To be Gammilled...

Hi There!

Lately it feels like I'm working on "stuff" and nothing seems to move ahead and get FINISHED! Kinda frustrating....

Gilbert's getting more business, which means there's a mini back log and I'm REAL happy that he and Bertha, our Longarm Gammill are busy, but.....

The projects that ARE finished, well....
Are put aside for "later".

And as I can well understand this, nevertheless, I feel like pouting, sometimes.

*grin*

So, this afternoon, we took the time to measure my Birthday Siggie Quilt top and YEP!!! It fits PERFECTLY, on our Queen Size bed!!!!



And, late this evening, I FINALLY finished the quilt top for that (crappy) fabric quilt kit - remember I had mentioned it, in one of my previous blogs?

Well, if you didn't know better, you'd LOVE the colors in this quilt!

*sigh*

Anyhow, we need to get rid of some of our old quilts. They're getting pretty raggy. I will use this one as our "surface" quilt.... meaning, that's the one that the cats will sleep on. *s*

Tomorrow, I'll dig out some of my (non-shop quality) big pieces and piece together a backing for this baby.



Around 4 p.m. this afternoon and after much thought, Gilbert decided to change his computer set up, in Bertha's room.

To make a long story short, he needed to buy himself a set of computer speakers, 'cause he listens to music, when he's quilting.

So, we headed off to Future Shop and he picked himself up a Bose sound system.

He's VERY pleased with the quality and sound!!!

He now has, what we call here, "Charlie's Laptop".

One of my readers will understand what I mean when I write this. *grin*

The laptop is much more compact, for his tiny desk space, in Bertha's room.

That's all for now.

It's going on 11 p.m. and I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

Rosa

What Have I Been Up To?!??

Hi There!

What have I been up to?

Well, let's see....

Saturday morning, Gilbert and I did our Saturday errands. Once we got back home, I went to work on my spider blocks.

And all day Sunday, I worked on these blocks.

I can now say that I have 3 rows finished and pieced together.

I've got 3 more rows to do, before we remove the paper, on the back and Gilbert starts quilting this lap/wall quilt.

Saturday evening, Gilbert and I watched a movie and I put a base case of ivory, on my Dear Jane wooden blocks.
(more to come, later)



I think I already mentioned, but we have a few stray cats, hanging around outside. Gilbert and I made the mistake of starting to feed them and now, our stray population seems to have grown, unfortunately.

Most of these cats DO look like strays, but recently we've had THIS one come to our back door.

Riel, a blogging friend, came by yesterday evening and exclaimed, "Oh, that's a gorgeous Himalayan cat!"

HUH?

Never heard of such a cat...

This evening, since I had the wind knocked out of my sails and I didn't want to work on my Spider Quilt, I decided to work on a (kinda) new project.

I had picked up this quilt kit 5 or 6 years ago.

10 bucks for a queen sized quilt top.

Its made with non-shop quality fabric but it was a good idea and good price, at the time.

Not sure what I'll do with it.

But, in one evening, I managed to sew 7 rows!

Half way there and I didn't even break out in a sweat!

LOL

Hope you're having a Magnificent Monday!

Rosa

A Chocolate Cupcake on Two Legs...

Hi There!

A couple weeks ago,
I went to visit "SudsMuffin"
in my city and, other than being
friends with the owners,
I have no affiliation with them.

I picked up another one of their excellent soaps, "Fundy Trail', for Gilbert since I thought it had an incredibly sexy, mossy, oceany smell to it. Gilbert has since used it and he loves it! And so do I!

*VBG*

But that's not why I'm blogging today...

I also picked up a container of their
"Foaming Sugar Scrub".

And, of course, I HAD to select "chocolate"!

LOL



When you first open up the container, it LOOKS and SMELLS like a whipped chocolate mousse!!!

Your first reaction is to look around for a piece of cake to frost!

LOL



When I first tried it, I used it straight up on my skin and it didn't really foam up, very much.

The next time, I put 1 to 2 teaspoons of it on my bath scrunchy and OH WOW!!!!

Nice, foamy, CHOCOLATTY, soap!!!!

I came out of the shower with ultra soft skin
and smelling like a Chocolate Cupcake!!!!

And NO, the smell is not too overpowering, either!

Gilbert had to practically stick his nose to my hand
to get a whiff of my chocolate scent...

But "I" knew I had clean, soft, chocolatty smelling skin!

There's grains of sugar in the scrub that you can actually FEEL.

Anyhow, whenever I use their Chocolate "Foaming Sugar Scrub",
I feel like a "Chocolate Cupcake on Two Legs".

Isn't that great, eh?

You smell like one of your favorite foods and it's CALORIE FREE !!!

What a GREAT way to start your day!

Have a Super Sunday!

Rosa
P.S. If you're interested, I believe that you can place an order at "SudsMuffin" and, for a nominal fee, they will gladly ship out their soaps and products.

Candle Sticks Progress.

Hi There!

This week, I finally finished
painting the 2 base coats
on my candle sticks.

Then, I "auditioned"
which paints I would use.

You know what it's like?

You need to pull a LOT of colors out,
before you can actually decide
on the EXACT one(s) you're looking for!

*grin*

Well, out of ALL these colors,
I finally decided to use
only one of them!

Isn't that always the way?!?

LOL

I now have them painted
and varnished.

I still have some work to do with them.

I also promised a few friends that I would make them a Dear Jane (tole painted) wooden block. Will share pics of these as I progress on these, as well.

*s*

Hope you have a Wonderful Weekend!

Rosa

Arachnology - The Study of Spiders

Hi There!

Gilbert and I went to visit my parents, today.

We left around 10 a.m. and got back home around 3 p.m.

Once home, Gilbert started tidying up Bertha's room and then "fooled around" with the (new) Bertha.

I'm not sure, but I think he's fallen in love with her.... all over again!

LOL

Anyhow, while he was doing "his" thing, I decided to continue work on my "Spider" blocks...



Yes, there IS one block missing but I figured at 8h30 p.m., it was time to call it a day.

I absolutely LOVE the look of these blocks but you know what? It might not appear that way, but they sure do take a LOT of work to put one together!

But, I've always loved scrapped quilts and this one is no different.

*grin*

Have a great week!!!

Rosa

Bertha Gets a "Lift"

Hi There!

After a week of intensive family meetings,
Gilbert and I decided to take the plunge
and give Bertha a "Face Lift"!

We contacted our nearest Gammill Dealer,
Cowles Quilting Machines Service Inc.

Brian showed up this morning,
at 10 a.m. and promptly
started work on Bertha.





A LOT of little bits and pieces
of "stuff" came out of Bertha!

Gilbert watched and helped Brian,
as much as possible.

Finally!

A LOT of new bits and pieces
went INTO Bertha!

Here, Brian is giving
Gilbert his official training,
on our new "Vision 26"!!!

After a thorough training and
some informative chit-chat,
Brian was on his way....
back to Vermont.

Have a safe trip back, Brian!


Rosa (& Gilbert)

My Cutey!

Hi there!

We have quite the day, today!
(more on that later)

But, by 11 a.m., I had managed to finish putting this cutey together... and well as pieced the back together.



Now, if Gilbert and Bertha could just spare an afternoon for me and my cutey, maybe I'd be able to bind this one. *grin*

Rosa

Is This a UFO?

Hi There!

Last year, I received some fabric and in the box, there was this green. Don't get me wrong.... I love ALL fabrics but when I spied this one, I thought, "Ooooooh.... now THAT'S a special color, isn't it?!?!?"

I really wasn't sure if I would EVER use that green, even!

Well I did and, in fact, it looks pretty darn good, in this quilt project!



So, let's go back in time.

In 2007, I had a "Secret Pal". She would send me lovely, monthly gifties. She had sent me this gorgeous flower panel, with blocks and other pieces to put together.

There were some fabrics missing, to finish this wall hanging and that's why I decided to audition this "special" green and VOILA!!!

That "special" green is .... well truly "special"!

I've still got a few more borders to add onto this one before I can yell from the rooftop that I have it finished. I'll certainly keep you posted on my progress. *s*

Soooooo, is this considered a UFO? It languished as a 1 piece panel, with instructions printed on the side.



Rosa

Itsy, Bitsy Spider... GREW!!!

Hi there!

Remember my spider block?

Well, it eventually grew!!

*VBG*

In the meantime, my friend sent me this comical cartoon, via email...

(Mrs. Bobbins)

Have a great day!

Rosa

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to our Mom's in the U.K.!!!

And, as I was cleaning off my emails before I head off to bed, I thought this cartoon could easily apply to Mom's Day as well, eh?

LOL



Have yourselves a GREAT week!

Rosa

Big Honkin' Basket!!!

WARNING - PHOTO OVERLOAD !!!

Hi There!

Yesterday, I went to my 3rd Hook-In - WHAT FUN!!!

We all got the 2nd Rotunda rug-hook pattern, of the stained glass skylight, at the Saint John Arts Centre.



I'll probably try a different technique, again, for this one. Once again, they asked that we complete our mini rug and bring it back, to expose for our next Hook-In, next year.

Our Hook-In was held in the Saint John Arts Centre. This time, I was sitting beside the most moving picture that I think I've ever seen.

This fisherman looked either exhausted, or discouraged because they hadn't caught too much lobster.... or perhaps, they had lost one of their fisherman.... or perhaps, he was seasick - look at the waves.

In any case, many of the hookers commented on this picture, by Nicole Wolf.

Well, like most events, there's always the fund raising part. Our Hook-In was no exception.

For 5 dollars, I got 3 tickets.

Up for the draw were 2 baskets FULL of rug hooking stuff and 2 tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil, in my city.

GUESS WHAT!?!??

I nearly fell on my butt!!!

I won one of the baskets!!!!!



Inside, there was the cutest little pin...

Some rug hooking notions, as well as a signed copy of "Rags to Riches", signed by the author, a proddy hook, hand made by one of our local artisans.... a sturdy embroidery or rug hooking frame and some binding.

Some beautiful blue toned (felted) wool as well as a skein of GORGEOUS Briggs and Little wool.

A beautiful Celtic pattern!!!

Some white wool, as well as some peach/salmon wool.

Some LOVELY greens and plaids!

Some yarn to rove and other fun pieces!

And some incredible "greys", as well!

Oh.... I also got to finish my
"Funky Chickens".

It's not completely done. Gilbert and I will be doing a "montage" with this one and the wood, for the frame isn't quite ready. *s*

All in all, I had a LOVELY day!!!!

Rosa

Painted Candle Sticks!!!

Hi There!

Thanks to Gilbert's gentle reminder that the candle sticks were STILL on his workshop counter and that I STILL hadn't done anything with them, I started painting their base coat, yesterday evening....



Two ivory, base coats later, they're now ready for adding flowers or whatever I want to add to them.

But FIRST, I need to find the PERFECT fabric, print some circles with "Inklingo", draw some leaves on some "Heat 'N Bond", iron them on felted wool, blanket stitch around the leaves, etc, etc. etc.

Once this is done, THEN I can select the "matching" paint and re-do the fabric design or close enough, on my candlesticks.

*grin*

Stay tuned for the rest of this project, folks!

As for today's funny, I bring to you the first in a series of cute images, that I got, once again, in an email.

*grin*


Have a Special Sunday!

Rosa

Installing Spring....

Hi There!

Yesterday, on April Fool's day and much to my disgust, we got a mini snow storm. Enough to cause some grief in my life. For your information, ALL snow and ice had melted away in my city and Gilbert had even put away the shovels and our (car) snow brush last weekend!

The snow started around 11 a.m. yesterday and stopped around 5 p.m. It must have snowed a bit more during the night 'cause our car had to be cleaned off AGAIN, this morning.

We're talking about 8 inches of snow!

Thankfully, it was the wet kind and will probably disappear in a day or two!

This morning, I opened our back door and took a picture, for your viewing pleasure.



And speaking of "weather", this past Thursday, I received THIS, in my email box.

I thought you might get a chuckle from it.

Have yourselves a Wonderful Weekend!

Rosa