Thursday, April 30, 2009

IT IS FINISHED!

I have finished the FROG project! Well, it isn't made of FROGS, but sure did a lot of ribit, ribit while making it. I can't tell you what the project is yet, not until after the guild meeting on May 20, but this was something I have never made before and probably won't make again, and I have been sewing for about 60 years! It was so puzzling, and most of that is because the directions were not clear or illustrated, but I finally figured it out. And I am so relieved! and tired!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

My new name--Frog Queen

I think I am slowly going crazy! I am making a project for the quilt guild. A challenge! And what a challenge it is. So far I have made this project over 5 times! It is driving me nuts because I can't figure out the pattern. Stands to reason, download a free pattern and go for it and something will go wrong! Very few instructions, and I have found some left out! When I finish I will print a picture. FROG means, or so I have been told, ripit, ripit, ripit...and that is what I have done now for 3 days! I am going out to plant grass and flowers! enough of this FROG stuff!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Wonderful news!

For the past week I have been wearing pink a lot of the time! thinking of my friend Janet, who lives in Tennessee. After a routine breast exam showed several lumps, she decided to have both of her breasts removed last week and asked us to think of her wrapped in pink and surrounded by love. Which I know several of us did.

We have just learned that all of the lymph nodes and the breast tissue that was removed, except for the original cancer site, have now been analyzed and
found to be negative of further cancer!

That is such wonderful news for all of us. No chemo or radiation and she can now go on with her life and enjoy everything especially our 55th high school class reunion next month!

Check for yourself for lumps monthly! We want you around as long as possible!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Wow! What a crazy week I have had! I belong to a group called the Strongsville Glitz. It is a group sponsored by the Strongsville, Ohio Senior Center and every town should have a group like this.

It is a group of people over 55 who like to sing and perform and this week was the annual show to raise money for the Center projects.

We had a wonderful group. Although I just joined about 3 months ago, they made me feel like family. The director is a retired high school choral music director; the band is led by a retired high school band director. Both men are so full of energy and enthusiasm that it is contagious.

We did a show based on music through the ages and it simply was fantastic. We did three shows, Friday and Saturday night and one this afternoon Sunday. A lot of the people were from Senior Centers around the area but a lot of them were young people who came to see their parents and grandparents having so much fun!

We dressed in 50's clothes, blue jeans, our Dad's white shirts, saddle shoes, bobby sox, letter sweaters, poodles skirts...whatever we had or could come up with! We dressed in 70's clothes...tie-dyed shirts, flowers in our hair, sandles, leather jackets...you get the picture! Our director does a great Fonzie imitation and the audience was so appreciative. Everybody went out smiling and thanking us for a wonderful performance!

And we thanked them for taking time to see us have fun! I wish I could do it all over again tomorrow! Not go back in time.... just sing and enjoy everything so much!

This is something I will truly remember forever! and be anxious for practice to start again next Spring!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

There has been a request from Marguerite McManus for readers of the blog to post pictures of their sewing rooms...so here is mine. My room is about 8 x 8 at the most! but does have two windows for lots of light and I overlook the backyard, which at this time of year is not too special. In a couple weeks when the apple tree is in bloom, and the tiger lilies start up it will be nicer.
You will notice that I use a laptop but the keyboard is covered. I simply cannot type on those little keyboards so I have a regular keyboard on the shelf below and I use a regular mouse! a little new, and a little bit old! And I do have more fabric, mostly scraps, in the bins underneath the table and in the corners. Not a lot, but enough! But as of today I am out of batting, so off I must go to get some! Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

What do you mean the dress is too big?




I went shopping one day to the most glorious fabric shop in Bettsville, Ohio called The Door Mouse...they have probably 5000 bolts of fabric in every color imaginable. I called it overkill for the eyes. I spied a lovely turquoise print and a beautiful purple print and a couple others that matched it completely.

I had a pattern that I had bought at Walmart a couple years before that. I had seen this gorgeous dress made in burned-velvet...remember when that was popular? just before the holidays. Well I couldn't find the velvet after the Christmas season and after all, I had the pattern, we were going on a Caribbean cruise in a couple months, so I bought all the fabric to make the dress. It was gorgeous! I was sure it would fit so never bothere
d to try it on. I had made it smaller because I had been losing weight. The night I wanted to wear it to dinner on the cruise...I put it on and it literally fell off my shoulders. Apparently I had forgotten to take in that part of the pattern. So I told my husband the dress was way too big and I couldn't wear it! Thus his comment...".What do you mean the dress is too big?"

I painstakingly took the entire dress apart, ironed the pieces all flat and made a quilt out of it. The pattern was a mystery one for our quilt guild. And I adore it!

I added a narrow strip of bright yellow on two ends, and a flanged narrow
strip on the other two, and took liberties with the final border, incorporating extra pieces into it and it is absolutely fantastic.

Our guild has an annual summer picnic outdoors in the pavilion in our lovely town park here. We string clothesline and hang our projects for everyone to see. With the sun shining on them they are beautiful. This one looked fantastic! as did all the others. I like to call the display "Flowers in the Air"

Gee do you get the idea I like my quilt?