A Work in Progress

 Grace Mason (Of Female Worth)  The verse over one Grace Mason is finally done!  Some of us on the Legacy board had Thanksgiving Day starts one year.  I'm thinking that must have been in 2006.  As I've mentioned in other posts about this piece, the verse was the text for the sermon at my mother's funeral, and this was the first piece I worked on after we returned from the trip to the Midwest for the service.  I've also mentioned in other posts that I remember working on the border as I sat with my mother's sister, who was 90 at the time, and listened while she tried to come to terms with giving up her apartment and moving to assisted living.  Lots of memories in this piece. Now I'm concentrating on Lizzie Kate's ABCs of Aging Artfully.  I've managed to "personalize" this piece by miscounting threads in the first row which means I'll have to fudge here and there.  This piece is either going to be made into a pillow or frame...

I finished the stitching for this Pine Mountain pillow a few days before the 14th.  I think it's called Spots of Valentines.  After attaching a ribbon hanger to the pillow from the kit, I had my first finished project of 2012.  It's still not clear to me what that the spot in the lower right hand corner is supposed to be-candy, a fish? I hope all of you had a special Valentine's Day.  My mother was born on February 14, so the day has always had special significance for me.  My husband is great about getting flowers and a card but this year he really outdid himself and got me an iPad2.  He told me that after 36 years of marriage, he knew I would be happier with new technology than with a piece of jewelry.  He knows me so well!  I'm having a lot of fun with the iPad and especially like reading blogs on it as the pictures are so clear. My school district is closed tomorrow and Monday, so I have a four day weekend.  I'm planning on lots of ...

We haven't seen too many real snowflakes in our area this year, so I'm creating a few for a quilt.  So far, I've got two done and eight to go after taking a class on fusible applique.  This technique does take some time with all the tracing, cutting, ironing and sewing, but I find that I enjoy the process.  The ten snowflake blocks will be pieced together with blocks representing short and tall evergreens.  Even though I'm a day early, I'll take a page from Punxsatawney Phil, our illustrious Pennsylvania groundhog,  and predict that this quilt will be done by early spring.   

Sandy at Quilting for the Rest of Us has talked about slow quilting or taking her time to enjoy the process of making a quilt.  She posts every Monday on the subject and has many thoughtful insights.  Me?  I think I'm just a slow quilter.  I participated in my guild's UFO workshop on Saturday.  Was there from 9:30-2:30 with a short break for lunch and I got three of these blocks done.  Keep in mind that I had already sewn the flying geese, the half-square triangles, and the strips for the rest of the block construction during the class for this project back in October.  See what I mean about being a slow quilter?  These blocks will be eventually become a tablerunner.  The fabrics are mostly Kansas Troubles.  The pattern, Geese in the Valley, was created  by Susan Shively of Midnight Owl Quilts * for a workshop for my quilt guild.  In other stitching news, I'm continuing to work on Grace Mason.  I'm...

Go on over to  http://www.craftyvegasmom.blogspot.com to sign up for the first Friday Night Sew-In of 2012 and join in the fun.  I'm planning to plant myself on the couch with Grace Mason, and hope that I have significant progress to show you on Saturday morning.

ABCs of Aging Artfully - Lizzie Kate Grace Mason WIPocalypse is being hosted by Measi .  Although sign-ups are now closed, you can still stitch along with everyone throughout the year.  Here's my first check-in showing my progress on my two most active projects.  Grace and I survived a small crisis.  I ran out of the DMC 316 that I was using and the new skein I bought is a lot lighter.  Who knew DMC would change dye lots?  DMC 316 is the lavendar needed to fill in the flowers on the basket and in the red flowers.  I rummaged through the stash left from my mother's things and thought the skein from there was a little too light also.  I explained my problem to an employee of my local needlework store and she offered to run home and bring me what she had from her stash.  The bottom line is that I have a pretty close match and the store has a very grateful, loyal customer. I've been busy as always since my last post.  All fiv...

These items have actually been finished for a couple of weeks, but since my stitching time has been limited this month, I have nothing else to show.  The pincushion and scissors fob were made for my sampler guild's exchange from Blackbird Designs Wild Lilies pattern.  They're sitting on a square made by my grandmother who crocheted and did tatting.  I own three pieces of linen from her and they have  a  special story that I'll save for another post. This seems to be the season of finishes or milestones in our lives.  My daughter turned 20 on Wednesday and that marked the end of having teenagers in the house.  My husband is the one with the big "finish" as he will be officially retired on December 31.  We've been thinking about this and planning for it for at least 18 months, but the transition has not been without its bittersweet moments.  My husband and I are of a generation who  spend their entire careers with one company.  He...