Sunday, July 31, 2016

Quilting Day

I am happy to report that I got to work on my baby quilt project today.  I got the nine patch portions completed.  Now I am working on various triangle blocks.  Now that the nine patch parts are done it seems like the harder part has been completed.  I am hoping it will go more quickly from here.  It is pretty fun an I get so happy when the corners all match up.  Yay!  I just love that blue and white puppy fabric, too!
 
I actually started another project this weekend.  I am working on the hardanger runner in the August issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.  This project just called to me.  I love the shades of blue in it.  I am not normally a blue person, but I thought it is lovely.  I will share a photo when I get a bit more done.  I had forgotten that hardanger is actually pretty easy until you get to the cutting part.  Then it is just gathering up the nerve and counting more than once to make sure you have the correct number of threads on your scissor blade before you actually make a cut. 

 
We were taking a early morning walk on the beach this morning.  We were joined by the dolphins in the above photo.  We think there were 4-5 of them.  Sometimes they will follow along with people as they are walking.  Today they were just looking for yummy things to eat.  It is pretty cool when you get to see dolphins when in the open water.  They are amazing creatures.
 
We have a special day coming up this week.  Liesl is having her ninth birthday!  She is still puppy like, but has to rest a little longer from some of her shenanigans.  :)  We will celebrate and make sure she knows how special she is to both of us.   She is a special girl and so precious! 
 
Well, off to prepare for the week ahead!  Hope you have a week filled with blessings!

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Winter in July! Brrrr!

Oh, my goodness.  It is so cold here right now.  The temperature tends to drop here on the Pacific Ocean June through August, and the days are gray.  I am dressed head to toe in polar fleece and under a blanket and still shivering.  Brrrrrr. 
 
I don't have a photo to post today.  I spent the day working on a baby quilt for my sweetheart's new little grandson who will be arriving next month.  The quilt is in that funky stage where it is all in pieces that don't make a lot of sense yet.  The quilt has a lot of little nine patch running through it and it will be adorable when it is done.  It was a good day to be home quilting with the grayness outside. 

We did venture out into the cold for a little while to take Liesl for a walk in the park.  Liesl is a master communicator and made it pretty clear she wanted to go out today.  This afternoon I had walked out of my craft room to the kitchen for a glass of water.  When I did so I saw that Liesl was sitting with her back against the front door, in a way that said if I intended to go out I was going to have to take her, too.  So we went to her favorite park where she could stretch her little puppy legs.  There is a duck pond there and she likes to sit on a park bench and watch the ducks swimming.  I think it is her moment of Zen.

Poor Liesl has been walking around with a naked, shaved tummy.  She had to have an ultrasound on her tummy on Friday.  She turns 9 on August 4, and we are super happy and grateful that she has been pronounced a healthy girl.  Liesl is an important member of our family and we just love her so much.  Knowing that she is healthy (in spite of a couple of items we need to keep an eye on), means more to us than I can describe.  So it makes me happy right now to look over and see her snuggled with her daddy. 

I can not wait to work on my quilt tomorrow.  Generally, I do not enjoy quilting as much as handwork.  This project is really fun though.  I figure if I plan to do a little each evening, then I should get this done before the little guy makes his debut. 

Well, off to dreamland with a grateful heart!

Saturday, July 9, 2016

A Saturday At Home

It was one of those rare Saturdays where I got to stay home and take care of home stuff.  As usual, things have been busy, so it was really nice to be home and clean the house today.  It was way overdue. 
 
I started in the garden this morning.  The raised bed really needed attention.  I planted some new seeds last weekend and now I have little tiny green shoots coming up.  It makes my heart happy.  On the other hand I also had to harvest some of my radishes.  Some of the radishes were as big as my fist.  Yikes!  I like radishes but I am not sure I have recipes that call for that much radish. 
 
I have been trying to stitch each night, even if it is only one 18 in length of floss per evening.  I am working on the apples block of Teresa Wentzler's Fruit Bell Pull.  While the apples block is quite challenging with all of the color changes, it is not nearly as difficult as the grapes block.  I am liking the project again, now, which is good.  I was not having so much fun on the grapes. 

 
Last week I was putting together an Amazon order, which was probably Liesl's dog cookies if I remember correctly.  She loves both the chewy and crunchy Fruitables, and they are hard to find!  Anyway, for some reason, I just decided to look up the Proper Stitch in their used books.  I remember when it came out, it was quite expensive and was not within my budget.  I was excited to see that it was only $10 in very good condition and free shipping, so I ordered it.  I was really interested to see what would be in it. 
 
It is a pretty neat book with internal spiral binding so the pages lie flat.  It has pictorial instruction of pretty much every decorative stitch every created.  I am really glad  I purchased it.
 
I am looking forward to a very quiet evening here.  Last weekend was three nights of misery where I spent pretty much the entire night holding a trembling, terrified Liesl.  There were illegal fireworks going off all day and night.  These were the kind that shook the whole house.  My neighbors were really afraid of fires starting.  The worst part was that the fireworks were relentless.  On the weekend, they went until 3 am.  On Monday night they went until 2-2:30 am.  I was exhausted for work on Tuesday.  It took Liesl until about Thursday to get back to her usual happy self. 
 
So this weekend I am grateful that all has been relatively quiet.  We still have a firecracker go off every once in a while but it is nothing like last week and easier to calm Miss Liesl down.  It is peaceful and I think I will try to put a few more stitches into the apple block...