Saturday Stitching

On Friday I spent the day with my friend Robin at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington.  It was great fun and we learned so much from the different classes we took.  We had a wonderful time visiting all of the booths, so much inspiration.  Here is Robin making her first purchase, she looks pretty happy about it.  This was one of our first stops of the day. 

After so much inspiration I spent the first part of Saturday sewing in my comfy sweats and a t-shirt with not a touch of makeup.  I love days like that.

Pillow top for the Pretty in Patchwork Sew Along at Thread Bias.  This is January's project so you can see that I am a little behind in the sew along.

March block  for the Sugar Block Club at Stitchery Dickory Dock.

 

January block

 

February block

 

 

When I started joining Sinta at Pink Pincushion for BOM Rehab I had intended to finish up projects started last year and before.  Now here I am catching up on this years BOM projects.  I may have joined in on a few too many new projects this year.  Oh well, there is really no pressure unless I put it on myself so I will just continue on at my pace and have fun.

 

Pin Keep Swap

I mailed my Pin Keep to my swap partner and she let me know that she has received it.   I guess I should say my hubby mailed it for me.  I had a great time with this 2nd Annual Pin Keep Swap sponsored by Wendy at Ravenwood Whimzies.

First I will share the pink keep made by my partner Ronda.  She enjoys working with wool and I love what she made for me.

She sent a box of pins that match the pin keep.

Below is a picture of the back of my new pin keep

The Pin Keep I chose to make for my swap partner Ronda was designed by Kaaren Johnston at The Painted Quilt.  It was one of her fabulous first-Friday Freebie patterns listed on her sidebar.  

I love embroidery so this was a perfect project for me.  I used a variegated DMC for the embroidery work on the front.

I used some pieces of French General fabric left  from a mini-quilt for the back. 

While I was working on my first project I came across the design below and thought it would be fun to give this little pin keep a try. 

This design I found on Moda Bake Shop and it was called Flirtatious Hearts Table Topper & Pincushion.  I used scraps from the same French General jelly roll to piece this together.

Thanks again to Wendy for this fun swap and thank you to Ronda for making my very special pin keep.

A Very Special Wednesday

A couple of weeks ago I had a Wednesday off  to spend with a friend. 

We traveled to Queen Anne Hill in Seattle and visited a fabulous shop called Nancy's Sewing Basket.  We spent every moment of our trip to Seattle chatting and catching up.  Upon entering the shop there might have been a moment of silence before the oohs and aahs started.   We spent some time looking at so many wonderful fabrics and an endless variety of patterns and books.  We worked our way to the back of the store and found the Ribbon Room, it was amazing.  They have so many different types of ribbon and trims and seam binding.  You can find beautiful lace, so many buttons, silk millinery flowers, and many other wonderful things to look at, you must look around this little room at least twice.  I really think I should go back again soon because I am sure I missed half of what was in there.

I purchased a little measuring tape ribbon and seam binding and a couple of pieces of fabric for embroidery projects.  It was a wonderful time spent with someone who loves sewing and creating as much as I do.  We went to lunch at a place that is well known to locals, Dick's Drive In.  We were able to continue our chatting through lunch and all the way home. 

  It was a very special Wednesday, thanks Robin.

Aurifil Designer Block Of The Month - Embroidery Done

I have shared my blocks for this little quilt top each month as I completed them.  I did not get the December block below completed until January but now all of the embroidery is complete.

 

This was a fun block to stitch.

Here they are laid out in order.  I see that I might want to do a little switching of border fabrics, we'll see.  It is now on my list of projects to finish.  This is another reason why I am trying to limit my starting of new projects this year.  I underline limit because I already have a few new projects planned.

Joining BOM Rehab at Pink Pincushion

A Wonderful Time of Rest

Do you ever feel like you just have to get some rest?  Of course you would answer yes to that question.  Sometimes getting away for a few days is just the perfect thing.  My husband and I had the opportunity to do just that last week.  I meant to post about this right away but when I uploaded the pictures to my computer they "disappeared", or so I thought, I just found them this morning. 

 

We took a little trip to one of our favorite places to go, the Pacific Ocean.  It takes us a about three and a half hours to get there depending on the I-5 traffic.  This trip we decided to take our dog Emmy.

She was thrilled but a little anxious and our car was full of her wonderful black hair by the time we arrived.

 

We took many walks on the beach.  We saw blue sky every day while those at home experienced grey skies and lots of fog.

 

Emmy is nine years old now so chasing the ball was exciting for her but she did get worn out a little faster than she used to.

 

The tide was pretty low this day.

This is the place we stayed, just a short walk to the beach.

On our morning walk the frost was pretty heavy but the sky was blue and the air was crisp and clean.
I am not sure how thrilled Pat is about being in most of my pictures but thats what happens when the camera is in my hands.

This was not my favorite picture but you can tell that I wasn't to concerned about my appearance, I was too busy relaxing loving the sunshine to care.

We worked a puzzle, enjoyed some pizza, popcorn and a Starbucks coffee.

 

I always take some kind of needlework along when we travel.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I am trying to finish up some of the incomplete projects I have around so this is what I took along to try to make some progress on.

This is a Crabapple Hill design called Nesting Time.

You use about a dozen different colors of thread in this project to make it look like you are using variegated thread.  I am really enjoying working on it and I hope to share my completed project soon.

 

The morning we packed up to return home there was a wee bit of fog, it helped us prepare for what we would see when we returned home.

 

"The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace."

Psalm 29:11

Bloggers Block Of The Month Complete

I have worked on this block of the month called Blogger's Block of the Month for over a year.  The quilt along was sponsored by Canton Village Quilt Works.  The last block tutorial was posted in September and as part of my 2013 finish my projects goal, I am sharing my completed quilt top with you now.  It was hard to get a true picture of the fabrics in this quilt.    The close up below gives you an idea of how beautiful the fabrics are.  I don't have backing material for this quilt yet but I hope to get the fabric and have it quilted soon.  

I have learned so much by joining in on the block of the month projects on line, the tutorials have helped me to have confidence to try new things.  Now to get the projects completed.  I am finishing up the small projects myself and will learn a little more about machine quilting as I go.  I have sent two of my quilt tops out to be quilted by a local quilter.  I am so excited and can't wait to see how they turn out.

My First (almost) Finnish for 2013

I hope the New Year has started out as a good one for you.  I started out with my mind in a jumble and I have determined that this must change.  I want to get focused on what God has planned for me as His servant.  After that, I want to determine what it is that I would like to accomplish and create with the time and materials God has provided for me. 

 

 

We took a trip to South Carolina in November and I used a suitcase that I had not used since the last trip we took there a year and a half before.  While packing I found the project below.  I had purchased the pattern and materials at a fabulous quilt and needlework store on Hilton Head Island called Cross Stitch Junction.  I had done quite a bit of stitching on one of the pieces below and had left the project in the pocket of my suitcase after returning home.

 

 Now the stitching is complete.

 

My first cross stitch project completed for 2013

Now to sew it together to make the scissors keep and pincushion.  I will get at it soon and keep you posted.  I am making a list of my projects I hope to finish this year, I love to cross of things I finish and watch the list grow smaller.   I am limiting myself on new starts, that is my plan anyway.

I am planning on a restfull weekend but I am open to what God has planned for us, His plans are always much better than any I could make.