Category Archives: Uncategorized

August already!

I’ve been keeping busy but not a ton of time in my sewing room.  That seems to happen in the summertime.  I did have time to add a “new” bookshelf to my sewing room.  It is now home to my solid color fabric, some fat quarters and my quilting magazines.

Jpeg

Jpeg

I actually have made a few small things and got back to work on my lattice quilt.  Four more rows to go on that and it will be time to add the borders.  It was actually supposed to be my “summer quilt” for this year but that didn’t happen.  It will make it onto the bed next spring for sure though.

And what else is in my craft basket you might ask?  Well I’ve been collecting the license plates for the row x row experience this summer.  DSC03154

Here are three of them and a pattern for showing them off.   No, I didn’t get to actually go to visit Missouri Star Quilt Company but I was able to order their license plate.  I’ve got a few more to collect this year.    I am sure that these license plates will not be made into the wallhanging until winter is in full swing.   You see I have my usual “got to make by the holidays” list and I also have a different list this year too.  My “want to make before my grandbaby arrives” list!  That event will also take place in December so those sewing machines will be humming away.

For now, I’ll continue to enjoy the summertime and spend lots of time outdoors and organize my ideas and lists.  I think that maybe I need to get into some hand appliqueing so that I can be working on projects while enjoying the beach, the backyard or the front porch.   Of course the occasional rainstorm is welcome too…. especially if the aftermath is something as beautiful as this:

DSC03142

Now I am going to settle down with the my M*QC catalog which came in the mail today.

Happy August.

See you soon.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

Summer is here

And I am back.  I can’t believe it’s been 4 months since I’ve been here.   Life has been keeping me pretty busy these last 16 weeks or so.   Since I’ve been here, Spring came and went and summer arrived.   I have been enjoying the warm weather.  We’ve been enjoying our trips to the beach.  We love to go early in the morning and it is so very peaceful Peaceful beach     And there has been an addition to the “Prohibited” sign this year :

A sign of the times I guess               Addition to Prohibited Items

I have been doing some sewing.  Had a successful craft fair at the end of May and the orders from that kept me busy for a while.  One of the items I made was this tote bag:

Paisley Tote Bag   I really like the way this came out and I think I will find something to make myself from the fabric I used in it.

We also took a trip to Port Jefferson and enjoyed walking around Main Street there and checked out a number of the cute shops and had a delicious lunch too.   Port Jeff

We made a couple of stops at quilt stores that day too and I picked up their row x row patterns and a license plate.  I checked out a couple of embroidery machines and I am hoping to be able to add a new member to my family of machines and learn a whole new area of creativity.     Looking forward to adding new, more personalized items to my list of offerings.

So, that’s a bit of what I have been up to these last few months.  Hope you all have been well and are enjoying the summer.

See you soon.

Ginny

 

 

 

Downton Abbey Withdrawal

I have watched the finale twice already this week.  I am going to miss Sunday evenings with The Crawley family.

 Downton abbey

I knew I was going to enjoy the show when I started watching it but I didn’t know just how much I would.  I found it very interesting to watch the changes that happened in the English society in the time frame the series covered.

So I have decided that I am going to make myself a small lap quilt with Downton Abbey fabric as a reminder of the pleasure I got from this splendid show.   These are the fabrics I am considering:

 

I picked fabric from the Lady Mary, Lady Edith and Lady Sybil lines as well as from the Dowager, Lord and Lady and, of course, The Downstairs line.    Now all I have to do is decide what pattern I want to use.

I think it will be a very, very long time before I find another show that I captivates me the way Downton did.    Thank you Crawley family and Downstairs staff  for the smiles and the tears and thank you Julian Fellowes for a wonderful show and all the attention to detail.

What will I do from 9 to 10 on Sunday evening now?  Maybe I’ll re-read all of Jane Austin’s  works.

See you soon.

Ginny

The Dash

No pictures to post today of recent completed projects.  I have a number of un-completed projects for sure.  Instead I am just working on my “Some of My Creations” pages here tonight.  I seem to be in an “organizational” mode lately.  I have been working on getting my sewing studio organized and easier to find things in and I thought I’d take the time to organize pictures of my creations here too.

However, I do have something to share this evening.   I, sadly, had the occasion to attend a funeral a couple of weeks ago and the funeral director closed the service by reciting this poem.  Some people I know have heard it before but I never had and it really touched me.   It is called “The Dash” and it was written by Linda Ellis.   I found it to be very moving and thought provoking.  I will never look at a headstone in the same way again.

http://www.linda-ellis.com

I have included the link above if you would like to check it out and read it for yourself.

Enjoy the rest of your week and give thought to how you will live your Dash.

See you soon.

Ginny

P. S.   Spring is coming.               Image result for clip art free flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roller Coaster Winter

Christmas Eve we had temperatures in the low 70’s.  Then we go into a cold spell;  back into the 50’s and 60’s.  So the groundhog didn’t see his shadow — an early Spring.  Everyone cheers!  Well, truth be told, not me.  I enjoy winter and feel like I need it.  I need some “hibernation” time.     I still have winter decor around the house.

DSC03116          Snowmen & Santa   Love my snowmen.

But, I digress.  Back to the weather.   After temps in the 50’s,  in comes a blizzard.  The snowstorm last Friday really gave us some beautiful scenic views out our windows.  DSC03115   I guess that Mother Nature decided that if the Punxsutawny Phil wanted to have an early Spring, well, she would just give us a bunch of snow just to let us know that she would have a say in that.  Then, in comes some warmer temps for a day or two, then a few more inches of snow; a dusting more a few mornings after that and now here comes ………………..

…………  the Polar Vortex            polar vortex   .   So, time to hunker down and stay inside and stay warm and cozy for the weekend.   By Tuesday,  we will be warming up and getting heavy rain.  But, hold on, I saw snowflakes on the forecast map for next Friday.         I think I’m a little motion sick from this ride.

And while I am trying to stay in my “hibernation” state, I won’t be sleeping.  I actually will be looking towards Spring and Summer.  I will be working on some things for the next Craft Fair.  I will be making a bunch of these:  DSC03114   Microwave potholders.   I have made some sets of these and given them to a few people and they have been very well received and people have said they will be ordering a bunch of these.   I am also working on a couple of wallets.  Trying to work out an easier way of getting the twist lock into the flap with the padding that I want in it to give it some body.

I hope to work a bit on my lattice quilt.  It would be great if I was at the point of putting the binding on it.  I could sit with a nice, warm, cozy quilt on my lap while hand-stitching the binding down.  But, alas, I am not there yet.  I have other quilts to keep me snug.

We are also starting to talk about our gardens.  I think I want to try to grow potatoes this year using a method I read about on the Old World Garden blog.   If you are into gardening and  haven’t visited this blog, I encourage you to do so.  It’s been very interesting to follow along on their journey. 

If you are in the path of the Polar Vortex, have a warm and cozy weekend inside.  Make soup; maybe some chili, bake some bread.  Spend some time being creative,  read a good book, watch a good movie.  Just pick something that you have wanted to do and spend some time in your cave and “hibernate” for a bit.

Have a great weekend.  See you all soon.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

Great weekend

How different this weekend was from last weekend.  The snow is melting quickly.  And boy what an amazing sunset this evening.Sunset (2)

It was a very productive and fun weekend for us.  We got a lot of errands done yesterday and last night we watched the Documentary on The Eagles.  Very informative and great music.  Then today was a day to just be home and enjoy being here.   Nice easy morning with a leisurely breakfast.  After that dh and I set to getting a few things done in the kitchen.  He chopped, diced and peeled and I mixed, browned and stirred and in the end we had the sauce for today’s dinner  Simmering Sauce

Shepherd's Pie  Shepherd’s Pie for tomorrow night’s supper.

and some Banana Bread for a treat tonight while watching the Live Broadcast of Grease.

Banana Bread

After the kitchen was cleaned up, I was able to spend some time in my sewing room and I finished up 24 burp cloths 2 dozen burp cloths

 

 

 

hexagon tablerunner        and got the hexis all ready for stitching while watching tv.  I’ve got two more rows to add to get it to the right length for my dining room table and then I’ll fill in on the sides for the width.  I’m using this charm pack from Moda.  Charm pack for hexis

Some nights there is absolutely NOTHING worth watching and then tonight, there is Grease, Downton Abbey and Madam Secretary all overlapping.  Thank goodness for my DVR.

Have a wonderful evening and a great week all.

See you soon.

Ginny

Blizzard of 2016

6″-12″ is what we were supposed to get.  Ok, we’re ready.

Ice metl

Boots & Shovels Ice melt, boots and shovels all ready.

 

 

 

 

Checked outside before heading to bed late Friday night.  The storm begins    The snow had begun.  Very pretty.

Next morning’s view of the driveway:Morning on Day 2

Now they say more like 12″-18″.   Well, it kept on coming and this is what it looked like this morning at the front door  Front Door DriftFront Porch Drift #2

We wound up getting over 28″ and the drifts were amazing.  We had shoveled the front porch and driveway mid-afternoon on Saturday so I cannot even imagine how high the drift would have been if we hadn’t.

Other than the one time shoveling expedition, we had a nice day indoors yesterday.  We didn’t lose power so that was great.  I was able to spend some time in the sewing room, watched a movie and made some delicious Roasted Tomato Soup Roasted Tomato Soup

The backyard sure does look like a winter wonderland today

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DSC03087

We’ve got the cars and driveway dug out thanks in large part to three of our neighbor’s sons.  He always make sure that they go around and help those of us who don’t have young able-bodied shovelers living at home and who are not as young as we used to be.

Cars Dug Out

Now let’s just hope the plow doesn’t block us in too badly when it comes around.

Too tired now to do much sewing or cutting.  I would probably mess something up if I tried so I will just watch the football game and either work on a knitted dishcloth or maybe some handwork (hexis).  Maybe a little bit of both.  I also have Madam Secretary and Downtown Abbey on the schedule tonight but since they are opposite each other, I am dvr’ing both of them and then I can choose which to watch tonight and which to watch either later tonight or tomorrow.

Hope everyone dealing with this storm is safe and warm tonight.

Have a great week.  See you soon.

Ginny

 

 

 

Snow is coming?

Ok, so they say we could get a good amount of snow.   The usual routine is to make sure we have everything we will need for a day going nowhere (except outside to shovel and clear off the car — and maybe throw a snowball at my hubby.)  penquin throwing snowball

Bread — check;  milk — check;  tea — check; wood for the fireplace — check; wine -check

So, it looks like we are set for everything we will need, right?   Oh contrar!   I will need to make sure I’ve got enough to keep me busy for the weekend in my sewing room because we know that I don’t have enough fabric and projects to keep me busy!

So, this evening after work, I headed to Michaels to get some yarn.  I have been waiting and waiting for it to go on sale either at Michael’s or A.C. Moore and this was the week.Cotton yarn

I see some knitted dishcloths in my future.

Yesterday I got a delivery from the M*QC  so I have some nice new fabric to play with and dream about the pretty things I can make with it.  And, while going through my fabric stash and organizing last week, I realized that I was in need of some flannel and was going to head out to get that on Saturday but that was probably not going to happen with the snow arriving.   I headed out to get that after dinner.fabric

 

Got gas on the way home and now I’m all set.   Let the snow begin.  snowflakes

Have fun everyone heading to those grocery stores to stock up on your bread and milk. I’ve got my supplies in.

See you soon.

Ginny

Un-decorating Day

Well, today was the day to take the Christmas decorations down.  The kitchen sounded hollow somehow and the rest of the house seemed so bare.   I miss my tree .  The space where it spent the last month shining brightly    Christmas Tree    was so empty        Empty space.

So it was time to rearrange things a bit and fill that void with something else that would make me smile and so this is what I moved there Filled space    I set up my guitar and music stand there and it’s time to get back to practicing.  I did learn to play Jingle Bells before the holidays but not well enough for me to play it for anyone but myself and the cat.  Oh, and does it surprise anyone who knows me that the first song I can play all the way through was a Christmas tune?  Probably not.

Time to get the Valentine’s Day decorations out and then, quickly right after that, there will be the St. Patrick’s Day green making an appearance. However, if you take a look around, you will see that Christmas hasn’t really gone completely away.  🙂    I left a few reminders around Countdown

These cute little guys are actually keeping track of how many months to go until Christmas, not days right now.   And if you look closely, you will see a few holiday friends still hanging around in this little cabinet   Snowmen & Santa

After un-decorating, a whole lot of vacuuming, rearranging and having some delish onion soup for dinner, I did get to spend some time in my sewing room organizing my fabric and working on a couple small projects. Tomorrow is going to be a rainy chilly day, so I will be spending a lot of time with my sewing machines.  I have a few projects on my to do list and I have been looking through quilt books and magazines and finding more things that are going to be going on my “I want to make that” list.

Have a good week everyone.  See you soon.

Ginny

The New Year has begun

And winter has arrived for a short visit.  Boy did we get spoiled with that warm weather in December.  As cold goes, I suppose it really wasn’t all that awful but it sure was a shock to the body for the last couple days. But, fear not, warmer temps are making a comeback and we will be in the 40’s again tomorrow.  However, I really want some snow!  We can’t have snow if it’s in the 40’s.

I have been getting my sewing room back into some semblance of order over the last few days and will be getting back to work in there soon.  I have a list of things that need to get done.  The list isn’t as long as it was a couple months ago but I do see it growing again.  Of course, my sewing machines need some TLC too before they get back into the swing of things.

Stay cozy and warm everyone.  See you soon.

Ginny