Special Kind of Crazy

Do you ever have those times in your life when you feel overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do?  You're so overwhelmed that even when you finish something you still feel like you haven't gotten anything done.  Partially because while you were finishing that one task, four more showed up on your to-do list? 

If you do - you're not alone.  I feel that way ALL THE TIME.

Because of that I take real joy in accomplishing anything.  Even if it's a daily chore, like running the dishwasher.

So imagine my joy in finishing two quilts!  They're small, but they're done.  :)

It took me two years to complete this 16 patch baby quilt.  In my defense though, I started it as a "time filler" project while hanging out with some quilty friends for a weekend.  It has been a "fill" project since then.  I finally threw it on the quilting frame a couple of weeks ago and got it quilted and bound. 

The other quilt I completed was one I started about three months ago.  It was one of those projects that I had no business starting because I have a ton of other projects going or ready to go.  But, my scrap bin was calling my name.  "Karen," it said "look at my fabulousness.  Don't you want to pay attention to my fabulousness?"  So I did and made this little lap/baby quilt I've been calling Neptune's Chain.  Does your fabric hoard talk to you too?

Now I've got to take some full shots of these two quilts and get them posted in my Etsy shop.  I'm going to have a hard time selling the "chain" quilt though - I've fallen in love with it.  Maybe my little wiener dog would like a new blanket.  lol.

Speaking of my pets, as soon as I laid my completed quilts down to get a couple of fall afternoon sun shots of them both of my babies thought it was playtime.

Bo is getting bigger everyday.  I swear that I actually saw her grow as I was watching her sleep a couple of weeks ago.  Bran and I both noticed that she seems to get extra special crazy right before she puts on a growth spurt.  Extra special crazy is really saying something too, because Bo is already nut-tacular.

Bo is fitting right it here.  She's super friendly and likes when new people come over to entertain her.  Bette, on the other hand, is still a big old chicken.  I'm always telling her she needs more bark and less bawk.  She's brave when she's playing with the cat though!  But, she's only brave if there is nobody else in the room.  Because of this I had to video record them playing for Bran because as soon as he enters the room Bette becomes a big old chicken again.  Poor little chicken dog.  Bawk.

Giant Bug

I found a giant bug in my backyard today and freaked out!  I should be used to giant bugs as I live in South Louisiana, but I'm not.

After coming inside and informing my husband of the giant bug we went back out with the camera to take some photos.

If you know what kind of bug this is you'll understand why I now feel a little silly.  It's a cicada.  I had never seen one before - even though we hear them all summer long in Louisiana.  I have seen them before they molt, and I guess that's what I thought they always looked like.

Thank you giant ass bug and Wikipedia for teaching me something new today.

Lucy

Lucy's first day with us

Time's up for our old lady poodle.  Tomorrow she's got an appointment at the vet for her very last nap.

Lucy's had a long life, I wish I could say it's been a good long life, but we got her as a rescue 5 1/2 years ago - so I can only say with certainty that the last 5 1/2 years have been good.  Her first 11 years were spent as a puppy mill at some back yard breeder's business.  Did you do the math?  Yes, Lucy is 16 1/2 years old - that's a lot of years for a little dog - even more impressive considering she was a puppy factory.

When we rescued Lucy she was scared and pathetic.  She had like three teeth - one of stuck way out of her head.  Our vet pulled it when I took her for her initial checkup within the first week we had her.  Slowly she became more and more confident in our home and has really blossomed over the last year and a half.

Lately she's been slower, skinnier, unstable on her feet, and just a day or so ago lost her appetite.  I knew when food didn't excite her any longer that it was her time.  I'm not ready - but I never will be.

Besides feeling sorry for myself over my old lady poodle I've been doing a little bit of sewing.  I had put a couple of smaller quilts on my frame right before Isaak hit last week and then wasn't able to work on them when we lost power.  So, with power restored this weekend I got the quilt tops quilted.  I'm now working on binding them.

Want more happiness to get your mind off my sad story?  Then head over to Cast Iron Stomach where we're hosting a giveaway!

Isaak

This week we had a friend visit us named Isaak.  He brought with him 100mph wind gusts, tons and tons of rain, and he frakked the hell out of our power for 30 hours.

I'm not one of those people that is bored to death when faced with days of power failure.  In fact, I kinda look forward to it.  So, while some were bored to tears I was quietly celebrating the chance to read, play my piano, and sew on my great grandmother's sewing machine.  That's right - hurricane Isaak didn't keep me from machine piecing some quilt blocks.

Besides the hurricane we had a couple of other exciting things happen around here since I last posted.  One is that Bran and I got a new kitten.  We named her Bo and I'm looking forward to calling her all sorts of crazy things as she gets older.  You know, names like Bo-gers, Bo-truckle, Bo-dacious, Bo-diddly, Bo-jangles, Bo-ba Fett.  You get the idea. 

Another exciting thing is that my friend, Brad, asked me to start a blog centered around food and drink with him.  We call it Cast Iron Stomach and his posts are very fabulous, while mine - well mine are definitely "Karen".  lol.

spring cleaning

Bran and I have been keeping busy.  We're in the process of moving furniture, selling furniture, and buying new furniture.  lol.  Well, really we're just buying a new TV and inheriting some furniture from Bran's grandmother that we need to make room for.

Because we're pulling furniture away from walls that has been stationary for the last 10 years, we're taking the opportunity to repaint and tear down the old ugly wallpaper all over my house.  Actually, more accurately I'M taking the opportunity to paint and refresh.  Bran's a man - and he thinks just moving furniture is enough...lol.  But, he appreciates how nice and new the house is starting to look.  Men.  I swear.  It's been a long time since I painted walls.  Let me tell you, it's a reasonably easy task that makes a huge difference, but my back is really feeling it!  lol.

Other than working around the house I have been doing a little bit of quilting.  I've got a huge fabric stash, but I'm still being distracted by my scrap bin.  Here's a little sneak peak of the lap quilt I've been piecing over the last week.

I've finished the piecing and can't wait to get it quilted and bound.  But, first I've got to paint a wall or two.

I miss you M

I live near New Orleans.  I'm not a New Orleans native, Louisiana native, or even from The South at all.  Well, that's not entirely true, I was born in a Confederate State.  Nine months after my birth my parents moved me to the San Francisco East Bay where I lived until I was 22.  So, I'm Californian.  Yes, Californian.

In the 10 years that I've lived in Louisiana I've made friends.  The one thing in common that most of my Louisiana made friends have?  Most of them are not from Louisiana either.  Because of that, most of them eventually move back home, or to some other blue state.  (lol)

So, Monday morning I wasn't surprised to hear that one of the two closest friends I currently have in Louisiana was moving.  She's moving today.  I miss her already.  Last week though, before I knew she was leaving, I made her some needlebooks.  She had asked me to make her one, even bought the fabric and felt, about a year ago.  But I was lazy and uninspired by a needlebook.  I saw the fabric on top of my "things to do pile" so I thought that maybe it was finally time to get that done for her.

I made hers (the lions) then went crazy and made her two more.  They all turned out adorable.  If it didn't take forever to make one I might make more.  If you're not as anal OCD as me then it might take you less time.  I found this on-line tutorial to help me out.  I did not follow all her instructions, but it's a very good tutorial and there's plenty of inspiration!

Since I last posted on this blog my hubby and I went on a cruise.  I called Brad (my best friend) and he and Jim came along as well.  This was the third cruise we've taken with Brad and Jim.  I had a great week drinking, laughing, and being generally obnoxious.  Really that's not all that far from normal for me.  OK, maybe there was a little more drinking than usual.  I feel a little bad for my hubby though, what should have been a romantic week long date for the two of us really was a week long play date for Brad and me.  lol.  If you're interested in seeing more photos from my cruise you can find them here.

Here at home I'm trying to get back into sewing.  Next post I'll share what I've been working on.  :)

insane piecing

Here is the result of last week's insanity.  I had finished the arcs for my double wedding ring and wasn't really in the mood to move on to the next step.  Besides, my scrap bin was demanding more attention.  I finished this 16 x 16 block and made a few other little blocks before cleaning the whole mess of scraps up.  Finally, all my scraps are currently in one bin and the lid closes!  That won't last long though.  :)

So what will I be doing with this?  I'll be recovering the throw pillow my little dachshund uses as a bed with it.  No, my dogs are not spoiled.  I have no idea how you came to that conclusion.

My little green corner got a little greener this week as well.  When my parent's were visiting at Christmas my dad and I got to talking about the baskets of fuchsias that he and my grandmother both had back home.  He said that he thought they might do well in my green corner so I ordered a couple on-line.  They don't ship until spring, so they showed up last week.  Have you ever had plants delivered by UPS?  I had not.  They have been re-potted and are doing quite well.   

This week I finished a quilt! 

I finished the quilt top and quilted it last fall. Hand sewing the binding is all that has been lacking since Christmas. I left that step thinking I'd have something to do while my machine was up for the season. But, I obviously found other things to do with my time. After the quilt has received it's "crinkly good" wash I'll take some more (and hopefully better) photos of it. Oh, and Bette, she had to be all over me while I was trying to get some photos.  No, not spoiled.  ;)