Washington D.C. Breast Cancer Walk

A very dear childhood friend is doing a 39-mile 2-day walk to raise money for breast cancer research.

This is a disease that has struck members of both of our families. For Stacey, it was her aunt and her grandmother. For me, it was my mother and my nana.

Breast cancer has touched many lives through friends, family, co-workers and more.

If you can spare anything at all (even just a few dollars), please donate to Stacey's walk by clicking on her name. Her personal goal is to raise $1,800 - I'm sure with ALL of us, we can help her out.

Remember folks, breast cancer also attacks men!

Activate Upstate/Greenville

I just joined Activate Upstate/Greenville.

Activate Greenville is a FREE year-round healthy living awareness program that targets youth and adult obesity and related diseases.

It has a great online calendar to track & chart your daily exercise and fruit/vegetable intake. I'm not sure I'll join any groups yet but just having a place to document my daily status and see results is motivation for now.

Wish me luck! If you're local in Greenville area, maybe I'll catch you out and about walking, running, playing ball, who knows....

Spread the Word & Join the Army of Women

I joined the Army of Women and you should too.

The Love/Avon Army of Women is a revolutionary initiative that will change the face of breast cancer research.

The Army of Women is dedicated to representing all women in research so that the research results will apply to all women. This means we need you to help us recruit women of all ages, ethnicities, sizes, and shapes. We need women who have had breast cancer and women who have not. We need African American women, Asian women, Caucasian women, and Latinas of every age and lifestyle to be involved.

You can do your part to help us spread the word about the Army of Women and reach our goal of one million women.

Their goal of recruiting one million women starts with one — You.
Volunteers in the Army as of 02/23/09 are 269,390.

So go join now and spread the word to your mother, sister, friend, cousin, co-worker, everyone in your e-mail list.

My Artfire Feature

I had a very pleasant surprise today. My Bistro coasters were a one hour feature on Artfire's homepage today.

They didn't sell but I did get some more exposure so it's all good.

Family Visit

We had a short notice family visit from the in-laws and sister-in-law this past weekend. It was a nice visit, however, our oldest has the flu and was not able to visit much at all or even get up for any photo ops.

We've not seen any of them for atleast 3 years so it was a nice surprise. MIL made tamales for us that are super yummy. I've got to finish make some but we ran out of cheese...bummer.

My fil told our oldest to make sure he's feeling better on their next visit so they can go outside and shoot some hoops in their new basketball hoop.

Here's a couple of pics minus one child. We'll make up for it on the next visit.

Organizing Sewing Room

I needed some no-brain work this evening and decided to refold a huge box of my personal stash fabric using a great method. You use your ruler to fold the fabric so it's all the same width despite the size of your piece of fabric. There is a great video online showing an example but I can't find it at the moment.

I am so excited about this! It is saving so much space AND I can see exactly what I have on hand without digging through boxes.

I've got a a few photos here. I can't wait to get the rest of the room refolded and stacked!

Hubby's Sock Update

Well, it appears the socks are too big around for dh's feet so far. Not expecting perfection on my first pair but still bummed.

If we stretch them down his foot they seem to fit better so I may just end up starting the heel a little sooner so there is some good stretch for a snugger fit.

With that being said, looks like another inch and I get to start the heels....yahoooo!!!!!

Calling All Knitters & Crocheters

I have an idea for a project bag to carry all of our yarns, needles, etc. that would incorporate my quilting skills as well.

I would love some input from other "yarners" to see what you like to have handy on a project tote. For examples, pockets for circulars, straight or hooks, one large center pocket for yarns or divided sections for each skein, inside AND outside pockets, etc.

Do you have a preference in the size of the tote you like to carry?

Or do you use different sizes, depending on the project?

Would you like your bags monogrammed or personalized?

Do you like to have a removable pouch for your accessories?

I personally use different sizes, sure don't need a large tote to carry a sock project around.

The fun part about my bag is you would be able to select your own fabrics/prints and not just have to settle for those mass-produced commercial bags.

Ok, I can't wait to see your comments!

Found Dog Update in Easley

Yay, we found the lost dog's home. His name is Jake and was VERY happy to go home this morning.

Many thanks to Paw Prints Animal Hospital in Easley for giving us his owner's information.

The boys are a little disappointed, he is a wonderful dog and likes to play ball. LOL

They will have to work on our pups and teach them to play too.

Black Lab Found in Easley - Odom Road Area

Not sure if this will be seen by anyone but we found a black lab this evening in the Quail Haven subdivision, Odom Road area.

Very sweet & well behaved, someone is missing this lovable dog for sure!

We will call vet on Saturday to try and track owner through rabies tag.

Sure hope we can find his home, he is missing someone too!

Sock Update

I finally reached my end of increase rows to continue the foot part.

I’ve done about 3.5” so far; I figure another 5” before starting the heel. Hubby’s foot is about 10” long.

I wish I had more time to work on these and get them done faster. These are most likely the biggest I'll make though so others should go much quicker. (I hope).

My First Bonanza Sale

I am having my first Bonanza on Bonanzle today.

Sale runs from 11:00 to 2:00 - appears to be Pacific time.

Save 25% off original price with free U.S. shipping on most items.

Stuff for mom, baby, and more.

If you miss this sale, no worries, I'll be having more soon!

My Sock Toes

Ok, I finally have enough done on my first pair of knit socks to share a few pics. These are just the toes. I need to add a few more rows then work on the foot part. They are for my hubby and he has a pretty wide foot. They are working up much faster than I had thought socks would and the fact that I am making both socks at once.....well, I just couldn't be happier! LOL

On my next pair I may cut the yarn so it's at a similar starting point. As you can see below, each sock has a different colored toe but it's ok, they are my "crazy" socks.

Sock 1


Sock 2


My pile of yarn

Short Row Heel Demo - Lifestyle Toe Up Socks, No wraps!

I am starting my first pair of knitted socks and finally found an excellent and easy way to turn the heel, thanks to Charisa Martin Cairn!

Her tutorial video is a must see - Short Row Heel Demo - Lifestyle Toe Up Socks, No wraps!

She has a great sock pattern also using this same method of heel turning. The sock is pictured here.

I am still working on increasing to the foot part but will post a pic soon.

Underground Railroad featured in Greer Heritage Museum Quilt Show

Greenvilleonline.com has an article on the upcoming Greer Heritage Museum Quilt Show.

If you can't reach it through the link above - I have copied it below. Yet another history lesson on quilts.

The 12 squares on a vibrant sampler quilt that will be on display at the Greer Heritage Museum are more than decorative: The patterns are codes that were once used as roadmaps to help slaves escape and travel north along the Underground Railroad to Canada and freedom.

The quilt, created by Bobbye Mobley's beginner quilting class at Senior Action's Sears Shelter in Greenville, will be displayed with 11 others from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Greer Heritage Museum's second annual quilt show in observance of Black History Month.

Margaret Hill, a member of the museum's board of directors, said quilts have always played an integral part in black history.

Mobley, who has taught quilting at the Sears Shelter for seven years, said the Underground Railroad quilt code has long fascinated her.

Quilts displaying the codes often were made by white abolitionists, who hung them on a line or fence to be aired out in the spring and summer months, she said. But hidden in plain view were certain patterns and symbols that displayed messages to fugitive slaves.

For instance, Mobley said, when slaves saw a quilt with the Drunkard's Path pattern, they would know to create a zig-zag trail, to avoid pursuers in the area.

"This is a story where white abolitionists helped black slaves to freedom. So that lets me know blacks and whites have worked together for many, many years, even though we had segregation after that," Mobley said.

Other quilts to be featured at the Greer museum show will include log cabin, Grandma's fan and Drunkard's Path designs. The quilts were made by the St. Matthew United Methodist Church arts and crafts group as well by local individuals.

Who: Greer Heritage Museum

What: quilt display

When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 7

Where: 215 Trade St., Greer

Admission: free

Contact: Call 877-3377.

Weekend Crafting Update

I had a 2 socks at once, toe up knitting class all day Saturday. It was lots of fun and I met some really nice ladies. It was nice to hang out with girls all day for a change and not come home smelling like fish and/or bait. LOL

I didn't get any sewing done, shame on me. I have 3 quilts that need to be finished and picked up 2 possible custom orders from Craigslist on Saturday night. YAY for that but when will I get it all done while I make my hubby his socks?! Humpf. Looks like he will be pushed to the back burner yet again. One of the quilts is for him too. Poor fella has been waiting for 15 years - he deserves one!

We had a great day at home yesterday with the boys and the pups. We all hung outside in the back yard soaking up what warm sunshine we could get.

Hopefully tonight will be a more productive night in the crafting department. :-)