Somewhere over the...

Seriously, writing this as the rain continues to pour and the wind blows outside.  We could use a rainbow!  But, til we get a real one, here's my hexie flower count for this week...yep, you got it...10 hexagon flowers!!  I have been in the mood to sit in front of the T.V. and that means a lot of sewing gets done!  I only have 17 to go for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in the works.  Of course, then I'll get back to finishing the white borders. Eventually it'll come together but I'm in no rush with this one. Just enjoying the process.

Be sure to visit One Flower Wednesday to see more hexie progress!

Merry Christmas to Me

Had a great Christmas but am also welcoming this week off so I can get some sewing done.  First, I wanna show off the beautiful fabric I received (from myself) for Christmas....then I have a few more sneak previews from the progress I made today.

First Up...

Bliss from Thimbleblossoms (Moda Fabrics)

Love this Red & Aqua and actually won 4 fat quarters in the first giveaway I ever participated in.  Thanks to QuiltTaffy. I just had to have more so I went to their Etsy shop and treated myself!



Next....

Dream On from Urban Chiks (Moda Fabrics)

 This is gonna be perfect for the next project on my list...a quilt for someone special who loves butterflies!

Then...

Fig Tree Fresh Cottons

Can't resist the dots!!

And finally...

The Delilah Collection by Tanya Whelan (Free Spirit Fabrics)

Just because....

Can't wait to work with all the new fun fabric!


In the meantime, I spent most of today sewing. I added the two borders, one solid black and the other checkered and now the top is finished! 

Top	Left Side	Right Side

Quilting and binding is all that's left.  This project should've been finished long ago but the rush and festivities of the holidays slowed me down a bit. Nice to be back on track! 


Hope your holidays were special and that you're back on track too.

That's all for now.

Peace. On. Earth.

So the gifts are wrapped, the baking is done and since I'm not cooking this year, I don't have to worry about the meal prep .  The crazy madness is winding down.

All is calm....

In years past, when the boys were home, our tradition was to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. The boys would all help...we'd drink egg nog or hot chocolate and of course have cookies.  It was always fun to take out each ornament and recall when we first got them ...  ooh and aah at the memories. 

This year (for many reasons) I didn't put up a tree and really missed those moments.  So tonight, in the quiet of the evening, I started looking through some Christmas pictures from 2009.  For years our tree has been white & blue with a snowman theme, but we always add our special keepsakes.  I was happy to find I'd photographed some of them.

So, as a way of saying my own little Merry Christmas, here's a parade of a few of those special memories.

My mom gave me this...I love the ocean and especially lighthouses.

 Alex's "first" Christmas.

Erik's "first" Christmas.

 Ian's "first" Christmas.

 Wynkin, Blinkin, and Nod

(from the book my folks read to my 2 brothers and I as kids)

 Raggedy Ann and Andy

(my mom gave me this the year she gave me my collector's Raggedy Ann)

 Joe Montana...remember when the 49'ers used to WIN!!

(Pretty sure this is Alex's).

Spiderman, for Erik (but they all loved comics)

and of course Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle,

a favorite with all of them!

And finally, another lighthouse. 
I really love how the light actually works like the real thing.

And now, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and...

 may you sleep in heavenly peace. 



Red Flower for Rudolph

Can't remember when, but I must've taken time out one evening over the past hectic week to relax with some hand stitching to produce one red hexie.  The perfect "collar bling" for my Rudolph!  And glad to have something to share for One Flower Wednesday.

Wishing everyone Christmas cheer!

SAFU: Sunday Afternoon Follow Up

Wow, that Friday Night Sew In really got things jump-started again for me with my main quilting project.  Saturday, I spent the day Christmas shopping with a really good friend...oh my gosh, I haven't laughed like that in such a long time! 

We braved the crowds and forged ahead and got SO much accomplished too!!  Then I spent that night celebrating my mom's birthday so again the sewing was on hold. BUT...

That left me with ALL DAY SUNDAY to get back to my quilting.  On my earlier post, I showed off the moon I machine appliqued and said I was ready to do the same with the cats. 

Well, easier said than done.  The dark fabric against dark fabric made it SO hard to keep the stitching in the right place, not to mention all the difficult turns there are on the cats.  

So, instead of continuing with the machine applique, I decided to switch over to hand applique.  What a difference.  Finally I could relax and it turned out better than I imagened! (This is my first hand applique as well!)

Too bad I ran out of embroidery floss so I had to put off the final one and a half cats til MONDAY.  Fingers are a bit sore anyhow! 

Hope your weekend was productive too.

Feeling Lucky?

I was just photographing some fabric I received last week in the mail (little christmas presents to myself) when I got online to post and heard about this giveaway and got distracted by this gorgeous fabric.  So if you're feeling lucky, go check it out.  (I'll post about my new fabric later!)

My fingers are crossed!!

Friday Night Sew In

Well, I had a nice lunch with my friend Tabatha yesterday, did a little shopping and then made it home to sew.  This morning I'm sharing for Friday Night Sew In. 

I'm still working on the quilt I can't show since it's a gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise.  But I've been giving sneak peeks along the way.  Last night I got brave and machine appliqued for the first time!

Of course, I practiced on scraps first, just to get a feel for the fabric and motion of the machine and especially to get the edge of the stitch aligned with the edge of the appliqued piece.  But it still stressed me out a little...I was so afraid of making a huge mistake and regretting my decision....but I moved along anyway.

So in the above pic there's more sneak peek off to the right.

Not too bad around the edges huh?

Shaping up fairly nice.

And there you have it.  My first machine applique ever!

Alright, I'll leave you with one more peek. 

This is what I get to applique next....Yikes!

Anyway, I was glad to accomplish what I did and now I feel much more comfortable so the next few should (hopefully) be less stressful. 

Now I'm off to brave the shopping crowds...my mom's birthday today...she had to work...thank goodness I get an extra day to get her gifts.   Hope you all had a productive Friday and have a nice weekend.

Finally, I can...

....RELAX!

For a moment anyway  ; )

Workin' for the Weekend...

I'm bummed I didn't get to make a flower this week so no posts for One Flower Wednesday but I'll be going over there to see the progress everyone else made. 

In the meantime,

I'm looking forward to TOMORROW since it's the last day of first semester and Friday starts Winter Break! YaY!  (I'm kind of a Scrooge right now and really in need of a break. Hopefully I don't look like that picture!)

Anyway I'll start Friday afternoon out with a friend (catching up on her latest trip), but will try to get busy with FNSI that evening.  Even if it's just to sew a hexie flower. 

Anyway, hoping I follow through this time.  And looking forward to a little rest before I start the mad rush of Christmas and birthday shopping (just love those December birthday's!)

Deck the Halls

Deck the Halls with 2 new Hexies...

♫♫♪  Fa la la la la, la la, la la  ♪♫♫♪

Another One Flower Wednesday

Friendly Ghosts of Christmas Past

 My favorite part of Christmas is setting up the tree.  Looking at each of those keepsake ornaments as I choose their perfect place among the branches brings back so many memories of Christmas Past. Unfortunately, this year I won't be able to put up a tree with my ornaments and I was already starting to miss this tradition.  But then, over the weekend I came across pictures of many of my favorite ornaments (taken over the last few years). 

TMNT for Ian

  So, one of these evenings I'll sit down with a cup of hot chocolate and take a trip down virtual Santa Claus lane. 

In the meantime, I'm sharing this one since it fits in with the latest entry update in Wendy's Quiltfolio, the blog where I record my quilt finishes. 

Hope you'll check it out and maybe it'll bring back memories for you too.

New to Me, a Swap and a Bee

As if...I don't have enough trouble keeping up with my ongoing quilting projects...I decided to join an online Bee, uh AND a Block Swap.  I've only been quilting for a few years.   And I've only been a blogger for a few months.  But this is just the sort of thing I'd been looking for for a long time.  It's so great to have a place to go to meet people who share my love of quilting and to learn and get better at my craft. 

I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant to join.  You know, sometimes it's hard for me to branch out and try something new.  But I've met some really awesome people, fellow quilters, and one of them is Linda from Stray Stitches.  She started these blogs and is super friendly.

So, maybe you're new and hesitant too?  Just try it! And remember you're not alone.  Just click the picture to find out more info and how to join.  We need a few more people for each one, the swap and the bee.  Hope to see you there.

A Streak of Sunshine

What a drippy wet morning it was.  

Woke up to NO coffee in the house.

(ugh...knew I shoulda stopped on the way home last night) 

So i HAD to make a McDonald's run.

Mmmm...coffee...sausage...hot cakes...

Then, what do you know, streaming through the window.

A STREAK OF SUNSHINE!

Like Magic.

Ahhh....just what I needed and it reminded me of a quilt pattern I used for some really cute little energetic boys, who no doubt bring A Streak of Sunshine into my neice's worlds.

Below is a preview of those two quilts. (Click the picture to see more.)

Jungle O' Fun

SO, I was  inspired to update my Quiltfolio.  Go ahead...take a peek!

Keep Quilting,