Tuesday 9 February 2010

Busy little bee I have been

  Gotta a lot of ground to cover today.
First off, here are my beautiful new kitchen cupboards. I love all the white and the brushed nickel handles. I painted the kitchen walls and the counter tops a couple of years ago. The cupboards were covered with a thin veneer that looked like wood and over the years they had started to show their age. 4 coats of paint and several days later and I love them! Reminds me of a French country kitchen. Leo and I painted together - he did all the doors. We painted the bathroom cupboards the same white. It looks great too.
Please excuse the messy kitchen. I should have made sure everything was back in it's place before I shared this photo.

I have been very fortunate lately and some lovely gifts have made their way to my mailbox.
I won a blogaversary prize from Anne S. back in November. She sent me this beautiful black, white and pink scissor fob. The black center bead has a tiny pink rose inside it.


As I was browsing blogs one evening, I saw these beautiful hand made project bags. Lo and behold, sweet Myra sent me one of my own. She obviously read my blog first because she included some cute buttons that say "I love quilting". Very appropriate. This is the first time I had met Myra and I think I have a new stitchy, blogging friend. Stop by and say hi when you can. She is having a giveaway for one of her lovely bags!!!


Gaby and I worked out a trade. She sent me some lovely old Antique Sampler magazines and I added to her supply of DMC threads.


 I have worked my 4 day rotation and I'm still sticking with it. I have made some wonderful progress on Royal Holiday. I have been working on the bottom of her dress.


I finished up the handwork part of my first exchange - sorry no photos.

I worked my rotation days on Desert Mandala and really enjoyed how it's working up. The silk threads were a joy to work with - the black Marlitt was not!!


All of the blocks are finished for my Mystery Quilt. Tomorrow I get the last set of directions to start putting it together. This has been quite the challenge. My quilting skills are still just above beginner and this quilt has been difficult and frustrating at times. I hope that it will all be worthwhile once it is together.


As a side note, my friend Ann from Knowledge and Needles has a request for threads and needles for a lovely teacher who is teaching cross stitching. You will find the full story on Ann's blog.  I filled a padded envelope with some that I had and it is going in the mail tomorrow. If anyone is interested in helping out - please email me at drewsgrands@hotmail.com and I will give you the address to send off any donated threads or needles. Hey, we need future cross stitchers and what a great way to help them get started.

Leo and I are very excited. Our youngest son, his wife and our two grandsons are arriving on Wednesday. We will be going to Los Angeles - Disneyland, Legoland and Universal Studios. We are looking forward to seeing them and spending some quality time together. Will post some pictures when I can.

Thank you all for being patient and popping by my blog to see if I had posted lately. The cupboards caused an unplanned delay in posting. At the end of each day, vegging on the couch was all I was capable off - and a few stitches.

My google reader says 345 posts. I will do my best to catch up on all your wonderful stitching and comment where I can.

Until next time, take care everyone!

24 comments:

Carolien said...

Hello Kathy,

Your kitchen looks great and very cosy, well done!
I wish you a very good time at Disneyland etc., how nice to be together like this!
You make me very curious ... how will that quilt look like???
Your mandala has beautiful colours (curious again ;)

Have a good time & hugs, Carolien

Annemarie said...

Kathy, I just LOVE your kitchen! Wowie. S for the mess... Hmm, just consider that I haven't done the dishes in three or four days and have exactly two plates to eat from tonight. That's all I need :o)

I hope you have a great time in LA with the family. What a treat that they're coming over. The boys will be so excited to visit all these great places!~

Good luck with that mystery quilt. I'm sure you'll do fine!

Carol said...

Love your kitchen cabinets, Kathy! I have white with nickle knobs, too and they always look so fresh and bright. Have a great time in LA!

AnnMcD said...

Kathy,

Thanks so much for the plug for Kerri and her students on your blog. They will be thrilled to get your package in the mail. The last time I saw her she said that a couple of the boys had already finished their blocks for the quilt and were looking for more projects. I dropped a bag of charts off at the school just before we left for Florida.

You cupboards, quilt blocks, and stitching projects are all looking fabulous.
I started two new projects since coming to Florida...Siam Fusion and my blue Toile pillow.

Thanks again for the thread for Kerri

Ann

Maureen said...

Liking the new look kitchen - it's amazing how much a change of colour can bring new life to something.

Hope you enjoy your holiday with your family next week, sounds like it will be fun. Me and mine are headed to Disneyland Paris in March and i can't wait!

Maxine said...

Your kitchen looks fabulous Kathy. The scissor fob and the bag are beautiful gifts too. You are making real progress on Royal Holiday as well as all your other wip's. I hope you and your family ahve a great trip and really enjoy yourselves (((hugs)))

Berit said...

Kathy, I love your "new" cabinets. We rent and ours are a dreadful dingy brown--have been turning over the idea of doing something similar here for a while now, actually! Did you have to sand or prime them in any way first?

I also love the way your mystery quilt is looking; what prettiness!

I had to Lol @ Annemarie's comment as that's us many nights, although it's more likely to happen with the drinking glasses!!

PS. I keep seeing those silvery kelmscotts--definitely I hear them calling my name. I was recently blessed with a gift certificate and I'm pretty sure that's where it's going! ;D

sandra said...

Love the cupboards!
Can't wait to see your cross stitching and quilting projects finished!
Have fun!

Myra said...

Your cabinets look great! Lots of work but well worth it in the end. Thanks for your sweet comments about your bag - I love the fob your received. Have fun with the family. :o)

Blu said...

Your kitchen looks great!
Both Royal Holiday and Desert Mandala look awesome!

mainely stitching said...

I love your kitchen!!!!!!

Bonnie Brown said...

Hey Kathy
Kitchen looks really good!
Your WIP's are coming along really great!

Daffycat said...

Wow, your white cupboards look fantastic! I like the lived-in look so no worries over the dishes in the sink!

Carolyn NC said...

Kitchen looks wonderful! Stitching is always a joy to see and enjoy your time with your family!

Hazel said...

Your kitchen looks fab! As do all your other goodies. I love that fabric quilted bag thingy. Great progress on your wips too. Lovely fob. Oooh so much!! x

Michelle said...

Great job on your kitchen! And what lovely things you've received. Great progress on Desert Mandala - I've heard that black marlitt is a bear to work with!

Missy Ann said...

Great job on the kitchen. Can't wait to see how those blocks come together. You did so much piecing one them!

Kim B said...

Wow Kathy! Your kitchen looks fantastic! And what lovely things to find in your mailbox.

Brigitte said...

The kitchen looks very nice. The white of the cupboards goes very well together with the background colour. Nice match.
Your rotation seems to work well, nice progress on your WIPs.

Michele B. said...

You certainly earned your vegging time on the couch - the cabinets look beautiful. It must feel so good to be in your kitchen. That's a lot of cutting you did for your quilt - I'll bet it will turn out nicely. Enjoy your trip - my son would envy the visit to Legoland especially.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Ahhh so that's what you've been up to! I was wondering why I wasn't seeing you online very much. You always keep yourself so busy! I hope you have a great time with your kids and grandkids I know they mean the world to you!

The kitchen looks great... hopefully I'll see it in person? Remember shotgun on March Break 2011!

I can't wait to see what your mystery quilt turns out to be!

Wanda said...

Your kitchen looks great! And I like to see the "real" thing, not some "magazine-perfect" kitchen where you just KNOW that no one would ever do anything in! Yours looks like a real home! Thanks for sharing it. Royal Holiday looks so pretty..so many different reds. I do think the quilt will be totally worth it once it's done! Your quality time with your family sounds absolutely wonderful! Looking forward to the pictures!

Crazee4books said...

Hi Kathy,

Your kitchen cabinets look great
with their fresh new coat of paint.
You are so right that the white
cupboards look very french country.
Bet the room is much brighter now
too.

Wow!! The project bag that Myra
sent you is beautiful!! The
fabric is perfect for a quilter
such as yourself, and has embroidery stitches as well
which gives this project a great
"old fashioned" feeling. Better
keep an eye on this one because
when other stitchers see it
they're going to be wanting one
too.

Those old Antique Sampler
magazines look interesting. I
don't think that I've ever seen
that publication up here. Bet
you had fun going through them.

Royal Holiday looks amazing!!
Love your progress on Desert
Mandala too.

I wonder what your mystery
quilt is going to look like
when you're done with it???
I love the color scheme and
the fabrics are gorgeous.

Hope you and Leo have fun
with the grandkids, and your
son and DIL. Sounds like
you're going to be quite
busy for awhile. Say hi to
Mickey for me at Disneyland!!

Cheers!

Terri said...

Your stitching is wonderful. Great cupboards. And your quilt will look fantastic ;)