The Quilting Gods

The Quilting God was smiling   :-)  on me today!  I had to go to a staff retreat in Gettysburg and then I had a hair appointment on the way home.  There was about a half hour to kill in between, so I was finally going to have the opportunity to stop at the quilt shop that I pass by, but it's always too late to stop.  Then the retreat got out early, and I was so happy!!  Guess what ~ the quilt shop is closed on Tuesday.    :-(  So much for the quilt God.  My second choice for a visit was Boyd's Bear Country.

They are preparing for Christmas.  The giant tree is set up and some of the lights have been put on.  There are lots of Christmas Bears, and even some Angels.  I love angel bears, so naturally one followed me home.  It's another sickness.

In other Smiley   :-)  news, I got a call that there is a last-minute opening for our Guild's retreat in a couple of weeks.  When  I tried to sign up last week, I was told that they were full.  Now I get to go!!!!  Happy Dancing here!

I leave you with a picture taken in the area of Boyd's.  It's a beautiful rural scene, and the colors are really starting to turn now.

Living my life with an attitude of gratitude.      Sunny

100th Post Giveaway, and weekend miscellaneous

I never thought I would make it to 100 posts, but here I am.  I think that calls for a giveaway.  All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post.  I will draw the winning name next Sunday night, Oct. 24th.  Unfortunately, my sewing machine has decided to take a little vacation, so I'm not sure what the prize will be.  If I can get her into the shop and back home in a couple of days, it will be a handmade item.  If not, we'll go with Plan B. 

On Saturday, I HAD to go to the Quilt shop for some thread.  That was some expensive thread! 

I've been looking for a pattern to make for my Secret Santa Swap partner, and this book has a lot of options, and I'll have enough fabric for many projects!  Maybe even my giveaway, if sewing machine cooperates.

After the quilt shop, Mr. QD and I went hiking on the AT.  I think he was trying to kill me.  The first section was relatively easy, and then he decided that we should follow a road for a ways, and then get back on the trail.  But it was a lot farther than he thought to get back to the trail, and my hiking boots are not comfortable for walking long distances on pavement.  And then came the hard part.  Once we got back on the trail, it was much more strenuous on the way back, and much longer.  If we had stayed on the trail, we wouldn't have gone as far as we did.  At one point I stumbled and twisted my knee and my hip.

I'm getting too old for this!  I was in bed before 8:30 last night, and I can barely move today.

I guess I'm going to have to tie the quilt that I worked on Friday night since my sewing machine isn't being cooperative.  I don't know what I'll do about the binding if I don't get it fixed SOON!

FNSI Results

See my post below for my FNSI results.  I edited it before I went to bed to show what I had accomplished.

This is Post 99 for me! hint, hint.  Do you know what that might mean?

Come Back for my next post to find out!!

Getting started . . .

It's 8:00 Friday night!  Time to start sewing.  I am in my jammies, and have cookies and cocoa ready to go.

A yummy smelling candle has been lit.  Phoebe is fired up and ready to sew.

And this  will be a quilt before I go to bed!

Stay tuned for further developments!

11:15 update:


Borders were added to the quilt, and it was carefully laid out and sandwiched. Two of my three little darlings kept me company while I worked.

Alas - someone forgot to buy quilting thread, so there is a mandatory trip to the quilt store tomorrow.  Darn. 

Since I couldn't finish this quilt, I made a couple of blocks for our past-president's quilt for our local guild.  She supplied the off-white fabric and asked for nine-patches in our choice of colors.

I'm not ready for bed yet, but my eyes are tired from sewing, so I think I'll crochet for awhile.  Di got me started on making baby caps, and I'm anxious to get a few done. 

It's almost Friday!

It's that time again!  I have to finish the baby quilt that I started last weekend, so I'm looking forward to the Friday Nigh Sew In. 

Not much to say today.  I had a really awful day so I'm just waiting for it to be over so I can start fresh tomorrow!  Meet you at the sewing machine!

Wordless Wednesday

Today's post brought to you . . .

This post brought to you by the color ORANGE.

Orange makes me happy!

Apple Butter Festival!

Yes, another fall festival today.  Today, we were celebrating the making of Apple Butter.  I love apple butter, and I love a chance to walk around at another festival and look at an assortment of crafts, more food items than I could begin to list, and actually watch apple butter being made.

Not a great picture, but it was too hot to get very close.  The metal thing in the pot is the stir stick, and the gentleman was standing back about 6 feet, so as not to get too close to the heat. 

I bought a white ironware jug in an antique shop, and this adorable little hand-painted gourd ornament.  There were so many wonderful gourds to choose from - it was a hard decision.

We bought some barbecued chicken for lunch, and a funnel cake. I haven't had a funnel cake for a long time, and it was delicious!

We rode this neat trolley into town rather than parking along the highway and walking as far as we usually do for this particular fair. The inside of the trolley was fantastic! Almost everything was wood, including the seats. They were like old wooden park benches with painted iron trim.

After we got home, I decided to go to the local Outlet Mall to look for some shoes.  I don't usually like clothes/shoe shopping, but I'm in desperate need of shoes, so off I went.  I came home with not one pair, but THREE, and they're all suitable for work.  I may have also picked up a couple of clothing items from the clearance racks.

Dinner was a delicious Butternut Squash soup, made by hubby and me.  The recipe said it made 4 servings, but we'll be eating soup for a few more days!

And now I'm headed back down to the sewing room.  I laid out the quilt on my 'design floor' last night, and then realized that I had something wrong.  While fixing the design problem, I came up with a new design that was much more pleasing.  I plan to add the borders tonight, and get it sandwiched.  My dream of having it complete by bedtime tonight was just a dream.  But it will be finished in a couple of days!

                    
                              Keep on Sewing ~~~~Sunny

FALLing into Christmas

I love this time of year.  The weather is beautiful, the leaves are finally starting to turn, and Festivals are abundant.  Today we went to Color Fest, along with about a zillion other people. 

We walked around for about three hours, and hubby did some Christmas shopping.  I bought a bracelet made from an old spoon.  I'm really into bracelets right now, and fall in love with one every where I go!

We noticed that most of the people seemed to be walking through, but not buying much.  We had lunch, a crab cake sandwich for me, shared a bottle of yummy apple cider, and then headed for home.  We stopped along the way at a produce stand that is specializing in pumpkins right now.  I took a few pictures, and we chose a couple to bring home with us.

When I got home, I had an e-mail from Joan, and I now know who my Secret Santa partner is!  I'm going to spend a little time tonight trying to decide what to make for her.  I need to move my books and magazines in order to move some furniture, so I'll be multitasking.  I can't take too much time, though, because I have sewing to do! 

                Keep on Sewing ~~~~~  Sunny

No More Procrastination

Back in April, I committed to making a baby afghan, and I've had ideas swimming around in my head since then.  I wanted to use some Butterfly fabric that I had left over from another project as my inspiration.  It's now time (past time, actually) to actually produce the quilt.  My goal is to have it finished before I go to bed Sunday night.  Iwant something fairly simple yet sturdy, because I'm hoping it will really be used. 

10:00 pm Friday night:

Notice the butterflies?

My professional design skills

11:00 pm Friday night:

Progress update

Stay tuned for further updates over the weekend to see if I reach my goal!
                            Keep on sewing~~~~Sunny