A Day Beading

This morning I was up and ready to go. I go a load of laundry in before I left the house. I couldn't believe I was up at 5:30 am. I played a few games. Then I got the laundry in. I also got my stuff ready to go. I checked off my list of things to do.

I stopped off at Chehalis Deli to get lunch for Sharon, her "other half" and myself. I headed down the road to I-5 to head up to Olympia. I was surprised at how quick I got up there. It was about 35 mins. I will have to keep that in mind the next time I head up there.

We checked out my patterns. She loves all of them. Found out her eye sight has been getting worse but she still loves to do beading. Think I got her interest back up. We were talking about the beads and the other items. It took awhile before she started to teach me the peyote stitch.

She had her beads and pulled them all out. We started stitching. I was amazed at how easy this stitch is compared to the other one I'm doing (see below). I love this stitch! I will work on a bigger piece after I get the cats ornament done. This was one of the pieces. I want to do the Snowman next. That will cost me a LOT for the beads, so will wait and see that.

Yea, I know, I'm off on another craft! NOT like I don't have anything else to do. I still have the quilt that needs to be done by March....yeah, I know, I'm stalling.....but I really have wanted to learn beading for most of my life and to finally learn it....well, I'm off again. I have the cross stitch that needs finishing......but my brain wants to go and work on beading.....oh, crap, here I go again....off on another track.......HELP!

On top of all that, I came home, fixed supper, and then I was beading.

I want to finish this so I can get moving on the other beading work. It's coming along, but one can't really tell that's a bird! I'm working on it and I have been trying to see if it will look like a bird. We'll see.

Then I placed an order for the beads I need for the cats ornament. It will be interesting.

So, at least today was a day of Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

All Over The Place Today

Today was one of those days where I started one thing and another comes up.

I went downstairs to work on a kit for the QOV sew day. I started out with an idea.....

I thought about this, but it's WAY too BUSY. So much for that thought. I have so many 4" squares it isn't funny anymore. Gave up on thinking about this. Mom was going to cut some of her off white fabric for me. Then I'll rethink this. I was thinking of all one color on the snowball. I'll figure it out later.

So, then I started cutting another top with a yellow-brown as the background. I had the blue done with some of the background done. Then the phone rang. Oh, before that I called Faye because she made this quilt I was cutting. Then talked to Sharon to double check on going to her place tomorrow. We won't make it to Snip Wreck beads in Olympia. We will do that another day. We are going to go over the patterns I have for what to work on.

Then it was time to wash and clean the backing fabric. I washed the red first and realized I wanted the grey instead. So, I had to hurry up and get it dried to have it ready for tomorrow.

Then it was time to go bowling tonight. I really need to get back to normal! I bowled a 154, 148, 200.  I'm doing some dumb stuff. I was hitting my leg. Then I was turning my body. And according to Patrick I was swing my butt weird. I finally behaved and got back to the beginning on the last game. I didn't loose any pins on my average. We won 2 games. They kicked our butt the last game.

All in all, I was Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!

Day With Mom

This morning I was up and getting things ready to take to mom. I had all the QOV fabrics at the front door to get some kits done.

First I had a list of things that needed to be done first. I wanted to go to the bank to deposit money and check on the last deposit to see who I deposited checks for. I didn't have it right in my quickbooks. Then I had to go to the post office and get stamps for our water group. Next stop was Judy's to get the batting and backing for the quilts I'm working on. Actually one is done. When I was chatting with her, she said she didn't have enough backing to do any more then 4 quilt backings. I asked when they would be getting more and she said it wouldn't be till March. That won't work! So, I went to Whalen Quilt Works and picked up enough backing to get at least 5 more quilts done. Told her if we need more to let me know and I'll go to Whalen's again to get more. Took what I bought to Judy and then went to get lunch for mom and I. I arrived early because she wasn't home yet. She was expected at noon. I was 20 mins early. So, I got started in cutting some binding strips for Ethel. That way she can decide what she wants to bind the quilts with.

Mom got home and we had lunch. After lunch we went into the quilt room. There we went through the fabrics. We pulled out a few fabrics and started cutting for a quilt. We had a lot to pick from. I even printed out more quilt patterns. We got the kit done that I had worked on but didn't have the background. Mom cut the background fabrics and that quilt top is ready to sew. Then we started cutting another quilt top. We decided on different reds to get rid of the small pieces I have.

We finished another kit. We are now at 3 quilt kits. I have more to cut out and will work on another one tomorrow.

We organized the colors and was able to put them in the tubes. I was able to get the tube looking good.

Still had some left overs. Once of the bags has scrap pieces and one of the bags (inside the big bag) has more smaller pieces that we can use in a quilt. The box inside the bag is a box FULL of 2 1/2" white and off white fabrics. I'll see if I can get some 2 1/2" squares cut from the scraps. I'll work on it.

Came home and just decided to play. I haven't touched anything tonight. We were so busy cutting fabrics today that I wanted to enjoy doing "nothing" when I got home. Thought about doing my beading, but that didn't go very far.

I'm happy to say it was a good day to be Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!

Had A Day To Work On A Quilt Top

This morning I did not want to get up. The phone rang and then I got up to find out it was one of those "crank" calls. I didn't answer it.

I got the fireplace going to warm up the downstairs. I played for a little while and then went downstairs to work on the quilt top for QOV. I finished the stripped top.

I finished putting this one together. It's done. I will have the quilt top ready to go to Bill to be quilted on Thursday. I'm heading up there then.

Sophie was down there keeping me interested. She was all over the place at times.

She was keeping me amused.

While I was ironing, she was having fun up on the mantel.

I was working on my beading as well. I wanted to get a few more rows in. I added 3 more rows. I put the beads out for each row to make it easier to put them on the piece. It was a lot easier laying the beads out then it was to count the beads as I went along. This way works for me. The photo isn't showing what I can see.

Today was at least for me, a day of Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!!

Enjoyed The Day

This morning I played games. I just wanted to relax and really didn't want to do much. So, I played games. Patrick slept in, so I didn't get my shower till around 11 am. I didn't mind because I had the morning to myself and Sophie.

Patrick turned on bowling. I sat at the table and worked on my bead work. I really can't see what the photo shows. It's coming along and it is starting to show up better.

The bird's head doesn't look right, but when you look up close it does. I think the colors I got in the kit should have been easier to see. Even the photo doesn't show as good as it should.

After doing 3 more rows, I decided to go work on cross stitch.

I finished the duck and worked on the framing of the next piece. I'm getting there. I was happy to be able to finish that part before it was time to go bowling.  I was a little worried I was a little off on the frame work, but they came out great. So, I'm happy I can keep going.

Then it was time to go bowling. I bowled a 170, 156, 182. I was having trouble in the beginning. I really wasn't on the mark tonight. Patrick bowled a 606 tonight. I would love to be back up there. We won 3 games. We lost the game where I bowled a 156. It feels good to be able to win again. There for awhile we were in the bottom of the pack. Even though we won the first quarter we still need to get moving and win.

Tomorrow I need to get the QOV quilt top done. I've got to pick up the back and batting for 2 quilt tops. I will be going to see Sharon on Thursday, so I need to get it all ready for that. If I have one quilt done and ready to go, then I'm okay with that.

It's good to be back on track and Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!!

Enjoyed A Trip To Portland

This morning we were up and out the door. We headed down to Jansen Beech in OR. Just outside of Portland.

We thought we were going to the mall there, but found they changed the mall to a lot of shops outside. We had a walk around to the different shops. I bought some clothes. We went to best buy to find Patrick a stereo system. We ended up buying some CD's instead. They didn't have what we wanted and they were clearing out the CD's. I have a CD player downstairs and it would be nice to have a few more CD's. I want to change my ipod but can't figure out how to do that. Will check with my son.

We then went to the Spaghetti Factory down in Portland. It used to be called John's Landing but they changed it. Not only did they change that, they changed the area were we used to go. There are TONS of apartments all around the Spaghetti Factory. It was shocking at how it's in a crowed area now when it was in an open area.

We headed home. Come home and played with Sophie.

I was able to get the squirrel done. I worked on getting the pumpkin area in order. I needed to turn it.

The good news is that I have this area to finish and then it's done. I really am getting closer to getting this done! It's coming along great.

So, after a full day in Portland I was still able to be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!=

Getting Ready for Patrick's 60th Birthday

Today I needed to work on Patrick's Birthday cake. I had the recipes ready. I couldn't find any coconut cream anywhere in town or at Ikea - not that it would have been there. So, I ended up using the frosting for the filling. Oh, well.

I spent most of the afternoon with the cake.

It's all ready for tomorrow. Wonder if he will cut it before going to work. - Guess I'll find out in the morning. I need to go out and get a card and something to go with it. He wanted something special for his Birthday like a watch or something in that direction. He didn't find what he wanted.

While I was in-between all that I worked on my cross stitching.

I got the pumpkin done and started up the side. I realized I missed the squirrel. I'll try to get that in tomorrow. I'm happy with the progress. I just wish I would make more time to work on it then playing games. But I love my games.

Yesterday was a quiet day till we left to get mom at the airport. I was really surprised at the traffic. We got there early and waited to pick mom up. Her luggage (really ours) was off the plane first. Patrick grabbed them and we waited about 5 mins for mom to get down to the baggage claim. They brought her down in a wheelchair. We walked back to the car and headed to Red Lobster to eat. It was another 45 mins to get there. We arrived, were seated right away, and waited and waited for service. Then we got service and waited and waited to be served with the food. Each time was a longer wait then usual. We were all starved. Finally got home around 9 pm.

So, yesterday was not a good day for stitching or quilting. Today was a day to be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Dental Appointment Again Today

I'm not sure if I told anyone about what I'm going through with my teeth. I had a bad tooth ever since I had braces when I was 16 years old. Because of the work I had done back then I'm paying for it yet again! I had it pulled when I was about 32 years old. They decided to do a bridge back then. Hind sight is that I wouldn't have let them do that back then. I would have just left the hole. But NO, I went with the bridge. It actually lasted me about 27 years. I was told I would have that the rest of y life. Then I had some work done on my tooth about 10 years ago - the one that held up the bridge. Now remember, I HATE going to the dentist - military dentists were not nice most of the time. Okay, back to this tooth. About 8 months ago I found out my tooth (worked on 10 years ago) was now decayed. Yep, so much for lasting a life time. Then I found out it doesn't last a life time, it only lasts about 15 years. The good part is that I made it past 15 years.  So, in July they took out my tooth and capped the other tooth that was part of the bridge......ugh. When they removed the tooth they also put the screws in. I have been without 2 teeth for the past few months. Today I had to go back and get measured for the implants. It wasn't my favorite thing in the word....to sit there while they screwed in some screws to use for making the new teeth. Then of course, I didn't do the first fitting right, so they had to do it again....which is the way my life goes. Once that was done the screws came out and the other screws went back in. Now in a couple weeks I will be getting my new "teeth." Not excited. Not looking forward to this. Not happy that I had braces when I was 16 years old. Guess you can say, I'm just not happy about any of this.

I decided to relax by sitting down at the table and putting another 3 rows on the tapestry that I'm doing with beading.

I'm really not seeing the bird come together. The seeds are pretty much close in color and it doesn't seem to be working on getting the bird right. I'll keep going, but really not seeing the bird right. I guess it will show up more later. I did find that while I work on this I need to put the beads down for each row to make it easier and less likely to mess up.

Tomorrow we are going to pick mom up at the airport. It's going to be an interesting day. At least today I was Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Not My Best Day

Today I was up and out the door.

Patrick and I went to meet up with my best friend from High School. Dale Shaw is a very dear friend of mine. Patrick hadn't met him yet, and since he was "trucking" by, he called last night wanting to see us. We went at 8:30 am to see him. We had an awesome visit at Starbucks.

After leaving Dale, Patrick and I came back home. I grabbed all my supplies for Brazilian embroidery. I really wasn't ready to do embroidery. The good thing was that Phyllis brought her thread catchers that needed buttons put on. So, I grabbed a few and sewed buttons on. Then Sandy II (our second Sandy) did a lesson session. We worked on stem stitch and the pistol stitch. I passed out the fabric, and we are stitching little flowers and things in a small area. Then when we have a lot of them done, we will all be sewing them up and put the beads that keep moister out. They are for next years Seminar. We'll keep working on them.

After that went to Safeway to get mom milk, eggs, bread. Well, I called and asked her what kind of bread she wanted......mistake.......as I was at the check out she called back and gave me a very long list of stuff she wanted. So, I went and picked them up for her. I ended up with $50 worth of shopping and that basket wasn't big enough by the time I was done. I got to her house before Sherry who cleans her house.

While she was cleaning the house, I was cutting some white scraps into squares. Then I played a little on the computer. I also went looking for beads to do my project. I will order them. They are a little expensive but I do need them. The most expensive part of the beads is going to be the tassel area. That will be a $40 beading - just for the tassels!

Finally came home around 5 pm. Patrick had the dishwasher hooked up and it looks awesome! He even ran the dishwasher to make sure there were no leaks. I haven't figured out how I will be loading it yet, but I do like the new dishwasher. I need to read the book to see how it works for what I want.

Now, I'm tired. So, it wasn't my best day of being able to work on my crafts. I at least did some stitching today but not enough to say I was Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting

A Day Of Quilting And Bowling

This morning I was up.....after a night of not being able to sleep very well. I must of woke up every hour.

We watched bowling on TV today. It was pretty good. I do learn a few tips when I watch that. While we were watching that, I pulled out Katt's quilt to work on.

I have this side to finish and then I'll be done with the first part of straight lines around the border. I have the bottom of the yellow and the bigger area of the black to do next. I'm thinking of doing cross lines in the black area. I'll figure it out when I start the next side. I was thinking I could do a QOV in this pattern as well....guess I'm still thinking of the quilt tops that need to be made. lol

I baked "Date Bars" for Patrick. using the oatmeal in the crust and top.

Unloaded the dishwasher for the last time. Then it was time to go bowling. I bowled a 173, 136, 198. I'm getting better, but not as good as I can be. I'm going to work on that. We bowled Dan's team. He wasn't doing good. He hurt his wrist and finger, on top of hurting his ankle. Told him to take care of that. Guess he doesn't do doctors. I wanted him to know I didn't need another kid of mine in the hospital.

Even though this is short, this is still a good day of being Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!

Shopping And Stitching

We were up early. I got some laundry going.

Then we headed out to go bowling. We were scheduled to pre-bowl for Wednesday at noon today. We did okay. Poor Denise is having trouble getting back up there with her bowling. I did a little better as I went along. I bowled a 158, 178, 189.  I beat Patrick the last two games but he beat me in series. We don't know how we did because they didn't have our averages and handicap yet. So, we will just have to wait and see next Sunday night.

After bowling we headed up to Olympia to look for a new dishwasher. Ours is really bad. I'm actually surprised it's still working. Patrick took it apart a while back and parts started falling off. He got it all set up so it would work. It's been running for about 2 months since he "fixed" it. We bought one and brought it home. Patrick will install it on Monday while I'm off to embroidery and at mom's house while the cleaning lady cleans. So, it's going to be on heck of a busy Monday.

Then we headed to Costco. We did some shopping as well as get some gas in the truck. Came home and unloaded. We were able to get a few things we needed. We didn't get any meat, because we need to clean out the freezer outside. We'll weed it down so we can defrost the freezer.

I decided to sit and work on my beading.

I added 2 rows. I don't know what I did wrong the first time I worked those rows, but I ended up taking them out. I couldn't believe it. No matter how many times I counted I was counting more then what I should have had. So, I cut them out and re-did the 2 rows. Now I'm back on track, and I need to pay more attention so I stay on track. Not liking taking out as much as I put in. Reminds me too much of my crocheting. I called it quits once I got the 2 rows in.

I then went to sit down and work on my cross stitch. I'm happy to report I got quiet a bit done. It's getting there.

So, I can call today as good day of being Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!!

Getting There

Today I was up and decided I needed to get a few things done. I wanted to have them done so I didn't have to do them this weekend.

The first thing was getting the quilts to Ethel for binding. She does an awesome job of binding the quilts. She'll have them done in the next week or so. I gave her 2 weeks to do them. Then I headed to Rita's. I was hoping she had the wax I can't find for my embroidery. I know I have it, but can't find. She didn't have it. So, I did buy some fabric for QOV. Talked to her and double checked on our sew day there. She's going to let some of the others know. Once that was done, I headed to Sharon Care to give our certificate to the guy we honored on Wednesday. Talked with the gal about the veterans that were there. She gave me the VFW in Centralia to check with them. After that, I went to Micheals to see if they had one. They didn't. I bought a bead case for the beads I need for my project. Once all that was done, I was making a stop at Safeway for milk. It was a quick 2.5 hours.

Came home and turned the TV on to the stuff I had taped. Then went to the table and started working on my beading. I had to get back where I was. I found that if I put the beads in a row in the order they go on, I can keep track better.

It turned out better.

I even got some good mail! I received the patterns that I ordered. They are awesome! Now I can work on that Cats piece when I go to Sharons. I need to check with Sandy if she has the colors that I need. Then I have to figure out what I need to buy for it.

Once supper was over and I gave up on the beads. I worked on my cross stitching. I got quiet a ways for what little time I put in. I really would like to get more done on here. I keep wasting my time lately and don't get as much done as I should.

My daughter-in-law isn't doing good, so my prayers are out there for her. I would say more, but this is personal and I don't really like doing personal on here. I'm just going to pray for her and hope she will get better.

In the meantime I can try to be Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!

Started The Day Being Lazy....Then It Took Off

This morning I enjoyed being able to sleep in. I really didn't want to get up. Once I did, I just played some games. Kept thinking of what I needed to do, but just didn't feel like it.

I finally got moving! I went downstairs and heated up the room. Then I got my stuff together. I wanted to work on the quilt top I had started before.

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I think I added two rows and then I was the mess on the table and by the box. I put that aside and tried to clean up.

Needing to go through all this fabric. I thought I better get working on cutting out more quilts.

And I thought I cleared off my counter.......

The good news is that is wants as bad as I thought. 

I worked on getting the 2 pillow cases that were needed for the two quilts that are quilted and only need the binding. 

Now I have the 2 cases for the 2 quilts that are finished. It didn't take long, but it did take up some time. I was happy to finish these.

I went through the boxes of QOV fabric. I was trying to get them ready to cut.....but then I found strips and 4" squares. I put them all in the same place. I worked on the bigger pieces and put them in the box. I really thought I had half of the box full.....then before I knew it, it was FULL and then some.

The blue box is the box to get rid of stuff. I have been putting stuff in there as I go. I try to throw stuff out when I bring stuff in. It helps on keeping my "stash" down. I still have more stuff to go through. I found some airplane fabric which is now in that fabric pile. I will try to see what I can do with the panels to get them done for Air Force veterans. It would be fun if we could find a few more pilots. lol

I then decided to get some beading done.....well that didn't work out right......I was off. So, I counted the beads - not easy - trust me NOT EASY. As I counted them I realized I was missing the count. Oh, crap, here I go again. So, it was time to take it out. YEP, TAKE IT OUT. This time I wasn't going to take all of it out, just to where I got messed up.

Oh, yea, 6 rows down!! Reminded me of my crocheting.....taking it out all the way down the afghan till I got back to the last few rows were the change came in. Never fails. I put the beads back, and then I put it away. I'm going to start back up tomorrow. Maybe I will get back to getting up there again. I cut the rows (as you can see in the photo).

Now I'm going to call it a day. I'll try to have better luck tomorrow to get something actually done. That's almost Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!

Presentation Day for QOV

Today I got my stuff ready for our presentation at Sharon Care in Centralia. I took 3 quilts "just in case" and was ready to go.

Picked up Ethel and we were early. So, went to Safeway and got gas. Then headed back to Sharon Care. We arrived and got ready with our plans. The gal there asked if we still could do another veteran or two. I told her we could do one more. She was happy about that and took us to David Eveland. He was a WWII veteran. I sat and talked to him about his service. It was awesome to hear! He was a telephone operator. He was with the group that pushed the Germans out of Sigfrids line. He was south of the Battle of the Bulge. He said he had a rifle but never had to use it. I then went to talk to Steve Smiley who was the one we were prepared to present the quilt to. He wasn't talking much. They were there with the veterans that come to visit every Wednesday to chat with other veterans at Sharon Care.

When Jim came, he went to the dinner room where they were. When I told him we needed to get the men in the activity room, he suggested we do the awards there in the dinning room with the veterans there. So, we did. It was awesome! The veterans that were supporting the center, were a big help. I need to find out where they come from so we can see if they would be willing to do a flag ceremony for us just before our program. It would be so cool to have them helping us out.

This is David Eveland and he's our WWII veteran. When Faye came by, I found out he is the one she had been trying to find. So, now he's been awarded. The other WWII veterans will be presented a quilt on Feb 6th.

After that I came home. I had to go back into town because Sue (who had car trouble and missed the ceremony) wanted to meet up to get the quilt blocks that Georgie did. I needed to go to the bank, so we met there.

I relaxed a while when I got back home. I didn't feel like doing anything after that. So, played a few games.

We went bowling. We lost all three games. Our whole team bombed. I bowled a 158, 157, 163. Not my best bowling but at least I bowled over a 150. Not my night at all. I couldn't get things to work out.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get back to being Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Getting Ready For Tomorrow

This morning I enjoyed having the day to myself. The phone didn't ring either. That made for a very good day.

I got started on getting the QOV presentation ready. We have our presentation tomorrow at Sharon Care for Steve Smiley. He is 90 years old. I needed to get the certificate done as well. Once I had all the information I needed, I got side tracked with genealogy.

I was working on Patrick's family. I have been having trouble finding his HANDY family. I found some of them on find-a-grave and was able to find a couple people I'm looking for. I'm not sure on one of them if they had the right parents, but I'm going to work on it first before I agree with what they have. Plus, you wouldn't believe how many HANDY's have the same name. It's hard to find them.

Phil came by today. I gave him my sourdough bread. It was good from what I understand. I really like my breads. Phil said that was the best one I''ve done so far. That was cool to hear that.

I asked him to help me with photos.

This was one of the ones I did. It has a spot in the corner I'm not happy about. Patrick looked at it and said it would pass. He didn't notice it, and it goes with the quilting. I'll let it go but will be very careful in the future.

This one is the one Susy did. I put the label on and washed it. I have a case for it. This will be going tomorrow "just in case" we need it for another veterans. I've got this one washed and ready to go.

I've been enjoying playing my games tonight. Not in the mood to do much else. I did sign up for the National QOV sew day. So, Feb 2nd, I will be home sewing on my QOV stuff. Should be interesting.

As it turned out, today was not a day of Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Hopefully A Quiet Week

This morning was a good morning for me. I started out calling Faye to up-date her on what was going on. We talked about having to purchase fabric for our group. I also told her I had the letter ready to request donations. I'll use it again when I can find another group that I can try to get money to help us out.

I also got laundry going. Once that was going, I TRIED to work on Katt's quilt. I tried out the hoop that was given to me at our embroidery meeting. I don't think I was really in the mood. I did get the two labels put on the two quilts I have here.

I had to sign mine and Susy's. I did find that the one I made, Bill had some trouble with. He ended up with a pucker in the corner. I was disappointed. I really fell bad that that will be given out. I just hope the person that gets it doesn't know a lot about quilts. I hate seeing it in the corner. Next will be getting photos and washing them.

Sophie was keeping me entertained today. It was fun watching her play with her toy.

I was trying to get a good picture of her, but she's not one to let me do that. She moves every time I point the camera or tablet in her direction.

I made a butternut squash soup. It turned out okay. It was something different.

So, after supper I worked on my beading. I wanted to get a little more done. Sharon called me today to see why I wasn't coming up this week. Told her I bought a couple patterns and I have one that I want to do. I want to do the cats for my daughter.

I added three more rows. I found that when I was doing the other technique that the pattern shows - it doesn't seem to be all together. So, about 4 rows in the middle of this has small holes between them. I went back to doing 2 at a time and not 4 at a time. I did learn a lot from that. I can tell there is two techniques, but hoping most people can't. Either way, this is my learner "curve."

Now it's time to head back to working on Katt's quilt hopefully before we call it a night. At least I still know how to be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

A Day Of Double Bowling

This morning I was up and enjoying my time. Patrick got up and was eating when I realized I had 45 mins to get moving. So, I went and took my shower and was out the door in a short time. Had to be at the bowling alley for our travel league.

I arrived in time, and got a little irritated with the other team, they took over all the seating in our area. They put their coats on one chair and went and sat in another chair the whole time. So, we took over the table even with their stuff all over the place. They got the idea and picked up their stuff. We weren't bowling them, because the team we were to bowl didn't show up, and the team we were to bowl didn't show up, so they put the two of us together. I bowled better. Didn't change my average though. I bowled a 157, 168, 180. At least I was going up and not down.

Came home and enjoyed a couple hours of being home. I worked on my beading because I didn't want to take anything else out and work on it. I will work on Katt's quilt tomorrow, after I put the labels on two quilts tomorrow.

I was able to get another 3 rows done. I like the way this one is coming. I'm really happy with this one. I can't wait to get the birds started.

Then it was off to bowling again. At least both times we were at Fairway in Centralia. We won 3 games. Not real sure how we lost the last one, but I'm thinking they bowled better and Nick didn't get his average by about 40 pins. I bowled a 189, 202, and 194. I'm back to what I can do. I gained a pin on my average, so I'm happy it's going back up. It was going down.

While I was at the bowling alley I found out that the one we are presenting a quilt to on Wednesday got sick and they were getting ready to take him to the hospital. Jim said the doctor was there, and she was checking him out. So, he will find out tomorrow if we need to post-pone giving him his quilt. At this rate, I'm not sure how that will work.

Beading is stitching, so I can say I was Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!!

What A Day

This morning I had a dream. It was of my father. He was in a bar like area. I knew he had passed on, but when I saw them (two people between us), I couldn't believe it. The person next to me told me not to go, it was a "dream." I had to see, so I walked toward him. He turned to me. I asked if he was real, and he let me touch him. It was real. I looked up and he said, "I know, I'm sorry." I asked how and he told me it took him a while to get here. I hugged him and cried. Then I woke up. I wanted to talk to him ore but I woke up. At least I got a hug.

After getting up, I enjoyed playing some games till the phone rang and woke Patrick up.

We then started putting the Christmas stuff away. I worked on a letter to the Chehalis Tribe for our QOV group. I need to work on it more.

Patrick and I went over to moms. He fixed her shelf while I paid a few bills. Then we went to Safeway and picked up some supplies.

Came home and I worked on my cross stitch.

I was able to get more done. I'm hoping to get more done before I call it a night.

I also worked on Patrick's family history. I got stuck on his BATH family. I'm still having a trouble finding them. Genealogy can be hard, but that's what puzzles can be.

I've had a good day today getting a few things done or worked on. I'm okay with how it's going. It keeps me Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

It's Usually Said "Three's The Charm

This morning I was up and ready to enjoy the day with Sophie. I didn't have any plans and I knew Sue was coming, so I really didn't want to be in the middle of something.....but then again.

I decided last night to redo my bead work. I had to fix my "word chart" first, because I had the rows going in the opposite direction because of the "oops" I did on Wednesday. Plus I had to add the first three rows. It took a lot of time to fix it. Once all that was done, I clipped my bead work thread and started taking it all apart.....that took a good long time, because apparently I did it good enough that it wouldn't come apart easily. I wanted to use my thread with a different color. Really not crazy about using black thread on this piece. Well, that didn't work, because my thread is a little thinner. I didn't like the way it was going after the two and a half rows done. So, I took it out as well. Again, not so easy but a little quicker. I'm starting to get good at that part.

So, this is the third time! I think this is good. I feel better working on this piece. Like they say, "Three times the charm!" and it really is. The photo shows the different colors, but when I'm working on it, the beads are shinny and it is sometimes hard to see.

Cherry called and wanted to go walking. I joined her and we took a good long walk. I needed to get out and walk after sitting most of the day, either on the computer of at the table doing bead work.

I did some genealogy this morning and I also bought a couple peyote bead patterns. I will work on those. One of the patterns I bought is 364 pages long. I will have to figure out where I can get that printed up. lol  I will need to get a notebook to keep my patterns in. I'll be working on that once I get this one done.

Patrick got home and we went to a movie tonight. "The Up Side" was an awesome movie. I laughed through it, and it was an awesome story. It's top on my list of seeing! I'm so glad I saw it. The trailers didn't do the movie justice. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

So, today was another interesting day of Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

It Felt Good To Be Home

Today felt good to be home. I didn't go anywhere, but I did get company.

I started out with watching Sophie running all over the place. Couldn't get her to calm down. Every time I went down the hall, a herd of horses took off past me (yeah, Sophie).

Once that was over, I got cooking. Patrick was wanting his mom's "Chocolate Chip Date Cake" for awhile, so I made that.

Then I decided I needed to work on my beading chart. So, I sat down and worked on the 26 rows.

I needed to write down the colors and how many beads. That took quiet a while. It took time just to get to 26 rows.

Then I wanted to get working on the beads. First I took the beads I have and labeled the tubes that Sharon gave me. Put the beads in the tubes and was now ready to work on my piece.

=

Got three more rows and then found a mistake - that black spot on the end. So, I'm going to take it all out tomorrow and try again. Not sure why that happened but bet I will figure it out tomorrow. I just don't like doing things when I know there is a mistake, so it's coming out. No matter what. 

Faye came over to drop off the thumb drive and some patterns. I gave her the backing and batting that I picked up from Judy. She needed another back and batting and was wondering if Judy had one for her. I just figure it will be awhile before I work on the other ones, so I decided to go ahead and give them to her. 

I got back to working on my beads. I really do need to fix that, and it's going to drive me nuts. lol 

I'm (in a way) Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting! 

One Busy Week

This morning I was up just as Patrick was leaving. I had to get moving so I could get up to Olympia.

I guess before I say what today was like, I should say why I didn't blog last night. It was one busy day, and I just was so tired, blogging didn't cross my mind.

So, here I go - I started out getting up with Patrick. I was out the door by 8:30 am to get to the dentist. I thought they were going to work on my implants but it turned out it was a cleaning. So, I had to schedule another appointment for the molds. Then I found out I had to see the dentist that put the posts in....which had me waiting and waiting for one thing or another. After an hour of being there, I headed to the post office. From the post office it was the bank, and Judy's. I picked up the back and batting for 3 quilts. Next was Dian's for 4 hours to help with her eBay sells. Once that was done, I was over to Rita's and gave her all my cross stitch fabric that didn't sell. I did get $10 from Judy for what did sell, but that wasn't much. I left Rita's and went to meet up with Sandy because she made 2 pillow cases for QOV. They are awesome. Got home at 4 pm, and then went downstairs to work on the quilt top that I needed to get done. I even started another quilt top that I thought I could get done for today....no such luck. But it took me till 10 pm to have the quilt top done for Bill.

Okay, now back to today. I was up to the Kaiser Center to get my blood test done. Once that was done, I went to look for another doctor. I was lucky enough to get one that sounds good for me. I will find out when I see her, but not sure when that will be.

Headed back toward Costco to where Sharon and Bill live. I arrived, gave Bill the quilt tops to quilt and then Sharon and I worked on beading. She was helping me learn beading. This kit I have, is different from the beading she does.

This is the 4 bead way. She does poyetes (sp) and I want to learn that. We started this one and I learned a lot. I'm happy with what I learned so far. I'm going to work on this tomorrow. 

I started row 4 before quitting. I'm going to do a "word sheet" so I know what I need to do and when. 

I came home about 4 pm and got supper. We then went over to moms to get her mail. I need to pay a couple bills for her. 

We had bowling tonight, so after moms, went bowling. I bowled pretty good to start but then I went down the tubes! I bowled a 201, 176, 150. At least I didn't loose a pin on average. We did win 3 games, I wasn't the only one that didn't do good the 3rd game. 

Now, I'm beat, and ready to call it a night! I can say I was Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting

Starting Out The Busy Week

Today was a day for Brazilian Embroidery. I really didn't feel like working on anything. BUT I actually did. I worked on the leaf, but I'm not happy with it, so I'm going to take it out and redo it.

It needs to be done a little better. I'm going to think about it, but chances are it's coming out. We worked on buttons for the thread catchers that we are working on. I brought home some and counted what I have - 33, which is a lot less than we had. I'm not sure why we are going backwards on the catchers.

Georgie followed me home. She picked up some more fabric for blocks. She gave me 20 quilt blocks for QOV. I sent Sue a text that I have 20 blocks for her to work on. She's going to pick them up at the end of the week.

After she left I walked over to Cherry's because she was having trouble walking. We had a good chat and some tea.

Then I came home and went downstairs to work on the quilt top for Bill to quilt. I finished the one yesterday and started on the next one.

This is the second one. I swear, I won't do another one like this one for a very long time! It takes way too much time and way too much work....for me anyway! I don't like sewing and this was a ton of sewing!! 24 stars for each quilt - a total of 48 star blocks!! I was able to get this much done on the second quilt top and called it quits. I'll try and finish it tomorrow. I have a few things to do, but will try to get it finished tomorrow so I can take both of them to Bill on Wednesday. If not, that's okay, I'll take the second one another time. As long as I can get one to him that would be great.

Now it's time to relax and let my back get back to normal. At least I know who to be Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Not Planning On Making This Again

This morning we didn't have any plans, and just enjoyed the morning. Patrick watched his bowling. Since he recorded it, I was able to watch it downstairs.

I worked on the 6" stars, which took a while. It was a major pain with the fabric that is going all one direction. I don't think I will do another stair that has fabric that goes in one direction. This was more of shock to me then anything. I couldn't figure out how the blocks worked out when I was doing the flying geese. I have yet to figure out how the fabric worked out with the different directions.

Once all the stars were done, I was able to cut the strips. I found that I came up a little short on one of the quilts with the strips and sewed two more together to be able to cut 4 more. I will do those tomorrow. I did get the light blue quilt blocks put together.

We laid it out on the floor to figure out how we wanted to put them together. Patrick likes this one, so that's what I'm going to do. It's not sewn together yet. This is the pattern "A Tribute to Yoda" by Lisa Sutherland. I don't care for her instructions, but I do like her quilts.

This quilt was a pain in the rear! I had to make 24 stars - 12 - 12 1/2" and 12 - 6 1/2" stars. Not only did they take forever to do, they were time consuming. They took more time to do then the rest of the quilt. I will not do this again! 12 blocks a quilt is good enough for me when it comes to these stars. I really don't want to do this again!! Yet I still have the second quilt top to put together. I know the pattern I'm going to use, so I need to pay attention to how I set the strips. Since the other blocks it dimensional. UGH!!

The it was time to go bowling. I bowled a 171, 188, and a 207. It felt good to be back to bowling again. At least we won 3 games. We lost the first game by 1 point. We could have won it but three of us couldn't get that 10th frame to save our lives.

Tomorrow is another day - with embroidery - then trying to finish this quilt top. At least I can be Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching

A Day For Shopping And Then Sewing

This morning I woke both Patrick and myself up with snoring! I told Patrick to stay in bed and I'd get up. Which I did for about 30 mins, and then went back to sleep on the couch. He was up before me.

We got ready and were out the door in no time. We headed up to Olympia to do some shopping. We don't usually go shopping. It's not that we need to or even want to. But we hadn't been shopping for clothes for awhile. We went to JC Penney's to she if they had some good sales. They actually did. Some of the things I liked, they didn't have in my size which explains the clearance sales. The popular ones are gone, and that's usually my size. I did get a few things anyway. Then we walked around the mall. I was surprised at how much it changed. Plus there were a lot more people walking around there then I thought. Mall's today are going out of "style." This mall had plenty of people in it. Plus they had the animal scooters that children were riding around in. There were 2 children on one, but I never did see their parents around. We then went to Cabala's and picked up a couple sweat shirts. Once we were out of there, we came back to Centralia and went shopping down here. We went to the VF Factory Outlet. Bought some more clothes.

Then it was back home. Patrick heated up downstairs for me. Then I headed down there to work on the QOV quilts.

The first thing I did was cut the flying geese pieces to size. That took awhile, as I had to cut 96 total or minus the ones I did last night (not enough).

Then I got started on sewing the eagle blocks.

I was able to get 8 of them done.

This shows the difference in size. This is the 6" and 12" blocks that are needed. I have more to work on.

I was working on all the pieces, getting them ready for sewing.

When I finally decided to call it quits, I have a pile to iron tomorrow. That would get more done for tomorrow. I really don't too much to do now. I really am looking forward to putting all this together tomorrow.

I worked on these blocks while the game was going on. Seahawks were lucky to get as far as they did this year. It was a good year for them. Shame they couldn't pull it out.

Now I'm calling it a night. I was lucky enough (today) to be Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!!