Final Recap

We took one class at Stitches South - Fiendishly Difficult Stitches. Here is Teresa's sample as I didn't finish my swag so my sample looks a bit weird. We learned to do this swag thing and this braid. The braid would look fantastic around the bottom of a hat.

Here is the picture I texted to my husband with the subject line "Day One Haul". After seeing this, he didn't say a word about the 19 skeins of yarn that actually made it home with me (not that he normally does but it was fun to mess with him). About half of this actually belongs to Jean - see her post here about what she got. She took a large bag on wheels the next day and filled it up.

This was my first fiber event and I must say I'm looking forward to another one!

Weekend Recap!

I'm back from my long weekend in Atlanta. I've even unpacked and put everything away. If I would not have done that immediately, I'd still be dealing with it for days. Teresa and I drove to Atlanta to spend some time with Jean, Jill and Heather and to attend Stitches South with them. We had a great time. We shopped and shopped, ate, talked, laughed and had a great time. Everyone got yarn. This is my pile:

I got enough yarn for years of projects at the rate I knit. The yarn is from Knitting Notions, Sanguine Gryphon, Madeline Tosh, Miss Babs, and Lisa Souza. I also purchased 2 wooden shawl pins and some patterns. I'm going to try to have one project completed from this yarn by Stitches South next year. I know I'll start one (or more) but I'm not taking bets on a finish.

We also got a chance to get our photo taken with the Ravelry creators and chat for a moment. If you knit and don't belong to Ravelry, you're really missing out. Sign up now!

Left to right: Teresa, Jill, Casey, Jean, Jess, Mary Heather, me, Sarah

I'd not met Heather and Jean before and they're just as nice as I thought they'd be. I'd met Jill before but it was really nice to get to know her a bit better. Jean's husband Richard took it all in stride. He and Jean were just wonderful hosts. They also introduced me to Big Bang Theory (which I'll be watching more of)!

We also went by Andy's house and looked at her beautiful stitching and her beautiful home. I missed getting any photos though. I met another new friend too - Princess Penny. Isn't she just adorable?! With those eyes, I think she deserves to get whatever she wants!

Girls Weekend

I'm leaving tomorrow for a girls weekend in Atlanta. I'm excited and ready to go. I'm leaving work early and driving up with Teresa to meet Jill, Jean and Heather!

As Jake left tonight he gave me a kiss and a hug and said "Come back sane." Then he laughed.

Uh...not happening!

And because I can't have a blog post without a picture here is Cody catching a few rays. This pup loves the warmth of the sun.

This weekend was spent doing a variety of stuff around the house. Not one single stitch in a quilting or stitching project. I did get to knit a bit Saturday and my sweater is coming along. Late last weekend I finished this applique block for my $5 quilt. I'm enjoying the applique and I like the pieced background. Between the two it takes a lot of time though.

Earlier this week I also finished a page of my chart for Quakers and Quilts.

Today my parents and sister came up and we celebrated Chris's birthday. He wanted to cook his own birthday dinner. I bought a whole beef tenderloin from Costco and he trimmed it up and cut it into filets and grilled it. I have to say, was the BEST steak I've ever eaten. Much better than Morton or Ruths Chris. He also served roasted fresh asparagus wrapped in bacon, grilled sweet potatoes and corn. I made the birthday cake (which I had to make twice) and salad. I also neglected to take any photos. We had a great time and it was great to spend time with family.

I'm gearing up for a girls weekend! More on that later....for now let's just say I'm excited!

I Can't Believe I'm Keeping Up!

I can't believe I've been keeping up with my $5 quilt blocks. If I do my block, bring it to the meeting and am on time, I don't have to pay for the next block. Not having to pay for the next block must really appeal to me! I find the bit of instruction and tips given in the meeting really valuable too. On this block I didn't cut my fabric correctly. I read 2 - 2 7/8" squares instead of 2 3 7/8" squares. So I was off to the quilt shop to get replacement fabric. In other words, this wasn't a free block!

Lesson Learned: Slow down when reading cutting instructions. Reading is Fundamental!

Also this week the mailman brought me a lovely package from Julia! I didn't get home while it was light out until tonight and still did not get a decent picture. She had a contest and I won these amazing vintage linens and some other goodies! Thank you Julia!

If you've never visited Julia's Blog - it's amazing the wonderful garments for kids she makes. I don't know how she does it! And she is super sweet too. Don't ya just love blogging friends?!

A Special Friend

On Saturday, I celebrated the 50th birthday of a very special friend.

Among many things, she is compassionate, kind, positive, upbeat and an animal lover. I aspire to one day be half the woman she is.

I hope she is one of the 2% that get a miracle.

I'm learning bits here and there about color and fabric choices. Here is the progress my newest project. I really like this block and I love the fabric. As you can tell in the top block, the one fabric does not contrast enough with the background to really stand out like it should. Live and learn. The border has a lot of flying geese of which I've made 4 I think. The next thing I'd like to do in my sewing room is to add a design wall. It will have to be small but it will be better than the nail I have in the wall with a hanger on it!

I used this nifty notion. It's called a Quilters Magic Wand. You lay it from corner to corner and draw sewing lines.  You then sew along the lines and cut in between. Easy half square triangles. Easy.

It was just $3 at my quilt shop!

I still need to finalize 2 sets of taxes. It will be easy but I've been avoiding doing it. Greg has been working in the yard. It seemed like a really short quick weekend. I think I could use a couple more days!

Contest Winners Announced!

Winners Announced:

Stitching Prize: Mylene
Yarn Prize: Candis (no blog)
Quilting Prize: Margaret
Sewing Prize: Jane

Congratulations to you all!
I'll be emailing you for your addresses tonight!

And because we can't have a post without a picture, here is a sneak peak at my latest quilting project:
Happy Stitches!

Thank You Contest!

***CONTEST CLOSED***

It's past time that I have a contest to thank you all for visiting my blog! This is my first contest and I hope you think it's a good one!

So....let's get down to business! Since this blog started off being a knitting blog my knitting related prize is first.

Knitting Prize:
Mind's Eye Sock Yarn Colorway: Acid Wash 400 yard
2 skeins Malabrigo Lace Colorway: Lettuce
There are a few yards missing from the caked up yarn. Delicious stuff!

The Quilting Prize:
Little Charmers Pattern
Charm Pack, Blessings Fabric Line (Moda)
I ended up with 2 of these patterns somehow!

Stitching Prize:
I'm a new stitcher so I bought these for this contest!
Weeks Dye Works Overdyed Cotton Floss
Colorways: Pelican Gray, Pecan, Union Blue, Williamsburg Red

AND
Overdyed Cotton Floss from The Gentle Art
Colorways: Dark Chocolate, Weathered Barn, Chamomile, Gold Leaf and Maple Syrup
The Sewing Prize:
Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing
1995 Edition
If you ever have any plans to sew garments, this is the book for you. I ended up with 2 of these.

I'm not much on rules so there won't be many. This contest is simply to thank those of you who visit my blog. I'm not going to make you jump through any hoops to work for an entry.

Simply leave a comment telling me which prize you'd like. Can't decide which one? Leave a comment for each one!!! The only real rule I'm going to have is that you can win only one prize!

I will ship if you live outside the U.S.!!!

I'm not sure how long the contest will be open...probably just a few days.

Note: I'll probably not ship any chocolate with these as it's already pretty warm here. I think it would melt during shipping. I know you all love chocolate! :)

I'd like to thank each of you for your friendship, your comments, your support and for just being you. I've learned so much from your blogs and your emails. I've gotten so much more out of blogging than I ever could have imagined. You totally rock!

Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you! Several of you have "no reply" as your email address!

I Might End Up With a Sweater!

The sweater progress is coming along. I'm slow but what else is new? This sweater is knit from the top down in one piece. I've gotten just past the point where you put the stitches for the sleeves on waste yarn and join underneath the armholes. The part I'm really not liking about this project is that you have to keep trying it on to make sure it fits. To do that, all the stitches go on waste yarn so the stitches don't slip off the needles. Then you try it on. Then you have to put it all back on the needles. If I was small, I could just leave it on the needles. But I'm not. What a pain!

I played with the color a bit so you can see the cables that go on either side of the button band. It will need to be blocked out so it looks right but you can get an idea here.

I think my goal this year is to start as many new projects as I can without finishing anything. Here is the fabric for the next WIP. The bottom fabric is the backing and the background is on top of that. The fabric with the little diamonds I'm hoping to use as binding. More on this later!

Thank all of you so much for your comments on how to organize my over dyed thread. I think I'm going to organize by maker and then by color name. I'm not looking forward to the actual process but I am looking forward to it being done. This morning I shoved everything into a cubby hole to clear off my sewing table. I must deal with that this weekend. Otherwise, it's the beginning of the end of being organized! Ruh oh!