Happy Halloween!

Here is a picture of the old Homestead for Halloween! Lol, not really, I have to get my little front porch ready today and my two bags of candy in the special bowl. It will be cold and snow. It may be a light year to have tick or treaters.


I am very thankful today that I have a humble home, heat, electricity and food. My family in the hurricane zone is safe and has all the necessary essentials for modern living. I think I will make some bread today to celebrate Wednesday and the coming season of thankfulness and love.

Design Wall and update

quilted with curls

Victory Quilt 2

back



Koala



turtle

This weekend I quilted Victory Quilt. I pieced these little 6 inch blocks traditionally. I think it looks a bit like Christmas so I will display it then.  I like the big music print for the baking fabric, I found it at IKEA of all places and it is 100% cotton and light enough weight to quilt. I quilted it in freehand curls.

I have been making crocheted amigurumi for fun. Faces are hard. The koala will be redone. The turtle is my first attempt. I like to have something besides quilting to do! I like how fast they go. I am going to make some knitted owl amigurumis. Love all the patterns out on the net.

Harbor Springs Michigan Oct 2012

After a long day of cleaning, a bit of grocery shopping, some football watching and eating treats, I can say without question... I am tired.

Hoping my energy and strenth come back soon. I have to start getting serious about making Christmas presents. I also have some customer quilts coming.

Lets's get through Frankenstorm and Halloween first!

I love pinterest

I am finding that is is easy to spend hours searching through pinterest. It is an addicting phenomenon. You can speed through thousands of pictures with linked sites to hone in on what you are looking for! Here is a collection of projects I have pinned on my boards. I have included the linked websites when available. I think they are all very inspirational as well as something I would do. If you haven't looked at Pinterest, you really should there is more there than crafts. Travel, fashion, makeup.... it is endless. Of course, my favorites are the jokes.

http://www.freepatterns.com/detail.html?code=FQ00481&cat_id=432

The little addition of the triangle between the star points give this quilt a extra punch...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59800644/in-bloom-ankle-corsets-tatted-lace

I always thought that henna tattoos looked like tatting, and I could make a tatted design and wear it, hmmmm....


easy and what a great fall table decor! maybe Thanksgiving.





I have made several animals that need faces to be finished and I see these in my future. They are so cute!!!

Watch for some interesting future projects.

Thursday

OK, what do these pictures have in common? Only the road trip in which they were taken on . I was being followed by the SWAT van on the highway. I was nervous until I realized it was a flooring company!!

I have exercised twice this week and had better work outs each time. No inhaler use and during the activity it was fine. Not so fine during the night. Lesson learned. I must use an inhaler for a while after having pneumonia to not have breathing problems. I haven't weighed myself but I feel that a bit of weight is going down. I need to get more off so I feel better and have improved health.

I have been doing lots of stuff but not a ton of things to photograph. I think I need to get  focused and follow my projects all the way to the end to have a feeling of accomplishment. I have a stack of UFO's and WIPs laying around and it is starting to get on my nerves. I also have a bit of organizing that needs to get done too. I am scampering around a lot lately.

I also am feeling the need to throw out all the old stuff lying around to get streamlined and organized. But then I would have nothing usable and I am not in a position to replace everything I would toss. I guess I need to evaluate if I really need to keep it around. Stacks of that kind of thing. 

 It is a weird dilemma, I feel like everything is worn out and dated. I think it is me, and the fall, and a squirrel like need to prepare for the winter that's coming.

Wednesday

Add caption

I am learning how to use Microsoft Publisher, my photo programs and EQ. I am really woefully primitive on using them. I need to use them more but I am impatient. It takes lots of TIME to learn how to do these things. I just want them to magically jump into my projects.

Here is a photo of my back yard. The leaves are finally starting to fall and need to be raked. They are gone everywhere else. Guess what I am going to be doing this weekend, :)

Day 30

Last Day of the Pic of the Day Face book meme

 Picture of Someone you miss

This was a bit sad. I couldn't bring myself to sift through pictures of relatives I miss. I couldn't bring myself to publish a picture of me as a tweener. (I do miss that person and would like to capture that feeling again of wonder and awe in the world.)

The person I miss the most is the one pictured below:

Keep scrolling.....

I would love to see him many times this year. He doesn't stop by often enough!!!

Scarf is finished

I made a scrap yarn scarf that was to be a weather diary. It was for the most part. Some days the weather changed so much I had several colors represent one day. I crocheted a single crochet around the edge to give a polished finish. It is made from all wool scraps.

I love to knit and crochet in addition to my quilting. I am making amigurumi stuffed animals. They are very cool and I wanted to make some a couple of years ago. I thought that I had to have a reason to and what would I do with them? I have tons a little scrap yarns and they are all single crochet.

I showed my sister some patterns on pinterest and we are both making them now. I have made the Pig from angry birds, a freehand turtle and now I am working on a Koala. I need to buy some eyes and then sculpt the faces before I can show them off. I don't need a reason more than I wanted to make them and I have yarn scraps and old batting to stuff them! I may keep most of them just because. :)

I have started working out after my pneumonia. It was a bit rough. I had to slow way down and lower my weights. I am back on a diet. Seriously. Gotta get a grip on that.....

How about you? I have several projects going with quilting too. Catch up on BOM, finish a quilt for another pattern I am writing and the Super Mario quilt along.

My day job may be a bit slow and underwhelming but not my evenings and after hours!!

Day 29 and Design Wall Monday

Today and tomorrow are the last pic a day on this meme. I may continue it in November because it is so much fun, and I am doing a different one on Face book.

a Picture that can always make you smile

Quilting makes me smile. Always. I enjoy everything about picking the fabrics, designing the pattern, piecing and the quilting. The top quilt is my latest fall scrap quilt. The lower is a secret quilt that will be unveiled soon. With a pattern!

That really makes me smile.

For a weekend up date and some pics of the fall trees, see yesterday's post.

Day 28

A picture of something you are afraid of

Barn in Elmira, Mi

Yesterday was the first day I have felt well in several weeks. I cleaned the house top to bottom. I worked out with a bit of shortness of breath but it was a light workout. I then was able to spend time with my family. Our vehicles have been in the shop several times over the past few months. I think we have my husbands explorer finally fixed. So to test it out we went shopping and fall sightseeing about 50 miles from our house. I didn't buy much but the much sought after Kona black. The evening was beautiful and the lighting was just right.
Back to the pic of the day. I couldn't think of anything to photograph that evokes fear. I thought of all the beauty I photographed yesterday and I will share the link to an online album:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3127458523780.106217.1784196730&type=1&l=cc364d8560

I fear that these beautiful places will all be overly developed in the future. I love to see nature and the majesty of the Great Lakes.

Lake Michigan on M119 bluff in Harbor Springs, Mi

 And sunsets.

Day 27

Pitcure of  yourself and a family member

We are at the art Museum in Norfolk, Va. It is in the interactive section. We are in front of a mirrored display here,

in the special effects photo ...

and the zombie effects!

Have a great Saturday!

Day 26

Day 26 a picture of something that means a lot to you.


My wedding ring means a lot to me. This is a replacement ring because the first ring set wore out. I needed a low profile ring because of my job (putting gloves off and on). The longevity of my marriage means more than the ring itself but i do place a high value on the object because of what it represents.

I also find that my hands mean alot to me. I couldn't do much quilting, crocheting, knitting, playing violin and mandolin, blogging or working without them. Yes the hands are a bit worn, cracked and arthritic but they are quite necessary!!

Only 4 more days of the picture a day here on the blog. I will continue the pic a day on Face book and Twitter for those interested. I find it to be quite thought provoking and inspirational.

Day 25

Only 5 more days to go on this 30 day photo meme. The topic is a picture of your day. I have pictures from a couple of weeks ago that symbolize today.

It is a beautiful fall.

What a pumpkin!

I have been working and making it through. I did one 15 minutes Wii fit exercise and it wore me right out.

I have been crocheting amigurumi. Can you guess what the first project is in the bag? I have to stuff it and sew the parts together.  

  

I quilted this last night and it is a quilt of fall scraps that will be on my couch for the season.

I am getting tons done because I can't find and Kona black! I have one more store to check out this weekend.

Day 24

Day 24 Something you wish you could change

I wish could be more coordinated and dance like these Irish Step Dancers!

 and

I wish I could be better at putting outfits together like my daughter!

I wish I could change my clumsiness and fashion sense, a two for one today.

Day 23

Day 23 Picture of your Favorite Books

When I was a kid, I read all the time.I read the Black Stallion series, Little House On the Prairie, Nancy Drew, LTR and every other book I could get my hands on. 

 I don't read as much now but I enjoy audio books as well as read. I think my favorite books of all time are the Harry Potter books. It has a sweetness to it, a mystery, adventure and my required amount of magic and magical creatures. It is also a book series that is easy to read, unlike Tolkien's book which I love.

Day 22

Day 22 a picture of something you wish you were better at

I love to eat. I really don't like cooking. I wish I were better at it. I think that I would be better on my diet if I had more of an interest in cooking healthy food. My husband loves to cook and read recipes so I do this through him in a sense. I have branched out my blog reading to cooking based ones but I like reading them and looking at the pictures. :) not collecting recipes.

I used to feel really guilty about my fault as a Mom and woman about not liking to cook. I do like to bake breads, muffins, cakes and pies on occasion. I do like to do cookies at Christmas in small batches. I also like to make pumpkin rolls.

But not make meals. So here is the deal, my dearest husband makes the holiday meals. I help with side and clean up. He makes the complicated meals, I help chop and clean up. I just do better and like the cleaning up part!! Thanks Jay for all of your wonderful cooking!!!

And I have found I have other gifts/strengths. I don't feel guilty about it any more.