"Bliss"ful Day Planned for Tomorrow

Debbie Bliss, knitting guru and author, will be in our little old tiny yarn shop in Limerick tomorrow, so my other knitting obsessed friend Kathleen and I will be making a little trek with our Debbie Bliss books to be signed (and no doubt buying at least one more... she does some nice stuff!) we are hoping for freebies, lol, but any excuse to buy some more Aran tweed or baby cashmerino...or maybe that Noro...or...too bad they have NO sock yarn...have to tell them it is a new trend to watch out for!!

Kathleen's wonderful mom is going to watch the kids so we have a chance to get into town and back out again without major time pressure. Aine is going to a friend's house to play after school as well, and she is really looking forward to that as well.
I finished the wallhanging top tonight, it is about 26 inches square...have to decide whether to hand or machine quilt it.



Last Wednesday at my Patchwork group, I had the ladies help me pin baste my flannel quilt I finally pulled out of storage... Over the weekend I finished quilting it with an allover large meander...it has 10 inch flannel blocks on the back and will go to my aunt in Oregon... I am happy with the way it turned out! Just need to sew down that binding now...

Next on the agenda: the other sock!! a baby quilt...quilting the Valentines quilt...etc etc etc..


People sometimes ask me how I get so much done with 2 small girls, and I guess it is probably because I let other things slide...not important things, like looking after the girls...but I am not the most amazing housekeeper... the house usually looks tidy, but the bathrooms might not have been done as often as they should and the dust bunnies take over from time to time. I am still trying to learn balance. My eating has been very bad in the last 2 years, and I have gained a lot of weight back...maybe when I step back and make a real effort to get more balance with crafting, housework and with exercise and health, I might be able to get to a more healthy place again! I hope so. I am making small steps in the last weeks, getting more routines in place that are working for housekeeping, and that has helped my productivity with quilting and knitting in the evenings.

Getting Stuff Done...

Working on a few things here and there over the last week... I finally finished the crazy quilt block for our round robin. I decided that I wanted to do a celtic motif in each person's block but the original one I did was so time consuming that I decided to do a spiral symbol found on the Newgrange passage tombs here in Ireland... This is what I found about its meaning:
The Triskele is used to symbolize the cycles of life with in the three fold, or three spheres of influnce in the material world. The three spheres (Land, Sea and Sky)represents the three aspects of the material world that are contained in every object. Each aspect ever flowing outward and always returning to the point from which it started. This symbol is also used to symbolize the Druidic Threefold Sister Goddess: Fotla/Eiru/ Banba. Ireland, or Erin, is named after Eriu. It also symbolizes the Wiccan Threefold Mother Goddess: Maiden/Mother/ Crone.The Triskele was a representation of the importance of the number three.

I also got to work on an update for the girl's room. I took an old single bed duvet and split it in half and sewed them shut again...then used some sheets to make some duvet covers with Dora for little Aisling (ashling) and Tinkerbell for Aine (onya).

They love them and it is so much nicer than the stacks of blankets we had been using!
My final show and tell are the Aran hat and booties I made for a friends son who arrived in November. Sorry those are so late coming...

I have layered up an old UFO from last year, a flannel quilt, and have another hat on the needles, plus the heart appliques prepped for my wallhanging, so no shortage of projects to keep me going... like two kids don't wear me out enough, lol, but I need my quilting and knitting for relaxation, it is my therapy after long hectic days!!

Looky what I got this week! My Grace handquilting ...

Looky what I got this week! My Grace handquilting frame for quilting my Dear Jane, my Christmas present to myself. It was supposed to arrive while we were in the States so I could bring it home as part of my baggage allowance, but arrived the day after I left, and dad had to post it...but it was still worth the cost, very reasonable for such a "nicely engineered, well made" (DH quote!) frame! I can't actually load up my quilt at the moment, as I have apparently caused a stir in the Irish quilting community by showing my quilt in November at the Limerick Patchwork Quilt Guild! A few ladies have been asking to talk to me about displaying the unfinished quilt, what a nice compliment!!! I will probably take it to a couple of classes to show students what anyone can do...I am not an amazing quilter, my precision leaves something to be desired when doing rotary cutting and machine piecing, but block by block with freezer paper templates, anyone could make a Dear Jane quilt...really!!
I have never decorated for holidays, except Christmas, and will never be an over the top decorator, but this year I am going to try to have a few themed wallhangings...this is the start of a small Valentines day hanging. I will applique some hearts in the 4 plain squares and put a border on, and maybe practice some more hand quilting.
My mom also sent a smaller package this week also left behind at their house...some more yarn for socks and some Sugar and Cream cotton yarn for making some dishclothes I've been reading about...will try to use them instead of sponges for dishwashing...

We're off to Dublin for the weekend where I hope to finish my latest round robin crazy quilt block, and continue working on a baby aran hat for a friends little boy before the weather gets too warm!

Finished...

...and it fits!!! Woo hoo!!

Fun Finds and Sock Update

I got this fun gingerbread wallhanging at a Sisters, Oregon antique shop.

The wonky houses I got at a Goodwill for $2, couldn't pass that one up!

I am moving along with the sock! I had to rip back a few times during the heel turning, but in the end I made it! Will try that long tail cast on with sock 2, sounds highly recommended.

My next crazy quilt round robin is due on January 31, I better get a move on! I also have a valentines wallhanging in progress, so hopefully some quilting news soon!

A Thrift Store Score and A Sock

Here is a cool thrift store find...the push pins are actually spools, very cute...and there is room behind for storage of papers or something. Cost: $10 a bit pricey for thrift store but it is heavy and cute.
I finally started a sock and got somewhere with it! This yarn is called Lorna's Laces and is very yummy!! I'm not very happy with my casting on. Anyone have a favorite way of casting on for a nice finish?

Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig

Can you believe this view from my parent's deck (brought a bit closer by my new camera's telephoto lens!) They can see 5 mountain peaks from there. We had a great time visiting Nana and Pappa in Bend, Oregon. I shopped every quilt shop and one excellent knitting shop there, tons of thrift stores and ate way too much and drank just a few, lol, margaritas, a drink I cannot get here in the Emerald Isle without importing (and with liquid restrictions these days, ugh...not worth it!).



We played dominoes, the current family game craze for our extended family in Maryland and Oregon, every night, the kids loved days of playing pretend with nana while mommy had a few shopping excursions and Daddy got to ski a few times. Dave and I went to Sisters for the day, check out this cool quilt mural on the side of the public bathrooms, lol!! Can't wait to make it to Sisters for the Outdoor Quilt Festival one year. We had a great time!




Look at this beautiful waterfall, Multnomah Falls, just outside of Portland, beautiful!!

















I did a little shopping, lol! I got some great knitting project goodies (socks and moebius baskets!) at a great knitting shop. I got Lorna's Laces for some nice socks, Manos de Uruguay for a felted basket. And some silk Noro for a shawl, yummy yarny goodness! I also got a set of Denise interchangeable needles, which are very cool!













Since I am a scrappy quilter, I didn't go crazy on fabric, but picked up a lot of scraps and FQs (lots of pink ones for Aine, lol!) I got some cool retro Amy Butler prints, but those will be for bags. I still love my repros for quilts, and check out the left part of the photo, all those were part of a 1 dollar scrap bag of repros and some osnaburg, very nice!






I've got lots of tales of thrift store scores, are you interested in hearing some? I'll save my next post for some photos of cool quilts I got while thrifting! I wish I had been more organized to blog while on holidays, but the days just flew by!!

This is my year of family quilting, and I feel my aunt needs to be added to this list after the beautiful gift she gave me and Dave for Christmas. She is from Pendleton, Oregon and gifted us with this beautiful native american wool blanket from the Pendleton Woolen Mills. This is my aunt whose daughter, my cousin Chrissy, is still slowly recovering from her accident where she received a severe brain stem injury in May. We were told that Chrissy smiled at her little baby over Christmas, what a great sign!!