Friday

Woo hoo, Friday! Are your people home or back to work.  My people have the day off to recover from the turkey coma.  Our holiday is pretty simple with a limited menu and so it makes for an easy cooking day.  I have enjoyed everyone's wonderful food photos!  So many beautiful and elaborate dishes.  I hope it was awesome.

 

Are you shopping today?  Good luck to those who are, and extra good luck to those who are working.  I feel  sorry for all those people working on Thanksgiving. I hope they have nothing but happy customers, because wouldn't it just be the worst to work when everyone coming is a grouch?

 

Ok, enough of that.  I have my deer all ready for blanket stitching. Thought I'd get around to it yesterday during down time but didn't, so maybe later today.  Hope you guys have an awesome weekend!

 

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Designer Tidbits!

Grab your coffee and head over to the Jolly Jabber!!!  I get to talk a bit about Pam Kitty Picnic, working with Holly and cool stuff like that.

 

Meow! Another day when I feel like the luckiest person ever!

Monday!

Ohh did you have a good weekend?  I did a lot of stuff, nothing ready for pictures of course. I have a ton of deer parts and a plan, but that's as far as I got with that.  Oh and I have a turkey.  Important this week.

 

Today is another day of the Quilty Fun Sew Along hop.  Check out Nanette's blocks over on her blog.  I know they'll be adorable, and I'll want to copy-cat her!  Be sure and check out the flickr group as well, so many pretty blocks and the photography! I'll be stepping up my game for sure.

 

Busy week for a lot of us for sure!!! Tell me your plans!

And, Friday.

Well here we are at Friday! Phew, thank goodness.  I had a rather exciting day yesterday, I went out to pick up a few things at Target and my car key battery died.  I had put all my stuff in the trunk, naturally I had frozen food, and then the battery gave up the ghost and wouldn't let me in.    I did manage to free the actual key from the little case, whatever that's called... but of course the car was alarmed and to be honest I was afraid that it would lock up if I used the key and didn't disarm it. Frankie came and saved me with the spare key and a latte. I could have worse problems, for sure and waiting in the parking lot gave me that extra dose of Vitamin D I'm sure I needed.

 

So after all that I got home to some really sweet mail!  My friend Sharon sent me the cutest package! She's been sending me the special Holiday Junior Mints since forever! She knows I love red and she sent me the most adorable red stork scissors and the sweetest little needle minder to match!  That little stork comes with a magnet and you stick the magnet behind your fabric and the stork on top to hold your needle in place.  I'm dying over them they're so cute.  So what a cheerful day! I feel so lucky to have a great friend like Sharon!  Now I just need to get in and put those scissors to work!

 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!! I'm hoping to get more sewing in! What about you?

 

 

p.s. here's the link to the scissors just in case you're like me and need these kinds of things!

Thursday

Hi there!  What did you do yesterday? It was a cozy day here, lots of rain rain rain! We've had a pretty dry summer and fall, so the rain is a welcome sight.   And we all know a rainy day is a good sewing day.  Just turn on some crime solving tv and get busy!

 

I have my cute courthouse steps blocks done as well, but it was pretty dark around here, so no photographs.  Maybe tomorrow.  Are you working on the Quilt Fun Sew Along blocks? The flickr group is chock full of blocks and I love to see them. It especially makes me happy to see blocks with Pam Kitty fabrics! 

 

Ok, hope the week is treating you well. I better get to work! xo

Tic Tac Tulip

Good morning, happy Wednesday!  Hope your week is progressing along nicely.  We had a fun day with Frankie yesterday.  I'm sure like most parents, we're often caught of guard over how much time has flown by. How in the world could we  have a 26 year old daughter?

Pam Kitty Picnic has show up in stores, so now is the perfect time to make the Tick Tac Tulip pattern available! You'll see I've added the icon to the side bar and all you need do is click and you'll be whisked away to pdf-land! I hope to see some tulip quilts out there soon!

Ok, that's it for today! xo 

Monday

Hi there, how was the weekend?  I had a good one, busy with all kinds of stuff, but good.  The weather was sunny but it's sure feeling cool at night.  I love it.

 

Back in the day when I used to sew for Elizabeth a  lot, she'd make up little kits for me to work on.  All the pieces cut out and piled up really nice.  I could just sit down and sew, and that always seemed like a dream. So I cut myself a kit. I had seen a version of Kathy Brown's Bread and Butter quilt over on Pinterest and suddenly had to make it! I have an appointment with the quilter this morning and thought it only made sense to bring one more along with me. It's my first finished Pam Kitty Picnic quilt. And that little project does sew up in just a few episodes of Longmire. (or as I like to call it, Justified: The Golden Years) I'll show you a picture when I get it back from Diana.  I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT SO MUCH. It's such a simple quilt but just one of those that will look so lovely quilted.  Cozy and soft.

 

In the mean time I have several things in progress, I need to turn back to them, like my baskets and the deer.  I also want to make a block for Pat's birthday. Are you making one?  I think it sounds fun and one of those immediate gratification kinds of things.  What else?

 

Most important this week, tomorrow is Frankie's birthday! Love that girl and we're devoting the day to celebration.   What are your plans for this week?  Sewing, Thanksgiving planning? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT! xo

TGIF

Good morning! It's been cozy here in the morning, a little bit of fog has slipped into the valley and it makes it the perfect time to stay inside and get things done. Or sit and drink coffee and stare out the windows.  Either one.

 

I've had a couple of days that seem productive.  I mean not like other people's productive, but productive for me.  Of course each little accomplishment has been tempered with a bit of  inconvenience, like not having enough of something to finish your project..but then being lucky to get that last pack of little red buttons.. so I guess it all evens out, right? And what about the skipped stitches in the blanket stitching project?  User error after all my worries that my sewing machine had some problems.  Turns out that increasing my needle size one more time did the trick.  Each thing was followed by a huge sigh of relief and it's all worked out in the end.

 

ANYWAY. You want to know the winner! It's Quilt Monkey!  She said:

 

 "So excited for the magazine - I have them all so far! Wonderful block - looks great as a pillow. Yes, I think I would have pegged it as yours without seeing the name! Thanks for the chance"

 

So my dear, email me your address so the generous folks at Quiltmaker can send you along a magazine! 

 

Now, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! xo

Wonderful Wednesday!

Hi there!  First off I want to thank you all for the kind words on my block and pillow! It's quite an honor to be included in the magazine with so many talented people and I'm quite thrilled about it.  I appreciate your support so much!

 

Now, what have I been up to you ask?  Well I've been busy.  So much to done!  Elizabeth has a new pattern coming out, Be a Deer, it's adorable, and that deer is part of it.  You've probably seen it on Facebook, and loved it just as much as I did. And because we're pals she sent me the deer applique shapes so I can get ready.  Of course I was traumatized over the selections of buttons for the nose, so I have some options, pink and gray.. black seemed a little severe for a pink deer.  But who knows how it will all turn out? Maybe I'll applique a circle but no matter what I do I'll over think it for days while I work on stuff that needs to be done first!

 

And what comes before the deer?  My ClubHouse project!!! I'm in just about done with it and then I'll head over to Alex's to tape it!  Pom Poms!  I think it's the most fun so far.. but then I probably say that about everything right?  In the meantime if you haven't seen the fall version head on over and watch the segment on making a tea towel or embellishing some napkins, it's hostess gift season. 

 

Last but not least some of you have emailed me about Tic Tac Tulip! I put the little icon for the pattern on flickr in preparation for making the pattern available.  I just need to check that yardage one more time then I'll post it.   It won't be long till Pam Kitty Picnic hits shops!

 

Phew.  That seems like a lot.  But I'm plugging away at it!  I really hope to see a ton of that little tulip quilt out there.  I love it so much! 

 

So, that' s it for today. I better get busy.  Hope you're doing well! xo

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 8!

Good morning! How was your weekend?  I hope it was great.  I'm excited today as it's the first day of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks blog hop!  Can you believe there are 800 blocks so far! This last batch is wonderful. 

Here's my block Summer Posies before I sent it off in hopes of being selected. I used my Pam Kitty Love collection to make it. I think most of you know that I love that red, white and pink combination, so my regular people probably could have picked my block out without looking at the name!

 

Because I loved the block so much, I recreated it for a pillow.  (I might have a pillow problem.) This time I used my Pam Kitty Picnic fabric, that should be in stores soon.  I extended the woven rick rack handle farther above the basket  to accommodate the larger background piece.. I wanted to use a 14 inch pillow form and the block originally is 12 inch.

I think what I like best is the dimensional pieces!  What? 3-D? You didn't notice?

 

Quiltmaker did a great job at explaining how to put this block together, especially with the space constraints!  I hope you give it a try. It seems like such a cheerful block to me. 

 

Thanks to Quiltmaker for including Summer Posies in this edition! 

 

Now lucky for you, Quiltmaker is giving away an issue to one of my blog  readers!  Just leave a comment for a chance to win  and I'll pick a lucky winner  on Friday! Now be sure and click over to The Quilty Pleasures blog to see who else is on the hop today!

Friday!

So overall, how was the week?  Busy week here, but really good!  One thing I got done was binding this quilt!  I 'found' it on the shelf recently, all folded nicely backside out.  I couldn't figure out what quilt it was and was surprised when I opened it up! It's my Sweet Susan quilt from way back at this post. EMBARRASSING! 

 

Diana quilted it so nicely with her signature feathers, and I love how it turned out, I can't believe I set it aside and forgot about it. Well it's all bound now!

 

I did have a laugh when I looked at it again, I notice all my hour glass blocks are going the same way except one.. I never noticed that before.  Of course when I looked back at the photo it's there large as life.  Oh well, that's the kind of thing that makes it fun right? 

 

Next week kicks off the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour!  My day is Monday so I'll see you back here for it! I can't believe this is the 8th Edition!  And I'm in all 8! 

 

I really love my block and I can't wait to show you!  Have a great weekend, I hope you have some fun things in store!  See you back here on Monday!

 

Wednesday!

So yesterday was a happy day around here. Bret worked at home because it was his birthday!  Nice to have him around the house, although we had to really keep the noise level down because of all the meetings! And meetings where people can see you, no cheating and working in your pj's! OMG!

I'm working on things.. not all can be shown. But soon I'll be able to share what this might turn into!  I can't wait because it's one of my favorite projects!!! In the meantime, did you make some apples for the Quilty Fun Sew Along? I've seen an orchard of apples over on the flickr group page!All so cute and colorful!

Ok, gotta grab some coffee and get to work! Have a great day people! xo

Monday

Hey there, Happy Monday!  How was the weekend?  Did you do any sewing? Now that it's November are we in the panic zone for Christmas yet?  Luckily, I don't have too much to panic about these days so maybe that's why I have some Christmas on my mind. 

 

Last year I had so much fun with my stuffed  candy canes, I couldn't stop thinking about them and what I could do this year.  I   think my cute stripe fabric is Christmas perfect, even though it's not traditional Christmas fabric.

 

I also was thinking about my ornament from last years Aurifil blog hop, and how cute the vintage holly looked along with it. I happen to have that cute Go! Holiday Medley die with the holly leaves and berries to use in my upcoming Christmas ClubHouse meeting!

 

 

So far it's a work in progress.  I'm thinking taller candy canes might sort out my issues, so I'll work on that.  And any pieces left over can be put to good use on some tea towels or maybe a table runner.

 

Who knows what will happen.  Maybe nothing, maybe something great! Only time will tell!  So tell me what you're up to.  Now that market is over I'm feeling relaxed and ready to get sewing!  My large pieces of yardage should be coming and I can really go to town! Lets all have a fun week! xo

Friday Fun

Good morning and happy Friday!  Looking forward to Bret being home, hopefully we can plant up some fall pots or have a nice drive out to enjoy some California style fall color.   I'd say sweep the back patio of all the pretty fall leaves but that doesn't seem fun. Lots of wind brought down a ton of my Liquid Amber leaves, and they're so pretty.  What's not in any way pretty are those horrible seed pods it sheds.  I'm sure if you have a tree in the Sweet Gum family you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, exciting announcement  over on the Jolly Jabber blog today!  Have you heard the news? You'd better go check it out.  Lori and The Fat Quarter Shop are having a wonderful sew along I'm taking part!

 

It's going to be a lot of fun.  I hope you'll head over and check out the Jolly Jabber and read all about it. Then grab your Quilty Fun book and get ready!

 

Now that' s it for this week my wonderful friends!  I hope you have a great weekend ahead! See you back here next week! xo