Ring in the New

No, this is not a post about the New Year - especially not in July!!

Just a couple of pics of my latest, ongoing hand stitching......blackwork...

These are just the cutest little blocks,

a block for each month of the year,

from a pattern by Kathy Schmitz called Ring in the New.

Well......

not the block in the middle -

the one with the year stitched in.....

that is a replacement block.

I didn't care for the June block that Ms. Schmitz had chosen,

I stitched the original June block, though:

What in the world is that????

And it's to symbolize the month of June...

I thought if I stitched it I would figure it out. 

But, no, no clue what this is for June.

Any ideas? 

Maybe a pineapple? 

Maybe a flowering kale? 

Maybe a turkey butt?

Don't know, just know that the butterfly is cute.

Anyway, I stitched up a dated piece for my June block:

I chose another block from another Ms. Schmitz pattern.

This group of stitcheries was also done by a few other gals in the
"Sit & Stitch" group at the LQS. 
(And, yes, they also replaced the June block!) 
The Sit & Stitch group meets on the first Thursday night of the month
for a couple of hours, along with visiting and laughing while we stitch. 
This time, we were all working on the same thing at the same time. 
Sometimes we are all stitching on our own projects. 

Since we are almost finished with this group of stitcheries,

we are trying to decide what to stitch on next.

We have slimmed down the choices to just a handful...

some barns,

some snowmen,
another Ms. Schmitz design, 

or some baskets filled with stitched flowers...

hard choices.

(Maybe I'll share later those pics of future projects, so you can help us choose.)
I do know that we will not be stitching unknown objects -
pineapple/kale/turkey butt objects! 

Welcome Summer

Summer is finally here!!!

Today is the summer equinox. 

(Don't tell my kids that I have eggs standing on end - they might still think I am weird!)

Although our central Ohio weather thought it/summer had already arrived.

Hot and steamy - just like it should be!

Last of the grad parties for this year were held over the weekend - they were all wonderful. 
My niece asked me to make "Amish pies" for her party ... you know, graduation pies!
Yes, I know that I am not Amish;
and so does she...
she just thinks that "we" cook like we are Amish! 
Sooooo,
Friday afternoon and Saturday morn - well it was pie-baking time.
Some of those fresh picked/frozen tart cherries = three pies,
some of those fresh Ohio strawberries
& a trip to the rhubarb patch = one strawberry-rhubarb,
some fresh/frozen peaches from last summer's harvest = two pies,
some fresh/frozen blueberries = one pie
and some fresh apples = three pies.
Add one half-chocolate/half-white cake for 45 people.
What do you have? 
Enough dessert for a grad party!
Add a fresh, BBQ'd hog on the roaster, and Wallah!
I told you it was a good party!

Except for the part where I left my camera there!  
Boo.
So no pics today! 

And, to finish off the weekend?

A little hand applique and machine piecing/sewing!

(little being the operative word!-pics at a later date.)

Working on a "BOW" - block of the week.

Yes, I may be crazy...

taking on a block of the week project.

But, I am now caught up.

At least until the mail comes Tuesday.

Aah, summer!

out of order tizzy and the towels

I am enjoying a couple of days out of order this week...

Out of order,
because,
well,
I usually work at the LQS on Monday and Thursday. 
But this week, not Monday.
But yes for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
and this made me think that I AM a creature of habit after all.
Are you like me in that regard?
Do you have certain things/chores that you do on certain days?

Like the old tea towels with the stitching?
Or was it Great-grandma B that used to say:

Wash on Monday,

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday,

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday,

Rest on Sunday.

I know I don't REALLY mind change;
I can roll with the punches with the best of y'all.

My mind was in a little tizzy, though, - I admit.
I did my groceries/errands on a different day...no biggie.
Wednesday is usually "my" day:  "Mending day"- my own hand-stitching, pattern making, quilting, projects, ideas.
 Also on this day, I like to cook up some entrees to have on hand for the nights after I have worked that day (at home or out of the home).  Then I just throw together some veggies and fruits with the pre-cooked and call it a meal - a good meal.
Laundry just gets done on the weekend when it gets done.
Sooo,
Monday became Wednesday in my tizzy mind;  Tuesday became Saturday; Wednesday became customer quilting day - which really should have been Tuesday; since I am working Friday, I won't get my cleaning done (that's as good excuse as any!); Sunday there is the Wool Crazy class I am leading at the LQS, so is it called resting if you are stitching??, and I don't know what day it will be when I finally do laundry...  does this explain the tizzy feeling?

(Maybe it all really started with all of those strawberries!!?!)

I'm going to have to get out the towels
and see what day it is
and what I'm supposed to be doing!

Bet you can't make just one!

I recently went blog-hopping along with many other bloggers and visited the group of designers that had the "Cross Country Christmas ~ Blog Hop".  Each of the twelve designers had a project idea on one of the twelve days of the hop.  So by the end of the hop, each designer had given a great project idea, and each hopper had twelve great project ideas.  There were some great ones, too.  I filed all of the project ideas to make at a less busy time of year.  Except for one of the ideas.  This one idea had me just jumping to get going.  I went ahead and printed it out and dug into my stash and gathered stripey fabrics.  I pulled out the ole' bag of loose fiber fill.  I even had the stiffening stuff and dye and glitter from a long ago project.
This project I fell in love with was contributed by Carrie of
Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

I made one.
Is it not just the most adorable candy cane you have ever seen?






Then I made a second one.
Then the third, fourth, and fifth.
Then just one more.
Then another, another, another.
I just couldn't stop!
I made enough to put one at each place setting at the Christmas dinner of my garden club. 
A dinner that I can not even attend this year! 

Beware!!!

I'm telling you they are adictive!

And, guess what, I have made them before!  As I was digging in the box that held the stiffening stuff, I came across a wrinkly pattern for a heart, a gingerbread man, a star and a candy cane! 

The size was a little different, but there you go - You can't make just one...

and evidently, you can't make them just once, either!

Now, I will start the next batch for package tie-ons!

 (totally addictive!!!)

Happy Friday!

and don't forget...stitch a little today...

even if it's a candy cane!

Anticipation...of snow

Snowball Challenge, of course!!!
I have finally taken the time to open all my envelopes from my swap partners in the the Snowball Quilt Challenge!  They had been sitting around here for at least a week, staring at me from the stand beside my stitching chair.  I could hear them calling and calling.  So I gave in...what a glorious time!  So many nice fabrics, so much inspiration!  Even a few little surprises! 
I told myself that I was saving them all to open at one time to build anticipation.  And it most certainly did build anticipation! 
But, in all honesty?  I wanted to tear into them like the Coyote tore into the Acme Packages when he was after the Road Runner.   It was torture, and all because I  really have no self-control when it comes to starting another project when I have a bazillion other projects already in the works!!!
I should have known better. 
I DID know better! 
So, guess what I did today? 
Yep, you guessed it:  I made some snowballs. 
The temperature was dropping, and the flakes started falling,
and pretty soon, I was sitting in the middle of a snow flurry. 
And what do you do when you have all that fabric snow around? 
Well, of course, you make snowballs!!! 
And I am ashamed to admit all the other projects that I have going on at the same time.  I'm afraid to count, so I really don't know the true number myself!
It's like the time at guild that they started an UFO challenge for the year.  To participate, you had to make a list *in writing* of all of your UFOs and give the list to the leader of the challenge.  I figured this would be a good incentive.  Make the list of UFOs, turn it in, and every month bring in a finished UFO or two and get credit for marking something off your written list.  There were even prizes involved!  So I started my list.  Started with the UFOs that were the most complete.  That was THREE.  They just needed binding and or labels.  Then there were the TWO on the design wall, kind of overlapping each other: one was a wedding gift, one was a memory quilt.  Then there was the list of baby quilts for babies already born.  At the time that number was FIVE.  Then count the babies still coming: TWO.  Then I pulled out the project boxes.  You know, those plastic square organizers that snap shut and help keep you thinking you have some semblance of order in your life?  That was FOUR.  Then there were some stacks of fabric gathered together that had patterns or book with them. One was the new quilt for my bed, one had a sketch for my daughters' under-grad quilt....that's were I stopped counting...that's where I started to get the feeling that this UFO challenge thingy was maybe NOT such a good idea for my personal morale.  In fact, this could be down right depressing if I let it!  And I didn't EVEN add to the count the hand-stitching projects in various stages of completeness.  Yep, enough of THAT.  Didn't need to do the UFO challenge.  Didn't even need to keep the written list that I started.
And, I think that's why I am putting off giving the studio a good cleaning...too scary! Might have to start counting again!
Anyway, so here I am, sitting in the middle of a pile of snow balls....and lovin' it.  And I just want to say a Great Big Thanks to all the gals who sent me wonderful fabrics to add to this project:  Katy, Julie, Jennifer, Chris, Esther, and Kathy.  And an even  Bigger Thank You to Allyson and Nicole for putting this challenge together.  I am loving it every l-i-t-t-l-e bit.  All the cutting and sewing and pressing and trimming.  All of the little half-square triangles (I'm not going to tell you how many that I need).  And, I am not feeling even a little bit quilty-guilty that I am working on a new something when I have I don't know how many other old-somethings that I could be doing!

Enjoying the weather, and anticipation of snow!!!
Did you stitch a little today??

bad, bad, bad

First off...........Happy first day of October!  Whew, it came in on the cold side, didn't it?
Anyway...............
That's me... yesterday..... bad, just bad.  I did a few errands yesterday.  One of the errands was to pick up some fabric for a project for my momma for her birthday  (I can't show you yet, 'cause she might see it here.  At least I hope she follows my blog, that's one of the things momma do, isn't it?). 
Her birthday is only a month away, and she lives out of state, and THIS year I promised myself I would be better and do something and have it ready and mailed before the last minute. 

I had something in mind, knew where to find it,
went with a list, of course, and came home with:
exactly what I had in mind for my momma,
and I also came home with this: 
See this large group of nicely folded homespuns and flannels?  Maybe a yard, yard and a half of it will be used in conjunction with the above mentioned project.  The rest............bad, bad, bad.
So here comes the rationale..........
I have signed up for
a block of the month group

with a great group of gals

at my LQS. 

It meets

the last Thursday

of the month, for a year

starting this October.

And because they meet once a month

it helps me keep my act in gear and keep close

to the monthly deadlines.

This year, the project is

Sweet Land of Liberty

by Cheri Payne

http://www.quiltsbycheri.com/index.html

There is machine piecing, wool and cotton applique, some hand embroidery and it looks like fun! 

But, this is not my usual cup-o-quilt-tea

and I NEEDED more homespuns and flannels

to get started on this.

Doesn't the new group of fabrics

so look like they were made for this quilt?

So, I already have a lot of my fabrics ready for this NOW;

I am ahead of the game by a month!!!..........and all except for two pieces, were 30 or 40% off.  Yippy!

Still..............bad, just bad, but...........now reasoned to justification! 

I also quilted yesterday and today:

Sorry, must need to clean my

glasses, this didn't look fuzzy when

I took it.

But here's a close-up of the quilting

and it's not so fuzzy!

And, another quilt done:

These were both block of the month samplers

that were on a to-do list.

Aren't they pretty? Great colors.

Yea! off Patty's list and now off my list!

Well, I'm off,

hope you get to stitch a little today, too.