I'm afraid tonight's post will not be very interesting. Most of my time has been spent basting quilt sandwiches for next week's retreat. Then I mowed (and raked) most of the lawn. The biggest part. There were times when I thought my mower might throw in the blades and cry "enough" to so much grass. But my trusted Millenium model Yardman came through with flying colors. Tomorrow it will be the east side of the lawn and then I am done for this time. Even the part I raked and mowed several times a few days ago needed to be done again!
At one of the last retreats we co-hosted, Anita used her enhanced wand to detach the largest gem from my tiara! When I tell you that she wore a black boa and mine was pink, that could explain part of it! I managed to keep the gem safe and reattached it several months later at home. I was going to take my tiara to a class and laid it on the bed for safekeeping. As I stood in the shower, I heard these crunching noises and poked my head out from behind the shower curtain to behold Lynnie chewing on my tiara! Needless to say there was no surviving that! It was literally in a hundred pieces. So this year I have made my own more indestructible tiara or I guess you might call it a head wreath. I will get pictures of it next week and post them for your enjoyment! My wand is also so much more enhanced--it has lights and sound! And of course my tiara and wand are both pink! They will make their debut at the retreat. (I personally think headwear should be reinstated, but I guess tiaras would still be optional unless you are the Queen of England--or me!)
I have a new game for the retreat--one that no one should be able to complain about! And tons of prizes! And, no, for those of you retreaters who are reading this, there will be no chocolate game this year! (I'm not sure if those are groans of despair or sighs of relief!)
Three full days of classes always sounds like a lot of time. Then we get there and the time is over before we know it.
Okay, you have either been stimulated by this splendiferous post or you have hit your head several times on the keyboard as you fell asleep while reading it. Either way, it is over. You might, however, want to bookmark it as a sleep aid for those nights you just can't drift off.
Nite nite!
Hugs,
Sharon
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A Bit of Blanket Stitch Applique
In one of the previous posts, you saw pictures of Callie "helping" with a top in progress. I thought I would share more of that with you.
This pattern is from Quiltmaker (July/August '09 issue) and was designed by Edyta Sitar. If you take a look at her sample, you will see it is done in much darker colors with a more patterned background. I chose to use all batiks in mine, including the background.
Here is a close-up of the stitching. The leaf at the upper right of the picture has not yet been stitched. I used 60 wt. Mettler cotton thread to do the applique with a tiny hand blanket stitch. The dark green stems were made with the Clover 1/4 inch bias tape maker and were hand appliqued. It's a lovely design and will eventually have a series of borders surrounding the center.
That's about it for tonight. See you Wednesday or Thursday--only time will tell which one it will be!
Hugs,
Sharon
This pattern is from Quiltmaker (July/August '09 issue) and was designed by Edyta Sitar. If you take a look at her sample, you will see it is done in much darker colors with a more patterned background. I chose to use all batiks in mine, including the background.
Here is a close-up of the stitching. The leaf at the upper right of the picture has not yet been stitched. I used 60 wt. Mettler cotton thread to do the applique with a tiny hand blanket stitch. The dark green stems were made with the Clover 1/4 inch bias tape maker and were hand appliqued. It's a lovely design and will eventually have a series of borders surrounding the center.
That's about it for tonight. See you Wednesday or Thursday--only time will tell which one it will be!Hugs,
Sharon
Sunday, August 2, 2009
I Know You Won't Believe Me
When I got home last night after the last spate of events of Saturday, August 1, it was 11:40 p.m. and I looked at the computer, which was off, and debated about posting. Then a wave of reality set in and I went to bed! Sorry, I just couldn't do it. The mind was willing, but the body just said enough.
It was a fabulous day, when all was said and done. I went to a bridal shower in the afternoon--my bestest friend Cindy's oldest son is getting married in September. I have a picture of him sitting in my lap sewing a small quilt for his Care Bear--he was young enough not to be able to reach the foot pedal and still sew! Someday I will pull it out (read: find it!) and share it with you all. Ronnie's a good sport and he won't care (and if he does, well, what can he do about it?). Hard to believe he's all grown up, has been in two tv series and is a respected and much loved radio personality in Syracuse. What a guy!
When I got home from that, I started prepping for the upcoming retreat. (Nine days and counting!) I was doing pretty good when I got a call from a friend who needed some company and good cheer. It was that foray that got me home so late! So as I was debating "Blog" or "Bed", bed won. It was close!
I had hoped to bale my lawn today but no such luck--it poured most of the day. I did find one short stretch of time when I used the hand mower on the east and south sides of the house--it was damp but I needed to get it cut if I could. So I mowed, raked and mowed again--all in the same spot. Yes, it has been a while since I mowed last--but I've been busy and then when I've had time it has rained! Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and I can get out the big mower and "Git 'er done"!
Sorry for no pics tonight. I will try to do better tomorrow. Many thanks to all of you who left comments on the last post. It made me feel really good.
Hugs to all,
Sharon
It was a fabulous day, when all was said and done. I went to a bridal shower in the afternoon--my bestest friend Cindy's oldest son is getting married in September. I have a picture of him sitting in my lap sewing a small quilt for his Care Bear--he was young enough not to be able to reach the foot pedal and still sew! Someday I will pull it out (read: find it!) and share it with you all. Ronnie's a good sport and he won't care (and if he does, well, what can he do about it?). Hard to believe he's all grown up, has been in two tv series and is a respected and much loved radio personality in Syracuse. What a guy!
When I got home from that, I started prepping for the upcoming retreat. (Nine days and counting!) I was doing pretty good when I got a call from a friend who needed some company and good cheer. It was that foray that got me home so late! So as I was debating "Blog" or "Bed", bed won. It was close!
I had hoped to bale my lawn today but no such luck--it poured most of the day. I did find one short stretch of time when I used the hand mower on the east and south sides of the house--it was damp but I needed to get it cut if I could. So I mowed, raked and mowed again--all in the same spot. Yes, it has been a while since I mowed last--but I've been busy and then when I've had time it has rained! Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and I can get out the big mower and "Git 'er done"!
Sorry for no pics tonight. I will try to do better tomorrow. Many thanks to all of you who left comments on the last post. It made me feel really good.
Hugs to all,
Sharon
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