Monday, April 2, 2012

Happy Adoption Day Chinky!

Chinky joined our family 4 years ago today. He must be 8 or 9 years old now. In the time he has been with us he has learned to imitate the sewing machine, a wolf whistle, and…a car alarm. Even older birds can learn new tricks. LOL

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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Catching up all around

As I sit here writing this, Chinky is trying to squeeze his head between my hand and the keyboard. Poor little guy is molting and getting pinfeathers. He is desperate for someone to scratch him all the time.

chinky

Finally I have Buffalo Gal backed and bound. Need to have it done this weekend. All it needs is the label. Could have sworn I printed one, but I can’t find it. I’ll have to print another. I have it saved on the hard drive on the other computer. I should go ahead and make the label for Arachnophobia:The Sequel while I’m at it. I plan on backing that one this weekend.

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buffalo gal detail 1



The Theme is “Under Western Skies” for the Nevada Quilt Guild Challenge. The western prairie wouldn’t be complete without some wild flowers.
buffalo gal detail 2




Cowboy Gals all in a row. A herd of four buffalo nickels. Would have been more, but I didn’t get it done in time.
buffalo gal detail 3

Penny centered shisha sunflowers with Chenille petals.
buffalo gal detail 4




The moon and stars because the songs goes something like “Buffalo Gal won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon”.

Catching up with TAST this weekend. Put the detached chain and chain on the same page. This challenge is pushing me to look at variations. I really need that.

tast chain

Sunday, March 11, 2012

No Time for TAST

Well, like always happens…I have great plans for “Take a Stitch Tuesday” and everything else gets in the way. I do plan on picking it up and playing catch up later this spring. Right now I am preparing for the three quilt shows in Northern Nevada.

I just finished Carson Valley Quilt Guild’s Challenge “A few of my favorite things”…and got third place! The quilts were voted on by the guild. Now it’s currently hanging in the Carson City Library.

The quilt is called “Quixotic Obsession”

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Right now I’m working on the Nevada Quilt Guild’s Challenge “Under Western Skies” and this quilt is called “Buffalo Gal Won’t You Come Out Tonight”. It will be three blocks where I sew the backing together and piece over the seams to make it feel like one piece. I’m currently working on block three (yes, I number them) and am piecing blocks one and two together. Need it done in two weeks.

buffalo gal 1 buffalo gals 2

I just finished Pickled Ginger and just need to put the sleeve and label on it. I just finished reorganizing my sewing room and can’t remember where I put the label…sigh. That’s nothing new.

pickled Ginger pickled ginger detail 1
pickled ginger detail 2 pickled ginger detail 3

And of course the week is not complete without Chinky helping me clean the sewing room. Poor thing is so distressed by change. I think he believes he is going to a new home every time I move furniture.

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 7–Detached Chain Stitch

Well, I find myself short on time. I realized that I have about 6 weeks to get a challenge quilt dome for the Nevada Quilt Guild’s show in Fallon, Nevada. The theme is “Under Western Skies”. So I find myself very short on time for other things. I am putting the binding on “Pickled Ginger” when I have a few moments here & there I put a couple of stitches on the back.

A-n-y-w-a-y….I haven’t had time to do my stitches on the pages like I planned. So here is what I have. From the challenge quilts I am working on:

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I’ll try harder this week. I promise.

The Massage Therapist grabbed ahold of my tendon while I moved my shoulder into place. Talk about painful! I have bruises. I did feel it go back into place…what a relief! Sure beats surgery. He did tell me I had torn another tendon that held this one in place and so now I have to be careful in how I extend my right arm. Sure is nice to be able to use it again.

My helper, Chinky, is here trying to insinuate himself between me & the keyboard. Pretty soon he’ll climb up on my shoulder and bite my ear. I tried showing him other cockatiels on you tube (that always excited the other birds), but I guess since he is unaware he is a bird so I guess it’s not a biggie to him. He does like his own videos…..runs over to the computer to listen to himself.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Take a Stitch Tuesday – Chevron…and stuff

My Chiropractor says that my bicipital tendon has “jumped out of its groove”. It’s a whole new level of pain management. Of course it’s my right arm and I am very right handed. The doctor didn’t even charge me (wow) and recommended a sports massage therapist and warned me “it’s gonna hurt like hell”. Really?

So I call this therapist and when I tell him the problem he hesitates…then says “did the doctor say anything about it?” Sigh….he says the procedure us one of the most painful he does and makes grown men cry. That's something to look forward to (we really need a sarcasm font). So Tuesday I get my first hour of torture. My alternative is an MRI and surgery. Those may still me in my future if he’s not successful in reseating it.

Take a stitch Tuesday week 6. This is an easy stitch…lots and lots of variations and I know I’ve only scratched the surface. Can’t believe I made it….bring on week 7!

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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Take a Stitch Tuesday–Herringbone…and stuff

Here are my stitches for week 5. Always a fun stitch, but I never really go “outside the box” on this one.

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Been quite a week and I’m sooo glad the caucus is over. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. I was bracing myself for the very worst they could throw at each other. Living in the state capitol makes it so much worse. Mud slinging seems to be a sport here. I hardly turned on the TV this last week.

Yesterday I went to the annual 4H Rummage sale and came home with bags and bags of crazy quilt goodies. Bags of beads and broken jewelry. A cream silk scarf that is huge! trims and goodies. I go back this morning to see if the cabinet that I liked is still there. JoAnn’s has thread for half price anyway…so that’s another excuse to go out.

Pickled Ginger is on the table for basting this morning. Need to get it done before the edges ravel to nothing. This seems to be the one that everyone wants to see.

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I gave the little blue fairy to my friend. It was made from a picture of her grand daughter. I took her for surgery that day and she showed it to all the nurses. Now people want my business card. I’m not prepared for this. All the nurses want one (or more). I’m not quite sure how I will handle this…but I guess I need some business cards….

And here is Chinky in his morning preening watching over the Pickled Ginger process. I never bother to close the cage anymore. He knows when bedtime is. I have bowls with treats or food in several places around the sewing room to promote natural foraging behavior. He is a total member of the family. Biggest problem I have is when he tries to follow someone out the front door. He gets so upset when anyone leaves the house. Stands at the door and screams. Silly bird.

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