Mailing Day

I've got a package and a bag full of envelopes to get mailed today. So some folks will be getting some "happy" bits in their mailboxes soon. I love doing swaps and sending little surprises to people to brighten their day.

After a few hours at work this morning I will stop at the Post Office and mail the goodies and then come home and sew. If I ever get moved out to the bonus room I will definitely look at getting a love seat or chair and ottomen for Scott to sit in as he so enjoys sitting in my sewing room while I am working; says it's warm and inviting and he just loves watching me sew and create things. AWWWW.... I used to have a love-seat but it fell apart and I ran out of room for it in this spare bedroom that I use as my sewing room. This will be our guest bedroom once I get relocated; not sure how long before that happens though.

The weather is a little nasty this morning with a bit of rain and an overcast sky. I'll have to drive extra careful and leave the house a bit early just to be on the safe side. Today is "bonus" hours for me as I was only scheduled to work two days this week. I'm thankful for the additional hours.

Yesterday Scott had a job interview that he feels went REALLY well. If he gets it he will be traveling a LOT overseas as a Buyer. We are so hoping that this comes through for us as we need the break. Got my fingers and toes crossed!

What begins with "H"?

This morning I finished up laundry and made two very cute pin cushions for an upcoming swap that I am in with my on-line quilting group. I may make more as they are fun to make and easy; not to mention that they turn out so adorable.

First I made this cute little Hedgehog...

Hedgehog

Then I decided to make one of the little hats like I've made before.

Hat

And here they are together...

The Hat and The Hedgehog (minus his pins)

Planting time

Last night I visited the Clemson Extensions website to find out what I can plant now and discovered it's quite a lot. Here is the list for what can be planted outdoors now in Central South Carolina:

Beets; Broccoli; Cabbage; Carrots; Collards; Lettuce; Mustard; onion sets and seeds; peas; potatoes (Irish); Radishes; spinach and turnips.

And indoors I need to start tomatoes and peppers.

So if it warms up  a bit this afternoon I'm going to go out to the garden and clean up some of the raised beds and prepare them for planting. I really want a good garden this year.

This morning while it's still nippy I will finish up the laundry - is that ever really possible to happen.

The Start and Finish

Here is what I started with this morning....

And after about 6 hours of sewing and pressing here is what I ended up with....

18 String pieced blocks

I will make several more so that I can have a full to Queen sized quilt

I will keep one of these; the rest will go all over the USA and 1 to England. I can hardly wait to see the ones that I get in return; it will make for a REALLY scappy quilt. Of course mine have several various strips of cat prints.

WOW - That weekend went F-A-S-T

I didn't get around to posting yesterday and was just too tired last night; so here I am this morning - GOOD MORNING~

Yesterday I started the day cutting "cake squares" (10 1/2" squares) for a swap. Only two of us signed up for this one but thats OK - I'll put the squares to good use - I all ready have plans for them. There were "themes" - Coffee cake, Strawberry short cake and Irish creme cake. I wrapped my swap partners up with a bow.

 After I had finished the cake squares I washed, ironed and ripped muslin into about 13" squares for another swap that I am in for "String Blocks" - The pile in the background is my "strings" and I just pulled strips that would fit the location I was working on not paying any attention as to what was next to what and boy are they turning out colorful! I'll post a progress report later today.

Then we ate some lunch of leftovers (cabbage casserole, butternut squash and smoked sausage) then went to the River for a lovely walk....

A Blue Heron in the swollen river

Ivy on a Sycamore against a bright blue Carolina sky

Fungi on two logs

Seagulls roosting on the rocks - before long they will return to the beach

A sign of Spring - Dandelion blossoms

Train on one of the trestles that pass over the River-walk

Fresh growth in this outcropping of moss

All in all the walk was wonderful BUT we both over did a bit and are sore. I actually was in extreme pain last night - enough that I just couldn't continue sewing. So I will start again this morning; I am hoping to finish the string blocks this morning. 

An update on "Faye"; Scott recovered her wooden base and painted her hardware. He then cleaned her cover with Dow Scrubbing bubbles and then put her all back together - Doesn't she look happy?

Cards Completed

I just finished the Valentines today and have them all addressed and ready to be mailed next weekend.

On to the next projects - which is really just completing started projects and I will post what I complete tomorrow evening.

Card Crafting

I got 3 Valentine cards made last night and was going to make more this morning but got called into work to cover for someone that had to go out of town this morning. Here are the first 3 ...

I'll make more over the weekend.