GIFTS OF GRACE Block 2

I finally finished the second Gifts of Grace block. I like it but the white beads look too large. I'm a little disappointed cause they looked so small in the store and they're not cheap.Oh well, I'm thinking I'll be donating this when I'm done anyway and maybe the beads on further ones won't look so big.

The reason I'm putting the beads on as I finish is because I'm planning to use this to practise hand quilting eventually so they won't be in the way. Angela was asking where I got the beads. I got the ones for my first block at a local craft shop. Yesterday we went into Michaels and it's bead overload in there.I had no idea so many people would be into beadwork. Anyway, that's where I got these. I'm really enjoying using beads to enhance the blocks. 

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. We've still both had a light touch of this virus so we mostly rested - except for yesterday. Silly me. My husband said he wanted to go in shopping and he's an early riser. So when I was wide awake at 8am I got up. So did he, but then he went back to bed for 2 hours and I didn't. I've been having trouble getting to sleep the last while so that meant I was running on less sleep than I need. 

We finally left here at 11. One of the things on the list was to go to Lazy Boy to get him a new chair. His back has really been bad and the chair he sits in is meant for much younger people (one of those overstuffed things). He found one in the showroom he liked so I sat in it to see. Big mistake. When I stood up I felt like I was going to pass out. I was so tired and my poor body thought we were resting now. Takes awhile these days for the brain messages to reach other places like muscles. The chair needs to be ordered in cause there was a sale on and they have no more in the warehouse. This means it will be delivered in 4 to 6 weeks which is close to his birthday so now I don't have to buy him a present. Bonus!

Lunch at Tim Horton's renewed me but they gave us the coffee in regular cups so I didn't get to "roll up the rim to win". Environmentally better but gee whiz, I wanted to roll up the rim *LOL*

Then we stopped at Fabricana for me to get batting for the Red Sox quilt. They had a sale on. Wish I'd known that and I could have made a list. But I got the batting 25% off so that was good.

And I found something a few weeks ago that I've been meaning to share but keep forgetting. What's the next best thing for aging quilters/embroiderers? SELF THREADING NEEDLES!!

 

These things are amazing! No more holding up the needle and thread and squinting to try to get it in the hole! You just put the thread on top and pull down and voila! Love it, love it, love it. There's another brand out there besides Clover but I don't know what brand they are.

Off to catch up on my Monday chores I didn't get to yesterday and then hopefully get a start on hand basting the Red Sox quilt so I can get it quilted.

Gifts of Grace Block 1

I've finished the first block of the Gifts of Grace BOM. I love it and I'm learning. It looks better in person than it does in the photo. The beads I used on the flower stems and the bottom wing absolutely sparkle in person. It adds a  lot. I've never filled in letters before like in the word Peace. It looks like it was done on an embroidery machine when you see it up close. But I don't use too long a strand of floss cause I don't want it knotting up on me, and I'd get so close to the end that I'd really pull to finish the letter with that one strand. I need to not pull so hard and start a second strand so that it doesn't get so crinkly. But it, too, looks better in person. I'm starting on Block 2 now. By the way if you love butterflies you are a Lepidopterist. I never knew that. I just got an email notice that Lepidopterist's would love these old books about butterflies that Abe's Books has for sale.

I think Ben Affleck was just doing circuits in a helicopter over the house. DH saw him out at our local airport this morning in the passenger seat of a helicopter. He got a picture so we're going to try to blow it up - not literally - and see if we can make sure it was him. I was going to get a big, big, piece of cardboard and write "HI BEN" with a Sharpie but it's cloudy today so I couldn't even see the helicopter. That sound sure is annoying when you can't see anything. The only other time we hear helicopters is if the police are playing with theirs or if there's a Search and Rescue going on. It wasn't up there long enough for it to be either of those.

Not much else going on. I was going to go to the Maundy Thursday service tonight but I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days. I think I have a mild flu. I had a flu shot but that doesn't mean you won't get it at all.

Tuesday stuff

I was trying to join that Blog Along site cause it sounds like a neat idea but my computer keeps freezing up when I go there so I've decided to take out what I wrote and change it.

 

I got the backing fabric this morning for my son in law's quilt. I can't believe how quickly it got here! It's sooo soft. I may fall asleep working on it.  According to what I've read and what Hazel said free motion probably isn't a good option. On the other hand I do have 6 weeks so I'm thinking I could stitch in the ditch on the machine and then handquilt in the individual blocks. I picked up a large stipple template thinking I could use it. I like stippling freemotion but this would work for handquilting. I don't know that I feel like spending another $150 to have it long arm quilted.

I've also been working on the Gifts of Grace applique/embroidery blocks. Boy are they pretty! Almost done the first one. And I'm making a machine cover that has embroidery on it. I'm having to adjust it a bit cause my machine sits down inside the table and the cover is designed too long but I think I can make it work.

And I finished reading Touching Stars by Emilie Richards. Waiting for her next book to come into the library. Love that series.   

Charm Square Swap

Is anyone interested in a swap? I received 2 purple charm squares in the mail today. In order to participate I need 4 quilting friends to send squares to and in turn they send 4 to quilt friends. If you participate you will end up with enough squares to make a nickle quilt or something similar. I think it sounds like fun by maybe that's just me. If you want to participate please leave me a note in my comments.

I'm feeling very sad today. A woman from my church who I've known for over 5 years got hit by a car and was killed right in front of the church last Friday. I had a cold on Sunday so didn't go to church or I would have been there for the announcement and prayers. I will go to the memorial service on April 3 though. She's also in my bible study, which was cancelled this week because they said they lost the DVD we've been using. So I ended up seeing the story about the accident and then her obituary in yesterday's local paper. I sure wish I'd heard about it at church surrounded by others who knew her.

She was 78 and was a cancer survivor plus had had knee replacement surgery on both legs. But she had so much energy and she was so cheerful all the time. She started a program to make sandwiches one day a month at the church to be sent to a main church downtown to feed the homeless. It's a collaboration involving many churches but she made sure it was done by our church every month.

I feel so sad. She wasn't a close friend but she's someone who was always there. She was an added perk to going to worship each Sunday and going to bible studies.

Red Sox Quilt So Far

Here it almost is. I'm short 4 1/2" of red *grrr*. When I calculated I figured 5 strips would do for the final border but I really need just a bit more so I don't end up with little joins. I also didn't buy enough fabric for the binding. Actually that's okay cause now that I see it doing another blue for the binding might be too much. I want the blue to be more of an accent so I'm going to get enough red to do the binding as well. The white is Kona. The blue and red are Moda marbles but the red one is a graduated colour/value one. I thought it would be neat to have a little variation in there.

I'm really happy with how it's turning out. It has a few wrinkles here and there but then so do I *LOL* Cheryl had suggested a walking foot for attaching the polyester center block to the fabric. Well I just happen to have a 1/4" dual feed foot for my Janome so I used it all the way through. Gotta love that foot. My seams have never been so straight.

The backing is on it's way. I ordered it from Bear Paw Quilt and boy are they good! It was shipped within 2 days and they gave me a shipping number so I can follow it. It's in Chicago today in International Shipping. I'm gonna make sure to use them again.

Now I need to practise my quilting. If I have a chance to get my favorite long arm quilter to do it I will. She was in a car accident so I don't know how much she's doing these days. I don't trust anyone else with this. If it's going to get messed up I want to be the one to do it. This will be cotton with a fleece backing. I have some fleece downstairs that I picked up at the Thrift Shop so I can use that for practise.

The sun seems to have left us now. It must be on it's way back East cause it's supposed to really rain here for the next two days.

 

It IS Spring

Wow, look at what I woke up to today! It doesn't translate too well cause you can't see the beauty of the sun that's shining but I just loved this cloud. Remember as kids we used to look for shapes in clouds? I see a Cocker Spaniel coming in for a landing and looking to the next cloud cause that's where he's going next. Okay, so I played too many video games when my kids were little... like Mario who was always jumping all over the place.

But today really is Spring. It's 15C out there (60F) in the shade. Since I can't take vitamin D by mouth (I'm on special vitamins and that isn't one of them) I've put undercoat on my face with an SPF15 and I'm gonna go for a walk in the sun.

Started my son-in-law's quilt yesterday and I'm really happy with it so far. It's so easy so hopefully if not too much comes up today I'll have the top finished to show you tomorrow. I ordered the backing fabric and it will be a couple of weeks getting here. I got it from Bear Paw Quilts which is in the States so it has to go though customs.

Have a great Monday.

Happy Spring!!

My Magnolia agrees. In honor of the first day of Spring she burst forth a lovely bloom this morning. All of the other ones are set to bloom in the next few days. It's a shame the blooming time is so short. But I'm grateful that it blooms at all.

I've also made a Spring Resolution. Why is it always New Years that we make Resolutions? I think Spring is a pefect time. It's a rebirth and a renewal. Last night I caught part of a program on PBS by Dr. Christine Northrop. She's an OB/GYN but she makes so much life sense. She was talking about healthy lifesyle, how to start and maintain that as we grow older (that's where I come in *LOL*). One of the things she said really struck a chord with me. I've had years of therapy and I know that the psychologist had been leading me in this direction, but it never came through as clearly as it did last night. Christine said many women have suffered through abuse, violence, childhood trauma. But it's over. We are starting a new stage in our lives and we have to let go of all of that. We have to accept that our lives may not have turned out the way we planned. That's okay, we need to start today, accept ourselves as we are, and live our lives from this day forward. 

I've decided I'm gonna do it. I'm not turning my back on the past, I'm filing it away so that it doesn't have so much of an impact on my life today. I'm going to move forward. I like it. 

Speaking of new beginnings. Husband finally got into the air in the plane he's been building for 6 years now. I can't believe when he started it was just a big box of bits in our driveway. We live in such a neat town. He took a picture down to the hardware store where he's spent a fortune on screws and other things he's needed as he went along and the owner is posting the photo in the store for everyone to see. I love my town.

Here's his baby

For anyone who wonders what kind of airplane it is it's a GlasStar.