I'm Back !

We've had some remodeling done in our family room .So for the past week I've been trapped up stairs keeping the dogs company while workers pounded away. The results are quite nice ,photo's to come. I did manage to take some fabric and a machine upstairs and work on my houses and some other projects. Here's two more houses for my row.Three down two to go.

One Down

One and a half done, three and a half to go. Yesterday I worked on my bright houses for the 2008 Row Robin. Here's a picture of the first one. It's a paper pieced slightly wonky little two story house. I think it's pretty cute. The close up gives you a better look at the little boy in the up stairs window.

Not Masculine?

I've been making this quilt for my 22 year old grandson. Now here's the problem. A friend suggested to me that it was to feminine for a guy????? Said she always uses dark or muted fabric's for guys quilts. I thought it was fine for a guy but don't want to give it to him if she's right and he won't use it. Anyone have an opinion about this. I would appreciate your honest opinion.

I'm So Excited!

Kathy is hosting another Row Robin on the About .com Quilt Forum (link at top of this page). I was in the one she hosted last year it was sooo much fun and the blocks/rows that came through my house were awesome. The theme I've picked this time is bright houses on black and white. Here is a magazine photo of something similar. Only mine will have a variety of house styles and sizes (I hope). I went shopping at the LQS for the fabric yesterday. I probably bought more than I need (always do)but you never know.

Hounds of the Baskerville.

Our home has a very large living room window that faces the south. The front porch shades the living room most of the year but from October to the first part of March the sun is low enough in the sky that sun shines in on the floor. It doesn't take long for a dog find it's a warm place to bask in the sun. We call it baskervilling. Here's our 18 month old JR's ,Jack the brown and white and Buddy the black and white baskervilling in the winter sun.
PS.the stains on the carpet I can't pin on the puppies that's whole cup of coffee yours truly spilled.
Carpet cleaners coming Feb.1, right after the installation of the new fireplace.

Ready for some football?

DH's latest purchase a big screen HD TV. The color look a little off in these pictures but it's really great. Think Elizabeth's hot pint dress is clashing with the orange back ground : ) This thing is so big, 57in. it lights up the whole room. Not sure I can read while this suckers on. Now if we can find something to watch besides reality shows. American Idol fan I am not. We signed up for NETFLIX so I guess we'll be hunkered down watching movies until the spring thaw.

Done!

Well my procrastinated project of the week is done.OK,OK, it took two weeks but be as that may it's done. I'll do two things this week to make up. The curtains for the family room turned out really well. The fabric was really cheap at Wall-Mart but sewed up nice. Normally I believe you get what you pay for but sometimes you can be surprised.

We have a man coming this morning to give us an estimate on putting in a new fireplace. I have to get busy and get this family room cleaned.

Fat

Another blogger, "Cold Feet Quilter "posted a pic.of 0.6 lbs of butter to demonstrate the amount of fat she lost over the Holidays. It is really a good way to realize how much extra fat one has or is carrying around. I've read that people with anorexia always think they are fat no matter how skinny they look. I'm the flip side of that feeling. As a child I was always skinny .and as an adult I remained thin until I was well into my forties. So when in my fifties I ballooned up to ninety seven I did not feel fat. Inside I still felt like skinny little Sheri who got teased for her bony knees. I would see myself in photos or refection in a store window and think "my gosh I'm fat" but I didn't feel fat.

Then last summer I caught an intestinal bug that took me three weeks to kick. Everyone else in the family got it and was over it in twenty four hours. Anyhoo during this time I lost twenty pounds. An unpleasant way to lose weight but never the less I was determined not to gain it back. Recovering from an illness I didn't want to starve myself so I just changed what I ate not how much. I gave up soft drinks, deserts ,goodies, snacks period and red meat. As a result I've lost twenty more for a total of forty lb's since June.

I didn't have a whole pound of butter in the house, so picture this quarter pound multiplied by 160 ! eeeeooowww! That was a lot of fat I was carrying around.

I will post a before and after photos later.

Christmas Spirit All Year

A friend of mine from Poland told me she always leaves one Christmas decoration out all year to remind her family the of the Spirit of Giving all year. I thought it was such a nice tradition I adopted it. For the last few years I displayed a Nativity plate in my secretary. This year for a change of pace I decided to keep this little brass angel on the kitchen windowsill.

Also a pic.of the fabric I'm using to make curtains for the family room .My procrastinated project for this week.

Thirty Days

has, Sept, April ,June and Nov....
Never mind that ,this post is not about days in a month or rhymes. It's about New Years resolutions. A few years ago my sis and I decided a resolution that was for 365 days was a big commitment ( more than we could handle) so we decided to try 30 day resolutions.
This month's resolutions
# 1 -Tell at least one family member each day something you appreciate they did or do . Trust me some days it can be a real challenge.
#2-Do something each week that we've been procrastinating about.
This week I'm making curtain's for the family room. I've had the fabric for about a year. So I think it's time.

Whatcha Working On?

The day after Christmas I started this quilt for my grandson Nick. Except for binding a couple Christmas gifts I didn't do any sewing in Dec.previous to Christmas day. So the 26th I was chomping at the bit to get at my machine. Nick's in the military stationed in Alaska so this will be a snugly flannel quilt. Love the BRIGHT flannels. Pretty simple pattern just a square in a square but if you notice there's a few wonky blocks that will be placed here and there to lend it some interest. I don't have a display board big enough to hold them all (need to fix that any suggestions on how to build one) so here's pictures on the two on opposite walls.

Worthy of a Resume

Irma Bombeck once said she had friends that considered keeping a Poinsettia over from one Christmas to another be a feat worth mentioning on a resume. I think they might be right . Although I try,try, try, again,and again they are usually toast by April. Well here is the ill fated plant of the year. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

PS-any tips or suggestions that would aid it's survival would be appreciated :)

Correction.

Several people ask me where I got the pattern for Milisa's quilt. Here's the book, Crazy Curves I dug it out this morning . I was telling people the book was Circles and Curves (don't know where I got that).You do have to sew a curve but it's easier than it looks . My first block was off about a quarter inch.But someone told me to pin both ends and the middle. After I started doing that it went pretty easy. You can purchase templates that go with the book.

There is quite a few patterns in the book. I'm thinking of this one for my DDIL's nephew. She ask me to make some kind of soccer ball quilt for him. I'm thinking of making this yellow and blue one (first picture) only in blues, blacks, and white.