Upset checkerboard and Alien Yarn!

My block for today was a 4 patch. I made 18 of them and squared up about 30 of them, don't know for sure because I didn't keep track. All this in an attempt to make the checkerboard border for my "Delilah" quilt top so I can get some backing fabric and get it finished! I worked and worked on it and got down to laying out the last border and the checkerboard pattern wouldn't work. I didn't have the right number of checkers for the pattern to continue all the way around. I think, no problem I will just replace one of the 4patches in a corner with a plain white square and write the label in it. Well it didn't work either! I could take in all the little seams a little bit and tack 2 more squares onto the end, but take them in a whole INCH? I gave up on this tonight. Crap, crap!

On a much happier note I finished spinning my "Alien Batt" into Alien Yarn that GLOWS IN THE DARK! That's right! It is so awesome! Marion talked me through plying via YM since I had never tried plying before, I'd only done "singles". I think my yarn is a "2ply" because there are 2 yarns plyed along with glow in the dark thread. I don't think the thread counts as a "ply" LOL! I can't remember how much wool I started with, I think it might have been some where between 2.5 and 3oz but I got 76 yards of the 2ply and then another 10yard little pet of yarn that is just a single plyed with the glow in the dark thread.

Okay I have a confession. I thought the whole Twilight faze was so dumb when the movie came to threaters. All the little teenage girls lining up to watch the vampire movie. The STUPID vampire movie with day walking "vegetarian" vamps. HA! Well, when they released the movie to video they showed different commercials that made it look like it wouldn't be so bad and since our local grocery has a really cheap movie rental place in it, I rented it yesterday. I love it! I've watched it like 3 times. It is a beautiful, (cheesy, corny) romantic movie without any sex, which is nice for a change. Despite Mom's hatred of all things vampy (LOL) I love them, and it's a constant disappointment that I don't have fangs. Truly. Anyways I am going to try to get the books from the library now, since the movie left an opening for a sequel and I just HAVE to know what happens. BTW if you haven't seen the movie, you gotta watch it if for nothing else than the Cullen family playing baseball. Soo awesome!

Theft at the Post Office and an Opportunity for Forgiveness

I had really good intentions to get some quilting done this weekend. I didn't. Tony was home, I was tired, we ran around a lot. I even thought about just "cheating" and making some 4 patches today but who am I kidding? Which is terrible because I need to remake a bag like one I sold yesterday (praise God!). Hannah is not cooperating, again, though. I don't know if she is having a growth spurt or what but she has been soo clingy and wanting to nurse every 5 minutes (seems like). I haven't gotten sleep in days!


I am so upset and disappointed tonight. I mailed a Secret Pal package to my pal 2 weeks ago. I couldn't afford to mail it priority so it went parcel and I have mailed things back and forth with her with no problem so I didn't think about insurance either. It took 2 weeks for her to get it and this is what she got! I cannot believe it.

Someone stole everything out of the box! They torn the ends (which i made sure to tape very well!) off, took out everything inside it (7 quilt magazines, a pin cushion, a pigma pen and 4 quilt blocks I made especially for her!) and replaced the contents with a metal pole from the rollers they slide the mail across on!!!!! Then they packed brown paper bags in the ends of the box and retaped it. This is so horrible, I can't even begin to tell you! Monetarily there was only maybe, $25 wrapped up in the package (before shipping costs) but I purposely bought a lot of a specific quilt magazine off eBay for her, made the blocks, etc. I am so sad. She is going to her PO in the morning to talk to them, since there is a person somewhere between here and there not only stealing mail but stealing PO equipment to refill boxes!! Sheesh!

I'm adding on to this post from earlier because of a converstation I got to have with my son. I didn't think Jeremiah was paying any attention when I talked to my Mom and husband on the phone about what happened, but a few minutes ago he came to me and said, "Mama someone stole her stuff?" I told him yes, that is what happened.
He said, "Why would someone do that?"
I said, "Because sometimes people do bad things. That is why we need to love Jesus, because He can help us not do so many bad things. And He forgives us when we do."
Jeremiah nodded and said, "Like I forgive Josiah (his 8yr old uncle) when he does bad things."
I said "Yes, but it's even better when Jesus forgives us because He forgives things no one else can."

It's an awful thing that happened, and I am still sad about the loss. But the loss was just "things." Because of this situation I was able to talk to my son more about Jesus, and that is worth it. The lady who received the package (or lack of) said she would pray for whoever got into the box. She was being more Christlike than I was at the moment because I was thinking that maybe it would be nice if the air got let out of their tires. I'm a little ashame of that. The Lord forgives me, quickly, when I ask! I should be quick to do the same. As a normal human it's not my first reaction to let things go, forgive and move on. It's easier sometimes--most of the time--to hold the hurt close and let it get worse. It's kind of like getting a thorn in your hand and letting it sit and poison you. It hurts to remove it, but leaving it alone will just make things worse. And so I do pray for whoever got into her box. I pray that they might even enjoy the magazines and learn a new craft of quilting, make quilts and bless others with them! But mostly I pray that someday they meet Jesus and accept His forgiveness, cause it's better than anything else.

Fluff 4 Ewe (You!)

Another post, I know. I just had to tell you about my sister Diantha's new etsy shop!
She is 14 years old and is taking a major hands on approach to begin collecting credits for highschool. Being a new spindler and lover of all things sheepy she has opened a shop specifically for the showing and selling of fiber in ALL it's stages! Raw, cleaned, carded, dyed and spun!

It is new tonight so she only has a couple items listed, but please if you have any interest in knitting or crocheting with wool heart her shop and check back with her in a week or so.

Fluff for Ewe
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7131594
All proceeds go toward car funds, other hobby materials and earrings LOL!

If it Ain't One Thing...

It's 12. Well, not really 12. Today has been a pretty good day all in all. I have a killer, sick to my stomache headache that has been building for 2 days. That is I guess the only bad thing that happened today except that my 3 yr old is making me NUTS. Kid won't pay attentin, won't obey, won't list....basically he's being a 3yr old boy.

I finished Mekenzei's bag today and mailed it! I have pictures to share but now my computer won't read my camera. AHHHH!!! It is worked EVERY day, 36 TIMES a day if I want it to. I plugged it into the computer tonight and only half of the pictures loaded. It wouldn't let me transfer any of them them. Every time I tried to unplug and plug it in again I got an annoy little pop up that said USB port not read. Crap.

I didn't make a quilt block today, see previous paragraphs about finishing a bag and having a headache. I've worked a little on spinning some of my Alien Batt I made from lime green dyed romney wool carded with some black merino. It is strange, it is the same wool I used to make my Watermelon yarn about a month ago but for some reason this one is spinning up right between sock weight and worsted weight yarn! Very thin. The good thing is I will get more yarn, the bad thing is I am going to ply it with some glow in the dark thread and the thread is $5 for a spool of 100yds. I only got about 10 minutes worth of spinning done on it, which I also took pictures of but can't share.

I recieved my mini quilt from the 4 Seasons Quilt Swap 5!!!!! I panicked when I saw the envelope though, it came from Australia and my hubby said "Isn't that who sold your Sheep on Safari mini to back in Jan?" I thought oh no, please don't tell me it got lost in the mail and took 2 months to come back!! Nope, it was a wonderful, miniature red quilt! I had to steal pics from Helen's blog since MY CAMERA or COMPUTER SUCKS! but here it is, I love it! Please click on the pictures to look at bigger versions of them because the quilting is so pretty! I think I have just the spot for this, right inside my front door on the wall! I can't wait to get a little wood dowel (probably I will steal a stick from my Mom's yard and sand it) and hang it. Thank you, thank you Helen! I love it! It is called Summer Poppies and it's just beautiful!

Baby Genius!

My friend Jenn of Sunshine of Autumn Quilts makes these "Baby Genius" play quilts and they are SO cool! She is always giving me a little plug on her blog for my bags so I thought I would return to favor and encourage all you parents of little ones or soon to be grandparents--and I know some of my readers are!-- to head on over and look at her items!

These Baby Genius quilts are wonderful for babies! So bright and colorful, with interestingly patterned fabric. I wish I had thought about buying one from her when Hannah was a little baby, though I'm sure she'd still like one I think she has moved on to eating my wallet (an every day occurance). These quilts are all cotton, quality fabrics and cotton batting! Wonderful for your baby! This one is backed with a super-cute ABC flannel which makes it just that much more soft and cuddly. Go check them out, I know you'll love one!

Pinwheel

I am blogging early today because Hannah, being overly sleepy, stubborn and wanting to nurse won't let me out of the recliner and let's face it, there are only so many times you can check your email when no one is writing to you!

I made my block for today, a pinwheel. I am working on a birthday present bag for a little girl named Mekenzei and it is for that project. Here is a little sneak peak. I have made much more progress on it than this, but this is all you get. And yes, I am aware that my ironing board cover is gross. I have a new one, I just haven't put it on yet!

My MIL is on her way to get Jeremiah, for which I am SO thankful! Apparently I didn't get enough sleep last night and his 3yr old entusiasm and selective hearing is driving me nuts! She's gonna watch him while I go pay the fee for the craft show.

I have another moment of shame to share, though this time it doesn't involve eating things found on the seat of my car. When I got out of the shower this morning I found Tony and Hannah lying on the "dining room" floor and he was patting her back. She went to sleep and had a nap on the carpet, poor baby! The real shame is this, I kicked stuff out of the way to take the picture so everyone wouldn't see how trashed my floor was! Tony thought it was funny. I have since cleaned and vacuumed said floor.

Delilah

When you share a Fudge Round with an over zealous 11 1/2 month old, you end up with little fudge turds all over your newly washed blue jeans.

My block for today was a Churn Dash and that made my 9th block out of the three fabrics I've been using which gave me enough for my quilt top. I experimented with the layout of blocks and settled on one I liked best. Then I played with sashing; white was too bland, black was too harsh and the blue floral print was way too much! Usually if I making a sampler style quilt I prefer to use sashings and/or cornerstones so that the individual block patterns don't get lot together. For some reason this quilt just looks better without them, so I sewed the blocks together and added a thin 1" (finished) border. I like it like this but I wanted to go just a little bit bigger so I came up with the idea of a checkerboard border.

I wanted to include just a couple black squares in it and I've done one per side. I don't have all my blue and white 4patches made so bear with me. Should I make it 2 or 3 black squares per side or just leave it at what it is? I couldn't decided what to call this quilt so Mom did me the favor of hollering over her shoulder at all my brothers and sisters, "What's a girl name?!" THere were several answers but "Delilah" was the best and seems to suit this quilt rather well. I keep having a picture in my head of it finished and set diagonally on a table, so I think I will market it as a lap quilt or table topper. Might also add a hanging sleeve. My goal is to get the top finished by this weekend when I can afford to pick up some backing fabric. BTW my Churn Dash block for today is in the bottom left hand corner of the quilt.
This was my "wordless Wednesday" pic from this morning. Tony has an ATV playstation game Jeremiah just loves because he can drive around aimlessly and run into things.

I finally managed to snag a Treasury West on Etsy, I had collected items and favorited them for it about a week ago. I called it Majestic Mountains. It is almost all from the Quiltsy team I am on. The next one I want to do will be all bags from the Carried Away team I'm on, then the Schooling at Home Estians (SHE) team.... then I can do some just for fun, LOL!

Another lovely etsian featured one of my bags in their treasury tonight, a beautiful collection called Aqua and Magenta

Pirate Tote your Booty!

My latest listing! Took me ALL day yesterday to finish when it should have only taken about an hour. Here for your enjoyment, a tote bag! Measuring 10" wide by 10.5" tall and 2" deep it has 2 30" straps! The perfect size to tote whatever treasures you need to! For more information see: Quilted Batik PIRATE TOTE YOUR BOOTY Cotton Handbag

Modified Friendship Star

So I am a little behind or maybe I have just been doing "instead of" on my block a day. Jenn's bag counted for I think 6 days. I made a bag or two a couple of the days, so now I am getting back to doing the calender. Except the blocks for the quilt it's doing now are kinda stupid. Well, not really. They are simple 4 patch or QST surrounded by a strip of fabric on all 4 sides. Not what I need to finish the blue/teal, white and black quilt I've been making blocks for. So I came up with my own, a modified friendship star.

I have added several new handbag listings to my Hamncheezr.etsy.com shop in the last couple days and I have more to add the rest of the week--mostly little handbags or "Little Princess" bags for little girls. I had a lazy do nothing day, really. I meant to finish a "regular" batik handbag, a venture that should have taken about an hour but has in fact taken ALL day and is still not done. Hannah was needy today, which kind of suited my "sit on the couch" mood. Jeremiah and I tidied up a little around the living room this evening but that was it. Sat around and rested I guess, though I don't feel rested. Maybe Hannah will be happier tomrrow and I can get some kind of work done since my MIL is taking Jeremiah for the afternoon. Or I can sit around with Hannah and watch a movie, LOL!

Jenn's Bag

Now that Jenn has recieved her bag in today's mail (but not her secret pal package mailed a week earlier! Curses!) I can share pictures! I finished 2 other small bags today too and listed them in my etsy shop. I wasn't going to, but this gives them the opportunity to sell in the next
month before the craft show. And if they don't, they were going with me anyway.

Jenn picked out and sent me the fabrics for the outside of the bag (I supplied the toile lining fabric) and said she wanted it big enough for a water bottle, crochetting, book, etc. Here's what I came up with. It is about 15" square by 3" deep. I had never done a Lone Star pattern before and I LOVE them so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try one! I am really happy with the way it came out, considering I'd never done "Y" seams before either!

Jenn loves autumn so I chose 4 different leaf patterns for the other side. One of them is appliqued, a leaf that I drew. I say it's an oak leaf but I'm probably not entirely accurate there. Either way it's pretty.

I pieced the sides too just to make them interesting. There is no closure for this bag 'cause she said she didn't think she'd need one. I put lots of pockets along one side of the lining and one pocket with elastic around the top to hold a skinny water bottle in the side.

It has a strap made from three different prints. I originally pieced 2 fabris for each strap, then realized I wasn't sure if I made them long enough so I had to add the third piece. I also padded the straps to make them comfortable incase she loads the bag down with bricks or something.

When I started quilting the Lone Star it was the only part of the bag I had done, so basially one quilt block. Tony looked at it and said, "Tell her if anyone wants a bag like it, it'll be $100!" LOL! I almost agree. If I do say so myself, it is quite terrific!

Knitting Pattern Please?

I have about 100 yards of a wool yarn that I handspun, slightly thick and thin but mostly worsted weight. I am looking for a small project since I don't have any more of this yarn (and wasn't intending to buy another batt but I could! LOL!). I am not really intersted in something felted either.

I want something kind of fun. Not a scarf. I'm thinking maybe fingerless gloves like I made my sister but only want to do that as a last resort. I've been browsing through Knitty and nothing has particularly sparked my interest. I should mention that I cannot follow a pattern to save my life so I need something particularly easy, LoL!

Please let me know your ideas!!

A Good Time?

Last night at 11 pm our head maintenance man/manager for our apartment complex knocked on our door and informed us that our shower drain in our master bath was leaking into the tub of the master bath in the apartment underneath us. Lovely! He says, Just use the shower in your hall bathroom and we'll be back Monday to fix it. I told him the shower in that bathroom hasn't worked in the 2 years we've lived here. It wasn't a big problem for us since the tub works just fine and that's the "kids" bathroom and I usually give them baths anyway. The good thing was I had a shower right before he got here and I can give the kids baths tonight so Tony is the only one with a problem, LoL! The bad news is when the guy showed up I was sitting on my couch with a towel on my head, in my jammies, with my house TRASHED (2 days of just coming and going littered with baby toys) and a beer in my hand (one of those new Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus, yummy!) This morning I realized I also had a bright red Victoria's Secret bra hanging in the shower he was looking at. Mom says Beer, Towel, Trashed House, Lingerie...sounds like a good time.

We took Jeremiah bowling along with his Nana Cheryl. (Papa) Buddy was supposed to meet us but has even worse timing than Daddy does so Buddy showed up about the time we were eating dessert at Ryan's. I didn't do toooooo badly, I bowled I think 108, LOL! Seriously I've bowled 48 before so it was a good day. Dropped Jeremiah at church, drove over to Alter Ego on Kingston Pike to talk to "Big Jon" Goad about Tony's scorpion tat. The guy is awesome and is currently sporting a 6" fuchsia mohawk like Tony and Jeremiah had last summer. Killer!

Yesterday was also National Quilting Day and did I sew even one stitch? No! The closest thing I got to "quilting" was to cut out 4 sets of 10 5" charms from blue fabrics for this months charm swap. Tomorrow I will have to play catch up on my block a day again, but that's okay 'cause the only thing on the agenda is to rent Twilight.

Today Tony and I cleaned house (with Jeremiah's help, he picked up his toys like a good boy) so that tomorrow the maintenance dude's can come and do their thing. The main part of my house wasn't so bad but my bedroom needed a LOT of work. Basically just boiled down to putting clothes up and most of those were Tony's though, so ha!

Dropped Jeremiah off at my parents house to play so we could keep our 6pm apt. with Jon. Mom, being the great artist that she is drew Tony a tattoo of a scorpion with "Luke 10:19" in the "links" of the tail. He was so happy with that! And Jon, being the great artist that he is inked it for him this evening. Tony went with classic red and black to which I said he was just trying to copy me, LoL! (My tats are all red and black). He's been wanting this tattoo for at least 2 years, if not longer. I am so happy he finally was able to get it!! When we got back Jeremiah had Mom draw a "tattoo" on him of a "guppion" as he put it. Check out some of the work they've done over at Alter Ego where we get our "body modifications" done, LOL!

I got a little work done too 'cause piercings are on special on Sunday, hahahaha!

grr batteries!

I am exhausted and I haven't even begun to clean up my house (which needed it this morning but there was no time) or bathe my children (for the second time today)!

My brothers and sisters (and I have many) participated in a sort of aggricultural/science fair this afternoon. They had a "booth" on growing things and another one about what to do with sheep. LoL! The "booth" next to theirs was shearing sheep all day and then theirs was about cleaning, carding, dying, spinning and knitting. That was fun. I got a bunch of pictures and of course my batteries died. GRR! So now I have to either recharge the stupid batteries or find other batteries and I am not bothering with it tonight.

Hit the fabric store after that and got some fabrics for the blue charm swap this month. They are in the washer right now along with some more of the black I've been using for blocks so I can once again begin my block-a-day, tomorrow. I've been doing them, I swear, just not sharing pics. Several went into Jenn's bag which I mailed today so I should be able to share pics of it on Tuesday? Marion recieved a package I sent her today too so I can share pics of the little girly bag I made for her daughter Barbie. Here are those pics.

I made 2 other "Little Princess" bags I call 'em yesterday. Have a third ready to put the lining and straps in and then it will be done, I just didn't get to it last night. Can't share pics of THEM because of the batteries. Now I can cross those off my list. I cut the linings for 5 sock knitting bags but didn't make the pockets so those are next on the list. All in preparetion for the craft show. This thing BETTER happen or I am going to be SWIMMING in quilted handbags, LOL!

Tony is off for the weekend and on the agenda is for him to get a tattoo he's been wanting for at least 2 years. He wanted it to years ago when I got my cross on my back but I told him it was my turn, LOL! I still say it's my turn since he has 1 more tat than I have but he's not listening to reason. Men! Mom is supposed to be drawing him his scorpion as we speak. We shall see, hahaha! He said something about dropping me and the kids off at Mom's while he went to go to that. Huff! He said it was because he didn't think Hannah would be happy without me for the couple hours it'll take, and they won't let babies in the tattoo parlor. *I* think it is because he is afraid to take me with him because instead of costing him $200 it will cost him $350, buahahahaha.... And a special thank you to everyone who has purchased an item from me in the last couple months for your contribution to my wonderful hubby's tattoo fund!! I appreciate it!

Ice Cream and Denim

Today started bright an early again, with a still-sleepy Hannah thinking she was cheery and wanting to play so I've spent most of the day cuddling her off and on. Mom and the kids came over this evening while a couple of the kids were at church and she brought her leftover corned beef and cabbage roast (with carrots, potatoes and onions) and turned it into Corned Beef Soup (with the help of some canned tomatoes). She also brought some freshly baked herb bread. Yummy! One of my favorite meals I think and she makes the best bread, I could make a meal out of it by itself!

I finished up 2 bag UFOs today, ones I had started a week or so ago. The first was a dishtowel that I had. It was so cute with a dish of ice cream surrounded by cherries and a blue checkerboard. I added a too-orange lining with a couple pockets, straps and a zipper and made it a great summery tote! I listed it in my esty shop but if it doesn't sell by the craft show I'm planning on in May it will go with me that weekend. : ) It measures 12.5" tall by about 17.5" wide. Both sides are exactly the same.

The second UFO was a litte handbag/clutch from some more of those jeans I cut up a while ago. I have enough of the jeans left to do 1 or 2 more little bags like this. Tony bought me a yard of this wintry horse fabric for my birthday for me to make bags out of because he said, "Chicks like horses." I appliqued a 2 horses on the front and put a patch-style pocket on teh back. It measures 10.5" at the top (9" wide at the bottom) and about 8.5" tall. This one didn't make it in my etsy shop but is going to the craft show. I might make another one like this but get some of those wooden handles to go on it instead of the fabric handles. This bag is lined with the horse fabric. Everytime I make a bag out of these blue jeans all I can think of is "denim and pearls." LOL!

And that's all I have to report for the day. Oh! Except this morning before Tony left for work I finished Jenn's bag!!!!!! Since I am such a pain I am not posting pictures of it until she gets it and I will be mailing it either tomorrow or Friday so sometime next week I should be able to post pics.

Tiny, Me?

Ever have one of thise moments when someone tells you something about yourself that you know just isn't true and you mentally go "Huh"?
Today a girl and her mother came over to try on the prom dress I am selling on the craighslist (didn't fit, total bummer) and during the course of the visit the woman commented that my son is going to be a big guy when he grows up. I mentioned that he started out big at 9.5 lbs and 22" long. She said, "How did you get him out you are tiny!!"
What?? Never has someone said I'm tiny. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm an amazon or anything but I am 5'8 and wear a 9/9.5 shoe. I have big hands (almost 8" long) and I'm big boned. Yeah, I read somewhere that there is not such thing as "big boned" but I defy that particular author to then explain how, with not a scrap of extra meat around my ankles I have to custom order anklets to fit for length?? Ha! Tiny. Huh. Kinda made my day.

I have a couple little teases for Jenn, since I've been working on a handbag for her today. Made the straps a litlte while ago, don't know if they are long enough. Crap. Might have to get creative. I've been "exempt" from making a quilt block off the calender since Thursday because since Thurs there has only been one actual pieced block--the only other blocks were a shamrock block and a appliqued chicken block. I am not doing the shamrock because I already made a St Patty's quilt (see back posts for Jeremiah's green quilt/Turtle-Tigress) and I plan on doing the chicken quilt one day but I want to do it in REALLY LOUD bright colored dot and stipe fabrics and I don't have them. And I can't afford them right now So instead I've been working on Jenn's bag, which has blocks so...*blows raspberry*

Jeremiah's fish have been dropping like flies. We're down to 5, we had 9. Apparently they have high cholesterol according to my mother. She's never seen obesity in fish before but mine are C.H.U.B.B.Y. I swear, we read the label on the fish food. It says "3 times daily, as much as the fish will eat in a minute." That is what we feed them. They are just Bowman fish and as we all know, Bowmans are hearty stock, LOL!


So I am a little Irish and I suck at it. I didn't make corned beef and cabbage, though I love it and the leftovers made into soup. Diantha told me, "It's as easy as making a pot roast you know" LOL! I know, but I made sausage rice casserole and made it even more southern by topping it with cheese. And I didn't wear green (though Hannah did). In fact the only thing green I own is a thong, and I'm not sure that would count anyway.

Rechargable batteries

I have no quilty pics to share tonight. One reason being my current project I want to be a surprise and so it is secret, though I know you all know me well enough to believe me when I say I did make a quilt block today. In fact I made 4.

The other reason being that my beloved Duracell batteries I use in my digicam ran out the other day and being broke I broke out the little wall-charger and rechargable batteries I got Tony for Christmas '07 that we'd never opened yet. I charged the batteries all night, took 12 pictures and the wonderful frickin' enviromentally and ecconomically friendly "rechargable" batteries died. Stinking dead. Kaput. No more. Not one OUNCE of juice.

I am wondering how many watts of electricity I am bowling though to recharge these wonderful batteries so I can then take TWELVE LOUSY PICTURES?! Would it be more eco-friendly to just go buy some more beloved, trustworthy, always ready Duracells?

Diantha's fingerless gloves

Finally I can post a pic of the fingerless gloves/mits I knit for Diantha for her birthday. I couldn't do it before I came them to her 'cause the little rugrat reads my blog, LoL!

I love YarnsbyAshleyB on etsy. She doesn't list a ton of stuff in her shop but I like almost everything she does and occasionally I buy some when I'm having a moment of lack of self control. This was one of those occasions. I had favorites a yarn of hers called Misfit Circus thinking it was just the right yarn to knit Diantha something. It was yellow/orange with a slight bit of pink here and there and spun/plied with a thread with sequins on it. I bought it and dyed a small chunk of it dark plum and another chunk very orange just to mix things up. Then I knit it into these super cool fingerless gloves, seen here modeled by Diantha as she tried to cut her cake.

I have been doing a bad job of managing my time. My house is falling down around me while I sit at the sewing machine and I need to rework my priorites with that. I do need to do sewing but I also need to have order in my home. I need to make a list of sewing things I need to get done so I don't get overwhelmed and confused and then I need to make a list of housework to take care of and alternate back and forth between the 2 lists so that everything gets done. Not all in one day mind you, LoL! Today is clean up the house and go grocery shopping day! I have been putting off the shopping since Friday morning and we are seriously out of food, LOL! And I had a girl write to me this morning and say she'd like to come over and try on the prom dress I listed on the craighslist so it's time to clean house too! Nothing like some incentive!!!

What started it all

I didn't blog last night because when Tony got off work at 10:30pm he called and said that his supervisor was taking whoever wanted to go to Shoney's for the breakfast buffet because they ran more parts than day shift by a couple hundred and did we want to come meet him? You'd think I hadn't fed either kid all day because they packed away bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit, salad, everything!

There wasn't a block for yesterday but I did do some sewing: I made a little girl bag. This one isn't going into my etsy shop because I have a better plan for it. I am thinking of making maybe 2 or 3 of these to take to the craft show I'm going to be doing on May. This is getting difficult to decide what to make/take. I don't want to take so much that I look stupid sitting around surrounded by bags, but I want to take enough that if they sell well (I pray!) that I don't run out, ya know? Hmm...must ponder some more, but not right now. Still too sleepy.

I thought I would share with y'all THE Bag that started it all. About a year ago my sister Diantha had her 13th birthday and I couldn't figure out what to get/give her. I had been working on a baby quilt made entirely from batik fabrics and I picked up some scraps and this is what I came up with. I appliqued a rhinestone "D" on the front and a little star burst on the back. She's never washed the bag but I am still amazed and impressed with the iron-on rhinestones since I have seen the kind of abuse this bag has suffered and the rhinestones still are hanging on! I took this bag and filled it with eyeshadow, make up remover, lip gloss, lotion, nail polish and some makeup applicator pads and boy was it a great hit!

Seeing Stars and Birthday Treasury

I snagged a Treasury on etsy tonight, and themed it in honor of my sister Diantha who turns 14 on Wed. When I was a kid I kept praying for a sister but got 2 lousy brothers (LoL) until finally Diantha arrived when I was 9. She was a fussy baby, a whiney little kid and she's turning into the coolest sister ever. She's a GREAT help with my kids, my house and I'm sure for Mom too. She's tall and gorgeous and got hit on today by one of the little redneck boys next door and rolled her eyes. Way to go, Diantha! Go check out my collectio of stuff that reminded me of her, Flower Child

Another etsian included my X's and O's quilt in her treausury here!

The kids and I, along with Mom and her kids and my friend Tara and her kids all visited the Children's Museum in Oak Ridge again. Man do the kids love that place! Afterward, on the way home we stopped by the Artisan Studio in Clinton where some of my handbags are for sale. Sadly none of my bags have sold in the last month but it has been dismal weather not suitable for walking around boutiques and antique stores. Not enough sun shine! Summer is coming though and I hope and pray the sales pick up.

Diantha followed us home, LOL (more like Jeremiah begged her) to spend the night and has been a HUGE help to me with sewing! Together we squared up the 6 star blocks I made the other day, made the other 6, made the 24 enormous flying geese to go around the first set, squared them up and set them together and made the rest of the flying geese I need. Lots of sewing, snipping, squaring and sewing. This is what we ended up with! I will have to add the second round on flying geese around the 6 squares with dark backgrounds tomorrow, I've run out of steam tonight!

Unfortunately Desiree

LOL, I found something tonight kind of fun.
Go to google and type "unfortunately your name" (I used Desiree, of course). Make sure to include the quotes and see what comes up.

Here's some results for "Unfortunately Desiree":
Unfortunately, Desiree loves her husband so much that she feels that she cannot live without him.

Unfortunately, Desiree did not win Miss Rhode Island USA

Unfortunately, Desiree has closed. (What?? LOL)

Unfortunately, Desiree is gone. Disappeared. Probably kaput. No more. Owl dinner.

Unfortunately, Desiree isn’t with me, hunkered down over an old chest used for a backyard table, with grease on our hands and at the corner of our mouths.

Unfortunately, Desiree’ was adamant in her refusal to be pronounced “nuts”.

And there you have it!

Today's bags

Allow me to introduce you to Very Bad Sue!
Needing to calm her troubled mind, Sue has taken off her cumbersom bonnet and prairies dress and is taking a nice ride on her motorcycle! This one of a kind bag is 10"x10.5" tall. Sue and her motorcycle are machine appliqued, her fringe and handlebars have been drawn with a permanent heat-set ink. She is surrounded by batik fabrics and the back of the bag is all scrap-pieced batiks and machine quilted in a free style. The bag is lined with a black and red Betty Boop on motorcycles print. It zips shut along the top and has a 40" long strap for cross-body ear making it a perfect bag to take motorcycle riding!

I have one more of these Bad Sue bags in mind, but it will be a bigger, tote like bag with shorter straps and pockets. This bag seen here will be available locally for $38. After that there are no more Very Bad Sue Bags unless made upon special request.

Also today I have a small clutch or hang bag. Made from recycled blue jeans it has a hybiscus flower appliqued on the front and small handles and button tab made from the same fabric. The button is wooden, very cool with the jeans and the lining is a cheery green color to go with the leaves of the flowers. This bag will also be available locally at a show in May for $15.

Today I didn't get anything else done, LOL! Except hold Hannah who was particularly cuddly today and I spent 45 minutes singing to Jeremiah to fall asleep for a nap. Time well spent!

Meager Productivity

Today I was going to get a lot accomplished! My house was going to be pleasantly tidy and inviting. My children were going to be clean and happy. I was going to sew beautiful masterpieces and cook my hard working husband a gourmet dinner.

Today I didn't get a lot accomplished. My house looks like a picked over yard sale. My children need baths and are still in their jammies from last night. My husband gets to come home to possibly the worst spaghetti I've ever made. My sewing? I got 6 blocks made. Not even 6 whole blocks either, really.

I awoke this morning hurting so badly all over I couldn't really move until naptime after motrin, a very hot shower, a couple glases of caffeine and a lot of complaining. I sorted a huge load of clothes my SIL gave me; weeding out stained items to toss, 5 or 6 outfits to keep (along with as many onesies) and the rest for the goodwill. I folded them and put them up and cleaned out Hannah's drawers while I was at it. I ran my dishwasher. I made 24 flying geese that squared up to 4 1/4" x 2 3/8", talk about weird. Then I cut out 24 2 3/8th" squares for the block corners (which was very difficult today since I was hurting so badly.) Sewed half of the 6 blocks they made up together and realized that I cut LIGHTS for the corners when I needed DARKS. Crap!!
I left off that and made the horrid spaghetti and premade frozen garlic bread. Fed the kids. Picked out a billion little seams. Cut 24 little tiny squares from my dark fabrics (assorted reds). Remade the 6 blocks and ironed them. Then I made the pieces for today's block which the calender says is "Prairie Queen." I didn't get them squared up or sewn together. Hannah is in her fussy stage of the night so I will have to finish it tomorrow. Along with finishing the 6 blocks I made today because they are actually the center square for 6 larger star blocks just like them, hence the star within a star. And if that fiasco weren't enough I realized that I didn't just need 6 blocks the size I made today I need 18 more blocks that size with dark backgrounds and 18 more blocks that size with light backgrounds. Some other day! LOL! They will be the setting squares for around the edges of the quilt so I don't need to start on them til I get these bigger star squares done.

In the middle of all of that, during one of my breaks to nurse Hannah I snagged another treasury on etsy. Jenn (Sunshine of Autumn quilts) asked me if I'd ever made a Nursery Rhyme treasury, since she just happened to list a nursery rhyme quilt *wink* I said I hadn't, but it's time had come! So here it is Nursery Rhymes.

My Mom also got a main treasury collection today too, and did one in my honor, LoL!
Queen of Hearts