Karen's Kraft Korner

And The Winner Is.......

2009-07-19T23:26:00.006-06:00

First of all, I want to thank each and everyone of you for the name suggestions for my new machine. Each suggestion got me to thinking...A few of you suggested 'Lucky'...I feel extremely lucky to have this machine. One comment was that my new machine was 'Lucky' to be coming home with me...Thanks T;) 'Happy' was another suggestion...happy only begins to express once again, that she is mine. 'Lady J'...I liked this one a lot, but my first golden retriever's name was Lady...a wonderful dog...and I will reserve that name for her. A name with lots of J's in it...hummmm.....again the wheels were cranking...Jackie suggested 'Sunshine'. Jackie's analogy with the rain and the sunshine got me to thinking and although I didn't choose this name it was the one that spurred me on to the one that I did choose..........

Her new name will be..........

SUNNY

Do you all like it and think that it fits?

I hope so.

So in the winners circle will be....

Each and Everyone

of you for helping me choose;)

Please email me. Jackie; Dawn; Emi; Nanette; Rock Granny, sorry, I don't know your name; Jantine (I probably have yours, but please email me just in case); Karen, hey, what a great name;) (Sew Many Ways), Blogless Me, sorry, I don't know your name either; Stina, and Teri (P & P)with your snail mail addresses so I can get your goodies off to you. Please put the name 'Sunny' in the subject line of your email;)

I will be off to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California this week so goodies will be going out as soon as I get back...I just might find a little something special there to add to each of your packages.

Again, thanks so very much for holding my hand through this adventure........

And now......

Let the sewing begin;)

I'm Sooooooo Excited

2009-07-13T23:26:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited...that I just can't hide it...I'm about to loose control...and I think I like it...come on ladies, sing along with me.........well, at least let me explain...

My kids were all in California last week attending a family reunion. Before they left, my youngest asked if I would water their yard while they were gone...well, of course I would.

We, my youngest and I, are just starting a mystery BOM at American Quilting. The first class was held this past Saturday and since I have to go by the quilt shop to get to her house, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, or maybe more than two;)

I also decided that I would get ready for work at her house and just leave from there instead of going back home.

About the time I hopped on my bike to head to the quilt shop and then on to her house, it started to sprinkle a little...and I'm thinking...this isn't bad, in fact it might just cool me off...it's been quite hot here lately.

When I was about a quarter of the way there, the sprinkle was more like a down pour. I decided to duck into A-1 Sewing Machine Shop to look around and let this cloud burst pass.

As I got off my bike, I noticed that there was a 50% OFF sign in the window...

Huuuuuuummmmmmmmmm...

I wondered.....what could be 50% off in this store???

I should interject here that I've had my eye on a certain sewing machine for several months, but it's way out of my price range.

Anyway, I walked in and right away saw the sales lady that I had talked to several times before when I had gone in to drool over said machine...

I asked, "what's 50% off?" and her reply was...

"everything"

I think I was in shock, because I pointed to 'my' machine and asked,

"is that machine on sale?" and she said yes.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!

I asked if I could put it on lay-away and she said 'yes'

DOUBLE YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY COW!!!

COULD IT BE!!!

Would I be able to finally bring 'my' machine home???

Well, I filled out the paperwork and gave my money to the sales lady

...and this baby...

...will be coming home with me very soon!!!

I'm soooooooo excited

She's a Janome 6600

...the very same machine that Dana gave away recently. I wasn't lucky enough to win that one, and I never dreamed that I would just happen to be in the right place at the right time to get this one, especially for 50% off!!!

My new family member is going to need a name befitting her......

SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Here's the deal...

I'm going to have a little give-away;););)

It's a one shot deal...

Leave me a comment...with a way to get in touch with you...telling me what name you think would fit her and why. If I choose yours, I will be mailing you a package of goodies...all sewing related.

So, get your suggestions in...and spread the word...

Starting now...On your mark, get set, GO...

I will be choosing a name by this coming Friday...July 17th.

Good Luck to all

and thanks;)

A Needle Case and a Pincushion

2009-07-11T01:46:00.014-06:00

This is the pattern that I won from a drawing that Cheryl had a couple of weeks ago. I think it will be fun to make, but I don't think I'll get to it until sometime in August.

I will have family here visiting for a couple of weeks and then I'm heading to California to visit my oldest daughter and her girls and to go to the second annual International Quilt Festival that's going to be held in Long Beach;)

This is the logo from last year.

I participated in a pincushion swap last month.

This is what I used to make the pincushion for my swapee...

I did a little quilting...

can you see it???

Right there in the center...

on the orange...

...added a little homemade piping...

Used to make piping all the time when my kids were little and I did a lot of smocking;)

...did a little more stitching...

...and this is how it turned out...

...a view from the side...

...and a view from the top...

Now, in the world of pincushions, this one would be considered an extra large pincushion. Maybe even XXL!!! Ya know the kind that won't ever get lost??? If you spread your fingers out as far as you can and measure from your thumb to your pinky...you'll get the idea...like I said, XXL;)

I mailed it off to Jantine, in the Netherlands, along with a quilt magazine, embroidery floss, a pretty pink fat quarter, and a spool of variegated pink thread.
She has posted pictures on her blog;)
Stop by and pay her a visit. You'll be happy you did;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with TOST;)

Pincushions/Placemats/Block Swap/and a WIN

2009-07-07T00:23:00.015-06:00

Well, here I am again, barley able to get two posts up a month. Could it be because I work way too many hours??? This past week I worked 84...yes, that's right...84 hours! I can't believe that I did it. Fifteen of those hours were on July 4th! Bring on the holiday/overtime ;););) You might wonder why I would even consider working that many hours, or you might not, but the reason is purely selfish...I'm going to the International Quilt Festival later this month that's being held for the second year in Long Beach, CA and I want to have lots n lots of $ to spend. Last year was the first year that the festival was held in Long Beach...and as luck would have it...my daughter lives on the beach, within blocks of the LB Convention Center. The best of both worlds...I get to visit with my daughter and granddaughters and go to the festival;)

There will be more to come on both of these subjects...you can be sure;)

Now, let's take the title of this blog in reverse...

A WIN...

I was one of the lucky winners of Cheryl's Sampler Embroidery Folder Pattern. I'm patiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail, but it has a very long way to travel before it gets here.

Cheryl has an ongoing embroidered BOM that is awesome...go check it out...I'm sure you'll like it;)

BLOCK SWAP...

I'm participating in the 4 Seasons Quilt Swap where we make two sets of 20 blocks each and then mail them to our swap mama, Margaret.

These are the two sets that I sent...

The color here is really bad

I tried to get the color right by taking pictures inside and outside.

The one above is the inside pic and the one below is the outside pic

The colors here are a little closer, but the picture is a bit fuzzy

These blocks were some that I had never made before, but they worked up really quick and there's a great tutorial here.

I can hardly wait to see what comes in the mail in the next few weeks;)

PLACE MATS

I am also participating in a PLACE MAT SWAP. My swap partner, Rock Granny, lives in Croatia and I will be sending what I made for her as soon as she gets her address to me.

Because she has not received her package yet I will wait to show any pictures.

Again, this was a first for me. Place mats aren't something that I've done before, but I had fun doing this project...and see more in my future;)

PINCUSHION

I participated in a PINCUSHION SWAP that was hosted by Sandra and haven't heard that my swapee has gotten her package yet, so I'll just give you a little peek...

My swap partner doesn't know who I am, so I'm not too worried that she will see it before her package gets to her home...far, far away over the ocean (Atlantic). I hope she will like it;)

My Pincushion(s) came in the mail last week, but with me working so many hours I didn't have a chance to show it/them off.

My package came from Erin. Erin lives in Malaysia;)

Just look at all of the goodies she sent me...

Not one, but two pincushions!;)

I love how the pattern on the round one looks so 3D and the colors in the square one are very fun;)

Erin also sent me fabric, buttons, thread, and ribbon...

How lucky am I;)

Erin, thanks sooooooo much for the pin cushions, ribbon, thread, buttons, and the fabric;) I'm sure that I will have lots of fun with all of them;)

I hope that you all have a great week with TOST

(Tons Of Sewing Time)

A Hopping We Will Go

2009-06-20T22:12:00.000-06:00

I got a text msg from my youngest daughter Wednesday morning that said...I'm going to Joann's when they open, if they don't have what I want I'm going to the Corn Wagon...do you want to go? Well, I will never pass up a trip to The Corn Wagon, especially if it happens to be on my day off, so I said sure. We went to Joann's and my daughter picked up a few things and because she needed a few more things, we headed for The Corn Wagon. It just so happened that Wednesday was the first day of the annual Wasatch Shop Hop. We went last year and had talked about going this year, but never made any plans to do so...that is until we got to the Corn Wagon. The Shop Hop is a blast! There are 15 quilt shops all up and down the Wasatch Front that participate and it's so much fun to travel to each shop and just absorb TONS of inspiration;) Wednesday saw us traveling a whole lot of miles and making it to 12 of the 15 shops. We finished on Thursday by heading north, about 2 hours from the city we live in, to hit the remaining 3 shops. We traveled over 400 miles between all of the shops!

Now for the good stuff...

Quilts...Quilts...and more Quilts...oh yeah, and meeting a couple of ladies whose blogs I follow regularly...

The theme this year was ...

Trip Around The Town

Each shop had their rendition of the theme quilt displayed for all hoppers to see.

Here are a few of them...

You all know of the plethora of ideas you get when you enter a quilt shop...well, multiply that times 15 and that's what's been swimming around in my head for the past few days;)

One of the shops that we went to is called Piper's. Piper's had a lot of quilts hanging outside and while I was trying to get a few pictures of them, I saw a lady that I thought I recognized...

It was Kim from Bitty Bits & Pieces

Once inside, I also ran into Nedra from Cactus Needle

Both of these ladies have awesome blogs filled with all kinds of fun things and information. Take a few minutes to check out their blogs. You won't be disappointed;)

My daughter took this picture of Nedra, me, and Kim (and my grandson's hands)

And now because I like to include pictures of flowers in my posts here's one of the Hollyhocks that Piper's grows outside their shop. They even sell the seeds in the Fall.

I hope your week is going well;)

RAIN, Rain...

2009-06-11T17:44:00.000-06:00

This time of the year, where I live, we get a fair amount of rain. We've already had two to three time the rain that we usually get by now. The local joke is...if you don't like the weather...just wait 5 minutes...

I took a bag class with one of my daughters yesterday. It was held at the Corn Wagon and we used a Melly and Me pattern...

No one was able to finish in the class, but I had a little time this morning and so was able to finish mine;)

I have been working on my quilt, along with everyone, over at Old Red Barn...

The top is together;)

Now I will wait until Monday morning to see what the next part of the challenge is;)

I hope that you are all having a great week that includes lots-n-lots of sewing;)

See What I Did This Week...

2009-06-07T21:45:00.000-06:00

Seems to me that I've been quite productive this week especially since I worked 68 hours...

Come along with me and I'll show you what I've been working on...

First we have the beginnings of my 9-patch that I've been working on along with CMQ

...these 3 pictures are the first 2 strips to my quilt minus 1 square on each strip...lost those in the photo shoot (where are my photographer daughters when I need them??? Hmmmm could it be that one of them lives in California and the other one lives in Minnesota and I don't live in either one of those states...). When this quilt is finished it will be 10 blocks by 10 blocks plus sashing and borders. The blocks are 6" finished and the sashing is 1" finished, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do the borders yet, so I don't know just what the finished size will be. I have all of my blocks made and some of the sashing cut...yet another LIW (Lady In Waiting) to add to my list;)

Number 2 is an apron that I've wanted to make for a long time, but was unable to find the pattern. I was out shopping on Saturday and not only found the pattern, but found some fabric to go with the pattern...

How do you like the Zebra and Turquoise together???

Number 3 is for a swap that I'm participating in...

Any guesses on just what it might be???
The pink fabric under the striped fabric is the 'wrong side' so it doesn't give the true shade of pink. It does have more blue in it than the stripe, but I think it will work out just fine...at least I hope so;)

Fourth...

A few more grannies to go with the yellow
ones I posted about in my last post...

We'll find out this month if my youngest daughter is having a girl or a boy, and next month we'll find out what my middle daughter is having;)

These are my strips of fabric all sewn together, cut into squares and ready to go for the next step in the mystery quilt I'm making along with Dana and hundreds, yes hundreds, of others over at Old Red Barn

Tomorrow Dana will reveal just exactly how all of these squares are supposed to go together. Can't wait for that;)

And last, but not least...

This is a picture of a friend of mine from work. We had a baby shower for her on Thursday. I made her a little quilt and had Leslie
make a pair of matching baby shoes. Can you see them there in Debbie's left hand?? They are so tiny and adorable;) They stole the show and got lots of Oooooooo's and Aaaaahhhhhh's;)

The top of the quilt is flannel and the back is polar fleece.

I quilted around the moons on the blue squares and did free hand stars on the yellow squares. I'm sorry you can't see them in this picture...Oh yeah, and the back of the quilt is the same shade of blue as the lighter shade of blue on the moon squares.

I can't figure why the colors in some of my pictures just don't look like they should...

Some day I'm going to seriously have to read the book of instructions that came with my camera...I'm not a techy by any means...bet ya couldn't guess that;)

I was off this weekend, but don't have another day off until Father's Day and that's 2 weeks away...so I think that my progress is going to be slowed some.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and productive week;)
Happy Sewing;)

Stripped And Ready to Sew

2009-05-31T14:49:00.000-06:00

Candy Kisses

by Sandy Gervais

for Moda

is the fabric line that I have chosen to use for my mystery quilt that Dana is hosting over at

Old Red Barn Co

See the button on my side bar just to the right...

I jumped on the band wagon a little late, but I'm caught up and can't wait to get going. Since it's a mystery...I hope that these fabrics will be a good choice. I love the line and because it's not one of Moda's 'new' lines, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't run out before my quilt is finished.

I've been working on a lot of projects over the past few weeks and that along with working a whole lot of hours has kept me very busy.....

So without further adieu, let me show you what I've been up to...

As you can see...some granny squares...46 of them to be exact. My two youngest girls are expecting babies a month apart, one in November and one in December. We will find out in June and then July what they are having and so I thought I would get a jump start on making a blanket for each of them. This pic is a little off, but the color looks just like Kraft Mac and Cheese;p

When we find out what they are having I will then choose a color to go with these and then start on more granny squares.

The older of my two youngest daughters has developed anti-bodies in her blood as the result of a blood transfusion she had to have after the birth of her first child. She also has gestational diabetes and with each pregnancy, it rears it's ugly head earlier in the pregnancy. All of this has made her 'high risk' and so the doctors are keeping a very close eye on her.

Here are a couple of (side ways) dresses that I have made for a couple of my grand daughters

Sorry about them being sideways (thought I'd fixed that).
I have 3 more dresses that I have made like these, but no pics of them. Guess I'll have to do something about that...

This is a cute little picture frame that I helped one of my granddaughters make for her kindergarten teacher. I found a tutorial for it. It's the Fabric Picture Frame Tutorial by Rachel Very gooooooey and very funnnnn;)

This picture doesn't do it justice but we sure had fun making it. We wrapped it up in some pink tissue paper and tied it with a strip of pink fabric with cherries on it. Needless to say, the teacher was thrilled with it;)

The fabric that we used in the picture frame project is the fabric that I am using for my 9 patch project that CMQ inspired me to do. Since my sewing time varies as to the number of hours and the days that I can devote to my projects I just have to do what I can when I can. AJ invited all to join her in in making just one 9 patch block a day...and to make as many, or as few as desired. This was my first block...

...No contrast, you say? Well you would be right;) But I LOVE these colors, so this block and the other two that I have that are like it will be "re-purposed".

So........now my 9-patch is blues and yellows, as you can see from the frame. I have always wanted a blue and yellow quilt, and so I will have one, just as soon as I get this one finished. Right now I have two rows sewn together with white sashing. I was trying to get pictures of my layout, but I was working on it out on the front lawn and Mr. Wind thought he'd pay me a visit and well... I'm sure you can imagine just what happened. I will take pictures of my progress later this week and get them posted so you can see just how this LIW (Lady In Waiting) is coming along;)

So that, and more, is what I've been doing with my spare time...what have you been doing with yours?

Just a couple of more things before I go...please drop by and say HI to Leslie. She's getting into sewing/quilting and discovering just what a blast and creative outlet it is. Her giraffe quilt is

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

as are her other projects, but the giraffe quilt was her first and her own design!!! A very talented young lady (and yes, she is one of mine).

And just a couple of the pics I took this morning on the way home from work

(0630)

I hope that you all have a terrific week with lot of time to do the things you want to do;)

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T01:09:00.000-06:00

I rode my bike to work the other day so I could take these pictures of some of Mother Nature's handiwork...

I think she must have been taking notes when she was in Color Theory Class;)

If you ever need some help with what colors look good together just take a walk outside and you might find something you like. I don't think Mother Nature would mind if you 'borrowed' some of her ideas;)

I wish you all a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Enjoy your weekend;)

A Few of the Things I've Been Working On

2009-04-28T20:54:00.000-06:00

These are a few of the things that I've been working on this week...

This is a crocheted bag that really gave me a workout.

I used a size N crochet hook and 2" strips of fabric. It needs some finishing, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it truned out. One of my co-workers, a guy, said it was, "very Springy".

I jumped on the band wagon with Amanda Jean and her block-a-day Quilt Along.

This will be a simple quilt, just 9 patch blocks, and we will be making one a day. I will be using fabric that is in my stash, as much as I can. It will be BRIGHT! The perfect Summer Quilt;)

This is a quilt top, minus the borders that I'm working on for one of my granddaughters.

It went together very fast. Now all I have to do is figure out what to use for the borders and the back. I have a couple of blocks, that didn't get used on the front, that will be going into the back of the quilt. I love a pieced back with a little suprise sewn in here and there.

We had a really good rain storm this past Saturday and we're supposed to get another one tonight. I guess this means that we'll have lots and lots of May Flowers;)

I just hope that it doesn't get too hot too fast and the flowers wilt.

Here's to a great week with lots of sewing time worked in;)

Virtual Quilt Festival

2009-04-21T23:41:00.000-06:00

There's a Virtual Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's . Go check it out and join in on all of the fun;)

This is a picture of one of my favorite quilts that I have made and here's why...although it's not very big, only about 30" x 30", I made up and drew the design, hand appliqued the stars and hearts on it with a button hole stitch and then hand quilted it.

As imperfect as it is, probably the reason this one is so near and dear to my heart is that a very young grandson spent the night and he asked me if I could take it off of the wall and cover him up with it. We left this one on the wall and covered him up with a bigger quilt and he was OK with that because he could still see my Stars and Hearts Quilt;)

Enjoy the VQF:)

Time For a Little Catch Up

2009-04-21T20:55:00.000-06:00

First of all, I would like to thank all of you that sent well wishes regarding my kids and their so journ through the snow to come out for a visit. I truly appreciate it. My kids did finally get here, almost two days later than planned because of the snow in Cheyenne, Wyoming. As unhappy as I was about them being stuck in Cheyenne for nearly two days because of said snow, I was happy about it keeping them here for several extra days while yet another storm hit us and, again closed the roads. They are now back in MN and getting back to life as usual.

One week ago tomorrow this is what my front yard had all over it...

...over 9" of snow fell in less than 24 hours! Today it's been in the mid 70's...dare I say it...could Spring finally be here???

Here's a hint that it just might be...

Hopefully, it will stick around for awhile;)

This quilt top was a BOM that I did awhile back and, until a couple of weeks ago, remained a LIW (Lady in Waiting)...

This middle picture has the truest color

...ALL FINISHED...;););)

I made these three skirts...

...out of this...

...old jeans and lots and lots of ribbon and trim...

I made little bags out of the leg pieces that I cut off of the jeans;) I also made a couple of of pillows for 2 of my grandsons. I get so excited about giving them the things that I make for them that I forget all about taking pictures.

I'm participating in Connie W's (Cootie Bugg 2) Siggy Block Swap. I'm just waiting to get my blocks...all 60 of them and then I'll have to figure out how I'm going to put them together.

Projects in the works are...a crocheted bag, my red, white, and blue afghan, new scrubb tops for work, my applique block from the Linda Jenkins' class I took, and..., and..., I think you get the picture.

I just have to add one more picture of the snow from last week...

This is one of the trees in my front yard...I think the picture looks pretty cool (no pun intended) with the black of the trunk and the white of the snow.

I hope it's not too late to wish you all a happy week;)

Happy Easter 2K9

2009-04-12T02:30:00.000-06:00

Wishing you all a Happy Easter

Enjoy your day;)

Lookie Lookie Sugar Cookie

2009-04-04T15:46:00.000-06:00

OK...so it's not a sugar cookie but you have to admit that it rhymes;)

Let me explain...this morning, well actually it was about 12:30 so I guess that's really this afternoon...my neighbor's brother knocked on my door...I had just gotten up. No, I don't usually sleep the day away, but I did the night shift last night and didn't get home until 6:30 AM...anyway, back to the knock at my door...I answered and the man there introduced himself as my neighbor's brother and said that he was visiting his sister and wanted to make her some cookies, but she didn't have a cookie sheet and wondered if he could borrow one of mine...Well, of course, and when he brought it back this cookie was on it. He did give me a whole cookie, but I think I had it half eaten before I thanked him and closed the door. It was yummy;p and just for the record...you can borrow my cookie sheets any time;)

The cookie was a high point (ahhhh the simple things in life) to my down day today...My middle daughter and her family live in Minnesota. They left home yesterday and headed this way for a visit...She sent me a text msg this morning (2:00) telling me that they were stuck in Cheyenne, Wyoming in white out conditions...no more traveling. They got a hotel room and went to bed. This morning they were still in white out conditions and still unable to travel because the roads are closed! OK!!!! Where is Spring????? If anyone knows will you please, please share??? The earliest that they will be able to leave their hotel room will be tomorrow morning, cutting our visit one day + shorter;(

Here are a few pictures of projects that I've been working on...

This is a quilt that I'm working on for one of my grandsons.

The backing fabric is flannel with baseballs all over it.

Can you see it in the upper left corner???

...and this is my Linda Jenkins' block...

I took a class from Linda a couple of weeks ago and this is my rendition of the block she taught us.
I have several more leaves and a whole lot more circles to add before this one will be finished. I'm not very good at applique, but I'm having a lot of fun working on this one.

Time to go get ready for another night shift...

Have a great weekend;)

A Couple of Things I've Been Working On

2009-04-02T20:31:00.000-06:00

This is the afagan that I've been working on...the red, white, and blue one that I mentioned in an earlier post. There's no pattern, just lots and lots of single crocheting. I hope to have it done by the Forth of July.

Can you see the green at the top of the picture? That was covered with snow on Monday morning. That snow is gone now, but we're expecting rain with thunder and lightning tonight and tomorrow.

Here's a picture of the signature blocks that I've been working on...

The picture is a little blurry, still working on the settings on my new camera.

I'm participating in a Signature Block Swap and these will need to be in the mail in the next couple of weeks.

I made more than double the squares I needed, so those will be used in the borders of my signature quilt.

My kids from Minnesota will be here this next week, provided the roads remain open and they don't get snowed out. I can hardly wait to see them;)

I hope you all have a great weekend;)

Happy Snowy Monday

2009-03-30T10:56:00.000-06:00

The calendar says that it's Spring, but I wonder--is it really???

This is what I woke up to this morning...

........nearly 3.5" of new snow.........

that grass was green when I went to bed last night;(

No wonder Spring seems to be much shorter than Winter and Summer. It's cheated out by late snows and early hot spells.

I have so many projects in the works right now that I need to focus on just a few...

so I chose this quilt ...

I made this one about 3 years ago. It was a BOM that one of the local quilt shops was doing when I first moved here. I made a couple of changes to the original that the shop was doing and then took it to a local longarm quilter, Laura Erickson, to do the quilting. All I need to do is the binding so this is what I will be working on over the next few days.

I think I'll take it to work with me tonight (doing the night shift) and if I have any down time I will work on it. Ahhhhh, but it's Monday and Mondays are usually busy. Maybe by the time I get there things will have slowed down. Yeah, right I have my doubts about that. Oh well, at least I have a job...in fact I have two, so I'm not going to complain, except that with two jobs there's not enough time to sew;(

I hope you all have a great Monday;)

Lots to Catch Up On

2009-03-22T15:45:00.000-06:00

Holy Cow!!! Where has the time gone??? I knew that I hadn't posted in awhile, but was surprised that it had been as long as it has...Soooooooo there's lots to catch up on...

The two most exciting things going on right now is that my youngest daughter and her husband are expecting their second child in November. Can I just tell you that being a grandma is one of the best callings in the world! This will be # 11 for me YIPEE!!! Secondly, my oldest son and his family will be moving here from Arizona. I can't tell you how excited I was when they let us all know that they would be moving out when their kids get out of school (end of May). My son starts his new job on Tuesday and so he will be here sometime tonight. His wife and the kids will remain in AZ and make the move June 1st!

In all of this I have also moved to a new home and with everything that entails, service people not showing up when they're supposed to and then when they do they can't get the job done, had no Internet service for nearly a month. I finally go fed up and called my provider and had them walk me through the set up over the phone. After nearly an hour on the phone I was up and running...finally...I think I stayed up until nearly 3 that morning just trying to do a little catch up.

My camera got packed in some box that is somewhere here...I will eventually find it, but that was just the excuse I needed to buy a new camera. I should add here, that I now have 3 digital cameras...the one in the box, another one whose cables are packed away in another box somewhere and the new one that I bought just before I moved and now have no idea where it's box and cables are..........can we say AGGREVATION!!!!!!!!!!! I have been snapping many pictures, tho, and will be tearing this place apart to find the missing parts so this post won't be naked, as it were;)

There's nothing like moving to point out just what size a person's stash is. I knew that I had a lot, correction...TON of fabric, but now I truly know just how much I have...You might wonder if that's stopping me from getting more...well, of course it isn't. I went out and bought new supplies for the class I took with Linda Jenkins. I didn't have time to go through boxes. Anyone else suffer from this??? ;)

I FOUND THEM I FOUND THEM I FOUND THEM

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE

well at least one of them anyway...

What you might ask???

Camera cables, of course;)

this post won't be naked after all...

During my down time I was lucky enough to win not one, but two blog give aways. The first was this scrap bag from jelleybelley http://wwwjellybelly-jellybrain.blogspot.com/.

Lots of fun little scraplets along with a few large pieces. I know that several of these will go into my postage stamp quilt that I'm collecting for. As for the larger pieces...not quite sure yet. Thanks a ton, Emma, for picking my name;)

I also won another drawing...a quilt of all things!!! How generous of Barbara

http://panhandlesuesquiltingspot.blogspot.com/ to offer a quilt. I was shocked that I won her drawing. Take a look......

The front

Sorry about the picture being sideways.

I love the pink and black.

(and just so we keep the neck exercises equal on both sides...)

The Back

the stripes are too cool!

What a cute little label with all of the pertinent info on it;)

Thanks a TON, Barbara! I feel so fortunate to have won your quilt;) This little jem will be loved and cherished;)

And more fun stuff...Had Quilt Guild meeting last week. We had a very special guest...Linda Jenkins from Piece O Cake. Linda gave a class on color before our meeting. It was great, filled with lots of info, and the room was overflowing. After lunch we were then treated to a trunk show provided by Linda and her ever able bodied assistant, Paul, aka her husband. She shared over 50 of her quilts with us. I took lots of pics with said new camera, but am afraid that many of them might land on the cutting room floor because I'm not used to the new camera yet. There are beautiful pics on our guild's blog (uvqg dot blogspot dot com) tho, and you can check them out. Here is just a very small sampling of some of the quilts Linda shared with us...

Linda's applique work is beautiful

The front

and the back-just as pretty as the front

The next day Linda did an applique class for us. There were only 20 spaces and I was lucky enough to get one of them. She taught us one of the blocks from her quilt, Aunt Millie's Garden.

Aunt Millie's Garden

We did the Rose Block...third from the top, left side

A close up of Linda's hands in action

Working busily on our applique

well, sort of

Paul and Linda

Paul is Linda's husband and now that he is retired, accompanies her when she travels.

I will be making my block into a pillow. I love the portability of applique and the fact that there's a lot of handwork that goes into it. I would say that I have about a quarter of mine done now and am having a blast working on it. It definitely has that "handmade" look;) My applique skills are in severe need of help, but it's still fun.

There's been more knitting/crocheting going on here lately. I knit several beanies and matching scarfs for several of my grandchildren that they will get next winter. I'm also working on an afghan that I hope to have finished by the 4th of July...that's a hint as to the colors I'm using in it. I have to get a jump start on my gift giving and knitting/crocheting in the summer isn't one of my favorite things to do.

Just two more things and then I'll call this post good...

First of all...I am participating in a PIF

...so if you are interested in receiving a handmade suprise from me within the next six months, just leave me a comment and I will be choosing 3 of you. Make sure that you leave me your info so I can get in touch with you. The PIF part of this is that you will also post about PIF on your blog and agree to make something for three of your 'fans'.

Second...I woke up to snow this morning. The sun is out now and most of the snow from earlier has melted but the wind is blowing and it's C-O-L-D!!! I like Winter and the snow, but I think I'm ready for Spring and sun and flowers;)

Another Birthday...and A Few More Pincushions

2009-01-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

I would be remiss if I did not take a minute and wish my youngest a Happy Birthday today. Her birthday is the third of eight that we celebrate this month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LES!

I made one of these pincushions last week (previous post) and was very surprised just how quickly it went together. When I find something that is quick and easy I usually make several and so here are a few more of the same that I made tonight. I love that they are the same, but different.
A top view...sitting in the snow...

...and here's a side view so you can see the different fabrics that I used...

All of the fabrics that I used are from my stash.

If you need a new pincushion, or even if you don't...try this pattern...it's quick, easy, fun, and best of all you probably have a lot of fabric choices right in your stash;) You can find the pattern over at May Britt's blog...Abyquilt...

I hope that you are all having a good week with lots of sewing time.

Stay warm, or cool where ever you may be;)

Look Out Improv...Here I Come

2009-01-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

First of all, I must start off my telling my oldest son HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! His is the first of eight this month and the first of three in a row. He, his wife, and two children live in Arizona and I was lucky enough to go out a visit them last month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANNY

I was thinking that I wanted to challenge myself, in my quilting, this year. I usually stay within the confines of traditional patchwork and applique with mostly traditional prints and colors. In other words...not much imagination. With all of the bright, fun prints that line the shelves of our quilt shops now a days it was about time for me to take the plunge and step into the present day. I have no doubt that I will continue to do traditional quilting it will just be with a somewhat more modern look...I hope...I think...

As I was visiting blogland this week I found that the hostess of a blog that I follow, Jackie at Tall Grass Prairie Studio, was challenging all, who care to join her, in doing that very thing, to think outside the (their) box.

One of the things that each "challengee" is to do is to choose a color combo from the three that she offered and make a Log Cabinish type 12" (finished) block that will be part of some quilts that will be made and donated to charity.

There are people that have volunteered to donate batting and backing fabrics and others to machine quilt all of the quilts that are made and still others have volunteered to finish up with the binding. What totally awsome people!!!

The color combo that I chose was orange and pink. I love the look of these two colors together because the remind me of the beach, where I used to live, at sunset.

The fabrics that I chose to make my block out of...

...all from my stash...

When we chose our color combo Jackie said that we could add other colors to our block, so I threw in a little green and turquoise.

Here's my block.......

...what she lacks in construction points, she more than makes up for in cheery brightness...at least I think so;)

Tomorrow, I will be another year older, and wiser too , (yeah, right) Happy Birthday, to me;)

I hope that everyone is having a GREAT weekend;)

My First Finish for 2K9

2009-01-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

I hope that every one's New Year is off to a great start.

Looking around blogland many of you are getting projects finished up that were left over from last year. I love to see what everyone is working on and that so many of you are already off and crafting on new projects for this year.

One of my favorite things is to see the same project being worked on by several people and just, even though the project is the same, how very different each one is, depending on the creators likes and preferences. There's so much inspiration to be had out there.

My daughters/daughters-in-law and I have started a new challenge this year...we will be doing one craft per month and one quilt block per month. Three of us quilt and three don't, so for those that don't we will be starting off with the basics, in hopes of not overwhelming them and inspiring them to do more.

Our January craft project is a pincushion. I chose to use May Britt's Pincushion Tutorial on her blog, abyquilts...you know the rest... Her directions and pictures made this a very quick and easy project.

Here are a few pictures...

Sitting in the snow...

...could it be a snow star or snow flower???...

The snow really throws the color off...

...the color here is much better...

The button is abalone and just a little smaller than a quarter...

...and a side view...

I hope that you are all enjoying you Winter/Summer whatever it may be where ever you may be;)

A Couple of Days After Christmas

2008-12-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for this time of year and for the things that we celebrate. Without getting caught up in all of the commercialization, I decided to give handmade gifts for Christmas this year. I was involved in a few swaps and had a very fun time with those. I think that I have been very good to wait to open my SSCS gift, until the big day.

On Christmas Eve, I worked from 1500-0500 Christmas morning...a long shift to be sure. Went home to get a very few hours of shut eye and then............................... it was time for................ the grand opening...................but wait............before that.....my SSCS elf was none other than Chookyblue herslef. It seems that my original elf had to pull out of the swap and being the perfect swap hostess, CB took me under her wing;) Something we all need to think about before hosting a swap...what will you do if someone who joins your swap is unable to make it to the finish line???

OK....now for the unveiling...... This is what my SSCS gift looked like all nice and neatly wrapped up when it arrived.....................

..............and inside I found..............

...............by now I was pretty excited because I had waited about 3 weeks to open my gift.............

The Violet Crumble, I had never heard of before....but for the record........it's gone.

Needless to say it was yummy. One of those things that you just can't get enough of.............When all of the wrapping paper was removed .... look what I saw..........

.....a lovely little mini quilt, a kitchen towel, a charm square pack and my yummy Violet Crumble;p

My mini quilt

...............a cute little kitchen towel.............

........sorry about it being sideways............

and my charm pack, and of course, the oh so quickly disappearing VIOLET CRUMBLE . . yum;p

Thanks so very much Chookyblue, for all of the goodies that you sent. They are very much appreciated!

And thanks so very much for offering the SSCS to all of us;)

I played SSCS elf to Kris in Australia. I peeked in on her blog several times to try to find out just what I might make for her. I had never seen Kris' blog, Tagalongteddies (you know the rest), before so I read several of her posts just to get some ideas...Well I found out that she liked teddy bears......hummmm.....imagine that........ I wounder how she came up with the name for her blog. I also found out that she has a wonderful sense of humor, and feel like we would have a blast hanging out together.

Anyway, this is what I used to make her gift.......

...some PINK leopard fur........

...............shinny black eyes...

.....a BLACK VELVET nose............

pink button belly button

before the final stuffing and embellishments.....

.........and after the final stuffing and embellishments.........

...... soaking up the last rays of sun before the snow gets here.....

Again, sorry for the sideways pictures.

I hope that you all have a healthy and Happy New Year filled with lots of love and creativity;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to you all!!!

Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to all of my new Bloggie Friends. I hope that your Christmas is a very happy and safe one. Thanks for so much inspiration and for your wonderful comments. I look forward to spending much time with you all in 2K9.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

PIF

2008-12-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to let you know that I am participating in the PIF Program and here are the rules...
I promise to hand make three of you a little gift that I think you will like and have it to you within the next six months. In return each of the three of you will promise to do the same to three others. Easy peasy...so please let me know if your are interested by leaving me a comment. I will be taking the first three that specifically mention that they would like to participate in the PIF Program;)

Happy Holidays To ALL

Where Does the Time Go???

2008-12-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been weeks since I've had the time to do some blogging. With all of the hussel and bussel of the season and all of the added things to try to get done time has just flown by. I have a lot of catching up to do---so let's get to it.

I've been involved in several swaps and am receiving some really fun goodies in the mailbox Isn't it the most fun to open the mailbox to find goodies from some other part of the country or even the world. I love the thought that there are people all over the world with whom I can share the things that I love to do and that make me happy. I love checking in on all of your blogs and seeing all of the lovely holiday goodies that you are making and receiving.

I'm not even going to try to do these in the order done or received...

This is what I came home to on Friday...

With the ever present warning...

Can I just tell you...this is killing me...good thing I'll be going to Arizona later this week so the temptation to ignore the warning and open this package will wane, even if just a little. That is if I can make it to Thrusday.

Here's just a little hint of what I made for my SSCS partner...

Sorry about it being sideways--thought I fixed that. These are some of the other things I used to make ............

...I took some of this...

...and a few of these...

...and one of these...

...and a whole lot of this...

I have more pictures but they will have to wait until I hear that it has arrived at it's new home far, far away from here;)

Another swap was ALQS. Has anyone ever quilted with metallic thread??? That was the challenge that I took on. I don't recommend it. The pictures that I have don't hardly show the quilting or the large seed beads that I added for bling, but I had fun making this little gem...

You can see a little of the metallic thread along the back of the snowman on the left and if you look really hard you can see some of the seed beads.

As hard as it is to see the details in this little quilt when the light hits it the look is just what I was going for. I hope that ____ in____ likes it.

One of the RT's that I work with raises alpaca. This yarn is from some of the animals that she owns. I can hardly wait to start knitting with it, but that probably won't be until after the first of the year. I would also like to try some dying...

A week or so ago I came home to this...

...all the way from Teresa in Whales...
There are 4 little maple leaf buttons that are just adorable and the colors are very just beautiful;)

She also sent along these yummy little goodies ...

...and as you can see ... there aren't many left;p

Thanks sooooooo much Teresa the little quilt is just as cute as it can be and the candy has been enjoyed, as you can tell.

I made these today...They'll be heading off to their new home in a few days...along with some other holiday goodies...

When I was a little girl one of my great-aunts gave my brothers and me a very special Christmas Pillow Case. I remember hardly being able to wait for December to put my Christmas Pillow Case on my pillow. I left it on clear through January because I wanted a special pillow case for my birthday and that was the only one I had.

Well, this has turned out to be longer than I had planned and I still have more...I will be heading off to Arizona on Thursday to visit my oldest son and his family. We have an annual ornament swap each December that my dil's mother organizes. It's fun to get together for a night of girl stuff, yummy food, and ornament swapping.

I hope that you all are enjoying this holiday season. Until next time...

Enjoy

I Love to go Thrifting

2008-10-27T22:06:00.000-06:00

My dil and I went thrifting today. I love to make something new out of something old. I spent less than $20 total and this is what I got...

I'm not sure just what I'll do with this piece yet, probably dissect it into a lot of small projects. I love the little mittens along the bottom border...it's 4 times this size and cost $1.

There are 3 place mats for $.75, 3 hoops for $.75, some RED crochet thread that will not be used for crocheting for $.50, the little doll was $1.19, but she only cost me $.25, and 3 pieces of woven cloth each about the size of a fat quarter +/- that cost another $.50.

The light fabric here is 3 yards of knit, good for t-shirts or jammies (the colors are a little washed out in the picture) for some little girls I know. The next fabric is also a knit and there's about 2 yards there. It's pretty stiff so I'll have to wash it before I decide weather it's soft enough for jammies. If not, then it's t-shirts for this piece. The next piece is one yard of flannel. No plans for that one yet and then a one yard piece of baby gingham in pink (I can think of a zillion projects for this piece). Who knows what I'll do with the little burlap bag, but for $.50 I just had to get it.

A variety of patterns for just $.25 each

This is a "book" of fabric samples for only $4. Each piece is 10" x 5" and there are 62 pieces in every color, texture, and pattern you can imagine. I know that there's lots of potential here...so if you have any suggestions, I'd love for you to share them with me;)

All of my Christmas Cottage Blocks for the swap over at Freda's Hive are done now and ready to go to their new homes. I have had so much fun making them.

I may have shown some of these before, but they're just so darn cute. This will be a fun quilt to put together, especially because each block is made by somebody different;)

I hope that you all have a great week;)

Enjoy;)

Eye Candy

2008-10-18T20:10:00.000-06:00

Went to quilt guild meeting on Wednesday. We usually have some sort of class before our meeting. This month it was on Sewing Room Organization. Many great ideas were shared there as well as where to buy some of the organizational items. We also learned a few quilting techniques. Good time;) Our meeting started a little after 1300. After all of the business was done we had our "sharing" time. I love this part of our meetings. We get to see what other guild members have been working on. After sharing we had several different members showing different applique techniques. Each presentation lasted about 20 minutes and we all got to choose 3 to go to. I only got to go to two because I had to leave early and go to work. All I can say is fun fun fun.

Here's the Eye Candy

Quilts from Guild Members

3 D Applique

This was one of the applique techniques

we could watch being demonstrated.

Is this lady talented, or what???

I am just in awe of people that can do applique work well...like here.

And now for you Dear Jane fans.........these are some of my favorites...........and remember, the finished size of these blocks is just four and a half inches........

I love this Bear's Paw..........and remember...

Only 4.5"

I have more Eye Candy, but will save it for another time.

I have tomorrow off and hope to get some sewing done. I hope you all are having a great weekend.

Enjoy;)

Angels in Blogland;)

2008-10-14T19:46:00.000-06:00

A while back I joined a miniature quilt swap.....made my quilt, sent it off and then waited and waited and waited. To this date I haven't heard if the person I sent my quilt to has ever rec'd it, but then I haven't heard that she didn't either...I never rec'd a quilt either (boo hoo), but our gracious hostess "angeled" me out. Well, today when I got home from work guess what I found in my mail box.........go ahead, guess................................I was so excited that I ripped, yes ripped into the package that I found there...................and this is what I found..................

This lovely mini quilt full of sunshine.

I know that it will make me smile whenever I look at it, especially during the snowy winter days that are on the way.

My Angel is a lovely person by the name of Anjea from Austin.

I love the nice warm colors, never thought of black as a warm color, but I can't imagine this little beauty without it.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

ANJEA!!!

You truly are an ANGEL!

ENJOY;)

2008-10-12T19:13:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning to snow on the ground...talked to my daughter in MN and she said that in was in the mid 70's and my daughter in CA is enjoying 80+ degrees, but she went to AZ this weekend to visit my oldest son and his family...where they're having 100 degree days...still.

Got this idea from AJ (crazy mom quilts)...

someday I'll figure out how to do that little link thing...

Matching dish cloth and dish towel

...I hope the person getting these likes them...

Rec'd these "Vintage Sheets" from a swap that I did. Most of them will be going into an hour glass quilt that I'm working on...got that idea from AJ, too.

I hope that you all have a great week and don't forget the Christmas Cottage Open House tomorrow.

Enjoy

October is a Beautiful Month

2008-10-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

Well, after visiting my daughter and her family in Minnesota, I'm home and ready to get back into the swing of things...ie...work at 0600 tomorrow. While I was there, my grand daughter and I made a little pillow, a dollie, and a little bag for her. I also finished knitting one sock that I was working on and started its' mate. Went to a parade (previous post) and took lots of pictures.

...the bag, pillow, and dollie...

bet ya could never guess her favorite colors...

I'm participating in the Christmas Cottage Block Swap (check out the buttons on my sidebar) and these are a few of the blocks I have done...

and a couple of them close up

Each of mine is just a little bit different
It's going to be hard to part with these...

There's a house warming for our cottages on Monday and everyone is invited...

The cottages are simple to do and very fun. Freda has a tutorial on her blog that shows you just how to make your own...they're a blast! Go on and try them...you know you want to;) Speaking of Freda, a couple of months ago, she asked us to show our sewing kits, well I guess better late than never....It's a little Double Bubble Bubble Gum Lunch Box

..this is one that I take with me when I travel.
It's very small, about 3"x4" but holds a lot

and tucks into just about any small space.

Just before I left for Minnesota, I rec'd this bag, in the mail ,from Ruth. She was having a give away on her blog a few weeks ago and I entered and won...

........this green bag........

...it's corduroy with machine embroidered flower and strawberries on it

and a pretty green button.

The hair clips are mine...that's where I keep them when they're not in use, but always at the ready.

My new bag has been used ever since I got it.

Thanks a TON Ruth! Sorry the picture doesn't do the bag justice.

Well, it's taken me two days to get this post up so I'm going to put this one to bed and get a little shut eye myself, but before I go.........we had out first snow of the season today. Not a lot, but just enough to let us know that more isn't far away. Fall has come and gone so quickly.

Enjoy;)

Plymouth Days

2008-10-05T21:11:00.000-06:00

What a nice relaxing Sunday. I'm visiting one of my daughter's and her family in Plymouth, Minnesota for a few days and today was just a kick back kind of day. We watched General Conference via the internet this morning and after it ended I took my two grandchildren for a walk over to see the Mellinium Gardens just down the street from them. We came back, had a little lunch and then watched the final session of Conference and after it had ended my daughter and I started dinner. My daughter got a new basic bread recipe and so we tried it out. We made pizza, bread sticks, and a braid with cream cheese and strawberry jam all twisted together and then we covered it with frosting...Well, all I can tell you is that there's only about half of the twist left and that's it. Everything else is gone. Everything was yuuuuuummy! Good thing we cut the recipe in half...got to watch those carbs...yeah.....right!

I've been trying to get some stitching done while here, but being a little sleep deprived makes my eyes want to snap shut every time I sit down to start working on my stitching, blogging, etc...like right now, for instance.....it's all I can do to keep my eyes open. That's what going to bed at 0330 and getting up at 0730 will do to you.

Her are a few of the pictures that I took at the parade we went to yesterday at the Plymouth Days Celebration and a few from the Mellinum Gardens from today's outing. Have a good one and I'll post pics of my cottages when I get back:

Unicycles--looks like fun to me;)

The Shriner's precision mini cars

Pony Rides and Face Painting

after the parade

The city of Plymouth puts this parade and carnival on every year the first Saturday in October. I took the kids last year, but didn't know about the carnival part of the celebration. It' all free, unless you buy food. We had made our lunch and took it with us, so basically we had a free day of fun and entertainment. Now how often can you do that any more? Oh yeah, mom and dad were at a wedding so they missed out on all of the fun.

Here are a couple of pictures I took at the Mellinum Gardens today...

Have a GREAT week;)

YIPEEEEEEEEEEE!!! My Bag has Arrived!!!

2008-09-20T19:59:00.000-06:00

I participated in Linda's "Bag/Bucket" Swap and 9 days ago got the email that I had been waiting for...The one telling me that my bag was on the way. I was soooo excited, but I have to tell you that those 9 days seemed like an eternity. I guess I was acting like a little kid waiting for Santa to arrive. Well, yesterday it arrived... I work two jobs and had just stopped at home between jobs to pick up a few things before heading off to job #2 for the day. I kept looking at the box and tired to figure out if I should open it right then, or wait until I got home after work...Well, there was no way I was going to go to work and leave that box unopened...that would have been shear torture. So, I cut the tape and popped it open and there I found this......

This little gem made it all the way to me from Australia!

The anticipation was killing me.........so the wrapper came off and look what I beheld................................................

...look how cute...

...I love the hand stitching...

...and the green rick rack...

...the fabrics all go together so well...

...and that's not all........

...a view of the inside with a pocket on each side...

...all of the goodies...
FQ's, a pin cushion, a needle book, and embroidery floss...

Am I a lucky girl or what???

Bec from ohsewbusy.blogspot.com is the wonderful lady that made all of these lovely items for me. THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU, Bec. I love them all! You went way over and above on this one!

Speaking of bags and swaps...the swap partner that I sent my bag to is Helena from http://www.syverkstan-helena.blogspot.com/. She has posted some pictures of the bag I made her. Check out her blog. She's got some new patterns available that are very cool.

My daughter and her family are on their way here right this very second. They left Minnesota this afternoon and were in Iowa when I talked to her around 1600. Right now I would suppose they're somewhere in Nebraska. I expect them to arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon. They will be here for only a day, or less, and then it's off to California to visit family there. They will return here next Thursday and be here for a week and then I will be heading back to Minnesota with them.

Have a wonderful Sunday;)

Very brave of me, I think, being that I'm allergic to bee stings...

ENJOY;)

Sunday Baskets and a Mini Quilt

2008-09-14T21:28:00.000-06:00

Aren't Sunday's the best...nice and quiet, relaxing, time to get a little sewing done before church and then pleanty of time to work on ufo's after church. Here's what I did today......

I used the pattern from Pink Penguin to make these little beauties. Easy to follow directions and quick to make. I have a feeling that there are a lot more of these in my future.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I participated in the Booty Miniature Quilt Swap. I previewed the fabrics that I used and my partner should have gotten her package yesterday, or by tomorrow at the latest, so I guess it's OK to show you what I made for her...

I got the idea for this mini from a Fon's and Porter quilt that I saw in a recent issue of their magazine.

I had dinner outside this evening. I noticed that there's a little orange and red starting to show up on the mountains. I guess Fall is truly on the way. Y-I-P-E-E!!! I love the Fall, although they do promise 5-10 degrees warmer than usual for the next few days.

I hope that you all have a GREAT week;)

ENJOY!!!

Two Days Off and a Couple of Swaps

2008-09-10T20:07:00.000-06:00

It's amazing how fast time flies. I've been very busy at work, but...I have a whole two days in a row off, which is rare, because I usually work 6 days a week and that leaves me very little time to do the things that I truly love.

Today I had plans to get a lot of quilt squares finished. Well, as life would have it , a lot turned into a few, of which I have no yet taken pictures. I'm involved in a few swaps and have gotten 3 of them sent off in the last week.

Swap #1: Vintage Sheet Swap---just waiting to get mine in the mail--should be in the next week or so.

Swap #2: Bag/Bucket Swap--about 4 weeks before our bags were supposed to be in the mail I

completely changed gears and made a bag that was NOTHING like the one that I had started. The reason...I just wasn't feeling the love from the fabrics that I was trying to put together. I was able to finish up the second bag and get it in the mail on time...even a little early...but that's OK because it had a very, very long trip ahead. In fact, I mailed my package a week ago yesterday and, as yet, have not heard that it has made it safely to it's new home. I find that my projects are like my children, I worry about them until I know that they are safe...know of what I speak??? Anyway, in my haste to get the package in the mail I didn't take any pictures of the finished piece, but this is what I used to make it........The orange color is pretty close, but the melony looking color is really a little roseyer in real life...

Here's a picture of the bag in progress...My mom taught me to knit eions ago and I have been doing quite a bit of it the past few years.

And a close up of the bag...

So you'll have to use your imagination on this one...at least until it reaches it's new home and maybe there will be some pictures of it.

Swap #3: I joined the Miniature Booty Swap, or so I thought I had. I didn't find an email from Toni, so assumed that I was too late. Well, about 3 weeks ago I did hear from her and come to find out, I was included and her email from months before had gone to my spam folder...YIKES!!! What to do, what to do??? Can I tell you my head was spinning! I emailed Toni and explained what happened, asked her to resend my partner's info, which she did the next day, and then came the questions. What kind of things does she like...what about colors, etc...so off to her blog I went in search of clues......This is what I came up with...

The Fabrics

The bias strips are the leftover binding.

All the goodies just before going into the mail.

The Card

You'll have to wait for pictures of the finished quilt, because it won't be to it's new home until the end of the week, and unlike the bag...I did remember to get pictures of this one.

There's a new store in town and so I thought I'd check it out today...Can I just tell you that all is right with the world. Having lived the major part of my life in Southern California, I became acustomed to shopping at Trader Joe's. Love, LOVE, LOVE that store!!! Much to my dismay there are no Trader Joe's within what seems to be a gazillion miles of here...but today I found the next best thing...It's called Sunflower Farmer's Market...All I can say is Y-I-P-E-E-E!!! This is my new favorite store and I can see me spending a lot of money there. Heck...they even bag your groceries in reuseable bags and they don't charge for them. That might only be a promotion for the first week, but I came home with a couple of them.

My #5 grand child started Kindergarten a few weeks ago and so we don't get to see each other as much as we're used to. I thought that she might like to do a craft project together and so I asked her if she would like to. Of course, she was delighted. Several months ago she was at Joanne's with me and she wanted to pick out some FQ's, so I let her pick 3. They were all pink, which is her favorite color right now. They were all about the same shade of pink, so I threw in another pink, just a little darker. The FQ's ended up in my stash, but today when we were looking for some fabric for our project she went right to "her" pink FQ's.

This is what we came up with...

We had one strip left over that we added to the back...

Do you think she likes her little pillow??? I did all of the cutting and I had her do the layout (with a little help). I had her sit on my lap at the machine and help me guide the fabric. She got a little tired of it about half way through and decided that she wanted to color, so after dinner we finished. Her favorite part was the "stuffin'". She thought that was great fun. Her sharing day is Tuesday and guess what she wants to share next Tuesday...

Now for those of you that are creative gardners...check these pictures out...

That's the second story roof of a house in a resedential area.

A view from the front

And another view from the front

Now that's some creative gardening...probably blows his roof warranty, but creative, nevertheless;)

Now, I figure this entry is pleanty long enough. I have more to share, but will do that later. I'll just leave you with a couple more of the many flowers that I have taken pictures of in the past few months;)

ENJOY!!!

Back in Business (i hope)

2008-08-25T23:05:00.000-06:00

Ever had a problem with your computer and not been able to figure it out??? Well, it's taken me a few weeks to fix the problem, but I think I've done it. At least I hope I have.

I'm participating in Linda's Bag/Bucket Swap over at http://www.all-stitched-up.blogspot.com/ and am almost done with my Bag/Bucket. Here's a little preview*****

These are some of the fabrics that I'm using

And here's a little stitching

I've made a few changes, but you'll have to wait to see what they are.

It's a secret, ya know;)

Here are a few more quilts that were in Long Beach

and a few pictures of the flowers that were in bloom

ISN'T MOTHER NATURE AWSOME

Enjoy!!!

Earthquake, FQ's, Quilts

2008-08-06T19:37:00.000-06:00

As promised I'll share a few more pictures of the quilts that I saw at the International Quilt Festival, but first...some other things...........

Yes, I was in California when the latest earthquake hit. Two of my granddaughters and I happened to be out when it hit. After spending most of my life in So Cal this quake didn't really bother me (I've been in much bigger), but my granddaughters had never been in an earthquake. They took it all in stride...no big deal...

It's official...I'm a FQF (Fat Quarter Freek)! These are the latest additions to my collection that I bought at the International Quilt Festival..............

Some Japanese Silks

Some Asian Prints

A Couple More

and the rest of my new flavors
YUM YUM!

The flamingo print in the bottom left corner was used to back the pillows that my two oldest granddaughters designed and embroidered. I have lots of ideas for the other ones, but nothing concrete, yet.

These are the last two star blocks that I've been working on with Amanda and the gang over at http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

And this is another one that goes to my BOM that I'm doing with the Fabric Mill.....................

And here are a few more of the quilts that were at the IQF held in Long Beach, California........

ENJOY.............

QUILT ON;)

Guess Where I Went???

2008-08-02T13:54:00.000-06:00

I just got back this morning from visiting family and friends in Southern California. While there I got to go to...can you guess??? OK, well here's a hint...

It has something to do with the beach and quilting...any ideas???

Is this picture helping any???..............OK OK........I'll tell you.....................................I went to............

THE

INTERNATIONAL

QUILT

SHOW

It was being held at the Long Beach Convention Center and I was staying about 10 blocks from there. I took tons of pictures and will be sharing them with you over the next few weeks. Here's just a sampling of some of the beautiful quilts:

This one was beautiful. Not that the others wern't, but I liked the way this one was set up

I love the fish on this one. The shinny lines are bugle beads.

Check this one out...

The front

The back...All thread!!!AMAZING!!!

Like I said, these are just a few of the quilts that I took pictures of. I'll be sharing over the next few weeks.

I hope you enjoy them.

QUILT ON!!!

Shop Hop and Quilt Blocks

2008-07-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

Well, it's really July 14th, not the 6th. It's taken me a couple of weeks to get finished with this entry so I could post it...So here's some of what's been going on.

My youngest, her baby boy and I did the Wasatch Shop Hop a few weeks ago. We had 4 days to "Hop" to 15 "Shops" and we did it in 2!

Our first stop:

Day one--we had only planned on going to a couple of shops and finishing up on Fri and Sat, but K was doing really well and so we decided to go for broke. We got in 7 shops on Wed, took Thurs off because we both had to work and instead of taking Fri and Sat to finish up we were able to finish up on Friday, but only with the help of L's inlaw's GPS. I don't think we would have finished, even on Sat had we not had the GPS. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting one. I think they start around $150 and are worth every cent, espically if your're direction challenged, as I am.

Our second stop and my favorite local quilt shop - The Corn Wagon:

We had a lot of fun seeing all of the quilts and fabrics and everything else that was on display and available. Lots of new ideas swimming around in my head but I decided to jot the ideas down and file them for later because I have several wips going right now that I want to finish up.

A couple more of the shops that we stopped at--tonz o fuuun!

And for those old car/truck buffs--this one's for you--It's a 1958 (I think). It was at one of the shops we stopped at--pretty cool, don't ya think?

Here are a few more quilt blocks that I've been working on...

Blocks 7, 8 and 9

And blocks 10 and 11 of the Star Quilt Along

over at

http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

YIKES!!! I flipped 4 of the sqs on

this one...at least I'm consistant...

Looks like I'll be getting the seam

ripper out...If you squint, you can

still see the star.

Hummm, I'm liking the red and turquoise combo...another idea...

And this one is block 3 of the BOM that I'm working on

I hope that you all have a great week! ;)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2008-06-15T23:26:00.000-06:00

I hope that all fathers out there have had a wonderful Father's Day. My own

father was made a GREAT Grandpa for the 12th time today (ten of those are mine). My older brother's only daughter had her first, a boy, today. Congrats Lindsey and Max, and Gordon and Holly, and of course, Dad!

I don't have pics taken of the quilt blocks that I've been working on this past week, so I thought I'd include a few pics of the roses in the front yard. I hope that you enjoy the colors and that they inspire you. I'll be back soon with my quilt blocks, until enjoy.

This one is a single rose with creamy white and pink petals. Ooooooo it smells wonderful.

Dear Jane

2008-06-08T21:37:00.000-06:00

I finally started my Dear Jane Quilt. I was originally going to make it completely by hand and then decided that there would be a sufficent amount of handwork on it even if I didn't do it all by hand. This will be a project that will probably take a couple of years to get all of the pieces made and then there will be the quilting. For now, tho' here's what I have done.

This one is called Four Corner Press and will find its home in position B-13.

These blocks will measure 4.5'' finished. There are over 200 blocks in the Dear Jane Quilt.

This one is called Uncle Homer and will go into the A-4 position.

I also cut out a couple of blocks from the Dear Jane Quilt that are appliqued.

Here are blocks 5 and 6 that go in my Star Quilt that's going on over at http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

I took these pics late in the evening so the color isn't very good and you can't see the different shades of red very easily.

I did a 5" charm square swap. We all swapped 20-5" blocks with 2 different people. I got these in the mail yesterday . Aren't they cool??? I think they are.

The top two pics are mostly the same swatches. There are a few more in the one on the right that I forgot to put in the first pic.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we'll get block #7 for our Star Quilt from Amanda Jean. Until then...HAPPY QUILTING;)

Yellow Swap and A Couple More Quilt Blocks

2008-06-05T18:44:00.000-06:00

I got my "Yellow Swap" in the mail this week. Some yellow fat quarters (I can always use more fabric), pins (who doesn't need more of these) notice the yellow heads, yellow thread to go with my yellow fabric, and a yellow note pad. I like all of the fabrics, but the top one is my favorite. I'm always looking for paper to jot new ideas down on so the note pad will come in very handy. And pins and thread...what can I say...Love them all. Thanks a ton Missy!

Here are a couple more blocks from the star quilt I'm working on with Amanda over at http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ . These are blocks 3 and 4.

I've been working on my setting blocks, they're blue and white, along with blocks 5 and 6. Pics will be up soon of them along with block 3 from my BOM that I'm doing at the Fabric Mill. Notice that my blocks haven't been squared up yet...for some reason I don't do that until all blocks are made. I think it gives me a little more fudge room, if you know what I mean...

Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Quilt Blocks

2008-05-13T19:17:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of the quilt blocks that I've been working on lately.

These two are from a BOM that I'm doing at Fabric Mill.

They are from the Eleanor Burns' Quilter's Almanac Quilt Block Party Series Number Three. We started this quilt in April and will be finishing it up, at least the top, next March.

The two below are the first two blocks from the QAL that Amanda is doing on her blog, http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/. I have a few adjustments to make, but I'm really enjoying the blocks that Amanda is helping us with, and the fact that I love "stars" makes it all the more fun for me.

I have the setting blocks for this quilt cut out. They are blue and white. Looks like I'll be adding some red, white, and blue quilts to my collection after all.