I thought I was having a stroke!

Yesterday after school I started seeing this strange visual anomoly in the lower left of my visual field. It was similar to the after image you see when you look at a bright light only it was a curved line with zig zags and it didn't go away for about 20 minutes. I had a splitting headache afterwards so I took Advil and went to bed. I thought it was just a freak, but I started seeing it again as I was driving to school this morning. Now I'm getting really freaked out. How can I be healthier and fitter than I've been in a long time and now I'm getting a stroke??!! It turned out to be an aura from a migraine. I've had migraines in the past but never had an aura or even heard of them. Mine was quite tame compared to some of the pictures I discovered on the net as I was researching migraines. This one is a full oval, mine was only one quarter of this but still pretty scary. I hope I don't get too many more, but at least next time I won't think I'm about to die!

Crocheting Supercedes Knitting Again!

While I was in Michaels's last week scoping out candles and mirrors for wedding centerpieces, I saw this beautiful yarn. It is Red Heart Super Soft and it feels like silk! I bought 4 skeins without knowing what I was going to make. I just knew I had to have it.

When I got home, I found this pattern in a Crochet magazine I bought last Summer. It is going much faster than the knitting did so I have decided that crocheting is not inferior to knitting and I will crochet more and stop trying to knit all the time. This is also an interesting stitch that doesn't look like all single crochet. You single crochet in ch 1 spaces between each sc.

I also got this free pattern for an afghan. I have no clue when I will ever get to it but I liked it because it looks like a quilt block pattern instead of all those granny afghans we used to make in the 70's.

Kelly's Save the Date photo shoot

On Sunday, my daughter Kelly and her fiance Braun tried to get a picture to use for their Save the Date card for their wedding next August. My other daughter Colleen played photographer and they took about 75 shots all around the barn with and without Colleen's quarter horse Clue in the pictures. Their goal was to have the picture look like a Ralph Lauren Polo advertisement. The photo above was my favorite but they opted for the picture below.

40th anniversay of becoming a craftoholic

Last year at this time I was obsessed with knitting. I completed a few projects but kept thinking crocheting was easier and faster for me. A few months ago, I spent a good chunk of money on some gorgeous yarn to knit a vest for myself. The yarn was royal purple Zara and a blue and purple multi color Mistero shown above. When I tried to knit with it, I became so frustrated I wanted to cry. The yarn goes from a single thread to fatter and fuzzier than worsted yarn and the slubs make it very difficult to pull loops through loops. I came across this interesting crocheted scarf pattern by Bernat and decided to use it instead of knitting the vest. I finished it over Thankisgiving break and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I also found a sweater on sale in the perfect color to wear under it. Here's the scarf on the sweater as I wore it the first day back to school after vacation. As I was finishing, I realized it had been 40 whole years since my Mom gave me a kit for Christmas to crochet a vest which was very trendy in those hippie years.

I was bitten by the craft bug and have been obsessed with projects ever since. Thanks Mom, I think! My daughters seem to have inherited the teacher gene but they definitely did not get the crafting gene.

I actually won something!

Last month I posted my Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt on Amy's Park City Girl Blogger's Quilt Festival. (See the link on the right. If you haven't checked it out already, the quilts are still there. But be warned, there are 600+ quilts to look at and drool over) Amy had some prizes for just posting and I won one of them! It was a pack of Paula Pratt Summer Soiree fat quarters from Jona Giamalva's Fabritopia. I probably would never pick some of these fabrics on my own but I love the combo of all of them together. I'm so glad it will make me step out of my matchy matchy box. Here they are:

I'm thinking of a coin quilt surrounded by crisp white for a bedroom at the beach house. Check out www.fabritopia.com The fabrics are to die for. Lots of bright, fresh colors like these. You can also sign up for e-mails of new products. I love her signature saying: "Stop staring and start sewing!"

Licorice and Bubblegum Surface Embellishment

I haven't posted in a while because I couldn't find my digital camera. Last night while I was packing up for the next day, I went in a rarely used tote bag and there was the digital camera I thought was lost or stolen before I bought the one I currently can't find. I guess I will find the new one the same way when I give up looking for it. Anyway, I have been wanting to take a picture of the whole top of the pink and black quilt to post it. Here it is.

After it is quilted, the black ruffles will be sewn onto each seam line between the pink and white bands as shown below. I got an inspiration for quilting it from Leah Day's blog 365 Days of Free Motion Quilt Designs. Scroll down to my reading list on the right hand side for a link to her blog and be inspired!

New Color Scheme for Kelly's Wedding

Back in August, we went shopping for bridesmaid dresses and the girls picked out a tiffany blue Melissa Sweet dress. The other day Kelly showed me this dress and said she wanted to change to a pallette of black and white with accents of spring green. Normally I wouldn't like these colors, but I love it for a late summer wedding. I wasn't that excited about getting ready for the tiffany blue because I didn't have a vision for the decor. Now I do and I'm really psyched! Even though the dresses are a floral print, everything else black and white will be damask. Here's a picture of the gown the bridesmaids will now be wearing. It is from the Dessy Collection by Vivian Diamond.

The dress below is the one I'm currently thinking about for me. I hope the colors aren't too different when I see it in person and that it looks halfway decent on me. I've lost some weight since I've been running so I've got my fingers crossed. The countdown to August 14th has begun!