Bird 6!

I finished another bird yesterday for my Bird Dance project. Making progress!

While I was busy at the grocery store yesterday, Hubby finished our taxes. He's been working on them for weeks here and there - they were complicated this time - we sold two properties and bought another one. Plus we both retired. But the dirty work is done! So glad he doesn't mind doing this - I'd rather go to the grocery store any day.

Today is machine quilting day - Autumn Garden is up next. But first I need to finish clearing off the dining room table. It is covered with my painting supplies including two paintings in progress. But quilting will wait for no one, right? The painting supplies will have to be put away for now.

So the goal is to clear off the table, press the backing (found in my stash), layer it all up and be ready to pin baste. 

R and F 

One of my favorite Rodan and Fields products is the MicroDermabrasion Paste. SO many uses...including part of your own at-home facial in minutes! I personally use this once per week - it puts any other grainy cleanser I've EVER used to shame! My skin has never felt so soft and smooth!

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We have another dreary, cold, rainy day ahead of us...good day to stay in and sew!
Okay, let's get this Monday started! Have a great day!

This and That

I continued to go around the mulberry bush on the Pine Burr block. Once I started this, I became a bit obsessed. Can you tell? I plan to make 4 of these and stitch them together for a wall hanging. Once I finish this first block I'll put it aside for a bit though. All I have left is to fill in the corners.

And here is sweet little Arwen...she belongs to Daughter 2 and SIL 2. I'm happy with her from the neck up. The neck down...not so much. But I've done what I can do and will move on. D2 likes it, so that's what matters.

We enjoyed the pop up art sale we attended yesterday. It was very small and very crowded. We didn't buy anything but it was a nice outing.

Did you notice that Craftsy is having a big sale this weekend? All classes for $20 each...I purchased 2 more. One is another watercolor class and one is about making cool t-shirts.

Today I must brave the rain and the cold to go grocery shopping. I have a LONG list and must get this taken care of.  But for now I will sit and enjoy my coffee and the fire in the fireplace and the two sleeping doggies. (Shhh...hubby's still in bed...)

My fingers are itching for stitching...there WILL be hand sewing happening today!

Stay warm and dry and enjoy your day!

Making Lemonade from Autumn Garden Border

You know the old saying about life giving you lemons? When I ripped off the border from Autumn Garden I had an idea - a light bulb was poised over my head! Why not make a quick table runner from this? I think it turned out quite nice - ready for quilting!

Hubby and I both had errands to run so we joined forced and went together. Our last stop was the local quilt shop so I could do some stash enhancement. These will be cut into strips to make four patches for the final border of En Provence. I plan to cut the strips over the weekend so they'll be ready to go.

I framed my paintings of Cooper and Mickey so that hubby could hang them. I'm still painting a bit each day. I finished Daughter 2's cat - I'll try to remember to share it tomorrow. Now I'm working on a friend's dog. I try to paint a bit each day.

I didn't get a lot done on hexies yesterday, but plan to stitch on them more today.

We plan to get out later - a local art show is happening and we want to stop by. And I MUST clean my sewing room - that's what you get sometimes when you work on multiple projects at the same time. And let's not even talk about the dining room table - painting supplies are COVERING it! I'll be ready to baste Autumn Garden on Monday - machine quilting day - and I baste on this table. So looks like some clean up is in order.

Wishing you a lovely day!   

Well, That Didn't Work!

Okie Dokie. I finished one border and stitched it to the mother ship. Nope. NOPE. Not working for me. This border has got to go! Immediately! 

Sometimes ideas don't work out. So plan C is: take off that border. And call it a day! No border! It will be a wonderful lap quilt AS IS! Another quilt top is finished...I'd planned to quilt En Provence next, but it seems Autumn Garden is ready first. And so it is next up for quilting! 

In addition to a bit of painting, I also played with this new quilt yesterday. This will be a wallhanging and won't take too long. Did you know that the Pine Burr block is the official quilt block of the state of Alabama...where I live. It's about time I made one, don't you think?

We have Camellias blooming! Aren't they gorgeous?!

Today is Hexie Day! Yay! I'll be making my way around the hexie flower.

Have a wonderful day!

One More Border...

I worked my tail off on En Provence yesterday. All the sashing is DONE. The first border is DONE! One more border to go - and if you are familiar with the pattern then you know that the last border is all neutral four patches. I will need to make LOTS of them - over 100. I will have to do some stash enhancement for this to happen - I need more white neutrals! I've had to buy so few fabrics for this quilt since most of it came from my stash, so what's a few fat quarters? 

I'm so glad I've trudged through this quilt - I really do love it. By the time the last border is on I think it will be a nice twin size. I'm not sure what I'll call it...maybe 'No Yellow' since I left all the yellow out that was called for in the instructions. Haha...we'll see. I was really not expecting to get this far yesterday!

I bought a new toy! When I opened the box it looked darn intimidating! It's a spiralizer attachment for my Kichen Aid mixer. The little hand held one I had was fine for zucchini, but it was no match for sweet potatoes. And we do like baked sweet potato 'fries.' With all the healthy eating going on around here, I'll put this to a lot of use!

I haven't weighed in over a week - need to do that soon. Have I mentioned that we don't have a scale in our home? I think a scale is a dieter's worst enemy. We have one buried in storage, but I really prefer to leave it there. When you have a scale under foot, you tend to use it too often. And of course, everyone's weight fluctuates day to day. The minute I weigh and the number is UP I get discouraged. That's when I give up. So we head to the gym at the hotel in our neighborhood occasionally to weigh in. I like it like this!

So the clothes are loose - I bought a few new things last week. I know it will be months before I actually reach my goal and I needed some new things to get me through. What else is now too big for me? Can you guess?

My thimbles! I have a several thimbles I use, none of them fancy. I'm happy with the cheap ones. But they are all falling off my finger! Yesterday I had to run to the craft store for some additional paints (acrylics, anyone?) and I picked up a new thimble - size SMALL! Yes, you can lose weight in your fingers!

So today is Autumn Garden day. The border is taking some time, isn't it? I'll get cracking on it this morning. I'm hoping to finish my cat painting, too. 

Here's wishing you a happy day!

SaveSave

BLISS...

Bliss is in the DONE column - so happy! I really love this quilt! As you may remember, I used fabrics that represent things I love. There are dachshunds, bicycles, flowers, eyeglasses, and lots of flowers. Lots of flowers!

I think the black and white border is a nice ending point to hold in the riot of color.

And here you can see the backing (which is also the binding). Another good fabric choice, I think. (And I already had it in my stash!)

As usual, you can find this pattern here on the blog (FREE!) up at the top under the Hexie Love tab.

I figured out what was wrong with this painting yesterday and fixed it. Just like quilting, sometimes it's best to let something sit overnight; everything looks clearer after being away from it for several hours. This is Scout, Daughter 1's dog.

And as for my big lug, he was quite relaxed while I was painting and sewing...zzzzz...

I finished pressing ALL the points for the dresdens! Yippee!

Today is En Provence, and I'll have to admit that I'm really tired of this quilt! But I will trudge away. Seems like I have to make one more sashing unit and then stitch the two sides together. Then on to the borders. I can do it!

Yesterday I spent the entire morning going back and forth between painting and sewing and it worked very well for me. I like for the painting to dry in between layers of paint. So back and forth it is. Today will be no different...under my brush today is a sweet kitty cat...

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Dresdens!

I sewed the tips of a PILE of dresdens yesterday. Dozens of dresden wedges.

See what I mean? Here there are all chained together.

I even began to press the pointed tips. I'm not done yet, but I'll continue today. This are the parts for the remaining dresden plates for my Gardenvale quilt! Another project is progressing nicely!

I also painted for a couple of hours. I'm working on Scout, Daughter 1's dog. I'm not extremely happy with the painting. I may play with a bit...or start completely over. Not sure yet.

Guess what??!! I finished binding Bliss last night! I want to wash it before I photograph it - actually, it's sloshing around in the washing machine at this very moment. I hope to photograph it before rain comes in later this afternoon.

So today is...Dresden day...Gardenvale! And I've already made a good start on it. I hope to finish pressing the dozens of points today. And maybe I can fix that painting...

Have a great day, y'all!