It's been a while, obviously....

Oh, good grief.  It's been so long since I posted that now there is a new interface to use.  Okay, this should be interesting.

First up, I've been making Christmas ornaments to give as gifts.  These are way too much fun! 

They take me about two hours apiece to make, but that's perfect to blow through a couple episodes of some old TV shows I've missed in the last decade or so.  Netflix streaming is definitely a fun addition to the sewing room!  Right now, I'm working my way through Dead Zone.  I saw the first season and then somehow, never watched any more. 

Here's a couple more....

Oh, now do tell.  If loading pix is this easy, I am a fan of this new interface.  Hitting "publish" will be the deciding factor, I guess!

Anyway, I also made a few kitchen appliance covers for my Mom for Christmas.  She never reads the blog, so I can show them here.....  She has collected owls for many years, and Dad says they've crossed the 500 mark for sure, so here's probably #537, #538 and #539 for her! 

These will cover his mixer (a Kitchen Aid), her mixer (a smaller older model), and their toaster oven.

And just in case they get tired of the Owl Trio, I put other designs on the backs!

Now I want to make some for myself!  With quilt related embroideries, of course! 

Tomorrow is another day! I have a quilt on the frame to finish quilting, and our dear friend Dani is coming by to pick up our wedding present for her (a quilt, of course!).  Then, I'm making a list, and checking it twice..... and it's a list of the UFOs in my sewing room!  2012 is going to be my year of FINISHES! 

Okay, hitting 'publish'!! G'nite!

Regarding block 22

Dear Yvette,

Please ignore the pattern I drew up for block 22. That is, if you would like to avoid four of the dreaded Y-seam occurrences.

What was I thinking?!?
















I got through it, and done is good enough..... but it's a tad wonky and there is a much better way to construct it....

namely, the way the author intended. Imagine that.

Signed,

Chagrinned, Bemused and Relieved (a.k.a. Me, Myself and I)

The Margo Bag, and more

Some pictures from the Margo bag I conquered! I had a ball figuring this one out, and now I can't wait to make another one. But, since it zips, I may try making a... gasp... single shoulder strap, and maybe on my third one, I'll add an inch or two to the overall size?

This one didn't look like a purse until the very end!

Also, some most of my pictures are sideways. Blogger hates me tonight. Oh well!

The weekend also included one of the Barbara Brachman Civil War blocks - I'm slowly catching up!

This mess actually became a block...

This is likely what I get for not having posted in over two months. Blogger has completely changed and I have no idea what works now. I shall post this, see what I get, and go to bed! G'nite!

P.S. I sure enjoyed seeing everyone at Orange Quilt Bee today! Must. Do. Again!

Farmer's Wife and Civil War BOW

I've been playing the catch up game....

Here are some Farmer's Wife blocks...

And here are some Civil War Block of the Week (http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/) blocks.

I swear, I could stay in my sewing room for weeks. Just send in meals and I promise to shower daily. Please? Sigh.....

Vote for Snoodles and Moses!!

Be sure and vote for the 2011 Pets Contest at SewCalGal - today is the last day!

Link:




I, of course, am partial to entry #55, Moses, in the CAT Category, a fabulous feline owned by my sister (Snoodles). There are some awesome prizes to be won by both the pets/owners, and those voting, and a number of ways to enter! Good luck to all!

Fairy Face Designs is giving away a Go! Baby!

FairyFaceDesigns is hosting a Go! Baby giveaway! Check it out!!

Drawing is Sunday, August 7th! HURRY!!

I want one!!

A Go! Giveaway!

LittleCottageComforts is giving a way a Baby GO! and three dies.....


Check it out!! I want the stars, the hearts and the Sunbonnet Sue dies. It was hard to narrow it down, but those are my three favorites.


She will be closing the giveaway at the end of this week, I think!


Good Luck!

Hands2Help Charity Quilt

My Hands2Help Charity Quilt is done! This quilt is going to Romania and hopefully will make some little one a bit warmer next winter, and give them something bright and cheerful to warm their hearts too!



















You can read about the Hands2Help Charity Challenge here. I hope this challenge is repeated again next year! It was fun and such a good reason to spend time in my Happy Place (my sewing room!).

Here's a last look at a couple of the cute dinosaur faces!
















They made me smile the whole time I was making the quilt! Thank you Kathy, of TroublesomeCreekQuilts for picking such awesome fabrics to exchange with me!

:)

Happy Fourth!

We had a quiet Fourth of July weekend. First I worked.... filling an entire Lawn Garbage bin to the top with weeds and overhanging lily fronds from our front border that were choking out the gardenia bushes. I yanked a bunch of dead petunias. Then I turned the soil a bit and worked in a couple bags of compost. And then I planted vincas. Then I collapsed. Then my lower back registered it's disapproval of the whole morning's events. Ow! I'm getting to old for this craziness!































When I was semi-recovered, I decorated the front porch a bit.
















Then, I typed. Ugh. Enough said.


Then, I played! Sunday, the gang gathered at the Orange Quilt Bee and enjoyed a class with our favorite Teacher Extraordinairre, Janet. I had missed going and I managed to go two weeks in a row! I will wait now, for the next time there is a single class and then catch up with everyone again! It was fun!






































Monday, I got up to the sewing room mid day, and I finished up the above two Sylvia blocks.

G6 and G7 are done!

Once I get done with this row, I have to devote some serious attention to completing a couple of flimsies. My Hands 2 Help quilt needs to be quilted and bound. And Dad called and said they sure could use a couple of quilts to auction for the Yellowstone Bible College fundraiser. His friend, Dr. Bill, is the president of the college and was telling Dad about the auction. Dad and I picked two from the stack of flimsies he and I have waiting, and I will quilt those and send them on up to him. I told Michael I need the dining room table for a month! As long as I am done before he starts his Master's program in August, it will be fine. Once his classes start, I think I can kiss my dining room table good bye for a Long Time! It will be his school desk!

Last thing I did tonight was make a Christmas present for a certain young man I know, who loves to barbeque.... It is an apron and this is what I put on the front of it. (Design from Emblibrary.com.)











HeeHee!





Back to the grindstone tomorrow, but it looks like it will be light. Maybe I'll be sewing by lunchtime!

A few more blocks...

Let's see, first is Sylvia's Bridal Quilt... I got G2, G3, G4 and G5 done.... Yay!

Then I moved on to the Civil War Block of the Week that Barbara Brachman is offering, that Yvette and I had been eyeing for weeks (here), because, I really and truly NEEDED another UFO project.

Yvette had a really good idea that since they are now up to week 26, they are half done. So if we do two blocks a week, say #1 and #26, and next week #2 and #27..... we might just catch up at the end and finish on time.

I love these blocks. They are a nice change in both size and difficulty from the Sylvia blocks! Here are my first few blocks....

And look what I tripped over in my garden today!

A 2 pound zucchini!

It's almost too hot for this type of lettuce to grow, I think this might be the last batch I get of this variety. Salad and zucchini - Dinner's almost planned!

Learning Curves....

I got my last two blocks done on my current row of my Farmer's Wife quilt....






























Then I put the Farmer's Wife stuff into a drawer, and pulled out my Sylvia's Bridal Quilt. I am going to conquer row G.

First up was G-1, a block that the book did not give me a foundation paper piecing pattern for. No way was I going to tackle this one with just bits of fabric.... there were bias seams involved and... it was 'Y-Seam Hell' to boot! "Y-seam" and "six-inch block" should not be used in the same sentence, don't you agree?














I used the EQ program and tried to make my own foundation paper. There was a bit of a learning curve getting the finished paper piecing patterns to print. Wasn't a scaling issue - it was something else weird on my computer and once I deleted a few programs (hope they weren't important!), things printed just fine (I thought). Turns out it was a bit on the small size. I lost a half inch approximately, all around.....

So I slapped on thin borders and put it in the "finished" bag. No way was I going to redo that block!

On to G-2!!