the big "Reveal"

Now that Christmas is over and (most of) the gifts have been put into the hands of their intended receivers, I thought I'd show a few pictures of the finished items.

The parrot quilt was a BIG hit.

My quilts all go with a guarantee that covers them only if they are actually USED! I don't make them to be folded up and put away!! (otherwise what excuse would I have to make another one later??)

I was pleased to see this beauty be put to use right away.

and I did get advance permission to borrow it back in August so I can enter it in the State Fair.








Just before we went off to our daughter's I finished the vest for her friend's little girl

It's a little hard to see, but the yoke of this has kitties knit into it, complete with little tails on the back

cute!






















and then there were the new doggie toys

these 3 designs were actually whipped up in the last couple of days before we headed off (and the "princess" has already been in her best "destructor" mode on them)

Future toys for the terrier will be made of very sturdy denim --- it doesn't stop her, but it does slow her down!!

Aren't they cute

don't be fooled, this was one of the peaceful moments when my dog (the big black lab) and my daughter's newest dog (wheat colored cairn terrier, aka "the Terrier-izer") were asleep








see this lovely lady?

yes, Ewe!

one of my presents for Christmas was the fleece of this beautiful Jacob Sheep -- her name is Dot -- and the box should arrive today

The plan is to use the many colors to do needle felting on teddy bears and other ideas

I'm looking forward to a lot of "play time" in the new year







there is actually some work going on, believe it or not

this is the second batch of beach glass

I've already started working up some jewelry from the purple pieces, and have some other pieces waiting from the yellow and the white

The glass that looks white here went into the tumbler red -- alas, the color was all in a "paint" on the outside which of course the tumbler took right off

I have found some genuine, through and through red glass, however, and it will be in the next batch

a while back I had started on this knitting project then set it aside because I had knitting that needed to be finished for Christmas

since we got back I've been working on this a bit, and just finished this last block last night



Yesterday we did the inventory of the jewelry and this morning I ran the necessary reports to do the taxes for 2008

I really hate tax season, but I've found that by spacing out the work it's less painful.

This is also the time of the year when I fiddle with the web site, apply to shows and design new pieces of jewelry and bears

Yup, it's good to be getting back in the flow of actually working --- maybe the forced time off was a good thing

onward and upward

Happy New Year!

and to all a good night

I know, it's been a long, L O N G, time since I last posted

I have been recovering from a seriously injured right arm, which basically means I have been doing nothing more than is absolutely required (I'm so right handed I can barely feed myself with my left, something that I'm thinking I should work on changing)

I'm enjoying time with the DH, my daughter and her hubby, 3 dogs (and a yard with no fence, so multiple daily walks are giving us free reign to enjoy some Christmas goodies!) and a bird at my daughter's new home. Yesterday the DH and my daughter did major baking projects (bar cookies and sticky buns) then my daughter and I made a pan of lasagna for dinner -- something Italian for Christmas Eve is pretty traditional for us. That was the first major cooking (anything other than heating in the microwave) that I've done for about 3 weeks -- so I am recovering

Lots of ideas are percolating for new projects in 2009 --- I'm just not rushing into anything right now

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!

I've lost a day or two here

I'm slowly recovering

the arm still aches, but this morning I could actually get dressed without screaming, so we're improving

this of course has put a kink in my Christmas mojo -- like a major kink -- as in I still haven't gotten the cards mailed, and there are half a dozen projects in the works that are not yet finished

ouch

so, I need to do things in small steps (or crawling)

today I hope to get a little bit of knitting done -- we'll see

a few more things

the last of the making for the giving tree

cute little sweater vest has bear fronts and bear backs on the yoke

Now we can wrap up the presents and take them over to the store where we picked up the tag



play apron for another child

this one has embroidery and button accents on the front (I'm having a lot of fun with the sewing machine!)









Picked up this cute item at Pier One for a dollar

image a cute little polar bear wearing this

you get the idea!






I'm not feeling all that great this morning, so I'm planning to lay low today --

OUCH!

I can report that the bird quilt is complete!! Pictures will be posted later (just in case the person I made it for should visit here)

I finished another sewing project yesterday too, but I know the person that is for reads this, so there will be no pictures of it here either

In all of the many projects I've worked on in the last week or so, I've managed to develope an extremely sore right shoulder and upper arm -- even typing is a bit painful right now, so I'll be taking a couple of days to GO S L O W and try to let it heal itself

today I'm having lunch with a friend (that I haven't seen in over 10 years!!), and we have a few more house decorations we want to put up, and this morning I've already let my fingers do the shopping for some Christmas presents on line, but I'm not pushing anything else

fear not, I shall return!!

and another one bites the dust

a project off the sticks!!

This is the Christmas sock I did for the new grand dog

I've only been working on this in little bits and pieces over the past month or so (started it right after they got the new dog)

I also finished the quilting on the log cabin quilt I've been working on for my sister --- YIPEE!!

Still working on lots of other "for Christmas" projects too

so there is still sewing and knitting and paper crafts to work on a plenty!

(and of course this is where my mind starts "going to the punch bowl" and thinking about new bead designs and other goodies I want to start on but just can't right now!)

My daughter asked me for one of the bear ornaments I had made to give to a friend, so I'll be shipping that off to her shortly, but digging those out made me consider the idea of listing some of them on Etsy, so I'm hoping to get that done sometime today.

time to get rollin'

I think I can, I think I can

Ta Da!

Just before the delivery man brings me the new printer cartridges so I can start making the note cards, I FINALLY finished the last of the planned drawings for the quilt series.

For whatever reason, I just could not get this one done until last night ---

Now I can move on to other projects!!

Hurrah

ooooooh -- GOODIES!

This folks, is better than getting the biggest new box of crayons that is made

This is my new bead order, freshly dumped out of the box, still all in it's plastic wrappers, just waiting for me to do who knows what with them!!

Of course before I get to do that, I must do the "business" stuff with them -- checking the order, recording the inventory, etc., etc., but just knowing they are there, just waiting for me to turn them into wonderful things is enough to make me impatient with the pace of finishing current things that must be done first

This is the first order that has included so many different colors and styles of beads --- and the first one that includes all of the beads for a piece I've been designing for quite some time -- it's sort of like custom ordering that box of crayons for only coloring sunsets

Yesterday, we had planned to decorate the tree, but we ended up going to 2 different Christmas boutiques instead -- one in a home in our neighborhood and one at the local high school -- the high school trip confirmed for me that I had made the right choice in NOT participating --- there were several jewelry booths and most of them had big "Everything 50% to 75% Off" signs on them

I can not understand folks that do that unless they are going out of business --- as far as I'm concerned, the jewelry is worth the same as it was at the beginning of the show season -- there's still the same amount of materials and work in it -- I just don't get it!!

So, today to the tree trimming, then some sewing, and Christmas cards to sign --- the usual December stuff

time to dash away!!

orders filled, more snow flakes and a quilt

see, the order that I got on Etsy yesterday is all ready to be shipped off

I have to say you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got this order, since it is the first one in over a year on Etsy, but I guess I finally posted something someone wanted!

Anyway, this will be off in the mail today






Since I had the machine up and running, I decided to do a few more of the snowflakes.




I really like the way the glittering looks on the blue one, and I think it will be even more awesome on the white

It takes nearly as long to do all the trimming as it does the machine to do the stitching!







So, just to not be simply twiddling my thumbs, I worked on this quilt drawing

I have 5 of these done now, and have one more started, so hopefully when the new printer cartridges arrive on Monday I'll be ready to start printing off the note cards

Yeah!!


Yesterday we put up the family room tree -- that is we rearranged the furniture, put the tree together (unlike the living room tree, this one has to be put up branch by branch) and put the lights on

Today we'll do ornaments

I'm doing the blind stitching on the top side of the quilt binding -- this has got to be the part that seems to take F O R E V E R!!! (maybe it's just because I'm really wanting it to be finished!!)

So, it's off to make merry -- and then get some other projects done

something that is dead

this would be my phone

somehow it got wet

water + electronic anything = getting to play taps as you toss whatever it is into the trash

fortunately, we try to always have a backup plan -- in this case an older model of a cell phone that I could just activate

the tech guy says it may actually come back on after it dries out and if it does he can transfer all of my contacts

I can get an upgrade in January anyway, so I'm thinking I'll just wait until then to get a new phone










These lovelies are Christmas aprons that I will be listing on Etsy this week (there are actually going to be 4 available for sale as I have 2 of the ones with the roses and poinsettias)

I made these back in the late 1970s for a boutique, then put them away. When I was cleaning out some stuff last week, I found them.

They are very nice fabric, so I thought I'd give it a try.


Last night I finished the quilting on the bird quilt. Today I hope to get the sewing machine set up to do the binding and also to whip up a couple of pairs of sweat pants to go with the sweater I'm knitting for the Giving Tree gift.

time to get to it!

it's Christmas Count Down

The many, many projects are progressing

Finally completed the body of the knitting on this project, so this evening I will be stitching up the shoulder seams and starting on the ribbed bands around the arms and the neck

Moving right along!


This is the vest I started over the weekend for a little girl who is our daughter's friend's child

I'm almost to the point where it gets split for the arms, and this pattern has the cutest little animal faces (and backsides) that are knit into them in the yoke

I will be putting this aside for a few days, however to do some knitting for something else

The local grocery store has a giving tree this year

We've been dropping extra cans or packages in the food drop since those appeared in the stores, but yesterday was the first time I had noticed the tree

This is the tag we pulled

It specifically requests clothing for a size 3T/4T girl

So, there will be a bit of stitching and knitting in the next week or so for this project

Those of you that know me really well know about the Christmas t-shirts

I used to have a pretty good size collection of these as I would try to wear a different one every Friday to work during the holiday season (what could be better on casual Friday than jeans and a t-shirt with a jacket?)

Anyway, I haven't bought myself a new one for about 8 years -- but when we were in Walmart yesterday, this was on the $5 rack, and I fell in love with it

What it says in smaller letters under the "World Tour" is this: "One Million Cities, One Night Only, 12-24-08"

This will be my Christmas Day attire this year!!

Ok, time to stop babbling and get busy with all those projects!!

not dead yet

although I have to admit I still have some very sore muscles!!

I had forgotten just how much hard work moving is

On Saturday morning my daughter and her husband appeared at our house with a big pick up truck and a 2 horse trailer in tow

Having had advanced notice, I had called a couple of friends for help, and within an hour all of the furniture that was to go with them was all loaded into the truck, the trailer and the back of our van.

After a lunch break we headed out in a fine dusting of snow over Monument Pass and on to their new house

Let me tell you, their house is very nice. A sensible cafe au lait colored carpet, hardwood in the kitchen, dining area and entry hall and very nice textured vinyl in the baths and laundry room -- even an in kitchen pantry closet -- mmmmmmm!!!

At that end we unloaded all of the goodies we had loaded at our end, plus the washer and dryer and spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday setting things up and putting things away.

The washer and dryer were a special challenge as we had to install a new cord on the dryer before it could be used as the plug would not fit the new outlet, and it was decided that new water supply hoses were a good idea for the washer.

And there were lights and ceiling fans to be installed in the bedroom ceilings and beds to be put together -- giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "make the bed"!

Yesterday morning they went back to work (to rest, as my daughter said) and we came home -- and had to shovel the driveway, the sidewalks and the back patio of about 4 inches of heavy wet snow --- seems we were in the right window to get things out!!

While I was gone I did get quite a bit of knitting done on a sweater vest I'm making for one of my daughter's friends kids -- little sweaters go a lot quicker

So today it's back to what resembles normal -- laundry to do, more Christmas projects to work on -- maybe some pictures tomorrow!!