End of Month Stuffus

(CTTY and AYOS)

July 31 - our next stop on our Christmas Through The Year journey. The CTTY Train is pulling in to the station as we speak.

Cheryl and I know that there are far more important things in your lives in the middle of the summer - vacations, back to school prep, avoiding the hot iron in your sewing room (teehee), etc than sewing for Christmas gift giving. I do hope you set aside a day or two to make a gift or two. By doing that you killed two birds with one stone - spending a little time with your sewing machine and keeping your stress at bay in December. :-)

Sadly, I did not follow my own advice. :-( There were no Christmas gifts made here. Sigh! Oh well, there's always August - LOL

She did it! Who and what did she do? I'm talking about Carol - she made and posted a Christmas gift or item every day in the month of July. Talk about serious inspiration - if you need inspiration you need to visit Carol. She posted a couple of collages to show everything she made. I'm in serious AWE.

Way to go - Carol!!!!

I am a DITZ - yes I am! LOL I've been wondering what Cheryl was making for the winner of this month's giveaway. OMG, OMG, July is MY month, not Cheryl's. LOL So, late last night I got busy and this is as far as I got. But-------------I will finish quilting and binding it today and post a picture tomorrow.

Mr Linky and I are on speaking terms again so please add your post at the bottom of the page. :-)

By adding your link to Mr Linky you'll be eligible to win the little something, something I'm making!

Another Year of Schnibbles

Here's my finish for July's Another Year of Schibbles. Yes, it's Bounce again but it's an official flimsy now - final borders have been added.

Thank you Sherri and Sinta for all the hard work you put into making Another Year of Schnibbles so successful.

Enjoy a pieceful day!

In Friendship!

I don't know what happened to Mr Linky but I've managed to get it back - you can see all the links at the top of the 'comments page'. Just click on "Mister Linky, you're next"

OH MY!

(this is a long post - bear with me)

I'm sorry I didn't return on Friday to announce the winners of my celebrations. We had a stressful and busy afternoon - my Visa debit card was compromised. Yep, someone attempted to do some major shopping with MY card. Needless to say it took us a few hours to unravel the mess. Ugh! I spent the rest of the day going through a variety of emotions - stress, anger, frustration, etc.

Completely forgetting that I still needed to announce the winners I decided to spend time in my "Happy Place" and sew like the wind. I spent a few hours Friday evening with my friend (my sewing machine) and then ALL afternoon and into the late night on Saturday. Up early this morning to - you guessed it - sew some more. teehee!!!! This is one of the of the precut projects I showed in my silly game last game - Bounce by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co with Hello Luscious by Basic Grey for Moda. I still need to add the final plain outer border; hopefully I can do that tomorrow. Miss Shaye is coming to spend a few hours with her Nana and Papa while her Mama goes to a doctor's appt - there may not be any sewing until later in the day. :-)

Cooper happened to be passing through - he visited the groomer last week so he's looking dapper. :-)

Yes, I know you're waiting for me to announce the winners - stop rolling your eyes! LOL I need your opinion, please! I received a variety of wonderful birthday gifts from blog friends and I'd love to show you.

I quit showing stuff like that a long time ago because I was accused of bragging and/or showing off.

Obviously, I've thanked all my friends profusely but I'd love to show you, too.

What would you do or better yet what do you do?

OK, here's the list of precut projects and their matching patterns:

A - 3

B - 5

C - 6
D - 2

E - 4

F - 1

27 participated in my silly and a bit difficult game and 9 got all the answers correctly. WooHoo!!!!

The winners:

Christine

Linda K

Leah

Cheryl

Monica

Carol

Linda

Nancy E

Sandie

I've spoken with my financial planner (aka Budget Guy) and he has approved that all nine winners will receive a prize. So, I'll go through the list of winners to see what you said you wanted and try to fulfill your wish - if your wish was given to someone ahead of you then I'll select something for you. :-)

Winners if you don't hear from me but see that you're on the list then please send me an e-mail with your address.

Thank you so much for all the birthday and blog anniversary wishes! I sincerely appreciate your sweet comments!

Enjoy a pieceful day.

In Friendship!

The Party is Over!

No more celebrating!

The balloons have been taken down!

The cupcakes have been eaten!

The gifts have been opened!

It was a great birthday and blog anniversary celebration - thank you for coming!

I'll be back later to announce the winners of my silly game. :-)

Enjoy a pieceful day.

In Friendship!

You're invited to my party to celebrate my 6th anniversary in blogging and my birthday!

Gifts for me are not required but I do have gifts for you - relax and have fun. :-)

We're going to play a game.

Did you see my bucket and pile of snippets in my blog post earlier this week?

I've been on a planning, plotting & cutting frenzy.

I planned, plotted and cut six different projects. There are six individual pictures of my pre-cut projects (A thru F); then there's a picture of patterns and a book (1 thru 6).

Leave a comment telling me which pre-cut project goes with which pattern.

For instance A-1 (this is not the correct answer - LOL)

(BTW, #2 is the pattern for the quilt on the cover)

Then the final picture shows six different prizes (layer cakes and charm packs) tell me which you'd prefer if you're a winner.

One rule - If you're a winner I must have a way to contact you.

The prizes

:-)


Thank you for coming!

Hope you had fun!

In Friendship!

Christmas and More

It's that time again - yep - gentle nagging time. LOL

July 23 - 8 more days in the month - ACK!!!

If you haven't made at least one Christmas gift this month you still have time.

Psst - if you've made one then you have time to make one more. teehee!

If you want to be on board the CTTY Train when it pulls into it's next stop on July 31st and you need inspiration. Run as fast as you can to visit Carol because she's been providing tons of Christmas inspiration with her own Christmas in July challenge. I look forward to every day because I'm anxious to see what she's made. There are tablerunners, mug mats, wallhangings, oh my! She's posting something every day in July - yes, every day - I'm not kidding. GO NOW!!!!

It's ok you can admit it - you secretly wish you were on her Christmas gift giving list. :-)

Lest you think I've just been sitting around under an a/c vent. OK, you got me I have been doing exactly that (it's so stinkin' hot) however I have also been plotting and planning projects. teehee!

I've spent the past two days cutting projects.

Are you curious?

I'll be back later to share the cute piles and stacks of fabric ready and waiting to be introduced to my sewing machine.

Based on the bucket of colorful snippets and pile of white snippets how many projects do you think I cut?

Enjoy a pieceful day!

In Friendship

Obsessed or Possessed?

Scrap Jar Stars

My Scrap Jar Stars project is officially a flimsy!

Thank you sooooo much for all your input and suggestions regarding how many blocks I should make. :-) I appreciate your help.

I decided to do a 5 x 6 layout for two reasons (1) I already had pieces/parts cut and ready to go (2) Mr Daze seldom gives me his opinion on any quilt, other than to cheer me on, and he really thought this quilt should be a rectangle. I wanted to show him I cared about his opinion and I'm glad I did. I LOVE this quilt! LOL
I'm not sure whether I was obsessed or possessed by this project. Maybe both. LOL I had so much fun working on this quilt and need to thank Karin for the inspiration and light bulb moment. :-)

I made this quilt with 40 different Pam Kitty Morning fat eighths and reserved 40 - two inch strips to make a scrappy binding. Need to decide on backing soon because I'm anxious to quilt this baby. :-)

Please visit Amber at A Little Bit Biased to see her quilt and tutorial. Karin is working on hers with blues and reds; Staci is doing hers with Vintage Modern prints; Leanne (picture here) made one with beautiful scraps and Carol is going to start working on hers very soon. And, YOU? LOL

Enjoy a pieceful day and thank you so much for visiting with me!

In Friendship!

An Impasse
Scrap Jar Stars

I've been working diligently on my Scrap Jar Stars PKM project. I have to admit that every star I make becomes my favorite. LOL

I made huge faux pas and it's not like me - I'm terribly sorry! I did provide this information in the first post but failed to include it this time. :-(

This is a pattern designed by Amber at A Little Bit Biased
The block tutorial is here

I've reached an impasse and need YOUR help, please.

When I initially had this Plan B project I thought I'd make 25 blocks (5 x 5). Then as I was working out my math, etc I decided I had enough fabric to make 30 blocks (5 x 6). Here I have 20 blocks on my design wall (4 x 5) and I'm not sure I like this as a rectangular quilt. I do know I don't want to stop with just 20 blocks but I'm not sure if it should be 25 blocks or 30 blocks. Sigh - please tell me you do this! LOL

I have to share that Mr Daze loves this quilt (well, the blocks) and would prefer that it be a rectangular quilt but I'm waffling. LOL

Help me!!!!

Enjoy a pieceful day!

In Friendship!

Christmas Through the Year

So, Christmas Elves how's it going? Have you finished or at least started one (or two) Christmas gifts this month. Yes, it's only July 9th but we all know the year is truly flying by. Surely you don't want to get to November and wish you'd made a few little somethings for family and friends. I have nothing to inspire you because I haven't finished or started a Christmas gift this month - huge sigh! ;-)

Picture borrowed from Carol's blog with her permission

Do you know Carol at Carol's Craft Blog?
That's the spot to visit if you're looking for serious Christmas inspiration. Carol is a very talented and inspiring sewist - it's always fun to see what she's doing. Right now she's enjoying Christmas in July and challenged herself to make and show something every day in July. Take time to visit Carol and go back to July 1st to see everything she's already made - your head will spin. LOL She recently finished the table runner in the picture above. By the way, Carol works a full time job, too.

Don't be left behind; hop aboard the Christmas Through the Year Train as it heads to our next stop July 31st.


"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year!"
Charles Dickens



In Friendship!

Scrap Jar Blocks

(PKM project)

I was visiting Karin's blog the other night while searching for 'the' project for my PKM fabric when I had that light bulb moment I told you about. YES!!!!! She was showing all the pieces parts to her Scrap Jars Stars quilt. This wonderfully scrappy quilt is from Amber/A Little Bit Biased. I lurk on Amber's blog, therefore I'd watched her progress on her quilt, secretly coveting it. LOL Amber has a terrific tutorial for the block.

OMG, it really spoke to me but for reasons that simply don't matter I didn't jump in with both feet.

It was time to jump in because I knew it would be the perfect project for my PKM fabric. I had hoped to start working on my Scrap Jar Stars (OK, I don't have scraps but I can make scraps - LOL) on Friday but it wasn't meant to be. Sigh! Instead yesterday I spent ALL day in my sewing room having more fun than should be allowed. LOL I know you've experienced the same feelings with a project or two (OK, maybe three).

There was lots of cutting to be done. I'd done my math and decided I wanted to make 30 blocks.

I made the first batch of half square triangles and I couldn't stand it I HAD to make the first block.

TA-DA - yes there are some duplicate prints in the blocks even though I tried hard to avoid it. ack!!! LOL I planned to employ Jack the Ripper but then decided that in the grand scheme of things it wouldn't matter. OK, maybe I'm just being lazy. LOL

I decided to make a second block to see if the duplication of prints would matter. No picture but trust me when I say it didn't matter. LOL

I couldn't stop myself - really I couldn't - I had to make more blocks!!!! With each finished block I was getting more and more excited. The blocks are looking even cuter than I thought they would. BIG, BIG SIGH!!!

There will be sashing and corner stones between the blocks thereby creating a secondary pattern - a nine patch.

BTW, these are some honking big blocks (12" finished) so I'm rethinking my 30 block (5 x6) plan. Should I stick with my original plan - what would you do? :-)

Can you guess where I'll be this afternoon? My "Happiest Place on Earth" - my sewing room. wahoo!!!!

Enjoy a pieceful day - thank you for visiting.

In Friendship!

Plan B

:-)

My sweet pile of Pam Kitty Morning fat eighths waiting patiently for me to decide what they will become. I've had my thinking cap on to no avail - maybe I need to stop thinking. LOL

See the red block with the prints? On Wednesday I planned to make a bunch of similar blocks in all the prints with white Kona. They would look like lifesavers skipping across the quilt. Sweet? Maybe! Simply wasn't flipping my skirt (so to speak). I don't like to settle and I felt that's what I was doing. I didn't have a Plan B but the possibility existed so I decided to keep thinking. :-)

I had grand plans to sew the day away but the stars were not aligned. LOL And, then the unthinkable happened!!! The a/c quit providing much needed cold air. Big, big sigh! You know we live on the Surface of the Sun, the Chamber of Commerce wants you to believe it's the Valley of the Sun, yeah right! LOL The last thing I wanted to do was add more heat to my sewing room with the iron and lights - icky!!!!

I hunkered down on the couch with my netbook on my lap and the search for Plan B began. I looked for inspiration on Pinterest, Google, blogs, etc. And, then while visiting a favorite blog I had a huge light bulb moment. OMG, that was it - yes that was definitely it. I counted my fat eighths and did the math - YES it was going to work. WooHoo!!!!

No sewing yesterday, even though I had Plan B because we were waiting for the Greg, the a/c guy. He arrived mid-morning, as promised, and put a big band aid on the a/c unit. It needs a little more TLC but it's working enough to keep the house (us) cool, so we're happy.

We have an appointment later this morning and Greg, the a/c guy, is coming by while we're away but when we return I plan to start cutting and sewing.

I hope to share Plan B with you soon. Stay tuned. teehee!

Don't ya love it when a plan comes together, even if it is Plan B?

Thanks so much for popping by to visit with me - come again soon!

In Friendship!

roh, roh - I don't have enough Kona. Do you think Budget Guy would stop on the way home? Yep, I think so, too.

A "Score" and a Happy 4th of July!

As my friend, Paulette, would say, "Score".

That's what I said the day the package of yummy Marmalade arrived.

I couldn't stop myself - really I couldn't.

I didn't tell Budget Guy about this order so when it arrived and I was dancing around the kitchen he just stood there with his hands on his hips and tapping his foot. teehee! Then he said "another one?" LOL

I fired up the iron and started pressing while oohing and ahhhing - OMG, OMG, OMG!!! :-)

(officially a flimsy)

After a little bit of indecision I selected a pattern. It had to be Dilly Dally by Camille of Thimbleblossoms.
There are 42 pinwheels in the pattern but only 40 prints. Although I did entertain the thought, I simply couldn't repeat any prints (the others would feel a bit slighted - LOL) so I found two matching pairs of Vintage Modern that worked beautifully.

It's officially a flimsy; as soon as the yardage is available I'll select an outer border print and run for the borders. :-)

Happy 4th of July

(many reasons to celebrate)

We don't have any special plans today. It's cloudy and a bit overcast so we've got our fingers crossed for much needed rain.

I hope you're sewing - I plan to.


In Friendship!

I'm back in Sinta's BOM Rehab and will be for a few weeks. :-)

These three blocks have been at the top of my design wall for a very long time - longer than I can remember. I've been really good about ignoring them but every now and then I do pay a little attention. LOL They are a Designer Mystery BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop but I don't recall the year. ;-) I seem to remember making more blocks and there's a finishing kit, too. Guess, I need to go diving ----- no not dumpster diving just diving into the deep end of the closet in my sewing room. :-)

Wish me luck and if you don't hear from me soon, please send help. LOL

Guess what I missed last month? Well, I didn't miss it, just chose to ignore it because I wasn't quite sure how to celebrate.

It was my 6th anniversary in blogging.

Should we celebrate or just move on? LOL

I hope you're having a wonderful Monday. Thanks for popping in - pop in again soon.

In Friendship!