Just wait 'til you see what I've been up to (pic heavy)

Welcome...glad you could stop by for a visit today.  Boy, oh, boy did you pick a good one; if you don't have a little bit of time, come back.  Or you could check out the parts that interest you.  There's stitching, there's quilting and fabrics, a tiny bit of cooking and some catching up with what's going on here in my corner of the blog world. 

Marmalade & Jam - love this quilt - kind of a sampler type pattern.  I really learned lots in this class!

Now I just need to find the fabric for the back...I am on the hunt!  I posted a picture before, couple posts ago...I looked for it at the quilt show I recently attended (more on that in a bit).  I know I will find it.  It was really sunny the day I took the picture.  I love batiks.  Can't find one I don't like, although I really haven't tried that hard. :0)

I have been working on I Wait for the Lord  by Hands To Work.   I am almost done, just a couple more rows.  I don't have a progress picture for you on that yet.  And what's in the wings, waiting?  Keep reading...
This is my new project - waiting, waiting - patiently for attention.  It's Strawberry Hill by With Thy Needle & Thread.  It's going to be BE-AU-TI-FUL!!!  Don't you just love those colors?!   How many of you do this, laying it all out, touching it, making it so, so pretty - and not just for blog photos, but to look and admire the colors, textures and yumminess!

Picked up this book too, a wee bit back.  It's fun to look, plan and dream! Some day I will kit up one or two from this book.

Made a 'scary' purchase too.   Fabric and two parts of three for the Lizzie*Kate Very Scary Mystery Sampler.  Only thing missing is the fibers.  They are on order and will be arriving soon - another I really, really want to start.

These are for the extra project included with each part one and two (orange-sherbet and lavender fabrics).  Cute, cute, CUTE!

Last Thursday night I got in the car with Mary, one of my bestest friends in the whole, wide world.  We drove to Grand Rapids, we got some sleep after some giggles and stories.  The next morning we got our fannies in gear and boogied on over to the DeVos Place Convention Center to check  out this...the few dollars by the booklet - well that's about all I had left after a day of fun. 


My big purchase - and a new fav shop - SEWBATIK (bet you didn't see that one coming)!  This is the Diamond Dazzler.

 Side view - these batiks are stunning.  Can't wait to get this beauty started.  Aren't you dazzled?  I know I sure am.

Stopped by another awesome booth - Primitive Gatherings.  Who am I kidding - we hit all the booths.  But what a fun group of people - the vendors and the customers packed in Primitive Gatherings.  I picked up this pin cushion.  It is so sweet.  It's wool and some stitching.  Hope to start this one soon.  It's gonna be so S-W-E-E-T!

After leaving the quilt show, we stopped at a couple fabric stores here and there, be-bopping all the way back home - sure beats a day at work!  Surprise - more batiks.  And see that pumpkin/spider web fabric?  The little tan squares are a mini-sampler.  I think it will be a marvelous choice to go along with the Mystery Sampler above -  I plan on making a pillow for my bench once I finish stitching (oh, and begin stitching too).

 Close up of the batik with pumpkins.  This is so, way cool!

I was tuckered out on Friday night!  Boy, I didn't think I could do a trade show of that size and we saw most of what we wanted to see - the quilts on display were stunning.  Many were not something I would ever think of doing but the talent displayed was phenomenal.  There was a display for Alzheimer's - I admired that one from afar - was having too much fun.  Now don't get me wrong, I love displays like this and they are truly important and bring awareness to so many causes;  but I miss my Grandmas - both suffered horribly from Alzheimer's.  My husband's uncle who just passed away had Alzheimer's.  I just didn't want to get all bummed out and sad on such an otherwise perfect day.  I can tell you I definitely want to visit another quilt show like this one.  It was fun - with a capital F!

This little ditty will make both of the mini quilts on the pattern.  This was another Primitive Gathering pattern.  Boy, could I have dropped much more cash in that booth.  My friend Mary picked up an awesome quilt kit for herself, one I was considering until I found the to-die-for batik quilt above.

Hubby and I cleaned the heck out of the house on Saturday, went to the farmer's market, did the grocery shopping.  I let the laundry wait for something fun to do on Sunday.  When it was time to water the plants at the front door - this little creature was waiting for us.  He was about two inches long and those hairs - yuck!  I bet he's gonna be a moth - not a butterfly.  He was on the ceiling of the porch - that's why he kinda looks like he is upside down.

Sunday brought the fun laundry.  I stitched some, put away all my purchases.  Had dinner with my son (hubby had to go to work, as per our usual Sunday afternoon).  It was a nice visit with him - since he works opposite shifts and he was away with friends part of the weekend, eking out a couple hours to spend with 'just mom' was much needed and really nice. 

Besides organizing the stitching above and getting it bags, ready to stitch when done with Wait for the Lord , I picked my rhubarb - made up some sauce for toast, on top of vanilla ice cream, off a spoon - plain and delicious!

You still here?  Wow - thanks for visiting for a bit.

It's about time for me to go read before turning in.  Before you know it, morning will be here and it's back to work time.  Gotta pay for the shopping I have done lately and gotta stop shopping and get busy working on some of this fun stuff.

Hope all you blog-buddies have a nice week, with lots of productive work, stitching, quilting - whatever tickles your fancy.  Only four more days and I have a three day weekend.  Can you believe it's almost September?  I don't know about you, but I am so ready for the humidity to get the heck out of here.  I love autumn - the colors, the smells, the low humidity and relief from the heat.

Take care - stitch a bit, sew a bit, do what makes you smile!

Hugs,

Sherry :0)

Olympic Withdrawal!

I don't know about you, but I sure miss the Olympics for a bit once they are over...I kind of go through a withdrawal even though I spent two weeks in a blur from lack of sleep and tried to cram in as much viewing as I could.  I even become a channel surfer or flipper (which bugs me normally - I have two guys in my house who flip all the time) and go from Olympic channel to Olympic channel.

This is how my Olympic piece looked after closing ceremonies...I really kicked butt on this one. I decided to work on this mainly because it was one color fiber - allowing more attention to the t.v. I think most stitchers are listeners not watchers; but when the Olympics are on (summer or winter) I am a watcher with a capital W! My tension on some of the rows seems a bit more tight than others. Hmmm, wonder if that is a result of the swimming?  The gymnastics or the boxing?  Perhaps it was the track & field - you get the picture - ALL of it! I am pleased with my progress. I don't have much more to go and hope to finish soon and then

find one of those wonderful % off coupons for framing!

 

As a reminder...this is what it looked like prior to Opening Ceremonies.

I Wait For The Lord by Hands to Work.  The linen is out of my stash, tea-dyed by moi.  WDW Baked Apples.

 

I did a bit of shopping - Pineberry Lane's Autumn on Marigold Lane.  I ordered it long ago and was very glad to finally receive it with the called for fibers and linen - it's a must stitch soon!  Beautiful.  Sorry for the glare.  I will try to get a better shot next time.  I received my final December fabric of the month too, when this arrived.  It took a long time (December 2011) but is a pretty, kind of silverish color. 

Close up of the meager start on Marigold Lane - Olympics were still on so I was focused on my other piece.  I started this at my Sampler Guild's meeting. 

My baby turned 19 since the last post.  He's almost out of the teens and sometimes I really wonder where the time went.   It was very weird this year; he works afternoons and I work days.  This was the first time I didn't actually see him on his birthday.  I did text him shortly after midnight (time he was born) and wished him a happy birthday, talked to him while I was at work before he left the next afternoon.  We are going out to dinner this weekend to celebrate but I couldn't resist getting him a birthday treat.  Isn't he cute?

 A monster cookie with cool eyebrows.  I teased my husband they looked like his "over 50" rogue eyebrows.  It must have been delicious since it was totally gone the next day.

So now with the Olympics done, the next t.v. adventure started Shark Week!  My niece painted her nails in honor of Shark Week on the Discovery channel.  When my son was little,  we taped most episodes and watched them over and over until the next year.  I still enjoy watching a bit of Shark Week. 

I couldn't capture the fin on her thumb.  There's bubbles in the blue nails.  She's a riot.  I cracked up when I saw them.

Well it's time for me to wrap things up.  I am a tired puppy this Friday night.  I have not been sleeping well with a bit of hip/back pain.   I am not sure what's up with that, but hopefully some rest and relaxation this weekend will be the cure.  Hope you get to spend time doing what you love to do, something that makes you smile!

Until next time,

hugs,

Sherry :0)