Almost But Not Quite

I made good progress on the panel for the Quaker Bag.  No, I didn't quite finish it.

 I know I can finish it today.  Plus, I want to start the three pockets that will be attached to this panel.  Then I will celebrate by cutting it out and putting some of it together.  That's my reward for working hard on it.

I got the first lesson for the Berry Bandit.  But I can't start it yet.  I ordered some special thumb tacks.  They have three little prongs and I like how they work.

 I used the few I could find the other day when I was stretching the top to the trinket box.  Now I can't find them, and I need more of them.  I have a box of them somewhere but I'll be darned if I can find them.  I didn't know if I could get them around here so I ended up ordering them online.  I shouldn't start anything new anyway.  What a load of time I will have when this Quaker Bag is done!

I got the last three squares done on the baby quilt.

 Now to figure out the sashing and the back.

The bathrooms are clean.  I walked at the Y.  We are moving stuff back into the mud room.  The weather is crappy and cold.  But that is to be expected here.
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Another Panel

I am so nearly done with another large panel of the Quaker Bag.  I finished the rectangle I wanted to do yesterday.  There wasn't much stitching on the one side because another pocket fits over it to form a scissors pocket.

That leaves just one more motif to do and this puppy is done, well, sort-of.  The pockets still need to be stitched on.

I will have to see how far I get today. 

I got the quilt fabric that I needed in the mail yesterday.  Yeah!  It is the right color and everything.

Three more quilt squares to go.

We are supposed to get 6 to 10 inches of snow tonight.  I'm hoping for 2.  I can handle 2.  

I will miss talking to Claire today.  She's off to Disney World.  Have fun Claire!

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Wouldn't it?

Wouldn't I love to finish another motif on the Quaker Bag!  I think I can today.  Actually I would like to finish this whole little rectangle.  I'm tired of working over one.

I picked up the birth announcement just so I could stitch over two threads for a change.

 The linen is a little stiff.  I'm wondering if I can just scrunch it up and make it softer.  I don't want to put any wrinkles in that will be difficult to iron out.  And I don't want to take out too much stiffness so it is floppy.

Walking at the Y on a Saturday morning is always interesting.  There are little kids learning to play basketball, people playing pickleball and kids hanging out making racket.
 DH is almost done putting in the trim boards for the mud room.  Then we can move stuff back in.  Yeah!  I ordered a Joseph Raffael poster for the mud room.

 He is one of the watercolorists that I admire.  Time to take down some of the things I've had hanging in there for decades.  I'm also wanting to get some things accomplished.  Like installing the music box in my casket.  This involves drilling holes.  I may have to sweet talk DH into doing it for me.  I cut the lacing strings on the three queens and am going to stretch it on stretcher bars so I can put paper on the back and glue it to the casket.  Wouldn't it be great to actually have something installed on the outside of my casket?

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Sign Me Up

I have been anxiously awaiting Amy Mitten's new tutorial, The Queen's Crown.  I checked her website often and bingo!  It came up a day early!  I signed up immediately.  The project looks very interesting and not how I pictured it in my mind.  It doesn't start until March 3rd so I have time to get that Quaker Bag done.  I got one more motif almost done yesterday.

I used my extra strong glasses to be able to see it clearly.  I only made a few mistakes that were caught early and easily fixed.  Thank goodness.

I got a few more pieces of bright check on the head of the little birdie.

I forgot to put on my FitBit this morning.  Rats.  After I realized that I didn't have it on, I used my nano to keep track of my steps at the Y.
I can hardly believe we are half way through January.  I got confirmation of my registration for Williamsburg.  I am really torn between two classes.  I want to take both of them!
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Berry Good

I got the Berry Bandit kit by Barbara Jackson in the mail yesterday.

Fun!  The strawberry will be bigger than I thought.

I made another large strawberry by Barbara in a class at Celebrations.

I just love getting a whole complete kit.  I got the stretcher bars too.  I'm hoping the crewel embroidery will be forgiving to one who isn't the best at this type of embroidery.

I got a small piece of gold leather tacked down on the little birdie and have started to put some bright check on the top of his head.

 The leather is really hard to stitch through.  I have to use pliers to put the needle in and to pull it through.

I got some fabric I ordered to finish the quilt in the mail also.  But it isn't quite the right color.  I ordered a different color and have my fingers crossed that it will match this time.

Have a good day!
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A Little Birdie

  I finished up what I think is the bottom piece of the Quaker Bag.  However there appears to be another bottom piece as well.

Then I started one of the two large flaps.  I'm going to concentrate on the large flap and see if I can finish it this week.

I reached my tipping point for stitching over one.  I just had to do something different.
So I pulled out one of my Christmas presents, the little birdie kit.

I found a hoop and tried to follow the directions.  Some directions are more clear than others.

There were two pieces of muslin.  That confused me.  You draw the bird on one of them.  Then I think you put it under the silk satin material.  But the directions don't actually say that.  The silk satin isn't mentioned.  So I'm having to make assumptions here.  I've cut out the felt padding and tacked one of them down.  But why did I have to trace the bird on the muslin when I just cover it up with felt?  You can't see it through the silk satin anyway.  The felt will be covered with gold metal threads.  If this turns out, I'm going to put it in one of my caskets.  At this point, it is a big "if".

I'm expecting my Barbara Jackson kit today.  I love getting stuff in the mail.
Right now I have to clean up my new floor.
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After

At the end of the day yesterday, this is what the mud room looked like:

They grouted the floor this morning and are done!

It really looks like wood but it is tile.
I am happy with how it turned out.
I finally won the fight with the Quaker Bag and got this stupid green motif done - in the right place and with the border matching up.

There is a pocket that will fit over this.

It is encouraging to see how far I've come.  I've got all these pieces done.  Yeah!

I'm off to get my walking in at the Y.
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