more living room pictures

This is for those who wanted more living room pictures! I don't think people believe we painted a wall red! But it looks great--and have the best quilt in mind to do. Actually, the fabric is where I pulled my paint color! and it's not a bright red--but not a barn red either. But it looks great with my new black furniture. Now to start working on my quilt.....

Jamaica-mon!

Wow--this is the calmest I've ever been for Christmas--I ought to go to Jamaica more often! :) We had a very relaxing time. We renewed our wedding vows in a gorgeous gazebo on the cliff overlooking the ocean. We even had a cake, champagne and bouquet of flowers. It was a very special and touching ceremony as we reaffirmed our commitment to one another for at least another 32 years!We had a great time--even after I got stung by a bee. I ended up having to have an ER dr. come to the resort to give me a shot and medicine. I was "forced" to stay off my feet with my leg up and out of the sun. So I laid on a chair with my feet at the head of the chair, elevated with a towel over my leg! We couldn't do any tours after that, but that's okay. Even that pressure was taken off of us. Not the best hair do in the top picture--it looked fine in the room! :) The wind and humidity played havoc with it the moment I stepped out the door. Oh well--but isn't that a beautiful site? We watched many weddings over the course of time while we were there. And the bottom picture is a self-portrait! As you can tell, most of our other pictures were too far away to even see us, so we did our own!
Sorry--nothing quilty about this post, but just wanted to share. I did take some pictures there for possible inspiration for a quilt. But opted out of taking anything to work on.

getting a new look

Not me--heehee--my great room. After doing the blue/yellow color scheme for quite a few years, I decided to move on to something else. My hubby had our carpet replaced one time while I was gone to a little darker tan (to cover all the dirt!) and the yellow couch had to go. So I decided I wanted a black leather couch, loveseat and chairs, and a poppy red wall. Actually, there is a quilt I want to make with those colors in it--and why not change the WHOLE great room to match? That's what I thought! :) So, hubby painted the large window wall a beautiful shade of red (it's not bright--but not a barn red either)...we ordered the furniture and it's in place, I changed my Christmas tree colors from white/creams to all reds, including some oversized ornaments. The only thing left was all my end tables and sofa table and my pie safe (which had punched tin doors that my hubby hated-and wanted to burn!) that didn't quite go in my new room. The tables were all antiqued white and the pie safe was natural oak. I talked him into painting it all black. He took the doors off the pie safe and left them off and painted it all black. They all look fantastic! Just how I imagined. I then loaded as many quilts as I could in it and changed the location so it would be a featured part of the room. It looks so nice, all filled with quilts. Ahhhh, now the kitchen doesn't look so good anymore.......um....Kirt? what do you think about the kitchen now? Boy, doesn't one thing lead to another?

Well, I'm off for a little R&R with hubby in Jamaica. I wonder why I ever agree to go away in December, but actually it's a much needed break. And since I didn't get my shopping done, I think I'll just shop online this year, from a chaise lounge. :) I'll be back....probably :)

peeking around the corner....

Hi--I'm Karen.....I feel like I have to re-introduce myself! I've been out of touch for such a long time. Long story........cruising along life's highway and hit a major bump in the road. But I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. The world sure doesn't stop when your own life does! Unfortunately, I haven't been doing a whole lot of sewing...but I will soon be back at it. I did do a few things during this barren period, thank goodness for classes that require samples! A little motivation sometimes is needed.

Here is the one thing that I have worked on in the past weeks....I took the book, "Monterrey Medallions" by Terry Atkinson and made a mystery class out of it. I gave the students weekly updates on what they were to buy, helping them choose colors, what to cut and a little bit of sewing. Then we met on a Saturday for an all day class. We had a potluck salad lunch with lots of yummy food and then I prepared dinner for them while they sewed. Here are the 4 blocks that were in the quilt and then the final layout that I chose.

my lucky day

I'm a little late getting started on the Oct. One hour challenge, but decided to buckle down last night after a class and at least do 2 blocks. While I was sewing, it seemed oddly familiar. I vaguely remember starting a leaf quilt years ago and didn't finish. I had made a smaller leaf quilt, liked it so much that I wanted to make a larger one with larger blocks. So, I got up and started hunting and look what I found! All kinds of HST's already done in the RIGHT size even! The stems were about half done, but everything was cut. And the best part--I had enough blocks to do the smaller version except 2! And I just made 2! I liked the colors of my BG and other leaf colors a little bit better--but this is like killing 2 birds with one stone. I do the challenge AND finish up a UFO that's about 9-10 years old! Woohoo! Now what are the chances of that happening again? I'm so glad that I didn't cut the other fabric up yet. I'll put it away on the shelf to age a little more for another project.
Here are some of my blocks done (they are all done now that I had a big boost!) and I'm testing what I might want in that center alternate block. The 2 blocks I made before I remembered about these blocks have a different background, but I think they are going to be okay. I'm toying with the idea of appliqueing a leaf in that block. That's a real leaf I went out and picked up and stuck up there. I might use leaves from my yard as patterns. I'm just trying to decide now what color BG I want. The tan seems a bit sedate for me. The leaf fabric I am trying out here didn't have enough contrast in my opinion. Although the white is stark, it really has nice contrast. So, I have all month to play yet.

purses and bags and totes, oh my!

Finally--get to post some pictures! Here are some of the purses/bags that I have made these last few weeks. A purse/bag/tote lover, I am, I am!
"Towne Purse", a Lazy Girl pattern. I have made SO many of these purses, they are one of my favorites with all the pockets inside. I modified it a bit to use pre-quilted fabric and made the bottom larger to hold my large wallet (stuffed with receipts--not $$, LOL). I know, it's a spring purse. I had it mostly cut out to do a class demo from before, so when I had another class, I finished while doing the demos. Clever, huh?
This is my Slouchy bag. It's from a new book from Cindy Taylor Oates, Slouchy Bags. I love the old, faded, well worn look of this home dec fabric. It fits over the shoulder, across the body and sits on your hip. I'm hoping to wear it in Houston Quilt Festival. I love wearing a purse that doesn't keep falling off your shoulder. I wore a book bag last year, but every time I had to pay for something, I had to take the whole thing off. A little cumbersome too. So, I'm hoping this one will do the trick. It's about 2" narrower than the pattern and an 1" shorter because I was limited on fabric. I could have pieced some together, but in this case, I had almost enough, so went with it.

Here is another type of bag I'm making with vinyl mesh. I made a bunch of them last year and just got some white mesh and fuschia mesh! I can see the fuschia mesh with black fabric with pink polka dots on it. They are so sturdy. I made small ones to use as "shell collecting" bags. The sand runs right through the bag and all you bring home is shells and not half of the beach!

time out for purses

I'm am such a sucker for purses/totes--anything that can hold anything, including baskets, stuff from the Container Store, rubbermaid, whatever. And I do not discriminate--I like 'em cheap, expensive, handmade, woven or whatever. It's funny, I could give or take shoes, mostly because I love to be barefoot. But purses are my downfall! And I love making them. I had a class last Thursday on the pink one (a LazyGirl pattern), so I had my excuse to make yet another! And then my cousin sent me some tea stained yummy looking fabrics that screamed "big" and "oversized", like a big, cushy chair.
Darn blogger--won't let me load pictures...so another time.. :(

A little behind..

I wish my behind were little--LOL. I meant that I was a little behind on my Sept. One Hour Challenge, but the top is now done AND I have the backing all pieced and ready to load onto Zoe, my HQ16. I'm just trying to decide how to quilt it. How did everyone else do theirs? The biggest joy is that I now have an EMPTY space on my shelf where all my darker homespun plaids used to be! This is the last of those plaids! I do have another plaid quilt or two in progress, but I am done with these. I gave the last bits of it after I pieced the backing (2 1-gallon ziploc bags worth) to a student who is just beginning and envies my stash. I don't believe I've ever had an empty spot before! What a great feeling. If I keep plugging away at my stash, it will get reduced to a managable level. I think you need a certain amount to have the variety to choose from, but mine was over the top.
Here is a close up of Frosty Flakes-which I've been plugging away on since August. It was a pattern of Joni Pikes that I had seen in Houston last year, and being a snowman lover, I had to have it. It takes a while to do (all the good ones do, don't they?) and 117 buttons later, I'm done! Binding, label and all.
I also made a purse ( I taught a class on a Lazy Girl purse Thursday) and I always like to have little demos along the way to show the process, it's easier for the visual learners. I end up with lots of purses, oh darn! :) And then I made a slouchy purse from some tea-stained home dec fabric my cousin sent to me. I'll take pictures and post them later. That means 3 off of my Oct. list, now to just figure out how to cross the lines through the finished ones. I finally figured out how to get the list there to start with after a few hours of browsing and reading. I'm trying to keep up! :)

Done and Done!

This is one of the reunion quilts I made and this one was raffled off. Thanks to Nancy's blog a while back, I got the idea when I needed a quick quilt for the reunion. It's done, labeled and on it's way to the winner, one of my cousins.
This Tumbling Blocks wall hanging was a class sample I used to teach set in piecing. I took it to my Amish friend (long story--but needed an excuse to take some friends to see her) and her mother quilted it for me. Her mother is aging and unfortunately does not see very well anymore and is a bit shaky now. Mary informed me that after this quilt, her mother won't be quilting anymore as the quality wasn't very good. When she informed me of that in her note telling me it was finished, I just prayed it wasn't awful. As I headed to her house, I thought of the different scenarios of how I would react if it was really bad and should I or shouldn't I have Mary re-do it herself (she offered in her note). Well, when I got there and saw it, it wasn't the best I have seen, but certainly not awful. And is my motive to have a very valuable piece because an Amish woman quilted it? No. I figured it is just a little more piece of history in the quilt and I noted that this was her mother's last quilt due to failing health on my label. So, it's bound, labeled and hanging in my sewing room. It matches so well. :)

Thanks to all who encouraged me to buy more fabric! LOL I did think about it and I went through all my Kaffe fabric and decided that it was okay to splurge on some backing for some of the quilt tops I have made. I am NOT buying for stash sake, but for specific backings. I rarely allow myself the luxury of putting coordinating backings on my quilts. It's just so hard to justify that kind of $$ for a backing. But since it's half price, I thought it would okay to do at least a few backings! I appreciate all the comments and encouragements! There is not a financial need to hold back (after all--I WORK for fabric!), but just being more careful and responsible with my resources AND to relieve a little guilt...heehee. So, Hancocks--here I come!

I shouldn't have opened it

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. I just KNEW I shouldn't have opened that email from Hancock's of Paducah, because looky what I found...







I just came in to get my camera because I just finished 2, yes two! quilts. Okay, so one is a wallhanging, but it's done with label and all. And since my camera was sitting right by my computer, I'll check the email really quick....now I'm in a quilter's dilema..I vowed to not buy fabric--and here is one of my favorites for 1/2 price! What great backings for all those Kaffe tops I have done! I am sitting here with my heart pounding and developing a headache because I know what I SHOULD do is not what I WANT to do. HELP ME SOMEONE!! I'm sinking and I need a lifeline! Me and my big mouth...or should I say, happy fingers on the keyboard?

Sept. & Oct. goals

Picture on left: "Scrappy Oaks", done in 2002 or 2003. Just thought I'd share a quilt. :)

I never posted my goals for Sept., but here is what I worked on:
1. Ostrich Challenge--finished Round One
2. Frosty Flakes-finished piecing, quilted, bound and is now waiting on buttons. I haven't shown a picture of it yet, because w/o buttons, it doesn't look like much. And it's the last thing to do!
3. One Hour Challenge-Sept.-blocks are done and rows partially assembled.
4. Quilt Pink-designed, cut out and some blocks sewn (with help).
5. Reversible Quilt--I thought I was done with this quilt until I got it home and on the bed. I needed to add 12" width wise to make it work on my bed. DONE!!!
6. Reunion Hatchet Quilt-quilted and the binding on top. Needs it hand sewn on back and labeled.
7. Pincushion/Threadcatchers-finished 4 more and have 1 more to go. I'm putting them in my classroom by each machine.
8. Faithful Friends-quilted, bound, labeled and given to my friend. Oops--forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

And now, sharing my Oct. goals, I'm going to try Starfishy's method of only working on 10 at a time, rotating them when I get bored working on them. Sounds like a plan to me!
1. Sept One Hour Challenge-finish top, quilt it
2. Oct. One Hour challenge-piece blocks and make top to flimsy stage
3. Reunion Hatchet-finish binding and label it--ship it off to raffle winner
4. Quilt Pink- finish blocks, make top to flimsy stage
5. Frosty Flakes-add buttons and label
6. BB (Bias Buddies--my Friday night quilt group) Christmas ornaments--make 16 ornament blocks for Christmas exchange
7. BB Flowers--assemble blocks into top, quilt
8. Bright Coneflower-quilt, bind, label
9. G'ma's Wedding Ring--get binding on--I won't EVEN tell you how old this UFO is! I stopped at the binding because of all the curved edges. NOW is the time to finish it!
10. Baby Tumbling blocks-binding on and labeled

There, I said it in public--maybe that will be my push to buckle down and quit flitting from one thing to another!

Sept. and Oct. Fabric Diets

Well, September has come and gone and didn't buy any fabric. (Well, I did, but it was strictly a gift, none for me-so that doesn't count). My cousin was duly impressed with my strong willpower and resolve UNTIL she saw my fabric stash! She then told me I needed to be in a fabric depression! LOL She's right and I've been doing good and will continue again into October. The only difference is that I'm not buying ANY fabric at all. I'm really trying to see how I can adjust and be creative to use what I have.

Now I'll try again for October. Oh, how I wish I could do the same thing with food! :)

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia

Imagine, if you will, a quirky yet romantic mellowdrama replete with young lovers, old flings, intrigue, and celebration. Now combine that with 22 hit songs from the Swedish disco super-group ABBA, a little spandex and sparkle, and you have "Mamma Mia". This Broadway musical has hit Las Vegas by storm, bringing audiences both 1970's nostalgia and just plain feel-good fun. The story takes place on a Greek island where Donna, a middle-aged, free loving, American ex-pat, owns a small hotel and bar. Her 20 year old daughterhas come there to have her wedding, but also hopes to be reunited with her absentee father. Three possible "candidates" from Donna's colorful past are invited to the island as well as her former bandmates Tanya and Rosie. As the story unfolds, the ABBA favorites are crooned, harmonized, and belted out, creating a perfect atmosphere for the story's comic mishaps. Whether you're a disco junkie, a Broadway fanatic, or just want to see a fantastically entertaining musical..."Mamma Mia" is where its at!

Review by Kristine Gregorian

This is how we spent our afternoon--loved it! We saw it for the first time in Toronto and it was just as good. We took our youngest daughter, who is a fanatical music lover, and of course she loved it too. It was fun to see an entire theatre on their feet dancing and singing with the cast (mostly at the end) and they were our age! There were a few popular songs that people couldn't help but slightly singing along and when the whole theatre was doing it, it was like a low hum, pretty funny.

Quilt Pink Day

National Quilt Pink Day was yesterday and my studio was one of the participants. I had friends and students come to help make blocks using Tonya's Take the Leap Challenge. I added a center vase of flowers (not done yet) to represent all those we have known that had breast cancer. I have a few more X's and O's to make to complete it. Of course, getting into the theme of things, I made PINK strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing, pink m & m's, pink kisses, mints wrapped with the pink ribbon, and pink lemonade. My pool boy (aka my hubby--hey, if my cuz can have one, so can I!) made pizzas for lunch. I was pleased with all we got done. I hope to have it sewn and quilted and ready to send off by the end of the month. The deadline isn't until Feb., but I don't want it lingering around.
Please take note of the block on the last row, second from the right. Sue worked so hard on her block and decided to take the Liberated Quilting one more step, her "+" is her version of an X! We had a lot of fun with her and she was a good egg. We weren't making fun of her, just laughing with her liberated quilting fun. They all enjoyed the liberated quilting, although it was hard for some of them to let loose after hearing me ingrain in them to be accurate. :)
They are going to start auctioning all these quilts in February to raise money for the Susan Komen Foundation. Thanks to all who helped me on this effort.

More of Mona's quilts

Another one of Mona's quilts...she found a Moda tin with 5" squares in it at a clearance sale, and added some of her own fabrics and purchased a few more. The green with white polka dots on her journal page is actually a sheet she found at Goodwill! She is going to machine quilt it, so no problem. Boy, I never find such neat things there. I helped her baste the quilt to get it ready for machine quilting. She'll do it herself on her Pfaff. I love this quilt! I do think she is related to me! She claims that she's my long lost twin and we were separated at birth. After long discussions, we have discovered many things we have in common.

Ostrich Challenge--Round One

I finally finished Round One of the Ostrich Challenge. I had it started before my cousin arrived, and then worked on it yesterday. I thought the challenge was "don't box me in", but when I went back to check on it, it was "Boxed In". My original thought was to do the little boxes on just two sides of the block, but added them all the way around when I realized what the challenge really stated. Thanks Kim for the great challenge.

Catching up

Mona and Dale showing one of her first quilts. She cut apart a sheet that had embroidered feathers and used fabric that she had in her stash.

Wow, what a whirlwind 10 days! My cousin, Mona, who prior to this past summer's brief visit in Colorado, and I had not seen each other in 27 years, when our two of our children were less than a year old. After having dinner this past summer, we realized we had a LOT to catch up on. So, her and her pool boy husband, (sorry Dale, just had to mention that) drove all the way out from Colo. to do 27 years of filling in the blanks! And boy, did we ever! Mona has always been a seamstress, since a young girl, but focused mainly on clothing and home dec, including making custom slipcovers. ewww! After meeting me this summer, she and her daughter decided to check out the quilting thing, went to a Sewing Expo and they got bit by the quilting bug. Since then, she has made 7 quilt tops! All done just from inspiration of other works or rugs! And she has the coolest journal about them going.
Her cherry quilt was made from mostly fabrics she had collected and then purchased the light blue fabric with cherries to add to it. She didn't had any fabric left for binding and we ended up finding two FQ's of a vintage reproduction fabric in my stash that worked. I love the way she is journaling her quilts, with fabric swatches, inspiration pictures, her original drafts of the ideas. She is WAY too organized! Actually, I'm hoping a bit rubs off on me!
My thoughts of what we were going to do and get accomplished when she arrived were so far off the mark, it's a joke! Too many days were spent, meeting at the breakfast table and then spending the next 3-5 hours talking, laughing, filling in family history and stories. We just had so much to share. Being a new quilter, she was full of questions and I was happy to fill in the blanks. My, what a quick learner. When we loaded her "feather" quilt on my HQ16, away she went! She got rather bored doing meandering after a few rows, so her husband jumped in and finished it. They might have a good thing going. She also had lots of neat tips on organizing my stash, making a slightly better arrangement in my sewing room and laying out a challenge quilt. It was hard for me to believe that she had never quilted, but she was just culling from her vast knowledge of design and working with textiles for many years. What a fun, fun week. I'll share more pictures tomorrow....I'm tired..........not going to bed before 2 or 2:30 am every day is catching up!

A good reason to clean

Once, in a faraway land (read: sewing room), a quilter made a beautiful fall quilt. Lots of pretty fall colors and swirling leaves and acorns that were all hand blanket stitched because she did not have a fancy machine. Then she made her first attempt at echo stitching around all the appliques on the machine. And she was pleased that she had gone another step in her quilting. People admired her quilt and wanted to borrow it. Since it was a good friend, she agreed. Months went by and when she went to find her quilt, it was nowhere to be found. Did the friend still have it? No, said the friend, "I returned it long ago." Years passed and she thought fondly of that quilt of the past, wishing she had it.

Cut to the present: Deciding that the hall closet could literally not hold ANOTHER coat or box or thing, it was time to do a little purging. What's in this big box? Oh, the chandelier we bought to match the rest of the new lights we installed in the house. Ceiling too high for hubby to get to it, so in the closet it went. Asking the contractor who was there for another job if he could kindly put it up. Yes and a half hour and $20 later, it was done! What's in this other big box? Oh yeah, all those Precious Moments we packed up so we could move the secretary they were displayed in to tear down wallpaper. Hmm, how many moons ago? Too many years to count. Well, now either I get rid of them or wash them and put them away. And my--what else is in the box? MY QUILT!!!! I had grabbed that quilt to wrap all my precious goodies and forgot about it! I'm sure glad I didn't give my friend a hard time! Do I have egg on my face, or what? What's funny is now that I look at it, many years later, it doesn't look all that great! I still like it, but I did a self binding on it and it's just okay. And the quilting is okay, but I would like to think I have improved since then. What a difference about 8 years makes! I guess that's why we keep our older quilts, we can see how much we have grown. But I'm glad I found it, now I can go back to saying that I have only had ONE quilt taken from me. Unfortunately, I know it was taken. I had done a trunk show featuring all sorts of Memory Quilts and since I had taken so many, when I put them away I didn't count them. Well, a few days later when I unpacked them, it was missing. Too many people to even begin to think of who might have done it and I didn't know them. I'm not sure how that person can even enjoy that quilt, first of all, it contained MY memories and then knowing she took it from someone else. The only thing I could figure is that she liked the idea and wanted to copy it? I could have gladly told her how to do it. Oh well, life goes on and we can't worry about other's conscious.

Horse Parade

Yesterday was the Annual All-Horse Parade in the town next to me, where my daughter lives. They are fortunate to live right on the parade route. So we have a big barbeque and they invite all their friends to come watch the parade. The kids love it! There are 4-H horse clubs, the rescue units, miniatures to Belgium Draft horses, I think 400+ horses total. Then the local high school marching bands, the Sweet Adelaines plus a few other music groups made for a wonderful day. I tried to sew on a binding while chatting. I got all of about 10" done. and sew it goes....LOL



This is for Linda, who was asking about my "notches" on my English paper piecing project. They really aren't notches at all, but at the corners when you fold the fabric over the paper. Since it's a trapezoid, the fabric creates points at the ends. I know it's hard to see, but when you sew them all together, the points "swirl" in the center of the block. The little block in the lower left corner is the fabric underneath with the paper pattern laying on top. Then right next to that piece is the pattern piece with the fabric "wrapped around" the pattern and basted down.


I've been working on class samples, my one hour challenge, machine quilting a top for a friend and making tote bags. But NOTHING is done enough to show! Maybe this week I'll have something done enough that I can take a picture. I need to learn to finish one thing at a time rather than have 15 things going on at once. It does keep me hopping.

a small accomplishment

small is right...I had grandiose ideas this past weekend that I would get a lot of hand sewing done. My husband puts on a softball tournament each year and this year added more more weekend, over Labor Day. I do a hospitality table with lunches for 150+ people on one of the days. I also help with registration. But other than that, I thought I would have a lot of hours of "down" time and was positive I would get sewing done. I ALWAYS have such high aspirations of what I can accomplish or will actually get to do! LOL
Since I'm done with the piecing part of my GFG, and I loved doing English Paper Piecing, I thought I would give this little wallhanging a go. See how much I got done this weekend! 6 measly little pieces...oh well, another 3 year project it looks like.
At least I have learned not to take my sewing machine, 10 projects AND a book to read! Does anyone else do that too? Or am I the only one with unrealistic ideas of how much one can really do?


I've been having troubles with blogger again. I try to make comments and it just waits and waits to bring up the screen and then times out. I tried to tell Judy that I liked her newest challenge idea and fabric. I could write the comment, but the little word verification picture wouldn't show up so I could fill in the blank. So, no messages on anyones, sorry. I am keeping up with everyone. To the NEW members on our ring--my apologies for not even acknowledging you! I put the entire ring on my bloglines and some must have joined after I had done that. I didn't even realize we had new members until I "surfed" the ring last weekend while at the hotel. I didn't have my computer, so the ring was my only way through. (hmm, guess I could have been sewing then--but I am nosy and like to see what everyone else is doing!) WELCOME to our newest members, glad to have you aboard and I'll add you to my bloglines so I don't miss a thing!
I just couldn't end without mentioning the death of Steve Irwin. I know a lot of people thought he was nuts, but it sure is sad. He died doing what he loved but leaves the world one ambassador for outdoor/animal lovers short. A prayer goes up for his wife and daughters, as he'll be sorely missed.

a nice surprise

Look what I got today!! And no, I wasn't a bad girl and break my vow to not buy fabric in August. My dear friend sent this to me to thank me for helping her this summer with lesson plans and EQ5 help. What a total unexpected surprise. And it's almost like a reward for sticking to my vows. :) Thanks, M, you're a doll!

The one on the left is a new Kaffe Fasset, always a favorite of mine and the other is from Amy Butler, another favorite.

A couple more days, but I'll make it

I'll make it to my goal and I've earned my star! Gee, I'm just like my kids who used to do anything to earn a star. Thanks Vicky, our fearless leader! thanks Nancy for the tutorial on getting it onto our site. I was having a brief brain fart here. I ended up saving the image and then pulling it from that. But I see now where you can pull it from another website. I never do that because it increases the bandwidth on their site. Maybe this is different. As you can tell, I know enough to make me dangerous! What I really have problems with is getting pictures in my template where you can't copy and paste.

Challenge updates

Here is the start of my X's and O's--part of Tonya's challenge. They are going to be part of my Quilt Pink quilt, so I just had to make samples. I'm going to have the non-quilter's make the 4-patches and the quilter's learn Tonya's technique to make the x's and o's. I am putting a center block in with a vase of flowers and will put a flower in the vase for each person that has succumbed to Breast cancer/ or have survived. So, if you have a name you would like me to add, please feel free to email me. I love the black background that I chose for sashing (I will fussy cut them so all the words are going the same way--I was just trying to get a feel for how it would look). The words on the fabric say: "Creative Hands Touch Hearts" and I think it fits our theme very well.
This is part of Judy's one-hour challenge. I have been sewing at least 4-5 hours a day, but on other things. I'm trying to squeeze this one in too. I like the looks of it, although the fabrics don't thrill me very much. But I'll be proud to donate this one to someone.












This is my sewing room as I am sitting at my machine. The design wall is on the right, the pink wall is my walk-in closet filled with fabric--along with the ironing center/wire baskets. You can partly see my tubs under the work table filled with scraps. I have two drawer units with scraps that are already cut into strips. I found a neat site that had all kinds of people's sewing rooms. It's called Real Sewing Rooms. I added the link of my studio to it, but I don't think it's on there yet. There were some awesome rooms, with a couple of professional quilters and then some really messy ones, and then the tiny rooms that cleverly managed to get it all in. Quite fun to be a peeping tom.

NEW QUILT STAMPS!!

When I stopped at the Post Office on Friday, the Postmaster could hardly wait to show me the NEW quilt stamps that are now out. The Quilts of Gee's Bend are now available. He was a little short supplied on Friday, so I could only get one booklet. Apparently sales are down, and they are limited on how much inventory they are allowed to have. The Postmaster is quite the "take me back to Mayberry" kind of guy. I got to know him real well during the Y2K days (anybody remember those days?). I was in there a LOT! He finally asked me what was going on and when I told him, he wanted to be in my quilt! So, the next time I went in, he postmarked and signed his name on a "siggy" block and he is now immortalized in my first Y2K quilt (yes, I did more than one).

But I got at least my "frameable" set. Although I might need to get two, as they only come in the little booklets now and I would need two to show both sides. That's kind of a bummer. I found my sheet from?? (whenever the stamps were 34 cents--like last year or something! LOL) I have the old sheet of the basket stamps, but I can't quite put my hands on it at the moment. I put them in a VERY safe place. And if anyone knows me at all, they know they are even safe from ME! I'd like to frame them all together.

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I have lots to share, it seems like it's been so long since I've been in blogger land and it's only been less than a week. But as things happen daily, I think..."I should talk about this..or this.." How many others do that too? I'd be on here all day posting things and not out experiencing life, so I guess I won't share EVERY little ole thing that comes into my head! But since my life is all about quilting--it's easy to think of so many things. But now time out for a commercial break....I watched both daughter's kids..at separate times...this week. They sure do light up our lives! My Cutie Pie started kindergarten this past week and of course I had to go take pictures. She was so ready! Hmmm, my drag and drop doesn't work today...I hope I don't have to go back and start figuring out how I want my pictures to show up, like last first, etc!