Marie Bostwick is sponsoring a block swap!

This is so exciting!! Marie Bostwick, author of A Single Thread, A Thread of Truth and other books, is hosting a Christmas swap block! 23 lucky quilters will be picked to participate in this swap and Marie will be cheering them on through posts and other surprises! What a generous lady to give her time to this while still writing these books us loyal readers love to read!! If you are interested in joining the swap, just click on her link on the left side of my blog and go to her quilting forum. You'll see where to sign up for your chance to participate. Have fun and good luck!!!

Scrappy Mountain Majesties borders on

I had the center of this quilt done awhile ago and it has taken me this long to choose and attach the borders. It is the biggest one I have made so far. I think it ended up at 88x93. Now I can cross completing it off my list and will add it to the needs to be quilted list. Off to the next project on the list!

No jellyroll diets for us!

Especially if we win this one at the giveaway at the Blueberry Buckle quilt Studio. A yummy Moda "Objects of Desire" jelly roll is up for grabs. Hurry and sign up!!

Christmas Lights

My friend and drinking buddy (and now quilting buddy), Pam, and I both made Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Christmas Lights. Mine now has its borders on so I thought I would share both of the quilts with you. We both used what we had on hand for the middle but both had to buy a bit for the borders. Didn't they turn out great??

This one is Pam's. You would never know she didn't start quilting until this past January, would you?? She now has 4 quilts finished!!

This one is mine. I can't wait to finish it up and have it out for Christmas!
Lots of plans for this weekend. Got the grocery shopping done for the month, got the chicken feed, and cleaned out the coop. Now for all the regular housework and cooking for the month. I also have one quilt top I need to get the borders on, a quilt swap blocks to get done, one block, sashing and borders for another quilt and one more swaps blocks to start. Whew..guess I better get off here and get to work! Hope everyone's weekend is just what they want it to be..whether productive or restful!

Shh..this is one of those rare one footed quilt tops! Don't make too much noise or you might scare it off! lol
Well, I haven't gotten the borders on yet, as you can see, but here is my Christmas Lights quilt top. I really have to start taking pics during the day when there is more light. As soon as I do get the borders on, I will take a better pic of the finished project. I am really please with this one. I know there were some folks who didn't like the layout all that well in this mystery, but I think with my color choices, it worked out well. So far I am 3 for 3 on loving the mysteries that I have done. Boy...am I lucky or what??!!
I am rapidly accruing too many tops, though. With this one, I will have 5 tops that need to be quilted. Well, 2 of those need borders, also. Plus the Loopy over You that is half quilted. My finger is finally up to quilting, I think, so that is it. You heard it here. NO MORE QUILT TOPS UNTIL I QUILT AT LEAST 2 OF THESE TOPS!! Sorry for yelling, but I need for you to hear me and to hold me accountable. Sigh..this is going to be soooooooo hard. I have so many more I want to start on. Hmm...maybe if I already have a top started I could finish it....or if I at least have the fabric cut out....or if I own the fabric..or know what fabric I want to get for it.......

It's raining fat quarters!

Or at least it will seem that way if you win this amazing give away over at Pumpkin Patch Primitives!! I don't know that last time I saw that many fat quarters offered up. Check it out and good luck!!

Very cool give away!

Kelly over at I Have a Notion, is having a fabulous give away this week. She is offering a signed book by Edyta Sitar! It is called, Friendship Triangles, and isn't even out on the market yet! Swing by her website to check it out and shop to your hearts content!
I really haven't done much sewing this past week. Kind of in a blah mood and I am not sure why. This is my favorite time of the year and usually have all kinds of energy.
We did go out for dinner with some new friends this weekend and I did get the center of my Christmas Lights quilt top done. With any luck, I will get the borders on tonight and have pics to show you tomorrow. Happy Monday, all!!

Second mystery #10 top done..woohooooo!!

Alright. I did it. Not only did I get the border of the first Mystery #10 top done, I also got the SECOND mystery #10 top done!! On this one, I used a dark blue paisley as my background color instead of light as the directions called for. I just thought I would shake things up a bit. What do you think?

Sigh, again you can't really see the colors. There is dark blue border around the edge, but it blends in with the floor. Now to decide which one to keep and which one to donate. Marge, once again, thank you for the fun of this mystery! I can't wait for the next one! BTW...both of these quilts are the same pattern. Just making the one a dark background really changed the look, didn't it?

Mystery for Relay mystery #10 top completely done!

Well, top #1 is done. I wish you could see the colors better. I really have to figure out how to use my digital camera instead of using my cell phone. The borders are a pale yellow tiny print and the pinwheels are dark green print and muslin. I really love how this one turned out. The size ended up being 51 x 60. Now to finish the second top! or..the Christmas Lights mystery top...or...About the only thing I can't finish quite yet, is the Loopy Over You top. The finger just isn't up to quilting yet. Happy stitching and more updates later!

Photo hog

One of my favorite things visiting blogs, is seeing folks pets in the pictures. In our household we have 2 dogs: Luke-6 yrs chow/? mix and Delilah- 4 mos Schipperke. We also have 3 quilting helper cats: Buddy- 9 yrs grey tiger, Halley-2 yrs tiger and her son Ricky-1 yr. We also have 6 chickens otherwise known as "my girls". I'll share pics of these guys from time to time, but for now, here is a picture of Buddy, our photo hog. He apparently can tell when I am using my cell phone to talk or to take pics because he has to get right in my face when I am trying to take pics. See??

Mystery for Relay mystery #10 top

Yay! I got the center of one of my mystery quilts done (I think) and I love the way it turned out! Thanks, Marge, for this mystery!! I say I think I am done with it because when I add the 4 in borders, it will end up being only 55 x 63. I guess that would be a lap quilt size. I am not sure if I want to make it twin size or keep it as is. Probably as is, since I have so many other projects to finish. I can't wait to finish the second one up now. Remember that one? That is the one I sewed a good portion of it wrong when I was drugged up on pain killers. I did get it ripped out, but now to sew it together. I am really pleased because I used only from my stash for these two. Feels good to not spend, yet create something wonderful! Hope everyone else is who is doing this mystery is as happy with it and their color choices as I am!

Where did the weekend go?

Let's see...I got the 2 mystery quilts almost completed. I did find I sewed one section wrong on one of the quilts. No more sewing while drugged for me! I did get that part ripped out, but not put back yet. The first quilt I got all laid out and decided I needed 10 more blocks. So, hopefully I will finish those this week.
I haven't been able to do any quilting with the bad finger, so the Loopy Over You quilt top is still waiting to be finished.
I also had ALL 6 of my kids and my son in law here for dinner tonight. Woohooo! That doesn't happen enough for me!
I also did my cooking for the month today. Yes, you heard me...I shop and cook once a month. I HATE cooking. Unfortunately, my family refuses to graze, so I have to cook. One of the best frugal things I do is grocery shop once a month. The fewer times you walk in the store, the fewer impulse items you buy. I make a month worth of menus then stick strictly to the list. I do have to run in on weekends to buy more fresh fruit and milk, but that is it. Cooking the one time saves me time, also. Now, I just pull something out of the freezer when I get up and heat it when I get home. I LOVE this! Here's what I made and froze today:
2 lasagnes
2 meat sauce for spaghetti
2 shepherds pies
2 creamy noodles and beef
2 chicken pot pies
3 red chilis
3 white chilis
2 turkey meatball soups
split pea soup

Yes, I know that is not 30 dinners, but we also have home made pizza night every Thursday night, Wednesday is club sandwich night. Using this system, I spend about $450 a month for ALL our food, cleaning supplies, etc for the 5 of us at home and the usual drop ins.
Well, back to work tomorrow and hopefully more sewing tomorrow!

Thanks to Evie's Tool Emporium!

Since I couldn't do much sewing this past weekend because of my finger, I spent a few hours on Sunday checking out the first annual Fall Business Women Online Expo. Dee, at Runako Designs,(check out her gorgeous designs) started this, and she did wonderfully! On her blog, she had a list of participating sites. We got to visit the sites and most hosted a sale or give away. Over at Evie's Tool Emporium, Michelle hosted a give away and I won! After looking at all the cool tools she has there, I had decided that I wanted the 6 1/2 in scissors. What quilter ever has too many scissors?
If you have time, go to Runako Designs and visit the vendors still listed on her page. You won't be disappointed!!!