design wall dilemma . . .

I'm not sure what to put on my design wall.  I've got a lot of finished tops that need to be turned into finished whole projects.  And I've got the mug rug that lacks just a few embellishments before it's ready to be finished . . . 

Haha!  Don't study the back too closely -- I *definitely* did not do a great job of making my back look as neat as my front.  I guess since I knew it would be covered with batting and backing, I didn't sweat it too much.  LOL!

I had a run of new things in February (it always pleasantly surprises me to see what new things I tried during the past month):

My little heart spool quilt for my stand.

The mug rug, of course.

My Celtic Garden Hexie piece (which should be finished this week).

And the wedding quilt scraps topper I whipped up over retreat.

So . . . design wall . . . maybe back to Grandmother's Choice blocks this week?  I also have a baby quilt (Olivia Mae's!!!) I need to be thinking about.  Whoa!  

Photo Credit:  Moda Bake Shop

Kim loved this heart quilt "Candy Hearts" by Gigi's Thimble, found over at Moda Bake Shop.  Isn't that a sweet one?  We were both intrigued by the ruffle around the edge. The hearts are made from a charm pack of Plume.  I adore it!  :)

All right then . . . maybe I just needed to write it out to determine where I needed to go from here.  A sounding board, so to speak!  What are y'all working on this week??!

Linking up with the Design Wall Monday on Patchwork Times and the NewFO challenge linky party at Cat Patches!

:)

short and sweet . . .

That's what today's post will be . . . mainly because I've not had the energy to do much of anything this past week, as is evidenced by my 15 Minutes report . . . 

Nothing but hand work on the Celtic Garden, which I'm very happy to report is finished (at least the stitchery part):

Yay!  I'm so pleased with how this turned out and really enjoyed the process as well as the final product.  I know I'll make another of these.

My stash report is unchanged from last week . . . 

Although I will admit that I was wandering around on Craftsy and found a HUGE deal on a 20 FQ bundle of Kona solids and so next week's report will not be so dull.  [insert cheesy grin here]

My slow Sunday stitching is back to the secret mug rug project . . . just a bit more stitching on this before I'm ready to turn it into an actual mug rug.  Wanna little sneaky-peek again?

I've had a lot of fun playing with this piece, too!  Can't wait til it's safely in the hands of its new owner and I can share it in total!

Linking up today with the stash report at Patchwork Times and the Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching linky party!

This is the day that the LORD has made ... we shall rejoice and be glad in it!!

:)

where i've been . . .

So, evidently not only did I leave my voice at Grand Oak Retreat, but I brought home a case of walking pneumonia, as well.  Which, in a weird way, makes me feel a little better about my lackluster performance (what I worked on) while I was there.  I was so tired the entire time . . . now I know why!

I also realized I hadn't shared hardly any fun pics from my time with Ellie, the three days prior to retreat! We had such fun together!  She was very intrigued with my bin of *embellishments* . . .

So much so that I had to pull some BIG buttons together for her to play with while I stitched with bitty beads. It was so darling to watch/listen to her play with them.  

She'd pour them on the table and say, "Clean up, clean up!" Scoop them back into her cup and pour them out again.  I got a good sixty minutes of stitching in while she played the button game!

We also made teacup cupcakes!  Oh my gosh, these silicone teacup holders are so precious.  Kim had gotten them for me for my birthday . . .

Ellie enjoyed helping make them, but she *really* enjoyed eating them!  They were a big hit -- I need to get another set of four, I think!

We also spent some time on the playground . . . girlfriend can swing all day!

I loved the way she'd throw her little head back and shout, "Wheeeeeeeeee!!!"

And we watched a movie together . . .

This was during a particularly suspenseful part of the Little Mermaid.  Look how grown up she looks!

I did get a few things put together on retreat, but not nearly as much as I'd wanted or hoped to.  First thing out of the box, I did up the two starstruck blocks for our guild swap . . .

The theme for this month was red and white.  Sweet!

Then I stitched up this little table topper . . .

Recognize the fabrics?  I wanted to get it sandwiched and quilted, too . . . I'll save that for another day.

I did get a Grandmother's Choice block pieced . . .

I like the "T's" in this one!

And I did a lot of handwork, both on my Celtic Garden and on my secret little project (of which I'll share just a tiny corner):

Actually, I spent a LOT of time on the little mug rug project.  Hand work was my favorite!  I've spent a lot of time this week working on my Celtic Garden.  The Colonial knots are finished and I'm almost finished knotting the light green French knots in the center hedges.  Then on to the flower gardens!

And of course, what's a retreat without a tee-shirt?!  

This year's offering -- great colors!

And I enjoyed some spectacular sunrises.  I took one panorama photo.  Simply stunning!

It's not compressed, so when you click on it, it'll be full sized.

We had a total of fifteen women . . . all chit-chatting and oooohing and aaaahing over each other's work.  I love this group of gals . . . 

And of course, the "can't-do-without" gag shot.  Some of us are better at this than others!

I hope to be back in full swing by next week, but I admit, I'm still dragging a bit.  I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!!  I'm ready to usher in health *and* Spring!!

Happy Friday!!

:)

packing it in . . .

Yup.  That's what I'm doing this morning.  Packing it up and getting things situated so I can work, work, work right up until retreat ends and load up the car!  The goodbye sunrise this morning was *spectacular*!

Just gorgeous, right?  It's really nice to have this very incredible reminder of God's goodness on this particular day -- Everett would have been three.  It's amazing how fast the time has gone by.

I had no trouble getting in my 15 minutes this week, even while I was with Ellie!

I'll share more about what I've worked on these last five days later on in the week!

My stash took a bit of a hit . . . in the wrong direction! I got a lovely package from Jean (Jean Creates) and we hit Hammer's yesterday.  Here's what I grabbed from Hammers:

It's so funny ... it's almost a repeat of what I got last year at Hammer's!  What I received from Jean deserves a post of its own (which I'll do later).  Anyway, I packed away some yardage, without enough to go out . . .

But it's still running on a pretty even keel, so I won't sweat it!

There will be some last minute frantic work going on this morning, but I will eventually settle into my slow Sunday stitching.  Still plugging along on my Celtic Garden:

The hedge outlines are really starting to take shape!  One they're finished, the French knots to fill it in will go relatively quickly.  I'll be happy to be finished with the colonial knots!

Linking up today with the stash report at Patchwork Times and also with Kathy's Quilts!

Oh yeah--the current book review and giveaway is HERE.

Be *blessed* today!

:)

with a stitch-stash paddywhack . . .

I've quickly come to see that one of the major benefits of committing to reporting on my daily 15 minutes of sewing is that I'm compelled to do *something* each day so my little sticky notes aren't blank!

Of course what you see here is honestly a lot more than 15 minutes (except for the Celtic knot days ... where I did time 15 minutes worth of knots just *so* I had something to report).  But finishing up the piecing and then quilting/binding Midnight Snow consumed hours!

Midnight Snow also had a positive effect on my stash report . . .

Sure, it's not a TON of stash, but it's all positive steps!  I spent a hour or so yesterday pulling together the projects I'll take with me on retreat.  I'm taking a lot of little things that are just shy of finishing, so hopefully I'll have even more positive steps to report next week -- provided I don't get carried away in the fabric shops!

Today, after morning worship, I'll head on over to spend the next couple of days with Ellie!  Should be lots of fun.  I'm taking hand work with me . . . the Celtic Knot, of course:

It doesn't look like I've made hardly any progress on it -- those knots are so time consuming!  And I'm also bringing a new project I'm working on:

This is my pattern (which I had to make pencil adjustments to, once I'd printed it out).  I spent Saturday stitching the fabric pieces together and now it's ready for some crazy quilting seam treatments!  I'll probably work on this while Ellie naps today.

Linking up to the stash report at Patchwork Times and to the Slow Sunday Stitching linky party at Kathy's Quilts.  

And don't forget -- there's a new book review and giveaway posted HERE!

Enjoy your Sunday!

:)