All My Stuff

A Redwork Mini & School has Started

2009-01-12T18:37:00.002-06:00

Well I have finialy gotten around to posting a pic of the mini quilt that I made for the November round of Swap Til' You Drop. I just love it & I'm going to have to make one for my wall this summer. Posting will be few as school has started in again and I'm taking 3 courses this semester.

I am so mad !!

2009-01-09T09:16:00.003-06:00

Arrg - I'm so mad I could scream !! Phoenix's ducks have finally gone to laying and we had 2 pretty little eggs last night. Well this morning when I went out to see if the momma was setting on them I discovered that they were gone :( Phoenix is going to be so upset when he gets home from scool today . I figure that it was a coon who stole the eggs, now I have to spend a good bit of the day coon proofing the pen. I hope the little bugger comes back tonight because if he does he's in for it !

Snow People !!

2009-01-08T09:27:00.003-06:00

I recived the most amazing package from Andrea yesterday. Look at all the wonderful presents she sent me!

Look at these wonderful gifts . The little quilt is so adorable and Isis has really taken a liking to it :) I had to chase her around the house to get it back LOL ! The yummy fudge Andrea sent didn't last very long :)

I finially got the little bogger to hold still by whipping out the camera LOL :) She happy now because I hung this adorable little quilt on her side of the bedroom. Thank you so much Andrea we love this wee little quilt :)

Update on Bea's Quilt

2009-01-06T06:17:00.003-06:00

Well I have finally gotten around to showing ya'll the borders on Bea's mini quilt. I still have a ton left to do on it though, I need to find my little chalk pencil today so I can get to mapping out what needs to be done on it :) I hope Bea likes it . I'll be back soon with more progress pics:)

I'm Back :)

2009-01-02T10:12:00.003-06:00

These are some of the blocks that I have made for Bea's little quilt. The name of the block is called Bouncing Betty - If I have time before school starts in again I'd like to do a tutorial on this block as I've learned some really neat tricks to it :) This block is a great scrap buster for those itty bitty scraps too :)

Here is a sneak peak to my December quiltie on the Swap Til' You Drop group. I'm a little bit behind getting it sent out but I hope to have it in the mail by Monday. My camera really doesn't like this quiltie for some reason :( I must have taken a dozen photo's and they all came out blurry. It also doesn't show the little snowflakes or the beads very well on this mini quilt.

Shifting Gears

2008-12-07T08:41:00.002-06:00

Ugh, it looks like I'm going to have to shift gears on the little quilt for Bea :( These little blocks are just taking way to long and I'm so crunched for time that I can spend at the sewing machine right now. I think what I am going to do is make a sampler, this way I can cut out a couple of blocks and take them to work to hand sew together. I already have a few ready to go for tonight at work and I'll show pic's in the morning when I get home. I have Grandmother's Flower Garden, a Fan block and a Lemoyne Star ready to go for tonight :) I should be able to get all three done tonight if my client stays asleep .

Swap Quilts :)

2008-12-04T08:14:00.005-06:00

Here is the wonderful little mini quilt that I recived in the November Swap Til' You Drop. This one was made by Michelle and I just love it !!

Here is a close up of the other November mini quilt. I adore this one, how much better can you get than orange and black ??

Here they are up on the wall. I had to start on the next wall as I ran out of room on my first quilt wall. I really need to repaint my walls but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Maybe this summer if I don't have to take summer classes. I think I want to redo it in a nice pale blue :)

This is the mini quilt that I made for Michelle. She should be reciving it any day now. I had forgotten to take a pic of the other mini quilt that I made for this month's swap so I will have to wait to snag a picture when it gets posted to the group.

Thinking Out Loud

2008-11-26T15:48:00.004-06:00

Feel free to skip this post as I'm kinda trying to get my thoughts in order.

Fine Arts
1. Assignment 8 -- Due Dec 3rd
2. Assignment 9 -- Due Dec 10th
3. Test -- Due Dec 3rd
4. Finials -- Due Dec 10th

Computer
1. Assignment 18 -- Due DEc 3rd
2. Web Pages Ass. -- Due Dec 10
3. Test -- Due Dec 5th
4. D.B. -- Due Dec 1st
5. D.B. -- Due Dec 5th
6. Finials -- Due Dec 12th(?)
---------------------------------
The Web document
The web document you create will actually consist of three separate documents:

1. Your home page, which must contain your name, at least two paragraphs of your choosing (describing something about yourself, your goals, hobbies, etc.), your email address, etc., and the date of last modification of the page. Include at least one graphic on your home page. Save this file as index.

2. Your resume, which must include the standard items found in a resume: Career Objective, Education, Employment or Experience, and Activities. If you don't have a prepared resume, do an Internet search for sample resumes so you can see what a good resume looks like. You may also visit the Career Planning and Placement Center located in the Student Union. If you do not feel comfortable putting your "real" telephone number, address, etc. then use a fictitious one. It is important that you know how to prepare a resume. Save this file as resume.

3. Your "Fun Stuff" document, may be a document about you, your interests, your pet, or anything that you feel would be fun for someone to view. This page should be colorful and fun! Use your imagination but do NOT make it all pictures. Save this file as funstuff

Oh how I wish that my blog counted for this assignment!

Elements
You must include the following elements somewhere in one of your documents unless specified in a particular area:
· at least one bulleted list of items (minimum 3 items) in the resume document
· some text that is bolded (can be one or more words)
· some text that is underlined (can be one or more words but hyper links are not counted)
· some text that is in color (can be one or more words)
· a phrase that is blinking or an animated gif (a little picture that moves or dances)
· at least 2 horizontal lines
· at least two graphics, may be a photo that you have scanned in or some clipart that you have copied off the web. You may not use any graphic/clipart that is copyrighted. Before you use a graphic, check the bottom of the document to see if it is copyrighted. Some people don't mind you using a graphic as long as you credit them as the source. Strictly adhere to this policy--always credit your source when asked to do so.
· a background that is different from the gray default background

Tips on style
Write short, concise text
Do not capitalize entire words or sentences
Check spelling and grammar!!
Use special formatting (bold, blink, etc.) but don't overdo it
Think CONTRAST--Use dark printing on light background
Or light printing on dark background
Don't make your text too small! It's too hard to read.
You may include music, but don't overdo it.
Try to come up with a theme that ties your documents together.

Links
You are to add hyperlinks to your three Web documents so that these documents are a coherent Web site ).
You must have, as a minimum, the following links in your Web documents:
A link from your home page to your resume
A link from your home page to Fun Stuff
At least one link from your home page to some external Web document
Links from the resume and Fun Stuff Back to your home page
At least one bookmark (target, anchor) in your home page that allows you to jump to another part of the home page. This link should be labeled "Return to Top of Page" and should be located at the bottom of your home page. If the user clicks on it, it will return you back to the top of your home page.
Include an email link to your active email account that can be used
Each link will be worth 3 points, for a total of 18 points for Links .

How to turn in your Home Page
1. All of your documents, graphics, etc. for the web page should be saved in a folder name Lastname WebPage on your hard drive or a disk (floppy or flash drive). You are to zip the files in the WebPage folder and email it to your Instructor as an attachment. (Zipping files was discussed in Chapter 15).

Another Wonderful Mini

2008-11-20T06:41:00.002-06:00

This wonderful little mini was made for me by Sewwonderful on the Swap Til' You Drop flickr group. I love it, black & orange are my 2 favorite colours ! I will be showing the 2 that I made for this month soon, just a bit of binding to sew down before I can mail them out.
Yeah I've got the house to myself for a little while today. The kids are at school and the Hubby just went to go help a buddy of his brick a house. This is such a rare treat that I don't know what to do with myself LOL - I have a test today so I think I'll get that done fist thing and then sew the rest of the day - well at least untill noon then I have to sleep for a bit before I go to work tonight.

Oh Holee :)

2008-11-19T08:30:00.002-06:00

The first block of your little quiltie is finished though I'm having a hard time getting the colours to look right. I hope they look better on your computer then they do on mine ! This little block was a pain to put together, I had issues with the dragonfly's body being big enough to see LOL :) I saw more of my seam ripper this morning then I have in a month. Well I am off to go work on your quiltie some more, I have a million more blocks to make. If your wondering this little block measures 3 in.

Isis's Quilt

2008-11-13T16:19:00.004-06:00

Well the top is done and quilted :) I finished up the last little bit of quilting on it today, I even got around to making the binding. Tomorrow I will sew the binding to the quilt and start hand stitching it down. She is going to be so happy - she's been waiting on me to finish this off for quite awhile now and I figured I had better get my butt in gear before she outgrows the darn thing LOL :)

Here you can see a close up of it. It looks so much better in person. As soon as I get it finished off it will be put back to go under the tree for Christmas. Christmas is going to be very slim this year so I hope that I can get a quilt finished for each of the kids as their big gift. In a couple of days I'll be pulling out Cheyenne's Sampler quilt and finishing that off. The string quilt will go to Wade and the Orphan Block Quilt will go to Phoenix. I don't know what else I'll give the kids this year but I'll figure something out :)

Here you can see the binding, I didn't have enough of one fabric so I made it scrappy. I hope it looks alright on the quilt, I didn't have any of the fabrics that I used in the top available so I just used some that I thought would look good with it. Well I have a bunch of homework to do and it's all due by the morning so I guess I better go get it done and quit playing on the computer.

Wonderful Mini's

2008-11-13T10:36:00.000-06:00

I wanted to show ya'll some of the amazing mini's from the october swap that our flicker swap group is producing :) I love the different little quilts that the amazing people create ! It should be interesting to see what is made for the November swap.

I need help --- please

2008-11-12T08:23:00.002-06:00

I am working on stitching up some gifts for some very special blogging buddies and I need some more idea's. So far I have pincushions sewn up but what else should I add? Do you have some favorite gifts that you stitch up for quilting friends ? What would you like to recive ?

A wonderful Mail Day :)

2008-11-11T09:49:00.007-06:00

I recived the Swap in a bag from Bea yesterday !! Look at how sweet she it, she sent the goodies in a potholder and an ovenmitt :) Oh I can't wait to start playing with them !! Thank you Bea :)

I also recived my Oct mini quilt from the flickr swap group. Oh it is just way to sweet and below you can see that I added it to my mini wall. This little quilt makes me smile every time I walk into my bedroom :) Thank you so much Sawyer'sNana!!!!

And finially here is a pic of my finished ALQS 2 swap quilt that I made for Tracy - she's recived it already :) Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks for dropping by to visit my blog :)

Another EBay Win :c)

2008-11-07T20:00:00.003-06:00

Well since I have nothing quiltie that I can share at the moment with ya'll because both of the mini's I'm working on are secret swap quilties I figured I'd share my 2 recent EBay wins. Both of these were won for .99 each. Very good deals, I think I'm on a bird kick here lately LOL :) I can't wait untill these arrive so I can get started on them !

My Quilt Wall - Well Almost

2008-11-06T11:27:00.000-06:00

Well this is my sad little quilt wall LOL - now do ya'll see why I envy the one from the post below. However I still have a couple more to add to it and of course there should be 3 more swap quilts to add to it by the end of this month. The green diamond crazy quilt was a mini that I bought off of EBay a few months ago - I had to have it, it was made by a 84 yr old woman. The basket mini is one that I made back in '98 and the 4 patch is one that I made in '99. When I fill up this wall I'll start on the one beside it.

Oh the Envy !!

2008-11-06T07:33:00.004-06:00

I came across this photo while googling antique doll and mini quilts this morning. Oh I have the worst case of envy lol, I wish my mini wall looked like this :) As soon as I find the cord to the camera I'll post a photo of what my mini wall looks like. I finished the binding on my ALQS 2 quilt this morning so now all I have left is the label, I'll be posting a photo of that also.It came out so cute that as soon as I get the binding stitched down on my Chinese coins mini quilt I'll be making a twin of it for my wall :)

Fabrics and goodies

2008-11-05T10:25:00.004-06:00

Well I skipped going to sleep this morning and put together the items for the swap bag mini challenge. However I still need to cut down some of the fabric pieces, I need to find a bigger baggie also. I think I need to go to the store and pick up a box of gallon sized baggies.Now however I do need to go to sleep because I'm about to nod off at the keyboard.

Some free Prim Patterns

2008-11-05T08:24:00.002-06:00

Well hunting around blogland this morning I found a wonderful new blog that offers some wonderful free patterns. My computer has been smoking this morning printing off the patterns to add to my folder. The blog is a wonderful read so grab a cup of coffee and have a read

http://birdinthehandprimitives-robin.blogspot.com/

A New Respect

2008-11-04T17:15:00.002-06:00

I have a totaly newfound respect for those quilters who are so talented that they can hand quilt ! I am having a heck of a time learning how to do this :( My poor Sunbonnet Sam quilt is suffering dearly from my attempts to learn how to hand quilt and my November mini is also suffering . Ugg I love how hand quilting looks but I may just give it up after these two projects are done. I can load my needle with the stitches to save my life , all I can manage to do is a stab stitch and it never looks nice on the back.

Well enough moaning and groaning I have some wonderful news my ALQS 2 quilt arrives today in the mail !! Oh it's so pretty, I had fallen in love with it when I had seen it on the group blog and I can't belive that it's mine :) :) It is from Debbie in Canada - here is a link to her blog

http://www.makinquilts.blogspot.com/

The photo is from the group blog, as soon as I get a minute I'll post some photo's of it and the wonderful extras that Debbie sent !

Swap Bag Partner Assigned

2008-11-03T10:15:00.003-06:00

Partners for the Swap Bag Mini Quilt Swap were assigned yesterday and I think I have the most wonderful partner :) Her name is Bea and we have exchanged a couple of e-mail. Oh I am so happy, Bea is just the sweetest lady ! This is going to be so much fun, I don't think I could have been assigned a better partner !!! The photo above is a pic of the fabrics that Bea is sending to me to make her a mini with. It's out of my normal colour scheme but I have a few ideas floating around in my head. I'll pull out my sketch pad while my client is taking his nap and try to put on paper what is floating around in my head. I think that it will lean more towards the art quilt side than the traditional side though.

Ton of Homework,A Ebay Win & A Head Cold

2008-10-29T17:47:00.005-05:00

I have been hunting this book for ages and I was able to get it at a steal today for 1.04 :) I fell in love with the quilt that I had seen worked up as a shop BOM several years ago and at the time I just didn't have the $$ to play along. The two hand dyes below were bought for .99 each. I have plans for the orange one to go into a fall pumpkin wallhanging that I am planning on.

I have come down with a very yucky head cold and I really don't have time to be sick right now as I am slammed with homework !! Why can't I ever come down sick on the weeks where there is hardly no homework ?? Well guess I better get cracking as I have to have it all finished up and turned in by Friday :(

Mini Quilt Swap

2008-10-27T08:47:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to let you all know of a mini quilt swap that is starting up over on Tracy's blog From my Scrapbag. It looks like it will be a ton of fun the link to the blog is in my side bar. Hurry on over if you would like to join as signups end here shortly.

More Free Redwork

2008-10-26T08:20:00.006-05:00

While at work last night I relized that I really needed something portable to take to work with me to keep my hands busy. I think I have decided on a redwork quilt for next Halloween. Here is a cute pattern that I came across while surfing. There is also a boy in a Dracula costume on this site too :)

http://www.quixoticpixels.com/blog/2008/08/free-halloween-embroidery-designs/

I love the Fall

2008-10-25T13:26:00.004-05:00

There is nothing that I enjoy more in the Fall then sitting in front of a nice warm fire on a chilly night ! I thought I would share a few photo's of the fire that we had last night. The kids had a blast roasting hotdogs and marshmellows.

Antique Quilts

2008-10-25T04:10:00.000-05:00

While cruising Ebay this morning I ran across 3 wonderful Antique Quilts. Being broke I decided that since I can't own them I will reproduce them in miniature. This first one is from the 30's/40's, I love the combo of pink and brown. I think I will redo this one in Civil war era fabrics.

I have no clue when this one was made as it didn't say in the auction. I love the pattern of the blocks, it one I have never seen before - does anyone out there in blogland know what it is called??? I think the border fabric makes the quilt look a little busy so I'll change it to a soild.

This one is from the 40's . I though it was so pretty :) I have a ton of blue fabric that would go wonderfully into a repo of this quilt. I need to get some red soild before I can start it though. Keep an eye on the blog over the next couple of weeks as I'll be posting some more mini quilt tutorials on these quilts as I make them :) Have a great day !!

Fall Mini Unveil

2008-10-24T06:35:00.002-05:00

My partner for the November Swap has recived her mini so now I can show you a pic of it. This pattern is called Hard Times and can be found at the OhSewHitty blog in my side bar.It was really fast and easy to do :)

Come Make a Mini With Me

2008-10-23T16:01:00.011-05:00

Are ya'll ready to have some fun with me today ? Ok, step 1 - if your like me you have a bin of 2 inch strips ( if not you'll need to cut a bunch) Here I randomly pair 2 in strips from my Civil War collection and sewed them together.

Step 2 - press them open , pressing towards the darker of the two fabrics.

Step 3 - Sub cut you strip sets into 2 inch slices and pair them as these will be little four patches.

Step 4 - chain piece all your little 4 patch units :)

Step 5 - Press all your 4 patches open

Step 6 - Pick out 2 colours of fabric and cut 6 3 7/8 squares from Each fabric. Now sub cut these squares on the diagonal .

Step 7 - Pair 1 of Each fabric and sew together, press open and cut off the little bunny ears :)

Step 8 - Layout as seen above. Be careful of how you place the 1/2 squares otherwise it won't look right :)

Step 9 - Sew together in rows and you have a wonderful little mini quilt. Now you can add boders to this to make it a bit larger if you like but me I like it this way so tomorow I will be quilting it and adding the binding :) Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and please if you make one comment on this post with a link to the picture as I'd love to see yours !!

Redwork Love

2008-10-23T09:13:00.006-05:00

While I was surfing the net this morning I ran across a few free Redwork Snowmen that I thought I would share with ya'll. Check back in tonight or early tommorow morning as I am planning to post a Mini Quilt tutorial that i think you might enjoy. It's pretty simple , you should be able to finish the top in about 4 hours or so and it would make a wonderful gift for Christmas ;) To find the above pattern go here :

http://members.tripod.com/~fvqg/01archiv/0111.htm

You can find this pattern here :

http://www.lastingtreasure.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=80

This is just so cute, I love snowmen :) To get this pattern go here :

http://www.stitchingcow.com/freebies/free-redwork-pattern

Brrrrrrr

2008-10-21T08:54:00.007-05:00

I am so proud of myself :) i got a good bit of my short list done yesterday. I got this chinese coin quilt sandwhiched and quilted and I also made the backing for it. I used up a fair amount of scraps in the backing and also a orphan block :) I still have to stitch on the binding, which is srappy also, but I'll save that for another day. Also yesterday I finished the Redwork on the November swap quilt and I have picked out the fabric for the border, I'll sew that on a diffrent day. I got my room almost all the way clean and I'll finish that up today before I go to work. I still have a bunch of clothes that I need to sort through. I started hanging up a bunch of my mini quilts and as soon as I get them all hung I'll show ya'll a pic of my mini's wall.

I got most of the yucky stitching ripped out of Isis's quilt , only about 12 more inches to go. I'll finish the ripping tonight at work while my client is asleep. I got almost 90 charm squares cut, packaged and ready to go and I'll go by the post office today to mail them.

Man it's cold outside today. It was very cold last night, normally I sit outside and stitch all night while my client sleeps but last night I stayed in his house and cranked up the heater :) It's looking like tonight will be the same.

Plans for Today

2008-10-20T08:39:00.002-05:00

Well since i don't have to be into work untill 7 tonight I figured that I would play catch up today and try to knock out some of the things on the "list". Oh the dreaded "list", why does it always feel like I add way more to it then I am able to take off? Here's what I am wanting to get done today and if I can find the cord to the ditial then I will show ya'll pic's tonight :)

1. Finish blocks for ALQS quilt
2. Sandwhich the Chinese Coin top, maybe start the quilting of it and cut binding for it
3. Find cord to ditial camera
4. Clean my room and stack all my UFO's
5. Finish stitching the Nov exchange mini
6.Pick out pattern for Nov exchange mini #2
7. Cut binding for Isis's quilt and start ripping out the quilting stitches that went all wrong

A New Love :)

2008-10-18T02:31:00.003-05:00

I have fallen in love with another designer :) These three quilts are now very high on my wish list !! They are from http://www.quiltsbycheri.com/home.html
I am going to beg DH to let me buy them as soon as he wakes up this morning :) She has alot more great quilts on her site and a ton more that I wish I could buy !!!

I have a idea :)

2008-10-17T07:26:00.003-05:00

I have signed up for the November swap over on the flickr group Swap til' you drop. The November theme is 2 colour quilts. I think that I will do a Redwork mini for this one. I went through all of my patterns last night and I have found the perfect one :) It's from an Antique Redwork quilt. I still have to decide what I will be doing for the other November theme which is Anything Goes, I think I will wait until they hand out partners before I start on that one.

I mailed out my October quilt for the swap group on tuesday but it has to go all the way to Canada so it will still be a little while before I am able to show ya'll a photo of it. I can't wait to see what my partner made for me :)

Well I have all my squares cut for the Spare Change swap and now I'm just waiting on an e-mail to find out where I am supposed to send them.Today I have to cut 86 more 5 in squares for 2 private swaps that I am in. I think these 5 in charms will be wonderful for making mini's with. I need to go by Hobby Lobby the next time I'm in Lake Charles to pick up a little basket to keep them all in.

I will post progress pic's on my mini Redwork quilt tonight. Well a sneek peek anyway :o)

Spare Change Swap

2008-10-07T16:00:00.003-05:00

Over at Chickpea Sewing there is a new swap, send in 24 5 inch charm squares and recive 24 in return. I have joined in the fun and almost have all my squares cut. Sign ups end the 15th of October so hurry on over to play :) Click the button in my side bar and it will bring you to the place to sign in .

A Mini Finish - Teaser

2008-10-07T07:02:00.004-05:00

I finshed my little Fall Swap quilt last night. I am very proud of myself, from start to finish this little mini was finished in one day :) This little quilt measures about 9 1/2 inches square . I just love the back of it - I wish that I had more of the orange acorn fabric but I only had this itty bitty piece left so I placed it onto the backing instead of cutting it up.I will show a full shot of it as soon as my partner recives it so for now all I can show is this little teaser photo.

It feels so good to finally finish something :) I'm having to change directions on my ALQS quilt as I was almost done with the buttonhole stitching on it and my poor little quilt has an accident. I had left an ink pen sitting by it and the darn pen leaked ink overnight so my pretty little quilt now has a huge yucky black stain :( I am going to put together a "just in case" top. I plan to try to get out the stain but in case I can't I need to have a back up plan.

Wanted to give ya'll a heads up Tonya of Lazy Gal is holding a stitch along and if it is going to turn out like the last 2 stitch alongs it will be really neat :) Please go have a look ---

http://lazygalhousehomepantry.blogspot.com/

Fall Scottie Dogs Mini Quilt

2008-09-29T15:35:00.004-05:00

I had orignally planned this mini for a swap over on a flickr group that I am part of. However it turned out alot bigger than the guidelines called for. I love it though so I'll work up something else for the swap. I still have the buttonhole stiching to complete on this, I figure that I'll hand quilt this as I'm really wanting to practice my hand quilting. This will be a great winter project :)

The two bottom phot's show the colors alot better than the top photo. Here is a link to the flickr group if any of ya'll are interested in joining.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/877639@N22/

ALQS 2

2008-09-28T19:41:00.002-05:00

It took me forever to decide on a pattern for the ALQS round 2. However I think that my partner will like this one. Sorry about the bad photo, my camera wasn't wanting to play nice tonight. The fabric's look so much better in person. They are all Civil War Era fabric's . I am doing buttonhole stitching around all of the elements in this mini. I am not sure yet if I will put a border around it yet or if I will just bind it, I'll decide after i get all the buttonhole stitching done.

Antique Mennonite Fan Quilt

2008-09-06T08:52:00.005-05:00

I LOVE this antique quilt that I ran across on Ebay several months ago. However it had a 1400.00 $ price on it so sadly it couldn't come home with me. I am a huge fan of Fan quilts and also of Amish and Mennonite quilts. Oh if only I was rich LOL :)Maybe this upcomming summer I will have time to do one that is similar to this.

A cute freebie ornie

2008-09-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

Well Cristmas will be on us before we know it and I have just found the most adorable little piggy ornie ever ! This link will take you to a PDF file - if for some reason you have trouble opening it drop me a comment and I will e-mail it to you.

http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/downloads/pigonwheels.pdf

More Dragonfly Fun :)

2008-08-26T15:13:00.005-05:00

This is the newest piece that I have started. I am switching off between this one and the swap piece from the post below. Classes have started as of yesterday so I may have to put this one on hold untill I get the swap piece finished. This one is going to take awhile as i want to add some stumpwork flowers and bugs to it. I haven't decided if it will get a border yet, I have a few more sketches to make but I need to decide before it gets much more progressed.

The bead trail on this has been a blast to make :) I had a container of leftovers and they have found the perfect home here. All of the fabric's and fibers are reclycled materials. Going green with this one :) The wings on this dragonfly are very intense, the stitching is done with 1 strand of DMC, the body of the dragonfly will also have quite a bit of stitching on it .

Art Quilt

2008-08-21T19:48:00.004-05:00

Well this is the start of my little art quilt for the swap over on the Surface Designs Yahoo Group. I am loving how it is turning out though I think I'm going in a totaly diffrent direction than everyone else. I think they are all doing something a bit more mixed media and mine is not so much . I'm kinda worried that they won't like it .

But anyways let me tell ya'll a little about it. The base fabric is a piece of scrap muslin that I used to soak up some left over dyes, the dragonfly was made frome some bits of fancy fabrics that had fusible attached to them. They were fixing to go into the trash when i recued them with this project in mind. The threads are leftovers from cross stitch kits and the blade of grass that the dragonfly is sitting on is a scrap of hand dyed fabric that a friend of mine was about to throw away.

I got the insperation for this piece from the dragonfly's that have invaded my yard this year. I love watching them flying around catching bugs. A couple of weeks ago I saw the prettiest gold dragonfly sitting on a blade of grass in my front yard. It seemed like it sat there forever , maybe it was sleeping ? Anyways it looked so peaceful with the Bahaia grass waving in the background that I just knew I had to recreate it in fabric.

The camera just can't pick up the details very well, the wings are so transparent and shimmery looking with little bits of colour and they are outlines with a pale purple stem stitch in 1 stand of floss. The eye's are almost mettalic looking in person , very neat, And the body of this little bugger just shines :) I love it so much and I hope that my partner will also. I still have alot left to do on it though, there is a bunch more grass that needs to be put in and I am wanting to see if I can add a few more bugs to this. I'm thinking a ladybug, bee's, maybe some more dragonfly's in the distance. I really need to get stitching faster though as the deadline is less than a month away and I'll need at least a week to quilt and bind it.

1860's Antique CQ

2008-08-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

I missed out on this interestin CQ a few months ago on Ebay. The bid went way above what I could afford at the time. I thought I would post photo's of it , I find the center bit so neat. Maybe it will inspire someone out there in bloglang :)

A New Challenge

2008-08-17T08:54:00.003-05:00

Long time no post, I've kinda been in a funk. I've manage to do a bit of work on my art quilt and I'm loving how it's turning out. I may have to another one :) I can't show any pic's yet as I want it to be a surprise for my partner.

Over on Deb's blog Creatively Amused ( see my side bar ) there is a super neat new challenge. It's called the Renaissance Girl Challenge. I have a idea in my sketch book of a project that I've been wanting to do for quite awhile and I think that it will fit nicely in with this challenge. Follow the link to read Deb's post on this challenge :

http://creativelyamused.blogspot.com/2008/06/renaissance-girl-challenge.html

I Want To Go Home !!

2008-08-09T08:14:00.002-05:00

**Warning - this is a very whiny, feeling sorry for myself post **

I want to go home so bad, when I say home I mean back to Maine ! I have had this overwhelming urge for the last year or so and the past few weeks it's really driving me nuts. And when I say nuts I really mean it, I can do nothing but obsess over this to the point where it is interfering with everyday normal life. I am finding it hard to go to sleep at night or to concentrate on anything other than how I can get us all back to Maine and I know it's not even a little bit possible at the moment. I want out of Louisiana and that's just so weird as I used to love it here ! I keep telling myself soon we will go but it's not helping :( For some reason I almost get the feeling that I *need* to be there ASPA, like something is fixing to happen. I know it makes no sense but that's just how it is. Am I going nuts ? It sure feels like it :(

Super busy now ;)

2008-08-05T22:11:00.003-05:00

Well I have almost got the little mini from last post all quilted up, it's comming out so nice. I am using mettalic gold for the quilting, just a bit more of the boder left to go. I will post a pic as soon as I get it all done. Isis's little doll quilt is all finished and as soon as she will let me pry it from her I'll post a pic of that too :) I have been thinking alot about the 200th post that is near and I'm pretty sure that I'll be doing a mini quilt give away. I have a few idea's bouncing around in my head for it !

Also I have signed up for a mini quilt swap, I am very excited. Partners will be being assigned in a few days and I just can't wait !! And I have also signed up for another mini quilt swap on one of the Yahoo groups that I belong to. In this swap you need to make a art quilt wallhanging using only recycled materials. This one will be very challenging for me but I think it will be in a good way. I have so many rescued items ( mostly from Goodwill ) sitting in the craft closet that this will be a wonderful way to use up some of them. I have an idea for this one that involves a dragonfly, flowers, lots of beads that I've taken off of old clothes and a ton of hand embroidery. I really need to get busy on it as it has a due date of September. I hope to have time tommorow to do an outline for it to see if what I want to do will work. I have several gallon sized baggies of silk that I would like to put a dent in.

In only an Hour

2008-08-01T12:45:00.007-05:00

Look at what you can do in only an hours time :) Please go check out Oh Sew Hitty if your wanting to make one - I think I may make a couple more , I really want to try it in Civil War Fabrics and in Batik/black. It measures in at 12 1/2 long by 11 wide. All of these fabrics have come from my stash, even if I only used up a bit of my stash it's nice to see a finished top :)

Here is the December block, very cute !! I'll be back with the April block soon :)

Busy as a Bee :) Love those mini's

2008-08-01T08:02:00.003-05:00

Wow it's been a few days since I posted. I've been finishing off Isis's little doll quilt and I've got another Redwork block done. On the Redwork I've got 4 finished & 8 more to go.Today when I logged in I noticed that I am getting really close to the 200th post mark and I think that I need to celebrate it in some way.
School starts again soon for me - matter of fact in 24 days. I hope that this semester will be easier than the others as it looks like I will be hand raising Angel's litter. For some reason she has lost her milk, it has me totaly confused :( I will be back with pictures at some point today , I need to find the cord to the camera :( I lose that thing all the time , I think I just need to leave it attached to the computer.
Now for some mini quilt love :) Go check out Oh Sew Hitty in my side bar for tutorials on making a mini log cabin and a mini disapearing 9 patch. Both of these are on my to do list.

2008-07-29T07:50:00.004-05:00

Here are 2 of the 3 miniature redwork blocks that I've finished. The pattern called for coloured embroidery but I couldn't find my bag of threads so it ended up being Redwork :) I have misplaced the December block but I'll post it as soon as I can get home to find it. These have been so fun to stitch and as soon as I can find my other threads I'll be doing the coloured embroidery version !!

This is a little doll quilt that I started the other day for Isis. I need to finish quilting it and then raid my stash of buttons because she wants buttons on all of the squares :) I am going to finish it off Thursday as thats my off day for this week. So many projects - so little time !

Busy Stitching Away

2008-07-28T13:40:00.002-05:00

I am busy stitching up the mini redwork months blocks that i posted about a couple of posts ago. They are working up super quick and way to cute - I like them so much I may have to make a couple of these mini quilts for a couple of very special blog buddies of mine :) I will be back to post photo's of the 3 that I have completed when I get home from work as this morning I rembered the camera but not the dang cord - grrr -

Last little male

2008-07-27T21:18:00.003-05:00

This is the last little baby from Voilets litter. Both of the other have found wonderful homes :)

More free Redwork patterns

2008-07-26T08:37:00.007-05:00

This is the cutest little redwork mini quilt :) I was up way to early this morning and I've run across a bunch of redwork patterns that I thought some of you might enjoy.To find these patterns go here : http://www.geocities.com/letssewitall/one_year_project.html

For some Kewpie day of the week babies go here :

http://www.yesterdayscharm.com/kewpie_patterns.htm

I just love this pattern it can be found over at the patternbee and they also have several more that are really neat. Go here to get the patterns : http://www.patternbee.com/FREEVRW.html

Also go here for some really neat redwork patterns : http://www.grandmasatticquilting.com/patterns.htm

This pattern and quite a few others can be found here : http://www.redwork.info/free_redwork_patterns.html

More Baby Ducks

2008-07-25T19:25:00.006-05:00

Phoenix got 3 new baby ducks yesterday . I had giving him some money for helping out with the dogs. He bought these 3 little babies for 9 $ . They are Mallard/Muscovie mix. Very cute little things though very shy as they won't let me get very close to take any good pictures.Phoenix's Topknot ducks are growing fast , they have all of thier adult feathers in now. Pretty soon I'll be having to work on a new pen for the ducks as I think they will outgrow this one soon as it is only 12'x12'.

1906 Crazy Quilt

2008-07-25T08:56:00.003-05:00

I just had to share this quilt with ya'll ! Sadly it's not one that I own but if I had an extra 4,000 $ I sure would be owning it :) I love antique Crazy Quilts with lots of embroidery and this one sure does have a bunch !! Hope ya'll enjoy. I'll be back soon to share some more of my work.

A mini chinese coin

2008-07-22T12:11:00.003-05:00

I put this one together a couple of days ago. It's a repo of a full sized quilt that I saw several years ago at an Antique store but the orignal had a huge price tag on it so I walked away with just some photo's of the quilt. I have put this top up for sale on Ebay as I really need the $$ right now.I have it up to auction for 11.99 or buy it now of 18.00 . Do ya'll think that's to much money? I am working on a couple of more tops to put up and then I can start some to keep.
*** Edit to add - all these fabrics were from my stash , I wonder if it'll count twoards the Stash Challenge ? *****

Free Summer Workshops

2008-07-21T06:05:00.002-05:00

Are you looking for a new project <> I know like we all don't have enough on our plates already. But anywho, over at Cotton Spice the are hosting 14 days of free workshops from some simply wonderful designers including Laughing Cat, Plumcute Designs and a bunch more . Go check it out here to read more about it :

http://cottonspice.com/CSblog/?page_id=722#comment-57091

I will be adding a button to my side bar at some point today. And also I will be back soon to show ya'll a couple of things that I have manged to put together the last couple of days.

More Puppy Photo's

2008-07-20T15:25:00.008-05:00

This is Alice. I love this baby girl's white face. At birth she was 4.1 ounces. She should mature about 4 to 5 pounds.

This is Kim. She looks alot like her daddy Rookie. She was the only one in this litter coloured like him. Her brindal markings get more progressed with every day. I have offered her to my friend Sandra, if she doesn't want her I may very well end up keeping her. At birth she wieghed in at 3.1 ounces and according to my growth chart should mature at 3 1/2 to 4 pounds.

This is Dotty and she is really my favirote of the whole litter. At birth she was 3.6 ounces and should mature about 4 to 4 1/2 pounds. I love solid merles and I am very tempted to keep her !!

This is Kojack the only male in the litter and he looks so much like Alice that it's hard not to confuse the two of them. At birth he was the largest of the litter at 4.3 ounces.

Puppy Pic's

2008-07-20T08:20:00.006-05:00

These babies are so cute. I just work a 24, I'll be back later with more pic's and info for ya'll.

Cheyenne's Progress

2008-07-18T05:01:00.004-05:00

It took Cheyenne forever to pick out a pattern that she wanted to do. But in the end she choose a cute basket with flowers in it to applique.

We are using fusible web for this project.

I don't think either one of us realized just how many little pieces there were. Cheyenne didn't think she was ever going to get through tracing and cutting the pieces.

This girl loves to iron fabric :) Even when I am working on my projects Chey does all of the ironing for me . I will post some more of her progress in a couple of days. She wants to get a bit more done on it today as it's me day off and we are having a sewing fest LOL !! If we get a good bit done today I'll post progress pic later on tonight.

Sunbonnet Sue Update

2008-07-16T18:55:00.002-05:00

Here is Sunbonnet #1 finished and Sunbonnet #2 is done also I just need to get her pic on here. The blocks are so much fun to do. I think though that I am going to stop at these 2 and put them with some other blocks to make a sampler. I really want to try out my hand at hand quilting. This past summer I got 3 lap quilting hoops at a yard sale for cheaper than dirt and I really want to give them a go :) I have 4 more blocks that I know will match these little sue's. I think I will play around with some graph paper tonight and figure out just how big I am going to go with this. My first thought is 12 blocks + sashing and boders to maybe make a cuddle quilt . We'll have to see.

More New Puppies :)

2008-07-15T17:13:00.002-05:00

Angel had babies this afternoon !! She had 4 of the most adorable itty bitty little babies you ever wanna see. She had 3 blue merle's and 1 little female that looks like it will be a brindle. I will know more about that female in a couple of weeks. I will post some pic's as soon as I get that darn new camera sorted out.

Worst Luck Ever

2008-07-10T21:26:00.004-05:00

So I must have the worst luck ever with Ditial Camera's. I have had this one less than a year and tonight when I went to go upload the progress pic's on my Sunbonnet Sue's I realized that the darn thing was broken. Isis is the culprit I believe as the part that you plug into the computer looks as though it has been chewed on. So I'll be off to Walmart to spend only who knows how much on a new camera.Needless to say I am NOT impressed but where she is only 5 there's not much I can do about it other than to give her a stern talking to about touching things that don't belong to her :(

However on a much brighter note Cheyenne has decided to help me reduce my fabric stash. Today she pulled out a ton of fabric and announced that she was making a Wall quilt for her new room. She spent awhile hunting through my quilty mags and found a pattern that she liked ( with some tweeking of course ) . She spent the afternoon fusing, tracing, cutting and ironing ! She has 2 of the 4 needed blocks together but decided that the blocks were lacking something. It took her a wee while to figure out what it was, then she took a look at my Sue's and decided that she wanted Momma to add some buttonhole stitching to her blocks. So I guess I'll put my Sue's on hold for a couple of days to do the buttonhole stitching on her blocks. I will have some photo's of both mine and Cheyenne's progress for ya'll as soon as I get another camera up and going.I feel very lucky to have such a sweet and talented daughter like Cheyenne!!

Meet Memphis

2008-07-10T05:41:00.001-05:00

I went out to Robert Graham's last week because I was hunting a new stud. He had several litters to choose from, I knew that I either wanted a blue or a chocolate stud. I looked at a ton of puppy's from just born to 4 months old. I ended up picking out a little male from the oldest litter. What really cinched it for me was that this litter was born on my birthday so I just knew that it was fated to be. Memphis is the smallest male hiding in the back.

He's still a little bit shy but I'm sure he will come out of it soon. At 4 months old he wieghs in at 2 1/2 pounds. I figure that he will mature about 4 to 5 pounds. I am very excited about this little guy :) He has everything that I am looking for in a new stud, size, colour and spunk !! I have been searching a long time for the perfect blue and now I have him :)

Here is a picture of Kelly, Memphis's mother. She is a 8 pound blue/white type A. Also in the picture is Rocky , the sire of Ginger.

Alphabet Friends

2008-07-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

Please go on over to Quilt Taffy and see the neat project that is going on :) Here's a link :

http://quilttaffy.blogspot.com/2008/06/alphabet-friend-adventure.html

Sunbonnet Sue

2008-07-09T08:03:00.006-05:00

I put these little Sue's together yesterday at work. I am useing some of the fabric from the stash challenge. These block will become a baby quilt. I am doing a buttonhole stitch around the edges in black DMC. In the last photo you can see a bit of the buttonhole stitch that I did on the purple Sue.I am going to try to finish her up today and then if I get lucky I'll be able to get to the red Sue today. I'll post some more photo's tomorrow of my progress. I'm off to go stitch now :)

Some free patterns

2008-07-06T03:47:00.005-05:00

Sorry long time no post , I have been quite busy working on a few mini quilts and if I get lucky I will have a couple of finishes to show ya'll in the next couple of days.It's been hard to squeeze in any sewing time - the office has me working from 12 to 14 hours a day , man how I'm wishing for a day off :( But anyways, I have new pic's of the baby puppies that I will post later on today - they will be going to new homes very soon , thats always such a sad time for me ! I so enjoy raising a new litter of babies and I get so attached to the little buggers, sometimes I wish that I could keep them all !!

I got up at 3 AM this morning and started hunting blogland and lookie what I found - for those of you who enjoy redwork here is a free pattern :

http://lastingtreasure.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=108

Here is another cute redwork freebie that I've found this morning.This is the link :

http://www.connectingthreads.com/patterns/this-and-that-in-redwork-pattern-_PD991082.html

1870's Dresdan Plate C.Q.

2008-06-29T08:25:00.000-05:00

I thought that I would share this antique CQ with ya'll. I think this design is very interesting. I could see a mordern version of this being quite neat - I may have to try to do one - someday :)

Another mouse pinchushion

2008-06-26T08:57:00.002-05:00

These little guys are just way to cute !! They are just as easy as the last mouse pincushions but with a totaly diffrent look. I will post the ones that I made from this pattern soon, have to find the ditial camera again LOL :) I'm always misplacing that darn thing. Here is the pattern ( rember to look in the tag Things to Make for other neat patterns I've found )

http://nuno-runo.blogspot.com/2007/11/mouse-pincushion.html

A Really Cute Quilt

2008-06-26T06:12:00.002-05:00

While cruising around blogland this morning I have found the cutest little quilt. It's over on Linda's blog and it's called the Olive Garden Quilt . Here is a link if you would like to take a peek -

http://kuhlquilter.blogspot.com/

Phoenix's Ducks

2008-06-25T19:32:00.005-05:00

These are Phoenix's babies. He got them as payment for working for a friend of ours. They are supposed to be some fancy purebred breed - can't remember the name now though , crested something or another. Anywho Phoenix is so proud of these little buggers, guess we are now in the duck raising business. He will be entering these guys in the local fair in October.

Stash Challenge Fabric & A Block

2008-06-22T08:33:00.004-05:00

Here are the fabric's that I choose for the Challenges. I just love these fabrics !! So my colours. And below is the first Periwinkle block that I had made. I will get the other 2 posted this eveing or first thing in the morning. This block looked like it was going to be easy when I first saw it but those darn set - in seams are giving me fits !! I will be working on the 4th block today.

Insanly Busy Around Here

2008-06-21T04:25:00.004-05:00

Wow life is going nuts at the moment ! Cleo is in heat and has been placed with Junior. Demon Dog is in heat and has been placed with Rookie.And it's looking like there is not end in sight to the extra long work hours :( Yesterday I got a call from my bank letting me know that my paycheck had bounced - my account was in the negative so bad because of the bounced paycheck. Thankfuly my boss made good on the bad check and the NSF fee's but I was in panic mode for awhile !
What else - Oh yeah , I've been able to finish 3 of my little Periwinkle blocks for the Stash Challenge/ 5 Finish Challenge. Slow going but I'm loving how they are comming out ! I can get 1 done a day - wish I could get 2 or 3 done a day but the block is just to hard and I'm a very slow at hand sewing. At this rate it will be awhile before I have all 12 blocks done ! Then the sashing and boders.I plan on going to the LNS Saterday to pick out boder fabric for it. If I get really lucky I'll be able to post pic's of the blocks soon, the camera is acting up and doesn't want to upload my pic's to the computer but I'll try to get that all sorted out today.If you get a chance hop on over to Marlene's blog - stitching by the lake ( link in my sidebar) - and see how much she has finished this week. Marlene has been one very busy lady !!

Expecting puppies

2008-06-20T04:16:00.004-05:00

I am so excited to annouce that Angel is expecting babies :) I am 75% sure that she has taken though it'll be a few more weeks before I can be 100% sure. Angel has been bred to my little chocolate male Chance. I am hoping for some chocolate merle puppies with this litter. Angel is the daughter of Junior and Cleo,I am so excited for this litter :)

Antique String Quilt

2008-06-19T06:05:00.006-05:00

I just love this quilt, I saw it a few months back on Ebay. Sadly I wasn't able to win it. One day though I would like to try to reproduce it. It might even be really neat to do a crazy quilted version of it :) So many projects , so little time LOL :)

Stash Challenge / 5 Finishes Challenge

2008-06-19T04:12:00.004-05:00

Well I have picked out some of the fabrics that I will be useing for this challenge, I am going to try to pair it with the 5 Finishes by July Challenge. My plan is to make and finish 5 mini quilt tops by the end of July - very do-able I think :) I will post pic's of the fabric's and my little bit of progress on top 1 later on today, I have another 14 hour shift today so I should be able to get a good bit done.
For the first mini quilt I will be making the Periwinkle blocks. I was going to use them for the upcomming mini block swap but have decided that the block just takes to long. Yesterday it took me almost 2 hours to cut the pieces and to get the block sewn together. I have also relized that I am horrible at hand sewing and that I really don't enjoy hand sewing as much as I thought I would !! The set-in seams on this block are a real booger, I hope the blocks that I do today go quicker than the first one LOL :)
I found a cool 3 in star block for the swap though - it's paper pieced here is a link to it :
http://www.forestquilting.com/freepatterns/freepatternspage2.html

They have a couple other patterns on this site that I would like to do for the challenges but I'll think about that after I get the first top done. I think I am going to really like doing mini's

Puppies 3 Weeks Old

2008-06-18T10:02:00.005-05:00

This is a pic of the puppies having thier first taste of real food. They made such a mess but I learned a long time ago to do feedings outside so I only have to wash up the babies and not the kitchen floor & the babies too :)

Ain't the babies so cute !! They are still a bit unsteady on thier feet and it's so funny to watch them play with each other, they keep us all rolling ;)

This is the little female from Voilet's litter. She is just way to cute :)

BOW Block 5

2008-06-17T14:13:00.003-05:00

Yes it is that time again :) For this weeks block I figured that we would try a bit of applique. I love hand applique but you might choose to do machine applique. This link has 2 patterns for the Rose of Sharon block. You can choose to do either one or both if you wish. I am going to try to do both. I will be back in a couple of days to show ya'll my blocks. Please if you are stitching along leave me a comment with a link to your block :) Have fun stitching! Here is the block :

http://www.patternsfromhistory.com/bible_quilt/bible_rose.htm

So much going on !

2008-06-17T09:52:00.002-05:00

Wow there is a ton going on in Blogland here lately ! First off Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works is hosting an awesome giveaway on her blog - yes you have to go visit her to find out what it is ;) Here is a link :
http://cvquiltworks.blogspot.com/

Next Peg over at Happy In Quilting is doing a really cool challenge - Finish 5 by the end of July . I am taking part in this challenge - If I get really lucky it will help to motivate me to get some of my UFO's done once and for all !! Here is a link to Peg's awesome blog :
http://happyinquilting.blogspot.com/

Now ya'll know of my fondness for primitive things :) Pat has the most amazing finish ever - I have to do one ( someday LOL ) Here is a link :
http://clubquiltnarromine.blogspot.com/2008/04/pats-masterpiece.html

Another cool challenge that is going on is being hosted by Eileen of Eileen's Attic . It is a challenge to use up that ever growing pile of stash that we all seem to have . For more info on this challenge please go here :
http://eileensattic.blogspot.com/2008/06/summer-stash-challenge-sign-up.html

Now I'm off to do a bit of hand sewing - have a 14 hr shift today :(

What I am doing

2008-06-16T05:41:00.004-05:00

I have been asked what I am planning to do with the orange scraps. I am working on an insane project LOL :) I am making a mini flying geese quilt, the blocks are only 3 inches x 1 1/2 (finished size ) , I have 2 of the blocks finished already and I will try to post a photo tonight of them - granted if I can find the misplaced ditial camera. I decided that I needed to finish something because I was getting a wee bit depressed with my larger projects. It seems like I have been working on some of them forever but still haven't finished any of them !!
As a heads up over at the Yahoo group Miniature Quilts there is a new block swap fixing to start - it for 3 inch ( finished ) Stars ( any star pattern is fine ) in blue and white. If anyone is interested here is the link :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MiniatureQuilts/?yguid=113606948

I joined in and went to Walmart last night to pick up some white fabric and was told that they are for sure shutting down their fabric department. This really sucks as the closest place now for me to get fabric will be Lake Charles and I don't go there but once a year :(

Help Please !!

2008-06-14T07:43:00.004-05:00

I have a huge request of everyone that reads my blog - I desperately need some orange cotton fabric scraps!! Can be anything from 3x3 to 10x10 and in return I will send some of my fabric. Leave a post or e-mail me.Thanks everyone !!!

Wade Painting

2008-06-13T14:05:00.003-05:00

Delwin built me this Rabbit pen after one of my failed attempts at building LOL :) Me and Wade are hard at work getting it all painted up. My little man is growing up so fast , he will be 7 at the end of this month. My 2 male rabbits will go into this pen, however I need to finish painting it and get the top and doors on it. I will post more pics after I get the bunny's into it.

BOW Block 4

2008-06-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's time again for the block of the week and I haven't even posted last weeks block of the week yet! Life has gotten so crazy, they changed my hours at work and I'm attempting to adjust to all of that. I hope that this evening I'll be able to post both this weeks and last weeks blocks. For any of ya'll stitching along with me , do you remember the Antique Quilt that I posted about awhile back. I have finally found the pattern for it. So our block of the week is Rolling Stone :) Here is a link to the pattern :

http://www.quilt.com/BlockOfTheMonth/1998/RollingStone.html

Simple needlecase

2008-06-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

I was up early this morning as I can't sleep :( I decided what I needed was to get up and make something. While I was thinking about what I wanted to make I relized that I don't have a needlebook . I found the pattern for these over at knitting-and.com . I will post pic's of the one I made later on today or tomorow. I'm off to go raid my stash :) - you can find the step by step pattern here :

http://www.knitting-and.com/embroidery/needlecase.htm

Sally Post Floral Sampler

2008-06-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

For any of you who missed these free patterns Sentimental Stitches is posting all of them for free from today through the 9th. Here is the link :

http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/block-of-the-month-quilt-designs/sally-rides-civil-war-sampler/

Rowdy & Opal

2008-06-06T07:55:00.005-05:00

Boy isn't Rowdy getting huge ! He is 5 months old now. Cheyenne and Delwin gave Opal and Rowdy baths yesterday, these are the before pic's , I'll post some bath pic's in a couple of days. Not much going on in the quilting front as this week has been just crazy , however I did get my BOW block done and I'll post pic's of it tonight. I am working on a gift for one of my coworkers grandkids but I'll post pic's of that project as soon as it's delivered to her as she reads my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!

Music on my Blog

2008-06-05T08:05:00.001-05:00

I have been busy this morning. I have added some music to my blog, it was really pretty easy once I got the hang of it :) Hope ya'll enjoy - let me know what you think .

PIF

2008-06-04T21:42:00.001-05:00

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. I'm not sure what the gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 60 days that is my promise! Now, what you have to do in return is Pay It Forward by making the same promise on your blog for the first 3 people to sign up!

BOW Block 3

2008-06-04T05:45:00.000-05:00

It is time again for the Block of the Week. I am having so much fun with this :) Our next block is one of my all time favirotes it's called Old Maids Puzzle. This block is pretty simple to put together and is a very pretty block. Here is the link. Rember to find past blocks please click on the tag Block of the Week in my side bar :) Here is the link :

http://www.quilterscache.com/O/OldMaidsPuzzleBlock.html

A stuffed pig to make !

2008-06-03T08:29:00.003-05:00

I found this this little guy while I was surfing the web this morning ! Isn't he just way to cute. I think I'll be making one for Wade's B-day at the end of this month. Here is a link to the pattern -

http://www.silverseams.com/opensource/felt-pig-pattern.html

Stash Busting Report

2008-06-01T11:07:00.003-05:00

Well it is Sunday yet again, boy this week flew by !! I had a large list of things that I wanted to get done this week and did pretty good. Here was my list.

1. Of course the Block of the Week block (done)

2. Finish quilting Isis's Grandmother's Fan quilt. (almost )

3. Sew up all the ornies for the ornie exchange (2 of 5 done )

4. Quilt 2 more blocks of the Sampler quilt. (nope )

5. Add a couple of more rows to the Bowtie quilt. ( 2 more added)

6. Do a little bit more on the orphan quilt ( done )

So overall not bad considering that I worked 63 hours this week. Even without the school work life tends to get in the way :( Here is my list for this upcomming week :

1. Block of the Week

2. A little more on the Orphan Block Quilt

3. stitch 2 more ornies

4. 1 Bowtie Row

5. unpick the mess up I made on Isis's quilt

6. Try not to stress over quilting the Sampler Quilt

7. Put together a trade block

Hope I do better this week than I did last week !

A mushroom to make

2008-06-01T10:27:00.001-05:00

I have a fasination for mushrooms LOL . I found this pattern today and thought that it would make a very interesting pincushion and as I also just love pincushions I though this might be a neat thing to share with ya'll. I found this over at LuckyKate Crafts Blog and there are also wonderful step by step photo's with this project. Alas for me it will be awhile before I can tackle it as I have a couple of things to get out of the way first. You can find the pattern here :

http://lucykatecrafts.blogspot.com/2008/04/toadstool-tutorial.html

1 Week old

2008-05-30T07:18:00.000-05:00

This top photo is of the only female in the litter. Boy ain't she pretty :)

This little male is very handsome. I had thought about keeping him but I think I'm going to wait. I really want a tiny blue male and I already have 4 males as it stands now.

This little male is just darling, he doesn't fuss at all when held :) This one is Isis's favorite puppy from the litter.

A little more work

2008-05-29T11:44:00.005-05:00

Well I managed to get a little bit more done on the Orphan Quilt. Phoenix is thrilled with how it's comming along.On this part I still need to add a button for the deer's eye. I am working on another section now, well I'm off to the sewing maching ya'll :)

Yet another Pincushion pattern :)

2008-05-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

Oh my I saw these wonderful pincushion's over at Bari J Blog and fell right in love ! I have to try these out. Delwin is teasin' me saying that we need a whole room to display all of my pincushions LOL :) I hope to be able to next week give this pattern a go. It seems really clear and pretty simple . Ya'll can find the pattern here :

http://barij.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/did-i-there-wou.html

Finished Autograph Star

2008-05-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

I really like how this turned out. It looks so much better in person. I am kicking myself in the behind for not having bought more of this fabric. I had only bought 1/4 yard of it at the time, back in '06 I think, at the time I wasn't really sure if I would use a whole bunch of it or not. If I'm lucky I'll be able to get a couple more blocks out of this fabric for my BOW.

BOW Block 2

2008-05-28T05:48:00.002-05:00

Well it is time for block #2 of my Block of the Week. I just love this next block ! It is called Autograph Star, one day I would like to make a whole quilt from this pattern. I hope to be able to post a pic of my finished block later on today :)

http://www.quilterscache.com/A/AutographStarBlock.html

Do you like mini blocks?

2008-05-27T19:01:00.003-05:00

This quilt kinda reminds me of the Dear Jane Quilt but better yet this quilt has free patterns to it. While browsing the net today I found this pattern over at Sentimental Stitches and my poor printer will be smoking tommorow as I plan to print out all of the patterns. I thought this would be a good quilt to practice my hand sewing on. The blocks are 4 inches ( finished size ). I plan on going to WalMart this weekend to pick up some fabric for it - yes I Have to shop WalMart can't afford the 9.00 + at the local quilt store on my limited budget. Here is the link :

http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/midget-blocks/

1874 Antique CQ

2008-05-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the grapic heavy post but ther is just so much to show in this crazy quilt ! It is dated 1874 and is made by a Mrs. G.O. Brown. It must have taken this lady years to do all of the embroidery on this quilt, it's just amazing !! I know this quilt inspires me and I hope that it also inspires those of you who read my blog , thanks to everyone who has stopped by :)

Chinese Coins

2008-05-26T20:25:00.000-05:00

In a effort to reduce my pile of fabric I am cutting peices for a Chinese Coins quilt. I will start this quilt sometime this upcomming Fall ( if I get a chance with classes and all ) . Hubby has been complaining about the growing piles of fabric around the house so I promised him that I wouldn't buy anymore and would make a huge effort to turn the piles of fabric into quilts.My goal is to make each one of the children & hubby a quilt for christmas. I hope that I will be able to as that will make hubby very happy and get him off of my tail about all of the fabric about the house LOL :)

The Babies

2008-05-26T19:24:00.001-05:00

Ain't they just way to cute !! I docked their tails yesterday afternoon though this pic was taken before I had done that. I will post separate photo's of them in a couple of day :) I am really liking that black tux male and I may end up keeping him. I just know he is going to end up tiny like Ginger - in the 3 to 4 pound range. I would love to keep him to breed to Tinkerbell ! I guess I will wait and see, I know Delwin will flip if I keep another male.

Stash Busting Report + Puppies

2008-05-25T20:24:00.003-05:00

I got quite a bit done this week ! I started on the orphan block quilt to try to reduce some of those blocks. I also started on that old bag of blocks ( still can't find the name of them but I'm thinking they are a bowtie varation of some sort ) . And I got a couple more blocks quilted on the Sampler quilt, plus I finished my Block of the Week block.
For this upcomming week there are a few things that I would like to get done.
1. Of course the Block of the Week block
2. Finish quilting Isis's Grandmother's Fan quilt.
3. Sew up all the ornies for the ornie exchange
4. Quilt 2 more blocks of the Sampler quilt.
5. Add a couple of more rows to the Bowtie quilt.
6. Do a little bit more on the orphan quilt

I hope I will be able to get to everything on this list ! It seems like a huge list to me but if I peck at it every day I should be able to do it. On another note Voilet had 3 of the cutest babies Friday night. She had a black tux male, a black tri male and a black tri female. I had put her with Junior this time but I won't be doing that again, next time I breed her I will be mating her to Rocky ( Robert Graham's dog ) . I will post the pic of the babies tomorrow after work.