I've Been Tagged

I have been tagged by a new to me blogger, Phyllis at Crumbs of Happiness, to list 7 things about myself so I'm game. I've been tagged to do this before but not in a while so I'll do it again. By the way, go see Phyllis' blog and scroll down and see her Hollyhocks quilt. I love it. All you girls doing the Batik challenge like Lisa and Nicole would have loved this quilt to make. So here goes.

1. I have one artificial knee-my left one. I had the surgery almost three years ago after a long time with bad knee pain. There was a long re-hab but it was worth it. I may have another surgery for my right knee in my future. I just gotta keep remembering that it will be worth it.

2. When I was a newlywed in the 70's living on an Air Force base, John Denver's mother, Erma, was on a bowling league with me.

3. I worked in an Art Museum for two years and an Art Gallery for 4 years and I know nothing about art. Luckily they never caught on.

4. I have had 4 cats. One of them is in kitty hell I am sure. He was a difficult cat.

5. I married a man I went to kindergarten with.

6. I have season tickets to UNH hockey. I like college hockey.

7. And here's a random thing about me-I met Spiro Agnew. I worked in a restaurant in college in Massachusetts and met him there. And if you don't know who Spiro Agnew is you're way too young.

So the last time I did this I tagged 7 people, half of whom got mad at me so I will only tag my daughter, Caryl, since she's a new blogger. Have fun Caryl. Can't wait to see what she writes.

A Late Start, But at Least a Start

Have you seen the FREE Block of the month at Bunny Hill Designs? Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs is offering this BOM and although I'm getting started a little late I am going to stitch along with the others doing this and from the look of the blocks already done in the Flickr group there are some great blocks coming along. The block above is Anne's so hopefully soon you'll see mine.

While you're checking out the BOM at her blog Bunny Tales, be sure to sign up for her fabric give away. Free stuff-what could be better!

The Inauguration

I hope you all got to watch the inauguration. I had to work which upset me because I would have loved to vegetate in front of the television all day and see all the events. But the college I work at was very generous in setting up various places on campus to watch the events. My co-workers and I chose to watch in the lobby of the building we work in. We staked our place early on a couch which is in the left front of the above picture (I'm the one on the close end of the couch, in black). I have to say that watching it with a crowd was very enjoyable and watching with many young adults was especially fun. Plus there was food-what more did we need! It was an inspiring day. I hope there are many more inspiring days to come.

Color, Contrast and Hue

I have found it hard to produce much of anything in this brutal winter we are having mainly because my sewing studio tends to be cold and I don't like it. Note to self-get a space heater. But anyways I have done a little bit of sewing on my Country Living quilt.

This is a quilt kit and it arrived with the fabrics nicely divided up by reds, greens, blacks and lights. The fabric in the star blocks are supposed to consist of a dark red for the stars and a light for the background. But the star fabric on the right just does not have enough contrast in it to stand on it's own with the background. So I turned that particular fabric into a background fabric and it works just fine.
I have not had that problem with any of the other fabrics. They are behaving very nicely for me. I worked at an art gallery at one time and I learned a lot about color, contrast and hue in that job. Everyone thinks color is the most important part of a quilt but it's really hue which in turn provides contrast. So if your quilts just aren't looking quite right, try thinking about the hue of the fabric and get some contrast in there!

Ode to New Hampshire

Ode to New Hampshire

It's winter in New Hampshire

And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love New Hampshire

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave New Hampshire

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Compliments of my daughter Caryl.

Winter Sun on Quilt

If the picture below was in an art gallery I think it would be called "Winter Sun on Quilt". The sun low in the sky was streaming into my sewing studio over the weekend and highlighting my Country Living quilt which I have started.
It's going slowly with my limited sewing time. Plus the fact there are a lot of pieces with this quilt.

It was nice, though, to see some sun for a change. It has been doing a good job of hiding this winter. I hope you're having better weather than us.

And don't forget to visit my favorite new blogger Stamps and Stiches, my little girl, Caryl.

P.S.-She's 27 but she's still my little girl!

A Very Special New Blogger-Go Say Hi!

That pretty girl on the right above is my daughter Caryl. The girl on the left is her high school friend Julie. Anyways, she is a very, very crafty and talented young woman and she has started a blog so please stop in to Stamps and Stitches and say hi! She makes the most amazing cards and has made many of my Christmas cards. She also is an amazing crocheter, cross stitcher and decorator of her cute home. She has also done some sewing and made a quilt so she is far more talented than her Mom. Along with all this she is a first grade teacher and works part time at a Hallmark store. This year she is teaching in a different school and actually replaced her first grade teacher who retired after teaching 38 years so I don't know how she finds all the time to be so crafty but she does. So stop by and greet a new blogger. Her camera is at her brother's house right now so soon she'll be posting some of her projects which I know you'll enjoy.