Free to Good Home

I tried to rekindle the flame....to salvage something from the blocks....


but it's just not happening! I know even if I put this together in to a quilt top...


I will have absolutely no motivation to quilt and bind it. So....

Free to Good Home! If you'd like to adopt these blocks and do something with them, just leave a comment. All I ask in return is a pic of the finished product! There are 36 blocks...8 1/2" unfinished. I'm sure they can be set in to something lovely, but I'm just not feeling that warm & fuzzy feeling any more.

Let the giveaway begin! I'll draw a winner Wednesday. Feel free to share with your quilty friends!

*Peace!

Cutting & Piecing Fabric and Cutting Losses

I've been down in the quilting den today...getting things done!

I'm caught up on my Farmers Wife quilt blocks...here are a few of the latest.


And remember these?


Yeah...that quilt just wasn't panning out as I had envisioned. *SIGH* But...sometimes you just have to cut your losses!

And so...I'm going to work with what I have...


and take it in a different direction.


Whatever it takes to get it done. I can't have many UFO's in the quilting den or it drives me nuts! Besides..I kinda went on a little fabric acquisition bender this weekend...both live and in person (Hi Twyla!) and online.

Fiona Apple would say "I've been a bad, bad girl...." What can I say? Bonnie Blue Quilts has a 25% off sale this weekend....I found some great deals on another website I frequent
. Both have the great repro fabrics I ADORE...
*SIGH* Insanity! But I can't wait for all the new stash to arrive! So that has lit a fire under my arse and I'm focused on getting things, quilty things, done to make room for the new!

Speaking of sales...I'm offering 20% off all things in my Etsy shop through Monday. If you shop, just convo me and I'll adjust the invoice for the discount.

Taking a break now and the hubs and I are heading off for a little togetherness and treasure hunting! Hope you're having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in the US,and a great weekend in general every where else!

*Peace!

I Am Homebody....

hear me roar! Yes it's true...I...am a homebody. This is not a bad thing! Although some people seem to think so.

I have much to keep me content.

Tonight I picked up the hook....


a little time with the GGS.

And this week some new books arrived...


I'm looking forward to spending a little down time looking through those!

My friend, blogless Kimm, and I compared our to-do lists for this long holiday weekend. We sure do love a long holiday weekend! We both have many things to occupy our time and we revel in being home! home home home!!

She will be painting, redoing a headboard, and she's certain to be knitting and also working on a lovely polka dot afghan! She loves the yarn, sticks and hooks! She needs a blog!

I have the following things to choose from:

1. Farmers Wife quilt blocks
2. GGS crochet
3. Second sock waiting to be knit
4. Sampler stitching
5. Six quilts waiting for the handwork on the binding.
6. One quilt waiting to have scalloped edges made and binding sewn.
7. One secret gift quilt waiting for the binding to be made, sewn on and handwork.
8. One blue and black Amish quilt waiting to be designed.
9. Mossy Mossy neckwarmer (ahem...notice it has changed from a scarf to a neckwarmer? yeah...shorter) to be knit.
10. General housekeeping.

The kids will be dropping by to grill out....I'll be making watermelon feta salad to appease Miss Amber...she who carries my first grandchild! Only 3 weeks until arrival!

There is also the plan to kind of catch some rays in the backyard...so hopefully some things from my list up there can be done outside.

So I may not be traveling anywhere for this holiday weekend, but I sure have lots of fun things to keep me busy and family to keep me company!

I LOVE being a homebody.....


and Emmitt kinda likes it too!

How 'bout you?

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Another week and another odd object makes it's way to my house! Who'da thunk it? ;o)


But seriously...it's kinda cool!


and HEAVY. VERY heavy.....


and ready to hang! I think it will look great hanging on the house out by the back deck. You know...with my Mexican totem pole!

Isn't it neat?

And it was affordably priced for such uniqueness...


My other find...was also affordably priced...


I do love it when I find Southern Living At Home items in the thrift store for cheap!


I already have one of these (ahem...purchased at a Southern Living At Home party)...this one was much cheaper and now I have a pair of the Tuscan Glazed Candle Stands. So sunny and warm!

I wanted to put the offer out there again to look for specific items. If there's something you are looking for, I would be happy to keep my eye out for you, and be your personal thrifty shopper! For instance, I know there's been quite a few blogs showing the glass pedestal base with the flower frog insert, and I have to say I've run across several of those, but didn't pick them up. The ones with the 'loop' design around the edges of the dish...do you know the ones? If you're looking for one of those, or anything else, let me know! I'm happy to shop for you and share the thrifty-love!

*Peace!

A Simple Recipe for Bars

Amish Bars, that is!

Pore over pics of lovely Amish quilts in the Amish Abstractions book from Joe Cunningham.

Take a few luscious colors of Moda Bella Solids



Channel some inspiration....


and put your own spin on it!


and walaaah! Amish Bars!


I should preface by saying that the Amish Abstractions book is not a pattern book, but with a little math, it can be pretty easy to convert the Amish quilts in the pics to actual quilts from your sewing room!

I've gained more inspiration from this book....


so more Amish quilts to come!

If there is interest, I would be happy to 'kit' up the Amish Bars quilt with the recipe I used. The quilt is a nice size for me....about 50 x 64...a nice size to hang on the wall! Because the piecing may be simple, but that's because it will be all about the quilting on this one!!

*Peace!

Of things to come....

I was so revved up by color! color! color! after I finished my KF+PJ=WOW Kaffe Column quilt yesterday, that I started playing with those yummy Moda Bella Solids.

I pulled out my Amish Abstractions book and started mixing and matching colors...


and I certainly found inspiration in that book!


and am excited for the Amish quilts that will be coming out of my sewing room!


Some will be simple and graphic.....and others will have a little more piecing....


but they'll all have that Amish influence so many of us love!

Today I pulled out the umbrella swift and readied a couple more cakes of sock yarn....


Signs of things to come!

What's on deck for you, creatively? Would love to know!

I want to thank everyone for your comments...I love reading them and do try and reply to each one. However, some are set to 'no reply' which makes it difficult for me to reply. Just know I do read them, and am appreciative of the time you take to leave one. This blog world rocks!

*Peace!

KF + PJ = WOW

I have long admired Kaffe Fassett's Column Quilt since I first laid eyes on it in his Museum Quilts book.

The hardest part of the quilt...if there was such a thing....was accumulating just the right fabrics for it.

A little online shopping last week filled in the missing blanks for me!

Just three hours today with Kaffe Fassett + Philip Jacobs fabrics....



and I was pleased....



because when you want a quilt to really be 'all about the fabric'....



They are the DYNAMIC DUO! KF+PJ=WOW...for me anyway!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

I ventured out twice this past week and was not disappointed! Quite pleased with my little finds actually!

$1.50 each piece for these...


Lovely Homer Laughlin Nautilus sugar and creamer in excellent condition!!! Such a nice set for three bucks! And resting there in the creamer...


a couple more pieces of silver to add to the collection. I tend to grab sugar shells and the other 'fancy' spoons, and the silver ladles jump in to my hands too. For a quarter each, I didn't think the checkbook would mind! The actually had a ton of flatware in the same pattern as the ladle...

but I do have SOME restraint! ;o)

Usually.

Usually I have restraint.

Last evening, however, I almost crashed and burned on my thrifting adventure after work. I stopped off at our local YMCA thrift store...it's a large place. With lots of stuff...everywhere. I was making my usual trek through the store...and was in the back...where the skis and ironing boards and golf clubs pile up...when I spotted something...there...up on the wall! But...no price on it. Well, let me tell you, you'd think I was an expert terrain hiker the way I moved around all that stuff to try and get this off the wall. Almost dropped it....but didn't...only to find it wasn't marked.

In this particular store, they have a strict "No price, No sale" rule. So I thought perhaps it just wasn't for sale.

I moved on. Only occasionally looking over my left shoulder to admire the frame...the frame that I could see from 40 yards away and still know that it was something I needed!


I spied a worker guy...and stalked him until he got close to where the picture was hanging and then I very sweetly asked him if he knew how much that picture hanging there in the back was. He grimmaced a bit, probably because he knew he, too, would have to scale the skis, ironing boards and such to get to the thing. He made his way back....took it off the wall...to look for the price. The price that WAS NOT THERE! DUH!

And then he said "Well...usually the bigger pictures are $12.99" and so I said, "Oh. Well...okay. I think I'll take it."

And that's how THIS came to live with me yesterday.


Isn't it lovely? I really do love that frame! Classic! It's a reproduction print of Situation of America 1848, which is in the American Folk Art museum! It's big...I'm going to have to find a place to hang this one! I love me some folk art!

Did you venture out this week? What did you find?

*Peace!

A Little Time With Granny

Back to work today....but did get to spend a little time with GGS (aka Giant Granny Square) this evening.


Pardon my tails...they will be woven in at a later date. Lots to go on this, but it's great fun changing colors and engaging in some mindless crochet.

As Blues Traveler reminds us, The hook DOES bring you back.....

*Peace!

Floral Work

With the rain gone, the sun shining, and the threat of any snow no longer an issue, I've busied myself with floral work yesterday.....



digging in the dirt...planting pots and the long brick planter box in front of the house...



and now I have short nails again! ;o) But that's okay. Made it easier to handle the floral work for today....



The needle seems to ply faster without long nails.

It's all good!

*Peace!

Is A Title Really Necessary?

I hope not! Because I can't think of a good one for this blog post today! It was such a nice day for a change today!



Sunshine! Nice temps! Lilacs smelling lovely....I love combining daisies & lilacs...these have been perched at my kitchen sink for some time, but finally the sun came thru, which was very welcome!

Friday evening I cranked the iPod and got four more Farmers Wife quilt blocks pieced...


I have to say, looking back, it was kind of nice to pile these up because I just paid no mind to what fabrics came with each month. I just stacked them all together and worked from the entire pile. I think I have 7 more to piece and I'm caught up through May.

I paid them no mind today though....my time was spent running a few errands and with my Bolga basket filled with Cascade 220.


I know...weird to be working with wool on a sunny spring day, but I didn't mind. I didn't even mind that I ripped out about ten rounds on my Giant Granny Square (GGS) and all but started over. It was going all wonky on me, and I knew that would never do. It would drive me crazy...and every time you come to visit, I would whip it out and say "Look! LOOK how WONKY this thing is!" and, well, I wouldn't want to subject you to THAT. So I started over....


and I'm glad I did! I went with a different method of reversing the thing every round, and it's working out straight now, which is a good thing!

I'm currently watching Seal on Soundstage. I love Saturday nights on PBS. I could do another round or four on the GGS, but I actually think I might pick up my needle and put some time in on CHS Fraktur One Sampler.

Hope you had a lovely Saturday!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Well here we are...another Thrifty Thursday! I have to start right out by thanking you guys for keeping me focused! It's been a doozy of a week, and there wasn't much thrifting done. I did pick this up over the weekend...


another wonderful piece of crackled and cracked china! LOVE! But that was about it for the goods this week. Until Wednesday after work...even though I was pooped...I told myself people would be checking in to see what I found. And so, thanks to all of you, I forced (ha! using that term loosely)...forced myself to stop off at G'Willy's after work Wednesday evening just to see what was there.

And I came home with a bowl full of goodies!



First off notice the Pyrex bowl...in the medium size! a buck.

And then there were these...


all sitting together, I'm guessing they came from the same donor. One pair is silverplate...one is marked pewter and the other I'm not sure if they're silver or pewter. They were two bucks a pair.

And for another buck-fifty...



do you love the gravy boat? with the turkey? It's marked "Japan" and is that lightweight porcelain. I thought it would be a lovely accent around November. And Lord knows with our weather lately, November has been on my mind. What is with this WEATHER?

Anyhoo...I digress.....

In the spirit of spring...summer...and bugs.....I found this



heavy heavy brass. Is it a fly? a butterfly? a dragonfly? a morphed combo of all three? Not sure...but it's oversized and heavy and was another buck-fifty. It'll be wonderful sitting atop a stack of books!

So I thank you, dear Thrifty Thursday readers, for being there. Because of you...I stopped off on a rainy Wednesday evening and found some treasures to share.

And in case you wonder what in the world I will do with that cracked browning dish...



my glasses fit in it perfectly and they rest there every evening! It's sitting on a stack of books and magazines by my chair...I love it!

I hope you've found some treasures this week!

*Peace!

Hitting Up The Four "Food" Groups

Been spreading the love among the "Four Food Groups" lately....multi-tasker am I!

Sunday I conquered my kitchener stitch anxiety and finished the first Green Envy sock...so today...


I cast on the second sock....starting the ribbing,

and all is good in the knitting group!

I was itching to start something new in the sampler stitching realm. Something smallish...so I can gain some instant gratification...


so yesterday I pulled my own conversion for Fraktur One Sampler from Carriage House Samplings. I LOVE frakturs....this one is smallish....and graphic...and just 4 colors. Love the birds!

Put a check mark beside sampler stitching.

Today I spent a little time in the sewing room working on the Farmers Wife Quilt.


Finished up a couple more blocks. I feel confident I can be caught up by the end of the month! That's a great feeling! I didn't want the BOM to get OOH (Out Of Hand)!

Quilting----Check!

And now...I'm picking up the hook....


and starting a crochet project! A Giant Granny Square afghan is in the works! Off I go to start this one! I can't resist those Cascade 220 wool cakes!

*Peace!