Happy Thanksgiving

I'd like to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be fill with Family, friends and love.

I made the cat a Christmas present

I hate mice, but the cat loves them.

What I'm up to

I've joined a holiday PC swap. I love making and receiving these. I have a cute idea for mine, I'll be posting them soon since they have to be mailed out fairly quickly. So, I'll be making those right away.
I still haven't received the mini quilt in a bag fabrics yet, so don't have any idea as what to do yet.
I have made a few more pincushions since the other day, and have put the wonky dog blocks together and have the side borders on. I'll probably get the top and bottom done today and get to ready for quilting. My oldest grandson loves the Georgia Bulldawgs, so he'll be really surprised when he gets this. I told him I was making him a cowboy quilt and he wasn't too enthused, I can't wait till he sees I have tricked him.
What are you working on?

I made some pincushions tonight.

I made several of these a few months back for a pincushion swap I was in. I love these pincushions, so I thought I's make some for gifts, I'm sure my friends will like them too.

Have you ever heard The Story of Stuff? Well it's important to me and I hope it is to you too. Please take a look at this.

Break out the buttons

I found these absolutely adorable Homemade Christmas ornament on One Crafty Mumma's blogspot. I just love, love, love the button wreath. She has a pattern for the reindeer on her blog.

My sister tatted this wonderful iddy bitty wreath, isn't it just too cute.

Do a little dance

I went to visit my daughter, and found that my grandsons have learned to dance. Ones a booty shaker and the other does tap. They use the coffee table as there stage. I adore my boys, they are the sweetest nature babies I have ever seen. And they both have so much personality. If you listen you'll hear how they communicate, I think they understand each others baby jabber. Keith is the one who took the head dive into the table. He's the one I was telling you is such a dare devil. John's more cautious, thank goodness. These 2 really keep me on my toes, when I watch them. I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world

Pay It Forward

I moved this back up to see if I can get one more person to play, I have 2 nice ladies already committed. This will fun and you have 6-12 months to make your gifts. I will start making my gifts right after the holidays. Hope you want to join.

Here's how it works. I am one of the three people who committed, which means Patti will send me a hand made gift sometime in the next 6-12 months (or sooner if she can). In turn I promise to send a hand made gift sometime in the next 6-12 months to the first three people who comment and commit themselves to playing. In order to play you must post it to your own blog, and promise to send handmade gifts to the first three people who leave you a comment committing themselves to playing along. (I sure hope that makes sense - if it doesn't and you're not sure how this works just ask me.)
So - who of you would like to receive a handmade gift from me? I'm eager to see who wants to play!
The title of this post links back to Patti blog, where I commited to the Pay It Forward.

Another gift

My sister sent me 2 long pieces of her Tatting, she said she didn't know what to do with them after she made them and they have been sitting in a tote ever since. So, I decided to use them for trim on pillow cases which I will send to her as a gift. I used a WOW cotton. I thought a print might over power the beautiful tatting. I think she will be surprised and I know she will love them. These will look good with her new quilt.

I finally have something to show

Only I'm not the maker. My very talented sister painted this on screen of all things, Isn't it fabulous. It's still a work in progress, but I think it is perfect the way it is. I can't imagine it being any better. I want to be a painter, just like her. She just amazes me at her many talents. Also I forgot to post a picture of the tattings she sent me a few weeks back but I have to tell you they are pretty. She said she made these years ago but never knew what to do with them, well I'm currently working on what I thought they would be perfect for so I'll share those tonight or tomorrow, when they're done. I'm making them for her. I loved her tatting and really wanted to keep these for my self, but I felt she should be the one to have them. Anyway back to her decorative painting, I think it is just the cutest, I would love to have this, you know I love birds and who doesn't love snowmen. I seen a lot of snowmen but never a sleeping snowman.

I brought home

more then I had bargained for while shopping the other day. Apparently I picked up a flu bug, while I was having such a wonderful time, not knowing it was all about to end with 3 days of the worst stomach flu. I'm out of bed for the first time, but I'm afraid it won't be for long, I am still very weak. I have managed to get some Gatorade down this morning and take a nice shower. This will most likely be my great accomplishment for the day. Cliff's been wanting to take me to the Dr. but I could only respond to his request with "I'm afraid I won't make it to the doctor unless we can take the restroom with us". It would have been a disaster waiting to happen. I don't feel up to doing anything, I'm just happy that I can now get up. I have missed reading everyone's post and hope to catch up on them soon.

Christmas Project

I'm making these Ornaments, they are fairly big, 15". So, they make good place mats, or the can be sewn together to make a wall hanging or table runner. I've got 6 made so far, I'm not sure I like some of the fabric choices, but I try. A quilting friend jbk65 from the HGTV message board board gave me a link to the pattern. Hers turned out so pretty I had to give them a try. I'm making these for the family. Do you think they will like them? I haven't got these sewn together yet I'm waitng until I have more finished to see what looks best together. You can click for a close up view . I appreciate any suggestions as I'm not too good at choose fabrics that look good together.

Veterans Day Sale and Wonky Dawgs

I try not to miss a good sale. I feel sort of guilty when I pay full price for fabric, unless it's just one I know I can't live without. Today was their 60% off sales but they also gave you an extra 10% for the early birdies. So, Cliff had me up at 7 this morning asking was I still going to the sale. Now, that was a silly question. I never miss a good fabric sale. I went a little over board, but I learned that if you find something you really, really like you better get plenty of it. I feel so in love with these pink giraffes, I made sure to buy extra and still wish I had gotten all of it. I added this to my Christmas wish list and made sure Cliff knew I wanted the whole bolt. I guess I better make a bigger stocking. I also got some cute penguins, and polka dots to make Katelyn my granddaughter some jumpers. Most of the other is for gifts I plan to make for Christmas. I also managed to get some of my Christmas shopping done. I got Blake the big Wonderland Lincoln Log set, it had enough logs for a train station, bridge, and 6 other buildings. It came with the train, tracks and people. He love to make villages and play with his cars, so I thought this would be a perfect addition to his collection. He also collects the large die cast cars, they had a great price on those so I was able to get him 3 of those(they are usually very expensive). I got both the baby boys a tricycle that will grow with them, it also has a handle so mom can push it like a stroller. I want to get them some match box cars too, since they have both have took a big interest in playing cars with Blake. I had already got Katelyn a mini Janome back when they had those on sale for 39.99. She is a little harder to buy for since she is not able to use her feet. She always likes me to make her tests and grade them, she can't seem to get enough school, so, I got her some educational PC games. She wants some kind of journal that only opens to her voice, I'll have to find one of those for her. All in all I have had a very productive day. I hope to get a start on making my other gifts tonight.

Here's an update on the wonky blocks I'm making. If you notice the block in the upper left, it has a round of black strips, well after I had done about 5 of the blocks I decided I didn't like it and have started taking it off, still need to do this one. Now that I'm to this point I'm stuck. I'm not sure what or how I'll put these together. My grandson will love this he is a big bulldog fan, and his room is done in these colors.

Wonky Dogs

I'm starting a Wonky log cabin quilt for my grandson, who has his room done in Georgia bull dogs. Here is the first round of the blocks. I wanted to show how this progresses. I am using the tutorial from Jacquie's blog. I hope mine turns out as wonderful as hers. I love her paintbox quilt a lot, I hope to make one of those in the new year.

Christmas Stars

I have finished the Morning Star and the Smokey Mountains star that I made for my 2 lovely sisters for Christmas. It went faster then I had planned so this gives me time to make a them a few more things. The morning star is a Pat Speth pattern and the Smokey Mountain Star is a pattern from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site. I love them both. I see me making another Morning Star for my daughter who has fell in love with this one. These were both made from stash and I quilted them on my sewing machine. My hand is still cramping from sewing the bindings on. It sure was a long way around this quilt. I love my sisters and would do it again for either of them. MY sister painted the picture in my header. It is titled "Days gone By" and she sent me this as a gift. It brings back all those wonderful memories of our childhood when would be at our grandmothers, her playing the organ and us singing along. I guess that another post, I got a bit side tracked thinking of those days.

My brother loves Scotties

I finished this snuggly/WH for my wonderful brother and his sweet wife. They adore Scottish Terriers. They have had scotties for as long as I can remember. These are 2 of the most pampered pooches I know.I still have about 15 yrds of this fabric left so I'll be making them a bed size quilt also. I know these dogs sleep in the bed, but these are their babies. So, nothing more fitting for the scotties to sleep on then a scotty quilt.

I have the Best Sister

She's not just my sister she was also my mother for a short time. My mother passed away at the young age of 37. My sister took on that roll, or should I say chore, because I became quite a hand full after my mothers death. I went from a a carefree, fun loving child to one that hated the world, life and even myself. I had my sights set on self destruction. She seen me through those times. I love my sister more then she'll know. She has always been a wonderful sister, wife,& mother. She is well educated and has always been a hardworking woman. She is also a very talented lady. She is an excellent painter,(oils & acrylic) she does any kind of needle craft you can imagine. She is loved and not always told. I think my sister deserves the "Best Sister in the World Award". I don't know that she will read this but I hope she knows how much I love her.

They are growing up too fast !!!

I spent the day yesterday with the boys, and I love every minute I spend with them. They are both such handsome fellows. Both of them have so much personality, you just can't help but love them. They are both well behaved, but of course they will always be angels in my eyes. While one is a true dare devil, afraid of nothing. The other is more apt to investigate before diving in. I can always tell when they are getting tired, one grabs his foofoo, the other gets Mr. dog. They are learning so much so fast, I think they will grow up too fast for me. I try to cherish the time I have with them. Nothing brings me more joy then when I arrive and they coming running with their big smiles all excited because it's nana. They are the same age and size, and play so well together. Their personalities are really starting to show more each day. It is funny to see how smart they've become. When Keith wants something that John has, he'll go pick John dog up, knowing John will drop what he has, to come rescue his dog. Then Keith makes a mad dash to go get what he has tricked John into putting down. I get tickled just thinking about it. Neither are finicky eaters. I've never had problems getting them to eat their veggies. I have never found something that Keith will not eat, until just the other day. I had made a big pot of chicken and dumpling. Now I like to eat my dumplings on top of mashed potatoes. I know Keith loves mashed potatoes, but he would not eat the dumplings, he made it very clear he didn't like them. My daughter hates dumplings too. She told me she doesn't even like the way they look. I guess we pass our taste buds down to our off spring. He loves bananas and apple sauce, I think those are his favorite. Johns loves sweet potatoes and yogurt. We asked the doctor why his nose sometimes looks a little orange and she said it was because he eats a lot of carrots and sweet potatoes. but it was okay because he eats all his other food groups too. I guess you can tell I'm home today and missing them. I can just about tell you if one gets a new hair on his head. I just love every little thing about them.

Freemotion machine quilting

I have just finished FMQ on a very large 103x103" quilt. It was too big to fit on my hand quilting frame. I'm so happy with how it turned out. The back is just as nice as the front. It is just a simple meander, but I done this on my home machine. It has small throat space, but this shows it can be done. And the little super model that helped audition it is my sweet grandson Keith.
I still have to do the binding, but was too excited about having this done I could not wait to share the results.

A first

My daughter just recently moved into her new house and while unpacking we came across one of the first quilts I had made. it is probably my favorite quilts. I have learned a lot since then, but I still wouldn't change anything about this quilt. It brought back a lot of memories for me. I am a self taught quilter and can honestly say I did everything the hard way back then. I have learned a lot by trial and error (lots of errors) but it was all well worth it, I think you learn more by doing then seeing. And I have invented a few of my own technique. As seen in the binding tutorial. But I heard somewhere that there are no mistakes just design opportunities. I truly believe that. There is nothing set in stone when it comes to quilting. So, maybe I will make that quilt I bought lots of fabric for before I was told to use only 100% cotton. I only buy 100% cotton now, but before I learned of good quality quilting fabric I bought what I thought was pretty, and just so happens it wasn't all cotton and has been packed away in a bin. But now that I look back at this quilt and see I used seersucker and muslin, it doesn't matter it was fun to make and I love it as much as my new found fabric quilts.