I'm Sure You've Heard...

Google Reader is biting the dust as of Monday, July 1st.

I'd be very pleased if you would like to continue following me via Bloglovin or email.

(Sign ups are on the right-hand column.)

If you would prefer another method please let me know and I will add it to my blog.

Thank you so much for reading my blog!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

And Now for Something Entirely Different...

Have had a few health challenges lately, so decided to kick the "poor me" mulligrubs...

by doing something different.  Something I haven't done for  awhile.

Something like...

THIS!

I like to make chainmaille pieces every so often.  

It's creative,

totally absorbing,

...and sometimes frustrating.

This is my very first Half Persian 3-in-1 weave.

And perhaps my last.  

I took a photo of the bracelet on my wrist, but my arm looked, well,

shriveled, dry, wrinkly, freckled, veiny and OLD.

It IS, but I don't want it to LOOK that way. 

I'm blaming it on the heat (109 tomorrow) and the humidity (5%).

Another off-quilting topic:

The BIG moon!

Taken with my iPhone, the picture is fuzzy and grainy.  And I like it.

Looks mysterious.  

So that's it.  

Back to quilting tomorrow.  Probably.

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

Annie Art!

After lurking and entering several giveaways by Annie at freezeframe

I WON!

Not ONLY the postcard, but she made a special envelope to send it in, too!

It is so special, because the flower reminds me of a sunflower (my favorite flower, as it was my Dad's also).

And the bee?  Well, Annie didn't know this, but my maiden name is Wetherbee!  Mom and Dad had a special stamp made for their return address that had a bee on it.  Awesome!

Then, this:

Annie was giving away several postcards and asked those interested in receiving one to choose their favorite.  I chose this one for several reasons:  I LOVE coffee.  And birds.  And music (family is very musically-inclined).  And the color RED.  So it is perfect!

The LOVE letters are raised just a bit and the heart on the coffee cup is sparkly.  The card edges are BOUND and STITCHED!   The back is stamped with a Postcard image and Annie wrote a sweet message to me.  Also on the back Annie penned a title for the piece: "cuppa love". 

 The photo doesn't do justice to the actual card.  It's lovely!

Anyone reading this, I encourage you to visit Annie's blog and enjoy viewing the lovely things she designs, both paper and fabric art.  You will be inspired!

A view of both:

Thank you Annie!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri 

Project #2 - String of Pearls QAL

These are the fabrics I've chosen to make my version of the String of Pearls quilt.  

Just feelin' like a toned-down quilt right now 

(though am tempted to make a brighter version next). 

The quilt-along uses Pearl Bracelets fabric for the block centers, and the center block is a 5 1/2" square. 

I am using charm squares of Little Black Dress fabric, so sewed part of a block to test the 

length of the strips before I cut a whole mess of them.  

The background fabric hasn't been cut yet.  I'm waiting until instructions are given

 to sew those strips so I know how the whole block is constructed.  

Then I will be sure to cut my strips to the size needed for my smaller blocks.

Am pretty sure what size to cut, but no need to chance it.

So...what to call MY version of the quilt?  String of Little Black Dresses?  NOT A String of Pearls?  :)

Pressin' on,

Gramma Sheri

    

And a One and a Two and...

Ok, maybe it's just one.  But it's a start.  Only 62 blocks to go! Yep, this is gonna be a BIG quilt.

 (Photographed on a cream-colored counter-top so looks a bit confusing plus the photo is off-center.  It will be lovely with other scrappy blocks around it and some nice sashing and corner stones and quilting and binding.  I hope.)

Actually, there's a bunch of chain-piecing going on, but it's not very exciting to see mounds of unpressed, sewn pieces.  

Tomorrow, I cut the pieces for my other QAL with Christa Quilts.  And then sew on this one some more.

Thursday I will take my hexies with me when I accompany hubby for his cataract surgery.  Would like to have a corner sewn together to see what the pattern I drew out on graph paper will look like.

It feels soooo good to be working on things I love to do!

Happy Days!

GrammaSheri

Working Hard then Hardly Working

May 18th was the last day of business for the quilt shop where I've worked part-time for the past 6 3/4 years. The owner retired: new grandbaby, the desire to travel and spend more time with family...all good reasons...and I'm happy for her.  And for me too, as soon as I get used to the change.

Up until that time there was a flurry of activity, with weekly sales, consolidating/moving inventory, soothing sad customers (and one another), and trying not to take home half the store myself.  Yep. I was pretty much a squirrel, distracted by the changes, the sales, and wanting to purchase as much as I could afford as "mementos" of the shop.  Fabric and thread as mementos?  Really?  I'm just a big silly.

Anyway, the shop is closed, all for good reasons, but still leaves a big hole in my heart. Don't know if I'll try to teach anywhere else and I'm not looking for another job right now anyway.  I'm retired!  For the second time.  There are mixed feelings:  relief, relaxation, anxiety, fear of turning into a blobby pile of mush.  

Loose ends. No structure. Squishy, like walking on a bog.  

So, after taking a couple of short trips with hubby and then recovering from a cold,  I spent the last 3 days starting a new project!

 My first scrap quilt!

Yes, it took me three days (not full days, mind you) to go through my scraps, iron them and cut them into hundreds and hundreds of pieces.  Scrap quilts may be frugal fabric-wise but certainly not time-wise...at least in the prep phase anyway.

I used up all of my 1 1/2" strips and made a huge dent in my 2" strips.  Then raided my red scraps for the squares and used up all of my Kona white.  Here's what I'm making:

Sorry about the picture...could NOT get my phone camera to stop orienting the picture sideways, and when I edited it and rotated it, it wound up looking squished.  Anyway, the quilt is called "Scrap-Tease" and I found it on a blog (can't remember where). Couldn't find the pattern for sale anywhere but was able to purchase one on EBay.  The pattern is by Bettie Hammock and contact info on the pattern says:

Stitch'n Kitt'n

129 Stonebriar Dr.

Sulphur Springs, TX 75482

Cataberry@bluebonnet.net

I'll post my progress as I go.  Am excited to DO something new!

Am starting another project also...a quilt along with Christa Quilts, called String of Pearls. The button is on my sidebar, and the QAL starts on the 5th.  It will be the first QAL for me.  Very pleased.  New things. Will show more of that in another post, as well as my first hexie project.  

Finding my way through this full-time retirement thing!  Any others in the same boat?  Tips and ideas always welcome!

Gramma Sheri