It’s been awhile

Wow, I’m surprised it’s been such a long time since I posted anything here. What have I been doing instead? Good question, just living life I guess.

I’ve been working in the garden, pulling weeds and grass, transplanting some stuff from Bill’s garden that was taking over. I put it on the small hill behind the driveway and don’t really care if it takes over there. That probably means that it won’t, of course.

I heard a House Wren the other day. I remember them from the years I lived in Shapleigh. They are such cute, energetic little birds. I think I need to find (or build) a wren house. Also saw a Baltimore Oriole on the tree next to the street.

I’ve been making a conscious effort to walk more outside when I have the time and the weather is good. I would rather be outside than on a treadmill at the gym but I’ll stop there after work. The weather last week was very nice…sunny, in the 70’s, a little breeze. Bill and I made our first trip to the beach one evening after work. We walked from the Moody Beach parking lot to Ogunquit Beach where we were very bad and had a wonderful ice cream cone. It usually takes us about 30 minutes to walk briskly one way and a little longer to return as we just stroll along on the way back.

Bill and I took a trip to Knight’s Quilt Shop last week. I was looking for a pattern for a super cute wallhanging that I want to make for Ella’s room. I didn’t find it there but Bill found more oriental fabric and ordered another pattern. I will never get all of his wish list made but I will plug along, fitting one in every now and then so he doesn’t think I’m ignoring him.

Since my last post I received the 30’s fabric noodles from the swap on MQResource.

I found a pattern for these fabrics while shopping at Knight’s. This makes 4 or 5 patterns for which I have the fabric organized and ready to cut. I don’t know how I think I will possibly ever get it all done considering the small amount of time I actually sew. I’m still working on cutting all the 1 3/4″ strips for the blooming 9-patch; very time consuming and it hurts my back if I cut too long at one time.

I stopped at Kathie’s Quilt Shoppe and picked up the Peek-a-Boo pattern I wanted and a couple of sale fabrics to use as backing for my penny rug projects.

I have finished the small 30’s wallhanging I have been working on,”Circling Pinwheels”. I used the blue pen to mark the circles which were quite easy to quilt. Unfortunately, when I wet the fabric to erase the blue marks, the red fabric ran. Bummer!! I was able to wash it several times with Synthropol and it appears to be fine. It was a fun little piece to make and I’m actually happy with the final outcome.

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Get ready, Get set, GO…to Williamsburg

We have been planning this trip since late last fall. Once we realized that we had a time share to use prior to year’s end and wouldn’t be able to do so, we paid a little extra and booked this trip. I’m working tonight and get off at 7 AM; we plan to leave as early as possible in the morning, hopefully by 9. I’ll report on how well that works out; we don’t move as efficiently as we always think we will.

This was a busy day. I dutifully did my 30 minutes at the gym this morning right after work. I went to “coffee club” in Springvale and visited for a little while. Ran home, showered and changed, then out again for some quick errands. I spent the rest of the day packing everything I will need for 6 weeks in Williamsburg. Oh yeah, we are only going for a week. I just can’t seem to pack “small”. I always try to pack only the necessities but always have more than I need. Most of the problem is climate…I need shorts, sleeveless tops and sandals, then I need long pants, t-shirts or blouses, shoes and socks. I need a light jacket, windbreaker and raincoat for the days that we are caught in drenching rain (don’t plan on that happening this trip). On top of all that I need the hair products, styling tools, makeup, etc.

I packed in my small carry-on suitcase. I am extremely impressed that it didn’t explode and spew clothes over the entire bedroom once I got the darn thing zipped. I also packed my large duffle bag with the items I need for the two nights we are stopping in Lancaster, PA. Lancaster is a little out of the way but we love the area and especially the fabrics and Amish crafts. We find that fabric is consistently priced 1/3 to 1/2 less than in our area. A couple of our favorite shops are Zooks and The Old Country Store.

I’m looking for 30’s fabrics in order to participate in the exchange on MQResource. Bee fabric and some Funky Monkey fabric is on my list as I want to make quilts for each of the kids. I’ll be looking for some notions as well. I’m sincerely planning on using some willpower when it comes to fabric. I don’t really need anything as I have more than I can store already. I have been to the Lancaster area several times on bus trips but have never seen Williamsburg.

We have purchased an annual pass for Williamsburg as it includes some evening programs that we would have had to pay extra for with the purchase of a three day pass. We don’t have any specific plans. We are a “fly by the seat of our pants” kind of couple doing whatever seems right at the time.

I talked with Vanessa earlier and things remain status quo. Her Dr. appt. yesterday went well with no changes: continued bed rest. They have a fairly good support system including friends from church. They are bringing some meals, visiting and playing games. That makes the time go faster for Vanessa and takes some of the weight off Greg’s shoulders although he still has plenty to do. They both seem to be in good spirits and tomorrow is week 32. Yeah!

I’m looking forward to working on the “Oriental Flower” when I return. There are several ideas for the background running through my head and Tracye on MQResource has given me some instruction on a diamond background that she used on her “Hell Bent for Leather” quilt.

I bought a sketch book today so I can practice quilting patterns and some doodling. I have been using scrap pieces of paper and trying to keep track of them. I drew a feather that is actually pretty good but I haven’t been able to duplicate it. At least I have proof that it’s in there somewhere.

PS. It was 84* today.

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St. Paddy’s Day…the Irish holiday

I managed to find a nice t-shirt in the closet this morning, just right for “my” holiday. Wild O’Hares Brew Pub, Dublin, Ireland. It’s always nice to have a reason to wear it.

It has been slow here, not getting much quilting done. Greg and Vanessa came to spend the weekend. We had a great time, played some board games and some Wii games. We each took a turn finding our Wii fitness age. Greg did very well, with Bill right behind him. The three girls, Vanessa, Wendy and I, didn’t do very well. Our scores will remain a secret.

I tried a new recipe on Friday night, Maple-Baked Apple Chicken, from the Fall 2005 issue of Food and Family. It turned out very well and seemed to be well-received. I served it with a spinach & orange salad, sweet potatoes and pistacchio cake for dessert. I have been doing very well on the South Beach Diet and managed to stay away from the Lindt chocolates. I only had 6 or so chips and dip. So far, so good…I think I’m down about 4-5 pounds. If the weather gets warm I can start walking again.

Speaking of weather…UGH!!! Will it every be warm again? We had more snow Friday night into Saturday morning, another couple of inches. That doesn’t sound like much but on top of the 100 inches we already have, enough already! Although the sun finally came out today and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, the temp is only 36* and it is very windy. I think the wind chill is about 28* BBBRRR. They are predicting another storm Wed. and Thurs. Oh Joy!!

Since I did my cleaning last week before company arrived, I’m sewing today. I have managed to finish the quilting on a small 30’s print wallhanging. Not sure what will happen to it but I’m happy with the way it turned out. Since I’m not able to attend the baby shower, I wrapped the quilt and gave it to G & V while they were here. It will need another label once she is born. They seemed happy with it and said she will be spending her “belly time” on it. (I’m still having trouble uploading photos, so I’ll add one later.)

It has been a delightful day with lots of sewing. I watched part of a Patsy Thompson video during lunch. I tried a couple of times to quilt a feather pattern in the corner of the “Birthday Gift” but ended up ripping it all out. Instead I’m just doing some free motion “squiggly squares” which are turning out okay. For the most part I have been using this wallhanging as a practice piece for my free motion quilting. Overall it is better than I anticipated.

Cooking up some popcorn for dinner (not exactly SBD fare) and watching Dancing with the Stars while doing more quilting. I may actually finish two pieces today.

**Didn’t finish the second piece because I ran out of thread.

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