County Fair Quilts Part 1

A few months ago now and during much warmer times (seriously doesn't seem that long ago, I don't know what vacuum time got sucked up into), I went to a couple of local county fairs which both had some wonderful quilts on display.  Please forgive me as I don't have credit information for the quilts, just pretty pictures.

Relax

As a quick little follow up to yesterday's post, here is a link to The Honest Guys on Youtube.  I watch their videos almost every evening on my Roku to help me wind down for the night.  They have different meditation walk throughs, relaxing background music and more.  Enjoy.

Post Crossroads Hibernation

Just like my little kitty, I've been spending more time snuggling with a blanket and a few books as the temps drop.  It's been kind of restorative spending time in the semi-hibernative schedule with Netflix playing in the background (Has anyone else seen The Crown?  Sooooo good.).  I've been struggling with a decision and the months and even longer of sitting astride the fence has left me at this point pretty mentally drained.  But at least I'm off the fence with both feet firmly on solid ground again.  A fence is just not a comfortable place for sitting.

And tonight marks the end of the Christmas shopping.  The last order was simple: just candy to have about for the holiday season.  I made my own a couple years ago.  It came out well, but there was simply too much of it.  In order to have a variety of fudge, I had to make multiple full batches and my freezer was stocked with it for months.  An assorted order was so much simpler and less work. 

With the ever increasing cold weather, there's been more knitting going on.  And spinning!  I took a spindling class in October and have been practicing here and there as well. 

As the countdown for Christmas looms, please make sure to take time for yourself and enjoy the season if it's even only for a moment at a time.  Schedules can get kind of crazy, but how is the holiday going to be at all enjoyable on frazzled nerves?  Drink some tea.  Try some simple breathing exercises.  Learn to say No to projects that are overwhelming or you simply don't want.  Take a moment to pause.

Long time no see. It's been a busy and humid summer. And most of my time has been spent changing rooms around and getting ready to replace some windows (and not passing out from the crazy humidity) in addition to all the new stuff to learn at my new job.

Trying to use up all the blueberries in my fridge, so I made my first blueberry pie. Good, but a little soupy.

A quick weekend getaway.

Enjoying some sun on a lunch break at work (and some yummy junk food).

Only a few more weeks of summer. It's starting to get dark a little earlier in the evening now. Enjoy it while you can. I'm hoping to finally get some stitching in as the weather starts to cool off a bit.

New toys

Hi again Folks.
Please forgive my latest absence.  I got a promotion at work, but it's in an entirely new office.  Actually a different building across town.  It was like the first day at a new school all over again.  I've been there a few weeks now and I'm starting to feel a little more settled. 

Allow me to introduce you to the latest sewing machine in my life.  She's a Sewhandy.  Will definitely have to take some pics soon.  Some info if you're interested can be found online here: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/66987-sewhandy-the-precursor-to-the-singer and here: http://sewingmachinemuseum.com/General%20Electric.htm

Not to leave the poor hubby out, he also got a new toy:

Shopping

The weather this weekend has been beautiful.  A nice early spring.  To celebrate not needing to wear boots, I bought a new pair of sneakers.  Which of course had to be broken in.  Which of course meant I had to go shopping.  Obviously. :)

So the hubby and I went off antiquing.  Didn't end up buying anything this time, but we did enjoy looking at all the pretties. 

There was a large selection of various vintage pyrex patterns, but I don't think I've seen this one before.  It was a lovely green shade with a more modern pattern with squares and circles.

This sewing machine is a New National (or so the decals say).  This was another new find for me.  The base the sewing machine head is attached to is also metal with matching decals.  Unfortunately, the condition of the machine didn't match up with the posted price for me.  Something is gummed up or broken as the crank kept getting stuck.  If it was much cheaper, I would've taken the risk. 

Spring at last

Hello again. 

After quite a busy autumn with lots of field trips, including one to visit a lake:

And another to the oceanside:

After that, it has mostly been a winter with little snow, but lots of feeling rotten.  I've been fighting the same cold off and on since December now.  It seems to come back about every three weeks.  Hopefully with the approaching spring it will finally retreat.

To help me get through this rough season, I took a couple quilting classes.  In January, I learned about foundation paper piecing.

And then about a month later, I took a class about an applique wall hanging pattern.  The class was taught by Sue Pritt, who is also the pattern designer.  Here's my in progress project:

For more info about her patterns and upcoming classes, her website is here:
http://sweetseasonquilts.com/

I don't have any other classes currently planned which is fine as I probably should start planning my gardening at this point.