Paralyzed by Piles

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Barb

I know I’ve been very quiet lately.  Some of you have even expressed concern.  First, all is well at my house.  My parents are doing great and so am I.  Boo and Miss Kitty are fine too.  Although MK did have a little respiratory infection for a bit.  And I had to give her medicine.  After wearing the pink liquid a few times, I was about to put her and the medicine in a box and ship her to Dear Hubby in Canada.  But she got better at taking it – or maybe I got better at giving it?  And now all is well. 

What?  You talkin’ ’bout me?  I think we actually bonded a bit because the vet recommended that I take her into the bathroom with me when I shower.  That the steam would do her good.  So we bonded in the bathroom.  She likes me more and more every day.  She has no choice.

The truth of the matter is I’ve been paralyzed by piles.  Clutter has left me helpless.  Does that happen for you too?  You know how things just keep stacking up and stacking up?  And you can’t work on what you want to work on because the other stuff is looming and you feel guilty if you work on what you want to work on so you just keep doing nothing because what you want to do isn’t what you should be doing and therefore nothing is what you accomplish each day and that just breeds more nothingness until you feel like you’re just a big pile of procrastinating rubble?  Oh, that doesn’t happen for you?  Phooey.  I guess it’s just me.

Janna to the rescue!  You remember Janna, right?  She’s helped me organize on many a day.  She brought me some great organizational things and I shared them all with you in Organization Post #574.  Organization is an ongoing thing that I haven’t blogged about in quite awhile.  And piles had been accumulating.

But here’s the thing about Janna’s help this time.  All she had to do was call and tell me that she was coming over.  She wanted to do some embroidery with me for some graduation gifts.  And just knowing that she was coming gave me the motivation and kick start that I’d been needing.  Woohoo!  Thanks, Janna.  We had a great day together.

And this is the last pile.  I had already gotten rid of 473 other piles before Janna came over on Saturday.  This one had accumulated on the kitchen counter.  You know.  In that spot where things always accumulate.  The place where you just set everything that you’re not sure what to do with.  You do have one of those places, right?  Please tell me I’m not the only one.  I’m getting a complex here.

So yesterday that pile came with me to the couch.  Notice the TV remote.  The Rangers were on.  Baseball is a wonderful thing to watch while doing something else.  Normally stitching would be my preferred thing, but I was on an organizing mission.  And this was the very last pile.

Boo helped.  He held down that last little stack of cookbooks and a few papers.  Lest they blow away, you know.  Because there is always such a jet stream blowing through the house.  Not.  But a cat’s gotta do what a cat’s gotta do.  He calls this helping.  I just call it cute.

Now that I’ve actually decluttered I can’t believe the energy that I have.  Funny how a little thing can yield huge results.  And I’m excited to blog about a whole lot of things.  I’ve been saving them.  I just couldn’t find them amongst all the clutter.

So I highly recommend decluttering.  Get rid of those piles!  And don’t be paralyzed by them any more.

Happy Organizing,
Barb

Posted in Boo, just stuff, Miss Kitty | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Winners! And another give-away…..

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Barb

And the winners of the fabulous new jewelry accessory for quilters (better known as finger pincushions) are:

  • Diane – “Count me in too – I’m going to impress my friends with tiny pincushions also! Always on the cutting edge, Barb — what’s next???”
  • Vicky – “I need one because I don’t have anything made by you!  …and because I’m a 10!”
  • mdghall – “How cute! I’m not much on wearing jewelry but these would be an exception.”
  • Suz – “I love mine from retreat and now need one for the OTHER hand! I did miss the button once and hit my finger, but the cuteness was totally worth it.”

I’m crazy about Inklingo these days.  And my friend, Linda, is having a fabulous give-away over on her “All About Inklingo” blog.  She’s giving away a Double Wedding Ring Inklingo Collection!  Inklingo is absolutely, positively the only way I would consider doing a double wedding ring quilt.  Or a feathered star.  Or anything with hexagons.  Or diamonds.  Can you tell I’m crazy for Inklingo these days?

What better way for you to try it than to win a $40 collection!  Run right over to Linda’s blog via the link below and enter.  Just click on “blog” and leave a comment after you get to the Inklingo site.  Wait!  Don’t enter.  You’ll make my chances to win much less.  Oh, go ahead….. you know you want to.  And there are great ideas for designs for a DWR quilt on the blog too.

 Inklingo Double Wedding Ring Give-Away!

If you’ve ever considered making a double wedding ring quilt but thought it was too difficult, Inklingo is the answer for you.  Check it out!

Hugs,
Barb
P.S.  If I don’t win, I hope it’s YOU!

Posted in Inklingo | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Retreat Fashion

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Barb

Fashion at retreat is an interesting thing.  You’re going to want one of every item for your very own.

 

Fat Quarter Padded Shoulder Straps.  Sue models the latest use for fat quarters.  Quilters are very creative when it comes to comfort at retreat.  Those straps can be a real bummer and we all have loads of extra fat quarters going to waste, don’t we?

Wine Cork Headwrap.  Dori displays the latest in headwear fashion.  Made from fabric given to us all by a California wine country girl.

Finger Pincushion.  Hottest item at this retreat.  Everyone needs one to match every outfit.  You can have one too!  See yesterday’s blog for giveaway.

If-You-Have-One-I-Gotta-Have-One-Too Back Brace.  Second hottest item at this year’s retreat.  Don’t know if they really do anything for you, but apparently everyone had to have one.  Notice a theme here?  Also notice that Suz is sporting a finger pincushion on her left hand with loads of pins sticking out of it.

Jungle Animal Print PJ’s.  I want some.  And Barbara looks so cute in them.

Too Much Orange for Linda Apron.  Even though Linda made this cute apron, Madelyn had to be a model.    Too much orange in it for Linda to allow it to touch her body!

Zebra Mystery Apron.  No clue who gave this to me.  It just appeared one day in a cute gift bag and no one would ‘fess up to doing it.  I may never recover from the mystery of it all.  Still hunting down clues to pinpoint the perpetrator.  I mean, gift giver.  Any help in uncovering the mystery would be much appreciated.  Before I go crazy trying to figure it out.  Please disregard the retreat bags under my eyes.  Not a good fashion accessory.  Lack of sleep does mean things to us gals.

Team Spirit T-Shirts with Mardi Gras Beads.  Barbara sports her favorite team’s shirt.  There were also Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Martin High School shirts spotted throughout the week.  With and without Mardi Gras beads.

Peer Pressure Retreat Hoodies.  One person buys one and the rest of us all have to have one.  Can’t you just hear Sally and I saying through our clenched teeth, “If Madelyn is buying a hoodie, I have to have one too.”

So which retreat fashion is your favorite?

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in retreat stuff | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

My 2nd Retreat Project

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Barb

Prepare to be stunned.  I finished another project at retreat.  OK, OK.  It was even smaller than the first project.  But I still have a wonderful sense of accomplishment.  And the truth is I finished thirty-four of these cute little babies.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Thirty-four.  Amazing.

Finger pincushions.  So cute.  And very, very functional.  Pins right at hand whether sewing by machine or by hand.

Supplies needed: scraps of fabric, stuffing or bits of batting, quilting thread, 1/8 inch elastic, buttons and a hot glue gun.

Cut 2 inch circles of fabric and sew a running stitch around the edge for gathering.

The toughest part is getting the little poof of stuffing stuffed into that little circle of fabric!

Ahhhhh….success!

Feed the elastic through the button holes and tie on top.

I used a skewer/stiletto to poke the elastic through the holes.

If you use a spool of thread that is about finger-sized to tie the elastic, it will be the perfect size for your finger.

Cover button top and elastic tie with hot glue. 

Press the little stuffed fabric on top.  Hold until the glue dries.

I put all my pincushions on the design wall at retreat.  I really hogged the design wall space at retreat this year.  Not.  My design wall space requirement at this retreat was very, very small.  And after all the retreaters went to bed Tuesday evening, I snuck around and put one at each of their sewing machines.  Finger pincushions became the fashion statement of the day last Wednesday.  I even saw them at lunch.  The gals didn’t want to take them off.  You probably need one, don’t you?

One of the gals who works at The Compass Centre even brought me a bunch of buttons from her house when she saw what I was doing.  I have a feeling I’ll be making more of these.  A great little inexpensive gift idea.

Wish I could say I made up this little project, but I can’t.  I got the instructions from my dear friend, Linda, who is the genius behind Inklingo.  In fact, you absolutely must visit her blog and view the little video she did about making them.  Cute.  And well worth watching.  She even has an Inklingo Collection that will print perfect little 2 inch circles on your fabric for making them.  And those circles are included in the half inch hexagon collection too.

Finger pincushions.  The latest jewelry accessory for quilters.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a give-away on this blog.  I think it’s time.  So how about a finger pincushion give-away?  Leave a comment telling me why you think you need one.  And you’ll be entered.  Not sure how many I have left to giveaway, but it will definitely be more than one.  Drawing via Random Number Generator will take place on Friday.

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in Inklingo, retreat stuff | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The Best Retreat Snack EVER!

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Barb

We had a new snack this retreat.  New to us anyway.  It’s probably been around for a million years, but we are just discovering it at a JSS retreat.  And now no JSS retreat will be complete without this snack.  A super simple one made out of regular saltine crackers.  With unsalted tops.  Now you know what those unsalted tops crackers are for!  I have always looked at those at the store and thought, “What’s the point?”

 

Here they are in the jar.  Madelyn brought these to the retreat and we made 643 more batches of them before the retreat was over.  We even had to send Melissa, the retreat owner, to the store for extra supplies to make them.  We are all coming home with swollen ankles caused by salt intake. 

It’s impossible for me to describe how delicious they are.  Be prepared to eat them by the handful.  Don’t even think about trying just one!

And they are especially fantastic with a chocolate cookie on the side.  Just sayin’.

Here’s the super simple recipe:

Madelyn’s Simply Marvelous Retreat Snack Crackers
3 sleeves of saltine crackers with unsalted tops
1 pkg dry zesty Italian dressing
1 pkg dry Ranch dressing
1 T red pepper flakes
1¼  c canola oil

Mix the dressings, red pepper flakes and canola oil together.  Pour over saltines in an airtight container.  Turn the container every 30 minutes for 4 hours.  Prepare to eat the whole container in one sitting.

And don’t say I didn’t warn you about eating the whole thing.

Enjoy!
Barb
P.S.  Madelyn got the recipe from our friend, Mona.  Don’t know if Mona invented this recipe or if it was a family hand-me-down, but it’s delish.  Thanks, Mona!

Posted in food, recipes, retreat stuff | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments