An Afghan Completed!

Friends of ours came to the USA for a three year contract for work.  Their three years were finished before we knew it and they were on their way back to Sweden.  I wanted to make then something special to remember us by and their time here.  So I decided to crochet them an afghan.  I chose colors to match their living room which is painted in the Gustavian Style.  I think I did alright because my friend was so happy when I gave them the blanket.  I was on a serious time budget because I decided to crochet the afghan at the eleventh hour.

 Chose colors and started working.

 Finished the afghan in three weeks.

Value Proposition and a short trip to Galveston!

I have completed another one of my value proposition blocks!  This is a QAL hosted by Karen at faeriesandfibres.blogspot.com.
I really enjoy stitching these blocks.  They are 1" paper pieces which is quiet large for me to work with.  So, that being said, they go together fairly quickly.

My son had to go to Galveston for an interview!  The two youngest kids are on holiday from college and we decided to accompany him.  It is a five hour trip from where we live.  We do quiet enjoy a road trip.  Also, we are land locked and an opportunity to see the ocean was very appealing.  This is the view out of our hotel window.

 A slightly different angle.

One of my favorite things to do is shell hunting.  Oh, I can spend hours and hours looking for shells.  There were not too many varieties of shells to choose from but we had fun nevertheless.  We had one full day in Galveston and made the most of our time.  Boy, it was hot and humid though.  We took a lovely bicycle ride along the seawall on Monday evening on a bicycle built for four.  It looked a bit like a vintage car with two persons up front and two in the back.  We pedaled for an hour.  Just fabulous.

A Couple of Needlebooks!

I host a swap club at the quilt store once every two months.  This months item was a needle book.  I had seen a beautiful book on Pinterest which takes you to a tutorial.  I love it when that happens and am so grateful to the lovely folk who share their work with us.  How generous and sweet they are.  This particular pattern can be found at lotsofpinkhere.blogspot.com.  It was a really fun book to make and has some gorgeous features.  The pattern gives one two options - 1.  patchwork outer panel or 2. A solid outer panel.  I chose to do the patchwork outer panel.

 Inside, one has three pockets, a scissors pocket, a needle book couple of pages out of wool felt and a strip with velcro onto which you can feed two spools of thread.  How cool is that.

 I made two because they are just so darling and I knew I would want one too.

A Hexagon Travel Sewing Kit!

I had seen this darling little sewing kit on Pinterest a number of times.  I fell in love with it and followed the link to The Zen of Making Blog.  She has a wonderful tutorial to make the kit which she has so generously published for our sewing pleasure.  Well of course I had to make it!  I bought my fabric last week and then had to work on it this long weekend.

It closes with a magnetic clasp!  

It has three pockets inside constructed with a concertina fold on the sides.   That equates to 3" of real-estate in which to store your project.  The front pocket is wide enough to fit two altoid tins side by side.  I have my sewing notions in one tin.  Perhaps EPP papers will go in the second tin.

 Isn't it darling!  Be warned though that there is ALOT of hand stitching involved in the making of this pouch.  I reckon it is totally worthwhile though.  I will be making another one of these soon as my daughter wants to make one and I will make a second to demonstrate to her how it is done.

Annual Piggy Bank Challenge!

Valerie Reynolds has issued a challenge.....
How about we all save our coins and perhaps $1 and $5 bills for a year.  On the 6th of July next year we take our Piggy Banks to the bank for counting and then go on a quilty shopping spree.  Sounds good to me.  You can find more details here....http://myplvl.blogspot.com/2014/07/2nd-annual-piggy-back-challenge-money.html
or on the button to the right of my blog.  Here is my Piggy Bank!  I bought him a few years back from a store that has things from all over the world.  I love cats so he appealed to me in a big way.

 He has an udder!  Too funny!  His belly slides open to reveal your cash stash!  I will have to trade him out after a few months for a bigger container though.  Enjoy your savings drive and let's see how much we can save for that spending spree.

A Quilty Finish!

I made a wall hanging from a pattern out of one of the Moda Candy Books.  It has been waiting to be quilted.  I decided to do it one evening.  I cut my backing fabric and was ironing it.  My iron decided to cough some nasty water onto it.  So off to the laundry for some Grandma's stain remover.  I was happy to see the stain came out.  However, now my backing was wet!!!!  That ended the quilting progress for that evening.  I tackled it the next morning and pressed on with the quilting.  Some days quilting is easier than other days.  I made progress really quickly on this one and by dinner time the quilt was bound and ready to hang up.  Here is the top!

I had quiet a bit of solid fabric to quilt which needed something fun.  I did an all over stipple in the green stripes and the checkerboard area.

The white area got parallel lines and circles.

 The binding is a black on white mini polka dot.  The quilt is hanging in my kitchen where I can enjoy it for a while.  The kids keep commenting on how nice the quilting is.  That is a great compliment.

The Bibliophile Files - June 2014

This has been another slow reading month for me.  You can tell my kids are home.  I spend a bunch of time chatting to them - which is how it should be.  All too soon, they will head back to school and I will have too much time on my hands.  So last months offerings are.....
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith.  Another in the Isabelle Dalhousie Series.  I am addicted to Alexander McCall Smith.  Such an insightful author.  He has a real understanding of people and how they think.  I think I have read 16 of his books and there is not one that I have not enjoyed.

 Another Isabelle Dalhousie book.  They are just wonderful.  She is a philosopher and her thinking is both pertinent to real life and a little funny too.  If you are looking for a book that will make you feel warm inside, I highly recommend these.
I am linking up with Sarah at www.sarahdidit.blogspot.com.  Check out the linky party for some good read suggestions.