Christmas Brought Something I Have Wanted For 23 Years.

      Well, another Christmas has come and gone. With the fun of having my children home also came the fun of receiving a gift I have wanted for 23 years - a hammock. Took a few pictures of the graceful Miss Patte getting in and out of it. I wish I could turn this into a flip book.

Enjoy the show:

 

Taa Daaa!

     I lived to fight another day!     :)





I Am UnBlogged Down At The Moment

I am finally caught up with past blog entries. I tried to post them in order of "happnins". I don't know why it didn't turn out that way.

We'll see how long I can stay caught up.

Next post?

Don't hold your breath too long.

I Am Blogged Down

NOTE: This post was originally written 12/17/11.

It seems that I haven't posted an entry since November 6. Well you should know I really haven't NOT posted, just haven't finished one TO post. I have 5 in the works, but attaching pictures and having to think (this time of year) is rawthaw a chore.

As usual, work is BUSY and with Christmas in one week and with a new grandson coming the first of February, I am feeling bogged down (mentally). Therefore with all those blog posts in the waiting, I am blogged down.

HAHA

Patent Pending: I am officially patenting that phrase, unless it already has been. Let me check Google.

BRB.

DANG!

There are already plenty of people using Blogged Down. I did find a definition: Spending too much time blogging to keep a person from interacting with the real world. This is not what I'm experiencing. Au contraire! My reality (or my reality as I see it - who knows how real it is?) is keeping me from blogging.

I thought I found a site with fun definitions and wanted to tell you to check it out. Well, after looking it over I guess I won't. A lot of it seems to be a bit earthy for my taste. And most of you know my taste, but, EEEKKK!!!! I wanted to post the Word of the Day. However, HAHAHAHAHA, it was NOT appropriate. Only funny because it was so awful. Oh My!!! Nevermind!

This is another reason why I can't finish posting a blog. I get myself in messes.

Puppies - Good Thing They Are Cute!

NOTE: This post originally was dated 11/17/11.

These two puppies!!!

We have put up with their shenanigans for more than 9 months. The yard is littered with trash pulled from the burn barrel. Bones are brought up from the woods. We can't have nice flowerbeds.  It's a good thing they're cute. The latest?

Margaret Thatcher (top) and Winston Churchill (bottom)

We got to noticing foamy chunks all over the yard. What is that?

Winston? Buddy, who's a good boy?

What are you up to? What is that?

Winston! You are not a good boy!    Margaret! What is your part in this?

What the heck? The 4-Wheeler has been sitting in the yard forever.

What would obsess them to do that now?

IT'S A GOOD THING THEY'RE CUTE!!!

The Bubble Quilt Is Finished

NOTE: This post originally dated 11/13/11.

     I finished the last of the binding the night of 11/6. It immediately went to the washing machine and dryer to start the fuzzing of the patchwork circles. The fabrics were preshrunk, but I did not preshrink the batting. The batting will shrink slightly in the dryer, causing the quilt to krinkle, giving it a vintage look. I can't wait for Emily to see it.

The binding turned out nice.

     The block design is called Bulls Eye. See my blog post from 7/10 showing the finished top. The process of quilting this quilt didn't happen like I envisioned, but still it's FAB. I hoped the colored bubble circles would be the quilting, but I couldn't free-motion stitch perfect circles. I decided to hand embroider the bubble circles, but didn't go through all layers. So for the quilting I made a spiral on the pachwork circles and machine stitched around them for additional quilting. I used white thread, not wanting them to be visible.

 A few of the many colored bubbles.

   

  These two pictures show the blocks after the quilt was washed. I used a 1/4" seam but maybe it was still too close for raw edge applique. Some of the fabric was thin-ish. A lesson learned: Be sure to use quality fabric. I think the fabric I used was fine, but all the fabrics were not of the same quality. I shortened the stitch length, but maybe it should have been even shorter. While taking these pictures, I noticed there are several places where the fabric "fuzzed away" when it was washed. I will plan on patching this a lot as it is "loved."

NOTE: I wanted to use clear monofiliment thread, but my sister, Kathi, instructed me that it's not advisable to use on anything for babies. If the thread should break or loosen, little fingers could become entangled and damaged; the unspeakable could happen. Thank you, Kathi. That's why I come to you.





These two pictures show the front and back of the same block, showing the spiral quilting.

This shows the quilting better, the white circle around each Bull's Eye block

and the multi color thread spiral in each block.

     I can't wait to see my new grandson wrapped up in it, or later dragging it behind him, dirty and well loved. Or better yet, dragging it off to college.

     Well, it's on to finishing another...