The In Between Week

It's almost the last day of 2011!  I've been reading in blog-land about how people are feeling about this "in between week"...the week between Christmas and New Year.  It seems to be a relaxing time for most.  For me, there has been lots and lots of quilting going on...but that means no pictures that can be shared yet.  After the quilts are received by their owners, I'll be able to share a few peeks.

Until then, here is one I can show!  This one was done for my friend, Karen (no blog-yet!).  She made it for a friend of hers struggling with cancer.  I was happy to find this ribbon design for the quilting.

Each block had a saying about what cancer can't do...isn't that awesome?

She sent a few pictures after the binding was finished.  Her pictures show the color much more accurately.

A close up of one of the blocks...

Great job Karen!  Look carefully at the bottom left of the picture...she has a quilt inspector too!  Now I know she NEEDS a blog. :)

Like I said, I've been busy, busy quilting this week...these are the bobbins I wound for one particular LARGE quilt I worked on this week.  They are Size "M" bobbins for my Gammill, which are considerably bigger than what are used in domestic machines...so they hold a lot of thread.  In case you were wondering...that wasn't enough!  I had to wind a 5th one!  

Oh and lookie here...I even whipped up a few blocks today from Step 7 of Bonnie's Mystery.  Woohoo!  She is publishing the final step and BIG reveal on New Year's Day!  I know what I'll be doing that day.  :)

Hope you have a safe and fun New Year's Eve!!

Happy Quilting!

Monday Link Up

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure did...it was great to have Megan and Zach both home again this year.

I was lucky enough to have most of Friday with nothing left to do but sew, sew, sew!  I worked like a maniac to finish Step 6 of the Ocra Bay mystery.  Bonnie actually released the step a day early as a little Christmas surprise!  You have no idea how excited I was to see this step was to make star blocks...Ohio stars to be more specific.  I love star blocks and this is definitely one of my favorites! 

 Don't they look awesome lined up even just like this?  I can't wait to see what she has in store for them.

I turned around to load the picture to the computer and this is what I saw when looked back at the blocks....Whiskers had adjusted a few of them for me.  :)  Don't you like how she's just looking at me..."Whattcha think of this?" she says.

Once again, I'm eagerly awaiting next Friday's clue...we are in the home stretch now with maybe only 2-3 more clues to go!  Check out Bonnie's blog to see everyone else's progress too!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!  Hope your day is filled with lots of great memories, love, joy and laughter!

Luke 2:9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

I just can't resist...

I'm joining a new quilt-along!  This one is a 12" mini quilt each month from Lori Smith's Quilt Square patterns.  I love minis anyway, so this sounds like a lot of fun to me.  There's chances to win prizes too!

You can read more about the quilt along at Jo's Country Junction or by clicking the box below!

Orca Bay and other stuff....

I can't seem to squeeze much blogging time in this month...but that's to be expected I guess.  Lots of other stuff going on for everyone right now.  I think I finally have -most- of my Christmas to-do list checked off and I think this week and next will be fairly relaxing.  :)  

I was able to get a few units from Step 5 of the Orca Bay mystery completed.  I really liked Bonnie's tip of keeping the chain in tact while pressing.  It gives just a little tension when ironing or something, but makes it easy to just pick up the corner and run the iron under it.  After they are all ironed, I clip them apart.

I think I have about twice as many completed from what is shown in this picture...probably about 100.  Still a long ways to go!!

For those of you wondering...I did finish step 4!  Woohoo!  I really enjoyed making the string blocks.  I like how they look like a cross in this picture.  :)  It wasn't intentional...just the angle of the camera made the one side look longer.  And the reds are much prettier in person...I couldn't get a picture that captured the red just right.  Same with my ironing board cover in the pictures above.  What is up with RED??  

Whiskers was happy to keep my strings warm while I wasn't using them.  Isn't she helpful?  I love how Smokey is peeking inside..."Hey, how come she gets to sleep in there?"

Another project I accomplished last week were these candy gifts for my husband's coworkers.  I found these cute little dishes on clearance at Michael's for under $2!  I'm thinking they must have been leftover from last year or something...why were they already on clearance?  For whatever reason...they were perfect for what I needed...

I filled each one with some homemade candy (buckeyes and noodle candy) and added a few kisses for color.  :)

I had found small gift cellophane bags that were meant for baskets, but they worked perfect for these too.  I added a glittery bow and voila!   

Zach is home from school and we spent some time this weekend working on a Christmas puzzle.  I've always loved puzzles, but there always seems to be an excuse for not getting one out and working on it...mainly space.  We worked on this one on our dining room table, which isn't the most convenient, but it was worth it because of the time spent together.

Here is the reward for all our hard work...isn't it cute?

Until next time....Happy Quilting!

Monday Link Up -- Orca Bay Mystery Step 4

I'm finally caught up with the mystery and can add my blog to Bonnie's link up post! :) I have half of the red strings done...64 triangles. These are fun and pretty easy to do. Perfect for sewing while watching sappy Hallmark Christmas movies over the weekend. :) I don't think I'll have any problem finishing the rest of them before the next clue is released on Friday!

No other pictures to share today...I've been busy with some other crafty projects, but I can't share pictures just yet. 'Tis the season!

Happy Quilting!

Just in time...

I'm all caught up on the Orca Bay mystery! Just in the nick of time before today's clue was published. :) Bonnie always amazes me how she ends up tying all these random block parts together. I can't wait to see the end result!

I finished this Twister table runner this week too. I assembled the top at retreat last month and quilted it last week. I donated the runner to our spouses' club "Make it, Bake it, Grow it" event this week. The gal that won it seemed very pleased!

Here are a couple pictures of quilts I quilted for Christine this month too...the first one is quilted with Bountiful Feathers. I really love this design! The thread blended so well with the fabric, I couldn't get a close up of the design.

I quilted this one with a pattern called Arabesque.

I love it!

It seems I haven't been posting much...but I think it's unavoidable this time of year. Lots of Christmas preparations and decorating and special get-togethers as we celebrate this wonderful season! Spending time with family and counting our blessings is what it's all about right now!

Happy Quilting!

Well, Hello December!

Whether we're ready or not, December is here! 2011 has just flown by too quickly! I really hope to slow down a bit in December and enjoy Christmas and time with my family. I.will.do.this.

Our trip to Florida over Thanksgiving was incredible...we all had a blast visiting Universal Studios and Disney World. It was definitely a whirlwind trip, but worth it 100 times over. We returned home late Sunday and spent Monday doing laundry, winterizing the camper, and all around getting things back to normal. Tuesday and Wednesday were consumed with quilting a couple of quilts for customers...it was nice to get back to my machine! I left her alone way too long. :P

With all the travels, I'm behind on the first two steps of Bonnie's Orca Bay mystery, but I finally had a chance to get started last night and I WILL catch up. :) I have 2 QSTs done....only 222 left to go!

Happy Quilting!