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Post by choney2 on Dec 26, 2016 13:08:21 GMT
Good Morning! Meg, Ruth, CJ, Phyl and all who visit us- I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas)!
Meg, how was your time with Janet? I am sure Devin and his youthful exuberance made the day extra lively.
Ruth, how lovely that you and Dh still exchange small gifts...were you able to find a new project to start?
CJ-how was your day? I know you saw family earlier in the week....and at least for us on the east coast the weather was not too cold.
Phyl- how is the scarf going?
Yesterday ended up being far busier than I thought it would be. We did not open gifts until after dinner- our schedule became the victim of grandchildrens naps and our son's work schedule. Today we are heading to my husbands sisters (close by). Usually it's a long afternoon with his family. Sometimes I bring my crochetting with me, if I am well enough into a project not to need directions. (Honestly, I do partake in their conversation, which is normally very centered on their family and can become very exclusive).
Does anyone else ever bring their needle work with them?
Anyway- I hope everyone gets some crafting time in today!!! Ginny
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Post by megk31 on Dec 26, 2016 20:13:44 GMT
Good morning Ginny, Thank you for starting us off on a new week. It is cold here this morning probably in the low 30s but I haven't checked. The sun is shining so it will warm up a little.
I am glad you had a very nice time with your family and that you enjoyed Christmas. I don't have any relatives or in laws to visit here so I don't know whether I would take something to work on or not. When I go to Ireland I always have something to work on with me. But why not if it makes you feel more comfortable and not so left ut of the conversation. Have a good time.
We had our family diner on Christmas Eve. Devin was funny. I went into his room to say good ight to him and he said He must have come already because the cookies and milk are gone. His mom had left cookies and milk on the kitchen table for Santa. I guess Devin though Santa had stopped by and he missed him.
We opened gifts on Christmas morning and that is always a fun time especially for Devin. Janet wasn't too interested in her gifts. She just wanted to play with her 4 sq game. Then Devin and his mom and their friend went off to have dinner with friends. Janet was here until about 4 p.m. I was really tired when she left. She had been here over night. In the evening I watched the new Bridget Jones movie which my DGD gave me for my b/day a couple of weeks ago. It was a funny movie my only problem with it was that they use the "F" word way too much. I don't even know why they have to use it at all.
Perhaps I will knit this afternoon. I haven't had the time or energy to work on anything for several days.
To all my crafter friends have a great day.
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Post by cj59 on Dec 26, 2016 21:15:30 GMT
Hello Crafters - hope you are enjoying the day after Christmas Ruth - I make that Libby's pumpkin pie without a crust too. I started doing that last year at Thanksgiving and it's a really great way for me to get my pie, but without all the calories of the crust. Ginny - Since I don't have any in-laws, I'm usually talking and visiting too much at family parties to bring anything with me. But I think it's a good idea if you are just sitting around listening to other people talk. Meg - Sounds like you had a nice Christmas, hope you get some knitting in today. Phyl - Hope you are doing well I started going through my quilting things today, I have to get them organized before the first of the year so I can start the year knowing what I have and what projects I want to work on. I weeded out patterns, kits and some fabrics that I don't like or won't use and I'll give them to my sister-in-law (who also quilts). I'm kind of embarrassed to say I have 30 quilt tops done that need to be quilted. I have to stop making these and get comfortable with quilting so I can finish these. I also have so much fabric, I feel like I could open my own store LOL. I still need to organize that and come up with a list of projects I'd like to do. Take care everyone.
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 26, 2016 21:24:24 GMT
Good afternoon all. I hope, too, that everyone had a good Christmas and it looks like Ginny and Meg did for sure. Meg I'm glad you got to rest later after Janet went back to her care home.
I too, have just the daughter here to visit. When we lived back in NY the holidays were always awful when we had so many people that we needed to visit with all on one day. Ginny, I haven't taken my crocheting with me lately when I've gone over there but I sure wished that I had had it with me on Easter. We were just sitting around talking and I could have been crocheting at the same time esp when dh went off with sil to talk men talk. I used to do that because I remember one time that I was babysitting my dd's youngest when he was about 2 or 3 and I had my yarn with me. He told me "make a hat". The reason he said that was because whenever his mother was doing something she never noticed him doing things he shouldn't do. He didn't realize that no matter what I'm doing I always know when he's getting into trouble. He's 11 now though so he mostly is involved in his computer games or whatever it is that keeps little boys attention these days. I know there are people that take their knitting and crocheting to church. Now I would never do that as I would consider that disrespectful but many people don't and as you said they can knit or crochet and still pay attention. To me it just seems wrong but I wouldn't be one to criticize anyone who did it.
As far as projects go, I do have two picked out that I'm going to work on starting later this evening. My dgs' afgan/pillow thing and my dgd's hat and shawl. First though I need to work on my Bible study "Handwriting on the Wall" a study of the book of Daniel. I also have letters to write.
I finally checked my phone today and had three voice messages. One was from the 15th, one from THursday and one yesterday/ Shows how interested I am in phone calls I guess. The phone is one from the cable company and has to sit by the modem to charge so I rarely hear it. I just don't like talking on the phone anyway. The one call was from my nursing school roomate so I'll send her a snail mail letter as she said she is going to have company from out of two...her sister...for a couple weeks.
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 26, 2016 21:33:38 GMT
It woulldn't let me post anymore but just wanted to say that my friend's sister is smart. My friend lives in a suburb of Phoenix and her sister lives in the very cold part of western NY. Going to Arizona for two or three weeks in the end of Dec and beginning of Jan sounds like a good plan to me. If I had a sister in Az I'd probably go too. I do have an aunt that lives in Fl. She's younger than me because she's one of my grandfather's second group of kids but she lives in northeast Fl and it's not all that warm there either.Warmer than here but not like AZ.. when I want warm I want REALLY warm.. preferably warm and dry not hot and muggy
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Post by choney2 on Dec 27, 2016 0:57:08 GMT
good evening! I survived the time at my sister in laws! Which was long, tedious at times . My crochetting stayed in the car, but is out now. Sounds like we all have our projects lined up waiting for us.
CJ, you need to quilt those quilt tops! It's fun and is very rewarding. Yes it's work....I know you can do it!
Meg ,kids sure do make Christmas lively, don't they? Glad Devin was there, I loved the story about the cookies and milk for Santa. Sounds like a good visit with Janet too. Hope you got to rest today.
Ruth, sounds like you have the best of both worlds, family near by but also some peace and quiet. I agree, some things should not be in church. I would not take crafting in to a church service.i enjoyed your story about the voicemails! Guess you are not glued to your phone!
Off to watch a movie with Dd and crochet a bit. Good night all! Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 27, 2016 2:31:46 GMT
CJ, we must have posting at the same time because I didn't see you there before. Yes the crust is what has all the calories. Pumpkin especially is so nutritious that without the crust it can be really healthy.
I don't have a clue on how to quilt but a friend said I needed a walking foot to do it mysself so I got one and if I do ever get around to quilting Ill improvise like I do on most things. As you both said, unless you're entering the quilts in a show, what count's is that they can be used to keep people warm and they are nice and from your heart
Ginny, I'm glad you survived that trip. Sometimes family visits when they aren't our own family can be incredibly boring. I remember going to visit my dh's biological father. That was the most boring visit I've ever made. It was the first time my dh had met him and mostly they discussed his father's time in ww2.
Oh and as I'm sure I mentioned before, I can relate to having a lot of fabric. I gave some away,sold some at my one and only garage sale and I still have boxes and boxes of it. And I have a while room full of yarn and keep buying more. It always seems like when I want to make a specific thing I don'thave the yarn I need for that. So I keep trying to use up what I have for items to donate. I really need to stop spending time doing other things and more time knitting and crocheting to use some of it up. As I said I got a lot of hats done last week so I know if I put my mind to it I can use a bunch this coming year. Just have to quit playing these computer games on facebook. It's the only thing I do on facebook. I dont chat on there or anything...been there, done that, it didn't work.
No Ginny I'm sure not attached to my phone. I hate talking on the phone. I called to day to find out about dh's bill from the dr office to see if I could find out why the ins didn't cover since it always has before but the billing office was closed.
No i'm going to go make that simple shawl and if I get that and dgs' afgan done I may start the croc stitch one and if I get it done in time I'll send it instead of the simple one.
Have a great evening
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Post by choney2 on Dec 27, 2016 12:56:14 GMT
Good morning! Well my keyboard is all messed up this morning, so forgive me if I make lots of mistakes!
Ruth, yes we can all relate to owning too much fabric and too much yarn. I have donated my share of both and am now so Trying to work my way out of some yarn. The baby afghan will help with thatπ. Regarding quilting, yes you need a walking foot, the ability to lower the feed dogs on your sewing machine and a quilting foot. If you are not able to lower the feed dogs you can cover them with duct tape. And if you are not going to stipple, but simply "stitch in the ditch", then a walking foot will work just fine. Good luck with your projects to use up some of that yarn!
I started the baby afghan last night. Just on the second row as it took me awhile to get the hook size I needed figured out. Today is the first day with no obligations......got some errands to run but no awkward obligations. I am thankful for that. Have a great day Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 27, 2016 18:39:58 GMT
Ginny, those are the kinds of days i love. Days to do whatever I want. I do need to go up and find out what dh is doing. The snow is blowing so hard it's blowing into the cracks around the doors in the garage so I'd bet he's out there sweeping up snow and trying to keep more from blowing in.
I got the email from ddil telling me which of the two shawls dgd likes best and she said the youngest girl yelled out that she wants a shawl too. She's five. Her bday isn't until August so I have lots of time on that one.
I think I may have already told you this so if I did forgive me but my ds and ddil's church supports missionaries in Papua new Guinea and dil asked if I have flannelette fabric which I don't. My friend that sent me yarn wouldn't take money for the shipping so I'll donate that and some more for the ladies to use to ship the blankets they make or to buy more fabric.I always like to "pay it forward". As we know it's not our money anyway. We know the One that gives it to us.
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Post by cj59 on Dec 27, 2016 22:38:33 GMT
Hello Crafters - hope you are all doing well today and enjoying these days between Christmas and New Years I went out this morning to do a few errands, so I didn't get to work on organizing my fabric, but I'll get it done by the end of the week. I did decide to participate in an online quilt along that started last Wednesday. It runs for 182 days and there will be 26 quilt blocks at the end. I pulled fabric out of what I already had and pressed them today and made the first block from last week, so I'm caught up and ready for the block tomorrow. Here's a link if you want to read about it and see some of the blocks people have made. www.ilovetomakequilts.com/2016/12/the-one-hundred-eighty-two-day-solstice-challenge-.htmlTake care everyone
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 28, 2016 2:37:03 GMT
CJ, I went to the site. I love that block. Some look much better than others because some of the patterns seem to get lost into each other if you know what I'm saying. The one I like best is the one called churndash.
I started the shawl and had a really hard time with row2. Some people who write patterns don't use the usual terminology but I worked with it and now the rest is SO EASY! I might get done with it this evening or tomorrow at the latest then I can work on her brother's pillow afgan.I still have to get the yarn together for that. Pattern says it takes six balls of one color and 5 of the other but when I made it before I made it 1 1/2 times bigger than the pattern called for and it was still too small so I'll need 12 and 10 or equivalent yardage to that. I think I have two coordinating colors that I have enough of
I hope you're all having a good evening and had a good day. The wind has calmed down here so it's much better.
ok back to my crocheting
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Post by choney2 on Dec 28, 2016 13:20:02 GMT
Good morning! Well, my keyboard is slowly gettining it's life bak , but a few letters are still not right.
CJ, I like that quilt block" the churn dash is so pretty! It's cool to see what others interpret it as, and which fabrics they select. I totally agree with Ruth, certain colors make a quilt block "pop"! And not all photograph well either. Sounds like a fun project for you! What color scheme will you be using.
Ruth, glad the snow ended or slowed down a bit. Your giving heart sets a good example for all of us.....what kind of blankets do they make for New Guinea? I had to laugh at your description of how some write patterns in different ways. I am struggling with the baby afghan, which has no difficult stick he's, but the designer does a poor job of providing detail.. I am only on row 3, and might just switch to an easier to follow pattern.
Yesterday ended up not being simple at all! I went out with Dd to make some returns and then went back out to help Dh with his project.....that is a long story, but he hadn't evaluate the descent of a constellation over a landmark, that he feels is an ancient burial ground ( which it most probably is). Crazy nut wanted to do that in the dark on a cold December night. I felt it best to at least go with him, in case he fell or something like that.
Hoping today is more quiet.....and that I can figure out this crochet pattern.
Meg and Phyl, we miss you and hope you are doing well! Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 28, 2016 20:45:35 GMT
Ginny, I think that a lot of pattern writers have ways of crocheting the way they've always done them and not the standard way the rest of us understand. I had to read all the comments that were made about this woman's pattern where she explained in a better way what she actually meant in the pattern and then with that and my trying what I thought was the right way I finally got it and now the shawl is super simple. I hope your baby blanket will work out to be really easy too. The shawl has turned out to be just a simple way of doing a granny stitch almost and has four shells at intervals across the row Ginny, I shouldn't even have mentioned giving money for shipping blankets because you know what it says in the Bible...basically if we "toot our own horn" then we've already received our reward I want no reward for doing what I shoujld be doing anyway but shouldn't be on here "tooting" Basically I think it's a medical clinic in PNG. Women come there sometimes to give birth and sometimes after they've given birth "in the bush" to have medical care for themselves and their newborn. They have a strange custom of carrying thier infants in a heavy course net bag so the people at the clinic give each one a blanket to wrap the baby in so they need a lot of blankets. My ddil added me to their group on facebook and it's interesting to see. They have blankets of all kinds that are sent to them..from the usual receiving blankets to fleece blankets,etc, Some people are ordering on Amazon and having the blankets sent to the woman in Louisville who will be sending the shipment. Some have a women's group project of making the blankets, others have teens making blankets. Can you imagine a small child that has had nothing and pretty much runs around naked having a nice blanket to carry around with them! I'm sure there are many, many other places in the world just like that. And God tells us "if you have two coats give one to one in need"Being literal, In this town coast are in great need. I like to go to the mall after the first of the year and get coats marked way down. Even if a family is poor only because of parent's choices, it's the children that need warmth and food.God never said "if you have two coats evaluate and see if the poor person actually deserves to have the coat" He just said give...then He will deal with the other part.. Ok that's my sermon for today...
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Post by gramma15 on Dec 28, 2016 20:49:14 GMT
Ginny, I've read about stitch in the ditch many times but I've never been able to get that concept. And I have no idea what stippling is. No one mentioned a quilting foot so I'll have to look into that. I'm surprised the salesperson, when I bought the sewing machine and walking foot, didn't mention the quilting foot. I would have bought one then. It was strictly a sewing store too so you would think they would try to get you to buy everything they could talk you into. I did tell her I was thinking of quilting.
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Post by cj59 on Dec 29, 2016 0:35:57 GMT
Hello Crafters - hope you are all doing well today. Sounds like everyone is busy this week. I went out yesterday and today, but get a day home tomorrow. Then I'm supposed to have lunch on Friday with some very old friends, so I hope that works out. I made the second quilt block for the 182 Solstice Quilt Along today. I want to try to get them done every Wednesday when they come out so I don't get behind. The fabrics I'm using are a Fat Quarter pack I'd bought at JoAnn Fabrics several years ago - colors are Rust Red, Burnt Orange and a Brown. Then I also used a Fat Quarter package of Little House on the Prairie fabrics - also Rusts, Tan, Dark Gold, and some Creams. The fabric I bought yesterday is a dark gold and blends in pretty well. I didn't necessarily want to use this color scheme, but I did want to use fabric I already had and these matched pretty well. It's fun to check the website each Wednesday and see the pictures of the new blocks. I really need to get with the times and figure out a way to post pictures Take care everyone.
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