My Christmas Gift

 For many years I have admired cow hides!  I have wanted one for a long time but my husband has not!!!  Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this beauty, bought for me by my husband.  Now that is love!!!  He actually likes it and I am so thrilled with it.  That was a cool Christmas gift!

 The best gift of all though was having all my kids at home for Christmas.  We had such a fun Christmas together.  That is such a special gift.  My eldest graduates from college in May.  We are not sure if we will all be together next Christmas, so this was an extra special blessing!!

I hope your Christmas was wonderful too.  Thank you for stopping by.

More Christmas

 A couple more Christmas groupings!  I hate to say this, but I still have decorations packed away.  Just have not been able to co-ordinate some burly sons to help me get them out!!!  I have done what I can.

This wreath hangs in my kitchen.  Love the gingerbread men!!! Had to snap a picture of the cat lying on the dining room table keeping my kids company while they did their homework.  He is such a sweet social kitty!!  

I hope to get the rest of my decorating done soon.  Nothing like leaving it to the eleventh hour!!!  Now to go and sit down.  I have cleaned my house from top to bottom.  Everybody has their winter flannel sheets on the bed and all is clean for Christmas.  It took me three days and I am completely pooped.
Thanks for visiting!!!  You make my day!

Things Christmas

 A few blogs ago, I showed a picture of the Christmas tree ready for decorating.  Here is a picture of it all done.  We always have so much fun putting the ornaments on the tree.  Several are handmade.  I try to add a couple of new ornaments to the tree every year that I have made.  We tend to laugh a lot while putting up the decorations.  I have little picture frames with photo's of the kids in them.  There is always a competition to see who can hang their picture front and center!!!

 I started the tradition a few years ago of having a chocolate christmas tree.  This tree is very popular and I am expected to do it every year.  I go to World Market and buy fine German Chocolate which is then hung on the tree.  Nobody is allowed to take a chocolate until Christmas day.  Then it is fair game and you may help yourself.  Hmmm, quiet delicious.

A little corner decorated with St Nick himself and two reindeer made from wire and beads which come from South Africa.
It is my aim to post a few more Christmas vignettes over the next few days.
Thank you for stopping by to take a look.  I hope your decorating is going well.

Got those Shop Samples done!

 My sweet cat looking soooo relaxed on my daughter's bed!!!

It's market review time again at the quilt store where I work.  We make samples of the new patterns that we will be selling starting Sunday and this is one of them.  Great pattern for a focus fabric.  It was a lot of fun to make and also quick!!!!

Some Stockings!

 I have two sons that attend college 1000 miles away from home.  They came home for Thanksgiving Break!  It was so wonderful to have all the chickens back in the nest.  We had an awesome week together and I am extremely thankful to have them here.

 They go to a military college and their rooms are a bit spartan at best.  One of my sons asked me to make a Christmas stocking for him and his roommate to bring some Christmas cheer into their lives for the last few weeks before they get home for Christmas holiday.  He helped me choose fabric and this is the combination we came up with.  I whipped these stockings up in an afternoon.

Now I have to get moving on some serious house decorating.  Got to have it looking beautiful for when they return in two and a half weeks time.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Christmas Tree Prepped!!!

Hello folks!!!  Hope this blog post finds everybody well and getting into the spirit of the holiday season. We put up our Christmas Tree yesterday - hauled it out the roof, dusted and fluffed the branches, tested a bunch of light strands (the most UN-fun activity of setting up the tree) put the lights in the tree, wound the tinsel and now it is ready for the ornaments.  The kids never enjoy this process of setting up the tree, so my husband and I do it and then the kids come along to decorate.  I have to say that two of my boys tested the light strands, so give them their due!!!
Tonight we will make hot chocolate, put on some Christmas music and decorate the tree!!!  Can't wait.
The bauble in the first photo is a decoration I made for the tree this year.  Finished it last night.  It is made from yoyo's using the Clover YO-YO maker (small).  Lots or corsage pins and some pearls from the craft store. The yoyo's are pinned into a foam ball - I prefer these to styrofoam balls as they can be quiet messy!  I also use an ornament glue to be sure the pins don't wiggle out of the ball!!  Not sure if it is necessary, but I do it anyway!!!
Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Gobble, gobble, gobble!!!

 Hello!  I don't know what happens to the days.  They sure do fly by!!!  Yesterday felt like Thanksgiving to me.  You see, my two sons came home from college for Thanksgiving break!!!  It was so good to go to the airport and fetch them.  I had a pot of Chicken Noodle soup ready - made from scratch!!!  It's a tradition that they started when my oldest started his first year.  He missed my chicken noodle soup the most of all the dishes I make.  They reckon it can grow back a limb it's so good!  Anyway, this is what the table looked like before we left for the airport!!!

I also finished my turkey penny rug!  I think he is really cute.  It's good he is done because the Christmas decorations are about to come out in a few days time.  Now I can start some Christmas decorations.  That is an activity I look so forward to every year!

There is Progress on those Hexies!!

 After vacuuming and washing the floor today, I decided to put out my double diamond hexagons, to see how far I am getting with the project.  That is not the only reason though.  I need to choose my color for the connectors.  I want a solid as the Kaffe's are extremely patterned!

 I have e-mailed these pics to a very talented girlfriend of mine for advice.  I would love to hear what you think!

Hopefully you are having a really good Monday so far.

Second Finish of the Week

 Well, I got around to taking a photo of my second finish for this week!  It is a table centerpiece using Nancy Halvorsen's Bittersweet fabric!!!  The colors are quite sumptuous indeed.  I used the Little Twister tool to make the pinwheels.  It is a really fun tool to use and the effect is great!!!

I have a Christmas tree quilt pattern all mapped out to use the Little Twister tool again.  It comes in a variety of sizes!!  You can use a charm pack, or a layer cake and then there is a teensy one too which makes a really fun wall hanging or mug rug!!!
Thanks for stopping by!!

The Scarf is Done!!!

 I can't believe it but I have two finishes in one week!!!  That makes me feel a little better about my huge pile of UFO's!!!!  Now to keep up the trend.

Don't you just love this super cute ruffle scarf?  So easy to make - cast on 8 stitches and knit garter stitch!  The yarn does the work for you and it makes up in no time!!!
I will post my other finish when a get to taking a photo of it.  Might be later today.  I hope you are having a fabulous Friday!

A Little Something from Nothing!!!

 I am currently working on a Road to Tennessee quilt!  The pattern can be found on Moda Bake Shop!  You need charm squares and smaller square to sew to two apposite corners of the charm square.

 Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner across the small square!

 Place them on the charm square, pin and sew following your drawn diagonal line.

 Here comes the fun part.  This blog is not about the Road to Tennessee quilt but about the leftovers.  When you trim your triangle points off, what do you do with them?  They probably get swept into the trash can!  Your scraps cost as much as your yardage!!!  So what to do with them?

 I took them over to my machine and stitched the long sides string piece fashion!

 Once done, separate them and iron the square open with the seam towards the printed fabric.  Clip the little ears off.   They will be your only scraps from this projects and since they are so small I don't mind throwing them out.

 Next, you take the little squares and stitch them together into rows.  Iron them so that when you are sewing your rows together, the seams will interlock.

 Next, pin every interlocking seam after making sure that they match up evenly and stitch your row together.

 See!! Now isn't that cute!!  When I am finished with this project, it will be a doll quilt.  I plan to put borders around it.  I feel good about not having to throw out fabric!!!

If you are interested, the fabric I am using is "It's a Hoot" for the charm squares, and a Moda Solid in a pale yellow (Butter)!!
Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

Some Yummy Yarn and Fabric

 Hello!  I have a couple of things to share!!!  Firstly, I bought some fancy yarn to knit a scarf with.  There are signs of fall in Texas.  Our highs are dipping into the upper 70's for a change!!!  Can you believe I am thinking of scarves.  This is the knitting and crochet season for me.  So, isn't this red yarn just too yummy?  Every row is a knit row (6 stitches only) and look how sublime the scarf is.  It looks so much more complicated than it really is!!!

Secondly, I bought some fabric from work today.  Have I mentioned that I don't bring much money home!!!  This fabric is Sunrise Silhouette by Jo Moulton.  I absolutely love Roosters.  I see a table runner and some place mats and mug rugs in my future.  The colors are so rich!!!  Just beautiful.
I hope you are all well and your projects are progressing fabulously.  Thanks for stopping by!  Talk to you soon.

A Fall Finish

 Hello!  I have not blogged in so long!!!  Life has been busy.  Fall semester always seems to be a whirlwind of activities!  Work has been busy too.  I have managed to sew a few fun things though.  I really enjoy making small seasonal quilts for fall and halloween.  This little quilt really appealed to me because of the vintage postcards.  They are so charming!! It was fun to make and is really bright and cheerful!!  I just love it.

English Paper Piecing is taking the world by storm at the moment.  If you have not tried it I recommend you find out what makes it so appealing and addictive to "sew" many people.  It is portable, a good stash buster, and just plain good old fun to make.  What you will need to make this block is 1" 6-point Diamonds, 1" Half Hexagons and then 2" 6-point Diamonds for the connector pieces.  I am making this out of solids.  Different colors in different shades.  The connector pieces will be in black!!!  Stay tuned for progress with this project.
I actually completed a quilt top, pieced the back and basted the quilt this week for my son.  It has been a WIP for many months now.  I really need to complete a few things!!!  I am the queen of starting projects.
Definitely not the queen of finishing things!!
I hope you all have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by!

Something to make one's piecing life easier!!

 Hello People!!!  I feels so behind the times, because I am only now getting myself prepared to start some Farmers Wife quilt blocks.  Many of you have been making them for ages.  I want to show you what some of the ladies from our quilt store have done.  I have shamelessly copied their great idea and made some design boards to facilitate the block construction.

 What you will need is a foam core board, cotton batting or flannel, some scrapbook paper, and lastly some duct tape.  Cut the foam core board into 10 by 10 inch squares.  Place some scrapbook paper on the back of the board and your cotton batting or flannel on the front of the board.  Adhere all the layers together with duct tape.  Mine is cute Zebra stripes!!!  It comes in many colors etc.  What you have now is a beautiful board that you can place your cut block pieces onto without them sliding around.  You can get six boards from one foam core board.  You can cut out six blocks and have them stacked one on top of the other to take to your sewing machine, and the order of the pieces will not become jumbled and chaotic.

See!!!  Works like a charm!  Till next time stay well and happy!!!

Putting Myself Out There!!!

 Hello folks!  I am going to be teaching some classes at work.  An embroidery class seemed like a good idea to add to our list of fun classes.  There seems to be a real resurgence in stitcheries!!  Perhaps some people feel intimidated by embroidery and feel they don't know too many stitches!  This is what this class is designed to address.  We felt, french knots, lazy daisies, chain stitch, stem stitch and  boullion knots were a good repertoire to learn.  Then most stitcheries would be well within the scope of my students.

Here's the thing!!!  I had to come up with a pattern that would cover all those stitches.  Well, I sweated over that and finally got something down on paper.  Then the embroidery began.  When I finished it I was not really sure how much I liked it.  A few days passed and I decided to just take the plunge and finish the project.  I added a few more flowers and french knots.  Then I trimmed the embroidery down and finally stitched it into a pillow cover.  Tomorrow I take my sample into the shop!!!  I hope it will be acceptable and that it will be met with enthusiasm and not "What on earth is that".  I am nervous, but I am hoping for a positive reaction.  Will let you all know how that went!!!

Christmas Stockings and Santa's Little Helper!

 Good Morning!!  I hope this blog finds you all happy!  I certainly am happy!  We have had the most blisteringly hot summer in Texas with 56 (?) days in the triple digit figures.  This morning I woke up to thunder and rain!!!  I nearly had to ask myself "What is that curious sound?".  It was not much rain but it was enough to gladden the heart!!!
On to things sewing!  I am teaching a class at The Quilt Asylum during the next three months.  Yep, you guessed it - a Christmas stocking class!  These are the samples I stitched up to show folks what they will be making.  They turned out really well.

 Here is Santa's little helper! O'Malley loves to come and lie on my sewing.  He was being all cute and social.  One of my favorite things in the whole world is to sew (you've probably come to that conclusion yourself).  It is even sweeter in the company of a sweet furry cat!

I hope you all have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

Old Memories and New Memories

 Long ago, when I was a little girl, my great grandmother and great grandfather collaborated on a gift for me.  Pa made me a dolls cot and Ma made a dolls quilt and bedding for the bed.  It was a beautiful gift and I can still picture the little cot in minds eye.  We grew up and stopped playing with toys.  My Mom gave our toys to charity so other children might enjoy them.  It was all fine until I became an adult and developed an appreciation for things made by others.  I so would have kept that bed and quilt if I had any sense back then.  Well, not all is lost.  My second son was looking for something to do a few weeks ago.  He is on summer vacation.  I asked him if he would mind making me a replacement dolls bed.  I would like to show off some of my dolls quilts using the little bed.  Well he did a wonderful job and I am so glad with the little bed.  He even wood burnt a design onto the sides and headboard.  I am so grateful to have the opportunity to own a dolls bed with a lot of meaning attached to it.  I will treasure it, and maybe return it to him should he have a daughter in the future!  Thank you sweet son!!

Here is a picture of the progress I am making with the little quilt that is to go on the dolls bed.  I will be sure to post a picture of the finished article.  I also bought some sponge yesterday to make a mattress for the bed.  I think it will look so cute when done.
Until next time, stay happy and healthy and thank you for visiting.

Amish Looking Churn Dash Block Swap

 Hello folks!  I can't tell you in words how happy I am to report that my 84 blocks for the block swap on Saturday are done!!!  And, it's not even a minute to midnight!!  Ha ha!!  It was so much sewing! 8 of the 9 mini-blocks which makes up the churn dash are pieced.  My rotary cutter blades wants to retire and my iron is begging for a break too.

 My machine is fine though although it string-pieced miles of fabric for me.  Thank you faithful friend.

 Here are five blocks waiting to be pieced into rows.

 My finished six color groups of 14 blocks each.  They are all packaged and ready to go.  My darling daughter helped me pack them.   I will of course show you the wonderful blocks I will be getting tomorrow.  Until then, have a great day.