Relief mixed with a sense of accomplishment

Well, the Loopy Over You top is completely done!! Wow, what a sense of relief. It seemed to take forever to quilt, but that mostly was due to finger tip amputation. Funny how you take those little tips for granted until one is gone! This was the very first quilt that I free motioned quilt. Now THAT was scary. I am thrilled that I finally tackled that new challenge and while I definitely have a long way to go before I could say I am good at it, at least I have started. Hannah loves it...that is all that matters!
Here is a little sample of the free motion quilting. Obviously a simple meander pattern.
To go with the Loopy name, I quilted loops in the border:

Now, off to pin my Christmas Lights quilt top. Promised myself I would get 2 tops quilted before I started another quilt top and I am chomping at the bit to start another one! Not sure which one, just any one! lol The tutorial for this quilt is underway for those that have been waiting!

Thimbleberries Safe Haven top done

Yay! I got this top all done today and boy, do I LOVE it!! It is big...88x96. I'm not sure how I am going to be able to quilt this one, but I will worry about it later lol. I found 11 of these blocks at my little craft bits and pieces store here and bought them all for 19.00. I think. I'm old, so I might be wrong, but I am pretty positive this is how much. Anywho, after searching and searching to find out what quilt pattern this was, then to find fabric that would blend and then find the directions, this is the final outcome. I like to think whomever started this would like how it turned out. What do you think?

Procrastination

Hmm...why do we do procrastinate? One thing on my list of things to get done has been quilting my Loopy Over You quilt top. Know why it isn't done yet? All because I needed to sew the label on the back and couldn't quilt that section until it was done. Every day I would say..that is it...I am going to finish quilting that top. Then I would remember the label would need to go on and I wouldn't want to take the time to do that, so I would start up another project. Well, guess what? It took me all of 20 minutes today to put that label on. 20 measly minutes. Why on earth did I keep putting that off? Why did it seem so daunting when it was only a teensy tiny wrinkle of time? Hmm...good lesson learned. I am going to look at my projects and any that I haven't worked on because of some dopey reason I am just going to do!

Frugal tip: All my teensy bits of scraps that I would throw out automatically go in a pillow case and that is laid down into a shallow box near my computer. My cats snuggle up on that (they don't seem to mind when it is only 1/2 full). When it is full, I will sew up the end and start a new one. Happy cats, happy me and one less group of items for me to throw out!

Fun Christmas block

I am doing another block swap with a Christmas theme now. I was having a hard time deciding what to do ( who wouldn't with all the amazing Christmas fabrics and blocks out there!!) when I found this little cutie. Instant decision!! This was it for me. Isn't it wonderful??

I can see this little block in a lot of things other than just a quilt. Maybe a nice table runner with some stars on either side. If you like this block, you can find it here at Quiltaholics. Let me know if you use this block and what you did with it. I can always use new ideas!!

Frugal tip: Reuse and repurpose! My daughter brought me down a bag of old clothes to get rid of. When I went through them to make sure there wasn't any ripped things (I planned on donating these), I got all kinds of ideas. First...out came the jeans to make braided rugs, cotton shirts to get cut up for quilts, and tee shirts for rag rugs. Here is a tutorial for those at Crazy Mom Quilts. I now have 3 bins in my laundry room for everyone to sort their castoffs into for future projects! I love being thrifty and creative!

Beautiful Swap Blocks

I just participated in a block swap with a great group of ladies over on the yahoo group, Tran-quilt-ity. It is a wonderful list and we have a good time sharing and encouraging over there. This swap was a "My Favorite" swap. It could be your favorite color, your favorite block, fabric, etc. What a decision!! This is what just came to me in the mail:





Aren't these wonderful???? I can't wait to get them altogether in a quilt top. Yet, wait I must. I still have that wonderful promise I made to myself not to add any more tops until I get some quilted. Damn me and my word!!
Anyway, not only did I get these beautiful blocks, but in the envelope was this little surprise:

Hmm...are you asking, "What could this be??" Are you intrigued, curiosity piqued?? Me, too..me, too!! It's one thing to have a surprise that you expected..like the blocks...but an extra unplanned for goodie?? Sooo..I opened it and found this:
These are the pieces and directions to make not 1, not 2, but 24 butterfly appliques all precut and ready to go, sent by a dear new friend, Cheryl!! Poor, poor Cheryl. I know she didnt do this for only me. I can only imagine how her fingers hurt after cutting all these pieces!! Cheryl, if you are reading this..know that this meant the WORLD to me. I can't wait to make something fabulous with them and it will be named for you. Thank you, my friend!!!

A few warm fuzzies

I have had a busy week and little time for sitting and sewing. The weekend is looking even busier than that. My dad just came up today from Kentucky to visit me. I love having him here. We get far too little time together and I plan on spending every moment enjoying it. Tomorrow night we are heading up to Oswego to visit my daughter and son in law and let them show off their new house to Papa. We are going up there for dinner...which I get to bring up there! lol Good to still be needed. I doubt I will get much sewing in, but I'll see what I can squeak in.
In the meantime, here are some warm fuzzies I've been working on. I now have one sock done. I'm not sure I like this pattern, but it did work up fast and easy..always a plus!! It's mate is already started and hopefully I will soon have a pair.

Here are some dishcloths I started up while sitting on the beach this summer in Myrtle Beach. Yes, I was the only woman in a bathing suit sitting on the beach KNITTING! I can't just sit..have to be doing something useful! Funny thing is, one of my online pals, Jill, just started a knitting class and these are the exact ones she learned to make!! They are fun, aren't they, Jill?? What good taste we have!

And here are a few more I finished up. They aren't blocked yet, but you get the idea. This was a fun pattern, too. One I could definitely make more of.



I have a bag filled with knitting supplies that usually sits in my car so whenever I have a few minutes....lunch at work, waiting for kids, sitting on a beach on vacation, etc, I can just stitch away. Just like in quilting, nothing better than the click click of knitting needles or the stitch stitching of my sewing machine on cold western New York nights!! Hope everyone has a warm, wonderful weekend!!

Possibilities for mystery #11 top

Well, I got all the blocks made for the Mysteries for Relay mystery #11 done! Now for deciding how I want to lay them out. Both of the tops I am making measure out to 72x84 WITHOUT borders! It was really hard for me to find a space to lay them out. I moved some stuff out of my kitchen and am using the floor in there. Unfortunately, it is hard to really get the picture of it when I am right on top of it when it is laying on the floor. So, I thought I would put the pictures on here where I can get a better perspective...and of course your opinion!! Marge gave us several alternate ideas for laying out our blocks besides the original, and I love them all. Here is quilt top #1 in the original layout:

What do you think? I will have to move some blocks around for better color placement, but I wanted to decide if this is the layout I wanted to go with. It is definitely different for me. I tend to go with pretty traditional things. I'm thinking I like it. Off to lay it out another way and will post that when I am done. BTW, if you click on the pic, you can see it better.
Here is another variation:

Alright..here is the last variation:

I think I know which one I am leaning towards...but how about you? Which one do you like the best?

and the race is on!

Well, as usual, I have BIG plans for getting so much accomplished this weekend. We all know how that goes. I am the eternal optimist, though, so we will see what actually happens!!
My hub and kids are off to our new store to get it painted up so it will be ready January 1st to move from our present location. That means Patrick and I will have the whole day to ourselves. First on my list to get done is the new Mysteries for Relay mystery # 11 quilt. That started Thursday and the final clue was posted last night. I have no idea what that is as I am only halfway through step 3 and that is step 7! Once again, I am making 2 twin sizes...one to keep and one to donate. That is a total of 84 12 1/2 blocks I am working on..WHEW!! I also have 20+ swap blocks to make, a Thimbleberries quilt top to finish up and the usual household stuff. Wow..time to get going..say a prayer for meeeeeee!!!

4 great prizes up for grabs!!

Wow..Carin over at Conceived without Regard for Reason or Reality, just hit her 4 year blogging anniversary! To celebrate, she is hosting a fabulous give away. Check it out! I can't imagine blogging for that log. Heck..it has been over a week since I even blogged at all! Sigh..she set the bar high!!