The Lesson I Learned

"The only place housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary"
                                                                                      quote by Mary Kurtz


Most days this is a very true quote in my house.  No matter if it's quilting, cross stitching, or crocheting, it all takes precedence over housework.  Guess that's one of the reasons I have a house cleaner come in once every two weeks.  Thank goodness for Lorraine!

Today is my daughter, Megan's, birthday!  Happy Birthday, Megan.  Megan is the reason I even started this blog.  I so enjoyed reading hers that it inspired me to take the leap.  Take a hop over and check her out at Kitschy Suburbia. 

Did everyone have a wonderful weekend?  Mine was busy but we got a lot done.  Saturday morning we started out running.  First we visited the Farmers Market for lots of yummy fresh veggies and fruits.  Home to fridge the goods - summer squash, white sweet corn, romaine lettuce, buckwheat honey (I didn't fridge this), asparagus, new potatoes, purple potatoes, and strawberries.  Then on to what I fondly call "Our Costco/Walmart run".  We usually hit Walmart first where I always seem to end up in the crafts department for one thing or another - usually yarn for my Project Linus projects.  Then on to Costco.  We try to get there early enough to beat all of the sample kiosks being set up but no such luck this time.  It was a zoo!    Nothing makes the aisles harder to navigate than having whole families trying samples!  Then out to lunch at our favorite spot, The Village Grill, of course, and a trip up the hill to Petsmart and Lowes and on to Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Had to get a new hummingbird feeder as the one I had developed a leak and was attracting lots of bees.  At Lowes we had to buy a new sprinkler clock since the old one kept going on and off when the sprinklers were running causing the pipes to really rattle under the house, a new flag pole for my seasonal flags, and a bag of lump charcoal.  Then we went back across town to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a package of Debbie Meyer Green Bags (more on those at a later date), a new adjustable two cup measuring cup (I absolutely love this), and a basting brush for the hubs to use while barbecuing.  Our last stop was to purchase a Super Lottery ticket - which wasn't a winner this week :( 

We had an unexpected run up to Target yesterday morning.  We finally 'entered the dark side', as my husband called it, and purchased ourselves a Wii.  We originally planned to wait until Christmas to gift it to each other, but Target had it on sale for the lowest price I have seen yet, so we figured we better not wait.  So, of course, we wasted the afternoon away play Wii Sports and Mario Kart.  We had a blast!

Here's my daily photo:

One of our hummingbirds coming in to feed -  Black Chinned Female

Do you know that a group of hummingbirds is called?  There are many collective nouns, including "bouquet", "glittering", "hover", "shimmer", and "tune" of hummingbirds.  It is also an interesting fact that their nests can expand while the nestlings grow.  In cold weather, Black Chinned hummingbirds ingest three times its body weight in nectar in one day.

Friday was the third lesson in the Hawaiian Quilt with Quilt University.  I learned how to do needleturn applique.  Well, I'm still learning but I thought I would share a couple of pics with you anyway.

Here I am turning under the seam allowance using just the tip of the needle to push under approximately 3/16"  - it's a guessing game for me at this point

This shows the needle still holding the seam allowance in place.  It looks straight, thank goodness.

To make a stitch, the needle should enter the background fabric right up next to the applique fabric.

Take a small stitch with the needle coming up to catch only a couple of threads (2 or 3) of the applique fabric.  Pull the thread through and repeat the above step.

The underside of the background fabric.  My stitches aren't very even yet, but hopefully with time they will become more consistent.

Here is some of my first completed stitching.  The stitches don't show too much (especially from a distance)

Now I have two weeks to complete all of my applique stitching before the next class.  I'm going to try to keep careful records of the total stitching time on this.  It will give me an idea for future projects.  I hope you weren't too bored by this!

Check out the big giveaway at Nailstah.  She is giving away a 'ton' of polish.

Another super giveaway is happening at Canton Village Quilt Works.  She is giving away a GO! Cutter courtesy of AccuQuilt!  (Maybe I shouldn't tell you about this one, because I really want to win it myself!)

Rose Room Quilts is having a giveaway - 7 fat quarters of the new Daisy Doodle fabrics.

Also check out the giveaway at Quiltstory.  They are giving away two sets of fat quarters that are wonderful!

And you can't forget my first giveaway. Don't forget to enter soon, the winner will be announced next Monday, September 30th!!

On with the week.  Obviously I have a lot of hand sewing ahead.  I hope to nearly complete the cross stitch Christmas stocking I'm working on since I wanted it done by the end of the month.  Hope your week is productive and happy!