Just a quick entry to catch up. Just getting over a viral infection along with bronchitis. Have been sick for about 2 weeks and have lost a lot of time to quilt and finish projects that I promised I would have done for Christmas. Did finish up a handbag and now have 2 twin size quilts to quilt. I have a few projects of my own that I want to do, but they will have to take a back seat. One project I must finish as it is a present for my best friend. I also need to finish up my quilt for the Joann Fabric quilt contest also. Here is a sneak peek at the fabric the quilt is based around.

It has to be finished for pictures to to be postmarked no later than January 14 and to arrive by January 29. So much to do and so little time. No more time for being sick.

Customize a photo slideshow

Apple Picking

Fall is also a time for comfort foods...........apple pie, apple pie, apple pie.  Yesterday the girls and I went to pick apples and today I baked the first apple pie.  Here's how it works..........






First, you trudge through the mud and fight off the mosquitoes, because we've had 3 days of heavy rain.

Then you search for the perfect tree.

Jackpot, lots of apples on this one and the kind we like.

       


Girls, don't eat them all,   
          put them in the basket!

                               
                                                     The reward!  Hot apple pie!!!

Fall is here

As the leaves begin to turn and the air is brisk, it's time to think about the colors of the season.  Also, Halloween is just around the corner and Thanksgiving to follow.  Have been working on a few new small projects for my BF, myself and others.  Here are a few.  A new fall table runner for me and a door hanging for Katrina.

A turkey table runner for my BF and a couple of Halloween table pieces.

Back from the quilt show and exhausted!  The day was wonderful.  Time spent with my BF, beautiful workmanship to see and plenty of items to purchase.  As promised I have uploaded some pictures from our day.  As there are too many to put on blog, I have attached a link to the online album, just click on the picture.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the day.

World Quilt Show-New England IX

Well today will be a great day!  We are off first thing this morning to the quilt show.  Lots of beautiful quilts to see and merchandise to buy.  We will be there all day.  Doors open at 10am  and close at 6pm.  Lots of demo's for new products and you get to try all the long arm quilting machines.  This will be the 5th year we attend.  I always go with my BF Sherry.  Looking forward to a great time.  Will post pictures when we get back. 

Ladies........start your engines!

Well, I've been away for awhile. My brother has been gone to Seattle, Washington for the last 3 weeks, so I've busy making sure Mom is all set.  Haven't had any spare time for sewing projects and it's depressing.  Paul was on vacation for the last 2 weeks, and although I LOVE having him home and unstressed, it changes the normal routine.  Paul & I and our grandson Kyle did manage to build my daughter a picnic table for her backyard.  It only took us a day and then we delivered it a few days later.  Our 28th anniversary is tomorrow, but the children and grandkid  gave us an early present.  They sent us to TANGLEWOOD to a concert by TRAIN and then an overnite stay in the Berkshires.  It was a great concert and fun to get away...just the two of us.  Other than the fact that I put too many eating places addresses in the GPS and then picked the wrong one and ended up eating at some place that we really didn't want to eat, everything was perfect.  I have set myself up an account on craftsy.com and have had quite a few comments.  Check me out if you have a chance.  It's a nice website with lots to look at and show.......Until later!

Heat wave has begun.  Today is scheduled to feel like 105 with the humidity.  Busy day today, so won't be able to get into the pool until late afternoon. Can't really complain, at least we have the pool.  Posting a few pictures of recently finished wall hangings.

This one is a fabric translation of an oil painting.

This one is just a touch of color

Well today I will travel to Manchester, NH to drop my brother off at the airport, and then back home for some pool time. Expecting it to be 90 today and a heat wave coming by tomorrow afternoon. Unless I can figure out a way to sew in the pool, I don't think I will be doing much sewing or quilting for the next few days.

I have just finished a few more pieces using some new techniques and a few old ones. I made myself a wallhanging for the sewing room which came out really well. I used a Loralie stamp and enlarged it. Then I used the fusible applique method to "color it". Added a few touches of acrylic paint and voila!! I received permission from Loralie to post the picture on my blog and Webshots.

Well, I've been gone longer than I'd hoped. Mom was in the hospital for 12 days and then home with 24/7 care for the pass two weeks. There was only time to do so much, and working on the computer was not priority. I was able to take my machine with me to her house and get my sewing done. The sewing that was most important, was a diaper bag, two embroidered bibs, and a little girls outfit, consisting of a sundress, sunhat and tini-tiny shoes. They were gifts for my boss to take to the Dominican for the arrival of his new grandbaby. Happy to say that they were delivered on time for his trip.
Here in New England, we have had mostly rainy gloomy days but I have my own rays of sunshine as this week is the first week back to a normal schedule and happy to report that Mom is doing wonderful. She has gotten back most of her strength and is doing things for herself again. Will continue to check in on her before work and bring her lunch and then check back in after work before going home. I will post pictures of the baby outfit as soon as I have a minute.

Yesterday was a busy day , but I did manage to install the new rails on my Little Gracie. Spent most of the day visiting at the hospital with Mom and talking to the doctors. She is in good spirits, but is very tired. Testing scheduled for 11 this morning. Hopefully everything will be fine. The sewing room has been reorganized and looks pretty good. New cubicles (daughters idea) did the trick. Here are pictures of the latest quilts I promised to post.

Today is Wednesday, April 27, 2011. I've been away for a little awhile, but not far. I have been working on creating my background for this blog and finishing up a few quilting projects. Last night was a long night as we spent most of it in the emergency room with my mother. Didn't get home until 1:30am. Hopefully everything will be back to normal in a few days when we get her back home. Today I plan to put new tracks on my Little Gracie quilting system. I have been quilting on my domestic sewing machine while waiting for the rails to arrive. I will be glad to get them on as I have a few larger projects that need quilting. I will post a few photos of my latest projects. Most are smaller and more of an "artsy" nature. They were fun to assemble and to let the creative juices flow to help decide how to quilt. I love to learn how to do new techniques and never tire of a challenge. It seems that spring is finally trying to make its way to Massachusetts. It was a long winter and most folks are anxious for sunshine and warmer days.

A note of thanks to Carena for her great digital scrapbook bundle Red Rose Romance from which elements were used to create my blog site.

Well, it is January 28 and I've about had it with snow. We have received 5 major storms this month and the piles of snow are getting out of hand. The need for sunshine is great and due to lack of it I decided to create my own. This piece was from Karen Neary and is called Yuletide Jewel. It was meant to resemble an old fashion glass Christmas ornament, but I saw it as a dream catcher and that is why I chose to use the color scheme I have. It also helps to bring a little sunshine in on a snowy and gray day. It was a lot of fun to sew and went together quickly. I quilted it on my domestic sewing machine and not "Little Gracey". I have a few more of Karen's patterns and look forward to creating them as well. Will hopefully finish the binding on my Jinny Beyer piece in the next few days and post it when completed.

Here are a few pictures of the bags I just finished. They have plenty of pockets and a few zipper compartments. One zipper pocket on the outside back and a welted pocket in the front under the flap.
A zippered pocket on the inside with 4 different size slot pockets on the opposite side. Made a small wallet with leftover fabric to match. They don't take too long to make and I love the results. Today is a day off from work so I will begin to assemble my Christmas present which is the Crystal Star pattern by Jinny Beyer Studio.

The holidays have passed and things are getting back to normal. According to the weather, we may be getting a sizable snow storm on Friday night into Saturday. If that happens, I will be taking down the Christmas decorations. Not looking forward to that, as everything seems so blah after the brightness of the holiday lights.

Working on a few new pocket books. Got caught up on my block of the month squares for our mystery quilt. A got a new pattern for Christmas from Anthony, so I'll be glad to begin work on that.

Also got a new "Demy" to organize my recipe collection. It will be great to have all my favorites at my finger tips. Pretty easy to use, just time consuming until I get all the recipes entered.