I Baked ! ! !

I baked some 'health' cookies using a recipe that my daughter Deb shared with me.

Bananas, p-nut butter, applesauce, 

vanilla protein powder, uncooked oatmeal,

with Craisins,

and, yes, Chocolate Chips

Lots of health in two bites ! ! !

58 calories each

8g Carbs

2g Fats

2g Protein

4g Sugars

Healthy and dee-lish

!  !  !  !  !

hugs 'n smiles

Scarf on the Needle

One of my favorite sketches.

I made this storage box for some of my pens.

The pattern for this punky guy is on Ravely.

Here's what I've on my knitting agenda:

Un-Biased Scarf

I'm using Knitterly Things 

 Vespers Self-striping Sock Yarn

This indie dyer uses an excellent Merino fingering weight yarn that does not show wear even after many, many times of laundering.

She dyes the most glorious colors.

Always, IMHO, with a method of changing from one color to the next without an interruption.

I find that when I knit sox there is a five-row stripe.
I like it when she dyes five or so different colors that make the project exciting.

My friend, Dianna, recently showed off her Un-Biased Scarf using,
what else,
Vespers Self-Striped yarn.
Yep, I gotta have one.
I went Yarn Stash diving
and came up with a terrific skein.

This scarf uses a simple two-row repeat

that I appreciate.

Fairly easy to do while watching Netflix,

which, by the way, I am enjoying.

(|) (|) (|) (|) (|)

Enjoy the rest of this wonderful weekend!

hugs 'n smiles

A Few More 2.5" Strips

Found a few more scraps eligible for 2.5" strips.

So I'm adding to my stack of lite colored strips

that I hope to turn into a chair covering

of some sort.

I'll let you know when I decide just how I want

to accomplish that.

* * * * * * *

Hubby and I decided to give Netflix a try.

They are offering a 30-day free trail period

then $9/mo thereafter.

We can cancel at anytime.

So far, three or four days now, I found a number of

movies and series that will entertain me for a while.

Now all we want is an Internet Provider that will

provide reliable service.

Lately, Mediacom isn't what it used to be.

But I'm ever hopeful.

# # # # #

This past week or two our weather has been more

Autumn-like than Summer.

Just waiting for it to return cuz I know it will.

Til then we're loving' it ! ! ! 

hugs 'n smiles

A Scrappy Quilt

Finally a Finished Project !  ! !

The end in sight as far as my fabric stash.

Daughter Deb and I have used just about all our

scrap fabrics and Stash Fabrics.

Our current project is underway with the first quilt 

FINISHED.

A Scrappy Rag Quilt for Hubby is the first on the

bed and ready for wear.

Our seven rag quilts

are intended to be utilitarian.

They are to be used, and used, and used

'til the are too worn to use one more time.

Bed, Picnic, Tabletoppers

whatever.

After all, they are utilitarian.

****************

Fall is in the air today.

The breeze felt wonderful

with a bit of 'cool'

ruffling our hair.

After our recent rain,

lawns are slightly greener,

tree leaves shinier,

even gutter are cleaner.

YeeHaw!!!

hugs 'n smiles

A Little Quilting ! ! !

Daughter Debra and I have been slowly using

all of our Fabric Stashes.

This summer we are finally making headway.

We spent several days cutting 2.5" strips

of every size piece of fabric we own.

All that remains are a half dozen or so

pieces of Fabric that we can use for Backing

for other projects after this one.

Before beginning cutting those 2.5" strips

we cut the backing pieces.

Since we were cutting from Stash

we decided pieced backs would be the way to

use what we had to our best advantage.

We formed a plan ! ! !

A version of a quilt-as-you-go/'rag quilt' style

quilts would suit our mood.

Since we do not want to do any large quilts . . . . .

We cut 21" square backing fabric and batt.

In fact, we cut eighty-five 21" square quilt backs.

That is enough for seven quilts ! ! ! ! 

These quilts will be four rows by three columns.

We used approx. 27 yards of fabric and 

the same number of yards of batt.

Well on our way to completely de-Stash ! ! ! 

We went on to cut 2.5" strips of the remaining Stash.

These strips are of various lengths

varying from wide of fabric (40-42ish inches)

to some as short as eighteen inches.

We cut, and we cut.

For several days we cut.

Of Course, we used our Accuquilt GO!

cutter using the 2.5" die

which make the entire process a bit easier.

Now we have a great many stack of strips.

I sewed a very long strip about 3,800" in length.

This is equal to a piece of fabric

42" wide by 6.25 yards.

I was able to quilt-as-you-go

the twelve blocks necessary to make one of our quilts.

A quick calculation shows that our goal of

seven quilts takes more than 45 yards of fabric !

The strips I used hardly make a dent in our

'Stash of 2.5" Strips'.

We have a feeling there will be enough to

reach our immediate goal of seven

60"-ish x 80"-ish quilts.

27 yards of backing fabric

plus

27 yards of batt

plus

at least

45 yards of fabric cut into 2.5" strips

That's a lot of YARDS

YAHOO ! ! !

My second Dahlia

 Isn't she sweet?

hugs 'n smiles

Ahhhh, Summer !

My First Dahlia

Cone flower peeking through the fence.

Crisp Blue Sky.

Summer Harvest Forever Stamp USPS 

Yep !  

I've Cast On a New Knitting Project.

Leftover yarn from my red cardigan sweater.

^^^^^*****^^^^^

Here we are mid-August and enjoying a lovely summer.

Soon thoughts of Autumn will be prancing into our thoughts

But 'til then

I'm thoroughly enjoying this time o' year.

hugs 'n smiles

Sketchbook

Here's a look into my Sketchbook.

This is one of my favorites,

a two-page layout 

that is kind of fun to work.

Another two-page lay out
but entirely different mood.

I enjoy them both.

Sunday night our air conditioning stopped cooling.
Yikes!
Yesterday morning we called the repairman.
He was here before noon.
Got the a/c working in no time
and the house finally cooled by late afternoon.
Yipee !
Gotta love this city.
Service this fast is fantastic ! ! ! 

Hope you are staying cool today.

Talk with ya later.

hugs 'n smiles

Blackeyed Susans?

Ny neighbor's backyard is awash in a glorious yellow.

Her Blackeyed Susans are in full bloom,

a gorgeous sight ! ! ! 

They've inspired me to draw my own version.

My favorite way to draw/sketch is

Micron Pigma pen in black.

And, now and then, like today, I like to add color

with colored pencils or markers.

It's not all about pen and paper.

Number Two daughter and I have been

planning, sorting through our fabric stashs,

and cutting two-and-a-half strip pieces for quilts.

Our next step won't happen 'til

her next vacation days in September.

Then we'll begin some actual sewing.

Until then I hope to get some

time with my pens and paper.

hugs ' smiles

Notecard

I've been 'drawing/sketching' lately

and very much enjoying it.

 Creative bug offered several drawing/sketching and water painting classes this past Spring.

That caught my attention

as I was doing nothing creative other than knitting.

Decided that I needed to stretch my brain

a bit.
 I found

a Basic Line Drawings class taught by Lisa Congdon.

Sounded like something I could do.

I signed up.
 I really enjoyed the

challenge.

Found that I could produce a recognizable page of

pen sketches.

Yes, I do prefer drawing in pen rather than pencil.

hugs 'n smiles

  

My Mother

.

Mom and I ca. 1997

1915 - 1999

This is the Century mark for the birth of my Mom!

It has been sixteen years since her passing.

There are not many days that go by that I don't think of her.

hugs 'n smiles