I won, I won!

Okay, maybe I shouldn't say this but I'm excited and wanted to tell....

I got home today and in the mail box was a letter from the State Fair of Texas telling me that my tatting entry to the fair won a 2nd place! How about that. I'm so surprised! Alot of people from my group entered and I never expected to win. I entered it just as a challenge from my group. I'm very pleased and excited...

I'm also a little disappointed as my friends spent alot of time with their entries and some of them didn't win anything. Winning is fun, but how do you deal with your friends' disappointment at the same time? They worked just as hard, if not harder than me? Hmm, this is a tough one, huh? This is one reason I don't like to enter contests, especially with or against friends. I value their work just as much as mine. I can see the time and efforts they spend on a project. Hmmm, til next time....

My pincushion, it's finished....

Ok, here it is. I think it turned out really cute. I'm going to let it sit for a few days and decide if I need to put more crushed walnut shells in it. I really like the little prairie points on it. I asked my husband what he thought about it and he said, What is it??? I couldn't believe it. Oh well, no accounting for taste, huh?

Pincushion..Tatting Tuesday

Last night I worked on my pincushion. I am embellishing the sides with embroidery stitches and buttons. You know, kind of like crazy patch but not as much. I did this while watching The Closer marathon. I am through embellishing and can now start putting it together. My husband stopped at the pet store and got me some crushed walnut shells to put inside so I'll be finishing it up this week. I have enjoyed making this. It's been alot of fun...I plan on making more pincushions but not as big as this one. I'll take some pics when I'm finished.

Today is Tatting Tuesday and I'll be joining my friends tonight at the Senior Center. I won't be able to work on my pincushion or maybe I'll make some tatting to put on it too...we'll see. til next time....

First day of school

Ah, I feel really old now. My oldest grandson started kindergarten today. He's so sweet...just look at this handsome boy....







This one's my favorite. Him and his no teeth smile! I love you my big handsome boy and I'm so proud of you!

Trent in his carhardts!

Just look at this special boy....this is my youngest grandchild. He's so sweet in his carhardts. You're never too young to start wearing these!

Friday night sewing with friends

Last night I went to a church in Mesquite and sewed with some of my friends. I've known about this for several years and never gone. At the last quilt guild meeting they announced that they were meeting again at the church and invited anyone and everyone to come. I went and had a wonderful time visiting and sewing. They said they had been meeting the 1st and 3rd Fridays at this church for over a year and had invited others from the guild repeatedly to come. I didn't realize it was a sit and sew until last night. I don't know if I was just deaf or what but it finally sunk in and I went. Well, I'm hooked and am definitely going back for seconds. I had a ball. I knew most of the ladies but there were a few I didn't know until last night. Some are new to quilting but most are veterans like me. I sat and visited and worked on the pincushion I showed a couple of posts ago. Some of these ladies go to this church and that's how they get to have the meeting here. The church has even given them a designated room to come during the week to quilt in. They have 3 quilt frames set up in this room along with a few sewing machines and a big design wall and all kinds of patterns, fabric, coffee cups on the wall and a big wall of windows to look out of. It was like a quilting studio in this room. They meet every Tuesday during the day and quilt on their own quilts. There are about 12 ladies that come to quilt. Some but not all of these ladies go to this church but have been doing this for about 4 years. I have seen some of the quilts that come from this group and they are amazing! One of the ladies I was visiting with last night comes to the group on Tuesday but she brings her own hoop and quilts. There is not enough room for her around the frames yet...We won't go there! Anyway, I had a great time and am definitely going back. I got so inspired last night and my enthusiasm is returning. I read somewhere the other day on another blog that this person has lost her mojo and if anyone found it to please return it to her. I think maybe, I found it but I'm not giving it up! Gotta go, my sewing machine is calling me...til next time.....

Quilt Meeting tonight

Tonight was our annual picnic. It really shouldn't be called a picnic cuz we don't eat outside on the ground, we just call it that instead of annual dinner or whatever. Anyway... tonight, instead of a potluck dinner, we all chipped in and ordered from Jason's Deli. We had sandwiches, chips, pickles, fruit, cookies, tea and lemonade and the good thing was, we didn't have to cook it. We have this every year in August to announce the new leaders for our small group, the Sew What's. Door prizes are given out and gifts thanking others during the year that did things for our group. We have a treasurer, block chairpersons for the summer blocks, block chairpersons for the winter blocks, church quilt chairperson, Sunshine and Shadow person, etc, etc...I was the treasurer this year and will be again this next year and I received a gift for those duties.

I also won a door prize and everyone that attended received a gift too. The leaders this year made pincushions (one of my favorite things!) and gave out to all the members.

Here's the barbeque mit I received as a gift and the pincushion with scissors and tweezers that all of us got...







The door prize that I won was not quilt related but can be used for photos. It was a scrapbook kit...look at this. It was a great bag with 2 photo books and all kinds of embellishing items too...



I love this group of ladies. I have been in this small quilt group since 1992 and I have learned so much from these wonderful women. All of us have been the leaders/co-leaders of this group until last year, when we started getting some new members. Now, we have some new people to con into taking on these tasks! It's always fun to start a new year to see what the new leaders will come up with. I'm looking forward to another year of being with my friends.
Alot of these women have been quilting alot longer than I have. I learned from the pros...alot of blue ribbon winners and teachers in this group. I can remember how intimidated I was when I joined this group way back when. But, we sure have had some great times. Here's some pics of show and tell tonight. These are just a few but I thought you would enjoy them...


Look at this, it is so sweet. We had two leaders this year and one of the leaders gave the co-leader this as a thank you gift. All of the members signed it...



This was a panel, or should I say 4 panels put together. Sewn on lines and then cut down to the bottom layer to make it appear chenilled....very cute.



Blocks collected for a BOM but not used for the BOM...put together and made into a small lap quilt.



This was a turning 20 quilt..block sizes were increase a little bit and a big baseball appliqued on for a lucky grandson. He just got his own room.







This was a mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter's Website, Quiltville.com

Restaurant Week - Del Friscos Steak House

Last night, the girls from my office and I went out for Restaurant Week here in Dallas. We dressed up and went to Del Friscos Steak House on Spring Valley Road and the Tollway. It was wonderful! Good food and good friends, what a combination. We had salad with raspberry dressing, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, a wonderful, mouth watering steak and all the bread we could eat. And, we can't forget the dessert...we had a Dreamsicle Cheesecake. The service was wonderful, everyone was great to us at the restaurant and the food was great! I love this week. It gives the restaurants some needed income and it gives everyone a chance to see just how good the food is on a slightly lower price scale. I plan on going back again and taking my DH next time. If you get a chance, check out Del Friscos Steak House. It is definitely worth the money....

Tatting Tuesday...but no tattting going on! Quilt Night

Oh my, I hate missing my tatting group....I had to do my quilt guild tonight and had to go early cuz I was in charge of refreshments. So, I didn't even have time to go by and say hello to my friends at tatting. When I miss seeing my group, it throws off my week. I don't feel complete...it is so strange. I have only been with this group of ladies for a little over 8 months, but we have certainly grown into a little family. Hello, my friends, I missed you and will see you next week. Save some gossip for me!

At the quilt meeting, we did have a great time. We had a lady come in that gave a demo of making Drunkard's Path blocks using coffee filters. I have done this method before but cut out my own circles. I never thought about coffee filters or something already made into a circle to use. Alot of our members had never seen this method before and that surprised me. I did a quilt like this about 5 years ago.

Now, that has started me thinking and I went home and started a list of demos/programs that I have seen or want to see again or that I could do. I will be sending this list to the program person and see if there's any interest in them. I encourage all of you quilters out there to remember that there are always new people coming into quilting that don't know or haven't been exposed to different methods, so share all the knowledge you can. That's how we can keep our crafts alive and going strong...pics to follow...

I took my tatting entry to the fair!

I took my tatting entry to the fair and turned it in. I was so excited. I only entered one thing as you could only enter one item in each category. This was my first time to enter anything into the fair and next year I'll enter more. They talked to me and told me other ways to enter my tatting. I don't care if I win or not, it was just fun to go down there and see all the goings on at the beginning.

I ran into two of my quilting friends that worked at the fair. They asked me if I was entering any of my quilts and were surprised when I told them no, I was entering my tatting. (They have never seen any of my tatting, only my quilting) They wanted me to enter my quilts too. I told them I would next year. I had never thought about it or never taken the time to enter before but will definitely do it next year. I am so looking forward to the fair coming. Several of us in my little tatting group are going down to the fair and doing demos of tatting. We are taking turns being there. I think there will be 3 of us there at all times....They took in alot of tatting to be judged this year so I don't know if any of us have a chance winning but that's ok too. I'm just glad they had a category for it this year. They said this is the first year in many years that anyone has put anything in....

A Sample of my blocks

Ok, here's the first 5 blocks of the BOM I'm working on. I love these fabrics... I'm not really crazy about templates but I do like the accuracy of them. I would rather do strip piecing but...Marti Michell templates are great. Very accurate...

My First Crazy Patch Block

Well, I finished my first crazy patch block and I'm pretty pleased with it. I think it turned out fairly decent....I really enjoyed doing it and this is what my friend, Shirley and I are teaching to our little sewing group. Not that we are experts by any means, we are just two people sharing what we know. No more, no less. That's what our little group is all about anyway. This group is made up of women that sew. Some are quilters, some are embroiderers (some by hand and some by machine)and some are crafters. We just love getting together and socializing. Eating, laughing and chatting. Here's my block..what do you think?

Heart Pillows and some ironing pads

I made some more heart pillows to donate. These pillows are easy and quick to make. All the groups I'm in make these and donate to the hospitals for breast cancer patients...





I also finished some more of these ironing pads or I guess you can call them hot pads. Anyway, I'm making these to give as gifts. I made a whole bunch of these earlier in the year and gave them to my sewing group as kits to teach them binding. My group really liked them.
I'll probably put one of those little irons with them and give them to some of my sewing friends for retreats. These are quick and fun to make too. You can use left over blocks or cheater fabric and quilt them any way you want.

Saturday Sewing-BOM-Birthday Wishes

Today was the day to pick up another block in my BOM. I picked up block 5 for next month...This quilt is not going together quick enough for me. I love this fabric. Here's a picture of the quilt. The quilt is in the quilt store and it's hung sideways but I think you can see how lovely it is anyway...



If you want to see what the blocks look like close up, go check out my other blog, http://thomasquilt2009.blogspot.com. We meet once each month and get instructions or a demo on how to put the block together. Some of these ladies are fairly new to quilting and this really helps to get these extra hints or tips plus we get to shop! The store even gives us a discount for coming in! I love this. I always feel like this store really appreciates our business and they are great people too. The owners as well as all the employees are helpful and friendly. They always make coffee and have cookies or muffins for us. It's great. Everyone in this group is alot of fun too! Good times!

After the demo, I rushed over to pick up a friend and we went and had lunch with another friend to celebrate her birthday. Happy Birthday, Cathey! I hope your day was great! Then, Shirley and I went back to her house and finished up getting ready for our class. We are now ready to give the demo and I hope it turns out ok. I'll let you know if our sewing group likes what we did.

I'm still working on my crazy patch block. I had forgotten how to do some of the embroidery stitches. I guess it's true, what you don't use, you lose! Cuz, I sure did. I had to look up some of the old stitches I used to know. But, that's ok, I remember them now and I am enjoying doing this block. I'll show you the block as soon as I finish.. Til next time....

Working on the Crazy Patch and a Big Pincushion

I started embellishing my block last night while watching TV. I put some lace on one seam and sewed it down. Then, I added some beads in the holes of the lace to tack it down some more. I really like the results. I did the buttonhole stitch on one seam but didn't like it so I undid it. I'm going to get some tiger tape so I can measure my stitches more accurately for the stitches. If I get a chance, I'll work on it some tonight. It's pretty relaxing to do this.

Here's two of the blocks that we made. I kept these two cuz I liked them. We made 23 blocks in all. Shirley kept one and I kept these two. This shows how we made up the kits too.






I also had a little kit that I worked on. It was a sample that Shirley picked up somewhere. This kit had paper pieces in it that were 1" big. I sewed around the little hexagons and made it into a flower. I'm going to put a backing on it and make it into a small pincushion and give it as a gift...No picture yet, I'll show you the finished product soon.



Talking of pincushions! I forgot to tell you about this!!!

I went to one of the LQS Friday afternoon and saw the cutest big pincushion. I have got to make this. I took pictures of them. There were two of them. One was a tall one and one was short. I'll post my pictures tonight when I get home. I did find the pattern on the website. It is a MODA pattern and is available online at their site. Here's a link to it....it is called the Prairie Flowers pincushion...Go check it out. This is definitely on my to do list and I want to do it ASAP. I'm going to find the walnut hulls for it first. At the quilt store they kidded around and called it a door stop! It is so big, it could be used for a door stop. I loved it and I have to have one.

Aren't these cute? Diana at the LQS made these and I just think they are wonderful...I've got to make these.... I like them both so I guess I have to make a tall and short one.

Sewing with Shirley and Crazy Quilt Blocks

I went to Shirley's again today and we sewed our little hearts out on the crazy patch blocks. These blocks will be given to our ASG group to embellish and make whatever they want to out of them. We finally finished all the blocks today and put in thread, buttons, ribbon and all kinds of trims for the kits. Shirley and I are very excited about the blocks and we think they turned out very good. I was dumb and didn't take pictures of these but will this next Saturday. We are getting together this Saturday and will be playing around with stitches to decide what we want to teach or show the group. Now comes the fun part. I have never been a big embroiderer but I am enjoying this. I have ususally learned the stitches just by looking at a book, so it's fun to get together with someone that actually knows how to do the stitches in person. Everybody in our group probably knows how to embroider so I'm hoping we can teach them something....maybe, they can teach me something. Who knows! Getting together is the important thing, right? I hope they like it. I brought two of the blocks home with me so I will take pictures of those and post. These will be my blocks....I'm not going to do a quilt. I'm going to make a small book cover or maybe a needlecase. I'm not doing anyting really big with mine. I might just frame it...it just depends how much I like it when I'm finished. Time will tell. I'll show you what I do so you can see the results. Til next time....