I Did A Happy Dance~

...and you should count yourself blessed that you weren't around to see that!! LOL :-)

I finally got the top together~  whoohoo!!

It is 88.5 x 88.5 and there is no place in my house where I can get a full photo! :-o It is snowing outside, so couldn't go out there either. Maybe the weather will be more cooperative when I get it quilted in the spring. ;-)

 I'm headed back to my machine to see what trouble I can get into today~ :-)

Have a happy day!

Slow Progress...

... is still progress!!! :-)

I am getting my quilt top for last year's HGTV BOM together slowly.  The center is together, now I am working on the middle pieced border. This one is going to end up being 88 x 88~ I will have it done by July! LOL :-)

And I'm still making progress on Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay mystery, which isn't a mystery any more. Lots of quilters in blogland have their tops together. :-)  I needed to stop and forage for more red strings or small pieces I could cut up... I just detested the thought of cutting yardage for strings! :-)  I am happy to say I have found a new batch and can get back to work on that step! And while I was cutting, I cut the 2.5 inch squares for the star blocks and sewed a few together. Yup, I am going to love this quilt!  :-)

That's all from here~
Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!!

A Winner and Some Sewing~

 First off let me start by saying thank you!  Thank you for taking the time to visit Solomon's Puzzle's website and leaving such sweet comments. I really do wish I had something to send to each of you!  The random number generator picked Becky to win the pattern! Maybe that randon generator thingy is smarter than we think~ her blog is called The Quilting Booklady!  Congratulations Becky!! :-)



 On the sewing front~ I can't really show you the whole projects I worked on this weekend~ one is a challenge and we never discussed if it was secret or not, so I'm just giving a peek until I can clarify. ;-) The other is a little housing construction :-)  for this month's 'Year of Schnibble's' project. I'll show you more of that one after I get it together. ;-)

And finally....  I am so happy to report that I finally finished the 350 triangle units for the Orca Bay mystery~ whew!! I felt like I was slogging through mud trying to get these babies all done! And then when I was celebrating them being done, I counted them a half dozen times and realized I was 12 units short!! :-o Well, I did them up first thing this morning so they wouldn't be bugging me today! LOL :-)

That's all for today~
Wishing you each a very happy Monday!!

Looking For A Very Good Book?~

Photo borrowed from Solomon's Puzzle website

Do you love to read? me too! :-) I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Loris Nebbia's book 'Solomon's Puzzle' before the holidays. I have to say~ it was one of the best books I have ever read!  I plan to read it again! On her website Ms. Nebbia tells you about her writing process, and how she studied to write this book. And it shows~ it was not quickly written to sell, it was written with thought and feeling. And it makes you feel for the characters, from laughing out loud, to crying~ you go through all emotions. As I was nearing the end of it, I found myself reading slower and slower~ savoring it. It was that good!  :-)  Put it on your reading list, order it~ enjoy it!  Although this is a sponsored giveaway, I would not endorse something if I didn't like it, in this case~ I loved it! :-)

 Loris's publisher was also so kind as to send me the accompanying quilt pattern to the book to giveaway to one of you.  It is a very well written pattern. And she takes the extra time to tell you why she named the chapters the way she did and the meaning of the accompanying quilt blocks. It is very nice!  And the quilt is a beauty~ :-)

Photo borrowed from Solomon's Puzzle website

I'm going to make you work just a teeny bit harder to win this wonderful pattern. I want you to go to the Solomon's Puzzle website and come back and tell me something you learned, and if you will look for this book for yourself.

I'll draw a winner on Monday.

Until then~ happy stitchin'!!

New Beginnings~

A New Year. A clean slate... unless, of course you have a few UFO's hanging around like I do. ;-)  But we won't talk about those too much today! :-)

Remember the BOM I did last year for the HGTV quilter's message board?  It is still on my design wall~~ I definitely plan to finish it up soon. :-)

BUT that didn't stop me from starting another this year! ;-) LOL My friend Karen, at Briarside Lane is my partner in the BOM this year (I only had to twist her arm a little bit!)  and we cooked up a beauty.  :-) We are once again going to Quilter's Cache to find the main 12 inch block, and then we are building on them.

Arrowheads block from Quilter's Cache

I am going to use my Civil War stash for my blocks.  Here is my January block~

We will do this every month with different smaller blocks and by the end of the year we will have some beautiful quilt tops! :-)  I'm really excited with our design.  Hop over to Karen's blog to see her January blocks!~ yes! Blocks! She is making two quilts. :-) I am sorely tempted to start another... what am I saying!!?? :-o

I also finished the rows for the three row robins I am doing this year, but I can't show you those. :-/ Sorry!  And I've got the Orca Bay mystery in a million parts and pieces! :-o I need to get back to my machine!

Until next time~


Happy Stitchin'!!

Happy New Year!

~~Wishing you Peace and Prosperity~
  ~~Health and Happiness~~
      ~~~Love and Joy~~~

And ALL the best 2012 has to offer!

Catch-Up Post~

I have so many unrelated things to post about that I thought I'd just do one catch-up post. :-)

Thimbleberries Sew Day....

...was yesterday and joining me sewing were Kim of Kim Sherrod Studio, and Karen at Briarside Lane. Please be sure to visit them and cheer them on. :-)

I continued to work on my log cabin blocks for the Double Duty quilt in 'Miss Rosie's Spice of Life Quilts'.  I am so happy to report that I am nearly finished with the little buggars! LOL :-)  I ran out of strips and had to cut about 20 more last night. I will sew them on today and next month I can start putting it together! :-)

I can't show you a photo of the blocks on my design wall, because this quilt is filling it now...

and I need to get it together. :-) My friend Lindsay and I led a block of the month program on HGTV Quilter's message board last year, and this is my 'Stars in the Barn Door' top~ partially sewn together. ;-) The star blocks all came from Quilter's Cache, but we did re-size some of them into a 6 inch block for the center of the barn door block.  My plan is to put a border of HST's around the top once I get it all together.

Row Robin sewing

I also need to work on one more row robin~

Last night I finally was struck with inspiration, and although I won't be able to show you what I add to this top (I know the owner of this row visits my blog) ;-) , I will be able to show you all the completed row tops in the fall.  :-)


Gifties~

Remember all the 'secret sewing' I was doing before Christmas?  These scarves were part of it. I made them for family and a few friends. They are layers of flannel that are sewn together and then cut into chenille... after a washing and drying they fluff out so nice and are so warm!  These are the last two for my kiddo's. :-)

I am off to sew on something! LOL I do have a few choices, don't I?  I'm going to finish up the log cabin blocks first~ ;-)

Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!!