Hello There!!

Well, hello there!  I have been absent for way too long!  Gosh, I just didn't realize how long it had been, and once I did...well, it became longer because I knew it would take a bit of time to sit down and catch you all up on what's going on around here.

Not that there is much that is exciting...if anything, at all.  Just busy.  And, more busy.

Things are going well with Mum being here...and looking more positive.  Back in late October, she had abdominal surgery.  Went to the ER with a distended abdomen...found air in her abdomen, which was leaking through a very thin wall in a small portion of her colon.  Removed and resected.  Good deal.  She did well...very little pain afterwards.  At this time, she is experiencing a bit of progression with her Parkinson's Disease, but she is stronger than she has been since she moved here and we're determined to build on that.

Jill and I had lunch with Brenis in November.  We met about halfway between here and Aurora...ate at 3 Margaritas restaurant and spent a few hours chatting and laughing and exchanging gifts. Brenis' birthday was in June...you wonder why she was getting her birthday gifts in November?  Well, the thing is, we had been trying to get together (as in, trying for her to come and stay a few days) since before her birthday.  Not sure why she brought gifts for me, but who am I to say no to gifts of fabric and a 24" Omnigard ruler??  LOVE it!!!

Brenis

Brenis did some quilting for me.  Fabulous quilting!  You may have noticed that the list of flimsies (on my sidebar) has gotten shorter. That's because I have gotten 5 quilts finished this fall.  YAY!!!  I showed you both the HST String and the Anna Maria Horner patchwork quilts here.   Bren quilted the Kashmir Filmstrip quilt, the Lotta Jansdotter patchwork quilt, and a baby girl granny square quilt. I need to launder them and will get some good photos, so you should be seeing them very soon.

I have been working on Christmas gifts.  Cannot show you much of anything...except for some extra things I made.

This Patchwork Christmas Tree Pillow was so fun and easy to do. Sherri, over at A Quilting Life blog, shared it here.  I did not do the patchwork border, so my pillow cover measures 12".

I was planning on turning this next piece into a pillow cover, but left it as a mini mat, instead.  Jennie, over at the Clover and Violet blog, offered this free Pixelated Present quilt block pattern...find it here.   I didn't do the pixelated part, but I think it is dang cute as is. I made it to measure 12", I think.  

Also, I made this mini quilted zipper pouch.  I found the tutorial here.  I plan to make more.  Cuz how could I not?  And, besides, this one is mine...you may have recognized that it is made with Kashmir III fabric.  (it's okay if you did not know that.)  It measures 4" wide by 2.75" high by 2" deep.  Love that big metal zipper on the little pouch, don't you?  This has got to be one of the most adorable little zipper pouches ever.  EVER.

I made a 16" pillow cover and fabric basket for sister Julie's birthday.  Fabric is from the Purebred collection by Erin Michael.  Love it!!

Then, just because I could, I made some cloth napkins.

2 odd remnants of fabric.  Playing around with decorative stitches on the blue one.

These are from the Blossom fabric collection by Urban Chiks.  2009?

2 different pairs.

Lots more sewing for Christmas going on, but nothing else I can show you.


And, here are a few random photos...

Me Mum on Thanksgiving Day.

Pumpkin French Toast.  YUMMY!!

Ran across this...it is exactly how I feel about Tag.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

A Small Project Started

As I said in yesterday's post, 

I haven't done much sewing at all lately.

I was kind of restless this 
evening & really wanted to sew.

I have a ton of projects...but what to work on?

I started a small one. 
One that wasn't really on my list.

Needed that feeling of accomplishment, I guess.

I pulled out my Kashmir III charm pack, 

cut the charms in half and,

in about 2 hours, had this done.

Measures about 30 x 37 inches.

It won't take long to baste/quilt/bind.

hmmmm...it looks vaguely familiar to me.

ohyeah!  It resembles this one...

Here's the story.

In early summer of 2009,

Brenis and I each bought a charm pack

of Kashmir III (the same fabric I later bought

a fat quarter bundle of, which I

recently used for Carole's quilt).

Brenis and I were going to make

each other a small quilt.

She made that one up there for me.

I surprised her by not using the Kashmir III charms.

Instead, and because she had been raving about

red & white wonky log cabin quilts, 

I made this one for her.

Yup, that is quilted with red thread.

Pretty daring of me only 7 months into quilting,

don't you think?

I feel better, now.

Ya know, for having used my sewing machine.

And, Naomi Janome is happy.  {grin}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh.  I found some more rug hooking books.

Well, I didn't actually find them.

They were sitting right there on the shelf.

Not sure why I didn't see them last weekend.

I'll be listing them on my selling blog tomorrow.

I need to work on organizing my woolens, too.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Kashmir...

I walked into the credit union the other day and that song was playing...ya know...'Kashmir' by Led Zeppelin. Made me smile. I don't listen much to classic rock, anymore...mostly listen to my fave Christian music station. It was a nice surprise to hear it. Told the teller I couldn't leave until the song was over...and it's an eight plus minute song! ~grin~


As it happens, there is a fabric collection called Kashmir...can you believe that? Wonder if the designer was inspired by the LZ song? My fave is Kashmir III (I and II are nice, but III is to die for!!!) I totally and absolutely love it! So, hey...if you run across some and want to send it my way, well...I'll gladly accept!


I got a package in the mail today. I was in a 2-person mini quilt swap with Bren...and showed photos of the red/white wonky log cabin mini quilt I made for her here. Well, my mini arrived today. YAY!!


Ya know when you are so surprised at something that your mouth opens and you suck in your breath...gasp? Well, I about choked myself, I sucked in so much air!!! That's when I saw the front of this baby. ohmy. Bren had given me a peek at the quilted back and I was delighted with that. I knew she used Kashmir, but OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I had no idea how she used the Kashmir. This pattern is called stacked coins...or stacked chinese coins...or chinese coins. This mini quilt (measures ~29" square) is sooooo soft feeling and looking and...ohmygosh, I love it to death!!! (Kelley, ya don't need shades for this one!)
Check out the quilting...all swirly swirls!

Bren also sent along a 12" square cutting mat, a 12" wooden ruler, a pair of Fiskars scissors and 4 pieces of fabric...She is so fun!

Thank you so very much, Bren!

Crazy???

Okay, I am no longer on the brink of becoming addicted to cotton fabric/quilting. I have taken that final step that has me plummeting down the slide...

See this fabric?

See the button to the right...in my sidebar...that says something about SEW-ALONG? Click on that if you want the full details...but if you want the quick version, here it is. 6 easy lessons - one per week - on making a quilt from beginning to end. Yup...6 weeks.
Am I crazy? I'm thinkin' that's a big fat YES! But, am I happy? Indeed!!! ~grin~
As for the fabric...I might change out one or two, but this is what I've come up with. Will keep you posted.
Hop on over to Bren's blog...she'll be posting photos of the fabric she's excited about working with. Click here.
I may give this as a gift...but then, again, I may just keep it. Am loving these bright, bright colors...and they are totally outside of my comfort zone.