my etsy shoppe is finally up!

may 26, 2012
i think someone has been reading my blog! i don't know for sure because everytime i go to it to check it counts as someone looking at it:^) i think i'll believe someone is reading this! i finally got going on my etsy shoppe. i only have a few things up on it and have many more to put in there. i'm working on it daily. it is getting easier. this week i made the cutest little kids placemats. one is an I Spy mat. little ones can take it with them when they go out to eat and play i spy while they're waiting for their food. i'm selling that for quite a bit more than the others because there are 50 little fussy cut tumbler blocks sewn together. i've sandwiched them all and quilted them. they look really good! i have a few more ideas for the shoppe but i also have quilts that i want to put in there that are all made. i'll post some pictures but if you want to check out etsy i'm sewing on the swift or nancyb.

how is everyone? the weather here is fabulous. we have been watching the beautiful birds that are all over our back yard. our baby phoebes are already busting out of their nest. there are five of them and are so crowded in the nest that we're waiting for one to tumble out. its cute tho, everytime we go out to check on them mom or dad start chipping away and the babies get very still and don't make a sound. good children! tomorrow we're going to our granddaughters lacrosse game. they are currently in first place and its fun to watch them. they have some really good players on the team. this is the u13 age group.

tonight we're going to the barnstormers theatre in tamworth nh to see the "frost heaves". its a comedy and they've won awards for the show. i'll tell you how it was! well, i've got to go and get cleaned up. we put in our garden today i.e. chip did most of it and wanted to. he's pretty excited about it. he has the green thumb in the family.....i definiteyly do not!!!!  i'm hoping to get some good veggies to can this summer. now that i'm good at!  i'll keep you posted. have a great day and i will too.

Common Threads Quilt Show

May 9, 2012

hi everyone!my husband was finally able to find work up here and started this week so we have been busy with that transition. i've been spending 4 days a week by myself up here while he worked on the seacoast. that was a very different thing for both of us. we have been married 42 years and have never spent much time apart. i also don't know a soul up here so it was very quiet! i didn't mind it though. i like the silence and it certainly is beautiful up here. it also gave me a chance to get used to our new house. the weather is rainy today but not too cold (60's).we have had a wonderful array of birds at our suet and bird feeder. we have the feeders on the upper part of our house so that the squirrels, chipmunks and bears can't get to them. we have 4 types of woodpeckers at the suet.they are beautiful! we also have a phoebe that has laid 5 eggs in a nest on the rafters. we can see the nest thru the cracks of the back porch. chip made a station for nora jean (our coon cat) to sit on so that she can watch the phoebe. she likes to sit behind my sewing machine and watch the red squirrels, chipmunks and doves that spend a lot of time on the ground right outside the window.often the red squirrel will stop and stare at her and she flicks her tail indignantly when big red does that. its funny and keeps her busy.

i've been working on several projects this week. one that i'm almost finished with is an I Spy placemat for toddlers. i'll post a picture when its done. i'm going to sell it in my etsy shoppe whenever i get that up and running. the other project that i completed was a wall clock. i belong to my sister's prairie quilt guild in wichita ks. they are having their quilt show the last week of june and neither my sister nor i will make it. we each made a wall clock for them to sell in their auction. hers is paper pieced and mine is the dresden plate design. they both came out pretty good. i'm curious to see what they end up selling for. their show is absolutely WONDERFUL if you can make it there. it is huge with lots of interesting vendors, great food, a fun auction with a professional auctioneer and last time (its held every 2 years) there were almost 1,000 quilts. i had my miniature I Spy quilt judged  and came in 3rd in the miniature division. i was pretty proud of that.I Spy quilts are my favorite to make and i've made tons of them. they take more time but i find fussy cutting the squares and sewing them together very peaceful and calming. they had a famous quilter do the judging but i can't remember her name! it was Hari or Harriet something. (it wasn't harriet hargraves altho i've taken one of the best classes ever from her). you can google Common Threads Quilt show and get information about it.

i hope everyone has a great day. i plan on it! nancy

aprons!

i've been working on some aprons as gifts for friends. the bottom one is for my son andrew who sky dives. he asked me to make him one so he could use it to barbeque down at the jump site in style! i think it came out pretty good. the pink one is for my girlfriend who does yoga. altho it's not a fancy apron, i made one for myself and its so comfortable and covers your clothes. the straps don't bother your neck.  the top apron is for a bridal shower gift. i'm making pot holders and i've made a matching apron for the groom. i'll post it some time. how has everyone been? i'm slowly figuring out how to work this blog and its getting easier. i'd love to hear from someone if you're reading my blog. have a great day......i'm going to! nancyb

oh my goodness i did it!!!!!

april 17th. tax day
i CANNOT believe that i finally figured out how to add photos. yeah! this is me holding my brother's quilt. the second picture is the quilting i did on it. i have an HQ16 and i love it. i had wanted to make my brother a little more complicated quilt but i bought the material before i picked out the pattern (something i'm always doing) and try as i might i couldn't seem to find a pattern to fit the material (if you know what i mean). so instead i made this simple quilt which is one of my standby patterns and quilted the heck out of it. he loves it. he caught his dog harley trying to take it outside to lay on it so he's put it in his motorhome. a place where his animals are not allowed. he lives in sunny california but the nights get cool and he's using it regularly. well the weather up here is absolutely wonderful today. i have all of the windows open and there's a soft sweet breeze flowing in the windows. i am waiting for my sister to skype me and after we have our daily chat i'll be working on trying to put pictures in my etsy shop. i just finished the cutest apron. it is a 1940s print and honestly it looks wonderful. i made my own binding and it has sort of a scalloped hem to it so it looks very professional and neat. it was fun to do to boot! this is going to a friends son and bride to be for their bridal shower gift. i'm making liam a barbeque apron to match and then potholders. then i'm making the most darling pillowcases out of cream colored kona cotton with a little old fashioned lace and ribbon on the trim. they look really elegant and the nicest thing is that people always rave to me how nicely they hold up after years of use. when i make them i'll post the pictures so that you can see them. well, my sister's calling. have a great day......i'm going to. nancyb

i've been having a tough time getting my blog site!

i hope everyone had a great easter. we did.i've had a tough time finding my "post" so that i can write to you! man..........it's frustrating! i will succeed tho. the thing is i'm not completely computer illiterate but i think since i retired 3 years ago that i've let the computer world get ahead of me. anyway, that's what i'm going to blame it on for now! i've been busy in my very unfinished studio. i've made some aprons and pillowcases for my etsy shop. (i've signed up for it but still haven't put anything in it yet! one thing at a time!)  i've set up my studio don't have my shelves up so everything is against the walls in buckets. if i haven't explained this before, my husband and i sold our home and moved in with his mother 6 years ago so that we could build this little house on the swift river. we bought 50 acres in 1995 and spent many happy years camping on it. its a great site and although we're up in the mountains we are only 10 minutes from the stores! its the best of both worlds. we are only about 3/4 finished with the house. still so much to do but i try to spend part of my day EVERY DAY sewing or quilting. i don't know if anyone has read my blogs yet but i suppose eventually someone will come across them! i still haven't figured out putting my pictures on the site but i won't give up, i promise! i'll write again in a few days. hope everyone is having a great day. i am.  nancyb

i've been busy and still no pictues!

march 31, 2012
although i'm retired, i seem to be as busy as when my 3 sons were growing up! life is so interesting! this week i've made 3 dolly quilts. they are cute and fun to make. i promise i will get my act together and post pictures of everything i've been talking about. my brother received his quilt and was quite surprised and happy. my sister and brother and i have always been close. growing up, they were my king and queen and i was their little princess. things weren't always rosy at our house but we always stuck togethr and had each other. i think that's why we have many good childhood memories! in my family, one thing EVERY woman did was some kind of craft. i loved going to my grandmother's house. she was a widow who had this small house that was really one huge craft house. she braided rugs, sewed quilts and clothes, knitted and crochet. she was a first grade teacher and also volunteered for many things. she was one of the original founders of camp waban which is a camp for the disabled. i can remember her stopping by my house and picking me up and taking me there to work with her for a few days at a time. i was never asked if i wanted to go, nor told that i was going ahead of time, but i don't remember ever minding. i had fun there and it made me appreciate how lucky i was to be healthy mentally and physically. chip and i had our sons volunteer for things (we let them choose what!) and they always seemed to get more out of it than the person or people they were helping. it is a good way to raise your children. well, off my soapbox! i am making a nice loaf of bread. i haven't bought bread since my oldest son gave me a bread machine for xmas. i figured out the cost and it is about 70 cents per large loaf. i make the country white most of the time because thats the easiest. we usually don't eat it all so i either make bread pudding with it or throw it out for the birds. i feel i'm still saving money as the good bread in the stores is between $3 and $4.  is anyone interested in the recipe? this week i'm working on organizing my sewing room......this is a new house and is only half finished. i'm also going to be making some more things to put in my etsy shop. (another thing on my to do list is to open up an etsy shop!) i'll talk to you all in a few days. enjoy your lives! nancyb

k's b-day, homemade bread and of course quilts

march 25 2012
hi everyone! i'm just getting ready to go to my granddaughter's b-day party. i've made her my famous "great day granola", a new slouch bag to put her dance shoes in, bought her a chatelaine (scissors holder) since she loves mine so much and we're giving her some money toward the new lacrosse equipment she wants. she's 11 tomorrow. amazing how fast the time goes by. she's a marvelous girl. she's so sweet and thoughtful and utterly caring. we're lucky to have her. yesterday i finished my brother's quilt. i realized a few years ago i'd never made him one! he lives in california so i've always thought it was too hot to bother. well, they do get some cold or rather chilly weather. besides that, i want him to have an heirloom from his baby sister that he can pass down to his children. i'm quite happy with it. tomorrow or the day after i'll take pictures and figure out how to download them and show you them! it is rainy here today with the weather in the low 40s. typical march weather for this area. they are predicting snow showers in my neck of the woods tomorrow. again, typical weather for new hampshire! my bread just beeped and is ready so i'll sign off for now. have a great and interesting day. nancyb