HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holidays to All!

I have 1/2 day to work, then need to finish up the last few Christmas gifts.  Will have something to show in the next few days.  Wishing you all the best this Holiday Season!  

CQJP-November and December

I have finished my last 2 blocks for the CQJP.
This is my November block.  It is actually going to be the flap of a Boho bag for my granddaughter
Kyleigh for Christmas.









This is a current picture of Kyleigh, now 12 years old.  She loves
what I love, and I know she will love her own Boho.













This is my December block.  I am going to frame this one and give to my sister for Christmas.  She mentioned she always loved this picture and I thought it would be a good gift.



Now to get my Christmas cards done, cookies made, sweatshirts embroidered for my littlest grandson....In my spare time!

OFF ON A TANGENT

Well I have gone off on a tangent, I have been knitting and crocheting.  Last Monday, on my 1/2 day of work, I stopped by a local craft store and saw these Frilly scarves displayed and I thought they would  make wonderful gifts for Christmas.  So I bought some balls of this yarn, it was called Schachenmayr, SNC, FRILLY.  I thought the directions were most likely inside the wrapper.  They were, but in German I think.  So I went online and was able to find directions.  The yarn is a mesh and you knit or crochet the top edge.

This is for my granddaughter Kyleigh as these are the colors she loves.








This is for daughter Katie, as she loves blue.

 These first 3 I knit, and they took about 6-7 hours each, mainly because you have to stretch out the mesh and grab the top loops.

And I am not a very fast knitter either.

One ball makes 1 scarf, pretty good for $4.99.

This is for daughter Kristen.  It is hard to see the colors,  but is more of an eggplant, and gray coloration.

These first 3 I pretty much got done in my 2 days off, and I only had a bit of Kyleigh's to finish.

This Monday, I went over and got some more yarn.  I was afraid with this project and how cute they were, they were going to go fast.

I looked to see if there were crochet directions for the same yarn, and there were.  So my 4th one, which I am working on for one of my bosses I worked in a double crochet,  and I was almost through the entire ball and only 1/2 through the scarf.  I unraveled the whole thing, and followed the directions for the single crochet.  I probably have an hour left to finish, and spent 3 hours last night on it.  So I think I will
continue to make these in the single crochet method.

Well today, my last day off, I hope to get as much Christmas decorating done as I can.  John is going to take care of grilling steaks for dinner, so I won't have to worry about that.  I don't think I will get my 50+ Christmas houses out and set up, but I can probably do everything else.

Houston International Quilt Festival-2012

I thought I had better share my Houston trip before I go back to work tomorrow.  Thursday morning Cathy, Liz and I picked up Pat Winter, and her friend Dawn Crowder from the airport, and part of us had breakfast at a Mexican Restaurant before heading to the show

Liz is in the green shirt standing up, Dawn is in the middle and Cathy (our excellent driver for 3 days) on the end.  Pat and I are sitting down.  There were 4 of us with our Boho bags.

 This was our first glimpse of the show, looking from the second floor down into the venders section.  There were over 1,000 venders!

There were many beautiful quilts and exquisite clothing and dolls.  I was in wonderland looking at everything.  This has been my dream for many years to go to this Quilt Festival.

The next 2 days, the girls and I decided to visit thrift shops to see what we could find.  Pat and I found some dresses we could cut up.  At 1 thrift shop we put on silly vests and picked up bags to pose in.

 

On day we went to a restaurant called Brasil, which was very good.  The only place we saw the name of the restaurant was on the glass in the window. 

One day we went to High Fashion Fabrics and we posed on a sofa outside the store.  

Liz trying on a top in High Fashion Fabrics.  

The last day we visited a few antique stores.  I loved the blue color on this one.  But of blue is one of my favorite colors! 

CQJP-OCTOBER

I finally completed my Crazy Quilt Journal Project Block for October.  With making my Boho Bag, and my trip to Houston, I am a little behind.  This one is of John and I when we got married, November 16, 1975.  We got married in the Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada.  We took our own witnesses, good friends Susan, Mark, Don and Nancy.  I made my own dress and veil.  The next weekend, our friend Susan had a reception at her house in Pacific Beach, CA.

CRAZY QUILT JOURNAL PROJECT-2013

Registration is now open for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project for 2013 from 1 November to 12 December.  You can go here to register and read all about it

Happy Halloween

Leaving for Houston in about 3-1/2 hours.  Wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

Another Finish

I have been frantically trying to finish my Boho Bag to take with me to the Houston International Quilt Festival.  I am leaving tomorrow morning.  I am so excited, I doubt I will be able to sleep tonight.  This is my finished bag, and I am extremely pleased with it.  I have a few changes I will do to the next one, and yes I already  have one planned!

I used Pat Winter's easy-to-follow directions.  I purchased her little booklet Boho Fever here.  In a few days I will be meeting up with Pat in Houston.  Well better get back to packing.  I just wanted to share my Boho

TWO FINISHES

I have 2 finishes to show for this week.  This is an accessory case I plan to give as a gift.

And this is my water bottle holder for Houston.  I leave in 11 days and am so excited!  I keep thinking I need to make a Boho purse before I leave, but don't know if I can manage it.  I might try though.  My only problem is, finding fringe etc for the finishing.

TAST-WEEK 42-ITALIAN KNOTTED BORDER STITCH

This week's stitch on Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday was the Italian Border Stitch.  I added a bit extra to the basic stitch.  I REALLY love this new one to me.  This is on the water bottle holder I plan to take with me to Houston in 15 days.  I plan to assemble it tomorrow.  Will show more then

September CQJP

I just finished my block for the CQJP for September.  I got a bit behind when I was doing my room renovations and could not stitch in the morning like I prefer to do.

So I am happy I finished this one this morning, and can get to my October block next, and my water bottle holder and my new accessory case.  I have a lot to do before the end of the month and my trip to Houston.

Giveaway Winner

The winner of my accessory case is Pippa, of Pippa's Quilts.  If you could get me your address I will happily ship it to you!

TAST-WEEK 40- BEADED HEDEBO EDGE, BLOG GIVEAWAY

This was my sample of the Beaded Hedebo Edge in Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday.  I really liked it, although it is hard to see because I used the same color thread pretty much as my dyed lace.






This will be the accessory case I will be giving away in my
blog give-away later this afternoon, celebrating my 300th post.
One of my grandchildren will be choosing a name, and I will post later today.

My daughters and grandchildren are taking me to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack in Old Sacramento, a place I have been wanting to go to for some time for my birthday.

Well off to get some stitching time in before lunch.  I requested my BD off since we can do that and get paid for the day.   Lovely to have a Friday off.  I think I can get my September CQJP block done before lunch.  I have about 5 hours before they pick me up.

WORK IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY

I was busy today piecing blocks.  This one will
be my September CQJP block.  I am behind, but my bedroom renovation took 3 weeks out of my time.   This one is another of my 2 daughters posing for a Christmas picture

  

I decided to piece October's block while I was at it.  This one is my wedding picture.  It was in a Las Vegas chapel,  "The Little Chapel of the West" and the lighting was pretty dark.












I also pieced a water bottle holder for my adventure at the Houston International Quilt Festival in less than a month.

I also pieced another accessory case as a gift  for a person who likes red and black and white.   The center piece I plan to do some silk ribbon embroidery or maybe Brazilian Embroidery.  Haven't decided yet.

Well off to finish my accessory case for my give-away next week.

TAST CATCH-UP

After all the home renovations, when I didn't have time to stitch, I decided to catch up with my TAST stitches.

This sample incorporates:

Pekinese Stitch
Double linked Chain
Sheaf Stitch
Knotted Buttonhole and
Drizzle Stitch

Glad to be caught up

BEDROOM RENOVATION UPDATE-300th POST-BLOG GIVEAWAY

After 2 weeks of peeling off the old wallpaper, and on the 14' wide wall 2 layers of wallpaper, I was able to paint it a nice shade of soft blue and I was so happy to have my portion of this project done.















The shade of blue goes quite beautifully with my dresser/doll cabinet and night stand that John made for me, and which I had painted and stenciled.

 It was really exciting to be able to bring in the new headboard.

And to finally see the assembly of the bed coming together.



















The last picture is the bed all assembled and it is really nice.  I have plenty of storage, still have 4 drawers
on each side, and a nice little compartment for storage at the foot of the bed.  I still need to hang some pictures, and I love the wall space I didn't have before.  I really, really need to finish my new quilt which will complement my walls.

This is my 300th post, and as I mentioned before I would be having a giveaway.  One of my daughters will choose a name on my birthday, October 12th.  If you are 1 of the 4 people who entered before, I still have your names.  I will be completing another CQ accessory case as the gift.  If you would like to be entered in the drawing please leave a comment on this post.  If you are an anonymous no-reply commenter, I will need a way to contact you if you win.