Stitchin' Chicks Quilt Camp

Spending four days quilting in January is the best...13 women with 13 sewing machines and a bizillion projects. We all arrive with full vehicles..whether they be a HHR (mine). a pickup truck, a SUV, or regular car. We bring way more than we can ever finish or hope to even start.


I have the same problem when I go on vacation...I make a list, revise the list, sort the list, reduce the list and dream about the list. The day I'm leaving on vacation or to quilt camp, I start adding things to my bags. At least for camp, I can bring 1000# of stuff unlike going to the airport. And no security at camp...sometimes maybe there should be like when one participant brought in the cutest miniature cow through the back door and then the manager walked in. Whew! No accidents either...my biggest fear.

This camp was a little different...a little less jovial. The husband of my good friend was having heart problems. After many phone calls back and forth, he ended up in the emergency room and had to be transported to another city to a larger hospital. My friend left early and the situation left us subdued.

News today is his problem is ongoing but hopefully not as dire as first suspected. We shared mutual fears at camp - some of us have experienced similar events and a few experienced the loss of a partner. One quilter said - Life is tenuous. It's also precarious and precious so we go home and in prayer and gratitude look at our relationships in a new way. We tend them with renewed love and more patience.


Winter is still here reminding us on almost a daily basis throwing down another layer, another blanket of snow. We try to be patient and careful while we fight the icy, snowy roads carefully peering around the snowbanks that build up at each corner. Camp in April will be warmer and the beginnings of spring will be evident...we hope!


Here are some pictures of camp and projects. I have a couple more that are almost done so I will wait and show you those soon!

Bad dog pillow!

Big conference room where we set up our sewing stations!

One of two Spiral Zipper bags I made!


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched,
they must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller

Take care,

Bonnie



Doorways of Gamla Stan Stockholm

As I wandered the cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm, I wondered who had walked through these doorways...



Gamla Stan is the original Stockholm set up in 1252.  It is one of the largest and best preserved medieval cities in Europe.   Most of the buildings are from the 1700 and 1800's but within these buildings are frescoes and vaults from the Middle Ages.  Soon I will post pictures of a restaurant were we ate within an old prison vault down quite a few stone steps. 

The narrow streets wind around its lovely architecture making it difficult to leave this part of Sweden.  We stayed in a hotel in Gamla Stan in 1998.  I wish we could have found it when we were here this visit.  We just might have to go back and revisit this old town again.



There's more to tell about Gamla Stan.

I want to know who lived at #5 or what kind of shop was housed here or who painted those lovely doors green?

Women Who Meet and Sometimes Remember

Do you belong to some sort of a women's group?  Not a formal women's group but a group of women who meet?  I do.  We speak a different language when women are with women.  Sometimes we don't need to complete our sentences...and then again sometimes we need help to finish them.  

A couple of days ago after exercise, there were about 10 of us at coffee at our favorite bakery that has the best coffee in town.  With that many women you can tune in and participate in at least 4 or 5 conversations and we do...or try to.

In recalling part of the hour or so that we were socializing, there were any number of us telling a story and then we were suddenly perplexed because a mind went blank and usually it was a name that couldn't be recalled.  It could have been the name of a movie or TV show or wife of a TV show creator.  Sometimes we get the answer and sometimes no one remembers.

It was me that couldn't remember the name of the wife of David E. Kelley, creator of the new show, Harry's Law, starring Kathy Bates.  It's my new favorite show - who couldn't like an older, fluffy, sassy woman?  I could describe her to a "T", see her on Letterman or in a scene from a movie but her name just wasn't on my tongue or in my mind. And no one could help me!

These are moments where we share a laugh while we all try to remember whatever it is that is momentarily forgotten.  We all have had our time in the barrel so to speak.  This is part of our bond...we share so many discrepancies!

So we discuss our loss of memory on a regular basis.  Wondering if we are in the early stages of Alzheimer's.  Actually we do worry a bit because one of our friends is in the early stages of that dread disease.  We worry about her and wonder about her now that she doesn't join our merry group anymore.

There are a few who linger after an hour or so, not wanting to leave the comfortable atmosphere with people we like with stories that interest us but one by one we make our way to our cars and to our homes or we'll meet again at the grocery store to share yet another laugh or two along with the night's menu or recipe.

When I was almost home, about a mile down the snow and ice covered road from my house, I remembered her name - Michele Pfeiffer!  But I did remember on my own this time and after a while.   

Today was exercise day but with the temps at -28 degrees early this morning, I decided to curl up under one of my quilts and stayed home and out of the weather.  I miss my friends when I miss a scheduled coffee day.  I am anxious to tell them that I remembered her name...

Bonnie

Creative Tuesday!

Creativity hasn't been easy lately.  It's scary to think I might be slowing down.  So today I decided to make myself go into my sewing room and stay there until I completed something!!!

I bought a little bag kit last year and I dragged it to quilt camps all last year.  It rode back and forth with me to my camps, sat on my table during camp watching me make other stuff and then rode back home still in its little bag.  The Spiral Zipper Bag by LJ Designs is made with a fat quarter (18" x 22"), a 22" zipper, and a piece of batting.  It's a quirky little bag and so cute.

I told you it was quirky!

The zipper is opened up and sewn around the edge

As you zip it, it spirals!

I made the Panda, Happy Song, in my second bearmaking class.  He is fully jointed (arms, legs and head) and is made out of mohair.  My house is full of bears.  I have a cupboard full of mohair and synthetic fur waiting to make more bears!  Maybe this winter will be bear season.  It would be fun to show you how I make the collectible bears

I'm finishing up another locker hooked journal cover.  Maybe I'll finish that in the next couple of days...I could be on a roll!

Take care,

Bonnie

Enough already!

I think the whole state of Minnesota is ready to stay home.  In the last 40 some days we have had over 30 some days of snow.  All right already - we get it, its winter.  My daughter is tall but can't see over the snowbanks from her Jetta at the stop signs.  The Public Works guys don't know where to shove the snow anymore.  We give - we give!

It snowed all day today - a fine, snowglobe kind of snow.  The slippery, greasy roadways are causing havoc in the larger metro areas.  We are at our wits end and its only half way through January.  The snowbirds have vanished to parts south but wait - there is snow in 49 out of 50 states.  How far will they have to go next year to escape the white stuff???

The diehards are hunkered down knitting and crocheting their hearts out.  Some are cooking - peering into the bottom of the chest freezer to look for ingredients to make comfort food...more comfort food...we need comfort food!

Our lack of sunshine is hitting us hard in January - wait - doesn't that usually come over us in February?  We are in a state of emergency - we need sunshine - snowbirds, will you send us some of yours or do you have any to spare?

Polar fleece is my uniform of the day.  Now I add a quilted vest to complete the fashion statement.  I volunteered to go out and get the mail today.  I put on my Nanook of the North jacket on but it wouldn't zip...must remove the quilted vest.  Too many layers.

When I got to the end of the driveway, there wasn't a mailbox.  The post was there but the mailbox...no, wait...there it is laying in the snow.  The snowplow driver finally hit his target...eleven years the mailbox has stood solid while others up and down the road have fallen.  I try to pick it up and place it back on the post...its very heavy and bulky.  Where is my Mr.???  I know he is watching me get the mail...yes, there he is walking toward me while I struggle to balance ours and the neighbor's back on the post.   Ah! we see that the mailman has been by but saw the mailboxes in the ditch and took our precious mail back to the Post Office. 

Going to get the mail when you live in the country is a big deal and when you get there its an even bigger deal to have mail.  A package in our oversize box is second only to Christmas.  So the thought that he couldn't bring our bills to the house and let us know what had happened is depressing.

The box is back on the post - attached with new screws and ready for tomorrow when hopefully we will get two days of mail, really making our day!  You can be assured that we will be checking in the morning to see if the mailbox made it through the night and stood up to the snowplow. 

Just another snowy day in the country,

Bonnie

Knitting on a Snowy Day in MN!

First I have to correct my friend's blog address...Amanda's Baskets.  I've had it wrong forever...now its correct so you can click on it and actually get to her site!  It takes me a while sometimes to figure out some things!  Yay!

I received my new camera and have read the manual so I can post pictures of some of my recent projects.  Making simple projects out of yarn keeps me busy all winter and other times too.  I'm a compulsive crocheter, knitter person.  It seems that I can't just sit...so I pick up my needles or hook and make some item that when finished joins their relatives in a big tote.  Sometimes I invite my girl family members to pick out what they want and sometimes at our Farmgirls Country Sale in the fall I put them out for sale. The tote is never empty...it runneth over.

Here are a few new things using Pomp-a-Doodle Yarn by Red Heart Yarn.  

The yarn is made of pom poms with a string in between.
You knit the string between the pom poms. 

This is mine! 

Into the tote they go!

To knit this yarn, you have to cast on and hold it differently than with regular yarn but the scarf only takes a couple hours to finish.  On the Red Heart site, there are videos to show you how to knit and crochet this yarn along with patterns.  The scarf is very warm and creates interest wherever you go.  I think a little girl's purse would be so cute out of these pom poms.

I should go and start making my Valentine's!  or pack up the last tote of Christmas decorations!  Hmm...Valentine's sound like more fun!

We have a very fine snow coming down...off and on most of the day!  Another great crafting day!  Yay!

Take care,

Bonnie


 

Krumkake Kaper!

In a past post, I wrote about some of our Christmas traditions.  My success with some traditions is due to the culinary skills taught to me by my Mom and Gram.  My Mom wasn't fond of baking but her beef and pork roast dinner, chicken soup with egg dumplings, a chicken baked with wine, and her spaghetti sauce were amazingly wonderful and only some of my favorites.  She did make apple thins better than any I've ever eaten.

So through the years since my Gram and my Mom watch me from up above, I have tried to replicate their dishes.  My Dad mentioned his love of refrigerator cookies - I tried by best but he wasn't impressed with my attempt...so I don't make them anymore - yet.  He bought an electric Krumkake maker a few years ago because he loves them so much.  So I have tried to make them like Gram made them.  I think this year was the closest I've come to the taste and crispiness!

So I took pictures to celebrate this accomplishment!  I found the right recipe  finally!  They are putzy to make by yourself but I decided not to get upset and just have a good time making one of our Christmas cookies! 

The iron has to be the right temp
and using the right amount on each side is trial and error.

I finally figured out that when the iron stops steaming,
 they are almost done!

Then remove the Krumkake quickly
 and roll around the wooden cone-shaped deal.

The recipe makes many so I stopped at one point
 to cool off the iron, take a break and finished up!

Now how pretty are they filled with whipped cream
 and sprinkled with powdered sugar!

I'm so glad I persevered and finally after 3 years or so ended up with a good batch.  Past years I tried using the recipe that came with the iron and this year I just googled Krumkake, picked a recipe and they turned out.  They keep for quite a while and stay as crisp and yummy for weeks when kept in a cool/cold place.

Well - two things accomplished.  I finished another post and the last picture is from my new camera!  Yay! for me!  Another manual down and software installed.  I am still learning the new features and it was night time when I took the picture so the lighting wasn't that good.  But onward and upward!

Now on with more projects...maybe tomorrow I can show you my newly knitted  scarves.

Take care,

Bonnie

Honest Scrap Award

I googled this award when Dani, Fading Margins, presented it to me.  Near as I can find out, the guidelines have been a little loosey goosey.  So this is what I'm passing on to the blogs I will be awarding with this honor. 

1.  Say thanks and link back to the presenter of the award.



2.  Share “10 Honest Things” or so about myself.


3.  Present this award to 5 bloggers whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.


4.  Tell those 5 people they’ve been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines upon receiving.

I'm not sure I can come up with 10 Honest Things about myself but I guess you'll never know for sure.

1.  I live on a farm - well - 10 acres with a garden.  I don't really like most bugs.  It can get a little weary for my hubby when he hears screams while I'm working in the garden or getting the mail because I've seen a new creature of the buggy type.  A mouse scream is even worse and they are in my garden area.  Very scary for all concerned!

2.  I love cats and dogs almost more than life itself.  Their eyes bring me into their souls and I'm gone...they are my soul mates.  Their love is so unconditional.

3.  Back in the day, it was unusual to find young people who colored their hair.  But now every time I see my grandgirls, they have different color hair beginning before they were teenagers.   I was a junior in high school when friends began to have their hair streaked.  My Mom was a hairdresser/cosmetologist and she said no when I asked if I could have my hair streaked with blond highlights.  You are too young is what  heard.  Well - I guess I really wanted to have my hair like my friends, so I started a petition amongst my friends at school to have blond highlights.  Mom relented when she saw all the names.  So she put the plastic hat on my head and pulled thru little strands of hair and when I looked in the mirror, I looked like a bleached blond hussy.  I had dishwater blond hair so lightning it a little was a lot!

4.  I love my barn and because of the ice and snow, the roof keeps coming down more and more.  It makes me sad each time I look out there.  Darn!

5.  I am spending too much time in front of this laptop...I need to get something else done and when I do, if my camera has arrived, I will show you how productive I can be!!!

I can't do 10 things about me - see past posts.  I can't talk about myself anymore today.

My Honest Scrap awards go to:

amandasbaskets  My friend of almost 40 years who turned me unto blogs!  Yay!
prettythings  My new friend, Lori, has been so helpful to me thru her blogs.  I was her Secret Santa at Christmas time.  Check out her online store.
beansmoments  Another new friend who has been so helpful to me as I think about selling online.  She made my Secret Santa gift! Check out her online store.
married with children  This blogger sent me my Secret Santa gift.  She has a unique product so check out her online store also.
by .a sweet pea.  This lovely lady was one of my first followers and was so kind to me when I had no idea what I was doing...not that I've come that far but she humored me and commented on my posts.  We do love those comments.

Thank you again, Dani, for including me on this award so I could in turn include some of my blogger friends!  It's been fun!

Take care,
Bonnie

Oops! and Thanks, Dani!

Ok - so I wanted to present my newest knitted project to you but after taking a few pictures, I dropped my camera.  Not good...I think it fell on the lens so now the camera tries to extend or retract the lens and it just makes noise. Darn!

However, because I wanted to take better pictures of items I want to sell somewhere, either here or online or locally, I had ordered a new camera last week.  Whew!  I tracked my order today and it should arrive on Friday.  I know I can download the pictures from my camera card but it wants to unload 274 pictures before it gets to my newest ones.  Ya -I know there is a way to get around that but I'm a quilter, embroiderer, knitter person...so its like trying to think with another part of my brain and today I have a head cold and that ain't going to happen.

Nope - no - nada - I'm not getting the camera manual out and perusing. I still haven't read my phone manual and its time to order a new one (I've had it for two years.) My laptop manual is also in that pile of manuals to read when I get a few minutes, hours, or days. I could call someone but I don't wanna.



So someone said that waiting is a virtue and wait you will have to until I get my new pink camera and read enough of the manual to get my pictures off my old picture card. It's the new year so it will be one of your new resolutions...waiting patiently. Me too.


Thank you, Dani, for mentioning me in your post and honoring me with the Honest Scrap award. It is a nice award and I will pick and pass it on to 5 others also. This is my first award from a nice fellow blogger. Click on the blue Dani and follow her blog too (Fading Margins)...she's a young, smart, hip, nice person!

I would paste this award on my page but that would take another 4 hours of reading the blog manual and it is really impossible today.

Stay healthy (sneeze!) and warm and have a great 2011!

Bonnie

Five Question Friday on Saturday!

In reading another blog, I saw this format and thought I would try it today.  I hope I can think of enough questions.

1.  Of all the books you've read this year, which is your favorite?

I just finished the Stieg Larsson trilogy - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.  While the first one, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was difficult to get into at first, I could hardly wait to pick the book up again each evening.  I enjoyed The Girl Who Played with Fire right away...it seemed to draw me in immediately as did the third book, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.  I especially like books where the characters are familiar and you learn more about them in each new book.  This series satisfied my literary itch this fall.

2.  When you have free time, what do you do?

While I like to sew/quilt with my sewing machine, I really like handsewing.  I enjoy making embellishments like rosettes or yo yo's to use on different projects.  Depending on the mood I'm in, I also like knitting, crocheting and redwork embroidery.  Maybe I just like sitting on my comfortable sofa instead of in my sewing room by myself.

3.  Did you see a movie that you would suggest to others this year?

We just saw "True Grit" and it was enjoyable.  Jeff Bridges did a great job as Rooster Cogburn with his ornery adaptation of the character from the book.  I've heard the Coen Brothers narrative was truer to the original book than the John Wayne version.  The young Mattie Ross, played by Hailee Steinfeld, was very intriguing and this was her first movie I guess.  Matt Damon played his role well also.  It was fun to see a Western...its been a while since I sat through one.  I recommend it.  (Another plus - it wasn't difficult to convince the Mr. to go see a Western.)

4.  If you had a chance to live somewhere else for a year, where would it be?

After visiting Norway this fall, I believe I could live in Bergen.  It's very cosmopolitan, has four seasons and not as cold or warm as in MN, and the shopping was great.  I would like to steep myself in the history of the area.  I like the Scandinavian people - their warmth, humor and ethics.

5.  Diamonds or pearls?

Boy - this is a tough question...I really do love both.  I'd have to say pearls for their color and the way they look on my skin.  Pearls are so warm and diamonds are so icy cold.  I would never refuse either as a gift, however!

Take care,

Bonnie