I've spent the last couple of evenings working on the pile of quilts that are just awaiting bindings. The green and red one I started in 2002 when I lived in Rhode Island. I loved how it went together and it languished in the Flimsy Bin till only recently when I made a pledge to finish more this year than last year. This one came back from the quilter in February and then it went into the binding pile. Since the knitting seems to have taken over my 'handwork' area, I simply do not find time to sit and sew on binding. I recently read about putting bindings on by machine on another blog I follow. Her philosophy has always been the same as mine - sew the binding on by machine and then tack it be hand. She changed her mind when her pile awaiting bindings got to a total of over 30! She experimented with sewing the entire binding with her machine and then posted a video on her blog. I watched it and decided to try it myself. I'm not perfect and this quilt binding is never going to be shown to the public so it works for me. And with more practice, I'll get better. So I've finished this quilt, Christmas Wreath.



And the next one is a BOM that I did with a shop near here a couple of years ago. Most of you know that I don't do pastels - it's quite difficult for me to pick pastels over brights. But, for some reason, this BOM grabbed me and wouldn't let go. So I did it and it sat in the Flimsy Bin for about 6 months. I sent it off to be quilted and then it sat in the Binding Bin. I hauled it out yesterday and sewed the binding on by machine...again, it won't win any prizes but it is certainly good enough for using at our house during the holidays. Here is - Victorian Christmas. And a closeup of my favorite block - I think I might use this as my avatar during the holidays.

This weekend promises to be warm and sunny - and probably humid. What can I say, this is the Ozarks, darlings! Humidity is part of the package! I have plans to work on a couple more sewing projects (quilts and maybe an apron or two) and maybe throw in some knitting to break it up. Hope you and yours have a lovely weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Storybook Farm

I've long been a fan of McKenna Ryan, the quilt designer. She does some pretty amazing quilts. My LQS will sometimes do one as a BOM (Block of the Month) with the pattern and fabrics already chosen, oftentimes using the exact same fabrics the designer used. One such pattern was Storybook Farm. I love this quilt. It's only about 54" by 57" but I loved doing it. It came back from the quilter last week and I finished the binding over the weekend.


My friend, Shelly, and I are doing another one of her designs, again thru my LQS, called Once Upon a Star. It's a holiday quilt with mannatees, baby seals, penguins, puffins, polar bears, and a walrus. Will show it off once it's done. And then last year we also did her In Full Bloom BOM...actually, I think we neither actually finished it, rather we bought it! Shelly, I believe has started it at least. I'm hoping to get started on that one soon, too.

For Mother's Day, John got me a bunch of plants for the front garden and planted them. Of course, we had a horrendous hail and rain storm (several over the course of a week) and some of the plants were destroyed. But here is what it looked like when he first planted it.

There are snapdragons, vincas, petunias, and impatiens in there. As well as a lonely lavender plant in that front right corner. I'm hoping it will grow enough that I can make some lavender wands for the linen closet. My friend Julie put a tutorial up on how to do these...they look fairly easy and I want to try them.

Today is a bit muggy but the sun is out and John just got home from work. He changed into his 'mowin' clothes' and went out to tidy the circle drive.

On the Sock Wars IV knitting front, I'm still alive. I have no earthly idea how this has come to be...have heard nothing from the girl I 'killed' last week - I believe she is on vacation and has no clue she is dead yet - and have heard nothing from my current assasin in Florida...I live in fear of opening the mailbox each day! Will keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just a Tuesday Update

Sock Wars IV is still going on and the really amazing thing is - I'm still alive! I've got one 'kill' under my belt so far and just received the SIP's (socks-in-progress) from my target on Sunday. Actually, they arrived on Saturday but I didn't get the mail till Sunday. The sock on the right was only half done. I've finished that sock and gotten the second one started. Hopefully, I can get it done before the end of the week and sent off before I get killed. My socks of death are nowhere to be found as of this writing - not that I'm complaining. There were 282 folks who started out in this battle and there are less than 1/2 of them left, me included. I have no hope whatsoever of winning this one...but it''s nice to be in the top half of the list at just a bit more than 2 weeks into the battle.

These socks are pure joy to knit. They are called Air Raid by Emily Miller. The socks are knit in a lovely lace pattern and I can certainly see me knitting them up again for either myself or someone else. The yarn is delightful to use - Pagewood Farms Alyeska in Spring Meadow colorway. YUM!

We are heating up here in the Ozarks....temps in the mid to high 80's with humidity rising. June is our wettest month of the year and we've already had some sprinkles today, along with some clouds and thunder this afternoon. John got my front garden planted with the vincas, primroses, impatiens, snapdragons, lavender, dahlia bulbs (for late summer blooms) and even 2 tomoto plants (he plans on moving them to a vegetable garden once he gets that dug and ready but needed to get them planted temporarily - hence the front garden). I'll try to get a picture next time I post.

Sorry this doesn't include any quilting...am working on a large project and no pictures of the progress would do any justice to it. Maybe soon.

Thanks for stopping by.