Project Therapy

Well, work has been quite hectic and I am in need of some project therapy sometimes that involves gardening and sometimes sewing or painting. Lately I am thinking of trying some new kinds of projects. It is my nature though to try to finish the projects I have started before moving on to something new so I have finished my bag and almost finished the bag that was a surprise for someone special. I hope my Mom will enjoy using it for something fun! I still have to add the zipper and get it off in the mail (hopefully that will be accomplished this week).

Some new projects I am hoping to try are tatting and applique. I have ordered supplies and a book for the tatting. Most of the supplies have arrived from a site I found on the web called the Be-Stitched Store. I am anxious to get started, just waiting on the shuttles that didn't find their way into my package though I have been assured that they are making their way to me pronto. I am also wanting to try my hand at applique and have just found a wonderful site that links to a video with some great tips and some books by Beth Ferrier. Can't wait to get started and am even thinking up some ideas for a tea themed quilted table topper. This idea was inspired by some fabric I just received from the Fat Quarter shop by Susan Branch called Tea Party. I also bought a plain Jelly Roll thinking it could come in handy and now wish I had also gotten some solid colored fat quarters for applique and embroidering some blocks with tea pots and tea balls and tea cups...I'll have to post more on this idea as it emerges for now it is still a work in progress that is slowly making its way from my head to paper and hasn't gotten to a fabric stage yet. I may need some of Beth's books for tips on how to get it all on fabric...hmmm...the wheels are still turning...maybe I can even work some tatting into this and it will be a project of 'new to me' projects!

I'm glad that I have my projects to help me get past the difficult times in other areas of my life!

P. S. That Susan Branch is always a step ahead I just found a pattern for almost exactly what I was thinking about on her website for free no less! the pattern is 24 pages long and full of recipes and folklore...Thank you Susan, this is so thoughtful! I will be downloading this and tweeking it a bit with some of my own ideas. Love the inspiration you can find on the internet!

Life is Good!

Well, I'm finally finding a little time to blog. Work has been really busy with the occasional nice Spring weather making people want to garden. Then to add to the busy days we moved. We just moved to a bigger apartment a block away, but it was still hard. We are all settled in though and getting use to the new place. I even started sewing a few projects. My current bag has a zipper that is just about to burst so I am working on a new bag for 'me'! Yeah! I am also working on another bag for someone special.

As always at this time of year I also have a lot to work on at my garden and am planning on spending a good part of Thursday pulling, planting, spraying and fertilizing...oh, and of course, watering...at my garden plot. Things are looking good there, but I have a few changes to make and some weeds to pull. I'll try to post some pictures after. I haven't had a chance to do a 'Green Thumb Sunday' post for a while so maybe I will have something for that this week.


One of my favorite things in my new place is that we have a little window above the kitchen sink. I didn't realize how much I have missed that. The down side is that I am looking into all my neighbors little kitchen windows, but there is a beautiful Japanese maple in the court yard below so that helps make a nice view. I have already placed a few nick nacks that I had packed away and am enjoying be able to look at them everyday. The other nice feature of this apartment is a real laundry room with lots of shelves. We took no time filling up those shelves and are enjoying the uncluttered feeling it gives the rest of the place.

All in all...life is good!

Feeling Crafty

I am feeling the urge to start a new project so I will start with a blog post. Since it has been about a month since I posted last, that tells me that posting is a project in itself. I have been very busy with work. It seems Spring has shown itself here and that gets everyone wanting to plant, but Spring here always teases us for a while. It was in the 70's for about 2 weeks then just the other night temps dipped below 40 and froze the basil, some of the marigolds and some coleus. So we will proceed with caution in the garden.

I did manage to finish the fish quilt. It is bound and ready to use. It was a lot of fun and while not perfect...it does pass my inspection for something that I plan to use a lot, later in the year. It is the perfect size for using on the couch.

Now I am searching for a new sewing project and have several in mind. Since I am so busy this time of year at work I know that I need to keep it small and simple...something to work on a little in the evening...

I am thinking of doing a table runner that I saw in the new Fons & Porter Easy Quilts magazine. I got a subscription to this magazine when I subscribed to Quilter's Club of America. It was a really great package deal where I get to watch all kinds of quilt programs via the internet at QNN TV and also recieved free samples of pins, thread and a discount card at JoAnn Fabrics among many others. I have been enjoying several of the quilting programs already and love that I can watch them on my own time schedule. So while Michael is watching fishing programs or football I can watch quilting and everyone is happy!

We are going to moving to a bigger apartment just across the street in the next 2 weeks and my son Rob will be moving in with us for a while. Moving shouldn't be too big of a job (Ha!), but it will be a change for us all. It will be nice to have a little more room though. One more thing to keep us busy for a while. It is forcing us to get our seedlings in the garden and go through all of our things and re-evaluate their importance...there is a little purging going on and what better time to do this then Spring!

A Day in my Garden

I finally got some time to spend in my garden. The nursery has gotten quite busy with the arrival of Spring weather. I have been working a few extra hours and bringing in plants for other people's gardens so I was ready to connect with my own garden and start making some plans for the future.

A little digging was done to remove a few tired plants and also to plant some potatoes. I spread some mulch around existing plants and in areas that I plan to plant soon. I also removed a few weeds, but that wasn't bad because I have been keeping up with those. I think the key to keeping weeds down is to remove them before they go to seed. That takes some practice to identify them early.

Well, back to my previous post about the community garden...the fences are coming down, sort of. Most people removed their fences, but my neighbor here is refusing to comply. He shortened his fence and left on the padlock. I'm not sure how that is suppose to keep anyone out and I'm really not sure why anyone would want to get in because there isn't really anything planted and only a pair of old shoes and some boards inside. Some gardeners are just stubborn and don't want to be told what to do...not me, never...ha! Anyway, it does look a little more friendly and we are all looking forward to our summer gardens.

A Finiished WIP

I finished the apron quilt and have to say it was a really fun project. I loved working with these fabrics and the aprons were easy and fun to put together. Most of the fabric is from Michael Miller. I keep finding myself drawn to the yellow, red and green combination. They seem like such happy colors. I was originally going to finish the back with all green, but they ran out of the fabric and weren't going to be carrying it anymore so I did a little creative piecing and had fun with the back. It is far from perfect, but then it is only my second quilt and matching up mitered corners on the front and the back was sure difficult. Now back to work on the fishing quilt. Hope I can report progress on that soon!

Tomorrow is my fisherman's birthday! Happy Birthday, Michael! He is always a busy little housekeeper so I got him a new vacuum, now he can really clean up! What a lucky girl I am...not sure who the gift will benefit more...both of us I hope. Now we just need some better weather so he can get out of the house and go fishing then he will truly happy no matter how old he feels.

My little happy homemaker made me the most delicious veal parmesean for dinner the other night and we were laughing at how we were eating this beautiful dish on the coffee table with Little Caesar napkins and reading Victoria magazine. It somehow so represents our lifestyle at the moment. We are always trying to enjoy the finer things a little while we make do with what we have. I even pulled out my good glasses for this meal. The table is currently my sewing area so there has not been room to eat there. We also used the coffee table the next day as a potting table to transplant our tomato seedlings. We wrote about that in our other blog...Growing Thymes. When life gives you lemons make lemonade!