Good morning,
I will be ready to reveal the recipient of my first full size quilt tomorrow, October 1, 2014! Stay tuned to see who the lucky (I hope they feel that way!) person is and the finished quilt top! I'm very proud of it and can't wait to have it quilted and see it totally finished! This one will definately be professionally quilted!
Check out my previous posts to see the quilt in progress.
I am such a tease!!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
A "Quickie"
Good morning!
Just wanted to give you a "quickie" today. I just finished reading a great book; Not Fade Away by Rebecca Alexander. She's the sister of Peter Alexander, a correspondent on NBC.
She writes about her experience with Usher syndrome type III. This disease will leave a person blind and deaf generally by the time they turn 30. Rebecca tells how she copes with the disease, how it affects her life and everything that she has gone through. I saw a piece about it on the Sunday morning news and couldn't wait to read it. It was very inspiring and interesting to read about how she handles the fact that she is slowing going deaf and blind.
I highly recommend this book.
Just wanted to give you a "quickie" today. I just finished reading a great book; Not Fade Away by Rebecca Alexander. She's the sister of Peter Alexander, a correspondent on NBC.
She writes about her experience with Usher syndrome type III. This disease will leave a person blind and deaf generally by the time they turn 30. Rebecca tells how she copes with the disease, how it affects her life and everything that she has gone through. I saw a piece about it on the Sunday morning news and couldn't wait to read it. It was very inspiring and interesting to read about how she handles the fact that she is slowing going deaf and blind.
I highly recommend this book.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Why Crafts Are My Life!
Hello all,
I was thinking today about why I love to craft. As I've said before, I can't remember a time when I wasn't crafting something. From making potholders with a metal loom and elastic fabric or putting together scrapbooks, knitting sweaters to making quilts, I love expressing my creativity by crafting. I could spend my days creating works of art! I try to do as much as possible in the little time I have and enjoy sharing my creations with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy sharing them!
In case anyone would like to take a look at my dear Sable, I would like to share a recent picture of her. She is 15 years old but in good health. Her blood work came back very good so we're happy about that. She is deaf and blind so we pamper her by cooking hamburger, chicken, steak and pork for her but she certainly deserves it. She's been a joy to us and we're happy to do whatever it takes to make her happy! She has us well trained!!!
I was thinking today about why I love to craft. As I've said before, I can't remember a time when I wasn't crafting something. From making potholders with a metal loom and elastic fabric or putting together scrapbooks, knitting sweaters to making quilts, I love expressing my creativity by crafting. I could spend my days creating works of art! I try to do as much as possible in the little time I have and enjoy sharing my creations with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy sharing them!
In case anyone would like to take a look at my dear Sable, I would like to share a recent picture of her. She is 15 years old but in good health. Her blood work came back very good so we're happy about that. She is deaf and blind so we pamper her by cooking hamburger, chicken, steak and pork for her but she certainly deserves it. She's been a joy to us and we're happy to do whatever it takes to make her happy! She has us well trained!!!
Colleen's Sable
In case anyone thinks I'm not knitting too much, I present two projects. The first one is my latest pair of socks. I'm known as The Sock Queen at Woolly Lamb and I do enjoy that name! I think socks are my favorite things to knit. The second is a baby blanket that's halfway done. Not sure who will receive this but there are some little baby girls coming around soon!
Socks
Baby Blanket
So there you have it. My cherished doggie Sable and my recent projects. I hope you enjoy this blog and remember to keep on doing what you love - even if you can't do it full-time!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Happy Last Day of Summer... ; (
Hello friends,
Yes, we're closing in on the last remnants of a wonderful summer. We can't complain about really hot days this year! Some may be disappointed but I was very happy with our summer. It just seemed to go by too fast!
Well, I must say I had a wonderful weekend! We started out by taking our dear pup Sable to the vet. She's 15 years old, blind and deaf but is still our joy. I like to get her checked out to be sure she's doing well. Doc says she looks good and took some blood to check everything out. We'll hear from her Monday night.
We then took a ride to Milwaukee to see Gregory (and stop at the quilt shop!) He needed some food so we took him to Target and bought almost $300 worth of groceries! He should be set for a couple months now!!! LOTS of frozen stuff but at least he's eating! He walks enough to stay in shape so I guess he's in good shape!
Bungalow Quilt shop is exactly that; a nice yellow bungalow! The fabric selection was eclectic and very interesting! They also rent time on their long-arm quilting machine so if I ever FINISH a quilt top, I can quilt it! I did buy some very interesting fabric there. I hate fish, especially goldfish, but saw this fabric and could resist it. You may be able to see the bit of gold in the fabric.
Yes, we're closing in on the last remnants of a wonderful summer. We can't complain about really hot days this year! Some may be disappointed but I was very happy with our summer. It just seemed to go by too fast!
Well, I must say I had a wonderful weekend! We started out by taking our dear pup Sable to the vet. She's 15 years old, blind and deaf but is still our joy. I like to get her checked out to be sure she's doing well. Doc says she looks good and took some blood to check everything out. We'll hear from her Monday night.
We then took a ride to Milwaukee to see Gregory (and stop at the quilt shop!) He needed some food so we took him to Target and bought almost $300 worth of groceries! He should be set for a couple months now!!! LOTS of frozen stuff but at least he's eating! He walks enough to stay in shape so I guess he's in good shape!
Bungalow Quilt shop is exactly that; a nice yellow bungalow! The fabric selection was eclectic and very interesting! They also rent time on their long-arm quilting machine so if I ever FINISH a quilt top, I can quilt it! I did buy some very interesting fabric there. I hate fish, especially goldfish, but saw this fabric and could resist it. You may be able to see the bit of gold in the fabric.
Goldfish fabric
I also bought some very pretty "Paris" fabric at Bungalow quilting. Just not sure who would like it? : )
Paris fabric
I was happy to find fabric in my favorite color scheme. I hope to incorporate some of it into future BOM squares.
Sunday afternoon, after my regular Lucky Grill breakfast, my friend Sharon and I went shopping to Quilters Destination in Arlington Heights. Boy did we have fun. Everything was 20% off! I must say we didn't go too overboard! I bought a salmon colored fabric to go with my goldfish fabric. I also bought a beautiful French themed fabric to go with my Paris fabric. I think these will make some beautiful project bags!!
Goldfish fabric with lining fabric
Paris fabric with lining fabric
Sharon and I and several other customers bought the fabric below for assorted projects! It is new and I think pretty much depleted thanks to us! It is just too cute!
All in all, it was a great weekend and I have a lot of nice projects to work on! I'll post a few more pics the next time.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Happy Halloween!
No, it's not Halloween yet, as a matter of fact, it's not even October! However, Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday and I love all things Halloween. I cut this project bag out over the weekend and couldn't wait to finish it. I am very pleased with it!
Looking forward to Saturday because I'll be seeing Gregory AND going to Bungalow Quilt Shop in Milwaukee! Ok, ok, it is mostly Gregory but since there's a quilt shop nearby.... I have a list of what I need to get and some ideas of what I might want!!!
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| Halloween Black Cat Project Bag |
On a serious note, I would like to ask everyone to say a prayer for my sister Kathy's husband Steve. He's having surgery tomorrow and I thought he could use everyone's good thoughts and prayers!
Tomorrow is Open Knit Night at Woolly Lamb Yarn Studio! I have my bottle of wine and I'm ready to go! Oh, I will bring some knitting project to work on too! Probably my almost done socks! It will be nice to see my friends since I missed last week!
I'm planning to get back on track now with Weight Watchers. It's been an uphill battle for me recently and I need to get back to my losing ways! (Literally!) I miss my walks to the L but I'm also nervous about crossing the street since I almost got hit by a car twice! I don't want the third time to be the charm! So, I have to figure out a new way to exercise. We have a great FREE Fitness Center at work so I may just have to get sweaty in the am or after lunch. All in the name of health and losing weight! I'll keep everyone updated on my progress in case you're interested!
Enough for now. Tomorrow is Thursday and then one more day til the weekend!
Monday, September 15, 2014
What a Productive Weekend!
Hi all,
As I wrote last week, I was getting my hair done on Saturday. Roseanne did a great job and I loved it! Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture. My husband said my hair "looked weird" but I loved it! Take it from me, I was very happy with the cut and color. Roseanne is great!
I did get a lot of sewing, cutting, etc. done this past weekend. I made my Candy Corn Wreath, a banner using candy corn fabric as well as other Fall fabric, put the first border on my special Fall quilt.
As I wrote last week, I was getting my hair done on Saturday. Roseanne did a great job and I loved it! Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture. My husband said my hair "looked weird" but I loved it! Take it from me, I was very happy with the cut and color. Roseanne is great!
I did get a lot of sewing, cutting, etc. done this past weekend. I made my Candy Corn Wreath, a banner using candy corn fabric as well as other Fall fabric, put the first border on my special Fall quilt.
Candy Corn Wreath with Tulle!
I also made a pennant banner with candy corn fabric along with some other Fall fabric.
Full Banner
Four different fabrics for my banner
Quilt top with brown border.
I still need to put a wider border on but I'm not sure what color. I think it needs to be lighter; maybe yellow/gold, green, orange? I'm going to The Bungalow Quilt Shop in Milwaukee to pick out some fabric this weekend! It will be my first trip there since they opened earlier this year.
I also chose some fabrics for my Block of The Month for August and September. I'm a bit behind but hope to get them both done before the end of the month. Another project bag is in the works too! It will be debuted soon! A small hint; it's a Halloween theme!
One fun thing I also did was take my friend Sharon to Joanne Fabrics on Sunday. She's starting a sewing class tonight and needed fabric, scissors, thread, etc. We had a lot of fun looking at fabric and planning different projects. We checked out some patterns and bought several for future projects! Afterwards, we stopped at Starbucks for some Chai Tea.
All in all, a great weekend!
Friday, September 12, 2014
TGIF It's Friday!
Hi all!
There's nothing sweeter than 5:00 pm on a Friday! I just love the weekend! There's so much promise for the next two days; whether it's just relaxing or jam packed with things to do! This weekend promises to be a bit of both for me!
I'll be getting my hair did (finally!) on Saturday (photo to be posted!) I know that's not the highlight for most of you, it is for me! I'm going to Roseanne's Salon again - let's hope there's not as much rain as the first time I was there! The sky was black, the wind was blowing and the rain was falling HEAVILY! We sat and had coffee and granola bars (thanks Roseanne's Dad) and chatted waiting for the rain to stop! It was fun until I got to my car - 6 inches of water around it! I took my shoes off and waded through the water to my car and drove in my socks! Shhhh... I wasn't going to ruin another pair of shoes to the rain!
I'm excited because on Sunday, I'm going to Joanne Fabrics to help my friend Sharon chose fabric and supplies for her new sewing class. Yeah! Another person to talk "sewing" with. Sharon is a very prolific knitter and I'm sure she'll become an excellent sewing person too.
My DH had an exciting week. He had jury duty and was actually chosen to be on a jury. Four long days later, the trial was over. He was very happy to be done but miserable because now he had to catch up on work! It was tough having both of us "work" until 5:00 and not get home til 6:00. Needless to say, dinners were dicey!
Not much happened for me this past week. I didn't work on any crafts at all! I was just too tired and/or lazy to do anything. Sometimes you just need to veg for a while. I really need to get to work on some of my projects! I hope to but at least one of the borders on my Fall quilt this weekend and
buy some fabric for the outside border. I decided what I was planning to use wasn't going to work out for me.
This is the quilt I'm working on. The first border (on the left) will be a thin brown one. I think I need to use a brighter golden color to brighten up the quilt. I'm very excited to finish this one up!
There's nothing sweeter than 5:00 pm on a Friday! I just love the weekend! There's so much promise for the next two days; whether it's just relaxing or jam packed with things to do! This weekend promises to be a bit of both for me!
I'll be getting my hair did (finally!) on Saturday (photo to be posted!) I know that's not the highlight for most of you, it is for me! I'm going to Roseanne's Salon again - let's hope there's not as much rain as the first time I was there! The sky was black, the wind was blowing and the rain was falling HEAVILY! We sat and had coffee and granola bars (thanks Roseanne's Dad) and chatted waiting for the rain to stop! It was fun until I got to my car - 6 inches of water around it! I took my shoes off and waded through the water to my car and drove in my socks! Shhhh... I wasn't going to ruin another pair of shoes to the rain!
I'm excited because on Sunday, I'm going to Joanne Fabrics to help my friend Sharon chose fabric and supplies for her new sewing class. Yeah! Another person to talk "sewing" with. Sharon is a very prolific knitter and I'm sure she'll become an excellent sewing person too.
My DH had an exciting week. He had jury duty and was actually chosen to be on a jury. Four long days later, the trial was over. He was very happy to be done but miserable because now he had to catch up on work! It was tough having both of us "work" until 5:00 and not get home til 6:00. Needless to say, dinners were dicey!
Not much happened for me this past week. I didn't work on any crafts at all! I was just too tired and/or lazy to do anything. Sometimes you just need to veg for a while. I really need to get to work on some of my projects! I hope to but at least one of the borders on my Fall quilt this weekend and
buy some fabric for the outside border. I decided what I was planning to use wasn't going to work out for me.
This is the quilt I'm working on. The first border (on the left) will be a thin brown one. I think I need to use a brighter golden color to brighten up the quilt. I'm very excited to finish this one up!
Well, as they say, the best laid plans. I have a taste for making something with candy corn fabric...we'll see what happens when the weekend is done! Enjoy your weekend!
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Hello all!
Can you tell I'm NOT on vacation anymore? I just don't have the time or energy to blog too often!
Oh well, things have been pretty quiet lately. I did have a great weekend! Saturday we had a garage sale. It was a Park Ridge wide sale. There was close to 100 garage sale participants. That was good and bad; good that it brought in so many people but bad because there were so many garage sales. People would just drive by and look. My DH was insulted that our junk wasn't good enough for them to stop! ; ) Our neighbor also had her stuff out and I bought $11.00 worth of stuff from her! Ha Ha!!!
Can you tell I'm NOT on vacation anymore? I just don't have the time or energy to blog too often!
Oh well, things have been pretty quiet lately. I did have a great weekend! Saturday we had a garage sale. It was a Park Ridge wide sale. There was close to 100 garage sale participants. That was good and bad; good that it brought in so many people but bad because there were so many garage sales. People would just drive by and look. My DH was insulted that our junk wasn't good enough for them to stop! ; ) Our neighbor also had her stuff out and I bought $11.00 worth of stuff from her! Ha Ha!!!
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| Baby Basinette |
This is a gift I bought from my neighbor for my niece who is expecting a baby girl on New Years
Eve! I also bought 10 puzzles for her when she's a bit bigger! Couldn't resist and my neighbor is so
clean I'm sure everything is better than when it was new! Thanks Linda!!
We didn't make enough to retire but it was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed chatting and relaxing outside!
Sunday was the Bears home opener and my DH and son went with my cousin Janice's DH and their brother-in-law. I went to my Janice's house and we shopped at Loopy Yarns downtown, went to Starbucks where I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season with her and walked around her beautiful neighborhood downtown.
Some of our stuff...
Sunday was the Bears home opener and my DH and son went with my cousin Janice's DH and their brother-in-law. I went to my Janice's house and we shopped at Loopy Yarns downtown, went to Starbucks where I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season with her and walked around her beautiful neighborhood downtown.
I found the greatest little gadget at Loopy Yarn; they are circular needle tags to differentiate the sizes. Cute idea! Of course, I HAD to have them along with some highlighter tape and a BEAUTIFUL skein of brown Madeline Tosh sock yarn. I even talked to the owner about selling her some of my Project Bags there!
Once the boys got back from the game, we went and had a nice dinner together! All in all a great weekend.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Post Vacation...
Hi All!
Back to the old grind today. Luckily there wasn't too much crap to take care of at work. I figured last week would be a good week to take off because there wouldn't be too much going on. Good thing because my "Monthly" starts on Thursday!
My goal this month is to try to get back on track with my WW now. I've been on a rocky roller coaster for a while and it's time to get serious and put my nose to the grindstone! I started walking back and forth to the "L" and home again. I'm really going to try hard now to stay on track!
I managed to complete another one of my project bags tonight and wrap up a few more pieces of fabric I realized I forgot about. Sewing is my "diet" friend in that I try to stay busy making something in the evenings since they're my hardest time!
This is a duplicate of one I made previously. I have three more bags to complete! Then it's on to some Halloween crafts! Think c a n d y c o r n!
Back to the old grind today. Luckily there wasn't too much crap to take care of at work. I figured last week would be a good week to take off because there wouldn't be too much going on. Good thing because my "Monthly" starts on Thursday!
My goal this month is to try to get back on track with my WW now. I've been on a rocky roller coaster for a while and it's time to get serious and put my nose to the grindstone! I started walking back and forth to the "L" and home again. I'm really going to try hard now to stay on track!
I managed to complete another one of my project bags tonight and wrap up a few more pieces of fabric I realized I forgot about. Sewing is my "diet" friend in that I try to stay busy making something in the evenings since they're my hardest time!
This is a duplicate of one I made previously. I have three more bags to complete! Then it's on to some Halloween crafts! Think c a n d y c o r n!
Thanks for reading and following my blog. I hope you're enjoying it. Until the next time!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Labor Day - 2014
Good morning all and Happy Labor Day!
Today is the FINAL day of my time off. As I'm sure you gather by now, I really enjoyed my time off. Tying it into Labor Day made it that much longer but also made me think about back-to-school time.
Labor Day used to bring the, what seemed like, 3 day Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. I actually looked forward to the Telethon because I love Jerry Lewis! I think he is one of the best comedians! It also signaled the end of summer vacation and back to school. I loved going back to school and all that went with it; new shoes, new clothes, new school supplies and going back to see my friends and meet new ones! Those were the days when troubles were few; your only concerns were what you were going to wear and what your friends thought. (At least for me!)
Well, I did enjoy my Sunday and finally organized my sewing room! Of course, I hurt my back by bringing all of David's law books, etc. down to the basement but not TOO bad. I still have some organizing to do in the bookcase but I can now sew and leave my machine out all the time! Here's a pic!
Today is the FINAL day of my time off. As I'm sure you gather by now, I really enjoyed my time off. Tying it into Labor Day made it that much longer but also made me think about back-to-school time.
Labor Day used to bring the, what seemed like, 3 day Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. I actually looked forward to the Telethon because I love Jerry Lewis! I think he is one of the best comedians! It also signaled the end of summer vacation and back to school. I loved going back to school and all that went with it; new shoes, new clothes, new school supplies and going back to see my friends and meet new ones! Those were the days when troubles were few; your only concerns were what you were going to wear and what your friends thought. (At least for me!)
Well, I did enjoy my Sunday and finally organized my sewing room! Of course, I hurt my back by bringing all of David's law books, etc. down to the basement but not TOO bad. I still have some organizing to do in the bookcase but I can now sew and leave my machine out all the time! Here's a pic!
I love it!!!
Of course, I could have a lot more room if we got rid of the bed but - baby steps! That's my motto in this household!
We also went to the AT&T store and bought my DH a new phone! He finally came into the 21st century and bought a smart phone!!! Now just for him to learn how to use it!
I christened my new sewing room by sewing my candy corn pillow cases! I LOVE my candy corn! Anyone who truly know me knows I LOVE candy corn; eating and....
So, off to get more stuff ready and organized for our garage sale on Saturday and prepare for back to work tomorrow! I do love my job and the great law firm I work for but man, I LOVE being home!!!
Until the next time!
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