Fifty Shades of Red

Hi everyone!! Sorry for the long absence in blogging.  I have missed keeping up on what everyone has been doing.   I have to admit that I have been lurking around the blog world here and there, but have been really bad about leaving comments.  I actually thought of just leaving Smiley faces when I did manage to find some blog time so that you would know I was there, but I thought that was a little bit lame.  I guess that my lack of posting (and commenting) kind of turned into an unplanned sabbatical from blogging.  It's been a rather hectic summer and I'm just coming up for air.  But I have managed to get a few things done!!

Now, lest you think that this will be a post about a new trilogy of erotic books like Fifty Shades of Grey, put your minds at rest.  Although I wouldn't mind writing something like that!!  I could make lots of money, have liposuction (okay maybe not - the whole idea of that scares me), bury myself in tons of new stash from all the royalties from the books, and snap my fingers and say, "Here Boy", when I dropped my quilting/stitching needle or needed a little liquid refreshing, all while I'm sitting in my lounge chair looking out over the Mediterranean/Caribbean, etc.  Lovely thought, right?  Such a dream!  But no, this is a PG rated blog. But lately I've been obsessed with the color red.  Lots of shades of red - fabric that is!  I dream about them, obsess about them and this is what I'm doing with some of those fifty shades of red:

Okay, I know - this is only 15 shades of red, but I'm working on the other 35 and then some.   276 more (actually 273 more - 3 were off having coffee or something and did not make it into the photo shoot) to be exact, but I try not to think about the number that I still have to do.  And I'm working on this with Siobhan from across the pond.  Actually, I jumped on her bandwagon and when she mentioned this quilt and that she was working on it, Trick or Treat, from the Blackbird Designs book, When The Cold Wind Blows, I just knew that I had to do it.  Crazy, yes, I know, 291 basket blocks, another 48 border blocks.  Truly insane, but they are so much fun, and it's fun having a partner in crime to work on them with!!

I had tons of reds in my stash and never knew what to do with them.  But now I know.  These babies are like eating candy - addicting.  And this is my first foray into hand applique (well, okay I'm lying - I tried it a long time ago and absolutely hated it).  But times have changed - I had so wanted to make the Phebe quilt,  really didn't trust my applique skills, but knew if I wanted that quilt I had better learn how to do it.  This is a great portable project and I drag them everywhere when I have to sit waiting for the kids!  Everything is in this box and I just pick it up and go!!  So much fun!!

I also managed to machine sew one lone block on my Cotton Club quilt - poor thing.  I still have about nine to do and then I can start putting the quilt together.  It's the one on the right.  There hasn't been much time to sit behind the sewing machine this summer.  :o(

Now, in case you think that I had given up stitching during my unplanned sabbatical from blogging, that would not be the case.  I've still managed to put needle to linen and actually have a finish:

Ann Hall

The Scarlett Letter

It was good to finish up this old WIP!!  But the whole time I was working on the bird under Adam, I kept thinking that the bird was so large that he could probably swallow Adam up in two bites - ymmm:

And once dear Ann was finished, I decided to start a new one - Elizabeth Clayton:

Elizabeth  Clayton

35 ct. Meadowrue

NPI Silks

I love working on her.  I don't know if it's the silks or what, but she's a joy to stitch.  It's always a toss up what I work on at night - Elizabeth or quilt baskets. 

Like I mentioned, it's been just one of those summers where I haven't had a lot of time to myself, but I did manage to take a small break when my sister came to town.  Even though she had lived in Michigan for 20+ years before she moved to California, she had never been to Mackinaw Island, so I surprised her and arranged a couple day getaway:

 You get to the island via ferry:

You grab a bike - the only mode of transportation besides walking or horse drawn carriages:

(DD makes bike riding look good!) and you ride around:

The Grand Hotel:

On the grounds of the Grand Hotel:

Arch Rock:

On the main street:

And a trip wouldn't be complete without some fudge which the island is known for:

There were more pictures taken with a phone, but they didn't translate well when I tried to post them here.  So there is my summer!!  Not a lot accomplished as far as stitching and quilting, but I spent a lot of time with my kids and that's always a good thing.

I'm anxious to catch up with everyone!!  I've missed your posts!!  I hope that everyone has had a great summer (can you believe it's almost the end of August?) and I'm going to catch up with everyone.  I can't wait to see what I've missed!!

Stress Relief and Framing (Lots of Pics)

It's been another couple crazy weeks around the old homestead - drama, stress, you name it!  But in times like that, I seem to get things done.  Why is that?  There are times when I don't feel like sleeping as my brain is going 100 mph and having your mind focus on something that you enjoy doing really helps you not think about the stress and drama!   So,  I started two new pieces.  Yes, I know that I should continue with the January Challenge, but after knocking out Sarah (and I did want to knock her out, remember - or burn her?), I pulled out two that I've been wanting to stitch.  Not a lot of progress, but some:

Mary Allen Sampler - Samplers Remembered

32 count French Vanilla

NPI Silk Thread

I've been wanting to start this piece for a long time.  I am having a lot of fun with it being on 32 count.  I wanted it to fit into a specific space on a wall so 32 ct. fabric fit the bill.  Finally, after some back and forth about what sampler to stitch together, my dear friend Loraine and I decided to start on it.  We're going for a page of month (think I'll make it - me who never finishes a SAL?).  Loraine and I met last year at the Shepherd's Bush retreat and she has become a very, very dear friend to me.

Then, when I got tired of playing around with words, I started another A&E (always need to have one of those in the fire):

Sun & Moon Sampler - The Scarlett Letter

36 ct. Edinborough Sand

DMC Threads

This one is working up so quickly - except those pesky frogs came again.  The border is a little bit of a PITA as it's in two colors.  Where my needle is - well, I have to "frog" out all of what I already stitched below because it's one stitch off!  AUGHHH!!  But, as I've said before - I can't stitch a small sampler without those frogs coming to visit.

Then for those nights when I couldn't sleep, I did some slicing and dicing (luckily I stopped before I sliced and diced myself with the rotary cutter):

Oh, those little pieces in the Farmer's Wife quilt are going to be the death of me!!!  But, out of the 15 blocks that I needed to cut out so that I was closer to the Grande Finale, I only have two more to go! Woo Hoo!!  Then I can start putting this baby together.  It's been a fun 18 month journey with this quilt, but I think that I'll be doing a happy dance when I'm finally finished.  I still have the sashing to cut out, but the blocks are what takes so long with all the template cutting.

And I managed to pick up some framing and Mr. Tom the Framer didn't disappoint:

Elizabeth Clayton

I was hesitant about this frame, but Framer Tom assured me that I'd love it - and he was right - I do!!  And I also picked up Sarah:

Sarah Esh

I think the frame is perfect!  

So, why all the stress and drama?  Well, I won't bore you with the drama.  And I guess it wasn't really stress - maybe more apprehension.  I was just being a typical mom and realizing that my son is grown up - my first born.  My baby!  Not such a baby anymore.  He graduated from high school with Honors:

The baby picture is one of my favorites because that huge smile (actually looks like a lion roaring to me) is how I have seen him throughout his life.  Always with a big smile and a great sense of humor.  

I'm so proud of this young man!  He has worked so hard, taken so many AP classes (although the AP Bio about killed him), and he never flinched.  Just kept going and never complained even with all the late nights of homework (but teens are definitely used to late nights - right?  Although I think he'd rather have been playing Xbox).   He set goals and achieved them!  And he has barely given me a bit of trouble over all his 17 years (well...there was that one time........LOL).  As you can imagine, it was one of those emotional days seeing him walk across the stage to receive his diploma.  Then not two weeks later, it was time to put him on a plane to Spain:

All of the students seemed so excited to go - and who can blame them?  Me?  I was so anxious for him, but I survived (obviously if I'm writing this!).  It was hard making sure he had everything he needed especially when he assures me that he only needed to take a t-shirt and shorts - oh, and a change of underwear and deordrant.  For two weeks?  I know that men tend to be minimalists, but that was taking it a little far!  First reports from Spain -  the plane ride was way too long and all the buildings in Madrid are so close to each other!  That's all I got out of him - he's a minimalist when he talks too.  He didn't sleep on the plane and had been up for quite a while and he was ready for a shower and to hit the hay.  He's got a busy couple of weeks ahead of him visiting museums and cathedrals and a five day stay with a family there.  Such a chance in a lifetime!  But all of this is just a precursor to be sending him off to college!  I guess it's time for mom to realize that he's not a baby any more!

Well, I think that's all the news that's fit to report today.  With all the ups and downs of the past coulple weeks, I've also had some exciting news, but I'll share that with you next time!  I think I've posted enough today!  Oh, and before I forget - I'm still having some problems with Blogger and commenting and my wireless cutting out.  Now that all the end of the year stuff and getting my son off to Spain is over with, I guess I'll have to hunt down a new wireless. It only happens when I go into blogs, but this router is getting on in years, so it's time.  It's the only thing I can think of that could be causing my issues - beside the occasional Blogger blips that we all seem to be encountering.  So just so that you know, I have been reading, just unable to comment at times.

Hope that everyone has a great week.  And thank you again for all your wonderful comments and emails!!  

Elizabeth Clayton is a Wrap

Woo Hoo!  Another one off the To-Do list - finally!  I don't know what took me so long on dear Elizabeth, but I put the final stitches into her last week!  I love her, although I look at Adam and Eve as being rather ghostly beings - they're so light!

Elizabeth Clayton

Handwork Samplers

36 ct. Legacy Linen and DMC threads

Top of Elizabeth:

Bottom of Elizabeth:

Sorry these aren't the best pictures.  Michigan has been having the worst weather the past few days.  80 one day - rainy and cold for three days, so taking good pictures is a hit or miss proposition.  Anyway, back in the day, when something didn't stand out all that well on a piece, we'd outline it.  But that was back in the day, so no outlining on Adam &Eve - I'm just going to leave them ghost-like.  Actually they look better in real life.  Another one crossed off that crazy January Challenge and another one for the A&E wall.  Me thinks that at the rate I'm going,  I won't be completing 15 projects this year.  Oh well, it's all about the journey, right?

And where is the A&E wall, you ask?  Well, it's coming along.  I want to get Elizabeth framed and then I'll unveil the wall.  I have templates stuck all over the wall and no matter how I arrange them, I know that I need Elizabeth framed before I start pounding nails.  You have to remember that my husband is anal about holes in the wall, so I don't want to make mistakes!  LOL

After finishing Elizabeth, I went back to another January challenge piece, Sarah Esch.  But we have very pitiful progress - pitiful because those pesky frogs visited:

Not only are these letters boring as all get out, I got to the end of the second line and realized that I had left too many spaces between the "N" and the "O".  Instead of frogging at that point, I just kept going with the next line and then went back and frogged out the O, P,Q & R - you can probably see a little bit of thread droppings - or frog droppings - where I did that.  Not loving stitching these letters at all, after I frogged out those letters, I picked up another WIP - Ann Grant - but I didn't make much progress on it:

Not much done from the last time, but I'm just loving the colors of this one.

Things have been in high gear around here with the end of the year things - dance recitals, track meets, AP exams and all the cramming and my son's upcoming graduation.  So it's been busy and that's probably why Elizabeth took me forever.  Last weekend was the normal round of recitals and would you believe it - I have no pictures!  Well, I do, but they're on the other camera which is not digital, so no great costumes to show this year.  But while DD was at one of her recitals, I took a little hike to an Antiques Market that was being held nearby and scored another frog - but the kind I love - not the frogs involved with threads:

A cut crystal one this time.  The woman I bought this from had the most amazing flower frog, but with also an amazing price tag.  I wish that I had taken a picture of it!  It was really something else.  The little pincushion doll I found at one of the other booths there.  I thought that she was sweet!

Well, once again, there isn't much else to talk about unless you want to her about my son grumbling about AP exams, or the normal trials and tribulations of life.  I did have a shock this week though.  My son informed me that he asked a girl to the Prom - and even more shocking - she accepted!!  LOL  Not really, my son is a great kid, but this is the first I've heard of a girl in the picture.  I guess it's time - he's going off to Spain this summer and then college in the fall, so it's about time a girl showed up in the picture somewhere.  But oh dear, does it make me feel OLD!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving me the wonderful comments that you do.  I'm still having a bit of trouble commenting on blogs.  The Geek Squad can't figure out what it is unless it has something to do with Blogger.  Some times of the day I can get in and make comments with no problem and then other times, I can't - the wireless modem shuts down.  So bear with me - I'm reading everyone's blogs, just not able to comment all the time.

Hope you have a wonderful week, and make it a stitchy one!!

What Do You Do After Finishing Up a BAP?????

That is what I've been asking myself the past couple weeks.  What do I do after Ann Medd?  But first, I have to thank everyone for all the wonderful comments you made concerning Ann's finish.  I was absolutely overwhelmed!  All your comments made it so worth me finally finishing her up and I thank you so much for each and every one of them.  I was just blown away!  And I hope that maybe one of you will have your own Ann Medd adventure too.  Even though she's large, she was an easy and fun stitch.  I do have her back from the framers, but I can't get a good picture of her and will do that as soon as our crazy, overcast skies clear up and the sun's at the right angle!!   My husband, sampler enthusiast that he is (NOT) asked me where I was going to put her.  HA!  Do you know what I was thinking at that point about where to put her???  You probably do so I won't say it.  LOL  Seriously, she WILL be residing in the stairway with ATS.  Finally some company for ATS!!

After I was finished with Ann, I didn't know what to do.  It's just like reading a really good book, and you don't know what you want to read next.  I really felt like starting something new - I thought that I deserved it!!  Going back to a WIP for me felt like trying to get my kids to eat vegetables - I don't wanna do it. But I did and picked up Ann Grant.  She lasted a night.  I picked up Susanna Lane.  She also lasted a night.  Then I picked up Elizabeth Clayton, and she whispered softly and said, "Pick me - Finish Me!"  So I have worked on Elizabeth.  She's not quite done, but I'm getting to the fun part - Adam and Eve:

Not a lot of progress for a couple weeks - just a lot of wording and the borders.  But now comes the fun part - a little more lettering and then that fun couple in Eden and the scene around them.  Shouldn't take me too long (I hope)!

No sewing has really taken place, unfortunately, - well a little, but I've only completed two blocks out of the 16 required for my Civil War Chronicles BOM, and nothing on the Farmer's Wife.  But a little bit of antiquing has.  A while ago, Terri posted a little sewing machine that she had found in an antique shop.  This made me remember that when I was young I had a small Singer sewing machine, but didn't know where it was.  So the hunt was on.  Did I find it?  No.  I'm sure that it's packed in a box somewhere.  I thought it was in a couple trunks that I had brought from my father's, but I didn't have the keys.  I eventually found the keys stuffed in the back of my husband's workbench (where else?).  But no sewing machine - some cool vintage things that I'll show at some other time, but no sewing machine.  So during this time of trying to figure out where the machine was, I hit the antique store and score!!!!

Not in too bad condition and a good price.  The shop was having Thrifty Tuesdays and 20% off any purchase!!  So this baby came home with me.  Since that time, I've found three more through various places and I'll post those at a later date.  But I thought it would be so much fun to have a variety of these machines lined up in.....where else??  My sewing room!!

I also found another flower frog:

Another amber frog.  This one joins two others in my collection:

My husband just shakes his head every time I come home with another one.

The only other crafty thing that I've come across lately is some wonderful things I found on a blog.  The blog is Me and My Stitches, and the girl that makes these wonderful things is named Julie.  Being a sucker for anything stitchy or quilty, I had to purchase a couple of her things and I love them:

The pendant and earrings I bought for myself, and Julie, sweetheart that she is, sent me the scissor fob as a gift.  There is a link on her blog to her jewelry website and I know that she would love to hear from you.  She has some wonderful things and some quilt patterns too, so give her blog and website a look!! Julie and I have struck up an internet friendship of sorts.  She calls me Satan!  The reason for that is that now I have her on the hunt for little sewing machines!  With her living in Iowa, at least we won't be fighting each other at the antique stores!!

The only other thing that has been going on worth mentioning (you don't want to hear about all the errands I run all the time), is that my daughter finally has been able to give up her glasses (she had a lazy eye which was corrected with glasses) and got her braces off.  This was a monumental day for her because she feels that she is no longer - in her terms - a geek.  I think that she looks so beautiful (and way too old - sigh):

Ignore her attempt at trying to look like she's one of Eminem's possee!  Just look at the smile.  I think it's a gorgeous one!!  And one more picture of her and her favorite canine:

They are great buddies!  He follows her around like a shadow.  And he is looking much better now that his hair has finally grown out a little bit.

Well, that's all I have for now.  Not too much.  But thank you all once again for the wonderful comments you left me.  It really warmed my heart and I think it was because of some of you cheering me on, that finally got me to finish Ann.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!!

Where Would I Be Without My Trusty Assistant?

I'd probably not be pulling every hair out of my head!

Lately I've been in a real quilting tear!  I can't get enough of it.  But do I get what I want done?  No!!  The reason for not getting done what I'd like to is this:

Yes, Mr. Bailey.  He silently snuck into the living room while I was laying out these blocks (where he isn't allowed - I thought he was sleeping) to get in on the photo shoot.  He's so sweet, so cute, but WHAT A TERROR!  A terror on four paws.  Huge paws!!! But how can you do anything but love him with a face like that???

But Mr. Bailey doesn't like me doing the things that I like to do.  Try to clean during the day?  Oh no, he's not up for that.  Trying to sew during the day - nope - not up for that either.  If I take him downstairs with me, he's after something - biting on the iron cord is not a good thing.  If he asks to go outside, I put him out, but he must have some kind of radar that alerts him to the minute I put one foot on the basement stairs or try to run the vacuum.  He barks like a fool to come in.  My neighbors don't say anything, but..........  So I've been resigned to sewing after dinner, making nocturnal visits to the basement and hoping that the stairs don't creak.  I know that he's going through his toddler stage, but what a bunch of work.  And what a sweetheart!!

He's growing like a weed - about 40 pounds.  Here's a couple more pictures and then I'll get on to what else is up:

Excuse the laundry - it's wash day, but DD decided to see how Bailey's sleeping accommodations are.  And then while Bailey looks small, he's growing like a weed.  My daughter's 5'4", so he's getting pretty big.  He has so much energy!!!!

And trying to look innocent (but don't let the face fool you):

Anyway, I've been on a real tear with the quilting.  I've finished off about 13 of the 18 blocks that were backed up on the Farmer's Wife quilt.  It took me three days to cut those blocks out, and one day to put them together.  Intensive cutting!

I still have a few more to go - the harder ones.  Some of these have so many small pieces!  UGH.  But I'm making progress - doing the happy dance and then..........cue in the Psycho shower scene music............ this arrives:

Next months' fabric.  OY!!!!  Is there no rest for the wicked?  But I now have 59 out of 111 blocks finished (refer to first picture with Mr. Bailey), so I'm doing a happy dance.  Hopefully in a few days I will be completely caught up!

In stitching news - not much at all - a little progress on Mary (that I'll post another time) and a little bit on Elizabeth Clayton:

The letters are taking me soooooo long.  Of course some of the letters and borders are in eyelet stitch, which I like to do, but seem to take me a long time.

In other news - not that much.  Still playing around in the craft room trying to see what works best for the things that I do.  I realized one day that I was wasting a perfectly good wall for some storage - a wall behind a door in which Mr. Santa resides until the holiday season.  As all my fabric is packed in those huge Rubbermaid bins, getting to it is a chore, so I went from this:

To this:

Cheap bookcase from Walmart to store just a small part of my fabrics.  DH made the observation that I needed about 10 of these to store all my fabric.  Unfortunately he's right, but at least it's a start!!!  Once I fill this baby up, it will be a beautiful thing!!!  DH actually L-bracketed the bookcase to the wall because he's sure that it will topple over once I pile the fabric into it!!

Well, it sounds like Mr. Bailey has wound himself around the basketball post again so I need to rescue him!  Pray for me that DH finally springs for the electronic fence!

Thanks again for all your wonderful comments.  I truly love receiving them.  And even if I haven't left a comment on your blog recently, I have been stalking lurking and I'll get back to commenting soon.

What A Slump!!!

Have you ever been in a real stitching slump - no mojo, nothing interests you?  Well, that's about what's happened to me the past few months.  I looked at my blog this weekend and realized that I haven't really had anything stitching related to say or show in the past few months.  I haven't been reading blogs either.  Just in a huge slump!  Well, I think I finally got out of it.  I guess they call it "Life Gets In the Way".  It happens - we all go through it - one thing after another - some good, some bad, but enough to just throw you off your mark.  When I get like that I retreat and just be.  I also tend to pull things apart - organize, throw out - it's calming.  While I'm throwing out the unnecessary items in my cleaning, I also seem to deal better with what's going on at the time.   Anyway, one day after weeks of purging both material and mental things, I decided to completely tear apart my stash and catalogue it.  What a process!!!  But the spark came back and I finally got the itch to stitch again!  It was like finding an old friend.

I started with Mary's Best Handwork that I began in Utah:

I still wasn't ready to start stitching again when I picked this up, but it seemed like the path of least resistance.  I had to stitch on something at the SB retreat get-together.  Ya just can't go to a stitching retreat and not stitch!  But my heart wasn't in it.  I didn't even put her on scroll rods - my favorite way to stitch.  But I worked on her for a while and now she'll get attention when DD dances on Wednesday.  So then I started Angel's Song with Loraine:

Not a lot of progress, but some - this is one night's worth.

In all my sorting and cataloging, I realized that I am a sufferer from startitis.  Going through all my things made me want to start something new, but I decided that I needed to get rid of some WIPs  I thought about going back to an HRH piece because I'm so lame I have three going and have the perfect wall for them:

But instead, I went back to Elizabeth Clayton:

I stopped working on her originally because I got bored after I finished the left side and the house.  I didn't feel like stitching the trees, etc., on the right side.  Lame!!!

Then one thing leads to another.  I start putting my craft room back together, which has laid in a state of upheaval since my sister left in August!!!  Once everything was back in the closet and things rearranged (pictures another time), I started getting more of an itch to create - do something.  Which made me look at all the quilting goodness laying around in there.  So I picked up the rotary cutter and had at it - I caught myself up on cutting out my Farmer's Wife blocks - all three months of them:

Cut off the selvages - still don't know what I'll do with these.

Cut out the blocks (all 18 or so of them - and a huge process because a lot have to be template cut).

And put them between the pages of the book.  This only took me three days of work because if you notice, the fabric is marked for template piecing - not my favorite thing to do. And I better remember to be careful when I pick up the book.  Last time my mind went blank, forgot all the pieces were in the book and they flew all over the craft room.  Took me hours to get all the pieces together again.

Then before I know it, I'm on to another quilt - Sheer Bliss!

I could not resist getting started on this quilt when I saw it on Cluck, Cluck, Sew.  I know it's springy, but a little spring never hurts in the fall.  And since I had this Jelly Roll of Bliss fabric, it was a no brainer.  I cut out my sister's quilt too in the hopes of having it finished by the time I go visit her next month - finger's crossed (but don't hold your breath Cin!! :o)

So my mojo is back and I have a ton of catching up to do on blogs.  I know that I've missed so much.  I had some comments last time about stash that I picked up in Utah.  I didn't pick up that much.  Common sense was probably telling me that I didn't need anything (and if you saw my Excel spreadsheet of stash you would have to agree with me), but I picked up a little:

Not too much actually, although now that I look at the picture, there may be more things around here.  The fabric at the top I picked up because SB made the cutest pillows out of Ewe Eye & Friends Petite Examplaries that I've had in my stash forever, and I thought they were adorable:

So another thing to add to my to do list!

So that's what's been going on with me.  It feels good to crawl out of that dark hole I've been living in for the past couple of months!!!  Thank you for all your comments and emails that you left on my last post.  It always gives me a smile to see them, and I will catch up on everyone's blogs soon.  I know that I've missed tons!!!