RSISLANDCRAFTS

Another round of Viking hats

2012-01-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

How I spent the month of January

Back in January of 2010 I had a custom order for 34 blue and grey Viking hats. The hats were for a group of high school cheerleaders from Staten Island, NY that were going to a cheerleading competition down here in Florida. This year the same school (different girls) ordered another set of 19 Viking hats because they once again were going to a competition down here.

I haven't been in the sewing room much lately and I sure do miss it. I think I will need to spend some quality time with my sewing machine very soon. I have a couple projects that need to be finished soon.

A few finishes

2012-01-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

Before making my too long UFO list I actually finished a few quilts. The one above needed binding and it's twin

also needed some binding. I love the aqua and brown and those little elephants are adorable.

More binding finished off this little doll quilt.

Guess what? Yep, just needed binding.

Another finish that just needed binding. Notice a trend here? I seem to lose steam when it comes to the binding stage.

Added the binding...

...and some more binding lol.

That's it for now but I think crossing 7 quilts off the UFO list is a good start to the year. It seems January is a good month for custom orders so I won't be able to get anymore projects crossed off the list for a bit. At least I will still be creating though. I enjoy working on custom orders so it's ok.

The List....the very, very long list

2012-01-11T18:56:00.000-05:00

I had already decided that this year would be the year I finish up all of my UFOs from previous years (it's an ambitious goal but you know what they say...go big or go home) when I came across a fun blog . . Sew It's Finished is a blog where a bunch of bloggers have gotten together to motivate each other to finish UFOs from previous years and cheer when someone finishes a project.

I went through some of my old UFOs and grabbed some pics so I could list them here for accountability. I skipped all the little things like the HSTs that are sewn but not ironed or trimmed and all the coins I cut for some coin quilts.

It's been rainy and dreary today so the pics aren't the greatest.

In no particular order...

1. blocks in a baggie

2. This is a very large pile of blocks from swaps that I joined over the last couple years. They need to become quilts, table toppers, or tote bags.

3. my string blocks with black centers

4. tufted tweets quilt. Needs borders sewn together.

5. snowmen wall hangings

6. Bonnie Hunter workshop quilt

7. Valentine's quilt

8. brown kite. Just needs the binding sewn to the back and the tail added.

9. Pastel and white. I didn't make this flimsie, it came to me in a box of scraps.

10. Tropical

11. snowflake runner

12. Central Park goes grey

13. red, white, and blue stars

14. large star. Just needs binding

15. crazy pinwheels

16. green

17. stockings

18. September calendar quilt

19. Thimbleberries apple cores

20. Christmas strings

21. Halloween swap quilt

22. pink and grey thrifty top

23. I spy a circle quilt

24. Christmas zig zag

25. doll quilts

26. brown and purple

27. black 4 square

28. I have no name for this because the list is getting too long for me to be creative lol

29. ME stripes

30. 2 Boo table toppers

31. Samoan stars.

32. embroidery blocks

33. Birdie blocks. I still a few more to make

34. USA quilt needs binding

35. World quilt needs binding

36. flannel #1

37. flannel #2 ( don't ya just love my creativity?)

38. owl quilt

39. dinosaur quilt

40. grey and green pinwheels plus

41. boy 9 patch

42. Oh! Cherry-Oh coin quilt

43. girl 9 patch

44. owl 9 patch

45. Christmas 9 patch

46. Birthday wonky log cabins

Oh boy is that a long list!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's. We usually stay home. The roads get real crazy around here so it's safer to celebrate at home.

I joined a new swap over at Jane's blog. This time around we are swapping bright wonky house blocks. I've been practicing my hand appliqueing. Last night I was able to finish the appliques and today I added the grass and trimmed them up.

I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. Add some black sashing strips and it would make a fun quilt. I can't wait to see everyone else's houses. A few people have been working on theirs too. You can see them in the flickr group Jane set up for us.

We are also making siggy blocks. I plan on using them on the back of my quilt.

Have you made any resolutions for 2012? I've made some simple goals for myself.

1. Finish all projects from previous years. I need to get better about finishing what I start.

2. Use up scraps and turn them into something useful. I have way too many little bits of fabric that is shoved in too many drawers. I don't mind the pieces of fabric that are a fat quarter or larger sitting on the shelves but those little bits drive me crazy. Plus, they seem to multiply faster than I can use them.

3. Organize my house. My Grandparents raised me from age 2 until I was 13. My Grandmother was a pack rat and I picked that habit up from her. I have a bad habit of saving EVERYTHING. I've gotten better over the years but I still have room to improve. We are no where near hoarders but My Grandparents grew up during a time where you saved everything so it can be used again. Grandma used to save bread bags and ties, empty coffee cans, shoe laces, tiny pencils...you get the picture. I've gotten much better about saving household things (unless I can use them for a specific thing now) but when it comes to my craft supplies I'm still pretty bad.

That's it. Not a long list but it will keep me busy all year long. I need to go through my UFOs and take some pictures. That way I can see what needs to be done and I can get that little thrill when I check things off the list.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

2011-12-24T06:03:00.002-05:00

Stocking Winner

2011-12-06T19:36:00.001-05:00

I waited for Robbie to come home from school today to draw the winner of the stocking I made and all it's goodies hidden inside. I printed out all the comments (103), cut them up, folded them, and put them in a bowl. Shook it like crazy, picked up the one that fell out (hehe) and let Robbie loose on the bowl. After he swished the papers around a bit he chose.....

....JANET !!! Janet's favorite song is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Congratulations Janet, I've sent you an email for your address. If for some reason I do not hear from Janet in the next three days I will have Robbie choose another winner.

I want to thank all the bloggers who joined me this year by giving away a stocking on their blog! I would also like to say thank you to everyone that entered all the giveaways! I found so many new blogs to follow. There are so many talented and fun bloggers out there and not enough time in the day.

traveling stash

2011-11-29T07:29:00.000-05:00

The Traveling Stash (at least one of them) is up fro grabs again. Head on over to PhillysBlarney for all the details.

Stocking give-away time !!!

2011-11-27T14:41:00.003-05:00

** Give-away closed - winner announced soon **

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We had a very relaxing day. We snacked, ate lots of turkey and yummy side dishes, and stuffed ourselves with delicious desserts. I missed the parades but we did do our usual movie marathon. This year it was the last two Harry Potter movies. Most of us had already seen them at the theater but Justin hadn't seen the last one yet. All in all it was a very relaxing day.

Now on to the give-away !!!

This year I am giving away this scrappy striped stocking stuffed with goodies. I'm not going to show you the goodies so that the winner will be surprised when the stocking arrives.

The rules are very simple....Leave a comment if you would like a chance to win this stocking and all it's surprises. To make it a bit more fun, let me know what your favorite Christmas song is. I've always loved Silent Night but I also love to sing all the "fun" carols with the kids like Jingle Bells, etc.

After you leave a comment check out the other blogs (Mr. Linky has a list at the end of this post) that are joining me in giving away a stocking filled with goodies. Come back in a couple days to see who else linked up.

That's it, easy peasy. I'll keep the comments open until December 5th. Then on December 6th I will have Hubby or Robbie draw a name and that person will be the winner. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

This give-away is open to everyone no matter where you live.

*****If you are a blogger that is joining me and giving away a stocking this week, please add a link to your give-away in Mr. Linky so everyone can come visit your blog*****.

p.s. I used the tools over at Picnik to make the frame around my stocking if anyone is curious.

Gobble Gobble!!

2011-11-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

Free Myspace Graphics

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Stockings

2011-11-19T08:43:00.000-05:00

I was playing in my Christmas scraps recently and came up with these stockings. I only had enough red to make cuffs for three of them though. It's OK because they aren't all going to the same place. Plus, I like the odd ball green one :)

The one with the trees on the back will be going to Purple Panda's stockings for kids stocking drive. One of the others will be given away later this month as part of the 2011 Stocking Give Away here on my blog.

The lining fabric was given to me recently by my neighbor at her garage sale.

Winner- - - - -

2011-11-09T20:43:00.001-05:00

I let Robbie choose the winner of the patterns. He chose Cheryll over at Gone Stitchin' as the lucky blogger.I've sent you an email. Congratulations!!

Pattern Give Away

2011-10-31T18:52:00.001-04:00

Give away closed...

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Free Photos Quotes
http://glitter-graphics-animation-pictures.blogspot.com/

A bit ago I had an order for some crochet items.

I made 2 candy corn cat appliques, 2 butterfly wash cloths, 3 chicken egg cozies, 3 covered baskets, 2 flip flop wash cloths, 3 round tawashi wash cloths, and 2 thread butterflies.

The candy corn kitties are cute!

How is everyone doing with their stockings? I've seen some really cute stockings on a few different blogs already. I have a few stockings made but I'm hoping to get a few more made before the end of the month. I haven't decided which stocking to use for the 2011 Stocking Give-Away yet.

Are you participating in the stocking give-away this year? Have you made a stocking yet? I'm adding a Mr. Linky to this post if you would like to link up to your finished stocking. While you are making a stocking you might want to make a second one to donate to Purple Panda Quilts Stockings For Kids. Lyanna is trying to collect 50 stockings for a group of foster kids. I know I plan on donating at least one (but probably more) stocking for the kids. Lyanna is also hosting give aways for those who send in stockings.

Speaking of give aways....

I have these two patterns to give away this week. I will draw a winner next Tuesday.

For a chance to win:

1. leave a comment
2. have a 2011 stocking give-away button on your blog
3. link up to your post that has your finished or in progress stocking or even the fabric you think you might want to use or even a favorite stocking pattern.

That gives you 3 ways to enter. To make it easy on you go ahead and leave all three in the same comment. I like to write everyone's names on a piece of paper and toss them in a bowl so Hubby can pick a winner. Makes him happy :)

If you hang out over on Pinterest I've been collecting stocking patterns and have them all pinned here. There are so many versions out there I'm sure there is something for everyone. I do love simple stockings and will be making several of these this year but I also like pieced stockings. How about using your family's old jeans? I think making stockings from an old quilt that is no longer usable is a terrific idea!

Now you can see my dilemma....there are just too many wonderful ideas for stockings. Maybe I should just make stockings from now on and forget about making anything else....Nah!

Have a great week and go easy on the candy!

traveling stash

2011-10-23T13:52:00.000-04:00

The Traveling Stash is on the move again. Sarah will be drawing a name on the 30th.

Stockings for Kids

2011-10-09T15:59:00.000-04:00

Lyanna over at Purple Panda Quilts is hosting a stocking drive. Lyanna works with foster children and she would like each child to have a handmade stocking of their very own this year. I know with my kids having a stocking with their name on it is a big deal. For children in foster care it is even more important.

Lyanna has gathered a bunch of quilters to post stocking tutorials on her blog every Tuesday. There is also a Flickr group to join.

Of course there are some amazing sponsors and giveaways scheduled.

I have a couple stockings that I made while practicing for this year's stocking giveaway that I will be donating. I'm sure I will also be trying out a few of the tutorials that are posted also.

We have friends who are foster parents. They told us that many times the kids arrive at their house with nothing. Sometimes the babies are only wearing diapers with no clothes. You can imagine how important it is for a foster child to have something they can call their own.

"Please join in and help make a stocking for a foster child this holiday season and give them something they can call their own!" ~Lyanna

2011 Stocking Give Away

2011-09-20T19:32:00.005-04:00

***Give away closed. Congratulations Pam!! ***

This year has been flying by. Before we know it Christmas will be here. How are you doing on making your Christmas gifts? I have absolutely zero gifts made lol. It looks like this year is going to be the year of the gift card! At least I know everyone will get exactly what they want, right?

I made a new button for this year's Stocking Give Away. It even has a code box (thanks to my wonderful Daughter) to make it easy for everyone to add to their blog. Shocking!! You can find the button over there --------> on the top right side of my blog.

If you're new or just want to know what I'm jabbering about see this post. Basically it says this:

" We will be making a stocking and filling it with any fun goodies of your choosing. Your stocking will need to be made and posted on your blog in time for the giveaway. This year you should be prepared to have your blog posts up on November 28th. With the drawing to be held on December 5th. That gives everyone the opportunity to shop on Black Friday for any great deals and also gives the stocking time to reach it's destination in time for Christmas."

Your stocking can be handmade or store bought. You can give away just the stocking or you can add some goodies that may or may not fit inside the stocking.

I will be doing mini random give aways between now and then.

Mandy made this image for me too :)

To be entered in this mini mystery give away just add the 2011 Stocking Give Away to your blog and then add your blog link to Mr. Linky below. Even if you aren't interested in giving away a stocking you can still enter this give away. Want to know what I will be giving away? That's a good question...I haven't decided yet. It could be a quilt pattern, or some fabric, or..... If you would like an extra entry you can post about the stocking give away and send them over here to learn more. I'll draw a name on October 1st.

Flannel quilts

2011-08-28T02:00:00.023-04:00

A few months back I bought a flat rate shipping box full of fabrics. In that box was 90 7" flannel squares all cut and ready to be used in a rag quilt. The box even included pre-cut batting squares but I knew there was no way I was going to make another rag quilt. I split them up and made a couple baby/lap quilts.

I've only used flannel for lounge pants so these are the first quilts I have made from flannel. I love how soft they feel. I do need to buy some backing fabric for them. I haven't decided if I want to use the cool feel of cotton or keep with the soft warmth and use a flannel backing. I'll figure it out when I go fabric shopping.

Strings

2011-08-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

I started working on the strings for my donation for Quilts of Valor through Heartstrings. I was given a large amount of white strings so I decided to make this top mostly white to be a bit different. It takes 48 blocks to make a quilt so I have a long way to go.

Rugs & Runners Workshop giveaway

2011-08-20T18:19:00.000-04:00

Becky over at Patchwork Posse is having a giveaway for an upcoming workshop. The winners (yes there will be two lucky winners) will be announced tomorrow so hurry on over to enter.

Just to give you a heads up on what you will be winning:

· Rugs & Runners Online Workshop. For 4 months, a new pattern for a Table Runner + an adjustment for a Mug Rug will be posted. These are exclusive patterns by super talented designers! Each month the patterns will feature a different season. The workshop site is available 24/7 allowing you to sew on your own time and in your own home. Besides the patterns you will have access to a gallery to post your photos, a forum to ask questions, and a community of worldwide members. Don’t miss out on these great patterns by your favorite designers!

Christmas in July

2011-07-31T13:18:00.002-04:00

I've always loved Christmas in July. I love Christmas and all it's bright lights and sparkle. I enjoy the wrapped presents even more than what's in the boxes sometimes. It's been a couple years since I really went all out at Christmas but this year I am feeling the decorating vibes again.

I'm cutting it very close with this blog post for Christmas in July! Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Pam over at Gingerbread Snowflakes joined me and some other bloggers for the 2010 Stocking Give Away. Several of us are already excited for this year's stocking give away. Pam being the organized person that she is ordered some stocking panel fabric earlier this year. She so very generously sent me a section of one of the panels. There were large stockings and small stockings on the panel(s). Pam sent me a set of small (oops I was wrong, these are the large ones) stockings.

click for a closer view

I thought the designs just screamed for some embroidery and bead accents. I think I will be making one stocking out of these pieces. I thought about making two stockings and trying to find the right backing but changed my mind. No big surprise there. I am always changing my mind alot of times at the last minute.

If anyone is interested in joining me for this year's stocking giveaway I will be hosting it again. We will be making a stocking and filling it with any fun goodies of your choosing. Your stocking will need to be made and posted on your blog in time for the giveaway. This year you should be prepared to have your blog posts up on November 28th. With the drawing to be held on December 5th. That gives everyone the opportunity to shop on Black Friday for any great deals and also gives the stocking time to reach it's destination in time for Christmas.

This year I will be giving away a stocking (or two) filled with goodies. I will also be having a drawing for prizes for those blogs that are participating in the stocking giveaway. I'm thinking that a gift basket for the grand prize would be fun to win and fun for me to make.

Directions? Who needs directions?

2011-06-24T02:00:00.000-04:00

When Mandy left for the Army I put her old roll top desk out to the curb. It was picked up quickly like most things I put out to the road. Since we live on a main road I don't have to worry about things going to the dump, they always seem to find a new home. Now that she is back home she decided she needed a new desk. We found a reasonable priced desk at Walmart. This box seemed to have a few "extra" pieces though. In the bottom left corner (by the dirty laundry lol) you can see part of some triangle wood pieces. This desk doesn't have any triangle areas so I don't know why they are there.

Mandy did follow the pictures for the most part but I think she winged it a bit here and there too. I think we all do that even with our quilting. I know I do and then I end up using the seam ripper again.

Here is Mandy's finished desk. I think she did a great job! This is where she spends lots of time working on the computer and drawing. I'll post some of her drawings later. She has turned an old childhood hobby into something nice.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T11:05:00.000-04:00

Pattern Winner

2011-05-20T20:33:00.000-04:00

When I was getting ready to chose the winner of the sewing patterns my Daughter asked if she could chose the winner this time. Sure no problem. The lucky winner that Mandy chose is......Barb!

Tomorrow is Mandy's birthday!! She will be 20. I guess that means she is no longer a little girl. We tease her about being "all grown up" now that she is no longer a teenager. What a wild ride!

I thought you might enjoy a few pictures that I happen to have on my laptop.....

This is Mandy and her older brother Justin. I'm guessing Mandy was around 2 and Justin around 5. Justin has always been very protective of his baby sister.

Here's Mandy at Publix (4) with their Mascot Plato. When Mandy was little she had very blonde hair with hints of strawberry blonde here and there. Adorable.

Justin and Mandy were both in one of my sister's weddings. Mandy has only worn a dress a handful of times in her life. She was always too busy getting dirty and climbing trees to worry about looking pretty. Such cuties.

And then they grow up lol.

Some of you might remember that Mandy met John Stamos recently. Another couple of cuties.

Mandy (the one on the left in a tan t-shirt) and a few of her friends (and her little brother-not in this picture) spent yesterday at the paintball range celebrating her and her friend Beth's (red t-shirt on right) birthdays. They came back with welts and bruises and big smiles.

Happy Birthday sweetie!! I can't wait to see how you grow over the next 20 years.

A new cute bag

2011-05-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

It's Sew Kiki is having a give away for an adorable bag kit. She designed this cute tote bag and is giving away:

A hard copy of the "Around Town" Bag pattern and all the materials needed to make it, including:

A 33 piece Charm pack of "Around Town" Charms
1 yard linen
1 yard lining fabric from the "Around Town" line from Connecting Threads
1/2 yard contrasting fabric for interior pockets from the "Around Town" line
1/2 yard Pellon Fusible Fleece
A 12 inch zipper
A skein of #5 Perle cotton

You can also go to her blog and purchase the pattern if you can't wait.

Giveaway

2011-05-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! In honor of my little blog vacation I thought I would have a little give away.

Sorry about the gloomy pictures but we have been having some gloomy weather down here in Florida for the last few days.

Up for grabs are two new Simplicity patterns. One is for 5 different bag styles and the other has 6 different skirt patterns.

Plain and simple...leave a comment and I will chose a name on Friday.

I also added a new tab to my blog. If you look up above this post you will see a tab that says Garage Sale. I was going through some of my magazines and patterns and realized that I am running out of shelf space to store all of them so I did a little Spring cleaning. I will be adding more as I sift through all of my magazines. Happy shopping!

Feeling spoiled

2011-04-30T06:00:00.039-04:00

I recently received this amazing quilt from my DollQultSwap10 partner Kati. Kati blogs over at from the blue chair. I've actually visited Kati's blog a few times in the past.

I LOVE this quilt! I have always been a fan of black backgrounds (as I'm sure a few of you already know) and the aqua is a new favorite of mine.

The back is stunning too. Love the quilting lines and the label looks great all crooked.

Kati also included some goodies. She used some of her leftover scraps to make this hot pad. Thanks Kati but I don't think this will used in the kitchen. This one will be going up on a wall somewhere too. I also received some fabric to play with. See that simple looking roll with the red tie? I wonder what is in there....

Kati also made these pins. She told me that this was her first time making pins like this. I'm guessing they are clay. I think they turned out great. I especially LOVE the rose! I know how hard they are to make in ribbon, I don't want to even think about how hard they would be in clay.

Thanks Kati!!! Everything is amazing!

With a little help from my friends

2011-04-28T06:00:00.016-04:00

A couple of quilting friends from a quilting forum I like to hang out at knew I was collecting red/white/cream/blue strings to make string blocks for QOV quilts. They were very generous and sent me some of their scraps. It's fun to play with other quilter's scraps!

Just One Star or two

2011-04-26T06:00:00.040-04:00

Moda put a call out for some help last month. They are trying to make 100 quilts in a 100 days for Quilts of Valor. I made these two stars last month and sent them in. They are collecting stars until May 1st so if you haven't heard about this project and wish to donate you still have a little bit of time left to make a block or two. They actually go together really fast. I didn't trim my blocks because Moda asked us not too. They will trim the blocks when they arrive. A good idea actually. That way all the blocks will be the same size and they won't have to "fudge" any blocks when they are putting them together.

I was very surprised when I received a package from Moda last week. I couldn't remember winning anything recently so I couldn't wait to open it up. Inside I found this mini charm pack and a thank you note from Moda for sending in two stars. Completely unnecessary but greatly appreciated. I'll probably make a table runner or tote bag with these little squares.

In the past I have scoured the web looking for organizations that took donations for wounded soldiers. I found many sites where people were collecting quilts. The guidelines were very strict and I wasn't sure if I would be able to make many complete quilts so I kept looking. Then I came across the HeartStrings Quilt Project blog. This group collects quilts but also they accept string blocks. Their guidelines are very easy to follow so this is the group I have decided to work with. I already have 36 blocks for their heart strings project. Next I will be working on string blocks for the QOV group.

Hoppy Easter!!

2011-04-24T06:00:00.029-04:00

Phill-A-Me-Na Flamingo and I want to wish you and your family a very safe and Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time with friends and family this weekend. We are having our traditional ham dinner. We will probably spend most of our day playing video games and watching movies together. Good Friday started Spring Break for our area. It will be great to hear all the neighborhood kids playing outside. I love listening to the kids laughing outside. Some will be riding bikes and others will be swimming. My son has a couple friends and they like to play basketball. Hopefully the low humidity will stick around for awhile so the kids can run around without getting over heated.

Phill-a-me-na Flamingo is one of my favorite friends over in the shop.

Food

2011-04-23T06:00:00.001-04:00

When I was working in the Cafe one of our regular ladies asked if I wanted any zucchini. I asked her if she had a garden and she said no, she lives next to a farm. The farmer allows her to pick what she wants from the farm. I thought that was very sweet of the farmer. I told her sure, I love zucchini. I was more than a bit surprised when she came back after lunch and brought me these. That big one is almost 14" long! I took the smaller one (which is still much bigger than ones from the store) and sliced it up like a cucumber. I froze them on a tray and them put them in a Ziploc bag. Those will be used with yellow squash or a couple family favorite dishes. The big guy I peeled and then shredded. The pieces were about 3" long. I layed those out on a cookie sheet and froze them also. Those will go in soups and for zucchini pancakes. I made a few zucchini pancakes already and they turned out great. They had a nice crisp crust and were pretty tasty.

Each Easter and Christmas I buy Peeps. The kids don't like them anymore but the dog and I do. I only eat a pack or two. I'm just a marshmallow lover. You can always find a bag of marshmallows in my cabinet. This week I have caramel/vanilla marshmallows. Anyways...Hubby stopped off at Walgreen's for his monthly cashew fix and he saw these Peeps freezer pops. He knows my marshmallow addiction and thought I would get a kick out of these. I was hesitant especially when I saw that the pops were marshmallow flavored and clear. I froze them and then caved and tried them today. The first bite was delicious. It reminded me of a creamy frosting. Halfway through it just got to be too much. The more I ate the funkier the taste became. Nice thought Peeps but a fail in my opinion.

Flashback and the famous

2011-04-19T18:54:00.002-04:00

When our kids were young we always watched Full House as a family. We have even watched it recently thanks to Nick at Night. Anyone who has watched this show knows that Uncle Jessie (John Stamos) was the heart throb of the show. He had girls of all ages swooning when he sang. Of course I thought he was cute but it was always the Olson twins that I loved to watch.

You're probably wondering why I am posting about an old family favorite like Full House. Well it's because of this....

Mandy got to meet John Stamos last night. Sorry the picture isn't any bigger but I "stole" it from her Facebook page. John Stamos and The Beach Boys held a concert in Naples, Florida last night. One of Mandy's friends had plans to hang out outside the concert so they could meet John Stamos. They didn't have tickets, they were either too expensive or sold out so they goofed around for awhile listening to the music from outside the place they were playing. I didn't get the whole story but obviously they met up with Uncle Jessie afterwards and.....

Mandy got her arm autographed. The girls were all giggly and OMG OMG I will never wash my arm again lol. I'm just thrilled that Mandy was smiling in the picture. I love to see that girl smile. It lights up her whole face.

So, have you met anyone famous? I haven't.

OK, I found a way to get a bigger picture.

Row Robin

2011-04-12T02:00:00.000-04:00

A bit ago I received my rows back from the Round (Row) Robin that Barb hosted last year. While cleaning the sewing room I came across the bag that had my rows in it and realized I never posted the rows on my blog. Thanks ladies my rows are wonderful!

This is the picture that Jenn posted over on the Round Robin blog. Her floor helps show the colors better than my white design wall does.

Now I have to decide how I want to finish this quilt. When I joined this swap I was thinking about adding strips of black between the rows. Now that the rows are at my house I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm almost tempted to separate each block from the rows and then border each block in black or put black strips in between the blocks. For now, it will sit in my to do box until I get a better idea of what I want to make.

A little Easter shopping

2011-04-06T02:00:00.040-04:00

I went out and did a bit of shopping a couple weekends ago. I had a coupon for JoAnn's that was just begging to be used. It was 25% off the total purchase including sale items. I just couldn't let that coupon go unused.

Most of the Easter fabrics were gone but I did find a few that I liked. The Easter fabrics were 40% off so it was a good deal. I also found some other fabric that was calling my name from the sales bin. I love discounts.

I also hit the dollar bins at the front of Target. I found these fun socks and Easter towels. I love pastel colors and these towels will look great in the kitchen. Every time I see fun little socks I buy them. I have a drawer full now. I love to make sock creatures with them. I haven't made any in a bit but that doesn't stop me from buying more socks.

A lady I work with had a birthday last week so I picked up a few things for her also. These socks will actually be worn unlike the ones I picked up for me. She loves to wear fun and funky socks each day. She has quite a collection of silly socks. I also picked up an Outback gift card. Her and her Husband like to eat there so I thought it would be a nice thing for them.

I also picked up a bunch of supplies to make some Easter baskets. I found these fun sand castle pails that have a shovel attached to the handle. When I make baskets I like the basket part to be just as useful as the things inside the basket.

This is what they look like after I put everything inside them. These will be going to a local church that is collecting baskets for 3,000 local kids. Yes, you read that right...3,000 Easter baskets are needed. This church also has a grade school and the kids are making baskets. The baskets will be going to kids in Foster Care, or that have parents that are addicted to drugs or in jail, etc. In the past we have needed help and were very fortunate that there were people out there to help us. Now, whenever we get a chance to give back we like do what we can to help someone else out. I think it is a very good lesson for the kids to help others also.

While making these baskets I did realize that I enjoy making gift baskets. I think I might do it a bit more often.

Hello!

2011-04-04T02:00:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! I've started to feel a bit more motivated lately and I am ready to come back to blogging. I love blogging and I have missed blogging and chatting with everyone. I just didn't have the energy or motivation for awhile as I'm sure some of you have noticed. Let's see if I can get on a roll with some new posts.

Last month I won this DVD over at Dragon Threads blog. Libby Lehman has some stunning quilts on her blog Threadplaying. I have to admit that I haven't watched the DVD yet. I am very interested in the appliqué section though. I've just been too tired to actually enjoy the DVD so I have been waiting.

CSN Stores Winner

2011-03-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

I let Hubby chose the winner this time because Robbie was busy on the computer. He chose commenter #1. The first commenter isn't usually chosen so it was nice to see it happen this time. The lucky winner of a $40 CSN Stores gift certificate is Gene. Congratulations Gene! Gene is a wonderful quilter so stop by his blog and see what he has been working on lately.

I haven't been on the computer much lately due to shoulder troubles. I'm still having trouble with my right shoulder that I hurt back in January at work. I've always heard that dealing with a Workman's Comp injury takes a long time and now I know first hand that it is a slow process. I've been doing physical therapy for a few weeks but it just seems to make it worse. It's very painful and keeps me from playing on the computer for more than a couple minutes. Plus, it keeps me out of the sewing room. Not much fun happening around here.

I do have some projects to show from before though. Plus, I have been lucky enough to win a few give aways. I won two Go! dies from A Few Scraps last month. I chose the Drunkard's Path 7" die and

the Go! Critters Die. I have seen so many fun quilt designs using the Drunkard's Path die that I just had to try it out for myself. I've also been looking at all the gorgeous quilts Barb has made using the critter dies. Plus, she has made some great Drunkard's Path quilts using her stash of Samoan fabrics. Now to I just have to wait until the shoulders can handle cranking the Go! handle. I might just have to put Robbie to work cutting fabric for me. I'm also thinking about buying the Dresden Plate die. I have a few ideas for mini quilts and the die would make the process much easier.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

$40 CSN Give away

2011-02-26T09:18:00.001-05:00

I'm sure by now most of you have visited CSN Stores. There have been several bloggers hosting give aways or product reviews of their stores. I have both hosted a give away and reviewed a product. I have also purchased items from their stores. They have some very nice quality items at a good price. You also receive your order in a timely manner.

This time around I am hosting a give away. The winner will win a $40 gift certificate (shipping costs not included) that they will be able to use in any of their stores.

While doing a bit of window shopping recently I came across their adjustable bar stools. We do not have a breakfast bar in our kitchen but my sewing room does have a long counter on one wall that would benefit from a couple bar stools.

While window shopping I found a few fun barstools...

I love this color of purple and the shape looks nice too.

This one is a bit funky but not for me.

This one has a nice fun shape. Very modern looking.

If you have been hanging out at my blog for awhile you might know about my clumsiness. I have a tendency to injure myself very easily so this stool wouldn't work very well for me. I would probably slide right off while turning around. It does look like it would be nice in a craft room though.

I think for my own safety I need this bad boy. Don't think even I could fall out of this one.

OK, if you made it all the way to the end of this post than you deserve the chance at winning a CSN Stores $40 gift certificate! I will keep this giveaway open until Saturday March 5th at Noon EST.

Robbie on Christmas morning eating our traditional Christmas breakfast burrito

Sometime after that I will let my random number generator choose a winner.

And the Winner is......

2011-02-19T19:49:00.000-05:00

I asked Robbie to pick a winner this time. I asked him to pick a number between 1 and 10 and of course he said 24. He said that means 6. Then he says minus 5 plus 4. Sometimes this kid just drives me crazy.

So....the winner is Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes!!! Congratulations, Pam I sent you an email.

It's Monday again and a give away

2011-02-14T02:00:00.045-05:00

I thought since we have started a new week we may as well start it with a give away.

While I was hunting for Eagle patterns a bit ago I found this book on Ebay. I went ahead and made the Eagle even though it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

He turned out cute though. Different but still cute. He stands about 6" high and is crocheted.

He has safety eyes so he is safe for kids but I would still keep an eye on the little ones just in case.

So if you would like to give this little eagle a new home just leave a comment on this post. I will keep this give away open until this Friday night. Then I will have one of the boys draw a name.

It's all about me today

2011-02-07T06:00:00.030-05:00

Today's my birthday! I have been hanging out here for 42 years. I stopped celebrating birthdays a long time ago. When the kids were younger it was always just another day. Now that they are (mostly) grown I've been thinking about celebrating again. Now that I am older I have this urge to celebrate (or decorate) all special days and Holidays. While wandering around the web I found something that will help me with this....

I found this on Amazon and I just had to order it! I've always loved Sunbonnet Sue and now I can enjoy her each month. That is if I ever make any. I've been wanting to make some mini quilts to decorate around the house. I love to change things out each month so these mini quilts would be perfect. Plus, the designs are just so cute.

I have no appointments today so I am hoping to spend a good part of the day in the sewing room. The boys can eat leftovers from all the Super Bowl cooking I did yesterday. I'm itching to go and do a bit of fabric shopping though. JoAnn's has all their Valentine's fabric on sale right now and my stash could use some more reds and pinks.....

In Search Of...

2011-02-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

My Niece in Tennessee has requested a new quilt. Her and her Hubby are looking to buy their first house and would like a new quilt. They even picked out the colors and design. Pretty good for a young couple. They are about the same age as our oldest.

Stacey saw this one from JCPenney. I think she picked out a gorgeous quilt. We were discussing how much longer a handmade quilt lasts compared to the store bought ones lately. I'm sure it all depends on how much you spend but ours always seem to fall apart or loose the softness of their batting.

OK now for the part where I need help. From what I can see it looks like the center of the quilt is a section of a wedding ring design. Then some triangles and squares, borders, etc. Has anyone seen anything similar to this? I can wing it and that is not the problem. It's how much fabric to buy. It's times like this that I wish I had EQ7.

The other big part is fabric selection. While I love these colors, they are not normally something I buy. Does anyone know of a line that has these kinds of soft colors? I'm guessing they are country?

Thanks everyone!

Florine's Fabulous Boards for appliqué

2011-02-05T18:13:00.000-05:00

Pigtales and Quilts is giving away a Florine's Fabulous Boards for appliqué. Give away ends February 9th at noon, eastern time.

Retail Therapy

2011-02-05T09:20:00.000-05:00

My floss supply was a bit low so I picked up a nice size variety pack. I've been following everyone's progress over at the Birdie Stitches block of the month and I want to make the blocks but I just haven't decided on colors yet. My February partner over at Block Adventure requested Civil War fabrics and those are fabrics that I never have in my stash so I ordered a charm pack. The monster fat quarters were ordered on a whim but I do have a plan or two for them.

Family photos

2011-02-01T06:00:00.061-05:00

We were able to get some pics of the family recently and I thought I would introduce you to everyone.

First we have the King and Queen. Rob and I have been together for almost 21 years. We have grown and matured together over the years. Yes, we want to kill each other sometimes but even after all these years we are still in love. Rob uses the cane because he has a bad back. I use the cane to beat Rob when necessary lol.

Justin is our oldest and Mandy is the middle child and never lets us forget that. These two were buddies right from the beginning. Justin has been an amazing big brother and always protected Mandy and let me just say that there have been many times that she needed protecting. Justin has always been a thinker while Mandy was a climber. That girl would climb out of her highchair, walker, stroller, crib, anything. I came home from work one day to find Mandy sitting on the floor with her playpen upside down over the top of her. Rob said he and Justin were tired of chasing her down and needed a place to put her that she wouldn't be able to get out of.

This is when they were in one of my sister's weddings. They cleaned up nicely. I'm thinking they were around 3 and 6 or somewhere around there.

Once they hit high school age they started to separate a bit. Justin would still do anything for his sister but they began hanging out with different types of friends. This picture was taken when Mandy came home for Christmas this year. I believe they were horsing around before I took the picture.

OK, now that's better. They stood together for a whole 10 seconds so I could take a picture. Once Justin finds out I put these pics up he will kill me but that's OK I don't mind. Now that they are both out of school they're buddies again. They have whole conversations that I don't even know about again. I know as siblings grow they grow apart and then come back together again. I'm glad these two decided to do it sooner rather than later. I think siblings need each other as adults.

Then we have these two together. If you saw them together you would think they hate each other. They are always arguing and beating on each other. Actually, all three like to beat on each other. It's their thing and the way they show that they care. If anyone tries to hurt Robbie watch out because Mandy will be there in an instant to protect that boy. Robbie is so different from the older two but he's also very much one of the crew.

And of course we can't forget little Suzi. She keeps us all on our toes. She is such a character sometimes.

Well, that's my crazy family. Take us or leave us we don't care because we will always have each other.

Samoan pouches

2011-01-27T07:15:00.002-05:00

I signed up for a craft fair at a local church a bit ago. Unfortunately only 4 crafters signed up so they had to cancel the event. I did make some new items in preparation though.

I made these Samoan zippered pouches from some of the beautiful fabric I purchased from Barb. I have a bunch of scrap strips from my Samoan Stars quilt and there was no way I was going to throw anything away.

This is the front. I decided to use some black in between the Samoan fabrics. The front has batting and is quilted in simple lines.

I used the bold yellow Samoan fabric for the lining (which stills need to be hand sewn shut). The back is another piece of Samoan fabric. This is the first time I cut into this fabric. It just screams to be made into a tote bag. Even the zippers were from Barb. It worked out well that I had a few different colors for the zippers because I think plain white or black zippers would have been boring. These pouches will be going in the shop soon.

Does anyone have a good source for zippers? I like to buy them in bulk because I use alot of zippers.

* I made several projects prior to injuring my shoulder. I will be taking pictures and posting them during my recovery. I am following doctor's orders by slowly increasing the use of my left arm and strictly limiting the use of my right arm*

Christmas Blocks

2011-01-24T09:03:00.000-05:00

Sometime last year I joined APP's Christmas Block Swap. It took so long for the blocks to come back that I completely forgot about them. Everyone did a wonderful job with their blocks! I love the gingerbread house and the fabric chosen for the mittens look so mitten-y. Thanks ladies!

Another gorgeous block received

2011-01-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

I joined another block swap last month. This one is over at Block Swap Adventure. I like this swap because we make one 12.5" block each month. We use our own fabrics and make the block our partner chooses in their colors. Nice and simple. My partner for January was Wendy. I decided to let my partners decide which block they wanted to make. I chose red, aqua, and white for my colors for the year. I figured that between this swap and the 3X6 Bee swap I will have plenty of blocks to make a nice size quilt.

I think there is still room for new members if you are interested in joining.

3X6 Bee block

2011-01-21T16:28:00.000-05:00

I received a beautiful block in the mail this week. This is from the 3X6 Bee swap over on Flickr. I believe this is the last block from the 4th quarter 2010. I did sign up again for this year but switched up my color choices. Last year I chose rainbow but this year I went with aqua, red, and white.

Still Here Just Napping

2011-01-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

I thought I would pop in and let everyone know that I am doing fine after Monday's surgery. I haven't been quite myself as you can imagine. The anesthesia fog is clearing so that is a good thing. I can now have a normal thought and stay awake for more than a couple hours at a time lol. The shoulder is stiff/swollen and of course it hurts alot and often but it is doing just what it is supposed to be doing. I am being a very good patient and following my therapist's and doctor's orders. I can now type for a bit so you might start hearing from me again. I do want to thank everyone for checking in on me, I appreciate it. Please take this as a big hug and thank you to everyone!! Soon I will be able to write more blog posts and actually answer individual emails. I'm already sketching some new ideas in my quilt sketch/idea book and can't wait to get at my sewing machine again.

I leave you with this picture of my get well plant from my sister. She was determined to make me dinner, dessert or buy me any kind of snack but I refused. So, she showed up at my door with this plant. She did good too because this plant is one of those hard to kill kind. It doesn't like much sun or water so it should be safe at my house. I do tend to either pay too much attention or not enough attention to my plants.

Snow Days for Soldiers

2011-01-18T02:00:00.029-05:00

As most of you know my Daughter Mandy is in the Army. She is currently stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Like many places across the country, Ft. Jackson received a bit of snow earlier this week. They actually had a couple snow days due to the fact that SC doesn't normally get snow and apparently does not have the right equipment to keep the town open.

We have always know that Soldiers love to have fun but now we get to see it. So, what do a bunch of Soldiers do when they encounter snow?

They build a "snowman" of course lol. Mandy's Battalion is the Screaming Eagles so they decided to make a snow eagle.

I was really surprised that they came up with this. Plus, they executed their idea beautifully. The white head, eyes, sand for brown feathers, and beak....amazing! I smile every time I see this pic on Facebook. I love that the Soldiers all took the time to have some fun and work on this together. Some of the Soldiers are from the South and don't come across snow very often. I know Mandy hasn't played in the snow in over 9 years.

Surgery Day

2011-01-17T02:00:00.021-05:00

Today's schedule goes a bit like this....

9:00 am - go to doc's office to get the surgery site marked
10:30 am - be at hospital to sign in for surgery and start pre-op prep
12:30 scheduled time for surgery but it might not be until 1:00

The surgery is scheduled to last 1.5 hours depending on what the doc has to do once he gets in there. At this point he is expecting to fix the bicep tendon tear, remove a bone spur and trim the end of the clavicle, and some debridement as necessary. If everything goes as expected then I should be home sometime around 5 pm. Then I can expect a week full of appointments and naps.

I hope everyone has a great week and gets lots of crafting done. I will be visiting everyone's blogs so even though I can't sew, I can at least look at all of your wonderful projects and plan my next one. I need to find a sketch book so I can get some of these ideas out of my head and into a notebook. Right now I have a bunch of little pieces of paper with some quick sketches floating around the sewing room getting lost and forgotten.

A day of Rest

2011-01-16T06:37:00.003-05:00

As I am getting back into blogging I've decided to take at least one day (possibly two) off each week from blogging. I love how Madame Samm over at Stash Manicure puts up a pic on Sunday for their blogs day of rest so I thought I might "steal" that idea. Let's see how well I follow through.

How I spent my Christmas

2010-12-28T02:00:00.022-05:00

Remember back in grade school when you returned from Christmas break or Summer vacation you had to write a report on what you did over break? I was never very fond of that.

Earlier this month I took these piles of fabric...

...ran them through this...

...and ended up with a bunch of these and...

...some of these strings to add to my string collection. The red, white, and blue strings will be used to make some QOV blocks.

I took all the squares and put them together into this DNP lap quilt for a friend that recently was married. I was going back and forth on what design to use and what fabric until I came to this one. I wanted something that wasn't girly and would make a nice statement on the back of their couch. They said they wanted something bright and colorful because their house is whites and creams. I think this should add a bit of color. I have a bunch of squares left over for another project too. Plus plenty more for the QOV string blocks.

Look who I found

2010-12-27T02:00:00.056-05:00

We have been so busy lately that I never posted about Mandy making it home.

Suzi was waiting very patiently for Sissy to arrive home. She sat on her bed to make sure she didn't miss her lol.

When we arrived home from the airport we saw this turtle in the neighbor's yard. Not sure where he came from or where he was going but he was cruising right along happily. You can tell it is has been dry here lately. Everyone's lawns pretty much look like this. We have year round water regulations so there isn't alot of watering going on. This neighbor actually runs his sprinklers a few days a week (based on the rules) and it still isn't enough. At least we don't have to mow 2 or 3 times a week in the winter.

A quick stop at home and then off to Grandma's to surprise her. Mandy told all the local family that she was arriving on Saturday even though her plane landed Friday mid morning. How do you like my curtain on the front door? When I had an actual curtain up there it would constantly get knocked down either by us or the wind. Put up a drab pillowcase and it never falls lol. I think I will pick up a set of those magnetic curtain rods and put up a pretty curtain again and hope for the best.

These pictures were all taken in Pine Island at Grandma's. Grandma is my step mother and she now lives at my Grandparents trailer. My Grandparents lived there forever. I think they bought the place in the late 70's and lived there year round since 1981 or 1982 until they both passed away a few years back. After my Father passed away it was rented out for a bit until a few months ago when my step mother decided to move out there. She has done an amazing job fixing the place up. It looks so homey again.

She lives out there with my Dad's dog Jack, her new pup from one of my Sister's dogs litter and two cats. Jack likes to bring you one of his stuffed toys so you can pet the toy and him. When he was in his prime he used to chase cars up and down the road. He went to doggie jail once for chasing a cop car and biting the bumper lol. Now he just likes to lay outside and scratch his tummy on the grass.

I think Mandy likes the pup though. Won't get too much bigger than this.

Remember wherever you are, Mandy will be keeping an eye on you!

The Day After

2010-12-26T10:19:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all did too. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and all the kids were home. This will be the last year we are all together for a bit so I enjoyed having everyone under one roof....most of the time lol.

After a cup of water was spilled on the tree skirt, the tree was moved to the corner of the living room. Notice my catch all book case? Who needs a junk drawer when you have a whole shelving unit? This year I let Robbie play Santa and stack all the presents under the tree. Of course most of the things the kids asked for were movies and video games. They were stacked way under the tree in the back. Of course those were the first things everyone wanted to unwrap.

Mandy doesn't like unwrapping gifts so she had Suzi help her out again this year. That dog loves to tear paper!

Last month I won a chocolate Holiday house kit from Pam's blog. If you haven't been to visit her blog before I highly recommend stopping in for a visit. She has some amazing things to share, fun crafts and yummy recipes too.

I was going to let Robbie use the house as an Advent calendar but thought maybe Mandy would enjoy decorating it. So I kept it all boxed up until she came home. Of course she had no interest in decorating it. I let Robbie have all the fun and he had a blast.

My chocolate monster :)

Suzi sat there with him the whole time hoping he would drop something for her to steal. Silly dog, she just doesn't seem to understand that chocolate isn't good for doggies. Robbie snacked enough while making the house that he didn't even want to try a bite when he was done.

Thanks for the afternoon of fun Pam!

p.s. All three kids did enjoy decorating a gingerbread house on Christmas day though. They each decorated pieces of the house but never put them together. They are eating them like cookies :)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T07:14:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day with friends and family.

Free Patterns

2010-12-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

HomeSpun Threads is offering all their patterns for free right now. I don't know how long this will be available. The only thing they request is that you follow their blog and pass the word.

Barb's Neighborhood

2010-12-16T02:00:00.029-05:00

Earlier this year Barb convinced a few of us to join her in a Row Robin swap. I recently finished the last row on Barb's quilt.

Barb made the top row of houses. She also sent along the blue and green fabric that you see we all used in our rows. Barb used it in her row as the sky and grass.

I decided to make a row of flowers. There was one large piece of blue fabric that was just the right length for the background of my row. Perfect! I used the green as one of the stems and the leaf in each flower pot.

I fused my pieces to the background and then hand appliqued everything down using floss and the buttonhole stitch. I wanted the flowers to have some dimension so I made yo-yos for the centers.

This was a fun quilt along. Thanks Barb and all the ladies that worked on my rows. I can't wait to see my rows and get them sewn together into a cozy quilt!

Apple core die

2010-12-15T11:27:00.001-05:00

I wasn't planning on buying anymore dies for my Go! cutter but after buying the 30's repro fabric I just had to pick up this apple core die.

I was thinking of mixing in some white and pastel-ish fabric with the 30's and making at least a baby size apple core quilt. I will also be cutting up some of my scraps for an apple core quilt or table runner.

3X6 Bee 4th Quarter

2010-12-14T02:00:00.019-05:00

These are the blocks I came up with for the fourth quarter of the 3X6 Bee. I waited until almost the last minute to work on these. I just couldn't pick a block design. I think before the next round starts in January, I better order a bunch of aqua fabric. My stash is seriously lacking aquas and everyone seems to want that color. After seeing the blocks that everyone has been making in aqua and red, I actually chose those colors for next year too.

Mug Rug Received

2010-12-13T02:00:00.000-05:00

Aunt Pitty Pat recently held a mug rug swap over on her blog. I received my package this past weekend. My partner was Leslie but I'm not sure if she has a blog.

Here are all the goodies. I was so surprised and pleased to see the sequin ornament inside the coffee mug. My Grandmother and I used to make ornaments like that back in the 70's. I have a couple dozen that Grandma passed down to me before she died.

I love the mug rug. I really enjoy when the quilting outlines the applique. Then you have this nice shadow on the back.

The mug is cute! Santa and his reindeer are Texas Armadillos. Thanks Leslie!

Oh Deer Oh Deer

2010-12-10T11:20:00.001-05:00

This November's theme over at YOE was reindeer. My partner was Sherry this time. Sherry send some wonderful things.

The most important lol. The boys were quick to fight over this. Of course Momma won and it is still sitting on my TV table FULL. Ha! Take that boys.

Aren't these cards precious? I would love to make handmade cards but I really don't need a new hobby.

These guys look like they were made from scrapbooking paper.

I LOVE things with jingle bells.

These are wooden ornaments. I was looking for something like these at a craft store but didn't see any.

Reindeer and Christmas lights. Love the fuzzy nose and eyelashes.

Matchbox ornaments. More jingle bells :0)

and a cute little deer inside.

Thanks Sherry!!

And the winners are.....

2010-12-09T10:07:00.001-05:00

When I do a give away I (actually Hubby) like to draw names/numbers from a hat (bowl actually but hat sounds better). It feels more personal and I think that the lower numbers have a better chance of being drawn than if I used the random number thingie.

First prize goes to...

Brittainy Barnes said... 27

Awww what a fun idea!! I've been wanting to work on some Christmas stuff, but work and school and baby have all gotten the best of me!! Thanks again!

Now Brittainy doesn't have to worry about making a stocking this year. She can concentrate on that baby. Brittainy, you can thank my son Robbie because he chose your number.

Sunny, who was also giving away a stocking, was chosen as the second stocking winner. Sunny was the first commenter so that goes to show you that even comment number one can be a winner.

and last but not least....

Zlaty wins the snowman stocking! Rob and I are firm believers of what goes around comes around. I won a give away that Zlaty was having a couple month's back. She was giving away a kit for her new pattern Candy table runner.

Congratulations to all the winners here and on the other blogs that were giving away a stocking! I plan on giving away another stocking next year. It was lots of fun deciding on what stocking to give away and what to fill them with.

The winners have 3 days to get their addresses to me. If I don't hear from the winners after 3 days I will redraw for new winners.

New scarf patterns in the mail

2010-12-08T02:54:00.000-05:00

***Today's the last day to toss your name in the hat for the stocking(s) give away. You can find the post over here. You can also visit these blogs for a chance at their stockings:

Quilting Dreams
Tangos Treasures

Jane's fabric and quilting

Gingerbread snowflakes

Cloth to creation

Quilting dreams

I recently ordered some new patterns for crocheted novelty scarves. I picked these up from Crochet Village over on Etsy.

I love cute scarves. I bought this pack because of Santa Clause and the mittens.

I love all of these.

I think the penguins in this pack are cute. I received permission from Crochet Village to sell the finished scarves in my shop. If there is one that you would like to own, let me know and I can make one up for you.

Look at all these other cuties I saw in their shop! I just might need to place another order for these guys.

A little Christmas Shopping

2010-12-03T11:16:00.000-05:00

*If you are here looking for the stocking give away go to this post*

Rob and I were discussing Christmas presents yesterday. Normally we do not buy for each other but this year since the big kids (22,19) are adults and we just have Robbie (11) to concentrate on, we decided it was time to treat each other. Rob knows I have wanted a Mother's ring since the big kids were toddlers. My Grandmother had one and I have always loved it. I have realized over time that a ring is not practical for me though so I have been looking at necklaces instead.

Now, I love Rob dearly and he tries very hard to buy me something that I really want or need but sometimes he misses. It's partly my fault because I have a tendency to say out loud when he is around "Oh, I like that" or "isn't that pretty". It's not that I want those things, I just think they are nice or pretty. So I decided that I had better be involved in picking out my Christmas present.

I did a little internet searching and found a nice Mother's necklace that works well for me. I found a shop called Things Remembered that has many wonderful pieces of jewelry.

With a quick search I found this:

It has a modern feel to me with the circle piece and the tree. They allow you to engrave both sides of the circle piece. On one side I chose the three kids names- Justin, Mandy, Robbie. On the other side I went with A Mother's Love is Forever. Our family tree will have 5 birthstones.

It also comes with a free filigree box:

I was being cheap and didn't have the top of the box engraved. Plus, I wasn't sure what I wanted engraved. If I decided I want something on the box I can take it to a local jeweler and have it engraved later.

I know what I am buying Hubby for Christmas I just need to go to the store and pick it up. I can't tell you what it is because sometimes Rob is sneaky and visits my blog.

2010 Stocking Give Away

2010-12-01T00:05:00.111-05:00

Today is the day you have been waiting for. Maybe not but it's here anyways. Today launches the 2010 Stocking Give Away!!

For a list of participating blogs either check out the give away page or look below at Mr. Linky. If you are a participating blog please add your give away post link to Mr. Linky below. I will add your blog to the give away page as soon as I can.

For my blog all readers including international are welcome to enter. Each blog participating will give you their specifics. The give away will run from December 1st thru December 8th. On December 9th I will announce the lucky winners. Yes, I did say winners. There will be a grand prize winner and two runner up winners. I bought two stockings and made one and then couldn't decide which one to use so I decided to just give them all away!!

This stocking will go to the grand prize winner.

Measures 17" from top of stocking to heel
Top of stocking is 7" wide
Foot of stocking is 11" wide
Loop measures 3.5"

This stocking is large enough to fit many fun goodies.

I love this fabric.

This stocking will include this quilt kit. This kit has the fabric for the front, the back and the binding. All you need to add is the batting. The finished quilt measures 18.5" X 18.5". If you would like to make it bigger than a wall hanging you could always add a couple borders. Or you could just use the fabric for something else.

I am also including this pair of holiday socks. I love these socks. I don't actually wear them but I do make sock monkeys out of them.

I will also be including a few other items that I am not posting pictures of. I think it is fun to have a few surprises.

front

This stocking will be for one of the runners up. I will be including a special tuck in with this stocking also.

back

I found this at a local thrift store. It is a knit stocking but it doesn't look handmade. There is a spot on the inside where it looks like someone cut off the tag. You can see it in the first picture if you click on it to make it larger. Even if it is a commercial stocking I love these knit stockings. I have a few patterns to make some but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. You know how you buy patterns and then never make anything from them? I do that alot.

2nd runner up stocking

I also picked up this felt stocking yesterday while Robbie and I were out doing some Christmas shopping. Of course this stocking will have a goodie or two inside also.

So what hoops do you have to jump thru to win one of these stockings? None actually. Any nice comment will do. If you want to tell me your favorite Christmas carol that would be fun. I've always loved Silent Night but I also enjoy singing Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with the kids.

If you want to post about this give away on your blog that would be wonderful too.

Not to alarm anyone but Christmas is 24 days away. How are you doing with your Christmas crafting?

**We had a problem with a couple of the links but they are fixed now**

***give away has ended***

November's reindeer

2010-11-30T02:00:00.021-05:00

This month's theme over at YOE is reindeer. My partner was Sherry. I went a little cutesie this month. I crocheted a couple ornaments. Then I found the bead snowmen ornament kit and thought they would be nice ornaments so I made a couple of them. I also found the reindeer bag as a kit and thought it would be sweet to hold everything. Sherry has some younger kids and grandkids so I thought the reindeer craft kits would be fun. Next month is elves. I already have one ornament done.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the stocking give away!!

Mu Rug Swap Spoiler Alert

2010-11-29T02:00:00.013-05:00

Aunt Pitty Pat is hosting a Mug Rug Swap over on her blog. When Aunt Pitty Pat holds swaps there are always a few people who are from Facebook or who don't have a blog. I think my partner is one of those people.

We were to make a mug rug 6" X 10" or somewhere around there. I chose to use one of my English Paper pieced hexagons on the red background. It looks like Christmas but can be left out longer if my partner likes. We also needed to include a favorite recipe (chocolate chip cookies), a candy cane (cherry) to stir with, coffee/tea/cocoa, and a mug. My mug has cocoa in it plus I included 3 packs of coffee. I also included a gingerbread house clay ornament I bought.

I used this fun Santa fabric for the back. I love the peppermint binding fabric.

These mug rugs are fun to make. I actually have 3 or 4 more waiting to be finished.

Raw Cookie Dough Balls

2010-11-28T02:00:00.021-05:00

This is what I was making after Thanksgiving Dinner. I already spent most of the day in the kitchen so I figured I may as well spend some more lol. I made the balls a week or so ago and they were in the freezer. All I needed to do was dip them in the chocolate.

I found the recipe here. I used these candy wafers to cover the cookie dough balls. I love how easy it is to use these wafers. Just melt them in the microwave and you're ready to go. I bought these at A.C.Moore last year around Christmas I believe. I kept them in a dark cabinet away from the heat and they are still fine. My guys say they taste like Andes Mints. I also bought a bunch of other colors/flavors but we used them making Oreo Balls earlier this year.

New addition to the family

2010-11-27T12:05:00.001-05:00

Jane had a sale recently in her shop. Looks like it's still going on. If you love 30's repro fabrics now is the time to stock up. I ordered 30 fat quarters. Jane said in her listing if you order 30 you will get one of each with no duplicates. There are some adorable prints in this stack. I'm almost tempted to order another bundle.

I'm thinking about making a Dresden Plate quilt with these. I just need to decide on a background color. Do you think solid pastels would work?

Or maybe butterflies or wonky stars :)

Mish Mash

2010-11-26T02:00:00.000-05:00

I have wanted an immersion blender for some time now. I recently became a happy owner and tested it out. That orange glop you see is actually some delicious butternut squash soup. It's just a bit thick but still yummy. I didn't have a recipe. I just winged it like I usually do. I sweated some onions, carrots, celery and garlic until the onions were soft. I added in 3 white potatoes and a medium size butternut squash. Both were pealed and cut into 1" cubes. I covered them with chicken broth and brought it to a boil. Once it came to a boil I turned the heat down to a simmer and let it go until the potatoes were soft. It took about 45 minutes. Then I took the immersion blender to it and made it smooth. I had a bowl for lunch and put the rest in the freezer. It will be great for quick dinners at work with a piece of hearty bread.

I also made faux banana ice cream and faux mango ice cream. For the fake ice cream you chopped up your fruit and place it in the freezer. After it is frozen you use the immersion blender to chop up the fruit until smooth. It comes out cold and creamy just like ice cream. It's great for me because of my milk allergy plus it's healthier than ice cream.

I also received this little package in the mail this week. Val sent these out to all the participants in the YOE. The card says not to open until Christmas. I'm trying to be good and wait but I don't know if I will make it.

I also finished the main portion of the cupcake scarf. It just needs the embellishments. Plus, I am waiting on customer approval of the colors.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-25T02:00:00.021-05:00

This is the first year that our Daughter won't be with us for Thanksgiving. She will be at Fort Jackson, SC with the rest of her Platoon.

If she can't have Momma's turkey she is thinking about having Burger King lol. Actually the Soldiers will all be served a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner by the higher ranking officers I believe. When she comes home for Christmas we will have a big dinner and celebrate all the Holidays.

I saw this image and thought it was cute. I've seen similar ones with pumpkins but never a turkey.

This is what Rob will be doing most of the day. I plan on doing a little crafting in between snacking. I'm sure Robbie will be playing video games.

I would like to wish each and everyone of you a Happy Thanksgiving!! If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving then I want to wish you a wonderful Thursday.

Christmas strings

2010-11-24T02:00:00.014-05:00

I wasn't going to join anymore swaps this year but I felt drawn to this one. This swap is being hosted over at Quilting Around The World. I whipped these up on Saturday. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon. I was determined to make all 24 in one day and I didn't stop until there were all sewn. I planned subs for dinner so I didn't have to worry about feeding anyone. I like sewing days like that.

Scarves....DONE!

2010-11-23T02:00:00.024-05:00

I finished all 6 of the scarves from my to do list. I was going to give them as Christmas gifts but now I'm not sure. I'm not sure if the crew that I was making these for wants/needs/uses scarves. I might put them in the shop and stop worrying about it.

I also went out and bought some things for my Stocking. The first is coming soon and I want to be prepared. I found some great deals and it isn't even Black Friday yet.

We've lost Santa

2010-11-22T02:00:00.001-05:00

http://find-santa.blogspot.com/

WIN a shopping spree in Santa's Handmade workshop !

Artfire is a site where artisans from all over our planet get together and sell their beautiful handmade items.
We are now running a contest so you can go do some serious Holiday shopping FOR FREE !
Help us find Santa and win some great prizes !

Golf club covers

2010-11-21T02:00:00.015-05:00

I have been making Viking Hats for a couple years now. I have one customer that has ordered many baby hats from me over the last year or so. She has a company and I believe she purchases these hats for the new babies of the employees and customers. Recently she asked me if I could make some golf club covers using the Viking hat design. These are what I came up with.

I think they came out fun. They are definitely a novelty item. All I see when I look at them is a cactus though. I keep picturing them in green lol.

I love the challenge of working a bit out of my norm. Another item crossed off my to do list. See, it wasn't too bad of a list, right?

Happy Halloween

2010-11-20T02:00:00.010-05:00

I know Thanksgiving is next week but here I am still enjoying Halloween. I joined the Halloween block swap over at Aunt Pitty Pat's again this year. These are the blocks I received this year. I made the candy corn one. I think everyone did a wonderful job!

In the mail

2010-11-19T02:00:00.009-05:00

I was very lucky and one a copy of the new 100 blocks book over at Antler Quilt Design. I bought the first volume and while there are 100 wonderful blocks not many of them called out to me. With volume 2 I found more than half of the blocks were ones that I wanted to make. This is a wonderful book to pick up if you have the opportunity.

I won this book on Sunday. Sent Doug my address on Monday. Received my book on Wednesday. Amazing!! It came right from QuiltMaker.

I also received this book last week. I ordered it from Amazon after seeing it on someone's blog. There are lots of fun and quick projects in this book. I really enjoy hand sewing and working with felt. I saw several patterns in here that I want to make.

Thrift Shopping

2010-11-18T02:00:00.000-05:00

After the doctor's on Monday I rewarded myself with a trip to the thrift store. I knew I wanted to pick up a couple golf clubs so I can test out my golf club cover pattern. The golf clubs were only $1 so I grabbed a wood and a putter. Good thing they were marked because I know almost nothing about golf. At this thrift store if you want to use a credit/debit card you need to purchase a minimum of $10. I did have some cash in my wallet but of course I wanted to wander around and see what else they had since I hadn't been there in awhile.

I like to browse the pillow case section. They call it pillowcase but what they put there are the covers you use to make throw pillows. I found the one realistic duck pillow case and then the 6 country duck covers in the lower left. The country duck covers are all double so there is 2 ducks on each. That gives me 12 ducks to make a quilt with.

I also picked up some fabric and a cute wooden reindeer. I found a knit stocking (commercially made because I can see where they cut off the tag inside) that I liked. I might use this as my stocking for the Stocking give away next month.

See those two scary pillows in the back? I think they are the kind that come with those scary looking couches from back in my childhood. They look like they are in pretty good shape. I squeezed them and they felt new inside. What I plan on doing is removing the covers and make new fun, funky and bright covers for them. I have been wanting throw pillows for the couch but I always forget to look at pillow forms when I am out.

I bought all this for just over $15 I believe. Not too bad.

Lighthouse at Sea

2010-11-17T02:00:00.008-05:00

This is Hetty's Row Robin quilt so far. It needs one more row and it will be done. I made the lighthouse row on the top.

*Another thing crossed off the to do list.

Couple Scarves

2010-11-16T02:00:00.011-05:00

This rainbow scarf is a toddler length. I bought one skein of this yarn a couple years back because I love the colors. It sat in the yarn stash for a long time. I found it again recently and decided to whip up a quick scarf.

I found this yarn the other day at Walmart. I've always liked blue and yellow together. I crocheted this one sideways so the colors wouldn't line up exactly like they do when you crochet side to side.

That's 2 of the 6 scarves I'm hoping to get done.

A bit of crochet

2010-11-15T02:00:00.035-05:00

This is the afghan I am working on for Robbie. I made one for Rob a couple years ago when he was in the hospital and Robbie loves to snuggle up in it in our bed. I took him to A.C.Moore and let him choose the colors. I love the two blues he chose but he also chose a forest green. I was a bit concerned about how they would work together but decided that if Robbie wants them then they look great together. Now that it is getting bigger I find that it is OK. Of course I would have chosen black instead of green but at least it is a dark green so it works fine. This is a great project to work on at night while watching TV.

October Owls Received

2010-11-14T02:00:00.025-05:00

My partner for October over at YOE was Niki. Niki sent this cute little bag full of treats.

First, this adorable card.

There is a sweet paper butterfly on the inside of the card. Niki also sent some goodies from Stitchin' Heaven. Niki takes care of their blog. There is a hand sanitizer pen, a regular pen, and a pen light. Hey, I just noticed a theme there lol.

Her daughters helped her make these sweet fabric owls. I love the eyes on these guys. When I receive swap packages in the mail I always show Hubby what's inside. He was crazy about these little owls. I can never tell what is going to interest him.

Niki also added some fabric. You can never go wrong with fabric. Love the clocks. Thanks Niki!!

Stocking Give Away Update and To Do List

2010-11-13T02:16:00.006-05:00

The little guy over there on the right is telling me there are only 42 days left until Christmas. Yikes! Are you ready? Have you finished making all the gifts on your list? I'm not stressing....yet. This year I decided to have some back up ideas in case I didn't finish (or start) the gifts on my list.

I need to make my stocking for the Stocking Give Away. Plus, I also need to do a little shopping to fill the stocking with goodies. The give away will run from December 1st - December 8th by popular vote.

I seem to have a long to do list that just keeps getting longer. I thought I would put my list here so I can keep myself accountable for actually checking things off. We'll see how well that works.

In no particular order:

- Make mug rug for swap DONE
- Put back on felt Advent Calendar
- Make Hetty's row for the Row Robin DONE
- Make Barb's row for the Row Robin
- Make 3 crocheted Viking Hat golf club covers DONE
- Decide on a pattern and make blocks for 3 X 6 Bee
- Make stocking for give away
- Buy things to put in stocking for give away DONE
- Write pattern for knit version of Viking hat
- Finish quilt for Great Niece
- Make another batch of hot cocoa for gift giving DONE
- Buy coffee mugs to go with hot cocoa
- Cut 10" foundation squares for QOV string blocks DONE
- Finish crocheted cupcake scarf needs embellishments
- Start and finish Jacob's quilt
- Start and finish Nathan's quilt
- Make November ornament for YOE swap DONE
- Make December ornament for YOE swap
- Crochet 6 scarves DONE
- Work on Robbie's afghan
- Wedding quilt for Chris and Carrie
- Thank you tote bag

So....how many hours are in a day? LOL

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T09:33:00.000-05:00

A big heartfelt thank you to all of those who have served and are serving to keep our Country free.

My Grandfather served in the Navy and now our Daughter serves in the Army. I am one very proud Momma.

Family Day and Graduation Day

2010-11-09T02:00:00.083-05:00

This is Robbie's "why are you taking my picture you crazy Momma" look. :) Looking at this picture I can tell this is when he started to get sick. Mandy had a horrible cold while we were there and she managed to pass it on to all of us. Rotten Kid!

This is Mandy's group that graduated from Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) on October 29th, 2010. There are 4 Platoons. Mandy is in 2nd Platoon which is the second group from the left. When we went out to find her after the Family Day presentation I had to wait for Robbie to spot her. Everyone looked the same and there were people everywhere looking for their kids too.

This is the child that has always been walking away from us. She has always been trying to grow up faster than we wanted. She has always wanted to go faster and farther than everyone else. She pushes herself hard to get what she wants and gets it too. Mandy said BCT was fun even though she was sick or sore most of the time she was there. She did a great job at everything she did. I wouldn't have expected anything less from our little go getter.

Mandy was glad to get out of her dress blues and into some comfy clothes. These are the first civilian clothes she was able to wear in about 10 weeks. Of course she could only wear them in the hotel room. When we went out she had to dress up like a soldier again.

Here's Dad trying to figure out what went wrong with the camera. He taped the Family Day presentation but the disc must have been bad because it was blank when we went to look at it. Very disappointing.

Of course Mandy had to get some internet time in too. In this picture you can see how red her face is. She was running a nice temperature for the two days we were there.

The one thing Mandy wanted was to get some good food while we were there. The poor thing hardly ate because she didn't feel well.

Of course no matter how sick she is, there is always room for Skittles. The bed in our hotel room was humongous. It was a king size bed but it had such a thick/deep mattress. Rob was thrilled because he could just slide right into bed. For me, I had to climb up into bed because it was too high. The mattress was comfy just too high for me.

This couch pulled out for Robbie to sleep on. It was ugly but pretty comfortable.

"Really Mom, another picture?" At least this one she doesn't look too sick. Every time she took off her dress uniform she hung it up neatly on hangers in the closet. Such a good Soldier.

This is a picture of Mandy saying the Army thing....Huuup or however it's spelled lol. Other than the trash in the background that I just noticed, I like this picture. Hotels give you a place to eat but then give you a teeny tiny garbage can.

Here are all the Soldiers that graduated that day. They all had to sit there and not move or smile or talk at all. It felt like it was over an hour that they sat there like that. There were parents/family taking pictures and flashes going off all the time. I would have had a very hard time sitting still.

This is on Graduation Day. All the Soldiers were seated alphabetically. Luckily, Mandy was on the end of a row so I could snap this lovely picture. Doesn't she look miserable?

They had a great band playing while we were waiting. Of course we did choose the seats diagonally across from them. I think we lost a little more of our hearing that day lol.

Each Soldier had a moment to stand on stage and state their name and where they are from. Poor Mandy could barely speak.

Then on the way out they all sang a cadence about the Drill Sergeants. Basically it went along the lines of Drill Sergeant why don't you leave me alone, why don't you let me go home. Everywhere I go Drill Sergeant there you are. It was very cool.

We ordered the Graduation DVD and it will be here in the usual 6-10 weeks. If I can figure out how to get it from the DVD to my computer and online I will post it for everyone to see.

Since Mandy was sick we didn't go out very much. Mostly we stayed in the hotel so she could take some medicine and rest. Even though we all came home sick it was well worth the trip to see our Daughter graduate and become a Soldier.

Mandy will be coming home for 2 weeks during Christmas and we can spoil her then. At least then we will have more time and we won't get lost driving around town...hopefully lol.

Oklahoma trip

2010-11-08T15:28:00.001-05:00

We started out our day at 5:30 am at the Fort Myers International Airport. Since Robbie was feeling goofy

I decided to join in.

Rob isn't feeling very goofy this morning though.

This was the first time Robbie or I had flown anywhere. It was a bit nerve wracking at first but we got used to it pretty quickly.

I believe this was the view before we landed at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. I soon learned that I do not care for taking off or landing lol. Flying is definitely much faster than driving though.

We had a 3.5 hour layover in Dallas so we grabbed something to eat. We found a BBQ place and thought we would try it out. These two plates (mine and Robbie's) plus 2 drinks cost $14. Neither Robbie nor I finished our food because it was nasty. On our flight home we were told that Cousin's BBQ is the worst place to eat at the airport. Lesson learned. We ate Pizza Hut on the way home :)

Since the BBQ wasn't good Robbie and I decided to hit Natalie's Candy Store conveniently located at our gate. This was Robbie's first time trying Rock Candy. He had a hard time getting used to the string but he was happy to get a soda and some candy.

Of course getting up early and flying all day wears a little guy out. We grabbed some Wendy's for dinner and Robbie crashed right afterwards.

More tomorrow....

Another Go! give away

2010-11-06T14:56:00.000-04:00

Lavender Ridge is hosting an Accuquilt Go! give away. Head on over and try your luck.

I'm feeling fidgety

2010-11-03T15:43:00.000-04:00

Do you ever get in a mood where you just want to change everything about your house? We don't plan on staying here for too much longer (hopefully) so there is no sense in redecorating but I still have that itch.

I've been doing some online window shopping for the imaginary house in my head lol. Today I have been working on my imaginary kitchen. I've always been a fan of the drop leaf table. Have you done any shopping over at the CSN Stores? They have all kinds of items.

I was thinking this table would be great in a kitchen. You could put it right up against the wall in this position. Then you could pull it out and open up both leaves when you need something bigger.

October over at YOE

2010-11-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

My October partner for the YOE swap was Niki. I'm still busy unpacking from our trip so I'm just using the same post from YOE over here.

I'm pretty sure Niki has received her October package so I am going to go ahead and post what I sent.

Here is the basic package. I had to take a quick picture at night before I ran to the post office.

Niki said she collects rubber stamps so I added a few to her package. The two larger ones in the back were given to me awhile ago. I'm not a rubber stamper so they just sat in a box. The cute little owl one in the front I found at AC Moore. Hubby and I looked all through the store looking for owl items. Eventually we found the stamp and some fun little stickers in the scrapbooking section. I very seldom wander in that section. I'm not very good at scrapbooking. You can also see the little owl ornies I made.

I also knitted this owl cup cozie. It is supposed to be for a disposable coffee cup but it came out a bit loose. It fits nicely on several of my drinking glasses though.

I love making these friendship totes so I made one to hold all of Niki's goodies. Hope you enjoyed your package Niki.

Happy Halloween to those that celebrate. We came back early this morning from a short trip so we are just going to stay home and watch the live Ghost Hunters Halloween episode and relax before the new week/month starts tomorrow.

We're leaving on a jet plane....

2010-10-26T06:00:00.049-04:00

Rob, Robbie, and I are getting on a plane tomorrow morning for a short vacation. We are leaving our oldest to take care of the house and the dog. We are going to Oklahoma to see this sweetheart graduate from Army Basic Training:

Doesn't she look so young?

Mandy has worked very hard at BCT (Basic Combat Training) and is graduating on Friday. Ft. Sill has Family Day on Thursday. Mandy's Platoon earned Honor Platoon and they are the ones performing the demonstrations on Family Day. After the ceremony we get to take her off Base until 9pm. Graduation is 9-10 am on Friday and we get to take her off Base again until 9 pm. She is flying out to Ft. Jackson, SC sometime on Saturday. We fly home on Saturday.

Expect to see lots of pictures when we get home. I think we are going at a fun time. The town is having a walk through town to see all the changing leaves. They are also having a trick-or-treat thing in the center of town Friday evening. There are a few museums we want to visit too. Mandy has a list of things to do also. Her first priority is to go out and eat lol. The poor thing has been "starving" for 10 weeks. Of course the Army feeds them well but they burn through those calories so fast. They get 3 meals a day but most times they only have 5-10 minutes to eat. She wants to sit and eat and talk for as long as she wants. Plus, she wants soda and candy because they have only had 2 sodas and one candy bar in 10 weeks. I guess if you are going to defend our Country you should at least get to drink a soda and eat some candy every once in awhile.

New quilt kit

2010-10-25T09:59:00.000-04:00

I recently won a fun quilt kit from Janet. Janet lives on a ranch in South Dakota and posts some gorgeous photos. This quilt pattern takes just 3 yards of fabric to make. A quick and simple pattern but it makes a nice quilt. Janet also sent me a scissor keeper. She must have heard how often I misplace my scissors lol.

Another Go! Give away

2010-10-22T15:53:00.000-04:00

Have you won a Go! yet? Here's another chance for you if you haven't. Head on over to Irish Muses and toss your name in the hat.

After you enter take a look around. Micki has a wonderful blog!

Quilt center done

2010-10-18T02:00:00.025-04:00

I took the rectangles from this post and added some black squares (yes Di, my go to color lol) and came up with this:

Yes, it is upside down. Blogger thinks it's fun to flip photos every once in awhile.

As you can tell I didn't plan the placement of colors. I just grabbed and sewed. This top is long enough at 60" for a lap quilt but it is only 36" wide so it will need some side borders and probably a narrow top and bottom border too. Still working on a plan for the borders.

Well, I'm back to work tonight. Booooo!!! Doc says the shoulder is good to go even though it still hurts. He says the pain will ease over time and I won't hurt it by going back now. More Booooo. Since I am a pro at this shoulder stuff I know the pain will ease up in a few weeks. It will take a year or more to completely heal. I just don't want to go back to work :( I would rather stay home and quilt but you have to do what you have to do.

Things around our house will be weird for a bit though. I normally work 5pm-1:30 am. While I was out they decided to put me on third shift when I return so now I work 10:30 pm-7 am. Not sure when I will fit everything in or where I will find some quilting time but I'm sure I will find a new routine. Should be interesting...

Still Playing

2010-10-15T02:00:00.028-04:00

While sorting and cutting my scraps I have been adding pieces to my strip bin. Eventually, I would like to have at least one large string quilt. There's just something about a scrappy string quilt that appeals to me.

I noticed I had alot of black strings in the bin so I decided to use them as the center strip. I didn't pay any attention to the width of the strips. I love how using black as the center strip adds to the depth of the blocks. The blocks are 6.5". These 18 blocks took me about 2 hours so that's not too bad. Now to make a whole bunch more...

More playing

2010-10-14T02:00:00.028-04:00

Yesterday I played with some Tufted Tweets by Laurie Wisbrun. I won this fabric (fat quarter pack) a few months ago but have been hesitant to cut into it. I was waiting for the "perfect" project. I've been thinking about this fabric for about a week now. I finally decided on a pattern and started cutting.

I used the 3.5" X 6.5" die to cut all the fat quarters. I precut the fabric so it was 3.75" wide. Very little fabric waste.

I love this fabric line. The colors are so rich and the designs are fun.

The Go and I have been scrappin'

2010-10-13T02:00:00.027-04:00

**Have you voted on when to hold the Christmas Stocking Give away?**

I was fidgety the other day. I wanted to play in the sewing room but I didn't really feel like working on any of the projects I had going. So I decided to play with the Go a bit. I have plenty of bits and pieces of fabric that need to be cut into usable sizes. When I first started sewing clothes and bags (this was before I fell in love with quilting) I saved all the odd shapes that were left after cutting out patterns. Instead of being organized (because I'm not) I just tossed all the scraps in these tubs.

I have these storage tubs that are full of fabric. The one on the left has fat quarters and yardage with a small container of scraps. The other 3....scraps big and small plus some yardage that is of questionable quality/content. The questionable fabrics were given to me.

I love my sneakers :) The laces are pink and the soles are also pink. They are Ecko and come above the ankle.

This cabinet has my recent purchases. Lots of yardage. The top shelf has my Samoan fabric and the bottom shelf has what is left of my I spy fabrics. This cabinet is OK and doesn't need much cleaning just organizing.

This rolling cart has fat quarters and bits and pieces too.

I cut some 2.5" strips with the Go. This strip die is alot easier to use than I expected. I was worried I wouldn't lay the fabric right or the strips would come out crooked or uneven. I had no troubles and all the strips came out fine. Question for you...other than jelly rolls or honey buns, how do you store your strips? For now I guess I will buy one of those shoe box plastic tubs and keep them in there.

I cut a bunch of triangles also. I really want to make one of those 1000 triangle quilts. The Go cutter will make it alot easier.

Then I cut up a bunch of HST. These dies are very easy to use. You just lay your bits of scrap down on the die and roll away. I did have some waste but I didn't mind. I had some odd shapes of fabric to start with. If I didn't use the Go to cut these HST and triangles I would have probably tossed the scraps instead of having to deal with them.

Candy Table Runner

2010-10-12T02:00:00.029-04:00

A little while back (last month) I won a table runner kit from Zlaty. I was waiting for the shoulder to heal enough to use the rotary cutter. Plus, there is always another project that just calls my name. On Sunday I decided that it was time.

Zlaty chose the fabrics for me so I didn't even have to worry about which fabrics to use. I LOVE quilt kits! This little runner measures 23" X 15" and is Zlaty's first written pattern. It is a wonderful pattern and very easy to follow. The size is also nice for a sewing machine mat or some over sized place mats. I think the next time I make it I will make two or three candy sections and make the runner longer.

Zlaty sent enough fabric to use for the back and binding also. I love the striped binding. Thanks Zlaty!!

Last one

2010-10-11T09:47:00.000-04:00

This is the last of 3 laptop sleeves that I wanted/needed to make for our trip at the end of the month. This one is for Rob (Hubby). I was going through some big plastic tubs of fabric the other day and found this forgotten fabric. It was actually partially sewn into another project that I decided to abandon because this fabric has more of an upholstery feel. It works great for this project though.

The inside is a nice light blue color. This fabric is too thin to use as anything but a lining. Two fabrics that don't work well on their own work well together :) Now on to the next project!

Laptop Sleeve # 2

2010-10-10T02:00:00.075-04:00

This laptop sleeve is for Robbie. I bought these flame fat quarters at Walmart a couple months ago and thought they would be fun for a boy.

I used my Go and 2.5" strip die to cut my fat quarters. Before I bought my Go I would cut my strips with my rotary cutter. I never could get the hang of properly folding the fabric so I always had the dreaded V in the center of my strips. No Vs this time. I love this die :)

This time I just went with my own simple design. The top flap closes with one center piece of velcro for the impatient child.

I used a fun fabric for the inside. Last year I bought a bunch of panels of this fabric on Ebay. They are meant to be used as a costume/vest but I love the vampires and don't plan on using it as intended. Eventually it might end up in a wall hanging or quilt or both since I have a few panels. Now to figure out which fabric to use for Hubby's laptop sleeve.

The front of this laptop sleeve is quilted. I thought I would show you what I use to trim up these types of quilted pieces.

The first time I trimmed a piece with batting I used my regular rotary cutter and mat. Since I lay the piece batting side down, when I cut all the batting fibers get stuck in the groove on the mat caused by the rotary cutter. The batting bits are hard to clean off the mat and I also think it wears out the mat quicker. So to make my mat last longer I use an old mat when I have to trim or cut batting. If you click the picture you can see where there are strips of white batting stuck in the mat.

If you click on the picture you will also see that my rotary cutter says paper on it. When JoAnn's had a 50% off sale on rotary cutters I went and bought another cutter and some new blades. I have two identical cutters now. One I use for cutting fabric and the other is for cutting batting and paper. Hopefully this will extend the life of my cutter and mat.

Rags to Riches

2010-10-09T02:00:00.165-04:00

This is along post. If you are looking to find out whether or not I believe the Go! rag dies are a good investment, scroll down to the last paragraph. If you have the time and patience to read this whole post thank you! Hopefully you will get a laugh and learn a little about the Go! cutter.

I've always liked the look of rag quilts and have wanted to make one for awhile now. I've been hesitant to try because I've heard how hard it is on your hands to snip all those seams. That was until I won 3 dies from Pat and Accuquilt. Of course I chose a rag die-the 5.25" rag die. I was thinking it would be good for purses as well as baby quilts. Of course I have no sense of measurement and my mind didn't click on how small 5.25" really is. I did manage to make a couple baby quilts though.

I found all the flannel I had in my stash and started cutting it up on my Go!. This is the front of the boy version pre-washing.

This is the back. This flannel is left over from lounge pants I have made for the kids in the family (nieces, nephews, grandkids, and kids).

This is the front of the girl version pre-wash.

and the back.

Since I had never made a rag quilt by hand I thought I would do a comparison between the Go! and doing one by hand. This skull version is all cut and ragged by hand. This is the front pre-washed.

Here is the back. Even though I cut these squares the same size, this one turned out a bit larger. I ended up making the fringe smaller on this one. Did I plan it that way? Of course not. This is just the result of me running full speed with an idea and not paying close attention to the details. It worked out fine though.

Here are all three after going through the washer/dryer once. I was going to take them to a laundromat but the two that we have aren't close to my house plus they are not in the nicest area of town. I ended up taking a chance and threw them in my washer and dryer at home. Now I know why they say not to do that. Instead of having the washer drain into our septic, we have a hose that runs from the washer to the backyard. At the end of the hose there was a good size pile of threads from the flannel. Very noticeable from a distance. Plus, inside the washer there was an abundance of threads. I wiped out as many as I could but when my son washed his clothes next, they were all over them. Luckily, they came off in the dryer so he (I) didn't have to use a lint roller on his work clothes.

The skull one will be going in the shop once I edit the photos and the other two will be going to Victoria's Bumble Bean Basics. I just need to get them packaged up and in the mail.

I thought I was going to be making a post telling you not to buy the rag dies. After I made both versions I changed my mind. Let me walk you through my process and then you can decide for yourself.

This is a picture of the boy (left) blocks and the girl (right) blocks cut with the Go!.

This is what the 5.25" rag die looks like. My thoughts are based on this die. I do think the 8.5" die would be easier to use but I don't own that die. If you click on the picture you should be able to see all the threads stuck in the blade slots. I was cutting 3 layers of flannel with each pass. After every other pass I was having to stop and clean the threads out of the grooves. I had a very hard time cranking each pass. Now if you are a regular reader you might remember that I have had 3 shoulder surgeries (2 this year) so I know that is a factor. I do think it would be easier to cut cotton fabric versus flannel. I might try that at a later date.

This is what my mat looks like after cutting out two baby quilts. This was a brand new mat before I started. Each baby quilt is in a 9 X 9 pattern which means I cut a total of 324 individual squares. Since the die cuts 2 squares at a time and I was using 3 layers of fabric, this means that I ran the die through the cutter 54 times. That took me 6 hours to do. I'm sure that is much slower than most people but I spent alot of time picking those darn threads out! If my sewing room had a window I would have thrown that die out it more than once.

I did flip and turn and rotate the mat with every cut but it still looked like this when I was done cutting. There are chunks missing from this mat. If I decide to use this die again I will need to buy another mat. This one is no longer usable.

This pile of flannel is the big pieces that were left from my starting stack of flannel.

This pile is all the pieces that went in the trash. Both of these piles are from both the boy and girl quilts.

These are the squares that I cut using my rotary cutter. There are 81 green and 81 flame. It took me 10 minutes to cut these and I didn't want to throw anything out the window.

With this quilt I did start with yardage. The other 2 quilts were from yardage (2 different fabrics) and the other fabrics were mainly fat quarter size. This pile is of the leftovers that I decided to keep.

This pile is the bits that I threw out.

I had a hard time sewing the Go! squares together but I think that is because I handled them too much. The fringe was giving me a bit of trouble. Since I was playing with the layout the fringe loosened up and was flopping around. The skull squares went together as easy as you would expect them to. All the quilts took about the same amount of time to sew up. With the boy/girl quilt, once I had all the blocks sewn together I was done. The skull quilt still needed to be snipped. It took me 3 hours of almost constant snipping to get it ready for the wash. Within the first half hour I decided that the Go! rag die was definitely a good idea. I do not have those fancy rag scissors. I was just using a new pair of fabric scissors that had nice sharp tips. My fingers were sore and I was surprised at how sore my shoulders were.

In conclusions, if you have a little patience when picking out the threads from the die I think that the Go! rag dies are worth the investment. My recommendation is to see if any of your local quilt shops have the Go! or Studio cutters and try out their rag dies to see if it is something that would work for you.

2010 Stocking Give A-Way

2010-10-07T02:00:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned a bit ago I plan on having a stocking give a-way next month. I am going to make a stocking and fill it with goodies based on a theme. I thought it would be fun to have some other bloggers join in too. Everyone loves a give a-way right? It's fun to win but I also love to host give a-ways.

What I was thinking is that we do a give a-way towards the end of November. What I was wondering is how long we should hold it. One week or two? I put up a poll on the side bar so anyone interested can vote on the dates.

I tried several times to get the HTML for a button but it appears to be beyond my ability right now. At least I was able to make the picture with the writing on it :)

I also made a tab at the top of my blog to list everyone who is interested in participating. On the first day of the give away I will use Mr. Linky so everyone can link right up to their give away page.

Sound good? Did I forget anything? Oh, you need information about making stockings? I have a few links for you :)

http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/xmas_stocking/Christmas_stocking_pattern.html  great if you have a panel type fabric

http://www.bomquilts.com/Free-Christmas-Stocking-Quilt-Patterns.php  lots of different styles

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art38705.asp   lots more

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-your-own-holiday-stockings-710640/  different shapes

http://www.sewingweb.com/Projects/Stocking/   strip piece stocking

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/ss/xmasstocking_2.htm   easy

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/crafts/christmas-stockings-craft  Victorian

http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-stocking-tutorial.html  my favorite

http://www.connectingthreads.com/patterns/Homespun_Christmas_Stocking_Pattern__D991099.html

A Google search will give you lots of ideas.

Anything else? Oh yeah, your stocking can be store bought or hand made. Any size is fine. I have some stockings in my shop that you could purchase. Or, I am willing to exchange fabric for a stocking ;) You can give away an empty stocking if you wish but it would be more fun if you put something in it. Some themes you could use are Baby's First Christmas, Puppy or Kitty Love, sewing or quilting, food, kid's creativity, most anything goes. Just have fun.

Now, did I answer everyone's questions? If not, ask away and I will edit this post to include the questions and answers. OK, now go over to my sidebar and vote on the date you prefer. The date with the most votes wins.

RSISLANDCRAFTS

Another round of Viking hats

A few finishes

The List....the very, very long list

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Stocking Winner

traveling stash

Stocking give-away time !!!

Gobble Gobble!!

Stockings

Winner- - - - -

Pattern Give Away

traveling stash

Stockings for Kids

2011 Stocking Give Away

Flannel quilts

Strings

Rugs & Runners Workshop giveaway

Christmas in July

Directions? Who needs directions?

Happy Memorial Day

Pattern Winner

A new cute bag

Giveaway

Feeling spoiled

With a little help from my friends

Just One Star or two

Hoppy Easter!!

Phill-A-Me-Na Flamingo and I want to wish you and your family a very safe and Happy Easter!!

Food

Flashback and the famous

Row Robin

A little Easter shopping

Hello!

CSN Stores Winner

$40 CSN Give away

And the Winner is......

It's Monday again and a give away

It's all about me today

In Search Of...

Florine's Fabulous Boards for appliqué

Retail Therapy

Family photos

Samoan pouches

Christmas Blocks

Another gorgeous block received

3X6 Bee block

Still Here Just Napping

Snow Days for Soldiers

Surgery Day

A day of Rest

How I spent my Christmas

Look who I found

The Day After

Merry Christmas

Free Patterns

Barb's Neighborhood

Apple core die

3X6 Bee 4th Quarter

Mug Rug Received

Oh Deer Oh Deer

And the winners are.....

New scarf patterns in the mail

A little Christmas Shopping

2010 Stocking Give Away

November's reindeer

Mu Rug Swap **Spoiler Alert **

Raw Cookie Dough Balls

New addition to the family

Mish Mash

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Christmas strings

Scarves....DONE!

We've lost Santa

Golf club covers

Happy Halloween

In the mail

Thrift Shopping

Lighthouse at Sea

Mu Rug Swap Spoiler Alert