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November 8, 2022
Avery Turns Two from Mama Spark's World

I really am behind, so here goes.It was Avery's birthday last month.He loves "Dinys" so his party was dino themed.Here are a few of my favorite pics from the party.Picked up a used Cozy Coupe and brought it with us all the way from MI!He LOVED itPlaying trucks with papa.With both grandmas and one of his great grandma's on the left.Gigi and Papa picked up the balloons.I had the get the "Diny"

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November 4, 2022
Something I Prepared Earlier from Romany Quilting

My two grownup granddaughters have just celebrated their birthdays, just a few weeks apart.  They both wanted another pair of hand knitted socks, so I was happy to oblige.  They were so thrilled with the pair they each  received last Christmas that they said they would love another pair.  After all, they said, they had never had a hand knitted pair of socks before!  How could I refuse?  This time, they checked out the internet with me and chose their own colours.  Emma chose “Flower Garden” and Megan’s choice was “Lilac Scent”. .

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Even though these fine socks take me ...

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October 30, 2022
Lucky Me! from Romany Quilting

How about this for a wonderful birthday gift!  A box full of wonderful hand spun wool from my old school friend Merilyn.

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This  arrived by courier

I had a birthday telephone call from Merilyn the other day and she told me that she hadn't been able to find a suitable Jenny gift so far to send for me.  Then she went on to relate that she was busy spinning and plying double knit wool.  I like to use double knit wool together with 4ply sock yarn to knit my thick socks, I mentioned.  And so the perfect Jenny gift ...

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October 23, 2022
Plenty of Slow Stitching Here from Romany Quilting

I was thrilled with the birthday gift I received from my daughter Nicky.  Several years ago I had purchased  a partially completed embroidered tablecloth with unused threads from a fabric fair. That would be a good project to finish, I thought.  But…… time went by and I didn't do a single stitch, so asked my daughter Nicky if she could complete it for me – sometime.  Out of sight, out of mind, and I truly had forgotten all about it.  We got together for a birthday lunch on Thursday and Nicky presented me with a parcel, it was the completed ...

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October 21, 2022
Family Birthday Lunch from Romany Quilting

My birthday is coming up fast (during the weekend) and my daughter Nicky suggested we meet for lunch up in Feilding.  What a good idea we thought, and drove up on Thursday.  We were meeting in  Delish Café,  a new to us place, and they certainly were busy.  We were a little early grabbed a table, ordered a coffee each, and waited for the family to arrive.

Lunch

Lunch time

It was so nice that both grand-daughters could meet us for lunch as well.  Megan took a couple of hours off from work, and Emma had the whole day off, because ...

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September 14, 2022
Happy Birthday Robin, and a Zoom Call from Romany Quilting

Robin has just turned 75 so of course he needed to celebrate.  We had a family lunch on Sunday, and both of his brothers and wives were able attend, as did my younger sister and her partner.  Daughter Nicky and her hubby, Emma and Megan our two granddaughters, plus Emma’s boyfriend.  Quite a crowd in our little house.  We were so lucky with the fickle Spring weather, it was warm and sunny so it was very pleasant out on the patio with  extra seating, sheltering under the archgola.  The blokes joined Robin for a beer or two outside as ...

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July 21, 2022
Quilt Retreat from Mama Spark's World

Every year, to celebrate my birthday and my friend, Cori's birthday, we go to a retreat at Creative Passions.  This year was no exception.  I went with my friend, Cori, my sister in law, Mary and our friend from WI, Traci.  We had a blast, as usual AND we were all super productive!  Win-Win! One of my goals was to finish making my Ocean Waves blocks.  I think I needed 36 blocks total and was

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June 30, 2022
Midweek: solstice, finishes, and birthday stash bash! from With Strings Attached

 I was up very early Tuesday and took pictures of the sunrise on the lake for the summer solstice.    (5:15 a.m.) 








I have yet to find a really good not-wooded place to get a sunset photo. This was taken off a side road about 8:20 p.m. (Sunset officially 8:32.)


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In the studio: I finished the 22 mug rugs and mailed them to the woman who commissioned them. They will be favors at the Georgia state P.E.O. convention next spring. (I joked it's up to her to remember where she put them!)   2-3 ...

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March 30, 2022
Socks, Bags, and Family from Romany Quilting

I’m obviously in the groove with knitting socks, and spent a nice sunny morning stitching up the side seam on my burgundy socks. (My socks are knitted on two needles with a side seam, can’t cope with little pointy sock needles).  I used my favourite bodkin for this task, although I have no idea where it came from.  It’s been in my pin container since time immemorial, it seems, and does a great job  of stitching up knitted items.

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Stitching up socks with my bodkin

I’ve knitted two pairs of socks in this yarn.  One for ...

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March 17, 2022
A Day In The Life (or five weeks worth of days) from caledonia quilter

I'm reading Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg.  It's a good book, and I noticed that each chapter represents a week.  Since I haven't posted in quite a while I thought I'd borrow that format.

Feb 6 - 12

I started the week by giving myself another covid haircut.  I was due for a proper cut at the beginning of January, but it's not like anyone cares what I look like.  37 years married...if you get my drift.  Most of the time DH is happy if he notices that my shoes are still in the closet ...

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February 2, 2022
Birthday Shopping Through The Years from From the Strawberry Patch...

It's been an annual excursion for the birthday girl through the years, a trip to the American Girl store. Yesterday was the day. Even though she is fully nine years old (and sixteen days, but who's counting), this year illness and other commitments had delayed our trip for a few weeks. She was so excited that she awakened yesterday morning at 2:15 AM in anticipation of our day!This was the first

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Birthday Shopping Through The Years from From the Strawberry Patch...

It's been an annual excursion for the birthday girl through the years, a trip to the American Girl store. Yesterday was the day. Even though she is fully nine years old (and sixteen days, but who's counting), this year illness and other commitments had delayed our trip for a few weeks. She was so excited that she awakened yesterday morning at 2:15 AM in anticipation of our day!This was the first

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January 16, 2022
Battening Down from From the Strawberry Patch...

This is what happens when snow is predicted in the south; naturally there's the insanity that occurs as everyone runs for bread and milk at the grocery stores but, then, the conversation turns to anticipated snowfall amounts and, ultimately, how long folks expect to be stranded. I'm not too worried: we have firewood enough to last and I have an adequate supply of books and stitching projects

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Battening Down from From the Strawberry Patch...

This is what happens when snow is predicted in the south; naturally there's the insanity that occurs as everyone runs for bread and milk at the grocery stores but, then, the conversation turns to anticipated snowfall amounts and, ultimately, how long folks expect to be stranded. I'm not too worried: we have firewood enough to last and I have an adequate supply of books and stitching projects

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January 11, 2022
Birthday Sewing from Alamosa Quilter

 My birthday was last week. I gave myself the day off and stayed home and sewed! I made a tablecloth quilt for our new dining room table.


tablecloth quilt

The pattern I used is called Moda Love. It is a free pattern from Moda. I adjust the size of the finished squares to 7" finished so that it would fit my 46" round table. This version will finish at 56" by 56".

I am calling this quilt "Here Kitty Kitty" because I dug into my larger-than-I-thought collection of cat fabrics. I used 18 different cat prints for this project which isn't ...

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October 26, 2021
let the festivities commence . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

It's BIRTHDAY weekend!!  Hip, hip!!  The fun started Thursday evening when I pulled up and there were two beautiful planters of my favorite fall flowers . . .
MUMS!  Aren't they pretty?  Todd knows me so well!

Friday we hit the lake around 11:30.  Even the fish must have known it was my birthday weekend! I actually pulled out my pole (Todd was catching them hand over fist, so to speak) and I did well. 
I caught about eight (to Todd's twenty, but who's counting?).  Mine were GOOD sized!
The heron even squawked out a birthday greeting.  ;)

Saturday ...

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Camping Weekend and a Birthday from Romany Quilting

A three day weekend away with our caravan club buddies made for a fun weekend.  We traveled to Kaitoke Regional Park, Upper Hutt, a lovely natural area full of camping areas tucked here and there amongst the trees and down by the river bank. and had a very enjoyable and social time indeed.  Most of our caravan club members arrived on Friday afternoon, and we soon settled in to our chosen area.  There were plenty of other groups enjoying this camp too, caravans motorhomes and plenty of tents were erected, we noticed.  Lots of kids on bikes and plenty of ...

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October 19, 2021
summertime shenanigans . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

It has been a whirlwind of a month! June is a month when thoughts turn to . . . 

Pumpkins.  I mean, right?!  Doesn't everyone's mind work this way?! Haha! You know, I rarely buy wool kits because I enjoy picking my own wool for a project. When I found this darling pattern, I knew I'd definitely want to kit it from my own stash!
I had just the perfect combinations to work with!  Does anyone else work out colors/fabrics this way? I do love the end game . . .
Of course it still needs to be blanket stitched down, but ...

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September 1, 2021
Late August Wrap-Up from From the Strawberry Patch...

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out

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Late August Wrap-Up from From the Strawberry Patch...

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out

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