stuck in New York

I am in Brooklyn with my granddaughter, Elly. We survived hurricane Sandy but my flight home has been cancelled!! Guess I will have to stay and cuddle Elly.  I missed the first snow of the season in Ohio. Oh well! Time for me to cook dinner tonight is homemade pizza and tomorrow is stuffed shells with the sauce in the freezer from my last visit.

No sewing this week but I have a list to keep me busy! Bonnets and hats more pants with elastic at legs and the Christmas dress and shoes and a curtain for the master bedroom and something foe Elly's room. Gramma will be busy!

In stitches,
Judy

Traveling Stash Box

The Traveling Stash Box has been quietly living in my living room with the stuff I need to put in my suitcase for my visit with Elly. It is time to pick the lucky recipient of the box. Lucky #4!! Melinda!!



Melinda said...
I would love to have the box stop at my house. I have lots of things I could put in it.

Please contact me so I can get an address from you.

I am so excited. I leave early Sunday morning to go and meet my granddaughter, Elly. Yesterday was her actual due date. She weighed in at 6lbs 10oz and 20 inches in length. She has come a long way in these past 8.5 weeks. I plan on taking lots of pictures and will post them when I get home.

In stitches,
Judy

Sewing

I have finished my baby sewing, for now. I am getting ready to go and see Elly on Sunday and I wanted to finish the rest of Elly sewing. I made 2 pairs of corduroy pants, three pairs of fleece pants, a bunting and another nursing cover for Elly's mommy. I will post pictures after I return from my trip to New York.

Now that I have finished Elly sewing, I can start working on my Fall wall hanging. I need to busy on it before Fall is over and winter comes calling.

In stitches,
Judy

Baby Sewing

I have been baby sewing. It has been a lot time since I have made pants for anyone and I cannot remember making pants this small, but like a true pack rat, I had patterns in my box from my sewing time for my niece Lily. She is ten now. So I was able to whip up 5 pairs of pants for Elly. The waist and the length were great.

The width of the legs were not so good. As you can see, the legs are quite large.  They tell me it looks like she is wearing a long skirt. I have more fabric to make 5 more pairs. I will be cutting down the leg portion of the pattern. I am hoping to finish them today along with her bunting.

In stitches,
Judy

Traveling Stash Box has arrived!!

Actually it arrived on Thursday but today I was able to get unpacked and will repack it and have it on it's way by next Saturday.

The box was certainly stuffed with many goodies. It was like Christmas opening the box.

These are the things I decided that needed to stay in Ohio with me.

Here are the gems that are going into the box



I would very much like to get this on it's way to someone else on October 27th. So I will pick a lucky recipient on Friday, October 26th some time after 11pm est.So if you are interested in the Traveling Stash Box, leave me a message. Good luck to all!!!

In stitches,
Judy

Sewing

I have been busy sewing for my granddaughter, Elly. She is out of premie clothes and needed some pants. I would show you a picture of the 5 pairs of pants I made for her, but the package is still in transit and I want her mommy to see them before the rest of you see them. I also made a nursing cover for her mommy. I did not take a picture of that. I still have to make the purple bunting for Elly. I will take that with me when I go up to see her at the end of the month.

This is my favorite picture of my son and two of his favorite girls. Elly his daughter and Frankie his dog. Frankie likes the baby and likes to lick the top of head whenever she gets a chance!!

In stitches,
Judy

Baby sewing

Today I am starting some sewing for my granddaughter, Elly. I am going to start a purple bunting. If it works out and mommy likes it, I am going to get some red flannel and my sister, Karen is going to embroider something Christmas related on it. Right now I am preshrinking the flannel. I am trying to get my Saturday projects lined up. I guess I will be making more half square triangle units for the Fall wall hanging. I need to get busy before Fall leaves and Winter arrives!

Elly is snuggled in the baby afgan  I made over 30 years ago for her daddy.

In stitches,
Judy

Tuesday

 

My work week is starting in about an hour. No sewing today, but I did chase down a couple fall panels for a friend. They are packed up and in the mail. I did buy some flannel for a bunting for my granddaughter. Purple with tiny white dots. I have been told, no pink or blue. They have bunches of pink and blue things. I am leaving on October 28th for a trip to New York to meet my granddaughter. Need to have it done by then. Should not be a problem. I am a super sewer!!

I have gotten all the bugs worked out for my Fall wall hanging. Tomorrow I start on the half square triangles for the pinwheel border. Working backwards. That is normal for me.

In stitches,
Judy

Yesterday I went to Governor Bebb Metro Park in Butler County with my mom and my

 sister, Becky. Lots of fall in the air. Costumed people telling the history of the area. Crunchy leaves and cooler weather and the scent of fire in the fireplaces of several of the buildings. Yum!

The quilt I made for a friend who became a grandma this summer. The squares are from a crib sheet that matches the baby's nursery.

This a ruffled scarf that my mom knitted for me. It is Red Heart Sashay yarn. It is fun!!

In stitches,

Judy

Saturday

I work every Saturday taking customer calls. I work in my living room. Today I made a list of everything I needed to prep for several projects. We are usually not very busy and as long as I am tethered to my phone I can cut, sew, or read. I finished cutting the fabric for my black Chain Link quilt. Or so I thought. I found one more Batik that needs to be cut. I will finish that on Sunday. I finished the design for my pumpkin wall hanging. I am going to start working on it on Sunday. I was going to butcher some old magazines for foundation for string blocks but I ended up chatting with a friend and did not get to that.

Fall is here in my part of Ohio. The leaves are changing and the air is cooler. In fact, today I turned on the furnace to get the chill out of the air. It was not on very long before it got hot in the house and off it went. I suppose if I wasn't tethered to my desk I would not have been cold and the furnace would not have been turned on.

Tomorrow is sewing time and family time. My mom and at least one of my sisters and I are going to one of the Metro Parks in the area for Pioneer Days. I will have to take my camera for sure. I would like to get some shots of Fall in Ohio.

In stitches,
Judy

Elly and her quilt

 
This a picture of my granddaughter, Elly. As you can see, she is just a peanut. And her quilt seems to drawf her.The burp cloth is from my sister, Karen. She embroider several diapers. To be used for burp clothes.  Elly is a premie. She was almost 8.5 weeks early. And she has put on about 2 pounds since birth.

In stitches,
Judy

Cutting

I am trying to use the fabric that has made upstairs to my dining room where I have my sewing machine set up. I have been trimming my scraps into strips to start making string blocks. I am going to use my telephone book pages for the foundation. I am hoping to make at least two blocks a day. I am also cutting fabric for another Chain Link quilt. That is the pattern I used for my granddaughter's quilt. It will be bit different. I am using fabrics that are either solid or read as a solid. And black.  A black border so the blocks will look like they are floating. And hand quilting it with black thread. I may be crazy. I will let you know once I start the quilting.

And then there is the Fall wall hanging that I am still designing. I am going at it backwards. I have picked the fabrics, decided on the size, have decided on the size of the border and the colors, whatever area that is left will be the center. I have the backing fabric and the quilting thread all picked out. And I have found a couple of pumpkins that will grace the center square. I should be able to get to it this weekend. Saturday is always a slow day on the phones. I work from my living room that customer service calls. My cutting mat and ruler and rotary cutter live on a table next to my desk. And some days I move the sewing machine out  by my desk.

I have found a bag in the living room with a bunch of fabric in it. Some of the fabric is cut in nice 5" squares. I wonder what my plan for those squares are?! I am hoping as I dig into the bag there will be a pattern or a magazine in the bottom of the bag. I need to starting making notes when I cut fabrics, so I will remember what I wanted to make.

In stitches,
Judy

It's finished!

This is my big finish for 2012! It is a rather large baby quilt for my granddaughter. The quilt is 50" square. Something for her to grow into. Machine pieced and hand quilted. I had great plans to have it done in time for the baby, but my hand quilting skills are rusty and I did not get it done in time for the shower. In fact, there was not a shower after all. The day before my kids were to leave New York, the doctor put my daughter in law in the hospital. Pre eclampsia. Yuck for her. No trip home for a baby shower or two. The doctors were wonderful and they went into attack mode. Gave the baby steroids to develop her lungs in case she had to make an early arrival.

   And she did. This is Eloise Sona Nayak Kamphaus. Elly. She was born 8.5 weeks early, but she is doing well and home with her mommy, daddy, and Frankie the dog. I am still trying to figure out how to get to New York to cuddle Elly.

In stitches,
Judy

Wow

It has been a very long time since I put thoughts on paper for this blog. It has been a very busy here since my last posting. i have finished several quilts. One for my new granddaughter, Elly. One for a friend who also became a grandmother this summer. I have finished several projects that were almost done. I have started several new projects. I have a design in my head trying to get out. I have bought the fabric for it. Now I have to get out the paper and colored pencils to make the idea in my brain a reality. I do not have pictures down loaded of the projects I have finished. Maybe later in the week.

Fall is coming to this part of Ohio. The days are starting to have a crisp feeling to them. It is time to pull out the flowers from the summer and start jotting down ideas for next year's flower beds. Time to start big pots of soup to cozy down with in the evenings. Time to pull out that flannel quilt that I need to start quilting. Winter will be here soon enough. 

In stitches,
Judy

Busy, busy!

I have been busily sewing. I am making 12 backpacks and 12 purses for an order. If all goes well this could be my new part time job and $$'s for my new car! I take customer service calls for a living! I work in my living room and have my sewing machine set up right next to the desk! The calls have been odd this week! Please do not hang up on me, if you do not like my answer. Do not think if you hang up and call right that you will get me again and that I will remember you. Not a chance! And please do not swear at me, I am NOT your insuance company and I did not for e you to take this policy.And do not threaten me with the death of your patient if I do not approve the mess you are prescribing. I am following the criteria that is outlined by your health plan. I am so happy that I have my fabric nearby to fondle before, during, and after a call!!! In Stitches, Judy

My hump day

My hump day falls on Thursday and it has been an odd one so far. I went to the vein specialist today for the swelling in my legs. I am now sporting unna boots that are not rigid but are being used to bring down the swelling before I get fitted for compression stockings! Right now I am hot and itchy and I will need to encase my legs in plastic bags and duct tape in order to pop in the shower. I have to do this until Tuesday! Oh what joy! But I can still operate my foot petal on my sewing machine! In stitches, Judy

Time has flown

Summer is here according to  the calendar, but our weather here in southern Ohio states that summer arrived much earlier. I have been busy with my flower beds. I put in 50 Impatien plants and I can say that they are growing great guns!! I have almost finished weeding all of the beds and on Monday my girlfriend is coming here to make a flower and bush swap. I have several small bushes that she wants and she has some naked ladies that she will bring me for my flower beds. I am still waiting on my sister to pull the flowers from her yard that she does not want and I will put them in my flower beds. Then I will fill in with whatever is on clearance.

I have been sewing. My hand quilting project is coming along nicely and I have found a spot in my kitchen that is screaming for a quilt. I have made a cute summer bag and almost finished the patriotic wall hanging for my basement landing. I have the pillow forms ready for the new couch pillows and on one of the pillow covers are cut out and waiting for there time at the sewing machine.

I have also suffered a set back with my health. I am off today to see a vascular doctor to see why I have been retaining water and why my feet look like chubby boats. I have been taking a water pill and those it helps, the constant trips to the bathroom are annoying. And being on the phone all day does not lend itself to multiple potty trips. Hopefully we will find something out today.

In stitches,
Judy

Overtime

Why does overtime sound so good when you volunteer for but it sucks to do it when the comes! I work second shift and volunteered to do two hours of overtime at the end of shift. My butt was dragging near the end. I did get a little hand quilting done earlier in the day. In stitches, Judy

life

Life seems to have a way of putting up road blocks whenever I want to sew. I have lupus and a touch of arthritis and the arthritis is rearing its ugly head and bothering my fingers. I am having other health issues with swelling and am working on getting that checked out. I still like my new shift but I am tired before the shift is over.

I have been hand quilting on my wall hanging, have gotten fabric for a patriotic wall hanging for the spot in the basement landing, and I am still working on my Saturday blocks. I think I need 90 blocks and I have 35 blocks in various stages of being done.

I have given up on the mowing of my yard for the time being. I have weeded the front flower bed in anticipation of receiving some plants from my sister. The other front flower bed and part of the side yard still need some attention as well as the back bed. I have been trying to start Moon Flowers from seed and this year it is not working. I will try one more packet of seeds and hope for the best. If not, there is always next year. I am going to put some marigold seeds in the pots going down the front steps and see what happens. I have planted 50 Impatien plants and they are looking good!!

Time to get things ready for work. I have a few more things to do before I turn on the work computer and start my shortened work week. I am taking off Saturday for a concert in the park that my sister is playing in. Picnic in the park and good music and a three day weekend!!

In stitches,
Judy

Wednesday

 

Not much sewing going on here. I did a bit of hand quilting on my wall hanging earlier in the week, but today it is weeding and planting. I have 50 impatien plants that need to go into the ground ASAP. So I an going to find my tools and my gloves and get busy. Maybe there will be sewing when this project is done. I have been eyeing that tub of scraps and I think I have a plan for them. More details later.

This is one of my very first quilts. It was made for my son while he was on his 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. That was about 16 years ago. This one was tied. I have not tied a quilt since then. 

In stitches,
Judy