SO - what did I accomplish?

So while I was away from the computer what did I do? Not nearly as much sewing as I'd thought but I did get a daily walk in with Amelia (dog) which thrilled her to pieces. And we will do it again today and this time we will have Scott with us as he doesn't have any work for the rest of this week.

I've enjoyed lighting a candle in the kitchen in the evenings - a nice "Fall"-ish scent.

I did sew some and pre-washed some flannel for some PJ's for Greg. I don't take chances with cotton's; I don't want to put in a lot of work and they have them shrink like crazy and not fit him when I give them to him. He is a PJ bottom wearer - not FULL PJ's. I think most young men go for the bottoms only. I am thinking about making him a robe for this winter since we will be keeping the thermostat low to save money - we will just have to layer up. When I was going through my patterns for PJ bottoms I went ahead and pulled ALL PJ related patterns. I had no idea that I had this many and this was only the adult patterns and not even all of them. CRINGE! OH well at 99 cents and $1.99 it's not like I spent a complete fortune on them and I can use them over and over with care.I plan to make myself some sleeveless nightgowns. I just don't like sleeves on them as they always seem to twist on my arms and cut of circulation so I wake up to a "dead arm" usually hanging over my head and face and freaking me out.














OK! So now to what I did get made. I finished Tesla's quilt so now he has something to lay on in the sewing room while I am working so that he will stay off my current project - I hope. And I made Abby a dress (This is part of her Christmas present). It was super easy and turned out really cute. It's made of corduroy and in such a super fun print.

Getting back to REAL life

I'm going to stay off-line until Thursday and try to relearn how to stay truly busy without the computer. I'm just spending WAY TOO much time on-line and it's time for a break. Perhaps I will have lots of treasure to share with you all by then. Until Thursday - ENJOY LIFE!

Kitty Weed

Scott ordered some "kitty weed" (catnip) from David at Davids Farm video blog. When it arrived Friday we were amazed - it was an envelope full - I transferred it to a quart sized jar to keep it fresh and safe from the cats. It will be given out to them in small doses. I took this little video of them enjoying a bit of it - they were in pure ecstasy.

Greg's Project, berries and Zinnia's

The French Mulberry is covered in beautiful purple berries that the birds will love now that the weather has started to turn a little cooler. This grows by our back fence next to my clothesline. The Mocking birds will chase each other all over the place for these berries. I've never seen a Mocking Bird that was good at sharing anything.






I decided to take a few more pictures of the Zinnia's in my garden to show how long they last. I've got to be sure to plant a LOT of these next Spring so that I can enjoy them all summer long next year.




This is Greg's Mead Project. Last night he decided that it was ready to be strained and bottled up. I was glad that he decided to do this outside as he made quite a mess. While I was out there taking pictures and watching him strain it all I was amazed at how many fruit flies appeared out of no where along with quite a few yellow jackets. I came inside once the yellow jackets showed up as me and bee stings do not mix well. Greg has had so much fun making this stuff - I hope it's fit to drink after all the time and money he has invested in it.

Took a "Back" break

Literally I took a break from a lot of things the past few days or went along very slowly as I hurt my back pretty good and couldn't do anything without wincing in pain.

Today I am feeling a good bit better - I still wasn't able to sleep in my bed last night but got some good rest in the recliner. Yesterday I pulled out a project that I started awhile ago and have it nearly finished. It's a scrapbook for someone and I have 4 more to do. These will be surprise UN-BIRTHDAY/UN-CHRISTMAS presents. I can only post a peek... I want to keep it as much of a surprise as I can.

Last night I trimmed all the 2 inch blocks that I had sewn from the bits left from the trimming of the turning 4-T blocks so they are now ready to be sewn into small pinwheel blocks for a border around the center block that I had created last week from the rest of the trimming bits. Now I'm trying to decided which brown to use as a border around the center block; I like them both but am letting them sit on the cutting table for awhile and walking by and looking at them under different light levels throughout the day to see which one I like best. It's really silly though that I'm even concerned at all because this will be a quilt for my cat not a real decor piece or a gift. But I think he deserves the added attention I'm giving this decision.

Me and My Shadow

This Morning Scott and I went down to Old State Road; parked at the Congaree Heritage Preserve lot and then walked back up Old State Road nearly to the boat ramp taking pictures along the way of the wild flowers and insects that we saw. Scott used the larger camera and I am hoping that he will post some of the photos that he took over on his blog (Softly Scrambled). It wasn't anything special but it was a wonderful time together. I love our trips out in Nature the most. I can hear everything thats being said to me; there is beauty all around us and I am with my best friend ever.

Fun and Bits

Yesterday I took the bits left from trimming the Four-T blocks and created this large center block. After I add a solid border around this block I will take the smaller trimmed pieces and make another border to go around this block. I'm not sure if I will add this to my orphan blocks to one day make into a sampler quilt or make it into a table topper. I guess only time will tell. I just didn't want to throw those bits away.

ADDED LATER IN DAY - Tesla has voted that I make this block into a cat quilt just for him. Now I will have to make another one for Nicolas.

Yesterday I also received my prize from Lane's give-a-way that I won. A beautiful jelly roll of Batiks - which I adore. And it also included a rotary cutter that I have been thinking about purchasing. It drops it's blade when you press down on it and has a lock in place selection for safety. SUCH FUN!