It's been awhile...........

I captured this photo of this season's eaglet - he (or she) is now flying around quite a bit and I saw an opportunity and took it! It is not often that I get to see them this close!! I figure he was watching for my sweetie, who was still out fishing - the eagles follow his boat because he feeds them!

It's been awhile since I posted to my blog - oh, where did the summer go? All 3 days of it, that is! I stayed busy and got quite a lot accomplished on my Christmas gift list. Still a long way to go, but I've got a few more months!! The temperatures are getting cooler, a real precursor to winter - I'm not going to utter the "S" word!! Suffice to say that with cooler temps I tend to stay at home more!

All of my groups are getting started again after a couple of months off and everything is in a whirlwind!! I am participating in not 1, but 2 challenges! NO, make that 3!! The 3rd one is a small one, thank goodness!

I'm all packed for a retreat at my friend Koleen's Quilting Oasis - several members of the Maine Machine Quilters are getting together to work on the "Maine" quilt that we agreed to do for 2011 - it needs to be completed by Spring 2010 so we are getting a head start on it this weekend. Hopefully our own challenge will be revealed this weekend, as well. That's the small one I mentioned above!

Another group of gals I sew with are meeting on Wednesday to work on "our" challenges - it's called "September Sun" from Jinny Beyer from back in 2002 - we are all making the same pattern, with completely different fabrics! Mine is in greens and peaches - I love it so far!

Our Tacoma Lake Quilters has had it's first couple of meetings and we have chosen a challenge too! Ours is called "Morningstar" - a free pattern from P&B Textiles - I made one block from oranges and golds but I have since changed my mind and today I cut out all 9 blocks using totally different fabrics! I'm keeping it a secret until we meet again on October 7th. That is out "audition" day for the fabrics we will be using - the challenge is to use only fabrics from our stash. Of course, if we absolutely NEED more fabric, we can go shopping!! LOL And, we have planned a great FART - Fabric Acquisition Road Trip - in the very near future!! What a lot of fun this group and I feel privileged to lead it for one more year!!

I can't leave out another one of my favorite groups - "Casey's Sewing and Knitting Circle" - there are 12 of us who meet twice a month to sit & sew & talk & eat & laugh!, usually at Kay's. Good for the soul! We don't always get anything accomplished but we do have a lot of fun!! We are planning a mini retreat at one of the other member's homes in early October - 2 days, in fact!! Helen is a gracious hostess and she has agreed to do the cooking! What more could you ask for! We have a project all lined up so I need to select and cut my fabrics for that too!

Oh, sometime, I will sleep!

What a bunch of WIP's I have !!

I was looking at my ufo basket yesterday - boy, I sure have a lot of them! I like to call them "Works in Progress" but they are quickly becoming "Works in SLOW Progress!! I like starting new projects - I can't wait to get my fabrics cut and begin to sew. More often than not, LIFE gets in the way and everything gets put aside for the time being - next thing I know, I'm starting something else that I just can't wait to do! And the beat goes on, and on and on!!

Cindi Black at "The Busy Thimble" said it best when she quoted Pat in Bedford, Texas -"The Power of 10" and I quote - "The "Power of 10" in quilting is not some higher mathematical formula that all need to learn to make a quilt. It is a simple way to complete those projects we want to finish before we buy anymore fabric."

1. Simply find the projects that you are no longer interested in completing and pass them on to someone who would love it as much as you once did.
2. List "10" projects that you would like to complete. Remember, only 10 projects on the list.
3. Begin working on the projects on the list and spend 3 hours toward completing it.
4. Keep a list of projects and the hours worked.
5. Once 3 hours are spent on a project, move to the next. A quilter's interest wanes and is usually spent after 3 hours. Now, if a project requires 2 to 4 hours to complete, simply finish the project. Feel good about that!
6. Find another project and add it to the list. Remember, only 10 projects are your focus.
7. Continue to rotate the projects you are working on.
8. Make a list of the supplies needed to complete your projects.
9. Plan a a stop at your favorite LQS for those items.
10. The "power of 10" becomes a reality when your are able to share your completed projects!

It's not that I don't complete projects! I just don't seem to get the larger quilts finished! I'm going to give this a try!! I'll start with my most favorite ufo's and work on that, then on to the next - maybe I can actually get something completed!! Worth a try!

I just started a "Mystery Quilt" project with the Hoopsisters - 12 blocks, 2 each week. I've already done my first two blocks and I got the next 2 blocks in my email today! It is so much fun making these blocks - all done "in the hoop". I bought two of their design CD's at MQX and stitched those with no trouble - this is fun new way to "quilt as you go" - check them out!!

Back to my cutting table - yes, I'm cutting out a new project!! I'm hopeless - no, I'm a quilter - that about says it all!!

I've been neglectful lately

I haven't been posting on here that much lately. I've been so busy on the other site (www.quiltwithus.com) that I just can't seem to get to this one that often. I plan to remedy that!!

May was a very long month - my mom went to the hospital on the 3rd, stayed for 3 days, came home for 5 days and went back!! Then she got a staph infection and had to be isolated. She was moved to a rehab facility nearly 2 weeks ago - hopefully she will be released within the next few days. I have been back and forth to the hospital and the rehab facility several times to visit and to also get her laundry. In the meantime, her older brother, who lives in Hawaii, came for a visit. It was so nice seeing him again as this will probably be his last trip to the "mainland" - he is 83!

In between visits, I've had my regular quilting groups to attend to and I've even got some quilting done!!
I recently developed an interest in miniature quilts - they are so darned cute!! You would think that with the fabric stash I have, I would be making king sized quilts - but no, I'm making those itty bitty ones - This one is called "Stars & Stripes Forever" - a pattern I've had for years and never made up!!

The girls at Casey's Sewing Circle were making those thread catchers, the BIG ones,the other day - I didn't have a pattern but I looked at them and figured I could make one too - so I did. I machine embroidered the top of the pincushion and added may name to the cuff - there will be no mistaking who that belongs too!! I put that iron on vinyl on my lining - the threads and scraps just empty out so easy!! Nothing sticks!! I need to make a few more of those to scatter around my sewing space.

I've given up on the "stash" report - I've added way more than I've used, that's for sure! Those trips to Marden's do me in!! They have a saying "Shoulda bought when I saw it - at Marden's" that is so true - they get in new fabric and if you see it and you like it, you'd better get it, or it will be gone!! That is truly my downfall!!!

Next Thursday I'm off to the Vermont Quilt Festival with my friend Koleen. I've never been before and I'm really looking forward to it! I will report when I return!

Orioles are back!

My sweetie put an orange on the suet feeder 2 weeks ago - I told him it was a tad early -that the orioles would not appear until around Mother's Day - Well, I took this photo on Mother's Day - it was our 1st sighting of the year!! He was forced to admit that I was right!! Victory is sweet!!

Daffodils (and other blooms) on Daffodil Lane

I live on Daffodil Lane

Yesterday was such a beautiful day!! I know it is a preview to summer and I am ready!! I walked about the yard to take pictures of the first blooms of Spring!


This lone Iris was really pretty!! I think it is an Iris - I am NOT a gardener at all! I leave that to my sweetie! I take the photos!



The tulips are really pretty too!

I went to my friend Koleen's studio yesterday for a "sitnsew" - Kay and Sue were there too! We had a great time sewing and chatting and laughing - truly good for the soul!! I finished 2 tops by adding the final borders - these are now ready for the LA - once they are quilted I will post photos! No more photos of UFO's for me!

MQX - The Experience!!

I just got back from MQX and I am on a high! The show was wonderful, the quilts inspirational and the classes superb!!


Anne and Nancy, my roommates - we stayed up too late, laughed too much and had way too much fun!!






Pam Clarke was gracious enough to let me photograph her in her booth - I took a class from her - spectacular!


OK, so I have become a groupie!! I could not miss this opportunity to have a photo-op with Mark Lipinski - he is a hoot! I told him I was posting this on my blog but he stuck his tongue out anyway!

Maple Sugar Sunday in Maine

Maple Sugar Sunday is a tradition here in Maine. In the Spring, if the weather cooperates, we have warm days and cold nights - that makes the sap run. We planned and plotted and chose 4 sugar houses to visit, making a large loop from here and back.

Our first stop in West Minot was a bust!! They were offering a free pancake breakfast - I believe everyone in town was standing in line - we passed. From there we went to Hebron, to a place called "Cabane a Sucre Bergeron" -loosly translated I believe that says "Bergeron's Sugar House" - my French is a bit rusty but you get the meaning. This was the Maine Maple Producer's Association Class Award Winner in 2008 for maple syrup quality and taste - I tried this year's batch - can't help but think they'll do it again!! We were treated to crepes and coffee there. BUT, we were still hungry, so we drove to Mechanic Falls for breakfast!! From there we went to "A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm" in Sumner. We were also treated to a snow squall - very pretty and very wet but oh so picturesque!! This farm uses only wood fired evaporators. The photos from top, firing the evaperator, straining the "product" and the proverbial "Hole in the Barn Door" in the shape of a Maple Leaf!!

From there we headed toward home and our last stop at Jillison's in Sabatus - another bust. TOO MANY PEOPLE!!

We had a truly wonderful day and it brought back fond memories as a child when we kids would tromp into the woods with our dad to tap the maples, hang the buckets, and then gather the sap, fire up the wood stove and boil it down in the kitchen. It takes literally "gallons" of sap to make a quart of syrup but it is oh so worth it!!

Oh, did I mention I bought a quart for that award winning syrup? I Can't wait to make me some pancakes!!