Hello and lots to post just not enough time

Hello, sorry I haven't blogged. I have alot to say but not enough time. I will blog this week with pictures. Happy Holidays to everyone....

Merry Christmas!

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas....I wish everyone peace, joy and happiness this Christmas. Let us never forget the reason for the season. May God bless you.

Til next time....

Tatting Tuesday

Oh boy, today is Tatting Tuesday and I get to go see my friends at the Senior Center. We are having a Christmas party too....Fun times.

Til next time...

More Tatting and finishing Christmas gifts

Here's some pics of some of the tatting I've gotten done in the last couple of weeks. These have been fun and I've learned alot. I'm not showing my mess ups, I'm just showing the ones I finished....Now, I have to stop and finish one of my quilts. I have to bind it. It's a Chrismas gift so I've got to hurry. I also need to make 3 aprons this week. These are also Christmas gifts and have to be done and wrapped by Thursday. This week is going to be busy! Happy Holidays and I'll post pics as soon as I take them....til next time....

Pink Heart


Easy Butterflies




Bluebonnet and Watermelon Pins

and last but not least, this one is my favorite:
Button Cross

Tatting Tales ~ All things Tatting (It's an obsession): Ceramic Tatting Shuttle Giveaway

Lady Shuttle Maker is having a giveaway. It is a ceramic shuttle. Check out her blog. Great looking shuttles and a great blog...




Click here and enter her drawing:
Tatting Tales ~ All things Tatting (It's an obsession): Ceramic Tatting Shuttle Giveaway

Christmas Parties

This has been a busy, busy week. I have been off work this week. I went to my DIL's and watched the grandkids while she took care of the new baby. I had some good quality Grammy time with my grandkids. It was fun, but boy, they really wear me out....I have not been too tired to miss any parties though. I went to the quilt shop party last night. It was great. The shop owner had a massage therapist come bring his chair and give us all massages. After the massage, we moved on over to another chair and had a pedicure. Wonderful. Nothing could be better... but yes, it got even better. We got to eat (we all brought a good dish)and then exchanged gifts. Now this is a woman's (quilter's) dream. Don't have to work, get a massage, a pedicure, food and quilting gifts. What more could you ask for????
Great party, great friends and a great boss...love it!

Tonight, I went to my small group for our Christmas party. More good food and fun. We even had door prize drawings and I won a gift. It wasn't quilt related but that's ok as it was an Angel and I collect those too. Unfortunately, I am out of vacation time and have to go back to work tomorrow. I guess I'll suffer through it. Til next time....

Happy Anniversary and Birthday

December 16th is our 30th Wedding Anniversay. Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you....

Dec 17th is my DH's birthday. Happy Birthday. Another year older but I still love you sweetie....

Finally back up and a tatted bookmark

OMG, I came home Monday and had no TV and no internet. I felt totally cut off from the world. It must be our day for everything to quit cause my husband's car quit on him and our dishwasher started leaking...He had to tow his car into the shop and he pulled the dishwasher out and he could not fix the leak. He needed more tools. We quit and went to bed. Today had to be better. It was a lot better. Car is still not working, dishwasher is still sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor but the TV is back on and my wonderful computer is back up. I'm happy. He can worry about the other two things.

Here's a picture of the tatted bookmark that I finished last night. I was supposed to go to tatting tonight but the weather was bad and the streets were slick. I was not going to push my luck with anything else....I enjoyed doing this bookmark and learned alot with this. I started this bookmark over 3 times before I got the picots right....anyway, here's a picture. See, I told you I finished it...



Til next time....

A Wonderful Weekend, Grammy Time and Tatting

I went to a Christmas party Sunday afternoon. It was a wonderful Quilter's Christmas party. Every room in the house was decorated with quilts or quilted related objects. The house was beautiful. It was a come and go party with refreshments. I had one of each treat. I have asked for all the recipes. I had the best punch I have ever tasted at this party and I am getting the recipe....OMG, it was so good. I had three cups of punch. I wanted more but was too embarrassed to ask for more. The company was good too. Of course, it was all quilters, too fun!
Afterward, I went to my son's house and got to spend time with his growing family. We went to church for a special Christmas program. I stayed outside with the grandkids (in 79 degree Texas weather in December!)(would you believe today the temperature is 28!- only in Texas!) and had a hay ride, a little train ride and Kettle Popcorn. (Pics to follow) and then we went inside and had pictures taken with OMG....SANTA CLAUS! It was so cute, but of course, I'm a little biased....I had a wonderful day and I am so in the Christmas spirit.

I am tatting a bookmark and almost finished with it. I will post a picture tonight when I'm through. It looks pretty good, even if I say so myself. I have enjoyed learning to tat again....Unfortunately, it's just one more thing I don't have enough time to do but I sure enjoy it. Til next time....

3 Year Anniversary

As of yesterday, I am a 3 year breast cancer survivor. Some days it seems like just yesterday and other days, I don't think about it. I work at a Cancer surgeons office so it is hard not to think about. That was very hard for me, because you do want to forget it and not think about it. You want to get up and it just be a regular day. I now have days like that but it has been slow coming. I have come to realize that I have alot of wonderful people in my life. I have made new friends because of this and they would not have been in my life had this not happened to me. There is a reason for everything. I have a wonderful family and alot of wonderful friends. I enjoy my life now. I quilt, tat, knit, crochet, and do alot of just plain crafting. I have friends in all walks of life, young and old. I am a grandmother too. Life is good and I'm glad I'm still here to enjoy it. Please take a moment and click on the button on the left to give someone a free mammogram. Hugs and Happy Holidays to all.....

Little Fabric Baskets and Pincushions

I made some gifts last week and could not show them at the time. I'm making more now and will show those later. I gave these away so I can show them now...These were alot of fun and easy to make. I love making these and you can use up small bits of fabric that you have been saving. I'm thinking now I will be making them like crazy patchwork with some of my embroidery stitches and tatting. I don't have time to do them now but will pursue these after Christmas...Here's a picture of the ones I made. I also made some pincushions to go with these. I gave you the link to these fabric baskets earlier. Here'a a link to the pincushions....

Here are my pictures:



I did change the pattern a little bit. The big pincushion is by the pattern and was done as a 10" square, I decreased the size of the square to 6 1/2" for the second one....I like it better. A friend of mine gave me one that she did with a 5 1/2" square. It's real cute too. I'll make some more of those and show them too.





Til next time...

Hello World, here I am, Trent Douglas

Well, here I am, are you ready for me? Gosh, it sure feels good to stretch!


(My Dad took the picture and didn't pass out. I'm so proud of him, Hi Dad!)


Here I am again, all bundled up and safe in my big sister's arms...oh, the other guy, that's my big brother. I know I'm going to love both of these guys. By the way, my name is Trent and I arrived here in the big state of Texas on December 9, 2008 at 9:32 A.M.

What Pattern is Your Brain?

I found this on Ingrid's blog and thought it was cute. Nothing stressful or mind blowing but cute. I like purple and the pattern so I picked it...I think it hit close to home. Try it out...While you're at it, go look at Ingrid's blog. I can't understand any of it but lots of cute pincushions and knitting to look at...

Your Brain's Pattern

Your brain is always looking for the connections in life. You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first. You're also good at bringing people together - and often play match maker. You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Pink Penguin: Tutorial: Fabric Basket

This is a tutorial for the basket I plan on making...I can't wait. I think I'll do it tonight when I go home. I'll show pics later tonight if I do. So many people are making these around blogland, I've just got to try them. Until next time....

Pink Penguin: Tutorial: Fabric Basket

Tatting Tuesday or the Mavs?

Well, yesterday was Tatting Tuesday as I call it and I was all ready to go meet with the girls after work for some fellowship and friendly banter. My husband called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the Mavericks game. He had been given tickets if we could use them. Well, that was a hard call for me but I chose the Mavs. I am a big Mavs fan and couldn't pass up free tickets. My husband works nights and he could not go with me. I called my son and we had a great time watching the Mavs win over the Clippers...It was a great game. The Mavs were behind the whole game and pulled out the win in the last 3 minutes of the game. It was great! Go Mavs! Tatting Tuesday was pre-empted til next week. Til next time......

Things I bought at the 3 different shops yesterday and using my new camera

Here's what I bought on my shopping trip (small shop hop) with my new friend. I'm also trying out my new camera and just getting used to it. So far, it's pretty easy to use...we'll see...
Here's everything I bought yesterday from all three shops. I bought a Dora the Explorer beanie baby doll for my granddaughter. And the green ball is a Chritmas candle holder. The only other thing that's not sewing related was the two brown boxes to the left are Jim Shore Texas Star Nativity Christmas ornaments...I don't want to take them out of the box because I'll never get them back in the box to give away. Sorry....Everything else is sewing/quilting related. It was so much fun to find goodies for the sewing baskets I plan on making...
Of course, not everything is a gift for others. I bought me a new foot for my machine and some thread to let her play with.

A Wonderful Day

I had a lovely day today...I met a fellow blogger, Swooze, at a local quiltshop. I had met her one other time long ago (before I came to know Blogland) at the quilt shop. I had been reading her blog and I made a post about tatting at the Senior Center. She contacted me and we got to talking. We met up today officially as fellow bloggers and went to visit three different quilt shops. I did some Christmas shopping, we had a lovely lunch at a new tea room together and shared some laughs. Lots of fun and I hope we meet up again soon and get to play together again. I had a great time.

I did do a little Christmas shopping for myself after we parted. I had been looking at the ads and did some price comparisons. I went to Wolfe Camera and bought me a new digital camera. I've been wanting and needing one for quite a while and with my new grandchild coming in December, I decided now was a good time. I am letting it charge right now and will play with it tomorrow. I'll take pictures of all the goodies I bought at the quilt shops and share my finds with you. Now, I just have to make some of those cute fabric baskets from the Pink Penguins blogsite and fill them with the goodies I bought for my quilting friend's Christmas gifts. I'll try to do those tomorrow too. Vera over at Seams to Sew and Quilt made some and used a solid fabric instead of the 2-2 1/2" squares. I think I'll do some this way and get them done a little quicker. Until next time....

Black Friday, grandkids and a new quilt shop

I hate that name...I know what it means but it does not make me think good thoughts. I went out in the year's past and I decided this year I could do without the crowds. I kept my grandson and his parents went out shopping at 3:00 in the morning....isn't that ridiculous? I don't need anything that bad! I don't care if they were giving things away...I like my nice warm bed too much for that.
Unfortunately, my grandson, (he's 5 years old) did not want to sleep last night. I let him lay down with me so I could calm him down. We watched a little TV and turned off the lights. He finally fell asleep but so did I. He is little squirmer and I got kicked out of bed by him this morning and he wasn't even awake.... I got up and enjoyed some quiet time with a lovely cup of coffee and a good book before the little tornado woke up. Ah, being a grandma...it's so much fun! I love it but I sure like when I can send them home for some quiet time too. Now, back to quilting! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting a friend and we're going to a new quilt shop I've never been to...Oh boy, I'm ready for some inspiration...I'll let you know how it goes, til next time....

Tatting Tuesday

Last night I went to the Richardson Senior Center for my tatting group. Lots of fun and fellowship with some wonderful ladies. I think I'm picking it back up again but it's a slow process for me. One of the lovely ladies named Lucille showed me (or should I say tried to show me) how to do the split ring...That is hard!!! I did do it but I can honestly say I have not mastered it, YET... I'm going to watch the video and work on it some over the holidays. I do like the looks of the split ring. Lucille showed me a very pretty bookmark she had made using the stitch and a beaded cross on the end. Too cute. Maurie showed me a tatting book she bought off Amazon and I fell in love with the book. I went home and had to buy it. I ordered it from Amazon last night and can't wait to get it....The doctors are letting us off early today and I'm going to go home and start some of my cooking. Maybe I'll get to work on some of my tatting or quilting today too. Until next time....

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and get to be with all your loved ones and have lots of good food and share some good times together.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all...

(Here's a link to other Thanksgiving clipart)

Too much to do--Embroidery-miscellaneous

It's that time of year/season when there's too much to do and not enough time/energy to go around. I have so many things I want to do but can't get to them for having to work on something else that has to be done too. This is when I keep telling myself, breathe, relax, enjoy what you're doing and you can go on to the next project or thing on the list. This is when I wish I could clone myself so my clone can do my responsibilities and chores and I can just play. Now, when the scientist come up with that one, I'll be the first in line....I'm a list person as some of you know. When I get stressed, I tend to make lists more often so I can prioritize what needs to be done. It also helps me de-stress to do this as I usually realize I'm not as behind as my mind makes me think.

Last night, while my Bernina and I were embroidering, I started making my projects list for the end of the year. I had forgotten how much fun it is to embroider and watch the designs come out. I am working on my new Grandbaby's quilt. There are cars, school buses, stop signs, yield signs, etc. My new grandbaby is a boy if you can't guess. He should be here soon. Around the first week of December and I finally decided on a quilt pattern...Talk about procrastination! I work better under pressure, what can I say? Anyway, here I am in my sewing room, watching the machine embroider, loading/reloading thread as necessary, hand quilting on my friend's quilt and making lists as I think of things.... I like to multi task. Here's the pattern I am using for the quilt. It's called Happy wheels and is an AuntyM Design pattern...Lots of fun. I am not doing the pattern exactly like this. I will be changing up some of the blocks. I'm not going to be using the black nine patch blocks or the gray/black for the roads. I will be using some nine patches in blue, yellow and green ...I'll post a picture of mine when I'm done. I'm using her designs for the cars and kinda playing it by ear. this picture is off of her website and below that is a link to her other patterns....she has some really cute things. Check her out. Her designs are really cute.




http://www.auntymdesigns.com/html/happy_wheels.html

I have several blocks done and I'm just going to play around with the layout before I reveal. Come back and see what my quilt will look like later...

I also worked on some Christmas embroidery for my ASG Sewing Group. I have to make something with the embroidery designs and of course, I'm thinking of a small quilt to use as decoration. I did all the designs last night and now to decide what to do with them....More to think about. I'm going to take a break tonight and go to Tatting. Until next time.....

Hand Quilting

Well, I'm back to hand quilting again. My friend Shirley asked me to finish this quilt for her son. It's been at her house for more than 10 years. It was pieced by her MIL and she started hand quilting it but never finished. She was making it as a wedding gift for Shirley's son but he's never gotten married....The MIL passed away and Shirley (not being a hand quilter) just put it away and planned on getting it finished but....It is a wedding ring quilt and is very lovely. Shirley wants to give it to her son and it doesn't matter if he's married or not so she asked for my help. I am so enjoying quilting this. I am now more than half-way done with it and hopefully I can get it finished this week during the Thanksgiving holidays. She told me there was no rush and that she did not expect it to be done very quickly and I could do it in my own time frame. I told her not to expect it before Christmas but I am going to surprise her with it. It would be very nice to give it to Shirley this quickly. She has the binding ready and can bind it and give it to him for Christmas. What a lovely gift, a quilt from your Grandmother....

I will post a picture of it when I finish quilting it...til next time....

Grandkids and Gas prices

We went over last night and had dinner with #1 son and sweet DIL. When I walked in my two sweet grandkids came running and yelling, Grammy, Grammy..I got big hugs and kisses...Isn't it so nice to have children/grandchildren that love you like that? I so enjoy getting greeted like that. My kids used to do that when they were little and it sure stirs my heartstrings for them to do that. I really love those babies and I am looking forward to another one soon. When they ran up to me Alayna had a Santa hat on... I said oh, it's a Santa elf....Brandon looked at me and said, no, Grammy (as he was pulling the hat off of Alayna), it's Alayna! I laughed at them but thought that was just too cute! I guess we all think our grandchildren are cute but I just had to share that...


On the way home from work yesterday, I stopped for gas and paid $1.78 a gallon! Wow, what a bargain. The gas station was full with people waiting...I wonder how long the prices will be like this. I hope til after Thanksgiving anyway.

Tonight is Guild night so I will see what all my other quilter friends are up to.
Til next time....

Christmas is Coming, Christmas is Coming!

Ok, you might say it's a little early to start this but I just can't help myself. I went shopping last week and the stores are already decorated for Christmas. I have started my Christmas shopping already and am already deciding what to make for Christmas gifts. I am getting so excited! I told all the family we are toning down Christmas and not buying as much this year but that doesn't mean I'm not going to make things! We have a new grandchild coming in time for Christmas and that means I am busy working on a new quilt. I have decided to make aprons and tablerunners too. I am not making big quilts this year except maybe finishing up one that I'm working on for Josh. The Orange Crush has the borders on now and I think I will have this one quilted so I can give to him for Chrismas...I am tatting and knitting and maybe I can get some little tea towels done too. We'll see. Too much to do and not enough time. I'm going to have to start a to-do list and prioritize what needs to be done. Hmmm, I'll have to think on this and decide. I know I plan on enjoying myself and not stressing out over anything...Relax and breathe and start singing Christmas songs...til next time.....Ho, Ho, Ho......

Weekly Update

Wow, last week is gone and I did not get to blog anything. I was on vacation but it really wasn't a fun vacation. Monday and Tuesday was spent clothes shopping, shoe shopping, getting the dog groomed and just general errands. I had a Medical Seminar to go to on Thursday and Friday and I had to get ready for it. We (my husband and I) drove down on Wednesday to Houston for me to go to this seminar. He went with me and he was going to play golf and just hang out while I did the work thing...I am so glad he went with me. OMG, Houston traffic is awful! I thought Dallas was bad but boy, Houstonians drive way faster than Dallasites. I have lived in Texas my whole life and this was my first trip to Houston. I drive Dallas traffic every day and have forever. I worked in downtown Dallas for 20+ years and now work off of Hwy 635 and Central...It takes me about an hour and 15 minutes to get to work on a normal day so I am not new to traffic but....we stayed at a very nice hotel that was on the Hwy 59 close to the hospital where my seminar was. I did not sleep at all while I was there. The traffic noise at nighttime was unbelievable! The traffic never stopped. I was very glad to come back home and get some rest. I think I'll stay away from Houston for a long time. Nice people but too much for me!

I went to a Memorial Service for my friend that passed away last month. Marianne was flown home and buried in Michigan but the family decided to have a Memorial Service for her down here for all the friends...The service was very nice and afterwards, all the family and friends were invited to the quilt shop that she had worked at. The quilt shop shut down for business and served lunch and refreshments to her family and friends and we could just talk and visit. She would have really enjoyed this. This was so nice of Shelly and David to accomodate the family and friends like this. We will all miss Marianne's smile, laughter and great sense of humor. Goodbye, my friend....

Yesterday, I was able to sit down and do a little sewing. I finished, that's right, finished the intermediate quilt. I finished all the quilting on it and put a hanging sleeve on it too. I think it turned out very lovely. I so enjoyed working on this quilt. I also finished the quilting on the beginner quilt and I'll bind that this week too. Oh boy, two finishes in one week. I'm going to hang the intermediate quilt in my living room and admire my work for awhile. My older son told me awhile back that I should not hang quilts on the wall. He didn't like me decorating with them....Oh well, he'll just have to get over it.

Tomorrow I go to my tatting class. Oh boy, can't wait....Tuesday tatting. I'll update again later. Til next time....

Intermediate Quilts with Scalloped Border

Ok, here it is...The borders are finished but I have not finished quilting it as much as I want. That's why the pins are still in it. I did want to get a picture posted though so you could see that I was able to sew Friday night like I wanted. I got my hair cut then came home and started sewing. I sewed the binding on the machine, watched some TV and started the hand work of sewing the binding down. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this binding. It went together so easily and I definitely recommend the Easy Scallop Border tool by Darlene Zimmerman. It really is one of the easiest things to use and made the scallops perfectly. (I hate to use that word cause nothing is perfect but this was great!) You have got to try it for a scalloped border. I am no longer hesitant about doing scalloped borders. As soon as I finish quilting this quilt, I plan on working on the Red and White Quilt top I did some time ago. It also has a scalloped border. I want to finish this one so I can reinforce what I learned...









Yesterday, I went with some of my friends to our annual ASG (American Sewing Guild) luncheon... I had a great time visiting with all my sewing friends. We got there and had two sewing projects to do. One was to make fabric flowers and the other was to make a fabric rose to wear. Here's the pictures of those. Fun projects. No thinking, just doing. These were easy make it and take it projects. I finished mine at home as we didn't have enough time to finish at the luncheon. On the way home - I hate not having anything to do with my hands. Kathy had a Linus blanket in the console she was finishing up by putting crochet around the outside. I crocheted while she drove and finished up her blanket....She said that was great as now she can move onto something else. It was a fun time with good friends, food and sewing. What more could you ask for? (Except maybe some money thrown in!)
Here's the fabric Flower





Here's the Fabric Rose Pin




Last night, hubby and I went to another quilt friend's annual Halloween party. Another fun time. Good food and fun with friends. Thanks, Ann and Glen for the party. I had a great time....looking forward to next year.


I forgot to show you last week what a friend of mine made for me. Shirley knows I love pincushions and that I had been looking for the directions to this pincushion...she made me one some time ago too but she made these three sewing items for me and gave them to me for my birthday...The top one is the pincushion, the other item is a pin and needle caddy with Wool in the middle for your pins. Most people make it with felt but Shirley said I was special, so I got wool....

and the other sewing caddy is just a bigger version with some machine embroidery stitches and other fabric besides cotton. Also wool in the middle for the needles. She said I could put one in my sewing and one in my embroidery box...Isn't Shirley sweet for thinking of me. I have some of the nicest friends and I've met most of them through quilting. Thanks Shirley, love ya girl.






Today, I get to vege out and watch the Cowboys, hopefully they'll win today. We'll see. Til next time....

Busy Week too many fun things to do and no time to sew

This week ended up being very busy. I was going to work on my quilt and have it done by Wednesday...well, here it is Friday and I might get to work on it tonight! I have had fun this week but no sewing time. Tuesday night, I went to the Mesquite Guild meeting. My friend, Marianne was supposed to be the guest speaker but last week she passed away in her sleep. I bet she's having a good laugh on me. I tried over the last two years to get her to the guild and every time something has happened....I booked her three different times and never got her there. I guess she just wanted to keep us wanting to see her quilts! I will miss you, friend....

We had a substitute speaker for the meeting and she did a wonderful job. She even said she had taken a class from Marianne the week before! She talked to us about making quilted sweatshirt jackets. She had about 10-15 jackets with her. Nice presentation and very informative. It even made me want to make one, kinda....

When I got home, I made my binding and marked my scallops on my border. It was late when I did this and I thought I would come in Wednesday night and work on it. I didn't get to sew then either.

Wednesday night, I had to go shopping for a surprise Baby shower for my D-I-L. I bought several things on her register and I even did some birthday shopping for my grandson. I had a great time shopping for them. I feel so prepared now for the birthday and don't have to rush around for that. That's one thing off my guilt list....Babys R Us even has free gift wrapping. I didn't know that until I bought my gifts there. There were two ladies wrapping their stuff over there and I thought they worked there. I walked over there as they were walking away. I stopped them and asked them if they could help me....They looked at me kind of funny and started laughing. I didn't get the joke until they told me they didn't work there! They said it was free gift wrapping but you have to do it yourself. I felt like a complete idiot by this time but they kept laughing and said they had gotten pretty good at wrapping by this point and would wrap my stuff for me if I wanted them to. I told them I appreciated it but that I could handle it. We all had a good laugh over my stupidity. I think it made their day though so I was happy about that.

Last night, (Thursday), the fun didn't stop. My MIL and I went over to the girl's house that was giving my DIL the surprise shower. I parked in the back driveway of this house. There were two little girls in the back yard on a trampoline looking at us when we got out of the car. One of the girls stopped and I asked her if this was Emily's house and she said no. After quizzing her a little further, I determined that we were at the wrong house and she didn't know who we were talking about. My MIL looked at me and said, what are we going to do? I told her the first thing was to get back in the car and get out of here- I called Emily and she gave me her correct address. (I got Emily's address from my son....it just goes to show, you can't trust a man to give you directions, let alone an address to go with those directions.) We went over to Emily's on the next street and parked. We were early and helped her get ready for the party.
My DIL came in and she was totally surprised. When she came in, she saw me and didn't know why we yelled surprise at her. She knew she was coming for a scrapbooking party- she didn't know it was a party/shower for her. My granddaughter (she's 3) saw my car outside and said, there's Grammy's car. My DIL didn't think it was my car. She just thought it was someone else's and didn't put 2 and 2 together. She said from now on, she will believe Alayna about the cars. (Alayna is just like a little boy when it comes to cars....she knows cars and loves them. Both of my boys were car crazy from an early age and they knew all kinds of cars. They could tell you what a car was before an adult could. I think she must have the car gene too!) Anyway, it was a fun night and Carrie got alot of nice things and was pleasantly surprised with the shower/scrapbooking party. All the pages we made were for her and the hostess gave her a scrap book for the new baby...

Tonight, I'm going to get my hair cut and get home and sew. I have got to sew...I'm having withdrawals now from not sewing this week. Til next time....

Fall Into Fall Giveaway

I entered the Fall Into Fall Giveaway that several bloggers were participating in. I was a lucky winner. I won this cute Pumpkin Table Topper given away from Carol at
Carol's Craft Closet...Her blog showed a picture of the quilt but it did not do any justice to the cuteness of this little quilt. I love it...Here's a picture I took. It is so cute. I love pumpkins and I was so blown away about winning this. Carol sent me this and a fat quarter...thank you so much Carol, I love it....

Tatting at the Richardson Senior Center

Last week I did go to a meeting on Tuesday night at the Senior Recreation Center. No, I'm not a senior yet, that's just where they hold the meetings. I was very impressed with the center. I went there for a tatting group. I used to tat years ago and tried to pick it up again and couldn't remember how to do it. It's one of those things, if you don't use it you lose it....Anyway, I went and met with a few other ladies (there were 8 of us in all) and they got me back on the road to Tatting. I worked on it a little this week while I was feeling sickly. I watched a little TV and did this at the same time. It's like riding a bicycle. You pick it up pretty quickly once you can remember how it's done. The ladies meet every week but it's not a guild. It's just a group of ladies that want to keep the art of tatting alive for the next generation. Two ladies started this little group in April of this year and have added to the group and shown other women how to tat. The main two ladies know how to tat, one is a Certified Tatter and the other is not certified but sure knows her stuff...They meet and teach tatting to anyone that is interested, no charge. Just show up and learn...I had a great time and plan on going back and visiting with this little group of women again.
The Recreation Center is wonderful. On Tuesday night, they had a quilting group there and a square dance group... The quilting group is a beginner group and they have a good group of ladies that meets there too. They meet on Mondays and Tuesdays. Very small charge to have quilting classes. There were about 90 people dancing Tuesday night when I was there. I didn't know what kind of dancing it was but it was considered Square Dancing....It wasn't like with the flouncy dresses or quick sashaying but it was definitly square dancing and it wasn't just seniors either. It was all ages and it was so fun to watch. I had a great time watching everybody else have a good time. I'm definitely going back to watch!

Loss of a Dear, Sweet Friend

I lost a very dear friend Friday. Very unexpectedly. Marianne Gildea was a very sweet and dear friend to me and alot of quilters. I worked with her at the quilt shop as well as my other job with the doctor's office. She was alot of fun to be around. She was a great quilter. She loved her cats and her friends and family. She will be sorely missed. Goodbye, my friend.

Quilting on my quilt and being sick

I am still working on my quilt. It's taken me longer cause I put a hold on it, I was sick. I guess it was a virus but I missed work and a quilt meeting so you know I was really sick! I finally started feeling better yesterday afternoon. I finished quilting the borders with the Borders Made Easy. Now all I have to do is put the binding on the scallops and you will be able to see the finished product. i should be ready for pictures by Wednesday if nothing else happens. Til next time...

Scalloped Borders and "Borders Made Easy"

Last night was the final class of this quilt. I have been machine quilting the quilt all week and was not finished with it but it was finished enought that I could work on my borders. We used a product called Borders Made Easy. This is like paper piecing. You take this roll of printed paper with a design on it and attach it to your border and just sew on the lines. Easy peasy! Great product. I will use it again soon. Once we had one side of our borders quilted we then learned how to use a tool put out by EZ Quilting and Darlene Zimmerman called the Easy Scallop. This tool allows you to mark scallops from 4" to 12". If I knew it was this easy to do scalloped borders I would have done it 2 years ago when I made that quilt...I've been waiting that long to finish that quilt. I haven't finished this quilt yet but will be working on it this week and showing you pictures soon. I don't know how our dear departed ancestors did their quilting without all these wonderful tools and gadgets we have nowadays- they must have been alot more resourceful than us!

I have a sewing guild meeting tonight and won't get to work on my quilt. I am so excited about this quilt I can't wait to get home and sew. That is such a good feeling to have again. Gotta go for now, til next time....

Quilting my quilt and Brandon

My friend, Judy, called me this morning and asked me why I hadn't blogged lately. I told her I didn't have anything new to show. I've been working on quilting my intermediate quilt and that's all. I'm not finished with it and am not showing it until it's finished. She said that doesn't matter. Your friends like to keep up with you and this is one of the ways they do that. So, friends out there, I'm sorry. I have been lack in blogging and will not do that anymore. I am still quilting that quilt and almost through with it. We will be working on the scalloped borders on Monday night and I am very excited about that. I have another quilt top already done and ready to quilt. I am putting a scalloped border on it and I have waited to do it for more instructions. I will be able to finish that quilt too....It was an Alex Anderson free pattern and it is Alex Anderson's fabric line too. I will start quilting it and have it ready to finish in a few days so hopefully, I will have two quilts to show you. I have so enjoyed this class, it has given me the ummmph to get other things finished. You know how you get kind of burned out or uninspired....that's how I was but since I've taken these classes it has helped me get my enthusiasm back. This has been a fun quilt to try new things....More to follow later.

Brandon, my grandson, lost his first tooth last week. He is 4 but will be 5 at the end of October. I thought it was kind of early to start losing teeth but my DIL checked it out and it isn't....He is so cute. Here is a picture of him without that tooth. Isn't this a cute picture. Gotta love him!

The Intermediate Quilt Except for Borders

Ok, here's a picture of the quilt all together except for the borders. I can't make up my mind about the borders. I'm trying to decide. This quilt will have a scalloped border. I really like the floral fabric but I know you won't be able to see my quilting.
I'm thinking about the white border with the little beige dots. I will have to buy more of that. I will put a small 1 inch folded flap of the floral fabric all around the quilt to separate the scalloped border. The other fabric I'm thinking about is the beige fabric. I picked that at the store because it was the same color as the small beige dots. Now that I'm looking at the pictures, I think it is too dark...Please give me your opinion. I'm leaning toward the white border...Let me know what you think, please. Til next time....

Little Applique Sample

I don't know what to call this but it's really small so I'm just going to say it's a small wallhanging. At least, that's what I'm going to make out of it. This is what we did in our Applique class last Friday. It might be small but I sure learned alot from this. This class covered circles, points, leaves, stems, needle-turn and the back basting techniques. I finished this last night and I really enjoyed doing it. I know it's not much but it really made me feel good to do this one. I have never really liked applique but this was very enjoyable. I really like the back basting method. If you've never tried this, hurry up and try it. It might just change your mind about applique....I know it did mine. til next time....

Star of Bethleham and Drunkard's Path

Wow, what a combination...Bethleham Star and Drunkard's Path. Here's a picture of my blocks. I struggled with both of these but they are done and ready for my class tomorrow. I'm going to have to practice the drunkard's path some more before I decide if I like or don't like it. I'm not crazy about it at the moment but will reserve my judgment til another time. I am finished with all my blocks for this little quilt. Now to put them together....til next time....

Star of Bethleham



Drunkard's Path (Love Knot)

Applique Class and the Star of Bethleham Block

I took the day off Friday and went to an all day applique class. The class covered the back basting method and needleturn method. This was a good class with alot of fun ladies. Two ladies brought refreshments and we all brought a sack lunch so we didn't have to leave the premises. Lots of fun and I even enjoyed the applique class. I think I'm actually starting to like applique. As soon as I finish the little project, I will put up a picture.

I went home and started working on a Star of Bethlehem block. This is the hardest block I have ever tried to make. I got so frustrated trying to get the diamonds to match. I finally just quit sewing and had to get up and walk away from my machine. Nothing was going right...I turned the TV on and tried to forget about this horrible block. How could this block have such a lovely name, surely it is named wrong! Arrrrggggg!

I went to work at the quilt shop yesterday and took the block with me. I asked everyone that came in if they had ever made this block. No one had. I thought about this block all day. I got up early this morning and went into my sewing room. I looked at the block and thought maybe I could measure it and figure out a way to match those diamonds without sewing and unsewing so much. I finally figured it out. I made the block and didn't let it defeat me. It isn't the best job I have ever done but I learned alot with this block. One of the main things I learned from this block is that I NEVER want to make another one! It's done and that's that....I will post a picture later. I have to make another block right now and then I'll take pictures. Yeah, I did that block and I feel better. Til next time...

Pinetree block, Attic Windows and Appliqued Flowers

I didn't go anywhere this weekend. It rained and the wind blew all day Saturday from Ike...it wasn't as bad here as predicted. I was so glad as I am so scared of storms. We cleaned off our porches and put everything into our garage expecting big winds but they didn't happen. We were very fortunate. My heart and prayers go out to the folks in Galveston and Houston and along the coast for all that they have lost. The next few days will tell how much they are affected...

I actually got some sewing done while watching the weather coming in...I was able to sew on my blocks. I made the attic windows block and the pinetree block. I even did the side setting triangles with the flower appliques on them...I still consider applique the "A" word...it is not my favorite thing to do but I am trying. Here's a picture of the blocks I got done.






I did some more quilting on my little quilt but have more to do and I am still working on my Redwork. My third one so far and I am about two-thirds done with that one...I'll post pictures soon of those. til next time...

Texas Weather

Yikes, Hurricane Ike is getting really scary! The weather doesn't look good..get your flashlights, batteries, water, and other necessities together and batten down the hatches. The winds are supposed to be really strong even up in our area. (Dallas) Put all your plants and loose items up...I don't want to see any cows floating around in the wind. Take care and be safe out there. Watch for flood water and be smart about driving in it. til next time.

Texas Weather

Let it be known that I hate storms and stormy weather. Watching the news this past week about the hurricanes has gotten me so scared! I have already been through a small tornado and had to replace my roof from that. I am getting so nervous about this hurricane coming in...Please take precautions and stay safe wherever you are...

09-11-2001

I will always remember this date. It's difficult to believe that seven years have passed already. It seems like just yesterday. Hugs and prayers to all of you that were touched by this tragedy. God Bless....Linda

Fall Giveaway

Hey, go over to Colleen's and check out her Fall Giveaway....Click here and it will take you there. Cute kids and cute blog, go check her out....

Quilting, Redwork and Noah's Ark Blocks

I am still hand quilting my little quilt. I am on the borders now and it is coming along very nicely. I am thoroughly enjoying the hand quilting and I have a good callous on my finger now. It doesn't get too sore anymore and it's going pretty fast now. I have already picked out my next quilt to work on.

I can't believe it is already September. I am falling behind on finishing my projects and I am steadily adding new projects as I go. I am enjoying my new projects though, so, I do not feel too guilty. I am now working on my 3rd redwork basket. I love these and I am going to be giving these as Christmas gifts. That's one reason why I do not feel too guilty.

I have also been working on the little Noah's Ark stitcheries. I got the little bunnies done and the dove. I'll take pictures and post soon. These are very easy and quick to do...click on the Noah's Ark button on the side and you can see the stitheries on Lynette's site.

I have two new blocks to do tonight for my class. Here's a picture of the quilt that I am working on (this is the teacher's quilt)....This is the intermediate quilt that teaches how to machine piece, hand piece, English paper piecing, hand quilting, machine quilting and scalloped borders. I have done the English paper piecing and now I'm working on the attic windows block and the pine tree block...

Til next time....

Tipnut

Here is a website that I am signed up with that I love. It's called Tipnut.com. I get e-mail from this site every day and the tips range from how to make pincushions (with all the patterns), making cookies, making casseroles, organizing your sewing area, kitchen, making wood gadgets, etc, etc. You get the picture, it's all kinds of different things. It is a great site. Click here and go check them out!
Til next time....

Winners for my Giveaway

Ok, here are the winners for my Giveaway and here's what they won....Thanks to everyone that commented and now I have some more friends to check out. Since I asked what your favorite gadgets were, I decided I would give away some of my favorite gadgets. I am giving each one of these ladies a pincushion that I made and some of my favorite gadgets. Congratulations, ladies, I hope you like your goodies...

1. Sunny of Seam2bsewing.blogspot.com has won a felt pincushion (this one was fun to make using felt and buttonhole stitches )and some of my favorite items.





2. Candace from wraggedypatches.blogspot.com has won my favorite Kitty Kat pincushion. I used hand dyed fabric for this little fellow.



3. Cherold from cheroldsplace-cheri.blogspot.com has won a little log cabin chicken pincushion and some goodies.

Lynette Anderson's BOM Stithery

I've seen this little picture on other blogs but it never clicked with me...I guess I was brain dead or something. Anyway, click on the Noah's Ark at the side of my blog and it will take you to Lynette Anderson's blog. She has the cutest free stitheries. She is celebrating her year of blogging by giving you these FREE stitcheris. As you recall, I just finished that little redwork stitchery and I learned 16 different stitches with that class. I'm revved and ready for another challenge. Keep your eyes open for my Noah's Ark stuff. I have to play catch up since I just found this....Go check out her blog. til next time....

Anna's Birthday Giveaway

After you register for my giveaway, pop over to see Anna, at Around the Quilt Block, she''s having a give-away to celebrate her birthday. Pop over to wish her happy birthday and to join in.

My 100th Post Giveaway

Ok, with my last posting and the little tutorial I did...that was my 100th posting! I never thought that would happen. I am not a writer and I was never very good at keeping a diary so I'm as surprised as you are. Anyway, I have decided to celebrate my 100th post with a giveaway. I have not as yet decided what I will do but it is going to be a surprise. I will post a picture when I have fully decided. I will be giving 3 surprises. Please leave me a comment and I will have a drawing next Saturday which will be Sept. 6th. You can comment until Saturday, Sept 6th @ 12:00 Central Time (Texas time). Please leave a comment and tell me what your favorite gadget is and why it is your favorite. I will draw Saturday night around 6 o'clock and let you know who the winner is. Until then, keep on quilting! Hugs, Linda

English Paper Piecing -

In my last post I told you I was doing an English Paper piecing block and I told you I learned a new way to do it. The old method is where you baste around the paper, right? That is still a good way to do it but I found out you can do it faster a different way and I am going to show you how....

1. Start off with a square of fabric, (you will trim this down later). I used a 2 1/2" square, you can guesstimate the size - it doesn't have to be perfect.. I am using a one inch hexagon paper piece.





You will start off at two corners of the fabric and the paper piece.
I am using black thread so you can see this better. I am also using hand quilting thread (1 strand) as it is stronger than regular thread.

I like this method because it's quicker to get my pieces ready to be stitched together and you don't have to remove any of the basting thread like you have to if you use the other method.


2. Fold down one side of the fabric to the paper piece and then fold down the side
to your left. You will be working counter-clockwise. Insert your needle (with a quilter's knot in the thread) through the corners then take a back stitch again at the same corner.


3. Continue around to each corner and take a stitch, then a backstitch all the way around. Keep going around to the beginning and take a stitch and backstitch and tie off. Below is how the block comes together. Once you have gone all the way around and tied off, then you can trim. One important thing to do after you sew your hexagons together, press them. The hexagons were appliqued to the fabric, so the pressing was important, especially for the hexagons on the outer edge. Pressing these makes the edges crisper. After that, you can just pop out the paper and leave the stitches in. You don't have to remove any stitches and this really saves alot of time. This time can be used to make more hexagons. I hope you enjoy this method.







Now, here is a picture of my finished block...I really enjoyed doing this block more this way. I hope you can follow my pictures. Til next time....