The Last Post For a Few Days as Himself Has Decreed

Joe brought me the laptop to my bed, and I read all of your well wishes. I was told this is my last post. At least that was how Joe jokingly put it, but I knew he meant it. He said that since he posted, that officially makes him a blogger, so who am I to take away that title from him? As for myself, I have been very sick. I am trying to keep my sense of humour, but it is not easy. I am humorously trying to decide which is worse: the extreme pain from the shingles or the nausea that I have gotten from the antibiotics. I can only eat yogurt and due to the extreme nausea, I am happy to get that down. I woke up this morning at 4 AM in terrible pain and quite nauseous. It is not easy to deal with both at the same time. Oh, well, there is worse to be had. I just wanted to thank each and everyone who wrote me and sent me their well wishes and prayers. It meant the world to me, and all the emails did make me smile, and Joe was happy to see me smile.With all the prayers that I am getting, I should be fine soon.

I am writing out my Star for the Month, as I have convinced my Joe that it will take my mind off my illness, and may I say that I have not lost my gift of persuasion.

I will not post again for a few days, as I don't want to push my luck....Even the luck of the Irish can be taken a bit too far. Anyways, himself has decreed it. LOLThanks again so much!
Hugs,
Micki

My February Star

I wanted to post this today, as I wanted you all to meet Pat and to love her as much as I do. Her work as been so inspiring to me, and we have become friends too. Enjoy her interview, and if you don't know her, please do visit her blog called A Little of This and a Little of Pat. As I don't feel that well, I will let her interview and pics of her work speak for themselves.

Interview for February
Name:__Pat Casadei_________

· A Bit About Me: I am a retired elementary school teacher, who also taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults. I have been married for nearly 43 years and have two daughters and three granddaughters. While most of my life was spent in New Jersey, we retired to southern Delaware in the winter of 2004 and love it here. I managed to acquire a part-time job doing medical transcription work when a friend was giving the job up 4 years ago. I had helped her with it when she was busy, so I took it over and it is my source of “extra” money for my hobbies of quilting and scrapbooking!

· What Inspires Me: Sometimes I am inspired by books and patterns and sometimes by things I see around me (like tile designs on floors and walls or a scene in nature). Most often, though, I am inspired by seeing what others have made either on blogs or at get-togethers with other quilters at guilds or our little neighbhorhood group, which I love. I would suspect most quilters are inspired in the same ways that I am.

· What I Love to Do the Most Creatively: My two favorite creative outlets are quilting and scrapbooking, although my scrapbooking has been sorely neglected in the past few years, and I need to get back to that soon!

· My Favorite Fabric and Designer: This is an impossible question for me as I don’t have any one favorite. It depends on the project AND if the quilt is intended for someone else, in which case I take their tastes into consideration. For instance, I am rather “conservative” in my decorating tastes, so I prefer something like the Thimbleberries fabrics for my own quilted items. If I am making something for my grandkids, I’d choose something in bright colors like a Mark Lapinski fabric or Kaffe Fassett or any of the many “BRIGHT” fabrics on the market!

· UFO I Intend to Finish First: Right now, I’m thinking I will finish the signature-block quilt that a group of 12 of us made during 2009. Hopefully, by the time this interview is on your blog, it will be DONE. (Of course, my UFO plans are often derailed, so it may still be a UFO at that time!!!)

· What’s on the Design Wall Now: I am currently working on 12 cottages I am making for a year-long swap in which I’ve been involved. My month to provide cottages is February, so as I write this interview, I am working on finishing them up so I can get them in the mail for the gals to have them in February.

· Who Would I Love to Meet: If we are talking well-known quilters, I think I’d like to meet Eleanor Burns as she seems down-to-earth and fun and I think we’d have many laughs as she tried to teach this quilter some new tricks. I would also like to meet some of the quilt designers whose blogs I visit….Pat Wys, Kim Walus, Gudrun, Kari Carr, Valori Wells, Judy Laquidara, to name a few. I have had the chance to meet Pat Sloan a couple of times and found her very nice and a lot of fun. Barbara Barber is a sweetheart from whom I took a class at a quilt show. And I can’t say enough kind things about Gyleen Fitzgerald, who is not only a great quilt designer but an all-around, genuinely kind person. HOWEVER….if we are talking about well-known people outside the quilt world, I would like to meet someone like Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, or Tom Brokaw, who are well-known people in the news broadcasting field in the U.S.A. I believe it would be fascinating to hear of the many things they have seen and done during the course of their careers and I’d hope to pry out of them some “secrets” they’ve learned along the way. Walter Cronkite would have been the “ultimate” news person to meet as he saw so many changes in the world during his long career, but he is no longer with us, having passed away during 2009.

· If I Had One Wish: I would wish for the world the same thing I wish for my own family…..peace, health, and “enough” (that is: “enough” financial stability to live happily….not lots of excess that we don’t need, but “enough” to live comfortably and not have worries about everyday expenses). To me, if we all had those things, life would be a lot simpler and the world would be a better place. On a more frivolous note, I wish I’d win a big lottery prize so I could use some of it to charter an airplane and rent out an entire resort hotel so I could host a retreat for many of the nice bloggers I’d love to meet, including YOU, of course, Micki! (Of course, since I rarely play the lottery, the odds of this wish coming true are pretty slim, I am sad to say.)

· Plans for the Future: I would hope to improve my own physical health and get in better shape……to do some traveling to places in the U.S. I’ve not seen…maybe make a return-trip to Ireland (which I visited and loved in 1994)…..see my grandkids grow up and have happy lives and maybe get to see great-grandkids! Sprinkled amidst all that would be my plan to improve as a quilter and not to accumulate so many UFO’s….and to do that, I really need to learn to do free-motion quilting a lot better than I do it now!!!

Thanks Pat for a wonderful interview!

The Dreaded Shingles.

This is Joe, Micki's husband...Micki has had a reoccurance of shingles and is confined to bed. She had an infection in her head that spread to her glands. The doctor put her on antibiotics and the side effects of these are far from pleasant. She will not be posting until she feels better.

Fabric and Magazine Arrive and Organizing Family Photos

The Fat Quarter Shop sent me the January fat quarter packet in the mail, and it is called Autumn Sun, and there are 12 fat quarters in the pack. It is the first packet to be sent to me for the Batik Club that I joined. Isn't it just gorgeous? They also sent me The Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Magazine, which is so cool. If you haven't gotten it, you should.
I also got hand dyed fabrics in the mail for a Celtic Wallhanging that I will be making, and that one will be a surprise. It is so neat! The funny thing is that they arrived on the same day, even though the hand dyed fabrics came from County Kerry, Ireland. That is why I always order from Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop in the States, as she is so efficient and organized. I just love her!

I also finally decided that I am organizing a box of family photos that I have...hundreds of them...They are of my parents and my entire life with them in Philly. When I married Joe and moved to Ireland 14 years ago, I couldn't ship all the albums, so I took the photos out of the albums and put them in a large box. There they have stayed for many years. I decided that I will put them all in scrapbook albums, as I do love scrapping. Joe is getting me the Cricut, which is going to really help me organize the photos, as it cuts all the shapes and letters that you could ever want. I will either get the Cricut Create or the Cricut Expression, depending on which bundle gives me the best deal and the best features. Here is the Cricut Expression at the UK site I will probably purchase it from. There is a You Tube video that Joann's Store put together that will give you an idea what it does. I will also be making cards with it and tons of home decor items. Well, if it is the last thing that I do, I will get the photos into pretty scrapbook albums. I will also be journalling whatever I can remember.I will put pics of some of the scrapbook pages on my blog. I made scrapbooks of our wedding, our honeymoon in Greece, and others...It was fun so I should enjoy the whole process!

Today, I have been sick with swollen glands, chills, etc. I am heading to bed to read ...I feel like pampering myself.

Enjoy your evening!

Carol Doak Show

I had to change this post. The free show can only be viewed from Carol Doak's Site, so please click on http://www.caroldoak.com/ and you will see the free episode there on her site. Sorry that I had to get rid of the previous post...I had technical difficulties...I did read the comments and thanks so much!
Enjoy the show!

One World, One Heart Giveaway

Welcome to One World, One Heart Giveaway. Lisa from My Life as Whimsical Bohemian is hosting this event and what a fun theme she gave us: a magical carpet.

Like a magic carpet, I have been carried away to many distant lands. I have made epic journeys to places, some of which I could never travel to. I have gone to sunny Australia, to the land of USA, and to places in Europe and Asia. I have seen so many wonderful places that filled my dreams with awe. My magic carpet is my blog, and I have met so many wondrous people! I have been invited to drink a cup of tea and to have dainties, been invited to visit, and most importantly, I have been invited into people's hearts. I never know where my carpet will take me, as there are endless people and places to see.

Now, I will transport you to One World, One Heart, where we are all truly part of one world, one heart. and you realize that the miles don't really matter. Visit Lisa's blog and see the list of bloggers that you can meet and travel to, and see how truly small the world is.

Here is my giveaway to celebrate the friendships and this special event. Just leave a comment at this post only, and if you visit Lisa, you will travel the carpet with me. You can see the prizes above. You have an embroidered pincushion, ornament and free standing lace doily.

On February 15th, I will magically pick one person to win these three prizes...all made by me with a sprinkle of Irish fairy dust and embroidered just for you. I will email the winner!

Failte( welcome) to the One World, One Heart Event and enjoy it!

Dolly the Sheep Potholder

Today, I had a blast making Dolly the Sheep Potholder. I hope that you can see that Dolly is three dimensional and puffy. I stuffed her and then did hand embroidery using the Bullion Stitch to create the fleece of the wool. It really looks like sheep's wool ...how cool! Then, I embroidered her eyes, nose, mouth and feet. and then sewed Dolly onto a block using a tiny slip stitches . I used green and red borders to complete the potholder front, put batting and a bright red back, and quilted in the ditch. Finally, I put the binding on and embellished it with buttons. It is now hanging in our kitchen , and Dolly looks so cute!

I am relaxing now and watching tv. I was quite pleased with the whole process. Hope your Saturday has been a good one. Here it was cold, but we still took our long walk, and we had lovely coffee and muffins in one of our local coffee shops on the main street.

Enjoy the rest of your weekends! Don't forget that I will be having a giveaway in honor of One World, One Heart on Monday.

I Won the Lemonade Stand Award

Stephanie from A Ditchin' Time Quilts nominated me for the Lemon Stand Award. This award is given to a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude. I am chuffed for sure! To accept this award, I need to nominate at least 10 bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude. Since some of my friends have been nominated by Steph, here are my list of nominees:

Sherry

Darlene

Nedra

Lizzie

Rhoda

Mary

Dzintra

Gene

Cath

Janey

Jackie

Pat

Marie

Beansie

Mel

Sue

Anita

Please get to know these wonderful bloggers and visit their inspiring blogs, as they are such "dotes."

Thanks again to Stephanie for nominating me!You really made my day, and I was so touched and honoured!!

My Little Town Top Finished and Lovely Art Postcards

I finally finished My Little Town paper pieced top, and I am so proud and thrilled that I did!! It now measures 12"x12".If you look at the border, the little corner trees were extra tiny....I was so happy that I could even see them. LOL I will be putting the layers together and machine quilting it over the next day or two and will post the pic. It was quite a challenge, and I have already picked another miniature to do. As you can see, there were lots of points that had to match, besides all the very tiny pieces in each block. Even so they are such fun, and Carol Doak does have such cute miniature patterns in her book. While on the subject of Carol, I just saw her on The Quilt Show, and she was great. She is coming to Ireland for a grand tour of our beautiful country in October of this year, and I hope to meet her.

Also, I received some lovely postcards in the mail from Gene, who is a talented quilter and artist, as you saw when you met him as my Star of the Month. What a lovely surprise and thank you Gene! I sent him a surprise too, but mum is the word.

I just came back from a lovely walk with Joe, and we are ready for a quiet evening.

Crocheting Up a Storm, One World, One Heart, My Little Town Miniature and A New Blog

I have been so busy today. First, I want to tell you about One World, One Heart. I love the theme to this year's event, which is a Magic Carpet Ride. Lisa, whose blog is

My Life as a Whimsical Bohemian, is organizing the event, and it should be a wonderful way to meet new people. She gave a bit of directive to the event and here is what she said,

"One thing that I am asking this year is that whatever your giveaway or giveaways are that you find a clever way to present it on your blog when the event begins.Since this year we are riding the magic carpet, perhaps you can find some way to use this theme to photograph or present your giveaway. This gives everything a more festive look rather than a simple photo or a couple of lines.Be creative! Have fun with the theme this year, get people to stand up and notice you."

Well, a magic carpet theme is right up my alley. I will put my thinking cap on and come up with something very magical indeed. My giveaway for this event will be posted on January 25th, so sign-ups begin on this date. The giveaway ends on February. 15th.
I made a handmade item for my giveaway this morning, and I think you will love it....no hints, sorry.LOL

After working on my giveaway item, I finished my second crochet square for my crocheted quilt that I am making. It was all V stitches and Shell stitches. What I like is that each square is different, and they are giving wonderful lessons to go with it to put in a folder that they gave for free with the second kit for block two. By the time I will finish the quilt, I will have a good reference book.

Lastly, I also sewed together the rows that I completed for the miniature quilt. I have two more rows to do and then I will paper piece the borders.

As you can see, I am a busy beaver.

Before I finish this post, I wanted to tell you about a new blog called Good2cu. Marjorie found my blog, and I discovered that she had just started her blog. I became her first follower....what an honor! Please visit Marjorie and say "hello."

Welcome Marjorie to blogland, and you will love blogging and making new friends!!!!!

Friday Night Sew-In

Friday night's sew-in turned out to be lots of fun. I got into my jammies and headed for my sewing machine area. Joe had bought me a Galaxy chocolate bar, which I shared with him, and I had it with my cuppa coffee.My goodness, it was yummy! I was able to watch tv too while I was sewing, as women do tend to be able to multi-task. Hey, I was up to eating, drinking , sewing, and watching tv at the same time. I got a row of my miniature quilt done and three siggies which I had to mail off today. That's when I decided that I wanted to stop and go back to my lounge chair with my infamous velvety, electric throw, and that was my Friday evening of sewing. As you can see, the dogs were relaxing on the duvet, and quite relaxed. It was cold out and stormy, but who gave a hoot.

Today in the morning, Joe and I took a 4 mile hike which looped around our village through the hills. I headed back to bed and read my Sara Donati book...a tough life, but someone has to do it. LOL

Hope everyone who participated in the sew-in had a blast too. It is sort of neat to think that we were all probably in our jammies sewing...each of us as happy as can be. Thanks to Heidi for coming up with a wonderful idea for us quilters.

Oh, I am feeling better, as you can see....I decided to also start on a paper pieced quilt from a book by Karen Stone named Karen Stone Quilts. I am ordering her book and cd and also the EQ6 cd that goes with it from Soft Expressions. I figure that I am only getting one block a month for the Carol Doak quilt from Stitchin' Heaven, so I need a bigger project to work on. Karen's quilts are out of this world, so when the book arrives, I will show you a pic of the quilt that I am doing. There are 13 quilts to choose from.

Enjoy your weekends!

Surfing on the Net and Joining Fever

I had a fever today, some chills, and I basically sat in my lounge chair all covered up with that velvety electric throw that I have mentioned so many times. Thus, no sewing for me. I am feeling better, but as a result, I was surfing the net, and found a BOM to join at Stitchin' Heaven. First of all look at all of the BOMS they have. If you want to join a BOM, you will find one there. Look at the list! The BOM that I joined is called Dancing with the Stars . Isn't it colorful? Carol Doak made it exclusively for Stitchin' Heaven, and yes it is all paper pieced.....Right up my alley!

Then, I decided to join the Fat Quarter Shop Batik Club. Yes, I will be getting 12 batik fat quarters a month. How fun is that! The first fat quarter packet that I will receive will be Autumn Sun....Love the colours!


Then, I was blogging, and saw that Heidi is having a Friday Night Sew In, and I joined that too. I thought it would be fun, and so with my cuppa coffee, I will sew a bit and share with you what I made the next day. It will be fun seeing what everyone created . The fever that I had must have been a "joining " fever, because I was on a roll there.

I also got four siggies in the mail.One was from Maria in Australia. Is the Koala fabric out of this world and her embroidery work in the centre just fabulous? I also got a siggy from Mary, who lives in California. The palm tree was just so cute! Then Andrea from Germany sent me a wonderful siggy with a castle and trees in the centre...just lovely!Finally, Ludy from the Netherlands sent me the cutest block with an angel in the centre. Boy, am I getting the cutest siggies! Thanks to everyone! I am going to have a very pretty quilt!

That was my day...no sewing or work with my miniature, but I was still busy with the joining fever. Gee, maybe getting sick isn't all that bad when you spend it comfy in a chair and online surfing the net and conniving to one's heart content.LOL

Row 2 of My Little Town and a Surprise Package

I did no sewing over the weekend, and Joe and I just relaxed and had a very quiet, lovely time. This morning, I finished Row 2 of "My Little Town" and if I do one row each day, I will be ready to paper piece the border on Friday and put the whole top together.

While I was working on my paper piecing, Joe brought me a package that arrived in the mail. I got a lovely gift from Janey, whose blog is Slight Imperfections, and do visit her, as she is now showing pics of her town, which is in Northhampton, England. Anyways, here is her package to me. I got a pincushion, a lovely card from Janey, a small case for my needles and look at the heart inside, and the loveliest sachet of some essence that was to die for. That will go in my lingerie drawer. Thanks so much Janey. I love all of it!

Well, we were off to Falcarragh today, but we have delayed the trip till tomorrow. It is needless to say still cold here, but I am about to sit in my lounge chair under my velvety, electric throw, and I will be snug. Take care and keep warm, and if you are in a warm climate, enjoy the sunshine and the warmth!

OOPS I Forgot Something

Just a quickie...Dina was kind enough to say that since I am posting about paper piecing, I could post her paper piecing tutorial here. So, if anyone wants to get into paper piecing, here is a good tutorial.
Thanks Dina!

My Little Town

I began my miniature quilt called "My Little Town", which is a pattern from Carol Doak's miniature book of patterns . I finished row one of the quilt, and boy was there a lot of precision work. There will be 5 rows, and as you can see by the pic, one of the borders is all paper pieced too. I am using batiks, and boy am I glad that I can see well enough to do that work. Each block is one and a half inches by one and a half inches, and each block has 14 very tiny pieces. Yes, they are tiny!!!!! The walls seem to be one piece, but they are a combination of several pieces put together.

I have not sewn together the blocks yet into rows, but you get an idea how small it will be as Joe put a ruler by it when he took the pic. The whole quilt will be 12 inches by 12 inches. I will do a row a day, and then do the paper pieced border, and the final border, and then I do the machine quilting.

I have included a pic of the whole quilt that Joe took from the book, so you can see what it will look like.

The ice has mostly melted here, but it is still cold, and at least we can take our walks as long as we have our boots on, as there are still patches of ice.

Enjoy your weekends! This week has flown by, but boy have the storms, snow and ice been a pain in you know what. LOL

It Comes in Threes

You know what they say...Things generally come in threes. Today, I received three parcels in the mail. First of all, I received the doll quilt that I won from Christine's giveaway. It is just so adorable! As you can see, it is very pretty and whimsical. Thanks so much Christine!

Secondly, I got a lovely siggy from Andrea who is from Germany, and what a lovely stitchery she did for me in the centre of the block. It was wonderful Andrea!

Last but not least, my very good friend Mary, who lives in the bush area in NSW, Australia, sent me three siggies that she made. She is not a member of the International Siggy Group, but she was nice enough to make me three siggies to include in my quilt. Her Christmas gift was in the package too. She got me a lovely geisha applique pattern that is huge, as you can see. I will be buying Asian fabrics and applique the geisha. It will fit perfectly on our bedroom door, once I put the borders on it, as it is as long as our door, but more narrow than a quilt. I should have fun with that one.
It snowed a bit here in Dunfanaghy this morning, and needless to say it is still very cold. We put on our boots, and we were able to take our walk, as the snow was not slippy like the icy sidewalks have been. Well, I don't know if this is all due to global cooling, but this winter is really hitting alot of places hard all over the world.

Crochet Block #1 and Some Answers About Paper Piecing

I decided to finish Block #1 today for my crocheted throw. I love the redcurrant color and the Debbie Bliss yarn is just luscious to work with.Block #2 should be arriving in a day or two, so I can't wait to see it. I learned from my mom how to crochet, and I just fell in love with it. As I am dyslexic, knitting is much harder for me for that reason.

Now to paper piecing....Some people have written me and said that they would love to learn paper piecing. My best suggestion to you is to learn from Carol Doak and to get the Starter Kit from her that contains everything that you need to paper piece, including the

dvd called Carol Doak Teaches You to Paper Piece , and it is on sale now. She teaches you from her lovely home, and you feel as if you are a guest in her house. I learned from her years ago, and I have most of her books. Then I moved up to patterns by Deb Karasik and you can see

The Quilt Mavens site here....much more complicated patterns.

This is a quilt that I made from a pattern by Deb Karasik. I have posted it before. You get a feeling of depth and movement with Deb's patterns.
Don't be scared to try it...Once you get it, you will never want to stop, just like potato chips.

As to the weather, it is quite cold. Joe and I tried to take our long walk through the hills this morning, but we only made it up to our sidewalk near our cottage.There was literally a sheet of ice on the sidewalks and streets...No way were we going to attempt that hike. We will wait till the sun melts it a bit, and take our walk in the afternoon. God knows we didn't want to slip. We have been experiencing minus ten degrees in the overnight hours...Gee, maybe that is why we have ice.LOL

Have a nice day and keep warm, and to my Aussie friends and to anyone who has warm weather, enjoy the barefoot walks on the beach and the swims you will be having...lucky!!!!

A Beautiful Crocheted Throw

I have joined a crochet club. Each week, for 4.99 euro, you get a booklet of patterns, yarn, and in the booklet is each part of the crocheted throw,plus other wonderful patterns. The first packet was only 99 pence and that came incredibly with the pattern booklet, dvd, yarn and a crochet needle. I am working on block one which is a redcurrant colored block that you can see in the bottom right of the pic. I will post it when I finish it. Here is a link to the club. My packets are arriving at our local supermarket, so that is so convenient. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Extra Fine Merino yarn, and it is truly lovely. I have crocheted since I was a kid, so I was thrilled to do this one. I have to admit that I love to crochet more than I do knitting.

I will be ordering a bit next week to start a New Year's project. I plan on making some paper pieced miniatures. I love to paper piece and have always wanted to do miniatures. I just bought Carol Doak's Easy Paper Pieced Miniatures book.I am also ordering two more books dealing with miniatures from Stonehouse Publications .

One is called A Few of My Favorite Miniature Quilts and the other one is Paper Pieced Mini Quilts. Thought you might want to see the site, if you ever consider making miniatures.

Hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday season. We are still in a cold spell here in Ireland and for the last several nights, we have gone down to minus 10, which is unheard of here. Needless to say, I am happy to stay cozy in our cottage.