About Me

My photo
New Jersey, United States
I am the wife of a wonderful husband and the mom of three super adult kids and their spouses. I also proudly have five adorable grandsons. I happily taught preschool for 25 years. When I'm not with my grandsons I spend much of my time indulging in my "Quilty Pleasures."

Monday, December 30, 2013

Make-A-List Monday





The Week of December 23, 2013
(in review)

1. Work on the fourth and fifth clue for 
Celtic Solstice 
Bonnie Hunter's new online mystery.




Clue 4

Clue 5



I am now caught up with all five clues.  I am so excited to see what the next clue will bring.


You can see what other Mystery Quilters are doing by checking out Quiltville's Quips & Snips.

2.  Bind my Christmas Tree Log Cabin Wall Hanging.





I love how this wall hanging added to my Christmas decorations.


3.  Work on the center block and the four pinwheel blocks for Wildflower Rhapsody.



This is the center block.  I have not finished the four pinwheel blocks.

4.  Continue to work through my Flylady inspired Christmas Control Journal.

I truly believe that my Christmas Control Journal helps me host a special holiday event each year.  

Now, if I could only get Flylady to come and do all my cleaning, cooking and shopping!!


5.  Work on some hemming and mending of garments.

I finished all my hemming and mending.


6.  Prepare fabric for a New Year's Day Mystery called 

An Oldie but Goodie 
sponsored by Merry Mayhem.

All the fabric needed for this mystery is chosen and cut.  I have to make 240 HST before the first clue is released at 9AM on New Year's Day.  I will do them tomorrow.


7.  Organize the online Quilt Along projects I intend to work on in 2014.


I have a general outline of my 2014 projects but I still need to prepare binders for them.


8.  Cut up a bag of scraps I've accumulated over the last few weeks.

My scraps have been cut and organized.

9.  Prepare month 3 for the Civil War Tribute quilt.

No progress.


10.  Work on the last block for the Paper-Pieced Heart Sampler.

No progress.


11.  Pull fabric for three quilts I will start in 2014

Tell it to the Stars - Patchwork Times
Fit for a Hero - Patchwork Times
Delightful Stars - The Quilting Gallery

No progress.


12.  Work on the December block for the PQW Saturday Sampler.

No progress.

13.  Complete the final step for Back to Square One mystery quilt.

No progress.


14.  Work on the final touches for the Byrne 2013 $5 quilt.


No progress.


15.  Finish current quilt I am working on for Quilts for Kids.


No progress.


16.  Finish my Pieceful Nights quilt...a Quilt Along sponsored by Jo's Country Junction.


No progress.


17.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Small Print
Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print
Blue Palace
Meadow - A Christmas Quilt
Civil War Tribute
Two Flag of Valor Quilts

No progress.

18.  Work on the quilt currently loaded on Annie - 
All Hand Dyes Go Together.

No progress.


19.  Add some more hexies to my Bonnie Hunter inspired
 Christmas Hexie Quilt. 

A little progress.


20.  Work on the shawl I am crocheting for 
the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. David the King Church.

A little progress.


21.  Spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with sweet Ryder and the rest of my family.
  
We had a wonderful, calm and joyful Christmas.  



My son, JT, found the pickle that Santa hid in our tree, so he got to open the first present.  I think he always finds the pickle...hmmmm?


It was extra special having Kyle, Heather and Ryder share in our day.  


Ryder loved his new book, "Where the Wild Things Are."


We had a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself) with all the trimmings.


It's wonderful when the menfolk do the dishes!!!



The Week of December 30, 2013

1.  Work on the sixth clue for 
Celtic Solstice 
Bonnie Hunter's new online mystery.

2.  Work on the four pinwheel blocks for Wildflower Rhapsody.


3.  Participate in a New Year's Day mystery called 

An Oldie but Goodie
 sponsored by Merry Mayhem.

4.  Organize the online Quilt Along projects I intend to work on in 2014.

5.  Prepare month 3 for the Civil War Tribute quilt.

6.  Work on the last block for the Paper-Pieced Heart Sampler.

7.  Pull fabric for three quilts I will start in 2014

Tell it to the Stars - Patchwork Times
Fit for a Hero - Patchwork Times
Delightful Stars - The Quilting Gallery

8.  Work on the December block for the PQW Saturday Sampler.

9.  Complete the final step for Back to Square One mystery quilt.

10.  Work on the final touches for the Byrne 2013 $5 quilt.

11.  Finish current quilt I am working on for Quilts for Kids.

12.  Finish my Pieceful Nights quilt...a Quilt Along sponsored by Jo's Country Junction.

13.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Small Print
Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print
Blue Palace
Meadow - A Christmas Quilt
Civil War Tribute
Two Flag of Valor Quilts

14.  Work on the quilt currently loaded on Annie - 
All Hand Dyes Go Together.

15.  Add some more hexies to my Bonnie Hunter inspired
 Christmas Hexie Quilt. 

16.  Work on the shawl I am crocheting for 
the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. David the King Church.

There is nothing new on my list this week.  I am just going to continue to work on these items and finding  the missing pictures from past blog posts.


Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn 



Monday, December 23, 2013

Make-A-List Monday

Oh, what a busy week!!

It was wonderful watching the USC Trojans beat 

The Fresno State Bulldogs in the 

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl.







Other than watching the game, I really didn't finish much of anything on my December 16th list, so I am just going to carry my list over to this week with a few changes: 


The Week of December 23, 2013

1. Work on the fourth and fifth clue for 
Celtic Solstice 
Bonnie Hunter's new online mystery.

2.  Bind my Christmas Tree Log Cabin Wall Hanging.

3.  Work on the center block and the four pinwheel blocks for Wildflower Rhapsody.

4.  Continue to work through my Flylady inspired Christmas Control Journal.

5.  Work on some hemming and mending of garments.

6.  Prepare fabric for a New Year's Day Mystery called An Oldie but Goodie sponsored by Merry Mayhem.

7.  Organize the online Quilt Along projects I intend to work on in 2014.

8.  Cut up a bag of scraps I've accumulated over the last few weeks.

9.  Prepare month 3 for the Civil War Tribute quilt.

10.  Work on the last block for the Paper-Pieced Heart Sampler.

11.  Pull fabric for three quilts I will start in 2014

Tell it to the Stars - Patchwork Times
Fit for a Hero - Patchwork Times
Delightful Stars - The Quilting Gallery

12.  Work on the December block for the PQW Saturday Sampler.

13.  Complete the final step for Back to Square One mystery quilt.

14.  Work on the final touches for the Byrne 2013 $5 quilt.

15.  Finish current quilt I am working on for Quilts for Kids.

16.  Finish my Pieceful Nights quilt...a Quilt Along sponsored by Jo's Country Junction.

17.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Small Print
Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print
Blue Palace
Meadow - A Christmas Quilt
Civil War Tribute
Two Flag of Valor Quilts

18.  Work on the quilt currently loaded on Annie - 
All Hand Dyes Go Together.

19.  Add some more hexies to my Bonnie Hunter inspired
 Christmas Hexie Quilt. 

20.  Work on the shawl I am crocheting for 
the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. David the King Church.

21.  Spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with sweet Ryder and the rest of my family.  

Honestly, with Christmas this week and my children visiting, I'm not sure if I will finish anything this week either.  



Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn



Monday, December 16, 2013

Make-A-List Monday

COMPUTERS.....

Ughhhhhhh!!!


Technology has gotten the best of me once again.  As many of you know, I have been trying to organize all of my pictures on a web based photo site so that when my computer inevitably crashes, I will not lose all my pictures.  


I first tried Dropbox until I realized it was going to cost me ~$100 a year to use the site with the number of photos that I have.  I couldn't see paying this amount of money so I went searching for another site.


Shutterfly became the next site that I tried.  It was okay, but I wasn't able to organize my pictures the way I wanted, and the site seemed primarily geared towards selling photo enhanced products.  


I next learned about the Google site Picasa.  This is the site I am using currently.  Everything was going along great.  I was able to organize all my photos into albums.  Unfortunately, many of the albums had multiple copies of each photo so I had to delete all the extra copies and that took a while but I got that done. 


Then I started working on my Quilty Pleasures blog. This is where I ran into a MAJOR problem.  I estimate that 90% of the pictures I used on my site were replaced with a symbol.


Notice the symbols found on a screen shot of my "Quilts I Have Made" page:





I immediately went into panic mode.  I started searching through past posts only to find that horrible minus sign in a gray oval over and over again.  


My first thought was to delete my blog.  Two years of blogging were ruined.  Then I came to my senses and decided that I could fix this problem by just redoing all the pictures that were removed.  I now have my pictures all organized so it should be easy, right?  Wrong!!!  


But that is okay.  I have decided to take my time and get my blog back to the way it looked before I started messing with everything.  It will take a long time but I always need things to do while Ryder naps so this should keep me busy.


The thing that bothers me the most is that if I only understood computers a little more, I would probably discover that with a few clicks of the mouse, all my pictures would be visible.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what those few clicks might be, so I will have to muddle through many hours of work to restore the pictures.


If anyone knows how I can find my missing pictures more easily, please let me know.  In the mean time, I will start restoring the pages on the right side of the home page and then tackle the individual posts...over 200 of them!  There will be great rejoicing in Quilty Pleasure Land when I finish this monumental task.


Now, on to my list...



The Week of December 9, 2013
(in review)

1.  Finish the second clue for Bonnie Hunter's new online mystery


and start working on the third clue to be released on Friday.



I was able to finish clue 3...lots of HST and pinwheels.



Here is a box of my first three clue parts.  I can't wait to see where this mystery is going.


2.  Finish the Make It Snappy scarves started a few weeks ago.



I finally finished all 25 Make It Snappy scarves.  Making one scarf is snappy...making 25 is not.  :)


3.  Bind the Christmas Tree Log Cabin wall hanging recently quilted on Annie.

No Progress


4.  Work on the center block for Wildflower Rhapsody.

No Progress

5.  Continue to work through my Flylady inspired Christmas Control Journal.

Christmas this year is going to be a little more laid back than usual.  My hubby and I have decided to cut back our guest list to just our immediate family.  It has been a very emotional year for me with the passing of my father in the spring.  It just seems to be the right time to make my life a little more simple and this small change will make this time of year more manageable for us.  I will continue to use my Christmas Control Journal to keep everything running smoothly.  At this point, all my cookies have been baked, almost all my rooms have been cleaned, all nonperishable food has been purchased and all decorating has been done.  Unfortunately, I have not finished shopping.  I think there may be a few gift cards in my children's future.  

6.  Complete the next two blocks for the Byrne $5 quilt.





Only one more block to go for this BOM.  I will receive the last block this week.


7.  Work on some hemming and mending of garments.

No Progress


8.  Cut up a bag of scraps I've accumulated over the last few weeks.

No Progress


9.  Prepare month 3 for the Civil War Tribute quilt.

No Progress


10.  Work on the last block for the Paper-Pieced Heart Sampler.

No Progress


11.  Pull fabric for three quilts I will start in 2014

Tell it to the Stars - Patchwork Times
Fit for a Hero - Patchwork Times
Delightful Stars - The Quilting Gallery

No Progress


12.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Small Print
*Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print
Blue Palace
Meadow - A Christmas Quilt
Civil War Tribute
Two Flag of Valor Quilts

I was only able to work on Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print.



Here are six of the blocks I finished.


13.  Work on the quilt currently loaded on Annie - 
All Hand Dyes Go Together.

I am working on this quilt every day.  It is quite large so it is taking awhile.  As I get near the end I am starting to worry that my batting might not be long enough.  Has this ever happened to you?  If this happens I'm not sure how to solve the problem without removing the quilt from the frame.  Have you ever added batting while the quilt was still loaded?  I'll let you know what happens as I continue to work on All Hand Dyes Go Together.


14.  Add some more hexies to my Bonnie Hunter inspired
 Christmas Hexie Quilt. 

Just a Little Progress


15.  Work on the shawl I am crocheting for 
the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. David the King Church.

No Progress


16.  Spend a day with my little Ryder...including a sleepover!

My little guy has had a very busy week.  He enjoyed a snowfall during our sleepover.




He was probably wondering why the little boy who always fishes in our pond was outside in the snowstorm.


He helped his mommy bake cookies.





He posed for his Christmas Card photo.






My Christmas Angel!!!


17.  Attend Saturday Sampler at Pennington Quilt Works.

Our next block looks a little challenging.  Hopefully it will go well.


The Week of December 16, 2013


1. Work on the fourth clue for Bonnie Hunter's new online mystery
to be released on Friday.

2.  Bind my Christmas Tree Log Cabin Wall Hanging.

3.  Work on the center block for Wildflower Rhapsody.

4.  Continue to work through my Flylady inspired Christmas Control Journal.

5.  Work on some hemming and mending of garments.

6.  Cut up a bag of scraps I've accumulated over the last few weeks.

7.  Prepare month 3 for the Civil War Tribute quilt.

8.  Work on the last block for the Paper-Pieced Heart Sampler.

9.  Pull fabric for three quilts I will start in 2014

Tell it to the Stars - Patchwork Times
Fit for a Hero - Patchwork Times
Delightful Stars - The Quilting Gallery

10.  Work on the December block for the PQW Saturday Sampler.

11.  Complete the final step for Back to Square One mystery quilt.

12.  Work on the following BRODY Projects:

Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Small Print
Four-Patch Stacked Posies...Large Print
Blue Palace
Meadow - A Christmas Quilt
Civil War Tribute
Two Flag of Valor Quilts


13.  Work on the quilt currently loaded on Annie - 
All Hand Dyes Go Together.

14.  Add some more hexies to my Bonnie Hunter inspired
 Christmas Hexie Quilt. 

15.  Work on the shawl I am crocheting for 
the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. David the King Church.

16.  Spend a day with sweet Ryder.

17.  Attend the final class for the Byrne $5 quilt and pick up the bracelet that I lost in their parking lot.


18.  Watch my beloved USC Trojans play the Fresno State Bulldogs in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl.



Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Show & Tell Tuesday

Show & Tell Tuesday

I have two quilts to share today.  I hope you like them.


American Patriot




I purchased this American Patriot Kit from Olde City Quilts in Burlington, NJ a few years ago.  I finally dug it out and completed it in 2011.

This was a free pattern offered by Marcus Fabrics and it is available HERE.

It was designed by Jean Ann Wright.



My American Patriot quilt measures 65" X 65".



Mosaic Star



Mosaic Star was another Strip Club quilt offered by 
The Village Quilter in Mt. Holly,  NJ.  

Deborah Borsos designed this quilt and the pattern is available for purchase HERE.  

The pieced border on Mosaic Star is stunning!



I completed my version of Mosaic Star in 2010 and it measures 60" X 60".


Until Next Time.....Happy Stitching!!!

Sharyn