A new Giveaway

Wow! Can you believe all this !!!!  Some really nice things there.
 This is Vicki's giveaway #3 Celebrating her new blog, The Pickledish Patch
So pop on over to her new blog for your chance to win. You'll find a link here on the right. Good luck everyone!!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful family Christmas Great food, great fun and the family sharing

Tree decorated by the kids this year

My  5 Beautiful girls

 together thats what made this Christmas  so special.

The Bear Claw Quilt

It has been a year in the making, but at last it is done. 

Many fall colors, lots of work and also lots of love went into this quilt. 

It is a Christmas gift for my son and daughter-in-law. 



Gordy and Wendy with their quilt



Winter in Michigan

Well it's winter here  again.  Not really a snow lover but it is beautiful
when it first falls.  It is just not much fun to drive in.  Here is a few pics so you can get a feel of the season.

This is a pic of the yard after the 1st snow.

The front of the house
not too deep ...yet

Erinn and Emily with their 1st icicle of the season

It's Been A while......

Wow it has been months since my last post....

It has been a busy summer and I have not
quilted as much as I would have liked to,
 but I do have a few new projects underway.

I have also taken a few pics from my flower garden
which were really amazing in full bloom this year.
So I guess I will start there.

These are my faves. They just seem to get bigger
 and taller each year. The pink ones grew 3feet tall .

I love my flowering bush. It has not bloomed

 in 2 years, so I guess it likes all the rain and heat

we've had. It has been blooming for three weeks now. 

This is a pic of a little 3 toed tree frog that took up

residence in my grandaughters lawn chair.

He is there each morning hiding out in the shade of the deck..

He is lime green and gray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥♥♥♥♥

Here is the new project I am working on.

My grandaughter Autumn loves everything Hello Kitty.

So we looked through her Kitty coloring book

 and picked out some pics for the blocks.

I have drawn up a design to use about 8 or so blocks

and some pretty borders and flowers to use too.

These are the blocks I have done so far.

Still have some embelishing to do on them but 

 I am  really enjoying creating them with my grandaughters

help. She is only 6, and she has  added her input

as to what will " really" make them look good.  

New Finishes ....Old UFO's

At long last I finished my oldest UFO.
This candle wick cushion has been in
the works for a very long time.
 My guess is I started close to 20 years ago.
Found it while cleaning and I just knew there
was a fat 1/4 some where that would match.
So here it is all done and it even goes with my
living room decor.. who would of thought.
 Just in time for summer too.
                                                                             

I also finished this table runner for my daughter in law.

She loves sunflowers, so this UFO was perfect for

 the new kitchen she and my son just finished.

I started the center block last school year

from a print used in math class. Thought it

 was unique so I copied the print onto

 fabric to make a runner or wall hanging .

Never got any farther than the printer until now.  

I thought the prairie points fit well with the sunflower design. 

She was pleased with the effect. 

Wow I won....

Just thought I'd post a pic of the what I won
in the drawing that Rececca Dipple,  (Purpled2)
had on her blog. The sassy ladies are so cute.
 Can't wait to make something with them.
I have a few ideas already...
I was so excited when I won , being that I am
 not the lucky type at all. It was a real suprise.

Whats new ...

Been busy but managed to get a few things done.
First up are the 2 bags I made for my daughters coworker.
She sent the fabric & the denim , so I didn't need to choose.
My favorite is the John Deere in brown & pink. .
It is a great way to recycle old denim.

Next is my latest mystery BOM for May.
It is part of the scrap bag blocks I am doing
with the  ladies at Suzie's Quilt shop.
It is great fun to anticipate what the new block
 and colors will be.

And last but not least is the new cover for
my Jannie (my Janome 6600).  I thought it was
 about time she had a cloth cover. She is 8 months
 old already. The vinyl one was  just too plain.
I think she looks  much better now...

Landscape block

This is my first attempt at a lndscape block.
I took a class to learn how to make it from
 a grid and lay out  my pattern. I had a picture
 with an arbor that I worked from. I am not as
happy with the result since I did not have the
right colors I would have liked to blend the
 areas better. It was a learning experience
 though and now I know how to plan it out
 better on the next one. It is not as hard as
 I thought it would be.   Laying out the squares
 just right  took the longest.
It was the first time I have ever taken a
quilting class.  It was fun sewing with
 a group instead of by myself for a change.

Beary Bears

Just finished these mini bears for my

granddaughters Easter baskets. They
spotted them on the Bunny Hill site,
and of course they wanted grandma
to make them one. Soooo .... I  picked
some ultra soft flannel and a little bit
of cluster stuffing and  here they are.
Finished just in time. Perfect size for
for their backpack pockets.

Apple Blossom Fairies

The innocence  of the little faces

 are so precious....

I have wanted to make this apple

blossom fairy wall hanging since I first
saw it.  It reminds me so much of
 my two youngest grandbabies.
 It captures them so well.
They both have the dark hair and curls.
Big sister watching out for her little sis.
 They are so protective of one another.
 I hope they will be good buddies for life.

I can't wait to see it on their bedroom wall.
The colors even match the room perfectly.

A few new Things.

          Here are a few new things I've finished .

This is my newest BOM.  This is the 1st block
 which is going to be a scrappy with a new block and
color surprise each month. Suze  from Suze's Stitching
is creating this one .

This block is my new  Thangles  Buck a Block
Series #6  We get to choose from 2 color choices,
 I liked these colors better than the red,white& blue.
This is the 1st time we have used more than 2 colors
 in the blocks, and we choose the layout of the colors
each month. More fun this way.

 













Got the top of my heart wall hanging done. The
feathers that make up the heart were cut on an
 Accuquilt machine so this was a quick and easy
 kit to put together.
 Now all I have to do is quilt it.  Then find it a home.

 I would love to have one of those machines .

These are a
few more
towels I made.
 Changed the
tops on some and
added a button.







My daughter in law just
remodeled their kitchen
with sunflower accents
so I made these for her.

Sunday Sew -in Results

Sunday was a cold snowy day sooo.....
I had my own little sew -in Sunday afternoon
and these are what I made.

I got the pattern from Karen (busy fingers)

and I've been wanting to make

them since my crocheted towels

are getting a bit worn looking.

I deceided to put 2 loops on the top

instead of one to make them look

like little aprons.  I like they way they turned out.
They go together so quickly .

Made 8 in one afternoon. I plan to make more when I find more cute towels .
Think I'll try adding buttons to some to  make them  like little sundresses.

Books & Things

Scored some great book deals on the net last week

some for reading on the cold winter nights and

these.......for some sewing ...

The Quilting Shortcuts is an older used book but it

 has some great ideas formaking patterns

 and lots of machine quilting patterns to try.

The Machine Quilting Made Easy has many

 techniques I haven't tried yet  like tying a quilt by machine.

I would really like to try that one.

 I also got a few spools of thread and some DMC

Well.... maybe a little more than a few......

At least I won't run out for a while.
With all my fabric and all this thread...
Oh the possibilities........

Little Black Bag

Finally got around to finishing my little black bag.
It was headed to the UFO pile, but it was rescued.
The pretty vintage lace roses really
make the bag stand out .
I think I like this cotton version better than the denim one I made with this pattern.

Heart Sachets

Made some patch work heart sachets
 to share with my girls.
Most have  Fresh linen scent ,some with
 Ocean breeze and a few are Rose scented.
Need some sweet smells of spring in this
long stretch of winter ....
 Can't wait for spring to come when
 everything wakes up from it's winter sleep.
                    "  Hurry Spring"

Oldest UFO ???

Well I think I've done it.
While doing some cleaning, yeah I really do that sometimes. I came across a bag of old Candle wick materials. I have not done any  of this in a very long time. At the bottom of the bag were a few UFO's this one caught my eye.  Wow I remember working on this when my son was a baby ...He is 26 now.   So I do believe this is the oldest UFO I have.   It was supposed to be a cushion of some kind. Maybe if I keep looking the pattern will show up too....
Other reason I know it is quite old is the stitching , I used to spend a lot of time on getting my stitching just right and became quite good at it.
Many years, bad eye sight and a touch of arthritis later my stitching is not this acurate anymore.
This is one more UFO I hope to finish in 2010, darn, the pile is growing instead of shrinking.
                                                                                       

A few fun things

Happy New Year !

This little bowl was fun and interesting to make.

Saw it in a magazine and I just had to try it.

 It is made with cotton clothes line rope and

 wrapped with fabric strips.

You zig-zag stitch as you wrap.

It  sounded complicated, but was actually

easy and fun. Quick to make too.

Plan on making a few more for

my" bag of a little something homemade gifts."

My grandkids love to play games,

So here is the little Checker Board I made for

 them to play with.

The checkers are made of little yo yo's.

It has little pockets built in the sides to store the checkers

and it folds in and ties shut to store it all.