Away for undercover duties!

If today is Monday, it must be almost a week since I've blogged.  I do have a specific reason for being away this time - my sister (Michelle) and brother-in-law (Curt) are coming for a 3-day visit next week and I still have to do some decluttering!

First off they'll need someplace to lay their heads!   I don't think they'll be too comfortable sharing the bed with fabric, do you?  I keep some of my stash in the spare bedroom because it's only used once in a blue moon (the bed, not my stash!) ... in fact the last overnight visitor I had was my sister way back in 2008!

It's okay if someone is just dropping in, it's easy to push stuff behind the door and under the bed and in the corner, but overnight is a whole different animal. 

Do you suppose they'll notice this stacked on the dresser??

mmm... I better move it! 

But I think I'll leave this stack next to the window, surely they can walk around it...

It's adds to the decor, right?  A little vertical interest going on!

So now you know what my undercover work will be for a couple more days... wish me luck, not much time for sewing or blogging!  I'll look forward to seeing what's going on with you all when I have a chance to come back  :o)

Laters, baby!  Sew forth and sew on ...



Out and back in

After Pat and I dropped Charlene off at an appointment yesterday, we went to one of her favorite diners (Charlene's, not Pat's!) to have breakfast. I know, I know... but we were hungry!

Plato's Diner is located near the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland; they serve American and Greek food, but we only wanted pancakes and french toast!  

Sometimes when you ask for sugar free syrup you'll get the high-carb stuff anyway, so I came prepared...

BUT, they had Smucker's, which tastes a lot better!

Charlene eats there a lot; her favorite waitress paused to smile at the camera ... nice lady!

We didn't hang out all day for fun and games though; I did manage to get some quilty work done - I finished the Stars and Stripes quilt top, yaaaay!

I also threw together a back, nothing special about it.  I'm not going to add borders, so this quilt finished at approximately 72 x 81, a pretty decent bed sized quilt.  All I need to do now is take it to the long armer and make the binding, unless I add it to the group of finished tops I already have.  As I'm looking at the picture, I'm seeing secondary light and dark stripes that weren't obvious when I looked at the real thing - very interesting!

My next project *should* be to resurrect the Mai Tais in Paradise quilt I started on Bonnie Hunter's quilter's cruise in November 2011 - it's a beautiful pattern and I don't want to let it languish too long.  I'll probably need to cut more strips though; I've been "borrowing" from that bag for other projects.  Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

Sew forth and sew on...

WeeBee funnin'!

Last Saturday was our annual WeeBee cookout at Sandra's house, and as usual it was so fun!  We had a little rain but that didn't keep us from having a good time - we just moved from the lawn to the covered patio and indoors. 

On the way to Sandra's house, fellow Bee'ers Felicia, Pat and I picked up the crabs (a MUST menu item!) - they were steaming hot!

James took really good care of us on the grill...

we're talking chicken wings, fried fish, country ribs, hot dogs, sausages, kebobs, steak ... smokin'!

WeeBees are so talented, we always have great show n tell at our meetings, but Gwen gave us a special treat - dolls!

She took a class from Sandra, and she gives each doll her own uniquely special touch.

Beautiful dolls!  Shall we rename Gwen "The Doll Whisperer?"

 

Carolyn's 4-layer German Chocolate Turtle Cake - yum!

  

After the cookout Felicia, Pat and I went shopping for some African fabrics, which I was able to resist - thanks to Felicia's lifted eyebrow when I picked up a bolt and asked, "Am I likely to use this within the next 6 months??"

It was a day of good fun, good friends, and good food - looking forward to next year!

Sew forth and sew on...