For those who don't know, Jo is my 23 year old, youngest daughter who is in Kyrgyzstan as a Peace Corps volunteer trainee. She has a blog here, johannahauck.blogspot.com, which anyone can read if they like. So far she's doing very well and will be finished with her training soon. Then she'll be assigned a permanent site where she'll be working for the next 2 years. She'll be a health educator and will likely be working with folks in the small towns and villages, helping with basic sanitation and health practices. Jo's very good with kids--heck, she's not much more than a kid herself :)--and she's been able to bond with the children in her village which makes her much appreciated by the adults in the village. I know she'll be an asset where ever she's assigned.
As for me, I got two pieces of wonderful news this week. First, my niece in Colorado emailed me to say that she has passed all the tests at her 5 year check-up and is now officially cancer--free! Yippee!!!!. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, did the chemo, lost her hair, grew it back, and is looking wonderful and healthy as a horse. The other good news is my other niece in Minnesota called to let me know that the biopsy of the spot in her mouth came back benign! Another YIPPEE!!!!. I can't tell you how relieved I am that both of these wonderful young women are okay. Even though we had dismal, cold, rainy weather all week, this news brought sunshine to my heart.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Plate mattresses
When she was a preschooler, my oldest daughter, Tessa who is now Lily's mother, came home from her daycare at the end of one day. We got dinner ready and she was helping to set the table and asked why we didn't have any "plate mattresses" like they did at the day care. So, that term stuck. Makes sense when you think of it like a 4 year old.
I found the camera! I used it at Lily's B'day party and put it in a drawer while the girls were in the house. You can tell how little I use the thing! I've just never been a picture-taking kind of person, I guess. Anyway, since I found it, I have a couple pix of the plate mattresses. Here's a close up of the stippling I did in the white part with just in the ditch around the colored fabrics. I love the bright colors and in my last post I said now I HAD to go out and get new dishes. Here's the dishes I've been making due for the last several years. I think it's time for something a little better, don't you?
I only have those two handleless bowl/mugs left from the 8 I started with, and almost every plate and soup bowl as well as the serving bowls has chips in them. I do think it's time. The only pieces that are in mint condition are the cups and saucers--I prefer a mug for my coffee and tea so that explains that. :) But, knowing me, it'll be another several months or maybe even another year before I actually go out and buy the new ones. Procrastinator--but not when it comes to shopping for quilting fabric, etc. ;)
I found the camera! I used it at Lily's B'day party and put it in a drawer while the girls were in the house. You can tell how little I use the thing! I've just never been a picture-taking kind of person, I guess. Anyway, since I found it, I have a couple pix of the plate mattresses. Here's a close up of the stippling I did in the white part with just in the ditch around the colored fabrics. I love the bright colors and in my last post I said now I HAD to go out and get new dishes. Here's the dishes I've been making due for the last several years. I think it's time for something a little better, don't you?
I only have those two handleless bowl/mugs left from the 8 I started with, and almost every plate and soup bowl as well as the serving bowls has chips in them. I do think it's time. The only pieces that are in mint condition are the cups and saucers--I prefer a mug for my coffee and tea so that explains that. :) But, knowing me, it'll be another several months or maybe even another year before I actually go out and buy the new ones. Procrastinator--but not when it comes to shopping for quilting fabric, etc. ;)
Monday, May 10, 2010
I've moved over here since MQB is closing down. I use my blogging space to share my needlework adventures, primarily quilting, but other fiber arts on occasion as well. I also throw in assorted bits about my family, job, garden, and other areas of my life. On occasion, I have been known to offer a political opinion or two, but I do try to keep that minimal. ;)
At the present time, I'm working on placemats that I began making to sell in the Folk Art Emporium, but since I've withdrawn from that venture, I now have a set of 8 very nice placemats to finish. Problem is--they look terrible with my dishes! Solution--Barb needs to go out and get the new set of dishes she's been threatening to get for the past 5 years or more. I would post some pix except, darn it, I seem to have misplaced my camera. I am also working on a quilt to be auctioned off at a school fundraiser in mid June which needs more attention than it's getting right now. I finished the center of a queen sized Irish Chain and need to make the pieced border and then finish it off. This one has a pale yellow background and I used batik purples, blues and greens for the chains across. I think it looks great--hope the bidders at the auction think so too. I made a throw-size quilt for the thing last year but wasn't able to attend so I don't know how much it sold for. I'll be attending the fundraiser this year so we'll see what the quilt fetches.
When I find the camera, I'll post pix.
Barb
At the present time, I'm working on placemats that I began making to sell in the Folk Art Emporium, but since I've withdrawn from that venture, I now have a set of 8 very nice placemats to finish. Problem is--they look terrible with my dishes! Solution--Barb needs to go out and get the new set of dishes she's been threatening to get for the past 5 years or more. I would post some pix except, darn it, I seem to have misplaced my camera. I am also working on a quilt to be auctioned off at a school fundraiser in mid June which needs more attention than it's getting right now. I finished the center of a queen sized Irish Chain and need to make the pieced border and then finish it off. This one has a pale yellow background and I used batik purples, blues and greens for the chains across. I think it looks great--hope the bidders at the auction think so too. I made a throw-size quilt for the thing last year but wasn't able to attend so I don't know how much it sold for. I'll be attending the fundraiser this year so we'll see what the quilt fetches.
When I find the camera, I'll post pix.
Barb
Friday, May 7, 2010
I'm on board the blogger.com train!
myquiltblog.com is closing down in a few weeks, and I'm very sad about that, but it seems as though most of us are moving to blogger.com. I set up a blog here last summer but had such difficulty using it that I gave up and stuck with mqb instead. Now I guess I have no choice but to come here. I'm happy, as well, since I hope to connect with some of the old friends from mqb who moved last year--Erin, Smantha, Lane, Cheryl (of course), Molly and so many more. The problem I have is, I can't figure out how to add them as friends so I have to search far and wide each time to find their blogs. Maybe someone (Cheryl?) will help me with this. I also couldn't figure out how to add pix to the blog and it's so boring to not post pix--and how else does a person show off without the pix????
Anyway, I'm going to give this a good try and with the help of others, I may be able to make it work.
BTW, disregard the most recent entry on this blog. It's something I received from my daughter and posted on her blog, not knowing that it was on mine as well.
Barb (thanxsandy)
Anyway, I'm going to give this a good try and with the help of others, I may be able to make it work.
BTW, disregard the most recent entry on this blog. It's something I received from my daughter and posted on her blog, not knowing that it was on mine as well.
Barb (thanxsandy)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
When I started this blog, I had high hopes of being a regular here, but it's not to be, I guess. I haven't been able to add any images so that's a bummer. These past weeks I've been distracted by family issues and am starting to recover from that. I managed to finish the "Scottish Rose" quilt for my good friend's daughter's wedding which is Saturday. Amanda and Will live in Glasgow so I though "Scottish Rose" the perfect piece for them, but I did have to modify the roses a bit. If you want to see pix of the quilt, go to www.myquiltblog.com and check my blog under thanxsandy.
Since I can't post pix here, I'll describe it. Three inch scrappy pale blue and white squares set on point make up the center panel. The first border is 5" of scrappy white pieces and the second border is 5" of 1" scrappy blue and white squares set on point. On the white border, I appliqued green batik vines and leaves and mauve and red batik 5-petal roses with round yellow batik centers. I quilted a cross hatch in the center panel and straight lines in the 2nd border. In the white border with the appliques, I filled in all the white areas with large flowers and viney leaves. Pieced back on which I appliqued the leftover rose petals and it's done.
I think it's the very best quilt I've done (but I say that about every quilt I finish because each one is so much better than the last!) But it still isn't good enough to enter in a major show, and that's my goal. On each quilt I try to be careful, take my time, rip out the mistakes, and I still find too many errors when it's finished. But, each one has fewer errors than the one before, so maybe in a couple of years, I'll have one to enter.
Next, I want to catch up on all the Bunny Hill BOMs that I've neglected throughout the summer. Maybe I'll be able to post pix of them when I get them done--wish me luck.
Barb
Since I can't post pix here, I'll describe it. Three inch scrappy pale blue and white squares set on point make up the center panel. The first border is 5" of scrappy white pieces and the second border is 5" of 1" scrappy blue and white squares set on point. On the white border, I appliqued green batik vines and leaves and mauve and red batik 5-petal roses with round yellow batik centers. I quilted a cross hatch in the center panel and straight lines in the 2nd border. In the white border with the appliques, I filled in all the white areas with large flowers and viney leaves. Pieced back on which I appliqued the leftover rose petals and it's done.
I think it's the very best quilt I've done (but I say that about every quilt I finish because each one is so much better than the last!) But it still isn't good enough to enter in a major show, and that's my goal. On each quilt I try to be careful, take my time, rip out the mistakes, and I still find too many errors when it's finished. But, each one has fewer errors than the one before, so maybe in a couple of years, I'll have one to enter.
Next, I want to catch up on all the Bunny Hill BOMs that I've neglected throughout the summer. Maybe I'll be able to post pix of them when I get them done--wish me luck.
Barb
Monday, August 3, 2009
Moving forward, finally!
I'm making progress both on the remodel and the quilting. Hurray! I finally went back to the machine yesterday and started sewing. I've come down with a chest cold that makes it hard to do any gardening or painting, so I forced myself to spend the afternoon at the sewing machine. I finished Lily's nightgown so that meant I could go ahead and begin the wedding quilt. Yea!!!! I got almost all of the center panel done before bedtime--all pale blue and white 3" squares set on point--but tonight I have to finish painting Lily's room so we can start moving her--and all her things!--back in there.
Don is going back to work. His month of "retirement" is about over. He says he really liked just puttering around the house and garden, and he played a LOT of golf! But tonight he's got a board meeting to go to and I expect tomorrow he'll be back in the school. My retirement is a few years away--I haven't decided exactly when. I'll know when the time comes.
Don is going back to work. His month of "retirement" is about over. He says he really liked just puttering around the house and garden, and he played a LOT of golf! But tonight he's got a board meeting to go to and I expect tomorrow he'll be back in the school. My retirement is a few years away--I haven't decided exactly when. I'll know when the time comes.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
I haven't posted anything here for several weeks because I've not been quilting. We are in the middle of a big remodel--guest bathroom, guest bedroom (which Lily uses) and TV room. I've been priming, painting, varnishing, and tomorrow will lay the tile floor in the bathroom. Much too busy to be sewing--but I'm starting to get a little crazy from not being able to spend time at the machine.
I promised my friend that I would make a quilt for her daughter's wedding in September and I'm so anxious to get started on it so, hopefully, it'll be finished in time. Yesterday I stopped at the quilt shop and got the fabrics I need and I hope to be able to get started on it next week. I think my remodeling work will be finished for awhile and I can get started. With luck, I'll post some pictures of the project.
I promised my friend that I would make a quilt for her daughter's wedding in September and I'm so anxious to get started on it so, hopefully, it'll be finished in time. Yesterday I stopped at the quilt shop and got the fabrics I need and I hope to be able to get started on it next week. I think my remodeling work will be finished for awhile and I can get started. With luck, I'll post some pictures of the project.
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