Knock, Knock . . . anyone out there?

When I started my blog in April 2006 ago all I did was quilting. I built my Google Blog reading list around quilting blogs. Now, five years later, I crochet, I embroider, I sew, I have a super fantastic grandson and I haven't made a quilt in a long time. I still read a lot of quilting blogs, but my blog list also includes blogs about homemaking, cooking, knitting (and other yarn arts) and home decorating (especially decorating for children).

I've become more of a lurker and less of a commenter. So, I'm curious, will you still visit here if I don't make quilts? If I talk more about yarn and Mr E and other topics, like food and basement remodels and studio reorganizing?

Hubby and I took our summer vacation from June 30 - July 12. Would you like to see some of what we did?

We flew to another part of the country for vacation.
Here was the view that greeted us from the plane:

The next morning we went sight seeing up close. In case you're wondering, I'm showing off my Sunflower Yarns shawl I brought with me to work on.

About an hour later we had this view of the city from Twin Peaks

We were up early the next morning and saw the fog rolling in across the bay
We rode through the mountains, and found snow!

After a day of doing nothing but relaxing we drove around Lake Tahoe.
Here is the view from Emerald Bay

And the view of the lake from a vista above Incline Village

Cave Rock . . . notice how the road was carved through the rock

We had a wonderful weekend in San Francisco and came home to find a Digimedal in our living room

It was a wonderful vacation. Have you gone on vacation yet this year? What did you do?

Sweet P

I Have A Supplier

And her name is Amanda at Sunflower Yarns. Every few months she offers a Simple Pleasures Package. It's a surprise package that contains one hank of her hand dyed yarn and a few items chosen around a theme. The last two times she's offered an additional hank of yarn for an extra price. When she contacted me about the June package I decided to get the package, plus the add on. I'm such a sucker!

Anyway, the package arrived yesterday and it was an outstanding package. The theme was the beach. Besides the gorgeous coral yarn, there was a flip flop tote bag, sunscreen, a compact brush, a knitting pattern and a few lifesavers. The yarn screamed at me to be made into a matching clutch. Of course, I complied and the clutch is in the photo as well.

Here is a close up of the yarn.

The inside of the tote has lots of pockets and is the perfect size for running errands in the summer time. I can't wait to use it.

If you haven't tried Amanda's yarn I highly recommend it. I have made several projects with her yarn. The colors are scrumptious and it works up great.

Summer is here! I hope you are having fun so far!

Sweet P

Two Finishes

Hi there! I'm trying hard to get back on a normal blog schedule. Life keeps getting in the way, along with my I-Pad. I wish it was easier to blog from the I-Pad.

Here are two finishes I've done lately. I made a crochet hook clutch to match my Be Happy Bag.

And I finished stitching my Tahiti canvas project.
I've ordered another project by the same designer, Amazing Color. I hope it arrives today so I can start pulling threads from my stash and start a shopping list for it.

Are you enjoying summer so far? After a few weeks of cool and damp weather, summer arrived in full force this weekend here in New England.

Sweet P

Monday Musings - Glimpses of My Day

A few photos of my day off . . .

Morning sun streaming in the kitchen window

My Mother's Day flowers . . .

A few more flowers

No sewing accomplished

Needlepoint instead

Kitchen in the afternoon

How was your Monday?

Friday Fifty - Fun With Mr. E

You know by now that Mr. E and I often bake on Tuesdays. This past Tuesday we tried a new recipe.

Mmmmmm . . . Dema . . . my favorite part . . . licking the spatula

Can you tell what we made?

Here's a closer look:

Maybe if Ethan demonstrated how to eat them:

Any ideas?

We made Homemade Oreo cookies. I found the recipe at Bake at 350. They were delicious. I love them with a cup of hot coffee. Ethan prefers the middle and "no, thank you" to the cookie.

Sweet P

Monday Musings

I don't suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter. I get a mild case of it in March and April and sometimes into May. This past week was a tough one for me. I survived and in the end I found a few items to put a smile on my face. All of them caught my eye at the store yesterday and had to come home with me.

The butterfly and flower fabric is truly delightful. The green is a linen blend. I have the perfect bag pattern to make with them. There is enough butterfly fabric to make a couple of matching items as well.
The cupcake notebooks, notepads, pen and floral zip bag are from the dollar bins. Aren't they adorable. Simple little items to make me smile when I see them.

UPDATE: I finished the bag. Now I can't wait to use it.

On another train of thought, a friend shared this link about the lace on Kate's wedding dress. What an awesome project. How I wish I could be a student at RSN.

Have a Happy Monday. It's my weekend. Today I'm playing with my new fabric and relaxing. Tonight hubby, myself, one of our nieces and her SO are going to the Red Sox game. Tomorrow is a Mr. E and house cleaning day.

Sweet P

Friday Fifty - Catching Up With Projects

Recently two remnants caught my eye at the store. A bright, deep pink corduroy and a black embroidered linen. From those remnants, plus a cool print from my stash, I made two Pick-A-Pocket totes.

This one went to my Color Swap partner, Angie.

This one I'm keeping for me.

The tote is quick to make and I like the finished project. I'll be using mine as a project bag.

What are you up to this weekend? As always, I'm working. My weekend will be Monday and Tuesday.

Sweet P

Toddler Tuesday

Scenes from the Easter Egg Hunt . . .

I'm ready . . .

Look, I found one . . .

Are there any more?

Sweet P

Catching Up - Yes, I'm Still Alive!!

Knock, knock . . . is anyone out there? Does anyone still check my blog??

I didn't mean to stay away so long. The last several weeks have been unbelievably busy between work and family obligations and I've barely had time to sit down and write here.

I can also blame my absence on my I-Pad and my somewhat broken laptop. My laptop has become a desktop computer. The screen has stopped working so I have to keep it hooked up to a monitor so I can use it. That's where my I-Pad has taken over my Internet life. With Flipboard I can quickly scan blogs, but it's more difficult to write blog entries.

So, what has been happened here in Coffee Time Stitches land?

Well, earlier this month, Mr. E turned two. We had his birthday party here (actually it was more of a birthday weekend). Here he is with his birthday cupcake:

Mommy and I made fishy cupcakes instead of a cake for his birthday party.

For his family birthday dinner I made him a doggie, woof, woof, cake.

And just to show you little ones are capable of using an I-Pad, here is playing on mine. He loves the ABC and counting games I have downloaded for him.

I participated in the Easter Basket Swap hosted Paula and Alli. I crocheted an Easter Basket for my partner, Jen at Lipstick and Laundry.
This is what she sent me: Starburst jelly beans, a collection of butterfly and angel items, a cute bunny, Alaskan coffee and travel mug and a gorgeous wind chime. Thank you, Jen!
I'm hoping to get back on track with posting. This break was not planned and I missed blogging terribly. Stay tuned for more news from Coffee Time Stitches land.

Sweet P

Wednesday Works - Hooked on Hooks

I haven't been blogging because my crochet hooks have been keeping me busy. They have refused to let me put them down to write here! This morning I forced the hook out of my hand to show off my latest projects.

A few weeks ago Crochet World published The Joy of Crochet, a special issue of crochet thread projects. One of the patterns is for a beaded eyeglass case. I decided to make the case using Aunt Lydia's size 10 crochet thread in Ocean. I love how the case turned out.

I plan to line it with blue satin and add a clasp. Instead of an eyeglass case, I plan to use it as an evening clutch. It's just large enough for ID, bank card, lipstick and a few small essentials.

Last fall I purchased a hank of pink hand-dyed yarn from Sunflower Yarns. Around Valentine's Day I started a Claudia Scarf. The pattern is fast and easy.

A close-up of the stitches.

One of the first projects I started nearly two years ago was a Chakra Purse by Naturally Caron. I finally finished it last week. I had put it away and decided it was time to finish it. Like the beaded clutch, I plan to make a lining for it. It needs more body to be truly useful.

A couple of friends have challenged me to make the bag on the cover of this book. I plan on living up to the challenge. The bag uses about 11,000 beads, with about 10,500 of them being seed beads, and it is worked with perle cotton. This should be an interesting project.
What are you working on lately?

Sweet P

Wednesday Works on Friday

Mmmm . . . I had this post scheduled to publish on Wednesday, but it didn't work. So here it is today.

While this isn't quite a work for me, it was a work for my swap partner, Rebecca, in our Have A Cuppa Swap. She knows I like to bake cupcakes as well as coffee and this package is perfect for me. The coffee mug says "Cupcake Monster" and there are cupcake plates for Mr. E to share our cupcakes. There is a pound of Starbucks coffee and Starbursts, yumm! Two skeins of wine colored Frog Tree yarn and a cute little zipper pouch. It was a nice surprise to find in my mail box on Valentine's Day.
Just before we went to Disney World, I made IPad covers for me and the Hotel Man. Can you tell which one is mine and which one is his?
In the middle of all the snow in January, we reset the Crochet and Knitting books in the store. One of the new crochet books we got was Crochet Your Cares Away. It has lots of fun and quick patterns in it. I had to make Mr. E this Stoplight Pillow for his car and truck theme bedroom.
What have you been working on lately?

Sweet P

Toddler Tuesday and I'm Back!

Sorry to disappear for two weeks. The day after I got home from Disney I came down with a nasty flu bug that put me in bed for three days. Then the flu fatigue set in and all I've been able to do is work my shift and come home and go to bed. Today is the second day I've felt anywhere close to being fully human.

I'll tell you more about Disney later this week for now. For now, it's Toddler Tuesday and it's time to share a few of our adventures with Mr. E over the last few weeks.

By now you know Mr. E and I bake on Tuesday mornings. He knows when I head into the kitchen after Good Morning America, it's time to bake. A few weeks ago we made Chocolate Cupcakes. He loved them!

We had lots and lots snow in January.
After one storm he came over and helped me find my car.

Today we are making Whoopie Pies for him to bring to school. He had to share his Apple Jacks with some of the batter.
Thanks for those who sent e-mails looking for me. It's nice to know I was missed.

Sweet P