Finish, my boy is home, and my sweet girl child

This will be a long post.  I will do a late TUSAL sometime later.  First off, Rachel Howells is finished!!

Rachel Howells by the Scarlett House

40ct PTP Legacy linen

NPI fibers called for

Isn't she gorgeous?  I rushed to finish her cause I felt superstitious.  Had to finish her before going off for the weekend.

The father type and I drove up to Boston this weekend -- to pick up the boy child for the summer!!  Yay!  But first, we had to help him pack up his apartment.  Why?  Because they are doing renovations in his apartment building.  So the landlord moved him to a newly renovated apartment on Saturday.  And we had to help the boy child with the move.  

It's a nice apartment.  The exact same as the old apartment, but they made it into two rooms (one a bedroom).  And a nice new kitchen and bathroom.

Wow!

This is the living room.  

We also enjoyed a bit of Boston.

The WWII memorial in the Fens.

One of the Victory Gardens in the Fens.  The gardens were amazing!  The plots are given out to Bostonians to plant and tend.  I don't know all the details -- the boy child told us about them.

The boy child outside the Museum of Fine Arts.

We also spent a bit of time visiting with my sister and BIL and kids.  We took my sister and BIL out for Indian food to thank them for all their help through the past year with the boy child and his first year of college.

We drove home Sunday and got home by evening.  Later that evening, the door bell rang.  And a surprise walked through the door.

My lovely girl child!!!  I had no clue she would be here!  It was the best Mother's Day surprise.  We got to visit for a few hours, but then my sweet girl had to leave.  She had work in the morning so off she went.

Mia was overwhelmed -- happy that we were home, happy to see the boy child, surprised by the girl child.  lol!  But at least she found a quilt to cuddle up in.

It was a Mother's Day present -- a quilt made by Lori of Humble Quilts.  Beautiful!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Rachel and crafts

I can't wait for Rachel to be done.  Not yet though.

At least the border is done.  And the cute couple.

This past weekend, we went to our favorite craft fair.  It's held twice a year, in spring and fall.  Besides crafts, there were lots of yummy food booths.  We always get kettle corn.  And this year, we also tried this.

A peach-raspberry tart from Dutch Desserts, Inc.   So yummy!!  I did bring home a couple of things as well.

You might remember the larger, greenish pear from last year's craft fair.  Had to get another this year.  They are brass, quite heavy and wonderful to hold in the hand.  They are made by Laura Baring-Gould. 

I also came home with this.

I've been wanting a pretty switch plate for my sewing room.  Found this one and fell in love.  It's by Dwo Wen Chen.   His booth was full of bright, whimsical, colorful ceramics.  Just lovely!

We also brought home a welcome home present for the boy child, but it's a surprise for him.  :D  He will be home soon!  He has final projects and final exams to deal with first though.

Mia was once again displaced from "her" chair, so resorted to her usual tactic.

Nesting on the father type's clean clothes.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Multi-tasking

I seemed to be multi-tasking this week.  I got the other big bird filled in on Rachel, and worked on the bottom border as well.

And I discovered that my magnifiers match the red in Rachel.

I finished the clouds and sun on Manifesto.

And I got that 4th row of hexies sewn onto the Hex on the Beach quilt.

I love seeing the beginnings of the pattern coming out!

An anonymous commenter asked about where I got my Hex on the Beach quilt kit.  I'm sorry to say I think it's sold out everywhere.  I looked where I bought mine and I don't see it anymore.

Mia has been a bit topsy turvy this week.  I have a feeling having us gone for 4 days really threw her off schedule.  But she's getting back to normal.  And she's enjoying the spring days too.

The open windows, and the sunshine.

And also a lap when the father type is sitting in her chair.  (Yes, it's her chair, not the father type's.)

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Distractions

Thanks to all those who have contacted me to ask about the boy child and whether he and my sister's family were safe from the Boston Marathon bombings.  Actually, we were all up at my sister's place for that weekend and the day of the bombings.  My father and stepmother were visiting and the boy child had Monday off for Patriot's Day.  We took the boy child back to college Tuesday, but his classes ended up being cancelled the whole week, day by day.  My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the bombings.  We are starting the new normal now, and will always have to be vigilant.

I didn't want to take Rachel to my sister's with me, so I worked on these instead.

Basting hexies, enjoying the colors.  Love the colors!  These are for the Hex on the Beach quilt by Tula Pink using her kit of Saltwater fabrics.

This weekend, I happily started working on Manifesto again.  My Aristo Lap Stand for my Millenium Frame arrived from Needle Needs!  Hooray!

The lap stand works great!  It helps with the stitching so much and sits on my lap with no problems.  Here is a close up of Manifesto so far.

I've had to teach myself how to pass the needle from hand to hand with the frame, but I'm catching on.  I'm using AVAS silks on 40ct silk gauze over one (tent and basketweave stitch).

Poor Rachel has been neglected.  I'm sure I will pick her up again soon.

It was nice to see my father and stepmother again, and to visit with my sister and her family and to see the boy child.  The week has been stressful with worry about the boy child being so close to the scene of the bombing, but all is well.

We were shopping the day of the bombing and heard the news from the girl child, who was worried about her brother.

Mia stayed at home, which is a good thing.  I don't think she would have taken to her cousins.

Olivia slept with me every night.

Lily was more distant this time around.

Emily is a sweetheart.

At home, Mia and the father type have a constant battle for the father type's chair.  Mia thinks of it as her chair.  She decided one day that since the father type was in the chair, she would sleep on the father type's freshly washed shirt.

Silly Mia.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  Last week was a hard week too full of scary and sad events.  I hope this week is a good one for all.

Rachel, TUSAL, gift

Here is my Rachel.  I seem to have another naked bird.

Not sure why it looks so crooked on the bottom.  But I finished the right border, and that line on the bottom is the beginnings of grass.  Looks like everything should meet up border-wise.  Yay!  Not as much done as I'd like, but these things happen.

This next picture has my TUSAL orts in it.   It also has a lovely gift I received from Melinda at Merry Wind Farm.   Melinda saw my post with the skeleton keys I bought from the antique store.  She sent me a key from her grandfather's collection.

I love the key -- a very substantial one! -- and the card she sent too.  Thanks so much, Melinda!

And there are my orts for the month.  Lots of red from the flowers in Rachel's border.

The other day I went to a local quilt store just for fun.  It's a small one, but it carries things like Oakshott fabric and Daiwabo.  I came home with a few fat quarters of various sorts, laid my bag on the bed, turned my back for a minute, and this is what I saw when I came back.

It's hard to tell from the pic, but that's my Oakshott fabric to her right and underneath her.  lol!  The rest is in the bag.  I guess Mia loves fabric too.  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

ETA:  Just wanted to add this in.  The boy child is fine.  He is at my sister's house for the 3 day weekend.  He will be riding in to Boston tomorrow assuming classes are on.  There were no classes today, so he was not in Boston and wasn't close to the bombings, thank God.  My heart is heavy.  I am saying prayers for those affected by this tragedy.

Beautiful Rachel

Here's Rachel.

As you can see, the bird is feeling much better now.  And Adam and Eve have made their presence known as well.

Sorry about the lighting.  Now why is it that some A&E's have different color faces from their bodies?  I thought Adam and Eve didn't wear clothing, so it can't be suntan lines.  :D

I've neglected to say that Rachel is being stitched on the called for linen (40ct PTP Legacy) using the called for NPI threads.

The boy child has been accepted into the major he wanted at his college, a competitive major that one has to apply for.  He is planning a double major and is so excited to be at the stage where he can start concentrating on his interests.  The girl child has been working on a contract basis up to this point at her job, but has now accepted a full time position at the company -- which means benefits, and her company paying for her grad school education.  Both kids interviewed the same week and found out they'd been successful the same week. Their parents are pleased.  :D

Mia has been spending lots of time by the window, soaking up the sun and watching birds.

She has noticed the difference with that tree we had to cut down.  I'm hoping the sun won't be overwhelming without its shade this summer.

Short post this time around.  Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.

More empty nesting

Got a bit more done on Rachel.  The top and left borders are done.  And the poor bird on the left just looks plain naked right now.

More on those keys in a bit.  See the poor bird?

Ah well.  Hopefully he'll have more plumage soon.

The father type and I did some more empty nesting this week.  We did a bit of antiquing.  Nothing much picked up except for these.

Found some old (or new) cigar boxes and some old skeleton keys and couldn't resist.  After seeing Mary's blog with her cigar boxes and finishing, I went for it.  And I've been longing for some cool old keys for a while.  Don't ask me why.

Sunday, the father type and I had Easter alone with no kids.  The boy child is at college, of course, and the girl child was spending time with friends.  The father type did make a nice small Easter dinner for us though.

There was pie as well, which is not good for my waistline.  lol!

Here is a pic of Mia being excited about bird watching.

And here is a pic of Mia being nonchalant about bird watching.

Silly cat.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.