Magnolia Magnificence!

Wow, what an incredible feeling of triumph! I knuckled down with a good movie on tv (Hallmark) and and just began to work. I finished the rest of the piecing with the right colors where they belonged and it looked so good. That encouragement pushed me on the the ripping out part with enthusiam and inch by inch it began to glow with rightness! Just look-I have to layer it and quilt it to finish it but you can see it is going to be all I had hoped.

There is a single piece that is still wrong-see if you can hunt it out. I ripped out and re-sewed it twice and both times I grabbed the wrong fabric--I gave up and resigned myself to having an imperfect piece like the Amish sew into their quilts-to acknowledge that only God is perfect in His creations-I certainly acknowledge that but now it is going to forever proclaim that in this quilt, too!

We have a magnificent magnolia tree in the front yard-what a nice way to bring its presence into the house! When I bought the pattern, I didn't know that some day I would reside with such a beauty within my borders.....

STALLED

What can set a blogger on the stall mode? Usually it is a project stall and in my case it is a major error which has stalled this project. I was happily sewing on this quilt that had intimidated me for a few years and feeling pretty good about the progress......it feels slow while I am piecing but as I set the sections on the bed to get the whole effect it is encouraging! Listening to a book on cd and sewing and enjoying a visit from the cats and DH just makes the hours roll by perfectly.

Day 2 is more of the same and it is so good until THE MOMENT strikes my awareness and I go cold---the faithful key to keep me on track of all the colors that I have been using causes a stumble in the smooth going...why do I have a sick feeling? Oh, no----YES! I have made a mistake in the B fabric--who thought of B for background and BO for border? Do you see how far I have gotten with the paper piecing using BO instead of B--I counted 20 pieces! Can I ignore it and make all the border and background the same-yeah, that lame thought lasts about a second and even then I am disgusted with myself.

Breathe deeply, pick up all the pieces. Pile them neatly on the table, pick up the floor, call your daughter and whine to the answering machine, turn off all the lights and walk away.

Leave the project alone and don't sew for 2 days.

Spin.

Knit.

Don't think about it.

Clean the house.

Go into the sewing room and rip out all the 20 pieces and put it back together the right way-what are you sitting here for and putting it off.

I will triumph.

And you will see it!

Kids and Kids and a Deere

Isn't it appealing to see baby animals with children-they sure do attract each other! Gratefully our neighbor is willing to give tours to our friends and family!

And speaking of attractions............it must be the color! While my daughter is here for a visit, we are able to connect with a former NewYorker who is also a southern girl now, Jessica Stewart Wandtke, and her four wonderful boys...thanks for the visit Jessa!

Mystery Batts

Here is a fun project that is new to me. These squares of fluff contain all kinds of unnamed fibers like angora, mohair, llama, alpaca, sheep wools and angelina fibers(sparklies!) that you spin up into a fun yarn. I am surprised how soft it worked up-no, I don't know what it will be yet! I spun the blue and the green seperately and then plied them together on a high ratio on my Joy wheel, but plied it pretty quickly so it would not be tight and lose the fluffiness of the fiber mix. It is a worsted weight yarn now-don't hesitate to give yourself a treat and try it!

Abigail's Quilt

Finished Abigail's quilt in time for her visit this weekend! It is a medley of fat quarter Beatrix Potter prints from Keepsake Quilting. Abigail is a great fan of her books and of the dvd's so this will be like snuggling up with a bunch of friends! The quilt is 40" x 40" made of 25 8" blocks-truly fun and even when I figured wrong :'( and was a little piece short--I scanned the piece I needed and printed it off on computer fabric and voila! No problem! Will save that thought for any future dilemnas. Okay, I am ready-come on and visit Abigail!

Wrist Warmer Wools

This is the hand-dyed, hand spun wool yarn I won from Kathy Costello, aka

Knittin' Cacher. It was interesting to think about as I knit this that up-she spun it in AZ, I knit it in FL and I am mailing it to my daughter-in-law who lives in WA-they have already had the temperatures to warrant its use! BTW, said DIL also learned how to knit when she visited me last summer in NY and we continue to share the activity by phone!

Isn't it great fun to have fiber friends!

Hey! I finally figured out how to chart the lace portion of this project!

Here is the directions for the Wrist Warmers-especially for Krystle and Kathy!!

Fingerless Gloves
Size 5 straight needles Worsted weight yarn To fit Ladies medium
WRIST-
CO 40 sts
RIB at Wrist:
K1 p1 for 1 ½ - 2”
HAND-
*Row 1 of chart is last row of the ribbing on the right side, row 2 is the wrong side of glove*
Continue pattern as directed on chart A ; repeat pattern across for the 40 sts of glove:

THUMB-
K1 p1 for 1 ½ ”
K1 p1 across 16sts, bind off 8 sts, k1 p1 to end of row.
Wrong side row; K1 p1 across 16 sts, co on 8 sts, k1 p1 to end of row.
Continue in k1 p1 for another 1 ½ - 2”.
Loosely bind off all 40 sts.
Cut yarn leaving enough to sew up side seam.
Repeat for second glove.

KEY

Friday Under the Lights

Big stuff down here-I have seen more High School football in the last 2 months than in the rest of my life!~ It has been fun to go and root for the home team and the 2 seniors that are in our church family. They are credited with participation in just about every play--and the home team is undefeated this season so it is very exciting. The weather is warmer than any other football game I have gone to also! (I am knitting the yarn I won on "Knittin' Cacher" 's blog!)

Beach Bums

Everyone has a little corner of their being that would like to be a beach bum albeit for only a day or two.......we have fulfilled that ambition by staying with friends at Cocoa Beach for a few days! Okay, it is in their condo and we had all the amenities of one far from the budget of a beach bum but we will not linger over the petty details! Collecting shells in the surf is a favorite pastime; as evidence here>

We arose in time

for a

magnificent sunrise

.........additional words are superfluous!

The men fished in the surf and we brought along

our knitting and crocheting as we enjoyed their triumphs with poles -

A good time was had by all.............

A Visit to Autumn

Spent

good part

of the last

week with

daughter

and family.

Went up to

the

mountains

of GA and visited an annual tradition with them, Burt's Farm.

It is wonderful to be able to go and share a slice of their life.

David is flourishing in homeschool and Abigail has grown so much-she talks in full sentences all the time now and has become quite her own person-and she sings lovely hymns of faith.........

Did some knitting while travelling up and back but mostly enjoyed the ride and held my Tom(cat)...he travels well but doesn't really enjoy it. Bling(cat 2) doesn't enjoy the ride and asks if we are there yet every few minutes! Fifi (dog) is just glad that we didn't forget her! Glad to be home and savor our less colorful but still well-defined change of season here in NE FL.