I'm Back!!!!

I'm back from Texas.
 

A month or so ago I was experiencing a bit of malaise and realized I hadn't been to Texas in almost a year. 

That had to be rectified so I booked myself a flight and off I went to Texas - for a few weeks - because I can - and I have a husband that likes to see me happy.

 

I went to Waco with Hagen to see Kelsey and meet her fiancee Mike and just hang out.
 

 

Dru Ann and I went to a quilt retreat in Eustace and weathered the tornadoes. We were blessed to just have some thunderstorms.    I met some very lovely, welcoming women and sewed for four days trying to make a dent in the blocks from Cotton Club by Paula Barnes.

 

If you are ever in Athens, Texas looking for a quilt shop check out The Needle Niche.  Beverly is the owner and she is awesome!!

 

These are the blocks I finished in Eustace.

 

A brief stop back in Arlington to do a bit of laundry and

  then off to our private retreat at Charles and Dru Ann's lake house at Cedar Creek Lake.
 

 

I did managed to finish all 45 blocks for the Cotton Club quilt and get two panels put together.

 

 

 

We enjoyed some wine.

 

 

Cheese.

 

 

 

 And we enjoyed the deck with the dogs.

I also spent some time with Rachel and Brad, Haylee and the Miller' boys.
No, that's not a band, just all our children and their beloved.

 Jim, not wanting to miss out on all the fun, came in Thursday.  We all  had a fantabulous evening on Friday at the Miller's.

 Finishing up with dinner and for me bread pudding from
 Ellerbe's Saturday night before heading back to California.

We also managed to sew 10 pillowcases, bind a quilt and  I have knitted a baby sweater. 

And I think we have snared Kelsey to the sewing world.

All is good in the world!!!



 

Matilda

Today my lamb arrived from Deborah. 

 

I am the winner of this dear lamb in so many ways.

 

After much thought and consideration I have bestowed the name Matilda to this handcrafted lamb.

Matilda means mighty and powerful.  And that is what she is.

 

Matilda is a lamb created by knitting and then felted by my friend  Deborah.  A mighty, powerful, intrepid knitter.  She has no boundaries. 

 

Matilda has had a bit of a fight to get to be where she has become.

You can read of her saga at Deborah's blog

 

 

 

Matilda is beautiful and I am so happy she is now a part of my family.

 

Matilda also came with a beautiful 2" x 2 1/4" lovely watercolor.

 

Life has its ups and downs but I am truly blessed with the people who have touched my life.



Job Hunting

Last August the yarn shop that I had been working at part time closed.  The owner decided it was time to retire and no one stepped up to buy the shop.  Since then I've been on the lookout for a new job.  Yes, I know the job market is competitive and I also know creative jobs are hard to come by.  After sending out countless resumes and taking online profile tests - apply to Michael's and see what hoops you have to jump through-I have gotten use to not getting a response back.  Recently I applied for a job in Washington to be the general manager of a store where I thought we were the perfect match, former yarn shop owner, quilter and general crafter for a creative mercantile .  Yes, I said Washington.  Jim was on broad.  I had a phone interview and was told there would be a decision in the next two weeks.  That was back in March.  I haven't heard back.   Yes, I am bummed I didn't get the job but what makes me a little more crazy is the fact of the lack of courtesy these days in the job market.  A simple" thank you but we've found  someone  that is a better match" would have been nice. 

What has happened in this world that we can't take a moment for simple courtesies? 

 

Maybe it's a southern thing.

 

Thank you for reading my rant.  

My Traveling Sweater

 I finally finished my Traveling Sweater  designed by Karen Alfke.  I started knitting on this cardigan using Blue Moon Fiber Arts WooBu, a blend of merino and bamboo, the beginning of February.  The colorway is called Grawk, gray with just a hint of purple and green.  Barb and Tracie of the podcast 2knitlitchicks began a cardigan KAL that started February and the deadline to finish is May 1, 2013. 

 

 

I knit a lot, lot, lot of 2 x 2 ribbing. 

 

 

Yes a lot of ribbing with short rows. 

 

 

 I bought the yarn and pattern at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas on Bainbridge Island a few years back.  This KAL was the push I needed to finally dig this beautiful yarn out of my stash and start knitting.

 

 

The sad part of this story is now that it is warming up here in California I'm going to have to wait until summer is over and it cools down before I can actually wear my new sweater.

 

 



Yes, I Am Knitting

Lately I've been doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that but I am always knitting.

 

I have been working on The Traveling Sweater by A. Karen Alfke and it is currently blocking and a post soon will be forth coming about that adventure but today I'm going to share what I cast on my needles this afternoon.

 

I am not one to knit with the crowd what is currently the favorite.  Segue way to Stitches West 2013 and the Miss Babs booth .  Her yarn is phenomenal and a line was always at her check out.  I will say hanging out with Kathleen did not help (it's always nice to blame someone else for your shortcomings) and I ended up buying three skeins to make the Color Affection Shawl by Veera Valimaki. 

 

 

Meet from the bottom up Ghoulish, Clematis and Impatiens Yummy Hand-Painted Sock and Baby Yarn.

 

 This pattern was published in 2012 and currently on Ravelry 8551 projects have been finished or are in progress.
 

 

  I am 8552. 

 

Join the crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some More Pincushions

Last week I shared with you a pincushion. 

I've made another one.

 

 

From this little Moda Candy pack I made this new pincushion.

 

 

 

 

And then I went totally off the deep end with another different pincushion.

 

When I went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival last year in October with Cathie I picked up a kit from Reets' Rags.

 

 

 This kit used hand dyed wools.

 

 

 I did my own version of embroidery and added beads.

 

 

Now to just add pins.

Pincushion

Jim is never quite sure what I'm going to bring home next.

 

The other day he came home and inquired if we had gotten a cat because he had noticed a bag of cat litter in the garage.

 

 

 This was not your ordinary bag of cat litter but litter made from walnut shells.  And no we had not gotten a cat because although I would love one I've become allergic as I age, this walnut litter was to use inside of pincushions.

 

We recently got fabric precuts of Moda Candy at the store and I found this cute pincushion on their website.  According to the website from one package you can make 6 pincushions. 

 I did a little cutting, stitching and quilting and then was ready to fill my pincushion.

 

 

To fill it I used a disposal pastry bag. I did find the process of filling still somewhat messy so I would suggest you do it outside.

 

And voila.  In under an hour I had created a cute usable pincushion.

 

 

For the underside I had used some fabric left over from a quilt I had made for Kelsey a while back.

 

 

My favorite part is the twill tape I used which comes from the packaging of Moda's precuts.  I need to see if I can get my quilting friends to save it from now on so I can make more of these pincushions.