Keeping Busy

Even though we are still stuck inside with this winter weather I am keeping busy. 

I finished this stitchery just the other day, coffee stained it and went to look for a frame but couldn't find one. So it sits now until I can get hubby to make a frame for it.

I am so looking forward to spring!  
While waiting I thought I'd trace something out to work with in the pretty spring colors. 

This month's block for the Chilly Silly Snowmen Quilt is called Big Tree. I'm almost half ways through with the block. Can't wait to see what this quilt is going to look like when it's all done.
Oh, I just remembered I've also got another punch needle project started but I forgot to picture it. 

As you can see, I have lots of little projects going on all at the same time. That way I've got something to work on no matter what the mood is. 
It's the only way I can stay sane (being stuck indoors) waiting for winter to get on out of here and make room for spring.
What are you doing to beat the winter blues?

Chilly Silly Snowmen Strip

Here's my January strip of the Quilt Doodle 2014 BOM. I was getting a little worried that I wasn't going to get it finished in time before she posted the new block but I made it.
This was created using a whole bunch of 2 1/2 inch blocks. Since I prefer hand sewing over machine stitching it took me many nights to stitch them all up but I am happy with the end product and can't wait to see next months block.

If you'd  like to join in on the fun you can still get this months pattern for free but not for long. Once she posts February's block you will have to purchase January's from her Craftsy site.

Here at home, it's all about the COLD and SNOWY weather. The kids have had one day of school this week and that ran on a two hour delay. Monday of course was a holiday so they were off. Tuesday, Wednesday and today were all cancelled due to cold temps. or snow covered roads. Here in our area the land is not flat at all. The town that we live in is flat but it is surrounded by hills and those hills can get pretty nasty for travel when the weather gets bad. So schools end up cancelled. 
I remember as a kid we had far worse snow storms yet I don't remember having that many snow days. 
Now a days school gets cancelled for as little as an inch of snow. I think the road crews don't do as good of a job as they used. So that leads me to wonder why. My guess is funding. Go figure!
If our government has anything to do with it then we better not expect much.
I won't get on a big rant but I will say that our government should be ashamed. I think this country would be a better place if they removed all politicians (and lawyers) and replace them with normal people like me and you. We know how to budget and make do with what we have....not by choice.... but because we have to....thanks to our government.
As I said, I'll save that rant for another day so for now I will go. Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Quilt Doodle Designs 2014 BOM

I have been browsing the internet for the past month looking for a new quilt BOM to begin working on for 2014. I had sew much fun working on the last one that I couldn't wait to get started on another.
I've finally found one.
Cindy at Quilt Doodle Designs is offering this cute BOM. January's Strip is called "Chilly Silly Snowmen". I spent yesterday cutting out the pieces for it and today I managed to squeeze enough time in to get one block of the strip done. Just enough to get an idea of what it will look like.

I just laid the nose on. I will have to go back and stitch it down later after I get the whole strip done. Same with the eyes. I can't decide whether to use the star buttons in the picture or to just embroider them on.
I'll wait until it's finished and then decide I guess.
If you'd like to join in on the quilting fun then click on the link on my left sidebar to go to the website.

Well I just got the phone call from school saying that classes are cancelled tomorrow so with any luck maybe I'll get some more sewing done. 

Cold Start to the New Year

Hi everyone! Did you think I fell off the face of the Earth?
Well I'm still here. It's been a little over six months since I last posted. Don't know why other than life has been pretty boring lately and boring just doesn't give you much to work with when writing.
However, I hope to get back to posting on a regular basis even if it is boring. 
Well the New Year has kicked off with snow and much coldness. My kids have yet to make it back to school from their holiday break due to icy road conditions. Today is the third SNOW DAY for 2014.
As you can see from the photo above we had more snow last night. The amount isn't great but underneath that snow is a solid sheet of ice. It was raining when we went to bed and then when the cold temperatures arrived last night everything froze. Gotta be careful out there walking on it.

While off on Christmas break I began working on these star blocks. Each and everyone hand sewn which takes so much more time than by machine but I love doing it. 
This weekend I started off to make them into a small table runner but ran into problems figuring the angles. I am not good at math!!  So I ended up sewing the three pieces together and it will probably end up in my unfinished pile until I get a better idea of what to do with it. 

I have another year long quilt project that I hope to begin today. I'll be back tomorrow to share it with you. 
Stay warm wherever you may be!

Purse Making and Garden Pics!

Here are a few more creations that I've been working on.
I LOVE anything John Deere so when I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it. Not so sure that I really like the other green fabric that I paired with it but I guess it will do.

The other purse is all about sunflowers. One of my favorite flowers paired with one of my favorite colors ~brown. (Weird I know but hey brown goes with everything and has so many shades that are great for decorating.)

Other happenings:
This past Friday & Saturday was our annual yard sale. As usual we had way too much stuff. It's amazing how much *stuff* you can accumulate in a years worth of time. The weather was wonderful and we all did good with our sales.
Now it's time to catch up on housework, garden work and more.

Here are a few pics from the garden this morning.
Everything is doing really well so far. 

The zucchini is blooming & growing...

and I see baby crookneck squash galore.
I found the first tiny tomatoes

as well as blooming pepper plants.

I can't wait for it all to grow. I'm totally out of homemade spaghetti sauce & it kills me to have to pay the price of store bought, not to mention that homemade tastes so much better.
I am also looking forward to making some hot pepper mustard out of those peppers.

My Quilt Shop Finds

Katie and I spent a day out shopping recently. We stayed right here in our town and went to my favorite places ~ the quilt shops.
At the first little shop I found the goodies above.
~ 2 Buttermilk Basin needle punch patterns
~ Backyard Quilts applique hand towel pattern
~ a few scraps of wool
~ 2 fat quarters
~ a new pair of sewing nippers
~ I Love to Quilt sign

At the second shop I was able to find the backing and quilt batting that I needed to finish the Promises and Borders quilt that I worked on all of last year.

Now I've got it all sandwiched together and stretched out on my quilting frame. Just need to get stitching now.

Snow is on it's way so they say!

They are calling for a heavy wet snow to begin blanketing our area later this evening. The kids are all hopeful of a school cancellation for tomorrow and since they are predicting 4-6 inches I'm guessing that their wish will come true.

Weekend Riding, Pickin', Sewing & Relaxing

Fall is my most favorite season of the year!

We love to spend weekend evenings sitting out back by the fire. It was a bit chilly this weekend so we all huddled as close as we safely could. 

Saturday morning was crisp and cool but once it warmed up a bit  Dad and I went for our weekend bike ride. Those trees along the trail were blown over earlier this summer during the "big storm". The roots are HUGE!

After riding, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house, catching up on laundry and preparing dinner. Evening came and we went next door to help the neighbors pick apples from their tree. The deer are eating them all up so they figured they might as well pick them before the deer finish them off. There were still tons of apples though. Hubby climbed a ladder to get the good ones. Naturally they were at the tippy top of the tree. 
Can you guess what I did on Sunday?
I made applesauce with some of the not so great apples that we picked. The rest are packed and stored on my top porch where the deer can't get to them.

The rest of Sunday was spent finishing my Autumn Blessings Block 1.  It's supposed to have leaves and a few vines on the pumpkin as well a buttons added to the corners. I couldn't decide if I liked them or not so I opted to leave them off for now. I can always add them later.

Well that's about it for my weekend. 
Today it's back to school and work for everyone.
I'm already looking forward to the upcoming weekend because it's time for the Oktoberfest at Oglebay Park.
It's such a beautiful place and there are so many talented crafters there. 

Learning Something New - Applique w/ Starch

I'm learning something new!
You may remember a few months back I won this pattern from Shabby Fabrics.

Well fall is my absolute most favorite season of all and even though I've got numerous other sewing projects started I just had to begin another. I couldn't resist. It's just perfect for the season!

I've appliqued before. You may remember this from last year.

But I've never used starch in the process. Just a little fusible webbing to tack my pieces to the background and then stitched around the edges.
Pretty easy!

However, my new fall project pattern says to use spray starch to tuck and fold the ends under with. So a few weekends ago I sat down and cut all the pattern pieces out.

Then I got my regular bottle of starch out ( not the spray kind * see note below*) and just mixed a small amount with water. I folded my fabric ends under and pasted them using my starch mixture and a small stippling brush. It was a little messy and I definitely need some a lot more practice but I was happy with the end result.

My corners aren't the most rounded but in time I will get better at it.

                               
Finally, after a week with no sewing I was able to steal away a bit of time today to begin blanket stitching around the pumpkin. Hopefully I'll have this block finished this week and be able to move on to the next one. I'll show you a finished picture as soon as I get it done.

Now I've got a question for all of you about using spray starch.

Have any of you ever had an allergic reaction to spray starch?

I'm asking because last year I bought a can of it and used it once and only once. I broke out with a horrible itching sensation all around my mouth after using it. I didn't eat or drink it or even have it anywhere near my mouth but that is where I experienced the reaction.
So this year I bought a plain ol' jug of starch and mixed it myself with water and didn't have any reaction at all.
So I'm wondering what is in the can of spray that set me off?

Another Block and the Start of School

Oh, where did the summer go??

It's back to school time here....the boys went back to public school last Thursday and Katie & I began homeschooling as of this morning.

So this past week I have been soaking up the last remaining free time that the summer gives me. I can't say that I've done anything wonderful but I have enjoyed it.

I did finish my block 8 from the Promises and Borders Quilt.

This one was fun to stitch. I love the little blue birdie, heart and bow as well as the wispy leaf tree!

I also managed to get a few good books in. 

This weekend was busy with work as Dad replaced the siding on one of his buildings. 

Out with the old vinyl siding and in with the new metal. 

                                                   Do you see that chair & umbrella?
                                   That was the supervisor's seat and guess who that was?? :o)
                                                     Well somebody's gotta do it!
So that's what I've been up to. 
I now need to spend a few hours on the computer catching up with my favorite blogs as I am a week behind in reading them so if I haven't been around lately to comment I will be soon!
Have a great evening!

Sew Many...Sew Little

Sew Many Quilt Patterns...Sew Little Time to Work on Them!

I am accumulating quite a few quilt patterns that I want to work on but there is simply not enough time to work on them. Oh and lets not forget that there will be even less time in another week because school will begin and then my days will be spent homeschooling my youngest.
Thank goodness for file folders and disk space because that is where I am storing all those freebie patterns until I get the time to work on them.

Below you will find the links to those patterns....better grab them up while you can!

#1. Promises and Borders - this is the *one* that I have chosen to completely finish this year. Come on, don't tell me that you don't know what I mean. I know I'm not the only one out there with too many projects started and not enough time to finish all of them! That's why this one is what I am focusing on.

#2. Country Cottages  is being shared over at The Shabby.
(Love her patterns and fabric choices!)

#3. The Wish Quilt pattern can be found over at Red Brolly. Just in time for Christmas if you're a speedy stitcher. For me, maybe by next Christmas.
You'll have to scroll through her recent posts to get all the block patterns.

On top of those freebies being offered to all, I was lucky enough to win a pattern copy of Blessings of Autumn from Shabby Fabrics. It arrived by mail this week and I can't wait to get started on it. 

I also purchased the pattern for Betsy's Closet In Stitches from the Acorn Quilt and Gift Co.

And it just so happens that a stitch along blog has been created for all those that want to work on this within the next year. You can find more about it HERE. I'm still deciding whether to join this group or not. I really want to. I just don't know if I can keep up with them or not.

So there are just a few wonderful quilt BOM's that I have found and can't wait to start, finish or take part in.
If I only had a little more time!

Have a great weekend!