Needles and Pens

In honor of National Quilting Day today, I decided that no matter what the Photo Hunt theme, I was going to make today's post pertain to quilting in some way. Well, the Photo Hunt theme is "I Spy," and oddly enough, there is such a thing as an I Spy quilt. Basically, it's a quilt that involves fussy-cutting small pictures from various novelty prints and working them into your quilt design. If you want to know more about I Spy quilts, check out this article at About.com . Unfortunately, I have never made an "I Spy" quilt, so I don't have an original photo of one to share. I have, however, made a few quilts with a lot going on, visually, so I guess they'll have to do. I spy a button and a gingerbread man... I spy a teapot and a house on a stand... I spy... a leaf, and the house that Jack built... And since today is Quilting Day... I really should go quilt! Happy Quilting Day, all -- and Happy Photo Hunting !

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "party," and since my daughter will be graduating this year, I've had "graduation party" on my mind. There's so much planning and stress involved in planning a grad party, but when the day finally arrives, it's all worthwhile. Right about now, I need a reminder of that! This group is my son (in the middle) and some of his friends playing bocce ball at his grad party in 2006: Family and friends on the deck, enjoying the beautiful, sunny day: The younger crowd had a blast on the trampoline: A great time was had by all -- and yes, we can do it again!

Ever since I saw that the Photo Hunt theme for this week is "wooden," I've had this song stuck in my head. It's one of my father-in-law's standards: *Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn) Can't you see I love you Please don't break my heart in two That's not hard to do 'Cause I don't have a wooden heart And if you say goodbye Then I know that I would cry Maybe I would die 'Cause I don't have a wooden heart There's no strings upon this love of mine It was always you from the start Treat me nice Treat me good Treat me like you really should 'Cause I'm not made of wood And I don't have a wooden heart Muss i denn, muss i denn Zum Stadtele hinaus Stadtele hinaus Und du, mein schat, bleibst hier? There's no strings upon this love of mine It was always you from the start Sei mir gut Sei mir gut Sei mir wie du wirklich sollst Wie du wirklich sollst 'Cause I don't have a wooden heart * Created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Two...

When I heard that this week's Photo Hunt theme was " free ," these photos immediately came to mind. This is my son, several years ago, on a visit to my brother's and his wife's home in Illinois. They had an awesome setup with a platform to climb, a rope to swing on, and a huge pond for landing. It was big-time fun on a hot day! First, you had to work up the nerve to jump: But once you did let go, you never felt so free : Join the Photo Hunt !

I've had a lot of fun reminiscing over my photo albums lately, so for this week's Photo Hunt theme -- heavy -- I chose this one from 1988, my brother and his daughter, building an awesome snowman. If you've ever built a snowman, you know these were some heavy snowballs! Today that little girl in the red snowsuit is 26-years-old, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, and currently serving in Iraq. We're so proud of her! Happy Photo Hunting !

This week's Photo Hunt theme is narrow , and I had a really hard time finding a photo to fit the theme. Then I came across this picture of our cat, who is always peeking through narrow spaces, waiting for her chance to pounce: I know, it's a stretch, but there ya go... Happy hunting !

What a great theme this week for the Photo Hunt -- old-fashioned ! I love all things old-fashioned , and I had several items to choose from, but since I'm so into sewing, I thought I'd share my very old-fashioned , antique Singer treadle sewing machine. (Come to think of it, our brown shag carpet is pretty old-fashioned , too... and I don't love it so much. LOL) My husband got the treadle from a friend who was just happy to be rid of some clutter from his garage. Well, one man's junk is another man's treasure! Sadly, this treasure is in very bad condition, but I hope to restore both the machine and cabinet and actually use it someday. (Despite treadle machines being old-fashioned , I know of many quilters who still prefer a treadle for quilting.) Here's a closeup of the machine. Weren't these old machines beautifully decorated? And the very old-fashioned attachments, found in one of the cabinet drawers: Check out these cool attachments! So there's a q...

This week's Photo Hunt theme is " important ," and I had a hard time settling on just one idea. There are so many important things in my life; my faith, my husband, my children, my home, the list goes on and on... But this morning I took a drive to the corner gas station for a fill-up, forgetting my gloves, and in the few moments it took to place the nozzle into the tank, two of my fingertips were nearly frostbitten. This morning's temp: -22F. Not counting the wind chill factor. In temperatures like this, warm gloves or mittens (as well as coats, hats, scarves and boots) are extremely important . Not to mention the importance of a good home heating system. Just over a year ago, we installed a geothermal heat pump in our home. It runs on electricity, extracting heat from ground water which is pumped up from a well, through the system, then expelled into the pond in our front yard (this is known as an "open loop" system). Of course, our electric bill is h...

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "skinny," and I had a really hard time coming up with an idea. Skinny... skinny... What do I have around here to show, "skinny?" Hmm... Then it finally came to me. Duh. Needles ... and Pens ... LOL (In case you hadn't noticed, that's the name of my blog!) Join the Photo Hunt !

December delicious... January delicious... Join the Photo Hunt !

I'm sure there'll be lots of Christmas morning photos for the "messy" theme this week, but I just couldn't resist. This is just about as messy as it gets! Oh, wait... I was wrong. My daughter just showed me this picture of her bedroom. THIS is as messy as it gets! Good grief... Better late than never... join the Photo Hunt !

“A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” ~ John 1:6-9 “I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.” ~ John 12:46 Join the Photo Hunt

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "small," and Rainbow, the betta fish, is the small est member of our household. Don't mind the hungry look on the cat's face. She really just likes to drink fish-flavored water, when no one is looking. I usually shoo her away when she attempts this, but I couldn't resist taking this shot before sending her off to find her own water bowl.

I've read it, and yes, it's LONG, which is the Photo Hunt theme for this week. Another "long" thing -- lines at the stores and in traffic at noon, on a Saturday, two weeks before Christmas. What was I thinking??? Glad to be back home, safe and sound. Now I think I'll find a good book to curl up with for the afternoon. ;o)

This week's Photo Hunt theme is RED. (Finally, a good use for that bright red carpet in our spare bedroom. lol)