A Beautiful Life...

Ten years ago today, Mr. Quilting Bug and I were on a beach in the Bahamas exchanging our vows.  And I've been blessed every day since then to spend it by his side.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This, that and the other...

I've been working on a few other things lately - in between charity quilts and the CQ block.  I managed to finish the final blocks for LeeAnn's Twisted Rope quilt.  There are 81 of these Twisted Rope blocks in it.

81 Twisted Rope blocks

Now I'm ready to start putting it all together.  I've also finished stitching two of the blocks for the Winter Wonderland quilt by Crabapple Hill.  My mom is working on hers at the same time but in a different colorway.  I'm stitching mine on different flannel backgrounds.

Block 1 - Winter Wonderland

Block 2 - Winter Wonderland

Do you ever consider how long a simple stitchery like this takes to make?  I've not given it much thought.  Handwork is just something I work on at night while watching tv.  But one day last week, I had to spend most of the day getting our car serviced and I just happened to bring a new block to work on.  So I knew that it took me 3 hours to get this much done...

Block 3 - Winter Wonderland (in progress)

Hmm.  I would have thought I'd be further along after that much time.  But I suppose it doesn't matter.  I enjoy working on them and I'm one of those people who has trouble with idle hands.  If I'm not working on this, I'll just be doing something else (like the CQ block or the Ladies of the Sea or Baltimore Halloween or Baltimore Christmas or Camelot Snowmen).  

I just wondered if anyone else had ever figured out how long it takes them to do something like this.  Perhaps I'm just slow?

Here's a rather cute picture of Gabriel from yesterday's ball playing time.  Please excuse the dead plants.  A green thumb is not one of my gifts from God.

Gabriel and the ball

Until later...

Those who know Your name will trust in You; for You, LORD,
have never forsaken those who seek You.Psalm 9:10

Adventures of an indoor kitty...

It was such a  nice day today that we spent some time on the deck playing ball with Gabriel.  Jack (our indoor only kitty) was pawing at the back door to join us.  This is a snapshot of her adventures while outside...

Exploring her surroundings

Checking out the grill (some interesting smells)

Going after Gabriel's ball

A quick back scratch

Hmm, what's under here?

Time for an outdoor bath

And finally, I taped this short video of Jack as a plane flew overhead.

Until later...

"I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.  I've learned the secret of contentment in every situation."  

Philippians 4:12

Sam's continuing weight saga...

I made it a point to weigh Sam when I returned home.  She's been on the diet cat food for a couple of weeks and I figured that was enough time to see a change.  This is her before...

Sam - 17.9 lbs

And this is her after...

Sam - Still 17.9 lbs

Yep.  Since her last weigh-in 31 days ago, she has lost nothing, nada, zilch, zip.

But it's not as bad as it sounds.  I'm actually slightly encouraged by it - only because I increased her food before I bought the diet food.  I felt so bad that she was starving so for about a week before the food switch, she gorged herself.  I'm guessing she must have gained about a half pound or so.  That would mean she's lost a little bit of weight since starting the new diet.  At least I hope that's the case and I'm not deluding myself.  Did I mention that her new food is expensive?  Like really, really expensive.

I've also started back to giving her 'happy' pills.  I'm not sure exactly what they are, but it's a prescription from her vet.  I imagine these pills are to her what LSD would be to us.  She's completely spaced out and purring all the time.  She's also not begging for food as much.

So my plan is to weigh her again in another week and see if there's any change.  I pray that there is.

In related news, I weighed David at the same time.  It had been 42 days since I last weighed him and in that time, he's gained 1 pound.  I wonder if he'll ever stop growing.  He's almost a year and a half old now and although he looks a little soft in his tummy, he's all muscle.

David - 19.2 lbs

Until later...

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work." 

Jeremiah 1:5 (NCV)

Miles and Jazzy...

I meant to blog about these 2 cuties several days ago, but as usual life tends to get in the way.

Jazzy and Miles

Jazzy and Miles are Kathy's 2 sweet little dachshunds.  Kathy was the dear lady who hosted us for the week of our quilting retreat and she brought along her dogs.  I think all of us enjoyed having them around while we were sewing.  Except perhaps Kathy...

Kathy and Miles - sewing

Miles wanted to spend all of his time in Kathy's lap - whether she was sewing or sorting or sleeping.  I think my pets make it difficult to get stuff done, but Miles may take the cake in that department.

Miles helping Kathy sort her fabric

Who's the boss here?

When he couldn't get mom's attention, he still kept himself plenty busy.  I vacated my sewing chair for a few minutes and came back to find this...

He looks so cute, I hated to move him.  I think that was his plan all along.  But when I scooted him off (after snapping a bunch of pictures), he was quite happy to pursue his other 2 loves - Jazzy and Otter (his stuffed toy).

Miles, Otter and Jazzy

It was so cute how Miles would groom Jazzy.  He's 2 (I think) and she's 8 and you could tell she was long-suffering.  She puts up with him because she has to, but I think she'd prefer her own bed, no baths and all of mom's attention to herself...

Jazzy and mom

I took a ton of pictures of these two as I found them just delightful.  It seems so empty when I stay somewhere and there are no pets around.  I think they just complete a home or at least they do mine.

Until later...

"Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life." 

1 John 3:14 (CEV)

Stash Report Week #39 and #40...

September 24 - October 7, 2010

Because I was at the beach last week, I never got around to filing my stash report.  And it was a good one too!  So this week I'll just combine them.

To start off,  I bought NO fabric either week.  Our host for the beach retreat even gave us directions to no less than 3 quilt shops on the way to her house, but I didn't stop at any of them.  Of course, I got really lost on the way down, it was pouring down rain and I wanted nothing more than to arrive there safely.

I spent some time before I went down there making kits for a Disappearing 9-Patch quilt using the tons of charm squares I had in my stash.  I made 6 kits and each kit had 4.5 yards of fabric in it.  I made one quilt, some friends made 3 more and another couple of friends will make the final 2.  So I can count all that fabric as gone.  That's a total of 27 yards for the 6 quilts.  Here's a picture of the one I made...

Disappearing 9-Patch quilt top

I sent my mom a quilt kit for her September package that contained 5 yards of fabric and I used a half yard combined for the October Camelot Snowman and the next Winter Wonderland block.  I also brought 2 yards of black fabric for a friend to use for borders on one of her charity quilts.  This adds up to another 7.5 yards.

I also completed another charity quilt top with fabric from my stash.  I bought the panel from Wish Upon a Quilt during Stash Dash.  I cut it up, added some sashing and a border to make this quilt...

Owl charity quilt - 50" x 50"

The quilt top used 2.25 yards of fabric.  And that brings my grand total for the 2 weeks to...  36.75 yards!  Yeah!!!  (I'm imagining waves of people cheering for me right now.)

So...
Purchased-this-week: 0 yards
Used-this-week: 36.75 yards
Purchased-to-date: 218.75 yards
Used-to-date: 364.75 yards
Net used: 146 yards

Now if I can get these quilts quilted that will give me another boost.  And I've finished all the blocks for LeeAnn's quilt so once the top is assembled, I can count all that fabric too.

Until later...

It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. 

Ephesians 2:10 (LB)

CQ Update #8...

I'm almost done now! Tonight I finished all but the last of the patches on this block.  If I didn't have such a bad headache, I might have continued working on it.  There's something about seeing the finish line that gives you an extra burst of speed.  In any case, I plan to make Hyacinths on the last patch and expect them to take a bit of time.  So here's the block as it stands right now...

Current progress on the CQ block

To my eye, it's looking rather busy.  But I've noticed that with a lot of the crazy quilts I've seen.  Every time you look at it, you see something new.  And the more you examine them, the more you appreciate all the work that goes into each one.  After working on this small 12" block for so long, I have a huge admiration for anyone who has made an entire quilt like this.  I think it's a bit beyond my level of patience.

I've finished 2 more patches since my last report.  Patch # 9 is another row of flowers.  I found some purple iridescent shells at JoAnns the other day that are shaped like flowers.  I attached them to the background and added stems to each of them using the Stem stitch and 3 strands of DMC floss.  The leaves are a combination of Ribbon sitches, Folded Ribbon stitches and Straight stitches using 4mm green silk ribbon.  And finally I added a butterfly charm above the flowers.

Patch #9 - more flowers

For the next patch, I used some ribbon flowers that I also purchased from JoAnns.  I stitched them on and added a Whipped Chain stitch for the stems using 2 strands of DMC floss.  I found the beads for the leaves in my stash of jewelry stuff.  The little bug charms I added were given to me by my friend, Thearica.  I really like the touch of whimsy they add to the patch.

Patch #10 - Red flowers and bugs

I'm so glad Thearica suggested I stitch all the seam treatments before embellishing the patches.  It would have been much more difficult to go back at the end and add them.

I've been wanting to stitch a caterpillar somewhere on this block and found the perfect place for him tonight.  I've placed him climbing from one seam to another in the last unfinished patch of the block.  He's constructed of a bunch of Colonial Knots placed close together using 4mm yellow/gold silk ribbon.  I then went back and added straight stitches between each pair of knots using 2 strands of DMC floss.  Although it doesn't show well in the picture, I also added a couple of Straight stitches for antennae.

Patch #11 - The caterpillar

Hopefully I'll get started on filling in the last patch tomorrow.  Once it's finished, I still need to put a backing on the block before calling this challenge piece complete.  

Until later...

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)