New Year's Eve!

Good morning people! It's a very frosty morning here.. check out my 'coffee chair'. It's dusted white with frost. We've had a couple of cold days that were preceded by some stormy days. You can see the base of one of my patio umbrellas that fell over, thankfully onto the little fence and not onto my pretty iceberg rose.

Bret is on vacation this week, but has had tons of work-work to do anyway. We're not having enough fun or accomplishing enough.. but it's nice to have the company at home. I'm trying to get my little sewing room in order to face the new year! I'd like to be organized. If you're making resolutions I'd love to hear them!

Hope you all have a fun filled New Year's Eve and that 2011 is filled with happiness for you. Thanks for having your pamkittymorning here with me again this year. You guys make my day!

O. M. G.

I think I have three good sized quilts in here.. not quite queen sized. In the past I have been a bit of an over achiever when it comes to making bed sized quilts. This is my new plan for storing some of them in a more efficient and dust free way. Space Bags.

I'm curious.. how do you store stuff that's not in use? I have plenty laying around the house that we use for lounging around, and on beds, not to mention things stacked up because it's cute.. but that doesn't cover all of them.

And what about stuff that's just not your style anymore? What do you do with those? I made shop samples for years, I have a timeline of quilt styles out there. I'd love to hear what you're doing. Because seriously people, I need help.

Ok, back to work. xo

Magical and Mysterious

How was it? I had a great Christmas, how about you? Luckily for me, my mother-in-law volunteered to have Christmas again at her house! That saves me a lot of time trying to get this place in order for people! We collaborate on the menu and it always turns out wonderful. I am so lucky.

Right before Christmas, the UPS truck came along and dropped off a mysterious package wrapped in crime scene tape..

What?

Apparently my life of crime earlier this year has paid off. Look what Accu-Santa sent to me! I couldn't believe it when I opened it up! I can't wait to clear off some room and see what this 'baby' can do!

Now you know what I'll be up to this week! Bret is home for the whole week so in between some family style fun I intend to cut some fabric and sew!!! Now tell me what you have planned!

Merry Christmas

Hope you have a wonderful day!!! xop

Christmas Eve

So are you all ready? I guess we're as ready as we're going to get around here. Yesterday Frankie and I made some Ranger Cookies for ..... Santa.. that's right, for Santa. I haven't baked in ages, so I was pretty happy they turned out delicious. A little too delicious really..

Here's the recipe:

1 cup butter or margarine (softened)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal (not the quick oats..)

2 cups cornflakes

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 375.. Cream butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add flour and baking soda till all mixed in, then drop in all the remaining ingredients and lightly mix.. you want all the stuff mixed up, but you don't want to lose the crunch of the cereal. Bake for 8-10 minutes.. my oven took 10 and the centers are nice and chewy, the outside a little crunchy.

If you checked the link you'll see there are plenty of variations!!! I bet they'd make for a nice breakfast with a cup of coffee!!!

Well?

Did you get a lot done this weekend? Or were you already there and just enjoyed the weekend? We got a lot of stuff done! All the packages are just about wrapped. I have my own Elf in the form of Mr. B. He wraps most all the gifts, he's had advanced gift wrap training from my mother-in-law.

So isn't this the cutest? We drove past it on the way home from a quick trip out for some space bags. Later we're going to have to chat about unused quilt storage.. I need some help in this area. Anyway, I thought it was darling. Super Gingerbready!

So we're on the countdown now! Hope you're having some fun people. So if you're cruising the web, check out Holly's event, Elizabeth's stash cleanout and this adorable tree.

Pros and Cons and Peeves

Yeah, the weather has been pretty nice here. I thought it was supposed to rain today, but in fact it was sunny and warm...and I actually drove to Target with the top down in the little car. (Which I parked in a row of compact spaces. It's a very small car. Then got wedged in between a Suburban and a Navigator, both encroaching into my spot and then the Navigator lady complained to me she couldn't get into her behemoth of a vehicle!!! THEN DON'T PARK IN A COMPACT SPOT. How did she get out in the first place? Sorry. Pet Peeve. )

This is the downside of living in such nice weather is the never ending yard work. I was looking over here on Karen's blog, that snow day picture scared the you-know-what out of me!

See it's mid December and there's still tons to come. We'll be raking in January. But way better than snow, right?

Mmm delicious afternoon snack. Have a good weekend my lovely snowflakes! xo

p.s. Remember there are giveaways a both Holly's and Elizabeths!

What's up?

What's new with you people??? It's frosty cold here this morning and the heater is running like crazy. At first I thought something was wrong with the thermostat, it doesn't usually run so steady in the morning.. but it's just working hard to keep the house at 63!!! And now that I'm up I'd like it a little warmer than that!

Since I have nothing good to show you of my own today, I'm showing off some photos of Alex's Christmas decor that I managed to snap earlier this week! It was late in the afternoon so these were the best of the bunch.

Actual sleigh bells. It's pitiful, but she told me where they're from and I can't remember!

Today you should head on over to Elizabeth's to check out what she's blogging about. It involves a giveaway!!

Tuesday Morning

It's a little brisk for sitting outside these days but I couldn't resist a quick photo while I was out filling the bird feeders. My sweet neighbor Alice-Jane dropped up this pretty planter for us, and I have it on the ledge outside my kitchen window. It makes for a cheerful view when the weather is as dreary as it has been here. Warm though, compared to most places. I don't want to appear to be complaining!

I don't know if you saw this wonderful post over at Crafty Pod. I'm dying dying dying over those chenille flowers.

Barely into this project I find I am a bit lame. That's not going to stop me though.

Off to Elizabeth's this morning for a bit of a meeting! We're getting all excited about the new year.. and what we might make! So what are you up to? And did you hop over to Holly's and Tammy's? Lots of Christmas inspiration at Tammy's, not to mention a give-away! Ok sweet people, I'll see you later. xo

Brownie Points

Today starts the Brownie Points blog tour over at Holly's. She's featuring a very good friend today.

I hope you'll hop over and check it out!

Scare Tactic

So I had a bit of a panic here yesterday afternoon, I thought I lost my needle. I'm very careful because of the dogs, I always leaving it threaded and knotted. I brought my hand sewing back into my sewing room but later I couldn't find it!! YIKES.

Thankfully it fell right under my sewing table where I'd set my work down. I finally finished machine quilting my little runner and got the binding on . I had drawn up that block waiting for Red Rose Farm many months ago, so I"m happy it's finally done!

Saw this truck and trailer pull in to the parking lot at the grocery store. Interesting concept!

So you're looking for winners today, and I have them. Cathy, who said "I like the quilt BUT I LOVE the ruffled bag!" and Sandy who said "Darling patterns that I would heart to win! Thanks for sharing." So email me ladies and I'll get out to the post office this weekend!

Ok everybody, enjoy the nice weekend! xo

Gnomalicious

So you probably thought I'd never finish that gnoma project right? I can't even remember where I left off. Anyway. I filled up my sandwich bags with beans. Normally I'd use those little poly pellets that you can get at a craft store, but I couldn't find any locally. I like using them because if there is ever any dampness, they don't sprout and grow. Hence the beans are in zipper sandwich bags. I suppose you could use anything here, kitty litter, sand, rice. This project just needs a little 'junk in the trunk' as Monica might say. (see step 9)

Monica's photos of sewing around a gnoma are so much better, so I'd suggest you look at those in this post. Except on my project you don't need any batting. But you do need to make a little mark 4 inches from the bottom of your gnoma and then pin a 10 inch piece of ribbon at the line. On the first gnoma, you need just one ribbon on YOUR right, and on the last you need just one ribbon on YOUR left. Your three middle gnomas each need ribbons on both sides.



You probably need to eat a lot of delicious candy during your project. Seasonal candy preferred. Stitch all around and then turn your little fellows right side out and stuff.. the last thing you stuff in is a bag of beans, so the bottom is nice and heavy and your gnoma stands up on his own. The biggest two gnomas need a little more than a cup of beans, the smaller gnomas need less.. tiny gnoma needs about half a cup.


Then when they're all stitched up and complete you tie them together. I've shown them here on my bed, standing like little soldiers, but my intention is that they make a cute little draft catcher under a door. But you know, that's not as cute in a picture. At least at my house.


Now these little fellows need more embellishment, I have some bells and pom poms.. but for pete's sake, it's December 8th.. at the rate I'm going ... well you know. I'll trim up the ribbon later.. just so excited to have this almost done!

There's so many wonderful Christmasy crafts out there right now... have you see this or anything here? And seriously, go here, start scrolling, the crafting goodness on this blog will make you weep. Oh well, maybe that was just me. And while I'm at it, check out this guest room. Dreamy. And if sweet is your thing.. look no further.

Ok, that's it for me today. I need to get some pompoms and bells out and get busy. And trim up those ribbons... that looks too messy to me....

Surprise!

Time for a little pre-holiday drawing here at PKM... these are my latest patterns and I thought you guys might like a chance to win! I have 2 sets to give away. Leave a comment on this post and by Friday morning I'll pick a name. That should give you plenty of time. I'm particularly happy with that quilt pattern. I had so much fun making my original, for the Lecien booth at market, from Flower Sugar with some bits of Sweet Broderie by Rosalie . It's quite simple to piece and it's a lot of fun. Elizabeth's version with the black background is quite stunning as well and she's combined her Red Rose Farm collection in with Flower Sugar and Sweet Broderie.

Of course you can always acquire them here, and here...and I believe very soon here.

Ok, better get back to sewing...xo

It's all Roseann's fault.

I'm going to blame Roseann for my slow start on this project. She's teasing me away with Facebook and projects that she keeps finding. This takes a lot of time away from my life as a hermit who makes things while drinking copious amounts of coffee.

I wish I had thrown this video in and got busy with the day. My intentions were good. I got my 5 bags of beans all done. (yeah, took like 2 minutes) and then finished my cup off coffee and had to go out to get some d-rings and iron on vinyl. I know, insanity! What am I doing with iron on vinyl?

Stopped along the street on the way home from the market to get a photo of the berries on this tree. I think it's called a strawberry tree, but I'm not sure. I've always loved the fruit, it reminds me of millinery fruit.

The nice gentleman who is the groundskeeper for the apartment complex where this tree is located said it's a real pain though. The fruit is messy and leaves stains on the sidewalks that require frequent power washing. Hmm. I don't need more messy things. I wonder if it's in bush form?

I did do some work on my little project.. but today though I'm off with Elizabeth to meet Nireko for lunch. We're picking up our quilt market samples that we made for the Lecien booth!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!! See you back here next week. xo

December

So it's actually December, it always seems to creep up fast.. well to me anyway. November is filled with birthdays and then it's Thanksgiving and suddenly I'm already late with Christmas!

More birds. Well last year I had snow to blog about, this year I guess it's all about birds. I don't know what these are but it is the first time I've ever seen them around here and I love their weird little shape? Perhaps they're guinea fowl? I don't know.

But you know me, I had to pull over and check them out. Look a big fat white one! Ok sorry, my enthusiasm for this kind of thing gets the better of me.

Now I'll set to work on another Gnoma project, right after some dreadful paperwork. What a fun reward right?