Snow Days...a Finish!!

Nope, not me!  Sharon finished her Snow Days quilt and she did an absolutely awesome job with it!  I am so proud of her.  If you recall, we started this project back in 2011...and I have a long way to go on mine before it's finished.  Please take a moment (or several) to visit Sharon's blog (click here) and see what a beautiful quilt she finished.  I can only hope that I finish mine mine looks as good as Sharon's...whenever I get it finished.  Here's a peek of Sharon's quilt...but, seriously...click on the link and visit her blog so you can see the entire beautiful piece of work!!

In the meantime, I received a belated birthday gift from my bff, Janer.  I asked for dish towels and she found the perfect ones...and sent along a pair of slippers! with them  She also sent a few toys for Tag (photos are too blurry to show).  Thank you, Janer!!

I guess I best get my butt in gear if I have any hope of getting my Snow Days quilt done by next winter.  Unfortunately, other things distract me and keep me busy, but I am now a bit more motivated.  ~grin~

It's Friday!  Have a great weekend!





"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

What's Up! Wednesday...

What's Up is this...I wanted to post a few random photos I took in the last few days.  Don't be getting all excited, though...they're not that much of anything!   ~grin~

Tag lays in the strangest places sometimes!

Sister Jill sent me a glass tray thingie to put my stuff on...

 

14" Pillow...first one finished!

Backed with a premium muslin...

LOVE this pillow cover!!

Mr. Warthog already needed surgery.  He is MUCH loved!

He no longer has tusks, so I needed to sew up the holes.

New loungewear...not my usual colors (and they don't quite match each other)!

Did I tell you I got one of these for my birthday?  LOVE it!!!

"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

Giveaway Winner!!

Thank you for all your birthday wishes and comments...

The giveaway is now closed.

The winner is...

Rhonda!

  ~Backroad Treasures~ said...

I just found your blog love it. happy belated birthday!!!!!!

Would love to be put in for your giveaway!!!!
Enjoy your day..
Blessings
Rhonda

February 18, 2014 at 5:06 AM

Congratulations to you! 

Rhonda has been contacted by email.

 




"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

And, She's Off!!!!

I have been off my game these past days.  Not sure what's going on...not really sick sick, but certainly not feeling well.  I feel okay today, though.  And, I am happy about that, for sure!  I did manage to eek out a few hours of sewing here and there.  Doing things that took little time, energy and brain-power.

I bought a new doll dress pattern, so I did some sewing on two outfits...

need to make bloomers, yet

mottled pink will be bodice.  need to make panties, too.  see the birds?

I quilted 4 pillow covers...

quilted on each side of horizontal and vertical seams

quilted on each side of horizontal, vertical and diagonal seams

quilted in diagonal lines inside and around middle piece

quilted on one side only of horizontal and vertical seams

I need to buy backing fabric and pillow forms, yet.  I didn't go much of anywhere this past week.  Am hoping to get to Hobby Lobby sometime in this next week.

Sharon (my cohort in quilting the Snow Days quilt), has been hard at work piecing her stitchery blocks to her pieced blocks.  If you have a moment, you really should pay her a visit and see how wonderful her quilt is looking!  As for me and my Snow Days quilt?  I have some serious catching up to do, as there is nothing going on with that right now.  It's at a point where I need to think...and we all know that there are days when thinking is really difficult for me!  ~grin~  Besides, I am totally distracted with/by a few other projects right now.

And, that's about it.  No knitting, no quilting, no nothing else going on.

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

Did you sign up for the giveaway?  It ends tomorrow, so you still have time to enter the drawing!  Find the post here. 

"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

Monopoly Pincushion...

Did you sign up for the giveaway?

Find the post here. 

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

After taking a break from sewing for many years, sister Jill is going to take it up again.  I'll be shipping my old sewing machine to her...along with a few things she might need.  Like, for instance, a pincushion. 

Here's the one I made for her...

top

bottom

dog token

I think she'll like it.



"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

One More Pillow Cover...

Did you sign up for my giveaway?  See the previous post.

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

I have written time (and time again) that I cannot do 'random'.  Did you miss those posts?  See them here and here and here and here...you get the idea, right?

Well, I DID it!  And, I think I am okay with it.  

I had some small strips laying around from the pillow covers I already made, so I cut them into 2" squares and started laying them out.  Well, that can take forever for me.  So, I gathered them all up and dumped them next to Naomi Janome...telling myself that I was going to put the cover together in a RANDOM way. 

And, I did.  YAY!  I think I am okay with it.  

Okay, truth be told, those 4 white squares that are in a row did bother me, but I decided to leave them as they are...especially since I noticed that the 8 prints in a row right next to them didn't bother me.  ~grin~  I think I did 'random' okay. 

I am done making pillow covers.  With these fabrics, anyway.  I have not decided which of them will make it to the finish line, but I'll start with my faves...get them quilted and the backings made.  Then, I need to buy a few pillow forms...I am looking forward to seeing them together on my sofa!  

On to more projects!  

Hope your day is good.


  


"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

Happy Birthday to Me Giveaway!!!

Yup, today is the big day!  My birthday.  It's a special year...I am now eligible for Social Security.  Gosh, I remember once thinking that anyone this age was ancient!  Now, I'm thinking I have a lot of life yet to live!  

I mentioned in Friday's blog post something about having a giveaway...I cannot think of a better way to celebrate my special day than to give.  So, I looked around and found a few things that I think will appeal to you. 

Birthday 2014 Giveaway!

*1 jar (empty) Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves...with 1 fabric strawberry
*1 applique block...instructions and 4 fabric pieces included
*3 pieces of overdyed (by me) wool (5x28, 9x26, 10x12)
*4 green on green cloth napkins

To be in the drawing, please leave a comment on this blog post. Email me if you are not able to leave a comment (act_collies at yahoo dot com) and I will leave a comment on your behalf.  Please tell me if you are currently a follower of this blog.  

The drawing will take place at noon on Sunday, February 23, at which time the winner will be announced by edit to this blog post, and will also be contacted by email.  If you are a no-reply commenter, please be sure to include your email address in your comment.

  

OH!  I almost forgot...BONUS!  If I draw your name and you are already a follower of my blog, you will also receive this Stacey Nash pattern... 

Good luck!


"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

Happy Heart Day!!!

found on Pinterest

Happy Heart Day to you all!

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

As you read earlier this week, 

I've been bitten by the 'pillow' bug.

I happened to have six 1/2 yard pieces

of Parson Gray Seven Wonders

by David Butler...

with nowhere to go.

So, I started putting some

pillow cover tops together.

Here's what I have so far...

 

  

I like some of them better than others.  My faves are the last three...the half square triangles, the split rail fence, and the simple patchwork.  The pillow covers range in size, so I'll have several pillows of the same fabrics in different sizes (16, 18 and 20 inches).  I'll quilt them and make the backing with a solid fabric.  I will probably make a few more and decide which ones I like best to finish.  

What are you all working on?

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

psssssst....

My birthday is coming up

and what better way to celebrate

than to have a small giveaway?

If I can decide what to give away,

that is. 

Stay tuned.

edited to add:  I did it!  I put together a fun little package...kinda red/heart-themed...what with my birthday's proximity to Valentine's Day! 

 "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

Another Small Project...

When I finished the bowtie quilt (which I have yet to show you), I had some cut off corners that I sewed into hst's and made a mini quilt with.  See it here.   That's all I did.   So there it sat.  Waiting.  

Last week, Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts wrote of nothing but pillows.  And, it seemed that every blog I read was promoting pillows.  Amy, of Amy's Creative Side, had pulled together a group of bloggers to form 'Pillow Collective'...a way to share tutorials to help us all 'spruce up our living space one pillow at a time'.  There are some really cute...and great!...ideas there...you might want to check it out.

I've made pillows in the past...lots of them...but mostly to give away.  All the talk about pillows made me decide that I was really just going to have to make some.  For myself.  Finally.  Another 'been thinking about it forever' thing...you know how that is, right?  

Yesterday, when I ran across the little mini quilt, I immediately knew that it needed to be a pillow.  I pin-basted the top to a piece of batting and quilted it with a simple stipple pattern.  I used a variegated brown/cream thread...and then backed it with one of the fabrics from the same collection (Normandy Court) that most of the fabrics on the front were from.

Here it is...sorry, no pillow form.

Here's the envelope back...

It was a quick and easy way to use up some scraps!  

And, of course, this one is to be gifted.  But, I plan to make more pillows in the near future.  I even pulled fabrics.  That's always a step in the right direction.  

Have a good day!



"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...

I love small projects!  Quick and easy...almost instant gratification.  Ya know?  

I have been thinking for a very long time that I need to make myself another pincushion.  I actually have two pincushions...the wonderful strawberry one from Donna of Brynwood Needleworks.  (see it here) That one stays on my side table, which is next to my big easy chair where I do my finishing work.  The other pincushion - the one that gets the most use - travels back and forth from the sewing machine area to the work area...when I remember to grab it and take it with me, that is.  It seems that it is never where I need it, though!  I am always getting up to hunt it down (not that this apartment is that big, mind you).  I could have made one at any time, but just never did.  You know how that goes, right?     

But, this morning, I was looking for something to do.  Mind you, I have enough to do...but I just wanted to do something simple and quick.  So, that's what I did.  Just now.  Made myself another pincushion.  I made it out of some Hope Valley (by Denyse Schmidt) fabric scraps that I ran across the other day when looking for something in my scrap bucket.  

I had to piece a few scraps together to make 2 of the squares...

Front

Back

I had to piece one of the strips for the back, too.  But, hey!  No biggie.   

I honestly don't know which side I like better.  But, I'm using the 9-patch side for the front.  This pincushion makes me happy. 

Have a good Sunday!
 


"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

Birthday Boy!

Today is Tag's 12th birthday!

He doesn't act his age, for sure.

More like a 2 year old.

Which is fine with me.

Happy Birthday, Tag E. Butt!!!

Love you beyond forever...

"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

Is That Your Final Answer?

YES!  

Remember, back in January when I was having difficulty deciding on a quilt pattern to make me Mum a quilt for her bed?  Well, I thought I had it all figured out.  I wrote about it here.  I even made a practice block to make sure I could get out of that jelly roll all the blocks I would need.  Yet, here the fabric strips sit...

Aren't they pretty?  

I haven't done anything else.  Why?  Well, I had no clue.  Until now.  Lately, me Mum has been talking about getting a twin bed.  Though the quilt I was going to make would look okay on a twin bed, I had designed the top to fit a double bed.  It would look okay on a twin.  In my opinion, just not as good as the size it was designed for.  Know what I mean?

So.  I am going back to one of my original ideas.  I am going to make a postage stamp quilt.  

Remember this one I finished in September of 2011?

I love this quilt...it is so comfy and old-fashioned looking.  My sister, Jill, took one look at it and had to have it.    

I also made this one, though it's not finished...

I think a postage stamp quilt will be perfect for me Mum...and it won't matter what size bed she has.  

Though I have a few other things I need to work on right now, I am going to try to get this started this weekend!   

Stay tuned!


"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

Doodling...

 

Just a quick post to let you all know - cuz I know you've been waiting to hear - I've got some doll clothes listed in my Etsy shop.  And, I'll be listing 6 little sweaters tonight or tomorrow.  If you have the time, I would really appreciate it if you'd hop on over there and take a look.  Let me know what you think, okay?  Click here.  

I'm working on some more clothes and coats/jackets...using some really wonderful fabric...somewhat different...not the ordinary thing.  I hope, anyway.  

It is still cold and and mostly gray in my part of the world.  Ugh.  I must move to a sunnier place...the lack of sunshine really affects my energy levels!  Does it do that to you, too?  I definitely get more accomplished when the sun shines.

Are you watching American Idol this season?  I think this panel of judges is the best ever!!  I first met Harry Connick Jr. back in 1990 when he was in the movie, "Memphis Belle"...did you see it?

And, who doesn't love Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez?  These three seem to be having fun together, which is a welcome relief after last year's debacle.

Have a great evening! 

 

"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