I ‘heart’ fun mail :-)

Yesterday I received some wonderful ‘fun mail’ – teehee! On Friday, Wendy told me that she mailed a package to me via air mail so I knew that the package would arrive some time this week. Can you imagine our surprise when it arrived yesterday – from Canada. I believe it was on an airplane that broke the sound barrier. My goodness it got here in true record time.

The first picture is the outside of a bag that Wendy made for me for my punch needle supplies. Remember my first punch needle project from a few weeks ago – Wendy made the bag and then added my finished piece to the front. Isn’t it adorable – I love it! And look at the next picture – the inside of the bag – she really captured ‘me’. There’s an adorable vintage graphic of a girl stitching and the words underneath say “she spends hours in the sewing room” – yes that would be ME. And, there’s a button with the letter D; laces, buttons, beads and wonderful prints. Isn’t it beautiful? By the way, this is Wendy’s pattern and you should see her workmanship – what a talent!

And, that’s not all that was in my box – look at my new sewing bag; now I can replace that tacky plastic pencil box that I’ve been using. That bag was a total surprise – the zipper pull is a fob with a bead and sewing machine on the end. Love it, love it! And, she included some cute fabric and one of her wool strawberry pin keeps. Wendy made the sewing bag, as well – she’s a true talent. You know I’m very bag phobic - LOL

Last but not least is an adorable card – the front says “life’s garden should be full of friends like you…” with a grandmother’s flower garden quilt on the front. Perfect card – again capturing ME.

Wendy, thank you so much for your generosity and for sharing your talent with me!
!
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I finally convinced my boss to let me take some time off from work – she’s a real witch and doesn’t allow much ‘play time’ (btw, I’m self employed – teehee). I’m taking most of this week off to just play. In fact I’ve declared today an “Official Play Day” – I’m going to put my goodies in my new bags; I’m going to see about tracing more stitchery for my Quilter’s Journey project; I might see about tracing and prepping some hand appliqué – I’m just going to play! Sigh – I’m in need of serious play time.

Part of my playtime will include prepping some 'fun mail' packages that I plan to send.

Decorating with Quilts

I was born without the 'decorating gene'. I have so many quilts that I want to use in decorating but it just doesn't seem to happen.

I have an entry way that's wonderful for seasonal decorating however it's seldom decorated. So, today I decided to pull out some of my patriotic treasures, quilts, pillows, etc and give it a go. So, the first picture is what you see when you enter my home. Not bad, eh??? LOL

I took a close up of the end of the table that you can't see in the picture and then a close up of the top of the quilt rack.

And, last but not least is a picture of my kitchen table with my patriotic tabletopper I made a month or two ago.

All the pillows in the pictures are counted x-stitch. It was a major passion until quilting came along. :-)

I hope that my friends in Canada had a wonderful 'Canada Day'!

A Strong Desire

If you know me, you already know my love for handwork. About this time last year I decided that I was going to learn how to hand applique. Vicky gave me the gentle shove off the fence and Patti mentored me - thank you again, Ladies! It's become something I enjoy immensely.

Now, I have a strong desire to learn how to hand quilt. I bought this book a few months ago and feel that it might help me. I need advice from the pros - there are so many of you that appear to enjoy hand quilting so can you help me?

Where do I start? Any tips, thoughts, ideas?

Journey of a Quilter

I believe that my quilting has been a journey with many winding roads. I've heard many people talk about how "bad" their first quilts were and even apologize for how bad they are. I choose to look back at my first quilts and know that they've been part of my quilting journey and I've learned along the way.

When I first discovered Aussie designer, Leanne Beasley's pattern "Journey of a Quilter" I knew it was one I had to do. I found Leanne's blog and asked about the availability of her patterns here in US and unfortunately no one was carrying that particular pattern or for that matter any of her patterns. I ordered the entire set (it's designed to be a block of the month) from Honeysuckle Cottage and since it's arrival I've carried them from room to room, studied the designs, etc. I finally settled on exactly how I wanted to approach this pattern and decided to start with Block #5 (it's in the center) and work from there. I'm not quite finished with it but I couldn't wait any longer to share it with you. Besides I wanted to post a picture for Nadine to see before she leaves on her long anticipated vacation. :-)

I will be sharing my blocks as I complete them - there are 8 more. Thanks for visiting my blog!

TTFN

"FUN MAIL"

When my sweetie goes to get the mail every afternoon I like to tell him that if he doesn't have "fun mail" for me then he should not bother to return. teehee

Well, yesterday the mailbox was full of "fun mail" all for me. WooHoo!!!!

A package from The Fat Quarter Shop

A package from May Britt

A Fons and Porter magazine

And a delightful package from Carol, Brown Quilts and the owner of The Good Home Quilt Co in Orlando, FL. I adore Carol and want so badly to visit her shop in Florida (someday - SIGH). I keep telling her that I'm going to however one day I just might. Carol, thank you so much for the "fun mail" package - it's a joy to have you in my life.

Soon, there will be "fun mail" packages making their way across the skies to some special friends. ;-)

TTFN

Giggling and Smiling :-)

Look! I've been playing with the Calico Spool pattern. One in a bright novelty fabric with black background and then some "leftovers" from my 30's Pinwheel Stars quilt.

Maybe I've fallen off the end of the Earth but they sure make me giggle and smile. :-)

Can you say HUGE???

Most evenings you can find me watching baseball on TV, however, with no games the last two evenings I've been chained to my sewing machine. I have almost finished my 30's Pinwheel Star quilt that I shamelessly copied from Doe (thank you, Doe). The center is finished - need to add the corner triangles and the borders. The pattern calls for piano keys on the border but I need to think about that a day or two. This is going to be a HUGE quilt - 95" x 112". No, I didn't pay attention to the dimensions when I started - 50 blocks - no big deal. Whoa, baby! LOL

I'm anxious to get back to my Spool Blocks and the dark version of the Pinwheel Star.

Giving credit where is due: Please, please do not give me credit for this quilt - the pattern shows it done in 30's with a yellow center. I saw it on Doe's blog with red centers and thought it was beautiful. So, now here's mine - just like Doe's!

Blessings

This adorable pin cushion was enclosed in a box from a dear friend recently. I knew what would be in the box however this little tidbit truly surprised me. I try really hard to be a good friend to all however sometimes I believe that this person is a better friend to me than I am to her.

I truly do realize that she's a Blessing in my life and I need to let her know that more often.

Playtime!

Libby has been having more fun than a barrel of monkeys! And, I spent all day Saturday and half of Sunday having some serious playtime in my sewing room.

I made more Pinwheel Stars in dark colors and I'm quite crazy about them.

And, then Saturday night while I was laying in bed waiting to drift off to sleep, I had a thought. I could take the leftovers and make Calico Spools. And by the way, if you haven't visited Marcia at Quilter's Cache you simply must. I have not been able to stop thinking about those spools since Vicky posted a picture on her blog. She won't send hers to me so I had to make my own. :-) I have pulled scraps to make more and each one brings a huge smile!

Now, the downside to all of this is that now I have too many projects in progress and I want to work on all of them NOW! Focus, Darlene, focus! :-)

As I like to say "Quilting puts a smile on my face and a song in my heart".

The Fantastic Artichokes update: The shirts were a huge hit with the other members of the bowling team. Seth was beyond excited! And, to add to his excitement he got his first strike and broke 100. WooHoo!!!!

He's called Papa!

I have to tell you about the man in my house. I call him Honey, Sweetheart, RJ, Buster, etc but he's also known as Daddy and Papa! As a Daddy he did numerous things for our kids but I won't bore you with those details - I want to tell you what he did last night for our 10 year old grandson, Seth. You need to know that he and Seth have a true bond that was established the day Seth was born - it's a mutual admiration. LOL


And now my story! Papa loves to bowl and Seth enjoys bowling with Papa. For Seth's 10th birthday we decided that we'd give Seth a bowling ball and bag and then he and Papa could join a summer league together. I can't begin to tell you how excited Seth has been and full of anticipation (his birthday was in Feb, so he's been waiting patiently). They started bowling on an adult/child league a couple of weeks ago and last week the team had to decide on a name and they settled on "The Fantastic Artichokes" - LOL! Now, they must have team shirts - so Papa spent a few days designing something for the back and front of the shirts. Yesterday we shopped for shirts and purchased four green shirts and iron-on stuff. Papa spent yesterday evening perfecting the design (had to have the right colors) and then printed the designs on the "stuff", cut them out and pressed the design on the back of all four shirts. Then he reduced the design and added their names so they could have the design on the front of the shirt, as well.

You should know that no one has seen the design or shirts so Papa is super excited today about bowling tonight with Seth and the other two team members!

When I praised him for what he did as a father he'd always respond "I'm just being a dad". And now when I praise him for what he does as a grandfather he always responds "I'm just being a Papa".

Sweetheart, thank you for being a terrific "Daddy" and "Papa" but a huge thank you for being such a great husband, too. Happy Father's Day - thanks for being YOU!

Night and Day - edited Saturday evening

I found Doe's blog not long after she started blogging! She's incredibly talented and an absolute delight. While reading her blog I saw a picture of her Pinwheel Star blocks/quilt and I was downright smitten. I HAD to make that quilt so I called and ordered the pattern. Yes, I'm a shameless copycat, however, I chatted with Doe and she said it's OK - thank you Doe! I assembled 28 of the required 50 blocks and then I had a light bulb moment - how would these blocks looks in darker colors???? I've pulled some lights and darks and made the first block this morning. What an incredible difference! As my Sweetie said, "they're like night and day" - he's right. :-)

The 30's blocks will be set on point as shown in the pattern but I'm not sure how I'm going to set the other blocks. I'm still playing - LOL.

I've seen a similar quilt in the Nickle Quilts book, however I didn't want to cut everything into 5" squares so I just followed the instructions from my Pinwheel Star pattern.

TTFN

edit: I've just spent several hours responding to the many e-mailed comments that I'd been saving. Thank you again for playing my silly game, helping me celebrate my first blogiversary, for visiting my blog, for taking a few minutes to leave a comment or two and especially for all the inspiration I get from you! And, a special thank you to my Sweetie for coming up with the game to celebrate my blogiversary. It was a ton of fun!

We Have a Winner!

Are you chomping at the bit - are you anxiously and patiently waiting - are you getting frustrated with me? LOL!!!

Here's a picture of the Hat Box with it's treasure trove of goodies:

We scrunched up all the winning comments and put them in a brown paper bag and had my neighbor Weezie draw the winner.

And, the winner is Sharon in New Jersey!
(no, Sharon, you can't have my cabinet - LOL)
Please send your address via e-mail and I'll put your goodies in the mail.

Thank you so much for playing my silly game, leaving such incredible comments and helping me celebrate my 1st Blogiversary. I hope I will celebrate many more.

I have pictures of most of the quilts in my Big Red Cabinet so stay tuned and soon I will direct you to a spot to see them all. BTW, I'm ready to purchase another cabinet (or two) because I have a huge pile of quilts in our bedroom and you've seen pictures of the quilt tops waiting to be real quilts. :-) Yes, I love to sew!

HOW MANY?

50

Did you guess 50?

Thanks so much for playing my silly game and for the wonderful comments.

I'll be back tomorrow (Thursday) to draw a name and show you the contents of the Hat Box!

What is "IT"?

Have I kept you in suspense long enough? LOL

IT's no big deal - really it isn't. It's my Blogiversary! Well, actually my First Blogiversary is June 11 but I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days so we need to start celebrating now!

A year ago I was cruising and surfing blogs and thoroughly enjoying everything about blogs and blogging so I decided to take the plunge and start my Blogging Adventure. And, what an adventure it's been. I'm a member of a wonderful International Guild with friends in every corner of this world. Blogging has been a huge blessing in my life.

So, let's party!

Shall we play a game? Please leave a comment with a guess regarding how many quilts I have in my BIG RED cabinet in the picture above. Every correct guess will be entered in a drawing for the beautiful loaded hat box in the second picture! I'll be gone until late Wednesday, 6/13, so I'll check comments then and draw the winner from the correct guesses on Thursday, 6/14.

Remember, guess how many quilts I have in my BIG RED cabinet and all the correct guesses will be entered in a drawing. The winner will be drawn on Thursday, 6/14.

Since you've got to stop and leave a guess would you please tell me why you read my blog! :-)

Until Thursday, my friends! Have fun and remember to miss me. :-)

BASIC SEWING KIT

This is my sewing box that I take with me when I go sew with my friends or on a retreat. It used to hold some very basic items and slowly over the years I've added many, many things. I got to the point that I purchased duplicates of many things in my sewing room because I got tired of "forgetting" something. That grew old very quickly. :-)

I started with a regular sized plastic pencil box and then upgraded to this larger one as I kept adding stuff.

So, why am I showing it to you? I need your help - I don't like this thing but I've searched high and low for something better, cuter, prettier, etc and can't find anything. I have lots of cute Longaberger baskets but they don't work for travel (everything spills out).

What do you use? What do you recommend? I need your ideas and thoughts, please!

By the way, I thought "it" might be coming today but "it" won't be coming till either tomorrow or Sunday! Stay tuned. teehee

IT'S DONE!!!!!

I've completed my first punchneedle project. While it's not perfect, it's not bad for a first project. LOL I enjoyed doing this very much - it was a very nice change of pace. I have a few more projects I want to work on so stay tuned for more. I really want to thank Wendy for all her help and guidance.

IT'S COMING - IT'S COMING!!!!! In two days - in two days!!!!! Be sure to visit again. :-)

I'm Punchy! I'm Punchy!

Let me share my punchneedle story with you! Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit the quilt show in Paducah - don't be impressed I was there helping a friend with her booth and I got very little time to enjoy the show. Anyway, I did manage to sneak down to a booth that was selling punchneedle patterns and kits. I was in love as I'd done some NEEDLEPUNCH when I lived in Japan (the same and yet different). Anyway, I came away with a handful of patterns and kits. After I got home they never saw the light of day. LOL Then last year, a friend and I went to the Quilt Festival in Chicago (this one I got to enjoy - LOL) and once again I was intrigued with punchneedle. I kept going back to the booth that was doing the demo just to watch. I was smitten once again. LOL Once again, I purchased a few patterns, kits, hoop and needle. A week after we returned from our trip I had to have emergency surgery and was down for a few weeks - perfect opportunity for me to do some punchneedle. Well, I did a little, got frustrated and put it all away. All those kits, patterns, hoops and needle have not seen the light of day until recently.

My punchneedle guru Wendy enticed me to pull out all the projects and try again. I've been playing with it off and on for the past couple of weeks only to admit defeat and failure. My guru was away on a quilting retreat so she wasn't around to help me along. When she returned she received my "failure" e-mail and sent one with two key tips that she'd given me before and I'd completely forgotten about. How to hold my hoop (against my chest) and how to punch (toward myself). Oh, my goodness that made all the difference and now I'm in Punchy Hog Heaven. Yesterday I worked on my project during the baseball game, then I pulled out quite a bit of the work because the overdyed floss I was using didn't look good and I changed to a different overdyed floss that worked much better. I'm quite proud of myself - still alot to improve on but not bad for a first project. LOL :-) Needless to say, there are lots more projects looming!

BUTTER DISH BASKETS

The Celebrate Spring fat quarter challenge is now finished! Here’s the result of my use of the fat quarter challenge using Celebrate Spring by Sandy Gervais and Moda. After much deliberation and searching I selected a pattern by Fig Tree Quilts called Butter Dish Baskets. This pattern had been in my pile of "someday projects" and I'm very happy with the results.

I've had a ton of fun doing this challenge with Nicole of Sister's Choice and Dawn of Quilts and Pieces. Hopefully, we will do this again in the near future and have lots more quilters involved!

Thanks so much for following along as we progressed through the month of May!

I’M SO EXCITED
I’M ABOUT TO LOSE CONTROL
AND I JUST CAN’T HIDE IT!!! ;-)

Late last week my Sweetie and I stopped by my nearest quilt store to exchange some batting. While we were there the shop owner told me that she had one fat quarter bundle of Allspice Tapestry by Fig Tree Designs/Moda and had it set aside just for me (does she know me, or what????) I got super excited and told her to please hold it till later this week as I needed to put aside some “play money” – she said “no problem, see you next week”. My Sweetie immediately offered to buy it for me but I said, “no, that’s OK, I’ll come back next week”. Needless to say I skipped out of the store with excitement. WooHoo! Believe me when I tell you I thought about that bundle of fat quarters all week end. They are truly gorgeous.

Then today I was going to go run a couple of errands – the bank, the grocery store, etc. As I was leaving my Sweetie handed me his VISA and told me to please stop by the quilt store and buy that bundle for myself. I still said, “No, that’s OK” – the man was insistent so I obliged and stopped by to purchase it.

Since I brought it home I have carried it from room to room so I could fondle it. Did I mention that I really do love it? That same Sweetie was teasing me and said that he needed to get a picture of me holding it (carrying it around) to post on my blog. Yes, he’s a regular reader and a "keeper"!

Now, the BIG search is on for a pattern.

MISS LOUISE AND MISS CYNTHIA

I know you’ve met Miss Louise (on the left) and now here’s her friend, Miss Cynthia! Two adorable ladies from the designs of Red Brolly, Bronwyn Hayes. Years ago, and I do mean YEARS ago I did a lot of embroidery and have found myself being drawn to it again. I used a back stitch with these, as I need to practice my stem stitch. I’m not completely happy with the results and finally figured out why – I was working on linen rather than muslin so it was difficult to keep my stitches even (one thread over makes such a difference). So, please don't be too critical of my stitches! ;-)

I don’t know what I’m going to do with these cuties. I’m considering ordering one or two more but we’ll see. I just need to think about it a bit.

Please forgive the tacky blue tape!

CELEBRATE SPRING FAT QUARTER CHALLENGE

Final sneak peek of the Celebrate Spring Fat Quarter Challenge that Nicole, Dawn and I started on May 1.

The BIG Reveal is Thursday, May 31.

SEEDS OF TIME

I don’t know why this was in a “flimsy” stage for so long because it’s always been a favorite. I used a fat quarter bundle called Seeds of Time by Kansas Troubles/Moda and the pattern was a freebie offered by Moda. I think I made this quilt top in 2004 (?) but I really can’t remember.

I hope that you like it as much as I do.

By the way, either you didn’t notice it or were too kind to notice it. Go back and look in the lower right corner of my Rhubarb and Ginger quilt – see it now – the sashing strip is different from the rest. Why? Well, when I was making this I ran out of the correct sashing fabric but needed to finish it quickly so I decided it would be best to just use one of the others. I did get more the correct sashing fabric but my husband suggested that I leave it alone – someday it will be a good conversation starter.

Again, thank you for stopping by my blog – I do appreciate you!

Come back tomorrow (Monday) for the final sneak peek of the Celebrate Spring Fat Quarter Challenge that Nicole, Dawn and I are doing. Thursday, May 31 will be the BIG Reveal.

RHUBARB & GINGER

No longer a flimsy! This was a Moda University quilt kit that I made sometime in late 2005 and yesterday I had the opportunity to quilt it. I’m so addicted to those dang Moda fabrics; I swear I could be their poster girl.

MORE RHUBARB & GINGER

Some of you may recall my Grandmother Flower Garden hexagon flowers that I was English paper piecing last year. I was having so much fun and couldn’t wait to get another flower finished. Then it all came to a screeching halt because after I found perfect fabric for the “path” (the area between the hexagon flowers) I couldn’t figure out how to put it all together. AAARRRGGGHHH – I felt like such a BIG dummy so I put it all away! Libby was kind enough to attempt to help me – she sent me diagrams and instructions and yet I’m still a BIG dummy. I bought books, yes more than one, and all they told me was how to make the flower - I already know how to do that, thank you very much. I can't find basic instructions to put the entire quilt top together. I'm really bummed about it, too. However, I’ve been thinking about making more flowers and maybe someday it will all click and I’ll put the quilt top together (don’t hold your breath!) LOL

Tomorrow I’ll show you what I quilted today! An oldie but a goodie! teehee

Perfect Segue!

Have you seen the BEAUTIFUL bags that Wendy makes? You must pop over to her blog and check ‘em out. As I was reading her blog this morning, it occurred to me that the topic on her blog today would be a perfect segue to my “bag making phobia”. Yes, ladies (and gentlemen) I have a huge bag making phobia. When I think about making a bag the butterflies in my stomach start fluttering and then if I start reading directions, etc then I break out in a cold sweat. It’s not a pretty sight. LOL I didn’t enjoy sewing garments and I think that making a bag reminds me of sewing garments. BIG YUCK!!!!! You should see me shamelessly begging my bag making friends to please, please, please make a bag for me.

As I was attempting to pack light for my retreat I decided that I wanted to make a travel case for my P3 applique tools so I called one of my bag making friends and asked if she’d help me when I got stuck. “Absolutely”, she said. I needed three fat quarters (so I packed 10), batting and Velcro. I was good to go. WooHoo!

Drum roll please!!!!! Saturday evening after I finished my Night and Noon quilt top I made the travel case you see in the picture. I didn’t need much assistance and when I was finished my friends decided that I was now a bag making apprentice. LOL Wait, wait, I actually made two travel pouches but I failed to get a picture of the second one before I gave it to the owner of the retreat location. She was super excited, too. (it's the little things!)

Speaking of bags, totes, etc you must visit Sharon’s blog and take a look at her bags, as well. And, if you look through Doe's blog you'll see some super bags there, too.

It’s so nice to be surrounded by such talented women, isn’t it?

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Travel Case is by Pearl P. Pereira of www.P3designs.com

Need to FOCUS (verb: direct one's attention on something)

Remember the “Great Quilting Slump of ’06? Nothing, absolutely nothing appealed to me. I didn’t want to piece, appliqué, and/or embroider. What was up with that? The only thing I was doing well was spending money on more projects. LOL

Fast forward to May ’07 – I’ve been piecing like a maniac; I’ve been doing a little embroidery; I’ve played with punchneedle (thank you, Wendy) however I haven’t touched any hand appliqué or my Grandmother’s Flower Garden hexagon flowers. Soon, very soon!!!!!

I haven’t done any sewing this week however I’ve been doing quite a bit of cutting. I have two projects all cut and ready to sew and I’m going to search for a two or three more. I’m not crazy about “prep” so while I’m in the mood to “prep” I figured I’d take advantage of my mood and get some projects ready to sew. I've been digging through bins, drawers, cupboards looking for "the" projects that I want to prep and I keep hearing "pick me, pick me". It's been very difficult to decide! LOL

Here are pictures of my “prepped” projects – notice anything? Two very different color schemes. One is very cute 30’s prints (cheery) and the other is Rites of Spring by Moda (dark) and I love them both! Is there something wrong with me, that I seem to like it ALL (well, except batiks – LOL) and I want to do it ALL??????

Then there's all of you, my dear blogging friends, you keep posting pictures of your wonderful projects. Tempting and taunting me! :-) No, no, no don't stop posting those pictures - talk about inspiration. WOWZER!!!!

So, what should I do? Continue doing as I've been doing (in my own little world) or do I truly need to focus?

EDIT: I was writing this post when I read Kim's post on her blog and almost didn't post this about needing to focus and then decided that I would cuz we are obviously in sync. So, I'm not sure if it's the quilting hormones or if I'm multi-tasking as Kim says.

Good Intentions!

Yes, yes I know "the road is paved with good intentions". But, but, but I've really had the best of intentions! Most of you know that I like to respond to all of your comments ("no reply" makes that difficult) however I've been remiss about doing that. Please, please accept my apologies and know that I appreciate your comments and I promise to do better! I love reading all your comments!

RETREAT MARATHON SEWING

I’ve told you about my completed project now let me tell you about the marathon sewing we did LATE Saturday night.

We were discussing what time we were going to leave on Sunday – one of the girls riding with me was very anxious to finish the project she was working on. It was midnight, I’d already shut off my machine and cleaned up my work table. One of the other girls, her sister, said “are we up for some marathon sewing”? So, I turned my machine on, pulled out my threads snippers and we got busy. We worked on the blocks as a “tag team” – sewing, pressing, sewing, pressing (two of us sewing and one pressing). By 2:00am we had completed all 35 blocks – WHEW! The owner of the blocks and I decided to lay out the blocks on the design wall while her sister shut off irons, machines, etc. We continued to layout the blocks and she went to bed. Once the blocks were on the design wall, we stood back admiring our hard work, looked at each other and said “let’s sew it together”. LOL She took a row and I took a row; once both rows were done – I told her to grab another row and I would start sewing rows together. At 3:30am we were done – the “guts” of the quilt were completed. WOOHOO!!!! Now, it was time to go to bed!

So, if you need someone to help you with “marathon sewing” I’m your girl. LOL

Celebrate Spring Fat Quarter Challenge

Here I am a day late with my Celebrate Spring Challenge teaser! Nicole of Sister's Choice and Dawn of Quilts and Pieces updated their blogs yesterday.

I haven't worked on my challenge project so nothing has changed since last week. I'm sharing a picture of two more basket blocks and other fabric that will be in my project when it's completed.

Next Monday will be our final teaser and the big reveal will be on May 31.

About Me
(had to add an 8th little tidbit)

I’ve been tagged by Nadine to list 7 Things You Don’t Know About Me:

1. I spent my childhood on a ranch in South Texas. (you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the girl)

2. I’ve been married twice. First marriage was a rebound situation but thankfully my daughter Kristie came from it.

3. I graduated from Kubasaki High School in Okinawa (no reunions for me)

4. I’m married to a man who is 13 years older than I am.

5. My only sibling, a sister, is 16 years younger (I’m basically an only child).

6. I’ve lived in the Far East (Okinawa) and Europe (Germany). I visited East Germany (Berlin) while "The Wall" (aka Iron Curtain) was still up.

7. I've only been quilting for 7 years.

8. I speak Spanish fluently. (I used to read and write it, too, but I've lost it)

I’ve been tagged by Mary Anne and Linda to list 7 Weird Things About Me:

1. I can remember numbers (old phone numbers, social security numbers, old addresses, etc)

2. I have an affinity for dates – when something happened in my world.

3. I can and will pinch you with my toes. LOL

4. I can’t stand to have long nails – need to be able to feel with the tips of my fingers.

5. I won’t eat raisins – they remind of bugs (yuck)

6. I don’t like crowds; I’m claustrophobic

7. I have friends and acquaintances but I’m basically a “loner”

I'm not going to "tag" anyone, as I believe most have been tagged. And, if not then consider yourself "tagged".



I'll post my Celebrate Spring Fat Quarter Challenge teaser tomorrow - I haven't progressed much since last Monday. :-( Nicole, Sister's Choice Quilts and Dawn, Quilts and Pieces posted their teasers today - be sure to visit their blogs to see their progress.

RETREAT FUN!

I’m baaaaaccccckkkkk! ;-)

Three of my friends and I traveled to the mountains to meet four other friends for a week end of sewing and fun. My poor little Rodeo was loaded to the bulging point. Failed to get a picture of all the “stuff”. (it was a good thing I traveled very light)

As usual the week end consisted of sewing, eating, laughing and very little sleeping. All the sewing machines were whirring and many projects were completed. I managed to complete one (yes, just ONE) intense project and two very, very small projects. However, I was very happy with the results of my sewing because I needed a design wall and my project required that I do a little “sewing by committee” – LOL – needed a little input from friends.

I’ll share pictures of other completed projects as the week progresses.

Thanks for missing me! ;-)

Reality!

I spent yesterday evening trying to decide what to take on the retreat and decided to be realistic and pack light! Two large projects, one very small project, my Rowenta travel iron, case with sewing tools and my favorite ruler are packed in my tote bag. My tabletop pressing board with the tacky scorch mark is going along, too.

Need to jump in the shower, throw things in the car and go pick up my sewing buds (four of us in my SUV).

Don't forget me and keep sewing!

Braindead! :-)

Can you say braindead? That's how I felt last night at 9:00 PM when my "play day" had come to an end. LOL

The class during the day was called "Night and Noon" and required that I think! :-) It's a simple log cabin block but it's the way it all goes together that requires that I think. I've posted a picture of a few blocks but you'll get a better idea when it's completely finished. This is a quilt that I'd seen advertised as a class over a year ago but couldn't find the time to take the class and then I saw it advertised at the quilt store near my home and jumped at the chance and glad that I did.

My class in the evening was Part II of last month's Moda University class and I didn't accomplish much so I don't have anything to show. :-(

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What time is it? It's RETREAT TIME!!!!

Yes, it's that time again - retreat time! Tomorrow we're heading to the mountains for a week end of sewing, laughing, sewing, eating, sewing, laughing, sewing, eating and some sleeping. teehee Would you like to go - we have room for three more! We'd love to have you! AW, come on - we won't bite! ;-p

Now, I have to make some plans - what to take, what to take? I've been thinking that I would take just one "heavy duty" project and work on it the entire week end and then I had a thought - what if I get bored and need something simple. So, I've got my thinking cap on and making some plans!

Three Treats just for ME!



In the mail:

May Britt mailed this little surprise/treat several weeks ago and it finally arrived. Someone tossed it on a boat because it took forever to arrive. Isn't it cute - it's for my scissors. I remember when she had a picture of one or two on her blog and I thought they were adorable. MayBritt, thank you!


In person:

On Saturday I saw my friend Barb of Me and My Sister Designs & Moda and she had surprises/treats for me from Spring Market. (I was suppose to go with them and sadly I had to cancel at the last minute). They ALWAYS bring surprises/treats for me. It's the new fat quarter bundle from Susan Branch and RJR and THE Utah tote bag. I'm in love with this new line of fabric.



A Play Day:

Today I'm taking a day off to spend most of the day at the nearest quilt store enjoying a very rare treat - a class from 10:00 till 3:00 and then another one in the evening from 6:30 till 8:30.


Treats make me a very Happy Girl. :-)

Edit: the date says Monday, 5/14 but it's really Tuesday, 5/15 (that's what I get for composing this last night! grrrrrr :-)

A TISKET, A TASKET, I'M MAKING MORE BASKETS!


Celebrate Spring Fat Quarter Challenge - half way point! :-)

Another sneak peek at my Celebrate Spring fat quarter challenge quilt. It took me a long time to settle on a pattern but I've truly enjoyed working on this one. Look at my cute blocks! I'll have you know that I hand appliqued all the handles! :-) How many handles? No, no, no can't tell you - it might spoil the surprise. teehee!!! :-)

Now, don't forget to take a look at Nicole and Dawn's blogs for their sneak peeks.

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing you a day of joy, laughter, hugs, kisses and relaxation, you deserve it!

Comfort and Joy

The cute man in the cute brown shorts, who drives THE BIG BROWN TRUCK brought this beautiful book to me this week.

I am in love with this book "Comfort and Joy" by Brenda Riddle of Acorn Quilt and Gift Co. Since "the man" brought this book to my door on Thursday I've carried it from room to room, flipping the pages and dreaming of every quilt in this book. Yes, I want to make them ALL.

I have no affiliation with Brenda Riddle, I'm just a fan! (sorry about the flash - I'll try to take a better pic later)

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

Another one bites the dust... :-)

I have finished my Sanctuary strippy quilt to the flimsy stage. It's not a very good picture but I couldn't lay it on the floor so it's draped on two counter stools! You get the idea?!?!?!?!?!?

OK, now I can start a new project? Yes? NO, NO, NO, NO! I must remain focused and disciplined. (maybe I should write that on the board 100 times) LOL

Thanks for visiting my blog, leaving comments and putting up with my antics!

Pattern credit: It's a variation of a similar quilt in "Super Simple Strips" by Possibilities. I used a Jelly Roll and their pattern calls for 3" strips. I did a little improvising. It's definitely their idea!

Heart to Hands

Aren't these adorable! I spent late afternoon and evening making these four cuties. I missed a friend's birthday in February, so one of these is going to her very soon. I wonder which color she'd prefer?

Next week is retreat time with my quilting buddies and I'd love to make one for each of them. We'll see! :-)

This is a free pattern from The Pattern Basket. I've been wanting to make some for awhile and today was the day. I used Walnut Litter (finely ground walnut shells) from Pet's Mart to fill them.

They really make me smile! :-)