Time for the tooth fairy

Isn't she so cute without her tooth. She so excited about the tooth fairy, she might actually go to bed on time tonight. I had to run down and snap a few shots when she called me with her exciting news. She also went for her appt. today and they are trying to fit her surgery in the first part of this month, were expecting the call from the Doc in 5 days. She's so brave, wish we were.

MY CQ sneak peeks

Here's a couple peeks of my CQ block for the swap. This is a secret swap and I was so lucky and got the name of a lady I had met at the retreat and she was just someone that when you meet for the first time that you know is very special. She has the best hugs and the biggest beautiful smile. I only got to spend a few minutes here and there talking to her but those were some of the best minutes. We were only allowed 2 small peeks. I choose these because I didn't want to reveal any of the main parts of the block. These were such small areas that is was hard to crop them and get them big enough to see without some blurring. But you get the main idea. I have this block filled from top to bottom, although I'm new to CQ, I found it easy because I wanted to give her everything. The theme she picked was fairies, pinks, blues, lavender, greens and peach. So I got it all and it took me a bit to get all those colors to play nice together but it's all there, and I hope that she loves it. I laid awake at night dreaming of what to put on her block and it's like God just dropped little ideas down one by one and it went together so fast, even with all the things I had to take out to put new things in. This block is nothing like what it started out to be. I learned a great deal working on this block, and am anxious to start another, and I know just what it'll be. I want to add that I got some of my inspiration from other CQ blogs. And shame on me because I don't think they even know I read their blogs, I am guilty of not always leaving a comment on many of the blogs I read. I feel pretty bad about it too because they are big inspirations to me, so I will do better and at least leave a small comment from now on to let them know that I appreciate all the pretty things they share. So thank you my favorite bloggers for all your inspiration. We will be swapping our blocks out at the end of July so I'll have the block I receive and this one to share. I can hardly wait to get mine and see what she has made for me. We get a block from someone other then who we are making one for, I'm sure I will love the block I receive. I seen her work last year in the swap and it was very beautiful. One more thing. It's time to swap our mini quilts too, so mines going in the mail tomorrow and I should receive one from my partner in the next few days too, I can't wait to share those with you, my partner in the swap does amazing work and I know she has worked very hard on this mini. I just know I will be getting a very lovely quilty form her. You'll see, I can just feel it in my bones that what she is making me will be very special. You can see all the mini's on Holee's blog, if you look in her side bar she has a link to where she adds them as them are received, go have a look there are some really pretty minis being made in her swaps. She'll be hosting another one very soon.

Quilting on a Budget: Extraordinary Creativity

Quilting on a Budget: Extraordinary Creativity
WOW! check out this video I just seen on one of the blogs I read, it is so cool. I wish I had half the creativity of others.

My CQ do-dad find of the day

I went to this antique, collectible, second hand thrift shop today that has about 4 levels and just enormous. It is impossible to navigate this whole store in one day. But that's okay because I didn't make it past the first room before my budget was spent. But I'm happy with today's find and see another trip there in the near future. My very favorite of all the things I got is the yellow roses and the rhinestone bird, I probably paid too much for them but they were the two pricier items I just couldn't live without. I need to clean the little bird up but it has a lot of pretty stones on it. I don't know why the alligator struck my fancy but you never know when you might need an alligator, LOL, and I may never need the gloves either but they didn't cost too much so I got them. The pic doesn't show good but the milky looking stones on the earrings to the right are more like opal stones they have pretty sparkles in them. There was just too much for me to take it all in. I'm going to divide these goodies up and send some to my sis who is just starting her first CQ block. I'm going to be stingy though and keep the bird and yellow roses. I did find some pretty rose beads that I love and want, so I'll split those up with her so I don't feel bad about keeping the 2 yellow roses all to myself.I had planned to go to Hobby Lobby afterward but decided to call it a day, maybe tomorrow. I think this thrift store shopping could become an obsession.

Inner border on

I'm so happy to have had time to do some sewing, my poor machine must have been feeling neglected. This is one of many quilts I hope to have done before Christmas. I'm going to add the red fabric laying on top that bucket as the larger outer border. The brown under it is what is in the quilt although it looks black in this pic it is actually brown with small red dots.I still need to get some backing for it. I had originally bought a lighter back with dots in the colors on the front but after rethinking about the quilting which I've decided I think I'll do in a darker variegated thread or do you think a lighter background with the variegated thread would look pretty. I've got way better with my machine quilting so it's not a problem if it shows it's just I don't know about how that would look on that backing fabric.

Leaders and enders

After seeing some pretty quilts made on the HGTV message board being made by sewing strips and patches as leaders and enders I thought it was a great idea to use up some of my scrap fabrics. I had several strips of some dot fabric left from my DGD's princess quilt. I also have about a yrd of each that hasn't been cut. I started yesterday sewing the strips together while piecing the last of the blocks I need for my DD's quilt. I was amazed at how quikly I had so many strips sewn togehter. Today I cut those into sub strips and sewed those togehter and now I very happy I did. I will soon have enought to make quilts for my 4 great grand nieces. They will all be made form the same fabric with different layous. Hopefully by doing this I will be able to surprises these little princesses with a quilt for Christmas. Here's how my strips look after I had sub cut hem and then sewed them into longer strips as leaders and enders. I'm excited about these and have layout planned for all four of them. I'm finally putting the blocks together on my DD's quilt I started several months ago. I hope to have the borders on and ready for quilting by July.
I'll have the kids for 5 days starting Thurs so won't get any sewing done next week. Katelyn goes to Chattanooga on the 30th to get scheduled for her surgery. My DD said she is pretty sure they will doing her surgery at Egleston Childrens hosp in ATL. Cliff vascular surgeon is thinking he might have to replace Cliff shunt which is showing signs that it could rupture. He's going to watch it for the next couple of weeks and see if it gets better or worse.

Hello

I'm about caught up with all the odd and end projects I've been working on. I'll be glad to get back to making some quilts, looks like I'll be back at it by next week. I have been working on a couple quilts but I can't show one yet. It's for the Scraps to Treasure challenge I joined and we can't post pics. The other on is one I started a few months back for my daughter. I should be able to get my blocks sewn together and a border put on very soon. I had hoped to start the tumbling block quilt my sister wants but Cliff still hasn't forgotten the Wonky Dawgs quilt and has once again reminded me he needs it. So, when I told him I'd have it made by Christmas he said he had to have it before ball season started in Sept. I think it will go together pretty quick since I have most of the strips already cut. I have about 5-6 other quilts on my list to do before Christmas. I just don't see me getting them all done but we'll see. So from now til then my list looks like this. 1-DD#2, 2-Cliff, 3- Becky, 4-DGS#3, 5- DD#1, 6-SIL#2, 7-Sil#1, 8-James. My nephew has also asked for one. Now, I have got all my fabrics bought and most of the patterns picked out with the exception of my nephews. But it doesn't look like I'll be getting to it anytime soon any how.It doesn't look like I'll be getting a quilt this year either, but I'm okay with that.
The past couple of weeks I have been working on my CQ one block, I made 15 of the card holders for a restaurant here in town, only they wanted vinyl for theirs. They had seen the one my DD had and asked her if I could make them some, so naturally she told them I could. I've done quite a bit of sewing for them in the past and they always pay me pretty good. Yesterday I made two large baskets. One for Cliff to put all his meds in so I can have my dining table back and the other i made for my DGS to keep some of his toys in. I'll post a pic of them tomorrow, I haven't took one yet. But I got the memo board made for a friend who seen the one I posted last week and propositioned me a trade. Now, I would have made her one anyway but she wanted to make me a Calligraphy wedding ring, now how could I resist that. I know just who to give it to. Here's a pic of the memo board I made her.
My DD and SIL are going to Vegas for 5 days so I'll have the kids that week. This will be the first time she has ever been away from them. I know she is looking forward to a little break. She'll be starting her new job when she gets back. I'm not certain what her schedule will be after she gets done training. So, I'm not sure how it will affect the babysitting schedule I have now. She was offer to move up where she was working but that would have required her to work more hours then she wanted. I'll be going to Ky. In July for a small family reunion. Katelyn will also be having her surgery shortly after that. Cliff's going to Emory tomorrow to be screened to see if he is now able to have a transplant. Last time we went he was turned down due to his unstable health. He's been doing pretty good and the doctors have scheduled him once again to go for a screening to see where he stands now. All seems to be going good, just very busy. But if we're not busy we're not getting anything done now are we. My cat had kittens and they are all spoken for, just try catching them, LOL. They are outside cats and run everytime someone comes up. I'm so glad they are here. I haven't seen any snakes this year, last year before someone dropped the cat here we seen snakes out here all the time. Speaking of snakes my SIL killed a huge snake in his yard just a couple weeks ago. That thing must have been at least 6-7 ft long. He layed it right beside the door stoop so when I went over to babysit and went up to the door it would scare me and it did. I ran like crazy, I told him not to ever do me like that again. I could have a heart attach at my age. Not to mention they'd be finding a new babysitter. Well, I guess no one really wants to hear about the crazy pranks my kids play on me, so I'll quit rambling. Just wanted to come and let you know what I've been up to. We'll be sending in our minis for the swap before long so I'll get to post the one I made and the one I receive before long and hopefully once I get past through the busy next month I'll be back to quilting and posting some real pics. I'll let you know how it goes for Cliff tomorrow, I'm not sure we'll know anything definite but you never know. One more thing I want to mention. I have a good blog friend Kristi that is having an online yard sale to raise money for her son. She selling quilting fabric and books so go take a look and see if you can find anything that interest you. She (Cowgirlquilter) has a link in her side bar to her yardsale, with great prices for a good cause.