Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Brain Exercises

 My Kindle has a cover........nice to keep it protected in my purse and it is easier to hold now, too.
 Marsel wanted a cover but she wanted hers a little different-
 it also doubles as a stand!  It is a good exercise to make a pattern and get it to work!
 PuffDaddy and Sissy have been trying to make friends........Puff is nice to all but Sissy has trust issues!
They really were playing tug-o-war!
This is a privacy cape for nursing........there is a new mom at church so I found the supplies in the stash!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Moving Day..


 We packed up all of Matthew's worldly possessions and headed to Orange Park for the new apartment.
Bruce, Marsel and kids drove down on Friday to help move and we had a wonderful time on our working weekend!
 The proud new owner!
 The kids enjoyed the down time and the huge spacious living room!
 Bill surveys the future fishing adventures here with Matthew!
 View along the ST Johns River  looking north.  You can see the residual storm clouds.
We had a fast and furious thunderstorm-it was quite beautiful to watch it from the safety of Matthew's balcony!  Marsel had fixed a pot of chili for our day's end reward-we enjoyed the meal and the laughs...both Ashley and I spilled on the new carpeting!  It is now officially a home!   The day was hard, long and wonderful! (and exciting, Matthew!)
Caleb had to work and then he was in a 5k run in Jax but we had a quick hug for both him and Cassandra squeezed into this day.  

Friday, July 27, 2012

Quilting & Adventures

 The bird quilt is finished and packaged up for delivery!  I sure stretched my mind and muscles on this quilt as the feathered quilting motifs were all designed by me and placed like a pantograph for each triangle-it was a good lesson and one I will apply to future projects.
 I just outlined each bird and block and did a little free form quilting in the block.
 There is a feather circle in the rose blocks and a simple chain design in the sashing.
 I laid out a sheet for a curtain transformation and Sissy went wild-she skidded out and romped for half an hour before she tired of it!  I did have to wash the sheets after they were done being sewn as my daughter-in-law (who is the curtain recipient) is allergic to cats!  Small price to pay for the fun of watching Sissy play!
 I have a million little teeth marks in my measuring tape, too.
 The quilting frame was empty for about an hour and then I loaded a quilt Millie had dropped off for quilting.
 This was a pile of blocks she inherited and the sizes were a bit wonky and she squared them up and pieced them to make into a quilt instead of a dusty box in the closet!
 We have a branch down on our little 30' of exposed power line in the front portion of our yard.
 The branch is scorched and weighing the line down but we have power!  I had to call the power company to come and remove it-they said since we have power, we are low priority and they will be out within a few weeks.  If we should lose power, they will be out that day if I call them and let them know.  Oh, brother.
 I have a new fashion statement!!!  A compression stocking is all I need to solve the swelling issue in my foot!  The toes couldn't move because of all the swelling and the swelling was just a bit of overload for my system.  The stocking reduced the swelling and I can move my toes-for the first time in 10+ weeks!!!!
I am so happy that the solution is such a painless one and that I do not have to wear the air cast again.  I am supposed to wear it for one month and then back to the drs for assessment!  I am full speed ahead again!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Needling

 I cast on a new baby surprise jacket (sweater) last night.  I am continuing on the stash busting yarn choices!
 I am on to the lace portion of the Hyacinth Cardigan.
And I finally got coral results for the rest of the ginned cotton!  Glad I had enough fiber to experiment on!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Growing Oranges

I have finished plying the two skeins of yarn for the Tour de Fleece competition on Ravelry.  Here is the 285 yards of orange cotton yarn.  
Here is my haul for the TDF ! 8 skeins for a total of 1126 yards for Team I Spin Cotton!!!!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Stash Busting

 From the stash I was able to make another purse organizer for a friend.  She was given a beautiful new purse but it is cavernous inside and needed some order-sewing friend to the rescue!
 It is very satisfying to be able to find all the supplies in the stash!
I also started a new sweater from stash yarn-a Web's pattern called Hyacinth Cardigan which is similar to the other four I knit from the Philomena pattern which is related to this design.  It is top down and very relaxing to knit and see progress.
 I do have to finish this shawl but circumstances keep interrupting it like running out of yarn-and needing to dye some more and then the beads I picked out for the edging aren't cooperating because half of them have holes that are too small and I can't get them on the stitch........all will be overcome in time!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Health and Energy!

I am very grateful to be able to take antibiotics that restore health in just 24 hours...it is a blessing not to be taken for granted.  I did have to give in and go to the doctors but it was worth it to feel so good today! 

The afternoon rains have produced a  multitude of these guys on our sliding glass doors -they leave trails all over the door!  (it is about 1/2" in size-small but speedy !)
 There is another 318 yards of denim cotton yarn in the world!  It is so soft-wish I could share that with you, too!
 Feeling good gave me some pleasurable sewing room time today, too!  I am working on another purse organizer and was pleased to find everything I needed in the stash.
 I have a birthday party in a few weeks so I dug in the stash again and found this - a back pack went together much more quickly this time!  I like being able to produce from the supplies on hand!
 I am making good progress on the bird quilt for Marsel's friend.  The bottom is off the floor-always a big progress marker for me-showing that I have more done than to do!
The orange cotton is spinning up-this is the first bobbin, well on its way to full!  The Tour de Fleece ends this weekend so I have to keep up the pace as I near the finish line!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Moving again!

The Howells, and Bill and I  came to help  Caleb and Cassandra  move to a new apartment! 


 (Only 10 minutes down the road so it wasn't too hard to transport!)  
They are in the downstairs of the green unit.

Many hands made light work-we got them all settled-well, mostly, and had a wonderful day together!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Do It Yourself

 I had a puni party!  Each pyramid (21 punis) does a bobbin worth of cotton singles. 


And I spun up one bobbin today!  
Bill is harvesting his watermelons!  This beauty weighs in at 22 pounds!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Say, "Ahhhhh!"

Sissy is turning into a fiber addict!  No pile of fiber or yarn is safe from her attention!
Now if we can just get her to sleep in a little longer in the mornings....
 I am still spinning up the cotton.  Here is another 313 yards of yarn.
 I have several skeins of the natural cotton  and thought I would kick it up a bit with some color.
Rid dye to the rescue.  I wanted a batch (4 oz) of  denim blue and coral but got orange instead!
It is a good thing I live in Gator country so this is an acceptable color combination, too!
I have been under the weather all week with a virus (sore throat!)  I have slept a lot and in between naps, I sit and make punis or spin.  It is nice to work with color now!  These two batches will keep me busy for several days!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Anticipation

 The nursery set we sewed is all set up in its new home way out in Des Moines, Washington!
 Kyrstle and her mom refinished the furniture and painted the room.  You can see the valance at the window to match the crib set..
And a valance in the closet that will be used for  the changing area.  We are all waiting for you, Aria Noel!

PLEASANT PUTTERINGS

I did sew the rows together and cut the borders so I could sew them.  I didn't make too many mistakes (the brain is still very slow! lol...