Good wishes for 2010

Ok, I have my bottled water, candles, extra can goods in the pantry, big bottle of propane, blankets...Remember that? Y2K? We thought all the computers were going to crash, there would be no lights, water, electricity, etc...Wow, 10 years passes quickly, doesn't it? Here's wishing everyone out in Blogland a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. Hugs!

House Blocks and orphan blocks

I built houses today...ok, I didn't build them, I sewed them but my houses are done. I only needed 4 but I made 8. No, I am not trying to be an over-achiever...I messed up the first four because the templates I used were too small and the roof did not fit. I re-drew my templates (made them bigger too) and re-sewed the correct size. I tried to find more fabric but guess what, it was not available. I only had fat quarters of two fabrics and since I cut the wrong size to begin with, I didn't have enough..I sewed the blue houses and they are for my exchange. I hated seeing blocks go to waste, so I just decided these blocks didn't need to be all the same color so, I made red roofs. I'll use these 4 blocks in something else. I'm thinking of doing a quilt (scrap quilt, of course) and just using orphan blocks. A friend of mine did that and hers turned out great. In fact, hers was so good, it was noticed and put in a magazine. So, this next year, I'm pulling out all my orphan blocks and going to be doing a quilt with them...I'll show you that later on in the year when I start it up. For now, here's a picture of the houses....Countdown to the new year has begun, only 5 1/2 hours until 2010. Are you ready?

2010 BOM from Amy

I am doing one exchange this year and you saw the beginnings of that. You remember, the 42 snowball blocks? That's the middle part to the exchange. It is the quilt off the cover of the Quilt Sampler. I will be doing a BOM with my small group and that will be all year. It should be fun. The chosen person each month tells us what block she wants us to do for her. She gives us the directions and fabric (or if she wants scrappy, we use our fabric)and we make her one block. I have signed up for the UFO challenge and will be doing that too but I have also decided to do Amy's BOM off the internet. Here's a link to her blog or click on the picture to the right and go there. She has some cute blocks. You get to choose from 3 different blocks per month. It is a 10 month BOM so you can end up with 30 blocks (if you do all three) or just 10 blocks or whatever....There is no applique in this one. Think about it, it looks like fun. Why don't you join us for that one? I'll be posting pics each month and so will Amy....maybe we can tempt you into it. Til next time....

I'm committed and ready - Let's start!

Ok, I've made my list and organized (found) my UFO's that I need to work on. Yes, that means with the directions too. I've put numbers on them and got everything together to start working on them (again). This time I am determined to finish each one. Ok, I am going to clarify this though because to some of you that means completely quilted. It does to me too but I won't be the one doing the quilting on all of them. I am going to quilt most of these myself but there are two on this list that I have decided I will let someone else quilt. I have already determined that they will be too big for me to handle and this is the year of no stress. I just want to see the finished products this year. Yes, I am a project quilter - not a product quilter. In other words, I like to do it and see it come together and yes, I like to see the finished quilt but I don't have to be the one to quilt it myself. I've given up on that since I almost killed myself quilting a king size quilt on my sewing machine. I decided I would not put myself through that agony again! Now that I have that off my chest, I will not feel guilty about it again....right? Right... Ok, I'm ready to start the new year and get alot (if not all) of my quilts finished. How about you? Feel up to the challenge? Why don't you join us in our quest. Look to the right and you will see the UFO, click on it and sign up. Come on, you know you want to....

Pictures of some of my latest projects

Ok,I promised you a look at the projects I'm working on. Here's some of them...

This one is the little BOM that I just finished up with. It took all year only because it was a BOM. This could have been done in a few days if you wanted to. The blocks were very easy and fun to do. They are 4 1/2" blocks and covered various techniques...Lots of fun. This one's mine, I might make another one to give away or I have thought about just doing 4 of the blocks and making a really small wallhanging to depict the seasons...we'll see.



Ok, here's the 21 snowball blocks. These are half of the center portion of the Reproduction Quilt I'm doing. It is the exchange quilt I was talking about earlier. 21 more to go....



Ah, here's the full center, all 42 snowballs...Doesn't this look great? Before I started working with reproduction fabrics, my first thought was dull, drab colors, boy, was I wrong? These colors are great and I just love the scrappy look.




Here's a closeup of 4 of the blocks.



Here's one of the tablerunners I just finished putting the finishing touches on the applique...I used to refer to applique as the A word. I've grown a little fonder of it but it's still slow for me...I just love this tablerunner and I'm going to hand quilt this one. I think it will be very pretty when finished completely.





Here's the quick tablerunner I did Monday. I'm going to machine quilt this one and bind it with a Moda Marble Dark Blue. It will be the first one on my kitchen table in January since it reminds me of ice... This is one of the blocks. The middle is fussy cut to show off the compass points...This was very quick and easy to make...






This is the little wallhanging for November showing the cute little pumpkins. I have 12 different small wallhangings from this year. Each month was very traditional and I will be working on these and getting these done quickly...I hope. January is snowmen, February is Hearts, etc...Fun, quick projects make me feel good and feel like I've accomplished something. A quick fix.



Here's my latest block for the BOM I'm working on. This is the Marti Michell quilt I am working on. This is block 9 of 12. Only 3 more to go and the main blocks will be finished. This quilt will be one of the ones on my list to complete in 2010. I want to have this one done so I can see it at least by Christmas....

You can see some of the other blocks and the finished quilt on my other blog...Thomas Quilt

Accepting the Challenge for 2010

Ok, I told you earlier I plan on doing alot of finishes next year. Well, lo and behold, there is a challenge out there in blogland and it is on Nancy's blog, the Patchwork Penguin...you list 10 UFO's and she picks a number. You look on your list and you work on that picked number until you finish. Then you post it on your blog. One more kick in the rear to finish up a project! Woo hoo, I'm pumped. If you want to and feel the need, click on the link below or to the sidebar and join us for some finishes. Let's get started....

Patchwork Penguin

Sewing Like Crazy and Goals for the New Year

I sewed for a little while on Friday and again on Saturday. Monday, I was able to sew all day except for fixing lunch and dinner for the family. I just can't get enough sewing time in lately. I don't even want to go to bed. I haven't felt this way in a long time and I'm sure glad the feeling is back. I guess I was burnt out for awhile but it sure is nice to want to sew again.

I'm trying to finish up some things. I finished a small wallhanging on Monday. It was a BOM from this year. (I almost said last year, oh my, can you tell I'm ready for 2009 to be over?) I will take some pics tonight. I made a table runner also. I have several more of these to make. I have accumulated several kits over the years and I'm going to finish every one of them in 2010. My goal for the year is to finish (quilting and label and binding---all the way) all of my kits, UFO's and all my flimsy's. That is one of my resolutions for the year. I want to see all of my quilts this next year so I can really enjoy them. I'm also going to load up my spare bed and change out the quilts every so often just to enjoy looking at them.

Ok, sorry, I got off the subject. I was supposed to go to tatting last night but the weather was iffy. It was snowing when I got off work and I just went home. I grabbed some Taco Casa on the way home to feed the family. I ate and went straight upstairs for some more bonding with my sewing machine. Oh yeah, I forgot to say I got my Bernina back and so far she's purring like a new machine. Oh my, I sure did miss her but we are getting along just fine now. I made my block for the Thomas quilt. (It's on my other blog-http://thomasquilt2009.blogspot.com/). It is a BOM and we are on block 9. It's a Marti Michell pattern and I'm loving this one. I put together 21 snowball blocks of another BOM I'm working on. This one is one of the 4 quilts I have going that are being made from reproduction fabrics. I have another 21 snowball blocks to put together tonight. I'll take a pic of this one too. I LOVE this one. It is an exchange quilt. I called it a BOM but it really isn't. Five of us ladies from my small group have gotten together and we are doing the quilt off the cover of the Quilt Sampler. I am also working on leaders and enders as I am working on these blocks. I did another small wallhanging last night that was for Fall. It is pumpkins and went together very quickly. I'll show you pics tonight. I'm very busy but I'm loving it. I have a list I'm working by and I'm not getting bored yet. I plan to sew every night this week. I don't even want to go to work but you know how that is...gotta make a living, right. Oh well, back to the grind for now. Til next time....

Christmas 2009

I had a wonderful Christmas with my family - my youngest son, my older son, my DIL, the three grands, my MIL, and my sweet hubby. We had the traditional dinner here. My three grandchildren came in ready to have Santa the moment they came through the door. I told them we had to wait on Papa to come back from the store. Yes, I sent him to buy forgotten rolls! He came back empty handed as the stores were closed. (Brookshires, Krogers and Walmart) I was not disappointed. To tell you the truth, I was impressed. I'm so glad all the stores in our area closed their doors so all their employees could celebrate Christmas with their families. Anyway, while the ham and sweet potatoes were cooking, we went ahead and let the children open their gifts. It's so fun to have children in the house at Christmas. I am so thankful that my son and his family are back here in Texas now. They lived in Michigan for 6 years and I missed my son so much. But, when the babies started coming, I really missed all of them. The youngest grandchild is now a year old and he is a Texan. They have been back down here now for 2 years and I hope they never leave Texas again. (Unless, I go too) I gave Trent, the youngest, a quilt for Christmas. I started this sometime ago. I changed the colors about half way through because my DIL changed the colors in his bedroom. I showed the flimsy but here's a pic of the finished item...I think this one turned out pretty cute.



I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Til next time....

Hectic week with parties and celebrations

The past two weeks have been very busy. I've gone to several parties, several dinners, open houses and we had our Christmas Special at Church. I have been cooking and baking but there has been little sewing time or tatting time. I have sure missed the little breathing time I get with these. I enjoy this time of year but it sure can be very stressful.

I have also missed my Bernina, OMG, I have been using my other machines here and there when I did get some sewing time in and I'm ready to get my baby back....They just called me and told me I can come get her so I'm off to get dressed and go pick her up. I will post more later today with pictures I've taken of various parties with quilting and tatting. But for now, gotta go...

Christmas open house

Yesterday, my MIL and I went to a quilter's open house. Sharon Wilhelm is a quilter/quilt teacher here in the Dallas area and she has this open house every year.If you take any of her classes during the year, you are invited to her house to celebrate Christmas. (I try to take one of her classes just so I'll be invited.) She decorates every room with her quilts and Christmas trees and makes some of the best cookies and candies I have ever tasted. Her punch is the best drink I have ever tasted. I limited myself to two glasses or I could have drunk the whole thing! She's sending me recipes and I can't wait! My MIL was so amazed at her house. Last year was the first time I had gone and I remember what I thought, so I know how she felt. Sharon does some amazing quilts and she's quilted since she was really young. She has accumulated some very nice quilts and decorations over the years and it is truly lovely. It is the hi-lite of the Christmas season for me to go here. She makes ornaments and gives them away to her guests and sends them in her Christmas cards and packages too. She made 350 little sleigh ornaments this year. Last year she made Christmas bulbs and they were cute too. She had 49 trees decorated throughout her house. Can you imagine that? It was lovely. Thank you Sharon for such a lovely treat at Christmas....

Christmas parties, Decorating and Survival

Woo hoo, today was so busy! I got up this morning and wrapped my gift to take to my Quilt Guild meeting. I decided to not bake and just buy some different breads at Costco. I was not disappointed. It was three different loaves, Pound Cake, Banana Nut Bread and Cinnamon Streudal. All were very good and it sure helped me not to have to take my time to bake. I went and picked up my BOM at the quilt store and listened to the monthly talk about the block then headed out for my Christmas party. We had a great lunch. Boy, do we have some good cooks in our guild! I think all quilters must know how to cook. Is it the nurturing gene or what? One of our guild members and her husband and friend entertained us with Christmas music while we ate. Thanks Donna and Mike. They wrote a very cute Christmas quilting song and we sang it to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas...I'll see if it's ok to tell you their lyrics and if so, I'll write them out for you...I had a great time with good food, good friends and lots of laughter. This is why the holidays mean so much to me! I love the fellowship of friends.

Today was my fourth anniversary of being a Breast Cancer survivor. I'm doing great and had a great check up last week. I'm thankful for my health this season!

Today was also the anniversary of my sweet Mother's death many years ago. My Mom has been gone now 40 years today. Some days it seems like just yesterday. I sure miss you Mom and I now know how truly wise you really were.

After the party today, my grandkids came over and helped me decorate our tree. Finally! I have been after my husband since Thanksgiving to get our tree down so I could decorate. Now, it feels like Christmas! My grandkids are so cute too. They so enjoyed going through my box of Christmas ornaments and saying, Grammy, I like this one. Did you make this one? Can you make me one like this? Grammy, who's this? Is it really my Daddy in this picture? Ah, sweet, fun times. I love this. For all my friends out there, I wish you sweet times with your families this holiday season. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season...Share him with someone you love.

Julie and Julia

I just got through watching Julie and Julia. What a delightful movie. I now know why there was a surge in Julia Child's book sales after watching this movie. I want to go out and buy it too and I'm not that crazy about cooking! It really brought back memories of watching her on TV growing up. I know the PBS station has started running her show again and I've been watching that lately too. What fun.

I really liked Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci together as a couple. I think he is great. I liked hime in The Devil Wears Prada and they were together in that too. He's one of those sexy bald men, you know, like Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart. I never thought bald was attractive until these men came along...Oh well, I didn't mean to get off on that but the movie was really good. It's definitely worth watching again...til next time.

New crosses

I'm still not feeling good but I'm feeling well enough to tat a few items. I've been making crosses the last couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas....Here's two new crosses I enjoyed making...

Wendy Durell has a new cross out called the Split Ring cross and here is my version of her cross. Thanks, Wendy for the pattern, it tatted up real quickly.





This other pattern is from Gina Butler is Oklahoma City...it is her pattern called the Basic Ring-Chain Cross Bookmark. Her pattern comes with a spiral chain on the bottom of the cross. I chose to leave it off. This pattern is a variation of her other cross pattern I have been making...

ASG Christmas

I had a great time today at my ASG Annual Christmas party. It was alot of fun getting together with my sewing friends. We got to the Barn (it's a sewing barn) around 10:30 for coffee, donuts and catching up...We all chatted and looked around the barn to see what our hostess was working on. Lana is a recently retired person and is now pursuing Long Arm Quilting...She's been doing this for a while on the side and now can do it full time. However, you know how it is when you retire. Everybody calls and comes by because you have all the time in the world now that you don't work, right? She has a few quilts to work on now and a lovely work room(barn) to do it in. Her daughter came over and decorated for our function. We decided to play the Wright game with fat quarters. We then ate a wonderful lunch and exchanged gifts. We did the chinese Christmas game and several lovely items were stolen from me (Mary, you know what I wanted.) I ended up with a very nice Christmas gift. I got an Omnigrid Foldaway cutting board and pressing station...Not bad, huh? I needed a new one so, this will come in very handy for retreats! We played LCR (Left, Center, Right) for quarters. I didn't win anything but it was fun to learn this quick game...Before the party was over, I started getting a headache and came home and had to lay down. I was supposed to babysit for my grandkids but they were sick...I got up but was running fever and upset stomach..Oh well, I'm hoping it's not bad. I don't have time to get sick. I have too much to do before Christmas....til next time....

My Bernina

Well, my machine still isn't ready. The repairman called and said it was still acting up and he's got to order some parts or do more research on it. He will call me when it's ready...Oh my.

I guess I'll just keep sewing on my Pfaff a little longer and be patient.

Crosses, Stumpy and Spinning Wheel Tatting

I haven't posted in a long time. I just haven't been in the mood. I've been busy tatting and sewing and visiting with family and friends. Too much to do and not enough time for everything. I love the holidays but it sure is stressful at times. I have been really busy tatting away. I'm making crosses to give as gifts.

I'm also sewing to catch up on all my projects for the year. I have wanted to sew so much and I have really enjoyed it lately. I was busy sewing away and my Bernina just stopped. The screen froze up and the foot feed would not work. I turned it off to reset and it wouldn't come up all the way...I took it in to get repaired and it's been in there for about two weeks now. I am working on my Pfaff now and waiting for my Bernina to get out of the shop. I just found out today I can pick it up Saturday. Woo hoo, I can't wait. I have 6 machines and my Bernina is my favorite. I will take some pictures later of what all I have been sewing. For now, here's some pictures of my latest tatting. I haven't blocked any of these but wanted to show you these for now....

I have been tatting Crosses. So far I have 10 small crosses and 1 larger cross. The larger cross is for me. I'm going to make more but it will be later. I'm making the smaller crosses for friends at work and some of my quilting friends. I have alot more to make. The small crosses are off the Georgia Seitz website and is a Gina Butler pattern from 2002. It is a great pattern. It's easy and fairly quick to tat. I can tat this cross in about 2 hours now and don't need the pattern. The two other little bookmarks are Stumpy's by Kersti. I enjoy making this little bookmark and I've made several of these and given them as gifts. It's easy and quick to make too.



I really like this cross. The pattern is out of the book Tatting by Cathy Bryant. I love the colors. I have no idea what it's called. The thread was given to me by one of my tatting friends. She was tired of size 10 thread and gave it to me. I made the cross and of course, I had to make a Spinning Wheel Glass mat out of it...The Spinning Wheel mat is one of my all time favorite patterns and so far, this one is definitely my favorite.