Secret revealed....

I hope everyone had a very special Christmas holiday! We had our various celebrations in various locations and enjoyed spending time with everyone. Lots of laughter going on! I had made my daughters-in-law quilts for their big gifts from me and Rick. Cole had actually picked hers out over a year ago. She came in while I was working up an online mystery quilt and told me she loved it. So that was easy....and it took me so long to get it to the quilter to work on that she had forgotten about it! So much the better!

I had asked Nancy what colors she would like in a quilt.....also way over a year ago. She specified navy blue, a green to match her bedroom, and various shades of brown. Hmmmm.....well, when I decided I was going to get these done for Christmas I buckled down and found a pattern I thought would work and selected the fabrics. I really like how it turned out. Rick told me that if she didn't like it he wanted it. He loved the colors. Well, she isn't sharing the quilt, so Rick will just have to wait awhile....I'm working on UFO's next year!

2011 UFO CHALLENGE

I am joining with Judy at Patchwork Times for her 2011 UFO Challenge. I am hoping it is the motivation I need to kick-start my sorry butt into finishing these things I have started. I am supposed to make a list of 12.....and isn't it just a crime that I have found more than 12! Bleh.

So I have picked 12 that I want to complete. She will draw a number each month and I will complete the corresponding number on my list that month....hopefully.....

So here's my 12

1) Underground Railroad Wallhanging
2) Hawaiian pillow applique
3) Red, White, and Black -quilting
4) Letha's Fan - piecing and quilting
5) Seneca Falls Snowball-complete piecing
6) " quilting
7) " quilting
8) Dresden plate - quilting
9) Dresden plate - quilting
10) Christmas table runner
11) Reproduction Civil War quilt- piecing
12) " -quilting

Since I plan to hand quilt a few of these I gave myself multiple months to work that all in.

I also am planning to do a BOM as a new project. Sometimes I just kill myself, I'm so funny!!!

Oh Christmas Tree, tree, tree, tree.......

Just sharing a few pics of my trees this year. Of course, click to enlarge!


My kitchen tree.....










My favorite ornaments of all....Hallmark Keepsake Fridge and Stove and Baking Table. They are retired and it took me time to find them. The fridge and stove will connect to a light string, but they are really too heavy to hang.






A new addition....a sewing tree in my sewing room







I put quilting and sewing ornaments on there. I also bought super big buttons and hung them. The garland is blue tape measures







The vacation tree with remembrances from some very
good times! It looks like it's leaning, but I checked and it
really isn't....maybe I was standing cockeyed!






One of three new additions this year. I bought a magnet this time and tied yarn around the neck of the guitar to hand it on the tree. Keychains will also work.







We have our big tree in the living room, and I enjoy it, but I have to say I have the most fun with these 3 small ones. The grandkids were fascinated for a long time looking at everything. They are allowed to touch with "one finger". I try to make most of the ornaments unbreakable to limit potential damage. I'd hate for one of the kids to get cut.

I have some quilting pictures coming up before long......I really have been quilting!! Honest!! Just wait and see!!

Wishing you and yours a very happy and blessed Christmas!
Big fluffy hugs to one and all!
Becky

I've got a secret......

I have been sewing like a whirlwind....but I can't show any pictures......Bummer. You'll just have to take my word for it. I have a quilt in the hoop that is actually a "customer" quilt. This is pretty remarkable since I don't do quilting for other folks.....I don't feel my skills are worthy of compensation. But a fella from my home town asked me really nice if I would make a baby quilt for his new grandbaby. He sometimes sends me some of his good food that he makes for the deli so I could hardly refuse. He wanted to pay me for making it, but I told him I would only charge him for the material... I'd trade the quilting for more food! I also warned him that he shouldn't expect stellar work, but it would be a baby quilt nonetheless. I'll post a picture once it is done.

I also have a couple of surprises for Christmas in the works and I can't show pictures till after Christmas. I am excited about them. I have enjoyed working on them. I think I have gotten my quilting mojo back.....if I ever had one, that is! Anyway, I am looking forward to once again planning to finish UFO's in 2011. I am going to make a list of them, which will be more than embarrassing. But I am going to post the list and maybe I will feel more accountable, and be more inspired to try to get some marked off. We'll see.
I have also had several days of enjoyable time with the grands. They keep me tired and smiling. They are just so much fun to have around. I spend most of the time watching their antics and listening to them jibber-jabber to each other. You never know what you are going to hear!

So....I'm headed back to the sewing room.....wish me luck!

Blessings, Becky

Collections need to be fun...not investments!!

There is a story on msn.com about collectibles that are basically worthless. Flooding the market is primarily the reason and the hype assuring us that we are going to make a truckload of money is the other reason.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8-completely-worthless-collectibles.aspx?cp-documentid=26131547



I saw first hand example of this when my mother-in-law went Beanie Baby crazy. The woman waited in line, scheduled her days around arrival dates at her local store, and died with well over 100 beanies, maybe closer to 200....not counting all the ones she had given as gifts to everyone. One would do well to get a buck a piece for any of these nowadays....which if I remember correctly would be over $6 apiece lost to the wind. Ugh.


I love collecting things, but have determined that it has to have some meaning to it other than what it might be worth someday. Ultimately, it is only worth as much as you can get someone to pay for it.....which could be next to nothing! I have forced myself to come to the conclusion that just because there are a kabillion Jim Shore collectibles I don't need them all. I have some Heartwood Creek figures....but they are something I enjoy and never plan to "make money" on them.

If you don't have time to read the article at the link above, I'll give you a run-down on the items they have deemed an investment no-no......

- Of course, Beanie Babies, Precious Moments, etc (I have some Beanies....how could I NOT!!! ....Pink Ribbon Bear, Princess Diana Bear, etc.)

-Hummel Figurines (I have one.....a drummer boy that was a gift)

-Franklin Mint/Danbury Mint collectibles (I have Dept. 56 Christmas Village) What surprised me the most was that the article stated that when you walk out of the store with one of these it automatically depreciates 80 %!!!!

-Hess Trucks (I've never heard of this one....but the 60's and early 70's have value....others nada)

-Thomas Kinkade paintings (Their assessment....."they've been QVC'd to death")

-Norman Rockwell plates (Even the Norman Rockwell museum was found to be selling plates valued at $39 for $19....there's that depreciation thing again!)

-Lladro figurines (50% depreciation....over supply again)

-Cabbage Patch Kids (Never did like those things!!)



No particular reason for this post other than I have been guilty of this 25 years ago and am thankful that my criteria for purchasing a tchotchke no longer includes hopes for future return!!

Happy collecting!!
Hugs, Becky

Oh Lordy!!!

I am finally done with Libby's quilt!! I was beginning to think it was going to get the best of me. It is a twin size quilt and it is the largest size I have ever hand quilted. Also, the swirlys were a pain because I had to twist and turn the thing a kabillion times....I felt like I was wrestling with the blasted thing!

But, Libby was very patient....every time she saw it she would whisper, "MeMe, it's so beautiful!" I completed stitching down the binding this evening while watching the WVU Mountaineers play football. I decided I was going to get it done tonite, because I was so close, and, tomorrow I am going over to her house to play so she can put it on her bed.










Below, see the border of all swirlys that drove me bonkers!

I'm glad one this one is "in the books". Now on to new things....actually a couple of different things are in the hopper at present.

Blessings ,
Becky

A smiley kind of tired......

It's not unusual for me to keep Aubree and Mia. It's not unusual for me to keep Libby and Joe. What IS unusual.....rarer than rare.....is for me to keep Aubree, Mia, Libby and Joe at the same time. An overlap in schedules caused that to be the case for several hours today. They were really good.....they don't get to play together very often so it was a little tentative for about 5 minutes....then they were off and running.....and running......and running. Aaaaaccccckkkk!!!! The den and the toy room look like a bomb has gone off!


They had a tea party.


It takes a lot of energy to keep up with them. One would ask for apple juice. I would ask the other 3 if they wanted apple juice. No!!! they replied. OK....so I would go to the kitchen and get the apple juice, come back to the den and then another would would decide they wanted apple juice. Ugh.




I tried to get a pic of the 4 together.....Mia wouldn't participate and the other 3 offered minimum cooperation.




Rick came home at lunch and took them outside to play. I fixed their lunches and they ate on the porch....Rick said it looked like a feeding trough.
All in all it was a fun, but tiring day. After Chris picked up his two, Joe and Libby (and MeMe) took a 2 hour nap. They are so much joy in our lives.

Tomorrow it is back to my feverish (yeah, right) quilting. At least in my mind I am quilting feverishly! :)

Hugs, Becky

Sewing machine frustrations....

Bleh! My Pfaff 2048 has tension difficulties. It's really weird. I can sew awhile and all is good, then there are bumps on the underside. I've cleaned the bobbin area, tinkered with the top tension....heck, I even got the manual out and did all they recommended for both tensions. It should be working!!!!! I wasted most of the afternoon trying to make it work to no avail and should have just got out another machine and continued...but I kept thinking....."I bet it will work this time"......yeah, right.

I have to dial back the expectations that I have for the next month or so and get real. As always, I am the one putting the pressure on myself. I just have so many things to do and so much sewing I want to complete that it is more than impossible, therefore I am going to have a meltdown soon.
I want to avoid that because then nothing will get done. First thing tomorrow morning I am going to take a deep breath, make a list and prioritize and stop pretending I am superhuman!!!

This weather isn't helping either. Gray, dreary, damp, cold......yuck, yuck, yuck!!! Clouds and rain should move out tomorrow afternoon and I will be glad to see some sunshine!

I am headed for bed.....I am going to try to get my nerves calmed down (Sleepytime Tea) and read some. Hopefully I can get some good sleep and hit the ground running again in the morning......with a different sewing machine!!!

I'll leave you with God's quilt from the Dolly Sods Wilderness area that we took on our trip last year. I'm glad I took this picture last year.....fall color is not happening around here....leaves are mostly drying up and falling off.

A rest in the mountains....

Rick and I left last Thursday for some vacation time. We first went to Memphis (one of our favorite places on the planet). We had a blast of course. Walks on Beale Street, delicious do-die-for ribs at Rendezvous, and great music.



Ribs at the Rendevous!!




On Monday, we loaded up and drove to Gatlinburg to spend the week in the Smoky Mountains. We had a little cabin on a creek and we spent a good bit of time on the porch listening to the creek sounds (or as we say in W. Va.....the crick).






















We took a couple of drives, Rick walked a trail, and I read books and quilted. I don't think I am ever going to finish these swirlies in Libby's quilt. And to add insult to injury, I thought I was beginning the fourth (and last) side of the borders, only to find I was starting the third side. Ugh. But still I am working diligently....I want to start something else! And Libby is sure ready to get the quilt on her bed!!



So now we are home and settled for awhile. We are going to Pittsburgh tonite to see Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in a concert of "The Wall". I'm very excited!! We love Pink Floyd! I don't think we will ever grow up......and I certainly am content not to!!

Hugs, Becky

My Cupboard!

I spent yesterday painting a cupboard that my sister and brother-in-law brought up for me last weekend. This cupboard was in the upstairs hall at my grandparents' house stuffed with books.
It definitely had many uses in its life...one can only guess how many.

My mother told me it came by wagon when the great-grands made a move from a logging camp in Pickens, WV to Pocahontas Co in the early 1900's. The last coat of paint it had was dark brown and had "alligatored" through the years. It looked and felt so scaly it was more than ugly. I inherited it from my mom. My sister and b-i-l still live in my mom's house so she has the task of dispensing Mom's pack rat stuff. Most of it is done, and I helped with a bunch of the tossing part a long time ago. But this transfer required a truck, so it has taken a while for all the stars to line up for it to arrive here.

Last year I went to spend some time with my sister, and while she worked in the day, I went to the basement where this lovely has resided it's last 20 or so years. I took a bazillion layers of paint off and then later she sanded off some stuff that was stubborn so at least it would feel flat.

So when it arrived it looked like this:


I scrubbed it inside and out and let it dry before I attacked it with the paint.
OK, here we go!

The inside completed....

Then came the outside......


Then I let it dry and in the afternoon I played with the top two shelves. I have some stuff in the attic I want to pull out and put in there so this may stay the same or totally change. Who knows!!


I'll probably keep the right hand door pushed up....it hangs over the hall. If you enlarge the picture you can see the top right hand board has been sawed off to make it fit somewhere along the line.....all part of its charm.

From the basement to the living room!
Ta DA!!!!!!

Becky

Still quilting swirls!!!

I'm crosseyed from quilting the swirls in Libby's quilt. I am diligently working on the double border and am finishing up the second side. One long and one short side to go. Glory Hallelujah!!

Libby and Joe are having an overnight with us this evening. She was ready for bed and she was getting tired. She climbed up beside me while I was quilting and put her head on my arm and watched me stitch. I told her when it was finished and on her bed she could rub her hand on the stitches and know that MeMe loves her so much. She told me the fairy ballerinas were so beautiful! I gave Rick the high sign to try to get a picture of this so he did.

MeMe & her tiny princess, Libby

Geez!!

I was cruising through my Facebook news feed and came across a status update from Accu-Quilt.
It said, "The average quilter makes 10.4 quilts a year". Good grief!!! That certainly makes me a NOT average quilter. I sometimes make 2 a year and a very, very good year would be 3-4!! I do think that every year I could more accurately say, "I started 10 quilts this year".

I got a lot done last week at the lake on Libby's quilt.....but still have most of the 2 borders to do. And I decided to do a fair amount of stitching on the one border so that is taking me longer....but I have in my head how it ought to look and I decided not to make any shortcuts.

I am visiting Libby and Joe today. They are lying on the steps. I asked them what they were doing and Libby said, "We're playing sleeping". They are both snoring loudly. Of course I started to take a movie and the battery needs recharged. Ugh! Pitiful timing! By the time I get the battery charged they will forget they ever played it!

That's it for now. I just wanted to share my angst and to also congratulate all you prolific quilters that make and exceed the average!!! Good for you!! At least now I'll know if I'll ever become an average quilter!!!

Have a great day!
Becky

Headed to Slugville!!

In a couple of hours we will be heading to Slugville... aka Deep Creek Lake,MD... for a week. I'm just about all packed and ready. I tackled a project I have been avoiding for a long time....too long, I'm afraid. I CLEANED THE CARPET IN OUR DEN!

The whole prospect of using our new Steam Cleaner just intimidated the blazes out of me. Of course, the trick was to read the manual. Duh. This room is the most used room in our house and the apple juice, milk, crackers, cheerios and stuff ground into the carpet, courtesy of all the grands, just got to where I was grossed out. I should have been grossed out. I put on my facebook status that the cleaner sucked up enough dirt to plant a potato. The carpet is not that old so that adds to my shame. BUT it won't happen again. The steamer didn't attack me or anything....and it is all clean!

I have packed Libby's quilt and am pleased at the progress I have been making. Quilting has been a priority on my list and I have spent a couple of 5-6 hour days quilting. Some days I crank up the oldies on the TV or the ipod dock and stitch away. Last evening I popped in one of the Upstairs/Downstairs dvds and needled on. So I put in a few of the U/D dvd's in my quilt bag and think I will quilt to these while on vacation. Lordy, there must be at least two dozen dvd's in this set! And each dvd has four episodes on it. I won't run out of these for quite a while!

The rest of my packing awaits as well as running the dishwasher so I gotta go for now!
Blessings,
Becky

Glorious Porch Day!

Today we have a break from the sweltering heat--read that humidity-- and we decided to take advantage of it and spend a day on the porch. It's been a while since we have been able to do that and that has always been one of our favorite things to do since we built the house in 1993.

Armed with my quilting, a radio, a book in case I wanted to read, and a big glass of ice water, I made my nest and "commenced".
Even though it is 80 degrees F. there is a gentle breeze...and we have a ceiling fan on the porch so it is very comfortable. We have the oldies playing on the radio and this is pretty much a perfect day.

While I was stitching away, I heard the oddest chain saw running. There is always something making noise around here. Chain saws are not uncommon with the neighbors getting some firewood in for winter. Also this morning lawn mowers, weed-wackers, and grass blowers were humming....which irritates me to no end....but I tend to tune them out. But this chain saw was so different it caught my attention. I stopped stitching and tried to dial in where it was coming from.

Oh. Good. Grief. Here was the location:


Everyone have a wonderful, blessed day!
Becky

LQS....kinda

My friend and I drove up to one of our favorite quilt shops yesterday afternoon. It's about an hour away so that is really not so local....but here in West Virginia you take the shops where you can get them! This shop, Four Seasons Stitchery is under new ownership and had their fabric on sale to make room for some 200 new bolts arriving soon.

I was tickled to find some pieces that I had been looking for to begin on a couple of projects. I am so slow getting started and then so slow getting finished that I just bore myself to death!!

Anyway, I am nearly complete finding what I want to do Chery'l's machine applique quilt, still think I need a darker dark that the one here. Not enough contrast...so back to the drawing board
The one I mean is the bottom right....what do you think? The red is for a tulip on the lavender square...the green is for leaves. I'm going to do a disappearing 9-patch... sort of.... for this. Any suggestions?

I also found the Wintergrafix fabric I wanted to make a tree skirt. I got the book too. Since my house is a "blue" one, I am changing some Christmas decorations to the blue theme. I got the table runner and coordinating fabric last year. The tree skirt in the book is made with the red colorway but I changed that, of course!!

I also found a stencil for Baptist fans....I am going to do my red, black and white quilt in this. Oh yeah....I still don't have it quilted!! It's in the "to quilt" basket. I toyed getting it done on a long arm, but I think I am going do it myself by hand. I enjoy the process of quilting by hand.

Here is a pic of Libby's Fairy Ballerina quilt in process.
I'm taking the easy way out....I'm quilting the swirls in the allover print block and the four squares in the other. It's just been too hot to quilt much....even inside with the air conditioning! So....saying that....it is gloomy, foggy and rainy this morning so I'm going to try to make a big dent in it. Her room is painted, new furniture and curtains in and we're waiting on......ME! UGH.

Blessings,
Becky

Hydrangeas

I love hydrangeas. My grandmother had some beautiful ones when I was growing up. She put rusty nails in the ground to provide the acidity they love. I like them most because they come in beautiful blue and purple.....my favorite colors!

We planted a couple of hydrangeas the year after we moved into the house which would be 1994. A couple of years they bloomed nicely I dried a bunch. Then they kinda didn't want to bloom anymore. I don't know what was up with that....but a lot of times after the green leaf shoots would start to come on we would get a hard freeze and all the little shoots would turn black. It would take so long to grow the leaves there was never enough time to get blooms before it started frosting again!

After a brutal winter we had a fairly gentle spring and the leaves didn't freeze. And whoopee!!! I have hydrangeas blooming like crazy!!!
I don't know if I will dry any this year or not. For some reason I'm not inclined to fool with it. But I sure do enjoy looking at them now!

Blessings!
Becky

Weekend Adventure

Well, I had a very emotionally draining week with 2 trips to funeral homes and 2 more deaths that had an effect on me.....needless to say I was in a downward spin.

Rick came to my rescue and surprised me with an overnight to Cass, WV. It was to ride their Saturday evening "Fiddles and Vittles" train.




The entertainment.




It was delightful. We took the train up to Whittaker Station where there was a buffet set up with delicious food. While we were eating we were treated to some bluegrass music. It was a beautiful evening in the mountains.

After we arrived back to the station we returned to our rented "company" house for the night.




View from our house.





Logging and mining companies provided housing for their workers...and they (Cass Railroad State Park) have several available for accommodations. We sat on the porch swing and enjoyed the nice evening and I knitted a little till the darkness arrived.




I'm looking forward to making a return trip for a longer period of time very soon!!

Happy Father's Day, various and sundry other things...

We had a good Father's Day for Rick. One son called him and one brought his family over for dinner. He enjoyed seeing some grandkids, of course.

I finished my surprise quilt....and hope that my girlfriend does not read my blog. She has never given me any indication that she has, so I think I am safe. Donna, my friend, lost her house in the Tennessee flooding a while back. About a week ago the dozers downed what was left. She lost everything. So I decided she needed a comfort quilt. Blockparty.com has great stuff to make for all occasions. I used "Comfort of the Psalms II". Donna's favorite color is bright orange...which is difficult to find outside of Halloween fabric.

So I used a mixture of bold colors that had some burnt orange-ish in there. I used an orange cotton sheet for the backing. (Click to enlarge)





I'm going to try to get it in the mail in the next couple of days, but this week is going to be a little hectic. We'll see how it goes.

Blessings,
Becky

This and that...

Well, I found my camera. Apparently I stuck it in the outside pocket of my quilt tote. I had searched the tote on three different occasions, but forgot it had an outside pocket. Duh. See that little horizontal line under my name??? That is a narrow pocket that I never use....but I did that day!

Anyway, I am now a happy camper with a camera.


I began cutting out Libby's big girl quilt. It's from The Quilter magazine in 2007.
Here's some pics...




I don't know if you can see it too well. It's called Ballerina Fairies and made from Timeless Treasures fabric with, of course, ballerina fairies!




I thought I was doing really well....I had all the strips cut out. Then these little words jumped out at me......"cut into 80 1 1/2 inch squares", and "cut into 106 strips".... Jeepers!!! But I got them all cut. Now I am supposed to fussy cut the fairy blocks into 8 1/2 inch squares with 4 ballerinas per square. What a chore! The blocks are printed wonky to the grain of the fabric. To get an 8 1/2" square with the blocks centered within the block causes a ton of waste. I decided to take a break for lunch and do this blog entry, then I will get back at it. I'm not even sure I have enough material to do it....I should, I ordered the required amount...but maybe I'm too picky about centering the pattern. We'll see. I'll make it work somehow!

So I am headed back to the project, while the laundry is going, the dishwasher is going, and it's so hot and humid outside I wouldn't go out on a bet!! Give me my A/C!!!

Hugs, Becky