Favorite Fabric Monday

"Provencal" by A.E. Nathan. This fabric reminds me of corn kernels, which I have used it for. and

Pop over to Gene's blog and catch his tutorial on Half-square triangles. This method is a useful tool when you need loads of them.

Almost Done

Shhhhhhhhhhhh! This is a quilt I'm working on for a friend who has specific wants. I haven't been able to work on it for a couple of days now because of a pulled muscle in my back..........boy does it hurt.......but I'm getting better and am anxiously pacing until I can get back to the quilt. I've got some new ideas of what I'm going to do next ...... so stay tuned. I haven't forgotten that about the tutorial on the cow...........I'll get to it soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

We Have A Winner!

Sorry, August 25th came and went before I knew it. JRZ- Jenn.........is the winner of my two embroidery blocks on burlap. She has a great blog and is doing some interesting things. Hop over and pay her a visit. Jenn, please "E" me your mailing address and your blocks will be in the mail ASAP.

Alford Inn Retreat

Recently I posted just a snippet of a wonderful retreat that I attended. The "Alford Inn" located in Van Alstyne, Texas. It's a great place with a wonderful and funny owner, Cindy Alford. There's plenty of sleeping area and a great sewing room which is strategically located next to her quilt shop. BTW, that's Cindy peeking from behind one of her quilt tops. If you'd and some of her girlfriends are looking for a neat get-away, check out Cindy's website.

The pictures are a little peek of what fun we had. There are several great restaurants around town and great old houses to look at.

Favorite Fabric Monday - Sleepy Time

"Nantucket" by Polly Minick & Laurie Simpson for Moda #14503. I found this piece as I was refolding some of my stash. Hummmmm, how did that get in there....hehehehehehehehe

And here's my little Princess all tuckered out from playing with GoGo.........trust me.....GoGo is just as tired except my hair is all over my head, me knees are aching from attempting to crawl around with Ayden and there's a catch in my lower back as well........ah, the price one pays for the joy of a grandbaby. Also, remember my embroidery give away for my "followers" is coming up tomorrow, Aug 25th. Just leave a comment at the link to enter. There are 2 lovely fall embroidery blocks just waiting for a new home.

The Eagle Is Landing

Here's the next installment in a quilt that I'm working on. I haven't decided on a background fabric yet so the eagle is still plastered to my non-stick iron sheet.....great thing BTW.

1 or l

Who knew.....look carefully 1 or l .............if you're wondering what wrong here, I'll enlighten you. I've been unsuccessfully trying to load my "new" wireless printer to my computer......should be simple says my good friend, Kathy. I've had the thing for a month and each day that I've tried to load it......all kinds of things happen, none of which is the loading of the printer. It asked for a encryption key thingy.......excuse me if I had no idea what that was....LOL....anywhoooooo, I did locate a sheet of paper with all that info on it and immediately remembered the salesman saying that I should never lose that sheet of paper.............after having a glass of wine yesterday (large), I decided to give it one more try and "bingo" wouldn't you know but it loaded without a hitch. I really don't think this was "human" error (mine). I think it was the fact that alot of the FONTS are very confusing. The number "1" looks alot like the letter "l", don' you think?

Growing Up Fast - Favorite Fabric Monday

GoGo's granbaby

is growing up fast but as you can see, she still needs her beauty rest and so does her daddy!

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Windham Fabrics presents "A New Nation" by Namcy Gere Circa 1870 Pattern #26823. The subtle brown/cream/light blue are what caught my eye. I don't have plans for the fabric yet but added it to my collection.

Duh! & Two More

Alrighty then............Hi there followers of this blog. Recently, as some of you might have heard, I lost my "Followers" button on the sidebar.....&#*)@(*&!)@_#$)(*&~.....needless to say, I was very upset. It's been several weeks of trial and error ........mainly error on my part. I'm back and the solution was so easy that I don't think I want to tell anyone...........LOL...........it was so easy to fix but old, slow thinking me took awhile. Anywhooooo, remember the to sign up for the August give-away embroidery blocks which I've linked to. Just leave a comment at this link. The drawing will be August 25th.

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Still working on the project. All I need to do is stitch around them!!!!

Totally Motivated Part2

These are the newest installments for the project I've been working on.

G'G'ma commented a request about me sharing how I did some of these blocks. I will honor her request next week when I'll demo the black Angus. It is the most difficult of the batch but gets great results.

Pincushion Swap & Favorite Fabric Monday

My swap-mate was Stanislava from Croatia. Originally, she sent something great which, since we live so far apart, didn't make it to my house. We then communicated via e-mail.......I told her not to worry about it and please don't feel that she had to re-send but she insisted and here's my package. Look at that beautiful, hand-crafted pincushion with the flower eyelet lace around the cushion. I've got buttons, floss, 2 colorful fat quarters, floral lace, a chicken tea towel (love it) and a great get-to-know-you note. Thank you so very much Simona!!!!!

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This wonderfully subtle off white fabric comes from Windham Fabrics - "Family Tree" by Mary Koval - Circa 1840 Pattern #2317.

I like it because, of course, you can use it in any design for placement of color. And it has that crackled effect in the background lending interest.

Totally Motivated

A friend of mine asked me to make a "full" size quilt for her back in January. She gave me all kinds of notes on what she wanted as part of her quilt. Of course I tucked the notes carefully into my carry-all drawers and within days, forgot all about it. Long story short, I found the notes the other day while cleaning said carry-all, read it and remarkably didn't freak out. I did get started, finally. Janice's theme is about her family's ranch and all the critters that live around her and hubby.

I really enjoy silhouettes etchings, as I like to call them. The affect they give on background fabrics are often surprising, as well as, the fabric coloration can add to what you are trying for.

Well, I'd better get back to work. I don't have a deadline but I'm going to get-her-done!

August Give-Away

Greetings! Sorry to my "FOLLOWERS" about the delay. Here are the 2 embroidery sew-outs that I'm giving away this month. As you can see they are more of a "fall" scene but I really liked the way they turned out. I used burlap as the background just too see how it would look and to see if my machine and needle would be able to sew on a strange medium. The blocks are roughly 6 inches each and I sewed around the edges to keep the burlap from ravelling.

As you know, my "Followers" sidebar thingy is not working..........(I madder than a wet hen)! Pat said that she had heard that several other bloggers were having this same problem. Don't worry, it will not defeat me.......LOL.

Followers, if you would like to add these lovely designs to your collection, leave a comment on this post. I will draw a name or do the random drawing thingy August 25th. Good luck my friends.

Favorite Fabric Monday & Living History

These pictures don't do this great fabric justice. "Treasures of York County Heritage Trust" presented by Roberta Benvin & Joan Hamme for P&B Textiles. I bought this piece (1 1/2 yards) at Common Threads in Waxahachie, Texas. I've mentioned the shop several times in previous posts because it is a wonderful place to shop. If you are really into Civil War fabrics, this is the place to visit.

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As alot of you know, Aug. 1st was my 54th birthday. I don't mind telling my age because I've very proud of it. Why you might ask? Because at age 51 I was able to retire. So, I have, God willing as my grandma use to say, I'll have many years to finally do most of what I want to do. Mom & I were talking about the history we have lived. When you're young, you really don't think about that sort of thing but as we were reflecting back, I was amazed.

1. I've lived to see, so far, 10 presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama.
2. A bi-centennial
3. Welcomed in a new millennium (Y2K). BTW, remember the terror that the powers that be were in about how computers would be affected & we'd all crash and burn.........LOL.
4. I remember a wonderful news anchor - Frank Reynolds - very professional great guy.
5. Of course I've lived through all the 60's, 70's, 80's 90' 00's problems with race issues. I really don't think that will ever go away because, unfortunately we don't want to acknowledge that each group of people have gone through some horrible times, whether it be Blacks, Jews, Mexican, Indians, Whites. We've all been there, all suffered intolerable situations and come out the other side. If we could all remember that, we'd all be better for it.
6. I remember the Jim Jones incident....can you believe that it was nearly 30 years ago.
7. I remember when there were no cell phones but when Ayden grows up, she won't even have a point of reference of a rotary phone........can you say generation gap!!!
8. Remember 8 tracks & floppy disc & boom-boxes & patent leather shoes & penny loafers
9. I said something about tongs in class one day & the kids nearly had a fit. I was talking about flip-flops as they're known today.....the kids were thinking ---- underwear.....good grief!
10. I had a stereo system that played 78s to 45s.....granted the 78s were from my granddad's time but I listened to them.

I think I'd better stop cause I'm suddenly feeling my age..............LOL

Mama Mia Apron Swap & Birdhouses Cont.

Lookie what I received in the mail yesterday!!!! This wonderful package is from my Secret Pal Dayna. None of us knew who had whose name, just the information. I love my apron, thank you Dayna. She also sent wooden serving spoons, a potholder, what I call a nothing book because it has blank pages to write notes in, a recipe book filled with yummy "brunch" goodies and a recipe for a cool summer drink - "Easy Strawberry Lemonade." I am nearly speechless. I love everything. Thanks again Dayna. And thanks to our hostess, Valerie. Great theme!!!!!

Well, someone lit a fire under me because I went into my sewing studio and got busy. I am now caught up on my Birdhouse BOTM......well, except for stitching them down but that comes in August. It is so much fun picking all the fabrics but I try to clean up and fold my fabrics immediately after cutting from the larger pieces or my sewing area would look like an explosion....hehehehehe!

Sssssssssssshhhhhhhhh! Today is my birthday. Mom said I arrived stubbornly around 4 AM one hot and muggy August morning.............yep, that sounds like something I'd do aright!