Back home and trying to find my mojo

Well, isn't life just like that sometimes: As I tried to copy and paste the post into a new post, I completely deleted it. I can't find it anywhere. So I will have to redo completely. (originally from Sept. 2014)

As we settled into our home environment after our travels to Africa   (the story of our African Adventure)and then DisneyWorld with DGS#2, it was a difficult time for my mojo. It appears that it wanted to stay on vacation and I couldn't really initiate anything that I wanted to. Not sure if it was because I have so many looming projects, or just that being back in the home environment and still in the traveling mode, that it is hiding from me. Or yes, maybe it is because as soon as we returned from DisneyWorld, we immediately started planning another travel experience.

You see, after we returned home we bought a new for us home.

 You can see it here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i3xj0r96lc5e20a/AABaP98xP_Mpi9-voZJ_FQcba?dl=0 And so of course we had to plan a new trip to try it out. The Mississippi Blues Trail and the King Biscuit Blues Festival for the month of October.

 The trail travels all the way from Memphis (or even Chicago) to Vicksburg and then on into Biloxi, MS, along the Mississippi. Which is not to say that you are on the river road along the river. 

 This is my t-shirt.

  With all of this traveling I delighted my mojo in that I never hardly had Miss Betsy humming at all.

All in all however, I did manage to accomplish a few things as indicated in my previous update.
~ I finished DGS#1's quilt and presented it as a Christmas gift.
~ My Christmas blocks have been completed and are now back from the finishers. Love them.
~ the front of the double-sided Halloween has been completed.
~ My Canadian Santas are currently with the finisher.
~ I finished my Spanish Travels quilt.
~ My Santa Stamp cross stitch project to the point of needing to put it into some form of finishing.

 So how should I finish it? A pillow, a wall hanger, framed....

As well, I started or worked on:
~ DGS#2's quilt

 an oddly coloured rendition of the color way for his quilt

 The first row was finished before the new year rang in.

~ my Granny Square Coat
~ a halloween/thanksgiving table cloth (quilted for the picnic table)
~ a halloween pumpkin wall hanger (a wannabe Eleanor Burns)

~ an country Santa cross stitch with which to learn how to stuff and finish on my own
~ a blinking lights Christmas Tree wall hanger
~ Danny's Request[ed] quilt which I am going to try my hand at a Jelly Roll Race quilt, modified to my way.

 the backing - try and manipulate 60" wide by 108" of fleece backing and batting in a RV

 the started cutting of the jelly roll strips after sewing all 80 of them together, end to end

~ my first row by row as well as cutting out 3 more

 my chosen fabrics and the resulting row 

 soon to be a table runner.

Not the most impressive of the rows that is for sure.
~ set of 4 microwave bowls
~ a sampler bed quilt, OUR Quilt

 the front page of the pattern

 my fabrics

~ a wall hanger called World Traveler for our friends that we will be visiting this summer
 the starting of the design on my makeshift design wall
~ winter scene with a lady in red cross stitch


No new starts in Needlework but then I have enough UFOs to last a lifetime doubled. Seems like the more I mull over it all, the more I can come up with. Guess I was busier than I thought.

As to the Row by Row Experience for 2014, I found myself organizing a lot of the shared rows after the shop hop ended. This took a lot of time in the evenings when I couldn't really see that well to accomplish other projects. I found a lot that I would like to make and some fabulous eye-candy. A lot of the rows can be easily figured out and made without a pattern which is helpful.

Which brings me up to the Christmas season and a new travel adventure with the grands over New Years.

Are these really addictions?

Time without internet, time without electricity which equates to, without one's sewing machine. Withdrawal symptoms are definitely there. Would this be considered an addiction of sorts? I would have to say so. Well, this has been my manta now for the last while and it is miserable, I can tell you.  We are back in the land of 21st Century technology and all it takes is for me to get out Miss Betsy and resume where I was when I closed her down, so why can't this be done at will?

I had been working simultaneously on DGD and DGSs quilt before I was shut down in March (National Seashore Park). You know the one that I wasn't so sure about the colors [photo] and the wonky but not so wonky lime greens and blues.  Well, I got all the lime green blocks to about 1/3 finished and also found a black that I think will work for the sashing. With the DGDs blocks, I got enough finished to put together one set of the pattern. This was so that she could look at the colors and pattern to make sure it is what she wants. The lime green is as it is - no changes. Then I realized that I had been working on the first DGS's quilt and not a thing was done on the 3rd DGSs quilt and he was the one coming to visit. So I had to do an about face and get started on his.

This involved taking a photo

 from the internet and designing out the sizes that I wanted, using choices from this fabric set.

 I started with a goal in mind - a set of 4 circular squares together so that he could see how his would look in design, if not colorway. I got a couple of insert squares completed in a left-over fabric color way not designed for anything and decided that, hey, I could make a baby quilt out of the trial and error for his quilt. I got the first 2 circles of 3rd DGDs cut out and the first set of strips cut and sewn. A mock up of the color war Not even ironed yet. And then disaster struck: the generator went kaput - no more electricity except what little we could get from solar in overcast and stormy skies and this was definitely not enough to run a sewing machine and an iron. So with a heavy heart, I put everything away so that  wouldn't be tempted to tempt fate and the solar panels. My mind however, kept thinking about his quilt as I showed him what I had, how it would look but he wants it backed with fleece and extra long like his brothers. So I came up with a slightly modified way of getting the circles on the flimsy and still back with fleece. [photo]

During this time I had also intermittently worked on starting the sample squares for the cover for the printer and the dash table as talked about in Procrastination. They are coming along quite nicely; i.e. I got the first block cut out and sewn into a haphazard start before the disaster.  It too was put away.

There was one square for Rainbow Jane - Bachelor Buttons

 completed as well.

Don't forget the quickie project for my World Wide Swap from Stashbusters - a needle holder to go along with the stash exchange. The was made from scraps of another project that is still a UFO.

There was no hand sewing of any kind to be done there.

Now what to do? My hands were idle, not busy as they normally are. Oh well, off to the bag of handwork UFOs to pull out the first random one to work on. And it was……. oh my goodness, the cross stitch postage stamp Santa that is definitely not a favorite,

 Who ever heard of greens in the beard and yellows in the fur on his hat when the pompom is whites and blues? Oh well, if I finish it I can start another travel project. It has only been on the go since 2010 - a UFO for sure.

And of course there were always the Christmas Crackers ....

During our stay in the area around Corpus Christi I was also able to sign up and take a half day class for building (read sewing here) a fabric bowl. I had wanted to do this for some time and here was the chance.

Fun fabric, meeting new people, and finding another equally fun project. Oh boy, I think more to come.

And all of this was just March. Of course April is another story! And yes, I would say that I am addicted!

As I drive the AT

Chrissy Cleo meows as I drive the byways, the backroads, and the white-knuckle roads up into the Appalachian Mountains day in and day out. In my mind I can see her flashing eyes, but I am afraid that there is nothing that I can do. I forgot her threads so she simply won't get done this trip. Hopefully when I get back I will get her finished and off to the finishers before this coming Christmas. In fact, to simplify matters I took her off the frame - yes, I said off, and her eyes really sent messages - rolled her up and placed her in a tube. This is "for your own protection" - remember your mom saying that to you? - and will mail her back to the DIL's place to keep safe and clean. Traveling open like she was in the car left her in a bad position of getting her threads caught and pulled, dirt on her and all manner of happenings. Out of sight, but not out of mind.

While I was gathering small projects to bring with us to Mexico and then on the 6 month odyssey, I found a Santa pillow project that had been tucked in the suitcase from Panama. Perfect as it is tedious with many a colour here, a color there, and a multitude of colors that just aren't what one would expect. Obviously, not a favorite but an UFO is an UFO and it would be nice to get it finished and out of the suitcase of UFO's. I do a little, put it down, do a little, out it aside, all in the evenings after the days events or as in the case of Mexico, while riding on the bus long distances.

Supporting my husband on the AT means doing a lot of driving. It is too cold at this time for camping close to the trail so we drive distances to find a hotel and park for a few days before moving on. This means that, as I don't know exactly how long it will take hime to hike a certain area, I often sit for longish periods of time in the car. I also wait for a period of time after I drop him off to make sure he has everything that he needs, hasn't misjudged the trail of the weather. I pass my time by hiking/geocaching or needlework.

 A baseball ornament

Not having Chrissy CLeo to work on, I started another project that I brought out of the UFO pile: Golden Christmas Crackers. I had the stretcher bars with me so I eagerly got started. A few stitches at a time will add up over a few days to a finished #1 out of a total of 10 (1/10). I am finding that there are certain fibers that I don't really like working with but when finished, they do look so good. So here I will have to temper my feelings and open my mind to using something that I don't initially like.

A rainy day, no a downpour day, gave me the opportunity to drive a good distance to the closest LNS that I could find. Here I was able to replenish supplies to finish stitching the baseball project, find a new project that I have been lusting over for months, Broom Parking, and found a new fiber that will work into what I am about to start, Father Frost. I was unable to get the stretcher bars needed for Broom Parking so will have to order them and have them sent out, or maybe I will find another LNS close by. Will post photos here in a few days.

Today another day of snow/rain and a day for catching up on my blogging as well as doing some basic stitching on my new project, Father Frost.