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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Frolic Clue #3 - And THE BEST Ruler

One super good thing about getting a new sewing room is that I had to go through all my stuff.  And now it's all organized. I'm so glad I took the time to put everything in it's own place.   I came across this ruler I didn't know I had.   When did I buy it??? 
 Why would I buy it??? 
 I don't even know what it is for.  

UNTIL - Bonnie Hunter talked about her Essential Triangle Ruler. The light bulb went off - the Easy Angle ruler is similar.  I checked out some YouTube videos on how to use it.

For Frolic Clue #3 we had over 150 HSTs (Half Square Triangles) to make.
I used this little puppy and I'M TOTALLY having a BLAST!
It saves so much time, and eliminates so much wasted fabric.  I'm just thrilled.

The ruler allows one to cut only the fabric needed, and to pair up the fabrics at the same time for some speedy chain piecing!

Oooooh!  What Joy!

I checked several and they were turning out the PERFECT size. 
Really, what more could you want from a ruler?
I still have to cut off the dog ears, check each one to be sure it's the correct size (I may have sewn it up wrong). 

And then wait for CLUE #4 on Friday.

That will give me some time to bake some cookies, wrap some presents and get the guest room ready for Serena and Stephen.  They are coming in from Denver on Sunday. Yippe!

Happy Stitching,
Linda in HST Heaven


Friday, December 13, 2019

Frolic Clue 2 & the Jeep

I did get my Frolic clue #2 done quickly last week.  I finished it on Sunday.
It was great as it super easy.

This week's clue will be more labor intensive. It will be more of a challenge.

We did have a little adventure.  We decided that we did not need two trucks. Bruce had one and I still had Mark's work truck. We decided to sell Mark's truck and eventually get a jeep.  Well, the day the truck was sold, Bruce found a jeep.

And this is where the adventure begins. We are in California and the Jeep was in Idaho. Carmax Dealership said they would transport it for $500.00. But if we didn't want it we would be out the $500.  That doesn't sound like a deal to me!

I suggested we drive there ourselves.  Oh, I found out I have a nut for a husband because he said "Sure!"   We ran home, pack a bag, locked the house-
I did remember to grab Marzipan and her food. And off we went.  


We drove straight through and got there at 3:15 am.  By now I was thinking this is NOT a good idea anymore.  Hahaha. We found a hotel, slept in a bit, had a nice breakfast and then went and bought ourselves a Jeep.
Honestly, we had a blast! After the purchase we started back home, because I had to work the next day.  It was soooo worth the trip.

Now I've got to get back to figuring out Frolic clue #3.

Happy Stitching,
Linda   


Monday, December 9, 2019

Frolic Clue #1 - FINISHED

Oh, I knew going in that Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt would be a challenge. I had heard those whispers about there being a lot of little pieces to sew and people not being able to keep up. And then it all happens around the busiest time of the year for me, the Holidays. Oh - I love a challenge and I'm determined to meet it.  

Clue #1 Some  Oh no - some is NOT the right word, MANY little four-patches.
She doesn't tell us how many strips to cut because we are using scraps. So my first run at these units gave me less than 1/3 of the amount I needed.  Back to cutting more strips.  I made twice as many - hmmm...still need more.  Third time I ended up with the EXACT amount I needed.  Awe Nice!
I finally finished up the units Wednesday night - 6 days later.
I looked on Facebook and there were people that did them in one day!

I have no idea what is wrong with me.  Hahaha
Clue #2 is out today - let's see how long it takes me.

Happy Stitching,
Linda

Friday, November 22, 2019

The Things That Hubby Does for Me

This is not the best picture but I have to show you what my hubby did while I was at work.  He brought in my sewing desk (which I forgot to take a picture of) and set about "decorating" my sewing room for me.
 I don't know where he found those little bird houses.  Maybe they came from his house.  And he found a bunch a doilies.  Which of course is our joke, since he LOVES doilies - so of course I must love them too. lol
 He arranged the "knick-knacks" and told me, I might need to arrange them myself.  But isn't that sooo sweet?  I'll leaving them this way for a while, as it's really such a nice little gift. 
 He has also been working in the yard - this corner flower bed was overgrown with a wicked ground cover.  It's looking better now.
But the biggest thing is this field of ours.  We used it for 15 years for our fence business.  There is enough room here to have a good size house and yard. (You can't really tell that from the picture.) Bruce set to work hauling away all the wood, chainlink and vinyl fencing.  Just to guess I would say about 16 truckloads of stuff.  It's amazing that it is now cleared. And he works at keeping the weeds out too.
I did help with some of those loads but more than half most he did by himself.  

I'm still working on my Bonnie Hunter fabric.  I need to buy a bit more. Really?  I can't believe with all that fabric in my closet I don't have what I need.  More on that later. 

I've been slowing working on my stitchery.

Happy Stitching,
Linda 

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Cleaning and Frolicking

Well...Hello there.

So these two things go hand in hand; my cleaning up & organizing my sewing room and Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt. (Which starts on 11/22/19 - Black Friday)


I found out last year she does one every year the day after Thanksgiving. I didn't even consider last year as I think I have no scraps.  Well, did I ever find out that is so not true when I organized my fabrics. 
Look at all those scraps!  Do not look at the closet wall - that's from my daughter when she had this room. That will be painted later.

I was a good little organizer and folded all the scraps and put them in nice little neat colored piles.  (Sorry these are all pictures of the room in progress.)

I promised myself I would NOT start sewing until this room is finished.  (Which I'm still working on.)  And since I have this wild idea to start Bonnie Hunter's quilt. I have to get this room done!


I've emptied all the boxes and put all the fabric and notions away. UGH! What a job!


It's looking better just a little bit more to do before Thanksgiving weekend. 



This year Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt is called Frolic and she has posted the fabric requirements. 
I've been going through my scraps as I've been putting them away.



I'll pull them, change them to black and white to check the contrast. 
Then pull some out and put others in.

I think it's getting better - still work to do on it.

And all the while I'm thinking "this is crazy!  I don't need another project!  I don't need another quilt!  I haven't finished my other quilts!  What is wrong with me???"

So...anyone else a bit crazy too?

Now back to some more organizing - I have to move my sewing machine cabinet in.

Oh before I go, I have been working on my embroidery.

Happy Sewing,
Linda 


Friday, November 1, 2019

Cleaning Up

Our carpet is in!  The guys worked until 8:30 at night.
Yikes I bet they were tired
We have quite a bit of the furniture to put back into place
But not the sewing room yet - well, of course not as I'm switching the rooms.
So it doesn't look much better than before.
However! I'm not discouraged yet. I have motivation!
I want to do Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Frolic and I already told myself.  No sewing until this room is together.  
I don't know which furniture will stay in here, or how to organize it. 
My sewing machines are still in the garage with more sewing stuff.
So this is my plan for this weekend.  Now, I may cave in and doing some hand stitching after all it is Gone Sitchin' FNwF.

Have Fun Sewing,
Linda

Monday, October 21, 2019

Chaos in the Sewing Room

Remember that guy I married, Bruce?  Yeah him.  Did you know that he comes up with some dosey of ideas?  Like the idea of switching my sewing and guest room.  Oh that sounds great at first!
But when you consider my sewing room is not just a sewing room, but another guest room, exercise, kid play room and over all junk room it would be a lot of  work.  
 Oh you know the story: I've been accumulating things for 15 - 20 years. 
Let's get real, more like 25 - 30 years.
 In fact my sewing room is soooo bad I haven't used it as a sewing room in over 10 years.  AND it has even spilled over into the garage and my bedroom.
So I went and got a box and started sorting. 
 Then Mr. "Good Idea" came up with another one. 
Let's get new carpet!  Yeah, he's right.  We do need new carpet.
 So that's what I've been doing the past couple weeks. Sorting, packing, tossing and giving away stuff. And it's starting to clear out. 
 Carpet will be laid down this Friday and my whole house is getting a bare look about it.  I've been going through ALL the drawers and cupboards. 

I'll have some after pictures soon.

Happy Stitching,
Linda






Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Wedding

As you know we took a trip to Colorado for my daughter's wedding.
Honestly, I'm wowed over what a beautiful bride she is.
I'm so pleased with whom she has chosen to marry. They are so liked minded - both so calm and serene, hard working and with a heart for missionary work. He is just the best, and now I have a new son! 
This is the easiest way to get a another son! Hahaha
She wore a 65 year old dress.  It has been handed down from mother in law to daughter in law 3 times now.  How sweet and wonderful is that?

The lace is so old on this dress and rips so easily that she had to have another for the reception. You know, to dance in and enjoy the party in.  Which is currently all the rage - if you watch say Yes to the Dress.   
They got married outside on top a mountain.  I mean ON TOP THE MOUNTAIN.  We had to drive up a winding dirt road. 
It was so beautiful up there. And there were wild flowers EVERYWHERE.  



Steven walked both me and his mother down the aisle. Right before we walked down, she told me that she did not have time to do her hair. I looked and saw it was still wet.  Now the thing I know about her is that she gets distracted and needs helpful hints to keep on a time schedule, i.e. nagging.  Hahaha. You just have to love someone like that! Her son is getting married - and she didn't get her hair done in time.  I actually do love her, she is one of my favorite persons.  God has made each one of us so unique. 
Serena being such a dear heart asked Bruce to walk her down the aisle. He was so proud to do so.  He does consider her his daughter, even though we have only been married 1 1/2 years.  
During the wedding rehearsal I was crying my eyes out because Mark was not here to walk his daughter down the aisle.  However, there was a healing moment for me when I realized this is not by chance, the people at the wedding were the ones God wanted there. I do trust in God's wisdom and His design. 

 Oh course there are always little funny things that happen at a wedding, and as soon as Bruce handed her off to the groom and to his seat, she called him back and stole his silk pocket hankie as she was having trouble holding back her tears of joy.

Another thing that happened was - I accidentally took my dog to the wedding.  (Like how would one accidentally take a dog to a wedding?) I do not think dogs should be at a wedding.  Well, maybe if the dogs are getting married.  Hahaha.  But we didn't have a place to leave little Marzipan except for in the truck in the heat. I was hoping to find someplace or somewhere safe but couldn't - and she ended up in attendance. 

At least she had the good sense to dress for the occasion.
She also attended the reception.  Good thing she is such a good dog. AND good thing my daughter and new son are easy going - they didn't mind.  



On the morning of the wedding 
the bride and groom met without seeing each other
by keeping the building between them.

 They talked a bit and prayed together. Awww - it was so sweet. 

So now my little girl is off and married, having her own life.  I'm so happy for her.  

There is one more thing to tell you about and that is this yellow truck that we borrowed from Steven's parents.  OH MY GOSH!  It's old, it's a stick, the brakes were not good, the seat belt was torn and barely hanging in there and it had not been used in a year!  And I LOVED it.
Of course it stalled out on me soooo many times.  

My daughter, Rosanna, was taking a picture of the deer in this photo - do you see him?  Rosanna laughing told me she was taking a picture of me stalling out.  Which I did three times before I could get it moving. 

 This yellow truck had been used by every member in Steven's family - so when each one saw the truck anywhere up on those winding roads, they would come over and introduce themselves knowing we were part of the family. It really does stand out.  

So now, let's get back to sewing,
Linda