Another Jelly Bag

Laurel Burch fabrics. Cute! :-)

Ewwwwww!

Along with the cutsie country decor and the overpriced kitschy items in the attached store, Cracker Barrel has slow service and the worst food. Two visits is twice too many for me. This time my sandwich stunk of rancid oil. The butter for the little dry corn muffin wasn't much better. A couple of bites left a nasty greasy coating in my mouth. *shudder* Like Olestra. Remember Olestra? Ewwwww.

I scraped out and ate my sandwich filling (a skimpy amount of lumpy chicken salad in a runny dressing) and left the rest of my meal, all the time wondering how many hours until the stomach pains would start. I wondered at all the people around me eating away happily. How could they be not as grossed out as I was??? I'm not that picky. I guess I could have made a fuss, but to what end? The darned places are always crowded...heaven knows why. It was better to just pay and leave, never to darken Cracker Barrel doors again.

So how was your day? :-)

A finish!

It seems I never get anything finished...sigh. So I'm trying really hard to motor through some of my stack of UFOs and just get some stuff done. This Jelly Bag came out great (Bunny Hill Designs). And it's for ME! Nice for a change. :-)

RFLOL

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, 'Who's on First?' might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on...

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don't know.. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.

COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on 'START'.............



Too funny.

Tiny Worlds and smelly dogs

OH MY! I have no idea what the dogs got into today. I think they must have rolled in it as well as eaten it. The smell was so strong when I let them back inside it almost made my eyes water! Barn? Fertilizer? Death? I've searched the yard and can't find anything. Whatever it is, it smells GROSS!

But! I persevered in the sewing room despite the stench and made my first "Tiny World" pin cushion. I've been collecting tea cups from the thrift stores, along with wool sweaters for the stuffing, and bought wool felt for the house and grounds. FUN! ...and cute. I can't wait to do another. The pattern is by Mimi Kirchner.

Tales From Under the Sewing Table

Hi there! My name is Maisy.


I've been living in The Sandbox since April and I'm a big girl now. I weigh 30 lbs even though I was supposed to be a lap dog. The Tramp mentions it often. :-p


In fact, Miss Katie calls me Piggy. She says I look like a piglet rooting for truffles. I don't think so, do you? My tail isn't nearly curly enough!


And I don't dig holes like Ivy does. I'd much rather sneak through the fences and prune the wisteria and garden plants. Miss Katie says she can't figure out why I don't yank the evil Bermuda grass out of the flower beds while I'm at it. Heh.


I'm in deep doo-doo today....sigh. I always am. Miss Katie is pretty peeved about her fave wool pincushion.


Pins are great to chew on!

Poop. I also don't know why everyone was so upset when I chewed through the wire of one of the sewing machine foot pedals. I mean, aren't there enough other sewing machines around here? I was just keeping quiet and busy. Ok...sigh. I didn't know it was the new sewing machine. Oh.... Well.... I guess I chewed up a couple of lamp cords and speaker wires too.

But I'm cute! Really!

Psst.... Don't tell them about the teeth marks on the vacuum cleaner cords.

Miss Katie says her blogging mojo may have come back......whatever mojo is. Groan! I guess I'll have to learn to pose as nicely as Ivy and Ngaire so there aren't any more Piggy pictures! Miss Katie also says if I don't destroy any more of her sewing equipment there may be some quilt pictures coming soon too. :-p


Have a happy, muddy day!

Weekend to remember

Mom and I are staying home today and recovering from our weekend at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium at Peace College in Raleigh. Quilty inspiration was everywhere. There were over 200 quilts in the show, wonderful vendors, and 600 full and part-time attendees! Mom and I enjoyed our classes and lectures with Barb Gardner, John Flynn, Harriet Hargrave, Rachel Clark, Charlotte Warr Anderson, Yvonne Porcella, and Elly Sienkiewicz--and wished we could have experienced all the other fantastic teachers too!

But I think the real high point for both of us was the quilt show. We both won ribbons! I knew Mom would win something, she always does! But no one was more amazed than I to see ribbons on my quilts. :-D

This is our "duet" entry. Mom did all the applique (those border stars were a bear!) and I pieced and quilted. We won a second place ribbon. The quilt is one of many being donated to the guild's Heritage Day Auction. The guild's charity partner for the auction is Military Missions In Action. I hope it helps us make lots of money!

This quilt is going to be the raffle quilt for the guild's Heritage Day Auction in October. I put together the fence row. It won a third place ribbon.

We both also worked with our bee on this centennial quilt for the town of Fuquay-Varina. Mom did the schoolhouse block and I did the center and corner blocks and the lettering in the border. We were sorry it didn't win a ribbon but the town is thrilled with it. The bee will be presenting it to the town this Friday and it will hang in the history museum.
Mom won a first place ribbon for this one. It is all hand appliqued and hand quilted.

She also won an honorary mention for her chickens! Also all done by hand.

My Old Tobacco Road (Bonnie Hunter mystery) won an honorable mention.

And I won the first place ribbon in the Jane Hall Challenge. No one is more surprised than I am! I took a lot of care with it but I know everyone else did the same with their entries. Thank you Jane for your instruction and inspiration!

New UFO

Lucky me got to go to a Bonnie Hunter workshop on Saturday! We worked on My Blue Heaven.

This is Bonnie's...


This will be mine!


It was also a Fun With Grandsons weekend. DIL, Middle Daughter and her SO were here too. Lovely....sigh. :-)

Hiding!

I've been in hiding. Not much time at the computer though I do try to catch up on my blog reading occasionally. I've been sewing sewing sewing my entries for the North Carolina Quilt Symposium....and it's finally next weekend!

We also got a new puppy and you know what that means! Short nights and long days trying to get her housebroken. We have good days and bad days but for the most part she's a good dog and just acting age appropriately.

Meet Maisy. I'd love to get her DNA tested. She looks like she was put together by a committee! LOL


I have the most fun taking photos of her sleeping. She sleeps around, over, beside, under and everywhere but in her beds. :-)

Two and a half minutes of a spring day

I haven't tried to post a movie yet. So here goes.

Done....but will I ever wear it???

Done. Finally I can say it's done. Well except for the label. I bought this kit back in the early 90s. That's long enough for a UFO don't you think? :-) I finally got it out last year and started putting it together. Never again. I was shorted on fabric, the pattern tissue was incomplete, and the instructions were impossible.



I wish I could say more positive things about it but I can't. I suppose back when I bought the kit I would have worn it happily, but now I'm not so sure. It's pretty dreadful. I'll enter it in the NC Quilt Symposium next month but I hope no one looks at it too closely!


Being short on fabrics I had to fudge a lot of the construction. See the bottom right corner of the back of the coat? Those short strips are added to fill a gap. The long strips that go from shoulder to hem are the full width of the fabric (about 42"). There is just no way to make them reach from shoulder to hem! I could have added matching fabric to make them longer but by then all the strips were cut (per the instructions) and there were no bits left wide enough. SIGH. There's no mention of it in the pattern and the coat in the pattern photo has strips that reach the hem. All I can figure is that either they pieced them or cut them lengthwise from yardage they don't provide in their kits. *grumble* I couldn't bind the seams per the instructions either. There just wasn't enough fabric to do it their way. I kept going back to the paperwork and yes, the kit was supposed to have the complete materials to make a coat in my size. Yeeesh!

And it went on and on like that! I've also been searching and searching for fabric for the final binding of the front, hem and sleeves. There was no way I could finish it with what they provided. Let me tell you, that's a hard job when you let your kit sit around for so many years! Fabric styles change so much. After a few false starts (thank goodness I don't mind adding to my stash!), last week while shopping for something else in JoAnn's, the right fabric jumped right off the rack and into my arms. *happy dance*

It still remains to be seen if I have the nerve to model it at Symposium. ;-)

Bunny progress

Here are two of my Bunny Hill Designs BOMs. March and February. January is waiting for a bit of wool fabric and I've just begun working on April. Purty cute! :-)