BUSY, BUSY

Looks like I'm going to busy for a little while working on some applique on my daughter's quilt.  I'm not showing much here as it will be part of her next book.  But I did want to show you the wonderful little tweezer like scissors (lower middle part of the photo).  I found them at quilt market the other day and they are so much better than those pink handled ones in the photo for precision work.  Thanks to my quilting friends, I did know to use tiny pins for the applique and a thread that one friend described as "just melting into the fabric".  Thanks, ladies for your suggestions.  It's making this process lots easier.

There's another photo of those little  scissors (in their package) among all the other goodies that I got at the show.   Some things for machine and hand embroidery as well as quilting.  Woo-Hoo, am I going to have fun!

And on the knitting front:  I have completed the sweater (her choice of pattern and sleeve length) for my granddaughter whose birthday is next month.  What, I'm a few weeks early?   Now that's a surprise.

And believe it or not, (Talk about a stash!)  the purchase of these two yarns now completes the yarn supply for an October birthday this year, and ALL the 6 birthdays that I will cover next year--not to mention a few other yarns that I have no definite plans for.  

Hmmmmm, I guess you'll all just have to yell at me if I say anything else about another yarn sale!  

MY VERY FIRST QUILT SHOW

 Where can I begin?  One of the early things that I saw was a real surprise:  my daughter's Garden Party fabric as the focus fabric for a contest.  How great is that?

There were several quilts using the fabrid, but this was one of my favorites, maybe because I can picture her as that little girl some 30 years ago.

I got to meet up with a couple of my on-line quilting friends.  Just saw one of them momentarily and was never able to catch up with her again, but I was able to sit a while with another (first time we've actually met)  and have coffee as she and her granddaughters had their lunch.

I took a couple other photos, one of a quilt that I may want to try one day.

And another for all of you yo yo lovers out there.  Yep, that is all  yo yos!

Oh, and I did, of course, help to stimulate the economy a bit.  More about that at a later date, perhaps.

SORRY I'M MISSING

Oops, not much time to spend on the computer lately.

Just got this used Sea Doo  yesterday and my husband and I have had entirely too much fun with it today.

AND tomorrow I'm going to  BIG  QUILT  SHOW in Knoxville--only about 25 miles from me.

Catch up with you soon.

BUNNIES, BUNNIES, EVERYWHERE !

OK, I know I was just here yesterday, but I just had to share a bit from this afternoon's baby shower.

I have ALL of these bunnies now--should make quite a few fuzzy appliques for a tactile baby quilt, don't you think?

As planned, they were part of our table decorations, serving as "doilies"  for cupcakes.

And there were even enough to add to the skirt of the gift table.  Do you recognize the little guy on top of the pink package?  (He's the one I "redressed" the other day.)

And here I am, with my precious goddaughter--our mom to be!  (You can't see it in this photo, but there's even a little white bunny in her corsage.

A sneaky way to show you my short hair-do, don't you think?

FUZZIES & WARM FUZZIES

My goodness, I'm surprised that I don't have blisters on my cutting hand.

All of this new stash came from discontinued upholstery/drapery samples from my daughter Eleni.

I've had the "books" for several months, but have just now gotten around to cutting the fabric out of the book.

Truth be told: the books were on the floor in front of a closet drawer that I wanted to get into, so I decided enough's enough and I'm going to take care of this.  So here you have it, all cut and place in piles according to fabric.  (and--even if you can't tell it--of course, the fabrics are each sorted by ROY G BIV!

When I was about half finished, I decided to save the fabric content strip glued to the back of one from each book, so I'd know what I'm dealing with.  Unfortunately I didn't think about that until after I had already discarded the label from the print fabric in the center and all that velour in the big  stack in the back.  Oh, well.

But speaking of velour, that makes me think "fuzzy", so I just have to share this with you.  This special young lady 

sent me this "warm fuzzy".

I have not discussed my medical issues here very much as this blog really IS  about quilting and knitting.

(As you can tell by little Lukie's (that's what I decided to call this guy) surroundings--a pillow my mom knit many years ago and a quilt I made from exchange fabric  last year when I participated in a Weight Watcher message board quilters' group exchange.  (Can you follow all those adjectives?)

Speaking of that message board, that's how I "met" the above young lady.  I've "known" her since she was beginning college--at Smith and then Columbia University; she has now graduated and is back home in California.  She has run at least two marathons for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  When she learned last summer that I had lymphoma, she dedicated her run this year to me!  I was so honored.  When I got her  little Lukie in the mail yesterday, I could not help but tear up.  You see, it's people like this young lady who give so much for nothing in return.  What they have given me is help toward the remission that I now enjoy.  Without donations that they help collect, so much research to find cures would never be done.  It's these selfless people, and hundreds like them, that help make it all possible.  I wish I could thank each and every volunteer out there.  But I can't. 

 So here's to my special friend COLLEEN:  THANK  YOU!

FABRIC STASH CAN BE FOR MORE THAN QUILTS!

Ah, babies are so much fun, even when they are not here yet!

I, and several other ladies from my church, are hosting on a baby shower for my goddaughter, who is expecting a little girl in September.

We are using cardboard baby blocks for the center pieces for the tables, but I wanted to do a little something more to go with her nursery theme.

She has chosen a  bunny pattern  for her nursery, so I went on line, found it and traced the bunny silhouette and cut out fleece from --of course-- my stash  (leftovers from many receiving blankets and quilt backs).

So we will have rather unique "doilies" for the cup cake at each place setting for our buffet luncheon on Sunday.

I also took a bit of her soon-to-be quilt fabric to redress a cardboard bunny that I found at AC Moore the other day.  The polka dot on Mr. Bunny is his new jacket.

And if we find a place for them, we might also scatter these little guys that I found in a sale Easter packet of  foam goodies.

See, there are many good reasons a reason for wonderful and varied STASH!

OOPS, I've been missing

I've been at the beach with our children and grandchildren!

Daughter Anna Maria has shared our fun more eloquently, but here is one of my photos:

I did do just a bit of needlepoint during travel time.  

I also learned that the next birthday girl (3rd from the left--holding the baby) wants her sweater sleeves to be 3/4 length.  Hmmmm, I think I need to take out the ribbing that I have done and restart.  It might work as is, but if I'm bothering to take the time to do it, I'd rather have it be comfortable for her.

Until next time, I'll just bask in the memory of a fun time with these precious children . . . . 

DEFINITION OF STASH ?

Hmmmm.   "Secret supply"; that was the clue to my newspaper crossword puzzle yesterday for "stash".

I'm not so sure that I'd say my supply is exactly secret.  Although on my way in to the house after a shopping trip, I usually do try to get it to the sewing room as soon as I'm home, before my husband sees the packages.  So perhaps it is an accurate definition.

At any rate, this is what I've added to my "supply" this week.  Two trips to local quilt shops for the fabric.  The pile on the left is for whatever comes along; then one on the right, however, will be for my goddaughter's expected baby girl later in the summer.

And, well, the yarn can't count as "secret" because it was mail ordered and my husband brought the package in the house when it was delivered.

Secret or not, it sure is nice to have a good stash.  I managed to make a couple pretty cute (if I do say so myself) baby boy quilts last week.

One for a dear family friend, 

And the other for new grandbaby Roman--not that his mother doesn't already have a wonderful supply.

But this one's from Nani, after all.

Actually as I was making the quilt for the family friend's baby, it was my dear husband who asked if I had made one for Roman yet.  So--again--secret or not, it's good to have a stash.  After all, how does he think I can whip one up in a couple days if I don't have a STASH  ?