Jewelry day

My Mom sent me these beads from Arizona awhile back, I decided today was the day to make myself something from them. I thought the dragonfly clasp was fun and it will definitely be seen with my hair cut short. I also made two pairs of earrings, didn't know which one I would like the best so I made both, now I have choices.

With the pink/brown beads I made necklace, earrings and bracelet. I usually don't wear a whole set of anything but I like the option to do so. I found the big/small rose beads in Mom's stuff. (thanks for sharing Mom!)

(every pic is sideways and I don't know how to fix it....)

While I was busy so was Sara, she has been wanting a necklace like the one on the cover of a book. This is her House of Night necklace. The one on the book cover had a bigger charm and diamond shaped beads. I think she did ok with her DIY knock off. She's happy with it and I'm happy that she spent time with me doing something crafty.

I also made charm bracelets for work, 14 bracelets, 3 necklaces and 5 bracelets with 40 charms on the each! My hands were cramped up by the 5th bracelet, ugh! Shop Hop started today, have more samples to show off but I'm to tired to find my camera and download pic's. Tomorrow Sara has the State Geography Bee in Omaha so we will be gone all day. Good Luck Sara!

Hair

I had a hair emergency today............I decided to straighten my grown out perm. I have done it before, no problem. Well today was a different story, no I don't have a before pic, lets just say straw has a better feel than my hair did when I was done. The ends curled up and fell off just like hair being burnt. I couldn't get a comb thru it without it breaking. The more it dried the frizzier it got, it was so bad I just got in the car and went to Norfolk. Walked in to the mall and told the gal at Regis to cut it off. I really made her work hard and over an hour and a half later this is what was left. She tried to leave it as long as she could, there was no hope and I made her cut another inch and a half off the front and two off the back. (I've never had my neck shaved before)Sooooooooooo long story short; never trust a box that says gentle and safe for all hair types! Josh told me I look just like all the other moms now....oh great....hey what kind of earrings do ya wear with short hair?

weekend

This table runner will be for Kristin after the kits are gone from work. I took one of her dishes into work and matched it up with this brown. Julie and Vicki picked the batik and I got it sewn up this week. It's not been a sewing week around here so this is all I have done, notice the piles of fabric at the top of the photo.....two more table runners and a small quilt.

I took Saturday morning and watched sewing shows and worked on this afghan. My Aunt Sis started it with 6 giant granny squares, I sewed them together with bright pink with a little help from Sammy. Now Sammy and I have an afghan from our Aunt to cuddle up under together.

I thought about adding ruffles around the edge but in the end just a simple crochet finished it off, this is the first project I've ever joined together. I like the way it turned out but my Aunt crocheted so tight it was hard to slip a hook thru and i finally had to skip a stitch every so often. Heck it's good enough for who it's for..........me! (and Sammy)

Enjoying the weather

Me and the 'boys' spent a little time out in the yard enjoying the weather, 70 degree's sure is nice this time of year. The sun was so bright that this was the only pic that turned out decent. Spot would not join me, Sammy and Blackie in the grass, he stayed on the dirt by my car the whole time we were out. I made them stay outside today in the cage while I was gone today and they were sure happy to see me when I got home until I gave them baths!

Just another sneak peak at a kit for work....

Three more table runners done and ready for display!

I got this little throw quilt finished up also and ready for display, red and black/white are big this year at the shop.

Today I spent a little time with Roseanne cutting and kitting up a few more table runners and small quilts. Tomorrow I start sewing! I'm starting to feel the push to get things done before March 31st!

puppies

Blackie and Spot are ready for new homes! They will be 8 weeks old on Saturday. Anyone interested just let me know. Shih-tzu's get between 12 and 17 pounds,( or I say large cat size.) Non-shedding, they need haircuts twice a year, loved to be brushed and don't mind baths. They like to be outside during the day when it's warm and love to snuggle on the couch.

Love this quilt! It's a Moda Bake Shop pattern.

Moda Bake Shop pattern again, those designers are great!

The Orchard Quilters got together the other night, we made 10 minute table runners. These are so easy! At one point I looked at the girls and said, "leave it to a bunch of quilters to make this easy project hard" and then we all relaxed and had fun making them. We did do a bit extra with some top stitching, we decided they would wash up better with just a bit more structure. Still need to tack on buttons or something where the corners come together and meet, I'm thinking pins, or brooches, even cute beads. I made the horse and the patriotic runners, Maxine made Easter, Linda made Halloween and Luanne made St. Pats and the red/black combo. Luanne also had two others finished so we could see options, different sizes and color combinations. I really enjoyed her homemade shrimp dip, wow! She made it with her own katsup, how many people make katsup? Well it was so yummy I ate way more than I should have, thanks Luanne!

Josh giving his speech, it's the only decent pic I got, gonna have to learn how to take distance shots with my camera. He qualified for state speech next Friday, so we're all going to Kearney! I'm really proud of him, he made up his mind he was going and now he is!

Today I've got corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, I followed the recipe in the O'Neill Shopper, I've never made it with cabbage, or potato's or onions.....or apple juice and brown sugar....I always just tossed it in the cooker and poured water on it. I'm sure it will be good and I'm hoping someone brings me some at work tonight. Oh yeah, I'm the lass serving green beer at the ye' ol' tavern (ok not sure what to call myself but lass just ain't fittin') and homemade Irish Cream. Yes I made it! Yes it's good! I like it and I don't like Irish whiskey, little strong for me but just right for everyone else. I wish I would of bought another thing of sweetened condensed milk and I would make a batch with Black Velvet, then.........I know I would lovvvve it! Well off I go to find my green outfit and color my hair red, just wouldn't be fittin' to have the bar wench's grey roots showing....hehehe!

New camera/sneak peak

Here's a sneak peak at a few of the kits that will be available at the end of the month at work, this baby quilt was soooooooooo quick and I love the colors! It's 51x55 perfect size for baby/toddler.

Two quilts, a batik and a 30's and two table runners, there will be more soon!

I am still looking for my camera, so I thought as soon as I bought a new one the other would show up. So I am now the proud owner of a little pink Casio. I think I like it, it's easy to work and the pic's look fine so far.(ok I only took a few) I have been lost all week without, didn't realize how much I love to take pictures until I couldn't. Kev is upset because I replaced it but I really don't care, he replaces tools when he looses or breaks them, well that's what I did this time, my camera is a tool and I needed it to do what I do. So now I'm off to take pic's of everything I've been working on the last week and a half......oh and pic's of my puppies!

I sewed up a cute LITTLE baby quilt this morning, I'm saying little because it's half the size it's intended to be, oops I cut wrong and just couldn't figure out why I had so many extra triangles. Well anyway I will put some borders on it and finish it after I go back to work and see if I have enough fabric to remake it the right size. I cut it out late Friday afternoon, should of done it earlier when my brain was working better. I also have another one to cut out, but this time I know not to mess it up! I am trying to get samples made for Shop Hop coming up at the end of the month, it's gonna be a fun 10 days!

still lost...

My camera is still lost, I'm in mourning.....I feel like part of me is missing, ughhhhhh!
Who would of known a silly little gadget would be so important to me. Today I am cleaning the dining area in an attempt to find it, maybe the cat moved it while laying on my quilting stuff.
I have been sewing quite a bit lately, to bad I can't show it off here! I quilted a T-shirt quilt for my MIL and 3 shop samples. I love my new batik quilt, it's a kit at work to be unveiled during Shop Hop (march 31 thru April 10th) we are working on new table runner kits and I also designed a sun hat just for fun. I have made 4 of them and hope to have the pattern ready soon.
On the home front not much going on this week, Josh took first in both his speeches at the Speech meet on Tuesday! Sara will be going to Omaha on the 1st of April to compete in the state wide geography bee and Brad turned 16 this week. Oh and Kristin is in Chicago at the moment, on the first leg of her tour with the drama ensemble ministry. They are doing a 10 day tour to New York state and she is stage manager and part time van driver.
The puppies are getting ready for new homes, anyone interested?

no camera

My camera is lost.................and I'm lost without it. I took pic's Tuesday night at Brian's house(progressing nicely with paint and flooring being laid) went to use my camera Wednesday at work and it's not in my purse. I have looked everywhere I can think of, cars, studio, driveways, pockets, even called work and the library. So if someone out there has seen my camera...........

St. Pat's

I made this little wall hang a few years ago, ok, like 11 years ago...........wow..........well I finally got the pattern written up and it's ready to go! Sara helped me with the cover of the pattern last week and I took it to work for Julie, might make a few kits for the shop depending on the demand. O'Neill is the Irish capital of Nebraska so I figured we should promote St. Pat's day.

I have started sample sewing for the shop, Shop Hop is coming up soon and we want lots of new kits on display for the event. I love this time of year! (only for the sewing, the weather gets me down)

quilts

This is a little quilt I finished yesterday, binding and all! Thanks to a generous donation of fabric to the Orchard Quilters I was able to send the blocks and fabric to my Mom and she set together the quilt and mailed it back ready to quilt. I love pink girly quilts! This little quilt will have a home with a preemie baby as soon as they release her from the hospital. (born in late Dec. due in April)

The Orchard Quilters made more heart blocks, I'm thinking about setting them together with this print...........just not sure yet.

This is the second of these that I have done, sold the first sample at Christmas so I whipped up another one. There are three more kits at Quilter's Candy Shoppe.

Roseanne put me to work on a 'hurry up I need this baby quilt' and truthfully I was glad for the push! I think I'm over my quilting slump (thanks winter) and ready to kick it in gear this week. I just sent the rest of these kits to the Log Cabin quilt shop in Omaha. All we had left was the blue sample and pink kits.

Oh and a very special thank you to a knitter in Sioux City Iowa, I love my new socks! I picked them up at the Goodwill after a visit with Kristin. They are perfect to sleep in with my new jammies bought on clearance. Now I understand the craze of knitting socks!

binding fairy

Oh how I wish I had a binding fairy............this is just one pile waiting patiently for my attention. I got quite a few quilts done in January, except for binding. Maybe someday I will take pic's of the fronts and post about them.

I have also been busy with my hook, these are squares for Bridge and Beyond, if I ever get around to mailing them. I am using up yarn my mom sent me and some from Grandma's too.

Some of these hats are gifts for my little cousins, made from Grandma's yarn and some are charity. When it's cold outside I like to watch TV and knit hats on the round loom. I can do a hat in about 3 hours with a few breaks in there if anything worth watching is on.

I do know that I'm tired of winter and being inside. The last few days have been so nice that when it turns cold again I'm gonna be sad (like tomorrow!)

New babies

This is what we've been playing with this week, they are soooooooooooo cute!Hard to believe they will be a week old tomorrow. Sammy and Sadie are doing just fine as parents again. (like Sammy has a hard job!) Tonight they will be named when Sara's friend Kaylee comes to visit, Sara promised she could name one of them so we've been waiting.

Heart quilt

I spent today messing around in my studio. I know this pile of blocks don't look like much but it takes a long time to iron, cut and fuse these into place. There are 30 10.5 inch blocks with hearts fused on them and enough strips cut to border each block and binding. My quilt should end up to be 70x80 or so. I am taking it to the next Orchard Quilters meeting, hopefully someone will take it off my hands and do the sewing part. I love the planning and cutting part of a quilt but get bored before I get them done so I decided to just "plan" a quilt or two. I hope the girls like this heart quilt, I only planned on making a few blocks but I got a little carried away and ended up making blocks for the whole quilt.

My studio never really warmed up today and my sewing machine is broke so cutting and ironing took up the whole day. I did plan to quilt something but never got around to it.........sometimes I just have to play.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is alive and well living at my house. The 1970's version, not the "new" Doctor. Kristin worked on this scarf a lot before Christmas, in fact she got so sick of it she made it somewhat shorter than the pattern called for. I think it could easily have 40 plus hours in it......wow! I shopped for the yarn a couple of years ago when my brother asked for a scarf not knowing how hard it is to find 1970's colors in all the same type of yarn. Well all Kristin's hard work paid off and Josh loved his present.

Christmas/New Year

Oh how funny my kids seem to think they are.............someday they will look back and wonder about themselves.

Don't ya just love a Christmas Eve jammies photo ?

Kristin and Sara ready for Church.

Oh and here's a pic of them opening an early present from their grandma Flicsha............don't they look thrilled to get towel and dishcloths?

My grandma Allen always made buckeyes at Christmas, now Kristin had taken up the tradition. Oh they are sooooo good!

Time flies when your having fun....least that's what they say....whew I had ALOT of fun then. I'm not sure where the month of December went, all I know is it's the 1st of January already and I'm in shock. Kristin has been home for two weeks and we have been busy cooking and making gifts. I decided about the middle of December I would not nag my children to clean house........well it's getting a bit deep here but nobody is complaining and I'm a much calmer Mom. Ok they have cleaned some, gotta have dishes to eat off of and clothes to wear. I will start getting mean and grouchy after they go back to school, until then I'm ignoring it all. Kristin has me slaving away in the studio this new year, she decided to make gifts for some friends who are graduating in the spring, I will come back with pic's as soon as they are done.

star quilts and charity quilts

This is my class sample, I made it to show the steps for the class. I will add a pink border when I get back to work. ( the bolts of fabric around the bottom and side are being auditioned for borders, I finally decided on the pink)

This is my students star. I think she did a great job and I love the colors! It will have borders left over from the star center also.

I am still working on Project Pink quilts. I gave this one to my Mother-in-law to do the binding on. She will donate it to the Indian Reservation along with the one shown below.

This string quilt was an Orchard Quilters project last year. Wanda got it set together and I did the quilting, she will finish it (it is finished) and send it off tomorrow night when she attends a program at church for the Indian Reservation.

Today I am snowed in, that's the only reason I had time to sit down and do any blogging, I am on a deadline before Christmas! I have hats to knit, scarves to crochet, quilts to quilt.
Ba-humbug!!!!!

long time.......

I made a cute little bag last week for my Sister-in-law for Christmas. It holds 8 balls of yarn and long enough to hold knitting needles too. My original plan was to have the pockets on the inside (someone sews backwards). I liked it wrong side out so I left it, sometimes I end up with good mistakes.

While Mom was here for a week we did a little sewing. This is one of two bowls we made, she added beads to the openings around the rim of the bowl after I took this pic. It's made with the selvage of satin fabric leftover from a batch of table runners I cut for a wedding. The variegated thread is Christmas colors. Mom needed a grab bag gift for her fiber arts group in Arizona.

While we were making bowls I did this little candle mat. This was my grab bag gift for FCE. (Extension Club) I think it has multiple uses......candle mat........mug rug........frisbee for the dog.......

My little brother is doing well after his accident. The truck not so well.....Kelsey was thrown out and his friend Alex took a few tumbles in this...(5 rolls they are guessing) Kelsey will have a long recovery but he's alive and still kicking.

A bright spot in the last few weeks, Josh's play. It was really cute and the kids did a good job too. I know he's relieved its over, now it's on to speech!

long week

Here's a pic of the progress on my Brother-in-law Brian's house. They have also installed the beam that goes along the roof line for the vaulted ceiling. Today they are tearing out the last of the old bathroom. I also heard talk of installing the basement windows. I know the wood stove has been set in place also, I will take more pic's later.

Quilt group gave my Mother-in law Wanda a quilt last week. It's been a long summer with all the problems my father-in-law has had and the group wanted her to know they are thinking of her. Linda did a wonderful job of setting and quilting, it really means a lot to me that they thought of Wanda, Thanks Quilt group!

Oh here's a pic of dinner today, ok I made this one a week ago and liked it so much I am making it again today. I heard the recipe on the Splendid Table on NPR. It's Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good. Yeah that's the name of it............how can ya go wrong with bacon, garlic and heavy cream? Oh and cheese!! It's fun to make and yummy too!

I spent the first part of the week in Omaha with my brother, he was in a car accident. He's doing fine now but it was questionalble for awhile. My Mom flew in from Arizona and she stayed in Omaha after Kelsey left with his girlfriend so I will be going to pick her up tomorrow and then swing by Orange City for Kristin. I'm glad they both had flexible schedules so I didn't have to make two trips this week. I am looking forward to seeing Kristin and having my Mom here for Turkey Day.