Snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know much of the country has gotten alot of snow this month but this is the first snow fall in Portland. It's so fun to watch it fall. I get so excited. Got off work early so I am able to sit here and watch. Love it.

Merry Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas from Dottie

I love this duet......reminds me of my dad...

days events..

Ran downtown today.. Boy is there alot of people out there. Blonde me thought that since it was Monday i could beat crowds.. yea right.. gotta remember it's Christmas week. Tried to go to lunch downtown at the Red Coach Cafe. Couldn't find a parking place. Then tried the Horse Brass. English Fish and Chips sounded so good. The parking lot was full of state workers from next door and it is a no parking on the street in front.. so ended up at Panda Express. It was very good.
Got a call today.. have another temp job starting on Christmas Eve. I am surprised of the start date but it will be nice to have the work.
Have been reading up a storm so updated my book list. Well it's almost midnight. Gonna go read. Dottie.

Holidays..

Well it's the Sat before Christmas. Why am I not more in the mood? I slept hard until 10:30 this morning and then crawled back into bed and to read and then fell back asleep. I have been reading blogs that make me want to get in the mood but then when I try I don't have the motivation. I need to get up and do something... What shall I do. Right now i think i will go read the last 30 pages of my book. 12/21 I finished it and finished another one. Happy Holidays.

Hurrah!!!

I have cracked the code. I was able to do 4 rows of crochet... They are not very good but I think I have gotten the basics down. Still need lots of practice... but at least I am understanding it. I am still a bit baffled on where the hook goes in on the base part before the first crochet of the stitch. I know how it is supposed to go but not sure of which hole. I will watch more videos so I can get it down. I have just done one crochet stitch so far. Double and Triple will be in a while. My goal is to make granny squares .... like the ones on the left. I will do it... Off to bed as a White Elephant and Christmas Pizza party tomorrow. Dottie

Restless tonight...

Many blog posts and I have changed my blog template. I was getting tired of my old one. The photo in the heading is one I took when I was in New York. It surprised me when I was looking at it tonight. I love the way i set it up. A mistake probably but it turned out okay. I need to figure out how to make it smaller but that it still is the width of the blog. I tried making it smaller but it cut it's width down too and that just looked funny.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 :-)

Christmast Table cloth

Christmast Table cloth view I
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

Here is my Tablecloth that I have been working on at work. I will work on it this Christmas season but i don't know if I will get it done by Christmas. I love it. If you want to see more photos follow this link. Sorry about the light. It was a December day that was clear and cold and I had the window shades open but was the light I had to work with.

Progress is being made

Progress is being made
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

Here is my needlepoint project. I am making progress. I finally uploaded the photos. Can you tell? lol. I am loving this project. I eventually want to design my own needlepoint designs based on the influences of my Aunt's Jennie and Smay. Or like Kaffee Fassett. Look at my flicker page for more photos. I will update photos as I progress

Almost finished

Almost finished
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

I don't think I ever posted a photo of my little cross stitch project. Here it is. I just need to put it in frame. I might have a little time this week. lol

Walking.. or maybe running???????

I think i have talked about how since I graduated and losing my job I have really had no big goals. I am lost. I talked with my hair dresser on Sat. She runs marathons. I was telling her thaI had been talking to someone how I wish that I had the discipline to train a marathon. I said I didn't want to run.. lol... but i wish I had the self control and the single mindedness. She jumped on it and said I should train for one. I said "Hold On!".. I said i might walk but I am not a runner. But maybe I could train to walk one and maybe 5 miles. lol. She said we get together in January and put together a plan for me. The idea is growing on me. I did have a goal in 2008 to walk one but life was just to busy and too many things happened. It's growing and growing. I am seriously thinking of it. A glimmer to hold on to. Even going through the emotional upheaval this weekend this little nugget kept popping up. I am 90% admitting to myself that I want to go for it. What do you think?

A rollercoster of emotions......

Having one of those weekends.
 My temp job ended on Friday night. It ended over a month early.  I knew in my mind the end was coming for the temp job but when it actually happened I am surprised on my response. I didn't even react this emotionally in June when I got laid off from my real job. Part of it was probably a delayed response to that one. I still have friends who are still temping in the job  and all I could was think of  what I did wrong... but in my heart I know it was done for business reasons and low call volume.  Sat I just felt empty. I remember laying on my bed and just staring at my dresser just not thinking of anything. Life seemed so empty. I just laid there and then vegged all evening. As I said before I felt lost and this just hit me hard. I couldn't sleep very well last night either. I kept waking up. Today I though I was better but today it came out as sadness.

I talked to my mom about my situation and she gave me some advice. This advice made me think.. what do I want? I still don't know.. I don't even know if I want to go after what we talked about because that might be settling and I want to choose what I do for a job this time (or choose the best I can). It was good advice but I can't decide if it's good for me.

I came into my room and I just started to cry. I called my boyfriend and he just listened. We eventually were able to just talk and I was laughing..a good thing.. and then I found myself crying again. During it.. I came to realize it was just a reaction in releasing emotions. I needed to let the emptiness pour out. When I got done talking with him I felt lighter. For all the doubts when we are apart .. the frustrations that happen on my end to the status of it. ... his concern and scared to hurt the kids on his end.... he can heal me. He supports and cares. I love that about him. I should tell him that more often. Just hearing his voice can soothe that. I never knew that about boyfriends until the last two. They have been awesome men who have given me so much. Real relationships. Real partnerships. I am been very privileged to have both men care about me so much.

What fasinates me now..

Hi,
On the previous post you see my favorites that I have found on flickr. This is new for me. I have found so much inspiration from the groups and all the photos. I never knew that it had so many things i would like. It has also been eye opening to figure out how to post it to this blog. Lots of hoops to go through and definitly a learning curve..
Enjoy.

My inspirations

My inspirations
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

1. Granny squares in progress..., 2. weekend work :)), 3. My thread box, 4. Embroidery Candy, 5. Trini.Chic Accesories, 6. Kaffe Fassett needlepoint, 7. Christmas gift - Zinnia, 8. Big Ben, 9. Life is Good. Enjoy the Little Things., 10. Embroidered Floral Napkin, 11. Hope * Love * Faith, 12. Untitled, 13. Needlepoint works in progress, 14. rose themed display, 15. Finished!, 16. My sewing/craft/photo cabinet--lots of art junk!, 17. Where the crafting happens Trois, 18. Traveling Threads block for Spinster Sister, 19. 80, 20. BOM-5009, 21. One tiny raindrop left, 22. A Sea of Purple, 23. Fisherman's hut, 24. Anne of Green Gables, 25. Cut a rectangle to size

My day..

I had today off. In fact I was home alone all day. It was nice. I was going to work on a Christmas present but decided not to. I ended up watching 2 movies and Top Chef finale. All that time I worked on my needlepoint. I got a lot done on it. I have a delima. The pattern that is on the canvas is not straight. So I started on the right side top of the pillow and I am going by that. The 4 corners are 9 stitch blocks of green and white. I made sure all of the squares were 9's. When I did the first border I found that the color moved off of the x point and went up one hole. I decided to keep stitching a straight line even though the color changed. When I got to the green and white checks on the left side I started two lines down from where the "paint" was but it's lined up with the other side. I hope this is the right thing to do.

I am still a bit lost in my life. I don't know where i am suppose to be. I am so tired. I am tired of having to deal with problems. I am just tired. I don't know how to define myself anymore. I wish I had the gumption to stand up for what I want and not feel guilty or worry about hurting someone feelings. For twenty years I have had fake nails. Last week I removed them one day and part of me what's to keep them off. Help redefine me but then I feel guilty and didn't want to hurt my nail girl and made an appointment when she called. I don't want them really. I guess I feel envious of other peoples lives sometimes and wish my life was more like them. Well I guess not really but i just feel so lost that I just don't know what direction to go. It is so ironic because in some areas I am so happy but then in other areas I feel like I have stopped caring. I don't follow through. I just want to stop being tired. I hate the fact that as I get older, time is moving faster and faster. I have all these dreams of how i want things to be but a lot of the time I don't have the knowledge or the know how to get them. I hold myself back as I feel people have expectations for me.
Well that is enough about me tonight. Off to read my book in my cozy bed.

Books....

As well as being on a movie kick i am also on a book kick. I have found so many books lately that I want to read.

1. The Lakeshore Chronicles by Susan Wiggs. I am currently reading the 3rd one of the series. I love the characters. 12/21 have read the 4th now
2. Beth Pittillo books
3. A quilters Holiday by Jennifer Chiaverly I can never spell her last name. But I know what it is when i look it up Quilters Apprentice and it gives me it. have put on reserve
4. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club - Gil McNeil have put on reserve
5. Unravelled - Robyn Hardin.
6. Barbra Bretton
7. Monica Ferris
8. A tread of truth - Marie Boswick
9. Summer on Blossom Street.. Debbie Macomber. - reserved at the library. 12/21 reading as we speak..
10. Blue Sky Hill Series, Lisa Wingate
11. The Knitting Circle Ann Hood
12. A Drunkards Path Clare O'Donuhue
13. The rest of the Covington Series Joan Medicott
14. Happiness Keys Emile Richards have put on reserve
15. Beverly Nichols
16. Ann Ripley - mysteries
17. Janis Harrison.. the ones i haven't already read
18. Quakertown -Lee Martin
19. Loving Frank -Nancy Horan
20. Scoop - Fern Michaels
21. Cross Creek the book and movie
22. The Lumby Series Gail Fraser
23. Virgin River Series Robyn Carr
24. Lake Emily Series -Tracie De Pree
25. Knit the Season- Kate Jacobs have put on reserve
26. The Prairie girls guide to life- Jennifer Worick
27. Mary Jane Butters (i can't read my writing but the Mary Jane from the farm) 1 put on reserve, MaryJane's ideabook, cookbook, lifebook : for the farmgirl in all of us
28. Blogging with Bliss -T. Frey have put on reserve
29. Aimmee Ray
30. Jenny Hart
31. The Bridal Quartet Nora Roberts series

Boy.. that is quite a list. It's not in any order either.. Just books i found in my wanderings one day. I copied it directly from my hard copy journal. some of the authors names might not be spelled right. I couldn't read my handwriting. But with a little research I will find them. lol. Quite a list isn't it. You know how you find these list. You find a book on Amazon.com and then look to see what other books people have looked at or bought and it introduces you to books you have never run across before or new books by authors you have loved. I love doing it this way. It has introduced me to some wonderful authors, movies, books and even bloggers.

I recently checked out a book by a writer based on the fact that i had loved one of her books before hand. I just couldn't get into this book. I liked the idea of the story but for some reason the book was boring to me. I made the decision to not finish it. I wrote down the name of the book as I might go back to it someday. It was a hard decision of if i should stop reading the book. At the time I had two other books i wanted to read so bad but i was forcing myself to finish the one I had in front of me. I was getting no satisfaction out of it - so I decided that it just wasn't the right time for the book. I am so glad i made that decision. It felt like so much was lifted off my shoulders. Its such a trivial thing but made my life so much more enjoyable.

I don't know how long it will take to get through this list. The is no timeline, or time limit. I just wrote down books I want to explore. I am sure there will be many more in between that will somehow come up. Some I may never get to but it's a place to start.

Happy Reading.

Movies..

I have been on a movie kick lately. One of the blogs I read, Posy Gets Cosy asked her readers what movies they love or watched that have featured London. I got my idea list from there so I have been having a bit of a movie fest. I had seen some of them but some of them I had not and those led me to others. Trying to keep the expenses down so I am getting these through the wonderful Multnomah County Library.

I have watched :

1. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. It was such a sweet performance it made me cry at the end. I love Rupert Friend and now I want to watch The Young Victoria. I didn't realize he was in Pride and Prejudice. I need to find that song by Rosemary Clooney. She did sing beautifully didn't she.
2. Nick & Norah's infinite playlist. Yes it was about high school kids but i loved it. The music was even good even though and made parts of the movie. The extras were good to.
3. Sliding Doors. I have seen this many times before but felt like re watching. Loved it just as always.
4. Possession. I love this movie. I love all of the main actors. This time around I was very impressed again by the costumes. They were quite lovely. The costume designer is Jenny Beavan. What I found out is she has done costumes for many of the movies I love. Cranford, Sense and Sensibility. Check her out.
5. Keeping Mum. I loved Patrick Swazye in this one. He looked so good and I loved everyone else to. It was ironic that my friend Jessica had just watched it to.
6. Wondrous Oblivion This was a good movie.. Made me understand cricket a bit more.

I also just got from the library Happy-go-lucky. That was another recommendation.

Some of the movies they suggested that I have already seen ---alot of them recently on the telly

1. Holiday
2. Notting Hill
3. Four Weddings and a Funeral
4. Bridget Jones 1 and 2
5. Matchpoint
6. Last Chance Harvey
7. Pride and Prejudice both the movie and the mini series.. Oh Mr. Darcy...
8. Beatrix Potter
9. Love,Actually
10. North and South
11. Remains of the Day
12. Little Women
13. Plus others but i got tired of writing them. lol

I have also put some other movies on hold that they have recommended or that I have found.

1. Two lovers
2. Sunshine Cleaning had on hold but didn't want to have it on my list as there are over 300 holds on it so i will reserve it another day....
3. Liberty Heights
4. Penelope
5. Billy Elliott- have seen but want to see again
6. On a Clear Day always have wanted to see this. I am glad they reminded me.
7. Scenes of a Sexual Nature

Have run out of room on my hold list so add these....

1. Brick Lane
2. 84 Charing Cross Road
3. Widow's Peak
4. Shadowlands
5. Brief Encounter
6. Mrs Dalloway
7. Truely,Madley, Deeply
8. About a Boy
9. Starter for 10
10. Under the Greenwood Tree
11. Jack and Sarah
12. Doubt
13. The boy in the stipped pajamas

I will need to go back to that blog post and see what other movies I want to see.* Well I went back and this post has become so much longer than I intended.

My friends David and Steven also gave me the Grey Gardens collection. The original documentary and the HBO movie by Drew Barrymore. I need to watch that this weekend.

There there are my standbys. I am on the 5th season of Avonlea. I just love this series. I love this time period. I also have the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers series. I found someone who had recorded it and i got it from them. It's quite grainy but that is ok. I just like watching it. It shows a young River Phoenix.

Ones I want to watch but not at the library yet.

1. Run Fat Boy Run
2. The Young Victoria
3. Breaking & Entering
4. Career Girls
5. Scoop
6. 'high hopes'
7. This Years Love
8. Imagine Me & You
9. Martha meet Frank,Daniel and Lawrence

Anybody else have any recommendations?

Well till later.

Changed the name of my blog..

I am going with Tadlafleur for the moment. I like it and it seems to flow a bit better. What do you think? I am trying to find an "identity" that I will be happy with. The Agnes Dorothy.... was just to much of a mouthful. It's still a thought process and you never know.. I just might tweak it again. Back to work.
Dottie.

Christmas Exchange.

This Saturday a group of 10 ladies I belong to are having a Christmas get together. They are having a present exchange. This year to keep costs down they are going with homemade gifts. I don't think any of them read this but if you do… keep the surprise please. lol … One of the items I am giving them is one of my pin cushions and today I was inspired on making a felt ornament. I had searched the internet for some ideas and after contemplating bells, candy canes, a ball or mittens I decided to go with a stocking. This is what the photo looked like... I had picked up some


burgundy red felt at Fabric Depot today and also some more white. I knew at the time I had a huge stack of felt left but I didn’t have any of that shade of red. I am glad I did. They are making the cutest stocking. I found a pattern I liked and enlarged it just a tad and I am off and running. I did a couple of test runs with my other red and once with blue embroidery thread. It looks good but not what I wanted today. Oh, while at Fabric Depot today I also bought some magnetic embroidery thread in silver, gold, 2 shades of red and 2 shades of green. I was thinking of using that in a button stitch but the six strands are too hard to work with for such a large part so I am doing embroidery stitching on the white cuff. I am using black to go around it. I love it. I will add in a photo when I get them done and when it’s daylight.

As I sat there tonight looking at the first three... I couldn’t believe I had done it. I actually was able to see something in my head, get the supplies, make it and have it turn out just as good or better then I imagined. For some many years I could never get the idea out of head, my creations that I produced did not look like I wanted it to. No where near or even the quality of a good crafter. I t just amazes me that I finally can do it. YEA!!!!! I can’t tell you what a breakthrough this is for me. It has built up my confidence so much. I know that this kind of happened with my pin cushions but for that I followed a pattern. For this one I used a pattern for the shape but everything else was my idea.. Just wait for the new things I can and will try. Maybe I will reach my dream of somehow turning this into my job or a business...

Off to bed... Night Night!!!!!

Monday reading

Hello....
Yesterday I did something that I haven't done in a long time. I read a whole book in a day.

I started it at noon yesterday and had it read by 8 pm. I guess I read it fast as it was 530 pages long but i really enjoyed it and it felt good to read. The phones rang a lot yesterday but i was in a comfy chair and i seemed to close out the world when I was reading. I have started the next one in the series but I haven't gotten so into it but it is good. Not sure what I will do today but probably sew on my table coth.

Ta Ta

Working on a another project.

I am feeling so creative lately. I love it. I am also trying something new. Rather than putting things off I am working on them when I am inspired. So I am having many projects going at once rather than just one. It is helping me get through all of them faster. Odd but true. I don't get bored so easy and I get motivated to work on all of it instead of do nothing. So today I brought a different project to work on - that I actually kind of started in July but got sidetracked as I wasn't sitting at a table doing it but on my bed watching a movie.

There is a side note to my project today. Over the last 5 years or so, in my act to become more creative ,I have fallen in love with certain magazines and I would buy them every month to fill my creative and dreaming fix. The number I buy each month has been dwindling as different magazines are closing. Magazines like Home Companion, Cottage Living, Country Living, and a few others. I still can get Victoria and Romantic Home. I always buy Quilters Newsletter and assorted quilting ones that catch my eye. Another one i am grieving is Mark Lipinski leaving Quilters Home. I can't find their latest version where he is not part of it. I am curious and just want to see it. Victoria- that has inspired me in the literature world and has introduced me to some wonderful writers and artists i.e. Tasha Tutor, Alexandra Stoddard and Madeleine L'Engle to name a few.

Well let me tell you the stacks keep falling over I have collected so many because I don't like giving them away. I am running out of room. I had to par down as they were collecting dust and I wasn't looking at them like i thought i would. I didn't want to get rid of them because they inspired me. I decided to do an idea that my friend David J. told me about. Make a "Dream Book" or and "Idea Notebook" full of my influences as that I could look through for decorating and quilting ideas and anything else I wanted to be inspired for. I first determined that there were a few magazines that I still wanted to hang on to. Like my quilting magazines, Home Companion, Victoria and I think Romantic Home. I divided them up earlier this year. The others were the ones I was going to go through and cut out pages or photos or whatever tickled my fancy and glue them into the book and then recycle them.

When I was at Freddy's one day I got Strathmore Sketch book. that is 100 pages thick and 9 x 12. It is heavier than basic notebook paper and it's perfect to glue magazine paper to.

In July when I started the project I thought if I could just do about 4 a day or at least 4 a week, I could get through the "get rid of stack". Well when I sat down on my bed the first day to work on it, the flow wasn't there and I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. At the end of the movie, I put all my cutting into a hanging folder and filed them away till the next time and I figured out what I was going to do.

This past week I have just haven't been able to get the project off my mind so guess what I pulled out this morning. Yes you are right. My cuttings, my sketch book, a glue stick and about 6 more magazines. I sat here for 4 hours putting the cuttings on to the pages. Time has whizzed by. I plan now to cut from 3 more magazines and try to glue them in.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and thanks for reading.

Another venture.

I am starting an outline to write a book. At this moment I am up to 3 pages. I have written main characters, other characters, stores, business, etc and have outlined what the town looks like in my mind. I need to still come up a name for the town. Any ideas? I have names for the business or at least the main ones. I have a history of the town and the main house that I have somewhat thought out.
It is so exciting. I still have a lot of parts to figure out but I can already see cross stories, and potential sequels. I just need to figure out what this main story is going to be about. I have dreamed about this town before. I have written small stories set in this town as a beginning, I think I am going to be setting it in current times but have set up scenarios for the ability to be able to go back in history also. I am not sure of exactly what state it's going to be in but I know it's near the coast and the town is on a bay. Quilting and other crafts will be a part of it. Some of the details might change as I go along but the basic features I think will work. As example. names have changed while I am transcribing onto the computer the pages I have written by hand. As time goes along I might find more appropriate things then the ones I am making up now...
This is also a long time dream. Writing a book. I know it's just not a fly by thing. I know it will take hard work. I also know that I will struggle with words. I know that I might not finish it by tomorrow but hopefully in my lifetime. lol But it is a project, an adventure and the best way to reach the goal is to work on a little bit each day.

A new project....

Hi,

Well i haven't quite finished my cross stitch project all the way. I have painted the frame i just need to sand it a bit and but the piece in. Will do that when i have time as I feel like all I do is work and sleep. lol

Last week i bought a new needlepoint project. I have had the urge to do it again. My Aunt's Jennie and Smay do them all the time. This is the one I found at Joanne's for 9.99. I got two. I hope to use them in my new apartment on a slip covered couch. . Not bad in price as I saw them on the Internet for over 23 dollars. It's a Bucilla pattern # 4904.
I also had to buy a new frame as I never did go get my first one out of storage. When i tried it on my days off the canvas was too big
for the frame so i tried folding the sides. It didn't work. It wouldn't slide into the slots on the dowels. Lol.. nothing was working that afternoon - check out my post on crocheting to see what else didn't work that day.. So I took it to work today and ended up cutting off about an inch of the canvas on the sides. It slid right in. I wrapped it up and then next separated my thread. Did you know that this pillow has light dusty pink, medium dusty pink, dark dusty pink and dusty pink. Who thinks up these things? lol Well understandable for shading but hope iI identified them right. After that was done I couldn't help myself and i worked on the checkered corner. The green is really a yellow green and it's paired with a cream. It is lovely. I love it. I plan to have this as my home project and work on my table cloth at work. I did work on my table cloth today. I had my thread got tangled up like 5 times and I had to cut the thread and pull out the thread and secure it and start again 3 times. The other times i was able to get out the knots. A couple of times the tread just broke. Not my day on that piece. lol

Work is slow so i was able to do alot but then we had a little rush at 8 pm. Who would of thunk after such a small amount of calls throughout the day.

Well off to bed to read until midnight to wait out the "public service" shows on the radio so i can fall asleep to music. I plan to get up early in the morning to work on "projects".
Hope you had a great weekend.

Frustration....

I have tried to crochet today. Frustrating.. I could get the first line okay.. but then moving on to the second line i pulled it out 5 times. I just don't understand it right now. I have looked at the videos and looked at still photos. I just can't get it.. Will try again tomorrow.
I even tried to knit.. I can't do that either tonight. I might go buy some nicer yarn. Then i will try again.

Dottie.

My Promised photos..

The first is the items I found at Goodwill. I scored a bargain for the book for 3.99. The second is my completed project from a few posts before and the frame I found for it and the paint I want to paint it.
The third is my threads. Both my threads for my cross stitching and my knitting/crocheting.

Update on projects..

Good Morning ;)
Update on projects. Today i have the day off so i thought i would update you on my projects. Photos to follow later today as i hope the light to be better.
I have finished my Pretty Posies cross stitch pattern. I haven't put the black border on for two reasons. I ran out of the black thread as I used two strands instead of one but i prefer the heaviness of it. Also i wasn't totally sure i wanted it. I plan to frame the work and adding that border would square it up. That is not the look i am going for. I found a frame for 1.99 or was it a dollar at Goodwill. Boy i found a couple of good things there. More on that later. Today I am going to paint the frame with a blue base and then white and then will sand it a little bit. Should be cute.
With the temp job i have now i have time to sew on my table cloth. I have made so much progress. I can not believe i have been working on it for over 10 years. A bit here a bit there but it's so time consuming and it's not even very big. I have finished all the cross stitching round the sides and the center. I just have the red berries to do and the strings of the harp. I am working on the last big section. Yahoo... I probably won't touch it today as what else would i do at work?

I have gotten a new craving. Doing some crocheting. I have been looking on YouTube and Flicker on how to make granny squares. This morning i wrapped into a ball some yarn i used from the family reunion. It's in primary colors that are variegated. I am going to practice using that. It should be fun. Hopefully I pick it up pretty easily.

Quilting you ask. That is always with me but i am taking some time to explore other passions. I have set up my machine on the desk so it won't be hard to remove the few things on there and sew. I just gotta get my fabric out and play with it and start sewing. I will get back to that.

Things i need or want to do.

1. Buy a DMC floss holder (those plastic containers ) to put my left over thread from my projects.
2. Buy the 4th season of the quilting show.
3. Explore cool yarn shops to get an assortment of colors for my granny squares using Attic 24 and Jane Brockett colorways as inspiration. Check out Jane's sock colors.
4. Just have fun!
5. Get out pumpkin Amish and start sewing blocks.
6. Mark my tumbling block chocolate pieces so that it can be my next project at work or should i work on an applique project. Decisions, Decisions.
7. Should I get a new cross stitch project after the table cloth is done? Something to ponder. If so what would it be?
8. Make up a needlepoint project and use up the webbing i got. Something in the vein of Kaffe Fassett. Gotta get the holder out of storage.
9. Take on the world.
10. Finally find a full time job as the option of not working is not an option financially . lol

Have a great day everyone.

Wasted time...

Since i started my temp job - i work noon till 9 at night. I love so many things about it. I am able to sew all day. I am working on my cross stitch Christmas table cloth. I have been working on it forever and i am on the last big part. It is soothing my soul by getting so much sewing done. The answering the phone is not too taxing which is nice. I have met some nice people.

My problem is the mornings. What should i do? The options are limitless but guess what i choose to do. I choose to sleep. I don't need it but you can't make me get up before 9 and today it was 10. It takes me 40 minutes tops to do my morning - make myself beautiful and get ready for work routine. lol... so what else is there? not enough time to watch a movie. I guess i could read but that makes me sleepy. I am sewing all day so that is not needed to be done right now. Look for a regular job i suppose but i get distracted on the Internet. I could play my games. but it just wants me to snuggle under the covers. I can't paint in the house on my new pitchure frame and it's been raining lately. I could go to the gym to lose that weight. But the motivation is just not there.. i worry that it will never be there.

I am very blessed that this is my biggest dilemma. Maybe in a way i am fighting a bit of down in the dumps situation... I know.. I could blog. I could write that book i have wanted to write. I could ... i could.. i could.... see so many possibilities..

well it's almost time to leave and i have to dry my hair... i get to sew with the color blue today.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yea.... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

another idea name...

I found it on my new project..
Jolis petits bouquets de fleurs des champs. or pretty posies.. I never knew i would be so attracted to french words and i am so excited my mojo is back.
Dottie

A new project

I am in the mood to do needle work. I found this little project in my stash. I was going to work it during the summer but i didn't have a small enough hoop. I then got distracted by my new toys, my pin cushions and looking for a job. Well now i have a temp job so my time is a little b it more free and i have reached the deadline for the bazaar.. I have done just a bit and can't decide if should use my glasses. I can't tell if it helps.

Off to do my needle work and listen to pod casts.

Dottie

I reached the deadline!!

Hello Everyone!!!
I am back to work. It's a temp job having to do with the N1H1 virus but it's something to do for money over the holidays and it might get my foot in the door.
Needless to say I won't be able to attend the bazaar at my local church that I was helping my friend out. I now work weekends and noon to 9. After 20 years working 8-5 and weekdays it should be interesting.

So what was the deadline? It was making my pin cushions. I have posted a few i did at the beginning. I ended up doing 52. Well really 55 but the first two i made are not decent to sell and the third extra one is not up to par either so i keep that one for my Xmas needlepoint project bag.
Here is the box of them. I just love how they look. All 52 of them put in a photo box. And a few of the last ones i did. I even took a video of them by mistake.. but it gives you a view of the whole box. I might have to post more of these videos. It was fun.

Even though it wasn't a huge pressure it felt like i had to get them done. I didn't know how many to do and it felt like i was working on them all the time but only having 50 done I guess not. I definitely got faster as the weeks went by but they still take time. We will see if they sell at all. I might have 49 by the end of Saturday. lol

So what is my next project you ask? I don't know.. but i think i hear the gym calling my name. Too much Halloween candy. lol

Ta Ta!!!

Inspirations....

It comes at the oddest times.

A couple of weeks ago I was doing a volunteer job and part of it was listening to writers read their work. I looked down and was inspired by the carpet for a quilt block. As I was sitting in the next session I got out my handy notebook and copied it to the best of my drawing abilities. Which let me tell you is not at all perfected. So the scale is off but i know that the pattern is there.

Today while reading the blog Bunny Tales she was talking about knobs she had found at Anthropology. I had never been exposed to them. I am in love. lol.. because they are so beautiful. As many of you might know i currently live with my mom in a retirement community and have all of my stuff in storage. I have an antique dresser drawers and makeup table that i want to paint white.. somewhat shabby chic. I have found my new pulls. I am so excited. I am also currently out of work and have some leads on some jobs that pay enough that i should be able to get my own place. I can't wait. So talk to the one above that it all works out for the best.

So that is my life right now. Looking for a job. I am struggling on being inspired to do anything creative. I am even having trouble to be able to go to the gym. But yesterday i told myself that i have to start doing those things again. So keep checking back for postings and thank you for reading.

Dottie.

Are you content?

I was just reading a blog where the writer was describing how content she was with her life. She had not blogged in awhile as she said she was content in her life by reading, sewing and snuggling down and watching movies and didn't find the time to blog. For me the thoughts that the word content invokes are comfort and happiness. Maybe i am too much of a romantic but the feelings are softness, fluffy clouds, the smell after the rain and a beautiful day with the sun sparkling on the water.
Even though i am in the process of job hunting - i have the same feeling. I am content with my life. Yea.. i wish i had my own place i could do stuff to and a job. lol but i am the happiest i have ever been. I have money for a while... (not having a lot of it causes me to be creative lol) i have my books from the library, I have my sewing (with so many more projects in my head) and a boyfriend that makes me happy. I love the feeling of my room at the moment. I am sitting here on a fluffy bed (still in my pj's today but usually dressed) listening to some music and a cool breeze coming through the trees in front of the window You can't ask for much more.
In this time of unemployment i have purchased some toys. ( Why do you ask spending money on worthless things but it is so much more that the money to me.) One is the Sony PSP. I have been addicted to a game called Puzzle Quest. Just enough game and enough puzzle to make me love it. I can see my experience growing every time i play. I never thought i was a gamer but i am so enjoying it. I also bought an IPOD touch. I have wanted one for a while and finally found a used one at about half price. I only got an 8 GB at the time but i am having so much fun. I think i will need to buy a bigger one for all my music i have stored away. Both toys can get online so it has been and adventure trying to figure that out but i have been successful in my connections. I am having so much fun. Can you tell?
This week has been devoted to applying for jobs. No calls yet but they will come right? I sure hope so. Today I am going to play a game or two and then sew. I am going to put in a good movie and snuggle down and watch it. That sounds good.
Happy Friday Everyone.
Dottie.

Checking in..

Sunday night and i am ready for the week. I still haven't done any quilting. I miss it. Life has just been busy. I volunteered at the local quilt show this week. It was a good thing as it forced me to really study some of the quilts. I wanted to come home and sew. Well i didn't. The show is in a h all with concrete floors and i came home and laid down as i got cramps in my legs. I was a white glove lady and i never realized how much heat is held in by gloves. I went to two classes. One was making large pin cushions in the form of a sundae. It has given me so many ideas for mine. I also went to a seminar by Bob from Superior threads. I have seen him on quilt show so it was fun seeing him in person. He looks so tall on tv but he is my height. So interesting.
Well off to bed to play on my new PSP. This is another reason i have not been sewing. My geekeness has come out on playing these games. I called it the Dotster..
Till later.

3 trips to the beach, 2 projects started and one job call

Hi,
It's been a while, hasn't it. Been busy going to the beach working on hand projects and had only one call about a job. It is hard out there.
Dinner is now ready so i will post in a bit of my adventures..

Dottie

Checking in ....

Hi,
It's after midnight and I can't sleep. I am sitting here at the computer. I have the old old show "Password" on from the 1960's on The Game Show channel. I am also researching new books to get from the library. In the late eighties or early nineties I remember reading a monthly magazine article "From Thornhill Farm" by Dee Hardie. I loved reading about her country life. I swore it was in Country Living but i might be doubting that memory. I loved her style of writing. Recently I rediscovered her writings in the book "Hollyhocks, Lambs and other Passions." I love it and have been cherishing the stories in the book. Tonight i searched for more of her writings and i found another book for 2.00 on Alibris. So i ordered it and Hollyhocks. I am so excited. In reading her book I have also discovered another writer Angela Mackail Thirkell, Dee Hardie collected her books. I am going to give her a try. I found one of her autobiography's in the library and ordered her first book in one of her series. She wrote in the 30's to 50's about the English country side. I hope I enjoy them. The book I bought was only 2.00 so i am ok with buying it. They have other's at the library but I wanted to start with the first one. See how it started.
The show is almost over so i am going to bed.
Night Night
PS - no sewing this week. too buzy with other stuff and taking long naps. will start up next week on both quilts and pin cushions...

Two good workshops

Well on Monday and today I went to workshops at the Employment office. I was surprised I learned as much as i did. Today was the interview workshop. It helped answer questions i have always had. I know the basics of course but they gave me some good tips. I am glad I stumbled on to this program. Still sewing away but also relaxing and reading. Watching the Top Chef Masters and then off to bed.

Night Night.
Dottie.

My Aug UFO

I have picked out my Aug UFO. It was a 5 dollar quilt i participated with in 2008 from Quilting Delights. I ran out of time each month because I was in School and by the end I just gave up. It's another huge quilt. Over 100 inches each way.

Most people had the main color in black or off white. I choose this warm pumkin orange. I have already named this quilt - Pumkin Amish. I just think it fits. The first photo is what i have done. The second photo gives you an idea what it will look like when it is done. I started working on this yesterday and got "month 4 " done which consists of 4 12 inch blocks. My plan is just to work on a month at a time. My goal is to hopefully get it done by the 15th. A big goal but i am determined not to waste this time off. Plus it keeps me out of trouble.

Off to a Birthday party for a 7 year old.

Dottie.

Note to self..

Hi self
I smiled on 8-17-08. He wrote back on 8-20-08.
One year in a couple of weeks. ;-)

My daily workspace.

What i have been doing for the last month.

Pin cushions

Hi,

I was looking on Flicker for some ideas for pincushions. I found these cute ones using felt and thread. I read through the tutorial and came up with these two. They are not perfect but they do the job. SHHHH.. i think i will make them for christmas presents.

Dottie.

My 2nd finished quilt for July..

Here is my completed quilt. I don't have anyone to hold it up for me so I

put it on the couch again. It's only the top but i have also prepared the back and the

so as soon as I can afford to buy the batting I will layer the quilt.

I have heard that the designer has released this to other quilt shops for 5 dollar quilts.

I think i have my next quilt picked out for Aug.

Check out others who have finshed there goals in the Charming Girls Club

http://cottoncharmquilts.typepad.com/charmingchatter/2009/07/the-july-finishes-post.html

A productive 3 days..

Hello!
In the last few days I have been a busy girl. I have completed 3 projects. ( 3 ufo's)

First - I completed my "Home is where the heart is quilt" to the flimsy stage. I consider it done. I didn't add the very final border as it was getting too big. I don't need another 100 by 100 inch quilt. So I repurposed the border fabric into the backing fabric. I cut it in half and used it but it wasn't quite wide enough, so I cut off about 6 inches and used it as a connection between the two sides with other left over fabric. I haven't taken a photo yet but i will soon. Oh - another thing that happened was that since i wasn't using the large blue fabric i increased my last border to 4 1/2 inches wide. I only had 1 yard of fabric and just had enough. When i put it on the quilt i was short a few inches on the sides so i did an estimated cut to extend it off the top and bottom pieces. I judged correctly. Also when i put the border on the top and bottom... again i just had enough. I know i should have been more precise and done more measuring but i was just wanting to get it done. As I always say.. the quilting gods were watching out for me. So my second UFO is done for July for the Charming girls club.. Yahoo. I am still debating which quilt to do for August. So keep reading... as I will post the answer soon.

2ND. A couple of years ago a went to the close out fabric store in the "hood". I found some black and white toile that i fell in love with. I think that it's a duck broadcloth. I thought it would be the perfect picnic cloth. I bought two yards i think and it was a bigger size over 44 inches. I folded it together with the right sides together and sewed a 5/8 seam on the two sides. I then turned it inside out and sewed a quarter inch seam along the bottom and the two sides. I then folded in the top ends and sewed a quarter inch line and then another line a quarter inch from that. I did sew three cross seams horizontally. It's simple and a good practice piece to get some sewing miles on. I love it.

3rd. This is another UFO that has been sitting in my closet for two years. I got the idea when i went to the beach with friends. My friends mom had made a wind breaker using purple denim and a couple of old broom handles. I went to Fabric Depot here in Portland and found some striped denim on the clearance rack. The stripes were wonderful to use as i used them as guides from the amount i turned over on the ends and to sew the holes for the dowels. I included a photo of one offered by Kath Kidston but mine is closer to the ground and not quite so tall and is longer in length but you get the idea. What i also did was did a label so i would remember when i did it. I took some decorator fabric and cut it out in a flower shape and then embroidered the name "The Wind Breaker" (how original I know.. lol) my name and the date as the Summer of 09. I then sewed it on with a zig zag stitch all around the sides on the wrong side of the fabric and then a bit of free hand lines to tack it in the middle. It even looks good on the outside as it is in the shape of a flower. I can't wait to try it out at the beach. I think i will use the dowels i used for the family tree last year. I will need to take them over to my brothers so i can cut them off of the cement blocks.

So I had a wonderful 3 days and feel like i got something accomplished. Well it's off for a few days at the coast. Enjoy your weekend!
Dottie

Monday....

Well i got allot done yesterday but then released how i thought i should do my log cabins was wrong. Right in theory but did not work out when i put them around the quilt. I then looked at the photo and then hit my head and went... That's how is is suppose to go. So i had to separate 32 blocks..... On Monday i got them separated and I sewed them the right way. Looks good.. Tomorrow I will sew them on to the quilt. Almost done.

Dottie

Sunday sewing..

Hi,

Just don't you love quiet Sundays you can sew? Well today is one of those days. Over the past week I have done some major cleaning in anticipation of an inspection. Wouldn't you know it, they didn't come. Also have been doing reading and applying for jobs. We won't even get into the headaches that have occurred with my unemployment and my Cobra. But the problems are getting resolved.

Today will be sewing. I will be working on putting on the borders, borders , borders for this quilt.

See this entry for a little background.

Off to sew...

Dottie.

I have been tagged..

Hi,

I have been tagged bythe Charming Girls quilt Club .... so here it goes.

5 Things
1. My Favorite Fabric:

Right now I have a fascination with Kaffee Fasset fabric. I keep buying fat quarters and someday I will find a fantastic pattern to show them all off.
2. The pattern I'm most looking forward to sewing is:

I don’t have one at the moment but the ones I want to explore are Miss. Rosie’s Quilt Co. I just love them on the Sister Choice Quilts blog.
3. The food that is my weakness:

Pizza. I heart it.
4. If I knew I couldn't fail, I'd:

I would not got back to work but go to a fantastic school back east and get my doctorate. In what I don’t know but I would love to and then get a job at a college teaching
5. The Best "Life" Advice I know is :

Things will work out. God will provide. It might not always be in the way you are wanting or asking but it will be the best for you.

Well those are my answers today but ask me tommorow and you might get a few different answers...

Dottie.

A lovely day..

Hello..
Well it's the start of another heat wave here in Portland. 90's for the next couple days.. So other than going out to eat with friends I will be staying inside.

Today I went to the lunch with a former coworker. It was odd walking into where I use to work.. Interesting on the responses I got. But that is another story and life continues on.


Reading some good books and one of them has some big words. So I read a chapter at a time and take a break.. but i love it so far. I didn't know a biography could be so philosophical. lol

Enjoy the quiet days of Summer.... I might go enjoy a movie in the Park or even a concert in the Park...

Dottie.

Took a break from sewing today.....

UFO # 2... Home is where the Heart is..

Hi,

This was a 5 dollar quilt from the store Quilting Delights in 06/07. I was going to school at the time so i didn't have time to put it all together. I have to put on two small borders, a border of log cabin blocks and the large flower border. It should be wonderful.

Once i get caught up on my UFO's I will then tackle my flimsey's. I think i might buy a huge batting roll and do one right after another.

I will keep you update on my progress..

Dottie.

UFO # 1 completed..

Well i was motivated tonight. I put the two borders on Ken's gift (still thinking about a name change) and it has moved off of the UFO list and is now on the Floppie List.. Or is it the flimsy list? Well that is something else i will have to contemplate.. Well a full day of watching the memorial. I thought it was very elegant and i was glad i had the chance to watch it. Tomorrow more sewing and i will drink water..

edited on 7-8 Here is a really bad photo.. but you can see the whole thing..

Now which one should i start next?

Dottie..

UFO #1 - Ken's gift...

Okay.. i am a little bit slow. I promised you this yesterday but I finally was able to take a photo. About 4 or 5 years ago i did a 5 dollar quilt through Quilting Delights. Along with the main quilt i was making i used my assorted batiks to make another quilt. I have completed my main quilt into a floppy but this one just has borders that need to be added. I have included them in the photo. It was quite a year that year. I was doing a 5 dollar quilt through two shops and doing a second "practice" quilt for both adventures. A friend had joined me in the second quilt as it was called something with polka dots.. and i have to do something with Dot's. My friend gave me her completed squares as it was not her style so i have 3 tops sewed up to floppies. I will show them in another post.
I call this one "Ken's gift".. but that might change if it talks to me. My boyfriend at the time gave me a gift certificate to a quilt shop called The Quilter When I went to use it the shop had moved. We found it one day on our adventures in another part of Vancouver and I went in and bought a bunch of quarter or half yards of batiks. We eventually broke up but i would go by that quilt shop every once in a while. Then one time i went by and it was gone. Last month i joined the Clark County Quilters and I was invited to a tea. Lo and behold it was at The Quilter and this time it was just over the river. I was excited.
So sorry to get off track. I am doing this quilt as part of The Charming girls quilt club. Motivation to get some of my UFO's done.
Off to quilt..

A reason to sew...

Good Day Everyone.. I am going to join this club for the summer. Click on the logo to read about it. I will post my photo on the 6th as it is already dark here in P-Town.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Set off the fireworks as we celebrate the country's Independence. I am in Eugene this weekend playing cribbage with my aunt and uncle. Winning too. Enjoy!

PS.. i told my uncle what i wrote and he had to correct me. We are playing pinochle. lol... I love his laugh when he is teasing me. Even though i was calling it the wrong name i am still winning..

Another day

Up at 6 this morning and at the gym at 6:30. Then to the Dr's at 9 and another one at 2:30. In between went out to lunch with my mama on the river. It was nice. It's only 9:15 and i am headed to bed. lol..
I worked on my flower quilt today while waiting in the waiting rooms. Nice to have a hand project.
Sunday i plan to get out a UFO.. Now which one???????????????????
Happy Weekend...

Dream books..

Here is another idea for using old books as the basis for your dream books from Jane's Apron and Vintage Pleasure.
My friend David even had another idea. Get a scrapbook album and stick your inspiration cutouts on each side of the paper that comes in the plastic holder and then you can pull them out and put them with other inspiration and come up will whole new ideas.

Dottie.

P.S. All this time on my hands is turning into some wonderful dream adventures.

Summer of Independence

Well with all that has happened in this past year or so and now with the layoff I am going to declare a "Summer of Independence". Julie over at Jane's Apron has declared it for helping with her kids, I am going to use the motivation for me to become more of who i want to be, rather than who i have turned out due to life's circumstances. I am going to push my self creatively. Check out her blog. It's a good one. ;-)

My new toy...

I get laid off so i go do some retail therapy. lol.. No it just is a coincidence. I received money for my graduation and combined with money i earned house sitting and money i was refunded from co pays I had about 400 dollars. Well i wanted to buy something. I was debating between an IPOD touch and a new TV.

All i had was a shuffle and i wanted to upgrade. Now my TV is another story. The red bulb has been going out more and more. I can still watch TV but not the right color. It's interesting to watch something and think it's a blue dress and when the red comes back on you find it's a shocking pink. lol. Kept me on my toes. Also since the TV was so old i need to buy a converter and it wasn't worth it. I was just going to give up TV and watch DVDs.

When i came home that Monday i knew what i would get as i would be home more. So i went out to look and came home with the 26 inch TV.

It's just slightly bigger than the one in the living room. lol but it's MINE... and i love it.. I get more channels.. Yea!!!!!

When i told my boyfriend that night he just laughed and said he would need to keep an eye on me if my reaction to an event is to go buy and expense electronic gadget.. I told him not to worry. lol It happens rarely.

Off to watch the TV. lol

Dottie..

A new direction....

Hi,
Well - news has happened this week.
On Monday the 22nd I was laid off. I walked in to work, signed in on the computer and was starting to start my morning review when my boss came and said we needed to go talk with the bigger boss. They brought me in and gave me the news. I was OK with it. I knew that when the time came it would be me.I had made my peace with the possibility and turned it into a positive spin.
When we heard of layoffs in the branches we always thought it might happened to us and i determined it would likely be me. For a couple of reasons, one - i didn't have any extra jobs over and above(but we won't go there) , two i just got my degree and who knows if i would have stayed, three i have no family to support, four i am one of the lowest on the seniority pole. Also i have a hard time making drama about problems or promoting my self. I just think that the job i do should say enough. And the few times i have tried to promote myself notice is not taken. With the economy - the department had to cut expenses and in our department that is people. We have cut everything else.
But it is going to be just fine. I have a positive attitude. I had been praying what i should do job wise after i graduated. I didn't know. Well i got my answer. lol
So i am now going to have an interesting summer. Hopefully employed but i am going to take advantage of it creatively. Wait for more posts on that.
Dottie

Grandmothers Flower Garden...

Hi,
I am going to do a series of posts on my projects/UFO’s. Maybe it will be motivation to work on them.

The first I am going to show is my grandmothers Flower Garden. I think I might call it the Agnes May or the Lillian Dorothy in honor of my two grandmas. Gotta think on that as it isn’t just right and I know the quilt will tell me what it wants to be called. I have always had a special yearning to hand sew. Currently this is my second completely hand sewn quilt. I will post later on my first one that is still in progress.
I was going to New York in May and I wanted something small and compact to work on and thought it was the perfect time to start some English paper piecing. I have observed it over the years and thought how cool that was. I was especially influenced by watching Beth at Heart to Hand Quilt shop. She taught a class on it but I was just able to observe her at the monthly block of the month club and then with talking with her a bit. I also did some research on the Internet and studied a couple of tutorials and read a couple of directions on a couple of sites and came up with a mishmash my own style of doing it. To get started I knew I had to find some templates. Of course I dreamed up the design of this quilt at work. That is where a lot of my designing starts and I was itching to leave work but I had to wait until 5 when I got off. I first looked at the Internet to see where I could buy hexagons. I found a site but I didn't want to have to wait for delivery so decided to go check out Fabric Depot here in Portland. A wonderful store here in the Portland area. They had them. The hard part was deciding which size to use. After much debating with myself I choose the 1 inch hexagons and I was off and running.
I knew I had tons of scraps at home and decided to go buy some white on white fabric to go in the centers. I also bought a cute cutter in the shape of a daisy for the plane as I didn't know if my cute little scissors would make it past the checkpoint and I didn't want to risk it.
Later that week while sitting in front of the TV I cut out my fabric from all of my pieces just roughly around one of the templates. I did not cut them precise or perfect. In fact long ways from perfect as some are a bit more a hexagon rectangle then a hexagon square. Lol. In fact I even found that I cut the white ones two small so those were not going to be the center any more and I had so many different pink fabrics I decided to use those as the centers. It actually looks pretty good.
I had a plastic box left over from my Q-tips and it's the perfect size. For my trip I put enough fabric for 6 flowers, needles, the cutter and thread into the box. I put the rest of the stuff in my suitcase with my scissors. I was way too ambitious.
We took a red eye to NY from Portland, with no stops. I was tired and hyper. My friend was traveling with me and he fell asleep so I started one. It seemed so hard. I didn't cut the pieces big enough and even though I pinned it, the fabric slid all over and I had very little left to baste. I put it away after the first few hexagons as I was discouraged.
My days in NY were full and I never had a chance to pick the sewing up to work on. I flew home alone and the seat next to me was empty – so I tried again. I still struggled. I was able to complete two flowers but I was still discouraged. I even found the whip stitching hard. So I put it away and thought about it. I was about ready to chuck the whole idea.
That week I made another trip to Fabric Depot and bought the ¾ inch hexagons and tried again. I am now in love. That smaller size has made such a difference. The fabric still slides a bit but it so easy to baste and the pieces are nice and tight. The whip stitching is now so much easier. My applique project is at a stopping point so last week I started taking the flower garden to work. I find that between my 2 - fifteen minute breaks I can usually get almost 1 flower done a day. When I first started I would baste the middle hexagon and then 1 for the next round and then whip them together. I would then do the next one and whip stitch it on. If felt like I was starting, stopping, starting stopping... So I changed my rhythm. Now I baste all 7 hexagons and then whip stitch them all at once. So much faster and I feel so much more productive.
One day at work I did a little figuring. Each flower is 4 inches. I figured out that if I wanted to do a quilt 80 by 80, I would need 400 flowers or 2800 hexagons. I haven’t figured out how many white ones I need to make but it’s just a rough idea. I might just do it in sections as I plan to use all my scraps on this.