Mail Call

Today's mail call brought two wonderful squishies my way.  First was a basket block for BSA from Pamela. Not only did she send the pretty basket block, complete with a bluebird of happiness, but she sent me an extra basket, some fabric, and a couple of other little goodies.  Thanks Pamela!!

I also received some Fig Tree patterns from LeAnn.  One is called Summer Ribbons, but I think I might look for a Christmas Jelly Roll, and make Christmas Ribbons.  Thanks so much LeAnn.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, stitchy week.

Counting my blessings....Sunny

Fun Day SunDay

I have been a companion volunteer for Hospice for the past few months.  I sit with my patient on Sunday mornings while her family attends church together.  Today when I arrived, the Granddaughter, her primary caregiver, told me she was staying home from church so that I could give her some quilting lessons!  She has an embroidery machine, and had embroidered Pooh designs on 15 squares, and was ready to try to put them together. A new baby was coming home from the hospital today to join the family, and the quilt was meant to be a baby gift.   So I started my day with teaching someone how to trim blocks, line them up, and sew them together.  Gotta love getting a new person into quilting!

When I left their house, I was amazed by how beautifully, gorgeously, wonderful it was outside, so I headed home, loaded up the hubster and his lawn chair, and off we went.  First stop was his favorite little restaurant in Shepherdstown, WV where he had a bowl of won ton soup, and I had a yummy California roll.  He ate all his soup and ordered a bowl of miso soup to go.  We're making progress!  He ate a bowl of soup last night, too.

The we drove  just a couple of miles to the C&O Canal towpath. I've been needing to get out of the house, and couldn't resist taking a long walk today.  I left hubby here, and I went off for a solo walk.

I saw this when I was a few feet from getting on the towpath.  I asked if I could take his photo, and he maneuvered around so that I could get a shot. 

Then I set off with my walking stick and my camera!

How awesome is this mushroom that someone found??? I think this is a chicken of the woods mushroom?

The towpath was quite popular today,with walkers, runners, and bikers.  There were couples, singles, and families.  I'm glad the temperatures are turning cooler, so I can start taking advantage of this wonderful park again.

Counting my blessings.....Sunny

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

FNSI results

Hubby was watching a yucky movie last night, so I got an early start on FNSI. At some point, I took a break for a snack, and came up with this.  I heated up some of the homemade applesauce that I made last week, and put it over vanilla bean ice cream.  Yummmmmmmmmmmmm..

 In stitchy news, I made two blocks for Block Swap Adventure.  I can only show sneak peeks here for now.

I also stuffed and stitched three pincushions closed, started some watermelon blocks, and and worked on a Christmas cross stitch. 

Today, I worked on the cross stitch some more, but it's not ready for pictures yet.  I've bought several patterns recently, so I need to speed up on the stitching!

counting my blessings.....Sunny

A not-so-stitchy day

As you all know, hubby has been having some health issues this summer, and has been unable to eat much.  However, I keep going to the produce market each week!  We have a freezer full of zucchini bread, corn and peaches.  And after today, there is more corn, peaches, and peach bread!  I wanted to use the peaches in something that could freeze for later use, not just a pie or cobbler.

A few remaining peaches went into the freezer.

Then on to the apples that were past their prime.  How about an apple walnut cake?  Hubby will take most of this to work.

I also found some ears of corn in the fridge that I bought a couple of days ago and forgot, so into the freezer with them.

I actually cooked a real dinner tonight, but I didn't take any pictures.  I haven't been cooking much lately.

Next it was on to the bedroom, where I cleaned out my closet.

I filled two bags with unwanted clothes to take to the Rescue Mission.  Last week I cleaned out my drawers, so the bedroom is almost finished.

And then there were the bills to be paid.  I just paid them last month....why do I have to do it again?

So after all that, hubby comes home, and says "what did you do all day?  Why didn't you feed the outside cats?"  It's illegal to shoot him, isn't it?

Yesterday, I made my final trip to Borders.  I picked up 9 books for $31.  I've probably mentioned a time or six that I love books.

And you know I can't go an entire day without stitching something, so here are my weekly flowers!  My computer is so slow tonight that I've actually been stitching hexies while I wait for pictures to upload.

So there you have it, a day in my life.   Hopefully there will be more stitchy news tomorrow.

Counting my blessings.....Sunny

My first Prairie Points

The stay at Home Robin is living up to my expectations!  I'm learning and I have to do math.  I made my first Prairie Points this weekend.  They're not perfect, but I'm pleased with them.  I cut out the squares on Friday night, and then Saturday while I was at a quilting class, I noticed a tool to be used in ironing the points.  There's a tool for everything quilty, isn't there?

It's not too late to join the Stay at Home Robin.  We started with our center block, and then added our first border this month.  If you'd like more info, click on the tab under my header photo, or comment on this post.  You could get caught up in no time!  For those of you already participating, don't forget to post your pictures on the flickr site.

Counting my blessings......Sunny

A day of memories.

A stitchy kind of day.

I stitched my little fingers to the bone today so I could show this tonight.

I'm not sure what I'm doing with it next, but I'm thinking of some green vines and maybe a couple of leaves on the outer border?  Any ideas or suggestions?  This is inspired by a picture in a magazine, but I don't have an actual pattern.

I also started playing around with my blocks today from the Quick Christmas Bee.  I have an idea for how I want to set them, and I'm taking them to a quilt shop tomorrow, hoping for some advice from experts.  Here's what I have so far, compliments of Cat, Jackie, Jodi, Manuela, Isabel, and Ana Maria.I requested a star block from each of them, and a block of their choice.

I also have siggy blocks from everyone, and they will be incorporated into the backing. 

I received my September block from Penny today for Block Swap Adventure.  It's a wonderful block of pinks and greens.  Some day soon, I'll have to photograph all of them together.  For now, you can see all that I've received  on one page if you click on the BSA page under my header photo.

In other miscellaneous news, I'm taking a  needle turn applique class tomorrow.  I've tried a couple of times without much luck, so it's time to learn the right way to do it.

Hubby's last radiation treatment was Tuesday!  We haven't seen much improvement in his pain levels yet, but we're hoping for daily improvement.  The doc told him that within a week, he should feel about 80% better, and 100% after two weeks. 

The airwaves have been monopolized with remembrances of 9/11.  I can't believe that it's been 10 years.  It seems like yesterday.  May we always remember.

Sunny

Mail in and Mail out!

Today was the day to send off the Travelling Stash Box!  As it turns out, the winner, Marianne, lives within driving distance of me, so we decided to meet in person for the hand off.  Where did we meet, you ask?  Why a quilt shop, of course.  We spent an hour or so roaming around, looking at and touching fabric.  If I'm not mistaken, a small collection came home with each of us.  Then we went to lunch and sat and talked  for a couple of hours.  I'm so happy to have a new quilty friend!  I stopped at JoAnn's before I left town, too, and picked up a few crafty items. 

When I got home, there were THREE packages sitting at my front door.  First of all was a big box filled with my OASS Spring swap goodies from Vickie.

See the little flower?  It's a solar powered dancing flower.  And it works!  Brings a smile to my face.  The pincushion is a welcome addition to my collection.

How cute is this?

There was also a box of goodies that I won from Patty's giveaway.  She started with a little pouch, then added a book, the cutest little tiny pincushion,  some hexies and hexie papers, needle, buttons, etc.

this pincushion is tiny!  and oh so adorable.

look who showed up while I was staging the photo.

My third package was a partial order from 123 Stitch.  They send me an email every week, and I spend way too much money with them. 

Can't wait to stitch these.

Well, I guess I better get off this computer and get some stitching done.  Wait until you see what I did with these:

I hope to have pictures tomorrow.  And did I mention that I found another little quilt that uses hexies?  It's an addiction I tell you.

Counting my blessings....Sunny

Rainy Day Ramblings

Rainy days and Mondays...lalala.....  Mondays have been hubby's worst days the last few weeks, and today was no different.  He never should have gotten out of bed today  However, we were 450 miles from home, so he didn't have much choice.  That meant I had a lot of driving time today, and a lot of time to think.  The above picture is a good representation of what we saw for most of the drive.  Except when it was so foggy that we could barely see the front end of the car.  Or when it was raining so hard that we could barely see the front end of the car.  Or when we were stuck in traffic for not one, but two separate accidents.  Or when we stopped at a Dillard's store.


cruising right along...

 Hubby loves Dillard's.  He's the shopper in our family, not me.  I only like shopping when it involves fabric, crafts, or books.  But I digress.  Hubby wanted to stop at Dillard's so we did.  Which brings me to my first ramble.  We were in the store approximately 15 seconds before a sales associate spoke to us.  And more associates continued to do so.  I felt like I had landed on a foreign planet.  Why should it be the exception rather than the rule to get good customer service?  I would guess that at least 7-8 employees spoke to me, asked how I was, if I needed help, took my selections to a fitting room while I continued to shop, etc.  Is this the norm at Dillard's?  Or was it because we were in the south?  Because it sure ain't the norm around here!  (yes, I deliberately used the word ain't)  Why isn't it the norm everywhere?  I fault management for poor customer service, which often includes allowing employees to talk on their phones and be rude instead of waiting on customers.  I plan to call Dillard's tomorrow to congratulate them.

We have made this trip to North Carolina for Labor Day weekend for 6 of the last 7 years.  If you live on the east coast, you know that Labor Day falls during prime Hurricane season.  Last weekend Irene made her way up the east coast, and for the next few days, the remnants of Lee are making the way north after drenching parts of the south with a foot or more or rain, along with tropical storm high winds.  Last Saturday, we saw about 25 power company trucks gathered just outside our town, heading east.  I'm not sure where they came from, but they were moving in to be ready to help out as soon as the storm passed.  Early today, I saw what I believe to be those same trucks headed south.  I wish I had counted them, because as the day went on we saw hundreds of power trucks heading down the highway.  Where do they all come from?  How long has it been since they've seen their families?  Do they just go from storm to storm to help restore power?  We see something like this every year.  Who are these angels?  I didn't need my power restored today, but I thank these wonderful people who gave up their Labor Day holiday to help strangers in need.  I actually get teary-eyed to see all these trucks heading down the road.

A special thanks to our wonderful hosts for the weekend.  It was good to get away for the weekend, spend time with loved ones, and be pampered at the same time.   Thanks B&J!  These 'quilt squares' are starting to show up all over their town.  If I had done more of the driving, instead of being chauffeured, there would be more pictures.  For some reason, not everyone gets excited by this sort of thing, and their cars don't automatically pull over to take pictures.

And lest you think I didn't get any stitching done, I say "ha!"  I wasn't planning to pack any hexies, but I only had 4 more to make for my black eyed Susan quilt, so I tossed them in at the last minute, and got them finished.

I always take yarn on road trips to crochet rectangles for the rectangle group that I belong to.  They're the perfect project for the car.  I was so happy to learn that I could crochet without getting car sick.  The times goes so much faster when I'm stitching and not just staring at taillights. 

So now you know what was on my mind as I spent my day driving. Oops, I just remembered something else, but I'll save it for tomorrow, because I'm sure I've put everyone to sleep by now.

Counting my blessings....Sunny