Izbzee

Oh to be home again.....

I fly home this evening.  I'm so ready to see T, A and the dogs. There's a part of me thinking that soon this part of the country will be our home.  At least, I'm open to it and I know we'll be visiting again soon.  I've really enjoyed my time with J and C, the grandpups and cat.  It's hard to leave them.  They've been absolutely wonderful to dear ol' mom and undulged all my trips for shopping and playing! 

It's overcast, much like it was when I arrived a couple of weeks ago.  It's been sprinkling off and on throughout the morning hours. More rain expected today and tomorrow and moving eastward --- I guessI will be bringing the 'weather' with me this go round. 

Yesterday I cooked up a pot of chili and made flour tortillas for dinner.  It was yummy and I over indulged!  C provided some additional toppings and some peppers to spice it up a bit more for the more adventurous soul. 

Yesterday, I finished up "Bee Humble"  at least to where I think if I add backing, binding and some tabs for hanging, it's finished.  I hand-stitched the sashings on.  They went on pretty easily, although I did discover either the printing is off grain or the fabric was cut off-grain --- but unless you look closely, it's not too noticable.

I'm going to try to fuse a few pieces to a new stitchery today before I finish packing things up and hopefully, I will be able to spend a part of the flight doing a stitch or two.  If not, it could be sitting for a few days before I have time to touch it again.

 

Wowser!

OH MY Goodness!  It's been an incredible week.  I'm in Scottsdale at the moment staying with #1 son and his wife, the grandpups and "her" cat!  It's finally warmed up to AZ winter temps....instead of northern wintry temps---- Last Sunday there was a snow storm in Tucson.  It snowed the night I arrived there.  The Nurtured Heart Conference was a totally awesome one and I'm coming home with a Brand New Job!  YOWSER ---  Full time and I start in a week and a half.  We won't have to move, since I'll be able to do most of it via the virtual realm - though we haven't ruled moving out, since T is of the mindset that Tucson would put us closer to Utah, Mom, his parents and more of our family. 

Some of my new responsibilities include:  Event manager (scheduling and arranging for workshops across the country and possibly in Europe, South Africa and elsewhere), grant writer, webmaster (which I have been doing) and more.  One of the facilitators has asked me to join her on the fall workshop schedule.  This could be very interesting! 

One a Stitchy Note: 

While I was in Tucson, I did manage to get a few minutes of stitching in and finished off a mini wall hanging (designed by Nancy Halvorsen) called Bee it Ever so Humble.  I'm going to add the sashing today and have it ready for backing and binding by the time I go home on Wednesday evening.  I have 2 other stitcheries here with me and I should be able to get them started before I leave.

Before I left for Tucson last weekend, we picked up some Valentine fabrics for the swap on Crafting Corner and I also got a few charms and goodies to take back to OK with me.  We're going out the first of the week to finish up some shopping and replace some luggage so I can take all my goodies home with me!  :)

Have a great day!

2 for 1

Been playing with an idea or two....The book, Portraits for Fabric Lovers by Marilyn Belford arrived in the mail last week.  Hmmm, am I ready to venture into this?  Nope, definitely a bit of a chicken for sure right now ----- BUT I have been playing with a few photos in Photo shop using her techniques in prepping photos for use as the basis for a quilt.  It's been fun to "play" this evening.  I guess cabin fever is setting in and although I should be stitching, I'm sitting here at the computer, again.

With all the white stuff outside, the Violets seem like a breath of Spring.  They were a gift to me from the folks at iVillage after Marshall passed away a couple of years ago.  This is the first time they've bloomed since the flowers arrived.  They sure are pretty.

they've been in bloom since Mid-December.  Hard to believe that they'e held their blossoms for so long.  They look purple to the naked eye, but nearly blue in the photos.  I'm in love with them.  They'll have to be re-potted later this Spring.

It might be fun to take  a trip into the LQS and fondle all those batiks and find the perfect pieces for this project.  I need to upsize it a bit, maybe to 11 X 17 or so.  Right now, it's still a 4x6. 

 

pincushion tutorial

This was so fun to make and Margot's directions were easy to follow.  We have a few ladies in my monthly group that needed some "extra help" since they are beginning sewers, so we added a few pictures to help them along the way.   Download pincushion.pdf 

Ice Storm

It's day 2 of the first ice storm of 2007.  It sure would be nice if it could be the last too!  however, the weathermen are predicting a 3rd day tomorrow.  All of our church meetings have been canceled for tomorrow.  We were sent home from work early yesterday as the conditions worsened in a very short period of time.  It's freezing here.  And for some reason, the dogs can't decide whether to stay out or in! 

The tarp on the pool is heavy with water.  It's frozen over and the "crust" is thick enough for the dogs to walk on it!  It was water yesterday!  It's COLD! and the temps are expected to drop even more this evening.

I'm taking advantage of being "homebound" and finishing up a few things.  The first being this little goodie that just needed some handwork done on it.  The stitching doesn't really show, 'cause I did it in red and added some beads for a little more embellishment.  I plan on doing another of these little goodies and will try a few more elaborate stitches on it.  It's a Nancy Halverson pattern (http://arttoheartonline.com )  I've also finished a Cheery Heart pin cushion and took several photos of the process to complete a tutorial for one of the Fat Quarter swap goodies.  The original pattern is by Margot Languedoc.  It's a pretty easy sewing project.  I made a couple of adaptations size wise, but we thought that having a pictorial tutorial would help some of our less-experienced sewers that are participating.  I'll post pictures of it later once we have the tutorial written.

I had planned on getting the binding done on one of the quilts done today-- but the binding fabric has disappeared since it was purchased and so far my search for it has been futile.  I know it's here somewhere!  So now, it's off to knit for a little while....or maybe read Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton. 

New Year of projects and a few carryovers

Gosh, my list of projects for the year is already nearly as long as my arm!  No kidding!

Finish the 3 quilts I already have in progress

Work on and complete at least 3 of the kits (quilting) I purchased last year from Art to Heart onliine last year.

Finish the baby afghan before our new grandbaby is born in August --- yes, I've started it, but each row takes several hours to complete since it's a diagonal basket weave type pattern.

Knit the Sampler Cardigan -- the kit is at the ready

Keep up on the cards and beading

Do at least one of the EPP projects I've kitted

Participate in at least 2 swaps for the groups I moderate.

New Year and more.....

the first week of January has come and gone already.  T has had his first dr appointment of the year, and he may be facing another eye surgery.  We'll have to wait for the results from the tests this coming Friday when he returns for a more thorough exam.  There is some major concern about additional retinal tears if they try to remove the cataract.

We've had a houseful at the "hotel."  We had so much fun over New Year's weekend and really enjoyed having 5 of the 7 kids at home, albeit for a few short hours.  It was great spending time with them and we're very happy they chose to spend some time with us.  And we did get some pictures --- although A was working when we had the opportunity to take them.  That darn timer on the digital sure makes it hard to get back into the picture once it's set!  We finally got one shot and called it good!  At least we got a traditional picture at the fireplace during the holidays.

Having T's brother and family spend the weekend was a blast!  M and I had a blast doing some shopping and spending money --- yep, we had some leftover Christmas money to play with!  I was definitely having a grand old time at a few of my favorite crafting haunts.  HL sure caught our attention in the beading aisle.  M wanted to make some jewelry and I didn't have enough goodies in my stash so we tried to buy the store out!  What fun and we "played" for near 8 hours with them.

Boxers or Briefs, Apples to Apples, both games, became family favorites as well over the weekend.  We turned off the TV and enjoyed the time spent learning more about each other!  LOL  These are definitely on our list for this year as must haves and must shares with the rest of the family. 

I think I'll finally be able to mail out the cookbooks this week (I know, I promised them the week after Christmas).  I did let a few other things get in the way.  But the stack is still sitting here by the laptop awaiting labels.  Those are on tonight's list of Must do's after FHE.  By the way, I wonder what we're doing tonight?