Fun in the Sun!

There’s been a lot of rain in Florida lately, so there’s a lot of mud in many places.  But there’s far more beauty!
We’ve seen flowers:

(this is especially for my friend Anthea)

A nice assortment of birds:

(this is especially for my friend Maria)

Shells:

(I have big feet, so you can imagine the size of this shell)

This is the first sea star that I’ve ever seen on a beach.  I’ve only seen them in shops before!

There were a couple of dolphins playing in the surf:

(they’re not very cooperative about posing for photos)

And of course there was a lighthouse:

Not sure what’s on tap for tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll find something fun to do!

Sunny in sunny Florida

The Great Escape

We've escaped from the snow.  Two very long days on the road.  A little of this:

A lot of this:

And finally this:

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Sunny in sunny Florida

Snow Days

The snow mountains have begun to recede.  We got out of the house today for something other than shoveling!  While we didn't have the required wind speeds for our snowstorm over the weekend to qualify as a blizzard, we had 'blizzard-like' conditions and nearly 30 inches of snow.  That's about 75cm to the rest of the world.  That's a lot of snow for us.  And a lot of shoveling.  Fortunately I had some help or I'd still be out there trying to free our cars from the drifts.

Of course, Snow Days = Sew Days!  And cleaning days.  I've spent a LOT of time lately trying to make my sewing/crafting room a more pleasant place to work.  And that means getting rid of a ton of stuff.  I've taken stuff to the Salvation Army, Parent-Child Center, Hospice, my sewing groups, friends, family, and some to the trash.  I've spent days shredding old records and statements.  Why did I still have some of this stuff?!?

Retreat is in a couple of weeks, and I've also been kitting, cutting, and prepping projects for that.  I'm going to plan on working on several smaller projects this time, so I can cross off more from my very long list.  I always take too many projects, but want to have something extra to work on in case I get bored. or forgot some crucial item.

RSC16 is off to a good start, and Blue is the color for January.  I'm going to attempt three different projects this year, as I barely made a dent in my scraps last year.

Not sure what this is called, but it's 16" and will be sashed with another white strip when the quilt is assembled.

I hope to do at least 4 string blocks each month.  I started with paper foundation, but found that muslin worked much better for me.  

And these will eventually be small spool blocks.  I need to get some brown fabric to complete them.  

I don't precut my scraps like many quilters do, so this took awhile, but I got in the groove and cut all the sizes at the same time, and then assembling them went rather quickly.  

I joined Gifted Gorgeousness (GG) again this year, but I didn't get anything stitched for January.  My project is Snow Days, designed by Kaaren Johnston of The Painted Quilt.  I won the pattern AND the fabric to make it in a drawing on Kaaren's blog a couple of years ago.  I should be able to get started on the stitching in a few days.

Knowing that Snow Days was on my to-do list, and knowing that it contained several embroidery blocks, I treated myself to a new light pad last year.  I'm not a fan of tracing while standing at a window, and my old light box was a joke.  Anyway, the new light pad is very thin and seems to be somewhat fragile, so I thought it needed a padded case.

 I showed these red hexies in progress several months ago, and was stumped on how to assemble this.  It's a simple envelope style, and it's finished, and I totally lost interest in it so the construction isn't the greatest.  But did I say "it's finished"?  And I used up some red scraps!

I've been doing a lot of cross stitching since I finished Santa's Village.  This pattern was purchased a few years ago, and finally made it out of the basket.  There is a plan for how it will be finished, so you'll be seeing it again soon.  yeah, how many times have I said that??

On a final note, I purchased some socks today.  They are in an envelope and heading to the Post Office tomorrow for a very special destination.  I didn't think to take a picture of them, but please check out this link for a Very Special Project.  You'll want to buy a pair of socks, too!

(Picture borrowed from Confessions of a Fabric Addict)

Stay tuned for my next post.  It might just involve palm trees, sand, and waves!       Sunny

Still Stitching Away

I'm writing this in Blogger, and I'm not sure if I remember how!  I keep thinking that maybe I should just stop blogging since I've become so lax about it, but I just can't quite seem to pull the plug.  Although I'm now retired and have all the time in the world, it seems that I have less time than ever before.  I belong to two Guilds, two small sewing groups, and I sew at a friend's house on Mondays. Three other sewing dates are set up for this month also.  Life is GOOD!

RSC15 has come to a close, and I decided (with the help of many sewing buddies) that I needed another bright color for my final Dresden.  

I had to raid the scrap stash of two friends to make this, because as much as I like pink, my scraps tends to be lighter.  Thanks girls!  I've finished all my centers, and will start assembling the quilt very soon.  Then it's on to RSC16.  If you haven't played along before, Angela announces a new color each month, and we get creative with our scraps of that color.  She'll even provide inspiration for your blocks, or you can choose your own projects.  Each Saturday she had a linky so you can get even more inspiration seeing what others are doing.  Anyone can play along!

Christmas gifts have been sent and received.  Di was quite clever when she designed her gifts this year.  I can hang the little "P", or make it into a pin cushion, or use it as a needle book.  She also sent a lovely stitched Christmas ornament.  And Maria sent the cutest bunting!  I forgot to take a photo while it was hanging, so use your imagination.  Now I'll always have a little Aussie flair to my holidays.  

And...I received my first ever hand knitted socks!  It's finally turned cold here, so I just may be wearing them tomorrow.  

Other December projects included two identical wall hangings, a cross stitched pillow, and three small quilts from the To-be-quilted pile.

The snowman doesn't show up very well, but he's melting in the Florida sunshine!  

Two of the three small quilts were made from scraps, in an effort to reduce the stash!  They will be donated for our Guild's service project.

The third small is one that I made with a small fat quarter bundle that had been collecting dust.  It's meant to be a table topper, and have a button sewed on each prairie point.  I might use it for a baby gift, though, so haven't added the buttons.

We made a quick trip to the shore for a couple of days before Christmas when the weather was unseasonably warm and just too perfect to ignore.  

We spent Christmas with family, and I got to finally meet my new great niece. She's a cutie!  We had a pretty laid back couple of days, but good times with family that we don't see often enough.  There was plenty of food, and all our stockings were filled by Santa.  My loot included thread, rotary blades, and a JoAnn's coupon.  Santa knows me well.  

January got off to a good start, with my first finish completed on January first. The fabric was a gift for Christmas 2010, the top was pieced at least 2-3 years ago, and now it's all put together.  As I was pinning it in preparation for quilting, it occurred to me that it was my last gift from my father, and I'll treasure it forever.

No New Year's resolutions for me this year.  Instead, I'm going to try some weekly goals.  I've made a list of possibilities, and I'm happy to say that Week One was a success, as will Week Two be.  One of the goals is to blog every day for the week.  Think I'll be successful at that one?  LOL!

Happy Stitching!             Sunny

Miscellaneous

It’s hard to do a post when most of the stitching I’ve done lately is secret.  I’ve done some baking, but nothing photo worthy.  I belong to two Guilds and have attended parties at each of them in the past week.  Tons of good food, little gifts, and lots of fun and laughter.  Tomorrow our small sewing group is having our last meeting of the year, and we’re incorporating a cookie exchange.

I forgot to mention that at our Retreat last month, one of the quilters surprised us and brought pin cushions for all the attendees! 

I named mine “Little Bee Peep”.  At one of the Guilds last week, our favors were slightly larger chicken pin cushions.  And at the other Guild last night, we had a pin cushion exchange!  A girl can never have too many pin cushions! 

Although RSC15 is finished, I still need more Dresden plates, so I made an aqua one earlier this week.  Now I need to lay them all out to decide on one last color, as I need 12 for the layout I chose.

Many of the ladies are starting to put together their rainbow scrappy quilts, so pop over to Angela’s blog to see what everyone has been up to all year.  She’s also making plans for RSC16 if you’re interested in joining the fun in the new year.

When I woke up Sunday morning it was very foggy and frosty, and I wanted to grab my camera and go looking for some frosty pictures, but I was meeting a friend for church, so I wasn’t able to go.  Imagine my excitement when I woke up to fog again on Monday morning!!

Tomorrow might be foggy again!! 

I received my Christmas postcard a couple of days ago from Debbie in Canada.  This is for a swap that Sheila organizes several times a year.  If you haven’t joined before it, you should try it!!

I’ve never received a postcard with binding before.  It’s awesome!! Thank you so much Debbie.  And thanks to Sheila as well for organizing the swaps.

I must go prepare for tomorrow’s sewing group.  I’m sure loving the retired life!

Keep on stitching…….Sunny

I’ve lost another month

We all do it.  We’re all amazed when another month ends.  How is it possible that November has come and gone?  Autumn, with it’s pretty leaves and cool temperatures is gone.  Now the only pretty trees are the ones that are beginning to be decorated and lit up for Christmas.  And yes, it’s Christmas at our house.  Not “the holidays”.  It’s cold out now.  No snow around here any time soon, but definitely cold brisk temperatures.

My laptop died, but I knew it was coming, so I was able to retrieve the files that I wanted to save.  A bit of a learning curve with the new/old computer, but it’s not too bad.  DH had a spare laptop that I’ve adopted so  I wasn’t out of business very long.
I’ve done some sewing but most of it is secret, so I don’t have a lot to share.  for OPAM, which I’m too late in posting for it to count, I finished a little quilt that I started at our Spring retreat.  This is a Christmas gift for one of the newest members of our family.


RSC15 finished up with light/lime green in November.  The only thing I got made was my monthly Dresden plate.  I still need to make two more for the layout I’m envisioning, so I’ll add a teal, and one other.

My project for Gifted Gorgeousness was finished in early November.  I am totally addicted to cross stitch again, which partially explains my absence from my blog.  I start stitching and I can’t stop.  Here’s my November portion:

And December:

And this is what they look like as an entire village!

Since this picture was taken, I’ve added a cute button to each house, and it’s currently at the framer. Thanks to Jo for organizing  GG, and keeping me motivated to finish this gorgeous project.
A beautiful postcard arrived in my mail yesterday from Eglea in Brazil.  She says it was her first attempt at using the leaf-pounding technique. 

Here’s the card I sent to her.  I forgot to take a picture, so I grabbed this shot from her blog.  Thanks Eglea!!

Early in November I attended by Guild’s retreat.  I worked on three quilts, but didn’t finish any of them.  Now that Christmas sewing is almost finished, I hope to get back to them.  One day a group of us took a field trip to an Amish fabric store.  As we were leaving, a young Amish man and an older gentleman pulled into the parking lot in a horse drawn buckboard.  One of the quilters commented that she would love a ride in it, and the men heard her and invited us to take a short ride.  What a blast.  Four old “English” women riding down the road in the back of an Amish buckboard. 

I made my list, checked it twice, and went out and did most of my Christmas shopping today.  Decorating, baking, and wrapping soon to follow.  But chances are, if you need me, I’ll be in my chair cross stitching.

Tis the season……Sunny