Mail, Blocks

What a glorious day we're having here today, I have the windows open to air the house out. It's so nice to have fresh air, instead of heating, I hope this is a sign of what's to come.
Saturday I received a lovely parcel from Australia, from Catherine for her Australia Day drawing. A lovely pattern for a quilter's retreat tote, 4 packets of Eucalyptus drops and a packet of Milk Bottle's (not photographed, already eaten), along with a lovely card with a Koala on the front. Thank you Katherine, I'm looking forward to having the time to put the bag together.

Friday I decided it was time to get the nine patches made for the swap I'm doing with Bren and get them into the post.

While I was in the sewing room on Saturday I was fiddling around with the embroidery blocks and the setting blocks, working out a layout. I have it in my mind, boy that's scary, I hope it stays there, otherwise I'm in trouble.

I also managed to get these trimmed down to size and started a few more.

Writing the pattern is going to be my biggest challenge, as I can be somewhat wordy at times, so I'm getting Bren to proof read it for me once it's done, and double check my math to make sure there won't be any boo boo's.

Libby has put out a challenge to show our ironing board covers after she read a blog where the writer apologised for her ugly one. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was this post. So here it is in all it's ugly glory.

Lovely ugly green patch sewn on to one end. I never buy ironing board covers, but choose to make my own out of what ever's on hand at the time. Even if they do need the odd patch attached they still last a lot longer than the store bought ones.
Spent yesterday afternoon in my sewing room ironing and folding fabric and cleaning, what a mess it was. Now at least I can see my cutting table and machine table and there's actually a floor in there.
Now it's time to mess it up a little, I think I'll have a play with some of the Civil War Blocks, and thank you to all the lovely ladies who pointed me in the right direction, regarding these blocks.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for stopping by and visiting with me.

Civil War Blocks & Batting Sale

Another freezing cold day here in Oklahoma... a good day to sit and applique the last of those leaves down on the border. I wanted to thank everyone for your extremely kind comments on my applique border. It's so nice to know that I'm doing it right, and I appreciate the comments from so many bloggers who's work I admire.
I received an email yesterday from a reader (Beth K) of my blog asking about how I go about marking my stitcheries ready to embroider. I wanted to let her know that I've tried to reply twice and each time I get a failure notice telling me her email address is not active. So I thought I'd answer her question here.
I use a blue erasable pen, but not the standard thick one. You can purchase a double ended pen, one end blue the other end purple. That's usually what I use, or if I can find them you can get a super fine blue pen, usually from Hancocks or other quilt stores, just not from Walmart or other large department stores. The other option would be to use a fine mechanical pencil. I hope that helps you Beth.

Yesterday Bren and I had a lovely phone chat with Darlene and we were chatting about the Civil War blocks that seems to have taken a lot of quilters interest lately. I'm still trying to decide between these two books.















I can purchase either of these books from Amazon for around $16 or from http://www.softexpressions.com/ for approx $32 for the book and cd that works with EQ. I've seen a photo of the Civil War Diary quilt, that Bren showed on her blog yesterday, but am yet to see the Love Letters quilt. If you have a photo, or know of where I can see a full sized photo I'd be most appreciative and you'd be helping me to make up my mind.
Lastly I wanted to let you all know that connecting threads
is having a 20% all batting sale at the moment.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for stopping by to visit with me.

Just a very quick post today, I should be finishing off my housework... but instead have been changing some of the leaves on the border I showed yesterday.
Margaret has the Spring sign-up for the 4 Season's Quilt Swap ready for anyone interested in joining in.
I'd like to introduce you to a new blogger, Karen. Please visit her and welcome her to blogging.

Happy Stitching.

Fun Weekend

What a fun weekend, It started early on Friday morning. One of the ladies from the guild picked me up around 7.45 am to take me to the quilt camp. There must have been at least 34 - 40 women in this huge room, chatting, sharing and sewing. Lots of quilts were started and finished, many new projects were started and ooohed and arrred over. Then there was me who didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but that's ok. I was happy to be there and get to know many of the women from the guild and make the little progress on my blocks that I did. I forgot all about photo's until I was packed up and ready to come home...ooops...


I mananged to get about 1/3rd of the blocks pieced for the new embroidery quilt, so that in itself was an acomplishment. Saturday I returned and we started the day off by doing a group project, The Jelly Bag from Bunny Hills Designs.

I made a few changes to the handles, added length and removed the ties and opted for a regular application. Now that I've made one, there are a couple of things I'd change, but on the whole I'm happy with it.

Apparently they always have a vendor at quilt camp, so of course I made sure I was armed with a few signed cheques...lol... and this is my small effort to save the US economy. Beiges, because my stash is lacking and the greens to add to my applique pile, good for leaves etc and the red and white, just because.

Look what was waiting for me when I got home on Saturday evening. Lovly mail from Kris at Oh Sew Cozy

Gorgeous Urban Indigo fat quarters and a yummy Fig Tree pattern. Thanks so much Kris.

This is what I worked on most of yesterday and all of last night. The first border for a quilt, another three to go... My gosh this hand applique seems to take forever, but I do so enjoy it. (not the best photo)

I've also been working on more blocks for the embroidery quilt, and so far it seems there's a tie for the name of the quilt.
Before I forget I just wanted to let Sharon and Kristie know that I haven't forgotten your pincushions. I had good intentions to have them in the post this weekend and then it just totally slipped my mind and I didn't remember until I got home on Saturday evening. So my apologies ladies, I'll have them in the post this weekend.

Marilyn very sweetly gave me this award last week, thank you Marilyn, I'm touched.

Now if you're still with me, congrats you've done well.... This is my 200th post and I had hoped to have something to show you as a giveaway, but alas other things have been keeping my hands busy. I do have a couple of ideas, but it will have to stay a surprise until I can get around to just doing more than thinking about it. So if you'd like to be in the draw for a little something, then leave a comment with either a valid blogger ID or a valid email address and I'll draw a winner, not sure when.....

Happy Stitching and thanks for stopping by to visit with me.

A Very Special Day

Today's a very special day, not only is it Valentine's Day but it's also my sons birthday. 29 years ago at 20 minutes past midnight he entered into the world, a tiny scrawny little thing that he was. To think that, that 6lb 7oz baby turned into a 6ft 4" man. I know he doesn't read my blog, but I wanted to wish him a happy birthday anyway. Happy Birthday Luke, luv ya heaps.

I phoned him yesterday, as offically it was the 14th in Australia yesterday while he was at work to wish him a happy birthday. No one at work knew about it, I suggest sending out a bulk email to all his work collegues, not a good idea mum. Well how about if I sing happy birthday loud enough for everyone to hear. He didn't think that was a good idea either.lol...kids.

I spent most of yesterday cutting fabric for the block swap that Bren and I are doing, and today I'll be getting the fabrics cut for the Urban Indigo quilt, ready to take with me tomorrow to the retreat.

Ruth suggested I take along a pavlova to the retreat for the pot luck, but I think I'd have trouble getting it out of the house, so instead I think I'll get out the trusty crockpot and whip something up that dh won't sulk over....

Both Tammy and Ruth Ann and a few others that I can't remember just at the moment have tagged me for 7 randon or weird things. As this has already done the rounds I won't post the rules or tag any of you, but I'll try and come up with seven things you don't already know.

1. When I was little we lived in a rural coastal area, the beach was five minutes walk from home and we had paddocks at the back of our property that had cows and horses grazing.

2. My brother and I used to go sailing in the summer with our dad, he used to build yachts as a hobby.

3. My father was a builder and he built the home by the beach . In the process of building that house I knocked down a stud and it fell on my foot and broke my big toe. I ended up with my leg in plaster up to my thigh.

4. Not long after that accident we went on our family holiday to Rotarura, famous for it's hot springs and bubbling mud. Guess who had to sit out of the pools....

5. Once I finished high school I worked as a nurses aid at a local private hospital, that's where I met the father of all my children, caring for his mother.

6. I then put myself through business college.

7. I made my first quilt when I was pregnant with Luke 30 years ago.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for all your encouragment on the quilt pattern venture. I've added a little poll at the top of the page.

Royal Mail & Bits and Pieces

A lovely parcel arrived this afternoon all the way from Wales. Thank you Andrea for the lovely bag and the yummy fat quarters. I'll have to find a special project for them, and I think you need to do a tutorial for the bag, it's just so cute.

The Saturday sewing time at the library was loads of fun, about 12 ladies turned up for the mystery. Hmm I wish I'd used fabrics that I had more of so I could have increased the size of the quilt when I got home. So instead I'll just add a couple of borders and use it as a little table topper.
This Thursday through to Sunday the quilt guild has a quilt camp. Somewhat like a retreat, the only difference is you don't sleep over, each person comes home at night. Probably because it's only 15 minutes away. I've decided I'll go along to that on the Friday and Saturday and see if I can get some concentrated work done on some of the ufo's....lol.... The other added bonus is there will be a vendor there with loads of discounted fabrics. Not sure my "sweetie" is too happy about that part of the weekend.....but I'm sure it will be fun. Pot Luck lunch and dinner, so I need to put my thinking cap on and come up with something that perhaps they haven't tried before.

Thank you for all your lovely encouraging words on my new embroidery blocks. Some of you asked if I was going to make the pattern available for sale once it was finished. To be honest I hadn't even thought about that until you asked. I've looked into copyright and have decided to take the plunge, so wish me luck, in the hopes I don't fall flat on my face.....lol.... This leads to a challenge for you all, the name of the quilt. All the blocks are based on 1Corinthians 13 verses 4 through 8, and sprinkled in with theses blocks that have already been designed, will be some embroidered quilting blocks. These blocks will be surrounded with pieced blocks using the Urban Indigo fabrics. The challenge is, come up with a name for the quilt that's appropiate and if I use your choice of name, then once the pattern is written up, you'll receive a free copy.

These are the lastest two completed.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for stopping by to visit with me.

1 Year Already

Well it seems I've missed my blogaversary...oops.... Having just looked back, my first post was on the 3rd of February last year, but as I'm only a couple of posts away from 200 I think I'll combine the two together. So stay tuned, there will be a giveaway coming.
I have to admit to being a slack blogger and not responding to your lovely comments over the last couple of posts, my apologies, but I've had other things on my mind. I'll try to do better.
Now a little progress has being happening here. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was going to try my hand at designing a stitchery quilt. After a lot of tweaking, and probably a little more to come I have the thirteen blocks drawn up and traced out. I sat and stitched the first block a couple of nights ago and have to say I'm happy with it's simplicity. While I was stitching, I was thinking about how I want these set, and what type of fabrics I'd like to use, and then I had one of those light bulb moments. Geesh two of those in a week.......and remembered I had a beautiful jelly roll that I purchased several weeks ago, Urban Indigo. Perfect for the look I wanted. What do you think?

(note to self, hide the ugly ironing board cover) I decided to try a different fabric for the stitching, and bought a yard of weavers cloth, I think I like it. (The basting stitch is my guide for where to trim the block).

Last night was guild, so I toddled along, and decided that if I want to get to know anyone here in my area, I needed to join in on some of the things they do. So today I spent a little time in the sewing room cutting fabrics for a mystery quilt sewing day tomorrow at the local library.

Believe it or not apparently what's in this little box is a quilt top. (notice the lovely pincushion, compliments of Darlene , gets used all the time ) , I've been rummaging through my stash trying to find fabrics to pull for this little quilt.
There are a couple of possibilities, but nothing that's jumping out and screaming choose me. I wanted to do the mini, which to me really isn't a mini at 27 inches square. So it looks like I'll have to go shopping, oh darn....lol...

Well time to finish packing the few things for the sewing day tomorrow.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for visiting, I do enjoy all your lovely comments and emails.

The Winners Are

It's that time, time to draw the winners for the pincushions. I was going to use dh, but as he's off working I went with the random number thingie.
These are the numbers
#15
#4
#7

Number 15 a blue chook for Mary Anne
Number 4 the other blue chook (I just love how this number came out) Red Geranium Cottage
Finally the apple number 7 Kristie

Ladies if you'll email me your mailing details please.
Thanks everyone for joining in on the fun and supporting our friend Sharon.

I'll be back later with an update.

Happy Stitching.

A Little Of Everything.

Oh I do like it when my postman brings nice soft parcels to my letterbox. Today was no exception. I wasn’t expecting anything special, then I opened the letterbox, and look what was inside. A lovely soft envelope all the way from Belgium. We all know that it had to have come from the very sweet Nadine, but then I thought, "How did she get my new address"? Rushed inside and look at the beauty that was carefully wrapped inside the envelope.

My Winter swap quilt, isn’t it just the most adorable little quilt you’ve ever seen? And I just adore snowmen. Thank you so much Nadine, I love it, from the adorable stitchery to the lovely teeny tiny hand quilting stitches to the lovely little cardinal sitting in the tree. I have a hanging rod so I’ll have to find somewhere to hang these little men, so that I can be reminded of sweet friends overseas.
My goodness 65 visitors for the giveaway so far, some which are new to me, so I’ve had fun browsing new quilty blogs. I’m trying to add the new blogs that are joining in on the giveaway as I come across them to the list below. So, keep an eye on that post for updates.
I don’t know what the weathers been like in other parts of the States, but here in Oklahoma we’ve had a couple of days of lovely warm sunshine. Yesterday we got up to 78F, so nice to have the windows and doors open to let in the fresh air, and the day before was just as hot. So nice in fact, that I decided it was just too good to be indoors, So I spent the afternoon out in the yard with my hubby. Today’s a totally different story, hmm back to winter with a chilly 37F…. Brr I found out how cold it was when I went to the letterbox in flip-flops….
There’s lots I could be doing in the sewing room, and plenty I could be doing in the way of hand work, but I had a thought yesterday, and when they come I have to grasp on tight to them, as they are few and far between….lol…. Anyway, I decided I’d have a crack at designing a stitchery series for a quilt. That was lots of fun, I just have a bit more tweaking to do and I’ll be ready to trace them off onto the fabric.
I’m plugging away at the applique, but don’t expect to see any results too soon, I’m hand appliquéing what would have been a machine-appliqued border and it’s taking forever, but oh I am so enjoying it. It’s so relaxing to sit in the evenings and watch it transform into a design.

Happy Stitching. Thanks for stopping by and I hope wherever you are you're staying warm.

The Giveaway's

It doesn't take much to get the ball rolling when one of our fellow quilters is hurting. I won't repeat what was said in yesterdays post, just to let you know that we now have four bloggers doing a little giveaway in support for Sharon.
If you'd like to have your name entered in any or all of them, then you need to visit each blog.
To go into the draw for the pincushions I'm offering please leave a comment on the previous post.
Vickie was the sweetie who started this off, visit with her and have a look at the sweet pincushions she has to offer.
Connie has also popped in a lovely pincushion, and last but certainly not least is Carey across the pond in Australia. She has a gorgeous little stitchery wall hanging for one lucky commenter. Kim has also joined in with a panel giveaway.
Monica is giving away a sweet little hand made needle book and a packet of embroidery needles.
Julia has 6 gorgeous Thimbleberries fat quarters.
Anne Interchangable Bag pattern from Ellen Medlock including Purse Frame.
Happy Stitching and thank you so much for showing your concern and love for our fellow bloggers and quilters.

Jumping In

Many of you read Sharon's blog and are aware of the "not so kind" comments that have flown her way recently about buying friendships with giveaways. Yesterday Vickie did a little post in support, and is offering three lovely pincushions. After a quick email to Vickie I've decided to do the same thing in support of Sharon. So these are the three little pincushions I'm offering in the giveaway.

Two blue chooks and a rosey red apple. If you'd like to go into the draw to own one of these, just leave a comment with a valid blogger ID or email address and I'll draw three names on Feb 8th. Please feel free to join in on this somewhat different RAK and lets show our support to our fellow quilters, that we are just a group of women who enjoy gift giving without expecting anything in return. Time to get off my soap box.

Happy Stitching.

Snow Days

We've had a light covering of snow here in Oklahoma, just enough to keep hubby home from work, but not enough to look anywhere near what I would call pretty.
Snow Days is the name I've given my Four Seasons Winter swap quilt. I hope to get it into the post all the way over to ---- tomorrow. When I discovered who my swap partner was I thought to myself, oh my, how can I ever do anything anywhere as good as this lady does. Then I remembered the post I did last year on comparisons. So I decided to make something with the gifts and talents that God has blessed me with. Just in case you haven't already realized it yet, I just adore the snow. I suppose that's what you get when you've lived nearly all your life in "The Sunburnt Country" and have been deprived of such beauty. So I wanted the quilt to depict what winter is to me, or what I'd like it to be, and no that's not a caricature of me or my hubby. I love the border fabric in this one, reminds me of a lightening storm, and a closer view of some of the beading.



These gorgeous fabrics arrived in my letter box on Monday. I ordered these from Quilt Expressions to use in the swap that Bren and I are doing. I think I may just have to order some more of these. I mean I can't leave them sitting on a shelf in a dark store for the rest of their lives, now can I? Plus the service was excellent, delivery within two days...

I've been thinking a lot lately about ufo's and have decided to take on Darlene's way of thinking. Life's too short to be worried about whether a project is finished or not. That's not to say that I won't finish them, it just means I plan on getting up each day and enjoying my day. That may include finishing of a ufo or it may mean starting a brand new one..... but it means finding the joy in each and every day. If you haven't read her blog lately, pop over, it's sure to give you your daily dose of joy, and then some.

Happy Stitching and thanks for stopping by to visit.