Relaxing and enjoying the day, Youtube and Merry Christmas

I got to sleep late this morning as I'm off from work today...woo hoo!  My husband got up early and left the house so he could do some last minute shopping (along with all the other husbands and men out there..) So, I got a cup of tea and decided to read my email. In one of my emails, there was a link to some of the new videos on Youtube and I decided while I was still trying to wake up that I would watch some of these.  I clicked on one of my favorites and it was Jenny Doan's video and it was about Applique.  It's a 4 part series and has Jenny Doan and Jan Patek.  It was very enjoyable to watch and has me wanting to do some applique...I've done applique in the past and it is not one of my favorite things to do but I'm going to give it another go next year.  I'm finishing up projects and I do have some applique to finish so these videos came in handy and I'll watch them again to review how to tackle my applique challenges next year.  I've had a relaxing morning watching these and have enjoyed my morning thinking and planning some things to finish up in the new year.  I have two more packages to wrap and then I'm going to start making a dessert for tomorrow.  I didn't get my quilts finished for my granddaughters for Christmas like I wanted but I'm not feeling guilty at all about them. They will get them for their birthdays instead and I haven't stressed about them at all.  I've enjoyed shopping for them and getting my house ready for Christmas instead of stressing out. 
I finished one charity quilt over the weekend and I'll take it to the meeting in January to give out. I have two more quilts to finish over the holidays and these are priority but I'm still not stressing out.  I'm relaxing and enjoying the Christmas season and I hope you are too.  I pray that everyone reading this will have a blessed Christmas. 



If you want to enjoy the video that I wathced, here it is....there are 3 other videos after this one and you can see those on Youtube. 

Craftsy website is having a sale...

I have been a member of Craftsy for a long time.  I love this website.  There are alot of free classes on this site and lots of inspiration.  There are alot of great teachers on the site too.  They are having a great sale.  Classes range from free to $25.00.  There are alot of classes for $9.99 and $14.99 that are quilting related. The great thing about this site is once you sign up for a class, you can view it as many times as you want to and also it does not expire....I have used this for knitting, crochet and quilting too..I just bought the Jenny Doan class for $14.99. It is a beginner class but I always learn something from her. I love her Youtube videos. If you are not familiar with her, she is from Missouri Star Quilting Company and she offers a daily deal on her website. She has alot of quilting videos and she's a great teacher. I also bought another class from Pepper Cory on Scrap Quilting. She is also a wonderful teacher.  Anyway, this sale is only for a little while (until Dec. 24th)  and I wanted everyone to know about it.  Here's a link for you to go to Craftsy quickly.  You do have to join the site to take any classes or to look at the site, but it is free to join....Go check them out, you won't be disappointed.  These classes would make great gifts to a quilting friend!  

http://www.craftsy.com/

Merry Christmas

This week was busy with parties, Christmas concerts and shopping.  Yes, it's true I am still not finished shopping but I might just have to say I'm through. My feet hurt so bad last night, I didn't want to even go eat! 

I have been looking at blogs today while playing with Carmen.  It's so good to read and catch up on what everyone is doing.  Now that Carmen is laying down for a nap, I'm going to try to go sew a little. I just wanted to check in with everyone and say Merry Christmas to you.  I hope everyone is healthy, happy and that you are having a wonderful holiday season.  Hopefully, you will be getting all of your projects finished in time for giving but if not, try not to get too stressed out over it.  Gotta go for now and get busy, Merry Christmas to all!!! 

No heat, hot water or stove, oh my! A birthday and an anniversary too.

This weekend was not a great weekend.  I'm glad it wasn't too cold as we had no heat, hot water or stove.  We came in Thursday night and noticed a slight gassy smell outside. We went over to our propane tank (we live in the country) and there was a strong odor. Normally, there is no smell unless you get close to the end of your gas in the tank.  We felt along the regulator and could feel air coming out of it.  Not good...We didn't turn the heat on or turn any fires on Thursday night. First thing Friday morning, my husband called our gas company and they came out to check the leak.  Yes, there was a leak at the tank and some place else.  They couldn't locate the leak so they capped off the tank and said we had to have a plumber come out before they could turn us back on.  We called about ten different plumbers and no one was certified for LP gas.  We finally found one but he was out of town until Monday.  He could come see us then.  Ok, no heat, no stove, no hot water....I'm just glad it was warm here in Texas!  We went and took showers at my son's house and my MIL's too over the weekend.  The only way I could cook was the microwave and I did a few meals that way but then I had dirty dishes and had to heat water to wash them.  Wow, I am so glad I didn't live in pioneer days, those women had it rough!  The plumber came out today and there was another leak but it was also on the outside of the house. Our pipes in the house were ok.  So glad of that!  We were worried it was going to be hard to find the leak...He said we probably had this leak for a long time and just never realized it.  It's nice to have hot water again and I can take a bath at my own house! First thing we did was turn the dish washer on and wash some clothes. Now to take a shower in my own house! 


I  did sew a little this weekend but it was just my nine patches for the month.  Forty more nine patches!  Only 2 more months to go, whoo hoo! 

Sunday was our 34th wedding anniversary and we went out to celebrate, looked at a few Christmas lights and went and showered at my MIL's. 

Tonight, we went out to dinner again to celebrate my sweet husband's birthday today....Now, we are watching a football game and relaxing.  Life is back to normal. 
I'm hoping this is our last thing to go out for awhile.  We've had the air conditioning go out, our hot water heater had to be replaced, my internet connection was faulty and now the gas connection...I'm glad these were all fixable and we were able to figure them out but I'm ready for some relaxation time.  Ah, the joys of owning your own home!  We were planning on putting new floors in the house over the holidays but we've decided to put that on hold.  We are just going to relax and enjoy the season.  I hope you are enjoying the holiday season and getting to sew or craft too. Til next time, happy sewing!

No words can express my feelings.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone effected by the Newtown tragedy. 

A Love quilt and some finishes!

I have a wonderful quilt to show you. This is a lovely little quilt made for a tatting friend that is going through chemo for colon cancer. My tatting friends and I made the blocks.  That's right, my tatting buddies.  A few of these lovely little ladies are quilters but not everyone.  Two of the blocks have crochet on them. Some of them have tatting as embellishing .I will be quilting this and hopefully be finishing it and giving it to my friend by next week.  I gotta get busy! I'll show you this again when it's quilted and bound...The picture does not do justice to this wonderful Love quilt.  I'll try to take better pics when I'm finished with it...

 

This is a small wallhanging I finally finished.  I love drunkard's path quilts but hate the name...

I made this one a while back and just finished quilting this on my new machine.  Lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

These last two were also quilted on my new machine.

 

This one was alot of fun.  It doesn't look like much in the picture but I love this quilt.  I did all kinds of quilting on this one. It was one of those I practiced on...I wasn't worried about messing it up and I really enjoyed doing it.  This will make a great picnic quilt or cuddle quilt...

 

And, here's my latest swap blocks.  I only have two more sets to do and our swap will be finished. Then I can start putting this quilt together. I can't wait!  We have been exchanging blocks all year and I've gotten some get blocks. This will be a beautiful quilt! 

 

That' it for now, I hope you all are having a great holiday season.  I've been to two parties already and have two parties to go to next week. I love this season. It gives me a chance to get together with friends and family and have great times.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having time to sew too. Until next time, happy stitching! 

Back up and running.

Finally, I'm able to blog again.  My computer connection has been out for many weeks and I was not able to post or even go online.   We first thought  that it was my computer,  but found out quickly it was ok...figuring out the problem was hard.  My service guys finally figured out the problem and got it fixed. I won't bore you with the details but I'm glad I can get on and see what everyone is doing.  I could use my Iphone but it's not too much fun to see things on it so small.   I do have a few things to show you and I hope you didn't give up on me by not posting. 

The first thing I want to show you is my Christmas present quilt.  I love this.  I almost gave up on the border and just put a solid fabric and called it finished  but I'm so glad I didn't do that.  I used 2 1/2" squares and did a double border with them.  I want to quilt this one soon but it doesn't look like it will be ready for this Christmas...I have too many quilts on my quilting stack right now that have priority. 

 

Here's two quilts I quilted for a friend.  Yes, they look almost exactly alike...She made these for charity quilts and gave them to me to practice on. She was very pleased with them and they were fun to do too.  

 

I made this block for a friend of mine going through Chemo.  The girls in my tatting group all made blocks and the quilt is being put together by another friend of mine.  I'll be getting the quilt back tomorrow to quilt it so you will see the whole quilt soon.  The fabric in my block was Quilt for a Cure fabric from several years ago.  I was given a love quilt that had some of this fabric in it when I was going through my chemo years ago.  I made two quilts using this fabric and I had a small amount left over and just had to use it for my friend.  I know she will love this little love quilt. I can't wait to get it back. I've seen the blocks and they are wonderful but I haven't yet see the quilt together yet...

 

 I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and enjoying your family time. Last week, we went to Holiday in the Park one night and here's a picture of my son and his little family...The little person in the middle is why I'm not sewing as much as I used to!  I keep her on Friday nights and  Saturdays and she keeps me hopping! She's alot of fun and I really enjoy my time with her.  She loves fabric and colors and I hope she will be a future quilter!

 

Here they are again with my sweet husband. 

 

 

Yesterday was my youngest grandson's (Trent)  4th birthday!  Time sure goes quickly! I can't believe he is already 4...We went and celebrated his birthday. He had a soccer birthday party.  So much fun!

 

Ok, gotta get busy now.  I'll have more to show later in the week. Please come back and see me.  Until next time, happy quilting....