Quilting with the librarygoddess24

 I retired June 2022! I sooo needed to go! There comes a point where you know you need to leave and I had reached it! The first year, I basically did nothing. I read, slept, got thru the day, but didn’t want o participate in anything with “people”. I think I was decompressing and just existed. I am better now. I don’t mind people and my urge to travel has returned. Speaking of travel, my sister, Adrienne, and I went on a 14 day trip around Ireland! It was fantastic! We used cietours.com. They were fabulous and so nice and kind.  These pictures came in in reverse so start at the bottom and look up to follow our trail. This is only a bit of the pictures I took. We had quite the trip!  Book of Kells Book of Kells Book of Kells Book of Kells Taylor’s Three Rock Irish performers! ! Waterford Blarney castle. Adrienne petting the pet!  Blarney Jaunting cart ride. We went in the pour rain. When we got to the end, it stopped raining, of course! Patchwork fields in Ireland. Th...

 I went on a short road trip with friends on my birthday. We went to Ms. Sew & Sews quilt store in Wiggins! It was great. Found the fabric I need for my quilt blocks plus a few other goodies!  I see used to join a block exchange with some of my Cobbled Court quilt friends. There are only 8 in this exchange so making blocks wasn't horrible. I tried a few out before I decided to do the Dresden Plate block. We are using fall colors. I think my blocks are so pretty and found the fabric to back them and make the center square with. The blocks will be 12-1/2" squares. I am including a picture example. (Well, I'm going to try!)

 So...Let me just say that half square triangles are NOT my favorite! The CC Quilting group had a pattern to try. I did it. It wasn't great but I did it. I rated it a 1-2. And said I'd out out on it if they did it. I want to go with strait seams and something easier since it's been over a year since overdone any quilt sewing!  

 So now I'm hearing that our governor is putting importance on teachers receiving the vaccine! I am still investigating receiving it. Soooooo many rumors and out and out falseness coming out about it. My doctor recommended I get it. We'll see. Students come back tomorrow. Should be interesting. I also hear we're getting about 300+ new chromebooks in. Oh, yay.  On a happier note, I am getting a haircut tomorrow. Really a trim. Well, I need to go read and then get to bed early. You know, kids and all...lol  Later! 

 My, my! New Year's resolutions come fast at the beginning of the year! I hope I can keep it up. Today was back to work. It was great seeing my fellow teachers and faculty. Everyone seemed to be relaxed and rested. I hope it lasts.  I had to go to the dentist today. I have a broken crown that is going to be looked at by some speciality dentists later this month. Oh, joy. I am hoping it's not going to be a new crown.  Got some sad news today that a friend has breast cancer again...after 15 years. It's hard to compute. She is definitely going on my prayer list and I will have to get my funny/thinking of you/you can get thru this cards out to send her. Talked to Janet today. I have 20 t-shirts I am going to use for a quilt. She is so bad ass as making them, I am going to let her go for it! Also, I encouraged a friend to call her for hers! Hey, I should get a finder's fee!!! 😆

 So, I decided to clean out some of my old things in my closet. I had forgotten how much stuff I had.I cleaned out 3 bags full of tops and jeans that no longer fit. I had such a mess in there with scarves hanging on hangers every which way that I decided to move them to a dresser drawer so they would be nice and neat. I had forgotten how beautiful some were. I bought many on my travels to Ireland, Scotland, and England. Plus Jonathan brought me a beautiful scarf from Greece? I think??? He also brought me a tablerunner from Greece too. He's a fantastic son-in-law!! (If I can figure out how to load a picture on this kindle, I'll show you a picture of some of my scarves.) Anyway, this was done before noon. Now, I plan to go into my sewing room and tidy up and then, put a turkey in the oven at 3:00!

 Last year was quite the year! Multiple hurricanes, alone, would have been bad enough but add in a pandemic.... "Katie, bar the door!" While at this point, I have not had Covid, it is expected that everyone will get in, in some degree or other. I Meanwhile, I have a few goals for 2021:  1. Sew/quilt more. This can include tablerunners too. I made up a list of quilts I wish to make too. One is a Crazy quilt I am very interested in making. (I'll put the list up later as if I make it visible, it'll be real. 😆) 2. Stay/be healthier. I will continue walking but I want to try to add something else. Maybe yoga or weights. 3. Continue to make sure my mental health is on the positive side. I have found some pod casts and music on Spotify I enjoy.  That's all I can deal with right now. 

I have come to a stopping point while I wait for my 1-1/2" white strips come in so I can frame my blocks. Up to this point, I was moving along quite smartly. So as not to be called a 'slacker', I decided to get busy on the pillow cases I plan to give at Christmas. I believe at last count, I had 12 or 13 ready. Then, Jimmy asked me to embroider his towels for his Buffet Beach team, so that has worked out well. I should be finished with them on Tuesday. I am doing 15 for him. I have about 4 to go. I tried to push my machine last year and it almost gave out so I am pacing myself and my machine is not straining. So, good job, me!! I expect the strips in by the weekend, so I can get the pillowcases done too! Works out well! I have been sewing fairly regularly now and I am really enjoying myself. My next thoughts are on a rearrangement of my sewing room. I wish to have more machines up: my 2 embroidery machines, my Featherweight, my little HV, and the serger. I am determined...

I listen to a few podcasts and am constantly looking at quilt sites online. I save blocks, ideas, and things that I want to try at some point. I find ideas for exchanges, whether it’s a pincushion or blocks. I research the heck out of things I am interested in. (I know it’s the librarian in me. Lol)  But -here’s the thing: when I tell my ideas to my Quilting guild, you can hear the crickets! Most are not interested. This makes me sad and feel that I need to step away from the guild for awhile. I will not be the president after this year. I need a break. I need to push myself a bit to improve my skills and by staying in this guild, I won’t grow. I will stay a member but not a officer. Time to move on.

I have finished my Postage Stamp blocks!!! Yes, I did it and I did not freak myself out!!! I really like this 10 minutes of sewing a day thing. It has really taken the stress out of sewing. I feel like that if it's related to any sewing I will be doing, it counts. Now that my blocks are ready, my next step will be framing them with white 1-1/2" frames. I plan to audition this. If I don't like it, I'll decide what is next. So, I have also decided to make some design boards that Lori Holt uses for her applique work. I bought the foam board, a new low temp glue gun and sticks, and batting the other day. I then cut my boards to the sizes I wanted. My next step will be gluing on the batting and then putting the trim around them to make them 'pretty'. (a way to use up 2-1/2" strips) The batting works like a flannel board and holds the pieces together until you can work with them. I plan to use this.

Hurricane Gordon blew in last night after we prepped all day. They canceled school for 2 days and we prepped the house with filling containers, buying food stuffs and batteries, moving plants inside, and Jimmy moved all the stuff around outside. He brought his dog, Red, into the garage for safety. Abby, our inside dog, was fine as long as one of us was around. She is deathly afraid of bad weather. After all that, Gordon blew in and out and we are all fine. No injuries, deaths, or missing things. It's not that we don't take it seriously, we do. (Hence the prep with water, food, batteries) BUT, we do take into consideration the strength of the storms. So, we stayed home. Meanwhile, I am moving on with making my blocks for my quilt. It was very 'freeing' to make the decision to sew for 10 minutes a day and then to follow thru, in some form, of sewing. Even if I don't machine sew, I am hand sewing my hexies together. I do take off if family occasions happen and I don...

I have been sewing for at least 10 minutes a day! It usually ends up being about 30 minutes, which is great, but I've been really trying to stay on course with this. My routine is usually: come in from work, have my cup of tea and snack (here's something else I am trying to stay on the straight and narrow with to get my diabetes under control)...oh, and my snack is either, a piece of fruit, yogurt, or 2-3 cookies. While I'm doing that, I am checking my games on my iPad. Then I go get my tennis shoes and socks out, go into my sewing room, set my alarm for 30 minutes, and sew. I stop 15 minutes before I go walking. Then I walk, come in, eat, shower, get ready for bed, read, and go to bed!  It is working. Today, I had to go to the dentist so my schedule was off. BUT, I planned ahead and changed the routine up, but still went in and SEWED! I think I can make this work. It has been so good for my stress level. It is way down and I am not resenting going to work at all. Tomorro...

It's been 2 years since I've posted anything! I did not realize that! Things have happened, surgeries had, but I am feeling like sharing my posts again. I have decided to fully get into quilting. To that end, I have decided that I need to make sure I spend time sewing every day AT LEAST 10 minutes a day. More is good! Yesterday, I made the cutest embroidered coaster for my son-in-law. As soon as I gift it, I will put up a picture. I was moving around things in my sewing room and came across a jelly roll that I bought from a friend (who was destashing). I decided to make ME a quilt!!! It will be a variation of a Postage Stamp quilt. I will put up the title of the book I am using later. That's where I am now. More later!

I know it's been a while since I've posted. It's amazing how life gets in the way. I've been traveling and sewing. I finished Jimmy's t-shirt quilt.. It's awesome! I picked up some hand sewing tonight. I can't believe how much I've missed it. I plan to do more of that.

It's been a while since I have taken the time to blog. I have been busy and haven't been inclined to write. I am working furiously on some projects now and expect to finish them tomorrow or Monday. I am doing 2 pillowcases for Margaret's Air Force project, a pin cushion for an exchange and a table runner for the Just Needles Christmas Party on Tuesday. I just have to sew the binding on and it's finished. I finally decided what I wanted to do for my pincushion so I will cut and sew it tomorrow. The pillowcases are ready to be sewn. I believe Margaret will like them. I have blankets to sew, pillowcases to make, towels to embroider, and other things to do. I am not going to travel this Christmas so I should have plenty of time to do all these things. I am actually glad I am not going anywhere as I need a break and to catch up. One of my goals is to get the serger out and try to learn to use it. I gave Grace a few sewing machine lessons the other day and apparently, she...

I am in a bit of a funk today. I plan to go swimming and wash it away! lol I've been joining groups on FB and have decided that I may be overdoing it. Some of those members are churning out quilts and projects in unbelievable amounts and, quite frankly, it's a bit intimidating. I have decided to restrict myself to just a few. I've been doing alot of hexies lately. They are fun and easy to do and travel well. Speaking of travel, I plan to go to Oregon, Washington, and Canada with my bff, Marsha, and grandson, James, next month. We are all looking forward to discovering some new areas and seeing my son, Ben and his family. Can't wait! I'll post some more later. Bye!

I have had this fabric since we (Marsha and I) went pig-trailing in Tennessee in 2009. I just didn't know who it was for! I thought I would make something for Grace, my oldest granddaughter, with it but never did. Trinity, Amanda and Matt's niece, and my "almost granddaughter ", began ballet lessons this year. She LOVES ballet! So I remembered I had this fabric and made this. But, I was not happy with the trim I had. So I went "shopping" at Marsha's and found the toe shoe ribbon. Originally, I wanted pink satin ribbon, like toe shoes have, but once I saw this, I knew it was the one!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I have had a lot going on so I just lost touch. However, I hope to be a regular writer again.  So...to catch up: I had the gastric sleeve surgery in October 2013, for health reasons to lose weight. Right now, I've lost about 35 lbs. it is not as easy as people think to lose, even with this surgery. I went into it with my eyes wide open and with the attitude that THIS was my time to get healthy. Yes, I did it to lose weight and look better. However, I really did it so I can watch my grandchildren grow up. I did it for me! Moving on, I can't believe how much more energy I have. I've been sewing more and moving more. My goals now are exercise every day. I bought a recumbent bike that is in my bedroom so I have no excuse not to ride it.! Lol. I have been walking, riding the bike, and doing water aerobics. Tomorrow, I start back at HealthQuest (chevron) for more exercises. My goal is to work my arms, legs, and ab...

I have been totally slacking this year and I have no excuse but ...oh, I'll do that later! lol . School was hard this past year and my health took a dive. BUT, I am feeling much better and am very positive about this new school year. This will be my 14th year at Colmer. Marsha and I went to Great Britain in June and stayed 30 days. We spent about 2-1/2 weeks in Scotland, which we fell in love with, and the rest of the days in Wales and England. Yes, Stonehenge is totally awesome and unbelievable. If you go, be sure to schedule some time there. I will put up a few pictures to show you what I am talking about. Plus, we got pics of Nessie! On Loch Ness!! The last picture is at Windsor Castle.  Stonehenge  Nessie of the Loch Ness

Janet, Lisa and Pam conferring Now they're just posing! lol And here they are again! Tammy, Sandra, Marsha and Alice hard at it! Hard at work Deb and Pam working it! See Jeanette measure using a piece of fabric. Marsha Marsha.....what else can I say? The Quilt Ninja....HIIIIYAAAAA Just Needles Quilting Guild has done it again. We got together at the Pascagoula Library for a morning of intense sewing to make quilts for Project Linus...although they may go to another organization this time...CASA. It seems there are way too many children who need comforting and can use a blanket. Check out the picutres!