Yummo!

 Years ago I LOVED milk chocolate. I could easily sit and eat a half bag of Dove chocolates...ALONE.  Then I fell sick and discovered chocolate and my next dearest love coffee had to go from my diet. Since then I have lost all desire for milk chocolate. God is good like that. He took the taste from me and I am so grateful. I really didn't have the horrible pangs wanting something I loved so dearly.
 But with new meds and time I can now drink coffee in moderation and I have discovered I like a little dark chocolate. I discovered these at the grocery store and tried them and Oh MY MY!

Yum!

Slow, but sure

I thought I would get the blocks made Saturday, but didn't get time until tonight.

Like I said I was playing in EQ7 and Block Base and liked this block.

Then I saw this block and liked it too.

Easy piecing. Nothing fancy. Fabrics I love. Sounds good.

As I was looking for smaller pieces of fabric to use so I didn't have to cut into my yardage I found a big box of civil war fabrics I didn't remember having. Apparently I put them in there for a reason, but for the life of me I don't remember. That is what happens every time I clean my sewing room.  I mentioned earlier that I had moved my sewing table across the room hoping to stay cooler this summer. As everyone knows if you move one thing you usually end up moving everything.  The only thing I didn't move this time was the fabric closet (obviously) and the large bookcase. Everything else was shuffled.

Shuffling often keeps things sorted and the unwanted items to a minimum.

Until later,

Diane

I'm sorry

I really do live here still. I just have let life invade and haven't paid attention to blogging.
I finally got the yard done. Well about 95% done. I still have 5 bags of mulch and one bush to trim. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Ray went to a meeting out of town and I actually got some sewing done. WOO HOO! It was a fast one day trip, so it was only a small amount of sewing but I was so pleased.
Used to when Ray was on trips I couldn't/wouldn't sleep at night. Now that the doctors have convinced me a regular bedtime with a minimum of 8 hours of sleep helps keep my symptoms at bay I really try to obey. I stayed up till 4am and have dearly paid for it. Besides little sleep I missed a whole day of meds; BAD MOVE! It has taken two full days to get back to feeling decent. I hope I have learned my lesson, but probably not. I am hard headed.

I have been playing on Electric Quilt 7 and designed a quilt that I love. It is a two block quilt with lots of pieces. While Ray was away I gathered some fabrics and pieced one of the blocks. I think I am going to love it. If it turns out as well I will share the pattern if there is any interest. I am using civil war fabrics but I think it might look good with anything.

I hope to finish the second block and hopefully have pictures in a little bit.

Later,
Diane

I'm still around

I have been trying to clean my house (deep clean) and finish my yard before the hot summer heat starts ( this week) and rearrange my sewing room also before the hot summer heat begins.

My house was fine, but when Kari moved back in things got shifted again and so I had to find a home for them. Whew, this house my be larger than my last house but it has much less storage space. Strange how that worked out. I am getting close to having everything in it's place. I just have to force myself to finish.

The yard is a MUST FINISH project. Once the hot summer hits I know I will not be working in the yard but just a few minutes in the evenings. So I have to get the last flower bed trimmed and mulched.  I will have pictures soon.

My sewing room last year got so hot I wouldn't work in it. This year I decided to move my sewing table from the window to the opposite wall (interior wall). My hopes being if I got away from the window, I might stay a bit cooler. The new spot also allows me to sit closer to the ceiling fan which helps a lot. Fingers crossed.



Little Girl and her sock

Little Girl's incision has not healed as well as Boo's. I discovered that Boo was "helping" her. He has always been very attentive to her. Now he is licking her incision. So we put the leg of one of Ray's socks on her. I hope this helps. She doesn't seem to mind it being there, but Boo thinks it is just one more way to grab her when they wrestle. I don't know why he doesn't stop, he always loses.  

Ok, back to work or I will never get to sew again!

Diane

What is going on?

While at the quilt show over the weekend I spoke with a quilt shop owner who told me they were closing out their civil war fabrics. Made me kind of sad, but I knew of another shop just a few more minutes down the road. I go to that second shop yesterday to find out they are discontinuing their civil war fabrics also. HUH? Why? That means there will be no shop within an hour of my house that will carry civil war fabrics. Is this a trend? Are civil war fabrics on the way out? Are the fabric companies going to stop making it?

If you can't tell I am having sort of a crisis here. I have loved civil war reproduction fabrics since I saw the first one many many years ago. I think I need some time alone with my fabric...

Later,
Diane

Quilt Show

After closing The Chicken Tree where I would go to as many as 10 quilt shows a year, now I attend maybe one a year. That is a big change. The way I look at quilt shows has changed too. I was always in business mode. Looking at vendors booths and what they had to offer so I could improve my business. Some quilt shows were so busy I never got to look at the quilts.
Today I went to a quilt show in Sarasota and enjoyed it so much. I saw quilts that made me smile, that inspired me and some that knocked my socks off! I did very little shopping. As a matter of fact, I bought from only one vendor. They were closing out their civil war fabrics and had them for a good price. I didn't buy a lot, just a few FQs and a couple one yard cuts.

Here is a sampling of the quilts:



interesting art quilt



Cat



lovely traditional



love this!



traditional



I have this pattern, I even have parts made



My Granny would love this



love this



really like this



This won best of show

If you can't tell I prefer traditional quilts. I am learning to like more arty quilts or non traditional, but I don't think I could make one, I don't have that kind of talent.

After The quilt show we went Borders book store to see if they had anything left. They are closing the doors soon and everything is for sale. I got a couple of cookbooks.

I can't wait to make something gooey!

Later,
Diane

Inspired!

I don't know if it is because I have been away from my stash for so long or because my son bought me two books and they arrived yesterday. It could be a little of both. I am so impressed with these books.

 I have Kim's previous book and really like it, but this book is twice as good!  I want to make them all!

I met Kim last year at our guild retreat. Kim and her dear friend Karen Williamson were there for Kim to teach a workshop. While there Kim and Karen had so much fun they joined our guild! How fun is that?

I don't own Bonnie's previous Scraps and Shirttails book. I wasn't impressed with the quilts. I'm not sure why but I just wasn't sold on them. This book is a whole other story!! I love the quilts. I love the pictures and I especially love the "at a glance" directions. I don't do written instructions very well. Usually I read enough of the instructions to find the size to cut and then I draw a piecing map on paper and place it beside my machine. Bonnie did it for me in this book! How nice! It is like she realized there are many different ways we "read " instructions and she tried to please us all. I am pleased!

If you like scrappy and you don't mind using a bazillion little pieces this is a book you need to look for. Don't think you have to use old clothing. I will be using my stash of fabrics. I DO NOT need to start another collection. I don't have enough room!  But if you feel the need, go right ahead.

Later,

Diane

Will I ever sew again?

Yard work, doggies, children, husband, splinter, complete exhaustion...too much!

I wanted to work in the yard a few minutes Wednesday and ended up reshaping two hedges. Thursday I wasa going to go out and reshape the last small hedge and ended up working for 7 hours. I ended up heavily trimming a Crepe Myrtle tree that looked like it had never been shaped. I have been slowly cleaning up the property line that has been taken over by the woods. I think I may never get it done. Ray came home right as I finished loading all the yard debris into the truck. Timing!

Friday I dropped the puppies off at the vet to have their surgeries. Boo Came home last night and he slept all night, until about 4:30 am. He woke up and was WIDE AWAKE! He wanted to play and go for a walk and lick my face. Silly boy!

Little Girl I picked up first thing this morning and she was pretty much alert. They both are sleeping alot but they seem to be doing good.

Children are a gift from God. I keep reminding myself of that. Nuff said!
Husband, he is also a gift.

I got a splinter and Ray almost cut my thumb off trying to remove it.

I am pretty sure I did too much Thursday and Friday. I am exhausted! My doctor told me I would feel better and be careful to not over do. Apparently I forgot.

Later,
Diane

I've been doing a little sewing

What?

Scraps...are you surprised?

Inside I have tiny pieces...why?

A surprise...

Tons of tiny 4-patches

An almost finished top. I just need the last border.

Ray is gone again so I was able to spend a little time in the sewing room. I have too many projects that I am working on and need to finish a few. Too many little pieces!
Working in the yard takes up time but things never seem to stop growing around here. Fortunately I bought an electric hedge trimmer that is worth it's weight in gold! It took me about 30 minutes to do what took me about 1-1/2  hrs a few months ago. Between having to reach over my head to cut about 30 feet of hedge and being chased by red wasps I got a work out. Tomorrow I have the other side of the house with even more hedges than the first side. I hope I can get it done. I want to surprise Ray.
 

Trail Mix from pattern in magazine

 I am debating putting this quilt in to be judges at my guild's quilt show in June. This would be the first time I have ever done that, so I am not sure. I have never wanted any of my quilts judged; not because I was worried about what the judge would say, I just never felt the need.  I have shown a couple of quilts but never had someone tell me what they thought of my work. Am I making too much of this?  Plus I may not get it completed in time. I am reworking the borders and I already enlarged it. But if it is to be in the show in any capacity I have to GET BUSY!

I need sleep so,
Later,
Diane