My First Quilt Bee

I am participating in my first quilting bee ever, and I have finally found the perfect sheets! The quilt bee is for a vintage sheet quilt. I have seen so many gorgeous vintage sheet quilts, and I have wanted to make one for awhile. Now I have the help of a group started up by Deb at Works in Progress, and I can't wait to get started cutting out blocks. Here are a few pictures of the vintage sheets and pillow cases I chose!

This one is my favorite! It was my first choice, and I chose the rest from here.

I really love all the blues. When we move into our new house, I am going to get an office, and it will be very free spirited and calm. I am going to decorate it in light pinks, blues, and purples to match some chairs I have, and I think this quilt may just have to have a place in that room. I can just see myself cozy up under this quilt in one of my comfy chairs with my yarn or a good book.

I can't wait to get started! Thanks again Deb for starting this group!

Eight Answers

I have had yet another hiatus from blogging recently, as I'm sure you all noticed and wondered sleeplessly over. ;0) It seems I have broken my elbow...two weeks ago, and it also seems I have had surgery on said elbow... one week ago, to put screws in said elbow. So, now, as I sit here once again fully capable of typing without pain, I have some new hardware in my body, and I have heard two separate times, "Now you can be like the Tin Man. You know? Like, from the Wizard of Oz." The only reason they felt the need to explain that it was from the Wizard of Oz was because the second time I heard it, I just gave a blank stare and wondered silently how two people could think this was just so darned clever. But its all in good fun!

Moving on, I am about to entertain you, intrigue you, and maybe even send you running with my answers to Eight Questions posted by another blogger who is new to me at Foxs Lane. Her answers were quite fun, so I hope you enjoy what I've got to say and maybe you will even head over to her blog and join in the fun! Or at least check out a few other blogger's answers.

1. What is your favorite meal to eat? Honestly, I am having trouble remembering this at the moment. For the last two weeks, I have eaten so little because I have been hungry so seldom. I was having to take a lot of pain pills for my aforementioned elbow. But, I must say that recently, I followed my big sister on a new adventure to eat more healthy foods and little to no meat. Our mother died 2 and 1/2 years ago from cancer, cancer that returned after she had gone into remission once already. So, it has become a passion of my sister and I to try everything in our power to stay healthy for our future families. At the moment, one of my absolute favorite things to eat is Spinach and Mushroom Pizza with thick crust, feta, Parmesan, mozzarella, and a few other Italian cheeses. I am almost positive that Pizza should be a main food group in my life, and before now, I had never eaten pizza without meat. In the past few months, I have eaten many a veggie pizza. Yum!

2. Do you have a quirky eccentricity? Well, yes. I have many. My sister spends a lot of her time looking at me with "crazy eyes," and my friends often have trouble wrapping their minds around my being. A few off the top of my head are that I possess an old soul. This isn't something I decided for myself. It is something I have always been told. Another is that I spend quite a lot of time inside my own brain... unhealthy extents of time some days, and yet another eccentricity is that I live to create and learn. I absolutely despise the feeling that rises up inside me when I feel I have stopped learning.

3. What is your middle name? My middle name is Marie. All the names I have contain five letters, and both my first name and middle name end in "ie." I have pondered this since I was somewhere around five years old. It just seemed a bit odd. My middle name causes a lot of pondering for me, though. I so seldom hear it unless I am telling someone what it is, and I feel that I don't emanate anything that would cause me to be a "Marie," but I cherish it all the same. There is something dainty about the name Marie, something sweet and innocent. And, what I love the most about it is that I shared it with my Mom. I never did ask her why she chose to share her middle name with me, but it is a permanent part of her I will always carry with me.

4. What are you passionate about? Creating, loving, living each day to the fullest, and being healthy physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I have felt many times throughout my life that I was a square peg trying to be forced into a round hole. I have never fit into anything society gives me. I am led by my intuition, though I have quite a rational brain. They tend to fight a lot. I want to leave sort of a silent stamp on the world. I don't want fame and fortune, but I want the generations after me to have learned something that they continue to pass on to the generations after them.

5. Thongs or Birkenstocks? Umm...Flip-flops (thongs) occasionally, but mostly I just wear comfy flats or tennis shoes. I am clumsy no matter what I am wearing.

6. Who was I before I had kids? Well, that is simple. I have no kids. I am a newlywed still, so I am still just me. I couldn't' tell you what I want to be when I grow up. I go where I am led. We would love to have children, but I suppose we are waiting for God to choose the child he wants for us. It is in His timing.

7. Have I ever been arrested? No, I haven't. I can't honestly think of anything I have done to be arrested for... other than crimes against fashion, I suppose. ;o)

8. What will you be doing this weekend? This weekend, I will be with my husband! It feels like ages since I had any quality time with him since he started a night shift job. We are going to check out the Relay for Life (a sort of fundraiser for the American Cancer Society) and hopefully, if the rain stays away, we will be seeing a drive-in movie. We live amidst cornfields, but our small town is one of the few (less than 100, I believe) in America to still have a drive-in movie theater. I will be teaching my first Sunday School lesson that I co-ordinated on my own, and I will be starting physical therapy for my elbow. All very exciting things!

So, what will you be doing this weekend? I hope answering eight questions is the first thing on your list!

New Love

Check out one of my newest loves!

Recently, I have started to knit with wool for the first time I ever. If you read my previous blog, you found out that I started to knit again as well. ;o) I have never worked with wool before now, but I had a friend who had been making wool diaper covers, pants, shorts, capris, etc. for her two little girls. Now, I don't have any babies of my own, yet, but I was in love with these little knit clothes.

So, I took up knitting again, more determined than ever to figure it out, and I have now knit (and frogged) a pair of fingerless mittens, two skirty diaper covers (which I did not frog), and a pair of infant capris with a girly picot edging. These are my most recent project (and yes, there was a bit of frogging going on in the beginning...well...because I am still learning).

The author of the pattern seems like a wonderful lady. She wrote the pattern, allows you to download it for free, and on top of all of that, she encourages you to sell the items you make, especially if you are a stay at home type like me. ;o) I was so thrilled with this because all I have been finding lately are patterns you have to pay an arm and a leg for, and then you must give up your first born child just to be able to sell the items that you spent your own hard earned money and your blood, sweat, tears and time to make. I mean, maybe I'm being slightly melodramatic here, but the licenses do normally cost a pretty penny. Some authors even go so far as to put a cap on how many items you are allowed to sell in a year's time.

So now, you can see why I thought Annalea was a saint. I did e-mail her and tell her that in so many words, and when I was finished, I sent her another e-mail with a link to my Etsy listing. What I got back was so very sweet. She was very happy with my enthusiasm, and she liked my project enough to feature the picture on the pattern page! If you click on her name above, you will be taken to her pattern page where you will see my creation right next to a few others wonderful creations. I feel so grateful!

What Have I Been Up To?

It's been a little while since my last post, and man have I been busy! Recently, I decided I'd like to take another crack at knitting. I tried teaching myself once, but my heart was really set on crochet. (Don't worry, it still is.) However, I have finally managed to get the hang of knitting, and I must say that I love it, too. Here are a few things I have learned as of late:

• Kitchener Stitch: It appears to me that many people have been intimidated by the Kitchener Stitch, and I must assure you, it is unnecessary. I too, was pretty confused the first time I was reading about it, but it really does make for a very nice seam. I still have to refer to the directions each time I use it, but, like anything else in life, with practice, it is becoming very easy. Click on the link above, and it will direct you to About.com's pictorial directions of Kitchener Stitch. And believe me. If I can wrap my head around it, anyone can! :) Below is a picture of my second time using the Kitchener Stitch. I used it to seam the crotch of this skirty diaper cover/soaker closed.
  



• Knitting in the Round on Circular Needles: Knitting in the round on circular needles has been great for me because I despise using double pointed needles (DPN's). The first time I tried was horrific. Granted, I was trying to teach myself to knit for the first time on the same day I was trying to knit on DPN's. Call it what you will, but I would so much rather use circular needles. They are perfect for knitting something seamlessly. As a crocheter, I was used to working things in the round. I was convinced that knitting in the round could not possibly be simpler or even as simple as crocheting in the round. Guess what, though! It really was! If you click on this link above, it will again direct you to About.com's basic guide to knitting in the round on circular needles. The picture below shows my first ever project knit in the round. It is another skirty soaker, and I really love it!

• Magic Loop Method: Now this method, I am learning as I type here. It was just slightly confusing at the beginning, but this link will lead you to Knitting Daily website where you will find yet another pictorial guide. I am only doing my gauge swatch right now, but my next project is going to be Alice Cullen Fingerless mittens in a yarn I like to call Aqua Paradise.
  

I know it is hard to see, but here is a link to the free pattern on Ravelry. And below are a few

pictures of my gauge swatch in the Magical Loop Method.

And on a final note...All three yarns pictured here were hand dyed and hand painted by me! But that is an entirely separate post. :)

Damned Itchy Ears

Benadryl at 9:30 pm for inflamed rash on my ears.

Shower at 9:45 pm in which I scrub my ears with sea salt scrub, thinking possibly my husband is correct in thinking it is just dry skin. Felt the burn of sea salt in open wound at 9:50 pm.

Went upstairs to go to bed at 10:15 pm only to find that I wasn't all that tired. So, I read a little before bed to help me fall asleep. Great, except I get really into the book and read til what I assume was close to 11 pm.

Next to tears because of mental exhaustion, but my body must be quite resilient because it hasn't received the memo that we are tired.

Fall asleep and sleep through two alarms because that was better than smashing the phone when it tried to wake me up. Woke up at 6:50 am. Supposed to be at work at 7am. Was still only 15 minutes late (and I live 10 miles away from the job).

Dragging a$$ tired right now. Benadryl hasn't worn off. Best of all, guess what I have?

Smooth, itchy ears......................................fml.

New Creation

I just have to say before I go on that I am very tired. I am feeling very sad today, and I'm positive I overworked myself yesterday whipping this up. I was so excited yesterday that I just couldn't help it, though. I'm afraid if I don't post about it now, it will get hidden off on my (non-existent) to do list and I will never actually post about it. So, this will not be as wordy or as wonderful as I had hoped, but you have to see my new creation.































So you see, 11 and 1/2 hours at the sewing machine really does pay off. I am so in love with this purse, but I still can't wait to make another one. This is not my design, though. The desing came from an obvious sewing genius named Rebekah Lambert. I bought the pattern at her shop Artsy-Crafty Babe on Etsy.

I have never sewn a purse in my life, and I had never sewn pleats in my life. There are some obvious "whoopsies" in my purse, and as I continue to make them, they will get better. However, this pattern was so easy to understand, I was able to actually create this beaty. What's more, if I so choose, I can make these to sell because the designer allows that. How great!!

You will also notice a picture near the beginning (hopefully! All I can see is scripted words that mean nothing to me, so I'm assuming the pictures are where I want them to be.) there is a picture of a coffee cup from McD's and a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Later on, you will notice some tea and the same Peanut Butter Egg. I waited until well in the afternoon to treat myself to that little baby. And Deb, if you are reading this (check her out at Works in Progress) I decided to instate "afternoon tea" by myself yesterday. I believe I deserved it! :)

"Train Ride"

I've just returned home from an afternoon coffee date with some lady friends of mine. I sort of lolly gagged on my way home, stopping at a local store to look at yarn and things I don't need. It is a rainy day today. I did eventually convince myself that I was on the verge of spending money I didn't have and should go home. I grabbed the 7-Up I promised my husband, as he has been sick since Thursday this week. Then, I strolled out into the chilly rain.

There used to be a time in my life that rainy days made my day. I don't know what it was about a rainy day, but you could always guarantee that I would be most happy and most creative on a rainy day. Some time over the last year, something has shifted inside of me, though, and I don't so much like the rainy days anymore. They make me feel awfully nostalgic. I do, however, like how the rain makes me think.

As I was driving out of town today, on my way home, I caught up to a train, not a people-carrying train. It was just a train with cars and tanks, for commercial purposes I suppose. As I caught up to it, I was driving fast enough that I just continued to pass the train cars with ease, and this saddened me. A feeling deep inside of me was telling me to stay at pace with the train cars. And that is just what I did. Something about this train was majestic today.

I was enamored with the wheeled black cylinders. This train had been traveling in the rain long enough that it was completely wet. Isn't it funny how water on surfaces changes the appearance of them? The rain made this train look as though it had a fresh coat of paint, as if it were brand new.

As I'm riding along with this train, I can start to hear the subtle clack-clack of the wheels on the tracks through my car windows. In the background now, I hear the rustic vocals and the acoustic sound of Anna Nalick. Rainy days are perfect days to hear Anna Nalick. Suddenly, this train was reminding me of my life.

Sometimes it seems I slowed down, and the train cars began to pass me. As one train car would pass me, there was a slight tug at my heart. "Don't let it pass you by," I could hear my heart saying to me. So, I would ebb gently forward to meet my train car again.

Sometimes, I would speed up just enough that my train car was just behind me. "Don't get ahead of yourself," my heart would say to me. So, I would let off the gas pedal just enough to meet my train car again.

Each time I met with my train car, I found it beautiful. The rainy sheen made the black shine like a metal stallion.

Sometimes, I simply drove along next to my train car, allowing the clack-clack to become sweet music to my ears. Sometimes, I would turn my head sideways just to get a glance of the beautiful black stallion. Those times, I would see the reflection of the slowly melting snow, see the reflection of life on the ground. Sometimes, I would find myself singing along with the song:

Forever love
Say you'll love
Digame, Digame
Tell me so
I can hold you in my soul
If I go
I'll know

It was a beautiful moment as we ebbed closer to my rural home. The train and I moving ever forward, never looking back. We both pulled into my rural town at the same moment. I turned on to the street and slowed to a stop when I met the tracks. The train moved so quickly past me. I was not sad to see it go, just happy to witness its majesty. The last train car pulled up the rear and passed in front of my eyes.

I could have driven next to that train all day long, just to see life through its eyes, but I was content to stop where I did. That train is my life, ever moving forward, but for now, I have stopped where I am supposed to be.