Wednesday, November 27, 2013

we wants it ... we needs it....

must have the precious...

i have wanted this quilt for ... well ... for forever...
Autumn Eyes - NOT made by me
i bought the pattern when it first came out in ... er ... i dunno when ... but it's been a loooong time...

i read the instructions and started looking for the fabrics

and read the instructions again

and knew that i didn't really understand what the heck it was saying
and that i didn't have the Mad Machine Applique Skills that i would need to make it even if i DID understand

and tried to sign up for a *class at The Quilt Store
*that the owners had the good sense to cancel it before it even started

and i gave up on EVER finding all the fabric

or understanding the instructions

or gaining the Mad Machine Applique Skills

and resigned myself to another Unfulfilled Wish...

until i got up the nerve to ask if the shop sample was EVER gonna be for sale and was told

Why, yes, as a matter of fact it WILL be. Would you like me to put your name on it?

to which i replied

 YES, i would like you to put my name on it!!! How many pennies do i need to save to buy it?!?

Oh, well. I think that $85 is the lowest we can go.

i gasped ... and she said

Really. $85 is a fair price.

and i gasped some more ... i KNEW that the kit was more than $60 and the thread kit was another $20 ... i was about to hyperventilate at the thought of owning this awesome bear and not having to beat myself up over not having the skill to make it myself!!!
so i just nodded my head and squeaked out

When?!? When may i take him home?!?

and the poor woman climbed the shop's ladder, unpinned him from the wall, and stood back as i stood there clutching my treasure ... he's MINE!!!

It came to me, my own, my love ... my precioussssssss.
Smeagol

Friday, November 22, 2013

autumn lights

in october of 2011
 Auntia and i started working on a BOM that was sponsored by The Quilter's Studio of Northern Lights by Marti Michell using autumn batiks ... Auntia was a LOT more excited about the whole idea than i was - she finished her setting blocks before the second meeting... 
and then her interest wavered, too... 
both of us kept up with the blocks each month and went to the meetings, but neither one of us was really in love with the fabrics OR the pattern after the first three or four months... 

that's what happens when Reality sets in, huh?!?

anywho, we finished up the blocks and put them together into rows...
and the rows into flimsies... 
and then i added the borders to mine and started to look for enough flannel backing in the stash ... i didn't much care for the front, so i picked up the first large piece of yardage that was beigeish shudder that i found in the flannel pile ... and after piecing it together into one big piece of backing, i sent it off to Liz the Longarm Quilting Wizard so she could work her magic... 

and now...
 Autumn Lights
i LURVE it!!! 
it is BIG - so big that i had to stand on a step stool to get most of it off the floor for picture-taking (my quilt-holder-upper wasn't here to help me) and my arms were aching before the camera had time to focus, lemmetellya...
dinosaurs?!? seriously?!? maybe i should have been a bit more particular about the backing
it has now taken up residence on the OldManLeatherChair and is doing a great job of keeping my backside warm, whilst Auntia uses Samhein for her red leather chair...

Auntia's Northern Lights in autumn batiks is ready for the outer borders ... i hope she finishes hers before next autumn cuz i am gonna be wanting Samhein back...

Monday, November 18, 2013

makin' bacon

i make lists ... lots of lists
lists of things to do
 and lists of things to buy 
and lists of things to sigh about
or cry about
or worry about... 

a few weeks ago i made a NEW list for the things that absolutely HAD to be done before tomorrow...

it was a long, loooooong list...
have the furnace serviced
and the swamp cooler serviced
and the dryer vent cleaned
and renew my passport (no, i'm not going anywhere ... sigh)
and the garage door repaired
and the gardens bedded down for the winter
and winterize the outside faucets
and take flowers to the cemetery for my mom's birthday
and hang the shade in my bedroom (the one that has been waiting for me to get to it for at LEAST eight years)
and get the wreaths ready for the cemetery
and have the leaky toilet fixed
and the broken bathroom fan replaced
and the back porch light, too
and bring in the patio furniture
and paint the front door
and renew my driver's license
and have the house power-washed (this isn't gonna get done till next year)
and paint the garage door (this isn't gonna get done till next year, either)
and rake leaves
and rake leaves again
and again
and again
and remember to be GRATEFUL for those leaves
and have the lawn aerated
and fertilize it
and over-seed it
and mow it
and mow it a few more times
and put away the lawn mower

well ... you get the idea

the list was getting shorter and shorter 
and i was almost at the end...

so what do you think i did?!?

i ADDED things to it...

things like this...
a crocheted bacon scarf .. i kid you not
which is for Michael Myson
because he LOVES bacon
 and because he ASKED for one
 and because i love him enough to work with gawdawful chunky yarn that looks like bacon fat...