Perfect Day

Today was, in fact, the perfect day. My DH hurried and got his work done, came home around noon and we skipped off to take pictures of the countryside and have a picnic. We have to cherish our summer days as we don't get very many of them. We couldn't travel too far from home as DH had to go back into work and meet with some people. But, I will take any time my hubby will spend with me. I don't have any pictures to share at this time. The camera I used today was a Canon Rebel II and it's old.....I think 18 years old. So it uses 35mm print film. Now the challenge will be to find somewhere that will print not only the color film, but I also have black and white film to be developed. It's a good little camera, but I am thinking of selling it. I have a 3 year old Canon digital that I absolutely love, so there's no need to keep the old one.

I couldn't end this post without a flower picture, so I chose this beautiful poppy. These flowers are so delicate and the petals look like crepe paper to me. Tomorrow I plan on staying home for a change and working on my row quilt. No, I mean it this time. Definitely. It's a done deal. For sure. No, really. REALLY!..........really.

Angel Wears Prada

The beginning of this month brought the annual Angel Festival in the city near us. It was so much fun strolling through the streets looking in the shop windows spotting these creative handmade angels. This one was in an art gallery which is made of paper and cardboard.


Sorry about the shadows on this window, it was a hard one to capture. This was in a florist window and is made from gauze materials, twig framing and a garland of silk flowers.
This one was near the top of the city hall building and looks to be made with tin foil and celophane for the wings.
Here's a unique one. It was in a bay type window and one one side it read, " The Angel Wears
Prada". She looked to be wearing a wig and made from cardboard, foil wings, and fancy fabrics and trims. Though you can't see her feet, she had crafted cardboard shoes on and held several shopping bags. I didn't get a picture of the right window pane, but it had a crafted pair of shoes on display. It was very creative. This whole event was to generate money for the local church, not the cathedral. We purchased a street map with the location of all angels entered.
These are just a fraction of the entries.


A few weeks ago, DH and I went driving and discovered a Chocolate shop where you can go in and watch them create handmade chocolates. Go here to see what they sell. Check out the chocolate shoes, they are awesome in reality. I literally felt like a kid in a candy store, only difference is that I actually have money now that I am somewhat older, and can buy anything I want to. When you're a kid and only have 25 cents, you're pretty limited. Chocolate was a bit cheaper in my kid years. DH remembers 5 cent candy. I don't think my parents let me have sweets until I was a bit older. I remember my Dad bringing me candy cigarettes once. Boy, my mother didn't like that one bit. She thought it would encourage me to smoke later on.


DH and I worked all weekend in our garden. There was just too much to do, however, I can say it looks 100% better and I am sure the plants are loving it. We have a pick-up truck so we packed the bed full of ivy. We pulled out what looked like years of over growth. We didn't pull anything out when we moved here last summer. Seems like everywhere we've lived, we had to pull out tons of ivy. I personally can't stand the stuff. I don't even like it appliqued on quilts or printed on fabrics. I am sure there are people that love ivy, but I am definitely not one of them.
I actually got something sewn yesterday. My son had a reuseable grocery bag that needed mending and a pair of pants that needed a button. Yep, both jobs took about 10 minutes in total. UUUGGHH. I really need to schedule some time for my projects. Today, however, is another one of those busy days where I am in and out most of the time.
Have a good day and I hope you have time to create! ;o)

Flowers everywhere

I made it to my favorite garden spot to get some pictures of the tulips in bloom. These were just gorgeous, even though the sun didn't want to shine that day.

Here's some more! This purple is my favorite!

I don't have a clue as to what these are, but they were blooming as well. Here's some more flowers in bloom. Love this one, it looks like a lamp shade to me. The tiny blue ones are just adorable, but again, I have no clue as to what they are. Periwinkle, maybe?

"So much time and so little to do....... strike that reverse it!" As Gene Wilder said in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That's the way I feel today. There must be at least 100 thoughts going through my mind today with so much I need to do. Being the treasurer for our morning bowling league has just taken all my energy. This is our final week for the season, so I will be tying all the loose ends up and getting everything ready for the presentation of prizes next week. Do I want to do this again next season? Right now, I'm thinking NO. However, I am sure come next week when we go to vote for officers I will volunteer again.

Needless to say once again, I haven't had any time to do any quilting. My sewing room is near the back door, so everyday I breeze through there without stopping, practically. I was able to sew up hems in 2 pairs of my DH pants last week, but that's it. It comes down to prioritizing my time, so usually quilting loses out. Hope you enjoyed looking at my pictures. Have a great day.

Beautiful Spring

What a wonderful time of year! Everything is blooming and beautiful. Needless to say I cannot be bothered with staying indoors working on my sewing projects. I guess I should, but I'll reserve those gray dreary dark days for that. So, I will share with you some of the pictures my son and I have been taking over the past 2 months. The snowdrops were everywhere in February and March.

Soon after followed the crocuses which were in gorgeous colors of purple, white and yellow. There were carpets of these in the village. They've died off and have given way to the daffodils.

The grape hyacinths are blooming.
And I even found some regular hyacinths.
The tulips are blooming now, but I haven't had a chance to go out and get some pictures. Maybe next weekend. I hope you've enjoyed looking at only a small fraction of our pictures. I just love all these vibrant cheerful colors. Enjoy the rest of our spring season.

dreary day ahead

This gorgeous flower was taken in 2006 in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland. DH and I took a vacation there. It's so bright and cheerful, something I need on a dreary dark day like today.

A friend of mine asked me "what is my row quilt theme?" Not sure I have an answer other than using 30's fabrics and my favorite old fashioned looking blocks. Summer also comes to mind, but that might just be due to the colors in these fabrics.

Yesterday, I drew up a schoolhouse block and tried to scan it into my computer. The scanner didn't want to work so I searched the web for some free paper piecing patterns. Found one I really liked and it was similar to the one I had drawn earlier, so I'll use that one. My goal today is to sew up a couple of these schoolhouses.

Monday, Monday

Yes, I did it! I actually sewed for about 6 hours straight yesterday. So all the posys' are done and the row is sewn on. Next will be the school house block which is paper pieced.

We woke up to SNOW! Lots of it and it's been snowing on and off all day. London has been hit really hard and transportation has nearly come to a stand still, even the tubes are only running one now. It's suppose to continue to be cold and nasty, so it's a good time to be inside sewing.

Didn't the SuperBowl game end with some excitement? The Cards tried to come alive in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, but they just couldn't hold their meager lead. Holmes was awesome when he caught the Steelers winning TD in the end zone. Way to go Pittsburg!
On that happy note, I am retreating to my sewing room to get those school houses drawn up.
Have a great Monday!

Where did it go?

I just love this statue of a horse's head made from bronze with a very pretty patina. Very surreal. My son took this picture in July last year at one of those parks and gardens that showcases students work. Some of these were for sale, however I don't think we could afford these beautiful pieces.
Here's another statue made from marble.

January is gone already. Where did it go? I don't have much acccomplished for the first month of 2009. But, I am working on getting those posy's done. I have 2 made and 9 to go before sewing them into a row and onto the row quilt. Here is a picture so far.

They look a little boring at the moment, but maybe when they're all in a row and on the quilt they'll come to life. I've decided on a row of pieced teacups AND the schoolhouse. Afterwards I will measure the top and see if it needs more rows before putting on the borders. It's a haphazard way, no exact measurements, but that's the way I've always done things. It only has to roughly be a queen size to fit my bed.

Hopefully, if all goes well, this weekend will be my sewing marathon weekend. If so, I'll post on Monday as to my progress. Have a great weekend.