How hard is it...

...to just bag my groceries in a logical fashion? I went grocery shopping this afternoon at a large chain that prides itself on customer service - the biggest beef I have with them (aside from expired product on their shelves and high prices) is that the baggers can't seem to bag groceries in a logical fashion. When I place my groceries on the belt I put all heavy canned goods first (hoping that they will go in the cart first) than bottles, boxes, etc. I keep all my meats together and cold items together - hoping that they will be bagged together thus making it easier for me if I need to just get the cold items in the house when I get home. BUT NOOOOOOOOO!! This would be too easy - instead I get to spend a half hour putting away groceries because it has now turned into a treasure hunt to try and locate all the cold/frozen items in order to limit the number of times that I have to open the fridge. From now on my policy will be "Hands Off! I'm bagging my own!!"

On a lighter note today was the first Chick Flick & Knit - very enjoyable. Today's feature was "The Notebook" and my knitting buddy and myself were in tears by the end of the movie. I was so wrapped up in the ending that I messed up a whole row of knitting on my preemie waffle blanket. However, I was thrilled to finish the knitting on my Counterpane Inspired bag - now I just need to find a nice lining and finish it up (perhaps next weekend).


Well, time to get a little knitting done before bed. The puppies are tired from having company today. Little Ricky is already curled up and passed out on the couch.

Back to blogging...

Ok, I'm back to the blogging. I'm determined to give this a try. Things became very crazy around here. My mother-in-law lost her battle with cancer on September 11, 2008. The last few months have been very stressful and I am just hoping to get through the holidays. In addition to mourning my MIL we have unsuccessfully been trying to start a family and now that will be on hold for a few months. Through it all though knitting has been the one thing that has enabled me to keep my sanity. I joined a local knitting group and have met some wonderful people. I also have been lucky enough to meet one lady and become good friends with her.

So, let's get through Christmas and hopefully it'll all be better from here on out. Here is the beautiful yarn that my knitting friend gave me for Christmas - she's so sweet. She also made me stitch markers (I'll post a picture soon!)

Getting closer...

I was hoping that with a 3-day weekend I'd be able to finish my quilt, it just didn't work out. Too many places to be and things to do. However, I did manage to get all the blocks done and laid them out (even managed to sew one row together). I really like this quilt so far and can't wait to finish it.

I'm leaving for a weeks vacation this weekend and after I get back it's my husbands 20th high school reunion - at some point I'll be able to work on it again!!

Measure twice, cut once...

Always good advice to follow. I started my half log cabin quilt on Sunday and goofed! I cut about half the pieces in the wrong measurement, this wouldn't have been to bad, but I also ran out of fabric. So with the price of gas I get to take another road trip to the quilt store for 1 little yard of fabric (I'm sure I'll come home with more than the one yard).

I'm very happy with the blocks so far, and I think it'll be a very interesting quilt when finished.

Road Trip

Today my mom came down and we went to Sunshine Sewing in Margate - great quilt shop! Huge selection of Batik's and Kaffe Fassett(spelling?). We picked out some fabric for my mom's first quilt project. She is going to make two quilted placemats. I picked out some nice batiks for my next project which I hope to start tomorrow.

I also picked up the fabric for the quilt that I designed in 1-2-3- quilt. It will be a small quilt with 4" Half Log Cabin blocks.

It was a fun day out with Mom. We also stopped by a yarn store because I wanted to get some sock yarn - I think that I'm going to finally attempt to make a pair of socks. I saw a neat pattern from Paton's for pedicure socks that I thought I'd try; however, I'm not ready to spend $20 on one hank of yarn that'll just make 1 sock (thank you very much), so I'll be perfectly happy ordering some Paton yarn. (picture from patonyarn.com)

Recycling Unused Quilt Blocks

Do you have unused quilt blocks lying around? Here is what I did to utilize them. I made a knitting needle case. I recently began knitting and have accumulated quite a collection of needles and needed a way to neatly organize them for knitting-on-the-go (especially since I'm going on vacation soon). So I made a needle case out of quilt blocks.

I had six courthouse steps blocks lying around. I made these blocks with the intention of making an entire quilt, however, after making quite a few blocks and laying them out, I just didn't like it. I think it had to do with the fabric choices; therefore, the blocks were put away as a UFO many years ago and recently re-discovered. So I decided to use them as the "fabric" for my needle case. I sewed the six blocks together in three rows of two blocks and cut out the outside piece for the needle case (I'm not sure of the measurements, but if you are interested I'll get them). I also cut a coordinating fabric the same size. Since there were still some of the blocks left, I sewed the remaining bit to the coordinated fabric to make the pocket. Ta-Da!!! A needle case was born.

All made this past Sunday evening in about an hour, while my husband watched drag racing on the TV. Now I'm inspired to think of ways to utilize my other UFO blocks, perhaps a case for my crochet hooks is next...

Rainy is an understatement....

It's pouring....gotta love the afternoon thunderstorms in Florida. Perfect day for quilting, but I think I'll curl up in the chair with my knitting instead. The dogs are passed out cold and the house is nice and quiet (aside from the lightning and thunder). Ricky on the left and Whammy on the right.

Let's see how this goes...

It's a rainy day here in Florida (pretty much been a rainy week), so I've decided to start a blog. We'll see how this goes and if I can keep the posts current. I've recently finished (well, almost finished) a small quilt that I'm calling "Ode to Amish". It measures 25"x31" and each block is 3". It is made with fabric from my scrap bag and I just need to finish the binding, and add a hanging sleeve and label. This is the first quilt that I've made in about ten years after a bit of a break.