Hide and Seek!!!

Last night was FNSI. So I settled in and thought about what (of my many projects that have been started) I should work on.

Mom has been on me about finishing my candy cane quilt that hasn't gotten finished yet. We got some new fabrics this week and she has been thinking of how to use them. She realized that the candy cane fabric from a Very Fairy Christmas looked a lot like the candy cane that I embroidered last year. So I dragged out my stitching and blocks that are finished. It was a perfect match.

So I (after many "work on them! work on them!" from mom) decided to work on my last three paper pieced blocks and see how far I could get.

I got my stuff ready, then I looked around for the back up fabric that I have for when (yes, when because I know that I will) I mess up. I couldn't find it any where. I spent about twenty minutes tearing up my side of the sewing room and trying to get it back together again. I gave up looking and hoped for the best.

The two blocks I got done and two of my embroidered blocks on the perfect fabric for sashing.

I was also given my first pair of stork scissors by my mom yesterday, and I have to show them off. I don't have much fondness for birds, and the feeling is mutual. They are the ones that started the feud. I have always wanted a pair of stork scissors for myself, but I couldn't find any that I liked. These are perfect.

This is the stitching bag I got from Ant Nicci and my NEW black and white stork scissors.

I collect pins and decided this is the perfect place to put some of them. The pin with my name has been in a button tin for as long as I can remember. 2 are from my recent trip to Florida. 4 of them are from the shop hop that mom and I try to go to every year. (You'll never guess which little pal might join us this year - if we go.)

Let Your Hair Down!!!

I was so excited for this FNSI, since I missed last one.

I started out my night by trying to catch up on my BOM's and the extra blocks that I am making along with them.

After I got all but one of the blocks done I got to work on a project for my LuLu. Mom and I bought her a big girl nap mat with Rapunzel, from Tangled, on it. The pillow isn't very big so I decided to make her a Rapunzel pillow case for an extra pillow.

As so often happens one turned into two!!!

Where I Have Been!!!

It has been a while since I last posted. (Or that is what mom tells me.)

(Me and the conductor of the Hogwarts Express)

I have been pretty busy this month. I went on my first vacation in 7 years. I accompanied my sister's family on their trip to Orlando, Florida. We did the usual tourist stuff, Disney World (all 4 major parks), Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Sea World.

The first night there we attended the Arabian Nights dinner show. It was a lot of fun and very interactive. Gumdrop loved it since she is very into horses.

LuLu missed getting her picture with her favorite Disney movie character, Mulan, by 2 seconds at Epcot. She did get to wave and say, "Hi." I really enjoyed the topiary characters. But my favorite part of Epcot had to be seeing Off Kilter sing "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond." I love this song and seemed to be the only one in the crowd who knew it. The rest of them must not have read Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon because Rodger sings at the Scottish/Irish festival.

We did the VIP tour of Sea World and got to feed Sting Rays, Dolphins, and Sea Lions. We got to see the Dolphin show, the Sea Lion pirate show, and the whale show, Believe. My sister and Gumdrop went on Atlantis with me and got pretty wet. We ate at the Luau dinner that they have at Sea World and it was a lot of fun, even though with my food allergies I couldn't eat much. We all got to feed Dolphins and Sea Lions. LuLu loved the Dolphins.

While Nojo was taking the picture of LuLu feeding the Dolphins he failed to see that she had just stolen his biggest fish. She is too cute for him to be mad for very long. What a great big brother.

Islands of Adventure has the Harry Potter village of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle. This is where I had the best time. I love Harry Potter and it was the major reason why I went on the trip. I went on all the rides there and have the best picture of all the accumulated photos taken on our journey. I got to drink butter beer and pumpkin juice. I was only able to bring mom back a pumpkin juice but she was happy with that. The ride in the castle was so much fun. If you love Harry Potter and want to feel like you're part of the story this is the ride for you.

(This is my favorite picture. The guy at the photo desk couldn't stop laughing at the look on my face. Yes, I am afraid of spiders!)

The last thing we did was go to Cocoa Beach, which I was also excited to visit since it is where "I Dream of Jeannie" takes place. I absolutely love that show. You can ask mom. I drive her nuts with it.

Bloom Where You're Planted!!!

Last night was FNSI and of course I participated. But before I get into all that fun stuff, I hope everyone had a very green St. Patty's Day. I know I did (I spent the whole day watching and singing Celtic Thunder Heritage)!!!

So what did I get accomplished? Well...

I decided to use the night to catch up on my BOM's. I had five blocks to finish. I managed to finish before midnight.

This is the neutral block that needed to be done by April 9. Also pictured is the super-duper coffee fabric that I bought to go with my coffee quilt. It has officially been named "Clouds In My Coffee."

The first is my favorite block so far. The last two are my least favorite blocks so far.

These are the Lakehouse blocks for February and March that I am making along with the neutral blocks.

These are the previous months of Lakehouse blocks.

In Short...

no pun intended on my part (I know that I am short)

This FNSI I worked on a couple of things. I traced out the snowflake angel that mom is going to embroider for me. That was number one.

The second thing I worked on is a secret project for LuLu's birthday in April. I can't put a full photo up, but here is a sneak peek at the backing.

SHHHHH!!! Don't tell LuLu!!!

The third thing I worked on was the outline of my candy cane letter T.

I have had a pretty busy past few days and have not felt very good. I did do my Best-Auntia-In-The-World duty and watched my nephew, NoJo, play basketball. I knew he had King Louie arms for a reason. He won 38-4. GO NOJO!!! Then I hung out with my sister, The Glamazon, and two of her friends in a Girls' Day Out.

So in short (no pun intended) I am tired and going to turn in early.

Lovely!!!

My FNSI started off with a wee bit of shopping. Mom and I went to JAF and bought her background fabric for the new BOM (Hot Flashes) at The Quilters Studio. Then we went to Hobby Lobby to get the knitting needles that I needed.

When I was about 9 or 10 years old, my mom tried to teach me how to knit. I started out with a skein of red cotton yarn and a pair of size 8 knitting needles. I would knit and knit and knit. And after I went to bed, she would try to fix the mess I'd made. I lost interest (if I ever had any) and she gave up on me ever becoming a domestic goddess.

Last month I bought a book to learn how to knit. I started a knitting project (that I bought the needles for). I am not very good at all and, after failing four times to get the first row, I moved on to a different project.

I pressed the panda and bamboo batik fabrics for a quilt that I have had planned for a while. But then I remembered that the fabrics hadn't been prewashed, so I decided to work on something else.

I ended the night working on an afghan that I started a couple of years ago for Mom. I have made one for myself. Mom loved it and wanted one, too. I worked on it and listened to "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" till I was too tired to keep my eyes open.

Lovely!!!

Mom says that I sound just like the little old ladies in "Saving Grace" when I talk about how lovely things are.

Diana - I love Grace. I really, really love her ...
Quentin - Right. Where do I find her?
Diana - In a lovely, lovely house. I love her.
Quentin - And how do I find the lovely, lovely house?
Diana - Up the lovely, lovely hill

from Saving Grace

A Renegade!!!

The second FNSI was last night, and what a night it was. I started early cause I had lots ta do. I have Christmas presents currently residing in front of my sewing machine, so I knew I had to do hand work. Good thing too, because I am several months behind on my candy cane letters.

I traced out the rest of the alphabet p-z and decided that I would work on the outlines only, and see how far I got. I worked on them while I watched the ending of Renegade season 1. Then it was time for the four hours of Without A Trace, so I stitched during the commercials. Then I stitched during the beginning of Renegade season 2. I got the outlines to P and Q done and was starting R when the thread had a hissy fit. My thread kept snapping. After giving it a good tongue-thrashing, I decided to go to bed.

Mom wanted me to skip to U after P so that my post would say P.U.

Since I didn't completely finish any of the letters, I didn't take a picture. I will post them when they are done so everyone can see.