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2009-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

New Blog Address, come and visit me!

http://bethcrafts.blogspot.com/

Moving Day!

2009-01-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions was to switch over to the new Blogger once and for all. I thought I had a very long time ago, but I hadn't, since every time I wanted to add something to my blog I had to do it all manually by tinkering with the HTML code in the template. It was very temperamental and little by little my blog has been getting messier and messier. So, today I finally did it, I switched most of my stuff over to a new template. I am not done moving stuff or adding stuff, but you can visit me over at my new address. I will keep my old blog up just so I have it all there in case anyone wants to look at past stuff or if I need the template! Hope to see you over there soon!

A New Toy for ME!

2008-12-30T19:04:00.001-08:00

I have always wanted to learn how to machine quilt myself, I have thought many times about signing up for classes, but they are always on weekdays, and besides that, my Brother machine that I use for piecing is really a struggle even to quilt a lapsize quilt in it. So, after asking around to Kim, Kim, and Sandy to name a few, I took the plunge and purchased a Juki TL-98Q from here on the recommendation of one of the Kims. It just arrived on my doorstep tonight. This thing weighs a TON! I am really scared, I think she might sit in my sewing room for a while before I try her out. I have another 4-day weekend this weekend, so I think I'll be testing her then. How exciting! Even if I only meander stitch my quilts, I'll be happy as a clam. Well, I'm going to muster up my strength and lug this baby to my sewing room now.

2008-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

I worked diligently on my Ode to the 1930's BOM and managed to get caught up to Month 6. It really helps that I have been swapping out the applique blocks with the same size blocks I've been finding at the Quilter's Cache website. I love that website, I highly recommend it! The quilt shop I'm getting this BOM from is already up to Month 12 since I started late, so in my next shipment I am getting like 5 months of packages, I told them to just send them all to me at once and get it over with, then I will be current with them and have two more months coming, yikes! But this baby is staying on the design wall until I can start piecing it all together. Here's a current picture of what I accomplished in my 4-day weekend. I have another 4-day weekend coming up this week for New Year's so guess what I'm going to be doing? I'm not keen about the blocks in here that have black and red, they just don't seem to fit with the rest of the quilt. I will leave them there until I get more of the blocks done, then decide what to do. I DO know that that black pinwheel smack dab in the middle is GOING!Well, I'm posting from work, so I better get back to it!

2008-12-27T21:20:00.001-08:00

I really can't believe how fast this four-day weekend is flying by! And I had such big plans of doing so much quilting, and I really haven't accomplished much. Luckily I have another 4-day weekend next week for New Year's! Yay!

I decided to pull out one of my many BOMs and get caught up on it, so I chose the Ode to the 1930's that I'm getting from Cottage Quilts. I have my packages up through Month 7, so I had this big idea that I was going to get caught up through Month 7. Each package by the way has 4 blocks in it. That's a lot of blocks! I figured, heck, 4-day weekend, no problem! And I am swapping out the applique blocks for pieced blocks, that's making it go faster. Big plans!

Today I got an email from the shop, they were having a problem with my card. I'm not surprised, I have had to close my debit card three times because some crooks kept getting my number somehow and using it to buy plane tickets and whatnot, so they were getting a bit confused at the shop. Anyway, when I talked to the shop gal, I asked how far along this BOM is, she said the shop is up to Month 12 out of 14 months. Good grief. So, I told her, just go ahead and send me the next 5 months so I'm current as well. Well, as of tonight, I have finished 3 months of blocks. Here's a picture to show for all the work I feel like I've done. Even without the applique, I think it's going to be a pretty quilt.

Well, I just went to QuiltersCache and printed out more blocks to swap the applique blocks that are in the next package, but I think I just hit the wall. I think I'll pick this up again tomorrow.

2008-12-26T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well, did everyone survive the holiday? Whew! Am I glad it's over. My mom is going to kill me, I totally forgot to call her yesterday AND today, but I talked to her on Wednesday, so it should be ok. Note to self, call mom tomorrow!

So for the day after the holiday, I decided to hit up a couple of quilt shops. I decided the traffic might be bad, so I just went to local shops. I went to the Fabric Patch and just got a few 30's fat quarters and a couple of notions, then I went up to Ginger's and picked up a few fat quarters and signed up for a really cool block of the month Ginger is offering and had a nice chat with the infamous Jane of LA Quilter's blog. Jane said she reads my blog all the time. Hi Jane! I'm testing you! Oh, and speaking of Vicky, I am this month's lucky winner of the Simply Sophisticated drawing she puts on every month due to the generosity of Kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop. I won this month's $25 gift certificate. Now I just need to decide what I want to use it on! How fun! Thank you for hosting the drawing every month Vicky!

I puppy sat again tonight, my daughter just came and got her baby after work so now my poor cats can come out from hiding. Hey, for all you parents out there who know how hard it can be to get your kids to visit when they move out, it works for me!

Well, no quilting occurred today, the doggy didn't want me doing that, so maybe tomorrow.

2008-12-25T06:43:00.000-08:00

Whatever the holiday is that you celebrate this season, may it be happy!

2008-12-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

Well, I had a very productive weekend in the quilting department, and I'm not done yet! I got month three of the Simply Sophisticated BOM from Fat Quarter Shop and promptly got on it last night. I finished up all the blocks today. I enter the drawing every month that Vicky puts on on behalf of the Fat Quarter Shop for a $25 gift card. I haven't won yet, but it still has a long ways to go, I could yet! I have to post a picture here on my blog to prove I did the blocks, so here they are. I'm really getting tired of 9 patches though, last month's had the same ones only in different colors! I *hate* doing 9 patches!

You can see a wee bit of another of the gazillion projects I'm working on, it's Sweet Land of Liberty by Cheri Saffiote Payne. Her stuff is labor intensive but worth it. I might work on that some next. I used to have a blog-along for it, but I decided to take it down, there were some disagreements going on and some quilt shop bashing that I didn't like going on on there, so it went poof. That's ok, I'm still working on it as an "along" with Colleen and Kim.

Then I decided to make my mom a little table topper quilt for her Christmas gift. Times are tough for everyone right now, so hubby and I decided no gifts for anyone this year. Well, I told him we could buy our own gifts, and he can give his daughter something if he wants, and I will take care of a gift for my daughter. So, I actually ordered my gift the other day and got the first installment. I am getting the ABC Sampler, another Cheri Saffiote Payne quilt as a BOM from The Buggy Barn, that's actually where I got my Sweet Land Of Liberty BOM. They are fast, I just signed up like on Wednesday last week and already got the first block! I know, stop laughing, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker when it comes to BOMs. I now have 5 of the danged things again! Anyway, here's a picture of mom's quilt, nothing fancy, made from a charm pack of Oak Leaves and Reel, and I had some fat quarters of it that I used for the border and binding. The red is just some random red I had in my stash. I think it's some cheapy stuff from Joann's, but mom won't mind. Here's a picture. I just have to sew the binding down on the back.

Ok, here's the reason I have been spending so much time in the sewing room today. My daughter got a little rescue doggy the other day, she is the sweetest little thing, her name is Bella, the vet says shes a chihuahua/beagle mix of all things. I am babysitting today because she has work and her roommate was going to set off a bug bomb before she went to work. The poor little thing is crawling with fleas, I hope the flea stuff worked a little before she came over here. She's doomed to the sewing room in her crate for now, the roommate is picking her up after she gets off work, my kid went to a concert when she got off work tonight. She informed me this is the closest I'm getting to a grandchild. That's ok, I don't think I'm grandmother material anyway. I better go check on the baby now, it's probably potty time again. And I have some more quilting to do.Tootles!

Bono and Pavarotti perform Ave Maria

2008-12-12T10:21:00.001-08:00

Tis the Season

2008-12-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Is this just the saddest looking little Christmas cactus you'll ever want to see? I have had this thing for years and years and I have it outside because of the cats and always forget about it, then once a year, the poor little thing gets one flower (two this year!) and that's it. I promised myself tonight that I am going to re-pot this poor little thing when it's done blooming so maybe next season it will have more flowers. It hardly has any dirt in the pot, maybe that could be one problem!

My gosh, I just am not in the holiday season at all this year. I told my husband today that I am worrying too much about my job to buy a bunch of presents for people who never thank me and never remember what they got last year, I never would have thought that layoffs would be happening in law firms, I have worked in law firms for almost 30 years, and I have never seen it, but it's happening now across the country. Pretty scary. Anyway, I told him, he can buy his own gift, if I feel like one, I'll buy my own, and he can buy his daughter something and vice versa for my daughter. And I mean it, he can just deal with it, the spoiled little baby! Harumph and ba-humbug!

I think I'm going to try to do some quilting tonight. Tootles!

Pre Holiday Cheer!

2008-12-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

I just always get the biggest kick out of watching this video, I can never watch it enough times!

2008-11-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

Well let's see, what have I accomplished today. I went to the bank, went to the hardware store and got a curtain rod for my sewing room, I made one more block for the Stars Around the Garden quilt, got hubby to hang up the curtain rod, and made some repurposed curtains from two very old pillow cases I got from my mom the last time I visited her. I'm sort of annoyed, one of them is a wee bit longer than the other, I cut exactly the same amount off each but I didn't measure before sewing them, dang it. I can leave it longer but it's probably going to bug the hell out of me, so maybe I'll fix it tomorrow. I just used the hem on them for the tube to hang them and added on that ric rac that I have had in my collection for months. I don't even remember what I bought that for. Here's a picture. Heck, I might just leave them as is, we'll call it charm! Of course, my Talula had to get in the act there, you can see her tail sticking out.

I heard the double sonic boom today when the space shuttle landed at Edwards, I remember when we used to hear sonic booms all the time back when they were doing testing of various aircraft out there. That was fun, ok, I'm a geek. LOL

Hubby just went to the store to get something to go with the steak he wants me to BBQ tonight. I guess I'll go get one more Stars Around the Garden block ready to go while he's gone. I can't believe this four day weekend flew by as fast as it did! Work already tomorrow. ARGH!!!

What I did during my Thankgiving Holiday, by Beth

2008-11-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

My work always gives us the day after Thanksgiving off, that's great, but the hubs had to work. What's a girl to do when she is home alone and gets bored? Road trip!!! So I filled up the tank, gas is now down to $1.93 a gallon here which is cheap by Southern California standards, got myself a Big Gulp and hit the road!

First stop, Country Loft where I got this assortment of goodies. As you can see, there is a very nice assortment of those famous little brown envelopes in this pile! That little white bag contains a few scoops of antique buttons they had a basketful of, I'm a sucker for collecting buttons! I also got a few cuts of that Sandcastle look-alike fabric by Moda that is great for stitchery, loved the colors they had, a really pretty pumpkin, a nice yellow and some olive green that I got the last piece of. There are also a couple of stitchery patterns in there.

Next I hopped back on the freeway and headed north again for Fat Quarters where I purchased this pile of goodies. Oh look, another one of those brown envelopes! I also got the last copy they had of It's a Wonderful Life and I got it for 50% off! What a deal! If you can still find it online, it's like $55! I got my copy for $22.50! I also got some cute, tiny little figurines for my curio shelf and some assorted cuts of fabric. I also got that little Merry & Bright stack of fabrics there behind the Comfort & Joy book, it's a kit for one of the patterns in the book. I love that fabric! Well, I felt pretty guilty buying all that stuff, so I figured I better get back on the road and head home, didn't go to Rosie's this time around, besides, that place has so much stuff it makes my head spin and I almost hyperventilate! Traffic was horrible, so many lame drivers out it wasn't even funny. It's lucky for those people I don't carry a gun! LOL

Got home to find my last installment of Country Loft's Four Seasons BOM in the mail. Speaking of BOMs from Country Loft, while I was there, the ladies showed me one of the BOMs they will be coming out with for next year and told me about the two others, there will be another stitchery one much like the Four Seasons one, and a traditionally pieced one with Civil War fabrics I believe she said. So watch their BOM section come January. I myself am all stocked up with BOMs so I probably won't partake of any of theirs. Anyway, it was a very quilty day for me indeed! I'm going to see what I can scrounge up for dinner. I didn't have lunch, I'm starving. Well, I'm not starving, I could live off my fat for a couple of weeks! LOL I am exhausted though. I put almost 300 miles on my car today, that's half way to San Francisco!

Tootles!

2008-11-27T06:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving day one and all. May we all be thankful for everything we have and reflect on that today. I myself am thankful that I am not the one doing the cooking today!

Cheers!

2008-11-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday all! I am so happy this is a three-day workweek this week I can barely stand it! I hope to get in my sewing room most of my four-day weekend and get some quilting and stitching done! I can't wait, hope these three days go by quickly.

Nothing on the quilty or stitchy front took place this weekend so nothing to share today. Oh, I did get to hit up Calico House quilt shop and a needlework shop on Saturday, bought a cute little Christmas kit at Calico House, they had kits 30% off, I timed it perfectly! I didn't find anything that struck my fancy at the needlework shop though.

Well, this report is boring the heck out of me, so it must really be boring to anyone reading it, so I better get ready for work now anyway. Have a wonderful week one and all!

Tootles!

2008-11-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

It's hot and windy here today in Southern California, so we decided not to take the boat out for fishing, even though we haven't been in a long time, it's just miserable fishing in the wind, but I sure miss our fishing every weekend! It's about 90 here at my backdoor. One would never guess it's the middle of November! There are more wildfires burning all around us, people are losing their homes by the dozens, it's so darned sad, we can see the smoke from one of them looking south from our house. Just awful.

Since we didn't go fishing, I decided to re-accquaint myself with my quilting room! I haven't done a lick of quilting in weeks. I really need to get working more on my quilting. Anyway, I joined the Simply Sophisticated BOM at Fat Quarter Shop. If we all finish our monthly block by a certain date, I think it's the 25th of each month, Vicky at LA Quilter puts us all in a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop. I didn't win last month, but I'll keep trying. I finished my blocks today, there were a lot of them, 8 in all, and 6 of them were 9-patches. I HATE doing 9-patch blocks. But they are done now! It feels good to be caught up.

I'll show you one thing I did manage to get my butt in gear and do. I have a TON of DMC embroidery floss. I decided since I'm getting back into cross stitch again, I should have it all organized so I can pull numbers easily. So, I ordered a couple of multi-drawer cabinets from Amazon, and now all the floss I own is nicely organized and numbered. I got two thinking I had more floss than I did, but all the floss fit into one, so I'm using the second one to hold all my embellishments, beads, buttons, etc. Here's a picture of my floss cabinet. This took quite a lot of work to accomplish. Get aload of my ORT PORT. I saw on a few blogs where people keep all their scraps of thread, for what, who knows, but I thought it was sort of pretty, all the different colors, so I started one of my own. Finally, here's a picture of how far I've gotten on A Quaker Christmas.

I am pretty perturbed though. I was zipping right along on it and GASP, I came to a spot where there is a small hole in the fabric, where a couple of threads broke! I wish I had seen that before I started the pattern! I was just sickened when I saw that. What to do. Well, I added a few stitches not in the pattern to help hold the threads from unraveling anymore, and went to my newly organized embellishment drawers and found a a little tiny Mill Hill crystal treasure, a tiny little red heart, I'll sew that puppy on there when I'm all done, it will cover up that ugly spot. Here's a picture of it up close.

Check out this picture of my Yin Yang kitties. They are both tuxedo kitties, Stinky is on the left, Talula is on the right. Could they be any bigger slobs? What a life. I can't believe I didn't make my bed today! Well, that's about all I have for now. I need to get back to my sewing room and do some more quilting, now that I seem to be in the mood.

Tootles!

Check out this giveaway!

2008-11-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

Of course, telling about it cuts down on my chances of winning, but I get extra points if I do, so go on over to the Old Red Barn Co. blog and check out these wonderful quilts being given away and enter!

Good luck to all!

November 4, 2008

2008-11-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

What a historic day it was in our country yesterday. I am so proud to be one of the over 62 million Americans who voted for CHANGE in our country.

UPDATE: I have been scanning some of my usual quilting/knitting/crafting blogs and frankly I am shocked, disturbed and offended by some of the venom that I have come across in a few of them. Enough said.

2008-10-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday
to my
Little Ghoulie
Meghan!!

Today is my daughter's 22nd Birthday! Gosh does that make me feel old! She moved out a few months ago and I hardly see her now, she's getting her own life, but I'm sure she'll come over tonight to get her birthday money! Little snot! Well, everyone have a safe and sane Halloween!

2008-10-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

My quilting blog seems to be turning into a cross stitch blog these days. I have not done a lick of quilting in weeks, besides the Simply Sophisticated BOM that I am working on to get into the drawing that Vicky is sponsoring every month, other than that, I have not done one bit of quilting since I can't even remember when. I have several cross stitch patterns in the works, but this one seems to be dominating my time right now, it's called A Quaker Christmas. Here's how much I have done so far. Not the greatest picture quality, I took it with my cell phone at work, can you tell I'm not busy today? Excuse the desk blotter too!Next on my list to start concurrently, since one can never have too many projects going at once, is one called Quaker Virtues. It calls for 38 skeins of Crescent Colors floss, but at $2 a skein, I think this one will be done in DMC!

Well, that's about all I have to report right now. I am so glad the weekend is almost here, I need it!

Tootles!

2008-10-15T06:35:00.001-07:00

I started to work on that cross stitch design that I mentioned in my previous post, but the pattern was so small it was all I could do to see it even with my reading glasses. It was annoying me and taking away any of the fun and relaxation, so it's in the cross stitch bin again for some other time and I decided to work on this pattern instead. Much easier to read and more enjoyable. Just last night, I got this much done. It's fun to work on, it only has 3 colors of floss, I like that! I like these detailed motif patterns, they don't get boring, at least to me. I may have to order some more of these Quaker style patterns in the future.

A Quaker Christmas
ByGone Stitches
Stitched in Crescent Colors Balsam Fir, Cupid and Ye Olde Gold
32 Count Fabric

Well, I better quit lollygagging and get going here for work. Ugh. I have another sinus headache again today, that makes work not so much fun. Oh wait, when was my work ever fun! The winds we're having and the fires burning all around us are making for some really cruddy air quality.

2008-10-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while, so I figured I might as well so I can show what I have been doing lately. I have been sick all weekend, so that gave me some time to work on some cross stitch. I don't know if my illness was related to the flu shot I got on Monday, but I was pretty ill all the same. Anyway, tonight I put the last stitches in this little cross stitch sampler that I started months and months ago. I don't know why I never finished it, it was a really simple pattern. It's from this Blackbird Designs book. I may "antique" it a little with some Distress-It, I haven't decided yet. It's small, so I may make it into a pillow and give it to my mom for Christmas. I will now either go back to working on my Village of Hawk Run Hollow project or start this. I was looking at the pattern though, and it's so small I can barely see it! This one will take me a while for sure!

On the quilting front, I saw on Vicky's blog that she is having a sort of BOM-along for the Simply Sophisticated mystery block of the month from the Fat Quarter Shop. You can read the details of how to participate HERE. I just got my package on Thursday and worked it up tonight in less than an hour. I am going to try my hardest to keep up with this BOM. I have way too many partially done or never started BOM's. It's really sickening! Well, that's all I have for now. I am going to take some more cold medicine and hit the hay. Hubby changed his work hours again. I'm used to him getting home after midnight so of course I'm wide awake. He's already home and gone to bed. Now I have to get used to these hours. It will take me a couple of weeks probably.

Tootles.

2008-09-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because there has been nothing to blog about. There has been no quilting going on, I've been in a major quilting slump. I have been cross stitching though, and here is a picture of what I have been working on since August 23. Yes, it's taken me that long. Hey! It's on 32 count linen, it takes a while for these old eyes to work on that size linen. The rest of the blocks shouldn't be that bad though. It's called the Village of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. I still need to add some embroidery stitching to it, but I think I will do all that last so nothing gets snagged.

So, there you have it, that's the extent of it. I have nothing else to write about right now.

Tootles.

2008-09-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided to pick up cross stitching again, I don't have as huge a stash of cross stitching stuff as I do quilting stuff, but I used to be quite an avid cross stitcher for many years. I picked up this project that I started a while back, it's a Carriage House Samplings pattern, one of my favorite designers, called The Village of Hawk Run Hollow, you can see a picture of the finished model on my sidebar. It's on 36 count linen, so it's going to take me a while, heck, those little borders there took me about a week just to do those! Here is a picture of it so far. I have been working on this one section of it for about 2 weeks. This is the most difficult "block" out of the 12, it's mostly black and completely filled. That's about all I have been doing, cross stitching has consumed me again! I fear my quilting isn't going to get much attention for a while.

Tootles!

I WILL have my cross stitch neighborhood!

2008-09-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

As I wrote about in a previous post, my bloggy friend Colleen and I wanted to do a cross stitch neighborhood round robin. Alas, we couldn't find many interested parties and were quite sad. However, the other day, I wandered across this blog and of course we both had to join immediately. It isn't a round robin, we all make our own neighborhoods, but it will still be fun. If anyone out there is interested in joining, Vonna is taking up to 100 neighborhood "builders" on the blog. My goal is to make something like this one.

I am still recuperating from the PJ party at Sharon's house. Although, I didn't really participate in the "PJ" part of it in that I came home to do my sleepin'! I am currently detoxing after all the food and munchies and drinks that we all had. Whew boy, was it a fun weekend though!

Well, that's about all I have for now. I am working on some cross stitch right now. Oh oh, I hope it doesn't take over my life and I forget how to quilt! Hmmmmmm . . . NAH!!! Well . . . . MAYBE!

Tootles.

2008-08-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

I really have nothing to report on the quilting front lately. I have been in a major slump again. The only thing I have mustered up the energy to work on is a little bit of stitchery. I just finished the Spring block in this little Bird Brain Designs wall quilt I got at Road to California in January, I'm starting the winter block now and I'll be done. Here's a picture of the last block. I could kick myself though, I cut it too small, I hope I can manage to sew the edges there when I make the quilt. You can see the other ones there peeking out behind it, I cut off a 1/4 inch too much all the way around. I think if I use a scant 1/4 inch when I sew it, I'll be able to do it. Now if I can just find the red fabrics that came with this kit, I may have used them in something else, I've had this thing so long! Speaking of Road to California, anyone out there in blogland going to attend in 2009? I know I am!There has been no quilting going on but I am still continuing to buy stuff, I mean, come on, a girl still has to collect! Here's my latest purchase from Colonial Crafts. I love how they put a bow around everything you order from them. I ordered that stack of crackle fabrics to keep on hand for stitchery projects, I love that stuff. I even found a few scraps of it in my stash in a really pretty green and a dark brown, I guess it comes in a lot of colors that I haven't found online yet! And that dark muslin there is just to have on hand and I have a couple of projects that I am using it in for background fabric too. And isn't that the cutest little stitchery quilt there? All the blocks are 4x6, so it's a good project to bring on the train.

Well, that's about all the boring stuff I can come up with right now. I have to get ready for work now. Ugh.

Tootles.

CuPcAkE GooDneSS ArrIvED at MY HoUSe ToDaY!

2008-08-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sharon recently hosted a cupcake goodness swap for a few of us bloggers. I got Nan and Nan got me! I already sent her her stuff, you can see it on her blog. Well, today I got mine and boy, talk about fantastic! Here are a few pictures. Dang it, I can see now I didn't get everything in. But I'll tell you what there was. That absolutely ADORABLE little quilt, a cute coffee cup with a cupcake pattern on it, a decorating set, some cute little cupcake cups for the oven, a box of cake mix and some yummy frosting! Thank you Nan! I love, love, LOVE it all! Here are a couple of pictures, one before and one after. I think my kitty Talula can smell Nan's cute little doggies, she's going bonkers over the box!

Well that's all I have for tonight. No quilting has gone on at my house for several days. I don't like that! Maybe over the weekend I'll feel inspired.

Tootles!

A little quilting happened here today. . .

2008-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

I have a sister blog for anyone who wants to work along with myself and some other bloggy friends on The Great Pumpkin quilt. If you are interested in joining us, go on over there and check it out and let me know and I'll send you an invite so you can blog with us!

So, in order that I don't get left in the dust working on this one of a million projects I have going on, I went to the quilt shop today and picked up a few pieces of fabric, they were having a sale on fat quarters for $1.66 each if you bought 15, and of course I found 15, and then some, so between the stuff from my stash and what I bought, I should have enough to do this quilt, seeing as I reduced my templates to 75%. Here's a picture of my fabrics. I am going to love working on this quilt, don't you just love all those autumny colors? The quilt shop had a lot of it today. I can't wait for the seasons to change here, although it takes until about November for it to feel like autumn here in Southern California. And no one can say I don't keep my UFOs nice and neatly organized! Here's a picture of my fabric in it's own project box with the patterns. I have about 10 of these in my closet with UFOs in them, this one hopefully won't join the ranks of the never to be finished! Well I'm going to go work on some stitchery for the time being, unfortunately it's pretty danged warm in my sewing room right now, and I don't want to run the AC today, it's been running for days, pretty scary bill coming up I bet, it's only in about the high 80's today, so bearable. I'll come back and add pictures if I get anything started later on.

Update: Here is my first block all cheater prepped (fusible, gotta love that stuff) and ready to be hand appliqued. I am going to use black perle cotton and blanket stitch it. Gives me a TV project to work on .

Tootles!

2008-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

I should be cleaning this house, but instead I have been quilting all day long, shame on me! Here is a picture of the fruits of my labor. I tell ya, this is another one of those easy peasy quilts that if you're not paying attention, it's really easy to put the pieces together the wrong way. I can't believe how much ripping I did on this quilt! I could have done a better job, some of my seams don't line up, and it's a bit wonky, but I don't care. As Vicky said "it stays where it lays." I think I need to adopt that philosophy. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to that stuff. This is a mini'd down version of a quilt I found on Bonnie's blog. My blocks are only 2-1/2 inches square in this version.Yesterday I received my summer swap quilt from the Four Seasons Swap and is it adorable! Megan was my partner and she is a very gifted quilter, as soon as I get a hanger for it, it will take up residence in my sewing room next to my winter and spring swap quilts. Thank you again Megan! I can't wait until the Fall swap comes around!Sharon and I decided to make a quilt together. We are each making our own version of the Farmer's Daughter quilt. We are both using Civil War fabrics. I made one block using some vintage looking fabric I bought, but it just wasn't doing it for me, even though I love that fabric in other stuff. Last night I made a couple more blocks using some nice tea dyed muslin I got from Colonial Crafts. I am liking these blocks much better, this fabric is great to work with, and I like the darker muslin against my Civil War fabrics. So I ordered 8 more yards of it last night! I have another project in mind I can use some of it on. Here's a picture. I do love me some cheddar fabric! I adore that cheddar and green block! The bottom one is the one made with the vintage looking fabric which is going back in the orphan block box. On a side note, I can't wait to save up enough orphan blocks to make a quilt!

I think that's about all I have for right now. I just wanted to check in since I haven't in a while. I think I am going to head over to the Starbucks and get a drink from my favorite barista, my daughter Meghan. Now that she's moved out, it's the only time it seems I get to see her.

Tootles.

Earthquake!

2008-07-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking lately we are overdue for an earthquake one of these days, and sure enough, we did, this morning at a little after 11:00. Let me tell you, sitting on the 31st floor of a 60 floor high rise during an earthquake really gets the ol' heart racing! I had my daughter go check the house for damage since our home is closer to the epicenter than my office, only a few things knocked down, amazingly nothing broken. Whew! One of the attorneys here is transferred from New York and to see his face . . . oh my gosh, priceless!

Well, that was fun, now what?

2008-07-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, would you just look at what was waiting for me in my mailbox today? My friend Sandy decided that this cute little bunny quilt had to hop on over here from Texas and live at my house! Did you guys all hear me squealing with excitement when I opened this envelope? Oh my gosh, I cannot even begin to say how much I love this quilt. Thank you Sandy! This was more than generous of you! I am going to put it on the Quilting Room Wall of Fame tonight!

I have got just one more edge to sew down on the Four Seasons Swap quilt I'm making. I hate being down to the wire like this. I need to get that in the mail tomorrow for sure! I better go get busy on that right now.

Imay be back with another post tonight depending if I start something else!

Tootles for now!

P.S. I'm back. I just put the last stitch in the Summer 2008 Four Seasons Swap quilt. I hope I get into the fall swap, I love, love, love autumny quilts! Here's a picture. I just have to wash it to get those pesky blue marking lines off and I can mail it out tomorrow! Whew! I sure hope my partner likes it!

Now what can I work on?

2008-07-28T00:22:00.000-07:00

I started to write this last night, but it was 12:30 and hubby insisted I go to bed because he, like everyone else I know, thinks I don't get enough sleep. Doesn't he realize that sleep cuts into my quilting time! Men!

I was doing some organizing in my sewing room and I came across the September/October 2007 issue of a Fons & Porter magazine opened to a project I had wanted to do at one time or another called "Three Marigolds." I decided I wanted a smaller version of it, so I had taken the templates to work and shrunk them down by 50%. Of course, I finished cleaning up and decided to start on this. Hence the reason I was up until 12:30, I hate to go to bed until I reach a stopping point. Here is a picture of my version. I may swap out the leaves on the flowers, I feel like they need to have more contrast or something. I just need to do the machine applique on it. The colors look so much prettier in person, unfortunately my camera washed it out. And mine is more primitive than in the magazine. I always manage to make my flying geese all wonky and one always gets chopped off. Oh well, it was just made for fun. If I made it again I'd be more careful.

I also managed to finish up my quilt for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. I just need to hand sew the binding and get that thing in the mail! Talk about being down to the wire!

I noticed Sharon put up pictures on her blog of the quilt we are both working on. It's called Farmer's Daughter. We are both using Civil War fabrics. My collection isn't as extensive as hers, but I have enough to make several Civil War quilts, I'm just sayin'! Here is a picture of the one block I've done so far. I'm still out on the background fabric. It is called "vintage muslin." I got online, it has stains and splotches printed right into the fabric. It might be nice tan dyed after I'm done, the jury is still out on this background fabric though. I might change my mind and go with Civil War lights like Sharon is. I used this "stained" fabric in a mini 30's quilt I made for my friend Sandy, I tan dyed that one when I was done, I liked how it came out, so I might do it with this one. Well, I guess I shouldn't be doing all this planning with just one block made huh?

Well that's it for now. Back to work. Ugh.

P.S. I cannot believe it is almost August! Where did July go!

2008-07-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the weekend is coming to an end and I have to go back to work tomorrow, where does the time go! Ugh! Oh well, I have to support my quilting habit somehow. Today I spent the entire day at Sharon's house with Deb and Nancy No Blog doing a little bit of quilting. I had so much fun! Thanks for having us all over Sharon! I'm telling ya, that Sharon puts Martha Stewart to shame! I'm sure she'll blog about it eventually, so keep watching her blog for that.

I got home and decided I still needed to get in some more quilting time, so I finished off the Mary Engelbreit wallhanging quilt I had on my design board to make room for something else I am working on that is top secret! Here's a picture of the quilt. It looks a little skewed in the picture, but it is a rectangle, trust me. I did not like doing this pattern. I had a hard enough time keeping the pieces in order with the design wall, I can't imagine doing this quilt without one! I'm just glad I'm finished with it, I probably won't make another one of these I tell ya. Here's a picture.

Well, that's about all I have to report for tonight. I'm still doing laundry and here it is almost midnight, guess I better get off the sewing machine for the night and finish that up.

Tootles!

2008-07-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished working on my Four Seasons swap quilt for the evening. I just need to quilt it and bind it, and it will be done. Whew! I'm behind schedule on this. I really like this little quilt, I'm going to have a hard time giving it away! Here's a picture. I hope my swap partner likes it as much as I do!

I see Sharon has started her story on her blog about our trip to Oregon for the Sisters Quilt show, go check it out, you're bound to be entertained!

Well, I'm going to call it a night now, I'm pooped! Tootles!

We're Back!!!

2008-07-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am back with Sharon from Oregon and the Sisters Quilt show. She is a better bloggy reporter so I'll leave it up to her. Go check her blog often, she has a LOT to report. I did meet for a few minutes with Cathi, she had an absolutely stunning Dear Jane on display in the show, and I had the pleasure of meeting Bonnie and Lucy, Sharon will probably blog about that, since all the pictures are on her camera.

I am totally exhausted from driving 14 hours today from Oregon to LA, so I'm going to call it a night soon.

Tootles!

Sneak Preview

2008-07-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I should be sleeping, but I'm up quilting and packing. I would say tomorrow, but it's already tomorrow, anyway, Sharon and I are leaving in a few short hours for our road trip to Oregon for the Sisters Quilt show. I have family up there so I am going to kill two birds with one stone. Every year I say I'm going up there for the show, but this will be my first time there! I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!

I thought I'd show a sneak peek of the quilt I'm working on for the Four Seasons quilt swap. I'm bringing it along with me to Oregon to have something to work on in my down time. I am going to have a hard time giving it away, I really like how it came out. I'm pretty proud of myself too, I designed it myself! Anyway, here's a picture.

Well, I better call it a night and get to bed, 5:00 will be here before I know it. Be back in a few days! I'm sure Sharon will have much to tell on her blog!

Tootles!

2008-07-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well there has not been a whole lot of quilting going on this weekend unfortunately. But, I figured I should post some sort of blog entry, so here's a picture of my new toy. I got myself a brand new PINK laptop and matching PINK mouse to keep in my sewing room for this and that. Isn't she pretty? I needed it like a hole in my head, but I was tired of running back and forth to the den computer when I wanted to look up something quilt related that I needed. And look at the blog being shown on the screen!

Here is a picture of how much I've accomplished on the latest project I started. Gads I hate setting triangles with a passion, that's why I've only gotten that far. I will try to finish it up this week though before Sharon and I go on our road trip to Bend, Oregon to visit my family but mainly to go to lots of quilt shops and the Sisters Quilt Show while there! I'm killing two birds with one stone! My sister-in-law wants me to bring some quilts I've made for show and tell, and I want to bring this.
Well, that's all I have to share tonight. I'm going to go put my feet up and enjoy the last few hours of this 3-day weekend.

Tootles!

2008-07-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

Well here it is 1:00 a.m. again and I am still up quilting! I need to stop doing this! But, I started working on this cute little wall quilt that I found the other day when I was over at the Fabric Patch. They had theirs done up in Mary Engelbreit fabrics, and since it just so happens that I have *tons* of it, I decided to do mine in that too. It is such a simple little quilt. All 5 inch squares (part of a charm pack and a tiny bit of yardage) that you make into half square triangles and then put some setting triangles and you're done. I still need to move a few of the blocks around, I like taking pictures of my quilts when they are up like this so I can see what needs to be moved around. But I'll do that next time, I'm pooped, I need to get to bed! Here's a picture of what I have so far. This only took me about an hour to accomplish.
I get a 3-day weekend for the holiday, so I'm looking forward to some rest! Tootles!

Finally Finished!

2008-07-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

I am going to keep this short and sweet, it's 1:00 a.m. and I need to get to bed. But I was determined that I was going to finish this dang lousy quilt from hell more commonly known as the Web Sampler Celebration quilt. Several of us are doing the quilt, but no one sums up the crappy ass backward instructions for this quilt better than Nicole. I have been working on this thing for weeks and I was honestly sick and tired of looking at it. It had to be one of the most tedious quilts I have ever made! I got the finishing kit but when I opened it and it told me I had two colors of fabric that I had to cut close to 400 two-inch squares from and then make a pile more flying geese and half square triangles, I just about threw up. So, here is a picture of the way I finished mine, plain and simple. Once I give it to Sharon to quilt, she'll work her magic on it and it will be a pretty quilt. But I am sure sick and tired after this quilt of making half square triangles! My camera doesn't seem to be taking very good pictures lately, and it's been acting up, I'm thinking I need to break down and get a new camera one of these days. It is only a 4 megapixel, what are they up to now, like 10? Might have to put some of my quilting budget towards that.

Well, I better go get some beauty sleep. But when I look at myself in the mirror these days, it sure doesn't appear to be working!

Tootles.

I'm Baaaaaaackkkkk!!!!

2008-06-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Hubby and I just got back last night late from our Alaskan cruise. What a shock coming back to 100F weather after being in a place where the temps never got over 50F!!! Most of the time it was in the 40s, man I am going to miss that for a while, I love cold weather! All in all I had a nice time though. I just don't know if I'm a cruise kind of person is the problem. I was actually getting extremely bored by the last couple of days of the cruise. Our last day of cruising it was really cold and rainy and windy, and you couldn't even at least go outside on the deck it was so miserable, the wind was blowing so hard I would be afraid of getting blown overboard. I had a hard time getting my mind around how these cruise lines work those poor cruise workers like slaves, and oh, there are no labor laws on those ships, I guarantee you that, they are all registered offshore. My husband wants to do another one to Hawaii next year, I will have to really think about it, just based on that. Oh, and we found out that the gazillions of jewellery stores you see in these ports are owned by the cruise lines. You could tell that none of the people working in these shops were locals, in fact, a lot of the shops in Juneau had signs in the windows letting customers know that they are owned by Alaskan families. These poor businesses must just hate the cruise lines. I think I am really sort of a cruiseline hater! LOL

I did manage to find a couple of quilt shops while I was in a couple of ports. One of them had absolutely nothing I wanted, a lot of Alaskan themed fabrics and batiks, so no purchases there. The second one I found was a decent sized shop, and I actually did buy a couple of patterns and 6 fat quarters of 30's fabrics, but let me tell you, the women working in there were rude beyond belief! My husband saw a pattern for a little fishing related wall hanging quilt he said he wanted me to make, I asked one of the gals if they had the pattern, she barely gave me the time of day and pointed from where she was and said "it's over there on that wall." Wow! Talk about service with a smile! I mean, I understand that most of those locals must despise the cruise ships, but come on, how many people off those cruise ships are interested in buying quilting stuff? It was a very small town, they really should be happy to be getting the business! I'm just sayin'!

So I have no pictures to show, my hubby was taking a few here and there. We didn't see any whales, I only saw the fin of an Orca go by the ship while we were having dinner one night, we did see a grizzly bear when we were out salmon fishing one day, and went on another boat tour and saw a few black bears and a ton of bald eagles. That was the extent pretty much of our sightseeing.

Now we're back home and back to reality. Oh lucky me! Nothing has changed in the house since I left, my friends will know what I mean. LOL

I need to go pet some fabric, I missed my sewing room!

Oh and today starts the dieting and detox. We didn't go overboard with the eating, just 3 meals a day, but still, that is more than I am used to eating, and my gosh, the drinking hubby and I did! I am so sick of booze right now! LOL My liver will thank me for being home for sure! I am going to go to GNC today and see if they have some sort of detox stuff you can take. I need it for sure!

Tootles!

Bon Voyage!

2008-06-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! Hubby and I are leaving bright and early in the morning for our Alaskan cruise. Be back in a week!

Tootles!

2008-06-10T00:27:00.001-07:00

Tonight I decided to finally use my new sewing room a little, so after running some errands, I got in there and surveyed all the UFOs to decide which one to work on tonight. I decided I'd try to finish up the Web Sampler Celebration quilt. I am not making it as per the pattern I got with my finishing kit. While it's a very pretty finishing kit, the thought of making one more half square triangle or flying geese for this quilt was enough to make me gag, so I am doing it a simpler way. Here's a picture of the finishing kit I got.

I am putting in the sashings like in the pattern with the 9-patch corner stones, but that is where the similarity ends. I'm putting on a very simple border with some more 9-patch corner stones in it. I did like the red fabric they gave me, and I had enough to do it my way, so that's what I'm going with. Here's a picture. Obviously I'm not done, but you get the idea. I think it's going to be a pretty quilt regardless. Sharon will be happy to know she'll be getting another job! In the picture, on the right, you can just see peeking in the picture a little bit the latest quilt I finished and just got back from Sharon yesterday. I'm getting quite a stack of quilts that need bindings put on them!

My husband came home from work a few minutes ago, and I showed him my quilt. He was very happy to see I am using the design wall he gave me for Christmas (or whenever he gave this thing to me).

Well, I better go pick up my stuff and get to bed, it's almost 1:00 a.m.

Tootles!

2008-06-09T05:48:00.001-07:00

Not much to report in the way of quilting going on at my house the past few days. Here I got my new sewing room, but I have had absolutely no ambition to get in there and work on anything. I did go in there yesterday and get some stuff out to work on a block, but quickly burned out and just walked out. Oh well, I will eventually get into it again.

Besides, I had a very special party to go to yesterday. It is the one and only Ms. Sharon's birthday today but Deb and Nancy No Blog and I got together yesterday to have her a little pre-birthday bash! Oh my gosh, we had so much fun, and ate and drank way too much. I am sure Ms. Sharon will keep you all in suspense and string this out on her blog for about the next two weeks, but here are a few teaser pictures in the meantime.

Isn't this just the cutest little Birthday Girl Angel you'd ever want to see?

Ms. Nancy No Blog gave Ms. Sharon this card, don't know what she's tryin' to say! I'm stayin' out of this one!

Ms. Sharon with a Patriotic Annie from Ms. No Blog, I thought she was going to pee her pants! Honestly!

Would you look at that knife Ms. Sharon is wielding here? And look at that look on her face? Don't be tryin' to take any of her birthday swag, ya hear? I almost peed my pants! Honestly!

Would you look at her getting ready to dive into this giant bag of goodies? I thought she was going to hyperventilate! I'm just sayin'!

Well, that's about all I have to share picture-wise from our party yesterday. You will just have to watch Ms. Sharon's blog over the next few days and see what she has to offer. She has way more pictures than I do and I'm sure the story she will tell will be something else.

Here is a picture of my Talula kitty. I swear, this cat, the minute a new box comes into the house, she's on it like white on rice! And this one has some tissue paper in it, so she's got the best of both worlds there.

Well, time to get going to work now. I only work through Wednesday this week. My vacation starts on Thursday and we leave for our Alaska cruise on Friday! Man o' man, do I need a vacation! These three days are going to be hell!

Tootles!

What a weekend!

2008-06-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

Whew! What an exhausting weekend! I work at a law firm in downtown Los Angeles, and they have 4 floors in one of those scary high rise buildings that you sit in all day long and try not to read the articles about the "big one" and try not to think about it, it's best if you don't. Anyway, they have been remodeling each floor and this weekend was our turn to move to our new floor, so I volunteered to do my part since I figured it was my turn I might as well. They hire movers who do everything, but I get the lucky job of packing up and putting all of my bosses' crap away. I still didn't finish my partner's office, so I have to go in again today and finish that up.

Well, after leaving work yesterday, I came home and my daughter was all ready to go and chomping at the bit. She moved out for the first time yesterday. I can't believe how much crap she has! At least she didn't expect me to pack or unpack any of it. But we moved it over to her new place in a couple of loads. I'm supposed to meet her for "lunch" today which is breakfast for me, she had to be at work at 5:30 this morning so I said we'd do lunch. I hope she at least got her bed put together after we left.

Then, the minute DH and I got home, I got to work moving my sewing room in to her vacated room. I now have a sewing room! I can't wait to use it. It will have to wait until after I get home from work and do some cleaning though. Bummer. I also have a hall closet that I affectionally refer to as The Vault the contents of which I want to move in there. I want all my quilting stuff together. Here are some pictures. I might move a few little odds and ends around to different places, but you get the idea.

I miss my daughter terribly, but I know she wanted out, she hasn't been happy here since I got married three years ago and we had to try to blend the family. Let's just say the blending hasn't really gone so well. She never speaks to her stepsister. My friends know the story there, I won't bore you. Heck, I'm lucky they are still my friends after listening to me! I'm just sayin'! Now if we could just get the step to go, I might just get that knitting room that I would love to have! LOL

The Machine Nook

Comfy Chair, Closet with Loads of
Room for More Quilty Goodness

Neat Rack for Storing some Finished Quilts
(And Annies)
Design Wall, Mini Fridge my daughter left behind
I never have to come out now

Well, that's all I have to show right now. I need to get my butt in gear and get ready for work. Ugh. Oh well, the OT pay is great. I got in 3 on Friday, 6 yesterday, a couple more today, that should buy a few quilty things I would imagine!

Tootles!

My quilty 3-day weekend

2008-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today were very productive days on the quilting front. I finished the mystery mini quilt for my friend Sandy, so that's ready to mail out tomorrow. I can't show a picture right now, because then it wouldn't be a mystery for her. I will show a picture once I know she has it in her hot little hands.

I also finished up the rest of the blocks for the Web Sampler Celebration quilt. Whew! Glad those are done, I have never done so many half square triangles and flying geese in my quilting life! Some of the blocks were very simple and others were very labor intensive. The setting kit looks even more labor intensive, a gazillion more half square triangles and flying geese! And I bought what looked like the simplest of the kits available! Here are the last 4 blocks, number 12 was a doozy!

Block 9

Block 10

Block 11

Block 12

Well, that is all I have to show right now. I am debating over what to work on next. Maybe I'll start cutting some of the fabric in the middle part of this setting kit to put all the blocks together at least. But, I still have this baby quilt I am making for my former boss sitting here staring at me, and how many BOMs am I behind on? Sheesh! That kills the momentum when I think about how many BOMs are behind. Ugh.

My daughter is in her room packing to move. It's making me very sad that she is moving out, but she is very excited about it. I will be getting my sewing room, but I won't have her here all the time like I have had her for the past 21 years. How sad. But I'm happy for her. Now, if we could just get the stepkid to go . . .

Update: I just finished up the baby quilt I'm making for my former boss. She is having a boy, I thought this was sort of fun for a boy. It's called Let's Pretend. Here's a picture. I just noticed though, the little pictures have duplicates! I didn't even notice that until I posted this picture here! It was a panel that the pattern has you fussy cut, and I never even noticed that! If I had, I would have mixed them up better! I am NO WAY taking that stinking lousy quilt apart to fix that! Maybe the recipient won't notice. Hell, she probably won't even use it! LOL Check out the slippers on the feet of my quilt holder-upper. My daughter has on some knee length polka dot socks and those leopard print slippers. She looks like a danged hobo! LOL

2008-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have had some whacky weather today in Southern California. When I went to work, it was a little cloudy, but sunny and warm when I got to work. Then about 11:30, some very dark clouds rolled in and it started pouring and hailing like crazy, I heard reports of golf ball size hail in some parts of town. And when I was coming home listening to NPR on the radio, they said that there was a tornado watch in effect! Ok, the end of the world is coming. Next we will have earthquakes and locusts! Good grief! It's always a roller coaster ride weather-wise here. Last weekend it was in the 100s, today this! It seems to have finally cleared up here at my house though.

Ok, I just made the fatal mistake of looking at Kimberly's blog at which point I was lured to this mystery block of the month. Sadly, I have no willpower when it comes to blocks of the month, so you know I had to reserve my spot! Thankfully, it doesn't start until October, and it's all pieced, no applique. I like applique, but I tend to lollygag and procrastinate when it comes to applique blocks of the month. Don't you just LOVE the fabrics in this quilt?

Other than that, I have done nothing else to get myself into trouble tonight. I am not going to look at anymore online quilting shops for a while, I need to stop! Can someone say intervention??? It's an illness I tell you.

2008-05-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here it is Sunday already and that means back to work tomorrow. Ugh. At least I have a 3-day weekend to look forward to in a week. Yay!

Today was not as productive a day on the quilting front as yesterday. Here is a picture of another block I finished in the Web Sampler Celebration quilt, but it was done yesterday.

After I finished this block, we headed out to the lake for some moonlight fishing. It was a great night for it, full moon, no wind, very warm, probably in the 80's still, and calm. It's eerie being out on the lake in the dark like that, they have mountain lions up there, but we didn't go near the shores. We did hear a few coyotes, lots of crickets and frogs, creepy nighttime sounds. Anyway, it was a nice night spent with my husband. I caught 2 fish to his 3, but I am still ahead of him in fish count. We have a little friendly competition going on with who catches the most fish. We didn't get home until 3:00 this morning, that is probably why I didn't feel like doing much quilting today.

I started another little project today for my bloggy friend over at Rabbit Stitchings. I had promised her I'd make her a little something to celebrate her finishing a semester in school. Here's all I can show, she reads my blog and it's not a surprise but is a mystery quilt. I will show more when she gets it. Maybe some of you smart quilters out there will be able to tell what the block is, but don't say!

Well, that's all I have for tonight. You can see I am really stretching for blog fodder tonight. So I'm going to go back to working on my mystery quilt. Tootles.

It's H - O - T !!!!!

2008-05-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's hot here today, it was 101 at the backdoor the last I checked. We finally sucked it up and turned the AC on, so now it's more bearable. I have been working on my blocks for the Web Sampler Celebration quilt. I have done three more today. Here they are.

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Well, that is all I have to report at the moment. We are going night fishing tonight, it's a full moon and the lake we are going to has it once a month. It will be nice, since it's so blasted hot right now. I think I can squeeze in a couple more blocks before we go. I only have 5 more blocks to go on this puppy. Tootles for now!

It's that time again!

2008-05-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's time to sign up for the summer swap over here at the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. This will be my third time doing it, it's so much fun! Hurry up and go sign up, spaces are limited!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone reading this who is a mother is having a wonderful day! I know I am. I haven't done one speck of housework or laundry (yet, of course, let's not get carried away) and I am still sitting here in my sweats at 2:30 in the afternoon! I got carried away working on my latest BOM. Yes, I can hear everyone saying it . . . another BOM??? Well, I have been coveting Lori Smith's Ode to the 1930's for ages, and I found a quilt shop here in California that still has it as a BOM. I already had the pattern, so I just ordered the fabric kits and I got my first installment yesterday. So, today, for Mother's Day, I am treating myself to some quilting. Here is Block 1, I swapped one of the fabrics (I miscut one doh!), it still came out pretty though! This was one of the larger blocks in this quilt, most of them are smaller sized. There are 3 more blocks to do, one of them is applique. I want this to be a really nice quilt, so I'm going to break out the freezer paper and starch applique method for this one instead of machine applique. I love all things primitive, but I equally adore all things 1930! It's such cheery fabric! I have to say I really like how Cottage Quilts packaged up the blocks so nicely!

Ode to the 1930's Block 1 (Homespun)

I'm telling you, this quilt pattern has a schematic in it for block placement and it is like a danged blueprint! I'll have to pay close attention to what I'm doing for sure. I made up those post-its there to keep track of what was what. Very high-tech, huh.

Well, that's all I have to show for now. Back to some Mother's Day quilting!

Tootles.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who contributed to little Katy's CF fundraiser. I see she got almost $6000 in pledges! That's fantastic!

Update: Since writing earlier, I have finished two more blocks in the Ode to the 1930's BOM, so I thought I'd update and add some pictures. Ode to the 1930's Block 26 (Pieced Basket #1)

Ode to the 1930's Block 27 (Rosebud)

I sure have to say one thing about these blocks so far, lots of half square triangles, and they are made by cutting the triangles, not sewing two squares together and cutting them down the middle. So some of the pieces are small! Well, I'm getting lots of practice on triangles, that's for sure, I hate triangles too.

The next block I have is an applique one, but I don't feel like doing any applique right now, so I think I'm going to go work on my Web Sampler blocks now, which means lots more half square triangles!

Second Update: I got out the blocks for the Web Sampler Celebration quilt and worked on that. I completed Blocks 3 and 4. I didn't like working on Block 4 so much, it had way too many pieces. With all due respect to the designer of this quilt too, but the directions could have been a little clearer or something. I already had to reorder Block 3 because I misread the directions. But, I am determined to finish this quilt. I love the colors in it. Sheesh, I guess I like Civil War fabrics a lot too, next to primitive and 1930's. Here are the blocks.

Ok, I am done quilting for today. I need to hit the sack. Tootles, again, really.

2008-05-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is Sunday night and it's back to the usual work grind tomorrow. Where the heck do the weekends go? I am counting the days until it's time for our Alaska cruise, June 13, yay! I need a vacation! I might still take a mental health day between now and then though, but we do get a three-day weekend for Memorial Day, that's coming up.

We didn't go do our usual Saturday fishing this weekend. Instead, we went to see the Thunderbirds. It was hot as heck out there on the tarmac, we had three 1.5 liter bottles of water and we finished them before the show was over. We had to end up buying some, at $2 a bottle for a tiny bottle, what a rip off! Anyway, check out how close these guys fly to each other! It still awes us every time we go see them.
I am working fast and furious on a baby quilt for a former boss. She is due at the end of this month, so I felt a fussy cut panel quilt was in order. Here are the blocks. She is having a boy. They are not showing in this picture, but the sashings for the blocks have a few flowers, but hey, it's the 21st century! I liked the vintage-y look about it, these are all from the same Wee Play line, it should work for a boy. I liked those children pictures, it sort of reminds me of an "I Spy" type of quilt. If she doesn't like it for her son, she can always give it to her daughter who's four. Sharon said she'll quilt it for me when I finish.

Here is what I have put together so far, you can't see the entire row, it's hanging over the back, it sure is an easy peasy quilt to put together. I just started this this afternoon. There are some of those flowers I mentioned above.

Here is a picture of the quilt I found online. I think I should put it away for the evening, my eyes are getting tired and my head foggy, and that makes for mistakes.

I think I'll go watch the news and wait for my husband to get home. He called and said he may leave work early, but I guess he changed his mind. He's talking about bidding on a different position, so his hours would change to a day shift and he can carpool, which is what he wants with the price of gas around here. I don't care much for the day shifts he gets either, because he has to get up at 2:00 in the morning and it takes me forever to get used to that sleep pattern. I just can't win!

Tootles!

2008-04-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

I just came home from work to find my lovely Four Seasons quilt waiting for me in the mail from Zita, all the way from Hungary. Here is a picture, it is absolutely gorgeous, she does such beautiful work. Thank you Zita! I love it!
I'm afraid I have nothing to report in the quilting department myself. I need to snap out of this slump I'm in! I look at all of this stuff sitting here, and all the BOMs piling up, and I just look the other way. Bad, bad, bad. Well, maybe this weekend I'll feel more like it.

Oh, by the way, the drive for donations to help Perry's little granddaughter Katy has reached half of their goal. If you haven't made a donation, please consider it. Just look at that cute little face. It's for a really good cause everybody.

Well I am going to go scrounge up some dinner now. I don't even feel like doing that!

2008-04-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, first order of business, I am asking would you please take a moment to go look over there on the right at my sidebar and find it in your heart to help out a good cause? I did. CF is a horrible disease. We had family friends when I was a kid and they had 4 boys, 3 of them had this horrible disease, and I just remember how much those boys suffered. We need to find a cure for this disease, and if my little $25 donation helps in any way, then it was money well spent. I don't care about the quilt, it's a lovely quilt, but that's not what's important here. So, that's all I'm going to say on that subject, I know I felt great after giving that donation today.

So, on to other things. I was out running errands tonight, and it was dinner time. Well, I had to stop and get this. People, I have to say, nothing says California like a good ol' greasy In n' Out Burger. I was going to splurge and get a vanilla shake to dip my fries in (don't knock it until you've tried it Sharon!) but I figured I didn't need that extra gazillion calories! I love their "secret menu" but I have never had the nerve to order one of those 4x4's! I have had the Animal Style and Protein Style ones, but that's it. Anyhoo, these are some good burgers!

Well, that's about it folks. I am going to go watch a little TV. I'm not in the mood for any quilting tonight. Tootles!

2008-04-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's been weeks since I have updated this danged blog. I haven't posted in a while because, frankly, I really have not had anything very interesting to post about! Libby even emailed me the other day to make sure everything was ok. Everything is fine, just really slow in the quilting department right now, I just haven't felt like doing much of anything. Even my little train knitting project is moving along slowly (still nothing picture-worthy). The hubby and I went for our usual fishing trip yesterday and I outfished him again, I think he was a little annoyed but he won't admit it. I guess I should stop rubbing it in now. LOL Oh well, we won't be going every weekend like we used to. Gas here in Southern California is almost up to $4 a gallon for regular. I think they should start giving you a jar of Vaseline with every purchase! Figures, he just gets a new boat a few months ago and gas goes through the roof!

Today I did get my butt in gear, pulled out the sewing stuff, and finished my Four Seasons swap quilt. Whew, there's a load lifted! Here's a picture of it. I fuzzed out the recipient's name, gotta keep it a secret you know!

Well, I am going to go see what I can do now. I left all the sewing stuff out, so maybe it will call to me later.

Tootles!

2008-04-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

I'm afraid I have nothing to share tonight peoples. I have absolutely no ambition to do anything right now. I started this knitting project last night, I needed a totally mindless knitting project for my train commute to work every day, but there's really nothing to show you yet. I'll share a picture when it starts to look like a sweater.

Here's a picture I just took of my husband and the outdoor stray kitty.

Now wait, before you start sending the PETA Posse out to my house, this is just a sign of a husband who has too much time on his hands. He's into archery, he shoots in our backyard sometimes since it's so large, so he thought this was a funny trick to play on me. He broke an arrow the other day, so he decided he needed to make a gag out of it with a wire in the middle. He came running to the back door saying we needed to take Poof (that's her name, see how poofy she is) to the vet, right away! Hardy Har Har.

Well, I'm going to go be a slug for a while, maybe later I'll feel like tackling something. Tootles!

2008-04-07T23:49:00.001-07:00

I just finished up putting the embroidery on the posies on the Four Seasons Swap quilt for Spring. I think it came out pretty cute. Now I just have to quilt it and we'll be all done. The deadline for mailing is May 1 I believe. I think I'll make it. I should call it Thirties Pinwheels and Posies or something catchy like that. Here's a not so great picture, I chopped off some of it, but you get the idea. I took the little flower centers out that I had on there from my previous picture, I think I'll embellish the centers with buttons.

Well that's all I have for tonight peoples. Tootles!

2008-04-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday people! Ya sure! Gosh I could easily use another day off! Why can't weekends all be 3-day weekends? I'm really pooped this morning. Saturday and Sunday were both spent with my husband out fishing. Saturday we went to a local pay lake to fish for trout. We each caught seven fish, threw all but 4 back and those we gave away, we don't like trout for eating all that much. Then yesterday, it was his annual fishing derby with his co-workers at a different pay lake. This is about the third year I've attended it. He works for Kroeger and all of them are Teamsters, so you can imagine the motley crew of guys who come to the derby, and then there's me, I was the only girl fishing! LOL But you know what? I won this year! I caught the biggest fish of the day and won $250 and a trophy and quite a bit of respect from his co-workers! Here's the trophy. I've never won anything before! My poor husband is in for it when he gets to work today, they were already giving him a hard time. Then I called Sharon up and asked if I could come over to her house on the way home and pick up two of the quilts she had done for me. So we headed over there and got my quilts. My fishing win came in handy! Here's a picture of them when I got them home. My kitty Talula didn't take but 5 seconds to plop her big fat butt on them! They have been moved now, I don't want kitties sleeping on them right yet. Need to finish them. Aren't they purdy? Thanks Sharon!

And finally, Sharon is always the thoughtful gal, she had a great bag of goodies for me for my belated birthday and a recent trip she took. Look at the goodies she gave me? I just adore that little pink egg shaped bunny and that pillow! Oh heck, I love it all! Thank you again Sharon! Well, that's about all I have for this fine Monday morning. I have to get ready for work now. Ugh. I guess someone has to do it.

Oh, I forgot, my daughter has decided she and some friends are going to get a place and she will be moving out eventually. Guess who will be getting a sewing room one of these days? While it will be sad to have my daughter move out, she has been wanting to for a very long time, it will be fun to have my own little retreat to go to and shut the door on the world! LOL

Tootles!

2008-04-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Today I didn't go to work, I was having a bit of an anxiety attack, long story. So I called in sick and stayed home and took one of my daughter's anxiety pills (yes, she gets anxiety attacks too, another long story). Anyhoo, I decided I'd better get cracking on the spring quilt for the Four Seasons Swap that will be due before I know it. I had a bunch of little bonus half square triangles that I got from making this quilt. I've had this little baggie of these for years and I always wanted to use them for something. I did the old double sewing technique that produced these tiny little bonus HSTs so the pinwheels I made them into came out to 3 inches. So, I went to the LQS today and got some white on white fabric and put those little tiny bonus HSTs to good use and came up with this. It's 16X16 and it's all in 30's fabrics. I just have to applique down those poseys. I still have a pile of the danged HSTs, and this is pretty darned cute, I might just have to make myself one, only mine will have a light yellow background I am thinking.
Also today, I was looking at Sharon's blog and just fell in love with the Mary Engelbreit quilt she is making. I too have a huge amount of this yummy fabric because she made me buy it! Just kidding Sharon! Anyway, I was going to work on that, but decided to work on the little panel that was included with the fat quarter bundle I also have. I hope you are seeing the pattern here, I have Mary Engelbreit fabric coming out my ears people! Here's a picture of my modified panel, it was pretty good sized before I got hold of it.

I don't know who reading this has been to Disneyland to the Haunted Mansion, but this reminds me of where you go in at the beginning where the floor drops down and the artwork stretches and it turns out the girl who looked so cute holding an umbrella is actually walking a tightrope and there are snapping alligators underneath her! I was just telling my daughter and she said she doesn't remember that part, but said we need to go to Disneyland one of these days! It's funny, when you live 45 minutes from the place, you hardly ever go. I did go with her on her birthday a couple years ago, Halloween, she's a Halloweenie baby, and we had so much fun, there was no one there and they had it all done up for Halloween.

And last, here's a gratuitous picture of my Talula kitty. She is a catfood junky, she loves to eat it straight from the tub!
Well, I was having another anxiety attack this evening. Don't want to air my dirty laundry, but I will just say I had major fight with the husband over some things that I won't go into here. I took another pill and I'm feeling better. I guess I'll clean up my mess and maybe start on the applique on this swap quilt.

Tootles!

2008-04-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have nothin' to talk about tonight. The picture doesn't relate to anything at all. I am going to go watch TV in a few. Hope no one got any horrible April Fool's tricks played on them. One of my bosses tried, but I saw what he was doing and it wasn't even funny anyway. He thought it was a hoot though. I don't have any purchases to show, I'm on a major fabric diet after yesterday's giant pile of stuff. Ok, well, I'm off to the new sofa now. I haven't had a chance to help break it in yet. My turn! Tootles!

Totally Ridonculous!

2008-03-31T21:20:00.001-07:00

I know that's spelled wrong, I've seen it spelled like that on CuteOverload, it's funny don't you think?

Anyway, people, I came home tonight and just about swooned! My daughter had neatly stacked up in a little pile by my desk all the stuff I got in the mail today. Good grief! I'm glad I got home and unpacked it before my husband got home! LOL Just kidding, he doesn't pay for any of my stuff, so it's all good. Anyway, I had the latest blocks from the following BOMs: (1) Leanne's House from Buggy Barn; (2) Four Seasons from Country Loft; and (3) Sweet Land of Liberty also from Buggy Barn. And my evil alter-ego evil twin ordered yet another BOM from Country Loft, the Stars Around the Garden one, so I had, holy crap Batman, four months of packs for that one (by the way, each pack has TWO blocks in it, so I have 6 blocks plus the medallion center to do!) I blame this one all on Tammy, she was emailing me the other day saying stuff in the present tense, like, you're going to like the colors, you'll like working on it, etc. Oh yes she was people! I also had some 30's fabric that I went nuts and ordered from The Fat Quarter Shop because I absolutely adore 30's fabrics. Oh, and some itty bitty teeny tiny buttons from Crafts 4 Me. Here are pictures which I present as Exhibits A and B.

It is very scary to come home to this much stuff all at once! The magnitude of it all is just overwhelming! It almost makes me say I am not going to buy anymore quilting stuff. Almost, now don't get carried away people!

Well, that's it for tonight. I worked late and I am just getting home, so I am going to relax for a while. I don't think there will be any quilting going on tonight.

2008-03-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

We went and bought new living room furniture last night which is supposed to be delivered today between 3 and 6, so I couldn't venture out for long today. I ran over to Joann's and used my 40% off coupon and bought some more fusible and a poster board to make my little portable mini design board. Here's a picture of it. Not too bad! I need to come up with a better way to hang it though. But it does for now. How do you like that lovely wood paneling there? We rent, so really, it wasn't my idea! In fact, I think we might be taking it down come summer, it's the ugliest danged stuff! I just finished fusing down the pieces for Block 2 of the Blossom Time quilt. All I have to do is applique it down and do some minor embroidery in the borders there that are blank on the left and I'll be all caught up on this quilt! Yay! That will make three BOMs that are caught up! I'm very proud of myself! Here's a picture of the block on my mini design board. Sorry the pictures are so lousy. I sure need to get a better camera. This one doesn't seem to take very good pictures anymore. I don't know why.

Well back to waiting for our furniture to be delivered. They have one more hour! They better show up for the $100 delivery charge we paid!

2008-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

I am quite proud of myself this evening. I just finished up Block 1 of the Blossom Time BOM. I will just have to do Block 2 and will have another BOM caught up (this is a fairly new BOM so I'm not that far behind). I am getting the hang of this machine applique business and, now that I got the open toe foot I mentioned in my last entry that I had no idea even existed until this afternoon, I'm on a roll! Here's a picture. This was a huge block! Oh, and those little green strips around three sides of the vase of flowers, those weren't meant to be there. I admit it, I flubbed. I squared up the block and realized I had used the dimensions for the final block size. Ooops! Oh well, no biggie, just used some artistic license and added the strips.
Ok, that's all for now. We're going to go look at new sofas. We need one bad!

2008-03-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday people! It's sort of overcast here in SoCal today, the sun is trying to come out, but hasn't been successful yet. I just now opened up the sewing armoire and set everything up, so maybe I'll eventually get motivated to work on something. The only picture I have to share is this makeshift design wall I just made. If I get ambitious, I'm going to go out to the office store and get a foam board and make it better. All this is now is a piece of thin batting tacked up to the wall. But it works for one block, that's all I really need. Don't tell my husband I will probably never use that expensive portable one he got me for Christmas. That thing is a pain in the butt to put together. What's portable about that! It's still in the closet in the bag it came in.

These are the first two parts of Block One of the Blossom Time BOM I'm working on. I'm getting better at the machine applique as I go. It's going to be a cute quilt. I will be back with another picture when I fill in that gap there with the last part of this block. These are big blocks on this quilt.

*Update* Ok, people, am I the only person in the universe who didn't know they make open toe feet for machine applique??? I was looking around online for something else and came across one and, oh my gosh, well, I had to get one. So I promptly called the place I got my machine and yes! They had them, so I flew over there and got one before they closed. Let me just say, I feel like I reinvented the wheel over here! LOL Ok, it doesn't take much to make me happy!

2008-03-25T21:23:00.001-07:00

So, some of you may have noticed that I have a @%&#load of BOM's going. I have several of them, I am ashamed to say, a few that I have only been collecting that are sitting in various drawers and closets, in my Vault and Abyss as I affectiontely call those storage places. Well, one of them is this very pretty Bunny Hill Designs from Fat Quarter Shop called Blossom Time. I just received Block 2 yesterday, so I decided I'd better get started on this baby. So, the minute I got home I started it, I haven't even had my dinner yet. I am doing it the Beth way, fusible and very interesting machine appliqueing. I did blanket stitch around the birds and very primitive looking raw edge around their wings. A little dab of Fray Check here and there should do the trick! Hey, don't judge my quilting techniques, it's MY quilt and I think it's purdy! Anyway, here's a picture of one half of Block 1. Don't look too close, I zigged a couple of times when I should have zagged, and I was too lazy to do it over. And that bow, oh my gosh, I was ready to toss the whole thing in the trash! I still have to put a few French Knots on it.

Well, that's all I have for now. I think I'm about ready to pack it up and call it a night. I'm getting a headache, probably from not eating. But I hate to eat this late now.

Tootles!

2008-03-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Just another one of those silly blog quizzes. I guess this fits me to a tee, I am born and bred in Southern California, have lived here all my life. A few people have asked me if I'm from the Midwest, maybe our lack of accents out here means we can blend in anyplace. LOL

2008-03-24T23:30:00.001-07:00

Well tonight I mustered up some more energy and finished Month 2 of the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. I still need to sew down a few things and add my initials and the date there by the eagle's feet, I mean stubs really, and then I'm done and I can move on to Month 3! Here's a picture. Oh, and the eagle needs an eye, so tonight I ordered some itty bitty buttons from this place*NOTE* Either I wasn't liking the way I was doing the feather stitch or I was just not in the mood, or what, but that feather stitch you see there was done on the sewing machine! Talk about the epitomy of laziness! But it still looks ok to me. Hey, it's prim, and anything goes!

On the cat front, I really think there is no box too small my kitty Talula will not try to cram her big butt into. Please see Exhibit A. This box had some patterns in it, so you know it's small!

Well, that's all I have tonight folks. I'm pooped. I'm going to clean up my mess and call it a day.

Very Productive Day Today

2008-03-23T20:12:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a lovely day today. I did absolutely nothing except quilt. Well, I did a couple of loads of laundry and ran out to the grocery store, but that was it. It was very warm here in Southern California today, I was actually wearing shorts. According to the thermometer at the back door, it was 90 degrees! I don't mind those temps when it is still spring and it's dry and no smog, but come summer, when it's humid and smoggy, ugh!

Anyway, here's part of what I have been working on today. I have been sewing down the applique on the first half of Month 2 of the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. I want this quilt to be very primitive, so I am experimenting and doing the applique with brown floss. I kind of like it. I put more Distress-It on the flag and changed out the "star" field with this polka dot fabric I found in my stash, after spraying it too, now I like the flag much better than I did the last time I had it out. I have plenty of it prepped for future use. I see there are several flags in this quilt. Here is a closeup of the angel's face. I was too lazy to look up how to do the feather stitch on her head, so I copied-catted Karen from the BOM-along and put some French knots. I am still waiting to get the wool I had ordered to use for her tiny little head, feet and hands, but I wanted to get this done, so I just used some fabric I had in my stash and used fusible. Lazy again. LOL

Here is a picture of my project box, just to show how many packets I still have to do! I am way ahead of everyone else as far as undone packets I've collected, I have up to month 9 in my box! I need to get motivated and get caught up on this quilt! I am going to go see if I can be ambitious enough tonight to do the other half of this block. We'll see, I'm thinking not tonight.

Today I also finished up the Winter section of the Four Seasons BOM I'm getting from Country Loft. It feels good to be caught up on a BOM! I won't say how many BOM's I have that I haven't even started though! It's quite embarassing!

Last but not least, I finished up Block 1 of the Leanne's House BOM, yes, another BOM! You heard me correctly! LOL Here's a picture. Ooops, chopped off a little on the top of the picture, but you get the picture. I am now caught up on this BOM too! Woo hoo!

Well, better pack it up soon for the night. I feel like I accomplished quite a bit today!

2008-03-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! Yay! The weekend is upon us, and I couldn't be more ready for it! Here is the embroidery I've done so far on Block One of the Leanne's House BOM from Buggy Barn. I think this is going to be a very cute quilt!

A lot of blogs I visit these days seem to be quilters who are also branching out into knitting. Well, for me it was knitting before the quilting, but the quilting has pretty much taken over lately. However, after reading all these knitting entries, it sort of got me in the mood to do a wee bit of knitting. So I got out a project that I have been working on for a while. It's a lace shawl called the Swallowtail Shawl. Here's how much I have done so far. I haven't worked on it in months! I hope I can remember where I left off. If not, that blue string is a lifeline that I can always rip back to and start from there.

And, last but not least, I really need to get going for work, but I had to take a minute first for a little shameless promotion. People, would you please take a look at that little business card I have added over on my sidebar for machine quilting? Please consider giving Ms. Sharon a ringy-ding next time you need some machine quilting done. She has done a few of my quilts and she really does a beautiful job. Her phone number and email are right there for your convenience!

Our buddy Nancy No Blog is having surgery this morning, so everyone send their positive vibes her way please!

2008-03-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Some random poppy field in Southern California

Happy Vernal Equinox (Spring!!)

2008-03-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight I worked a bit on the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. I need to catch up people!!! I'm only barely on month 2 and I have 9 months of blocks already in the project box! Here is the angel block all prepped for sewing down the applique. I went back to using the freezer paper and starch method. Needleturn and fusible just aren't cuttin' it with me, so I figured I'll suck it up and just use this method for the little bit of applique on this quilt. Oh, well, I did cheat a little and used fusible on her hands and feet. I didn't feel like screwing with those tiny little pieces. Here's a picture. Her face has the freezer paper piece underneath that fusible face on top. I haven't decided if I'm going to use that for her face, so I just put it there so you can see her cute face. My block has more flying geese than the pattern because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the pattern and forgot the 1/4" seam allowance, and then I had to add that little strip on top of the two vertical ones to make it match up. If you have never done a Cheri Saffiote-Payne quilt before, they are a challenge, but fun.

I'm really enjoying working on this quilt, I am really thinking the primitive style is really suited to me, I can make all the mistakes I want and it still looks cute (as you can tell by how badly my points are chopped off of those flying geese!!!) The pattern says to tea dye the entire quilt when you're done. As you can see, I have already done a little bit of aging on it, I used some Distress-It on the flag and the sign. Her wings sure need some, they are way too bright!

Well, I better clean up this mess and think about getting to bed. I'm pooped!

Tootles!

2008-03-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was National Quilting Day but not much in the way of quilting was accomplished on my part in honor of the day. I did some machine applique, but I'm not happy with the final product, so no pictures of that. In fact, I was working on it this morning, and I was so frustrated with it, that I threw the whole lot back in it's project box and tossed it back on the shelf. I apparently suck equally at hand applique and machine applique! ARGH!!!! So, today, I think I might work on my Sweet Land of Liberty quilt. It's primitive, so I can make tons of mistakes and it will still be gorgeous! I am starting to think primitive quilting is so totally my thing, it's very forgiving when it comes to mistakes.

Yesterday I went fishing with DH. We have decided to branch out and learn largemouth bass fishing. We were even watching a couple of the bass fishing shows on the outdoor channel this morning. How sweet! LOL

When I came home yesterday, I had a package waiting for me from Colonial Crafts, it was a pattern and a mini yo-yo maker that I had ordered. I have a project in mind for mini yo-yo's in a book that I ordered from Liberty Homestead. People, would you please take a look at the tiny yo-yo's that this maker makes? Dang those are tiny! The project I have in mind is this adorable wallhanging that is a vase of flowers all done up in these tiny yo-yo's. What a great way to use scraps! Libby and I were admiring the sample they had at their booth when we were at Road to California in January. I can't wait to get the book!

So then I turn around and there on the porch is a package from my friend Sandy over at Rabbit Stitchings. Oh my gosh! I couldn't wait to rip that box open. Inside was all of this for my birthday! How fun, more yo-yo makers!! Even two itty bitty hearts made from that small heart maker! Thank you again Sandy!

Well, that's about all I have to report right now. I hear the vacuuming calling me right now. Guess I'll go do some of that and then work on some quilting as a reward! How sad is that! Why do we need to clean house anyway!?

Tootles!

Sunday Night

2008-03-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have no spectacular blogging fodder to share tonight, so I am going to be boring as hell and show pictures of my sewing room. How's that for useless blogging? LOL

Picture of my sewing space. This all closes back up into that cabinet there when I'm not working. Best investment I ever made, since the den is my sewing room. Picture of my sewing armoire and my iron, I think I was tagged to talk about that, about as interesting as this blog entry! LOL

Picture from another angle of my sewing armoire. There is Talula's spot on it, the bag is hers too, she loves laying on any new bag that comes into my home. Weird cat. LOL

Picture of my sewing armoire all packed up for the evening, and Talula is happy, back on her paper bag and admiring my beautiful stash that she hopes to get into.

Here is my fancy schmancy red Ikea chair where all my hand sewing gets done. There is the quilt that Sharon just quilted for me, I need to put the binding on. See there, that is my meager but precious little stash. See the little snowman quilt I got from Libby for the Four Seasons Swap? I probably will never put it away, it's so darned cute!

This is my fancy schmancy Ikea love seat where a lot of my nappin' gets done. Notice my Annies there looking over everything.

This is Block 2 of the Web Sampler Celebration quilt I'm making. I gave up on trying to get those directional lines right, who cares? It's my quilt, and it makes me happy.

Really, last but not least, the pink jasmine I talked my husband into planting outside my den/sewing room today. My favorite flower of all time.

2008-03-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Did everyone remember to turn their clocks forward today? My body clock is so danged consistent that, even with losing an hour, I still got up at what would be 5:00! I just can't help it.

So, since I was up, I got the quilting stuff out and started working on Block 1 of the Web Sampler Celebration Quilt. I've been eyeing this quilt for a while, ever since I saw it on Carol's blog, but Perry ended up pushing me over the edge, so I signed up. It was sort of a pain in the neck to sign up, you have to go to each of the 12 shops participating to buy each block, but it was worth it, the fabrics are gorgeous Civil War fabrics. The only thing I'm not liking is that one little directional striped fabric in there. I didn't have the gumption (or patience) to take the time to make sure all those little stripes are going to same way, but it's ok, it still looks pretty. The other gals participating are listed over there on the right-hand side of my blog. Here's a picture of Block 1.

Hubby and I went fishing yesterday, all I caught was a sunburn on my arms and face, not one fish. I haven't been going to my yearly tanning salon sessions long enough to avoid burning out there, now I have this lovely farmers tan on my arms. I hate that! Now when I go tan, I'm going to have to put sunscreen on the burned parts to even out. I know, tanning is bad for you, but I've been doing it for the summer months for years and years. Maybe it's a Southern California thing. We were out in Temecula at the lake out there, I tried to get him to take me to Quilter's Coop, since we passed right by it, but he said it's hard to go shopping when he has the boat. Ya whatever! Fine, I'll just have to go back again by myself!

Well, speaking of hubby, I think he wants to go to Bass Pro in a bit, I better get ready to go. Besides, he's hovering around the computer here to see what I'm doing, AGAIN! Oh sure!!! He has time to haul me out to Bass Pro but it doesn't seem fair he won't take me to the quilt shop, I see how it is! And he wonders why I'm annoyed at him today!

Tootles!

Oh happy day!

2008-03-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, which is a good thing all by itself, but I also just checked the UPS tracking on my missing Mary Engelbreit fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop, and it's out for delivery! Yay!!! They found it!

That's all I have to say for the moment, I guess I better get ready for work now!

EDIT: The Mary Engelbreit fabrics made it to my office, and are now safe and sound in my hot little hands!

2008-03-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

I came home tonight and there in the mail was my latest Sweet Land of Liberty BOM block (on which I am VERY far behind) as well as yet another BOM I signed up for--Leanne's House. Both of these are from Buggy Barn. I tossed the Sweet Land of Liberty block in its project box with the rest of it's sisters and promptly got to work on Block One of Leanne's House. What a cute little block! I have to applique on that heart and do the little bit of stitchery, but how simple is that? I am over here quite proud of myself that I got this first block done so quickly! Now if I could just get all those OTHER BOM's finished! Sheesh!
I am quite distressed tonight. DISCLAIMER, the fabric diet was history a long time ago, let me just point that out. Anyhoo, I ordered some of the new Mary Engelbreit fabrics from The Fat Quarter Shop. It was supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Well, I checked the UPS tracking and it says there was a train derailment and my fabrics may be MIA! I called UPS and the guy I talked to was less than helpful. He didn't even know for sure where the derailment was -- Grande Vista, Vista Grande, Vista, the only one I know is a real city is Vista (that's where Fat Quarters is, great little shop). So I have to wait and see what happens. He seems to think it will just be delayed. I dread the bureaucratic red tape this may involve trying to get my money back from UPS!

Well, that's all I have for tonight. I am almost over this bug. I think I'm going to take some Advil and hit the hay.

Tootles!

2008-03-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the extent of what I got finished yesterday, I just had no ambition. I made a little "quilt" for Talula which she is thoroughly enjoying as you can see in this picture.
I also worked on this for a few minutes, just put the fusible flower parts and made a whopping 2 yo-yo's. This flu bug really zapped the energy right out of me! I still need to make a lousy 3 more yo-yo's and I'll be done with this flimsy.

Pattern: Posy Time by Bunny Hill Designs

Fabric: One charm pack of Swell and some yardage for borders

Blogger is being a real pain in the arse this morning, so I give up! Tootles!

2008-03-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here it is Monday, and I'm sick as a dog. I'm about to get my butt off the chair and go call in sick. I was waiting to see if I felt better, but it's getting progressively worse, I can barely breathe. Ugh. But first, I just took this picture of my kitty Talula because she makes me smile. As ornery as she is most of time, she can be a sweetie every now and then.

This picture reminded me of a recent post by Libby in which she had asked everyone to post pictures of their ironing boards. Well, here's mine, a day late and a dollar short, the contest is over. But I'm really posting it to show that this is where Talula spends a good deal of her time, that's her own personal blankie there. Does she look put out or what? That is her end of the ironing board, I do my ironing on the end that is cat free, we have an "understanding" about that. I always have a lint roller at the ready to use before I use the board.

Ok, well, I just wanted to take a picture to share my picture. I'm going to go call the office now. I hate calling in sick, I always feel so paranoid about it, I always afraid I'm going to get in trouble.

2008-02-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

The other day when I was out at the Temecula Quilt Company, they had a sample quilt done up in Civil War fabrics that I just adored. They were out of the book, but I was told that it was out of the an Alex Anderson baby quilt book. When I was at my quilting class with Sharon the other day, they had it at the shop, so I purchased it. I will definitely have to make that one, but not tonight. Tonight I put together another simple little quilt from the same book. The book has it done in really pretty black and white toile, but the shop didn't have any. Instead I got this fabric, and here is what I put together tonight. I have to mark my registration marks on the borders because it's supposed to have a scalloped edge, but I'm not in the mood to do that tonight. I fear it will go on the shelf for a while, but at least I got the construction done.

Hmmm, what shall I work on next? Maybe I'll just do some stitchery or something. I'm not feeling all that ambitious tonight. Maybe I'll even just go take a nap until hubby comes home from work.

2008-02-25T20:48:00.001-08:00

For my project tonight, I decided I wanted to work on a small and simple project. So I got out the pattern for this little cutie and whipped the top up from some Civil War fabric in my stash in about an hour, give or take. I love that little 16 patch in there and I adore Civil War fabric, especially the cheddar there on the cornerstones. It's a Lori Smith pattern if anyone is wondering. Annie there is giving it her seal of approval too!

This should get my friend Sandy over at Rabbit Stitchings going, she has told me I'm a "them" because I get so many projects done!

Well I think I'm going to sandwich this baby and see if I can do a meander stitch on it. That's the other reason I like to make these small ones, I want to get that down pat. I can do straight lines but that one stumps me for some reason.

2008-02-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

Just finished this latest flimsy. It's 12:45 a.m., hubby just got home, I can to go to bed now, and dream about what my next project will be!

2008-02-24T21:01:00.001-08:00

I woke up today and it was raining, again. But that's ok, it wasn't going to stop me from going to my quilt class being taught by the world famous Ms. Sharon at the Cozy Cottage. Here's a picture of the quilt Sharon was teaching. A really simple 9-patch, just a little labor intensive. But it's going to be pretty. Some of the other ladies there were making it in different colors for a totally different look. I am going to make mine smaller, 3x3 or maybe even 2x2, the blocks are pretty good size. I found out the hard way that it can be dangerous to be at a quilt shop for an entire day! Especially since Kris the owner is very nice about letting you have a "suspended" sale that you pay up at the end, kind of like drinking at a bar! If the stuff I bought was booze, I would have been falling down drunk after leaving the store! LOL

Here's a picture of some of the other gals at the class, busily working away on their quilts while Sharon was making me buy stuff at the store! I'm just sayin'!

I'm sure Sharon will write up a much better report on her blog, so check over there and see what she has to say, she was taking way more pictures than I was. I was too busy adding stuff to that "suspended" sale!

I'll leave you with this picture of Sharon, eatin' a bunch of See's Candies. Look at all those empty wrappers in there! Gosh Sharon! LOL Just kidding!

2008-02-23T18:59:00.000-08:00

So today hubby and I decided not to go fishing after all because of the weather, and I decided to head over to Temecula to do a little quilt shopping, as if I need any more stuff after last Saturday's trip to San Diego, but what does that have to do with anything, right? I decided to hit up the two shops that Sharon has talked about on her blog, Quilter's Coop and Temecula Quilt Co. and see if they really were all that!

After braving the traffic (people in Southern California just can't drive when it rains to save their lives), and some knucklehead on the freeway who decided to pull a dare devil stunt and spin out all over heck and back right in front of me and almost cause a major pile up, I made it to my first stop, Temecula Quilt Co. Oh my gosh, if you like Civil War fabrics, this place is a gem. It's small, and she doesn't have a huge selection, but I managed to do some damage there to the ol' pocketbook! Here's a picture of what I got. She even recognized me from Sharon's blog. We're famous!

After stopping at a little Mexican food joint to get a diet Pepsi, I was back on the road. Next stop, Quilter's Coop. Oh my gosh, I loved this place too! They had some really terrific stuff. I bought some patterns and that Picnic Quilt kit as seen on Sharon's blog (trust me, I'm not a Sharon stalker LOL), and a few other things that I absolutely needed. Even some of the infamous "brown envelopes" (Cherie Saffiote-Payne patterns in case you were wondering).

All in all, it was a good day, plenty of damage to the ol' pocketbook for sure. I decided to stop at the Super Joann's on the way home to see if they had a rolling sewing machine case. After encountering the snooty Husqvarna gals who, when I said I didn't want to spend a lot of money, said "well, goodbye then" trying to be funny, I surprised the snooty gal and said, ok, goodbye! She then tried to say she was just joking, but I turned the snooty on her and just gave her the back and a flipped hand! LOL See, none of these people I have encountered today realize that I am having a major menopausal episode, I could have snapped her in half with one hand right then! LOL

Ok, I need to get off this computer now and go cut some fabric. I have Sharon's class tomorrow (sheesh, Sharon again, Sharon, Sharon, Sharon LOL) and I have to have my fabric all cut for it. The part I like the least about quilting!

Ok, there is Nosey Parker Husband AGAIN trying to see what I'm doing. I need to explain to him that I'm having a menopausal moment, and him trying to read my blog and email over my shoulder is very dangerous!

Tootles!

2008-02-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

People, seriously though, would you please look at what I got in the mail at work yesterday? Am I out of my mind or what? Like I need another block of the month project??? I swear, this is the last one! But look at these beautiful colors, would you? And how cute that they put the embellishments in that cute little pink bag??? I tell ya, that Kimberly knows it's all presentation, presentation, presentation when it comes to making a sale, I think I have put her little daughter Emma through college by myself! Well, maybe Sharon has helped a little too! LOL The colors look even more gorgeous in person, but then, I am a total sucker for pink! The directions are for needleturn applique, but *GASP* I am going to use the cheater fusible applique method.* I honestly don't have time to fiddle around with needleturn, I want a finished product in my lifetime OK! LOL So fusible it is! All you needleturn applique purists out there will just have to hate me!

Today is going to be a quilty-filled day. We were going to go fishing, but hubby decided there might be snow and ice where we were planning on going, since it just finished raining and there is more rain on the way, so instead I will stay home and play! I have to cut and prep the fabrics for Sharon's class tomorrow too. And I really wanted to run over to Joann's and get some ric-rac for some other projects I'm working on. They require bias-making and I'm thinking, hmmm, I'm lazy (*see above), so ric-rac for stems and vines, works for me!

Well that's all for now folks. I have some craftin' to do! Tootles!

2008-02-22T05:16:00.000-08:00

Friday at last! What a long "short" week this has been, I hope today goes by quickly at work. I have nothing exciting to report. I was over reading Sharon's blog and see she finished quilting one of my quilts, so that's exciting! I am taking the class she'll be teaching this Sunday at the Cozy Cottage, that will be tons of fun I'm sure, I can't wait. Oh, but the danger of sitting all day long in a quilt shop with a tab running! Yikes!

Remember I started a new quilt the other day, well, here are the blocks done, now I just have to put the sashings on and assemble it and it will be done, maybe I'll finish that tonight. I'm loving these colors! I got it here if anyone feels inclined to get the kit.

Well, there's Nosey Parker Husband, better end now!

Next!

2008-02-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have one more day off of work for the holiday today. I'm on a quilting roll this weekend, having just finished a top last night. So I decided to go visit the Great Quilting Abyss that is my coat closet and pulled out this quilt kit to work on next. I ordered it a while back from Homestead Hearth. Even though they honestly seem to take forever to fill orders, I love their selection and I like how they label everything for you in the kit so you know exactly what fabrics to use. Works great for those of us who are fabric coordination challenged! And since I'm such a weirdo about always wanting the backing to match the rest of the quilt, I have already visited my favorite quilting search engine, Quiltshops.com and have found an online store that still has this fabric in stock! Now it's just a matter of deciding which fabric I want for the backing.

Update: I ended up ordering the fabric on the far right for the backing on this quilt.

Well there's my nosey husband trying to see what I'm doing on the computer. I don't want him to know about my blog. Gads he's a Nosey Parker.

Update: Ok, why can't I just go to the quilt shop and get what I need and leave??? I just ran over there to get some thread, that's all, and I found this, and bought it, I just couldn't help myself! I bought the backing too. That gave me a $25 gift certificate at the store, which I applied towards the kit. I just couldn't resist that cute little bag it was in! I'm trying to convince myself that I done good, but I keep thinking how much money I had to spend there to get that $25 gift certificate. LOL Oh well, what can ya do?

Presenting a finished project!

2008-02-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

I just finished putting this quilt together tonight, it was sure one of the easiest quilts I've made. Dang, it's loud! You should see it in person! I think once it's quilted and washed and puckery, it won't be as loud, I might even tan dye it which would take some of the glare down a few notches. Now that's an idea. I have a bright orange flowered fabric for the backing. I don't have work tomorrow, so maybe I can get some more quilting done. I still need to finish up that 30's string mini quilt and the Valentine's heart table runner that I got a whopping two blocks done on.

Well, I guess I'll clean up this project's mess now and see what trouble I can get into. Tootles!

2008-02-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

Whew boy, was yesterday a long but fun day. Got up to Sharon's bright and early to get the girls (Deb, and Nancy No Blog) and head down south to San Diego to meet up with Tammy and Janine No Blog (I think she must be related to Nancy No Blog). Before leaving, I had the honor of using Sharon's infamous pink bathroom, sorry no pictures, I have a little bit of decency LOL! Sharon even has her bathrooms decorated with Annies and quilts! Hey Sharon, you sure I can't move in with you? Sharon is the hostess with the mostess, she had cinnamon rolls waiting for us, I got a neat little gift bag from each of the girls. I felt pretty stupid not thinking to have my own to hand out when I got there. Oh well, next time. So I just got everyone a Starbucks, that seemed to make up for it, and we were on the road.

We hit up the Country Loft, Fat Quarters, Rosie's and one that Tammy had visited called Starry Night Hollow. I took a couple of pictures, but if you want to see some good pictures, head on over to Tammy's blog and see hers and I'm sure Sharon will have some really good ones when she gets around to her blog report. She had some spectactular photo ops when we were down there. Anyway, fun was had by all and I hope to get to go again one of these days. Here's a picture of my haul from all four shops.

I got a ton of stitchery patterns, a bunch of wool, several yards of fabric that I apparently couldn't live without, some great tea dyed looking muslin for all that stitchery I bought, that tower of fabric you see there, they had it in the bathroom with a great pattern at the Country Loft, too funny, I got a previous BOM stitchery quilt from the Country Loft there in the back, the cutest angels, and the latest installment for my current BOM too, a panel of quilt labels, oh and some perle cotton in assorted colors that I put away already, the cat was eyeing them. I can't believe how much stuff I got, I'm sort of feeling a little guilty today, but I'll get over it.

That's about all I have to report. Head over to Tammy's and read her report, and watch for Sharon, hers will be the usual Sharon spectacular I'm sure.

Janine no blog had the prettiest quilt she did show and tell with, rumor has it that they have a kit for it at one of my LQSs, so if I feel ambitious I may just have to go over there and look today. We'll see. Gosh, didn't I get enough stuff yesterday? Oh wait, is there ever any such thing and enough in quilting? Silly me!

Tootles!

2008-02-16T05:54:00.001-08:00

I have a 3-day weekend, so I'm happy about that! Oh all the quilting and crafting that I hope to accomplish this weekend! Pure bliss!

But first, here's where I'm going to be headed today with Sharon, Deb, Tammy, and the infamous Nancy No Blog! San Diego look out, here we come! We apparently are going to hit up not only the Country Loft but also Rosie's, Fat Quarters and Quilter's Coop according to Sharon. I got my February Bonus from work just in time!

Check back later for an update. And I'm sure Sharon will have a report on her blog too, hers are always more entertaining. Just be sure if you read hers you don't have any liquids in your mouth!

Dang it, I've been tagged!

2008-02-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Tammy at Ginger Patches to list 7 weird or random things about me.

THE RULES

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Good grief, here goes my feeble attempt at this. This really sucks! I'm going to get you on Saturday Tammy! LOL Mine are more random than weird, I think.

1. I am a fishing fanatic. My husband taught me to fish about 3 years ago and I can't go a weekend without fishing or I go nuts! I am going quilt shop hopping with Sharon, et al. on Saturday and while I love that, I'm almost going out of my mind that I'm not going fishing!

2. I sleep with a nightlight in the room. [insert loud guffaw here] Speaking of sleeping, I also can't stand unmade beds, the beds must be made when not in use, which drives my husband nuts, he doesn't see the necessity behind a made bed.

3. I love collecting quilting and knitting gadgets and gizmos. I see something on someone's blog and I have to get it!

4. I have to have the TP roll going over the top. If my husband puts a new roll and it's going under, I have to fix it. It drives me nuts.

5. I have to sleep on the same side of the bed at all times, or I can't sleep.

6. I used to take road trips, alone, to Northern California, on a regular basis with my daughter when she was a baby. Her first road trip occurred when she was just 2 weeks old.

7. I love doing the Los Angeles Times Sunday crossword puzzles.

Extra Credit: I have had an epiphany from this tagging. I think I'm borderline OCD! LOL

Ok, there, sorry I didn't have anything interesting like Tammy! But my life is basically boring as hell I guess.

I hereby tag the following people, you don't have to do it if you don't want to, I'm including that caveat unlike Tammy and too bad if Tammy tagged you too, remember, you can skip it! Sharon, Sandy, Deb, Kris, Kim, Judy, Libby and Carol. And you know what? I'm a rebel, I know, that's 8 people, neener, neener neener!

On the quilting front, tonight I finished sewing the borders onto the BOM I'm doing from the Country Loft. This is a really fun, simple quilt to do, but it's going to be so cute when it's all done. I can't wait to get the next set of blocks! Here are a couple of pictures.

Well, it's midnight now. I'm waiting up for my DH to come home from work. I guess it's probably not a good idea to start another project. I have all these BOM's here staring at me and it's driving me berzerk! I think I bit off more than I can chew.

Update: DH was running late getting home, so I started on this cute BOM I am getting from Homestead Hearth. It's a button-on type of quilt and every month I get a little separate kit for each month of the year. I already have the pack for March and I haven't even done the base quilt yet! So I started working on it tonight.

2008-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Not much on the quilting to report this weekend. Yesterday the husband and I went fishing. Here is a picture me with the one stinkin' lousy fish I caught! He caught two, but mine was the biggest! LOL We didn't keep any of them.
This picture serves two purposes. I saw on Sharon's site she got a new do, so this is to show mine.

Other than this, I have nothing much to talk about. I traced up the next block for my redwork wallhanging, I decided to do spring next, because it feels like spring is on its way here in Southern California. I just looked out the back door, it says it's creeping up on 85! I'm melting! My daughter and I are going to go do some window shopping over at a place called The Village, where we used to live in Claremont, lots of really cute little stores. I sure miss living there! Speaking of my daughter, she went out last night partying with her friends and woke up this morning with her very first hangover complete with dry heaves! I held her hair for her. LOL She said she won't be playing any drinking games for a very long time to come!

Oh, I also got out the stuff to try my hand again at punchneedle. There's one craft that I am having a hard time mastering. I'll post a picture of the little project I have if I ever finish it. It's a really cute little sheep, very small, most punchneedle projects are.

Well, Ms. Hangover is asking me when we're going, I better run! Tootles!

UPDATE: Earlier today when I was making this post, Blogger was being more of a BOOGER and wouldn't let me put my pictures, I barely got this one on, so I didn't get to finish. I made this little pincushion for my BBF Sandy over at Rabbit Stitchings because she collects rabbits, she already got it so I can put a picture. You have to hop (no pun intended) over to her blog and read what she wrote about me. I am apparently one of "them" now! LOL
Tootles, my laundry beckons!

2008-02-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

While riding the elevator to my office this morning, I saw an article about how sadness can trigger overspending. Here's a link to the article, it's quite interesting. Maybe that explains why I keep buying so danged much quilting and crafting stuff, right? Oh, wait, maybe I'm just addicted to stash enhancement!

This day is dragging! I have no bosses at work today, 4 out of 4 are out. The phone has only rang about 2 times. Ugh! I'm going out of my mind! I think the aforementioned article researchers should study the effects on spending of a bored legal secretary who has access to the internet during working hours!

Interesting use of expensive and cute Japanese fabric

2008-02-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

I paid quite a bit for this cute Japanese fabric from The Cozy Cottage (totally worth it though) and here is an interesting use for it. My kid ripped the seat out of her pajamas, so I got out the fusible and voila! She was whining and carrying on that she just got them today and paid a whopping $7 for them at Target (pronounced Tar-Jay). Wow! A whole $7! I informed her that the fabric cost about twice what her pants cost! LOL Oh it's ok though, it's sort of cute with a little hedgehog heart on her hiney. Well, have I stooped the lowest when it comes to blog entries just for the sake of having a blog entry? LOL

Well, I am going to go finish my dinner (I'm back on Nutrisystem, I need to lose some weight for our Alaskan cruise in June), it's not so bad. And tonight LOST is on, anyone else out there unable to help it when it comes to watching that show? We have threatened over and over again to stop watching that show, but it sucks you in!

Well, anyhoo, tootles everyone!

2008-02-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

I have absolutely nothing of interest to write about today, can you believe it? But then, most of the stuff I write about probably isn't very interesting to most people anyway! So, I'll just leave a cute picture today. We have three indoor kitties and one outdoor kitty who wandered into our lives a couple of years ago. She will sit outside playing nosey kissies with our kitties, but she doesn't want anything to do with living in the house. A few days ago when it was raining, she decided that she wanted to live in our garage at night. That makes me happy, we don't have to worry about the coyotes getting her. She likes to sleep on this old afghan in my husband's boat. We named her Poof aka Nautical Kitty. Isn't she cute?

See, didn't I say I have nothing interesting to talk about? Well, better get ready for work now. Ugh! I'd rather stay home and quilt!

2008-02-03T23:15:00.000-08:00

Today I braved the torrential rain (trust me, people in LA CANNOT drive to save their lives when it rains, I can only imagine what it would be like if it snowed -- mass pandemonium!), and I went down to Cozy Cottage to meet up with Kris and Sharon. Sharon has lots of pictures on her blog, I didn't even see her taking those pictures, that sneaky girl! Hey Sharon, I like the crop job on our picture, but you told me you could Photoshop a few more pounds off me! LOL Anyway, Sharon was very good at convincing me that I really needed all the stuff that I bought today! I think she could sell ice cubes to the Eskimos that girl! I ended up getting the kit for her class I'll be taking in a couple of weeks, a cute little stitchery pattern, a half yard of some fabric I just had to have, and the fabric to make the Valentine quilt from her blog. I started working on it tonight, I'm not diggin' sewing on these little 1 inch squares, but it's coming out cute. I still have 6 blocks to go. Here's a picture of what I have so far.

Well I think I'm going to pack up the quilting stuff for tonight and call it a night. Tootles!

2008-02-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

Well would you look at who just arrived at my house? Some more darling little 11 inch Annies! They smell just divine, like vanilla lattes! I'm sure I will be ordering more, I just need to slow down!

2008-02-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am up bright and early and wired for sound it seems. Actually, DH and I got up at 4:30 with the plan to go fishing today, but when we looked outside and saw it was raining, and checked the weather and saw that it was windy as heck at the lake we were going to go to, and sat here and debated about it for a half hour, we opted not to go. It's no fun trying to fish from a boat when it's windy. Well he went back to bed, but I was wide awake by now. So what better thing to do than quilt I ask you?

Here is Block 2 from the Country Loft BOM I'm doing, eat your heart out Sharon! LOL Inside joke. All I have to do now is sew the borders on and wait for Block 3 to arrive.

Isn't this the cutest little bird? It went super fast. I finished this little cutie up last night in about an hour or so while watching TV. I am really enjoying all this embroidery, it's good for TV watching and the train ride to and from work.

And since I'm wired for sound this morning, I also prepped another block for the redwork wallhanging I'm working on. Here's a picture of that block all ready to go.That's all I have for now. I think later when I'm fully awake I'm going to start working on this Patchwork Journal BOM I'm getting from Homestead Hearth. Yes, another BOM, crazy huh? But I'm totally organized now with all my BOM's in their own project boxes, so I feel I have them under control.

DH and I are going to Bubba Gump's for dinner tonight. We love that place. It's always packed, but it's still fun to go there. Great food too.

Update: As is typical for me, I have an update. LOL Some of you may remember this spool quilt I finished a while back. Well, I just finished making up a totally loud, scrappy backing for it. Here's a picture. I know, it's really wild, but I don't care, it's for me! I like it. I don't feel like basting it right now, so I'm going to work on something else now for a while.

Tootles! (Until I come up with another editorial update!)

2008-02-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

I called in sick today, I just wasn't feeling 100%, something wrong with my stomach. I haven't been anyplace all day today. Now I'm getting kind of antsy, so I pulled some fabrics for another project, as if I should be starting another project. Can anyone guess by looking at this picture of fabrics what it's going to be? If you guessed this, you're right. I pulled all of these fabrics from my stash. That cute little gingham on the left will be the backing I think. The colors look sort of washed out in this picture, but I think they'll be pretty once done up. I wanted to put something dark pink or fuschia in there, but I don't think I have anything, maybe I should go look. Nope, I just checked, clean out of anything in the fuschia range, only thing in that color is some wild fuschia leopard skin print that I got for my daughter for pillow cases, I don't think that will work. Too late to hit up a quilt shop, everything is closed. Maybe I should drive over to Sharon's, I bet I could shop some of that color in her collection. LOL Just kidding Sharon. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I have also been working on the stitchery BOM from The Country Loft that I showed in an earlier post. It's a really fast little stitchery project. It's going to make a really cute quilt.

Update: Here's the finished block for the Four Seasons stitchery quilt. I can never help myself, I always have to embellish, so I added a little wisp of smoke to the chimney since this is the Winter House and put the little heart under the door window.

2008-01-30T23:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight while watching the LOST recap, I feel I had a fairly productive evening. I finished up the autumn block of the four seasons redwork quilt, here's a picture. It came out pretty good I think. It's going to make such a cute quilt. You can see the pattern peeking there in the picture.

Pattern: Four Seasons in the Garden
http://www.birdbraindesigns.net/

So, after I finished and pressed that, I put it all nice and organized in it's project bag and went to my crafting armoire and got out the project box for my BOM from Country Loft. It is also called Four Seasons I believe. I traced out the winter house. It's pretty simple stitchery, but it's going to be such a cute quilt. It's adorable in person! Here's a picture of this block all ready to go. I'm quite proud of the ambition I'm having these days! I used some spray baste out in the garage to baste this tiny little piece of fabric, I'm feeling a little high! LOL

Block of the Month from The Country Loft, The Four Seasons
http://www.cloft.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/MainStore/index.html?E+scstore

Oh, and my heart swelled with joy tonight. As I was putting the house block together, my 21 year old daughter asked "do you think I could embroider?" I said of course you could, it's really easy, do you want to learn? You could do this quilt along with me. She said, yes, I'd like to learn, I need a hobby. Oh boy, was I happy! Now, who knows if she learns how long her attention span will be, but it's a start!

Well, that's about all for now. I'm just waiting for my DH to get home from work, then I'm off to bed. I'm glad today is his Friday and I'll be able to get to bed earlier the rest of the week. Tootles!

2008-01-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight I decided Block One of the Sweet Land Of Liberty BOM needed some attention. So I made myself get it out and finished up everything on it but sewing down all those tiny windows and the door. I think I'm going to just use the sewing machine for those. Hey, it's primitive, anything and everything goes! It looks funny in some places because I used one of those blue disappearing ink marking pens, so that's water on there. It looks ok. My next blocks will be better, I'm getting more used to this whole primitive thing. It's hard to make yourself cut off points and not make everything perfect. Here's a picture.

Well, bed is calling, I'll try to report more tomorrow, I'm falling asleep at the keyboard just to finish this.

2008-01-28T05:29:00.000-08:00

We headed off to San Diego bright and early Saturday morning. The weather cooperated with us all day long until bedtime, when it started to rain . . . AGAIN! It's a wonder we aren't washing away to sea yet! My husband made a deal with me, I suffered, I mean enjoyed, a trip to the Midway museum in exchange for my visit to The Country Loft and Rosie's. First stop when we got there was The Country Loft. I didn't take a bunch of pictures, because if I did, they'd be the same as Sharon's, so go have a look at hers, she took way more and better ones!

Here is my husband coming out of the men's resale shop next door, they wouldn't give me anything for him. LOL Here's a picture of the Country Loft signage to prove I was there. For being a small shop, they sure have a lot of merchandise packed in there! Here are a few pictures taken here and there in the shop. I did quite a bit of damage in that little store. If DH hadn't been waiting at Starbucks, and making me nervous, I probably could have spent way longer in there and done way more damage to the ol' wallet! I bought a homespun bundle they had laying around, a bunch of patterns, a kit to make two Raggedy Ann dolls, the matching stitchery kit that you see on Sharon's blog, a stitchery BOM, and much more. Here's my haul. I think Blogger isn't letting me put anymore stuff in this post. I'm pushing it!
Last thing to talk about, DH and I are getting into the whole Geocaching thing now. It seems to be quite the rage among people who have GPS units, I got him a nice handheld Garmin one for Christmas and he loves it. We found one of the geocaches right by our house and felt so accomplished that we found it! It's sort of a fun hobby. We went to look for another one, but had no luck, besides, it started to rain . . . AGAIN!