My Origami Tree

Here is my little origami tree. Sue Borgas did a tutorial for this on her blog back in May.
 I  have wanted to make it since I first saw it.  Thank you Sue , it was easy to follow and
so was fun to make . I am happy with how it turned out. I did the hand sewing while watching
Christmas movies on TV.   I was surprised how quickly it went together.  I would like to keep it for myself ,but it is a gift for the wonderful teacher I am working with this year.
When I have time I will make another.

Some Christmas Gifts

So happy to get these gifts done . A few trees done from the
Quick Quilt magazine... Best make in a night projects. 
They are so quick to make, got one done in an afternoon.
Used my wonder ruler so the 1/2 sq. were really a snap to make.
They can be used as a wall hanging or as a table runner.

Yet another giveaway.

Cute Pattern Giveaway on Clare's blog!!

Pop on over to clarescraftroom.blogspot.com   to ckeck it out.

Another Great Giveaway!

There is a nother great giveaway for a Go! Baby Fabric Cutter
at the Pickledish Patch. Vicki is giving away a Go! baby and 3 dies.
Check it out for a chance to win at http://www.tozzscorner.blogspot.com/

A Great Giveaway

Jenny of Elefantz is having a great giveaway to
 celebrate 1500 followers on her blog. check it out
and enter for a chance to win at http://www.elefantz.com/

Some Recent Finishes

Been  quite busy but I somehow manage to squeeze in some sewing

no matter how busy life gets. Here are a few things I've finished .

These are the Baked Potato and Tortilla steamers. They make great gifts.
Also great to keep your tortillas warm when making fajitas.

Made a few E-Reader covers and a Carring case too.
This 1st one is for my daughter- in- law Wendy.. She loves
orange fun prints ,so I thought of her when this fabric
bundle was baught. Only takes a few FQ's to make .
The are quick and fun.

Wend's E-Reader and Carry case

                           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Found this fun fabric for mine.

Haven't finished my carring case yet.

First FMQ Done

I finally got beyond my fear of FMQ and just put my practice skills to the test.
I have had this UFO sitting on the chair in my sewing room  for more than a year.
It was well past due to be quilted.. It is not perfect by any means , but I can live with
 the mistakes and hope to not make them on the next project . I chose a simple all over design.
It was actually fun and went rather quickly. I just have to remember to keep my thumbs
out of the way next time too.  Thankfully the safety on my machine shut it off before I
 did too much damage . Oh well Live and Learn.  My 2 little granddaughters  fixed me up with a
 bandaid and told me to be carefull next time. So all is good .

1st FMQ Finished

 A Meandering  Design

Backside of Design.

Green Fairy Quilt Giveaway

Ckeck out the Great giveaway @Green Fairy Quilts  
 A fat  quarter bundle,a jelly roll, and a layer cake .

Another Kitty Quilt

Started on the another Kitty quilt  for my youngest granddaughter.
This one is all done in bright colors to match the rainbows in the feature fabric.
 It also has a bright stripe and dot border fabric ...It sure is bright.
 She is watching me put it together..and she just loves all the color.

She has been dancing around the room wrapped in the fabric before I cut it .

So fun watching her little 4 year old mind at work telling me how to put this

 quilt together. Heres a peek at the progress so far.

Hope to put it all together this weekend.

 

Trip to the UP ( Upper Peninsula)



Entering the Upper Peninsula





Here are a few pics I took of my hubby and I taking a trip to the top of our state. Michigan has 2 Peninsulas and to get to each you have to cross the Mackinac Bridge.  We live in the middle of the lower peninsula. on the pic off to the right of the railing.. is Mackinac Island. It was hard to get a close pic unless your in a boat. The white area if you can see it is The Grand Hotel.  If you are a movie buff you know that is where they filmed my all -time fave movie " Somewhere In Time" ,with the late Christopher Reeves.  I think it is the pretttiest place on the Island...They play the movie there once  every summer. I so want to go to it but it is quite expensive..We stay a cute B&B   No Cars are allowed on the Island, only horse or bikes . It is a great vacation spot in the US.



The Bridge looms up ahead





Mackinac Island ...veiw from the bridge in the early morning



       

Tip Posted

I was excited to see my tip  on the Quilters World Newsletter site. Tips and Tricks section.
It was nice to see my idea put in print .I have been using these little pants  hangers for some time now.
 Every time someone saw it they would say it was a good idea, so I decided to pass it along to others.   Always try to recycle  when I can and this works great. You don have to re-iron your block again either.
Just hang them out of the way until you need them.

Done at Long Last

Well the Kitty quilt is finally done ..

 My granddaughter Autumn has been waiting patiently, well almost .

I couldn't count all the" is it done yets" each week...

I think she is very happy with it .. It was 80 degs yesterday and she still fell asleep wrapped up in it.

Still plan to hand quilt around the flowers and cats ...but that will be my winter project.

 It is quilted enough to be loved for now.

 Next  I have to start on her little sisters quilt.

That one will be a snap compared to this one.

A Little More Shopping

The holiday weekend brings lots of sidewalk sales all over town .
The tent sales at the craft shop I can never resist.
 Sooo here are a few things I couldn't pass up.

A new Button Stash

My Fat Quarter Stash

 Tortilla/Tater Steamer Pattern  & Tater batting
 E_Book Cozy and Tote pattern & Basting glue

Last Kitty Blocks

It feels like I;ve been working on this one forever.
I finally got the last 3 Kitty blocks finished for my
 Granddaughter's quilt. Now I have the center  flowers to
 finish on the machine and the I can put it together and quilt it.
Hoping to have it done for her B-Day.  It's  the 12th ,

but thankfully her party is not until the 18th so it gives me a little more time

I am glad to see it finally coming together.

Will post again when I get the top put together. 

Great Giveaway!!!

This is a great giveaway.
Would you like to win an AccuQuilt GO! Baby fabric cutter + 3 dies of your choice?

You should go to this web site to check it out........
http://www.sameliasmum,com/

New stuff ...again

 Got a few deliveries in the mail last week. Can never have too much fabric, or patterns, or anything to do with sewing. At least thats my way of thinking.  I have waited for this 15 piece set for a while .. It was alwasys out of stock.
worth the wait I caught a good sale.


Then I just couldn't resist this Elephant print I have collected elephants of many types since I was 5 years old .  Have well over 2000 at  last count. Don't know what I'll make with it yet . Probably a bag of some sort.

 Hoffman Bali Batic -Pink Lemonade FQ's



These are my faves of the bunch so far




My new  Elephant Print



 Next came the Popcorn the Bear Panel
He is now going to be the back side of my
granddaughter Jewell's quilt. I have been searching
for this panel  for a while. 
It was always out of stock or only in a kit ,which I didn't want.
She now loves Hello Kitty like her big sister's quilt in progress.
sooo she wants a Hello Kitty quilt too, but with the bear on the back.

 she actually thinks he is a pic of Her bear Bubba.

 ( she doesn't go anywhere with out him)

.

 



Popcorn the Bear Panel

The real Bubba Bear


Bubba used to be soft and furry like Popcorn ,
 but he has been so loved in the last 4 years
he has lost his color and most of his fur.

A great Idea 
 The story is not over yet. Hope it is not too boring .
 Last weekend  Jewell and her sister
 Autumn were spending the night.
Autumn had this "I have the best Idea Gramma, moment"
 She wants me to take the pics of her Doll  Jumppy Baby
(No clue why it has that name)
She wants me to put a pic of her doll that is now thread bare and raggedy
on the back of her quilt and a pic of Bubba on the back of her sisters quilt
. That way they will never forget them when they grow up.

Jumppy  Baby
after 7 years of love



Rosie & Jumppy Baby

Rosie is the spare I baught in case the other was ever lost. 
but she always knew the original one even before when they looked new.
 Can't fool a kid with a fake beloved toy . I thought it was a good idea ,
so I will put the pics on fabric and use them for their quilt labels.
She saw me make the pics for the wedding quilt so I guess thats
where the idea came from. .
Guess there is always hope one of my girls will take on the love of sewing .
  Hope you enjoyed my little story with 5 granddaughters there is
always a story and lots and lots of drama..... but I love every minute of it .well most of the time anyway.



A little play time.

Well since I've had my surgery and can't get much sewing done.
My son and family baught me this wonderful hammock to sit/lay in
and read or take a nap.
 It is fun and the soft canvas-like material is easy on my sore arm.
I still have to wear my imobilizer for 3 more weeks and it is
 easy to get on and off this thing even with only one arm.

Autumn & I  enjoying  the afternoon.

Heather & Autumn

My Daughter Heather &I

Love my Gadgets!!

I guess I've always been a gadget girl . If I can find something
 I can use to make things easier ,I'll give it a try.
 I would love to own a Acuquilt Go  but , a few months ago

 I got a great deal on  a Sizzix Big shot. Got it for 1/2 price

 It works on the same principal as the Go does .

I can get dies to do all my quilt cutting.  I got a hexi cutter die

 and I can cut as many as 24 at a time . Being one armed at the moment
it is great .I can do it left-handed. Woo Hoo

 I have been a hexi cutting maniac and my crap bag is getting much smaller.

I have a few other shapes on order   because of the wonderful sales they have had.

Can't beat 80% off on die cutters....  I can olso use other brand dies even the Go dies work .

Some day I hope to own an Acuquilt too, but for now I am making use of what I have.

I ordered a few Hello Kitty dies for the grandkids too.

 They love using them .

Also got some new fabric .....can never have enough.

These are for my Grandie Jewell's quilt.

A new Mocha  FQ pack I found at the Craft shop Sale
 gonna make some new place mats for the kitchen table.

 

Giveaways and more gaveaways....

Wow there are sooo many giveaways on the blogs lately.
 Stop on over to Samelia's Mums Blog
http://www.sameliasmum.com/    She has 5 great giveaways.
Woo Hoo


Then hop on over to Michell's Blog for another great giveaway!
http://www.michellsplace.blogspot.com/

Mothers Day Plant

This is the plant I got from my daughter Heather
 and grandkids for Mothers Day. It is a type of Bromeliad
cactus. This one is called a Flaming Sword.
It will get a beautiful bright yellow flower on the top
when it blooms ,I can see the start of the petals already.
Will post again when it is in full bloom.

A Few New Things

       Mays  BOM - 1st Saturday Club
w/new pale pink fairy frost color added

Some of the Hexies  have gotten on the forum swap.
        Hope to start putting them together soon.

The Wedding Quilt

Well I had planned on posting more often ,

 made some new things ,took the pics ,

then just never found the time to put them on here.

Now that I have all this time on my hands ,there is no excuse.

I have been working on this wedding quilt for my daughters friend for what seems like forever. But at last it is done and since I am one-handed at the moment it is going off to the quilt shop or she may be waiting another few months to get it.
All the white  satin and embroidery work is cut from her wedding dress and the prints are her colors of the brides maids  dresses. The dark green accent is just her favorite color. 
The pics are her original wedding prints that I put onto fabric .
Scariest part was fussy cuting someones wedding dress I procrastinated it for a month to get it just right .
I am so happy to be in the final stages of it's finish.  Have even added some of the dress silk to the backing  label not quite finished with that yet.

Here is the progress so far.