Where Do I Start?

Has it really been EIGHT MONTHS since I last blogged?  To my followers I am very sorry and I hope that you will find your way back here.

So much has happened since I last posted.  Good news is that Adrienne and Joe (and Leonard) moved up here from Baltimore. Joe retired, Adrienne got a great job at Upstate, and Leonard is all ready for kindergarten.  I love having them just a half hour away.
The not so good new is we did not have a great spring.  Michael fell walking the dog at the end of March.  He broke 5 ribs, several vertebrae (is that plural correct?) and his collar bone.  He has had a long recovery but is starting to feel like his old self again.
The summer is going by too quickly.  August already? I did not get as much done as I had planned but I have been squeezing in some knitting and sewing.

A baby outfit

A vest for myself, front and back

A knitting needle caddy
The American Quilter’s Society was in town this week.  The quilt show was beautiful. Of course I forgot my camera but I did snap some pictures of my goodies when I got home.




By the way, this little quilt finishes to 13” x 14”.  The tumblers are 1 3/4” high, unfinished

One of the nice things about working at the quilt shop is all the nice people I meet. Many people were in town for the show and one special person that I met was Lee Anna. She is a fellow blogger and posts at Not Afraid of Color.  Please visit her site. She has some beautiful things to show including the cutest dog!
While downloading photos off my camera, this cutie came up:

Aren’t grandkids wonderful?
Diane

New Year, New Purse!

First, to all my friends and family, I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. I know that I enjoyed the family parties and time spent with my husband, children and grandchildren.

Contrary to popular belief, my blog and I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have been busy sewing, knitting, and working, both at the quilt shop and at the Y. I made several gifts for my family this Christmas. You will have to believe me, I did not take pictures.

But I do have a picture of my new purse and wallet! The purse is the Mini Professional Tote. I took a class in November and just found the time to finish it.  It is a great pattern; lots of pockets and it even has a padded pouch for a tablet (Did I mention that I got an IPad Air for Christmas? Thank you Michael!).

The wallet was straight forward once I got past folding the pockets for the credit cards! The pictures made no sense-the wallet took less time that that one step.

I plan to be a better blogger this year. I have been busy making-and learning new things that I hope to share with you. My resolution? To enjoy and be thankful for every day!

Diane

Catching Up- Part 2

Some more thing I have been working on and/or finished.  And a couple of extras.

First I must show you a gift from my very good friends, Mimi and John:

I told John that I wanted a quilt ladder.  I explained what it was and he whipped this up for me (he also made on for Mimi).  I love it! I need to put some nicer quilts on it…

Do you see the lovely scarf above? That was a Mother’s Day gift from Adrienne.  Can you see the little beads she knitted in? Oh, I guess not, but it is beautiful!

Let’s see…Socks I am working on:

A new ironing board cover:

Quilts for classes I am teaching:

Another set of blocks for my Civil War Quilt (and my favorites so far!):

Finally, with all the rain my garden is doing very well!  Look at my tomatoes!

We are even getting lettuce for salads!

Thank you Katie and Lauren for my Mother’s Day garden!

Diane

 

Back-Again!

Let’s just pretend that I have not updated in so long because I have been busy completing projects…Yeah- that sounds good!

I have been busy. Since May I have been working 2-3 days a week at the shop, along with lots of subbing at the Y (afterschool care).  But I have been working on several projects.

I managed to make a pair of socks:

I chose not to have the stripes match.  I also tried a 3 needle bind-off on the toe:  evidently it looks better if you turn the socks inside out first… I still like them!

I am also half-way caught up with my Civil War blocks of the month:

Each month there are 4-8 blocks to complete.  The one on the right was a bear- 96 half-square triangles in that set!

Katie put in a little garden for me for:

Dylan is riding a two-wheeler:

AND, I got a quilt back that I had hand quilted. I made this quilt top about 6 or 7 years ago. I started to hand quilt it and I immediately gave up.  Then I learned about a group that hand quilted to raise money for their local library.  I am more than thrilled!

I only wish that the quilting was more visible in these pictures. They all did a great job! Now to get the binding on…

Diane

 

My Sad Neglected Blog!

Oh, it has been so long since I posted. No excuse really-just laziness.  And then I realized I was getting all these anonymous nasty comments so I have deleted them out. Time to get back to work!

Here are some random pictures from the last couple of months. As you can see, life has gone on even if my blog hasn’t.

Adrienne, Joe and Leonard were here for Christmas-it was so nice to see them again.

About the above picture…don’t ask!

I have completed-and started several sewing and knitting projects.  I will talk about them later-I promise!

OH! Lauren and Jeff got engaged!

Jeff surprised her just before Christmas. They are planning a May 2014 wedding.  Yay!

Let’s Dust this Thing Off…

Why do I find it so difficult to blog?  One reason is that I have been keeping busy. I went to N. Carolina to visit with Mimi; I have taught a couple times at Mission Rose and have subbed at the Y; I have been sewing and knitting. Is that my excuse?  No, my excuse is that I get too lazy to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer.

Is it difficult? Not at all!

So today I loaded a bunch of pictures and over the next few days I will post my adventures, completions and works in progress.

But today….

Look at these beauties:

Oh my goodness, I love these shoes! And they are soooo comfortable!  Karmen from A Quilter Awakens turned me on to Alegria shoes and I am sorry it took me so long to buy a pair!

I may have a new addiction….

So Where Have I Been?

Actually it is kind of embarrassing. A friend gave me a computer game- Seven Wonders ll and I am terribly in love with this game.  It is just a jazzed up Bejeweled Blitz.  It has several levels and I have been stuck on one level for about a week now!  Another friend calls these games “time-suckers” and that certainly describes this game.  I have to wean myself off…

In the meantime, I have been doing a little sewing.  In fact I have the baby quilt on the frame. I don’t want to show too much, but here is a peek:

It will actually be done before the shower!

I will post more pictures after Karen receives the quilt.