A project from

my recent quilt retreat. One of the projects I worked on was this wall hanging. It was a kit I bought 5 years ago at the same retreat! Why rush? It will get done sooner or later.

I changed the letters on top to spell 'Summer' rather then 'August' since the only other one I have says 'Spring'.

I machine appliqued the crow and letters, and machine quilted it. The watermelon seeds are beads. Now I just need to find a means to hang it. The metal hanger I thought I was going to use isn't quite wide enough.

Tomorrow I'm planning a drive to a quilt shop about 45 minutes away where they're having what they're calling a 'fat quarter event'. Fat quarters for $1 if you buy 20 or more, or $1.25 if you buy less then 20. Anyone who knows good quality quilt store fabric knows that $1 for a fat quarter is less then half price and worth driving 45 minutes for!

We'll see if I get anything photo worthy.

Until then, I'm off.

The Queen Bee

How they grow....

The Scholar, age 5, and The Boy Wonder, age 3, in April 1996....





















and today. Tonight is Junior prom night. There was a date, who was cute as a button, but it's the picture of these 2 that tickles me the most.












Not to forget Buttercup, who wasn't born when the first picture was taken.








We dropped the kids off at the restaurant and took pictures of friends in the parking lot.







The Boy Wonder with his 2 best buds. Don't they clean up well?



Whoever invented renting dress clothes for boys was a genius. Otherwise, they'd never get to look this nice.












Until next time, I'm off.

The Queen Bee

Ouch!

Does this make me look old? Seriously, is this enough gray hair to age me beyond my 46 years? That's a rhetorical questions, by the way. I know everyone is shaking their heads no and wondering what the heck I'm worrying about. Had this only happened once I wouldn't let it get to me but it happened TWICE in one week! While shopping at 2 different department stores this week the sales clerks asked me if I was a member of the senior discount club! OUCH! The one was called '50 Plus' so I already know how old you have to be to participate. I didn't stick around long enough to find out about the second one. The Scholar told me I should have just said 'yes' and taken whatever discount they were offering. But, I say no way! I've got a minimum of 3 1/2 years before I'm signing up for any one's senior discount program.

I told my husband that they (meaning he and the kids) were aging me beyond my years. Always the quick thinker, he blamed it on the kids then asked what stores we weren't ever going to shop in again.


Buttercup reminded me that we would soon be in Florida where I would certainly look young.... simply because I was! What a sweety.

Many deep sighs from me.

I am not going to start dying my hair. I wear it too short anyway. Every time I got it cut (which is every 4 or 5 weeks) I'd have to get it dyed again because the back is so short. My hair dresser tells me all the time how nice my 'silver' hair is. Soft and shiny, etc. In fact, if it ever turns white I'm going to dye it silver. I figure I earned the grays I'm going to show them off.

So, I guess I'm going to have to investigate some other ways to look younger.

The Queen Bee

The slow boat

isn't really all that slow. Mississippi Riverboat is coming along nicely. Love the colors. Today is cloudy so the beige thread doesn't show up so well in the photo.



Today I should be working on The Library for my Monday SAL. Maybe later I can do that. Right now there are plumbers tearing apart the sewer lines. Much drama with the sewer line and septic over the last few days. Today should be the conclusion of that mess. But, here's the upside of not being able to run water..... no laundry, no cleaning, no cooking, nothing. (We do have bathrooms on a different sewer line so I'm not suffering any.) So, anyway, hard to stitch with all that noise and disruption.

Hope everyone is enjoying spring like weather. Here, in NY, we've had temps in the 80's. Unheard of. It won't last but we'll enjoy it while we can.

I'm off.

The Queen Bee

The bane of my existence...

or at least, of my WIP's. I wasn't going to ever post about this piece until I had a finished picture to show but here goes.

I could safely say I don't have any UFO's (in cross stitch, anyway. Quilting might be another story.) I was always a one at a time stitcher working on, almost exclusively, large pieces. I picked one pattern to work on and stitched it until I was done. I was fearless. Nothing was too big to tackle.

About 10 years ago I started adding a small piece here and there while a larger piece was under way. Then I just threw caution to the wind and started multiple large pieces. About 6 years ago I purchased Holiday Express, a Stardust pattern 'specially designed from Artwork by L. Kotila'. That should have been my first clue, but what did I know? I'd never stitched a piece designed specifically from a piece of art. I should have also noticed that the picture on the front of the pattern (which is VERY tiny, by the way) is of the piece of art, not a finished cross stitch. But, heck, I've been stitching forever. I can do this.

So, about 4 years ago I pulled out the specially purchased piece of recommended fabric [from hell] and started stitching. I can't even begin to describe the challenges this piece has offered. No matter, I won't be defeated by a piece of fabric, a picture, and some threads. I've just put it to rest and gotten it back out when it's in a better mood. Fast forward to today, when the piece looks like this.....

Not so bad, I know. It's just Taken me 4 TIMES LONGER THEN IT SHOULD HAVE TO FINISH IT! Hence my frustration.

Enter Jinger, a fellow blogger over at www.raeofsunstitches.blogspot.com (for whatever reason I can't get a hyperlink to work) who has been working on the same piece for almost twice as long as me. An angel in disquise! We are going to cheer each other on thru the final stretches of Holiday Express.

So, cross my fingers, this time I really will set a finish date and make it happen. By August, when my LNS has it's biannual frame sale, I'd like to have the piece finished and ready to take to be framed.

And now, I've said it out loud so there is no backing down.

Wish me luck.

The Queen Bee

What's cooking

en la casa de la Queen? I have a cold and don't feel like doing anything so I'm going to talk cooking. Plus the new piece I started stitching yesterday is all white on white. Hardly an interesting photograph.

I am fortunate enough to live outside the city that is the birth place of the best grocery store in the world. Wegman's. While they've moved into other areas and states, they're still at their best in this part of New York. Here is the newest item I found while shopping recently.



I'm never going to be a great cook nor do I have the desire to be one. I do like to try to find new ways to cook the same ol' same ol'. But, often, when browsing a new recipe magazine or cookbook I don't try a new recipe because I have to buy too many expensive spices. If the recipe gets a thumbs down from the kids I don't make it again, yet the spices linger in the cupboard. So, when I saw these cute little items I had to add them to my cart. Even better then the premeasured spices is.... the complete recipe is on the back so if it's a good one I can invest in the spices and make it again. Cool, huh?

So far, the Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas got a thumbs sideways*, the Spanish Chicken Skillet hasn't been tried, but Apple & Sage Pork Chops got thumbs up! I have since bought the 2 spices that were missing from my cupboard so I can make it again.

Anyhow, that's about all I've got. Now I'm going to the couch to waste my afternoon watching on old PBS series on Henry VIII's wives.

The Queen Bee

*Thumbs sideways is an expession the kids use to sort of poke fun at how they were taught in elementary school to say they didn't like something. You know..... no negativity or anything.

A progress report

on The Library by Little House Needleworks. It's hard to escape the shadows today because I waited until late afternoon to snap a picture. Also, no ironing went on so we'll just overlook those wrinkles. I really don't like to iron something too many times.... especially something that will be handled as much as this piece will be. I do all my stitching without a frame so I can really work in the wrinkles.

All is quiet in my neck of the woods. I'm heading out for Chinese take-out then to a school concert. (The Chinese is a treat since we only get it when my husband is away.) Not to imply that the concert isn't a treat... it's just.... you know... a school concert.

Until next time....

The Queen Bee