Little Quilts

in the spirit of

"I'll do anything to avoid painting"

Olivia and I spent the past week or so basting little quilts

for hand quilting

these were 2 leftover blocks from a lap quilt

which has not been quilted yet...

I got crazy and machine stitched on the borders

this one was all ready

except the borders

they will be less than 1/2" when the binding goes on

this one had the borders hand stitched on

I wasn't trusting myself with the bias edge

and all those points

I hand pieced most of the blocks last year

lost interest in them until now...

Debbie St Germain stitched this little

Cheri sampler as a gift for me

and sent it as a little pillow

I thought it deserved to have some wall space

so added the patchwork borders

from some abandoned projects

can hardly believe how many red, white and blue

projects were in the works

they might be finished by this time next year

I've been working on gathering some wool to sell

the past few days

going through my stash 

has inspired me to do some more dyeing

Still no desire to hook

I'd rather paint and you know how I feel about that

ebb and flow of creativity

there is always something to keep me busy

Happy Wednesday!

Pinterest Diversion

in case you couldn't tell by my

years of dithering about painting

it's not something I enjoy

mostly because I don't like to get my hands dirty

having to wear gloves so much at work

avoiding them is something I do at home

but once I get started I want to paint everything

so now the frame

around the kitchen window will be painted

white or green...

I am not very handy

to say the least

YouTube videos are a real help to me

this morning I did a small dry wall patch!

I know I have this pattern

or one very similar

somewhere...

maybe by Kay Cloud
seeing this pic makes me think maybe some of my 
cotton velvet might finally get used

have been working in the sewing room 

between priming and painting duties

feeling the need for some large blue and red berries

hoping this fall to get the catio built

I'd like enough room for a little table and a couple of chairs

as well as plenty of landings for the cats

my favorite is a space built for 2 cats

with cerebellar hypoplasia

(wobbly cat syndrome)

by Catio Spaces...

my sister and her husband are home sweet home

happy to take care of all their plants

fill the bird feeders 

and nap in their own bed

One more day of vacation

it goes so fast

Painting Break

totally the plan for me

I don't like getting my hands dirty...

but do love flowers

My sister and her husband are on their way home

they take a few days each way

enjoying the visits in small towns along the way

my family did an awesome job tackling my to-do list

still a little more for my local brother in law

after I get some painting done

local BIL became a certified 

Master Gardener after he retired

he also had a job with a landscape company

for a season learning more

he does a lot of volunteer work 

helping with beautification

my local sister is the painter

outdoors or in

but like me, never on a ladder

my NC BIL is the master of most everything

he is a retired Marine, has doctorate in something or other

taught GED classes and so on

he's the big brother I never had

he and my sister remodeled their 1920s bungalow

over the course of 20 years

wish I could turn them loose on this house!

my NC sister is the eternal hippie

an engineer who never used her degree

due to military travel with her husband

she is the boss of all of us

she organizes and keeps watch 

as well as doing all the pruning, weeding and planting

she RARELY stops talking

How lucky am I to have them?

as for me

I weeded and pruned for a while

them came back in the house to work on walls

lots of spackle after removing so much from the walls

the weirdest thing is no bathroom mirror

 they took it down so I can paint

am transitioning out of keto to low carb

I really cannot stand all the fat I've been consuming
who knew you could get sick of bacon?

I'll still be no bread, grains, potatoes, pasta

no high carb fruits or veggies

this will be much more sustainable for me

Wishing everyone a nice Memorial Day weekend

I remember my Dad and uncles, friends of the family
thankful for the sacrifice our soldiers made
so we could live our lives free

May Vacation

Millenium Garden pattern by Jan Patek

my NC sister is here and she brought a few boxes

of older quilt books for me to sell

many out of print

She did bring the set of patterns for this quilt

Mom stitched it for me from Jan's kit

a real favorite

like the good sister I am

I've lent it to Deb until next year

I'm probably going to list them on 

a quilter's destash group on FB

unless anyone would like to see them here

I will make sure my prices are lower

than anywhere else online

but will charge actual shipping...

In other news

I have been busy doing work around the house

preparing for my sister and her husband

they arrived Monday afternoon

we already have my list of needed chores done

plus many I forgot about

my local and her husband where here yesterday 

and this morning helping out

a few things we got done:

tearing out old shrubs, covering area with mulch

trimming bushes, weeding, gathering sticks

sealing concrete cracks and outdoor painting

moving large furniture to a back room for donation pick up

removing curtain rods and ordering blinds

taking down shelves, mirrors and assorted wall mounted items

spackle and wipe down walls

filled in ground hog and chipmunk holes

washed windows, put screens in doors

and so much more

if I had done this all myself half would

never get done

We also did a huge Lowe's haul

I'll be painting all year

tomorrow I'm treating everyone to a "swanky restaurant" lunch

my local sister turned 70 this year

so I found out where her favorite meal was...

they don't stay long but we pack a lot in

this afternoon is my NC brother in laws day "off"

he and my sister visit all their favorite places

dinner together tonight

she's already chosen a few hooked rugs to take back

he picked some tools from the garage

I'm on vacation until Monday

they leave before dawn on Friday

one of these days I might

make it to NC

Hope you're all having a great week!
there has been no hooking or stitching to speak of...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day dear friends!

I am blessed to sleep under the quilts

my mom hand stitched and feel her love

to stitch my own quilts and feel her with me

the memories of shopping for fabric

A day of tears and smiles

YouTube rug hooking

I've been puttering around the house today

listening to and watching

Cindi Gay on YouTube

even an experience hooker

can learn something new all the time

do you watch YT videos?

seems a lot of folks watch floss tube

any recommendations?

my favorite is Taco Stacks

he scraps, sells at flea markets and online

something different than creating

Pinterest Inspiration

from my favorite Outsider artist

the Rudie rug wasn't working for me right now

am switching to an antique reproduction

just need to draw it on my linen

 something to stitch

with my small pieces of early blue

love the subtle colors

Rudie Hooked Rug

a start using already cut wool

still deciding on background

it will not be dark...

The Blue Basket

this blue basket

inspired the hooking for the Flag and Flowers rug

the colors in the rug here are true

two different filters 

to try and get the colors right

real colors are somewhere in between

two wools made up the background

another rug to keep

this went on the frame just now

Hooking some smaller rugs

to try out colors for some larger ones in my stash...

No Spend on Supplies 2019

is going great

nearing the end of the 4th month

there are a few things I want

but nothing I need

Would love to hear about what you've purchased

vicarious thrills and all that

More Happy Colors

a little washed out by the flash

love how this is hooking up

I NEED more of that old blue

used for the basket...

finishing up the beach room mat for Debbie

going to drag myself to work today

would rather be hooking

will be okay

when I get there...