The End of 2018

Just about time to let go of 2018 and welcome in 2019. Here's a peek at my past week.

Gracie went to the groomer and got all pretty for our holiday guests. Here she is with my 19-year-old niece. Jennifer is relaxing after getting through her first semester at UNC-Wilmington. Thankfully Jenn was safe through the hurricane but school was closed for almost a month -- then it was catch-up time. Talk about a hard way to start college! (But isn't Gracie pretty???)

Christmas Eve dinner was at our house. Here's a picture of me and Jennifer's twin sister, Kelli. Kelli is going to NC State on a softball scholarship. She's relieved to be done with her first semester too but is looking forward to Spring Semester which translates to SOFTBALL SEASON!!! In April she'll be playing at Notre Dame, South Bend, IN and I plan on being there to root her on! Guess I'm looking forward to her spring semester too!

The three amigos! Mom, Kelli, and me. Check out my haircut! It's off my shoulders again which is WAY shorter than usual.

Meanwhile, the party has begun for these beauties -- Karen, my sister-in-law, and Sarah, my daughter. Guess I forgot to get pictures of the guys! Fred, my brother John, and his son Johnny were here too. Honest!!! Hahaha!

Christmas morning -- doesn't matter what day it is, the dog still needs to go for a walk .... and so do I for that matter! The sun was just coming up in my neighborhood. Thought I'd take a picture of the sun coming up and show how peaceful the day was starting out.

I did manage to finish up this little 3/6-month-old sweater. I knitted it up for my dental hygienist's new baby. It also satisfies the final project for Loopy Academy. Yay! I'm finally a graduate!!!!

Not a very good picture but I finished another block for Dresden Quilt Workshop. I can't remember what week this was for but I'm currently finishing up some churn dash blocks now. The week for those has also been forgotten. Hey! At least I'm catching up, right?

On the cooking front, I decided to try my hand at caramelized onions in the crock pot. This pot was 3/4 full when I started it. This picture is after a couple of hours. It ended up making about 2 cups. 

Here's a picture of it now. Mom & I smothered our Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork sandwiches with it -- so goooooooooood!

I don't know what to expect in 2019 but I hope it's as good as 2018. I wish the same for you too! Happy New Year!

Linking up with Movin' It Forward .

Movin' It Forward Monday and Holiday Prep

Today's post is for Movin' It Forward Monday, which I am so grateful for as it holds me accountable for my hobby PLUS it keeps me on my toes for blogging. Please join all of us at the above link -- you will be amazed at what everyone is managing to get done!

As for me, I was mostly keeping the knitting needles flying on this adorable, little sweater for my dental hygenist's baby boy. Here's a couple of pictures. You can see that I need to still weave in my ends, sew on the little buttons, and get it blocked. Except for that, it's finished and will complete Loopy Academy. I will be an official graduate! Hats off to me!!!!

Before: Remember I told
you the color was off

As of today

I love the gradation of the blue yarn. Gradation is the new cool I hear!

My embroidery is coming along.

Here are a few new Christmas things I made. The first is a little wall hanging.

Santa Hat Wall Hanging

These next couple of things I made with my TAS (The Applique Society) group. Both are made of wool and both were taught to us by the amazing Dana.

Little Woolly Tree

The little tree will get lights put on it and it will sit on my sewing table in the living room window. Polly will LOVE it!

Wool Poinsettia Pin

Obviously the pin needs to be finished since you can see it is still in the hoop.

I might as well continue talking about Christmas. Huubby went out and bought us a new tree this year. Last year, we discovered that somehow we lost the plug for the pre-lighted tree so we used an earlier tree. This is our new one.

We'll put the tree skirt on and add the ornaments when our daughter arrives for the holidays Wednesday evening. So looking forward to her arrival. 

While we were in the spirit and the weather was a balmy 60 degrees, hubby and I hung our lights, put the garland on the posts, and hung the bells by the door. So festive!

Today Gracie went to the groomer for a bath, blow dry, and a mani/pedi. She's ready for company with her beautiful poinsettia bandana!

Enjoy your day!

A Finish, Progress, and Loopy Academy

I'm very happy to say that I finished my little winter project. Quilted, bound, and actually hanging.

The picture is a little dark, blame it on the weather. Anyway, isn't it cute??? So little -- only 10" square. I bought this Red Button Quilt Co. pattern from Primitive Stitches, a Missouri shop. They were vending at my guild's last quilt show. I hope they'll be vending again in June! The Pattern included this one and another one that is non-wintry. The buttons were included and the 2nd pattern has bee buttons -- bet that's why I chose this pattern!

The Secret Santa Sew-a-Long has finished but I have not. I got the twelve blocks sewn up but need to cut sashing strips. I set it aside because I've got a couple of deadlines coming up. Here are my blocks gently folded in the refrigerator egg container along with the 20 nine-patch cornerstones.

In the foreground is a little table mat. My LQS has a table runner club and I was supposed to make five 12" blocks of the Santa hat. I don't really care for the hat and really don't have a use for the table runner so .... I shrunk the pattern down, used wool, and appliqued it down on a four-patch. All I had to do was add the flying geese & sashing strips. Ready to quilt it up and take it for show-n-tell tomorrow morning.

On the knitting front, I'm trying to catch up  on Loopy Academy. I only have one semester to finish up --  Jr. Year, 2nd Semester -- and then I will officially graduate. I already knitted up socks with beads and here's a look at my colorwork (stranded) design. I chose Calaveras Mittens by Jenny Penny and you can find it on Ravelry. I used a heavier yarn than called for (DK rather than fingering) and, even though I did swatch, the mittens came out larger than planned. I named mine Sugarskull Mitts and used plum purple and lime green. I think they turned out pretty spiffy even if they are large.

 Top Side

Palm Side

Aren't they cool??? I am also in love with that Latvian Braid on the cuff edges!!!

Since that's two out of three knitteries done for my 2nd Semester, Junior Year, I started the final project. It should knit up really quickly. My dental hygienist recently had a baby boy so I chose this Wee Lima pattern (again found on Ravelry). The requirement was to complete a pattern that uses buttons.

I cast on yesterday and the sweater looks like this so far. It's actually a prettier marled blue yarn than what is shown. Again, it's a gloomy day here in Southern IL so that makes for gloomy photos.

My dryer has buzzed so I guess I'll head downstairs to give it some attention. While I'm down there I think I'll get that Santa Hat Mat quilted up! Have a great day!

Linking up with Movin' It Forward. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has been working on this past week!

Due to the Columbus Day Holiday ...

I was temporarily off the grid. But I'd like to play catch up now.

My Kathy Schmitz "Be Mine" embroidery is done. All that's left is the "finish" to make it into a little quilted wall hanging. So far so good! (It could also use a little pressing!)

The Lady Claire socks I was knitting for Loopy Academy have been 100% finished. That means I've also blocked them! That's a very important step that I sometimes do not actually do. Aren't they pretty sitting with that purple clematis? Can't believe it but I've actually got two blooms due to the unbelievably warm weather we've been having here in the Midwest!

I also finished these two steps in the very fun Dresden Workshop Quilt. I actually am just about done with another step but I changed my mind on the little center so the picture will have to wait until next week. Hopefully I'll have an additional step or two to add to this collection by then. Loving how this is working up .... so far!

I still have a slight dilemna: The very first step was a block with the word "Quilts" in it. That's all fine and dandy for some but I want something different. I've toyed with "Family" and "Ooh La La!" since it's French General fabrics. I also thought about "Gracie" or "Polly" for the pets ... just because. Don't want "Faith" or "Bliss". Any suggestions out there?????

And last but certainly not least, I finished up this EPP design that I stitched up eons ago. I love the quilting on it and the spiffy red binding. Here's the front: 

And here't the back. My initials & year are in the bottom right corner. I'll be taking it to guild meeting tonight to donate for the auction next month. I hope it finds a good home!

On my walk yesterday, I spied these "soldiers" all in a row. Aren't they cute? Couldn't resist a fungi photo!

Have a great rest of your week!

The Weather: It's a-Changin' and a Few Thank-yous

We've been a bit cold here in the Midwest USA which has been exceedingly nice! Truly felt like Fall last week but Summer will be making a comeback this week. Hoping it's a brief one!!

Before I get into what I've been up to on the sewing front, I have a couple of people that I need to thank. First up are my friends Marion, Nancy, and Rosalee for inviting me to Runaway Quilt Retreat.

I talked about it in my last post here. Thank you, Dorothy, for driving us safely there. Last but not least, thank you, Sharon, for telling me about the benefits of getting tickets to the St. Louis Cardinals last home game of the season -- the giveaways included a refrigerator magnet with the 2019 season PLUS a voucher for q free ticket to a game next season. Also, you were SO RIGHT that the Fredbird Express is the best way to get to the game. Got home from retreat Friday afternoon and hubby & I were at the game Wednesday night!

Another thank you goes to Wendy at Sugarlane Quilts. Wendy hosts Friday Night Sew-In once a month virtually. Participants join in from all over the world. After it is all over, Wendy draws a winner for a prize and I won a pattern a couple months ago. It took quite a while for the gift to arrive all the way from Australia but it finally did get here.

Now that business has been taken care of, let's get down to my weekly creative wrap-up. First up is my Loopy Academy project: Lady Claire socks. If you'll recall I needed to find a project that included beads. One sock done and sock #2 well underway.

The color isn't very accurate but at least I got the shot!

Moving along to the Dresden Quilt Workshop project ... I managed to finish one of the weeks and have a good handle on another. Remember how I'd finished these triangles up earlier:

I finished the other half of these triangles. They now look like this:

The next set of blocks find the plates stitched. I just need to applique the centers. Then I'll sew these star blocks up. One is quite in-your-face, the other a bit more subtle. Remember, it takes all kinds!

Recently I joined a table runner club at my local quilt shop. I didn't do the first project but I was up early this morning working on the second project. I pieced the pineapples, got the background fabrics cut, and ironed the pineapples in place. So glad that I'd prepared the fusibles earlier in the week. Aren't they cute?

The project calls for five of these and I have them ready. I'll get the applique done tomorrow because the next table runner meeting is the first Tuesday morning of the month -- Yup, two days away! Working under pressure as usual!

The last thing I want to share is an English paper-pieced project that I finished years ago but never appliqued it down to a background. And done! Next up is the quilting and then finishing it up. My thoughts are leaning towards a nice red binding.

It's a small table topper, approximately 12"x 15" so far. The pieces are very tiny! If I get it done in time, I'm thinking I'll donate it to my guild's auction in November. Money raised goes to bringing in qualified teachers to the guild.

I think that's pretty much it for this week's progress. In case you're wondering, hubby and I have survived week number 4 of retirement! 😁

Linking up with Movin' It Forward on Monday. Check what we've all been up to here.

Week #3 of Hubby's Retirement

For Week #3 of hubby's retirement, I vamoosed to Maple Grove, KY for Runaway Retreat. The original buildings date back into the 1890s or earlier. The Sit 'n' Sew was spacious and the bedding was adequate. After all, how much time do we actually spend in our beds?? The food was fine and the selections were enough to suit probably everyone. The plus side of that is we didn't have to cook or clean up.

The ladies I went with were wonderful and the other 101 ladies at retreat (yes, that's right! There were 107 of us although some were commuters) were hilarious and friendly. Over all I had a good time and would surely consider going again.

Probably the highlight of  retreat was the class I took on Thursday. It was Machine Applique with Alice Ridge. What a delight! She was very prepared, patient, and never lost her sense of humor. She promised to teach five methods of applique and she succeeded: skinny stem, raw-edge, turned under, fusible, and window fusible. All in her class loved her and I'm pretty sure she got glowing recommendations for next year. Hopefully she can come up with some other classes and/or techniques since, besides the class she taught us, she also taught New York Beauty.

While I didn't get my project 100% completed, here's a picture of my accomplishment, front & back. Isn't the back pretty too?

Sorry about the tablecloth showing through my background. It's a cloudy day so indoor pictures are a must. Blech!

I also worked a tad on my embroidery project. If you'll recall, this is a Kathy Schmitz pattern called Be Mine. The only chance I had to work on this was Thursday evening after class and dinner & program. My sewing machine and supplies were packed up after class since I had to take it to a classroom and didn't want to set it up again at Sit 'n' Sew. Looking forward to finishing this one off soon.

My main project for retreat is a pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. It's called Simplicity and you know what? It truly is! The pattern is written clearly and includes pressing directions. All the pieces go together perfectly and there is only one square's seams that have to matched up even though it looks more complicated than that. Can I say it again? Simplify!!!!

I'm using a variety of Kansas Troubles fabric lines for the color and the backgrounds were received in a fabric swap many moons ago at a Todd Hall Retreat. This is a picture of four blocks -- I actually sewed up 24 with 15 more to go! I feel like I made a lot of progress on this one!

After I got home yesterday afternoon, read a few blogs, and unpacked a bit, I picked up my knitting to relax a bit. My Lady Claire socks are coming along. I'm working on the heel flap. There were three ways to go with it: Simple Heel, A Little Bit Fancy Heel, and a Decorative Heel. I decided to go middle of the road with the Little Bit Fancy choice.

Today is the first day of Fall and it actually feels like it today. Took Gracie for a long-overdue walk this morning and it was only 59 degrees. Loved it and so did she! Welcome back, Mom!

Nearing the End

Last night was FNSI. If you're unfamiliar with Friday Night Sew-In, just pop over to Sugarlane Designs, scroll to the bottom, and see what all the quilters have been up to Friday night. There is so much talent & friendship, you'll want to link up next month! Wendy is so sweet to hostess the event and all of us are so grateful that she gets us together every month.

As for me, I got an early start due to bathroom remodeling. We needed to convert a bathtub/shower combo into a walk-in shower since my 85-year-old mother visits every weekend. Ridiculous that we waited this long to get this project done. While the guys were here working all day yesterday, I took the opportunity to pull out the final segment of the 2nd border of Mosaic. Are you getting tired of seeing posts on this one? Don't worry ... the end is actually in sight!!!

This picture shows you how yesterday I only had the outside edges of the last four diamonds in the right-hand row. I finished that row off and also managed to sew an entire side of the left-hand row PLUS two diamonds on the final side. I didn't take a current picture. Waiting for the finale!

I've also been missing having a little knitting going on the side so I decided another pair of socks would tide me over until September, the start of the next semester of Loopy Academy. I never did my Jr. year 2nd semester and I want to "graduate", although I'm a semester late. I pulled out my newest skein of yarn and wrapped it into two almost-even balls. I like knitting socks two-at-a-time.

There's a story behind the yarn I'm using: When I was in New Jersey for my cousin Bobby's daughter's wedding last month, the bride's aunt, my cousin June Ellen and Bobby's sister, pulled me aside. She said that after the bride's mother passed away over Memorial Day weekend, they found a bunch of gift cards that she had amassed and never used. There was one to Moore Yarn at Airport Plaza, a local yarn shop, and could I use it? Well, of course I could! This is a cute shop with a lot to look at plus has the nicest owner! If you ever find yourself in NJ, this would make a very nice stop. Besides knitting & crocheting yarn, there's a guinea pig there too! Anyway here's a picture of my start on a pair of socks.

Usually when I knit a pair of socks, I don't care about color placement. I just dig in! However, my friend Millie showed me how she had knitted a pair of socks with color-changing yarn and made them match up. I'm attempting that and so far, so good! These will be fairly plain socks, letting the color be the star attraction and I am loving the colors!

In case you're curious about the guest bath, here are a couple of pics of the progress being made.

The bathroom will be completed by the end of Monday. Polly, Gracie, & I will be happy to have the house back to ourselves again without all the noise and traffic! Lol!

Linking up with Wendy @ Sugarlane Designs and Em's Scrapbag: Moving It Forward Monday