into art . . .

It was a different week.  One that mostly, I didn't chronicle with pictures, which is rather unusual for me.  Todd and I spoke about our multiple ministries, to the Women on Mission at Whitesburg Baptist. I really enjoy speaking to women's groups ... and this introvert knows it's really a God-thing! Tuesday evening we had an associational VBS team meeting. So it was a long day.  But Wednesday was an unexpected day off, due to the impending threat of severe weather, so there's that. Thursday was long just because it's the last day of my work week, and I had several things that needed to get finished (that I didn't get to work on Wednesday -- gotta pay the piper), and after work Thursday, I headed to the contractor's shop for whom I keep books ... it was tax prep night. The good news is that I *did* have time off and on to work on my hexie project . . .

I got the first flower completely whipped together; now I'm working on the second flower. That may need some Slow Sunday stitching!  :)

Needless to say, when Friday morning broke fair and pretty, I was anxious to get my craft on. My craft of quilting, that is. I've been wanting to do a mini that had palm fronds in it, ever since I saw this post on Debbie Kratovil's blog. 

But I got out in the Nook and decided I didn't want to foundation piece a frond. So I went back inside and google searched "palm frond template" hoping to come up with something I could maybe fuse.

That was when I got saw Julia Graber had a new blog post.  Have you ever visited her blog?  Life as a Quilter -- Julia Graber. She creates some beautiful quilts. Anyway, a look at this post and I realized that was kinda the *look* I wanted . . . only with a palm frond and the word, "Hosanna!".  Her prior post had loosely walked through the steps for creating this pretty thing, so I got busy! Mind you, this is definitely an art quilt and definitely out of my comfort zone and it was definitely a lot of FUN!

Tah-dah!  I'm so, so pleased with how this turned out! And I really enjoyed the process, which makes the finish all the sweeter!

Saturday I spent the day with Jocelyn, helping her prepare freezer meals for after the baby was born. We got over 35 meals put up!  It was a looooooong day, but well worth it.  

Less than two weeks before Baby E is due!  And I can say that because both the boy and girl names they've picked begins with E.  :)

Whew! Glad it's Sunday . . . a day of rest. A day of stitching. A happy day!

:)

excuses, excuses . . .

Do you remember me?

I was a little shocked to realize I hadn't posted since January 7th.  I mean, I knew it had been a while, I just hadn't realized it had been quite that LONG of a while!  And I do have a ton of good (and passable) excuses, but no point in putting you through all that, eh?

Weather here in North Alabama has been crazy.  After serving up record high temps (we're talking upper 70's, right at 80's) in January and February, we woke up this morning to snow.

By noon it was gone, but there's snow in the forecast for Tuesday, too.  Must be the "coming in a like a lion" deal.  I'm ready for the lamb. And boat weather.  :)

I was able, at practically the last minute, to get in on the annual quilting retreat our stitcher's group does at Grand Oak Retreat. Last year I'd been unable to go and so I lost my place. This year the gal who'd taken my spot found herself with a conflicting commitment and was unable to go to retreat. So two weeks prior, I got a call saying there was a spot available. Yay! 

Of course I didn't have a lot of prep time, and I ended up not taking my machine, instead taking a lot of hand work projects I wanted to either wrap up or spend some time on. I finished up this cute hexie snowman runner . . . 

I really love this fun little piece! And I did some much overdue work on the wool strawberry mat I started in ... July.

It's coming along, though I still have some work to do on it. I hadn't figured out Steam-A-Seam when I first drafted this/cut it out, which has made it kind of tricky to work with. ;)

In my last post we had just celebrated Ellie's 5th birthday. In February we celebrated my mom's birthday (her first birthday in Alabama). 

And then we turned around and celebrated Joc's birthday!

Yesterday was Kim's birthday and today is Sawyer's, and I hate having to celebrate those from a distance. But we did get to sing happy birthday via FaceTime (again, technology for which I'm oh-so-grateful)!

You probably don't realize this, but as a little experiment, last year Todd and I left Christmas (from 2015) up in the RV for the entire year.  Ellie and Evey just loved it (and so did Todd and I), but I have to admit that by the year's end, I was ready to take it all down.  I missed putting up my *other* seasonal things during the year.  Like Valentine's . . .

And it gave me an excuse to whip up this sweet little Valentine hearts candle mat in wool:

Hahaha! Last weekend I was thinking about putting out Spring/Easter decor, but I'm so hard pressed to do that when it reverts back to cold and grey.  So this was as far as I got . . .

It's there and ready, when the weather cooperates a tad! I also went through my quilt pieces and was surprised to realize I don't have ANYthing springish for the mini stand.  Hmmmm.

So yesterday I finally made it out to the Nook. It was in desperate need of 'organization/cleaning' and I spent the morning doing just that. After lunch it was respectable and I was ready to roll and put together a quick and easy piece that makes me smile . . .

The applique was one I'd done as a sample for my faux applique lecture at our guild's applique round robin a couple of years ago. I whipped up some pinwheels, bordered it, quilted it, and put the binding on it.  Easy peasy! And Spring-y!

I've been enjoying this season of Lent, walking through a new devotion, 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast, by Alicia Britt Chole.  So far it's been absolutely marvelous and I'm really enjoying it. I hope to have some concrete news on where we've been re-assigned, soon, too!  And that about catches y'all up with me!  Have a splendiferous week ahead!

:)

a happy wrap . . .

I think I mentioned in my last stash report post that I had accidentally stumbled upon a HUGE deal on a fat quarter bundle of Kona solids.  Seriously, it was a *huge* deal -- $26 for the bundle of twenty luscious colors that arrived yesterday . . .

Isn't it purdy?!  The colors for our guild's swap block this month are "solids" on a grey background, so I'll put this to use right away!

I wanted something for St. Patrick's Day for my little quilt stand and finally, after looking around through my patterns and online, decided to sketch out my own little something . . .

I'm thinking I'd print the blessing off on fabric and then outline stitch it and then use a combination of wool applique and embroidery to do the floral design that frames it.  Did I forget to mention I'm wanting it for St. Patrick's Day 2015?!  ;)

March is a big month of celebrations in our family, kicking off with Jocelyn's birthday TODAY!  I can hardly believe my beautiful baby girl is twenty-eight years old.  Where did the time go?!  It seems like just yesterday she wasn't any older than Eleanor Pearl!  

Happy birthday, my sweet Jocelyn!

After my walk yesterday morning a little flutter of color caught my eye behind the RV.  Some past caretaker had planted a nice little plot of daffodil bulbs and so each year they continue to herald Spring.  

This is the first bloom of the year ... it made me cry I was so happy to see it!  (And maybe my hormone levels *do* need to be checked.)

And finally, Leia says . . . 

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Feline Friday) !!!!

:)

a whole lot of ho-ho-holiday fun . . .

Thanksgiving was lovely and fun . . . 

. . . and the holiday somehow slipped into December without me realizing it! I'd say I was shocked or surprised--but really, it's the eleventh time it's happened this year, so I'm just accepting it. C'est la vie!

Ellie and I started the month off right by making our first Christmas craft of the season on Tuesday:

A hands and foot print Rudolph!  Isn't it darling?  We made four . . . one for me, and three for Jocelyn and whoever she wanted to share them with.

Wednesday, Kim and James brought Sawyer and June and a friend and her three children up to the camp for a candy cane scavenger hunt!  Isn't that awesome? They brought a picnic lunch and then after they ate, while the kids played on the playground, James and I hid the loot.

They all had a great time and went home with buckets full of fun Christmas cheer and treasure!

Thursday was my Stitchers Etc. stitch group Christmas party.  As always, we're to bring an ornament to exchange, wrapped in a Christmas fat quarter.  I found a darling sewing machine ornament at Cracker Barrel:

I spruced it up by making its own mini quilt out of the same material it was wrapped in.  It was really cute--so much so that I may go back to Cracker Barrel and get another two or three of those!  I also came home with a really darling ornament . . .

I adore holly, so this really made me squeal with delight!  It was wrapped in a darling fat quarter, but I'll share that later (wink, wink).

Friday morning, I picked Sawyer up and we met Jocelyn and her kindergarten class at the Von Braun Center, where they were showing Disney's Princesses and Heroes on Ice!!  It was *awesome*!!

I think the look on Sawyer's face speaks volumes!  He and I both had a blast -- he was transfixed by it all and I spend half my time watching the show and the other half watching his sweet face!

Friday evening, I worked on/finished up a little button craft I'd started . . .

I've seen these all over Pinterest and had determined I was going to make my own!  I finished it up and Todd and I declared it The Polar Express night.  Of course, you can't watch that movie without a nice mug of 'gourmet' hot chocolate!

I'm proud to say I still hear the bell ring.  Just sayin'.

The week has been *so* busy ... non-stop motion ... so I decided today would be 'stay in your pj's' day.  It was lovely!  Todd had a Sunday school get together with his class (at someone else's house) this afternoon, so it was just me and my sewing machine!!  Remember that FQ my ornament was wrapped in?  I put it to perfect use . . .

As the background for my Christmas tree!  The brightly colored packaged made the perfect backdrop, don't you think?  I started and finished it today.  I love, love, love this and I'm so glad to have a festive Christmas something to replace the pumpkin in my mini quilt stand.  Hahaha!! Working with all the buttons and beads for the wreath ornament got me wanting to play with more beads.  I used holographic thread to criss-cross the tree like garland (or lights) and then took a metallic silver and *paired* it with a dark, glossy red to quilt the cross hatches. I'd never run double thread through my machine before ... I liked the effect. So FUN!

Friday kicked off The REAL Studio Tour sponsored by Vicki Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber.  This week we were to share our favorite non-traditional tool.  One that wasn't a standard tool, but one borrowed from the garage or the kitchen or wherever.  To be honest, I had a really hard time with this one.  Because as non-traditional as my quilting and my quilting space are . . . my tools are pretty darn traditional!  The closest I could come up with is my window design wall . . .

The windows in the bunk room of the RV are slender and long . . . and one is the perfect place to hang an end of a vinyl tablecloth, so I can audition blocks.  Right now it's filled with assorted stitchery projects. Including the cornucopia....Ooops! That window is also doubles as a great place to hang my thread collection *and* my square hoop. I like having my threads just an arm's length away. Be sure to come back next Friday when we share our favorite storage methods!!

Time to tuck in . . . there's a whole new week of activities starting tomorrow morning . . . I *need* my beauty sleep!!

:)

a finish, a start, and a ufo-no-mo . . .

Well, a UFO no more, almost.  Well, not even that.  Random blocks no more. Actually, a completed, pieced top in the making and almost finished.  But that doesn't work as well in the title!

I can't believe it's been almost TWO year since I received these Journey Steps blocks from a block swap my Stitcher's Group had . . .

I blogged about it here.  And I took the blocks off my wall and didn't fool with them again.  I didn't particularly want to make any more blocks.  And then there was the dilemma I had with a couple of them being too small.  *But* we'd agreed to share our finished tops as a group at this month's guild meeting. Which is Thursday.  And I was feeling the pressure to participate.  So I pulled them out . . . 

. . . and started playing around in EQ to see if I could find a setting I liked and could work with, without having to make more blocks. These are some options I came up with:

A six-by-six block placement allowed me to square up the setting and use all the blocks .... by using the smaller blocks as cornerstones in the border.  

Then I decided I wanted the corner blocks to be inset in the border:

The center is now pieced!  I like this *SO* much better than the original placement.

I'm headed out to one of my LQSs to pick out a Civil War print for the border and one for the binding.  I do believe I'll have show and tell for Thursday!  (Although when it will actually be quilted, bound, and completely finished, who knows???) Linking up to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times and Design Wall Monday!

I also finished up my little September apple block:

What fun it was!  I even bit the bullet and FMQ'd little leaves all over the plaid. I'm particularly pleased with the result.  And now I'm all ready for a new month in my little quilt stand!

Finally, I started a new project . . . 

This is from Edyta Sitar's Seasonal Silhouettes collection -- the October block (surprise, surprise)!  I purchased three sets of the laser cut kits.  AWESOME!  I'll frame it out and then quilt it.  It's too big to go in my quilt stand, but I want to leave them as stand-alones.  (I have two more kits -- November's and December's!)

And I also 'dabbled' in cream cheese mints last weekend ... for a friend's daughter's wedding reception. Three hundred eighty cream cheese mints.  

Whew!  Her colors were sunflower yellow and azure blue.  And sunflowers decorated everything -- my kind of decor! The wedding was beautiful and the mints were a hit. I'm just glad they're not in my house any more!

I'm off to get into my Monday groove!  Y'all have a *great* week!!

:)

some bits and pieces . . .

Just a quickie post . . . I still have a LOT to catch up on, but I wanted to share a couple of fun things.  First off, I headed out to stitch with our Stitchers' Group last night and look what my friend Jackie had for me:

WHOOHOO!!  I'm in Miniature Quilts magazine heaven!!  And these are ALL new from the ones I scored here.  I sure wish they still published this little gem!

I liked my summer sunflower so much, I decided I wanted to do something for September.  That month just screams apples to me so I searched my hard drive for an appropriate design.  Here's what I came up with...

Fun, no?  I still have to do some stitching and then put it onto a back ground and quilt it, but I think I'll be in good shape when September rolls around!  In fact, I'm already thinking pumpkins! (Bahaha!)

I spent a nice day with Joc and Ellie, in my digs.  I broke my toe this week and damaged the tendons connected to it, so they came here!

Ellie had a ball looking out the window at the birds and squirrels and chipmunks.  She even took a nap up in the big bed -- a first!

And since it *is* Feline Friday and I've been *so* lax about that for most of this year (I'm sorry Sarah!!!), I figured I'd share Leia in her new digs . . .

Yup.  Nothing's changed for her!! 

Happy weekend!!!

:)