Lazy Sunday afternoon

I have been working on my super secret FAB challenge project off and on most of the week, prepping applique mostly.  The best part of the sewing weekend was that I was chatting with most of the FABS as I worked.  It is a bit like having your own cyber retreat but we were all working on our own projects and yakking in between.  By last evening, I had finished basting my sectioning down to the base.

Before I called it quits for the night I wound the appropriate colored bobbins.  Since two of the small spools had already been used on previous project, I was almost out of thread by the time I wound the bobbin.  I know from a Wal-mart run yesterday that I am not apt to find what I need in the fabric department as their thread case is about half the size it used to be----very little selection there.  If I have to use something else, I would rather know it at the beginning and make the switch.  I’ll hit the two spots locally that MAY have what I need tomorrow when the shops are all open.  There are times that I miss the availability of supplies that I had in central Illinois. How very spoiled I was having fabric stores and quilt shops all in the same town.  Hancock’s left over a year ago and other nearby places have closed too.   I do NOT want to have to go Birmingham or Douglasville, GA just to find matching thread, for Pete’s sake!  I have till the end of the month to get my project in the mail to Ms. Norma so it won’t hurt to take the day off.

In the meantime, I pulled out my Birdbrain Design Santa red work block to put a few more stitches in.  This is one project that I would like to do like a block of the month.  It is relaxing to stitch plus I can drag it into the living room should DJ want to watch a DVD or the same thing I want to watch on TV.  In critiquing my work, I think I really should not have marked those X’s on the coat hem as they are too hard to cover with two strands of floss but too late now!  It might have been better to just free form those X’s so I’ll probably just backstitch them now to get so the red pigma pen does not show.  Actually the kit came with I think a #8 perle cotton and that probably would have done the job.  I tried it but felt it looked too thick on the small facial stitching and switched back to embroidery floss in the same color.  It is all the same dye lot though so I might just use it on the area where smaller detail is not required.  Give that a whirl!

We have had some mild weather that past few days but overcast.  DJ said if he had had any inkling that it was going to be so wet this fall/winter he would have put out some winter grass seed.    In years past when we were not on watering restrictions he has had over-seeded the front yard. We had the prettiest green grass in the neighborhood. The drought is officially over so that is a good thing.  

Today they predicted we might hit 70 which is more like late March/early April temps.  It won’t last, of course but look what is happening to our poor confused camellia bush!  That thing is loaded with blooms but you just know that the frost is going to get them.  Some are opening up already as you can see from the photo.   Also a close up of one of the blossoms.

When I started to go outside to take the floral pictures, Skyler was sitting near the front door bird watching and looked so darned cute that I tried to get a picture.  I flopped down on the floor at his level but of course, that backfired.  He had to see what was up with the camera when he heard it power up.  Funny!

Then this is what greeted me when I came back towards the house.  He often will sit almost straight up on his butt too reminding me a mercat at least from behind.  He was also meowing his kitty heart out as though I was never, ever coming back in the house.  He will do this on the carport door window as well but can barely see over the bottom edge of the windowed area.  Cracks me up.  At present he is sitting in the hallway waiting for DJ to get off his exercise bike.  DJ shut the bedroom door to keep nosy kitty from getting tangled up in the foot pedals.

Well, with no other quilty content that I can share, I’ll close for now.  I hope you have had an enjoyable day at your house.  I sure have.