No Time to Sweep

Put the broom away, there's no time for sweeping and no time for sleeping...

I'm in the groove and on the move......

Got Flies?

Jack has been waiting for the mail to arrive so he could finish a cabinet he is making for Danette. He was given the wrong hinges the last time we went to town so rather than driving back in to exchange them, (45 miles round trip), he called and requested they mail him the correct ones.

He waited... and waited ...and waited some more....

When the weather is too rotten or he is nurturing a bad back, etc., he goes downstairs to the garage and ties flies. So that's where he spent his time waiting.

He tied all of these and more as he awaited the mail.

In the meantime, I mailed a package 300 miles away. The package arrived in just two days.

Jack's hinges finally arrived six days later! 6 days to travel 22½ miles in the year 2012. Go figure.

and by the way, we've got flies .....

Just What I Need

To quote my husband, "Oh, great, that's just what you need..... another project!"

That is after I dug out my only ball of yarn, (meant to go on art quilts), and my only crochet hook.

Recently, I attended a baby shower and saw an adorable crocheted blanket with the popcorn stitch in it. It took me back to the 1970's when I crocheted my own purses using the popcorn stitch. OMG!

I wanted to crochet again.

Of course, following Attic 24's blog and Amy's blog don't help me much. They are always creating something new with their hooks and yarn. So I can't be the only one left behind.

Then there is my Aunt Alma who just died three months after her 100th birthday... the crochet queen of the universe. Her work was so intricate and lovely. And there is Mom who used to crochet just about anything you could ever want. She "says" she cannot crochet any more because her hands hurt. (Personally, I think she just wants to dig in her garden instead.)

So it's up to me to carry on the tradition.

As you can tell, it is going to take a LOT of work to get me up to speed.

My first project is going to be a poncho. I love crocheted ponchos. Then I want to crochet a 1970's version of that popcorn stitch bag I used to make.... along with my macrame too. Oh dear, I need another lifetime to do all of this.

Jack says the KING size quilt HAS to be completed first. (Okay, Honey. Whatever you say!)

Uh huh! Sure.

Practice. Practice. Practice!!!!!

A Bad Day Fishing Beats a Good Day at the Office!

No matter if you catch a fish or not, how bad can this be?

(Osprey flying low.)

and sometimes you do catch a few.... but Jack and his buddies usually just Catch and Release.

The Things We Do For Love

I'm not a music fan, but every now and again a song will start rolling around in my head.

I have no clue how I get into doing some of the things I do, but once examined, my reasons seem to go to "love". I'm not speaking of the "in love" kind of love, but the love of family and friends.

So as I have been recently called to do sewing alterations, this song is in my head. I didn't even remember the name of the group who sings it so why do I know the tune and words to the song?

My son-in-law, Joseph, is in the process of having a stem cell transplant (or bone marrow transplant). He is in need of some altered shirts so the catheter can be accessed by his medical staff. He doesn't want to spend his time in the isolation room wearing a hospital gown. Who could blame him? So I got some shirts at the Good Will and have been cutting them up.

I have no clue what I'm doing, but I figure, "what the heck?!"

"Mikey" will try anything so so can I.

Then my BFF, Eileen, is the Mother of the Bride come next Monday. She has a stunning gown to wear but it needed altering. Of course, "Mikey" will do it! So I marked and pinned and ripped and sewed. Now this is true love because I even had to sew straps onto her strapless bra! Hey, what are friends for, right?

I told her if I would have seen the price tag BEFORE I started cutting up her dress, I would have said NO WAY! It turned out perfect so we are still friends!



How Long Does it Take to Make a Quilt?

I think the answer to this question is somewhere between a day and a life time!

I thought for sure I was working towards that "life-time" span for one quilt. I started it back in 2002. I actually took six months to find the pattern after seeing it at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in 2001.

It is paper pieced. The pattern pieces are on paper. The method, (well, my method), is you have to cut your fabric 3 times the size that would normally fit and then put it together on the back side of the paper so when you turn it over, it is totally backwards from the way you set it up. (uh huh..... confusing)

.

Then once you have ripped out the little 3" square that has 2-5 pieces in it, you do it again. Don't be surprised if you have to rip it out again... only now the paper pattern is all screwed up and you have to start with a fresh piece of paper.

Then after working with that square, you go on to make 8 others for your 8" block. If it doesn't measure up square, you have to rip it apart because your entire quilt isn't going to be square. I know this because I was about 1/4 of the way done and had to rip everything out and square up my blocks. I figured with the paper on the back, it would be square. Nope.

Oh, don't forget to rip out all the paper you sewed into the quilt.

And if a pattern piece looks like it is going to fit, you are most likely wrong. The pattern does not tell you what piece to use, you have to refer to a drawing and the squares are the size of graph paper squares and .....yes, I have gone crazy more than once over this quilt.

SoooOooo, once again, I've picked it up.

I have over 200 hours into it so far and I'm just over half way finished.

I've set it aside because I no longer liked the colors and feared we would need sunglasses at night in order to crawl under it to sleep. Then I've come back to liking the bright colors.

Now I see I have some blocks that are too light and might have to replace them with brighter fabric.

I don't feel any rush since I've already been at it for 10 years.... what's 10 more?!

Actually, I made the mistake of putting this on my list of things to complete this year so I really do have to push a bit more. I cannot have Jack in the house as I work on this because I tend to shout at myself and call myself all sorts of names as I'm ripping seams apart. My new best friend is my seam ripper!

So here's my pattern colored in. The paper with the hole cut out is how I see where I am. I work on one block at a time and that hole exposes one block!

And yes, that's Elvis next to my To Do list! When I get too frustrated, I just look at his picture and sigh.... 

A Peacock on our Deck ... Say What?

Say "True Story"!!

I thought for certain that Jack was pulling another of his silly tricks on me and as usual, I was walking right into his charms. He said, "Hey, there's a peacock on our deck."

(Uh huh... sure, Jack.)

He says, "I'm serious."

So I get up off the couch (I'd been walking the halls again last night and crashed on the couch about 5:00 a.m.)

So I mosie on over and for once, it was NOT April Fools at our house.

Poor thing just needed a safe place to sleep and chose our deck behind our picnic table which is turned up on its side until the weather gets nice.

Now... what to feed a peacock.