What's Up with the Weather?

I had to step back and ask myself if I was still in Ohio. Yes, here I am looking at the thermometer on my back deck and seeing 60 degrees. Sheesh!! It was just last week we couldn't even get out of our driveway because of the 10 inches of snow. Is it no wonder winter is flu season?

Too bad the day was also gray and drizzle-y or we could have spent some time outdoors. Or at least more time than just taking the "grandpuppy" out to potty. What an exciting life I lead!!

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Quilting!!

Copycat Quilting

While catching up on my blog reading last week I stumbled across this little jewel on Lucy's Quilting with the Past blog. Lucy, is a blogger from the Netherlands. She is quite a prolific quilter. If you are a fan of Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville then you already know about Lucy. Bonnie traveled to the Netherlands last fall and spent time with her. If not, you need to check them both out. Anyway, back to the quilt. It was so cute that I had to make one for myself.



This is my version. (Again, bad photo. I can't wait to get my camera back!!). This little cutie is only about as long as a pencil. It's about 9" X 6 1/2". It sewed up quickly on Saturday. I hand quilted it that evening. I then used some left over binding I had from another project to get it bound on Sunday afternoon. TaDa!!

I get so easily distracted!!


Thanks for stopping by. Happy Quilting!!!

Blogging

I was so fortunate to win a prize from Elizabeth of Creative Breathing blog this past week. Is this not the cutest little valentine peg doll you have ever seen? The time that must have gone into making this little cutie-pie just amazes me. The hair alone had to take forever. Each little ringlet is felt sewn in a zig-zag fashion. The details are so cute. I just wish you could tell from my awful photography.

I have so enjoyed being a part of the blogging world. It's not always an easy thing to lay your life out there for all to see. (Not that I think the whole world is reading my blog!!!) It can be very intimidating to share your hopes and feelings whether they be past, present or future. To show the things we create all the while hoping that they will be enjoyed by the reader as much as we enjoyed creating them. To risk criticism and hurt from people we may not even know by showing just a part of ourselves is scary. But still, many of us do it.

Elizabeth is a master storyteller. Her stories come from her life which seems to be full of colorful adventures and intrigue. She'll tell you not to ask what she did yesterday because she'll not be able to remember the details but the way she recalls her childhood is amazing. Who can figure out our minds? If you haven't ever been over to Elizabeth's blog, it is well worth your time to read her stories, let alone look at all of her amazingly wonderful creations.

Thanks so much Elizabeth for sharing your life and your creativeness with me. I love my little sweetheart peg doll.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!!

This was last week's snow. We got about 10 inches which may not seem like alot to those of you further north but to this southern born girl transplanted here to Ohio it's HUGE! It might have been okay if I could have stayed in all week but that was not the case. It was our turn to host Family Promise again so that meant a great deal of time on the road back and forth to church. It's been a blessing to be a part of the solution for hurting families during this hard economic time. What we do may not be big but it is a step in the right direction for the two families we served this past week.

Some of the snow has melted and we expect to get up into the 40's by the weekend so we might see some of our dead grass. I have to tell you that I have stayed inside as much as possible, though. I have spent a great deal of time at my sewing machine and have this to show for the effort (Once again, picture is from my phone as the camera is still broken. I'll shoot better pics when it's repaired.)
I'm so sorry you can't see all the wonderful civil war repro fabrics. They are just amazing. This is a Bonnie Blue Quilts pattern named Second Hand Clothes. There are over 110 different fabrics in this quilt. It is so easy to put together and turned out beautifully. I promise, better pictures of the fabrics soon!!!

Progress on my BOM's is slow. I have finished the first block of Ellie's Country Calendar (shown here) and have printed off the second month's pattern. I have almost finished the first block of the Snowladies BOM and have not even started the Bunny Hill Basket BOM and she is due out with the next block on the 5th. I usually only do my handwork in the evenings while we watch TV so that makes for slow going. I also spent a couple of days working on my Grandmother's flower garden blocks so that has helped me lag behind. Hmmm, I guess with all these different projects going, I certainly can't complain about being bored. ;-)

And, of course, I couldn't end the post without showing you this cute picture of our sweet(fast growing) puppy taking a nap while "grandma" blogs.


Thanks for stopping by. Happy Quilting!!

Block of the Month Progress

One down, and....I've lost count of how many more to go. First, let me apologize for the quality of this picture. I know I am not a great photographer but this one is especially bad. It was taken with my phone (which, in itself, is amazing to me) because our camera is broken at the moment. So this will have to do. Anyway, here is the first block from Ellie's Country Calendar BOM. Since you can't tell by looking, the fabric around the stitchery is a dark blue check. And those are real black buttons sewn on the snowman.


I have drawn the stitchery pattern onto the muslin for the Snowladies BOM from This-N-That Creations and will begin stitching on it tonight. I know it will take much longer to stitch than the one above.












And, as if I haven't taken on enough projects. I have joined something else!! I know. I'm obsessed!!!
For my non-quilting readers, I will try to explain what a siggy swap is. Several quilters have organized a swap for 60 of us. We will be making signature squares from a pattern specified by them. When they are swapped, each of us will have signature squares from all over the world. So far I think there are quilters from USA, UK, Australia and Germany registered. There are still a few spots and I'm hoping quilters from other countries will jump on the bandwagon. It continues to amaze me how small our world is getting!!! (More of that amazing technology.) I haven't decided yet how to sign my squares. I want to make it something really special. Any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Quilting!!

Block of the Month Fever

I know that if you are a quilter or a stitcher you have seen all the block of the month projects that have popped up all over the internet. I have never done a block of the month but this year seems to be the year. I have succumbed to several.

Anne Sutton of Bunny Tales has a free BOM on her blog. Her work is so very cute that I thought I would join right in on this one.

Then I discovered a BOM at This-N-That Creations called Ladies of the Snow. I couldn't resist! It is "snow-ladies and quilting. I borrowed this photo from their website. It is the first block which I have already received. I REALLY need to get busy on this one since I just received word that the second is in the mail already.

And then there is this cute one from Ellie's Quiltplace. It can be done as a stitchery or as appliqué. I'm not sure that I'm not gonna do both.






Ok, I know there is a theme here. I just love snowmen (or ladies as the case may be). Since they all started out that way I just couldn't resist any of them. There are so many more of them out there that I would love to do but my family seems to think they need meals and clean laundry. And then there's also this!!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Quilting!!!

2009 is rolling right along

Aren't they cute? Scout stays worn out most of the time trying to keep up with his new little buddy. It is such fun to watch them play but at the rate that Rudy is growing it won't be long before the tables are turned and Scout is the "underdog".

I've been doing a lot of "puppy-sitting" now that school is back in session for our sweet daughter(Rudy's mom). Oh my, he's so constant. The weather doesn't help either. We have had so much snow this year and they are forecasting blizzard conditions for tonight and tomorrow. It's not fun taking a puppy out for potty time in snow that is almost belly high on him. It doesn't seem to bother him but "grandma" doesn't care for it.

I have been doing a bit of sewing. I took pictures but the computer won't seem to recognize the USB port so that I can get them uploaded. I am working on a new project I bought fabric for in Houston last month and also trying to finish up my 2008 Thimbleberries quilt. I have jumped into the middle of several BOM projects but will wait to post those another day. In the meantime, we are rearranging our hobby rooms(again). My hubby's art(check it out here and here) and hunting supplies are going back upstairs to the spare bedroom and my quilting is spreading out into the formal living and dining rooms now. As soon as it's in some kind of order I'll post pics of it also.

There hasn't been much else going on around here. Both of our boys are back to their respective apartments at school. Spring semesters are starting next week for them. As I said earlier, our sweet girl is already on the downhill slope of her senior year. I know these months are going to race by so quickly.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to have the camera up and going again soon.
Happy Quilting!!