Free Motion Quilting

Hello Everyone! Wow! Blogger has a new look! I'm lost...HELP! I hope that you all have been having a wonderful summer. Thank you for hanging in there with me as we move into a different phase of our lives. My mom is moved in and all set up in her cheery new apartment downstairs. Hubby is still a dreamboat, and I am teaching myself to free motion quilt! It's been very hot and dry here in Iowa this summer, so indoor projects have been the cat's pajamas. This is my first project, a table runner made with scraps. Yes, I am always and forever trying to come up with new and fun projects for scraps. They're EVERYWHERE! Honestly, it's like pulling teeth for me to throw away a scrap of Beautiful Fabric. Hmmmm! Would you classify that as Compulsive perhaps? Anyway, back to the FM Quilting. I am having the best time being creative with it as you can see...waaaay too creative in this first piece! Ha! Anyway I just wanted to check in with you all and let you know I am still working away in my studio.  Speaking of studios, my wonderful hubby is going to build me a detached studio this fall on our property!! Whoo hoo!! Life is good. Off to bed now, but I'm thinking of you all and will visit soon to see all of the fabulous things you are creating!

Love & Hugs & Blessings

 

 

 

Shabby But Chic Hand Tied-Hooked Rug

Oh Boy it has been awhile since I began this rug--a long while. I have been so busy with other things that I had laid it aside for several months. But I finally finished! Whoo-Hoo!! It is a Flower Garden Rug. As promised, I am sharing the photos with you. Hugs and Blessings~Sharon

Hello Hello-Anybody Out There?

This will be the bedroom/sitting room

Can you guess what this is??

Notice the chair in the shower. Oh yea!

Hallway between bed/bath. On the left we built a food pantry.

Hi Friends~

I've been gone awhile again...I thought when one gets older, life slows down a bit? Well, I'm wondering what 60 will be like! Heck, I'm going so fast now I can barely get these chubby little legs to keep up! Here's what's going on....

On August 6th my mom moved from Dallas to Marshalltown Iowa to live with my husband and I. Wait wait there's more....

Our home had 3 bedrooms upstairs and a great big empty square downstairs, the basement. A wall ran across the house downstairs to hold the darn thing up, but that was it. My husband and I have been building walls, sheetrocking, and mudding. We put a bathroom in, and of course a ginormous bedroom/sitting room. Gosh, I never knew how many details there are to putting something like this together. We are using a little less than half of the basement to make these rooms and are dealing with about a 1,000 square feet. So it has been quite an undertaking. We have been working on it since July. Okay, I get it that this was a long explanation of why I have not been blogging. But...I did take some pictures to show you what we have accomplished so far. Keep in mind that my hubby is only home two days a week, and works out of town the rest of the week. This weekend we will put the floor molding in the bedroom, and the closet doors as well as the fireplace.

And I had a wonderful, lush vegetable garden this year (inspite of these fast growing Iowa weeds) and didn't have to buy produce all summer long! Whoo hoo! It was my first real garden. (By real I mean one that actually produced :) And while working in my beautiful garden one day a starving little kitty came out of the cornfield. Of course I had to feed her. And she grew and gained weight, looking really healthy. One month later she had 4 kittens! Does anyone out there have kittens? They're alot of work! I mean, you have to play with them, hold them, kiss those baby noses! Whew I could hardly get anything done. I have since gotten the mother cat fixed, and the babies all have shots. (P.S. My hubby is REALLY happy about all of this.) I have made posters with their darling little photos on them (titled "Mug Shots") and I put them all over town. I have so far found a great home for 1 kitten..Only one! I feel like a mom who thinks her kids are absolutely the BEST..and can't understand why anybody wouldn't want to scoop up these little treasures for themselves! Oh well, the kitty saga goes on...Oh by the way, the mama cat, Lucy, is tired of them.

Great...now I feed the babies on the back porch and Lucy on the front porch. They now have seperate living quarters as well. Alot of work I tell ya!

Anyway, I was talking to my Aunt Mo the other day, and we don't get to talk very often. So she uses my blog to keep up with me. Ha! Fell of the face of the earth since July....

So Hi Auntie! I'm back at least for now. We will have mom's rooms ready by Dec. 1st!! The carpet will be layed on the 28th of Nov. then I will be back to blogging full time!!

I've missed you too.

And all of you out there in blog land.

Thank you for hanging in there with me during this absence.

I love you all,

Sharon

P.S. Isn't my husband a wonderful man to do all of this for my mom? Bless his heart he hasn't had a day off since July...

A Shropshire Lad & Beating the Heat!

Boy it's been hot! Whew! I hope ya'll are keeping cool out there. A post of one of my David Austin Roses, "A Shropshire Lad." Isn't it gorgeous? The fragrance is unbelievably enticing, and sweet. Yummy...to say the least. My lavender did not due well this years (grumble, grumble) as the spring was so wet, their feet got soggy.

Meet Dash! This is my neighbor's puppy, who comes by every morning as I am gardening to get right into my business. After a pet, and a few trips to the back of the house to dump weeds (yes weeds grow fantastically here), she's ready for a dip. Plop! Right into the rain water held in the pig pot! She's a real cutie pie!

Some days, I even feel like joining her!

Blessings~

In Love With David Austin!

Hello Friends! After a long hiatus filled with life changes and new beginnings....I'm back! I've missed you all, and I don't know where to start in filling you in. So, I'm just going to begin at where I left off on my last blog. My mom is doing very well! Thank the Lord! She came to Iowa with me to do her radiation therapy and we drove about an hour each day to Ames. The William R. Bliss Cancer Center was filled with the most wonderful angels. Kind and considerate, caring and loving. Mom and I miss them! But her treatment went very smoothly with very little side effects. She is home now in Dallas gathering her things and getting rid of things to move to Marshalltown to be by me! I'm so excited! We haven't lived near each other in many many years, and I feel so blessed that I will be able to spend time with her. She is feeling well, and just as busy as ever! I wanted to thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. God is faithful.
I have been busy in my garden this year, a bit late, but things are coming to fruition nevertheless. I took the big step this year....ordering David Austin roses!! It's been a dream of my to fill my yard with DA roses and peonies. While I didn't plant any peonies this year, I did plant DA "Shropshire Lad & Gertrude Jekyll" roses. Gertrude is in bloom (above) and looking wonderful. I began with knockout roses to see if I could get these so called "full (fool) proof" roses to grow. They did very well for two years so now I am on to David Austin's. Wish me luck!
I also planted a vegetable garden this year! Oh my goodness, I am up to my ears in sweet peas, green beans, and onions. We have the most delicious beets too! The tomatoes are not ripe yet, but there are many many on the vine. I'm looking forward to those.
I have been so lax with my blog lately, I hope that you all haven't forgotten me!! It seems I have the attention span of a newt these days.
My hubby has gone back to his old job, and is gone most of the week again....just when I was getting used to him being home!!! I think this job is much better for his health and happiness, so we will manage.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend...a special hug for MA!! Be well friends, Sharon

~Tears of Joy & Lavender Days~

Hello Friends~Bet you thought I fell off of the edge of the world!! It's been awhile for sure, and a crazy month. I've been in Dallas for just about a month with my mom. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of March, Bless her sweet heart. She had a Lumpectomy, and they took out some lymph nodes, and Thank you Lord!, no cancer in them!! We got the good news at the surgeon's office on her 83rd birthday! Oh my gosh, I just cried with tears of joy. She was a stage one. And they believe that they have gotten all of the cancer, and she will fly to Iowa to stay with me for her radiation therapy. It was so scary, but she remained very calm, trusting the Lord, and she was at peace through out the entire process of Dr.'s visits, (oh so many) and she was an outpatient for her surgery. I'm just amazed at how well she did! I only pray that I could handle it as well as she did. It will be so nice to have her here, and for me to be able to take her to her appts. A few days after I returned home, we had company for a few days, and it was a wonderful and relaxing visit. We went to Antique stores and visited the sites. It was Great!! On one of my visits, I found the most beautiful Cabin Crafts Chenille Bedspread! I was so blessed to get it a wonderful price. There's not a thing wrong with it!! I have listed it in my Ebay shop. I know that I am skimming through my life for the past month, but I am also in the midst of cleaning house and catching up with my gardens. We've almost got the mulch down, and are having to get out outside in between raindrops. I'm so happy to be back in blogland, and will be visiting all of you very soon. Thanks for stopping by~look for me to visit you soon. Hugs and Blessings~Sharon

~A Gooey Mess~

Hi All! I really don't know what has gotten into me lately....for 10 years I have used PINK for everything I made..no truly, I did. I found it difficult if not impossible to create without using PINK! People have actually written to me, asking that I make baby boy quilts! FREAK!!! Sorry no, unless you think he might like pink??? Even my mom, who is my biggest supporter by the way, would ask me, "So what kind of pink fabric did you buy today?" I came to believe that maybe, just maybe I was in a color-time-warp! But lately I have been exploring with many different colors of fabric...well, mostly camel, tan, beige, white, blaaah blaaah blaaah. (smiling) But I've come to love those colors as well, particularly white. Now for something country...Well, sort of country, I guess...actually I'm not sure WHAT country is, (and yet I live in the country), anyway, here's a country-folk quilt..Now...back to pink & white!!! Oh how I've missed you! So here's the question....am I losing it? Or do you get obsessed with colors and find that if looking at a color doesn't make you melt into a big gooey mess of hugs and kisses, it's just not a good color??? (Oh my...)

Here's wishing you a wonderful weekend~Don't forget to spring forward!! Hugs and Blessings~

~Robins & Tidepools~

Good morning all! I looked out the window this morning and in between the snowflakes I saw that the Robins have returned! Oh my goodness and there were so many of these beautiful little birds~I would not be exaggerating if I said 100 robins on the lawn trying hard to find a frozen morsel in the grass. It is a day to rejoice! Even though it is still cold, still snowing, and not at all spring-like, the Robins give me a feeling of hopefulness and excitement that Spring is just around the corner. I wanted so much to share this beautiful sight with you but....the day was too dark and gloomy for a good photo. So....I decided instead to show you the new shawl! It is finished and I think it looks so pretty! I call it "Tidepools." It makes me think of the Caribbean blue waters. I could use a vacation to the islands right about now! I'm off to search for more Robins!! Happy Monday!! Oh yes, next weekend is Daylight Savings Time!!!! Spring Forward All!! Hugs & Blessings