Brain Worms and More!

Hi There!

No, I haven't fallen off the planet and YES, I've been (keeping) busy and YES, it HAS been keeping me out of trouble.

Any other questions?

LOL

I have been busy working on my scrappy 9 patch blocks from Bonnie K. Hunter's book, which, BTW, just yesterday morning I realized that I had taken a picture of Bonnie's other book, instead of the one that I was working on!

I'll try and take a quick "Blog-on-the-Run"
picture of her book, later today.

Friday afternoon, I had a quilty friend
pick up her quilt and drop off a bag of scraps,
for me!!!

It felt like Christmas morning!!!

And, at one point, I told Gilbert, I need to take a picture of her bag of scrappies to post it on my blog and then.... I completely forgot and got lost into the sorting out and cutting strips and, and, and.... HONESTLY, when the table was all cleared off, I stood up, stretched and thought, "DARN! I was going to take a picture of her bag!!!"

LOL

Late yesterday afternoon, I was able to continue re-piecing my scrappy nine patch blocks and when I stopped, I was missing (only) 10 more blocks!

Guess what I'll be doing this morning?!??

Remember, this pattern requires 290 scrappy 9 patch blocks!

*grin*

And as the famous Jean Luc Picard would say....



And THAT'S just ONE one of the reasons
why I LOVE Star Trek so much!

LOL

Brain worm of the day?

Red Solo Cups

Heard this song TWICE on the radio and this morning, I woke up with it in my head. It's a silly, but catchy tune!

So, I had to Google it since I wanted to know, for sure, what a "red Solo cup" actually was...

Was surprised at who sang this song but then, once I found out, I said to myself, "Yep, I shoulda guessed that it would be a Toby Keith song!"

LOL






Gilbert and I did a couple yard sales, yesterday. First ones of the season.

For 5 bucks, I picked up an old wooden box, filled with lots of paint and craft items.... mostly acrylic paints, 2 packages of polymer(?) clay, oil pastel crayons and other goodies.

BONUS!!!

Soooo, here's my loosely planned agenda, for the day:

Laundry = Work
Quilting (later) = Play

Hope you have a well a well balanced
Sunday, too!

Rosa

Tzat You Mah?!?

Hi There!

Today, after work,
I had a planned "Me" day!

I went up town and
went to visit my favorite store,
"Sudsmuffin"!!!

As I was getting low on my chocolate sugar bath scrub, I picked up another jar. This time, I chose "Satsuma". It smells like orange tangerines!!!

Mr. Sudsmuffin - the store owner and soap cook - told me that Satsuma means Japanese oranges.

I can believe that!
*g*

Well, after visiting with my friend at Sudsmuffin, I went to "Urban Deli".

While waiting for my cousin Gisele to meet up with me, I asked both my waiters if they wanted to smell my jar. They had heard of ... or walked by "Sudsmuffin" and had no idea what was sold in this store.

They were both astonished at the intoxicating and almost edible odor of my jar! I spent a good 5 minutes extolling the virtues and soapy wares of Sudsmuffin! I mean, when I'm passionate about something and truly believe in it - WATCH OUT!

I've had people tell me that I could easily sell snow to Eskimos!

LOL

After supper, Gisele and I met up with my Aunt - Gisele's Mom - at "InPrint" - a bookstore on King Street - where my blogging friend, Riel Nason, was having a book reading and signing.
(more about that in another blog)

While waiting for the book reading to start, I pulled out my jar and had my Aunt smell it. My Aunt has problems with "scents" - I had forgotten about that minor detail.

Anyhow, she LOVED the scent and had no real problems with it!

Imagine that, eh?


(All you need is approx. 1 tablespoon of body scrub and your favorite scrubby to get a great, foamy lather that miraculously rinses off CLEAN, quickly and leaves your skin SMOOTH and not yicky and scratchy!)

So, of COURSE I had the people sitting nearby smell my jar! Everyone that I spoke to about Sudsmuffin had either heard about them or walked in front of their store and never bothered to step inside and question WHAT they actually sell!

Moral of my blog?

If you walk in front of a store EVERY SINGLE DAY, on your way to work and you have NO IDEA what they do.... TAKE 5 minutes, step inside and say,

"HI! What do you guys sell? I'm curious."

Chances are , they would be more than pleased to show you what they sell or do!

*********************

Well, after the book reading, we went to our cars and it was rainy and wet and cold and blustery... a completely yucky evening!

I came home and took a shower to warm up with
my Satsuma body scrub!

Intoxicating and relaxing - all in one jar!

Rosa
(No affiliation with this company other than they're my friends)

And YES, they ship internationally, too!

Love Comes in Many Different Shapes...

Hi There!

You're probably wondering what I've been up to and why I've been so quiet.

Well, as my Blog title reads, I'm here to prove to you that love surely DOES come in many different shapes!

Last month, I was lucky enough to be able to order an HP TouchPad for $149 dollars. HP is getting rid of these tablets and instead of $599, they were on sale for peanuts!

Last week, I received my Touch!



That same evening, I HAD to run out and accessorize my new Touch!

I picked up what the friendly young geek tech at Staples called a "Fleatherette" case.

It protects my Touch...



But you can open it up, like a book and, stand it up on a table, as well.



And, it's got these neat squarish and soft bubbles....

You can rest the edge of the Touch amongst the bubbles and play with your Touch that way, as well!

Yes, it resembles the iPad, but was much, MUCH cheaper!!!

OH!!! And I've signed up with Kindle and have read TWO books, so far!

Can't remember the last time that I went to bed and read!

Have I been sewing much? Well, certainly not as much as pre-HP TouchPad, but I've been relaxing and enjoying myself. How's that for an answer?!??

LOL

And then, since I may take my Touch with me, I needed this cool little black bag with LOADS of pockets and a shoulder strap... for only 14 bucks!!!

I know it's silly but gosh DARN I feel so important with these nifty accessories!!!

Besides, the friendly young geek at Staples TOLD me it was a great buy!

LOL

As for my 2nd "love", my friend Barb Honey brought in her quilt for Gilbert and Bertha to work their magic.

OH MY GOD, but it's gorgeous!!!!

She gave me permission to blog about it, even!

When I asked her if she designed this quilt.... she simply replied with a "ROFL"...

Here's what she wrote:

"This was a homework assignment from the second year of the scrappy club I joined in Kelowna, B.C. We were given a type of Log Cabin setting and told to make a quilt. Mine was the courthouse steps setting. I just kept adding blocks as I went - no plan! The checkerboard border is from one of Bonnie Hunter's quilt in her book."

As spectacular as it looks on my blog, it looks a 100 times better in person!

I LOVE scrappy quilts!!!!

Hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday!!!

Rosa

Braggin' Buys on Canada Day!

Hi There!

First of all....

HAPPY CANADA DAY, eh!!!!!

Second, Gilbert and I went Yard Sailing, this morning and only went to one place but BOY, did WE hit the jackpot!!!!

Gilbert got himself a TWO dollar computer. Nope, he couldn't get it to work but he recuperated an 80 gig hard drive and a whole bunch of other stuff!

He was a happy camper!



Are you all sitting down?!?!??!

Guess what "I" saw, on the ground and in it's proper box?!?!??!

The cutest little Featherweight, for only $10.00!!!

But, since I picked up another item, I talked her down to NINE DOLLARS!!!

The box was a bit dirty and Gilbert's since cleaned it up.



There's 2 boxes of accessories and one of them had a receipt in it.

The original owners(?) paid $5.72 for one(?) of the boxes of accessories!

And it's dated the 1st of December 1951 !!!!

According to the serial number it would appear as if it was produced in Scotland, in 1951!

Here's another picture of the "box", featherweight and accessories.

Soooo, Gilbert and I did some reorganizing, with the surface of our china cabinet and I pulled out "Callie Elena" and we will be leaving these two out, on display.

Don't they both look ADORABLE!??!?

Nope, before anyone asks, we haven't had a chance to try it out but Gilbert says the motor's not seized - he turned it manually AND the lady that I bought it from said it worked the last time she sewed on it and YES, the bobbin case is there, too!

There doesn't seem to be any scratches or worn out spots - truly a wonderous machine!

*VBG*


This afternoon, I managed to sew some more frames and strips around my batik blocks.

We'll be Yard Sailing again, tomorrow morning... but I imagine by afternoon, I should be able to work on these batik blocks and finish off this King Sized quilt!

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Rosa

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

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

More Braggin' Buys!

Hi There!

Gilbert and I went to "Restore"
and I was lucky enough to
spot these mini candle holders....
at 25 cents apiece!!!!



I started by grabbing the first 3 in the front....
And then, said to myself,
"This is ridiculous! At 25 cents,
they're ALL coming home with me!"

LOL

Any idea what I plan on doing with these?!?!?

And Elaine and Frummie...
you can't play my guessing game
'cause you probably BOTH know
what these will become!

*VBG*

Now, I just need a couple more hours
in any given day, this week...
to start work on them.

Will keep you all
up to date on my progress...

Rosa

Yard Sales 'n Stars!!!

Hi There!

Last Saturday, Gilbert found a couple yard sales,
on our way to do errands.

I wasn't too keen on going,
but am desperate to find a "rug hooking cutter",
and at $200 (plus), it's kinda out of my budget range,
at this moment.... and, silly me,
I'm hoping that someone will have one of these cutters,
at their yard sale for 2 bucks!
Yep - wishful thinking, but ya never know, eh?
*grin*

Anyhow, saw this candy jar, on a table for 3 bucks.

I NEVER haggle, but this time I offered 2 bucks
and the (nice) lady agreed.
SOLD!

Gilbert cleaned it up for me
and, once dried, I quickly filled it up
with my red, burgundy and pink threads!


(Don't cha just LOVE "Ordinary Stuff" that can be converted into "Sewing Stuff"?!??)

In the meantime, that day, we stopped at "Bulk Barn" and I spied a smaller candy jar! I figured that I'd use the smaller one in my home office... for when I'm hand piecing or appliquing, or whatever. And the 2nd one - oh YES, I got a 2nd one - could be used to put my thimbles in it!

*grin*

What's on my design wall, these days, you ask?

Well, as you can see, I've been busy making more "stars"!

WARNING: These CAN and WILL BE addictive!

Well, I started piecing them together, as per the magazine's instructions.

I nearly finished 1 complete row.
There's another blue diamond and yet another star required, at the end of this row (right side).

And here's a close up of these stars.
See the tumbling blocks?!?
Cool, eh?!??!?

This pattern's from "American Patchwork and Quilting", June 2010 issue.

It's starts on page 88 and it's called "Honeycomb Stars", designed by Cindy Blackberg, but I'm told that the dark blue fabric is from the Jo Morton line and my friend Elaine sent me the EXACT SAME blue fabric -
how awesome is that, eh?!?!??!?

Also, we're a small group of buddettes that swapped
(Civil War fabrics) diamonds, printed on Inklingo....

That's how I managed to get so many
DIFFERENT colored CW diamonds!

Well, I'm off to bed soon.

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Rosa

Canada Day, eh?

Hi there!

To me, nothing says "Canada Day" more than going to a great Garage Sale!

Most communities even have "Community Garage Sales" organized, on July 1st!!!

Well, Gilbert and I had been preparing for our Garage Sale, since January, I do believe. We had been sorting out and putting aside "stuff" to sell, on July 1st.



Road signs were placed...

We even had a section for "Free Stuff"!

Here's the table with a lot of pre-packaged grab bags of fabric and other crafty items.

Here's Gilbert's table of computer and electronic "stuff"...

Why, even my car was up for sale!!!

Well, all in all, it wasn't as successful as we had hoped, although I DID hand out a few Longarm quilting business cards! One quilter said she was VERY interested!
*keeping fingers crossed*

Anyhow, from 8 a.m. till 1h30 p.m., our total sales added up to $17.50.

We WILL re-do this, but on a Saturday. Maybe too many people left the city? Maybe they were too busy, with other Canada Day festivities?

Who knows, eh?

Rosa
*off to bed*

Yard Sailing, Again!!!!

Hi there!

Yard Sale Season is starting up, again!

Last Saturday, Gilbert and I did the rounds.

Picked up a few (new) gifts for Christmas,
for my niece and nephew and managed to grab these 2 items, also.




As for THIS item, I just couldn't resist it!

Yes, I know it's missing it's cover, but it was
a) a teapot,
b) pink - can't go wrong there! LOL
c) and it will make a FANTASTIC pen/pencil holder, for work!

These items, were approx. 25 cents each, or less....
They were thrown into the box and
the whole lot went for 5 bucks!

Rosa

Giving Thanks - One last time...

Hi There!

Remember those wonderful tomatoes,
that we harvested, at the end of September?

I had blogged about it...
"I Need Tomato Recipes!"

Well, we put those 4 tomatoes on our windowsill
and I hated to tell you but we lost one -
Yep! It had turned "bad", on us, unfortunately.
:-(

Anyhow, yesterday evening,
Gilbert and I shared a bittersweet moment...
We cut up and ate the last of our crop...



Seriously, it makes for a nice picture though, eh?

And, I had forgotten to share with you,
this "Braggin' Buy", from this summer.

When Gilbert and I first got together,
I knew that he loves different shaped pastas.

So, I had special ordered this poster,
to put in our kitchen.

That was 10 years ago and...
*hangs her head in shame*...
the poster was getting dirty and dusty.

We have a store in our city called "Value Village".

They have a bunch of 2nd hand and
sometimes still new, but out-dated stuff...

Mostly clothes but they do have a big selection of "stuff".

Well, lookee here!
I picked up a smaller version of our poster,
but this one was mounted on a pressboard base,
with a thingy on the back - ready to hang!

For 2 bucks!!!

The previous poster, with shipping, had cost me 30!

Go figure, eh?

LOL

Have a great weekend!

Rosa

Pre-Garage Sale!!!

Hi there!

My friend and her hubby just recently
purchased a home, for their son.

The elderly lady that lived there before,
became ill and had to go, unexpectedly,
in a Nursing Home.

Therefore, the home was sold with
all her "stuff" in it - 20 years of "stuff", actually.

My friend asked if I'd help her set up
a "Yard Sale" and we'd go halfers,
with the profits.


Here's a picture of the garage -
TRUST ME... there was a LOT of "stuff"
to sort through and dust off!!!
(my aching bones are protesting, tonight!!!)

PLUS, the basement is JAM-PACKED with "stuff", too!

Nope.... there's no featherweight, in this case....

The sewing machine, itself, was given to "Good Will",
but I will DEFINITELY give them a call, tomorrow.

Who knows, eh? Perhaps they still have the machine.
(I doubt it, but I can still try, eh?)

THIS baby was in a nice wooden cabinet.

And I'm hoping to get your help....

D'you guys or gals know if this is a "featherweight"?

If not, is it a very valuable or sought out machine?

Here's a close-up....

And here are 2 pictures of the serial numbers,
UNDERNEATH the machine.

Soooooo, in case some of you were wondering
and most especially, to my friend Elly....

NO, I was NOT gardening but sorting out
and dusting and cleaning and getting
items ready for our garage sale,
this coming weekend.

And GOSH... am "I" out of shape!!!!!

Plus the fact that I'm not used to
being outdoors -
I work in an office, with a nice comfortable
chair, for my butt....
:-(

Or wait! maybe I should be typing a
"Happy Face" instead of a sad face!

:-)

LOL

Hope you have a nice week!!!

Rosa

More odd bits of news!

Hi There!

Okay, here's another GREAT buy
that I picked up at Mardens:
Perle Cotton Thread....
2 for $1.00 !!!!



Now, since I posted my BRIGHT colors,
my friend Frummie sent me a picture
of fabs that she picked up
YESTERDAY afternoon.

Guess what?!??
They're "Brights", too!!!!

Sorry Frummie.
I KNOW I should have asked you first,
but I didn't think you'd mind
if I posted your pic on here.
*grin*



Then, today, my cousin "G" sent me an email.

She managed to find out information
about "Cali Elena"!!!!

Here's what "G" wrote:

"Hi - I was reading your blog - congratulations to you for your new (to you) sewing machine! Sounds like it was a big surprise! You probably have found this by now, but this page http://www.singerco.com/support/serial_2letter.html says your machine was made in 1951 at Anderson, South Carolina USA. ~ G ~"
Hope you don't mind that I
copied your email, "G"!!!

Now, at least I know that
"Cali Elena" was born in 1951 !!!

Thanks "G"!!!!!

On the sewing front, I've completed
a over-the-shoulder tote,
for my niece, whom I affectionately call
"Princess Sophia". *grin*


And then, since I had a LOT
of Eye Spy fabrics,
I decided to make an
Eye Spy quilt, for
the Princess.

No, it's not quilted yet,
but it IS on my "to-do" list,
once I start helping my
friend with her Long Arm machine.


Here's a couple close-ups...



And the bottom part...


Okay, I'm pretty tired....

Hope you have a great evening!

Rosa