I missed October completely!

Wow...I didn't post even once in October. Where did the month go?

I guess I'll try to sum it all up in a few pictures.

First off....it was my birthday on the 14th! I received a couple of wonderful gift packages from my friends Peggy and Robin.

Robin send me a fun woolfelt candle mat kit and two table top organizers. She also sent a couple fun halloween goodies.

Peggy sent me a patriotic wallhanging kit, Star Spangled quilt book, fabric, thread, a spidey mug, candy, and more!! :)

Also, just look at this beautiful embroidered pillow she made for me! I just absolutely love it! You have to click on the picture to see how beautiful it is!


I demo'd the fabric baskets at my local quilt group. So now I have a few baskets made for gifts this Christmas.

Finally, I made this quilt and gave it to my sister for her birthday. I think she was really happy with it!

My sister and her family came for a visit over halloween weekend. It was lots of fun to visit with everyone, carve pumpkins together and take her kids trick-or-treating!

Lots of stitching going on....

A couple months ago, I signed up for a new embroidery Block of the Month with Robin, Peggy, Liz, and Carolyn. The pattern is called "Berry Picking Party" by Crabapple Hill. The first kit arrived in all the craziness of summertime, but this week I finally finished up block 1 & 2!

It's much more "girly" and pink (!) than things I usually make, but I'm really pleased with it so far. I'm sure by the time it's finished, I'll have the perfect recipient for such a pretty, feminine quilt. :) I'm ready and waiting for block 3 to arrive!

I also finished block 9 of the Christmas Wish BOM. I'm not sure how I'll set the blocks and finish it off just yet...I don't think the scrappy setting that Gail recommends will work with the fabrics I used. I'm open to ideas! :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful, quilty week!

broken record....

Even though I sound like a broken record, I'll say it again! I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! Why is time flying by so quickly??

Let's see, after my last post, I left with my son Zach to help him drive his car across country back to college. We stopped and visited with a couple friends along the way and all in all had a great trip.

Almost as soon as I returned, we packed up and camped over the long Labor Day weekend. We are really enjoying our new camper and hope to get a couple more trips in before the colder weather sets in.

I've been squeezing in a little embroidery here and there but nothing finished to show you just yet. Monday I actually turned on my machine and sewed! I put together a mini quilt top. I joined a Block of the Month Mini Club from Temecula Quilt Company. This one is from Lori Smith's Fat Quarter Quilts called Puzzling the Old Maid or something like that! The top measures approx 18" x 22" and those are 1" HST. Tiny!!

I even pieced the back by using up the last of the scraps from the quilt kit. I'm not sure which side I like best! :)

Now that fall seems to be approaching, I know I will be sewing more. I can feel it! :)

Happy Quilting!

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Cora!! She is the winner of the Abbey Bag. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my blog and commented. I've really enjoyed this blog and getting to know some great ladies out there in quilt land!

I'm off for a week long road trip...I've got a little bag all set with my "Busy Elves" embroidery, so I'm good to go! Hopefully, I'll have some more finished elves to share with you when I return.

Happy quilting!

Back to school....

It's that time again. Time for Zach to go back to school. I'm going to travel with him to help with the driving and then I'll fly home next weekend. We've been working the last couple of days packing his things and getting ready for the trip. I don't know if this will ever get easier....it's always hard to say goodbye! We had lots of fun this summer...whitewater rafting, camping, hiking, dirtbike riding (not me!). This picture was taken on a hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at a 9000' peak called "Inspiration Point."

Not much sewing going on the last few days, but I did make this mini fabric basket. I basically altered the pattern by Pink Peguin by making it smaller. It measures about 4" and is round in shape. I filled it with bite size candy bars and I'm giving it as a hostess gift for a casual dinner party we are attending tonight. I hope she likes it!! :)

I also wanted to thank everyone for entering my giveaway! I am amazed at the response. I'm sorry I did not respond to everyone. I'll pick the winner tonight when we get back from dinner!! Good luck!!

Hope you all have a fun, quilty weekend!

Christmas Wish BOM

I'm all caught up on this BOM! In case you don't know, this is a FREE BOM from Gail Pan Designs. Hurry over and get the patterns, 'cause it's ends next month and who knows how long she'll keep them online.

I did pretty well keeping up with the monthly stitcheries, but I couldn't decide on the border fabrics for a long time. Actually, I had the green picked out a couple months ago, but didn't decide on the red until last week and I must say, I'm very happy with it! It took very little time to cut the strips and sew them to the little embroidered blocks. ....Voila! I'm caught up! :)

A couple of these blocks were in the lost/missing-for-a-short-time bag that I told you about a couple of months ago! I still have a feeling of relief that these weren't lost forever! :) There is just one more month left on this BOM, I'm ready for it!

Happy Quilting!

p.s. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Elfs!!!

I wanted to share a couple of pics of my "Busy Little Christmas Elves" project. This pattern is by Gail Pan. I'm really pleased with how these blocks are coming together. Each 16" block has 2 embroidered squares and 2 pieced blocks and 36+ 2.5" squares. The pieced part took a bit more time and effort to assemble than I anticipated, but I definitely think it's worth it

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE! Peggy is also having a giveaway!

150th Post Giveaway!!

I made it to 150 posts!! What better way to celebrate than to have a giveaway! :) The rules are simple enough, just leave a comment and you'll get one entry into the drawing. Post it on your blog, and I'll enter your name TWO more times! So you'll have three chances to win!

What's the prize, you ask? Here it is...it's called an Abbey Bag. I made it a few months ago and I love it! BUT, if you recall this story about Smokey, I don't leave pincushions with pins out anymore. So I've just never gotten into the groove of using this beauty. It's just a shame for it to sit unused, so I decided that I would pass it on to one of my blogging, quilty friends! :)

I'll pick the winner Saturday, 8/22 at 9pm. Good luck!!

Thanks to all who entered! A winner has been chosen!

Family Fun

Last week, we met up with my side of the family for a long weekend of camping and fun times. We camped at Lake Alpine, which is in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It is absolutely beautiful! 'Course, I guess I'm a bit partial, since I grew up just 30-40 minutes from there! It's just a bit southwest of the Reno/Lake Tahoe area. Truly beautiful country and not what most people think of when they think of California!

This is my beautiful family...I'm so glad both kids were able to join us! It's getting harder and harder to get everyone together!

This is EVERYONE! :) I have two brothers and one sister, they are in this picture with their spouses and children...and our mom!

This is mom with all her grandkids...like I said, it's harder and harder to get the older ones all together. They range from age 3 to age 22!

Some nice views of the lake and mountains....

Hopefully I'll have some sewing/quilting/embroidery pics to share with you this week!

hmm...I just noticed that this is my 149th post! I think a giveaway is in order for my 150th...don't you??? :) Stay tuned...