WIP

So I mentioned awhile back that I was taking a quilting class.  My mother taught me to sew when I was 10.  I quickly starting making my clothes (it was that or hand me downs as I was one of 7).  There were always plenty of sewing machines around and my mother never denied me(that I remember) a new piece of fabric.  I have loved sewing ever since, but now I sew more for my own enjoyment than for necessity (unless you call a set of pillowcases for every occasion a necessity, but that is a whole other subject). Anyway, I have always wanted to quilt(something my mother did not have a great interest in). My older sister and I are taking a banner of the month quilt class and here is what I am working on:

I have finished the top and have pinned the layers together and now I am ready to quilt it.  This is the part that scares me the most as I know that it can make or break the quilt.  Well, I have put it off long enough(excuse after excuse, did not have a walking foot, did not have a free motion foot).  I now have all the right tools and tonight will be quilting! Wish me luck.

Here are some other things that I have in the works:

I also love to crochet and have recently found some Amigurumi patterns online.  Can you guess what it is going to be?

Also, putting together a housewarming gift to send to my sister who just moved from California to Texas.  I will show it as I work on it.

Well, I am off to quilt, chat tomorrow.

Headbands

My sweet daughter picked out these fabrics at our favorite quilt shop and asked that I make her some reversible headbands. 

I loved her selection and I was happy to set my other (long list) or projects aside so that I could do this.

So here are the first two:

I used a tutorial I found online at KC Quilts ~ not sure if she is still blogging, but thanks!

I also finally got a walking foot for my machine.  Now I can finish my quilt and show you what I have been working on.  I also have a secret project I am working on for my sister. I will also show that when I am done. 

I was tagged! For the very first time!!

I was tagged for the first time and I am quite willing to play along.  Thanks Cookie for tagging me.  Here are the questions that I was asked to answer.

Name four jobs I have had ~

1. Counting money at the L.A. Coliseum for all the Raiders(back when they were in L.A.) and USC football games.

2. Waitress at IHOP

3. Cashier at the Clipper Club Lounge for the L.A. Clippers

4. Technical Trainer for an Investment Firm

Four Movies watched over and over again ~

1. Pride and Prejudice (the one with Kiera Knightly)

2. Out of Africa

3. Working Girl

4. Sabrina

Four places I’ve lived ~

1. Harare, Zimbabwe Africa

2. Mexico City, Mexico

3. Diamond Bar, California

4. Orange, California

Four Shows I watch ~

1. The Amazing Race

2. Grey’s Anatomy

3. Desperate Housewives

4. Las Vegas

Four places I have been ~

1. Lisbon, Portugal

2. Paris, France

3. Cape Town, South Africa

4. Maui, Hawaii

Four people who email me ~

1. My family (too many to name) 

2. Mary

3. Embroidery Library (my favorite embroidery site)

4. Paula

Favorite things to eat ~

1. Tea (I know you don’t eat it, but it is my favorite)

2. Lyle’s Golden Syrup

3. Crunchies

4. Steak

Four places I would rather be ~

1. In Italy visiting my sister

2. At the beach

3. In my beach house(my nickname for my travel trailer) at the beach

4. At the quilt store

Four things I look forward to this year ~

1. Spending time with my soon-to-be teenage daughter

2. Sewing more

3. Traveling

4. Turning 40

Four people to tag ~

1. My daughter (trying to get her blog going)

2. Craft Apple

3. All It Took Is Just One Stitch

4. Lululollylegs

 Thanks Cookie, that was fun!

Sunday Tea Time!

So it is a pretty dreary day here in usually sunny SoCal, but A was able to snap this picture yesterday while the sun was shinning

One of the great things about living where we do is that we are less than an hour from the snow in the winter and a little over an hour away from the beach in the summer. This shot is of the local mountains covered in snow.  I dislike cold weather, I am much happier when it is warm, but I am able to appreciate my beautiful surroundings.  Because it is cold and rainy today I decided to bake, here is a shot of the Orange Blueberry loaf that I baked this morning.

It was perfect at tea time. This shot is of my wedding china (that never gets used), but it is so pretty that sometimes I indulge myself and use it.

Check me out!

So I entered an embroidery contest on ~My Little Sewing Blog~ check out my entry!

Also, I am so sad 😦  I finished my book –

Oh, but fear not, I have started a new one –

I read most of these as a teenager (requirements for High School English) but in honor of PBS’s Masterpiece Theater (they are showing adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels over the following Sundays, they have already shown Persuasion and Nothanger Abbey, this week is Mansfield Park, I am taping them all!), I thought I would reread them.  I am having such a great time and enjoying them immensely. Oh well, off to my quilting class! Tell you about that later!

The world at my fingertips!

So here is today’s project. Something that I had promised to make A before Christmas.

I purchased it as a panel at my local quilt store.

And it slowly came together today as a pillow of the world.

It goes along nicely with the travel theme in her room. She is my little world traveler. 

Here is where I was born, Zimbabwe Africa.

Here is where I now live, Southern California, USA!

So, here is the finished product, I put it in her room as a surprise for when she comes home from school.  She loved it, said it was nice and full.

Check another project off my list!

My First Tutorial & So Much More!

Well, my blog is coming right along. It has taken me hours to figure most of this stuff out, kinda trial and errors, way more errors than anything else.  But now my blog has music (working on the song, one thing at a time), I have my first tutorial done (check out the link on the right!), figured out how to put pictures in my sidebar with links! Ok, this might not seem like much, but please remember I am a crafter not a nerd! Well, now I guess I a little bit of a nerd.  Well, onto my next project. Thanks for stopping by!

Where have you been?

Again, another long absence!  I have been sick!  I know, excuses, excuses, but it is true, and not only have I been sick but so has every other member of the house.  So now I am better, but I am playing nursemaid.  I am dying to get back to my crafting, so many projects, so little time.  I made a list of projects going on right now and I there are 12 projects that I need to get done.  I am determined to get them all done and one thing that helps me stay on track is blogging.

We apologize for the interruption. . . .

Sorry that I have been absent, it was not my fault.  I have had major connectivity problems.  My internet has been down since before Christmas, but now I am back. The people as Verizon (I use a Broadband Card) have been wonderful and it was not their fault.  In many ways it was just a comedy of errors.  Anyway, I am back.  I have so much catching up to do.  I hope that you all had a great holiday, mine was one of the best.  We even snuck away for a couple of days in the trailer, what a blast. I have so many pictures to post, but first let me catch up on email.  Stay tuned. . . . .