Give-away

Lookie here now! This Christmas table runner could be yours. All you have to do is hop on over to the WP blog and leave a comment. That gets your name in the hat! Simple.

While you're there, take a look at the tutorial on how-to make this wonderful runner. It's actually quick and easy to make. If you changed the trees to hearts or bunnies or stars........need I say more! Just think of the possibilities.

GoGo's Gran

Well, she's finally here. Meet Ayden, my grand baby. She weighed in at 7.8lbs & is 21 1/2 inches long. Daddy is so proud of her, I could tell by the way he held her that Ayden will soon be spoiled rotten....but that okay, too. Armando actually changed her diaper with just a little coaching from Angie. I was so proud of him. Ayden already has a personality.......she's very alert and doesn't like loud noises. She actually tried to cover one ear when a very loud commercial came on. And her little face screwed up with total disgust. Of course I didn't get that on film or digitized. Not to worry, by the time this baby is a year old, I will have taken thousands of pictures......just kidding.....I think!

Sweets My Sweet

If you have a sweet tooth, I have found a great site. All you have to do is click on the word "sweets" and enjoy browsing and choosing great recipes.

And The Winner Is.....

I could hardly wait to draw a name from the hat. So with on further ado..........the winner of those patterns is...........................

JURRA.......rockets firing, balloons bursting, bands playing and all the rest.

Congratulations Jurra. Just e-mail me your address and I'll mail your goodies out to you next week.

Hooray! Look what came in the mail a couple of days ago. These postcards are from my good friend, Brenda. Isn't she talented! She also sent me a cute pattern of a frog. Brenda did I ever tell you the story about the frog that hopped onto my head? Well, it all happened......oh, never mind. That's for another time.

I don't know if I've said this before but, I have really enjoyed the postcard exchange. I've met some awesome ladies via blogging and made new friends from all over the world. I feel really blessed to be a part of a great group of people, women and men. Yes, the men are quickly learning that there's more to this sewing thing than they knew. It's relaxing and very addictive.

Award!

I was one of the lucky bloggers who Kathy chose to give this Butterfly Award to. It symbolizes cool blogs. I am honored to receive this award. I have been blogging for about a year and a half and am totally committed and addicted to the world of blogging. I love to visit other blogs, make new friends and join in some of the swaps. The rules are that I (1) post about the award, (2) link back to Kathy, (3) place the award on my sidebar and then choose 10 blogs that I think are really cool, link to them, contact each person and talk about why I think their blogs are cool. I can do this!

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(1) Jurra - Is a quilter and makes wonderful baby and children things.

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(2) Julie - Has great family stories that will easily brighten your day.

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(3) Rhonda Jean - Knows loads of ways to save on those monthly electric/water/gas bills.

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(4) PunkiePie - Shares wonderful family stories and loves sewing.

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(5) Tipper - Makes you laugh along with her family's adventures, enjoy food favorites and nature.

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(6) Becks - Is a true Vegan......vegetarian ya'll! She has loads of inviting pics of foods. I could easily become a vegan.

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(7) Elizabeth - You should see her garden.

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(8) Jen - Excellent machine quilter with an eye for details.

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(9) Monica - this girl has a way with words.

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(10) Abbi - Loves cooking, canning and things homemade.

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I could name many more but the rules limited the count. Please pop over to each blogger that I mentioned and check out all the wonderful things they're into.

Lucky You!

I am re-gifting these goodies. You know how it starts....."Oh look, I've just got to have this one and this one." Pretty soon you've got load of patterns and no time to make them. Years pass and you find yourself cleaning out drawers and boxes. Then you come across the old patterns. Yep! That's what happened to me........LOL....

Instead of trashing them I decided to post to see if anyone was interested in "free" stuff. To be fair, I will place each person's name, who leaves a "kind word" (comment), in a bowl and have a drawing by this weekend. Your "free" stuff could be on its way to you by next Monday.

Practice Makes........2

Still playing around and I've already seen a mistake. Can you see it from where you are? Really, talk to me. I need all the feedback I can get.

Practice Makes........

Okay......so I'm practicing using my EQ6 program of how-to export quilt images to my desktop to be sent in e-mails or put into blog posts. So far so good. The nine-patch quilt was designed using one block that I imported from a project I made weeks ago. The strip-pieced quilt you will recognize from my challenge 2008 retreat from a few blogs ago. Of course I'm in the early stages of learning to use EQ6, watching the videos and "reading" my manual.......LOL....cross your fingers, say a prayer and watch out for more designs.

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This little happy face is to remind all my blogging friends that if you'd care to become a "Virtual WackyPack Wannabee" (VWPW) hop on over to our WP blog and leave a comment of your desired intentions and one of us "wackies" will get back to you.

A Mess of Greens?

Ever wonder where the term "A mess of greens" comes from or just how many bunches of greens is in a mess of greens. If you know, please leave me a comment because it's been bugging me for quite some time now......LOL.....My neighbor brought these over this morning so I had to rinse and rinse and rinse them. Fortunately, I have a deep sink which has a neat removable sprayer thngy in my garage. Within a couple of hours, the greens were cooking with some wonderful seasonings and smelling up the house. That gave me another thought.......Why not cook some of my Thanksgiving dinner now! Yes! So I got out the fixings for dressing and decided to try a recipe that uses squash along with all the other ingredients. At the end of the day I have 2 foods cooked and in the freezer so that I won't spend all day cooking for Thanksgiving. Yippie Skippy for me!

BTW....these are Turnip Greens. Sorry I left that off earlier.

Salute!

Today is Veterans Day as we all know. So in honor of all Veterans and the men and women who still fight for us, I wanted to say a big "Thank you!" I know that is not enough for the sacrifices you all have given and are still giving but it's all I have to give right now. So many soldiers have said, "No one even notices us or acknowledges us." It's sad but true. I say....."Wake up, people! Salute our men and women who are willing to give their lives so that the "rest" of us can live a peaceful environment.

That's all I have to say about that. Pictured are my grandmother's relative who fought in WWII (Infantry) and my dad who fought in the Korean War.

Postcards From The Edge

Gone Wild.....that's what I thought of when I found this fabric a few years ago. I bought the fabric with nothing in mind. Has anybody else done that? LOL.....Anyway, it's time to send out postcards to all my swap buddies......so coming to you from a swapper near or far from you.

Now, I'm Happy

I made the "spinning star" blocks after I decided that I did not like the way the first blocks turned out. There was just something about the boxiness of my first try. As you all may know, the "wackies" are making Patriotic quilts for 2009. We each chose a block and are to make 8 per person to exchange sometime in February. I'll be giving 2 per person because I like the "spinning star" block better. So, now I'm happy.

Something Old

These two quilts are from my collections of my grandmother's quilts. The first is a type of Cornerstone/Postage Stamp design with two different colored borders of the same measurement. The second quilt is named "Kidneys & Hearts" I think and it's sporting three borders. My grandmother made each quilt from old dresses, shirts, feed sacks and some store bought fabrics. I am very proud to have these quilts. I understand her passion for quilt making because runs in my blood. She made many quilts so I know that they were not all made for everyday use. I remember sitting under her treadle Singer and playing with the threads. I wish I could remember more but I was very young when she died.

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BTW.......hop on over to our WP blog and check out the criteria and become a member.

Add To That

The cornbread I mentions this morning with butter slathered on top is fresh out of the over and I couldn't resist baking an apple pie for dessert. I know my crust looks alittle strange but I don't do deco pies.....LOL.....Mom and I are about to sit down to eat so you won't be hearing from my for awhile. My hands will be busy feeding my face........Hummmmm, where's that ice cream I bought last week? ;-}

This Old Pot

This old pot......has served me well. I bought it back in the late 70's as one of my first wedding presents to myself. Mom said that I would need a large pot for cooking so I took her advice and purchased this one (lid not pictured). Through the years, I have cooked, boiled, fried, canned and even baked many foods in this pot. If you look closely, you will see the evidence of that by the dark ring around the inner middle of it. No amount of scrubbing would remove that ring so I came to appreciate it as a badge of honor for all the processes it had gone through. Today I'm cooking up a pot of "greens." This Texan loves a good pot of greens with bacon bits, a spoon of drippings, salt and pepper to taste and a hot pan of cornbread slathered with butter. Add to that a large glass of iced tea. My mouth is watering just thinking about the meal. You know, I do have some goose-neck squash that I could cook, as well.....hummmmm. I'll let you all know how it all turns out later. Have a great Thursday!

Phil's Quilt

Pic of the Rabbit pillow.

Picture a great big smile from a very nice guy. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of "Phil the Computer Guy," but believe me he was ecstatic. Phil has been after me for a long, long time to make a quilt for he and his wife. When it didn't look like that was going to happen Phil gave me a "rabbit doll" pattern. Yes, I said a "rabbit doll." Well, let me tell you, I got busy and made that quilt because quilts are one thing.....dolls are not in my capability.......LOL.........Happy Day, Phil.

Miniature Booty Swap

I'm all done with my part of the MBS sponsored by Toni. This is the third swap I've been involved with and I love the challenges. Our theme is Christmas. I chose a paper-piecing technique. I hand quilted it and placed a label on the back. The quilt measures roughly 13 1/2" X 15 1/2". Soon, I'll be sending this little quilt to her new owners. Kathy is almost finished as well. Hop on over to her blog and checkout her progress.

Deer Season Sew-In #4

This eagle is part of my patriotic quilt. If you remember, I have already made 1 block which I posted as Uncle Sam months ago. I know I've been lax in making blocks. I have no excuse. I stitched around the edges a scant 1/16". The block measures 32 1/2" X 17". I'm sure that I will eventually put some sort of border around it. Well, I'm off to bed.

Deer Opening Sew-In #3

Well, I finished the 8 red/white/blue blocks for challenge 2009. I plan on appliquing something in the middle of the tan blocks when I get home.

I love the leaves as they turn. I found this one right outside our sewing room. I think it's a type of oak.

Sightseeing

Yesterday Molly and I went walking around our retreat grounds. These are just a few sights that we enjoyed. The pics of the cross, I found were the most interesting. I love the reflection it made off the lake.