I Need Assistance!

I saw this picture on another blog recently, as an example of kitchen decor.  I totally fell in love with the curtains.  I immediately went treasure hunting and bought several vintage hankies.  The problem is, they're all different sizes!  Then I realized that this is yardage, it's not individual hankies sewed together.  Any suggestions how I can accomplish something like this?  I REALLY want these curtains.

counting my blessings....and my hankies.....Sunny

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.  Today is a day for giving thanks for all our blessings, and spending time with family, friends, and good food. 

Counting my bountiful blessings.....Sunny

Tis the Season

I can't make it stop.  Christmas really is coming.  And coming soon.  Last night, for FNSI, I worked on several Christmas projects.   I sandwiched and quilted something for my Santa Sack partner:

I also added borders to another project for a swap:

I put a few stitches in another swap project:

And I made 2 stockings for Stockings For Kids.

Thanks to Heidi and Bobbi for organizing FNSI each month.  I join in most months, and I really do get a lot done.

One of the blessings of not working, is that I can meet up with friends and do fun things on week days.  Yesterday I met up with Marianne, and we went to a Craft Show.  We walked, and talked, and shopped, and ate.  Marianne fell in love with a rocking horse, but with a price tag of $5500, she chose not to purchase it.  But how often does a girl get a chance to ride a $5500 rocking horse?

While we were talking and eating lunch, I mentioned the mystery quilt that I had received the day before.  She said she had recently received a little quilt also  When she got home, she read my post and saw my quilt, and sent me a picture of the one she had received.  It's the same quilt!  She, however, had the name of the sender, so I did   some searching around, and found where I had won a giveaway that I had forgotten.  Thanks Sandy!! 

This afternoon, we went to a small town Christmas parade to see our granddaughter dance!  Their routine was so cute.  I tried to get a picture, but they were moving too fast for my little camera.

We also saw firetrucks, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, miniature horses, a few marching bands, old cars, friends on motorcycles, and lots of little elves and snowmen.

While I love watching the big parades, like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, small town parades are the best!

And last, but certainly not least, I received a little squishy package from Portugal.  A beautiful fat quarter from my friend Ana Maria.  Thanks Ana!  It's gorgeous, and I'll certainly be thinking of you when I create something with this  fabric.

counting my blessings......Sunny

Christmas Magic

And so it begins.  I found this at my front door earlier today.

What can it be?  Hmmm...there's no return address.  Is it from my Santa Sack partner?  The contents are nestled in Christmas tissue paper, but they're not wrapped.  And my partner is not a quilter.  Apparently someone wanted to add a little JOY to my life.

I checked everywhere for a signature or a label, but there are none to be found.  What I can say for sure is that I received an adorable little table topper, made from beautiful fabrics, and amazing quilting.  And it's been washed and crinkled.  Oh my!

Thank you, whoever you are!  You really know how to make a girl's day.  If it wasn't meant to be anonymous, I'd love to have a little label to attach to the quilt.

Counting my many, many secret blessings......Sunny

A Season of Change

Seasons change.  There is a time for every season.  I can look out my window on a daily basis and see the chlorophyll disappearing with the shortened days and cool nights.  The birds are feasting on the fruit that is weighing down the branches.

The clock changes Although there are arguments for and against Daylight Saving Time, I will say that I am all for it!  The way I see it, I have to get up in the morning and follow a daily routine whether it's dark out or light.  (Assume for this argument that I have a job)  But an extra hour of light in the afternoon/evening is a gift.  If the sun has already set before I get home, I put on my jammies, fix dinner, and settle in the the night.  That's it.  I never leave the house in the evening.  Well, maybe for Quilt Guild.

Lives Change  I am in a season of change.  But unlike the seasons and the clock, I don't know where I"m going.  I'm not even sure I know where I want to be going.

But this I know.  I'm where I am for a reason.  I'm meant to be here.  To learn some lesson.  I've often wished that I didn't have to work for a living, and now I'm not working.  I should be appreciating this time more.   I should be reading more, accomplishing more. 

Last Friday I spent my afternoon coloring and watching SpongeBob SquarePants with a Hospice patient with late-stage dementia.  I'm so grateful that my daily existence offers so much more, but I'm reminded how quickly circumstances can change.  We need to live life to the fullest.  We need to live every day as if it might be our last.  Because it just might be. 

 

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under the sun.

A time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill and a time to heal ...

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance ...

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to lose and a time to seek;

a time to rend and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 

counting my blessings. . . . Sunny

I'll be back tomorrow with some stitchy news and treasure hunt finds!

The Bridge theme continues

Saturday morning, we got up very, very early.  As a matter of fact, this picture was taken THREE hours after we got up!  Our destination:

We always take the Staten Island Ferry, to get views of Lady Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline. 

We then walked over to the 9/11 Memorial site area, but the only way to see anything is to have tickets, and there aren't any weekend tickets available in the foreseeable future.  Next stop was Brooklyn.  We had a light lunch, and then walked around Brooklyn Heights.  It's so different from Manhattan, with big houses and tree-lined streets in addition to the apartment buildings. Most of the front 'yards' have little fences and gates, and we saw some great doors!  I enjoy seeing places where the lifestyle is so different than mine.  I've always lived in relatively small towns, in single family homes or very small apartment complexes, where the typical family has two or more cars. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking across the Brooklyn Bridge:

We started noticing padlocks all along the bridge, on cables, and anyplace else that they could be hung.  I had never seen that before, so of course I googled to see if I could find out why they were there.  Does anyone out there know?  It seems that they are "Love Locks" on which lovers write their names, and toss the keys into the river, to lock in their love.  Apparently it is a world wide phenomenon.  How interesting.

Then dinner and a little shopping in Chinatown:

We stopped to ask a policeman for directions to China Town, and he recommended the restaurant where we ate.  Since we don't speak Chinese, we were able to get an English menu.  The walls were covered with dollar bills, mostly with things written on them.  The food was delicious, and we had a table where we could look out the front window and watch people go by.  We made a couple more quick stops, and then had to head to Macy's for our bus pick up.  It was a very long day, and we walked for what seemed like miles.  My feet hurt so bad!  I have to admit that I took a very long nap this afternoon!

In order to make this a stitchy post, I will add that I crocheted on the bus!  A day without stitching of any kind is not a good day.

counting my blessings............Sunny