A finish of sorts...

Oh my...January- where did it go? I can't believe another month got away from me! This has to stop! LOL! Unfortunately I never did get a complete finish in time for January of the One Project a Month Challenge. I have several of my WISP's being worked on but unfortunately chose the ones that will take the longest. I will be finishing in February though!
I did have finishes of a different kind though. A while back I had ordered from Robinson's Woodcraft's a quilt ladder and a wall shelf. Let me tell you- their workmanship is incredible! I will definitely be using them again! I have since painted them and put them in place with their perspective decor. The ladder is in our family room and houses the throw quilts used there. I decided to paint them black as we have several pieces in that color throughout the room and the kitchen. Here it is with some of it's quilts.

Next we move to the foyer. I have wanted to warm this area up and so in the summer I started this quilt with the intention of hanging it in the foyer to welcome people. As you can see I painted the shelf the same black and it turned out better than I expected! Of course Home Sweet Home is not yet finished so it has not been hung. Instead I took one of the first quilts I made- and a fave, and hung it there instead. I also had been collecting some cute prim and quilty things to decorate the top with. Here is the final product!

I have some housekeeping to take care of now. First, I just wanted to let all of you that read my blog as well as those that leave comments know how much I appreciate you visiting me and I love to read what you think too! It is fun to see what others are doing. I have had a few comments as of late that I have not been able to respond to as they have a "no-reply" listed as their email. I have to apologize if you have not received a comment back from me but I cannot if this is the setting on your comment. If you are not sure what to do, go to ChookyBlue's blog, she has been kind enough to post on several different tips for Blogger! Anyways, thanks again for all of you who visit! I enjoy meeting you!

Second, I know I have said a couple of posts ago that I would blog about the Ornament exchange that Stefanie over at The Quilt Buddy and I did . I have found that my pics are very dark so I am referring you to her wonderful post here about our exchange. It was a fun thing to do and I believe we are doing it again next year! It is so cool to have such a good friend that you can do this with and it was interesting to see that we came up with fairly similar ideas! Check it out and let us know what you think!

And on the last note, when I went shopping for the Super Bowl munchies, I came across some awesome crackers! Check this out....

...a hexagon cracker flower! :) What a hoot! They are Wheat Thins crackers and I thought they are the perfect snack for quilters!

Now all we need is hexie cheese!LOL! So, thanks for sticking through this longer post and hopefully I will make a dent in my WISP's this month!

Happy snacking!

Cara

WISP's and a new group!

Do you remember this from before? My pile of hexagons I was working on last summer...

Well, this is what the result was.....

I have since been re inspired by at Lissa at Moda Lissa to pull these out. You see she has a very interesting way of piecing these that might help progress. Don't get me wrong, I love hand work but I find my time for doing some is fairly limited AND I have too many on the go...so I am going to attempt her tutorial and see if progress can be made toward a finish! Yeah! I will still hand piece them too as it is definitely an on-the-go project and they are fun! I also then found that Robyn from Daisy Quilts has started a Hexagon group to inspire, support and share our love of hexes! Here is the group:
I think I have several hexagon ideas now and am anxious to get some done!

On other notes, I have joined May Britt and Kris in their one-a-month WISP challenge. I have way too many of these and feel the need to finish some started projects! In the interest of this (oh and the fact that the new one has just arrived! :) )I pulled out my 2008 Moda U project. To refresh, this was a 12 month, 15 block (plus filler blocks) applique/piecing mystery quilt! I have seen our shops sample finished (by the wonderful and talented Susan!) and it is gorgeous! So I am piecing the remaining blocks and prepping the applique to finish those blocks. Here is the most recent one I have finished:

Block # 7

and here is my progress along with that:

Blocks #1-6

I have some of the fillers done but no pics yet. I stopped working on them because I wanted to see the finished blocks, then do them, as I was inserting some of my own color choices to make the quilt less of a carbon copy of Susan's. So I have blocks # 8, 10, 11 and 12 prepped and will be prepping the other 3 today. Once the applique is finished (hand work) then I will finish the fillers and put it together!

So I am off to continue on this project. Hop on over to see Robyn and the Great Hexagon Quilt- Along and join us! I will be back with more progress reports and of course a sneak peak of my new pattern set to come out in February. I also will be talking about the ornament swap Stefanie and I did and all the great BOM's out there in blog land that I have added to my list of must-do's!Until then....

Happy hexagon quilting!

Market, Retreat and a Sneak...

Whew! I have had a busy couple of weeks, as mentioned in my last post...I attended my first market then we had a retreat to attend and then unfortunately my littlest one has been sick so this is the first chance I have gotten to download allll those pics and share with you!

First, Market was a huge success! Stefanie and I met a ton of wonderful people, saw a ton of beautiful new fabrics and of course got the inside scoop of this wonderful industry. It was overwhelming but exciting and at times so daunting, but overall I am energized and excited about venturing into this amazing world!

The first night we attended Sample Spree which, to say the least, is crazy! We met some wonderful people in line from all over the country and of course met up with Sharon from Red Geranium Cottage and briefly met her friends Nancy and Karen. Then the next 2 days were spent looking through the booths and meeting some of our favorite designers- it was so hard to not be completely star struck, I tell you! Some of our fave's were Joanna and Eric Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts fame...one booth I really wanted to take a pic of( go here to check out Joanna's pics) ...both Joanna and her husband are wonderful and nice and I am so excited for her new line Patisserie to come out! It is gorgeous! We met Barb Adams and briefly Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs fame. Very beautiful booth that one an award for Best single booth. They also have a really awesome book coming out that had this amazing cross stitch pillow to make! You can go here to check out pics of their booth. We also met Cyndi Walker of Wishful Stitches as well- her patterns are just wonderful. Oh there were so many others and we enjoyed meeting every single one and to see all of their newest designs- very inspiring! Unfortunately I did not realize that I had only taken a couple of photos....Stefanie, I believe took more. I am hoping to be a little better about the camera next time around!

One of my faves to meet was Lynette Anderson and her son Eddie at her booth Lynette Anderson's designs. She is the sweetest and talked with us a while even offering me some good tidbits of what it is like to design (thanks Lynette!). She is coming out with her first line of fabric in June from Henry Glass. Go to her blog and check out her sneak peaks- too cute! If you have not been working on her cute Noak's Ark Stitchery, then pop over and check that out too! I am hoping to have some of her paterns and books on my Etsy shortly so keep checking back if any one is interested.




We also bumped into Melly and Rosie from Melly and Me and Rosalie Quinlan Designs fame on the shuttle to the convention center! They were so sweet and so we made a point of stopping by their cute booth and they obliged us with a photo op! Their designs are just darling!

Like I said, Market is a bag of feelings but mostly it shows a wonderful example of our industry and I can't wait to be part of it someday!

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Last weekend, my bestest Quilt Buddy Stefanie came to visit for a wonderful 5 days! The reason was to attend the Lil Country Shoppe's third annual Quilt Retreat in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. She flew in on Thursday and we began immediately to catch up and of course pack our bags for a weekend of quilty bliss! I of course was way to ambitious and packed several projects of which are still untouched. Instead I pick an intricate wall hanging called 'Snowmen on Parade'. It is adorable and I cannot wait to finish it and show you! I will see if I have a pic from the shoppe. It involves applique and paper piecing and the prep from that alone kept me busy! Stefanie managed to get one quilt top pieced and 2 others almost completely pieced. This year we sat with the wonderful sisters that I sat with last year (guess I did not talk too much since they invited me again! : ) ) Here is the group sitting at our table getting some work done. From the back to front: Susan's sisters Charlane, Nancy and Susan (no blog-yet) and on the right is Stef. I of course am taking the pic so managed to stay out of it! LOL!

Here is a picture of the strip club quilt that was done this weekend and Doris graciously presented it to those members that were at the retreat! WOW! I am not sure what it is called but I will edit when I find out! Doris made this one out of the jelly roll Harvest Home from Blackbird Designs! I cannot wait to make this one!

All in all we had a blast! I am so ready for next years to come already! Doris and Susan did a great job as usual! Unfortunately it did not seem to last long enough before Stefanie was jetting back to her coast : (....

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I also manged in the past couple of weeks to send off my Stitcher's Angel present to fly across the big blue ocean to somewhere in Europe! I have included a sneak peak of what I made, just in case ---- reads my blog....I cannot wait to hear she has received it and I hope she loves it!

Once I know she has received and opened it I will post the other pics! I had so much fun doing this and anxiously await my own Stitcher's angel parcel to come! Thanks Helen for organizing this awesome swap!

Well, I have rambled on for too long and have to go hit the drawing board! Too many ideas in my head! LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Well, after a very busy couple of weeks I am finally back in the blogosphere! A lot has been happening and not a lot of work unfortunately- although I have managed to get my stitcher's angel stuff done in the nick of time! They will be winging their way across the pond to their new home! As soon as I have my pics downloaded I will give a sneak of them and once they have arrived I will reveal who she is!

On a different note, I am not sure how many of you knew that I have started a business. I started making custom memory quilts and other types as well and it has been a lot of fun! Well, since I was doing a lot of designing for these quilts I realized that in reality that is where my heart is- design. So I have started working on a pattern line for The Quilt Nook and had a very exciting opportunity to go to Quilt Market in Houston last weekend. All I have to say is WOW! It is definitely an exciting event but at the same time, as it was my first, it was very overwhelming! I did however get to meet a lot of wonderful people, designers and others as well as be able to get a peak at the up and coming fabrics that are coming out. I have taken pictures but have not downloaded them as of yet so I will have to share them in my next post.

The best part was I brought along my bestest Quilt Buddy and I must say we had a blast! We were totally exhausted though as we covered the whole market in 2 days!!! Can you believe it! Let me tell you, if you have not ever been to one - it is HUGE! We did meet up with some fellow bloggers- Sharon ( of Red Geranium Cottage Fame) and Nancy (of Nancy no-blogs fame) and quite a few others! It definitely was a weekend to remember and let me tell you I came back totally inspired and with plenty of knowledge to help me with my new endeavor (thanks Doris and Lynette!).

I will leave you with pics of a beautiful fall mini quilt that Stefanie made for me...it goes perfect on my kitchen table in the sun room! Thanks Stef! More to come about market and all the goodies we found there!

Stefanie's Fall Mini Quilt

More to follow...
Cara
P.S. Happy Halloween!

Happy Fall!

Wow! I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I last posted?!! I guess September is getting away from me too quickly! I have obviously not been getting any type of quilting done, but the past few days have seen an increase on that. Today I dropped the little ones at pre- school and came home with the idea of using the time to complete a project. In light of the fact I only had a couple of hours, I decided to go for some instant gratification and made a candle mat from wool. The pattern is from Bareroots- a pattern (among others) I purchased while in San Deigo on our shop hop. They are a cute line of these little penny rug wool mats- perfect for my kitchen island's candle! I used 'Nina' [ a.k.a. my sewing machine!] to blanket stitch the appliques down and did the french knots and window treatment by hand. All in all I completed the project on time and now can have a cute spot for my candles to sit! I also have the Hearts & Flowers Mat and Santa & Reindeer Mat patterns to complete so they will have to be another day!






In other news, I received a wonderful envelope from my dear Quilt Buddy this week- in it was 2 Thimble Blossoms patterns from the giveaway Camille had earlier in the month. Thank you to Stefanie for sharing her winnings with me and I would also like to extend a huge thankyou to Camille for autographing them for me! I absolutely love your patterns and your new fabric! I am going to add them to the top of my 'To Do' pile and find some yummy fabrics to make them out of! If you have not seen her Thimble Blossoms patterns please check them out as they are fabulous (as is her blog)!

Well, I am off to play some more with 'Nina' and see if I can get my Stars around the Garden top pieced and then on to some Dear Jane blocks I think! Hopefully that will mean a post or two later on...

May you always have somewhere cute to set your candles!
oh and Happy Fall!

Cara

I also wanted to say Thank you to Tracey at Flower Pebble for tagging me! I do appreciate it so to pass it on...hmm...I will say that if you have not checked out The Quilt Buddy's blog yet please pop over- she is quite creative and uses the best fabs in her projects! Otherwise, I say if you are on my blog list and would like to pass on the Kreativ Blogger award, consider yourself awarded! All of you on my list keep me inspired and I love belonging to such an amazing community!

More Shop-hopping with the Quilt Buddy!

So on the second day I was out visiting the Quilt Buddy, we headed on over to The Country Loft for their annual Quilt show. This show was awesome! On display were some beautiful quilts from their vast list of classes as well as some made by students and instructors. In the front of the store they had all the quilts that were on sale for Sew For The Cure. I purchased an awesome fall wall hanging. All proceeds from the sales of these quilts went to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. What a wonderful way to raise money for a cause that is dear to my heart! The Country Loft itself is the cutest thing ever! It literally is a cottage and has this gorgeous white picket fence surrounding it. Inside is beautiful displays of quilts, wall hangings, and their projects mixed in with antiques and prims. Out behind the store they had a gorgeous little courtyard that was decked out in the other quilts. Too cute! They also support a lot of local pattern makers and of course their teachers (see here , here and here). If you ever wanted a variety of classes to take this store has it! Oh my! I am contemplating going to see Stef just to take one of their classes! LOL!





One of my favorite Quilts on display was this Dear Jane quilt (finished!) and it gave me new found inspiration and I wanted to head home to work on my blocks to get here too! The Country Loft is actually having this as a class to support and help you accomplish this awesome quilt.


All in all, the visit to The Country Loft was awesome! I spent most of my money there as they had a great variety of things I wanted. Of course when we headed back to the car to go to Rosie's, lookie what we saw...

I could not, of course, resist getting my fix! Then we loaded up and headed off to Rosie's Calico Cupboard in search of more goodies!

What another great day of shop hopping! It of course was made even more fun by the fact I was by the side of my bestest quilt buddy! : ) Unfortunatley this is where the journey ended, as I was on the plane back to the East coast the next day. Thank you Stefanie for having me for a wonderfully awesome quilt filled weekend!

T.T.F.N.

Shop Hopping with the Quilt Buddy!

Well, where to start...I am back form San Diego and what a whirlwind it was! It took me a day to just veg out and get back to East coast time and routine...so about my visit!

It was cool! On the first day Stefanie and I went to Temecula and met up with a fellow blogger at the Quilter's Coop- who, you ask? Well it was none other than Red Geranium Cottage blogger, Sharon! I tell you she is one cool lady! We went to this cute little barbecue place down the road from the Coop and had a leisurely lunch chatting the whole time. I really did not want it to end!

After lunch we walked back to the Quilter's Coop to do some shopping and sadly had to say good-bye to Sharon. It was great to meet you Sharon! You are awesome!

So we went into the Coop to drown our sorrows with some retail therapy! My how cute the Coop is- check out the loads of samples they have hanging and they have a wonderful selection of fabrics and patterns. I bought some gathered Ric-rack and some patterns from here.

Then we went onto Rooster Creek- wonderful stitchery store with some antiques and shabby chic decor products in the front. I bought some wool felt for a couple of the patterns from the Coop and a cute little felted bunny for The Little Ballerina.



Then we were off to get some Starbucks and to go home. We decided to get Rubio's for supper. Let me tell you , if you have not tried their beer battered fish burrito...go get one...they are to die for! I dreamt about them the previous night knowing I could not get them out here on the East Coast! Yummm!


Well, I will leave you with that for now and tomorrow I will post about the second day and the Country Loft's outdoor quilt show as well as the loot we got there! Also, here is my Hexagon progress- check out all of that Fig Tree love! : )


Until then...T.T.F.N.

A Cool Coincidence...

I swear August sure is going by in a flash! I have barely had any major quilting time since my last post but I have managed to start yet another new endeavor- English Paper piecing. I know that those of you who also read my friend Stefanie’s blog are going “what?!” but we swear, it was not planned! What I am talking about is the fact that we are both doing the same thing (imagine that). The funniest part about it though is that neither of us new the other was doing it. I read on her blog about the quilt inspiring one of her purchase from the Long Beach Quilt show but did not imagine that it was English Paper Piecing (EPP). Then I read how it was the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt in her post and that she bought the same size hexes as I did! I called her immediately to tell her I had ordered the same thing straight from here after reading Camille Roskelley’s tutorial on her website Thimble Blossoms.

So…… this ……
















Became this….


Then hopefully I will get the inspiration for the design as I get some flowers pieced….more to follow…

I also am making huge progress on my Home Sweet Home and this is a sneak peek of it…. I have a few birdhouses to finish and then I will baste it and I have decided (since hand work is the only thing I am accomplishing this week) to hand quilt it! It should get me back into practice I think!

Well, I am actually drafting this from the plane (to be cut and pasted into a post later), as I am headed out to San Diego for an impromptu visit to The Quilt Buddy’s house. We have lots of quilting to do, shop hopping to do and of course the reason for the trip is the Cottage Quilts outdoor quilt show!!!! So excited! I will try to blog a little this weekend!
T.T.F.N.

Oh I almost forgot…in light of the fact that I managed to lug my sewing machine with me (I carried on) I would be very interested in hearing, in the comments, how people have travelled by air with their machines or if they have not. Also if you have any tips, trials or tribulations you have experienced in doing so! I look forward to reading your answers!


EDIT: This post was actually written last night. I have since arrived in San Diego safely and have already had a wonderful day here! We went to Old Town Temecula and met a really cool bloggy friend for the first time and in person, had lunch and shop hopped to a couple of awesome quilt shops! More on our cool meeting and the loot on the next post once I download the photos...but what a wonderful world the blogosphere is!
T.T.F.N.

A little quilt and some instant gratification.

I wanted to share a finish that is not mine...actually it is my brothers girlfriend Rosie's.

At the end of June my brother and his family came to visit us for a few days and I was showing Rosie some of the fabrics that I had in my stash/scraps and she started playing around with them and she ended up making her first quilt! It is a little quilt and it turned out really well I think.Here it is displayed in the nook and one of Rosie holding her finished product! She did a great job and I look forward to her playing in the Nook again sometime! Good job Rosie!

Then this past week I was trying to finish up Star Struck but decided I was not sure how I wanted to quilt it. I felt like I need some instant gratification so....here is what I did!

The pattern is "Patched Quilt Carrier" from Patchwork and Stitching Volume 8 No 2, that my friend Stefanie sent me in my latest awesome parcel. (the pictures were not very good sorry). I usually use a plastic carry bag to take my show and tell but this is way better! I can even use it for a shopping bag when at the quilt shop too!

As I mentioned, Stefanie sent me another one of her amazing parcels. She had the theme as lemonade by the pool. Inside was a pitcher that was full of yellow fabrics and then there was also 2 Australian Patchwork magazines included to read with that lemonade. Lots of wonderful stuff inside them that has been added to the wishlist of things to do. As usual she was spot on about me- yellow fabric to brighten my stash and my love of Australian quilting!
Hope you are enjoying a nice glass of lemonade yourself!
T.T.F.N.

More Quilting time and giveaways...

Unfortunately they are not my giveaways, but they are just too cool not to mention. There are 3 cool giveaway's happening out in blog land and here they are:

Go to Janelle Wind's blog and leave a comment about a cherished childhood item that you have and check out the completion of her Bluebird BOM quilt (gorgeous!) and you can win a copy of the pattern!!

Then hop on over to Anna Maria Horner's blog and leave a comment on her ne fabric line-- Garden Party (totally fab!) and which one is your favorite (not an easy choice I may add) and she will be drawing for some fabric.

Last but not least, if you need a new summery bag pop in to Red Geranium Cottage as she is giving away some handbags she has made (very cute!).

Whew! That is a lot of very generous people! I just love giveaways- don't you?

On the quilting front, I have been working on finishing a couple of projects...one is my Home Sweet Home quilt ( see WIP list for the link) and trying to finish my Star Struck strip quilt. I have also made a pact with Stefanie over at The Quilt Buddy to help both of us clear up our unfinished projects and our baskets of planned semi-fabric-bought-for-but-not-started projects. We have plenty to work on so hopefully we can show some restraint for a little bit and get these things to at least flimsy status! More on this later as we are compiling our lists of the 'To Do's'.

Well, I am off to get back at it! More later and happy giveaway hopping!
T.T.F.N.

Progress!

Today I managed to finish 2 new Dear baby Jane blocks. The first is D-6 Challenge. I freezer paper pieced this one and it went smoothly.

The next one I did is D-13 Field of Dreams. I rotary cut and then pieced this block. I am hoping to get some more done tonight and try and get a few of the ones that the Blog group are doing done.

I also wanted to share the fabrics I have so far chosen to use in my Butterfly Garden quilt that Stef and I are doing together. I still have to pick out a few solids for the applique and maybe add a little more yellow to the mix to even it out but so far I think I will use the lavender solid foe the main butterflies- then to decide my other appliques. The floral in the middle is the main fabric I chose (from Dandelion Girl) and matched the rest to it. Some of the fabrics are actually from my stash! When I first started quilting I loved MODA but especially Robyn Pandolph's fabrics and collected quite a stash of her fabrics! I decided it was time to stop saving them and start using them! It has been fun discovering my tastes and incorporating them into my latest project's!

I am continuing to work on my Home Sweet Home quilt and I hope to finish the stitchery's in the next few days and quilt it on the weekend. Still have not decided if I am machine or hand quilting it yet....Hmmmm.

Well off to stain some shelves!
T.T.F.N.

Organized Chaos finished!

Well, I have completed Organized Chaos and finally downloaded the photos I took of it. I am excited that I have another finish under my belt- even if it was started last year! I used YLI blue variegated thread on the border and for the feather stitch on the blocks, cream in the polka dot border and Valdani variegated pink on the blocks. I love the YLI and Valdani threads! They are wonderful to work with.

So as I have finished a project, I was going to allow myself to start the project from a couple of posts ago....well then all of the patterns I have ordered recently came in and I wanted to work on those, and my Dear Baby Jane's. So the quilt I have started is a pattern by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches that I ordered from Australia called "Home Sweet Home". It is too cute and I am excited to finish it! I managed to piece it all and trace the stitchery patterns yesterday and then I have finished one of the stitchery's already! It is going to hang in my foyer to welcome people when they come in the door!


Stefanie and I also ordered "Butterfly Garden" by Leanne's House and are going to start that together so both of us are in the process of picking our fabric' s and then piecing the first block. This will be an ongoing project that we hope to put the finishing touches on together at our quilt retreat in November. Will keep ya posted.

O.K. so I am off to stitch some more birds and the Home Sweet Home block...more tomorrow about the goodies I got at 'strip' club on Saturday!
T.T.F.N.

Giveaway, and a Meme.

Today's post is not about any of my quilt works but instead a little fun! First off I would like to mention a couple of really awesome giveaways! I tell you these are wonderful!

First head on over to Camille's blog Simplify to enter to win a wonderful set of her first fabric line (designed by her and her mum for MODA -lucky girl!) You need to leave a comment by Monday!

The next cool giveaway is over on Lynette Anderson's blog and you can leave a comment to win a set of her newest redwork patterns, called "A Trio Of Greetings" -beautiful work! It also ends Monday but in Aussie time so hurry on over!

Thanks to both of you for your generous giveaways! We blogger's are lucky quilters!

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The next bit of fun is a 5 Things Meme that one of my newest blog gal pals, Dawn at Sew-ritzy-titzy tagged me with. So to honor her tag....

5 Things Meme~~~~
The Rules:

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:

Hmmm, I believe I had been an RN for a year and could not find a job at home (Canada) so I accepted a Registered Nurse position in England to work at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading for a year. I believe I was on my way that month (absolutely amazing experience BTW!).

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Hem the curtains, wash the floors, work on DJ blocks, finish the last of the binding on Organized Chaos and 'quiltify' it, swim with the kids.

3. Snacks I enjoy:

CHOCOLATE! of course and also cheddar Cheerios mix, scones or other pastries, veggies with dip and so on.... LOL!

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

This one is a hard one... but I probably would start some sort of children's charity/foundation and open a quilt shop, set our parents up for life, travel and ....well I could go on and on! Fun! If only...

5. Places I have lived:

WOW! I have moved a lot! My dad was a banker and therefore we moved every few years as a child then I moved on my own. Then when I married my husband (who is a Marine pilot) we moved more! But I will try to remember all!... Ontario, Canada (Clinton, Elmira, Dunnville, Simcoe, Brantford, Belle River, Windsor, Barrie and back to Windsor), Reading England, North Carolina (Greenville, then Havelock), Virginia, Mississippi and now Maryland.

So there you have it...a little about me! Thanks to Dawn for tagging me....I am definitely going to tag Stefanie (the Quilt Buddy) and Stina (Kvitstina) if they would like to play ( participation is strictly optionl especially if this is not your thing or you have been recently tagged!), otherwise I am not sure who else to tag so anyone who would like to play consider yourself tagged by me and let me know when you post! Also please stop by and check out Dawn, Stefanie, Mar and Stina's blogs-I tell ya these are some very talented and creative ladies!

Well, I am off to complete my 'to do ' list for the day and get some quilting done! So until next time...
Have a little fun!
T.T.F.N.

A wonderful surprise!

Well, to my big surprise, on Wednesday I happened to notice that there was a parcel sitting on my front porch. I was not sure what it was as I was not expecting anything to come so imagine how excited I was to open the door and realize my Quilt Buddy had sent me some goodies! When I opened it I was greeted with this wonderful note and then proceeded to make the discovery of some neat goodies!!

The first I opened was a very cool, tres chic pincushion that she made- and boy does she know me!!! It was made out of some of my very favorite fabrics! Then there was a lovely box of tea that is just delicious! Then I found a great little tin filled with fabric for my stash, a cute plant stake and a little frog hugger for my flower pots-too cute! Last but not least a ME journal that is just screaming to have some nice things written in it.

It was a wonderful little surprise!
Thanks Stefanie! : )

Hope your day has some wonderful surprises in it too!

T.T.F.N.

Wonderful gift and some other goodies...

Well it has been a while since I posted but I had to go to Canada for my Nana's funeral service. While I was there I was staying at my Aunt's home and we were talking about quilting ( she is getting ready to be a grandmother and made her a beautiful quilt for the baby!) and I was showing her some patterns I was making for pincushions. Well she disappeared and came back with the cutest little pincushion that had cathedral windows on it. She said her quilty friend that she used to sew with made it and gave it to her and now she would like me to have it for my collection!! Of course I took it and thanked her profusely! I love when things have a special meaning.

As for my quilting, well it definitely has not been happening...although I did managed to work on my Piece and Plenty block 7 and 8 on the plane ride and a little at my Aunt's. Otherwise it has been a busy week., I did manage to spend some time giving the Nook a little bit of a clean out in time for spring and hopefully some new orders to come in. In that time I purged a little and rekindled the desire to do some projects. I also made a new bulletin board for my cutting table area. When I started reading the blogs I discovered on someones blog (forgive me, I could not find your post again- I know there were no pics, just a mention of it! I will post the link when I do find it!) a post about making fabric covered buttons into thumb tacks. So here is my efforts on the same! I also had this little magnets that seemed to be the perfect size so I made some of those to since the board is also magnetic.

And last but not least, the Nook's clean out prompted a visit to my LQS to purchase some supplies for a couple of small projects ( more to come on them) and this is the fruits of that visit! Of course when I got there there were so many new things that have come in this past month that it was hard not to come out with more! I had missed our "Strip" club this past week and the quilt was just beautiful!!!! I may have to go back and get the kit! At least it will entice me to clean out the to TBQ and WIP lists before purchasing the pattern!

As well I discovered Lynette Anderson's free stitchery BOM and have decided to do it! That is what the skeins of floss and the cream fabric above were bought for! I am excited to get started! SO off I go....oh ya, I just want to say welcome to Stefanie, the quilt buddy, and hopefully we will get to see some of her WIP's soon!

T.T.F.N!