Aunt's doilies and thought I could figure out the pattern and write it out;  she likes written directions and I like a chart when it comes to crochet.  Now to do a test run!

 

SETTLING IN TO HOME AGAIN

I had an order of sock yarn waiting for me when I got home. 

 I put it to good use right away!

In the yard, the red ginger are putting out their cones.

And the first bunch of bananas are ready for eating!

 

MY GRAM'S WORK

Here is a section of the quilt I've been sleeping on while at my parents' this week.  I remember my Gram making this;  she would sit in her chair with a bag of these indestructible polyester scraps and hand stitch them to a square piece of sheet.  She loved to do the hand embroidery to embellish each block and then it would stack up next to her until she had enough for a quilt! 

 Even though Gram is no longer with us, I still feel the love 

when I sleep under her labor of love!

Today, I am heading back to Florida;  it has been a wonderful visit.

 

IT'S CAMOUFLAGED!

Here is the almost finished upholstery job we did!  This is a child's sized kids recliner that has gone through all of the kids but it looked too loved.  My Mom volunteered us to do the job!  It is going to look good but it isn't what I would call a bundle of fun!  

I was whooped with all of the bending so had the great idea of working with it on the table!

We started with two yards of fabric and a plan...I chalk out the pieces to be sure all of them will fit before I commit to cutting.

Here is the before pic of the chair!  I do the math to measure all of the units then draw them out.  The job went well enough until we needed the staple gun and my Dad's old one didn't work so we borrowed my brother-in-law's (he lives next door) and he brought up one for us.  Un fortunately, that one was a dud, too!  The project cannot be finished today so I will leave it for my two nieces, who are handy with tools, to finish what I started!  

 

CUTE HOT PAD

Isn't this a very cute pot holder?  I asked Mom for the pattern and she said she thinks it was a gift and she didn't make it!!! 

 I am going to try and graph it out so I can make it 

and I will share it with you!

I am enjoying my time with my parents and extended family. 

 My normal schedule is turned on its head, so I am behind with my blog friends but I will savor this time and catch up with you later--thanks for your understanding!

 

NY HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the main reason for the visit--my Mom turned 90!

The house was full of NY family!  21 of us reflecting the love!

Mom and Dad!

Me, Mom and my lil sister!  The day was full of laughter and food--we do it well.

 

FINAL SIGNING OFF

My brother-in-law signed off after 23 years of service.  It is an exciting and emotional time for him!  For those of you who know about the officer's last day at work, there is a big  ceremony done over their radios;  the Sheriff recalls highlights from your years of service and then many of the other officers say goodbyes over the radio also just before you call in for the last time to say you are off duty.  It was quite emotional--it is done in your driveway so family can be present. 

 Thank you for men like Chuck!

 

NY DAY 2

My brother-in-law has quite a display for October;  this was during the day but there are all kinds of blow-up monsters for later on!  I thought to post this for you Skelly fans!

Yesterday my sister took off from work so we had a whole day to paint (we are all doing this same canvas) and play games and laugh!  It is wonderful to love and be loved by family!

(I am sorry I am behind on visiting so many blogs--my morning schedule is completely off this past week!)

 

FLIGHT AND ARRIVAL IN CNY

I had a great flight-Jax to LGA and for once it wasn't raining as I flew in to NYC and I did enjoy the view!  I also made a lot of progress on the new blue sweater-

The sweater is going very smoothly and I do love working on it! 

 I did have an hour and half layover 

which meant a good amount of progress!  

There is still a lot of color around my parents' yard and

 I couldn't catch a pic with sunshine

 but I at least missed the rain by a few minutes!

The frost has turned a lot of the hydrangeas but there were still several with this beautiful shade of rose. 

Oh, this rose!  I wish I could share the aroma! 

 I just might cut it and bring it in to fill the house with its scent!

 

FINISHING UP LOOSE ENDS

I don't think I posted the final pics of the black walnut bowl!

  It is 4" wide and 5" high.

The chipped out bit became a 'design feature' 

once it is sanded out and smooth!  I'm glad I didn't give up on it!

The Christmas quilt is now washed and dried

 and put away until December!

I am very glad to say all of my hand stitching survived beautifully!

I decided this quilt needed a bit of enlarging with borders; 

 they are just right what it needed!  I will stitch them on

 when I get home from a bit of a trip-

I'm heading north to visit my parents

 and to share my Mom's 90th birthday party!