Thankful Thursday

Today was the last day of our Music City Retreat at Camp Widjiwagan.  We all had so much fun!!!  But I have to admit, all that stitching pretty much wore me out!  I am THANKFUL to be home and looking forward to a lazy, relaxing day at home tomorrow :*D

One of my fellow retreaters napping yesterday afternoon - doesn't she look comfortable?  =^..^= 

And I'm very thankful that THIS....

..... was already on the floor when we arrived at retreat and not the outline of a fallen retreater LOL!!!  We never did find out how this got there - just maybe we were afraid to ask?

I am SO thankful for a beautiful spring day and the lovely sun showing its face for our enjoyment today here in Nashville!  The first few days of the week had what felt like the most frigid temperatures all winter long, so I am delighted that it is GONE!!!

However, it did give me a chance to wear my new Swishy Scarf that I finished up last week - once I managed to get it away from Gypsy that is LOL!!!  She sat in my lap most of the time I worked on this, so perhaps she thinks I made it for her =^..^=

I was afraid I would have to wait until next year to wear this bright beauty, so that's one more reason to be thankful :*)

Of course, I think this guy wears it much more elegantly than I ever could!

Of course, we are ALL very thankful that Daryl over at Patchouli Moon found the pattern for the Kitty Pincushion!

Yes, I had to show you the picture again - it's just TOO DARN CUTE!!!

The pattern is free too!  Click HERE for this pattern, designed and generously shared with us by Sue Daniel.  Now I can make one of these for my very own - and you can too!

So to celebrate so much to be thankful for, I'll leave you with a few more pictures from Camp Widjiwagan to inspire you!

We all agreed - one of our favorite finishes was Melissa's neutrals Rail Fence masterpiece!!!! 

And Joanne's UFO Stars from 2004 was a definite favorite!
This was the 2nd set of quilt blocks she sashed & put together into a top while at this retreat!

Phyl's Bunny Hill Snowmen make me wish for a nice cup of Hot Chocolate!!!

And who wouldn't love her Christmas Mouse applique quilt?  Hand applique my friends!!!

Don't you just love this mouse fabric for the backing?  It's perfect!!!

Nancy was only able to come join us for one day.....
.... and she stunned us with her colorful Eldon Stars - look at all those stars!!!

Anne worked on her beautiful fabrics she picked up in France - oo-la-la!!!

This was Debi's first retreat with us - and we certainly hope not her last!
Don't you love these wonderful batik stars????  Oh my!!!

Susie channeled her inner fashion design diva with these appliqued swirls on a knit dress =^..^=

Charlie is learning to like Civil War prints - definitely out of the box for her!

Brenda was overjoyed to finally finish up this fun blue/white snowball project!

Belinda worked on her McKenna Ryan applique project.  She had several others done but I wasn't
quick enough with the camera - she took them home before I could get a picture :(

This is Becky's gorgeous Christmas Poinsettia quilt - only two more borders to go!

There were a few others that I missed getting photos of - bad girl!!!!  I apologize to my friends who did not get included here - it is certainly not because your work was not beautiful, because it was!!!

As for myself, other than finishing the top for Hudson's Heroes, which I showed you HERE, I also managed to get 11 of my Strip Stacks blocks done.....

And I got caught up on all the clues for the Baubles and Beads mystery quilt.....

I just LOVE these batiks - YUM!!!  Can't wait to see how the mystery will turn out :*D

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you all have had much to be Thankful for this Thursday!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Bling On the Needles!

Okay, so technically, a crochet hook is not "needles", but it's a yarn project.... Just sayin' :*D  

And I'm absolutely loving the yarn I have on my crochet hook right now!

This is the most gorgeous fuchsia yarn with a really pretty sparkle bling in it!  Such a pleasure to play with :*) Can you see my little wonder clip there on the bottom right?  I've found so many uses for these little clips!  It's just perfect for holding my place without losing stitches when I put down the project for a bit.

Here's a close-up shot of the pretty ruffle that is being built on the edges....

There will be one more row of ruffly stitching after this one, and then it will be done.  It is a surprisingly quick project!  You can see more pictures of what the Swishy Scarf is supposed to look like HERE.

As for actual knitting needles, I finished up my Sugar 'n Cream dishcloth....

Poor little thing is a little whoppy-jawed!!!  

And believe me, this picture shows it's best shape LOL!!!  

One of the reasons I chose this project was so I could practice my tension, and it seems it's a good thing I did.  I started out making really tight stitches, but in the middle I could tell I was loosening up, and by the end my stitches were much looser.... hence, the lop-sided dishcloth!

However, I really enjoyed knitting up this little project, and it will work just fine in my kitchen.  I'll smile every time I pick it up :*)  And since I enjoyed it so much, I went back and picked out a couple of cute pastel colors in the Sugar 'n Cream to make some baby cloths for my son and daughter-in-law who are expecting their first baby next week.  Hopefully I'll be able to do a little better with my tension on these :*)

They don't know what the baby will be, so I tried to pick colors that would work for either a boy or girl.  The problem is that I'm not really very fond of baby yellow or mint green :*)  These colors called out to me, so these are what came home with me!  =^..^=

And one last exciting news flash....I'm going to be absent from blogging next week because I'm busy packing up for a week-long retreat in Pigeon Forge!  A group of us are going to the Mountain Quiltfest Show and staying in a cabin for the week to sew and play!  WhooHoo!!  I'm so excited!  I'm taking two classes, one from Paula Nadelstern!  So look for lots of fun pictures when I return.

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Linking up with Patchwork Times - On the Needles

And don't forget to visit my Blog Hop Party Giveaway HERE if you missed it!

WIP Wednesday 3/6/2103

Lots of things going on here, but mostly just working on things already in progress and shared.  I thought I'd share just a quick follow-up on a few projects.

Here are the beginnings of 3 fire trucks for Hudson's Heroes....

Aren't those ladders just the cutest things?    They will go with these ambulances I shared the other day...

Click on the name of the quilt if you want to learn its history =^..^= 

Tiny, tiny bits of pieces here, but with paper piecing, it goes so smoothly!  Well, mostly.... every now and again I mess up and have to rip out a seam.  And with the thin paper and tiny stitches used for pp, no matter how careful you try to be, too often this happens....

So, here's my tip for you all today.  Keep some Scotch brand Matte Finish Removable Tape on hand for times like this!  It's the blue tape and it says "removable" on the label.

Just tape the two sides back together.  You can then sew through it and your needle will not gum up from the glue on the tape!  The only thing you need to be careful about is ironing directly on it.  It works perfectly!

One reason it is important to tape this back down is to make sure you have perfect seams when sewing the different sections together.  If that paper is not in place, then your seams will not be either.

I've also made a little progress on improving my yarn skills =^..^=

Here is my start on the Swishy Scarf .... 

......so far it's just a long, long, long (258 chains!) row of half-double-crochets!  But it is easy to do and I'm enjoying it.  This yarn is reward enough with all that lovely color and a little bit of bling :*)  Now looking at the picture, I've got to go see what that yarn blob is there- see it, on the bottom left?  I hope I don't have to take all that out!

I also started a dishcloth out of Sugar and Cream yarn.  I thought this might be the perfect project to just practice getting my tension right as I pick up the knitting needles again.

Isn't it a cutie?  It makes for the perfect carry-along project too because it is so small :*)

And last, but not least, you'll never guess what I found at Goodwill yesterday.....

Well, did you guess?   

I didn't think so!!!

What a wonderful find!  A Jim Shore hummingbird feeder in excellent shape - needs a little cleaning of course, but I love it!  And for $2.99 - whoohoo!!!!  I'm betting the hummingbirds will love it this year too :*)

That's it for me!  Hope you all have a Happy Hump Day!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On My Needles - 3/1/2103

I have really enjoying picking up a yarn project here and there to work on at night while I watch tv!  My latest project is my Shore Thing scarf, which is now finished!

It turned out just gorgeous!!!  I love these colors, very bright and happy, which was just what I needed to help get through these gray days we've been having this winter.  It's really soft and drapes beautifully too!  I'm planning to make a pair of hand warmers as well with the leftover yarn.  Hopefully we won't have enough cold weather left this year, so they will be something new and pretty to wear next year :*)

I really wanted another project to work on after this, and I liked the Sugar and Cream Cowl that Judy recently finished up (see hers HERE), so I meandered over to Ravelry and purchased the pattern.

Isn't this color gorgeous???  This cowl is not mine - it was made by knittedblissjc

This is a design by Alana Dakos, and you can find it HERE :*)  Then I meandered over to Joann's and bought this black fingering weight wool blend to make one for me!

This is more black than it shows here, but not a deep black, more of a deep charcoal black.  I always go for color, but in coats and things I often wear black, so I thought black would be a good color that would go with everything.  I also wanted something solid so it would show up the nice cabling.  Of course, I hope my knitting skills are up to it!!!

I purchased my first-ever pair of circular needles - new skills here folks!!!!

Then while I was there and several of the yarns were on sale, I went ahead and picked up a couple skeins of this scrumptious fuchsia pink with a twinkly little sparkle in it.....

so I can make one of these....

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

This is called the Swishy Scarf.  It can be found in the book, Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench.  Here are more options for wearing this lovely crocheted scarf....

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

Photo courtesy of MemeRose Blog

I'm so excited, I don't know which one to start first :*D

Want to see more fun needle projects?

Come share in the fun at Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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