curiosity

based on mary's comment on the last post, and this posting, here's a run down on where i get my fabric, now i have to pause and say that one of the things i enjoy about mary is that she really appreciates hand crafts~she understands the time and passion that goes into creating, and she definitely has her own gift for crafty things-now i don't think she's going to run out and buy a goat to make her own goat cheese, or start making her own soap- but if she comes across those things while she's out and about she'll definitely support the artist- sooooo when mary spent time looking at fabric in portland, i could almost see the little gears moving, so maybe she's getting the urge, or maybe not- but anyway~~~

red hen fabrics- marietta- love this place-it's big- roomy you can really see what they got, everything is arranged by color, so if you need blue all shades are there. the ladies there are super nice- they are having a grand re-opening (they recently relocated) on october 11, lots of prizes and goodies-i'll be there!



little quilts- also in marietta- i've only been here once-not as big, but carries the prints of traditional early american and civil war styles- if you want to do something using reproduction fabrics this would be the place to go- now they do carry other "fun" fabrics, but not as much as the red hen


tiny stitches-you guessed it, marietta-again, only been here once, they lots of whimsical and "fun" fabrics. a wonderful beatrix potter collection, Georgia Tech!!!!, and holiday prints.


kathy and i are hoping to take a class while i'm off from work after christmas, and we've already pickup some bits and ideas for gifts, so we'll see!


and a final wrap up on the curiosity about quilts, here is a photo of the quilts we made over the weekend at church- 22 quilts that will go to those in need, we hope to do more again, it was a very productive and fun day.

seasons

many of the goals i set and projects i plan center around the seasons. fall/spring are for landscaping, winter/fall woolish knitting, hearty comfort foods::winter/summer for catching up and re-grouping (breaks from school and soccer), and summer/fall lighter knitting, light and easy cooking, etc. some projects are recurring some are one shot deals that get squeezed in somewhere. this year my spring/summer projects kinda ran together and i got nearly everything done. now i'm making lists and plans for the fall/winter season. i've committed myself as team mom, publicity chair for the church musical, POC for the lap quilt project and POC for an election day fund raiser we're doing at church. most of the hard work for these projects are finished---add to that the knitting I want to finish by thanksgiving see sidebar, holiday baking, shopping and planning, needless so say i'll be running willy nilly the next couple months-i think as long as my coffee cup is full and i get plenty of rest, and have enough GAS! i can check off these items with satisfaction of a job well done- now to catch up on what i have finished-the baby girl blanket got delivered- her name is lydia, isn't that cool?! now i don't have another one due until april 09- whew
plan to have some photos from the lap quilt project, i've already done a couple of these and they were amazingly easy, so i hope to do more of these as gifts. ALSO, i had to ditch the selected pattern for the loose nut socks- sorry mary and karen, after unraveling and trying to get going again, i just couldn't remember how the picot was done, and it was wearing me down, so now i'm doing this pattern and i'm really loving it, i'm on the foot of sock #1, hoping it will be finished by next week, and i can start on the boys hats, and finish the retro-ribs from interweaves favorites. here's to a productive weekend, and isn't the weather gorgeous??? let's go play outside shall we-TTFN

good luck

to mary and karen on their walk this weekend. such a great cause that's kept local. look forward to photos and reflections- happy friday

ordinary life

a mosaic of "ordinary" things:

soccer: we lost 3-4, but played a really great game, andrew shows a lot of improvement~i found this while we were doing a lake cleanup/youth cookout on saturday, looks like morning glory and ivy combined. the area where i found this is typically underwater, but with the draught, who really knows!~polly, any idea of what this is?~secret sister stole, coming along~a lovely shade of pink~picture perfect sunday dinner last week-pj plated his food so nicely it deserved a picture~fall arrangement-idea stolen from mary~moss is done (doing a little jig!!) can't wait til it's cold enough to wear it-it's not the most perfect knitting, but i love it anyway, it will be warm and cozy and symbolizes my determination to stick with it, now that i've learned how the better pick out patterns, this will be a benchmark as i continue to learn~and as promised pictures of the mantle before then after- thank you so much for helping on this, mary- i'm really pleased with the results and please feel free to move other things around!

ordinary things that are really "extra" ordinary

bits and bobs

here are some photos i promised a while back. decided on a mosaic-it's sometimes easier to work with.

first row: kecia's birthday quilt- the brown and blue are the back with a glimpse of the top, i made a mini quilt of the same fabrics i used, i'll be happy to play show'n'tell sometime. our one and only time this summer where we dined outside. love the new table, seats 6 much more comfortably. hopefully with cooler weather in the future we'll have some more alfresco dinners. pj and jessica along with kecia and andrew (you can't see them) playing a card game during our visit.

2nd row: kecia's birthday cake: chocolate with chocolate icing: toffee bits and walnuts-yum! completed albums (always a yea!) and some of my newest fabric purchased. the "snowmen" are actually smores made to look like snowmen, can't wait to start that quilt. the green and pink fabric are for something i haven't decided yet, but looooved the print

3rd row: bolts of new fabric that arrived~~spotted on mine and kathy's last visit here- what is it about these fabric patterns that are sooo addictive? may get a few yards on the next trip~~~baby boy blanket, just finished my THIRD in this colorway, a nice break from the baby blue, but i'd really love to knit a girly one sometime! a look at some of the fabrics at the quilt store, this place is huge and it is organized by color, i love them all, and who knew there would be so much to choose from~~~i do get the same feeling when i go to a yarn shop.

other knitting updates: the moss sleeves these are ted-i-ous!!!, maybe with soccer starting i'll make some serious progress before it gets really cold. haven't touched a sock in almost 3 weeks, but I am getting a bit done on the secret sister gift. i want to pick out a fall sweater or vest to make with some of the wool I bought at why knot knit, so hopefully and soon i can peruse patterns and do a swatch. my plan this fall is to only work on small projects between now and christmas, hats, fingerless gloves, socks etc, then get going good guns while i off at christmas- best laid plans and all that!

TTFN