SHARIE'S NEWS ..........................

Where has the month gone? The time just seems to disappear. It is very chilly here this morning, 36 degrees. Tomorrow, being the 1st of February means that spring is just around the corner and about 2 weeks after that, it will be summer. Maybe it will be different this year. On Friday, it rained, and rained, and rained. It came down in buckets. We have a creek that runs through the neighborhood. It was way out of its banks. Really out of its banks, the worst that I have seen since I've lived here. The quilt store where I sew has sold their inventory and will no longer be carrying fabric or notions. Larry will continue to quilt on his Statler Stitcher (long arm machine). He is going to let us continue to sew there. The sewing is really not that important. We can do that at home, but it is the social end of it all that we would miss if we (the chickens) could not sew there. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

Stash Report - 31 Jan 2010

I am moving along a little bit at a time. Today I will do a binding, not much there but it all adds up. That will show up next week. Between now and the 1oth, I will probably use very little fabric. I am preparing for a quilt show and thus must put on sleeves, bind a quilt, cover labels and etc. This week: In: 0 yards Out: - 1.50 yards Net: -1.5 yards (Out) Year to Date: In: 31.5 yards Out: -13 yards Net: 18.50 (In)

HOW ABOUT THOSE SAINTS

Stash Report - 24 Jan 2010

I took out of my stash a few little pieces for quilts I am working on. It totaled about a half yard. I have several quilts that need borders then I will have to make backs. I should start those this week and should burn up some fabric. I am looking forward to having some space in my fabric cabinets, project boxes, storage boxes and so on and on. This week: In : 0 yards Out: - .5 yards Net: -5 yards (out) Year to Date: In:- 31.5 yards Out: -11.5 yards Net: 20 yards (in)

What's on my Design Wall.............

On my design wall is my hand quilting, piecing and etc project. It is a great take-it-with-you quilt. The hexagon's and the diamonds have 1 inch sides. I plan on making this about 12/13 rows long and it will be a bit wider when I add borders to it. Since I am designing this as I go, I am not sure how I am going to finish it. The quilt blocks behind it - pineapples - I have them nearly finished. I have 3 complete blocks and 4 nearly finished blocks to go. Then put it together with set in triangles and borders. I will piece a back.

Stash Report - 17 Jan 2010

I have nothing in and nothing out this week. Year to date: In 31.5 yards Out -11 yards Net 20.5 yards in I am quilting, but quilting on things that have already been counted.

My Quilting Helpers.........Smokey & JAC

Smokey and JAC are my quilting helpers. They want to see what I am doing. I started this hand project this past year. I tell myself, if I don't work on it, it will not get done. It is a great take-it-with-you project. I would like to make this long enough to hang in my entry. I think I am nearly finished with the third row. I am going to be at this for a while. The last hexagon project I made (posted in this blog) I was silly enough to put them on the back as well as the front. I am not going to do that with this one. For some reason, although the pieces are bigger, the pieces that I am using now are harder to handle. The pieces have 1 inch sides.

MYSTERY SOLVED....................

The mystery is solved. The Money Tree Bonsai was sent to me by my friend Virginia. Virginia lives in Oceanside, CA. It is a lovely gift. My son, so smart, said that I could track the number and find out. So I dug out the box from the trash and took out the mailing tag and out comes the gift card. I would never have thought that the card would be behind there. You can't see it. It came from FTD and you know that can be anywhere in the country. In fact the box came from Mississippi. That is a long way from California. Next time I will know. Virginia, thank you, thank you.

Stash Report 10 Jan 2010

This report doesn't look good, but it looks better than last week. Hope that counts. Added this week: 12.5 yards Used this week: -9.25 yards Net this week: 3.25 (in) Added YTD: 31.5 yards Used YTD: -11.00 yards Net YTD: 20.50 (in)

What a Wonderful Surprise......................

Yesterday afternoon FedEx delievered me this plant. It is a Money Tree Bonsai. I have no idea who sent it. WHO DID IT????????????? It is lovely. The trunk is very interesting. Thanks many times over to my mystery plant giver. I will try to give it a good home. Sharie

Baby, it is Cold Outside.....................

It is 7:01 AM about 40 miles north of the Gulf. It is 21 degrees.........brrrrrr. I have never seen it this cold here (of coarse being born in Iowa and living there for many years I have seen it much, much colder). I think this is a record. I have to tell you my Iowa Cold Story. We lived about 4 miles out into the country from Cedar Rapids. Jim, at the time was a deputy sheriff. He was working a late shift. The temperature with the chill factor was a -60 degrees (now that is cold). Since we lived in the country, and the time period is about 1973, our roads were not paved. When the frost melted out of the ground and people drove on it, the result would be ruts that left the road very rough. Then the ruts would freeze. Jim, hops into his car (after warming it up) starts down the road, hits a rut, the dashboard breaks in half. That is probably my best cold, cold story. I also have a few about walking two miles to school in the snow storms and etc. :-) Stay warm..............Sharie

What's on my Design Wall.............Monday 4 Jan

My husband calls my group of quilting friends "the chickens". Eight of us "chicks" have taken on one of Judy Niemeyer's quilt patterns. It is the Bali Wedding Star. It is a gorgeous quilt. We are making it primarily with Bali Pops and since I have a huge stash of Batiks, I will be using the stash also. This is going to be one of those projects that is on going. I will try to remember to show you the progress once a month.

Stash Report 3 Jan 2010

I am off to a bad start. Fabric has been arriving this week that I ordered. I found some wonderful sales and could not resist. Actually I bought fabric to go with other fabric that I already have. I promise next week it will be better. Used this week: 1.75 yards Used year to date: 1.75 yards Added this week: 19 yards Added year to date: 19 yards Net used for 2010: 17.25

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everyone................. Where did 2009 go??? This year just zipped by. Today, seven of my quilting friends and myself are getting together to start a new project. It is Judy Neimeyer's, Bali Wedding Star. This is a gorgeous quilt. Last night Jim and I went to bed about 11:00. We rarely make it to the magical hour of midnight. Fireworks in Louisiana are legal. All evening we heard fireworks going off. I was sleeping nicely at midnight when I was awakened by the continuous popping (and may I say loud) of fireworks. I got up and peeked out the window and could see the reflection of the colored lights on the door of our shed. I should have went outside and looked but it was probably about 45 degrees, so decided against that. Yethi jumped up into bed. Before going to bed I had to put her outside for her to do her "thing." She did not like that idea at all and did not venture far from the door. It looks like it will be a nice day. At least the sun is shining. It is still cool, 48 degrees at 9 AM. I just looked in the newspaper, and Lake Charles had 73.53 inches of rain this year. It sounds like we should be floating. If southern California would have had anywhere near this amount of rain it would be gone by now, sliding into the ocean. Louisiana is tropical; when it rains it pours, an inch or two an hour. It doesn't take long to add up to a lot of rain. And, all of you in the north, can you imagine how much snow that is. Hope you all have a wonderful day and that you have a great New Year. Sharie