Happy Monday!

 

Today I had the pleasure of driving to Denver to deliver contracts to the state.

Since I had to go to lunch somewhere I opted to find and try Cake Crumbs in the historic Park Hill district.

It was a day of beautiful weather, yummy veggie sliders lunch and cupcakes to bring home. So glad I had the opportunity to find a little adventure today.

 

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Finishing Charm School #2

Finally, I am getting to the finish work on this piece.

I love how it looks, tried just a raw edge applique technique with an echo quilting around the area. I think it looks okay for my first attempt at this.

It will be a gift later this year but not going to tell you for who, that will spoil the surpise.

I see you all now going - oh, I hope it is for me! Time will tell. :-)

Sharkado and Applique

 

Some of you know that I am a huge shark fan, no, not the sharks on ice, the real live swimming creatures. And, with that said, a huge fan of shark movies. For me it started with Jaws and has continued from there.

 

Last night I got to see new cult movie, Sharknado from. The Sy Sfy channel. It was wonderfully horrible bad, a true B-rate movie. However, the premise is great and the story line is acceptable. I don't need to own it, but it was great to see it.

While I was getting ready to watch it I was ironing on the applique sections of my Charm School 2 project.now I am ready to stitch and quilt this piece. I hope it's recipient truly enjoys it.

 

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Exploring Ideas for a Simpler Life

As some of you may have noticed there is a new section in the blogs that I read on the left hand side of the blog screen. I have titled this section Inspiration for Living More Simply. I have added the first group of the ones I have found the most interesting and informative. 

Cat's Meow - in a recent guest post, someone outlines how the keep their wardrobe to the basic minimums. I will be taking some of these suggestions into my closet in the next week or so as I do my seasonal changeout.

Tiny House blog - goes into how to live in a smaller space, get efficiencies and even how to build your own. Lots of good ideas.

Zen Habits - addresses everything from decluttering to meditation to becoming an entrepreneur. Lots of good stuff to read here.

Be More With Less - is about "life on purpose". She reviews all things related to getting out of debt to mindful purchases to simpler meals.

My Simpler Life - she offers a due clutter calendar to help keep you on track.

Rowdy Kittens - her motto is go small, think big and be happy. She has written a couple of books, available for a small price that have lots of good ideas in them. And she takes beautiful pictures, well worth a look.

My plan is to look for a few more good blogs on this subject and add them to the list next month.
Until then, be open to all the ideas coming your way,one of them is going to be a winner.
I have others on my list to investigate. I have found in my years of blogging that if I put a blog in the roll I will read it more often because I see it.

My plan is to post once a week progress in my progress towards a more simpler lifestyle.

Staff Appreciation Hat

Here is what I knit yesterday during the staff appreciation day. Hats are a great portable project that you can knit even while walking around at the Wellness Fair and carnival, and while watching the K-9 unit demonstration.

This was knit from the Starving Artist pattern, with Berroco Campus on size 10.5US in the 7 inch version which turned out slouchy for me, but can be rolled up at the brim if need be.
It is a fun and fast knit.

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Arrrgh! Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day~!

Blogsy

This app will allow me to blog from anywhere, anytime, so I might have better luck blogging more often. As you can see but the post below, my first attempt was not very clean.

Let's have another go at this and I will practice adding another picture with some wraparound feature. This is a picture of the pumpkin hot mats I created simply from a picture I found on Pinterest. I really like them.

More later this week.

 

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What Is on my needles?

How do I get a clean page to write post

 

 

Welcome to Blogsy!

Let's get started.

1. Set

If you would like to Edit HTML or need to paste embed codes then just swipe with three fingers across the screen to flip to the HTML side.

Here's a quick overview pointing out where to go to do all the things you want to do.

How-To Videos and How-To Guide

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This post is for all of you that think I have forsaken my knitting. It is not true. I am knitting regularly however have not had a lot to blog about because what I am knitting are hats for charity.

This pile is being knit for donation to our local homeless shelter in time for cold weather. I have about 8 done for the month of August with more to come.

I am destashing my bucket of bulky weight yarns. For the heavier weight, like lion brand thick and quick, I am knitting them on size 11US and for the lighter bulky I am using size 9US.

And, for this post, I am using my Blogsy app. Let's hope this works.

 

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Mini Quilt

This idea has possibilities for me. I have limited space to work on my sewing so large quilts will be a challenge.

I think I have found an answer to practice quilting techniques, get a finished project and have lots of fun in the process; a mini quilt.

This one is a practice of applique technique so I can get ready to finish the second project from my Charm School classes. I used raw edge with free motion to create this one, then did my first attempt at echo stitching.

And note the size, about 6 inches long by, maybe, 3 inches wide; could be used as a bookmark. Currently it is hung on my gallery line at my office along with some of the other samples I have done.

I love possibilities, options and new ideas for my crafting.

Chester the Squirrel

Chester has found his home with a co-worker who just had her first baby this summer.

The "squirrel" all started with one of our docs teasing her about having a "baby squirrel".

I created Chester for him to gift to her now that she is back from maternity leave.

It is a very cute pattern from Felt Magical.com

Never Forget!

Placemat - Testing the Sashed Effect

 This is a test of a placemat idea I found while visiting the Quilt Show in Westcliffe the end of August.

The fabric used in this one was purchased at Nuts and Bolts earlier this summer.

This one will get used as a tray liner for me. I have adjusted my "recipe" for future ones that I intend to make with the black and white prints that I saw them in at the show.

I used the quilt as you go method to create this one. I like the way it turns out. For now, off to use the scraps for a little gift for a friend.

Potluck Tablerunners - Fast and Handy

These are things that you cannot have just one; just like potato chips.

This pattern/recipe is called 10 minute table runner. I can say that it is true if you do not do any of the fancy stitch work that I find myself doing.

I just think it looks more polished. In the picture, the leaf one has a line of leaves embroidery stitch from my machine along the seam line in the gold area and the red and white one has the added strip of black fabric to define the two prints better.

Mom and I are in negotiations about embroidery pieces for the point ends. More on that later. I am sure we will  be testing this idea soon.

Until then, happy crafting to all~!

Road Trip: To the Salida Fiber Festival

It was a beautiful mountain morning when we left for Salida to go to the 2nd Annual Fiber Fest. This time we took the high road over from Florissant to Hwy 9 and south to the Royal Gorge area.

The river road (aka Hwy 50) was busy with fisherfolk enjoying the warm and quiet morning. The picture of the river is taken from the Lone Pine rest area that is just west of Cotopaxi.

We discovered that word has gotten out about this fiber festival, parking was difficult to find and the park was full by the time we got there around 10:30 a.m. And there are lots more vendors and demonstrations plus more fabric projects. It was great.

We found other folks that we knew, which is always fun. After spending time ogling the offerings and seeing what the vendors had to offer, we headed over to the River's Edge for a late lunch. It was marvelous to sit on the patio, riverside and enjoy the company of the extraordinary women that are fellow knitters, quilters and related fiber fans.

After lunch part of the group waded in the river to cool feet, then we headed back up "F" Street to see the other shops and go to Fringe. Along the way, we found the men of a wedding party having their pictures taken in front of the wall of kayaks. This picture can match the one I took last year of the bride's wedding party wading into the river in their Wellingtons to have pictures taken. Too fun.

All in all it was a great day~! Thanks, ladies, for joining me on this road trip. Let's mark our calendars for next year - the dates are set for September 6&7, 2014.