Sunday, March 17, 2013

happy st. paddy's day..

hello ladies..

and happy st paddy's day to you all..

let's see... what's been going on around here for the last week... it's been another busy one!!... hmmm... monday was the guild meeting.. and our Spring Fling event.. everyone brought a dish to pass... yum!!.. lots and lots of yummy food to eat.. gorgeous quilts to look at and a pretty good business meeting too..  tues i just did stuff around here.. wed.. quilting group.. and i got all the blocks done for my "tropical skies" quilt..  next is squaring the blocks and assembly... yay!!.. maureen and beth were here for that.. and maureen did some knitting on a cute little baby sweater that will be a shop model in cathy's store.. and beth attempted to work on her quilt for lynne... her machine was jamming up on her every few block tho.. so she didn't get as much done as she would have liked..  thurs i brought the corvette into the dealer to finish the repairs from last week and then did errands... and went to the quilt store.. i had to get some co-ordinating fabrics for a class that i took on sat.. which of course i couldn't find and ended up getting all new fabric for the class.. lol.. i love it tho... christmas pears.. with co-ordinating red, green and white/gold..  i think it'll be pretty..  friday i took the focus in to FINALLY get the MYSYNC nav fixed..  and then went to Melbourne to visit my sister and get my BOM blocks from the quilt store there... we had a great time browsing an antique store.. then went to lunch at a cute little place right on the ocean... gorgeous views!!.. yesterday was class.. and it was lots of fun... i love the stack and whack blocks.. it's soo cool to see all the different blocks that come from one fabric... everyone's blocks were amazing and i can't wait to see the finished quilts!..  i got quite a few of my blocks done.. and today i hope to finish up the blocks and move to the sashings... i really would like to have it finished before the next guild meeting..

so that's the plan for today... to work on the Attic Window with a Twist blocks and maybe start the squaring up of the tropical skies quilt blocks too.. and cleaning up in the studio.. :)

until next time..

happy stitching..

shey

Thursday, March 7, 2013

the trouble with cars... :\

hello..

well.. this is just NOT my week with cars... have to bring the focus in for the sync update last thursday.. and.. for some reason... it just deleted my nav.. so.. made appt to bring it back in today for them to.. "reinstall" it..  of course in the meantime... i took the car down to Vero to get my hair done and.. took mom and the aunt to Walmart.. and somehow picked up a nail in the tire.. lucky for me.. my brother was there and he changed the tire for me.. and i didn't get stuck on 192 in the dark with a flat..  there is absolutely nothing on 192... just miles and miles and miles of fields and swamp...  so.. thought what the heck i'm going to get the sync fixed today... i'll just have them plug the tire and put it back on... ha ha ha..  well... no can do... i have to have a new tire.. and they won't have one in... till tomorrow... and.. they can't fix my sync-nav issue.. because now.. i have no nav for them to update... *sigh*...  hopefully by tomorrow they will have heard from Ford to figure out how to fix my nav and sync problem...   and.. THEN...  to top it all off... den got in the Corvette this morning... and.. it won't start.. he was able to get in and he had power.. just wouldn't turn over... so.. i tried it when i got home from the ford dealer.. and now there is nothing.. i can't even get in the car.. so now... i have to have it towed to the Chev dealer for them to work on the corvette...  it just hasn't been my week for cars..

however... i did have a great time visiting with my family on tuesday.. (minus the tire incident).. mom made some fantastic Sauerbraten and fried noodles... it was lucious!!.. and wednesday i made some good progress on my "Tropical Skies" quilt... and Beth got a bunch done on her quilt for Lynne too.. and it was fun... my goal for next wednesday is to get all the blocks finished and start the assembly...

until next time...

happy stitching and quilting..

shey..

Monday, March 4, 2013

is it gonna fit???..

hello ladies..

i'm beginning to think that i'm not destined to do the Santa's Village SAL (stitch a long).. with the girls.. :(  .. i got my new piece of fabric the other day.. (the first piece of fabric i had was gonna be to small to do the entire (12) houses on it.. )...   and i love it.. it's a bit of a darker shade of "vanilla latte".. looks more like "mocha" latte.. :) ...  and i did quite a bit on the first Santa house over the weekend.. .. well .. this morning for some reason i pulled the other one out and as i'm looking at it.. the house seemed smaller... yep.. you guessed it... my new piece of fabric.. is 28ct... not 32ct.. so i'm back to wondering if i'm gonna get all 12 houses on it... i'll have to take it off the hoop and measure it .. *sigh*...  i'm hoping it will fit and that Cathy just..  might have to do some creative stretching to get it framed..

quilt group last wed was very productive for me... i got all the 4 patches done on the "Tropical Skies" quilt.. it's called sunny skies in the magazine.. but since i'm using bright tropical coloured batiks.. mine is tropical skies.. :)  ..  so yesterday i got a chance to sew a bit... and got all the 16 patch and 8 patch blocks sewn together and started on the V blocks..  i think... MAYBE.. with a little luck and couple of days of not running around... i might get this quilt top done in a couple more weeks..  i would love to have it done for the March 11 guild meeting... but that might be pushing it..  as this is another busy week for me.. today .. is Stitch group at Needle Craft World... tomorrow.. haircut in Vero and dinner with mom and the aunt.. wed.. quilt group here and thursday.. i have to bring the car in .. AGAIN.. for them to fix the update on the MYSYNC.. somehow when they did it last week.. the entire Nav was just .. gone..  i did get a bit of redwork (actually it's Swampwater work.. lol.. as that's the colour i'm using on my Halloween picture).. done last week tho... while they were working on it.. so i guess i will again this week.. lol..

well... i best get my 2nd cuppa and get my day going..

until next time..

shey..

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

what a wonderful busy weekend..

hello ladies..

well i didn't get much sewing or stitching done .. but i've had a busy week or so...  seems like i've been on the run every day..

i'm  trying something new... i've asked a couple of ladies to join me on wednesday mornings to sew and quilt..  so far it's just Beth.. but.. we have a few more that are interested... for now.. we are doing this at my house.. but.. with a couple more people.. we'll probably try to move to the community center..  so.. last wed was our first wednesday.. and we did pretty good... i got most of the cutting done on a new jelly roll quilt.. and Beth finally got started on cutting out a quilt that she's making for a dear friend.. she's had the fabric for a couple of years.. so to see her actually get started on it.. was great!!.. tomorrow i hope to get the rest of the cutting done and maybe even start sewing!..  i'm anxious to get started on it...  as for the cleaning/organizing of the sewing studios.. well.. i really haven't done that much.. with all the running around i've been doing.. lol.. i do hope to have a couple of solid days to work up there soon..

thursday.. my sister's dear friend Diana flew in... and we spent the day just talking and catching up... Friday i went over to Melbourne and spent the day with them.. touring all the antique shops and specialty shops in downtown Melbourne.. omg.. what a lot to go thru and we saw lots of really cute stuff... Saturday was.. Party in the Cloud.. at my house.. what a blast..  lots of great company.. good food and drink.. Patti and Diana spent the night and early Sunday morning we went to watch the end of the Princess half marathon at Disney.. (Diana's daughter Sarah was running in the race)... then spent a few hours at Downtown Disney with a great lunch at Rainforest Cafe...  monday...i went to stitch group at Cathy's... (Needlecraft World).. but.. i didn't stitch.. lol...  i gave her a special quilt block i had made her to memorialize her trip to Vegas.. she loved it... i'll try to get the pic posted of it.. it came out really cute..  today.. Patti and Diana are coming over for a bit.. and we'll take Diana to lunch.. then to the airport.. :(  

so i best get another cuppa and then get my day started... i have a lot to do today.. before they get here..

until next time..

shey..

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

learned a lot!

hello again.. 

wow!!.. what a great guild meeting last night... i totally enjoyed it...  we had Tim from Sew Mini Things quilt store come in and talk to us about machine needles... and WOW!!.. did we learn alot... especially us Janome machine owners..  i had no idea i was using the wrong needles in my machine!!..  being a Janome machine i am supposed to be using Organ needles in it... not Schmetz... who knew??!.. not me..  and using a topstitch needle for the actual quilting should help with that too... wow..  so lucky for me he had some with him and i came home with some Organ needles for my machine...  now i just need to find some time to actually sew.. lol... 

today.. i'm hoping to finally get to the dollar store and get some plastic shoebox containers.. and some batteries for my label maker..  and when i get home... i need to iron up a box of the charity quilt blocks so this afternoon the guild can all help me square the blocks.. that will make things so much easier when it's charity sewing day..

ok.. well.. time for another cuppa.. then to get my day started.. 

until next time.. 

Happy stitching..  shey

Monday, February 11, 2013

its Quilt Guild day!!

hello..

tonight is our monthly meeting for the Patcher's of Time Quilt Guild.. so i've been busy trying to get everything ready for the meeting..  it should be a great meeting tonight as we have Timm from Sew Mini Things in Mt. Dora.. coming to speak to us tonight about machine needles and.. he's gonna bring some new stuff for us to see that has just come into the shop..

on the sewing studio organization front.. things are going ... okay.. not great.. lol.. it is soooo darn boring cleaning and organizing... and I WANT TO SEW!!... but.. i can't... YET!..  but.. the good news is that while cleaning..  i found the disc for my camera... so.. i should be able to put pictures on this thing again... yay!!..  i'll test it out later..  i went to the dollar store friday to buy some shoe box size plastic containers and darn if they weren't totally out of them.. so i'll have to go to another dollar store and check there.. sure makes it hard to cut and sort without the proper container.. :|

been doing a lot on my cross stitch.. making great progress on the Flowers of Rosehall picture.. it's sooo gorgeous..  and getting ready to start the krienik/floss parts on the gingerbread house shop model..  and.. doing quite a bit of the stitching on the Halloween "red"work picture i'm doing..  and i've even had a little time to read a book... (i make it a rule to read at least 12 books a year.. usually i go way over... last year i think i read at least 36 books!!)..  it's been so gorgeous here in central florida lately... that i've been sitting out by the pool and reading for a bit in the afternoon...  looks like the weather is supposed to get much cooler and it might even rain later in the week.. which would be good... we need the rain!!...

i took 2 UFO's off the quilt list recently... yay!!.. finally got the borders on the blue charm quilt i started last fall... and.. on the poinsettia irish chain quilt that has been laying around here since probably 2006.. lol..  and got the fabric i need to get the borders on the 9 patch pizzaz quilt that i believe has been just sitting there patiently waiting for it's borders since i think 2008 ..  of course they are now added to the.. pile of... "need to be quilted quilt tops"... but at least they are quilt tops!!.. lol

i'll come back later in the week and try to post the pictures of the completed quilt tops and the cross stitch i'm working on..

until next time..

happy stitching..

shey..

Monday, February 4, 2013

Where does the time go???

hello..

wow.. it's been nearly a year since i've posted on this thing.. hard to believe!..  but.. here i go again trying to keep up with it..  2012 just plain sucked for me.. and i'm glad it's done and over with.. it started off pretty good..  and the spring wasn't bad.. and in the summer my sister moved down here to florida.. and that was fantastic.. but after that..  it was just all bad... my BGFF got sick in september and we lost her in october.. and omg .. has that been tough to handle.. i miss her soooo much!!...   then my brother in law passed in november... and dec wasn't much better as the entire family got sick for the holidays..   so i was happy to see 2013 arrive with all it's hopes and promises of better things..

creatively i wasn't much better..  i did get those few things done early in the year.. and i managed to get quilts made for both my niece Paige for her graduation and one for my nephew Jeremy.. (i owed him one for his graduation a few years ago)...  but after that.. nothing!.. i didn't even make a single thing for Christmas gifts last year.. (totally unheard of for me!)..

so far this year... i'm doing ok.. i've been doing a lot of cross stitching.. and got involved with a bunch of my buddies from Needlecraft World and my good friend Patti D..  in doing a stitch (SAL) along for the year... due... 11-12-13.. we're doing.. the Santa's Village series from Country Cottage Needleworks..  and i'm going to be doing it on the most delicious linen dyed by susan of .. Black Cauldron Dyeworks.. called.. vanilla latte..  i'm a bit behind on it cause the first piece of linen i started on was a bit bit too small for the entire series.. so i've decided to just due 9 of them on that piece of linen.. and do the entire series on another piece when she gets it done.. i'm also working on a shop model for cathy.. called.. gingerbread houses on some peppermint stripe linen fabric... and.. working on my flowers of Rosehall that i started in the fall.. (eventually i'm going to cycle in some of my other ufo cross stitch pictures and attempt to get them done..).. i've also working on a few redwork pictures... i'm doing the "walking in a winter wonderland" quilt..  and i'm doing a Halloween picture..

and a good friend of my daughter is having a baby in April... so.. i'm also crocheting a baby crib/carriage blanket for her..

this is going to be a ufo year for me.. both in cross stitching and quilting..  that being said... i did finish a charm quilt that i started last fall and put the borders on 2 ufo's that that have been laying around here for a few years.. it's also a stash busting year... i have soooooo much stuff that i need to just use what i have... so i've packed up a bunch of kits that have everything i need to make the quilt all together and.. i'm cleaning and organizing my studios...  i never dreamed of the mess that would ensue from trying to get all my stash and scraps organized!!... O..M..G.. ... it looks like a tornado has ripped thru my studio!!..  and it looks like it's going to be a mess in there for quite some time...  but i know in the end it will be sooo much better and easier for me.. once i have the stash organized by colour and the scraps organized by size..  then i'll be doing many many scrap quilts.. :)

i was re-elected to be Program Director for my quilt guild last fall.. so coming up with programs and things to do for the meetings is keeping me busy as well..

i'm having some trouble getting my camera and my computer to work together.. so getting pictures on here is an issue for me lately... but i'll try to get that figured out so you can "see" what i'm working on..

until next time..

happy stitching...

shey..