great guild day

here i belong to 2 quilt guilds that have their meetings a day apart once monthly.   that means two days in a row every month are packed with quilty pals and fun.  this month they are both hosting fabric sales....always a challenge for the budget conscious!  nevertheless, at $1 per FQ and one lonely george washington left in my wallet, today caved for this pretty gold christmas print....see the cute reindeer?

it was a teensy, weensy slip with absolutely no guilt...showed it to another quilter who had purchased some snowmen fabric with a bit of gold, so she found another for her project.  it was perfect!   of course there is a free table, and in lieu of dragging home more magazines, opted to take a photo of a couple of things that caught my eye.   these were full size quilts, but thinking smaller versions for quick finishes to add to the "someday sell" pile, or just give away or even keep.  also scooped up some nice wooden spools for my jar.

isn't technology great sometimes?  much easier than more magazine clutter that would only have to be sent along someplace.   the top one uses that chrome-ish yellow for the alternating squares that really gives it a WOW.....and march arrived like a lamb altho a bit cooler than anticipated.  even so, certainly looking more and more like spring with blooming trees and flowers dotting the landscape everywhere.  i just can't believe we had a snow-less winter....bless you Mother Nature!

time flies...a year....

loaded with blessings....it's been nearly a year since the move from north to south.  a home of my own again, a roomy sewing space, new church and community connections, new friends and a new climate....best of all being close to my daughter and my dear son-in-law...priceless indeed!  a lot like these little houses--lots of pieces patched together to make a new life.  alas, the management company of my complex is much like other unethical and self-serving landlords....despite being advertised as a no-smoking building, it is a portion of the lease that is not enforced or viewed as important in a building where there are many with vascular illness only worsened by these scofflaws.  have  complained voiced my concern to every government agency i can think of, yet nobody holds HABITATAMERICA accountable for enforcing its own rules...how idiotic is that????  i am disappointed and crestfallen, especially after the south portland experience, but am otherwise quite content and happy, although am certain my recent illness was made worse by the smoke in the building.  who ever thought the 5th floor would be devoid of constant fresh air???  even so,  have sewn a  LOT, both personal and for charity, said goodby to about 20 pounds (always good), tried catfish and crab cakes, rediscovered fried chicken, jettisoned my frigid winter habits, visited battlefields and located new quilty places.  still lots of places to discover!  financially has been uber-challenging and the budget is still tight--i knew it would be--but that only ramped up my creativity and organizational skills into overdrive, and how to squeak out pricey necessities like shoes requires lots of planning and tweaking.  my little part-time paycheck is sorely missed but God has provided for my needs in many ways.  this move was pondered for a long time and spent hours preparing myself mentally for being further away from family and the familiar for something far more important.  it was the right thing to do, reinforced many times over 365 days.  now on to year 2 and more new experiences and adventures....at home in maryland!

scrappy sewing

one day while still mired in bronchitis, spied this pattern had saved to my desktop and remembered some little 9-patches that got sewn leader/ender and got stuffed away in a baggie....not really feeling like vegetating but no real mojo, so pulled them out and made them bigger and found this leftover yellow for a bright and colorful wallhanging....aka "sunshiny day." 

not quite finished and didn't use up all my mod charm squares (no surprise there), but did make a dent and, better still, emptied a UFO in a baggie.   my gloomy sick days made me think of the sunshine and how vivid colors are when the sun shines bright.  found the pattern on the internet, freebie, by kelly guy that she calls "between charming friends" as it calls for charm squares mostly.  my charms were sent to me my during my gap year between maine/maryland housing.  most of the charms were used in a quilt "cabana daydreams" that is waiting its turn in the quilting pile.  the piano key border needs finishing and there's enough yellow left to bind.  when completed, it'll go in the "hopefully sell" pile for a someday venue to generate funds and bring the sunshine inside for some lucky person.  ***  linking up with "oh scrap" today, so hop on over and see more scrappy goodies!

bit of playtime

with one day of antibiotics left, bronchitic haze is starting to lift so was able to spend a few minutes playing with the old viking and my scraps for the double wedding ring sew along.  this is my 3rd DWR project, the first done completely by hand and the second by machine (except hand quilted of course)...

this one has paper-pieced arcs, all scrappy, and you can see my little organizer chock full of scrappy squares, probably way more than needed but no surprise there.  i'll go on record and again say this is my ONE AND ONLY sew along this year as i focus on unfinished projects and sew up some "want to try patterns" while shopping the stash.  in just a year since moving, can definitely see a difference in the "shop inventory", although do plan on a bit of retail therapy this year, especially during my vacation.  ***  today's chores include a few "must do" household things, more sewing (i hope) and basking in 70+ degree weather for another day....unheard of i'm told for maryland in february.  looking more and more like a snowless winter! 

special day.....

today is my mom's 90th birthday....every single moment i thank God that He blessed me with such a priceless gift ...her own mom died when she was 2, a life-long emptiness that i cannot even fathom...just thinking about what that means causes me to weep....she is truly worthy in His sight.....Godly, faithful, funny, resilient, tender, steadfast, teacher, compassionate, smart, wise....i could go on and on....we had our adversarial days long ago and now, though miles apart, closer than close....wishing her blessings beyond imagining for this milestone and every year ahead....

happy birthday, mom!

autumn finish

now that antibiotics are at full tilt and bronchitis slowly but steadily abating, actually felt like picking up a needle for some sewing.   quilted and bound this wallhanging waiting in the F (finish) pile. 

the HSTs and friendship stars were from previous swaps and just waiting to be used when this got pieced last fall.   also managed to quilt some on the milky way quilt, and hoping for a march finish for that.   hoping that this week can get back to regularly scheduled events and forego the daily naps that have been previously unavoidable.  ***   now that sew along blocks have been repurposed into flimsies, can finally start the stashbuster double wedding ring sew along.  this will be my one and only sew along for the year and done at a leisurely pace.  the only other project have signed up for is jo morton's little women club....patterns and fabric to arrive soon.   pretty proud of myself as it's nearly march and no new fabric yet except for a $2 bag of scraps at guiild meeting.   everyone knows they don't count because it's almost impossible to calculate yardage....lol!

last pile....

of sew-along blocks now a (mostly) flimsy...still needing setting triangles, fabric yet to be chosen.  it has taken me all week along to get the last 2 rows done and put this together in between the tasks required for recuperation that are very slowly producing result.

only 2 blocks left over that'll go in the orphan pile.  when these were being made, didn't realize how many reds and blues got used but still a good mix of some of everything else--purple, gold, green, cheddar, poison yellow.   leaning toward cheddar for setting triangles as have enough on hand.   ***  making a herculean effort to dress and take in some spring-like temps this weekend and most of next week.  looks like february is a no-snow month and if we squeak thru march, it will have been a snowless winter start to finish....my family in maine are too busy digging out to even THINK of spring!  ***   linking up with "oh scrap" blog.....

spring already???

at the PO the other day, spied this....a large forsythia shrub just starting to bloom...and this wasn't the first forsythia i'd seen in bloom either....that's what our winter has been like...do i miss snow?  not a whit!  haven't cleaned the car off once either....still out of commission with a particularly horrid bronchitis that is improving a bit at a time and nowhere near fast enough for me.   my machine gals miss me and i miss them, although i've been doing a bit of hand quilting.....back to baseline soon i hope....

$10 ott lite....

well just a "shade" over $10  (ouch...terrible pun)....but with shorter days, found more light was needed in the sewing corner.  with a budget on life support opted for Plan B....local thrift and a $2.99 lamp and 99 cent shade, then to joann's for an ott-lite bulb (on sale 50% off) which made it $7.50 and voila!  ott-lite brightness for a pittance.  

this isn't the first time went this route.  my mom had a floor lamp ott-lite that finally died.  without funds to get a pricey new lamp, just bought the bulb and used it in a lamp she already had on her chair-side table....worked perfect!  ****  another trip to the local walk-in for (finally) antibiotics. bronchitis tad better but still energy draining and symptomatic.  one of these weeks hope to be able to function again.  ***   and what's that yellow peeking thru on the corner?   a bit of sunshiny scrappy sewing that's taking way longer than it should due to illness, but hope to reveal soon.  otherwise, girls (old viking, trudy, phoebe) are on continued hiatus--not too much longer i hope. 

thrifty switch

in the interests of keeping stash visible and handy without investing in more storage, decided to repurpose this organic spinach container.  as you can see, the inchie scraps had way outgrown my little fabric basket and this way, can access them easier and quicker for leader/ender sewing fun!

another repurposed container holds a small project in process....it's been a challenging month...first mobility issues with right leg that affected my pedal foot too.  after xrays and starting PT, happy to say nearly back 100%.....just in time for a particularly vicious roaring bronchitis which, i believe, was brought on by the nasty little smokers in the building who smoke in their apartments evenings and weekends...not to mention those little old ladies who overdose on perfume and air fresheners.  i thought the 5th floor would provide plenty of fresh air but so far been disappointed....and then there is that OTHER issue....ongoing problems with surgery from 2010.   had i only broken a mirror, would now be enjoying relief, but since had the misfortune to put my bodily functions into the hands of one who must have gotten her medical license at K-mart, am still dealing with those annoying and often painful issues.  thankfully can modify my schedule when need be since i seem to be officially retired from regular work.  *** even with these intrusions, happy and grateful to have a home and a place where i can be sick and sloppy without interference.  even though our weather isn't winter-like at all, the thought of homeless people in severe winter conditions reminds me how blessed i am.....