The oldest UFO ever!

Well, maybe not the oldest ever...but I'm pretty sure it's MY oldest UFO. I made this top in 1996 when I lived in Ohio. I bought a new sewing machine and one of the 'perks' was that I got to pick a class to take for free. I remember learning how to make those small sawtooth star blocks in the setting strips. It sat as a top until earlier this year when I quilted it on a long arm at a local quilt shop. And today, I finally put the binding on!

The problem with keeping a UFO for so long is that I didn't have any matching fabric for borders or binding...I think it really could have used one more red or blue border, but I just couldn't find a fabric that played nice with these older fabrics. The binding fabric is a pretty good match and I'm sure no one else will even notice it's not the same. :P It's just me being too persnickity.

As you can see, my resident quilt inspector wasted no time doing his part in the quilt making process. As soon as the quilt was on the floor, he went to work!

I am sooo pleased to have this OLD UFO finished...finally!!

Finally...some sewing pics to share

I haven't spent much time sewing the last couple of weeks, but this week I finally have some time to devote to quilting! These blocks are for a swap and they are called Bear Paw Variation. I used "Triangulations" for the first time to make the half square triangles and I love it! The fabrics are supposed to be the colors of Coffee & Cream...I'm sending in 16 blocks, I can't wait to see all of them together! I've really cut back on swaps the last couple of years, but sometimes they are just too good to pass up!



Next, I wanted to make a November/Thanksgiving wallhanging for this hanger in my kitchen. I love these "Straddling..." patterns...This is Straddling Turkey. I made the Straddling Snowman for my sister last year. I need to add the borders and he needs eyeballs! But I think I might be able to get him done in time for Thanksgiving!

Edit to add: The Straddling Turkey pattern is from The Wooden Bear.

Yummy Snack Mix...

Thought I'd share a quick and easy "snack mix" recipe that I got from a friend. I made a batch for a kid's halloween party tomorrow night. I used "halloween" colored M&M's, and you could use different colors for all the different holiday themes. Also, if you don't have exactly what's listed in the recipe...just mix it up a little with what you have! :) Don't forget the pretzels though...nothing's better than pretzels covered in white chocolate! Yum!!

White Chocolate Party Mix

1 lb white chocolate or 16oz white chocolate chips

2 cups pretzel sticks

6 cups Crispix Cereal

2 cups dry roasted peanuts

3 cups Cherrios

1 pkg M&M's Candies

Melt chocolate per package directions. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Slowly pour chocolate over mixture and stir to evenly coat. Spread mixture on waxed paper lined cookie sheets to cool. Break into small pieces. Store in airtight container in refrigerator to keep fresh.

Enjoy!!

We have a WINNER!!

Okay, ladies and gentlemen...the time has come to pick the winner for my Birthday Giveaway! Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes. It was so fun to have messages for a week wishing me a happy birthday! It kept the celebrating going on for more than just one day!! :)

First off, here is the "pot" with all the names in it....

Of course, I had to enlist the help of my quilt inspector extraordinaire...Smokey! Here he is after I called him in to help. He thought it was a new cat food or something, so he had to give it a few sniffs to check it out....

Once he realized what his responsibilities were, he got right to work...."I think I'll piiiiiick...this one."

"Ummm...noooo....maaaayyyybeeee this one....."

And the winner is......

Angela from The Country Cellar!! Congratulations Angela!! The patterns will soon be on the way to you!!

Wow!!

What a great response to my birthday giveaway! You have one more day to enter...I'll pick a name Tuesday evening. Since you've seen the gift I'll be sending to the lucky winner, I thought I'd share a few birthday goodies that I received, too! My bestest quilty friends Robin and Peggy spoiled me rotten!! Look at all these goodies...

Peggy made a cute quilted Tree Banner and a wool pincushion! She also sent a couple of cool totes and a neat little mini iron....plus lot of other fun things and of course some stress-relieving pills, aka M&M's! A quilter's necessity!! :)
Robin made two cute little candy corn hot pads...are they the cutest? Look at the darling little cupcake trinket box...I think it will be perfect for thimbles or buttons on my shelf. She also a sent a quilting DVD and a quilt kit from Connecting Threads and three batik FQ's and Jelly Belly's!! Yum!
See, I told you they spoiled me rotten!! :) My hubby also gave me this cool wooden decoration...his name is Corny Carl. :P He sits outside my front door next to my pumpkin and some fall mums. Isn't he neat?
Thanks again to everyone that entered my giveaway! Good luck...you could be the winner!

Birthday Giveaway!

Today is my birthday....so what better way to celebrate than to have a giveaway on my blog! :) I will send the winner the 13 patterns from Pearl Louise Designs Banner of the Month Club. You can see my finished banners in this post. I really enjoyed making these banners, so I hope someone else will too. I'll have a couple of other goodies to include in the package as well!

Okay, here are the rules...just comment on this post to enter. If you mention the giveaway on your blog, you'll be entered twice in the drawing! If you do not have a blog, please include your email address or I will not be able to contact you if you win. I will put all the names in a hat and pick the winner on 10/21.

Good luck!

EDIT: Giveaway has ended....congrats Angela!!

First Tree Table Topper Finished!!

I just love it!! Don't forget, you can find the pattern for FREE here. Marcie is the designer...you can click over to her blog here. She tells me she will be posting another FREE pattern soon!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Okay, well not really! It did get cold enough to snow here though...yesterday morning, we woke up to 20 degree temps and snow in the mountains. Today is a bit warmer, but still below freezing this morning.

Last year, I saw a quilt project around a lot of blogs that I just fell in love with. I just didn't have time for it last year, but knew I would HAVE to make it this year. Marcie at Patchalot More has the pattern on her site for free! You have to go check it out and make one for yourself!

So this weekend I decided to make two! One is for me and one is a gift for ???. I just love how they turned out! I pulled all the fabrics from my stash and that is such a good feeling!

What are you doing to get ready for the holidays??

Mail Deliveries!

Look what I got in the mail...a fabric postcard all the way from the UK! A couple weeks ago, Helen at Quilts & ATC's notified me that I won her 300 post blog drawing! Isn't it cool? I need to try and make one of these sometime. Thanks Helen!



My other fun mail package was from Homespun Hearth...they have jelly rolls on sale for around $20, so I indulged and bought two! They are Moda's Wildflower Serenade and I LOVE them! I'm really trying not to buy anything for a while as I want to use my stash and finish up current projects. I must have had a moment of weakness though because before I knew it, these were in my mailbox. :)

I haven't really sewn much this week...just been busy with other things. But I'm looking forward to a long, quiet weekend and getting a headstart on Christmas projects.

What's on your sewing agenda for the weekend?

I've caught the bug....

I'm sure those of you that regularly "blog-hop" have seen these little fabric baskets. I knew I'd have to make one sometime, and today was the day. Actually I made two! They are so quick and easy and FUN to make! I KNOW I'm going to have to make a few more. :) I saw somewhere a blogger had added a yo-yo, sorry I can't give credit...but I think it's pretty cute!

Here's the link to the turtorial if you want to give it a try too!

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2008/05/tutorial-fabric-basket.html

One of my favorite things....

I love a lot of things about fall, but this is one of my favorites....Brach's Pumpkin Candies! I'm happy every year when I see these show up in the stores. My kids love 'em too. :) The aren't very Weight Watcher friendly though (6 = 3pts), so back into the bag they went and they are put away. It's a good thing they are so sweet and you can't eat very many at a time anyway. I shouldn't have even bought the bag! LOL I just couldn't resist... p.s. I can't believe I don't have a fall candy dish! I'll have to keep an eye out for one.

I've been sewing a little...I finished two projects, but I can't post pictures just yet because they are gifts.

The temps are cooling off here and it's feeling like fall! Christmas will be here before we know it.