Trying to get back in the groove..... of blogging

It's been about six months since my last real post, I believe.  I simply haven't made the time, and I am not happy with myself about that, because I really like having my little online journal of family happenings and crafty projects and quilting fun.  

Maybe it was this....

I'm kidding.  It was the best day ever, the most beautiful celebration, and I enjoyed every single minute of Laurie and Jason's special day.   I was tired after we got home, but not six months tired!  I do have one funny story about the wedding I need to blog soon, or my feeble mind will forget the particulars!  

But in the last six months, there's been a lot of just normal life going on.  I continue to battle adjusting to the hearing loss I experienced in September.  It is permanent and it is a pain in the derriere.  Oh well! So be it!!  I have roughly one half of one ear left, and I am just going to be grateful for that! :)

Christmas came and went, the New Year was rung in, renovations have taken place around the house (new floors upstairs, etc) and with every possible opportunity, I've gotten together with my friends to sew, or been in my sewing room stitching away.  

I recently attended a lecture given by one of Karen's favorite professors ever, and now I understand why she was always in the very front row of Doc's classes.  He kept me spellbound for the entire talk.  He is a treasure!

Also recently Karen adopted little Penny, a 4.2 pound chihuahua who is four years old (five this month!) and won her heart the moment she spotted her at a Petco adoption fair.  You gotta be careful when you walk in those places, I tell you!!

She makes us laugh, and due to her size, she often gets into spots that the other dogs don't....  as you can see here.

"Just making sure you have the dishes loaded properly, Grandma", she says!  Karen is her mom, so she is my grand dog!

She gets along with all the other dogs just beautifully.  This was taken on Mani-Pedi day, when they all got nails trimmed. (And two more were at home waiting for their own trip to get trimmed!  Yes, there are six here now.  Quilting is my passion; dogs are  Michael's passion.  Somehow, we make it work!!)

On the quilting side of my life, I've been working on GrandmothersChoice quilt(s).  I'm making two of these quilts.  I held my own until right about the wedding and then started slipping a bit.  I was told by Ms. Brackman in the comment sections that "Y" seams were important to learn, and I agree.... (and I love the feeling of accomplishment when I succeed with them!)  but I've been very relieved that I haven't run into any more just yet! heehee!  There are some "Y" seams in future blocks on the horizon, but I'll cross that bridge when necessary!  In the meantime, I've enjoyed trying to catch up with the patterns Ms. Brackman posts weekly, and making these:

Laurie especially liked the umbrella blocks!

Yvette, Beth and I are working on our "Ode to the Thirties" quilts.  Beth had started this quilt a while ago, and has many of the blocks done already, and they are beautiful.  Yvette and I pick several blocks each month to complete and Beth so far, I think has had the ones we've picked, already completed.  These are the blocks I made from two months ago.

And this is the four blocks we chose to do last month.  I was under the weather and ended up making mine at home alone, keeping my germs to myself!

The dog sitting opportunities come up now and then.  I spent almost a week staying with this pretty girl, who was an excellent walker and very sweet.  I set up my machine on the kitchen table there, and when we weren't hiking around keeping her exercised, I worked on some 12 inch blocks from an old web sampler pattern that I am remaking in 30's fabric scraps that Nancy and Beth and Yvette passed along to me.  When I gathered all the scraps together, the total pile has turned out to be enough to make an entire scrappy sampler quilt (and probably a child's quilt too!).  

I think I have four more blocks to go and that quilt will be ready to assemble.  Yay!

I've also been working on my Four Star Generals quilt.  Yvette suggested we make one set of four stars a month and that is working very well.  I'm making mine scrappy from my Civil Wars stash.  You can see on my OleFrogEyes page that I have reached the halfway point on this quilt.

Two from this month's block are done, and I'll need to make two more.

So now I'm going to hit "post" (and hope that not that much has changed since I last posted a picture-heavy entry and it will work!), and take myself off to bed.  I've been fighting some sort of icky crud germs for over a month, and I think I've had about enough!  I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!  Hopefully the current regimen of antibiotics will wipe out what my doctor says is strep throat.....  I've not had that since I was two years old and had my tonsils removed, so it's been kind of discouraging the way it's dragged on.  

But I'm going to do what the sign at my vets' office suggests! 

:)

Happy Birthday to Us!

I haven't posted in forEver, but I will be resuming it as soon as possible.  I miss keeping a record of what I am working on, family events, etc....

But if you happen by here today, please visit my sister's blog and wish her a  Happy Birthday!  That's right, it is the birthday of Snoodles, of  Lilypadquilting (with the adorable Padsworth and Dragondrop, and all the fun giveaways, reviews and let's not forget the duck adventures!!).  And it's my birthday too.  She's the best birthday present I got, the year I turned three!!  

Yes, we share a birthday, but we are not twins.  How special is that?!  For many years, we shared a cake and blew out candles together.  It's been a long time since we were together to do that, but we will do it again someday!!

Love you, Sister!!  Happy Birthday to us!

Joy Denise

Dear Ms. Brackman....

Dear Ms. Brackman,

Please, no more Y-seams for a couple of rows....

Love,
The Wimp

No, I really did not send this to Barbara Brackman, the wonderful and much appreciated designer of the current Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week quilt!  

( http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/ )

It's my own fault, you see.  Have you ever heard anyone refer to a delightful diet concoction (example: HealthyChoice icecream) and wonder out loud, "how many servings can I have before this is NOT healthy!?!"

Well, I figured if ONE block of the week quilt was so much fun last year..... where I made this beauty (Barbara Brackman's Civil War block of the week, pictured before I corrected one upside-down block!):

Then making TWO of the Grandmother's Choice quilts would be double the fun!  RIGHT???!!

Well, this is true in the case of some of the blocks which are..... well....  which don't involve Y-Seams!!

So far, here are a few of the blocks I've made:

In all seriousness, Ms. Brackman is challenging me in a good way!  I love this new BOW and I'm actually enjoying the blocks with Y-Seams too....  When I'm finished with them, it is very satisfying to look at the growing stack!  I've already mentally picked the recipients of these two quilts and I think the history behind each of the blocks will be especially meaningful to them.  I'm already looking forward to the new block next Saturday!

(I'm keeping track of this quilt's progress, color placement, etc, on my OleFrogEyes virtual design wall.. click here to see:  http://olefrogeyes.com/gallery.php?quilter=Joy+Denise )

Highlights of Cody trip

Cody 2012

My trip was uneventful and I arrived in Cody on time.  Mom and Dad collected me and my bags and off to the house we went.  Dad got a kick out of the fact that I used more “strings” to pack in an empty area in my suitcase….  He says there is something magic about strings.  We keep taking them out of the box and making squares and the level never seems to go down.  Now that I added more, his string box is bursting.  We’re planning to make a lot of string blocks this trip.

One of the first things we did was run out to the workshop to look at the old Singer machine that he is working on for me.  Jason had found this machine last summer in a home he was working on, (here) and the owner told him he could have it!  Dad has cleaned it up and after removing a ton of old junk, oil, lint, fuzz, and more caked on oil and dust from the innermost parts of this machine, she is turning smoothly!  She runs more quietly than any machine I own!!  I will post pictures of her later – I was so stunned by how great she looked without the layer of dust, grime and oil, that I completely forgot to take a picture!

She needs a bobbin case, and a bit of adjustment to the tension, and she is going to be perfect for piecing blocks.  I love her already!!  She was born on Laurie’s birthday, in 1947!  So I think I will name her Kristin (Laurie’s middle name.)

Wednesday I got a good walk in early in the morning, revelling in the temperatures!  With the wind chill, it was a brisk 19 degrees and I cut my walk short because I am a wuss!

(it was pretty, even if it was cold, as I watched the sun come up.)

We charged into town and obtained some fleece to back a baby/lap quilt I wanted to finish for a charity auction Dad is involved with.  I also had brought a quilt with me in my suitcase that Nancy had donated and Dad was thrilled to have it for the auction.  The better part of the afternoon was spent quilting the baby/lap quilt, and I got the binding on later in the evening.  

(The top picture is all I had left of the material  Yvette shared with me that I used to make the baby/lap quilt - I used up nearly every bit!  The tiny leftovers pictured went into the string box!)

It took way longer to quilt than it should have because I kept getting distracted with the neighbors in the yard behind the house.

Yes, it's the Boyz Club meeting again!  There were five bucks and a number of does.   They were so pretty!

At one point, all five of the guys laid down together and muttered among themselves as they chewed on some alfalfa!

Later, I walked down to get the mail at the boxes at the end of the street (a decent hike actually!) and I had to stop and take a picture of the neighbors on that side of the house...

(Where's the beef?!)

Today, we hit the gym first thing in the morning, and I did a respectable amount of jogging on the treadmill and then did some time on an elliptical machine.  We patted ourselves on the back and had a nice lunch.  Mom always makes things taste so good – I don’t know how she does it….  She swears it is just because I didn’t have to make it myself, that anything made by someone else tastes better, but I think there is more to it than that!  After lunch, the Great String Block Challenge of 2012 commenced.  

Two sewing machines purring, and many trips to the ironing board….  We accomplished three of the seven rows for a string quilt today!  :)

Meanwhile......

Long time, no talkie, errr, bloggie.  I miss keeping track of my projects and my little life in my little corner of the world…must try harder to make time for it!

                     (How do you rotate a picture!)

                                               (Soon will have curtain covering closet area.)

I've been getting more done in my sewing room, now that I have relocated it from the loft into Laurie's old bedroom.  This forced me to organize, prioritize, store creatively, and otherwise get my UFOs and future projects delineated.  I've been working on it nonstop; I blame it on the coffee. 

I scored a Keurig with a small portion of my summer dog sit money (the rest went in my future long arm fund!) and I've been hopped up on caffeine ever since.  I use the MyK-cup and coffees bought on special, and I am loving the fresh cup every time! Yum!  Such an improvement in flavor!

I've been busy with sewing projects and wedding preparations. 

I have made a few more owl potholders, and I liked the pattern so much that I even enlarged/appliqued one on the front of an apron, to match a potholder I had already made. (Using the light box that Yvette gave me! Thank you Yvette!)

During a week long dog sit in August, I whipped up a snowball quilt from a layer cake that Beth passed to me (Thank you, Beth!!)….

This week I've been quilting it.  I am going to echo the same design you see on the white squares formed between the snowballs, in the center of each snowball, only slightly larger. 

This was all prompted by a bit of uncooperative behavior from my Janome 1600PBX on the Handi-Quilter frame…   I had purchased a used carriage that would allow me to quilt from the front of the machine (needle end, more like a "real" long arm), rather than the back of the machine.  I was hoping it would work well, but something just wasn't right.  Skipped stitches, dragging machine, breaking thread and minimal control…..  combined with pilot error, I'm sure!.....  I finally took it off the carriage and off the frame, pinned it, and I'm quilting this using the Janome off the frame, just sitting on the table and pushing it through.  Working like a charm!  I guess the carriage will get set aside permanently, and I will try stippling from the back of the machine (like I used to) on the next quilt, before I give up on the Handi-Quilter frame completely.  Everything else has remained the same (needles, threads, etc), so I'm thinking the culprit may be that used front-carriage (and me!). 

Also while dog sitting, I have continued the String Quilt Blocks....  I have the best quilting friends in the world, and their contributions of fabrics from their stashes mean I will be able to make MANY of these quilts for Dad and Mom to give to the Crisis Center they work with. 

Wedding preparations continue.  Shower invites were sent out and Laurie's shower is this weekend. 

Karen is making adorable cupcakes with wedding dress bodice "picks" that are stuck in the top of the icing - I will post pictures after the shower which is next Saturday.  Wedding invites have gone out, engagement pictures have been taken, suitable outfit has been purchased for the Mother of the Bride….. including pumps.  Having not worn such things in probably two decades, the likelihood of me going tail over teakettle is high!

That's just two of the pictures taken at the beach in Laguna….  The photography session and pictures were a gift from Jason's aunt!

I feel the birdhouse fever coming on…..  that's what happens when I'm in Michael's to purchase wedding favors/ring bearer pillow/flower girl basket, etc, etc, and I have to pass THIS each time I try to redeem a 40% off coupon.

Soon as things calm down, I'm sure I'll be taking my 40% coupons back to Michael's and coming home to make more of these.  (And just how do I turn a picture on this blogger program?)

Last but not least, I started a new Barbara Brackman Block of the Week called Grandmother's Choice this week.  (http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/) 

I had some fabric with hearts on it that I had been saving for something special, and I found some perfect coordinating fabrics in a big bag of goodies that Nancy had given me (Thank you, Nancy!!)  They all go together Sew Well!!

First two blocks are below, and are also posted on my Ole Frog Eyes virtual design wall. 

I found Ole Frog Eyes to be a fantastic tool when I made Barbara Brackman's Civil War Block of the Week quilt….  It made it so easy for me to make sure I wasn't using too many similar colors in one area of the quilt, and also kept me from too frequently duplicating actual fabrics in blocks that might end up next to each other, etc.  You can click on my Ole Frog Eyes widget at top right of my blog to be connected to my Ole Frog Eyes page.  LOVE IT!

Michael is on vacation this week, which means I'm assisting in a lot of the projects on his "to do" list…..  but hopefully I will be upstairs in my sewing room each day too, and have more to show/blog next week!