The Weekend Flew - planning for next one.

My St. Paddy's weekend flew by - Thursday night:  picked up the new machine (I'm in love) on the way home from work, Friday:  got up at a decent hour just after hubster left for work (poor sucker) and walked the pooch, played with the new toy for a while, then wound up napping from 10 am to 4 (the hip was truly unpleasant) and can't even recall what happened for the evening....likely zilch, Saturday: hubster and I went to Ikea to trick out the sewing room with new shelving and such, got home and hubby dismantled the old and moved it to it's new room and then put all the new stuff together (have I shared with you yet what an amazing husband I have?) and when it was finally done about 10 pm it was time for bed, Sunday:  played in my 'new' room with my new toy and put together a jelly roll of Moda's Tropicana batiks.....just simple strips all lined up that will look lovely on the wall over our bed.  I attempted FMQ'ing with the new machine - I suck at it!!, but it's the first time I tried and I still kind of like the way it looks....so I finally finished up about 9 pm and got the binding sewn on just in time to watch the final end of the Women's World Curling final before I staggered into bed to start the week again.


And now it's Monday night and I had intended to finish hand sewing the binding down while watching curling, but alas......Urkel decided it was ball time.  He has no trouble coming up and down the 3 steps from the back door to the main area except when he has something in his mouth - in this case a ball.  Therefore, since he missed the catch I went over to 'assist' him back up the steps....and well down I went - and not gracefully.  My arm and wrist are hurting like 8(*&U*^&&^&Y and I didn't even break my *(&*((&*( hip!!!  Argh!!  At least if I would have broken the hip they would have to move me up the waiting list for a new improved one.  :-O  Alas, no....I'm just bruised from wrist to elbow.....and that's without even checking my fanny.


So, instead I am watching Dancing With the Stars (our dog's namesake "Urkel" is on this season), pouting about my sore arm, reading blogs and such.  :-(


I did take before and after pics of the sewing room that I will share when the pouting stops, I will also share pics of the batiks quilt/wallhanging when the binding is done and it's washed and in place and maybe even some ideas for what I'll be doing for my first FNSI. Input welcome!!


Here's hoping your Monday night is going better than mine.  Ta ta all!!

Whoop Whoop

Splurging on a new machine!!!  Elna Excellence 740

Yabba Dabba Doo

I hope to pick it up Thursday night and have hubster help to move it into the sewing room so I can play on Friday.  :-)

If anyone has any suggestions or advice before I splurge....please share!

Ugh

Well, Friday was a cruddy day which I let flow into Saturday, but this afternoon I'm trying to force myself out of my funk.


For those who have just met me I've been battling some pain issues which they finally determined is degeneration of the cartilage in both of my hips.  I'm on the waiting list for a new left hip, but  since I had a shot of cortisone just over a week ago in my left hip it is now the right hip that is killing me.   I had an appt with my family doc on Friday and his only advice was that I take my painkillers and anti-inflammatories more often.  GRRRR. 


So since then I pouted on the sofa and watched the last few draws of the Brier on tv.  :-)  I may have had to given up participating in curling this season, but I've gotten really good at watching it.  Alberta's team is in the final this evening.  Whoop Whoop!!


On to schtuff you might actually be interested in.......


In order to get me moving again I grabbed some scraps and threw together a potholder....just played with some odds and ends and a little bit of stitch in the ditch and some straightline quilting.  I like how it turned out, but not shareworthy....


I've managed to recover a pillow in a quilt as you go for my favorite back alley salvaged chair.  I think it adds a little burst of spring colour to the living room.  

I also managed to take a pic of the tiny little quilt I plan to give to my Mom for Easter.  I've named it "Spring it On".   (My picture taking skills currently suck....so I'm going to work on that, but bear with me, please.)

And finally I'm going to have to wait until hubster finishes painting the guest bathroom to haul the big camping quilt outside to take a pic of that one....and of course, just as I finished typing that came my darling took a little break so I got him to pop outside and help me out.  :-)  (He's handsome, handy, patient and has good timing...I think I'll keep him.  XOXO)

Back is in soft cord for those chilly mountain nights.

I did the front in summery, happy squares to keep the trailer bright.

While I've been sewing I've been listening to "The Bayou Trilogy" by Daniel Woodrell.  I love to read, but I also love to listen to audiobooks.  Must have been growing up without a tv for parts of my youth and listening to CBC.


Well, back to thinking about all those things that I've been procrastinating about all weekend, groceries, dinner, getting ready for another week of work.

A few of my projects

Laura's Nine

So, I thought I would include a couple of pictures of projects that I have completed to this point.  "Laura's Nine" is my first attempt at quilting.  (Dec 2010) I pieced the top and had it sent out for long arm by Nancy at Crazy Creek.  I'm happy with it, but the more I got into it, the more I realized that I wanted to not just follow patterns.  I want to do the whole thing.  Yes, I am new to this, but am bursting with ideas from reading all of the blogs that other folks have done that display there projects.

 The one above was an experiment in rag quilting with flannels.  (Jan 2011)

This one was an experiment. (Jan 2012)  I love the fabrics and just wanted to play with log cabins....it eventually worked out and went to live with my mother in law.

My mother in law loved her's so much her husband asked for one in the same color scheme.  (Feb 2012) I'm not sure that Urkel (my assistant) is going to be willing to give it up.  This is still unfinished in my sewing room.  My machine has decided it will only stitch in straight lines and not do any stitching to the left.  (I need a REAL machine if I'm going to get into this anymore)


In the mean time and in between time I've made a double size quilt that will move to the camper once the snow is off the ground and we can begin escaping on the weekends again.  For now it's warming up our bed in the house.  I will post pics of it once I get around to pulling the camera out.

One more thing on the list!

Well, I thought instead of just cruising through the blogs of others on subjects that I enjoy I would start contributing to the big wide world and see if anyone but me finds this interesting.  Thus, adding one more thing to my list of "things attempted".

What am I interested in?

• Quilting
• Family History
• Writing
• Reading
• Curling
• Camping
• Loving my family - :-)

Please feel free to follow along with me if you like any of the above.  I'm not really sure how this will be structured, but I can say that it will for sure contain some pictures of the Quilts I've done and the ones that I am working on and likely some thoughts about the ones dancing around in my head.  As well, I will try to keep up with a list of what I'm reading/listening to.  And since you'll be reading what I've written I guess it'll be a place for me to practice some writing.  I'm not sure that any of the storylines rattling around in my cranium will make it onto these pages, but at least I'll be practicing my skills at putting thoughts onto the page.

If you do choose to follow me into this brave new world please don't hesitate to let me know that you're out there.  Although as a mother of two now grown children I am quite familiar with talking and having no one listen - or admit to listening.  :-)