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

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

Out with the old -

My new living room furniture is being delivered tomorrow - so today is out with the old so we can bring in the new. As a result, I have not done anything related to decorating for the holidays. Everything in the living room is being replaced with a totally different look and there is no reason to decorate twice. I'm so excited. We have been talking about doing this for at least a year and then we just did it. Walked in the store and said 'that's what we want.'

It is icy cold here this week. Our snow of Saturday melted overnight, but now it is even colder.

My book club gifts are all complete (except for hand stitching the binding on the final three). Now just to wrap and they are ready for the luncheon on Wednesday. I need to write a poem to go with my 'mug rugs'. I'm thinking they remind me of 'magic carpets' - that kind of goes along with reading.

I also need to put the prairie points and binding on my kitchen table runner. I pinned the prairie points in place and realized some were cut from 4" squares and some from 3 1/2" squares. I had to go back and trim all my squares to 3 1/2".

I also finished the shawl from the purple self-striping yarn. It made up very nicely. I had exactly 29" of yarn left over when I finished it. I was just a tad worried the last few rows. I am ready to start a long cowl scarf from the green/blue of the same yarn.

The question of the day is - how many napkins do I make? Big T has decided he does not want to use paper napkins anymore. Fine, but at one napkin per person per meal - realistically, how many napkins do I need to make. Say we have an average of three people for each meal and I do laundry once a week - that's 63 napkins. Hmmmmmm! I am thinking about picking a color and then lots of coordinating prints in a 12" by 12" square. I've decided, it's easier to make a quilt than this project.

(No pictures today - forgot to charge the battery on the camera).

Hugs - Marie

This and That

Last spring I did some extensive machine embroidery on a friend's hand made bedspread. It turned out beautifully. She decorates beautiful cakes and we agreed upon an exchange: the work on her bedspread for one of her cakes.

Last night was our monthly card group. She brought my birthday cake to the monthly gathering to celebrate my birthday.

Unfortuately, the photo does not do it justice. It was a lovely patchwork quilt hand-painted complete with fabric design in marzipan. The cake was a lemon poppyseed with a raspberry, white chocolate, whip cream filling. Needless to say it was delicious. I have never eaten such a large piece of cake in my entire life. Thank you, PearlAnn.

I love the way this yarn is self-striping. I have never worked with yarn that had such a definite stripe. This one is in shades of purples, blues and tans. Absolutely gorgeous.

I also got some in shades of teals and greens - it is stunning on the skein. I'm trying to decide how to use it.

I have 4 more mug rug gifts to make. Our luncheon is on the 8th. I should be able to be finished and get them wrapped.

One of our LQS is going out of business. I think it may be time for a trip over there to see is anything is left.

Hugs to all - Marie

Mug Rugs and Placemats

I've been having fun making 'mug rugs' for Hummingbird Treasures. They take about an hour each and do a great job of cutting into the stash AND they're cute. I may keep a few for myself. The bookclub ladies are going to love them. I like the fact that no two are alike.

I also finished the trees on these placemats. I think the white and gold with the blue turned out rather nicely. I think I paid 79 cents each for the four of these and was quite pleased with myself when I got them out into the daylight. They also had a red but it was too 'brown' for me.

I think the latest attack of vertigo is somewhat better but I still have a lot of problem changing the elevation of my head. I see the Dr. on Monday - but he will just tell me it it the old 'rocks in my head' problem.

I think I'll go play in the studio until time for my next nap. (Oh yeah, the medication knocks me out.)

Hugs - Marie

Fall and Knitting

Seems that knitting and fall go together for me. I have been knitting off and on lately. I think that Gerry and I have been thinking similar thoughts lately since she made the exact same Pimpliesse (in another color). Needless to say that I was speechless when I read her blog.

I also made a turtleneck cowl in a grey and black chunky knit style. What I like about this one is that it could work for either a man or a woman. This needs to be for someone in cold country because I doubled the knit for extra warmth.

Also, love the mug rug that mysteriously appeared out of my growing pile of hexies. I'm playing with the idea of these as holiday gifts for the bookclub - shhhh - don't tell any of them. (Don't you think these would look cute with candles on top?)

Hugs - Marie