Picked up my wool applique again..........

This is the center block of my felted wool applique quilt.  I made a resolution this year..well, I've probably made it for several years.  The resolution was to not start a new project until I finished an old one or as we like to call it in the business....a UFO (Unfinished Object).  I also have divided my "crafts" into sewing, crochet, knitting and quilting and needlework which would include handwork such as my applique and embroidery.  I just finished my crocheted ripple blanket so according to the rules I have set down for myself,  I could have started a new crochet project.   Instead I chose to do some handwork/needlework and finish an "old" project that I put down...a UFO.   So, in front of God and the entire blogging community, I hereby promise to finish this folk art quilt before I start any other handwork  or needlework.  There, I said it! Oh boy...that wasn't easy! 
There is the center block and 12 surrounding blocks plus 4 appliqued and embroidered borders.  I have completed the center block and 8 surrounding blocks so I have 4 more blocks and the borders remaining.
Some of you may remember me having posted about these blocks awhile ago.

And block #8 that I am presently working on..........

Hope you're having a great Friday and are planning on having a wonderful weekend!  What are you working on?

Book Reviews!

I was a bit under the weather yesterday so I didn't blog or do much of anything else either.  But I did finish 2 books I'd been reading so I didn't sleep the whole day away. Thank goodness or I would have been up all night!

 

This is a big book, 434 pages but I still did not want it to end.  Peter Jenkins is the best darn travel/adventure writer I've ever read and I highly recommend this book if you like that genre.  His books read like novels and I get lost in his tales and feel like I've actually experienced it myself.  His books are the closest thing to being there you will ever read!  I've read quite a few books on Alaska but this one was the best.  Plus, he goes places and does things that you wouldn't probably do even if you went there.  First of all, you wouldn't know some of these places/events existed and secondly even if you did you might not want to be that brave!  There are pictures in the book too but not enough in my estimation.  It's an exhilarating read!  

This is one of my favorite mystery writers for a plain old fun read with murder but not gore.  I can read her right before I go to sleep and not have bad dreams.  M.C. Beaton lives in the English Cotswolds where her character Agatha Raisin now resides after retiring from her own public relations firm.  This is the first book in the series and Agatha is quite the character.  I thoroughly enjoy English mysteries of this type and Ms. Beaton has another series from when she lived in Scotland featuring Constable Hamish Macbeth but I haven't read any of those.  This was an enjoyable read.  I already have the next book too.  I'm off to make up for laying around yesterday! LOL!  Hope you're enjoying your Thursday....the last day of May 2012! 

Terrific Tuesday! So far so good anyway...........

 The other day when I went to the Dollar store and got my flags I also spied these bowls on sale for $1 each!
Of course I grabbed them up!  I actually needed bowls.

 There are 4; 2 red and 2 green.   That's all they had or I would have bought a few  more!  They all look the same from the outside it's just the inside that's a different color and they are dishwasher and microwave safe and ceramic/pottery.  I love them!  If you like them, go to your local Dollar General store and see if they have them....quick!

 

 I also got this cannister on sale but it was $5 but it is a cannister with a sealing lid that clamps and of course I love stripes of different colors and dots and color period!  There was only one of these left so I had to grab it! A woman in line asked me where I got those and I had to tell her there were none left.  You can go to other Dollar General stores though and try and find the same thing if your local store is out.  I've done that before. 

  

 I finally picked some of my hydrangea.  They are all different colors so the soil must be acidic AND alkaline in spots.  I can't remember which is which but if you want blue/purple you add one and if you want the pinker variety you add the other.  You can actually do it all for one bush too as that is all I have.   You place some of one fertilizer on one side of the bush and the other on the other side.  I actually wanted all blue but I like the variety now that I have it and of course I'll be drying them too.

 I bought the plants below a while back and have been meaning to plant them up as I've had this idea for awhile.  They are Mandevilla plants and are an annual but sometimes down here annuals are perennials but we'll see.  They're a flowering vine so I ran some cord from the little tiny trellis that came with the plant and around my outdoor garage lights and back down to the plant.   I took some of the vines and wound them around the cord.

 There's one on each side of my garage door.  You can see the cord if you look closely.  I'll show you pictures as they progress...hopefully and climb up the cord.  I just hope the cord doesn't break!  They're already flowering and I'm experimenting with the green pots as I'm thinking I like the green as an accent color to the orange brick.  I'd even like lime green for my front door! Woo Hoo!  I have experimented with colors on trim and I like the trim dark brown but then I tried tan and orange for some pops of color on doors and it really didn't do anything for me but I am liking lime green!  Those pots aren't exactly lime but they're close!

I had a wonderful Memorial Day and I hope you did too.  I just need to perfect my grilling skills as I don't think I used enough charcoal and it took forever to cook the chicken.  I didn't eat until 9:00 p.m.!  But it was definitely worth the wait and I "rolled" into bed! LOL! I'm not a great cook but I had some great recipes!  Have yourself a "terrific Tuesday" too!

Happy Memorial Day..........

And much appreciation to those who have kept us safe and free so we can celebrate it in their honor!

 Have a safe and happy weekend!

No spin today...prepping for tomorrow..........

I apologize for not having my usual "visiting" day but I am prepping for tomorrow and have more to do today than  my usual light chores on a Sunday.  Am I having company you ask?  No, it's me and the girls but I heard once that you should give yourself what you don't get from others and I have always designed my life that way.  I would invite people over but that would mean I would have to REALLY gussie up the house and I don't have that much energy to entertain like that any more.  But I do make the holidays special for myself as I spend them alone.  So, this Memorial Day I have planned my meal (food is ALWAYS a big part of my celebrations) of barbecued chicken on the grill, potato salad and baked beans with strawberry shortcake for dessert.  I went to the Dollar store yesterday and bought some flags in different sizes and I decorated outside and made the little "vignette" above for my kitchen table.  I will be cooking today and doing some planting and gardening as this was always the weekend I put the garden in up North.  Tomorrow I will have the food ready and will have picked out a new handwork project by then and will plop myself down to watch "marathons" on INSP of all my favorite shows...Wind At My Back and The Walton's and Little House on the Priaire.  It's very hot here so you can really only go out early or late to work outside as there are heat warnings so it's actually a good day to stay inside in the ac.  These marathons are 4 hours straight of each show.  I'm not sure I can sit still for that long but regardless, I never do that, so it will be a special treat for me to just sit and do needlework and/or crochet and watch my favorite shows.  What are your plans for Memorial Day?