February Finishes….

Now how did that happen?  February came and went in a flash!  Seems like yesterday that I was checking off my list of goals for January…now here it is, the last day of February!  SEW how did I do this month?

I have to say…I am clicking right along on my monthly goals and even though February was a short month, I still managed to get ‘er done!

Goal #1~Stitch Ten Wee Houses

DONE!…I made eleven, so CHECK…

A close-up…I now have a village with 22 houses done!!

Goal #2~ Finish a UFO…well…TWO UFOs got Finished!  It helped having a Quilt Show earlier this month! 

This is Jan Patek’s Moda Love Free pattern from the Moda Love Blog Hop!  DONE!!

Check out the BIG stitch hand quilting!

AND…this is my second UFO… a Primitive Gathering Quilt called ‘Summertime’…It’s wool applique on cotton and she’s…

DONE!!  (Insert Happy dance here as this one has been in a tote FOREVER!)

Goal #3…DONE!  (I’m whispering here…) The secret quilt for a family member is all cut out and I have started to sew it together!  It’s a secret so you will have to take my word for it!!:o))

Goal #4~ Norma Whaley’s “Winter Wonderland” quilt is ahead of schedule…the January’s blocks were the two trees and February’s was the angel block…both are stitched and I have prepped March’s mittens and April’s house blocks!!  Whoot whoot!

Goal 5~Prep and hand stitch TWO rows onto the Clam Shell Quilt top every month!  Check!  We are now at ELEVEN rows…it’s slow going BUT it is now two rows bigger than it was last month!!

And the gravy…which is the extra stitching… I am continuing to hand stitch these in the evening…

And I have the triangles all sewn

…and cut out for the ‘Home for the Holidays’ Quilt…

Yup…there are a million of them!  The triangles form the blocks that go in between these finished wool appliqued blocks….

I am now taking off the Thangle papers and pressing the HST open.  Yup, we are talking baby steps here but they all add up!

So I think that’s it…I am tickled with my monthly goals being met! 

Having said that, it’s going to be difficult to meet these goals in March as it is our last month here…we will be heading home on March 22 and it usually takes us a minimum of five days to travel up the I-5.  Plus once we get home, we have to unpack and do the household chores…and the garden will be in full Spring mode…Yup, the holiday will definitely be over!  But that’s OK…I will get back into the swing of things before I know it!  Plus I will have my sewing room back, so it’s all good!

I sure like having goals…they keep me focused, on track and in control…I am WOMAN, hear me roar!!  I am less tempted to start something new!  But man, am I ever itching to crack open some new fabric…AND I have a new blade in the rotary cutter and she is oiled and ready to roll…breath deep…in and out…in and out…

How was your February?  Did you get you manage reach your goals…?

Have a super Saturday and Happy Stitching!~P

Thelma and Louise Hit MEXICO!

Yesterday, hubby dropped Sandy and I off at the border to Mexico while he headed off to Yuma!

Looks like we are off to the slammer for sure!  I’m not going to kid you, it LOOKED pretty scary going off to Los Algodones, Mexico…and the other side didn’t look much better!  But once we hit the vendors, it was all good!!

We crossed over early in the morning….and did a lot of this!

It was a totally different world!

This fella on the right was painting while his friend was selling…we heard a lot of “come…no pressure…you want two?”

I ended up with TWO pairs of silver earrings, TWO baskets of strawberries, TWO bottles of vanilla and some trinkets for our grandson.  It was great fun!  But by 11am it was getting hot…so it was off to the square in the middle of Algodones where the band was playing…ARREEBAH

And of course our throats were parched from all that bartering …

The nachos went down mighty fine too!! 

I’m telling you, no matter where Thelma and Louise go, they ALWAYS have fun!

Now it’s back over the border and home…and time for a long siesta!!

Adios amigos…and muchos stitching!~P

Working on Winter Wonderland this Wordless Wednesday….

                  

I hope your ‘play day’ was as much fun as mine was!!~P

I’ll Show You Mine…

…if you show me yours!

Over at Val’s Blog this morning, she is having an organizational Show And Tell…Val is unveiling her sewing room…sew darn pretty and organized!  Others are linking in…and I have to tell you, after seeing their pictures, I want to rip apart my sewing room and start over!  Oh yeah…I have no sewing room!  I’m in an RV…remember!  So I can’t show you pictures of shelves or cupboards or containers….

BUT…

I can show you how I keep my threads organized and ready at a moments notice…Sounds EXCITING doesn’t it?  Kind of like watching paint dry…but hey, it’s the best I’ve got this morning!  Work with me!!:o}}}

I’m am actually VERY excited about this method of storing my threads as I have been fighting with this for several years!  My usual evening scenario would be to get my project out…and then hunt up my threads…then the proper size needle…where was the needle threader? Where is my thimble?  (get the picture)

Now I have this…everything all in one place!!  Eureka!  This is my Wool Thread Case…

The top section has my scissors, thimble, needles, pins, marking pens and the thread that I am currently working with!

The next sections hold the wool threads….

Love it!!   Stuff my project into that top section and I am ready for a road trip!

But wait…I’m not finished!  I also have my Perle Cotton case…

Organized in much the same way…top container holds my hand quilting threads, scissors, ruler, glue, thread holder, pattern, thimble, hoop, clips….

Bottom container holds my perle cotton.  I know it looks a mess but they are all there…in one place!  No searching for me!!

Let’s zoom in…I know there are layers here but you just dig!  I tried the little section contain but I would need too many bins to hold them all.  This works and I can still close the lid!  ;o))

Sew organized!  Which means more time for stitching and less time for searching!!

Being organized is so much better…really it is!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Stitching…oh, and  make sure you hustle over to Val’s Quilting Studio!  She just might fire you up to do some organizing of your own!!  It’s a GOOD THING! ~P

Garage Saling Palm Spring Style…

Sandy and I were up at the crack of dawn yesterday…(OK…8:30am is Sandy’s idea of the ‘crack of dawn’ but I’ll take it…we are, after all, on holidays!!)…singing ‘On the Road Again’…Thelma and Louise style… off on a Garage Saling adventure! 

The thing about GSing in Palm Springs is that you NEVER know what you will find!  For instance, at our first stop, the Garage Sale was hosted by two gentlemen who were trying to sell LEATHER undies…yup…they were black with silver studs and for men! (sorry…no pics!!) We giggled our way straight back to the car!  Then roared with laughter all the way to the next sale!  WHO is going to buy them…and what will they ‘catch’ if they do!!heeheehee

All thoughts of LEATHER UNDIES vanished when we pulled up to the second and LAST GS of the day…we just hit was the MOTHER LODE!!  Eureka!! 

What is it about Sandy and I…when we team up we seem to stumble onto Decease Quilters’ Garage Sale!  And oh man, talk about deals!!  They had the decease’s quilting stations set up on the lawn…a fancy-smancy sewing machine desk…pull out sides and all the bells and whistles for $20!!  Her drop leaf cutting station was $15!!  If we could have fit those into our RVs we would have SEW bought them!!

The ‘kids’ of the dearly departed wanted the Quilting stuff gone… “TAKE IT” was their motto!!  And take it we did!  Sandy bought Mama’s Pfaff Sewing Machine for $20…it works beautifully and embroiders as well as sews! (eBay is selling the same model for over $600!!) SCORE!  Sandy was dancing down the drive-way but still trying to look respectful and considerate to the family…however her shouts of SCORE! could be heard for miles around…!

She also bought an Ottelite (the floor model kind) for $5 and a several bags of numerous other Quilting Stuff!

I did not do too shabby myself!!  Here’s my LOOT~ a container of rotary cutters, which I will share with my quilting daughter!

 

Check out the THIMBLE container that they came in!  Didn’t even notice that until I got home!  CUTE!

Lots of do-dads, rulers, books and marking pens!

Looks like Mama was a WOOLIE…love the handmade wool pincushion that was in with the rest of the ‘stuff’!

Just before we said good-bye and pulled out…looking a little like the Clampetts heading for Palm Springs, they threw in two huge ‘complimentary’ boxes of Quilting Magazines!  Yeehaw,  Pa! 

Californy is the place you ought to be
So they loaded up our truck and we moved to Beverly.

Can we keep them-there-magozeens, Pa?

(OK…so did you get a visual of that…?!  Maybe this will help…)

Needless to say…those magazines followed us home!  Can you guess how we spent the rest of our Saturday?  Yup, perusing magazines!  Looks like our ‘To Do Lists’ just got longer…a lot longer!

Have a Sunny Sunday and Happy Stitching!~P

SEW…

…if you are a regular reader, then you may already know this …BUT before we left for Snowbirding this year, I prepped two hand projects…one to do while traveling down south…and one to complete while returning home.  Like all good plans, this one has run amuck, but in a good way…

I completed the first part of this project… “Home For The Holidays” in plenty of time!

It was a fun one to do…and I stitched the printing in the evenings while watching TV.  I have the HSTs prepped and ready to roll…

The second project was going to be for traveling home…but I have found the need for more hand work…mainly to do while sitting in the ‘shade room’ while listening to audio books…

So far I have FIVE out of the eight panels done! 

Here’s a close-up peak of one of the panels…dang STINKING cute!! 

(Please overlook the beads of sweat on his upper lip…it was HOT yesterday…really hot!)

There are still special effects to be added to the other panels…the lamb needs a wreath, the snowman needs some flakes and the gingerbread men need their garland decorated…but on the whole she is looking good!

As I continue to work on this project, I am going to have to think about prepping another project for the road home…Now this is a problem that I can handle!!:o)

How about YOU?  How are your projects going…?  Are you ahead of schedule too?  Let me tell you, it’s kind of a nice change!

Have a Fun Friday and Happy Stitching!~P

It Was Meant to Be…

I have met Susan several times…mainly at the Quilt Shows at home.

Susan is the owner of ‘A Threaded Needle’ which is an online fabric shop located on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Susan always has a wonderful booth at our local shows and it is always filled with yarn dyed Japanese fabrics and lovely Japanese quilts hanging…I wrote about her HERE after visiting her booth a few years ago!

Of course I signed up for ‘A Threaded Needle’ Newsletter…and I have been drooling over her Backyard Birds series that she is working on! (Her newsletters are very informative…there is always a lesson to be learned…tons of inspiration and eye candy…it’s so much more than a Newsletter!)

In her last few Newsletters, Susan has been showing us how to applique using yarn dyed fabrics…and the Backyard Birds pattern!  STUNNING!

Well guess what I found at JoAnn’s last week…and using a coupon I got it for practically nothing!!  It followed me HOME! 

And here’s a picture of all the blocks inside this wonderful pattern!

Yup…it was meant to be!  Thanks, Susan for your inspiration, knowledge and lessons! 

If you don’t get ‘A Threaded Needle’ newsletters then you are REALLY missing out!  Go HERE to sign up!  AND no, I am not on commission, just letting you know about a wonderful wealth of knowledge…for FREE!  Learn how to make a clutch purse, a snap purse, a pincushion or a Sashiko stitched cushion…or a runner using the Backyard Birds pattern!  Susan is a wealth of knowledge…why not tap into her!

There, that’s my post for today!  Hope you quilters from back EAST have warmed up…I did send some sunshine your way to help melt some of that snow!  Spring is on it’s way…REALLY it is!

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Stitching!~P

A Day In the Life….

Hey, it’s not all gallivanting around here…OH NO…I do occasionally work…

Working on my clam shells isn’t the best project while living in an RV.  Every time I add a row this is what happens…

Last week I needed to add a row to my clam shell quilt top so out came a long table…in this case it turned out to be my ironing board, which I set up in the kitchen…here I have just glued down my row of clams and I put books on top to keep everything in place while the glue dried.

In the evenings I hand applique it down…then when finished stitching the row, out comes the ironing board and more clams!  See what I mean, it is a process and one that isn’t always fun…it can be work!  And yesterday it was just too hot to work inside…but out in my ‘shade room’ it was perfect!

Yes, that’s Roxanne’s glue…a little dab here and there holds the row in place long enough to get it hand stitched down…

Here’s the top from the other side…see it’s growing!  Darn, wouldn’t you know that perfect wee breeze would blow the top in!

Now I need to go and get my books to anchor the clams in place while they dry!

Yes, work, work, work…life is tough for a Snowbird!  It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it!

It’s in the 80Fs again today (high 20C for the rest of the world) so it looks like I will be hanging in the shade room for the rest of the week!  (We do have AC in the RV but this is way more fun!;) I hope your corner of the world is just as warm and pleasant!

Have a Wildly Wicked and Warm Wednesday and Happy Stitching….