men's shirts?

a new beau perhaps? or taking in laundry? no on both counts. got these at the salvation army thrift today for about $1.50 each, 100% cotton plaid shirts. over one-half yard of fabric in each shirt...how good is that? so, my TV time will be spent cutting off buttons and pulling out seams to add this to my plaid stash for an upcoming quilt project. remember, buy u$ed and $ave. i try to whenever i can. ***** a first for mom today! took her to a local Thai restaurant for lunch. she had never eaten Thai food and i'd been hankering for some pad thai so off we went. she thought all Thai food was spicy hot and was pleasantly surprised. a brief diversion in our otherwise boring no-work existence.

bonnie's new look

bonnie of quiltville fame has a fancy new look to her blog courtesy of some techno-santa...check it out! looks sort of like the north pole, don't you think? bonnie could be our very own mrs. claus!

(not so) extreme makeover

i've been pondering how to find a larger flat space for ironing/basting small projects etc. i've started the process today after repurposing a folding table we've had around for eons. i've moved some furniture around, vacuumed ALL the dust bunnies and the plan is taking shape. just a few small purchases to make to get everything in order and also make some curtains. once it's done i'll do a grand unveiling. it has been a challenge and more than once i have verbally expressed a wish for a larger room sans carpeting, but it simply can't be changed. even so, i think i can make it work. watch this space.....2011 came in like a lamb, a cloudy, misty, gloomy lamb. the sun peeked out once or twice, but tonight it's going to rain, so a sunny day has been put off.

first finish and thank you!

last night i didn't want to choose something from my UFO list, so i pulled out a pattern and whipped up this little doo-dad. it's a sewing machine mat with pockets! i used a rebecca barker print i bought in lancaster plus some scraps and finished it this morning. great for those notion items i like to keep at hand but don't all fit on the table OR, more likely, get covered over by projects on which i'm working. not my idea but a goodie. ***** thank you to the invisible computer guru who cleaned that hideous rogue software off the computer. ****** it's a balmy day in maine with sun shining! today's the day for clearing the decks, taking down the tree and other christmas decorations, cleaning up the apartment, enjoying our annual treat of a roast beast dinner and just plain relaxing. i got my laundry all done yesterday in anticipation of a busy day. no resolutions but goals, plans and etc. for what i hope to do this coming year. as always, my wish is for good health for me and my family, prosperity, help for those in need, time for fun and staying focused on what is really important amidst all the distractions. that about covers everything......

tale of two finishes

two exciting finishes to report today. first, i finished up a christmas tablerunner i started a month or so ago. it was imperative that this item not become a UFO and added to my list, so early this morning i got up and finished the binding. next, the butterfly quilt is completed! i finished the actual sewing yesterday and then washed it. this morning it was dry so it got its picture taken to post here. this pattern was a special request from DD and is the wedding quilt for she and DSIL. i am thrilled it is completed. this was my third hand-quilted quilt to be completed this year, the other 2 being the double wedding ring and the blue/white pyramids. that's a lot of quilting, especiallly since i worked full time until just recently. i am pretty satisifed with what i completed this year; my UFO list is down from 24 to 20 because i started a few new projects this year and unearthed a couple that were packed away as well. now i can relax today and formulate my plan for the list and what gets completed next. i'm also planning a re-org and revamp of my bedroom/quilty space to find a bit more surface area on which to iron, etc. ****** little brother machine came home from the 'hospital' in the new sewing trolley. all set for another quilty road trip!

a real grinch

some complete brainless idiot posted a link in a message to my online quilter's group and now my computer is a complete mess. i hope they slip on the ice and break their neck. for some mysterious reason, there are those whose brains are complete mush who think the internet is a license to snoop and then destroy people's lives. i cannot delete this horrible program they uploaded to my computer without paying a "ransom" of $79.95. i hope they are patient because it will be a blizzard in hell before i knuckle under to them and their extortion tactics. i only hope the technogremlins will create havoc on their computer like they have done to mine. in the meantime, i'm praying that my computer will get fixed so i can continue computing with my boring quilty stuff and job hunting. no doubt they got coal in their stocking this year......

a merry christmas indeed!

since i can remember, we've always had our tree and a family celebration on christmas eve; this year was no different. we were missing a few people but had a wonderful evening. santa was good to us all. we had our traditional clam chowder with salad, shrimp dip and chips, christmas cookies and this year a blueberry pie was added. due to work schedules, it was just me and mom on christmas day so we opted for takeout chinese instead of cooking and cleaning. i had toyed with the idea of traveling to maryland to be with DD and DSIL but glad i didn't as we are in the midst of a HUGE blizzard that will put everything to a standstill for a day or so. we are thankful to be warm with enough food to last the duration, as are our family members. i pray for those who are not that fortunate. ***** i'm sewing down the binding on the butterfly quilt now and it will be completely done in a day or so, making me quite happy indeed. then i get to do something different for a change. 2011 is looming and my UFO list must be tackled straight away.

again?

can you believe it? it doesn't seem right somehow that we should get snow 2 nights in a row! but that's exactly what happened, as you can see from this shot of our parking lot yesterday morning. it wasn't much but it WAS snow. thankfully THIS morning we have no more and that little bit we got yesterday is nearly all melted. even so, i decided it was time to hang up the snowman, my little mascot for winter. isn't he cute? this came to me in a winter swap a few years ago, meticulously hand crafted. ***** today i am finally starting to bind the butterfly quilt. i finished the cross-hatch quilting earlier this morning, which was a bit more difficult than i realized. the problem is i have no large, flat surface on which to measure/mark the diagonal lines and used a TV tray table, not sufficient at all for this task. my hope is to tackle the sewing space (bedroom) to see if i can fit in a larger, flat surface for just that task--marking and ironing. ***** christmas eve day and only a couple of food prep tasks remain to be ready for our family celebration. when i was a child, christmas meant off to grandma's and the hordes of family around 2 tables. in retrospect those were idyllic days. there will be only 5 of us together this year, missing my brother, DD and DSIL, nephews and great-nephew. i wish we could all be together physically, but most certainly are in spirit. even with empty chairs, we have many blessings.

not santa, but....

snow arrived last night. not too much, perhaps 4" at most, but it's snow nonetheless and doubt if it will melt anytime soon. ***** i am busily quilting on the butterfly quilt, now on the last blocks before i can start the binding, which is all prepped and ready to go. i'll probably spend the weekend on the binding and then next week launder and voila, another finish for the year. that will make 3 full size quilts i've hand quilted this year plus some other projects, so that's pretty good. ****** next week it's my annual "clearing the decks" organization and readying to start the new year. i'm hoping to make new curtains and spit-polish the room and, hopefully, find more space for sewing. i've also got to devise a way to have another flat surface on which to iron as I go, plus get my design wall up. i've those 20 UFOs to finish plus start some new projects as well.....always plenty of ideas!

another happy monday

why? first, no snow yet, though that may change TODAY. second, already been to the pool today so can lounge (and quilt) without regret the rest of today. third, i don't have to go anywhere NEAR the MALL this week! fourth, can't clean too much as vacuum is out of commission and waiting on a part. these in addition to being healthy, warm and with many blessings all add up to a happy monday!