More...more...more!

More North Pole Village. hope you're not tired of seeing these...we have lots more to go.

Today we have Hot Cocoa...who doesn't love a cup of hot cocoa on a cold, snowy day. (well, i don't like it...but most everyone else does. LOL).  I had to 'pretty' that one up some and use a flowery fabric for the cup/house. great idea

Then we have presents. you always need presents at Christmas. but who would have thought of making a house out of presents. not me...that's for sure. in fact, when looking at the picture...at first...i couldn't figure out what it was. it looked like those nutter butter cookies sticking out of the roof. LOL   but after i stitched the first one i saw that it was a bow and my brain figured out the presents. sheesh!  i just thought that bow on the top was a star. hahahahaha  this one is NOT one of my favorites. but, hey, they can't ALL be favorites..now can they. 

Scary .... as i was stitching out the presents i was thinking...i wonder what is coming up next. and then i thought...i know...a christmas tree lot. i'll bet they don't have one of those and i should suggest it for the next set. in fact, i even wrote it on a sticky note so as not to forget it. and then....what comes up as the very next scene to stitch but a christmas tree lot. was that just my brain that 'saw' what was next in the computer. or just a weird twist of fate. who knows.

Here's a not-so-blurry pic...much better.

That pic is a bit blurry...i'll try to get a better pic of it later. for now you get the idea.

OK...back to work. the frame is empty and i think today will be for me. the next customer quilt is the same pattern as the one i just finished and i can't face that right now. so, i will turn on the embroidery machine once again and throw something on the frame and get to work.

See ya later. have fun stitchin and bitchin.  LOL

North Pole Village is growing

Here are more buildings in the 2nd set of the North Pole Village. how can you pick your favorite? they are all so cute.

Here's the post office....gotta have that so Santa can get all those letters from the kiddos. i just had to stitch it in red, white and blue.

And the North Pole has a church also. i don't know what all that stuff on the front door is. i'm thinkin i should have just skipped that...but too late now.

Someone at http://www.designsbyjuju.com/   has quite an active imagination. wonder what is coming up next.

Stay tuned.

North Pole Village II

Yesterday i started the second set of the North Pole Village. this one is just as cute. they already have 2 shops i wouldn't have thought of.

Santa is getting his beard trimmed at the Barber's in anticipation of a busy season. Notice there isn't a doorknob on the door....how funny. these designs are all from http://www.designsbyjuju.com/    i might have to let her know they missed a doorknob. LOL

Then there is the train station. you have to get your supplies somehow to the North Pole.

And i am thinking this must be the mayor's house. it is rather large and all decorated. seems fitting for a mayor.

These are all applique blocks and i think the fun part is picking which fabrics to use. i am striving for colorful but this side of garish. LOL 

I just know some kids are gonna love these North Pole Village quilts when they are finished. there might be 2 or 3 quilts. These are a set of designs that i want to work on every day until they are finished....they are just too fun.

But now i better get back to work.

O'Dark Thirty

This Saturday begins deer hunting season for guns in Missouri. i haven't hunted in about 3 years but decided to get in the fray this year. why you ask?... because my husband put a camera up in our woods and showed me a big 10 point buck that has been visiting since last year. and since that mount would be larger than HIS mount....i want to try and get him. oh, and also because we love deer meat in chili, stew, soup, burgers, etc. LOL

Hubby is hunting out in the state woods behind my studio so i get our woods all to myself. and there is state woods behind us, too. we have a couple ponds that the deer come to drink out of, so i figure i have a good a chance as anyone to get him.

Not sure i will be up at O'Dark Thirty as hubby will be. i'm not a fan of stumbling around in the dark. but i will be up there early...before the sun shines bright. here is my stand....about 10 or 12 feet off the ground.

And there is my little seat up there.

Yesterday i decided i probably needed to go check it out and crawl up there. it is always scary the first time i get up there. shoot, it's scary EVERY time i get up there. LOL  i pray a lot up there.

But the scenery is pretty cool. i have pasture and woods all around me. and our big fish pond is in front of me...but too far away to shoot to. here is the woods to the left of my stand.

And here is what i see to the right.

And to the front of me is Jim's sighting in range. the white markers are for 25, 50, 75, and 100 yard ranges to the target. you will notice he has mowed that section but not the pasture. the pasture is grown up about 12 inches. you could lose a small dog in there.

If you go past the markers...through the overgrown pasture...down the hill....you will get to our fish pond. it doesn't really show in a long range picture so i took a close up for you. it looks cool from the tree stand. my luck i will see deer at the pond but they won't come close enough for me to get them. we'll see.

The pond looks close to the road...and it sort of is...but you can't see it from the road...you just see the side of the dam. it looks closer here because i am taking the picture from the tree stand.

I have always gotten a deer (or two) in the years that i hunt so i am hopeful for this year, too. don't know if i will shoot at anything that is not that big buck...guess it depends on if hubby has gotten anything. I am a cautious hunter and only shoot if i know i will get it and i always fell a deer with one shot. i don't want it to run off and be hurt. i don't go for the long shots or shoot when they are traveling. they have to stand still for me and give me a good shot.

A few years ago i remember playing hide and seek with a deer. i was in the woods, on the ground, watching a deer approach. it saw me and traveled from tree to tree....keeping most of its body behind the tree and peeking out at me. after about 30 minutes of this i just gave up and let her go. she was smart and deserved to live.

Let the hunt begin! 

North Pole set 1 finished

I finished the rest of the North Pole Village I set. i was getting a little disapointed when i got another house instead of a shop. but it is this cute A-frame house. i think one of the elves must live there. LOL

But all is not lost. there is the Sleigh Repair shop. of course, you have to have that...after all those stops on rooftops i imagine the sleigh rails get a bit worn. gotta love the little guys wrench...looks almost as big as he is.

And after all that work you need a little treat of Milk and Cookies. wouldn't it be nice if you could just go to town for a treat of milk and cookies and not have to bake the cookies yourself. in person, that giant cookie over the door has chocolate chips in it...but it doesn't show well in the picture.

Or, if milk and cookies didn't do it for you....how about some Ice Cream....yum.

And another favorite of mine (how many 'favorites' can you have?..LOL)...is the Egg Nog Pub.  just adorable. can't you just picture little elves all lined up on the barstools? hahahahahaha

And that ends set 1. i've already finished the first one in set 2 and it is adorable, too.

Which is your favorite? i'm trying to think how to set these in a quilt....i really don't want to do the traditional rows of blocks...i need a village 'scene'.  Any ideas?   Hhhmmmm????

I went to a 2-day stripper party!!

I just got back home from a 2-day stripper party.

No, i didn't learn how to BECOME a stripper...that would be too scary for the world....and would probably throw us off our axis. Nor did i get to watch male strippers for 2 days....darn it. LOL

My sis invited me to a stripper party.....a wallpaper stripping party. just doesn't sound like as much fun....does it?

She got tired of stripping wallpaper alone and said it was much more fun with company. so, armed with sprayer bottles full of water and our scrapers....we tackled a bedroom upstairs. there were 2 layers of wallpaper in some places. and all of it was painted over. kind of makes you want to find the people who did it and hurt them.

I am making progress....bottom finished...starting on the top.

The trick i discovered .... after a frustrating start....is spraying LOTS of water and giving it a minute to soak in. soon after we started i also discovered if i scored the wallpaper with the edge of my scraper and then sprayed more water it seemed to soak in better. i also worked 2 spots at once...scraping one spot and spraying the other. and then working back and forth. once i got my  mojo  going it went pretty quickly and easily. it is just a tedious process.

We left the ceiling for the time being. trying to scrape a ceiling while standing on a ladder is not easy. you are at the wrong angle....and the ladder makes my feet tired. i had to keep reminding myself that i was 4 foot off the floor and not to just back up.

After i finished up in the bedroom i moved to the hallway outside that room. there were also nails to pull out from the paneling that we pulled down last summer. thank goodness for milk crates. LOL

We've been working on this house for over a year and still don't have all the ugly out of it.

We spent the night on Wednesday so we could have even more fun. we don't have water and don't have heat....so it's kind of like camping out. but it was comfortable and not at all a problem. we set up a small heater in a bedroom early in the day and close the doors and by evening it is cozy. we have blow up mattresses to sleep on and electric blankets. what more could you ask for.

And we haul a lot of water so we can flush the toilet. we have a refrigerator to hold water and diet cokes and my sis just added a microwave to our amenities. we are probably up to a 2 star hotel. hahahahahahahaha

The house next door to my sister's house is now for sale. it is a smallish....2 bedroom, 1 bath on a typical city lot. with garage and little back shed, fenced yard and back deck. i am considering looking at that house or other property to buy. if i outlive dh i probably won't stay out in the woods on the farm. so being closer to my sis would be good. all the houses i look at out there are somewhat fixer-uppers. they are still all living in the 60s with the paneling and ugly carpet. LOL   but i might find a deal....who knows. i'm thinkin' on it.

Well, the party's over....back to work in the studio.

North Pole Village continued

I managed to get 2 more blocks embroidered on the North Pole Village. you're gonna like these

Here is the reindeer barn. excuse the fuzzy picture.

And another favorite....the teddy bear factory. love how the fur around the bear is all straggly.

Gonna go play at my sister's for the rest of the week.

But i am taking my piecing machine so i can work on piecing some squares. see you next week.

Remember Christmas will be here soon.