best bargain ever

I must begin by saying I am not much of a shopper and very seldom do I walk away feeling like I got a real bargain.  I've been wanting to get some sort of a "Weekender" bag for short trips that would hold a few changes of clothes, pjs, etc and my toiletries.  I liked some things I saw on the Vera Bradley website but they were well over a hundred dollars and I didn't want to pay that much.  Today at the mall, Jen and I went into a shop that carries Vera Bradley stuff.  We were looking at the Grand Traveler so I could at least know how big it is and maybe watch for it to be on sale.  Then we noticed a whole section of 75% off bags.  I ended up spending $52 for $192 worth of Vera.  I decided that was a really good bargain.  Though neither is a true "weekender", the two bags together give me plenty of room, will be easy to handle and the smaller one is actually a baby bag so is fully lined with plastic which makes it great for a toiletry bag.  What do you think

he passed!!

Congratulations to Michael for passing the last part of his CPA exam.  He was relieved and I was very excited.  We took him out to eat to celebrate.  Here are some of the few pictures I took.  They don't include everyone because some of them were very out of focus.

Michael and his girlfriend Erika

 Katy, Jennifer and Micah.

The goofy boys and their mom

We had a fun time at the Outback.

I will leave you with Vail showing off her newest "gap" where she pulled a tooth. (even though all you can see is the grin)

i can't help it . . .

I just really love my little sweater and hat that I finally finished.  What do you think?

now open ...

our new geriatric wing

Meet Purdue -- my new foster and Gibbs' new friend.  He is part newfie and part flat coated retriever and is around 8 years old.  He is very sweet and well mannered and still has plenty of get up and go.

He came to the rescue with heartworms and has been through the treatment and pronounced well.  He also has severe food allergies so he has to eat a special food and takes a pill every other day for itching.  Apparently he was without a lot of his hair when he first came but it is growing back now.

You can see a good bit of gray around his muzzle and mixed in elsewhere too but he has the kindest eyes.

He and Gibbs have become great friends.  They play and nap all day.  It's great!!  I had only had him a couple of days and we thought he got out of the yard because we couldn't find him -- couldn't find where he got out either.  We called and whistled and clapped but he didn't magically appear so we went out looking and no one had seen him.  Came home and went back outside - called and whistled some more and then leaned way over and looked under the house where the fireplace sticks out and there he was asleep.  He is apparently a very sound sleeper. 

some wip's

Here are a few things I've been working on lately

This just needs buttons and threads hidden and cut off.  This was so fun to work on.

 The family tree quilt for my niece's family -- background pieced, tree traced cut out and ironed on -- ready for some zig-zag stitching and a bunch of family leaves.

All the appliques adhered to this Halloween wall hanging - just needs sandwiching and quilting ---hopefully before Halloween.

Hope everyone has a great week:)

salsa for a little burrito

Saw this free pattern on the sweetest baby and just had to try it.  So, I dug out the old needles, blew off the dust and got busy knitting.  It knits up all in one piece so no seams to sew up. It will button diagonally -- kind of like a kimono.  I love it and the yarn is a cotton bamboo -- very very soft.

  
What do you think?

for whatever reason

Sometimes fabric does something you don't like.  I washed this quilt top in cold water ( yes, maybe I should have waited til it was totally finished but I didn't ), hung it on the clothesline and for whatever reason, the horizontal sashings all drew in at least 1/2 inch.  They stretched like elastic and I guess I could have tried stretching them and pinning more when I sandwiched the quilt , but instead , I'm doing this.

 

Next time I will be more careful.

no red allowed

I washed my raggedy friends quilt top on the delicate cycle in cold water and added these  -- they started out white

and ended up with this

no red in the wrong places !!

nine patch progress

I've been slowly working on piecing and stitching all the basic shapes that will eventually become the blocks for the Scrappy Nine Patch quilt I'm going to make.  It has been kind of on and off but I'm down to the last parts which consist of 48 2-patch pieces made from the dark colors that will be in the quilt.

I can't wait to lay it all out and start stitching the blocks.

In other news, I found a great DVD on Piecing Accuracy.  The lady that made it gives all kinds of tips for increasing your piecing accuracy through cutting and stitching.  Got some really good advice from it.   The title is Sally Collins Teaches You Precision Piecing.  Well worth $20 if you need help in that area.

Back to the sewing room.

design boards

I found a really neat tutorial for some mini design boards at Bee In My Bonnet.  I already had the stuff needed to make some so I did. It is a very easy project.  Just be careful of the hot glue.

The one change I made was to make one larger and then two mini.  I like the way they turned out and will definitely be using them.

ouch

When they say be careful when using your hot glue gun they mean it.

And there is another on the tip of my index finger.

ouch!!

I am all caught up on my blocks for my Kisses for My Beloved Quilt.  We will meet at the end of July for our last two blocks and then get our finishing kit then or maybe in August.  I have learned several lessons with this quilt -- the main two being  1. when you are ready to cut, read the directions one more time and 2. a scant quarter inch seam has been hard for me to learn but , knock on wood, I think I finally have it and, it does make the block come out measuring correctly when you do it right.

rageddy friends

I finally finished the sashing on my Raggedy Friends quilt.  I want to add a border.  There is a little bit of green - a soft lime green in the quilt that I'd like to use in a narrow border if I could find it and then a wider white border.  Then I just need to sandwich and quilt it.  I want to get it done so I can use it:))

texas visit

I went to Cleveland on July 5th and the next day my MIL and I took off for TX to visit my son and his family.   Since I didn't take pictures while I was there, I borrowed this one from their blog to give you an idea of life at the Neal house (at least during June).

Those five TX grands are the sweetest ever.  They are so fun to hang with!!  We had a very enjoyable, although short, visit. It took me three days to get around to unpacking after I got home.  I was either busy or
 lazy -- I'm not saying which.  I have to say I wish Texas was about six hours closer.  Wouldn't that be nice. :)

farmer's wife sampler quilt

I bought this book awhile back because it had all these neat quilt blocks in it and had a good story  behind it.  Then when I gave it a closer look, I saw that it involved a technique I had not heard of  -- paper piecing.  Well, I've been researching paper piecing for awhile and today when it became clear that I needed to clean up my sewing room or declare it a garbage pit  mess, I  dug out the book again and  made my first paper pieced block which also happens to be block 1 in the book.  I pulled out some fabric I've had for awhile from Connecting Threads called Canning Days.  It's kind of retro and I like how it looks in the block I made.  It was fun and I can't wait to make some more but I still have to clean up my messy sewing room.

can you use your fabric storage as a bedside table?

The answer is yes.

 It is covered on three sides with enough on the back to keep it all from sliding off.  The front is a flap that wraps around a couple of inches but can easily be lifted up so the two drawers can be accessed.  Now I only lack the pillows and the shelves for my oriental nick-nacs and my far east guest room will be finished.