R.I.P. or maybe not ???

After a day of running between two cities fabric hoarding shopping for odds & ends at the fabric stores, I came home in a great mood. The sun was shining, the roads clear of snow & even the gas prices were excellent. Got the fella off to work and I washed/ironed fabric and got myself organised for a night of sewing napkins. I had ironed down the seam lines for 10 napkins and cut out several other napkins in kitty fabric.

 Then, I went to plug in old Mabel - my work horse Singer 201-2!! OMG - nothing. Over and over, I unplugged - replugged, jiggled the wired to the extension cord - we are a nob & tube house with one electrical outlet per room - can we say joy ;-(....and on & on - nothing!!!

During my outing I had consumed two store bought coffees with high fat cream and sugar in them. With the 2nd coffee I had a cinnamon bun with glazed icing. While trying to revive Mabel I had gotten into the sugar crisp cereal to console myself and calm my nerves! I was on a freaking sugar high from hell!!!

Sheer panic set in over my Mabel not working. I was in melt down mood in a bad way. I pictured myself clearing all table tops in the house with a clean sweep of my arm......not good.

With a large drink of water in hand, I headed to the TV. About the only thing I could manage was to plunk my arse down and watch some mindless show. Normally I would had a cleaning frenzy - that wasn't any where on this radar screen.

Hours passed and the fella returns from work and I warned him about the other sewing machine in the middle of the living room floor - don't fall over it. ROFLMAO - I had dragged the Singer 15 from it's hiding place in the corner and attempted to use it. Not a good idea - I want Mabel, and only Mabel. Not my aunt's singer - named Priscilla - gawd!!!

So......this morning, while in the shower - I can hear the fella banging around. WTH?  He had been running up and down the stairs getting electrical stuff and checking out Mabel. OK.....!!! I start to supervisor and after about 10 minutes I mention that I usually test the foot pedal when the light doesn't go on.

Did I mention that ???? Did I do that last night????

The light bulb was burnt out. I have nothing more to say except a quote from Forest Gump.....Stupid is as stupid does.........

Couch Potato Hand Quilting Blues!

I completed this quilt top several years ago and started to machine quilt it. Opps, the 1st quarter of the quilting went sorta well - first time quilting on the machine with the darning foot. The 2nd quarter - well, I think I was getting a head of myself and the puckers on the back started to creep in. So, after starting the 3rd quarter and checking the back - WOWSER - pucker city. I unpicked and unpicked and made a complete mess of threads everywhere....and tried again. Many unpicking and restitching later and I basically HATE this quilt now.

At first I loaded it on my quilt stand ( sorry, forgot name of the darn thing - it's boxed back up and in the attic ) and tried to do a baptist fan on it. Not happening. I replaced the backing material as the original was a heavier cotton and I think that threw me off. But, the magic just isn't happening with this quilt and at this point I don't care!!!!

It's in the hoop and sits on the rocker when I'm not working on it. I am hand quilting it whenever my butt hits the couch, rocker, dining room chair. It's getting done. And my stitches are not pretty....whatever, it's getting done. And I don't feel guilty - funny eh!!! I'm Canadian ~ I'm allowed to say EH !!

Hopefully this weekend I'll be organised with my napkin sewing as I have 100+ to make for an up-coming party in May. I'm thinking a trip to Fabric land is in my near future ( heck - their sales start on the 27th - DOH) I need to check out white cotton fabric for the napkins and kelly green fabric for the triangles that will be sewn on the corner front to hold the cutlery. Still have to fiddle with that ......!

Our weather has been totally weird this winter. Mild for most of it, and snowless also. I'm a 4 season gal and love to  cross country ski and snowshoe in the winter. Hasn't happened so far and we haven't travelled up north to visit sister and family who have SNOW.  Fingers crossed that we will get one good snowfall before spring sets in for good.

Tidy it Up Tuesday

Happy Valentine Day!

1st up on the Tidy-it-up Tuesday. Housework - naaaa, that can wait!

Golf Club Covers ~ BLAH....actually, lets make that a double BLAH BLAH!!!!
While pregnant with my son, over 33 yrs ago - I made golf club covers. Sitting, growing fatter by the day and lots of idle time on my hands - they were doable back then. I was into craft shows at an early age and these were hot sellers.

Fast forward to today - sitting, growing fatter by the day as I knit these stupid things and I really have no idle time for them. BUTT, (LOL) they are hot again. Who knew. And it's a mix between really, really old players and the young snot nosed ones that want them. Again, who knew. BUTT, I'm really not into them. They are simple enough, but I'm not feeling the love of making them. Not even the $$$$...weird!! I will press on......did I say BLAH yet!!! LOL

So, I"ll be tiding up the loose ends of these suckers and making the pom-poms while watching Dr. Oz later this afternoon!!! Only 3 more sets to complete - yup....BLAH!!!

I promised myself  I wouldn't sew all the Lady of the Lady Blocks together yet. I'm only 1/10th into the sewing process and I want to keep the fabric pieces scrappy through out. I caved - wanted to see them in different layouts! Very pleased and that puts a big smile on my face. Happy!!

So...I need to tidy up my cutting & sewing areas and get back at it!!

And the doll blanket is done. Called my sister to get the correct measurements - finish size is 20" x 22", and that's enough to cover two dolls in their crib. Just need to clip and tidy up the ends.
Have a great Tidy Up Tuesday Everyone!

On the Floor Friday !!

Actually, it's the bed today! No floor friday lol !!
Lady of the Lake ~ the blocks aren't sewn together yet. Just checking the look of my fabric etc.

Sewing verses Crocheting

When having a brain fog day, I find simple crocheting fills that need to be crafting without endangering my life ;-) !!!

Before my niece left with Scarlet-Rose, she picked out several fabrics that she liked. The sewing request: overalls in the Canadian fabric and PJ's in the cute flannel fabric. Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze two pairs of PJ's out of the flannel - it's just a remnant from the fabric store!

But....it's crocheting while the fog lifts! LOL A blanket for her dolls - they share a crib, so it just needs to be large enough to cover them ( that's my story !!) Just a nice ripple pattern! It's Dr. Martin night, so I'll be spending an extra hour of crocheting while watching it!

Lady of the Lake ~ cutting fabric

My e-bay purchases arrived last week and then I promptly misplaced the rulers LOL ! Today was a beautiful day outside and very unusual for this time of year for us. I went outside with my tub of cut triangles for the LOTL quilt and counted up what I've done so far. The warm sun & fresh air was good for my troubled soul.  I've decided the blocks will all be scrappy as I have so many bits & pieces of blue to use up. And I love bits & pieces and scrappy!!

My sister and family were welcomed visitors during the weekend and it's always heart-warming when you see the kids snuggled under your scrappy quilts. My sister has instilled in her kids the true meaning of homemade and they openly embrace the concept of love, heart & soul that people put into their creations. My niece was thrilled with the new doll clothes she received, while I was a bit funky about the outfits being not perfect. Again....lesson learnt. It's not the perfect stitches that made the garments wonderful - it's the smile after smile you receive as they model each new diaper, bootees or bonnet and oohhh and ahhh at them!!!

I laugh as I look at this quilt. One of my first tied log cabins and about 2/3's of the fabric came from bed sheets. I was crocheting & braiding tons of rugs at the time and was buying sheets in bulk. So it seemed natural for me to test out a quilt block with the fabric at hand...LOL!