January Cold

No photos this posting - I thought I'd warn everyone up front. No energy to find the camera, charge the battery, focus, take out the little thingy, put it in the laptop, resize the photo, etc. I have just enough energy to cough, sneeze and look for the tissue box which keeps getting moved because Big T has the same @#$% stuff as I do. Yuck! (So don't get too close to this posting.)

If you don't catch colds from being in the cold weather, why do you catch more colds in the winter? A long unanswered question.

I ripped out the last border I sewed on just before I got sick. I don't think I will sew anything else until I am focusing more on sewing and less on the other stuff. But that's okay because my eyes aren't focusing anyway. I am still reading blogs daily but it take me almost all day to finally get through them all. Napping seems to be my highest (only) priority this week.

I don't want you all to get sick - so don't get too close.

Another thing about being sick - I had to miss my Majhong lesson yesterday. I made the ultimate sacrifice and stayed home so everyone else could play and have fun. Now they are a lesson ahead of me.

And the book I am reading I have already read - of course, it took me 200 pages to find that out. Nothing slow about me, this week.

You all stay healthy and keep away from this stuff.

Hugs - Marie

A Bad Start to a Good Day!

How many times do you have to do this until you don't do it anymore?

Next to the seam ripper, I think you can see the tear drops from your's truly. No - wait, I can get closer. . .

So then, I use my trusty, sharp seam ripper and redo the 1/2 square triangles - only to discover

The little squirvy (yes, it is a word - I just made it up) lines were going the wrong way. Compare to the laid out blocks of this photo. So, my trusty seam ripper got a lot of practice today. I spent more time ripping than sewing.

It was time to call it a day in the sewing studio. I did not want to tackle assembling the blocks until a 'better day'. Whatever that may mean.

My friend is coming to pick up her 'mug rugs' today. She called earlier and said she wanted a e-reader pocket also for another friend's birthday gift. That compensated for my morning in the studio.

Hugs - Marie

The Boy Toy!

This is a picture of the 'new' boy toy!

This is a picture of the 'new' boy toy and the boy!

See that grin from ear to ear (it may be permanent).

Hugs - Marie

12 Mug Rugs Finished

Finished - 12 mug rugs complete and ready to be delivered. These are to be used as small hostess gifts on her trip to visit family in California next week.

Just what she ordered simple and plain with no frills. These were fun to make and I got lots of practice at machine quilting.

I made these using the '15 minutes of play' method that is popular now in blogland. I just picked up a piece and attached it without any real plan or design in mind. I thought it worked well for me in making these mug rugs. It was a different feeling than having something all designed out and cut to order. I could do this more often. (Only once did D#1 say "Mom, that just doesn't work at all - in fact it's just *****!)

I'm off to look at the 'boy toy' that Big T and the Dude just bought. The Dude is grinning from ear to ear so it must be just great.

Hugs - Marie

New Computer Frustrations

Big T and I got each other new laptops for our Christmas gifts to each other. So now we are trying to learn how to use them effectively without giving in and going back to the old laptops. Different keyboard, new operating system, new applications, and I feel like I am learning about computers all over again. It is taking me 10 times longer to do something that should be a piece of cake. Aaarghhh!

Forget pictures with this blog posting. I can't even find the slot where the little thingy goes. I'm doing well to just type a short message. I do not like to use a mouse - I prefer the little click pad thing on the keyboard. But no one told the little thing that it needs to behave like I expect it. It does weird things when I am least expecting it.

We have been 'iced in' for three days now. Only a trace of snow here, but heavy ice and it has not begun to melt. At least the power is still on - that's a blessing. It is so cold outside and the wind is keeping the chill factor near zero.

I have my assembly line of mug rugs down to handstitching the bindings on 11 more of them. (One is finished all the way.) I probably have about 6 hours of hand work left and then wrap and deliver. I want to get them to her this week so I don't have it hanging over me for the weekend.

I am trying to decide which large quilt I want to tackle next. There are several in blogland that sound cool right now - one's a postage stamp quilt and one's a mystery quilt AND several applique and stitchery quilts. I need to make a decision and commit and quit thinking about it. The time is past for thinking - it is time for action.

Hugs - Marie

Mug Rugs and E-reader Pockets

I'm so excited. I just got a commission to create 12 new mug rugs to be used as hostess gifts for a friend's trip. This is a result of giving them as Christmas gifts to the book club. Below is a photo of the book club mug rugs before wrapping.

This will let me practice so I can submit the perfect mug rug photo for Mme. Samm's mug rug contest. Check out her blog to find out more information.

So tomorrow, I get to go pick out fabric (jelly roll, backing and thread). How fun is that? She leaves on her trip on January 20th. My plan is to get them finished and to her well in advance. I don't want to cause either of us any stress.

I finished another e-reader pocket today. I love the simplicity and the fit of these e-reader pockets. Photo coming tomorrow, it's too dark to take photos now.

I love this little mini-quilt. It would be perfect hanging in a nursery. I actually made this in 2009 but came across it this afternoon and remembered how much I like it. I like the combination of quilting with the machine embroidery.

Thanks for stopping by - your visits mean a lot to me.

Hugs - Marie