A Very Young Lego

Lego (aka Wesley, Legolas ...)

 Lego with a very young Andrew.

 Lego: 3/2003 - 12/28/12

Wordless Wednesday

'twas the Night Before Christmas

Anyway, I finished all the things I wanted to finish.  Now to get food ready and all that.

Cooper's blanket* -- done!

Crayon rolls, done!

Cooper's stocking - done!

(no pics, yet).

That's it!  Merry Christmas!!

*Cooper's Quilt is number 8 for the year -- I have just about a week to complete the ninth one to meet my goal of 9 quilts for this year (see The List)

Two more days ..

and two more sleeps.  and how am I doing?  I feel like I'm doing okay, though I am a total grinch around the house.  I think I've got realistic goals for the next few days.  I not only finished my shopping yesterday, but I also wrapped all the gifts.  I can now focus on the sewing projects I have.  I'm really hoping to knock them out today.  If I do, then I can relax tomorrow.

This is a picture of a gift from one of my co-workers.

well here's how my last week's list looks.

1 - bake 6 more loaves of cinnamon bread
2 - make breakfast casseroles
3 - get someone else to make fruit salad
4 - get bacon (4 lbs), cook bacon
5 - get chafing dishes
6 - orange juice
7 - get white elephant gift (+ one extra in case someone forgets)
binding on Cooper's quilt - more than half way done!
work on twisted quilt (after Christmas)
Christmas shopping - done
make stocking for Cooper
make other stockings (didn't I have four I needed to make from last year?)
make crayon holders
bake more bread (for other friends, Caro's family)
plan Christmas Eve and Christmas day foods - done

Wordless Wednesday ..

Wishing and Hoping (and thinking and praying)

Spent the weekend in NY (hence, the picture from the temporary office -- the view from my hotel room was pretty nice too).  I may (or may not) post some pics and blog later.  For now, I need to figure out what I need to get done in the next 7 days.  starting with tomorrow.

1 - bake 6 more loaves of cinnamon bread
2 - make breakfast casseroles
3 - get someone else to make fruit salad
4 - get bacon (4 lbs), cook bacon
5 - get chafing dishes
6 - orange juice
7 - get white elephant gift (+ one extra in case someone forgets)

Then I have to figure out what I can accomplish sewing-wise, crafting-wise over the rest of the week.  Here's what I want to get done.

binding on Cooper's quilt
work on twisted quilt (after Christmas)
Christmas shopping
make stocking for Cooper
make other stockings (didn't I have four I needed to make from last year?)
make crayon holders
bake more bread (for other friends, Caro's family)
plan Christmas Eve and Christmas day foods

I still have the sewing kits I wanted to make last year and the cowls/scarves also from last year.  Such a crunch.  I swear next year I'll do better.

And I also have  a couple of packages I'd like to send out and Christmas cards .. those too!

So little time.

The view ..

The view from my temporary office. Forgive the quality, it was taken with my phone.

15 Minute Challenge

Tuesday - nic (polish)
Wednesday - tucked ends in; put stiffy on stars
Thursday - worked on twisted quilt
Friday - nolla (finnish)
Saturday - made two crocheted stars
Sunday - zilch
Monday - finished cowl from last year (only to learn that it isn't big enough, length-wise or width-wise - so back to the drawing board).

Not a very good week (it actually sounds better than it was), but there were other things going on in life. I also made some molasses spice cookies and an apple pie, so it wasn't a complete bust.  I'm goign to make a realistic list of what I can accomplish in the next two weeks and work on that.

There's always next week, right?

Head on over to Kate's Life In Pieces to see how others fared this week....

Get The Party Started

So anyway, I made the party favors / table decorations for our Christmas party at work (known as the holiday party -- just so we can be p.c.).

Here are about 20 of them.  I made a total of 28.  I hope everyone likes them.

 

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Who needs bunk beds when you've got a linen closet??

15 Minute Challenge

Tuesday - chocote (Swahili)
Wednesday - made three crocheted snowflakes
Thursday - made more snowflakes
Friday - more snowflakes - put stiffy on some.  Waiting for it to dry to see how they turn out.  if I'm not happy with them, I'll have to figure out how to use stiffy better.
Saturday - worked on holiday party gifts (candy sleighs); I'll take a picture when I have them all together.  I think they're turning out quite nicely.
Sunday - crocheted snow flakes; sewed half square triangles
Monday - finished holiday favors (picture tomorrow)

Here are some progress pix on the twisted quilt..

 

Ready for sewing.  I don't usually pin, but thought I would try and see if I get better results when I do.

Chain piecing half square triangles.  They have been cut and pressed.  Now to continue the cutting/sewing of the pieces.

To join the challenge and/or see what other people have been working on this week, check out Kate's Life in Pieces.

Happy Birthday Sara!

I almost missed her birthday .. She won't know about this (unless I send her a link) but I didn't want her day to go unmentioned. 

Picture from here.

It's hard to believe that November is over.  Every year I think I'll be more on top of things when Christmas rolls around; and every year, it doesn't happen.  Suddenly it's December; where did the year go?

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo.   I missed two days of posting this month but hit the rest of the days.  Don't think I'll try to do this again, I just don't have that much to say.

On another note completely.  I keep accidentally posting my 15 minute challenge blogs because the publish and save buttons are right next to each other.  I really need to be more careful.

Let it Snow ...

This is what I've been working on this week.  I still need to weave in the ends and stiffen them up with some "stiffy" and will do that tomorrow, maybe.

 

I really need to take pictures during the day .. 

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nada
Thursday - zip, removed sewing machine from dining room
Friday - zilch
Saturday -  cut fabric for twisted quilt
Sunday - cut more fabric for twisted quilt
Monday - finished the quilting on the sporty quilt

I'm just wondering how many different ways there are to say "nothing" since that's about all the sewing/crafting I'm getting done these days.

I did finally do something productive last night, after dinner, dishes, a Hallmark movie, getting a Christmas tree, and picking the YD up from school.

Here's my new sewing machine set up.

 

To see how other people have done on the 15-minute challenge or to link up yourself, check out Kate's Life In Pieces.

another birthday

And a very special Happy Birthday to my Aunt Ila.  She turned 93 today.  I posted this picture before, but it's such a nice picture, I thought I would post it again.

Happy Birthday Anna!!

Image from here.

Hope you had a wonderful, wonderful day!!

Christmas or bust ..

This week has been a crafty bust.  I've moved the sewing machine to my bedroom and have yet to set it up to sew.  This will have to change if I want to accomplish any of my short and long term sewing goals.  Maybe tomorrow night during Monday Night Football.

If I can't pull it together back there, I'll have to bring the machine back out here.  I was hoping that I would be able to sew while the boys are still awake -- I can't sew in the dining room while they are awake and they aren't going to bed early enough for me to get any sewing done.

Happy Thanksgiving / Black Friday

We had a lovely day yesterday with lots of good food and lots of leftovers today.

We played Finish Lines which ends up being a good game for everyone because there are lines that everyone can finish, from nursery rhymes to Shakespeare.  Mostly just sat around watching football and visiting.  Pretty quiet (probably because the boys were at their other grandparents' house).

I don't do the Black Friday thing, so today should be a pretty quiet day as well.  maybe more so with no crazy cooking to finish up.  this is a good thing since my cold seems to be gearing up.  mostly sore throat.  we'll see.  I'll drag myself out of bed soon and see if I can get my sewing on. I've been trying to figure out whether or not I can set up my sewing machine in my bedroom ...

Grocery Shopping or Mary had a little Lamb

Okay, so this is a weird thing to post, but I was going to join with Mrs. Pyjamas and Little Miss Sunshine for their Pinterest Challenge (aka Survivor: Kitchen), and their second meal was supposed to be this, made with lamb.  I didn't think there was lamb in our grocery store, but I was wrong.  Here are the pics of the lamb (imported from New Zealand).  I think there were about two packages in addition to the ones I photographed.

Anyway, for various reasons I decided not to join up this week (not the least of which that this is Thanksgiving week).  Mrs. P asked me about lamb prices here so I thought I'd show her just was it looked like.  It seems to run from $5.49 to $7.99 a pound -- but as you can tell the selection is rather limited. 

Since I've been married, I have never made lamb so I'm going to have to do somethoing about that.  I may just have to make the challenge meal (I heard it was great)!

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge / 600th post

It's time again to check in and show how my week has been going.  I've pretty much been posting as I go this month so that makes it a little easier.  The NaBloPoMo has had me keeping up on my posting.

Here's how the week went.

Tuesday - quilted sporty quilt
Wednesday - tried to quilt sporty quilt
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nada
Saturday -quilted sporty quilt; bought fabric for the twister quilt
Sunday - nothing
Monday -hemmed curtains .. I'm only counting this because I want my week to look better.  the curtains look marginally better.  If I had spent a little more time, I could have made them look much better.  Just being lazy. I'll pull them down later this weekend and fix them.

I seem to only be able to do 3-4 days of sewing a week. I need to work on that.  I only need 15 minutes so I need to give 15 minutes.  I confess, sometimes I am choosing not to sew (mostly to watch TV or play computer games).

Anyway, check out Kate's 15 minute challenge at Life In Pieces.

I think that a 15-minute challenge post is fitting for my 600th post.  It is something I have been posting pretty regularly for the past year.

aw, shucks

Spent a couple of hours tonight shucking corn.

 

Wish that it had looked this good.  We were sorting corn for Second Harvest Food Bank.  Digging through huge bins of corn and tossing the bad ears, and separating out the good ears.  You had to go through most of the shucking to figure out if the corn was good or bad .. it was interesting.  I've done some different things at food banks; this was the first time handling fresh produce.  Previously it's just been cans.  We packed a ton of corn, literally. 

I think I'm coming down with a cold.  We'll have to see if it really gets me or not.

No real sewing done today.  I hemmed some curtains and did a really bad job.  I need to re-do them.  Maybe this weekend.  I'm hoping for a calm working around the house weekend.  wonder what I'll really have.

A friend of mine scoped out the possible ornaments at Michael's but didn't find any.  I'll have to see if I can find some online (she sent me one link which I will probably end up using ...).

Goals met?

So the weekend wasn't a total bust.  Here's a re-cap of what I checked off the list.

buy fabric for the twisted quilt

clean house

buy a Christmas tree (for work)

buy the Christmas favor boxes **see below**

These are the things that I didn't get to:

start the boys' crayon holders

finish the ornaments I started in 1985

reading

rest

make a nice dinner (from the pinterest challenge)

**I didn't buy party favors, but I saw these on pinterest, here, and thought I'd try making them for the office.  They look pretty good.  I just need to decide if that's what I want to do.

They still need ribbon and to be finished, but I think they're pretty cute.  Every year I try to have some sort of favor at the table for our holiday dinner.  Last year I bought little sleigh cupcake holders and filled them with candy.  I really need to get to Michael's and see what other things I might be able to get.  I guess I can do that next weekend.

I also worked on the sporty quilt.  Just have one more area to quilt and then I need to add the binding.  Not sure what to use for that.

Here are the cross stitch pieces that I made for my three oldest (when they were the only three I had).  I have to see what I can find at a craft store to mount them and make them into ornaments.  I had them in little frames, but I wasn't happy with those.  I want to give them to them for Christmas this year (only 27 years later ...).  

I still need to finish the Christmas stockings from last year.  I was thinking of embroidering names on the stockings.  Don't think that will l happen this year, but maybe someday.

Weekend Journey

That sounds fun doesn't it .. much more interesting than weekend goals .. 

This weekend, I want to accomplish the following:

1 - buy the fabric for my twisted quilt
2 - clean house
3 - buy a Christmas tree (for work)
4 - buy the Christmas favor boxes (for work)
5 - start the boys crayon holders
6 - finish the ornaments I started in 1985 ... in my cross stitch phase

7 - get some reading in
8 - get some rest
9 - make a nice dinner (from the pinterest challenge)

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Time After Time

Just thinking of my mom today. 

39 Days Until Christmas

only 38 more shopping days until Christmas...

One of my goals this year is/was to send out Christmas cards.  I want to have a family picture to put in them so, I'll need to figure that one out.  How to set up the camera to take a family picture.  I think we'll take the picture on Thanksgiving .. unless I hold out until Christmas and take the picture when my OD is here on holiday.  I could send the card out after Christmas then.  If I had them ready to go except for the pictures ...

I just can't believe how little time there is left ...

p.s. no sewing done tonight.

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge

This week has been a decent week, I think.  No work on the twisted quilt, but that will happen soon.  Here's my rundown of the days

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nada
Thursday - sewed extra borders on BYG duvet cover
Friday - zip
Saturday - sewed sporty flannel squares together
Sunday - basted sporty quilt and started quilting
Monday - worked on quilting sporty quilt

I thought I had worked more days on sewing than that.  Guess it just felt like it.  I really need to keep track as the week goes on, because I don't necessarily blog about all my sewing.

It's only Tuesday and I'm already exhausted ..

Head on over to Life in Pieces to see who has met the challenge this week.

Happy sewing!

Time to Play Ball

As I am waiting to get the fabric for the twisted baby quilt*, and also as mentioned previously, I have been working on a quilt for my youngest grandson.  A very simple quilt, made from a fat quarter bundle of flannel that my MS gave me as a gift a couple of years ago.  (I asked my children for fabric for Christmas (or was it my birthday?) and only one of them did it.  So, that's where this came from.)

There were five fat quarters so I sewed them together - splitting the fifth one into two pieces. Very simple.  I'm going to quilt each section differently - not sure that's such a good idea, but thought I would try it out to see how it looks.

So far I've only finished the basketballs.  I hope the quilting doesn't take away from the softness.

And here's the back. 

So while I'm waiting to start the other quilt, I'll work on this.  and then, when I'm done with this, I've got the crayon rolls to make and the sewing kits, and I'd like to make some coasters too.

I actually made a list of things I wanted to work on this Christmas season, but I don't know where I put the list.  figures.

On another note, my father is going to be joining us in California next week, specifically next Tuesday.  (The Tuesday before Thanksgiving.)  I hope he's ready for the craziness of my house.  Never a dull moment here.  If you want to know more about my dad, he has a blog too.  You can check it out here.



*Okay, I confess.  Twisted baby quilt is not a good name.  I'll solicit suggestions when the finish is in sight.