2012

Good morning special people!  It's hard to believe that today is the last day of 2012.  It's frosty out this morning and it's a nice clear day!  Do you have big plans for this evening?  We usually just stay home, we're not party peeps. 

 

I want to thank you all for making 2012 a pretty great year for me.  It wouldn't be the same without you!  Have fun and be safe, I'll try and get back to my usual schedule soon.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!! xo

Real World Rules

Gotta get back to the real world today.  No more Turtles with my morning coffee.  The leftovers are gone and today I am headed out to the dentist.. nothing Turtle related, just a regular cleaning appointment, thank goodness!

 

Hope your Christmas was wonderful.  We had an excellent time.  Took yesterday as a relax and recuperation day which was nice.  Didn't really try to do much and didn't feel bad about not doing so!   It's almost time to ring in the New Year. I can't believe how fast 2012 sped by.  Do you have big plans? Tell all!

Merry Christmas!

YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST! 

 

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

xop

Friday

Good morning!  It's been a whirlwind week around here, how about for you?  I had a great day hanging out with Holly on Wednesday.  We had coffee at La Boulange and went from there to lunch at Marin Joe's. It was packed so we sat at the counter like a couple of regulars. Awesome! 

I've been having so much fun sewing lately.  Like super happy sewing where you just feel good inside doing it. Do you know what I mean? Maybe it's just me?  But my projects lately have been quite fun to work on, like this cute Christmas stocking I made for Holly.  I used my own old stocking from my childhood for a template, so it doesn't hold much, but I enjoyed all of it, the machine quilting the lining, the handwork.. it was all fun.  Maybe it's because I was making for someone who I knew would love it, I guess gift sewing is extra sweet.

 

Hope you have had a chance to make something that makes you happy to work on.  It's the last weekend before Christmas are you still working on getting ready or enjoying the days?  Happy weekend peoples! xo

Countdown to Christmas

Good morning! Have you been following along with  Quiltmaker's Count down to Christmas? 

There's a lot of fun things going on over there, and it's not to late to hop over and check it out.  I particularly like the snowflake table runner by Ann Weber.  Its a nice winter time runner, so you don't have to put it away with the Christmas decorations.   I love it in the red, and think it would be fantastic in blue as well!

Looking for a quick last minute gift? It's the perfect time to take a look at my quick and easy pot holder pattern.  It's free, and you can download the pdf and make one today! Just click on the link to the right and you're practically done.  All you need is 4 fabric circles, 2 squares of Insul-Bright and a package of jumbo rick rack.

I whipped this one out yesterday watching some Law and Order! I plan on giving it as a gift. Or maybe hoarding it for myself!  Looking for something to go with it? Hop over to my friend Elizabeth's blog and scroll for the link on her sidebar for her free pears tea towel pattern. It's also quick and easy. Wouldn't a matching pot holder and tea towel be the perfect hostess gift?

 

Of course it's pretty late in the game now I suppose, so maybe you'll just save up these easy ideas for after Christmas when things slow down!  Hop on over to The Quilty Pleasures blog,   think spring and leave a comment to win a little bundle of sunshine from me! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday

So how was the weekend?  I hope you all are having some enjoyment time and not all I've-got-to-get-this-done-time. I feel oddly calm about the whole thing.  Weird I know.  Anywho... got my candy canes finished.  That meant a bath in stiffener and then I painted them with glue and Frankie glittered them up.  I love how they look, but wow, there's a whole lotta glitter going on around the house.

So I took a million photos. I call it my "I look at too much Pinterest" series.

See what I mean?

Month One

SCHOOL'S IN SESSION!

 

If this is your first visit to the classroom, we're studying the Civil War, and our text book is Barbara Brachman's Civil War Sampler. We've all grabbed  a pile of Pam Kitty Love and we've gotten started on our homework, which is 5 blocks at month.  I hope you decide to sit by me!

 

Here's my five blocks.  I'm  going to start at the beginning of the book and work my way through it. You can hop over to the Fat Quarter Shop blog and check out Kimberly's and Debbie's blocks. 

 

Block One: The White House

 

Block Two: Star of the West

 

Block Three: Barbara Frietchie Star

 

 

Block Four: Catch Me If You Can

 

 

Block Five: Hovering Hawks

 

 

 

 

I love how bright and cheerful these blocks are.  Five blocks a month is a nice tidy amount, you can take your time and really think about your cutting and stitching.  It's also a nice time to reflect on our lives now with so many conveniences, can you imagine living back the 1800s?  

 

Did you make some blocks? Please add them to the flickr group so I can check them all out! You'll find some special news about the group over at the Jolly Jabber, so be sure and check there! There's still time to get started! Classroom isn't in session again till January 15th! 

Friday

Good morning! As usual the week has flown by. Are you done with all your Christmas preparation or are you in complete denial about it like me? I'm just playing around with all these random projects, never quite completing any of them but still having fun.

 

My test run glittered up candy canes look pretty good here.  They're not dry yet, but I couldn't resist  getting a photo of them. Why?  Because I know you're on the edge of your seats waiting! Haha I crack myself up!  And what else is there? A fabric bracelet! I saw a link to this tutorial on Pinterest and then became obsessed with finding the ribbon clips to make them. Super fun I tell you, although my fine motor skills are severely lacking when it comes to hooking those jump rings to the little clips and then the clasp.  But honestly, it was so much fun doing it I don't care.  

 

So that's how it stands today.  Hopefully I'll get something else done, who knows what! Any big plans for the weekend?  I think I won't plan a thing and just hope for the best!! Happy Weekend!

Day off

Hi there! What's new?  Yesterday Frankie and I took the day off and went to Monterey for the day.  The weather was pretty gloomy around here, but once we reached the coast it was absolutely splendid! I think at the water it was 56, warmer inland.

 

Always nice to spend a day someplace beautiful.  I really appreciate California in the late fall, early winter months. The hills are green and I think it's the nicest time of year at the coast. And all so close to home for us.  I definitely try not to take it for granted. Hope you had a wonderful day where you are!

Tuesday

So how was yesterday?  I had a busy fun day sewing away.  Got my peppermint made.. so cute. Seriously you should totally make one of these just for the fun of it. It felt good to stitch it up!   I'm a novice at finished edge applique so   I stitched a scant 1/4 inch row of basting stitches around the edge making it easy to turn under.

I also made some candy canes.  Those were super fun, especially since Frankie stuffed them for me with her tiny little hands! I'm going to make some more soon. they're very fun. I remember when Elizabeth made a ton, they were so cute! Check out that link for some cute felt candy canes. 

 

I love the tulle and the glitter,  so festive. I probably won't give mine the tulle treatment, but I will tie them up with some nice ribbon.  That would be cute too!  Sometimes the fun is in the making.  Anyway my peppermint is going to turn into a pillow soon.  I should get to work. Have a fun day!

Monday

How was the weekend?  Pretty good here!  Last week I had the pleasure of heading over to Alex's house for a little stunt sewing project.  It's fun to see Alex and I'm happy for the opportunity to help her out.  You can see a tidbit of the quilt I bound for her here.  It's coming to a Quilt Life issue soon.

So cute, she had a tiny basket sitting out, made in Pam Kitty Love.  Died over it.  It's great spending time hanging out in her studio and finding out what's new. 

Clearly didn't get any actual sewing done, but I did get a lot of prep work ready for this week.  Right here are my two row-along blocks, leaves and mittens, and a Dresden plate.  I am so in love with Amy's Peppermint Pinwheels, and I think my Pam Kitty Love stripe is perfect for them.

 

 

 I'm making one for starters, we'll see where that goes. I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm dreaming of one with different size peppermints, but you know me.. I'll be lucky if one comes together. Sometimes just the process is what interests me, not the final product. 

 

Ok my friends, tell me what you did over the weekend! xo

 

 

Friday

So how was the week peeps?  It's flown by here as they usually do, and I haven't done much in the way of sewing.  I had some blocks  cut and piled up so I could just sit down and begin sewing, but now that they're all sewn up, I need to prepare  some more. 

 

After seeing Suzanne's wonderful gift tags ... go look, they're fantastic if you haven't seen them, I wanted to get out my button panel and try something out.  Every time I look at those tags I can't believe how perfectly turned they are.  I know there's a trick to that, I just don't know what it is. Anyway Suzanne has a gift for sure.  She's so creative.

 

Anyway, maybe today I'll do some cutting and prepare somethings for next week's sewing! Or even weekend sewing.  It sounds fun right? Did you see Lori's cute mittens?  I'll be cutting those for sure. They look like fun.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend everybody! xo


p.s. Hey, I found out that my friend Kathy Brown's book Strip Smart Quilts is on the Top Ten List of Quilt books for 2012!  CONGRATULATIONS KATHY! IT'S WELL DESERVED THAT'S ONE AWESOME BOOK!  Also, did you know that Quiltmaker has a book on the list as well, it's 200 Blocks from Quiltmaker's Magazine! I know that there have been some fantastic blocks in the magazines, so this has to be a winner! 

Aurifil!

Hi there friends! Today's the last month of the Aurifil blog hop.. I can't believe a whole year has gone by.  This month's block is brought to you by the Lizzie B Girls, Liz and Beth.  And look how cute this block it!!! I love the braids!  I think each block is so interesting, and I can't wait to see it all come together in a quilt!

 

Have you seen the flickr pool of blocks and ornaments?  It's really fantastic. It makes me so happy to see people stitching up my little candy canes and the summer flowers block, and what I love the best is the improvements people made to it! There are so many very clever people out there!  I really can't thank Pat enough for asking me to be part of the Aurifil Designers this year.

 

Thanks to everyone who left a comment! Cindy, who said "Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is a wonderful ornament. I'm so glad it is simple"  is our winner !!! Cindy, email me your address!

 

Ok, that's it for today! Hope you're having a good week peeps!

Back to School

Good Morning!  How are all of you today? I'm headed back to school with my friends at the Fat Quarter Shop! Over the next 7 months I'm going to be getting a lesson  in Civil War History.  And you know what? You can join me!

 

Beginning December 15, we'll be making 5 blocks a month using the Barbara Brachman Civil War Sampler and Pam Kitty Love.  Each month Kimberly, Debbie and I will be showing off our 5 blocks and we hope you'll sew along with us. 

 

Hurry up and get your supply list  over at the Fat Quarter Shop blog.  On the 15th of December we'll be showing off our first 5 blocks.  This is a sneak peek. It's going to be fun. Let's just hope we don't get sent to the principal's office.

Sewing

Good morning! How was the weekend?  We had a lovely stormy weekend here, lots of wind and rain, but nothing damaging.  Just good cozy stay indoors weather.  I got a ton of sewing done.  These poor lost cups are all in a row, as are the geese.  Now to cut some leaves and get busy on those.  This weeks row will soon be here and I hope to be ready to get started on it.

I started what I hope might turn into a fine idea, I made one of Lori's cakes, and it was very fast and fun. I'm thinking of turning this into a square and making it a cake pillow. Wouldn' t that make a perfect birthday gift? Or maybe a single cake wall hanging, I'm not too sure right now, I just couldn't wait to make one. So calorie free and satisfying, it took longer to figure out what to use than it did to cut and make.

 

 

I hope you had a great weekend.  I suppose your tree is up? You house decorated? We picked up some huge poinsettia's for the front porch, that's as far as we've gotten. Tell me what you're up to.