Sew, this is what I didn't need but got anyway

Photos are here!!!! Seems I can load them using the desktop system but not the laptop.   That will have to be remedied!  3/29/11

Last week in Lancaster at the Quilt Show - what a fantastic respite from work and schedules and obligations!   My daughter, her friend Sarah  and I went to the AQS Show at the Lancaster Marriott.   WOW!  Let me just start with the room - 17th floor, corner room, glass on two walls and a clear day and night.....you could see for miles.    Heather did good booking that room.

I did my usual, up to Philly on Friday night, and we headed out Saturday morning.   Of course, Henry the talking gnome was with us.  Heather and I don't travel anywhere without Henry.   Like seven hours to Boston with a gnome who records what you say only to repeat it back in chipmunk talk - yes, lots of laughs and side splitting silly humor.   Of course, there is the now and again rude sentence or current song recorded to which elicits more laughter.

Now for the show.  I have decided I like the Mancuso Show's better.   Can't exactly put my finger on what I like better - venue? maybe.   The Marriott is beautiful but the show is in three different ballrooms on three different floors and then there are vendors located at other hotels about 10 miles away.   In the past, there has been a shuttle between the two but I am not sure they did that again this year.

Look at this fabulous fabric....and what I plan to make with it.....below

 a tote bag and Humbug pattern.   I just love Humbugs!  They are so adorable.

My purchases - like I needed anything - like we didn't need to stop at the Quilt Block in Chester County on the way home -  I got fat quarters and patterns and kits for Christmas ornies and spring time pillows too that I just fancied!

These were just so whimsical to me and I had to have them.   Maybe I can make a humbug tool bag for my stitch supplies!

Love the Civil War fabrics.....all that was really on my shopping list....

Got this cutie to work on as a diversion from cross stitching

Christmas Ornies Kits and all the fixins'

Finally I got my 1930's retro fabric that I have wanted forever

My next quilting project is a strip quilt with these

and these goodies ..... aren't they just too too cute??

Love this laminated card full of different stitch examples

This is pre-colored linen.   Stitch as little or as much as you want!

Love Bareroots!

This Bareroots is colored with crayons and then stitch the outlines.   I can't wait to start this one!

And last, my Block of the Month for March.

 (I secretly think it the new crap-o-la wireless router and not eBlogger where the problem lies.  Mr. W. knows computers but not blogging and HE  is not have a problem on his desktop......I on the other hand and struggling with the laptop connection.    Too be continued.......hopefully with pix and more (positive) commentary.   For now, I have one last thing to clean and then I can put my feet up and stitch.

.....so I ate cupcakes!

I have had a busy ten days capped off with two fundraisers in the same day.  And of course, true to form, I am not talking attending fundraisers, I am talking working at fundraisers.    It is all good though.   I did pack my stitching with a glimmer of hope that I would be able to get in a stitch or two between hot dog and soda sales but was only able to accomplish about a dozen stitches.  

A brief re-cap of my schedule includes straight from work Friday to the Y to set up for the Saturday a.m. vendor and craft fair.  When the vendor fair closed mid-afternoon, we wrapped up, loaded up concession supplies into my car, headed home for a quick change of clothes and headed to the local high school where the we (and when I say "we", it means only me and one other fool), were selling refreshments at the county pageant for the Miss New Jersey Pageant.   A friend is the County Director and recruited our 'services'.

All this is just the build up to the cupcake incident and contributing factors to why I am heading to be the 500 lb woman.

I finally roll into the house about 11 last night and just wanted some mindless entertainment.  Well, Mr. Wonderful has been in action again.   While I was busying myself for 36 hours with volunteer work, Mr. W. had set about to change our satelite tv to a cable provider.  I just wanted to scroll aimlessly through tv channels last night or perhaps watch a show I had DVR'd earlier in the week and I couldn't get anything but a green screen.   We went from having to use three controlers to activate all the "devices" to one - which will be nice - but there is an obvious learning curve on my end.   So, what to do next, hmmmm, log onto my laptop and surf some blogs while I unwind......not going to happen last night.   My laptop was not recognized by the new cable internet.   Like with the remote, I tried to maneuver around and access tools, etc. to no avail.   I guess I didn't retain too much of my five minutes of instructions Mr. W. gave me as I was tallying the cash box from the morning event  and setting up the cash box for the evening event and setting my hair  and doing my nails to get out the door.   I know I can multitask with the best of them but it was not the best of times to try to teach me all about the electronic nuances of our new set up.   At this point, I figure I have irrevocably changed and scrambled controler  settings, Comcast will be needed to undo what I have done and will get the fuzzy eyeball in the morning along with the "what were you trying to do conversation".....   So disgusted and just wanted some comfort,  I sat and played a couple of rounds of solitaire while eating two leftover cupcakes that were a casualty of transportation between venues when a inattentive youth skateboarded into my path on the road causing me to swerve and cupcakes to slide and flip.

Today, yes, today, I plan to stitch, and veg out, and do as little as possible.  Oops!  Forgot, got a ton of concession paraphanailia stuffed into my car that needs to be taken back to the YMCA.   Well, it was nice for about 30 seconds to dream of a lazy day.

I hope to post more about my trip to the AQS show in Lancaster PA last weekend.   Oh boy, a shopping frenzy was had. 

As always, thanks for visiting and I love all your comments.

A semi free weekend and what do I do??

Clean!   Crazy I know.   In my parts of the county we are just starting to see the signs of spring.   Robins are hopping here and there.  Folks out walking their dogs; kids on bikes and my tulips are just starting to poke through the mulch.  I have to say that I just love all seasons!  Just when you've had enough cold, comes the anticipation of spring and warmer days.  



Drat!  Can never turn photos when I try to!!

Yesterday, I enjoyed going to my guild meeting.   A too busy calendar and snow storm has kept me away since the November meeting.   For shame on me.  These ladies are so diverse and so talented with each bringing something special to our meetings.   One guilty pleasure was my copies of Inspirations.  Jane, one of our lovely ladies, takes orders for the subscription and sorts out everyone's copy.  It saves on the postage.   I wonder if Jane realizes the guilty pleasure she is bringing to all of us?   I for one, curled up on the sofa last night and just drooled over the pages.   I have never seen instructions documented so well.

Look at their instructions! 

  

Bookmarks for Literacy

Our Service Project this month is to make bookmarks for literacy.   We used card stock and punch holes in it and then stitch.    I kind of didn't stay within the punched holes!    Oh well.....

So, I got home from guild, and decided I needed to rearrange my living room.   Huh?   How do I get from one to the other?   I am maintaining my closet/cupboard a weekend cleanout.   I mean seriously, if I can't remember using it in the last two years or let alone remember I have something, there is no sense in keeping it for the sake of keeping it.   I am accumulating xerox boxes full of stuff for either a yard sale or to donate.  That brings me to the point of the living room.   I emptied two free standing bookcases.  They were the sides of an entertainment center that had long since been used as one.  These two monsters have been center stage of my living room for two weeks.   I convinced Mr. Wonderful to get them outside to the shed and THAT is what starting the rearranging frenzy.   I sorted and cleaned and wiped baseboards and rearranged furniture as well as what was on the walls.   I love rearranging the knick knacks and wall art because it is always like getting something new or rediscovering an old favorite.  

I actually started yesterday in my dining room and laundry room.   I had stacked the various Valentine decorations on the table just waiting to be put away.    I haven't got my spring flowers out yet but I did 'green'  up my table.  My sister had a great agate tray on her table and it looked so clever so I came home and copied her idea.

Geez!  The wrinkles.  I could have ironed it before the entire world was to see it!

For today, I did my next best favorite (house cleaning related) thing - I washed windows.   Really, I do love to wash windows.   Goofy I know.  I guess because I love the end result. 

They really are gleaming!

Please pardon the wrinkles.   Hazard of working on several projects at once.

Not a whole lot of stitching progress happening here for a myriad of reasons.  Too many evening meetings and fundraisers and the accompanying paperwork and also my resolve not to be a couch potato.   Me and Mr. Arthur Right-us have an issue.   The more I sit on the couch, the more I stiffen and the joints start to aching.   I am trying a new approach - trying to keep my physically active and jumping on the treadmill each morning for 20 minutes instead of stitching.   I wonder if we could put our little stitchy heads together and figure out a way to stitch AND exercise?   Well there would be a lot of very svelt stitchers out there I am sure. 

Trust me, they may not look like tulips but they are.

I see my tulips have broken through the ground. I just planted these last fall and have been anticipating their arrival ever since. The Crocus and Early Snow Drops are up as well. For now, I feel like I have a jump on spring, at least with the spring house cleaning, so much that I will be ready to get outside when it finally it warm enough to work out there. I guess that only leaves the mounds of paperwork to catch up on. Yuck, the last thing I want to see after a day of paperwork at the office!

Rah rah rah!

Three cheers - not much stitching going on but need to give three cheers out --



This scene should have my sister with scissors cutting my hair!
Oops!  I hope I don't my sister laugh and hurt her incision.

 First and foremost, the staff at Virtua Hospital/Marlton where my sister had surgery this past Wednesday....they were so attentive to us, keeping us informed during the surgery, offering support and making us feel welcomed.  Not to mention the Pre-op staff, nurses and doctors were great!  I know that sounds crazy - feeling welcomed ?? in a hospital but it definitely was not the cold harsh sterile feeling you get elsewhere.   Best news is that my sister came through the surgery with flying colors.  It was one of those surgeries that you don't know til you get 'in there' what may have to be done and everything was AOK!  We hope she will be coming home on Monday or Tuesday.

Second cheer goes to Project Freedom Village.  I helped move a friend into this totally handicapped accessible two bedroom apartment yesterday.   It is so very nice for her to now be able to wheel right into the shower, to not have to struggle down narrow hallways or through narrow doorways and to be able to roll right under both the bathroom and kitchen sinks and to be able to roll right out the door to get outside and not have to rely on someone to be available to lift her.  It has to give her such a good feeling of independence.

And the third cheer - to me!  I won a one year membership to Longwood Gardens at a Red Cross fundraiser on Friday night.   Longwood is a formerl duPont estate and the gardens are world renown.   Each season brings elaborate displays, light shows and fountains.    I can see me spending a Saturday there real soon.

Hopefully this week will have calmer, quieter things in store for me and there will be some stitching accomplished.  Maybe tonight when ARMY WIVES returns!  I can't wait.   It is a favorite show of mine and I am glad it is now coming on an hour earlier.   At a minimum, this week I need to sew a new zipper into Mr. W.'s favorite hoodie at the risk of being banished if I don't!

Have a good week all and stitch away!