Category Archives: Life

Oh my goodness, my Christmas was wonderful!

But it couldn’t have happened without the greatest babysitter in the world!  This is the first vacation we’ve taken together in 5 years.  My BFF’s daughter K house/puppy sat for us and it was so great to not once worry about anything while we were gone.

This poor fella was wearing himself out welcoming everyone as they checked in to the hotel.

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I fell in love with the headboards.  You can’t see it very well in this photo but there are tiny little nail pricks that created firework bursts in the sky.

2014-12-23 15.54.23We walked around Downtown Disney after we got settled. I found this shirt, that is SO me, but decided against getting it.

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I also spotted this one and snapped a photo since I’m hoping I can get Mister to paint it for me.2014-12-23 16.55.21What looks like white, is really silver and I think this would be great painted in pixels like he did the storm trooper for his art class.2014-11-03 14.21.39

We had a nice dinner and a couple of drinks, then headed back to our room to sleep until the kids arrived.  Future DIL decided to take the train down to Oceanside and ride back up to Anaheim with Son after he got off work at 9:30.  We were expecting them about 11 p.m. but there was a construction site that took more than an hour for them to get through and by the time they arrived it was 1:30 a.m.  They wanted to do gifts as soon as they got there.  They even got me “Disney” gifts in addition to 2 GC to Ulta.  The fragrance is from FDIL’s mother.

2014-12-27 10.51.57I have no idea what time it really was by the time we got back to sleep.  Mister got up at 6 to go buy our tickets so we could get in the park an hour earlier than the general public.  Good thing we did too, since we were on our 3rd ride by the time the park opened.  We kept waiting for the huge crowds to show up and slow line times down, but we never had a long wait, or at least longer than 30 minutes.  We took full advantage of the Fast Passes and leapfrogged our way through the park.  The ONLY ride we didn’t ride, that I wanted to ride, was the run away mine train.

At some time during the afternoon the kids headed back to the room for a nap and Mister and I went to some areas and shops to pass the time.  We had Fast Passes for the evening light show and met back right about 8 p.m.  After the fireworks show we started working our way back to the hotel and the best ride of the day….our beds.  😀

The next morning I met a friend in Downtown Disney for breakfast while Mister and the kids started packing up the room and loading cars.  We made some changes to our plans so the kids were headed to FDIL’s parents to spend Christmas Day and we were going back to the park.  It was so much fun accepting and wishing Merry Christmas to everyone we walked by.   Our hotel had a beautiful photo spot and we took advantage of it.  People just lined up and whomever was in line next took the person in front’s photos for them.

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It wouldn’t be a trip to Anaheim/Disneyland for me if I didn’t end my trip with a visit to the Jazz Kitchen Express for breakfast.  Since I had already eaten, I headed to Starbucks for coffee while Mister and the kids had breakfast.  They did save me a beignet.2014-12-25 16.09.07

After the kids left we headed to the monorail for a ride into the back of the park.  We were planning on riding this again but when we got off the train we walked into this!

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It was about 11 a.m. and the Fast Passes told us to come back at 8 p.m.  No. Way.  LOL  We ended up doing a whole lot of walking and did get to ride the runaway mine train.

We headed back to the Jazz Kitchen for lunch (shrimp po boys and ya-ya gumbo!).  Santa did his shopping on the way out of the park Christmas day.  I ended up with 2 scarves (look close for the Disney references), brush cleaner and Urban Decay Naked 2 eye pallette, a Castle charm for my bracelet (not pictured), and a Dooney & Burke Disney Shopper.  2014-12-27 11.07.02

Every year when we’d go to Disneyland on Thanksgiving, I’d add a Jim Shore Disney Christmas piece to my collection.  I did buy a Mickey this trip, but we also purchased a new piece.  Mister fell in love with the bright colors of the Britto collection so we will be building that as well.  He decided on this piece since it made him think of the dogs.2014-12-26 20.30.21

We drove down and spent the night in Oceanside.  We got settled in our room about 7 p.m. and sent straight to bed.  Talk about feeling old and worn out!

Son drove down from FDIL’s house early that morning and we had breakfast before saying goodbye.  On our way out of town we headed to Buccaneer Beach to watch the sun rise over the ocean and surfers and see if Mister’s surfing buddies were hanging out.  We actually passed one of them driving off and he turned around and told us that the other one had left earlier so we were able to call him and he turned around as well.  I was glad he got to meet up with them for a nice long talk.   2014-12-26 10.12.37


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While I love living here in Arizona, and I think the desert is such a beautiful place, I miss the Pacific ocean so much that I cry every time I see it again.  There’s just something about the sound of the waves that calms my heart and I especially love walking on the beach when stormy weather is approaching.  It’s so wild and wonderful.  I did live on the Atlantic ocean for almost 2 years and it wasn’t the same.

I was so happy to get home and see the puppies.

The postman left some wonderful packages for me.  I took advantage of some great sales before we left.

The Downton fabrics are all low volume, and the Shop Local has stitching related prints inside.  These will be used in some scrappy quilts, especially in Wild & Goosey.

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Threads of Time will go into my Farmer’s Wife scrap bins.  I couldn’t resist the Petite Prints and all that red.  They’ll be used in my upcoming Bonnie Hunter Happy Scrappy Houses class in a couple of weeks.

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This layer cake and charm pack will also be used in Happy Scrappy Houses.

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And these are the FQs from my December color of the month club I joined in place of one of my finished BOMs.  I’m thinking of using the 2nd from the right as the chimney’s in my Happy Scrappy Houses.

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So today I’m being as lazy as I can and still get in a trip to the grocery store and do some laundry.  College football and cross stitch sound mighty fine.

Tomorrow, I’ll think about working on my wishes for 2015 😉

One more week!

How busy have you been?  Are you planning out your 2015 year?

I’ve been busy, but not crazy busy, except in spurts.

This past weekend was the Phoenix COMICON Fan Fest.  It has been touted as a success and that makes me happy.  Two and a half weeks from now I have my first meeting for COMICON 2015, so I’m trying to not even think about anything related to it until then, but it’s a near impossible task I’ve set myself.

Next week we’ll be in California with Son and Girlfriend.  I am really excited about that.  Since we moved here we have flown Son and Girlfriend in to spend Christmas with us.  That, and a pair of tickets to Disneyland, has been their Christmas gift from us.  Last year we asked them if they would mind if we came to California and all 4 of us went to Disneyland on Christmas.  You would have thought they were both 10 with their reaction 😀  We’ll be crossing an item from my bucket list by staying at the Disneyland Hotel while we’re there.  We’ve decided to go to Disneyland on Christmas Eve and California Adventure on Christmas Day, since we’ll have to leave Anaheim late Christmas Day to drive to Oceanside.  We haven’t completely decided when we’ll return to Arizona, but no later than Sunday.

I am working on a Christmas item right now.  I gave up on getting my room painted until after Christmas.  Between Mister’s studying for finals, my COMICON obligations, and some sewing I needed to get done, I quit stressing about it, cleared a spot and set my machine back up.  Here’s where I shoved everything that was stacked on my table, so I could sew.  That white “wall” is my design wall and behind that’s my shelved in closet.

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And here’s what the guest bed looks like (there are 2 tall piles on the floor I didn’t bother taking photos of). Most of that will go on the shelves behind the design wall in the photo above.

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Here’s what I finished by yesterday.

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Hoping to finish the piecing today and the quilting and binding tomorrow.

Very little stitching on my Lizzie*Kate mystery and no updated photo of it.

That second question up there?  I have been planning out  my 2015.  I try to adopt a positive thought for myself every year.  Last year it was “happy thoughts” and no matter what was going on I tried to always remind myself to think happy thoughts.  I had a really good year with that.

This year I tried to continue that and added on to be less judgmental by reminding myself that I may find myself in that person’s situation one day, or that I didn’t know the story behind what was making someone behave the way they were, either toward me or toward others.

This coming year my plans are to “quit saying, start doing.”  I’ve been listing my WIPs and projects I want to start and trying to formulate a plan that will get me doing more.  I love my calendar on my phone for reminding me of appointments and not letting me double book something, but I’m going back to using a paper organizer for my projects.  More about that in a second.  I’m also going to use Wunderlist.  I have it downloaded on my computer, phone, and tablet.  It’s the first thing that pops up on my computer when I start it up and it shows me what I have to work on, as a reminder to not get sidetracked. I’m tracking my WIPs and projects I want to do on it since I can add things from the different electronics and it’ll sync between the 3.

After following a discussion Melissa was having on Facebook, and others sharing what I’ve been thinking and the types of planners they use, I’ve decided on a Planner Pad.  I love that it has the possibility to be used as something other than an appointment book (which my phone covers).  Also, I will be using my timer more to keep from letting the computer suck me in.  I have found myself spending less time on it the last few months anyway and it has made a difference in what I’ve accomplished.

I have 4 trips planned for 2015.  Vegas (Jan), Prescott (Apr), Tennessee (Jun), Prescott (Oct).  I am stepping up my volunteer activities as well.  In addition to continuing my sewing for AZ Blankets 4 Kids, I’ve taken a larger responsibility with COMICON, and I am the new Membership Director for the Arizona Quilters Guild.  I am looking forward to having a very heart-fulfilling year.

So my goals for 2015 aren’t to get this done, or that finished, etc., but to just be more organized which should lead to productivity.  I guess I’m sort of going to run my retired life like I ran my working life 😉

I’m linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving

We will be spending the afternoon with friends this year. This is the first time I have not cooked for my family, or gone to another family member’s home for Thanksgiving. I am baking apple pie and a casserole for my contribution.

My room is still torn apart.  My cutting table currently looks like this

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Piled high! I’m in a bit of a panic over it since tomorrow begins Bonnie Hunter’s 2014 mystery quilt.  I’m attending a sew together on Saturday but I’d like to at least cut my fabric tomorrow when the first clue comes out.

Since there has only been sewing away from home I have spent a lot of time stitching. I finished Sam Sarah’s mystery piece and have picked out the backing fabric.

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There was a laniappe included with the mystery so I started it.

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My design wall is sitting stagnant but I’m hoping the painting gets started this weekend so I can get back to it.

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Gut it or Partial It? That was the question.

I was just about ready to completely gut my room for the upcoming paint job, but Mister said he’d rather do it one section at a time. Almost half of every crafty thing I own is stacked on the bed or floor of the guest room across the hall. Nothing, including the sewing machine, was unpacked after quilt retreat and I’m going through sewing withdrawal. I am thisclose to finishing another quilt. Fortunately  a Friday sew-in is coming soon at my LQS.

While pulling things out, and stacking stuff everywhere, I’ve been giving a lot of thought about how to return it to the room. I’ve been trying to group thing together but I’ve just about decided to change the way I’ve been sorting my fabric and storing my WIPs.

The WIPs are all together in one pile and they’re being placed in labeled containers. I’m determined to not have more WIPs than containers. LOL

I love Bonnie Hunter’s scrap user system and need to figure out a way to expand mine without increasing the footprint it takes. For my non-scrap fabrics I’m going to incorporate some ideas I picked up from Jeni Baker’s The Art of Choosing series of posts. I’ve read both of these ladies’ posts numerous times and come away with additional tidbits each time.

Now I just need to finish moving stuff from the first paint zone and get Mister wielding that paint roller!

I haven’t been a total slacker

Except for blogging 😉

Remember this post?  I finally got my Kona Color Card and have started deciding on colors for my Dear Jane.

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I have a new link in the upper left side bar. Bonnie Hunter’s new mystery starts in a couple of weeks. I decided that since I have so much going on already, I would use 1 constant colorway this year.  I’m using an off-white print and Kona black to go with these fabrics.

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No. I have not finished last year’s mystery. Don’t judge.

My guild is sponsoring a class with Bonnie after the first of the year for the Happy Scrappy Houses quilt. I also submitted a request to take  another class the next day, through another guild. We have to give 1st and 2nd choice and my first choice was Cathedral Stars.

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2nd choice is Pineapple Blossom.

I am now the very proud owner of 1/2 season Arizona Diamondback tickets. We decided that owning full season tickets would be just too many games for us to attend. We have full-season perks tho, and I’m already counting down to opening day. We took a tour of Chase Field on Halloween. It was eerily quiet, but no one being there gave us the opportunity to sneak in a few places not normally seen on in-season tours (plus I think our rep was bored and not ready to head back to his office). I did remember to take a couple of Club House photos – our “LSU” pitcher’s locker

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and one of the few remaining favorite players of mine.

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I’m holding judgment on a couple of late season rookies.  Of course, the very next week there was talk of moving our catcher. I’m a bit disgruntled.

Quilt camp was a lot of fun and very productive for me.  Meal times were announced and we pretty much did what we wanted to the rest of the time. I managed to finish (except for borders) a quilt top.

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I have fabric for the borders just need to decide how to use it. Hoping to take care of that later this month.

I also started on my Peace and Unity BOM. Despite my continuously measuring my blocks they didn’t come out right so a few need to be unstitched and redone.  I’m loving them tho.  Here’s a couple of the 20 setting blocks.

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Here’s a couple of shots of some of the works of the talented ladies in attendance

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I’m making good progress on my SamSarah Mystery Sampler.

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I started the 3rd, and last, section last night. Glad it’s going so quickly since the new Luzzie*Kate mystery started shipping today. I’ve already seen a photo of the fibers, and they’re beautiful. I’ve just about decided to go back to And They Sinned once both mysteries are finished.

We spent the majority of today running errands, which included buying paint for my room. Today marks 3 years that I arrived in Arizona and it’s taken me this long to make up my mind. I actually found an inspiration piece at IKEA a few months back but what I wanted to do was so far out of my comfort zone it took me a bit to just go with it – plus Mister Art Student said he thought it would look good 😉 So here’s what I’ll be working with.

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(I did change the satin black to glossy after that photo.)

Last, but not least, here’s my handsome son with the love of his life, out on the town on his birthday. He still has that big bright smile.

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And remember I’m not a photographer and mostly use my phone 😀

I’m getting old

2014-11-08 08.12.4330 years and 9 months ago, I made this. I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments because despite my many, many mistakes and errors in judgment, he has grown into a wonderful young man.

I know it’s been too long, and I apologize. I am trying to remedy that. Still stitching. Still sewing. Still cooking. I went on a quilt retreat. Now I’m also back to recruiting for Phoenix ComiCon. I think it was those pesky goals I set for myself, so they’re going away. Retired life, for me, is supposed to be all about fun, not deadlines.

I also have been staying away from my computer, but this post is being made from my tablet with a little input from my phone, and this makes me happy!

What I have been up to

It feels like very little.

I have not had a physical activity day since Labor Day.  🙁

The 3rd I woke up and my knees and back were hurting so I didn’t go to Zumba.

The 5th I didn’t go hiking because I had a walking foot quilting class that morning and I would have had to be out there in the dark.  After seeing that huge sidewinder track, I’m not dumb enough to be out there in the dark.

Here’s my little bit of progress from class

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However, the 5th did find me sweating.  A lot.  I went to an outdoor Blake Shelton/The Band Perry/Neal McCoy concert that night and man oh man!  I swear I sweated out a pound and a half.  I actually had water running down my back.  It was worth it though:

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Saturday it started raining.

Mister and I went out to eat late Saturday afternoon and just as we were leaving to head back home the huge rain drops started.  Before we could get out of the parking lot the wind started rolling in and you could see it coming.  It was rocking my Challenger around and was rather frightening.  It was also snapping tree limbs off.  We had a huge micro-burst hit us and have probably lost my beautiful Mesa Palo Verde tree in the backyard.
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Sunday was cleanup time and lots of sewing and football.

2014-09-07 06.32.43When we headed to bed Sunday night it has just started sprinkling again.  Thunder woke me up about 2:30 Monday morning and the day just got better.  Hurricane Norbert had headed our way, and with all the rain we had Saturday our state was saturated.  I sat and watched our pool fill and the rest of the yard flood and head toward our house.  Fortunately, it never made it all the way but the roads around my area were closed, so no leaving the house.  No Zumba.  Thankfully, it wasn’t a school day for Mister.

Tuesday, I was supposed to have a hair cut but got a message from my salon that they were going to have to reschedule due to water issues so I headed to the grocery store.

Wednesday, yesterday, I completely forgot about Zumba.  I had lost track of what day of the week it was, which I sometimes do.

So, now it’s Thursday and I’m sitting here in front of the computer and I really need to be sitting in front of my sewing machine instead 😉

I have been sewing on my Scrappy BOM Challenge, Wild & Goosey blocks, and Civil War tablerunner

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One last thought.

It’s very hard for me to believe it’s been 13 years since that horrific day.  I honestly don’t think about it much anymore, except for days like this.  I know that sounds terrible, but I lived in fear every single day for 10 years while my Mister spent his last 10 years in the Marine Corps.  It’s one of those things I try very hard to forget about being a Marine Corps Wife, but it is still there in the back of my mind and I fight to not let it surface or I become a wreck, and because of that I purposefully stay away from the TV and social media because unlike a lot of other people, I do not want to remember, over and over and over.

Happy First Day of September

Wow!  I can’t believe it’s already September! I’ve decided to give monthly goal setting another try, but I always feel like I jinx myself by doing this.  I’m an out-of-sight-out-of-mind kind of gal, so I’m hoping putting them here on my blog face will help me see what I need to be working on.

SeptemberGoals

 

*June Grey BOM
*September Brown BOM
*4 Wild & Goosey Blocks
*Start rows of Flower Box quilt
*Quilt, Bind, and hang Walking Foot Quilt
*Farmer’s Wife block #7
*Start SamSarah Mystery XS

No Zumba at the Y today, due to the holiday so we’re hiking. After showers we’re going to take advantage of a coupon we have for Roadrunner Sports, then we’re vegging the rest of the day.  Or rather, I am, since Mister has homework 😉  Grilled ribs, broccoli slaw, and potato salad is on the menu, followed up by Monday Night Football!  Woohoo!

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Kowabunga

The weather was perfect yesterday for our hike. There was a slight breeze, the sky was clear and our humidity has dropped to 47%. Even at 7 a.m. the parking lot was filling from people having a long weekend. We didn’t see any hikers on the trail, but were passed several times by bikers. I rarely stop on the way up, as I don’t want to lose my momentum, but I had to stop to share evidence of our trail being shared, and why I’m glad we’re out there at daylight.  You’ll probably have to click the photo to see it.

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There is so much evidence of the influence of water here.  I usually want to stop and snap photos all the way down the mountain, but Mister was quite a ways ahead of me so I only stopped a few times.

I would love to take this home with me and put it in my front yard.  I think it’s so beautiful.  I’m thinking of asking Mister, or my dad, to paint me a photo of it for the house.

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The rain from last week is being taken advantage of.

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All the saguaro have blooms either coming or going.   They’ll all be gone in a couple of days, though, since we’re not expecting any more rain, and they only bloom 1 day.

Look!  A desert squid.

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By 11:00 yesterday I’d had my hike, taken the dogs for a quick walk, gone to the grocery store and had everything cut up and put away.  So much energy!  I had to make myself sit and read a new quilt magazine.

We had a late lunch at Chipotle and hit the movies.  By the title you probably know we saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Wish Son had been with us.  The TV program was one he enjoyed growing up, and I can remember us going to one of the movies at a drive-in.  (Am I the only one that misses drive-ins?)

The rest of the evening was spent watching baseball and puttering.

So far my getting back to eating healthy is going great. My ‘frig’ is full of fresh veggies, my cupboards are getting emptier and emptier (I’m struggling to think of things for “pantry night.”) I hit the store just right yesterday and got 2 free range natural fed whole chickens, 3 grass-fed steaks, wild caught salmon, and 1 package of pork ribs for $30 less, so my freezer is at capacity. This is 15 meals for us.

Mister is headed out for a 30 mile ride (he has a tri in October) and I’m hoping to get some stitching done while I wait on him to come back.  Later this afternoon I’m shopping for more weapons and tools.

Still no sewing this week, but I hate starting something when I only have a few minutes.  There will be plenty of time after shopping and the rest of the weekend.

It’s a good weekend

Friday we hiked.  It.  Was.  Rough!  My knees weren’t happy after doing Zumba on Monday and Wednesday, plus it was 87% humidity after raining the previous 2 days.  Next week I’ll be heading out on my own while Mister runs the route.

After our showers we headed over toward ASU for Mister to pick up a study pack for one class and then to the art store for his supplies for this term.  I found a white charcoal pencil for marking dark fabrics and some perma-ink pens for labels.  I love finding quilt supplies at non-quilt stores.

Then we went to find the Farmers Market.  Boy, was THAT a disappointment.  It was a store.  Granted they had items in there that were local (meats, dairy, eggs, vegetables, etc.) but still it wasn’t the actual vendors themselves.  I felt cheated since the website made me feel that’s what I would find.  I didn’t buy anything.

During our Friday lunch out, where I ate too much, I decided I was just too tired to go to the movies.  I was actually afraid I might fall asleep so we came home instead.

I spent some time upstairs.  I printed and cut out several Wild & Goosey patterns and the remaining patterns needed for my guild BOM Challenge.  Then I managed to piece together another Wild & Goosey block.

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Later that evening I finished my version of Lizzie Kate’s Cross-Stitcher in Residence.  I haven’t decided how I’m going to finish it out, yet.

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I have a round robin piece that a friend asked me to add to then I’m probably going to start Sam Sarah’s Mystery Sampler.  I’m in love with the fabrics and fiber colors.

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Saturday we headed out to see Guardians of the Galaxy and do a couple more errands.  Came home to a good mail day.  Two reams of newsprint for paper piecing (I now have 3 paper piecing projects going), Dear Jane Quilt book, and my one and only Market purchase, The Scarlett House’s Hannah’s Brownstone.

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Dinner last night was a treat.  Mister cooked omelets.  Yummy, and no cooking for me.

This morning I decided to do my July Red Scrappy BOM Challenge block.  If you look too close you can see the red smeared a bit on the white.  Bummer, but I’ll live.  There’s a faint red streak on the bottom of my iron plate that needs to be cleaned when it cools off.

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The bulletin board over my laptop is looking very pretty.

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The icing on the cake of my good weekend is dinner at some friends tonight to celebrate a birthday.

 

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