Swap and more!

This is the final pincushion I chose to sew for my swap partner. She told me she loves bright primary colors. She also has a passion for things more contemporary. That was the perfect excuse to do some fabric shopping. I, of course, don't have anything in my huge fabric stash that would work. I will have to admit that this swap really tested my creativity. It was the first swap, the first pincushion and the first contemporary item I have ever made.





I also added one more to her swap. This is the original pincushion I tested out. My partner mentioned that she likes flowers so I fussy cut out the fabric to show off the flower. I added a few more items. Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, I haven't read the book yet but I'm sure it's another great read from the "Harlot".




This is the swap I received from MissLove. The pincushion is a mini felted one. It's so cute. She was also so sweet and added some fabric to the package.



I have been working on my Wicked sweater. It's really coming along. Right now I am decreasing for the waist. I'm in love with the color. Not so much with the yarn. I have found huge yarn knots in each skein so far.





I love watching Food Network. Last week we were watching Diners Drive In's and Dives. It's really a fun show about all types of local restaurants all over the country. Last week the show featured The Frosted Mug Drive In. The Drive In is located about 2 hours from where we live. The Frosted Mug makes their own Root Beer and Italian Beef and so on. My mouth was watering. I showed DH and his mouth started to water. We decided to take a mini road trip on Sunday. I checked the Food Network website and got the link for the Drive In. I clicked on the web site for The Frosted Mug to get the address and directions. We had a wonderful Sunday cruise. The day started out a little chilly. It even rained about 25 drops. We didn't care. We were going for homemade Root Beer and Italian Beef's!! WooHoo!! We took the scenic tour through Chicago. All I can say is I was really getting hungry! Finally we were getting close. I packed away my knitting so I would have plenty of room for eating yummy delicious food. We say the sign off in the distance........It looked kind of strange. Not one car in the parking lot. As a matter of fact I don't think a car has driven on this lot for months!





We were laughing so hard! Can you believe it? This place has been closed for months! This makes for a great story. I guess you can say the old saying still holds true.....Phone First!!!!

Graduation Day!

Once upon a time not so long ago a darling daughter was born to a thrilled couple. She was a very happy and content baby. What a blessing for her young parents.



The sweet darling daughter brought joy and happiness to each person she spent time with. Her smile would light up a room.



Her baby brother adored his "sissy". He would follow her everywhere. He missed her when she started school.




Just like all little girls she loved dressing up. She was so thrilled to be asked to stand up in her Uncles wedding as the flower girl.




The darling daughter had so many dreams and aspirations. She was charmed with animals. She had her own mini menagerie. Her favorite were her horses.



She grew up strong and beautiful. The darling daughter was funny and witty. She was smart and confident.




She had the world at her feet when she graduated high school. The darling daughter matured into a responsible adult.




Time has gone by so fast. It's hard to imagine that my DD has graduated from college! This is not the end of the story. It is just a mere chapter in her book. I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter

Congratulations to our darling daughter. Your college graduation was one of the proudest moments of our lives.

Pincushion Party!

Yarn by Yarnpig




Fabric by Moda

IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE! IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE! IMPORTANT
A recent study has indicated that fabric and yarn gives off certain Pheromones, that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase ungodly amounts. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the Pheromones (in the fabric or yarn) cause memory loss and induce the nesting syndrome therefore perpetuating the species (aka fabricus or yarnicus maximus). Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics or yarns emit a very high-pitched sound, heard only by a select few breed of women known as quilters and knitters. When played backwords on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants "Buy Me" "Cut Me" "Sew Me" "Knit Me" "Wind ME"! Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth helping to spread the effect that these fabrics and yarns have on the human population They are called fabric and yarn store clerks. It's also been my experience that these same Pheromones cause a pathological need to hide the fabrics and yarn away when taken home (or at least blended into the existing stash) and when asked by a significant other if the fabric and yarn is new, the reply is "I've had it for awhile".
I found that on Jan Patek's site and thought it spoke the truth! I thought that you might be able to identify with me! O.K. now on to some fabric kind of stuff....Susan is having a hand dyed fabric giveaway here. Go check it out and tell her I sent you!



I really love pincushions. I have several that I keep in my sewing room on a shelf. Some are very old. Others are handmade. The rest are store bought. I find them to be kind of whimsical. I have only made one pincushion myself. On Ravelry I joined a group for swapping pincushions. I thought that I could really get my creative juices going!



I dragged out some of my scraps. Hmmm, I don't think I have enough. Big Lie! Anyway I searched the Internet and found a few patterns for pincushions.




I found this very basic pincushion from Tammys Times. I used some old fabric sample squares I bought several years ago. I'll tell you more about that a little further down. I also added a touch of embroidery to the edge and an antique button.



It turned out pretty sweet! I do like it.




Then I tried another print print and colorway. I also experimented with how much stuffing I put in. I also found that clipping the entire circle gave it a nice crisp edge. I'm still not sure how to stitch the opening closed the best way. That's one of the reasons I added some embroidery. I really want to make my swap partner the very best pincushion I can! BTW this is not the pattern I am using for the swap. I'm just getting warmed up here!




I used to work at a quilt shop many moons ago. One of our fabric rep's was retiring and wanted to sell all of her sample books. My boss bought the entire lot. Of course, I needed to get in on the fun too. I always wanted to make a simple block quilt with scraps. This is all from one fabric collection. It is my spring quilt. Now, don't yell at me but the binding is only sewn onto one edge. I still need to hand stitch the rest of the binding on. I am not telling on how long ago I started this!




Look what just started to bloom today! The lilac's are so beautiful!




How about this one? O.K. close your eyes and take a deep breath. Mmmmmmm, is smells like the most expensive perfume. Right?



I drove by this market yesterday. Look at what the sign reads. Yup, 10 weeks until sweet corn!!! Hooray!!!! I'm stocking up on the butter right now!

Enjoying the Day

Spring is showing her colors this week. Come on, lets get out and enjoy the day! I'll grab a quilt and our knitting and we can picnic knit. Wow, these tulips are the perfect lipstick pink color.



Lets lay our our quilt and take a look around to see what's blooming.




The flowering crab tree is covered in blooms. Can you smell the sweet perfume? This is the most blooms I've seen on this tree.



The flowering almond is looking so adorable and embraced in tiny flowers. This bush is on the brink of exploding in blooms.



The viburnum has got to smell the absolute best. If I could only offer you smell-o-computer! I imagine that heaven must smell like this!



Let's kick off our shoes and enjoy the warm sunshine and the heavenly scents.



I'm working on my sweater little by little. I have to say that it is more fun knitting out here on the grass. Are you having a nice time? What project did you bring along?



Just in this short mini picnic time we've gotten a lot of knitting done. My sweater is looking good. I just love the stitch on the neckline.




I hope you are enjoying your day where ever you may be. Also, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. Take time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life! I pray blessings on you and your entire family. May goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life.

A little eye candy.

One of my very best girlfriends is expecting her first grandchild in June. I really wanted to bless the mother to be with some handmade receiving blankets. First I took a yard of really cute flannel fabric. I pulled out my serger(haven't used in over 5 years) and started serging the edges. The next step was to fold over the serged edge and press it flat. I then used a decorative stitch (on my sewing machine) of little stars to finish the edge. The final touch was to monogram the initial of the babies last name to the front. I used a variegated embroidery thread in blues for the initial. I love how the blankets turned out. So soft and comforting. I will say that my escapade in getting them finished was not comforting! Because I haven't used the serger in so long I forgot how to thread it. To top that off I couldn't find the instruction book that came with my machine. Agh! My first 4 went smoothly. The next day I stopped at Hobby Lobby some more cute flannel jumped into my cart and begged me to take it home. I should have said no, but I can't resist beautiful fabric! That's when my sewing world started to crumble! The thread in my serger broke. I tried and tried to re-thread it but to no avail. Anyways, after about 2 hours of messing around with my serger and searching for the book I decided to stop with 4 blankets. I had to save my sanity you know! I'll finish the rest another day.



This is my current knitting project. This is my second attempt at the Wicked sweater. If you remember my first try with Wicked I made the wrong size and had to frog the whole thing! I did my swatch for my sweater and made double sure that I am knitting the correct size. I even circled all of the correct numbers in the pattern. I wonder why I didn't do that before? Duh!! LOL! I am using Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep Company. The fiber is 80% cotton and 20% merino wool. The color is called coral sunset. It is truly a stunning color.
I also received some yarn in the mail over the weekend. Come on take a look.....



I have been reading NHKnittingMaMa's blog for a few months now. Amanda hand dyes beautiful yarns. Last week she posted some new yarns and colors on her blog. I have wanted to purchase some of her yarn and after seeing her photos I surrendered to the temptation! This is called Copper Canyon. The fiber is 80% merino and 20% bamboo. This is one of the softest yarns I have ever felt. I wish we had touch-o-vision on our screens so you could feel it too. It feels better than butter!
Mmmmmmmm!!!!!