Miscellaneous Wednesday........

I cannot keep to a schedule of any kind it seems so when and what I blog about will pretty much always be up for grabs. I tried having a "schedule" to my blogs but it just doesn't work for me.
Yesterday, Sue, The Book Fairy, stopped by and look what she brought me!
11 DVDs of Cirque Du Soleil.....she's loaning them to me and I would never make it to Vegas to see them so this might be interesting.....I don't really like to watch much as I'm usually too busy doing some kind of handwork.  I think that's why I like to "listen" to t.v. programs where I won't miss anything. We'll see how this goes.  

She did bring me a "listening" cd that looks right up my alley..........

and a book I can't wait to start......

Last but not least she brought me this big, beautiful book on papercrafts.........

I started reading it last night as I have wanted to delve into this but most people assume you already have scrap booked or made cards and I haven't!  I don't know the first thing about it so this should be fun!
Sue stayed and had a cup of tea and told me about what she's been working on....a string quilt!  I'd never heard of them so I asked her to explain and give a little demo.  Later I went on the internet and realized this is the perfect quilt for those of us who cannot throw away the tiniest scraps!  Talk about "waste not, want not" and re-purposing and so pretty!  Take a look..............this is from Millies Quilting   using 1930's fabrics.  I really like this one.
 
This one from Craftsy uses more modern fabrics and I like it too.


BTW, when I tested the link to Craftsy, I noticed they are having a S A L E   65% off of yarns, fabrics, and classes.  Just sayin'!
I also received this birthday gift from QVC in the mail.  I was shocked as I'm not a regular shopper but I did buy a few things for the grands for Christmas.  It is a really nice bag too!

 It's that waterproof nylon, faux leather and it zips closed!  Thank you QVC!  (Most "free" bags are not anything you really want to be seen in public with but this one is really nice!).  
Today I went to Walmart, did laundry, and that's about it.  Tomorrow I'll show you what I got at Walmart...exciting, huh?
Happy Trails!

YOP Week #30

I'm having a great weekend and I hope you are too!  Last night I was "flipping" channels waiting for Lawrence Welk to be over so I could watch Father Brown and the Saturday night PBS shows and what to my wondering eyes should appear but my all-time favorite movie...Green Fried Tomatoes but that's not all!  After that it was Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, another favorite!  I laughed, I cried and never did turn the channel to PBS.
I actually have made quite a bit of progress this week too.  I'm knitting a basket weave cloth as my "stash" of wash cloths is gone!  I'm loving this pattern!

 Over the holidays I fell behind in my 'preemie" hats so........I'm back at it.  The bag has July, August, September and October.  I'm almost finished with November so as you can see, I have some catching up to do!

I finally got all the bookmarks blocked too...........I tried using my cutting mat as I thought I saw someone do that but the pins would not stay in very well so I gave up on that method and went back to my old stand by....towels

I also decided to use Mary Ellen's Best Press instead of water as it's scented and it also has "flake-free" starch in it.  It worked great!  It's expensive so I only use it when I'm quilting.

I usually don't take a "day off"; my schedule is pretty much the same regardless of weekends as I'm retired.  But I can be a tireless taskmaster with myself and yesterday it seemed like God was calling me to relax and enjoy so I did!  The girls and I took a hike as it was a beautiful day here and when I came home I "kicked back" and watched all the Saturday gardening and cooking shows on PBS and crocheted a YOP that has been on my list since year #2....a cowl.  I didn't like the original pattern I had chosen but I found another on You Tube by Love 4 Nails.  She has lots of patterns out there and this one is so easy and enjoyable!  I'm already half way done doing the 10 row but you can also do a 20 row one too.  I know these will be on the 2015 Christmas Gift list for sure!  Are cowls for guys too?  I definitely want to make more of these.  I'll search for "guy" patterns but if any of you have any suggestions I would appreciate it!

 My blogging friend Betsy sent me a lovely baby blanket crochet pattern that I had commented on that she had made and in the package she included a Scentsy!  Thank you so much Betsy for the pattern and the Scentsy.  I love them...they have the best "smells"!  Now, I need to clean my car so I can hang it in there. LOL!

I'm trying to use up my old acrylic yarn and wanted to do a solid granny square blanket with all different colors.  I tried a few free patterns but they were not written very well but finally I found a winner that worked for me.  I think they may need to be blocked though or not.  Do any of you block your granny squares?

I didn't blog my Friday Night Sew-In yesterday as my daughter called and people always come before projects and we tend to talk quite a while (if the kids will let us...lol).  I am making place mats for my son, Benjamin....yes a very belated birthday present.  I did manage to get the material ironed and was getting ready to cut when she called.

Oh well, they'll get done eventually!  Hopefully before his next birthday! LOL!

I've been trying to find things cleaning and organizing my craft supplies and ran across this old cross stitch project that is almost done! What is it with me that I get to the end and not finish things?  No more!  I will be finishing it if I can find the pattern now.....hmmmm...maybe that's the reason I didn't finish in the first place?

This year is different though....I can feel it.  I'm healthier and feel more energetic than I have in quite awhile and I don't want to waste that energy or motivation! BTW, it was the bookmarks that did my wrist in....it's all better now so no more filet crochet for me for awhile! :)
I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  Happy Trails......