It's Party Time!!!!

My NewFO Challenge project for May was supposed to be a simple one.....

Bird on a Branch

I finally decided to make this small wall-hanging from this awesome Piece O' Cake book, Applique Outside the Lines, that I've been drooling over for several years now!

I love Sharon's Let's Book It party because it encourages me to get some of those dusty books off the shelf and make those quilts that I love so much!

This small wall-hanging can be used as part of a larger one that I also love.....

Can you see that the left side portion is Bird on a Branch?  I still need to decide whether mine will just be Bird on a Branch or if it wants to be part of this bigger wall-hanging called Tree O' Life.  I reeeeaaaallllly like this bigger one!!!!

In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and make the small portion and see how I like it before deciding whether to go for the whole shebang.  (Note:  I'm going to pull a 'Barbara' here and advise you that Miriam Webster Online states the definition of 'shebang' is, "everything involved in what is under consideration."  Just sayin'.....

So I pulled fabrics .....

........... and traced off the designs onto fusible.....

But then I realized it was going to be pretty darn small - a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  Looking back at the pattern to see why that might be, I realized they were supposed to be enlarged by 50% - yikes!!!  And of course since I was at retreat I didn't have access to a printer and had to stop working on it.  Basically I'm going to have to start over .....  but I did get started on it!  And that's all that's required to be eligible to join in the NewFO Challenge according to our NewFO Guru, Barbara.  

(Of course, if you ask me -- and you did, didn't you? -- I think Smitty and Gracie are really the ones pulling the strings over at Cat Patches blog *VBG*  They make Barbara say it is all her idea so they won't have to deal with any of the work.... cats are really, really smart that way!  =^..^=)

Linking up with these fun parties - Come on and join in the fun!!!!

Cat Patches' May NewFO Challenge party -

Vrooman's Let's Book It! party -

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Down the Rabbit Hole......

Spring is rabbit season!!!!  I know, because we have them hopping about all over the place in our backyard, and there are even little babies in our neighbor's yard - those little babies are just too darn cute!!!!

Some of you may have been thinking I had fallen down one of those rabbit holes LOL!!! 

Down the Rabbit Hole
Original Acrylic Painting by Carolee Clark
Credit Source - Etsy

I know!  

I've been gone from Blogland for WAY too long!!!

There are - as always - lots of reasons for my absence, and I promise not bore you with them all.... pshew!!! Aren't you relieved?  :*)  Suffice it to say that things have been a-hoppin' and a-jumpin' at the AQAP household!  Well, all except My Guy, who is doing NO hoppin' or jumpin' for a little while....

Nothing like a little knee surgery to slow a guy down, right?

Our upstairs Heat & Air unit finally bit the dust, which of course required lots of men in jeans and boots tromping up and down the stairs for a few days.  No getting in the sewing studio during those days!  Then, when the HVAC guys did their survey, we discovered there was no insulation in the outside walls or the floor of my sewing studio (over the garage) - and that's why it's colder than a .... (well, you know the rest of that phrase) .... in there every winter!  We had to cut holes in the walls .....

.... for them to crawl through and stuff in the insulation.  And then they punched a million holes in the ceiling of the garage (with hammers!!!!) in order to pipe the insulation between there and my studio floor .....

My sewing room was a wreck with my stuff piled everywhere!!!

(This was the only picture fit for public viewing!)

I couldn't find anything or get to my machines for a week, so no sewing for me.  We decided since everything was in an uproar anyway, it was time to do a little rearranging and reorganizing.  This wall used to have a long table with fabric and projects loaded up on top of it, and boxes of projects stuffed to bursting underneath it - pretty messy!  Now it looks like this.....

Of course, I still can't find anything LOL!!!  It may take me a while to figure out where I've put everything in the new organization :)

You should all thank your lucky stars I don't have any "before" pictures to show of my studio closet - it's a wonder we didn't find fossils in there!!!  But here are a few pictures of the wonderful shelves My Guy put in for me.....

And before anyone gets the bright idea that all this work is what caused My Guy's injury, let me put your minds at rest!  Actually, he did a lot of this after his injury and before the surgery.  I never cease to be amazed at what that man can accomplish, even on a pair of crutches!!!

Unfortunately, things aren't going to settle down any time soon around here either.  I'm preparing now for a much-looked-forward-to retreat at Red Rooster next week with a group of my bestest friends - yippee!!!!  And the day after I return from retreat, I'll be heading out to Carolina to see my 16-year-old granddaughter perform in her school play.  So, I apologize in advance for being away from the blog for so long, but LIFE in capital letters sometimes simply takes control of our days.

However, while I'm at Red Rooster next week, I'll be working on some fun stuff....

The June Bertie is in the house!!!

And because I'm such a lucky girl, I get to play with these beautiful fabrics from Jacquelynne Steve's newest collection, Cottage Charm - YUM!!!

Little Man Hudson has grown very attached to his quilt I made for him when he was born and wants to carry it everywhere, so his mom asked if I had any of the minkee fabric used on the back left, and could I make a small quilt for him?  I was delighted to find just enough in the scraps and just need to decide which fabric to use for binding....

That will be a quick finish at retreat, and then I hope to find time to play with a new project.....

It's from this book by Piece O'Cake Designs...

I've been wanting to make something out of this book in quite a while, so I'm really excited about this little wall quilt project :)

I've washed greens for the May Rainbow Scrap Challenge until I feel like Elphaba - you know her, right?  The green Wicked Witch of the West?

Hahaha!!!  

Hey, wait a minute... you are laughing, aren't you?  

Okay, just checking!  

No blocks done yet though and it's not looking good the rest of the month either.  I may be doing a lot of RSC catch-up next month.

I'm taking my knitting along to retreat for relaxing in the evenings.  I got quite a lot done on the purple socks while waiting for My Guy to come out of surgery, and now they are almost done .....

..... and I've popped this fun spring-colored yarn in my bag for my next pair!

I'll do my best to send post some updates from retreat to show you what I'm working on.  Really looking forward to checking out your blogs too, to see what you've been up to while I've been gone :)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with Judy's On the Needles